Friday Memes: Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong

 Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires. 

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not. 

The Friday 56 was hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place. 

Beginning:

"I need a penis," Daphne said.

Friday 56:

Prove himself? Yeah, as the kind of guy who'd accept an interview on her behalf and them make her sleep in the guest room while playing caretaker to his cut-rate Ernest Hemingway.

This week I am spotlighting a new arrival on my TBR Mountain. Finding Mr. Write by Kelley Armstrong was a recent Kindle Daily Deal. Since I have enjoyed many of the author's other books, I thought I would see how she handles Romantic Comedy. 

Here's the description from Amazon:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong delivers a fun romantic comedy about a woman writing under a male pseudonym and the man she hires to play the role in public.

Daphne McFadden already knows that as a female author, the cards are stacked against her. Now she knows just how much. Because her sudden whim to pose as an “outdoorsy hunk of masculinity” male author for her new book just resulted in the unthinkable: a bidding war, a huge book deal, and the kind of fame every author dreams of. Now she’s in big trouble. Because she needs to convince the world that Zane Remington actually exists . . . but how?

By hiring an actor, of course.

Only Chris Stanton is not an actor—not officially. He’s used to balancing the books, not pretending he wrote one. Still, he’s mostly certain he can pose as some overly macho bro-author. But when the media descend on Daphne’s gorgeous remote home in the Yukon, it’s not enough for Chris to just be the face of Zane Remington—he’ll have to become him. All while hilariously balancing the terrifying dangers of the wilderness, a massive femme fandom, and a serious crush on Daphne. But as the hype circus gets more out of control, it’s just a matter of time before someone discovers their little write lie . . .

Audiobook Review: Command Decision by Elizabeth Moon

Command Decision
Author: Elizabeth Moon
Narrator: Cynthia Holloway
Series: Vatta's War (Book 4)
Publication: Tantor Audio (January 21, 2009)
Length: 15 hours and 3 minutes

Description: After orchestrating a galaxy-wide failure of the communications network owned and maintained by the powerful ISC corporation, Gammis Turek and his marauders strike swiftly and without mercy. First they shatter Vatta Transport. Then they overrun entire star systems, growing stronger and bolder. No one is safe from the pirate fleet.

But while they continue to move forward with their diabolical plan, they have made two critical mistakes.Their first mistake was killing Kylara Vatta's family.Their second mistake was leaving her alive.

Now Kylara is going to make them pay. But with a "fleet" consisting of only three ships - including her flagship, the Vanguard, a souped-up merchant cruiser - Kylara needs allies, and fast. Because even though she possesses the same coveted communication technology as the enemy, she has nowhere near their numbers or firepower.

Meanwhile, as Kylara's cousin Stella tries to bring together the shattered pieces of the family trading empire, new treachery is unfolding at ISC headquarters, where undercover agent Rafael Dunbarger, estranged son of the corporation's CEO, is trying to learn why the damaged network is not being repaired. What he discovers will send shock waves across the galaxy and crashing into Kylara's newly christened Space Defense Force at the worst possible moment.

My Thoughts: This fourth book in the Vatta's War series takes place on four fronts. Ky Vatta is trying to fight a war against the pirates with only a few ships and ship's captains who have agreed to work with her. 

Stella Vatta is trying to rebuild Vatta Transport from a base on Cascadia. She is guardian to young Toby who is a tech genius who has managed to improve the ship based ansibles which allow parity with the pirates who already have them. 

Rafe has gone back to Nexus II to try to figure out what is going on with his family and with the ISC global communications network. He discovers his parents and sister have been kidnapped and he needs to mount a rescue mission. The villain of the piece her is his father's second in command and heir apparent. He also learns that ISC never got patents for the ship based ansibles which leaves Stella the freedom to patent and sell them herself. 

And Aunt Grace is on Slotters Key trying to find out why the government turned against the Vatta family. She takes a place in the government after the corrupt president is taken into custody. She connects with Ky's mentor from the Spaceforce Academy and learns that he has been helping Ky since she left the academy. She manages to convince Slotters Key to call in all the privateers employed by Slotters Key and send them to Ky to be her military force. 

This was an engaging space opera filled with interesting characters. 

I bought this one in paperback in 2008. I recently purchased a Kindle copy and added the Audible Plus version to my Audible Library. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Night Woods by Paula Munier

The Night Woods
Author: Paula Munier
Series: A Mercy Carr Mystery (Book 6)
Publication: Minotaur Books (October 8, 2024)

Description: The sixth Mercy Carr Mystery in which Mercy and Elvis must prove the innocence of a new friend accused of murder.

Record snow and sleet and rain are pummeling Vermont and a wild boar has escaped from an exclusive hunting club nearby―but that won’t stop a very pregnant and very bored Mercy Carr from hiking her beloved woods with her loyal dog Elvis. She’s supposed to be decorating the nursery and helping her mother plan the baby shower, but she’d much rather be playing Scrabble with Homer Grant, a word-loving, shotgun-toting hermit living deep in the forest. But when she and Elvis drop by Homer’s cabin for their weekly game, they arrive to find an unknown dead man―and no sign of Homer.

As they search the woods, Mercy discovers a patch of devastation that could only be left behind by wild boar. She’s relieved when Elvis tracks Homer, injured but alive. But Homer’s troubles are far from over, as he’s still the number one suspect and he remembers nothing of the attack. When another corpse with a link to Homer is found, Mercy is determined to help her friend, an effort complicated by the unexpected arrival of her young cousin Tandie, sent by Mercy’s mother to keep an eye on her until the baby is born.

As the floods worsen, Troy and Susie Bear are called out with all the other first responders, and Mercy finds herself alone at Grackle Tree Farm with a concussed Homer, Tandie, and Elvis. As waters rise and the wild boar rampages, Mercy realizes that the murderer is out there ready to strike again, this time much closer to home.

My Thoughts: Mercy Carr is eight months pregnant and both bored and restless. She has no desire to help decorate the nursery or plan the baby shower. She decides to hike into the woods with her dog Elvis to visit her friend and scrabble-playing partner Homer. When she arrives, she finds a dead man on Homer's bed and Homer missing. 

She tracks down an injured Homer but then has to travois him to the place where he has built a cell tower to get help. With Homer the chief suspect, Mercy has a murder to investigate. She's also called in to help her Uncle Homer and friend billionaire Daniel track down another missing billionaire who disappeared from his exclusive hunting camp. 

It's mud time in Vermont and the weather is stormy. But bad weather and feral pigs aren't going to keep Mercy from investigating the two deaths which, at first, don't look to be connected. Nor is attempted close supervision by her female relatives going to stop her. 

This was an excellent story. Wrapped in the story of Odysseus, it talks about warriors coming home from war, PTSD, and throws in some game theory. I found the whole thing fascinating and engaging. I love Mercy and her close connections with her husband, family and friends. I also really enjoy the many canine companions that are part of the characters' lives. 

Favorite Quote:

"The society that separates its scholars from its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting by fools." --Thucydides

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: Gathering Mist by Margaret Mizushima

Gathering Mist
Author: Margaret Mizushima
Series: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery (Book 9)
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (October 8, 2024)

Description: Secrets hide within the fog deep in the mossy forests of the Pacific Northwest in this ninth thrilling installment in award-winning author Margaret Mizushima’s Timber Creek K-9 mystery series.

Deputy Mattie Wray, formerly Mattie Cobb, is summoned to Washington’s Olympic peninsula for an urgent search and rescue mission to find a celebrity’s missing child. With only a week left before her wedding, Mattie is hesitant to leave Timber Creek, but her K-9 partner Robo’s tracking skills are needed.

Dense forest, chilling rain, and unfriendly locals hamper their efforts, and soon Mattie suspects something more sinister than a lost child is at play. When one of the SAR dogs becomes ill, her fiancé, Cole Walker, suspects poison. Fearing for Mattie’s and Robo’s safety, Cole joins the search and rescue team as veterinary support.

Secrets that have lain hidden within the rugged terrain come to light, and when it is uncovered that the missing child was kidnapped, the search becomes a full-blown crime scene investigation, forcing Mattie, Robo, and Cole into a desperate search to find the missing child before it's too late.

My Thoughts: With just days to go before her wedding, Deputy Mattie Wray and her dog Robo are called to Washington to look for a missing nine-year-old. River Allen was there in Washington while his mother starred in a movie. First thoughts are that he wandered off exploring the area as he had done before. 

Horrible cold and rainy weather and an untamed forest make the search for the child very difficult. And River isn't the only child who has gone missing in relatively the same area. Two other boys have disappeared over the past few years. 

It doesn't take long for Mattie to become suspicious that they are dealing with more than a lost child. The actress's ex is saying that she needs a publicity bump after the failure of her last film and might have staged the child's disappearance. 

When another search-and-rescue dog is poisoned, Mattie's fiancé veterinarian Cole flies in to join the party and have Mattie's back. As they search, they find hostile homeowners and helpful ones too, but they don't find any trace of River until another young boy stumbles out of the forest. 

This was an exciting story filled with the dangers and difficulties faced by those who do search-and-rescue and the brave, smart dogs who accompany them. I love Mattie's relationship with Robo. I also like her growing relationship with Cole.

This was a great page-turner. I couldn't put it down until I found out what happened. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Murder at Blackwater Bend by Clare McKenna

Murder at Blackwater Bend
Author: Clare McKenna
Narrator: Sarah Zimmerman
Series: A Stella and Lyndy Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Highbridge (June 30, 2020
Length: 10 hours and 10 minutes

Description: Following a whirlwind engagement to Viscount "Lyndy" Lyndhurst, Stella Kendrick is finding her footing within an elite social circle in picturesque rural England. Except tea time with refined friends can be more dangerous than etiquette faux pas - especially in the company of Lady Philippa, the woman Lyndy was once set to marry, and her husband, the ostentatious Lord Fairbrother....

Outrage erupts and accusations fly after Lord Fairbrother's pony wins best in breed for the seventh consecutive year. The man has his share of secrets and adversaries, but Stella and Lyndy are in for a brutal shock when they discover his body floating in the river during a quiet morning fishing trip....

Suddenly unwelcome around hardly-grieving Lady Philippa and Lyndy's endlessly critical mother, Stella faces the bitter reality that she may always be an outsider - and one of her trusted new acquaintances may be a calculating killer. Now, Stella and her fiance must fight against the current to catch the culprit, before they're the next couple torn apart by tragedy.

My Thoughts: The second Lyndy and Stella historical mystery takes place right after the couple engagement. Stella is trying to find her feet in English society with no help from her future mother-in-law Lady Atherton who still thinks Lyndy can do better. Her boorish father is also no help since he's developing a relationship with an attractive London journalist who wants to write all the details about the up-coming wedding, but who also has a hidden agenda.

When the husband of Lady Atherton's pick for Lyndy's wife is found dead in a local trout stream by Lyndy and Stella on an early morning fishing trip, they have to add a murder investigation to their pre-wedding plans. Lord Fairbrother was not a nice man. Just a little investigation shows that he took bribes and may also be blackmailing people.

The suspects abound. Besides the suspicious journalist and the not-so-grieving widow, there is a plant hunter who seems particularly close to the widow and a local landowner who was one of the people Lord Fairbrother was working with. The local widow is busy throwing suspicion on the local snake catcher who is a favorite of Stella's because of the way he helped her horse when it was bitten by a snake. But he is soon found murdered too. 

I enjoyed the historical setting. I like watching the way Stella and Lyndy's romance is growing. The mystery was also nicely twisty.

I bought this one from Chirp July 25, 2023. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Amongst Our Enemies by Ben Aaronovitch

Amongst Our Enemies
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Series: Rivers of London (Book 9)
Publication: DAW (April 12, 2022)

Description: The ninth novel of the bestselling Rivers of London urban fantasy series returns to the adventures of Peter Grant, detective and apprentice wizard, as he solves magical crimes in the city of London.

There is a world hidden underneath this great city.

The London Silver Vaults—for well over a century, the largest collection of silver for sale in the world. It has more locks than the Bank of England and more cameras than a paparazzi convention.

Not somewhere you can murder someone and vanish without a trace—only that’s what happened.

The disappearing act, the reports of a blinding flash of light, and memory loss amongst the witnesses all make this a case for Detective Constable Peter Grant and the Special Assessment Unit.

Alongside their boss DCI Thomas Nightingale, the SAU find themselves embroiled in a mystery that encompasses London’s tangled history, foreign lands and, most terrifying of all, the North!

And Peter must solve this case soon, because back home his partner Beverley is expecting twins any day now. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s about to encounter something—and somebody—that nobody ever expects…

Effortlessly original, endlessly inventive and hugely entertaining—step into the world of the much-loved, bestselling Rivers of London series.

My Thoughts: The ninth Rivers of London contemporary fantasy begins with a murder in the London Silver Vaults. Detective Peter Grant and the SAU are called in because the man died with a hole in his chest and no weapon or killer has been found. 

Investigating the victim leads to a group of college students back in 1989 who formed a religious group complete with mystical rings. The first victim was looking for his ring when he was murdered. Now the team has to track down the other ring bearers before the killer who has been described and an angel complete with wings finds them first. 

Peter's rival Lesley also has a contract with someone to find the rings first. 

Meanwhile back at home, Peter's wife Beverley is getting ready to deliver twins any day. She wants Peter to get the case wrapped up before the babies are born. 

I enjoyed this story which I half-read and half-listened to. I like all the history that the author manages to include in the story and I love all the fantasy elements too. 

Favorite Quote:

The government were in their sixth year of trying to cut crime bu reducing the number of active police officers. So management were getting shirty about expenses. 

I bought this one April 13, 2022. You can buy your copy here.