Sunday, November 30, 2014

Stacking the Shelves (Nov. 30, 2014)

Tynga of Team Tynga's Reviews has a meme to spotlight the books we receive each week. Visit her site to check out the linky and see what everyone gets. I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow. 

I only got one book this week. I bought this one for my Kindle and can't wait until I have time to read it. 
Night Shift has stories by two of my favorite authors - Nalini Singh and Ilona Andrews. I am not yet familiar with the other two authors. 

What did you add to your shelf?

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Book Review: Wake to Darkness by Maggie Shayne

Wake to Darkness
Author: Maggie Shayne
Series: A Brown and DeLuca Novel
Publication: Harlequin MIRA (November 26, 2013)

Description: Stranded with a murderer…

Rachel de Luca's uncanny sense of perception is the key to her success as a self-help celebrity. Even before she regained her sight, she had a gift for seeing people's most carefully hidden secrets. But the secret she shares with Detective Mason Brown is one she has promised to keep. As for Mason, he sees Rachel more clearly than she'd like to admit.

After a single night of adrenaline-fueled passion, they have agreed to keep their distance—until a string of murders brings them together again. Mason thinks that he can protect everyone he loves, including Rachel, by taking them to a winter hideaway, but danger follows them up the mountain.

As guests disappear from the snowbound resort, the race to find the murderer intensifies. Rachel knows she's a target. Will acknowledging her feelings for Mason destroy her—or save them both and stop a killer?

My Thoughts: WAKE TO DARKNESS was an excellent romantic suspense title. Rachel is getting used to being able to see after twenty years of blindness. Mason is getting used to the idea that his brother Eric was a serial killer who committed suicide - a fact that Mason covered up to protect his widow and two young sons. Rachel is no longer seeing visions through the serial killer's corneas of murders being committed. Life should be good.

Unfortunately someone is killing other people who received donations of Eric's other organs. After Rachel is attacked, Mason decides to get her, her niece and her dog out of town. Once Mason's sister-in-law is attacked, Mason decides to send her and her boys along with Rachel to an isolated resort. But the killer has followed them.

This house takes place in the days leading up to Christmas. Since they are at a ski resort in an isolated area things get a lot more complicated when a blizzard moves in stranding all of them at a resort with a murderer also in residence.

The story was filled with tension the built up as the story progressed. It was also filled with romantic tension as Mason and Rachel feel each other out about their relationship. I liked the realistic characters in this one. I could easily understand how Jeremy and Josh were stressed about the loss of their father even though they didn't know that he was a serial killer.

I was completely surprised by the identity of the villain but, after learning who it was, could look back and see hints. Fans of romantic suspense will enjoy this tension-filled story.

Favorite Quote:
If you asked me, "trust" and "seventeen" should never be uttered in the same sentence if there was a boyfriend involved. Teenaged girls loved harder than any other species. Teenage love was apocalyptic. Wild horses couldn't stop it.
I received this book from Amazon Vine. You can buy your copy here.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Friday Memes: Wake to Darkness by Maggie Shayne

Happy Friday everybody!
Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.


This week I am spotlighting Wake to Darkness by Maggie Shayne. This is the second book in the Brown and DeLuca series. I received my copy for review from Amazon Vine. Here is the description:
Stranded with a murderer…

Rachel de Luca's uncanny sense of perception is the key to her success as a self-help celebrity. Even before she regained her sight, she had a gift for seeing people's most carefully hidden secrets. But the secret she shares with Detective Mason Brown is one she has promised to keep. As for Mason, he sees Rachel more clearly than she'd like to admit.

After a single night of adrenaline-fueled passion, they have agreed to keep their distance—until a string of murders brings them together again. Mason thinks that he can protect everyone he loves, including Rachel, by taking them to a winter hideaway, but danger follows them up the mountain.

As guests disappear from the snowbound resort, the race to find the murderer intensifies. Rachel knows she's a target. Will acknowledging her feelings for Mason destroy her—or save them both and stop a killer?
Beginning:
If the bullshit I wrote was true, I wouldn't have been standing with my back to the man I'd most like to bone, saying "No."
Friday 56:
The scene was already swarming. The state police forensics team was already there, and Rosie was waiting for him on the shoulder, hunching into his police-issue overcoat and wearing a completely non-regulation furry hat with earflaps pulled down.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Book Review: Sleep with the Lights On by Maggie Shayne

Sleep with the Lights On
Author: Maggie Shayne
Series: A Brown and De Luca Novel
Publication: Harlequin MIRA (September 24, 2013)

Description: Through the eyes of a killer… 

Rachel de Luca has found incredible success writing self-help books. But her own blindness and the fact that her troubled brother has gone missing have convinced her that positive thinking is nothing but bull.

Her cynicism wavers when a cornea transplant restores her sight. The new eyes seem to give her new life, until they prove too good to be true and she starts seeing terrifying visions of brutal murders—crimes she soon learns are all too real.

Detective Mason Brown's own brother recently died, leaving behind a horrific secret. In atonement, Mason donated his brother's organs, though he's kept the fact quiet. Now he wants to help Rachel find her brother, but when he discovers the shocking connection between her visions and his own brother, he suddenly has to do everything in his power to save her from a predator who is somehow still hunting from beyond the grave.

My Thoughts: This romantic suspense title was heavier on the suspense than the romance. Rachel de Luca lost her sight when she was twelve and now makes her living as an author of self-help books with a positive message. Rachel is really a positive person herself. She is sharp-tongued and rather cranky. When she gets a chance to have a cornea transplant to restore her sight, she is first hesitant. Previous operations had not been successful. This one works remarkably well. At least it does until she starts have dreams and visions of murder and starts to believe that she is seeing through the eyes of a serial killer.

Mason Brown is a police detective. His brother has recently committed suicide and left notes and evidence that he was the serial killer who caused the disappearance of thirteen young men - among them Rachel's brother. Mason decides to cover up his brother's confession to protect his brother's wife who is expecting a baby and his two young sons. Mason decides to donate his brother's organs in some attempt to make up for his brother's crimes and to ease his own conscience. Rachel is one of the recipients.

Rachel and Mason meet when she goes to the police station to put pressure on them to keep investigating her brother's disappearance. Still blind, she steps out into traffic and Mason hits her with his car.

I had some trouble with this story because of the large number of coincidences. I mean, cop's brother is serial killer; heroine's brother is one of his victims; heroine gets tissue from killer and starts having visions. Mason is put in charge of the investigation to track down the serial killer. Mason knows who the killer was but things change when the killings start again. He doesn't believe that she is seeing things when she first tells him but gradually becomes convinced.

My favorite character in the book is Rachel's newly-adopted, blind, elderly bulldog. I loved it each time Myrtle appeared in the story. I loved how much of a softy Rachel became around Myrtle. I could just see her with her car goggles and yellow scarf around her neck sitting in the passenger seat while Rachel drove her classic yellow Thunderbird.

While I could believe that they were attracted to each other, I had more difficulty believing that they could overcome the obstacles to any sort of relationship. Neither one of them seemed ready to begin a new relationship. Since this is the first book in a series, I am eager to see how their relationship plays out.

Favorite Quote:
I felt like an idiot, like a stereotypical helpless female calling on a man for help over the nightmare. But I knew—way down deep, where you know the things you don't really know you know—I knew this was not just a nightmare. I knew, somehow, that what I'd seen had been real. 
I got this book for review through Amazon Vine. You can buy your copy here.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

ARC Review: Her Grave Secrets by Kendra Elliot

Her Grave Secrets
Author: Kendra Elliot
Series: Rogue River Novellas (Book 3)
Publication: Montlake Romance (November 4, 2014)

Description: There are no secrets in a small town—until someone has one worth dying for.

Local cop Stevie Taylor and police chief Zane Duncan have startling new proof that a deadly street drug is expanding its poisonous grip on their small town: a skull found on the banks of the Rogue River has two bullet holes in the back. Still caught up in the excitement of their new relationship, Stevie and Zane are determined to track down the drug’s source before more lives in Solitude, Oregon, are lost.

Then one death strikes especially close to home, leading to heartache and confusion for Stevie. As the drug distributers strike hard and the body count in Solitude grows higher, she and Zane must hunt down the deadly killer—but are they the predators, or the prey?

Filled with unexpected twists, Her Grave Secrets is the third exciting Rogue River novella in the romantic suspense series from Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh.

My Thoughts: The action is ratcheting up in this third of four novellas in the Rogue River series. Stevie and Zane are trying to find the drug dealers who are selling C-22 in their town. It has been confirmed that Stevie's father, the former chief of police, was a victim on the drug too. That just increases the sorrow that his family is feeling.

Stevie and Zane are also building their relationship. I like the mutual respect they have for each other along with the love. I like that they can work together and not let their relationship interfere. I like that Zane is beginning to feel more like he belongs to the town.

When Roy's body is found Stevie and Zane learn that he must have been involved in the drug sales too. He was shot execution style. Both Stevie and Zane find it hard to believe that a man they thought they knew so well could have done something so out of character.

I do have a guess about the source of the drug problem but it is just a guess and I could easily be wrong. I can hardly wait for the final novella to learn the resolution of this story.

Favorite Quote:
We don't have a drug problem.

Roy's words from the night the teen died at O'Rourke's Lake echoed in her brain. The boy had clearly died from something he ingested or injected, but Roy had been absolute in his insistence that Solitude didn't have a drug problem. Even while the evidence lay dead at his feet.
I received this eARC from Montlake Romance. You can buy your copy here.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Teaser Tuesday: Sleep with the Lights On by Maggie Shayne

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:
Being able to see was so damn good, I almost started believing my own bull. I mean, really, you've gotta give me some leeway here. After being blind for twenty years, getting your sight back is a pretty big deal, and even the bitchiest of skeptical bitches would start to waver a little.
This week my teaser comes from Sleep with the Lights On by Maggie Shayne. I chose this 2013 release from the Amazon Vine program. Here is the description:
Through the eyes of a killer… 

Rachel de Luca has found incredible success writing self-help books. But her own blindness and the fact that her troubled brother has gone missing have convinced her that positive thinking is nothing but bull.

Her cynicism wavers when a cornea transplant restores her sight. The new eyes seem to give her new life, until they prove too good to be true and she starts seeing terrifying visions of brutal murders—crimes she soon learns are all too real.

Detective Mason Brown's own brother recently died, leaving behind a horrific secret. In atonement, Mason donated his brother's organs, though he's kept the fact quiet. Now he wants to help Rachel find her brother, but when he discovers the shocking connection between her visions and his own brother, he suddenly has to do everything in his power to save her from a predator who is somehow still hunting from beyond the grave.
Is paranormal thriller a genre?

Monday, November 24, 2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Nov. 24, 2014)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

Last week was a quiet, cold week. It should have allowed for lots of reading time. However, I was distracted by television programs (The Voice, The Biggest Loser, and anything on the Food Network) and by computer games and didn't read as much as I should have. I'm on the board of directors for my town-home association and we had some work to do this week too that ate up more of my reading time and will eat up still more in the coming weeks. I also chose two quite long books from my stack that were both less than completely engaging.

This coming week is a short one at work. We have students on Monday and Tuesday and then have the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving. The weather is supposed to be good this week too. No snowstorms will mar holiday travel. I have been planning the menu as I am the cook this year. I am eager for my brother to arrive on Wednesday. I haven't seen him since August.

I also hope to fit in some extra reading time this week since I will not be taking part in any pre- or post-holiday shopping. In fact, I intend to avoid any shopping venues all weekend. Hopefully, I'll be able to get shopping and errands done on Wednesday while much of the world is still at work.
Read Last Week
I thought Undercity by Catherine Asaro was a very entertaining entry into her Skolian Universe books. I really liked the main character and can't wait to read more stories about her. My review will be posted on December 11. The book will be released on Dec. 2.

I also read Talon by Julie Kagawa this week. While it was a good story, I was a little disappointed because I had such high expectations for the book. My review will be posted on Dec. 11 for this books too. 
I devoured Archangel's Shadows by Nalini Singh this week. I really enjoyed Ash and Janvier's story. My review will be posted on Dec. 13.

Currently
I am slogging my way through Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. I don't know if the problem is that is has been too long since I read the book before this one, the sheer size of the book, or the huge number of viewpoint characters, but it is going slowly. 
Next Week
Next up are a couple of books from by TBR pile. 

Heist Society by Ally Carter is one that I have been eager to re-read before going on to read the rest of this series. 

Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King sneaked by me when it was published. I love this series and didn't realize I had missed one until I got the latest for review from NetGalley. 
Then it is back to my review stack.

Cajun Nights by D. J. Donaldson is a re-release of the first book in a series that I have been meaning to read for quite a while. It was released on Nov. 13 but arrived after my calendar for November was full. 

This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner is the sequel to a review book I enjoyed last year. It will be released on December 23. 
Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?
I hope everyone has a great week. Leave me a link and I'll visit to see what you have planned. 

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Stacking the Shelves (Nov. 23, 2014)

Tynga of Team Tynga's Reviews has a meme to spotlight the books we receive each week. Visit her site to check out the linky and see what everyone gets. I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow.

Here are the books I added this week:
I bought a print copy of Shattered by Kevin Hearne. It is my plan to give this one to my brother for Christmas. He has read all the books before this one in the series. I have a copy of this one on my Kindle but I am still three books behind. 

I added two books by Laurie R. King too. Touchstone and The Bones of Paris are the first two books in the Harris Stuyvesant series. I am a huge fan of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series but these are new to me.

What did you add to your stack this week?

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Book Review: Unbinding by Eileen Wilks

Unbinding
Author: Eileen Wilks
Series: World of the Lupi (Book 11)
Publication: Berkley (October 7, 2014)

Description: In the newest Novel of the Lupi, the human and elven worlds are both about to come under attack…

After questing through the sidhe realms with her ex-hellhound lover, Nathan, Kai Tallman Michalski has finally returned home. But she knows Nathan will eventually be called back to serve his queen—and Kai will have to decide whether to enter her majesty’s service as well. Sure, the job comes with great bennies, but there’s one big downside: she would have to swear absolute fealty to the Queen of Winter.

For now, though, Kai is glad to be home, and glad that Nathan completed his mission for his queen with surprising ease. But what seemed to be a quick conclusion turns out to be anything but. The two of them helped thwart the sidhe god of chaos—and he is not happy about that. He’s got plans for them. Plans, too, for the sidhe who killed him some three millennia ago. Nor has he abandoned his plans for Earth, as they learn when chaos begins bursting out all over...

My Thoughts: This story shifts focus from Lily Yu and Rule and concentrates on Kai Tallman Michalski and her lover Nathan who happens to be a former hellhound and a servant of the Winter Queen. Having spent some time in faerie, Kai and Nathan are back on Earth. Kai is trying to decided if she should pledge herself to the Winter Queen too.

Kai has a rare Gift. She is a mindhealer. That gift is particularly handy when a mad god of chaos decides that he wants to gather a whole new bunch of human worshipers. Kai, Nathan, the lupi and the FBI are all kept busy as the god begins kidnapping humans in pairs and sowing chaos in multiple places in the San Diego area.

Things get even more difficult for Kai when Nathan, Benedict and Cullen and kidnapped and taken to the godhead. Kai is sick with worry and left alone on Earth to figure out what the god wants and how he can be stopped. Meanwhile, Nathan is trying to figure out how he can manage to kill the god now that they are in the same world. This is complicated by the fact that the god has pitted Nathan and Benedict in a fight to the death with the fates of their ladies as the prize.

The story is filled with action and deals with of lot of magic. It had, perhaps, more explanations of magic than I cared about or could understand. The strength of the characters carried me through some of the more complex bits. Wilks has a talent for making characters that I can and do care about.

Fans of this series won't want to miss this episode.

Favorite Quote:
"Let me tell you the true lesson, then, to supplant the false one. You will live a long time, my beautiful Nadrellian. Not as long as I, but long enough to grow weary, as many of my people do. Remember this: the only way to live is to live—and death is always, always, part of living. We die over and over. Oh, the big death comes but once, but a thousand deaths arrive with every turn of the seasons—the death of a day or a lover, of a friend or a dream, death piled upon death. The slow sundering of years parts us even from who we once were and from the memories which parented us. Live anyway."
I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Friday Memes: Unbinding by Eileen Wilks

Happy Friday everybody!
Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

This week I'm spotlighting a book from my TBR mountain. Unbinding by Eileen Wilks is the most recent in her World of the Lupi series. Here is the description:
In the newest Novel of the Lupi, the human and elven worlds are both about to come under attack… 

After questing through the sidhe realms with her ex-hellhound lover, Nathan, Kai Tallman Michalski has finally returned home. But she knows Nathan will eventually be called back to serve his queen—and Kai will have to decide whether to enter her majesty’s service as well. Sure, the job comes with great bennies, but there’s one big downside: she would have to swear absolute fealty to the Queen of Winter.

For now, though, Kai is glad to be home, and glad that Nathan completed his mission for his queen with surprising ease. But what seemed to be a quick conclusion turns out to be anything but. The two of them helped thwart the sidhe god of chaos—and he is not happy about that. He’s got plans for them. Plans, too, for the sidhe who killed him some three millennia ago. Nor has he abandoned his plans for Earth, as they learn when chaos begins bursting out all over...
Beginning:
Kai hadn't had a cup of coffee in eighteen months.
Friday 56:
The mental voice that cut through Arjenie's physical voice was as cold and crystalline clear as ice. Sun Mzao, Kai thought, her heart jumping once, hard, in her chest. The black dragon.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Book Review: A Call to Duty by David Weber and Timothy Zahn

A Call to Duty
Authors: David Weber and Timothy Zahn
Series: Manticore Ascendant (Book 1)
Publication: Baen Books; 1 edition (September 15, 2014)

Description: Growing up, Travis Uriah Long yearned for order and discipline in his life . . . the two things his neglectful mother couldn’t or wouldn’t provide. So when Travis enlisted in the Royal Manticoran Navy, he thought he’d finally found the structure he’d always wanted so desperately.

But life in the RMN isn’t exactly what he expected. Boot camp is rough and frustrating; his first ship assignment lax and disorderly; and with the Star Kingdom of Manticore still recovering from a devastating plague, the Navy is possibly on the edge of budgetary extinction.

The Star Kingdom is a minor nation among the worlds of the Diaspora, its closest neighbors weeks or months away, with little in the way of resources. With only modest interstellar trade, no foreign contacts to speak of, a plague-ravaged economy to rebuild, and no enemies looming at the hyper limit, there are factions in Parliament who want nothing more than to scrap the Navy and shift its resources and manpower elsewhere.

But those factions are mistaken. The universe is not a safe place.

Travis Long is about to find that out.

My Thoughts: A CALL TO DUTY is the first book in a new series that takes place early in Manticore's history. The main character is Travis Uriah Long who is seventeen when the story begins. He had been a neglected child and ached for order and boundaries in his life. He rather impulsively joins the Royal Manitcoran Navy in hopes of finding the structure his life had been missing.

Travis hasn't picked the best time to join the Navy. A recent plague and other political considerations have put into question whether or not the navy would continue to exist. There hadn't been any threat to the star system and many in politics felt that the money devoted to the navy could best be used for domestic needs.

The navy itself was going through some issues too. Politically well-connected students were advanced over more competent students and cheating was common. Travis was a rule-follower and his calling attention to breaches in the rules didn't endear him to all his commanding officers or to all of his fellow recruits.

However, he makes it through training and finds himself on a ship where he gets involved in a situation. He comes up with a possible solution but can't get the commanding officer to accept it which leads to the death of a ship which happened to contain two of the people who helped him when he was a recruit.

He is surprised when he is assigned to another ship that is on its way to a meeting with Haven and some other star systems. He is even more surprised when a well-planned pirate attack happens. Despite being a rule follower, Travis also has a unique way of thinking outside the box. He does manage to provide some ideas that are very useful in Manticore's counter-attack.

This story has a lot of the usual Honorverse things - political intrigue and infighting, lots of descriptions of ships and weapons, and multiple points of view. It provides a good explanation of the development of the Star Kingdom.

I enjoyed watching Travis find his people and find a place in the Royal Manticoran Navy. I look forward to his further adventures.

Favorite Quote:
"Long," he said. "Travis Uriah Long." He tried another half-smile. "Is an ethical core one of the requirements you mentioned for naval officers?"

"If it was, the officer corps would be a lot smaller," Blackstone said dryly. "But if it's not a requirement, it's certainly a plus. Shall we go back inside and get started on the datawork?"
I bought this one for my Kindle. You can buy your copy here.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

ARC Review: Gone to Her Grave by Melinda Leigh

Gone to Her Grave
Author: Melinda Leigh
Series: Rogue River Novella Book 2
Publication: Montlake Romance (October 21, 2014)

Description: In Solitude, Oregon, everyone has secrets…and some will kill to keep them.

When she believes a teen is falsely accused of drug dealing, social worker Carly Taylor takes on a high-risk case and her estranged husband—the detective in charge of the investigation—to prove the boy innocent. A deadly new designer drug has taken hold of her small rural hometown of Solitude, Oregon, and Carly is determined to find the real dealer and clear the teen’s name. But the deeper she digs into the case, the more danger she unearths, until someone decides it’s time for Carly to move on…permanently.

Investigator Seth Harding knows he can’t stop his wife when she has a child to protect. But he risks any chance of reconciliation with Carly if he can’t learn to accept her dangerous job. When a drug dealer decides Carly is getting too close, will Seth lose her altogether?

A pulse-pounding Rogue River novella, Gone to Her Grave is the second exciting addition to the new romantic suspense series from Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot.

My Thoughts: This second Rogue River novella is action-packed. Carly Taylor is a social worker who is currently separated from her husband Seth who is an investigator for the County Sheriff's office. Their main source of conflict is Seth's desire to protect her and his feeling that his work is more important than hers.

Carly is immensely busy in this story. She is concerned for Tammy Fisher and her four kids because Darren Fisher is a drunk who abuses his family. Carly tries to get Tammy to ask for assistance by Darren has her so cowed that she won't. She is also involved when Russ Warner is arrested for drug dealing and a possible homicide. Russ was introduced in the previous story when his abusive father attempted to kill Zane and Stevie.

Russ is accused by another teen - Peter Rollins - of selling him the same drug that has been plaguing the county and has been responsible for a number of deaths. The one thing about this story I had trouble believing is that Peter's mother would take the drug away from Peter and then take it herself. The fact that she is in a coma and might die is what sets Russ up for a murder charge. Carly believes Russ when he says that Peter is lying and both Zane and Seth think so too after questioning Peter. But Peter is supposed to be a good kid from a good family and Russ's dad was a drug dealer.

Besides the relationship issues, Carly is in real danger when Darren goes out of control. Being rescued by Seth who has had some tough love from Carly's mother may give them the opportunity to rebuild their relationship.

We still don't know who is making and selling the drugs in town. We do learn that Carly's father's death is going to be looked at more carefully. It is possible that it wasn't a heart attack that killed the healthy 59-year-old. I am also still wondering where Roy Krueger disappeared to. He was the police chief briefly after Carly's father died but left town abruptly when Zane took over. I'm also wondering what is going on at the resort Faye O'Rourke is building.

I can't wait to read the third and fourth books in this quartet to finally have my questions answered.

Favorite Quote:
"And that, Seth, is the problem," Patsy said. "Until you accept Carly as she is, not as you want her to be, you aren't going to get her back."
I received this novella from the author for review. You can buy your copy here.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Teaser Tuesday: A Call to Duty by David Weber and Timothy Zahn

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Teaser:
Children, he remembered reading once, not only needed boundaries, but actually craved them. Boundaries were a comforting fence against the lurking dangers of absolute freedom. They were also proof that someone cared what happened to them.
This week my teaser comes from A Call to Duty by David Weber and Timothy Zahn. This is the first book in a new science fiction series. Here is the description:
Growing up, Travis Uriah Long yearned for order and discipline in his life . . . the two things his neglectful mother couldn't or wouldn't provide. So when Travis enlisted in the Royal Manticoran Navy, he thought he’d finally found the structure he’d always wanted so desperately.

But life in the RMN isn’t exactly what he expected. Boot camp is rough and frustrating; his first ship assignment lax and disorderly; and with the Star Kingdom of Manticore still recovering from a devastating plague, the Navy is possibly on the edge of budgetary extinction.

The Star Kingdom is a minor nation among the worlds of the Diaspora, its closest neighbors weeks or months away, with little in the way of resources. With only modest interstellar trade, no foreign contacts to speak of, a plague-ravaged economy to rebuild, and no enemies looming at the hyper limit, there are factions in Parliament who want nothing more than to scrap the Navy and shift its resources and manpower elsewhere.

But those factions are mistaken. The universe is not a safe place.

Travis Long is about to find that out.
This series is set in the same world as the Honor Harrington books but takes place many years earlier.

Monday, November 17, 2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Nov. 17, 2014)

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I had a quiet week this week marred by our first snowfall. I am never ready for snow and it came particularly early this year. Also arriving was unseasonably cold temperatures. The weather guy on TV said our average temperatures this week are the same as the usual average temperatures in January. It looks like we have a long winter before us.

I didn't get to go to my signing on Friday. My friend had to work and I didn't want to brave the cold and the dark alone. She is usually the one who drives once it gets dark as I don't see as well as I could wish when it is dark.

I have been doing some planning for Thanksgiving. My brother is supposed to be joining me at my home this year since he isn't working and I am. For the past 38 years, I have been the one to travel. It will be nice to stay here - but it means that I have to cook! The turkey breast is in the freezer and the rest of the menu is planned. I'll be trying out a couple of new recipes this year. I hope we like them.

Not driving this year will give me lots more reading time. I can't wait for our school break in a week and a half.

Read Last Week
I read Walking on Her Grave by Melinda Leigh which was the concluding novella in the Rogue River quartet. I enjoyed this story which combined romance with chilling suspense. My review will be posted on December 3.

I also read Hour of Need by Melinda Leigh. This novel begins a new series and was very suspenseful. I also enjoyed the romance. There was a huge cast of characters. I expect to see more of them in the following books in this series. My review will be posted on December. 6
For Real by Alison Cherry was a debut book about two sisters taking part in a reality TV show in an attempt to get revenge on the older sister's cheating boyfriend. It is told by the younger sister and is part romance and part coming of age story. I liked it. My review will be posted on December 6.

The Stag Lord by Darby Kaye is her first adult fantasy novel. I really liked the story. It is about a man and his son who are on the run from a vengeful Celtic god. I loved the relationships in this story and really liked the characters. My review will be posted on December 4.

Currently
I'm reading Talon by Julie Kagawa. I am eager to find out about dragons living among us in human form. 

Next Week
Here are the print books I would like to read in December. I have some breaks in my review calendar and can get a few off TBR mountain. 

First up this week will be these (in this order):
Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?
What do you have planned for the week? Leave me a link and I'll be sure to visit.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Stacking the Shelves (Nov. 16, 2014)

Tynga of Team Tynga's Reviews has a meme to spotlight the books we receive each week. Visit her site to check out the linky and see what everyone gets. I guarantee that your TBR pile will grow.

Bought
Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King is the 12th book in the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series. I recently received the 13th for review and realized that I had never read number 12. 

Gifted by Kelley Armstrong contains two stories in two of her series. I follow both series and am eager to read these.

Review Books
Cajun Nights by D. J. Donaldson 
The Stag Lord by Darby Kaye
Hungry Like the Wolf by Paige Tyler
Private Affair by Rebecca York
Walking on Her Grave by Melinda Leigh

What did you add to your stacks?

Saturday, November 15, 2014

ARC Review: Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death by Mark Reutlinger

Mrs. Kaplan and the Matzoh Ball of Death
Author: Mark Reutlinger
Publication: Alibi (November 18, 2014)

Description: Move over, Miss Marple—Mark Reutlinger’s charming cozy debut introduces readers to the unforgettable amateur sleuth Rose Kaplan and her loyal sidekick, Ida.

Everyone knows that Rose Kaplan makes the best matzoh ball soup around—she’s a regular matzoh ball maven—so it’s no surprise at the Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors when, once again, Mrs. K wins the honor of preparing the beloved dish for the Home’s seder on the first night of Passover.

But when Bertha Finkelstein is discovered facedown in her bowl of soup, her death puts a bit of a pall on the rest of the seder. And things go really meshugge when it comes out that Bertha choked on a diamond earring earlier stolen from resident Daisy Goldfarb. Suddenly Mrs. K is the prime suspect in the police investigation of both theft and murder. Oy vey<—it’s a recipe for disaster, unless Rose and her dear friend Ida can summon up the chutzpah to face down the police and solve the mystery themselves.

My Thoughts: Welcome to the Julius and Rebecca Cohen Home for Jewish Seniors! Residents Rose Kaplan and Ida Berkowitz have a mystery to solve when Bertha Finkelstein dies while eating Rose's matzoh ball soup. To clear her name, Rose has to find out what happened to Berth. How did Daisy Goldfarb's diamond earring get into Bertha's throat?

Luckily, Rose is a devoted fan of Sherlock Holmes and Ida is there to be her Jewish Dr. Watson. Ida is the narrator of the story which is filled with Yiddish expressions–each translated on first apprearance–and the sentence structure of someone who learned English as a second language.

This was an excellent and funny cozy mystery. Ida's desire to help her friend mixed with her reluctance to do anything dangerous added to the fun. Ida's colorful asides were also amusing. And wasn't it lucky that Ida's niece Sara just happened to be friends with a cat burglar?

Along the way, the two intrepid detectives also managed to save one of the resident's daughters from a real fershtinkiner who was courting her. With the help of one of the resident's sons who is a police officer, Rose gets the unsuitable suitor's criminal record and uses it to convince his mother to cut off his support. The mother, a former cleaner at the home, had retired after winning a substantial amount in the lottery.

This was a fun story for fans of cozy mysteries.

Favorite Quote:
It's an old joke that every Jewish holiday has the same theme: "They tried to kill us, they failed, now let's eat." Okay, so maybe on Yom Kippur we skip the last part and we fast, but we make up for it on Pesach, a holiday were eating is not only allowed but required.
I got this eARC from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.