Monday, January 31, 2022

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 31, 2022)

 It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.


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 will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

I had company this week when a friend drove up from Southern Minnesota to spend a few days with me. We did lots of talking and laughing ... and eating! She brought me a bag with 12 wrapped books. I'm supposed to choose, unwrap, and read one a month. My first pick was The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman which I have not read before. I'm looking forward to having a surprise each month.


We mostly stayed at home during her visit, but we did take my brother along to Texas Roadhouse Saturday evening. It was really, really crowded and some of the crowd were high school students all dressed up formally for Sno Ball at a local high school. We had called ahead to get put on the wait list and really didn't have a long wait before we were seated.

The weather was cold but there wasn't any snow while she was here. We lucked out on the weather.

I was able to get an eARC of Fair Trade by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller January 26. I wanted to listen to the first two books in Jethri's story arc before I read it. I pushed everything else on my plans back so that I could do that, and now I'm ready to read the new story. It won't be released until May but I can't wait to read it. As a side note, I pre-ordered the hardcover on October 19, 2021.

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)
  • The Night Shift by Alex Finlay (Review; March 1) -- Excellent thriller about the connections between two murders fifteen years apart. I really enjoyed this one. My review will be posted on February 24.
  • Buried Bones by Melinda Leigh (Mine; Kindle) -- This is the 7th novella in the Widow's Island series. I enjoy the characters and the mystery was nice too.
  • The Lost Bones by Kendra Elliot (Mine; Kindle) -- This is the 8th novella in the Widow's Island series. It also had great characters and an interesting mystery.
  • The Far Side of the Stars by David Drake (Mine; Paperback, Kindle & Audiobook) -- This is the third in the Daniel Leary/Adele Mundy space opera series. I've had the paperback since 2008. This is an entertaining series that has taken me too long to start. My review will be posted on March 10.
  • Balance of Trade by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Mine; Kindle & Audiobook) -- This is the first book about Jethri Gobelyn who is a Terran who is adopted into a Liaden Clan in order to learn to be a trader according to the Liaden tradition. Here's my review from April 5, 2020.
  • Trade Secret by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (Mine; Kindle & Audiobook) -- This is the second book in the Jethri Gobelyn series which takes place early in the Liaden Universe timeline. Here's my review from April 14, 2020.
  • Deep Night by Ambrose Ibsen (Mine; Kindle & Audiobook) -- This mystery was an Audible Daily Deal that I listened to with a friend. I wrote a review for Goodreads and LibraryThing but won't be reviewing it on my blog.
Currently
Next Week
Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Review:
Purchased:
What was your week like?

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Book & Audio Review: The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham

The Bookshop Murder

Author:
Merryn Allingham
Narrator: Charlie Norfolk
Series: A Flora Steele Mystery (Book 1)
Publication: Bookouture (July 26, 2021); Hachette UK - Bookouture (July 26, 2021)
Length: 256 p.; 7 hours and 17 minutes

Description: Join Flora Steele – bookshop owner, bicycle-rider, daydreamer and amateur detective as she tackles her first case!

Sussex, 1955:
When Flora Steele opens up her bookshop one morning she’s in for the surprise of her life! Because there, amongst her bookcases, is the body of a young man, with a shock of white-blond hair. But who was he? And how did he come to be there?

Determined to save her beloved bookshop’s reputation and solve the baffling mystery, Flora enlists the help of handsome and brooding Jack Carrington: crime writer, recluse and her most reliable customer.

The unlikely duo set about investigating the extraordinary case, following a lead across the sleepy village of Abbeymead to The Priory Hotel. When the hotel’s gardener dies suddenly, and they find out their victim was staying there, Flora’s suspicions are raised.

Are the two deaths connected? Is someone at the hotel responsible – the nervous cook, the money-obsessed receptionist, or the formidable manageress?

As the trail of clues takes Flora and Jack all over the village it becomes clear there’s more than one person hiding secrets in Abbeymead…

But does Flora have what it takes to uncover the truth – or will her amateur sleuthing put her in harm’s way?

My Thoughts: It's 1955 and Flora Steele is just opening the bookshop she and her aunt had developed together. Times are hard; England is still trying to recover from World War II. Flora has her own difficult recovery to accomplish too. Her aunt's illness and death had meant that Flora had to delay her dreams to travel and see new places. 

Flora's first customer of the day is recluse Jack Carrington who is a man who writes crime novels. This is the first she has seen of him despite him living just outside the village for five years. He usually sends an errand runner to pick up the books he orders. After Flora finds his books in the basement and goes to find him in the quaint old shop, she discovers that he has discovered the body of a young man back in the stacks. 

Flora had seen him before when he almost ran her and her bicycle off the road the previous day but has no idea why he would have been in her closed shop and certainly no idea why he might have died there. The police are quick to write the death off as a heart attack which seems unlikely in a twenty-one-year-old and fit looking man. When rumors start to spread that there must be something wrong with her shop and business, which hadn't been brisk. slows to a trickle, Flora decides that her only option is to find out how the young man died and clear the reputation of her shop.

Flora recruits Jack since she believes that a crime writer would be a useful partner in solving a crime. Since Jack is having difficulty with his current book and finds Flora intriguing, he agrees. Their investigation leads to the new hotel in town which used to be a stately home. The dead man was staying there. 

The investigation runs into roadblocks, takes strange turns, and turns dangerous when Flora and Jack are shot at with a crossbow and the former gardener also dies in a suspicious accident. Flora and Jack begin to think that the murder has something to do with a legend of buried Tudor treasure. 

There are a number of suspects and a number of interesting characters in the story. This is the first book in a series. It was narrated by Charlie Norfolk who did a good job making the various characters unique. 

Favorite Quote:
"German sniper," he said briefly. He wouldn't say more, Flora knew. People didn't speak of the war, particularly men who had fought their way across Europe. they barely mentioned what had happened to them in those long years of struggle. No one did, really. It was as though a huge schism had broken the country apart - a second appalling conflagration within thirty years - and everyone was now silently trying to knit the edges together. 
I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday, January 28, 2022

Friday Memes: The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City ReaderThe 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.

Beginning:
Locking the shop door carefully behind her, Flora heaved the last parcel of books into the basket. Betty wasn't the most beautiful of bikes but she was functional, her wide wicker tray already filled to overflowing.
Friday 56:
The bus back to Abbymead was mercifully less crowded and they were able to find seats together. Flora had heard her companion's mocking tone, but was unrepentant. Apart from a dubious legend passed down through generations and not doubt embroidered upon on the way, the florist's single sheet of paper was the only lead they had, and she was determined to pursue it.
This week I am spotlighting The Bookshop Murder: An Absolutely Gripping Cozy Mystery by Merryn Allingham. It is a recent addition to my Kindle and audiobook pile. Here is the description from Amazon:
Join Flora Steele – bookshop owner, bicycle-rider, daydreamer and amateur detective as she tackles her first case!

Sussex, 1955: When Flora Steele opens up her bookshop one morning she’s in for the surprise of her life! Because there, amongst her bookcases, is the body of a young man, with a shock of white-blond hair. But who was he? And how did he come to be there?

Determined to save her beloved bookshop’s reputation and solve the baffling mystery, Flora enlists the help of handsome and brooding Jack Carrington : crime writer, recluse and her most reliable customer.

The unlikely duo set about investigating the extraordinary case, following a lead across the sleepy village of Abbeymead to The Priory Hotel. When the hotel’s gardener dies suddenly, and they find out their victim was staying there, Flora’s suspicions are raised.

Are the two deaths connected? Is someone at the hotel responsible – the nervous cook, the money-obsessed receptionist, or the formidable manageress?

As the trail of clues takes Flora and Jack all over the village it becomes clear there’s more than one person hiding secrets in Abbeymead…

But does Flora have what it takes to uncover the truth – or will her amateur sleuthing put her in harm’s way?

Thursday, January 27, 2022

Book & Audio Review: Never Look Back by Mary Burton

Never Look Back

Author: Mary Burton
Narrator: Mary Robinette Kowal
Publication: Montlake (July 1, 2020); Brilliance Audio (July 1, 2020)
Length: 337 p.; 10 hours

Description: Expect the unexpected in this gritty, tense, and page-turning mystery from New York Times bestselling author Mary Burton.

After multiple women go missing, Agent Melina Shepard of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation makes the impulsive decision to go undercover as a prostitute. While working the street, she narrowly avoids becoming a serial killer’s latest victim; as much as it pains her to admit, she needs backup.

Enter lone wolf FBI agent Jerrod Ramsey. Stonewalled by a lack of leads, he and Melina investigate a scene where a little girl has been found abandoned in a crashed vehicle. They open the trunk to reveal a horror show and quickly realize they’re dealing with two serial killers with very different MOs. The whole situation brings back memories for Melina—why does this particular case feel so connected to her painful past?

Before time runs out, Melina must catch not one but two serial killers, both ready to claim another victim—and both with their sights set on her.

My Thoughts: Tennessee Bureau of Investigations agent Melina Shepard is just helping out a friend when she has a narrow escape from a serial killer. FBI Agent Jerrod Ramsey has been following the trail of that same serial killer for quite a while and hopes the Melina's information will be the tipping point to catching the guy. 

The two of them are called to a scene which brings back a lot of Melina's past. A little girl has been found abandoned in a wrecked car. When they open the trunk, they find a pickle jar filled with severed ring fingers. Somehow, they have managed to cross paths with two different serial killers, but it seems Melina is a focus for both of them.

Melina was abandoned on the side of a dirt road when she was five. She was found and adopted by a cop and a schoolteacher. She's had a good life with her adoptive parents but hasn't been able to find out much about her past. She's had her DNA sampled but is reluctant to go further.

But it seems that her past has come to her and now she needs to unravel all of the things that happened to her in order to keep it from happening to another little girl. Meanwhile, another serial killer is determined to track her down and finish the "date" he had planned for her. 

The story was exciting and fast-paced. The narration was well-done and enhanced the mystery and suspense building throughout the story. 

Favorite Quote:
"I heard you were a real charmer," Sheriff Jones said. "What's your nickname again? I forgot."

"There are a few, but my favorite is Glinda the Good Bitch."
I bought this one in Kindle and audiobook editions. You can buy your copy here.

ARC Review: The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

The Christie Affair

Author:
Nina de Gramont
Publication: St. Martin's Press (February 1, 2022)

Description: Nina de Gramont's The Christie Affair is a beguiling novel of star-crossed lovers, heartbreak, revenge, and murder―and a brilliant re-imagination of one of the most talked-about unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.

Every story has its secrets.
Every mystery has its motives.


“A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman. It’s a particular feeling, the urge to murder. It takes over your body so completely, it’s like a divine force, grabbing hold of your will, your limbs, your psyche. There’s a joy to it. In retrospect, it’s frightening, but I daresay in the moment it feels sweet. The way justice feels sweet.”

The greatest mystery wasn’t Agatha Christie’s disappearance in those eleven infamous days, it’s what she discovered.

London, 1925: In a world of townhomes and tennis matches, socialites and shooting parties, Miss Nan O’Dea became Archie Christie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted and well-known wife, Agatha Christie.

The question is, why? Why destroy another woman’s marriage, why hatch a plot years in the making, and why murder? How was Nan O’Dea so intricately tied to those eleven mysterious days that Agatha Christie went missing?

My Thoughts: This book was an intriguing reimagining of the days Agatha Christie disappeared in 1926. It is told from the viewpoint of Nan O'Dea - the Other Woman - who was Archie Christie's mistress and second wife. 

As the story develops, we learn about Nan's past and her reasons for pursuing Archie. Along the way there is romance and murder and revenge for a great wrong. The murders were not center stage and seemed to be almost a throw away detail in the bigger picture when they were first described. I liked the echoes to some of Agatha's stories - very MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. 

The story was not fast paced but unfolded in a leisurely manner that still managed to be intensely gripping. Revelation after revelation build a strong picture of Nan and, peripherally, Agatha Christie and Archie Christie who doesn't fare well in this story. 

The story also illuminates the time period between the first and second world wars when mores are changing and there is more than a social revolution going on. Nan's history includes horrific details about the fates of unwed mothers and their babies during that time period and in that place. Agatha's own growth, as depicted in this story, is also an example of social change. 

This story was an interesting imagining of those missing days in Agatha's life told by a woman who is just a footnote in Agatha's story but a strong main character here.

Favorite Quote:
I've sometimes thought Agatha invented Hercule Poirot as an antidote to Archie. There was never an emotional cue Poirot missed, not a wayward emotion for which he didn't feel sympathy. Poirot could absorb and assess a person's sadness, then forgive it. Whereas Arche simply wanted to say Cheer up and have the order followed.
I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

ARC Review: In the Serpent's Wake by Rachel Hartman

In the Serpent's Wake

Author:
Rachel Hartman
Publication: Random House Books for Young Readers (February 1, 2022)

Description: From the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of Seraphina comes a piercing new fantasy adventure that champions our resilience and humility.

MIND OF THE WORLD,
OPEN YOUR EYES.


At the bottom of the world lies a Serpent, the last of its kind.

Finding the Serpent will change lives.

Tess is a girl on a mission to save a friend.

Spira is a dragon seeking a new identity.

Marga is a woman staking her claim on a man’s world.

Jacomo is a priest searching for his soul.

There are those who would give their lives to keep it hidden.
And those who would destroy it.

But the only people who will truly find the Serpent are those who have awakened to the world around them—with eyes open to the wondrous, the terrible, and the just.

My Thoughts: This book is sort of a sequel to TESS OF THE ROAD in that one its stars is Tess Dombegh who is on a journey to save a friend. She's traveling with her brother-in-law Jacomo who was studying to be a priest but left before he took his vows.

Tess and Jacomo have joined the expedition to the pole started by Margarethe, Countess Mardou, who is a naturalist. She's taken Tess as a mentee and Jacomo as her spiritual adviser. Tess joined this expedition both as a spy for her queen and in order to bring her friend quigutl Pathka to the hidden serpent at the end of the world in the hopes of healing it. 

The Countess's expedition is in a race with a dragon expedition led by Spira, a dragon Tess wronged in the past and with whom Tess would like to make amends. Spira is also a character in search of more than the serpent.

Along the way, Tess sees all sorts of injustices that she would like to be able to right and finds herself in the middle of a war as natives of the lands she visits try to overthrow their invading overlords. Tess very reluctantly reconnects with the man who raped her and left her pregnant when she was fourteen. He's now engaged to the Countess until his death at the hands/flippers of creatures who aren't supposed to exist. 

The story is told from multiple viewpoints and is framed in a larger story told by the Mind of the World. I enjoyed this story. It was a successful coming of age story for a lot of the characters. I think I would have appreciated it even more if I had read TESS OF THE ROAD more recently, but the prologue in verse did sort of summarize the first book. I loved the idea that stories are personalized to those who tell them and that stories told can lead to unintended consequences. 

Favorite Quote:
Tess pursed her lips, smarting as if she'd been swatted. It must be nice to be a countess, seeing only the clear, pure essence you want to see, and never the messy, complicated slob in front of you.
I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Book & Audio Review: Every Secret Thing by Susanna Kearsley

Every Secret Thing

Author:
Susanna Kearsley
Narrator: Katherine Kellgren
Series: Christopher Redmayne (Book 1)
Publication: Allison & Busby (October 20, 2011); Audible Studios (January 10, 2017)
Length: 324 p.; 13 hours and 42 minutes

Description: ‘No one lives for ever. But the truth survives us all’

Kate Murray is deeply troubled. In front of her lies a dead man, a stranger who only minutes before had approached her wanting to tell her about a mystery, a long-forgotten murder. The crime was old, he’d told her, but still deserving of justice.

Soon Kate is caught up in a dangerous whirlwind of events that takes her back into her grandmother’s mysterious war-time past and across the Atlantic as she tries to retrace the dead man’s footsteps. Finding out the truth is not so simple, however, as only a few people are still alive who know the story…and Kate soon realises that her questions are putting their lives in danger. Stalked by an unknown and sinister enemy, she must use her tough journalistic instinct to find the answers from the past – before she has to say goodbye to her future.

My Thoughts: This was an amazing story that shifts seamlessly from the present to the past and back again. Kate Murray is a Canadian journalist in London to cover a trial when she is approached by an elderly gentleman who wants to tell her a story about a murder that was never solved. Preoccupied with her laptop, she doesn't pay much attention to the stranger. She does agree to meet him the next day to hear his story. Then he takes his leave, remarking that she has her grandmother's eyes. Moments later, Kate watches as the man dies in a hit and run accident that happens right in front of her.

Feeling guilty, Kate decides to attend Andrew Deacon's funeral where she meets his nephew who seems to believe that Andrew and Kate had met and Andrew had told her his story. He mentions a report that Andrew wrote and sent to Whitehall and to Lisbon. He thinks that Kate had read it and was going to write a book or an article to make things right.

When the nephew is killed in what looks like a home invasion and Andrew's house is ransacked, Kate becomes intrigued about the mystery that he wanted to share with her. But she's on her way back to Toronto and doesn't know what to do next. When she tells her grandmother about Andrew Deacon's death, she finally learns secrets she had never known about her grandmother's past during World War II when she worked for British Intelligence in New York and Washington. Then, while they are talking, shots are fired into her grandmother's kitchen killing her and sending Kate on the run.

This action-packed story switches seamlessly from the present to World War II as we learn what happened in New York and Lisbon those many years ago and whose murder needs to be solved. And who still, sixty years later, wants to keep all the secrets well-buried and is willing to leave a trail of bodies behind.

I loved this story. I loved that it was often told from Kate's viewpoint in the first person which I found very engaging. I mostly listened to the audiobook and enjoyed it though I did think the narrator got a little too excited at a few very dramatic parts of the story. The story really engaged my emotions and I found myself near tears many times as I was reading it. 

Favorite Quote:
With his hands in his pockets, he studied the frames on the wall. "I always think they're rather sad things, photographs, when someone dies. One is left with the pictures, but none of the stories."
I bought this one in Kindle and audiobook editions. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Summer Days by Susan Mallery

Summer Days

Author:
Susan Mallery
Series: Fool's Gold (Book 7)
Publication: HQN Books; Original edition (September 13, 2021)

Description: Welcome back to Fool’s Gold, California where summer love between two foes just may last a lifetime from New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery!

Locked in an unexpected land dispute, Rafe Stryker is trapped in the one place he vowed never to return to—the Castle Ranch in Fool's Gold, California. He made millions facing ruthless adversaries in the boardroom, but nothing could've prepared him to go head-to-head against stubborn, beautiful Heidi Simpson. No one is more surprised than Rafe to discover that he's finding Heidi—and life as a cowboy—much more compelling than he wants to admit.

For Heidi, the Castle Ranch is the home she's always wanted. After a life on the road, the vivacious blonde has finally put down roots. She won't give that up without a fight, not even for a man whose late-night kisses make her yearn to be a little less…wholesome.

My Thoughts: Things are looking up for Heidi Simpson. She has bought a ranch in Fool's Gold, is raising goats and selling milk, cheese, and soap, and finally feels like she has a home after years on the carnival circuit with her grandfather. Things take a turn for the worse when her grandfather "sells" the farm to Rafe Stryket's mother for $250,000 which he needs to help a friend fight cancer.

The main problem is that it isn't his ranch. Heidi's name is the one on the mortgage and she can't afford to reimburse Mrs. Stryker. Rafe wants the money or the ranch. He grew up very poor on that same ranch but has become a multimillionaire businessman. His mother would be willing to work something out but Rafe is eager to get things settled so that he can leave the town he never wanted to return to and get back to San Francisco.

Rafe has other priorities. He has hired a matchmaker because he is looking for a wife who will check off all the correct boxes. He essentially wants a business relationship since he isn't willing to risk his heart. When he is forced to spend time in Fool's Gold, he gradually readjusts his attitude toward the town and toward Heidi. But plans to develop the ranch into new housing for the upcoming casino and resort cause a real conflict between Heidi and him.

Neither Heidi nor Rafe have much faith in love. Rafe had a bad marriage and Heidi watched her best friend fall in love, get her heart broken and commit suicide. Watching them build a romance was intriguing. 

It was nice to return to Fool's Gold and catch up with some of the other characters who had their own romances in early books in the series. This is book 7. I'm also eager to continue reading in the series to see the romances Rafe's brothers and sister have. 

Favorite Quote:
"If you could have anything in the world," she said. "Anything. Money, fame, sixteen children who adored you, what would it be?"

He hesitated. "Can I get back to you?"

"Sure. But if you asked me that question, I would have an answer. I want the ranch. I want to live here for the rest of my life. I want this to be my home."

He dropped his hands to his sides. He didn't back away, but he didn't have to. His actions were enough.
I bought this one December 27, 2013. You can buy your copy here.

Monday, January 24, 2022

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (January 24, 2022)

 It's Monday, What Are You Reading? is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.


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 will be combining my YA and adult reading and purchases on this one weekly roundup.

Want to See What I Added to My Stack? links to Stacking the Shelves hosted by Marlene at Reading Reality.

Other Than Reading...

This was another quiet winter week. We had some cold weather and some snow too. I didn't leave the house all week. I haven't driven my car since January 4. I really should go for a drive but as soon as the roads are clear enough for me, it snows again. 

I have been doing a good job this year reading books that have been on TBR mountain for a long time. I'm down to 39 books that I added in 2008. A quick look is showing me that lots and lots of the ones remaining have vampires in them. I haven't read many vampire books lately. 

This week I read four that I've had at least 8 years and three review books. I did update the old books by getting the Kindle and Audible copies and listening to them. 

Read Last Week

If you can't wait until the review shows up on my blog, reviews are posted to LibraryThing and Goodreads as soon as I write them (usually right after I finish reading a book.)
  • Batten Down the Belfry by Diane Kelly (Review; February 22) -- Nice cozy mystery that is 4th in a series and is set in Nashville. My review will be posted on February 17.
  • A Fool's Gold Christmas by Susan Mallery (Mine since 2013) -- #9.5 in the Fool's Gold series was a really nice romance with engaging characters. My review will be posted on February 16.
  • Two of a Kind by Susan Mallery (Mine since 2013) -- #11 in the Fool's Gold series was an excellent romance with a great cast of characters. My review will be posted on March 15.
  • Just One Kiss by Susan Mallery (Mine; Kindle & Audiobook) -- Another engaging Fool's Gold romance. My review will be posted on February 26.
  • Lt. Leary, Commanding by David Drake (Mine since 2008) -- Entertaining military science fiction/space opera. My review will be posted on March 3.
  • The Fear by Natasha Preston (Review; March 1) -- YA thriller that starts with a social media post asking people to post their greatest fear and ends with a bunch of murders. Exciting and engaging but with a really ambiguous ending. My review will be posted on February 22.
  • Stay Dead by Anne Frasier (Mine; Kindle & Audiobook) -- Second Elise Sandburg mystery was a nice combination of police procedural and magic. Savannah, Georgia, was the setting. My review will be posted on March 8.
  • A Night to Die For by Lisa Schroeder (Review; March 1) -- YA thriller about the murder of the prom queen told from multiple points of view and includes social media posts and newspaper articles. My review will be posted on February 23.
DNF
  • Beneath the Stairs by Jennifer Fawcett (Review; February 22) -- I got to 30% of this one before I quit reading. I don't like horror books and I got tired of all the flashbacks that didn't seem to be advancing the plot. 
Currently
Next Week
Reviews Posted
Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?
What was your week like?

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Book & Audio Review: The Body Reader by Anne Frasier

The Body Reader

Author:
Anne Frasier
Narrator: Emily Sutton-Smith
Series: Detective Jude Fontaine Mysteries (Book 1)
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (June 21, 2016); Brilliance Audio (June 21, 2016)
Length: 304 p.; 8 hours and 31 minutes

Description: A Thriller Award winner, Best Paperback Original Novel.

For three years, Detective Jude Fontaine was kept from the outside world. Held in an underground cell, her only contact was with her sadistic captor, and reading his face was her entire existence. Learning his every line, every movement, and every flicker of thought is what kept her alive.

After her experience with isolation and torture, she is left with a fierce desire for justice—and a heightened ability to interpret the body language of both the living and the dead. Despite colleagues’ doubts about her mental state, she resumes her role at Homicide. Her new partner, Detective Uriah Ashby, doesn’t trust her sanity, and he has a story of his own he’d rather keep hidden. But a killer is on the loose, murdering young women, so the detectives have no choice: they must work together to catch the madman before he strikes again. And no one knows madmen like Jude Fontaine.

My Thoughts: Detective Jude Fontaine was abducted and kept imprisoned by a sadistic torturer for three years. When a power outage finally lets her escape, after killing her captor, her first instinct is to go home only to find out that her boyfriend has moved on with another woman. 

Jude's second option is to return to the Minneapolis Police Department and resume her job as a homicide detective. There are a lot of questions about whether she is mentally and emotionally stable enough to resume her job. Those questions rise again when she and her new partner Uriah Ashby are called to the apparent suicide of a young woman in a Minneapolis lake. One thing Jude gained from her time in captivity was acute powers of observation. She's convinced that the death was murder, not suicide. When one of the possible witnesses is also brutally murders and had her severed head left in Jude's motorcycle helmet, the thought that the death was murder becomes stronger.

These two cases lead to some cold cases where teenage girls have disappeared. It looks like a connection might be the governor of Minnesota who happens to be Jude's estranged father. But is it an actual connection or the result of Jude's vendetta against her father because of her belief that he murdered her mother when Jude was eight?

This was a fascinating story about a woman trying to rebuild her life after a terrible ordeal and who questions her own sanity. I loved the Minneapolis setting even though it was an alternate Minneapolis subject to power blackouts and a rise in crime and a shifting of neighborhoods. 

I liked the relationship Jude is building with her new partner. I liked that she is finding friends again. I thought the mystery was intriguing. Especially intriguing were the chapters from the viewpoint of "His Girl" - another girl who has been held captive for even longer than Jude had been. 

I really enjoyed this story and am glad that there are two more books in the series. Emily Sutton-Smith did an excellent job with making each character distinct and using her voice to build tension in the story. 

Favorite Quote:
And when everything was boiled down, maybe she had nothing left to fear. Maybe that's what really set her apart from everyone else. Her fearlessness born of ambivalence, not bravery, because she'd lived through some of the darkest stuff a person could live through.

Been there, done that.

Three Years of Torture and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt.
I bought this one in Kindle and audiobook editions. You can buy your copy here.

Friday, January 21, 2022

Friday Memes: The Body Reader by Anne Frasier

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City ReaderThe 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.

Beginning:
One day she stopped screaming.

It was the same day she quit thinking about the world beyond the windowless cell. That world no longer existed. Not for her.
Friday 56:
"Jude. My God, it's good to see you back," Grant Vang said. "I tried to call you. I left messages."

"I got them." She didn't explain that she'd been avoiding him since his hospital visit.
I am spotlighting The Body Reader by Anne Frasier. This is a recent addition to my Kindle and audiobook collection. Here is the description from Amazon:
A Thriller Award winner, Best Paperback Original Novel.

For three years, Detective Jude Fontaine was kept from the outside world. Held in an underground cell, her only contact was with her sadistic captor, and reading his face was her entire existence. Learning his every line, every movement, and every flicker of thought is what kept her alive.

After her experience with isolation and torture, she is left with a fierce desire for justice—and a heightened ability to interpret the body language of both the living and the dead. Despite colleagues’ doubts about her mental state, she resumes her role at Homicide. Her new partner, Detective Uriah Ashby, doesn’t trust her sanity, and he has a story of his own he’d rather keep hidden. But a killer is on the loose, murdering young women, so the detectives have no choice: they must work together to catch the madman before he strikes again. And no one knows madmen like Jude Fontaine.

Thursday, January 20, 2022

ARC Review: Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon

Barbarian Alien

Author:
Ruby Dixon
Series: Ice Planet Barbarians (Book 2)
Publication: Berkley (January 25, 2022)

Description: The second novel in the Ice Planet Barbarians series, the international publishing phenomenon—now in a special print edition with bonus materials and an exclusive epilogue!

Liz Cramer swears she’ll find a way off of this alien planet she’s stuck on—then she meets Raahosh, the surliest and stubbornest alien, who won’t leave her alone, and she just might be okay with that...


Twelve humans are left stranded on a wintry alien planet. I’m one of them. Yay, me.

In order to survive, we have to take on a symbiont that wants to rewire our bodies to live in this brutal place. I like to call it a “cootie.” And my cootie’s a jerk, because it also thinks I’m the mate to the biggest, grumpiest alien of the bunch. Raahosh believes the cootie’s right, so he steals me away from the group, determined to make me fall for him—or else.

He has no idea who he’s up against.

And if I didn’t want his insufferable self so much (thanks, cootie), I’d let him know exactly what I’m thinking. As it is, I’m doing my best to fight this instant attraction. Just because the symbiont thinks we’re supposed to be together doesn’t mean I have to go along with it. And if we fool around a little, it’s merely biology. It doesn’t mean I’m in love—or that I’m destined to be his.

My Thoughts: This is the second book in the Ice Planet Barbarian series and stars Liz and Raahosh. She's a smart-mouthed, contrary sort of woman. He's a bit of a mystery. He's scarred and quiet and something of an outsider in his tribe.

When their symbionts resonate for each other, they have wildly different reactions. He is so happy to finally have someone of his own and to be able to make a family. She's completely against anyone or anything making decisions for her.

When he kidnaps her and decides to keep her until their mating bond is fixed, she is decidedly unhappy. But when they are found and returned to the clan, she is disturbed to find that Raahosh is to be exiled for his act of kidnapping her.

By this time, she's pregnant and has fallen in love with the big surly alien and she isn't going to let anyone separate them. She begins a successful campaign to irritate everyone in the clad until they exile her out of sheer frustration. Meanwhile, Raahosh hangs around their cave and brings gifts of food to Liz to show his devotion. And he neglects his own health and well-being. 

This was another sexy romp with stranded human women and big blue aliens on a planet that is hostile to both species. Fans of erotic light science fiction will enjoy this story.

Favorite Quote:
It's true. I am having a bad day. To think that despite being kidnapped by aliens and living in a smelly, freezing, broken cargo hold for the last week wearing nothing but a short nightgown...I can have a day worse than that? Why yes, yes I can.
I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.