It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (May 30, 2016)

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.

Other Than Reading... 

This was a quiet week for me but a busy one at school with award programs, graduation, and track and field days.

There are just four student days this coming week since we have Monday off. I know I'll be spending Monday grading and preparing report cards for the students I won't be seeing any more and the grades that have finished the academic part of their work. Having a four day rotation for some classes and an early out on Friday means that I have seen one of my groups of 4th graders for the last time this year. I will see two of my groups of sixth graders twice next week and the other two groups only once. With the finals schedule at the Middle School/High School, I don't see sixth graders on Friday. I'll be using that day to finish up their report cards. Hopefully all the missing assignments will appear!

I was involved in the K-3 track and field day Friday which started out with misting rain and worked its way to downpour before tapering off. We have a lovely new track and football field with artificial turf so the kids didn't get muddy, just soaked. It was also warm enough that the kids didn't get cold. I came home exhausted and soaked after the games were over.

Next Monday is our final teacher work day of the year. We begin with a breakfast provided by the district and an award program. The teacher of the year will speak. Retirees with speak. Awards will be presented. I'll get one for 20 years in this district. Then the rest of the day will be used to finish report cards and prepare classrooms for summer cleaning. If there is time, I'll be sorting through some file cabinets to get rid of materials I no longer use. I also need to get together with my professional learning team to finish up our work and report our progress.

Then weeks and weeks of no schedule begin. I want no schedule really badly.

Read Last Week

Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet by Charlie N. Holmberg was a new fantasy from the author. I thought it was entertaining but found the beginning a little slow. My review will be posted on June 23.

Seconds to Live by Melinda Leigh was another heart-pounding thriller in the Scarlet Falls series. I liked finally getting Mac's story as he was a side character in the first two books of the series. My review will be posted on June 25.

Mortal Fall by Christine Carbo was another mystery. This one takes place in Glacier National Park and has great descriptions of the scenery. My review will be posted on June 1.

Currently

I am currently reading Damage by Felix Francis. It is another suspenseful mystery set around the horse racing industry.

Next Week

The first two books I plan to read this week are A Most Curious Murder by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli and The Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan. I got both of these eARCs from NetGalley. They are both being released in July.

Reviews Posted

• The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King
• Whirlpool by Elizabeth Lowell
• Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

Want to See What I Added to My Stack Last Week?

Mortal Fall finally arrived this week. I was asked early in April if I would like a copy to review. This review book is being released on May 31.

I also bought The Shadow Revolution: Crown and Key by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith for my Kindle. I spotted this one on Teaser Tuesday and couldn't resist.

To see what Young Adult books I have been reading and plan to read, check out Ms. Martin Teaches Media - my other blog.

Love in Bloom Giveaway Hop Winner

Congratulations to Brenda. 

Your Amazon Gift Card has been sent. Enjoy!

Book Review: Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

Fire Touched
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson (Book 9)
Publication: Ace (March 8, 2016)

Description: Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

My Thoughts: Tensions are rising in the Tri-Cities. The fae have retreated to their hidden reservations but have let very dangerous fae escape. Humans are wondering what they will do next.

Mercy and Adam come to be at odds with the Marrok when they provide a safe haven for a young human boy who has escaped from Underhill. He spent a long time there and was given some powers to help him cope. But now Underhill is unhappy and wants him back and a variety of fae, all with their own agendas, want to give him back.

Mercy and Adam are unwilling to give this person, who looks like a child, into a situation that he fears. The Grey Lords have different plans. As a matter of fact, many different factions of Grey Lords all seem to have different plans. Adam and Mercy have to deal with the ones who have plans that will bring harm to humans or werewolves.

Mercy gets to spend time with a number of the fae that she knows and likes and a few that she can actually trust.

This story was more about political maneuvering than it was about battles though there were a couple of those two. And Mercy did have a few occasions when she could let her snarky side out.

Fans of the series won't want to miss this one.

Favorite Quote:

There was a long pause. "I made her feel unsafe," he said.

I shook my head. "Not really. She had no trouble defending herself—and she knew there was a houseful of people who would make sure she was safe. What you did was tell her that you had no intention of letting her be safe with you."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs

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.

Beginning:

I sat up in bed, a feeling of urgency gripping my stomach in iron claws.

Friday 56: 

The troll moved into my best target range. I took a step toward them, aimed, and shot the magazine of my gun empty as fast as I could pull the trigger. I didn't hit Adam.

This week I am featuring Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs. This is the latest book in her Mercy Thomson urban fantasy series. Here is the description from Amazon:

Tensions between the fae and humans are coming to a head. And when coyote shapeshifter Mercy and her Alpha werewolf mate, Adam, are called upon to stop a rampaging troll, they find themselves with something that could be used to make the fae back down and forestall out-and-out war: a human child stolen long ago by the fae.

Defying the most powerful werewolf in the country, the humans, and the fae, Mercy, Adam, and their pack choose to protect the boy no matter what the cost. But who will protect them from a boy who is fire touched?

Book Review: Whirlpool by Elizabeth Lowell

Whirlpool
Author: Elizabeth Lowell
Publication: Avon; First Printing edition (October 31, 2006)

Description: When an exquisitely crafted, authentic imperial Faberge egg mysteriously shows up at Laurel Swann's home studio, she knows it can only be from one person—her father, who has drifted in and out of her life for as long as she can remember. But this time Jamie Swann leaves her something too many people will kill for.

Out of her league and desperate, Laurel is forced to accept help from the very man who is trying to ensnare her father in his own web of double crosses. Cruz Rowan can help her stay alive, but will he do the same for her father?

Elizabeth Lowell, writing as Ann Maxwell, deftly combines the nonstop action of a spy thriller with the heart-pounding excitement of true love and adventure.

My Thoughts: Laurel Swann is a jewelry designer who has a father who drifts in and out of her life. She loves him, but she isn't sure she likes him. When her father sends her a package containing a Faberge egg, he dumps her into the middle of a twisted plot where everyone has at least one agenda and no one cares about an innocent caught in the middle.

When one of the conspirators hires Risk, Ltd. to get the egg back without alerting any government, Cruz Rowan is the one who comes to find Laurel. Shortly after his arrival he saves her from assassins and takes her home with him to Risk, Ltd. headquarters. Laurel takes one look at him and wonders why he is the one to crash the boundaries she has raised between herself and men. She knows he has an agenda and she doesn't know what it is.

Cruz has the same reaction to Laurel. She's the woman who manages to get under his guard. He'll do anything to keep her safe and is afraid that he will have to kill her father to do it.

This story was nicely twisty with all sorts of complex characters. While the villains were painted black, many of the other characters were painted in various shades of gray. Figuring out their motives and angles kept me busy through the whole book. This isn't the first book I've read by Lowell with an innocent and honest heroine who isn't at all naive or a hero who has been so long in the dark that he doesn't think he deserves or can survive in the light. However, this was a great example of a story that uses those types.

Fans of romantic suspense will enjoy this exciting romantic suspense title.

Favorite Quote:

"Relax. Let somebody take care of you for a change."

"That just makes it worse when the somebody goes away."

Her matter-of-fact words told Cruz more than he wanted to know about Jamie Swann, Swann's daughter, and trust. But Cruz kept his mouth shut. It wasn't time to talk about her daddy yet. Laurel still believed it was her duty to protect the son of a bitch rather the herself. Somehow he had to change her mind.

And he had to do it soon.

I bought this one in October 2006 when it was first released. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King

The Murder of Mary Russell
Author: Laurie R. King
Series: Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes (Book 10)
Publication: Bantam (April 5, 2016)

Description: Laurie R. King’s bestselling Mary Russell–Sherlock Holmes series weaves rich historical detail and provocative themes with intriguing characters and enthralling suspense. Russell and Holmes have become one of modern literature’s most beloved teams. But does this adventure end it all?

Mary Russell is used to dark secrets—her own, and those of her famous partner and husband, Sherlock Holmes. Trust is a thing slowly given, but over the course of a decade together, the two have forged an indissoluble bond.

And what of the other person to whom Mary Russell has opened her heart: the couple’s longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson? Russell’s faith and affection are suddenly shattered when a man arrives on the doorstep claiming to be Mrs. Hudson’s son.

What Samuel Hudson tells Russell cannot possibly be true, yet she believes him—as surely as she believes the threat of the gun in his hand. In a devastating instant, everything changes. And when the scene is discovered—a pool of blood on the floor, the smell of gunpowder in the air—the most shocking revelation of all is that the grim clues point directly to Clara Hudson.

Or rather to Clarissa, the woman she was before Baker Street.

The key to Russell’s sacrifice lies in Mrs. Hudson’s past. To uncover the truth, a frantic Sherlock Holmes must put aside his anguish and push deep into his housekeeper’s secrets—to a time before her disguise was assumed, before her crimes were buried away.

There is death here, and murder, and trust betrayed.

And nothing will ever be the same.

My Thoughts: This mystery arises out of housekeeper Mrs. Clara Hudson's past and illuminates that past for us as readers and gives glimpses of it to Mary. It also gives us fascinating glimpses of a young Sherlock Holmes and the very complicated relationship he has with Mrs. Hudson.

It begins with Mary receiving an unexpected visitor - Mr. Samuel Hudson - who has arrived from Australia looking for his mother with some sort of revenge in mind. It goes back in time to explore events chronicled by Dr. Watson in "The Adventures of the Gloria Scott."

The book has mutiny, murders, and betrayals of all sorts. I really liked getting to know Mrs. Hudson in a very different way than the quiet housekeeper who has been a background figure in all of the books and stories that have come before. I admire her for her survival skills and for her resiliency.

Fans of the Sherlock Holmes books will enjoy this new look at a very familiar character.

Favorite Quote:

Of all the mysteries that are love, maternal love may be the most basic. My own mother had died when I was fourteen. A few months later, with the raw instincts of a barnyard chick imprinting its affections on the first available surrogate, my bereft heart had claimed Mrs. Hudson for its own. I had known her for ten years now, lived with her for more than four, and she was as close to a mother as I would ever have again.

I bought this one for my Kindle. You can buy your copy here.

Teaser Tuesday: Whirlpool by Elizabeth Lowell

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books and a Beat. 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:

She settled into her tall work stool to inspect the egg once more. And to wait for an explanation of how the exquisite object d'art had come into Jamie Swann's hands. He was always good at explanations.

Even for her silver-tongued father, this explanation should be a real imperial gem.

This week my teaser comes from Whirlpool by Elizabeth Lowell. This book has been lost on my TBR mountain since I bought it on Oct. 24, 2006. Here is the description from Amazon:

When an exquisitely crafted, authentic imperial Faberge egg mysteriously shows up at Laurel Swann's home studio, she knows it can only be from one person—her father, who has drifted in and out of her life for as long as she can remember. But this time Jamie Swann leaves her something too many people will kill for.

Out of her league and desperate, Laurel is forced to accept help from the very man who is trying to ensnare her father in his own web of double crosses. Cruz Rowan can help her stay alive, but will he do the same for her father?

Elizabeth Lowell, writing as Ann Maxwell, deftly combines the nonstop action of a spy thriller with the heart-pounding excitement of true love and adventure.