Stacking the Shelves (March 17, 2013)

Tynga of 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 just got one book this week—but those abs make up in quality what I am missing in quantity.

Thrown by a Curve by Jaci Burton is the latest in her Pay By Play series. Here is the description:

She thinks she knows this player—but he has a few surprise moves.

For Alicia Riley, her job as a sports therapist for the St. Louis Rivers baseball team is a home run—until she becomes the primary therapist for star pitcher, Garrett Scott. Out of the lineup with an injury, he’s short-tempered, hard to handle, and every solid inch, a man.

Right now, the only demand he’s making on Alicia is that she get him ready to pitch in time for opening day. Except the sexual chemistry between them is so charged, Alicia’s tempted to oblige Garrett just about anything. But both their careers are at stake—one bad move and it’s game over for both of them.

Garrett also feels the hot sparks between them, and the way he figures it, what better therapy is there than sex? Now all he has to do is convince the woman with the power to make the call. 

What did you get this week?

While you are here, why don't you click this link and enter to win a copy of Hysteria by Megan Miranda? Sorry but this one is open to US residents only.

ARC Review: Six Years by Harlan Coben

Six Years
Author: Harlan Coben
Publisher: Dutton Adult (March 19, 2013)

Description: In Six Years, a masterpiece of modern suspense, Harlan Coben explores the depth and passion of lost love…and the secrets and lies at its heart.
 
Six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd.
 
But six years haven’t come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd’s obituary, he can’t keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife he’s hoping for…but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she’s been married to Todd for almost two decades, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life—a time he has never gotten over—is turned completely inside out. 
 
As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can’t be found, or don’t remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. Jake’s search for the woman who broke his heart, who lied to him, soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on a carefully constructed fiction.
 
Harlan Coben once again delivers a shocking page-turner that deftly explores the power of past love, and the secrets and lies that such love can hide.

My Thoughts: This was an excellent thriller about a man who will do anything for love. Jake Fisher fell in love with Natalie Avery one summer while he was writing his thesis and she was attending an art camp. She left him at the end of that summer to marry another man—Todd Sanderson. He promised to leave them alone and never try to contact her. 

Now six years have passed and he sees her groom's obituary on the front page of their college website. For Jake, all bets are off. He needs to see if Natalie was willing to rekindle their relationship. He feels that he was only leading half a life during the past years. But when he attends Todd Sanderson's funeral he is surprised that the widow is not Natalie. This starts him on a quest to find Natalie but he encounters road block after road block. 

Jake also attracts the attention of the mafia, various police officers, and the FBI. Despite being beaten, kidnapped, and shot, Jake continues to follow all the clues to find out what happened to the only woman he had ever loved. 

The story is told in first person as though Jake is talking to the reader including various asides. We get to follow along as he uncovers clues and conspiracies and as he uncovers secrets and betrayals. The style of the book is engaging and engrossing. It was a real page-turner that kept me up later than I should have been up. Jake was a great hero—an ordinary man who gets in way over his head and perseveres because of his great love for Natalie. 

I recommend this one to mystery lovers. My first Harlan Coben will definitely not be my last!

Favorite Quote:

"Do you know anything about hope, Jake?"

"I think I do," I said. 

"It's the cruelest thing in the world. Death is better. When you're dead, the pain stops. But hope keeps raising you way up high, only to drop you  to the hard ground. Hope cradles your heart in its hand and then crushed it with a fist. Over and over. It never stops. That's what hope does."

I got this eARC from Cassie at Dutton Books in exchange for an honest review. You can buy your copy here. 

Friday Memes: Six Years by Harlan Coben

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.

Today Six Years by Harlan Coben has reached the top of my TBR stack. I got this eARC from Dutton to review. I chose it because I have never read anything by Harlan Coben and was eager to see what his books were like. Here is the description:

In Six Years, a masterpiece of modern suspense, Harlan Coben explores the depth and passion of lost love…and the secrets and lies at its heart. 

Six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd.

 But six years haven’t come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd’s obituary, he can’t keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife he’s hoping for…but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she’s been married to Todd for almost two decades, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life—a time he has never gotten over—is turned completely inside out.

As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can’t be found, or don’t remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. Jake’s search for the woman who broke his heart, who lied to him, soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on a carefully constructed fiction.

 Harlan Coben once again delivers a shocking page-turner that deftly explores the power of past love, and the secrets and lies that such love can hide.

Beginning:

I sat in the back pew and watched the only woman I would ever love marry another man.

Friday 56:

"I don't know nothing about that," Stocky said. "I only know that you're on private property and if you don't get off it, I'm going to bring you in."

Book Review: The Best Man by Kristan Higgins

The Best Man
Author: Kristan Higgins
Publication: Harlequin HQN (February 26, 2013)

Description: Sometimes the best man is the one you least expect…

Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she's ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family's vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there's some great scenery there….

Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief—and best friend of her former fiancé. There's a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it's not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she's having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.

My Thoughts: THE BEST MAN was both a humorous and heart-wrenching romance that was also quite heart-warming. The story begins when Faith Holland is jilted at the altar when her fiancé and love of her your life—Jeremy—announces to the congregation that he is Gay. She blames his best man Levi Cooper for forcing the issue. They have know each other all their lives but have never been friends. Faith flees to San Francisco and builds her career as a landscape architect.

Three and a half years pass. Jeremy is the town doctor. Levi has left the service and become the Chief of Police. Faith has had a number of false starts as she tries to find new romance including dating another Gay guy and a man who is cheating on his wife which leads to a funny confrontation with his wife and child. Faith is urged by her family to come home to stop their widowed Dad from marrying a hugely inappropriate woman. 

When Faith gets home she finds herself quickly gathered back into her rather dysfunctional family. Her grandparents are constantly bickering, her older sister and her husband are having interesting marital difficulties, and her dad is oblivious to the very obvious gold-digger who has him in her sights. Faith's attempts to find her father a better bet for a second romance were really funny. Who knew there were so many characters out there in the dating pool?

Along the way she keeps having run-ins with Levi who, she is certain, hates her. Levi is conflicted. He thinks she is hot but he can't quite get over that she is the ex-fiancé of his best friend. He has issues of his own too. He is raising his sister and both of them are still grieving the loss of their mother. He is dealing with a divorce from a fellow soldier who didn't find small town life exciting enough to keep her from re-enlisting. He is also still dealing with the fact that his father abandoned him when he was young and has now started a new life with a new wife and new sons. All of these things keep him from wanting to start something with Faith where he might be second-best. 

Faith is keeping secrets of her own too. She isn't the cute, perky character that Levi always believed she was. Besides suffering from epilepsy, Faith is still consumed by the fear that she is the one who caused her mother's death when she distracted her while they were driving. Probably the most touching part of the whole romance for me was when Levi did an accident reconstruction in the middle of the night and proved to Faith that the accident wasn't caused by anything she did or didn't do. He wasn't the sort of guy who could do sweet words or gestures but that said love to me.

Readers who like strong emotions in their romance and who want some humor too can't do better than to read this romance by Kristan Higgins. 

Favorite Quote:

"So, what happened?"

Her face grew red. "I flushed my sweater down the toilet."

"That happens to me all the time." This earned another glare. "So you decided to climb out the window?"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Where you are now stuck."

"Wow. Those analytical powers of yours are just stunning, Levi. No wonder you're a cop."

That comment just bought her a few more seconds in the window. "Well, if there's nothing you need, I'll be on my way. You have a nice night, ma'am."

He started to get back in the car.

I am part of the blog tour for this book arranged by Meryl L. Moss Media Relations and got my copy of the book from them. You can buy your copy of the book here. 

Teaser Tuesday and Live Chat Invite: The Best Man by Kristan Higgins

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!

This week my teaser comes from The Best Man by Kristan Higgins. I just got this book and am glad to be part of the blog tour. Watch for my review this Thursday.

Here is the description:

Sometimes the best man is the one you least expect…

Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she's ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family's vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there's some great scenery there….

Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief—and best friend of her former fiancé. There's a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it's not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she's having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.

Teaser (actually the beginning of the Prologue):

On a beautiful day in June, in front of literally half the town, wearing a wedding dress that made her look like Cinderella and hold a bouquet of perfect pink roses, Faith Elizabeth Holland was left at the altar.

You might want to check out the Live Chat with Kristan Higgins this afternoon too. 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (March 11, 2013)

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 I brought balance back into my reading and read three adult books and three young adult books. Five of them were books for review and the sixth was the second book in a series that I read because I had the third book in that series on my review stack. I am starting to feel as though I don't read anything except books for review. My TBR mountain is feeling neglected! Luckily, I am reading books I enjoy and getting a chance to read books by authors I haven't read before. Many of them will become auto-buy choices which is both good and bad for my budget and my TBR mountain.

Here are the books I read last week.

The Best Man by Kristan Higgins was sent to me by Book Trib. I am on the blog tour. This was a nice romance. I enjoyed getting to know the characters. My review post and tour stop will be on March 14.

I got Six Years by Harlan Coben for review from Cassie at Dutton Books. This was my first book by Coben and I really enjoyed it. I liked the first person narrative and was swept up in this thrilling story. My review will be posted on March 16.

I got Seven Kinds of Hell by Dana Cameron from Justin at Amazon. This was an urban fantasy novel that combines two things I love—werewolves and archaeology. My review is here. 

Hysteria by Megan Miranda is a young adult book that I got from Bridget at Bloomsbury Books. I am part of the blog tour for this title. This one was also a first person narration and was an engaging thriller. My review will be posted on March 14. I will also be giving away a copy of the book.

I got Poison by Bridget Zinn from NetGalley after reading about it on a variety of blogs. I liked this fantasy novel. The characters were well-rounded and the world was also well-developed. My review is here. 

The Fox Inheritance by Mary E. Pearson was a book from my TBR mountain. I had read the first book in the series—The Adoration of Jenna Fox—and accepted Fox Forever for review. I started Fox Forever and decided I needed to read the second book in the series before the third book would make sense. I really liked this one and look forward to sharing it with my students. My review will be posted on March 13. 

I am currently reading Fox Forever by Mary E. Pearson. I got this ARC from Macmillan. It is a continuation of Locke's story which begins in The Fox Inheritance. 

These are the next four books from my review stack. I hope to read them all next week.

Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman was an ebook I received from Minotaur Books via NetGalley for review. This is a thriller by a debut author. 

Buried by Kendra Elliot was sent to me by the author because I had read and reviewed earlier books in the Bone Secrets series. This one is a romantic suspense title. 

Crossfire by Laura Bradley Rede was also sent to me by the author because I read and reviewed the first book in the series. This one has been sitting quite a while waiting for an opening in my review calendar. 

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch was a NetGalley pick. I heard about it and thought it sounded interesting. 

That is what I read and what I plan to read next week. What have you got planned?

Stacking the Shelves (March 10, 2013)

Tynga of 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.

This week I added ten books to my stack. I added a mix of print and Kindle books.

These print pre-orders arrived.

Shadow of Freedom by David Weber

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

Wild Invitation by Nalini Singh

These were Kindle Daily Deals that I couldn't resist.

The Cowboy and the Princess by Lori Wilde

Alarm of War by Kennedy Hudner

A Breath of Magic by Tracy Madison

I added these books to my review pile.

Wicked Cravings by Suzanne Wright (April 16; Print)

An Affair of Deceit by Jamie Michele (April 30; Print)

Evidence of Life by Barbara Taylor Sissel (March 26; Print)

Always on My Mind by Bella Andre (March 5; Kindle)

What did you add to your stack this week?