Thursday, July 31, 2014

Amy M. Reade's Secrets of Hallstead House Blog Tour with Spotlight



I am so excited to have Amy M. Reade here Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight.

Thanks Amy and Pump Up Your Book Promotions for allowing me to join your Secrets of Hallstead Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Amy!












Amy M. Reade is a debut author of romantic suspense. A native of upstate New York, she grew up in the Thousand Islands region and was inspired by the natural beauty of that area to write her first novel, Secrets of Hallstead House. She now lives in New Jersey with her husband, three children, a Bouvier des Flandres named Orly, and two rescued cats who refuse to answer to their names of Porthos and Athos.

Having practiced law in New York City, Amy soon discovered that her dream job was writing. In addition to volunteering with school, church, and community groups, Amy is currently working on her second novel, The Ghosts of Peppernell Manor, set in the area around Charleston, South Carolina.

Though Amy lives within sight of the Atlantic Ocean, she is partial to the blue waters of the Pacific and spends as much time as possible on the Big Island of Hawaii, which is the setting of her as-yet-unwritten third novel.

For More Information

Visit Amy M. Reade’s website.
Connect with Amy on Facebook and Twitter.
Visit Amy’s blog.
More books by Amy M. Reade.
Contact the author.








Macy Stoddard, a nurse from Manhattan, comes to Hallstead Island in the North Country of New York to escape a haunting pain. It is here that Macy discovers secrets that were not meant to be shared – secrets that reach back into Macy’s past and that will change her future and the futures of the people on Hallstead Island. There are those, however, who will stop at nothing to keep the secrets that are hidden there.


For More Information 

Secrets of Hallstead House is available at Amazon.
Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
Purchase at Kensington.
Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
 
Book Excerpt:

My journey was almost over.

It was raining, and I looked out through the drizzle across the blue-gray water of the Saint Lawrence River. Only a few boats were out on such a raw and rainy day. From the bench where I sat on the
Cape Cartier public dock, I could see several islands. Each was covered with trees — dark green pine trees and leafy maples, oaks, birches, and weeping willows. In the chilly late September air, the

leaves were already tinged with the colors of fall: yellows, reds, oranges, browns. I could glimpse homes on the islands, but I didn’t see any people. It was beautiful here — so different from the city I had just left behind.

Even though twenty years have come and gone since that day, I can still remember the calm that settled around me as I waited for my ride to Hallstead House in the middle of the Thousand Islands.
My nerves were still ragged, but the river had an immediate and peaceful effect on me. I was only twenty then, but I had been through so much.

Though I had been traveling for just a few hours, my journey to this place had begun six long weeks earlier.

As I listened to the raindrops plunk into the river, the sound of the motor from an approaching boat cut into my reverie. It was an older boat of gleaming mahogany with a large white awning covering most of it, protecting the cabin and the pilot from the rain. It puttered up to the dock slowly and in a few moments had pulled alongside, close to where I sat. The pilot moved to the stern and climbed out quickly, securing the boat to the dock with a thick rope. He turned to me with a questioning look and said, “Macy Stoddard?”

“Yes.”

He shook my hand curtly. “I’m Pete McHale. I work for Alexandria Hallstead. She sent me here to pick you up. That all the luggage you brought?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

He shot me a disapproving look and said, “I hope you brought some warm stuff to wear. It starts getting cold up here pretty early in the fall. It’s colder here than it is in the big city, you know.” He
smirked.

Determined to stay positive, I ignored his look of reproach and replied that I had plenty of warm clothes. Once he’d stowed my two large suitcases in the boat under the awning, he helped me on board, where I chose a seat in the front so I could see where we were going and stay dry. I had been in a boat once as a child when a furious storm blew up, and I had hated boats ever since. Still, though I was unhappy and nervous to be riding in one, there was absolutely no other way to get to my island destination. Pete untied the boat and we slowly pulled away from the dock. As he scanned the river and began turning the boat to the north, I glanced at his profile. He looked like he was in his mid-thirties — medium height, with light-brown, windblown hair, and green eyes with creases in the corners that made it look like he squinted a lot. He wore faded jeans and a Windbreaker.

When he had steered the boat out of the small, sheltered bay at Cape Cartier and into the more open channel, he glanced at me and said, “We’ll be at Summerplace in about ten minutes.”

“Summerplace?”

“That’s the name of the house on Hallstead Island.”

“Oh. I thought it was called Hallstead House.”

“Its official name is Hallstead House. The people who live on the island just call it Summerplace.”

We sat in silence for several moments, and finally I asked, “Why is it called Summerplace?”

Pete sighed. Evidently he didn’t relish playing the role of tour guide. “It’s called Summerplace because it used to be a summer retreat for the Hallstead family. Now Miss Hallstead stays there for as
much of the year as she can. In early to mid-October she moves the household over to Pine Island and spends the winter there.”

To keep my mind off my abject fear of being on the water, I turned my attention to the islands we were passing. Each one had a home on it, and all of the homes were beautiful. Some looked empty, since their occupants had probably left after the summer ended, but some still had boats tied to docks or housed in quaint boathouses. The homes themselves, most of which were huge and had large, welcoming porches, were surrounded by the ever-present trees. Several had bright awnings over the windows.

In the face of Pete’s apparent ambivalence, I had determined not to ask any more questions. But as I sat looking around me I forgot my self-imposed rule. “Are there really a thousand islands in this area?”

I blurted out.

“There are actually over eighteen hundred islands in the Thousand Islands,” he replied. To my surprise, he seemed to warm to this subject and continued. “In order to be included in the count, an island has to be above water three hundred and sixty-five days a year and support at least two living trees.”

I continued to draw him out, asking, “What do you do for Mrs. Hallstead?”

His attitude changed again, becoming colder. “It’s Miss Hallstead.

She never took her husband’s name.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Antiques Chop (Trash 'n' Treasures Mysteries)




I've finished "Antiques Chop" the 4th book in her Trash 'n' Treasures Mystery series by Barbara Allan.

The quaint Midwestern town of Serenity is about to hit the small screen. Brandy Borne and her dramatically ditzy mother, Vivian, will be starring in Antique Sleuths, a reality TV show based on the duo's antiquarian adventures -- and their troubling talent for solving deadly crimes. What better shooting set than a creepy old house, the site of a 60-year-old unsolved axe murder?

The location is perfect until Bruce Spring, the show's producer, meets a fatal axe-ident, mortally mauled just like the home's previous owner. The first suspect on the chopping block seems typecast for the role of killer -- he was found at the scene of the attack, clutching a stained axe. But as Brandy and Vivian chop around for clues, plenty of other suspects stick out their necks.

It seems the show's cameraman clashed with Bruce -- could he be the culprit? What about the acrimony between Andrew, the harried homeowner, and Bruce, whose dirt-digging documentary all but accused Andrew of the original unsolved crime? And who's driving that blood-red Toyota that keeps making unscripted cameo appearances? If Brandy and Vivian are going to get to the bottom of this mystery, they'll have to be extra careful not to wind up on the cutting room floor -- in pieces!

Product Details
Series: Trash 'n' Treasures Mysteries
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Kensington (April 30, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0758263627
ISBN-13: 978-0758263629


My Review:

3/5

New Releases 2014 (July 29)

Monday, July 28, 2014

Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads (July 28)




 Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads


Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews:

Post the books you read last week and books being read this week.

Read Last Week:

1.  Eyes on You - Kate White
2.  Providence Rag - Bruce DeSilva

Weekly Read:

1.  Antique Shop - Barbara Allan

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Library Haul 2014 (July 27 - Aug 2)



Here's the list of books I picked up from the library this week:

Hardcover:

1.  Field of Prey - John Sandford
2.  Antique Shop - Barbara Allan

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Eyes on You: A Novel of Suspense




I've finished "Eyes on You" by Kate White.

From New York Times bestselling author Kate White comes a riveting psychological suspense in which a media star must battle a malevolent enemy who may be disturbingly close to her.

After losing her on-air job two years ago, television host Robin Trainer has fought her way back and now she’s hotter than ever. With her new show climbing in the ratings and her first book a bestseller, she’s being dubbed a media double threat.

But suddenly, things begin to go wrong. Small incidents at first: a nasty note left in her purse; her photo shredded. But the obnoxious quickly becomes threatening when the foundation the makeup artist uses burns Robin’s face. It wasn’t an accident — someone had deliberately doctored with the product.

An adversary with a dark agenda wants to hurt Robin, and the clues point to someone she works with every day. While she frantically tries to put the pieces together and unmask this hidden foe, it becomes terrifyingly clear that the person responsible isn’t going to stop until Robin loses everything that matters to her including her life.

Product Details
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Harper (June 24, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061576638
ISBN-13: 978-0061576638


My Review:

3/5

Cozy, Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Books Wish List

 


Please list the books from your wishlist that you are hoping to add to your shelves in a comment, thanks.

Cozy, Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Books, I'm Waiting For:
 






A place of history, secrets and witchcraft.

Devin Lyle has recently returned to the Salem area, but her timing couldn't be worse. Soon after she moved into the eighteenth-century cabin she inherited from her great-aunt Mina — her "crazy" great-aunt, who spoke to the dead — a woman was murdered nearby.

Craig Rockwell — known as Rocky — is a new member of the Krewe of Hunters, the FBI's team of paranormal investigators. He never got over finding a friend dead in the woods. Now another body's been found in those same woods, not far from the home of Devin Lyle. And Devin's been led to a third body — by a ghost?

Her discovery draws them both deeper into the case and Salem's rich and disturbing history. Even as the danger mounts, Devin and Rocky begin to fall for each other, something the ghosts of Mina and past witches seem to approve of. But the two of them need every skill they possess to learn the truth — or Devin's might be the next body in the woods.







Judged

As he watches, her body drifts below the water's surface, forever altered. Before he disposes of each victim, he takes a trophy. It's a sign of his power, and a warning — to the one destined to suffer most of all.

Condemned

In Grizzly Falls, Montana, Detectives Selena Alvarez and Regan Pescoli are struggling with a new commander and a department in the midst of upheaval. It's the worst possible time for a homicide. A body has been found, missing a finger. Alvarez hopes this means a murderer with a personal grudge, not a madman. But then a second body turns up.

Executed

As the clues begin pointing toward a suspect, Pescoli's unease grows. Even with Alvarez barely holding it together and her own personal life in chaos, she senses there's more to this case than others believe. A killer has made his way to Grizzly Falls, ready to fulfill a vengeance years in the making. And Pescoli must find the target of his wrath — or die trying.






In New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub's new thriller, one woman finds herself in the crosshairs of a twisted predator who might just be masked behind a familiar screen name.

During the darkest period of her life, Landry Wells found solace in a group of bloggers who had been in her shoes and lived to tell the tale. She's shared things with her online friends that even her husband and children didn't know. Things that now, looking back, make her uneasy.

One of the bloggers is dead, victim of a random crime — or was it? Did she trust too easily; reveal too much? At the funeral a thousand miles from home, Landry is about to come face to face at last with the others. These women are her closest confidantes in the world: they understand her; they know everything about her — and one of them might be a cold-blooded killer.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads (July 21)




 Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads


Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews:

Post the books you read last week and books being read this week.

Read Last Week:

1.  Do or Die - Suzanne Brockmann
2.  The Dead Will Tell - Linda Castillo

Weekly Read:

1.  Lady Luck - Kristen Ashley
2.  Eyes on You - Kate White

Saturday, July 19, 2014

The Dead Will Tell: A Kate Burkholder Novel




I've finished "The Dead Will Tell" the 6th book in her Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castillo.

Everyone in Painters Mill knows the abandoned Hochstetler farm is haunted. But only a handful of the residents remember the terrible secrets lost in the muted/hushed whispers of time—and now death is stalking them, seemingly from the grave.

On a late-night shift, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called to the scene of an apparent suicide — an old man found hanging from the rafters in his dilapidated barn. But evidence quickly points to murder and Kate finds herself chasing a singularly difficult and elusive trail of evidence that somehow points back to the tragedy of that long ago incident. Meanwhile, Kate has moved in with state agent John Tomasetti and for the first time in so long, they're both happy; a bliss quickly shattered when one of the men responsible for the murders of Tomasetti’s family four years ago is found not guilty, and walks away a free man. Will Tomasetti be pulled back to his own haunted past?

When a second man is found dead—also seemingly by his own hand — Kate discovers a link in the case that sends the investigation in a direction no one could imagine and revealing the horrifying truth of what really happened that terrible night thirty-five years ago, when an Amish father and his four children perished — and his young wife disappeared without a trace.

And, as Kate knows — the past never truly dies in The Dead Will Tell by Linda Castillo.

Product Details
Series: Kate Burkholder (Book 6)
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (July 8, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250029570
ISBN-13: 978-1250029577


My Review:

4/5

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Do or Die: Reluctant Heroes (Hardcover)



I've finished "Do Or Die" the first book in her new Reluctant Heroes series by Suzanne Brockmann.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Navy SEAL Ian Dunn went rogue in a big way when he turned his talents to a lawless life of jewel heists and con jobs. Or so the world has been led to believe. In reality, the former Special Ops warrior is still fighting for good, leading a small band of freelance covert operatives who take care of high-stakes business in highly unofficial ways. That makes Ian the hands-down choice when the U.S. government must breach a heavily guarded embassy and rescue a pair of children kidnapped by their own father, a sinister foreign national willing to turn his kids into casualties. Shockingly, Ian passes on the mission for reasons he will not — or cannot — reveal.

But saying no is not an option. Especially not for Phoebe Kruger, Ian’s beautiful and unexpectedly brash new attorney. Determined to see the abducted children set free, Phoebe not only gets Ian on board but insists on riding shotgun on his Mission: Impossible–style operation, whether he likes it or not.

Though Phoebe has a valuable knack for getting out of tight spots, there’s no denying the intensely intimate feelings growing between Ian and Phoebe as the team gears up for combat. But these are feelings they both must fight to control as they face an array of cold-blooded adversaries, including a vindictive mob boss who’s got Ian at the top of his hit list and a wealthy psychopath who loves murder as much as he loves money. As they dodge death squads and play lethal games of deception, Ian and Phoebe will do whatever it takes to save the innocent and vanquish the guilty — or die trying.

Product Details
Series: Reluctant Heroes
Hardcover: 576 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Edition edition (February 4, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345543793
ISBN-13: 978-0345543790


My Review:

3 and 3.5/5

New Release 2014 (July 15)












A place of history, secrets and witchcraft.

Devin Lyle has recently returned to the Salem area, but her timing couldn't be worse. Soon after she moved into the eighteenth-century cabin she inherited from her great-aunt Mina — her "crazy" great-aunt, who spoke to the dead — a woman was murdered nearby.

Craig Rockwell — known as Rocky — is a new member of the Krewe of Hunters, the FBI's team of paranormal investigators. He never got over finding a friend dead in the woods. Now another body's been found in those same woods, not far from the home of Devin Lyle. And Devin's been led to a third body — by a ghost?

Her discovery draws them both deeper into the case and Salem's rich and disturbing history. Even as the danger mounts, Devin and Rocky begin to fall for each other, something the ghosts of Mina and past witches seem to approve of. But the two of them need every skill they possess to learn the truth — or Devin's might be the next body in the woods.







Judged

As he watches, her body drifts below the water's surface, forever altered. Before he disposes of each victim, he takes a trophy. It's a sign of his power, and a warning — to the one destined to suffer most of all.

Condemned

In Grizzly Falls, Montana, Detectives Selena Alvarez and Regan Pescoli are struggling with a new commander and a department in the midst of upheaval. It's the worst possible time for a homicide. A body has been found, missing a finger. Alvarez hopes this means a murderer with a personal grudge, not a madman. But then a second body turns up.

Executed

As the clues begin pointing toward a suspect, Pescoli's unease grows. Even with Alvarez barely holding it together and her own personal life in chaos, she senses there's more to this case than others believe. A killer has made his way to Grizzly Falls, ready to fulfill a vengeance years in the making. And Pescoli must find the target of his wrath — or die trying.






In New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub's new thriller, one woman finds herself in the crosshairs of a twisted predator who might just be masked behind a familiar screen name.

During the darkest period of her life, Landry Wells found solace in a group of bloggers who had been in her shoes and lived to tell the tale. She's shared things with her online friends that even her husband and children didn't know. Things that now, looking back, make her uneasy.

One of the bloggers is dead, victim of a random crime — or was it? Did she trust too easily; reveal too much? At the funeral a thousand miles from home, Landry is about to come face to face at last with the others. These women are her closest confidantes in the world: they understand her; they know everything about her — and one of them might be a cold-blooded killer.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads (July 28)




 Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads


Weekly Cozy, Mystery Thriller and Romantic Suspense Reads is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews:

Post the books you read last week and books being read this week.

Read Last Week:

1.  Eyes on You - Kate White
2.  Providence Rag - Bruce DeSilva

Weekly Read:

1.  Antique Shop - Barbara Allan

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Library Haul 2014 (July 27 - Aug 2)



Here's the list of books I picked up from the library this week:

Hardcover:

1.  Field of Prey - John Sandford
2.  Antique Shop - Barbara Allan

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Eyes on You: A Novel of Suspense




I've finished "Eyes on You" by Kate White.

From New York Times bestselling author Kate White comes a riveting psychological suspense in which a media star must battle a malevolent enemy who may be disturbingly close to her.

After losing her on-air job two years ago, television host Robin Trainer has fought her way back and now she’s hotter than ever. With her new show climbing in the ratings and her first book a bestseller, she’s being dubbed a media double threat.

But suddenly, things begin to go wrong. Small incidents at first: a nasty note left in her purse; her photo shredded. But the obnoxious quickly becomes threatening when the foundation the makeup artist uses burns Robin’s face. It wasn’t an accident — someone had deliberately doctored with the product.

An adversary with a dark agenda wants to hurt Robin, and the clues point to someone she works with every day. While she frantically tries to put the pieces together and unmask this hidden foe, it becomes terrifyingly clear that the person responsible isn’t going to stop until Robin loses everything that matters to her including her life.

Product Details
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Harper (June 24, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061576638
ISBN-13: 978-0061576638


My Review:

3/5

Cozy, Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Books Wish List

 


Please list the books from your wishlist that you are hoping to add to your shelves in a comment, thanks.

Cozy, Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Books, I'm Waiting For:
 






A place of history, secrets and witchcraft.

Devin Lyle has recently returned to the Salem area, but her timing couldn't be worse. Soon after she moved into the eighteenth-century cabin she inherited from her great-aunt Mina — her "crazy" great-aunt, who spoke to the dead — a woman was murdered nearby.

Craig Rockwell — known as Rocky — is a new member of the Krewe of Hunters, the FBI's team of paranormal investigators. He never got over finding a friend dead in the woods. Now another body's been found in those same woods, not far from the home of Devin Lyle. And Devin's been led to a third body — by a ghost?

Her discovery draws them both deeper into the case and Salem's rich and disturbing history. Even as the danger mounts, Devin and Rocky begin to fall for each other, something the ghosts of Mina and past witches seem to approve of. But the two of them need every skill they possess to learn the truth — or Devin's might be the next body in the woods.







Judged

As he watches, her body drifts below the water's surface, forever altered. Before he disposes of each victim, he takes a trophy. It's a sign of his power, and a warning — to the one destined to suffer most of all.

Condemned

In Grizzly Falls, Montana, Detectives Selena Alvarez and Regan Pescoli are struggling with a new commander and a department in the midst of upheaval. It's the worst possible time for a homicide. A body has been found, missing a finger. Alvarez hopes this means a murderer with a personal grudge, not a madman. But then a second body turns up.

Executed

As the clues begin pointing toward a suspect, Pescoli's unease grows. Even with Alvarez barely holding it together and her own personal life in chaos, she senses there's more to this case than others believe. A killer has made his way to Grizzly Falls, ready to fulfill a vengeance years in the making. And Pescoli must find the target of his wrath — or die trying.






In New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub's new thriller, one woman finds herself in the crosshairs of a twisted predator who might just be masked behind a familiar screen name.

During the darkest period of her life, Landry Wells found solace in a group of bloggers who had been in her shoes and lived to tell the tale. She's shared things with her online friends that even her husband and children didn't know. Things that now, looking back, make her uneasy.

One of the bloggers is dead, victim of a random crime — or was it? Did she trust too easily; reveal too much? At the funeral a thousand miles from home, Landry is about to come face to face at last with the others. These women are her closest confidantes in the world: they understand her; they know everything about her — and one of them might be a cold-blooded killer.