In the Mail Saturday 2011 (Dec 31)

In the Mail Saturday is hosted every Saturday at Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews.

I received this in the mail this week.

Private: #1 Suspect (Jack Morgan) [Hardcover]

Product Description

Unsolvable cases

Since former Marine Jack Morgan started Private, it has become the world's most effective investigation firm -- sought out by the famous and the powerful to discreetly handle their most intimate problems. Private's investigators are the smartest, the fastest, and the most technologically advanced in the world -- and they always uncover the truth.

Impossible murders

When his former lover is found murdered in Jack Morgan's bed, he is instantly the number one suspect. While Jack is under police investigation, the mob strong-arms him into recovering $30 million in stolen pharmaceuticals for them. And the beautiful manager of a luxury hotel chain persuades him to quietly investigate a string of murders at her properties.

The #1 suspect is Jack Morgan

While Jack is fighting for his life, one of his most trusted colleagues threatens to leave Private, and Jack realizes he is confronting the cleverest and most powerful enemies ever. With more action, more intrigue, and more twists than ever before, PRIVATE: #1 SUSPECT is James Patterson at his unstoppable best.

Product Details
Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (January 2, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316097403
ISBN-13: 978-0316097406

To My Senses [Paperback]

I've finished "To My Senses" the 1st book in her Nicci Beauvoir series by Alexandrea Weis.

Product Description

Amid the prying eyes of spicy New Orleans society, one woman must choose between embracing her passion or heeding practicality in this finely - tuned Southern love story. Haunting and heartfelt, this debut novel is steeped in wit, charm and sizzling moments of desire. To My Senses by Alexandrea Weis shares one woman's journey through love, betrayal and the ultimate tragedy that eventually leads her to discover her true purpose in life.

About the Author

Alexandrea Weis has worked as a nurse for nearly two decades. She has previously published in nursing textbooks and journals but this is her first book of fiction. She lives outside of New Orleans with her husband and a menagerie of pets.

Product Details
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (June 20, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1419661116
ISBN-13: 978-1419661112

My Review:

Nicci Beauvoir has grown up in the glitzy world of being a debutante and doesn't really like it.  She wants to be a nurse and is enjoying completing her courses.  Her dad wants her to take over the family's scrape metal business but she's not interested.

One evening during a lawn party she meets an interesting individual David Alexander and struggling artist under the influence of his benefactor Sammy.  He swepts her off her feet by taking her fishing, having coffee at a coffee shop and then proceeds to show her he's a great lover.  While she is sleeping he paints her image on his canvas board.

Also during this time Sammy is out to get control of Nicci's father's business and David is somehow involved in this scheme.  Nicci finds out and is devastated by the betrayal.  She turns to Dr. Michael Fagles a man who only wants to find a wife he can control.  She allows him to direct her and her passion for life is gone ever since David's betrayal.

Will Nicci ever be passionate about life again or even forgive David - you will have to read to find out!

This is a beautifully written book with intrigue around every corner, betrayals, romance in the world of lavish backgrounds.

4/5

Sacrifice [Paperback]

I've finished "Sacrifice" the 3rd book in her Nicci Beauvoir trilogy series by Alexandrea Weis.

Product Description

Nicci Beauvoir fell in love with the artist, David Alexander, in To My Senses, and then uncovered his killer in Recovery. Nicci is back to finally confront David's dark past in Sacrifice. Stunned after seeing a man she believes to be her beloved David Alexander in a crowd outside of the St. Louis Cathedral, Nicci goes on a desperate hunt for the truth about David's demise. But to get the information she desires, Nicci must team up with David's former boss, the ruthless Simon La Roy. Nicci decides not to tell her fiancé, Dallas August, about her involvement with Simon. As Nicci becomes hopelessly entangled in Simon's sinister plans, Dallas discovers her secret, and tries to protect her. But one night on a deserted French Quarter street, Nicci unexpectedly learns what really happened to David Alexander. Now she must engage in a deadly game of intrigue to keep what she has unearthed from Simon La Roy. In a final confrontation, a revengeful Simon forces Nicci to choose between her life and revealing all that she has discovered. But what mystery is Nicci protecting and is it worth her future happiness? For Nicci there can be no happy ending unless she keeps what she knows about David Alexander hidden from the world. It's a decision that will cost her everything. Is Nicci willing to pay the price? In the end, there can never be a happily ever after without a little ... sacrifice.

Product Details
Paperback: 270 pages
Publisher: World Castle Publishing (November 4, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1937593169
ISBN-13: 978-1937593162

My Review:

Nicci believes she sees a man that looks just like her beloved David Alexander outside of the St. Louis Cathedral.  She decides to go on a hunt for the truth behind David's murder.  She teams up with Simon La Roy David's old boss to get the information she needs.  She doesn't tell Dallas August her fiance about working with Simon.  The more she gets involved in Simon's deadly game Dallas discovers her secret and is determined to protect/save her.  In an emotional climax revengeful Simon forces Nicci to choose between her life and all she has learned.

Wow this book is very intense and emotionally captivating.  Nicci isn't a damsel in distress she's the one actually taking on the danger head on.  I didn't like how she was leading Dallas on and I thought she was quite angry in this book.

Very fast paced with an intriguing storyline and very flesh out characters.

4/5

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selections are:

Private: #1 Suspect (Jack Morgan) [Hardcover]

Product Description

Unsolvable cases

Since former Marine Jack Morgan started Private, it has become the world's most effective investigation firm--sought out by the famous and the powerful to discreetly handle their most intimate problems. Private's investigators are the smartest, the fastest, and the most technologically advanced in the world -- and they always uncover the truth.

Impossible murders

When his former lover is found murdered in Jack Morgan's bed, he is instantly the number one suspect. While Jack is under police investigation, the mob strong-arms him into recovering $30 million in stolen pharmaceuticals for them. And the beautiful manager of a luxury hotel chain persuades him to quietly investigate a string of murders at her properties.

The #1 suspect is Jack Morgan

While Jack is fighting for his life, one of his most trusted colleagues threatens to leave Private, and Jack realizes he is confronting the cleverest and most powerful enemies ever. With more action, more intrigue, and more twists than ever before, PRIVATE: #1 SUSPECT is James Patterson at his unstoppable best.

Product Details
Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (January 2, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316097403
ISBN-13: 978-0316097406

Locked and Loaded (Men of Delta Force) [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Description

Acclaimed author Alexis Grant assigns a scorching-hot mission to the Men of Delta Force, where military power meets its match — in the passion of a woman…

DEA agent Sage Wagner will do whatever it takes to bring down Miami’s biggest drug lord — even go undercover and become his mistress. But her bold plan hits a snag when Delta Force shows up. Namely, Captain Anthony Davis. This ultra-elite warrior could blow Sage’s cover with a kiss — and beat her at her own game …

At first, Anthony doesn’t realize that the drug lord’s sexy new love interest is actually a trained DEA agent…until she nearly knocks him cold with her ninja moves. Now he’s hoping to use her underworld edge to help block an arms deal with terrorists. And take her in his arms and never let her go …

Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; First Edition edition (January 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312943040
ISBN-13: 978-0312943042  

Hot Rain [Paperback]

Product Description

Allie Parker knows her best friend's death was no accident, but her quest to find the truth soon puts her in the wrong place - at the worst possible time ... An unwilling passenger on a boat carrying deadly cargo and dangerous men, her only ally is mysterious Jake Dawson, who warns her that she must play the role of his reluctant bedmate ... if she wants to stay alive. Under any other circumstances, she'd welcome the attentions of a man with Jake's powerful body and seductive deep blue eyes. But as Allie places her body - and her trust - in the hands of a total stranger, she wonders if this desperate gamble will be her last ...


Product Details
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Zebra (January 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1420123971
ISBN-13: 978-1420123975

New Releases 2011 (Dec 27)

Sleepwalker [Hardcover]

Product Description

It’s not that Micayla Lange is afraid of the clinking she hears coming from the first floor of the empty McMansion she’s housesitting for her uncle Nicco. She’s a cop, after all. It’s just that finding out her boyfriend was cheating on her was enough drama for one night. Now she’s alone on New Year’s Eve, wearing flannel pajamas and wielding a Glock 22 as she zeroes in on the unmistakable source of the sound: Uncle Nicco’s private office. Jason Davis steals things for a living, so unexpected developments are a natural part of the job. Getting caught red-handed by a hot, pigtail-sporting police officer in what is supposed to be a gangster’s deserted house is just one more twist in the game. Kind of like finding incriminating photos in Nicco Marino’s safe, only to discover the cop — and the security cameras — have gotten a real good look at his face. Unfortunately for Mick, she also got a good look at the damned pictures. Her “uncle” might love her like family, but if he knows she’s seen evidence that implicates him in the murder of a city councilman, she doesn’t like her chances. Which is why she’s having a hard time reconciling her professional instincts with what she is rapidly concluding is an inescapable fact: She’s about to help a criminal get away with a suitcase full of stolen money. And she’s going with him. Mick and Jason’s race for their lives hurtles them through the dangerous Michigan wilderness on speedboat and snowmobile. As their adventure heats up and their enemies close in, Mick is torn between her duty to the force and the combustible passion engulfing her and her unlikely partner in crime. She’ll have to turn Jason in sooner or later . . . if they survive.  But will they ever get a second chance at love?

Product Details
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books (December 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1439183724
ISBN-13: 978-1439183724

Down the Darkest Road [Hardcover]

Product Description

#1 New York Times bestselling author Tami Hoag returns with the latest entry in her riveting Oak Knoll series.

Deeper Than the Dead introduced Tami Hoag's millions of fans to Oak Knoll, a small California town that, in the mid-eighties, seemed as idyllic as any . . . until the See-No-Evil killer shattered that notion. It took FBI agent Vince Leone and a new technique called "profiling" to put an end to the trauma.Secrets to the Grave brought Leone's teacher-turned-child- advocate wife, Anne, into a central role. Together with Vince and local sheriff 's deputy Tony Mendez, she solved an Oak Knoll murder with a particularly challenging mystery: The victim never existed.And now Hoag returns once more to Oak Knoll for the third installment of this bestselling series. Through Leone's pioneering, science-based investigatory skills, Hoag explores the early days of forensic police work. And through the chilling case at the heart of Down the Darkest Road, she hooks ever more readers into the meticulously crafted, all -too -terrifying world of Oak Knoll, where the scariest secrets of all can be found . . . Down the Darkest Road.

Product Details
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Dutton Adult (December 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 052595239X
ISBN-13: 978-0525952398

Sweet Reward: A Last Chance Rescue Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Description

WHEN RISK IS THE REWARD — LET THE DANGER BEGIN

Adrenaline junkie Jared Livingston has found the perfect blend of exhilaration and danger in his new job at Last Chance Rescue. Raised to depend only on himself, Jared tried marriage, but the end of the relationship renewed his belief that he was meant to be a loner. Now a desperate plea from his ex-wife puts Jared in the unique position of using the skills she despised to rescue her missing daughter. The case brings Jared face-to-face with Mia Ryker, the only agent ever fired from LCR — for playing too far outside the box. Now Mia’s back, and as a team, they’re as compatible as fuel and fire — blowing off tension in each other’s arms, blowing open the secret life of a wealthy philanthropist and his shameful dealings. Their search for the innocent child takes them to places neither have been before — to the edge of danger and to the edge of their hearts.


Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (December 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345524098
ISBN-13: 978-0345524096

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Dec 26)

What Are You Reading is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Sheila from One Persons Journey: http://bookjourney.wordpress.com

Post the books you read last week, book currently being read and books you plan on finishing this week.

Last week I read:

1. Skeleton Letters - Laura Childs
2. Saint's Gate - Carla Neggers

I’m currently reading:

1. Smokin' Seventeen - Janet Evanovich

Books I’m planning on reading this week:

1. Locked and Loaded - Alexis Grant

Here's the link:

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas!

Library Haul 2011 (Dec 24 - 31)

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

Hardcover:

1.  Smoking Seventeen - Janet Evanovich

What books did you pick up from the library?