Tuesday, May 1, 2012

New Releases 2012 (May 1)


Robert B. Parker's Lullaby (Spenser) [Hardcover]

Product Description

When fourteen-year-old Mattie Sullivan asks Spenser to look into her mother’s murder, he’s not completely convinced by her claim that the police investigation four years ago was botched. Mattie is gruff, street-smart, and wise beyond her years, left to care for her younger siblings and an alcoholic grandmother in a dilapidated apartment in South Boston. But her need for closure and her determination to make things right hit Spenser where he lives- they’re the very characteristics he abides by.

Mattie believes the man convicted of the crime is innocent and points Spenser to the Southie toughs who she saw carrying her mother away hours before her murder. Neither the Boston PD nor the neighborhood thugs are keen on his dredging up the past, but as Spenser becomes more involved in the case, he starts to realize that Mattie may be onto something. Spenser will need Hawk’s help to find peace for Mattie – a job that’s more dangerous than he ever thought.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (May 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399158030
ISBN-13: 978-0399158032




Brownies and Broomsticks: A Magical Bakery Mystery [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Description

EASY BAKE COVEN

Katie Lightfoot's tired of loafing around as the assistant manager of an Ohio bakery. So when her aunt Lucy and uncle Ben open a bakery in Savannah's quaint downtown district and ask Katie to join them, she enthusiastically agrees.

While working at the Honeybee Bakery — named after Lucy's cat — Katie notices that her aunt is adding mysterious herbs to her recipes. Turns out these herbal enhancements aren't just tasty — Aunt Lucy is a witch and her recipes are actually spells!

When a curmudgeonly customer is murdered outside the Honeybee Bakery, Uncle Ben becomes the prime suspect. With the help of handsome journalist Steve Dawes, charming firefighter Declan McCarthy, and a few spells, Katie and Aunt Lucy stir up some toil and trouble to clear Ben's name and find the real killer.
Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Signet; Original edition (May 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451236637
ISBN-13: 978-0451236630
A Deadly Grind (A Vintage Kitchen Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]
 
Product Description A Hoosier to die for?

When vintage cookware and cookbook collector Jaymie Leighton spies an original 1920s Hoosier brand kitchen cabinet at an estate auction, it’s love at first sight. Despite the protests of her sister that the 19th-century yellow-brick house they share in Michigan is already too cluttered with Jaymie’s “junk,” she successfully outbids the other buyers and triumphantly takes home her Hoosier.

But that night on the summer porch where they’ve left the Hoosier to be cleaned up, a man is murdered, struck on the head with the steel meat grinder that is part of the cabinet. Who is this stranger — and what was he doing on their porch? Does his death have anything to do with the Hoosier?

As the police struggle to determine the man’s identity, Jaymie can’t help doing a little digging on her own, accompanied by her three-legged Yorkie Poo, Hopalong. But in her bid to uncover the truth about the hidden secrets of the Hoosier, Jaymie may be the one who ends up going, going … gone.
Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (May 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425248011
ISBN-13: 978-0425248010




The Big Kitty (A Sunny & Shadow Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Description


Did curiosity kill the cat lady?


Sunny Coolidge left her New York City newspaper job to go back to Maine and take care of her ailing father. But there’s not much excitement — or interesting work — in Kittery Harbor. So when Ada Spruance, the town’s elderly cat lady, asks for help finding her supposedly-winning lottery ticket, Sunny agrees. But when she arrives at Ada’s, with a stray tomcat named Shadow tagging along, they discover the poor woman dead at the bottom of her stairs. Was it an accident — or did Ada’s death have to do with that missing lottery ticket, which turns out to be worth six million dollars?

Town Constable Will Price suspects the worst. And Sunny’s reporter instincts soon drive her to do some investigating of her own. Even Shadow seems to have a nose for detective work. Following the trail of the purrloined ticket, Sunny and Shadow try to shed some light on a killer’s dark motives — before their own numbers are up …
Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (May 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 042524802X
ISBN-13: 978-0425248027

May Releases

1st
Lullaby - Robert B. Parker
Brownies and Broomsticks - Bailey Cates
A Deadly Grind - Victoria Hamilton
The Big Kitty - Claire Donally

7th
11th Hour - James Patterson

8th
Bare-Naked Lola - Misa Ramirez 

15th
Stolen Prey - John Sandford

22nd
Vortex - Cherry Adair
Beautiful Sacrifice - Elizabeth Lowell

29th
Love is Murder - Sandra Brown
Against the Sun - Kat Martin

Monday, April 30, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Apr 30)


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.  Deadly Dance - Dee Davis
2.  What Doesn't Kill You - Iris Johansen

I’m currently reading:

1.  Betrayal - Christina Dodd

Books I’m planning on reading this week:

1.  The Witness - Nora Roberts

Here's the link:

http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/2012/04/29/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-136 

Saturday, April 28, 2012

In the Mail Saturday 2012 (Apr 28)


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

I received these in the mail this week.



Betrayal: A Bella Terra Deception Novel (Scarlet Deception) [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Description

Only New York Times bestseller Christina Dodd could bring you this series about three brothers, tormented by their pasts ...

At nineteen, Noah Di Luca was Bella Terra's golden boy, handsome, confident, and untouched by the shadows that tormented his brothers...or so it seems. Driven by ambition, beautiful teenage Penelope Alonso fought her way out of the ghettos. During one hot summer, they came together in the sweetness of first love ... until his past reared its ugly head and Noah walked away.

Nine years later, Penelope returns, never imagining she'd see Noah or that one glance would wake their fiery passion. As peril builds around them, Penelope has one choice: to survive, she must once again trust the man who betrayed her.

Even with terror stalking through Bella Terra's streets, love may be the most dangerous choice of all.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
Publisher: Signet Select; Original edition (April 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451413202
ISBN-13: 978-0451413208





The Witness [Hardcover]

Product Description

Daughter of a controlling mother, Elizabeth finally let loose one night, drinking at a nightclub and allowing a strange man’s seductive Russian accent lure her to a house on Lake Shore Drive. The events that followed changed her life forever.

Twelve years later, the woman known as Abigail Lowery lives on the outskirts of a small town in the Ozarks. A freelance programmer, she designs sophisticated security systems — and supplements her own security with a fierce dog and an assortment of firearms. She keeps to herself, saying little, revealing nothing. But Abigail’s reserve only intrigues police chief Brooks Gleason. Her logical mind, her secretive nature, and her unromantic viewpoints leave him fascinated but frustrated. He suspects that Abigail needs protection from something — and that her elaborate defenses hide a story that must be revealed.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 496 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (April 17, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399159126
ISBN-13: 978-0399159121





A Killer Read (An Ashton Corners) [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Description

For the first meeting of the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society, six friends gather in Molly Matthews's old Southern mansion - including Lizzie Turner, a reading specialist with a penchant for mysteries. But the mystery book club meeting becomes the scene of an actual murder when a stranger is shot  - and nobody knows who the victim is, or how Molly' antique gun came to be used as the murder weapon.

Then Lizzie begins finding mysterious manuscript chapters in her mailbox. As she and the book club members try to read between the lines, Molly surfaces as the next name on the killer's list ...
Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (April 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425247031
ISBN-13: 978-0425247037

Friday, April 27, 2012

Silenced [Mass Market Paperback]


I've finished "Silenced" the 4th book in her Lucy Kincaid series by Allison Brennan.

Product Description

Lucy Kincaid is back -- with a vengeance.

A Washington Sex Scandal


It has been seven years since Lucy was attacked -- and almost killed -- by an online predator. Today, she is well on her way toward a new life. While waiting to begin her training at the FBI Academy, Lucy's is tireless in her fight against cyber sex crime. Her current mission: to find out who killed a high-priced call girl linked to a powerful Congressman.

A Cold-Blooded Killer

A number of known prostitutes -- with scores of high profile clients -- are turning up dead all over D.C. Is this the work of a depraved killer? Or the result of an inside job? Lucy's investigation will take her into an underground network of prostitutes, the chambers of the country's most powerful players, and her own dark past to confront an unknown enemy who's always one step ahead of her. With the help of her P.I. boyfriend Sean Rogan, Lucy must find and protect the only witness who can identify the killer and end the conspiracy, but can the witness be trusted? Lucy will risk everything to expose the truth and ensure justice is served, even if that means putting herself in the line of fire ...

About Author

Allison Brennan is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romantic suspense and thrillers. She's a five-time RITA award nominee for Best Romantic Suspense, and the Daphne du Maurier winner for Best Suspense for FEAR NO EVIL. A former consultant in the California State Legislature, Allison lives in northern California with her husband and five kids. She's currently writing, reading ... or attending her kids sporting events.
 
Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books; Original edition (April 24, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250005957
ISBN-13: 978-1250005953
 
My Review:
 
It has been seven years since Lucy Kincaid met an online predator who seemed nice.  When they finally met he turned out to be a sadistic psychopath who enjoyed raping and killing women live for money (see Fear No Evil).  He savagely attacked her but she lived and killed him.  Since they attack she is determined to become an FBI agent and never letting that happen to another women.  She has been accepted to the FBI Academy.
 
While she is waiting Noah Armstrong her mentor asks her to help him investigate the murder of a high-priced call girl Wendy James linked to Congressman Crowley.  Noah's boss Supervisory Special Agent Matt Slater is angered when Lucy voices her findings about the murder scene and he doesn't want an untrained FBI wannable in the field.  She is reassigned to another case the murders of several call girls and a social worker and she figures out they are linked to the Wendy James murder.  With the help of her private investigator boyfriend Sean Rogan Lucy must figure out the connection between Ivy before the killers murder the both of them.
 
This book is a thrilling action packed mystery which is non stop from beginning to end.  Lucy has grown a lot since her attack by sharpening her strong instincts but lacks confidence in her abilities and skills.  

I really loved how Lucy was more vocal about her opinions in this book and didn't let anyone bring her down.  She was spot on about her findings and how each case were linked together.  Really enjoyed her rapport with Ivy and how she could relate to her.  I also love how her relationship with Sean is moving ahead to the next step and how they support each other.

4/5

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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:




Robert B. Parker's Lullaby (Spenser) [Hardcover]

Product Description

When fourteen-year-old Mattie Sullivan asks Spenser to look into her mother’s murder, he’s not completely convinced by her claim that the police investigation four years ago was botched. Mattie is gruff, street-smart, and wise beyond her years, left to care for her younger siblings and an alcoholic grandmother in a dilapidated apartment in South Boston. But her need for closure and her determination to make things right hit Spenser where he lives- they’re the very characteristics he abides by.

Mattie believes the man convicted of the crime is innocent and points Spenser to the Southie toughs who she saw carrying her mother away hours before her murder. Neither the Boston PD nor the neighborhood thugs are keen on his dredging up the past, but as Spenser becomes more involved in the case, he starts to realize that Mattie may be onto something. Spenser will need Hawk’s help to find peace for Mattie – a job that’s more dangerous than he ever thought.

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult (May 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399158030
ISBN-13: 978-0399158032




Brownies and Broomsticks: A Magical Bakery Mystery [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Description

EASY BAKE COVEN

Katie Lightfoot's tired of loafing around as the assistant manager of an Ohio bakery. So when her aunt Lucy and uncle Ben open a bakery in Savannah's quaint downtown district and ask Katie to join them, she enthusiastically agrees.

While working at the Honeybee Bakery — named after Lucy's cat — Katie notices that her aunt is adding mysterious herbs to her recipes. Turns out these herbal enhancements aren't just tasty—Aunt Lucy is a witch and her recipes are actually spells!

When a curmudgeonly customer is murdered outside the Honeybee Bakery, Uncle Ben becomes the prime suspect. With the help of handsome journalist Steve Dawes, charming firefighter Declan McCarthy, and a few spells, Katie and Aunt Lucy stir up some toil and trouble to clear Ben's name and find the real killer ..
Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Signet; Original edition (May 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451236637
ISBN-13: 978-0451236630
A Deadly Grind (A Vintage Kitchen Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]
Product Description
A Hoosier to die for?

When vintage cookware and cookbook collector Jaymie Leighton spies an original 1920s Hoosier brand kitchen cabinet at an estate auction, it’s love at first sight. Despite the protests of her sister that the 19th-century yellow-brick house they share in Michigan is already too cluttered with Jaymie’s “junk,” she successfully outbids the other buyers and triumphantly takes home her Hoosier.

But that night on the summer porch where they’ve left the Hoosier to be cleaned up, a man is murdered, struck on the head with the steel meat grinder that is part of the cabinet. Who is this stranger — and what was he doing on their porch? Does his death have anything to do with the Hoosier?

As the police struggle to determine the man’s identity, Jaymie can’t help doing a little digging on her own, accompanied by her three-legged Yorkie Poo, Hopalong. But in her bid to uncover the truth about the hidden secrets of the Hoosier, Jaymie may be the one who ends up going, going … gone.
Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (May 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425248011
ISBN-13: 978-0425248010
The Big Kitty (A Sunny & Shadow Mystery) [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Description

Did curiosity kill the cat lady?

Sunny Coolidge left her New York City newspaper job to go back to Maine and take care of her ailing father. But there’s not much excitement — or interesting work — in Kittery Harbor. So when Ada Spruance, the town’s elderly cat lady, asks for help finding her supposedly-winning lottery ticket, Sunny agrees. But when she arrives at Ada’s, with a stray tomcat named Shadow tagging along, they discover the poor woman dead at the bottom of her stairs. Was it an accident — or did Ada’s death have to do with that missing lottery ticket, which turns out to be worth six million dollars?

Town Constable Will Price suspects the worst. And Sunny’s reporter instincts soon drive her to do some investigating of her own. Even Shadow seems to have a nose for detective work. Following the trail of the purrloined ticket, Sunny and Shadow try to shed some light on a killer’s dark motives — before their own numbers are up …
Product Details
Reading level: Ages 18 and up
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley; Original edition (May 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 042524802X
ISBN-13: 978-0425248027

11th Hour (Women's Murder Club) [Hardcover]
Product Description
Your best friend

Lindsay Boxer is pregnant at last! But her work doesn't slow for a second. When millionaire Chaz Smith is mercilessly gunned down, she discovers that the murder weapon is linked to the deaths of four of San Francisco's most untouchable criminals. And it was taken from her own department's evidence locker. Anyone could be the killer -- even her closest friends.

Or a vicious killer?

Lindsay is called next to the most bizarre crime scene she's ever seen: two bodiless heads elaborately displayed in the garden of a world-famous actor. Another head is unearthed in the garden, and Lindsay realizes that the ground could hide hundreds of victims.

You won't know until the 11th hour

A reporter launches a series of vicious articles about the cases and Lindsay's personal life is laid bare. But this time she has no one to turn to -- especially not Joe. 11TH HOUR is the most shocking, most emotional, and most thrilling Women's Murder Club novel ever.
Product Details
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (May 7, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316097497
ISBN-13: 978-0316097499

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Deadly Dance [Mass Market Paperback]


I've finished "Deadly Dance" the 5th book in her A-Tac series by Dee Davis.

Product Description

As the intelligence officer for A-Tac, a black-ops CIA unit masquerading as Ivy League faculty, Hannah Marshall is used to working behind the scenes. But when a brutal murder hits too close to home, Hannah finds herself in the middle of the action, falling in love while racing to outwit a sadistic mastermind.

A KILLER CLOSES IN

After the death of her A-Tac partner, Hannah doubts everything she thought she knew about love and loyalty. When handsome Harrison Blake joins the team, she's reluctant to trust him - or to act on her intense attraction to him. Then Hannah receives a podcast of a gruesome murder, and the only person who can help her find the killer is Harrison.

Harrison has spent years trying to hunt down the cunning monster who killed his sister. Now investigating with Hannah, he faces a shocking possibility - his sister's murderer has resurfaced. As the danger escalates, Hannah and Harrison grow closer, the desire simmering between them ignites. And when Hannah disappears, Harrison has only one chance to save the woman he loves.

About the Author

Bestselling author Dee Davis worked in association management before turning her hand to writing. Her highly acclaimed first novel, Everything in Its Time, was published in July 2000. Since then, among others, she's won the Booksellers Best, Golden Leaf, Texas Gold, and Prism awards, and been nominated for the National Readers Choice Award, the Holt Medallion Award, and two RT Reviewers Choice Awards. When not sitting at the computer writing, she spends her time exploring Manhattan with her husband, daughter, and Cardigan Welsh corgi.

Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Forever; Original edition (April 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446582948
ISBN-13: 978-0446582940


My Review:

The Consortium failed in their plan to infiltrate A-Tac but they managed to leave Jason Lawton dead. Hannah Marshall A-Tac's Intelligence specialist mourns the death of her friend but has a mission dedicated to her fallen comrade. She poses as the inheritor of a valuable art collection including a Monet painting Le Jardin lost in WW II that she wants to sell to Alain DuBois who is tied to the Consortium in Montreal.  What they didn't kow was it was a trap when DuBois is killed and Hannah and her teammates including new member Harrison Blake are fortunate to escape with their lives as the Consortium blows up his estate.

When Hannah returns to Sunderland College Tina Richards her grad student assistant shows her a disturbing video sent to her e-mail showing a man torturing a girl who is tied up on a bed.  Soon after a fellow team member Avery informs them Sara Lauter a student is missing.  They soon realize both cases are related and the torture murder reminds Harrison of the death of his twin sister Eileen by the killer known as the Cyber Killer since he sent e-mails before his kills.

Harrison Blake is the new member of the team who brings a vast amount of experience to the team since he's a former FBI agent, he use to work for the Last Chance organization and his great computer expertise.  He and Hannah are work friends but as they dig deeper into the case they become lovers.  Both have experienced tragedies in their lives - Hannah was abused in her childhood and learned to cope with the pain and keeps people away from her - Blake feels guilty that he wasn't able to save his sister from the Cyber Killer who raped, tortured and then killed her.

This was a thrilling fast paced romantic suspense with twists and turns and very sadistic villains.  The killings are pretty graphic.

4/5

New Releases 2012 (Apr 24)


Silenced [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Description

Lucy Kincaid is back -- with a vengeance.

A Washington Sex Scandal


It has been seven years since Lucy was attacked -- and almost killed -- by an online predator. Today, she is well on her way toward a new life. While waiting to begin her training at the FBI Academy, Lucy's is tireless in her fight against cyber sex crime. Her current mission: to find out who killed a high-priced call girl linked to a powerful Congressman.

A Cold-Blooded Killer

A number of known prostitutes -- with scores of high profile clients -- are turning up dead all over D.C. Is this the work of a depraved killer? Or the result of an inside job? Lucy's investigation will take her into an underground network of prostitutes, the chambers of the country's most powerful players, and her own dark past to confront an unknown enemy who's always one step ahead of her. With the help of her P.I. boyfriend Sean Rogan, Lucy must find and protect the only witness who can identify the killer and end the conspiracy, but can the witness be trusted? Lucy will risk everything to expose the truth and ensure justice is served, even if that means putting herself in the line of fire ...

Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books; Original edition (April 24, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250005957
ISBN-13: 978-1250005953




Unmasking Kelsey [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Description

All is not as it seems as a daring undercover agent and an unconventional southern belle mix business with pleasure in this classic story of romance and suspense from New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper.

Kelsey has come to the idyllic southern town of Pinnacle to investigate a shady company called Meditron, which has a ruthless way of getting what it wants — or so claims the desperate caller who contacts the FBI. The locals won’t talk about Meditron. But Kelsey is an expert interrogator, prepared to use his seductive charms to his every advantage. He just hadn’t counted on falling for the beautiful witness at the center of his investigation.

Elizabeth Conner is too proud to ask for any sort of assistance. She never needed help raising her three willful younger sisters. But now her family is in serious trouble, and Elizabeth’s stubborn independence is a deadly liability. And then Kelsey sweeps her up — and into his arms — like a force of nature, promising to protect Elizabeth and her sisters from a relentless enemy. Elizabeth never imagined letting any man get too close, let alone one who can’t even disclose his full name. But daring to trust this tempting stranger is a danger she must embrace.

Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Bantam (April 24, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0553590707
ISBN-13: 978-0553590708