A Bookworm Reads

The Things That Keep Us Here by Carla Buckley

A year ago, Ann and Peter Brooks were just another unhappily married couple trying–and failing–to keep their relationship together while they raised two young daughters. Now the world around them is about to be shaken as Peter, a university researcher, comes to a startling realization: A virulent pandemic has made the terrible leap across the ocean to America’s heartland.

And it is killing fifty out of every hundred people it touches.

As their town goes into lockdown, Peter is forced to return home–with his beautiful graduate assistant. But the Brookses’ safe suburban world is no longer the refuge it once was. Food grows scarce, and neighbor turns against neighbor in grocery stores and at gas pumps. And then a winter storm strikes, and the community is left huddling in the dark.

Trapped inside the house she once called home, Ann Brooks must make life-or-death decisions in an environment where opening a door to a neighbor could threaten all the things she holds dear.

Carla Buckley’s poignant debut raises important questions to which there are no easy answers, in an emotionally riveting tale of one family facing unimaginable stress.

The Things That Keep Us Here

# Hardcover: 416 pages

# Publisher: Delacorte Press

# ISBN-10: 0440245095

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Buying a Piece of Paris by Ellie Nielsen

Buying a Piece of Paris: The Home of My Dreams in the City of Lights

Buying a Piece of Paris is a charming and witty love song to the most beautiful city in the world.

Paris has seduced many admirers, but for Ellie Nielsen it’s true love. So deep is her infatuation that she’ll only be satisfied with a little place to call her own. The object of her desire seems so simple: the sort of apartment she’s seen a thousand times in magazines and movies. Something effortlessly charming, and quirky, and old— and expertly decorated. Something exuding character and Parisian chic. Something quintessentially French.

Little does she realize that the French real estate scene is not quite the dreamscape she’d imagined. With two weeks to find and secure an apartment, and a cursory grasp of the language, Ellie embarks on a mad dash through the streets of Paris, negotiating the fraught world snobby real estate agents, xenophobic bankers and perplexed Parisian naysayers. Thwarted at every turn, in the end it only makes her more determined to succeed.

With her trusty French phrasebook in hand, and plucked up reserves of savoir faire, Ellie undertakes the adventure of a lifetime. Beauty is everywhere even if, like all true romances, there are many obstacles to be overcome. But then, c’est toujours comme ça à Paris. Written with great verve and a superb ear for language, Buying a Piece of Paris is a joy to read and a pleasure to dream about.

Buying a Piece of Paris: The Home of My Dreams in the City of Lights

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
ISBN-10: 0312606338

Disclosure - This product was received for review/feature consideration.
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Pride Mates by Jennifer Ashley

Twenty years ago, shape shifters of all kinds banded together and announced themselves to the world, only to be shunted to areas no human wanted ("Shiftertowns"). They are forced to wear Collars that control their hunting and fighting instincts (referred to by Shifters as "Taking the Collar").

Liam Morrissey is currently liaison between the Shifters of Austin, TX, and the humans of the city. Kim Fraser, attorney, finds herself in the unique position of having to defend a Shifter on a murder charge.

She ventures to Shiftertown to seek out Liam's help, and there stumbles across too many secrets the Shifters want kept secret. The un-mated Liam is forced to protect Kim against the wrath of his clan leader and his own father, and to his surprise he discovers a powerful attraction to the sassy, sexy lady.

Pride Mates (Shifters Unbound 1)

Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Leisure Book
ISBN-10: 0843960051

Disclosure - This product was received for review/feature consideration.
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Show No Fear by Perri O'Shaughnessy

A brand-new Nina Reilly thriller takes readers back to Nina's first murder investigation, to the case that ignites her passionate commitment to fighting for justice. As a single mom working as a paralegal and attending law school at night, Nina has her hands full fighting for custody of her young son Bob and overseeing a medical malpractice lawsuit on behalf of her mother.

But when a woman falls to her death off a bridge near Big Sur and witnesses disappear, Nina suspects there is more to the "accident" than the authorities are saying. With the help of homicide cop Paul van Wagoner, she rushes to uncover the truth. Show No Fear illumines what makes the brilliant Nina Reilly tick -- and, in this fascinating prequel to an illustrious career, begins a love affair for her fans and readers of complex, gripping thrillers everywhere!

Show No Fear: A Nina Reilly Novel

Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Pocket Star; Reprint edition
ISBN-10: 141654867X

Disclosure - This product was received for review/feature consideration.
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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Killing Jar

A teenager is found dead in his motel room, the cause of death: millipede poison...Now crime scene investigator Gil Grissom must aid CSI's Nick Stokes and Riley Adams against a serial killer whose knowledge of entomology rivals his own -- a brutal murderer who is not only using insects as the tools of destruction, but actually modeling the attacks after their behavior.... In the meantime, CSIs Catherine Willows and Greg Sanders must investigate a bizarre death, where the victim had gotten mixed up with two very different groups of people -- one involved in using and dealing crystal meth, the other an avant-garde group of artists -- a collision of subcultures where everyone is a suspect and nothing is as it seems.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Killing Jar

Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Pocket
ISBN-10: 1439153701

Disclosure - This product was received for review/feature consideration.
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Cat Playing Cupid by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Cat Playing Cupid: A Joe Grey Mystery (Joe Grey Mysteries)
368p, Avon Mystery, Isbn-0061123978

It took Joe Grey's human, Clyde, nearly forever to pop the question to Ryan Flannery, and what more romantic time to tie the knot than on Valentine's Day? But dark secrets from the past, uncovered by Joe and his feline pals, threaten to ruin the happy union.

First, a body discovered many miles away reopens a ten-year-old cold case involving a man who disappeared days before his own wedding. The jilted bride is back in town and eager to find the truth . . . or to hide evidence of her own wrongdoing. Trouble is, she's soon involved with Ryan's father, who is house-sitting and preparing meals for Joe Grey while Clyde and Ryan are on their honeymoon.

Then another body is found closer to home on the grounds of a ruined estate, deserted save for a band of unusual feral cats. Around the wrist of the corpse is a bracelet bearing the image of a rearing cat, and the cats discover a rare literary volume hidden nearby that divulges their own secret: their special ability to speak.

But as the police investigate the two murders, located more than five hundred miles apart, only Joe Grey suspects that the crimes are related. It takes a chase from which the tomcat wonders if he'll emerge alive for anyone to hone in on the connection between the murders.

Finally, feline perception and cop sense combine to bring a killer to justice in this delightful new tale involving Shirley Rousseau Murphy's three amazing cats.

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Review - Dying Scream by Mary Burton

An aspiring artist. A high-school senior. A stripper. Three women who seemed to have nothing in common except their sudden disappearance. But one man knew them all. Wealthy, privileged Craig Thornton even claimed to love them. And for that, they paid the ultimate price.

When Adrianna Barrington receives an anniversary card from her husband Craig, she assumes it's some crackpot's idea of a joke. After all, Craig is dead. But then come phone calls, flowers, messages. . .all reminding her how much Craig misses her. While Adrianna begins to doubt her sanity, grisly remains are found on the Thornton estate. Detective Gage Hudson is convinced the bodies are linked to Craig. But the biggest shocks are yet to come.

A psychopath has taken up his chilling work again, each death a prelude to the moment when she is under his control at last. And the only way for Gage and Adrianna to stop him is to uncover the truth about a family's dark past--and a twisted love that someone will kill for, again and again.

I've been reading Burton's books for the past couple years and I was beginning to think I had a pretty good handle on how she writes. I was wrong. The whodunit part of a mystery is one I love the most and one I've gotten good at guessing over the years. This time, however, Ms. Burton got the upper hand. Her red herrings were so good I totally fell for them and never guessed the truth.

The way the story developed was good, with the suspense and the stakes ratcheting up with every turn of the page, making for a breathless finish. The romance part of it was almost sidelined and believe me when I say, that's a good thing. Oftentimes a good mystery is totally spoiled when the sex and love and all that mushy-mushy stuff takes over. Not so here. In this story, the protagonists have a history together and not a nice one at that. Which makes their getting closer now all the more harder and more interesting. Plus, the suspenseful events, the growing pile of bodies, the stalking etc are events that so overshadow their burgeoning relationship that it becomes almost, but not quite, sidelined.

In the end, a satisfactory conclusion is reached, although I must say the far-fetched explanations were right out of some melodramatic Hollywood movie of bygone years. Still, it was a good read and the author does a great job of developing the story, characters and the mystery.

Dying Scream

Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Zebra
ISBN-10: 1420100289

Disclosure - This product was received for review/feature consideration.
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The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran

When Henry Oades accepts an accountancy post in New Zealand, his wife, Margaret, and their children follow him to exotic Wellington. But while Henry is an adventurer, Margaret is not. Their new home is rougher and more rustic than they expected—and a single night of tragedy shatters the family when the native Maori stage an uprising, kidnapping Margaret and her children.

For months, Henry scours the surrounding wilderness, until all hope is lost and his wife and children are presumed dead. Grief-stricken, he books passage to California. There he marries Nancy Foreland, a young widow with a new baby, and it seems they’ve both found happiness in the midst of their mourning—until Henry’s first wife and children show up, alive and having finally escaped captivity.

Narrated primarily by the two wives, and based on a real-life legal case, The Wives of Henry Oades is the riveting story of what happens when Henry, Margaret, and Nancy face persecution for bigamy. Exploring the intricacies of marriage, the construction of family, the changing world of the late 1800s, and the strength of two remarkable women, Johanna Moran turns this unusual family’s story into an unforgettable page-turning drama.

About the Author
Johanna Moran comes from a long line of writers and lawyers. She lives on the west coast of Florida with her husband, John. The Wives of Henry Oades is her first novel.

The Wives of Henry Oades

Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN-10: 034551095X

Note - This book was received for review/feature consideration.
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The Endless Forest by Sara Donati

With a master storyteller’s skill and a historian’s precision, Sara Donati has delighted readers and critics alike with her bestselling novels of the nineteenth-century New York frontier. Now she brings us The Endless Forest, set in the remote village of Paradise, where the Bonner family that readers first met in Into the Wilderness make their home.

The spring of 1824 is a challenging one for the inhabitants of Paradise N.Y. when a flood devastates the village. But for Nathaniel and Elizabeth Bonner, it’s also a time of reunion as their children return from far-off places: Lily and her husband from Italy, and Martha Kirby, the Bonners’ ward, from Manhattan. Although Lily is nursing her own grief, it is Martha, fleeing a crushing humiliation, who brings with her trouble that will reverberate in all their lives.

In the sudden peace that follows the storm, as families struggle to rebuild, childhood friends Martha and Daniel, Lily’s twin brother, suddenly begin to see each other in a new light. But their growing bond is threatened when Martha’s mother arrives back in Paradise a decade after abandoning her daughter. Jemima Southern is a dangerous schemer who has destroyed more than one family, and her anger touches everyone, as do her secrets. Has Jemima come to claim her daughter–or does she have something else in mind? Whatever happens, Martha and Daniel and all the Bonners must stand united against the threats to both heart and home.

Painful secrets and hidden sorrows, joy, heartbreak, and passion follow the Bonners through a season of change and renewal. A rich, passionate, multilayered portrayal of family strength and endurance in a fascinating place and time, The Endless Forest will be remembered long after the last page is turned.

The Endless Forest

Hardcover: 640 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Press
ISBN-10: 0553805266

Disclosure - This product was received for review/feature consideration.
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Moonlight Falls by Vincent Zandri

In MOONLIGHT FALLS, novelist and photo journalist Vincent Zandri asks the question "If you knew your life could end at any moment, how far would you go to prove you murdered your lover? "

Albany, New York, is the setting of Zandri's paranoid thriller (in the Hitchcock tradition) about Richard "Dick" Moonlight, former APD detective turned private investigator/massage therapist, who believes he killed Scarlet Montana - his illicit lover and wife of his ex-boss, Chief of Detectives Jake Montana. The problem is ... Moonlight doesn't remember what happened!

Moonlight Falls

Paperback: 324 pages
Publisher: R. J. Buckley Publishing
ISBN-10: 0981965407

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Dangerous Highlander by Donna Grant

Dangerous Highlander: A Dark Sword Novel

He is magnificently strong—and dangerously seductive. One of the fiercest of his clan, Lucan MacLeod is a legend among warriors, inspiring fear in man and woman alike. For three hundred years, he has locked himself away from the world, hiding the vengeful god imprisoned in his soul. But then, a young lass caught in a raging storm awakens his deepest impulses…and darkest desires.

Cara doesn’t believe the rumors about MacLeod castle—until the majestic Highland warrior appears like a fiery vision in the storm, pulling her into his powerful arms, and into his world of magic and Druids. An epic war between good and evil is brewing. And Lucan must battle his all-consuming attraction for Cara—or surrender to the flames of a reckless, impossible love that threatens to destroy them both.

Dangerous Highlander: A Dark Sword Novel

Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's
ISBN-10: 0312381220

Disclosure - This product was received for review/feature consideration.
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Knit, Purl, Die by Anne Canadeo

Knit, Purl, Die (Black Sheep Knitting Mystery)

Gloria Sterling had it all -- money, looks, and a new sexy young husband. So when she's found floating face down in her own swimming pool, shock waves ripple through tiny Plum Harbor. At the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, Maggie Messina and her circle are devastated to lose their dear friend -- a woman as colorful as her fabulous yarn creations.

The police are quick to call it an accident, but sorting out Gloria's final hours leaves too many loose ends to satisfy her friends. The vivacious, fiftysomething cougar had her French manicured tips in more than a few pots, and the threads of some inside deals stashed in her chic knitting tote.

Who was the last person to see Gloria alive on that quiet summer night? Two empty wine glasses suggest she wasn't home alone knitting the entire evening.... The Black Sheep need to know the truth and set out to unravel -- stitch by stitch -- the weighty secrets that pulled poor Gloria under.

Knit, Purl, Die (Black Sheep Knitting Mystery)

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Pocket
ISBN-10: 141659812X

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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A Highlander's Homecoming by Melissa Mayhue

A Highlander's Homecoming (Daughters of the Glen, Book 6)
(384p, Pocket Books, Isbn-1439144257)

SCOTLAND, PRESENT DAY. When Faerie Magic swept Robert MacQuarrie forward in time, modern medicine saved him from a fatal wound. But he also left behind an unfulfilled vow -- to protect his friend's young daughter, Isabella. Haunted by guilt for more than a decade, he leaps at the chance to go back and keep that vow. The magic of the Fae works in its own mysterious ways, however. Not only does his homecoming turn out to be twenty years after he left, but there's also that tricky matter of the fate he escaped before.

SCOTLAND, 1292. Isabella MacGahan has reluctantly chosen a lonely existence, scorned for her Faerie blood and uncon-trollable power. When she's caught in a conflict between clans, a pawn in the struggle for power and land, her only option is to trust a handsome stranger. One who swears he was charged with her safety a full twenty years before...although the deluded man seems little older than her.

No one is safe when Mortal schemes and Faerie magic push Robbie and Isabella to confront their worst fears. Will the magic demand the ultimate price from them both -- or will they find their true homecoming in each other's arms?

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Blood Ties by Kay Hooper

Blood Ties: A Bishop/Special Crimes Unit Novel (Bishop/Special Crimes Unit: Blood Trilogy)

New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper takes us to the outer reaches of fear in her latest thriller Blood Ties (320p, Bantam, Isbn-0553804863), as the Special Crimes Unit finds itself targeted by a monster intent on destroying both Noah Bishop and his people.

The elite Special Crimes Unit, the FBI’s most controversial and effective team, is a group of mavericks and misfits trained to use their unique psychic abilities to hunt the worst monsters imaginable—human ones. Led by the enigmatic Noah Bishop, the SCU has earned a reputation for pitting their skills and cunning against killers that other cops fear. But this time Bishop and his agents face an enemy who has them in his sights, a trained sniper with a deadly plan—and more than one ace up his sleeve.

It starts with an unspeakable series of grisly murders across three states, a trail of blood leading, finally, to the small Tennessee town of Serenade. There, two more brutal killings lure the SCU into what may be the ultimate trap.

One of the first investigators on the scene, Special Agent Hollis Templeton, is willing to push herself as hard and as far as necessary. Risking more than her life to help and protect her SCU colleagues, Hollis must cope with her own psychic abilities, which are evolving in unprecedented ways, an attraction to the most complex man she’s ever known, and a serial murder investigation that turns very, very personal.

In her time with the SCU, Hollis has shown an uncanny ability to survive even the deadliest attacks. But what she can’t know is that this killer intends to destroy the team from within.

The clock is ticking. The body count is rising. And as Bishop and his agents race to uncover the true identity of their enemy, not even their special senses can warn them just how bloody, and how terrifyingly close, the truth will be.
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Review - Truly Madly by Heather Webber

Truly, Madly
(320p, St.Martins, Isbn-0312946139)

Lucy Valentine is as smart as can be, as single as you can get, and so not qualified to run a matchmaking service. But when her parents temporarily step down from the family business, Valentine, Inc., it’s Lucy’s turn to step up and help out—in the name of love. Plus, her rent is due.

Here’s the problem: Lucy doesn’t have the knack for matchmaking. According to family legend, every Valentine has been blessed by Cupid with the ability to read “auras” and pair up perfect couples. But not Lucy. Her skills were zapped away years ago in an electrical surge, and now all she can do is find lost objects. What good is that in the matchmaking world? You’d be surprised.

In a city like Boston, everyone’s looking for something. So when Lucy locates a missing engagement ring—on a dead body—she asks the sexy private eye who works upstairs to help her solve the perfect crime. And who knows? Maybe she’ll find the perfect love while she’s at it.

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From start to finish, I loved reading this first book in the Lucy Valentine series! I adored Lucy who's an appealing mix of confident, hesitant, sexy, girl-next-door, silly, kind-hearted, charming and brave. The large cast of characters is at first a bit much to get used to, but they are equally adept at making a place for themselves in the reader's hearts. For a girl who has no psychic abilities to pair couples up, Lucy certainly does more than share of unwitting matchmaking. Plus there's suspense galore in the form of a missing ring, a missing boy and others. Lucy's special talents are revealed a bit at a time and that keeps the reader intrigued. Webber does a great job of maintaining the overall suspense, even if the central mystery is easy to guess at.

I can't wait to read the next novel in this series, Deeply, Desperately that's to be released soon. Read more about this series and as well as a sneak peek of Truly, Madly, at the author's website.

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Review - Ordinary Thunderstorms by Wiliam Boyd

Ordinary Thunderstorms
416p, Harper, Isbn-0061876747

One May evening in London, Adam Kindred, a young climatologist in town for a job interview, is feeling good about the future as he sits down for a meal at a little Italian bistro. He strikes up a conversation with a solitary diner at the next table, who leaves soon afterward. With horrifying speed, this chance encounter leads to a series of malign accidents, through which Adam loses everything—home, family, friends, job, reputation, passport, credit cards, cell phone—never to get them back.

The police are searching for him. There is a reward for his capture. A hired killer is stalking him. He is alone and anonymous in a huge, pitiless modern city. Adam has nowhere to go but down—underground. He decides to join that vast army of the disappeared and the missing who throng London’s lowest levels as he tries to figure out what to do with his life and struggles to understand the forces that have made it unravel so spectacularly. Adam's quest will take him all along the river Thames, from affluent Chelsea to the gritty East End, and on the way he will encounter all manner of London's denizens—aristocrats, prostitutes, evangelists, and policewomen—and version after new version of himself.

Ordinary Thunderstorms, William Boyd's electric follow-up to his award-winning Restless, is a profound and gripping novel about the fragility of social identity, the corruption at the heart of big business, and the secrets that lie hidden in the filthy underbelly of every city.

And it's one of the most quietly effective and engrossing novels I've read this year. It began slowly enough and within a matter of pages had dived headlong into murder, conspiracy and mayhem. I thought to myself, ok, another Mission Impossible take-off, I know how it'll develop. But no, that's not how it turned out at all, much to my surprise and interest! In fact, upon finding himself a victim of conspiracy, Adam Kindred doesn't go into flight. He instead goes into hiding - in plain sight. I found it hard to suspend disbelief initially. But the more I thought about it, the more realistic it began to feel. That's the way I would do it under similar circumstances, or so I began to think. And that's the true magic of this story. It feels unreal to begin with, then burrows into the reader's psyche and changes their whole perspective about it. Speaking as a jaded reader, I just love it when stories do that, for it's something truly rare.

I liked this story overall. What I did not like was how sometimes a lot of time would have passed between event A and event B without there being any mention of it. That gave it little jerky feel initially. And the other thing is the way the novel ended - in an ambiguous way. Now however the story (simple, complex, etc), I just prefer them with clear-cut endings. Either good or evil has to win - period! I hate it when things are left up in the air. Hopefully the way this one ended just forecasts a sequel in the making to this great story. In which case, I applaud the way things ended. Otherwise, boo!

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.

And as always, a review is just one person's opinion. Read a book for yourself before making up your mind about it.
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A Highlander's Destiny by Melissa Mayhue

A Highlander's Destiny (Daughters of the Glen, Book 5)

JESSE CORYELL, a descendant of the Fae, is a man in search of his destiny. He's tried to lose himself in his work, taking on the worst mankind has to offer, but what he really needs to find is his true love. When he sets out to help a mysterious woman find her sister, what he gets is much more than he bargained for: battling an undeniable attraction to his sexy new client while fighting an ancient evil to keep her safe.

DESTINY NOBLE, abandoned by everyone she's ever loved, will stop at nothing in her desperate quest to find her sister. Authorities have declared Leah a runaway, but Destiny knows better. Her dream visions have shown her the frightening truth. They've also shown her Jesse. But finding her Soulmate could result in the most painful loss of all, when she's forced to choose between loving Jesse and saving Leah.

Jesse and Destiny race against time to save an innocent girl from a powerful ancient evil. Is true love their best weapon...or will they be required to sacrifice their own destiny?

A Highlander's Destiny (Daughters of the Glen, Book 5)

Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Pocket
ISBN-10: 1439144214

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Spotlight : Author Kay Marshall Strom

Kay Marshall Strom is the author of thirty-six published books. Her writing credits also include numerous magazine articles, short stories, curriculum, stories for children, two prize-winning screenplays, and booklets for writers. Kay speaks at seminars, retreats, and special events throughout the country. She and her husband Dan Kline love to travel, and more and more Kay’s writing and speaking are taking her around the word. To find out more about Kay, or for contact information, check her website at www.kaystrom.com

Synopsis of The Second-Half Adventure: Don’t Retire – Use Your Time, Skills and Resources to Change the World: A social worker from New England . . . a Texas airline pilot . . . a homemaker from California . . . a lawyer who has lived everywhere . . . a quilter in Oregon. What do they have in common? All are on the adventure of their lives.

Like many others among the 77 million baby boomers, these men and women don't want to retire from contributing when they retire from their careers. So they are using their time, skills, and resources to make a difference. Written in conjunction with Finishers Project, an umbrella organization that encompasses more than 100 mission organizations, this book will help baby boomers discover a second-half adventure that fits them and counts for eternity.

Excerpt

The fact is, boomers are on the cusp of becoming senior citizens (though they would never use that term!). Whether aching with disappointment over the passage of time or proud of their accomplishments, every seven seconds another one turns fifty. That’s 12,000 people a day. Nearly 4.5 million each year. As boomers enter the second half of life, because of their sheer numbers, they are poised to rock society all over again. As I write this, approximately 35 million Americans are age sixty-five or older. By the year 2030 that number will have doubled to a whopping 70 million. Some who look at this burgeoning population have raised a collective gasp of alarm. “What are we going to do with all those old folks?” they cry. “What will happen to our society? It’s only going to get more and more decrepit!”

Those people underestimate baby boomers. Boomers have never done anything in the same old way things had always been done before, so why would they start now? The fact is, they are already in the process of reinventing retirement. And without a doubt, they are the ones to do it. Not only because of who and what they are, but because they are approaching their second half healthier, more educated, and more full of vigorous years than any generation that preceded them. They may be getting older, but they definitely remain a vital force to be reckoned with.

Now consider for a moment: What if boomer retirees, whose passion is for God, were to take Christ’s teachings seriously? What if they were to determine to use their acquired skills and expertise to demonstrate God’s love to the world in practical ways? Imagine what could
happen!

“The unique values and sheer numbers of the boomer generation have not taken God by surprise,” Don Parrott of Finishers noted. “I believe He has been preparing exactly the kind of workforce He would need from North America at this time in history.”

This Book Excerpt is part of the book's virtual tour, courtesy Pump Up Your Book Promotion.

Like it?! Buy it!

Disclosure - This product was received for review/feature consideration.
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Stirring up Strife by Jennifer Stanley

Stirring Up Strife: A Hope Street Church Mystery (Hope Street Church Mysteries)

Cooper Lee can repair a copy machine—but can she repair her life? That’s one of the many Big Questions that lead this newly single Richmond girl to Sunrise Bible Study at the Hope Street Church. Cooper hasn’t attended church in ages, but after getting dumped by her long-time boyfriend—and moving in with her family—she could use some new friends, and a new outlook on life. Happily, the members of the Bible group are anything but cookie-cutter, which suits Cooper just fine.

There’s a blind folk artist, a playboy meteorologist, an investment banker with a sweet tooth, an ambitious realtor, and a cute shy web designer who just might be “the one” for Cooper. But the member of Hope Street Church who invited Cooper to join this motley crew—an office worker who got her wedding ring stuck in a copier—is something else altogether: She’s dead And her husband is suspected of murder! The Sunrise gang jumps into action, vowing to solve this unholy mess—with God’s guidance—and Cooper’s snooping. Includes heavenly recipes from Mrs. Lee’s kitchen.

Stirring Up Strife: A Hope Street Church Mystery

Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN-10: 0312376855

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Bestselling author gives back to the city without a bookstore (Laredo, TX)

As you may know, on January 16, Laredo, TX (population: 250,000) became the largest US city without a single bookstore (you can read national coverage about it here and here). Residents who want to shop in an actual bricks and mortar store will have to travel 150 miles to San Antonio. Thus, getting books just got a lot harder in Laredo.

In an attempt to give back, New York Times Bestselling author Julia Quinn will be giving a free book to anyone with a valid Laredo mailing address between today and Valentine's Day. Ultimately, Quinn feels that "everybody deserves a good book."

Kudos, Ms.Quinn!

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Web of Deceit By Darlene Cox

Peter Brock is a man to be envied. He is young, handsome, intelligent, a founding partner of one of New York's most prestigious law firms, and a respected member of the International Community of Currency Traders. But, that isn't enough to fulfill his goal in life. When he meets James Campbell , a very wealthy New York diamond dealer who would like to keep more of his wealth out of the hands of the IRS, Peter starts weaving a web of deceit to divert the bulk of Campbell's wealth to his own account. But, he needs a little help.

He enlists Delilah, a strip-club dancer, to learn, through pillow talk, the extent of Campbell's wealth; and Jenny, a flight attendant for a major airline, to smuggle loose diamonds to Europe on international flights. As a coconspirator, how can Campbell yell "foul," at the risk of spending his remaining days in a Federal prison? The perfect Plan - so Peter thinks.

Unfortunately, his law partner, Jack Morrison, gets wind of the Plan and decides to toss in his ante. Now the game gets interesting - a case of diamond cut diamond. When two people wind up dead, Jack says "enough," leaving Peter hopelessly entangled in his web. As Jack says: "That's what happens when little fish try to swim with the predators."

Web of Deceit
# Paperback: 272 pages
# Publisher: Outskirts Press
# ISBN-10: 1432746146

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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The Prodigal Wife by Marcia Willet

In Marcia Willett’s latest novel, Jolyon, who had been abandoned by his mother, Maria, is living at the Keep with his father and his stepmother Fliss. Now that Jolyon is a successful television presenter of gardening programs, the recently widowed Maria, lonely and impressed by her son’s fame, reappears and hopes to step back into his life. But Jolyon finds it difficult to trust his mother and forgive the hurt she had inflicted on him.

The Prodigal Wife

# Hardcover: 336 pages
# Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
# ISBN-10: 0312605307

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Review - Union Atlantic by Adam Haslett

Union Atlantic
320p, Nan A. Talese, Isbn-0385524471

At the heart of Union Atlantic lies a test of wills between a young banker, Doug Fanning, and a retired schoolteacher, Charlotte Graves, whose two dogs have begun to speak to her. When Doug builds an ostentatious mansion on land that Charlotte's grandfather donated to the town of Finden, Massachusetts, she determines to oust him in court.

As a senior manager of Union Atlantic bank, a major financial conglomerate, Doug is embroiled in the company's struggle to remain afloat. It is Charlotte's brother, Henry Graves, the president of the New York Federal Reserve, who must keep a watchful eye on Union Atlantic and the entire financial system. Drawn into Doug and Charlotte's intensifying conflict is Nate Fuller, a troubled high-school senior who unwittingly stirs powerful emotions in each of them.

I love books and usually read everything that comes my way. Rarely do I struggle to finish a novel that has received so much advanced hype and which I really looked forward to reading, like I did with Union Atlantic. People are singing praise of its developed prose, deep intellectual value, realistic characters etc etc etc. I'm not one of them.

I found it very hard to finish. It drones on and on, without any particular emphasis. With characters who're either living in the past or with no moral compass or just plain drifting, living a non-life so to speak. Perhaps that's true of life, but does it really have to be that Depressing? The complicated financial jargon left me cold as did the non-stop multipronged ramblings on every topic under the sun, a running commentary that's as sluggish as a river filled with sediment. Also, the way it ended left me dazed and pondering what exactly the whole point of the story was. Wordy, bombastic and slow as molasses, the novel does not invite a reader to step inside its pages and become a part of it.

Call me a pleb, but this is just not a book I'd recommend.

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The Way We Were

The Way We Were by Marcia Willett

It was in the middle of a snowstorm when Tiggy arrived at the remote house on Bodmin Moor. She was alone, her partner tragically dead in an accident. Julia, her dearest friend, welcomed her into her warm and chaotic family. Tiggy started to live again and look forward to the birth of her child. But nearly thirty years later, when her son is about to become a father himself, the next generation discovers that there are secrets from the past that still live on.

# Paperback: 304 pages
# Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1 edition (January 5, 2010)
# ISBN-10: 0312382898

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Lullaby by Claire Seeber

Lullaby
464p, Thomas Dunne Books, Isbn-0312555776

It’s every mother’s nightmare...One minute Jess Finnegan is strolling through the Tate Museum with her new husband Mickey and their 8-month old son. The next she is frantically searching for them—both have completely disappeared. As the police launch a massive manhunt, Jess discovers that the people closest to you are not always what they seem.

Then Mickey is found, badly beaten -- and alone. Where is Louis? Is he still alive? Could he be the victim of child trafficking or something much closer to home? Just how well does Jess know her new husband? And when her wayward brother turns up out of the blue, what is he after? As the investigation unravels, Jess discovers that the people closest to you are not always what they seem!

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Wild Hunt by Margaret Ronald

Wild Hunt
320p, EOS, Isbn-0061662429

Genevieve Scelan thought she was done with magic. She was wrong.

Sure, six weeks earlier Evie—bike messenger, supernatural tracker, and avid Red Sox fan—had been instrumental in bringing down the Fiana, the organization of magicians that had ruled Boston's undercurrent for hundreds of years. But now they were gone, Boston could breathe easy again, the Sox had a chance at the pennant, and Evie was ready to relax.

Except it turns out that when you take down the guy on top, everyone assumes you're going to fill his spot, and now Evie finds herself at the center of a whole lot of unwelcome magical attention. On top of that, a new client needs her to call up a family ghost and ask about a stolen inheritance; Evie's friend Nate has a supernatural problem of his own; and a legendary pack of hounds has been terrorizing Boston's undercurrent. And try as Evie might to deny the legacy that runs through her blood, when the Hunt is called, the Hound must run .

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Beyond the Night by Joss Ware

Beyond the Night
400p, Avon, Isbn-0061734012

When Dr. Elliott Drake wakes from a mysterious fifty-year sleep, the world as he knew it is gone. Cities are now desolate, and civilization is controlled by deadly immortals. Stranger still is Elliott's extraordinary new "gift"—he has the power to heal, but it comes with fatal consequences.

Jade barely escaped the immortals and is now hell-bent on revenge. She trusts no one . . . until Elliott. His piercing gaze and tempting touch shatter her defenses, but the handsome doctor seems to have dangerous secrets of his own. Is it safe to trust him with her heart?
If they are to survive in this dark new world, Jade and Elliott must work together to fight the forces that take them beyond danger. Beyond desire.

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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At the Duke's Pleasure by Tracy Anne Warren

At the Duke's Pleasure
384p, Avon, Isbn - 0061673420

All the Byrons are just as "mad, bad, and dangerous to know" as their famous non-relation . . . but now the time has come for the eldest son to marry.

Edward Byron, Duke of Clybourne, has everything a man in Society needs . . . except a wife. Duty requires he wed, so he decides that a long-standing arranged marriage will do nicely. He knows his bride is beautiful, biddable, and bright enough to run his household and nursery. He expects his betrothed, Lady Claire Marsden, will be thrilled with his decision—unfortunately, she's not!

Claire has longed for Edward since she was sixteen, but how can he expect her to agree to his proposal when he barely knows her and doesn't love her? Nothing will convince her to accept a loveless marriage. And so she begins a battle of outrageous resistance, forcing Edward to learn that he must lose his heart in order to win his bride.

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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Bitten By Cupid - Anthology

Bitten By Cupid by Lynsay Sands, Pamela Palmer, Jaime Rush
384p, Avon, Isbn-0061894451

Vampire Valentine by Lynsay Sands

Mirabeau LaRouche knew she had a job to do, but she never expected her assignment to take her through New York City′s dark, dank underground-in her bridesmaid gown, no less! And when her partner turns out to be mortal private investigator Tiny McGraw, Mireabeau knows it′s no ordinary Cupid′s arrow that has struck her heart this Valentine′s Day.

Hearts Untamed by Pamela Palmer

Ten years ago Zeeland left D.C. to join the Therian Guard, needing to put some distance between himself and the still-too-young Julianne. Now he′s returned, in the midst of a Valentine′s celebration to find Julianne more beautiful than ever, still angry at him for leaving, and up to her lovely eyebrows in an intrigue that threatens both of their immortal lives.

Kiss and Kill Cupid by Jamie Rush

Kat Morgan has no use for Valentine′s Day, since hearing other people′s thoughts puts a real damper on any kind of intimate relationship. When she overhears the Killer Cupid serial killer targeting her for his Valentine′s Day murder, Kat is terrified. But is Adrian, the one man whose thoughts she can′t hear, her savior, or killer?

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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What I Did for Love by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

What I Did for Love
416p, Avon, Isbn-0061351512

How did this happen?

Georgie York, once the costar of America's favorite television sitcom, has been publicly abandoned by her famous husband, her film career has tanked, her father is driving her crazy, and her public image as a spunky heroine is taking a serious beating.

What should a down-on-her-luck actress do?

Not go to Vegas . . . not run into her detestable former costar, dreamboat-from-hell Bramwell Shepard . . . and not get caught up in an ugly incident that leads to a calamitous elopement. Before she knows it, Georgie has a fake marriage, a fake husband, and maybe (or not) a fake sex life.

It's a paparazzi free-for-all as two enemies find themselves working without a script in a town where the spotlight shines bright . . . and where the strongest emotions can wear startling disguises.

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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The Scarpetta Collection Vol.1 by Patricia Cornwell

The Scarpetta Collection Volume I: Postmortem and Body of Evidence (Kay Scarpetta)
640p, Pocket Books, Isbn-1439153035

Fans of Patricia Cornwell, the number one megastar who virtually invented the forensic thriller, will rejoice to see her first two novels, Postmortem and Body of Evidence, united in this much-anticipated omnibus volume. Hugely successful when they were first published, these are the two novels that brought Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta to the book-reading world. They are presented here complete and unabridged.

Postmortem
A serial killer is on the loose in Richmond, Virginia. Three women have died, brutalized and strangled in their own bedrooms. There is little pattern: the killer appears to strike at random -- but always early on Saturday mornings.

When Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta is awakened at 2:33 A.M., she knows the news is bad: there is a fourth victim, and she fears now for those who may follow unless she finds the forensic evidence that can break the case.

But not everyone wants her help. Not everyone is pleased to see a woman in this powerful job. Someone may even want to ruin her career and reputation before she can find the killer.

Body of Evidence

A reclusive writer is dead, and her final manuscript has disappeared...

Someone is stalking Beryl Madison. Someone who spies on her and makes threatening, obscene phone calls. Terrified, Beryl flees to Key West -- but eventually she must return to her Richmond home. The very night she arrives, Beryl inexplicably invites her killer inside.

Thus begins for Dr. Kay Scarpetta the investigation of a crime that is as convoluted as it is bizarre. Why would Beryl open the door to someone who would brutally slash and then neatly decapitate her? Did she know her killer? Adding to the intrigue is Beryl's enigmatic relationship with a prizewinning author and the disappearance of her own manuscript.

As Scarpetta retraces Beryl's footsteps, an investigation that begins in the laboratory with microscopes and lasers leads her deep into a nightmare that soon becomes her own.

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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The Scarpetta Collection Vol.2 by Patricia Cornwell

The Scarpetta Collection Volume II: All That Remains and Cruel & Unusual (Kay Scarpetta)
Pocket Books

International publishing sensation Patricia Cornwell's legion of readers will welcome this omnibus edition of her third and fourth megabestselling Kay Scarpetta novels, All That Remains and Cruel & Unusual. These two novels, presented here complete and unabridged, helped to confirm Patricia Cornwell's status as queen of the forensic thriller and one of the world's top bestselling authors.

All That Remains

A killer is stalking young lovers. Taking their lives and leaving just a tantalizing clue.

When the bodies of young couples start turning up in remote woodland areas, Dr. Kay Scarpetta's task as Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner is made more difficult by the effects of the elements. Eight times she must write that the cause of death is undetermined.

But when the latest young woman to go missing is the daughter of one of America's most powerful women, Kay also finds herself prey to political pressure and press harassment. The killings must stop. Now.

Scarpetta soon discovers that someone is withholding vital evidence, or even faking it. Meanwhile, a cunning sadistic killer is still at large.

Cruel & Unusual

At 11:05 one December evening in Richmond, Virginia, convicted murderer Ronnie Joe Waddell is pronounced dead in the electric chair. At the morgue, Dr. Kay Scarpetta has been waiting for Waddell's body. Preparing to perform a postmortem before the subject is dead is a strange feeling for Scarpetta, but she has been here before. And Waddell's death is not the only newsworthy event on this freezing night: the grotesquely wounded body of a young boy is found propped against a garbage Dumpster. To Scarpetta, the two cases seem unrelated, until she recalls that the body of Waddell's victim had been arranged in a strikingly similar position.

Was Waddell innocent? Is someone else out there, who may attack again?

Disclosure - This product was received for review consideration.
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