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

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

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Knit, Purl, Die by Anne Canadeo

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

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.

-----------------------------

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

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

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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