Eons ago in a world dissimilar from today, Celene, Luna, and Arianrhod, three goddesses of the light, gathered to commemorate the birth of a new queen, and to choose a unique gift worthy of her. Their gifts have to be everlasting as the queen is immortal. The gifts chosen were “Stars for Aegle, the radiant.” Arianrhod’s star is a jewel of ice along with a wish for a strong and adventurous spirit; Luna’s, a jewel of water and a wish for a strong and hopeful heart; and, Celene’s a jewel of fire and a wish for a strong and questing mind. As these gifts were spun toward the moon and its power, Nerezza, a goddess of the dark protested the gifts and wishes were wasted on mortals and throws her prophecy to the sky: the stars and wishes will tumble from the sky and the moon and lightness will die and darkness will win.
Sasha Riggs is a noted artist that captures her dreams and visions on canvas. Some are peaceful and beautiful landscapes or scenes with people; others are chaotic; but, they are all master pieces. The lady realizes that she is a seer, but doesn’t understand her gift. Sasha doesn’t feels uncomfortable around people because of her visions and has cloistered herself in a mountain cabin in North Carolina. Lately she is feeling restless and compelled to travel to Corfu. She can’t explain it to anyone, but she buys her airline ticket, makes her reservations, and packs some of her drawings and goes off on her adventure.
Six people are fated to meet up in Corfu in a search for the stars. Sasha is the only one that does not know the history of these treasures; her duty was to draw the “team of Guardians” together. She has perfectly captured their image in her paintings, and her paintings and dreams will guide them in their quest. Sasha meets Riley Gwin, an architect, and Bran Killian, a magician in Corfu. With Riley’s connections they get a villa in the mountains across from Albania, near the village of Kassiopi at a villa called Acharavi and comes with a dog named Apollo. They are joined there by three others: Sawyer King, the seeker; Annika Waters, a young naïve girl; and Doyle McCleary, a warrior. The journey has begun.
Sasha has dreamed of Bran Killian for years, and has been in love with her mystery man. Bran has been aware of Sasha through her art, and has purchased several paintings that depict his beloved Ireland. The magic that is in the air seeps into the lives of these people. Bran introduces Sasha to desire and sensuality. He wants to protect her, but she wants to be strong enough to help fight the darkness when it comes.
STARS OF FORTUNE, Book One of the Guardians Trilogy Passion, is Sasha and Bran’s story. They are joined with their comrades to find Sasha’s star and to protect it from Nerezza, a formidable enemy and her minions which are some of the most dangerous and despicable to be found. Nora Roberts has included the right amounts of passion, humor, adventure, and mortal danger to the mix to keep the pages flying.
The first two people that seem to have completely vanished from Serenity, Tennessee were seventeen year old Amy Grimes and her boyfriend, eighteen yea The first two people that seem to have completely vanished from Serenity, Tennessee were seventeen year old Amy Grimes and her boyfriend, eighteen year old Simon Church. Their abandoned Jeep was found on the north side of town by Detective Sarah Waters. The doors were opened and Amy’s purse with her savings was sitting in the front seat. It appears that Amy and Simon just got out of the Jeep and disappeared. There were some faint footsteps nearby, but these don’t show up in the crime scene photographs. Also, Sheriff Jonah Riggs’ watch and the clock on his cell phone lost the time while he was involved with the crime scene.
One week later Judge Phillip Carson was seen with his fishing gear going to his favorite spot. All of his equipment was located there undisturbed, but no sign of the judge. Once again the sheriff’s watch stops at the crime scene. More missing persons – a young mother going to neighbor’s to borrow baby food; man at a moving getting up to get refreshments; a ten-year-old girl getting up to get a drink of water during the night. A total of six mysterious disappearances, including a child; an Amber Alert is put out for her.
Jonah has been to workshops concerning the FBI’s Special Crime Unit, and feels he needs the help of Bishop and his team to help him. Four special agents are sent to Serenity: Lucas Jordan, psychic and his wife, Samantha, a clairvoyant; Dante Swann, a medium; Robbie Hodge, a telepath.
The villain does his work in the darkness, and changes his method of operation on the next victim just because he can. He takes the life of a police officer while trying to get into Robbie Hodge’s mind and that was his first big mistake. Robbie is much stronger than expected by anyone.
Kay Hooper skillfully balances emotion and suspense in one more spellbinding and creepy psychological page-turner. The atmosphere and firm pacing make FEAR THE DARK an eerie, knuckle-clenching read. Kay Hooper is a master creator of magnificent characters and stunning narrative. ...more
Sonderville, California: The bones of a child are found by a troop of Boy Scouts on a camping trip in the vineyard country, where recent rains have wa
Sonderville, California: The bones of a child are found by a troop of Boy Scouts on a camping trip in the vineyard country, where recent rains have washed away the earth covering the grave. The killer, a man named Walsh, is blending in with the crowd watching as the remains are carefully extracted, and knows that his life is in peril if the body is identified. Sheriff John Nalchek calls Eve Duncan, forensic sculptor, and induces her to sculpt the face as quickly as she can as he feels he possibly can identify the child. John tells Eve the deceased is female, about nine, and has been buried for eight years.
Eve receives the bones in Atlanta the next day, and even though she is literally swamped with other children’s remains, she feels compelled to start on this one immediately. Eve, like Nalchek, feels the little girl is calling to her. Eve always talks to her reconstruction projects and gives them a name; this time the “project” talks back to Eve and says her name is Jenny.
Walsh is hoping to eliminate the sheriff, but instead shoots Deputy Ron Carstairs. Ron was reading the dossier on Eve that Nalchek had prepared, and Walsh took pictures of it. The Sheriff warns Eve that the killer might be on his way to get the remains she is working on. Walsh is in Atlanta, and waylays the FedEx driver, shoots him, and takes the carefully packed box containing Jenny. Walsh gets Eve out of the house by calling and asking her to come identify her package in the wrecked company truck. While she is out Walsh steals her computer along with all of the pictures of Jenny. Eve calls on Margaret Douglas, an animal whisperer, to meet her in Sonderville. Margaret can communicate with animals and this talent helped greatly in finding Eve when she was kidnapped.
SHADOW PLAY is an Eve Duncan book, and the only hocus pocus talent she has is her ability to speak to her daughter, Bonnie, and now another murdered child, Jenny. Eve and Joe travel to California to find Walsh and subsequently Jenny’s family, if there are any in the area. The good sheriff knows more than he’s telling and he is keeping a dark secret to protect his family. Iris Johansen’s effortless technique, credible characters, and mesmerizing plotlines are second to none. Ms. Johansen is a true, blue ribbon genius of spine-chilling tales, and SHADOW PLAY is a perfect example.
If Hallie Hartley had not forgotten some papers she left at home, she would have been cheated out of a wonderful opportunity by her beautiful, unscrupulous stepsister, Shelly. Shelly and her mother had treated Hallie abysmally, and now that Ruby is dead she thinks Hallie should continue putting Shelly in first place. But, this trick that Shelly almost got by with has Hallie kicking her stepsister to the curb. When Hallie walked into her house she was shocked to see the famous architect Jared Montgomery talking to Shelly about her inheritance on Nantucket Island. Shelly and Jared have been corresponding, with Jared believing he was making a deal with Hallie. Hallie refuses to file any charges against her stepsister and accepts the deal that has been made in her behalf by deceit. She is to return to Nantucket with Jared today in a private plane; accept ownership of a house left to her by an unknown relative; and become the private physical therapist for a cousin of Jared’s, James Michael “Jamie” Taggert.
Shelly is beautiful, and she has sent Jamie portfolio pictures of herself, including one full length shot in a bikini. Hallie isn’t a dog, but compared to her stepsister – there is no comparison, so when Jamie meets the real Hallie he is stunned. Hallie believes it is because she isn’t a Shelly clone when in fact Jamie sees beneath the surface to the inner beauty and selflessness of Hallie, and falls in love at first sight. Hallie doesn’t know this, naturally, and goes into a defensive mode that takes her a long time to release.
Hallie’s house is like a dream come true for her. It’s a small, two-story with large, furnished bedrooms upstairs that have their own bathrooms. All of the accoutrements throughout the house are delicate and inviting, and the gardens are breathtaking. It also comes furnished with match making spirits, and dear, dear Edith, the elderly woman next door.
I didn’t want EVER AFTER to end, but because of Jude Deveraux’s smooth writing and even pace I couldn’t slow down my reading. All of the characters, including some we have met before, are outstanding. The clever dialogue and bon mots will keep a smile on your face. The relationship between Hallie and Jamie is simply delightful and the time travel story threads are superb.
Jude Deveraux is truly a maestro in the Romance genre with a wicked sense of humor and a tremendous talent for the written word.
Tomas Santos, a nemesis of Catherine Ling, is callously killing people from her past; ones thYOUR NEXT BREATH
Iris Johansen
St. Martin’s Press April 2015
Tomas Santos, a nemesis of Catherine Ling, is callously killing people from her past; ones that she has helped or cared about, and vice versa, in retaliation of Ling killing Santos’s wife. Around the globe, Santos’s hired help is leaving a golden chain and a “dog tag” type medallion with Catherine Ling’s name as a calling card alongside the bodies. Catherine has contacted several of her close friends and warned them; but her new friend, Erin Sullivan, is in Tibet; Venable has a CIA agent stationed there that can extract Erin. It’s not a smooth pick up; one of the village priests is killed, Erin is shot in the leg by a sniper, and Agent Caudell has a shattered collarbone. Erin had to mentally connect with Richard Cameron for help.
Richard Cameron is the Guardian, an enigmatic man who possesses strong psychic powers that Catherine is very attuned to; Catherine and Richard had a very short lived and incredible carnal experience. Richard’s main job as Guardian is being the security chief of a powerful secret conglomerate. Richard helped Catherine get Erin from a madman’s prison a few months back using mental telepathy. Both Erin’s and Catherine’s minds were very receptive to Richard’s strong thought transference. As much as Catherine and Venable don’t want Richard’s interference, they have to admit he can help them.
Santos is thwarted in his agenda of killing off Kathrine’s friends, and his madness and hatred of the woman is getting uncontrollable. However, one of his ploys work and the psychopath brings down a very special person that is hovering between life and death.
You might just find that you will be holding in YOUR NEXT BREATH while reading this gripping thriller. Iris Johansen’s talent in character development, impeccable plotting, and remarkable depiction is nonpareil. Ms. Johansen gives the reader an added bonus of visiting with old friends and catching up on their lives.
It’s impossible for Tyler Anderson to believe that his best friend, Arnie Watson, died from an overdose of d THE DEAD PLAY ON
Heather Graham
Mira May 2015
It’s impossible for Tyler Anderson to believe that his best friend, Arnie Watson, died from an overdose of drugs. Arnie had served three tours in Afghanistan, survived intact, and came home to kill himself? No way. He played the sax like nobody else, and played with Tyler and the B-Street Bombers n the French Quarters on Wednesday nights. This Wednesday Tyler is playing Arnie’s beloved sax that the Watson’s gave him, and it is like someone has taken over Tyler’s soul; he begins playing a song that isn’t on the song list to play. But, man does he play it, even though he has never played “I Still Believe” before; however, this was Arnie’s favorite song, and he played it a lot. Then, Tyler has some visions of Arnie – in Afghanistan and on Rampart Street where Arnie died. In the vision Arnie is being chased, and that’s when Tyler knows for sure that his friend did not commit suicide – he was murdered.
Michael Quinn, is an ex New Orleans cop turned investigator of out-of-the-ordinary-killings, along with his lover and partner, Danni Cafferty. Most of their cases concern cursed, haunted or truly evil happenings. Quinn has been called to the site of a brutal killing of a well-known local musician. There doesn’t appear to be a motive – no break in and drugs and a wad of money are sitting in plain sight. Detective LaRue mentions that this is the second murder with the same M. O. plus an assault incident involving some musicians walking home, all on the same night.
While Quinn is still with LaRue at the murder site, Danni gets a visit from a young man she went to school with years ago. Tyler comes to her souvenir and collectibles shop, The Cheshire Cat, wanting to talk about the strange night he is having. He wants someone to check into Arnie’s death because the police won’t do it.
Heather Graham, the Mistress of Darkness and Dang Good Writing, is one awesome story teller and THE DEAD PLAY ON is just one shining example. Ms. Graham creates credible characters and dialogue; a perfect locale for incidents involving the occult; interesting returning characters; and spine-tingling story threads that keeps the suspense streaming and the pages turning.
Pies and Prejudice (A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery) By Ellery Adams Berkley Prime Crime July 2012
Ella Mae LeFaye realizes her husband is pond scum when he and twins from the New York apartment next door are having a menage de trois in the elevator that arrives to pick up Ella. She empties her bags of groceries on the group, goes after her dog, Chewy, and catches the next mode of transportation to Havenwood, Georgia. She has been away from her home for seven years, the entire time she was married and living in Manhattan and attending culinary school. Because she left so abruptly, Ellie did not finish school and this is her main regret.
Ellie has 4 aunts, and each lady has a very distinct personality trait. Ellie is closer to her aunts than she is to her mother, Adelaide, who grows beautiful roses. Ellie has always made pies for any and every reason – when she is sad, happy, uncertain, and so on. Her pies seem to make everything better, and not just for her. Therefore, the five LeFaye sisters are willing to back Ellie in a pie shop, and have a building picked out that will be perfect for the business. One problem, Ellie’s nemesis since the cradle, Loralyn Gaynor, wants the same building for another nail salon. When Loralyn loses the bidding war, she more or less threatens Ellie that she will be run out of town. So, is it just a coincidence that Ellie’s rolling pin is found near the dead body of Loralyn’s fiancee?
Pies and Prejudice is a truly entertaining cozy mystery wherein magical and unexplained happenings are the norm. Ellie has two suitors, her high school sweetheart Hugh Dylan, and veterinarian Dr. Knox Chandler. Ellery Adams has a talent for developing likeable and unlikeable characters, and intelligent dialogue. Plot lines and narratives are crisp and tight. This is a delicious way to while away a few hours, and then maybe whip up one or two of the scrumptious recipes included.
Anxieties are tight among the O’Dwyer clan and their partners. Cabhan, the Dark Witches’ nemesis and the pBLOOD MAGICK
Nora Roberts
Berkley November 2014
Anxieties are tight among the O’Dwyer clan and their partners. Cabhan, the Dark Witches’ nemesis and the personification of evil, is gaining strength for an eminent battle. In parallel time, the children of Sorcha, the O’Dwer’s ancestors, are also making preparations to battle Cabhan, and they are traveling back to their childhood home in County Mayo. Sorcha sacrificed her life in the thirteenth century to keep her children safe from Cabhan, and almost killed him, but his ashes regrouped and converted the monster. The upcoming battle is the epitome of good versus evil, and only one will survive.
For years Branna O’Dwyer has tried to deny the deep love she still has for Finbar Burke; they were once lovers until the mark of Cabhan appeared on Fin’s shoulder, proclaiming that he was a descendant of her family’s most dangerous foe. However, Fin has stood beside the O’Dwyer’s during every encounter with evil, and Branna is the only one that refuses to openly acknowledge that Fin is not and has never been her enemy. With the end of life as the clan knows it in the balance, Branna welcomes Fin back into her heart and her bed, but each know if they survive their Armageddon they have no future because of Fin’s bloodline being passed on to any children they would have.
Wow! What a way to bring this wonderful and absorbing series to closure. Do you like deep, pure familiar love? You get it, in spades. Do you like magic with your action? It’s running all through the story. What about pure, sweet, carnal devotion? It is there and worth the wait for Branna, Fin, and the reader. Most relevantly, do you enjoy reading a beautifully constructed work of art? BLOOD MAGICK is one of the finest stories of Irish folklore, humor, and sensuality by Nora Roberts, who is a true virtuoso of the scripted word.
Linda Lael Miller brings ghosts to the table of this reading delight. When Mojo Sheepshanks was five yea
Deadly Gamble Linda Lael Miller
HQN November 2006
Linda Lael Miller brings ghosts to the table of this reading delight. When Mojo Sheepshanks was five years old she was a witness to her parent’s murders. – then she was known as Mary Jo . The child was found hiding in a clothes dryer, drenched in blood. Later, her half-brother, Geoff, confessed to the killings and was sent to Juvenile Detention.
Mojo was raised by a neighbor, Lillian, who took the child and went underground, after changing both of their names. They were soon joined by a runaway, Greer, and the daughter of Lillian’s lover, Jolie. These three women are true sisters of the heart.
Mojo had a brief marriage to Nick, a man who started cheating on her immediately. After their divorce, he died. His ghost is now haunting her and begging for forgiveness, so that his soul can leave the “train station”. She doesn’t want to forgive him, so he just keeps hanging around. She has an on-again, off-again relationship with Tucker, an undercover cop that she’s crazy about, but he is still hung up on his recently divorced wife. Someone is trying to kill Mojo, and she needs Tucker’s help to stay alive.
This kick-off to Ms. Miller’s new trilogy is outstanding. Mojo starts her own private investigation business because Nick said she will be getting customers who have been murdered and still hanging around the train station. Deadly Gamble has it all – love and laughter, romance, mystery, suspense and a superb cast of characters.
Kate Connor, Demon Hunter extraordinaire, was officially out of retirement for fifteen-plus years. Sh CALIFORNIA DEMON By JULIE KENNER
Berkley June 2006
Kate Connor, Demon Hunter extraordinaire, was officially out of retirement for fifteen-plus years. She worked for a super-secret arm of the Vatican known as Forz. She and her late husband, Eric, moved to San Diablo, California, the most demon free place on earth because of the Cathedral there, whose mortar is enriched with the bones of Saints.
Recently a demon attacked Kate in her kitchen and she learned that the High Demon Goramesh was in San Diablo and planning a pernicious attack in her city. She was able to thwart this fiend, but now another band of demons is roaming the area with an even more heinous goal. Needless to say, Kate is now out of retirement.
Kate inadvertently finds an ancient book that is identified by Father Ben as The Malevolenaumachia Demonica, a manual capable of calling forth demons that have been bound and chained in Tartarus, the deepest bowels of Hell. These demons are many times more evil and more powerful than Goramesh. The book is safely hidden in the cathedral where demons cannot find it.
Kate is a full time mom to fourteen-year-old daughter, Allie, not quite three-year-old Timmy, and wife to husband Stuart, who is running for County Attorney. She does volunteer work at Coastal Mists Nursing Home, mainly because demons can slip into a comatose, near death body, and affect a "miraculous cure." Only Kate's best friend and neighbor, Laura, knows about Kate's demon hunting business.
Allie is active in school activities this year, and has a major crush on a member of the surf club. Both Kate and Allie are drawn to the school sponsor of the club; something about him reminds them of Eric, who was killed by muggers five years ago. Kate learns some disturbing things about Eric from her mentor at Forz. When the demons launch their attack, it seems nothing can stop them. But when Allie's life is put in danger, Kate becomes a lean-mean-demon killing-machine, and a joy to behold in action!
It's easy to believe that Julie Kenner has tons of fun writing these tongue-in-cheek fantasy thrillers, and the writing gods have truly blessed her with talent and a fertile imagination. CALIFORNIA DEMON has plenty of action along with fantastic humor and a superb plot. The characters are so real that it is conceivable that your own neighbor might secretly be fighting off demons to save the world. This is pure enjoyment from beginning to end.
Storm Cycle By Iris Johansen St. Martin's Press August 2009
Authors: Iris and Roy Johansen
Allie Kirby is dying of a rare disease, late on-set Globoid Cell Leukodystrophy GLD. Her sister, Rachel is a computer genius who masterminds one of the most powerful and sophisticated computers known to mankind and is known as Jonesy. Using her influential connections, Rachel has created a foundation for the cure of GLD, and even though there have been some breakthroughs, Allie is still failing.
Archaeologist/fortune hunter John Tavak has hacked into her system and is siphoning off cycles for use in tombs in Egypt. Tavak was a child prodigy with an off the charts IQ. He was enrolled in Harvard at age ten, and has an unbelievable knack for problem solving. When his nemesis, a man named Dawson who is working for a pharmaceutical company, has him trapped in a Fourth Dynasty tomb of a female doctor in Saqqara, Egypt, Tavak sends an SOS e-mail to Rachel. He explains that there are tablets in the tomb of Pereshet, the overseer of a staff of female physicians in the time of the pyramids. There is evidence that Pereshet had found a way to regenerate damaged cells of the central nervous system. Rachel is skeptical, but intrigued, and using more of her contacts she arranges for a team of mercenaries in Cairo to get Tavak and his injured companion out of Pereshet’s tomb.
STORM CYCLE is a brilliant techno-thriller from the mother and son team, Iris and Roy Johansen, who are each best-selling, award-winning authors. The reader is swept from Rachel’s headquarters in Texas to the ancient secrets of Egypt where they must solve a puzzle that leads them across several continents. There is just the right touch of romance in this story, and the supporting characters, including Jonesy, are as strong and interesting as Rachel and Tavak. The villain is a vile creature whose employer wants sole control off the medical miracles from centuries ago. The surprise ending of this page-turner will astound you. This is a great read from a superb team of awesome writers.
Blood Game: An Eve Duncan (An Eve Duncan Forensics Thriller) By Iris Johansen
St. Martin's Press May 2010
An Eve Duncan Forensics Thriller ~
Eve is concerned over her relationship with lover Joe Quinn. Joe has been distracted and often curt with Eve. He has told her that he doesn’t intend to help her look for her daughter’s killer, but there is another crazed killer in the area, and he has his sights set on Eve. This man, Kevin Jelak, is also on Eve’s short list of killers who might know something about Bonnie’s death.
Eve gets a call from her acquaintance Dr. Morgan Blair, a clairvoyant who helped police find the mass graves of children slain by Henry Kistler – see QUICKSAND. Morgan informs Eve that anyone who touched her, Morgan, when she went into her coma might inherit psychic tendencies they have never had. Eve realizes that Joe carried Morgan’s limp body after she passed out. Could heretofore unknown psychic tendencies explain Joe’s mood?
When the body of Nancy Jo Norris, a Georgia’s senator’s daughter, is discovered it is considered a ritual killing, as her body has been drained of blood and a golden goblet is left with the corpse. Joe is assigned this top priority case, because he is considered the best. Joe is struggling to come to grips with his newfound sense – a facilitator effect he gained from Megan – he can see and converse with the dead. Nancy Jo is trying to lead him to her killer with the help of a little girl – a little girl named Bonnie.
It isn’t a coincidence that Eve and her adopted daughter Jane find a similar goblet in Eve’s refrigerator, but this one has blood in it. Eve contacts Morgan to see if she or her relatives know anything about the goblet. Her inquiry sends Scotsman Seth Caleb, a hunter, to Georgia to find and destroy Jelak, as the goblet and Jelak definitely means something to him.
BLOOD GAME is Iris Johansen at her best and grittiest. It’s good to visit with Jane again. After the draining experience Eve had with Kistler, Jane came home from London to take care of her, but Eve doesn’t like or want to be coddled. Jelak is a vampire-wannabe and is one of the most perverted killers to come from Ms. Johansen’s astounding imagination. Beware – this is a one sitting, white-knuckled, fast-paced read that will leave you breathless and awaiting the next installment.
Angel Harry Mills has finally been given his first assignment on Earth to “gently guide,” NG
MR. MIRACLE
Debbie Macomber Ballantine October 2014
Angel Harry Mills has finally been given his first assignment on Earth to “gently guide,” or mentor, two young people who have known each other all their lives, but have never really been friends. Harry’s spiritual coordinator is Celeste Chapeaux, and she has powers and gifts that he hopes to have one day. While Harry has the body of a middle-aged man who looks wise and mature, Celeste is a young, tattooed, pierced “ruffian” and is a barista at the cafeteria latte stand.
Harry is placed as a teacher at Southshore Community College in Tacoma, Washington. His class will be studying Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol.” It took some heavenly persuasion to get him this position, and Dr. Conceito, the college president is just waiting for this new transfer professor from Oregon State Community College to fall flat on his face.
Addie Folsom has returned to Tacoma to help her mom get through the first Christmas without Addie’s late father. Harry is to help her regain a good sense of herself and at the same time nudge her into a relationship with her neighbor, Eric Simmons. Eric is the best friend of Addie’s brother, and the boys weren’t too kind to her when they were growing up. Addie’s mom has made plans to take a Christmas cruise with Eric’s mom, but Eric had an accident and Mrs. Simmons needs to stay home and take care of her son. Both mothers are very upset – not only will they miss the anticipated cruise, they will lose their money. Addie is guilted into taking care of her nemesis, and really dislikes the idea.
Addie and Eric have very little in common. Addie loves Christmas and decorations; Eric doesn’t even want a tree in his house. Addie puts a tree in Eric’s den and other decorations in the house, including mistletoe. That has got to cheer the grouch up!
Debbie Macomber gives her readers beautiful gifts all year long, and especially at Christmas. MR. MIRACLE is a warm and enjoyable seasonal tale that is brimming with the grace and beauty of Ms. Macomber’s talent for penning enchanting stories of love, miracles and angels.
The executioner is confused, and sometimes doesn’t recognize the face in the mirror; there is no memory of what
HAUNTED
Kay Hooper
Berkley September 2014
The executioner is confused, and sometimes doesn’t recognize the face in the mirror; there is no memory of what has happened, but it was surely something evil. Especially when there is blood splattered everywhere. Things are getting better because the voices are starting to make conversation, and giving instructions.
In the small mountain community of Sociable, Georgia there is a group of natives that once escaped their hometown and have now returned, mixed in with a few that have never left. Melanie James has only lived here for nearly three years, but she was drawn into the group since they are all of the same age. Toby Gilmore reads tarot cards, and has a large percentage of correct predictions; Annabel Hunter and Caleb Lee are believers, whereas Melanie, Scott Abernathy, and Xander Roth are openly skeptic. Crystal County Sheriff Trinity Nichols just keeps the peace of the town – and the group, when necessary. She is more concerned about two groups of two women hikers that have disappeared in the mountains north of Sociable.
Deacon James, Melanie’s older brother, takes some much needed time off from his job at Haven, and comes to Sociable to see her. Right off he meets Trinity and she was expecting him, or so she thought. She had contacted Bishop and asked for help. Two murders have happened in her town, and she has feelings that they might be the victims of a serial killer with special talents. They are also members of “The Group.”
HAUNTED is creepy, crawly, terrifying, and an all-around stupendous read for Kay Hooper’s legions of fans. Either there are two killers that desecrate their victims’ bodies – in the cases of the hikers and the group – or there is one copycat killer and a killer that has arisen from the dead. The reader gets a chance to get together with other members of Haven, including Bishop and Miranda.
Walking On Air: A Valance Family Novel By Catherine Anderson Signet February 2014
On Christmas morning of 1880, fast-draw drifter Gabriel Valance notices a young boy about eight years of age in rags and huddled under the stairwell of the bordello Gabe is leaving. The boy is waiting for his mother to come back from wherever she went with a cowpoke. Gabe makes a date with the child for breakfast when he is finished at the saloon. Gabe has been in Random, Colorado about a month and plans on moving on. Gage isn’t a bad man, but he has a reputation as a gunslinger and has chosen to kill rather than be killed on several occasions. Gabe had hoped for so much more out of life, but growing up an orphan he was always on the outside looking in. When Gabe is going out to find the boy, he hears a gun being cocked as his name called out. Gabe is shot, but he got off a wild shot that got his killer, a young man named Pete Raintree. Gabe knows he is dying and wishes there was just one person that would mourn him. His last vision is of the pretty young hat maker’s face and her shimmering blond hair – is she an angel?
Two angels, Gabriel and Michael, are trying to save Gabe from the fires of hell, but looking at his life history they don’t find many redeeming qualities. Gabe hasn’t been really bad, but neither has he been really good. The angels give him a task to complete which will determine Gabe’s hereafter life. He must choose one of three lost souls the angels show him, and save that person in thirty days. Time will be rolled back one month and Gabe’s task must be completed by Christmas morning.
Nan Hoffman is hiding out in Random believing she killed a man. Nan’s mother died several years ago and Nan is raising her young sister, Laney. Everyone in town believes that Nan is a widow and Laney is her child. Nan has isolated herself and lives in fear that someday someone will find her and take her back to New York. She does not know what to think of Gabe, but he manipulates her into marrying him so he can keep her safe. He must make her fall in love with him, and the clock is ticking down his hours.
Walking On Air is terrific! The awesome Catherine Anderson plays around with the paranormal and comes up with a witty, emotional, and all around outstanding tale. Gabe was a throw-away baby and actually turned out to be pretty decent. Nan’s father was an abusive, vile, man that set his daughter up to be raped so that Nan would have to marry the man, but Nan fought back and honestly believes she killed her attacker. Learning to trust and to love is a lesson for both Gabe and Nan. Ms. Anderson is at her breathtaking best in this first episode of the Valance family....more
Spirits Revived By Alice Duncan Five Star March 2014
Daisy Gumm Majesty is back in Pasadena, California after her exciting and harrowing trip to Egypt wSpirits Revived By Alice Duncan Five Star March 2014
Daisy Gumm Majesty is back in Pasadena, California after her exciting and harrowing trip to Egypt with her good pal Harold Kincaid, and they were later joined by Detective Sam Rotondo just in the nick of time. It has been one year since Billy Majesty’s death and Daisy has come out of her profound grief and depression. She is back to work in her spiritualist persona and is holding a séance for Mrs. Hastings, whose son Eddie committed suicide. Mrs. Hastings does not believe for one second that Eddie took his own life, and lo and behold Eddie actually takes over Daisy’s subconscious and demands that his killer be found! In all of her years as a fake medium this has never happened to Daisy and it certainly shakes her up.
Since Daisy cannot ask the police to reopen Eddie’s case because the deceased told her he was murdered, she starts her own investigation, and immediately makes waves. Sam Rotondo, Billy’s best friend and a friend to all the Gumm family, tries to talk some sense into Daisy, or at least tell him why this case should be reopened as a homicide. Sam has never been a fan of Daisy’s livelihood, so there is no way he will believe the truth.
SPIRITS REVIVED, like all the books in this series, is a joy to read due to the awesome talent and smooth narrative of Alice Duncan. The people in the Daisy Gumm stories are quite real, interesting, and likeable, and the plots are plausible and thoroughly enjoyable. Daisy and Sam have developed a truce, and he is always there to help her out of the messes she manages to get herself into. SPIRITS REVIVED is a wonderful way to kick back and be mightily entertained for a few hours.
For All Time: A Nantucket Brides Novel (Nantucket Brides Trilogy) By Jude Deveraux Ballantine July 2014
The Nantucket Brides ~ Book Two
HRR Prince Graydo For All Time: A Nantucket Brides Novel (Nantucket Brides Trilogy) By Jude Deveraux Ballantine July 2014
The Nantucket Brides ~ Book Two
HRR Prince Graydon Montgomery of Lantonia slipped away from his duties to be a groomsman at the wedding of his cousin, Jared Montgomery Kingsley to Alixandra Madsen, on Nantucket Island. Graydon’s identical twin brother, Rory, is a playboy and has been on the Island for a few days. Toby Wyndam is the bridesmaid paired with Graydon, and the man cannot take his eyes off of her. When she tells him she can tell the difference between Gray and Rory, the man is flummoxed as no one outside of a very few family members can do that. The charming prince talks Rory into taking his place in Lantonia for a few days so that he can spend some time getting to know Toby. Gray just wants a week before he will have to return to his duties, and later on to announce his engagement to Lady Danna Hexonbath.
Toby’s best friend and roommate, Lexie, is in France doing a personal favor for her employer, Roger Plymouth. Since there are no rental vacancies on the Island due to all the wedding guests plus the summer tourists, Toby agrees to rent Gray her empty bedroom. An unforeseen event in Lantonia forces Graydon to extend his “vacation and a man and woman, Daire and Lorcan, are sent to protect him; Gray has asked them to keep a low profile since he is supposed to be Rory.
Toby is drawn to the centuries old mansion that Graydon’s relatives are intending to purchase. Normally it is closed up, but today in a pouring rain the front door is open. Lexie takes refuge inside the house, and wanders upstairs and falls asleep. She is awakened to vivid and unbelievable dreams. Friends are all in costumes and her mother is present. Lexie’s mother Victoria tells Toby that she is at a party in Captain Caleb’s new house – a man who has been dead for over two hundred years. The house’s name is Beyond Time. A lot of the mansion’s history is relived over the next few weeks, and Toby/Tabby and Graydon/Garrett, are a big part of it.
FOR ALL TIMES is the best of yesterday and today as only Jude Deveraux can narrate. Outlandish, quirky, and magnificent characters abound in this highly entertaining story. The ill-fated romance of the protagonists is beautifully rendered and the story threads are delightfully accomplished leaving the reader anxiously awaiting the next installment of the Nantucket Brides.