Emily Martha Sorensen writes some fabulous clean fantasy and I have been loving every minute of my time with her. One of my favorites is the baby dragon, Virgil, in the Dragon’s Egg series.
I love this sweet cover and the ‘human’ romance is just as sweet.
With each novella in the Dragon’s Egg series, we learn more about the pitfalls and perils, along with the job, of raising a baby dragon.
Rose reminds me of Temperance Brennan in Bones and I feel bad for Henry at times. He has such a soft soul and is easily hurt, innocent and naive about many things.
Try to imagine potty training a dragon, especially when it doesn’t want to be trained. LOL
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
There’s a new dragon
visiting from Chicago, and she’s green, like Virgil! Unfortunately, this
might cause a few small problems nobody anticipated.
As well as a few revelations and surprises.
And all while Rose is trying to figure out what to give her husband for Valentine’s Day.
ABOUT EMILY MARTHA SORENSEN
Emily is a prolific writer with many titles to choose from. She writes of fairies, dragons, fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, world peace in short stories and flash fiction.
Flawed characters, teenagers, kidnapping, murder, serial killer, life and death, cancer.
I loved the characters, searching for answers, struggling with life.
Glad Dark is in the title, because it’s not only the villain that hides in the dark.
I am so happy this is a series because I want a whole lot more of it.
Elsa, her new partner and friend, Lex…and his brother, David. she doesn’t have much of a personal life, doesn’t strive to have one, discourages those who try to get close, until Lex who manages to earn her trust.
Deep, dark secrets.
So glad I have the next story ready and waiting…and I will begin NOW.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of A Map of the Dark by Karen Ellis.
4 stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A girl, missing A woman, searching A killer, planning…
FBI Agent Elsa Myers finds missing people. She knows how it feels to be lost…
Though
her father lies dying in a hospital north of New York City, Elsa cannot
refuse a call for help. A teenage girl has gone missing from Forest
Hills, Queens, and during the critical first hours of the case, a series
of false leads hides the fact that she did not go willingly.
With
each passing hour, as the hunt for Ruby deepens into a search for a man
who may have been killing for years, the case starts to get underneath
Elsa’s skin. Everything she has buried – her fraught relationship with
her sister and niece, her self-destructive past, her mother’s death –
threatens to resurface, with devastating consequences.
In order to save the missing girl, she may have to lose herself…and return to the darkness she’s been hiding from for years.
ABOUT KAREN ELLIS
Karen Ellis is a pseudonym of longtime crime
novelist Katia Lief. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and
International Thriller Writers. Her novel A MAP OF THE DARK will be
published by Mulholland Books/Little, Brown on January 9, 2018. Learn more at karenellisbooks.com
Stay in touch with Karen Ellis by joining her mailing list: http://eepurl.com/cS6h_r
Catchy title for Sketcher in the Rye by Sharon Pape and I do love the cover. I would like to thank NetGalley and Penguin for the opportunity to read and review Sketcher in the Rye by Sharon Pape. I downloaded this back on 11.7.13
Sketcher in the Rye and Sharon Pape had me cracking up from the getgo. I don’t know what I expected, but it’s delivering so much more.
Rory is quite the character, but Zeke steals the show. They do make quite the investigating team.
We switch back and forth from the present to the past as we examine Zeke’s life. A heartbroken hobo has a large personality and is good for lots of laughs.
Fun story, humorously written, with fabulous quirky characters to love.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Sketcher in the Rye by Sharon Pape.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
In her new job as a
private eye, former police sketch artist Rory McCain has a spirited
partner: Old West marshal Zeke Drummond. He may be a ghost, but when
these two combine their skills, they reap justice…
Trouble has
sprouted at Harper Farms. Top secret info has been leaked to the
competition, and now there’s serious sabotage cropping up. So the farm’s
beleaguered owner, Gil Harper, has called on Rory to dig up some dirt.
But what Rory discovers raises a new field of questions…
Someone
shucked Harper’s accountant and left his body in the farm’s corn maze.
While Gil is quick to hire Rory to solve now not one but two crimes, the
sketching sleuth isn’t so sure why the farmer wants her to focus her
attention on his own family.
Regardless, Rory and Zeke will need
to put their hands to the plow and solve this case before someone else
is planted six feet under…
Includes a preview of the first Crystal Shop Mystery, Amethysts and Alibis, by Sharon Pape
**images are linked to Amazon (I am an affiliate)**
LATEST HAPPENINGS
Hello everyone. Glad to see you stopping in. It is still raining and everything is looking green and healthy. A bit out of control. Mr Wonderful has been working a lot, so we haven’t done much. I am watching a lot of movies and enjoying every minute of it. I want to be working outside and swimming in the pool. But, an injury gives me a reason to read, read, read….and I am doing a lot of it.I have never been this caught up on review books, but I haven’t been taken many new ones in right now. I need to get my challenger in order, since half the year is gone. Do you do any challenges? I enjoy them, but I do limit myself. I watched a great movie, Red Dog. Have you heard of it? Check it out. It had me crying more than once and I am glad Mr Wonderful was working so he didn’t see me. I’ve been trying to get back into visiting blogs at least twice a week and leaving a comment. LOL
Alyssa Day writes some fantastic stories. After reading the first book in the series (see my review link below), Atlantis Rising, I had to have more…so here’s Atlantis Awakening.
Poseiden’s finest against vampires…I’d like to see that, but I’ll settle for reading about it.
Ven is second in line to the throne, but he doesn’t want it. He is happy being head of the Warrior Academy.
Erin Connor is a witch and knew she was in trouble when she came face to face with Ven. I think we all know where this is going, but I am looking forward to a slip sliding ride to Atlantis.
Ven quickly knew he would stop at nothing to protect her from those who pursue her.
The romance is otherwordly instalove, easy for me to accept in a novel where it is to be expected…which I will leave to you to find out why.
Atlantean, Elven, Vampires, Shapshifters, Witches…you never know who your friends are.
The world and characters are familiar, at least some of them, and I love learning more about them. Danger is always near and that creates suspense and curiosity for me.
Though the storyline is familiar and easy to figure out, I do like surprised lovers, magical love and battles between good and evil.
The romance is steamy and for adults only.
Even though Atlantis Awakening tells Ven and Erin’s story, it leaves us in a pickle with the overall storyline. I recommend reading in order to get the full impact.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Atlantis Awakening by Alyssa Day.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
To rescue the world
from an overwhelming evil, Poseidon’s warriors have risen from Atlantis.
Chief among them is Ven, serving as the King’s Vengeance by birthright
and by battle challenge. None can conquer him – except perhaps for one
human female….
The Warrior… Ven’s mind is
filled with duty. He must serve as Atlantean liaison to the humans in a
war waged against the vampires. A sword is his weapon – not diplomacy.
But on a mission to recover the Nereid’s heart – a ruby of immense power
– it will take every ounce of strength he possesses to resist the
sexual allure of the beautiful witch chosen to work with him.
And the Witch… Erin’s
heart is filled with vengeance. She lives only for the chance at
revenge against those who murdered her family. Now she must partner with
a legendary Atlantean warrior whose dark desire threatens to crash
through the barriers built around her emotions – and her heart. Caught
in the trap of shifting alliances, how long can Ven and Erin resist
their awakening passion?
Dark forces beware: Atlantis is awakening.
ABOUT ALYSSA DAY
Alyssa Day is the pen name (and dark and tortured alter ego) of
RITA award-winning author Alesia Holliday. She is a multiple finalist in
the prestigious RITA awards for excellence in romance fiction and has
won several awards for her novels.
ATLANTIS RISING was the first
of Alyssa’s Warriors of Poseidon novels for Berkley Publishing, and was
featured on the cover of the March, 2007, issue of Romantic Times
BOOKClub magazine! Additionally, it rocked the bestseller lists, hitting
the Waldenbooks, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Bookscan, and the
prestigious USA Today bestseller lists! ATLANTIS AWAKENING came along
several months together and did the same thing – only better!! And then
her anthology SHIFTER, with authors Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, and
Virginia Kantra, spent three weeks on the prestigious New York Times
bestseller list!
Her publisher was thrilled, her family was
thrilled (they could eat!), her dogs were thrilled (bacon!!). Now she’s
happily writing her fingers off, deep in the world of Atlantis, the
Warriors of Poseidon, and a new exciting group of allies (??), the Fae.
Alyssa
has long been an avid fan of all things Atlantis, supernatural, and in
any way pertaining to lost civilizations. When she was six, she told her
mother that she would discover Atlantis one day—and now she has!
In
2006, Alyssa (writing as Alesia) was awarded the Romance Writers of
America’s RITA® award. The RITA is the highest award of excellence in
the genre of romance fiction. If we can get this new website on track,
you’ll see a picture on your right of Alyssa with her agent and editor
the night she won the RITA® award.
It’s always a pleasure to be given an opportunity to read a novel by Dina Rae, and this is the latest one, Crowns and Cabals. Look at the intriguing cover. Are you curiious? Does it make you want to pick it up and read it?
After the nuclear holocaust of WWIII, one third of the world is destroyed.
I love stories that have vigilantes…or could they be rebels, guerillas…those looking to survive in the face of desolation and destruction. Depends on which side of the story you are on.
Fear + lack of authority + chaos
Rule by fear…and a conspiracy is born. New World Order spells O.W.N. backwards.
I was quickly involved and lovin’ it.
TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More
If you are left, all you know gone, do you blow your brains out? Become a guerilla fighter? Take it and become one of the herd? I love watching the characters step up and reach their full potential.
I love the route Dina Rae took with the conspiracy. I am a bit of a buff myself, and have some similar thoughts about some current events, or a possible future, without the supernatural angle, which I totally love.
Dina Rae could end it here and let us decide the future…or she can take it to the next level. What do you say Dina?
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Vigilantes stumble upon a cabal of world power.
Journalist Raphael King knows three things about New World Order. First, control the media. Check. Second, erase the world’s borders. Check. Third, provoke a nuclear war. Check. Is it checkmate for the ultimate inner circle?
In 2043 Raphael loses it all. He and sister-in-law Jaxie Nottingham refuse to sit back and watch the new world government unfold. They set up vigilante cells with the goal of disrupting anyone who benefits after the war. One of their targets leads them to a secret society created since the dawn of civilization.
ABOUT DINA RAE
Dina
Rae brings an academic element to her novels by weaving research and
history throughout the stories. Big Pharma, Big Agri, Big Conspiracy is
Dina’s first nonfiction work.
Dina
lives with her husband, two daughters, and dog outside of Dallas. She is
a Christian, avid tennis player, movie buff, teacher, and
self-proclaimed expert on several conspiracy theories. She has been
interviewed numerous times in e-zines, websites, blogs, newspapers, and
syndicated radio programs. When she is not writing she is reading novels
from her favorite authors Dan Brown, Stephen King, Brad Thor, and
George R.R. Martin. She also enjoys reading about religion, UFOs, New
World Order, government conspiracies, political intrigue, and other
cultures. The Best Seller and The Sequel, her newest sci-fi novels, are
released by Solstice Publishing.
This beautiful cover did not prepare me for the wonderful story inside. I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for the chance to read and review Enchanter’s Echo by Anise Rae. I downloaded this on 2.4.15.
Cool that Aurora lives in a junkyard. I love it. Inventing gadgets and widgets that improve the humans lives around her, risking everything, including her life. It’s a good thing she has lots of friends and some of them in high places.
“Enchantress with a repair shop”
She violates the Law of Natural Physique.
She had helped Lily. This young girl captured my heart.
She is the Enchantress and he is the Destroyer. She is forced to work with him to save their kingdom. To her life is sunshine and lollipops, though her life has not been an easy one.
I was caught up in the enchanting world of love and magic, loyalty and sacrifice, and all the bad that those who resent what other have entails. The romance was realistic, with doubts and emotions that pushed and pulled the characters.
Hate, betrayal and revenge.
I never missed not having read the first book in the series. I believe there is another book, but if I quit here, I am completely satisfied with reading this as a stand alone.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Enchanter’s Echo by Anise Rae.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Aurora Firenze lives a
quiet life hiding in a junkyard. Her repair shop is the last hope for
gadgets and gizmos before they get tossed onto the trash towers.
Fortunately, Aurora can fix almost anything, including mages, though
repairing people with metal enchantments is highly illegal.
Edmund
Rallis, heir to the Rallis senate seat, has spent months hunting down
his errant enchantress. He’ll play every game he knows to win her back
and entice her to share the secrets she hides. But he’s inadvertently
put her on the frontlines of a new game, one with an opponent who’s
determined to destroy Rallis Territory and drive the Republic toward
war. If the new enemy isn’t stopped in time, Edmund will lose his
enchantress again—and this time there won’t be another chance.
ABOUT ANISE RAE
Anise Rae spends her days dreaming up alternative realities where people just like her (and you) have magic, worlds populated with heroines who dare to stand up to society’s expectations and be true to themselves and heroes with plenty of savvy to fall in love with such brave women.
Though she lacks
real supernatural powers, she believes the true magic within us is our
own creativity – a gift we must nuture as frequently as possible. It’s
why her house is littered with crayons, craft kits, legos, yarn, paper,
pens, and books. Or it could be because she hates to clean.
She lives in the suburbs of Atlanta with her two children and a dog with an amazing ability to sniff out hidden stashes of dirty socks. They also litter her house.
Seals make for some intriging and action packed reading, so I was happy to get a copy of Seal Team Six: Hunt The Fox by Donn Mann & Ralph Pezullo from NetGalley and Mulholland Books. I downloaded Hunt The Fox on 4.6.15.
I wonder the same thing as Jared, wondering about our motivation for our interactions with other countries…is it all about what they have that benefits us? Crocker felt it best not to question it so he could do his job as leader of Black Cell.
Seal Team Six has all I expected from a Seal and his ‘friends.’ Action packed. Suspenseful. Makes me ponder the sacrifices and danger real soldiers face so we are free.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Seal Team Six: Hunt The Fox by Don Mann & Ralph Pezullo.
4 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
In war-torn Syria, the heroes of the SEAL Team Six series defuse an ISIS warlord’s explosive plot.
After a meeting with a CIA source in Istanbul ends in tragedy, SEAL
Team Six Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Crocker vows revenge. He suspects
the men who attacked him and his contact are involved in the latest and
most harrowing scheme SEAL Team Six is charged with preventing, in a
region that grows more volatile by the day.
Syria’s government is unraveling, with the alliances among rebel
groups increasingly complex and ISIS dangerously in the mix. Farid
al-Kazaz, aka the Fox, leads the most threatening of the ISIS factions.
The Fox believes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered the murder of
the Fox’s brother and is planning a sarin gas attack that would wreak
havoc across not just Syria, but the entire Middle East. It’s up to
Crocker and the rest of SEAL Team Six to stop a ruthless killer and keep
an explosive plan from detonating.
The SEAL Team Six series has been hailed by Special Forces veterans
and members of the intelligence community as a fascinating,
behind-closed-doors look at the real-life heroism of our country’s
bravest soldiers. Now, Mann and Pezzullo use their experience and
insight to tell the story of a terrifying plot ripped straight from the
headlines
**images are linked to Amazon (I am an affiliate)**
LATEST HAPPENINGS
Hello everyone. Glad to see you stopping in. As I write this, it is raining. It has been super sunny and 90 degrees, so I am happy to see it. The grass was getting so dry it started to crunch under my feet. I haven’t had to worry about watering, until last week. Even the first day of watering, the rain paid a quick visit. Isn’t that how it goes? But, it’s all good. Maybe this will wash out some of the pollen that seems to be playing havoc with my allergies. I haven’t been able to work in the yard without the help of Mr Wonderful, so it is in definite need of clean up. I am going to hire someone to come by and whip the yard in shape, maybe do a couple of projects. I am also going to, for the first time ever, have someone come by and do some house cleaning. Mr Wonderful does a good job, but I don’t think it’s fair, with him working a full time job and two freelance jobs, to have to do so much. It won’t cost that much and it will be a relief to have it done. I have caught up on most of my reviews for the books I have read. Just have two left right now. I have been reading books on my kindle that are documents, trying to clean them off. Some are pretty old and I think there will be some DNFs, just because I have so many books I want to read I will never have time to read them all. I need to be immortal to do everything I want to do. LOL Have a super week!
Woo Hoo. Another Murder She Wrote story, Murder in Red by Jon Land. Jessica Fletcher never bores me and I look forward to each and every adventure with her.
I love how Murder in Red starts. Maybe I’ll do the same for my passing.
Touches on one of my pet peeves…the health industry.
Jessica Fletcher has her posse, Mort, Harry and George, to help her get the justice she must have.
The great thing about cozies…they can deal with serious issues but keep the writing light with some humorous events and dialogue along with unique and quirky characters.
As I finish and all is revealed, I smile and close the cover, feeling cozy and content
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Murder in Red by Jon Land.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
In the latest entry in this USA Today
bestselling series, Jessica loses a loved one to unnatural causes and
sets her sights on the mysterious local hospital before more people wind
up dead on arrival…
Jessica Fletcher’s favorite gin rummy
partner, Mimi Van Dorn, checks into the brand-new Clifton Care Partners,
a private hospital that’s just opened up shop in town, for a simple
procedure–one that leads tragically, and inexplicably, to her death.
Seeking justice in her inimitable fashion, Jessica decides to pursue her
own investigation on the hospital and its shadowy business dealings.
On
the trail of what initially appears to be medical malpractice, Jessica
digs deeper and learns her friend was actually a victim of something far
more sinister. Death is bad for business, but murder is even worse, and
Jessica will find plenty of both as she races to bring down Clifton
Care Partners before someone else flatlines…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jon
Land is the award-winning, critically acclaimed author of 36 books,
including the bestselling Caitlin Strong Texas Ranger series that
includes Strong Enough to Die, Strong Justice, Strong at the Break,
Strong Vengeance and, most recently, Strong Rain Falling. The Tenth
Circle marks the second return engagement of his longtime series hero
Blaine McCracken on the heels of last year’s Pandora’s Temple which was
nominated for a Thriller Award and received the 2013 International Book
Award for Best Adventure Thriller. Jon’s first nonfiction book,
Betrayal, meanwhile, was named Best True Crime Book of 2012 by Suspense
Magazine and won a 2012 International Book Award for Best True Crime
Book. He is currently working on Strong Darkness, the next entry in the
Caitlin Strong to be published in September of 2014. He graduated Phi
Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude from Brown University, where he continues
to maintain a strong volunteer presence, in 1979.
