2 Book Lovers Reviews
Week of October 19/20
Strange the Dreamer
By Laini Taylor
Week of October 19/20
Horror Recommendation!
The Troop has to be the most sensory stimulating book that I’ve read: sight, sound, smell, even taste and touch. Nick Cutter brought all of them to life within the pages of the book. I could see the thunder clouds building, hear the waves crashing on the shore, smell the rotting flesh, taste the blood in my mouth and feel the...
419
By Will Ferguson
Week of October 13th, 2020
Book Review:
The Gates of Athens
By Conn Iggulden
As I listened to George Blagden narrate Conn Iggulden’s The Gates of Athens, one overwhelming thought came over me: they have been teaching history wrong all these years!
*See my full review...
Week of September 28th, 2020
Releasing on September 29th!
The Cabin on Souder Hill
By Lonnie Busch
Stay tuned for my review!
Michelle and Cliff Stage bought their isolated vacation cabin in the mountains of North Carolina with hopes of repairing their eighteen-year marriage. But when Cliff disappears one night searching for the source of a mysterious light in the woods, Michelle’s life will change in unimaginable ways...
*Read more...
Week of September 21st, 2020
Book Review:
The Trials of Koli
(The Rampart Trilogy #2)
By M.R. Carey
I love what Carey has done here with The Rampart Trilogy; book one was released April 14th, now in September book two is in our hands. Enough time for book one to be well settled in my past, but not so long that my interest has waned. Very smart timing.
*See the full review...
Week of September 8th, 2020
Book Review:
The Residence
By Andrew Pyper
I have a list of authors who have pulled me into one of their stories; I can’t wait to get my grabby fingers on their next new release; Andrew Pyper got on this list with The Homecoming.
I have spent months looking forward to reconnecting with Pyper’s writing, ever since I saw that The Residence was set to release. I know that I like his style, who doesn’t love an old-fashioned ghost story?
*See my full review...
Week of August 31st, 2020
Releasing on September 1st!
The Residence
By Andrew Pyper
Stay tuned for my review!
The year is 1853. President-elect Franklin Pierce is traveling with his family to Washington, DC, when tragedy strikes. In an instant, their train runs off the rails, violently flinging passengers about the cabin. When the great iron machine finally comes to rest, the only casualty is the Pierces’ son, Bennie. The loss sends First Lady Jane Pierce into mourning, and casts Franklin’s presidency under a pall of sorrow and grief...
*Read more...
Week of August 24th, 2020
Book Review:
Devolution
By Max Brooks
Do you believe that in every myth and legend there is a kernel of truth?
Do you believe that there could be an undiscovered species living today in the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest?
Do you believe in the North American Great Ape?
Max Brooks has forever been associated with Zombies, he has decided to take a step outside his comfort zone and take on a new monster, Sasquatch.
*See my full review...
Week of August 17th, 2020
Book Review:
The Living Dead
By George A. Romero & Daniel Kraus
George A. Romero, if he didn’t create the genre, has made it what it is today. Put his name on it and anyone and everyone who loves zombies will be on it like stink on…well you know what.
But this story wasn’t written by George A. Romero, it was written by Daniel Kraus. It is, however, based on the world created by Romero and crafted using some of his works.
Book News!
Later
By Stephen King
Releasing March 2/21
The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine - as he discovers when an NYPD detective draws him into the pursuit of a killer who has threatened to strike from beyond the grave.
*Read more...
Week of August 3rd, 2020
Releasing August 4th!
The Living Dead
By George A. Romero & Daniel Kraus
It begins with one body.
A pair of medical examiners find themselves battling a dead man who won’t stay dead.
It spreads quickly.
Everywhere, people are targeted by both the living and the dead.
We think we know how this story ends.
We. Are. Wrong.
By Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Odessa Hardwicke's life is derailed when she's forced to turn her gun on her partner, Walt Leppo, a decorated FBI agent who turns suddenly, inexplicably violent while apprehending a rampaging murderer. The shooting, justified by self-defense, shakes the young FBI agent to her core. Devastated, Odessa is placed on desk leave pending a full investigation. But what most troubles Odessa isn't the tragedy itself -- it's the shadowy presence she thought she saw fleeing the deceased agent's body after his death.
Questioning her future with the FBI and her sanity, Hardwicke accepts a low-level assignment to clear out the belongings of a retired agent in the New York office. What she finds there will put her on the trail of a mysterious figure named Hugo Blackwood, a man of enormous means who claims to have been alive for centuries, and who is either an unhinged lunatic, or humanity's best and only defense against unspeakable evil.
Week of July 27th, 2020
Book Review:
The Twelve
By Justin Cronin
The Twelve, like its predecessor The Passage, was epic in scale. Add the voice of Scott Brick to the Audible and it became biblical in nature. This book pulled me in and never let me go.
When dealing with books of this magnitude, patience is essential.
*See my review...
Week of July 20th, 2020
Releasing July 21st!
Malorie: A Bird Box Novel
By Josh Malerman
Twelve years after Malorie and her children rowed up the river to safety, a blindfold is still the only thing that stands between sanity and madness. One glimpse of the creatures that stalk the world will drive a person to unspeakable violence.
There remains no explanation. No solution...
*Read more...
*Read my review of Bird Box...
Week of July 13th, 2020
Book Review:
The Wolf in the Whale
By Jordanna Max Brodsky
There is nothing like 90-degree weather outside to make me pick up a book set in the frozen tundra of the Arctic. It is something that I’ve done the past couple of years, don’t ask me why, it just seems to happen.
I have had my eye on The Wolf in the Whale for some time now. I’m intrigued by the setting, the clash of cultures, the what if of history.
*See my full review...
Week of July 6th, 2020
Book Review:
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
By Suzanne Collins
For all of those who ‘’read’’ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and hated it. Why did you read it? What did you expect? Did you even read the rest of the series or just watch the movies? The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is what this entire series has been about!
*See my full review...
Week of June 29th, 2020
Book Review:
The Only Good Indians
By Stephen Graham Jones
Releasing July 14th!
Stories are written in a time and place, they have meaning for the author when they are written; sometimes they can take on a different meaning for the reader depending on the time when they are read, things can change between the
writing and the reading.
*See my full review...
Week of June 15th, 2020
Book Review:
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
By Grady Hendrix
I’ve been intending to get around to a Grady Hendrix book for a while now, I’ve got a couple of them on my Kindle, but with all that I’ve got going on, and his newest book out on Audible, I decided to enjoy it on my daily commutes. What a great decision I made!
*See my full review...
If you're looking for your
next read, I have just the
book for you - Sorrow by
Tiffanie DeBartolo. This
gem releases this week and
it is breathtaking.
This week's list of new
releases is posted. Let's
read!
A new book by Tiffanie
DeBartolo was a bright spot
in this tumultuous year.
With a book titled Sorrow, I
knew that there was a high probability that this would put my emotions through the wringer, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from this author. It’s a love story, an ode to nature, music, and art in its many forms. It’s a beautifully written story that is both profound and thought-provoking. There were so many thoughtful and heartfelt passages that I wanted to highlight and share, but to be honest, it’s so much better to discover them and relish them on your own. Sorrow is not the type of story to read if you’re just trying to pass some time. It’s deeply moving, rich in emotion. It’s a novel that needs to be savored.
New Releases!
- Fallen – By Mia Sheridan
Scarlett Lattimore arrives at Lilith House, an abandoned mansion built in 1876, that later housed a reform school for troubled girls, to start a new life with her seven-year-old daughter.
But between the nearby town with the strange, disconcerting feel, the deputy sheriff who is equal parts intriguing and suspicious, and the discovery that their new home holds a dark and violent past, Scarlett soon begins to question her rash decision.
She is shaken and afraid by the screams that echo in the walls and the drumbeat that arises from the surrounding woods where the ghost of an indigenous man is said to roam, seeking vengeance. Her fear is also personal, because Scarlett knew one of the girls who attended the school, a friend who escaped into those woods and was never seen again. They all thought she was a rebellious runaway who later encountered foul play, but perhaps the truth is far more sinister.
As Scarlett’s extraordinary daughter Haddie becomes consumed by the eerie figure who weaves and beckons through the forest fog, and a legacy of secrets reveal themselves, it becomes clear both Scarlett and Haddie are in grave danger. When the past intersects with the present, they will come face to face with the true evil of Lilith House. An evil that has lasted for more than a century.
- Perfectly Thin – By Margaret McHeyzer
When I’m thinner, no one will make fun of me
When I’m thinner, I’ll be accepted
When I’m thinner, I’ll be beautiful
When I’m thinner, I’ll be happy
When I’m thinner, I’ll be loved, and adored
When I’m thinner, I’ll like myself
I can’t wait until I’m perfectly thin.
- Who’s the Boss? An Enemies to Lovers Romantic Comedy – By Erin McCarthy
Arrogant, charming and sexy as hell, Master chef Sean Kincaid is legendary both in the kitchen and in the bedroom. So of course it only took five minutes for him to get me overheated. My temper that is.
Because Sean Kincaid is my new boss. Who has strolled into my kitchen demanding I follow his rules. I don’t like taking orders from anyone but certainly not from a grumpy man who knows how to push all of my buttons.
And when a Best Chef competition pits the two of us against each other, it’s either going to be a sizzler--or a recipe for disaster.
- Hypothetically: A Forbidden Romance – By Rebecca Sharp
Fact: Damien Milanovic was a pharmaceutical superhero, masked with gilded glasses and a starched white cape. Intelligent. Illustrious. Impermissible. He was the chemist who decided that curing cancer—curing death—was worth the price of not living his own life.
Hypothetically, how bad would it be if I had a crush on him?
Fact: I was Lilith Montgomery, the smartest student in my class and the most popular girl in school. All I needed to graduate was to finish this chemistry internship with Dr. Milanovic. What I would learn would be invaluable to my future, but it wasn’t the only reason I was there.
Hypothetically, how wrong would it be to use the internship as an opportunity to seduce the cold, captivating chemist?
Fact: Damien Milanovic was also my best friend’s father.
Hypothetically, how impossible would it be for us to fall in love?
- Watch Me Drown (Elements of the Heart #1) – By C.E. Johnson
I thought this part of my life was over. Even though the restraining order against my father expired years ago, I wasn't expecting him to show up in my life again. I had no idea the mysterious man that stands at the river's edge would be the one to defend me. After one night in Everest's protection, the idea was for us to go our separate ways. Instead, my life gets turned upside down and now I want more than just his safety. I want his scarred heart, too.
***
Don't make other people's problems your own. I learned long ago to keep my head down and my eyes pointed at the road ahead. But trying to ignore the beautiful woman at the park isn't just difficult. It's impossible. When I find out she's in danger, not only do I make her problem mine, keeping her safe becomes my priority. Falling for Danielle wasn't part of the plan. And now, it could take me down faster than any undertow.
Releasing on October 20th!
- Sorrow – By Tiffanie DeBartolo - Top Recommendation! Read my review.
Joe Harper has backpedaled throughout his life. A once-promising guitar prodigy, he's been living without direction since abandoning his musical dreams. Now into his thirties, having retreated from every opportunity he's had to level up, he has lost his family, his best friend, and his own self-respect.
But Joe finds an unlikely path to redemption when he starts working as a carpenter for the bohemian conceptual artist October Danko. The job returns him to his hometown, loaded with bittersweet reminders of his former life, in the shadows of his beloved redwood trees. As Joe's relationship with October develops, he yearns to take a daring step toward a bold future, but struggles to escape the craven decisions of his past.
- Happily Letter After – By Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward
My love story all started with a letter.
Only it wasn’t from the man I’d eventually fall in love with. It was from his daughter. A sweet little girl named Birdie Maxwell who’d written to the magazine that I worked for.
You see, once a year my employer fulfilled a few wishes for readers. Only that column didn’t start up again for months.
So I fulfilled some of her wishes myself. It was harmless…so I thought. Until one day I took things too far.
While anonymously granting yet another of Birdie’s wishes, I got a look at her father. Her devastatingly handsome, single dad father.
I should have stopped playing fairy godmother then. I should have left well enough alone. But I just couldn’t help myself. I had a connection to this girl. One that had me acting irrationally.
Like when I showed up on their doorstep.
- Snapped – By Alexa Martin
Elliot Reed is living her best life—or pretending to. She owes it to her dad’s memory to be happy and make the most of her new job as Strategic Communications Manager for the Denver Mustangs. Things are going well until star quarterback Quinton Howard Jr. decides to use the field as his stage and takes a knee during the national anthem.
As the son of a former professional athlete, Quinton knows the good, the bad, and the ugly about football. He's worked his entire life to gain recognition in the sport, and now that he has it, he’s not about to waste his chance to change the league for better. Not even the brilliant but infuriating Elliot, who the Mustangs assign to manage him, will get Quinton back in line.
A rocky initial meeting leads to more tension between Quinton and Elliot. But as her new job forces them to spend time together, Elliot realizes they may have more in common than she could've imagined. With her job and his integrity on the line, this is one coin toss that nobody can win.
- The Brightest Night (Origins #3) – By Jennifer L. Armentrout
- Love Song: A Stage Dive Novella (1001 Dark Nights) – By Kylie Scott
There’s always the one that got away. Or kicked you out...
The new darling of rock n’ roll, Adam Dillon, is ready to show his ex-girlfriend, Jill Schwartz, what a mistake she made kicking him to the curb. So maybe he wasn’t the best of boyfriends. Writing great songs and climbing to the top of the charts isn’t easy. Only problem is, he's fast finding out that success isn't everything.
- But I Need You (This Love Hurts Trilogy #2) – By Willow Winters - This series needs to be read in order.
- Brandon (Anderson Billionaires #3) – By Melody Anne
- Torn Apart (Torn and Bound Duet #1) – By K. Webster & Nikki Ash
I’ve spent the past three years in college terrorizing the dean, also known as my father.
I’m everything he hates.
Troublemaker.
Slacker.
Gay.
But I’m only getting started.
I’m about to make Dad really proud with my newest life choices…
- Rogue: A Romantic Suspense – By Blair Babylon
I was a good girl who had nothing left to lose, literally. My ex-boyfriend had stolen everything.
Everything except a non-refundable plane ticket to Paris, which was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime where that deadbeat was supposed to propose at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
So, I got on the plane without him.
After all that, it was understandable that when I started drinking at the Buddha Bar, things got a little out of hand.
Luckily, a man intervened. He was so ripped that I could see every thick muscle of his abs, obliques, chest, and arms through the tight tee shirt he was wearing. He towered over the guys who were bothering me, and they backed off.
I took him back to my hotel because I was full of drunken, bad decisions that night.
The last thing I needed was a man who wanted to save me when I was trying to do all the wrong things.
- Playing with Desire (The Players Club #6) – By Erika Wilde
- Mr. D (Black Mountain Academy) – By Alta Hensley
- Shielding Aspen – By Susan Stoker
Desperate to ditch her ex once and for all, when Aspen Mesmer asks a complete stranger to kiss her, she never expects to feel an immediate connection. Despite already dealing with one soldier she can’t shake, Aspen would be a fool to ignore the intense chemistry she shares with the Delta Force operative. Even better, he shows her the respect few others offer in her male-dominated profession. It’s clear she’ll never have the camaraderie she craves with her own platoon, but maybe…just maybe…she’ll find it with Kane and his team.
Kane “Brain” Temple isn’t the kind of man most women look at twice, so when Aspen makes her interest clear after their impulsive, explosive kiss, he’s thrilled. As a combat medic attached to a Ranger team, Aspen is pretty impressive in her own right. She might be one of the few women who can not only handle Brain’s frequent deployments, but understand exactly how dangerous his missions can be. Bonus: she’s not turned off by his nerdy tendencies. It’s as if Aspen was made just for him.
Her ex disagrees. He’s not handling Aspen’s rejection well, or her deepening relationship with Brain. Being thrown over for a Delta is humiliating, and he’ll do anything to make her regret it.
- Fatal Fraud – By Marie Force - Romantic suspense!
- Only One Chance – By Natasha Madison - Hockey romance!
- Return Billionaire to Sender – By Annika Martin
I may be a shy, lowly letter carrier, but when my beloved apartment building is threatened by a mysterious and reclusive billionaire, I’m willing to push the envelope. I’m going to march right up to Malcolm Blackberg’s fortress of fierceness and deliver a cease-and-desist notice he can’t refuse.
Except as soon as I get inside his gilded doors, things go sideways—I’m mistaken for Malcolm’s court-ordered emotional IQ coach, as if I’m acting out a wacky postal carrier cosplay.
They drag me in, a sacrificial lamb for the big bad. Make that big, smolderingly sexy bad.
So I make up a lesson involving a story about our building. He doesn’t seem happy. Can he tell that I have no idea what I'm doing?
Before I know it I’m flying around the country, up close and personality testing the most devilishly exasperating man I’ve ever met.
He’s scary for sure…but the way he sometimes looks at me turns my knees to jelly, and has me writing love letters to his gorgeous eyes, his mouthwatering smile, his impressive…package.
Our coaching sessions are getting hot-hot-hot, but I can’t let my guard down. If he ever finds out I’m a first-class fake, I’ll lose everything I’ve ever loved in this world!
Releasing Later This Week!
- October 21 – Deviant (Black Mountain Academy) – By Dani René
- October 22 – Forget About Me – By Karen Grey - Romantic comedy!
Happy Reading!
What he's reading!
What she's reading!