Book Giveaway - Swimsuit by James Patterson

Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (ARC) ~ Syd, a breathtakingly beautiful supermodel on a photo shoot in Hawaii, disappears. Fearing the worst, her parents travel to Hawaii to investigate for themselves, never expecting the horror that awaits them.

LA Times reporter Ben Hawkins is conducting his own research into the case, hoping to help the victim and get an idea for his next bestseller. With no leads and no closer to uncovering the kidnapper's identity than when he stepped off the plane, Ben gets a shocking visit that pushes him into an impossible-to-resist deal with the devil.

A heart-pounding story of fear and desire, SWIMSUIT transports readers to a chilling new territory where the collision of beauty and murder transforms paradise into a hell of unspeakable horrors. (Release date ~ June 29th).

Here's how to enter ~

• U.S. addresses only please
  
• Leave a comment here with your email address or PBS ID (I need to have a way to get in touch with you!)
• Follow my blog (on lower right sidebar) ~ get an extra entry
• Rate my blog (on left sidebar)~ get an extra entry
• Blog about it ~ get an extra entry

Thank you to the wonderful people at Hatchett books that are allowing me to give away 3 copies of Swimsuit. You guys rock!



Contest open through July 10th. Winner will be announced on July 11th. (US addresses only ~ no PO boxes please.)

Dixie Divas by Virginia Brown

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"You found my philandering ex-husband?" Bitty asked. "Where? Mexico? Paris? In Tupelo with a cocktail waitress?" "In your closet," I answered. "Dead." Break out the hoop skirts and the zinfandel. The Divas are on the case. Wine. Chocolate. Transvestite strippers. Just another good-time get-together for the Dixie Divas of historic Holly Springs, Mississippi, where moonlight and magnolias mingle with delicious smalltown scandal. But Eureka "Trinket" Truevine, the newest Diva, gets more than she bargained for when she finds her best Diva girlfriend Bitty Hollandale's ex-husband in Bitty's hall closet. He's dead. Very dead. Now Trinket and the Divas have to help Bitty finger the murderer and clear her name. (From Amazon)

Teaser Tuesday

It’s that time of week again, everyone, and time for the Tuesday Teaser.Again the reminder of what this is all about. We are asked to:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Let the book fall open to a random page.
3. Share two teaser sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
4. Share the title of the book that the “teaser” comes from, so people can find the book if they like the teaser.
5. And again remember – avoid spoilers.

Here's mine ~

Within what seemed like hours but was probably only fifteen minutes, I'd had my police interview, answered the few questions allowed by my attorney, and was in the muddy red truck cab next to Jackson Lee Brunetti. I decided the cow manure smell wasn't that bad at all.

This teaser comes from Dixie Divas by Virginia Brown. What's YOUR teaser?

June Books Read

• Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson
• Crush by Alan Jacobson
• Drawn in Blood by Andrea Kane
• Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain
• Fear the Worse by Linwood Barclay
• Henry's Sisters by Cathy Lamb
• I Am So Happy For You by Lucina Rosenfeld
• I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
• Murder on Waverly Place by Victoria Thompson
• Sucker Punch by Sammi Carter
• The Diva Takes The Cake by Krista Davis
• The Perfect Couple by Brenda Novak
  

New Food Fiction Contest

The new Food Fiction Newsletter is out and it's FANTASTIC! Jessica & Michelle did a great job this month! Make sure to check their sites so that you can sign up! You don't want to miss another month! Jessica & Michele.

And now for this months AWESOME giveaways ~

Wow, another great contest from our generous guest authors!
One contest, four prizes! This month Krista is giving away signed
copies of The Diva Runs out of Thyme and The Diva Takes the
Cake, and Rosemary Harris is giving away a signed copy of The
Big Dirt Nap and a garden goodie bag!



To enter: Send us an E-MAIL by July 1st with the subject line
JUNE CONTEST and tell us about your favorite summer dessert. We want to hear what you like! Recipes are welcome!

As usual, the grand prize winner will be chosen at random, but
Michele and Jess love a good salad and might dole out a few bonus
prizes...(we both ran out of books to give as bonuses this month,
but we'll get our hands on more copies soon!)

RULES: One entry per person and U.S. mailing addresses only,
please. Please include your mailing add.ress so we can send you
your prize! You will be signed up for our guest authors' newsletter
(if any) and the the Food Fiction newsletter, if not already. (You
can always opt out!) By entering the contest, you give us permission to post your
first name, last initial, and state if you are a winner. We may also post your recipe
in our newsletter or the Food Fiction site (crediting you, of course!) if you are a winner.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week.

Here's what I got ~


Killer Sudoku (A Sudoku Mystery) by Kaye Morgan~ (PBS) Liza is looking forward to the West Coast Sudoku Summit. But from the onset, contestants are being eliminated one by one, and not in the way that she planned—they’re dropping dead. With more at stake here than just prize money, Liza must figure out the murderer’s pattern, or she’ll be the next one down.

Crush by Alan Jacobson (ARC) ~ Fresh off the most challenging case of her career, The 7th Victim heroine and renowned FBI profiler Karen Vail finds herself ordered to take some time off after a controversial shooting incident. In no position to argue, she travels with her new beau, Detective Robby Hernandez, to the Napa Valley for a week of wine-tasting and sightseeing. But shortly after arriving, a victim is discovered at a high-end winery, in the deepest reaches of their exclusive wine cave. The murder has all the telltale signs of a serial killer, virtually unheard of in wine country. Vail offers her skills in evaluating the crime, but the local police, led by Detective Redmond Brix, are resistant to her involvement. Their thinking soon changes, however, when a second, brutally murdered victim is unearthed. When Vail is named to the Napa County Major Crimes Task Force, she soon learns she got more than she bargained for. As Vail and her task force colleague, Roxxann Dixon, peel back the investigative onion, clues lead them to a decades-long history of feuding wine families, secretive organizations, and underhanded deals that may hold answers to what they are seeking.Crush is impressively researched, with the same attention to detail as The 7th Victim. National bestselling author Alan Jacobson once again delivers a suspenseful high-velocity thriller.

New Tricks by David Rosenfelt ~ (ARC for review) In Rosenfelt's excellent seventh legal thriller to feature Paterson, N.J., defense attorney Andy Carpenter (after Play Dead), Andy takes on another canine client—Waggy, a Bernese mountain puppy, who's somehow connected to the murder of Walter Timmerman, a semi-titan in the pharmaceutical industry. Andy represents the dog in a custody battle between Diana, Walter's widow, and her stepson, Steven, who's a suspect in his father's shooting. Shortly after Andy picks up Waggy from Diana, she dies in a bomb explosion at her house. When Steven's arrested for Diana's murder, Andy agrees to represent him. After Andy's police chief girlfriend, Laurie Collins, who's visiting from Wisconsin, is shot and wounded while playing with Waggy and Tara, Andy's golden retriever, Andy realizes Waggy was the real target. Rosenfelt injects this clever installment with courtroom twists, a peek into some scary DNA research and a romantic surprise

Eleventh Victim, The by Nancy Grace ~ (ARC) As a young psychology student, Hailey Dean's world explodes when Will, her fiancé, is murdered just weeks before their wedding. Reeling, she fights back the only way she knows how: In court, prosecuting violent crime...putting away the bad guys one rapist, doper, and killer at a time. But dedicating her life to justice takes a toll after years of courtroom battles and the endless tide of victims calling out from crime scene photos and autopsy tables. Just as she grows truly weary, a serial killer unlike any other she's encountered begins to stalk the city of Atlanta, targeting young prostitutes, each horrific murder bearing his own unique mark. This courtroom battle will be her last.Hailey heads for Manhattan to pick up the pieces of the life she had before Will's murder, training as a therapist. In a vibrant new world, she finally leaves her ghosts behind. But then her own clients are brutally murdered one by one by a copycat using the same M.O. as the Atlanta killer she hunted down years before. As the body count rises across Manhattan, Hailey is forced to match wits not only against a killer, but the famed NYPD.Unless she returns to her former life and solves the case, still more innocent people will die at the hands of a killer who plans to get her, before she can get him!

A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick ~ It's a long way from Fort Worth, Texas, to New Bern, Connecticut, yet it only takes a day in the charming Yankee town to make Evelyn Dixon realise she's found her new home. The abrupt end of her marriage was Evelyn's wake-up call to get busy chasing her dream of opening a quilt shop. Finding a store front is easy enough; starting a new life isn't. Little does Evelyn imagine it will bring a trio like Abigail Burgess, her niece Liza, and Margot Matthews through her door.Troubled and angry after her mother's death, Liza threatens to embarrass her Aunt Abigail all over town unless she joins her for quilting classes. A victim of downsizing at the peak of her career, Margot hopes an event hosted by the quilt shop could be a great chance to network - and keep from dying of boredom...As they stitch their unique creations, Evelyn, Abigail, Liza, and Margot form a sisterhood they never sought - but one that they'll be grateful for when the unexpected provides a poignant reminder of the single thread that binds us all...

Crank by Ellen Hopkins ~ Ellen Hopkins's semi-autobiographical verse novel, Crank, reads like a Go Ask Alice for the 21st century. In it, she chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, a character based on her own daughter, and the "monster," the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or "crank." Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne'er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree: "there is no perfect daughter, / no gifted high school junior, / no Kristina Georgia Snow. / There is only Bree." Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won't, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank. Soon, her grades plummet, her relationships with family and friends deteriorate, and she needs more and more of the monster just to get through the day. Kristina hits her lowest point when she is raped by one of her drug dealers and becomes pregnant as a result. Her decision to keep the baby slows her drug use, but doesn't stop it, and the author leaves the reader with the distinct impression that Kristina/Bree may never be free from her addiction. In the author's note, Hopkins warns "nothing in this story is impossible," but when Kristina's controlled, high-powered mother allows her teenage daughter to visit her biological father (a nearly homeless known drug user), the story feels unbelievable. Still, the descriptions of crystal meth use and its consequences are powerful, and will horrify and transfix older teenage readers, just as Alice did over 20 years ago.

Dixie Divas by Virginia Brown ~ "You found my philandering ex-husband?" Bitty asked. "Where? Mexico? Paris? In Tupelo with a cocktail waitress?" "In your closet," I answered. "Dead." Break out the hoop skirts and the zinfandel. The Divas are on the case. Wine. Chocolate. Transvestite strippers. Just another good-time get-together for the Dixie Divas of historic Holly Springs, Mississippi, where moonlight and magnolias mingle with delicious smalltown scandal. But Eureka "Trinket" Truevine, the newest Diva, gets more than she bargained for when she finds her best Diva girlfriend Bitty Hollandale's ex-husband in Bitty's hall closet. He's dead. Very dead. Now Trinket and the Divas have to help Bitty finger the murderer and clear her name.

Glass by Ellen Hopkins ~ Grade 9 Up—Kristina Snow was a 17-year-old with high grades and a loving family. In Crank (S & S, 2004), one summer in California with a meth-addicted boyfriend destroys her life. Addicted, she's raped, and goes back home to Reno pregnant. Glass picks up a year later. She lives with her mother and works at a 7–11. Depressed about her post-baby figure, she goes back on speed to lose weight. Her mother kicks her out and gains custody of the baby. She continues to spiral to the last page, which sets readers up for a third novel. Glass is even more terrifying than Crank in its utter hopelessness; meth's power is permanent and Kristina is an addict whether she uses or not. Though her recount of events in the first book is dry and self-indulgent, the pace snowballs as soon as she takes her first toke of rock meth, and one desperate, horrifying measure or decision follows another. Like Crank, this title is written in verse, but certainly not poetry. Hopkins's writing is smooth and incisive, but her fondness for seemingly random forms is distracting and adds little to the power of the narrative. Minor characters are flat, and Kristina's overblown self-pity elicits little empathy. The author tries but fails to present meth itself as a character; her descriptions of "the monster" are precious and overwritten. Kristina's story is terrible, and even when she's high, the narrative voice and mood are sobering.

Mama Rides Shotgun: A Mace Bauer Mystery (Mace Bauer Mysteries) by Deborah Sharp ~ Mama Rosalee and middle daughter Mace are on the Florida Cracker Trail for the annual six-day commemorative horse ride across the state. The idea is for them to have some bonding time before Rosalee marries her fifth husband. Mama also hopes to do a little matchmaking for independent Mace. Both ladies are having a great time before an old rancher boyfriend of Mama’s dies of an apparent heart attack while preparing his Cow Hunter Chili for the trail riders. Mace is suspicious, while everyone else seems resigned to the death. After Mace’s tent is ripped open with a knife, and her horse runs straight onto a busy highway after being flicked with a cow whip, Mace’s sisters and former beau, detective Carlos, decide to join the ride to help protect Mace, who may have figured out something someone doesn’t want her to know. Sharp writes a funny mystery without resorting to stereotypical one-note characters. Furthermore, her descriptions of a part of Florida most of us know little about add to the appeal of this entertaining mystery.

sTORI Telling by Tori Spelling ~ She was television's most famous virgin--and, as Aaron Spelling's daughter, arguably its most famous case of nepotism. Portraying Donna Martin on Beverly Hills, 90210, Tori Spelling became one of the most recognizable young actresses of her generation, with a not-so-private personal life every bit as fascinating as her character's exploits. Yet years later the name Tori Spelling too often closed--and sometimes slammed--the same doors it had opened. sTORI Telling is Tori's chance to finally tell her side of the tabloid-worthy life she's led, and she talks about it all: her decadent childhood birthday parties, her nose job, her fairy-tale wedding to the wrong man, her so-called feud with her mother. Tori has already revealed her flair for brilliant, self-effacing satire on her VH1 show So NoTORIous and Oxygen's Tori & Dean: Inn Love, but her memoir goes deeper, into the real life behind the rumors: her complicated relationship with her parents; her struggles as an actress after 90210; her accident-prone love life; and, ultimately, her quest to define herself on her own terms. From her over-the-top first wedding to finding new love to her much-publicized--and misunderstood--"disinheritance," sTORI Telling is a juicy, eye-opening, enthralling look at what it really means to be Tori Spelling.

The Perfect Couple (Last Stand) by Brenda Novak (ARC) ~ One afternoon in May, Zoe Duncan's thirteen-year-old daughter goes missing from her own backyard. The police think Samantha ran away because she's unhappy about her mother's upcoming marriage—but Zoe doesn't believe it. In fact, she's willing to do anything to bring Sam home, even if it means losing her job, her beautiful home, her fiancé. Even if it means divulging all her secrets to a private investigator. Jonathan Stivers is a P.I. who donates his time to The Last Stand, a victims' charity in Sacramento. He's good at what he does, the best. But never has he had fewer leads to work with—or been more attracted to a client. Jonathan's sure of only one thing: Sam was taken by someone close to the family. He doesn't know how close until he realizes that the "perfect" couple next door is anything but….

The Perfect Couple by Brenda Novak (ARC)

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One afternoon in May, Zoe Duncan's thirteen-year-old daughter goes missing from her own backyard. The police think Samantha ran away because she's unhappy about her mother's upcoming marriage—but Zoe doesn't believe it. In fact, she's willing to do anything to bring Sam home, even if it means losing her job, her beautiful home, her fiancé. Even if it means divulging all her secrets to a private investigator.Jonathan Stivers is a P.I. who donates his time to The Last Stand, a victims' charity in Sacramento. He's good at what he does, the best. But never has he had fewer leads to work with—or been more attracted to a client. Jonathan's sure of only one thing: Sam was taken by someone close to the family. He doesn't know how close until he realizes that the "perfect" couple next door is anything but…. (From Amazon)

Check back for my review

Release date: August 1st

Giveaway~ Your Home Library: Book Collection Software

Your Home Library: The Complete System for Organizing, Locating, Referencing, and Maintaining Your Book Collection by Kathie Coblentz

For the general book lover, someone whose ardor for the printed word has led to stacks of yet-to-be-read volumes on floors and other surfaces, here's a great, enjoyable way to keep track of them all. This comprehensive kit draws upon the expertise of one of the world's greatest libraries, the only facility of its kind with both world-class research and circulating collections. It includes a CD containing custom software to organize and record your book collection by title, author, subject, location on your bookshelf, and numerous additional useful categories. Also included are beautiful bookplates, an instruction manual, and an instructive volume on creating and organizing home libraries, written by an experience librarian. The 96-page book celebrates the myriad of joys of being a book lover, and addresses such issues as evaluating and organizing a collection, and keeping it in place with bookends and shelves; caring for books, and the art of loaning books that are actually returned.

Here's how to enter ~

• U.S. addresses only please
  
• Leave a comment here with your email address or PBS ID (I need to have a way to get in touch with you!)
• Follow my blog (on lower right sidebar) ~ get an extra entry
• Rate my blog (on left sidebar)~ get an extra entry
• Blog about it ~ get an extra entry

Contest open through July 24th. The winner will be announced on July 25th.

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. She had a great head on her shoulders.

2. Time is by my side, always.

3. I know this: I'm sick and tired of the rain.

4. It's raining still.

5. These words apply to me: giving, considerate, patient,sucker.

6. I can't remember the last time the sun was shining.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to the market and hopefully sleeping, tomorrow my plans include taking Sadie to the groomer, reading and relaxing and Sunday, I want to read and sleep.

Book GIveaway - Prime Time by Hank Phillipi Ryan (Autographed)

Prime Time (Charlotte McNally Mysteries) by Hank Phillippi Ryan ~

In the cutthroat world of television journalism, seasoned reporter Charlotte McNally knows that she'd better pull out all the stops or kiss her job goodbye. But it's her life that might be on the line when she learns that an innocent-looking e-mail offer resulted in murder, mayhem and a multimillion-dollar fraud ring.All too soon her investigation leads her straight to Josh Gelston, who is a little too helpful and a lot too handsome. Charlie might have a nose for news, but men are a whole other matter. Now she has to decide whether she can trust Josh…before she ends up as the next lead story.

Here's how to enter ~

• U.S. addresses only please
  
• Leave a comment here with your email address or PBS ID (I need to have a way to get in touch with you!)
• Follow my blog (on lower right sidebar) ~ get an extra entry
• Rate my blog (on left sidebar)~ get an extra entry
• Blog about it ~ get an extra entry

Contest open through July 2nd. The winner will be announced on July 3rd.

Waiting on Wednesday

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My choice for this week is ~

In bestseller Kellerman's solid 18th novel to feature L.A. police detective Lt. Peter Decker and his wife, Rina (after The Mercedes Coffin), Rina finds that some jury duty should include hazardous duty pay. A shooting rampage at the 70-acre compound and mansion owned by shopping mall magnate Guy Kaffey leaves Kaffey, his wife and two guards dead. Kaffey's oldest son, Gil, apparently was left for dead and two other guards are missing. A plethora of suspects and motives has Decker and his colleagues looking at Guy's brother, Mace, and Guy's younger son, Grant, as well as the missing guards, other household staff, the remaining off-duty staff and possibly business rivals. Decker's cool professionalism is thoroughly tested when a chance courtroom encounter thrusts Rina into the case and puts her in harm's way. Kellerman expertly keeps interlocking investigations moving along with a minimum of confusion but plenty of doubt as to the guilty party or parties.

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (August 11, 2009)
• ISBN-10: 0061702323/978-0061702327
• On Sale: August 11th
• Amazon price: $17.15
  

Book GIveaway - A Fatal Appraisal by J.B. Stanley - WINNER

Congratulations

CherylS22

I've sent her an email requesting her address. If I don't hear back from her in 48 hrs, I'll pick a new winner. Thank you to everyone who has entered.

Crush by Alan Jacobson

Crush by Alan Jacobson

Fresh off the most challenging case of her career, The 7th Victim heroine and renowned FBI profiler Karen Vail finds herself ordered to take some time off after a controversial shooting incident. In no position to argue, she travels with her new beau, Detective Robby Hernandez, to the Napa Valley for a week of wine-tasting and sightseeing.

But shortly after arriving, a victim is discovered at a high-end winery, in the deepest reaches of their exclusive wine cave. The murder has all the telltale signs of a serial killer, virtually unheard of in wine country. Vail offers her skills in evaluating the crime, but the local police, led by Detective Redmond Brix, are resistant to her involvement. Their thinking soon changes, however, when a second, brutally murdered victim is unearthed.

When Vail is named to the Napa County Major Crimes Task Force, she soon learns she got more than she bargained for.

As Vail and her task force colleague, Roxxann Dixon, peel back the investigative onion, clues lead them to a decades-long history of feuding wine families, secretive organizations, and underhanded deals that may hold answers to what they are seeking. (From Amazon)

Check back for my review

Release date: Sept 22nd

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week.

Here's what I got ~

Summer House: A Novel by Nancy Thayer ~ (For Review) After years of wandering from whim to whim, thirty-year-old Charlotte Wheelwright seems to have at last found her niche. The free spirit enjoys running an organic gardening business on the island of Nantucket, thanks in large part to her spry grandmother Nona, who donated a portion of land on the family’s seaside compound to get Charlotte started. Though Charlotte’s skill with plants is bringing her success, cultivating something deeper with people—particularly her handsome neighbor Coop—might be more of a challenge.Nona’s generosity to Charlotte, secretly her favorite grandchild, doesn’t sit well with the rest of the Wheelwright clan, however, as they worry that Charlotte may be positioning herself to inherit the entire estate. With summer upon them, everyone is making their annual pilgrimage to the homestead—some with hopes of thwarting Charlotte’s dreams, others in anticipation of Nona’s latest pronouncements at the annual family meeting, and still others with surprising news of their own. Charlotte’s mother, Helen, a Wheelwright by marriage, brings a heavy heart. She once set aside her own ambitions to fit in with the Wheelwrights, but now she must confront a betrayal that threatens both her sense of place and her sense of self. As summer progresses, these three women—Charlotte, Nona, and Helen—come to terms with the decisions they have made. Revisiting the lives and loves that have crossed their paths and the possibilities of the roads not taken, they may just discover that what they’ve always sought was right in front of them all along.

Dismantled: A Novel by Jennifer Mcmahon ~ “Dismantlement equals freedom.” “To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart.” These are the credos of the Compassionate Dismantlers, a subversive clique of art majors in a Vermont college spearheaded by a sexy and diabolical prankster. Suz purports to be an eco-saboteur, but jealousy and revenge are her primary motives. How strangely bewitched her followers are, how dangerous their actions become, and how wretchedly things go wrong. Nine years after the outlaw group’s catastrophic demise, survivors Henry and Tess live isolated in the countryside, harboring a ruinous secret. Now it seems that the time of reckoning is at hand. As their sweet, preternatural nine-year-old daughter, Emma, grows increasingly, even maniacally devoted to her imaginary friend, inexplicable messages appear, crucial objects disappear, and someone is watching, if not stalking the increasingly freaked-out family. Are the Dismantlers reassembling?

KnockOut: An FBI Thriller (FBI Thrillers) by Catherine Coulter ~ Seven-year-old Autumn Backman has a gift: She can communicate telepathically with others. Not everyone, mind you, but with a select few with whom she shares a special kinship. When Autumn and her mother, Joanna, take her father’s ashes to be buried in the family plot in Brickers Bowl, Georgia, the child witnesses a horrifying sight: her grandmother and two uncles, burying a pile of dead bodies in the middle of the night. They head to Titusville, Virginia, to seek the help of an old family friend, but Autumn senses they need assistance on a grand scale. Using her telepathic powers, Autumn calls a man she’d seen only on television: FBI agent Dillon Savich. But before Savich and his wife and partner, Agent Lacey Sherlock, can get on the scene, Autumn and Joanna flee, fearing the retribution of her uncle Blessed. A huge manhunt ensues, with Titusville Sheriff Ethan Merriweather racing to reach the girl before Blessed can get his hands on her. Blessed’s got big things planned for Autumn and her gift, and he’ll stop at nothing to force her into his growing army of exploited children. Savich, Sherlock, and Merriweather face their most elusive foes to keep Autumn out of harm’s way—before it’s too late.

Miss Zukas in Death's Shadow by Jo Dereske ~ With an audit going on at Bellehaven's Public Library, it couldn't be a worse time for librarian Helma Zukas to be serving a sentence of fifty hours of community service. But Miss Zukas stubbornly refused to pay what she thought to be an unjust traffic fine and now she's doing time at the Promise Mission for Homeless Men--ladling soup and clearing tables for a motley group of ungrateful down-and-outers. When Helma discovers there's a rash of thefts going on at the mission, she's appalled. Add to that, the unannounced visit of a high school flame who intends to win her hand, and Helma's ready to run to the auditors for relief. But none of that can compare to the shock when, during the first night of her service, a body is found just outside the mission's back door. Suddenly in the wake of a heartless homicide, Helma becomes one of the suspects, and her fifty hours of service are looming like a life sentance. Fortunately for the otherwise law-abiding librarian, her gaudy, bawdy good friend Ruth is close at hand to help her solve the case...before she ends up doing hard time in a much worse place than the mission house.

Secrets of a Shoe Addict by Beth Harbison ~ Harbison's witty, fast-paced follow-up to last year's Shoe Addicts Anonymous chronicles the foibles of four women brought together by—in this case—not shoes but debt. During a fateful trip to Las Vegas as chaperones of a school band trip, Loreen Murphy accidentally hires a male prostitute on the PTA credit card; pastor's-wife-with-a-past Abbey Walsh gets blackmailed by an ex-con ex-boyfriend; and usually restrained PTA president Tiffany Dreyer purchases thousands of dollars worth of clothes that she can't return. Enter the zaftig Sandra Vanderslice, who, before she started her shoe-importing business, made a living as a phone sex operator. She suggests her sister, Tiffany, hop on that gravy train to pay down her credit card bills. Loreen and Abbey join up, and soon the ladies are raking in dough and trying to hide their new source of income from husbands, kids and their snoopy nemesis, the cartoonishly judgmental Deb Leventer, who wants to take over the PTA. Harbison's writing is zingy and funny, and her light touch allows her to get away with the ridiculous situations in this nutty beach read.

Prime Time (Charlotte McNally Mysteries) by Hank Phillippi Ryan ~(Autographed for blog giveaway) In the cutthroat world of television journalism, seasoned reporter Charlotte McNally knows that she'd better pull out all the stops or kiss her job goodbye. But it's her life that might be on the line when she learns that an innocent-looking e-mail offer resulted in murder, mayhem and a multimillion-dollar fraud ring.All too soon her investigation leads her straight to Josh Gelston, who is a little too helpful and a lot too handsome. Charlie might have a nose for news, but men are a whole other matter. Now she has to decide whether she can trust Josh…before she ends up as the next lead story.

Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain (ARC) ~ Chelsea Cain’s novels featuring Portland detective Archie Sheridan and serial killer Gretchen Lowell have captivated fans through two nail-biting entries, Heartsick and Sweetheart, both of them multiweek bestsellers in The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly. Gretchen Lowell is still on the loose. These days, she’s more of a cause célèbre than a feared killer, thanks to sensationalist news coverage that has made her a star. Her face graces magazine covers weekly and there have been sightings of her around the world. Most shocking of all, Portland Herald reporter Susan Ward has uncovered a bizarre kind of fan club, which celebrates the number of days she’s been free. Archie Sheridan hunted her for a decade, and after his last ploy to catch her went spectacularly wrong, remains hospitalized months later. When they last spoke, they entered a détente of sorts---Archie agreed not to kill himself if she agreed not to kill anyone else. But when a new body is found accompanied by Gretchen’s trademark heart, all bets are off and Archie is forced back into action. Has the Beauty Killer returned to her gruesome ways, or has the cult surrounding her created a whole new evil?

I'm So Happy For You by Lucinda Rosenfeld (ARC)

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What if your best friend, whom you've always counted on to flounder in life and love (making your own modest accomplishments look not so bad), suddenly starts to surpass you in every way?

Wendy's best friend, Daphne, has always been dependably prone to catastrophe. And Wendy has always been there to help. If Daphne veers from suicidal to madly in love, Wendy offers encouragement. But when Daphne is suddenly engaged, pregnant, and decorating a fabulous town house in no time at all, Wendy is...not so happy for her. Caught between wanting to be the best friend she prides herself on being and crippling jealousy of flighty Daphne, Wendy takes things to the extreme, waging a full-scale attack on her best friend-all the while wearing her best, I'm-so-happy-for-you smile-and ends up in way over her head. (From Amazon)

Check back for my review

Release date: July 29th

Evil At Heart by Chelsea Cain

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Gretchen Lowell is still on the loose. These days, she’s more of a cause célèbre than a feared killer, thanks to sensationalist news coverage that has made her a star. Her face graces magazine covers weekly and there have been sightings of her around the world. Most shocking of all, Portland Herald reporter Susan Ward has uncovered a bizarre kind of fan club, which celebrates the number of days she’s been free.

Archie Sheridan hunted her for a decade, and after his last ploy to catch her went spectacularly wrong, remains hospitalized months later. When they last spoke, they entered a détente of sorts---Archie agreed not to kill himself if she agreed not to kill anyone else. But when a new body is found accompanied by Gretchen’s trademark heart, all bets are off and Archie is forced back into action. Has the Beauty Killer returned to her gruesome ways, or has the cult surrounding her created a whole new evil? (From Amazon)

Check back for my review

Release date: September 1st.

Henry's Sisters by Cathy Lamb

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Ever since the Bommarito sisters were little girls, their mother, River, has written them a letter on pink paper when she has something especially important to impart. And this time, the message is urgent and impossible to ignore—River requires open-heart surgery, and Isabelle and her sisters are needed at home to run the family bakery and take care of their brother and ailing grandmother.

Isabelle has worked hard to leave Trillium River, Oregon, behind as she travels the globe taking award-winning photographs. It's not that Isabelle hates her family. On the contrary, she and her sisters Cecilia, an outspoken kindergarten teacher, and Janie, a bestselling author, share a deep, loving bond. And all of them adore their brother, Henry, whose disabilities haven't stopped him from helping out at the bakery and bringing good cheer to everyone in town.

But going home again has a way of forcing open the secrets and hurts that the Bommaritos would rather keep tightly closed—Isabelle's fleeting and too-frequent relationships, Janie's obsessive compulsive disorder, and Cecilia's self-destructive streak and grief over her husband's death. Working together to look after Henry and save their flagging bakery, Isabelle and her sisters begin to find answers to questions they never knew existed, unexpected ways to salve the wounds of their childhoods, and the courage to grasp surprising new chances at happiness.

Poignant, funny, and as irresistible as one of the Bommarito sisters' delicious giant cupcakes, Henry's Sisters is a novel about family and forgiveness, about mothers and daughters, and about gaining the wisdom to look ahead while still holding tight to everything that matters most. (From B&N)

My Review

Even though the Bommarito sister's, Isabelle, Janie and Cecelia are close emotionally, they've all moved away from Trillium River, except for Cecelia. That is until they receive one of their mothers infamous pink notes beckoning them home. She's having surgery and needs the girls to come home and take care of their grandmother and mentally challenged brother, as well as run the family bakery. Each sister has her reasons for not wanting to return home. But the one reason they all have in common is the very reason they are asked to return - their mother River. River is, well, a bitch. She is cruel and mean and spiteful. No one wants to be around her. But the women all realize that while they may not want to help their mother, their brother and grandmother need them.

Isabelle (Cecelia's fraternal twin) lives a lonely, dark, depressing, self destructive lifestyle. Well known for her award winning photographs, she doesn't let anyone "in". Living a life full of traveling to third world countries, drinking Kahlua for breakfast, and hanging out her loft window naked (who cares if the people in the other building can see), she is afraid to commit and spends her nights with one night stands. One of which may just might get her killed.

Janie is a famous mystery author who leads a life alone on her houseboat. She hates going out and will only do so when necessary. She also has OCD and her rituals are very important to her. When Isabelle comes to discuss the pink letter from their mother, she forces her to walk out and come back in because she did not have a smile on her face when she came in the first time. Sweet, loving, quiet Janie spends her day thinking of the most gruesome ways in which to kill people in her books. Ideas that fill her head day and night. Janie is afraid that if she returns home to the harshness of her mothers tongue she will further retreat into her self as opposed to the centered calm self she is while on her houseboat. And what happens when poor frumpy Janie faces the potential of falling in love?

Cecelia is a bitter, harsh kindergarten teacher who has remained close to the family home to help care for her family. She also is not even close to being afraid of speaking her mind. Often hitting below the belt with the venom she spews. She's extremely overweight as she continually shoves food in her mouth to compensate for the hurt she is feeling. The hurt from a father that left them when they were young, and the hurt of a ass of a husband who is cheating on her with a bimbo. She also has two beautiful daughters. One who spends each month "trying on" different religions, and one who is so unsure of her self, pulls her hair out a strand at a time.

Henry is beautiful. While he is mentally challenged, he doesn't have a care in the world. He loves the work he does at the bakery, the shelter and the church. He is the light of his sisters lives. They will, and have, fought for him. Both physically and emotionally. There is nothing they wouldn't do for them.

The Bommarito sisters, along with their brother Henry, had harsh childhoods. From their Vietnam vet father leaving them to their mother struggling to keep them in food by stripping, that is when she wasn't in bed with her depression. The girls ended up helping keep the family afloat by baking during these times. Although it was just never enough. Several times they were placed in foster care, providing them the first sense of stability they've had in a long time while at the same time causing one of them an extreme amount of pain.

Will coming home to Trillium River be the wake up call that this family needs? Will they be able to finally deal with the trauma's of their lives and finally find peace and happiness? Will they once and for all get the answers that they've unknowingly been searching for? But just when things seem as if they are finally turning around they get the most crushing, heart breaking news they could ever get. They are faced with something that they are not willing to deal with and could very well destroy any of the progress that they've made. It is now time for them to put everything else aside and come together as a family.

A beautifully written tale of one families struggles and triumphs. Of how they overcome adversity and figure out a way to move on with their lives. Of how to love and trust again. Of forgiveness and family. Full of laugh out loud moments and heartbreaking scenes, scenes that will have you crying as you read them, Henry's Sisters is one story that you will regret not reading.

Release date: July 21, 2009