Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

We share what books that we found in our mailboxes last week. (the past two weeks)

 

 

Worth Dying For  by Lee Child ~ #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child follows the electrifying 61 Hours with his latest Reacher thriller - a story that hits the ground running and then accelerates all the way to a colossal showdown. There's deadly trouble in the corn country of Nebraska ... and Jack Reacher walks right into it. First he falls foul of a local clan that has terrified an entire county into submission. But it's the unsolved case of a missing child, already decades-old, that Reacher can't let go. The Duncans want Reacher gone - and it's not just past secrets they're trying to hide. They're awaiting a secret shipment that's already late - and they have the kind of customers no one can afford to annoy. For as dangerous as the Duncans are, they're right at the bottom of a criminal food chain stretching halfway around the world. For Reacher, it would have made much more sense to keeping on going, to put some distance between himself and the hardcore trouble that's bearing down on him.For Reacher, that was also impossible.WORTH DYING FOR is the kind of explosive thriller only Lee Child could write and only Jack Reacher could survive - a heart-racing page-turner no suspense fan will want to miss.

 

 Marked By The Moon (Nightcreature) by Lori Handeland (for review) ~ Julian Barlow was once a Viking. Then he watched his brother fall in battle, shouted his fury to the heavens and changed. He became the berserker of legend, a warrior who, in the heat of combat, transforms into a wolf. Centuries later, he's settled into his own Alaskan village full of werewolves; he has a wife he adores. Until Alexandra Trevalyn, werewolf hunter, kills her. Dying is too easy for the woman who murdered his wife, so Julian devises a better way for Alex to suffer. He'll make her just like him.

 

Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here (The Others)  by Christine Warren (for review) ~
Danice Carter is not one for glass slippers. A stilettos-wearing lawyer at one of Manhattan’s most elite establishments, Danice has a very strong grip on reality. So when she’s asked by one the firm’s founding partners to take on a personal case, Danice knows she’s in for the opportunity of a lifetime. All she has to do is convince her top boss’s granddaughter, Rosemary, to file a paternity suit. Sounds simple enough…until Danice arrives at Rosemary’s home and is pounced on by a handsome stranger. Private investigator McIntyre Callahan’s was only following his powerful client’s orders: Find Rosemary—at all costs. Instead, he’s found a super-hot lawyer prowling around looking for answers he can’t give. The half-human, half-Fae Mac tries to warn Danice that she’s way in over her head—that Rosemary may roam among The Others, and may have dangerous ties to the Unseelie Court—but she won’t be deterred. Even if that means following Mac to the ends of the earth to find Rosemary…or surrendering to his supernatural powers of temptation…until death do they part.

 When Harry Met Molly (Impossible Bachelors) by Kieran Kramer (for review) ~ Dashing Lord Harry Traemore is perfectly content to live out his days in the pursuit of pleasure. But when he's named by the Prince regent as one of society's 'Impossible bachelors', Harry is drafted into a ribald romantic wager. The rules of engagement are scandalously simple: the bachelor whose mistress wins the title of 'Most Delectable Companion' gets to remain unmarried. Harry is utterly unconcerned about his status...until his latest lightskirt abandons him. Enter Ladt molly Fairbanks. Harry's childhood friend actually, 'foe' is more like it - is the most unlikely companion of all. She's attractive but hot-headed, and in no mood for games. Besides, what could the self-indulgent harry possible know about what makes a woman delectable? It's time for Molly to teach him a lesson once and for all...but will lead to 2happily ever after?

Sing You Home: A Novel  by Jodi Picout (ARC) ~ Zoe Baxter has spent ten years trying to get pregnant, and after multiple miscarriages and infertility issues, it looks like her dream is about to come true – she is seven months pregnant. But a terrible turn of events leads to a nightmare – one that takes away the baby she has already fallen for; and breaks apart her marriage to Max. In the aftermath, she throws herself into her career as a music therapist – using music clinically to soothe burn victims in a hospital; to help Alzheimer’s patients connect with the present; to provide solace for hospice patients. When Vanessa – a guidance counselor -- asks her to work with a suicidal teen, their relationship moves from business to friendship and then, to Zoe’s surprise, blossoms into love. When Zoe allows herself to start thinking of having a family, again, she remembers that there are still frozen embryos that were never used by herself and Max. Meanwhile, Max has found peace at the bottom of a bottle – until he is redeemed by an evangelical church, whose charismatic pastor – Clive Lincoln – has vowed to fight the “homosexual agenda” that has threatened traditional family values in America. But this mission becomes personal for Max, when Zoe and her same-sex partner say they want permission to raise his unborn child. SING YOU HOME explores what it means to be gay in today’s world, and how reproductive science has outstripped the legal system. Are embryos people or property? What challenges do same-sex couples face when it comes to marriage and adoption? What happens when religion and sexual orientation – two issues that are supposed to be justice-blind – enter the courtroom? And most importantly, what constitutes a “traditional family” in today’s day and age?Also – in a very unique move – readers will get to literally hear Zoe Baxter’s voice. I am collaborating with Ellen Wilber, a dear friend who is also a very talented musician, to create a CD of original songs, which will correspond to each of the chapters. This CD will be packaged with each hardcover book. So – literally – stay tuned! Release date - March 1

Amy Inspired  by Bethany Pierce (for review) ~ Amy Gallagher is an aspiring writer who, after countless rejections, has settled for a career as an English professor in small-town Ohio just to pay the bills. All her dreams suddenly start to unravel as rejections pile up--both from publishers and her boyfriend. But just as Amy fears her life is stuck in a holding pattern, she meets the mysterious, attractive, and unavailable Eli. She struggles to walk the fine line between friendship and something more with Eli, even as staying true to her faith becomes unexpectedly complicated. When secrets, tragedy, and poor decisions cause rifts in Amy's relationships, she must come to terms with who she's become, her unrealized aspirations for her life, and the state of her faith. Can she dare to hope that she will find love and fulfillment despite it all?

 If Walls Could Talk: A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery (Haunted Home Repair Mystery) by Juliet Blackwell (for review) ~ Melanie Turner has made quite a name for herself remodeling historic houses in the San Francisco Bay Area. But now her reputation may be on the line.  At her newest project, a run-down Pacific Heights mansion, Mel is visited by the ghost of a colleague who recently met a bad end with power tools. Mel hopes that by nailing the killer, she can rid herself of the ghostly presence of the murdered man-and not end up a construction casualty herself... Release date - Dec 7th.




One Grave Less: A Diane Fallon Forensic Investigation  by Beverly Connor (for review) ~ Forensic anthropologist Diane Fallon has tried to put the past behind her, establishing herself as head of the River Trail Museum of Natural History. Late one night at the museum, Diane hears terrified cries and finds an injured man-a former coworker from her time as a human rights activist in South America. Left with a body, a bone, and a cryptic message, Diane has to dig back into her past with World Account International, before the next human rights abused are hers... Release date - Dec 7th


Bedeviled Eggs (A Cackleberry Club Mystery)  by Laura Childs (for review) ~ The ladies at the Cackleberry Club café are busy preparing for Halloween. But someone's jumped the gun on the tricks. As mayoral candidate Chuck Peebler leaves the café, he gets struck with a crossbow arrow and is killed instantly. And when another murder occurs on the historical society's Quilt Trail, the Cackleberry Club needs to sniff out the bad egg-before he strikes again. Release date - Dec 7th




 Celebrity Sudoku (A Sudoku Mystery) by Kaye Morgan (for review) ~ Small-town Sudoku expert Liza Kelly flies to Los Angeles to appear on TV. But when a celebrity is found dead, she has a far more serious puzzle to solve. Release date ~ Dec 7th.


The Diva Cooks a Goose (A Domestic Diva Mystery)  by Krista Davis (for review) ~ A Scrooge steals presents right from under Sophie Winston's family Christmas tree. Then her sister-in-law's father show's up with a diva girlfriend just a month after his separation. More than one person is thinking of committing a merry murder-until it actually happens! With many under suspicion for the deadly deed, can Sophie find the murderer and restore the Christmas spirit before it's too late? Release date - Dec 7th.




A Killer Crop (An Orchard Mystery)  by Sheila Connolly (for review) ~ After an English professor-and old friend of her mother-is found dead in a cider house, orchard owner Meg Corey starts to wonder: Could her own mother have committed murder?  Release date - Dec 7th




You Better Knot Die (A Crochet Mystery)  by Betty Hechtman (for review) ~ Her crochet group, The Tarzana Hookers, is working overtime for the holidays-but Molly Pink is having trouble finding time to crochet so much as a snowflake. The bookstore where she works is adding a yarn department, and planning a huge launch party where the mysterious author of a popular series will reveal his or her true identity. But before the author appears, another person disappears. The husband of Molly's neighbor is missing. When a suicide note arrives, it appears the husband has jumped off the Catalina Ferry- but Molly smells something fishy. Despite the protestations of her detective boyfriend, Molly's soon hooked on unraveling another mystery. She better watch out-or her sleuthing may get her on someone's naughty list...

In Office Hours  by Lucy Kellaway (for review) ~ IN OFFICE HOURS is the story of Stella and Bella, two intelligent working women who each fall for impossible lovers--at work. Kellaway's keen observations on the way in which affairs move from state to state are a sort of masterclass in office love, bringing to life both the excitement of illicit romance and the ridiculousness of business behavior and language with a sharp sense of humor. IN OFFICE HOURS is intelligent, funny, moving and agonizing, but it's also so painfully reconizable to any woman who has ever worked in an office or ever been in love. Kellaway hits a real nerve with her depictions of how people come to get into the emotional messes that we do and then how very difficult it is to get out again. Release date - Feb 7th.


The Inner Circle  by Brad Meltzer (for review) ~ There are stories no one knows. Hidden stories. I love those stories. And since I work in the National Archives, I find those stories for a living. Beecher White, a young archivist, spends his days working with the most important documents of the U.S. government. He has always been the keeper of other people's stories, never a part of the story himself... Until now.When Clementine Kaye, Beecher's first childhood crush, shows up at the National Archives asking for his help tracking down her long-lost father, Beecher tries to impress her by showing her the secret vault where the President of the United States privately reviews classified documents. After they accidentally happen upon a priceless artifact - a 200 hundred-year-old dictionary that once belonged to George Washington, hidden underneath a desk chair, Beecher and Clementine find themselves suddenly entangled in a web of deception, conspiracy, and murder. Soon a man is dead, and Beecher is on the run as he races to learn the truth behind this mysterious national treasure. His search will lead him to discover a coded and ingenious puzzle that conceals a disturbing secret from the founding of our nation. It is a secret, Beecher soon discovers, that some believe is worth killing for. Gripping, fast-paced, and filled with the fascinating historical detail for which he is famous, THE INNER CIRCLE is a thrilling novel that once again proves Brad Meltzer as a brilliant author writing at the height of his craft. Release date - Jan 11th

Identity Crisis  by Debbie Mack (for review) ~ IDENTITY CRISIS introduces attorney Stephanie Ann "Sam" McRae. A simple domestic abuse case turns deadly when the alleged abuser is killed and Sam's client disappears. When a friend asks Sam to find Melanie Hayes, the Maryland attorney is drawn into a complex case of murder and identity theft that has her running from the Mob, breaking into a strip club and forming a shaky alliance with an offbeat private investigator to discover the truth about Melanie and her ex-boyfriend.With her career and life on the line, Sam's search takes her from the blue-collar Baltimore suburbs to the mansions of Gibson Island. Along the way, she learns that false identities can hide dark secrets, and those secrets can destroy lives.

The Fall Guy  by Simon Wood (for review) ~ Todd Collins has failed in every job he's ever undertaken, but that all changes when he backs his jalopy in a shiny, new Porsche belonging to a drug dealer. When the police stop the drug dealer for a broken taillight that Todd has caused and discover a cocaine shipment, a West Coast kingpin holds Todd responsible. On the run from organized crime, Todd discovers his true calling.


No Evidence of a Crime by S. Connell Vondrak (for review) ~ As Washington, D.C. detectives investigate the murder of a beautiful, young congressional aide shot dead near the Capital Mall, subtle discrepancies with the evidence show up. The murder weapon is identified as a Glock, but an eyewitness places the shooter too far away to have used a handgun. The slain woman was a player in high-stakes D.C. politics, yet DNA results reveal she was pregnant and the baby's father was a gang member. The detectives bring in a forensic scientist to retest the samples, and determine someone at the crime laboratory is altering evidence. Detectives Jarrod and Jackson must find out who is tampering with the facts...and why.

The End of Marking Time  by C.J. West (for review) ~ Gifted housebreaker, Michael O'Connor, awakens inside an ultramodern criminal justice system where prison walls are replaced by surveillance equipment and a host of actors hired to determine if he is worthy of freedom. While he was sleeping, the Supreme Court declared long term incarceration to be cruel and unusual punishment and ordered two million felons released. The result was utter chaos and the backlash from law-abiding citizens and police departments reshaped the United States. Felons now enter reeducation programs where they live freely among the population. At least that's what they think. In reality they are enslaved to an army of counselors and a black box that teaches them everything they failed to learn from kindergarten through adulthood. Michael believes he's being tested by the black box, but what he slowly begins to realize is that everything he does is evaluated to determine whether he lives or dies.

A Secret in Salem  by Sheri Anderson (for review) ~ Marlena & John have never been so close, and yet so far apart..Marlena's love, John, has been paralyzed for two years, and she is becoming desperate. Although her love for him has never waned, she must find a cure before they drift too far apart as man and wife. But John's illness may not be all that it seems, and the truth could tear them apart forever. On the winding roads leading to Monte Carlo...
Charlotte Gaines, daughter of one of the world's richest men and one of the hottest fashion designers, discovers a hidden truth about her family that she never suspected. It sets her on a quest that will uncover long-buried secrets, hidden passions, and dangerous mysteries...all leading to a city called Salem, and a revelation that will change all of their lives forever.