Mark Your Calendar

Check out all these great, upcoming books I found.  Add them to your wish list and/or pre-order them NOW!

Sleight of Paw: A Magical Cats Mystery by Sophie Kellly (Sept 6th)

 Thread Reckoning: An Embroidery Mystery by Amanda Lee (Sept 6th)

Quickstep to Murder: A Ballroom Dance Mystery by Ella Barrick (Sept 6th)

The Diva Haunts the House (A Domestic Diva Mystery) by Krista Davis

(Sept 6th)

Death in a Difficult Position (A Mantra for Murder Mystery) by Diana Killlian (Sept 6th)

Skeleton Letters (A Scrapbooking Mystery)  by Laura Childs (Oct 4th)

Murder of a Creped Suzette: A Scumble River Mystery by Denise Swanson 

(Oct 4th)

The More the Terrier (A Pet Rescue Mystery) by Linda O. Johnston (Oct 4th)

In Charm's Way (A Bewitching Mystery)  by Madelyn Alt (Oct 4th)

Shoe Done It (An Accessories Mystery)by Grace Carroll (Oct 4th) 

How to Party with a Killer Vampire: A Party-Planning Mystery by Penny Warner (Oct 4th)
Liver Let Die (A Clueless Cook Mystery)  by Liz Lipperman (Oct 4th)

Flipped Out (A Do-It-Yourself Mystery)  by Jennie Bentley (Oct 4th)
Death by the Dozen (Cupcake Bakery Mystery) by Jenn McKinlay (Oct 4th)
The Chocolate Castle Clue: A Chocoholic Mystery by JoAnna Carl (Oct 4th)
To Catch a Leaf: A Flower Shop Mystery by Kate Collins (Nov 1st)
Hickory Smoked Homicide (A Memphis BBQ Mystery) by Riley Adams (Nov 1st)
Death on a Platter: Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper by Elaine Viets (Nov 1st)

Dangerous Alterations (A Southern Sewing Circle Myste) by Elizabeth Lynn Casey (Nov 1st)
Behind the Seams (A Crochet Mystery) by Betty Hechtman (Nov 1st)
Angel Condemned (A Beaufort & Company Mystery) by Mary Stanton (Nov 1st)

Dead Bolt: A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery (Haunted Home Repair Mystery) by Juliet Blackwell (Dec 6th)
You Might As Well Die: An Algonquin Round Table Mystery by J.J. Murphy 

(Dec 6th)
Foul Play at Four (Lois Meade Mystery) by Ann Purser (Dec 6th)
Threadbare (Needlecraft Mystery) by Monica Ferris (Dec 6th)
Shelter: A Mickey Bolitar Novel by Harlan Coben (Sept 6th)
Hell to Pay by Wendy Corsi Staub (Oct 1st)
Reckoning for the Dead by Jordan Dane (Oct 1st)
Physical Education (A Murder 101 Mystery) by Maggie Barbieri (Nov 22nd)
Guilty as Sin (A Jaywalker Case) by Joseph Teller (June 21st)

Dead By Nightfall by Beverly Barton (Dec 1st)
Did Not Finish (Creme De La Crime)  by Simon Wood (Sept 1)
The Affair: A Reacher Novel by Lee Child (Oct 18th)

Have you read this yet???

Relatively Famous
Author ~ Jessica Park
Publisher ~ CreateSpace

About the book ~ 

High school freshman Dani McKinley's world is rocked when she finds out that she is the daughter of B-list actor and notorious womanizer Mark Ocean. Mark is all too eager to get his acting career back on track, so he follows his agent's advice about cleaning up his image and invites his "new" daughter to spend the summer with him. Armed with credit cards, club memberships, and a new wardrobe, Dani spends the summer navigating the foreign culture of Hollywood. Her new friends school Dani in everything from attaching hair extensions to managing the paparazzi. She meets Jason, a gorgeous young personal trainer who is easy on the eyes and wildly flirtatious . . . But is this smug hottie the one for Dani? Or will she ignore her friends' eye rolling and go for Nate, the goofy but sweet surfer? Even tougher than all the new social pressures, is the challenge of trying to deal with her father. What Mark Ocean has in wealth, he sorely lacks in parenting skills. The fatherly interest Mark feigns has everything to do with charming the public and virtually nothing to do with connecting with his daughter. Dani desperately tries to teach her father that being a dad is not just about supplying her with Prada bags and trips to movie premieres, and the result of the clueless actor's attempts at fatherhood is both funny and heart-wrenching. Follow Dani and Mark while they struggle to figure out what it means to be father and daughter, and as they navigate their own complicated love lives. Humor, tears, heartache, and teen angst will leave you aching to see how their dilemmas are resolved.

Click the link to purchase your copy today --- only .99 for e-books!!!

Relatively Famous  (Amazon - Kindle & paperback)
Barnes & Noble (Nook)

Smashwords

My thoughts ~ 

Dani McKinley is your typical fifteen-year-old Midwest girl. She wants to wear make-up, get her ears pierced (with cool danglies versus the plain silver studs her mom makes her get) and have her very own cell phone. She has known her best friend Samantha since kindergarten and they do just about everything together. She lives with her mom, Leila, and her chef boyfriend of the past five years, Alan.  The one thing Dani doesn’t have is a dad. While she has never met him, nor does she even know his name, it hasn’t been an issue for her; her mother has always been all that she needed and Dani has a wonderful father-daughter type relationship with Alan. Then her whole world is turned upside down when she arrives at school one day to an army of paparazzi taking her picture and shouting “How does it feel to know action star Mark Ocean is your father?” The secret her mother tried so desperately to keep is not so secret anymore. And now that she knows who her dad is, Dani begins to wonder just what she may have been missing all these years. 

Mark Ocean isn’t the big time movie star he used to be. Sure, he may still have his gorgeous looks, he may date one bimbo after another and girls may still swoon over his poster they have hanging on their bedroom walls, but his movies have gone from instant hits to instant duds.  He needs to do something -and fast - to resurrect his once hot career. And after at first denying that Dani is his daughter, he soon realizes that bringing her into his life, and creating what would appear to be the perfect family, could be just what his dying career needs. 

Dani heads off to Hollywood to meet her father for the first time and to see if she can fit in in the land of fame and excess.  Her room in Mark’s house is more like a mini condo than a bedroom; with a kitchenette, Jacuzzi tub, and a loft filled with pillows and a flat screen TV.  The following day, before a carefully plotted TV interview that is to attempt to show him as the doting new father, Mark gives Dani her very own Pretty Woman moment, taking her shopping and spending money on her hand over fist. Anything she wants, she gets.  Mark also hooks Dani up with the Kayla Dodd, the daughter of a film producer he’s trying to impress. He figures if Dani & Kayla become good friends, he might just get that lead in Evan Dodd’s new film, and begin the resurrection of his career. What starts out as a one week visit, ends up as a summer-long stay. Dani has a blast with Kayla, her sister Ava, her brother Nathan and the other new friends she’s introduced to. Not to mention the easy-on-the-eyes Jason. But can Dani truly fit in with this materialistic lifestyle or can her newfound friends like her for who she truly is and not what she has?  Can she find love with the player Jason or is the more down to earth surfer boy what she really needs?  Can Mark put an end to his player ways and settle down with a “normal” woman?  Will he begin to see his daughter as the young, beautiful, mature young woman she is instead of just a means to an end? Both Dani and Mark spend the summer trying to get to know each other, and almost as importantly, themselves. But will one overheard conversation shatter the relationship that they’ve just begun to build?  

Jessica Park begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting brings us right into the lives of Dani and Mark, so much so that you feel as if you’re sitting poolside with them, enjoying the sun and fun of LA.  She has created a wonderful and loveable character in Dani, a girl you will root for from page to page. She makes you both hate and love Mark all at the same time.  Jessica Park begin_of_the_skype_highlighting     end_of_the_skype_highlighting, known for the cozy books she co-wrote with her mom Susan Conant (see the Gourmet Girls series) has found a new niche with the young adult genre. Both adults and teens will thoroughly enjoy this book. She certainly hit this one out of the park. Even though Relatively Famous has just been released, I can’t wait to read what she has in store for us next.

The Thieves of Darkness - WINNER

Christie S.

The winner has been contacted and has 48  hrs to respond or another winner will be chosen. Thank you to everyone that entered.

Giveaway ~ You Belong To Me by Karen Rose

You Belong to Me
Author ~ Karen Rose
Publisher ~ Signet
ISBN ~ 0451233573
Release date ~ June 7th

The next addictive thriller from the uncomparable bestseller Karen Rose. 

When forensic pathologist Lucy Trask stumbles across a mutilated body by the chess tables in her local Baltimore park, its face so badly damaged it is unrecognisable, her sole concern is that it might be her old school teacher Mr Pugh. When the corpse is identified, Lucy is shocked to discover that the victim is actually another man from her past. Who killed him and why his skin is burnt with the number '1' is unclear but it's evident that someone is demanding Lucy's attention. The discovery of a second branded body raises worrying questions: how many more lives may be at risk before the killer's final message is revealed? And can Lucy solve the killer's gruesome puzzle before their thirst for revenge is complete?

I'm giving away two (2) of the UK Hardcover version of this book.

GIVEAWAY Rules for entering:

* This contest is open to residents of USA only

* Please complete the form below - do not leave information in the comments - it will not count.

* The contest will end on March 8th at 11:59PM EST; 2 winners will be selected and contacted thereafter.

* Once the winners are contacted, they will have 48 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be chosen (make sure to check your spam filters!).

* Book will be shipped directly from me. 

 

Mailbox Monday ~ February 21st

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

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

Inside  by Brenda Novak (NetGalley) ~ Virgil Skinner served fourteen years for a murder he didn't commit. He's finally been exonerated, but he can't escape the gang he joined in order to survive. They'll do anything to keep him from telling what he knows. And if they can't get to Virgil they'll go after his sister and her kids. The California Department of Corrections needs someone to infiltrate another gang, one that's taking control of the state's most notorious supermax. Virgil's the perfect candidate — and he'll do it in exchange for his sister's protection.Assistant deputy warden Peyton Adams is opposed to having Virgil in her prison. How will she protect him if things go bad? Besides, she's attracted to him; she might even be falling in love with him. That makes her all the more desperate to keep him safe — and it gives him someone else to lose. Book 1 in the Bulletproof series. Release date ~ June 28th.

 Joy For Beginners by Erica Bauermeister (ARC, review) ~ At a festive, intimate dinner party in Seattle, six women gather to celebrate their friend Kate's recovery from cancer. Wineglass in hand, Kate strikes a bargain with them: to celebrate her new lease on life, she'll do the one thing that's always terrified her: white-water rafting. But if she goes, each of them will also do the one thing they always swore they'd never do-and Kate is going to choose their adventure, from getting a tattoo to learning to bake bread to reconciling with a former friend. Shimmering with warmth, wit, and insight, Joy for Beginners is a celebration of life: unexpected, lyrical, and deeply satisfying. Release date ~ June 9th.

You Belong to Me by Karen Rose (Amazon) ~ Baltimore city Homicide Detective J.D. Fitzpatrick has seen a lot of violence but nothing like the trail of tortured bodies that are turning up throughout the city. And now he's starting to suspect that his medical examiner, Dr. Lucy Trask, may be shielding a dark secret that could connect her to these vicious killings-and put her next on the killer's hit list... Release date ~ June 7th.


Precious and Fragile Things by Megan Hart (Kindle) ~ Gilly Soloman has been reduced to a mothering machine, taking care of everyone and everything except herself. But the machine has broken down. Burnt out by the endless days of crying children and menial tasks, and exhausted from always putting herself last, Gilly doesn't immediately consider the consequences when she's carjacked. With a knife to her throat, her first thought is that she'll finally get some rest. Someone can save her for a change. But salvation isn't so forthcoming. Stranded in a remote, snowbound cabin with this stranger, hours turn to days, days into weeks. As time forges a fragile bond between them, she learns her captor is not the lunatic she first believed, but a human being whose wasted life has been shaped by secrets and tragedy. Yet even as their connection begins to foster trust, Gilly knows she must never forget he's still a man teetering on the edge. One who just might take her with him.

On Borrowed Time  by David Rosenfelt (Nook) ~ Richard Kilmer is in love, and after proposing to Jennifer Ryan, she takes him on a drive up to Kendrick Falls. Rumor has is that no man has ever gone to the falls with Jen and come back the same, and Richard is no exception. Halfway up the mountain, Richard loses control of his car, and it rolls. Richard is shaken, but Jen is gone, completely missing. He can't find her, and neither can the police once they're on the scene. In fact, no one in Richard's life will even confirm Jen's existence. But where could she have gone? Has Richard lost his mind or is someone else behind it all? David Rosenfelt's stunning new thriller about an ordinary man who is forced to play a terrible game will have readers holding on tight.

The Adults: A Novel  by Alison Espach (Nook) ~ In her ruefully funny and wickedly perceptive debut novel, Alison Espach deftly dissects matters of the heart and captures the lives of children and adults as they come to terms with life, death, and love. At the center of this affluent suburban universe is Emily Vidal, a smart and snarky teenager, who gets involved in a suspect relationship with one of the adults after witnessing a suicide in her neighborhood. Among the cast of unforgettable characters is Emily's father, whose fiftieth birthday party has the adults descending upon the Vidal's patio; her mother, who has orchestrated the elaborate party even though she and her husband are getting a divorce; and an assortment of eccentric neighbors, high school teachers, and teenagers who teem with anxiety and sexuality and an unbridled desire to be noticed, and ultimately loved. An irresistible chronicle of a modern young woman's struggle to grow up, The Adults lays bare - in perfect pitch - a world where an adult and a child can so dangerously be mistaken for the same exact thing.

A Turn in the Road (Blossom Street) by Debbie Macomber (NetGalley) ~ In the middle of the year, in the middle of her life, Bethanne Hamlin takes a road trip with her daughter, Annie, and her former mother-in-law, Ruth. They’re driving to Florida for Ruth’s 50th high-school reunion. A longtime widow, Ruth would like to reconnect with Royce, the love of her teenage life. She’s heard he’s alone, too...and, well, she’s curious. Maybe even hopeful. Bethanne herself needs time to reflect, to ponder a decision she has to make. Her ex-husband, Grant — her children’s father — wants to reconcile now that his second marriage has failed. Bethanne’s considering it.... Meanwhile, Annie’s out to prove to her onetime boyfriend that she can live a brilliant life without him! So there they are, three women driving across America. They have their maps and their directions — but even the best-planned journey can take you to a turn in the road. Or lead you to an unexpected encounter — like the day Bethanne meets a man named Max who really is a hero on a Harley. That’s when Bethanne’s decision becomes a lot harder. Because Grant wants her back, but now there’s Max.... From Seattle’s Blossom Street to the other end of the country, this is a trip that could change three women’s lives. Release date ~ April 26th.

The Sandalwood Tree: A Novel by Elle Newmark (ARC, review) ~ A sweeping novel that brings to life two love stories, ninety years apart, set against the rich backdrop of war-torn India. In 1947, American historian and veteran of WWII, Martin Mitchell, wins a Fulbright Fellowship to document the end of British rule in India. His wife, Evie, convinces him to take her and their young son along, hoping a shared adventure will mend their marriage, which has been strained by war. But other places, other wars. Martin and Evie find themselves stranded in a colonial bungalow in the Himalayas due to violence surrounding the partition of India between Hindus and Muslims. In that house, hidden behind a brick wall, Evie discovers a packet of old letters, which tell a strange and compelling story of love and war involving two young Englishwomen who lived in the same house in 1857.  Drawn to their story, Evie embarks on a mission to piece together her Victorian mystery. Her search leads her through the bazaars and temples of India as well as the dying society of the British Raj. Along the way, Martin’s dark secret is exposed, unleashing a new wedge between Evie and him. As India struggles toward Independence, Evie struggles to save her marriage, pursuing her Victorian ghosts for answers. Bursting with lavish detail and vivid imagery of Calcutta and beyond, The Sandalwood Tree is a powerful story about betrayal, forgiveness, fate, and love. Release date ~ April 5th

Weeping Underwater Looks a Lot Like Laughter by Michael White (review) ~ George Flynn is the new nobody at St. Pius High School, until he falls in with the enchanting Schell sisters. Emily, an aspiring actress, is the object of his infatuation. But there's something special about her quirky younger sister, Katie, who has her own crush on George, not to mention a scathing deadpan sense of humor in the face of multiple sclerosis. When an accident destroys their delicate balance, George and Emily find themselves searching for forgiveness yet losing each other. With no-holds-barred honesty and razor-sharp wit, Michael J. White's debut novel explores friendship, first love, and a young man's need to come of age without coming undone.