Mailbox Monday

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 ~

Murder of a Wedding Belle: A Scumble River Mystery by Denise Swanson (For Review) ~ School psychologist Skye Denison reluctantly agrees to act as maid of honor in her California cousin's over-the-top platinum-style wedding- and is also expected to assist the control-freak wedding planner. But when Skye discovers the planner dead, just one week before the big event, Skye is suddenly working double-duty. While overseeing every nuptial detail, she's also helping the police find out who hated the bridal consultant enough to kill her. Can Skye get her cousin to the church on time-and save herself from a killer who may actually be on the guest list? Release date: April 6th.

'Til Dice Do Us Part: A Bunco Babes Mystery by Gail Oust (For Review) ~ The Bunco Babes are a group of hip retirees who love to play bunco- and addictive game of luck. But someone's luck is about to run out... For good. When Claudia Connors returns from Vegas with a new husband, actor Lance Ledeaux, Kate McCall and the other Bunco Babes are shocked. To make matters worse, Lance has plans to direct, produce, and star in a play he has written-and he wants all the Babes to participate. When he's killed during rehearsal with a pistol, all eyes are on Claudia, who is literally holding the smoking gun. Anyone could have loaded the real bullets, but its up to Kate to prove Claudia's innocence-or her newly widowed friend will be throwing dice behind bars. Release date: April 6th.

The Night Killer: A Diane Fallon Forensic Investigation by Beverly Connor (For Review) ~ Forensi c investigator Diane Fallon fights for her life in her eighth mystery Diane is driving through a downpour on a windy mountain road after picking up a set of rare Indian artifacts when a tree suddenly slams across the hood of her car, revealing a human skeleton in its hollow trunk. As she starts to investigate, she's ambushed by a stranger and forced to run for her life. Stranded in the night with a killer, Diane must uncover a secret hidden away by time and distance-or she may not live to see another morning... Release date: April 6th.

Lead-Pipe Cinch (A GEORGIANA NEVERALL MYSTERY) by Christy Evans (For Review) ~ The second mystery featuring Georgiana Neverall, plumber's apprentice extraordinaire. Georgiana Neverall never pictured herself knee-deep in a muddy trench building a moat-part of a state-of-the-art castle that would soon house a retired Microsoft engineer. She also never imagined being a murder suspect, but that's exactly what happens when a floater in the moat turns out to be her ex-boyfriend. Release date: April 6th.

Cut to the Corpse (A Decoupage Mystery) by Lucy Lawrence (For Review) ~ A sticky situation in the second Decoupage mystery. Decoupage teacher Brenna Miller is in over her head when she finds bride-to-be Tara with her fiance's dead best friend-and Tara holding the murder weapon. It's up to Brenna to get to the truth before Tara's future turns to shreds. Release date: April 6th.

Monster in Miniature (A Miniature Mystery) by Margaret Grace (For Review) ~ This miniaturist is in BIG trouble... For a festive Halloween project, Geraldine Porter and her granddaughter, Maddie, set out to create a multi-story haunted dollhouse. But their holiday fun turns to fear when a neighborhood scarecrow turns out to be a bloody corpse. Release date: April 6th.

Murder on the Eightfold Path (A Mantra for Murder Mystery) by Diana Killian (For Review) ~ The only yoga mystery series on the market. While in her mother's garden, A.J. stumbles-literally-on the body of her mother's current beau. Now A.J. is going to have to find her balance and solve the murder without getting tied up in knots. Release date: April 6th.

A Toast to Murder (A Wine Lover's Mystery) by Michele Scott (For Review) ~ Pop open a new Wine Lover's mystery. The big day is swiftly approaching for Nikki Sands-Manager of the Malveaux Estates in Napa Valley-and her fiancé Derek Malveaux, who owns the winery. But when they start receiving cryptic messages questioning their belief in fate, things quickly turn fatal. Release date: April 6th.

Farm Fresh Murder (A Farmers' Market Mystery) by Paige Shelton (For Review) ~ First in the Farmer's Market Mystery Series. Becca Robins leads a simple life, making jams and preserves on her ve ry own farm. But when there's a murder in her quaint little town, she puts herself in the line of fire to defend her friend's innocence-and goes from making jam to being in one. Release date: April 6th

T h e Season of Second Chances: A Novel by Diane Meier (ARC) ~ Coming-of-age can happen at any age. Joy Harkness had built a university career and a safe life in New York, protected and insulated from the intrusions and involvements of other people. When offered a position at Amherst Co llege, she impulsively leaves the city, and along with generations of material belongings, she packs her equally heavy emotional baggage. A tumbledown Victorian house proves an unlikely choice for a woman whose family heirlooms have been boxed away for years. Nevertheless, this white elephant becomes the home that changes Joy forever. As the restoration begins to take shape, so does her outlook on life, and the choices she makes over paint chips, wallpaper samples, and floorboards are reflected in her connection to the co-workers who become friends and friendships that deepen. A brilliant, quirky, town fixture of a handyman guides the renovation of the house and sparks Joy’s interest to encourage his personal and professional growth. Amid the half-wanted attention of the campus’s single, middle-aged men, known as “the Coyotes,”and the legitimate dramas of her close-knit community, Joy learns that the key to the affection of family and friends is being worthy of it, and most important, that second chances are waiting to be discovered within us all. Release date: March 30th.

Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson (ARC) ~ Ever since her father was stabbed to death in a home invasion, Julia “Jules” Farentino has been plagued by nightmares. Her half-sister, Shaylee, now seventeen, has had her own difficulties since the tragedy, earning a rap sheet for drug use, theft, and vandalism. Still, when Jules learns of her mother’s decision to send Shay to an elite boarding school in Oregon, she’s skeptical. Blue Rock Academy has a reputation for turning wayward kids around — but one of its students went missing a few months earlier and her body has never been found. On impulse, Jules applies for a teaching job at the Academy. Shortly before Jules arrives, a student is found hanged, another near death, and a hysterical Shay believes it’s murder. Then another girl is found dead. There’s no doubt something sinister is at hand. And Jules has become the next target of a bloodthirsty killer without limits, without remorse, without mercy… Release date: March 30th.

Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman (ARC) ~ Set on the coast of Maine over the course of four summers, Red Hook Road tells the story of two families, the Tetherlys and the Copakens, and of the ways in which their lives are unraveled and stitched together by misfortune, by good intentions and failure, and by love and calamity. A marriage collapses under the strain of a daughter's death; two bereaved siblings find comfort in one another; and an adopted young girl breathes new life into her family with her prodigious talent for the violin. As she writes with obvious affection for these unforgettable characters, Ayelet Waldman skillfully interweaves life's finer pleasures - music and literature - with the more mundane joys of living. Within these resonant pages, a vase filled with wildflowers or a cold beer on a hot summer day serve as constant reminders that it's often the little things that make life so precious Release date: July 13th.

Hannah's List by Debbie Macomber (ARC) ~ Make time for friends. Make time for Debbie Macomber. On the anniversary of his beloved wife's death, Dr. Michael Everett receives a letter Hannah had written him. In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request. An impossible request: I want you to marry again. She tells him he shouldn't spend the years he has left grieving her. And to that end she's chosen three women she asks him to consider. First on Hannah's list is Winter Adams, a trained chef who owns a cafe on Seattle's Blossom Street. The second is Leanne Lancaster, Hannah's oncology nurse. Michael knows them both. But the third name is one he's not familiar with - Macy Roth. Each of these three women has her own heartache, her own private grief. During the months that follow, he spends time with Winter, Leanne and Macy, learning more about each of them...and about himself. Release date: April 27th.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon: A Novel by Sarah Addison Allen (For Review) ~ Allen's latest (after The Sugar Queen) takes the familiar setup of a young protagonist returning to the small town where her elusive mother was raised, and subverts it by sprinkling just enough magic into the narrative to keep things lively but short of saccharine. Seventeen-year-old Emily Benedict, intent on learning more about her mother, Dulcie, moves in with her grandfather, but is disappointed to find that her grandfather doesn't want to talk much about Dulcie. She soon discovers, though, that many still hold a grudge against Dulcie for the way she treated an old sweetheart before dumping him and disappearing. Luckily, Dulcie's high school adversary, Julia Winterson, back in town to pay down her deceased father's debt, takes a shine to Emily. She's working another quest as well: baking cakes every day with the hope that they'll somehow attract the daughter she gave up for adoption years ago. There are love interests, big family secrets, and magical happenings (color-changing wallpaper, mysterious lights) aplenty as Allen charts the spiraling inter-generational stories, bringing everything together in an unexpected way.

The Panic Zone by Rick Mofina (ARC) ~ A grieving mother and a relentless reporter pursue a perfect killer. A CAR CRASHES IN WYOMING A young mother is thrown clear of the devastating car crash. Dazed, she sees a figure pull her infant son from the flames. Or does she? The police believe it's a case of trauma playing cruel tricks on the mind, until the night the grief-stricken woman hears a voice through the phone: "Your baby is alive." A BOMB EXPLODES IN A RIO DE JANEIRO CAFE The heinous act kills ten people including two journalists with the World Press Alliance news agency. Jack Gannon's first international assignment is to find out whether his colleagues were innocent victims or targets who got too close to a huge story.A CARIBBEAN CRUISE ENDS IN HORROR Doctors are desperate to identify the mysterious cause of a cruise ship passenger's agonizing death. They turn to the world's top scientists who fear that someone has resurrected their long-buried secret research. Research that is now being used as a deadly weapon.With millions of lives at stake, experts work frantically against time. And as an anguished mother searches for her child and Jack Gannon pursues the truth, an unstoppable force hurls them all into the panic zone. Release date: June 29th.

Damaged by Pamela Callow (ARC) ~ Haunted by the death of her sister, and wounded by her ex-fiance's accusations, Kate Lange throws herself into her new career at a high-powered law firm. When the grandmother of a lonely private school student seeks her counsel, Kate thinks it's just another custody case. But then the teen is brutally murdered. And it isn't only Kate who wonders if her legal advice led to the girl's death. Put on notice by the firm's managing partner, Kate must fight for her career, for her reputation -- and for redemption. Unwilling to live with the damage she may have caused, Kate pursues the case on her own and unearths some chilling facts. Facts that lead Kate directly into the surgically-skilled hands of the Body Butcher. Release date: June 1st.

Margarita Nights: A Sherri Travis Mystery by Phyllis Smallman (For Review) ~ Margarita Nights is a cozy with grit--serving Jack Daniels instead of tea. In a small Florida beach town, Sherri Travis is a bartender with attitude and a woman with an inconveniently murdered husband who turns out to be as much trouble to her dead as he was alive. Sifting through the debris of Jimmy's life, Sherri finds more than a few people who wanted her lying, scheming, scam artist husband gone--but which one actually did the deed?

Tempt Me If You Can by Janet Chapman (Guest Post & Giveaway) ~ When an anonymous letter stuns shipping magnate and confirmed bachelor Ben Sinclair with the news that he has a teenage son, he's determined to make good on the past. But Emma Sands doesn't trust him. The beautiful, fiery blonde has raised her nephew in the peaceful woods of Maine since he was five, and just because fifteen-year-old Michael is the spitting image of his tall, handsome father doesn't give Ben the right to march in and change their lives forever. Or so she thinks, until his return mysteriously unearths a dangerous small-town secret. With Michael's help, Ben will do whatever it takes to prove to fiercely independent Emma that he can be the fearless protector she never knew she wanted...and the passionate lover she always thought she could resist.

WOW: A Handbook for Living by Zen Ohashi and Zono Kurazono (For Review) ~ Zen Ohashi is a master management coach whose methods have been introduced to more than seventy major corporations, companies such as Exxon-Mobile, Fuji-Xerox, British Airways, Canon, Honda and Mitsubishi. In this volume he has created a method for living. A way you too can be successful and powerful in your everyday life. Thirty-one phrases are coupled with simple methods and short explanations designed to implement empowerment and change in lives of readers. Designed to be carried with you and pulled out when you need it, WOW is the ultimate handbook for life.

Guest Post ~ Barry Pollack

I've been writing for forty years and have made it a habit to clip articles or record notes about interesting things I read or hear about. They sit about like dormant seeds, ready to germinate if you fertilize them with good characters and plot. One such story I saved was an obituary of Robert Graham who died in 1997. Graham was an American entrepreneur who made millions designing the first plastic eyeglass lenses. He was also a eugenist, an out of favor theory that suggests that "nature is more important than nuture," that it is our genes that make us predominantly who we are, not our upbringing. Graham became most famous perhaps for creating what was colloquially called "the genius sperm bank," a repository of sperm provided by Nobel prize winners. His life story led me to do more research on eugenics, then genetics in general. And, with daily headlines describing a world entangled in an apparent never ending battle with terrorism, I wondered why we couldn't use genetic engineering to create a chimera, a soldier part animal, part human, to fight our battles and put an end to the atavistic process of bloodying our our best and brightest young people on battlefields. It's science fiction but not so much a fantasy that it couldn't soon fall into the realm of science fact. And, then the story of FORTY-EIGHT X : The Lemuria Project unfolded.

Mr. Pollacks Biography

My life has been a merry-go-round. There have been plenty of ups and downs. I've changed horses a lot. But, I'm enjoying the ride, still trying to catch that brass ring that defines me as a person - and as a writer.

Let me begin in college, at the end days of one of the many schools I attended. In 1967, I was a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy. I had dreams of becoming a "jet pilot," an adolescent fantasy perhaps, but nonetheless moving toward fruition. I could arch back my shoulders, suck it in, and spit shine with the best of them - but still I was not very "military." It was the height of the Vietnam War. Like many young people at the time, I became disenchanted with that war; decidedly not a good mind set for someone setting out on a military career. So, I left the Air Force Academy and went off to Penn State where I quickly got my bachelor's degree. Shortly after graduation, I decided on another career. I would become a filmmaker. I left my childhood home in Philadelphia, and after a brief tear-gassing experience at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, I arrived in California where I eventually received my master's degree in film from Stanford. There, I made several documentary shorts. One was called "Some of My Best Friends are Bottomless Dancers." That lascivious title and a few film festival prizes led to my being accepted as a writing-directing fellow at the new American Film Institute in Los Angeles.

My opportunity to become a "professional," read paid, writer came after I spent a summer traveling with east coast carnivals, researching another documentary on "carnie folk." During that summer, I came to know nearly every "freak" in the United States - the two-headed man, the fat lady, the pin cushion man, midgets and giants. As a result, when a friend was hired by Roger Corman to write the remake of a movie called "Freaks," I was hired as the casting director. That picture was never made but after showing the Corman brothers some of my writing, I was given the opportunity to write the remake of John Huston's 1950 film "Asphalt Jungle" and turn it into a contemporary "black" film. That was the era of black exploitation pictures like "Shaft" and "Cleopatra Jones." And that's how, in 1972, I became the white "black exploitation" writer-director of the MGM film "Cool Breeze." The film wasn't a blockbuster nor critically acclaimed, but it was a respectable first effort. I thought I was on my way in Hollywood and during the making of that first film, I met my wife, Margaret. Even though I'm no longer the "famous" Hollywood writer-director she thought she was marrying, she's stuck with me ever since. Anxious to direct again, I jumped at the next offer that came my way. It was a grave misjudgement. That venture was a film called "This is a Hijack" which I ignobly claim as being one of the "top ten" worst pictures in the history of cinema. Everything that could go wrong in making a picture, did on that one. There's a movie or a novel in that story. As the cliché goes, I couldn't get arrested after that as a Hollywood director - or as a writer. After mulling over my options in the film business, I made another drastic career change. I became a doctor.

In 1980, I graduated from the University of Oklahoma Medical School and after a brief residency at Los Angeles County USC Medical Center, I began working as an emergency physician. I am still, to this very day, an "ER doc." But I have continued to write - several prime time television dramas like "Trapper John, M.D." and "Hotel," magazine short stories, several unproduced screenplays, and almost ten years of columns for the Ventura County California STAR newspapers (Biography stories, Travel Stories, and Medical stories).

I'm working on a new career now as a novelist with my first book, the contemporary science fiction thriller "FORTY-EIGHT X: The Lemuria Project" published by Medallion Press in December 2009.

Click here to order your copy of Forty-Eight X: The Lemuria Project today.

Read more about me and my work at my website: www.barrypollack.net.

Book Giveaway - El Patron - WINNERS

Congratulations

Theresa
Annette
Christine

I've sent an email requesting their address. If I don't hear back in 48 hrs, I'll choose another winner. Thank you to those that have entered :)

Book Blogger Hop

It's that time of the week again! With the hugely successful first week, I'm happy to announce that the Book Blogger Hop will be a weekly feature over at Crazy-for-Books! So, get those party shoes on and let's start the Hop!

Her designer is working on the graphic and she should hopefully have it next week!!

Missed out last week? Here's what the Hop is all about!

Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following. In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!

So, if you'd like to participate, just repost this on your blog, sign MckLinky over at Crazy-For-Books, and check out other blogs in MckLinky! Let's connect and make new book bloggy friends!! So, if you consider yourself a book blogger, come join the fun!

Pretty please - Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

There were 129 links the first week, so don't forget to stop back and check out the new blogs that are added during the week!!

Please feel free to add Crazy-For-Books as a friend on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads! See right sidebar at Crazy-For-Books.

Instructions: Add your BLOG NAME in the Title with a link to your book blog Since this is just getting started, spreading the word would be awesome!!!

IT'S TIME TO PARTY!! HAVE FUN HOPPIN' AROUND!!

The Panic Zone by Rick Mofina (ARC)

The Panic Zone by Rick Mofina

A CAR CRASHES IN WYOMING . . .

A young mother is thrown clear of the devastating car crash. Dazed, she sees a figure pull her infant son from the flames. Or does she? The police believe it's a case of trauma playing cruel tricks on the mind, until the night the grief-stricken woman hears a voice through the phone, "Your baby is alive."

A BOMB EXPLODES IN A RIO DE JANEIRO CAFE . . .

The heinous act kills ten people including two journalists with the World Press Alliance news agency. Jack Gannon's first international assignment is to find out whether his colleagues were innocent victims or targets who got too close to a huge story.

A CARIBBEAN CRUISE ENDS IN HORROR . . .

Doctors are desperate to identify the mysterious cause of a cruise ship passenger's agonizing death. They turn to the world's top scientists who determine that someone has resurrected their long-buried secret research. Research that is now being used as a deadly weapon. With millions of lives at stake, experts work frantically against time. And as an anguished mother searches for her child and Jack Gannon pursues the truth, an unstoppable force hurls them all into the panic zone.

FTC Full Disclosure: The publisher sent me this book in hopes I would review it.

Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson (ARC)

Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson

Ever since her father was stabbed to death in a home invasion, Julia “Jules” Farentino has been plagued by nightmares. Her half-sister, Shaylee, now seventeen, has had her own difficulties since the tragedy, earning a rap sheet for drug use, theft, and vandalism. Still, when Jules learns of her mother’s decision to send Shay to an elite boarding school in Oregon, she’s skeptical. Blue Rock Academy has a reputation for turning wayward kids around — but one of its students went missing a few months earlier and her body has never been found.
On impulse, Jules applies for a teaching job at the Academy. Shortly before Jules arrives, a student is found hanged, another near death, and a hysterical Shay believes it’s murder. Then another girl is found dead. There’s no doubt something sinister is at hand. And Jules has become the next target of a bloodthirsty killer without limits, without remorse, without mercy…

Release date: March 30th.

W...W.....W..... Wednesday

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions!…

• What are you currently reading?
  
• What did you recently finish reading?
  
• What do you think you'll read next?
  

What am I currently reading? ~

Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson (ARC) ~ I'm a big fan of Ms. Jackson's work so I'm really excited to start reading this. Thanks to my friend Wendy for sending it to me ;) Release date: March 30th.










What did I recently finish reading?

Town In a Blueberry Jam (CANDY HOLLIDAY MYSTERY) by B.B. Haywood ~ Candy Halliday moves to Cape Willington Maine to work with her father on their blueberry farm. When two locals turn up dead, and a dear friend is arrested for the murder, Candy feels that it's up to her to figure out who is responsible for these horrible acts so that she can clear her friend of the murder. Cute start to a new series. Look for Town In A Lobster Stew coming soon!





What do I plan on reading next?

Monster in Miniature (A Miniature Mystery) by Margaret Grace ~ Geraldine and her granddaughter Maddie are working together on a haunted dollhouse for Halloween. But when a scarecrow turns up dead, they are thrust into a murder case that may have something to do with Geraldine's late husband. I am really looking forward to reading this. The reason I love this series so much is that the relationship between Maddie & her grandmother reminds me of mine and my grandmother when I was a young girl. Release date: April 6th.

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.

Don't Blink by James Patterson and Howard Roughan

New York's Lombardo's Steak House is famous for three reasons--the menu, the clientele, and now, the gruesome murder of an infamous mob lawyer. Effortlessly, the assassin slips through the police's fingers, and his absence sparks a blaze of accusations about who ordered the hit.

Seated at a nearby table, reporter Nick Daniels is conducting a once-in-a-lifetime interview with a legendary baseball bad-boy. Shocked and shaken, he doesn't realize that he's accidentally captured a key piece of evidence. Ensnared in the city's most sensational crime in years, Nick investigates for a story of his own. Back off--or die--is the clear message as he closes in on the facts. Heedless, and perhaps in love, Nick endures humiliation, threats, violence, and worse in a thriller that overturns every expectation and finishes with the kind of flourish only James Patterson knows.

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
  
• ISBN-10: 0316036234 / 9780316036238
  
• Release date: September 27, 2010
• Amazon Price: $16.79
  

Traveling Through Tuesday

Do you like to read books that set in a certain city, state, or country? Do you ever find a town in a book that just calls your name and you can't wait to tell someone about it?

Well here is the place to spotlight the book we are currently reading with my new meme Traveling Through Tuesday.

I love to read books that are set in around Boston as that's where I live. I love being able to visualize the settings in a book and being able to "place" myself right there with the characters. So, anytime I discover a book is set there, it makes me want to read it that much more. Books like The Gourmet Girls series by Susan Conant & Jessica Conant-Park, Truly, Madly by Heather Webber, and the Frank Clevenger series by Keith Ablow are a few that come to mind that are set in Boston. Do you have a favorite book set in Beantown?

What are your favorite settings in books? What location would you love to visit?

A huge thank you to Jen over at Crazy For Books for this wonderful NEW meme idea!

So, if you'd like to participate, just repost this, sign MckLinky below, and check out other blogs in MckLinky! Let's check out where our book blogger friends have been and where they're going.

Town In a Blueberry Jam (CANDY HOLLIDAY MYSTERY) by B.B. Haywood

Welcome to the quaint, but fictional, seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine. Candy Holliday has moved here to help her father run Blueberry Acres farm. All of Cape Willington is getting ready for the Annual Blueberry Festival set right in the heart of what could be considered Main Street, Anywhere U.S.A. This book has it all, the hominess of a small time and the warmth of an ocean breeze on a beautiful summer day. Cape Willington is definitely a place I'd like to visit.

Instructions: Add your BLOG NAME in the Title with a link to your book blog Since this is just getting started, spreading the word would be awesome!!!

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 ~

Candy felt her legs go numb. Before they had a chance to collapse beneath her, she crossed to a chair and sat down heavily. Her fingertips were tingling and there seemed to be a buzzing sound in her ears.

My teaser comes from Town In a Blueberry Jam (CANDY HOLLIDAY MYSTERY) by B.B. Haywood. What's YOUR teaser?

Town in Blueberry Jam by B.B. Haywood

Town In a Blueberry Jam (CANDY HOLLIDAY MYSTERY) by B.B. Haywood

In the seaside village of Cape Willington, Maine, Candy Holliday has an idyllic life tending to the Blueberry Acres farm she runs with her father. But, when an aging playboy and the newly crowned Blueberry Queen are killed, Candy investigates to clear the name of a local handyman. And as she sorts through the town's juicy secrets, things start to get sticky indeed...

Everything's Coming Up Cozies

Upcoming Cozy Finds
Hurry Up and add them to your Wish Lists

• Driven To Ink: A Tattoo Shop Mystery by Karen Olson ~ Sept 7th
  
• Fundraising the Dead (A Museum Mystery) by Sheila Connolly ~ Oct 5th
  
• You Better Knot Die (A Crochet Mystery) by Betty Hechtman ~ Nov 2nd
  
• The Pumpkin Muffin Murder: A Fresh Baked Murder by Livia Washburn ~ Nov 2nd
  
• Double Knit Murders by Maggie Sefton ~ Nov 2nd
  
• If Wall Could Talk: A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery by Juliet Blackwell ~ Dec 7th
  
• Celebrity Sudoku (A Sudoku Mystery) by Kaye Morgan ~ Dec 7th
  
• The Diva Cooks A Goose (A Domestic Diva Mystery) by Krista Davis ~ Dec 7th
  
• Pinned for Murder (Southern Sewing Series) by Elizabeth Lynn Casey ~ Oct 5th
  
• Murder at the PTA (PTO Mystery) by Lara Alden ~ Oct 5th
  
• Dirty Rotten Tendrils: A Flower Shop Mystery by Kate Collins ~ Oct 5th
  
• An Uplifting Murder: Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper Mystery by Elaine Viets ~ Nov 2nd
  
• The Lies That Bind: A Bibliophile Mystery by Kate Carlisle ~ Nov 2nd
  
• A Killer Crop (An Orchard Mystery) by Sheila Connolly ~ Dec 7th
  
• Bedeviled Eggs (A Cackleberry Club Mystery) by Laura Childs ~ Dec 7th
  
• Black Beans & Vice: A Supper Club Mystery by J.B. Stanley ~ Nov 1st
  
• Fatally Frosted: A Donut Shop Mystery by Jessica Beck ~ Aug 3rd
  
• Deeply, Desperately: A Lucy Valentine Novel by Heather Webber ~ Aug 3rd

Book Giveaway - Innocent by Scott Turow (ARC)

Innocent by Scott Turow

The sequel to the genre-defining, landmark bestseller Presumed Innocent, INNOCENT continues the story of Rusty Sabich and Tommy Molto who are, once again, twenty years later, pitted against each other in a riveting psychological match after the mysterious death of Rusty's wife.

You can read my review here.

Release date: May 4th.

To enter to win, simply fill out the form below.

The contest is open to USA residents only!

The contest will end on March 15th.

Book Giveaway - Blood Vines - WINNER

Congratulations

Sue R.

I've sent an email requesting their address. If I don't hear back in 48 hrs, I'll choose another winner. Thank you to those that have entered :)

Book Blogger Hop

Book Blogger Hop

Jen over at Crazy For Books has started something I hope you will be part of.

Hey book bloggers! Every day we seem to find another book blog that we start following. In the spirit of the Friday Follow, Jen thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on!

Now, we follow a lot of blogs and we haven't seen this feature yet, so if someone else is doing a Book Blog Hop, please let Jen know!! She don't want to step on any toes or anything!

So, if you'd like to participate, just repost this, go to her blog sign MckLinky, and check out other blogs in MckLinky! Let's connect and make new book bloggy friends!!

She'll try to make a nifty graphic to go along with this, but give her another week to get that done! :)

Crazy For Books

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. Why are you making for dinner?

2. I want you to take a flying leap.

3. If you want it done then it will be on my terms.

4. Tell them how you feel and see what happens.

5. I could use a stiff drink, too bad I can't have alcohol.

6. First I'll play on the computer and then I'll do my work.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to catching up on TV, tomorrow my plans include taking Sadie to the groomer, doing some errands with my friend Melanie and then having a PBS meeting/lunch & read and Sunday, I want to read, relax, SLEEP, and read some more!

Dog Tags by David Rosenfelt (ARC)

Dog Tags (Andy Carpenter) by David Rosenfelt

A German Shepherd police dog witnesses a murder and if his owner--an Iraq war vet and former cop-turned-thief--is convicted of the crime, the dog could be put down. Few rival Andy Carpenter's affection for dogs, and he decides to represent the poor canine. As Andy struggles to convince a judge that this dog should be set free, he discovers that the dog and his owner have become involved unwittingly in a case of much greater proportions than the one they've been charged with. Andy will have to call upon the unique abilities of this ex-police dog to help solve the crime and prevent a catastrophic event from taking place.

Release date: August 25th.

Book Giveaway - El Patron by Michele Scott (3 Copies)

El Patrón by Michele Scott

What began as an innocent love affair for one young woman, Marta Peña, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in 1969, sets in motion a series of events that spans the next thirty years. This is the story of South American drug lords Antonio Espinoza and Javier Rodriguez, and their violent quest for power. In a sweeping family saga, we meet the women who love them and the children they vow to protect at any cost.

With a complex web of interconnected families, this gritty novel delves into the lives of a power hungry clan, following the rise of their business, the destructive path of their torrid and erotic love affairs, and the struggle to balance intense greed with devout family loyalty.

Strong women face tragedies that test their will and their commitment to the men they passionately desire. As young girls grow into women, their traumatic pasts will drive their actions and force them to make gut-wrenching decisions.

With murder, drug trafficking, dirty politics, illegal gambling, prostitution, obsessive love affairs, and family strife, El Patrón is a whirlwind in the vein of Mario Puzo's The Godfather.

To enter to win, simply fill out the form below.

The contest is open to USA residents only!

The contest will end on March 12th.

W..W....W.... Wednesdsay

W..W....W.... Wednesdsay

W..W....W.... Wednesdsay

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions!…

• What are you currently reading?
  
• What did you recently finish reading?
  
• What do you think you'll read next?
  

What am I currently reading? ~

Farm Fresh Murder (A Farmers' Market Mystery) by Paige Shelton (ARC) ~ The first book in a new cozy series featuring Becca Robins who owns her own farm and sells her wares at the Farmer's Market her sister manages. When a relative new comer to the market is murdered, and her friend is the police's prime suspect, Becca realizes she must solve the murder on her own. Release date: April 6th







What did I recently finish reading?
The Stormchasers by Jenna Blum (ARC) ~ The newest book by the author of Those Who Save Us. A beautiful story of family relationships and just how far one sibling will go to rescue another. Release date: May 27th.










What do I plan on reading next?
Dog Tags (Andy Carpenter) by David Rosenfelt (ARC) ~ Andy Carpenter made a name for himself with a huge courtroom win. Now financially secure for life, Andy takes on the occasional high profile court case, but primarily spends his time with his beloved dog Tara and occasionally taking on a dog or two as clients. This is the 8th book in the Andy Carpenter series.

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.

A Glimpse of Evil (Psychic Eye Mysteries, No. 8) by Victoria Laurie

Professional psychic Abigail Cooper is about to discover that some cold cases are better off dead...

As the FBI's newest Civilian Profiler, Abby Cooper is using her powers of intuition to help solve a backlog of the bureau's cold cases. But when she's the only one who's convinced that several separate cold cases are related, she'll have to call on every intuitive bone in her body before she's the one put on ice...

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Signet
  
• ISBN-10: 045123085X / 9780451230850
  
• Release date: July 6, 2010
• Amazon Price: $7.99
  

Book Giveaway - The Red Thread (ARC) - WINNER

Congratulations

Sarah E

I've sent an email requesting their address. If I don't hear back in 48 hrs, I'll choose another winner. Thank you to those that have entered :)

Woo-hoo, it's FINALLY here ~


This Gourmet Girl has to take the heat-because she just can't get away from the kitchen.

Chloe Carter desperately needs a job, so she takes one assisting a cookbook writer. Unfortunately it stirs up painful memories of her ex- boyfriend Josh, who left her for Hawaii. While compiling a book of recipes from Boston's top chefs, she comes in contact with one of Josh's friends, Digger. Chloe manages to stay cool until later she finds Digger's apartment charred-with Digger in it.

Not believing that an expert chef would die from a grease fire, she sets about looking for Digger's killer. But things get sticky when the tragedy brings Josh back to Boston-and back into Chloe's life.

Click here to order your copy NOW. This is by far the best book in the series. I promise you won't be disappointed!

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 ~

Two police cars and an official looking van, complete with a logo that read Crime Scene Unit, flanked a gathering of market vendors and something on the ground that looked like a large dead body. But it couldn't be a body - this was a farmer's market. Dead bodies didn't show up at farmers' markets, did they?

This teaser comes from Farm Fresh Murder (A Farmers' Market Mystery) by Paige Shelton. What's YOUR teaser?