The White Magic Five & Dime (A Tarot Mystery) by Steve Hockensmith with Lisa Falco

Alanis McLachlands travels to a small town in Arizona after finding out that her estranged mother has died under mysterious circumstances. When she gets there she finds out she has inherited a shop called The White Magic Five & Dime. She decides to stay in town and run the shop while she attempts to figure out who killed her mother. She meets a handful of suspicious characters and one hunky cop who waffles between telling her to stop and helping her out with her investigation, all the while seemingly showing more interest in building a relationship with her.

I found this book to be enjoyable and can see the possibility of it becoming a series. It kept my interest and the killer actually turned out to be a surprise I didn’t see coming. If you enjoy light series mysteries, give this new series a try.

The Longest Night by Kara Braden

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book directly from the publisher SourceBooks. At first I set it aside thinking it was another “two people stuck in a remote cabin in the winter” type of romance book. Then I began hearing some buzz about it. I was even asked directly if I had read it. So I gave it a second look and found out my first impression of it was wrong.

Ian and Cecily do not end up stuck together by chance. Ian is recovering from an addiction to painkillers following a car accident. Cecily is a former Marine who finds herself uncomfortable around large numbers of people and so lives in a very remote cabin, relying only on herself. Cecily agrees to let Ian stay with her for a few months because she owes a huge debt to Ian’s brother who saved her life. Ian, a big city lawyer is at first taken aback about where he has ended up to avoid the temptations of the big city, but he is very intrigued by Cecily. Cecily begins to question her wanting to be totally alone. The two slowly form a bond and must work through both of their issues to make their relationship work.

When I read, I read for pleasure and escapism. As such, I usually shy away from characters that have certain flaws like drug addiction. And I’m usually not big on characters with military backgrounds in the romances that I read (though I have tremendous respect and admiration for those who have served our country). But I have to say that I really liked both of the main characters in this book. They were written so that they seemed “real” – their words and actions and slowly building feelings and relationship did not seem forced. In the end, I even wanted a little more since we don’t really know how well they adjusted to their decision, but it felt like they would be able to survive and adjust together. Overall I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would and would recommend it.

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

This is one of the books that I was most looking forward to this year and it didn’t disappoint. The Book of Life is the third book in the Discovery of Witches trilogy. This trilogy has everything – good writing and strong characters, vampires and witches, science and magic, romance and adventure, even some time travel. The Book of Life does a good job of tying up all the loose ends and storylines from the two previous books. Diana and Matthew make it back safely from the past. Diana must deal with the death of her beloved aunt. Matthew must deal with his family issues. Both must deal with Diana’s pregnancy and the Congregation. All in all it was a very satisfying story and this is a trilogy I would highly recommend.

Julie Kagawa’s Iron Traitor Announcement

 

So excited about the upcoming release of Iron Traitor.  I loved Julie Kagawa’s original Iron Fey series and have requested a galley of this book on NetGalley.  If I get it I will be sure to review it here.

Claim Me Giveaway from Romance at Random House

Romance at Random is giving away the following items:

• 10 books – CLAIM ME
• 10 books – RELEASE ME
• 5 eBook giveaway of A VAMPIRE’S SALVATION
• 1 Claim Me scarf (look alike) J

Enter to win

The Ruby Rose Show by Sindy McKay

The Ruby Rose Show is part of the We Both Read series, a series of books meant to be read by parents and children together.  The pages alternate with the left side page containing more complex text to be read by the parent and the right side page containing easier reading material suitable for early reading levels to be read by the child.

The Ruby Rose Show is the story of Molly, her friend Abby and Molly’s big sister Sarah as they try to get to the concert of their favorite singer, Ruby Rose.  Molly is impatient to get there , but along the way they encounter a few mishaps which slow them down.  Once they do arrive, they find that Sarah does not have her credit card and they cannot get in to see the show.  Molly sneaks in backstage, is almost thrown out by security, but is rescued by some new friends they had made along their way.  These friends are able to help them stay to see the show and even provide an extra surprise or two.  Molly realizes how lucky she is to have had this experience and to have Sarah as a big sister.

Hello world!

Hello.  This is my first blog posting.  Check back soon for reviews of books for children, young adults and adults.  I am currently reading The Billionaire’s Curse by Richard Newsome and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.  I also have started Out of Sight by Stella Cameron and Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani.  And as soon as I receive Winter’s Passage by Julie Kagawa from NetGalley.com on my Kindle, I will begin reading that and review it too.  Yes, I am one of those people who can read multiple books at once (and owning a Kindle has made that even worse!)