I got the idea and the motivation to start doing Tackling The TBR from All The Blog Names Are Taken. I love showcasing the books on Goodreads, my ereader and my bookshelves. The more exposure for authors and their books, the better….RIGHT?
Secrets, secrets, secrets. We all know that secrets rarely stay secret. Secrets eat a person’s soul, giving them no respite from the guilt that weighs heavily on one’s shoulders. In Blood Stain everything comes to a head and lives are tested. Not all will survive.
Karina and LiAnn begin Blood Stain on a happy note. They are co owners of Magnolia House and have found someone to share their lives with. Knowing Ashley Fontainne, I figure they better enjoy it, because something wicked this way comes.
The Magnolia House story has been told and the secrets have been laid to rest. I sure didn’t see it ending the way it did but I love it. The characters can rest in peace, both those alive and those who are no longer with us.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Blood Stain by Ashley Fontainne.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Karina and LiAnn settle into their new lives, each enjoying their roles as co-owners of The Magnolia House and as newlyweds to the men of their dreams, all while spending quality time with their elderly family members.
The worries about the mob are over, and fears about testifying against the devilish owner of Jubilee Retirement Corporation are a fleeting memory, so they concentrate on making the lives of their elderly charges as fulfilling and satisfying as possible, guarding the secrets of some of the residents as if their own.
Unfortunately, sins of the past won’t remain buried, and when they resurface, reputations aren’t the only things in danger.
When a new resident moves in with secrets of his own, he brings along well-kept mysteries of the sordid past of Hot Springs, dating back centuries, but that isn’t their only problem. Someone from their past is determined to bring misery into their lives. LiAnn and Karina find themselves embroiled in a myriad of tragedies, including murder.
Genre: Fiction, Mystery,
257 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 7, 2024 RMSW Press
Series: The Magnolia Series, Book III
ABOUT ASHLEY FONTAINNE
Award-winning and International bestselling author Ashley Fontainne enjoys stories that immerse the reader deep into the human psyche and the monsters lurking within each of us. She writes in numerous genres including mystery, suspense, horror, sci-fi and sometimes poetry.
Ashley lives in Arkansas with her husband and is the proud mother of one son and grateful daughter of co-author, Lillian Hansen. To learn more about her books please visit https://ashleyfontainne.net/
It’s good to be back at Stone Mountain and catching up with Jace and Lydia. I love the series, and would love Avenging My Wolf if it was more fleshed out. It’s rare when I want more details, but that is what happened here. Sure, we have danger, romance, and some sexy trysts, but I wanted more danger, more romance and more sexy trysts.
Jace has not fully recovered from the curse, so he keeps Lydia at bay. She is his mate, so I say, “Get over yourself, Jace.” Life is too short to devote it towards revenge, but he’s not listening to anyone.
Lydia escaped an abusive boyfriend, leaving his pack and joining Jace’s. She’s confused about Jace’s actions, seeing he’s her mate. She tries to seduce him and definitely gets him hot and bothered. They both need cold showers. lol
I am loving the Stone Mountain Wolf Shifters, but Avenging My Wolf felt rushed. I wanted to be more involved, but I couldn’t get there. Gotta remind myself that this is an ARC.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Avenging My Wolf by Scarlett West.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Is love enough to stop a killer?Jace Lydia is fierce and beautiful, and my wolf has set his eyes on her. But an enemy pack’s curse has left me scarred and thirsting for revenge. I have no time for love. Rejected, she keeps a cold distance—until someone begins hunting her. My need to protect her flares, as does the intoxicating need to mate her. But to save Lydia, I must learn to set revenge aside.Lydia After an abusive ex and being exiled from my pack, I’ve sworn off men—until Jace, the only wolf able to soothe my primal need. Too wrapped up in his need for vengeance, he rejects me. But when a killer sets his eyes on me, Jace and I must work together. If we don’t act on our bond and accept each other as mates, everything will be lost. Including my life. If you love broody alphas, sassy heroines, and hot paranormal romance with a heart, Avenging My Wolf is for you. The book is the third installment and a standalone in the series, Stone Mountain Wolf Shifters.
Expected publication August 6, 2024 by Passion Press
Series: Stone Mountain Wolf Shifters, #3, Standalone
ABOUT SCARLETT WEST
Scarlett West writes steamy, paranormal romance featuring sexy Fae. Deep characters and hot romance are her thing.
An avid reader and writer who will never stop dreaming, Scarlett has traveled to many countries and been on tons of adventures. She draws her stories from these places, life experiences, and her grand imagination.
Besides writing, she’s a hobby herbalist and a dancer. If she’s not by the computer typing these things up, she can be found in a forest, on a mountain, or by the ocean.
Scarlett West would like to thank her three F’s: Fans, Family, and Friends. Thank you forever for your support.
In Book I of The E Apocrypha, Lost & Found, by Alex Andre, I was introduced to the different factions and characters, so As & When, Book II was so much easier to follow. It’s filled with details, creating a world that that paints a picture with words. I loved it.
Aileen is abducted, but beware to those that think she is a damsel in distress. When Bo returns from his travels, he does not hesitate to go after her. She has two me who are in love with her and I thought I knew which she would choose. I like how Alex Andre dealt with it better than my version.
I lived in Rochester, New York, for some years and I love that her travels throughout New York were familiar to me. Danger followed her every step of the way, but Bo and Ajinder are not far behind.
So much action and it was unpredictable. It’s not an every day occurrence, that an author can surprise me, keeping me on my toes. I love that I could follow the characters, choosing which I would favor and which would meet a grisly end, waiting to see how right…or wrong…I was. I love the rebuilding of the world, after all technology has been wiped out. I love the ‘library’ they find and only a select few realize how valuable the books are.
There is definitely room for more of the story and I have my fingers crossed that Alex Andre hears his characters talking, is haunted in his dreams, saying we have more to say, so keep writing.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of As & When by Alex Andre.
4 Star
GOODREADS BLURB
They’ve messed with the wrong woman. Aileen’s got a city to run—its shady part, in any case. Abducted and whisked away from Locksville, she refuses to be a pawn in powerful players’ games. She most definitely is not a damsel in distress and needs no freakin knights in shining armor to come to her rescue. Alas, her best-laid escape plans misfire, landing her in even hotter waters far away from home. Aileen must find her footing in an unfamiliar, unforgiving society, fighting tooth and nail to survive.
Bo, Aileen’s sharp and grumpy advisor, would move mountains to find her, his limp and aversion to violence be damned to the Seven Hells! He wouldn’t trust anyone else with the impossible search for the most important person in his life.
Ajinder, executive protection specialist, won’t tolerate his principal being taken—by someone other than himself. He is no stranger to dispensing violence and doesn’t shy away from being on its receiving end. With his motivation stretching beyond pure professionalism, woe to those who question his skills and determination.
Will their grit, smarts, ruthless single-mindedness, and game-changing technology be enough to find Aileen before it’s too late?
As & When is Book 2 of The E Apocrypha. Meet familiar faces from Lost & Found. Return to Locksville, New Kowloon, The Station, as well as discover new corners of the world that had lost all technology.
Genre: Apoclyptic, Dystopian, Fiction
238 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2023
Series: The E Apocrypha, #2
ABOUT ALEX ANDREA (from Amazon)
Alex has lived on three continents, is fluent in three languages, suffers an unhealthy interest in linguistics, and never has enough time to get to all the books on his ever-growing To Read list.
He has always appreciated (and envied) select authors’ ability to string words into elegant sentences and tie those sentences into intricate plots.
The time has come for him to try his own hand in the craft.
I got the idea and the motivation to start doing Tackling The TBR from All The Blog Names Are Taken. I love showcasing the books on Goodreads, my ereader and my bookshelves. The more exposure for authors and their books, the better….RIGHT?
COME ON….JOIN IN.
Previous Total: 1988
Currently Reading
Books Read
Books Added
I added one book because of a Goodreads Giveaway. Click the cover to enter. Check out my post HERE to get the latest news on story, It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover.
To Purchase the 1st edition Hardcover from me, for $25 (S&H included), email me at sherryfundin69@netscape.net
MY REVIEW
Bruce Brown did a fantastic job of sharing the plight of farmers from coast to coast in the United States, even throwing in some bits about the UK. I do remember hearing some of this when I was younger, but never really understood how devastating their plight was. The farmers desperation and feelings of nothing left to lose caused them to do some tragic things, sometimes taking others with them as they left this world.
I own a hardcover of Lone Tree: A True Story Of Murder In America’s Heartland by Bruce Brown.
4 Stars
SYNOPSIS (from cover)
On December 9, 1985, Iowa framer Dale Burrr killed his wife of four decades at close range with a shotgun, then administered the same fate to his banker and to his neighbor, and, as the police closed in, committed suicide. This seemingly sudden and bewildering homicidal outburst shocked the nation and shook much of the Midwest.
Through the story of the lives of these four people, Bruce Brown examines the major themes of the American farm crisis: the farming family, the crisis in farm debt, the transformation of the farming community, and the changing life of the farmer himself. Simultaneously, Brown located this contemporary story within and impeccable research historic context, beginning with the enclosures acts of thirteenth century Great Britain, through the panic of 1893, the great American Depression, and other periods of intense agricultural ferment.
Lone Tree is a story about America changing and about how people deal with change. It is a nuanced exploration of the fabric of our culture. It asks how to make sense of events that lead perfectly normal people to commit horrendously abnormal acts. The result is a work of journalism with all the impact and sheer narrative excitement of a novel, a story rich enough to be compared to the novels of Dreiser, the plays of Arthur Miller, an American tragedy compelling not only because of it inherent drama, but also because of the lesson we must draw from it or face forfeiting our futures.
ABOUT BRUCE BROWN
Bruce Brown is the author of Mountain in the Clouds. His articles and rviews appear in the New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Audubon, and elsewhere.He lived and works on a farm that his grandfather bought near the Canadian border in Washington State. He passed away in 1980.
**images are linked to Amazon (I am an affiliate)**
Hi Everyone. We’ve had some sun and some rain and I have been reading and reviewing. I’m not up to much physical stuff, except for rehab. I have my fingers crossed for a good Saturday (I’m writing this on Thursday) and we can have a pool day with a couple of our friends. I’m working on a post about my hospitalization. It is the most traumatic thing I have ever had happen to me. A big bummer is…I’m losing a lot of hair. It doesn’t look good for the immediate future. I’m pulling out the hats and picking some favorites to keep handy. I thought of buying some, but I already have so many, so I don’t see the point. How about you? Are a hatter? 🙂
Could quaint Cobblewood Cove be a hotbed for black magic?
Genie and her ghostly great-great-aunt Adriana have been too busy with their gelato business and helping with the restoration of the old speakeasy to notice that something isn’t quite right in their small town.
Until pranks with touch of the macabre haunt the neighborhood, right before Halloween.
But it gets worse.
When a locked room murder case points straight at a connection to dark forces, the sleuthing duo fears for the living – and the not-quite so departed.
Can they root out the evil in their midst before it ends Adriana’s happy afterlife – forever?
About Carmen Radtke
Carmen Radtke has spent most of her life with ink on her fingers and a dangerously high pile of books and newspapers by her side.
She has worked as a newspaper reporter on two continents and always dreamt of becoming a novelist and screenwriter.
When she found herself crouched under her dining table, typing away on a novel between two earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, she realised she was hooked for life.
The shaken but stirring novel made it to the longlist of the Mslexia competition, and her next book and first mystery, The Case Of The Missing Bride, was a finalist in the Malice Domestic competition in a year without a winner. Since then she has penned several more cozy mysteries, including the Jack and Frances series set in the 1930s and the Genie and Adriana Darling series.
Carmen now lives in Italy with her human and her four-legged family.
I got a copy of Jack and Jill and The Blue Light Killer by Christopher Greyson from Book Funnel, though Christopher’s newsletter. I would classify it as a mystery and drop the suspense/thriller description, because it read more like a police procedural and I thought it lacked the heart pounding moments and the nitty gritty that I love so much. But, that’s okay. The book does what a good mystery should…kept me guessing.
I love Lady. I’d love to have her at my side too.
Jack gets shot at a lot, so think twice about becoming his partner. Sure, he’s a cop and you can expect some dangerous situations to arise every once in a while, but Jack has a slew of books to share his escapades with you. 🙂
I love dialogue and storylines that combine the fun with the serious, and Christopher Greyson does that easily.
If you are looking for a series with a recurring character and a story that allows each book to stand alone, never fear, Jack Stratton is here.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Jack and Jill and The Blue Light KIller by Christopher Greyson.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
This time, there’s murder on Jack’s doorstep… Jack takes out the trash and comes face to face with a lifeless body in the dumpster. With no attempt to hide his crime, the killer left his gruesome handiwork on full display, wanting it to be discovered. Is this chilling message directed specifically to Jack? When the body count rises, and more suspects emerge, Jack is ordered to join forces with recently transferred Detective Jill Reyes. As they plunge headfirst into the investigation, each new piece of uncovered evidence suggests one of their own may be the killer, leaving Jack to wonder who he can trust. Will Jack be able to outsmart this cunning murderer and catch the killer? Or will he become another victim in their sick game of life and death?
Grab your copy and start reading this electrifying novel today!
From multi-award-winning Wall Street Journal bestselling author Christopher Greyson comes this spellbinding tale with jaw-dropping secrets, a colorful ensemble of characters, and a protagonist you’ll root for from the first page to the last.
Christopher Greyson’s novels have been read by millions of readers. Look for other standalone novels by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Christopher Greyson featuring leading man Detective Jack Stratton. These books can be read in any order.
The Detective Jack Stratton Mystery-Thriller Series And Then She Was Gone (Prequel) Girl Jacked Jack Knifed Jacks Are Wild Jack and the Giant Killer Data Jack Jack of Hearts Jack Frost Jack of Diamonds Captain Jack Jack of Spades Jack & Jill and the Blue Light Killer
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
372 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 30, 2024 by Greyson Media
ABOUT CHRISTOPHER GREYSON
My name is Christopher Greyson, and I am a storyteller.
Since I was a little boy, I have dreamt of what mystery was around the next corner, or what quest lay over the hill. If I couldn’t find an adventure, one usually found me, and now I weave those tales into my stories. I am blessed to have written over twenty novels.
My love for tales of mystery and adventure began with my grandfather, a decorated World War I hero. I will never forget being introduced to his friend, a WWI pilot who flew across the skies at the same time as the feared, legendary Red Baron. My love of reading and storytelling eventually led me to write and it’s the best job I’ve ever had.
I love to hear from my readers. Please visit ChristopherGreyson.com, where you can become a preferred reader, download an exclusive Jack Stratton mystery, and receive advanced notifications of book releases and more! Please follow Detective Jack Stratton on Twitter @chris_greyson and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherG…. Thank you for reading my novels. I hope my stories have brightened your day.
Every once in a while I need a palette cleanser, an easy read to while away the hours, and a cozy mystery is always a good fit. That’s why I’m sharing Framed For Murder by Marla A White. a perfect fit for poolside reading.
I love dysfunctional and quirky characters, and we have a plentiful supply. We have a laugh out loud grandmother, who is a computer whiz, that makes a visit to the small town of Pine Cove. We have Poppy, a cat burglar and Mel, who is the main character. She was a cop in Los Angeles, until she was benched after an injury. We have Gregg Marks, the Deputy Sheriff, Jackson Thibodeaux, a love interest and owner of the Hungry Puppy, Liam, Mel’s brother, is in town to help with The Babbling Brook, Mel’s B&B, repairs. We gotta have a critter and we do. Chewbarka is a Labradoodle. All the requirements for a cozy mystery are in Framed For Murder.
We have plenty of mystery, murder, and crime, but I never felt a sense of urgency. I love to be so into the book that I race through the pages. Framed For Murder kept me reading, but I strolled through the pages, happy to find the answers in the author’s time.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Framed For Murder by Marla A White.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
After a life-changing injury, Mel O’Rourke trades in her badge for bed sheets, running a B & B in the quirky mountain town of Pine Cove. Her peaceful life is interrupted when an old frenemy, the notorious and charismatic cat burglar, Poppy Phillips, shows up on her doorstep, claiming she’s been framed for murder. While she’s broken plenty of laws, Mel knows she’d never kill anyone. Good thing she’s a better detective than she is a cook as she sets out to prove Poppy’s innocence.
The situation gets complicated, however, when the ruggedly handsome Deputy Sheriff Gregg Marks flirts with Mel, bringing him dangerously close to the criminal she’s hiding. And just when her friendship with café owner Jackson Thibodeaux blossoms into something more, he’s offered the opportunity of a lifetime in New Orleans. Should she encourage him to go, or ask him to stay? Who knew romance could be just as hard to solve as murder?
Genre: Cozy Mysery, Fiction, Mystery
284 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication June 17, 2024 by The Wild Rose Press
ABOUT MARLA A WHITE
Marla White started her illustrious career as a storyteller at the age of four by drawing on the TV screen to help Winky Dink get out of mortal danger, earning her a firm spanking. Deterred by the negative feedback, she studied to be a park ranger instead until she realized it was really a TV show about park rangers she liked, not the actual outdoors.
After a stint working in local TV as an assistant/hand model/ad copywriter and occasionally a camera operator, she came out west. Her first job was working for the producers of “A League of Their Own” but no, the character of Marla is not named after her. She’s been involved in several award winning television movies and was the head of television for Emmy Award winner Peter Tolan’s Fedora Entertainment. Additionally, she teaches story analysis and story workshop at UCLA Extension.
Appropriately, she found out on April Fool’s Day she’d sold her first book, “The Starlight Mint Surprise Murder” to Wild Rose Press.
