Welcome to Teaser Tuesday hosted by The Purple Booker, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:
• Grab your current read • Open to a random page • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.
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I come from a family of six children, so I can relate to Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s tale…to a degree…
I love her writing, so by sharing this with you at this time of year…I think it will show the power of love.
You know Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s memories and feelings run deep, because her first novel, Evil Stalks The Night, is the story’s setting inspired by her family home.
Christmas Magic brought to mind many memories of my own. As child, I too was fascinated when I would awake in the morning and the world is blanketed in snow. I too loved visiting my Grandmother’s house, which was just down the road. It was like a mini vacation. I remember making paper and popcorn chains for the Christmas tree.
It is no surprise to me that Kathryn Meyer Griffith became a prolific writer, with her smarts, photographic memory and love of reading.
She may not have had much money, but she had lots of love.
What a vision…all nine of the family piling into the car and to Grandma’s house we go. They actually drove over the river and through the woods.
A heartwarming short story, with the highest highs and the lowest lows, love, happiness, sadness, giving and sharing…the human cycle.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB:Have you ever wondered what a writer’s early years were like and how it affected their future writing and the stories they would tell later in their lives? Have you ever wondered what their childhood Christmases, their early holidays, were like? Well, wonder no longer. This story is about one of my most cherished childhood Christmases…in 1959 when I was nine years old. After my beloved musician/singer/songwriter brother Jim passed away in 2015 from cancer I felt an intense need to write this short story about that special Christmas Eve I shared with him, my other siblings, mother, father and grandparents, and put it out there for everyone to read as a tribute to him and my family. This is my story, part of my childhood, and some of my fondest memories. Note: in the late 1970’s I did a series of illustrated (by me, because I’m an artist, too) short stories for my local newspaper and I’ve used one of my old drawings from 1978 for the first page of this short story.
Bubba and the 12 Deadly Days of Christmas by C L Bevill is Book II in this 7 book Bubba Mystery Series. If I knew that before I grabbed the book and started reading, I doubt I would have picked it up, especially because I haven’t read Book I, Bubba and the Dead Woman. But I do have it, so…
Even though I read this before Book I, it did not affect my rating.
The characters in this series are so much fun with weird and laughable names, and big personalities that get them in all kinds of trouble. Bubba is a good ol’ boy and the sanest of the lot, but does his best not to let others get too close.
It seems like there is always danger afoot at the mansion and Bubba is in the middle of it. With his trusty sidekick, Precious, a basset hound that sticks to him like glue and will do her best to take down anyone who messes with her human, they will unravel the mystery and keep him out of jail…hopefully. Precious has become my favorite character and when you meet her, you will see why.
What do you call people what are afraid of Santa Claus.
Claustrophobic.
Why doesn’t Santa have any children?
Because he only comes once a yeeeaar and it’s down a chimney.
This hilarious romp through the twelve days of Christmas had me laughing and pondering the mystery throughout.
I love these characters, the fun writing and dialogue, their antics and quirkiness, and the mystery that keeps me guessing. I was tempted to mark it down because of the cliffhanger, but I enjoyed it too much and couldn’t do it.
OH MAN, there is a bleep, bleep, bleep cliffhanger!!!!
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB:Bubba Snoddy’s got some problems. His family has descended for the Christmas holidays and not in a good way. His cousin wants to own the Snoddy Mansion, decrepit, falling down columns, termites, wood rot and all and isn’t above using manipulative behavior to achieve his ends. Miz Demetrice is up to nefarious and illegal activities while trying to entertain relatives. His cousin’s ten year old son is the personification of a demon and has hobbies of looking at medical photographs, making stun guns from scratch, and causing havoc wherever he roams. The woman of Bubba’s dreams, Deputy Willodean Gray, is still evading his romantic pursuits. Patients from the local mental institute are wandering over the town, ostensibly assisting with the Christmas Festival thanks to a program established by the mayor to cut costs. And Bubba has just found the dead body of a man dressed as Santa in the Christmas scene at City Hall. Oh, Pegramville, Texas is just the best place to be at Christmas if a fella has a bullet proof vest and a linebacker’s helmet. All the folks think Bubba might have done did it…again, even though it was proven that he didn’t done did it the first time, and Bubba has to move quickly in order to catch a murderer.
Book 2 of the Bubba series. This book has recently been revised.
I was so caught up in The Shock…An apocalypse brings out the best and worst in some people and Scott can make his characters shine as they step up and grow up after being thrown into turbulent and dangerous times…and I was pissed when it came to an end, leaving me needing the next book, and the next, to find out how it will end.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB:A massive solar storm erases the world’s technological infrastructure and kills billions. While the remaining humans are struggling to adapt and survive, they notice that some among them have…changed.
Rachel Wheeler finds herself alone in the city, where violent survivors known as “Zapheads” roam the streets, killing and destroying. Her only hope is to reach the mountains, where her grandfather, a legendary survivalist, established a compound in preparation for Doomsday.
Other survivors are fleeing the city, but Zapheads aren’t the only danger. Rogue bands of military soldiers want to impose their own order in the crumbling ruins of civilization. When Rachel discovers a 10-year-old boy, she vows to care for him even at the risk of her own life.
And the Zapheads are evolving, developing communal skills even as they lay waste to the society they will eventually replace.
I was one of the herd, led down the predictable path, forgetting to read between the lines…Slapped me in the face, woke me up!
The Roma Series continues in Corporate Citizen by Gabriel Valjan and I must say, this is the best one yet. We have action and murder from the opening pages.
I am so glad I stuck with this series. Gabriel Valjan’s writing style was difficult for me to read in the beginning, but now that we are on familiar ground it has become easier…more than that, it has become fantastic.
The complex characters have captured me as they struggle to have a normal life while solving dangerous mysteries. I am very concerned for all of them. I am afraid they may not all make it out of the book alive. Especially Nate, a new member of their team. What will become of him?
I am wondering who Loki really is…and the Magician? What are their objectives? Why are they feeding her info? And the bigger question…Is it good or bad?
Murder is always a component in the Roma series, but the conspiracy is what hooks me. Now…enter a designer drug…or two. Krokodiles. Barneys.
Bianca is the main character, but all the others are vital to the story. I do wonder if her love life will survive through all her and Dante’s trials and tribulations.
WOW. I am on page 236, approaching the end and everything is becoming clearer. I can see why things were so tangled and convoluted that I didn’t see where Gabriel Valjan was taking me.
I am thinking…I must reread this series and if you believe in conspiracies, like I do, and want to find out how misdirection and rogue government agents can affect your life, you will want to read this too!
Gabriel Valjan did an awesome job of leading me around in circles, so I didn’t see the outcome. I WAS one of the herd, led down the predictable path, forgetting to read between the lines. I was smacked in the face! Could this really happen? Is it happening now?
OMG…DAMMIT…I came to the end, but Bianca’s story is far from over. I’m ready for it! Where is it?
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Corporate Citizen from Gabriel Valjan.
A call for help from an old friend lands Bianca and the crew back in Boston. On a timeout with Dante, due to revelations in the aftermath of the showdown in Naples, Bianca is drawn to a mysterious new ally who understands the traumas of her past, and has some very real trauma of his own. Murder, designer drugs, and a hacker named Magician challenge our team, and Bianca learns that leaving Rendition behind might be much harder than she thinks.
ABOUT GABRIEL VALJAN
Gabriel Valjan lives in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the author of the Roma Series, available from Winter Goose Publishing. Gabriel has also written numerous short stories and essays found online and in print.
I have been reading the Secrets of the South Mystery Series by Mary Ellis and was very excited to get my hands on another hit, Magnolia Moonlight. Thank you Mary and Harvest House Publishers.
Mary Ellis’ Secrets of the South Series is fantastic and I am happy to share another book from the series, Magnolia Moonlight, and travel the south with some familiar characters. Each book of the Secrets of the South series targets one of the couples. Their characters grow and develop as they learn to work together and get to know each other.
Beth and Michael work for Private Investigations and they have some issues with each other. Issues they will need to resolve in order to solve the mystery surrounding the suicide of the preacher.
Maybe the issues are more Beth’s than Michael’s. She holds a lot of resentment towards her mother. Is it because she only she’s her as her mom and not a person? Do you have that problem?
Beth had left Natchez under a cloud, but she had done nothing wrong. Would her investigation be stymied because of it?
When Mary mentions Castle, the TV show, the pieces fall into place. Beth and Michael could be Kate and Castle, especially with their verbal ‘foreplay’.
Mary Ellis has one of the characters asking themselves, ” Was guilt genetically hardwired into female DNA?” Food for thought, don’t you think?
Mary does a wonderful job of bringing her characters to life on the pages, making them believable and easy to relate to, though their work may be more glamorous than that of an assembly line worker or a waitress.
Beth and Michael both change and develop into deeper, more interesting characters.
WHOA, I’m on page 256, just reading along, thinking I know everything….then the story takes a wild twist. I think to myself, good one Mary, as I grin ear to ear. I love a surprise…in my books.
Murder, embezzlement, gambling, loan sharks…I am a bit of a gambler myself and love Texas Hold ’em, so Magnolia Moonlight has an extra element that sets it apart from other mysteries. And the mysteries do run rampant, as I twist and turn my way through the pages.
I love Mary Ellis’ stories because there is so much going on that, even though I don’t feel a sense of urgency and lurking danger, the writing keeps me going, wanting me to sate my curiosity of WHODUNIT.
I think I see the beginning of a new adventure for Price Investigations…
Coming soon…Sunset in Old Savannah.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Magnolia Moonlight by Mary Ellis.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
After being jilted by his fiancee, Michael Preston, a former accountant, pursues a new job as a private investigator. And, what better place to work than the new office of Price Investigations in Natchez, Mississippi? Unfortunately, Michael’s partner, Elizabeth Kirby–a crack shot ex-cop with a past she wants to escape–resents having to work with someone whose only surveillance experience comes from television and video games. Their boss and his wife, Nate and Isabelle, are two insanely busy newlyweds who are “forced” by their friends to finally take their honeymoon. However, their romantic trip to Alabama turns into an investigation when they bump into Izzy’s ex-husband, Craig, who seems to have taken up his gambling addiction once again. In an attempt to save Craig, Izzy discovers her ex doesn’t hold all the cards. Back in Mississippi, Michael and Beth are left to take on their first case when a preacher allegedly commits suicide. His widow suspects foul play, but things look grim when Michael discovers the Reverend may have been stealing from his congregation. Will Nate, his wife, and his employees be able to uncover the true face of deceit behind the masks that surround them?
ABOUT MARY ELLIS
Mary Ellis has written twelve award-winning novels set in the Amish community and several historical romances set during the Civil War. Her latest, Midnight on the Mississippi, first of a new mystery series, Secrets of the South, is set in New Orleans. Before “retiring” to write full-time, Mary taught school and worked as a sales rep for Hershey Chocolate, a job with amazingly sweet fringe benefits. Mary enjoys traveling, gardening, bicycling and swimming, and lives in Ohio with her husband, dog and cat. She can be found on the web at: www.maryellis.net or https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mar…
The covers for Bubba and the Dead Woman by C L Bevill, and the rest of the series are so much fun, how could I resist them? I am a sucker for a great cover and love when it pertains to the story inside, like these covers do.
If you like some laughs with your murder mystery, come with me.
Bubba and the Dead Woman by C L Bevill is the first book in the Bubba Snoddy mystery series. If you like some humor and laughs mixed in with your murder mysteries, this series is for you.
Bubba is a big man with a gentle nature and he lives in a small town with an attitude. He sounds like a backwoods hick…half the time, but he is more than he appears to be. He is a fabulously complex character who projects a false facade to protect himself.
His faithful basset hound, Precious is his constant companion, refusing to be left behind. She may look harmless, but she will not let anyone harm her human.
It seems like trouble will forever follow him around, along with dead bodies, so it is no surprise when he stumbles across Melissa Dearman. The surprise is that he has a past with her. The news travels fast through the grapevine of Pegramville and the sheriff haunts his every move.
His mom, Miz Demetrice is a spitfire and you need to think twice before you cross her. She is wacky and wild.
The writing makes me think of the Andy Griffith show, with a bit of Dukes of Hazard and the Beverly Hillbillies thrown in.
Bubba is shot at, beaten up, lured into a pit, falls down the stairs and someone tries to burn his house down with him in it. How much more abuse can the poor guy take before he solves the mystery?
Rip roaring, thigh slapping good fun. Even the dog’s ‘conversations’ are funny, showing her personality. I couldn’t help but crack up when she tries to play hard to get with her human because she’s mad at him. I love when a critter adds an extra element to the story and Precious does that in spades. She may be my favorite character.
Mysteries abound with legends of treasure and plenty of people in the suspect pool.
If Bubba and the Dead Woman by C L Bevill is the first book in the Bubba Snoddy mystery series, but this book will stand alone.
GOODREADS BLURB: Bubba is a good old boy with lots of problems. His ex-fiancee is deader than a door nail and everyone thinks he dun did it. His house is haunted. His mother is running an illegal gambling ring. His dog likes to bite people too much. And he’s got to find out who really did it before the sheriff throws him in jail…again.
Bubba and the Dead Woman, the first book, is FREE! The rest are $2.99 or less.
Cowabunga Christmas by Anna Celeste Burke hooked me. How can I possibly resist sitting in that lounger, watching Kim and Brien hit the surf and wonder what trouble they will find as they butt into a murder mystery.
Christmas, a tropical beach locale and a dead Santa…Merry Christmas to you.
Cowabunga dudes and dudettes, “Sur’f Up.”
MY REVIEW
Cowabunga Christmas by Anna Celeste Burke has so much going for it…A gorgeous cover, hot surfer dudes and dudettes, Santa, a murder mystery and…
We begin our adventure by jumping the fence around the closed pool at this elite resort and taking a “midnight” swim. I have jumped a fence or two in my time, so I thought this was a good sign.
It’s Christmas, Kim is on her honeymoon with her hot and hunky surfer dude hubby, Brien. Kim was going to learn to surf and she got her very own wettie for Christmas.
They are opposites – He is hard and fast, she is slow and soft. The picture of them, in my head, is my favorite two characters from NCIS Los Angeles, Kensi Blye, Daniela Ruah, and Marty Deeks, Eric Christian Olsen.
Shortly after their pool jumping adventure, a body is found floating in the pool…dead. Oh no, it’s Santa.
We have a double and a triple cross and is there a treasure?
Cowabunga Christmas by Anna Celeste Burke with its easy reading and colorful characters has all the elements for a fun and humorous cozy mystery.
One mystery is solved…but, wait, there’s more on the horizon in Gnarly New Year.
“Cowabunga Christmas – it’s the most epic Christmas anyone could every have. We had one of the most awesome mornings surfing.” From Brien.
I LOVE Lauren Carr’s romantic mysteries and I am delighted to be able to share Killer in the Band with you today.
There is also an awesome giveaway, so be sure to enter!
INTERVIEW WITH LAUREN CARR
I love learning about authors, their inspiration, their likes and dislikes and those funny little things that give me insight into their personality. I am so happy to have Lauren Carr here, sharing some thoughts about her books and herself. Welcome, Lauren.
Lauren Carr is the bestselling author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, the Lovers in Crime Mysteries, and the Thorny Rose Mysteries. We caught up with the charming mystery writer during her most recent virtual book tour for Killer in the Band, the 3rd in the Lovers in Crime series.
Lauren, thank you so much for chatting with us. Right off the bat, I’m curious. Is it hard to break away from your successful Mac Faraday series to work on a different one?
Yes and no. I love Mac Faraday and the gang in Spencer, Maryland! But that’s not to say that I don’t love Joshua Thornton and Cameron Gates. The Lovers in Crime mysteries are set in Chester, West Virginia, the real small town where I grew up. Joshua Thornton was my first protagonist featured in my very first books, A Small Case of Murder and A Reunion to Die For. Returning to Joshua Thornton, Cameron Gates, and their family is very much like going home again.
Killer in the Band focuses a lot on J.J. Thornton, Jr., Joshua’s eldest son. Are you planning to take a new direction with the Lovers in Crime?
No, not at all. Joshua Thornton and Cameron Gates are the Lovers in Crime and they always will be. But, like real people, they don’t live in a vacuum. Joshua Thornton does have a family from his previous marriage who are going to insert themselves into Joshua’s marriage and the Lovers in Crime’s cases.
In Killer in the Band, J.J. returns home after graduating from law school and rekindles a romance with his first love, Suellen Russell, a woman twice his age. When it turns out she has information on one of Cameron’s cases, J.J. can’t not get involved.
When you sit down to write a book, a paragraph, or whatever you‘re working on at the moment, do you just sit down in front of the computer, or do you need an outline of some sort? Is there any other prep you need in order to organize your thoughts either before you write or in the process of writing?
I will think about a book, or a part of a book, for a long time before I sit down to write it. I thought about Killer in the Band for a couple of years before I sat down to write even one word.
For new books, I will have everything sorted out in my head, most especially the killer, how he or she did it, and how my protagonist captures them before I sit down to write it. These are the most important elements for me to have. If I don’t have those things sorted out, then I could end up halfway through a book and find that I have no ending, which would be a huge waste of my time.
I will write notes, but only to sort the mystery out in my mind. More than half of the time, I don’t even refer to them once I sit down to write. The process of writing out the notes helps to sort it out.
Who is your greatest inspiration to write? What person makes you believe in yourself, and how?
My mother and my husband. My mother was the first to encourage me to put my imagination on paper. It was easy since I have always been a big reader.
Also, my husband Jack, no matter how many rejections I would receive, always insisted that I keep on going—keep on writing. Even when I had writers block, he was there for me.
Do you have any aspirations to be similar or comparable to another author? Why?
Agatha Christie and Earl Stanley Gardner. They were my first favorite mystery authors, so they will always have a special place in my author’s heart. My complex mysteries have been compared to Agatha Christie and when that happens, it makes my whole day better.
What has been the biggest high since becoming a published author?
Seeing all of my books break through on Amazon to make the top one-hundred in sales in both cozy mysteries and police procedurals. When readers and reviewers began posting fabulous reviews, and even sending e-mails, I knew then that all those years of hard work and learning were worth it.
Has becoming an author changed you, or the way you think about certain things? If so, how?
I am definitely more confident about my writing. Also, I have become more open to other authors’ writing.
I turned down two offers from commercial publishers to independently publish It’s Murder, My Son, and I have never looked back. Before I decided to be an indie author, I was rejected by many literary agents and publishers for a variety of reasons. In a nutshell, they did not think that I could be a commercial success. One literary agent, a big one, told me how talented I was in a two-page letter, ending with a rejection because he did not know how to market me.
I did not fit into a box that they had created. But I have found an audience, and I am a success. Many indie authors, who commercial publishers and literary agents would refuse to talk to, have found audiences without the blessing of commercial publishers or literary agents.
This has made me believe that if you write what you love, even if it is not my cup of tea, or the cup of tea of a New York bigwig, then if you publish and market it correctly, there is an audience out there for you. It’s just a matter of bringing your work to them.
What is your greatest fear about being an author?
Writers block.
From the first word to the moment it became available for purchase, how long did it take you to write and publish Killer in the Band?
That is a very tricky question. I’ve been thinking about the plot for Killer in the Band for a couple of years. I’d say a year ago I sat down to start writing it, right after the release if Kill and Run, which features Joshua Thornton Jr’s twin, Murphy. I was more than halfway through writing the first draft when in March I was completely inspired by the presidential election to write Candidate for Murder. Since that book had such a timely theme, I had to set Killer in the Band aside. I returned to it in June.
I guess to answer your question, I don’t know.
And now, for something completely different…some slightly off-the-wall and possibly irrelevant questions. Feel free to answer as many or as few as you like!
What’s your favorite candy? Ice cream?
Hershey Milk Chocolate Bar King sized for candy. Rocky Road ice cream slathered in Magic Shell for ice cream.
Would the 8-year-old version of yourself kick your ass or praise you for what you’ve done with your life?
Praise me for what I have done, while sighing with relief because during my twenties & thirties, it was touch and go there.
Do you have any talents you haven’t shared with us?
I’m a gourmet cook and love it.
Imagine you’re the sole survivor of a plane crash at sea, and you awake stranded on a deserted and uncharted island in the Bermuda Triangle. Nobody knows you’re there, and you have nothing but the clothes on your back. You’re all alone, and there’s terrifying sounds coming from deep within the jungle. Late that night as you’re starving, a large suitcase washes up on the shore. You open it up. What’s in the suitcase?
A pink handgun with “Pink Lady” engraved on the muzzle, big box of dark chocolate to eat, a cell phone with all of the bars, and working laptop to write about my adventure while waiting for a ship full of handsome sailors to come save me.
What are you working on now?
Each series will continue to grow on their own with interconnecting mysteries occasionally. In January, there will be a new Thorny Rose Mystery, A Fine Year for Murder.
In A Fine Year for Murder, Jessica Faraday and her husband, Murphy Thornton, dive into the cold case murder at a family owned winery.
After ten months of marital bliss, Jessica Faraday and Murphy Thornton are still discovering and adjusting to their life together. Settled in their new home, everything appears to be perfect … except in the middle of the night when, in darkest shadows of her subconscious, a deep secret from Jessica’s past creeps to the surface to make her strike out at Murphy.
When investigative journalist Dallas Walker tells the couple about her latest case, known as the Pine Bridge Massacre, they realize Jessica may have witnessed the murder of a family living near a winery owned by distant relatives she was visiting and suppressed the memory.
Determined to uncover the truth and find justice for the murder victims, Jessica and Murphy return to the scene of the crime with Dallas Walker, a spunky bull-headed Texan. Can this family reunion bring closure for a community touched by tragedy or will this prickly get-together bring an end to the Thorny Rose couple?
As long as readers are clamoring for mysteries, I’ll be writing them.
MY REVIEW
OMG. She did it again. Lauren Carr has created another romantic suspense mystery that had me reading, ignoring my hubby and my mother, unable to put it down until the last page was read.
Killer in the Band is A Lovers in Crime Mystery that is chock full of wonderful characters, both human and animal. Her ability to bring them all to life is amazing. I laughed and cried, because she made me do it.
I cannot pick a favorite character. They are all amazing in their own way. It took me a little while to figure out the culprit(s). Even the bad guys have their reasons for doing for what they do and I could empathize with them…for a moment or two. BUT nothing justifies taking a life.
There is more than one mystery that will have to be solved and more than one villain. I felt so bad for both of them and that is when I know I have read a fantastic story.
Lauren does have a way of springing surprises on me that have my jaw hanging open, thinking, I sure didn’t see that one coming.
The animals…I just don’t know what to say. Some people do seem to have a special ability making it seem as if they talk to them. I do not want to spoil anything, but…have you ever looked in your critters eyes and wondered what they are really thinking?
The characters have trust issues that take time to work through, making it read like real life. I want to tell them…to be a go between and explain things, but that is not my place. I am just a spectator in this complicated story.
My emotion were high and low, happy and sad, and I was left with a good feeling when all was said and done.
I WANT MORE!!!!!!!
I received a copy of Killer in the Band from Lauren Carr.
Joshua’s eldest son, Joshua “J.J.” Thornton Jr., has graduated at the top of his class from law school and returns home to spend the summer studying for the bar exam. However, to Joshua’s and Cameron’s shock and dismay, J.J. moves into the main house at Russell Ridge Farm, the largest dairy farm in the Ohio Valley, to rekindle a romance with Suellen Russell, a onetime leader of a rock group who’s twice his age. Quickly, they learn that she has been keeping a deep dark secret.
The move brings long-buried tensions between the father and son to the surface. But when a brutal killer strikes, the Lovers in Crime must set all differences aside to solve the crime before J.J. ends up in the cross hairs of a murderer.
Praise for Lauren Carr’s Mysteries:
“Lauren Carr could give Agatha Christie a run for her money!” – Charlene Mabie-Gamble, Literary R&R
“As always, Lauren Carr brings an action-packed story that is almost impossible to put down. Her mystery plots have so many twists and turns that I didn’t know if I was coming or going. And the action just didn’t stop from the very beginning till the very end.” – Melina Mason, Melina’s Book Reviews
Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns!
Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr’s seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, romance, and humor.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband, son, and four dogs (including the real Gnarly) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
No One Knows by J T Ellison is worth reading for the ending alone!
Aubrey’s ex is declared dead, but I know I have to ask, “Is her really?”
Daisy, her mother in law, needs to get a life. She is a miserable bitch. Is there a sinister reason his mother insists on declaring him dead? I am curious and very suspicious.
First the accusations, then the waiting, waiting, waiting for him to come home.
Josh and Aubrey are both kinda wimpy. I just wanted to tell them to buck up and get over themselves.
Aubrey needs to quit her whining and move on. I find it hard to put myself in her shoes. I love her carefree friend, Meghan, a true free spirit that will drop everything when Aubrey needs her.
I have a feeling Josh is far from perfect. And shortly after writing that, I felt that if I never heard of him again I would be happy, but I am still curious.
The back and forth, past and present got a bit annoying and disrupted the flow. The chapters were short and I no sooner got involved then I’d have to change gears.
Okay, I like this isn’t going quite the direction I thought. I do like a twist in my stories. Another twist in the tale and it is a doozy. Marvelous, simply marvelous.
I had been disappointed with the first part of the book. I had felt before I even began reading it would be better, because I have read some of her other work. Now, I have finally come to what I have been waiting for and I”m a little more than halfway through.
OMG. I so missed the ending. Totally got me. My mouth is hanging open and I have a smile on my face for the fantastic, creative and mind boggling ending. That last 10% was so suspenseful, with twist and turns that kept on coming.
Could there be another Jewel story? I can see her…..
I voluntarily reviewed a free ARC copy from Net Galley of No One Knows by J T Ellison.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB:
In an obsessive mystery as thrilling as The Girl on the Train and The Husband’s Secret, New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison will make you question every twist in her page-turning novel—and wonder which of her vividly drawn characters you should trust.
The day Aubrey Hamilton’s husband is declared dead by the state of Tennessee should bring closure so she can move on with her life. But Aubrey doesn’t want to move on; she wants Josh back. It’s been five years since he disappeared, since their blissfully happy marriage—they were happy, weren’t they?—screeched to a halt and Aubrey became the prime suspect in his disappearance. Five years of emptiness, solitude, loneliness, questions. Why didn’t Josh show up at his friend’s bachelor party? Was he murdered? Did he run away? And now, all this time later, who is the mysterious yet strangely familiar figure suddenly haunting her new life?
In No One Knows, the New York Times bestselling coauthor of the Nicholas Drummond series expertly peels back the layers of a complex woman who is hiding dark secrets beneath her unassuming exterior. This masterful thriller for fans of Gillian Flynn, Liane Moriarty, and Paula Hawkins will pull readers into a you’ll-never-guess merry-go-round of danger and deception. Round and round and round it goes, where it stops…no one knows.
Kristine Mason writes some of the best suspense stories I have ever read, whether paranormal or mystery, and I was amazed…again…at her ability to take a ghostly story and make it read like a horror novel.
Celeste is psychic but she kept pretty quiet about it, helping out whenever she could.
Heavily pregnant, Celeste received a call for her sister, Eden, for help.
The gene had skipped Eden and had caused a rift between her and Celeste, but when events began happening at her new home, she felt Celeste was the one to call.
The house Eden and her husband had bought is haunted.
“You chase murderers for a living, I write about them…It’s fitting that we live in a murder house.”
Celeste thought she could handle the ghosts, stay grounded and in the land of the living.
It seems like she is learning more about her abilities by “living’ through new experiences. Could her over confidence in dealing with situation be her undoing? Would she come out of the trance or push her luck one too many times? And this time, her unborn baby’s life is at stake.
Celeste walked in the ghostly world trying to put the pieces together. She talked to the ghosts, but they were so cryptic it was hard to decipher their meaning.The mysterious deaths and the evil presence that resided in the house did not give up their answers easily.
What was HE after?
Her mantra, “the living are more powerful than the dead,” kept her grounded making her believe she could survive the evil surrounding her and release the ghosts from their torment.
Could her over confidence in dealing with the situation be her undoing? Would she come out of the trance or push her luck one too many times?
I love Celeste’s hubby, John. It took a while for them to work out some of the kinks in their marriage, but he is attentive, loving and funny. I can see him waggling his eyebrows as he offers to shave her bikini line.
I love Kristine Mason’s ability to surprise me and roil my emotions. The level of suspense in her writing kept me on pins and needles, afraid that this time Celeste had bitten off more than she could chew.
The characters come alive on the pages, making me feel their pain and suffering, their fear and anger, their sadness and regret. They are not always series and in danger, they have lives us normal people can relate to, with all the daily issues and problems that arise. They can be funny and happy, loving and giving, even when dealing with murder and danger.
I’m smiling, teary eyed…
I love the television show Ghost Whisperer with Jennifer Love Hewitt and I can see that she has met her match in Celeste.
I never pass on an opportunity to read one of Kristine Mason’s novels and if you are a suspense and thriller lover like me, I think you will feel the same. I am patiently waiting for the movie/TV world to find her.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The walls are infected, the foundation is diseased…this house is poisoned.
CORE agent, Hudson Patterson and his wife, Eden, recently moved into a century-old mini-mansion. But their dream home has become a living nightmare—occupied by a malevolent spirit who will only share the residence with them and their daughter…in exchange for their souls.
Psychic Celeste Kain is four weeks away from giving birth. The last thing she wants to deal with is the dead. But when she realizes an evil presence is terrorizing Eden, she will go to any length to help her sister. Especially when she discovers there isn’t just one ghost in Eden’s house, but many other tortured souls trapped within its infected walls.
To put an end to the haunting, Celeste uses her unique gift to connect with the ghostly residents. But the wicked entity who has been feeding off the other spirits’ pain and misery has other plans. It wants Celeste and her unborn child, and imprisons her inside the ghost house. Now powerless, unable to free herself and in labor, Celeste needs to fight to find her way back to her body before the entity can take what it wants…her baby.
ABOUT KRISTINE MASON
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Kristine Mason is the bestselling author of the popular romantic suspense trilogies, C.O.R.E. Shadow, and Ultimate C.O.R.E. She is currently working on her next trilogy, C.O.R.E. Above the Law, along with a series of Psychic C.O.R.E. novellas.
Although Kristine has published a few contemporary romance novels, she focuses most of her energy on her romantic suspense stories, which she loves for their blend of dark mystery/suspense and sexy romance. She is fascinated with what makes people afraid, and is famous for her depraved villains whose crimes present massive obstacles for her heroes and heroines to overcome.
Kristine has a degree in journalism from Ohio State University and lives in Northeast Ohio with her husband, four kids, and two dogs. If she’s not writing, she’s chauffeuring kids, gardening, or collecting gnomes. Oh, and she makes a mean chocolate chip cookie!Connect with Kristine on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/kristinemasonauthor, Twitter https://twitter.com/KristineMason7 or email her at authorkristinemason@gmail.com. You can also find out more about Kristine’s books at http://www.kristinemason.net
All covers link to Amazon and I am an affiliate, BUT I cannot help but tell you. Kristine Mason is a master storyteller and I would highly recommend buying the book sets, because you will want to read them all! Except, I have yet to read the Reality TV series.
The Celeste Files of the Psychic CORE series are paranormal and supernatural novels that star Celeste, from the very first book in the CORE Shadow Trilogy, Shadow of Danger. I love the mix of psychics and ghosts, with murder and thrills. Check them out below.
Welcome to Teaser Tuesday hosted by The Purple Booker, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:
4 Stars
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Mary Ellis has written twelve award-winning novels set in the Amish community and several historical romances set during the Civil War. Her latest, Midnight on the Mississippi, first of a new mystery series, Secrets of the South, is set in New Orleans. Before “retiring” to write full-time, Mary taught school and worked as a sales rep for Hershey Chocolate, a job with amazingly sweet fringe benefits. Mary enjoys traveling, gardening, bicycling and swimming, and lives in Ohio with her husband, dog and cat. She can be found on the web at: 
It’s Christmas, Kim is on her honeymoon with her hot and hunky surfer dude hubby, Brien. Kim was going to learn to surf and she got her very own wettie for Christmas.
Kristine Mason is the bestselling author of the popular romantic suspense trilogies, C.O.R.E. Shadow, and Ultimate C.O.R.E. She is currently working on her next trilogy, C.O.R.E. Above the Law, along with a series of Psychic C.O.R.E. novellas.
