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ONLY A PROMISE by Mary Balogh

July 5, 2015

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Survivor’s Club Series, Book 5

Just to recap, this series focuses on a group of men who all sustained injuries during the Napoleonic Wars. The Duke of Stanbrook, having lost his son in that war, had invited this group of men with various serious injuries, and one woman who had the misfortune of seeing her husband tortured and killed, to recuperate at his estate. They spend a few years there healing, form an eternal bond, and after they have healed enough to return to the world, they meet up once a year at the estate to renew their bonds.

By this fifth book, four of the men have married – all but Ralph Stockwood, next in line to be the Duke of Worthington. He lost his childhood friends in the war, and suffers extreme guilt that he talked them into fighting. While physically scarred from the war, it is the emotional scars that have truly crippled him.

With the Duke more than 80 years old, his mother and grandparents are pressuring him to marry quickly and produce his own heir. But Stockwood feels cold and empty inside, and hesitates to make a union when he knows he will make his bride unhappy. Nevertheless, with his title and his money, girls are lining up for him.

The Duchess has a young companion, Chloe Muirhead, who has had quite a bit of scandal and heartache in her young life. At 27, she has no prospects at all. When Stockwood arrives for a visit, he overlooks her presence and has a frank talk with his grandmother about his marital prospects. The next morning, Chloe steels her nerve and makes him a proposal – a marriage of convenience. Neither wants nor expects love, but Chloe would like her own home and a family, and Ralph needs a wife and heir. They marry quickly, and prepare to face society.

Chloe and Ralph overcome many obstacles, which of course bring them closer together. Theirs is a slow growing love, which takes them both by surprise. The sex scenes were surprising to me, almost chaste and somehow seem fitting for the time period and this marriage – but that eventually changes.

Once again Balogh creates wonderful characters and a magical romance. I loved it.

7/15 Stacy Alesi

ONLY A PROMISE by Mary Balogh. Signet (June 9, 2015). ISBN 978-0451469670. 400p.

2 Comments | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Historical, Regency | Permalink
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THE INSIDER THREAT by Brad Taylor

July 3, 2015

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A Pike Logan Thriller (Book 8)

This is the eighth entry in the Pike Logan action series by Brad Taylor, whose real life activities included years of experience with covert operations. Pike is the leader of a group of undercover soldiers, part of a secret US government sanctioned organization known only as the Task Force, devoted to taking down America’s enemies wherever they may be. His cover is a business he has in partnership with his girlfriend, lover and member of his elite team – Jennifer Cahill. Jennifer has a degree in Archaeological studies, and the business is to seek artifacts of scientific and historical value.

The Insider Threat is Col. Taylor’s first novel concerning the horrific threat of Isis and its complete disregard for any feelings of humanity towards the people it conquers. Rumors of an attack in Europe bring Pike and his group to Italy to seek out the Isis group the “Lost Boys,” and prevent them from carrying out their assignment. Coincidentally, they again meet characters from a previous novel who had been working for the Mossad; Shosanha and her partner Aaron Bergman. The two had left the Mossad and were handling independent contracts for other Israeli interests, and were tasked with killing one of the Isis members. The two join with the Task force group agreeing to cooperate as necessary to accomplish both missions.

The book, as all other Pike Logan novels, is filled with action, military strategy and an attention to logical plot and follow through. Shosanha and Aaron fit in with the Task Force operation and surely will take part in further actions. An emphasis is placed on Jennifer’s growth in knowledge of what the group does and her contribution with ideas and methods towards the ultimate success of the mission at hand. Although she indicates at the end of the book that she is tired of the killing and fighting involved with the group’s missions it is very likely that she will continue to work with Pike in future adventures.

A novel moving with lightning speed and action guaranteed to maintain the reader’s attention and set the pace for the next Pike Logan adventure.

7/14 Paul Lane

THE INSIDER THREAT by Brad Taylor. Dutton (June 30, 2015). ISBN: 978-0525954903. 432p.

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BUM RAP by Paul Levine

July 2, 2015

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Levine writes two popular legal series, the Jake Lassiter series and the Solomon and Lord series, and has cleverly brought all three of his heroes together in his latest outing.

Steve Solomon was in the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to help Nadia, a Russian “B girl,” get her passport and back wages from Gorev. When Nadia pulls a Glock out of her purse, Gorev ends up dead, Nadia disappears with her passport and a mysterious bag she lifted from Gorev’s safe, and Steve is left literally holding the gun inside a locked room.

His law partner and significant other, Victoria Lord, hires Jake Lassiter to defend her man and the fun begins. Turns out Gorev was working for Benny the Jeweler, a nice old gent who also happens to be a major diamond smuggler.

The Russians and the FBI are after Nadia, but if Lassiter is able to track her down, will she corroborate Steve’s story that she shot Gorev, using Florida’s infamous “stand your ground” defense? All they know for sure is that Nadia was working as an informant and the Feds don’t want their investigation compromised.

Solomon’s usual roguish charm is subdued while he sweats it out in jail, Lord is scared but willing to trust Lassiter, and Lassiter is not at all sure he will be able to get his client off. The pages fly by and the laughs keep coming in this irresistible south Florida romp, a delicious mix of thriller and comic crime thriller.

7/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BUM RAP by Paul Levine. Thomas & Mercer (July 1, 2015). ISBN 978-1477829868. 352p.

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AS NIGHT FALLS by Jenny Milchman

June 30, 2015

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After winning the Mary Higgins Clark Award for Cover of Snow, Milchman returns with her third standalone thriller set in upstate New York.

The suspense starts building right from the get go when we learn that Sandy, a therapist, and her husband Ben have built their dream home in a desolate area, which they share with their sullen teenage daughter and a sweet old dog. The fact that the desolation is emphasized immediately set the hairs on the back of my neck to tingling.

Nick has been in prison for more than twenty years, but comes up with a brilliant plan for escape, and takes along fellow inmate Harlan and they end up invading Sandy’s home. The story moves back and forth between the home invasion and Nick’s childhood, which is often a way of helping make the bad guy more sympathetic – but not in this case.

There is a shocking twist when we find out Sandy has a walloping secret she’s kept from her family, but they have no choice but to rely on her help if they are to survive.

Another excellent psychological thriller that should appeal to readers who favor authors like Lisa Gardner and Lisa Unger.

6/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

AS NIGHT FALLS by Jenny Milchman. Ballantine Books (June 30, 2015). ISBN 978-0553394818. 384p.

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DAY FOUR by Sarah Lotz

June 29, 2015

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Foveros Cruises has been plagued by bad press, so when things on The Beautiful Dreamer start to turn sour it’s no wonder the crew want to keep things under wraps. A fire breaks out in the engine room causing the ship to prepare for emergency evacuation. It never comes to that, but it does lead to the discovery of a dead girl in one of the staterooms. Dreamer security wants to chalk it up to “misadventure” but any investigation soon gets pushed by the wayside as they realize that the ship has lost power and is now drifting at sea. To make things worse, an outbreak of Norovirus has begun affecting both passengers and crew.

While those in charge try to remain positive, promising updates and rescue, the rest of the ship declines into a chaotic scene of violence and fear. No other ships have been seen for days, food and supplies are starting to dwindle, and the more superstitious on board are claiming supernatural forces are behind the whole thing.

Day Four is the absolute perfect summer read. It’s weird and creepy and hits all the right notes for anyone who enjoys somewhat offbeat/cross-genre reads.

Fans of Lotz’s The Three will quickly realize that Day Four is connected, though the connection doesn’t become clear until the end. Even still, there are questions after the conclusion making me wonder if Lotz has plans to further develop the premise with future installments. (I sincerely hope so.) You don’t have to have read The Three to start Day Four, though I would definitely recommend them both.

I should note that while The Three consists solely of articles, correspondence, and interviews, Day Four is a more traditional narrative. Anyone who might have struggled with Lot’s prior outing may find this latest easier to get into.

6/15 Becky LeJeune

DAY FOUR by Sarah Lotz. Little, Brown and Company (June 16, 2015). ISBN 978-0316242943. 352p.

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BEAUTIFUL DAY by Elin Hilderbrand

June 25, 2015

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Narrated by Therese Plummer

I am (sort of) patiently waiting for the next Diana Gabaldon book on CD (A Breath of Snow and Ashes) to come in from the library, so I’m listening to other things while I wait. I really like Elin Hilderbrand’s books, at least the few I’ve read so far, so when this audio book became available, I grabbed it.

It is a heart-tugger for sure. The “beautiful day” in question is Jenna’s wedding day. The wedding is set at her family’s home on Nantucket, and the story involves everyone in the family.

Her mother Beth died while Jenna was in college, and she took off a semester to stay home with her. Beth left her a wedding notebook, basically a long letter to Jenna describing every detail of the wedding she would not be around to take part in. So of course, Jenna considers every word to be gospel, from the grassy green bridesmaids dresses to their dyed to match shoes.

Jenna is the youngest of four and the older three are much older, and therefore very close. The oldest is Margaux, whom Beth has decreed should be the maid of honor. Margaux has lots of drama in her life. She is a single mom, having divorced her surf bum of a husband, and is currently involved in a secret relationship with her father’s law partner, a man 30 years older than she.

Nick is single and a player, but nonetheless things get weird when he starts sleeping with Finn, Jenna’s best friend and one of the bridesmaids – who happens to be married but her husband is in Vegas at a bachelor party. The other brother is happily married with kids. They all squish into the Nantucket beach house they summered in all their lives and the drama begins.

There is more drama with Stuart, the groom. His mother Ann is the state senator from North Carolina and his father had left her for another woman several years earlier. They had a child together, but divorced soon after and his parents were married once again. Since his half-brother is in the wedding party, Ann decides to invite her husband’s ex, much to his disappointment. In reality, Ann simply wants to gloat that she got her husband back but of course that plan doesn’t work out exactly the way she wants it to.

I am a hopeless romantic and cry at everything wedding related; TV commercials, crazy wedding dances gone viral, and especially books like this one. I welled up on several occasions, not really a great thing to do while driving!

So much happens over this wedding weekend that the pages just fly by – or they would had I read it. Instead, I listened to it and while I really enjoyed the story, I did not enjoy the reader. I haven’t listened to enough audio books to pinpoint exactly what the problem is, so I’m just throwing that out there. I wished I would have read it instead of listening to it.

6/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

BEAUTIFUL DAY by Elin Hilderbrand. Back Bay Books (March 4, 2014). ISBN 978-0316099769. 432p.

Book on CD

Downloadable audio book (Audible.com)

1 Comment | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Romantic Suspense | Permalink
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FOUR NIGHTS WITH THE DUKE by Eloisa James

June 23, 2015

Desperate Duchesses (Book 8)

Eloisa James is my favorite romance writer. She does historical romance, this one set in late 18th century England.

Fifteen-year-old Emilia (Mia) Carrington is in love with her father’s paramour’s son, Vander, the future Duke of Pindar. In her adolescent fantasy, she writes an incredibly sappy love poem that her father decides to share with the boy’s mother. The poem goes further than that, and Mia overhears Vander say some spurious things about her and the poem with his friends.

Fast forward several years and Mia is engaged to be married, but her fiancé strands her at the alter. Mia has lost her parents and her brother, and is guardian to her nephew but her Uncle wants to assume that guardianship and all the wealth that comes with it. The terms of her brother’s will state that she must be married within a year of his death or everything reverts to the Uncle.

Desperate, Mia blackmails Vander into marrying her. He thinks it’s because she is still in love with him and he decides teach her a lesson. He agrees to marry her but makes her sign a contract that he will only bed her four times a year and she must beg for it. And so the games begin until Mia realizes that she really is still in love with him and he slowly understands that he feels more than lust for her.

This is another wonderful romance, filled with likeable characters, enough drama to make the pages fly by and as always, lots of passion. I loved it.

6/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

FOUR NIGHTS WITH THE DUKE by Eloisa James. Avon (March 31, 2015). ISBN 978-0062223913. 384p.

1 Comment | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Historical | Permalink
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STYX & STONE by James W. Ziskin

June 22, 2015

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An Ellie Stone Mystery

Ellie Stone and her father have barely spoken since the death of Ellie’s mother. But when Ellie receives word that her father has been attacked and is hanging on by a bare thread, she drops everything to return to him.

It’s 1960. Ellie’s father is a renowned scholar at Columbia, gruff and opinionated but certainly not a target for murder. When another professor in the same department is found dead just days later, Ellie is convinced that her father’s assault has to be more than a simple burglary gone wrong. Vowing to find her father’s attacker, Ellie embarks on her own investigation into the crime.

Who knew academia could be so deadly? Ziskin’s debut and first in the Ellie Stone series is a solid mystery but I found it to be much stronger in terms of character than in plot.

In setting the tone and scene of the times, Ziskin has made Ellie both stubborn and free spirited. (The stubbornness she no doubt inherited from her father.) Obviously 1960 is not the ideal time for an independent woman, much less one investigating an attempted murder, but Ellie is smart and formidable. She is able to tease out details and information even the police can’t.

Styx & Stone sets up Ellie as a series lead, explaining her background and her relationship with her family. The mystery does take a bit of a backseat to all of that, but is still well built and engrossing.

So far there are three books in the Ellie Stone series: Styx & Stone, No Stone Unturned (a 2015 Anthony Award nominee for Best Paperback Original), and Stone Cold Dead, which released just last month.

6/15 Becky LeJeune

STYX & STONE by James W. Ziskin. Seventh Street Books (October 15, 2013). ISBN 978-1616148195. 285p.

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LOVE IRRESISTIBLY by Julie James

June 21, 2015

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I am really enjoying Julie James’ FBI/US Attorney series. I’ve read the first one, Something About You, book 3, About that Night, and book 5, It Happened One Wedding. I managed to get my hands on book 4, and I was very happy I did.

This is a terrific series, and one of the things I like best is that they don’t need to be read in order. But if you, there are delicious little nods to the previous books, so it’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned. The series centers around the Chicago U.S. attorneys’ office and the FBI agents that they work with so closely. Love Irresistibly centers around assistant US attorney Cade Morgan.

Cade’s specialty is bringing down dirty politicians, and anyone who knows Chicago politics knows that can be a full time job. He has the goods on the state senator, but knows there will be a meeting at a swanky restaurant, and he wants to get that meeting on tape to cinch the conviction. To do so, he needs permission and assistance from the restaurant.

Enter Brooke Parker, general counsel for the Sterling restaurant group. Brooke and Cade are trading barbed quips from the get go, but with her help, Cade manages to get what he needs. But he owes her and she is soon collecting when her company finds out someone hacked into their account.

I love that James creates characters that we can care about. They are real people with real problems and it’s fun watching them work things out.

I really enjoyed this book and now have to hunt down the last book in the series, which is my case is book 2, A Lot Like Love. Berkley, are you listening? Stay tuned…

6/15 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

LOVE IRRESISTIBLY by Julie James. Berkley; First Printing edition (March 2, 2010). ISBN 978-0425251195. 304p.

2 Comments | Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance | Tagged: Romantic Suspense | Permalink
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INVASION OF PRIVACY by Christopher Reich

June 20, 2015

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Joe Grant, an FBI agent, meets a confidential informant on a dusty road outside of Austin, Texas. Both are killed and the FBI puts out the story that Joe was the killer and died in the shootout.

This opening scenario begins a high tech version of a conspiracy showcasing Christopher Reich’s command of the world of computers and the technology involved in advancing the field.

Joe’s wife Mary, mother of his two daughters, finds too many holes in the official version of Joe’s death and begins asking questions and pushing for their answers. She is aided by a newspaper reporter who has been fired and considered a has been by his ex supervisors.

The first deviation from the official story put out by the FBI is a call from Joe while in the action that leads to his death. The message, on Mary’s cell phone, is not read and mysteriously disappears. Mary and “Tank,” her reporter associate, are lead into a conspiracy involving the creation of the newest and most terrifying surveillance system yet developed.

Joe and Mary’s oldest daughter, teenaged Jess, is in her own right extremely capable in original work with computers, and on her own searches out a world class computer expert in order to get him to see if the missing call can be recovered. Mary, Tank, and Jess come up against people in positions of great power with vested interests in safeguarding the new surveillance system and retaining control of it to increase their own wealth and power.

The book is gripping and grabs hold of the reader right from the start. It is typical Christopher Reich; intricate, fast moving and utilizing technology descriptions that the reader can relate to. Characterizations of the leading players is a normal Reich talent running all through his novels. An engrossing read.

6/14 Paul Lane

INVASION OF PRIVACY by Christopher Reich. Doubleday (June 16, 2015). ISBN: 978-0385531573. 384p.

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