ACR REVIEW My Favorite Cowboy by Donna Grant

Heart of Texas #3, this can be read as a standalone, but honestly the whole series so far is awesome. The youngest Harper boy Caleb, who swore he'd never fall in love and planned to be alone all his life, meet his match. Audrey Martinez dedicated herself to her work and it shows she is one of the best equine vets in the county, he love life not as important to her as saving and taking care of horses. Both Caleb and Audrey are the love 'em and leave them type but as soon as they met each other they are both not so sure they want to leave the other. But first they have a mystery to solve.

Someone poisoned four horses at the auction house. Audrey was called in as a favor to look after the horses. Caleb and Brice just happened to be at the right place at the right time to help. Using their military background and the help of Clayton, Jace and Cooper they stake out the area incase the person responsible comes back to attempt to poison more horses. Audrey stays up with the horses keeping tabs on them. Sure enough the culprits come back but they let a bunch of horses lose to avoid capture. It seems one of the things they are trying to do is stop Audrey from identifying the poison they smash up her lab, and even blow up a dead horse to prevent her from doing so. Caleb and his brothers are going to protect Audrey and her sister until they find out who is behind the whole thing and who they are out to ruin.

Caleb and Audrey pretty much have insta-lust. No matter how deep they get or how quickly they fell in love they are both hesitant to admit anything because they both have their issues they need to sort out. Audrey was always so focused on her career she never really made time for anyone else but her sister, and when her mother died and she watched how her father became so emotionally vacant a part of her walled up her heart to protect herself from the same. Abby and Brice always thought that their mother abandoning them didn't effect Caleb that much because he was so young but Caleb was traumatized the worst. Caleb never wanted to trust someone enough to give them his heart for fear of his love not being enough to keep them so he refused to let himself fall in love. Audrey and Caleb spent so much time walking away from people they ended up walking straight toward each other, but will they both be brave enough to love each other.

Overall, I loved this. I loved the emotional depth for both Caleb and Audrey it made them seem very real to me. I really loved the mystery and the suspense it made for a very exciting read. Donna Grant is awesome at what she does I love this series and I am not ready for it to end I can't wait for Jace and Cooper to get their own HEAs. 

ARC REVIEW The Demon Crown by James Rollins

I can not tell you how excited I was to get approved for this ARC. Seriously I squealed, loudly and threw in a happy dance. Why was I so excited? I was so excited because I freakin love this series, Sigma Force is one of my absolute favorites. James Rollins is amazing when it comes to weaving a mystery that ties together history and science in an action packed, intelligent, and suspenseful story. I, for one, greatly appreciate all the research Mr. Rollins does for each of his stories, with the fiction so close to the non-fiction, it really makes the whole thing seem so real. The characters are so real to me, through the previous twelve books I have come to know each of the characters and I love them. I have been TeamSeichan from the beginning and this is a very heavy Gray/Seichan book but for a damn good reason. It's a very emotional book for them, I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Kat and Monk go out into the field together for their own little adventure, Kowalski and Maria are still together, although Maria is mentioned in the book she isn't actually in it.

There was a biological attack on the Hawaiian Islands, in the form of huge wasps. I know it sounds like a cheesy B-rated Sy-Fy channel movie but believe me it's so much better. Gray, Seichand, Kowalski, a local fireman named Palu, a entomologist Ken Matsui, and a Japanese Intelligence agent Aiko handle things on the front lines trying to stop and eliminate the threat of world domination by way of these insects and the madman behind it all. While Kat, Monk, the Librarian of Congress Elena Delgado, and the entomologist for the National Zoo Sam Bennett tackle how these prehistoric insects came to be and how it connects to James Smithson the founder of the Smithsonian and a giant chunk of amber that went missing during WWII. I'm not going to say to much on the actual story because I don't want to give to much away and the blurb for this book is actually really good.

Off the coast of Brazil, a team of scientists discovers a horror like no other, an island where all life has been eradicated, consumed and possessed by a species beyond imagination. Before they can report their discovery, a mysterious agency attacks the group, killing them all, save one, an entomologist, an expert on venomous creatures, Professor Ken Matsui from Cornell University. 

Strangest of all, this inexplicable threat traces back to a terrifying secret buried a century ago beneath the National Mall: a cache of bones preserved in amber. The artifact was hidden away by a cabal of scientists—led by Alexander Graham Bell—to protect humankind. But they dared not destroy it, for the object also holds an astonishing promise for the future: the very secret of life after death. 

Yet, nothing stays buried forever. An ancient horror—dormant in the marrow of those preserved bones—is free once more, nursed and developed into a weapon of incalculable strength and malignancy, ready to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting world. 

To stop its spread, Commander Grayson Pierce of Sigma Force must survive a direct attack on the island of Maui. To be there first has always been the core mission of Sigma Force, a covert team forged to be America’s front line against emerging threats. But this time, even Sigma may not be able to decipher this deadly mystery, one that traces back to the founding of the Smithsonian Institution. 

With each new discovery, the menace they hunt is changing, growing, spreading—adapting and surviving every attempt to stop it from reconquering a world it once ruled. And each transformation makes it stronger . . . and smarter. 

Running out of time and options, Commander Grayson Pierce will be forced to make an impossible choice. To eradicate this extinction-level threat and expose those involved, he will have to join forces with Sigma’s greatest enemy—the newly resurrected Guild—even it if means sacrificing one of his own.

Okay, I'll say it, Rollins is so much better than Crichton. Don't get me wrong Michael Crichton is in my top 15, Eaters of the Dead is one of my favorites and Sphere is creepy as hell, but the way Rollins adds all the intense action on top of the scientific and historic mystery just makes it all so heart-poundingly good. The way he comes at the mystery from two different paths makes a thrill ride; intelligent, emotional, daring and an inventive storyline and it all leads up to an explosive and heart stopping conculsion. I absolutely love his writing his active setting, his character development, his plot twists, I especially love at the back of the book where he reveals just how much of the book is truth and what's fiction. I can not wax poetically enough about this book or the series.         

ARC REVIEW Wolf in her Soul by N.J. Walters

I love finding good paranormal romance, too bad I didn't find it sooner! Book 8 in N.J. Walters' Salvation Pack series it can be read as a stand alone, less than half of the book actually takes place in Salvation Pack so the past couples make an appearance but it's not so overwhelming that you feel lost in the past history of the pack.

Reece Gallagher has been working as a Detective in Chicago for the last ten years searching for a dream. He hates being away from his pack mates and his family especially his twin brother but he has had the same dream for as long as he can remember it's of a faceless woman with red hair who needs his help and she's in Chicago. Reece is on the verge of giving up he's already put in his notice to quit when he gets called on an assault and the woman, the victim, is the red head in his dreams.

Hannah Burdette has lived her life on the run, always prepared to leave at a moments notice and how to defend herself all because she's a half breed. Her Father raised her taught her to always hide who she is because if a full blooded wolf ever found her it could mean her death. When she turned eighteen he left and ever since Hannah has been on her own. Hannah never knew anything else never expected anything else so when she is attacked by a full blooded wolf she is prepared to leave and never look back but the cop assigned to her case isn't going to let her go alone. Reece convinces Hannah that she will be safe with his pack and they start to head out of Chicago and head to Virginia, and Reece's home. Hannah has a hard time accepting everything Reece is telling her because it is so different than what she is use to, and the sheer thought that they are mates is completely foreign to her. Hannah also is finding it difficult to accept the packs help for fear that something might happen to them because of her. Reece has the whole drive to convince her otherwise.

Overall, the suspense conflict with the full blooded psychopathic wolf ends too quickly for me, leaving the latter half of the book to deal with Hannah's internal conflict. Which is fine I love good internal conflict, but I love suspense even more. Other then that I really enjoyed this book.       

ARC REVIEW The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz

I'm sad, not that this book was sad but I'm sad that I didn't like this one as much as I had hoped. The idea the concept it really intrigued me but the execution was not what I expected not after Ashley Bell, which I really loved. It was well written Koontz has an excellent active setting but does tend to get a little to wordy, and as much as I like backstory reading an almost repetitive internal monologue gets tedious. I could not empathize with Jane, I could not connect to her. You know she is FBI and had a loving husband and has an adorable boy that she entrusted his care to two friends, she just seemed to cold and methodical to me and really whiny at other times. Everything she is doing is out of love but she has let her obsession take over, she's paranoid and doesn't trust anyone but a limited few, but as they say you're not paranoid if "they" are actually out to get you.

The Silent Corner is the first book in a new series for Koontz it follows Jane Hawk whose husband unexpectedly committed suicide, afterwards she became convinced that he was all part of some massive conspiracy and his death was part of it. Jane has gone to the silent corner, a term used when you are not off grid but hidden on the grid. She is questioning people who have had loved ones commit suicide and has figured out just where this may have all come from and through some shady people and the use of blackmail she just might have figured out the exact person who is behind the whole thing. Jane must trust someone, that someone in a short time won her trust and friendship and can help her get to the bottom of it.

Overall, I was disappointed with it. Disappointed in the same way I was disappointed in Fear Nothing and Seize the Night, I stopped reading Koontz for a while after that. I don't think I'll read the next book because I frankly just don't care what happens.      

ARC REVIEW Saving Mercy by Abbie Roads

More dark, bloody, chilling romance by Abbie Roads. Saving Mercy has a real sinister feel to it, and can be real morbid with the content, Cain can be lugubrious but with his method of finding out what happened at crime scenes is quite disturbing and how he got that way is disconcerting and it is completely understandable for him to be the way he is. Cain is the son of a serial killer, Adam Killian, who forced Cain to watch all his murders and bathed him in the blood of the victims. Ever since Cain has had an extrasensory ability to read the murder scene, he can see the murder through the killer's eyes. He now works for the FBI with the agent who saved him from his father and then raised him as his own.  

Mercy survived the unthinkable, she watched as a serial killer murdered her parents in front of her and his own son. She barely survived but grew up fairly normal and well balanced until the "good" Dr. Payne has her institutionalized. Dr Payne is obsessed with Mercy and her survival of the attack, he is telling everyone she's crazy and out of her mind. Cain is friends with a nurse, Liz, a woman who has been like a mother to him since his Father was caught and he was saved. Liz tells him he needs to save Mercy from the doctor. Cain has been keeping tabs on Mercy the whole time and when Liz fills him in on what the doctor has been doing to Mercy he knows he's the only one who can save her. But the most recent murders is tieing Cain to them, and it is suspiciously like his father's murders, only it couldn't possible be his father he is still in prison  and only Cain can track down this copycat. Cain and Mercy have a connection, and while Cain feels guilty for it Mercy sees it as a kinship. Mercy proves she doesn't hold him responsible for the sins of his father. Can their bond prove to be thicker than blood?

Overall, such a good book. OMG! Suspenseful, nice twist. Bloody, oh so bloody. Romance in an unlikely time but fated to happen. Abbie Roads is a great writer, she transports me into the book and proceeds to creep me out, I love it.  

ARC REVIEW High Tide at Harvest Moon by Taryn Black

Taryn Blackthorne has me hooked. I haven't read a book like or felt like this about a book since I first found out about Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series. This is the start of the Fundy Bay Pack series, this first book is centered on Lexi Coolen and Kerr MacDonald. They each have their own set of problems, pasts that they are trying to move on from. In Kerr's case losing his wife and his brother; in his grieving he stopped doing his duties as Beta and became a drunk living in a college town and it was easy to find a willing body to share the night with. Lexi's past is a painful one, that has resulted in her having trust issues. She left home as soon as she could and never wanted to look back again, she wants nothing to do with shifters. I love what Lexi is, she is intelligent, strong willed and fiercely independent; and when faced with something that scares her she digs in her heels, lifts her chin up and gets mad. Kerr is a very promising book boyfriend, kind of a hound dog (yes pun intended) at the beginning of the book but he's really a very devoted and sexy guy with a sense of humor. I love the Alpha, Forbes. I look forward to his book.

Lexi is working on yet another Master's Degree and working as a Teacher's Aid, for the last year and a half she has been living in this quaint college town restoring an old two story Victorian house. She takes in roommates to help make ends meet but this last one takes the cake. Pulled out of bed in the middle of night to pick up her drunk eighteen year old roommate and the notorious Kerr MacDonald. She never expected Kerr to start going furry on her, trying to remain as calm as possible Lexi is forced to call her mother so she can contact the local Alpha. Kerr is surprised that not only was Lexi able to keep him from shifting until he was in the safety of his alpha but his wolf claimed her as his mate.

Forbes, the Alpha for the Fundy Bay Pack is taken back that Lexi has managed to hid herself from the pack for as long as she did, but it's only because her powers have just recently started to emerge. But now that he knows she's there he knows the dangers that are there for her if not claimed by a pack and soon. Using the pack rules Forbes makes a deal with Lexi that Kerr moves in with her for a brief period of time and determines if she a threat to the pack. Lexi has dealt with shifters since she was twelve, she hasn't told anyone about shifters. She kept the secret after what they did to her and after they kicked her out but she plays along with Forbes and Kerr because she doesn't want any trouble, but she has rules of her own and these rule further prove to Kerr that something very bad has happened to her at the hands of shifters and more than ever needs him to protect her and prove her wrong that not all shifters are like those of her old pack. The tide is high in Fundy Bay and with it comes trouble in many forms.

Overall, this was a great book. I look forward to reading more especially if Forbes is next for a book. Taryn Blackthorne has a great narrative, her active setting is very good, the book sucked me in and I inhaled the book in one sitting. I see promise in the series. And I can't wait to meet Lexi's best friend Hannah.          

ARC REVIEW Dead End Fix by T.E. Woods

Book 6 in T.E. Woods' Mort Grant/Justice series. It was a good read I don't think it's quite as good as the previous books. The two stories that usually run parallel throughout the book cross at some point and the unrelated stories are more connected then originally thought. This book, however, the two have nothing in common except for the moral of the story.  The two separate stories were good but not the suspenseful, edge of you seat, gripping story. Another issue was the lack of Lydia. I love her and her part of the story, I loved how it played out, was the best part too bad there wasn't more. Allie who really has shown off her psychotic entitlement issues before really shows them now. Mort is faced with the moralities of justice and not every bodies views of justice is the same especially when it comes to gang life.

When we last left Mort and Lydia they just found out that Allie had kidnapped one of her nieces. Mort asked Lydia track her down and find his granddaughter. Allie outright hates Lydia, she thinks Lydia stepped into her place in Mort's life. Allie is determined to get her family back and get rid of Lydia. Thankfully Lydia is freakin' brilliant and is three steps ahead of Allie the whole book.

Meanwhile on the streets of Seattle; a young boy is killed in a drive by shooting. Even though it is apparently gang related  and against the advise of the gang unit at the station Mort keeps digging trying to find out who murdered this young boy whose only fault was wearing his older brother's jacket. Another young man, who has been looking for a family connection seeks out the local gang, The 97, to join their family. The young man witnessed the boy get shot down and used the rival gang patch, the Picos, on the jacket as his way in with the 97s. Lying he tells the leader that he killed a Pico and earns his way in. The murder of the boy stirs the pot and the gang members start killing each other left and right. The truth can't hide forever and soon gang justice is swift.

Overall, it was a good read but I wish they were switched and Lydia and Allie were the predominate story, but I liked the conclusion.  

ARC REVIEW That Darkness by Lisa Black

That Darkness is the start of a new series for Lisa Black. I figured what a better place to start. I glad I did. Lisa Black really proves that she knows her stuff both with forensic science and with weaving a tangled web of deceit and murder all together to make an outstanding story. This is kind of like Death Wish with a mix of Dexter and CSI. No Romance! This is one of my not in the mood for romance books. What I liked about this book is the in depth look at what Maggie does, as the forensic technician she sees the dots that no one else has connected yet. Maggie's specializes is fingerprints but she does just about what ever they need her to do.  Jack Renner is a detective and a vigilante. Jack had a turning point in his life where he decided due process is flawed and to take matter into his own hands. He has been tracking down this specific person for a long time and has finally caught up with her. In the mean time he in finds people who have gotten away with their crimes and take matters into his own hands.

It all started with the discovery of a Jane Doe in a cemetery. A young girl that Maggie was able to discover who she was. Jack knowing the white slavers would get away with it dealt with it himself. But when the dead body shows up in the morgue Maggie is able to connect it with another body. Outwardly the two have no obvious connection but Maggie is able to connect them through trace evidence. With the permission of the lead detective Maggie starts to investigate the connection. Jack is recruited to help. Meanwhile Jack is stalking a serial rapist for his next victim. Jack tries to throw Maggie off the trail but Maggie isn't that easy to fool.

Overall, this was a great suspense, crime mystery. It gets pretty intense.  

ARC REVIEW Fixed in Fear by T. E. Woods

This is book FIVE in T.E. Woods outstanding Justice series, this is one of those series where it is best if you've read all the books prior to this one, otherwise you will more than likely get lost. So if you are interested start at the beginning it is so worth it. As always T.E. Woods delivers a suspenseful and thrilling journey for Mort Grant and The Fixer.

Mort's daughter Allie is back and finally showing her true colors to Mort and the rest of her family. She shows up after killing her abductor and later lover a Russian Crime boss and asserts herself in to his seat of power. Allie wants to be part of her family's life, but with everything she has done in the past she is resorting to blackmail to get them. Allie even tries to blackmail Lydia to helping. Lydia is trying to give up being The Fixer but things keep happening to keep her in the game. Allie thinks she knows Lydia and tries to manipulate her, but Allie doesn't know just how dangerous Lydia can be when backed into a corner.

 Mort has once again found himself in the middle of a mystery this one however involves his best friend and an old murder. Larry is Mort's oldest friend he is a renowned author and scholar, Larry's wife was murdered very early in their marriage and it has greatly affected his life. His wife's uncle and Larry grew very close after her passing so when the uncle turns up dead along with four other people Larry specifically asks Mort to help with the investigation. Sheriff Rita Willer is a new character and a very welcome addition to the Justice series, I hope to see more of her in the future. This mystery was very satisfying; I was able to guess the end result but it took nothing away from the entire thing being enthralling.

Overall, this series just keeps getting better and better and I really can't wait for the next one.  

ARC REVIEW Black-Eyed Susan's by Julia Heaberlin

Black-Eyed Susans is a psychological thriller by a local author (for me) Julia Heaberlin. I have read her debut novel Playing Dead and loved it. Black-Eyed Susans screwed with my mind way more and that just the way I like 'em; the creepier the better. Julia Heaberlin has a wonderful, intelligent and informative writing style; she infuses just the right amount of history to her setting to give you as a reader a feeling that you know the place as well. You can tell a lot of research went in to the book and even the format of how the book is written feeds into the your feelings of the characters. The majority of the book flips flops between seventeen year old Tessie, and her grownup self, Tessa. I love how it does that you get to know her post-trauma and at the same time who she is as a person now,a mother of a teen-age daughter herself. I have been known to complain about flashback scenes, but these are not exactly flashbacks she's not remembering them. It's done right it with two separate POVs clearly marked. If she had written it chronologically with Tessie's story first then skipped ahead it wouldn't of had the same impact when you got to the "what a twist" moment. I really enjoyed all the characters, they all have their place in the story they are well written and very believable.

Tessa is the lone survivor of a serial killer. The last thing she remembers is buying a few thing at the gas station before going on her nightly run; the next hing she sees is a black bird trying to peck out her eyes. Years later Tessa still doesn't remember what happened in the missing time, she testified her story and never really knew if it was the right man or not, she just hoped Terrell Goodwin was. Now with the execution date getting closer Tessa has enough doubt that she joins forces with William "Bill" Hastings, the lawyer working pro bono for Terrell Goodwin; and DNA Forensic scientist Joanna Seger, to try and get an appeal for Terrell. Joanna works the scientific angle while Bill tries to help Tessa remember.

Tessie is happy and lucky to be alive, she was left in a ditch surrounded by black-eyed susans with dead bodies to keep her company. Tessie after getting rescued and in the hospital suffered a set back, she suddenly went blind; clinically called Conversion Disorder laymen terms hysterical blindness. Now she has to visit one last psychiatrist before testifying. She works reluctantly with him to get past her blindness and remember what happened. Her rock through it all her best friend Lydia plays a big part in keeping her normal and sane.

The story progresses on Tessa starts remember more as Joanna discovers things they didn't have the technology to find all those years ago. Tessa is haunted by the other Susans and tormented by out of season black-eyed susans being planted out side her window. Tessa and Joanna start up an unlikely friendship while Bill tries to start something more than friendship with Tessa. Tessa is just trying to get through he days without losing her mind or driving her daughter crazy or vise versa. The pieces start to fall in to place as the clock ticks closer to Terrell's execution.

Overall, it was a great book, I couldn't put it down.        

ARC REVIEW Fixed in Blood by T.E. Woods

Fixed in Blood in the fourth installment of the Justice series as known as the Mort Grant series. I love this series, it messes with your mind and heart.The scary reality of the world meshed with a fascinating and personable characters that have you either rooting for them or wishing them to burn in hell. I love Mort and Lydia and their father/daughter type relationship. Their would be great need for rejoicing if the situation that brought them back together wasn't so heinous. I must say this is a Series Book you really need to read the previous three books to get the full impact of the story and emotional ties.

When the last book left off Mort had ended his friendship with Lydia because of his daughter. He left Allie in Lydia's protection only to have her disappear again. Mort didn't understand that both Allie and Lydia did what they did to protect him and his son and his family. Now Mort is still the same living in his new houseboat and working with the same great people. Lydia is working at her practice helping her patients in ways they never thought possible. She is also casually seeing Police Detective Paul Bauer, (who we meet in the last book, Mr. Tall, Dark and Sexy). The trouble starts when a young woman's body shows up with extensive cuts all over her body dealt with precision and accuracy to make it as painful as possible. Soon afterwards the vice squad calls in Mort and his team they found online a snuff video of their victim. Using what little clues they found they try and track down who is behind this. Meanwhile one of Lydia's patients calls her in the middle of the night frantic, scared and apologizing saying this was her only option. The call cut off and Lydia's instincts is telling her this is something major. Not much time later does another girl show up dead with a snuff video to go with it. The girls only obvious connection is a loan company.

Mort and Lydia's path intersect again when both their cases lead them to the loan company, Rite Now. The loan company is the only link between the two dead girls and Lydia's missing patient. They discover more clues that lead them to a movie set filming in the area and with Lydia's help they discover who is really behind this. The tale tale twist that always accompanies the Justice novels is a good one this time I didn't see it coming and as always The Fixers sense of justice is sweet.

Mort forgave Lydia because something happened with Allie that made Mort see the truth about his daughter. The book also includes what Allie has been doing but I will leave all that as a surprise if you read the book.        

Overall This whole series is one to read they just keep getting better and better and the emotional connection you feel with Lydia and Mort is just icing on the cake.

ARC REVIEW Her Wild Hero by Paige Tyler

Book three of Paige Tyler's X-OPS series, Her Wild Hero is a continuing story arc. It is not pertinent that you read the first two, it's helpful I think just for background information on the arc and some character info but everything you need to know is very well placed. I love shifter books especially when they are secondary to the storyline. I loved this story it's almost non-stop action. Great characters Declan and Kendra along with the other members of the X-Ops team are fantastic to follow on this hectic adventure. Paige Tyler really has made a fan of me.

Kendra Carlsen after the events previously has been itching to get out into the field. Finally she is getting the chance it is just suppose to be a training exercise but still getting out in the field with a team is better than nothing.
Declan MacBride is a bear shifter and he really doesn't like it, he keeps that side of him closed off as much as possible because he is scared of the monster he might become. Being with Covert Ops is his only outlet for his bear self.

SNAFU! Of epic proportions. A week in the Costa Rican rain forest, it's a training op they said, it'll be easy they said, it's field experience they said. They always say but it never is. Declan feels that something is wrong, he knows someone is following them they never expected it to be the vicious hybrid shifters. The group gets separated and Declan is charged with one task Keep Kendra Alive, not that he has to be told to do that he has been crushing on her for the last eight years and just when he thought he was finally over her they get caught in this shit storm. Kendra isn't a pushover she can hold her own just fine. Together Declan and Kendra hide and fight off the hybrids alone. Kendra realizes along the way that everything she has been looking for in a guy is embodied in Declan. But with Declan's past and his own personal demons can they survive this.

LOVE LOVE LOVE will read previous ones and all future ones!

ARC REVIEW Be Afraid by Mary Burton

Be Afraid book two in Mary Burton's Morgans of Nashville series is aptly named. I was so caught up in the storyline I forgot to make a guess on who dunnit, and it was surprising. Much like the first one it focuses more on the mystery and suspense over the romance aspect. This is a weird story and I love it! The bad guy, the puppet master working the strings of other killers helping them along to follow through on their psychopathic fantasies is obviously a split personality, similar to Jekyll and Hyde, one named Madness and one named Reason. They start off the book with the murder of a local real estate agent.

In the last book, which it really does not matter if you have read or not the only thing about it that pertains to this story is the introduction to the Morgan family and the fact that the name is legendary with the Nashville PD. Rick Morgan and his dog a police trained Belgian Shepherd, Tracker; were both shot in the line of duty and have had time off coming back Rick goes into homicide and even though Tracker has officially retired still comes into work with Rick. Together with his new partner Bishop, who has a chip on his shoulder the size of Boston which is where he is from originally; work are called in on a case where the remains of a child are found wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a trash bag at the bottom of a park fountain. Georgia Morgan the baby and only girl in the family and also the forensics expert for NPD wants this case solved, and since all the forensic artist have a backlog she asks visiting artist Jenna Thompson to do it.

Jenna Thompson is on voluntary leave from her own precinct after a case that hit to close to home for her. Now she is in Nashville researching her horrible past. When she was five Jenna's entire family was murdered only she was spared and taken by the killer and locked in a closet for nine days. She remembers the incident but there's one thing she is drawing a blank on and it has to do with a second man; a man she can draw except for his eyes she half thinks it's just a phantom someone her mind created. In helping Rick with the reconstructing she starts off a series of events that entwine everything and everyone.

Rick is automatically suspicious about Jenna she is hiding something but gives her the benefit of the doubt trusting her she will tell him in time, he is also very attracted to her. Jenna doesn't want to be attracted to Rick but its an attraction that can not be denied. Strange things are happening women are being murdered and then set on fire when one of the murders is found dead of an overdose it seems to be closed cut and dry but another happens and once again the murder is found dead. The key to the man behind it all was the one who got away.

This is one I could not put down. I would recommend this to any mystery thriller fan.

ARC REVIEW House of Echoes by Brendan Duffy

House of Echoes is a gothic horror thrill ride. At times it feels like a ghost story or a monster story but one this for sure is it is a creepy story. Brendan Duffy's debut novel, House of Echoes tells a tale of a family needing a new start, writing in such a way you feel a pull a sympathy for them which makes everything that happens make more of an impact. I had been craving a good scare and this satisfied it. I did not want to put this down and I am glad I read it during the day time hours. History plays a big part in the story along with the main storyline with the Tierney Family is an ominous and unsettling journal entries from a young girl in the frontier times when the town of Swannhaven was founded.

Ben and Caroline Tierney needed a new start, for several reasons. Caroline suffers from bipolar disorder and just recently lost her job; Charlie their eight year old son is very cerebral and in his last school the bullies singled him out in moments, it got so bad he ended missing for a whole day only to be found locked in the basement furnace room of the school. I think the only stable one out the whole family is Bub, the baby. Ben is an author, his grandmother just passed and left him and his brother a house in a small village out in upstate New York. When out there scoping out the property he found an old house perfect for the family. The plan was that Caroline and Ben would renovate the house and start up an Inn. Charlie starts acting more withdrawn than normal spending more time outside. Caroline deals with practically doing the work herself, but with her bipolar disorder she always sees things worse than they are. Ben finding out the history of the town and the house he bought feels inspired to write. But odd things almost immediately start happening after they move in and the weird villagers just compound everything. The more Ben discovers about the village and the house the more strange things get.

Overall it is a creepy read, it's a good read; keep the lights on and you'll never look at the woods the same way again.  

BLOG TOUR Furious Fire by Shiloh Walker w/ GIVEAWAY

The Grimm are coming to an end…the second to last book

He is the love of all her lives…

Grimm’s Circle, Book 8

Thomas Finn, troublemaker, gunslinger, guardian angel…loner. More than a hundred and fifty years ago, he was shot in the back then brought back to life just in time to watch a demon masquerading as his best friend kill the love of his life.

Now, as a Grimm, he satisfies his need for vengeance hunting down demons like the ones that took Rebecca from him. His mission: kill as many as he can, then, when the time comes, go down in a blaze of glory. But with each kill, he comes closer to a line no angel should cross.

Her name was Rebecca. Then it was Tilly. Then Ada. Now, Kallypso. She’s lived so many lives, she can’t even remember when or why it started. All she knows is, she’s always searching for a man with golden eyes that make her burn. And when she finds him—as she always does—she knows that spark of joy means she’s only seconds away from death…again.

This time will be no different…unless something breaks the cycle once and for all.

Warning: Contains the Groundhog Day of star-crossed lovers, a pissed-off guardian angel, a demon-hunter with an axe to grind, and the battle to end all battles. Be warned…there’s pain ahead in this book. Oh, and that HEA finally happens. For these two, anyway.

This will be the second to the last in the Grimm series…make sure you read it…want to see how it all comes down…

 “How is your touch ever going to harm me, Finn?” she asked as she came close to him. Her nipples pressed against the thin cloth of her chemise and through the almost-sheer pantaloons, he saw the dark shadow between her thighs.

But that wasn’t what made his throat go dry or what had his heart slam against his chest with an intensity he hadn’t known since before his death.

She’d spoken to him…in Becky’s voice.

But Becky was dead, and unlike Finn, when she’d died, she hadn’t been brought back through Death’s door.

“Stop,” he growled, uncertain what trick his brain was playing on him. Dreaming. He knew he was dreaming. He’d always hated it when he dreamed, but this had to be the worst—

She smiled at him, and as the smile curved her lips, her face wavered, reformed. Now she was growing taller, her skin darkening from pale cream to a warm, toffee brown. “Stop what?”

Another Grimm-tastic book from the brain of Shiloh Walker. Shiloh Walker has a captivating narrative, with in the first words I was pulled in to the world of angels and demons. With the series almost over so much happens in this story. It switches from first to third person and from present to flashback and is a nonstop adventure. Mark Twain based his story on the adventures of two young boys he meet, Thomas Finn regrets ever telling him those stories. Finn loved and lost Rebecca, lost her to his best friend Sawyer, who turned out to be possessed by a demon. Rebecca has always been his torment, she has been reincarnated over and over again always dying shortly after coming back together with Finn. Each of her incarnations she remembers more and more this latest one she remembers enough to become a bad-ass demon hunter.

Will, the leader of the Grimm, comes across Rebecca's most recent incarnation, Kalypso Carfax, first and is determined to keep her and Finn apart and break the cycle they keep living. But Kaly doen't leave well enough alone and almost kills herself hijacking a ride with Will. Kaly knows immediately Finn but it takes him some time to figure it out. But their problems are pushes to the side as they are faced with a giant opening releasing countless demons. Will has gathered all the Grimm for an epic-like battle and a drastic end.

I absolutely loved this book, but it's Shiloh Walker I'm not surprised I loved it.  

Buy Links:

Amazon

Barnes& Noble

iTunes

Kobo

Don't forget about the first seven books in the series!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Your Eyes by Mary Burton

Cover Your Eyes new Romantic Suspense from Mary Burton. Wooo emphasis on the suspense. A mind bending thriller and I guessed wrong!! I always make a guess and most of the time (almost always) I guess right, not this time. It is an attention grabber, it enthralled me to the very end. Mary Burton is a magician with writing, she makes you look in one direction when she is leading you somewhere else completely. It is definitely a book that I will recommend to anyone who reads suspense, mystery and thrillers.

Rachel Wainwright is still a relatively new public defender she changed her major after her brother was wrongly convicted of a crime and wasn't exonerated until after his death in jail. Rachel has now devoted her time to helping people who were wrongly convicted. Her newest case is a man convicted of murder thirty years ago. He is on deaths bed and his only wish is to be free and spend his last moments with his son. Rachel wants to believes him she has gone over everything and thinks their is enough to cause reasonable doubt especially if she can get a DNA testing done on the evidence found. Rachel stirs up enough trouble that she has made herself a target.

Detective Deke Morgan is the son of the man who made his career on that case and as much as he doesn't want to believe Rachel something in his gut tells him she's right. Especially when more murdered woman fitting the same MO as the one from thirty years ago. To top it all off Deke is having very strong feelings for Rachel. Rachel has issues with trust but for some reason she feels safe with Deke. With new evidence popping up and more people dying Rachel and Deke work together to find out the truth.  

REVIEW Out of Control by Alexandra Ivy

Out of Control is a prequel in The Sentinels series. It first come out in the anthology Predatory last year. The only thing I don't like is that I have to wait until next year for the next book in the series (January so it's not that bad). It is a novella and can be read in one sitting, depending on how long you get to sit as a mom I don't always get the privilege to do so. Out of Control if a tantalizing glimpse in to the worlds of Sentinels, it's a nice tease.

Angela Locke is a PhD. student with a massive crush on her supervisor. Angela has always felt out of place she always just thought it was because she was work orientated, she doesn't know how wrong she is. Dr. Nikolo Bartrev is undercover at the college, he is there to keep an eye on Angela. A rogue sentinel has heard of the things Angela has done with her research and is determined that only Angela can fix her. The psychopath has left a false trail of dead bodies in another state while she stocks Angela. Niko knows how the rogue's mind works and knows she will show up around Angela at any moment. Niko is one of the best Sentinels and has never let his feeling get in the way before, until now. The attraction between Niko and Angela is messing with Niko's objectivity and is forced to call for back-up before it's to late.

Alexandra Ivy does paranormal right. The Sentinels are very X-menish. A portion of the population has advanced genetics as known as high-borns. They all have volunteered to live in a complex away from "norms". Not everyone of the high-borns was lucky and their are some freaks, ones that look so different their is no fitting in for them at all. This wonderful world of excitement and romance. I really look forward to the next book Blood Assassin.      

REVIEW Penumbra by Keri Arthur

Penumbra: Book Three in the Spook Squad. I would be so happy if their was more of these in the future. As always it is action packed with plenty of stuff going on. The ending was satisfying but leaves you wanting more.  Sam Ryan and Gabriel Stern are back and this time no longer partners. Sam reassigned to guard the clone government minister Dan Wetherton. Gabriel happy about having Sam reassigned but pissed that she was put on protection duty of a man who will put her in direct line of the people who want her. Sam has been having dreams filling in the blanks on her past and the man who is the missing link between her future potential and her past. Gabe is working trying to find out  who has been killing more people and protecting Sam at the same time. Sam has had enough with hiding and is putting herself in plain site daring the scientist to come and get her. Sam still thinking Gabe wants nothing to do with her is trying to move past her feelings but things keep happening showing her just what Gabe wants. The ominous Joe Black keeps inserting himself in Sam's life and more Sam learns about her past the more questions it raises. Just who is Dan Wetherton? Who is Joe Black? Who keeps killing people associated with the failed and closed down experiment called Penumbra?

Gabe and Sam finally work together to make sure that Penumbra stays closed and with Sam's past fully recovered and her powers fully back as well can mean so much more than anyone ever thought.


  

Review Reprise:  the first two Books in the Spook Squad series previously posted on my old blog.

Memory Zero: by Keri Arthur book one in the Spook Squad series originally published ten years ago. A futuristic, scif-fi, paranormal, mystery, urban fantasy really everything I love in one book. A well written story by Keri Arthur, I have seen her books around but never had the opportunity to read on until now and I'm glad I read this one. Sam is my favorite kind of character she is strong, snarky, doesn't know her own beauty and when the shit hits the fan she does what she does best and improvises. The story is an enigma wrapped in a mystery when one thing leads you down one path you end up somewhere completely different. Sam loves her job but when her partner goes missing her life turns upside down. Two week after his disappearance he calls her up to meet but what she finds is a man who says he is but isn't her partner and a strange monster that's starts to hunt her and a strange, large, handsome man who saves her. To make matters worse the not partner is a vampire bend on turning her she has no choice but to kill him before he kills her. Now because nobody believes that he was a vampire and his wife spilling lies about them having an affair she is suspended from duty. The spook squad has had their eye on her for some time so they bring her in for an "evaluation" but really they are testing her abilities and how it is she can do that groovy thing she does so well. Sam's life began at age fourteen nothing before then existed not even her memory. Gabriel Stern, the mysterious handsome large man who saved her from the flying monster is the one of the top men of the Special Investigations Unit, the "Spook Squad" , and he is determined to find out why Sam is different why she can tell the difference between the paranormal species and why the criminal mastermind is out for her. Gabriel is trying to protect Sam from those who want her but she just keeps going off on her own trying to solve what happened to her partner and her past slowly starts to reveal itself. It is revealed about just what Sam is but her past is still a mystery. Even after they thwarted the criminal mastermind and Sam's evil ex-partner Sam's still suspended and transferred permanently transferred to the spook squad and partnered with Gabriel. To be Continued in Generation 18.


Generation 18: by Keri Arthur A beautiful new cover for the re-release of Generation 18, book two of Keri Arthur's Spook Squad series. It picks up a little bit after the conclusion of Memory Zero where Gabriel and Sam have been partners for enough time to drive each other crazy. Gabriel pushing Sam away and keeping her at the office doing paper work and research trying to get her mad enough to ask for a transfer. The start up of a serial killer and kite monster attacks draws Sam out of the office and in to the playing field and into the line of fire. Gabriel is pushing her away because he has lost two partners in the past and he likes Sam way to much to risk losing her, but he has played the bastard to many times and risks losing her as more than just a partner. The evidence leads Sam and Gabriel to the Medical Military base knows as Hopewell. Hopewell has continually had medical experiments in the past and there are ties that might lead Sam to finding out her past. She has been having dreams about a boy named Joshua and is able to talk to the mysterious "Joe Black", the hobo looking hairy guy who helped her in the past, in dreams and he points her in the right direction for her own past and the rejects from Hopewell. The growing connection between Gabe and Sam is growing stronger, Gabe knows this and uses it to his advantage but only when Gabe is in trouble does Sam face that fact and use it to help find Gabe when he is kidnapped by the rejects. Sam whose body has been stunted at the age of sixteen has just started changing and has had her first period she is also experiencing newer and stronger powers. I really have been torturing myself with this series I have had all three books and I have been waiting until closer to review to read each one, at least it is only a months wait between each books. I am really enjoying this series with the yo-yoing between Sam and Gabe relationship and Sam always getting beat down and getting right back up to help and save the day. These are really enjoyable reads I can't wait to dig my claws in to Penumbra, which comes out next month.

REVIEW Madeline's Christmas Wish: by Ella Quinn

Ella Quinn's The Marriage Game 5.5 Madeleine's Christmas Wish was good but felt like it could have been more. It felt rushed to finish. The down time where the two characters have to themselves didn't seem like enough and it felt like something was missing from the beginning. I missed the one before this and if the missing part is in that book it should have been summarized a little for the unfortunate people who missed the last one. Other than that it has the same Ella Quinn style that I find enjoyable to read.

Madeleine was left in charge of her family with her brother missing presumed dead and her father dead presumed murdered. She was left in charge of the family winery but due to the rules of the new French government she needs a man for her to report to. He is a despicable, condescending statesman who knows nothing of her work. It is obvious he has an ulterior motive, just what Madeleine isn't sure of until the family receives orders that a virgin must leave the house and go to a London whorehouse in payment. To save her young sister Madeleine herself goes.

Georges,Marquis Cruzy-le-Châtel, and his family fled France early on to avoid the war. Georges became a spy for the English, and when he learn that the woman he was betrothed to as a child was being smuggled into England he recruits friends to help intercept her and saves her from a horrible life in a brothel. After saving Madeleine all she wants is to return to her family in time for Christmas. Traveling across France incognito Georges and Madeleine marry to help save her family lands and her reputation. Madeleine thinks it will just be in name only until Georges starts to woo her. Spending time again with her childhood friend and old flame rekindles old feelings but she hold no hope in Georges wishes and her wishes are the same.

Overall it was a good read, and a nice filler story for Georges. I would recommend this especially if you have read all the other books.    

The Unforgivable Fix: by T.E. Woods

The newest novel from T.E. Woods another outstanding Justice novel. I swear these just keep getting better. Mort and Lydia come together again this time to fight something a little closer to home. If my hands hadn't been holding my tablet I would have been wringing my hands the entire five hours it took me to read this book. I was so emotionally involved in this story I put it down for nothing. (Lucky the kids were at school at the time) This is the kind of series that is best if you have read the other books, you can still enjoy it if you haven't but really think about reading the first two before it just makes it smoother and less confusing when you start this one.

Seattle detective Mort Grant has finally decided to sell the family house. He is finally letting go of all the memories attached to the house and move on. Lydia after listening to Mort once again tell her she needs to get out and move on as well. Keeping his advice in mind when an old friends calls and asks if she con take on a temp partner who needs to clock in time with patients. Lydia opens her office again and opens it to patients. Lydia faces her own problems when the unlicensed doctor working under her starts to have some unusual dealings with his cases. When a high standing social figure is charged with sexually abusing his step daughter and the girls biological father goes to Lydia for help things start to get messy for The Fixer.

Mort's missing daughter Allie has gotten involved with some very shady characters and now is on the run from them; she runs to Dad. After being gone for almost five years Allie shows up knowing her Dad can help. Mort asks Lydia if they can stay with her until they get things situated with the very bad people after Allie. Lydia has an instant dislike to Allie, she can't really explain why. It's a mix of jealousy of having Mort as a father, such a devoted and loving father like him, and their is something off putting about her and her ability to manipulate people to her will. Lydia doesn't want Allie in her house because she doesn't want her to discover that she is the Fixer.

Allie plays at the poor daughter, but she really is a master manipulator. She knows she got her self into this mess and she is using Mort and her lovers enemies to her advantage. Unfortunately her actions lead to more than Mort can handle. This book had me suffering from a major book hangover.