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Monday, September 29, 2008

14 by J.T. Ellison

Ten victims, each with pale skin and long dark hair. All have been slashed across the throat, the same red lipstick smeared across their lips.

In the mid-1980s the Snow White Killer terrorized the streets of Nashville, Tennessee. Then suddenly the murders stopped. A letter from the killer to the police stated that his work was done.

Now four more bodies are found, marked with his fatal signature. The residents of Nashville fear a madman has returned, decades later, to finish his sick fairy tale. Homicide Lieutenant Taylor Jackson believes the killings are the work of a copycat killer who's even more terrifying. For this monster is meticulously honing his craft as he mimics famous serial murders…proving that the past is not to be forgotten.

Great mystery/suspense!!!! 14 keeps you turning the pages and questioning yourself throughout!!!! Loved the return of Taylor and Baldwin, they have a great chemistry!! :) The plot was solid and the twists and turns were unexpected. The ending leaves you wanting more!!! A gripping read by a fantastic author!!!! 4.5/5

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Moonstone by Marilee Brothers

A sickly mom. A tiny house trailer. High school bullies and snarky drama queens. Bad-guy dudes with charming smiles. Allie has problems. And then there's that whole thing about fulfilling a magical prophecy and saving the world from evil. Geez. Welcome to the sad, funny, sometimes-scary world of fifteen-year-old Allie Emerson, who's struggling to keep her and her mom's act together in the small-town world of Peacock Flats, Washington. An electrical zap from a TV antenna sets off Allie's weird psychic powers. The next thing she knows she's being visited by a hippy-dippy guardian angel, and then her mysterious neighbor, the town "witch," gives her an incredible moonstone pendant that has powers only a good-hearted "Star Seeker" is meant to command. "Who, me?" is Allie's first reaction. But as sinister events begin to unfold, Allie realizes she's got a destiny to live up to. If she can just survive everyday life, in the meantime.

Wow, this was a terrific book starting a new series!!!! I am amazed that this is Brothers YA debut novel, it was sooooooo good!!!!! Link some paranormal with teenage angst and along comes Moonstone. It's a book that left me itching to pick it back up every time I had to put it down and I stayed up past my *bedtime* last night despite being exhausted because I needed to know what would happen next. I truly enjoyed this book, and cannot wait to find out what happens next in Allie's story!!!! 5/5

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

August Moon by Jess Lourey

Furious after being stood up by local hottie Johnny Leeson, Mira decides to abandon Battle Lake, Minnesota, where the women are churchgoers, the men like to hunt, and the body count is above average. But when a cheerleader bites the dust, Mira loiters long enough to snoop.

Mira is highly suspicious of the New Millennium Bible Camp, a disturbing place with a Stepford Wives meets Hee Haw vibe. Before ditching Battle Lake, Mira is hell-bent on confronting her own demons and catching a killer.

I just love this series, and feel the books keep getting better and better as the series progresses!!!! Mira James is a one of a kind sleuth and a character I truly love reading about. She's quirky and down to earth and constantly getting herself into trouble in Battle Lake. There is good progression of returning characters and I have also enjoyed the introduction of new characters in this book. They feel as if they belong and are not just thrown in for good measure!!! I truly enjoyed this book, and look forward to the next book in the series!! :) 4.5/5


Saturday, September 20, 2008

Don't You Forget About Me (Gossip Girl #11) by Cecily Von Ziegesar


Don't You Forget About Me continues the #1 New York Times bestselling series about the provocative lives of New York City's most prestigious private school young adults. Sharp wit, intriguing characters, and high stakes melodrama drive the action of this addictive series that have made Gossip Girl the lit world's coveted "it" girl.

I really liked the way this series ended. I was pleased with the outcomes of all of the main characters and was glad that the future of the smaller characters were not delved into. This particular book focuses mainly on the 5 main characters and I thought it was a great ending to the series. Now I'm anxious to go back and read the prequel and see where it all began!!!! ;) 4/5

Friday, September 19, 2008

The Scot, The Witch and The Wardrobe by Annette Blair


He sought his birthright

Long ago, Rory MacKenzie's Scottish ancestor lost the bewitching woman he loved and regretted it forever. Before he died, he sent her his greatest work of art, a beautifully carved unicorn, as a token of his eternal devotion. Now, Rory is dettermined to reclaim the unicorn and restore his clan to glory.

She fought her birthright

Like all the women in her family, Victoria Cartwright has inherited the key to the mysterious wardrove in the family attic. Legend says that only the girl who possesses the magic of her ancestor can reveal the treasure within. But Vickie refuses to believe she is any sort of enchantress.

They bot got more than they bargained for...

When Vickie unexpectedly opens the wardrobe, the unicorn makes her dreams come true---until the handsome Rory shows up with his own plans for the unicorn, and for Vickie...

I absolutely adore this series. Annette Blair knows how to capture and keep the attention of her readers. The story of Rory and Vickie is magical and invoked so many emotions. The magic, the mystery, the romance, it makes for such a wonderful and fun story. I love the push/pull between Vickie and Rory and the dream aspect of this book was so enchanting. She describes her cast of characters so well, I feel that I actually know them, and understand them........just love this!!!! I am so sad to see this trilogy come to an end, but have already begun the next one which features Vickie's triplet sisters... 5/5

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis

Gracious living can be murder. First in an all-new mystery series— includes delicious recipes and great tips on entertaining!

Few can compete with Natasha Smith when it comes to entertaining, but her childhood rival, Sophie Winston, certainly tries. Natasha may have stolen the spotlight—and Sophie’s husband—but Sophie is determined to rob her of the prize for the Stupendous Stuffing Shakedown. She just needs the right ingredient.

But Sophie’s search for the perfect turkey takes a basting when she stumbles across a corpse. And when the police find her name and photo inside the victim’s car, Sophie will have to set her trussing aside to solve the murder—or she’ll be serving up prison grub.

I truly loved this book!!!!! What a great start to a new series!!! :) I loved the little tidbits that start off each chapter, and loved finding out what the chapter entailed that the tidbit was linked to!!! The cast of characters were great, such fun getting to know them all, and you have to love all the animals that were included in the story!! The details were terrific, I felt as if I was in the kitchen cooking up something wonderful with Sophie as I read the descriptions of her making her meals. This was SUCH an enjoyable read for me, and I can't wait for the progression of this series!!! :) 4.5/5

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Mates, Dates and Sole Survivors by Cathy Hopkins

I decided that next time I saw him, I'd have a word about maybe giving each other a bit more space. After all, Mum's always saying that you have to work on relationships and not give up at the first hiccup....

Lucy seems to be out on a limb. Everybody has a boyfriend except her, and since she put Tony on the back burner he's found someone else. Then on a spa weekend with Izzie, she meets someone who seems just right for her. And he feels the same way about her.

But after a while, Lucy starts to feel smothered. Can someone love you too much? Maybe the life of a singleton isn't so bad after all!

Another great installment in this series!!!! I think I enjoy each one a little more than the last. In this book we get a look at the girls and their relationships. We see the good and the bad parts of each relationship and ride the wave through their summer holiday. Ups and downs of each relationship are detailed, and these girls really figure out what it is they want out of a boy. I feel the character development of these girls is fantastic from book to book, and truly feel they are growing and learning. Great series, I'm already anxious to read the next one!! :) 4/5

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Congratulations to our winner.......


Melissa is the lucky winner of Joy Nash's Immortals: The Crossing!!! :)

Congratulations Melissa, email is on the way requesting your mailing addy so I can pass it along to Joy!!!!! :)

Friday, September 12, 2008

Guest Post: Pulling Weeds from Joy Nash

Not only am I lucky enough to be giving away a copy of her book due out SOON, but Joy Nash has agreed to do a guest post for today!!!! :) Thank you so much Joy!!! :)

Remember today is the last day to enter to win Immortals: The Crossing!!!! Sign ups close at midnight tonight and the winner will be posted tomorrow!!!! There are still more chances to win though, make sure to visit Joy's site and check out the list of people who will be giving away more copies!!! :) 50 Books in 50 Days!!!

And without further ado:

Pulling Weeds by Joy Nash

We didn’t have much rain around here in July and August, but recently we got torrential downpour. So I figured it was a good time to get into the jungle that I was pretending was my flower garden and pull some weeds. The thistles, especially, were getting me really nervous. They had pretty purple flowers on them—which only meant that they were getting ready to drop about a bejillion seeds. Now, the thistle might be the national weed…er, flower… of Scotland, and I might write books set in that wonderful country, but that in no way means that I want thistles to take over my garden. And anyway, the thistles in my garden are Canadian thistles, not Scottish ones.

But I digress. I went out to the garden and pulled and pulled, then pulled some more. And it was looking good—especially compared to how it looked before. But there was no way I was going to be able to pull up every last weed. At some point, I had to let go of absolute perfection.

This is tough for a perfectionist like me. But it’s only a fact of life that perfection doesn’t exist, and it’s much easier to let the garden weeding end than it is to pry the final, edited proofs of my manuscript out of my clenched fingers. Just one more read through---please! I just know I’ll find another typo that my editor and several line editors and copy editors missed. Or that little inconsistency that somehow made it through all the scrutiny.

This is how it works: I finish a manuscript and do a “final” read-through. Usually a couple critique partners and my husband read it, too. Everyone finds mistakes. While I’m fixing them, I usually find a couple more. I reluctantly turn in the manuscript to my editor, hopefully before my deadline. She suggests some changes or clarifications. After I do, the manuscript goes to several copy editors who comb the work for typos and inconsistencies. The finished product is typeset, then the page proofs are sent to me and to a last professional reader. When the page proofs come, I eye them with complete unease. I only have two weeks to turn them back in. Usually I avoid looking at them for the first week. Then I realize that if I don’t read them through, I’ll have to turn them back in unread, and a mistake I might have fixed would be published. Ugh.

You would think that by this point the thing would be perfect. But there’s no such thing. Just like in the garden, there are some weeds that get by. Here are some of the errors I’ve found in my final, typeset page proofs: General typos, like words that should be capitalized, but aren’t, or (horrors!) a misspelled or misplaced word. And then there are minor inconsistencies, like in one book where a secondary character described in the beginning of the book with one eyes of one color, and somehow managed to change by the end of the book. (I was very glad I caught that one!) Or another time when a character dropped her cloak in one place, and then picked it up in a totally different location after an intervening scene. I happy to say I’ve yet to find a really major mistake in my final proofs. Thank goodness.

In almost every published book I read written by someone else, I end up noticing some typo or other small error. Or one character calls another by a third character’s name. Sometimes I notice a bigger error, and I wonder how something like that got by so many eyes. But it happens, I know—authors read their own book so many times while writing it that it gets harder and harder to bring an objective eye to it. Editors are insanely overworked and will inevitably miss something. No book leaves the printer’s in perfection.

So when I read, I just do what I hope my neighbors will do when they walk past my garden—look at the flowers and realize the author did the best she could with the weeds.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I've Been Tagged......

My girl Lori from Lori's Reading Corner has tagged me...

Here are the rules: I am going to list three categories of books. 3 MUST Read Books, 3 Keep Your Eyes on These, and 3 Look For These Soon. Keeping with the theme, I am going to tag at least 3 bloggers. They should put these same lists on their blog but SUBTRACT one book from each list and ADD one of their own. Then they should tag at least 3 more bloggers. It will be fun to see how the lists change as they go around the blogosphere. Please come back to this post and leave a comment so I can see how the lists are changing.

Since this is Book Buzz…please keep your lists to titles released in 2007-2009.

So, here goes…[asterisks are next to my additions]


3 Must Read Books:
* A Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action (Signet Eclipse) by LuAnn McLane
Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain
The Lace Reader, by Brunonia Barry

3 Keep Your Eyes on These:
* The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
14 by J.T. Ellison
The Keepsake, by Tess Gerritsen

3 Look For These Soon:
Cross Country by James Patterson
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
* A Fatal Slip by Melissa Glazer

And I am tagging ~~
Lenore at Presenting Lenore
Wendy at Wendy's Minding Spot
Kristi at The Story Siren

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Wednesday Night Witches by Lee Nichols

On the outs with her live-in boyfriend, Eve Crenshaw flees Manhattan for a different kind of island life off the coast of Maine. With the help of her college roommate, Natasha, and her friend Kim, she rents a seaside cottage and waits for her boyfriend to beg her to return.

Instead, he gets a new girlfriend.

Now Eve's stuck on an island with no cable TV, no Starbucks and no eligible men. Desperate for diversion, the women meet every week for drinks, dubbing themselves the Wednesday Night Witches.

One stormy evening, the Witches raid Kim's cellar and find a strange bottle of liqueur. Getting into the spirit, they each make a wish, lift their glasses and…well, no one can quite recall what happens next.

But suddenly their wishes start coming true!

Only, as life gets better and better for the Wednesday Night Witches, everything else on the island starts going to hell.…

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were so likable, real and fun to *get to know* throughout. It was a fun book, and shows us that our dreams don't have to be so far out of our reach!!! ;) It flowed really well and was a quick and easy read for me. I know beach season is over for many of us, but this would definitely be a great beach/vacation read!!! :) 4.25/5

Book Give Away ~ Immortals: The Crossing by Joy Nash


Hey everyone, I'm excited to be part of the 50 Books in 50 Days Giveaway that Joy Nash is holding for her upcoming book: Immortals: The Crossing. Make sure to check out the link to find all of the other participating sites!!!!

My day for the giveaway is this Friday, September 12th, so please leave a comment on this post and one person will be randomly picked to win an autographed copy sent to you directly from Joy Nash!!!!! :)

You must leave your email addy or an active blog so that I have a way to get in touch with you to let you know you've won, and get your snail mail addy so I can pass it along to Joy!!!! :)

Soooooooo, what are you waiting for?!?!? Comment on this post now for your entry!!! :)

Sunday, September 7, 2008

The Trouble With Witches by Shirley Damsgaard


"Ophelia has always considered her psychic abilities an imposition, except for those times she's been able to put her paranormal talents to good use--like when a friend asks her to help find a missing teenager. Unfortunately it means she and Abby, her kindly, canny sorceress granny, will be taking to the road to pursue the vanished girl in the wilds of Minnesota.

The signs are pointing toward the secluded new age research facility of Jason and Juliet Finch, who live with their troubled--and possibly matricidal--thirteen-year-old niece. And a bizarre local murder that follows their arrival-plus the appearance of a mysterious Native American shaman--only emphasize the urgency of Ophelia and Abby's hunt, drawing them into a web of dark secrets and to the last place they'd ever wish to be: a cottage in the woods where true evil quite possibly resides."

I just love this series. The blending of paranormal with mystery is so captivating to me. I have enjoyed all the books of this series so far and I think they just keep getting better and better. I think Ophelia's character development is so well done. In each book she is getting a bit more comfortable with her *gift* and how to use it. It's so believable, and a normal progression, she didn't just wake up one day with the gift and know how to use it. The secondary characters are so well done also, I truly love this series, and can't wait to read more!!!!! :) 5/5



Friday, September 5, 2008

Filling in......

And...here we go!

1. If I was to walk into your life, would you be happy or sad?

2. Catch a bright star and place it for all the world to see.

3. And you can send me hugs and kisses anytime you like.

4. I can forgive but I'm dealing with a memory that never forgets.

5. I'm the innocent bystander / Somehow I got stuck in the middle again.

6. What's keeping us apart isn't selfishness, it's failure to communicate.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to reading and relaxing, tomorrow my plans include spending time with our best friends and Sunday, I want to help my daughter celebrate her birthday however she chooses!!!!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

If You Ever Tell by Carlene Thompson


It took everything in Teresa Farr’s power to return to her hometown of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Eight years earlier, she had walked in on the savage murders of her father and stepmother—both of whom she hated. She barely managed to save herself and her eight-year-old stepsister, Celeste. But even after notorious serial killer Roscoe Lee Byrnes confessed, people still wondered if Teri was the guilty one. And with Celeste unable to remember that night, or to speak at all, those suspicions never went away…

Now Celeste is beginning to remember. Now Byrnes has recanted his confession. And someone is using a series of bizarre, taunting events to exact terrifying “justice.” As Teri desperately races to uncover the truth, she’s finding that everyone she loves has secrets they would kill to keep buried. And in the bright mountain sunlight, an evil concealed all too well is reaching out to silence her and Celeste forever…

This was an amazing book filled with suspense!!!! I changed my mind about who the killer was several times during the book, and was still surprised by the ending!!!! It kept me turning the pages well past my bedtime, and droopy eyes was the only thing that made me put this book down!!!! I really enjoyed the mystery and intrigue of this book!!!! Ms. Thompson surely has a hit with If You Ever Tell!!!!! :) 4.5/5

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

We Have Our Winner........

Our winner of my ARC copy of Green Monster by Rick Shefchik is:

Leo T

Congratulations Leo!!!! An email is on it's way to you, please respond with your mailing address before September 6th!!!! An alternate winner will be chosen if I do not hear anything by then!!! :)

Here are your random numbers:

26

Timestamp: 2008-09-03 13:11:43 UTC

Monday, September 1, 2008

August Books Read.....