books, what else?

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Books Read in September 2014

218. The Cruelest Lie by Susan Napier
217. The Sister Swap by Susan Napier
216. Ruthless Russian, Lost Innocence by Chantelle Shaw
215. Untouched Until marriage by Chantelle Shaw
214. His Unknown Heir by Chantelle Shaw
213. The Virgin's Choice by Jennie Lucas
212. The Bride Thief by Jennie Lucas
211. THe Ruthless Greek's Virgin Princess by Trish Morey
210. The Mancini Marriage by Trish Morey
209. The Italian Boss' Secret Child by Trish Morey
208. The Italian Boss' Mistress by Trish Morey
207. Reckless in Paradise by Trish Morey
206. His Mistress for a Million by Trish Morey
205. Greek Boss' Demand by Trish Morey
204. Forced Wife Royal Love Child by Trish Morey
203. A Virgin for Taking by Trish Morey
202. The Heir from Nowhere by Trish Morey
201. The Inherited Bride by Maisy Yates
200. His Virgin Acquisition by Maisy Yates
199. A Mistake, A Prince and A Pregnancy by Maisy Yates
198. Marriage Made On Paper by Maisy Yates
197. One Night Heir by Melanie Milburne
196. Italian Boss' Mistress by Lynne Graham
195. Mistress and Mother by Lynne Graham
194. Prisoner of Passion by Lynne Graham
193. Bitter Passion by Lynne Graham
192. Secret Baby, Convenient Wife by Kim Lawrence
191. Best Man To Wed by Penny Jordan
190. Taken for Revenge, Bedded for Pleasure by India Grey
189. Powerful Italian, Penniless Housekeeper by India Grey
188. Mistress Hired For Billionaire's Pleasure by India Grey
187. Emily's Innocence by India Grey
186. The Secret She Can't Hide by India Grey
185. At The Argentinean Billionaire's Bidding by India Grey
184. Angelo's Captive Virgin by India Grey
183. The Society Wife by India Grey

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Books Read in August 2014

182. A Vengeful Passion by Lynne Graham
181. Dark Angel by Lynne Graham
180. Second Time Bride by Lynne Graham
179. Married by Arrangement by Lynne Graham
178. Crime of Passion by Lynne Graham
177. Tempestuous Reunion by Lynne Graham
176. Damiano's Return by Lynne Graham
175. Trophy Husband by Lynne Graham
174. Bond Of Hatred by Lynne Graham
173. Tempestuous Reunion by Lynne Graham
172. Flora's Defiance by Lynne Graham
171. One Night with His Wife by Lynne Graham
170. Response by Penny Jordan
169. No Way To Begin by Michelle Reid
168. Shattered Trust by Jacqueline Baird
167. After the Vows by Michelle Reid
166. Husband on Trust by Michelle Reid
165. The Purchased Wife by Michelle Reid
164. The Morning After by Michelle Reid
163. Jack Riordan's Baby by Anne Mather
162. Marriage on Rebound by Michelle Reid
161. A Question Of Pride by Michelle Reid
160. Marchese's Forgotten Bride by Michelle Reid
159. Dark Pursuit by Charlotte Lamb
158. For the Love of Sara by Anne Mather
157. The Spaniard's Marriage Bargain by Abby Green
156. Beware the Beast by Anne Mather
155. No promise of Love by Lilian Peake
154. The Reluctant Fiancee by Jacqueline Baird
153. The Marchese's Love Child by Sara Craven
152. Abduction by Charlotte Lamb
151. Born Out of Love by Anne Mather
150. Phantom Lover by Susan Napier
149. Betrayal by Charlotte Lamb
148. Mistress to Her Husband by Penny Jordan
147. Back into the Marriage Bed by Penny Jordan
146. An Insatiable Passion by Lynne Graham
145. A Savage Betrayal by Lynne Graham
144. The Unforgettable Husband by Michelle Reid
143. Gold Ring of Betrayal by Michelle Reid
142. Dark Dominion by Charlotte Lamb
141. Expectant Bride by Lynne Graham
140. A stormy Greek Marriage by Marriage by Lynne Graham
139. The Mistress Wife by Lynne Graham
138. Scoundrel's Honor by Rosemary Rogers
137. Brazilian Fire by Karen Vander Zee
136. A Love Untamed by Karen Vander Zee
135. An Excellent Wife by Charlotte Lamb
134. The Prince's Love Child by Carole Mortimer
133. Secondhand Bride by Linda Lael Miller
132. Shotgun Wedding by Charlotte Lamb
131. Crescendo by Charlotte Lamb

Friday, July 11, 2014

Books Received in July 2014

The Darkest Hour by Tony Schumacher

London, 1946. The Nazis have conquered the British, and now occupy Great Britain, using brutality and fear to control its citizens. John Henry Rossett, a decorated British war hero and former police sergeant, has been reassigned to a job he did not ask for—and cannot refuse: rounding up Jews for deportation, including men and women he’s known his whole life. But they are not the only victims, for the war took Rossett’s wife and son, and shattered his own humanity.

Then he finds Jacob, a young Jewish child, hiding in an abandoned building, who touches something in Rossett that he thought was long dead.

Determined to save the innocent boy, Rossett takes him on the run, with the Nazis in pursuit. But they are not the only hunters following his trail. The Royalist Resistance and the Communists want him, too. Each faction has its own agenda, and Rossett will soon learn that none of them can be trusted . . . and all of them are deadly.

The Objects of Her Affection by Sonya Cobb:

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Sophie Porter is the last person in the world you’d expect to organize an art heist—and that’s exactly why she’s so good at it. When Sophie bought a house with her husband, a curator for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, she thought it would provide security for her family. Instead, after the housing market collapse, they’re in danger of losing it all. So when she accidentally walks out of the museum’s disorganized storage area with a stunning antique, Sophie realizes she’s found a way out of their crushing debt. As she comes close to destroying the life she’s working so hard to build, Sophie knows she should abandon her part-time crime. Unfortunately, it may be too late.

The End of Innocence by Allegra Jordan

It is the twilight of innocence: America 1914. As Europe goes to war, Helen, a Boston bluestocking, begins her studies at Harvard-Radcliffe. Riley, a carefree British playboy more interested in chasing women than studying, sets his sights on her. He is surprised to find his adversary in love is not Helen’s protective brother, but Riley’s own cousin, Wils Brandl. As the roar of war begins to penetrate the quiet walls of Harvard, Wils, a brooding poet and German noble, must return to Europe and face a war for which he is not prepared. Set in Boston and Flanders Fields, THE END OF INNOCENCE explores love, war, and a new social imagination.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Books Read in July 2014

130. The Impossible Marriage by Lilian Peake (Romance)
129. A Sense of Belonging by Lilian Peake (Romance)
128. Under a Silent Moon by Elizabeth Haynes (Crime Fiction)
127. Stranger Passing By by Lilian Peake (Romance)
126. When Marrying a Scoundrel by Kathryn Smith (Historical Romance)
125. The Surrender of a Lady by Tiffany Clare (Historical Romance)
124. Till the End of Time by Lilian Peake (Romance)
123. Seducing the Governess by Margo Maguire (Historical Romance)
122. The Rogue Prince by Margo Maguire (Historical Romance)
121. Taken by the Laird by Margo Maguire (Historical Romance)
120. Beauty and the Duke by Melody Thomas (Historical Romance)
119. Carmichael's Return by Lilian Peake (Romance)
118. Wild and Wicked in Scotland by Melody Thomas (Historical Romance)
117. Angel In My Bed by Melody Thomas (Historical Romance)
116. Summer Moon by Jill Marie Landis (Historical Romance)
115. The Seduction of His Wife by Tiffany Clare (Historical Romance)
114. Bride for a Night by Rosemary Rogers (Historical Romance)
113. Protector by Diana Palmer
112. Captured by a Rogue Lord by Katharine Ashe (Historical Romance)
111. Caprice by Laura Parker (Historical Romance)
110. Sunset Embrace by Sandra Brown (Historical Romance)
109. The King Of Threadneedle Street by Moriah Densley (Historical Romance)
108. Lady Danger by Glynnis Campbell (Historical Romance)

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Books received in June 2014

June 28, 2014

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.

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June 26, 2014

The Lightkeeper's Wife by Sarah Anne Johnson

Alone on the tip of the cape, Hannah Snow is on the verge of her most heroic rescue yet.

On 19th century Cape Cod, Hannah Snow shouldn't even be in the water. Her husband, John, would be furious-it's his job to tend to Dangerfield Light. It's certainly not women's work, and his quick trips out of town don't give her permission to rush toward the tattered ships. But she does, and though she can't save everyone, William "Billy" Pike, is someone she can. He's recuperating in her care when John's horse is found abandoned. Hannah invites Billy to stay as a hired hand-but soon discovers that he is not at all whom she thought he was. When everything holding her together falls apart, can Hannah learn how to save herself?

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June 23, 2014

I Adored a Lord by Katharine Ashe

All that clever, passionate Ravenna Caulfield wants is to stay far away from high society's mean girls.

All that handsome, heroic Lord Vitor Courtenay wants is to dash from dangerous adventure to adventure.

Now, snowbound in a castle with a bevy of the ton's scheming maidens all competing for a prince's hand in marriage, Ravenna's worst nightmare has come true.

Now, playing babysitter to his spoiled prince of a half-brother and potential brides, Vitor is champing at the bit to be gone.

When a stolen kiss in a stable leads to a corpse in a suit of armor, a canine kidnapping, and any number of scandalous liaisons, Ravenna and Vitor find themselves wrapped in a mystery they're perfectly paired to solve. But as for the mysteries of love and sex, Vitor's not about to let Ravenna escape until he's gotten what he desires . . .

Cider Brook by Carla Neggers

Being rescued by a good-looking, bad-boy firefighter isn't how Samantha Bennett expected to start her stay in Knights Bridge, Massachusetts. Now she has everyone's attention—especially that of Justin Sloan, her rescuer, who wants to know why she was camped out in an abandoned old New England cider mill.

Samantha is a treasure hunter who has returned to Knights Bridge to solve a 300-year-old mystery and salvage her good name. Justin remembers her well. He's the one who alerted her late mentor to her iffy past and got her fired. But just because he doesn't trust her doesn't mean he can resist her. Samantha is daring, determined, seized by wanderlust—everything that strong, stoic Justin never knew he wanted. Until now…

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June 22, 2014

Boarding Pass by Paul Cumbo (e-book)

Twenty-one-year-old Matt Derby is a typical college senior: bright, open-minded, and full of potential. But he's also stuck in neutral, struggling with girl problems, a lack of direction, and decisions made difficult by too many choices.

When a television news report tells the story of a heroic firefighter in a small Wyoming town, Matt recognizes someone he hasn't seen in nearly six years: his boarding school roommate, Trey Daniels, who disappeared after being expelled in tenth grade.

Matt boards a flight headed west, aiming not only to visit his injured friend, but also to put off his own return to school and the big decisions that await him there. Once at cruising altitude, his flashbacks recall the formative days at the Ashford River School, and the memorable events that cemented their boyhood friendship before Trey's departure.
Upon landing, Matt soon discovers the seemingly impulsive journey is nothing less than a pilgrimage that revisits his past, illuminates the present, and defines his future.

June 21, 2014

The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure

Like most gentiles in Nazi-occupied Paris, architect Lucien Bernard has little empathy for the Jews. So when a wealthy industrialist offers him a large sum of money to devise secret hiding places for Jews, Lucien struggles with the choice of risking his life for a cause he doesn't really believe in. Ultimately he can't resist the challenge and begins designing expertly concealed hiding spaces—behind a painting, within a column, or inside a drainpipe—detecting possibilities invisible to the average eye. But when one of his clever hiding spaces fails horribly and the immense suffering of Jews becomes incredibly personal, he can no longer deny reality.

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June 20, 2014

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, Mrs. Quine just thinks her husband has gone off by himself for a few days--as he has done before--and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home. But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realizes.

The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives--meaning that there are a lot of people who might want him silenced. When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any Strike has encountered before...

A compulsively readable crime novel with twists at every turn, THE SILKWORM is the second in the highly acclaimed series featuring Cormoran Strike and his determined young assistant, Robin Ellacott.

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June 19, 2014

The Second Child: Poems by Deborah Garrison

Nine years after the stunning debut of her critically acclaimed poetry collection A Working Girl Can’t Win, which chronicled the progress and predicaments of a young woman, Deborah Garrison now moves into another stage of adulthood–starting a family and saying good-bye to a more carefree self.

In The Second Child, Garrison explores every facet of motherhood–the ambivalence, the trepidation, and the joy (“Sharp bliss in proximity to the roundness, / The globe already set aspin, particular / Of a whole new life”)– and comes to terms with the seismic shift in her outlook and in the world around her. She lays out her post-9/11 fears as she commutes daily to the city, continues to seek passion in her marriage, and wrestles with her feelings about faith and the mysterious gift of happiness.

Sometimes sensual, sometimes succinct, always candid, The Second Child is a meditation on the extraordinariness resident in the everyday–nursing babies, missing the past, knowing when to lead a child and knowing when to let go. With a voice sound and wise, Garrison examines a life fully lived.

Good Poems: American Places by Garrison Keillor

Garrison Keillor, the editor of Good Poems and Good Poems for Hard Times, host of The Writer's Almanac, and all-around arbiter of fine American poetry, introduces another inspiring collection by a range of poets, some beloved favorites and others brash unknowns, organized by regions of America.

From Nantucket to Knoxville, Manhattan to Minnesota, the heart can be exalted anywhere. Think of these poems as postcards-from Billy Collins, Nikki Giovanni, William Carlos Williams, Naomi Shihab Nye, Gary Snyder, Mary Oliver, and many more.

Like the previous Good Poems collections, this volume celebrates the high-spirited, the witty and antic and jazzy voice that in many ways defines the land of the free. Choosing poems full of humor, sharp insight, and warmth, Garrison Keillor once again makes good poetry accessible and immensely enjoyable.

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June 19, 2014

The Old Blue Line by J. A. Jance

Butch Dixon has been taken for a ride …

Not a jump in the car, see the sights kind of ride. He's been taken for everything he has. He's lost his house, his restaurant business, his savings, his car, his best friend, his faith-all to his conniving ex-wife. But that was seven years ago. He picked himself up, left Chicago, and started over in Peoria, Arizona, running the Roundhouse Bar and Grill. He doesn't look back on those bad years; there's no point. Not until two curious cops show up at the Roundhouse.

Faith, Butch's ex-wife, has been murdered, and the evidence points to him. Stunned, Butch quickly realizes that the black-hearted woman is going to ruin him again, from her grave. Lucky for Butch, the Old Blue Line, a group of retired-but still sharp and tenacious-former legal and law enforcement coots, have taken it upon themselves, as a favor, to make sure he doesn't cross that thin line. After the dust settles, Butch's life is again upended-when a little red-haired ball of fire, Sheriff Joanna Brady, takes a seat at his bar.

Until You're Mine by Samantha Hayes

Claudia is heavily pregnant with a much-wanted baby, she has a loving husband and a beautiful home.

And then Zoe steps into her life.

Zoe has come to help Claudia when her baby arrives. But there's something about Zoe that Claudia doesn't like.

And when she finds Zoe in her bedroom, Claudia's anxiety turns to real fear.

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June 17, 2014

A Song for the Dying by Stuart MacBride

Eight years ago, the Inside Man abducted and killed four women. He left another three in critical condition, their stomachs slit open and a plastic doll stitched inside. Then he disappeared. Until now…

Ash Henderson was a Detective Inspector on the initial investigation. Things haven’t exactly gone well since: his family has been destroyed, his career is in tatters, and one of Oldcastle’s most vicious criminals is making sure he spends the rest of his life in prison.

But Dr. Alice McDonald has other ideas. When a nurse turns up dead on waste ground behind Blackwall Hill – a doll stitched into her innards – Alice convinces one of the investigating teams to get Ash released and working the case. He’s out for as long as he’s useful.

And if he’s out, he can get revenge.