The Girl in the Gallery (London Murder Mystery #2) by Alice Castle

Beth sneaks in to view her favorite portraits in her favorite museum.  She should run her errand, but she has time and the portraits are like old friends.  When she sees a strange color in part of the museum, she goes up front and brings the receptionist back with her.  She saw something red that shouldn't be there...

Goddess Fish Blog Tour and the author let me read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can grab a copy now.

The reason Beth is so concerned about what happened is that she ran across a dead body once and doesn't want to do it again.  Then she sees that her strange color is on a backpack and she turns to tell the receptionist she's sorry for bothering her.  The receptionist can't even speak and just points.  Turning around, Beth sees the body she missed...

The victim is first misidentified.  When they find out she's come from an exclusive school, they can't figure out why she would take drugs.  When another girl is also brought down by drugs, they know they have a problem.  But who is the common denominator?

This is a tale of a girl who manipulates people and has been spoiled her whole life.  She runs the students in her class.  But she's not the one who got her into drugs...

The killer in this book is totally unexpected and hard to believe but it could happen that way.  I bet you can't figure out who is before the end, either.  Give it a try.

Alice Castle will be awarding $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.  Click HERE.

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found HERE.

Happy reading and good luck!

Little Dragon and the New Baby by Deborah Cuneo

Little Dragon likes being a family of three.  He paints pictures of them and puts them on the wall in his room.  When he learns there will be a new baby in the family, he's not all that happy about it...

Ingram Publishers Services and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published March 20th.

While he's trying to adjust to sharing his room, he's a bit resentful.  The egg just doesn't look right in his room.  When he paints a face on it, his mother makes him clean it up.  He's worried he's done something wrong because the egg begins to crack as he washes it.  He's in for a big surprise and so are his parents.

This is very cute picture book and I love how the story ends.  Little Dragon isn't the only one getting in trouble any more...

Hello Hello by Brendan Wenzel

Here's a great way to introduce your child to many of the world's animals.  The illustrations are great and it show similarities as well as differences.  I bet they haven't seen most of these.

Chronicle Books and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published March 20th.

The vibrant colors and the hellos throughout the book will get your child rocking in their seats.  The best part is at the back where all the animals are named and you see just how vulnerable or endangered they are.  

We need to save our animals from extinction and that will only happen if we work towards it.  This shows them the animals that need their help.  You might learn something, too.

Beneath a Prairie Moon by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Her gentlemanly father was a thief.  Her mother died after his arrest, probably of a broken heart.  And her fiance broke their engagement.  So now she was just a young woman trying to get married to a suitable male who won't know her past.  And she's sure not having any luck at that!

Blogging for Books and Waterbrook Press sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published March 20th.

Since the men who signed up for a mail order bride have returned her so many times, the matchmaker decides to take her with her to check out a small town where a group of men want brides.  They've sent their money.  She wants to see how they behave and make sure she matches them with someone who will get along.  Abigail's duty is to teach them manners, how to eat, how to stroll and other refinements.  Cowboys and ranchers don't have a lot of those skills when they've never been married...

Only one of the eligible men in town didn't sign up.  His uncle got taken by matchmaker, so he's not interested.  Besides, if it's meant to happen, he'll let God pick his mate.  He's doing OK on his own, he'll just see what happens.  What happens is Abigail.

She has impeccable manners and lots of pride.  She's almost too refined for these small town folks.  And she won't lighten up.  They end up talking at cross purposes half the time, he's trying to protect her from the men who don't want to wait for their brides, and she can't decide why he's so nice.

There's a big wind storm, property damage, kidnapping and more in this story.  But even those who are the bad guys have some good in them.  You just have to learn how to see it.

This tale was very enjoyable.  It was an interesting read and it ended up happily ever after.  I like stories like that. 

Prague Noir (Czech Republic) Edited by: Pavel Mandys

My grandparents immigrated from Czechoslovakia.  I don't find many books published from there in the states, so this book of short stories intrigued me.  I like short stories best and here's a good sampling of the writers of that area.

Akashic sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published February 6th.

These authors take you from the past to the present.  The war, Jews, Golems, murder, magic and more are included in the stories.  Part of it sounds familiar, I've read several stories on some of the Jewish issues before, and it was almost like a visit with my long dead grandparents.  My family was Roman Catholic so I've learned about Jewish customs from reading.

The stories are strong and have heart.  They don't mince words or try to make themselves look better.  This is the Czech Republic as it is.

This is what is included:  Brand-new stories by: Martin Goffa, Štěpán Kopřiva, Miloš Urban, Jiří W. Procházka, Chaim Cigan, Ondřej Neff, Petr Stančík, Kateřina Tučková, Markéta Pilátová, Michal Sýkora, Michaela Klevisová, Petra Soukupová, Irena Hejdová, and Petr Šabach.

I enjoyed the read.  Give it a try, it might surprise you. 

The Ruins (Nick Randall #1) by Robert Rapoza

Living in New Mexico, the possibility of aliens doesn't seem so far fetched.  We have a UFO museum in Roswell.  People think they have seen flying saucers.  When I read about this book, that was part of what inspired me to read it.  It's not Roswell, it's Peru.  And it's an interesting story.

The author sent me a copy of his book to read for review.  It's been published so you can buy a copy now.

Archeologist Nick Randall is searching for a lost city.  When he becomes the one lost, his boss calls his daughter.  He wants her to look for him.  Samantha hasn't had much to do with her father since the death of her mother.  She blames him for it.  But she can't let him die, too.  She goes to search.

This is a tale of alien power that a group of businessmen want to control.  They believe it will allow them to control the world.  And they don't care how many people they kill along the way.  They want to keep it secret and they are willing to even kill each other to possess it.  It makes Nick's search dangerous and now his daughter is stepping into the middle of trouble.

Nick finds the hidden city.  Then the mercenaries find him.  With two groups converging and warfare between them, innocent bystanders die.  Samantha is a strong character and she needs her stubbornness and determination to survive.

The one thing the bad guys didn't count on was the fact that there really were aliens involved.  That made for a very interesting ending.

You need to suspend your belief of natural life events because this goes beyond that.  Step into another world and meet those who stay away from humans...

Harvey's Hideout by Russell Hoban, Lillian Hoban

Harvey and Mildred are brother and sister.  They don't like each other.  I was the older sister with the younger brother (I wanted a little sister, no dumb boy) and I can certainly relate to how I felt at their age...

Plough Publishing House and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 4th.

I love the illustrations the Hoban books have.  They're old fashioned, quaint, and just right for the flavor of the story.

When the two argue all the time, their mother loses patience with them and asks their father to have a talk with them.  I like it.  He tells them what they said that was untrue and does admit the part that was true.  He rationalized with them instead of just telling them to stop.

They both pretend they have big plans when they are outside and they each go off in different directions.  The little brother isn't playing with friends like he said.  He doesn't have any.  But, by accident, he finds out what his sister is doing.  She doesn't have friends either.  They finally find something they can do together...

The House on Foster Hill by Jaime Jo Wright

They told her that her husband was on drugs and that's why he lost control of his car and died.  Her husband didn't use drugs.  She insists it was murder.  The police tell her they'll file charges against her for filing false reports.  She's ready to move away from the city of his death and start life anew.  She decides she'll work on refurbishing an old home.  She'll fulfill his dream even if he's not here to help her do it...

Bethany House sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published, so you can get a copy now.

It seems someone was stalking Kaine while she was in the city.  She could tell things had been moved.  She found flowers in her home.  The police think it's all her imagination.  Now that's she moved, it should all be over.  It's not.  Someone is still stalking her.

This is a tale of a deserted house.  Evil things happened here long ago and family members don't want the secrets to get out.  It's written from two points of view:  Kaine's in present day and Ivy's from the past.  That makes the story read faster because you get bits and pieces of hints and clues in both eras.

There was a dead woman in the tree during Ivy's lifetime.  The case still hasn't been closed.  Kaine finds a hidden book under the floorboards while renovating the home and there are words in the margins.  The more they learn, the more confusing it gets.  It's a good thing she has friends because she needs their help and support to survive.

Her husband's death wasn't an accident and it doesn't have anything to do with her stalker at Foster Hill.  This is a complex mystery that keeps you guessing.

Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce

Arram is studying to be a mage.  He's moving through the grades faster than older students and that gets him harassed.  He doesn't have any friends.  But that's about to change.  He gets a new roommate.  He's the "leftover prince" who will probably never get to be the king; he's too far down the line.  But no one can see the future...

Random House Books for Young Readers sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published February 6th.

This author's words always speak to me.  She writes about magical worlds and powers and she makes her characters human.  I've read her before and when I had this opportunity, I jumped on it.

Arram has power he doesn't know he has.  His teacher mocked him in one of his beginning classes about not being able to do the magic trick of lifting water up and letting fall back into the dish.  She made him so nervous he was failing.  So he drew his power in and made sure he was successful.  He almost drowned the class.  After that, he got private lessons with the masters for the most part.

His roommate has a female friend and Arram likes her.  They agree to take care of each other in this volatile world.  Not everyone is nice.

Arram ends up meeting some of the old tribal gods in his training.  Not all the mages believe in them but some do.  You can tell they will be important in the other books in this trilogy.

The prince is into war and into getting even.  He wants to take out everybody who might have been involved in his father's death.  He doesn't care if some have paid the price already.  He hates everyone of that blood.

This is a fast paced read that deals with issues that sound common to our world today in many ways.  It was a fascinating read and I'll be looking for the next one in this series.

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

This has a flavor of a cross between Star Wars and Star Trek.  Ana was found floating in a space pod with a robot taking care of her.  The pirate ship salvaged her and then adopted her.  She's happy being a pirate.  Then she finds out she's royalty...

Balzer + Bray and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 27th.

Her best friend is her robot.  She loves him and he'd follow her anywhere.  But when they find a derelict ship and find danger on board, he dies by killing the malware in the computer.  Her captain carries him back to the ship and they leave but they don't get away.  They get captured.  They also happen to have the son of the empress on board but it wasn't because they kidnapped him.  He was trying to escape on their ship.  It's not looking good.

It looks worse when he reveals who Ana is.  Now they want her to be the new empress on the planet.  She doesn't want to do it but she has no choice.  Then they decide to kill her and things get even more dangerous.  But Ana is not without skills.

The malware in this book is a malevolent virus that wants to rule the world.  With artificial intelligence and the many virus and worms out there now, it's not totally unbelievable.

The story has many dimensions and lots of intrigue and game playing on the part of officials.  Humans and machines have been combined.  This is a war to the death (many have died already) and it's not going to end well for anyone.  There will be more in this series, I'm sure.

The Fast and the Furriest by Sofie Ryan

When an attractive female shows up at Sarah's store looking for Mac, she tells her he's out on a boat and won't be back until later.  She leaves her cell number and emphasizes she must talk to him.  Before she gets a chance to talk to him, she ends up dead.  The worst part is that cops think Mac did it!

Berkley and Net Galley gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 6th.

Sarah just knows Mac wouldn't do that.  But how can she prove it?  She and her cat, Elvis, talk to the local PI and soon all the old ladies are on the case.  They drive the cops nuts, but they usually solve their cases...

It seems that Mac's past he never talks about is coming back to haunt him.  He has a wife.  She's in a coma and her family sued to become her guardian.  He moved away but the woman that came to visit was his wife's best friend.  What had she found out?

As they dig into the past, they find out all kinds of secrets but the hunt for the killer is elusive.  Was it her sister?  Her sister's husband?  The half-sister who is running her business in the ground? Or someone else?

This is good cozy mystery with a cat that has a sixth sense and two men who want Sarah so there's romance as well as mystery.  I'll have to read the next book in this series to see what happens with the romance.  I know which man I'd choose!

Shadowsong by S. Jae-Jones

Wintersong broke my heart.  Shadowsong healed it.  These stories grab your soul and make you care about the characters, even the ones of legend...

Wednesday Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 6th.

Liesl is hoping music will save her from her sorrow.  She's tried hard to help her brother in his musical career.  But they're not a team anymore.  He's hiding something from her.  It doesn't help that  he's in Vienna and she's home.  She's about to lose her mind trying to keep the inn going and dealing with no income.  Then she gets invited to a party.  She and her sister are going to go and see if they can find her brother.  His mentor has died and they don't know where he went.

What they find is an odd woman and her husband.  They tell them it's time for the hunt and they want to keep her safe.  She doesn't know what's true but she's not sure she believes them.  They know she's the Goblin Queen, so it will take all she knows and all she can do to get away from them.

The hunt is coming for a life.  Whose should they offer?  Who will make a difference?

They all make sacrifices before the end of this story.  The good news is that it ends well.  There's a bit of sadness but there's more happiness.  That's what life is made of.

Death of an Honest Man by M. C. Beaton

Hamish meets the new resident in his district and immediately is put off by his comments.  He indicates he thinks Hamish dyes his hair red and tells his deputy he must be gay.  They don't visit long.

Grand Central Publishing and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 20th.

Paul is really a bully and blackmailer.  Hamish wished he'd moved someplace else.  But while Paul makes trouble for him, his boss is even more dangerous.  The man he reports to wants to kill him because he keeps solving all the cases he gets.  The boss wants to put his name on them and get the credit.

If that's not enough conflict for you, Hamish goes to visit his wildcat at the sanctuary and sees it get shot.  He races home with it and gets the vet to work on it.  No one knows if it will live or not.  And when it does, everybody else tells him it's not his cat.  He doesn't listen to them.

Paul ends up dead.  No one saw anything and no one will say what they did see or hear.  Hamish's deputy is quitting the force.  He ends up with two others during the course of the story.  There's another death and Hamish is getting fed up with all the various stresses.

He eventually gets down to who the killer was and almost dies during the confrontation.  It's surprising how he gets saved.

Hamish's life is always messed up and it doesn't look anything is going to make it much better.  But these stories are entertaining and the author takes you unusual places.  I'll be reading the next book, too.

The Boggart Fights Back by Susan Cooper

Set in Scotland, this is the story of a developer who only sees what money he can make from a development.  He's bought the farm that was there, is working on buying the castle, and he makes their grandfather a generous offer for his little grocery store on the water front.  But grandpa isn't selling.  So the man intends to drive him out.  The problem is that he doesn't understand that some of the legends in Scotland are real...

Margaret K. McElderry Books and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published January 27th.

Allie and Jay are visiting and they are willing to help their grandfather fight back.  They take around petitions, remove the ribbons from trees that are to be cut, and eventually ask the boggarts for help.  The noise from the developers construction and destruction has awakened the sleeping boggarts.  They are shapeshifters.  One of them had been the Loch Ness monster for a while but now they are almost invisible and only have shapes when they take them.

The boggarts begin by scaring him with Nessie but all that does is inspire him to build quicker and more.  They come up with other ideas and they get scarier as they go.

All's well that ends well, but the best part is that the boggarts aren't done bothering him.  If he has another close up encounter with them, he might even retire...

The Pearl Sister by Lucinda Riley

CeCe is adopted and has five sisters.  She's very different from them because Pa Salt brought her home from Australia.  She and her sisters are devastated after their father's death.  They still have Ma, but Pa was their champion.  CeCe drops out of the college art classes and thinks about what she wants to do next.  She decides to look for her family.  After all, she has a picture from the past.  Maybe that will help...

Atria Books and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published January 23rd.

What she finds is that her relatives in Australia were amazing.  She's of mixed blood and it shows but she's content with who she is.  She decides to visit Australia and trace the parts she can.  On the way, she meets a man who intrigues her and she stays with him.  She even thinks she might love him.  But she's going to Australia to look for her heritage so she leaves.  She invites him to come with her but he's hiding out and won't come now.  She asks one of his guards to develop her film and she'll live to regret that.

The story is part hers and part her great grandmother's.  It's fascinating to see how Australia was in the past.  I also found CeCe to be a complex interesting character.  She's not sure about her sexual orientation but she's open minded about it.  She has a love of painting and finds that Australia opens the door for her and her painting is even better than it was before.  All in all, this is great historical read with joy and sorrow both intertwined.  CeCe is going to do have a good life.

Lucy Castor Finds Her Sparkle by Natasha Lowe

Lucy spent her summer with her relatives and is back and ready to go to school.  She can't wait to see her best friend again.  They work on magic together.  But her friend has changed.  She's joined a new group and isn't interesting in the games they used to play.  Now Lucy is all alone again and hates it.  She gets invited to be a sparkle girl but that's not what she wants to do.  So she sits at lunch alone...

Paula Wiseman Books and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 20th.

I could feel Lucy's pain.  When I went to parochial school, all the girls were from the city but one.  We country ones became friends but the others already had their own friends.  Then for a few years her parents couldn't pay the fees and I was alone.  It's not fun.

Lucy is lucky, though.  She finds two unusual friends who are much nicer than she imagined.  One of them reads all the time and one of them is her neighbor girl who is older and weird.  She never imagined weird could be nice.

Lucy's biggest problem was that she didn't like change.  So when her mother is sick and then her parents make the announcement another baby was coming, she's not thrilled.

Lucy has lots of adventures this year and she's learning to almost accept change.  Some of us still have that lesson to learn. 

A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn

When Stoker's expedition partner from the past suddenly goes missing with a valuable diadem, it's beginning to look like Stoker might be charged with murder.  After all, he was back in the local area with his wife, who used to be Stoker's wife...

Berkley sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published January 16th.

Veronica Speedwell is not a shy retiring Victorian lady.  She's full of spit and vinegar and cares less about what people think of her.  But she's fond of Stoker and she doesn't like him being maligned.  Then the owner of the diadem asks them to look into the case.  She's happy to!

This story started a bit slow and didn't really build up momentum until you read over half of it.  But once it begins moving, I couldn't set it down.  The man who asks them to investigate used to have a partner, so he's on their list.  Veronica tells Stoker they need to talk to his ex-wife.  He's not happy about that.  It's a good thing he goes, though, or she wouldn't have found anything out.  His ex-wife is a good actress.

The story is full of human foibles, greed, thievery, and regret.  The criminal was closer than you might think.  

One thing I'm really enjoying is watching Stoker and Veronica dancing around each other.  They're falling in love but they don't want to admit it.  She almost told him at the end of the story but they were interrupted.  I hope the next book continues the romance.

I love this series and this is another good read.  Veronica gets my vote for being smart and not being afraid of danger.  If you haven't met her yet, start with the first book and watch her in action.

Claws for Concern by Miranda James

Charlie loves his new grandson and between volunteering at the library and then babysitting, his life is full.  Diesel helps him with the babysitting.  He's always loved the library so it's no hardship.  When he sees a new patron, he thinks he looks familiar, but he's no one he knows.  Then he finds out that they are related...

Berkley and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 20th.

Discretely working around what he's been told by the man, he finds that his uncle, who had been briefly married to another woman before he married his aunt, had had a child with the first woman.  She didn't tell him.  When he finds out where the man is living, he thinks he should probably let the man stay with him.  His aunt would have.  But first he wants to make sure he won't bring trouble with him.  Unfortunately, he has been involved with law.

Twenty years ago, a whole family was killed.  He was accused of being the killer but there was no proof.  Everyone involved with the case is keeping their silence.  But when someone tries to kill the man in town, Charlie gets involved.  Something is going on with the cold case and he wants to get to the bottom of it.  He still can't learn anything from the man, so he starts trying to track down other people familiar with the case.

This is the tale of dysfunctional family that finally blew up.  The facts were put together almost backwards, so it's hard to sort out.  It's a good thing Diesel can set him straight.  Charlie comes close to death himself.  

It's a good read with Charlie, Diesel, and his loving family around him.  It's funny what people will do in high stress situations.  Then they pay their whole life for it.  Read it as a cautionary tale...

The French Girl by Lexie Elliott

When they graduated from college, they went on a vacation to celebrate.  Celebrate they did and some of them hooked up in relationships, but it would come back to haunt them later in life.  Finding a dead body in a well will do that for you...

Berkley and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 20th.

This was a very interesting read.  It looks back at the personalities of the students, the things they wanted in the past, and how much they want to save what they have at the present time.  They've changed.  Some for the better, some for the worst.  But if the French girl never left, who was on the video camera footage wearing her clothes?  And if a stranger didn't kill her, it must have been one of the group.

There's a real chameleon in the batch.  It is determined to get all it wants no matter who gets hurt on the way.  It's hard to realize that someone would kill for that.  It's even harder when you are looking at all your friends and trying to figure out who could have done it.

Add in the ghost of the dead girl who happens to be haunting Kate and it gets even more interesting.

I had no clue who it was until it was almost too late.  What's worse is that the killer can't be convicted.  There's not enough proof.  But, not to worry.  Karma comes around and justice prevails.

This story is haunting me a bit but at least I don't see ghosts...

The Snake Mistake Mystery: The Great Mistake Mysteries by Sylvia McNicoll

His father is running a dog walking business and Stephen and his good friend, Renee, work for him.  They love the dogs, have fun walking around town and they use liver treats to make them behave.  All is going well until someone accuses the father of stealing from the houses.  He has the keys and they weren't broken into so it had to be him, right?

Dundurn and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 20th.

Stephen knows his dad didn't do it.  So he and Renee start looking for clues.  Renee's brother gets in trouble for graffiti and part of it wasn't his.  They are trying to find a pet to feed him and eventually they realize the snake is missing.  (They didn't even know it was a snake.)  Renee decides to adopt a mouse.

There's lot of action, fact finding is confusing but at the end, Stephen works out what happened and gathers the involved people together to tell them.  He manages to turn a disaster into good promotion for the company and that's a win win for them!

Death by a Whisker: A Cat Rescue Mystery by T. C. LoTempio

They are having a big event at the bookstore to raise money for the cat rescue facility.  It's not good news when the author that was coming to sign has an accident and can't make it.  However, they find another one that is willing to come and donate part of the profits on the sales of the books.  The bad news is that the woman who is coming, while she's a big star, is hated by several people in town.  Then she dies at the book signing...

Crooked Lane Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 23rd.

I've had my share of rescue animals and I love cats, so this book was written for me.  Having a mystery in it just made it better.

It seems the woman author was a bully and mean during her school years.  She's made trouble for almost everyone in town.  Some got hurt more than others.  So trying to find a killer is no easy task.  Syd is trying to puzzle it out because she knows her friend is not the killer.  The problem is that she was one of the victims and she showed up at the event when she said she wouldn't come.

Syd's boyfriend is a local cop and he's working with another detective who is trying to get the job of top cop.  Syd doesn't like the other guy.  He even threatens her with jail time for interfering in the investigation.  He should have behaved better, she's the one who solves the case.

This was a good cozy with lots of animals helping the case along the way.  The characters all seem real and have good depth to them.  The ending is bit like Karma.  What goes around, comes around.

Honor Among Thieves by Rachel Caine, Ann Aguirre

She's following a different drummer.  She had horrendous headaches when she was young and her father thought it was all an act.  She's been in out of hospitals, been in mental health care facilities and she survived.  But when her mother and her sibling moved to Mars to get away from her father, she stayed.  A dome on Mars just reminds her of a jail cell.  So she moves to the Zone.  It's an outlaw land that all the losers hang out in.  And she was surviving just fine until she stole the purse from a moneyed man's daughter...

Katherine Tegen Books and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 13th.

When the man hires assassins to go after her and her friends, she turns herself in to a halfway house.  When one of the other inhabitants tries to kill her, she decides she's going to go farther away to hide.  But she finds herself suddenly being offered a place she'd never dreamed of.  They were going to make her an Honors student and send out on an intelligent space ship.  Maybe that would be safe.  Not really...

I really enjoyed this one.  The ship she's on is young and doesn't know all the ins and outs of the Leviathan ships.  You learn that as you get older and keep passing tests.  Zara can meld with her ship which is very interesting.  

Trouble starts when the ship goes into a deep sleep that it shouldn't.  The old warrior ship comes after it and is taking it in for punishment.  Zara and her partner manage to get their ship free and they hide.  But when the ship hears another of his kind sending a distress call, he has to go to help.  And it gets even worse.

This is an exciting story with all sorts of aliens, danger to everyone, and a plague of trouble that needs to be stopped.  I wouldn't be surprised if this is the beginning of new series...

In Deep Water: A Cat Connolly Thriller by Sam Blake

When her friend doesn't show up for practice, she knows something is wrong.  Sarah is very organized, has her day and life planned out and would have called if she wasn't coming.  Where was she?

Zaffre and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 8th.

Cat knows something has happened to Sarah, but nobody has seen her for a bit.  Where did she disappear and why?  Her mother said she working on a story and she had a fight with her father, who said it was dangerous.  What kind of story?

Despite the fact that they live in a fairly quiet village, it turns out her story is of international significance.  It takes Cat and the special team she's part of some time to find out just what was going on and who was involved.

When they tell Cat they've found a body, she's fearful it will be her friend.  The killer cut the hands and head off the victim to stop identification.  It's not Sarah but it's someone similar to her.  

This is an ugly story about human trafficking and how men who have money always want more.  It's a difficult case and some of the women don't want to be saved.  But even when they've broken that part of the case, they still haven't found Sarah...

This is a tense, stressful read about unpleasant facts of life.  I'm glad this sort of stuff doesn't touch my world.  I'm impressed by Cat's team and her intelligence.  She's tough even after being hurt and then rehabilitating.  She'd be good to have as a friend.

Sunday Silence by Nicci French

Frieda Klein is emotionally restrained.  She's been through a lot in her life and she knows there will be more to come.  What she didn't expect was that the man she was hunting for would be able to get to her so soon and so well.  No one believed her, except for one cop.  They all thought the killer was dead.  The dead man under her floorboards proved that she was right and they were wrong...

William Morrow and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published today.

This is a creepy read.  Bodies are showing up all over and she feels it can't be the original killer.  She and the supposedly dead killer have a connection.  It's like they recognize each other.  He sees her dark side and she sees his.  But he wouldn't be doing this random killing.  There must be another killer.

The story is tense and suspenseful.  She's trying to keep her family and friends safe and they aren't.  She realizes the punishment they are taking is going to end with her death, so she has to be careful.  When she's pretty sure she's identified the killer, the police say they don't have enough evidence to pull him in.

The story flows quickly and has a stunning ending.  The awful part is that the original killer is still out there.  I'll be waiting to read the next book in this series.

The Swedish Girl by Alex Gray

Her father buys her a big, roomy apartment with several bedrooms and then picks her roommates for her.  Eva likes them all.  There are three boys and one girl.  Everything is going along swimmingly when the girl comes home from school and finds Eva dead on the floor in the living room by the fireplace.  Who did it?  The answer to that is complicated.

Witness Impulse and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published January 9th.

It seems like this should be a fairly easy case to solve because the door was shut and locked when the other girl came home.  No one was home besides her, but it must have been one of the boys since she had been hit on the head and then strangled and they were the only ones that had keys.  It gets more complicated when you find out she's been sleeping with them all...

They choose a killer and jail him.  The young woman who roomed with them doesn't believe it could be him.  She's even brave enough to talk to her father's boss about it.  Having a policeman for a father has honed her intuitions and she knows how the system works.  She doesn't believe Colin could do it.

When other women start dying in a similar manner, they don't know if it's a copycat or the real murderer... 

There's a surprise ending that made me sit up straight and pay attention.  You never know just who could be a killer...

Lullaby Road by James Anderson

The desert is a lonely place if you don't have company.  Some people like it that way.

Ben drives the desert route every day.   He picks up supplies and delivers them to the homes and businesses.  In the winter, the road is deadly.  No one will else will go there.  He does it because it pays and he knows the road and it nuances.  He never expected to get stuck with a child at the local gas station.  The proprietor tells him he has a present at pump eight.  He finds a very small child with a note on it.  It's from Pedro telling him to keep his son safe.  The gas station door is locked, it's snowing and he doesn't have much choice.  He wasn't going to take the dog, too, but if he likes his hands he's going to have to...

Crown Publishing and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published January 16th.

I live in the desert, too, and sometimes the road looks like it never ends.  The towns are small and not too close to each other.  There are abandoned buildings, dead animals with buzzards on them, and ghosts out there.  I could relate to this road that Ben travels on.  Somehow, he never manages to stay out of trouble.  He's still having problems at this point in his life.  

The little boy turns out to be a little girl.  She doesn't speak.  He leaves her with a woman who can care for her (along with the baby he was forced to babysit) and heads back to the service station.  Carlos isn't there.  Pedro isn't there.  He doesn't have time to look for them.

All the characters in this book are eccentric.  They're odd, have their quirks, and they listen to a different drummer.  Those folks were fine even if they were a bit hard to deal with.  But when Ben finds out that the out-of-the-way service station was stealing tires and then moved to other endeavors, he's angry.

This is a dark tale about just how awful the world can be.  Sometimes folks have to have a place to hide from the world.  And sometimes bad people travel through there, too.

Flower Moon by Gina Linko

They are "mirror twins" and they even know what each other is thinking.  But things are getting strange and no one will explain...

Sky Pony Press and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It has already been published so you can grab a copy now.

They've always done everything together but now they seem to be separating.  Tally can't understand it and doesn't like it.  Tempest figures it out first but she's looking for a solution and isn't including her twin in the search.  There's something that happens to the twins in this family and they view it as a curse but they don't talk about it.

As time goes on, they find out that they act like magnets.  They are not attracting each other, they're pushing each other away.  They are also going through the change much sooner than other relatives.  They only have a number of days to figure it out.

The good news is that they are smart and they learn to use their powers together. This is a good choice for those who like fantasy.