A Whole Latte Murder: A Java Jive Mystery by Caroline Fardig

Juliet is messing around with murder again but if she's not real careful she might become one of the victims...

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

Juliet's boyfriend, Ryder, has taken her to a fancy restaurant for dinner.  She's not sure why and she gets even more concerned when many of the couples around them are celebrating engagements.  He's not going to propose, is he?  No, he's telling of her of his promotion to Homicide.  She doesn't like that.  That kind of job is dangerous.  But he's determined and she lets it go.  How's she to know his first case will involve her?

It all starts when they find another renter in her building dead.  Juliet knows it wasn't suicide, so she backs Trevor out and calls the cops.  The last thing she wants to be involved in is another murder.  

When the women's roommate goes missing, Juliet is afraid she'll be another victim and mounts a search party for her.  After all, she works for her.  It's the least she can do.  But searching doesn't turn out well.  They find a body but it isn't her.  It was another young missing woman.  Is this a serial killer?

The story weaves through doctors, college kids, Java Jive employees, and more and it mostly just makes for more questions.  When Juliet decides to go undercover with Pete, it gets even more dangerous. Finding what the girls had in common and why they had to die means going to the source.  And the man running the company is very unsuspected and very evil.

It's not a bad mystery but Juliet frustrates me.  She had a good thing with Ryder and then she gets mad because he's working so much and it reminds him of his wife's murder so he's not talking.  So she leaves and moves in with Pete because her apartment isn't safe.  She almost ends up going to bed with Pete.  If that's not bad enough, now she has another cop asking her out.  Where's her moral fiber?  At the rate she's going, she's going to blow everybody off and end up with no one.  I sure hope she gets more sense in the next book...

The Squirrel's Flea (Curious Characters Book 1) by AC Michael

The squirrel has an itch and just can't get comfortable.  But when he shakes hands with another animal, the itch goes away!  Unfortunately, the other animal starts to get uncomfortable and itches, too.

The author provided me with a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published, so you can grab a copy now.

If you have a beginning reader, this book would be a good starting point.  The text doesn't change much.  It's the same statements again and again, just the character changes.  You might also need your back scratcher if you read it often enough.  I was getting a little twitchy myself.

If you've ever been around fleas, you won't forget how they feel.  These poor animals are experiencing that themselves.  This flea has a unique feature, though.  You'll be surprised.  And I don't think you'll feel sorry for who ends up with it either...

Immortal Writers: Immortal Writers Series Book 1 by Jill Bowers

Liz is excited.  She's only eighteen but she's published a blockbuster book and she's just come home from being on tour.  She's tired and only wants her bed but her boyfriend demands she meet him for dinner.  She does.  He's too controlling and she's thinking of telling him so when he announces her name to everyone in the restaurant and then goes down on one knee and proposes to her!  She's too flabbergasted to even say no, she just gets up and exits the restaurant.  It's just her luck that when she heads back to her apartment, she jumps in a cab where they're waiting for her.  She's just been kidnapped!

Blue Moon Voices and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you.) It will be published November 7th.

This was an excellent read.  I wasn't sure about meeting famous authors from the past but it really added to the story for me.  The story line of this book is pretty unique.  The idea that is that great writers don't die.  They fake their deaths and live immortally unless killed by someone else.  Not only that, Liz finds her characters alive.  Shakespeare tells her that her story was so good, she's become part of the immortals and her characters did, too.  The only problem was that one of her characters is a very bad man who has magic on his side.  He wants her for his own or dead.

There's war, a variety of dragons from her book, a secret from her past that she has to conquer, and she has to grow up real fast.  Not only that, she's falling in love with her main hero character.  This is enough to keep any fantasy reader turning pages and I enjoyed the whole book.  I'll be watching for the next one. 

Bury the Living (The Revolutionary #1) by Jodi McIsaac

Nora has buried her father and her brother as casualties during the Irish revolution.  She's worked in refugee camps in Africa helping the injured.  Now she just wants to go on vacation and give her mind a break.  It breaks alright but not from rest...

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

This was an usual read for me.  It covers Irish history (which I know nothing of), and includes an eternal human/god and a goddess.  Without really realizing what she's doing, Nora agrees to go back in time to see if she can change the outcome of the war and save her brother in the future.  When she finds herself in 1923, she wonders if she should have come, but it's too late.

Her adventures in the past are very dangerous.  She almost gets raped and has to do some jail time.  She finds the man she wants but he doesn't know what she wants.  Since she's not sure either, it gets confusing.

She remembers her history of Ireland and attempts to change the outcome by saving the life of a leader who died.  It's not to be.  Changing the past isn't easy.  But it looks like she's going to have time to try again.  It will be interesting to see how this series evolves.

The historical part seems to be accurate and war is never pleasant.  But Nora and Thomas are still alive and willing to work together.  I don't think there's going to be any happy ever after together for them but it will be interesting to see what the gods do...

Wildings by Eleanor Glewwe

In this world, those with magic have the power.  They control the government and the money.  They think anyone without magic is beneath them.  They believe that so extremely that if you have a sibling that doesn't have magic, they take them away from you.  They are sent to the non-magical folk to be adopted and raised as their own.  No visits, no discussion of the lost one, and it's forbidden to look for them.  Meeting them can mean jail time.  This is no world for me...

Viking Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published November 1st.

Rivka loses her brother, Arik.  He's her twin and she can't understand why he has to leave.  They are only ten, but it's too late for him.  Once he's tested, he's gone.  She's distraught but her father tells her that's the way it is and to forget him.  When she brings it up again, he forbids her to talk about him.  She's not the only one having a problem.  Her mother takes to her bed and never gets up again.  After her death, it's even worse.  But Rivka knows where they took her brother because her mother told her.

When her father has an opportunity to go there to be the ambassador, she begs her way along.  Then she begins searching for her brother.  She wants to find a way to make things better.  Can Family Law be beaten?  How could she get the parliament to listen to her?  Will her father ever speak to her again?

All these questions and more are answered in this book.  It takes teamwork, intelligence, and a good presentation along with some bravery to make a change.  She's successful but she loses something in the process.  She was willing to sacrifice that to help the non-magical siblings.  This was a good read.

Children of Eden by Joey Graceffa, Laura L. Sullivan

Rowan is a second child in a world where they are not allowed to exist.  She has to hide to remain safe.  She's homeschooled, runs a lot and is bored.  She loves her twin Ash.  He gets to go out into the world and she questions him endlessly about what he saw, who he talked to and what's happening outside their walls.  But you can't keep a person secret forever...

Atria/Keywords Press sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It was published yesterday so you can get a copy now.

Everything that Rowan knows and thinks about her life is a lie.  When she attempts to escape, her mother helps her and tells her things that shatter her.  She was actually the first born.  Her father tried to kill her.  And the story of the world they have lived in for two hundred years is fantasy.

This is a tense suspenseful world where she has to try hard to stay alive.  She gets help from different people, she's not sure who to trust and she's torn between a girl and a boy.  She loves them both.  But she loves her brother more.

I was a bit disappointed with the ending.  There was no mention of this being part of a series, but the story isn't done yet.  She's started something and it's not finished yet...

Chasing at the Surface by Sharon Mentyka

Her mother has gone away and it's torn her heart.  She doesn't understand why.  She didn't want to listen when she was leaving and now it's too late.  She also won't read the letters she's sent.  She just wants her mother back.

West Winds Press sent me an ARC of this book to read for review (thank you).  The book is being published today, so you can grab a copy now.

Marisa knows the whales have arrived but that was something she did with her mom and she's not around anymore.  She doesn't much care that they are back until she finds out that the whale baby she named with her mom is in the batch.

Washington is my home state and I spent a lot of time at the beach.  I've seen the orcas and they are beautiful fish.  They're also very powerful and wondrous to watch.  Here's a video you can watch to get a taste of what this book is about:  Chasing at the Surface.

Marisa is so mourning the loss of her mother that she's not talking to her father or her friends.  They try to bring her out of herself but she won't do it.  But the whales do...

The whales have come into a natural harbor chasing chum salmon.  They're happily eating and playing in the water until the boats start to arrive.  When news of the pod goes out, the harbor gets crowded with everything from tour boats, kayaks, speed boats and more.  The whales get nervous.  When they try to leave a boat prevents them from doing it.  And the whales are getting run down from lack of food and nerves.  Marisa decides to do something about it.

Marisa learns a lot about herself in this story.  She learns how strong she can be, how to stand up for what she believes in, and how to make it happen.  Everything ends well.  You'll learn a lot about whales, environmental issues and government regulations.  But the main story line is what keeps you interested.  I'm glad happy ever after won in this story!