Wow, what a great month for my Audible Reads. Thanks to my friends over on Litsy. I was able to read a lot more this month. Every month they hold a readathon called 24 before Monday. The reader tries to read 24 hours before Monday. I was able to participate this month because I was off the weekend it was held. I had a blast. I did a huge amount of “audio scrapping”. Here are the results!
I enjoyed this one. I am a huge fan of James Taylor talent and this was great and eye opening.
Celeste is Hilarious. If you do not follow her on instagram…you need to! She absolutely brightens my day. When this book started…I was like… “I will not like this!” But it turned out to be crazy funny! I LOVED IT!
Lisa Jewell does it again. I am playing catch up with the author. I have not read many of her books so I listened to this one. It was intricate and very intense.
A high school senior, Jack Duncan dreams of playing college baseball and leaving the political turmoil of the agricultural town Delano behind. Ever since his father, a grape grower, died ten years earlier, he’s suspected that his mother has been hiding the truth from him about the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
With his family’s property on the verge of a tax sale, Jack drives an old combine into town to sell it. On the road, an old friend of his father shows up with evidence that Jack’s father was murdered. Armed with this new information, Jack embarks on a mission to discover the entire truth, not just about his father but the corruption endemic in the Central Valley.
When Jack’s girlfriend warns him not to do anything to jeopardize their post graduation plans and refuses to help him, Jack turns to his best friend, Adrian, the son of a boycotting field worker who works closely with Cesar Chavez. The boys’ dangerous plan to rescue the Duncan family farm leaves Adrian in a catastrophic situation, and Jack must step up to the plate and rescue his family and his friend before he can make his escape from Delano.
The Road to Delano is the path Jack and Adrian must take to find their strength, their duty, their destiny.
Review
Jack is a high school baseball player with dreams of making it big in the major leagues. However, life tends to get in the way. His best friend is thrown in jail. Plus, he finds out his deceased father was actually murdered. He must find the strength to save his family, his friend, the vineyard and see his father’s murderer in jail.
Jack is such a tough character. I enjoyed his spunk and determination. Nothing is going to stop him. I also enjoyed the wild ride the author puts you through. The migrant workers strike, the small town politics and even Cesar Chavez making an appearance are enough to keep the tension running high all the way through this book.
This is a fierce and powerful novel, basically about struggling through life when it throws you curve balls! Don’t miss this provocative tale!
I received this novel from the author for a honest review.
About the Author
John DeSimone is a published writer, novelist, and teacher. He’s been an adjunct professor and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. His recent co-authored books include Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan (Little A Publishers), and Courage to Say No by Dr. Raana Mahmood, about her struggles against sexual exploitation as a female physician in Karachi. His published novel Leonardo’s Chair published in 2005.
In 2012, he won a prestigious Norman Mailer Fellowship to complete his most recent historical novel, Road to Delano. His novels Leonardo’s Chair and No Ordinary Man have received critical recognition.
He works with select clients to write stories of inspiration and determination and with those who have a vital message to bring to the marketplace of ideas in well-written books. https://www.johndesimone.com/
In New York Times bestseller Steve Berry’s latest Cotton Malone adventure, one by one the seven precious relics of the Arma Christi, the weapons of Christ, are disappearing from sanctuaries across the world.
After former Justice Department agent Cotton Malone witnesses the theft of one of them, he learns from his old boss, Stephanie Nelle, that a private auction is about to be held where incriminating information on the president of Poland will be offered to the highest bidder—blackmail that both the United States and Russia want, but for vastly different reasons.
The price of admission to that auction is one of the relics, so Malone is first sent to a castle in Poland to steal the Holy Lance, a thousand-year-old spear sacred to not only Christians but to the Polish people, and then on to the auction itself. But nothing goes as planned and Malone is thrust into a bloody battle between three nations over information that, if exposed, could change the balance of power in Europe.
From the tranquil canals of Bruges, to the elegant rooms of Wawel Castle, to deep beneath the earth into an ancient Polish salt mine, Malone is caught in the middle of a deadly war—the outcome of which turns on a secret known as the Warsaw Protocol.
Review
Cotton is on the chase to find a historical relic, The Holy Lance. He needs it to get into an auction. An auction which involves several nations to purchase information. Little does he know how deadly this game will become.
Well, the past few Cotton Malone books have been a complete failure for me. Steve Berry redeems himself in the read. The history and the chase in this tale really keep the reader engrossed. I loved the old castles and the salt mine. I do not think I have ever read a book with a salt mine. Wow! What a unique way to throw in hidden rooms and secrets!
This story is very well researched and extremely intense. I have bailed on the last couple of books in this series. But this one moved like lightening and had me looking up some of the places mentioned and some of the artifacts. I love a book which has ME researching.
I would start at the beginning of this series if you have never read about Cotton Malone. There is a lot to be understood about Cotton’s situations and where he is today.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
An ingeniously witty novel about the risks—and rewards—of opening your life to new people by Amazon Charts bestselling author Camille Pagán.
No new people: that’s Annie Mercer’s vow. It’s bad enough that her boss sabotaged her chemistry career and her best friend tried to cure her with crystals. But after her fiancé, Jon, asks for space while he’s gallivanting around Paris, Annie decides she needs space too—from everyone.
Yet when Harper moves in next door, Annie can’t help but train a watchful eye on the glamorous but fragile young woman. And if keeping Harper safe requires teaming up with Mo, a maddeningly optimistic amateur detective, who is she to mind her own business?
Soon Annie has let not one but two new people into her life. Then Jon reappears—and he wants her to join him in France. She’s pretty sure letting anyone get close won’t end well. So she must decide: Is another shot at happiness worth the risk?
Review
Annie’s life has recently taken a turn for the worse. Her fiancé has just up and left for Paris, WITHOUT HER! She has lost her job as a chemist because of a supreme *$#@**. Now she is cleaning houses to try and make ends meet. Annie decides she is just going to take a break from everyone. However, this doesn’t work out as well as she wants it to. She has a new neighbor, Harper. Harper sets off alarm bells and Annie just cannot seem to stay out of Harper’s business.
Annie tickled the mess out of me. She just can’t seem to get it together. She is smart and efficient, but things just keep twisting around and creating havoc in her life. Does she take this lying down….oh never! She continues to try and get her life back on track. And it is a challenge!
This is a cute and entertaining story. It moves quickly and you just can’t help but be captivated by all of Annie’s antics. Sometimes you just need a light hearted book to get you through. This tale hit the spot!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
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Discover a fresh new voice! Jo McNally delivers an emotionally powerful story of finding love after heartbreak, its challenges and its rewards.
She’s ready to shed her good-girl ways…
“You’re all about following the rules now? Pity.”
Mackenzie Wallace hopes there’s still some bad boy lurking beneath single father Danny Adams’s upright exterior. Being the proverbial good girl left her brokenhearted and alone in the past. Now she’s back in town and wants excitement with her high school crush—not love. Dan knows their connection runs deep, despite Mackenzie’s protests. But will their new personas work together—especially when Dan’s secret is exposed?
Experience more relatable stories featuring true-to-life characters in Gallant Lake Stories: A Man You Can Trust It Started at Christmas… Her Homecoming Wish
From Harlequin Special Edition:Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.
Review
Mackenzie cannot believe she is back in her home town. Growing up, she was determined to leave and never come back, except to visit. Now, here she is, helping out in her dad’s liquor store. Since her failed marriage, she is licking her wounds. Mackenzie decides she is no longer going to be a goody-two-shoes. She is going to step out of her comfort zone. Sherriff deputy Dan may have a thing or two to say about this.
Mackenzie has had a crush on Dan since high school. It does not take much to ignite the old flame. I reveled in these two together. They matched so well! Dan became a great comfort for Mackenzie and as a reader, you just felt his strength and compassion.
This is a good palate cleanser, pleasure read…whatever you want to call it. It is a good, easy and quick romance to get lost in. It is part of a series. I have not read the others books and did not feel lost at all. This can be a stand alone read. But, don’t worry! I will go back and read the others! I enjoyed this one and I don’t want to miss anything!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
About the author
Jo McNally lives in upstate New York with 100 pounds of dog and 200 pounds of husband – her slice of the bed is very small. When she’s not writing or reading romance novels (or clinging to the edge of the bed…), she can often be found on the back porch sipping wine with friends, listening to an eclectic playlist. If the weather is perfect, she might join her husband on the golf course, where she always feels far more competitive than her actual skill-level would suggest.
When Tracy Walder enrolled at the University of Southern California, she never thought that one day she would offer her pink beanbag chair in the Delta Gamma house to a CIA recruiter, or that she’d fly to the Middle East under an alias identity.
The Unexpected Spy is the riveting story of Walder’s tenure in the CIA and, later, the FBI. In high-security, steel-walled rooms in Virginia, Walder watched al-Qaeda members with drones as President Bush looked over her shoulder and CIA Director George Tenet brought her donuts. She tracked chemical terrorists and searched the world for Weapons of Mass Destruction. She created a chemical terror chart that someone in the White House altered to convey information she did not have or believe, leading to the Iraq invasion. Driven to stop terrorism, Walder debriefed terrorists―men who swore they’d never speak to a woman―until they gave her leads. She followed trails through North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, shutting down multiple chemical attacks.
Then Walder moved to the FBI, where she worked in counterintelligence. In a single year, she helped take down one of the most notorious foreign spies ever caught on American soil. Catching the bad guys wasn’t a problem in the FBI, but rampant sexism was. Walder left the FBI to teach young women, encouraging them to find a place in the FBI, CIA, State Department or the Senate―and thus change the world.
Review
Tracy Walder has lived a very different life. She was recruited into the CIA straight from college and the Delta Gamma house. She was part of the CIA during and after 9/11. Her unique experiences surrounding the terrorist cells and her travels made a very interesting and uncommon story.
Well, the only problem I had with this book is the tone. I felt the author was arrogant. She is probably not. She is probably super nice. But, part of this came across as bragging. I know, I know, just my thoughts. However, it is a good read and I enjoyed learning about situations I knew nothing about. Plus, with all her achievements…then she definitely has bragging rights.
This memoir is a true learning experience. Her job with the FBI made me want to come through this book and beat someone up. Plus, the processes and the people involved opened my eyes to the difficulties surrounding keeping the American people safe.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
Can the witness protection program keep her identity secret? After Allison James finally escapes her marriage to a monster, she becomes the star witness in the case against her deceased husband’s powerful crime family. Now it’s up to US Marshal Jaxson Stevens, Ali’s ex-boyfriend, to keep the WITSEC widow safe. But as the danger escalates and sparks fly, will Jax be able to help Ali escape her ruthless in-laws?
Review
Allison has no idea she has married into a crime family. She thinks she has finally found the love of her life. The abuse and horror she begins to face every day becomes overwhelming. Then her father-in-law kills her husband and threatens to take her as his own. She finally finds the strength to run!
Allison has agreed to be the star witness against this crime family. She is being protected at a secure location. But, her handler has been injured in an accident. Enter, Jaxson Stevens. Allison and Jaxson have a past. (Now how convenient is that!).
These two have a rough go at first. It is awkward and just a tad stiff between Allison and Jaxson. But, as the suspense and danger builds, so does their relationship.
As most of you know, romantic suspense is one of my guilty pleasures. I can get so lost in a good romance when the hot guy sweeps in a saves the damsel in distress. And trust me….this one is a good one! This is a very quick read. It moves like lightening plus…I adored Jaxson. He is my favorite type….strong and silent.
Grab your copy today! You will not be disappointed!
I received this book from the publisher for a honest review.
About the author
DEBRA WEBB is the award winning, USA Today bestselling author of more than 150 novels, including reader favorites the Faces of Evil, the Colby Agency, and the Shades of Death series. With more than four million books sold in numerous languages and countries, Debra’s love of storytelling goes back to her childhood on a farm in Alabama. Visit Debra at www.DebraWebb.com
She shivered. The fire had gone out. She kept on her jacket while she added logs to the fireplace and kindling to get it started. Within a couple of minutes, the fire was going. She’d had a fireplace as a kid, so relearning her way around this one hadn’t been so bad. She went back to the kitchen and turned on the kettle for tea.
Bob growled low in his throat and stared toward the front door.
She froze. Her phone was in her hip pocket. Her gun was still in her waistband at the small of her back. This was something else Marshal Holloway had insisted upon. He’d taught her how to use a handgun. They’d held many target practices right behind this cabin.
A creak beyond the front door warned that someone was on the porch. She eased across the room and went to the special peephole that had been installed. There was one on each side of the cabin, allowing for views all the way around. A man stood on the porch. He was the typical local cowboy. Jeans and boots. Hat in his hands. Big truck in the drive. Just like Marshal Holloway.
But she did not know this man.
“Alice Stewart, if you’re in there, it’s okay for you to open the door. I’m Sheriff Colt Tanner. Branch sent me.”
Her heart thudding, she held perfectly still. Branch would never send someone to her without letting her know first. If for some reason he couldn’t tell her in advance, they had a protocol for these situations.
She reached back, fingers curled about the butt of her weapon. Bob moved stealthily toward the door.
“I know you’re concerned about opening the door to a stranger, but you need to trust me. Branch has been in an accident, and he’s in the hospital undergoing surgery right now. No matter that his injuries were serious, he refused to go into surgery until he spoke to me and I assured him I would look after you, ma’am.”
Worry joined the mixture of fear and dread churning inside her. She hoped Branch wasn’t hurt too badly. He had a wife and a daughter.
She opened her mouth to ask about his condition, but then she snapped it shut. The man at her door had not said the code word.
Strange symptoms. Bloody secrets. Can one reporter solve a medical mystery before she ends up in a body bag?
Jordan Reed put her world on hold to hunt down corruption. So when the gutsy journalist gets tipped off about blood money changing hands at a pharmaceutical factory, she dives into the story. With an otherwise healthy worker dropping dead of multiple organ failure, Jordan suspects something far more sinister than a simple accident…
Daring to go up against big pharma, she gains an ally on the inside and recruits two friends to join the investigation. But after a string of false leads and tight-lipped witnesses, she ties her case to disturbingly similar evidence in a medical trial on the other side of the globe. And if she doesn’t expose the lethal conspiracy soon, Jordan is terrified she and her team could be the next victims of the lethal cover-up.
Can Jordan take down a greedy corporation before they sacrifice more lives in the drive for profit?
Toxic Deceptionis the first book in the gripping Jordan Reed thriller series. If you like tenacious heroines, underdog stories, and edge-of-your-seat action, then you’ll love K.C. Gillis’s page-turning tale.
BuyToxic Deceptionto unravel a contagious mystery today!
About the Author
K.C. (Kevin) Gillis is the author of the Jordan Reed mystery series. Despite being a lifelong lover of stories and books, writing took a distant back seat as his professional career travelled through the Canadian Air Force, a decade as a chemist, followed by a long and continuing run in corporate America. With writing no longer in the back seat (but not quite yet in the front seat), Kevin has the initial novels (plus one novella) for the Jordan Reed series well under way. His personal interests focus on endurance and water sports. Having grown up in the Canadian Maritimes, he now lives in the US northeast with his wife, teenagers and a pair of black cats.
New York Times bestselling author and gifted storyteller Allison Brennan’s new standalone thriller features a troubled female police detective and an ambitious FBI special agent who wind up at the center of a ticking-clock investigation into a diabolical serial killer.
Brennan’s novel will launch a book-a-year series featuring a fabulous cast of recurring characters. It’s the story of a troubled female police detective and an ambitious FBI special agent who wind up at the center of a ticking-clock investigation into a diabolical serial killer; and the bond they forge in this crucible sets the stage for the future books in the series.
Detective Kara Quinn is visiting her hometown of Liberty Lake, Washington, after being placed on administrative leave by the LAPD, when she comes upon the mutilated body of a young nurse during an early morning jog. The manner of death is clearly ritualistic; she calls it in. Meanwhile back in DC, special agent in charge Mattias Costa is meticulously staffing his newly-minted Mobile Response Team. One of his first recruits is the brilliant FBI forensic psychologist Catherine Jones. When word reaches Matt that the Washington state murder appears to be the work of the Triple Killer–it will be the first case for the MRT. Jones has done the only profile on this serial killer, but she is reluctant to join the unit, still shaken by the death of her sister a year ago under circumstances for which she holds herself responsible. But only she holds the key to understanding the killer’s obsessive pattern–three murder victims, three deep slashes a piece, each three days apart, each series beginning on a March 3rd–3/3, then a three-year hiatus before he strikes again.
This time they have a chance to stop him before he claims another victim strikes, but only if they can figure out who he is and where is is hiding.
Review
Kara is an LAPD undercover cop. She is on a forced vacation and she is NOT happy about it. Kara decides to spend some time with her grandmother in Washington. She ends up running across a dead body. This leads to a serial killer investigation with the FBI. And of course, being a witness…she inserts herself into the investigation.
Kara is a character I can truly revel in! She is one disrespectful, smart, tough cop with some unique skills. I swear, I thought she had ESP through most of this read. She is on top of it! And nothing escapes her notice. She becomes vital to the investigation of this 3/3 serial killer. Now, don’t get me wrong…this is a team effort and and this team has a great set of skills. They know how to use them and to work together to capture their target!
There is a lot going on in this story. I really enjoyed the chase in this one. It is very complex and intricate. I love a smart read that really keeps me guessing. This story is a slow build of intensity and intrigue. You just read faster and faster to get to the answers. And to the final killing…can they stop this serial killer…you MUST read this to find out!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
About the Author:
Allison Brennan is theNew York Times andUSA Today bestselling and award-winning author of three dozen thrillers and numerous short stories. She was nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International Thriller Writers, has had multiple nominations and two Daphne du Maurier Awards, and is a five-time RITA finalist for Best Romantic Suspense. Allison believes life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids. Allison and her family live in Arizona. Visit her at allisonbrennan.com
Posted inReviews|Taggedfiction, kindle, nook, review|Comments Off on The Third to Die by Allison Brennan #review #fiction #thriller @allison_Brennan @HarlequinBooks
TheNew York Timesbestselling Orphan X returns – just when Evan Smoak thinks he’s done, his deadliest job yet pulls him back Into The Fire….
Evan Smoak lives by his own code.
Once he was known as Orphan X. Trained as an off-the-books government assassin and spoken about only in whispers, Evan Smoak was one of the most talented – and most feared – men in the Program. But he broke free and reinvented himself as The Nowhere Man, a figure shrouded in mystery, known for helping the truly desperate.
If anyone is truly desperate, it’s Max Merriweather.
Max is at the end of his rope. His cousin has been brutally murdered, leaving Max an envelope that contains nothing but a mysterious key. However, someone really wants that key, badly enough that Max – and anyone he turns to – is in deadly danger. What seems like a simple job for The Nowhere Man turns out to be anything but. Behind every threat he takes out, a deadlier one emerges and Evan Smoak must put himself in greater danger than ever before as he heads once more Into The Fire.
Review
Max’s cousin has been murdered and for some very odd reason, he left Max a clue. Max is not known for doing the right thing. He is actually a messed up person who tends to screw everything up. So it is a real shocker when he leaves the Max information to find his killer. Max, as you would expect, ends up needing a lot of help. Enter Evan, or Orphan X!
Evan is a character which is an enigma. He has been trained by the government to be an assassin. But, he left the government program to, basically, do good. I just love this character. Not only is he tough as freaking nails, he has one of the biggest hearts you could ever imagine. He just wants to do what is right for the underdog! This story is no different. Max just can’t help but get himself in a mess. But when Evan shows up…you know it is going to turn out right…or is it. Evan finds himself…almost…over his head. His training and his abilities help keep him and Max alive through some very tough situations. Let me tell you….INTENSE SITUATIONS…is an understatement!
If you need a good, action packed, thriller series…THIS IS IT. I have been a fan since the first Orphan X book. All of the books are fast paced, full of intrigue, energy and emotions. Plus, all the characters in the books are relatable and touch you, as a reader, on some level. So get started today!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
reecaspieces 