readersalley

Author: readersalley

Books for Review – Week of April 15th

Posted on by

Girls of Yellow
Orest Stelmach
Penwood
Mystery & Thrillers

Imagine a world where modern governments failed their citizens and long-simmering conflicts escalated into global war. Imagine if its survivors migrated toward those who share the same faith. Imagine the continents are ruled by religions.

When the mysterious death of a teenage girl triggers memories of a similar childhood event, police Detective Sami Ali becomes consumed with solving her murder. Persecuted by the shame of his past, Ali will stop at nothing to find the killer, even if his investigation puts his wife and daughter at risk.

As he follows the clues, Ali collides with another lost soul – a foreign spy. Elise De Jong’s official mission in Eurabia involves the acquisition of a priceless item that could shift the balance of power among the theocracies. But she also has a personal objective – to find her last living relative, the little sister whom she hasn’t seen since her birth.

To succeed in their missions, Elise and Ali must find common ground despite their religious differences, for they can depend only on each other.

Ellie’s Rules
Cassie O’Brien
Totally Bound Publishing
Release Date May 14, 2019
Erotica

We play by your rules, Ellie. Not mine.”

Sporty and fiercely ambitious, Ellie McAllister has rules to protect her career. Mark Walker would like her to break them.

Ellie has a deeper need to achieve success than mere ambition and that precludes any open admission that she’s in a relationship with Mark, no matter that he’s the man to whom no other compares, in or out of bed, until…

Christmas looms on the horizon and Ellie receives a job offer that will allow her relationship with Mark to become public knowledge. Mark appears delighted when she tells him the news but Ellie’s jealousy surfaces when a beautiful rival walks into the bar and claims Mark’s attention.

Ellie must return to her parents’ village home for Christmas and face the demons that traumatized her past and Mark is in hot pursuit to prove to her that she’s the one he loves.

American Witch
American Witch: Book 1
by Thea Harrison
Romance , Sci Fi & Fantasy
Release Date April 29, 2019

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Thea Harrison comes the first in a new spellbinding trilogy…

Power can change a person…

For months Molly Sullivan endures the inexplicable: electrical surges, car breakdowns, visions. She even wonders if she might be the cause… and wonders if she might be crazy. Then she discovers her husband has cheated on her. Again. Now Molly realizes she is a newly awakening witch and a woman pushed over the edge.

Revenge can shape a person…

Josiah Mason is a Powerful witch and the leader of a secret coven with a shared goal: to destroy an ancient enemy who has ruined many lives. Josiah lost years to this man, and his sole focus is revenge. He’s prepared for every contingency—except encountering a beautiful new witch who understands nothing of the immense Power building within her or the attraction she wields over him.

Danger can bring them together…

When divorcing her husband, Molly uncovers a dangerous secret he’s willing to kill to protect. She turns to Josiah for help, and they discover a connection between Molly’s husband and Josiah’s enemy. As they work together, a spark ignites between them that threatens to become an inferno. But Molly is done compromising herself for any man, and Josiah’s mission is his top priority. And the enemy is cunning, cruel, and drawing ever closer.

As the danger escalates, so does the tension between them. Is a lasting relationship possible? Will either of them live long enough to try?

Top New Thrillers This Week

Posted on by

Where The Dead Fall
By M J Lee
Publisher: Canelo
Crime Thriller

One chance encounter, one street side murder, will change everything. The extraordinary new Ridpath crime thriller

DI Ridpath is in the process of getting his life back together when everything goes wrong.

Driving to meet his daughter, he is caught in a gruesome motorway accident, in which a near-naked man is rundown by a lorry, while fleeing from a lone gunman. As Ridpath closes Manchester’s road network in search of the assailant, one question remains: why did nobody else see him?

Ridpath’s investigations soon unearth a number of inconsistencies, which pulls the police force itself into question, and hint at something sinister to come.

For Manchester is on the brink of a fresh surge of violence unlike anything it has seen in decades, and Ridpath must battle this unprecedented conflict along with his own demons. One thing is for sure. There will be blood on the streets…

The nail-biting sequel to Where the Truth Lies, M J Lee’s Where the Dead Fall is an absolute must read, perfect for fans of Mark Billingham, Faith Martin and Peter James

The Cleansing
By J.A. Baker
Publisher: Bloodhound Books
Psychological Thriller

A village shrouded in mystery. Secrets buried deep…

When Ray moves to a new house in the village of Whitchurch, he leaves behind a relationship and a luxury apartment in search of a better life in the countryside.

However, he soon realises that sleepy Whitchurch also has its own fair share of problems. Last year, a woman’s body was discovered in the woods nearby. The killer was never caught.

Soon suspicious things start to happen. Threatening letters are sent, cars are vandalised and headstones are desecrated. But who is responsible for these acts and why?

As the tension in the village builds, Ray begins to feel the pressure. Someone is out to cause trouble and that someone might be closer to Ray than he ever imagined.

Metropolis
By Philip Kerr
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Historical Thriller

New York Times-bestselling author Philip Kerr treats readers to his beloved hero’s origins, exploring Bernie Gunther’s first weeks on Berlin’s Murder Squad.

Summer, 1928. Berlin, a city where nothing is verboten.

In the night streets, political gangs wander, looking for fights. Daylight reveals a beleaguered populace barely recovering from the postwar inflation, often jobless, reeling from the reparations imposed by the victors. At central police HQ, the Murder Commission has its hands full. A killer is on the loose and though he scatters many clues, each is a dead end. It’s almost as if he is taunting the cops. Meanwhile, the press is having a field day.

This is what Bernie Gunther finds on his first day with the Murder Commisson. He’s been taken on beacuse the people at the top have noticed him–they think he has the makings of a first-rate detective. But not just yet. Right now, he has to listen and learn.

Metropolis, completed just before Philip Kerr’s untimely death, is the capstone of a fourteen-book journey through the life of Kerr’s signature character, Bernhard Genther, a sardonic and wisecracking homicide detective caught up in an increasingly Nazified Berlin police department. In many ways, it is Bernie’s origin story and, as Kerr’s last novel, it is also, alas, his end.

Metropolis is also a tour of a city in chaos: of its seedy sideshows and sex clubs, of the underground gangs that run its rackets, and its bewildered citizens–the lost, the homeless, the abandoned. It is Berlin as it edges toward the new world order that Hitler will soo usher in. And Bernie? He’s a quick study and he’s learning a lot. Including, to his chagrin, that when push comes to shove, he isn’t much better than the gangsters in doing whatever her must to get what he wants.

Books for Review – Week of April 8th

Posted on by

Home To Kentucky
The McCoys: Before The Feud, Book Two
Thomas A. McCoy
Western Presse Publishing
Pub Date Feb 14, 2019
Historical Fiction

A treacherous journey. Wagons packed with gold. Will the McCoys outrun a group of lawmen or swing from the gallows?

Kansas, 1865. Wiley McCoy can’t wait to return home. He counts down the days until his family can stop laying low and return to Kentucky with the rightfully plundered valuables they took back for the South. But crossing the open prairie with four wagons full of gold may bring Wiley a lethal set of new problems.

With desperate outlaws and opportunistic deserters at every turn, Wiley and the other McCoys must watch their backs to survive. But they never expected their greatest enemy to come in the form of ten brilliant Pinkerton detectives…

Can Wiley make it home before the lawmen slip a rope around his neck?

Home to Kentucky is the second book in The McCoys: Before the Feud saga of historical Western novels. If you like determined heroes, realistic Southern settings, and quests for justice, then you’ll love Thomas A. McCoy’s treacherous wagon ride.

The Determined Lord Hadleigh
by Virginia Heath
HARLEQUIN – Romance
Release Date: Jul 01, 2019
Historical/Regency Fiction

He’s got iron control…

But she might be his undoing!

Part of The King’s Elite: Haunted by Penny Penhurst’s courage on the witness stand, meticulous barrister Lord Hadleigh offers her a housekeeper position at his estate. Despite trying to stay detached, Hadleigh is charmed by her small child and surprised by how much he yearns for this proud woman! Can he break through his own—and Penny’s—barriers to prove he’s a man she can trust…and love?

Living Lies
by Natalie Walters
Revell
Christian Mystery, Suspense
Release Date May 21, 2019

In the little town of Walton, Georgia, everybody knows your name–but no one knows your secret. At least that’s what Lane Kent is counting on when she returns to her hometown with her five-year-old son. Dangerously depressed after the death of her husband, Lane is looking for hope. What she finds instead is a dead body.

Lane must work with Walton’s newest deputy, Charlie Lynch, to uncover the truth behind the murder. But when that truth hits too close to home, she’ll have to decide if saving the life of another is worth the cost of revealing her darkest secret.

Debut novelist Natalie Walters pulls you to the edge of your seat on the first page and keeps you there until the last in this riveting story that will have you believing no one is defined by their past.

The New York Times and USA Today Bestseller – The Only Woman in the Room

Posted on by

She possessed a stunning beauty. She also possessed a stunning mind. Could the world handle both?

Her beauty almost certainly saved her from the rising Nazi party and led to marriage with an Austrian arms dealer. Underestimated in everything else, she overheard the Third Reich’s plans while at her husband’s side, understanding more than anyone would guess. She devised a plan to flee in disguise from their castle, and the whirlwind escape landed her in Hollywood. She became Hedy Lamarr, screen star.

But she kept a secret more shocking than her heritage or her marriage: she was a scientist. And she knew a few secrets about the enemy. She had an idea that might help the country fight the Nazis…if anyone would listen to her.

A powerful novel based on the incredible true story of the glamour icon and scientist whose groundbreaking invention revolutionized modern communication, The Only Woman in the Room is a masterpiece.

Reader Reviews

“Once again, Benedict shines a literary spotlight on a historical figure whose talents and achievements have been overlooked, with sparkling results. The Only Woman in the Room is page-turning tapestry of intrigue and glamour about a woman who refuses to be taken for granted. Spell-binding and timely.” – Fiona Davis, national bestselling author of The Masterpiece

Buy Links:

About the Author:

Once a New York City lawyer, Marie Benedict had long dreamed about a fantastical job unraveling the larger mysteries of the past as an archaeologist or historian — before she tried her hand at writing. While drafting her first book, she realized that she could excavate the possible truths lurking in history through fiction, and has done so in THE OTHER EINSTEIN, the story of Mileva Maric, Albert Einstein’s first wife and a physicist herself, and CARNEGIE’S MAID, the story of a brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie toward philanthropy. Her new novel, THE ONLY WOMAN IN THE ROOM, was released in January of 2019. She is a graduate of Boston College and the Boston University School of Law, and lives in Pittsburgh with her family.

Find Marie Online:

Books For Review – Week of April 1st

Posted on by

Vicious
Sinners of Saint, Book One
By L.J. Shen
ISBN: 978-0996135665
ASIN: B01NCQOPFD
Pages: 339
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Emilia

They say love and hate are the same feelings experienced under different circumstances, and it’s true.
The man who comes to me in my dreams also haunts me in my nightmares.
He is a brilliant lawyer.
A skilled criminal.
A beautiful liar.
A bully and a savior, a monster and a lover.
Ten years ago, he made me run away from the small town where we lived. Now, he came for me in New York, and he isn’t leaving until he takes me with him.

Vicious

She is a starving artist.
Pretty and evasive like cherry blossom.
Ten years ago, she barged into my life unannounced and turned everything upside down.
She paid the price.
Emilia LeBlanc is completely off-limits, my best friend’s ex-girlfriend. The woman who knows my darkest secret, and the daughter of the cheap Help we hired to take care of our estate.
That should deter me from chasing her, but it doesn’t.
So she hates me. Big fucking deal.
She better get used to me.

Vicious a complete standalone and a part of the Sinners of Saint series.

A River Between Us
The Riverview Series, Book 2
By JoAnna Grace
Publisher: Y&R Publishing/Arrow Book Works
Published: March 2019
ISBN: 9781940460710 (print)
ISBN: 9781940460260 (ebook)
ASIN: B07PJLV5B5
Pages: 160
Genre: Romance, Sweet Romance, Contemporary Romance, Women’s Fiction

Holly freaks out when she and her date show up at the same restaurant as her husband-even though they’re separated. Unable to hide, Holly reveals the secrets that sent her running from the love of her life years ago. Divorce papers or wedding rings? Once Justin finds out why she ran away from Riverview, he might make that decision for her.

Without a Trace
by Carissa Ann Lynch
Harper Impulse and Killer Reads
Release Date Apr 5, 2019
Thriller
From the USA Today bestselling author of My Sister Is Missing

Lily’s gone.
Someone took her.
Unless she was she never there…

A little girl has gone missing.

Lily was last seen being tucked into bed by her adoring mother, Nova. But the next morning, the bed is empty except for a creepy toy rabbit.

Has Nova’s abusive ex stolen his “little bunny” back for good?

At first, Officer Ellie James assumes this is a clear custody battle. Until she discovers that there are no pictures of the girl and her drawers are full of unused toys and brand new clothes that have never been worn…

Is Ellie searching for a missing child who doesn’t actually exist?

New Cozy Mystery Release – Double Agent by Gretchen Archer

Posted on by

THIS JUST IN—

On the weather front, Category Four Hurricane Kevin took a last-minute left and is headed straight for the Bellissimo Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

In breaking news, Undercover Casino Operative Davis Way has one foot out the evacuation door when fifty million dollars disappear, and in its place, a dead body.

In other news, if forced to ride out the storm on the hotel’s thirteenth-floor fortress, Davis won’t be alone. Her husband, Bradley, her best friend, Fantasy, and a crew of highly trained first responders will be hurricane hostages too, along with Mississippi State Gaming Agents, a FEMA agent, an insurance agent, a State Special Agent, and an Emergency Response Agent—at least one of them a double agent.

The good news is her high school reunion is cancelled.

The bad news is everything else.

The fake news features a castaway pig named Bacon.

The hurricane heist headlines will be sensational. If Davis survives to see them. Grab your rain slicker and galoshes for DOUBLE AGENT, A Davis Way Crime Caper, and prepare yourself for a perfect storm of humor, hijinks, and heart.

More Books In The Davis Way Crime Caper Series:

Reader Reviews

“INTERESTING STORY LINE WITH LOTS OF ACTION AND HUMOR

I have loved the Davis Way Crime Series since the very first book in the series, Double Whammy. This is my favorite book series.

She creates characters which keep you laughing and laughing as you try to figure out who did it.

Double Agent is #8 in the series and it is my favorite after Double Whammy. I never could figure out who did this crime until the very end. These books seem to get better and better.

As soon as they clean up the damage caused by Hurricane Kevin and other misfortunes at the Bellissimo Resort and Casino, I am ready for the next adventure. Can’t wait for the action and the fun to begin.” – V. Moore – Reviewer

“It’s the perfect storm. A dead body. A $50 million heist. And a category-four hurricane.

The latest installment in Davis Way Cole’s adventures as (Bradley’s) wife, (Bex and Quinn’s) mother, (the Bellissimo Casino’s) upper-echelon security expert and computer wizard, and (Bianca’s) body-double and babysitter once again takes a crisis and makes it hilarious.

While most of Biloxi is evacuating in the path of Hurricane Kevin, a storm is already brewing at the Bellissimo. How did $50 million in cash suddenly disappear after being collected from the main casino’s slot machines? Who is the very-real corpse dressed in the fake police uniform? And just exactly how did he get to be a corpse? How will Davis prevail (or even retain her sanity) locked down for a hurricane on the “Disaster” floor of the casino hotel with a rich and varied assortment of loonies, some of whom are probably also dangerous felons?

As the first drops of Hurricane Kevin arrive, two more dead bodies with fake credentials surface. The odd goings-on inside, and the wind and rain outside, go from bad to worse. But even hurricanes come to an end, and by the time the sun comes back out, Davis and her crew have resolved another caper with the help of plenty of guts, wits, and some very good guesses.

Gretchen Archer has once again crafted a clever and intricate (and very entertaining!) plot that has so much going on I almost want to tell her to save some ideas for next time. But this is the eighth full-length book of the series and there is no sign at all that her ideas will ever start thinning out. Along with the fast-paced story line there is a large company of colorful characters—the stock players whom we get to know a little better each time out, and many new (some to be recurring?) characters who are equally well-developed. Like the seven “Double” books before it, this not-particularly-long book packs its pages with action, suspense, humor, and even the occasional pearl of wisdom. In some spots it may be a little hard to keep up, but that is only to be expected when the wind is raging at 100mph and you don’t know whom to trust!” – Miriam Van Scott, Reviewer

Buy Links:

About the Author:

Gretchen Archer is a Tennessee housewife who began writing when her daughters, seeking higher educations, left her. She lives on Lookout Mountain with her husband, son, and a Yorkie named Bently.

Find Gretchen Online:

Books For Review – Week of March 25th

Posted on by

Burton’s Solo
An Elder Darrow Mystery, Book 3
By Richard J. Cass
Publisher: Encircle Publications
Mystery & Thrillers

When Dan Burton beats up Antoine Bousquet, the clothing designer suspect in the murder of two Chinese seamstresses, he jeopardizes his job as a homicide detective and his life. Bousquet is released without bail because of Burton’s mistake. When Bousquet turns up dead, beaten and tortured, Burton becomes the prime suspect. The department’s Internal Affairs inspectors, Bousquet’s live-in lover, several Russian gangsters, and the kingpin of the Boston underworld are all looking for Burton. But Elder Darrow, his best friend and proprietor of the Esposito bar, hides Burton and helps save his position on the Boston Police Department and rescue him from death. In the process, they expose an evil scheme by which illegal immigrants were effectively enslaved to work in Antoine Bousquet’s sweat shops.

The Girl the Sea Gave Back
by Adrienne Young
St. Martin’s Press
Wednesday Books
Release Date: Sep 3, 2019
YA Fantasy

The new gut-wrenching epic from the New York Times bestselling author of Sky in the Deep.

For as long as she can remember, Tova has lived among the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue. Her own home and clan are long-faded memories, but the sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch of her skin mark her as one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future. She has found a fragile place among those who fear her, but when two clans to the east bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse.

For the first time in generations, the leaders of the Svell are divided. Should they maintain peace or go to war with the allied clans to protect their newfound power? And when their chieftain looks to Tova to cast the stones, she sets into motion a series of events that will not only change the landscape of the mainland forever but will give her something she believed she could never have again—a home.

The Second Chance Rancher
The Millers of Morgan Valley Book 1
by Kate Pearce
Publisher: Kensington Books
Release Date; May 28, 2019
Romance, Women’s Fiction

It might be the pride of hard work on rugged terrain, the welcoming community, or the memories—but wherever the folks of Morgantown may roam, they have a way of coming back to the ranch . . .

There’s a reason Jackson Lymond left the Air Force, but he’s not telling a soul. He’d rather keep things simple, while trying to start a new life helping his older brother on their northern California ranch. At least Morgantown’s flirty local bartender can keep his mind off the past—that is, until he runs into Daisy Miller . . .

Daisy doesn’t really expect Jackson to remember her. Back in school she did her best to blend in—and pretend she didn’t have five brothers who’d hogtie any boy who even looked at her. These days though, she and Jackson might have more in common than just their ranching relatives. After all, they both left home only to return. Trouble is, under the watch of her fiercely protective family, Daisy is longing for some privacy. Letting Jackson into her life could make that even more difficult—or it might be the second chance they’re both looking for . . .