Review: High Noon by Nora Roberts

Title: High Noon
Author: Nora Roberts

Read copy: Paperback
Published: June 5, 2008
Publisher: Piatkus Books
ISBN: 0749938986
ISBN-13: 9780749938987

Police Lieutenant Phoebe MacNamara found her calling at an early age when an unstable man broke into her family's home, trapping and terrorizing them for hours. Now she's Savannah's top hostage negotiator, defusing powderkeg situations with a talent for knowing when to give in--and when to jump in and take action. It's satisfying work--and sometimes those skills come in handy at home dealing with her agoraphobic mother, still traumatized by the break-in after all these years, and her precocious seven-year-old, Carly.

It's exactly that heady combination of steely courage and sensitivity that first attracts Duncan Swift to Phoebe. After observing her coax one of his employees down from a roof ledge, he is committed to keeping this intriguing, take-charge woman in his life. She's used to working solo, but Phoebe's discovering that no amount of negotiation can keep Duncan at arm's length.

And when she's grabbed by a man who throws a hood over her head and brutally assaults her--in her own precinct house--Phoebe can't help but be deeply shaken. Then threatening messages show up on her doorstep, and she's not just alarmed but frustrated. How do you go face-to-face with an opponent who refuses to look you in the eye?

Now, with Duncan backing her up every step of the way, she must establish contact with the faceless tormentor who is determined to make her a hostage to fear...before she becomes the final showdown.

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Review: The Search by Nora Roberts

Title: The Search
Author: Nora Roberts

Read copy: Mass Market Paperback
Published: April 12, 2011
Publisher: Jove
ISBN: 0515149489
ISBN-13: 9780515149487

To most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life-a quaint house on an island off Seattle's coast, a thriving dog-training school, and a challenging volunteer job performing canine search and rescues. Not to mention her three intensely loyal Labs. But Fiona got to this point by surviving a nightmare...

Several years ago, Fiona was the only survivor of the Red Scarf serial killer, who shot and killed Fiona's cop fiancé and his K-9 partner.

On Orcas Island, Fiona found the peace and solitude she needed to rebuild her life. But all that changes on the day Simon Doyle barrels up her drive, desperate for her help. He's the reluctant owner of an out-of-control puppy, foisted upon him by his mother. Jaws has eaten through Simon's house, and he's at his wit's end.

To Fiona, Jaws is nothing she can't handle. Simon, however, is another matter. A newcomer to Orcas, he's a rugged and in-tensely private artist, known for the exquisite furniture he creates from wood. Simon never wanted a puppy-and he most definitely doesn't want a woman. Besides, the lanky redhead is not his type. But tell that to his hormones.

As Fiona embarks on training Jaws, and Simon begins to appreciate both dog and trainer, the past tears back into Fiona's life. A copycat killer has emerged out of the shadows, a man whose bloodlust has been channeled by a master with one motive: to reclaim the woman who slipped out of his hands...

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Review: Contest by Matthew Reilly

Title: Contest
Author: Matthew Reilly

Read copy: Paperback
Published: January 1, 2010
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 0330513427
ISBN-13: 9780330513425

The New York Public Library. A silent sanctuary of knowledge; a 100-year-old labyrinth of towering bookcases, narrow aisles and long marble hallways. For Doctor Stephen Swain and his daughter, Holly, it is the site of a nightmare. Because for one night this historic building is to be the venue for a contest. A contest in which Swain is to compete - whether he likes it or not.The rules are simple: Seven contestants will enter, only one will leave. With his daughter in his arms, Stephen Swain is plunged into a terrifying fight for survival. The stakes are high, the odds brutal. He can choose to run, to hide or to fight - but if he wants to live, he has to win. For in this contest, unless you leave as the victor, you do not leave at all.

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Review: Ice Station by Matthew Reilly

Title: Ice Station
Series: Shane Schofield
Author: Matthew Reilly
Read copy: Paperback
Published: January 1, 2010
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 033051346X
ISBN-13: 9780330513463

A team of U.S. scientists makes an amazing discovery at an ice station in Antarctica: something buried deep within the coastal ice shelf; something made of metal . . . something worth killing for.

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Review: Possession by Linda Mooney

Title: Possession
Author: Linda Mooney

Read copy: eBook
Published: March 15, 2011
Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press Torrid
ISBN-13: 9781603139540


If you were murdered by a stranger, wouldn’t you want the chance to be able to come back and find out who killed you? And why?

J was born blind, but she could "see" things. Her gift has always helped the police find such things as missing persons, serial killers... a ghost or two.

Detective Kiel Stark has worked homicide for eight years, but he has never met this mysterious Seer his fellow officers claim could almost perform miracles. Not until a gruesome triple homicide has his superiors calling in the reserved woman to help with the case.

Now Stark is faced with a double threat. Not only is he finding himself dangerously attracted to the mysterious beauty, but she could very well discover his own carefully guarded secret—a secret that could bring an end to his career, his way of life, and any future he had hoped to have.

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Review: Quicksilver by Amanda Quick

Title: Quicksilver
Series: Arcane Society, Looking Glass Trilogy
Author: Amanda Quick
Read copy: eBook
Published: April 19, 2011
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
ISBN: 1101524391
ISBN-13: 9781101524398

Virginia Dean wakes at midnight beside a dead body, with a bloody knife in her hand and no memory of the evening's events. Dark energy, emanating from the mirrors lining the room, overpowers her senses. With no apparent way in or out, she is rescued by a man she has met only once before, but won't soon forget.

Owen Sweetwater inherited his family's talent for hunting the psychical monsters who prey on London's women and children, and his investigation into the deaths of two glass-readers has led him here. The high-society types of the exclusive Arcane Society would consider Virginia an illusionist, a charlatan, even a criminal, but Owen knows better. Virginia's powers are real-and they just might be the key to solving this challenging case.

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Review: In Too Deep by Jayne Ann Krentz

Title: In Too Deep
Series: Arcane Society, Looking Glass Trilogy
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz
Read copy: eBook
Published: December 28, 2010
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
ISBN: 1101476508
ISBN-13: 9781101476505

Scargill Cove is the perfect place for Fallon Jones, confirmed recluse and investigator of the paranormal. It’s a hot spot, a convergence point for unusually strong currents of energy, which might explain why the town attracts misfits and drifters like moths to a flame. Now someone else has been drawn to the Cove Isabella Valdez, on the run from some very dangerous men.

When she starts working as Fallon’s assistant, Isabella impresses him by organizing his pathologically chaotic office and doesn’t bat an eye at the psychic element of his job. She’s a kindred spirit, a sanctuary from a world that considers his talents a form of madness. But after a routine case unearths an antique clock infused with dark energy, Fallon and Isabella are dragged into the secret history of Scargill Cove and forced to fight for their lives, as they unravel a cutthroat conspiracy with roots in the Jones family business…and Isabella’s family tree.

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Review: Killer Curves by Roxanne St. Claire

Title: Killer Curves
Author: Roxanne St. Claire

Read copy: eBook
Published: January 15, 2005
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing
ISBN: 1416506683
ISBN-13: 9781416506683

He's fast. She's furious. They're in for the ride of their lives.

Rising star Roxanne St. Claire puts the pedal to the metal in a story of intrigue and passion that will get your heart racing!

When sexy NASCAR racer Beau Lansing tracks down high society debutante Celeste Bennett, it's a matter of life or death. Stunned at the secret Beau reveals, Celeste is forced to make a life-altering decision. But with her love life on the skids and her family life in a tailspin, escaping incognito into Beau's world is just what she needs — especially if she can get answers about her past.

Beau needs Celeste to save a man's life — he never expected a high-octane attraction that could wreck his well-protected heart. And when Celeste's life is threatened by someone who clearly knows her real identity, Beau has to risk everything — including his own life — to save her. With menacing forces in the driver's seat and time ticking too fast, the two must win the biggest race of all...the race for their lives and their love.

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Review: Midnight Crystal by Jayne Castle

Title: Midnight Crystal
Series: Arcane Society, Dreamlight Trilogy, Harmony
Author: Jayne Castle
Read copy: Mass Market Paperback
Published: August 31, 2010
Publisher: Jove
ISBN: 0515148369
ISBN-13: 9780515148367

For many earthly centuries, a legendary curse has plagued the Winters family, stemming from the tumultuous founding of the Arcane Society. But now, on the futuristic world of Harmony, the curse's final mystery will be unraveled...

Head of the ghost hunters guild Adam Winters and dreamlight reader extraordinaire Marlowe Jones must break the curse, save Harmony's entire underworld-and fight a passion that could destroy them both.

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