Monday, December 18, 2017

Review: All I Want for Christmas by Jennifer Gracen

Title: All I Want for Christmas
Series: Christmas in New York
Author: Jennifer Gracen
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: November 9, 2014
Publisher: Tule Publishing
ASIN: B00PG3NQBQ

Cassandra Baines almost has it all: a flourishing career as one of the youngest English Lit assistant professors at NYU, an apartment in a city she adores, and a close circle of lifelong girlfriends that are like sisters. The only thing she doesn’t have is someone special to share it with. She’s been married to her work since Sean McKinnon broke her heart seven years ago.

Musician and bar owner Sean McKinnon keeps busy—too busy for a love life. He blew it with Cassie all those years ago, and no one has held a candle to her since.

But then one fateful night, of all the people in New York City, Cassandra walks into his bar, and he’s drawn to her as strongly as ever. She wants nothing to do with him, but he’s not going to give up so easily.

Can a bit of New York Christmas magic help two people take a second chance on true love?


My rating:

Review: Christmas Light by Jolyse Barnett

Title: Christmas Light
Series: Christmas in New York
Author: Jolyse Barnett
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: November 9, 2014
Publisher: Tule Publishing
ASIN: B00PG4T6UU

Adirondack girl-in-transition Jade Engel comes home to recharge after ending a career she never truly wanted, but soon realizes she’s in danger of also being swept off her feet by the boy-next-door, her former best friend, Ben Stephens. If only he’d stop kissing her every time she falls into his arms.

Everything local celebrity Ben Stephens ever wanted is in Starling. Then Jade comes home after an eternity away and sends his simple world into a tailspin. He’s determined to pursue her—the one girl who got away. But when their friends-with-benefits arrangement blows up in their faces, will they have the courage to put their pasts to rest in order to forge a future together?


My rating:

Review: This Christmas by Jeannie Moon

Title: This Christmas
Series: Christmas in New York
Author: Jeannie Moon
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: November 9, 2014
Publisher: Tule Publishing
ASIN: B00PG4029Y

Single mother Sabrina Gervais has built a happy life with her daughter Charlotte in their eastern Long Island hometown of Holly Point. Having Charlie meant putting some of her own dreams on hold, but Sabrina is content to surround herself with family and friends, safe from the realities of the outside world. She had enough of that when the man she loved broke her heart.

Jake Killen’s career in professional hockey has brought him many rewards on and off the ice, but returning to New York brings back a flood of memories. When he sees Sabrina again, he discovers that he didn’t just walk away from her ten years ago, but also from their unborn child.

Struggling with anger, guilt, and chemistry that’s off the chart, Sabrina and Jake wonder if they can find love again and, this Christmas, make all their wishes come true.


My rating:

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Review: Christmas on Crimson Mountain by Michelle Major

Title: Christmas on Crimson Mountain
Series: Crimson Colorado
Author: Michelle Major
Read copy: eBook
Published: December 1, 2016
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 148800286X
ISBN-13: 9781488002861

LOVE ON THE MOUNTAIN

Peace and quiet—that's all Connor Pierce wanted from the rented cabin on Crimson Mountain. Yet the caretaker turned out to be lovely April Sanders—a total distraction. As were the two little girls she was caring for. Connor's plan to forget his painful past soon detoured into giving the ladies a Christmas to remember.

Being named guardian of two motherless girls has upended April's world. Add to the mix a mysterious, brooding writer claiming he wanted to be left alone while going out of his way to bring a little joy to the girls, and she has quite the quandary. April had counted herself out of a happy ending. But maybe Santa still had a few surprises up his merry old sleeve...


My rating:

Review: Origin by Dan Brown

Title: Origin
Series: Robert Langdon
Author: Dan Brown
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: October 3, 2017
Publisher: Doubleday
ASIN: B01LY7FD0D

Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the ultramodern Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao to attend a major announcement—the unveiling of a discovery that “will change the face of science forever.” The evening’s host is Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old billionaire and futurist whose dazzling high-tech inventions and audacious predictions have made him a renowned global figure. Kirsch, who was one of Langdon’s first students at Harvard two decades earlier, is about to reveal an astonishing breakthrough...one that will answer two of the fundamental questions of human existence.

As the event begins, Langdon and several hundred guests find themselves captivated by an utterly original presentation, which Langdon realizes will be far more controversial than he ever imagined. But the meticulously orchestrated evening suddenly erupts into chaos, and Kirsch’s precious discovery teeters on the brink of being lost forever. Reeling and facing an imminent threat, Langdon is forced into a desperate bid to escape Bilbao. With him is Ambra Vidal, the elegant museum director who worked with Kirsch to stage the provocative event. Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret.

Navigating the dark corridors of hidden history and extreme religion, Langdon and Vidal must evade a tormented enemy whose all-knowing power seems to emanate from Spain’s Royal Palace itself...and who will stop at nothing to silence Edmond Kirsch. On a trail marked by modern art and enigmatic symbols, Langdon and Vidal uncover clues that ultimately bring them face-to-face with Kirsch’s shocking discovery...and the breathtaking truth that has long eluded us.


My rating:

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Review: Secrets in Death by J.D. Robb

Title: Secrets in Death
Series: In Death
Author: J.D. Robb
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: September 5, 2017
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ASIN: B01M716DW3

The chic Manhattan nightspot Du Vin is not the kind of place Eve Dallas would usually patronize, and it’s not the kind of bar where a lot of blood gets spilled. But that’s exactly what happens one cold February evening.

The mortally wounded woman is Larinda Mars, a self-described “social information reporter,” or as most people would call it, a professional gossip. As it turns out, she was keeping the most shocking stories quiet, for profitable use in her side business as a blackmailer. Setting her sights on rich, prominent marks, she’d find out what they most wanted to keep hidden and then bleed them dry. Now someone’s done the same to her, literally—with a knife to the brachial artery.

Eve didn’t like Larinda Mars. But she likes murder even less. To find justice for this victim, she’ll have to plunge into the dirty little secrets of all the people Larinda Mars victimized herself. But along the way, she may be exposed to some information she really didn’t want to know...


My rating:

Monday, December 11, 2017

Review: Echoes in Death by J.D. Robb

Title: Echoes in Death
Series: In Death
Author: J.D. Robb
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: February 7, 2017
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ASIN: B01GNYVS52

After a party in New York, Lieutenant Eve Dallas rides home with her billionaire husband, Roarke, happy to be done with cocktails and small talk.

After another party, not far away, a woman retires to her bedroom with her husband—and walks into a brutal nightmare.

Their paths are about to collide...


When the young woman—dazed, naked, and bloody—wanders in front of their car, Roarke slams on the brakes just in time, and Eve, still in glittering gown and heels, springs into action. It’s been a long night for the tired homicide cop, and it’s far from over.

Daphne Strazza is rushed to the ER, but it’s too late for Dr. Anthony Strazza. A brilliant orthopedic surgeon, he now lies dead amid the wreckage of his obsessively organized town house, his three safes opened and emptied. Daphne would be a valuable witness, but in her terror and shock the only description of the perp she can offer is repeatedly calling him “the devil”...

While it emerges that Dr. Strazza was cold, controlling, and widely disliked—and that he treated Daphne like a trophy wife—this is one case where the evidence doesn’t point to the spouse as the first suspect. So Eve and her team must get started on the legwork, interviewing everyone from dinner-party guests to professional colleagues to caterers, in a desperate race to answer some crucial questions:

What does the devil look like? And where will he show up next?


My rating: