"Be Mine" by Rick Mofina

Be Mine by Rick Mofina is a thriller about Molly, a news reporter who is stalked by a killer. Her stalker just kills anyone who shows any romantic interest in her, thinking that leaves the way open for him to have her. The story opens with Molly is waiting for Hooper, a cop and a good guy, at the restaurant. She was going to end their relationship because he was getting too serious. Hooper was going to propose to her that night! Unfortunately, he never showed and when she went to his home, she found him murdered!

This was a good book, went pretty fast. Basically, there were several likely suspects and the real killer was someone I didn’t even think about as a possibility. I enjoyed it, but didn’t really care all that much for Molly, the main character.
 (Karen's review, 4 stars)


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"Tower Lord" by Anthony Ryan

Tower Lord by Anthony Ryan is the follow-up to Blood Song, which I loved! In the book, unlike the first, the story is told by other people than Vaelin. It is told by Reva, Frentis and Lyrna as well. A lot goes on in this book which is a good thing at 600 pages. The main story is Vaelin building up an army to fight in the war. The action parts are very good and I enjoyed when Vaelin told the story the most. I also liked the parts with Snowdance, the war-cat! I didn’t like this quite as much as the first, but good enough. Vaelin is awesome!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 15:  Despite his scorn the words were enticing.  "You were there when it was taken from my father's martyred corpse."

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"Blood Song" by Anthony Ryan--Husband Loved It, Wife Hated It!

In Blood Song by Anthony Ryan, Vaelin is only ten when his father takes him to join the sixth order.  The sixth Order is devoted to battle to protect the realm and the faith!  The book is told by the point of view of Vaelin.  I really enjoyed the first part of the book when he goes through training exercises with his band of brothers.  There is good action in this book with some twists that surprised me.  At 575 pages, this is no light read to say the least, but I was caught up in it and pretty much enjoyed it all!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Karen's review, 4/25/18:
Blood Song by Anthony Ryan is like a marathon; I was so glad when I finally finished it! This is a fantasy that I really did not like much at all—only a few parts. It’s about Vaelien who is sent to the Sixth Order to learn to kill, supposedly to defend the faith and the realm. Part I was the best in my opinion, and then it went downhill from there. It is filled with fighting, murder, betrayal, and war.

Here are the few things I liked:

1) The training at the Sixth Order.
2) Vaelien’s relationship with sister Sherin, Snowdance (a huge cat that was in it very little).
3) Vaelien’s Valarian slave-hound named Scratch, and his horse named Spit.

Here are the things I did not like:

1) The writing was hard to follow because it kept going back and forth from present to past and often I had to reread passages to figure out who was speaking.
2) Too many characters and then some even were called by several different names!
3) Characters I really liked got killed.
4) The names were hard to remember.
5) I had a hard time understanding how the magic worked.
6) The whole plot was hard for me to follow.
7) Lots of different countries to keep straight and I didn’t really understand what the war was all about—it made no sense to me.
8) The ending was horrible! I felt so let down and that I wasted so much time reading this.  The only good part of the ending was when he let Spit run free!

I know I am in the minority on this book, it got lots of very good reviews. However, I was extremely disappointed in it and therefore give it just 2 stars. I will not be continuing on with this series.


Teaser from pg. 29:  "Your first day in the Order is over," he told them.  "It is a rule of the Order that you can leave in the morning if you wish.  It will only get harder from now on so think carefully."

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"Glimpse" by Jonathan Maberry

Glimpse by Jonathan Maberry is about a woman named Rain.  She still feels guilty for giving up her baby at 16.  The boy's father died in Iraq.  One day she gets a pair of glasses from someone and thinks she sees a young boy, but no boy is found and she misses a whole day!  I think you get the idea, Rain is a mess.  As she tries to get help, she runs into many different characters. I thought this book was pretty good.  Rain was an interesting character to say the least and I loved the ending!
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 63:  My blood pressure kept going up, too, and I had all sorts of heart problems.  Arrhythmia and palpitations.  Then I was diagnosed with preeclampsia.  It was a mess.

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"The Gunners" by Rebecca Kauffman

The Gunners by Rebecca Kauffman tells the story of a group of childhood friends who are now adults and come together at a funeral of a girl who was in their circle of friends.  Long-held secrets come out and some truths are told!  I thought this was pretty good.  I enjoyed all the characters and found them to be funny and interesting.  It has a real nice ending and goes quick, only 257 pages.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from pg. 35:  "Long story," Lynn said.  "Ill tell you later."

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"The Last Namsara" by Kristen Ciccarelli is GREAT!

The Last Namsara  by Kristen Cicarelli is a fun, adventurous read!  If you like fantasy, I highly recommend this.  Asha is a girl who was scarred from being badly burned by a dragon but lived.  Her father has promised her to marry someone she does not like who is very controlling.  Fortunately, her father gave her a way out if she brings him the head of Kozu, the first dragon--the one who burned her as a child. She is determined to do it!  There are many secrets though and as they are revealed, everything changes!

I liked this book a lot because it was fast-paced with lots of adventure, an interesting plot including forbidden love and strong characters.  I liked Shadow and Kozu, the two dragons, very much!  My favorite parts of the book were when Asha and Torwin rode on the dragons.  The brother/sister dynamic was interesting as well.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Gerard's review, 4/1/18, 5++ stars:
In The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli, Asha is the daughter of the king, but she is also the Iskari--dragon hunter.  She has one more dragon to kill and only so much time to do it!  If not, well Asha does not want to think about that!  It will change her life forever, and not in a good way.

WOW, DID I LOVE THIS BOOK!  Asha is a great character!  Nothing or nobody keeps her down for long!  I really enjoyed the story line and the other characters were good also!  This kept me turning pages quickly!  I am really looking forward to Book 2.


Teaser from page 120:  "The Old One can try all he likes to stop me, but I'm going to find Kozu.  And when I do, I'm going to kill him."

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"Unpunished" by Lisa Black

Unpunished by Lisa Black is the sequel to That Darkness. This is a murder mystery about four employees of the Herald, a Cleveland newspaper who were murdered and two other murders of people who did not work there. These murders were sometimes quite gruesome! Jack Renner is again on the case and Maggie, the forensics tech is working with him on the same murders. Everyone at the paper is worried about losing their jobs as the written newspapers become extinct and rumors fly about another company taking them over. Did Jack stop killing like he promised Maggie and what is going on at the paper where all these employees are being murdered? Will Maggie be able to keep her secret?

This book dragged along for me and I did not care for it. There was a lot of narration about the decline of newspapers in America that I did not find interesting at all! It was pretty obvious who the killer was early on. The focus was mostly on the investigation into the various murders. I was way more interested in the first book, That Darkness, than this one in spite of its creepiness.
(Karen’s review, 2 stars)

Teaser from pg. 23: Instead their attention rested on a man who hung in midair between that platform and the next lower one, swinging ever so slightly from the end of a thin white rope. The other end of the rope had been attached to the railing the men stood behind.


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"Genesis" by Brendan Reichs

Genesis by Brendan Reichs is the second book in the Nemesis series.  As in the first book, the story is told by Noah and Min.  They are trying to find out what comes next in "The Program" and what the guardian has in store for them.  I thought this book was just as good, if not better, than the first.  There is good action and a good twist near the end.  Too bad I have to wait until spring of 2019 for book 3!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 3:  I'd been murdered over and over back in the real world, never knowing why, wracked by the pain and humiliation of thinking I was crazy.  But I'd had it all wrong.

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"Not If I Save You First" by Ally Carter

In Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter, Maddie and Logan are young teen friends.  Logan is the President's son.  Maddie is the daughter of the man who helps keep the President safe.  They get caught up in an incident at the White House that will make this an adventure for both of them.

This is pretty good stuff.  There is good action and I liked Maddie and Logan; plus it has a good ending!
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 19:  For a second, the world stood still, and then he pulled the trigger just as Maddie's father jumped between the man and Logan.
   And fired.

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"That Darkness" by Lisa Black (Contemporary Fiction)

That Darkness by Lisa Black takes place in Cleveland, Ohio and is a work of fiction that makes one think. It is about Jack Renner, a vigilante cop who makes sure the scumbags in Cleveland who got off before do not get off again! He takes care of them himself! He justifies it by the fact that he’s saving others from their exploits. Maggie, a forensic investigator for the Cleveland Police Department suspects him and finds herself in dangerous situations as she gathers evidence.

This book is very creepy and at first; I was feeling overwhelmed with so many dead bodies to keep track of. Then though, things settled down some and I got caught up in wondering what I would do if I were Maggie and whether I liked Jack or not. This is a book with adventure and suspense that makes you think. It is definitely not a happy little story with a predictable ending, nor is it a murder mystery.  There is no mystery at all so if that's what you are looking for, you will be disappointed. I look forward to reading the sequel, Unpunished next.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 172:  "That in times of crisis, morality is the first thing to go out the window.  It becomes a luxury people just can't afford."


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"I Was Anastasia" by Ariel Lawhon (Historical Fiction)

In I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon, on July 17, 1918 Valimir Lenin orders the entire Romanov family to be killed!  Germany, February 17, 1920, a young woman is pulled out of the water.  She looks like one of the daughters of the Romanov family.  Could this be?

Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres so naturally, I thought this book was really well done.  It goes back and forth in time, but that only builds up the suspense.  There is good action that kept me turning pages.  I enjoyed the two dogs in the story very much!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Teaser from page 37:  "What do we do now?" I ask, my voice temulous with exhaustion and growing fear.  Jimmy, ever sensitive to my moods, presses his cold, wet nose against the back of my hand.

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"Marrying Miss Marshall" by Lacy Williams (Wild Wyoming Hearts Book 1)

Image from Amazon

Marrying Miss Marshall by Lacy Williams is an historical romance that I thoroughly enjoyed! This takes place in Wyoming territory in 1889 where the town of Calvin has a female Marshall, Danna Carpenter. She was appointed to replace her husband when he died in the line of duty. Chas O’Grady is a detective from Boston investigating cattle rustlers as well as revenge on the man who killed his brother and his sister-in-law. The Marshall and Chas meet when the Marshall rescues him from being trampled by a stampede! Although he’s shocked to see a woman Marshall, he grows to admire her and soon becomes her deputy since he needs a job.

This entertaining book has a good story line in addition to the love story between Danna and Chas. It has quite a bit of adventure which kept my interest and I liked both Danna and Chas. Danna’s dog, Wrong Tree, also added interest for me.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 7: Chas’s heart thundered in his chest, much like those hooves that had been so close to taking his life. This time for a different reason.


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"Year One" by Nora Roberts (Book 1 of Chronicles of the One Series)

In Year One by Nora Roberts, a virus is going around the whole world and the population is going down fast!  We follow a bunch of different people who are trying to deal with the madness that has ensued!  I thought this book was pretty good.  It kept my interest for the most part.  I enjoyed the mom who had twins and the female reporter the best and plan to read book 2.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Teaser from page 108:  Now Bob's eyes filled with tears.  "There's no point anymore.  No point.  False hope's just a lie in soft focus."

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