Tiki bars and Emma's newest heirs

Today I'm going to review two new books for you today. First it's Unexpected Blessings, another book in the Emma Harte Saga by Barbara Taylor Bradford. This one deals with 9/1 1 and the second generation of the clan, her great-great grandchildren. Lots of drama, romance and intrigue, for more half cousins, kissing and holding. I forgot to mention, there's one more book in the book to read in the mix: Emma's Secrets. That won't be until next year or so. This is also centered in London and the UK with a good follow up to the previous book.

If you're up for a good laugh, like with Donna Andrews's Meg Langslow's mystery series, this mystery has all the ingredients for a quick read. Lots of humor, a bit of romance and a good mystery for a light read in any season. Set in a tiki bar in Florida, in which it takes center stage, you'll be swinging and going bananas with laughter for this one.

As for my reading list, I've started Matters of the Heart and hope to finish that book for the library. I'll start the Cheater and Medusa tomorrow. Up next is Final Scream, Death on Demand, and Wrong Place, Wrong Time. This holiday season's reads are Low Country by Anne Rivers Siddons, Watermind by MM Buckner and Margin of Error by Edna Buchanon. On Wednesday, when I drop off my books, I'll be at 18 books to go (excluding those on writing/research for Nano ms), I can request new books again after a break in two months. I try to keep my queue number of returned books around 20ish.

Here's my six new books to request: Donna Andrews's Revenge of the Flamingoes, September by Rosamunde Pilcher, Buried by Breakfast by Lorna Barrett, Deep Freeze by Lisa Jackson, Life at These Speeds by Jeremy Jackson and Fantasy Lover by Sherylinn Kenyon. Feel free to check out my Shelfari shelf that's now on the blog. If you prefer books I've read or to be read, let me know. I'll change it around. Enjoy.

Equivocal Death

This is a hot new legal thriller debut from Amy Gutman called Equivocal Death. It started out with a sexual harassment case and leads to two murders. It has suspense, drama, high-packed action and intrigue for a thrill ride with a hint of romance, set in New York. I think you'll enjoy it. She also has written out a book called the Anniversary, from a few years ago. Something to look forward to, next year.

P.S. I'm switching bonus books around from Matters of the Heart to afternoon and The Cheater to mornings. Plus, at Barbara Taylor Bradford's website this year, she said she's writing a new book to the Emma Harte series called Breaking the Rules, perhaps the final stand-alone novel of the series, to accomodate the 30th anniversary of A Woman of Substance. It comes out next summer. And Just Rewards in another new book in the series that came out before Unexpected Blessings a few years ago. Interesting.

Reading Schedules/Kissing Cousins

Many people have asked me, do I really read three books a day? I answer yes. Morning, noon and night. And for the occasional fourth book, (bonus books, books that can't be renewed more), I'll throw it into the schedule to speed things up. It had worked 50/50, since it happened earlier this year. Between editing/writing, I add it in. On mornings, I read from 8:30 AM to 2 PM, (Wednesdays, due to volunteering, it's 1-4 PM, and when I work again this fall, it'll be 5-8 PM). On afternoons, I read from 2-8 PM, (Wednesdays, 4-8 PM, and those days I work, 8-9:30 PM). As for nights, I read from 8-11 PM, (the same for Wednesdays, and 9:30-11 PM for those work days.)

So here's my current reading schedule for this week, weekend and for next weekend. Due to "bonus" books, (new books from authors that came from the library and can't be renewed after 3 weeks, marked in asterisks), I've switched up my reading schedule to add them in and return them before due date. Two will be overdue though. As it stands:

Morning: Finished reading Hold the Dream. Currently reading for the week, starting tomorrow: Unexpected Blessings. This weekend: **Matters of the Heart by Danielle Steel. Next week: Final Scream by Lisa Jackson.
Afternoon: Currently resumed reading Equivocal Death. This weekend: **Medusa by Clive Cussler. Next week: Death by Demand by Carolyn Hart.
Night: Will start reading Murder by the Bad Girl's Bar and Grill by N.M. Kelby. This weekend: **The Cheater by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg. Next Week: Wrong Time, Wrong Place by Andrea Kane.
I hope to get 4-6 books done in a week, starting tomorrow, and yes, a bit less twittering, since I'm juggling here like a clown, hanging onto dear life.

As for Hold the Dream, it's the second book in the Emma Harte series. This is historical romance and a family saga, that continues and follows after A Woman of Substance (I'll be reading this book next year) and continues to the third book, To Be the Best (I've already read last week), and follows up by Emma's Secret (I'll be reading next year) and the final book, Unexpected Blessings, (starting tomorrow). Each book focus on a decade for two years or so. This has a bit of historical romance, plenty of drama and lots of love for this series. As I called this post, "Kissing Cousins", half third cousins fall in love and marry, which is a bit twisted, but unique in its way for the family tree. Although I've read this series out of order in the most part, it's lovely all the way to read such a great family saga series, which have locations in Europe/UK, USA and elsewhere. Thanks for entering this jungle's reading circle.

The Tunnels

In Michelle Gagnon's thriller debut, the Tunnels, the first installment in the Kelly Jones  Thriller series, we were introduced to a dark thriller. For FBI Special Agent, Kelly Jones, she never saw a nasty crime scene before this one. When two college students were found murdered in a New England tunnel system beneath a prestigious New England college. For Kelly, she teamed up with Jake Riley, where a connection between them were sparking at first. From there, she found a link between the two murdered girls and a dark tale of why they were picked for random. The killer taunted Kelly to go dark and deep into the tunnels herself.

This novel shouldn't be read in the dark, since it could give you goosebumps. Leave the lights on! This thriller can send you an emotional roller coaster of the darkest level of evil could be obtained. I cared about Jake and Kelly, while they worked together.  I also enjoyed her fellow agents in the team.  I felt every sort of emotion in this novel from hating the killer and rooting for Kelly to solve the case.

Ready to leave a light on? Get a copy today!



 

It's a Jungle Out There

Hello everyone. My name is Kristen Howe. Welcome to Kristen's Book Jungle. After hearing so much about blogging last year from others and even for weeks on Twitter. I decided to take the plunge... splash! This is my first of three blogs I'll be doing today. I'll be blogging later this afternoon with Kristen's Writing Endeavors over at Wordpress (site TBA) and Kristen's Miscellanea over at Live Journal (site TBA).

As an avid book reader, I've enjoyed reading many books. Last year I've started my own personal challenge, that I called it Read a Book a Day. Well, unfortunately, it ended up being up to 3 days or sometimes a week. I read three books a day, (sometimes 4 , if a book is overdue or can't be renewed for the fifth time), morning, noon and night. So I'm pretty busy trying to catch up this weekend.

I'll be doing updates on what books I've read and what I'm currently reading and what's up next, every three days. And in a week or so, I'll be posting my Shelfari shelf, once I update it, to see what I've read over the years. Any book recommendations to try new authors would be great? Once I get started, I'll add some links to my blog. If you want me to add yours, feel free to drop me a line. I'll be happy to add it. If you're an aspiring author as I am, or published, please feel free to swing your vine over here.

I read a majority of thrillers and reads lots of mysteries and cozies too. I also read romances also. I don't read GLBT, erotica or horror. (Sorry if I offended you with my reading preferences. We all have different tastes.) Sci fi and fantasy? Maybe once in a while. Chick lit/woman's fiction? I've just got started and think it's okay.

Before I sign off for today, I've read First Class Killing by Lynne Heitman and To Be the Best by Barbara Taylor Bradford this week. I'm currently reading Hold the Dream by Barbara Taylor Bradford, Equivocal Death by Amy Gutman and the Tunnels by Michelle Gagnon. Up next is Death on Demand by Carolyn Hart, Unexpected Blessings by Barbara Taylor Bradford and Murder at the Bad Girl's Bar by N.M Kelby. So please feel to leave a comment on what you think of my blog and what you're reading. Welcome!