Simmer Down

In the second installment in the Gourmet Girl Mystery cozy series, Simmer Down, Chloe Carter had a lot on her hands. While Chloe worked hard with her internship with Naomi, her boyfriend Josh was getting ready for his opening night at Simmer, his brand new restaurant, on New Year's Eve. Besides her own family drama and both her ex and Josh's returned to the fold, her best friend Adrianna had her own crisis on her hands with her boyfriend Owen. On top of things, there were a lot of drama, when someone from the Lunar Moon Group was found dead. It was up to Chloe to find out who've done it before it's too late. This was a fiery read with delicious yummy recipes.

This was another great addition to the Gourmet Girl Mystery cozy series, too. I continued to love the concept and the California backdrop with the restaurants. I like Chloe and Josh as a couple. I think they were real cute. I also did feel so bad for Adrianna and Owen, when they were going through some hard times. I didn't care for much for Chloe's annoying sister Heather or their exes as well. But I enjoyed the storyline and the scrumptious recipes to boot. This would be a delightful quick read to warm you up on a cold day.

Ready to blow some steam? Grab a copy today!

Sick of Shadows

In Sharyn MCCrumb's mystery debut, Sick of Shadows, she told the story with an intricate suspense in a most complicated mystery down in the South. When Elizabeth McPherson arrived for her cousin Eileen's wedding, everything's not what it seemed to be. Her family didn't like her fiancé; and she's been acting strange. Everything somehow  became connected to her painting, when she disappeared and later found out dead. It was up to Elizabeth and the police to find it out, when someone in her family wanted her dead, as it swarmed with family secrets like an angry bee hive. And in the end, there was a shocking twist of whodunit and how it was done and why. What a shocking twisted mystery.

This was a great example of a Southern mystery. I loved the location of South Carolina to set the setting for this series. I thought the main lead character of Elizabeth MacPherson was a good choice for this mystery series. I did feel bad for her, when her cousin died. There was a lot of characters I didn't care for--her fiancé, Elizabeth's cousins, especially Basil. Her parents were unusual at the latest. But I did care for her, when Liz got closer and closer to the truth and the painting she depicted. Great built up of drama and intense suspense.

Ready to spot your shadow? Check this out today!

Postmortem

In Postmortem, Patricia Cornwell introduced us to Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner for Richmond. Other than a guardian to her genius niece, she was on the scene on a most complex crime scene and became on the path of a killer. Between a break-in and a leak, she was under pressure by her boss. Her love life wasn't so spectacular, either. While she tried to balance it out, she learned more and new insight into the brilliant forensic science and scoping out his DNA evidence. The closer the truth she'd had gotten to luring him out in the open, the more she placed her life and her niece into danger. This is a wonderful debut to the series.

I loved Kay Scarpetta and her niece too. I felt bad that her mother wasn't a good mother figure for her. At least, we know Kay was a caring person. I loved the backdrop of Richmond, Virginia, and the surroundings to make it more surreal. I loved the concept of having a ME for a female lead. I did feel bad for Kay for having trouble with the opposite sex.  Forensic science had always been an interesting features in crime novels and TV series, along with movies, for a long time. Plenty of non-stop action and drama with fantastic intrigue to keep you up all night.

Ready for a good read? Give this one a try!

Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too

If you love great cozies, you'll enjoy the 5th installment of the Blackbird Sisters Mystery series, Have Your Cake and Kill Him Too. Poor Nora Blackbird. She had two men fighting for her, when she discovered she was pregnant and haven't told the father of her baby yet While this love triangle had been going on and on, besides having a high-risk pregnancy, her sisters had their own crisis of her own. Nora planned to spruce out the society column to focus on the younger generation, when someone murdered Zell Orcutt, the most volatile man she ever known. To clear her friend's name, she learned some family secrets and discovered the real story of his business empire, while Mick returned back in the news and people stood in her way. Talk about complicated mysteries. Nora needed to figure things out, before she became the next victim.

Once again, I cared about Nora and her plight. More bad luck seemed to follow her and her sisters with the curse. I didn't care much for Zell or Jane. For Brittany and her mother, that was a whole another story. I love Nora and her family. Between a love triangle and a pregnancy, I still will champion for her. The Philadelphia setting painted a beautiful picture for the storyline. I hated to see them part and lose the baby as well.

Ready to get tempted by a good cozy? Grab this cozy series today!

Emerald Queen

In Karen Jones Delk's Emerald Queen, she told us a beautiful tale that takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 18th century. This is Simone Deveraux's love story. As a little girl, Simone wanted to learn to fence and become one of the boys. She also fell in love with Alain de Valliere, an expert in fencing. When her father died at age thirteen, Alain became her ward. Within time, Simone discussed herself as a young boy and hide out from a mad man who brought danger and heartache to her family and to her own life. Simone's been through a lot over the ages from love and death, motherhood and widowhood and finding new love once again. During the time of the steamship, she protected her heart from the evil out there and endured so much heartache from childhood to adulthood. Intricately woven and beautifully told, this is going to be a classic historical romance for all time with many twists and turns to the heartfelt ending.

This historical romance made me laugh and cry through the story. It pulled my heart strings real taut and tight, because it was beautifully written. We can see how much Simone went through to be with Alain and how she transformed herself, many times over. I loved how she befriended Lisette. There were a few people I hated like Marcel, who was a creep. The sword-fighting scenes were intense and had sharpened Simone's wits to fight for her father's honor in the end. This Vieux Carre romance was magnificent and real to the heart.

Ready to bring out your hankies? Download a free e-copy today! 

The Emperor's Edge

Imagine a whole new fantasy world when you're dealing with steam engines. In Lindsay Buroker's steampunk debut, the Emperor's Edge, it was a whole new world out there. Amaranthe Lokdon was a former enforcer for the emperor's empire and looking for a promotion. When someone sent her on a suicide mission to entrap an assassin, she's in the ride of her life, while someone wants to do the emperor in on his birthday. Little did they know, she encountered many traitorous friends and in an obstacle course for survival, when people she trusted died in her hands, just to clear her name. It was up to her and an unlikely group of friends to pull it off and save the emperor, while there was evil forces who  gunned after them. There was a shocking twist for the climax in the end. This novel will take you an an adventure of its own.

Since I  never read steampunk fantasy before, this was a fantastic book.  Those characters were lively and amusing with their own quirks. They became enjoyable as well.  Amaranthe was the underdog and the champion in this story along with her new friends. I didn't like how her former partner betrayed her and thrown her under the proverbial bus either.  The imaginary world worked as well to portray the future.

Get ready to see the future with a copy today!

Friends Forever

In Friends Forever by Danielle Steel, she told us a beautiful story about five friends they've known each other since kindergarten. From elementary school to their adult lives, this was a story to read with your friends and with a tissue. For Gabby, Izzie, Sean, Andy and Billy, they've been through it all in their coming-to-age saga about growing up and following their dreams. Divorce, remarriage, substance abuse and peer pressure, love, life, death, and friendship, especially when tragedy struck this fivesome throughout their lives. Throughout the years, they've endured it all and overcame it, until a bittersweet shocking conclusion. This was one of the finest contemporaries romance by her to cherish forever.

This was a heart-breaking romance that tugged my heart. We follow five friends from kindergarten to college and see things from their POV. I cried throughout the entire contemporary romance. There were so many heart-breaking scenes that dealt with loss of life and new birth and love. This gave me a big load of heartache and sighs to follow after it.  This moved me to tears and beyond that.

Ready to follow their journey? Grab a hankie and enjoy this one today!

Primitive Secrets

In Deborah Atkinson's Primitive Secrets, it was a different kind of traditional mystery. Based in the beautiful backdrop of Hawaii, you learn all about the Hawaiian culture and customs in a most compelling setting For Storm Kayama, coming home gave her a new meaning, when her Uncle Miles mysteriously died. After the funeral, she'd gotten embroiled in a mystery, dealing with family secrets and misdeeds in her uncle's law firm. With multiple attempts on her life, she'd gotten closer to the truth, when friends and family dear to her heart became potential targets. This was a beautiful Hawaiian mystery to warm your hearts and say aloha.

This was an interesting new mystery to read. I loved the Hawaiian location and learning about how people lived on the island. I thought Storm was an interesting character as well. I did feel bad about her uncle's death and the aftermath that happened from it. I thought she had good chemistry with Ian as well. Some of the people at the farm and her family I couldn't stand, like one of her cousins. Great drama mixed in with intrigue for a good read to send you to places.

Ready to head to Hawaii? Give this book a look today!

Gluten for Punishment

If you love fresh new culinary cozies, you're in for a real treat with Nancy Parra's Gluten for Punishment. Welcome to Oiltop, Kansas--a small booming town when oil and wheat were the main economies for that town. For new baker and store owner, Marie "Toni" Holmes, she wanted to start her gluten-free bakery business off with a hitch. Unfortunately, due to protestors and other incidents, things didn't go as planned. When someone died in front of her bakery, she's the town's prime suspect and developed bad business. While she's apart of a big family and close to her best friend Tasha, she's the center of the attention of her love triangle between her lawyer Brad and a cowboy widower named Sam. Between sorting her love life and solving a murder or two, things get tense and hectic to stir up more maddening mayhem for her as she tried to clear her name. There's a shocking twist in the end with GF recipes for you to make at home.

American Assassin

If you're a big fan of the Mitch Rapp series, this prequel of how he'd gotten started is the one for you to fill in that gap. In American Assassin, from start to finish, Vince Flynn told us how Rapp  had gotten started with the CIA from recruitment and training to his first mission from Europe to the Middle East, right after the Pan Am Locherbie explosion. We do get to know him more and the people who helped shape him to the agent he became to be. This is an enthralling thriller of his start to make us feel for Mitch Rapp and root for this underdog throughout the rest of the series and forever.

This was an excellent prequel to see how Mitch Rapp got started with the CIA to kick off the series. I loved the insight look in Mitch's personal and professional life on how he got his butt kicked in training. I loved the location of Quantico and to Europe. The Pan Am Locherbie explosion touched on was done delicately well. There was nothing to hate in this one. Fantastic action, terrific suspense, and excellent pace for this terrific read.

Ready to meet Mitch Rapp? Give this book a good read now!

Motion to Suppress

Meet Nina Reilly. She lost her job, her husband, and was new to Lake Tahoe to start her own private law practice. She had no experience in criminal law. In Perri O'Shaughnessy's legal thriller debut, Motion to Suppress, the first book in the Nina Reilly series, she took on Michelle Patterson as her first client; she was also in for a fight for her life. As a single mother to her son, she received a lot of harrassment and grief, since she was new to town. First, she helped her client get a divorce. And when he turned up dead, Michelle's the prime suspect. To make matters worse and a bit messy, she had amnesia and had hidden secrets from her past childhood. Everyone gave Nina a hard time, when she wanted to do her best for Michelle, which included a fatal near miss in a car accident. As Nina tried to run around the suspects and figured out the case herself, her first criminal case might not be her last, with a shocking and twisted ending you didn't see coming.

This was a powerful legal thriller debut. For starters, I loved the South Lake Tahoe connection for the locale. I also cared about Nina, her son, and how she started the scratch when she moved. But I hated it, when people gave her a hard time. I did feel bad about Michelle and her pregnancy. I hated the sleazy psychologist who took advantage of her. We do get to see Nina in action at home and in the court room. This send me shivers down my spine, leaving me drenched in a cold sweat. Tons of drama and powerful non-stop action to keep you reading for more.

Check this out today!

Hot Button

In the second installment of the Button Box cozy series by Kylie Logan, Hot Button, Josie Giancola was back with her most complex mystery yet. When  she was the head chairman of an international vintage button convention in Chicago, things turned awry and complicated for her. With her at the helm, and her ex, Kaz, by her side, she investigated the mystery behind the elusive Geronimo button that's worth millions. And the head speaker, Thad Wyant, turned up dead, that week. That's when Josie's new love interest, Nevin Riley, was on the scene. Besides that, there was a lot of drama inside the convention that flipped her world around, while someone  tried to discredit her and give her a bad name. One by one, she learned a big shocking twist, when the real culprit wasn't what she suspected and got caught in the act. What a charming cozy.

I loved the setting of having the button convention on a cruise ship. There were always danger and deception on the high seals. I loved Josie working together with Kaz, though he could be annoying. But I loved her paired up with Nevin Riley as well. I didn't care for Brad and Thad Wyant. It was interesting to know some historical and quizzical facts about button collecting and its value in commodity.

Ready to search for a rare find? Grab a copy today!

Pleasure Unbound

Welcome to a world like no other and a pleasurable passion than never before in Larissa Ione's Pleasure Unbound, the first book in the Demonica series. In the world of demonica, there were many kinds of demons. Those who were kind and friendly, and those who kill humans. For Eidolon, a demon doctor of the Underground Hospital, he was one who never felt some pleasure before. He was going through a change, a s'genesis, when he needed to mate a woman before it's too late or he would go insane. When he saved his patient, Tayla, she was something else. She was half-human and half-demon, who didn't know who fathered her. And when she met Eidolon, she was literally went to hell and back, when he took her where she never  been before. In this novel, there was many kind of eclectic and unusual characters that made them special. Before they know it, Eidolon and Tayla discovered they need each other for many reasons. If you like to take a short journey to the erotic side, this is the book for you with danger, intrigue and out-of-this-world romance.

This novel was set apart the others in the paranormal romance/urban fantasy genre. For starters, we get to know about their otherworldly demons and their fight for good against the evil ones. We learned how they differed from the others and how they lost others in the battle with demon others.  E and his gang were interesting and amusing altogether. I cared about Tayla and her half-sister, who were bounded by the common goals of finding out about their family members. Their passion was out of this world and combined as one was something else.

Ready to blast off? Give this unique PNR/UF romance a chance!

The Duchess War

In the Duchess War, the first book in the Brothers Sinister series, Courtney Milan introduced us to a love affair of no other between two people who were meant to be. Wilhemina Pursling was no like other woman. She carried a deep secret and her real name close to her heart. She lived a hard life of scandal and shame, and excelled in her true love for chess. Robert Blaisdell, the Duke of Clermont, had his own secret to keep. They've made a betting war like no other. He would seduce her and get someone to marry her, or she would unmask the secret, before he could claim her of his own. With such hardships from his own mother and someone who wanted to ruined her, she placed her life in his hands with a proposal of his own.  Between the two of them, the chemistry was explosive, when they exposed each other's secrets and followed their hearts to love.

I loved this historical romance and would read others in the series in the near future. For both Minnie and Robert, they both have kept secrets from their past. You can't deny the sparks between them. The backstory of her playing chess intrigued me a bit further to keep on reading.  This was more than a war of words, but more of uncontrollable passion. I didn't care for much for Robert's mother and the crowding people who wanted to do her harm with her fears. I despised Walter and George who wanted to expose her to the public. Hooked on the first page, I couldn't stop reading this on my Kindle. You'll be intrigued in this love match, too.

Check out this moving historical romance right now!