Wednesday Wish List

Please list the books/manga/manhwa/yaoi manga from your wishlist that you are hoping to add to your shelves in a comment, thanks.

An examination of the cultural occupations of Egypt over the past two millennia and how we can return to the sacred harmony of ancient Egypt.

Explores the golden civilization of ancient Egypt and its system of natural magic that birthed the Western Mystery tradition

Examines each phase of Egyptian history from the Pharaonic period, through the Roman conquest, to the ongoing Islamization

Provides a revised portrait of the life of Muhammad, revealing his connections to the Essene tradition

Imagine the paradise of ancient Egypt: a lush green valley with a gentle river, full of animals and birds of all sizes. The first settlers, arriving by way of the desert, would have marveled at this beautiful landscape. This awe held on through the first three millennia of settlement in Egypt. Centered on careful observations of the natural rhythms of their environment, particularly the Nile, this enlightened civilization lived in a state of spiritual balance and harmony they called “living in Maat.” This state was further enhanced by the sacred landscape of Egypt and the colossal monuments and pyramids the Egyptians built to reflect the heavens, thus creating a cosmic “spiritual engine” for the ancient world. But sadly, the paradise and Maat of ancient Egypt were not to last, and for the past two thousand years Egypt has experienced many occupations by hostile forces bent on taking control of this magical land.

Exploring the exemplary social and cultural model that produced the golden civilization of ancient Egypt as well as the many waves of conquest and destruction up to the present day, Robert Bauval and Ahmed Osman examine each phase of Egyptian history from its origins and the Pharaonic period, through the Roman conquest and its Christianization, to the Pan-Arabization of Nasser and the ongoing Islamization that began with the Muslim caliphate in the 7th century. They show how the current Islamic rulers are actively working to eradicate all traces of Egypt’s spiritual roots, the source of the Western Mystery tradition. They provide a revised portrait of the life of Muhammad, revealing his connections to the Essene tradition, and explain how most Sharia Law is not based on the Koran.

Revealing how even the dams built on the Nile are impeding Egypt’s sacred role, the authors sound the call for a return to the original tenets of Egyptian civilization, one that sustained itself in harmony and peaceful creativity for more than three millennia.

For fans of THE MARTIAN, an extraordinary new thriller of the future from #1 New York Times–bestselling and Pulitzer Prize–winning author John Sandford and internationally known photo-artist and science fiction aficionado Ctein.

Over the course of thirty-seven books, John Sandford has proven time and again his unmatchable talents for electrifying plots, rich characters, sly wit, and razor-sharp dialogue. Now, in collaboration with Ctein, he proves it all once more, in a stunning new thriller, a story as audacious as it is deeply satisfying.

The year is 2066. A Caltech intern inadvertently notices an anomaly from a space telescope — something is approaching Saturn, and decelerating. Space objects don’t decelerate. Spaceships do.

A flurry of top-level government meetings produces the inescapable conclusion: Whatever built that ship is at least one hundred years ahead in hard and soft technology, and whoever can get their hands on it exclusively and bring it back will have an advantage so large, no other nation can compete. A conclusion the Chinese definitely agree with when they find out.

The race is on, and an remarkable adventure begins — an epic tale of courage, treachery, resourcefulness, secrets, surprises, and astonishing human and technological discovery, as the members of a hastily thrown-together crew find their strength and wits tested against adversaries both of this earth and beyond. What happens is nothing like you expect — and everything you could want from one of the world’s greatest masters of suspense.

The New York Times bestselling author of Gossamer Ghost returns to the Big Easy and the historic Garden District, where scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand discovers a bride-to-be murdered in the legendary Lafayette Cemetery.

Carmela couldn’t imagine a finer evening than dinner at Commander’s Palace with her beau, Detective Edgar Babcock. The food and the company are equally divine — with the exception of Isabelle Black stopping by to brag about her upcoming wedding. Resuming the romance with a walk in the evening air, the couple is interrupted once again — this time by a terrifying scream from inside the cemetery.

Having just seen Isabelle, Carmela and Edgar now find her lying across an aboveground tomb, strangled to death with a piece of vintage lace. Carmela would rather leave the investigating to Edgar, but she can’t say no to Isabelle’s sister Ellie, the tarot card reader at Juju Voodoo, when she asks her to help. As she untangles the enemies of Isabelle’s past, Carmela hopes she can draw out the killer before someone else gets cold feet.

INCLUDES SCRAPBOOKING TIPS

Destiny has chosen Skylar

Now it might destroy her

Skylar is a girl with extraordinary power. A girl with a mission to use her Greater-Than gifts to stop the makers of Destiny from getting people hooked on their deadly drug. But Sky is still mastering her new abilities, and her first mission to destroy a Destiny lab leaves her best friend addicted to the drug. For a few days Cal will be able to walk again – until it kills him. Time is running out for Sky to save the world without sacrificing her friends, to become truly Greater-Than.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann and her daughter Melanie Brockmann have written a pulse-pounding novel set in a near future both fantastic and frightening.

New York Times bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson is back. So is Betsy Taylor, “everyone’s favorite vampire queen” (Bitten by Books) and this time Betsy’s going viral…

If Betsy Taylor has learned anything about ruling Hell it’s: 1) She can't do it alone, and 2) She doesn’t have to. She’s got the help of a devoted vampire king, a dateless zombie, an exhausted new mom, an unshowered cop, a bitchy ghost, a kindly dead priest, and her late stepmother (“Go Team Satan 2.0!”). But the latest major hurdle in her afterlife is so big she can’t even see it until it’s on YouTube.

Betsy’s father and half sister Laura (a former Antichrist with a grudge) have teamed up, for what sinister purpose Betsy can't imagine. The former Antichrist didn't take kindly to getting what she wished for, and has decided that's entirely the fault of the vampire queen. What that means for Betsy is trouble (more than usual, even) and possible exposure to an unsuspecting world.

Meanwhile Hell is having a deleterious effect on Betsy's friends ("I didn't think it was possible, but the damned are getting meaner."), the newly dead are confused about Hell's new rules ("A buddy system? Really?"), and the vampire king is trying to poach on Betsy's territory. Betsy loves her husband, but that's not the same as trusting him. Before long the king and queen of the vampires aren't speaking to each other, the mansion on Summit Avenue is a war zone, and Betsy's getting calls from a werewolf, a mermaid, and worst of all, her mother ("What do you mean you can't babysit?"). No one said life after death would be easy, but c'mon: this is ridiculous.

Wendy Corsi Staub's Blood Red Blog Tour with a Spotlight and Guest Post

I am so excited to have Wendy Corsi Staub here at Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight and Guest Post.

Thanks Wendy and Pump Up Your Book Promotions for allowing me to join your Blood Red Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Wendy!

Title: Blood Red
Author: Wendy Corsi Staub
Release Date: September 29, 2015
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Format: Ebook/Paperback/Audible

From New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub comes the first in a terrifying new series set in a small town with a sinister secret.

The razor’s gleaming blade slices effortlessly through skin and tendon, and he relishes the final anguished moments of his prey. There’s only one thing he prizes more: their long, silken strands of red hair. But these women are merely stand-ins a prelude to his ultimate victim.

Nestled in New York’s Hudson Valley, Mundy’s Landing is famous for its picturesque setting — and for a century-old string of gruesome unsolved murders. Rowan returned to her hometown years ago, fleeing a momentary mistake that could have destroyed her family. Life is good here. Peaceful. Until an anonymous gift brings Rowan’s fears to life again.

The town’s violent history was just the beginning. Soon everyone in Mundy’s Landing will know that the past cannot be forgotten or forgiven — not until every sin has been paid for, in blood.

New York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub is the award-winning author of more than eighty novels in a career that has spanned more than two decades. Under her own name, Wendy achieved New York Times bestselling status with her single title psychological suspense novels. Those novels and the women’s fiction she writes under the pseudonym Wendy Markham have also frequently appeared on the USA Today, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookscan bestseller lists.

In Autumn 2015, Wendy will launch two new series. The first is the “Mundy’s Landing” adult suspense trilogy for HarperCollins, with the launch title, Blood Red, on sale September 29, to be followed in 2016 by Blue Moon and Bone White. The other is “Lily Dale,” a hardcover cozy mystery series set in the upstate New York spiritual community. Book One, Nine Lives, goes on sale October 26, with a second title to come in Summer 2016.

Another 2015 suspense novel, The Black Widow (HarperCollins, March), concludes her Social Media predator series that began withThe Good Sister (October 2013) and continued with the USA Todaybestseller The Perfect Stranger (July 2014), and its prequel ebook novella, Cold Hearted (May 2014).

She has published two other suspense trilogies with HarperCollins in recent years. Nightwatcher (September 2012), won the Westchester Library Association Washington Irving Prize for Fiction. It was followed by the New York Times bestseller Sleepwalker (October 2012), which went on to become a finalist for the prestigious Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award presented at the Mystery Writers of America Edgars Symposium, and Shadowkiller (February 2013). New York Times bestseller Live to Tell (March 2010) received a starred review in Publishers Weekly and was also a finalist at the 2011 Mystery Writers of America Edgar Awards for the Mary Higgins Clark Award. Its sequel, Scared to Death, (January 2011) was honored with the WLA Washington Irving Prize for Fiction, followed by the bestseller Hell to Pay (October 2011).

She previously published more than a dozen award-winning, bestselling adult suspense novels with Kensington Books and co-authored a Mystery series with the late former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch and a romance series with Fabio. She has ghostwritten novels for a number of other celebrities and bestselling authors.

As “Wendy Markham,” her most recent title, The Best Gift, is a sequel to the acclaimed 2006 Christmas Time Travel romance, If Only in My Dreams (both from Signet). Prior, she published nearly two dozen women’s fiction novels with Hachette, Warner, Avon, Grand Central Publishing, Red Dress Ink, and Berkley. She also has an extensive Young Adult/Middle Grade backlist that includes the acclaimed series “Lily Dale” (Bloomsbury/Walker). Early in her writing career, she published in various genres including suspense, horror, historical and category romance, television and movie tie-in, and biography.

In addition to the Mary Higgins Clark Award nominations, Wendy has won the 2008 RT Award for Career Achievement in Suspense and the 2007 RWA-NYC Golden Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement. A proud recipient of the RWA Rita award, she has also been honored five times with the Westchester Library Association’s Washington Irving Prize for Fiction and was recognized as one of WLA’s Millennial Authors in 2000. Her Wendy Markham novel Slightly Single was named one of Waldenbooks’ 100 Best Fiction titles of 2002. Her novels Slightly Suburban, The Last to Know, and Ask Me Again were nominated for RT Reviewers Choice awards, and five of her novels, Don’t Scream; The Last to Know; Mike, Mike and Me;Hello, It’s Me; and Bride Needs Groom, were awarded a month’s top pick review by the RT BOOK club magazine.

Her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages worldwide and her titles are regularly selected as features for Mystery Guild, Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, Large Print Book Club, and Rhapsody Book Club.

Wendy grew up in a large, close-knit family in rural southwestern New York State and decided she wanted to become an author while in third grade. She worked in two independent bookstores during college, then moved alone to New York City at twenty-one to pursue her dream of becoming a working writer. After stints as a book editor for a Manhattan publishing house and an account coordinator for a major advertising agency, she sold her first novel, the supernatural young adult thriller Summer Lightning in 1991.

Wendy now lives in the New York City suburbs with her husband of twenty-four years and their two children. A 1986 graduate of the State University of New York at Fredonia, she proudly delivered the keynote commencement address at her alma mater in May 2008, was a featured speaker at the 2011 Academic Convocation.

Having lost her mother and mother-in-law to breast cancer, she has been a vocal and active supporter of charitable causes such as Relay for Life, Support Connection, and the American Cancer Society. In September 2012, she was an Ovarian Cancer Awareness month national spokesperson for Avon’s Kiss and Teal campaign with the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation. As an animal rights advocate, she currently fosters cats and kittens for various rescue organizations in the metro New York City area.

For More Information Visit Wendy’s website.

New Releases 2015 (Sept 29)

 

New Releases

It has an ocean-front view, a private beach -- and a deadly secret that won't stay buried.

No. 7 Ocean Drive is a gorgeous, multi-million-dollar beachfront estate in the Hamptons, where money and privilege know no bounds. But its beautiful gothic exterior hides a horrific past: it was the scene of a series of depraved killings that have never been solved. Neglected, empty, and rumored to be cursed, it's known as the Murder House, and locals keep their distance.

Detective Jenna Murphy used to consider herself a local, but she hasn't been back since she was a girl. Trying to escape her troubled past and rehabilitate a career on the rocks, the former New York City cop hardly expects her lush and wealthy surroundings to be a hotbed of grisly depravity. But when a Hollywood power broker and his mistress are found dead in the abandoned Murder House, the gruesome crime scene rivals anything Jenna experienced in Manhattan. And what at first seems like an open and shut case turns out to have as many shocking secrets as the Murder House itself, as Jenna quickly realizes that the mansion's history is much darker than even the town's most salacious gossips could have imagined. As more bodies surface, and the secret that Jenna has tried desperately to escape closes in on her, she must risk her own life to expose the truth -- before the Murder House claims another victim.

Full of the twists and turns that have made James Patterson the world's #1 bestselling writer, THE MURDER HOUSE is a chilling, page-turning story of murder, money, and revenge.

www.TheOriginalHeatherGraham.com

Can the same killer strike again — a hundred and fifty years later?

Estes Park, Colorado, is a place of serenity. But it wasn't always so serene. Shortly after the Civil War, Nathan Kendall and his wife were murdered there, leaving behind a young son. The crime was never solved.

Now historian Scarlet Barlow is working at a small museum attached to a B and B, the same building where that murder occurred. She recently came to Colorado, reeling after her divorce from FBI agent Diego McCullough. Diego — who's just been asked to join the Krewe of Hunters, a unit dealing with "unusual" situations.

When Scarlet unwittingly takes pictures of people who've been murdered — just like the Kendalls a hundred and fifty years before — the police look at her with suspicion. Then the museum's statues of historic people, including Nathan Kendall, begin to talk to her, and she knows it's time to call her ex-husband. Diego heads to Estes Park, determined to solve the bizarre case that threatens Scarlet's life — and to reunite with the woman he never stopped loving.

Eve Duncan: the most sought-after artist in the field of forensic sculpting. Dedicated to her work ever since her daughter Bonnie was taken and killed at the age of seven, Eve feels a sense of duty to those whose lives were lost and whose bones are now in her hands.

When a sheriff in California contacts her with a request for help on the reconstruction of the skull of a girl whose body has been buried for eight years, his fierce investment in the case puzzles her. But when Eve finds herself experiencing an unusual connection with the girl she calls Jenny, she becomes entangled in the case more intensely than she could have ever imagined. Not since Bonnie has Eve had such an experience, and suddenly she finds herself determined to solve the murder and bring closure to the crime.

When the killer discovers that Eve Duncan is on the case, he begins to move in. First, eliminating those most remotely involved. Then, targeting those more closely tied to Jenny. And he won't rest until anything and anyone that could reveal his identity is eliminated-but even that won't satisfy him. He wants something more. He wants something more. One girl escaped from him. And she is his ultimate prize.

Some of your favorite New York Times bestselling authors present five all-new stories told through the looking glass — including a new Eve Dallas novella!

You’re late for a very important date

Enter a wonderland of mesmerizing tales. It’s a place that’s neither here nor there, where things are never quite as they seem. Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s whimsical masterpiece, ranging from the impossible to the mad to the curiouser, these stories will have you absolutely off your head.

Don’t be afraid to follow them

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

Sisters. Strangers. Survivors

More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s teenaged sister Julia vanished without a trace. The two women have not spoken since, and now their lives could not be more different. Claire is the glamorous trophy wife of an Atlanta millionaire. Lydia, a single mother, dates an ex-con and struggles to make ends meet. But neither has recovered from the horror and heartbreak of their shared loss — a devastating wound that's cruelly ripped open when Claire's husband is killed.

The disappearance of a teenage girl and the murder of a middle-aged man, almost a quarter-century apart: what could connect them? Forming a wary truce, the surviving sisters look to the past to find the truth, unearthing the secrets that destroyed their family all those years ago and uncovering the possibility of redemption, and revenge, where they least expect it.

Powerful, poignant, and utterly gripping, packed with indelible characters and unforgettable twists, Pretty Girls is a masterful novel from one of the finest writers working today.

From New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub comes the first in a terrifying new series set in a small town with a sinister secret.

The razor's gleaming blade slices effortlessly through skin and tendon, and he relishes the final anguished moments of his prey. There's only one thing he prizes more: their long, silken strands of red hair. But these women are merely stand-ins a prelude to his ultimate victim.

Nestled in New York's Hudson Valley, Mundy's Landing is famous for its picturesque setting — and for a century-old string of gruesome unsolved murders. Rowan returned to her hometown years ago, fleeing a momentary mistake that could have destroyed her family. Life is good here. Peaceful. Until an anonymous gift brings Rowan's fears to life again.

The town's violent history was just the beginning. Soon everyone in Mundy's Landing will know that the past cannot be forgotten or forgiven — not until every sin has been paid for, in blood.

The battle rages on

Ali Bell and Cole Holland's crew of zombie slayers thought they'd won the war against Anima Industries, the evil company responsible for capturing and experimenting on zombies in an effort to discover the secret to immortality. In the last epic clash, the slayers lost many of their crew and closest friends. But Frosty, the ice man himself, has not recovered from one casualty in particular — the love of his life, Kat Parker.

On the path to self-annihilation, Frosty receives a message from beyond — Kat's spirit returns, insisting he partner with rogue slayer Camilla Marks. Frosty will do anything for Kat. Except that. Camilla is the one who betrayed them all, leading to Kat's death.

But when Anima rises from the grave to become a force the slayers may not have the strength to overcome, Frosty, Camilla and all the slayers will have to work together to survive. And one broken slayer will learn that sometimes, the line between hate and attraction is blurred and the road to redemption isn't through revenge, but in letting go of the past and grabbing hold of the future.

In New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands' new Argeneau novel, a vampire accustomed to seducing every woman he meets finds the one determined to resist him.

With immortal good looks and scorching charisma, Justin Bricker has yet to meet a woman he can't win over. His potential life mate should be no different. But instead of falling into his bed, Holly Bosley runs away and ends up mortally wounded. To save her, he has to turn her. And then Bricker learns the shocking truth: Holly's already married.Holly wakes up with a bump on her head, a craving for blood, and a sexy stranger who insists they belong together. She needs Bricker's help to control her new abilities, even as she tries to resist his relentless seduction. Choosing between the world she knows and the eternity he offers is impossible. But Justin is fighting for his life mate — maybe even his life — and he'll break every rule to do it

New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers celebrates the joy and romance of Christmas in New England.

Clare Morgan is ready for a fresh start when she moves to the small Massachusetts town of Knights Bridge with her young son, Owen. Widowed for six years, Clare settles into her job as the town's new librarian. She appreciates the warm welcome she and Owen receive and truly enjoys getting the library ready for its role in the annual holiday open house.

Clare expects to take it slow with her new life. Then she meets Logan Farrell, a Boston ER doctor in town to help his elderly grandmother settle into assisted living. Slow isn't a word Logan seems to understand. Accustomed to his fast-paced city life, he doesn't plan to stay in Knights Bridge for long. But Daisy Farrell has other ideas and enlists her grandson to decorate her house on the village green one last time. Logan looks to Clare for help. She can go through Daisy's book collection and help him decorate while she's at it.

As Clare and Logan get his grandmother's house ready for the holidays, what neither of them expects to find is an attraction to each other. Better than most, they know all the crazy things that can happen in life, but everything about Knights Bridge and this magical season invites them to open themselves to new possibilities and new love.

Weekly Book Reads (Sept 28)

 Weekly Book Reads

Weekly Book Reads is a weekly Monday Meme that is hosted by Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews:

Post the books read last week and books you plan on finishing this week.

Read Last Week:

1.  Flesh and Blood - Patricia Cornwell
2.  The Forbidden - Cathy Clamp
3.  Barakamon Vol. 4 - Satsuki Yoshino

Weekly Book Reading:

1.  Nemesis - Catherine Coulter
2.  Silk and Steel - Kat Martin

Stephanie Evanovich's The Sweet Spot Blog Tour with a Spotlight, Excerpt and Giveaway

I am so excited to have Stephanie Evanovich here at Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews with a Spotlight, Excerpt and Giveaway.

Thanks Stephanie and Tasty Book Tours for allowing me to join The Sweet Spot Blog Tour!

Please take it away, Stephanie!

The Sweet Spot
By: Stephanie Evanovich
Releasing Sept 29th, 2015
Mass Market Paperback

Blurb 

The amazing Stephanie Evanovich returns with The Sweet Spot, the sizzling story of everyone’s favorite couple from her New York Times bestseller Big Girl Panties: hunky professional baseball player Chase Walker and his sassy wife Amanda.

When pro baseball player Chase Walker first meets Amanda at her restaurant, it’s love at first sight. While Amanda can’t help noticing the superstar with the Greek-god-build, he doesn’t have a chance of getting to first — or any other — base with her. A successful entrepreneur who’s built her business from scratch, Amanda doesn’t need a Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet. And a curvy girl who likes to cook and eat isn’t interested in being around the catty, stick-thin herd of females chasing Chase and his teammates.

But Chase isn’t about to strike out. A man who isn’t interested in playing the field, he’s a monogamist who wants an independent woman like Amanda. His hopes rally when she discovers that squeaky-clean Chase has a few sexy and very secret pre-game rituals that turn the smart, headstrong businesswoman on — and into his number one fan.

Then a tabloid discovers the truth and turns their spanking good fun into a late - night punch-line. Is Amanda ready to let loose and swing for the fences? Or will the pressure of Chase’s stardom force them to call it quits?

Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/07/the-sweet-spot-by-stephanie-evanovich.html

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18635066-the-sweet-spot?ac=1

Buy Ebook: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo

Buy Paperback: Amazon | B & N | BAM

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Spot-Novel-Stephanie-Evanovich/dp/006223482X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-2&qid=1435861735

B and N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sweet-spot-stephanie-evanovich/1117005008?ean=9780062234827

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-sweet-spot/id718577164?mt=11

Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-sweet-spot-12

Author Info

Stephanie Evanovich is a full-fledged Jersey girl from Asbury Park who began writing fiction while waiting for her cues during countless community theater projects. She attended New York’s School of Film and Television and acted in several improvisational troupes and a few small-budget movies, all in preparation for the greatest job she ever had, raising her two sons. Now a full-time writer, she’s an avid sports fan who holds a black belt in tae kwon do.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Website: http://www.stephanieevanovich.com/

Facebook: https://www.blogger.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SEEvanovich

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6547908.Stephanie_Evanovich

 “Cold Creek Grill. How may I help you?” She answered the phone as if her day was right as rain. She was a business woman, first and foremost.

“I need a reservation for tonight,” a gravelly voice barked into the phone. The caller was either on a cell phone with a bad connection or had a mouth full of marbles.

“Of course sir, what time are you looking for?”

“Seven,” he said impatiently and Amanda pictured him running to catch a subway.

“Let me make sure I have that available,” she told him, trying to buy time while she booted up the computer at the podium a few feet away. She moved the phone to the other side of her head, forgetting it was a war zone and her hair crackled near her ear.

“Trust me, sweetheart, you have a table available.”

“Sir?” She didn’t know what to be more offended by, his use of the word sweetheart or the underlying threat that she better be able to seat him. And she determined he was just some arrogant blowhard who was sitting with his feet up on his desk overlooking the water and a fat stogy in his mouth.

“A superstar is having dinner at your restaurant; you don’t want to make him wait.”

“All of our guests at the Cold Creek are VIPs Mr?”

“Maybe I should speak to the owner?” he cut her off and she thought she heard more spit squish out of the end of his cigar.

“I am the owner. My name is Amanda Cole. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?”

“Don’t seat us someplace high traffic like near the front. He’s not there to be an advertisement. You’ll get your photo op.”

It sounded so scathing, like she was some sort of a bistro whore looking to make a buck, as if she would be interested in taking a picture with him in the first place. Supreme Court justices and past presidents dined at the Cold Creek without incident. “Mr. What-ever-your-name-is, I’m not only concerned for the comfort of our guests, but the safety of my staff. And we have had some high profile guests in the past. Several are regulars.”

“Yeah, yeah, I heard that. That’s why I’m calling. But lady, you never had anyone this big,” he said with an air of superiority that was nothing short of skin crawling. At least he had upgraded her to lady.

If he wasn’t being such a total jack-ass, she might have taken him more seriously. “Would you like to tell me who he is, so that I might inform security?” she said with overt sarcasm. He could either take being spoken to in kind, or he would start to ream her out and she would hang up on him and he could dine elsewhere, bad business or not.

There was a pause and she thought he may have hung up on her first. But then he said, “No. Better you don’t know till he gets there. Someone tips off TMZ and the night’s a bust. And he brings his own security”

“Will they be joining you for dinner?”

His laugh was particularly smarmy. “They’re not paid to eat.”

So he wasn’t only rude, he was also a tyrant. “That’s fine, sir, they can stand guard with mine.” Only hers were imaginary. She no longer cared if the computer was ready. It was a Weds, they were rarely fully booked, and this man and his famous guest seemed intent on dining there. He was probably going to be more aggravation than anything else, even if he was only half as self-important as his representative. “You’re all set, dinner for two at seven. Would you like to leave me a name or is there a code word or what?”

There was another pause, and once again Amanda was given the false hope that he may have hung up and saved her from a night of inconvenient distractions at the very least. But then she heard him on the other end, it sounded like a snort.

“You’re spunky, kid,” he told her. “Name under Alan Shaw. I’ll be there at 6:50. I don’t like to wait either. And make sure there are good steaks on hand, he’s a meat-eater.”

Rafflecopter Giveaway (Three Print Copies of BIG GIRL PANTIES)

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/NTIxYWM0YzhjYmFkNDc1MDkxYzA3ZDNmMjhhM2RjOjc4Mg==/

MT Review: Flesh and Blood: A Scarpetta Novel (Kay Scarpetta)

 

I've finished "Flesh and Blood" the 22nd book in her Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell.

Product Description

It’s Dr. Kay Scarpetta’s birthday, and she’s about to head to Miami for a vacation with Benton Wesley, her FBI profiler husband, when she notices seven pennies on a wall behind their Cambridge house. Is this a kids’ game? If so, why are all of the coins dated 1981 and so shiny they could be newly minted? Her cellphone rings, and Detective Pete Marino tells her there’s been a homicide five minutes away. A high school music teacher has been shot with uncanny precision as he unloaded groceries from his car. No one has heard or seen a thing.

In this 22nd Scarpetta novel, the master forensic sleuth finds herself in the unsettling pursuit of a serial sniper who leaves no incriminating evidence except fragments of copper. The shots seem impossible, yet they are so perfect they cause instant death. The victims appear to have had nothing in common, and there is no pattern to indicate where the killer will strike next. First New Jersey, then Massachusetts, and then the murky depths off the coast of South Florida, where Scarpetta investigates a shipwreck, looking for answers that only she can discover and analyze. And it is there that she comes face to face with shocking evidence that implicates her techno genius niece, Lucy, Scarpetta’s own flesh and blood.

About the Author

In 1990, Patricia Cornwell sold her first novel, Postmortem, while working at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond, Virginia. An auspicious debut, it went on to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony, and Macavity awards as well as the French Prix du Roman d'Aventure prize - the first book ever to claim all these distinctions in a single year.

Today, Cornwell's novels and now iconic characters, medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, her niece Lucy and fellow investigator Pete Marino, are known all over the world. Fox 2000 is actively developing a feature film about Kay Scarpetta. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Patricia has written a definitive account of Jack the Ripper's identity, cookbooks, a children's book, a biography of Ruth Graham, and two other fiction series based on the characters Win Garano and Andy Brazil.

Cornwell was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.

Visit the author's website at: www.patriciacornwell.com

Product Details
Series: Kay Scarpetta Series (Book 22)
Hardcover: 369 pages
Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (November 11, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0062325345
ISBN-13: 978-0062325341

My Review:

3/5

Library Haul 2015 (Sept 27 - Oct 3)

Library Haul

Here's the list of books/manga/manhwa/yaoi manga I picked up this week at the library:

Hardcover:

1.  Nemesis - Catherine Coulter
2.  What Lies Behind - J.T. Ellison
3.  Rhett Butler's People - Donald McCaig

Manga:

1.  The Flowers of Evil Vol. 1 - 3 - Shuzo Oshimi

Bunny Express Saturday 2015 (Sept 26)

Bunny Express Saturday is hosted every Saturday at Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews.

I received these in the mail this week.

For Review:

When therapist Jill Davent moved to the village of Carsely, Agatha Raisin was not a fan. Not only was this therapist romancing Agatha's ex-husband but she dug up details of Agatha's not-too-glamorous origins. Jill also counsels a woman, Gwen Simple, that Agatha firmly believes assisted her son in some grisly murders, although there is no proof. Not one to keep her feelings to herself, Agatha tells anyone that would listen that Jill is a charlatan and better off dead. Agatha could only sigh with relief when the therapist took an office in Mircester.

When Agatha learns that Jill had hired a private detective to investigate her background, she barges into Jill's office and gives her a piece of her mind, yelling "I could kill you!" So when Jill is found strangled to death in her office two days later, Agatha becomes the prime suspect. But Agatha, along with her team of private detectives, is determined to prove her innocence and find the real culprit. This time Agatha must use her skills to save her own skin.

In the second book from talented writing team D.E. Ireland, famous literary characters Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins once again come to life as a hilarious investigative team. Move Your Blooming Corpse explores the Edwardian racing world and the fascinating characters who people it, from jockeys to duchesses, in this delightful traditional mystery that will appeal to fans of British mysteries.

Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins are at the posh Royal Ascot, the biggest horse racing event of the season. Eliza's father is the new co-owner of a champion racehorse, and Eliza and Henry are excited to cheer the Donegal Dancer on to victory. However, their idyllic outing takes a serious turn when a victim is trampled during the Gold Cup race and someone is found murdered in the stables.

With time running out before the upcoming Eclipse Stakes, she and Higgins investigate jealous spouses, suffragettes and the colorful co-owners of the Donegal Dancer. But can they outrace the murderer, or will there be another blooming corpse at the finish line?

Thanks Minotaur Books!