Smoke Screen: A Novel (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading "Smoke Screen: A Novel" by Sandra Brown.

Product Description

New York Times bestselling author Sandra Brown returns with a tale of corruption and betrayal, revenge and reversal - where friends become foes, and heroes become criminals in the ultimate abuse of power.

When newswoman Britt Shelley wakes up to find herself in bed with Jay Burgess, a rising star detective in the Charleston PD, she remembers nothing of how she got there...or of how Jay wound up dead.

Handsome and hard-partying, Jay was a hero of the disastrous fire that five years earlier had destroyed Charleston's police headquarters. The blaze left seven people dead, but the death toll would have been much higher if not for the bravery of Jay and three other city officials who risked their lives to lead others to safety.

Firefighter Raley Gannon, Jay's lifelong friend, was off-duty that day. Though he might not have been a front-line hero, he was assigned to lead the investigation into the cause of the fire. It was an investigation he never got to complete. Because on one calamitous night, Raley's world was shattered.

Scandalized, wronged by the people he trusted most, Raley was forced to surrender the woman he loved and the work to which he'd dedicated his life. For five years his resentment against the men who exploited their hero status to further their careers -- and ruin his -- had festered, but he was helpless to set things right.

That changes when he learns of Jay Burgess's shocking death and Britt Shelley's claim that she has no memory of her night with him. As the investigation into Jay's death intensifies, and suspicion against Britt Shelley mounts, Raley realizes that the newswoman, Jay's last sexual conquest, might be his only chance to get personal vindication -- and justice for the seven victims of the police station fire.

But there are powerful men who don't want to address unanswered questions about the fire and who will go to any lengths to protect their reputations. As Raley and Britt discover more about what happened that fateful day, the more perilous their situation becomes, until they're not only chasing after the truth but running for their lives.

Friends are exposed as foes, heroes take on the taint of criminals, and no one can be trusted completely. A tale about audacious corruption -- and those with the courage to expose it -- Smoke Screen is Sandra Brown's most searing and intense novel yet.

I've just finished reading "Dead After Dark" by Sherrilyn Kenyon, J.R. Ward, Susan Squires and Dianna Love.

From the Back Cover

With these four tales of paranormal romance, it’s never been hotter to be close to death…

SHERRILYN KENYON

“Shadow of the Moon”

Angelia has fought her entire life to make herself strong. Now, with her patria under fire, she has to protect her people from Fury and his werewolf clan. Vowing to bring him to justice, Angelia sets out alone…until the hunter becomes the hunted, and the only way for her to survive is to trust the very wolf she’s sworn to kill.

J.R. WARD

“The Story of Son”

Claire Stroughton is a beautiful lawyer who would rather spend the night with a legal brief than the man of her dreams. Then a routine client meeting turns dangerous—and deeply sensual—when she is held captive by a gorgeous man with an unworldly hunger…

SUSAN SQUIRES

“Seize the Night”

When Drew Carlowe returns home to win back a lost love, he is quick to dismiss rumors that his estate is haunted by a stunning young ghost...until one passionate encounter leaves him mystified—and aching for more.

DIANNA LOVE

“Midnight Kiss Goodbye”

Trey McCree possesses an insatiable desire for Sasha Armand—and supernatural powers that could endanger her life as a human. But when they team up to stop an evil warlord, Trey discovers that Sasha can do way more than drive men wild…

About the Author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon has more than fourteen million copies of her books in print, in twenty-nine countries. She is the author of the Dark-Hunter novels, which have an international cult following and have appeared on the top-three lists of The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today. Writing both as Sherrilyn Kenyon and Kinley MacGregor, she is the author of several other series, including: Lords of Avalon, BAD, and the Dream-Hunter series.
Near Nashville, Tennessee, Sherrilyn Kenyon lives a life of extraordinary danger . . . as does any woman with three sons, a husband, and a collection of swords on which all of the above have a major fixation.

J.R. Ward is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of erotic paranormal romance. She lives in the South with her incredibly supportive husband and her beloved golden retriever. After graduating from law school, she began working in healthcare in Boston and spent many years as Chief of Staff of one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation. Writing has always been her passion; her idea of heaven is a whole day of nothing but her computer, her dog, and her coffee pot.

As part of one of many mid-life crises, New York Times bestselling author Susan Squires began writing professionally while still working as an executive at a Fortune 500 company. She still uses tales of romance and adventure to escape budgets and projects. She researches and writes her books at the beach in Southern California, supported by two Belgian Sheepdogs, a warmblood mare, and a wonderful husband named Harry who writes occult mysteries as H.R. Knight.

Dianna Love loves the outdoors and has a passion for fishing and motorcycle riding. She has even water-skiied, scuba divied, snow-skiied, and skydived. She received a RITA award for Best Long Contemporary in 2006. Dianna lives near Atlanta, Georgia with her husband.

I've read "Blaze of Lightning Roar of Thunder" by Helen Rosburg.

From the Publisher

Louisa Rodriguez was out on the desert gathering fuel when the scalp hunters came, massacred her family and all the people of her village, shot her in the head and left her for dead. Regaining consciousness, she buried the people she had loved, and when she was done she stripped off her bloody clothes and walked naked into the mountains. Where she was reborn. When horse wrangler Ring Crossman came across the half-wild woman in the western wilderness, she would not tell him her name. So he gave her one. Blaze, for the lightning-like streak of white in her long, black hair where a bullet had creased her skull. He gave her his heart, too, although he knew there was no room in her life for anything but revenge.Vengeance consumed Bane as well. His life was devoted to finding the man who raped his Apache mother and fathered him. Then The Bringer of Thunder, as he was called by his people, crossed trails with the only human being whose thirst for a mans blood was as great as his own. And when they discovered they stalked the same prey, the destructive power of the storm they unleashed consumed all around them. Including themselves.

If There Be Dragons (Mass Market Paperback)

I've just finished reading "If There Be Dragons" by Kay Hooper.

Product Description

New York Times bestselling author Kay Hooper weaves seduction, suspense, and the paranormal into a spellbinding romance centered on an enigmatic woman—and the man whose touch threatened to expose her most intimate vulnerabilities.

What was a woman like Brooke Kennedy doing running a guest lodge alone in the Montana wilderness? And why was her best friend so worried about her? Those were the questions Cody Nash asked himself after agreeing to cancel his tropical vacation to go on a mission of mercy into blizzard country. For the strong and self-assured woman he found didn’t need or want his help—but she was in trouble. Brooke had isolated herself from the world for reasons she wouldn’t or couldn’t say. But Cody didn’t need to be a psychic to sense that Brooke was afraid. Even more, her fear had intensified from the moment he arrived. Now, as a dangerous storm strands them together, Cody must learn the well-guarded secret of this beautiful, gifted woman—if he can convince her to give him the one thing he needs to save her from a self-imposed exile: her trust.

About the Author

Kay Hooper, who has more than six million copies of her books in print worldwide, has won numerous awards and high praise for her novels. Kay lives in North Carolina, where she is currently working on her next novel.

Ghost Walk (Mira) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read "Ghost Walk" by Heather Graham.

Product Description

This is no dream . . .

Nikki DuMonde's newest employee is standing at the end of her bed at four o'clock in the morning begging for help. It's a joke, right? Besides, as manager of a successful New Orleans haunted-tour company, Nikki doesn't scare easily. But in the light of day, harsh reality sets in as a police officer informs her that Andy was brutally murdered -- at the exact time Nikki swears the distraught woman was in her room.

No one believes her except Brent Blackhawk, a paranormal investigator desperately trying to forget his tragic past. Half Irish, half Lakota -- and able to communicate with the dead -- Brent is used to living in two worlds. But when he realizes the ghost of a slain government agent is also trying to reach out to Nikki, he knows that she, too, must listen to the dead . . . if she wants to keep living.

Elijah (The Nightwalkers, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've just finished reading "Elijah" the 3rd book in her Nightwalkers series by Jacquelyn Frank.

From Publishers Weekly

Setting aside the centuries of warfare between them, the Demons (paranormal but neither Biblical nor evil) and Lycanthropes are working together to defeat the Necromancers, who threaten both their races. When Demon warrior captain Elijah is nearly killed in an ambush, he is rescued and restored by none other than Siena, the Lycanthrope queen. Before long they discover a powerful attraction, but Siena fears that giving in to love will mean relinquishing her power. After the heavy world-building in Frank's last two Nightwalker books (Jacob and Gideon), newcomers may struggle to keep straight the various paranormals and their powers; they'll be more comfortable in the romance department, which proves steamy in the extreme, occasionally bordering on deep purple.

Product Description

Dear Reader,

Please note that the text of this story, ELIJAH by Jacquelyn Frank, begins on page 7. The first six pages are the teaser copy, the Also By The Author page, the title page, the copyright page and the dedication.

Also on the inside front cover, it lists NOAH as available now. That title will be published in September, 2008.

Sorry for any confusion.

They are called the Demons, one of the elusive Nightwalker races living in shadow and struggling for survival against their human enemies. Their proudest warrior is Elijah, a man who bends for nothing and no one...until one woman brings him to his knees...

Some Feelings You Just Can't Fight

He is known as the Warrior Captain--a master of every weapon, a fierce soldier sworn to protect his kind. Powerful, relentless, merciless, Elijah has always won every battle he's ever taken on--until now. Ambushed by necromancers, he is left for dead only to be discovered by the woman who could very well deliver the final blow...Siena, the Lycanthrope Queen.

With three centuries of warring, little more than a decade of uneasy peace has existed between the Lycanthropes and Elijah's people. Now, after a lifetime of suspicion, the warrior in Elijah is consumed with a different battle--winning Siena's heart by giving her pleasure beyond all boundaries. What starts as attraction and arousal soon burns into a passion with consequences that will echo through the ages for both their people. And as would-be enemies become inseparable lovers, another threat approaches, one with the power to destroy them all...

Surrender to the night.

Heat Lightning (Virgil Flowers) (Hardcover)

I've just finished reading "Heat Lightning" the 2nd book in his Virgil Flower series by John Sandford.

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of bestseller Sandford's solid second thriller to feature officer Virgil Flowers of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (after Dark of the Moon), a gunman shoots Bobby Sanderson as he's walking his dog one night in Stillwater, Minn., then places a lemon in the dead man's mouth. Sanderson's killing is one in a series, and Flowers soon discovers that all the victims served together in Vietnam. When Flowers learns that Vietnamese firing squads stuck lemons in the mouths of their human targets, he pursues leads in the local immigrant community, where he hooks up with the attractive daughter of a radical professor who'd written a paper about Agent Orange. Eventually, he settles on the owner of a security company involved with the upcoming Republican National Convention as his prime suspect.

Product Description

Fresh from his “spectacular” (Cleveland Plain Dealer) debut in Dark of the Moon, investigator Virgil Flowers takes on a puzzling—and most alarming—case, in the new book from the #1 bestselling author.

John Sandford’s introduction of Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator Virgil Flowers was an immediate critical and popular success: “laser-sharp characters and a plot that’s fast and surprising” (Cleveland Plain Dealer); “an idiosyncratic, thoroughly ingratiating hero” (Booklist). Flowers is only in his late thirties, but he’s been around the block a few times, and he doesn’t think much can surprise him anymore. He’s wrong.

It’s a hot, humid summer night in Minnesota, and Flowers is in bed with one of his ex-wives (the second one, if you’re keeping count), when the phone rings. It’s Lucas Davenport. There’s a body in Stillwater—two shots to the head, found near a veteran’s memorial. And the victim has a lemon in his mouth.

Exactly like the body they found last week.

The more Flowers works the murders, the more convinced he is that someone’s keeping a list, and that the list could have a lot more names on it. If he could only find out what connects them all . . . and then he does, and he’s almost sorry he did.

Because if it’s true, then this whole thing leads down a lot more trails than he thought—and every one of them is booby-trapped.

Kiss Of Darkness (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read "Kiss of Darkness" by Heather Graham.

Product Description

The woods have always been full of whispers in Transylvania, of terrors that go back centuries to the legendary Vlad Dracul himself. Ignoring their professor's grave warning--beware those who would prey upon the innocent--several visiting students travel into the forest…and disappear. Now their professor, Bryan McAllister, believes that a dark cult is at work--and that their next gathering will happen in America.

When psychologist Jessica Fraser is approached by Bryan for her assistance, she is hesitant. Something about Bryan unnerves Jessica deeply, yet she cannot ignore the incredible pull she feels toward him. Now, as reluctant allies, they unite to seek the truth. The search takes them from the forested mountains to dimly lit clubs in New Orleans' French Quarter, where perversion goes beyond sexual to life-threatening.

And everywhere, whispering on the wind, is the dreaded word…vampyr.

No Safe Place (Mass Market Paperback)

I've just finished reading "No Safe Place" by Joann Ross.

Product Description

Chicago homicide detective Kate Delaney fiercely defends victims. Which is why -- despite death threats -- she's testifying to a federal grand jury about local police corruption. It's also why she's infuriated by the New Orleans police department's blasÉ attitude toward her estranged sister's death. But pursuing an investigation in a strange city means allying with someone who knows the territory. And the players. Someone with a total disregard for the rules.

As an ex-cop from a police family, New Orleans PI Nick Broussard knows that cops live by their own code. You don't rat out a fellow officer. The last thing he needs is some smart-mouthed, by-the-book outsider unknowingly injecting herself into his undercover search for the truth. Even worse is the way she conjures up visions of tangled sheets....

Nick and Kate's chase pits them against the criminal underworld of the sultry southern city. And as they peel away layers of deadly deception, they discover a dark secret too many are willing to kill to keep.

From the Back Cover

In the City That Care Forgot, two passionate opposites discover combustible attraction and danger.

A stunning new novel of chilling suspense and explosive chemistry from New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross.

Chicago homicide detective Kate Delaney fiercely defends victims. Which is why -- despite death threats -- she's testifying to a federal grand jury about local police corruption. It's also why she's infuriated by the New Orleans police department's blasé attitude toward her estranged sister's death. But pursuing an investigation in a strange city means allying with someone who knows the territory. And the players. Someone with a total disregard for the rules.

As an ex-cop from a police family, New Orleans PI Nick Broussard knows that cops live by their own code. You don't rat out a fellow officer. The last thing he needs is some smart-mouthed, by-the-book outsider unknowingly injecting herself into his undercover search for the truth. Even worse is the way she conjures up visions of tangled sheets. . .

Nick and Kate's chase pits them against the criminal underworld of the sultry southern city. And as they peel away layers of deadly deception, they discover a dark secret too many are willing to kill to keep.

About the Author
When New York Times bestselling author JoAnn Ross was seven-years-old, she had no doubt whatsoever that she'd grow up to play center field for the New York Yankees. Writing would be her backup occupation, something she planned to do after retiring from baseball. Those were, in her mind, her only options.

While waiting for the Yankees management to call, she wrote her first novella -- a tragic romance about two star-crossed mallard ducks -- for a second grade writing assignment. The paper earned a gold star. And JoAnn kept writing.

She's now written ninety-eight novels and has been published in twenty-six countries. Two of her titles have been excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine and her books have also been published by the Doubleday, Rhapsody, Mystery Guild, and Literary Guild book clubs and are available from Books-on-Tape. A member of the Romance Writers of America's Honor Roll of best-selling authors, she's won several awards, including Romantic Times's Career Achievement Awards in both category and contemporary single title.

Although the Yankees have yet to call her to New York to platoon center field, she figures making one out of two life goals isn't bad.

JoAnn lives with her husband and two fuzzy little rescued dogs (who pretty much rule the house) in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Blood Red (Mass Market Paperback)

I've read "Blood Red" by Heather Graham.

From Publishers Weekly

Graham's latest is an entertaining vampire yarn set in post-Katrina New Orleans, where three women—Lauren, Heidi and Deanna—have turned up for a carefree bachelorette weekend. Once there a fortune teller shows Lauren a crystal ball image of a man calling her by name and promising a world of blood and death and darkness. The vision, unseen by her friends, puts Lauren on her guard, convinced that someone is following her. She's doubly right: an evil vampire named Stephen is on her trail, having seen in Lauren the visage of his lost love, while a vampire hunter named Mark Davidson is on Stephen's. Soon, Lauren falls in with Mark, counting on him to protect her from the single-minded bloodsucker; as she learns more about the vampire underworld, however, she finds things aren't all they seem.

From Booklist

Lauren Crow is in New Orleans for a bachelorette weekend, and the bride-to-be wants all her bridesmaids to have their fortunes told. In a crystal ball, Lauren sees a handsome but menacing stranger who says he is coming to get her. This terrifies the fortune-teller, and Mark Davidson, a vampire slayer with ties to the police, is quite taken aback when he sees Lauren for the first time. She could be an identical twin to Katie, his intended, who was murdered at their wedding. It is good vampires versus evil vampires as each day a young woman's headless corpse turns up in the Mississippi River.

Product Description

When a fortune-teller shows bridesmaid Lauren Crow an omen of her gruesome death, she and her friends laugh it off as cheesy theatrics—until women begin disappearing in the night.

Even as the streets become more dangerous, Lauren finds herself lusting after a man who is himself dangerous— and quite possibly crazy. Mark Davidson prowls the city by night armed with crosses and holy water, in search of vampires, whose existence, he insists, is real. He is as irresistibly drawn to Lauren as she is to him, and not only because she's the image of his murdered fiancée. But Mark's frightening obsession with finding his lover's killer merely hides a bitter vendetta that cuts deeper than grief over a lost love.

As Lauren wrestles with desire and disbelief, sinister shadows lengthen over New Orleans, threatening her friends and foretelling a battle that may spell the end of the city's uneasy truce between the living and the dead.