New Release 2014 (Jun 23)

 

New Release

Everyone thinks Emmy Dockery is crazy. Obsessed with finding the link between hundreds of unsolved cases, Emmy has taken leave from her job as an FBI researcher. Now all she has are the newspaper clippings that wallpaper her bedroom, and her recurring nightmares of an all-consuming fire.

Not even Emmy's ex-boyfriend, field agent Harrison "Books" Bookman, will believe her that hundreds of kidnappings, rapes, and murders are all connected. That is, until Emmy finds a piece of evidence he can't afford to ignore. More murders are reported by the day--and they're all inexplicable. No motives, no murder weapons, no suspects. Could one person really be responsible for these unthinkable crimes?

Weekly Book Reads (Jun 23)

 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.  Dead Heat - Allison Brennan
2.  The Undead Pool - Kim Harrison
3.  Hunted - Karen Robards
4.  Live To See Tomorrow - Iris Johansen
5.  Hide and Seek Vol. 1 - Yaya Sakuragi

Weekly Book Reading:

1.  No Job For a Lady - Carol McCleary
2.  The Millionaire Affair - Jessica Lemmon
3.  Prototype - M.D. Waters
4.  Never Look Back - Clare Donoghue
5.  Alice in the Country of Clover: Nightmare Vol. 2 - QuinRose

RS Review: Live to See Tomorrow (Catherine Ling) Hardcover

I've finished "Live to See Tomorrow" the 2nd book in her Catherine Ling series by Iris Johansen.

Catherine Ling is one of the CIA’s most prized operatives. Raised on the unforgiving streets of Hong Kong, she was pulled into the agency at the age of fourteen, already having accumulated more insight and secrets than the most seasoned professionals in her world. If life has taught her anything, it is not to get attached, but there are two exceptions to that rule: her son Luke and her mentor Hu Chang. When Luke was kidnapped at the age of two, it nearly broke her. Now, nine years later, her son has astonishingly been returned to her and Catherine vows never to fail him again. But when her job pulls her away from home, she relies on the brilliant and deadly Hu Chang to safeguard Luke in her absence. Now Erin Sullivan, an American journalist with mysterious ties to Hu Chang, has been kidnapped in Tibet. If Catherine doesn’t agree to spearhead the CIA rescue mission, she knows that Hu Chang himself will go, a possibility she can’t risk. But she will be facing a monster whose crimes stretch back forty years, always eluding the CIA. And the job grows even more complicated when Catherine meets Richard Cameron, a supposed ally who’s clearly not telling all he knows. Their attraction is immediate, but Catherine isn't at all sure that he can be trusted. If she’s going to rescue this journalist with a story worth killing for, she’ll need to keep Cameron very close. From the treacherous landscape of the Himalayas to the twisting back alleys of San Francisco, the clock is ticking for Catherine and those she loves most. At every turn she faces a ruthless enemy who is determined to keep the truth buried, even if it means that none of them live to see tomorrow, in this novel from bestseller Iris Johansen.

Product Details
Series: Catherine Ling
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; First Edition first Printing edition (April 29, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250020042
ISBN-13: 978-1250020048

My Review:

Storyline:

Characters:

Romance:

Villain(s):

3.5/5

Thanks St. Martin's Press for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!

Library Haul 2014 (Jun 22 - 28)

Library Haul

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

Softcover:

1.  Taste of Home:  Soups

Hardcover:

1.  Walking the Dead - Heather Graham

Manga:

1.  Alice in the Country of Clover: Nightmare Vol. 2

UF Review: The Undead Pool (Hollows) Hardcover

I've finished "The Undead Pool" the 12th book in her Hollow series by Kim Harrison.

Supernatural superhero Rachel Morgan must counter a strange magic that could spell civil war for the Hollows in this sexy and bewitching urban fantasy adventure in acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Kim Harrison's Hollows series.

Witch and day-walking demon Rachel Morgan has managed to save the demonic ever after from shrinking, but at a high cost. Now, strange magic is attacking Cincinnati and the Hollows, causing spells to backfire or go horribly wrong, and the truce between the races, between Inderlander and human, is shattering. Rachel must stop this dark necromancy before the undead vampire masters who keep the rest of the undead under control are lost and all - out supernatural war breaks out.

Rachel knows of only weapon to ensure the peace: ancient elven wild magic, which carries its own perils. And no one know better than Rachel that no good deed goes unpunished.

About the Author

New York Times bestselling Kim Harrison was born and raised in the upper Midwest, and she has since returned there to better enjoy the snow. When not at work in the Hollows series, she spends her time tending orchids, landscaping her new/old Victorian home, and learning how to golf with her mom. Her current vices include good chocolate, and exquisite sushi. Her bestselling novels include Dead Witch Walking; The Good, The Bad, and The Undead; Every Which Way But Dead; A Fistful of Charms; For a Few Demons More; and Ever After.

Product Details
Series: Hollows (Book 12)
Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager; First Edition edition (February 25, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061957933
ISBN-13: 978-0061957932

My Review:

Rachel and Trent get it on finally! 
 
3/5

Bunny Express Saturday 2014 (Jun 21)

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

I received these in the mail this week.

For Review:

LOVE IS A DEAL BREAKER

Millionaire ad executive Landon Downey has a policy: no romantic relationships allowed. So when he's saddled with his six-year-old nephew for a week, he doesn't think twice about asking Kimber Reynolds to act as live-in nanny. What he doesn't expect is the undeniable attraction to the woman he hasn't seen since they were kids. And not only does she like him back - she suggests they work their way down a list of extracurricular activities in the bedroom. How can he resist?

Kimber wants to prove once and for all that she can love 'em and leave 'em with the best of them. All she has to do is keep her sixteen-year crush on Landon out of the equation. No problem until she realizes she may not be the only one whose heart has gotten completely tangled up in their no-strings agreement.

History, mystery, and murder are the traveling companions of Nellie Bly, the world’s first female investigative reporter. In Carol McCleary's No Job for a Lady, Nellie defies the wrath of her editor and vengeful ancient gods while setting out to prove a woman has what it takes to be a foreign correspondent in dangerous Victorian times.

Pyramids, dark magic, and dead bodies are what the intrepid Nellie encounters when she takes off for Mexico after her editor refuses to let her work as a foreign correspondent because “it’s no job for a lady.”

It’s 1886 and Mexico has not cast off all its bloodthirsty Aztec past. Among the towering pyramids in the ghost city of Teotihuacán, Nellie is stalked by ruthless killers seeking Montezuma’s legendary treasure and an ancient cult that resorts to the murderous Way of the Aztec to protect it.

Nellie travels with Gertrude Bell, who will go on to be called Queen of the Desert for her later exploits in Egypt, as well as the most glamorous and beautiful woman of the era, Lily Langtry, consort to the Prince of Wales. Along for the ride is a young gunfighter called the Sundance Kid. And there’s the mysterious Roger Watkins, who romantically and physically challenges Nellie’s determination to be an independent woman in a man’s world.


 

In Never Look Back, three young women have been found brutally murdered in south London, their bodies discarded in plain view, the victims only yards away from help during each attack. And each time, the murderer gets a little bit bolder.

Detective Inspector Mike Lockyer is the head of homicide on the South London police force, and with three bodies on his watch and a killer growing in confidence, he and DS Jane Bennett are frantically trying to find the link between these seemingly isolated incidents. Slowly, the case is also invading Lockyer’s life outside the office, and the fact that his daughter matches the victim profile is putting a painful strain on their already fragile relationship.

Meanwhile, Sarah Grainger has a shadowy stalker following her every move. Once an outgoing London photographer, Sarah has begun locking herself away, almost too afraid to leave the house. Now her stalker’s actions are escalating. He’s desperate to tell Sarah a secret - a secret that Lockyer needs to know.

Thanks Hachette Book Group and St. Martin's Press!

RS Review: Dead Heat (Lucy Kincaid Novels) Mass Market Paperback

I've finished "Dead Heat" the 8th book in her Lucy Kincaid series by Allison Brennan.

Dead Heat (Lucy Kincaid Novels) Mass Market Paperback FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid takes on her most explosive case yet in New York Times bestseller Allison Brennan's Dead Heat.

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS

Assigned to San Antonio’s Violent Crimes unit, Lucy Kincaid joins a team of seasoned veterans and newer agents for a task force called Operation Heatwave. It’s supposed to be a simple sweep of known offenders with outstanding warrants. But when Lucy and her team try to bust two local brothers for jumping bail, she walks into a hotbed of pure evil. Their names are George and Jaime Sanchez. They are charged with murder, drug trafficking, and worse. And one of them is still out there.

THE HEAT IS ON

As Lucy races to capture Jaime Sanchez, more shocking evidence comes to light. The brothers have been using their basement as a holding cell for children they kidnapped for the cartels. When George agrees to turn on his brother, he is murdered behind bars. Now Lucy has no choice but to go outside the law. Enlisting the help of her boyfriend Sean Rogan and his mercenary brother Kane, she will risk her career — and both of their lives — to bring down a crime lord’s empire before more innocent lives go up in flames.

Product Details
Series: Lucy Kincaid Novels (Book 8)
Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books (June 3, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250038022
ISBN-13: 978-1250038029

My Review:

Storyline:  Lucy Kincaid is assigned to the San Antonio Violent Crime unit and joins the Operation Heatwave Task Force to take down fugitives with outstanding warrants.  When Lucy and her team go after two brothers George and Jaime Sanchez all hell breaks lose.

Both are charged with murder, drug trafficking and other worst crimes.  The evil one Jaime manages to escape.

Characters:  Lucy is a confident, smart, intuitive and brave young women.  I'm glad that her past hasn't stopped her from becoming a FBI agent and listening to her intuitions.

Romance:  I also love how her relationship with Sean is moving ahead to the next step and how they support each other.  I love how Sean is very protective of Lucy and actually stood up to his oldest brother Kane (LOL!)

Villains:  The villains are quite vile and sadistic who love torturing kids and then kill them.  The death scenes can get quite descriptive.


4/5

Thanks St. Martin's Press for sending me this book to review, greatly appreciated!

Follow My Blog Friday #197

If you are new to the FF fun, Feature and Follow Friday is a blog hop that expands your blog following by a joint effort between bloggers. Feature & Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, myself of course and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

Now to make this FF interesting we do a FEATURE blogger. If you are interested in becoming a Feature click on the drop down link above FEATURES and Features and Follow Friday and get on the waiting list!  It is also required, that if you participate you must follow the hosts (Parajunkee and Alison Can Read) and the two Feature blogs.

This Meme is hosted by Rachel from Parajunkee's View and Alison from Alison Can Read on Fridays.

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1.  (Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee and Alison Can Read}

2.  (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers

3.  Put your Blog name and URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.

4.  Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say “hi” in your comments and that they are now following you.

5.  If you are using WordPress or another CMS that doesn’t have GFC (Google Friends Connect) state in your posts how you would like to be followed

6.  Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”

7.  If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love and the followers.

8.  If you’re new to the follow Friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

The Attic Young Adult Book Reviews

When did you start blogging?

I started blogging in July of 2011. In fact, my three year blogoversary is coming up fast!

What is your favorite part of book blogging?

Right now, I love reading comments and starting discussions on my posts. The comments I get range from hilarious to insightful and reading them just makes my day.

What type of books do you mainly blog about?

Young adult! I try to read something from every genre, but I love speculative fiction, especially if it’s creepy! I also read a lot of fairytale retellings.

What is your favorite book(s)?

Favorite standalone: Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Favorite series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater and The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Other than that, anything by Libba Bray, John Green, and Maggie Stiefvater will do.

What has been the best thing that has happened to you because of book blogging?

Realizing that I have regulars. For the longest time, I really had no idea who was reading my posts until I started to see comments from the same people each week. It feels good to know that people are coming back!

Question of the Week: What are your favorite books of 2014 so far?

Some of my favorite 2014 books so far are:

RS Review: Hunted (Hardcover)

I've finished "Hunted" by Karen Robards.

’Twas the night before Christmas and dozens of rich, influential hostages are trapped inside a sprawling lakefront mansion in New Orleans. The perp? Detective Reed Ware, model cop turned outlaw. After receiving a panicked call from Hollis “Holly” Bayard, a teenage street tough with a penchant for amateur sleuthing who stumbles upon the scene of a drug-deal-turned-murder, Ware finds his and his friend’s lives in dire danger. The crime Holly witnessed could be the biggest police cover-up this side of New Orleans — and no one’s talking. Driven to desperate measures to uncover the truth, Ware stages a coup at a Christmas party for the New Orleans elite, including the mayor, the council chairman, the sheriff, and the superintendent of police, who just happens to be hostage negotiator Caroline Wallace’s estranged father.

Cool, calm, controlled. That’s Caroline’s reputation. But when she’s brought in to talk Ware off the proverbial ledge, she realizes no amount of false promises is going to placate this man, who looks even hotter than he did years ago when seventeen-year-old Caroline tried to seduce him. It was his duty to protect her family then. Now it’s her turn if she can think fast enough over the pounding of her heart.

When Caroline becomes wrapped up in the drama, it’s clear the sizzling tension she shared with Ware never let up. And the harder she tries to defuse the situation, the more she begins to wonder whose side she’s really on.

About the Author

Karen Robards is the author of more than forty novels and one novella. A regular on the New York Times, USA TODAY, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists, among others, she is the mother of three boys and lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Product Details
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books; First Edition edition (December 10, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1451678711
ISBN-13: 978-1451678710

My Review:

I liked Detective Reed Ware's character because he was dedicated in finding where Ant (a young kid) was being held and making sure his older brother Hollis was protected and away from danger.  I'm really glad that he was able to control his attraction to Caroline when he was her bodyguard when she was 17 and he was 25 I believe.

I didn't really like Caroline because she is suppose to be a cop but she sure didn't act like one.  She was quite annoying with her actions and all she did was ask questions.

3/5

Summer Anime Synopsis

Sailor Moon

Tsukino Usagi is a clumsy crybaby, but otherwise very cheerful 8th grade student. One day she meets a cat named Luna with a crescent moon on her head, and is transformed into the sailor-suited guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon! As a chosen guardian of justice, Usagi has a mission … to find her comrades; to find the Phantom Silver Crystal; and protect the Princess. However, Queen Beryl of the Dark Kingdom also seeks the terrible power of the Silver Crystal, and sends her agents into the city where Usagi lives; triggering the start of a fierce battle.

Will Sailor Moon be able to find the other Sailor Guardians, and if she does, together can they find the Phantom Silver Crystal and protect the Princess?


 

Dramatical Murder

 
The story takes place many years in the future where the game "Rhyme," a virtual fighting game, is incredibly popular and people possess "AllMates," convenient AI computers. Aoba leads an ordinary life, working at a junk shop and living with his grandmother on the island of Midorijima. Unlike his friends, he doesn't participate in Rhyme, nor does he belong in a gang. However, when rumors of people disappearing spread, Aoba finds himself needing to unravel the mysteries behind the island in order to protect his everyday life.

 

Black Butler

 
A new Kuroshitsuji animated project.

The TV series is subtitled Book of Circus and will air July 2014 in the Animeism block. It will adapt the Noah's Ark Circus Arc, picking the manga story back up from the point at which they diverged.

This arc immediately follows the Curry Contest Arc in the manga, which ended at episode 15 in the first season of the anime.

Love Stage

The story revolves around Izumi Sena, a boy born into a family of ultra-famous entertainers. However, he is the only member of the family who is not in the entertainment industry, and he is a super otaku college student, too. He has been striving hard to become a manga creator, but he ends up starring in a television commercial. He eventually cross paths again with the very famous actor Ryuuma, who becomes aware of his attraction towards Izumi.


 

Tokyo Ghoul

 
The suspense horror/dark fantasy story is set in Tokyo, which is haunted by mysterious "ghouls" who are devouring humans. People are gripped by the fear of these ghouls whose identities are masked in mystery. An ordinary college student named Kaneki encounters Rize, a girl who is an avid reader like him, at the café he frequents. Little does he realize that his fate will change overnight.