Louisiana Fever by D. J. Donaldson

Release Date: January 11, 2013
Publisher: Astor & Blue
Pages: 329pgs
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Description: D.J. Donaldson is superb at spinning medical fact into gripping suspense. With his in-depth knowledge of science and medicine, he is one of very few authors who can write with convincing authority. --Tess Gerritsen, NY Times best-selling author of the Rizzoli & Isles novels Andy Broussard, the plump and proud New Orleans medical examiner, obviously loves food. Less apparent to the casual observer is his hatred of murderers. Together with his gorgeous sidekick, psychologist Kit Franklyn, the two make a powerful, although improbable, mystery solving duo. When the beautiful Kit goes to meet an anonymous stranger who s been sending her roses the man drops dead at her feet before she even could even get his name. Game on. Andy Broussard soon learns that the man carried a lethal pathogen similar to the deadly Ebola virus. Soon, another body turns up with the same bug. Panic is imminent as the threat of pandemic is more real than ever before. The danger is even more acute, because the carrier is mobile, his identity is an absolute shocker, he knows he s a walking weapon and he s on a quest to find Broussard. And Kit isn t safe either. When she investigates her mystery suitor further, she runs afoul of a cold blooded killer, every bit as deadly as the man searching for Broussard. Louisiana Fever is written in Donaldson s unique style: A hard-hitting, punchy, action-packed prose that s dripping with a folksy, decidedly southern, sense of irony. Add in Donaldson s brilliant first hand knowledge of forensics and the sultry flavor of New Orleans, and the result is first class forensic procedural within an irresistibly delectable mystery.

Review: I was hooked the moment I started reading. The book starts off with someone dying from an unknown illness. Kit and Andy try to solve this mystery of what is causing people to get sick. This book is very fast pace and you get sucked in right away from chapter one and you can't put it down. 

The book was very well written. Donaldson's background in medicine definitely helped with putting the story together. I would recommend this novel for anyone who likes a good mystery. 

A Shade of Vampire by Bella Forrest

Release Date: December 14, 2012
Publisher: Self
Pages: 149pgs
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal/Vampire
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Description: On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake.

A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.

She is kidnapped to an island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine.
An island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.

Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is the one selected out of hundreds of girls to join the harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal Prince.

Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.

Will she succeed? ...or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?

Review: I really enjoyed this book. There was only one problem I had when I began reading was the beginning of the plot and how Sofia got to The Shade. Once you overcome the little bit of missing information the story really takes life.

There was not a dull moment in the story. You have Derek the prince of the vampires who is conflicted and Sofia who was captured to service Derek. I was reading just for Derek to see how he deals with his inner struggles being around Sofia and not attacking her. 

The development of their relationship was nicely done. Also the books ends with a cliff hanger and I'm hooked. I need to know what happens next.

Whip Smart: Lola Montez Conquers the Spaniards by Kit Brennan

Release Date: January 1, 2013
Publisher: Astor + Blue Edditions LLC
Pages: 274pgs
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Historical Romance
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Description: A wild and sexy romp through history based on the real-life adventures of the audacious Lola Montez. It is 1842, London, and the gorgeous, ever-capricious 22-year-old Eliza Gilbert, (aka Lola Montez) is in deep trouble and seeks escape from a divorce trial. Desperate to be free, Lola accepts an alluring offer of a paid trip to Spain, if she will only fulfill a few tasks for Juan de Grimaldi—a Spanish theatre impresario who is also a government agent and spy for the exiled Spanish queen, Maria Cristina. Lola soon finds herself in Madrid, undercover as a performer in a musical play. But when she falls dangerously in love with the target, General Diego de Léon, Lola becomes a double agent and the two hatch a plot of their own. Disaster strikes when the plot is exposed, Diego is captured, and Lola is forced to flee on horseback to France, with a dangerous group of Loyalists in hot pursuit.

Review: This book starts off with Lola Montez captured and being interrogated by the police. The police want to get the truth from Lola, so she decides to tell the story from the beginning. Lola is a woman that just wants big things. Wants to be an woman of society, a dancer, and an actress. Unfortunately things don't go that way for her.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The writing was funny and easy to read. The whole story flowed nicely, and there was not a dull moment. It is an empowering story of a woman taking control of her life. Being courageous and a nice love story. I would recommend it for people who enjoy reading historical novels. When you read this book, it truly brings you into 1842.

Chase Tinker and the House of Magic by Malia Ann Haberman

Release Date: August 15, 2012
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Pages: Kindle 
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars 

Description: Thirteen-year-old Chase Tinker can't understand why he has the power to move things with his mind. Besides that, his dad has been missing for over a year, causing his mom to be too upset to pay much attention to her sons, so now he's been busted for shoplifting. As if this isn't enough to worry about, his younger brother Andy suddenly has a weird magical ability too.

Can things get any crazier? Chase thinks.

Then, a grandfather they thought to be long dead arrives at their door. He wants Chase and Andy to come visit him for the summer so they can learn about their supernatural heritage and why they have magical powers in the first place.

The boys soon find out that Grandfather, along with their cousin Janie, lives on a remote island in the middle of Puget Sound in an out-of-this-world house where fantastic magic can be found in practically every room, stairway and corridor. Chase can't believe their dad has been keeping so much from them.

It's an even bigger shock when Chase learns that all their magic is controlled by a very powerful and mysterious Relic in the attic, and if anything happens to this relic, every bit of Tinker magic will be lost forever. He's even more disturbed when he learns his family has a dark and powerful enemy that is determined to steal all their magic, their house and their relic. 

Now Chase must find a way to stop these evil beings, while at the same time figuring out what has happened to his dad, unraveling even more Tinker lies and secrets and not letting on that he has a huge crush on the housekeeper's daughter.

Review: I enjoyed reading this book. It was a quick and enjoyable read. The writing and the story flowed nicely. The description of the house and their powers was wonderfully written. It felt like I was actually there experiencing everything.

At moments this did seem a little childish for me. It is great for kids from 10-13 years old. Overall it was a good book and looking forward to future books in the series. 

Extraordinary Rendition by Paul Batista

Release Date: May 1, 2013

Publisher: Astor + Blue Editions LLC

Pages: Paperback (380pgs)

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Description: When Ali Hussein, suspected terrorist and alleged banker for Al Qaeda, is finally transported from Guantanamo Bay to the US mainland to stand trial, many are stunned when Byron Carlos Johnson, a pre-eminent lawyer and son of a high-profile diplomat, volunteers to represent him. On principle, Johnson thought he was merely defending a man unjustly captured through rendition and water-boarded illegally. But Johnson soon learns that there is much more at stake than one man’s civil rights. Hussein’s intimate knowledge of key financial transactions could lead to the capture of—or the unabated funding of—the world’s most dangerous terror cells. This makes Hussein the target of corrupt US intelligence forces on one side, and ruthless international terrorists on the other, and puts Byron Carlos Johnson squarely in the cross hairs of both. Written by no-holds-barred attorney Paul Batista, Extraordinary Rendition excels not only as an action thriller, but as a sophisticated legal procedural as well. Smart. Fast. Heart-pounding. A legal thriller of the highest order.

Review: I enjoyed reading this book. It was a page turner and I just couldn't put it down. This story was a little close to home with the events that happened during 9-11 and the trials that took place against the people being charged. 

Ali Hussein is arrested because the US Government believes he is a terrorist. Byron is the lawyer hired to defend him. Byron comes across a lot of hurtles with the government, CIA, and FBI. As I'm reading the story it seemed very real. Paul wrote the story very well, and researched the information to make the story very real. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys realistic thrillers. It was well written and had the facts to back it up. 

Teaser Tuesdays-20

Hey guys its another wonderful Tuesday...if you don't know what Teaser Tuesday is about here is a refresher:

Teaser Tuesdays are a meme hosted by Mizb of Should be Reading. Here are the rules if you wish to participate.

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.

The lawyers at the Civil Liberties Union who had first contacted Byron told him that, in their limited experience with accused terrorists, it sometimes wasn’t clear what their real names were. There were often no fingerprints or DNA samples that could confirm their identities. The name Ali Hussein was as common as a coin. It was as though genetic markers and their histories began only at the moment of their arrest.

Extraordinary Rendition by Paul Batista Kindle Edition

Intangible by J. Meyers

Release Date: January 31, 2012
Publisher: Self published
Pages: Kindle
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal/Urban
Series: Book 1
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Description: Twins Sera and Luke Raine have a well-kept secret—she heals with a touch of her hand, he sees the future. All their lives they’ve helped those in need on the sly. They’ve always thought of their abilities as being a gift.

Then Luke has a vision that Sera is killed. That gift they’ve always cherished begins to feel an awful lot like a curse. Because the thing about Luke’s ability? He’s always right. And he can’t do anything about it.

Review: I was given a copy of this book by the author herself. I'm glad that I was given the opportunity to read this book. I absolutely enjoyed it from beginning to end. While reading, there was not a dull moment throughout the book. Intangible is a short, quick read but J. Meyers was able to draw my attention and keep it there while I was reading. It is books like this that remind me why I enjoy reading. 

J. Meyers did a good job on developing her characters. Since it is going to be a series, a writer can not give everything away about their characters. In some ways, she makes Sera and Luke relateable with common events that go on in their lives that have nothing to do with their special abilities. At some point, we have dealt with death of a loved one, or having insecurities in yourself that will cause you to push people away. I know I have experienced these things through the years. 

She also does a great job putting a new twist as what we know the paranormal world to be like. There is a good mix of the paranormal elements, and these twins that are human just like everyone else but have special abilities they have to keep secret from everyone. The ending of the story leads you to believe the story of Sera and Luke is over, however the very last couple of pages leave you on such a cliffhanger. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.