Featured

Hello world!

500revieauto_approvals_120favorited_reviews_120charter-memberbest-review-awardnetgalley_challenge_2016_gold_120pro_reader_120

Let’s talk about books. What type of book do you like to read? Do you stick to the same authors or are you willing to take a chance on something radically different from your norm? I have a cluster of authors that I gobble up the new books they put out like a binge eater…all in one sitting. And in between waiting for said authors to put out the next book, I have a group of “fill in” authors. And then there are the ones I read because I am so very curious about everything. It has been pointed out to me that my reading list is probably linked to Homeland Security but how can you have an opinion on anything if you haven’t fully researched it?

On my bookshelf you will find every James Patterson novel, every Laurell K. Hamilton, every Stuart Woods, Harlan Coben, Catherine Coulter, Iris Johansen, Anne Rice, Laura Childs, Tom Clancy, George R.R.Martin, Kim Harrison, Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, Lisa Scottoline, Lisa Unger, Karin Slaughter, Don Winslow, Sara Blaedel along with all the classics. I don’t do romance books, no heaving bosoms or glistening abs for me.

Reading is a magical thing that can take you places you would never have access to in the living world. I love everything about books. The cover, the feel and smell of the paper, it all has to come together for me.  Books are like a good friend who stays around. My grandmother told me once “Never get rid of a book or your land.”  I paid attention to that one. Not so much on the other advice, much to the chagrin of my mother.

So here we are going to be talking about books. What we’ve read, what we are reading and what we hope to read. I find it so interesting that two people can read the same book and have totally different takes on it. But that is the fun of books and imagination. Everyone’s is different and I am intrigued by those different opinions.

Stick around for some really good, new authors I have found and feel free to make suggestions and comments!  Join us on Facebook for free books, authors looking for reviewers and new releases and giveaways! On Twitter @GaPirate  Email me at piratepatty@hotmail.com. Have your Marketing people or Publisher contact me for reviews.

NEVER HAVE I EVER by JOSHILYN JACKSON

Never Have I Ever

In this game, even winning can be deadly…

 

Amy Whey with her perfect husband, great step-daughter and baby Oliver, has a life she loves. A life she created. She has great friends, a job she loves teaching scuba lessons and a book club of friends. But her best friend is Char. They are a perfect little group of ordinary women.

Life is good until one day there is a new woman on the block. A woman with a fancy red sports car and a teenaged son. Angelica Roux. Even her name sounds seductive. When she insinuates herself into their lives by showing up at their book club, Amy’s internal alarm system is going off. This woman is dangerous. Instead of reading the book, she suggests a game of Never Have I Ever and Amy knows this creature knows her deepest, ugliest secret. One that could ruin everything she has built and cost her everyone in her life.

When Roux gets Amy alone she confirms Amy’s fears. But for the paltry sum of a quarter of a million dollars, Roux will quietly be on her way. Amy has no intention of giving Roux anything. And so begins Amy’s plan to find out just who Roux is and how she even knows about Amy. In a race against the clock, she takes a big gamble and tries to beat Roux at her own game.

This was a twisty one! Secrets, Lies, Betrayals, the sins of our youth coming back to haunt us. The closer I got to the end, the faster I read. She did what??? He’s who??? Oh my gosh!

Well Done!

NetGalley/ July 30, 2019  William Morrow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Murmur of Bees by Sophia Segovia

The Murmur of Bees

Translated by Simon Bruni

From a beguiling voice in Mexican fiction comes an astonishing novel—her first to be translated into English—about a mysterious child with the power to change a family’s history in a country on the verge of revolution.

The day Nana Reja found a tiny baby under a bridge, wrapped in a blanket of bees, life in their small village in Mexico changed. Baby Simonopio had been kissed by the devil some said. With his deformed mouth, there are some that believe he is the devil. But not the Morales family. They have adopted Nana Reja and Simonopio and love them both deeply.

As he grows he wanders the fields with his swarm of bees. Listening to what they tell him. It seems his purpose is to watch over the family and protect them with the visions he has.

In the middle of the Mexican Revolution and the 1918 flu outbreak, the Morales family survives and with the help of Simonopio, they thrive. Is it magic? Is it love and faith?

Whichever it is there is always someone waiting to destroy what they do not understand and this evil could destroy an entire family.

If this book was this beautiful and moving after the translation,  I can only imagine what it feels like in its native tongue.

It was a pleasure to read and I’m sure I will read it again!

 

 

 

Tomorrow’s Bread by ANNA JEAN MAYHEW

Tomorrow's Bread

From the author of the acclaimed, The Dry Grass of August comes a richly researched yet lyrical Southern-set novel that explores the conflicts of gentrification—a moving story of loss, love, and resilience.

It’s 1961 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The neighborhood of Brooklyn is almost entirely made up of black families and businesses. While there are a lot of run down and shabby homes and storefronts, Loraylee Hawkins lives in a nice home with her grandmother, her uncle and her son, Hawk. She works a full-time job and cares for her grandmother and her son.

Loarylee works at a cafeteria and is involved with her boss. A white man. All very secret, after all this is the South in the early ’60s.

The city of Charlotte has declared Brooklyn a blight on the city and has decided to do some gentrification. Which we all know means bulldozing every house and business and putting in buildings no one can afford. This is their home. They were born here and many died here. But now even the graveyard is being removed in the name of progress.

This is a very familiar story for those of us raised in the deep south. The strength of the characters of this cast was extraordinary. This was a community that supported each other, a family that stood their ground and fought for a better life and for respect.

I am so glad I read this one and I highly recommend it!

Kensington Publishers

 

 

 

 

Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

Things You Save in a Fire

Cassie is happy. She is one of the only female firefighters in her Austin department. She’s so good at her job she’s about to receive an award for Valor when we first meet her. She loves her job and her team. Cassie is gobsmacked when the presenter isn’t the Mayor but a Councilman. An enemy from high school. Let’s just say he leaves the stage on a stretcher and Cassie may not be making Lieutenant or even have a job left.

Cassie’s mother left her and her father when Cassie was 16 and she isn’t over it or anything else. So when out of the blue she receives a call from Diana, her mother, asking her to move to the Boston area and stay with her for a year while she is having a bit of a problem with her eye.

Reminding herself it is only temporary she heads out knowing that she will have a job with a much smaller and older station with guys she knows don’t want a woman in their boys’ club. But she needs to stay away from Austin and let the dust settle.

Before leaving Austin her Captain had told her to not make waves and DO. NOT. Date. Firemen. Not a problem for Cassie as she doesn’t even believe in love and never dates. The hazing and lack of support at the station is compounded with a new guy who on day one turns her life upside down!

I loved this story. Every character was so well done. This was a tale of perspective, forgiveness, and the complicated love of family. I was so moved by the courage Cassie and her mother had.

Very Well Done!

NetGalley/ August 13th, 2019 by St. Martin’s Press

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE SEEKERS (Krewe of Hunters) by HEATHER GRAHAM

This is #28 in this series.

THE TRUTH IS SCARIER THAN FICTION

 

Meet Keri. A Non-Fiction writer. Keri has been asked to help the crew of The Seekers, a ghost hunter type show, as they explore a haunted inn. It’s famous for a lot of reasons, the main one being the site of an ax-wielding killer in the ’20s.

They have just begun to set up when they find a body in the basement. And not just any body but the body of an FBI agent. Are the killings starting again? And who is the woman in white Keri sees by the body?

Joe has joined the Krewe of Hunters. A group within the FBI with paranormal gifts. Together with Dallas, they take over the inn and plunge into an investigation into not only the death of another agent but all of the odd things going on in this strange town.

And this was a strange town! Ghosts popping up, kidnappings, satanic cults. All the good bells and whistles.

This could be a stand alone. Or be like me and read them all!

NetGalley/Mira  July 23rd, 2019

 

 

 

 

SUMMERTIME AND THE READING IS EASY!

Summer is in full swing here. Lots of sun, sand, and water. And of course, a good book!

Some of my favorite reads this summer have been:

31 of the Best Books of 2018 Oh, what a twisty puzzle this thriller was!

 Mean Girls meets the PTA

 This is an outstanding novel about freedom, racism, and family.

  Another one that tugged at my heartstrings and made me cry!

What is everyone looking forward to reading? At the moment I am reading Campusland by Scott Johnson.

Have a good one! We are under a severe heat warning. I’ll be in the pool!

xx P