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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.

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 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.

WHERE THE TRUTH LIES by ANNA BAILEY

Where the Truth Lies

Teenagers, isolated small town, and lots of dirty little secrets make for a dynamite combination in this suspense novel.

The town of Whistling Ridge is off. There is just something not right about the people who live there. They have a lot of secrets to keep and they are about to blow up in a big way for some folks.

Emma and her bestie, Abigail are seventeen and think they know everything about each other. Emma is about to find out just how little she knows. At a party Abigail tells Emma to go home alone as she is meeting someone in the woods. Emma doesn’t know who and Abigail won’t say. All Emma sees is a guy in shadows.

So when Abi doesn’t make it home, Emma won’t let it go. The police think she ran away and with her family who would blame her? But Emma doesn’t believe that. And she isn’t about to let it go.

When evidence is found in the woods, people are scared. It seems everyone has a dirty secret. Everyone. My favorite character was Rat. A Romanian immigrant who is gorgeous and living at the trailer park, which you know is not going to end well.

Abi’s older brother Noah loves Rat and that is an issue. Their fathers violence is an issue. But no one says a thing. Why? Because the preacher is not preaching the gospel of a disciple, he’s preaching about violence and beating the sin out of people.

The more Emma digs, the more secrets she finds that Abi had. As more secrets come to light all of the pent up rage and hate will explode into a night that will change all of their lives forever.

There were the most vile of characters in this book. There were also the most innocent of characters in this book. I think I felt this book more strongly because of the political and social climate of today.

Great writing!

NetGalley/August 3rd, 2021 by Atria Books 




THE DARE by LESLEY KARA

The Dare

Lizzie and Alice have always been best friends. At 13, they are still there for each other. And as they leave for a walk in the country, a place they often go to jump the railroad tracks and argue and make-up and just be kids.

But this time one of them won’t come home. And one will have no clue what happened.

Lizzie has no memory of what happened. It’s all a nightmarish dream she can’t stop or make any clearer. As an epeleptic, she tries to figure out what happened before her seizure that day and deal with grief and uncalled for blame being placed on her by Alice’s sister.

Time goes on and twelve years go by. Lizzie is unpacking in the new place she and her fiancee have moved into when memories come flooding back and they still don’t make sense. As her fiancee, a GP, tries to be supportive he ends up hiring Alice’s sister as a nurse.

Now you know this isn’t going to end well, but oh my goodness, Kara strings you along until the last minutes! And what???

I loved every second of this one.

NetGalley/ August 3rd, 2021 PRHP-Ballentine

Two Wicked Desserts by LYNN CAHOON

Two Wicked Desserts (Kitchen Witch Mysteries, #2)

The second in the Kitchen Witch Mysteries.

Things are coming along nicely in Magic Springs. Mia Malone, kitchen witch, is getting used to her new home and doing well with her catering and the cooking school. While Mia teaches the locals to cook, her own grandmother is teaching her all she can about her gift.

Mr. Darcy is still carrying around Dorian’s spirit, while Gran tries to find a spell to help him move on. And while Dorian may be here in spirit, his magical spell book is already in the questionable hands of his daughter, an actress, who is hoping the spell book will help her career.

Unfortunately for her, there are rules to be followed in magic and Cindy has messed up once already when she heads to town to seek help from Gran. And when the dead body of a hitman is found on her property, Cindy is suddenly a viable suspect.

In the background is the dastardly real estate/criminal who wants to buy Mia out and kind of got away with almost murder. He is the prime suspect for Mia. So she sets out to find a killer, which is already becoming a part-time job.

Ms. Cahoon is an expert at nailing characters. She is also a good recipe finder!

I can’t wait to see what Mia gets up to next!

NetGalley/ July 27th, 2021 by Kensington Publishing Corporation

A PLACE LIKE HOME by Rosamunde Pilcher

A Place Like Home: Short Stories

Published posthumously, this is a collection of short stories by the wonderful Rosamunde Pilcher. Never before in book form, Aoife Inman has searched through the British library to collect short stories that Rosamunde Pilcher had written for magazines between 1976 and 1984. In all, there are 15 short stories.

I was a lover of The Shell Seekers and should probably read it again as an adult. Each story is of a woman and what having a home and what companionship means to them. Remember these stories were written in a different time. So most of these ladies are looking for new love or trying to reignite old flames.

Uncomplicated and sweet, and sometimes we need that. Pure Escapism.

NetGalley/July 27th, 2021 by St. Martin’s Press

A GOOD DAY FOR CHARDONNAY by DARYNDA JONES

A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram, #2)

Ms. Jones is back with our bigger than life heroine, Sunshine Vicram. In this second mystery we see Sunshine is still running a small-town police force in New Mexico.

You would think that would be pretty cush, but for Sunshine, not so much. She hasn’t had a day off in forever and her diet of coffee, donuts and wine aren’t cutting it. She needs a break.

Alas, that isn’t going to be happening any time soon. Called out for a bar fight that ends badly, Sunshine is face to face with the love of her life. Levi. Levi comes from trouble. But oh is he a looker. The boy your momma told you to stay away from. But when has Sunshine listened to anyone?

With daughter, Aurora, getting together a teen detective service with her friends, Sunshine is about to have her hands full at home and at work. Also, throw in the mix her memories are beginning to return. Who was the man who rescued her?

This cast of characters are hilarious. Even her smart-mouthed daughter! “Snitches get stitches”. Not to mention all the horrible people in town. And there are some sketchy folks. All suspects.

There are more sub-plots as well, which I like. I laughed so hard with this one. Can’t wait for the next.

NetGalley/St. Martin’s Press July 27,2021

 

Between policing a town her hunky chief deputy calls four cents short of a nickel, that pesky crush she has on Levi which seems to grow exponentially every day, and an irascible raccoon that just doesn’t know when to quit, Sunny’s life is about to rocket to a whole new level of crazy.

Yep, definitely a good day for chardonnay.

FATAL FAMILY TIES by S.C.PERKINS

Fatal Family Ties (Ancestry Detective #3)

This is the third book in the Ancestry Detective Series. Our starring lady is Genealogist, Lucy Lancaster, who can do your family tree and catch a killer or two!

Just as Lucy is sitting at her favorite place, Big Flaco’s, she gets an uninvited dinner companion. A former and not well-liked co-worker, Camilla Braithwaite. Camilla hasn’t softened up much since Lucy last saw her either. But this time Camilla needs Lucy’s help.

Being an old family, there is a lot of history to unpack and Camilla’s ancestor is the subject of a rather unflattering magazine article. Camilla needs Lucy to prove her ancestor was not a deserter from the Civil War and to help her prove this woman is a liar.

There is also a lot of interest in some badly painted artwork that has been in the family for years but is now being aggressively sought after. But why? It’s ugly as sin.

Leave it to Lucy and her friends to dig into the whys and hows, now they need to figure out the who before they become another victim. Right now even Camilla is looking guilty!

I love this series. It’s like a history lesson and a great mystery!

NetGalley/ July 20th, 2021 by Minotaur Books


THE SINFUL LIVES OF TROPHY WIVES by KRISTIN MILLER

The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives

Welcome to the exclusive and gated community of Presidio Terrace in San Francisco. Small but very exlcusive. Home to rich husbands and their trophy wives.

Brooke is a mystery writer and also the newest trophy wife. Her hubby is a tech billionaire named Jack who is twenty-two years older and fresh as a daisy. So it seems. She demurs to her husband’s taste and desires. Or so it seems, but there is a lot more to this wifey. I mean, she is a mystery writer. Published.

The new place comes with an HOA with rules that are insane, to say the least, and the most neurotic of their neighbors, Erin, a local news anchor, is the head of this tightly controlled cul-de-sac.

Erin is married to Mason. Who is a liar and a wife beater. Erin is a control freak. And when she goes too far on live television, she gets the boot. Since she has made her career her life, she has little of her marriage left. In fact, she thinks her hubby is sneaking around so they go to therapy.

Erin’s BFF is Georgia “The Black Widow”, whose first two husbands died shortly after marriage. People whisper about her but no one is brave enough to challenge her to her face. Now Georgia is about to marry Robert, who loves her dearly until he disappears and the police come knocking on the exclusive community.

During the first part of the book, I was picturing a 90’s thing going on but then it became a puzzle to figure out. By the end of the book no one was what I thought they were and I was happy!

NetGalley/ July 20th, 2021 by Ballantine Books


THE THERAPIST by B.A.PARIS

The Therapist

Alice and Leo are moving. Into a newly redone home in the exclusive and gated community of The Circle. It seems perfect.

Alice sets out to meet her new neighbors but people are giving her odd looks. When she finds out that a woman was murdered in the house suddenly the price becomes understandable. The woman, Nina, was supposedly killed by her husband.

Alice lost her own sister, Nina, a while back and has her own secrets to hide about that. But she becomes more than obsessed with why her own husband didn’t tell her someone died here. The agent knew, the neighbors knew, but for some reason Alice seemed clueless.

Alice digs into this murder and is soon grilling the neighbors, who all have their own shady dealings going on and aren’t answering her questions.

I am a fan of this author. This main character though was hard to follow because she was just so clueless.

I’ll still read her next one though!

NetGalley/ July 13th, 2021 by St. Martin’s Press

Hello July! Can we go on vacation yet?

These are the only things I have been doing. Fishing, Camping, Swimming and Boating. And of course, reading.

It has been a hot month so far. We had like 7 days of rain that let the mosquitos breed, so that was fun. And by the fourth it was hot and humid. We were spending a week at the lake with the grandparents and that turned into one night and a trip to the emergency room. It was also the last tent camping we will ever do!

I do not fish. I eat fish. OU Boy fishes. with this lure I bought him. A treble hook? Well, he was reeling his line in when one of the barbs caught him in the crotch of his shorts. I reached over to grab it and it slid right in my finger down to the bone and then deep in my thumb. Picture my thumb attached at one end and his crotch at the other end. No one could move at all without pain. So off to the emergency room we went. The lady signing in before us took one look and let us go first.

There was a lot of chuckling going on and several people stopped in just to look at it. In the end they stuck a needle in and numbed that sucker good. I told him just to do what he had to do and do not tell me. So when he was finished and I looked my thumb looked like the Hulk! Except orange from the Betadine. The doctor asked if we wanted the lure back. WE did not. We left with my thumb intact but OU Boy had to leave with a hole in his pants letting everyone see his festive boxer shorts.

We decided we are not fishermen or tent campers. Thank goodness for the a/c in the RV. So we sold all the camping equipment and bought a boat. Makes perfect sense, right?

My TBR pile got way out of hand. Now it’s doing well at 19. Kindle books. Maybe 20 physical books. But we lived through the vaccine, the fish hook, and the rain, so I think we are going to be good.

We had a big family Fourth of July picnic at the farm. The youngest was 6 weeks and the oldest was 90. It was a great day that ended with no injuries.

Finally all of my fingers are well now so I’m back to the things I do best. Read and whine.

Happy July!

STEEL FEAR by BRANDON WEBB AND JOHN DAVID MANN

Steel Fear

From the first chapter, I was hooked! This was a thrill ride from the beginning to the end. With no pauses!

I suspected everyone and I was wrong every time!

Navy SEAL, Finn, has just stepped foot onto the USS Abraham Lincoln, supposedly to catch a ride home after a particularly bad hitch in the Persian Gulf area. Details are sketchy, even to him. He knows something is off the minute he is onboard.

There is no leadership or communication. Morale is awful and getting worse. Just a few weeks before one of their helos crashed and everyone died. Monica, a helo pilot has lost friends and is losing more.

It appears there is a serial killer on board and the man in charge is oblivious. So with Finn and a few well -chosen allies begin to investigate, more people die. Of course, Finn is a suspect. Even in his own mind.

Only someone who has lived this could write a book so real you can hear the whine of the engines and smell the fuel of jets. And it appears these two have themselves a new career!

I can’t wait to see what is next!

NetGalley/ July 13th, 2021 by Bantam RHPG