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Hello world!

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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!   On Twitter, @GaPirate  Email me at piratepatty@hotmail.com. Have your Marketing people or Publisher contact me for reviews. Top 1000 Reviewer for Amazon. Vine Voice on Amazon. Follow along on Instagram @PatriciaFairweatherRomero

STAY AWAKE by MEGAN GOLDIN

Stay Awake

From the opening pages, this book exudes tension! Heart pounding terror and confusion on every single page.

This is the story of Liv Reese. Liv has just woken up in a taxi with absolutely no memory of how she got there. Confused and scared she is dropped off at her apartment building. Only she has lost her purse and her phone. Ringing the bell in hopes her roommate, Amy, will be there to let her in. Only it’s not Amy who answers. The couple who does now live in their apartment and are tired of her showing up. What?

Stumbling outside confused she looks at her hands to see ink everywhere with messages. STAY AWAKE! Trust No one. And the name of a bar.

Going back two years, the last thing she remembers is answering the phone at her desk at the trendy magazine she writes for. And then nothing. She knows she was living with Amy and dating Marco.

Digging in her pockets she finds a bloody knife wrapped in a t-shirt. When she catches the news, it is all about a murder that just took place. The weirdest thing is what is left in blood on the window. STAY AWAKE! What has she done?

Changing her look and going into the magazine gives her some clues, but she needs to find out what happened and why she can’t remember. But someone out there remembers. And that someone is going to make sure she forgets permanently.

The tension never lets up. It was like a puzzle you just can’t figure out. I read this all at once because you couldn’t just stop! So yes, I did stay awake long past my bedtime.

Goldin has such a complex and twisty writing style that I love.

NetGalley/August 9th, 2022 by St. Martin’s Press



A DISH TO DIE FOR by LUCY BURDETTE

A Key West Food Critic Mystery

Can we all just appreciate the tropical beauty that is this cover? So peaceful and lush.

But not for Hayley Snow, the food critic for the Key Zest Magazine. Things almost never slow down in the Keys and Hayley’s hot cop husband is as busy as she is. Not to mention that his father is in town and Hayley has yet to meet the imposing man.

When Hayley and a friend take their pups over to Geiger Key for a peaceful lunch and dog run, it should be relaxing enough. And it is. Until Ziggy digs up more than sand on the dunes. Local Davis Jager, an avid and very serious birdwatcher, who is also out on the beach identifies the body as one GG Garcia. Garcia has a lot of enemies. He’s loud and brash and is buying up all the real estate he can get his hands on to create even more tourist destinations. The locals aren’t so happy with that idea.

Of course, Hayley isn’t going to just let a dead body go without an investigation. When she and her trusty sidekick, Miss Gloria pay Davis a visit they find out later he was attacked in the parking lot. So, he isn’t a suspect? Maybe.

They find more mysterious things as they help Hayley’s mother with the funeral reception at the Women’s Club. A very old cookbook and a box of notes about some of the members. What a find! Full of recipes from the original cookbook the women put out in the 1940s. Some of them sounded gross, but some of them weren’t recipes at all, but a diary!

This was a good installment of the series. Hayley and Nathan are getting into a married routine and things are looking up for her at work as well!

And as usual, Ms. Burdette has included all of the delicious recipes!

Netgalley/ August 9th, 2022 by Crooked Lane Books

WILD is the WITCH by Rachel Griffin

When eighteen-year-old witch Iris Gray accidentally enacts a curse that could have dire consequences, she must team up with a boy who hates witches to make sure her magic isn’t unleashed on the world.

Iris Gray and her mother run a wildlife refuge in Washington. It’s not where she is from but that place no longer wanted witches nor did her father who stayed behind.

But she loves her days at the refuge and when she gets frazzled, she does what her Grandmother taught her to do. She creates a spell, puts it in some herbs, and burns it. Much like writing a letter but not sending it. No one gets hurt and she feels a little better.

Her life would be fine if it weren’t for the annoying intern, Pike Alder. It’s a mutual hate feeling. And he has made it clear he despises witches.

So she takes her frustrations out in the same way, only this time before she can push the magic into the herbs, an owl dives in front and takes the curse. These birds are amplifiers of magic and unleashing the curse could harm not just Pike, but much further.

The Witch’s Council has already given her a pass once and she knows if she doesn’t get the curse back, she will lose her magic for good. And Pike will probably die turning into a mage.

Pike doesn’t know the real reason she is so bent on finding the owl, but he volunteers to go with her.

Along the way, they both will learn a lot about each other, magic, and themselves.

This is a YA book and I can see why it’s popular.

NetGalley/August 2nd, 2022 by Sourcebooks Fire

Listening Well by Heather Morris

Listening Well: Bringing Stories of Hope to Life

Bringing Stories of Hope to Life

Heather Morris is one of my favorite authors. The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and Cilka’s Journey show what a great storyteller she is and also what a great story listener she is. And that is what this book is about. Listening. “Stories are what connect us and remind us that hope is always possible.”—Heather Morris  I love that.

In this work, she shares her talent as a listener. Something she used when first meeting Lale Sokolov, the tattooist at Auschwitz-Birkenau. He was the subject of The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey.

She shares her own story and how she honed her listening skills and gives us good advice on improving our own. A skill that will benefit all of our relationships. Personal and work. Listening is an active thing. You can tell when someone is listening to you and engaged and when they are not. Long after we are all gone there will be stories. Because someone listened and shared.

Always a pleasure.

NetGalley/August 2nd, 2022 by St. Martin’s Press



August, the Sunday of Summer

Can it really be August already? July has gone by in a long string of over 100-degree days. And not a drop of rain. Parts of our state got rain this weekend but we got 19 drops on the windshield. But it cooled off for a day.

July was a month I don’t want to repeat. OU Boy had another stent put in and then had to have his kidney function tested and I was sucking down Albuterol like water! I am allergic to everything in this state including my own dog. So I have been on a journey to allow her to stay. Flonase in the mornings, Clairton at night, and a huge Hepa filter machine. They suggested I keep a sterile room so that is my bedroom. For the past few days, I have been able to sleep through the night without a breathing treatment. So basically we are falling apart here.

The water levels are so low at the reservoir and the lake that kayaking is challenging. We still go and try In separate boats.

Today I am still in mourning for the prolific author, Stuart Woods who passed on the 22nd. If I had a book boyfriend it would be the infamous Stone Barrington. Although according to my husband I am a carbon copy of him. I loved the cheeky way he signed off each book. Don’t write me, I won’t answer. If you have an idea for a book then write it. Always made me laugh.

This week I am doing media for Bullet Train. I adored this book and badgered everyone I knew to read it. So read it before the movie.

How is everyone doing this summer? Reading pile caught up yet? Has anyone gone on vacation? Kids going back to school?

Also looking for new shows to binge on BritBox!

xxP

BLACK DOG by STUART WOODS (Stone Barrington #62)

Stone Barrington is back in New York City. Hoping for some downtime but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards for him.

I’m excited about this one. Joan, who is one of my favorite characters, is front and center in this one. Introducing her uber-rich aunt to Stone. Her aunt has somewhat of a chequered past but is also married to one of the wealthiest men in the world. Or she was until he recently died.

Although she’s sixty, she looks forty and has the hots for Stone. And who wouldn’t? She also wants to give him millions in business and make him the executor of her will and her stepson’s trust. The stepson is too bad for a black sheep even. And boy does this Eddie character not have a moral bone in his body.

He is desperate and we all know desperate people do desperate things. Like murder and forgery.

This was a very humorous book. Stone always has a good sense of humor but who knew about Joan?

Woods always gives us a good time with Stone, Dino, and Joan. This one was especially good!

NetGalley/02 Aug 2022 Penguin Group/Putnam

Stuart Woods passed away on July 22, 2022 Our hearts will be broken and grateful for all of the wonderful books we enjoyed!

ALIAS EMMA by AVA GLASS

In this breakneck, race-against-the-clock thriller, a British spy has twelve hours to deliver her asset across London after Russia hacks the city’s security cameras. Can she make it without being spotted . . . or killed?

Nothing about Emma Makepeace is real. Not even her name.

A daughter of a Russian mother and father. She and her mother have fled to London and her father stays behind. All she has ever wanted is to be a spy. To make the Russians pay for what they did to him and her family.

Fresh from graduating basic, the former Army member is eager for her first assignment. And she gives it all she has.

This is a secret organization inside the CIA. But not everyone is trustworthy as Emma will soon find out. Rushing against time, Russian agents, and even some crooked CIA, she must be invisible in a city with cameras everywhere.

All she knows is she has to protect a valuable son of a dissident Russian scientist. But something isn’t right. When she calls for a pickup, no one shows. Where is her boss and who is this man running things now. A leak? A collaborator?

Trusting the cryptic message from her old boss, she goes running and ends up in a lot of nasty places. They are shot at, beaten, and not sure at all who is setting up who and why.

I loved the female spy. Emma was a most determined young lady and I hope we see more of her.

NetGalley/ August 2nd, 2022 by Bantam





THE MANY DAUGHTERS OF AFONG MOY by JAMIE FORD

This is a rather difficult review to write. There were so many things I had never heard of before.

The story of seven women. Living with generational trauma. We begin with Dorothy Moy. Washington’s one-time poet laureate. When her young daughter begins showing signs of the same type of behavior that plagues Dorothy, she decides to go for some experimental treatments that are thought to mitigate inherited trauma. That one I had to look up.

In doing so she connects with past generations of her own family. And in all of the scenarios, there is a man looking for her. So a painful and traumatic past isn’t the only thing she’s searching for answers for.

Her choice to end the cycle of pain may help her find her lost love or it may cost her something.

I enjoyed the women’s stories. How different and yet similar they were. Some of these things I had never heard about before and I am very glad I now understand them.

NetGalley/August 2nd, 2022 by Atria Books



DEATH of an ICE CREAM SCOOPER by LEE HOLLIS

A Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mystery

Hayley Powell is back writing her food and cocktails column in Bar Harbor, Maine and she is busy as ever. It’s always a pleasure to hop in and see what she is up to.

The last thing she and her friend Lydia, owner of Bar Harbor Ice Cream, expect to find in the freezer truck is a dead body. Especially not the dead body of Miranda, an employee!

Shocked and looking to protect Lydia, Hayley is doing her best to come up with suspects that don’t include Lydia or her husband who may or may not be cheating. Everyone is keeping secrets. Some are deadly and could make sure this is her last case! Hayley needs to untangle Miranda’s public and secret lives before anyone else is hurt. It won’t be easy.

Always a pleasure. Especially the recipes!

NetGalley/July 26, 2022, Kensington Books



THE NEW NEIGHBOR by KAREN CLEVELAND

Beth Bradford and her husband Mike have just dropped their last child off at college. They have a buyer for the large home they raised their children in and are downsizing. The cul-de-sac they have lived in will be getting a new neighbor and Beth is feeling sad.

But wait, things can always get worse! Turns out Mike is not moving in with Beth. He has a place of his own and wants a divorce. PIle on top of that her demotion as she calls it at the CIA. For fifteen years she has been chasing a terrorist who is known as The Neighbor. Recruiting in the states now. But she is nowhere close to solving this case and when she goes to work she is told she is being transferred to a teaching facility.

But Beth has had way too much piled on her this week. She begins spying on the couple that bought their house after she sees a message from The neighbor saying they have moved to a new cul-de-sac. There is something suspicious about the woman. Her story doesn’t check out. And the more she digs the more secrets she finds among the neighbors she once called friends.

Madeline has moved into Beth’s old house. She knows way too much about Beth and the neighbors. Beth thinks she may be the link to the neighbor.

Is she being paranoid? Almost all of the neighbors work for Langley, so secrets are the norm.

Beth isn’t a quitter and she isn’t giving up on this case. Even after she’s told to let it go and people are hinting she is unstable. But she isn’t letting it go. And neither is Madeline.

The ending was shocking and unexpected. I will be looking at my neighbors in a new light now.

NetGalley/July 26th, 2022 by Ballantine Books