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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

THE PARIS APARTMENT by LUCY FOLEY

Such a good mystery here!

From the New York Times, bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide…

Jess is ready to leave London. She has no money, and now, no job. She reaches out to her half-brother, Ben, in Paris, and he doesn’t seem overjoyed to have her come and stay for a bit, but he says yes and gives her the address, promising to pick her up at the station.

Ben is only half listening to Jess on the phone. He’s about to break a major story!

But Ben never shows up. Jess makes her way to the apartment building and wonders just how well he is doing to be living here in this huge space. She rings the bell but no one answers so she sneaks in and picks Ben’s lock. The apartment is huge but sparse and the cat seems to have blood on his fur which goes along with a spot on the floor.

When she discovers his phone and wallet, she is worried. So, she starts knocking on the doors of the other apartments. She finds a mixed bag of weirdness! Six apartments are in the building. As she knocks on their doors the reception she gets is one of shock and rudeness. Except for one seemingly nice guy. But no one admits to knowing Ben or where he may be.

The longer he is gone, the stranger things become. There is a little old lady living in a shed in the backyard. They call her the concierge. There is a socialite living in the penthouse with her husband. There is a timid and odd girl with a loose woman living with her. There is a drunk. And there is Nick, seems nice. Knew Ben in school and Jess feels that even he is hiding something.

Full of sketchy characters, hidden rooms, secret doors, and a whole lot of lies and liars. Everyone has something to hide and some are willing to kill to keep their secrets safe.

This was quite the puzzle! And I love that. Thrilling with nonstop action. Just my type of read.

THE FOOL DIES LAST by Carol Miller

The Fortune Telling Mysteries #1

The first in a new series! Hope and Summer Bailey are sisters who run Bailey’s Boutique, a shop in Asheville that sells crystals and tinctures as well as doing palm readings and the Tarot. Hope hasn’t done a Tarot reading in a long time. And she doesn’t want to discuss it.

As she is doing a palm reading for a regular customer, an irate man bursts through the door carrying a vial and accusing them of poisoning his patient with one of Summer’s tinctures. While he says he is a doctor, they have no idea who he is since their grandmother is dating the town doctor.

Things go from bad to worse when a woman dies in what looks like an allergic reaction. They also find a tarot card on her body. The Fool. And when another of her Grandmother’s friends dies in a similar way, also with a Fool card they realize it isn’t just a coincidence.

Then they find out their Gram is part of a tontine and things really heat up. To find a killer they need Hope to engage the tarot again. Can she do it?

There were some really good characters in this new series. Summer and her husband had their own thing going on as did a few of the other characters. Plenty of people to suspect!

NetGalley/April 5th, 2022 by Severn House Publishers




Sister Stardust by JANE GREEN

Sister Stardust

Jane Green reimagines the life of troubled icon Talitha Getty in this transporting story from a forgotten chapter of the Swinging ’60s 

A reimagining of Talita and Paul Getty living the rich and exciting life that small- town Claire can only dream about. But she has dreams and heads for London.

After some fortuitous meetings, she finds herself invited to stay at their home in Morocco. A place teeming with hedonistic pleasures and famous people.She quickly adapts to this world of art, music , drugs and partner -swapping. And socialite, Talitha Getty takes her under her wing and shows her a different side to the glamour. While Claire, at first so charmed by these odd people, finds herself not sure at all she would want this permanantly.

The book is told by Clair, after she and her daughter find boxes and boxes of beautiful things from Morocco, along with a note from Talitha asking her to return. And so begins a mother telling her daughter the fabulous adventures she had as well as the heartbreak.

What a fascinating look at this period in time. When musicians were gods and groupies were everywhere. Claire just wanted a glimpse of the Stones but she got way more than she bargained for. While she loved Morocco, she could never justify the things that happened there that change and ruined so many lives.

I absolutely loved this book. I learned so much about that time period and the famous and infamous people of that time. This was a well told and much loved book.

I enjoyed it immensely.

NetGalley/April 5th, 2022 by Hanover Square Press


  

IN A GARDEN BURNING GOLD by RORY POWER

In a Garden Burning Gold (Argyrosi, #1)

First in the Argyrosi Series

Before anything can we talk about the stunning cover art on this book? I have to admit this was one time I judged a book by its cover and it was great!

This is a Fantasy/YA/LGBT and much more. I went in knowing nothing and I figured out a lot very quickly.

The book focuses on twins Rhea and her brother Lexos. They have a brother and a sister, all with special gifts. The twins have spent lifetimes serving their father and their house. They control the seasons, the tides, the skies all while trying to keep their unstable father happy.

Every season Rhea must choose a consort that will die with that season. It’s unimaginable. All the different factions are looking to unseat them and take their land and their powers. Until Rhea chooses an unlikely consort and discovers all of the lies she has been fed her entire life. While her brother is off trying to doublecross the other factions, she is returning to open the gates for war. But who will she end up at war with?

This was a beautiful story I thought. The characters were so well done that even the bad ones were interesting.

NetGalley/  April 5th, 2022 by Del Rey

http://www.piratepatty.com



Hello April!

Another April is here. Finally, we got a bit of rain this week. Not much. There are still wildfires burning and the grass at the farm feels like straw, but the time changed and so did the month.

Because I have a sister who is an April Fool’s baby, I tend to stay away from jokes. I think the fact that she was born on April 1st and our Momma named her Mary Jane is joke enough.

Spring is such a busy time. Calves are being born, chicks popping out of their shell. The whole rebirth thing going on. What I could do without is the flowering Bradford Pear trees that make me sneeze and wheeze.

I’ve read a bunch of really good thrillers lately and am looking forward to Don Winslow’s City on Fire coming out on the 26th of this month. I’ve read Lisa Scottoline’s What Happened to the Bennetts? Harlan Coben’s The Match. Lucy Foley’s The Paris Apartment, Dervla McTiernan’s The Murder Rule, Sally Helpworth’s The Younger Wife, and a whole lot more.

Mainly we have been being managed by our 1 pound chorkie who is training us. OU Boy began telling her, “Go potty and you can come to play.” Well, now every time she goes potty she ‘screams’ loudly and stands by it. Like, look what I did! It was funny the first day. At two in the morning, it was much less funny. She doesn’t really bark so it sounds like someone is strangling a cat which will wake you out of the deepest sleep!

She is rather like Waldo. We’re always looking for her and she blends into anything. On Facebook, we play where’s the dog. Here Miss Chicken has obviously done grievous harm to her which is why she is ripping out her throat. She’s a vicious little thing. But she has done wonders for our mental health. Two grown adults laying on the floor being her chew toys.

Last weekend was a four-day one for us so we grabbed the camping gear and the kayaks and headed to the lake. It was beautiful and it was great to be out on the water. The nights were cool but we brought a heater. We took Coco and her playpen with all of her stuff. On Day one we took her outside and put her on the grass. She looked up at us and ran back to the tent and went to bed. She was not impressed. She trembled at every owl, coyote, or just three boys on a bike. By Sunday morning it was just too much so we packed up, gave our tent to the kids next door, and agreed our camping days will now involve a cabin or hotel room. I personally love camping but we are pretty much spoiled by now and understand we can visit without spending the night.

Things have been so uncertain and scary around the world and we are trying to find ways to do self-care. Personally, I have put up more boundaries and stopped waiting for people to get vaxxed or even listening to them when they get sick. So my world may be smaller but the quality is so much better. And boy do I ever get a lot of reading done!

I hope we all have a peaceful and successful week and don’t slap anyone in public!

xx P

THE YOUNGER WIFE by SALLY HEPWORTH

The Younger Wife

Sally Hepworth is back with another thriller of a tale!

This book is about two sisters. Tully and Rachel Aston. Both have issues they cope with in different but not especially healthy ways. Their adored mother has just moved into an Alzheimer’s facility. Forgetting things, even those closest to her. But there are some things she won’t forget.

Father, Stephen is getting married again. But he may want to get a divorce from his current wife, Pam,the one he placed in a care home.

When he springs Heather on the girls at a lunch, they are stunned. She’s almost the same age as them. And they are sure she is a gold digger. And to be fair, she is very full of secrets herself. And she has her own reasons for marrying the daddy.

As Rachel is cleaning out her mother’s things she finds of all things a hot water bottle full of a lot of cash and a slip of paper. Tully. Fiona Arthur. And this is enough to send Rachel and Tully digging through their mother’s life and figuring out maybe their father is a monster.

Even Heather isn’t quite sure if he is or isn’t. But at the wedding, it’s all handled quite nicely for them. But was it? Was he a monster or was this a misunderstanding? What a wicked ending!

I am looking forward to her next puzzling mystery!

NetGalley/April 5th, 2022 by St. Martin’s Press





What Happened to the Bennetts by LISA SCOTTOLINE

Your family has been attacked, never again to be the same.
Now you have to choose between law…and justice.

The story:

The Bennett family is a typical suburban family. Dad, Jason, owns his own court-reporting business and does well. Mom, Lucinda, is a photographer. They have the required two children. A boy, Ethan, and a girl about to be sweet sixteen, Allison.

Coming home from a lacrosse game for Allison, the family is being followed way too closely on a dark road. When they try and speed up the vehicle slams them against the guardrail. Two men jump out with guns drawn, demanding the car. Jason willingly hands over the keys when suddenly their little dog jumps and one of the men shoots Allison. While Jason and the family are now in shock and trying to stop their daughter from bleeding out on the road, they hear another gunshot and watch in horror as one man kills the other, drops the gun, and leaves.

Finally, at the hospital with Allison in surgery, they are met by the FBI. This was not some random car-jacking incident. These men are organized crime members and the boss now believes Jason killed his boy. It’s witness protection for all of them now. Except for Allison.

As events unfold quickly, they realize they have no other choice but to go with the agents. Their entire lives were upended in one act of violence. But was it random? Jason is getting a strong feeling that not everyone knows everything.

As the family begins to go through their own private hell, Jason makes the decision to put their lives in their own hands. And after some shocking, and yes, I mean shocking, news, he goes rogue.

That is all I’m going to say about that. Scottoline has never heard of the shallow end of the pool. Nope, she throws you straight into the deep end and yells, “Swim!”. And that panicky, oh my gosh I’m going to die here, feeling begins on page one and ends on the final page.

If you have ever seen her in person you know this woman has more energy than anyone I know. It shows in her writing. The tension never lets up and after finishing the book I am now suspicious of everyone I know.

Always a pleasure to read this author.

xx Patricia





BLACKOUT by SIMON SCARROW

Blackout

Berlin, December 1939

So much tension in this one! The Nazis are quickly taking over and everyone is a little paranoid and terrified. There are shortages, blackouts, and murders.

The wife of one of the Nazi lawyers is found murdered. Brutally so. CI Horst Schenke is following the law and doing his investigation. He is already suspicious in the eyes of his superiors for not registering for the Nazi party.

When another body comes up he thinks they may be looking at something truly evil. But who is to be trusted? No one.

This was a tense read. Not only are the Nazis making life impossible for everyone in the country, but they fight among themselves just as cruelly. It was amazing to see someone stand up to them and get some sort of justice.

NetGalley/ March 29, 2022, Kensington Publishers

FEAR THY NEIGHBOR by FERN MICHAELS

Fear Thy Neighbor

Alison Marshall is twenty-nine and has been running from her past for most of those years. A foster kid who doesn’t even know who her parents are. She’s worked hard and has invested wisely all while trying to find a place she fits in.

Palmetto Island may be the place she is looking for. Small and the islanders are friendly for the most part. She even manages to make a friend. When she finds a small beach cottage in her price range, she buys it. And then finds a human bone.

A journalist from Miami shows up looking for information on a cult in the area and hopes of finding out what happened to his little sister years ago. When her friend’s child is found missing, things get weird.

And that was an issue for me. A lot of the storyline felt shallow and not finished. There was a bit of an unbelievable factor to the wrap-up as well.

NetGalley/ March 29th, 2022 Kensington

Three Shots to the Wind by Sherry Harris

Chloe Jackson, Sea Glass Saloon Mystery #3

We’re back in Emerald Cove, Florida with Chloe and friends. Chloe is mixing drinks when she looks up to see a plane and a banner. The banner reads I LOVE YOU CHLOE JACKSON! What in the world? She and her guy are not even at that point yet. So what does this mean?

The question continues when she finds a bouquet of lilacs and a not-so-cheap bottle of her favorite wine. Does she have a secret admirer?

Surely her ex-fiance in Chicago hasn’t decided that after all this time he wants her back. She is not interested in going back and can’t figure out what he could be doing. But, yes, he has come to town for a convention for accountants and is determined to win her back, or so it seems. And when he is found floating in the lake with her photo in his hand, suspicious minds want to know.

None of this makes any sense to her. And when Rip becomes a suspect, she is determined to find out who is behind this. But with all the sketchy people in this story, she may end up dead herself.

Really good series with great characters!

NetGalley/March 29th, 2022 by Kensington