To Read, or Not To Read

Title: And Then There Were None
Author: Agatha Christie
Publisher: William Morrow
Published: May 6, 2014
Paperback, 272 pages
ISBN: 978-0-06-232554-9
Genre: Mystery
Source: Publisher




Goodreads Summary: 
Ten people, each with something to hide and something to fear, are invited to a lonely mansion on Indian Island by a host who fails to appear but leaves a recording accusing all of undetected murder. Cut off by his orders, one by one each die according to a nursery rhyme Ten Little Indians. A confession in a bottle solves how nobody remains alive.
My thoughts: This is the first book I've read by Agatha Christie. I've watched Poirot and Miss. Marple series, but have neglected to read any of her novels until now. And I'm glad I made the leap. 
And Then There Were None is a thrilling story about ten strangers that are invited to a mysterious island by a mysterious host. There they are each incriminated for murder by the mysterious host. That very night a guest/victim dies. The strangers a…

1. How do you "solve the mystery of love" with romance novels?

I’m not sure we’ll ever solve the mystery of love, but it is fun to try through my characters and plots and attempting to make them communicate through their miscommunications.

2.Romance often gets a bad rep. Why do you think this is?

That’s a great question, and something I’ve always wondered about. I don’t know if it’s because people have been hurt or they think that type of love found in romance novels is stupid or ridiculous and doesn’t exist. Maybe it’s because they’re scared to look silly if they read it? I don’t know, but I do believe in true love. Maybe not the fantastical stuff you find in romance novels, but romance novels are a few hours of a person’s life, 85,000 to 100,000 words of these characters’ lives, and love is supposed to last a lifetime. Love also has mundane aspects, but we wouldn’t want to read about that part of it all.

3. What is the best relationship advice you've received?
To communica…

Q&A with SUSAN MALLERY New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of UNTIL WE TOUCH
1.In what ways do you think every woman can relate to Larissa Owens? Larissa is a sweetie. She’s not rich; she’s working as a personal assistant and personal masseuse for Jack. She gets to go to work in yoga pants and touch sexy guys all over. (Dream job!) UNTIL WE TOUCH is my nod to the boss/secretary story, one of my favorite kinds of romance. Larissa has a pure heart, and when she sees someone hurting, she doesn’t just think about helping. She does help, with whatever resources are available to her. Fortunately for her, since she’s been working for Jack, he has allowed her to use his wealth and connections in service to her causes. In fact, he likes it. With Larissa using his money to try to save the world, he can feel like a part of something without actually putting himself out there. It’s a very comfortable arrangement for them both… until Larissa’s mom tells Jack that Larissa is in love with…

One single mom. One chaotic family. One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You.


ONE PLUS ONE A Novel


Jojo Moyes

“ONE PLUS ONE equals one fine novel….skillfully crafted characters… meld together into an uncommonly good story about family, trust, and love…hysterically mismatched mélange… Bravo to Moyes for delivering toothsome characters in a story readers will truly care about. Is that Hollywood calling?”—Booklist, Starred Review
“Offbeat journey so satisfying…Moyes’s irrepressible flaws-and-all characters so memorable.” —Publishers Weekly
“Amazing novel…about trust, dignity, desperation, and, ultimately, love….Moyes…has a remarkable gift for creating balanced, deep characters who struggle to find their own way. With humor, and insight, and an amazing ability to see how personal hitting rock bottom can become, she has written an emotional, rich, and satisfying novel.”—Library Journal, Starred Review

Readers and critics alike fell…

Someone Else’s Skin: the secrets inside a new crime series
As soon as I started writing crime, I knew I wanted to write a series. I do love standalones (many of my favourite books are one-off psychological thrillers), but there’s something addictive about a series. I can’t imagine ever tiring of Highsmith’s Ripley books, for instance. Each one peels another layer from Tom’s character, or adds a layer. You can get hooked on a series; maybe it’s the obsessive in me that loves them so much. Much of the thrill in writing Someone Else’s Skin came from knowing it would be the first in a series; I’d be spending a lot of time with these characters. I wanted readers hooked, enough to read a second book, and hopefully a third and fourth. My characters, as well as being people that readers could warm to, needed layers and mystery. As a storyteller, I had to perform a balancing act between intrigue and empathy. But I love a challenge. Can we get close to a character who is keeping secrets? Doesn’t c…

Title: The Wild Dark Flowers(A Novel of Rutherford Park)
Author: Elizabeth Cooke
Publisher: Berkley Books
Published: July 1, 2014
Ebook, ARC
ISBN13: 9780425262597
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: NetGalley/Publisher





Goodreads Summary:
When May came that year in Rutherford, it was more beautiful than anyone could ever remember. More beautiful, and more terrible…

From inside their sprawling estate of Rutherford Park, the Cavendish family had a privileged perspective of the world. On the first morning in May, 1915, with a splendid view that reached across the gardens to the Vale of York, nothing seemed lovelier or less threatening. And yet…

At the risk of undoing the Cavendish name with scandal, William and Octavia Cavendish have been living a lie, maintaining a marriage out of duty rather than passion. But when their son Harry joins the Royal Flying Corps in France, the Cavendish family are forced to face the unavoidable truths about themselves, the society in which they thrive, and the secrets …

Available to download June 26 – July 2, 2014
Description:
In addition to the P-38, there are four gifts, one for each of my friends. I want to say good-bye to them properly. I want to give them each something to remember me by. To let them know I really cared about them and I’m sorry I couldn’t be more than I was–that I couldn’t stick around–and that what’s going to happen today isn’t their fault. Today is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 pistol. But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school’s class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of …

Title: The Duke's Obsession
Author: Frances Fowlkes
Publisher Entangled Scandalous
Published: May 12, 2014
Ebook ARC
ASIN B00JO3JMC6
Genre: Historical Romance Source: NetGalley
Goodreads Summary: London 1818

An American Heiress Who Must Swallow Her Pride

Miss Daphne Farrington despises three things: England's dreary weather, the grimy streets of London, and most especially the English aristocracy. Despite her misgivings, she must persuade the very English Duke of Waverly to save her family shipping business. If only she could ignore the way he makes her pulse race whenever she's near him.

A Duke Who Must Overcome Her Prejudice

Edward Lacey, the Duke of Waverly, is convinced that the lovely Miss Farrington, with her penchant for numbers, is the woman he'd like to make his Duchess. But unless he can convince her that not all English lords are callous, calculating rakes, a dark secret will ruin his chance at happiness.

My thoughts: Miss Daphne Farrington hates English Aristocracy. She&#…

THE LONGEST NIGHT Author: Kara Braden Pub Date: July 1, 2014 Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca Genre: Contemporary Romance
Summary

Years ago, former Marine Captain Cecily Knight fled her dark past and the nightmares forever haunting her nights. Alone in the remote Canadian wilderness, she survives day to day…until Ian Fairchild comes storming into her life and shatters her protective seclusion.

Aloof but intriguing, defensive but undeniable, Ian is everything Cecily shouldn’t want but can’t ignore. He watches her with shrewd blue eyes, as if determined to decipher her secrets…and for the first time in years, she finds herself coming alive beneath the hands of a man with too many scars to count.
As the hushed and harsh winter closes in around them, two lost souls find themselves on the precipice of a love that could save their lives…or destroy them forever.

Excerpt

Cecily shifted her weight, and Ian caught her sleeve, silently cursing the bulky jackets and gloves that separated them both. At the…

Some secrets keep you safe, others will destroy you...

Detective Inspector Marnie Rome. Dependable; fierce; brilliant at her job; a rising star in the ranks. Everyone knows how Marnie fought to come back from the murder of her parents, but very few know what is going on below the surface. Because Marnie has secrets she won't share with anyone.

But then so does everyone. Certainly those in the women's shelter Marnie and Detective Sergeant Noah Jake visit on that fateful day. The day when they arrive to interview a resident, only to find one of the women's husbands, who shouldn't have been there, lying stabbed on the floor.

As Marnie and Noah investigate the crime further, events begin to spiral and the violence escalates. Everyone is keeping secrets, some for survival and some, they suspect, to disguise who they really are under their skin.

Now, if Marnie is going to find the truth she will have to face her own demons head on. Because the time has come for secrets t…

1. "Witch Hearts is an adult paranormal thriller meant for those who liked to be a little creeped out" What creeps you out?  Hmmm, well if we're talking real things (as opposed to monsters in the closet), I'd have to say spiders. Seeing one skittering across your arm? Heebies AND jeebies. 
2. Courtney has to reunite with her old coven’s High Priest, who also happens to be her cheating ex-boyfriend. That's a nightmare in itself. Have you ever had to work with someone who had betrayed you? I've been lucky in that not too many people have betrayed me - and if they have, I typically cut them out and move on without thinking twice. Of course, there are always certain instances with co-workers, previous employers and the like, but I've been fortunate not to have that to deal with, not like Ruby! 
3. Who are some of your favorite authors? I've loved James Patterson for a long time, as well as Dan Brown. Charlaine Harris is great inspiration (though I wasn't a…