Thursday, February 28, 2008

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy by Misty Simon ~ At 24, Ivy Morris has never lived outside her father's home and in fact sleeps in the same room her mom decorated over a decade ago. Until she gets a letter with the words "your inheritance" offering her a home and a costume shop of her own 3000 miles away. But when she arrives to assume her new life she is bombarded by a slew of people looking for the perfect dominatrix or disturbingly tight wrestler costume for the upcoming Harvest Ball. Between overpowering biddies and stolen lingerie from the worst-kept secret side business, things get even more complicated when a woman is murdered at the ball-a woman wearing the same costume as Ivy. With the help of her new friends and a cute guy trying to rev up his journalism career with this mystery, and revving up her heart in the process, she must solve the murder before someone succeeds in their quest to POISON IVY

Cute, easy read. The first in a series. I"m looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble Ivy gets into next. B+

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

City of the Sun

City of the Sun: A Novel by David Levien ~~ Paul and Carol Gabriel are devastated when their 12-year-old son, Jamie, disappears on his paper delivery route one morning. Fourteen months later and with the police no closer to finding Jamie, they hire PI Frank Behr, an imposing ex-cop with a checkered past. Behr soon discovers that Jamie's disappearance was no random grab but part of a larger operation run by Riggi, a real estate tycoon who deals in everything from drugs to stolen children. Reluctantly allowing Paul to accompany him, Behr tracks Riggi's men to Mexico, where he and Paul discover the true extent of Riggi's depravity as they race against the clock to find Jamie. Levien expertly weaves a subplot involving the tragic death of Behr's own young son into the complex kidnapping story, and the moments shared between the two grieving fathers are heartbreaking.

Watch out Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben - there's a new kid in town :) What a fantastic book. You'll keep turning the pages deep into the night. I hope Mr Levien brings back Frank Behr in future books. A+

Monday, February 25, 2008

Killer Mousse

Killer Mousse (Della Cooks Mystery) by Melinda Wells ~~ Meet Della Charmichael. Owner of her own cooking school, in debt, widowed and now host of her own Cable TV cooking show. Just when she thinks her luck is changing someone dies during her very first TV show - and they keep dying! And she's the #1 suspect! While trying to solve the case, will Della "hook up" with the reporter covering the story or will she cave into the tempation of her best male friend - best friend of her dead husband and husband of a woman dealing with mental illness?

Cute start to a new series. Recipes are included in the back of the book. I can't wait to see what Della will get herself into next.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Accidents Waiting to Happen

Accidents Waiting to Happen by Simon Wood - It seems as if someone wants Josh Michaels dead. They feel he's worth more dead than alive. The first attempt sends Josh off the road into a raging river. When he looks up to see if the driver is coming to help him - all he gets is a thumbs up. Josh survives this attempt on his life - but there will be others. All made to look like accidents, and all nearly fatal. Since no one can believe that someone (or is it more than one?) wants him dead - Josh has to figure it out for himself - before it's too late.

I liked this book. The "bad guys" are revealed early, so you're not trying to figure out "who done it". The story focuses more on Josh's quest to find who is behind the multiple attempts on his life and how to stop them from killing him and his family. B+

Friday, February 22, 2008

State of the Onion

State of the Onion (Berkley Prime Crime Mysteries) ~~ Assistant White House Chef Ollie Paras is up for the job of Head Chef - along with her her biggest enemy. On the way into the White House one day she witnesses a man attempting to gain access to the White House. She "helps out" the Secret Service in detaining him, but it turns out the he's not the terrorist everyone is making him appear to be. Of course Ollie can't let it go, even when her Secret Service boyfriend tells her too. While fighting for the job of Executive Chef Ollie gets caught up in the mystery of the man she saw and the warning he was trying to send the President.

First in a new series. Loved it! When is the next one due out? :)

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Stalked ~~ Brian Freeman

Stalked by Brian Freeman ~~ Jonathan Stride and his girlfriend Serena Dial are back in Duluth after leaving Las Vegas. Stride's partners husband is found shot dead in their home and while everyone thinks that Maggie did it, Stride is set on finding the real killer. In the meantine, Serena is hired by the local DA to help him pay off a blackmailer. Are the two cases related??? And how do they deal with finding the people (person) responsible for the murder and blackmail when an old nemesis is hunting them?????

Fantastic! Each Jonathan Stride book is better than the one before it.


Monday, February 18, 2008

Shadow of Death

Shadow of Death by Patricia Gussin ~~ Laura Nelson has just finished examing her first patient when she's thrown into a set of extraordinary circumstances that will change her life forever - one that will end one life and change one forever. Forced to make a split second decison Laura learns that there are consquences to the choices she made. Fantastic first book. Just when you think the book is going in one direction, it takes you completely by suprise and turns the other way. Can't wait to read the next one. A

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Murder in Miniature

Murder in Miniature (A Miniature Mystery) by Margaret Grace ~~ Having lost her husband to cancer, good-natured Geraldine Gerry Porter, 58, endures being the chair of the Lincoln Point, Calif., dollhouse committee. Her prickly perfectionist friend, Linda Reed, makes tiny houses that are unassailably historically accurate, but Linda's delinquent adopted teenage son, Jason, and two troublesome ex-husbands have her real house out of order. When Linda disappears from the annual miniatures fair only to turn up in the middle of the night stranded and disheveled off a highway access road—the same site where the dead body of an unknown woman is subsequently found—Gerry, with the help of her visiting 10-year-old tomboy granddaughter Maddie, begin to second-guess Linda's odd behavior. They rely on the quirky expertise of Gerry's roll-with-the-punches bachelor nephew, Skip, a local cop who's thrilled to get his first homicide call. Further roiling Lincoln Point tempers are a recent robbery at Crane's Jewelry Store pointing to Jason's handiwork and the angry factions battling over an upcoming election hinging on proposed development. Gerry proves a resilient, enterprising detective and Maddie a delightful sidekick in this tightly honed mystery, where smalltown personalities get a gentle poke. -- First in a new series. ---

Great first book - can't wait for the next one.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Invitation to Murder

Invitation to Murder: A Card-Making Mystery (Signet Mystery) by Elizabeth Bright ~~ Jennifer Shane's brainchild of a shop, Custom Card Creations, hasn't been all glitter and tinsel. Customers are scarce and-after finally landing a client-Jennifer hears a murder over the phone. And when she receives a threatening note, it's clear someone has designs on her life, too. Now, between holding cardmaking lessons, trying to scissor her ex-fiancé out of her life, and piecing together a murder, Jennifer has really got her work cut out for her (First in the series) B+

Friday, February 15, 2008

Nameless ~~~ Couldn't put it down!

Nameless by Debra Webb ~~ Vivian Grace is an FBI rookie on a mission: To hunt down a kidnapper—with all her heart. Because for Vivian, herself a victim of a vicious kidnapping years ago, this case is about more than justice. This time, it’s personal.Ryan McBride is an ex-agent who was scapegoated three years ago for a kidnapping case gone fatally wrong. Since then, he has been drinking himself into oblivion, trying to forget the past. Until Vivian shows up at his door and knocks him head-first into the present. Someone is using his and Vivian’s darkest secrets against them—and time is running out for the victims... A

Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Abortionist's Daugher ~~ Tracey's Pick

The Abortionist's Daughter by Elisabeth Hyde ~~ Dr. Diane Duprey is an abortion clinic director and is found dead in the swimming pool of her home. But who did it??? Was it her husband the DA who had a fight with her that afternoon? Her college freshman daughter whose last words to her mother were "Have fun killing babies"? The upset parents of daughters that abortions were performed on? Or The Reverend Steven O'Connell who is the founder of the Lifeblood Coalition, an anti-abortion group??? B+

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

What Lies in Shadow

What Lies in Shadow by Tina Wainscott ~~ A woman creates a secret persona for her personal blog. A place where she can remain anonymous and seek out her secrets and desires. Until she meets a fellow blogger who finds out her real identity and starts to stalk her. A++

Favorite Books Read in 2007

Some of my favorite books from 2007

Some of my favorite COZY Series

Favorite Authors

Some of my favorite authors (in no particular order)

  • James Grippando
  • Harlan Coben
  • Allison Brennan
  • James Patterson
  • Jonathan Kellerman
  • Faye Kellerman
  • Barbara Delinsky
  • Rick Mofina
  • Karen Rose
  • Lisa Gardner
  • Andrew Gross
  • Andrea Kane
  • Beverly Barton
  • Michael Connelly
  • Mariah Stewart
  • Hunter Morgan
  • John Lutz
  • Victoria Thompson
  • Jillian Hoffman
  • Naomi Ragen
  • Lee Child
  • Kevin O'Brien