November 2012

 Dead Case in Deadwood (Deadwood Mystery #3) by Ann Charles

My first read by this author and what a pleasant surprise.

The story is about Violet Parker, a single mom working as a realtor by day and detective wanna-be the rest of the time.  Violet is so hilarious as a character with all her many escapades in sleuthing then add her hot and heavy "secret" romance with the Doc and this was a fun read. 

Ann Charles has a marvelous way of writing character interactions that keeps you interested and engaged in the read.  I especially enjoyed Violet's interactions with herself.

I will definitely be reading more of this series.

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  The Delphi Chronicle, Book 1 - The Manuscript (ebook)  by Russell Blake

If you enjoy political thrillers then this is a must read.  This story brought to life all my worst thoughts and fears about the government and how corrupt it truly is.  I know this is a work of fiction, but I would not be surprised if the government did do any of the things this author writes about. 

Great story with such well developed characters and plot.  The main character, Michael, who is ex-military and operates a security company, is asked to help out a literary agent friend.  Michael becomes embroiled in a government conspiracy regarding a missing manuscript after his friend is murdered.  If this manuscript becomes public knowledge, America would discover how corrupt the government is and exactly what the "War on Drugs" is really about.  The government does not want this to happen and will kill everyone they think may have knowledge of it.

I can't wait to read the next book in this story to see what happens next.

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 Betrayal of Magic (Department of Magic #1) by Brian Dockins

 I downloaded this book as a "freebie" at Amazon.  I am so glad that I did.  I wasn't sure what to expect as this author and the story are unknown to me.  What a great surprise this book was.  I was drawn into Cadan Johnson's story right from the first page and had a hard time to put it down as I wanted to see where the author was taking me next.

I was so surprised at how well written this story is.  I was happy that the author did not write these young characters as goofy.  I have read other stories about teens/young adults and the conversations they have seem too childish and immature.   All the young characters in this story are well formed, mature, with a lot of depth and intelligence.  This made the story so very interesting to read.  I did not skip over sections as I sometimes find myself doing with other YA stories.  There was so much purpose and meaning in everything this author wrote that made this story so interesting and fascinating to read. 

This is one well written YA Paranormal story and one that would make a great movie.  Great competition for Harry Potter.

I am looking forward to reading the next story in this series.

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Crazy Love by Nicola Marsh

My first read by this author, Nicola Marsh. Very cute story line. The interaction between the 2 main characters was fun to read. I only rated this story 3 stars as I felt it could have used a meatier plot. There were too many story lines going on all a one time and moving back and forth from all those different characters and their thoughts and feelings was hard to follow at times. It also made what could have been a great read into just a cute and fun read. I would have enjoyed the story more if the author had stayed with the 2 main characters and brought the other story lines into play through their perspective rather then through all the other characters.

All in all I did enjoy this cute story and may pick up another Nicola Marsh story down the road.

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A Job From Hell (Ancient Legends, #1)

by Jayde Scott

I picked this up as a freebie on Amazon and glad that I found this.  I am always looking for paranormal stories and this was such an interesting twist on the vampire lore.  Add in some demons, the devil and his offspring, shadows and an evil Queen and you have a very interesting story indeed.  I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series to see what happens to this human/vampire love story.

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 A Gift of Ghosts (Paperback)

by Sarah Wynde

This book kept bringing the TV show Eureka to mind  and I almost put the book away.  I made a decision to stick with it a little bit longer and I am glad I did.  Once I got further into the story it took on a life of its own.  Interesting ideas about ghosts were presented which made the story different and unusual. 

If you like ghost stories then pick up a copy of this book.  You will not be disappointed.

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 Soul Identity (Soul Identity #1)

by Dennis Batchelder

This is an exceptional story.  Such an interesting variation on the reincarnation of life.  Saving the "identity" of a person's soul through their eyes and matching the soul "identity" throughout the centuries. Add a little espionage, murder, mayhem and religious belief to the mix and you have the formula for a heck of a read.  This is a read that I recommend to anyone who is in search of something new and different.  I would love to see a 2nd book based on this story just to see what happens next.