THE SCENT OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS

by: Cindy Woodsmall

Publisher: WaterBrook Press

Published: February 21, 2012

Format: Hardcover (208 pages)

ISBN: 9780307446558

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

THE SCENT OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS pits Plain against Plain in a battle of love.  

Annie Martin is Plain Order Mennonite while Aden Zook is Plain Order Amish, but when childhood friendship springs into something more, they are worlds apart.

Annie finds herself back at her Daadi Moses house, whether she’d wanted to be there or not. She did, but this time her visit wasn’t due to Daadi’s illness; Annie’s mother nearly kicked her out of the house without any information on when she’d be welcomed back.   Having a petrified relationship with her mother, Annie just doesn’t understand how she let the family unit go to dysfunction, after her father left them.   This worldliness is the main source of contention between Mamm and her daughter, especially since her brothers’ alarming new turn into things not permitted in their faith.  Her brothers drink and play games of cards and take a lackadaisical approach to their job.  Annie knew she should’ve kept her mouth shut, but she didn’t.  Annie worried for her younger siblings who seemed to be favoring their eldest brothers’ bad habits.

Back working in the Zook’s diner, Annie realizes Aden is all grown now.

Aden Zook enjoys sketching, but he must work too.  A long work schedule is hard but not as monstrous to him as his stutter seems to be; he just wants to be more like his brother, Roman Zook.

However, Roman hasn’t been Roman in what feels like a lifetime.

An accident bound Roman to his wheelchair and almost killed their Daed, but everyone is alive and well. However, Roman depends on Aden to assist in everyday tasks while his Daed cannot do anything near what he used to. Daed’s muscles and pain restrict him so.  Nevertheless, this family still runs the best diner anyone ever had, but when their Uncle Ernie needs Roman’s help to fix a generator, he convinces Roman to go.

But what maybe good for Roman’s confidence will push Aden’s work schedule beyond what any man can be can aspire to handle, with a wedding party to feed and a diner to manage.

It’s Roman who has the business mind out of the two brothers, and he impresses on Aden how important this wedding can be in the future of the diner.  If they can manage to service the Plain relatives of the happy couple, it would open future opportunities, but Roman is not here to help manage this task.  How can Aden and Mamm do this while being almost alone?

Blessings reign on the Zooks in the form of a Plain Mennonite named Annie Martin.

Aden always remembers their time working together as young kids while she worked in his family’s diner.  Aden’s truth is that he’s always felt fondness for Annie.  However, he acted shy and not very responsive to hide his impediment, freely allowing his brother Roman to do the talking.

Now, they will be working side by side, again, but Aden has only his own voice for Annie. Moreover, she has a way of making him open up, perhaps more than he should, and she might begin to realize just how much he cares for Annie.

Now while caring for a woman is not a sin, a relationship with this woman will cost them both, dearly.

My Take:

I recommend THE SCENT OF CHERRY BLOSSOMS by Cindy Woodsmall!

Cindy Woodsmall writes a love story that is full and complete and you’ll meet more characters plus learn their stories.  However, you will not be ready for this novella to end as her writing is engaging enough to make you want more.

Through WaterBrook Multnomah’s Blogging for Books Program, I received this book for free in exchange my honest review.

LAST CHANCE BEAUTY QUEEN

by Hope Ramsay

Publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing imprint of Hachette Book Group)

Published: February 1, 2012

Format: Paperback (368 pages)

ISBN: 9780446576086

Series: Last Chance

Origin: Publisher through netGalley – eGalley

***Though the publisher provides the free ebook, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

What happens when a United States Senator wants a British baron to buy land in his state that isn’t for sale?

The land deal problem falls on Caroline Rhodes.

She’s a small town, ex-beauty queen who can’t seem to forget her not so famous but infamous background, where her name is Rocky, despite her professional ties working for Senator Rupert Warren.  However, her boss expects Caroline to help get a landowner to sell property to a foreigner.  His view is that, after all, the baron wants to build a factory and give the locals jobs, but Caroline sees no easy deal.  In fact, she knows this task is impossible.

Spotting this English aristocrat, Hugh deBracy, didn’t take skill.  His suit and accent is like a scent to a hound dog, and although he is the handsome sort with a sexy voice, Caroline Rhodes needs to forget her addiction to romance novels and concentrate on her job.  This whole Senator and British love affair with state and family land could toss her career out like yesterday’s trash. Consequently, when she mistakenly adds the title lord to his sir name, Caroline takes her first step toward the Dumpster.

Lord Woolham, a.k.a. Hugh deBracy had just insulted her father, but he had not known she is related to the man who spoke to angels.

This woman had taken his unintended insult with class that rivals ladies in Woolham, and she didn’t seem flustered by him at all.  Nevertheless, knowing of her background and all the things that he’d been told about her father, why did Senator Rupert Warren send her on this task?  And why did she accept it?

Dismissing those questions right out of hand is Caroline Rhodes, she is insisting her father will not sell.  Moreover, she is trying to get him to choose an alternate site. The problem here is that he needs that parcel of land, thanks to his partner, George Penn.  Woolham House already owns real estate beside this tract.

A matter of fact, he owes more money than he has, and the former owner of the other owned plot will not take it back.  This British businessman had better soon buy that particular parcel or loose everything.  In desperation, lord Woolham almost demands to go to Last Chance over her objections, but when she finally agrees, Hugh knows that he is in real trouble.  Despite those beautiful eyes and that long graceful neck, Hugh knows she’s up to something.

My Take:

I recommend Hope Ramsay’s LAST CHANCE BEAUTY QUEEN!

Her quirky characters continue to endure, and the new ones you’ll meet work their way right into your heart.  In this book, Last Chance comes alive with Rocky’s friends and neighbors but visiting with the Rhodes family still makes you want to stay.  In addition, you will get a glimpse into Hugh’s background, his relatives, and into their way of life. 

Hope Ramsay’s writes a Southerner meets stranger romance that is chock full of laughs, and she even gives an unexpected twist with a hint of mystery with land and chicken.

LAST CHANCE BEAUTY QUEEN is title that stands alone.  However, I haven’t a doubt that you”ll want to read the other books in the Last Chance series, WELCOME TO LAST CHANCE (Forever March 2011) and HOME AT LAST CHANCE  (Forever September 2011), and then you’ll be waiting for another! 

WINNER OF KILL SWITCH GIVEAWAY

On 2/10/12, I blogged a book review about KILL SWITCH by Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene. This post featured a book giveaway courtesy of Kensington Books.

Picking the winner of this giveaway was a complicated process and not at all scientific.

1. I printed out the eligible comments (on plain white paper).

2. My dear husband folded the printed sheets (plain side out) and put them inside a plastic heart. 

3. I added homemade confetti (saved scrapes from a hole punch) as he watched.

4. Shaking the heart first up and down then side to side, my husband made three quick turns. Gripping it tight, he shook the heart more vigorously, while our witnesses and myself looked on. Afterward, he opened the heart.  

5. In front two close friends, I closed my eyes and withdrew the winner, and without peeking, I handed over the picked paper to my friend.

6. She announced the name of this contest winner . . .

And the winner is: Jemrah1.

Jemrah1, you will receive an email providing instructions on how to collect your book. 

****I feel obligated to impart that my dear hubby did receive payment for his services (breakfast at his favorite place), but I was under no obligation to choose any certain name.  My choice was entirely random.****

Remember, come visit Books . . . Looks and Takes blog often.  I’ll be having more specials, giveaways, and discounts real soon.

THE PERFECT DEATH

by: James Andrus              

Publisher: Pinnacle (Kensington)  

Published: February 7, 2012        

Format: Paperback (384 pages)      

ISBN: 9780786027699            

Series: Detective John Stallings            

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Buddy meets the women at work or while pretending to be at work, and he obsesses over their last breath.

Jacksonville Detective John Stallings has been on this side the report, and into each case, he brings the father of a missing teen, Jeanie, with his badge.  Though his badge helps him to identify the family dynamic that plays out before him, the father of a missing person helps him to identify with the family and their pain.

The Leah Tishler case hit too close to home for the detective, and he’s glad his partner, Patty Levine is with him.

Meanwhile, another set of Jacksonville detectives are trying to figure out whom killed Kathy Mizell, with a belt and left it around her neck.  Was this just an incompetent murderer who not only left the murder weapon but also dumped Kathy’s body at a construction site, but not in a Dumpster only near the Dumpster?  It was easy to figure the guy was too short to stick her inside, but was he too stupid to see the stacked cinderblocks that would have helped him get her inside?

Through a source, detective Tony Mazzetti has a list of five names to check into, but this was nothing short of chasing down every lead, not expecting anything to come from it.  But without much in the way of leads, these were as good as any.  Nevertheless, at the construction site, Mazzetti runs into five men who really don’t like him.

Buddy, on the other hand, is ready for another kill; this one is his angel.  Well, at least until she starts coming on to him and brings out weed.  Does he really want to preserve this for all eternity? Just as he ponders this, someone else approaches.

But when this visitor pulls a gun, Buddy’s got bigger problems.

His father was at the kitchen, just the day before Detective John Stallings arrived.  Moreover, he got chatty with one of the women, telling her stories of his family life, his Navy career, but he kept calling the woman, Jeanie.  Finally, his father turns up, but he speaks of visiting with Jeanie who has changed her name to Kelly.

In the meantime, Detective Mazzetti is interrogating a man with unexplained ladies wear.  Dresses.  He’s hoping that just maybe he’s got the one, but the detective’s hope fades when another body is discovered, putting him back to no suspects.

My Take:

James Andrus makes his career in law enforcement and shows the real side of his chosen profession.  His characters could be in any police department on any day.

In THE PERFECT DEATH, you will find fleshed out police officers that solve these crimes the real way, through hard work and good leads.  His good guys are not always good and are as humanly flawed as the criminals, just in different ways, and in some cases, the criminals may be the good guys.

James Andrus doesn’t just give you the action and adventure of a thriller; he gives us investigation and techniques along with a thrilling read with engaging characters that anyone can relate to.

KILL SWITCH Giveaway + KILL SWITCH GAME link + KILL SWITCH link to apps + book review = A GREAT READ!

by: Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene Publisher: Kensington                 Published: December 31, 2011         Format: Hardcover (288 pages)     ISBN: 9780758266866                   Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

Click here to go to the KILL SWITCH GAME!

My Look:

Doctor Claire Waters is part of a fellowship doing forensic psychiatry work on Rikers Island’s sickest inmates, but she’s already been told that she might not stay with the program. Moreover, they would be right to get rid of her.

She’d messed up with a client, letting her personal failure follow her inside the treatment room.

On that day, with the approaching storm, all Claire could see was herself watching her friend get abducted, and although everyone had told Claire she wasn’t at fault, Claire knew she was to blame. While with a patient, she hit a wall during treatment one day because Dr. Claire Water’s has her own issues needing treatment, but that remedy she never sought.

Much later, Todd Quimby, her assigned patient and a former resident of the penal colony, telephones Claire. He’s in need of emergency care, but after meeting with him at the hospital, Claire decides she can catch a killer and prove her “out-of-the-box” capabilities to the fellowship.

But in just minutes, Claire comes undone.

Todd Quimby attacks Claire, and her boyfriend contacts the head of the fellowship program. The fellowship head then contacts the police.

Meanwhile, at the police station, Claire meets Detective Nick Lawler, and within minutes, he’s dismissing her as a shrink and as a victim. Nick is back on the job, after being exiled in Central Booking, and the last thing he needs is a shrink.

After his wife’s death, everyone believed he killed her; he didn’t.

However, he feels as guilty as if he did, but his nightmare of that blinding flash of light is still as fresh as the day it happened. But that’s not this detective’s only problem; he is hiding a secret that will end his career, for good.

Upon reading two crime reports, one he had investigated—before his departure from the detectives—and one he is just now investigating, Nick is certain the man who assaulted the shrink is the man he’s hunting.

However, his public dressing down of Dr. Waters cost him strange looks at his new-old job, but it could cost him even more.

It could cost another life.

Catching Claire Waters before her cab takes off, the detective gets Todd Quimby ‘s information, but when his partner and Lawlor arrive at the address, the perp’s mother is stalls them. Now, her son goes on the run, out the window and into the subway.

The chase ends with one officer down and their man getting away, but soon, another woman will die.

Click the cover above to download the app for Android and iTunes from Kensington Books.

My Take:

I give my highest recommendation to KILL SWITCH by Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene!

As the former executive producer and co-executive producer of LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIM’S UNIT, these authors already know exactly how to ramp up the suspense, while twisting the plot and bringing the reader down many false trails. However, with KILL SWITCH, they honed their skills even higher.

KILL SWITCH will have you keep reading late into the night. However, how it all ends will shock you.

Just as these authors’ names are synonymous with great television, I know you will watch Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene have a long and renowned novel-writing career.

NOW, HERE’S THE GIVEAWAY NEWS!

For readers of this blog, throughout the United States and Canada, you can enter a random drawing for a free physical book of  KILL SWITCH just by leaving a comment!  

The comment form will require an email address.  However, your email address will not be published.

I will announce the winner on a future blog post.

So, you stay tuned and check back often!  I just may have more giveaways coming to you in the future.

WINNER of the SUGAR RUSH Book Giveaway

On 1/29/12, I blogged a book review of SWEET STUFF by Donna Kauffman, and I hosted a SUGAR RUSH book giveaway too . 

Picking the winner was a complicated process and not at all scientific.

1. I printed out all eligible comments.

2. After folding the printed sheets, I put each paper inside one plastic heart, and then I filled said heart with a few (five) chocolate gold coins.   To be fair, all plastic hearts were the same color, red.

3. I placed these hearts into a reusable store sack.

4. Shaking the bag up then down and side to side before swooshing it around, I made six spins around the room.

5. My trusty assistant, who is seven years old and who has helped me on a previous giveaway, put his hand into the bag and pulled out a heart.

6. This assistant opened the heart and took out all the gold coins.  Then he handed the folded paper over to me.

7. I immediately handed it off to the adult witness for the grand announcement . . .

    

And the winner is: Na S.

Na S., you will receive an email providing instructions on how to collect your book. 

****I feel obligated to impart that my assistant did receive payment for his services (stuffed crust pizza for lunch), but he was under no obligation to pick any one heart.****

Remember, come visit Books . . . Looks and Takes blog often.  I’ll be having more specials, giveaways, and discounts real soon.

SCRAPBOOK OF SECRETS

by: Mollie Cox Bryan              

Publisher: Kensington  

Published: February 7, 2012        

Format: Paperback (304 pages)      

ISBN: 9780758266316            

Series: A Cumberland Creek Mystery               

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Beatrice Matthews should have one very real pain in her neck, but she does not feel a thing. In fact, if it weren’t for her daughter, Vera, she would  have never known about the knife cutting into her flesh.

Meanwhile, the demise of another Cumberland Creek resident, Maggie Rae Dasher, is all over the news; Beatrice even heard about it at the market.  Speaking of the market, maybe that’s where Beatrice was stabbed? Anyway, according to Betty Hawthorn, they’d found Maggie Rae dead in the night.

Annie is a relative newcomer to Cumberland Creek.  A former investigative journalist turned stay at home mom for two rambunctious boys, she has finally been planted in the town long enough to garner invitations from the longtime locals.  Moreover, today, she’s looking forward to a crop party. The town’s favorite pastime is scrapbooking, something she’d love to do, but Annie never has the time.  She hasn’t even kept up with the kids’ baby books. Determined to get in the know with the croppers, she’s been readying her pictures for weeks for this event, but  Sheila, who is the town’s scrapbook supplier, cancels the crop.  And if that weren’t depressing enough, the news about Maggie Rae’s suicide hits too close to home.

Maggie Rae Dasher was a stay at home mom too.  However, she seemed always to be alone with the young ones, and knowing how hard that could be, Annie hoped to get to know her better.  Not now, sadly.

Nevertheless, too many things failed to add up for Annie and the rest of the croppers.

A suicidal young mom leaving young children behind, and her husband has time to throw away Maggie Rae’s scrapbooks in the trash, just hours after she dies. Then add in the fact that this dead woman, who would’ve been a seriously depressed person, was trying to make plans for her daughter’s future ballet lessons. Nope, something was just not right.

Not to mention, who in Cumberland Creek stabbed Beatrice in the neck? And why?

My Take:

SCRAPBOOK OF SECRETS by Mollie Cox Bryan is a slow, cozy mystery with quirky characters that will grow on you, and her characters are just funny too.

For instance, Beatrice Matthews is not the usually stereotypical senior-aged woman, that’s for sure, and her stabbing will catch your attention.  Between her neck problem and the suicide that probably wasn’t, this read will keep you turning pages.

Molly Cox Bryan’s début mystery novel will leave you wanting a sequel and then some. I recommend SCRAPBOOK OF SECRETS!  In addition, you’ll read a special preview of the forthcoming “SCRAPBOOK OF SHADOWS”!

ACCUSED

by: Janice Cantore

Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers

Published: January 20, 2012

Format: Paperback (416 pages)

ISBN: 9781414358475

SERIES: Pacific Coast Justice Series

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

An officer-involved-shooting puts Officer Carly Edwards of the Las Playas, California police department on a desk assignment, but she is still there long after the investigation is complete.

The press sensationalism and a comment taken out of context have long reaching and forever lasting effects on her career. From the death of her father to a career in a perpetual standstill and a divorce final from a cheating husband, Carly rejects faith.

However, her career situation changes due to a telephone call, when the mayor is found dead in the trunk of a car, and in an instant, Carly sees her chance to get back into action at the job she loves.  The juvenile suspect requests to speak to Carly because he knows her mother, personally. However, when Carly hears his name, she has nothing on her mind but getting his confession.

Hadn’t she told her mother that faith wouldn’t change that kid—or any other—for even a minute? This murder proves how right she was about faith and about him.

Carly wants to tell the juvenile that he’s playing the faith card with the wrong cop, but she is listening to get him to talk.  As the police tactic goes, get him to feel you will understand, and you might walk out with a confession.

Nevertheless, a confession doesn’t come.

However, something else happens that Carly doesn’t expect.  She believes him. Positive he or his “accomplice” did not kill the mayor, Carly’s left with many niggling questions.

Now, she needs the one person that she can trust, in police matters. But going to Nick will cause many other problems in her personal life; her former husband actually expects that one day Carly will believe that’s he’s a changed man.  He’s not.  She knows it.  However, she does need help.

Suspecting a cover-up with this kid as fall guy leads Carly to set out on her own, and soon she’s the one running from the law.

My Take:

Janice Cantori writes from a fascinating perspective.  As a former law enforcement professional, she uses her knowledge and skills to add police procedure then blend it with fiction and faith to provide a compelling read in ACCUSED.

She portrays real-to-life characters carrying heavy burdens with nothing to guide their way, but just like people, her characters change, grow, and find faith in the most tension filled circumstances.

The next title in the Pacific Justice Series Book 2, ABDUCTED, will release August 2012.

From the Tyndale Blog Network, I received this book free in exchange for my honest review.

HELPLESS

by: Daniel Palmer              

Publisher: Kensington  

Published: January 31, 2012        

Format: Hardcover (416 pages)      

ISBN: 9780758246653 

Origin: Publisher

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Sexting, child porn, and murder intrudes into Tom Hawkins life, and that’s not all.

A former Navy SEAL, Tom Hawkins is high school coach whose ex-wife is murdered, and the police have him pegged as prime suspect. Before her death, Tom had a blustery relationship with Kelly, and Kelly is the main reason his relationship with his daughter, Jill, is a distant one.

But when the FBI comes calling, Tom’s career, his daughter, and his life are all hitting the losing it fast category, and he’s helpless to stop it. Soon, a story paints him in the lover role with a teenage student, and everyone believes it. In addition, once the FBI finds child porn on his computer, they put him as their kingpin in a child porn investigation.

Could this all be the work of a local cop who isn’t his best fan? Is everything somehow tied to his ex-wife’s murder? Tom does not know what side anyone is playing on, but he does know that somebody’s framing him. But who. And why?

He cannot trust local law enforcement, but he needs help. FBI help.

FBI Agent Rainy’s budding attraction to Tom isn’t the only reason she believes him, but she crossed a line with their kiss.

Involvement with a target is a career killer in her FBI, but she was sure that one day, he’d no longer be their target. In fact, she was sure that he should not have ever been.

She has one problem. Rainy has no proof to clear him.

My Take:

HELPLESS is a timely tale of today’s cyberspace, where pictures and stories can go viral and where online meets infinity.

Daniel Palmer traps you in his credible character’s lives and into their stories. Bringing you into a complicated plot, he leaves the reader guessing at not only the whom but at the how as things keep happening to Tom Hawkins, and you’ll be hoping he can get out of this mess.

You’ll want to read Daniel Palmer’s DELIRIOUS (Kensington February 2011) until his next book releases!

BEFORE SHE DIES Review and Author Video

by: Mary Burton              

Publisher: Zebra (Kensington)

Published: January 31, 2012        

Format: Paperback (416 pages)       

ISBN: 9781420110217

Origin: Publisher 

***Though the publisher provides the free book, I offer the opinion.***

My Look:

Defense attorney Charlotte (Grace) Wellington is not who everyone thinks she is, but her secrets are safe until the past comes bounding up to her present day door.

Eighteen years ago, when she was a teen, Grace’s mother died, and her sister was murdered by a ritualistic nightmare. Grace fled leaving her mother’s infant and her baby sister, Sooner, to be adopted.

Now, Charlotte has managed to turn her life into a picture of what it never was.

She is a highbrow attorney who travels in all the right circles with all the right connections. Nevertheless, when her stepdad shows up at her expensive office, all bets are off on keeping her life the pristine image it has become. Emotions overwhelm her as memories flood from all directions, and the news he brings leaves her hollow.

The problem was Charlotte has always had a hole inside anyway, but she thought she did the right think by her baby sister, Sooner. She pacified herself believing Sooner had a real family and was growing up far away from the carnival. But that didn’t happen.

Her stepfather raised Sooner, and now’s she’s been arrested. He’s threatening to expose Charlotte’s past, but Charlotte’s problems are only just beginning.

Meanwhile, Detective Daniel Rokov discovers the ice goddess isn’t the queen of cold; in fact, she’s hot, sexy, and sultry. Moreover, their no strings attached, clandestine relationship suited him fine, for a while, but now he wants more. Though they are burning up the sheets, she has her heart locked in an ice chest, and she will not change the no attachment part of their relationship. Daniel Rokov wants to know her secrets, and he wants to understand why she lives without emotional entanglements.

Fresh from a hotel tryst, he’s arriving on scene.

A young girl has been murdered. Not news, really. Everyday something like this happens, and maybe some think he’s cold at heart due to indifference. He isn’t. Emotions will hinder his job.

However, even a seasoned detective isn’t ready for this crime scene.

The young woman had been killed elsewhere, but her body had been brought to an abandoned building and staged in the most ritualistic way. The salt outline only confirms what he already knows to be true. Investigating this death leads him straight to the carnies in town, as death and this group seem to come as a package deal.

However, he’s not at all expecting what he unearths.

My Take:

BEFORE SHE DIES by Mary Burton is a read I recommend!

Mary Barton lets us meet her killer on the first page, and you’ll learn this will be his first kill of many more to come. In this read, you are in for a suspense filled ride through a romantic suspense tale where secrets are deadly but distrust can save a life.

Her main characters are flawed but redeemable, and you’ll be rooting for them to live long enough to come together.

While this is a stand-alone title, you will want to read Mary Burton’s other suspenseful reads such as MERCILESS (Zebra January 2011), SENSELESS (Zebra December 2010), and DYING SCREAM (Zebra December 2009).