Vol. 11 #1
Just a reminder, the books reviewed here are recommended. I can't see wasting time reading a book I don't like when there are so many fabulous reads out there. Every book here kept me reading instead of dropping it and going on to the next book.
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YA/Fantasy
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This thrilling sequel to Shamer’s Daughter is told in alternating voices by Dina, now age eleven, and her brother Davin who are now living in the Highlands with their mother, a shamer, because the evil Drakon destroyed their former home. Drakon’s cousin, Valdracu, assumes the identity of a clan ally and attempts to kidnap the Shamer and Dina but they escape even though the Shamer is wounded. When Davin goes after the man Valdracu pretended to be, he is nearly beaten to death before Dina arrives. While Dina is searching for healing herbs to treat him she and the grandson of the head of Clan Laclan are kidnapped and taken to Valdracu’s newly built city, Dracana, where she is forced to use her shamer’s gift for evil to keep Valdracu from slaying his hostage. Political intrigue, paranormal powers, and swashbuckling fights keep the action moving in this fast paced novel. Kaaberbol delights readers with another edge of the seat adventure fantasy.
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World of Faerie/ Detection
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P.I. Ian Kennedy is an ex-patriot American living in London and specializing in missing persons cases. Laura Lensky, soon to be transferred back to America, comes to him in a last ditch effort to find her 21 year old daughter who had disappeared two years earlier. Gracefully interwoven into the narrative are the stories of the people who disappeared from his life as well as historical accounts of people who seemingly disappeared into the world of faerie. Could the myth of Persephone or the faerie tale of Mider and Etain have relevance to Peri Lensky’s disappearance? Outstanding fantasy. Definitely one of the best of the year so hopefully it will be awarded a Hugo, Nebula, or World Fantasy Award. A perfect blend of contemporary mystery and the world of faerie.
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YA/ Issues/ Life is Hard
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Nick’s had to face some problems growing up because of the ways others react to him because he has two moms. Told in a series of flashbacks we see him grow from toddler-hood to his teens with his mom who becomes a lawyer and his other mom, Jo, who takes him fishing and works on cars with him. His teens get very tricky when Mom and Joe start having problems and everything gets worse when they break up and he has to sneak around to see Jo. This touching tale will resonate with teens who feel that their families are different and with those who have had to go through a divorce or separation of their parents.
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YA/Fantasy/ Alternate Worlds
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Miri, has searched and searched for her Talent so she can be masked and bonded with the rest of her age-mates but has been unsuccessful. She knows her parents, two of the most important officials in the tranquil, harmonious, and very quiet walled city of Noveskina, will be devastated if she has no talent and ends up being masked as a lowly house-servant. She is appalled when she is given a one year reprieve that even though it may give her time to find her Talent it will also put a rift between her and her beloved age-mates. So, she sneaks into the Masking ceremony where she discovers that the Masker steals energy and talent from the group being masked, his hair going from gray to black and his wrinkles disappearing. Captured by the Masker she does escape and finds her age-mates much changed. When she goes outside the walls, after a terrifying journey she meets people who use banned musical instruments and she finds life is very different than she had been taught. A stunning high energy conclusion makes readers yearn for the next book.
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YA/Contemporary
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This delightful tale starts when Ginny receives a posthumous package from the aunt she loved who just took off one day and was never seen again. In the package are thirteen blue envelopes decorated with Aunt Peg’s artwork. The first one gives her direction and the wherewithal to go to London before opening the second envelope. As Ginny progresses through Europe following the directions in the envelopes she comes to know herself at the same time she is gaining an understanding of her aunt. Along the way she meets a variety of people who enrich her life.
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Crime/ Suspense
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Melanie Vargas of the federal prosecutor’s office takes her fussy six-month old baby out for a night-time stroll and runs across a the smoldering ruin of the home of a former prosecutor who has made a fortune in private practice. She jumps in to take the case which being high-profile could make her career which she really needs after kicking her philandering husband out of the house. It is easy to tell that Romulado Ramirez a narcotics cop who also showed up at the scene and who also happens to be her boss’s boyfriend is involved. As Melanie tries to figure out who killed Jed Benson the reader tries to figure out why and what will happen next fearing that Melanie may become the next victim.
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Romance/ Contemporary
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Julia Wright has found her niche in life. She has a fulfilling (and realistically depicted) career as a librarian and her own cozy home in the stable and picturesque small town Serenity Falls. The town is so very perfect that everyone has painted their doors the same color and the mayor goes around measuring the height of lawns as part of his quest to have the town chosen as one of the top 10 small towns in the nation. Everything begins to go haywire in Julia’s life when her hippie/new age mother, sister, niece who bites, and a couple of llamas named Lucy and Desi show up but they aren’t the only unwelcome arrivals. While dressed as Little Bo Peep for the town’s Halloween celebration she is literally swept off her feet by sexy bad-boy biker Luke Maguire who plucks her out of the library director's koi pond. Luke, known as a hell-raiser and bad seed around town has inherited Maguire's Pub and returned to the place where he so unhappily had grown up and where he had vowed never to return. A sexy librarian and a truly good guy with tons of bad boy allure make for an irresistible read. Linz, who has won the Storyteller of the Year Award from Romantic Times and has penned more than thirty popular romances, can always be depended upon to provide a satisfying, feel-good read. Her wit, lively dialog, and endearing characters are always winners.
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