Books Read December 2013

Allen, Sarah Addison

• Waking Kate 

Fiction.  A prequel to her next book, Lost Lake.  A woman begins to wonder at what point did she give her life up for her husband, and if she’ll regret it years from now.  An elderly man tells her a story that might help her answer that question.

Ball, Donna

• Christmas on Ladybug Farm 

Fiction.  The extended family at Ladybug Farm prepares for Christmas, a holiday they’ve always reveled in, however this year they’re facing Christmas in the high 80’s, hardly winter weather in Virginia.  As they consider canceling Christmas for this year, they reflect back on Christmases past and find a new reason to celebrate.

Befeler, Mike

• Retirement Homes Are Murder

Fiction.  Paul Jacobson wakes up to find himself in an unfamiliar setting.  Unfortunately, it happens to him everyday.  With chronic short-term memory loss, each day brings new experiences and new friends.  But on this second day of living at the Kani Nani Retirement Home, he comes across something even more surprising, a dead body stuffed in the trash chute.

Blackwell, Juliet et al.

• Love on Main Street: A Snow Creek Christmas 

Fiction.  Seven short romance stories each written by a different author and that all take place in the small town of Snow Creek.

Blake, Heather

• A Witch Before Dying 

Fiction.  Second in the paranormal cozy mystery series set in a small village in Salem, Massachusetts, where many of the villagers are Crafters of varying sorts, and murders abide. 

Cates, Bailey

• Charms and Chocolate Chips 

Fiction.  Katie Lightfoot is busy baking treats to sell in her bakery and weaving her spells into each pastry.  In the very little spare time she has, she’s been volunteering at Georgia Wild, a non-profit organization trying to protect the environment.  When she shows up at the office one evening, to her horror, she finds that the head of Georgia Wild has been murdered.

Copperman, E.J.

• Chance of a Ghost 

Fiction.  Fourth in the Haunted Guesthouse series.  Alison Kerby juggles the running of a guesthouse with her fledgling business as a private investigator, as well as being a mom to a precocious young girl and housemate to two ghosts who assist her in solving cases.

Dekker, Ted

• Eyes Wide Open 

Fiction.  All four episodes in a psychological journey through madness, as two young people find themselves questioning their very sanity.

• Identity 

Fiction.  First episode in a 4-episode story of a young woman and young man caught in madness.

DeLeon, Jana

• Trouble in Mudbug 

Fiction.  First in a paranormal cozy mystery series taking place in Mudbug, Louisiana, a small bayou town.  Maryse spends her days out in the swamp studying plants and her evenings at her small cabin with her cat.  Her dull life is about to take a turn on the wild side, when her newly-dead mother-in-law bursts out of her casket at the funeral.

Evanovich, Janet

• Pros and Cons 

Fiction.  Novella introducing FBI agent, Kate O’Hare in a new series. 

• Takedown Twenty

Fiction.  Stephanie, Lula and the gang are up to it again, as they try to apprehend various criminals in The Burg.  Stephanie’s car insurance must be raising their rates in each book, as she just can’t seem to hang onto them very well.  Lula is besotted with a random giraffe that only she and Stephanie can see running around downtown Trenton, and Grandma Mazur finds herself in deep trouble in this episode.

Galenorn, Yasmine

- Autumn Whispers 

Fiction.  14th in the Otherworld series, told from Delilah’s point of view.  Everything from a missing person to a war in the Otherworld to a daemon bent on taking over corporate America, the girls and their extended family are kept busy trying to keep their heads above water.  In the midst of all the tragedy and darkness, the birth of three new babes bring hope into the world.

• Ice Shards

Fiction.  Novella starring Iris Kuusi, the Talon-Haltija and Priestess of Undutar.  She must return to the Northlands temple to find the truth of what happen 600-years ago and hopefully have the High Priestess remove a curse preventing Iris from ever bearing children.

• The Shadow of Mist 

Fiction.  Selkie Siobhan Morgan is loving her life with a wonderful man at her side, and a new baby in her tummy.  Suddenly, a voice from the past shatters her peace, and she must fight to sever the ties that keep her bound to a man who won’t take “no” for an answer.

Grafton, Sue

• W is for Wasted

Fiction.  Kinsey finds new relatives after one of them, a homeless man, dies on the beach.  With them help of an old acquaintance, she is able to unravel the threads of his story and reveal the circumstances of his death.

Graham, Heather

• Ghost Night

Fiction.  Second in this paranormal mystery series set in Key West.  Sean O’Hara is captivated by a new woman in his life who witnessed the aftermath of a brutal murder two years before he met her.  Psychological or real ghosts have led her to him in her search for closure, help she needs before another murder can take place.  

Herr, Michael

• The Kauai Obake Bar 

Fiction.  Parody of Hawaiian ghost stories involving ghosts, Madame Pele, the Night Marchers, a menehune, a ho’omano and others.

Johnson, Craig

• The Cold Dish 

Fiction.  First in the Walt Longmire series set in Wyoming that was made into a TV series.  Sheriff Longmire receives a call that a young man has been killed.  There are quite a number of possible suspects that Longmire must consider, including his own best friend, bar owner Henry Standing Bear.  And too, he must consider whether or not this crime is related to a viscous sexual assault that took place several years ago.

Rowling, J.K.

• The Casual Vacancy

Fiction.  Boring story of a community’s reactions to their “mayor” dying suddenly.

Smith, Deborah

• Mossy Creek 

Fiction.  The small town of Mossy Creek, Georgia is the home to some of the strangest group of residents.  Eccentric is a mild term for them, from a shotgun toting female mayor to a flying chihuahua, getting to know them is heart-warming fun.

Toronto, Suzy

• The Sacred Sisterhood of Wonderful Wacky Women Book Two 

Non-fiction.  Suzy introduces us to more of the wonderfully wacky women in her life, as she tells their inspiring stories and slips in a few recipes.