Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

     Manon Bradshaw is a thirty-nine-year-old, single detective with the Cambridgeshire police force in England.  She is very good at her job but not so great at the whole personal life/relationship thing.  She has distanced herself from her father due to his controlling new wife and lost touch with her only sister after a fight over said step-mother. 

     After several disastrous internet dating attempts, she is tempted to give up all together on the idea and soothes herself to sleep by listening to her police radio.  This is when she hears the call for a missing person’s report and possible crime scene. 

     Missing is Edith Hind, an attractive twenty-something Cambridge student and daughter of a rather prominent family with ties to the Royal Family.  Edith’s live-in boyfriend comes home from a weekend away to find their door wide open and blood on the floor. 

     Investigation begins immediately and as it does many secrets are revealed not only about Edith but about those around her as well.  Edith may have had a double life and some of her associates have alibis that cannot be completely substantiated.  Manon must figure out those missing pieces and as fast as possible in the hopes that Edith is still alive somewhere.

     Manon Bradshaw is a lonely, sad but very real character that I enjoyed greatly.  She is smart, witty and very good at her job.  She is afraid to feel for others but cannot seem to help it at the same time…I think we have all felt this way at one point in our lives.  I dare you not to fall for and root for this woman!

     This story is very cleverly written and the characters are all unique yet relatable.  The chapters’ perspectives jump around giving you different points of views of the story from Manon, Edith’s mother Miriam, Manon’s partner Davy and a few more so that you get to see the story unfold from nearly every perspective.  This keeps things even interesting and fresh but doesn’t bog the story down like you would expect.

     I think that this book would be a great first book in a series although there doesn’t seem to be any mention of Manon’s story going any further.  If you enjoy a good British mystery or any type of mystery with a great female detective you need to read Missing, Presumed.

4.5/5 stars

 

Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/Missing-Presumed-Novel

 

 

Author’s sites: www.susiesteiner.co.uk/

                          https://twitter.com/SusieSteiner1

Cover reveal from Meghan Quinn!!!

We're so excited to share the cover for STROKED LONG by Meghan Quinn! Are you ready for Bodi?

STROKED LONG by Meghan Quinn

Scheduled to release: September 20, 2016

NA Romantic Comedy

Cover Designed by: Indie Solutions by Murphy Rae

 Goodreads

BLURB:

From his dirty-blond hair and breathtaking smile, to the abs from heaven and the irresistible V in his waistline, everything about Bodi Olympic-gold-medalist Banks screams hot piece of @$$.

Yet there’s more.

Dark shadows lurk behind his soulful, serious eyes.

I’m enamored. He’s captured me.

How can running an art foundation with Bodi Banks turns into a slow-burning, epic romance, even though he tries to push me away at every chance? How can I stay away from a broken, routine-driven man whose soul cries to be forgiven for a crime only he believes he committed? Or is that a lie?

There is still time to sign up for STROKED LONG!

NA Romantic Comedy

Teaser Blast: August 23, 30, Sept 6, 13

Pre-Order Blast: Sept 16-19

Release Day Blast: Sept 20

Review Tour: Sept 19-30

Promotional Event: Oct 1-8

SIGN UP

NOW AVAILABLE!

STROKED by Meghan Quinn

Released: July 19, 2016
Cover Designer: Murphy Rae

NA Romantic Comedy

Goodreads

Amazon: http://amzn.to/29TFEHS

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2a34Tow

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2a0cGU6

Nook: http://bit.ly/29W377i

iBooks: http://apple.co/2accSSI

BLURB:
Reese King: Olympic medalist, underwear model, Greek god.

His body is chiseled from rock, sculpted by the weight room, and refined by water.

On a daily basis his skin is completely bare for everyone to see, tan and defined, only covered up by a minuscule piece of spandex. There is no denying his sex appeal.

I hate to admit it, but I’m head over heels infatuated with him.

There is one HUGE problem though. His achingly gorgeous abs, inked up arm, and cocky swagger belong to my boss, the high-profile, reality star bitch from hell and certified heinous human being, Bellini Chambers.

What I think is going to be an easy job assisting a glorified wench turns into a cluster f*ck of epic proportions.

About the Author:

Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Meghan has grown into a sassy, peanut butter eating, blonde haired swearing, animal hoarding lady. She is known to bust out and dance if "It's Raining Men" starts beating through the air and heaven forbid you get a margarita in her, protect your legs because they may be humped.

Once she started commuting for an hour and twenty minutes every day to work for three years, she began to have conversations play in her head, real life, deep male voices and dainty lady coos kind of conversations. Perturbed and confused, she decided to either see a therapist about the hot and steamy voices running through her head or start writing them down. She decided to go with the cheaper option and started writing... enter her first novel, Caught Looking.

Now you can find the spicy, most definitely on the border of lunacy, kind of crazy lady residing in Colorado with the love of her life and her five, furry four legged children, hiking a trail or hiding behind shelves at grocery stores, wondering what kind of lube the nervous stranger will bring home to his wife. Oh and she loves a good boob squeeze!

Like me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanquinnauthor

Find me on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7360513.Meghan_Quinn

Visit my website: http://authormeghanquinn.com/
+Meghan Quinn   +Autumn Hull 

Review: New series by Janet Evanovich!

     Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton is the first in the Knight & Moon series.  Here we get to meet Riley Moon, sassy redhead from Texas out to make the world a better place.  She has advanced degrees from Harvard Law and is new to the banking world and Blane-Grunwald in Washington DC.  Riley has been tasked by her boss to go to the home of the eccentric Emerson Knight and find out why he hasn’t been answering any of the mega-bank’s calls.  Oh if only the assignment were that simple!

     Emerson Knight is definitely eccentric and introverted…and unbelievably intelligent…and brutally honest.  He has inherited his father’s estate, massive amounts of money, and odd menagerie of exotic animals.  Emerson lives with his aunt and cousin on the estate and has no real desire to deal with the outside world until Riley shows up on his doorstep and they end up in a wild, crazy, cross country excursion full of sociopaths, missing gold, missing bankers, murder, aliens and more! When they expose an evil plot to take over the world’s gold supply they do everything they can to stop it.

     I am a big fan of Evanovich’s Plum series as they are fun little mysteries filled with a lot of laughter and this new Knight & Moon series promises to be just as fun.  This is a great little caper with very funny and eccentric characters! Riley is spunky, smart and the only “normal” person in the group and Emerson is a lovable nerd you can’t help but enjoy.  Aunt Myra and cousin Vernon only add to the fun and I hope they are around for the other books in the series as well.

     If you enjoy other Evanovich books and are looking for a great read with some great one-liners you will enjoy Curious Minds.  The characters are fun and even though you know who the Bad Guys are you still want to keep reading to find out just how Em & Riley are going to foil their nefarious plans and still make it out alive.

4/5 stars

 

 

 

 

Author’s website: http://www.evanovich.com/

The 2016 Reading Challenge OOPSY!?!?

     It has recently come to my attention that I totally forgot about my Reading Challenge for this year…oopsy!  If you look back you will see that my plan was to get away from the challenge of an amount of books to try to read and try to slow down and try different genres.  I went looking for a new type of challenge to help me enjoy reading more and to stop my hurrying through to hit a number.  Enter the lovely Modern Mrs. Darcy 2016 challenge! +Anne Bogel 

 

     I love MMD and I want to be her when I grow up even though she is younger than me-it’s a goal of mine, so shush!  We are very similar in personality it seems but with a slightly different taste in books.  She has a wide varying taste in books and so I always find something new from her.  Not only does she have a blog, she also has a weekly podcast, and she started a summer book club this year!  I sadly couldn’t join due to not having enough time-I was VERY upset. L

  Anyway enough gushing and fangirling, back to my reading challenge or lack thereof.  I got the first three ticked off the challenge list (published this year, finish in a day, and been meaning to read-LOTS of those) but after that I got stuck.  I would like to say it is because once I got to the Recommended by your librarian or bookseller one I was at a loss…we have no library and I am introverted enough that I NEVER talk to the employees at Barnes & Noble, which is nearly an hour away so I don’t go often. This is just a lame, but true, excuse. 

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   When I got MMD’s post emailed to me on August 4^th about how this month’s challenge was to read a banned book the lightbulb went off! Yep, totally forgot about my vow to try new stuff and do this challenge…ugh.  August’s challenge is to read a book that was banned at some point and she has a list of suggestions on her website.  I have read several on the list all ready but I want to pick one I haven’t read before because that would defeat my purpose.   I haven’t decided which one I am going to read but I’m leaning towards Of Mice and Men as I never read it in school and my daughter did last year and loved it.

 

     I have less than three weeks to decide and read it so surely I can do that, right? I am hoping that things will slow down a bit as we have been really busy…doing what I don’t know but busy all the same…and I can get back on track with my 2016 challenge.  In a perfect world I will even have time to go back and do the ones I missed! Not holding my breath…

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Valley of the Moon by Melanie Gideon

Summary from Amazon:

San Francisco, 1975. A single mother, Lux Lysander is overwhelmed, underpaid, and living on the edge of an emotional precipice. When her adored five-year-old son goes away to visit his grandparents, Lux takes a solo trip to Sonoma Valley—a chance to both lose herself and find herself again.

Awakened at midnight, Lux steps outside to see a fog settled over the Sonoma landscape. Wandering toward a point of light in the distance, she emerges into a meadow on a sunny day. There she meets a group of people whose sweetly simple clothing, speech, and manners almost make them seem as if they are from another time.

And then she realizes they are.

Lux has stumbled upon an idyllic community cut off not only from the rest of the world but from time itself. The residents of Greengage tell a stunned and disoriented Lux that they’ve somehow been marooned in the early twentieth century. Now that she has inexplicably stepped into the past, it is not long before Lux is drawn in by its peace and beauty.

Unlike the people of Greengage, Lux discovers that she is able to come and go. And over the years, Lux finds herself increasingly torn between her two lives. Her beloved son is very much a child of the modern world, but she feels continually pulled back to the only place she has ever truly felt at home.

 

My Thoughts:

     Lux is a single mom of a mixed race child in Seventies San Francisco trying to work her waitress job, make ends meet, and raise a little boy almost completely alone.  She has friends but not many and has almost no relationship with her parents. 

     When summer hits and Lux’s mom decides that she would like to spend some time with her grandson, Benno, for two weeks Lux decides to go camping and spend some time alone.  This decision and the decision of where to camp change her life forever! 

     Once a thick fog engulfs her campsite, Lux finds herself wandering through it and coming upon what she thinks is a beautiful, modern compound/farm.  After running into and speaking to some of the farm’s inhabitants (mainly, Joseph, the owner) though she discovers that she is still outside of San Francisco but that it is no longer 1975…it’s 1906!?!?

     Lux is a good character in that she has had to be tough and resourceful in raising a child alone but she feels lost most of the time.  I can relate to that having raised a child on my own for nearly eight years.  I also liked the character of Joseph in that he was very forwarding thinking for his time and he is a very quiet and thoughtful man.  There are also many side characters in this story and in both “worlds” that are very interesting and entertaining. 

     I would guess that this would be considered and almost fantasy-type novel with the time hopping aspect.  I thought this was a very interesting concept much like Outlander but unlike Outlander we don’t get a lot of history and the depth of the characters just wasn’t there.  It took my quite a bit to get into the book as I had a hard time connecting with and caring much for the characters.  It is an interesting read once you do get into it and a great concept.  I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen in the end and I was wrong so that was a nice surprise but this was overall just an “all right” read for me.

2.5/5 stars

Author's website: melaniegideon.com/

The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

Summary from Amazon:

Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a nineteen-year-old waitress as his passenger. The ensuing accident has endangered the Plumbs' joint trust fund, “The Nest,” which they are months away from finally receiving. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have watched The Nest’s value soar along with the stock market and have been counting on the money to solve a number of self-inflicted problems.

This is a story about the power of family, the possibilities of friendship, the ways we depend upon one another and the ways we let one another down.

My Thoughts:

The Nest follows a year in the life of the Plumb siblings; Leo, Jack, Bea and Melody.  They are all struggling in the own ways through life with career, family and of course, money problems.  The one thing they have all been using as a way to get through these struggles is The Nest, a trust set up by their dead father that is to be a bit of a financial boost for them once all four siblings are in their forties. 

The problems start the summer before they are due to inherit.  Leo, the eldest Plumb, gets himself in a bit of a situation and people must be paid off in order to “make this go away.” Their distant and horrible mother decides the money in The Nest will go towards this and all the other siblings must wait for Leo to pay them back.  This, as you can imagine, does not go over well.

Since the debut of this book people have been raving about it so I added it to my June Book of the Month Club box.  I can honestly say that Ms. Sweeney is a very good writer and she creates wonderful characters that you will absolutely despise.  The Plumbs are not nice people! They are greedy, self-absorbed, conniving and completely clueless in how to deal with real life.  There are few redeemable people in this book and no one to really root for but I read every last word!  Why? I honestly cannot say other than maybe I just had to know how all the Plumbs ended up dealing with this mess…a bit of comeuppance was truly in order.

I cannot say that this is a high rated book for me because I couldn’t connect to any of the characters at all but I did enjoy disliking them a great deal.  I think this was well written and a great story to show how money can truly ruin your life even when you don’t have it and also that sometimes we have to make our own family because not always can we rely upon our blood relatives. 

3/5 stars

Author's site: www.cynthia-sweeney.com

July Reads

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     July was a very busy month for me so I didn't get as much reading done as I would have liked....but that's always true! Here's hoping for a better August but I'm not holding my breath. Oy.


*The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix-Sweeney: a much talked about book from 2016-review coming soon!













*My Girl by Jack Jordan: 4/5 stars for a great thriller! See my full review here.



*The Bronze Horseman by Paulina Simons: a historical fiction trilogy recommended for lovers of Outlander.  I wasn't sure about it at first but ended up really enjoying it. 4/5 stars 









*Easy Kisses by Kristen Proby: I have really enjoyed this entire series about the Boudreaux family and this one was no exception.  5/5 stars









*Stroked by Meghan Quinn: Great book-see my full review here.

Him or Me by Veronica Larsen: sweet, light and quick romantic read-see the full review here.

*The Magicians by Lev Grossman: The hubs and I stumbled upon the show and loved it...the book not so much which is something I thought I would never say!?! 2/5 stars






*Banking the Billionaire by Max Monroe:  A surprisingly sweet and wonderful romance-see my full review here.










*Cream of the Crop by Alice Clayton: review coming soon!