Category: great reads

Books, great reads, Reviews

The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon

debra

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Hey everybody,

The Blurb:  Swallow, Daughter, pull them in, those words that sit upon your lips. Lock them deep inside your soul, hide them ‘til they’ve time to grow. Close your mouth upon the power, curse not, cure not, ‘til the hour. You won’t speak and you won’t tell, you won’t call on heav’n or hell. You will learn and you will thrive. Silence, Daughter. Stay alive.

The day my mother was killed, she told my father I wouldn’t speak again, and she told him if I died, he would die too. Then she predicted the king would trade his soul and lose his son to the sky. My father has a claim to the throne, and he is waiting in the shadows for all of my mother’s words to come to pass. He wants desperately to be king, and I just want to be free. But freedom will require escape, and I’m a prisoner of my mother’s curse and my father’s greed. I can’t speak or make a sound, and I can’t wield a sword or beguile a king. In a land purged of enchantment, love might be the only magic left, and who could ever love . . . a bird?

My thoughts: I loved this story. This is the first book by this author I have read and I want to read more from her. This story is her first venture into the world of fantasy, I understand, and I think she did a great job. I found this book because it was this month’s book in the online book club I belong to.

Lark is a 5 year old girl when her mother is killed in front of her and her voice is gone. She is rejected by her father, yet she grows into a loving, caring person. Tiras is the king of Jeru with a secret. This book contains fantasy, magic in a mysterious world, betrayal and interesting characters, a council of lords that helps to provide additional angst to the story. The story also has a medieval feel to it. The author has spun her world building wonderfully. I have heard good things about this author so I plan to try some of her other writings.

Happy Reading,

Debra

Books, great reads, Mystery, Reviews, Romance

Fatal Frenzy by Marie Force

debra

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Hey everyone,

The blurb:  Lieutenant Sam Holland is on leave, recovering from an attack that shook her to the core. With no case to distract her, she’s trying to stay busy—even voluntarily meeting with her new White House staff. But it’s not enough to keep the horrific memories at bay, and her family is worried…especially her husband, Vice President Nick Cappuano.  Nick is dealing with his own demons where his wife’s safety is concerned, losing night after night of sleep as he works to make sure what happened that day will never happen again. The pressure is building inside the Cappuanos’ marriage, and something’s got to give before Nick takes the oath of office.  When two college girls go missing in the midst of inauguration madness, the chief of police needs the one cop he can count on to find them and save the Metro PD from disgrace. In a case full of ugly twists and turns, Sam will have to confront her past and find her strength again…before it’s too late.

My thoughts:  A very good entry in this series. Frenzy is a proper title for this book. Sam is trying to recuperate from the attack she suffered in the prior book and is on leave. She is trying to pull herself together, talk to the department’s therapist and trying to decided whether to go back to work. All of this in the middle of Nick’s inauguration. The murder mystery again is interesting and at times heartbreaking for our crew of detectives. The entire cast of characters are here and one of them finally finds some news out that should have been told to her earlier. Another hit in this series!

Happy Reading,

Debra

 

Books, great reads, Mystery, Reviews, Romance

Fatal Scandal by Marie Force

debra

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Hey everyone,

The blurb:  As a new year dawns in the capital city, dual scandals rock the Metropolitan Police Department—and Lieutenant Sam Holland is right in the middle of them. Chief Farnsworth is catching heat for the way he handled a recent homicide investigation, and Detective Gonzales is accused of failing to disclose an earlier connection to the judge who decided his custody hearing. When Gonzo’s fight for his child turns deadly and he has a shaky alibi, Sam must defend two of her closest colleagues. All while her husband, Vice President Nick Cappuano, settles into his new office at the White House.  Nick begins to wonder if the president is using him for a political boost, and his worries mount over a complication in the plans to adopt Scotty at a time when Sam is being put through the wringer by the always-rabid DC press corps. As the evidence against Gonzo piles up, Sam suspects someone is gunning for her—and her team.

My thoughts:  Another enjoyable entry in the continuing saga of Sam and Nick trying to balance their relationship, their jobs, their family and life in general. Sam is this time trying to prove one of her crew innocent of murder! This hits close to home. Nick is not enamoured with his new position as Vice-President so he is trying to figure out what type of Vice-President he will be. The world of Sam and Nick is rocked on it axis with the ending of this story and is well-written.

Happy Reading,
Debra

 

Books, great reads, Mystery, Reviews, Romance

Fatal Jeopardy by Marie Force

debra

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Hey everyone,

It’s official–I am devouring this series!

The Blurb:  Washington, D.C. Police Lieutenant Sam Holland and her husband, U.S. Senator Nick Cappuano, have been looking forward to a quiet Thanksgiving with their son. But any thoughts of a restful holiday are dashed when Sam and Nick return home to a gruesome scene: Sam’s seventeen-year-old niece Brooke, barely conscious and covered in blood on their front stoop.  With lines between personal and professional blurring in this emotionally charged, deeply personal case, Sam is relying on Nick more than ever for support. But when suspicious images from the night in question appear on social media, Sam begins to wonder if her niece is telling her everything she knows about what really happened. And when Nick questions her tactics—and her ethics—as she races against the clock, Sam will need to decide how far she’s willing to go to prove Brooke is a victim, not a murderer.

My thoughts: I think Fatal Jeopardy is my favorie so far in this series as far as the mystery goes. It starts out with Sam finding her much loved although troubled (she is a teenager) niece on her front porch barely conscious. From there it escalates into a very interesting, albeit very sad, murder mystery of a number of young people. The mystery is tight and I can say I truly did not see the solution being what it was. As always, we get to see the continuing life of Sam and Nick, the adoption of Scotty, and the lives of Sam and Nick’s friends and co-workers that overlap frequently–much to Sam’s dismay.

Happy Reading,

Debra