Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf

Monday, January 30, 2012

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? January 30, 2012.

This meme starts at Book Journey!

What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I completed four more good books; posted four reviews, two with giveaways, and one blog tour announcement. (Again I was hoping to post five reviews but it didn't happen -*sigh*.) As always I posted my regular Friday Pick Giveaway, Saturday Sharing Beyond Books and the Sunday post.

I visited a dozen or so blogs last Sunday night and one or two during the week. I won't get to visit any tonight since it is late and I need to get to bed. Hopefully I can visit Monday night.

These were last week's posts plus Winner post not listed.

It's Monday What are You Reading? January 23, 2012.

Audible Book Review: Hounded: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book 1 by Kevin Hearne; Fantasy; my rating 4.5.

Book Review and 2 Copy Giveaway: Deeper Water by Robert Whitlow; Christian Mystery; my rating 4.75. Ends 2/3.

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: A Demon Does it Better by Linda Wisdom; Paranormal romance; my rating 4.5. Ends 2/3.

Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway January 27, 2012. Open Worldwide. Ends 2/2.

Announcement: Forever's Paranormal Blog Tour 1/30 to 2/8.

Sharing Beyond Books #33 Comment Giveaway. Open Worldwide. Ends 2/3.

Sunday Words of Encouragement January 29, 2012.

Audible Book Review: How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper; Paranormal Romance; my rating 4.25.

Finished Reading:

1. Kindle

Baby, Baby [Family Heirlooms Series Book 1]

by Karen Wiesner

Another enjoyable family story.
I will be posting a review this week.
Read for the Author.

2. Kindle

Exclusively Yours

by Shannon Stacey

Fun second chance romance!

Read for Harlequin through NetGalley.

Will post a review late this week.

Product Description
When Keri Daniels's boss finds out she has previous carnal knowledge of reclusive bestselling author Joe Kowalski, she gives Keri a choice: get an interview or get a new job.

Joe's never forgotten the first girl to break his heart, so he's intrigued to hear Keri's back in town—and looking for him. He proposes an outrageous plan—for every day she survives with his family on their annual camping trip, Keri can ask one question.

The chemistry between Joe and Keri is as potent as the bug spray, but Joe's sister is out to avenge his broken heart, and Keri hasn't ridden an ATV since she was ten. Who knew a little blackmail, a whole lot of family and some sizzling romantic interludes could make Keri reconsider the old dream of Keri & Joe 2gether 4ever?

3. Print/Kindle

Midnight Reckoning (Dark Dynasties)

by Kendra Leigh Castle

Nice paranormal!
Read for Forever Romance Paranormal Blog Tour 2/1.
Visit for Review, Q&A and Giveaway!

4. Audio MP3

Grant Me Timely Grace

by Timothy Woods

I really found this interesting.

I hope to post the review by the end of the week.

Reviewing for Crossroad Press through AudioJukebox.

Line Edits/Releases: Nothing new this week.

Currently reading:

1. Print

Firelight (Darkest London)

by Kristen Callihan

Another good paranormal read with a Gothic feel.
Reading for Forever Romance

Paranormal Blog Tour 2/1.

Book Description

Series: Darkest London | Publication Date: January 31, 2012

London, 1881
Once the flames are ignited . . .

Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family's fortune decimated and forced her to wed London's most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . .

Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it's selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can't help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn't felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

2. Kindle

Theft of Swords (Riyria Revelations)

by Michael J. Sullivan

This is a bit longer (585 pages) but I am very engaged by the characters at 10% in.

Reviewing for Orbit through NetGalley.

Product Description
THEY KILLED THE KING. THEY PINNED IT ON TWO MEN. THEY CHOSE POORLY.
Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles--until they are hired to pilfer a famed sword. What appears to be just a simple job finds them framed for the murder of the king and trapped in a conspiracy that uncovers a plot far greater than the mere overthrow of a tiny kingdom.

Can a self-serving thief and an idealistic swordsman survive long enough to unravel the first part of an ancient mystery that has toppled kings and destroyed empires in order to keep a secret too terrible for the world to know?

And so begins the first tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.

When author Michael J. Sullivan self-published the first books of his Riyria Revelations, they rapidly became ebook bestsellers. Now, Orbit is pleased to present the complete series for the first time in bookstores everywhere.

3. Print (Audible)

The Whisperer

by Donato Carrisi

I have really been captured by
the beginning of this thriller.

Reviewing for Little Brown & Co.

[And I have an extra for giveaway. :-)]

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2012

A gripping literary thriller and smash bestseller that has taken Italy, France, Germany and the UK by storm.

Six severed arms are discovered, arranged in a mysterious circle and buried in a clearing in the woods. Five of them appear to belong to missing girls between the ages of eight and eighteen. The sixth is yet to be identified. Worse still, the girls' bodies, alive or dead, are nowhere to be found.

Lead investigators Mila Vasquez, a celebrated profiler, and Goran Gavila, an eerily prescient criminologist, dive into the case. They're confident they've got the right suspect in their sights until they discover no link between him and any of the kidnappings except the first. The evidence in the case of the second missing child points in a vastly different direction, creating more questions than it answers.

Vasquez and Gavila begin to wonder if they've been brought in to take the fall in a near-hopeless case. Is it all coincidence? Or is a copycat criminal at work? Obsessed with a case that becomes more tangled and intense as they unravel the layers of evil, Gavila and Vasquez find that their lives are increasingly in each other's hands.

THE WHISPERER, as sensational a bestseller in Europe as the Stieg Larsson novels, is that rare creation: a thought-provoking, intelligent thriller that is also utterly unputdownable.

I am again listening to The Listener's Bible NIV read by Max McLean.

[Reading until I get a new player but I got behind this week.]

Instead of studying with the Tyndall One Year Bible this year I am studying with Through the Bible in One Year by Alan B. Stringfellow. It is a Study that I used for teaching back in around1989 so I will enjoy it again. I am at Leviticus.

Line Edits: I am continuing to work on Smashword and print releases and making special arrangements for a children's book.

January -One left will move into February. I will post February's schedule next Monday.

Others:
Shadow Boxing [Family Heirlooms Series Book 2] by Karen Wiesner

[To be posted - I am setting these up soon for interview/feature days.
These were read and ready for reviews for Authors.
Quest for Magic by Jean Hart Stewart - Read; review to be posted with interview.
Seeing for the First Time (What You See is What You Get) and To See (What You See is What You Get) by Nicole Zoltack - Both Read; setting up author interview with reviews.
Steamrolled by Pauline Baird Jone. Read; review to be posted with author interview.]

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Audible Book Review: How to Flirt With a Naked Werewolf

This is a fun listen with quirky characters, some mystery and a sexy romance.

How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf

UNABRIDGED
by Molly Harper
Narrated by Amanda Ronconi

Gerne: Paranormal Romance, Comedy
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary

Even in Grundy, Alaska, its unusual to find a naked guy with a bear trap clamped to his ankle on your porch. But when said guy turns into a wolf, recent southern transplant Mo Wenstein has no difficulty identifying the problem. Her surly neighbor Cooper Graham,who has been openly critical of Mo's ability to adapt to life in Alaska, has trouble of his own. Werewolf trouble.

For Cooper, an Alpha in self-imposed exile from his dysfunctional pack, its love at first sniff when it comes to Mo. But Cooper has an even more pressing concern on his mind. Several people around Grundy have been the victims of wolf attacks, and since Cooper has no memory of what he gets up to while in werewolf form, hes worried that he might be the violent canine in question.

If a wolf cries wolf, it makes sense to listen, yet Mo is convinced that Cooper is not the culprit. Except if hes not responsible, then who is? And when a werewolf falls head over haunches in love with you, what are you supposed to do anyway? The rules of dating just got a whole lot more complicated.

Review:
Mo is a girl after my own heart. She is strong and determined. She has moved to Alaska to make a break from a broken engagement and her very hippy and controlling parents. She didn’t plan to work right away but somehow steps right into working as a short order cook at the local gathering diner.

Mo is attracted to the sulky, quite guy in the place, Cooper, even though he makes it clear he doesn’t think she’ll make it past the first winter. Since Cooper wants to remain sullen and stand-offish, Mo goes out with Park Ranger, Alan, who is a really nice guy but doesn’t give her shivers like Cooper. As Mo puts it ‘Cooper was caramel triple chocolate cheesecake deep fired on a stick. Alan was angel food cake, sweet and wholesome and nothing you’d regret.’

Mo suspects there is something really different about Cooper and then she learns it for sure when he shows up on her porch naked with a bear trap around his ankle. Cooper takes Mo home to meet his pack when he is summoned because his grandfather is so ill. The pack is at odds because Cooper is the Alpha but he is running from the responsibility. His sister is furious with him and attacks him whenever they are near to each other.

There is trouble in town because several people have been injured or killed by a wolf. Mo is sure that Cooper is not the wolf who is attacking people but he isn’t sure of himself so again he backs away from her rather than risk hurting her.

I really enjoyed the push, pull of the romance between Cooper and Mo with the added tension of conflict from Alan’s interest in Mo. The author gives good development of the characters and interesting wolf-pack dynamic as a family struggling under traditional rules. There is plenty of fun dialog and phrasing that had me chuckling out loud. This isn’t fast paced action but it moves along well with a good mix of romance and mystery.

The narrator did a really nice job of catching the quirkiness of the characters and I would enjoy more from both the author and the narrator. I recommend this if you want a light fun read or listen.

I selected this on Audible because it looked like fun and also because it was on the Recommended Reading Challenge list. I will link it to Alaska for Where are you Reading Map, and on the Recommended Reading and New Author Challenges.

Sunday Words of Encouragement January 29, 2012

Our associate Pastor gave another good message this morning entitled Saboteurs. He directed us to 1 Timothy 4:1-10 where Paul is giving instructions. Think of parents who teach and warn children of dangers: 'look both ways, don't get in a car with strangers, don't tell someone at the door or on the phone that your parents aren't home.' Even with these warnings a child might be in danger from loved ones.

Paul was warning Timothy and followers of Christ to beware of deceivers and liars even within the body (the church.) Some believers fall away and their views become twisted. They may come as sheep in wolves' clothing. They would lead others astray if the people are not discerning.

Paul was preparing the people, preparing the troops (as mentioned in the first message this year).
You have to know the words of faith (Biblical foundations) to know the truth and to be able to recognize a deceiver.
(This is only part of the message but I will save more for another brief message.)

This song seems to be a good choice as it reminds
us to be careful which voices we listen to.

Verses for Today:

2 Timothy 4:3-4 NIV

³ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Yesterday I had a lunch meeting with some ladies from our women's ministry group. Our leader encouraged us to be intentional about our faith and to pick 12 women to be praying for this year. As I began to prepare my list last night I of course thought of my family "sisters" first. Then I started thinking about online "friends." So I decided that each week I would pick an online follower to pray for. So, those of you who read these messages, be encouraged as I may be praying for YOU! If anyone wants extra prayer feel free to email me. I may not be able to help in any other way but I can pray.

Sharing Beyond Books #33 Comment Giveaway January 28, 2012

Welcome to a late evening SBB. I've had a crazy week and busy day even today. I have to travel five hours tomorrow to attend closings on Monday.

Thank you to all those who commented last week.
The majority wear some mix of pjs and tshirts. I had to laugh at Carol L's comment - 'maybe she should have switched to PJs before getting 7 kids!' LOL Abby mentioned she likes her socks which I have to agree with especially during the cold weather.

There was a tie for chapter preference: eight had no preference and eight favored short chapters. Three like mixed length, depending on the genre; one liked long, and one liked mid-length.

~~~~

The Winner from SBB #32 comments is: #15 Carol L. There are still 9 'love' books to pick from, 3 Christmas choices and 1 Summer titles below. Carol L please choose a book from the remaining Love Books List for Giveaway or remaining Christmas Giveaway Books, the one summer book below OR pick from the ARC box and let me know your choice, your address and a choice of bookmarks by completing the WINNER FORM.

WEEK #33 Questions

Q1. This week winnie asks: What do you think about love triangles in romances??

A: I'm not big on infidelity so to that extent I don't like love triangles. Sorry - even the Guenevere and Lancelot affair is wrong in my mind, not romantic. But a triangle can create good conflict if set up as a difficult decision between two possible partners, a misunderstanding or where one doesn't realize how another feels and there is confusion, but not actual betrayal.

Guess who.

I didn't think of this love triangle right away but found it in images.

Q2. Here is my question: Name any two picky habits. Limit it to two but if you want to repeat this question say so in the comment so I'll know to add it again. *BG*

A: These are two that I am very aware of: a) I really want the toilet paper to pull in front and I will change it at places like church. b) I like to fill the dishwasher MY way... so it's just as easy to let me do it. :-)

Thanks to those who are sending in Questions. DON'T BE SHY! Surely everyone has a Q or two you'd like to ask. Input suggestions in this Suggested Question Form. At the end of each month I will draw from the suggestions I used the month before and that person will get a book choice or GC. I thank everyone for submitting questions but some of you others might want to get in a question or two as we have a few people submitting most of the questions so far. Either way - it works for me. :-) The question list is getting low so feel free to send in a Q or 2 or 4! Remember they don't all have to be book related. I'm going to be asking some other questions soon!
Questions in January have been provided by: mamabunny13; Abby, Mad Moose Mama and winnie. The winner of a book pick is #3 Mad Moose Mama. Congratulations! Please fill in the Winner form with your book pick.

Your turn to share:

1. This week winnie asks: What do you think about love triangles in romances??

2. Name any two picky habits. Limit it to two but if you want to repeat this question say so in the comment so I'll know to add it again.

SBB Comment Winners can choose a selection from the remaining Valentine and "Love" books or the remaining Christmas Giveaway Books - there are still about 12 books available plus 2 left in the Summer titles to choose from. Also I have added the Review and ARC Box now.

The Days of Summer: A Novel

My copy is a paperback from 2006

with a different cover.

~~A Summer Affair (Calhoun Chronicles)~~
~~I love Susan Wigg's historicals!~~

SBB Rules: a) Must be a follower;
b) Share a comment on any (or all) of the two/three questions above.
Open internationally and an international winner may get a smaller book or a $5.00 GC if I decide the mailing is too much.

I will pick a Comment winner from all comments made by Friday, February 3, 2012 at 10PM central.