Clean Sweep ARC Reading Challenge May 2017

I certainly have enough ARCs - NetGalley and author provided - to fill a month (or two!) so I decided to participate in the challenge.

Kimberly at Caffeinated Book Reviewer hosts this much needed challenge.

The idea is to gather your ARCs, finished and gifted copies from publishers, NetGalley, Edelweiss and authors and join in for the fifth annual Clean Sweep ARC Challenge.  There is a Twitter party and participant giveaways. The Challenge runs from May 1 to May 31st.

The rules and Link Up can be found HERE.

Let's see - I have a couple of new review titles for this month - I think those count. So my goal will be at least 10 ARC/review books for the month.

Audible Review: Silence Fallen: A Mercy Thompson Novel, Book 10 by Patricia Briggs

This is wonderful entertainment and my only disappointment was that it ended.

Silence Fallen: A Mercy Thompson Novel, Book 10
Written by: Patricia Briggs
Narrated by: Lorelei King, George Newbern

Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
Series: Mercy Thompson, Book 10
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:03-07-17
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Adventure, Romance
My Rating: 5.0 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary
In the New York Times best-selling Mercy Thompson novels, the coyote shapeshifter has found her voice in the werewolf pack. But when Mercy's bond with the pack - and her mate - is broken, she'll learn what it truly means to be alone....
Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form Mercy escapes - only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe.
Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise....
©2017 Patricia Briggs (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Review:
Mercy has died at the hands of her step-daughter… as a merciless pirate in a computer game. She heads off to the local corner market to pick up supplies for cookies. Before she can return home she is brutally attacked and kidnapped. One of the most powerful vampires in the world, from Italy, was told that Mercy was the power behind the Tri-Cities coalition of werewolves, fae, gnomes and other supernatural creatures. He doesn’t exactly believe this when the attack to capture her nearly kills her.

Mercy awakes in a foreign place. Although it appears that her ‘host’, Iacopo aka Joseph, has set her up for a failed escape, she manages to surprise the master vampire and his unusual, enslaved drone. Mercy escapes in coyote form, finally arriving in Prague with no clothes, no money and unsure of any safe allies. The pack and mating bond aren’t strong enough to reach half-way across the world. As she walks in the shadows of the streets, Mercy comes upon the Golem of Prague who gets to serve an important role further into to story.

When Adam feels the loss of his mating bond with Mercy, he races to find her and discovers the scene of her attack. He knows she has been kidnapped but has no idea what condition she is in. Mercy’s vampire friend, Stephan, also feels the bond loss and meets Adam at the crime scene. They contact Marsilia, the mistress of the local vampires and are soon ‘invited’ to travel to Italy to be reunited with Mercy. Marsilia and Adam each get to bring two companions plus the pilot and copilot. Marsilia brings Stephan and the head of the goblins, Larry. Adam brings Honey, a strong female from his pack, and his employed, powerful witch, Elizaveta. Adam calls Charles, from Mercy’s childhood pack, to be their pilot, but due to political reasons, her adoptive father, Bran, has separated his ties and is not willing to allow Charles to go. They send a different pilot, another goblin, and a co-pilot who appears to be a submissive wolf.

The story alternates between the POVs of Mercy and Adam as they are separated. I enjoyed the interesting character dynamics particularly from Adam and his team as Adam attempts to remain calm in the negotiations with Joseph. Mercy has to deal with some ghostly elements and unfamiliar packs. She needs all of her usual resourcefulness to wade through her dark misadventures. The chapters are not chronologically sequenced and are introduced by Mercy giving the reader audience a summary of the event setting. Rather than interrupting the flow of the story, this actually adds some priceless Mercy satirical humor.

There are interesting political, philosophical and social musings, including bits of coyote lore, and Golem folklore, woven into this story. Briggs does a masterful job of creating a plot that shares pack and ally dynamics and emotions amid the tense, dangerous situations.

The mixture of suspense, action, humor, romance and emotional dynamics makes this a great series. I stayed up a few hours I should have been sleeping so I could keep listening. Then I was sorry when it ended. I highly recommend this series, starting from the beginning!

Audio Notes: Lorelei King always does a suburb job with the narration of this series. I love her character voices and how she matches the personalities as I believe the author intends. George Newbern was a surprising addition. Unlike many other reviewers, I found George’s performance an okay touch even if I did miss Lorelei’s male voices that we have become accustomed. I love this series in audio.

This is a must listen series for me so I had to get it when it became available. :-) This qualifies for my 2017 Audio Challenge.

Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway May 5, 2017

Happy Friday!
A busy work week as usual; realized we are closing in on mid year! Yikes. 
I hope to post another box of books next week.

TO ENTER FRIDAY PICK

US Entrants: Leave a comment and tell me WHICH BOOK you would like to get from the Friday Pick lists.
INTERNATIONAL: Leave a comment indicating "Gift Card" (see further comments near the end of the post.)

CUT OFF TIME IS THURSDAY NIGHTS AT 9:00 PM CENTRAL so I do not have to stay up too late to do the winner post! I will randomly pick two winners to announce Friday mornings with the next Pick post.

Thank you to all who entered the April 28 Pick. There were no automatic wins this week. Automatic wins are those who requested the book four times without other people asking for that book during those weeks. There was still one title blocked.

CONGRATULATIONS
to Random.org picked Winners from April 28 Pick:
NATALIJA gets a GC
and
SUE gets Deception on His Mind

All winners please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me to confirm your win, send your snail mail address information and let me know if you would like bookmarks - sensual, sexy or sweet bookmarks. {The form is new because Google changed their forms and the old one wasn't letting me print out the responses.}

Support Every Child a Reader at Children's Book Week.

New Book Group #71 March 10, 2017
Mysteries and Thrillers
PAIR:
Matthew Reilly: Temple and Area 7
SINGLES:
Deception on His Mind by Elizabeth George
‘E’ is for Evidence by Sue Grafton
In Plain Sight by C.J. Box
Keepers by Gary A. Braunbeck
Lullaby and Goodnight by Wendy Corsi Staub
One Dark Night by Kevin F. McMurray
Rattlesnake Crossing by J.A. Jance
The Cat Who Sang for the Birds by Lillian Jackson Braun
The Panic Zone by Rick Mofina
The Silenced by Heather Graham
The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood by Susan Wittig Albert
Total Exposure by Tori Carrington
There Was A Little Girl by Ed McBain (Audio Cassettes)
The Old Silent by Martha Grimes (Audio Cassettes)


New Book Group #70 January 27, 2017
Thought I’d share some romances for February:
PAIRS:
Betty Neels: The Girl With Green Eyes and the Damsel in Green
Linda Howard: The Touch of Fire and Loving Forever
SINGLES:
The Devilish Pleasures of a Duke by Jillian Hunter
Kissed by Shadows (Get Connected Romances) by Jane Feather
Love's Brazen Fire by Betina Krahn
Love Letters From a Duke (The Bachelor Chronicles Book 3) by Elizabeth Boyle
Love Wild and Fair by Bertrice Small
Only With Your Love (Vallerands Book 2) by Lisa Kleypas
Scandalous Love by Brenda Joyce
Someone to Love by Jude Deveraux
Valentine by Jane Feather
A Visit From Sir Nicholas (Effington Family Book 9) by Victoria Alexander
Winter Fire by Jo Beverly


New Book Group #69 November 18, 2016
(I'll post a picture and links later)
Some books for Christmas
Mistletoe Marriage by Jessica Hart
Jingle Bell Blessings by Bonnie K. Winn
Snowbound with Mr. Right by Judy Christenberry
The Christmas Cowboy by Michele Dunaway
All I Want for Christmas by Gina Wilkins
All She Wants for Christmas by Stacy Connelly


New Book Group #68 October 28, 2016
SINGLE:
The Seventh Tower, Book One by Garth Nix
Plan of Attack by Dan Brown
Critical by Robin Cook


New Book Group #67 September 9, 2016

(*Three more very old books from my Gothics box.)
SINGLES:
*The Man in the Garden by Paule Mason (1969 - yellowed)


New Book Group #66 June 25, 2016

(I will post a picture later. *Four of these books are very old; pulled from a box of gothic novels I have had for many years. They may not be wanted by anyone and if so, I will donate elsewhere in time.)
SINGLES:
*Maggie – Her Marriage by Taylor Caldwell (1953 very old, yellowed pages, some stain damage doesn't effect reading)
Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell


New Book Group #65 April 29, 2016

SINGLES:
The Champion by Heather Grothaus


New Book Group #64 March 4, 2016
SINGLES:
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey- Audio Cassette

New Book Group #63 January 22, 2016 -- All Gone

New Book Group #62 November 6, 2015 -- All Gone

New Book Group #61 October 30, 2015
SINGLES:
Border Bride by Deborah Hale

New Book Group #60 September 18, 2015
A set of "haunting" tales and a few mysteries for October!

SINGLES:
The Shadowing by Joan Overfield
Trilogy Of Mysteries Audio Book Shadow Prey, There Was A Little Girl, Smokescreen Audio Cassettes (NOT CDs)

New Book Group #59 July 31, 2015 -- All Gone

New Book Group #58 June 26, 2015 -- All Gone

New Book Group #57 May 1, 2015 -- All Gone

New Book Group #56 March 20, 2015
SINGLES:
The Sweetheart Dance by Patti Ann Colt
Raintree Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones (spine creases)

New Book Group #55 February 5, 2015 -- All Gone

New Book Group #54 December 26, 2014 -- All Gone

BOX 4 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 47-53)

The Hidden Truth of Cytech's Randall Forty by Vickie Kennedy
Jezebel by Katherine Sutcliff
Undateable by Ellen Rakieten & Anne Coyle


BOX 3 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 39- 47)

Shetland Summer by Janet Lynnford
Breakfast in Bed by Sandra Brown - Audio Cassette Tapes (link is for mass media version)
Sweet Talking Man by Betina Krain


BOX 2 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 24- 38)

Thinner by Stephen King
Foundation (Foundation Novels) by Isaac Asimov
Magic: The Gathering Distant Planes, An Anthology
The Willful Widow by Valerie King (spine wear)
An Honorable Man by Rosemary Rogers (spine creases)
A Courtesans Guide to Getting Your Man by Susan Donovan and Celeste Bradley -- NOTE This book has dog bite damage; it is missing half back cover and the edges of pages in the back third of the book... it does not effect the text but I will understand if no one wants this one
The Trailsman: Texas Lead Slingers by Jon Sharpe
Anthology: Something Borrowed, Something Blue - this book has spine creases and minor water damage...I thought I had read it and liked it but now I realize it was another anthology I read with Elaine Barbier.


BOX #1 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 1- 23)

Alien Chronicles - The Crimson Claw by Deborah Chester
Ghost Writer (Shivers #3) by M.D. Spenser

If you saw the pictures posted of my bookshelves and boxes you know I do have lots of books! And that doesn't include the other eight or so boxes at my office!! And more books as I find deals too good to pass up! I am sharing my book bounty by these Friday Pick Giveaways.

I started Friday Pick on November 27, 2009 and in almost seven years I have posted 68 groups of 16 (1,088) books to find new homes! (as of November 4, 2016).

I am happy to say that so far about 1,059+ books have found new homes! YAY. I have to update my print out to check the exact number sent out - a few were never claimed. I periodically update the lists - deleting those won. You can still go to the Friday Pick list link to see older posts and the older lists book pictures if you want!

Note rules here regarding international entries.

Because postage to overseas can be prohibitive I am willing to give a $5.00 book certificate to international winners - Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, ARe, TWRP, ClassAct Books, eTreasures, Desert Breeze, etc....you tell me where and I'll set it up. So for my overseas visitors your comment may indicate a smaller book and I'll check postage or note your choice of gift card.

I learned that The Book Depository does not ship to everywhere. The postage for some of the books to far away places runs between $7.00 and $10.00 and up. Since I would award $5.00 for The Book Depository to an international winner, as an alternative you may choose a smaller book and we will hope the postage will not exceed $6.00. If the postage is more, or if you want to pick a larger book and you are willing to pay any extra postage beyond the $6.00 I will work with you on that. This may not make a difference to many but if it helps one or two of you to give one of my books a home that will make me happy too. :o)

Repeating this helpful blog tip: You can right click on a link and you will be given the choice to open the link in a new window or tab so you do not navigate away from the screen you are on!! I use this all the time!

Book Review: Fake by Twist Phelan

This is a fast-paced, engaging thriller with an interesting female protagonist.
Fake
by Twist Phelan

File Size: 1479 KB
Print Length: 228 pages
Publisher: Virage Press (May 30, 2016)
ASIN: B01GEY1HGQ
Genre: Thriller, Suspense
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Finn Teller Corporate Spy Mystery #1
Have you ever thought about buying a counterfeit product? Maybe a watch or a handbag for fun? After you read FAKE, the first book in Twist Phelan's series featuring Finn Teller, corporate spy, you'll think again.
From Thriller Award-winning author Twist Phelan comes "a new and capable heroine you'll want to see again" (Jan Burke, Edgar® Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author). FAKE, the first book in Phelan's new series featuring corporate spy Finn Teller, shines a light on the netherworld of counterfeit goods.
An assignment with a Milan fashion house leads Finn to an undercover investigation of a train wreck in Croatia—scene of her most tragic professional mistake and home to terrorists still out for revenge. The hunter becomes the hunted and the stakes skyrocket as Finn must win a race against the clock to stop the spread of a deadly African pandemic and escape with her life. FAKE is a page-turning mystery that will keep you guessing up to the end.
"Full of character and good storytelling!" –Michael Connelly, Edgar® Award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author

Review:
Finn, a corporate spy, is a tough cookie with some painful guilt baggage. She solves a case in a Milan fashion house which gets her assigned to investigate a train wreck in Croatia. She doesn’t want to return to Croatia which is the place of a mistake she feels she made a few years earlier. But her skills are needed, the client wants her specifically and the boss says “go”.

The train wreck is only part of the investigation as the real problem is that it was carrying a special antibiotic for an African plague. The pills on the train were discovered to be fake when found at the train wreck. Finn is interviewing and investigating both angles of the case but soon is dodging bullets. The attacks on her might be tied to her current investigation or might just as likely be tied to the case she feels she bungled. Either way, she needs to move quickly to save herself and try to help the victims of the plague. Can Finn expose the villains before they or the terrorists take her out?

This has a realistic plot and a fast action ride. I liked how the details were uncovered and the spurts of danger and race to escape made for page turning attention. Finn is a strong character with her own flaws and vulnerabilities. The author interspersed chapters describing the prior event that impacted Finn so hard and left her with enemies in the area. I appreciated that the book moved at a quick pace without compromising on the suspense.

This is the first story I have read by Ms. Phelan but I hope to read more. I may have to try the other series since it involves a female business lawyer. I do recommend this to readers who enjoy a good, fast-paced thriller.

I received this through NetGalley. It qualifies for 2017 NetGalley Challenge and Mount TBR.

Book Review and Giveaway: Free Space by Sean Danker

This is not as intriguing as book one, but face-paced and enjoyable.

Free Space (Admiral)
by Sean Danker

File Size: 1537 KB
Print Length: 313 pages
Publisher: Ace (May 2, 2017)
Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
ASIN: B01KGZVXC2
Genre: Sci Fi, Thriller
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

In the follow-up to Admiral, the intergalactic war has ended and hostilities between the Evagardian Empire and the Commonwealth are officially over, but the admiral is far from safe. . . .
I’d impersonated a prince, temporarily stopped a war, escaped a deadly planet, and survived more assassination attempts than I could conveniently count. After all that, there shouldn’t have been anything simpler than a nice weekend with a charming Evagardian girl.
However, some corners of the galaxy aren’t as genteel as the Empire, and Evagardians aren’t universally loved, which is how I ended up kidnapped to be traded as a commodity.
Their timing couldn’t have been worse. I'm not at my best, but these people have no idea whom they're dealing with: a highly trained, genetically engineered soldier in the Imperial Service who happens to be my date.

Review:
The Admiral, an assassin and disguise expert, and Salmagard, a highly trained, genetically engineered soldier, saved each other in their first adventure. Now they are hoping to enjoy some ‘down’ time. Unfortunately, the Admiral is poisoned even before they meet for their date. And that’s just the beginning of their troubles.

They pick up a carrier to do some sightseeing and meet two Imperials, Sei and Diana, when they share the ride. The car is diverted and the four end up kidnapped. Admiral and Sei are separated to be traded while the women are retained for other uses. But their captors do not know what they’ve gotten themselves into as Salmagard and Diana will find a way to escape and go after their dates.

The Admiral and Sei are sold at auction and shipped off site. They awaken on a planet where the people are living in an old earth style community. It appears to be a religious cult led by a man who clearly, to the Admiral’s view, has nefarious plans. The Admiral doesn’t know how he is going to get himself out of this predicament.

This sequel to Admiral kicks off with a good hook and keeps on moving at a fast pace. The cult world is a bit strange and confusing but it provides a backdrop of thought as Salmagard begins to see that her strict training may not have provided all she needs to know of reality and politics. Neither side is full of all the “right” as clearly there are those who abuse power no matter what side they supposedly serve. And in the end, most will serve their own purposes rather than honor the loyalty that may have been expected.

The intrigue and mystery in this was not as intense as in book one. This fills out more of the backstory for the Admiral and Salmagard and I liked the new characters, Sei and Diana. Although this story is almost completely focused on the kidnapping and escape, I did enjoy the fast-paced action and the continued irreverent and pragmatic attitude the Admiral displays even when facing death…again. This made for a fast, fun read. The rather abrupt ending leaves an opening for new intrigue which I hope would be more apparent in the next book.

I received the title through NetGalley. It qualifies for 2017 NetGalley Challenge, Mount TBR and “F” in Alphabet Challenge.

GIVEAWAY:

One PRINT COPY from the publisher - US Only

ENTRY FORM HERE

(Don't forget to fill in the form for entry!)

For 3 Extra Bonus entries

(a) comment on the review, OR

(b) Visit the Author's website and tell me something you learned or like there.

* This contest is open to US for Print Copy.
* This contest will close 5 PM (Central) May 13, 2017. Winner will be announced in the Sunday Post on May 14, 2017.
Winners are asked to respond on the winners form linked in the announcement or by email.