Book Review: Poirot Investigates Vol 1 by Agatha ChristieCassette

This is a two cassette audio book I recently picked up and added to the Friday Pick list. I do try to listen to the audios to make sure they work before I list them, which I had forgotten to do on these last two. But I wanted to listen to this for fun anyway and I am glad I did.

Poirot Investigates - Volume 1 by Agatha Christie.

Genre: Mystery
My Rating: 4.5

Review: If you love mysteries you can’t go wrong with Agatha Christie.
This was a very enjoyable audio consisting of four short mysteries told by Hastings, a good friend of Hercule Poirot, the sharp Belgian detective.
The stories are:
The Kidnapped Prime Minister - After a failed assassination attempt the Prime Minister is kidnapped. Poirot is called in with a 24 hour deadline to find the Prime Minister to get him to important peace talks.
The Case of the Missing Will - Poirot is engaged by an heir to locate a Will that was hidden purposefully by the lady’s uncle. The niece shows she is more clever than her deceased uncle because she hires Poirot to find the hidden will.
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman - Poirot is visiting when an associate turns up murdered at his dinner table. Did he eat something that didn’t agree with him?
The Adventure of the Western Star - Poirot’s services are sought to protect two rare diamonds. Hastings thinks Poirot has failed when the diamonds are stolen until Poirot explains the caper.

The clues are there. Can you pit your brain cells against Poirot and solve the cases before he does? The narrator did the accents so well that you could hear the touch of arrogance in Poirot’s voice making this fun listening. I was rather surprised when I realized that these stories were originally copyrighted from 1923 - 1925. Only goes to show - a good story is timeless!

Splash into Summer Giveaway Hop - 5/25 to 5/31

Are you ready to make a Splash???
Welcome to The Splash Into Summer Giveaway Hop being hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Page Turners. Thank you ladies for hosting! Yikes 313 Blogs! Hope you swim fast. I am number 123.

As many of you know I have a penchant for wanting to tie my giveaway to the theme. So I looked up some books with the words "Splash", "Summer" and "Water".  There are plenty of "splash", "summer" and "water" choices for children!

Here are some books that caught my eye as possible book suggestions:

The Big SplashThe Big Splash by Kit Marlowe (Kindle Romance Novella) $3.50
The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo (Grade 6-8) $6.95
Angel Wing Splash Pattern by Richard Van Camp (stories about Aboriginal people) $13.46



That Summer by Sara Dessen (YA) $8.99
Summer House: A Novel by Nancy Thayer (relationships) $10.20
Summer Shift: A Novel by Lynn Kiele Bonasia (relationships) $10.20



Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen -fiction $7.99
The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher (gr 7-10 futuristic) Hardcover $10.29
The Water Is Wide: A Memoir by Pat Conroy $9.58

Now here is my giveaway:

(Okay - the first two books don't have "splash", "summer" or "water" in the title but they are definitely summer reads right?
I have available to choose from:
#1.  The Island: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand in Audio CD ($26.58 value) (my review copy)
#2.  The Castaways: A Novel by Elin Hilderbrand ($9.47 value) (review copy but like new because I listened to it on Audible)
#3.  Daily Splashes of Joy: 365 Gems to Sparkle Your Day (Johnson, Barbara) (daily devotional $10.39 value) (newly purchased)



I will mail any of these books anywhere, if chosen, provided the postage cost does not exceed $10.00.
#4. ALTERNATE CHOICE:  $12.00 Gift Card to Amazon or book choice(s) valued up to $12.00 from Book Depository.

FILL IN THIS FORM

Here are my links for follows: GFC, Twitter, Facebook, Networked Blogs, and email subscription is located in the left sidebar beneath my profile. 

Then get swimming along to the other hops!  Have a swimmingly good time!

Book Review and ARC Giveaway: SEALed Forever by Mary Margret Daughtridge

This is a definite "grabs you" enjoyable read!

SEALed Forever by Mary Margret Daughtridge

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (May 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402246196
• ISBN-13: 978-1402246197
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches 

     Genre: Contemporary Romance
     My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0

Product Description

He's got a living, breathing dilemma...

In the midst of running an undercover CIA mission, Navy SEAL Lt. Garth Vale finds an abandoned baby, and his superiors sure don't want to know about it. The only person who can help him is the beautiful new doctor in town, but she's got another surprise for him...

She's got a solution...at a price...

Dr. Bronwyn Whitescarver has left the frantic pace of big city ER medicine for a small town medical practice. Her bags aren't even unpacked yet when gorgeous, intense Garth Vale shows up on her doorstep in the middle of the night with a sick baby...

But his story somehow doesn't add up, and Bronwyn isn't quite sure who she's saving-the baby, or the man...

Review: Now here is a book that wrapped me in from beginning to end!
The book opens with a near death and out of body experience for SEAL officer, Garth Vale. As he is recuperating he is relegated to a very out of the way, low intensity job maintaining a small airstrip near a small southern town. He is put in a difficult situation when he finds an abandoned baby on an airplane.

Bronwyn has decided to leave the rat race of a city hospital ER practice to set up an “at home” practice in a small town.  She is determined to set down deep roots even if the house she has been loaned is a little creaky scarey.  Bronwyn is tripping over her moving boxes on a dark stormy night when rugged Garth shows up at her front door with a baby. He needs her help but isn’t able to give her all the facts considering his confidentiality status. Bronwyn is quick to help the child medically but it takes some convincing for her not to report the neglect.

I was caught by the strength and integrity in both the hero and heroine. I was also captured by the fact that Garth quickly determines that Bronwyn is the woman for him. She may not meet his “list” of qualities for a naval officer’s wife but he is sure he can woe her and find a way to make her willing to follow him to new base assignments.

Garth’s friends help to open Bronwyn’s eyes to see the possibilities of paranormal events and her friend JJ (from SEALed With a Ring) encourages her to recognize her gifts as a healer, not just a doctor. Garth is willing to accept her too, unexplained intuitions and all, and that means a lot. Still, she can’t commit her heart and life to a man who will always be going off and putting himself at risk.

I’m not quite sure what made this book so captivating but each time I picked it up I had read half an hour before I knew it and I was reluctant to put it down. Even my daughter picked it up and after reading one page said, “I want to read this one.”  The pacing is fast in short chapters, which I like. I also enjoy the SEAL or Art of War quotes at the beginning of each chapter. The story is not an action piece but rather character driven. The plot, though likeable, might be considered a bit weak as the dilemma is solved almost too easily in the end. Even so, the southern charm, the SEAL experience and the doctor expertise all blended well with a lovely, sensual romance. I highly recommend this for a quick, enjoyable read.

xxx

Thank you to Sourcebooks for the book to read and review.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY FOR THE ARC:

1. Visit the Author's Website and tell me something you like there.
Please leave your e-mail!

2. For an extra entry, become a follower or tell me if you are already a follower.

3. For two extra entries, blog, facebook, tweet (any of those networks!) about this giveaway and tell me where you did.

(Four total entries possible.)
It isn't necessary to use separate entries unless you want them in different chronological order.

* This contest is open US and Canada only.
* No P.O. Boxes Please - for shipping reasons.
* This contest will close 10:00 PM (Central) on June 10, 2011.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.

It's Monday! What are you Reading May 23, 2011?

This meme starts at One Person's Journey Through A World of Books!

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 finished another good five books this week.  I posted three reviews, one with Hachette (double) Giveaway, one ARC Giveaway and one old copy Giveaway.  I also posted the Friday Pick Giveaway; Enquiring Mind Meme with Giveaway, Sunday post and a winners' post.

I only visited a handful of blogs last week. I fixed my laptop internet so I hope I will get to visit a bit more.  These were last week's posts plus Winners' posts not listed.

•  It's Monday What are You Reading? May 16, 2011.

• Audible Book Review and Print Giveaway: Fancy Pants by Susan Elizabeth Phillips; Contemporary Romance; my rating 4.0.  Ends 5/27

• Two Book Reviews and Double Book Giveaway: Going Cowboy Crazy and Make Mine a Bad Boy by Katie Lane;  Contemporary Romance; my ratings 4.0.  Ends 6/3.

• Q&A Interview with Katie Lane, Author of Going Cowboy Crazy and Make Mine a Bad Boy.

•  Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway May 20, 2011.  Ends 5/26.

•  Book Review and ARC Giveaway: The Legend of Michael by Lisa Renee Jones.  Paranormal Suspense; My Rating 4.25.  Ends 6/3.

•  Enquiring Minds Meme Week #38 with Comment Giveaway.  Ends 5/27.

•  Sunday Words of Encouragement May 22, 2011.

Finished Reading:
Print:

SEALed Forever

by Mary Daughtridge
I really enjoyed this!
I will post the review and giveaway on Tuesday.

Kindle:

Seeing for the First Time (What You See is What You Get)

by Nicole Zoltack

ALSO

To See (What You See is What You Get)

These were short and fun 
YA paranormals. 

I will do a review post this week.

Product Description
Now that Ana can see, her summer has taken on a new direction. Instead of shopping and going to the beach with friends, she has to register with the Seer’s Council. There, Ana meets Eric, a hot guy who happens to also be a vampire seer. Eric is impressed that Ana took on a vampire all by herself but wonders if Victor truly is dead.

So Ana and Eric return to the scene of the crime and make a dangerous discovery, one that could put their lives in danger. Snooping around during the daytime seems safe enough, until they lose track of time and night quickly descends. Vampires must hide in shadows, but the moon offers all kinds of opportunities.

Are Ana and Eric the hunters… or the prey?

Audible:

Blood Bound: Mercy Thompson, Book 2
by Patricia Biggs
I enjoyed the second in this series. I will try to do a review this week.

My own TBR.

Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places - and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind. But this new vampire is hardly ordinary - and neither is the demon inside of him.

Audio Cassettes

Poirot Investigates - Volume 1

by Agatha Christie

This is in the Friday Pick group and 
I decided to read it before it was won.

Line Edits/Releases:

Still finalizing a novel and a novella for release this week.

Currently reading:
Audible:

Kitty Goes to Washington: Kitty Norville Book 2
 by Carrie Vaughn
I am almost done listening to this entertaining story.

Product Description
The country's only celebrity werewolf, late-night radio host Kitty Norville prefers to be heard, not seen. But when she's invited to testify at a Senate hearing on behalf of supernaturals, her face gets plastered on national television. Kitty has been in hot water before, but jumping into the D.C. underworld brings a new set of problems - and a new set of friends and enemies, including the vampire mistress of the city; a super-hot Brazilian were-jaguar; and a paranoid, Bible-thumping senator who wants to expose Kitty as a monster. Kitty quickly learns that in this city of dirty politicians and backstabbing pundits, everyone's itching for a fight.

Print:

Mary of Carisbrooke: The Girl Who Would Not Betray Her King

by Margaret Campbell Barnes

Now that I have started this 
I am enjoying the good 
writing on this historical fiction.

Product Description

"Margaret Campbell Barnes has been one of the most reliable of England's historical novelists."
-Chicago Tribune

A Girl, A King, and the castle that changed them both Forever...

Charles I, king of England, thought that Carisbrooke Castle would be safe, an Isle of Wight refuge far from the madding crowd of Cromwell. But Charles ran straight into the arms of betrayal, his retreat morphing to prison and his allies few and far between.

Mary, a quiet servant girl in awe of her king and country, vaults into intrigue and danger as she helps to plot the king's escape.

A moving story of royal hopes and misfortunes, Mary of Carisbrooke is at its heart the tale of a charming girl who is as romantic and alluring as she is smart and bold. Loyal to herself and to the Crown, Mary's brush with history reveals just how quickly fate can shift the paths of power.

Audio:

A Morning For Flamingos by James Lee Burke

This is another audiobook in the Friday Pick group I wanted to listen too before someone won it. :-)

Clutching the shards of his shattered life, Cajun detective Dave Robicheaux has rejoined the New Iberia police force. While transporting two death-row prisoners, Dave is wounded and his partner killed -- reopening the doors to a past he would have rather kept closed.
Now he's trailing a killer into the heart of the Big Easy's underworld. Increasingly possessed by his undercover role, Robicheaux surprisingly forms an intimate bond with a Mafia don. Embroiled in a world of drug dealers, prostitutes and double-crosses, Robicheaux must still confront his most dangerous enemy -- himself.
Rich with fascinating characters and dramatic plot twists, the audio debut of James Lee Burke and his Cajun detective Dave Robicheaux recalls the best of Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe -- tough, complex and thoroughly entertaining.

Print - (might get on Kindle):

Illuminations of the Heart (Historical Romance Novels) 

by Joyce DiPastena. 

This is a "won book" I have been wanting to read.

Product Description

"Clothilde." He spoke the name on a breath like a prayer. Then he lowered his head and kissed her.

Her heart is lost in that first embrace, her world is shaken to its foundations. There is just one problem; her name is not Clothilde. It is Siriol de Calendri. Trained in the art of illumination in the far-off city of Venice, Siri is directed by her late brother's will to the county of Poitou in France, where she enters the guardianship of her brother's friend Sir Triston de Brielle. Once in Poitou, Siri hopes to find employment in an illuminator's shop - until Triston unexpectedly snatches her heart away with a kiss.

Triston is a man of quiet honor and courage, but the guild he carries for the death of his late wife, Clothilde, has left him numb and hesitant to love again. Worse yet, Siri bears an uncanny resemblance to his lost love. Or does she? Her merry laughter and twinkling eyes are very different from his late wife's shy smiles and quiet ways. Yet when he gazes into Siri's face, all he sees is Clothilde.

Then Triston's past returns to threaten them both. Will his tragic life with Clothilde be repeated with Siri? Trapped between the rivalry of the king's sons on the one hand and a neighbor out for vengeance on the other, Triston realizes it would be safer to send Siri away. But how can he bear to lose her again?

Siri is determined not to be cast off and not to live in another woman's shadow. She has illuminated many a priceless book with pen and paint. But can her own vibrant spirit illuminate the darkness in Triston's soul and make his heart beat for her alone?

Audible -I think the next listen will be The 39 Clues, Book 1: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan.

Audible: 

I am listening to The Listener's Bible NIV 

read by Max McLean. I am at 1 Samuel 24, Psalm 125 and John 17.

Line Edits:  Almost finished with finalized formats on Her Dreams Come True by Miranda Heart, Novella to be posted this week and working on final formats on Sword of Virtue by Joy Brooks.  Then  formats Life After the Undead by Pembroke Sinclair and Soylent Red by Jamieson Wolf.
 

I will post June books next week.