New Release: The Dinner

Over the course of one meal, two families must struggle to make the hardest decision of their lives. It starts as a polite conversation while eating at a expensive restaurant. Two brothers, Paul and Serge, and their wives speak of trivial matters while having dinner. They discuss work, vacations, and the new Woody Allen movie, but the conversations become increasingly stressed when secrets start to come up. The book them transforms into a political thriller when the real reason for their meeting emerges. Each brother has a 15 year old son who were caught together committing an unspeakable act. They have not yet been identified, but the video is circulating T.V and YouTube and the brothers argue over what they will do to protect their sons. The book is full of twists and turns which reveal the depths of the characters and dark pasts they are hiding. Serge is a political figure and you see what he is willing to do to keep the privileged life he leads.

This is described as a chilling look at madness, class, and the ugliness of keeping up appearances. 

New Release: The Winter Witch

Morgana is a mystery to the people who live in her small town in nineteenth century Welsh. She is smart and pretty enough to attract a good suitor, but she has not spoken since she was a small child. As odd as that is the real mystery lies in her magic. Things seem to move at will for Morgana and bad luck happens to people who do her wrong. When towns people start talking, her mother is anxious to have her married for her own safety. The perfect fit is Cai Jenkins, he is a widower from outside and has not heard the rumours that surround Morgana. After the wedding Morgana is nervous of her new husband and her new home, but she soon thrives on Cai's farm and the wilderness that surrounds it. Her magic improves and Cai tries hard to win her affections. But it is not long before the people of her new town notice her strangeness, and there is someone who will try anything to turn the town against her. Morgana must protect her home and her man from a dark force or she will loose everything.

New Release: The Painted Girls

I am still slowly getting through J.K Rowlings new book. I'm about half way now. Until then here is a new release (last month) that sounds good. It is based on the van Goethem sisters.

 In 1878 Paris three sisters lives are changed when their father dies and they are forced to live on their mother's meager wages. Fear full of being evicted the girls must find jobs, with little options they turn to the ballet. Antoniette, takes on the role of caregiver to her sisters. She is an extra in the Opera and gets both of her sisters auditions. Marie shows talent for dance and is paid 17 francs a week she is trained to enter the famous ballet. Marie throws herself into her work and is soon modeling for the mysterious Edgar Degas, and will forever be immortalized as Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.  Meanwhile, Antoinette begins a love affair with Émile Abadie and must choose between honest labor and the more profitable avenues. When Emile is arrested for murder, a wedge is drawn between the two sisters. This is the story of two sisters trying to survive the unglamourous reality of Paris in the late 19th century.

Enjoy :)

Coming Soon: December 11

I love a good page-turning mystery. I like it when I can't stop reading because I want answers so bad. This book that I noticed the other day will hopefully fit that description.

Growing up, sisters Dana and Julie were very close. Julie, the oldest, was calm and nurturing while Dana the youngest was impulsive. As kids they were inseparable but a devastating secret causes Dana to flee her home and not speak to her sister for 16 years.

When she hears that her sister is ill she returns home to Black Bear, Minnesota, but she is too late.  Her sister has left behind a teenage daughter named Peyton. The already shattered girl can not forgive her aunt for being away all these years. Meanwhile Dana feels that something has changed in the town since she left. The people are even different and Dana thinks that what ever killed her sister might be hurting others too, but no one wants to talk about it. Dana struggles to uncover the truth with no help from Payton or the town. What ever is going on has the potential to tear apart Dana's family and the whole town. She left Black Bear to keep a secret, but it looks like the town has a secret of its own.

These are not new releases, but if you have an e-reader and are a fan of Nora Roberts, I've noticed that a lot of her old books are being released for Nook. I counted at least 7 this week.

Gabriel's Angel, Holiday Wishes, The Heart's Victory, Rules of the Game, The Right Path, Time Was, and Times Change.

Coming Soon: Nov 26

The Forgotten is about Agent John Puller and his discovery of a conspiracy among the palm trees and beaches of Paradise, Florida.

His job for the Army is to work on the toughest crimes facing the nation. This time the crime he is investigating is personal; his aunt was found dead. She lived it the town of Paradise, which thrived on tourists and retirees. The local police have insisted that her death was an accident. Puller thinks something is wrong in Paradise, because just before she died, his aunt sent a letter saying that everything in Paradise is not what is seems. 

When there he finds something that convinces him that she was right. Something is going on that some people will do anything to keep a secret, and do anything to make sure the truth is never revealed.

Coming Soon: November 5

I saw this book online and thought it looked cute, a little holiday whodunit set in 1933. I like mystery novels and reading a holiday themed book might be fun. Especially when the author is known for her zany humour.

The book is about Lady Georgiana Rannoch, she is 35th in line to the throne, but her holiday plans suck. The love of her life Darcy O'Mara is in South America, and she finds herself stuck with her brother’s family including his sourpuss wife, Fig. She finds an escape when she is hired as hostess to help Lady Hawse-Gorzley with a large Christmas party. She arrives at the piscusice village, and is thrilled that Darcy is the nephew of Mrs. Hawse-Gorzley and will be spending Christmas there. She hasn't been there long before a string of seeming accidental deaths happen; the first is when a man shot out of a pear tree.

One death has been happening a day and Georgina, and armature sleuth, suspects these are not accidents at all. The villages suspect a recent prison break, but she is not so sure. She finally sees a pattern, but the cleaver killer will be hard to catch

Also being released this week is the third book in the Inn Boonsboro trilogy.

Ryder is the hardest of the three brothers to figure out. He is tough on the outside and hasn't shown to be anything but the same within. He is surly and unsociable but when he puts on a tool belt no woman can resist him, except maybe Hope.

Hope left the city to be an inn keeper at the brother's Boonsboro Inn. She likes the change to the small town, and everything is perfect. The only thing lacking is her love life. The only interaction she has with men is arguing with the infuriating Ryder, who is always getting under her skin. But no one can deny a spark between them that started with a New Year's Kiss.

With everything at the Inn running smoothly Hope's past is about to make an appearance. Seeing her vulnerable Ryder decides that although Hope is not perfect, but she might be perfect for him.

Coming Soon: Oct 15

Iris Johansen has a new novel staring her popular character Eve Duncan. For years Eve has struggled trying to find closure for her daughter who was taken from her. She has learned the truth and is now trying to start a new life. Now she has the disturbing feeling that something is about to go very wrong. Eve's mother Sandra has asked for her help trying to find her missing friend Beth. What worries Eve is that her mom refuses to call the police. Eve suspects that her mother may be hiding something from her, and that something might be very wrong. As Sandra reluctantly gives Eve information, she learns that Beth has been locked in a mental hospital for three years, she is shocked to find out that their fates may be intertwined, and all their lives could now be in danger.

She hires Kendra Michaels to investigate and learns the weird circumstances behind Beth's disappearance from a supposedly safe hospital room. Now that Beth has escaped and her mind is being cleared by the lack of drugs, she starts to see a twisted plot unwind within the Avery family, that threatens to destroy her and anyone who tries to stop what is already in motion.

One Summer day, 16 year old Laurel Nicolson comes down from her childhood tree house after a family party to see a man walking up their farmhouse driveway and her mother stopping to talk to him. By the end of the day she witnesses a shocking crime that challenges everything that she knows about her family and especially her mother Dorothy. Now fifty years later Laurel is an actress and has returned to the family home for Dorothy's ninetieth birthday party. She know this may be her last chance to learn the truth and the only answers are in her mother's past.

Dorothy's story starts in pre-WWII and takes us through time to the 60s and beyond. Her story involves three strangers who meet by chance in war time London, and their lives are forever intertwined. It is a story of dreams and the unexpected consequences they sometime create.

Coming Soon: September 3

The Time Keeper

Coming out September 4, Mitch Albom's new book, The Time Keeper, sounds as as interesting and inspiring as the last book of his I read, The Five People You meet in Heaven. I loved his last book because it was an original story and idea. It was the kind of story that made you think, and see the world in a different way. This time Albom tackles the mystery of time.

Father Time is the hero in this novel. He was the first man to measure time and invented the clock, but was punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift and banished to a cave to forever listen to the cries of people seeking more days, more hours, in life. After almost being broken, Father Time is being released with a mission. With a magical hour glass he must teach two people the true meaning of time. He returns to our world to find in dominated by the clock that he invented. He is partnered with two people, a young girl who wishes to end her life, and an older wealthy man who wants to live forever. In order to save himself, he must save them both.


The Tombs 

I have never read Clive Cussler before, judging by the covers (yes I do that) they always looked like books written for men, battleships blowing up, planes exploding, stuff like that. His latest book treasure hunting book looks more my style. A fan of both Tomb Raider and the Uncharted video games, treasure hunting always seems adventurous, romantic and a fun way for me to learn a little bit of history.

 These treasure hunters are a husband and wife team Sam and Remi Fargo. When a friend requests their help on a top secret excavation site they agree and soon find themselves on the hunt for the tomb of Attila the Hun, a high King who was buried with a vast fortune of gold and jewels. They follow the trail across Europe, from Italy to Russia, and discover not just one tomb but five. They are up against thieves, hunters, Russian business men, and a ruthless Hungarian who claims to be the descendant of the King. And they are all trying claiming the treasure as their own.

Coming Soon: August 28

Sorry I haven't written in a while. The book I'm reading at the moment is pretty thick, but I am slowly getting through it and will have a review soon.

I'm glad there are finally some new books I can tell you about. I couldn't find any last week that I wanted to share. This week we have a new book by Ian McEwan. He is the author of Atonement, which was made into a movie with Keira Knightley.

The year is 1972, Britain is facing hard times with industrial unrest, and Irish terrorism. Serena Forme is a mathematician and the daughter of a Anglican bishop. She has a brief affair with an older man during her last year at Cambridge, then being a smart and beautiful women she soon finds herself being groomed for the role of a spy for MI5, the British intelligence agency.

Serena is a compulsive reader of novels and for her first mission is sent undercover into the world of writer Tom Haley. First she falls for his stories then finds herself starting to fall in love with Tom himself. The first rule of espionage of course to trust no one, and Serena has to remember to keep her identity a secret and beware of those who may be trying to deceive her.

The next book in the Temperance Brennan series is being released tomorrow.

A women who introduces herself as Amy Roberts, checks into a Montreal Hospital with uncontrolled bleeding. The doctors soon discover that she has recently given birth, but before then can act the woman disappears. Police are sent to her address but all they can find are some bloody towels. Fearing the worst Temperance Brennan is called to investigate.

In the apartment of Alma Rogers, Tempe finds the bodies of three children. Soon after a man comes looking for Alva Rodriguez. Could these all be the same women? If it is the Amy Roberts from the hospital, has she been killing her children?

A team is establish to investigate. On the team of three is Tempe, along with an old flame Andrew Ryan and another mans he has history with, Ollie Hasty. Together they travel from Edmonton to the diamond mining city of Yellowknife on Amy Roberts trail. What they find there is sinister beyond what they imagined.

Coming Soon: Aug 13

A mother daughter story about Bee, a 15 year old girl, and her mother Bernadette. Bee mother is well known for many things. To her husband she is a fearless, opinionated wife, to the mothers at the private school she is a disgrace, and to design mavens she is a revolutionary architect.

But Bernadette has disappeared. After leaving Los Angles she has been showing an increasing "allergy" to the Seattle environment, and its people. So much so, that she has a virtual assistant in India  handling all her errands. Elgie her husband starts to notice the behaviour and is worried about his wife. He was planning an intervention, then Bee came home with a perfect report card, and reminded her mom that she promised her a family trip to Antarctica. Soon after Bernadette was gone.

To find her mom Bee writes emails, documents and secret correspondents. This is a touching and witty novel about a mother and daughters role in an absurd world.

Coming Soon: July 24

Emily Griffin's new novel is being released next week . Where we Belong is about two women, their families and the loyalty that binds them together.

Marian Caldwell is a television producer in New York. Her life is just what she always wanted, she is successfully and has a great relationship. Everyone, including her, believes that she is right where she wants to be. Then one day, a young 18 year old girl named Kirby Rose show up at her doorstep. She is a connection to Marian's past, that she thought was gone forever. The minute she enters Marian's life, Marian starts to question her perfect world. Kirby's presence bring up ghosts from the past and memories of a passionate love that will threaten everything she thought defined her.

For Kirby, this new encounter will throw the precious and determined girl into adulthood. She must look back and re-evaluate her family and what she wants for her future.

Both women are now on a journey to find the one thing that was missing from their lives.

July New Releases

I must not have been paying attention lately because I completely missed the release of the second book in the All Souls Trilogy. After being totally engrossed in The Discovery of Witches when it was first released I have been anxiously, and patiently, waiting for the second novel. Shadow of Night is finally here and has been added to my list of must reads. Not much is told about the plot of this next book. All we know is that it picks up after the first one ended in their journey to Elizabethan London. Diana is there to learn the craft of magic and Mathew must face a past he thought he had put to rest.

The next best thing is about a girl who moves to Hollywood to hit it big, but this time it is not as an actress; Ruth wants to be a screenwriter. At twenty three, she moves from Minneapolis with her grandmother and now six years later she has finally made an impression. The sitcom she wrote has been picked up, and she is the show runner. This book goes into the backstage of Hollywood production. Ruth has to deal with actors, executives, and what goes on in the writer's room. Weiner has

Coming Soon: July 2

Will Trent is a brilliant agent for the Georgia's Bureau of Investigations. When a college girl goes missing he expects to be on the case but is kept off of it by his supervisor Amanda Wagner. He has not idea why is was pulled away, until he runs into Amanda at an abandoned orphanage. Will was drawn there because it was his home when his father was imprisoned for murder, but Amanda has other reasons.

Fourty years ago, when Will was born, Amanda had first started working at the police station. Her and her partner were investagating a crime in one of the worst neighbourhoods and seemed like the only ones interested in solving it. That was the case that launched her career, and is mysteriousy tied to Wills birth and parents.

Now both these investigators need to face the demons in their past if they are going to prevent an even bigger terror from being unleashed.

This book has already been released in Canada and is getting great reviews. It is coming out July 3 for those of you in the U.S Inspired by the upcoming Olympics in London, this book is about two cyclists, Zoe and Kate. World class athletes, the two girls are best friends and rivals. They have trained together since the beginning, and shared a close relationship full of love, betrayal, forgiveness and triumph. This years Olympics in London is their last chance for the medal, but first they must compete against each other for the chance to be on the team. The two friends will be tested on their strength and mortality, to the end of their limits, both mentally and physically. To reach their goal they must ask themselves, what are you willing to risk?

Coming Soon: June 18

Taking place in the 17th century this novel by Jean Zimmerman is a murder mystery with a supernatural twist.

In the town of New Amsterdam orphan children are going missing. Two people rise to try to solve the mystery a trader named Blandine von Couvering and a British spy Edward Drummond.
The suspects are numerous, the governor's nephew, an aristocrat, the corrupt orphan master and an Algonquin trapper. Yet evidence is found near the body that points to an Algonquin demon. Blandine, an orphan herself, is determined to find out who has been doing the killing when it turns out more then one orphan has gone missing and the Dutch authorities fail to show any interest in the case because of the girls race.

The case is endangered when Blandine is accused of being a witch and Edward is sentenced for espionage.

Lizzy and her partner Diesel are on the search for a stone believed to be infused with the power of lust.

When English teacher Gilbery Reedy is murdered and thrown from his balcony Lizzy and Diesel continue his search for the Luxuria Stone. They tear their way thought Boston following the clues from 19th century writings. Through grave sites, government building, and mansions they try to stay a step ahead of Diesel's cousin Gerwulf Grimoire who wants the stone for his own reasons.

Lizzy must battle Gerwulf's growing interest in her, and her attractions towards Diesel. While staying ahead of another opponent Anarchy and his minion Hatchet, on this hide-and-seek adventure.

Coming Soon: June 11

Do you like spy novels? If you do, I have a new one for you that takes place in 1938.

For years the Nazi's have been waging political warfare against France. They are trying to weaken their spirts by bribery, corruption and intimidation, hoping their efforts will bring down the will of the people to defend themselves.

Fredric Stahl is a Hollywood actor, going to Paris to film a movie for Paramount France. He is horrified by the war and what the Nazi's are doing to the Jews so he decided to join a secret spy service being run out of the American embassy in France. But the Nazi's don't know this and attack Stahl, thinking he is a perfect agent of influence. When Stahl refuses the threats began, and he finds himself stuck between those who want to fight Germany and those who want to negotiate for peace.

This book has received many praises for its extraordinary characters, from assassins, to Russian actresses, German Baronoss' and Hungarian spies. It travels Europe in a time just before WWII when tension is tight.

A love story that travels time, starting in 1962 to our present day. The author takes a simple love story and turns into into a surprising story full of twists, that spans 50 years and the tangled lives of several people. It starts on an Italian coastline when a man lost in thought looks out over the waters of the Ligurian Sea and spots a woman in a boat approaching him. He soon learns she is an American actress, and she is dying.

Then today, a man goes to a movie studio back lot to find clues about a women he saw at his hotel decades earlier.

This book spans years, connecting dots, to teach the reader lessons about life. How life influences art, and how unplanned moments are usually the most memorable ones. Walter has created a novel that believes in destiny.

Coming Soon: June 4

The next Pretty Little Liars book is coming out. The four girls, Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily, are still haunted by their past and the mysterious A who continues to dig up all their secrets.
Emily is reconnecting with an old flame, Spenser is learning about campus life at Princeton, Aria is seeing a new side of Noel' dad, and Emily is getting in touch with her inner A.
One by one the girls are getting caught up in the web created by A, as he starts to learn their secrets and lies little by little. Soon he will have enough to end the pretty little liars forever.

This next book is the kind you have to read twice. Once you learn the truth you want to go back to see all the little things you missed the first time. Nick was not the perfect husband. "What are you thinking, Amy" was the question he asked most frequently in their marriage. How can you ever really know the person you love, is the question Nick is asking now. On the morning of their fifth anniversary Amy disappears. When is revealed she must be dead the suspicion lands on Nick. Amy's friends say she was afraid of him and kept secrets all the time, but he swears it isn't true. The police find strange searches on his computer that he swears he didn't make. What really happened to his wife? And what was in the half wrapped box left so casually on their bed. In this book, marriage is war.

Coming Soon: May 28

If you are interested in historical romances there is a book coming out next week called A Night Like This that might be of interest to you. This is Julia Quinn's second book to follow the romances of the Smythe-Smith musicians. The first book Just Like Heaven has received great reviews.  This time a beautiful pianist catches the eye of a haunted, hunted man who is in desperate need of redemption. The Smythe-Smith musicians have musical fame. yet are bad musicians. Quinn's books are full of Wit and humour, and have page turning story lines with engaging characters that are easy to love.

 

Popular author Philippa Gregory has written many historical fiction books based on European history. Her books may be fiction but are full of real people, real facts and real events. Her most popular, The Other Boleyn Girl was turned into a movie, but she has many other great books including The Red Queen, The White Queen, The Queen's Fool and The Lady of the Rivers. This time she is making a slight change and writing a series for young adults. Changeling is the first book in the Order of Darkness series. Set in Italy in 1453 Luca Vero has been cast away by his family and religion for using science to question their beliefs and superstitions. On his own 17 year old Luca is recruited by a secret sect called The Order of the Dragon, commissioned by Pope Nicholas V to investigate evil and strange occurrences across Europe.

Luca is sent to a nunnery investage Isolde, a young woman who was sent to the nunnery so she can not inherit her father's fortune. The nuns have been walking in their sleep and seeing strange visions and Isolde is accused of witchcraft. Luca finds himself in the position to plot her escape. Luca and Isolde travel across England with their two companions.  On their travels towards a real life historical figure, the four young people encounter werewolves, alchemists, witches, and death-dancers, and the relationship between Luca and Isolde begins to grow.

Coming Soon: May 7

The second book in the Clifton Chronicles series, The Sins of the Father, is coming out next week. The first book Only Time will Tell was released at the end of last year. I blogged about that release here. This one received mixed reviews.

This book follows the story of Harry Clifton. Harry realizes that he will never be able to marry his love Emma, so to escape a family of secrets he joins the Navy days before Britain declares war on Germany. When his ship is sunk by a u-boat and most of the crew dies, Harry sees an opportunity. An American cruise ship rescues him along with Tom Bradshaw and when Bradshaw dies in the night, Harry takes the mans identify in order to escape his past.

The idea which seemed great at the time turns out to be a big mistake, when Harry arrives
in New York and finds out that Tom Bradshaw had a past just as bad, or
even worse, then Harry. Now Harry is chained to a past that isn't his without any
way to prove who he really is.





 

Dr. Marina Singh is sent into the Amazon to find her old mentor, who disappeared while researching a new drug. The last person sent never returned, Marina leaves a little scared and unsure about the journey is about to take.

Dr. Swanson has taken charge of her team and a group of natives. In her seventies she is still as threatening as ever, and Marina is finding she still cant live up to her mentors hopes. Dr. Swanson is asking Marina, and her self to sacrifice a lot for her mission. State of Wonder, is a book that is full of adventure.

Coming Soon: April 30

The 13th installment of the Sookie Stackhouse series is coming out.  In this book titled Deadlocked, a dead boby is found on Eric's front lawn and Sookie, with the help of her ex Bill, must try to clear his name.

It started with the arrival of the vampire king, Felipe de Castro. First Sookie is summoned by Eric to help welcome his guests into his Shreveport home. When she gets there she is shocked to find Eric drinking the blood of a much younger woman and downstairs the king with his own group of humans. She has a lot to say about it, but has to wait because now that same girl is dead on the front lawn. She wants to think the murder has nothing to do with her, but she is wrong. Sookie has an enemy who want to see her world come crashing down. 

Coming Soon: Week of April 23

Did you ever read Stephan King's Dark Tower series? I read the first four when I was I was in high school, then later read the last three when they came out in 2003 and 2004. I loved the older ones that he had written in the 70s, Roland the gunslinger was a fascinating character, the more I read the books the more I wanted to know his past. Then came Jake, the kid from our world, who becomes a companion to Roland. As the books unfold Roland acquires new companions on his journey from different points in time, together they become his ka-tet.

Now Stephen King as written a new book for the series. This book can also act as a stand alone from the series. Roland and the rest of the group, Jake, Susanna, Eddie and Oy (As I remember is some kind of cross between a dog and a raccoon, but very smart) are travelling to the Outer Baronies when they get caught in a storm and must take shelter. While taking refuge Roland decides to tell his ka-tet two stories. In these stories readers finally get to find out more about Roland's past.

In his early years as a gunslinger Roland is sent by his father to investigate a shape shifter who is plaguing the population of Debano. There is one survivor of the beasts latest attack and Roland prepares the boy for the next day's trials by telling him a story. Roland starts by telling Bill Streeter "a person is never to old for stories." He is right, Because the tale that he tells, The legend of Tim Stoutheart, is a timeless story for all ages.

For those who love the epic story that is the Dark Tower series, this is a great addition that will finally tell us more about the mysterious gunslinger. For those who haven't read them, this book might convince you to go back and read what King describes as his magnum opus.