Yvonne
Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week.
Be warned that Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
Your host for March 2013 is: Mari over at ‘MariReads’
This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!
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All my new books this week, have been author gifts, so I would just like to take the opportunity to thank Janel Gradowski, Carolyn J. Rose and Meg Mims, for their faith in me.
I can’t wait to share everyone else’s good fortune this week!
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‘MUST LOVE SANDWICHES’ by JANEL GRADOWSKI
Emma has worked hard to establish herself as an artist. The artists’ colony where she lives is heaven compared to the rundown trailer parks she grew up in. After a relationship comes to an unexpected end she decides to make some drastic changes in her life, but it isn’t as easy as just flipping a switch. Her best friend, Daisy, thinks she’s being too extreme. Plus, the owner of Emma’s favorite food truck is more tempting than the gourmet sandwiches he serves. That makes everything even more complicated. Is taking a different route in life the best thing to do? What if she ends up miserable instead of on the path to happiness?
“Must Love Sandwiches” is the first volume of The Bartonville Series of foodie fiction. This is a “cake” sized (novella) story of approximately 30,000 words. Recipes and two “truffle” sized (flash) stories of about 1,000 words each are also included.
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‘DOUBLE OR NOTHING’ by MEG MIMS
A mysterious explosion. A man framed for murder. A strong woman determined to prove his innocence. October, 1869: Lily Granville, now heiress to a considerable fortune, rebels against her uncle’s strict rules in Sacramento, California. Ace Diamond, determined to win Lily, invests in a dynamite factory for a quick “killing,” but his status as a successful businessman fails to impress her guardian. An explosion in San Francisco, mere hours before Lily elopes with Ace to avoid a forced marriage, sets off a chain of unforeseen consequences. Despite Lily’s protests that her new husband has been framed, Ace is dragged off to jail as the culprit. Evidence mounts against him. Lily must learn who was actually behind the diabolical plan… and save Ace from the hangman’s noose. Will she become a widow before a true wife?
‘Double Or Nothing’ is the sequel to ‘Double Crossing’.
Read my review of ‘Double Crossing’ here.
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‘HEMLOCK LAKE’ by CAROLYN J. ROSE
For generations only a few families held title to land in the isolated Catskill Mountain community of Hemlock Lake. But with the turning of the century one man, lured by easy money, sells his inheritance to a developer of luxury homes. As the contractor bulldozes farmland and forest, neighbors cry environmental rape, and someone threatens to burn what is built.
Hoping to stop the arsonist, but tormented by personal demons, Sergeant Dan Stone reluctantly returns to his family home on the shores of the lake. The previous autumn his wife died in its dark waters and his brother put a bullet in his brain. That tragedy sent Dan’s father drifting toward death.
Isolated by his pain, Dan is thrust into the no man’s land between newcomers and long-time residents who stonewall his investigation into threats, graffiti, theft, and a blaze that nearly kills the construction foreman. Townspeople blame outsiders, eco-terrorists, a ragged tramp haunting the woods and the mysterious creator of rock cairns that often mark the sites of crimes to come. But as summer sizzles on, the arsonist turns killer, and Dan suspects it’s someone he knows well: a firefighter, a long-time friend, or a woman with a killing in her past.
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‘THROUGH A YELLOW WOOD’ by CAROLYN J. ROSE
Seven months after cheating death in the dark waters of Hemlock Lake, Dan Stone discovers a search dog trainer and his dogs shot down at a remote cabin in the Catskill Mountains. Only one young dog, badly wounded, survives the attack.
No longer wearing a badge and intent on rebuilding the family home and making a life with Camille, Dan feels an obligation of blood to Clarence Wolven, a distant relative. He arranges the funeral and adopts the three-legged dog he names Nelson.
When the sheriff’s investigation stalls, Dan returns to the cabin with Jefferson Longyear. They feel the presence of Clarence’s angry ghost and Nelson bolts into the forest. Trailing him deep into rugged “forever wild” land, they discover a serial killer’s dump site.
That grisly find is just the first. As summer wears on, Dan suspects the killer is taunting him and may even be someone he knows. Goaded by a ghost he only half believes in, Dan is drawn deeper into the investigation until his life and that of a young girl depend on a dog’s loyalty and a sniper’s aim.
(This is the sequel to Hemlock Lake.)
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I like the sound of the Dan Stone books very much indeed. Will go and look at those on Amazon right now. 🙂
Hi Cath,
I was first in touch with author Carolyn Rose, when I agreed to read and review her thriller ‘An Uncertain Refuge’. We got to chatting and exchanging emails and Carolyn very generously offered me gift copies of another couple of books, without any obligation to review.
The ‘Dan Stone’ series, were the two she chose and I couldn’t have been more pleased when I checked out the synopses, they are right up my street! I shall definitely be reviewing these books, as apart from it being only fair and right, I just know that I am going to love them and want to talk about them.
I hope that you had a good Easter and thanks for taking the time to stop by.
Happy Easter to you too, Yvonne. We’re off to my eldest daughter’s today and then bringing our grand-daughter back to stay for a few days. So a busy week, but a nice one. Just wish the weather was a little bit warmer.
I grabbed Hemlock Lake on Amazon for my Kindle for the princely sum of 77p. LOL. Bargain. Thanks for the rec.
Hi Cath,
Hope that you had a great family day. We also visited relatives in Swindon and had a lovely time, just wish the weather could have been more like it was yesterday, we couldn’t believe the overnight change from something almost springlike, back to the depths of winter!
I hope that you enjoy ‘Hemlock Lake’ and I look forward to reading your thoughts about it.
Enjoy the rest of the week with your grand-daughter.
Foodie fiction sounds fantastic! Have a lovely reading week 🙂
Hi Sam,
Foodie fiction isn’t a genre which would appeal to me generally, however, as ‘Must Love Sandwiches’ and the following stories in ‘The Bartonville Series’, are all scheduled to be short stories or novellas, they are bite sized enough to be enjoyable, fun reads.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by, your comments are always appreciated.
What a nice selection of books Yvonne. I am not familiar with the titles but hope you enjoy them.
Hi Diane,
The only author which was already known to me, was Meg Mims. I reviewed the first book in the series, ‘Double Crossing’, back last year and I have been eagerly awaiting the sequel, ‘Double Or Nothing’.
This is the first ‘Western Mystery’ series I will have read and is yet another new genre to add to my growing list of ‘New Things I Have Tried’.
Both of my other mentioned authors are new to me, but I have hit the jackpot with friendly, easy to work with ladies, so my week has been a great success.
Thanks for stopping by, I always value your comments.
You had a nice week in books! I’m excited to see what you think of Must Love Sandwiches since Janel is a blogger.
Hi Kathy,
Yes, I was very fortunate to come across Janel’s name, when she left a comment on a post I had published for the ‘Weekend Cooking’ spot over at ‘Beth Fish Reads’.
We got chatting by email and I was lucky enough to hook up with Janel the weekend she had ‘Must Love Sandwiches’ as a free Kindle download.
Not normally a reader of short stories, I found something about this book intriguing and the fact that Janel intends to make something of a series out this and subsequent ‘foodie’ titles, is quite fascinating, so I want to be in at the very start of it all.
It is great to come across an author who has such an active blog, who is willing to participate in memes and who takes the time to comment when readers mention her and her writing.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment, you are always welcome here at Fiction Books.
Hi Yvonne, I read Must Love Sandwiches and thought it was a fast, cute read. Hope you enjoy it and the others!
Hi Mary,
It is good to know that someone whose opinion I value, has already read and enjoyed this novella. I wonder if you know that it is to be the first in a series and were you interested enough in the storyline to consider reading the subsequent installments?
Thanks for contributing to the discussion around ths book, your comments are always appreciated.
Must Love Sandwiches looks like a cute read! All these titles are new to me so I will have to check them out! I hope you enjoy them all!
Hi Beth,
‘Foodie’ fiction definitely seems to be the genre of the moment, although it is not something that I could read about too regularly, or to the exclusion of everything else.
Whilst ‘Must Love Sandwiches’ sounds like a great little read, I have to confess to not being much of an adventurous cook, so a book with myriads of recipes probably wouldn’t interest me greatly … unless of course, it comes with plenty of yummy looking pictures!
Thanks for stopping by this week, your comments are always welcome.
Double Or Nothing has caught my eye, enjoy! your reads.
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Hi Mary Ann,
‘Double Or Nothing’ is, for me, the long awaited sequel to ‘Double Crossing’, which I had the pleasure to read and review some time ago.
https://www.fiction-books.biz/reviews/my-thoughts-about-double-crossing-by-meg-mims/
They are ‘Western Mystery Romances’ and whilst it sounds as though ‘Double Or Nothing’ may be able to be read as a stand alone novel, I think that reading ‘Double Crossing’ first would be advisable, as it sets the scene for what, I am certain, is going to be some explosive action, in all senses of the word!
Thanks for stopping by, your comments are always welcome and appreciated.
Wonderful books in your mailbox. Hope you enjoy all your books!
Here is my post!!
Hi Gautami,
I enjoy most books that I read and can’t remember ever not finishing a book, although that may be because I am very stubborn and refuse to give up on a book.
It is always good to receive books directly from the author, as this is a great opportunity to discover books which may generally not always catch my attention if I saw them in a bookstore and I therefore tend to expand the genres which I would normally read from.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by this week.
Enjoy your new books.
Happy Reading!
Hi Mari,
Three very different genres to choose from this week, so I shan’t be stuck for choice, no matter what my mood.
Thanks for being a great host and I hope that you enjoy your month at the helm of ‘Mailbox Monday’.
I was thrilled to see my book covers posted this morning. I hope they live up to expectations.
Hi Carolyn,
I have been away from my desk all day, so have only just had the chance to scan the comments, however I see that Cath over at ‘read-warbler’ has already downloaded ‘Hemlock Lake’, after commenting earlier that she liked the sound of the ‘Dan Stone’ series, so that’s at least one satisfied customer, from a very well supported and respected blog site…
http://read-warbler.blogspot.co.uk/
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and comment, I hope to get started reading ‘An Uncertain Refuge’ very soon.
What a great week you had!! They are all new to me, and all sound interesting. It’s so hard for me to decided which books I want to read and the ones I want to pass on when I keep seeing the great books people post about. I hope you enjoy them all!
Here’s My Post
Hi Vicki,
I find it almost impossible not to end up by adding another lengthy list of books to my already huge wish list, after reading through people’s great mailbox posts each week!
I do try to limit myself to no more than one book from each post, but that doesn’t always quite work out!! I can never hope to get to all of the books I list, but I have fun reading about them all anyway!
Thanks for stopping by, I always look forward to your visits.
Great selection, I really like the sound of Double Or Nothing. Happy reading.
Hi Tracy,
As I have very eclectic tastes in my reading material, having books from three such diverse genres is excellent as far as I am concerned.
Western mystery / romance, isn’t a genre that I had ever really tried until Meg contacted me about a review Of ‘Double Crossing’, which is the predecessor to ‘Double Or Nothing’. I was very pleasantly surprised to enjoy the genre so much and I have since visited several author sites who specialise in the genre, so I have plenty of great books lined up for my reading list … eventually!
Whilst it may be the case that ‘Double Or Nothing’ stands up well as a stand alone story, it would be better if you read ‘Double Crossing’ first, so that the scene is set and the storyline laid out adequately.
Thanks for visiting, your comments and thoughts are always appreciated.
Like your mix of reads. Enjoy them all.
Hi Mystica,
I can definitely say that I am not a single genre reader, it would be just too boring. Even as a child I showed signs of a very eclectic reading habit. I would always visit several diverse sections of the library, scouting around for something different to capture my interest, although I am sure my parents truly believed that I was disinterested and just picking up books for the sake of it!
Three different and such diverse genres in one week, is a good haul as far as I am concerned!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope that your week is going well so far.