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In My Mailbox: Week of October 6

Title: Diner Impossible
Author: Terri L Austin
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: After shunning her overbearing parents’ wealthy lifestyle, waitress and part-time college student, Rose Strickland, is drawn back into their world when she tries to prove the impossible: the innocence of the town’s crooked police chief. He’s suspected in the gruesome death of Delia Cummings, his secretary and mistress, and all the evidence points to him. While she tracks down clues with the aid of her anime-loving bestie, Rose’s pal, Axton, and his Klingon gang are feuding with their Starfleet rivals. Things get hairier than a pile of well-fed Tribbles, so Rose gets involved. In between interrogating Trekkies and quizzing socialites at high tea, she discovers the secrets Delia Cummings took to her grave. Suspects abound, but when Chief Mathers threatens to bring down Rose’s criminally mischievous and maybe boyfriend, Sullivan, she makes it her mission to find the real killer before Sullivan finds himself in prison. Part of the Henery Press Mystery Series Collection, if you like one, you’ll probably like them all! Diner Impossible is the third in the Rose Strickland humorous mystery series.

Title: Bitter Pill
Author: Stacey Kade
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: The truth is a bitter pill…

Rennie Harlow is having a bad year. She had a handsome husband, a good job, and a renovated condo in Chicago. Now, thanks to one “exotically beautiful” paralegal, she’s divorced, faking her way through a writing career, and living above her hypochondriac mother’s garage back in Morrisville, the small town she couldn’t leave fast enough at eighteen. On top of all of that, she just found Doc Hallacy, the local pharmacist, dead behind his counter. And the worst part is, he’s the third body she’s stumbled across this year.

Jake Bristol has lived in Morrisville his whole life. A former bad boy turned sheriff, he doesn’t believe it’s just Rennie’s luck or timing that’s the problem. He thinks she’s too nosy for her own good. The last thing he needs is her messing around with his murder investigation so that she can freelance for the Morrisville Gazette. But as they both delve deeper into Doc’s death, they find that things don’t add up. This isn’t a robbery gone wrong or the work of a desperate junkie. Someone has a secret they’re killing to keep. The only question is—who’s next?

Title: Won’t Last Long
Author: Heidi Joy Tretheway
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Can two people who are totally wrong for each other ever be right? She’s a feisty, sly marketing exec intent on hiding her small-town roots. He’s a laid-back engineer with a shaggy mutt and a pushy ex. When Joshua asks Melina out, she asks what kind of car he drives. She’ll do drinks, not dinner. She’s always in control. But with Joshua’s easy confidence and sharp wit, Melina is soon breaking the dating rules she made for herself. Opposites attract—but friends think Melina and Joshua can’t possibly last. When crisis throws their world off its axis, Melina must confront her childhood family, the people she’s come to care about, and the destruction of her pristine image.

Title: The Prostitute’s Daughter
Author: Juliet Philip
Received: Spark Point Studio
Synopsis: Kamada lives in a world of magic. A world of gremlins, fairies, and talking objects that shield her from a society where strange men act like they own the women walking down the street, and where her mother gives up her body in exchange for a life of luxury. The dirty streets of Bombay do not feel like home to Kamada. She knows she does not belong, and her mother’s house feels like a prison. To escape, Kamada wants to leave India and go study in America. Only her magical friends and a neighboring family know that her wish is getting closer to becoming a reality every day. Follow Kamada as she bucks tradition in her quest to pass the GRE and follow her dreams. Will she be able to leave the land of curries and rickshaws?

Title: The Paris Architect
Author: Charles Belfoure
Received: SourceBooks
Synopsis: In 1942 Paris, gifted architect Lucien Bernard accepts a commission that will bring him a great deal of money – and maybe get him killed. But if he’s clever enough, he’ll avoid any trouble. All he has to do is design a secret hiding place for a wealthy Jewish man, a space so invisible that even the most determined German officer won’t find it. He sorely needs the money, and outwitting the Nazis who have occupied his beloved city is a challenge he can’t resist.
But when one of his hiding spaces fails horribly, and the problem of where to hide a Jew becomes terribly personal, Lucien can no longer ignore what’s at stake. The Paris Architect asks us to consider what we owe each other, and just how far we’ll go to make things right.
Written by an architect whose knowledge imbues every page, this story becomes more gripping with every soul hidden and every life saved.

Title: Eat Your Heart Out
Author: Giulia Simolo
Received: Giulia Simolo
Synopsis: Why does death by spinning have to replace death by chocolate when the latter is so much more fun?

Last year Chloe Mackenzie was vibrant and skinny – and much to her chagrin, there’s a picture to prove it. This year she has put on weight and is desperate to lose it by the time she attends her boyfriend’s brother’s glamorous wedding where she’ll be meeting his parents for the first time.

No pressure. Bring on the cake!

But what’s really behind all that obsession with fitting into designer jeans and trying to be the woman she was last year?

Blog Tour Sign Up: No Place Like Rome by Julie …

A Lexi Carmichael Mystery

Italy might seem like a long way to go to hide after a disastrous date. But when sexy uberhacker Slash (no, that’s not his real name) asks me to go with him to Rome on an investigation, the timing is sort of perfect. My messed up love life becomes the least of my worries though, after the dead body, the near-kidnapping, and the discovery of a top-secret encrypted file that even I can’t hack.

With time running out, there’s only one thing to do: call in the legendary Zimmerman twins and my best fluent-in-Italian friend, Basia, to crack the code. Now if only someone could help me solve the mystery of whether Slash is flirting, or if all the kissing is just one of those “when in Rome” things…

But when we finally uncover the secret someone would kill to keep, it’s up to me to solve the case and save the lives of my best friends.

Just another week in the life of geek-girl Lexi Carmichael.

Read about Lexi’s previous adventures in No One Lives Twice, No One To Trust, and No Money Down.

Book Review: Little Island by Katharine Britton

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Summary:

Grace
Flowers
By the water
Have fun!

These are Joy’s grandmother’s last words—left behind on a note. A note that Joy’s mother, Grace, has interpreted as instructions for her memorial service. And so, the far-flung clan will gather at their inn on Little Island, Maine, to honor her.

Joy can’t help dreading the weekend. Twenty years ago, a tragedy nearly destroyed the family—and still defines them. Joy, Grace, her father Gar, and twins Roger and Tamar all have their parts to play. And now Joy, facing an empty nest and a nebulous future, feels more vulnerable than ever to the dangerous currents running through her family.

But this time, Joy will discover that there is more than pain and heartbreak that binds them together, when a few simple words lift the fog and reveal what truly matters…
Review:

I felt that the beginning of this book was a bit confusing and full of emotions. Joy is dealing with her empty nest syndrome, the family preparing for a memorial service, and there are lots of unresolved issues from the past. I wanted to put the book down and stop reading but I couldn’t. I had to know how this was going to be played out.

The book switches points of view as well as going from past to present. A few times I felt like my head was spinning and I was tense from the drama – and there was a lot of it.
The characters were real. Joy was a cutter, Roger an addict, and Tamar an unemotional mother with no connection to her daughters. I didn’t connect with any of the characters but as I said, I continued to read because I was intrigued by all the events of the past and curious to know how it would end.
As more and more was revealed about the accident, things start making sense. In the end, I was hopeful
that everyone would heal from the pain and hurt of 20 years ago.
I know I’ve said this before, I’m not a fan of drama but I did enjoy this book. I loved the setting; the description of the Maine coast sounded beautiful.

4 stars

Book Review: The Youth Corridor by Gerald Imber MD

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Dr. Imber shows women and men how to keep the signs of aging at bay with a prescriptive, common sense plan of skin care, exercise, vitamins & diet, stalling & often eliminating the need for surgery. By following the earliest & most basic treatment for skin care & maintenance, you can maintain a youthful appearance for a lifetime. You can return your skin to the exuberance of the youth corridor — the years between 30 & 55 during which the most drastic physical changes occur. Imber’s easy-to-follow regimes & helpful illustrations make timeless beauty a reality. This book also catalogs beauty products that give women the best results & describes successful procedures in plastic surgery.
Review:
I was a bit disappointed by this book. I started reading it with a notebook next to me, ready to jot down notes and get to shopping. Unfortunately, it seems the book is just filled with big words and not a lot of substance. What did I write down? “Alpha Hydroxy Acids.” Bummer. Only one section really interested me, at the end where he broke down skin care routines by ages. But what was said I already know, either from online, or what my best friend (a clinical esthetician) tells me. It also tells us not to run, never to have a second portion at dinner, and to cut out desserts entirely. Ouch. I was hoping for a book to help me better myself, not just turn to Botox, surgery, and be miserable and hungry.
2 stars

Future Tour: It Ain’t Easy Being Jazzy by Quanie …

Quanie will be on tour November 11-25 with her romantic comedy novel It Ain’t Easy Being Jazzy Jazzy secretly wants to get back together with her…

Guest Post: Philip Leslie

Please welcome What Remains author Philip Leslie to CLP! Guest Post: The Writing Process I hate writing first drafts. There’s nothing as intimidating as the blank page. Actually…

Book Review: What Happens to Men When They Move to …

Reviewer: Samantha I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Summary: The question that 23-year old Amalia Hastings desperately wants…

Blog Tour Sign Up: The Art of Being Rebekkah by …

When Rebekkah Gelles suspects her husband, Avram of not only lying to her, but also contriving not to have the children she so desperately wants and embezzling money from his business, she wants out of their marriage.

Her life gets complicated when she falls in love with detective Nick Rossi. Convinced Nick’s wrong for her—he’s not Jewish for one thing—she walks away after they share a night of passion. Nick warns her even though he loves her, he won’t beg. Their budding relationship seems to have ended.

When Rebekkah finds herself staring at a positive pregnancy test, she wavers between joy and sadness. Motherhood wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

On Tour: Won’t Last Long by Heidi Joy Tretheway – …

Heidi will be on a excerpt-tour October 7-21 with her novel Won’t Last Long Can two people who are totally wrong for each other ever be…