Quote-Tastic Monday #71

 

This one is simple and just about sharing your favorite quotes and the books they come from! Hosted by the FABULOUS Anna at Herding Cats & Burning Soup

Summary:

Something big is brewing in Trenton, N.J., and it could blow at any minute.

Stephanie Plum might not be the world's greatest bounty hunter, but she knows when she's being played. Ken Globovic (aka Gobbles), hailed as the Supreme Exalted Zookeeper of the animal house known as Zeta fraternity, has been arrested for beating up the dean of students at Kiltman College. Gobbles has missed his court date and gone into hiding. People have seen him on campus, but no one will talk. Things just aren't adding up, and Stephanie can't shake the feeling that something funny is going on at the college - and it's not just Zeta fraternity pranks.

As much as people love Gobbles, they hate Doug Linken. When Linken is gunned down in his backyard it's good riddance, and the list of possible murder suspects is long. The only people who care about finding Linken's killer are Trenton cop Joe Morelli, who has been assigned the case, security expert Ranger, who was hired to protect Linken, and Stephanie, who has her eye on a cash prize and hopefully has some tricks up her sleeve.  

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 292 pages (Hardcover)

Publication Date: November 17th 2015 by Bantam

Quote:

“My mother is a good Christian woman who would never refuse someone a seat at her table, but I knew this was a nightmare for her. With Lula and Grandma at the table together, it’s much more likely that my father will try to stab someone with his fork.”

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #124

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

It's been over a year since I did a It's Monday! What Are You Reading Post! so I'm quite excited to see what everyone's reading.

Read Last Week:

Currently Reading:

Up Next:

[Review]* Archangel's Enigma (Guild Hunter #8) by Nalini Singh

Summary:

Naasir is the most feral of the powerful group of vampires and angels known as the Seven, his loyalty pledged to the Archangel Raphael. When rumors surface of a plot to murder the former Archangel of Persia, now lost in the Sleep of the Ancients, Naasir is dispatched to find him. For only he possesses the tracking skills required—those more common to predatory animals than to man.

Enlisted to accompany Naasir, Andromeda, a young angelic scholar with dangerous secrets, is fascinated by his nature—at once playful and brilliant, sensual and brutal. As they race to find the Sleeping archangel before it’s too late, Naasir will force her to question all she knows...and tempt her to walk into the magnificent, feral darkness of his world. But first they must survive an enemy vicious enough to shatter the greatest taboo of the angelic race and plunge the world into a screaming nightmare…

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 357 pages (Mass Market Paperback)

Source: Toronto Public Library

Available Formats: Print/E-book/Audio

Publication Date: Published September 1st 2015 by Berkley Sensation

Have I ever told you guys that I love this series? I have? Well too bad I'm going to tell you people again. I LOVE THIS SERIES! Nalini Singh has done it again, in this her 8th book in the gritty angelic urban fantasy series, proving once again she can world build up there with the best of them with her own unique and amazing writing style.

 I was so excited to finally get my hands on a copy of this book, and by the time I got it I was getting a little frustrated because it took my library 3 months to get it in and I was going nuts with having to wait for it I mean c'mon this was Nasir's book. WE'VE BEEN DYING FOR THIS! I mean for me Nasir has indeed been an Enigma since he was introduced to us ages ago and of course Nalini Singh played her cards close to her chest and didn't reveal more than she needed to about him until she gave us this fantastic well crafted urban fantasy with just enough of a touch of her signature style of romance writing to put forth an over all well rounded story.

What I loved most about this read, and in fact all the others in this series is that they are more than that paranormal romance title that appears at the top of the spine on the covers. Yes there is romance and Andromeda was a fantastic match for Nasir. Soft but unwilling to bend and uncompromising in her devotion to the things and the people she respects and protects. I say protects because she is far more than an archivist, shes a warrior too but one who keeps it hidden, better to protect what she loves. She gives as well as she gets and despite Nasir's more uncivilized side she's the only one to tame him without caging him. I thought as a couple they were fantastic and I'm glad that Singh brought a new character into the mix for Nasir's story further complicating and enlarging the universe of angels, archangels, vampires and other things that she's been working on.

While there is a strong romance aspect to this series we don't veer off course and lose all that she has built. The war with freaky not dead but should be dead already archangel Lijuan might not be raging at full tilt but the armaments are being readied and things are moving forward. Not too quickly to feel rushed enough for this to be a book containing a considerable key piece of plot that will drastically impact the next book in the series as some very interesting things happened in this that present some very interesting questions.

As like the rest of the books in this series I finished this in no time, the characters were well developed and although this was the story of Nasir and Andromeda it was clear that this is not the last we will see of them. That's another of the reasons why I enjoy this series so much. Just because some characters may get their own books, the covers are not shut on them and they continue to appear in the series, which was why I was glad yet again to see Raphael, Elena, Jason, Ash, Janvier, Aodhan, and of course who could forget dear Bluebell? Characters are never left out and treated as props judging by the events in this book I would not be surprised to see just how integral Nasir and Andromeda will become in the next books.

Times they are a changing and there was a lot of action and adventure in Archangel's Enigma. Questions were answered but more were posed and now I'm left wanting more as always knowing I have months to wait for the next installment of this dramatic series but I know that the wait will be well worth it because these are so well contrived I'm like an addict and couldn't not read them even if you paid me.

So all in all, reader, if you have yet to pick up this fabulous series yet I highly recommend it if you want an urban fantasy with romance. murder, intrigue and archangels befriending vampires. The world building is fantastic and Nasir's story was all that I hoped it would be and more which to me is just what you want in a book that has been highly anticipated. If an author can still managed to make it better than a reader hopes...doesn't that tell you you'd better hope on that train?

 

Loved It!
★★★★★

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*[Cover Reveal] Paper Thin by Jennifer Snyder

Paper Thin by Jennifer Snyder

New Adult, Contemporary Romance

Fate has always seemed to mock Charlotte Montgomery, continuously dangling the man of her dreams just out of reach. It isn’t until Charlotte receives word her older sister Emma is getting engaged that she feels fate’s teasing has hit a new high.

Once she begrudgingly decides to return home to the tiny town of Parish Cove, curious to find out who has captured her sister’s heart, fate suddenly seems as though it may have tossed her a bone.

The problem: Charlotte forgot one simple thing…Fate has never been her friend.

Emotions run high. Happiness will be shattered. And tragedy will strike, leaving everyone feeling paper thin.

Coming September 29th!

 

Waiting on Wednesday #139

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and is where we can talk about books we are looking forward to being released.

 

 

Summary:

 

Naasir is the most feral of the powerful group of vampires and angels known as the Seven, his loyalty pledged to the Archangel Raphael. When rumors surface of a plot to murder the former Archangel of Persia, now lost in the Sleep of the Ancients, Naasir is dispatched to find him. For only he possesses the tracking skills required—those more common to predatory animals than to man.

Enlisted to accompany Naasir, Andromeda, a young angelic scholar with dangerous secrets, is fascinated by his nature—at once playful and brilliant, sensual and brutal. As they race to find the Sleeping archangel before it’s too late, Naasir will force her to question all she knows...and tempt her to walk into the magnificent, feral darkness of his world. But first they must survive an enemy vicious enough to shatter the greatest taboo of the angelic race and plunge the world into a screaming nightmare…

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 384 pages (Paperback)

Expected Publication Date: September 1st 2015 by Berkley Sensation

 

Why I'm Waiting:

 

I am such a huge fan of this series and I look forward to reading a new book every year so much that I'm sure Mr. Turning the Pages gets quite tired of me blathering on about them but I can't help it. The fact that this one is finally going to delve into the enigma that is Naasir is doubly exciting! September can't come fast enough.

 

 

Summary:

 

We are the women who loved Alexander the Great. We were lovers and murderers, innocents and soldiers.
And without us, Alexander would have been only a man.
Instead he was a god.

330s, B.C.E., Greece: Alexander, a handsome young warrior of Macedon, begins his quest to conquer the ancient world. But he cannot ascend to power, and keep it, without the women who help to shape his destiny.

His spirited younger half-sister, Thessalonike, yearns to join her brother and see the world. Instead, it is Alexander's boyhood companion who rides with him into war while Thessalonike remains behind. Far away, crafty princess Drypetis will not stand idly by as Alexander topples her father from Persia's throne. And after Alexander conquers her tiny kingdom, Roxana, the beautiful and cunning daughter of a minor noble, wins Alexander’s heart…and will commit any crime to secure her place at his side.

Within a few short years, Alexander controls an empire more vast than the civilized world has ever known. But his victories are tarnished by losses on the battlefield and treachery among his inner circle. And long after Alexander is gone, the women who are his champions, wives, and enemies will fight to claim his legacy…  

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 496 pages (Paperback)

Expected Publication Date: December 1st 2015 by NAL

 

Why I'm Waiting:

 

This is another author whom I look forward to reading a new book from every year. Stephanie Thornton is in the top 3 on the list of my favourite historical fiction authors. She brings history's most powerful women back to life every time she pens a new novel and I can't wait to see what she does in her new book, again December can't get here too soon.

 

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday #138

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine and is where we can talk about books we are looking forward to being released.

 

 

Summary:

 

When the glass slipper just doesn’t fit…

The tale of Cinderella has been retold countless times. But what you know is not the true story.

Pin has no recollection of who she is or how she got to the Godmother’s fortress. She only knows that she is a Seamstress, working day in and out to make ball gowns fit for fairy tales. But she longs to forsake her backbreaking servitude and dares to escape with the brave young Shoemaker.

Pin isn’t free for long before she’s captured again and forced to live the new life the Godmother chooses for her—a fairy tale story, complete with a charming prince—instead of finding her own happily ever after.

Sarah Prineas’s bold fairy tale retelling is a dark and captivating world where swords are more fitting than slippers, young shoemakers are just as striking as princes, and a heroine is more than ready to rescue herself before the clock strikes midnight.   

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 464 pages (Hardcover)

Expected Publication Date: September 15th 2015 by HarperTeen  

 

Why I'm Waiting:

 

I'm a fan of retellings and this one sounds like a unique take on Cinderella.

 

 

Summary:

 

Grace Mae knows madness.

She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.

When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.

In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us.  

Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com

Length: 384 pages (Hardcover)

Expected Publication Date: October 6th 2015 by Katherine Tegen Books

 

Why I'm Waiting:

 

I love a good bit of young adult historical fiction and love it even more so when coupled with a mystery.

 

 

 

Author Guest Post: Genevieve Graham

 

 

Genevieve Graham graduated from the University of Toronto in 1986 with a Bachelor of Music in Performance (playing the oboe). While on a ski vacation in Alberta, she met her future husband in a chairlift lineup and subsequently moved to Calgary to be with him. They have recently settled in a small, peaceful town in Nova Scotia with their two beautiful daughters. Writing became an essential part of Genevieve’s life a few years ago, when she began to write. She has four titles in stores now, Under the Same Sky, Sound of the Heart, Somewhere to Dream and her newest title, Tides of Honour. 

 

Guest Post:

 

Ah, spring. It's taken a long, long time to get to Nova Scotia this year. For a while I was afraid we'd still be digging out of snowdrifts come July. But fortunately, like the tides, seasons are one thing we can always count on, and my heart is a little lighter now that I can look outside my window and watch robins bob along the grass, pulling out unsuspecting worms. The grass is trying to green up, the trees are pushing out buds as hard as they can. People are walking, breathing in the fresh air, celebrating the fact that they are wearing neither winter coats nor snow boots. The other day one of my neighbours stopped by and joked, “What ever will we talk about now that the snow is gone?” That's how long a winter we had. But now that life is starting to sprout from the ground again, people are pausing outside to talk, listen to stories and tell their own. Everyone has stories. My backyard is full of them.  

 

I love writing historical fiction, and until now I've written about countries far from my own. Then I discovered an amazing story … right here in my backyard. Well, not really my yard, but my city. Almost a hundred years ago exactly, Halifax was flattened in a single moment by the Halifax Explosion, the largest manmade explosion until Hiroshima. Fifteen hundred people died, hundreds more were blinded by shattered glass, and over eight thousand were left homeless. Most of those people were women and children, since the men were overseas fighting in their own kind of hell. Some of the soldiers had come back from the Front Line before the Explosion, already torn apart by what they'd experienced across the sea. My character, Danny Baker, was quite literally shredded when shrapnel took part of his leg. When he was shipped home, he was no longer the man he'd been. He couldn't physically do anything he'd done before, and he was haunted by memories of the battlefield. 

 

But he was still a man. As I was writing his story, he met Audrey, a lonely, artistic woman living on a broken down farm in France with her disapproving grandmother. In Audrey, Danny saw hope. In Danny, Audrey saw the same thing, but for different reasons. He needed her to anchor his sanity after the nightmare of war, and she needed him to free her from a dull life. 

 

Hope. A simple word, but one which offers so many possibilities. Would their hopes and dreams come true? Could they survive what curve balls life was going to throw their way? Would they live up to each other's expectations? What would they have to do, to sacrifice so they could hang onto that hope? Because when life and chance are unkind, often hope is all we have left. We will do what it takes to keep it alive. 

 

Writing this book was an emotional experience for me. Danny's PTSD became a whole different anchor from the one he needed, and it took ahold of my mind as well. Audrey's desperate need to help him, to save them both, broke my heart. The tides of their lives carried me to the depths and back to the shore, and if I were to properly tell their story I had to let my mind roll with the waves. Yes, I know, terrible metaphors, but they're all part of the story. 

 

One of the many things I learned while writing this was that we don't need to look outside our own world to write moving, fascinating historicals. Many of us might have slept through history class (please tell me I'm not alone in that!) but if you can just get past the boring date/names memorization stuff and let yourself imagine what it might have been like if you'd been there, if someone in your family tree had experienced these things, it can be amazing. I remember learning about the Plains of Abraham in high school, but it meant nothing to me. The novel I'm working on now starts with the Acadian Expulsion (another incredible Canadian story I'd never learned about in school) and takes us all the way through to the Plains of Abraham, which I now realize was a thrilling point in our history. Wouldn't it be great if high schools would integrate well written, informed historical fiction into their high school lessons? Wouldn't it be great if kids didn't feel the need to sleep through class anymore? I'd love to have fallen in love with history back then.  

 

Ah well. It's never too late.  

 

 

I'd like to thank Genevieve for taking the time to do this guest post as she is in the middle of her book tour, and be sure to check back tomorrow for my review of Tides of Honour.

 

 

To visit Genevieve's website CLICK HERE

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