Cold As Ice by M.K. Gilroy

Oh it s cold alright! Ice cold, too cold, and yes - very hot too. Was that conflicting? Not if your reading this book!  Detective Kristen Conner has fallen into a major murder case. A "whale" that she wasn't fishing for.

Enter the Russian mafia in a way you didn't expect to read about. Kristen, insecure yet smart, had some hang ups. One is she is doing a few things her way, including jogging in killer cold weather in New York City! That was how she wound up trying to save a life, and setting into motion a huge pendulum of events.

These men from Russia, now calling the USA home, brought their mob and mafia with them. The turf wars were one thing, but this was about a whole lot more. Seemingly small things are leads to much larger issues at stake. Kristen's father's murder became a cold case, and to top that off, a serial killer she caught might get off the hook. Wait until you read why! With each page I was more drawn in, and I wasn't sure I would be to start with.

Kristen has been hurt, over and over, but she is so strong that she has pulled through it all. Will this be the case that breaks her? Is her Mom's neighbor also a murder too? Is more than one person she loves in danger?

While not preachy, this book was real, and still had a God core. This is the first book I have read by this author, and the only one I have read in the series so far. I have already remedied that. This book stood alone just fine, but made me want to read the other books as well.

Carol :)

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Cold as Ice

Sydney Lane Press

by

M.K. Gilroy

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mark won’t claim he has done it all in the world of publishing, but he has packed boxes, edited manuscripts, made sales calls, created marketing plans, directed design and illustration, started companies, consulted, agented the works of others, and written advertising and catalog copy. He’s authored, compiled, and ghost written books that have landed on an array of bestsellers lists and sold millions of copies. His first ghost writing project, The Wal-Mart Way, was done for Don Soderquist, Sam Walton’s longtime right-hand man.


In early 2012 he put on a new hat as a fiction author. His debut novel, Cuts Like a Knife, was released in April 2012 and was met with rave reviews from USA Today, Fresh Fiction, Publishers Weekly, and other leading national reviewers. His second novel, Every Breath You Take, second in the Kristen Conner Mystery Series, released in Fall 2012 to similar acclaim. Kristen Conner returns in Cold As Ice, which releases in Fall 2014.

Gilroy has extensive writing credits. He scripted and served as creative consultant for a two-hour training video that was honored with the Award of Excellence by the International Television Association. He has compiled and written close to fifty books and penned hundreds articles and curriculum pieces for a variety of periodicals and publishers.

Gilroy and his wife Amy reside in Brentwood, Tennessee. Their six children are Lindsey, Merrick, Ashley, Caroline, Bo, and Zachary—the youngest has now headed off for college, so he and Amy are officially empty nesters.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Detective Kristen Conner is back on a new murder case. She’s still fighting with her sister—and no surprise, someone new wants to kill her!

He was a pillar in his Chicago neighborhood: popular school teacher, devoted father and husband, political activist on behalf of underprivileged children—and a master gardener who liked to plant flowers in his neighbor’s yards. What wasn’t to love about him? Who would want him dead?

When Detective Kristen Conner lands the case she knows from day one who the key suspect is. That’s simple. The person most likely to kill you is someone close that you know and love. But the wife? She was always at her husband’s side and just as passionate about his causes as he was. No way could this loving wife and mother of three be a killer. Right?

Mix in her on-again, off-again relationship with FBI Agent Austin Reynolds, a quick trip to New York City where Kristen helps her media-star sister for a new apartment—only to discover the body of a man who appears to have been executed by a professional killer on a run through Central Park—and Kristen Conner is once again swept into a world of danger, intrigue, and a confusing love life.

What she doesn’t know just might kill her.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Cold as Ice, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0991212479 

Doctor Who: The Drosten's Curse by A. L. Kennedy

I never get tired of Dr. Who. This book features the 4th Doctor. He happens to be Doctor that I watched first. That made this book even more fun for me. In this book the Doctor is with two other companions, because it is set between time frames in the TV series.

The Doctor and his friends find themselves up against an issue.  This luxury golf course, the Fetch Brothers Golf Spa Hotel, is having major issues. Something evil is breaking up marriages, causing memory issues, confusion, memory loss, using telepathy and in short, causing chaos. Having a man being slurped away while playing golf didn't help matters, and is very bad for business. (Deadly series game, that golf!) Thankfully, we have the good Doctor here to remedy this situation!

My much loved TARDIS had a huge, and very likable role in this book.

Is the alleged monster what is doing this, or is the creepy owner or her twin grand-kids? This one is deep enough to spook even the Doctor himself! I must also add, that I like the cover.

My copy came from Blogging For Book in exchange for my honest review and nothing more.

Carol :)

The book link is here:
http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-The-Drostens-Curse/dp/0553419447/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

From award-winning author A.L. Kennedy, an original Doctor Who novel featuring the beloved Fourth Doctor, as played by Tom Baker.
“I shall make you the jewel at the heart of the universe.”

Something distinctly odd is going on in Arbroath. It could be to do with golfers being dragged down into the bunkers at the Fetch Brothers’ Golf Spa Hotel, never to be seen again. It might be related to the strange twin grandchildren of the equally strange Mrs Fetch--owner of the hotel and fascinated with octopuses. It could be the fact that people in the surrounding area suddenly know what others are thinking, without anyone saying a word.

Whatever it is, the Doctor is most at home when faced with the distinctly odd. With the help of Fetch Brothers’ Junior Receptionist Bryony, he’ll get to the bottom of things. Just so long as he does so in time to save Bryony from quite literally losing her mind, and the entire world from destruction.

Because something huge, ancient and alien lies hidden beneath the ground and it’s starting to wake up…

Trial Run by Thomas Locke (Fault Lines)

I was thrilled with this book! It wasn't dumbed down, it has lots of Sci-Fi as well as suspense and I didn't want to put it down once I got into it a bit. The permutations of oh, what about this, or what if that were great! The threads that start out start to pull together more and more as you read. This book focus on time. Time, out of body experiences, lack of fear, saving lives but it doesn't end there. What if you could be the ultimate weapon and while doing so uncover massive secrets? Two teams are racing to do just that. A group in Switzerland and a group in the USA.

Trent Major is one of our main characters. He is a theoretical physicist student who's dreams are showing him paths he needs to tread, or is it his dreams? This causes him to reach out to Shane Schearer, and she isn't sure what to make of him, but his ideas are amazing! If she can trust him, this might change all kinds of major ways things work in the world!

That is just the tip of all that is going on in this book, which I really enjoyed!

My copy came from Revell in exchange for my honest review and nothing more.

Carol :)

About

"Somewhere between spectacular and astonishingly compelling. After I finished, I could not let it go."--Phyllis Tickle, former senior editor, Publishers Weekly

Cutting-edge research requiring controversial experiments. Startling dreams delivering cryptic communication from the dreamer's future self. Ruthless rivals determined to control mind-bending new technology. When you're balancing on the edge of what's possible, trouble awaits, ready to push you into the abyss.

This daring psychological journey into the very nature of causation and consciousness will leave you turning the pages and grasping for solid ground--especially when it becomes clear just how much fact lies within the fiction.

"Truly remarkable. Extremely vivid and very well crafted. A wonderful read."--Keith Hazard, Acting Deputy Director (ret), Central Intelligence Agency

Dr. Gabriella Speciale has assembled an international team of elite scientists with one goal in mind--to create and control out-of-body experiences that transcend the limits of time and space. Reese Clawson's mind-bending experiments aim to explode the boundaries of human consciousness--and annihilate the opposition in the process.

When a terrifying discovery and a string of failed tests threaten to dismantle both programs, the key to survival may reside in the mind of a gifted grad student whose unsettling dreams have thrust him into the center of a dangerous battle for control.

As the threads of perception and reality become tangled and time itself twists in unexpected directions, one warning remains clear: what you don't know can kill you.

Thomas Locke is a pseudonym for Davis Bunn, the award-winning novelist with total worldwide sales of seven million copies. His work has been published in twenty languages, and critical acclaim includes four Christy Awards for excellence in fiction. Davis divides his time between Oxford and Florida and holds a lifelong passion for speculative stories. As Thomas Locke, Davis is also the author of Emissary. Learn more at www.tlocke.com.

In Good Company by Jen Turano (A Class Of Their Own Book 2)

Millie is committed to being the best nanny ever! Sadly, her methods aren't so very well approved of by everyone, which lands her out of of a job. When Everett winds up with three children he can't mange, can't handle and yet must raise. The agency has about had it with them both, so they put them together, aka enter Millie. Now she has her hands oh-so-full of three children and their guardian.

Millie loves the children, and she is working non-stop to keep up with them, or keep ahead of them, because they are full of all kinds energy! Everett, well he is a guy and he can be stuck in some of his ways. Even so, this was so much fun! This book stands alone very well, but it is fun in the series too!

My copy came from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review and nothing more.

Carol :)

About

After growing up as an orphan, Millie Longfellow is determined to become the best nanny the East Coast has ever seen. Unfortunately, her playfulness and enthusiasm aren't always well-received and she finds herself dismissed from yet another position. 

Everett Mulberry has quite unexpectedly become guardian to three children that scare off every nanny he hires. About to depart for Newport, Rhode Island, for the summer, he's desperate for competent childcare.

At wit's end with both Millie and Everett, the employment agency gives them one last chance--with each other. As Millie falls in love with her mischievous charges, Everett focuses on achieving the coveted societal status of the upper echelons. But as he investigates the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the children's parents, will it take the loss of those he loves to learn whose company he truly wants for the rest of his life?

Jen Turano, author of six books, is a graduate of the University of Akron with a degree in clothing and textiles. She is a member of ACFW and lives in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. Visit her website at www.jenturano.com.

Not By Sight by Kate Breslin

This book was super good! Smart, witty and funny, it lives up to the write up to compare it to Downton Abbey. Yeah! Grace is pretending to be Pandora and boy does that open up a "box" of things. Grace has worked her way into high society and her mission is to pass out white feathers to the cowards who have dodged fighting for Great Briton. Grace gifts Jack Benningham with a white feather and that changes everything. 

With some themes from some major other books and or movies, this book was fun and I really liked it! Mystery, romance, loyalty, love, God and country. Very, very nice! 

My copy came from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review and nothing more. 

Carol :) 

About

"Downton Abbey meets The Scarlet Pimpernel in Kate Breslin's wonderful historical novel set amidst the drama of England's World War I home front."--award-winning author Elizabeth Camden In the spring of 1917, all of Britain's attention is on the WWI war front and the thousands of young men serving their country on the front lines. Jack Benningham, dashing heir to the Earl of Stonebrooke, is young and able-bodied but refuses to enlist despite the contempt of his peers.

A wealthy young suffragette, Grace Mabry will do anything to assist her country's cause. Men like Jack infuriate her when she thinks of her own brother fighting in the trenches of France, so she has no reservations about handing him a white feather of cowardice at a posh masquerade ball.

But Grace could not anticipate the danger and betrayal set into motion by her actions, and soon she and Jack are forced to learn the true meaning of courage when the war raging overseas suddenly strikes much closer to home and their fervent beliefs become a matter of life and death.

A Florida girl who migrated to the Pacific Northwest, Kate Breslin was a bookseller for many years. She is the author of For Such a Time and lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington. Find her online at www.katebreslin.com.

Hope Harbor by Irene Hannon

Micheal Hunter is mad, mad at God. He blames him for his loss, and his pain. An accidental "meeting" that you have to read about brings him into contact with Tracy Campbell. Frankly, she is pretty mad at God too, in a bit of a different way. Both of them have anger in common, and a whole lot of tragedy to cope with. Hope Harbor Cranberries, a big 80 acre spread could use some mega help as well. 

It's a rather good story that includes healing, forgiveness, moving on and letting God work in the lives of His kids. My copy came from Revell in exchange for my honest review and nothing more. 

Carol :) 

ABOUT THE BOOK


Tracy Campbell never wanted to leave Hope Harbor, Oregon, or the idyllic three-generation cranberry farm where she grew up. But life--and love--altered her plans. When tragedy strikes and changes her plans yet again, she finds herself back in her hometown with a floundering farm to run and a heartbreaking secret. Romance is not on her agenda. Nor is it on Michael Hunter's. The visitor from Chicago has daunting secrets of his own. But when Tracy recruits him to help save a struggling charitable organization, the winds of change begin to sweep through Hope Harbor, bringing healing, hope, and love to countless lives--including their own.


Fan favorite Irene Hannon brings a whole new cast of characters to life in a charming Oregon seaside village. Emotional and heartwarming, this story invites readers to come home to Hope Harbor, where love and hope bloom--and hearts heal.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Hope Harbor, go HERE.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Irene Hannon is a bestselling, award-winning author who took the publishing world by storm at the tender age of 10 with a sparkling piece of fiction that received national attention.


Okay…maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But she was one of the honorees in a complete-the-story contest conducted by a national children’s magazine. And she likes to think of that as her “official” fiction-writing debut!


Since then, she has written more than 45 romantic suspense and contemporary romance/women’s fiction novels. She is a seven-time finalist and three-time winner of the RITA award—the “Oscar” of romantic fiction—and a member of Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Her books have also won a Daphne du Maurier award, a Carol award, three HOLT Medallions, a National Readers’ Choice award, a Retailers Choice award, two Booksellers’ Best awards and two Reviewers’ Choice awards from RT Book Reviews magazine. One of her novels was also named by Booklist as a top 10 inspirational fiction books of 2011. In addition, she is a two-time Christy award finalist.


Irene, who holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in journalism, juggled two careers for many years until she gave up her executive corporate communications position with a Fortune 500 company to write full. She is happy to say she has no regrets!


In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, gardening and singing.  A trained vocalist, she has sung the leading role in numerous musicals, including “South Pacific,” “Brigadoon,” “Oklahoma” “The King and I” and “Anything Goes.” She is also a soloist at her church.

When not otherwise occupied, Irene and her husband enjoy traveling, Saturday mornings at their favorite coffee shop and spending time with family. They make their home in Missouri.

Irene can be reached through the Contact link on her Website 

You can find it here on Amaon: 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0800724526