New Additions To The TBR Pile In July

Title: A Spirited Tail by Leighann Dobbs
Description: Middle-aged bookstore owner Willa Chance is looking forward to the opportunity of appraising a valuable private library that hasn't seen the light of day for fifty years ... until she finds a dead body in the backyard and the ghost of the home's previous owner anxiously waiting for her inside.

Hampered by the persistent ghost who insists on keeping secrets from her, Willa navigates a sea of confusing clues as she struggles to uncover the connection between the recent murder and two murders fifty years ago.

Is the answer contained in the secret she found in the library? Or the unusual bequest left by the long-dead owner of the house? Or maybe it has something to do with the mysterious journal that everyone seems to be after.

Once again, Willa's cat Pandora has to help her figure out the clues, while she and the other cats of Mystic Notch try to keep vital mystical knowledge from getting into the wrong hands.

Can Willa discover the identity of the killer in time or will she end up being the fourth victim?

Title: Bride For A Time by Audrey Adair
Description: Jaime Abernathy's life has been turned upside-down -- she no longer has a boyfriend, a job, or a place to live, but has a yearning for something that she can't quite place. She decides to follow her heart to Scotland, the home of her ancestors. Her parents have passed, and she feels called to the place of her roots. Her first morning there, while out walking in the woods of her ancestral family home, she falls and awakens in the 16th Century, in the arms of Alec McDermont.

Alec is soon to be Laird of the McDermonts. He is to be married to the wretched Alexandra Gillie of a warring clan in a pretence of creating peace, but he senses something trecherous. He'll do anything to keep the marriage from happening, and when he finds Jaime in the woods, he senses a way out.

Jaime doesn't believe she's in the 16th century. Alec doesn't believe she's time traveled. But their feelings for each other pull them closer together as everything else is tearing them apart. Will they find happily ever after?

REVIEW: This Man by Jodi Ellen Malpas

Title: This Man (This Man #1)
Author: Jodi Ellen Malpas
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: October, 2012
Genre: Erotica
Buy The Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Description: Young interior designer Ava O’Shea has an appointment for a first consultation at The Manor with the owner, Mr. Jesse Ward. She is expecting nothing more than an overweight, cravat wearing, well-to-do countryman, and on arrival, nothing would suggest otherwise. How wrong could she be? This Man is devastatingly handsome, charming and confident. He is also a conceited, hedonistic playboy, who knows no boundaries. Ava desperately does not want to be attracted to him, but she can’t control the overwhelming effect he has on her. Every instinct is telling her to run, so she does, but Jesse Ward is not so willing to let her go. He wants her and is determined to have her. She knows she is heading for heartbreak, but how can she run when he won’t let her?

My Thoughts: Well, whatever shock and surprise Ava had upon meeting Jesse Ward is nothing compared to how I felt when I met him. Where is my Jesse Ward? Yes, he’s damaged and broken, but I don’t care! The determination he possesses in his methodical pursuit and seduction of Ava had me shaking in my boots…oh wait, I don’t have any boots. The intense passion he demonstrates from the second he lays eyes on her is almost predatory. Show me a woman who doesn’t want a man to desire her like that and I will call her a liar to her face.

Ava wastes a lot of time trying to convince Jesse and herself she doesn’t want him. Girl, why even bother? You know you are going to lose this debate, so either go for it or get the hell out of the way. Of course, most women are hoping that Jesse has some redeemable qualities and can be “fixed”. Please don’t fix him. I like his bad boy naughtiness and wouldn’t change a thing about him.

My Final Verdict: This is the first installment and there are loose ends galore here, so I have to get book #2 so I can find out what happens next now that Ava has learned some things about Jesse and has her panties all in a twist. It's off to a good start, so if you want some heat and more heat in your reading, this is a good choice.

REVIEW: Killer Ambition by Marcia Clark

Title: Killer Ambition (Rachel Knight #3)
Author: Marcia Clark
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: June, 2013
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy The Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible

Description: When the daughter of a billionaire Hollywood director is found murdered after what appears to be a kidnapping gone wrong, Los Angeles Special Trials prosecutor Rachel Knight and Detective Bailey Keller find themselves at the epicenter of a combustible and high-profile court case. Then a prime suspect is revealed to be one of Hollywood's most popular and powerful talent managers--and best friend to the victim's father. With the director vouching for the manager's innocence, the Hollywood media machine commences an all-out war designed to discredit both Rachel and her case. KILLER AMBITION is at once a thrilling ride through the darker side of Tinseltown and a stunning courtroom drama with the brilliant insider's perspective that Marcia Clark is uniquely qualified to give.

My Thoughts: Killer Ambition by Marcia Clark is the third installment in the Rachel Knight series. One of my favorite things about this series is not that it’s a Rachel Knight series. No, Marcia Clark, does better and goes one step further by writing a series with several characters that the reader gets to know and bond with.

This story packs a punch right in the feels when Rachel and Bailey are brought in to investigate the murder of the daughter of a Hollywood mover and shaker after it appears she has been kidnapped. This story hit me hard because the victim is so young and it bothers me when life is snuffed out so needlessly, but even more so when the victim is young and has so much life to live. The story delivers a swift kick when the prime suspect of the murder turns out to be the best friend of the victim’s father. My first thought, was “with friends like this, who needs enemies?”

As more details about the case emerge and the Hollywood machine gets ugly, I was so impressed with how Rachel and her posse continue to persevere and dig for the truth and not take anything at face value.

My Final Verdict: This is an amazing series that I highly recommend reading in order. I truly hope there will be more Rachel Knight stories, though there appears to only be four at this time. Marcia Clark writes intriguing stories with characters that are easy to relate to and connect with.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Killer Ambition from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

New Additions To The TBR Pile In June

Title: I Had A Nice Time And Other Lies…How to Find Love & Sh*t Like That by The Betches
Description: The New York Times bestselling authors of Nice Is Just a Place in France and creators of the online humor and advice phenomenon Betches.com and Instagram account @Betches return to explain the brutal truths of how to date like a true betch, with insights from the Head Pro. In the age of Tinder, Hinge, or any other dating app that matches you with randos, the dating game has grown complex and confusing. Cue the Betches—first, we helped you win at basically everything, and now we’re going to help you win the most important battle a betch can face: dating. Maybe you’re a Delusional Dater who needs to get in touch with reality (seriously, he’s just NOT that f***ing into you) or perhaps you’re a TGF who needs to stop being so desperate and start playing the game. Or maybe you’re just tired of swiping left and ready for the pro of your dreams to put a 15-karat diamond ring on it so you can stop pretending to do work. Either way, we’ve got you covered. So put away the Ben & Jerry’s fro-yo (just because it’s low fat doesn’t mean it’s okay to eat the whole tub) and start dating like a winner.

Title: Jack and Jill Went Downhill by R.J. Gould
Description: Jack and Jill meet on Freshers Big Party Night at university and for both of them it’s love at first sight. Despite their backgrounds, personalities and interests being poles apart, the relationship flourishes during their university years. It’s not quite as comfortable when their studies are over and they start work, Jack in the City and Jill as a teacher. Way back when they first met, they’d shared the joke that their names were those of the nursery rhyme. Down the line, they fail to recognise that their lives are matching the plot – Jack falls down and Jill comes tumbling after. Their relationship is on the rocks. Can it survive?

Title: My Big Fat Demon Slayer Wedding by Angie Fox
Description: Lizzie Brown is about to have the destination wedding of her dreams. But as this former preschool teacher knows, being a demon slayer makes everything more complicated. The vengeful Earl of Hell is still on her tail. And now it seems that one of the guests at the eccentric, seaside mansion is possessed and trying to kill her. Maybe she should just elope. The groom, studly shape-shifting griffin Dimitri Kallinikos, vows to protect her at all costs. Yet even he is acting suspiciously. And minions of the devil are popping up everywhere. Now Lizzie must protect her socialite mother, her Greek in-laws and her grandmother’s gang of biker witches – all of whom are convinced they know what’s best for her, and her big day. As the wedding draws closer, Lizzie has to learn who is behind the attacks – and fast – or risk losing everyone she loves.