Please Stay

My Rating: 5/5

Review: Maggie Stiefvater is a sorceress with words, and I am completely and utterly enchanted. I am also so very anxious for the next book in this series. My heart is aching right now! Linger is much darker than Shiver, but still very very good. Sam just breaks my heart with his sweetness, Grace is such a treasure, Cole is an intriguing new character, and Isabel is so much more than the cold bitch she likes to make everyone think she is. These characters are the heart of the story. They make me want to read more. Of course, there are the wolves and the mystery of whether or not there is a cure. There's those beautiful woods that Grace likes to escape to as well. Oh how I wish I could take a walk through their misty depths. I'm so caught up in Grace and Sam's story that I know I will have to buy the next book as soon as it comes out because I couldn't possibly wait for it to come into the library.

Book Description: In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love - the light and the dark, the warm and the cold - in a way you will never forget.

Treasure Hunt!

My Rating: 4/5

Review: This book is definitely not a fast read, but it's well worth the effort. It has a little bit of everything: mystery, intrigue, adventure, suspense, romance, history, and even a little fantasy/sci-fi thrown in for good measure. I liked the adventure side of things the most, although Caleb's constant ups and downs got so frustrating. I like Caleb, though, and I am looking forward to reading more of his and the Morpheus Initiative's adventures.

Book Description: A legendary treasure chamber hidden beneath the ancient Pharos Lighthouse has defied discovery for over two thousand years...Until Caleb Crowe and his team of psychic archaeologists dare the impossible.

Beware the Cyclops!

My Rating: 4/5

Review: This was quite an adventure for Percy Jackson, and I loved the shocking twist at the end.

Book Description: Percy Jackson's seventh-grade year has been surprisingly quiet. Not a single monster has set foot on his New York prep school campus. But when an innocent game of dodgeball among Percy and his classmates turns into a death match against an ugly gang of cannibal giants, things get well, ugly. And the unexpected arrival of Percy's friend Annabeth brings more bad news: the magical borders that protect Camp Half-Blood have been poisoned by a mysterious enemy, and unless a cure is found, the only safe haven for demigods will be destroyed. Percy and his friends must journey into the Sea of Monsters to save their beloved camp. But first, Percy will discover a stunning new secret about his family one that makes him wonder whether being claimed as Poseidon's son is an honor, or simply...

Showdown in Appaloosa

My Rating: 4/5

Review: Yet another great western featuring Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. These guys are handy to have around when your town is getting out of hand. Amos Callico is power hungry, and wants the growing town of Appaloosa to be his starting point for the road to eventual presidency. Problem is, he has a nasty way of going about it. Enter Cole and Everett. I love their conversations, their way with guns, and their fearless pursuit of doing what they think is right. This was bittersweet for me, since Parker died not too long ago (we'll miss you Robert B.), but it's a fine ending to a great little series.

Book Description: Law enforcement in Appaloosa had once been Virgil Cole and me. Now there was a chief of police and twelve policemen. Our third day back in town, the chief invited us to the office for a talk.

The new chief is Amos Callico: a tall, fat man in a derby hat, wearing a star on his vest and a big pearl-handled Colt inside his coat. An ambitious man with his eye on the governorship-and perhaps the presidency-he wants Cole and Hitch on his side. But they can't be bought, which upsets him mightily.

When Callico begins shaking down local merchants for protection money, those who don't want to play along seek the help of Cole and Hitch. But the guns for hire are thorns in the side of the power-hungry chief. When they are forced to fire on the trigger-happy son of a politically connected landowner, Callico sees his dream begin to crumble. There will be a showdown-but who'll be left standing?

Unforgettable

My Rating: 5/5

Review: This was such a beautifully written story about war and love and terrible loss. Mary Sutter is a strong, independent woman, who will stop at nothing to achieve her goal. She is the best midwife in Albany like her mother before her, but she desperately wants to be a surgeon. This desperation will take her to Washington where the horrors of the Civil War is just beginning to be felt. She will face horrible struggles, tragic loss, exhausting work, grueling days and nights, and heart breaking sites. Robin Oliveira completely transfixed me with her words, and I had a hard time putting her book down. It will certainly stay with me for some time to come.

Book Description: In this stunning first novel, Mary Sutter is a brilliant, head­strong midwife from Albany, New York, who dreams of becoming a surgeon. Determined to overcome the prejudices against women in medicine-and eager to run away from her recent heartbreak- Mary leaves home and travels to Washington, D.C. to help tend the legions of Civil War wounded. Under the guidance of William Stipp and James Blevens-two surgeons who fall unwittingly in love with Mary's courage, will, and stubbornness in the face of suffering-and resisting her mother's pleas to return home to help with the birth of her twin sister's baby, Mary pursues her medical career in the desperately overwhelmed hospitals of the capital.

Heat, Nikki Heat

My Rating: 4/5

Review: I am a huge fan of the show, Castle, so this book was a fun treat for me. It was basically like watching an episode of the show, but I enjoyed it immensely. One of my favorite things about Castle, is the constant sparing between the two main characters, and that certainly transcends onto the pages of this book. Not only do you get to enjoy a little humor along with some great characters, but an exciting mystery to solve as well. If you like the show, you'll love the book.

Book Description: A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife with a past survives a narrow escape from a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls with no shortage of reasons to kill trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the dirty little secrets of the wealthy. Secrets that prove to be fatal. Secrets that lay hidden in the dark until one NYPD detective shines a light.