Finished Reading - A Cookie Before Dying

Description (from back cover):

Olivia Greyson is the proud owner of The Gingerbread House-a quaint shop that specializes in all things cookie-and her best friend, Maddie, is her sidekick, baking up scrumptious treats for their cookie-themed parties. But there's no sugarcoating a fellow shop owner's terrible temper...

One morning Livie's lawn is covered with what looks like a generous sprinkling of confectioner's sugar, but in fact are balled-up flyers reading SUGAR KILLS. She assumes they were distributed by Charlene Critch, the uptight owner of The Vegetable Plate. When Livie heads to Charlene's store, she finds the place trashed and catches sight of a man running out the back door.

Charlene refuses to believe Livie's story about hte intruder, and the feud between the two escalates when Maddie celebrates the harvest with cookies shaped like fruits and vegetables, setting Charlene off again. Could Charlene be hiding a secret serious enough to kill for? Responding to a dog howling on a stormy night, Livie and her Yorker, Spunky, discover the body of a man who was stabbed to death-and looks suspiciously like the one who fled Charlene's store. Perhaps sugar is not all that kills...

Book Stats
Title: A Cookie Before Dying
series: A Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery
Author: Virginia Lowell
publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Mystery (Penguin)
ISBN: 978-0425245019
date published: December 2011
format: Mass Market Paperback
genre: cozy mystery
pages: 304

Grade: C
Ages: publisher says 18+, I say 16 +/-

My Stats
Date Finished: Jan 30
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase
print or electronic
if new...purchased at - Target
challenge & just because (just because I loved the first in the series, waited to read because it would fit several challenges for 2012)


Reviewed at...
Book Dragon's Lair
amazon
Powell's
Fictionwise/eReader
Book Depository
Barnes & Noble
publisher
GoodReads
LibraryThing
Shelfari

Challenges
150+
One Million Pages Read
Cruisin' thru the Cozies
50 States/Where are you reading
Mystery/Suspense
12 in 12
The Eclectic Reader
Around the Stacks
Foodies

copyright Gina Francis 2009-2012

Finished Reading - Hidden Summit

Description (from author's website):

ROMANCE UNDER CONSTRUCTION...

Sick of running into her cheery ex-husband and his new wife, Leslie Petruso accepts a job at the Virgin River branch of Haggerty Construction and takes the high road right out of town. Now she’s got Paul Haggerty’s business running like a well-oiled machine. In fact, things are so busy Paul jumps at the chance to hire an extra set of hands.

Just like Leslie, Conner Danson has been burned by love. But Leslie was disappointed by her relationship going bad, Conner was decimated. He’s got no time for woman...although he spends an awful lot of time pretending not to notice Leslie. And she’s pretty busy “ignoring” the chemistry between them.

According to Conner and Leslie, they have only one thing in common—they’re done with love. But everyone in Virgin River can see that things are heating up at Haggerty Construction. And as far as Paul Haggerty can tell, the best thing he can do is hang on to his hard hat and watch the sparks fly!

Book Stats
Title: Hidden Summit
Series: Virgin River
Author: Robyn Carr
publisher: Mira
ISBN: 978-0778313007
date published: January 2012
format: Mass Market Paperback
genre: romance
pages: 352

Grade: A


My Stats
Date Finished: January 30
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase
print or electronic
if new...purchased at Target
challenge or just because


Reviewed at...
Book Dragon's Lair
amazon
Powell's
Fictionwise/eReader
Book Depository
Barnes & Noble
publisher
GoodReads
LibraryThing
Shelfari

Challenges

150+
One Million Pages
Romance
A to Z
Read 52 books in 52 Weeks

copyright Gina Francis 2009-2012

Finished Reading - Virgin River

Description (from author's website):

WANTED: Midwife/nurse practitioner in Virgin River, population six hundred. Make a difference against a backdrop of towering California redwoods and crystal-clear rivers. Rent-free cabin included.

When the recently widowed Melinda Monroe sees this ad she quickly decides that the remote mountain town of Virgin River might be the perfect place to escape her heartache, and to re-energize the nursing career she loves. But her high hopes are dashed within an hour of arriving: the cabin is a dump, the roads are treacherous and the local doctor wants nothing to do with her. Realizing she’s made a huge mistake, Mel decides to leave town the following morning.

But a tiny baby, abandoned on a front porch, changes her plans...and a former marine cements them into place.

Melinda Monroe may have come to Virgin River looking for escape, but instead she finds her home.

Book Stats
Title: Virgin River
Series: Virgin River
Author: Robyn Carr
publisher: Mira
ISBN: 978-0778324904
date published: April 2007
format: Mass Market Paperback
genre: romance
pages: 416

Grade: A


My Stats
Date Finished: January 27
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase
print or electronic
if new...purchased at
challenge or just because


Reviewed at...
Book Dragon's Lair
amazon
Powell's
Fictionwise/eReader
Book Depository
Barnes & Noble
publisher
GoodReads
LibraryThing
Shelfari

Challenges
A to Z
150+
One Million Pages
Romance
Winter's Respite
Harlequin
Monthly Mix-up Mania
50 States/Where are you Reading

copyright Gina Francis 2009-2012

Finished Reading - A Three Dog Life

Description (from author's website):

When Abigail Thomas’s husband, Rich, was hit by a car, his brain shattered. Subject to rages, terrors, and hallucinations, he must live the rest of his life in an institution. He has no memory of what he did the hour, the day, the year before. This tragedy is the ground on which Abigail had to build a new life. How she built that life is a story of great courage and great change, of moving to a small country town, of a new family composed of three dogs, knitting, and friendship, of facing down guilt and discovering gratitude. It is also about her relationship with Rich, a man who lives in the eternal present, and the eerie poetry of his often uncanny perceptions. This wise, plainspoken, beautiful book enacts the truth Abigail discovered in the five years since the accident: You might not find meaning in disaster, but you might, with effort, make something useful of it.

Book Stats
Title: A Three Dog Night
Author: Abigail Thomas
publisher: Harvest Books
ISBN-10: 0156033232
date published: September 15, 2007
format: trade paperback
genre: Memoir
pages: 183 plus group discussion question
ages: 16 +/- any interested, really

Grade: B

My Stats
Date Finished: January 26
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase
print or electronic
if new...purchased at
challenge or and just because


Reviewed at...
nowhere yet
Book Dragon's Lair
amazon
Powell's
Fictionwise/eReader
Book Depository
Barnes & Noble
publisher
GoodReads
LibraryThing
Shelfari

ChallengesOne Million Pages
150+
Memorable Memoirs
What's in a Name
A to Z

copyright Gina Francis 2009-2012

Finished Reading - Nitt Witt Hill

Description:

What's causing the country and now the President to lose their crackers and voters to elect Nitt Witts? Clowns and Turkeys are running Congress and the Nitt Witts are everywhere. But will one more Clown in Congress make any difference? Would the country be better off with some real Turkeys instead of those Clowns? Or are the Nitt Witts destined to run Washington? Set on historic Nitt Witt Ridge in Cambria, California and Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., Sebastian Gibson's satire paints the absurdities of the political world and of daily life with his unique sense of humor. The top political parties have degenerated into the Nitt Witts, the Turkeys and the Clown Party and the country is becoming deranged. Unless Mark Twain (Mark, a political consultant and his dog, Twain) can determine what's making people so neurotic and make sense of the madness, riots may cause the country's collapse. The Clowns are running for office with the slogan, "One more Clown in Congress probably won't make any difference." The Turkey candidates are running against the Clowns with their counter slogan, "Isn't it time we had some real Turkeys in office instead of those Clowns?" But it's the Nitt Witt Party who may have the most appeal to voters with their slogan, "Elect a Nitt Witt and see what some real Nitt Witts can do in Washington." Meanwhile, believing a lightweight metal alloy in bras when placed in contact with the wearer's skin is causing electrostatic interference with aircraft navigation equipment and with people themselves, Homeland Security and the Senate take action to prohibit the wearing of bras on airplanes and their sale in America. Still, the situation fails to improve and the country is on the verge of losing its collective mind. With the rhetoric of political parties at a level never seen before ("Turkeys are made for stuffing, Clowns are for Congress") and as protesters riot over the right to wear or go without bras and try to take control of the White House it's up to Mark and his dog Twain to determine the cause of the country's mental imbalance and find a way to save the country. Read the novel that's making Washington laugh so hard, Congress can't accomplish anything. It all begins and ends on Nitt Witt Hill.

Book Stats
Title: Nitt Witt Hill
Author: Sebastian Gibson
publisher: Sebastian Gibson Publishing
ISBN: 978-0984777624
date published: Feb 1, 2012
format: Trade paperback
genre: political humor
248 pages

Grade: B

as for age...I'd say 14+, use your own judgement, this is a political book but I say if they're interested, let them read it.


My Stats
Date Finished: Jan 24
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase Tour
print or electronic
if new...purchased at
challenge or just because tour but fit several challenges


Reviewed at, so far...
Book Dragon's Lair
amazon
Powell's
Fictionwise/eReader
Book Depository
Barnes & Noble
publisher
GoodReads
LibraryThing
Shelfari

Challenges
What's in a Name (land formation)
Free Reads
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks
A to Z mini challenge
Personal ARC read and review
Winter's Respite Read-a-thon
150+

copyright Book Dragon's Lair 2009-2012

Finished Reading - Under the Willow

Description (from publisher):

Shane and Cody -- two high school seniors, one growing up lonely and abused on a struggling horse farm, the other a privileged sports star. Each carefully hides a secret truth about himself. Both are unaware of the undercurrents beneath the surface of their quiet Vermont town, currents from the society hidden in the woods, by the streams, in the mountains, and even in the air around them.

Shane and Cody -- both chosen to become part of the culture hidden nearby, but chosen by opposite sides in an elemental struggle that has been underway since the beginning of time. It's up to them to forge a bond between the two groups despite the danger, not just to unite them, but to save them all from the dangers posed by humans who are destroying the world that keeps everyone alive.

Shane and Cody -- who must find their own peace with each other in a world more complicated than they've ever dreamed. A world which is also more wonderful than they've ever imagined.

Book Stats
Title: Under the Willow
Author: Kari Jo Spear
publisher: Prism Press (imprint of Torquere Press)
ISBN: 978-1-61040-242-2
ISBN: 9781610402507 (trade paperback)
date published: June 2011
format: ebook
genre: Urban Fantasy (paranormal romance, m/m, Faerie)
pages: 173
ages: 16+

Grade: A


My Stats
Date Finished: Jan 17
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase
print or electronic
if new...purchased at
challenge or just because but waited to read for challenge


Reviewed at...
none, yet

Challenges
150+
ebooks (2)
A to Z
Mt TBR
Off the Shelf
TBR Double Dare
Where are you reading?
50 States
Paranormal
Romance
Paranormal Romance
Immortal (Faerie)
Monthly Mix-up Mania

copyright Gina Francis 2009-2012

Finished Reading - the Ladybug Jinx

Description (from amazon):

Celia Briggs has always lived her life for everyone but herself. With the death of Celia’s mom, Celia realizes life is too short not to follow her dreams. In her small town of Grandberry Falls, Kentucky-Celia decides to open up, The Ladybug Florist, which is only fitting due to her love of flowers and ladybugs.

How can she not love ladybugs? Her deceased grandfather always said ladybugs bring luck and love.

Marty Briggs, Celia’s father, never dreamed his life as Grandberry Falls' only flower delivery boy is harder than the job he’s retired from.

Sam Barber jumps in his car leaving his Hollywood life behind. He didn’t know stopping in the cozy town of Grandberry Falls, was about to change his life forever. Especially after answering the help wanted ad at The Ladybug Florist and giving a fake name so no one would recognize him.

Celia knows something is up Sam’s sleeve. Why would a thirty-year old man want to deliver flowers? Marty doesn’t care, he’s just happy to be retired-again.

Will Celia ever figure out Sam’s true identity? Does Sam reveal the big family secret Celia’s parents have kept from her all her life?

Celia’s about to find out if ladybugs are lucky or a jinx?

Book Stats
Title: The Ladybug Jinx
series: Grandberry Falls
Author: Tonya Kappes
publisher: amazon
ISBN:
ASIN: B0055HG1HE
date published:
format: kindle
genre: romance, contemporary,
pages: 173

The sequel, Carpe Bead ‘Em, is available


My Stats
Date Finished: Jan 16
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase
print or electronic
if new...purchased at
challenge or just because, but it fits several challenges


Reviewed at...
none

Challenges
Romance
50 States
Where are you Reading?
150+
ebook
Mt TBR
Read Your Own Books
Off the Shelves
TBR Double Dare
What's in a Name?

copyright Gina Francis 2009-2012

Finished Reading - Carrots

Description (from amazon):

Shelby Nichols is an average woman who is married to the only guy she ever fell for. Her life is organized and predictable, revolving around her husband and two children. All that changes the day she stops at the grocery store for some carrots. As the cashier rings up her purchases, a gunman is busy robbing the bank inside the store. When a customer grabs the robber's mask, he is shot and everyone runs for cover. Everyone except Shelby, who finds herself face to face with the killer. The next thing she knows, she's lying on the floor with a bullet wound to her head. Luckily, the bullet only grazes her scalp, and she doesn't suspect any lasting affects until later, when she suddenly 'hears' what people are thinking. With this uncanny ability, her life takes on a whole new dimension. Her kids think she's bossy and too old to understand them, but that's nothing compared to her husband. He says he loves her, but what is it about the redhead at work that he doesn't want her to know? As if that isn't enough, the gunman knows she can identify him, and he's out to silence her forever. In her fight to stay alive, she is saved from certain death by a handsome hit-man with ties to organized crime. This pulls Shelby even deeper into danger, where knowing someone's thoughts can not only hurt your feelings, but get you killed.

Book Stats
Title: Carrots
A Shelby Nichols Adventure
Author: Colleen Helme
publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 978-1456414146
date published: February 23, 2011
format: Kindle
genre: Paranormal, Suspense, Detective, Women Sleuths
pages: 220

The sequel, Fast Money, now available


My Stats
Date Finished: Jan 16
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase
print or electronic
if new...purchased at
challenge and just because


Reviewed at...
Book Dragon's Lair
amazon
Powell's
Fictionwise/eReader
Book Depository
Barnes & Noble
publisher
GoodReads
LibraryThing
Shelfari

Challenges
52-52-52
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks
150+
Mystery/Suspense
Free Reads
Why Buy the Cow
Mt TBR
Off the Shelves
TBR Double Dare
Read Your Own Books
Foodie

copyright Gina Francis 2009-2012

Finished Reading - Deep Disclosure

Description (from back cover):

After spending years in prison under deep cover, black ops agent Tucker Flynn joins A-Tac, an elite CIA unit masquerading as faculty at an Ivy League college. Nothing can shake him-except a vulnerable young woman marked for death.

Dual Deception

When Tucker is assigned to protect-and secretly investigate-Alexis Markham, he expects a routine mission. But this mysterious beauty has a past even darker than his: her father created a horrifying new biochemical weapon-and was murdered to keep it secret.

Alexis has spent the last decade racing to stay one step ahead of the shadowy operatives who will stop at nothing to possess her father's formula. She can trust no one, not even her handsome new bodyguard. But the heat that flares between them is impossible to resist. Will giving in to passion bring her the safety she's always craved, or will her love for Tucker draw him into a killer's sights?

Book Stats
Title: Deep Disclosure
series: A-Tac
Author: Dee Davis
publisher: Forever (Hachette's Grand Central)
ISBN: 9780446582926
date published: August 2011
format: Mass Market Paperback
genre: Romantic Suspense
pages: 336
18+ (maybe high school, some sex, lots of violence)

Grade: B

My Stats
Date Finished: Jan 10
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase gift from my Secret Santa!
print or electronic
if new...purchased at
challenge & just because


Reviewed at...
Book Dragon's Lair
amazon
Powell's
Fictionwise/eReader
Book Depository
Barnes & Noble
publisher
GoodReads
LibraryThing
Shelfari

Challenges
150+
A to Z
Romance
Romantic Suspense
Mystery & Suspense
TBR Double Dare
Mt TBR
Read Your Own Books
Off the Shelf
Unread Book
Free Reads

copyright Gina Francis 2009-2012

Finished Reading - The Hawk and His Boy

Description (from author's website):

The first book of the Tormay Trilogy, The Hawk and His Boy begins the story of Jute, a young thief who is hired to steal an old wooden box from a rich man’s house. On pain of death, he is instructed by his masters to not open the box. Being a curious boy, he opens the box and finds a knife inside. He accidentally cuts his finger on the blade and thus begins a series of events that soon has him on the run from his former masters in the Thieves Guild, the rich man (a particularly vindictive wizard), and the Guild’s original and anonymous client who hired them to steal the box in the first place. The client, who happens to be the Lord of Darkness himself, will do anything to catch Jute, even if it means plunging the entire land of Tormay into war.

Book Stats
Title: The Hawk And His Boy
Series: The Tormay Trilogy
Author: Christopher Bunn
publisher:
ASIN: B004DCB5SC
date published:
format: ebook
genre: Fantasy-Historical
pages: 217


My Stats
Date Finished: Jan 9
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase
print or electronic
if new...purchased at
challenge & just because


Reviewed at...
Book Dragon's Lair
amazon
Powell's
Fictionwise/eReader
Book Depository
Barnes & Noble
publisher
GoodReads
LibraryThing
Shelfari

Challenges
purchased just because (it was free at the time) then joined a challenge it fit

What's in a Name (sky related)
ebook
150+
Why Buy the Cow?
Free Reads

copyright Gina Francis 2009-2012

Finished Reading - Christmas Haven

Description (from back cover):

His to Protect

Shock is police captain Morgan Wright's first reaction to seeing his former sweetheart, Julie Burns. But concern soon follows. The lovely social worker left Port Whisper behind years ago. Why is she back...and what's got her so scared?

Her hometown was the only safe place Julie could turn to after witnessing a kidnapping. She didn't count on trouble following her. and she certainly didn't expect to run into Morgan, or to feel that old love rekindle. Morgan wants to help her, and she wants to let him - but now that danger has intruded on her safe haven, everyone's at risk....

Book Stats
Title: Christmas Haven
Author: Hope White
publisher: Harlequin - Love Inspired
ISBN: 978-0-373-44466-3
date published: Nov 2011
format: Mass Market Paperback
genre: Inspirational Romantic Suspense
pages: 221 plus 14 discussion questions
ages: personal guess... 12+ (clean suspense, drug use mentioned, two kisses)

My Stats
Date Finished: Jan 4, 2012.....first book of the year
fiction or non-fiction
new or re-read
own or borrowed or review
from the shelf or new purchase
print or electronic
if new...purchased at Target
challenge or just because - picked up then realized it fit several challenges so I waited


Reviewed at...
Book Dragon's Lair
amazon
Powell's
Fictionwise/eReader
Book Depository
Barnes & Noble
publisher
GoodReads
LibraryThing
Shelfari

Challenges
Harlequin/Silhouette
Romantic Suspence
Read & Review
50 States
Where are you reading?
Mt TBR
Read Your Own Books
Off the Shelf
TBR Double Dare

copyright Gina Francis 2009-2012