Review, Excerpt & Giveaway: Shadow of Doubt by Linda Poitevin

Publisher: Hachette Audio
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 26th, 2017 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Audible | Audiobook Store | Bandcamp |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

SHADOW OF DOUBT is a new release from Hachette Audiobooks: Powered by Wattpad - an innovative collaboration between Hachette Book Group, a leading publisher, and Wattpad, a passionate storytelling community of over 45 million people. Your favorite online stories, now available in your headphones!

Helping him could end her career...
And her life.

Sworn to uphold the law, police officer Kate Dexter believes in doing the right thing. But when she meets an injured, altogether too sexy ATF agent, her entire world is turned upside down.

Jonas Burke is a wanted man. Framed for murder, he needs sanctuary--now. Finding it in the arms of a beautiful, feisty fellow cop isn't exactly his best plan, but he's desperate and wounded, and time is running out for him to prove his innocence. Armed with a little more than a conspiracy theory, Jonas has no choice but to ask for Kate's help.

Kate is torn between her duty to "serve and protect" and her growing desire for this man on the run. With her colleagues in pursuit and Jonas's enemies closing in, she and Jonas will have to work together if they want to survive. But can she really trust him beyond a shadow of doubt?

Release Day Review & Excerpt: Such A Pretty Girl by Tess Diamond

Publisher: Avon Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 26th, 2017 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Avon | Book Depository* | Google Play | Kobo | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

In a gripping romantic thriller from Tess Diamond, an FBI profiler becomes a killer’s deadly obsession…

In Grace Sinclair’s bestselling crime novels, the good guys win and the bad guys always get caught. As the FBI’s top profiler, she knows that real life is rarely so straightforward. But her new case isn’t just brutal—it’s also personal. The victims look like Grace. And the FBI recruit assigned to her team is trouble of another kind.

This isn’t how Special Agent Gavin Walker imagined running into Grace again. Two years ago they shared one earth-shattering night, then she vanished from his life. She’s brilliant, fiercely independent, and in mortal danger from a killer masterminding a twisted game …

The body count is rising. Entangled in the case and in each other, Gavin and Grace are running out of time and chances. And as Grace puts the pieces together, she knows she’ll have to confront her own deepest secrets before the final, fatal move is played.

Bea Reviews You Say It First & Second Chance Girl by Susan Mallery

Series: Happily Inc. #1
Publisher: HQN Books 
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: August 22nd, 2017 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fool's Gold romances invites you to visit Happily Inc., a wedding destination founded on a fairy tale

Sculptor Nick Mitchell grew up in a family of artists and learned from his volatile father that passion only leads to pain. As he waits on a new commission, he takes a day job as a humble carpenter at a theme wedding venue. The job has its perks—mainly the venue's captivating owner, Pallas Saunders. Although he won't let love consume him, for ecstasy with an expiration date, he's all in.

Pallas adores Weddings in a Box. But if she can't turn the floundering business around, she'll have no choice but cave to her domineering mother and trade taffeta for trust funds working at the family's bank. Then when a desperate bride begs Pallas for something completely out of the box, her irresistible new hire inspires her. Nick knows she doesn't belong behind a desk, and she knows in her heart that he's right—where she really belongs is in his arms.

Banned Books Week 2017 - Some Celebrations and Links

It's time again for the annual Banned Books Week, a celebration of our right to choose what to read, sponsored by the American Library Association and other groups. This year's theme or emphasis is on the importance of the First Amendment. This focus was chosen due to an increase in complaints and challenges in 2016. “Our Right To Read” is "a celebration of the diverse range of ideas found in books, and our right as citizens to make our own intellectual choices." Curious what the most challenged books were last year? There's a top 10 list here.

Bea Reviews ABCs of Physics And ABCs of Mathematics by Chris Ferrie

Series: Baby University
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 3rd, 2017

Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

The ABC's of Physics introduces a new physics concept for every letter of the alphabet, all the way from Atom to Zero-point energy.

Bea Reviews Contracted Defense by Piper J Drake

Series: Safeguard #3
Publisher: Carina Press
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 11th, 2017 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Google Play | Kobo  | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Time is running out and the enemy is at the gate.

Adam Hicks may be the rookie at Safeguard, but he’s no novice in the field. Retired from active duty after multiple tours and back fresh from a brief rest in New Zealand, he’s itching to return to action. But the challenge he hoped for arrives in an unexpected form: his sexy yet stern new partner.

The last thing Victoria Ash wants is to work with the new guy—especially one as gorgeous as Adam. His relaxed attitude about their first “easy” assignment together—setting up a private home defense network for a reclusive client—doesn’t impress her. Easy usually means trouble. She’s proved right when Adam discovers that the multiple incursions on the physical and cyber security systems aren’t just glitches. They’re under attack…and there’s a traitor in their midst.

As tension mounts, so does the attraction between Victoria and Adam. They must protect their client and the research he’s desperately trying to keep secret. Working together, they have to find the mole before their defense measures, in the fortress and online, are compromised and the deadly secrets they’ve sworn to protect are revealed.

Happy 80th Birthday to The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien!

My print  copies of The Hobbit and one of my teacups

80 years ago today a delightful little book by an English professor was released and became not only an instant hit but a lasting success and a classic. Little people who lived in holes in the ground, different little people who lived underground mining, mysterious folk of the woods, fire breathing lizards who guarded their hoard, a twisted lonely creature who loved riddles; yes, I'm talking about The Hobbit. It was first published on September 21, 1937.

I grew up reading myths and fairy tales, soaking up heroes and monsters like a sponge soaks up water. But I didn't discover fantasy until 5th grade when my English teacher would take time at the end of class to read from The Hobbit. To be honest, I don't remember what we learned that year but I remember her reading this book. She didn't read it everyday but on those days when she got through her lesson plan early and we'd behaved, she would read aloud to us. At that rate, it took most of the school year but I was hooked. My parents, one of whom was also an English teacher, happily bought me my own copy.

I loved everything about The Hobbit - the world, the humor, the adventures, the people, the excitement and the wonder and the thrills. And the dragon! I loved dragons in the myths and fairy tales I'd read but encountering one in more recent writings was exciting. Later I moved to The Lord of Rings which was a different, more sober take on Tolkien's world but was still exciting and full adventure and wondrous beings. But The Hobbit holds a special place in my heart to this day. I own multiple editions but sadly it's been years since I read any of them. I think it's time for a re-read. And tea and cakes of course.

image found on Pinterest

Bea Reviews Doom with a View by Kate Kingsbury

Series: Merry Ghost Inn Mystery #2
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 12th, 2017 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Kobo | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

With the arrival of six senior reading group members at the Merry Ghost Inn, the long-awaited Grand Opening week has finally begun for Melanie West and her grandmother, Liza. All is well with the Oregon coast-side B&B until Melanie's dog, Max, finds the dead body of one of their guests. Everyone at the inn immediately falls under suspicion, including the innkeepers themselves. Melanie and Liza are not sure who they can trust, and the idea of cohabitating with a murderer is enough to send chills down anyone's spine. To make matters worse, the curmudgeonly town detective wants them to steer clear of the investigation, but doesn't seem too inspired to solve the case in a timely fashion himself. To clear their own names and to avoid the blight on the inn's reputation that yet another dead body will bring, Melanie and Liza dive headlong into the murder investigation. With a little help from their chuckling ghost, Melanie and Liza dodge the detective, tip-toe around their suspicious guests, and still serve up delicious Bed & Breakfast meals on time in Kate Kingsbury's delightful second Merry Ghost Inn mystery, Doom with a View.