Reviews – Page 53 – Rosepoint Publishing

A Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates #BlogTour #Spotlight #Giveaway

The Spook in the Stacks Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates

The Spook in the Stacks: A Lighthouse Library Mystery
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Crooked Lane Books (Happy Publication Day!! June 12, 2018)
Hardcover: 250 Pages
ISBN-13: 978-1683315803
Digital ASIN: B075QJ59PX

**I am super-excited today to provide a spotlight at my blog stop for The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.**

Book Blurb

Halloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks becomes seriously tricky when librarian Lucy Richardson stumbles across something extra unusual in the rare books section: a dead body.

Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it’s up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.

Meanwhile, very strange things are happening at the library―haunted horses are materializing in the marsh, the lights seem to have an eerie life of their own, and the tiny crew of a model ship appears to move around when no one is watching. Is Lucy at her wit’s end? Or can it be that the Bodie Island Lighthouse really is haunted?

With The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on everyone’s minds and ghoulish gossip on everyone’s lips, Lucy will need to separate the clues from the boos if she wants to crack this case without losing her head in The Spook in the Stacks, the delightful fourth in national bestseller Eva Gates’ Lighthouse Library mysteries.

Giveaway

The author will be giving away one (1) print copy of her book (US only) in this Rafflecopter giveaway!

About the Author

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than twenty-five books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing three cozy mystery series: the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House and, under the pen name of Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library series, for Crooked Lane Books.

Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is the past president of the Crime Writers of Canada. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.

Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com. On Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. Twitter @vickidelany @evagatesauthor

Purchase Links

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Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

June 10 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW

June 10 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW

June 10 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

June 11 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW, GUEST POST

June 11 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 12 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW

June 12 – Varietats – REVIEW, GUEST POST

June 12 – Rosepoint Publishing – SPOTLIGHT

June 13 – Sapphyria’s Books – REVIEW

June 13 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

June 13 – The Power of Words – REVIEW

June 14 – Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 14 – Readeropolis – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 15 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW

June 15 – Teresa Trent Author Blog – SPOTLIGHT

June 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 16 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW

June 16 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST

June 17 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 17 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT

June 18 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW

June 18 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 18 – The Book Diva’s Reads – CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 19 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW

June 19 – Curling up by the Fire – REVIEW

June 19 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 20 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW

June 20 – A Blue Million Books – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 20 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 21 – That’s What She’s Reading – REVIEW, GUEST POST

June 21 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

June 21 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 22 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 22 – The Montana Bookaholic – CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 22 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

June 23 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 23 – Island Confidential – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

I was granted a spotlight date of The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates through tour host Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours–thank you!

As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles by Leslie Budewitz – a #BlogTour #BookReview and #Giveaway

As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles (A Food Lovers’ Village Mystery)
Book Details:

Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Midnight Ink (June 8, 2018)
Paperback: 288 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0738752419
Digital ASIN: B075W25FNF

I am super-excited today to provide a review at my blog stop for As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles by Leslie Budewitz on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.

Book Blurb

Erin is one smart cookie, but can she keep the holiday spirit—and herself—alive till Christmas?

In Jewel Bay, all is merry and bright. At Murphy’s Mercantile, AKA the Merc, manager Erin Murphy is ringing in the holiday season with food, drink, and a new friend: Merrily Thornton. A local girl gone wrong, Merrily has turned her life around. But her parents have publicly shunned her, and they nurse a bitterness that chills Erin.

When Merrily goes missing and her boss discovers he’s been robbed, fingers point to Merrily—until she’s found dead, a string of lights around her neck. The clues and danger snowball from there. Can Erin nab the killer—and keep herself in one piece—in time for a special Christmas Eve?

Includes delicious recipes! Continue reading “As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles by Leslie Budewitz – a #BlogTour #BookReview and #Giveaway”

Dark Lava (Lei Crime, Book 7) – a #BookReview

Title: Dark Lava (Lei Crime, Book 7) by Toby Neal

Genre: Currently #1712 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Kindle eBooks, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery, Police Procedurals

Publication Date: July 7, 2014

Source: BookBub

Title and Cover: Dark Lava – Cover obviously depicts lava flow

I started reading the Lei Crime series back in 2014 with book 1, Blood Orchids, and have loved them all. Lei Texeira is a damaged but strong female protagonist. I’ve followed her journey in the Maui (Hawaii) Police Department as she’s climbed through the ranks. Along the way, she met Michael Stevens, also with the MPD. Their relationship was explosive, but they were obviously meant to be a couple. In book 7, they are newlyweds (finally!) and extremely committed to each other as well as their work. But Lei’s work has found her being volunteered for the bomb squad and that’s not a match that’s working well.

This installment sees Stevens participate in a much larger proportion of the story, while a parallel storyline follows Lei. In addition to the cases each encounter individually, they are met with major life-changing situations on both sides. On Stevens side, the baggage he brought with him into the relationship following their reuniting. On Lei’s side, her own family matters and the predicament presented by Stevens recent history. And that’s in addition to an underlying threat to them both regarding her previous police work.

Ms. Neal always incorporates scenes of Maui, the flora and fauna, the sights of the ocean’s unrelenting waves glistening in the sun, and the patois of the local population putting you square in the middle of the action. Information about the island and the native peoples figure heavily in this installment with Stevens investigation into the desecration of priceless artifacts.

Lei has progressed well through the series installments, becoming stronger, more confident, and less neurotic. The characters that surround Lei were well developed in previous installments, have become solid fixtures, and are beginning to feel like old friends–including her FBI contact and previous partners. Stevens is a confident, self-assured, partner. I particularly enjoy their large and sweet Rottweiler, Keiki.

I received this download from BookBub and appreciated the opportunity to read and review. I’ve enjoyed this series and watched the characters grow. Each book brings new surprises, fascinating tidbits about our fiftieth state and leaves you looking forward to the next in the Lei Crime series. (This was no exception, although somehow I jumped to book 9, so I’ll have to go back and pick up no. 8.) If you haven’t discovered Toby Neal and her Hawaii-based novels and the Lei Crime series, you owe it to yourself to give them a try. Start with Blood Orchids. Recommended for all who enjoy mysteries, thrillers and suspense, women sleuths, and police procedurals.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five of Five Stars

The Author: Award-winning, USA Today bestselling social worker turned author Toby Neal grew up on the island of Kaua`i in Hawaii. Neal is a mental health therapist, a career that has informed the depth and complexity of the characters in her stories. Neal’s police procedurals, starring multicultural detective Lei Texeira, explore the crimes and issues of Hawaii and are so popular that they’ve spawned a licensed fan fiction world on Amazon.

Neal focuses on mystery, but also writes romance and a line of apocalyptic romance thrillers, the Scorch Series, with Emily Kimelman.

Get two FREE award-winning Toby Neal books by signing up at: http://www.subscribepage.com/TobyNealNews

A Steep Price – a #BookReview

Title: A Steep Price (Tracy Crosswhite #6) by Robert Dugoni

Genre: Currently #57 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Kindle eBooks, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Crime Fiction, Murder

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Publication Date: June 26, 2018

Source: Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley

Title and Cover: A Steep Price – Cover hints dark plot

I found Robert Dugoni with number five of the Tracy Crosswhite series, Close to Home, and enjoyed enough that when I saw this offering, jumped on it. Dugoni delivers an intelligent police procedural, explaining certain courses of action that might otherwise give pause. This plot, as well as the last, is multi-layered with parallel investigations dividing the Violent Crimes A-Team, Seattle, Washington.

Tracy is finishing up a trial when she gets a call from a colleague with whom she has previously worked regarding missing person Kavita Mukherjee. While the missing person Detective Katie Pryor referred to her may not appropriately be in her department or jurisdiction, she agrees that the missing student doesn’t fit the normal profile and she calls in her partner, Kinsington Rowe, for some support knowing the window of time with which they are dealing is acutely short. But it is Tracy and Pryor who find Kavita’s body and that investigation escalates with Kins. Continue reading “A Steep Price – a #BookReview”

Confessions of a Red Herring by Dana Dratch – a #BlogTour #BookReview and #Giveaway

Title: Confessions of a Red Herring (A Red Herring Mystery #1) by Dana Dratch

Genre: Mystery, Cozy, Amateur Sleuths

Publisher: Kensington Books

Publication Date: HAPPY RELEASE DAY – May 29, 2018

Source: Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours and NetGalley

Pages: 336 pages

ISBN-13: 978-1496716569

ASIN: B075C8FDT5

I am super-excited today to participate in the Publication Day for Confessions of a Red Herring by Dana Dratch on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.

Book Blurb:

Alex Vlodnachek has been a reporter for 12 years, a P.R. rep for three months, and a murder suspect for all of 24 hours. When her agency’s double-dealing CEO is stabbed, scheming co-workers cast the new redhead as a compelling red herring. The story is media catnip—especially her salacious nickname: Vlod the Impaler.

Even Alex has to admit she looks guilty.

Out of a job and under suspicion, Alex is running low on cash, when she’s visited by a second disaster: her family. Soon her tiny bungalow is bursting with her nearest and not-so-dearest. To keep herself out of jail—and save what’s left of her sanity—Alex returns to her reporting roots. She goes undercover to reclaim her life, break the story, and unmask a murderer. Pretty much in that order.

What she doesn’t know: The killer also has a to-do list.
And Alex is on it. Continue reading “Confessions of a Red Herring by Dana Dratch – a #BlogTour #BookReview and #Giveaway”

Ray vs the Meaning of Life – a #BookReview

Title: Ray vs the Meaning of Life by Michael F. Stewart

Genre: Currently # 147 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Kindle eBooks, Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, Metaphysical

Publisher: The Publishing House

Publication Date: May 15, 2018

Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title and Cover: Ray vs the Meaning of Life – Fantastic cover–totally gets the subject

When I read the review by Nicole over at The BookWorm Drinketh for Ray vs the Meaning of Life, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy. (TY, Nicole, you nailed it!) Fortunately, it was still available (now archived) on NetGalley, though it was termed Humor, Teens, and YA. What?! Heaven knows I’ve violated several of my rules recently, why not this one? Well, I’m so glad, once again, that I stepped beyond my own comfortable genres to sample this “YA” novel. But really, YA? Amazon classifies the genre as Metaphysical and Visionary (oh, and Coming of Age).

Too bad.

It should have just stopped at Brilliant Literature. Continue reading “Ray vs the Meaning of Life – a #BookReview”

Charlie Mac – a #BookReview

Title: Charlie Mac: A Story of Ordinary People Who Lived in Extraordinary Times by Maria McDonald

Genre: Currently #37389 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Kindle eBooks, Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction

Publication Date: March 30, 2018

Source: Direct request by author

Title and Cover: Charlie Mac – The chair holds significance but doesn’t wholly convey the tragedy that it included.

This is the fictional account of the life and death of Charlie McMullen, great-grandfather of the author which follows three generations through one of the most tumultuous times in the history of Ireland–specifically in Belfast.

Charlie was born in 1873 and died just after the Irish Home Rule Campaign ended with the establishment of the border dividing Ireland. A city fella, he married a country girl, Mary Jane from County Down. Her life experience was totally opposite his, as was her religion; hers being Catholic. We can’t help who we fall in love with and sometimes that will forever shape our destiny. But neither his Belfast neighbors nor their respective families were happy with the marriage. The couple thought, however, that the strength of their union would overcome objections. It couldn’t and didn’t, resulting in tragedy. Continue reading “Charlie Mac – a #BookReview”

Area 51: Redemption – a #BookReview

Title: Area 51: Redemption (Book 10 of 11) by NY Times Bestseller Bob Mayer

Genre: Currently #174 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Kindle eBooks, Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure, War & Military

Publication Date: April 24, 2018

Source: Won a copy on a Goodreads Giveaway!

Title and Cover: Area 51: Redemption – Cover continues the dynamite series covers

Area 51: Redemption is a continuation of the series regarding alien direction and population on earth and how their presence affected the human race through the millennia, leaving only the most subtle of reminders of their possible existence on the planet. In this, the tenth of the series, Mike Turcotte, is back as the ex-Special Forces officer who helped free the earth of the Airlia while winning WWIII. But Turcotte kept a secret–far worse than that of the Airlia domination.

(From the Amazon book blurb: “The continuation of the series that has sold over 2 million copies, screenplay written by the man who penned Alien, Total Recall and produced Minority Report and is Cool Gus approved. This book will be followed by Area 51: Invasion on 14 July 2018.”)

You would be correct in that if this is a sci-fi, I probably had my associate reviewer read and contribute his review to mine. Also, as always, I’ll post his review here first. Continue reading “Area 51: Redemption – a #BookReview”