#NGEW2018 Reading Challenge Host Change

Liza - vertigo

Yikes! How many of you knew that Bookish Things gave up their hosting of the NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge? I went looking for the posts from my most active blogging buddies, as I seem to have a continual problem with WordPress deciding on my notifications, and discovered a post from Novel Deelights about the change-over. I quickly caught up my July reviews, but the word needs to get out regarding the change. Tina at Reading Between the Pages is taking the helm.

If this is a Challenge you’ve been participating in, take notice and hook up with Tina. Then help to get the word out. She’ll appreciate it! The following from Tina:

NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge August Link-Up #NGEW2018

NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge 2018 My name is Tina and I welcome you to the new home for the
NetGalley & Edelweiss Reading Challenge!

Emily@Falling for YA created this challenge and passed the torch to Katrina@Bookish Things & More. Katrina has decided to step away from her book blog and pursue her passion for writing. I joined this challenge for the first time this year and have been enjoying it immensely. I was sad to see Katrina leave her love of blogging about books behind, but am quite excited for her to have more time to dedicate to writing. I wish her the best of luck!

Being that this challenge is now being hosted on a new site and the year is more than half over, I think this would be a great time to check in with all of you. I would love to hear from you in the comments below. How is the challenge going for you? What is your goal? How many have you reviewed?

My goal is 25 (Silver) and I have reviewed 18. I have no doubt I will complete my goal, so I’m pretty excited about that!

August Link-Up…

Submitting format: Title of book reviewed (Your Name and Blog).
Inlinkz will remain open until August 31.
Questions: Leave me a comment below, email me – readingbetweenthepagesblog@gmail.com, or use my contact page.
Hashtag: #NGEW2018

For the first time since starting my blog I am asking for your help in getting the word out. I could really use your help with spreading the word about this midyear host change for this challenge. Any sharing you can do on social media would be deeply appreciated!

Thank you for stopping by and I look forward to seeing what fabulous NetGalley and Edelweiss books you read and review the remainder of the year!

Let’s get social…

Goodreads
Twitter
Instagram

Yes, you’ll need the link to your reviews, if you haven’t already started the challenge, but read the rules and regs. Check out my Reading Challenges page or see my original Reading Challenges post here.

#ThrowbackThursday – The Dying Hour by Rick Mofina – a #BookReview

#ThrowbackThursday - The Dying Hour by Rick Mofina

Renee began the #ThrowbackThursday meme on her blog, “It’s Book Talk“ to share some of her old favorites as well as sharing books published over a year ago. Hopefully, you’ll find either a story or author that interests you and you’ll check them out. And, if you’d like to join the fun, you’re welcome to use Renee’s pic from her website. Just provide the link back to her please).

This week I am highlighting Rick Mofina, another terrific, prolific author who wrote The Dying Hour. Today’s review is written by the C.E., my intrepid associate reviewer. I love that he is usually up for a variety of genre and this one took him by surprise. Yeah, knew it would! 😏 (This was his first Mofina.) I’ve read several before and last posted a review of Cold Fear for Throwback Thursday on February 8, 2018. This novel was published by Carrick Publishing on April 8, 2015. Mofina consistently runs approximately 4.5-5 stars for any of his books sold on Amazon.

Book Blurb:

The Dying Hour introduces Jason Wade, a rookie crime reporter with The Seattle Mirror, a loner who grew up in the shadow of a brewery in one of the city’s blue-collar neighborhoods. At The Seattle Mirror, he is competing for the single full-time job being offered through the paper’s intense intern program. But unlike the program’s other young reporters, who attended big name schools and worked at other big metro dailies, Wade put himself through community college, and lacked the same experience.

Wade struggles with his haunting past as he pursues the story of Karen Harding, a college student whose car was found abandoned on a lonely stretch of highway in the Pacific Northwest. How could this beloved young woman with the altruistic nature simply vanish?

Wade battles mounting odds and cut-throat competition to unearth the truth behind Karen Harding’s disturbing case. Her disappearance is a story he cannot give up, never realizing the toll it could exact from him. The Dying Hour is a bone-chilling, mesmerizing page-turner that introduces readers to an all-too-human young hero who journeys into the darkest regions of the human heart to confront a nightmare.

Continue reading “#ThrowbackThursday – The Dying Hour by Rick Mofina – a #BookReview”

S’more Murders by Maya Corrigan #BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway

I am so delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for S’more Murders by Maya Corrigan on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour. Scroll down to register for your chance to win the Giveaway!

Book Details

S’more Murders (A Five-Ingredient Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
5th in Series
Kensington (July 31, 2018) Happy Release Day!
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1496709196
Digital ASIN: B0776HN51M

Book Blurb

Managing a fitness club café and collaborating on a cookbook with her grandfather are Val Deniston’s usual specialties, but she’s about to set sail into nearby Chesapeake Bay—straight into a murder case . . .

Since catering themed events is a good way to make extra cash, Val agrees to board the Titanic—or at least cater a re-creation of the doomed journey on a yacht. The owner of the yacht, who collects memorabilia related to the disaster, wants Val to serve the last meal the Titanic passengers ate . . . while his guests play a murder-mystery game. But it is the final feast for one passenger who disappears from the ship. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.

Now Val has to reel in a killer before s’more murders go down . . .

Includes delicious five-ingredient recipes!

My Review

Definitely a different and unique premise, I believe, to write a cozy mystery about the last meal of the special guests on the Titanic! In this case, it is Val Deniston, who manages the Cool Down Café at the Bayport Racket and Fitness Club. She has reluctantly agreed to cater a ten-course meal of the famous last meal of the Titanic passengers for yacht owner Otto Warbeck. She has catered other theme events with success, but this one entails preparation and service on a yacht as it motors out of Chesapeake Bay with an unusual cadre of guests.

Val moved in with her grandfather who is throwing her some catering jobs and taking an online PI course, but tries to talk her out of this one feeling it’s over the top creepy and inviting of disaster. To add to the creepy factor, Otto has scheduled the voyage for the anniversary of the sinking. Val’s BFF and assistant at the Café is Bethany, who agrees to work with her in this different and unusual onboard experience. Val has a boyfriend, Gunnar, who is rather a dud and not a good match. (He may be moving–goodbye and good luck.)

Otto has designed a murder mystery game to entertain his guests while on board during the course of the elaborate meal. The theme party goes awry when there is an obvious disappearance and the kid piloting the craft is found to be under the influence.

As this is the fifth installment of the series and my first experience with this author, I did not find the protagonist fully fleshed, although there is sufficient backstory to allow viewing this as a standalone novel. Her grandfather can be a bit strong, but contributes to the investigation with Val on the mystery to help clear the young man who was acting as captain.

Red herrings are flying over the bow, twists and turns, and it would seem most on board had a motive. Still, the scenario worked out in my mind turned out to be darned close, but didn’t address a few aspects of the whodunit that was ironed out well in conclusion. For some reason, I couldn’t fully engage with the protagonist and Gunnar was just a clink. Grandpa was a forceful personality as was Otto, whose trophy wife was sympathetic. I enjoyed references and tidbits about the Titanic and had no idea there was such a large cult following collection of all things Titanic, the tragic circumstances apparently stirring limitless fascination even 106 years later. The storyline moves along at cozy pace and the foodie stuff will be of interest.

I received this ebook download from the publisher and NetGalley through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review. Recommended as a cozy with an unusual premise for those who enjoy a Five Ingredient Mystery, culinary thrillers, and clean suspense novels.

Giveaway

Be sure to sign up for your chance to win one of two print copies of S’More Murders in this Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author

Maya Corrigan blends her love of food and detective stories in her Five-Ingredient Mystery series set in a fictional historic town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The first book in the series, By Cook or by Crook, was published in 2014. It was followed by Scam Chowder in 2015, Final Fondue in 2016, and The Tell-Tale Tarte in 2017.

Before taking up a life of crime (on the page), she taught university courses in writing, detective fiction, American literature, and drama. She won the 2013 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Unpublished Mainstream Mystery / Suspense. Her short stories, written under the name of Mary Ann Corrigan, have been published in anthologies.

When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, tennis, trivia, cooking, and crosswords. Her website features trivia about food and mysteries.

Author Links:

WebPage: mayacorrigan.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maya-CorriganBooks/305167769636032

Purchase Links:

Amazon – B&N Kobo Google Play BookBub

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

Tour Participants:

July 30 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST

July 31 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW

July 31 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT

August 1 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

August 1 – Texas Book-aholic – REVIEW

August 2 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

August 2 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT

August 3 – Cozy Up With Kathy – GUEST POST

August 3 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

August 4 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW

August 4 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – SPOTLIGHT

August 5 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT

August 6 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

August 6 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW

August 7 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW

August 8 – Readeropolis – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

August 9 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

August 9 – Mysteries with Character – SPOTLIGHT

August 10 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

August 10 – Queen of All She Reads – REVIEW

August 11 – A Blue Million Books – GUEST POST

August 12 – The Montana Bookaholic – REVIEW

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!

The Invisible Mind by M. T. Bass #BlogTour #BookReview

I am so delighted today to provide a review for you by the C.E. at my blog stop for The Invisible Mind by M. T. Bass on Sage’s Blog Tours.

The Invisible Mind-Murder by Munchausen #3 by M.T. Bass

Title: The Invisible Mind: Murder by Munchausen #3 Future Crime Mysteries: A Sci-Fi Police Procedural Techno-Thriller

- - Print Length: 212 pages
  - Publisher: Electron Alley Corporation
  - Publication Date: August 25, 2018
  - Language: English
  - ASIN:B07DFF75L3
- ISBN-10: 194626606X
- ISBN-13: 978-1946266064
A police procedural sci-fi thriller ripped from future headlines!

Now unleashed, the “Baron” is resurrecting history’s notorious serial killers, giving them a second life in the bodies of hacked and reprogrammed Personal Assistant Androids, then turning them loose to terrorize the city. While detectives Jake and Maddie of the police department’s Artificial Crimes Unit scramble to stop the carnage with the Baron’s arrest, the cyberpunk head of the Counter IT Section, Q, struggles to de-encrypt his mad scheme to infect world data centers with a virus that represents a collective cyber unconsciousness of evil. Continue reading “The Invisible Mind by M. T. Bass #BlogTour #BookReview”

#ThrowbackThursday – A View to Die For by Richard Houston

Throwback Thursday - featuring A View to DIE For

This week I am highlighting Richard Houston, another terrific, prolific author who wrote A View to Die For, #1 in the series, which I reviewed on Goodreads. He has actually written a number of books in the Books To Die For series. I also read #2, A Book to Die For (also downloaded from BookBub). If you’ve been reading this blog for any period of time, you know I’m a sucker for dog pics or doggy stories. Read this for the dog, Fred. (I hoped he lived more than two books. To see why, read the review that follows.) This novel was published on October 8, 2012. Houston consistently runs approximately four stars for any of his books sold on Amazon. Just look at that face!

Originally posted May 29, 2014

Continue reading “#ThrowbackThursday – A View to Die For by Richard Houston”

The Colonel and the Bee – a #BookReview

Title: The Colonel and the Bee by Patrick Canning

Genre: Currently #4792 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Kindle eBooks, Literature & Fiction, Literary Fiction, Action & Adventure

Publisher: Evolved Publishing LLC

Publication Date: June 1, 2018

Source: Direct author request

Title and Cover: The Colonel and the Bee-Love that cover

Hoo-boy is this one a douzy! This novel was so much fun I couldn’t keep it to myself and shared with the C.E., whose review will follow mine. The novel hit all my buttons: unique, intriguing, adventurous, historical, surprisingly sharp (and young) female protagonist coupled with the swash-buckling theatrics of a male co-protagonist and absolute non-stop action. First, wrap your head around a four-story house-sized balloon, and if that doesn’t set your imagination reeling, nothing will. (Think steampunk!)

Beatrix is a barely teenaged female acrobat in a 19th-century European traveling circus held captive owing her age by an abusive ringleader. The dashing and mysterious English Colonel James Bacchus attends the same private showing where she performs and she contrives to join him in a getaway following his ellicit treatise with the wife of their exclusive estate’s host. With the Oxford Starladder (the Ox) the colonel is in pursuit of a heinous criminal as he drifts across the continent in search of a precious jewel, the Blue Star Sphinx, which value in turn has attracted the warring factions of two families. (Think Hatfields and McCoys)

With every additional description of the Ox, I badly wanted to climb aboard and explore each and every crevice, descend the spiral stars, partake of the gourmet meals presented by the colonel, and peak into the horticultural room where the fresh vegetables were grown. What a delightful imaginative fantasy–but one that seemed within grasp it was made so real. The rich nineteenth-century dialogue, $50 words, and formal English prose was a delight but I was many times grateful for the built-in dictionary of my Kindle. Continue reading “The Colonel and the Bee – a #BookReview”

Series Sampler-What’s Your Pleasure? Crime Thriller or Sci-Fi-Fantasy

OMG, it’s not often I get in depth in a single series, let alone two!

This time, however, I began The Afton Morrison series with #1 and glad I did! This one is just plain hardcore. I am now reading #2, See You Soon, Afton by Brent Jones. While there are some series in which the individual novels could function as a standalone, these two series, as widely different as they are, should both begin with numero uno, number one. Fortunately, it’s not too late into this series to start reading number one as the author plans to release number two August 7, 2018.

See You Soon, Afton #2 Afton Morrison series

I will be presenting my review of See You Soon, Afton on Friday, July 27, 2018, and I’ll warn you up front, this series is not for the faint of heart, tender ears, or PG eyes–it is definitely “R” rated. Amazon classifies as mystery, thriller, and suspense. The thing about Brent’s books–despite the delayed gratification is that there is generally a surprising, often shocking, moral to the story–and the reading is worth it. If you missed my review of Go Home, Afton, number one in the series, you can find it here, or see it on Amazon here.

See You Soon, Afton – Book Blurb:

Somebody is watching. Somebody is always watching.

A teenage girl in Wakefield has been abducted, and tracking her down not only tests Afton’s moral limits, but threatens her freedom and her life.

Suspected of murder by local police, and under the watch of a menacing figure in the shadows, Afton’s search and rescue effort unravels dark secrets from her own past. Familial secrets her mother took to the grave, more than a decade ago.

See You Soon, Afton is the second of four parts in a new serial thriller by author Brent Jones. Packed with grit and action, The Afton Morrison Series delves into a world of moral ambiguity, delivering audiences an unlikely heroine in the form of a disturbed vigilante murderess.

Thank heavens I had a little help with this one–the C.E. taking the helm at the sci-fi police procedural techno-thriller, The Invisible Mind – Murder by Munchausen #3 by M.T. Bass . OOH! That’s a mouthful, huh? Seems I have a habit of coming into a series at #3 or even #7–it’s happened before. Amazon classifies it as sci-fi-fantasy and cyberpunk, and I’ll just mention here that it is definitely some hardcore science. Electron Alley plans to release the novel on August 25, 2018.

The Invisible Mind-Murder by Munchausen #3

The C.E. was asked as a condition of the book review for Sage’s Blog Tours that he read number one and two prior to reading number three, which is the subject of the book tour. That was quite the undertaking! I will be presenting the C.E.’s review of The Invisible Mind on Sunday, July 29, 2018.

The Invisible Mind – Book Blurb:

A police procedural thriller ripped from future headlines!

Now unleashed, the “Baron” is resurrecting history’s notorious serial killers, giving them a second life in the bodies of hacked and reprogrammed Personal Assistant Androids, then turning them loose to terrorize the city. While detectives Jake and Maddie of the police department’s Artificial Crimes Unit scramble to stop the carnage with the Baron’s arrest, the cyberpunk head of the Counter IT Section, Q, struggles to de-encrypt his mad scheme to infect world data centers with a virus that represents a collective consciousness of evil.

I’ve argued the whole series or standalone novels before, and will just point out that the Afton Morrison series are novellas. You can whip through them–just possibly not late at night, alone, quiet. Or maybe quiet is good–you’ll want to be able to hear.

Tired of reading your same-o-same-o? Look into one of these. They are not one of your average cozy mysteries. You’ll thank me (or not).

Lion on Fire – a #BookReview

Title: Lion on Fire: a Casino-Heist Thriller by Ted Galdi

Genre: Currently #13 on Amazon Best Sellers Rank in Kindle ebooks, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Crime Fiction, Heist, and #25 in Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Crime Fiction, Organized Crime

Publisher: Precipice Books

Publication Date: December 12, 2017

Source: Direct author request

Title and Cover: Lion on Fire – Cover carries the title theme

Little brothers can be a real trial! (Mine kept our entire family hopping.) Brian Rolson, the protagonist/hero in this novel has the same problem that many of us have faced with younger siblings. Brian’s younger brother Kip has gotten himself into a world of trouble–this time selling illegal drugs. Having extra money made him loose and careless and now he is in a world of hurt. Continue reading “Lion on Fire – a #BookReview”