An Ideal Halloween Read: Love Bites, by Annabelle Costa
October 28, 2018 by A Slice of Orange in category Book Reviews by Geralyn Corcillo, Things That Make Me Go Mmmrrh . . . by Geralyn Corcillo tagged as Annabelle Costa, book review, chick lit, eerie, Halloween, murder, mystery, New York City, romance, vampire, Vampires
Wow! I recently read the most wonderful Autumn/Halloween read! Love Bites, by Annabelle Costa. This is NOT your run-of-the-mill vampire book at all! This novel weaves together two suspenseful, eerie, mysterious narratives. Tom Blake is a young man in 1905 who is falling in love when he gets his first job. Soon he’ll be out of his cruel father’s house and his life will truly begin … but why does he have such a craving for blood? When he is working at the butcher shop, and every time he gets close to his sweetheart Mary…
In present day New York City, Brooke wonders if adorable, reliable, all around good-guy Jamie might be more than a friend. When her gorgeous friend Sydney is murdered and strange things start happening to Brooke, she turns to Jamie and yeah … she’s pretty sure he’s more than a friend. But before she can act on her realization, Hunter T. Stone walks into her life and mesmerizes her. Brooke finds herself under his spell, but the closer she gets to him, the more it seems like he has something to do with Sydney’s murder …
OMG this book is soooooo good!!!! It hits the ground running and both narratives unfold with compelling grace and precision. The romances and the spine-tingling mysteries kept me turning the pages, ravenous to devour every next word! And the best part? As the story unfurled, I had NO IDEA what was going to happen – or even what I wanted to happen! I didn’t know who was going to end up being the good guy or the bad guy. I couldn’t guess who was going to end up with whom. Every new chapter offered another tantalizing piece of the puzzles, something else to consider. The stakes keeping getting upped and upped and upped! Even when you reach the climax, you still have no idea how it will all play out until the very last page. What an exciting read! Sex in the City meets Sleepy Hollow in an intriguing and unique book about vampires, murder, romance, and survival. A perfect Halloween read!
Author Spotlight on Kat Martin
October 18, 2018 by A Slice of Orange in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as bestseller, fiction, Kat Martin, new release, romance, romantic suspense, suspence
New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. Currently residing in Missoula, Montana with her Western-author husband, L. J. Martin, Kat has written sixty-five Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Her last novel, BEYOND CONTROL, hit both big lists … NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST as well as the USA TODAY BEST-SELLING BOOKS LIST. Kat is currently at work on her next Romantic Suspense.
Her November 1st release is WAIT UNTIL DARK.
P.I. Jonah Wolfe knows trouble when he sees it. So when April Vale storms into his office at Maximum Security, all his warning signs flash red. April’s been accused of murder, except she has no memory of how she woke up in her coworker’s bed–drenched in his blood–shot with her gun. As the campaign manager for the mayor, April’s job is on the line. Even worse, her life may be on the line if she doesn’t figure out who’s trying to frame her.
The clock is ticking and the pair must find the killer… before April winds up dead.
WAIT UNTIL DARK
Excerpt
Kat Martin
The sound of voices cut through the pounding in her head, dragging her from a dark void into the light of day. As uniformed policemen streamed into the bedroom, April Vale looked down at her naked body and saw a sea of blood soaking the mattress. A naked man lay beside her, a bullet hole in the center of his chest.
A scream tore free as she recognized David Dean, Mayor Rydell’s campaign manager. Then strong arms hauled her upright and a wave of dizziness hit her, making her stomach roll. One of the officers draped a blanket around her bare shoulders and they hustled her over to a chair by the window.
Fighting a fresh wave of nausea, April gripped the blanket, her body shaking head to foot. “What…what’s happening?” She didn’t realize her hands were being cuffed together in front of her until she heard metal clanking and cold bands of steel wrapped around her wrists.
“What’s your name?” The room swarmed with policemen. The one in front of her was stocky and balding, in his early forties. A pair of EMTs rushed into the room and began working over the bloody man on the bed, but his eyes were open and staring at nothing and she knew he was already dead.
April swallowed the bile in her throat and fought to clear her head, but when she tried to remember where she was or how she got there, all she came up with was a blank.
“I don’t understand what’s happening,” she said, trying to keep the blanket around her.
“This will all go smoother if you cooperate,” the stocky policeman said. “Tell us your name.”
“I’m…I’m April. April Vale.” She glanced over at David. The hole in his chest seemed even bigger and bloodier than before.
“Can you tell us the name of the victim?”
Victim. A thick lump rose in her throat, threatening to choke her. “That…that’s David Dean. We work for Mayor Rydell.”
A young officer with black hair slicked straight back from his forehead walked up. “Looks like we’ve got the murder weapon, Sarge. It was right there on the floor next to the lady’s purse.”
April frowned, her mind foggy again. “Wait…wait a minute. What’s going on? I don’t understand.” Her fingers tightened on the blanket, trying to keep it in place over her naked body. “I don’t know how I got here. I don’t remember what happened.”
A gray haired man in a navy blue suit brought the gun over in a plastic bag. She recognized the little .380 she carried for protection.
I’m Detective Sullivan. Does this belong to you, Ms. Vale?”
She took a deep breath. “I think it’s mine. I have one like that. I have a legal permit to carry.”
The EMTs began checking her over, her blood pressure, her vision, whether or not she had a concussion.
“We need to get her to the hospital,” one of them said, “have her checked out, get a blood sample.”
“Hospital? I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
A female police officer walked up just then. “We’ve cuffed your hands in front of you so you can hold onto the blanket. If you cooperate, we’ll leave them that way. If not, we’ll have to cuff them behind your back.”
She closed her eyes. This couldn’t be happening. “You think I shot him? I don’t even know how I got here.”
The woman’s expression never changed. “You need to go to the hospital. We need to make sure you’re okay. If you were drugged, it’ll show up in your tox screen.”
Tox screen. Drugs. Her pistol and a dead man.
That’s when it began to sink in how much trouble she was in. That’s when April’s brain finally started working and she began to figure out what she needed to do–before things got a whole lot worse.
At the sound of the glass front door swinging open, Jonah Wolfe looked up to see a tall, leggy redhead walk into the office.
“I hope she’s looking for me.” Jason Maddox, one of the country’s top bail enforcement agents and one of Jonah’s best friends, had an eye for beautiful women. This one definitely met Jase’s exacting standards.
But being a former undercover police officer, Jonah noticed more than her stunning face and figure. Her hands were shaking as she approached the receptionist desk and her face was pale. He wondered what kind of trouble the lady was in.
“May I help you?” The receptionist, Mindy Stewart, shoved up the tortoiseshell glasses perched on the end of her nose. She was petite and cute, and smart enough not to date any of the confirmed bachelors who worked at Maximum Security.
“My name is April Vale. I’m looking for Jonah Wolfe.”
When Maddox groaned his disappointment, Jonah’s focus sharpened on the redhead. He rose from behind his desk and started toward the front of the office. A waiting area with a dark red tufted leather sofa and matching chairs, oak coffee and end tables, gave the place a western feel that perfectly suited the misfit Texans who worked there.
“I’m Wolfe,” Jonah said when he reached her. “What can I do for you?” His gaze ran over her, taking in her spectacular curves. He couldn’t help hoping she needed him for something a lot more intriguing than his skills as a private detective.
He might have smiled, would have if a TROUBLE sign wasn’t stamped in the middle of the pretty lady’s forehead.
“My name is April Vale. Thank you for seeing me.
“No need to thank me, Ms. Vale. I haven’t done anything yet.”
“I’m hoping you will.” She had the face of an angel and legs that went on forever. But she was a redhead and all that fiery hair just ramped up the warning signs flashing in her big blue eyes.
“Is there somewhere we can speak in private?” April asked.
“Conference room. Follow me.” As he led her down the hall, she caught an appreciative glance from Jax Ryker and Dante Romero, the only other guys currently in the office, but she didn’t seem to notice.
“This way.” Jonah held open the door to a glass-walled chamber with a long oak table seating twenty. April walked in and he waited for her to take a seat.
She smoothed the navy blue pencil skirt she was wearing with a pair of sky high heels. She looked good. Classy but not completely untouchable. “As I said, I appreciate your seeing me on such short notice.”
“Not a problem.” Jonah leaned back in his chair. “All right, April, why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”
She took a deep breath, drawing his attention to the full breasts he’d been doing his best to ignore. Since he never mixed business with pleasure, he shoved the buzz of attraction he was feeling to the back of his brain.
“I work for Mayor Rydell,” April said. “Currently I’m…. I was just released from police custody a short time ago, Mr. Wolfe. That’s…that’s why I’m here.”
Jonah straightened in his chair. “You were under arrest?”
“Officially, I haven’t been charged yet. But the charge could be murder.”
Jesus. He hadn’t seen that one coming. Now she really had his attention. Jonah leaned toward her. “So who did you kill, Ms. Vale?”
WAIT UNTIL DARK is available for pre-order and will be released on November 1st.
Other books by Kat Martin
15 Free Ebooks and an Exclusive Spellbook
October 8, 2018 by A Slice of Orange in category Spotlight tagged as Booked Set, Free eBooks, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
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RITE TO REIGN includes stories from 24 award-winning and bestselling authors. This bewitching boxed set collection includes the best PARANORMAL ROMANCE and URBAN FANTASY books in the genre, each brimming with stories of royal magic.
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Things That Make Me Go Mmmrrh … Mary Stewart on Kindle!
September 27, 2018 by A Slice of Orange in category Things That Make Me Go Mmmrrh . . . by Geralyn Corcillo tagged as Kindle, Mary Stewart, Touch Not the Cat
Guys! Mary Stewart books are now available on Kindle – and many of them at very inexpensive prices! If you don’t know Mary Stewart, she wrote books that are gothic-like romances sprinkled with some magic elements and some suspense, set in (her) present day of the nineteen fifties, sixties and seventies. I have been reading her books in paperback since I was a kid, but now that I have time to read only when I am in my car and my Kindle reads aloud to me, I am overjoyed to be able to enjoy her books!!!!! This week, I reread one of my all-time
favorite books: Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart on Kindle.
In this book, Bryony Ashley, who is living abroad, wakes suddenly one night, receiving a telepathic message from her Lover – a boy and then a man she has been secretly communicating with telepathically her whole life – but she doesn’t know who he is – she just knows that they grew up together and have known each other all their lives. He tells her that her father is dying. Her father’s questionable car accident leaves Bryony an orpahn disinherited from her family’s large, crumbling estate back home in England. Bryony returns to Ashley Court to settle estate matters and hopefully discover the identity of her Lover. But when she gets home, the comfortable and familiar are laced with secrets and danger ….
Enjoy this and so many Mary Stewart books on Kindle at beautifully affordable prices!
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Book Review: The Lawrence Browne Affair by Cat Sebastian
July 27, 2018 by A Slice of Orange in category Writing tagged as Beauty and the Beast, Cat Sebastian. gay romance, Regency romance
In this captivating Regency romance, Cat Sebastian crafts a many-layered love story reminiscent of a rejuvenated tale of Beauty and the Beast. The story of Radnor and Georgie delights with winsome, finely-tuned prose that renders the narrative sexy, dashing, funny, and deeply poignant.
From the book description:
An earl hiding from his future . . .
Lawrence Browne, the Earl of Radnor, is mad. At least, that’s what he and most of the village believes. A brilliant scientist, he hides himself away in his family’s crumbling estate, unwilling to venture into the outside world. When an annoyingly handsome man arrives at Penkellis, claiming to be Lawrence’s new secretary, his carefully planned world is turned upside down.
A swindler haunted by his past . . .
Georgie Turner has made his life pretending to be anyone but himself. A swindler and con man, he can slip into an identity faster than he can change clothes. But when his long-dead conscience resurrects and a dangerous associate is out for blood, Georgie escapes to the wilds of Cornwall. Pretending to be a secretary should be easy, but he doesn’t expect that the only madness he finds is the one he has for the gorgeous earl.
Can they find forever in the wreckage of their lives?
Challenging each other at every turn, the two men soon give into the desire that threatens to overwhelm them. But with one man convinced he is at the very brink of madness and the other hiding his real identity, only true love can make this an affair to remember.
When I was in college, my drug of choice was not pot or beer – it was Beauty and the Beast. The Disney cartoon. I would watch it on a loop as I pulled an all-nighter or pop it into the VCR when I needed to relax and remember sanity. While I was always aware of what bothered me about the story, I successfully muffled my misgivings. Like the whole kidnapping angle, for instance. Not an auspicious start to a romance. And quite frankly, the theme of the whole story raises my hackles – a boorish male kidnaps a young woman and treats her terribly, but they fall in love and then he turns into a handsome prince. Just writing it out makes me feel a bit sick. Because let’s face it, a boorish man who treats you terribly tends to get worse, not better, as the relationship progresses. And thinking you can change a beast into a price is a dark road to go down.
So why do I love the story so? A line from the song “Beauty and the Beast” by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken best explains my love for this story: “Barely even friends, Then somebody bends Unexpectedly.” I love the unfurling of the relationship, the quiet thrill of two characters discovering one another, and realizing what is most essential about the other person. Is there a book-loving woman alive who doesn’t swoon when The Bet presents Belle with his entire library?
The most wonderful thing about The Lawrence Browne Affair (and there are MANY wonderful things) is that it tells a Beauty and the Beast story without all of the disturbing elements. The Beast – the “mad” Earl of Radnor, does not kidnap Georgie and then scream and yell and frighten his victim just because he is so angry at his own bad choices and where they have led. Yes, Radnor is gruff with Georgie, a secretary he did not invite – and does not want – in his home. Radnor’s manners can be gruff, but evidence of his life-long decency and compassion reveals itself throughout the story. And far from kidnapping Georgie, Radnor has Georgie foisted upon him and once Georgie is there, he just won’t seem to leave.
Once they are together in the crumbling mansion, each man’s personality, history, and motives become less murky, and as they begin to fall for one another, these characters crystalize into unexpectedly brilliant gems. And Sebastian keeps the twists coming throughout the book, as more and more gets revealed about each character, and as the life of each man evolves in tune with the other.
Sebastian has written many books, and I confess I love them all. The Lawrence Browne Affair is my favorite. Each book of hers if sexy, funny, richly poignant, and so deftly written! Each of her books in a stand-alone read and the books in Cat Sebastian series do not need to be read in order. If you are looking for a new author to binge-read, I dare say, you might just have found her. Happy reading, indeed!
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