A Family for the Bull Rider by Tina Leonard

Description

**Harlequin, one of the world's leading publishers of books for women, and the Professional Bull Riders (PBR), the world's premier bull riding organization, are happy to share a book publishing partnership that debuts in May 2015. These four re-issued, re-titled novels containing distinctive PBR content will be published under the new Harlequin Pro Bull Riders imprint, and feature actual PBR bull riders on the covers. Harlequin Pro Bull Riders novels will be available exclusively at Wal-Mart stores in the United States.**

 

 

 

 

Jack Morgan came home to the Morgans’ Texas ranch on urgent family business—not to get roped into marriage. But he’s finding it impossible to steer clear of his attraction to angelic Cricket Jasper. Now the virtuous deacon is pregnant…with triplets!

The sexy rodeo rider has always been in Cricket’s secret prayers. But she never dreamed she’d be having Jack’s babies! She knows the firstborn Morgan son came home to make things right with his estranged father. Now he’s about to become a father.

What will it take to make a family man out of this wandering rover? Because if three babies and the love of a good woman aren’t enough to settle down this lonesome cowboy, nothing will be!

ISBN9780373826643

Price5.50

CurrencyUSD

EditionMass Market Paperback

My review: A Family for the Bull Rider by Tina Leonard

3 STARS

This is for a brand new line PBR that will be sold just at Walmart.  It is a reissue,  With a real rodeo cowboy on the cover.

While this book does stand okay on it's own it makes me want to read the four stories before it about the Morgan sons. Especially was confusing was the three ghosts.

Plenty of family drama, some romance, some rodeo and lots of babies.  It is a clean read, love scenes behind doors.

Jack Morgan is a bull rider who has been away from his home for years after a fight with his father about his rodeo riding.  Now Jack has come back because his father needs a kidney and he is a match.
He is willing to give his kidney to his father but still plans to ride bulls.

Cricket Jasper is a deacon in her church.  She has a crush on Jack.  She has only met him a time or two.  She is friends with three of his sister-in-laws.  She goes to visit his father in the hospital and has been asked to get drapes for the ranch house done. Now she is pregnant with triplets after a one night stand.
Josiah Morgan needs a new kidney.  He is afraid if he accepts Jack's kidney than what happens if he gets injured riding a bull.  He has offered each of his sons a million dollars if they move back to the ranch for a year. He has also been matchmaking for them all with a wife who had kids. Now he has more strings for Jack.
I wish this was a longer book, had more about the rodeo in it. More about Cricket's pregnancy.  I liked how Jack was willing to jump in and be a father. I really liked how the love making was behind doors.
I was given this ebook to read by Net Galley and Harlequin and in return I agreed to give honest review of A Family for the Bull Rider.

 

Lowcountry Boneyard by Susan M. Boyer (A Liz Talbot Mystery #3)

Description

USA TODAY Bestselling Author - The AGATHA AWARD-WINNING Liz Talbot Mysteries
“Has everything you could want in a traditional mystery: a credible and savvy protagonist, a meaty mystery, and setting that will make you want to spend time in South Carolina. I enjoyed every minute of it.” – Charlaine Harris, New York Times Bestselling Author of Day Shift
Where is Kent Heyward? The twenty-three-year-old heiress from one of Charleston’s oldest families vanished a month ago. When her father hires private investigator Liz Talbot, Liz suspects the most difficult part of her job will be convincing the patriarch his daughter tired of his overbearing nature and left town. That’s what the Charleston Police Department believes.
But behind the garden walls South of Broad, family secrets pop up like weeds in the azaleas. The neighbors recollect violent arguments between Kent and her parents. Eccentric twin uncles and a gaggle of cousins covet the family fortune. And the lingering spirit of a Civil-War-era debutante may know something if Colleen, Liz’s dead best friend, can get her to talk.
Liz juggles her case, the partner she’s in love with, and the family she adores. But the closer she gets to what has become of Kent, the closer Liz dances to her own grave.
Books in the Liz Talbot Mystery Series:
LOWCOUNTRY BOIL (#1)
LOWCOUNTRY BOMBSHELL (#2)
LOWCOUNTRY BONEYARD (#3)
LOWCOUNTRY BORDELLO (#4) November 2015

My review: Lowcountry Boneyard by Susan M. Boyer (A Liz Talbot Mystery #3)

4 stars

This has good mystery, action, suspense, ghosts, murder and romance.  There is a few love scenes.
I like the regular characters a lot.  I have read now all three books in the A Liz Talbot mystery.  I would read more about Liz and company.

Liz is a P.I. her partner is her now boyfriend for two years.  They have a long distant relationship.  Liz can't tell him all the reasons why she can't move back with him to where they started their business. Because her best friend who died when they were 17 needs her help to keep her island safe.  Only Liz can see and hear Colleen.

Nate was Liz's brother-in-law and has been her partner for years.  He wants Liz to love him as much as she loved the other men in her life.  I like Nate and kept routing for them to work things out.

Liz is hired by a rich and powerful couple to help find there missing daughter.  She has been missing for a month.  The police have stopped looking because they are without anymore leads.  Liz starts investigating and right away she is threatened.

There are a lot of twists and turns before the end.  There is a lot of danger and some humor.  Which is usually caused by Colleen or Liz's family.

The setting for this book is North Carolina.  Liz and her family all live on a island.

I was given this ebook to read by Net Galley and Henery Press and in return I agreed to give honest review of Lowcountry Boneyard. 


      

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan M. Boyer loves three things best: her family, books, and beaches. She’s grateful to have been blessed with a vivid imagination, allowing her to write her own books centered around family, beaches, and solving puzzles wherein someone is murdered. Susan lives in Greenville, SC, and runs away to the coast as often as she can.
Her debut novel, Lowcountry Boil, won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel, the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense, and was an RWA Golden Heart® finalist. Susan’s short fiction has appeared in moonShine Review, Spinetingler Magazine, and Relief Journal among others. Visit Susan at www.susanmboyerbooks.com.

The Rancher Takes a Bride by Brenda Minton (Martin's Crossing #2)

Martin's Crossing: In this small Texas town, every heart finds a home

His Secret Daughter

Duke Martin is a father! The former army medic is stunned when old love Oregon Jeffries tells him the news. Given his troubled past, the hardworking rancher and diner owner understands why Oregon kept his daughter a secret for twelve years. But now Duke desperately wants to make up for lost time. As he sets out to be a true father to Lilly, he soon realizes his feelings for Oregon are growing stronger. When Oregon's health falters, he's ready to care for her and prove that he's worthy of her love. Could this be Duke's second chance with the woman he never should have let get away?

Series: Martin's Crossing

Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages

Publisher: Love Inspired (April 21, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0373879555

ISBN-13: 978-0373879557

My review:  The Rancher Takes a Bride by Brenda Minton

4 STARS

This is the second Martin's Crossing book.  I would like to live there.  This has lots of drama, especially dealing with parents, romance and a clean read.
Oregon Jeffries has come to Martin's Crossing a year ago with her daughter Lily.  She is a single mother with her own business.

Lily was hit by a car crossing the street between her mother's store and Duke's restraint.  Lily was going to sweep up for Duke's to earn money for her horse.

Oregon knows she can not keep the secret anymore that Duke Martin is Lily's father.

Duke used to drink a lot and has lots of black outs. He does not remember Oregon from years ago.  He does not doubt that he is Lily's father.  He wants to be part of her life.  He moves Oregon and Lily into the cottage on the ranch he was living in while he was fixed up the old house. 

There are more secrets that come out in Martin's Crossing dealing with the homeless man Joe.

This is a nice fast read with characters that I like and would love to see more about.

I was given this ebook by Harlequin and Net Galley.  In return I agreed to give honest review of The Rancher Takes A Bride.
 

Left Turn at Paradise by Thomas Shawver( A Rare Book Mystery#2)

Description

The author of The Dirty Book Murder returns to the surprisingly lethal world of rare books with a second enthralling novel featuring a most unlikely hero—antiquarian bookseller Michael Bevan.

Michael Bevan is barely scraping by with his used bookstore and rare book collection when he discovers a timeworn journal that may change everything. Dating back to 1768, the tattered diary appears to be a chronicle kept during the first of legendary seafarer Captain James Cook’s three epic voyages through the Pacific islands. If it’s as valuable as Mike thinks it is, its sale may just bring enough to keep his faltering used bookstore afloat for another year.

Then he meets a pair of London dealers with startling news: Adrian Hart and Penelope Wilkes claim to possess the journal of Cook’s second voyage. Is it possible a third diary exists? One which might detail Cook’s explosive final voyage—and his death at the hands of native Hawaiians? Together, all three would be the holy grail of Pacific exploration. But before Mike can act, the two journals are stolen.

Chasing them down will sweep Michael, Adrian, and Penelope across the globe—past a dead body or two—and into a very sinister slice of paradise. High in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, in a remote and secretive Maori compound, a secret rests in the hands in of a man daring enough to rewrite history . . . and desperate enough to kill.

 

File Size: 1337 KB

Print Length: 245 pages

Publisher: Alibi (August 26, 2014)

Sold by: Random House LLC

Language: English

ASIN: B00IQROTNS

My review: Left Turn at Paradise by Thomas Shawver ( A Rare Book Mystery#2)

3 stars

I loved the settings. Makes me want to go to New Zealand The history of the Maori people. The background of Captain James Cook.  Of course love the world of books.

I like the suspense of the story.  Never sure who to trust. Lots of drama, action. I was surprised with all the different twists the story took.

The characters I just did not connect with any.  There were some minor ones that I liked .

Michael Bevan was a lawyer now he owns a bookstore.  He enjoys it more but always complains about the internet lowering the price of books.  He finds a journal that he had in his attic that is from a sailor who was with Captain Cook on his first voyage to explore.

He finds out is one of three journals of each of Captain Cooks trips.  He is offered a lot of money to sale it to the ones who owns the second journal or for the same price he can buy the second book. Both books get stolen and the journey to find them and the third begins.

Penelope Wilkes (Pillow)  is part owner of the Book and Bell out of England.  They own the second journal.  She is beautiful.  She has scars on one side of her face.  She has had a tough life.

Adrian Hart is the one who found the second journal in the Cotswolds. He owns half of the Book and Bell.  He is determined to get his journal back and find the third book.

All three end up going to New Zealand following the thief.

They have lots of surprises in store for them.  As they travel up some Mountains to get to the owner they believe has the journal. 

I would read another book by Thomas Shawver in the future.

I was given this ebook to read by Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group - Alibi.  In return I agreed to give a honest review of Left Turn at Paradise.     

 

Two Souls Hollow by Paula Graves (the Gates#6)

Series: The Gates (Book 6)

Mass Market Paperback: 224 pages

Publisher: Harlequin (April 21, 2015)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0373698313

ISBN-13: 978-0373698318

Her best protection came from an unlikely bodyguard

When secrets leak from The Gates, the hunt is on for a mole. All evidence points to Anson Daughtry, who knows their security inside and out. Only coworker Ginny Coltrane can help clear his name, but she's caught in the middle of a turf war between militants in the Smoky Mountains. More at ease behind a computer than with a gun, Anson makes for an unlikely bodyguard. But hunkering down in the Tennessee foothills, turns out Ginny's not exactly the "need to be protected" type. Still, with someone stalking their every move, Anson isn't about to let her out of his sight. Or, if he gets his way, out of his arms.

My review: Two Souls Hollow by Paula Graves (the Gates#6)

4 STARS

Good suspense action and romance. I have only read a few of the Gates series but have liked them and would love to go back and read the ones I have missed.  The mole is finally revealed.  It is also a clean read.

Anson Daughtry is off work because he is the only one left that could be the mole at the Gates.  Anson knows he is not the mole though so he is looking to see who else could have figured it out.

Ginny Coltrane works in pay role at the Gates.  She has got her brother drunk into the car at the bar he was at when 4 tough guys start surrounding her.  Anson decides to step in.  He gets beat up so she can get help.

The guys want Ginny's brother dead.  Ginny does not why.  Anson does not leave her to face things by herself.
Quinn trusts that Anson is not the mole but he is not sure. Quinn does help Ginny protect her brother.
It is a good read that I did not want to put down.
I would read more books by Paula Graves in the future based on reading this book.
I was given this ebook to read by Net Galley and Harlequin.  In return I agreed to give honest review of Two Souls Hollow.

Blog tour: ‘Have Gavel Will Travel’ by Robert Braithwaite

 

About the book:
What happens in a national park doesn’t stay in a national park. It often ends up in Robert Braithwaite’s courtroom—or sometimes on his kitchen table. Over a lifetime of administering justice, he saw everything from canoodling nudes to sheep hunters with drones to downright dangerous drug cartels. This collection of cases is so outrageous and bizarre you’ll have to read it to believe it.

File Size: 583 KB

Print Length: 123 pages

Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited

Publisher: Cedar Fort, Inc. (January 12, 2015)

Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Language: English

ASIN: B00S6RP0DG

About the author:
Robert Braithwaite currently resides in Cedar City, Utah. He attended Southern Utah University and the University of Utah, graduating in 1973 with a B. S. in Political Science in 1973. He graduated from the University of Utah School of Law with a Juris Doctor degree in 1976. As an attorney he maintained a private practice and served as City Attorney for Cedar City, Parowan and Springdale. He also served for eight years as a member of the Utah Air Conservation Committee, the statutorily-established body regulating pollution emissions in the state.
In a twenty-seven year career as a judge, Robert Braithwaite has been a circuit judge, a district judge, a juvenile judge, a pro tem Utah Supreme Court judge and is now a U. S. magistrate judge. While a state judge, he served on the Utah Judicial Council, the governing board of the Utah state judiciary, and served as chairman of its Policy and Planning subcommittee. As a part-time magistrate judge he now hears criminal cases arising in the southern half of Utah, usually occurring in National Parks and Monuments, National Forests, and federal lands. Needless to say, he rides a circuit, hearing cases in four diverse locations at St. George, Big Water, Moab, and Salt Lake City.
His wife is an artist and art professor. Together they have raised four children.

My review:Have Gavel Will Travel’

5 STARS

I enjoyed Robert Braithwaite writing style.  It is entertaining, a real look into a what a Judge does and feels. I wanted to read more. I did not want to put the book down. Easy to get into the story right away.

He talks about his different cases from poachers in are National Parks, divorce cases, to murder cases and other criminal cases. How he feels about certain cases.  That he was trying to make the right decisions.

He also shared what he likes to do with his grandchildren. Like take his one grandson to Dinosaur National  Monument or play in sand pile with his other one.

I would read more by Robert Braithwaite in the future.

I was given this ebook to read by Cedar Fort Publishing.  In return I agreed to give a honest review of Have Gavel Will Travel and be part of its blog tour.

Have Gavel Will Travel” blog tour schedule:
April 6:
April 7:
April 8:
April 9: Reidhead Randomness
April 10: Mel’s Shelves
April 11:
April 12:
April 13: I Love to Read and Review Books • Reading for Sanity
April 14: EmmyMom
April 15: Blooming With Books • Cranberry Fries • Literary Time Out
April 16:
April 17: Readalot
April 18:
April 19:
April 20:

The Never-Open Desert Diner by James Anderson

Ben JONES, the protagonist of James Anderson’s haunting debut novel, The Never-Open Desert Diner (Caravel Books, February, 2015), is on the verge of losing his small trucking company. A single, thirty-eight-year-old truck driver, Ben’s route takes him back and forth across one of the most desolate and beautiful regions of the Utah desert.

 

The orphan son of a Native American father and a Jewish social worker, Ben is drawn into a love affair with a mysterious woman, Claire, who plays a cello in the model home of an abandoned housing development in the desert. Her appearance, seemingly out of nowhere, reignites a decades-old tragedy at a roadside café referred to by the locals as The Never-Open Desert Diner. The owner of the diner, Walt Butterfield, is an embittered and solitary old man who refuses to yield to change after his wife’s death.

 

Ben’s daily deliveries along the atmospheric and evocative desert highway bring him into contact with an eccentric cast of characters that includes: John, an itinerant preacher who drags a life-sized cross along the blazing roadside; the Lacey brothers, Fergus and Duncan, who live in boxcars mounted on cinderblocks; and Ginny, a pregnant and homeless punk teenager whose survival skills make her an unlikely heroine.

 

 

 

Ben’s job as a truck driver is more than a career; it is a life he loves. As he faces bankruptcy and the possible loss of everything that matters to him, he finds himself at the heart of a horrific crime that was committed forty years earlier and now threatens to destroy the lives of those left in its wake.

 

 

“Maybe it was being orphaned and alone all my life, but I always steeled myself for the worst outcome I could envision,” says Ben. “That way I could shrug and almost be happy with anything that fell short of the worst. It was a peculiar life skill and one I had gotten damn good at.”

 

Ben discovers the desert is relentless in its grip, and what the desert wants, it takes. An unforgettable story of love and loss, Ben learns the enduring truth that some violent crimes renew themselves across generations.

 

The Never-Open Desert Diner is a unique blend of literary mystery and noir fiction that evokes a strong sense of place.  It is a story that holds the reader and refuses to let go and will linger long after the last page.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

James Anderson was born in Seattle and raised in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. He is a graduate of Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and received his Master’s Degree in Creative Writing from Pine Manor College in Boston. For many years he worked in book publishing. Other jobs have included logging, commercial fishing and, briefly, truck driver. He currently divides his time between Ashland, Oregon, and the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. For more information, visit www.jamesandersonauthor.com

 

 

My review: The Never-Open Desert Diner by James Anderson

 

4 STARS

 

It makes me want to go drive out that way and enjoy the desert.  I would probably one of the lost ones if I did that.  He describes the scenery really well.

 

The story starts off slowly building up to more mysteries,  more stories about the people in the area.  I wanted some different endings on some of the storylines.  I liked some of the endings really well.

 

Ben Jones is a truck driver who drives up and back on one road.  He carries deliveries for UPS and Fedex. and for others who hire him off 117.  He is in deep debt.  He is a orphan.  They think Ben has a Indian father and a Jewish mother.

 

There a lot of stories that we learn about different characters. some sad, some criminal and some you wanted things to go right for.  There is a lot of worn down worn out places and people but there is some hope and light too.

 

I was given this book and asked in return to give it a honest review of The Never-Open Desert Diner.