How Lady K Celebrates a Honkin' Hot Day

It has been smokin' hot the last couple of days, so Lady K took advantage of the inground sprinkler system and had a honkin' good time...

DEAD IN THE FAMILY: Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series #10 - Charlaine Harris, narr Johanna Parker

From the back of the BOCD: The #1 New York Times best-selling Sookie Stackhouse phenomenon--which inspired the smash hit HBO True Blood--continues with this 10th delicious tale, as Sookie attempts to carve a slice of normalcy from her paranormal world.

The devastating Faery War has ended. Still reeling from the deaths of her cousin Claudine and many others, Sookie attempts to settle in with her beloved vampire Eric. But the new Vampire King is keeping a close eye on the relationship. Meanwhile, the government is pushing the idea of mandatory registration for two-natured beings. Then Claudine's triplet, Claude, appears on Sookie's doorstep--and is rather reluctantly shown the welcome mat.

Peacefulness remains elusive, and chaos touches everything as the stakes are raised in this breathtaking chapter from a series that becomes more popular by the minute.

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This is the 10th in the series and some would argue (on some of the reviews and blogs I follow) that this is the weakest of the series. I would argue against that line of thought. It wasn't my favorite, but it was definitely a good read/listen. I think a lot of the reviewers took issue with Eric showing weakness, whereas I thought it was a wonderful touch having Eric showing weakness. At some point he needed to show that he could become overwhelmed, at least a little bit, by events. And if your 'father' coming to town after a gazillion years (especially bringing his newest progeny in tow) doesn't make one overwhelmed by events, I don't know what would.

Poor Sookie needs some relaxation time after all the crap she's been through and it doesn't look like she's going to get that any time soon. She's got the Fae after her tail, Eric isn't there for her like she wishes, her two-natured friends are under attack and the Feds are still huntin' for a reason to bring her in to work with them.

Would that I could bring more to the review party, but the spoilers would likely start flyin'...so I will leave it at...

Five non-spoiler give Sookie and Eric a break beans.....

DON'T MAKE ME CHOOSE BETWEEN YOU AND MY SHOES: Domestic Equalizers #4 - Dixie Cash, narr Peggity Price

From the back of the BOCD: Dixie Cash---best-selling Texas author of MY HEART MAY BE BROKEN, BUT MY HAIR STILL LOOKS GREAT---thrills millions with the ongoing antics of Lone Star duo Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin. This rollicking tale sends Salt Lick's own sleuthing cosmetologists on a collision course with the Big Apple.

When they receive an all-expensese-paid trip to a New York City PI convention, Debbie Sue basks in the glow of validation while Edwina sets her sights on some Fifth Avenue footwear. After raising a ruckus at the Dallas airport, the Texas Tornadoes arrive in New York, where they befriend a small-town librarian. While helping the bashful gal hook up with an NYPD detective, the Domestic Equalizers stumble across a charming killer who could leave them both stone-cold in their new Jimmy Choos.

Peggity Price's spot-on narration keeps listeners laughing as the zany pair--high on hairspray, rodeo boots, and stiletto heels---confronts big-city life.

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Lordy! This one is the best one yet of the series!!! The mystery started a lot earlier and the romance was fairly mellow. I honestly don't mind when the mystery starts or how much romance goes on...so long as Debbie Sue and Edwina do their thang, this reader/listener is a happy pup.

Debbie Sue and Edwina are asked to head up to New York City to speak at a convention. There are some gaffes and snafu's, but that's to be expected. And I kept cracking up throughout. Bless their hearts, they take NYC and the NYPD and the bad guys by storm.

What they may lack in 'sophistication' they more than make up for with their common ordinary horse sense. They can read a scene and people like no one bidness and that works in their favor when they discover a likely serial killer.

I think I am getting this whole series on audio for my keeper shelf. I would love to visit with the gals any time I want.

Five big ol' NYC ain't seen nuthin' yet diamonds....

Books in the House Monday - 21 June 2010

From Mary Ann:
THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN - Kate Morton, TPB, mystery
DYING FOR DINNER: Cooking Class Mystery #4 - Miranda Bliss, MPB, cozy mystery
MURDER HAS A SWEET TOOTH: Cooking Class Mystery #5 - Miranda Bliss, MPB, cozy mystery

and she included some very nifty 3D bookmarks...

From Cassie:

IT HAPPENED ONE KNIFE: A Double Feature Mystery - Jeffrey Cohen, MPB, mystery

VICTIM SIX - Gregg Olsen, MPB, thriller

I GAVE YOU MY HEART, BUT YOU SOLD IT ONLINE: Domestic Equalizers #3 - Dixie Cash, narr Peggity Price

From the back of the BOCD: Dixie Cash novels score critical accolades while slaying readers with witty mysteries starring the Domestic Equalizers, aka Debbie Sue Overstreet and her best friend Edwina. In their third outing, the gals from Salt Lick, Texas, wrangl with a mystery involving a handsome bull-riding champeen.

It's apparent to 12-year-old Jill that her I'm-just-fine-without-a-man mom Allison has grown jaded and needs to get back on the dating scene. So she goes on the Internet and lands a catch Allison would be crazy to throw back: strapping rodeo star Quint Matthews. It seems like the perfect match, but Quint comes to town with a heap o' trouble in tow. Now Quint must turn to the spunky Domestic Equalizers to find out who's tailing him before somebody ends up dead as armadillo roadkill.

Peggity Price captures all the West Texas flavor with a narration that adds spice and sizzle to this side-splitting tale.

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Oh, how I love this series. I did have to suffer through DH's chatter about some 'anomalies' in the logic, but I know to go with the flow...anomalies schanomalies....Debbie Sue and Ed crac me the hell up!

The mystery kind of meanders and really doesn't make a show until later in the book and that's okay, too. It's also secondary to the sort of romance between Allison and Quint, then later really heats up between Allison and Tag, the best friend of Quint. Allison meets Quint via her daughter's good intentions of the online dating service. She thinks Quint is easy on the eyes, but a little full of himself. Quint takes her to a restaurant that his best friend owns and Allison meets Tag...owner of the restaurant. And they keep meeting up and falling more for each other, but unwilling to do more about it because of Quint.

Quint is in his own world of trouble and hires Debbie Sue and Edwina to help him out. Debbie Sue still thinks of Quint as a good friend and everyone else thinks Quint is an egotistical ex-boyfriend of Debbie Sue, in particular Debbie Sue's husband.

Favorite scene in the book is the 'toy' party...O..M..G!!! It has to be read or listened to, I really cannot do it justice here....but...O..M..G funny!

Please do yourself a favor, if you like a funny mystery, please get this book, this series!

Five funny funny Texas diamonds.....

Blooms On Sunday - 20 June 2010

One of my baby daylilies
Closeup of one of my many achilleas

A very happy Husker Red penstemon

The lineup of the containers on the front walk

My favorite of the iceplants in the front berm..little baby keeps covering the ground just like it should in the most beautiful way

And TA-DAAAHHH!! We have a solo bike rider!!

She is nothing if not stubborn...Lady K asked if she could go back out again this afternoon to try the bike riding gig one more time...and she succeeded! I do have video (of course) and when I figure out how to load it up, I'll post it.

Celebrating Father's Day

We've still got some learning to do, but the right of passage of learning to ride a two wheeler has begun...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

PAPER TOWNS - John Green, narr Dan John Miller

From the back of the BOCD: Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life--dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge--he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues--and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

Printz medalist John Green returns with the brilliant wit and searing emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of listeners.

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Cynthia from High Crimes sent this to me not long ago as a gimme in one of my orders. It was a book that was mentioned by Lori Armstrong as a highly recommended YA read at her book signing hosted by Cynthia in February. Cynthia listened to it and concurred and knew that I'd like it too.

She was correct. I listened to it on the roadtrip to Kansas last week and it was perfect. There's a roadtrip towards the end of the book, a crazy long roadtrip that brings out the true nature of friendship.

Q is a fairly typical high school senior in Florida. Getting ready to graduate, get ready for college, hanging with his friends, in love from afar the girl of his dreams....

Girl of his dreams goes a little nuts one night and takes Q along with for the ride on her revenge tour around town.

And then disappears..leaving clues behind for Q to follow and find her. He asks his friends, old and new, to help him find the elusive Margo.

It's an intriguing story of friendship and loyalty and road trips....

Four intriguing road trip beans.....

Report on Spa Week 2010 aka Girls with Powertools

Lady K and I have returned from Kansas and this year's Spa Week 2010, what we now call our mini fam reunion of our little clan. We meet at Dad's in Ottawa, Kansas to work on this year's project. Mom comes up from Fort Scott and does the cooking. My sister brings her two boys out from Glenview,IL. And Lady K and I come out from Denver burbs.
We started bright and early Sunday morning with a 6 mile walk (just Seester and I partook of this). Each morning afterwards was a four mile walk for me and six mile run for Seester. Then it was on to building the arbor behind Dad's pool. He needs shade big time out there in humid eastern Kansas, so the arbor will help do the trick.
We also mowed his 2.5 acres, saw IronMan2 and Prince of Persia (both hellah good), went to Fort Scott to the feed store, hardware store and sale barn (where livestock are bought and sold for those not in the know) and check on Mom's garden. We received copious rain, so we didn't really have to worry, but it's always fun to check in with the hometown.
Made one trip to DQ and several trips to Hawaiian Shave Ice booth at night and a couple of trips to Daylight Donuts where I located a new sensation called a Pinecone (YUM).

A good week of working hard, eating well, having fun in the pool....it's why we started calling it Spa Week..... Lady K doing her part in the above photos....keeping the tools straight and the frogs entertainedSeester and Dad work team And the lovely mostly finished product....Dad will put up trellises on two sides for wisteria vines to climb and cover the roof for even more shade and we will put in a wood floor if Dad wants to next year

MAMA DOES TIME: A Mace Bauer Mystery - Deborah Sharp

From the back of the book: It all started with a phone call. I was just about to plop down with my leftover fried chicken, wanting to see if I could spot any of my ex-boyfriends on COPS, when it rang...What do you say when your mother announces she's got one foot behind bars for murder?

With impeccable manners and sherbet-colored pant suits, Mama is a true Southern woman. Who would ever suspect her of cold-blooded murder? But when a dead body is found in the trunk of her turquoise convertible, that's exactly what Detective Martinez sets out to prove. Now, to save their mama from the slammer (just like a tacky lyric from a country-western song), Mace and her sisters must wrangle the truth out of their small town neighbors and track down the real culprit.

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People, people, people!! If you dig a supremely funny and well thought out mystery, get this book! I laughed myself pee-less throughout my time. It was my bedside book, so I went to sleep each night with a big grin on my face.

I was pleased with how the main character became an amateur sleuth. Mace knows Mama did not murder the man found in her trunk and, so, is drawn into the investigation to protect her mama from the big bad big city police detective newly arrived from Miami.

Mace and her sisters know everyone in their small town and set about asking questions, much to the possible endangerment of Mace and her sisters.

I kept thinking I knew who the bad guy was and I totally dug it that I was wrong and did a 'What the...??!" at the big reveal.

I am Southern by proxy (DH is from Virginia/Tennessee border) and I lived in Louisiana and Texas and Florida at varying times in my life and this may explain why I adore the Southern humor in the books I read...or it may just be that they, along with this gem, are just wonderfully written.

My favorite character, besides Mace and Mama, would be Ollie the one-eyed gator in the park where Mace works. He has an interesting charisma about him. Read the book and find out...

Five watch out for the gator, baby sparkly diamonds......

A PLACE FOR DELTA - Melissa Walker, Illustrated by Richard Walker

From the inside flaps of the book: Joseph felt safe with Chipic, but with active volcanoes threatening to erupt and a monster moose next to the trail, he was really ready to go. As he boarded the helicopter, Joseph felt butterflies in his stomach. Soon he would meet Delta.

Joseph can hardly believe what he has been asked to do. His aunt Kate is waiting for him at a research station and needs help taking care of an orphan polar bear cub only a few months old. He will leave his friends and family and venture to the farthest northern town in the United States: Barrow, Alaska.

As the adventure unfolds, Joseph and his newfound Eskimo friend Ada find mysteries wherever they look. The bear cub, Delta, remains in danger. Who would want a polar bear dead? Joseph will have to look to the North Georgia woods and his family to save Delta.

When his parents were kids, they too embarked on an excursion into the unknown. Their encounters with the wilderness beyond their backyard have moldedthe future for Joseph and Delta. A PLACE FOR DELTA is about one family's journey--a passage born in the Appalachian Mountains and leading to the Arctic seas.

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I like to think of myself as young at heart, but maybe not so much. At least not young enough to get as much as I'd have liked from A PLACE FOR DELTA. I really wanted to enjoy it, the premise was superb with the story of a little boy getting to go on the adventure of a lifetime: flying to Barrow, Alaska to help his aunt to care for an orphaned polar bear cub. There are mysteries to be had and as much as I love mysteries (and you know how much I dig mysteries), I could not get into the story.

I will pass this one on to my nephew who loves animals and loves mysteries almost as much as I do and he is actually young at heart since he's ten.

I received this from OnlinePublicist...

Three wish I were more young at heart beans......

Books in the House - Monday 14 June 2010

Another nice sweet bennie from my visit to Dad's last week...BOOKS!!!
ONE SHOT: A Reacher Novel #9 - Lee Child, MPB, suspense
SECOND SHOT: A Charlie Fox Thriller #6 - Zoe Sharp, MPB, thriller
BLACK OUT - Lisa Unger, MPB, suspense
TRAGEDY AT LAW - Cyril Hare, MPB, suspense
BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE: A Reacher Novel - Lee Child, MPB, suspense
HEARTSICK: A Gretchen Lowell Book One - Chelsea Cain, MPB, thriller
A FAINT COLD FEAR - Karin Slaughter, MPB, thriller

Blooms on Sunday - 13 June 2010

We've had some banner rain the last couple days, so basically everything in the flowerbeds are happy happy happy.....brought a few plants from the visit to Kansas last week. We make sure to visit Suburban Lawn & Garden each time. I love love love this nursery! Acres and acres of plants for each gardener's dirt diggin' pleasure...

This is a new agastache, Golden Jubilee..I love my agastache collection

Above is the chocolate section of the shade garden...a new ligularia dentata, Brit-Marie Crawford, part of the treasures I brought back from Kansas..there's a cimicifuga that seems to be happy as well as the Husker Red penstemon in the forefront..

Peeking through to make herself known is penstemon barbatus, Elfin Pink, in the front berm

Residing next to the little red wagon full of sedums is lychnis chalcedonica, Maltese Cross...I need to get more of this pup...it's one happy camper no matter what and I think it would like some company

Books in the House Monday - 7 June 2010

Lotta lotta books in the last couple of weeks....can't wait to read them all!!

From my sister:

RITUAL - Mo Hayder, MPB, thriller
DEEPER - Jeff Long, MPB, thriller
MAN OF CONSTANT SORROW: MY LIFE AND TIMES - Dr Ralph Stanley with Eddie Dean, HC, autobiography

From Online Publicist,Lisa:
A PLACE FOR DELTA - Melissa Walker, HC, YA


From Becky (NoMoreGrumpyBookseller):
THE MAP OF TRUE PLACES - Brunonia Barry, HC, current fiction



From my High Crimes Mystery Bookshop order:

THE COLD DISH - Craig Johnson, TPB, suspense

PUSHING UP DAISIES: A Dirty Business Mystery - Rosemary Harris, MPB, amateur sleuth



From my buddy Jenna (Imzadidragonfly):

HANK ZIPZER: NIAGARA FALLS OR DOES IT? - Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver (SIGNED)
MAGIC IN THE BLOOD - Devon Monk (SIGNED), UF, MPB
MAGIC IN THE SHADOWS - Devon Monk (SIGNED), UF, MPB
MAGIC ON THE STORM - Devon Monk (SIGNED), UF, MPB
THE DROWNING CITY - Amanda Downum, UF, MPB

Miss Jenna also included some nifty magnets, stickers, a Reading is Sexy bookmark, bookplates, and a notepad...isn't she the ginchiest??


From my BTO buddy, Janet:
IF BOOKS COULD KILL: A Bibliophile Mystery - Kate Carlisle, MPB, amateur sleuth
HOMICIDE IN HARDCOVER: A Bibliophile Mystery - Kate Carlisle, MPB, amateur sleuth

Headin' to Kansas...

Lady K and I are heading out for Spa Week 2010 at my dad's house in Ottawa, Kansas tomorrow early in the AM. We had such a good time last year building four or five windbreak fences for Dad, we decided we needed to do this every year. It's only the clan: Mom coming up from her house in Fort Scott to cook for us all, Dad who is housing us and making sure we don't hurt anyone with the powertools, my sister and her two boys and Lady K and me...no spousal units allowed for the week.
This year we're building the grape or other vine arbor for the back of his pool area. Add some extra seating area, shade, and more planting area.
There will be trips to the movies, the DQ, the shaved ice stand and the nursery for more plants for all.
See you in a week!

HIGH CRIMES ON THE MAGICAL PLANE: A Samantha Brennan and Annabelle Haggerty Mystery - Kris Neri

From the back of the book: Imagine the surprise of scam psychic Samantha Brennan--when she encounters the real thing--that's right: an honest-to-heavens Celtic goddess, hidden beneath the steely exterior of FBI Special Agent Annebelle Haggerty. Yet Annabelle's magical powers might not be enough when America's sweet and sexy movie star, Molly Clare, is made the centerpiece of a gangland siege that brings the City of Angels to its knees. And if Annabelle and her family of deities are no match for the Demon of Darkness that she believes is masterminding LA's own Armageddon--what chance does a poor little fake like Samantha have?

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There is more on the back of the book and it's all praise. It's a veritable paranormal Who's Who on that back cover singing praises over this book: Charlaine Harris, Casey Daniels, Shirley Damsgaard, Diana Gabaldon.

I cannot remember where I saw the review or synopsis of this one, but, once again, I am so glad that I did! This turned into a 'danger book' for me..the type that keeps me up reading past my bedtime. I loved Samantha and Annabelle, then the chemistry between the two main characters made me laugh and cheer them on. The story is a good one of quirky-means-well working with straightlaced good to fight the evil that is trying to take over the world, starting with Los Angeles.

All that appears normal isn't so, as Annabelle the goddess shows Samantha the fake psychic. Samantha knows the ways of the world, how to pull a good scam and where to find nifty vintage prom dresses. Annabelle knows where the gnomes and flower faeries reside and who to call when in need of a magical recharge.

The twists and turns were fab, especially the "Whoa! Did not see that coming" moment in the end.

Please let there be more to this series!! I'll look for Kris Neri's other books, that's for sure.

Five goddess sparkly diamonds....

MURDER ON THE MENU: A Cooking Class Mystery #2 - Miranda Bliss

From the back of the book: Best friends Annie and Eve know the bare bones of both cooking and amateur sleuthing. Now, they're in the trenches, struggling to hkeep a new restaurant, Bellwashers, from going belly up.

Annie and Even have joined their former cooking teacher, Jim--who doubles as Annie's on-again, off-again boyfriend--in running his new restaurant. Bombshell Eve is the hostess, while Annie stays behind the scenes, frantically managing everything from the books to the radicchio supply. Then a rave review makes the spot an instant success, drawing Washington's high-powered elite to sample Jim's cooking. People with both money and secrets to burn.

Everything's simmering along just fine until Annie and Eve find their friend, Sarah, staffer for a powerful congressman, lying dead in her tub. The cops want to write it off as a suicide, but the girls notice that, like Annie's invoices, the facts just don't add up. Then, after a series of suspicious "accidents" that come dangerously close to taking the girls permanently out of commission, Annie and Eve realize that this kitchen fires isn't about to put itself out.....

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This was a cutie-pie of a cozy. I could be friends with these two girls, probably Eve more so than Annie. Eve is sweet and funny and goofy, even being a hottie and all. Annie is wound a little too tight with her organizational skills and worries, but still is a good person at heart and wants to help Eve figure out who killed their friend Sarah. Yes, the police had deemed it a suicide after seeing the scene and finding a note, but Eve and Annie find little clues that lead them to believe something else happened. That led smoothly into their investigation, which I always appreciate in an amateur sleuth mystery.

I liked the atmosphere of the restaurant scenery and the characters are nicely drawn. Sometimes the action happened a little too co-ink-ee-dink-a-lee, like making kitchen-phobic Annie work one night helping the chef when one of the assistants was out of commission with a bad reaction to putting green dye in his hair, but the story moved along and all was accomplished in a timely manner.

I liked the ending with the 'whoa, did not see that one coming' tweak.

All in all, I look forward to reading the rest of the series and seeing what happens to my buds, Annie, Eve and Jim and Bellywashers the restaurant.

Four sparkly kitchen diamonds......

VAMPIRATES: BLOOD CAPTAIN - Justin Somper, narr Daniel Philpott

From the back of the BOCD: Long-separated twins Connor and Grace struggle to earn their keep and avoid lashings aboard their respective pirate ships---Connor on the Diablo and Grace among the cursed crew of the Vampirate ship vessel.

Just when things are starting to get better for Connor, Captain Wrathe brings aboard his obnoxious nephew, Moonshine. The boorish lad proceeds to make Connor's life miserable, pushing him further down the plank of sanity each day. Grace, meanwhile, is overcome with guilt for causing the Vampirate Lorcan to go blind. She journeys with him to Sanctuary to seek the healing powers of the Mosh Zu Kamal--who, it turns out, is far more interested in Grace than Lorcan.

With the best of swashbuckling adventure and ghoulish horror on the high seas, Justin Somper's internationally acclaimed Vampirates series--begun with DEMONS OF THE OCEAN and TIDES OF TERROR--continues full-sail in BLOOD CAPTAIN. A salty reading by narrator Daniel Philpott sets a spine-tingling tone.

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Ahhhh....adventure on the high Vampirate seas...this is a superbly fun series. Plenty of action in both Vampirate and regular pirate varietal. What's great about this series is that piracy is an accepted form of occupation. There is a Pirate Academy for the non-Vampirate and Sanctuary for the vampires who wish to become Vampirates. Sanctuary helps the vampires become less addicted to the bloodlust and more of a mellower vampire.

The story trades back and forth between Grace's and then Connor's point of view. Each has their own trials and rewards, abilities and faults.

One constant that each has had to suffer is Sidorio, the Vampirate who is now Captain of his own small, but growing crew. Sidorio was a member of the Vampirate ship and left to form his own when he decided that he wanted to be a vampire of the old school and is evil incarnate. He woos vampires to his cause and becomes a force to be reckoned with.

A truly amazing series that I highly recommend. It's a YA series, but all who enjoy a good paranormal tale will dig each book.

Five bloody high seas adventure beans......

SHADOW BLADE - Seressia Glass

From the back of the book: For Kira Solomon, normal was never an option.

Kira's day job is as an antiquities expert, but her true calling is as a Shadowchaser. Trained from youth to be one of themost lethal Chasers in existence, Kira serves the Gilead Commission, dispatching teh Fallen who sow discord and chaos. Of course, sometimes Gilead bureaucracy is as much a thorn in her side as anything the Fallen can muster against her. Right now, though, she's got a bigger problem. Someone is turning the city of Atlanta upside down in search of a millennia-old Egyptian dagger that just happens to have fallen into Kira's hands.

Then there's Khefar, the dagger's true owner---a near-immortal 4,000-year-old Nubian warrior who, Kira has to admit, looks pretty fine for his age. Joining forces is the only way to keep the weapon safe from the sinister Shadow forces, but now Kira is in deep with someone who holds more secrets than she does,the one person who knows just how treacherous this fight is. Because every step closer to destroying the enemy is a step closer to losing herself to Shadow forever....

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I found this book thanks to Dark Faerie Tales and the Debut Urban Fantasy Author Challenge that's going on. So very glad I found the challenge and this book. The challenge has led me to some fab UF and this books is definitely in that group.

The premise of SHADOW BLADE was a new one to me, Kira has abilities to read items by placing her bare skin on the object. Sadly, this also means no close contact with people unless she wants them in a coma or dead. She's kept people at a distance all of her life, except for a trusted few and even they are kept sheltered from her touch and some emotional attachment. Kira has trained herself to be this way, for their sake and hers, but finds herself wanting to see what it would be like to touch one person...the Nubian, Khefar, owner of the ancient dagger she is protecting.

Khefar is tasked with a mission of protecting lives after an early lifetime of being a killing machine. The dagger was given to him by the Pharoah and it's never been out of his sight until now and he will do what it takes to get it back.

Khefar has a 'sidekick', though Nansee would be appalled to find himself called such. I think he was my favorite character in the book. He appeared as needed or as he felt compelled to appear in the guise of an old man, albeit an old man who could kick ass in the kitchen and in the fight.

I enjoyed the parts of the book where Kira has to deal with all of the paperwork after a Shadow attack. Bureaucracy is bureaucracy no matter if it's in the 'real' world or in the UF world and the author does a good job of showing Kira's disgust with that fact.

I am very pleased that this blend of ancient Egyptian mysticism and urban fantasy is the beginning of a series. There is definitely a story that needs telling and finishing. A story of good (Light) versus evil (Shadow). Shadow is definitely truly horrendous and Kira needs her wits and her allies around her to fight the darker side. This dark side also wants Kira to work for them and are doing all they can to make that so. And she is doing all she can to keep on the right side of Light.

Five sparkly Light diamonds.....

UNCOMMON GROUNDS - Sandra Balzo

From the back of the book: Patricia Harper is dead, killed by a hot-wired espresso machine, in Uncommon Grounds, her very own gourmet coffee store! Maggy Thorsen wants to know who killed one of her partners. Maggy needs the store to succeed. Starting over after her divorce, she's quit her PR job to open the coffee store. And if things aren't already tough enough, she begins to suspect one of her friends is responsible for Patricia's murder. Maggy joins forces with Sarah Kingstown, Patricia's closest friend, to investigate her killing. Together, they uncover unsavory small-town politics, bribes, kickbacks, and rampant infidelity. Before she's through , Maggy's sense of right and wrong will be shaken to its foundations. For once in her life, she is forced to draw her own line in the sand, and be prepared to defend it.

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I had a heckuva time finding a copy of this book after putting it on the WWBL after reading a review or synopsis somewhere a while back. Finally located a copy, then it sat in one of the drawers of Mt Git'r'Read until I was in cozy mode. Then I whomped my way through it in rapid fashion.

It's set in a foo-foo coffee shop in a small town where the three friends and partners are hoping that foo-foo coffee will catch on like it does in the big city. And then the murder on the very first opening day puts a kibosh on that hope.

The author did a really swell job of guiding the reader into why the lead character, Maggy, does the investigation. Mostly it's because the new sheriff in town thinks Maggy's the prime suspect!

There were some really fab "What the...?!" moments, really well done ones that had me doing the 'OH MAN! I totally did not see that coming!" I love those when they are so well done like that.

Five...well...coffee beans......

Books Read in May 2010

THE BODY IN THE BOOKCASE: Faith Fairchild #9 - Katherine Hall Page, MPB, good cozy
THE LOVER'S KNOT: Someday Quilts Mystery - Clare O'Donahue, TPB, excellent & smooth
RED MARS - Kim Stanley Robinson, BOCD, sci-fi, not as good as I thought it might be
DOG ON IT: Chet and Bernie Mystery - Spencer Quinn, BOCD, so good!
HEART OF STONE - C E Murphy, MPB, really good UF
THE BLUE LAST - Martha Grimes, BOT, always good
WHITE CAT: THE CURSE WORKERS Book One - Holly Black, TPB/ARC, highly excellent
BLOODROOT: #10 China Bayles - Susan Wittig Albert, BOCD, good
SIN KILLER: Berrybenders Narratives #1 - Larry McMurtry, BOCD, purdee good stuff
MY HEART MAY BE BROKEN, BUT MY HAIR STILL LOOKS GREAT - Dixie Cash, 2nd in series, BOCD, funny great!
SHADOW BLADE - Seressia Glass, MPB, UF, superb!
UNCOMMON GROUNDS - Sandra Balzo, TPB, cozy, really good
206 BONES: Temperance Brennan #12 - Kathy Reichs, BOCD,excellent!
HIGH CRIMES ON THE MAGICAL PLANE - Kris Neri, TPB, supremely funny paranormal mystery
MURDER ON THE MENU: A Cooking School Mystery #2 - Miranda Bliss, MPB, cute cozy

8 Books
7 audio
15 this month
81 this year