Bones on Ice: A Novella (Temperance Brennan #17.5) by Kathy Reichs

Blurb:

Featuring a preview of the highly anticipated new thrillerSpeaking in Bones, this eBook original novella showcases #1New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs at the peak of her powers. In Bones on Ice, forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan gets wrapped up in the ultimate cold case: a murder on Mount Everest.

It is called the “death zone”: the point on Everest, nearly five miles high, above which a climber cannot be rescued. More than 250 souls have lost their lives there. Most of the bodies remain, abandoned, frozen in place. When an earthquake leads to a miraculous recovery, Dr. Temperance Brennan is hired to identify the frozen mummified human corpse. The victim is the daughter of a wealthy Charlotte couple who never got the chance to say goodbye. But far from offering solace and closure, Tempe’s findings only provoke more questions. What happened on Mount Everest? Was the young woman’s death an accident? Why aren’t the other climbers talking? And how far will those hiding the truth go to make sure the past stays buried?
 

My review:

This is a frightening look into the quest for Mt. Everest.  In Kathy Reichs inimitable style we get to learn about the hazards of climbing the worlds highest peaks.  When a local big wig has her daughter’s body recovered from a failed expedition and insists on Tempe identifying her and finding cause of death politics make it so she can’t refuse. We are swept into the world of extreme conditions and as with all the Temperance Brennan books nothing is as it seems.  This is one heck of a great read.

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Joker (Wolves of Angels Rest #2) by Elsa Jade

Blurb:

Born and raised in a clandestine paramilitary cult dedicated to destroying all shapeshifting monsters, Leela Jones has to prove her worth by testing her deadly new revolvers on the terrible white wolfman. Too bad he caught her. Even worse, she’s not sure if she wants to get away.

Vicious werewolf hunters killed Bastian Villalobos’ father and left him to run wild, dreaming of a someday revenge. But when that someday comes, it’s in the soft, quiet shape of a lonely woman suffering the same pain as him. She knows him in a way no one else does, and together they could broker a ceasefire between their people. Except not everyone wants peace.

My review:

Hunters killed his parents and werewolves killed hers.  She was raised to fight weres and he has a vendetta.  Leela is on her first hunt to prove that the weapon she has designed will kill weres.  Unsuccessful and captured by the weres she was to kill she is astonished to find that they may not be the evil she was led to believe.  Bastian’s first instinct is to kill the human but the new alpha wants change.  They want the killing to end.  Both Bastian and Leela haave a lot to learn from each other and if they fall in love along the way… anything is possible.

I enjoyed everything about this quick intense read except the title. I don’t get it. But the story Is well worth the read.

I was given a copy of this book for an honest review.

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Death of a Batty Genius (Stormy Day Mystery #3) by Angela Pepper

Blurb:

Stormy Day is making a name for herself in Misty Falls as a private investigator. 

When her ex-fiancé suddenly shows up in town, he begs for one last chance. He invites Stormy and Jessica to a luxury three-day vacation at a nearby mountain resort.

Stormy agrees, thinking what's the worst that could happen? The resort owner is a world-famous pastry chef, so the biggest danger should be calories.

Up at the Flying Squirrel Lodge, everyone's having a grand time until one of the guests goes missing under mysterious circumstances.

Now Stormy and Jessica are trapped, miles from home, with a killer... and way too much killer cheesecake. The girls must use their wits to solve the crime before time runs out and the murderer comes after them.

DEATH OF A BATTY GENIUS is book 3 in the Stormy Day Mystery series. It is a complete mystery, and may be read as a stand-alone, or after books 1 and 2

My review:

Death of a Batty Genius is the latest Stormy Day mystery.  Stormy is smart and funny which helps when you are starting over.  When on her first date with Logan the sexy lawyer who is renting the other half of her duplex Stormy’s ex-fiancé shows up.  He wants Stormy and Jessica to help him checkout his cousin Butchs’ new luxury resort.  While there they meet Butch’s bride and her friends the “Batty Geniuses”.  As you can guess madness, frivolity and murder ensue.  The weather leaves them stuck on a mountain top and Stormy has to figure out who the killer is.  Yes it’s been done but this is so much fun you are sure to enjoy it anyway. I sure did.

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Witchlock (Belador #6) by Dianna Love

Blurb:

The Beladors are back in WITCHLOCK, Book 6 of the bestselling urban fantasy series by New York Times bestseller Dianna Love.

Witchlock vanished in the 13th century… or did it?
Some win. Some lose. And some will never be the same again.

After finally earning her place among the Beladors, Evalle is navigating the ups and downs of her new life with Storm when she’s sucked into a power play between her Belador tribe and the Medb coven. Both groups claim possession of the Alterants-turned-gryphons, especially Evalle, the gryphon leader. But an influx of demons and dark witches into Atlanta threatens to unleash war between covens, pitting allies against each other as a legendary majik known as Witchlock invades the city and attacks powerful beings. Evalle has one hope for stopping the invasion, but the cost may be her sanity and having to choose which friend to save.

My review:

Evalle and friends are back in another high energy, pulse pounding adventure.  Everything about this book from the villainess on the gorgeous cover to the very last page grabs you, sucks you in and won’t let you go until panting and exhausted you read the very last page.  Well written and very fast paced this book is one fantastic ride.  Evalle’s angst is less work related and more personal but she has learned to deal with trouble in all its forms and she will figure out her relationship with Storm too.  That is if she can slow down long enough. 

Fans of Rachel Caine’s Weather Warden series will enjoy this series.  I surely do.

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Long Time Coming (Hot Rods #8) by Jayne Rylon

Long Time Coming (Hot Rods #8) by Jayne Rylon

Blurb:

The best things are worth waiting for. 

Hot Rods, Book 8 

Tom London has done a pretty damn good job. Despite an illness that stole his young wife years ago, he’s raised his biological son, and several adopted ones, to be fine men. The Hot Rods might be unconventional, but they’re hardworking, hard-playing, and hard-loving. Tom couldn’t ask for anything more—except perhaps an equally fierce love of his own. And he’s got his eye on a luscious candidate. Ms. Wilhelmina Brown, a longtime widow with more than enough sass in her step to take him on. 

Willie has a lot in common with Tom. She’s raised two wonderful daughters, both now married into the Hot Rods family, and lived through her own tragedy, having lost her husband in a horrific accident. More than two decades later, she and Tom still live with the ghosts of their pasts, but she’d have to be dead herself not to feel the man’s effect on her libido. They already share a mutual respect; perhaps they can each be what the other needs in more tangible ways… 

As Tom and Willie take one step closer, an explosive revelation shoots them several steps back. But that bombshell turns out to be just a precursor to something potentially worse…potentially deadly…and potentially enough to keep the mature lovers apart forever. 

This book can be read as a standalone title. 

My review:

I cannot express how much I LOVE this book.  I’ve loved these characters from the start. They have stood by and protected some truly damaged individuals and watched them grow and learn to love themselves and others. Now it is their turn.  You are never too old for love and if anyone deserves it it is these two. With the kids all but settled Willie is feeling the empty nest and her excuses for putting Tom off have gone the way of the dodo so maybe she will give in to her heart once more and hope it can handle loving Tom. Tom is about to turn 50 and Willie is 46 and this book proves they haven’t lost a stroke they just make them count more.  This is an incredibly sweet story that will keep you up reading past your bedtime. I know it kept me up late as I couldn’t put it down till the very last page. 

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Must Love Cakes (Watkins Pond #3) by Virginia Nelson

Blurb:

When two delicious men are on the menu, skip the appetizer and go straight to dessert.

Carolyn Bannister lives the sweet life as co-owner and operator of a bakery with her two best friends. Small towns being what they are, though, she finds herself at a party one night, slinging back shots while trying to ignore the woman wrapped around her ex.

Grady Brooks and Ben Shipman have always taken care of their longtime buddy, and tonight is no different. Though they’ve shared women in the past, they never considered getting sexually involved with Carrie—at least not out loud. Why not get back at her douche of an ex by playing into the longtime rumors about the three of them being involved in a relationship?

Any initial hesitation goes up in smoke when faked kisses get all too real. Though they break apart, everything has changed. Now neither Grady nor Ben can pretend they don’t want the one woman they’ve always loved. 

But in this gossip-ridden town, it’s not as if the three of them can openly date. Or…can they?

Warning: Contains two men and one woman up to their apron strings in repressed sexual tension. Throw in battery-assisted phone sex, and something’s definitely rising. Not all the decadent treats in this story are edible, but they’re guaranteed piping-hot—and calorie free. “Batter” up!

My review:

Ménage

Must Love Cakes is the third in Virginia Nelsons Watkins Pond series and like the others can be read standalone.   

Carolyn, Ben & Grady have been friends forever and own a bakery together.  Rumors have had them doing each other in various configurations for years. The guys would like nothing more than to have Carrie anyway she would let them but she has had a jerk for a boyfriend and they don’t poach.  She is single now and they need to find a way to convince her that sex with them won’t ruin the relationships they have with each other.  Can Carrie relax enough to give them what they all want?  Can they risk it all?  This is a fun book that explores all that with some rollicking good dialogue and scorching hot sex.

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Silver Wolf Clan (Silver Wolf Clan #1), Black Wolf's Revenge (Silver Wolf Clan #2), Brand of the Pack (Silver Wolf Clan #3) by Tera Shanley

Silver Wolf Clan (Silver Wolf Clan #1), Black Wolf's Revenge (Silver Wolf Clan #2), Brand of the Pack (Silver Wolf Clan #3) by Tera Shanley 

Silver Wolf Clan 

Despite a slow start this book eventually sucked me in and wouldn't let go. Silver Wolf Clan introduces us to Grey & Morgan. Grey's whole life is altered when he is bitten while trying to save Morgan, her sister and her sisters child from a rogue werewolf. It is obvious from the start that this is the first in the series and because of that the romance takes back seat to world building and set up for the next book. Even so this is a complete novel with no cliffhanger but there are lots of questions left to be answered. This is a terrific world by a new to me author and I am on to the next book.

Black Wolf's Revenge 

This is the second in the series and contains enough info about the first book that it could be read stand alone. Morgan was so happy when Grey proposes but when he tries to explain he trips over his own tongue and Morgan gives him back his ring and informs him that she and her niece don't want or need his protection. Grey is a dominant alpha werewolf and male so sometimes he doesn't think before he speaks and it has cost him his mate. Morgan is still in danger and he will do whatever it takes to keep her safe whether she wants him or not. My only complaint is that this felt like a middle book. It is short and although it tells a whole story it is obvious that it isn't the "whole" story. None the less bring on the next book. 

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley

Brand of the Pack

Book three and finally Morgan trusts Grey and herself. She has to get over being kidnapped but she is determined to apologize to Grey and hope he will forgive her. They have a chance at happiness and a new pack. This was my favorite of the series so far but you know Alexis is still causing trouble for Grey. 
The Silver Wolf Clan series is paranormal fantasy fun. Each book can be read stand alone but is better if you've read the previous ones first. I am looking forward to the next installment. 

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley

Bring on Summit of the Wolf (Silver Wolf Clan #4) out September 1^st

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