Monday, September 12, 2011

Tuesday Teaser - September 13

teasertuesdays31

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 
Dad's instructions from my childhood came to me, words still clear after all these years: When you're going down a hill, just let the sled do all the work . . . Stay right in traffic like you would on your bike and watch for warning signs for bridges, road crossings, driveways . . . Remember, you can't back up on a sled and they have a wide turning radius, so don't miss your turn or you're gonna have to get off, grab the back end, and swing it around.  It's a pain and a telltale sign you're new at this.
From The Queen by Steven James










Book Review: Sweet Justice by Christy Reece @ChristyReece



 
Sweet Justice by Christy Reece
Publisher: Ballantine
Publish Date: September 6, 2011
Paperback, 400 pages 
Fiction, Romantic Suspense
 ISBN: 978-0345524072
A Last Chance Rescue Novel (1st in new trilogy)




My Review:
Overview:  I now have a new author to read in one of my favorite genres and that excites me.  Christy Reece will be on my must-read list after reading Sweet Justice.


My thoughts:  From the first pages I liked Honor Stone.  She's a tough-as-nails FBI agent who wants to do what is right, and she has a heart of gold.  But inside she's a woman too and she has a heart that can be broken and that's just what Seth Cavanaugh does at the beginning of this book, but Honor moves on as best she can.  I like that Honor is strong and that she moves on as best she can.  I like the normal woman side to her.  I don't like women that can act like it's nothing.  Now Honor can put on that front, but deep down she is hurt.

I also like Seth, but that's because we are privy to what is going on and to why he is breaking Honor's heart.  Part of the reader will dislike him, but most of the reader will understand.  Seth is really a good guy who is trying to do right and it just ends up being a bad situation.  Love always seems to find you when you aren't looking for it and that's what happened to Seth.

Fast forward to several years later and that's when the meat of the story really starts.  Honor is working for Last Chance Rescue (LCR) which Ms. Reece has written about in earlier books, but as far as I could tell this book stood alone quite well and this book is actually the start of a new trilogy.  I think there are some mentions of several married couples in the LCR and I assume they are couples from earlier books, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything by starting with this book.  So Honor is working with LCR and Seth's niece has gone missing and they have exhausted all the normal modes of trying to find her so Seth goes to LCR.  Of course Honor is assigned to the case and works closely with Seth.  There is great tension between them, but they also work very well together bouncing ideas and working to solve the case with other LCR operatives.  So there is much more to the book than just them rekindling their romance.  But of course they do rekindle, but not without bumps along they way.  I like the approach of the seasoned romance, they didn't have to get to know each other.  They had dated for awhile when Seth left her.

The kidnapping plot was great, I like how Ms. Reece made it into a greater plot and gave us a glimpse into the bad guys as well.  And the bad guys are quite evil.  One thing I really like too is even though the bad guys are quite evil, she gives us a glimpse but never goes into great detail so we aren't haunted by what is going on.  We know it's bad, but we don't have to deal with really bad imagery and I appreciate that.  I like my romantic suspense gritty, but not too gritty and I think Ms. Reece truly understands the line not to cross.  She really builds up the suspense even though we know they bad guy.  We are left wondering if Seth and Honor will figure it out, will they catch them and is Seth's niece okay.  Trust me when I say there is plenty of suspense to keep you turning pages in this book.

In the end, I have a new name to add to my list of great romantic suspense authors and a ready made backlist to go through as well.  I can't wait to see what's in store for me with Rescue Me, Return to Me, Run to Me, No Chance, Second Chance and Last Chance.  And then there is Sweet Revenge coming in October which will be a must-read for me and Sweet Reward in December which is even more of a must-read because it will feature Jared who was in Sweet Justice and was the mystery man that I want to know more about.

So if you haven't tried out Christy, you should try out Sweet Justice, if you have tried her, let me know what you thought of the book you read.  I love reading comments and will respond back if you leave an email or if your email is attached to your blogger profile.

My Rating: 4.75/5.0


About the Book:
Honor Stone is a young, idealistic FBI agent when her path collides with Seth Cavanaugh. For a girl who has never walked on the wild side, the dark and dangerous Seth is a temptation she can’t refuse. But then Seth walks out the door and out of her life. Five years later, Honor is an operative with the elite Last Chance Rescue organization and Seth is a desperate ex-cop searching for his missing niece—one of many young women who have mysteriously vanished from college campuses. Going undercover, Honor will attract the maniacal cult leader behind the kidnappings and find a way to work with Seth—while steering clear of the passion and need that’s just one touch away from explosion. Seth knows he had all the right reasons for the wrong he did five years ago. And from the moment he sees her—and takes her in his arms again—this former undercover man will risk everything for one more chance with Honor.

About the Author: 
Christy Reece is a member of Romance Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. She lives in Alabama with her husband, two adorable canines, and one very shy turtle. Sweet Justice is the first novel in her new three-book Last Chance Rescue series.

Website
Twitter
Facebook
Blog

FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for an honest review. 




Book Blogger Appreciation Week 2011: Community

It's that time of year again - Book Blogger's Appreciation Week - and I must admit it has snuck up on me.  I started doing the interviews last year but I forgot to sign up this year.  I was supposed to judge a category, but forgot.  This medicine I am on along with the start of school and my work schedule just seems to be a little bit too much for me.  Oh well, on to the first day of BBAW. 

Today's topic is community and I'm supposed to highlight a couple of blogs that make book blogging a unique experience for me.  Hmmm. . . I was thinking about this on my drive in this morning.  There are so many different ways I could take this.  Last year I did the blogs that helped get me started so this year I thought I would do two different blogs.  First is one that I go to and I can guarantee her book suggestions will always help me find a book to read.  Very rarely will we disagree on a book.  That blogger is:

2 Kids and Tired Books

Boy I can relate to the blog title as well as her book choices.  Really though I read her blog pretty regularly and when she highly recommends a book I usually look for it at my library and if I can find it and read it I almost always agree with her.  Or if we have the same review book, we usually have the same opinion. Now this doesn't always hold true, but it's true most of the time.  We don't stay in touch or anything like that, but we do comment from time-to-time on each other's blogs.  But I know if I'm in a reading slump, I can go to her blog for a reading suggestion.

The second book blogger is one I can always go to for a laugh:

Babbling About Books

Between her WTFckery or Not? posts and the adventures of Mo Fo to her hilarious reviews, I love Katiebabs!  And sometimes she gets real too.  That's another reason to love her blog.  She's great at promoting authors because she is an author and she loves romance books, so what's not to like about her blog.  Her sense of humor is right up my alley - I love the sarcasm and the bite.  When I need a laugh I go to her blog.  When I need a romance recommendation, I go to her blog.  So go to her blog and try it out.  Warning, it's not for the faint of heart or the young.


So there you go - two very different bloggers who mean something to me.  Who means something to you?  You can find the Linky here to see what others said and put your own in as well.  If you have a great blog you would love to share with me, please do so in the comments.  If you are a fairly new blog and you want to share with me do so in the comments, I love to find new blogs and if you set your email up in blogger so you are not a no-reply email I will email you back (I love to comment back by email).  Please feel free to comment, I read all comments and respond if your email is either in the comment or visible through blogger.





Vanish Blog Tour: Will's Top Ten Favorite Things About Jacinda + Giveaway @SoVerySophie


Will’s Top Ten Favorite Things About Jacinda:

  1. She’s not like other girls.
  2. She’s the bravest person I know.
  3. Her hair … have you seen it? It’s gorgeous.
  4. She speaks to my heart.
  5. She understands me like no one else.
  6. She’ll never keep you waiting while she puts on her make-up.
  7. She cares more about others than herself.
  8. She makes a mean mac’n’cheese.
  9. She smells awesome … like wind and rain and forest.
  10. She hasn’t got a clue how beautiful she is.

** Swoon **  I heart me some Will.  This has to be the sweetest top ten list ever!


You can also check out the awesome trailer here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZa5v_LJyH8&feature=feedu

Giveaway

Sophie has generously offered a swag pack to a lucky blog reader, US only, ends 9/16/11.  Simply enter below - all that is required is your name and email address.  Now go out and read Firelight and Vanish if you haven't.  And if you have, take a moment and re-read Will's wonderful 10's list.