As obsession and loss become dark partners, how far must the people of Abbey Hills go to survive?
Six months ago, brutal murders shook the small Ozark town—murders that stopped after a house fire reportedly claimed the killer’s life. Lauryn McBride's family auction house has taken responsibility for the estate sale of one of the victims—the enigmatic Markus Chisom. Submerging herself in Chisom’s beautiful but strange world, Lauryn welcomes the reprieve from watching Alzheimer’s steal her father from her, piece by piece. She soon realizes that centuries-old secrets tie Abbey Hills to the Chisom estate and a mysterious evil will do anything to make sure those secrets stay hidden. Even the man who grew up loving her may not be able to protect Lauryn from the danger.
When Amede Dastillon receives an unexpected package from Abbey Hills, she hopes it might be the key in tracking down her beloved sister, long estranged from her family. Visiting Abbey Hills seems the logical next step in her search, but Amede is unusually affected by the town, and when mutilated carcasses begin turning up again in the small community, the local law enforcement isn’t sure if they are confronting a familiar evil or a new terror.
Two women brought together by questions that seem to have no answers. Can they overcome the loss and darkness threatening to devour them—or will their own demons condemn them to an emotional wasteland?
My Thoughts:
I'm not on the vampire craze but when I saw Tracey Bateman's books I thought I would give them a try. I really liked Thirsty, the first book in this series, so when I saw Tandem up for review I eagerly grabbed it. I'm so glad I did too! I don't think you have to have read Thirsty to read Tandem but it might help a little.
It's been six months since the residents of Abbey Hills were terrorized by a murderer. Supposedly the murderer was killed in a fire along with Markus Chasom. Lauryn's auction house is in charge of auctioning off Markus's house and the stuff inside. Lauryn's plate is pretty full with work and taking care of her dad who has Alzheimer. But regardless, Lauryn finds herself caught up in very odd mystery. Could there be vampires in Abbey Hills??
Amede Dastillon comes to town after receiving a package from Lauryn. Amede is searching for her long lost sister and thinks she might me in Abbey Hills. But once she arrives in town it isn't long before the murders start back up again. Soon Amede finds herself the center of attention of the police. Can she find her sister and prove she's innocence...if she is innocence?? ;)
Tandem is filled with quite a few twists and turns that you won't see coming, at least I didn't see them coming. It's certainly a page-turner but it also deals with some serious things such as Lauryn dealing with her dad. I really enjoyed it and think even if you aren't into vampires but you like mysteries that you should give Tandem a try.
*I recieved my free review copy from the publishers*
When Violet Hayes ventures to Chicago during the time of the World's Fair, her one goal is to find her mother, who has been missing from her life since she was nine. Naïve, impressionable, and highly imaginative (having secretly ingested a diet of romance novels and true crime stories at school), Violet stays in Chicago under the care of her grandmother and her three great aunts. It is here that her perspectives on life are opened as she is exposed to the world about her--from high society to the poor immigrant families; from the suffragette movement to the security of a suitable marriage match. As Violet contemplates what course her life will take, she will discover the missing parts of her family's past--and, ultimately, Violet will discover herself
My Thoughts:
This book was a free Kindle download months ago and I, of course, downloaded it but that was as far as I got until I read Lee's review a few weeks ago. After reading her review I had to read it and thank you, Lee! I really loved this book. Violet is a hoot and she will have you laughing your way through this book. But it's not just all laughs there is a serious side to this book about discovering yourself and God. Violet is staying in Chicago with her Grandmother and her three great aunts--each is very different from one another. Violet finds herself with not one or two but four men who are interested in her. How on earth will she decide which one to choose?? This is a great book that I highly recommend. :)
Teaser Tuesday is hosted by 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!
"It was stunning, all right. Every man who gazed at the generous view of my assets looked as though he'd been stunned by a blow to the head."
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Julie Gwinn, Trade Book Marketing, B&H Publishing Group for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Tosca Lee is author of the critically acclaimed and extensively-awarded novels Demon: A Memoir and Havah: The Story of Eve. A sought-after speaker and former Mrs. Nebraska, she continues to work for local charities and as a senior consultant for a global consulting firm. Tosca holds a degree in English and International Relations from Smith College and also studied at Oxford University. She enjoys travel, cooking, history, and theology, and lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.
List Price: $14.99 Paperback: 384 pages Publisher: B&H Books; 2 edition (August 1, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 1433668793 ISBN-13: 978-1433668791
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
A whisper in my ear: Wake!
Blue. A sea awash with nothing but a drifting bit of down, flotsam on an invisible current. I closed my eyes. Light illuminated the thin tissues of my eyelids.
A bird trilled. Near my ear: the percussive buzz of an insect. Overhead, tree boughs stirred in the warming air.
I lay on a soft bed of herbs and grass that tickled my cheek, my shoulders, and the arch of my foot, whispering sibilant secrets up to the trees.
From here I felt the thrum of the sap in the stem—the pulsing veins of the vine, the beat of my heart in harmony with hundreds more around me, the movement of the earth a thousand miles beneath.
I sighed as one returning to sleep, to retreat to the place I had been before, the realm of silence and bliss—wherever that is.
Wake!
I opened my eyes again upon the milling blue, saw it spliced by the flight of a bird, chevron in the sky.
This time, the voice came not to my ear, but directly to my stirring mind: Wake!
There was amusement in it.
I knew nothing of where or what I was, did not understand the polyphony around me or the wide expanse like a blue eternity before me.
But I woke and knew I was alive.
A rustle, a groan practically in my ear. I twitched at a stir-ring against my hip. A moment later, a touch drifted across a belly I did not yet know I owned, soft as a leaf skittering along the ground.
A face obscured my vision. I screamed. Not with fear—I had no acquaintance with fear—nor with startlement because I had been aware of the presence already, but because it was the only statement that came to lips as artless as mine.
The face disappeared and returned, blinking into my own, the blue above captured in twin pools. Then, like a gush of water from a rock, gladness thrilled my heart. But its source was not me.
At last! It came, unspoken—a different source than the voice before—and then the words thrust jubilantly to the sky: “At last!”
He was up on legs like the trunks of sturdy saplings, beating at the earth with his feet. He thumped his chest and shouted to the sun and clapped his hands. “At last!” He cried, his laughter like warm clay between the toes. He shook his shoulders and stomped the grass, slapping his chest as he shouted again and again. Though I did not understand the utterance, I knew its meaning at once: joy and exultation at something longed for suddenly found.
I tried to mimic his sound; it came out as a squawk and then a panting laugh. Overhead, a lark chattered an extravagant address. I squeaked a shrill reply. The face lowered to mine and the man’s arms wrapped, wombtight, around me.
“Flesh of my flesh,” he whispered, his breath warm against my ear. His fingers drifted from my hair to my body, roaming like the goat on the hills of the sacred mount. I sighed, expelling the last remnants of that first air from my lungs—the last of the breath in them not drawn by me alone.
He was high cheeked, this adam, his lower lip dipping down like a folded leaf that drops sweet water to thirsty mouths. His brow was a hawk, soaring above the high cliffs, his eyes blue lusters beneath the fan of his lashes. But it was his mouth that I always came back to, where my eyes liked best to fasten after taking in the shock of those eyes. Shadow ran along his jaw, like obsidian dust clinging to the curve of it, drawing my eye to the plush flesh of his lips, again, again, again.
He touched my face and traced my mouth. I bit his finger. He gathered my hands and studied them, turning them over and back. He smelled my hair and lingered at my neck and gazed curiously at the rest of me. When he was finished, he began all over again, tasting my cheek and the salt of my neck, tracing the instep of my foot with a fingertip.
Finally, he gathered me up, and my vision tilted to involve an altogether new realm: the earth and my brown legs upon it. I clutched at him. I seemed a giant, towering above the earth—a giant as tall as he. My first steps stuttered across the ground as the deer in the hour of its birth, but then I pushed his hands away. My legs, coltish and lean, found their vigor as he urged me, walking far too fast, to keep up. He made for the orchard, and I bolted after him with a surge of strength and another of my squawking sounds. Then we were running—through grasses and over fledgling sloes, the dark wool of my hair flying behind me.
We raced across the valley floor and my new world blurred around me: hyssop and poppy, anemone, narcissus, and lily. Roses grew on the foothills amid the caper and myrtle.
A flash beside me: the long-bodied great cat. I slowed, distracted by her fluidity, the smooth curve of her head as she tilted it to my outstretched hand. I fell to the ground, twining my arms around her, fingers sliding along her coat. Her tongue was rough—unlike the adam’s—and she rumbled as she rolled against me.
Far ahead, the adam called. Overhead, a hawk circled for a closer look. The fallow deer at a nearby stream lifted her head.
The adam called again, wordlessly, longing and exuberant. I got up and began to run, the lioness at my heels. I was fast—nearly as fast as she. Exhilaration rose from my lungs in quick pants in laughter. Then, with a burst, she was beyond me.
She was gone by the time the adam caught me up in his arms. His hands stroked my back, my hips, my shoulder. I marveled at his skin. How smooth, how very warm it was.
“You are magnificent,” he said, burying his face against my neck. “Ah, Isha—woman, taken from man!”
I said nothing; although I understood his meaning, I did not know his words. I knew with certainty and no notion of conceit, though, that he was right.
At the river he showed me how he cupped his hands to drink and then cupped them again for me. I lowered my head and drank as a carp peered baldy from the shallows up at me.
We entered the water. I gasped as it tickled the backs of my knees and hot hairs under my arms, swirling about my waist as though around a staunch rock as our toes skimmed a multitude of pebbles. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders.
“All of this: water.” He grunted a little bit as he swam toward the middle of the river where it widened into a broad swath across the valley floor. “Here—the current.”
“Water.” I understood, in the moment I spoke it, the element in all its forms—from the lake fed by the river to the high springs that flow from the abyss of the mount. I felt the pull of it as though it had a gravity all its own, as though it could sweep me out to the cold depths of the lake and lull me by the tides of the moon.
From the river I could see the high walls of our cradle: the great southern mount rising to heaven and, to the north, the foothills that became the long spine of a range that arched toward the great lake to the west.
I knew even then that this was a place set apart from the unseen lands to the north, the alluvial plain to the south, the great waters to the east and far to the west.
It was set apart solely because we dwelt in it.
But we were not alone. I could see them after a time, even as we left the river and lay upon its banks. I saw them in sidelong glances when I looked at something else: a sunspot caught in the eye, a ripple in the air, a shock of light where there should be only shadow. And so I knew there were other beings, too.
The adam, who studied me, said nothing. We did not know their names.
The first voice I heard urging me to wake had not been the man’s. Now I felt the presence of it near me, closer than the air, than even the adam’s arms around me.
I returned the man’s strange amazement, taken by his smooth, dark skin, the narrowness of his hips, his strange sex. He was warmer than I, as though he had absorbed the heat of the sun, and I laid my cheek against his flat breasts and listened to the changeling beat of his heart. My limbs, so fresh to me, grew heavy. As languor overtook me, I retreated from the sight of my lovely, alien world.
Perhaps in closing my eyes, I would return to the place I had been before.
For the first time since waking, I hoped not.
I slept to the familiar thrum of his heart as insects made sounds like sleepy twitches through the waning day.
When I woke, his cheek was resting against the top of my head. Emotion streamed from his heart, though his lips were silent.
Gratitude.
I am the treasure mined from the rock, the gem prized from the mount.
He stirred only when I did and released me with great reluctance. By then the sun had moved along the length of our valley. My stomach murmured.
He led me to the orchard and fed me the firm flesh of plums, biting carefully around the pits and feeding the pieces to me until juice ran down our chins and bees came to sample it. He kissed my fingers and hands and laid his cheek against my palms.
That evening we lay in a bower of hyssop and rushes—a bower, I realized, that he must have made on a day before this one.
A day before I existed.
We observed together the changing sky as it cooled gold and russet and purple, finally anointing the clay earth red.
Taken from me. Flesh of my flesh. At last. I heard the timbre of his voice in my head in my last waking moment. Marvel and wonder were upon his lips as he kissed my closing eyes.
I knew then he would do anything for me.
That night I dreamed of blackness. Black, greater than the depths of the river or the great abyss beneath the lake.
From within that nothingness came a voice that was not a voice, that was neither sound nor word but volition and command and genesis. And from the voice, a word that was no word but the language of power and fruition.
There! A mote spark—a light first so small as the tip of a pine needle. It exploded past the periphery of my dreaming vision, obliterating the dark. The heavens were vast in an instant, stretching without cease to the edges of eternity.
I careened past new bodies that tugged me in every direction; even the tiniest particles possessed their own gravity. From each of them came the same concert, that symphony of energy and light.
I came to stand upon the earth. It was a great welter of water, the surface of it ablaze with the refracted light of heavens upon heavens. It shook my every fiber, like a string that is plucked and allowed to resonate forever.
I was galvanized, made anew, thrumming that inaugural sound: the yawning of eternity.
Fans of The Anonymous Bride, will feel for Shannon O’Neil and Leah Bennett who are stranded in Lookout, Texas, without husbands or future plans. Thankfully, the marshal has ordered the rascally Corbett brothers to pay for the women’s lodging at the boardinghouse, but will the brothers’ idea of hosting Saturday socials really bring these women the kind of loves they long for? Will Shannon choose to marry just for security? Will Leah reject love when the challenges mount?
My Thoughts:
Second Chance Brides is the second book in the Texas Boardinghouse series, it picks up where The Anonymous Bride leaves off. Shannon and Leah are stuck in Lookout, Texas without the husband they thought they would have or any idea how or what they should now do. Because this book picks up pretty much where the last one left off I would recommend reading this series in order. Second Chance Brides is a sweet romance about how Shannon and Leah find their true loves. Leah finds her true love pretty quick but then something happens that has her wondering if she can marrying the man she loves or should she walk away. Shannon's path to true love is a little bumpy and she is left wondering if she should just marry for security. I really enjoyed Second Chance Brides and can't wait to read the next book in the series. If you enjoy sweet romances then I would highly recommend not just this book but this series. :)
Happy Reading!
I received my free review copy from the publishers through netGalley
I haven't been reading as much lately because I've been knitting a lot. The above picture is the hat I just finished for my brother. I mentioned to a friend of mine that my brother was wanting me to knit him another hat and my friend says, "I want one too!" So now that I finished my brother's hat I need to start on my friend's. So this is why I haven't been posting that many reviews lately. But I'm about 54% through my current book (that's according to my Kindle) so I should have a review for y'all in a few days. :)
I told myself I wouldn't join a lot of reading challenges this year since I don't always do too well but I saw this one and had to join. The reason is because I have the first three books sitting on my TBR shelf and they have been there way too long. So I figured this challenge would be a good way to motivate me to get 'em read!
Since I have the first three books my level of participation is Neophyte: 1 – 4 novels and the three books I plan to read are:
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Staci Carmichael, Marketing and Publicity Coordinator, Doubleday Religion / Waterbrook Multnomah / Divisions of Random House, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
A former schoolteacher, Donita K. Paul is the best-selling author of the Dragon Keeper series, The Vanishing Sculptor, and Dragons of the Valley.
Evangeline Denmark likes to turn bedtime stories into picture books. She lives in Colorado with her engineer husband, their two noisy boys, her author mom, and Willie, a cattle dog who tries to herd the entire family into one room.
Last year I had join this challenge...read 24 Christian Historical books in a year. That's two books per month...surely I could complete this challenge. Wrong! lol I ended up reading 22 books, so this year I'm going to have a goal of 20 Christian Historical books. Figure that is a more realistic goal for myself. Here is more info about this challenge:
1. The goal is to read and promote Christian Historical Fiction by reading at least 24 titles. That is two per month, but anyone who wants to commit to more or less is welcome to join in on the fun. Anyone can join. You do not need a blog to participate (for more details on how to participate without a blog just ask…). Now we have www.ChristianHistoricalFiction.com to promote discussion.
2. Audio, Re-reads, eBooks, and other formats are all allowed. As long as the book can by purchased it counts.
3. Feel free to list a proposed lists of TBR (to-be-reads) but you can also list them as you go.
4. Duplicates from other reading challenges can also count.
5. Challenge begins January 1st through December 31st. Books started before count. *wink*
I'm not going to list all the books I want to read right now because I know it will change but here are a few that I really want to read soon:
Dangerous Heart by Tracey Bateman Where Hearts are Free by Golden Keyes Parsons Second Chance Brides by Vicki McDonough The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
Colt McAllister is drawn into a war against things he thought only existed in comic books.
After a car wreck takes the lives of his parents, Colt moves to Arizona to stay with his grandfather. There, an informant tells him that his parents were actually murdered because his mom, a journalist, was getting ready to write a story exposing Trident Industries.
Along with Oz and Danielle, his new comrades at Chandler High, Colt vows to uncover the truth. But the more they learn, the more bizarre reality becomes. Mind control, jet packs, and flying motorcycles only scratch the surface of what they discover.
Colt is recruited by a secret organization called the Central Headquarters Against the Occult and Supernatural. But the battle isn't just against an out-of-control giant corporation. A gateway to another world is opening, and the invasion has already begun.
My Thoughts:
I asked to review Invasion because it sounded like a fun read and it was for a while. Then it just got a little to "boyish" to me. Meaning that it started in on stuff I really don't care for. In one chapter they are at a boxing match and it went on for a while about each match. I don't care about boxing and even though the boxers were a little odd I still didn't care to read about the matches. But I'm sure tween and teen boys would love this book. This is the first in a series and it looks to be an interesting series...kind of reminds me a bit of Men In Black. So while I didn't enjoy this book as much as I would have liked I do think teen and tween boys will love it.
I'm so excited!! The Healer's Apprentice is available for free!! You can find it at Barnes and Nobles, CBD, and of course Amazon.com. I have been wanting to read this book for awhile so I've already downloaded it to my Kindle and can't wait to start reading it! :)
I hope everyone had a nice New Years Day. I spent the day watching a BBC miniseries, Bleak House, on Netflix and knitting. While I did that you can see what my cats were doing--well, as least one of them. Is Luke not the cutest cat??
At first I wasn't on planning on doing any challenges this year because I usually don't do too well with challenges for some reason. But then I saw the 2011 E-Book Challenge and after reading the rules I decided I could probably handle it. Here's the info on it:
Challenge Guidelines: 1. Anyone can join. You don't need a blog to participate. --Non-bloggers: Include your information in the comment section.
2. There are four levels: -- Curious – Read 3 e-books.
-- Fascinated – Read 6 e-books.
-- Addicted – Read 12 e-books.
-- Obsessed – Read 20 e-books.
3. Any genre counts.
4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
5. Challenge begins January 1, 2011 and lasts until December 31, 2011.
If you would like more info about this challenge just go here. I was wanting to read more books on my Kindle and this will be good motivation to do just that. :)
