★ Book Review ★ MONTPELIER TOMORROW by Marylee MacDonald

We're so excited to share our review of MONTPELIER TOMORROW by Marylee MacDonald for TLC Book Tours!



• Paperback: 318 pages
• Publisher: All Things That Matter Press; First edition (August 21, 2014)

Mid-life mom, Colleen Gallagher, would do anything to protect her children from harm. When her daughter’s husband falls ill with ALS, Colleen rolls up her sleeves and moves in, juggling the multiple roles of grandma, cook, and caregiver, only to discover that even her superhuman efforts can’t fix what’s wrong.

Praise

"Each time I have reread this novel, I have felt rewarded by the connection it offers to the central character, Colleen. I can think of no single page in which her voice is not an irreplaceable gift to the reader."—Kevin McIlvoy, author of The Fifth Station

"An affecting, deeply honest novel; at the same time, a lacerating indictment of our modern health care system"—Kirkus Reviews

"…if you like well written books, wonderfully developed characters, and a story with a greater purpose you should read Montpelier Tomorrow by Marylee MacDonald. I cannot stress enough how good this book is."—Ben Green for Reader Views

"A heartrending story of love, loss and the endurance of the human spirit"—Literary Fiction Book Review

"Montpelier Tomorrow portrays real issues of life; it exposes the multi-layers of human conflict and the heroism of motherhood."—Cheryl E. Rodriguez for ReadersFavorite


"An amazing story of a family going through difficult times and each one trying to keep things going under those difficult circumstances."—Mamta Madhavan for ReadersFavorite

Cove Member Nicole Reviews—MONTPELIER TOMORROW!

ALS is a disease that can affect people of all ages and at any point in their lives. This novel reminds you of that and drags you along for an eye-opening experience of the disease. 
Colleen Gallagher visits her daughter and son-in-law to celebrate the arrival of her new grandson and she's told that her son-in-law has been diagnosed with ALS and is declining in health quickly. She has some tough decisions about uprooting her life and putting her needs aside to help her daughter and grandkids by assisting to care for her SIL. 
This book surprised me by being rough around the edges and more realistic with the inter-personal relationships than is normally demonstrated in a book with this heavy of a topic. Each character has inner turmoil that affects their relationships and how they deal with the illness. 
I found myself tired of and resenting the characters selfishness throughout the book. At the end if the day, none of them were likable so I felt more for the kids in the book than I did for any of the characters that I got to know. 
A twist at the end was worth sticking around for and finishing the novel. 




Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble



About Marylee MacDonald

A former carpenter and mother of five, Marylee MacDonald began writing when her last child left for college. Her fiction has won the Jeanne Leiby Chapbook Award, the Barry Hannah Prize, the Ron Rash Award, the Matt Clark Prize, and the ALR Fiction Award. Her novel, Montpelier Tomorrow, was a Finalist in the 2014 IPPY Awards and the Faulkner-Wisdom Prize. 

She is widely published in literary magazines such as American Literary ReviewBellevue Literary ReviewFolioBlue Moon Literary & Art ReviewBroad River ReviewFour QuartersNew Delta ReviewNorth Atlantic ReviewRaven ChroniclesReunion: The Dallas ReviewRiver Oak ReviewRuminateStoryQuarterlyThe Briar Cliff Review, and Yalobusha Review.

Find out more about Marylee at her website, see what she's pinning on Pinterest, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter. You can also follow her blog and add her to your circles on Google+.





★ Book Review ★ DANCE OF THE BONES by J.A. Jance

We're so excited to share our review of DANCE OF THE BONES by J.A. Jance for TLC Book Tours!

Dance of the Bones (429x648)About Dance of the Bones

 Hardcover: 368 pages
 Publisher: William Morrow (September 8, 2015)

J. P. Beaumont and Brandon Walker, two of New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance's most acclaimed series characters, join forces for the first time in one of the most suspenseful works of her career.

Prospector Amos Warren and Big Bad John Lassiter, his young protégé, were as close as father and son until a violent argument tore them apart. The next day, Amos disappeared, never to be seen again. Years later, his bones were found in the desert. All signs pointed to John Lassiter, and Detective Brandon Walker made the arrest in the case.

Now, more than four decades later, the retired Walker is called in when TLC—The Last Chance, a group of retired cops, criminalists, medical examiners, and district attorneys who devote their time and experience to solving stone-cold homicide cases—looks into the killing. Lassiter can get out of jail now for time served if he'll plead guilty to a lesser charge, but he refuses to cop to a crime he didn't commit. Lassiter's daughter, Amanda Wasser, wants Brandon and TLC to find Amos's "real" killer and clear her father's name.

Brandon Walker's search to find the truth about Amos's killer eventually leads sixteen hundred miles north to Seattle, to an unsolved murder that could be connected to the case. Thanks to a mutual friend, Brandon gets in touch with crack investigator J. P. Beaumont. With the Special Homicide Investigation Team disbanded and his wife away at a conference, the retired Beau has plenty of free time to help, even though he's skeptical about Lassiter's claims of innocence.
J. P. Beaumont and Brandon Walker's meeting proves all too crucial, for soon these seasoned detectives must pool their personal and professional expertise when someone close to Brandon falls into the hands of a cold-blooded killer involved in a recent multiple homicide—who may also hold the key to the cold case.

Moving between the hot, empty desert of Pima County and Seattle's rainy cityscape, Dance of the Bones combines Native American lore and modern suspense, and brings together two law enforcement legends in an exciting thriller that adds intriguing depth to two of J. A. Jance's beloved leading characters.

Cove Member Robin Reviews—DANCE OF THE BONES!


Thank you Reading Cove for providing me a copy of this book.  This is my honest review of the book.  
J.P. Beaumont and Brandon Walker are united for the first time to investigate a cold case in Dance of the Bones. Many years ago, Brandon Walker, was working the case of Amos Warren, a prospector, who was murdered while looking for treasures in the desert. Walker arrested John Lassiter for the crime and he was found guilty and sent to prison. Now Lassiter is refusing to accept a deal that would make him a free man and he is asking for Brandon’s help to find the real killer and clear his name. 
In Seattle, J.P. Beaumont finds himself with plenty of free time when the Special Homicide Investigation Team is unexpectedly disbanded. When Beau finds out that there are links between the murder of Amos Warren and an unsolved case in Seattle he reaches out to J.P. for assistance. The cold case becomes active again when two young boys who live on the Indian reservation go missing, and one of the boys has a close relationship with Brandon and his wife. This case comes at a time when both Walker and Beaumont are struggling with the challenges of having time on their hands but the clock is ticking and the lives of two young people and a potentially innocent man that has been wrongly accused of murder are dependent on the entwined cases being solved.
It is refreshing to pick up a novel that unites two of J.A. Jance’s beloved characters. Fans of the Beaumont and Ladd/Walker series will enjoy this whodunit.  Dance of the Bones leverages aspects of both series but seems to be lacking the “secret sauce” that makes Jance’s books so addictive. The book includes quite a bit of American Indian folklore that is very interesting but is not well integrated with the plotline and causes the book to feel somewhat disjointed and hard to follow. The pace of the book is quite slow at the beginning and the author seems to spend too much time on the subplots rather than the main whodunit and the relationship that is forged between the two main characters. 
Although Dance of the Bones is not one of Jance’s best books, it is still a good read and an interesting whodunit that comes together nicely at the end.

Add to Goodreads badge


Purchase Links:

17102 About J.A. Jance

J. A. Jance is the New York Times bestselling author of the J. P. Beaumont series, the Joanna Brady series, the Ali Reynolds series, and five interrelated thrillers about the Walker family, as well as a volume of poetry. Born in South Dakota and brought up in Bisbee, Arizona, Jance lives with her husband in Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona. Find out more about Jance at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.








★ Book Review ★ THE GIRL IN THE GLASS by James Hayman

We're so excited to share our review of THE GIRL IN THE GLASS by James Hayman for TLC Book Tours!

About THE GIRL IN THE GLASS


• E-book
• Publisher: Witness Impulse (August 25, 2015)

Two identical women.

Two identical murders. Two lives brutally cut short

108 years apart

June 1904.

Aimée Garnier Whitby, a beautiful French artist and wife of one of Maine's richest and most powerful men, is found near death on the Whitby family's private summer island, the letter "A" mysteriously carved into her chest.

June 2012.

Veronica Aimée Whitby, the eighteen-year-old descendant and virtual double of the first Aimée, becomes the victim of a near perfect copycat murder. With another beautiful, promising young Whitby woman slain, the media begin to swarm and pressure builds for Mike McCabe and Maggie Savage to bring the killer quickly to justice. But the key to solving Aimée's death just might have been buried with her beautiful ancestor.

The latest McCabe and Savage thriller from USA Today bestselling author James Hayman is a crackling, twisty novel of suspense, perfect for fans of J.A. Jance and John Sandford.

Cove Member Nicole Reviews THE GIRL IN THE GLASS! 

Crime thrillers tend to have a certain formula to them that you can rely on. The Girl In The Glass was a fresh departure from that and kept me on my toes throughout the book. 
James Hayman is a new-to-me author and I enjoyed his method of storytelling. This book starts quickly with the death of a young female artist back in 1904. We flash forward to current time and learn of her descendent having identical physical features and talents as the original artist who died so many years before and who succumbs to death in an eerily similar way. But who is responsible for this latest death and why are the details so vague about the death back in 1904? Are the murders related to each other? I had to know. 
The police on the case are partners who have been together for years and who have an interesting history. They clearly have feelings for each other but the right time just hasn't presented itself to act in those feelings. Yet... 
The book was smartly written and there were just enough twists and turns to keep me interested while also having interesting characters throughout the book. The detective and sergeant were the stars of the book and I'm interested in reading the other books in the series to read about their history and see if their relationship develops - if it does. 
Great book that I would recommend to others who enjoy crime thrillers. McCabe & Savage - I'll be back!



Purchase Links!



About the Author

James Hayman, formerly creative director at one of New York’s largest advertising agencies, is the author of the acclaimed McCabe and Savage series: The CuttingThe Chill of NightDarkness First, and The Girl in the Glass.


Find out more about James at his website and connect with him on Facebook.


★ Blog Tour ★ SHADOW FALL by Laura Griffin — Excerpt + Giveaway!


 Enter to Win 

$25.00 B&N eGift Card!



Tracers #9
Laura Griffin
Release Date: Sept 22, 2015
Pocket Books


In the ninth romantic suspense novel in the New York Times bestselling Tracers series, author Laura Griffin brings back her elite cadre of forensic experts as they hunt down the most brutal serial killer yet.

Special Agent Tara Rushing arrives at a grisly murder scene and quickly discovers she’s got a serial killer on her hands. The killer is meticulous, making sure to wipe up even the smallest traces of evidence…but the Delphi Center experts are on the case.

The local sheriff has a suspect all picked out—ex-Marine and current security expert Liam Wolfe. Despite all her digging, Tara knows very little about Liam when she shows up at his sprawling Texas compound, which serves as headquarters for Wolfe Security, and she’s surprised by her intense physical reaction to him.

As she and Liam grow closer, Tara finds herself depending on his skills and expertise to help her track a killer. But when another body turns up, Tara must decide if she can trust the man who’s quickly stealing her heart.

The ninth novel in the Tracers series that combines gripping plot twists with spine-tingling romance, Shadow Fall once again proves that “Laura Griffin gets better with each book” (The Romance Reviews).

BUY NOW!
Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo  



Tara looked out the window again and realized her pulse was still thrumming. He unnerved her. It wasn’t just his size, it was his attitude. Maybe she was self-conscious because he’d caught her off guard. She was definitely embarrassed that she’d pulled her weapon on him.

She adjusted the vent and got a waft of hot air. His attitude bothered her, but she liked his truck. It smelled like leather and earth and felt deliciously warm. She forced herself to ignore the flutter of nerves generated by being alone in the dark with him. The nerves weren’t from fear but something else. And she wondered which was worse, being afraid of a man she was investigating or being attracted to him?

“You shouldn’t come out here alone.”

She looked at him. “Why not?”

“We’ve got more than a few meth heads around here. You don’t want to walk up on something, not without backup.”

She watched his face in the dimness, uneasy with the protective tone of his voice.

“We confirmed the ID today,” she said.

“I know.”

That ticked her off.

“Won’t be long till the media has it,” he added.

“Where are you getting your information?”

He didn’t answer.

“And the other day,” she said, “how’d you know we were here, me and M.J.? Are you having us tailed?”

Even if he was, he’d probably never admit it. But she at least needed to ask and get his reaction. Shadowing investigators could definitely be considered suspicious behavior.

Although she had to be honest with herself. She didn’t consider him a real suspect. Despite his links to the victim, she simply didn’t feel it.

“I’m guessing you filmed us approaching your property and ran my plate,” she said.

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Nothing that cloak-and- dagger.” He glanced at her. “I’m friends with Crystal.”

“Who’s Crystal?”

“She waited on you at the Waffle Stop. Bright red hair, eyebrow ring.”

She turned to face the window. “Small-town grapevine. And here I’ve been all impressed with your spying abilities.”

“You should be.” He pulled up to her Explorer and parked. “We’re the best there is.”

She looked at him in the darkness, so confident it bordered on arrogance. And the crazy thing was she believed him. She bought into it completely—he was that good.

His eyes locked on hers, and the air between them felt charged with electricity. His gaze dropped to her mouth, and her heart skittered. Was he going to kiss her? He eased closer, watching her, making her heart pound.





a Rafflecopter giveaway


New York Times and USA Today bestselling author LAURA GRIFFIN started her career in journalism before venturing into the world of romantic suspense. She is a two-time RITA Award winner (for the books Scorched and Whisper of Warning) as well as the recipient of the Daphne du Maurier Award (for Untraceable). 

Laura currently lives in Austin, where she is working on her next book.




Want to Find out More about the TRACERS series?