Book 161: To Kingdom Come

To Kingdom Come by Thomas is the second installment in the Barker & Llewelyn myseteries.  A quiet morning in the harder is suddenly interrupted by an explosion.  Barker and Thomas  follow the smoke to the Scotland Yard office near their own.  Believed to be the work of an unknown radical Irish faction, Barker is hired to impersonate a German bomb maker to infiltrate and stop the group. 

Another intriguing mystery.  4 stars

Book 160: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer

Sam is a poor drop out working at a fast food restaurant with his friends when Douglas walks into his life.  Furious at finding another necromancer in his territory, he sends Sam the reanimated head of his friend Brooke as a warning.  Sam is shocked to find out that he is a necromancer.  He wants nothing to do with Douglas, but the threat to his friends and family leaves him with no options especially when he is kidnapped and wakes in a cage in Douglas' basement.

Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by McBride is a dark fantasy with a very unlikely hero.  3 stars

Book 159: Spying on High Heels

Spying on High Heels by Gemma Halliday is the first cozy mystery in the High Heels series starting show designer Maddie Springer.  What starts as simple worry when her boyfriend disappears quickly becomes a full downhill slide in luck.  Her boyfriend is suspected of helping one of his clients with embezzling.  Then the client's wife is found dead face down in the studio, and Maddie's boyfriend turns out to be married.  Since finding a murderer seems easier than facing a pregnancy test, Maddie sets out to find the truth much to the chagrin of police detective Ramirez.

Maddie is definitely a girlie girl, and I rolled my eyes several times at some of her decisions and believe she has earned too marks in procrastination.  Still overall, I found the mystery entertaining and humorous.  4 stars

Book 158: The Trouble With Magic

The Trouble With Magic by Alt is the first mystery in "A Bewitching Mystery" series.  Maggie O'Neill gets fired from the job she hates and takes a retail position at Enchantments working for Felicity Dow.  On her first day, her employer receives a call from her estranged sister and leaves Maggie to tend store.  Maggie is shocked when a few hours later a cop arrives at the store with Felicity's keys explaining that her employer is being questioned regarding the murder of her sister.  Believing that the cops are allowing their prejudice against Felicity to cloud their investigation, Maggie embarks on her own quest to find the murderer while trying to understand her strengthening psychic abilities. 

A decent start to a cozy mystery series.  3 stars

Book 157: Some Danger Involved

Thomas Llewlyn had reached the end of his rope.  Released from prison, unable to find a job, and mourning the loss of his wife, he tries one last interview with private inquiry agent Cyrus Barker and is shocked to find himself hired with a new wardrobe, a roof over his head, and plenty of food to eat.  His first case begins when Barker is hired by the head of the Jewish community in London to investigate the murder of a Jewish student, who was found hanging on a crossbeam attached to a pole in a manner clearly reminiscent of crucifixion  in one of the main Jewish business areas. 

A brilliantly written mystery with lots of twists and turns and a surprise scoundrel at the end.  I look forward to reading more books in this series.  5 stars

Book 156: Murder at Redwood Cove

Murder at Redwood Cove by Janet Finsilver is the first in the Kelly Jackson mystery series.  Kelly has been sent to Redwood Cove to assume the position of interim manager after the previous manager is found dead at the bottom of a cliff.  She quickly meets the Silver Sentinels, a group of older people who try to solve mysteries together.  The group believes that Bob's death was murder, and Kelly agrees to keep them informed about any information that she discovers.  Then Kelly is hit over the head by an intruder who is stealing Bob's blackberry and find an envelope with a coded message in the safe with instructions to turn it over to the Silver Sentinels.  When the son of one of her employees is also nearly murdered, Kelly is determined to find the murderer and protect him.

An intriguing cast of characters and delightful setting form an excellent backdrop for this mystery.  The mystery itself was well written and kept me guessing to the end.  I'll definitely be continuing with this series.  4 stars

Book 155: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The final installment in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by Rowling recounts the story of Harry, Hermione, and Ron continuing to hunt for Voldemort's horcruxes so that he can be defeated.  Voldemort, meanwhile, infuriated at his inability to kill Harry embarks on his own hunt for the most powerful wand in the world while his Death Eaters take over both the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts.  A fantastic end to an enduring series.  5 stars

Book 154: Wicked Appetites

Wicked Appetites by Evanovich is the first in the Lizzy and Diesel series.  Lizzy is enjoying her quiet life and her job at the bakery when Wulf, then Diesel crash into her life.  Both are looking for one of the stones of the seven deadly sins, and naturally Lizzie just happens to have a magical talent that helps her find enchanted objects.  First up is the gluttony stone, but locating it first requires the finding of four charms held by four different individuals in Salem.  The race is on to see who will end up with the first stone.

I enjoyed the main characters and thought the one-eyed cat was cool.  The monkey, however, needs to go.  He detracts from what otherwise is an entertaining tale.  3 stars. (4 without the monkey).

Book 153: Southern Spirits

Verity Long had enough problems in her life, and then she accidentally dumped the ashes of a ghost in her roses gaining not only a supernatural sidekick but also the ability to see ghosts.  When Ellis Wydell discovers her new ability, he hires her to solve a ghost problem at a historic site that he is renovating just outside town.  If the rampaging poltergeist wasn't enough, the duo stumble upon evidence that a very human someone has been excavating in a tunnel below the property.  Now they just have to stay alive long enough to put all the pieces together and solve the mystery.  4 stars.

Book 152: Any Witch Way You Can

Bay Winchester, the editor of Hemlock Cove's paper, is not excited about covering the local corn mazes, but finding the body left in the center of the maze missing its heart was a complete shock.  With her ability to see ghosts, Bay attempts her own investigation with the help of the newly departed, her cousins, and a little help from the rest of the witch family. 

Any Witch Way You Can was an interesting mystery.  I felt like there was too much time spent on the family bickering, which wasn't really humorous to me, that could have been better spent on the murder investigation.  3 stars.

Book 151: A Shift in the Water

Cade Bowman is waiting to die.  Trapped in his wolf form for months on a concrete pad surrounded by scorching ground by a crazy fire elemental and nearly dead from starvation, he gets one last chance to escape while she is away for a couple of days.  Climbing in the open trunk his only way to escape the island.

Mara Taylor is saying goodbye.  One last swim in the ocean before the mysterious blood disorder becomes so severe that the transfusions will no longer keep up.  Arriving back home she is shocked to find the emaciated wolf in her trunk.  She had prayed for the chance to make a difference, and helping this wolf seems to be the answer.

A Shift in the Water by Eddy was an entertaining werewolf tale of hate, hope, and second chances as these two battered souls find a chance to save each other.  4 stars

Book 150: Carpe Noctem

Alyssa unwisely chooses to walk home alone one night when her friend is unable to meet her for coffee.  Attacked by two human males, she is rescued and turned by Lysander.  Still trying to navigate the basics of being a vampire, Alyssa's life becomes even more dangerous when she is threatened by the ancient head of a large vampire clan who was once Lysander's mate.  At the same time, Santino, a vampire who specializes in hunting and killing other vampires for the Catholic church arrives in town. 

A entertaining and quick read.  4 stars.

Book 149: Still Life

Still Life by Penny is the first book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series.  In the quiet town of Three Pines, Canada the body of Jane Neal is found in the woods shot through with an arrow.  Gamache and his team arrive and set up for an investigation expecting the final verdict to be an accidental death, but it is not.

A well written murder mystery with a surprising villain.  5 stars.

Book 148: Swamp Team 3

The fifth installment in the Miss Fortune mysteries, Swamp Team 3 by Deleon, continues the hilarious exploits of CIA assassin Fortune Redding with her entourage of former spies Ida Belle and Gertie.  Someone tries to set fire to Ally's house, so the intrepid trip band together to find the culprit.  The investigation is complicated when Ally's next door neighbor is found murdered in her back yard shortly afterwards, and the FBI barge in to take over the homicide investigation.  Much hilarity ensues as usual.  Another 5 stars.

Book 147: Hunter's Trail

Hunter's Trail by Olson is the final installment in the Scarlett Bernard series.  Scarlett is trying to recover from a seizure that out her in a coma after changing Eli from werewolf back to human.  Despite her knee injury and vertigo, she is still in call when a female body is left on the doorstep of the local alpha.  After the appearance of the second body, Scarlett again teams up with Detective Jessie Cruz to hunt the werewolf responsible.  The investigation gets even more complicated when a werewolf hunter turns up and kills two pack members. 

A satisfying ending to an interesting series.  4 stars.

Book 146: Scorpia

Scorpia by Anthony Horowitz, the fifth installment in the Alex Rider series, begins with Alex hunting for an organization named Scorpia for which his father had once worked.  Alexx manages to find Julia Rothman, one of the organization's leaders, and is shown footage of his father being shot in a London bridge in a double cross at a prisoner exchange.  In anger, Alex begins training to work with Scorpia, but his first assignment is to kill Mrs. Jones.  Meanwhile Scorpia is planning to murder thousands of British school children in an operation known as Invisible Sword.  Once Alex realizes the truth about Scorpia he agrees to help knowing that this time of he fails he will die along with all the other children.

Nice background into Alex's family mixed with plenty of action.  This one was definitely a little more far fetched but still entertaining.  4 stars

Book 145: Trail of Dead

Olson's Trail of Dead picks up a few months after the ending of the first book in the Scarlett Bernard series.  Scarlett returns to Los Angeles after spending some time with another null in New York trying to learn more about her powers.  Detective Jesse Cruz is waiting for her at the airport to take her directly to a crime scene for her analysis.  It turns out that Olivia, Scarlett's crazy mentor turned vampire, is putting her plan in motion killing two witches and a human couple with the same first names as Scarlett's parents to draw their attention.  Scarlett and Jesse work together to try to figure out Olivia's plan and stop her.  4 stars.

Book 144: Swamp Sniper

Swamp Sniper by Deleon is the third hilarious installment in the Miss Fortune mystery series.  After a near brush with death, Fortune tries to keep out of trouble by trying to assist Ida Belle with her run for mayor.  When Ida's competition turns up poisoned and the same poison is found in a bottle of "cough syrup" given to him by Ida, the trio resorts to their usual antics to insure that Ida Belle is cleared.  It doesn't take long to figure that the list of people with reason to kill Tom is quite lengthy.  The hard part will be narrowing the field down to the correct culprit before Deputy Carter is forced to arrest Ida.  5 stars.

Book 143: The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian by Riordan is the final installment in the Percy Jackson series.  Poseidon is entrenched in his palace battling Oceanus.  Hades is refusing to help and has both Demeter and Persephone with him.  With the exception of Hestia, the rest of the Olympic gods are unsuccessfully trying to stop Typhon.  That leaves only the demigods, the hunters, and a few allies to defend Olympus when Kronos launches his final attack.  Great ending to a fantastic series. 5 stars.

Book 142: The Anatomist's Wife

After the death of her husband, Lady Kiera Darby has fled the vicious gossip of London to reside with her sister's family in Scotland and paint.  Sixteen months later at her sister hosts a weekend party and one of the guests turn up dead.  Keira agrees to her brother-in-law 's request that she examine the body and assist Gage with the investigation.  Kiera knows that because of the sketch work of cadavers that her deceased husband forced her to make for his anatomy book and the vicious rumors that were made after his death if she does not find the killer she will be the prime suspect when the inquisitor arrives if the true murderer has not been found.

The Anatomist's Wife by Hunter is the first book in the Lady Darby mystery series.  4 stars.

Book 141: Lethal Bayou Beauty

Lethal Bayou Beauty by Deleon is the second installment in the Miss Fortune mystery series.  Fortune's cover is in jeopardy when a former beauty queen returns to town, and she is expected to assist with a children's beauty pageant for the town's festival.  When the former beauty queen turns up dead after the two have a public disagreement, Fortune finds herself as the chief suspect.  With the help of Gertie and Ida Belle, she begins investigating the murder with hilarious results.  5 stars.

Book 140: Wonder Woman: Warbringer

Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo begins with a teenage Diana struggling to find her place in the island of the Amazon's knowing that everyone but her has earned their right to live there.  While running a foot race, Diana sees a ship explode just beyond the barrier and feels compelled to swim out and help.  She rescues another teenage girl named Ali's and hides her in a cave.  When Alia's presence causes a series of unnatural events in the island, Diana seeks the advice of the Oracle.  She learns that Alia is a Warbringer, a child of Nemesis, who can plunge the world untoward simply by living to her next birthday.  The only way to save the island, the world, and Alia's life is to get her to a spring in Greece at the gravesite of Helen of Troy. 

A entertaining tale with plenty of twists and turns.  I thought Bardugo did an excellent job of keeping the character of Diana in line with the image created by the comics and subsequent television and movie ones.  The setting, however, does not fit chronologically with the dc comics universe; and while the modern-day tale is well done, I wish it had meshed better with the overall timeline.  4 stars

Book 139: The Heist

The Heist by Evanovich is the first book in the Fox and O'Hare series.  Kate O'Hare, a FBI special agent and former navy seal, has spent the past five years chasing the illusive con artist Nicholas Fox.  She finally gets her man only to have him escape custody the first time he sets foot in the courthouse.  Undaunted she takes some vacation days and gets her father to help her plan his recapture.  Everything goes according to plan until Kate's boss and one of his superiors step out of the back room.  Fox has see up for a five year stint of using his skills to bring down some elite criminals that the FBI can't legally reach, and Kate is assigned as his handler.  The first assignment is to find an investment banker who slipped town with half a billion in his clients' funds.  4 stars

Book 138: Demigods and Magicians

Demigods and Magicians by Riordan is a collection of three short stories of the combined adventures of Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, Greek demigod from Camp Half-Blood, with Sadie and Carter Kane, Egyptian magicians from the hour of light.  The magician Setne wishes to make himself a god by claiming the combined crown of Ptolemy  using a combination of Greek and Egyptian powers.  First he unleashes a giant crocodile, the son of Sobek, on Manhattan and watches the combined efforts of Percy and Carter battle it.  Mercy he raises the mixed Greek/Egyptian God Serapis and watches Annabeth and Sadie confront him.  In his final bid for immortality, all four combine their powers with the aid of the goddess Neither to keep Setne from tearing reality apart in his crazy quest for power. 

Percy as narrator is always fabulous and the stories were both action packed and hilarious.  5 stars

Book 137: Tricked

In the fourth installment of the Iron Druid Chronicles, Tricked by Hearne, Atticus is dealing with the fallout of his foray into Asgard with Norse God's and several thunder gods hunting him.  He makes a deal with Coyote to take his death, but despite his careful wording of the agreement was not enough to keep Coyote from tricking him into doing more.  If Coyote wasn't bad enough, Hel appears asking Atticus to join her side and help begin Ragnarok, and then attempts to have him eliminated when he refuses.  5 stars.

Book 136: The Furthest Station

The Furthest Station by Aaronovitch is a novella in the Peter Grant series that takes place between books five and six.  Peter is called to investigate a sudden increase in ghosts on the Metropolitan Line that behave in a strange manner and then disintegrate.  After speaking with one of the ghosts, Peter realizes that a real person has been kidnapped, and the ghosts are trying to find someone to help her.  With Nightengale for the heavy lifting and his cousin Abigail to help with the grunt work, the Folly assists the regular police with their investigation.  4 stars.

Book 135: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by Rowling is the sixth installment in the series.  Voldemort's power is on the rise and even the muggles are noticing the problems.  Harry returns to Hogwarts as Quidditch captain and has private lessons with Dumbledore to look forward to.  His options abilities improve by leaps and bounds when he borrows an old textbook full of hand-written notes in the margins, and he spends a lot of time trying to figure out what task Voldemort has set Malfoy to accomplish at Hogwarts.  5 stars

Book 134: A Curious Beginning

A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn is the first mystery in the Veronica Speedwell mysteries.  Veronica Speedwell has just buried her last living guardian when she arrives home to find her cottage being ransacked.  Nearly kidnapped by the thief, she is rescued by a German baron, who claims that she is in grave danger.  Veronica agrees to accompany the baron to London where he turns Veronica over into the care of a cranky natural historian named Stoker insisting that he will protect her.  The baron's murder leaves the two seeking answers about the murderer's identity and the secrets that the baron alluded to regarding Veronica's personal history.

I don't usual read historical novels, but I found this one well written and entertaining.  4 stars.

Book 133: Louisiana Longshot

CIA agent Fortune Redding blew her last up when she killed the brother of a major arms dealer with her stiletto, and now she has a huge bounty on her head.  Her boss suspects that her cover had been blown even earlier by a CIA leak, so he her down to Louisiana under the identity of his niece, who just inherited her aunt's bayou home.  Fortune's quiet hideaway quickly turns chaotic when her aunt's hound digs up a human bone.  Fortune joins forces with Ida and Gertie, two of Aunt Marge's friends, to track down a murderer before their friend Marge can be arrested.

A nice cozy mystery with lots of laughs.  5 stars

Book 132: Demigod Files

Demigod Files by Riordan compiles three Percy Jackson short stories, interviews of several campers, and a few fun activities as well.  The stories all feature Percy and are funny and entertaining.  4 stars

Book 131: Foxglove Summer

After the surprising betrayal at the end of book four of the Peter Grant series, Foxglove Summer by Aaronovitch takes a break from the series story arc as Nightengale sends Peter to check on an old retired wizard in the country, who happens to live near the area where to eleven year old girls have been abducted.  Peter's interview with the elderly wizard confirms that he has nothing to do with the kidnappings, but Peter still wants to help and volunteers with the mundane police to assist in the search.  Everything seems to be normal and nonmagical until the girls' phones are found, and Peter realizes that they have been destroyed by magic.  Peter launches his own investigation of the local supernatural phenomena beginning with the girls' supposed imaginary invisible horse friend.  5 stars

Book 130: Dead Witch Walking

Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison is the beginning of the Hollows series featuring Rachel Morgan.  Tired of scrappy runs and mistakes that are not her fault, Rachel quite her job as a runner for the U.S. and goes into business with Ivy, a living vampire and previous runner as well. Because losing Ivy angers the IS, they place a bounty on Rachel's head.  With assassins at every turn, Rachel has no choice but to go after something big enough to bargain for her freedom.  Her target of choice is Trent Kalamack, a rich well connected businessman long suspected as a major player in the illegal drug Brimstone.  If Rachel is going to survive, she's going to need a crash course in teamwork.  4 stars

Book 129: Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye

Abby Cooper, Psychic Eye by Valerie Laurie is a delightful cozy mystery getting the Psychic Eye Mystery series off to a great start.  Abby runs her own psychic business giving her clients advise regarding the problems in the lives in the near future.  She accepts a substitute client and warns her to be careful, but her client ends up dead.  Feeling guilty, Abby helps the police with the investigation but soon finds herself in the killers crosshairs.

I really enjoyed this series beginning.  4 stars

Book 128: Opal Fire

Opal Fire by Barbra Annino is the first book in the Stacy Justice series.  Stacy is a reporter in a small town and a very reluctant witch despite all of her grandmother's attempts to the contrary.  Her cousin's bar is catches fire; and when Cinnamon is accused of arson by the insurance agent, Stacy is determined to discover the truth.  The stakes increase drastically when they discover the body of a missing 18 year old girl blocked up in the basement wall of the burnt bar.  Then the coroner is killed, and someone attempts to kill Stacy. Now she must uncover the truth before she becomes the next victim.

The mystery was a well written cozy.  Thor the dog was hilarious, but Stacy herself was overly abrasive and rude to anyone that tries to help her.  It made the whole story offputting.  At this point I'm not sure I'll try the next book in the series.  3 stars

Book 127: Eagle Strike

Alex is enjoying a vacation in the South of France with Sabina and her family at the beginning of Eagle Strike, the fourth Alex Rider book.  His peaceful getaway is shattered as he spies the Russian contract assassin Yassen Gregorovitch arriving in a yacht.  The next afternoon, the beach house explodes, and Sabina's father is severely injured.  Alex sneaks onto the yacht and find the number of the man who contracted him.  Unfortunately Damian Cray is far too wealthy with far too many connections for MI6 to be willing to take Alex's word and begin an investigation. So Alex decides to go it alone.

Another face paced series of impossible events that still manage to be entertaining.  4 stars.

Book 126: The Battle of the Labyrinth

The fourth book of the Percy Jackson series begins with Percy attending orientation at the school of his mother's boyfriend.  After another battle with monsters, he heads to Camp Half-Blood with Annabeth.  The camp is on high alert after the discovery that the Titans have been sending scouts into the labyrinth of Daedalus presumably to bypass the camp's defensive wall.  Annabeth is placed in charge of the quest to seek out Daedalus and try to convince him to help the gods instead of the Titans.  Between fighting battles, rescuing allies, hunting for Pan, and taking side jobs to obtain help from various gods, Percy and Annabeth with help from Grover, Tyson, Nico and a mortal named Rachel race to save their camp.  5 stars.

Book 125: The Chimera Charm

Hattie Jenkins and her immortal cats are at it again in The Chimera Charm, book six of the Hattie Jenkins and the Infiniti Chronicles.  Hattie is trying to relax and enjoy herself while taking her cats to the local fair, but on her way to eat donuts, the famous lawyer, Morag Devlin, jumps from the top of the ferris wheel and dies.  Teaming up again with Chief Paranormal Investigator Trew, they discover that the deceased has been increasingly paranoid over the last few months and was heard muttering about having to hide something.

The cats were as delightful as ever, and the mystery portion was well written.  I was a little disappointed that her relationship with CPI Trew has suddenly taken another large step back after the progress in the last book as well as a bit annoyed that the reason behind his odd behavior is never explained in this book.  Still worth 4 stars.

Book 124: A Cherry Sinister Murder

A Cherry Sinister Murder by Nancy McGovern and Cyra Bruce is the beginning of the Slice of Paradise cozy mystery series.  Faith Franklin's only passion is baking; so when her grandmother calls want her to come run her cafe, Faith is thrilled and immediately sets out for Florida.  While she is still renovating the cafe, the owner of a nearby business complains that she cannot serve cupcakes.  Faith tries to be polite, but it doesn't work.  The outlook quickly takes a turn for the worse when the woman is discovered poisoned, and Faith is the top suspect.

The mystery was entertaining but had an obvious conclusion.  The main characters all need to develop more of a backbone, but the antics of her two fluffy gray kittens were adorable.  3 stars.

Book 123: A Mansion, a Drag Queen, and a New Job

A Mansion, a Drag Queen, and a New Job by C. C. Dragon is the first book in the Deanna Oscar Paranormal Mystery series.  Deanna is visiting New Orleans to apply for a teaching job at Tulane when her grandmother's ghost appears and tells her to stay at her mansion.  At the same time, Deanna gets a premonition that the can driver's granddaughter is in danger of being murdered and tries to earn her.  After the little girl's death, Deanna uses her psychic abilities to assist in the investigation.

Based on the title, I was expecting a lot more humor.  Still it was a decent cozy mystery.  3 stars.

Book 122: Stolen Chaos

Stolen Chaos by A. C. Nichols is the first book in the Cardkeeper Chronicles.  Keira Poe has defended Chicago for twenty-eight years, but her biggest challenge is about to begin.  The chaos card, one of the  darkest, most powerful of all the magicards, has been stolen from the vault; and it falls to Keira to bring it back.

I liked the premise of the book when I originally downloaded it, but the execution fell short for me.  For someone with 28 years of experience, Keira had a lot of doubts.  I found it disturbing that the cards were powered by trapping souls in them, and the overall feeling was a bit unpolished.  3 stars.

Book 121: The Titan's Curse

In The Titan's Curse by Riordan, half-bloods have been going missing, so all the satyrs are in the field looking for new heroes.  Chiron sends Thalia, Percy, and Annabeth to assist Grover in bringing a brother and sister pair safely to camp, but the rescue does not go as planned.  Although the siblings are saved with help from Artemis and her Hunters, Annabeth disappears with the manticore.  Soon Artemis is also in trouble, and a group of five is dispatched on a quest to save them both.

Another 5 star addition to the series.

Book 120: The Leper of Saint Giles

The Leper of Saint Giles is book five in Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael mystery series.  While taking various medicines out to the Saint Giles leper colony, Brother Cadfael happens upon both parts of a wedding party: the groom, old and surly, and the bride, forlorn and hemmed in by her guardians.  Knowing the girl to be the granddaughter of an honorable knight that Cadfael was glad to serve under during the fall of Jerusalem, he sets his abbot to see if the girl is marrying of her own free will.  When she lies to the abbot trying to protect the squire that she loves from charges of theft, Cadfael can think of no way to stop the wedding.  Luckily, the groom turns up murdered so the faithful monk sets out to prove the innocence of squire.

Delightful and intriguing as always.  4 stars.

Book 119: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth book in the series, begins as usual on Privet Drive with Harry trying to surreptitiously listen to the muffle news for hints about what Voldemort was doing.  The quiet is soon broken when two dementors attack Harry and his cousin.  Harry is taken to Sirius' house, which is also the headquartered for the Order of the Phoenix,  for the remainder of the summer.  Once at school, Harry's fifth year gets off to a decidedly horrible start due to the presence of Dolores Umbridge in the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.  The year goes steadily downhill as Umbridge's powers at Hogwarts are expanded, and Harry once again comes face to face with Voldemort.  5 stars

Book 118: Broken Homes

The fourth installment in Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series, Broken Homes, finds the Folly residents still tracking down leads on Oxford's Little Crocodiles group of magicians.  Two magical murders turn their attention to more pressing matters as they try to figure out what the faceless magician is up to now and how to stop him.

Lots of action, plenty of humor, another intriguing mystery, and a last minute plot twist I didn't see coming.  5 stars

Book 117: Struck

Struck by Amanda Carlson is the first book in the Phoebe Meadows series.  Steeped in Norse mythology this is an action packed tale of survival.  Phone Meadows believes herself an ordinary human working in the shoe department at Macy's until she gets struck by lightning in the storage room.  Arriving home, her neighbor Ingrid comes over dressed in full Valkerie gear explaining that she is Phoebe's aunt, Odin is Phoebe's father, and the Norns are coming to kill her.  Kidnapped away from her aunt, Phoebe escapes the Norns and finds herself in the cave of Fenrir where she gains a powerful albeit unlikely ally in the isolated demigod.  Together they plot to escape back to Midgard and find Phoebe's aunt.  4 stars.

Book 116: Skeleton Key

In his third adventure, Skeleton Key, Alex is asked to be a ball boy at Wimbledon after a Chinese man was seen leaving the facility late at night.  Since the authorities couldn't figure out what the man had been doing, Alex was assigned undercover surveillance.  After successfully stopping the plan and injuring a member of the Chinese triad, another gang member attempts to kill him.  To keep Alex safe while MI6 finds a way to ensure the gang doesn't kill Alex, they loan him to the CIA, who are planning their own surveillance operation on a former Russian General who has reportedly recently purchased weapons grade nuclear material on the black market.  Alex job is supposed to be to have a vacation while his "parents" investigate;  but when they die Alex may very well be in his most dangerous assignment ever.

Another action packed and entertaining tale.  4 stars.

Book 115: Shadows of the Past

Amethyst Lakes moved to Edenton looking for a fresh start after driving away her crazy ex-boyfriend in River's Shadows of the Past, the second full installment in the Others of Edenton series.  Unfortunately her ex planned one last bit of revenge and summoned the most powerful of the Shadow Fae, who is looking for revenge after his defeat at the hands of Amethyst's grandmother centuries before. Amethyst quickly settled into Edenton and into a relationship with the town sheriff after a bit of hesitation. Together they hunt for the Shadow far to send him back to the abyss permanently.

I found the ending on this one to be a little anticlimactic after all the build up about how powerful the Shadow fae were.  Otherwise, it was a great story: plenty of action, good romance without to much angst, and a great cast of characters.  4 stars.

Book 114: My Daylight Monsters

My Daylight Monsters is the prequel novella for the Mary Hades series by Sarah Dalton.  Seventeen year old Mary Hades is admitted to the psychiatric wars of the local hospital for the "hallucinations" that she has been seeing.  When the medications make her numb and withdrawn, one of the other patients recommends that she stop taking them.  As Mary's head clear, She realizes that something is actually amiss in the hospital.  The patients in the end of life care wars across the hall are dying off far too quickly, and the green eyes boy she keeps seeing is a patient who died a few months previous to her arrival.  Rather than hide, Mary sets out to discover what is happening.  4 stars.

Book 113: Every Heart a Doorway

In Every Heart a Doorway by McGuire, Miss Eleanor's school is for children who have been to one of the many fairy lands and returned.  All are having trouble adjusting back to the regular world, and most want nothing except to find a doorway back home to fairyland.  Shortly after Nancy arrives at school, her roommate is found dead in the hallway missing her hands.  Another student is discovered with days dead and missing her eyes.  If Nancy and her new friends can't stop the killer, then they will lose the one place in this world where they feel like they belong.

I found the world intriguing, but the mystery was a little too simplistic and easily figured out.  3 stars.

Book 112: Whispers Underground

In the third Peter Grant book, Whispers Underground, Peter is called to the Baker Street tube station where James Gallagher, the son of an American senator, has been murdered.  While the regular murder team follows the normal channels, Peter is tasked with determining the origin of the magical shard of pottery that was used as a weapon as well as ferreting out any other unusual evidence or suspects related to the case.

With plenty of humor and interesting plot twists, I read this one straight through.  I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.  5 stars.

Book 111: Mercenary Magic

Mercenary Magic by Ella Summers is the first book in the Dragon Born Serafina series.  Condemned at birth for being dragon born, Serafina and her sister were hidden by their parents and trained to do three things:  to hide their magic, to avoid the Magic Council, and to protect their younger brother by any means possible.  Stopping a mage at the business of one of the elite magical families as part of her mercenary work brings Sera to the attention of Kai, a powerful mage and dragon shifter as well as a council member.  Sera is hired to assist Kai in finding the culprit behind a series of break-ins at many of his family's businesses.  This time surviving and protecting her secret may not both be possible.

A quick entertaining read with plenty of action but not much world building or character development.  4 stars.

Book 110: Thrush Green

In Thrush Green by Miss Read, it's the first of May and time for the annual traveling fair to set up in the small village. This charming book meanders through the life of a large portion of the village on this day.  Some find peace as decisions are reached, and others find nothing by trouble. For some the future shines long and bright, and for others the path is coming to a close.  Interwoven together this beautifully descriptive stroll through a day in the life of a small village is a peaceful way to pass the time.  The book itself I thought I'd best summed up through its own words.

"She... suddenly realized what riches were gathered there together in one lovely drop of time."

4 stars

Book 109: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Rowling begins with a Harry having a strange dream about Voldemort.  The dream is quickly forgotten by Harry the next day as he eagerly awaits news from Ron about going to see the Quidditch World Cup.  The event is no sooner over when a band of Death Eaters March through the campground with a family a floating muggles and Voldemort's mark appears in the sky.  Once at Hogwarts, Dumbledore announced that Hogwarts will be hosting a three school competition named the Triwizard Championship.  When Harry's name is drawn as a fourth champion, it becomes clear that something sinister is afoot.

The fourth book in the series marks a shift to an overall darker time as Voldemort once again begins his rise to power.  There is also a significant increase in the number of pages although I'm not sure what could have been left out. 5 stars

Book 108: Point Blank

Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz is the second installment in the Alex Rider series.  Alex gets himself in a spot of trouble when he tries to deliver a drug lab and its two workers to the police using the crane.  Luckily for him, MI6 is more than happy to extricate him from his difficulties of he will agree to another mission.  After the death of two wealthy and influential fathers whose sons are both attending Point Blank, Alex is sent to the school for troubled teens to determine if the deaths are mere coincidence or if something more nefarious is going on.

This is another face paced, action packed saga.  Parts of the story were again too far fetched to be plausible, but like a good action movie implausibility does not detract from the overall entertainment.  4 stars.

Book 107: Moon Over Soho

Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch is the second installment in the Peter Grant series.  While Nightingale is still recovering from a gunshot wound received in the previous book, Constable Peter Grant is on his own for investigations of odd happenings while still having plenty of work as a magical apprentice.  He starts off investigating a string of deaths of jazz musicians who all seem to die of sudden heart attacks.  He then gets tapped to assist a separate string of bloody murders whose means of killing is clearly unnatural.  The cases ultimately intersect with an evil magician whose skill puts him far above Peter's pay grade.

A great addition to the series.  4 stars

Book 106: Black Coffee

The form of Black Coffee by Agatha Christie available from my library is a play featuring the brilliant deductive abilities of Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.  Poirot and his friend Hastings are summoned to the home of Sir Claud Amory to determine the identity of the thief responsible for stealing the formula for a new explosive from the scientist's safe.  Upon arrival Poirot discovers that not only is the formula still missing but Sir Claud has been poisoned.

While a play is not my preferred reading style, I found the mystery to be quite entertaining.  4 stars.

Book 105: Dead Spots

Dead Spots by Olson is the first book featuring Scarlett Bernard, a null who specializes in cleaning up supernatural messes for the various communities in the Los Angeles area.  Summoned to a park by the head of the local vampires, she comes upon the largest, goriest crime scene of her life and is spotted by Detective Jesse Cruz just as a werewolf comes running through only to turn human in front of the detective when he gets to close to Scarlett. Cruz tracks Scarlett down and demands that she help solve the murders.  At first Scarlett is reluctant, but when they realize that the victims were vampires and a null was involved in the murders, Scarlett has no choice.  Either they solve the crimes by the vampire's deadline, or he will kill them and blame the murders in Scarlett to maintain his position.

Honestly, I felt sorry for Scarlett.  She doesn't really have any choice in her job, and she's afraid to let anyone close enough knowing that they could be used against her.  Love triangles are annoying especially when it is obvious that one of the guys will never work.  The mystery was well written, and I enjoyed the world building.  I knocked a star off for the cliffhanger thrown in at the end. 3 stars.

Book 104: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The wizarding world is in an uproar after the escape of convicted murderer Sirius Black as Harry's third year at Hogwarts begins.  With new classes and new teachers, dementors guarding the gates, and Wood determined to win the Quidditch Cup, Harry has a busy year ahead of him. When he learns that Black is his godfather and is believed to have been responsible for betraying Harry's parents, it's only a matter of time until trouble finds him again.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Rowling is another great addition to the series.  5 stars.

Book 103: The Sea of Monsters

In The Sea of Monsters by Riordan, Percy has managed to survive an entire school year in one place with no problems, at least until the last day of school.  With the help of Annabeth and his new friend Tyson, Percy escapes and returns to Camp Half Blood.  Camp is no longer the safe haven of the previous summer, Thalia's tree has been poisoned and the magical protective borders are slowly failing.  Percy also keeps dreaming of Grover, who is pleasing for rescue.  He, Annabeth, and Tyson, with a little help from Hermes, set out to find and rescue Grover from Polyphemus and recover the Golden Fleece to save the camp.

A great addition to the series.  5 stars.

Book 102: Speaking From Among the Bones

In Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley, Flavia is excited about the soon to be exhumed bones of a local saint at the churchyard.  Before even reaching the chamber, the workman find the much more recently deceased body of the church's organist.  Exploring the cemetery outside, Flavia discovers a tunnel that leads to the room containing the body as well as the tomb.  Her curiosity becomes fully peaked when she learns that the saint was buried with a staff containing a large diamond. With her usual precocious attitude, she determines to solve the crime and find the diamond.

Another entertaining addition to the series.  4 stars.

Book 101: The Hunt for Red October

The launching point of the character Jack Ryan, The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy is a combination of spy thriller and military strategy.  A well decorated Soviet submarine officer conspired with his top officers to steal a brand new Soviet submarine and defect with his officers to the United States.  CIA analyst Jack Ryan guesses the plan and alerts Washington of the possibility.  Soon the Atlantic is filled with Soviet navy attempting to catch their missing sub and destroy it as well as American and British navy monitoring their counterparts and attempting to locate the sub in order to assist.

I could have done with a little less technicality, but still enjoyed the story overall.  4 stars.

Book 100: Ghost of a Chance

Emerald O'Brien is a single divorced mother of two who run a China and tea shop and also does tarot card readings. One night she is awakened by Susan Mitchell's ghost and asked to help prove that she was murdered by her husband. At the same time, Susan's family comes under attack from an evil spirit leaving her at a loss of how to identify the spirit, explain his fixation on her family, or even begin to figure out how to banish him.  Stacked all that on top of normal life and a busy holiday season, she would have been completely overwhelmed if not for the help of friends both old and new.

Ghost of a Chance by Yasmine Galenorn was an entertaining cozy but not one I would read again. I felt like their were so many things going on that sometimes the mystery got lost in the shuffle, and it seemed like they made absolutely no progress for year-round of the novel until it wrapped up in a flurry in the final chapters.  3 stars.

Book 99: The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan is the beginning of his best selling Percy Jackson series, which remains my favorite Riordan set.  Twelve year old Percy is just trying to survive his sixth grade year without getting kicked out of school and without failing despite his ADHD and dyslexia. Then his math teacher sprouts wings and claws and tries to kill him on a school trip.  His best friend turns out to be a satyr, and the minotaur chases them to the Greek demigod camp at Half Blood Hill and his mom disappears in a flash of light.  Within days Percy is claimed as a child of Poseidon and sent on a quest to find and return Zeus' master bolt before war erupts between the gods.  With monsters at every turn, Percy and his friends Grover and Annabeth travel west to the Underworld in hopes that Hades is in possession of the bolt only to find that the situation is far more complex than it seems.

Fantastic series.  5 stars.

Book 98: Tripwire

Tripwire by Child is the third installment in the Jack Reacher series.  Jack has run out of money and is digging pools by day and bouncing by night to improve his finances.  When a detective from New York comes looking for him, Jack refuses to admit his identity; but after finding the detective dead from a brutal interrogation, Jack decided to find out who sent him and why.  His search leads him to a funeral of his old army CO; and when a pair of thugs come after Garber's daughter, Jack decided to not only to protect her but also to uncover and finish whatever her father's final project was to ensure her safety.

Another entertaining read although not quite as good as the previous book.  4 stars.

Book 97: Of Ice and Snow

Fourth son of a clan leader, Otec is often overlooked by those in his village, and he prefers to spend his time tending sheep in the mountains and whittling wooden figures for the village children.  Returning to the village as winter approaches, Otec discovers that all the men have left to fight the Raiders; and the village is full of strangers taking refuge.  To pass the time and earn some money, he agrees to take Matka, one of the visitors, to the mountains in search of a rare flower.  On their second day out, they are smoke rising from the village.  With Maria's help Otec, the overlooked fourth son, must become the leader he never expected to be if he is to save his people.

4 stars for Of Ice and Snow by Argyle.

Book 96: Die Trying

Die Trying is the second tale in Lee Child's Jack Reacher series.  Walking down the streets of Chicago, Jack stops to help a woman in front of a dry cleaning shop, who has dropped her crutch.  Turning around he finds himself faced with two gunman and no good options to diffuse the situation without incurring civilian casualties, so he allows himself to be kidnapped and waits for a better opportunity. Holly, the intended victim, is an FBI agent, daughter of a high ranking general, and goddaughter of the sitting US president.  Taken to a remote location in Montana by a crazy militia group, Reacher has one goal, get Holly out safely; and he is definitely the best man for the job.

The book read like an action movie and better in both plot and writing style than Killing Floor.  5 stars.

Book 95: Brilliant Starlight

Brilliant Starlight by Anna Carven is the final installment in her Dark Warriors series.  The empress is dead, and the empire is falling as Tarek and his allies attempt to maintain peace and order while Prince Xal sets up a new government for Kythia.  Abby becomes ill as the nanobots in her body begin to mutate.  To save his mate Tarek must find the scientist who started the experiments that created the First Division and return to the one place he never wished to see again.

An excellent ending to the series.  4 stars.

Note: To read the series in chronological order follow this sequence: 1, 4, 5, 7, 2, 3, 4.5, 6, and then 8.

Book 94: Mercy Blade

In Mercy Blade, Jane Yellowrock returns to New Orleans to provide security for the vampires when a pair of were-cats arrive to make a treaty.  Jane goes out to meet an unspecified enemy of Leo that she assumes is a vampire only to be attacked by a pack of wolves and rescued by the supernatural she was supposed to meet.  Rick goes missing, and Bruiser is under investigation for murder while the wolves plot to eliminate Leo.  Once again Jane struggles to put together the puzzle with lots of missing pieces while fighting to stay alive and protect those around her.  4 stars.

Book 93: Infinity's Embrace

Anna Carven's Infinity's Embrace continues the Dark Warriors series by focusing on Ashrael, the imperial assassin captured by General Akkadian, and Noa, the telepathic human rescued from the secret lab in the third book.  Ashrael attempts to take control of Noa's mind to force her to release him.  Noa stops his attack and inadvertently begins to form a mind bond with him. Gradually these two damaged souls begin to heal each other.  After an attack by other imperial assassins, Ashrael agrees with Tarak that he and Noa will only be safe if the empire falls.  His task is to infiltrate the palace and kill the Empress.

Excellent addition to the series.  5 stars.

Book 92: The Killing Floor

In Killing Floor by Lee Child, Jack Reacher, the out of work wandering former military police detective, decides on a whim to visit the town of Margrave, Georgia only to promptly get arrested for murder.  After two days in jail during which he survives an assassination attempt, Jack has plans to leave Margrave far behind until he discovers that the dead investigator is his older brother Joe.  In a town completely controlled by the Kliner family via their foundation's grants, his allies are few; but he is determined to stand for his brother one last time to uncover his murderer.

I found the plot pacing a little uneven, bouncing back and forth between utterly mundane events and high intensity action scenes.  Still the overall effect was entertaining enough for me to continue reading successive books in the future.  4 stars.

Book 91: Curious Minds

Curious Minds by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton is a fast paced, hilarious tale of theft, murder, and family conspiracy.  Riley Moon lands her dream job at meatball Blane-Grunwald.  Her first assignment is to reassure the eccentric billionaire Emerson Knight that his financial assets are safe at the bank.  He demands to see his gold and then decides to look into the disappearance of the youngest Grunwald brother.  Riley is assigned to keep an eye on him.  Soon the missing man leads to missing gold, and a man claiming to be from the NSA tries to kill her.  The only way to be safe is to help Emerson find the missing gold and expose the plot.

A great start to a new series with plenty of action and humor.  5 stars.

Book 90: Blood Cross

Blood Cross by Faith Hunter is the second installment in the Jane Yellowrock series.  Jane is back in New Orleans to track another rogue vampire, who is leaving the new vampires that he turns to fend for themselves.  Jane also has company, her witch friend Molly and her two children, visiting while their house is remodeled.  When Jane discovers a newly risen vampire, she is astonished at the witch magic being used in the process.  Digging deeper, she discovers that witch children have been disappearing for decades, and she finds a second rising site whose age matches the older time frame.  The stakes reach a new high when Molly is attacked and her children kidnapped.

Another action packed story.  The addition of Molly and the kids showed another side to Jane, and there was no rambling about tea or motorcycles to detract from the overall tale.  5 stars.

Book 89: Obsidian Son

Nate Temple is a powerful wizard from a wealthy family, who enjoys hunting for rare books for the wealthy client's of his bookstore.  His latest client's request has him tracking down the minotaur, although perhaps cowtipping him for fun was not the smartest tactic for opening negotiations.  Next his nightcap with friends is interrupted by a dragon searching for the same book, who is more than willing to kill to secure it.  Whether he wants it or not, Nate's world is about to change.  His parents death was murder.  A new wizard is trying to kill him, and the red dragon has sisters even more powerful and ruthless who are now targeting him.

I enjoyed the book overall.  Nate was a bit immature at times and the plot somewhat predictable.  Still an interesting start to the series. 3 stars.

Book 88: Glory in Death

Homicide detective, Eve Dallas, is summoned to the scene of the murder of a highly respected female prosecuting attorney found on the street of a downtrodden neighborhood with her throat slashed.  Soon after, the killer strikes again taking the life of a well known actress. With another serial killer in the loose, now is not the time for her to be distracted by Roarke; but navigating a relationship is not something with which either has much experience.

Glory in Death is an entertaining second installment in the In Death series.  I look forward to the remaining books in the series.

Book 87: Skinwalker

Faith Walker's Skinwalker is the beginning of the Jane Yellowrock series.  Jane is a Cherokee skinwalker, who shares her body with the spirit of a mountain lion called Beast, and works as a vampire hunter.  Arriving in New Orleans, Jane has been hired by the local vampire council to take out a rogue that is leaving a trail of both human and vampire bodies in his wake.

I found this to be an intriguing beginning to a series that is new to me.  The character and her background are well explained.  The portions narrated by Beast were believable, and the plot's pacing more realistic than other series I have read.  All the talk of tea and motorcycles was a little tedious, but overall a great start.  4 stars.

Book 86: Haunted Redemption

Rebecca Royce's Haunted Redemption is a rare paranormal book with a single mom as the protagonist.  Recently divorced, Kendall Madison is struggling to take care of her three kids with a patchwork of part time work.  Desperate she turns to Malcolm, a broker who specializes in solving paranormal problems, and requests a job which will take her back to her roots of banishing ghosts, demons, and other unsavory creatures.  Only it's both quote that simple.  The ghosts are massing in higher numbers and not sticking to the normal patterns of avoiding Kendall and being active at night.  Then her oldest son is possessed by a demon.  Her second starts having visions, and her parents reveal that she was completely missing from ages 9 to 12 with no memory of what happened.

I checked this book out from the Amazon Prime library and was surprised how much I enjoyed it.  If I had one gripe, it would be the love triangle set up between Kendall, her ex, and Malcolm.  It was unnecessary, and Kendall's waffling between the two men seemed like a distraction from the main story.  Still overall 4 stars.

Book 85: Wray

Wray by M. K. Eidem is the second book in the Tornian series.  The book starts out with Empress Kim sitting on the patio with her infant daughter, and then jumps back in time to recount her memories of the events that led her to that moment.  Emperor Wray is returning to his empire when an enemy vessel is encountered exiting Tornian space.  After intercepting and then boarding the vessel, Wray is enraged to find a small female badly beaten and abused inside of a closed cabinet on the bridge.  After healing her as much as possible with their portable unit, Wray takes Kim on the shuttle to the Searcher, but they are shot down and trapped in a nearby planet taking shelter in a cave from a storm.   Wray patiently works to gain Kim's trust and love, and together they gave the obstacles as they arise in the way home.

Another great story (with greatly improved editing as well).  I look forward to enjoying more of these books soon.  4 stars.

Book 84: Shifting Dreams

Shifting Dreams by Elizabeth Hunter is the premier of her Cambio Springs series.  Cambio Springs is a small tight knit community of shifters all descended from the original seven families who founded the town and became shifters after drinking from the fresh water spring.  Now the town has fallen on hard times due to the close of the nearby military base, but changes are coming.  A proposal for a new exclusive resort taking advantage of the natural (non-magical) springs in the area offers the promise of jobs if the idea can pass the town council.

Jena Crowe has her hands full running the local diner and raising her two sons alone.  She isn't looking for love.  Caleb Gilbert arrives looking for a change as the newly hired police chief.  He finds a challenge in Jena.  Then Jena's grandmother (who is temporarily holding up the new resort project) is murdered, and all evidence points to one of the shifters being responsible.

I've previously read in Hunter's original Elemental series, so I decided to give this one a try.  She did an excellent job of blending mystery and romance and the chaos of ordinary life.  Like her other series the depth of the secondary characters and development of the worldview were excellent.  5 stars.

Book 83: A Spell in Mag Mell

Life in the Coven Isle takes a strange turn as the balance becomes unsettled.  Hattie's cat Midnight has insomnia while her assistant can barely stay awake.  Gabrielle's garden suddenly has no strawberries but an abundance of overnight weeds.  Then Chief Trew turns up requesting help on another murder.  Why would a famous alchemist suddenly run afoul with snake iron and why was he trying to create dragon proof metal?

A Spell in Mag Mell by Pearl Goodfellow is the fifth book in the Hattie Jenkins and the Infiniti Chronicles.  This is the best book on the series so far.  While it has the same combination of cozy mystery and hilarious kitties, book five also does an excellent job of layering the overall impending fae crisis on top of the expected events.  4 stars.

Book 82: The Black Diamond Curse

After helping solve three murders in the islands in a short period of time, Hattie and most of her cats try to enjoy some rest and relaxation.  Unfortunately, their hike and picnic end at a beach with a dead body instead of the peace and quiet for which they were hoping.  Millicent Pond, eco-warrior, had recently begun advocating for the rock gremlins that mined the black diamonds on one of the islands.  Soon, Trew and Hattie discover a portal to the fairy realm in the mines that had been receiving large shipments of black diamonds; and Hattie becomes concerned when Trew begins acting strangely that he has once again fallen afoul a fairy plot.

Another delightful mystery with hilarious kitty antics.  4 stars.

Book 81: Hammered

The third installment in Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles, Hammered, begins with Atticus' attempt to quietly steal one of Idun's apples as payment for a favor received in the previous book going horribly awry and leaving Ratatoskr and the Norns both dead.  Despite warnings from Jesus, he puts his affairs in order and sets out to keep his promise to Leif to take him and four others to Asgard in order it kill Thor.  Naturally, Atticus should have listened to Jesus because things again do not only go according to plan.

Not quite as strong as the first two books, Hammered 
dragged a bit at times, and I felt like a 2000 year old druid should be able to avoid some of the mistakes that occurred. Overall, it was still an enjoyable adventure.  4 stars.

Book 80: The Witch of Bohemia

Hattie Jenkins and her octet of immortal cats are back in this third installment of the Hattie Jenkins and the Infiniti Chronicles.  The island's resources are being overwhelmed by victims of a magical drug known as Strands.  As the local mental hospital rapidly approaches maximum capacity, Detective Trew calls on Hattie's herbal knowledge to assist in researching possible remedies for the victims.  While researching ancient magical traditions at the local library, Hattie loses her temper with librarian Druida Stone, who has been purging all magical traditions except Romanian, because the lack of available resources in conjunction with the librarian's very unhelpful attitude is hindering her efforts.  The next day Hattie's confrontation has earned her a spot on the suspect list when Druida is found murdered in the library.  With the help of her cats, she sets out to prove her innocence by finding the murderer while continuing to search for a cure for the Strands epidemic.

The Witch of Bohemia is a delightful, fun addition to the series, and I look forward to the remaining books.

Book 79: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter is back in the second installment of the wizarding series and more than ready for his second year at Hogwarts after enduring a miserable summer with the Dursleys. After being rescued by Ron, Fred, and George to spend a glorious month at the Burrow with the Weasleys, Harry ignores the warning of the mysterious house elf who warned him against returning to school and attempts to catch the Hogwart's Express only to find the barrier to the platform has sealed.  Once at school, the new term is marred by a series of strange attacks resulting in the victims being petrified reportedly by some unknown monster from the legendary chamber of secrets created centuries earlier by the founder of Slytherin house.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Rowling is a brilliant addition to this highly imaginative series of magic, courage, and friendship.

Book 78: The Violet Countercharm

The Violet Countercharm by Pearl Goodfellow is the second installment in the Hattie Jenkins and the Infiniti Chronicles.  Spithilda Roach may be one of the richest residents of the island, but she lives alone with her dog out at Hagsmoor at least until she is poisoned.  Once again Hattie is called upon by Detective Trew to assist in the murder investigation because of her herb knowledge and great instincts, and the cats can't help but lend a paw.

The mystery is entertaining, and the cats are hilarious.  4 stars.

Book 77: Blade Bound

Blade Bound by Chloe Neill is the final installment in the Chicagoland Vampires series.  On the eve of Merit and Ethan's wedding, a delusional vampire turns up complaining about hearing a voice shouting in his head and attacks Merit trying to quiet the voice.  The wedding proceeds without a hitch until they walk back to the limo and find a street full of humans screaming about a voice in their heads and attacking one another.  With no choice but to cancel the honeymoon, it quickly becomes apparent that the sorceress Sorcha has returned.  Now Merit and friends must work together to save Chicago and each other.

An excellent ending to a great series.  4 stars.

Book 76: Grim

M. K. Eidem's Grim is the first of three books about an alien race known as Tornians.  After the emperor discovered a female human aboard a slave vessel and she became pregnant with his child, Grim was ordered to find the empress' home planet and retrieve twelve unprotected females to bring back to Tornian.  Lisa Miller, a widowed mother of two girls, was visiting her husband's grave when kidnapped.  Upon awakening she immediately demanded to be returned to her children.  The other warriors on the ship, assuming the children would be male, refused her request; but Grim, whose scars made him unwanted by the few females on his world, offered to retrieve her offspring if she would agree to join with only him.  Arriving on Earth, he is shocked to discover that her offspring are female; and it does not take long for one of the others on board to order his men to take Lisa and the girls away from Grim.  Grim must find a way to keep his new family safe both from those who would take them by force and those who would declare him legally unfit.

The children were a bit too well behaved to be believable and the relationship between Grim and Lisa a bit rushed despite their misunderstandings, but the overall tale was still entertaining and enjoyable with plenty of humor and romance throughout.  4 stars.

Book 75: Filthy Witch and Dead Famous

Pearl Goodfellow's Filthy Witch and Dead Famous is the first installment in the Hattie Jenkins and the Infiniti cozy mystery series.  Hattie is an herbalist and reluctant witch with eight immortal cats.  One evening, she flies to a wealthy client's home to delivery an anti-aging remedy, discovers the client's golem motionless in the kitchen, and the owner's dead body in the bedroom.  Hattie agrees to act as a consultant for the murder investigation, and her nosy cats take turns pitching in with their own unique abilities.

An entertaining mystery made more enjoyable by the delightful feline characters.  4 stars.

Book 74: Midnight Riot

Ben Aaronovitch's Midnight Riot introduces probationary constable Peter Grant.  After putting in his first two years in the streets, he's dreading being shunted into a job of nothing but paperwork until he gets an eyewitness account of a murder from a ghost.  This brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightengale, who specializes in crimes involving magic and the supernatural.  With magic on the increase, a wave of random murders by people with no police records, and a disagreement between Father and Mother Thames, Peter has little time to get up to speed on an entirely new reality.

A well written police procedural with an interesting premise.  4 stars.

Book 73: Equal Rites

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett is the third installment in the Discworld series and the beginning of thread of witches novels.  A dying wizard attempts to pass his magic on to the eighth son of the eighth son, but he turns out to be a she instead.  When her magic begins to show, Granny Weatherwax attempts to train her as a witch but the magic is simply too different.  So the two set off to enroll Esk in the Unseen University.

This one had an exorbitant amount of nonsense and not nearly enough humor.  It's definitely my least favorite book this far.  3 stars.

Book 72: Hexed

After defeating his long time nemesis, Atticus O'Sullivan may wish to turn his attention to his shop, his new initiate, and a large patch of land in need of healing; but killing a god and half of the local coven has attracted all kinds of supernatural attention.  A larger witch coven is trying to take over the area, and Atticus and all of his friends are on their hit list.  Coyote insists Atticus deal with the demon still running loose in the area, and it turns out to be a much more dangerous fallen angel instead.  The Bacchans go crazy in a nightclub killing several people including two cops; and Atticus, who was trying to prevent the deaths, is the prime suspect in the police's investigation.  The pack is mad about losing two members, and his vampiric lawyer refuses to speak to him unless he promises to help kill Thor.  His life was certainly much easier when he maintained a low profile.

Hexed by Kevin Hearne is an action-packed, hilarious continuation of the Iron Druid Chronicles.  5 stars.

Book 71: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

In honor of the twentieth anniversary of the release of the first Harry Potter book, I decided to re-read the original series this month.

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by Rawling, eleven year old Harry has managed to survive the last ten years living with the Dursley family.  After his Uncle Vernon refuses to allow him to open his invitation from Hogwarts, Hagrid being him the letter personally and takes him shopping for school supplies in Diagon Alley.  Then it's off to school, making friends, studying all kinds of subjects, becoming the Gryffindor seeker, and trying to solve the mystery of what Hagrid removed from Gringotts and who is trying to steal it.

A entertaining tale for all ages. 5 stars.

Book 70: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder

Joanne Fluke's The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder is the first Hannah Swensen mystery.  Hannah owns a coffee and cookie store called The Cookie Jar in the small town of Lake Eden.  One morning the dairy delivery is late; and when she steps out back to check for the driver, she finds him shot in his truck.  Hannah's brother-in-law Boyd is assigned the case, and Hannah agrees to help him so he can be promoted to detective.  Of course, when she offered to help, she didn't realize that she would find the owner of the dairy company murdered as well.

A delightful cozy mystery with several tempting cookie recipes included.  4 stars.

Book 69: Darkside Blues

Darkside Blues by Anna Carven is a novella centered on the First Division's female medic, Zyara.  While spending a night in the town with some of the human mates, Zyara sees a girl injured in a fight between rival gangs and jumps in to save her.  She meets Kai, a gangster who control the North side of lawless Darkside; and as thanks for helping the girl he offers her anything she needs, anytime she needs it.  Zyara doesn't expect to require his help; but when two of the children rescued from the lab are in desperate need of a rare medication, Zyara decides to try asking Kai for help.

An excellent albeit short addition to the Dark Warriors series.  4 stars.

Book 68: Strange the Dreamer

Lazlo Strange grew up in as a foundling in a monastery.  His life changed course the first time when he was sent to make a delivery to a library where he stayed to work.  The second change came with the appearance of warriors from a city named Weep.  Lazlo had spent years reading everything in the library related to Weep and even figured out the language on his own.  He manages to get a job as secretary and story teller with the expedition and finally makes the journey to the city he has dreamed of his entire life.

The citizens of Weep had been terrorized by blue beings with magic for over 200 years before they finally managed to slaughter the gods and their children.  The structure in which they lived still hovers over the city blocking our the sunlight, and so the finest minds from all over have been brought together to find a way to get rid of it.  What no one realized is that five children survived and have been hiding all these years.

While the descriptions and characters in Taylor's Strange the Dreamer are excellent and the concept has great potential, I didn't find the plot well executed.  The piece of prologue at the beginning of the story allowed me to guess the ending by the middle of the book making it hard for me to convince myself that I needed to finish reading.  If I hadn't been participating in a read along, I would probably have abandoned the book.  My other problem is the cliffhanger ending.  It was unnecessary and annoying. 3 stars.

Book 67: Switching Hour

Switching Hour by Robyn Peterman is the first book in the Magic and Mayhem series.  Zelda has served nine months in magical jail for running over her cat three times.  Now on probation, she has to use her magic unselfishly to complete a mission by Halloween or risk being turned into a mortal.  Her orders say to go to her now deceased aunt's house in West Virginia, and she'll know what to do.

I downloaded this for free from Amazon.  The premise sounded interesting, but the development of the plot was average.  Zelda was obnoxious and self-centered with an extremely foul mouth to an extent that it detracted from the story.  2 stars.

Book 66: The Complete Guide to Fasting

Jason Fung's The Complete Guide to Fasting picks up where his first book, The Obesity Code, left off with more of a focus on how to fast and types of fasts.  Necessarily there is some repetition of information relating to what fasting is and the benefits of fasting, but the information is well written and makes an excellent quick refresher of the basics.  The how to information was clear and well presented.  I especially liked the time he took to explain simple adjustments that different types of his patients have used to make the different fasting techniques work for them.  The final section includes a small smattering of recipes, a few of which I copied down to try.  4 stars.

Book 65: Green Rider

Green Rider by Kristin Britain is the start of the adventures of Karigan G'ladheon, who finds herself walking alone along the road home after being suspended for standing up against the bullying of a governor's son at school.  She stumbles across a dying green rider whose convinces her to deliver his message to the king.  Little does she realize the danger into which her agreement thrusts her.  Forces allies with the king's exiled brother seek to destroy the message.  A hole in the wall protecting the kingdom from the dark forest has allowed evil creatures long forgotten to prowl the woods along her path.  A mysterious grey rider called the shadow man with magic far beyond her imaginings stalks her as well with plans of his own.  Thrown into events far beyond her understanding, she must survive with her wits and help from the ghost of the dead rider determined to see her finish his mission and the friends she finds along the way.

Green Rider is a brilliantly written book with an intriguing plot, vivid descriptions, and countless well crafted characters.  I will definitely continue with this series.  5 stars.

Book 64: Norse Mythology

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman is a retelling of fourteen adventures (or misadventures) of the Norse gods.  The tales are told with the author speaking directly to the reader, so it may be that the audio version would be a better choice for this format reminiscent of the oral storytelling tradition.  While each story is can be read separately as a short story, the tales are also arranged chronologically so that they tell the entire story arc of the gods from creation to the final battle of Ragnarok and the start of a new age.  4 stars.

Book 63: Two for the Dough

Stephanie Plum is at it again in Janet Evanovich's Two for the Dough.  This time the inexperienced bounty hunter is after Kenny Mancuso, arrested for shooting a friend in the knee with a stolen weapon from his former military post. Once again she teams up with Detective Joe Morelli, who is trying to locate the remainder of the missing weapons before they are used in any more murders.  When Stephanie starts looking into Spiro, a high school friend who now works in a funeral home, who better to take along than the foremost expert in funeral homes (at least that Stephanie know), her grandmother.

The story was decent.  Stephanie's complete lack of skill is annoying, but Grandma Mazur steals the show with her over the top comments and numerous antics.  3 stars.

Book 62: Irresistible

Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Alter attempts to explain behavioral addictions: what they are, how they form, and methods to deal with them.  I assumed based on the title that the focus of the book would be on technology related behavioral addictions.  Sadly most of his examples involved substance abuse or addictions like gambling with his technology related examples tending to be more anecdotal and quite repetitive.  (I lost track of how many time World of Warcraft was cited.)  While I understand how he was trying to use the first set of examples to explain behavioral addictions, I found the lack of directly related data frustrating although probably understandable since the problem is a relatively new phenomenon.  The book contained some good information, but it seemed to me to be lost amid a lot of extraneous information.  2 stars.

Book 61: The Dark Prophecy

The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan is the second installment in the Trials of Apollo series.  Apollo travels to the Midwest with Leo and Calypso astride Festus the bronze dragon searching for the cityscape from his dreams, which turns out to be Indianapolis.  The city is under the control of the second crazy emperor of the triumvirate, aka Commodus son of Marcus Aurelius.  It is also nearby the dark and dangerous cave that houses the oracle Trophonius, one of Apollo's children who naturally hates him.  With a to do list that includes rescuing griffins, infiltrating the emperor's stronghold to free the captives and recover the throne of memory, and surviving a cave that will force him to swallow death and madness, Apollo reunites with Meg to continue his quest to restore prophecy, stop the triumvirate, and hopefully regain his place in Olympus.

Apollo still spends plenty of time thinking of himself and worrying about dying.  Actual I found the rambling a little more annoying than funny this time, but still the plot was face paced and entertaining enough to make up for a spoiled protagonist.  He does finally start to show some character growth towards the end of the novel so I give the book 4 stars.

Book 60: C Is for Corpse

In the third installment of the Kinsey Millhone series, C Is for Corpse, the private investigator is still doing rehab exercises from the bullet wound in book two when she meets Bobby Callahan at the gym doing his own rehab work after barely surviving being forced off the road nine months before.  With his memory in fragments, Bobby doesn't have a lot of information to get Kinsey started: a feeling that someone he knew had been trying to kill him, he had some information that out his life in danger, and the answer might be in a red address book but he couldn't remember to whom he had entrusted it.  A few days after hiring her, Bobby is dead in a car crash, but Kinsey is not about to give up until she finds the answers that he was searching for and the identity of the man who killed her.

Another quick, captivating read in the series that held my interest from start to finish.  4 stars.

Book 59: Hounded

Hounded by Kevin Hearne is the first entry in the Iron Druid Chronicls.  Atticus O'Sullivan is a 2100 year old druid living in a small town in Arizona with his Irish wolfhound, Oberon, and running a shop selling herbs, teas, and books on various pagan cultures.  Atticus' peaceful life quickly descends into chaos when the Morrigan arrives to warn him that the Celtic god, who has hounded him for centuries trying to retrieve a magical sword, has once again learned his location.  After centuries of running, Atticus decides that perhaps it is time to stand and fight, but the battle is far more complicated than he is expecting.  Instead of a simple motivation of revenge and greed, he finds himself a pawn in the middle of a war to usurp power among the fae where the lines between the sides are difficult to discern; but it is clear that Angus is pulling out all the stops with a surprising variety of supernatural assistance to insure his success.

Atticus is not a perfect character.  He has a weakness for beautiful women and a highly developed sense of self-preservation while at the same time being kind and thoughtful (especially to the widow), honorable in adhering to his own code, and stalwart in his determination to protect his friends.  The dog's comments are hilarious.  The references to Star Wars and Shakespeare are numerous, and the plot full of action and tension.  I will definitely be continuing with this series. 5 stars.

Book 58: The Man in the High Castle

Philip Dick's The Man in the High Castle is set in 1962 in an alternate Earth where the Allies lost World War II.  The United States has been divided between Germany and Japan.  Africa has been devastated by the Nazis, and Russia is apparently primitive and remote.  Most of the story occurs in Japanese controlled San Francisco.

While the world building was excellent, none of the characters captured my interest.  The various events seemed random and disconnected, and the plot seemed to amble with no apparent direction.  The alternate book being read by various characters which postulated how the world would be different if the war had been won by the Allies held potential, but it was never really developed.  The ending was simply strange and unsatisfying.  1 star.

Book 57: The Cat Who Could Read Backwards

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun is the first in a series of cozy mysteries.  Jim Qwilleran is a middle aged reporter starting a new position at the Daily Fluxion as an art writer assigned to write stories about the local artists for the newspaper's feature section despite this complete lack of knowledge about art.  As he begins introducing himself around town, the one constant he finds is that everyone hates his newspaper's art critic George Bonifield Mountclemens III.  Then a local art dealer is murdered followed shortly by the homicide of the art critic.

The star character in the story is the spoiled Siamese cat owned by Mountclemens, Kai K'o-King or Koko for short.  Qwill meets Koko when he is invited to dinner, and they become better acquired when Qwill cat-sits for a few days.  What is most apparent is that Qwill needs to work on his cat communication skills because Koko is the one who knows what is going on and leads Qwill to the clues.

The mystery was ok, and the cat was magnificent.  4 stars.

Book 56: The Light Fantastic

Book two in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, The Light Fantastic, continues the story of Rincewind the wizard and his current employer Twoflower the tourist.  Luckily for Rincewind, the spell in his head doesn't want him to die and saves him from death by falling over the edge of the world.  Rincewind decides that he is ready to go home, and the two companions start off once again for the city of Ankh-Morpork.  Of course along the way, they continue to stumble from one near disaster to the next, and the red star drawing ever nearer in the sky does not bode well for the future.  Perhaps the time for Rincewind's great spell has almost come.

Another crazy and chaotic albeit funny ride of a story.  4 stars.

Book 55: Bloody Jack

L. A. Meyer's Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy is the beginning of a series of adventures of an orphaned street urchin, who is simply trying to survive.  When the head of her street gang dies, Mary takes his clothing, disguises herself as a boy, and gets accepted on a British ship setting sail to hunt pirates.

Much of the book does a decent job of chronicling the life of a ship's boy.  Frankly I found the main character annoying.  One minutes she was being practical and solving a problem, and the next she was either letting her imagination run away with her or have a near emotional breakdown.  I won't be continuing this series.  2 stars.

Book 54: B Is for Burglar

B Is for Burglar by Sue Grafton is the second installment in the Kinsey Millhone series.  Kinsey is hired by Beverly Danziger to find her sister Elaine Boldt in order to get a signature on some legal documents.  At her local apartment or seems Elaine left in a hurry early in January to stay at her place in Florida.  Her Florida home has a woman subletting who claims that Elaine was there for a couple of days then left for Saratoga, but the neighbors seem certain that she never arrived in Florida.  Slowly and methodically, Kinsey works to solve her case with her usual tenacity.

Another nice installment in the series.  4 stars.

Book 53: Odd and the Frost Giants

Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman  tells the story of a young Viking with a crippled foot who decides to leave his step-father's house and travel to a hut that belonged to his deceased father.  A fox approaches him near the cabin and leads him to a bear whose paw is caught by a tree.  Later at the hut, he hears the two animals and the eagle who is with them talking.  That explain that they are the Norse gods Odin, Thor, and Loki; and A share has been taken over by a frost giant who tricked Loki into giving him Thor's hammer.  It's up to Odd to set things right.

I found this to be a delightful and highly entertaining story.  4 stars.

Book 52: The Housewife Assassin's Handbook

Josie Brown's The Housewife Assassin's Handbook is the story of an ordinary housewife who suddenly decides to turn CIA assassin after the murder of her CIA husband.  When the terrorist group responsible for his death starts planning an attack on her town, a new operative named Jack suddenly appears taking the identity of her husband and leading the team tasked with preventing the attack.

I found the premise to be intriguing, but for me the execution falls flat.  What kind of mom lies to her kids about their dad for six years and then agrees to pretend a total stranger is their long lost father knowing that in all likelihood he will walk back out of their lives after the job is finished?  How can she be super organized enough to plan flawless deaths and forget simple tasks like picking up cupcakes?  It just didn't work for me.  2 stars.

Book 51: Electric Heart

Electric Heart by Anna Carven is the seventh book in her Dark Planet Warriors series, but chronologically the events of books 4, 5, and 7 take place before Abbey and Tarek arrive on Earth at the end of book one.  Ariana has been helping Arin Varga find information on the corporation that owned the Fortuna Tau mine, in order to determine who sent the mercenaries to kill them.  Suddenly Ariana's life is in danger, so the Kordolian warrior Kail is dispatched both to protect her and to find and punish those responsible for the mining fiasco.  As they get closer to their quarry, they also get closer to one another.

Another good addition to the series.  4 stars.

Book 50: The Amulet of Samarkand

In Stroud's The Amulet of Samarkand, Bartimaeus is a 14th level skinning with millennia of experience, who is shocked and angered to find himself summoned by a mere 12 year old magician apprentice name Nathaniel.  Nathaniel has hatched a partially conceived plan to get vengeance on a powerful magician named Simon Lovelace and orders Bartimaeus to retrieve the Amulet of Samarkand from his home.  Once the Amulet is acquired, Nathaniel sends the djinni to uncover the history of and information regarding the power of this amulet.  That's when the plan begins to unravel.  The amulet was stolen from a murdered government magician, and Simon is pulling out all the stops to get it back.  He tracks it to the home of Nathaniel's master, and Nathaniel only just survives because of the help of the djinni.  Despite the djinni's protest, Nathaniel is determined to stop whatever plan Simon has underway, and it will take all of Bartumaeus' magic and cunning to give them a chance to survive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story.  5 stars.

Book 49: Forged in Shadow

Forged in Shadow by Anna Carven is the fifth book in her mature paranormal series entitled Dark Warriors.  The story picks up with the Hendrix II in orbit around Earth with the survivors of Fortuna Tau essentially hostages as the Kordolians wait for permission to land on Earth to eradicate the Xargek.  Peacekeeper Arin Varga travels to Earth to try to convince the Federation that the Kordolian warriors are the only ones with the strength, speed, skill, experience, and capability to take down a mature Xargek.  As the politicians dither, she returns to space just as a Xargek invasion begins on the freighter.  Varga has nothing to worry about since Rykal, one of the Kordolian warriors, is determined to protect her and win her trust.  With help from her mother who is a Federation general, the humans are evacuated.  Rykal and Varga manage to reach an escape pod, but are picked up by a cloaked ship belonging to the Federation's nonhuman division.  To have a future together they must first survive.

An excellent continuation of the series.  4 stars.

Book 48: Out of Darkness

Book 4 in Anna Carven's Dark Warriors series, Out of Darkness, takes a step back in time and location to the mining colony of Fortuna Tau and the invasion of Xargek and Kordolian soldiers.  Jia Morgan is one of the mechanics tasked with repairing the Kordolian vessel.  She quickly catches the eye of Kalan, second in command of the Kordolian first division, when she fearlessly walks over and asks for a drill bit capable of piercing the callidum metal of the ship in order to attach the patches.  After the ship is repaired and the general leaves, the problems multiply as more adult Xargek are found and mercenaries sneak in to blow up the colony.  Luckily for Jia, Kalan has decided he will win her trust and protect her at all costs.

Another enjoyable addition to this mature paranormal series.  4 stars.

Book 47: Into the Light

Into the Light, book three in Anna Carven's Dark Planet Warriors sci-fi adult romance series, shifts focus back to General Akkadian and his now very pregnant wife Abbey. After several months going back and forth to space for various military tasks, Akkadian has finally turned over enough duties to spend the remaining months of pregnancy with his mate.  Abbey is tired of the diplomatic zone, so they fly to what was once Australia to visit her aunt.  Despite all of the general's precautions, an alien force attacks the Kordolians and their human allies abduct Abbey using the skirmish as a distraction.  They fail to understand that her mate will do whatever is necessary to protect her and their unborn child, and the entire first division of elite warriors is en route to rescue them.

Another entertaining read.  4 stars.

Book 46: Dark Planet Falling

In Dark Planet Falling, Prince Xalikian Kazharan has the unenviable task of convincing a planet full of humans that he and the Kordolians with him have no plans to invade Earth or harm the humans who live there.  Sera Aquinas is a skeptical reporter, who is reckless enough to knock on his door requesting an interview.  Suddenly an imperial Kordolian battleship appears in Earth's orbit.  Xalikian demands that Sera accompany him to the general's ship to observe and record the interactions between the two vessels.  To save Earth they hatch a risky plan to draw the enemy craft away and if they survive give them a chance to have a life together.

A nice follow-up to the first book in the series and a fun read.  I'm looking forward to returning to Tarek and Abbey in book 3.  4 stars.

Book 45: Dark Planet Warriors

Anne Carven's Dark Planet Warriors is the first in a series of mature paranormal romance books relating the first interactions between humans in a futuristic setting and an aggressive race of aliens known as the Kordolians.  The Kordolians are silver with eye colors ranging from yellow to red, pointed ears, fangs, superior speed and strength, and of course a severe lack of available females.

General Tarek and his squad of elite warriors arrive on the mining station of Fortuna Tau after accidentally passing through an unstable wormhole. His ship has been damaged in a battle against another race called the Xargek, and he demands the humans quickly repair his ship.  When the Kordolians realize that one of the Xargek came with them, everyone is ordered to their quarters.  Bioscientist Abbey Kendricks ignores the order and continues cleaning the oxygen filters that are essential to the functioning of the station.  When the Xargek finds her she is forced to jump for her life and is severely injured.  Tarek decides that fixing her is his responsibility since it is his fault the Xargek arrived and takes her back to the Kordolian home world for a nanograph to repair the shattered bones.  Slowly the general realizes that this human female may be the key to stopping his mating fever, and Abbey realizes that she needs his help to survive and return safely home.

I found this book on Amazon in the Prime Library and found it to be quite entertaining.  I am looking forward to reading other books in the series and have purchased the first three.  4 stars.

Book 44: Homicide in Hardcover

Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle is a delightful beginning for her Bibliophile Mystery series.  Book restorer Brooklyn Wainwright accepts an invitation from her mentor Abraham Karastovsky to a celebration of his latest restoration of a collection of books, but the night which starts off with such promise takes a sharp downhill turn when she discovers her mentor dying in his workroom.  He manages to leave her with a cryptic warning to "remember the devil" and hands over a priceless copy of Faust hidden under his jacket.  With British security expert Derek Stone looking over her shoulder, Brooklyn agrees to finish the restoration of the Faust while also conducting her own search for the murderer.  Then the stakes rise as another book binder is murdered and Brooklyn is threatened.

I found the mystery well written and entertaining.  I'll certainly be continuing with the rest of the series.  4 stars.

Book 43: The Power of Habit

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg attempts to explain why habits exist and how we can change old habits or establish new ones.  Every habit can be broken into three parts: a cue, a trigger, and a reward.  To change a previous habit, he recommends four steps (which are most clearly explained in the appendix for some reason).

1. Identify the routine.  (What are you doing that you want to change?)
2.  Determine what reward you are seeking (A sugar rush, more energy, a feeling of accomplishment, socialization, etc.). For this step try changing the routine, then write down the first three things that pop in your mind.  After trying several different routines determine what reward you are seeking.
3.  Isolate the cue.  Keep track of your location, the time, emotional state, other people, and the immediately preceding action.  The consistent one will be the cue.
4.  Have a plan.  Determine what your new routine will be and put it into practice.

To establish a new routine determine the cue, habit, and reward.  In order for the habit to take hold, the reward needs to be something that you will crave.  Having a belief that it is possible to change is also a critical component.

Duhigg looks at different types of habits from individual to corporate to social.  I found the stories interesting and well told.  If anything it was a little light on the how to change or establish a habit.  Much of the information above was found in an appendix at the end of the book.

Book 42: Crystal Clear

43 year old Crystal Goldstein in Crystal Clear by Jane Heller is a hard-working New York accountant on the verge of burning out.  After a higher up implies she is about to be downsized and she discovers her boyfriend hanging out with his ex-wife, her best friend Rona convinces her to take a vacation and cleanse her aura.  Crystal heads to a resort in Sedona, Arizona where she is surprised to discover her ex-husband Terry Hollenbeck, who did finally manage to settle down and apply himself, running the highly successful jeep tour that she just scheduled for the next five days.  The other explorers in the group are a clueless and ditzy heiress named Amanda Wells Reid and her entourage of unhappy staff.  When Amanda disappears and Terry's best friend is accused of murder, the two exes team up to save him and maybe themselves in the process.

The plot was a little slow and the humor sometimes a little too over the top to be funny, but I enjoyed the read nonetheless.  3 stars.

Book 41: A Is for Alibi

Sue Grafton's A Is for Alibi marks the debut of Kinsey Millhone a 32 year old, twice divorced, former cop turned private detective living in Santa Teresa, California.  After serving 8 years for the murder of her husband, Nikki Fife is finally free.  Instead of simply moving on with her life, she hires Millhone to find the real murderer of her husband. Researching the case, Kinsey discovers that four days after the death of Laurence Fife, an accountant named Libby who handled his business was also murdered by oleander poisoning.  As she investigates the possible connections between the two murders, one of her prime suspects is murdered and an attempt is made in her own life as well leaving Kinsey in a race to solve the case before she ends up dead as well.

I found the book to be an entertainingly straight forward P. I. story.  Kinsey solves crime with hard work, basic intel gathering, establishing a timeline of events using index cards on a board, and a well developed instinct.  I will definitely be continuing with this series.  5 stars.

Book 40: From the Beast to the Blonde

From the Beast to the Blonde: In Fairy Tales and Their Tellers by Marina Warner was a slog for me.  I found the first half on the "Tellers" to have too many references to art history and too many historical generalizations.  I had hoped for a more factual look at female storytellers and instead plodded through more of a history of how women were perceived.  In part two which was supposed to cover stories, I did enjoy some of the comparisons of different versions of a story, but the constant Freudian psychoanalysis was overabundant and not at all interesting to me.  1 star.

Book 39: One for the Money

Janet Evanovich's One for the Money marks the beginning of her Stephanie Plum series.  Stephanie has been out of work for six months, has sold nearly everything she own, and has no job prospects in the near future.  In desperation she turns to her cousin Vinnie hoping for a filing job.  By the time she arrives the position is filled, but the secretary suggests that she could be one of their bounty hunters instead.  When her cousin tries to refuse because she has zero experience, she blackmails him into hiring her and is given one week to track down and acquire a former cop named Joe Morelli who is wanted for murder.  For starters, the secretary sets her up with one of their best bounty hunters named Ranger for a crash course on what she needs to do.  After two failed attempts (at acquiring not finding) Stephanie and Joe make a deal.  She helps him find the missing witness that can prove his innocence, and he will protect her in the field and allow her to turn him in. Given the crazy boxer that is now stalking her and her complete lack of skills, it's really a no-brainer if she wants to survive.

I chose this book off of Overdrive because it claimed to be humorous, the plot sounded intriguing, and there are plenty of books in the series available through Overdrive at my library.  Stephanie was completely clueless at the beginning of the book, and her survival is close to miraculous but oddly still believable.  I was glad to see that she finally took the dangers of her job seriously enough to start jogging, spend time at the firing range learning to shoot properly, and consider martial arts training once she had sufficient money.  It gives me hope that her competence will slowly improve over time.  Grandma was hilarious, and her crazy comments and actions were probably my favorite part of the book.  Overall an entertaining enough read for me to continue in the series.  3 stars.