Lucky Bastard by Deborah Coonts

• Title:  Lucky Bastard
• Author:  Deborah Coonts
• Genre:  Mystery series
• Published:  May 2013 – Forge Books
• Source:   Review copy from publisher via NetGalley

Synopsis (publisher): Lucky O’Toole may have been promoted to Vice President of Customer Relations for the Babylon, Las Vegas’ primo Strip property, but nothing has changed. When Paxton Dane, a former member of the Babylon’s Security detail turned Private Investigator, discovers a young woman dead, sprawled across the hood of a new, bright red Ferrari California in the Babylon’s dealership, a Jimmy Choo stiletto stuck in her carotid, he calls Lucky to handle the problem.

Lucky’s life is already in precarious balance. Her mother, Mona, is pregnant, hormonal, bored, and looking for ways to fill her days. Teddie, Lucky’s former lover, has hit the road on his quest to find international stardom. But, realizing he’s made a mistake, he writes a song for Lucky, then hits the talk shows, pleading his case. Lucky is less than amused with the national spotlight on her personal life. She’s having enough trouble as it is fending off the amorous attentions of Chef Jean-Charles Bouclet, the Babylon’s tasty new dish. Lucky feels mixing business and pleasure with the chef is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.

And the timing could not be worse. The Smack-Down Poker tournament with all the media attention the second-largest poker tournament in the world attracts is holding it’s final table at the Babylon. Hookers, thieves, players, cheaters, media, and hangers-on all descend looking to win or to score.

When one of the major players turns up dead, Lucky starts putting the pieces together with the help of Cole Weston, a hearing-impaired professional poker player. They chase clues and suspects through Vegas to the storm drains underneath the city—where the runoff from a summer monsoonal shower turns deadly.

After a revelation by someone close to her sends her world reeling even further, Lucky struggles to keep her life in balance, and a murderer from killing again as bodies pile up.

Then, just when she’s losing control… life deals another major complication to her personal life….and it’s not going to be pretty.

My take:  Lucky O’Toole is the new VP of Customer Relations at The Babylon resort in Las Vegas. She’s a trouble shooter who seems to be constantly stalked by trouble. This time it finds her in the form of a dead body sprawled on top of a Ferrari in the dealership housed within the resort. You’d think one dead body would be enough but a few more are discovered within hours of each other. To make matters worse it seems someone close to Lucky is a prime suspect.

While trying to figure out why a friend is under suspicion of murder she also has to balance her love life. Things are heating up with the resort’s French chef and her ex continues to beg for forgiveness. When does this girl sleep?

I’ve never been to Las Vegas but I love my visits via the Lucky O’Toole series. On the surface its fun and glamorous but we also glimpse the seedy underside of the city. Lucky is a lovable character who has a knack for attracting trouble and then finds a way to help the LVPD solve the crime.

I find this series thoroughly entertaining and can’t wait to see what happens to Lucky next – in life and love.

For More Information, Please Visit DeborahCoonts.com

Whole Latte Life by Joanne DeMaio

Title:  Whole Latte Life

Author:  Joanne DeMaio

Genre:  Contemporary Fiction

Published:  March 2012 – CreateSpace

Formats:  Paperback – 336 pages; eBook

ISBN:   9781466427501

Synopsis:  Would you leave everything behind to know who you are?

Sara Beth Riley never dreamt she’d walk straight out of her life. Actually she’d never dreamt a lot of things that had happened this year … From being kidnapped by her own best friend, to throwing her wedding rings into the Hudson River, to calling an old love in France, to getting inked with said best friend, painting the passionate constellation of these choices into permanence. But mostly, she could never have dreamt what started it all. How could it be that her mother’s unexpected death, and the grief which lingered painfully long, turned her into the woman she was finally meant to become?

Sara Beth’s escape begins a summer of change – of herself, of marriage, of the lives of those around her. In a story that moves from Manhattan to the sea to a quaint New England town, Whole Latte Life looks at friends we never forget, at decisions we linger with, at our attempts to live the lives we love.

My take:  When Sara Beth’s mother died she lost her biggest cheerleader. They were so close and with her unexpected passing Sara Beth is devastated. Her children and husband seem to take her for granted and she feels life just keeps going in spite of the immense grief she’s experiencing. She needs time to regroup and figure things out – things her friend Rachel thought they could do on their girls’ birthday weekend in New York. However, Sara Beth decides to go it alone instead of meeting her friend for a prearranged lunch. The note she has a waiter  deliver to Rachel says not to worry, she’ll meet her at the hotel in two days.

Rachel is frantic that something terrible will happen to Sara Beth. She stops a mounted police officer, Michael, who ends up helping Rachel try to track her friend down. Michael. What a great character! Loved him, flaws and all.

Events transpire, time passes, friends come together, family members make an effort to understand. It all came together for a very satisfying novel – especially for this female reader of a certain age. I loved the grown up women who seemed like people in my life. These are women who are willing to take a chance instead of sit quietly on the sidelines of life. Sometimes chances are taken after great encouragement and support from friends and family – that rang true for me.

With so many discussion possibilities, Whole Latte Life would be a great book club choice for my friends – women past the age of 40. I enjoyed it very much and look forward to Joanne DeMaio’s next novel. Recommended.

Disclosure:  I purchased my copy and was subsequently invited to participate in a blog tour. I was not compensated for my review.

About the author:

Joanne DeMaio is an award-winning author of contemporary fiction.  Her bestselling novel Whole Latte Life won First Place in the 2012 Discovery Awards and was selected by Kirkus Reviews as a Critics’ Pick.  It has been featured in USA Today, The Huffington Post, Barnes & Noble’s blog and other outlets.  In addition, her music essays have appeared in literary journals, celebrating her passion for song.  Joanne lives with her family in Connecticut, where the coffee and stories are always brewing.

For more information about Joanne DeMaio and her books visit her website.

Guest Post – Jodi Thomas

I’ve always wanted to write a book that shows the different ways people fall in love and I got my chance in WILD TEXAS ROSE.  I found the story great fun to write and loved the humor of the characters as I wrote.  I always think of my characters as real living, breathing people who are like all of us, not perfect, but trying.  So, come along with me through Fort Worth, Texas in 1876 and enjoy the adventure.

The setting is Fort Worth, 1876, but the stories circle around one another much like people in a town do until one day, one event, draws them together.  My main heroine, Rose McMurray, suffers from a fear of crowds during the time agoraphobia was just being recognized as a disorder.   Her fears run head long into her need to help her best friend.

Rose thinks she’s going to a wedding but soon uncovers a plot that could get them all killed.  She turns to a circuit judge, Killian O’Toole, for help not knowing how involved he is with the bride-to-be.

I had a great time writing WILD TEXAS ROSE.  Of course I love a good love story and this book is packed with three.  I also like watching the couples fall in love in different ways because love never comes in quite the same way to anyone.  I think this story is tender and I promise it will keep you laughing.  No one in the book is perfect, but they all do the best they can.

Thanks for reading,

Jodi Thomas

♦  ♦  ♦

Jodi Thomas is the NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of 35 novels and 11 short story collections. A RITA winning author, Jodi currently serves as the Writer in Residence at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.

www.jodithomas.com

www.facebook.com/JodiThomasAuthor

www.twitter.com/jodithomas

Guest Post: Joanne DeMaio – Whole Latte Life

Today it’s my pleasure to welcome author Joanne DeMaio to the blog. Joanne’s novel WHOLE LATTE LIFE published last week. Thanks for visiting today, Joanne. I’m a big fan of books and coffee! I look forward to reading Whole Latte Life. 

The Perfect Blend ~ Coffee, Books and Life

Coffee has such comforting affiliations, I think because it’s an integral part of our days.  We need our morning coffee, grab a coffee-to-go, linger with a dessert coffee, meet over coffee.  And that one’s the clincher.  Meeting over coffee.  In fact, some of the best talks happen over a fresh cup of java.  Think of all the latte’s you’ve enjoyed, with family or a friend.  How much life you’ve mulled over with someone near and dear in a local coffee shop, or in a neighbor’s country kitchen with a fresh-brewed pot, or in a restaurant’s cozy nook.

The same way we mull over life with a coffee, don’t we also consider life in the books we read?  In the genres we favor?  I know I do.  My novel WHOLE LATTE LIFE is a blend of the choices we make as mothers and daughters and friends, and how those choices sometimes haunt us.  It’s filled with topics we’d talk over with a friend, over a steaming cup of java.

Coffee and books.  I’m a fan of both.  They fit together like, well, like a cup and saucer.  Even the flavors of java correlate with our reading preferences.  Give it a try … If you had to choose, what coffee flavor would you give your reading preference?

I’ve brewed up a few literary-coffee choices … You can choose one, or add your own unique blend to the menu … Let’s get percolating!

Do you read Regular, With Cream ~ Literary with a Commercial bent?

Or is your preference Cream with Sugar ~ Very Commercial?

Is your favorite genre Black Coffee ~ Strictly Literary?

How about Café au Lait ~ Historical, set in France?

There’s always a Coffee Milkshake ~ Blending the Genres?

Or maybe Monk’s Cappuccino ~ Inspirational/Christian?

Does Layered Caffé Latte describe it ~ A life layered in Memoir?

Science Fiction, YA, Romance, whatever the genre ~ What flavor do you enjoy reading?

Coffee Cheers to all!

~Joanne

♦  ♦  ♦

About Whole Latte Life

Sara Beth Riley never dreamt she’d walk straight out of her life. Actually she’d never dreamt a lot of things that had happened this year … From being kidnapped by her own best friend, to throwing her wedding rings into the Hudson River, to calling an old love in France, to getting inked with said best friend, painting the passionate constellation of these choices into permanence. But mostly, she could never have dreamt what started it all. How could it be that her mother’s unexpected death, and the grief which lingered painfully long, turned her into the woman she was finally meant to become?

Sara Beth’s escape begins a summer of change – of herself, of marriage, of the lives of those around her. In a story that moves from Manhattan to the sea to a quaint New England town, Whole Latte Life looks at friends we never forget, at decisions we linger with, at our attempts to live the lives we love.

♦  ♦  ♦

You can read more about Joanne DeMaio at her website.

More info about Whole Latte Life can be found at WholeLatteLife.com.

Guest Post by M.J. Rose author of The Book of Lost Fragrances – Virtual Book Tour

Today I welcome  M.J. Rose, author of THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES:

M.J. Rose:  I’ve been fascinated with lost fragrances since long before I started writing The Book of Lost Fragrances… since I found a bottle of perfume on my great grandmother’s dresser that had belonged to her mother in Russia. Here is one of those lost fragrances that stirs the senses and the imagination… (researched and described  with the help of the perfume writer  Dimitrios Dimitriadis)

SHISEIDO – NOMBRE NOIR

Considered to be the glittering gem in the Serge Lutens / Shiseido crown, Nombre Noir is coveted for its scarcity and deep, dark mysteriousness. Created in 1982, Nombre Noir embraces 1980s style… it is bold, dramatic and commanding. It opens with a huff of aldehydes and bergamot which settles over a lavish floral heart of ylang ylang, rose and lily of the valley. An ambery benzoin / sandalwood  base imbues the perfume with a stunning honey-like quality… the sum of all components being rich, dark and plummy. This perfume was created when Lutens worked at Shiseido, and as such is a highly sought-after discontinued treasure.

♦  ♦  ♦

SYNOPSIS: 

A sweeping and suspenseful tale of secrets, intrigue, and lovers separated by time, all connected through the mystical qualities of a perfume created in the days of Cleopatra–and lost for 2,000 years.

Jac L’Etoile has always been haunted by the past, her memories infused with the exotic scents that she grew up surrounded by as the heir to a storied French perfume company. In order to flee the pain of those remembrances–and of her mother’s suicide–she moved to America. Now, fourteen years later she and her brother have inherited the company along with it’s financial problems. But when Robbie hints at an earth-shattering discovery in the family archives and then suddenly goes missing–leaving a dead body in his wake–Jac is plunged into a world she thought she’d left behind.

Back in Paris to investigate her brother’s disappearance, Jac becomes haunted by the legend the House of L’Etoile has been espousing since 1799. Is there a scent that can unlock the mystery of reincarnation – or is it just another dream infused perfume?

The Book of Lost Fragrances fuses history, passion, and suspense, moving from Cleopatra’s Egypt and the terrors of revolutionary France to Tibet’s battle with China and the glamour of modern-day Paris. Jac’s quest for the ancient perfume someone is willing to kill for becomes the key to understanding her own troubled past.

AUTHOR BIO:

M.J. Rose is the international best selling author of eleven novels and two non-fiction books on marketing. Her next novel THE BOOK OF LOST FRAGRANCES (Atria/S&S) will be published in March 2012.  Her fiction and non-fiction has appeared in many magazines and reviews including Oprah Magazine. She has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, Time, USA Today and on the Today Show, and NPR radio.  Rose graduated from Syracuse University, spent the ’80s in advertising, has a commercial in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and since 2005 has run the first marketing company for authors -Authorbuzz.com.  The television series PAST LIFE, was based on Rose’s novels in the Renincarnationist series. She is one of the founding board members of International Thriller Writers and runs the blog- Buzz, Balls & Hype.  She is also the co-founder of Peroozal.com and BookTrib.com.

Rose lives in CT with her husband the musician and composer, Doug Scofield, and their very spoiled and often photographed dog, Winka.

Click here for tour schedule

For more information on M.J. Rose and her novels, please visit her WEBSITE. You can also find her on Facebook.

Blog Tour: The D Word by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Title:  The D Word

Authors: Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Genre:  Chick Lit

From the book description: There are always two sides to the story, especially when it comes to divorce. Jordan Daniels and Elle Ryan thought their lives would become less complicated when they walked away from their respective relationships one year ago. But instead they find themselves vying for a relationship with the same divorced man. In The D Word you’ll walk in the shoes of Jordan and Elle as they discover that sometimes you’re not that different from the person who makes you feel the most insecure.

My thoughts: What struck me first about The D Word is that Jordan and Elle made the decision to leave their relationships and then spent a lot of time second guessing themselves. Jordan thought she was moving on until Kevin, her ex, dates Elle – a woman who is Jordan’s complete opposite. She starts to wonder if maybe they could make it work after all and she certainly doesn’t want another woman taking her place in her young son’s eyes. Jordan pulls out all the stops – even dates a nice guy to make Kevin jealous.

Elle called off her wedding a month before the big day. She lost her fiancé and his sister (Elle’s best friend) in one shot. She’s just trying to move forward and concentrate on her job as a free-lance writer. Elle is covering a singles’ event at a park when she meets Kevin who just happens to be walking his dog through the park but not attending the event. They are immediately attracted to each other and start to date soon after.

Of the two women I found it easy to sympathize more with Elle. Yes she has baggage but for the most part she’s just a nicer person than Jordan who at times is like a grown up ‘mean girl’. She seems to have it all and then wants what isn’t hers anymore. Of course this gives the characters opportunity to grow throughout the novel. Without giving spoilers I was satisfied with how the authors took the two characters down that not-so-straight path of personal growth. I think fans of Chick Lit will enjoy The D Word.

Source:  BookSparks PR

About the authors: Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have been friends for over twenty years. They both  attended Cal Poly Pomona University and each graduated with a degree in Communication. They co-wrote their previous novel. I’LL HAVE WHO SHE’S HAVING, in 2009. Liz also blogs as the Drama Mama for ModernMom.com while Lisa contributes frequently to Barnes & Noble’s Unabashadly Bookish blog and Mall of America’s Fashion Sense blog. Liz is married with two children, and Lisa is married and gave birth to a daughter in January. Liz resides in Long Beach, California, while Lisa lives in Chicago.

For more information visit www.chicklitisnotdead.com or follow Liz and Lisa on Twitter www.twitter.com/lizandlisa.

Here, Home, Hope: A Novel by Kaira Rouda

Title: Here, Home, Hope: A Novel

Author: Kaira Rouda

Genre: Fiction

About: (Goodreads synopsis)  Kelly Mills Johnson becomes restless in her thirty-ninth year. An appetite for more forces her to take stock of her middling middle-American existence and her neighbors’ seemingly perfect lives. Her marriage to a successful attorney has settled into a comfortable routine, and being the mother of two adorable sons has been rewarding. But Kelly’s own passions lie wasted. She eyes with envy the lives of her two best friends, Kathryn and Charlotte, both beautiful, successful businesswomen who seem to have it all. Kelly takes charge of her life, devising a midlife makeover plan.

My thoughts: Kaira Rouda’s debut novel tells the story of how one woman figures out how to take control of her life and help others at the same time.  Kelly is at a point where her two sons don’t need her like they did when they were little boys. After a health scare Kellly feels a nagging pull to change things but she’s not sure what or how. She starts a T2C list – Things to Change. Her list is written on Post-it notes which are strewn around her kitchen and car to remind her of specifics to change such as:

• Capitalize on skills
• Don’t compare yourself to others
• Don’t forget the care and feeding of friends
• Take it one day at a time

She soon discovers that the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere – her friends’ lives aren’t as perfect as they seem. One day a realtor friend asks Kelly, who is known for her exquisite decorating, to help stage a house she is selling. Kelly agrees to help her friend and the house sells immediately. She realizes this could be a new career and starts the wheels in motion. Although I thought it all came together a bit too easily I was cheering for her as things fell into place.

I think Here, Home, Hope would be a great book club selection. Any woman will be able to relate to Kelly and her friends on some level and might even want to use Kelly’s T2C list as a template for making changes in her own life.

Recommend? Yes, I enjoyed it and look forward to Kaira Rouda’s next novel.

Source: BookSparks PR

Review and Giveaway: Texas Blue by Jodi Thomas

Title: Texas Blue

Author: Jodi Thomas

Genre: Historical Romance

About: Duncan McMurray found three suitable bachelors to court his cousins and then he was called away on a Texas Rangers mission. No matter. He left the bachelors train tickets to the ranch and went off on his mission fully expecting things to go smoothly on the home front. This left the door open for gambler Lewt Paterson to separate one of the tickets from it’s intended bachelor. He played cards and sent the poor inebriated soul on a train wearing Lewt’s clothes and traveling in the opposite direction of the ranch.

Duncan’s cousins welcome the visitors for a week of McMurray hospitality and time to get acquainted. The sisters are lovely but they have a secret they hope no one will discover.

My thoughts: Lewt Paterson and Emily McMurray’s story is the prime focus of the novel. I liked how Jodi Thomas developed the two characters. They each had a less than ideal childhood and thought it would be easier to pretend to be someone else for the week in order to find the life they wanted to live. Emily didn’t want to marry or leave the ranch and Lewt just wanted to leave the world of gambling and marry into a normal family.

Duncan’s mission turned out to be more than he’d expected.  It started out to be a cattle rustler round up but when things went awry Duncan found himself captured on the wrong side of the border.  He wasn’t the only one being held against his will. There was a young woman who was resigned to a dismal fate. Duncan was determined to escape and also free the girl. I wasn’t sure how Jodi Thomas would write her characters out of that situation but I knew she could!

I thought the pace was perfect. The balance of humor at the ranch and the drama of Duncan’s mission with the Rangers was just right. Texas Blue is the first of Jodi Thomas’ historical novels I’ve read and I look forward to reading more.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Recommend? Yes – to fans of historical romance, Jodi Thomas, and the Whispering Mountain series.

Source: Berkley Books

Berkley sent one copy of Texas Blue

for a lucky reader from the US

Click here for more details

GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED

Guest Post – Jodi Thomas

When I began writing TEXAS BLUE I knew I wanted to write two stories that ran at stampede pace through one novel.  I’ve written 23 Historical Romances and Sagas, but this time I wanted the stories to be equal.  No plot and subplot, just two full stories.  I opened in 1875, with two friends parting ways one stormy night in Austin.  Duncan McMurray, a Texas Ranger, is off to fight at the border and Lewt, a gambler, plans to find a wife while his friend is away.  He thinks he wants a quiet, wealthy lady, unfortunately in Emily McMurray, Duncan’s cousin, he finds far more than he bargained for.

Duncan is all a hero in a western romance should be, he’s wild, loyal and intelligent.  He leaves his law practice to go fight with the Texas Rangers.  Lewt, on the other hand never wants to get involved in fights of any kind.  He plays his life like a game based on luck.  Duncan wants to do what’s right, but his friend, Lewt, only wants to live a normal, quite life.  When the stories collide, Duncan must depend on Lewt’s bravery and trust his life to their friendship.

I’ve been setting books in Texas history for almost twenty years.  As a fifth generation Texan, the world seems very real to me.  People sometimes ask if I’d like to go back there, and I always say no, I just love living there in my imagination.  While writing this book I felt like I was returning to a much loved ranch I’d written about before called Whispering Mountain.  My hero, Duncan, was rescued as a boy from an outlaw camp and adopted by the McMurrays.  He’s been raised with three girl cousins and feels very protective of them.  When they think he sent men to the ranch hoping to marry them off, the girls declare war on Duncan.

I know my readers are going to love this story as much as I loved writing it.  For those of you who would like more about what was happening at the ranch before Lewt arrives, check my website www.jodithomas.com and read two chapters that had to be cut from early in the book.  Remember, they haven’t been edited so jump over the misspellings.

Thanks for reading and I’d love to hear from you.

Jodi Thomas

www.jodithomas.com

www.facebook.com/JodiThomasAuthor

Thanks, Jodi!

I’d like to invite readers to come back tomorrow

for my review of Texas Blue and a giveaway

Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal by Julie Metz Review and Giveaway

Author: Julie Metz

Genre: Memoir

About: (book blurb) Julie Metz’s life changes forever on one ordinary January afternoon when her husband, Henry, collapses on the kitchen floor and dies in her arms. Suddenly, this mother of a six-year-old is the young widow in a bucolic small town. And this is only the beginning. Seven months after Henry’s death, just when Julie thinks she is emerging from the worst of it, comes the rest of it:  Henry had hidden another life from her.

Thoughts: Perfection is the story Julie Metz tells of finding out her recently deceased husband was a habitual cheater most of the time she knew him.  He was a master of manipulation. At one point Julie says she ignored red flags in his behavior that should have warned her.  He was often critical of her and at times downright mean.

The story of their marriage and his cheating unfolds through Julie’s memories as well as emails found on his computer after his death and subsequent phone conversations with some of the other women.  I was amazed that the women were willing to talk to Julie about their relationship with her husband.  What results is a story that I found disturbing and depressing.

I understand that Julie Metz needed to know what made her husband strive for his idea of perfection or whatever it was he was searching for.  I admire that she was able to survive such a nightmare of betrayal and move forward with her life.  I wish her all the best.

Source: Voice

Why I Chose: BookSparks PR invited me to participate in the blog tour.

Recommend? It was a tough read for me but ultimately Julie Metz proves that one can experience incredible betrayal and then move forward.  Her inner strength is inspirational.

* * * * *

 

About Julie Metz
Julie Metz is a graphic designer, artist and freelance writer whose essays have appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Hemispheres, Glamour, and more. Julie received a MacDowell Fellowship in 2008 where she completed work on Perfection and began work on a novel. She lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

 

 

You can read more about Perfection on the Website and the Facebook page.

 

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GIVEAWAY CLOSED

Voice is offering one copy of Perfection

to give away to a reader (US or Canada)

Click here to fill out the form.