Currently reading: Connections in Death by J.D. Robb

In this gritty and gripping new novel in the #1 New York Timesbestselling series, Eve Dallas fights to save the innocent—and serve justice to the guilty—on the streets of New York.

Homicide cop Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband, Roarke, are building a brand-new school and youth shelter. They know that the hard life can lead kids toward dangerous crossroads—and with this new project, they hope to nudge a few more of them onto the right path. For expert help, they hire child psychologist Dr. Rochelle Pickering—whose own brother pulled himself out of a spiral of addiction and crime with Rochelle’s support.

Lyle is living with Rochelle while he gets his life together, and he’s thrilled to hear about his sister’s new job offer. But within hours, triumph is followed by tragedy. Returning from a celebratory dinner with her boyfriend, she finds Lyle dead with a syringe in his lap, and Eve’s investigation confirms that this wasn’t just another OD. After all his work to get clean, Lyle’s been pumped full of poison—and a neighbor with a peephole reports seeing a scruffy, pink-haired girl fleeing the scene.

Now Eve and Roarke must venture into the gang territory where Lyle used to run, and the ugly underground world of tattoo parlors and strip joints where everyone has taken a wrong turn somewhere. They both believe in giving people a second chance. Maybe even a third or fourth. But as far as they’re concerned, whoever gave the order on Lyle Pickering’s murder has run out of chances.

This is the 48th book in the In Death series by Robb! I am over halfway through the book and it is great so far! 

Teaser Tuesday: Vision in White by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Vision in White by Nora Roberts:

A Saturday night date. A guy who interested and attracted her across the table. Yeah, that was just enough. A week from Saturday? Well, you just couldn't tell, could you?

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Leverage in Death by J.D. Robb:

"It's a goddamn con, is what it is." And at least she understood a con. "Nothing but a goddamn con that took twelve lives, put eight more in the hospital, and scarred a kid and her mother."

Book review: Year One by Nora Roberts

I was skeptical to read this book and put it off for months. Now I feel kind of silly for doing so. Nora Roberts is an auto-buy author for me. I'm not someone who reads end-of-the-world type books because, quite frankly, the idea of them is scary to me. I should have trusted that Nora Roberts' masterful storytelling would shine regardless of the fact that she tackled a new genre with this book.

Year One begins with an illness called The Doom. It's vicious, vile and everyone who catches it dies quickly. As The Doom obliterates huge numbers of human beings around the globe Lana Bingham, Max Fallon, Arlys Reid, Little Fred, Jonah Vorhies, Rachel Hopman, Katie MacLeod Parsoni and Chuck realize they must leave their beloved New York City (and boroughs). If they don't they are going to be rounded up by what's left of the military and experimented upon because they are immune to The Doom. In addition to relocating in order to avoid being lab rats they are running from the evil that has become rampant in the dark times they face. The evil comes in human and mystical forms. However, there is plenty of good and light, as well, both in human and mystical form.

In all fairness I have to warn that there is a LOT of dark in this book. There is a fair amount of violence, murder and death, brutal acts, rape and bigotry. There is a lot of good and heroism, too. Babies are saved, people accept things they previously believed to be unreal. People become leaders and sacrifices are made in order to learn to live in a new world that no one recognizes. There are also a lot of secondary characters in the book. Some, like Eddie, are very funny and provide an element of needed comic relief.

I felt the style in which Nora Roberts wrote this book was different from her romance or romantic suspense novels but it made sense to me considering she went down a new writing path. I cried more than once while reading this book but I cheered the characters on, too. I had HOPE for them and that meant a lot to me as a reader. Roberts' trademark story telling and ability to create believable relationships was in full force. I am looking forward to reading the next book (and hopefully getting resolution to some of the story lines) in this series come December.

Teaser Tuesday: Year One by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Year One by Nora Roberts:

"There are people who don't have the virus who need doctors. Who need goddamn smart, adaptable doctors. They're going to try rounding up people like me, too, and I'm damned if I'm going to end up somebody's experiment."

When We Found Home by Susan Mallery

I'm halfway through this wonderful book! When We Found Home by Susan Mallery comes out on Tuesday, July 10th. It's full of heart and humor and you should definitely get it! #whenwefoundhome #books #reading #readeveryday

Review: Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts

I LOVE this book! This is an instant favorite for me. This is a seriously intense book in parts because it deals with a shooting and all sorts of aftermath related to the shooting. I admit that I had some reluctance about reading this book for that very fact. However, I feel Nora Roberts did an outstanding job in the way she wrote about such a sensitive - and unfortunately, an all-too-real - topic. I admire that she addressed not only the victims of the shooting but how those who lived through it lived their lives afterward. 

This is a romantic suspense so the main male and female protagonists obviously meet and fall in love but in my opinion that was a somewhat secondary story line. I wasn't bothered by this because I felt it was so important to see how Reed and Simone grew after the shooting - and how they dealt with it.

I did cry while reading this book, more than once. I got angry while reading it, also more than once. However, I laughed, cheered, sighed a lot and overall believed in the power of good over evil. Oh, and I adore CiCi! She is Simone's grandma and their relationship is AMAZING! Truthfully, I think it's worth it to read this book for their relationship alone!

I posted this review on my GoodReads page, as well.

Teaser Tuesday: Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts:

She came back, slid over the arm of the chair into his lap. "There's more than one kind of shelter. You're another for me. I'm going to be the same for you."

"I looked a long time for my place, and for you. It's damn good luck I found them both."

Musing Mondays: Currently reading

 Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by The Purple Booker that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

I am currently reading Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts and it is fantastic! I belong to a Nora Roberts group on GoodReads and as I said there, I started this book last night with the intention of reading a few pages and going to sleep. Go ahead and laugh because you know I didn't read only a few pages! Nope, I read NINE chapters before literally forcing myself to close the book and get some sleep! This book is character driven in Roberts' trademark style. The story starts with a shooting in a mall and part one of the book has dealt with the characters who live trying to actually live their lives after the atrocity. Needless to say, I have cried a few times. It's a fantastic book so far and I highly recommend it!

Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts

I am starting this book tonight and really looking forward to it. Here is the blurb from GoodReads:

Sometimes, there is nowhere safe to hide.

It was a typical evening at a mall outside Portland, Maine. Three teenage friends waited for the movie to start. A boy flirted with the girl selling sunglasses. Mothers and children shopped together, and the manager at the video-game store tended to customers. Then the shooters arrived.

The chaos and carnage lasted only eight minutes before the killers were taken down. But for those who lived through it, the effects would last forever. In the years that followed, one would dedicate himself to a law enforcement career. Another would close herself off, trying to bury the memory of huddling in a ladies' room, hopelessly clutching her cell phone--until she finally found a way to pour her emotions into her art.

But one person wasn't satisfied with the shockingly high death toll at the DownEast Mall. And as the survivors slowly heal, find shelter, and rebuild, they will discover that another conspirator is lying in wait--and this time, there might be nowhere safe to hide. 

Teaser Tuesday: Sanctuary by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Sanctuary by Nora Roberts:

"I'm not pushing you, Jo Ellen. But I'm not going to be sorry if you slip."

"I like keeping my feet under me and knowing where the ground gives before I step on it."

"Sometimes you've got to try new territory. This is unexplored ground for me, too."

Teaser Tuesday: Birthright by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Birthright by Nora Roberts:

"It occurs to me that we got to be a lot of things to each other, but we never got to be friends. I'd like to take a shot at it."

Teaser Tuesday: Montana Sky by Nora Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is newly hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

- Grab your current read 

- Open to a random page 

- Share two “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

- BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) 

- Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR list if they like your teaser. 

My teaser this week is from Nook page 101 of Montana Sky by Nora Roberts:

"Hey," Ben slid off his horse, the rifle slung by its strap over his shoulder. "Willa."

A springing wildcat wouldn't have surprised him as much as her turning, burying her face in his chest. "Ben. Oh, God." Her arms came around him, clung. "Oh, God."

"It's all right, darling. It's all right now."

"No." She squeezed her eyes tight. "No. In front of the rig. The other rig. There's.... God, the blood."

Musing Mondays: Montana Sky by Nora Roberts

 Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by The Purple Booker that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…
• Up next I think I’ll read…
• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
• I can’t wait to get a copy of…
• I wish I could read ___, but…
• I blogged about ____ this past week…

When Jack Mercy died, he left behind a ranch worth nearly twenty million dollars. Now his three daughters—each born of a different mother, and each unknown by the others—are gathered to hear the reading of the will. But the women are shocked to learn that before any of them can inherit, they must live together on the ranch for one year. For Tess, a screenwriter who just wants to collect her cash and get back to Hollywood, it’s a nightmare. For Lily, on the run from her abusive ex-husband, it’s a refuge. And for Willa—who grew up on the ranch—it’s an intrusion into her rightful home.They are sisters…and strangers. Now they face a challenge: to put their bitterness aside and live like a family. To protect each other from danger—and unite against a brutal enemy who threatens to destroy them all.

I read Montana Sky years ago - probably about twenty years ago now. I remember feeling that the book was gory or at least too much so for my taste at the time. Montana Sky is the Book of the Month on the Nora Roberts Groupies board on GoodReads so I decided to give the book a re-read. I'm only a few chapters in but I am really liking it so far. It's not too gory as of yet so either I'm remembering it wrong or I can handle more than I once did. Either way, I am enjoying the book and look forward to continuing it this evening.