post your books here! :)

The Tinder Box by Minette Walters

Book Description
A chilling tale of prejudice, ambition and cunning in which villagers react to a brutal double murderIn the small Hampshire village of Sowerbridge, Irish labourer Patrick ORiordan has been arrested for the brutal murder of elderly Lavinia Fanshaw and her live-in nurse, Dorothy Jenkins. As shock turns to fury, the village residents form a united front against Patricks parents and cousin, who report incidents of vicious threats and violence. But friend and neighbour Siobhan Lavenham remains convinced that Patrick has fallen victim to a prejudiced investigation and, putting her own position within the bigoted community in serious jeopardy, stands firmly by his family in defence of the ORiordan name. Days before the trial, terrible secrets about the ORiordans past are revealed to Siobhan, and the familys only supporter is forced to question her loyalties. Could Patrick be capable of murder after all? Could his parents tales of attacks be devious fabrications? And if so, what other lies lurk beneath the surface of their world? As the truth rapidly unfurls, it seems that Sowerbridge residents need to be very afraid. For beneath a cunning facade, someones chilling ambition is about to ignite

Naked Came the Manatee by Carl Hiassen, Elmore Leonard, et al...



Dave Barry starts the madness in Naked Came the Manatee, introducing a 102-year-old environmentalist named Coconut Grove and a manatee saddled with one of Barry's favorite monikers, Booger. Carl Hiaasen closes down the party, and in between, 11 of Florida's literati, including Elmore Leonard, John Dufresne, and Edna Buchanan, make twisted offerings to the affair: three severed heads, all bearing a remarkable resemblance to Fidel Castro; four murders; some sex; some espionage; even an appearance by Jimmy Carter and one by Castro himself.

Originally published as a serial novel in the Miami Herald's Tropic magazine, Naked Came the Manatee resembles a literary game of telephone, with each writer contributing a chapter and passing it on to the next, who then makes the most of what he or she is given. The result is a novel with wildly fluctuating styles and more crazy plot curves than a daytime drama, but thanks to these 13 masters of the craft this roller coaster of a book is almost as much fun to read as it obviously was to write.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Teeth in a Pickle Jar by H.B. Milligan

I'm revealing Teeth in a Pickle Jar by H.B. Milligan. I reviewed this at the request of Armchair Interviews. It starts slow (first 40-50 pages) but then gets really good.

Here's my review:
Megan hasn’t had an easy life. Her first sexual encounter leads to a delightful daughter -- and a loveless marriage that comes complete with a mother-in-law who gives new meaning to the idea of hauteur. After a year of getting by and enduring, Megan's had enough and she leaves Paris, and the husband, for New York City and her own overbearing Mamma.

For years Megan devoted herself to providing a good home for her daughter Hayley, trying to provide a balance for the emotionally cold world of Hayley’s father and the overbearing presence of Mamma. Suddenly Brent, a much younger man enters the picture, throwing Megan’s world into turmoil. Will Megan throw away a chance at true happiness or will she take the leap, regardless of what her Mamma has to say?

H.B. Milligan has crafted a novel of discovery out of some fairly stereotypical plot lines: WASPish upper crust society mirrored against the ethnicity of recent immigrants; an overbearing mother of ethnic origin; young single mothers whose lives are relived by their daughters; and finally a middle-aged woman robbing the cradle. Throwing all these disparate plots together with a crazy title like Teeth in a Pickle Jar shouldn’t work; but Milligan’s pen delights, creating an entrancing tale of self-discovery, friendship and romance.

Rather than a formulaic romance novel, Teeth in a Pickle Jar is about searching, discovering anew the shadow our past can cast on our present. Wrapped in a story of a May-December romance, Milligan has constructed a morality play that causes the reader to pause and reflect – is it truly better to cling to the hurts we know than to gamble on potential happiness. If Brent is what waits at the end of the journey, then I for one vote for happiness!

Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke


*This is a hardback library discard.*

The holidays are the icing on the cake for bakery owner Hannah Swensen. Surrounded by her loved ones, she has all the ingredients for a perfect Christmas—until murder is added to the mix...

When it comes to holidays, Minnesotans rise to the occasion—and the little town of Lake Eden is baking up a storm with Hannah leading the way. The annual Christmas Buffet is the final test of the recipes Hannah has collected for the Lake Eden Holiday Buffet Cookbook. While Hannah is baking the day’s goodies at The Cookie Jar, the evening’s plans begin to jell. Start with the best Lake Eden culinary creations, add two of Hannah’s “sometime” boyfriends, a pinch of her ready-to-pop pregnant sister, and a dash of her mother and new significant other, an actual British lord, and what do you get? A recipe for disaster, but the juiciest ingredient is yet to come...

The recently divorced Martin Dubinski arrives at the buffet with his new Vegas showgirl wife—all wrapped up in glitter and fur. His ex-wife, however, seems as cool as chilled eggnog. And when Hannah’s mother’s antique Christmas cake knife disappears, its discovery in the décolletage of the new—and now late—Mrs. Dubinski puts the festivities on ice.

With everyone stranded at the community center by a blizzard, Hannah puts her investigative skills to the test, using the ingredients at hand: half the town of Lake Eden—and a killer. Now, as the snowdrifts get higher, it’s up to Hannah to dig out all the clues—and make sure that this white Christmas doesn’t bring any more deadly tidings…

Includes over twenty-five original recipes for you to try!

Metro Girl - Janet Evanovich

Wild Bill is up to his gonads in trouble. Never the brightest spark, he's hired himself out as a boat captain to some shady American investors who have him ferrying unknown objects -- and the occasional Florida politician -- in and out of Cuba. Everything's going well, until an honest politician realizes the boat-trip will land him deep in Castro's pocket, with Bill's bosses netting a lucrative Cuban real estate package as their reward for securing his vote. When the politician threatens to go public, all hell breaks loose -- and Bill disappears. Dispatched to Florida to find her worthless baby brother, Alexandra 'Barney' Barnaby, the brains of the family, isn't too happy about trading her well-paid-if-boring job in Baltimore for the bugs and heat and bad-hair-day humidity of South Beach. Doing the rounds of Wild Bill's broken-hearted bimbos, she's thinking things can't get much worse than being unemployed and sunburned in Florida. Too bad for Barney -- she's wrong about the getting worse part.

My book is:

Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty

couldnt find a summary so here's some reviews:

Review
“Such a sharp, funny, poignant heroine, with an inner world we can all relate to. I love it.”—Sophie Kinsella, author of Confessions of a Shopaholic

“Sloppy Firsts captures, in spare, truthful prose, the exquisite pain and ecstasy of being besotted by your best friend. The reader may flinch, but Megan McCafferty never does.”
—Emma Forrest, author of Namedropper

“Sloppy Firsts is a spirited, down-the-rabbit-hole adventure in the madcap subculture of high school. With remarkable insight, tenderness, and wit, Megan McCafferty offers us a compassionate, clear-eyed tale of how a sassy young woman survives teenage-hood.”
—Laurie Fox, author of My Sister from the Black Lagoon

“Sloppy Firsts perfectly captures the turbulent roller-coaster ride that is being a teenager. This is an (at times) intimate, painfully honest peek at a girl’s coming of age. Getting to know Jessica was like meeting a new best friend. I miss her already.”
—Atoosa Rubenstein, editor in chief of CosmoGirl!


Review
?Such a sharp, funny, poignant heroine, with an inner world we can all relate to. I love it.??Sophie Kinsella, author of Confessions of a Shopaholic

?Sloppy Firsts captures, in spare, truthful prose, the exquisite pain and ecstasy of being besotted by your best friend. The reader may flinch, but Megan McCafferty never does.?
?Emma Forrest, author of Namedropper

?Sloppy Firsts is a spirited, down-the-rabbit-hole adventure in the madcap subculture of high school. With remarkable insight, tenderness

My book is:

No Escape-Heather Lowell

Death is the only exit ....

Kelly Martin is a frightened teenage runaway who made a scandalous accusation, then vanished, leaving Los Angeles prosecutor Tessa Jacobi with a ticking time bomb of a case on her hands. When the investigation leads her to chic nightclubs, shadowy business deals and whispers of sexual slavery, Tessa understands that she's out of her league. So she asks for help from a man whose contacts and experience can help her bring Kelly home.

Burned by the system in the past, private investigator Luke Novak plays by his own rules — and he's not about to change them to accommodate a smart, classy blonde from the D.A.'s office. But when a killer strikes frighteningly close to home, Tessa has nowhere to turn — except to Luke. Because somewhere in a neon underworld, a young girl is running for her life. And Tessa is determined to get her out, even if it means placing her own life in the hands of a renegade she has no choice but to trust

The Diary of Mattie Spenser by Sandra Dallas



Kirkus Reviews
At 22, plain Mattie is astounded that handsome Luke Spenser desires to marry her—he has been keeping company with pretty Persia. Nonetheless, he chooses her, and they head out from Iowa in May 1865 to the homestead Luke has already planted in Colorado Territory. There are pleasures along the way: nice folks, and quiet days spent with Luke, her "Darling Boy." But Luke, who doesn't smile at her jokes, works very hard and doesn't like her to flirt with him. As for the marital act: "I still think it's overrated." Danger comes soon enough, and it's Mattie's quick shooting that saves two lives, although she doesn't seriously contradict Luke's dismissive observation that it was a "lucky shot." Once they arrive in Colorado, though, Mattie is disappointed by the homestead (out on the plains, she finds, there is "too much sky"). Her education in the real travails of people, particularly women, separated from the cushioning platitudes and quick-step judgments of home, begins immediately. A despised "slattern" proves herself a true friend; Mattie witnesses women weakened by too many births, another abused and horribly killed, and murder and torture by both whites and Indians. She also experiences wild joy and then tragedy, suffers many dangers, and is rocked by Luke's sudden betrayal. ("How could he ever again be my Darling Boy?") Yet torment yields to endurance and a kind of compassion.

Tragedies and sad little domestic dramas are muffled within the decency and humanity of a character whose understanding—but not essence—changes with events. A modest, appealing novel with a convincing reach into Colorado's plains and skies.