No talkie talkie here!

KathyB's Reveal



Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center
http://bookcrossing.com/journal/6074498

2007 Advanced Readers Copy
“Offers credible descriptions of first-time motherhood, affecting characters and situations and low-key charm.”–Kirkus Reviews

“Stellar . . . Center paints an accurate and humorous view of motherhood.”–Booklist

Jenny Harris always expected that she’d fall in love, get married, and have a baby–in that order. Now, very pregnant and not quite married, she actually doesn’t mind that she and her live-in fiancé, Dean, accidentally started their family a little earlier than planned; she’s happy to have so much to look forward to. But Dean–whom Jenny loves enough to overlook his bad facial hair, his smoking habit, and his total commitment to a cheesy cover band–is acting distant, and not in a pre-wedding-jitters kind of way. The night he runs out for cigarettes and just doesn’t come back, he demotes himself from future husband to sperm donor.

And the very next day, Jenny goes into labor.

In the months that follow, Jenny plunges into a life she never anticipated: single motherhood. At least with the sleep deprivation, sore boobs, and fits of crying (both hers and the baby’s), there’s not much time to dwell on her broken heart. And things start looking up. She learns how to do everything one-handed, makes friends in a mommy group, and even manages to give dating tips to her sweet, clueless father–who’s trying to court her sassy mother again, fifteen years after their divorce. She also gets to know a handsome, helpful neighbor–with a knack for soothing babies–who invites her out dancing. But Dean is never far from Jenny’s thoughts or, it turns out, her doorstep,and in the end Jenny must choose between the old life she thought she wanted and the new life she’s been lucky to find.

A spirited debut novel with a terrifically appealing voice, a fantastic sense of humor, and a lot of heart, The Bright Side of Disaster reminds us that sometimes it takes the worst-case scenario to show us the best in everything.

Ladiibbug's reveal

Your Choice - Either One of These Two:

In The Company of Ogres - A. Lee Martinez (2006)

BCID: http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5719725



"For someone who's immortal, Never Dead Ned manages to die with alarming frequency -- he just has the annoying habit of rising from the grave. But this soldier might be better dead than face his latest assignment.

Ogre Company is the legion's dumping ground -- a motley, undisciplined group of monsters whose leaders tend to die under somewhat mysterious circumstances. That's where Ned's rather unique talents come in. As Ogre Company's newly appointed commander, Ned finds himself in charge of such fine examples of military prowess as a moonstruck Amazon, a very big (and polite) two-headed ogre, a seductively scaly siren, a blind oracle who can hear and smell the future, a suicidal goblin daredevil pilot, a walking tree with a chip on its shoulder, and a suspiciously goblinesque orc.

Ned has just six months to whip the Ogre Company into shape or face an even more hideous assignment. But that's not the worst of his problems. Because now that Ned has found out why he keeps returning from the dead, he has to do everything he can to stay alive ...

In The Company of Ogres does for fantasy, what A. Lee Martinez's award-winning novel, Gil's All Fright Diner, did for horror -- and elves and goblins may never be the same!"

*** OR ***

The One That Got Away - Romance Anthology (Victoria Alexander; Liz Carlyle; Eloisa James; Cathy Maxwell)(2004)

BCID: http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5960677



"He was the first ... He was the best ... He was the one that got away!

Now he's back -- but do you still want him?

Every woman remembers that one special man who slipped through her fingers, leaving her not only asking the question "What happened?", but also wondering about what could have been if she hadn't let him go.

Now four of today's bestselling historical romance writers (see above) show us what can happen when the man you *thought* was out of your life forever returns.

In this stirring quartet of original novellas, four sets of star-crossed lovers are given the golden opportunity to relive the passion, and set the past right. Fate has brought these couples back together, but only love can determine if each is just a momentary madness, or a reunion that will last for all time."

Wss4's reveal



Touched by Darkness
by Catherine Spangler

Synopsis
Dr. Kara Cantrell settled in the sleepy town of Zorro, Texas, convinced she and her child had escaped the sinister reach of a supernatural underworld. But now dark forces may jeopardize her new life. Her only hope is Damien Morgan, a dangerous, alluring man with superhuman abilities. He and Kara share a mystical link that triggers desires they must ignore. But as they work together to protect her son, and begin tracking the evil stalking them, something threatens to push them toward the edge...of darkness.


**This is an unregistered copy so I will have to provide the BCID later.

Decaffeinated Corpse by Cleo Coyle

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5863290



When an old friend of her ex-husband develops the world's first botanically decaffeinated coffee bean and smuggles it into the country, Clare Cosi, manager of Village Blend, believes it's a business opportunity she needs to investigate...at least until the first dead body shows up.

Daelith Reveals:

A yellow romance 2-fer cause I need to move some books.




Hot Item by Carly Phillips 2006
Seen On The Sidelines
What star quarterback has been spotted with a new flavor of arm candy? It's notorious bad boy Riley Nash, but his newest flame is the last person this reporter could imagine -- none other than Sophie Jordan, beautiful, buttoned-down co-owner of The Hot Zone, the industry's top sports management agency.
What's behind this unlikely team? Some say it has to do with the sudden disappearance of super agent Spencer Atkins. Could there be a connection between the red-hot quarterback and the missing dealmaker? Or has the famous groupie magnet simply met his perfect match in cool, collected Sophie? Watch this space, because the resulting news is bound to be one Hot Item.
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5739505




Code Name: Baby by Christina Skye 2005

From the Publisher
Battle-honed Wolfe Houston is on a mission of national security: protect valuable government assets targeted by hostiles. But tracking down four genetically enhanced service dogs and guarding their furry backs 24/7 is going to take all of Wolfe's tactical skills.

The dogs' unsuspecting civilian trainer, Kit O'Halloran doesn't know that deadly mercenaries are determined to kidnap her charges. With puppies to find and bullets to dodge, there's no time to waste -- so why is Kit pressed against an adobe wall by moonlight, reveling in the hot magic of Wolfe's slow, skillful hands?

Wolfe is fascinated by Kit's devotion to her puppies, especially Baby, the incorrigible runt of the litter. But two other civilian trainers have died under strange circumstances -- and a foreign government has just posted a staggering bounty for Kit's capture. Before Wolfe can explore their burgeoning attraction, the two are on the run, forced to guess which of their secret contacts is friend . . . and which is deadliest foe. Only Baby can lead them through the storm to safe haven in each other's arms. Good dog!

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4825980

Code Name: Baby is a TBR, but I will read it next after I finish my current read.


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BooksForever Reveals:

Beyond the Blonde by Kathleen Flynn-Hui



From Publishers Weekly
Readers hoping for more hauteur à la Bergdorf Blondes can reach for this debut by a celebrity colorist at a Manhattan salon. Flynn-Hui's alter ego, sweet but street-smart Georgia, works miracles for a bevy of glamour girls at Jean-Luc, the "epicenter of beautification." Georgia's own humble roots are worlds away from those of her clients, whom she categorizes by neighborhood (there's the Greenwich, the Beverly Hills and the Short Hills—"the Greenwich with a serious inferiority complex"). Georgia's mother, Doreen, runs the classiest salon in their neck of New Hampshire, but struggles to stay afloat, which is why she prodded her daughter toward the big city, where Georgia worked her way up from sweeping Jean-Luc's floors to wowing his clients. But like the best dye jobs, the salon's artifice of amity conceals the darkness beneath. Ups and downs ensue—from workplace romance to blithe betrayal—all barely noticed by the coddled clientele. Knifed in the back, Georgia and her friends resolve to decamp for grittier downtown digs, hoping to take their clients with them—but Jean-Luc himself is a force to reckon with, and Georgia struggles with her own crisis of confidence. Snarky but not overly stinging, this read is as kicky and flirty as a head of highlights.
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Brat's Reveal

Devil's Corner by Lisa Scottoline



Prosecutor Vicki Allegretti goes to meet a confidential informant, is almost killed, and a cop is gunned down before her eyes. She saw the killers, now all she has to do is find them. The deeper Vicki probes, the more she becomes convinced that the murder wasn't random. When another murder takes place, Vicki is thrown together with an unlikely ally - The Girlfriend from Hell. Will they find the killers before they kill each other?

(This is TBR, but shouldn't take me too long)
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Booksforever's Reveal:

I hope you like this...I just bought it last month...TBR but reading now. It's hardcover.

]Beyond the Blonde by Kathleen Flynn-Hui



From Publishers Weekly
Readers hoping for more hauteur à la Bergdorf Blondes can reach for this debut by a celebrity colorist at a Manhattan salon. Flynn-Hui's alter ego, sweet but street-smart Georgia, works miracles for a bevy of glamour girls at Jean-Luc, the "epicenter of beautification." Georgia's own humble roots are worlds away from those of her clients, whom she categorizes by neighborhood (there's the Greenwich, the Beverly Hills and the Short Hills—"the Greenwich with a serious inferiority complex"). Georgia's mother, Doreen, runs the classiest salon in their neck of New Hampshire, but struggles to stay afloat, which is why she prodded her daughter toward the big city, where Georgia worked her way up from sweeping Jean-Luc's floors to wowing his clients. But like the best dye jobs, the salon's artifice of amity conceals the darkness beneath. Ups and downs ensue—from workplace romance to blithe betrayal—all barely noticed by the coddled clientele. Knifed in the back, Georgia and her friends resolve to decamp for grittier downtown digs, hoping to take their clients with them—but Jean-Luc himself is a force to reckon with, and Georgia struggles with her own crisis of confidence. Snarky but not overly stinging, this read is as kicky and flirty as a head of highlights.

BCID http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6085072

BunnyLady's Reveal:

The Stork Reality by Malena Lott



http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/5787032

From Publishers Weekly
Taylor Montgomery never intended to get pregnant—she's got too much invested as a creative director at a top Dallas advertising company. Her husband, equally ambitious Jake, is a lawyer who shares Taylor's priorities: "[w]ork, sex, travel," is their happy routine. After those fateful pink lines appear on a test strip, it threatens everything: prenatal pressure drives Jake away, threatens Taylor's job and leaves her an emotional wreck. The next several months follow the couple rediscovering their value to each other, developing more intimacy and honesty, and embracing their new lives. Unfortunately, the story does only what you expect it to, conflicts are easily smoothed over and supporting characters are strictly of the heart-of-gold variety—even the ultracompetitive lawyers at Jake's firm and the vain womanizer Taylor works with. Lott's attempt to engage the ambivalent "reality" of impending parenthood is too pat to carry any weight—the novel proves so sweet, you'll end up craving a pickle whether you're pregnant or not, just to add a little edge.