The Long Way Home (Homelander #2)

The Long Way Home by Andrew Klavan is the second book in his Homelander series.

Charlie West has been framed and found guilty of murder. Now he is on the run - with no memory of the trial or his escape from prison. He is also running from the Homelander group - Americans who are working with Islamic terrorists to bring down the US government.

Charlie is trying to make his way back to his home town so he can find out what happened and try to clear his name. Along the way he will have many obstacles to overcome and no one to help him.

Klavan has kept the pace of the first book - a flailing out of control kind of pace - that readers will devour. Read this series if you need a kick of adrenaline.

Klavan, Andrew (2010). The Long Way Home. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The Last Thing I Remember (Homelander #1)

The Last Thing I Remember by Andrew Klavan is the first book in his Homelander series.

Charlie West wakes up into a nightmare. Instead of being able to open his eyes and find himself safely in his bedroom, he wakes up in a concrete cell - strapped to a chair.

He has no recollection of how he got in that chair. The last day he remembers was a pretty normal day. Then he went to bed and woke up bruised and battered.

One of the first things Charlie hears is someone outside of the door telling someone else to kill him. Though he is tied down, he will not just give up. He will do what he can to escape and figure out what is going on.

Klavan's beginning to this series is amazing. It has been called a teen version of the show 24 - "an adrenaline-pumping adventure." Readers will devour this book which makes James Bond or Alex Rider books seem tame.

Klavan, Andrew. (2009). The Last Thing I Remember. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

When You Dare (Edge of Honor #1)

When You Dare by Lori Foster is the first novel in her series Edge of Honor, which began with the story Ready, Set, Jett in the anthology Guys Next Door.

Dare Macintosh was in Mexico to save his best friend's little sister from her kidnappers, when he also rescued Molly Alexander. Molly was kept separate from the other, younger, women. He does not know why she was there.

Once she regains consciousness, she asks to hire him to find out who had her kidnapped. She is an author of romantic suspense novels so it could be a reader of her books. Her father is wealthy so money could be a factor. Until he finds out, Dare will take no chances with Molly's safety.

Foster has written a great story with compelling characters and suspense enough to keep reader up late trying to figure out who had Molly kidnapped. Foster could be compared to Suzanne Brockmann. They are both great suspense writers whose books also contain a romance - as opposed to some authors who write mostly romance with a thin plot. They are also two authors who include well-rounded, realistic gay characters.

Foster, Lori. (2011). When You Dare. New York: HQN.

Pirate Hannah Pritchard: Captured! (Hannah Pritchard #2)

Pirate Hannah Pritchard: Captured! by Bonnie Pryor is the second book in the Hannah Pritchard trilogy. Hannah vowed to fight the British after her family was killed.

After joining the crew of a privateer ship and helping to capture a British Navy ship, Hannah and crew are sailing back to Maine. The two ships are traveling together so it looks like the Navy ship is escorting the other - so that other British Navy ships will leave them alone.

But a storm blows the two ships apart and off course. Now Hannah's ship is about to be lost. The captain does what he can to get her safely to an island with their treasure.

But Hannah, along with a couple of her friends on the ship, find themselves captured by the British. They will be transported to a prison ship on the Hudson River to either live out the Revolutionary War or perish in chains.

Pryor's series of one fictional character looks at the history of our country's fight for freedom from the British. Her books are exciting and educational. Great for grades 3-6.

Pryor, Bonnie. (2011). Pirate Hannah Pritchard: Captured! Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers.

Hidden Agendas (Tempting SEALs #4)

Hidden Agendas by Lora Leigh is the fourth story in her Tempting SEALs series about SEAL Team Durango trying to stop a drug dealer who dabbles in human traffic. (Stories 1 and 3 are novellas that appear in anthologies.)

Emily Stanton is the daughter of a senator. Because of this she has had a body guard most of her adult life. The one time she refused to have one she was kidnapped. Luckily, Navy SEAL and longtime family friend, Kell Kreiger, was there to help in her rescue.

Now at the SEAL team gets closer to putting an end to the drug lord it seems that he will likely try to kidnap Emily again to use against her father. Kell has decided to step in and take over the protection of Emily. He has kept away from her for years because he is in love with her.

Now they are forced together in a situation that will either bring them closer or send them to the grave. Leigh's books are fast-paced, sexy adventures that will leave readers wanting more.

Leigh, Lora. (2007). Hidden Agendas. New York: St. Martin's Press.

13 Little Blue Envelopes (Little Blue Envelopes #1)

13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson is the story of a kind of scavenger hunt through Europe.

Ginny always loved spending time with her aunt Peg. Peg was the fun one who never settled down, an artist who lived in NYC's East Village and invented the best games.

Ginny receives instructions from her aunt to go to NYC and pick up a packet of letters, buy a plane ticket to London and follow her instructions. After convincing her parents to let her go, Ginny is off on a letter-guided adventure. Each letter has instructions and tells her what she has to accomplish before she can open the next one.

Johnson's plot takes readers abroad and highlights some of Europe's highlights and quirks. A fun tale of travel and discovery.

Johnson, Maureen. (2005). 13 Little Blue Envelopes. New York: HarperCollins.

The Guy Next Door

The Guy Next Door contains three spring-break tales by three best selling romance authors: Lori Foster, Susan Donovan, and Victoria Dahl.

Ready, Set, Jett by Lori Foster is the kick off to her new series Edge of Honor. Jett and his neighbor Natalie have been having a no-strings-attached affair. But Jett wants more. When he invites her to talk, her instinct is to panic.

In Gail's Gone Wild by Susan Donovan, Gail chaperons her daughter and a friend over spring break in Florida. But while the girls behave themselves better than the average teen on spring break, Gail falls for the hunk next door.

Just One Taste by Victoria Dahl is a prequel to her new trilogy the Donovan Brothers Brewery. Eric, his brother and his sister run the family brewery in Boulder. While his brother is a bit wild, Eric is the responsible one. The one who focuses on the business. But at a local trade show, he meets Beth Cantrell - the manager of the town's high end sex store.

This set of novellas is a great way to spend a lazy summer day. Look for further posts on Lori Foster's Edge of Honor and Victoria Dahl's Donovan Brothers Brewery series books.

Foster, Lori. Susan Donovan. Victoria Dahl. (2011). The Guy Next Door. New York: HQN.

Undertow (Cutter Cay #1)

Undertow by Cherry Adair is the first book in her Cutter Cay series - about three brothers who run a sea salvage company searching for sunken treasure.

Growing up Teal Williams spent two weeks a year with her father on the private island owned by the Cutter family. During those weeks she learned to love engines - she became a ship's mechanic like her father - and she fell in love with Zane Cutter.

Now the Cutters have hired Teal to fill in for her father as the company mechanic while he undergoes cancer treatments. Teal is glad to have a place to escape to - her life is not going as well as she would wish.

Her first assignment is to keep Zane's boat, the Decrepit, afloat while he brings up treasure from a Dutch ship he has found after four years of research and searching.

Once Teal gets over her seasickness, she may enjoy being on a boat off of the coast of St. Maarten with a dashing treasure hunter. Adair's book makes a life in the tropics extra hot.

Adair, Cherry. (2001). Undertow. New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks.

The Devil Colony (Sigma #7)

The Devil Colony by James Rollins is his seventh Sigma Force book. Sigma Force is a secret group under the DARPA budget - highly trained special forces soldiers trained in different sciences to deal with any situation.

A cave is discovered in the Rocky Mountains - a cave that has been protected by its location and local stories that tell of a curse - and a fight over the mummified bodies found leads to protests. When an explosion goes off outside of the cave, a Native American protester is blamed.

The artifacts hidden in the cave trigger a chain reaction that will be felt throughout the world. It is a story that began during the time of the thirteen colonies - and a battle between two forces that wish to shape the world.

Sigma will use its every resource to find and secure a technology that is too dangerous to be found. And the race will take them from Utah to a remote volcanic island, to the trail of Lewis and Clark before they either save the planet or die trying.

Rollins is a master. He combines history, science, mythology, and more to create the type of books that keep readers awake all night to find out what happens next. Every one of his books is an amazing, heart-pounding ride.

Rollins, James. (2011). The Devil Colony. New York: William Morrow.

The Girl in the Steel Corset (Steampunk Chronicles #1)

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross is the first book in her Steampunk Chronicles.

Finley Jayne works as a lady's maid. And she is about to lose another job. When the young man of the household makes unwanted advances toward her she defends herself.

Later that night as she is running through London trying to decide where to go - she cannot go back to her (now ex-)employer's house - Griffin King hits her with his velocycle.

When she wakes up she does not know where she is - but she will find out that she has finally found people like herself. People who will understand the problems she has been having - namely, that her personality is split in half and when she is threatened her darker half takes over to protect her.

Together, Griffin King, Finley Jayne, Emily O'Brien, and Sam Morgan will use the science and skills at their disposal to bring the halves of Finley into harmony. They will also have to work together to find The Machinist who is using automatons to attack people.

Cross has created a fabulous steampunk history of London. Based on the idea that a primordial goo had been found that emits energy as well as healing flesh, Cross's world is both advanced and exciting. Fans of steampunk will rejoice in this new series.

Cross, Kady. (2011). The Girl in the Steel Corset. New York: Harlequin Teen.