Taken with You (Kowalski #8)

Taken with You by Shannon Stacey is the eighth book in her Kowalski romance series.

Hailey Genest is the librarian in Witford, Maine. She loves her job, her house and her town, but she does wish she could find a guy to share her wonderful life with like all of her friends seem to be doing lately. The problem is that she has known most of the guys in town her whole life. If she hasn't found someone by now, she may be out of luck.

Matt Barnett is a game warden who is moving to Witford to help police the new ATV trails that lead all over the woods and into town - an expansion that is helping all of the local businesses including the Northern Star Lodge with came up with the idea. On his vacation before the move he just wants to spend time with his dad in the family cabin, but his ranger instincts kick in when he overhears two women who are lost in the woods.

Hailey would never in a million years guess that the unkempt mountain man who walked her and Tori back to their car is the clean shaven warden who is moving into the empty house next door. Of all of the embarrassing things that have happened to her in her life, why him. And they have already decided they are not right for each other based on their love/hate of the woods, but they may have to rethink that...

Stacey has created a wonderful series of romance novels featuring the Kowalski family and now expanding to their friends. Her books are fast reads that will keep your attention until after the last page.

Stacey, Shannon. (2014). Taken with You. New York: Carina Press.

Honor's Knight (Paradox #2)

Honor's Knight by Rachel Bach is the second book in her Paradox series of science fiction about a female mercenary.

Devi Morris is working as security on the spaceship Glorious Fool. But she is missing memories. She knows she was in a fight but she cannot remember with whom or why she would remove the helmet of her armor - which she know she did from the bruise and the memory loss. Luckily, she has retained all of her fighting skills.

Her first order of duty is to hire a new mercenary to replace the one who was killed in battle. Then she will hopefully get her memories back. Oh, she is also seeing little space bugs that seems to exist in a different dimension. She has not mentioned this to the ship doctor or captain.

Even with her memories gone, Devi is sure that the captain is more than he appears. The is no other explanation for how much trouble he seems to find. And she better remember quickly because there are some out there who see her as a threat and she will need all of the information to survive their attention.

Bach has created a genre blend of science fiction with a great lead character. If you are not a usual science fiction reader, this is a good series with which to begin.

Bach, Rachel. (2014). Honor's Knight. New York: Orbit.

The Chase (Fox and O'Hare #2)

The Chase by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg is the second book in their Fox and O"Hare series about a an FBI agent working with a world class thief to recover stolen art.

After chasing him for years, Kate O'Hare is now forced to work with Nick Fox, but to everyone other than her boss and the head of the FBI it still looks like she is chasing him.

Their latest assignment is to break into the Smithsonian and replace a fake Chinese rooster with the real one - after they steal the real one from the ex-White House chief of staff, now the owner of one of the world's most ruthless private security forces. Of course, once he knows it is stolen, the entire BlackRhino army will be after Fox and O'Hare.

Evanovich and Goldberg have created two wonderful characters who fans will follow through any future capers. This is a fun heist series.

Evanovich, Janet and Lee Goldberg. (2014). The Chase. New York: Bantam Books.

The Chance (Thunder Point #4)

The Chance by Robyn Carr is the fourth book in her Thunder Point series, a romance series that takes place in a small town on the Oregon coast.

Laine Carrington is on leave from the FBI after an undercover assignment that left her with a bullet in her shoulder. Now she is taking time to recover and decide if she wants to continue to be an agent or find a new career. She has heard a lot about Thunder Point from a woman she met while on her last assignment - a woman whose daughter she rescued.

Eric Gentry is also knew to Thunder Point. He spent some time in town in high school and now, seventeen years later, he had just learned he has a daughter. He sold his body shop and bought the gas station in town to create a new auto body shop and get to know his teen age daughter.

When they run into each other at the local diner, Laine and Eric are instantly drawn to each other. 

Carr's series is fun to read and filled with characters that readers will want to befriend. Start at the beginning to fall in love with the whole town.

Carr, Robyn. (2014). The Chance. New York: HQN.

The Ship and the Storm

The Ship and the Storm: Hurricane Mitch and the Loss of the Fantome by Jim Carrier is the story of a category 5 hurricane that destroyed much of the Caribbean in 1998.

The Windjammer Barefoot Cruise ship Fantome was a popular sailing ship in the eastern Caribbean run by a charismatic captain. Many of the passengers became Windjammer fans for life and booked multiple cruises on the 1927 tall ship.

In many ways this book is an update in weather science and knowledge from the book Isaac's Storm which tells of a hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas in 1900. And in spite of 100 years of progress, determining the course and strength of a tropical storm is still not exact.

The unpredictable nature of Mitch combined with a fairly trapped position for a ship of its size caught the Fantome in a terrible position with nowhere to shelter. Trying to run from the storm to open sea, but being followed by the storm resulted in the loss of the ship and all 31 crew when the eye of Mitch hovered over the island of Guanaja for 27 hours.

Carrier wrote an easily readable narrative nonfiction book filled with both personal accounts and science of weather. Anyone who has lived where hurricanes flourish would relate to the tales in this book. And weather nerds will love it.

Carrier, Jim. (2001). The Ship and the Storm. New York: Harvest Books.

Fortune's Pawn (Paradox #1)

Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach is the first book in her Paradox science fiction series.


Devi Morris is a soldier. She served her mandatory two years in the Paradoxian army in the Royal Armored Guard. Then she went on the the prestigious Blackbirds. She has reached the highest rank a mercenary can achieve before being moved to a desk. So he just quit. Devi's goal is to become on of the Sacred King's Devastators. But you cannot join or apply to the Devastators. You must be recruited.

A friend steers Devi toward the ship Glorious Fool owned by Captain Caldswell. It is a merchant ship that seems to find all of the trouble in the 'verse. Past security on the ship has become Devastators. So Devi applies and becomes one of two mercenaries responsible for ship safety, joining an eclectic crew of humans and other creates of the known universe.

Bach has created a believable world with colorful creatures that reminds some readers of Firefly with more aliens. A simple transport ship that seems held together with duct tape, a cook who has strange fighting abilities, a giant bird for a navigator, a lizard for a doctor, and a main character who could rival Ripley from Alien. This is a great sci-fi series. I am waiting impatiently for the second book from the library.

Bach, Rachel. (2013). Fortune's Pawn. New York: Orbit.

Deathsworn (Deathsworn #1)

Deathsworn by Leah Cypress is the first book in her Deathsworn series featuring a sorceress who is losing her powers and is sent to be the new magic teacher for the assassins.

Ileni is a Renegai sorceress. She was thought to be one of the strongest magicians ever, but her magic is starting to fade. With all of the skill in the world, no magic means no spells. The Elders have decided to send her to the Assassin's Caves to teach magic. The last two Renegai sorcerers who were sent were killed.

While Ileni is scared to meet the Assassins - her people are taught to fear the young men who only leave their mountain cave to murder - she is resigned to her fate and doesn't really want to face a life without magic.

Sorin is one of the best Assassins. He is still young, but the life expectancy for an assassin is low. He has been assigned by the Master of Assassins to keep Ileni safe while she is in the caves. Sorin does not question the master, he just obeys. He knows that the master has a plan. It is the goal of the Assassins to take down the Empire with strategic assassinations.

The world in Deathsworn reminds me of the world in Trudi Canavan's Black Magician trilogy. In both the world is divided between two groups of people - those who steal magic from others and those who would never do black magic. This book also has the group of assassin, but the worlds are complementary I recommend reading bot series.

Cypess, Leah. (2014). Deathsworn. New York: Greenwillow Books.

Do or Die (Reluctant Heroes #1)

Do or Die by Suzanne Brockmann is the first book in her Reluctant Heroes series, a spin-off of her Troubleshooters series.

Ian Dunn is an ex-Navy SEAL who is in jail for a bar brawl when a lawyer he has never seen, Martel Griffin, tells him he has a get-out-of-jail-(almost)-free card. Another lawyer he has never meet says she is his lawyer and thinks he should take the deal. Time served if he helps rescue two children kidnapped and being held in a foreign embassy. The government cannot send in anyone associated with the US government, but by being thought of as a rogue Dunn can be used.

Dunn is in jail for a reason. He made a deal to keep his brother and his family safe from the Dellarosa family who runs Miami. And Manny Dellarosa will not know why Dunn is out, just that he is - which will likely make him believe that Dunn traded information for release.

Phoebe Kruger, Dunn's new lawyer, just inherited his case. She thinks Dunn is a jewel thief but there was never enough evidence to convict him. Now she is confused as to why he would not take a deal that ends with his freedom.

Now Dunn, Kruger and Martel have joined forces both to rescue the kidnapped children, but to deal with the fallout from the Dellarosa family. Brockmann is a master in her field. Her characters are people you would want to know. Her plots are twisty and wonderful. And her romance is steamy. She is a must read author for anyone who loves a well-crafted story.

Brockmann, Suzanne. (2014). Do or Die. New York: Ballantine Books.