Cellar Full of Cole by Micheal Maxwell

Cole Sage is back in this latest installment of the Cole Sage mystery series by Micheal Maxwell.

Since the death of his love, Cole Sage has reinvented his life. He has lost weight, changed his attitude, and ultimately regained his faith in his own writing. It seems like everything is coming together like clockwork, and Cole could not be happier. So, when he has an offer to go work for a paper in San Francisco all it takes is the knowledge that he will be close to his newly found daughter and her family for him to agree immediately to the change in scenery.

However, it seems that his welcome will be a new mystery to solve. But this time, there's murder involved.

Little girls are being killed throughout the City by the Bay. The police think it may just be random, but Cole finds the connecting factor that concludes there is a serial killer somewhere. But the killer may be much closer than he thinks.

Can Cole put his sleuthing skills to good use and find who did this before other girls are killed? Or will his snooping finally be the end of him.

I loved this latest installment in the series. There was a happier feeling in this one, with Cole not weighed down by his past. AND you also get to experience what the killer experiences in this one. As the killer finds their next victim, you will delve into their mind and see their true reasonings behind these killings.

There is actually two mysteries to solve in this one, which seemingly become interconnected. While there is only one killer, there is also an acquaintance to the killer that is involved in something just as bad as the killings themselves. Involving children, of course.

There was a faster pace throughout this newest book that did not wane at all, and I cannot wait for more of Maxwell's work.

Viking Fire by Andrea R. Cooper

Kaireen, an auburn-haired beauty with a fiery temper to match, is furious with the marriage that looms ever closer in her future. It is not the marriage itself that angers her so, but her match. He is a Viking, a Lochlann, and in Kaireen's eyes this does not bode well. She sees the Lochlanns as no good and untrustworthy. She even sees him as a possible spy, infiltrating her family's lands. However, what her mind thinks and what her body thinks could mean an internal struggle for her once she sets eyes on her betrothed.

Bram is a man who knows what he wants, and he wants Kaireen. He tells her time and time again that they will marry, and seems to see through her protestations. This aggravates Kaireen to no end, causing her to want to resist him even more. However, a series of events will soon begin to change her mind.

This series of events is caused by the corrupted ways of one person. An enemy who is bent on seeing the destruction of Kaireen and her family's rule and who will not stop until this is fulfilled.

Bram could be the saving grace. But will he risk his life for a woman who wants so desperately to deny him?

I love this book so much. It has fire to it, and action. It is probably unlike a lot of the romances I have read before. I love the inner struggle for Kaireen as her body fights her mind regarding Bram. The way Bram kind of goads her at times regarding this struggle is priceless. But, even through all the goading, you can tell he truly does want to marry her. He truly does care for her, but it is all up to her to decide her own true feelings.

I recommend Viking Fire to anyone who loves romance and a fight, because you will definitely get both.

To see the book trailer and find out more about the author, visit: http://journeywithbooks.blogspot.com/2013/09/guest-book-review-viking-fire-by-andrea.html

Fly Away by Kristin Hannah

Tully Hart is still reeling over the death of her best friend Kate Ryan, even though it has been quite a few years. Her career as a television personality has gone down the toilet, her life seems hopeless, and she just doesn’t know how she can live anymore. When a bad decision, and a terrible car accident, critically injures Tully and brings her to Sacred Heart hospital, it might take facing her past to keep her alive.

Many people are called to her bedside. Her best friend Kate’s husband Johnny, who has held a grudge against Tully since his wife’s death. Kate’s oldest daughter Marah, a confused and hurt teenager when her mother died, now an adult hiding behind the pain she has felt since that dark day. Tully’s mother, Dorothy, a former drug-addict and alcoholic who has hurt her only daughter more times than she cares to remember. Even Kate, who has watched from the heavenly sidelines all these years since her departure.

I mainly chose the book Fly Away by Kristin Hannah, because of its cover. With its purplish hue and starry backdrop, it instantly reminded me of nights spent outside at my childhood home…fireflies flitting about and candles illuminating the darkness. Ironic, since the author wrote a book called Firefly Lane.
Kristin Hannah is not an author who was particularly familiar to me. In fact, I can honestly say that before listening to this book (I have the audio version of it), she was nonexistent in my mind. How I could have gone so long without hearing about her wonderful stories, I shall never know. Because the book Fly Away was truly wonderful.

The story is beautiful, it is emotional, and it was a stunning novel to listen to. I loved every minute of it, and will definitely have to read more of Kristin Hannah’s books.

The Trees Beyond the Grass by Robert Reeves

Agent David Leas has just caused his latest case to go five steps backward, when an outburst against a suspected murderer of a woman and her two children makes his confession null and void. The judge who is presiding over the case has decided that because his outburst occurred minutes before the confession was made, the only logical thing to do it throw out the confession due to fear and intimidation brought on by Leas.
Leas is furious but knows he can catch this guy with the evidence already in custody. The question is, can he do it in the month before the trial?

While this conflict is going on inside his head, Leas is called in for a more recent murder. In the city of Dallas, a man by the name of Tony Patrick was just found dead in his living room. He seems to have been slashed multiple times by a knife and his hands have been cut off. The reason for Leas' presence at the scene, Patrick's murder is a possible link to another killing that took place in New York. A serial killer, perhaps? Or just pure coincidence.

Cole Mouzon is taking a much needed break away from the grind of life, heading back home to catch up with family and friends. However, when his sister is contacted by the FBI concerning a crazed killer on the loose who could want him dead, he begins to fear for his life and the lives of those he loves.

P, or Poinsett as she calls herself, has a past. An ugly past that has haunted her every day of her life since. And because of that past, she has become a killer. Taking away all those she believes should not deserve to live because of what happened to her. She has already taken two down, and her next unsuspecting target could be a goner as well.

These three characters are brought together in a thriller to beat all thrillers. It is a story of pain, retribution, and hauntings of the past.

I was hooked from the very beginning, and could not stop reading until the final page. In this story, the reader is able to experience the entire story. Cop, potential victim, and killer. We get to see how each of them tick, how their individual minds work. Most importantly, we get to know that pasts of each character, so we can better understand how they mesh into the story.
This was a truly enjoyable piece of work, and I cannot wait for more from this author.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Rift by S.K.N. Hammerstone

I have to admit that I was originally going to give this book a four out of five stars. The beginning, to me, felt more explanation than anything and fell a bit flat in my eyes. However, at some point, the story began to run away with me. It turned from explanation to action to deception to WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO END!!! I am officially obsessed now with how the story will play out in the future.

Now, to tell you a little bit about the story.

Rachael Taylor attempts to commit suicide at the beginning of this novel, and succeeds, but it seems something or someone of a higher power out there doesn't want her to go just yet, since she makes a miraculous recovery and ends up in the hospital. The bad news, she has no recollection of why she got there, how she got there, or who she is. This is aggravating to anyone in that situation, right?

Well, how about if everyone was trying to keep you from remembering. Or at least telling you that you had to remember for yourself?

Rachael goes on a reluctant hunt to find out what has happened to her to make her want to welcome death so easily, but what she ends up finding out will not necessarily make her happy. In fact, she might wish she was still clueless.

Because the truth of the matter is, her life is involved in something much, much bigger than herself. And I mean GIGANTIC!!

So, after being sent to an asylum by her bleep of a mother, weirder things start to happen to her. Things involving people with glowing red eyes, guardian angels, and a strange woman named Elizabeth.

Can she handle the destiny that will soon be handed to her? Or will something happen to deter that destiny from becoming reality?

Again must gush about this book. I love it. It gets faster as you read farther and farther into the book, and I must admit that I read it in a day.
Totally recommended for anyone who loves books with angels and demons as the main characters.

The Anatomist's Apprentice by Tessa Harris

Sir Edward Crick is loved by few and disliked by most. He has a tendency to drink too much, gamble the same, and care mostly for himself. He is a sickly man...or say they say...and takes ill quite a lot.

Gossip meanders about, like a lady of the night, when he dies abruptly and painfully, it seems, in the grand estate he lives. Most suspect his brother-in-law, the man who was known to hate Edward most of all. But, Sir Crick's sister Lydia has much faith that her husband did not, in fact, do this horrible deed. So she searches for someone who can prove to everyone who the culprit truly is.

Enter Dr. Thomas SIlkstone, an anatomist from Philadelphia, who is currently studying in England under the tutelage of a renowned and retired surgeon. He is considered an outcast in his surroundings due to the nature of his particular line of work. What does he do, you might ask? Well, he relishes in working with corpses, Relishes might be a strong word. In fact, it is not the state of the body that he relishes (be it alive or dead), it is the fascination with the human body in general.

Anyway, Lydia makes her way into Silkstone's path, hoping he can do what others have refused. An autopsy on her brother's dead body. She has been told that the decaying process is too far gone for the cause of death to be determined as anything but natural. However, her heartfelt pleas about proving her husband's innocence in the eyes of the gossipers catches Silkstone's heartstrings, and he agrees to perform the autopsy on the badly decayed corpse.

He soon finds that Edward's death was, in fact, murder. But how...and why?

Could it have been a crime of passion or could the reasons behind his death be part of a much larger plot?

The moment I laid eyes on this book, I knew I just had to read it. It somewhat reminded me of The Alchemy of Murder by Carol McCleary. Well...the cover at least. The Anatomist's Apprentice is a phenomenal story and will definitely keep you guessing until the very end.

Lyons' Girl by Amber Mosby

Jade has lived the past few years seeing fear in the eyes of her classmates and teachers. Her reputation precedes her, making her a person to avoid. The reason...she is not your average 17 year old girl. She has powers. Powers that most can only dream of. And these powers of hers have been what have caused her to shelter herself from others. That and a past she does not want to delve into. But all that is about to change.

When she is called in to the principal's office one day, a woman sits inside waiting for her arrival. She informs Jade that her IQ is off the charts, and that she is there to take Jade to a special school on a private island. She will be under the tutelage of a Mr. Lyons.

However, when Jade finally arrives the truth comes out. Well...Jade kind of forces it out, but either way Mr. Lyons tells his true reasoning behind bringing her to the island. It is not, in fact, for her IQ, but for the powers she possesses. Her and five other "students" from around the world have been brought to the island to hone their talents. To bring out the full potential of their superpowers.

Living in a place with five other people who are just like you can mean having to get to know them whether you like it or not. And as reluctant as Jade is to trust other people, there is one person in the place she is the most drawn to. One person who it seems is drawn to her in the same sense.

Can she let him in, or will her distrust make her run away from the guy who seems to understand her the most?

I love the concept of this book. I love the love/hate, lust/fight relationship that goes on between the two Main(ish) characters. This is a great story, and was definitely worth reading.