Goddess Fish Promotions Book Review: Compromising Miss Tisdale

COMPROMISING MISS TISDALE

By

Jessica Jefferson

BLURB:  

Ambrosia Tisdale is the very picture of propriety and the epitome of what a respectable young lady should be. Haunted by a memory and compelled by her family, she pursues perfection to a fault.

The Earl of Bristol, Duncan Maddox, has returned to London after years of familial imposed exile. As the second son, he has led a life filled with frivolity, leisure, and a healthy dose of debauchery. Now his older brother has died, leaving the family’s flailing legacy in Duncan’s unwilling arms.

At the behest of his uncle, Duncan is advised to do the one thing that could provide instant fortune and respectability – he must marry. But there is only one prospect who meets the unique requirements to solve all the Earl’s problems – the lovely Miss Ambrosia Tisdale. But securing the prudent daughter of a Viscount’s hand proves to be more challenging than this scandal ridden second son of an Earl has bargained for.

With scandal, extortion, treachery, and even love itself threatening to keep him from his goal, will Duncan succeed in compromising Miss Tisdale?

EXCERPT :

James tapped his finger to the cleft in his chin.  “So, I am to assume that you need financial prosperity, respectability, honor, and security virtually overnight?  That is your dilemma?”

Duncan chuckled at the absurdity of the situation.  “In so many words, yes.”

He shrugged.  “Should be simple enough.”

Duncan laughed outwardly now.  “Simple?  You call that simple?”

James arched an eyebrow.  “Such a quandary is hardly original to noble men like us.”

“How do you figure?”

“Your predicament is nothing new.  Men of our station have been combating that very issue for years.  And the solution is hardly novel.  I’m quite surprised someone with your acumen hadn’t thought of it earlier.”

“Clearly, I am ignorant, so please-enlighten me.”

“You need to marry.”

Duncan deflated.  “Is that all?”

“Well, you couldn’t just marry anyone.  She must be rich, but not noveau riche.  And her family must be prominent.  She needn’t be from a ducal house necessarily, but with rivaling status in its age and reputation.  And since you’re such a cad, your wife will need to be the picture of morality.  We’re talking the personification of righteousness-no skeletons in the closet, no relatives from the other side of the blanket, no scandals amongst third cousins.  The gossip rags must have nothing on her or her family.”

Duncan felt his nostrils flair.  “Yes, simple indeed.  So, where exactly do you suggest I find this rich Lady Madonna?”

A slow smile crept up James’ face.  “You’ve already met her.”

Confused, Duncan thought for a moment.  Then he smacked into the great stone wall of realization at just what it was his friend was implying.  “Miss Tisdale?  You’re suggesting I marry Miss Tisdale?  The Miss Tisdale who you just finished telling me is waiting for the perfect husband–who no doubt has far more prestige and fortune than I?  You’re cracked.”  Duncan turned and started walking back towards the curtain. 

Review:  I love a good regency and Compromising Miss Tisdale really fit the bill for me. I grew up on Candlelight Regency novels. I devoured them like candy.

Ambrosia is in her fourth season. Poor girl.

She and Duncan are polar opposites. She's  the more straight laced prim and proper type and Duncan, well, he's a rake. It wouldn't be a regency if he weren't a rake! Let's face it, we all like bad boys and regency bad boys are really the best.

Their first meeting is hot..without crossing the line.

I loved how their relationship developed and how each of the characters changed, the rake is reformed and Miss Tisdale loosens up quite a bit.

Probably the star of the show outside of our two main characters is Tasmin Tisdale. I absolutely loved the scene where she gives Duncan quite an earful. (I'm looking forward to her story, which is coming next)

I only wish there could have been a bigger comedown for James, who was a nasty S.O.B.

Jessica really has a flair for this period. This book reminded me why I love regency romance.

Rating: 5 flowers

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Jessica Jefferson makes her home in northern Indiana, or as she likes to think of it – almost Chicago.  Jessica originally attended college in hopes of achieving an English degree and writing the next great American novel.  Ten years later she was working as a registered nurse and reading historical romance when she decided to give writing another go-round.   

Jessica writes likes she speaks, which has a tendency to be fast paced and humorous.  Jessica is heavily inspired by sweeping, historical romance novels, but aims to take those key emotional elements and inject a fresh blend of quick dialogue and comedy to transport the reader into a story they miss long after the last page is read.  She invites you to visit her at jessicajefferson.com and read her random romance musings.

http://www.jessicajefferson.com/

Like me at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Jefferson/

Follow me at https//twitter.com/authorJessicaJ

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Book Review: A Christmas Garland

Author: Anne Perry
Title: A Christmas Garland
Publisher: Ballentine Books
Publish Date: Oct 30, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Book Blurb: The year is 1857, soon after the violent Siege of Cawnpore, with India in the midst of rebellion. In the British garrison, a guard is killed and an Indian prisoner escapes, which leads to yet more British deaths. Cries for revenge are overwhelming. Despite no witnesses and no evidence against him, a luckless British medical orderly named John Tallis is arrested as an accomplice simply because he was the only soldier unaccounted for when these baffling crimes were committed.

Though chosen to defend Tallis, young Lieutenant Victor Narraway is not encouraged to try very hard. Narraway’s superiors merely want a show trial. But inspired by a soldier’s widow and her children, and by his own stubborn faith in justice, Narraway searches for the truth. In an alien world haunted by memories of massacre, he is the accused man’s only hope.

The trial of John Tallis equals the white-knuckle best of Anne Perry’s breathtaking courtroom dramas. And thanks to a simple Christmas garland and some brilliant detective work, Narraway perseveres against appalling odds, learning how to find hope within himself—and turn the darkest hour into one full of joy and light.

Review: Don't read this book if you are expecting a light fluffy Christmas tale. This isn't anything like that. It is a mystery set in 1857 India.

Narraway is given the task of trying to defend Tallis, an orderly accused of killing a man and setting a prisoner free. Things don't look good for him as his is the only person that doesn't have an alibi.

Narraway is a character you can really come to admire. He is determined to give Tallis a fair trial, even though no one else seems to want to. And he only has a limited amount of time to get ready for the trial.

He really has a thirst for justice. I really loved how he kept looking for answers because Tallis insisted on his innocence.

This story wasn't really about Christmas, but the spirit is in the story. The soldiers felt that they needed to remember what Christmas was about, back at home, so that the bad things that happened didn't ruin everything for them.

There is also a small touch of romance brewing between Narraway and widow. I have to admit I teared up a bit when he was playing hide and seek with one of her children.

When all is said and done I was a bit surprised at what likely happened to the inmate and the guard. I look forward to reading more by Anne Perry in the future.

Rating: 5 flowers

Book Highlight: Laura Howard - The Forgotten Ones

Title: The Forgotten Ones
Author: Laura Howard
Genre: New Adult Fantasy
Series: The Danaan Trilogy #1
Published: April 28, 2013

Allison O'Malley's plan is to go to grad school so she can get a good job and take care of her schizophrenic mother. She has carefully closed herself off from everything else, including a relationship with Ethan, who she's been in love with for as long as she can remember.

What is definitely not part of the plan is the return of her long-lost father, who claims he can bring Allison's mother back from the dark place her mind has gone. Allison doesn't trust her father, so why would she believe his stories about a long forgotten Irish people, the Tuatha de Danaan? But truths have a way of revealing themselves. Secrets will eventually surface. And Allison must learn to set aside her plan and work with her father if there is even a small chance it could restore her mother's sanity.

Amazon | B&N

Laura Howard lives in New Hampshire with her husband and four children. Her obsession with books began at the age of 6 when she got her first library card. Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and other girly novels were routinely devoured in single sittings. Books took a backseat to diapers when she had her first child. It wasn’t until the release of a little novel called Twilight, 8 years later, that she rediscovered her love of fiction. Soon after, her own characters began to make themselves known. The Forgotten Ones is her first published novel.

Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook

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Book Review: Sketcher In The Rye

Sketcher in the Rye:
(A Portrait of Crime Mystery)

4th in Series
InterMix (December 17, 2013)
Published by The Penguin Group
E-Book Only
ASIN: B00AVA4NH0

Synopsis
In her new job as a private eye, former police sketch artist Rory McCain has a spirited partner: Old West marshal Zeke Drummond. He may be a ghost, but when these two combine their skills, they reap justice…

Trouble has sprouted at Harper Farms. Top secret info has been leaked to the competition, and now there’s serious sabotage cropping up. So the farm’s beleaguered owner, Gil Harper, has called on Rory to dig up some dirt. But what Rory discovers raises a new field of questions…

Someone shucked Harper’s accountant and left his body in the farm’s corn maze. While Gil is quick to hire Rory to solve now not one but two crimes, the sketching sleuth isn’t so sure why the farmer wants her to focus her attention on his own family.

Regardless, Rory and Zeke will need to put their hands to the plow and solve this case before someone else is planted six feet under…

Review: There are too many reasons to love Sharon Pape's Sketcher In The Rye. It is a cozy mystery with a paranormal twist, and it is that paranormal side that really makes this book so fantastic.

It could be just like any other cozy mystery, with a female PI trying to solve a murder and the mystery of who is sabotaging Harper Farms. That would make for a fun cozy any day. But in this series, our heroine, Rory McCain, has a little help from a ghost named Zeke Drummond.

Sharon nicely blends the here and now mystery with flashbacks into Zeke's life for a fabulous read. Zeke really seems to be the star of the show with his antics at sleuthing and trying to protect Rory from harm, or at least from any guy she might try to date. I loved how the story pulled his past and Rory's present together towards the end.

The mystery was at times a bit slow, but the characters more than made up for it. I liked getting to know Rory's aunt Helene and I hope that Aaron might stick around as a love interest for Rory in upcoming books.

Overall, this was a nice light mystery. It is the 4th book in the series, but it can be read as a stand alone.

Rating: 5 flowers

From Sharon’s Webpage:

I started writing stories as soon as I learned how to put letters together to form words. From that day forward, writing has been a part of my life whether it was my first attempt at a novel in seventh grade or the little plays I wrote for my friends to perform for neighbors and family. After college, when I was busy teaching French and Spanish to high school students, I was also writing poetry — some of it in French.

After several years, I left teaching to be a full time mom, and when my two children started school, I went back to writing. To my delight I found that the muse was still there, still waiting patiently for me to come around. My first novel, Ghostfire, was published at that time. It went on to be condensed in Redbook magazine (the first paperback original the magazine had ever condensed.) Then came The God Children and The Portal. Redbook also published my first short story, which was subsequently sold to several foreign magazines. With two great kids, a golden retriever and a loving, supportive husband (whom I’d met at the beach when I was fourteen — but that’s a story for another day), I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be in my life. But fate had another plan for me, and it went by the name of “breast cancer.”

Looking back, I realize how fortunate I was that the cancer was discovered at such an early stage, but at the time it was all very overwhelming. Once I was back on my feet, I wanted to help other women who were newly diagnosed, worried and afraid. I became a Reach to Recovery volunteer for the American Cancer Society and went on to run the program for Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island. A number of years later, with the help of my surgical oncologist and two other volunteers, I started Lean On Me, a nonprofit organization that provides peer support and information to breast cancer patients. When Lean On Me celebrated its tenth anniversary it no longer required as much of my time, and I once again found myself free to pursue my first love — writing.

Find out more about Sharon and her books here: http://www.sharonpape.com/index.html

Purchase Link at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sketcher-Rye-InterMix-Portrait-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00AVA4NH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384291943&sr=1-1&keywords=sketcher+in+the+rye

Puchase Link B&N: http://www.amazon.com/Sketcher-Rye-InterMix-Portrait-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00AVA4NH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384291943&sr=1-1&keywords=sketcher+in+the+rye

A Chick Ponders Bookish Things: 2014 Reading Resolutions

In 2014 I have a few small resolutions.

1. Take more time to read things I really want to read and less things that I feel I have to read.

2. Scale back on book tours unless it is a book I feel totally excited about.

3. I won't go overboard on reading challenges.

In short..I want 2014 to be about reading for pleasure and not let my reading feel like work. What are your resolutions for the new year?

TLC Book Tours Book Reviews: Country Loving

About Country Loving

Publisher: Arrow, Random House UK

Successful city accountant Stevie receives two surprises in one week: a proposal of marriage from her boyfriend Nick and a phone call begging her to return to the family farm in Devon to help out after her father has a stroke.

But what she thought would be a long weekend in the country turns into much longer as she struggles to bring order to her father’s rundown farm. Finally, she decides to give up her job – and her fiance – and take on the farm permanently. She dreams of turning it into a tourist attraction, never realising it would be so difficult. But with the help of many of Talyton St George’s local residents, and the local vet Leon, she is starting to make progress.

Until a life-changing complication throws all her plans into disarray, and destroys her growing romance with Leon…

Review: There's much to love about Cathy Woodman's novels. They are so homey. Plus they have the cutest covers ever.

This is the second book of Cathy's that I've read this year, and I have to say, I'm hooked.

Her writing is very similar in style to Debbie Macomber.

This particular story reminded me a bit of a modern All Creatures Great and Small....with Leon being my Tristan Farnon

Any of you recognize that guy from Doctor Who? That's the 5th Doctor!

Country Loving is just a wonderful sweet read that mixes romance and family perfectly and serves it up in a beautiful package.

Rating:  5 flowers

Book Review: Everybody's Got A Story

Author: Heather Wardell
Title: Everybody's Got A Story
Publisher: Createspace
Publish Date: July 4, 2013
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: Net Galley
Book Blurb: Both personally and professionally, Alexa knows all too well the power of words. Two years after her boyfriend Christophe's vicious attack, she's still trying to see herself as more than simply 'his victim', still trying to figure out her own story.

After his trial, she moves from New York City to Toronto in an attempt to start over, but his words cling to her and even in a new country she can't see how to move into relationships with the new people in her life while hiding the secret of Christophe's worst offense.

She can't hide that secret from her coworker Jake, though, because the news buff has recognized her from the coverage of the assault and trial and knows every word she can't bring herself to say about her ordeal.

With Jake's help, can Alexa reclaim her story and her life?

Review: Heather Wardell is one of my favorite authors for many reasons. One of them is her ability to create characters that you can connect with. They have faults and flaws. Bad things happen to them as often as good.

In short, her characters are REAL!

Everybody's Got A Story was a harder read for me. The subject matter is a bit weighty. Alexa was brutalized by her boyfriend and she's got scars inside and out. This book deals with her building her life back, of regaining control of who she is.

She has a lot of struggles along the way, building new relationships and finding new friends, questioning her own abilities to read people.

As anyone that's read Heather's books will know, there's always a few people that aren't quite what they seem. Friends that aren't really friends and a guy you just can't stand.

GAH! I couldn't figure out why she liked Howard so much. I hated him from the start. I just couldn't fathom why she liked him so much, he came across as a bit slick to me...and then there was Carly. Beoytch! She was that overly ambitious backstabber that you can find in most any office.

These characters really made a great story.

Actually what made it a great story was Jake...who some will remember from Blank Slate Kate. I was so happy to see him again. I loved him in the previous book.

Once again, Heather tackles an issue that makes you think and wraps it up in a pretty package so you don't know that you're reading something other than chick lit. (And really Heather Wardell is more than just a chicklit author)

This book is part of her Toronto series, but it can definitely be read as a stand alone, although reading Blank Slate Kate first will help you to get to know a few of the characters in this story better.

Definitely a must read for those of you who like a little more substance with their romance.

Rating: 5 flowers

TLC Book Tours Book Review: The Seduction Of Miriam Cross

Author: W.A. Tyson
Title: The Seduction Of Miriam Cross
Publisher: E-Lit Books
Publish Date: Nov 15, 2013
Buy: Amazon

Review Copy Provided By: TLC Book Tours & the author
Book Blurb: A sordid sex tape.

A venture capital firm.

A secret society of women.

A Catholic nun.

Miriam Cross, author, feminist and philanthropist, disappears from her Philadelphia home. A year later, a lonely recluse named Emily Cray is brutally murdered in her bed in a small Pennsylvania town.

The police discover that Emily Cray and Miriam Cross were one and the same, but if they know who killed Miriam, they’re not sharing. Miriam’s niece wants answers. She turns to the one woman she knows she can trust – private investigator Delilah Percy Powers. As Delilah and her staff of female detectives – a militant homemaker, an ex-headmistress and a former stripper – delve into Miriam’s life, they become submerged in an underworld of unfathomable cruelty and greed with implications that go far beyond the gruesome death of one woman or the boundaries of one country. Eventually Miriam’s fight for justice becomes Delilah’s own . . . and Delilah’s obsession with finding the truth may prove just as deadly.

Review:If you are a lover of a good mystery this is a book you won't want to miss. Delilah and her staff of female detectives kick some serious butt.

This is not a cozy mystery.

It is much too gritty for that moniker.

But it is a mystery that will have you craving more.

I loved the characters, Delilah, Barb and Natasha, and they are ultimately the reason why I'll check out the next book in the series, but it is really the mystery that is so fantastic.

Sex, human trafficking and exposes.

Miriam Cross is an author that appears to be one thing when she's really another, as the ladies from the Percy Powers Detective Agency figure out as they seek to find her killer.

The information they uncover about her will leave you shaking your head.

Again, I can't help but mention the grittiness of this book with a mixture of humanity. Each of the women that work for Delilah have a story of their own and they are very different. And then there's Anders, the new guy on the block and he has secrets.

Ms Tyson creates characters you want to know better and a story that will keep you turning the pages. I really had no idea who killed Miriam, and the twist at the end that involved how she was found was really a surprise.

Definitely a great first book in a new series.

Rating:  5 flowers

Great Escapes Book Tours: Sketcher In The Rye

Sketcher in the Rye:
(A Portrait of Crime Mystery)

4th in Series
InterMix (December 17, 2013)
Published by The Penguin Group
E-Book Only
ASIN: B00AVA4NH0

Synopsis

In her new job as a private eye, former police sketch artist Rory McCain has a spirited partner: Old West marshal Zeke Drummond. He may be a ghost, but when these two combine their skills, they reap justice…

Trouble has sprouted at Harper Farms. Top secret info has been leaked to the competition, and now there’s serious sabotage cropping up. So the farm’s beleaguered owner, Gil Harper, has called on Rory to dig up some dirt. But what Rory discovers raises a new field of questions…

Someone shucked Harper’s accountant and left his body in the farm’s corn maze. While Gil is quick to hire Rory to solve now not one but two crimes, the sketching sleuth isn’t so sure why the farmer wants her to focus her attention on his own family.

Regardless, Rory and Zeke will need to put their hands to the plow and solve this case before someone else is planted six feet under…

From Sharon’s Webpage:

I started writing stories as soon as I learned how to put letters together to form words. From that day forward, writing has been a part of my life whether it was my first attempt at a novel in seventh grade or the little plays I wrote for my friends to perform for neighbors and family. After college, when I was busy teaching French and Spanish to high school students, I was also writing poetry — some of it in French.

After several years, I left teaching to be a full time mom, and when my two children started school, I went back to writing. To my delight I found that the muse was still there, still waiting patiently for me to come around. My first novel, Ghostfire, was published at that time. It went on to be condensed in Redbook magazine (the first paperback original the magazine had ever condensed.) Then came The God Children and The Portal. Redbook also published my first short story, which was subsequently sold to several foreign magazines. With two great kids, a golden retriever and a loving, supportive husband (whom I’d met at the beach when I was fourteen — but that’s a story for another day), I felt like I was exactly where I was meant to be in my life. But fate had another plan for me, and it went by the name of “breast cancer.”

Looking back, I realize how fortunate I was that the cancer was discovered at such an early stage, but at the time it was all very overwhelming. Once I was back on my feet, I wanted to help other women who were newly diagnosed, worried and afraid. I became a Reach to Recovery volunteer for the American Cancer Society and went on to run the program for Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island. A number of years later, with the help of my surgical oncologist and two other volunteers, I started Lean On Me, a nonprofit organization that provides peer support and information to breast cancer patients. When Lean On Me celebrated its tenth anniversary it no longer required as much of my time, and I once again found myself free to pursue my first love — writing.

Find out more about Sharon and her books here: http://www.sharonpape.com/index.html

Purchase Link at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sketcher-Rye-InterMix-Portrait-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00AVA4NH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384291943&sr=1-1&keywords=sketcher+in+the+rye

Puchase Link B&N: http://www.amazon.com/Sketcher-Rye-InterMix-Portrait-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00AVA4NH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384291943&sr=1-1&keywords=sketcher+in+the+rye

TLC Book Tours Book Review: Red Phone Box

About Red Phone Box: A Darkly Magical Story Cycle

Paperback: 368 pagesbr>
Publisher: Ghostwoods Books (November 30, 2013)br>
Book Blurb:Sinister forces roam London’s streets, skulking through the neon-lit rain. They are not alone. Haunted by memories of the man who abandoned her, Amber Goodman goes walking in the deep night. The phone box she enters takes her on a journey she could never have imagined, one in which the past and the future will be rewritten. Others follow in her footsteps, their lives intertwining, and the fate of the world hanging on their dance. Safran, pawn of unfathomable powers. Jon, who has lived and died and lived again. Gloria, who only intended to annoy her daddy. Cory, from a different world, on a desperate quest for allies. They and others will find themselves swept up as the playthings of gods who have managed to get along peacefully for millennia — until now.

Review: What to say about this book...what to say.

For starters parts of this book reminded me of Doctor Who...only you are time traveling with The Master instead of the Doctor.

This book is creepy....really creepy.

And I say that in a good way.

This isn't a book that you can easily read in a day. It takes a bit more time digesting. (It isn't like binge watching a whole series of Doctor Who)

OK, I can't really get away from Doctor Who with this book, and I don't know why..maybe its the whole box thing, though the Red Phone Box is quite a bit different from the TARDIS.

This is really a collection of 58 stories, some of them intermingle with others and there's more than one author involved, so that really makes this a different read. It isn't a collection of stories, but rather a story cycle.

Though it took me awhile to get through its pages, it definitely was worth the time it took to read it.


Oh no! I'm in the Red Phone Box



Rating: 5 flowers

Goddess Fish Book Tours: Syndey Rye Series

SYDNEY RYE SERIES

by Emily Kimelman

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Books 1-3, The complete Series Box Set (Value Pack)

The Sydney Rye series of mysteries features a strong female protagonist and her rescue dog, Blue. This series is recommended for the 18+ who enjoy some violence, don't mind dirty language, and are up for a dash of sex. Not to mention an awesome, rollicking good mystery!

This box set includes all three of the Sydney Rye Books.

UNLEASHED (A Sydney Rye Novel, #1)

When the series begins Sydney Rye is named Joy Humbolt. She does not like people telling her what to do, so it comes as no surprise that she was just fired from her last job. When she buys Charlene Miller's dog-walking business on Manhattan's exclusive upper east side, it seems like the perfect fit: Quiet environment, minimal contact with people.

But then one of her clients turns up dead, and Charlene disappears. Rumors say Charlene was having an affair with the victim--and of course, everyone assumes Joy must know where she is. Joy begins to look into the crime, first out of curiosity then out of anger when there is another murder and threats start to come her way.

When police detective Mulberry is assigned to the case, Joy finds a kindred spirit--cynical and none-too-fond of the human race. As they dig deep into the secrets of Manhattan's elite, they not only get closer to the killer but also to a point of no return. One last murder sends Joy Humbolt hurtling over the edge. Her only chance of survival is to become Sydney Rye.

DEATH IN THE DARK (A Sydney Rye Novella, #2)

At the beginning of Death in the Dark we find Joy Humbolt hiding, not only from the law, but also from her past and the mistakes she's made. Living this isolated life doesn't last long though when a visit from Mulberry brings Joy to accept her new identity as the Private Detective, Sydney Rye. To complete the transformation, Joy must learn to control her emotions as well as her giant aggressive dog, Blue. With the help of an expert trainer, Joy learns to fight with her mind as well as her body. However, when the daughter of a close friend is brutally murdered in the desert, Rye turns away from her mentor to seek revenge. Sydney's quick temper and deadly intentions lead her into a trap that she will need all of her new skills to survive.

INSATIABLE (A Sydney Rye Novel, #3)

The third book in the series begins with private detective Sydney Rye living a simple, disciplined life in London, but when a dangerous man from her past calls, Rye finds she cannot turn him away. Robert Maxim explains that the daughter of a powerful friend has gone missing and he wants Rye to find her. In exchange he offers her something she had given up hope of ever having; freedom from her past.

With her dog, Blue, at her side, Rye meets up with her new partner, a handsome man she's not sure she can trust. Heading for Mexico City, they go undercover, posing as husband and wife. After meeting with the bereaved parents, Rye starts to sense that there is more going on than just a missing girl. But it isn't until they arrive in the Yucatan Peninsula, hot on the girl's trail in Paradise, that all hell breaks loose. Sydney has to reach out for help from old friends and deal with the consequences of her past, if she's going to find the girl and keep them all alive.

New release!  STRINGS OF GLASS (A Sydney Rye Novel, #4)

STRINGS OF GLASS is the fourth novel in Emily Kimelman's Sydney Rye Series of dark murder mystery novels. This series features a strong female protagonist and her rescue dog, Blue. It is recommended for the 18+ who enjoy some violence, don't mind dirty language, and are up for a dash of sex. Not to mention an awesome, rollicking good mystery!

Sydney Rye is hanging out in India with her boyfriend, Dan, reading paperbacks and sipping beer. No violence and no reminders of her past. But when she and Blue, are attacked by a pact of wild dogs, Sydney starts to feel that old itch again; to do good by being bad.

Trouble finds Rye when she stops the attempted rape and murder of Anita, a reporter working on a story of corruption and human trafficking. The atrocities Anita describes send Sydney, Blue and Dan on a quest that takes them across India after a dangerous and, up until now, untouchable, figure. While Sydney struggles to accept her true nature she realizes that it is the only way to end decades of abuse and exploitation. But Rye fears that she will lose herself, becoming no better than the monster she fights against.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT

From UNLEASHED (A Sydney Rye Novel, #1)

EXCERPT ONE:

The sun was slipping behind the brownstones across the street and turning the sky pink when I left for Nancy’s. “Hey,” said the guy on the corner who always said hey. I ignored him. “Hey, pretty lady, you got a beautiful ass,” he tried again. I watched the concrete and power-walked away.

Ten minutes later I was at Nancy’s, a low-key lesbian bar with a nice backyard. If you wanted to talk to a stranger you could, but there was no pressure. If you wanted to take someone home you could, but again there was no pressure.

“Tequila gimlet, straight up,” I said. The bartender, whose name I was pretty sure was Diane, nodded and moved off to make my drink. My face, reflected in the mirror behind the bar, peered from between a bottle of Blue Curacao and Midori. I needed a haircut. My fashionable bangs had grown out, and now I just pushed them behind my ears. Last night’s fight with Marcus and my early-morning journey to the pound had left puffy, blue-tinted circles under my eyes. All those tears had left the white around my gray irises streaked with red and—I leaned forward a little to make sure—my upper eyelids a bizarre orange.

Diane placed a martini glass brimming with sheer red liquid on the bar, and I handed her a ten. I moved toward the backyard, trying not to spill my drink all over my hand while spilling my drink all over my hand.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Emily Kimelman lives on a boat in the Hudson Valley with her husband, Sean and their dog Kinsey (named after Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone). Kimelman has a passion for traveling and spends as much time as possible in the pursuit of adventure.

Her "Sydney Rye Series" are dark murder mystery novels which features a strong female protagonist and her rescue dog, Blue. This series is recommended for the 18+ who enjoy some violence, don't mind dirty language, and are up for a dash of sex. Not to mention an awesome, rollicking good mystery!

The first three books in Kimelman's series, UNLEASHED, DEATH IN THE DARK, and INSATIABLE are available in the Kindle store individually and in a box set. The fourth book in the Sydney Rye series STRINGS OF GLASS is due out Mid-Summer 2013.

If you've read Emily's work, and enjoyed it, please let Emily know. You can reach her via email ejkimelman@gmail.com

http://emilykimelman.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/EmilyKimelman

@ejkimelman

Buy links for all books at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Emily-Kimelman/e/B004YG4PPC/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

Barnes and Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/emily-kimelman

Follow The Tour: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/08/nbtm-tour-sydney-rye-series-by-emily.html

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TLC Book Tours Book Review: The Bride Stripped Bare

About The Bride Stripped Bare

• Publisher: Harper Perennial (February 1, 2005)

• Language: English

A woman disappears, leaving behind an incendiary diary chronicling a journey of sexual awakening. To all who knew her, she was the good wife: happy, devoted, content. But the diary reveals a secret self, one who’s discovered that her new marriage contains mysteries of its own. She has discovered a forgotten Elizabethan manuscript that dares to speak of what women truly desire, and inspired by its revelations, she tastes for the first time the intoxicating power of knowing what she wants and how to get it. The question is: How long can she sustain a perilous double life?

Review: This book wasn't an easy read, but looking back to when I read Nikki's With My Body, I recall that that one wasn't an easy read for me either.

My problem is with the female character...who seems nameless, though her husband has one (Cole) and so does her best friend (Theo).

As the story goes on...the lead character finds out her husband is having an affair (possibly) with her best friend.

From that moment on...I just get more and more frustrated with the heroine. I can't deal with a woman who won't walk out only because she doesn't want her friend to win? And what I can't stand even more is how she repays her husband by cheating on him.

WTF.

In the course of this time we hear about the heroine and Cole's rather bleak sex life. It leaves you wondering why "SHE" proposed to him.

By the end of the book...I really couldn't stand her.

The heroine goes through a sort of sexual awakening as a result of her discovering her husband might be having an affair. She takes up with an actor named Gabriel, who is about the only character you can possibly like in the book, until their last encounter and then you don't like him much anymore too.

Like With My Body, The Bride Stripped Bare is written in the second person. That makes it even more difficult to take, though of the two books, I liked With My Body better, at least I felt more emotion for the nameless heroine in that book.

I didn't feel anything for the heroine in this book. I think the point of view really keeps you from getting close to the character you most want to know.

The other thing that was a bit of a disappointment to me was the Elizabethan manuscript. I wanted something more from that story angle than the author delivered.

Even though I was frustrated with the book, I give Nikki Gemmell credit, she creates a story that I couldn't abandon.

Rating: 3 flowers