Heroes Adrift (Moira J. Moore)

Long-suffering Shield Lee Mallorough and her all-too-charming Source Shintaro Karish are summoned to court by the Empress, who asks the fractious Pair to undertake a mission of utmost importance and secrecy: locate the descendants of her illegitimate, exiled sister.

As their recent chaotic exploits have proven, Lee and Taro are completely ill suited to such a task, but they are in no position to refuse. So, in search of lost royalty, they travel to the Southern Islands, where the heat is unbearable, the clothing is just short of optional - and the less-than-friendly locals could care less that Lee and Taro are working for the Empress...

This was my least favorite of the series so far but it was still a good read. I liked seeing how these characters reacted to situations that were so reversed from their normal life.

Looking forward to the next in the series being released in August.

The Hero Strikes Back (Moira J. Moore)

The weather in the city of High Scape is off the charts. It's snowing in the middle of summer, and the townsfolk are desperate for Shield Lee Mallorough and Source Shintaro Karish to fix it - which they can't do. But try explaining that to an angry mob...

Meanwhile, there's a crazed killer targeting aristocrats. Karish has forfeited the Dukedom of Westsea to continue working as a Source, but Lee fears that technicality won't matter to the murderer. It certainly doesn't matter to Karish's mother, who's bound and determined that he take the title.

Only by working together will Lee and Karish be able to figure out the weather, catch the killer before it's too late, and most importantly...get rid of Karish's mother.

This one was even better than the first!

Resenting the Hero (Moira J. Moore)

Since she was a child, Dunleavy Mallorough has been nurturing her talents as a Shield, preparing for her day of bonding. Unfortunately, fate decrees Lee's partner to be the legendary, handsome, and unbearably self-assured Lord Shintaro Karish. Sure, he cuts a fine figure with his aristocratic airs and undeniable courage. But Karish's popularity and notoriety- in bed and out- make him the last Source Lee ever wanted to be stuck with.

The duo is assigned to High Scape, a city so besieged by disaster that seven bonded Pairs are needed to combat it. But when an inexplicable force strikes down every other Source and Shield, Karish and Lee must put aside their differences in order to defeat something even more unnatural than their reluctant affections of each other.

I liked this one much more than I expected. I loved Karish's character. I enjoyed seeing how the relationship between the Pair developed.

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels (Mindy Starns Clark)

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels follows Callie to her home on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where she volunteers in her spare time at a clothing boutique for indigent women as she waits for her next work assignment. There's plenty to keep her busy as she waits. One of Callie's favorite clients is out of drug rehab and is just starting to turn her life around when her boyfriend disappears. When the boyfriend turns up dead in the trunk of the girl's car, it's up to Callie to clear her client's name and get her out of jail by finding the real killer. But can Callie find the killer before the killer finds her?

I am really enjoying this series. I love murder mysteries. This is book 2 in "The Million Dollar Mystery" Series.

Burning Water, A Diana Tregarde Investigation (Mercedes Lackey)

Dallas Police Detective Mark Valdez isn't just any cop - he's a psychic who knows that the cattle mutilations and torture murders he's been investigating are somehow tied together. He also knows that his meager psychic abilities aren't enough to identify the killers, much less stop them.
Luckily, Mark has an ace up his sleeve: an attractive young romance novelist who happens to be a practicing witch. And not just any witch, either - Diana Tregarde is a Guardian, charged with protecting the Earth and all its creatures.
Using modern science and ancient magics, Diana and Mark discover that they are tailing no ordinary serial killer but the awakened avatar of an Aztec god, Tezcatlipoca and his four beautiful hand-maidens are preparing for a great sacrifice that will transform North America into a new Aztec realm.
Diana isn't sure her powers are strong enough to take on those of a risen Aztec god, but she has no choice. As a Guardian, she is sworn to protect mankind, even at the cost of her own life. Luckily, she does not stand alone. Mark Valdez is more than just a cop. And Tezcatlipoca is not the only Aztec god walking in the world.
This one was a tough one! It was very gruesome and bloody. There are quite a few places in the book that the story lags and you find yourself yelling at the book to just get on with it.

A Penny for Your Thoughts (Mindy Starns Clark)

The first book of the series introduces sleuth Callie Webber, a private investigator and attorney who works for a mysterious philanthropist named Tom. Callie's job is to investigate charities and, if they are on the up and up, donate money on behalf of her employer's J.O.S.H.U.A. Foundation. In A Penny for Your Thoughts, Tom sends Callie to Philadelphia to deliver a grant to an old friend of his. But before Callie can even hand over the money, she's face to face with a dead body—and a lot of unanswered questions!

Going Home (Wanda E Brunstetter)

Faith Stutzman Andrews left her Missouri Amish community ten years ago to pursue her career as a comedian. Now widowed, Faith shows up on her parents' doorstep with her six-year-old daughter in tow. Will the lure of the English world prove too strong for Faith, or will she discover that home is where her heart is? Confirmed bachelor Noah Hertzler often bakes desserts that he gives to others, attaching verses of Scripture to each culinary delight in the hopes of soothing the soul as well as nourishing the body. Can Noah's tactics heal a shattered Faith before she runs away again?

Volume 1 - Brides of Webster County Series

Macady (Jennie Hansen)

Macady Jackson has never been in so much danger. When she saddled up her horse, she never could have imagined that her pleasant ride would end up with someone shooting at her. But unknown to Macady, she had wandered into a forbidden zone - a drug runner's airstrip.

When deputy Aaron Westerman hears the gunfire, he knows the risk involved in the investigation of the remote area has suddenly spread beyond just him. Scanning the valley, her sees someone clothed much like himself. He was supposed to be the target! Now it's up to Aaron to keep the innocent stranger alive. But he soon finds out that the "stranger" is someone he hasn't seen in years - and their accidental meeting has resurrected feelings he had thought were long dead. Can two people who have both been deeply hurt by love learn to trust again?

Quickly their attacker enlists others to mount a vicious campaign of terror against Macady, Aaron, and his four-year-old daughter, Kelsey. As the acts of terror escalate, Aaron becomes more determined to bring the criminals to justice as he protects the most important people in his life. But can he ever find out who is really behind all that is going on?

A sweet and romantic mystery where the heroes aren't all good and the villains aren't completely evil. Macady has enough twists and turns to grip you from beginning to end.

Magic Lost, Trouble Found (Lisa Shearin)

Raine Benares is a sorceress seeker of average ability, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, she can usually take care of herself. But when her friend Quentin, a not-quite-reformed thief, steals an amulet from the home of a powerful necromancer, Raine finds herself wrapped up in more trouble than she cares for. She likes attention as much as the next girl, but having an army of militant goblins hunting her down is not her idea of a good time. The amulet they're after holds limitless power, derived from an ancient, soul-stealing stone. And when Raine takes possession of the item it takes possession of her.

Now her moderate powers are increasing beyond anything she could imagine - but is the resume enhancement worth her soul?

This is the first in this series. I am really enjoying this author. She has enough adventure and humor in her story and dialogue to keep you turning the pages. She is also setting up an interesting love triangle.

This is a good read. Definitely recommend it.

Armed & Magical (Lisa Shearin)

All Raine wants is her life back - which means getting rid of the stone and the power it possesses. To sort things out, she heads for the Isle of Mid, home to the most pretigious sorcery school, as well as the Conclave, the governing body for all magic users. It's also home to power-grubbing mages who want Raine dead and goblins who see her as a thief. As if that's not enough, Mid's best student spellsingers are disappearing left and right, and Raine's expected to find them.

Lives are at stake, goblins are threatening to sue, mages are getting greedier, and the stone's power is getting stronger by the hour. This could get ugly.

This was a good read. It had a lot of action and some humor.

This is the second of a series but works as a stand-alone.

Fields of Home (Rachel Ann Nunes)

2008 Whitney Finalist for Best General Fiction
One decision frozen in time. A choice that can never be altered. After fighting her way through a bitter and hurtful past, Mercedes Johnson has painstakingly carved out a life of quiet contentment on a Wyoming farm with her husband, Wayne, and their three sons. Together she and Wayne have survived the worst trials a couple can face, and their relationship has grown as solid and lasting as the farmland beneath their feet. If their relationship is not everything Mercedes might have hoped for, it is enough.All that changes when the birth father of Mercedes' oldest child returns to Riverton. Dr. Brandon Rhodes, a renowned heart surgeon, has plans for the son he has never met. Resentful at the secret Mercedes has kept for thirteen years, he threatens the carefully balanced life she and Wayne have created. Just how far is he willing to go to gain what he feels is rightfully his?As Mercedes uncovers the truth of Brandon's intentions regarding their son and the lies surrounding the past, she is torn between what is and what might have been. One choice, one decision, has led her to this place. How can she live with the consequences?In this painfully honest novel, author Rachel Ann Nunes explores the deepest kind of ties and the true definition of love.

Flying Home (Rachel Ann Nunes)

What if everything you ever thought was true about your past, wasn't true at all?Liana Winn has always felt like an outsider in her family. As a child she was adopted by relatives after her parents' plane accident in India, but now that she is as an adult, her disjointed memories—and nightmares—of the past continue to make it impossible for her to bridge the wide gulf she still feels with her adoptive family. She is plagued by questions about her parents' deaths and wonders if that event is the reason for her inability to form deep personal relationships. Although her adoptive brother Christian has become her greatest friend and supporter, she even has difficulty bonding to him. Needing someone means love, and losing those you love hurts too much.When Liana meets the successful businessman, Austin Walker, who has risen above his own difficult childhood on a Wyoming farm, she is certain their business will not extend to friendship. Yet she cannot deny their powerful connection and the feeling of hope he offers. But the ghosts of the past will not rest for Liana, and when she travels to India in search of answers, she makes a shocking discovery at her parents' gravesite that just might mean the end of everything she's ever believed.A satisfying, beautifully-woven story from best-selling author Rachel Ann Nunes.

Wolf In Night (Tara K. Harper)

Raised on a foreign world where telepathic wolves hunt in the mountains and mysterious aliens guard against the encroachment of humanity, Nori has grown up scouting in the wilderness. Like her mother before her, she searches for dangers that could devstate the isolated towns scattered across the countryside.

But the wolves have already encountered those forces. Now, disturbed by the sense of death along the broken cliffs of Ariye, they reach out to one who can help them. Unsuspecting, Nori answers the Grey Ones' call - only to find herself mentally bonded to the Grey Rishte, a half-grown, ferocious wolf.

Spies and assassins stalk the scouts and wolfwalkers while a deadly threat, once thought to be contained, spreads across the land. Caught between the wolves and the horror of plague, and with hired hunters at her heels, Nori is hounded deep into the wilderness to begin a journey that must end in victory...or death.

You cant have a lot of distractions while reading this one. I found myself rereading a lot of paragraphs because I missed something. I am curious about what comes next now.

Warrior Rising (P.C. Cast)

Goddesses Hera, Athena, and Venus have had it up to here with the Trojan War. So much devastation - all because of some silly male egos. The worst of the bunch is Achilles, the Greek champion whose powers have made him practically invincible. To stop him would be to end the war. But the only way to stop a man like Achelles is to distract him - with something far more pleasurable than combat...

The three goddesses seize their chance when a twenty-first-century beauty named Kat and her best friend perish in a car crash in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In no time, they shift the friends' souls into the bodies of a Trojan princess and her handmaiden, having no doubt that Kat will catch achilles' attention. But can her independent, fiery spirit match the unquenchable fire of his epice rage? Goddess only know...

I was so excited to read this book. I love mythology! When you throw in some modern with the ancient, it just gets better.

I was disappointed. Not necessarily by the story. The author had some great bones to it but she was obsessed with sex and had way too much swearing from her characters.

Princess At Sea (Dawn Cook)

One day Tess was the crown princess of Costenopolie, and the next she discovered she was a beggar's child, reared as a decoy to keep the real princess safe from assassins. But Tess's flair for politics, self-defense and shopping - and her recently discovered magical powers - thwarted the kingdom's enemies and restored the real princess to the throne.

Now, she dons an ambassador's robe to help Costenopolie put its best foot forward - and to keep the newly crowned queen from tripping over her own...

Assigned to chaperone the Queen Contessa and her new husband on their honeymoon voyage, Tess spends more time playing referee between the temperamental pair. Before another battle royal can erupt, a storm forces the ship to drop anchor where another vessel is similarly stranded - and Tess finds her heart stranded between a roguish cardsharp and a disturbingly attactive army captain.

But Tess's potential suitors are least of her worries. The crew of the neighboring anchored ship reveal themselves to be pirates and abduct the royal couple for ransom - unaware that Tess's magic is the real treasure in their midst...

I really enjoyed this novel. It is actually the sequal to another book called The Decoy Princess but I had no problem following along without having read the first one.

The whole time that Tess is saying she is in love with Duncan, I am thinking "you're an idiot. Go for Jeck." I hope she write another book to follow this one because I want to know what happens to these characters.

Winter Fire (Rachel Ann Nunes)

Fourth-grade school teacher Amanda Huntington said good-bye to her high school sweetheart when she realized he had fallen in love with someone else. Now, a year later, she wonders if she'll spend the rest of her life alone. When she meets Blake Simmons, Amanda finds her life turned upside down. Blake doesn't seem like the knight in shinning armor she always imagined. With two adorable children in his care, he is locked in an ugly battle of wills with their troubled mother and worries that the children he has come to love will be lost for him forever. Will Amanda's relationship with Blake and the children only cause her more heartache? Or does she need him just as much as he needs her?

I love this series. I have not read them in order, but this is the 1st book of the Huntington Family Series.

Changelings (Anne McCaffrey, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough)

Twin brother and sister Ronan and Murel are true children of Petaybee, the sentient planet that is their home. Like their father, they are changelings, able to converse telepathically with creatures and to transform into seals. The Petaybeans wish to protect the twins from curious scientists, but no one realizes that Ronan and Murel hunger to discover the origins of their shape-shifting talent - and that their search for knowledge will place them in the path of peril.
Meanwhile, Petaybee is changing. To investigate its sudden evolution, the twins' father heads out to the open water in his seal form - and is presumed lost. Only Ronan and Murel, with their remarkable talents of transformation, can hope to find him and bring him home... if they dare to risk exposure and face the dangers of the newly usntable sea.
This books was pretty slow through out but had a good story. It almost seemed like this book was the build-up for the next one, Maelstrom.

The Arthurian Omen (G G Vandagriff)

When a Celtic scholar finds a clue to a priceless fifth-century manuscript that will prove the real identity of King Arthur, she is brutally murdered. Determined to find the manuscript and avenge her sister's death, Maren Southcott begins a quest that puts her own life in danger. Overt and covert seekers weave in and out of the tale as she travels through the castles and monasteries of ancient Wales, seeking the document that could rival the The Book of Kells. Who are all these people? Which one is her psychopathic stalker plotting death and revolution? Which one wants her dead? Did the Celtic professor with the extraordinary eyes kill her sister? Can she risk death and find the manuscript before MI5, Scotland Yard, and impassioned Celtic scholars?

I don't know if it was just because I wasn't in the mood for this book or not, but I had a really hard time staying focused on it. The characters go by multiple names, so trying to keep them all straight was really starting to bother me.

Cankered Roots (G G Vandagriff)

Because I am a genealogy enthusiast, my mysteries naturally feature genealogy sleuths—Alexandra Campbell and Brighamina Poulson. Alex reunites with her parents for the first time in eighteen years, and the result is murder! In order to solve it, she and Briggie have to uncover the secrets in her own family tree, discovering in the process why she was sent away to Paris at age eighteen. A recent convert to the LDS church, she is still grieving over the death of her husband, but is powerfully attracted to Daniel Grinnell, a psychotherapist who knows just a little too much about her for comfort.

Marked (P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast)

Enter the dark, magical world of the House of Night, a world very much like our own, except here vampyres have always existed. Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird has just been Marked as a fledgling vampyre and joins the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampyre. That is, if she makes it through the Change - and not all of those who are Marked do. It sucks to begin a new life, especially away from her friends, and on top of that, Zoey is no average fledgling. She has been chosen as special by the vampyre Goddess Nyx. Zoey discovers she has amazing powers, but along with her powers come bloodlust and an unfortunate ability to Imprint her human ex-boyfriend. To add to her stress, she is not the only fledgling at the House of Night with special powers: When she discovers that the leader of the Dark Daughters, the school's most elite group, is misusing her Goddess-given gifts, Zoey must look deep within herself for the courage to embrace her destiny - with a little help from her new vampyre friends.
You can tell by the writing that the authors were shooting for a young/teen audience but I wouldnt recommend that audience. The content has some definite adult/sexual nuances.
I enjoyed the story and am curious as to how the story continues in the next book of the series.