What to read next (April, 2013 - Part II)

I wasn't even done with the last post before I realized I've been reading a LOT this winter and just had too many good books that I wanted to share to fit all in one post, so here's a few more:


1) Exiles in Time, by Sarah Woodbury

"Two years in Afghanistan; four years working for MI-5, the British security service; and the death of both of his parents from cancer. At the age of thirty-four, Callum thought he'd experienced the worst that life could throw at him. That is, until his boss ordered him to open a buried file on his desk and to take it seriously. His new assignment: to detain and question a pregnant woman and her ailing husband--and if need be, to stop them from returning to medieval Wales."

This is the latest installment in Woodbury's popular After Cilmeri time travel series - and in my estimation, it's the best one yet. In this book, Woodbury departs from the Welsh setting of earlier books and takes us to late 13th century Scotland. This is alternative history with a dose of romance, so events may unfold a little differently from the history books, but that only makes it all the more interesting.

I don't think you necessarily need to have read the previous books to be able to follow this story, but just in case you want to start at the beginning, the prequel to the series, Daughter of Time, is permanently free!





2) The Charter, by Gillian Hamer

 "Sarah Morton hopes dicovering the truth about the 1859 shipwreck of the Royal Charter will silence the demons of her past. But, tormented by visions and threats on her life, Sarah fears the ship may claim her as its final victim.

Set along the dramatic and dangerous Anglesey coastline, The Charter is a story of greed and forgiveness -- when the treasures of the past evoke the crimes of today."

Great suspense with a historical element, The Charter will immerse you in Welsh surroundings.





3) Dust, by Arthur Slade

"Imagine a depression-era town where it hasn’t rained for years. A pale rainmaker with other-worldly eyes brings rain to the countryside and mesmerizes the townspeople, but the children begin to disappear one by one. Only young Robert Steelgate is able to resist the rainmaker’s spell and begin the struggle to discover what has happened to his missing brother and the other children."

I would so love to see this as a movie! Dust is a Teen Horror novel - scary and dark, but not graphic.







4) One Week Girlfriend, by Monica Murphy

"Temporary. That one single word best describes my life these last few years. I'm working at a temporary job until I can finally break free. I'm my little brother's temporary mother since our mom doesn't give a crap about either of us. And I'm that temporary girl all the guys want to get with because I give it up so easily. According to the rumors, at least.

But now I'm the temporary girlfriend of Drew Callahan.."

A recently bestselling New Adult Contemporary Romance, One Week Girlfriend has an unexpected twist at the end. Sometimes the guys in the New Adult category are so much the 'bad boy' that it can be hard to find them likeable, but for me that wasn't the case with this story. Drew Callahan carries a dark secret, yes, but he's honestly a good guy.

5) The Dog That Talked to God, by Jim Kraus

"Recently widowed Mary Fassler has no choice except to believe Rufus, the miniature schnauzer, who claims to speak to the Divine. The question is:  Will Mary follow the dog's advice, and leave everything she knows and loves?  Is this at the urging of God?  Or is itsomething else? Will Mary risk it all or ignore the urgings of her own heart?"

I actually read this last summer, but was going through my Kindle and remembered liking this one a lot. What really surprised me was that when I was reading this, I stopped at some point to see who the author was again and had a hard time believing it was written by a guy. The main character is Mary, a bereaved mother and wife, who's learning to cope with loss and find peace and maybe love again.  Rufus poses the simplest, yet most heart-searching questions to Mary.

If you love animal stories, this is a wonderful read for a stormy day. Kraus has a new book out, The Cat That God Sent.



Happy reading,
Gemi