Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #306: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From Goodreads:

Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia's life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they're more likely to discuss the FBI's recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood.

But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he's a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she--and her book club--are the only people standing between the monster they've invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community.

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix is expected to be published April 7th, 2020 by Quirk Books.

Why am I waiting on this one? The first paragraph of the synopsis sold me. I like the way it sounds - "Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula." I enjoy stories set in the South. And I like the cover they're using, even if it's not the final version. 

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Ivory Apples by Lisa Goldstein

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

A great forest stretched out in the distance, a forest I'd never seen or heard of before, and a mist lay over the tops of the trees, turning the leaves gray and the trunks the color of bone. More trees lined the shore, nodding to their reflections in the water; they had leaves of red and gold, the fiery colors of autumn, though it was still summer, as I said, and the leaves near Aunt Maeve's house were mostly green. (3% through on my Kindle) 

From Goodreads: Ivy and her sisters have a secret: their reclusive Great-Aunt is actually Adela Martin, inspired author of the fantasy classic, Ivory Apples. Generations of obsessive fans have searched for Adela, poring over her letters, sharing their theories online, and gathering at book conventions. It is just a matter of time before one fan gets too close.

So when the seemingly-perfect Kate Burden appears at the local park, Ivy knows that something isn’t right. Kate has charmed the entire family, but she is suspiciously curious about Ivory Apples. And Ivy must protect what she and her Great-Aunt share: magic that is real, untamable, and—despite anyone’s desire—always prefers choosing its own vessel.

Ivory Apples by Lisa Goldstein was published September 17th, 2019 by Tachyon Publications.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #305:Deadly Anniversaries edited by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From Goodreads:

Mystery Writers of America is proud to present Deadly Anniversaries, a collection of crime and mystery stories from some of the best contemporary authors, all of whom have been invited to put their own unique spin on what it means to recognize a certain day or event every year. An anniversary can take many forms, and by the time this group of bestsellers and award winners is through, none of us will ever look at anniversaries the same way again.

Edited by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini, this collection features original stories from twenty industry giants. Deadly Anniversaries is sure to shock, scare and delight mystery and suspense fans of all kinds.

Deadly Anniversaries is expected to be published April 21st, 2020 by Hanover Square Press.

Why am I waiting on this one? I like anthologies. This one has an interesting focus and a good list of contributors including: Doug Allyn, Lee Child, Max Allan Collins, Jeffery Deaver, Meg Gardiner,  Alison Gaylin, Sue Grafton, Carolyn Hart, Naomi Hirahara, Wendy Hornsby, Laurie R. King, William Kent Krueger, Laura Lippman, Peter Lovesey, Margaret Maron, Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, Peter Robinson, 
S.J. Rozan, and Julie Smith.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: The Last of June by Alex A. King

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

June barely knows him. It's fun now, but what about later when the gold reveals itself as glitter? (Nothing - nothing - is more annoying than glitter. Ask a parent. Ask a teacher.

(location 194 on my Kindle)

The Last of June by Alex A. King is the eighth book in the Women of Greece series. It was published September 16th, 2019.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Review: Sharpest Sting by Jennifer Estep

Gin and her friends are getting ready for the wedding of two of their friends - Mallory and Stuart. Gin is also spending her spare time searching for more evidence against the Circle. Some of the latest evidence comes to her directly from the Circle. And it involves betrayal that hits close to home.

Soon, the goons from the Circle are watching her every move. Will things be resolved before the wedding? Will her friends stay safe? Will Gin survive this betrayal mentally and physically?

Just when I think Jennifer Estep can't top herself, she does. I ended up giving this addition to the Elemental Assassin series 4 out of 5 stars. It's good and twisty. There is danger to everyone who knows her. I raced through the book. I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. We learn more about the past of her family and of her mentor Fletcher. What was buried in the past just won't stay there. And her future is even more uncertain.

If you've been following the Elemental Assassin series, this is a must-read. While you might read it as a standalone, I wouldn't recommend it. It would be better to start earlier in the series to see just what is at stake and the interplay of characters. If you haven 't been reading the series, but enjoy good urban fantasy, then definitely check the series out. It's not really a cliffhanger, but there is a serious loose end. I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.

Sharpest Sting by Jennifer Estep was published October 8th, 2019.

Review: His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler

His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler is a collection of 13 tales inspired by works by Edgar Allan Poe. Included are tales by Kendare Blake, Tiffany Jackson, Tessa Gratton, Caleb Roehrig, Emily Lloyd-Jones, Stephanie Kuehn, Amanda Lovelace, Marieke Nijkamp, Lamar Giles, Hilary Monahan, Dahlia Adler, Fran Wilde, and Rin Chupeco. The stories themselves are varied from historicals to science fiction to horror and mystery.

I particularly liked "It's Carnival!" by Tiffany Jackson based on "The Cask of Amontillado." I also enjoyed, "Happy Days, Sweetheart" by Stephanie Kuehn, a re-imagining of "The Tell-Tale Heart."

 Basically, all the stories were good. It was clear where the inspiration for each came from. The book is structured in such a way that the reader can read the originals by Poe as well. It was interesting to see how each author wrote a tale for the modern reader while keeping true to the inspirational material.

Overall I gave this collection 4 out of 5 stars. It's imaginative and well-written. I would recommend it especially to fans of Edgar Allan Poe. But, I can also see it serving as an introduction and bridge to new readers of his works as well. It's also a perfect October read.

His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler was published September 10th, 2019 by Flatiron books.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions herein are my own and freely given.

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #304: Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From Goodreads:

Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne's Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox's Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain's Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald's The Drowner, and Donna Tartt's A Secret History.

But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookshop in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. The killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.

To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects—and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn’t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead—and the noose around Mal’s neck grows so tight he might never escape. 

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson is due to be published March 3rd, 2020 by William Morrow.

Why am I waiting on this one? I like the bookseller and literature angle to the mystery. I'm curious to see how it plays out.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Summer of the Red Hotel by Alex A. King

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Book a plane ticket now, while we're talking." Marissa waits a moment. "I don't hear typing."

"I have to fix my sock bun. It collapsed."

So much exasperation in one little sigh. Kerry knows she's pushing her loved ones to the edge but she feels powerless to stop.

"I'll do it later, I promise," she says, fully intending to forget. "Okay?"

"You better, or else I'll come up there and drag you here myself. And you know how much I hate flying. If the flying spaghetti monster had meant for us to fly, he'd have given us wings." (6% in on my Kindle)

Summer of the Red Hotel by Alex A. King is the sixth book in the Women of Greece series. It was published March 31st, 2017. 

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #303: White Elephant by Trish Harnetiaux

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From Goodreads: 

There are only a few rules in a White Elephant gift exchange: 1) Everyone brings a wrapped, unmarked gift. 2) Numbers are drawn to decide who picks first. 3) Gifts don’t need to be pricey—and often they’re downright tacky.

But things are a little different in Aspen, Colorado, at the office holiday party for the real estate firm owned by Henry Calhoun and his wife Claudine. Each Christmas sparks a contest among the already competitive staff to see who can buy the most coveted gift: the one that will get stolen the most times, the one that will prove just how many more commissions they earned that year than their colleagues. Designer sunglasses, deluxe spa treatments, front row concert tickets—nothing is off the table. And the staff is even more competitive this year as Zara, the hottest young pop star out of Hollywood, is in town and Claudine is determined to sell her the getaway home of her dreams.

Everyone is puzzled when a strange gift shows up in the mix: an antique cowboy statue. At least the sales agents are guessing it’s an antique—otherwise, it’d be a terrible present. It’s certainly not very pretty or expensive-looking. In fact, the gift makes sense only to Henry and Claudine. The statue is the weapon Henry used to commit a murder years ago, a murder that helped start his company and a murder that Claudine helped cover up. She swore that no one would ever be able to find the statue or trace it to their crime. So which of their employees did? And why did they place it in the White Elephant? What could possibly be their endgame?

Over the course of the evening, Henry and Claudine race to figure out who could have planted the weapon, and just what the night means for the secrets they’ve been harboring. Further adding to the drama is a snowstorm that closes nearby roads—preventing anyone from leaving, as well as keeping law enforcement from the scene. And by the end of this crazy night, the police will most definitely be required…

White Elephant by Trish Harnetiaux is set to be published on October 29th, 2019 by Simon & Schuster.

Why am I waiting on this one? I like the idea of a murder weapon showing up during the game like that and at least most of the people being unaware of its importance. How hard can you try to obtain it before it becomes too hard and people suspect something?

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: No Peace in Crazy by Alex A. King

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Forgiveness and acceptance do not just happen because two people want them. Work has to be done." (p. 182)

No Peace in Crazy by Alex A. King was published December 5th, 2015 by Citizen A. Press. This is the fifth book in the Women of Greece series.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Fields' Guide to Fog by Julie Mulhern

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title and author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Fine." Chariss lifted her magazine. I'd been dismissed. If I insisted on saving London, I did so without her blessing. (location 2021 on my Kindle)

Fields' Guide to Fog by Julie Mulhern is the fourth book in the Poppy Fields Adventures series. It was released September 30th, 2019 by J & M Press.

Would you keep reading? What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!