Flicker & Burn by T.M. Goeglein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Flicker & Burn
T. M. Goeglein
I received and ARC from the publishers for review. I loved Cold Fury and was waiting on pins and needles to get a hold of Flicker & Burn. While I was reading it there are times that I wanted to inhale it whole and times I wanted to slow down and make it last longer. It is that good! Part of me was thinking how long before we get where Sara Jane is trying to go? I can’t take this. The other part of me thought when is she going to box someone’s ears? She is straddling this line between being a teenager who goes to school and hangs out with a best friend and being a mafia princess of sorts. I have to admit that mafia books and movies are not my thing. But, the author has wrapped this thing up in such a nice package that I can’t help but enjoy it. I have to admit I am starting to despise clowns also.

I look at the really nice cover of Flicker & Burn and see the blurb “A heart-pounding mafia action-adventure” and think wow that is so true. This book is full of chase scenes, fight scenes and a great mystery which turns multipronged. That was handled very well. We get to meet some of Sara Jane’s family and from the beginning I wondered why they were suddenly there. I have to admit I thought they worked for the people holding Sara Jane’s family. It was great to be wrong. Their part of the story was a great addition to the storyline. This part of the story and the part with Max did bring out some emotions for me because it really portrayed how alone Sara Jane seems in this fight. Doug’s exciting part of the story also brings that home.

One of the big breakout facets of Flicker & Burn is seeing more of Sara Jane’s immersion into the Chicago mafia. We meet some colorful characters. There is some great character development in this edition and it looks like we will see more of them in future books as opposed to only getting summaries of what occurred from Sara Jane. We got to see blow-by-blow, if you will, interactions. I have to admit that I hope that things change with regard to her family. I am one of those people that do not like when the storyline goes on and on across multiple books with no resolution. I would like to see a new story arc with regard to her family after they are home and the family is back together. Lou is fascinating and I can’t wait to see more of him in the books. Flicker & Burn is a great addition to the series and I look forward to seeing where the Cold Fury series goes from here.

The Bleiberg Project: A Consortium Thriller by David Khara


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I received an e-copy of The Bleiberg Project by David Khara from Netgalley. I have to admit when I think about reading anything related to the Holocaust it makes me want to run the other way. Knowing everything that was done and probably not being aware of some things makes it a hard subject to digest. I have to admit this is my first foray into reading about this topic for that very reason. But, when I read the synopsis I thought this sounds really good and just maybe there is a good enough ending that I will not feel totally depressed afterwards.

The characterization in the story was done really well. I have to admit that Jeremy Corbin, even without knowing his secret, makes it hard to like him. He is quite witty and also so darn down on himself it makes you want to avoid him. But, as the book goes on you start to become invested in his pain and hope that somewhere down the line things get better for him. Oddly enough his thoughts about Jackie Wells at first seemed a bit off to me, then as I read on I decided he is just a bit self-centered and immature and kind of thinks of her in high-school terms. Jeremy takes body blow after body blow in losses and as he deals with them throughout the book you start to see him maturing and growing and realizing how he lost more than he realized with his father.

I love reading books based in other countries, especially Europe and Eastern Europe. This book did a good job of giving me a bit of armchair travel. There was not a lot by way of describing the sites in the different places they visited when they arrived in Switzerland and made their way across to Poland but, there were enough of the descriptions that it grabbed my interest. What was really great was the tie-in to some of the rumors of some of the medical testing that happened in the camps. They were nicely woven into this book. But, my all-time favorite part of this book was Eytan Morg. I love reading about and seeing stories on television about the Kidon unit of The Mossad. Granted they are not nice people but, this was my first book that I got to read about some of what they do and what is known about their skills. It took me back to my favorite parts of NCIS and the character Ziva who was also Kidon. Eytan was larger than life and not just due to his size. He was this amazing, scarred man who didn’t allow himself to have anything other than the work he did and we find out why in The Bleiberg Project. That part of the story was riveting. Eytan’s fight scenes were awesome and jumped off the page when you read them. Interestingly enough at the beginning of the book you don’t know whose side he is on so he comes off as if he might be one of the bad guys but, he is so much more.

I just read on Goodreads that this is the start of a series and I have to say a very good start and I look forward to following this series every step of the way!
Review can also be seen along with more great information about The Bleiberg Project by David Khara at http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo....

The Bleiberg Project

Could secret human experimentations be

carried out worldwide?

A thriller with action, killings, this has a WWII element

Genre: thriller/espionage

The Bleiberg Project by French author David Khara, adapted into English by blockbuster movie translator Simon John, combines non-stop action, loads of espionage and unforgettable characters. This prize-winning spy novel, the first in a series, took France by storm when it was first published, reaping superlatives: "Spellbinding," "exceptional," "staggering," “captivating," "brilliant," "astounding," "fascinating."

Synopsis

1942, Poland. The head of the SS meets secretly with a scientist in charge of a major Third Reich project. Present day. After late night with yet another woman whose name he doesn’t remember, self-pitying golden boy trader Jay Novacek learns that his long-lost father has died, precipitating events that lead him to board a plane to Zurich under his real name, Jeremy Corbin. He’s got a Nazi medallion in his pocket, a hot CIA bodyguard next to him, and a dangerous Mossad agent on his tail. What was his father investigating? Why was his mother killed? Why are unknown sides fighting over him with automatic weapons? Far from his posh apartment, he races to save the world from a horrific conspiracy straight out of the darkest hours of history. Can it be stopped?

The Bleiberg Project won the Blue Moon prize for best thriller and has sold over 100,000 copies already. It is being made into a movie.

Author: David Khara

Translator: Simon John

Publisher: Le French Book, Inc.

First published in French (Editions Critic, 2010)

Release Date: April 30, 2013

Specs: direct to digital translation, ebook exclusive, 57,000 words

Genre: thriller/espionage

ISBN: 978-0-9853206-9-0 (Kindle)/

978-1-939474-99-5 (epub)

List Price: $7.99

Retail orders:

Amazon.com, BN.com, ibooks, kobo, Overdrive, other ebook platforms

Buying links:

For your Amazon Kindle.

For your Barnes & Noble Nook.

For your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

For your Kobo.

Live outside the US? Click here for other Amazon Kindle stores.

Praise for The Bleiberg Project

“Fascinating, written with a sharp style, shock value and a lot of humor.” – Serge Perraud, www.lelitteraire.com.”

“Impossible to put down.” – France Inter

About the Author

French author David Khara, a former journalist, top-level athlete, and entrepreneur, is a full-time writer. Khara wrote his first novel—a vampire thriller—in 2010, before starting his thriller series. The first in the series, The Bleiberg Project, was an instant success in France, catapulting Khara into the ranks of the country's top thriller writers.

http://www.lefrenchbook.com/our-authors/david-khara/

  

Contact:

anne@lefrenchbook.com

Website: http://www.thebleibergproject.com

http://www.lefrenchbook.com

Facebook: LeFrenchBook

Twitter: @LeFrenchBook

Emma
http://francebooktours.com/
http://wordsandpeace.com

If the Shoe Fits by Megan Mulry

If the Shoe Fits by Megan Mulry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an early release copy of If the Shoe Fits from netgalley. I have to admit that now that I read some pure romance books this one falls within the realm of the type I enjoy most. I seemed to have a fondness for the royals or wealthy men meeting and falling for someone that is not part of their crowd. In this case Sarah James is non-royal but she does come from a wealthy family and in her own right is very successful and wealthy. I loved her more in the first book in the series. In this series I was slightly put off by her attitude towards commitment. Not that I have not seen good reason to stay away from them both in my reading materials and in real-life. I just could not get a good feel for her reasons for her attitudes. I felt like I was missing it so I did not identify with her or understand some of her decisions.

I love reading books based in London, really things in the entire U.K. region and Europe. This series always does a good job of giving that feel for location even when they are in New York. I did not recognize all of the streets but had a great desire to walk those streets and see if some of the buildings actually exist. Things look so different over there due to differences in architecture and purely because of the age. This book is not designed so much for an armchair travel book but it does provide good atmosphere when describing decor and buildings. Devon's mom seems to be a bit prejudiced about the 2 women that are dating her sons and I just did not get a great feel for why she was more companionable to Sarah James versus Bronte Talbott but, I think it might be in the books so I will have to re-read both to detect the nuances. I suspect it has more to do with her relationship with the sons spilling over onto her relationships with the women. Megan Mulry does a good job with characterization. Overall it is a great story and I hope to see more in this series though I tend to shy away from books that cover different relationships as part of the same series.

Mira's Diary: Home Sweet Rome by Marissa Moss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mira’s Diary Home Sweet Rome
By Marissa Moss
I received an early release Arc of Home Sweet Rome and it fell into the same realm as Lost in Paris. There was this anticipation of what would happen to Mira as she slipped into ancient Rome. There was also this giddiness at seeing Rome through Mira’s and the author’s eyes, though some of her time spent there depicted a very different Rome. One of the amazing things about Italy is that so much of what was there in the 15th and 16th century can still be seen now. Some of it is ruins, but, occasionally you visit someplace like the Pantheon that has existed in its current rebuilt state since approximately 125 A.D. and before it was rebuilt it existed since somewhere between 25-27 B.C.. It is just breathtaking to consider something so old still standing. Mira gets to experience both time periods and see what was originally in Rome and how much things have changed and shares that with the reader.
She has her father and brother to help her as much as they can while Mira learns to control her travels into other times. The rules have not changed but the risks to Mira have grown exponentially because she has travelled to a time when females do not have the same rights or roles as they do in our time and still another time when Jewish citizens are treated as less than other citizens in Rome. Mira again has to determine what wrong she needs to right so that her mom can come back to their time. She has several mysteries to solve to determine what her mom’s messages are guiding her to do in ancient Rome. Mira is growing more into a young adult and unfortunately a great deal of that is now being done without her mom who is still missing.
One of the best things about Home Sweet Rome is living through the trials with Mira as she tries to determine her purpose in Rome. It is not all investigation and move on. She has some serious decisions to make and her life is at risk while she traverses through time to help her mom solve the problem she is determined to solve so that she can rejoin her family in Mira’s time. Home Sweet Rome is a traveler’s dream, a historical book lover’s companion and a great book to add to a mystery book reader’s shelves. It has it all and despite being about a young adult it is a great read for book lovers of all ages. I look forward to the next trip in Mira’s story!
Review can also be seen at LadyTechie's Book Musing http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...

Immortal Eclipse by Sherry Soule
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received Immortal Eclipse as an e-Arc for review on behalf Literal Addiction. I read the blurb and was really looking forward to it but have to admit that I tend to stay away from ghost stories and haunted house stories. But, I honor my obligations so I tucked in yesterday to see what this story had to offer. Skylar is a gifted photographer who has had photos on the cover of some of the best fashion magazines published. She also spends more than her fair share of money on designer shoes and clothes. Her glamorous life takes a turn and she is suddenly without direction. She has received several calls from her recently deceased uncle to handle his estate which was left to her. She decides it is as good a time as any to go to California and see how the investigation into his death is proceeding and handle his estate.

From the moment she arrives in California she is warned away, harassed, haunted and threatened. Everyone she has met that works at her uncle’s mansion, now her mansion, seems to dislike her. Oddly enough she expected better treatment from those that depended upon her for their livelihood. She finds that it is hard to trust any of them and some openly distrust her though they just met her. That is one of the things that is great about this book, the character development. You have no trouble seeing who the bad guys are but, there is some difficulty determining if those that seem like good guys really are good guys because everyone there has secrets and some of them involve Skylar though she is not aware of the secrets. One of the other things about Immortal Eclipse is the story line. Though ghost story/hauntings are not usually to my taste this one was well told and held my interest. Honestly at times it kind of crept me out which might be why I stay away from them. Skylar has to decide if risking her life is worth determining who killed her uncle since the police have already closed the case as a suicide or going back to New York and trying to rebuild her life. She sticks it out until it is too late and she has no choice but to push on and find out the secrets of her uncle’s home. I will be looking out for more titles by Sherry Soule!

Review can also be seen at http://LadyTechiesBookMusings.blogspo...

Flirting in Italian by Lauren Henderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to say that this book really hit me more than I thought it would. I chose it hoping to get to see Italy again but through the author's eyes hoping she had been there and was sharing her experiences through her character's eyes. What I got out of it was so much more than that. I was reminded of things I saw and things I missed and plan to go back and see. I was reminded of this weird kinship I felt with Rome despite the fact that I did not speak the language and did not know anyone there. My Goddaughter still talks about the food we ate and the places we visited and how we just roamed around and fell in love with this place. It seemed really odd to miss a place and think about it every single day as if it was a second home, and only after a first visit. We both talk about how much we miss it. I read everything I can that has Roma as its setting. The author did an amazing job expressing the same feelings I had when our driver dropped us off at the airport. I knew immediately when we left that I had to go back and that I would miss it. Reading Flirting in Italian felt like I was reading my own travelogue, though I wish I had the great experience with the fellas while I was there, but, I was with a minor and my focus was on making the trip amazing for my Goddaughter. More than that this book captured the people of Roma just as I remembered them. I know I will read this book again and again and look forward to it every time I begin it.