Truly, Madly ~ By Heather Webber

When Oscar Valentine gets caught in an affair, he fears his family's famous matchmaking business will suffer. So he entrusts the business to his 28 year old daughter, Lucy, while he and his wife, Judith, go to St. Lucia. There is one problem: Lucy doesn't have the family gift of matchmaking. Her ability is finding inanimate objects that have been lost. Lucy stresses about her first day running the family business because of Cupid's Curse. Cupid's Curse is the Valentine's inability to match themselves. Lucy fears that the Curse will spread into her customers and she will inaccurately match them. When one customer tries to get over his ex-fiancée, Jennifer, Lucy tries instead to reunite the two. Lucy shakes Michael's hand after the meeting and sees the engagement ring he gave to Jennifer on the finger of a skeleton. Lucy goes upstairs to ask the private investigator (Sean) for help locating Jennifer. Lucy drives up to Michael's town to try to find the skeleton. She chickens out, but decides to drive by his home anyway. She is forced to lie about her intentions when Michael catches her outside his home. Sean calls Lucy and tells her about his research, including his call to Jennifer's mother. But Jennifer's mother will not give any information about her whereabouts. Lucy cannot leave the skeleton and the ring alone so she and Sean continue to investigate. Getting them both way over their heads.

Truly, Madly is such a cute, fun mystery. I love the concept of a match-making psychic. Deeply, Desperately is set to release August 2010. There is supposed to be at least one more book following Deeply, Desperately. I really hope there are many more to come in this series because I really enjoyed Truly, Madly. If you love mysteries this is a must read new series. It would make a great Valentine's Day gift too.

Diary Of A Witness ~ By Catherine Ryan Hyde

Diary Of A Witness opens with the main character (Ernie) telling about how his friend Will stood up for him after gym class against the school jocks. Both boys are outcasts, but have formed a friendship based on that fact. Will tells Ernie he has two choices: live with gym or tell the counselor he is gay. He chooses to lie to the counselor. But his plan backfires when he must use the gym during lunch or after school. His gym teacher, who sees right through his lie, makes Ernie a deal: he is allowed to shower in Mr. Bayliss’s office but he must weigh himself. Ernie is about 100 pounds over weight. Ernie’s bullying never stops. At lunch one of the jocks hit him in the head with their tray. Will’s father lets Will, Ernie and Sam (Will’s little brother) take his boat out fishing. Will hooks a 30 inch fish and won’t let it go. Will’s stubbornness ends up sinking his father’s boat and killing his younger brother. After Sam’s death, Will becomes incredibly angry and threatens to end Ernie’s suffering forever.

This book is a new look at school shootings. It’s a reminder that anyone can snap at anytime for any reason. Ernie learns some hard lessons about choosing everyone’s safety over a friend’s freedom. Even though this isn’t something I normally read, I enjoyed it. Actually I think it should be read in schools as a reminder of Columbine and other school shootings.

Powers~ By John B. Olson

Powers opens with Mariutza walking in the forest near her home. Her teacher, Miss Caralee, yells at her for being out so late without her grandfather’s consent. As Mari is leaving Caralee’s shack, the whole forest begins to “ring with silence.” Caralee freaks out because the Badness is out in the woods. Mari escapes Caralee’s grasp and sees her grandfather’s diddlecar (gypsy wagon) and realizes the Badness has reached there too. When she can’t find Purodad anywhere, she realizes that he is out fighting the Badness. Unfortunately he does not survive and has some strange requests of his granddaughter. This is where we leave Mari’s story and read about Jazz, who we meet while he is playing piano at a bar. Jazz hears Mariutza’s name in his head, but he doesn’t know what it means. Jazz blacks out during one of his songs. When Jazz refuses medical tests, the owner of the bar gives him a choice: go to the hospital to find the cause of the “seizure” or play elsewhere. Jazz, knowing a trip to the ER would be pointless, chooses the latter. The story then flows back to Mari, who is deep in sorrow over her grandfather’s death. While burying him, the Badness comes back and so Mari is forced to hide in her grandfather’s grave. This is where Mari is left so we can reunite with Jazz. On the street, Jazz runs into the young woman who made her way toward him before he blacked out at the bar. The young woman (Hollis) and her friend Madison invite him to their hotel. Jazz blacks out again and we leave him as he discovers he is bloody and he blacks out again. Daniel Groves is an FBI member whose assignment is to rid the area of gypsies. And his first target is Mari. As the pace of the story picks up, so do the changes of the characters. Mari is looking through her ransacked home and finds her grandfather’s bible is missing. We leave her burning the gypsy wagon, (the only home she has ever known). Jazz has just woken up and realized that he is halfway across New Orleans. He goes home to find that his apartment has been ransacked. But the thieves never left and he was surrounded by hooded men. When the helicopters come back, Mari knows that she is in trouble, so she runs to the street and hitches a ride on top of a car heading into New Orleans. Jazz’s story picks up from here again. He escapes from the “shadow men” and heads up to the Ritz Carlton where Hollis and Madison have his guitar in their hotel room. Jazz is sorting through his mail with Hollis and takes an envelope out of his pocket and discovered it was his grandfather’s will. One problem: he was told his grandfather died when he was a child. Mari’s driver asked if she needs a ride somewhere. When they arrive at his apartment he kisses her. When Mari doesn’t kiss back, Jack feels used. Jazz wakes up screaming and Hollis makes him a deal. She will pay for his clothes and bus tickets to get out of town if she can be in on the action. Daniel Groves continues his search for Mariutza. Hollis convinces Jazz to go to the police department. When they arrive he has another vision and runs away hoping the cops won’t come after him. We leave him cutting up his clothes to hide the blood. Sheltered Mari is running through the city and discovers children. She gives one little boy her necklace but quickly runs away when the Badness gets near. She is digging through trash when the cops come asking for picture ID. Jazz and Mari finally meet around page 100. This is as far as I will take the summary.

When I received this book for review, the paper that came with it said this book was a sequel to Shade. I was hesitant to pick it up for this reason only. Without reading the first book a person can still enjoy Powers. I’m glad I picked it up so quickly after receiving it because I enjoyed really it. I hope that John B. Olson will continue this series because Powers has a very open ending. I will definitely be looking forward to reading other books by him.

Storm Glass~By Maria V. Snyder

Opal Cowen is working in the glass shop when a messenger comes to bring her back to the Keep. Opal is given a mission: She must help the Stormdance Clan make orbs for their magicians. The magicians then use the orbs to harvest storms. The clan’s attempts have been with bad glass, causing them to break. When an orb breaks, a Stormdancer is killed. Zitora, the second magician, will be traveling with Opal. During their trek, they are awoken by a sword blade at their necks. The masked man in charge doesn’t want the Stormdance clan to be helped. Zitora has Opal prick their attackers with Curare to keep them paralyzed until the guards could come pick them up. The Stormdance clan shows Opal where they create their orbs and their mixture of sand. When Opal sees one of the old orbs, she realizes magic is trapped inside. (She can both see it and hear it). Unlike when she blows glass at home, the new unused orbs do not sparkle. Opal thinks that one of the raw ingredients in the glass may be tainted. Opal, Zitora and Kade (the Stormdancer that’s left) and Varun (one of the glass blowers) decided to go to see Opal’s father. Later, Kade asks Opal what she had heard in the orb. She says Kaya. He assumes that Zitora has been listening to his thoughts. This of course causes tension between Opal and Kade. Zitora sends Opal to the market near their camp alone. While at the market, their attacker returns and demands Opal comes with him. Kade saves Opal from Blue Eyes and stays behind to find out who he really is. Opal and Zitora go on to Booruby promising to meet back with Kade. When they arrive, they give Jaymes, Opal’s father, the mixture of sand. He continues to examine it throughout the night. He finds brittle talc which lessens the density of the glass. The brittle talc looks and feels like lime. Opal visits a fellow glassmaker and finds he showed an interest in brittle talc. Zitora suspects he is a magician because his glass sings out loud. Opal and Zitora then continue back to the Stormdance lands. But only after Zitora sends Opal’s friend to the Keep. They arrive just in time to test the orbs before Kade must go out to capture storms. Opal learns that she can go into the glass orbs. After she comes out, Zitora asks Opal what happened but she just wants to drop it. On the way back to the Keep, after successfully completing their mission, Opal is under arrest for robbery. The police found a vase that Opal “stole” in her saddlebag. Zitora comes to save Opal but she quickly finds out that it is not really Zitora. When they arrive in the Kyrstal lands, Tal (the man who sabotaged the lime) was there with some of the other original captors. They want the Stormdance recipe for glass. Opal escapes and finds a couple who takes her to the local magician. He contacts Zitora who says come back to Thunder Valley. They finally arrive safely back to the Keep. This gets you up the first 200 pages.

Even though this is the first book in the glass series, I would recommend reading the study series about Yelena first. It would clarify things and the magicians at the Keep are introduced more. Opal isn’t in the first two study books but they are great too.

I loved this book. I hope Maria Snyder continues to write about these characters. These are such quick reads. Definitely one of my new favorite writers. If you love fantasy and romance books then you must read this book. I wonder who the next series will revolve around?

***Book two (Sea Glass) is already released and book three comes out Fall 2010***

Study Series is order

Poison Study

Magic Study

Fire Study

Accessory To Murder~By Elaine Viets

Accessory To Murder is Elaine Viets’s third book about Josie Marcus, a secret shopper and single mom. Josie often takes her friend Alyce on her secret shopping treks. Josie’s assignment was at the Dorchester Mall- one of the most unsafe malls in the area. While at the mall, the friends witness the chaos after an armed robbery. The following day, Josie is at Alyce’s home and the news is on. Alyce’s neighbor Halley Hardwicke (a young designer) is shot in the parking lot of the Dorchester Mall during a carjacking. All of Alyce’s neighbors meet up to comfort each other. Josie, not fitting in, leaves to pick up her daughter, Amelia, from school. Josie gets a frantic call from Alyce but hangs up as soon as Jake walking into the room. Josie finds out that the homicide detectives were at Alyce’s home asking about Jake’s whereabouts. When Josie’s mother sets her up on a blind date with a man from Jake’s law firm, Josie sees the perfect time to investigate. Josie sees the perfect time to investigate. She’s told that Jake was having an affair with Halley. Alyce begs Josie to investigate Halley’s murder and hopefully clear Jake’s name. Alyce is shunned by her neighbors because Jake has been taken into custody for Halley’s murder. To find out who the murderer is, you will have to read the book!

Josie’s life doesn’t match what her mother wanted, but she does a great job being a single mom. Her moments with Amelia are so cute. I love this series, especially when she’s secret shopping. I hope Elaine Viets continues this series.

Dead Men Don't Lye~By Tim Myers

When Benjamin Perkins finds Jerry Sanger’s body on the back step behind his soap store, his first thought is how to not tell his sister. Jerry and Louisa had been dating on and off. Ben calls his friend Molly because she is a detective that he trusts. Molly suspects Louisa because her reputation for overreacting. And of course for being Jerry’s girlfriend. Ben’s mother asks him to investigate Jerry’s murder to clear Louisa. Ben drives to other soap shops that Jerry supplied ingredients to. Both women are too distressed to for just being friends with him. Molly finds out that Ben has been investigating and chews him out for doing his job. While talking to Louisa, Ben finds that Jerry’s favorite hangout is a local independent mystery bookstore. He finds out that Jerry would flirt with any woman in the store. Because of his investigating, Ben is always one step ahead of Molly. Ben and Molly’s friendship hits the rocks when Ben goes on a date with Louisa’s lawyer, Kelly. When Ben gets a threatening voice mail, Molly urges him to stop investigating. The next night, when Ben and Kelly get back to his apartment, Ben’s Miata’s rag top has been slashed with a knife. But Ben won’t stop until he clears his sister’s name.

Tim Myers mysteries are just so much fun to read. His characters are so relatable. Anyone who loves cozy mysteries will love Benjamin Perkins and his huge, crazy family. Its really sad that this series only has three books. Even though this series is out of print, I will be looking for the rest on Amazon.com soon. It’s also cool how Tim Myers subtly references his other works.

*** Tim Myers has written as Melissa Glazer, Elizabeth Bright and Chris Cavender.***

The Legend of The Golden Monkey~ By Renee Hand

The Legend Of The Golden Monkey picks right up where The Case of Red Rock Canyon leaves off. Max, Mia and Granny are on a plane from Las Vegas to Mexico. When the plane lands on a private air strip, the Crypto-Capers are met by a man named Pablo. He is eager to help the family because Maggie Devereaux is his cousin. Once at the hotel, Pablo and the Crypto- Capers work on the first cryptogram. Pablo takes the detectives out to Chichen Itza to investigate the pyramids. While in the park, a man seems to be following the family and their guide. During dinner, Pablo and Walter (Pablo’s pilot and archeologist friend) tells the Crypto-Capers about the local legends. Granny takes Walter and Pablo back to Chichen Itza while Max and Mia explore the hotel gift shop with Spencer. The Crypto-Capers us a boy named Emmanuel who works in the gift shop to help them find the missing Mayan tablets.

This book is great because you find out a little bit more about Max and Mia’s grandfather. It’s nice to see Granny’s sensitive side toward her late husband. The Legend of the Golden Monkey has the biggest cliff hanger ending of the series so far. I can’t wait until the next book is published. The next book the Crypto-Capers are going to Italy.

***But be prepared for a bigger challenge with the cryptograms in this book! They get progressively harder! :)***