Don’t forget that today is the last day to bid on items from Brenda Novak’s Auction for Diabetes.  I’m offering a day on the blog and lunch with James Rollins at next year’s Barbara Vey Readers Luncheon.  Check out the hundreds of offerings all donated for a great cause.  Now check out the WW Ladies latest reads.

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joysann

Tricks of the Trade by Laura Anne Gilman

Read by joysann

The Private Unaffiiated Paranormal Investigators (or PUPI) have two cases to solve, so this small team of extraordinary Talents share duties to discover a killer of a non-human, and to investigate the bizarre burglary/vandalism of a wealthy man’s home, neither crime one with which the ordinary law enforcement wants to deal. Bonnie Torres finds her investigative talents hampered, or perhaps enhanced, by the uncontrolled interaction between her magic and that of one of the Big Dog’s, her boss Ben Venec. Regardless, the PUPI’s have to face a powerful supernatural trickster before an evil is leashed upon the city.

The World of the Cosa Nostradamus is a magical place that I’ve enjoyed before in L A Gilman’s Retrievers series, a world that clings pretty close to Manhattan. This independent series has a slightly different, somewhat less edgy quality to it, and it’s easy to read with very likable characters. It’s a fascinating place to visit, mysterious, suspenseful, exciting, and I’m looking forward to the 4th book, Dragon Justice, coming out this summer.

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Stacey

Taking a Shot by Jaci Burton

Read by Stacey

Jenna Riley has had enough of sports.  Despite the fact that her siblings play professional sports…and she manages the family sports bar.  Unfortunately, she can’t deny that Ty Anderson pushes all of her buttons.  Ty himself shows no sign of giving up on her, and the childhood dreams of a music career she’d lost forever.  With Ty by her side, she will search within herself and discover whether or not she has the strength to seize the happiness within her grasp. If she can get past the fact that the blazingly sexy Ty is a pro hockey player.

Scorching Sex and a tale that gives readers a hint that a good relationship is about support as well as lust? Sign me up, especially when the on-ice action gets as hot as it is in the bedroom.  I’m glad my need for a hockey story during the midst of the Stanley Cup playoffs drew me to this one, because I now have a huge Jaci Burton backlist to read! I have definitely scored!

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Sophie

Starters by Lissa Price

Read by Sophie, 16

Since the Spore Wars killed her parents, along with the rest of the population ages 20 to 60, Callie Woodland has been squatting in abandoned buildings with her little brother, Tyler, who has a lung defect that makes everything more difficult for him, and her best friend, Michael, a boy whose existence she was only just aware of until they allied for survival reasons.  Between the renegades who would kill you for just a single bite of something to eat and the Marshalls who, if they catch you, will take you to an Institution (which is really just a euphemism for prison), not to mention the lack of running water, food, heat, and money, Callie, Michael, and Tyler have been living a hard life.  Then Callie finds out about Prime Destinations, a company with technology that gives an Ender (someone over 60 years of age) the ability to inhabit the body of a Starter (someone under 20 years of age) for as long as a month at a time, and decides that, as scary as it sounds, it was worth what Prime Destinations would pay her—so count her in.  Callie signs a contract for three rentals, her ability level adding a bonus to her paycheck, and is on her way to big bucks—but when she wakes up from the last rental, it’s not over, and Mrs. Winterhill has planned to do a lot more than party while in Callie’s body.

This book was gripping from start to finish!  After one chapter, I just wanted to know more, more, more—putting it down was almost painful!  Lissa Price’s creativity flourishes in telling about the future, and her characters and cliff-hangers have me eagerly awaiting the release of the second book!

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joysann

Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones

Listened to by joysann

Charley Davidson, private investigator and Grim Reaper, is hired to find a missing woman, but it’s a task woefully hampered by her lack of sleep. She’s warding off slumber by any measure, because every time she dozes off she’s thrown into realistically vivid sexual dreams with the gorgeous Reyes Farrow, the son of Satan. Not that he’s really there – yet; he’s plotting to escape prison and joining her to protect her from demons far worse than he.

I thoroughly enjoy these Grim Reaper books by Darynda Jones. It’s such an imaginative concept, and Charley’s problems are so unusual. Third Grave is fast, intriguing, sexy, with chucklingly good humor. Listening to the book read by Lorelei King only makes it better.

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Stacey

Season for Temptation by Theresa Romain

When James, Viscount Matheson, meets Julia, his fiance’s sister, sparks fly.  But Louisa is perfect, proper and carries the dowry he needs to manage his estate.  And yet James and Julia find themselves spending a great deal of time together.  And as society tongues start to wag, Julia and James must discover whether what they have is just a flirtation, or if it is something worth breaking every single society rule for.