Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts

Emma Grant loves flowers. She also believes in true love. It is a good thing she runs a wedding business with her three best friends called Vows. She has a wonderful career and a fantastic family. What would make her complete is to find her one true love. She has dated many men but there has always been one man who has made her heart beat fast, Jack Cooke.

Jack Cooke is an architect and doesn't believe in happily ever after. But he has always had a thing for Emma. They give it a chance and Emma falls head over heels even though she knows Jack isn't the forever kind of guy. But Jack just might surprise Emma because he is falling for her too.

This is the second book in the Bride Quartet series. The first book is Vision in White which was Mackensie's story. Book three is Savor the Moment and will tell Laurel's story. This is a great series. It tells the life long friendship of four friends, their successful wedding business, and their journey in finding love.

New Fiction Released the Week of 11/17/2009

Here is a sampling of new fiction released this week. Please click on the title to place a copy on hold through the Library's catalog.

The Original of Laura (Dying is Fun) by Vladimir Nabokov
A landmark publication of the literary master's unfinished final work is a fragmented draft as hand-written on 138 index cards, originally slated for destruction, that have been released by his son, in a volume that features removable facsimile reproductions.


The Poisoning of the Pub by Simon Brett
"Business at the venerable Crown and Anchor pub is flagging...an outbreak of food poisoning, with attendant bad press, temporarily shuts down the establishment. Then the grand reopening is spoiled by a rowdy biker gang and the brutal stabbing death of a beloved, mentally challenged kitchen helper. Before you can say “plowman's lunch,” plucky Carole Seddon and her friend, Jude, are on the case." - Publishers Weekly

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro
Nine new short works by the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author of Love of a Good Woman include the stories of a grieving mother who is aided by a surprising source, a woman's response to a humiliating seduction and a 19th-century Russian émigré's winter journey to the Riviera.


Torch of Freedom by David Weber
As the slave masters of Mesa plot against the Star Empire of Manticore and the newly liberated slave planet of Torch, secret agent Anton Zilwicki investigates a wave of mysterious assassinations.


The Wrecker by Clive Cussler
Investigating a series of attacks on the Southern Pacific Railroad's Cascades express lines, Detective Bell learns of the existence of an elusive saboteur who recruits and murders his own accomplices while engineering schemes of maximum havoc.

Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo

Since a serial killer stopped terrorizing local citizens in the 1990's, nothing much happens in the rural burg of Painters Mill, Ohio, which is just how Chief Kate Burkholder likes it. After years of experience in the more urban setting of Columbus, Ohio, she jumped at the chance to become the police chief of her hometown. Her past as a member of the local Amish community has given her a unique perspective and ability to act as a go-between between the private Amish community and the "English."

When one of her officers responds to a "loose cattle" call and instead finds the nude body of a young woman in the snow, Kate's peaceful existence comes to an abrupt halt. Not only is the murder reminiscent of the serial killings that took place in the '90's, but it brings Kate's history crashing back to her, including a secret that she, her brother and sister have kept all these years. When the town calls in outside help, Kate is resistant, fearing her secret will be exposed after 16 years, but as bodies continue to turn up, she must face her fear in order to solve the gruesome crimes.

John Tomasetti has been to hell, and does not seem to want to leave. Since losing his partner and family a few years earlier, his life has continued in a downward spiral, thanks to his steady diet of booze and painkillers. When he is assigned to work on the Painters Mill murders, he knows it is his last chance. Can Kate overcome her fear and mistrust to work with Tomasetti?

This is the first book in a promising new series featuring Chief Kate Burkholder, and I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of John Tomasetti as well. Despite the Amish connection, this is definitely NOT a cozy mystery - the grisly details, salty language and sexual situations and references are not for the faint of heart. Kate is a great heroine - strong yet vulnerable, principled yet hesitant, and damaged yet hopeful. I look forward to seeing more from this series. Fans of this book may also like Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta series or Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series.

The Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle

For francophiles like me, if you haven't read one of Peter Mayle's books, be it one of is true-life Brit living in Provence books or one of his charming mysteries that take place mostly in the South of France, you're missing out. Mr. Mayle's stories are always light and entertaining.

In this caper, a mega-rich Hollywood entertainment lawyer, Danny Roth, has a wine cellar of which any true oeniphile would be envious. Bored and looking to bring himself even more notoriety, he lands a profile of his cellar in a splashy Los Angeles Times article and soon finds himself the victim of a world-class wine heist. That's when wine connoisseur and crime expert, Sam Levitt is hired by Roth's insurance company to investigate and recover the wine in order to avoid a multi-million dollar pay-out. Sam naturally needs to investigate this crime in beautiful Bordeaux and then Marseille, France.

The complexity of the theft is eventually unraveled by Sam with the help of a beautiful woman and a tenacious reporter. While I kept waiting for the big twist at the end that never came, I nonetheless found this tale to be the perfect divertissement.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Auto mechanic Mercedes "Mercy" Thompson, who also happens to be the only werecoyote in the Tri-Cities area, meets Mac when he is loitering around her shop looking for a job. Her senses tell her that that he may be homeless, so Mercy gives him a chance and offers him a job.

Mac's employment seems to be working out okay until Mercy forgets her purse, returns to the shop one evening to collect it, and inadvertently happens upon Mac, who is being confronted by two nasty werewolves. In order to protect Mac, Mercy shapeshifts into a coyote and takes out one of the wolves. Not knowing what to do with Mac, she contacts her sexy neighbor, Adam, who is the Alpha for the area's pack.

Adam agrees to take in Mac and help him deal with being a new werewolf. Little does Adam know the trouble that follows Mac that eventually gets his human daughter, Jesse, kidnapped and almost gets Adam killed. Mercy must now return to the Montana werewolf pack who raised her in order to receive the assistance of head wolf Bran and doctor and former flame Samuel, who was the reason for Mercy's leaving.

Mercy is a no nonsense character with heart, and readers will easily root for her in this fast-paced urban fantasy. Moon Called is the first book in the Mercy Thompson series, followed by Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, and Bone Crossed. Readers who like the mystery of the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series and the mix of characters in the Rachel Morgen series should definitely relish Patrica Briggs books, which contain plenty of vampires, gremlins, fae, and werewolves.

New Books Released the Week of 11/10/2009

A Blue and Gray Christmas by Joan Medlicott
Broken Jewel by David Robbins
Burn Me Deadly by Alex Bledsoe
The Crisis by David Poyer
Destroyer of Worlds by Larry Niven
The Fleet Street Murders by Charles Finch
A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein
Generation A by Douglas Coupland
Ice by Linda Howard
Mariposa by Greg Bear
The Mirror and the Mask by Ellen Hart
The Murdered House by Pierre Magnan
New York by Edward Rutherfurd
The Ragged End of Nowhere by Roy Chaney
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story by Wally Lamb

The Recipe Club: A Tale of Food and Friendship by Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel

The art of letter-writing is lost, so they say. When you read this novel, told almost entirely through letters and emails spanning forty years, you will remember why it's called an art.

It is amazing how fully you can relate to the main characters and their lives simply through letters. And how easily we, as the reader, can fill in all that is unsaid in the lives of these two remarkable women.

Every woman who has had a deep friendship severed will relate to the struggles that Lily and Val go through, as you grow up with them through their letters. Tying it all together with recipes that I cannot wait to try was the right way to go--food, family and friends will forever be intertwined.

A lovely story with equally lovely illustrations.