CBR5 #10 The Geneva Decision by Seeley James

Until a few weeks ago, she was an international soccer star. But now she's taken the helm of her billionaire father's private security company, and she's playing against a whole new set of opponents: the kind who shoot to kill. On her first day on the job, Pia's client is assassinated in front of her. There's no time for training, so Pia must trust her instincts and athletic skills to unravel the complicated maze of money laundering and piracy that will take her from Swiss mansions to the jungles of Cameroon. Her battle-hardened employees suspect she's just a spoiled rich girl with a mean corner kick. But Pia's got some unexpected moves of her own. Will they be enough to bring her team through its mission?

I don't remember exactly how this book made it into my e-book queue, but it was an unexpected find. Something about the Pia character reminded me of the Vanessa Michael Munroe character from Taylor Stevens' series. Perhaps it is the mysterious past, or the need to demonstrate her defense skills.  I felt that the soccer angle didn't really add anything to the plot overall.

This book has a good old-fashioned mystery at the core with modern day twists. If you are looking for a good read with mystery, intrigue and a touch of romance this book is for you.

CBR5 #9 The Perfume Collector by Kathleen Tessaro

An inheritance from a mysterious stranger . . .
An abandoned perfume shop on the Left Bank of Paris . . .
And three exquisite perfumes that hold a memory . . . and a secret

Read an ARC from Harper Collins

I'm a sucker for books set in Paris and a good mystery.  This book goes back and forth between 1955 and the 1920s weaving mystery, good times, scandals and romance with both Grace, the jaded housewife, and Eva, the mysterious muse.

While initially I was not impressed with the Grace character, she does manage to grow as a person by the end of the book. Plus she has a sweet romance with the French lawyer helping with the estate left to her. Eva has her own issues and is constantly trying to reinvent herself and run away from her past. The reader will be happy to see how the two characters intertwine and "connect" even though they never meet in person.

Tessaro's writing draws the reader in and captures the essence of both time periods and places (New York and Paris). I'm curious to see if previous books by Tessaro are able to capture the same whimsical nature that The Perfume Collector has.

CBR5 #8 The Doll by Taylor Stevens

Haunted by a life of violence and as proficient with languages as she is with knives, Vanessa Michael Munroe, chameleon and hunter, has built her life on a reputation for getting things done—dangerous and often not-quite-legal things. Born to missionary parents in lawless Africa, taken under the tutelage of gunrunners, and tortured by one of the jungle’s most brutal men, Munroe was forced to do whatever it took to stay alive.  The ability to survive, fight, adapt, and blend has since taken her across the globe on behalf of corporations, heads of state, and the few private clients who can afford her unique brand of expertise, and these abilities have made her enemies.  On a busy Dallas street, Munroe is kidnapped by an unseen opponent and thrust into an underground world where women and girls are merchandise and a shadowy figure known as The Doll Maker controls her every move. While trusted friends race to unravel where she is and why she was taken, everything pivots on one simple choice: Munroe must use her unique set of skills to deliver a high-profile young woman into the same nightmare that she once endured, or condemn to torture and certain death the one person she loves above all else. Driven by the violence that has made her what she is, cut off from help, and with attempts to escape predicted and prevented, Munroe will hunt for openings, for solutions, and a way to strike back at a man who holds all the cards. Because only one thing is certain: she cannot save everyone. 

read as a e-ARC via NetGalley

This book is the third in Taylor Stevens' Munroe character series.  I've been a huge fan of Stevens since I heard about her first book, The Informationist, back in 2011.  Her second book, The Innocent, continued to impress me and this third book did not let me down as well.

The character Vanessa Michael Munroe has been described as a female Michael Borne and Stevens continues to demonstrate that likeness in each of her books.  In the first book, the reader is intrigued by Munroe's past.  In the second book, the reader learns more about the decisions she had to make in order to survive let alone help others.  In this third book, the reader continues to see how past decisions have hurt and helped Munroe in her life. This third book also allows the reader to see how the few people Munroe allowed into her life are impacted when she is in danger.

Stevens continues to put the reader directly in the action as well as within the characters' minds. At the same time she exposes a real-world problem and situation in a creative way.  If you are looking for a good set of books for your beach reads this summer, I recommend picking up these 3 books from Taylor Stevens.

Check out this recent article where Stevens shared instances of real-life women who disguised themselves as men similar to the Munroe character.

CBR5 #7 The 500 by Matthew Quirk

Mike Ford is a former con artist who's been plucked from his Harvard Law School classroom to be an associate at The Davies Group, Washington's most high-powered and well-respected strategic consulting firm. Their specialty: pulling strings and peddling influence for the five hundred most powerful people inside the Beltway, the men and women who really run Washington -- and by extension the country, and the world. The namesake of the firm, Henry Davies, knows everyone who matters; more importantly, he knows their secrets. Davies' experience goes back 40 years -- he worked for Lyndon Johnson, jumped shipped to Nixon, then put out his own shingle as the Hill's most cut-throat and expensive fixer. Now he's looking for a protégé to tackle his most high-stakes deal yet, and Mike fits the bill. Quickly pulled into a seductive, dangerous web of power and corruption, Mike struggles to find his way out. But how do you save your soul when you've made a deal with the devil?

I found this book via Amazon's Kindle Deal of the Day.  Any book that deals with politics, intrigue and the DC metro area usually grabs my attention.  To me this book was 1 part Nicolle Wallace Washington politics with 1 part David Baldacci thriller.

I had a hard time putting this book down, but at the same time the plot seemed familiar.  If you are looking for a Washington thriller then this book is for you.  I was surprised by the ending, but in a way I kinda knew that was the way the book was going to end.

Read-A-Thon Day!

Today is the spring read-a-thon hosted over at Dewey's Read-a-Thon. You can also follow the action on Twitter as well. It is hard to believe that during the last read-a-thon, my girls were still gestating nicely. Time has flown by!

I'm going to do my best to read a bit, cheer on folks and possibly participate in some mini-challenges. We have a baby shower to go this afternoon, outside of watching our girls will distract me from the read-a-thon fun!  I will be updating this post throughout the day with my updates.

Hour 1 - my little ones woke up within 5 minutes of me posting initially.  So I gave them baths and got them dressed for the day.

Hour 2 - I am cheering on Team Tiger, so I spent some time going through the blogs from M-Z posting some commenting love.

Hour 3 - I spent some time cheering Team Tiger blogs from G-K and responding to some earlier comments as well.

Hour 4 - More cheering on readers and playing with my girls.

Hour 5 - Hour 11 - heading to a baby shower and will catch up with read-a-thon fun hopefully in hour 12.

Hour 12 - dinner and relaxing for a bit

Hour 13 & 14  - went through the rest of the Team Tiger blog list and cheered on more readers.  I might check out a mini-challenge, but I am fading as I have been up since 5:30 this morning.  Even though I didn't get any reading done today, I enjoyed cheering others on and seeing what they were reading.

Introductory Questions
1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
           DC Metro area
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
           I haven't even picked out a TBR stack (shocker!), but I might focus on reading some e-books
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
           I am very unprepared with read-a-thon snacks.  Whatever I have in the house will have to work
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
           I am a librarian and a mother of twin girls who just turned 6 month yesterday
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
          This read-a-thon is now my 5th or 6th one.  I am planning to participate as much as I can and encourage on other readers.

CBR5 #6 Faking It by Elisa Lorello

What happens when a writing professor and a male escort become friends? Thirty-four-year old professor Andi Cutrone has broken up with her fiance in Massachusetts, moved back to her native New York, and wants to be a better lover. So after meeting Devin, a handsome, charming escort, she proposes an unusual arrangement: lessons about writing in exchange for lessons about sex. When Devin accepts Andi's proposal, he draws up a contract in which the two are forbidden to see each other socially. There's just one problem: Andi also wants Devin. Faking It is a witty, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart-wrenching story about relationships, writing, and getting real

I'm not sure where I heard about this book, but it was the first book I read as my hour commute started up. Andi is a likeable character and the reader is immediately drawn into the proposal between her and Devin. I was glad to see that Lorello provided some depth to her characters.  This book is more than a normal romantic comedy/chick lit book.

Without giving away too much of how the book ends, I was glad to see that Lorello didn't take the traditional approach with her characters.  But there was a nice twist at the very end that definitely will keep the reader guessing.  This book is another good beach read.

CBR5 #5 The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett

What secrets lie behind the doors at Misselthwaite Manor? Recently arrived at her uncle's estate, orphaned Mary Lennox is spoiled, sickly, and certain she won't enjoy living there. Then she discovers the arched doorway into an overgrown garden, shut up since the death of her aunt ten years earlier. Mary soon begins transforming it into a thing of beauty--unaware that she is changing too.But Misselthwaite hides another secret, as mary discovers one night. High in a dark room, away from the rest of the house, lies her young cousin, Colin, who believes he is an incurable invalid, destined to die young. His tantrums are so frightful, no one can reason with him. If only, Mary hopes, she can get Colin to love the secret garden as much as she does, its magic will work wonders on him

March Book Club

This year my book club is reading selections from our Childhood.  In February, we started off with The Great Gatsby.  I don't remember reading The Secret Garden as a child, although I'm sure I did.  I was familiar with the story to know that multiple movies and a musical were made based on the book.

I found it hard to read the prose when Burnett used the Yorkshire speak and at times I ended up skimming the descriptive parts to find out what happened next to the characters.  During our book club we discussed how important to the growth of a child is adult guidance and attention. We also discussed if redemption should be given to Colin's father once he realized what he had been missing by not having a big relationship with Colin.

Reading this book as an adult, I focused on different things than if I had been reading this book as a child. But I feel like there is still a powerful message to take from the book whether reading it as an adult or as a child.