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Do No Evil by Kymberly Goltermann & Ashley Goltermann

Do No Evil, See No Evil, Hear No Evil are a the creepy warning notes left with dead bodies in Do No Evil: An Artemis Agency Novel by Kymberly Goltermann & Ashley Goltermann. Phineas feels like she has truly hit rock bottom, after being listed as one of the top up-and-coming defense attorney’s in Los Angeles Phineas finds herself back in her home town, broke with a failed relationship and a failed law practice. Then the unthinkable happens, her sister Phoebe, the eldest and more responsible of the siblings, is left at the alter by her fiancé.  After several bottles of wine, the two sisters decide to leave their old lives behind them and open up private investigator office together.

In the bright light of day and sobriety, the sisters decide that this could work, but just as they start to get things set up, a dead body appears in their office with clues left by the killer.  As the bodies start piling up and the clock is ticking, the sisters find themselves suspects by the police and in fear that they may be the next victim.

I loved the relationship between the sisters, both were so different from each other, driving each other nuts and yet they truly loved each other and were there for each other (okay, I feel like I say this a lot in reviews but I really do like good sister relationships because that is what I have with my three sisters).  The novel is written in first person with each chapter switching between the sisters so you get truly get a feel for each sister, however, I did find myself  having to stop a couple of times and remind myself which sister was speaking.  Each sister has a dog and one of my favorite scenes of the book is when Phoebe leaves her new poodle with her grandmother, only to find that the grandmother has dyed her dog a bright color when she was left only with it.  The sisters are witty, I LOVE the grandma, admit I wanted to jump Officer Rudo myself by the end of the story, the title “Officer Yummy” is very fitting. The novel does swear a bit and uses the “F” word several times, just be aware.

Rating:

Title: Do No Evil: An Artemis Agency Novel

Author: Kymberly Goltermann & Ashley Goltermann

Format: Paperback

Page Nos.: 222

ISBN: 1432751506

Publisher: Outskirts Press

Release Date: April 2010

Reviewer: Jessica

**I received a copy of this book from the authors but was not required to provide a review and it did not impact my review in any way.

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In Times Like These by Emilie Loring

In times of great National Security, sometimes everyday individuals are called upon to put their relationships and lives on the line.  In Times Like These by Emily Loring, Page and Vance as so asked as this novel takes place post WWII, during the space race and cold war in America.  Page Wilburn, after suffering the loss of both parents, her father’s reputation, all the wealth her parents had accumulated and her fiancé because of the loss of wealth, has retreated from living and hides behind shapeless mourning clothes and dark glasses.

When Page is approached by her boss to pose as the fiancée of Vance Cooper, one of the heads of the company and the man in charge of a project of great National Security, Page decides to accept this chance to get out and live a little, never realizing that her life and heart would end up on the line.

Vance has his doubts that the mousy woman presented to him by his boss can be convincing as his fiancée and succeed in fooling the woman he suspects is a traitor that they are really in love.  When Page accidentally receives a mysterious jade pendant as a gift after being followed, both her and Vance must pull together to save their country and their very lives.

I grew up reading Emilie Loring and love her books! In Times Like These is my favorite, Page’s attitude of forgiveness and willingness to take a chance at living after suffering all the loss is inspiring.  Vance is your typical good looking corporate head with a soft spot for his family, what is not to love about that?! As their sham engagement becomes more real and Page ends up in great danger, they have to pull together to protect each other and the country.  Everytime I read an Emilie Loring I am reminded of the great patriotism that existed and continue to exists in the hearts of Americans.  She had a way of inspiring me to want to be a better person, a happier person after reading her books. If you are in need of a little lift, pick up one of her books and enjoy!

Rating:

Title: In Times Like These

Author: Emilie Loring

Format: Hardbound

Page Nos.: 248

ISBN: 0884113566

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

Release Date: June 1976

Available for purchase: Amazon.com

Reviewer: Jessica

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Author Visit and Giveaway by Laura Fabiani

I am super excited to welcome author Laura Fabiani to NovelReaction.com on April 19th. Before Laura comes to visit with us, I thought I would let you all get to know her a little better.  Laura Fabiani holds a degree in Special Care Counseling and has worked as a psychiatric child counselor and as a special education technician at various institutions.  She launched NouveauWriter, an online resource for new and aspiring writers.  It covers topics on writing, English grammar, vocabulary building and publishing and marketing.  She also reviews books at Library of Clean Reads.  She owns a translation business, mainly translating medical documents from French to English.  She currently teaches Creative Writing Workshops in English and French.  She lives with her two children in Montreal, Quebec.  You can visit her at Laura Fabiani.

I will posting my review of her book, Daughter of Mine, on Thursday so make sure you stop by for a visit.  In celebration of Laura’s visit, I have a copy of her book for one lucky reader.  The novel takes place in Italy, which is a place that I have always wanted to visit and which Laura does a fantastic job of describing.  In order to be entered to win the book, leave a comment telling me your dream location. The contest ends Monday, April 19th at midnight.

Laura is involved in a blog tour and you can find her at the following places:

April 10 – Book Reviews by Buuklvr81(Review)
April 11 – Just Short of Crazy (Review)
April 12 – Novel Reaction (Interview and Giveaway)
April 13 – Writers and Authors (Interview)
April 14 – As The Romans Do It (Review)
April 15 – Novel Reaction (Review)
April 17 – Fearless Reading (Review and Giveaway)
– Starting Over (Review)
April 18 – Enchanted by Josephine (Review and Giveaway)
Kaylee Baldwin Blogspot (Review)
April 19 – Why Not, Because I Said So (Guest Post)
Novel Reaction (Guest Post)
April 20 – Journey Through Books (Review)
– Enchanted by Josephine (Guest Post)
April 21 – LDS Women’s Review Blog (Review)
April 22 – Writers and Authors (Review)
April 23 – Just One More Paragraph (Review and Giveaway)
April 24 – Steph The Bookworm (Review)
April 25 – BermudaOnion (Review)
April 26 – Steph The Bookworm (Interview)

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Tales from the Treasure Trove Volume I

Tales From the Treasure Trove, Volume I, A Jewels of the Quill Anthology. “Jaded” {reincarnation romance} by Barbara Raffin (Dame Jade), “Sex with the Man in the Moon” {romantic suspense} by Christine DeSmet (Dame Moonstone), “The Ruby Kiss” {contemporary vampire romance} by Jaye Roycraft (Dame Ruby), “The Amethyst Angel” {traditional romance} by Karen Wiesner (Dame Amethyst), “Peridot Moon” {futuristic romance} by Julie Skerven (Dame Peridot), “Emerald” {contemporary fiction} by Debbie Fritter (Dame Emerald), “Diamond Magee” {contemporary romance} by Sherry Derr-Wille (Dame Diamond), “The Topaz Locket” {paranormal romance} by Carrie S. Masek (Dame Topaz), “The Best Kind of Opals” {western romance} by Alice Blue (Dame Opal), “Bloodstone Cure” {paranormal romance} by Cassie Walder (Dame Bloodstone), “Garnet’s Light” {romantic suspense} by Liz Hunter (Dame Garnet), “The Turquoise Mask” {paranormal romance} by Jane Toombs (Dame Turquoise).

I have to admit this review has been a challenge for me to write.  Most anthologies that I read have some kind of reoccurring theme that keeps the author’s story type similar, such as all ‘It happened at Midnight’ or ‘One Dance’ but this collection’s theme is gemstones, which gave the authors free reign to write whatever the wanted, and they did. I personally have a love/hate relationship with short story collections.  I love them because I get a chance to read new authors without the time investment of a full novel, nothing is worse than getting to the middle of a book and realizing that you dislike it. However,  I hate anthologies because when you find a great story with great characters, your time with them is over way too soon. Also, sometimes I don’t like the stories.

This book has something for everyone, and I mean everyone. The collection includes a western, paranormal futuristic, reincarnation, contemporary traditional, and others.  Obviously I can’t write a review of all the stories because it would make this posting huge so I have just mentioned a few.

The first story, Jaded, is set in contemporary times with ghost that appears to the heroine. This was a story that I would have liked to see longer, the minor characters staying at the boarding house were entertaining and I would have liked to see more of them.  It was a good story but felt a little rushed, it could have been longer and better developed.

The Best Kinds of Opal is a western with three brothers who travel from back East to the West in pursuit of opals for their parent’s jewelry shop.  Upon arriving to the western city they engage in a fist fight with some locals, who they then become buddies with.  (There is no understanding men.) The buddies convince them to go fishing with them and the buddies bring along their sisters and cousins, who all happen to have the word ‘Opal’ in their name.  The brothers start to suspect they have been set up by their parents but by this time they don’t really care because they have started to like the girls. The buddies were funny and I giggled several times while reading the story.

The Amethyst Angel, is a bit of a heart-jerker.  The heroine is a doctor who works at a hospital that specializes in children who have terminal diseases.  You get to know one of the small boys who is a patient there and see they way he impacts the doctor’s life for the better before he loses his battle with cancer.

It was a good read with a good glimpse of a bunch of different authors. It was interesting to read how each of the authors was able to incorporate a gemstone in each of the stories.  I have to admit I giggled when I read the name of the girls as being Opal as I was expecting an Opal mine with the story being set in the wild west.  Just be aware that most of the stories rate as a 5 is graphic detail. This review is also posted on Classic Romance Revival.

ISBN:1-59374-373-4

Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press

Released: March 2005

Page Length:366

Type: eBook

Rating: 5

[amazon-product]1593743726[/amazon-product]