# Books Recommended by Our Members (June 2012)



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

For the list of recommendations in May 2012, look here:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,112867.0.html

If you are an author or publisher, please do not 'recommend' your own books. Instead you may start a discussion/promotion thread in the Book Bazaar.

Generally, this thread is for quick recommendations. You know, you're sitting with a friend at dinner and you say, "Hey, I just finished this book and I think you would love it!" That kind of thing.

If you've got a book review or other site and would like to regularly share reviews with us, we invite you to start a thread in the Book Bazaar for your site and periodically post links to reviews, subject to our posting rules for authors and bloggers.

Also, please use generic links, or, even better, the Link-Maker to make KindleBoards affiliate links. But please do not link through another site.

Please see Forum Decorum for guidelines.

Betsy & Ann
KB Moderators


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

A nice short story by Iris Johansen. The story introduces a character, Kendra Michaels, who will be featured in Johansen's next novel. With Open Eyes


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## wavsite (Nov 12, 2008)

John Scalzi's Resdhirts just came out yesterday, and I could barely put it down at the end of my lunch break at work. I HAD to finish it last night (it's a quick read, no worries there). I laughed, I teared up a little, I shouted "WHAT!!??!?". My husband is definitely intrigued, heh. He's planning on reading it this weekend.



If you want to try before you buy, the first 4 chapters + prologue are available (web page text) on Tor's website: Redshirts excerpt

Amazon has them for free in Kindle-version here: Redshirts: Chapters 1-4


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## djgross (May 24, 2011)

I've read two books back to back that were great...



If you like suspense, I highly recommend this book. A spectacularly twisty plot 



A mature YA romance (the protagonist is a sophomore in college) that also addresses rape/violence against women in a direct, compassionate manner. $3.99 Kindle.


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Almost done with my first Nicholas Sparks' novel, _The Rescue_. Great opening, middle got a little slow and predictable, then about 2/3 in it takes an unexpected turn and I'm having a hard time putting it down:



Before that, I read _Blind Your Ponies_ by Stanley Gordon West. Long and with a lot of play-by-play basketball games thrown in, but if you like a small-town story with a large cast and a very heartwarming story, it's an enjoyable read:



Also want to mention a debut novel, _Chasing Kate_, by Kelly Byrne. About a young woman who's managed to screw up her life in a dozen different ways and finds redemption in an unlikely friend who leads her to face her past:


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## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> Almost done with my first Nicholas Sparks' novel, _The Rescue_. Great opening, middle got a little slow and predictable, then about 2/3 in it takes an unexpected turn and I'm having a hard time putting it down:


I loved THE RESCUE. Read it way before he got famous. Nice how it doesn't fit his usual formula.


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## raevanswrites (Sep 22, 2011)

I just started CURE by Belinda Frisch last night and I am hooked. It's equal parts medical thriller and horror with a healthy does of the undead.


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## C_Routon (Jun 7, 2012)

I found Dana Stabenow's book A Cold Day for Murder (Kate Shugak #1) when looking for free Kindle books. I was hooked not just by the story (Former FBI agent living in Alaska, gets roped back into working for FBI to find missing agent), but by her prologue about finding out the book had won an Edgar award.

I also kept reading through the excerpt for book 2 that was included in the back and it immediately sucked me in as well. It's next on my wish list to buy.

Christina


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## joanhallhovey (Nov 7, 2010)

http://www.amazon.com/Essentially-Yours-ebook/dp/B007KPBBP6/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AZC9TZ4UC9CFC&qid=1339093204&sr=8-1



ESSENTIALLY YOURS
A Tall Pines Mystery
By Aaron Paul Lazar

Review by Joan Hall Hovey

Marcella's first love, Sky Hollister, has been missing for eighteen years and believed dead. But suddenly Marcella's best friend Callie, an agoraphobic owing to a past trauma that will come back to haunt her, receives evidence that her brother might still be alive. The evidence includes a bag of emeralds and a memory stick for which they have no password and several little brown bottles with colorful labels that hold precious oils.

Even though she is now married, Marcella's emotions overwhelm her as she struggles with old feelings. Will Sky be the same boy she remembered, so exciting and handsome and passionate? Or have the years in the Iraq war and God knows what else over all this time, hardened him? Would she be able to resist him? Did she even want to?
When her husband, Quinn, a half-Seneca Indian hears about the evidence indicating Sky is alive, he is driven to jealousy at thoughts of Sky Hollister returning to destroy what he and Marcella has built over seven years of marriage. No way will he allow that to happen.

But Sky's life is in peril and then Callie goes missing and Quinn puts his fears on the back burner and joins in the rescue mission for Sky and Callie, before they are killed. At last, Callie's psychically gifted Bernese Mountain dog, Beau find Sky hiding in the woods. But Callie is still missing. And their own lives are threatened.

The chase through the Adirondack Mountains is heart stopping and deadly, but it's only the beginning of their nightmare as together they try to find and rescue Callie. There are mysteries upon mysteries in this novel. Essentially Yours is a non-stop thriller, but more than that, it's a love story, filled with sensuality. I say sensuality rather than blatant sexuality because that's the kind of writer Lazar is. Made me want to get those essential oils for myself. There is a gorgeous scene of Marcella and her lover (I won't tell you which lover) in the water that I promise you'll not easily forget. 
Aaron Paul Lazar's novel Essentially Yours will keep you feverishly turning pages not only to find out what happens next, but to bathe in the sensuality of his vivid descriptions that draw you into his story and keep you there through all the excitement and fear and romance. There is a higher purpose in Sky's determination to save the data on the memory stick. But the bad guys are more than that; they are evil and will stop at nothing to satisfy the demands of their bosses, a rogue wing of FBI. 
I highly recommend Essentially Yours, a story that will stay with you long after the final sentence.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Three superb short stories from Esquire Magazine: You and Me and the Devil Makes Three: Esquire's Fiction for Men



Don't be put off by the title - women would enjoy these stories, too.


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## Steven Stickler (Feb 1, 2012)

I heard so many great things about this one I bought it for my son. Then I heard more great things so I read it myself.

All those things people said? They were true. A gem of a book. "Officially" for kids, but...


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

A captivating novel involving time travel and the Titanic: A Matter of Time


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

A nice short story about a mysterious Gate - no one knows what happens when you enter it, since no one who did ever returns. Ingress: A Tale of Ranoa


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## MariaJohansson (Jun 11, 2012)

I loved the two parts already out on the Novella Series _Nordic Fairies_ by Saga Berg and would really recommend them to anyone who likes a well written YA Romance with a fresh new theme. I for one can't wait for the third one to be released. The first part is free on Amazon right now.









http://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Fairies-Series-ebook/dp/B006W90W38/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339404124&sr=8-1









http://www.amazon.com/Freja-Nordic-Fairies-Series-ebook/dp/B0083GJGE4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1339404124&sr=8-2

_Short description_
What would you do if your lover since a thousand years back in time reappeared after two years apart as a famous movie star, and you couldn't get to him?

Svala and Viggo have spent a hundred lives together over the last thousand years. As Liosálfar, Nordic light fairies, their job is to do good and to uphold a balance in the mortal world. A balance, often compromised by the Döckálfar, Nordic dark fairies.

In this life, Svala turns on her TV and learns that Viggo has become a popular movie star. This is not only highly unexpected, it indicates something is wrong and that Viggo is attempting to contact Svala before their assignments are carried out, an action which is strictly forbidden.

Svala seeks him out, but not without breaking a few rules of her own, and learning that things are not always as they seem.


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## Alpha72 (May 9, 2012)

After reading Heldenhammer and with the new Ice Age movie looking like a retelling of the Odyssey, I felt like something ancient. I tried this one and really enjoyed it. (I ended up reading it over about five days.)


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## Holly Bush (Feb 11, 2012)

*Dark Angel/Lord Carew's Bride by Mary Balogh*

Two young women go to London for their first season. Jennifer Winwood, long engaged to a man she barely knows but trusts implicitly and her younger cousin, Samantha Newman, fresh-faced and naive.

In Dark Angel, Winwood is in love with her betrothed Lionel Kersey but has spent little time in his company, content to nurture her love with daydreams of married life. Arrive on the scene, the Earl of Thornhill, out to avenge a dastardly wrong that Kersey has committed against someone under the Earl's protection. A glove to the face would be too simple and a duel too quick to satisfy Thornhill's need for revenge. What better way to punish Kersey, than to seduce his innocent country bride? But Kersey does not stand by idly, Jennifer is threatened by the truth and Samantha, the caring and supportive cousin, is hurt in the process.

Lord Carew's Bride flashes forward five years to Samantha , still feeling the effects of a betrayal at a young age and unable to shake the feeling that love is cruel and deep emotions treacherous. She meets a neighbor, a gardener with a crippled leg and hand, at a country home she is staying at, and feels happier and more comfortable with him than with anyone else of her acquaintance. The crippled gardener, Lord Carew, is mesmerized by Samantha's beauty and kindness and does nothing to hide the fact that he is infatuated with her. But Lionel Kersey returns after a lengthy stay on the continent to wreak havoc with his cousin, Lord Carew and with Samantha, who he claims a history.

The thing I like the most about Balogh's books is that her characters are real. They make real mistakes, feel real emotions and are hurt and love in tangible ways. These heroes and heroines have conflicts and inner turmoil and doubts. When they triumph, it is easy for the reader to feel their joy. I'm not sure how she does it, but for Balogh readers, it is what brings us back to her stories again and again.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Bad Luck Officer by Suzie Ivy. This was a superb follow-up to Ms. Ivy's first book, Bad Luck Cadet. Both books are the author's accounts of her experiences as a middle-age woman who decided to become a police officer - this is her own memoir, and it's a fascinating true story.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

A new Kindle Single by Steve Anderson: Double-Edged Sword (Kindle Single). This is a great true story of World War II espionage.


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## nigel p bird (Feb 4, 2011)

I really enjoyed (and reviewed) the collection Quintessence Of Dust by Craig Wallworth. Though I enjoyed the whole thing, I particularly loved the 2 opening stories.

Here's the link to the page with the paperback and free download at Smashwords - http://kuboapress.wordpress.com/current-titles-2/

nigel


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## Cheryl B. Dale (Jan 6, 2012)

I just finished Comedy of Terrors by Graeme Smith. It's a comic fantasy with a queen, dragon, and an idiot. Actually, the Queen's Idiot, who takes the blame for whatever mishaps occur so that the kingdom can keep the peace. Anyone who likes the humorous fantasy of Robert Asprin or Piers Anthony will enjoy it.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Gain Health, Lose Weight by Felicity Garver. Short, very interesting book about smart eating practices. It's a free download today (Saturday).


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## Mendeleus (Jun 24, 2012)

i have read a book witch was i think very funny but not quite intelligent,thought i wasn't really expecting it too be very intelligent.
There are 2 parts of this book and i've only read the first part (cause it was free for me) so i can review only the first part.So the first part was funny,even if i think that some pictures need to be rescaled, we can see them just fine it's not the problem but when it's really hilarious i'd like too see it on the entire screen.There is a lot of human stupidity and absurd that makes it funny but i advice that i would give to the author is to add a story and not just a panorama of pictures.    http://www.amazon.com/Funniest-real-warning-signs-ebook/dp/B008DIZ7E0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1340554122&sr=8-3&keywords=Funniest+real+warning+signs
i don't know how to get it's picture and past it here so i'm giving you the link directly, and sorry for my english i'm french but i like reading in english. http://www.amazon.com/Funniest-real-warning-signs-ebook/dp/B008D27078/ref=sr_1_234?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340554686&sr=1-234
no wait here i've got a picture :


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## Bill44 (May 25, 2012)

C_Routon said:


> I found Dana Stabenow's book A Cold Day for Murder (Kate Shugak #1) when looking for free Kindle books. I was hooked not just by the story (Former FBI agent living in Alaska, gets roped back into working for FBI to find missing agent), but by her prologue about finding out the book had won an Edgar award.
> 
> I also kept reading through the excerpt for book 2 that was included in the back and it immediately sucked me in as well. It's next on my wish list to buy.
> 
> Christina


Thanks Christina. On reading your post I grabbed a copy myself and I'm enjoying it very much.


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## Beth Dolgner (Nov 11, 2011)

I recently read Jodi McIsaac's debut novel, Through the Door (The Thin Veil). It's a modern-day fantasy with Celtic mythology. I thoroughly enjoyed it: engaging story, intelligently written, and well-edited.


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## RowanTeraeus (Jun 19, 2012)

I love this thread!


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## seanjoyce (Jun 1, 2012)

_True History of the Kelly Gang_ by Peter Carey. It's a well known book these days, but if you haven't read it then check it out. The narrative voice is fascinating, in that it's written by a poorly educated man, yet also manages to be very poetic. I also heard from the writer himself recently that someone is in the process of making the movie version.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

Everyone's Reading Bastard (Kindle Single) by Nick Hornby. A (painfully) funny story of just how bad the aftermath of a divorce can be.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

The Big Book Of Power Juices: The Ultimate Guide to Detoxification, Cleansing,Weight Loss, Lower Blood Pressure, Asthma-Busting, Alleviate Diabetes and Anti- Aging Process Power Juice Recipes

The title is a mouthful, but it's a good book if you're interested in juicing.


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