Weekly Finds: 5/15/10

Mothers and Other Liars by Amy Bourret (received from librarything early reviewers)

From the back of the book:  As a runaway teen, Ruby Leander could have never imagined the path that would lead her to an abandoned baby.  Fast forward nine years:  Ruby and Lark have made a home for themselves in New Mexico with their wonderful community of friends - life is perfect.  Until that one fateful day when Ruby learns the truth about her daughter's past.  A truth that will change both of their lives, forever.


Embellish by R. L Sloan (won from Miss Remmer's Review)

From the back of the book:  Revenge has never tasted so sweet...

As a young girl, Solis Burkes is raped at the hands of ruthless school bullies - an incident that haunts her into adulthood.  Then she meets Nacio, a strikingly handsome man who seems to know everything about her - including the painful past Solis hasn't told anyone about.  But what Solis doesn't know is that Nacio has been with her every step of the way, protecting her ever since that fateful episode.

It's a destiny he's been working up to for the last 257 years.

Now, as Solis enters a dark world of vampires, voodoo, and passion, she'll need all the protection she can get.  Unbeknownst to her, those responsible for Solis's rape have returned.  Connected to the evil voodoo Priestess Aldicia, they'll stop at nothing in their plans to spew violence and mayhem throughout the city.  And an old family feud dating back centuries puts Solis first on their list of targets.  But not if Solis can unravel the clues fast enough, and inflict her own brand of revenge...

I Thought You Were Dead by Pete Nelson (won from Bookin With Bingo)

From the inside cover:  For Paul Gustavson, a hack writer for the wildly popular For Morons series, life is a succession of obstacles, a minefield of mistakes to stumble through.  His wife has left him, he father has suffered a debilitating stroke, his girlfriend is dating another man, he has impotency issues, and his overachieving brother has invested his parents' money in stocks that tanked.  Still, Paul has his friends at Bay State bar, a steady line of cocktails, a new pair of running shoes, and Stella.  Beautiful Stella.  With long sleek legs, kind eyes, lustrous blond hair.  Their relationship is the one true bright spot in his world.  She offers him sage advice on virtually every topic.  And she only wets herself every once in a while.

Stella is Paul's dog, and she listens with compassion to all his complaints about the injustice of life and gives him better counsel than any human could.  In fact, she seems to know Paul better than he knows himself.  It's their relationship that is at the heart of I Thought You Were Dead, a poignantly funny and deeply moving story about a man trying to fix his past in order to save his future, and about a dog who understands just what it means to be man's best friend.

Gentleman Captain by J.D. Davies (netgalley review ebook)

Electronic description:  The year 1662:  Restoration England, Cromwell is dead, and King Charles II has reclaimed the throne after years of civil war.  It is a time of divided allegiances, intrigue, and outright treachery.  With rebellion stirring in the Scottish Isles, the hard-pressed sovereign needs officers he can trust to sail north and defuse this new threat.

Matthew Quinton is such a man - the second son of a noble royalist family, he is loyal, if inexperienced.  Having sunk the first ship he commanded off the coast of Ireland, Matthew is determined to complete his second mission without loss of life or honor.  But aboard His Majesty's ship the Jupiter the young "gentleman captain" is faced with a resentful crew and has but a few on whom he can rely:  Kit Farrell, an illiterate commoner with vast seafaring experience, and Phineas Musk, a roguish but steadfast family retainer.  As they approach the wild coast of Scotland, Matthew begins to learn the ropes and win the respect of his fellow officers and sailors.

But he has other worries on this crucial mission:  a suspicion that the previous captain of the Jupiter was murdered, a feeling that several among his crew have something to hide, and a growing conviction that betrayal lies closer to home than he had thought.

The Woman Who Named God: Abraham's Dilemma and the Birth of Three Faiths by Charlotte Gordon (netgalley review ebook)

From the electronic description:  The saga of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar is the tale of origin for all three monotheistic faiths.  Abraham must choose between two wifes who have borne him two sons.  One wife and son will share his wealth and status, while the other two are exiled into the desert.  Long a cornerstone of Western anxiety, the story chronicles a very famous and troubled family, and sheds light on the ongoing conflict between the Judeo-Christian and Islamic worlds.

How did this ancient story become one of the least understood and most frequently misinterpreted of our cultural myths?  Gordon explores this legendary love triangle to give us a startling perspective on three biblical characters who - with their jealousies, passions, and doubts - actually behave life human beings.

Karma Bites by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas (netgalley review ebook)

From the electronic description:  Life seems to have it in for Franny Flanders.

Her best friends aren't speaking, her parents just divorced, and her hippie grandmother has moved in.  The only karma Franny's got is bad karma.

Then Franny gets her hands on a box of magic recipes that could fix all of her problems.  It could even change the world!  Finally, life is looking up.

But Franny is about to learn that magic and karma aren't to be played with.  When you mess with the universe, it can bite back in unexpected ways.

Ouch!

The Raven Saint (Charles Towne Belles) by Marylu Tyndall (netgalley review ebook)

From the electronic description:  Join bestselling author M.L. Tyndall for another seafaring historical full of romance, intrigue, action, and adventure.  Grace Westcott has piously served God her whole life.  Captain Rafe Dubois cannot pass up on the opportunity to earn more gold toward the hospital he's building for the poor by kidnapping Admiral Westcott's youngest daughter.  But when the missionary and the mercenary meet, it's full-sail-ahead into tumultuous waters!  Find out what happens when a bitter mercenary who's sworn off God falls in love with a pious woman determined to change him.