New Releases ~ week of 10/24/2016

A Christmas Tartan by Paige Shelton (#3 The Scottish Bookshop Mystery)

A Date at The Altar by Cathy Maxwell (#3 Marrying the Duke)
A Lowcountry Christmas by Mary Alice Monroe (#5 Lowcountry Summer)
A Murder of Crows by Jeanette Battista (#2 Books of Aerie)
A Night of Forever by Bronwen Evans (#6 Disgraced Lords)
A Stranger in Town by William W Johnstone, J A Johnstone (#2 Will Tanner)
A Vampire's Hunger by Carla Susan Smith (#4 Vampire's Promise)
A Wedding for Christmas by Lori Wilde (#7 Twilight Texas)
Baron by Joanna Shupe (#2 The Knickerbocker Club)
Beneath These Shadows by Meghan March (#6 Beneath)
Beware! Shadows in the Night by Lin Oliver (#3 Fantastic Frame)
Black Ice Burning by A. R. Kahler (#3 Pale Queen)
Bold by Mike Shepherd (#14 Kris Longknife)

Cast in Flight by Michelle Sagara (#12 The Chronicles of Elantra)
Christmas In Destiny by Toni Blake (#7 Destiny)
Concealed by Christina Bauer (#2 Beholder)
Dangling by a Thread by Lea Wait (#4 A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery)
Dark Rules by Susan Vaughan (#3 Dark Files)
Dying for Strawberries by Sharon Farrow (#1 A Berry Basket Mystery)
Eggnog Murder by Leslie Meier (#21.5 Lucy Stone Mysteries)
Empire Decayed by Daniel Kraus (#2 Death and Life of Zebulon Finch)
Family Sins by Sharon Sala (#1 Death Comes to Eden)
Feliz Navidead by Ann Myers (#3 Santa Fe Cafe Mystery series)
Fields Where They Lay by Timothy Hallinan (#6 Junior Bender)
Forever and For Always by Debra Clopton (#4 Windswept Bay)

Game of Vengeance by Amanda K.Byrne (#2 Game of Shadows)
Heated Pursuit by April Hunt (#1 Alpha Security)
Hell Bay by Will Thomas (#8 Barker and Llewelyn)
High Heat by Richard Castle (#8 Nikki Heat)
His Christmas Cowgirl by Alissa Callen (#6 Wildflower Ranch)
His Make-Believe Bride by Martha Hix (#1 Texan Brides)
Hold Me by Courtney Milan (#2 Cyclone)
If the Magic Fits by Susan Maupin Schmid (#1 100 Dresses)
Illusion by Martina Boone (#3 The Heirs of Watson Island)
Journey's End by Rachel Hawkins
Keepsakes by Sarina Bowen (#3 True North)
Kill Town by Cotton Smith (#2 Corrigan Brothers)

Lady Lost by Jane Goodger (#3 Lost Heiresses)
Lady of the House by E N Joy (#3 Forever Diva)
Like Fresh Fallen Snow by Tara Wyatt (#2 The Graysons)
Midnight Hour by C C Hunter (#6 Shadow Falls)
Mistletoe Cottage by Debbie Mason (#1 Harmony Harbor)
Night Watch by Iris Johansen (#4 Kendra Michaels)
Only You by Denise Grover Swank (#1 Bachelor Brotherhood)
Perfect Pleasures by Deborah Fletcher Mello (#2 Bad Boys of Boulder)
Poison Evidence by Rachel Grant (#7 Evidence)
Project Legion by Jeremy Robinson (#5 Kaiju)
Pull Me Close by Sidney Halston (#1 Panic)
Rundown by Rick Blechta (#3 Pratt & Ellis Mystery)
Ryan Quinn and the Rebel's Escape by Ron McGee (#1 Ryan Quinn)

Saddle Up For Murder by Leigh Hearon (#2 A Carson Stables Mystery)
Secrets in the Mist by Anna Lee Huber (#1 A Gothic Myths)
Send in the Clowns by Julie Mulhern (#4 The Country Club Murders)
Sex, Lies, and Serious Money by Stuart Woods (#39 Stone Barrington)
Sierra by Ray Anderson (#2 Awol Thriller)
Skin and Bone by Robin Blake (#4 Dark)
Spook Rock by Marianne Morea (#3 Legend)
Submission is Not Enough by Lexi Blake (#12 Masters and Mercenaries)
Taking Charge by Ruth Cardello (#4 Lone Star Burn)
Tempting the Earl by Rachael Miles (#3 The Muses's Salon)
The Black Orchid by Annis Bell (#2 Lady Jane Mystery)
The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks (#4 Lightbringer)

The Bound by K. A. Linde (#2 The Ascension)
The Crush by Heather Heyford (#1 Wine Country)
The Earl by Katharine Ashe (#2 Devil's Duke)
The Falls by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (#5 Diving Universe)
The Kinfolk by G A Morgan (#3 Five Stones Trilogy)
The Mapmaker's Apprentice by C. J. Archer (#2 Glass and Steele)
The Plague of Swords by Miles Cameron (#4 The Traitor Son Cycle)
The Rogue's Wager by Christi Caldwell (#1 Sinful Brides)
The Trouble with Mirrors by Charlotte Elkins, Aaron Elkins (#4 Alix London Mysteries)
The Whistler by John Grisham (#1 The Whistler)
Trigger Warning by Allan Leverone (#2 Jack Sheridan)
Vampire in Charge by Dale Mayer (#11 Family Blood Ties)
Warrior by Karen Lynch (#4 Relentless)
When Snowflakes Fall by Tara Wyatt (#1 The Graysons)
While the Duke Was Sleeping by Sophie Jordan (#1 Rogue Files)

Book Review ~ Blood Stains

Blood Stains (The Searchers #1)

By Sharon Sala
Published By Mira
received from: netGalley for review

Summary (Goodreads): At the reading of her father's will, Maria Slade receives shocking news—as a four-year-old, she'd witnessed her prostitute mother's murder and been taken into hiding by the well-meaning preacher who'd raised her as his own.

Maria remembers none of that. But now she's determined to flush her mother's killer out of hiding and discover the identity of her birth father. She heads to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she meets Detective Bodie Scott.

Empathizing with this beautiful woman looking to find out who she really is, he opens the decades-old case file. Their investigation leads them down a dangerous path, where no one is what they seem. Where a father does not want to be found. And a murderer has "like mother, like daughter" in mind for Maria.

My Thoughts: This series is about a set of sisters that find out they were each "adopted" under extreme circumstances and their journey to find out who they really are. This book is about Maria, who witnessed the murder of her mother but cannot remember anything from the time before she was brought to her family's ranch.

While some may not, I enjoyed the fact that it seemed to be more suspense than romance. You can tell there is something building between the Maria and Bodie but it seems to take a backseat to finding the murderer and getting Maria's memory back before it's too late.  Maria comes to town as this strong independent woman who has set a goal and isn't going to let anything get in her way except when she had breakdowns (fear of storms) so Bodie could "save the day". I found Bodie to be your typical cowboy cop. There was nothing wrong with this but nothing special either. Since there was nothing about either of these characters that really made them stand out for me I focused more on the story.

Since we knew who the killer was throughout the story, this was more about would the good guys figure it out in time or would the killer get his way. 

Overall an enjoyable easy read that left enough for me to want to find out what happens with the other two sisters. 

Rating: 3.5