It's a bumper crop of books in August!

The scorching hot days of June gave way to very mild and pleasant days in July (what a switch!). Add to that regular rainfalls and my veggie garden is growing by leaps and bounds. Instead of doing a lot of reading in July, I was busy picking produce and then canning tomatoes, green beans and pickle relish, as well as freezing a lot of sweet corn. Yes, I’m a country girl married to a country boy, living in the country (but not too far from the city), so we don’t mind (too much!) the hard work involved, especially when it means such wonderful food to enjoy in the winter.

I did make time to read several books for reviewing purposes, but nothing from my TBR shelves, so no personal recommendations this time. However, there are a lot of great books coming out this month, so here’s a sample of some to watch for:

August 4, 2009:

The hilarious antics of Bobbie Faye continue in Toni McGee Causey’s WHEN A MAN LOVES A WEAPON (St. Martin’s). Don’t count on the third time being the charm for this Cajun babe, who’s now officially engaged to hot FBI agent Trevor. Things are just peachy until he’s called away on an urgent assignment. Then the murderer Bobbie Faye helped put behind bars escapes – and he’s out for revenge. Unable to contact Trevor, Bobbie Faye turns to detective (and ex-boyfriend) Cam to protect her. Of course, Cam is more than willing, but is it safe? The first two books in this delightful series were reissued in mass market by St. Martin’s in June 2009 with new titles. CHARMED & DANGEROUS (aka Bobbie Faye’s Very (very, very, very) Bad Day, St. Martin’s trade, 5/07) went on sale June 2, 2009, while GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE GUNS (aka Bobbie Faye’s (kinda, sorta, not exactly) Family Jewels, St. Martin’s trade, 5/08) was released June 30, 2009. To get the full Bobbie Faye experience, you really should read the first two books in the series and then this new one. Enjoy! I know I did.

LARCENY AND LACE (Berkley Prime Crime) by Annette Blair is the latest Vintage Magic mystery to feature a clothing store owner who solves crimes based on the visions she receives from the antique items in her shop. Madeira Cutler is busy opening her new vintage clothing store in what was once the town’s morgue when she discovers an intruder snooping around a bunch of bones in a body drawer. Now, she’ll have to dig up more than the past to solve a crime.

Linda Ladd’s fourth thriller to feature detective Claire Morgan is ENTER EVIL (Pinnacle). Though his doctors were the best and his father was a powerful man, they couldn't stop Mikey from succumbing to the dark demons inside his head. The ones who told him it was time to end it all. It should have been an open-and- shut case, especially since detective Claire Morgan's lover, Dr. Nicholas Black, recognized Mikey as a former troubled patient. Then Claire finds another body in Mikey's home. Claire's only lead is a bracelet around each victim's wrist. Now she’s trapped in a mind game with a brilliant, sadistic killer.

LOVES ME, LOVES ME KNOT (St. Martin’s) is the second book in Heidi Betts’ fun and sassy Chicks with Sticks knitting romance trilogy. Just because Jenna’s marriage to undercover vice cop Gage ended badly doesn’t mean he can’t still give her what she wants most – a baby. As she tells her best friends after their weekly knitting group, she doesn’t need a man – just a few of his best swimmers. But will Gage agree?

STORM OF VISIONS (Signet) by Christina Dodd is the first book in a new back-to-back series called the Chosen Ones, a seductive spin-off to her popular four-book Darkness Chosen series. An ancient rivalry resides in the world today. When the world was young, twins were born. One brought light and goodness; the other brought danger and darkness. They gathered others around them destined to use their gifts for good or evil. Today, they walk the earth as the Chosen Ones…and the ultimate battle is about to begin. Watch for the second book, STORM OF SHADOWS (Signet) to be released September 1, 2009.

Magic, knitting and love abound in LACED WITH MAGIC (Berkley trade) by Barbara Bretton, the charming sequel to Casting Spells (Berkley trade, 11/08). Knit shop owner and sorcerer’s daughter Chloe Hobbs felt the Fates finally got it right when she met Luke MacKenzie. And no one could have convinced her otherwise – not the trolls, selkies or spirits who also call Sugar Maple, Vermont, home. But then out of nowhere, Luke’s ex-wife shows up, claiming to see the spirit of their daughter, Steffie – a daughter Chloe knows nothing about. If Chloe weaves a spell to free Steffie’s spirit, she will also free her nemesis, a Fae leader set on destroying Chloe’s yarn shop and all of Sugar Maple. But if she doesn’t, Steffie will spend eternity in hell – and Chloe will join her, cursed with a broken heart.

The fourth installment in Joey W. Hill’s erotic Vampire Queen series, BELOVED VAMPIRE (Berkley Heat), tells of Lord Mason, who’s lived in the Sahara desert for 300 years grieving for a lost love and guarding her tomb. When the tomb is breached, his bloodlust is stirred to raging. What he finds is Jessica, a fugitive from his own world and the forced second-mark servant of a cruel vampire master. Drawn by the historic legend of the tomb, not knowing how it intertwines with the vampire world she is seeking to avoid, Jessica’s only desire is to die there, with her hand on the sarcophagus of the woman who’d had an unyielding faith in love. Instead, Jessica finds her desire to live forcibly reawakened by the vampire who refuses to let her give up.

Nina Bruhns breaks away from category romance with the debut of her single-title release SHOOT TO THRILL (Berkley Sensation). This first book in her Passion For Danger series promises to be an exciting romantic adventure. A disillusioned black-ops hero is kidnapped by his ruthless former employers and forced to go on a suicide mission back to the scene of his worst betrayal – but an innocent woman is caught in the trap and sent with him, forcing him to choose: her life or his vengeance. Watch for the second book in the series, IF LOOKS COULD CHILL (Berkley Sensation), set for release in December 2009, when a kick-ass Yankee cop and her special-ops Cajun guide search the Louisiana swamp for a deadly virus, but succumb to a fever of a very different sort.

THE PATH OF RAZORS (Ace trade) is book five in Chris Marie Green’s Vampire Babylon series. From London to LA, stuntwoman-turned-vampire-hunter Dawn Madison’s job hasn’t changed – find the local vampire Underground and wipe it out. She and her team locate the vamps’ lair at a private girls’ school and have the undead on the run. But the vicious pack’s greatest threat may be from within its own ranks. As unrest rocks the Underground, Dawn begins to fall prey to her own dark desires.

In the seventh Diana Fallon Forensic Investigation book, DUST TO DUST (Obsidian) by Beverly Connor, a woman dies under suspicious circumstances, supposedly after finding evidence of her imprisoned brother’s innocence. Diane’s friend, former FBI agent Ross Kingsley, seeks her help in the investigation. Now to prove a possible murder, Diane must delve into the victim’s family secrets – and the many skeletons in her closet.

SKYKEEPERS (Signet Eclipse) is book three in Jessica Andersen’s intriguing Final Prophecy series, following Nightkeepers (Signet Eclipse, 6/08) and Dawnkeepers (Signet Eclipse, 1/09). In this series based around the Mayan doomsday prophecy, a group of magic- wielding warrior heroes are set to fight the demon creatures of the underworld to prevent annihilation. When prominent Mayanist Ambrose Ledbetter goes missing, his daughter Sasha tracks his remains to an ancient temple where she’s kidnapped. Michael Stone rescues Sasha and feels an instant attraction. But he doesn’t dare give in, with his dark side growing stronger and the powers of sorcery on the rise. In order to change their worlds, Michael and Sasha will both have to admit to the passion they share.

PI Lincoln Perry returns for another thrilling investigation in THE SILENT HOUR (Minotaur hardcover) by Michael Koryta. When Alexandra Sanabria, the daughter of a deceased Mafia don, opened Whisper Ridge in 1992, she intended the expensive building as the setting for a unique program for paroled murderers, but the plan never got off the ground. The place has been vacant for 12 years and remains as a strange monument to dangerous secrets. PI Lincoln Perry's first involvement with the house and its legacy comes when Parker Harrison – a convicted killer and former tenant of Whisper Ridge – asks him to find Alexandra, who disappeared with her husband after the program’s failure. Disconcerted by his immediate mistrust of Harrison, Perry decides to take the request at face value, until he learns that the bones of Alexandra's husband were discovered at the exact same time Harrison began his quest to locate her.

Sheila Lowe gives us another exciting whodunit in DEAD WRITE (Obsidian), the third book in her Forensic Handwriting mystery series starring handwriting expert Claudia Rose. When several members of Elite Introductions, a high-priced dating club, start dying – even though the deaths appear accidental – Claudia is brought in by the eccentric owner of the exclusive club to uncover the truth.

August 5, 2009:

I CAN SEE YOU (Grand Central hardcover) is Karen Rose’s latest pulse- pounding thriller where the line between the virtual world and everyday reality blurs when it comes to murder. Eve Wilson was the victim of the villain in DON’T TELL (Forever, 7/03), an assault that resulted in disfiguring injury and her retreat into the virtual world. With the help of a surgeon, her face is mostly restored and she’s returned to the real world. Now a graduate student, she researches the use of the virtual world as therapy. When a string of suicides connected to her Internet activities leads homicide detective Noah Webster to her door, Eve is forced back into world of alternate identities and secret passions…where she becomes trapped in the fight of her life.

August 6, 2009:

Do you get what you deserve – or what you take? That’s the question to be resolved in THE AMATEURS (Dutton hardcover), the newest thriller by Marcus Sakey. As the author tells it, “The book is about four friends in their early thirties who haven’t ended up where they thought they would, and who undertake a dangerous plan to take what they think they deserve.”

August 11, 2009:

Beneath the city of God, a centuries-old secret awaits – and every power on earth wants it. From Thomas Greanias comes THE ATLANTIS REVELATION (Atria hardcover), an adventure that begins with the wreckage of a sunken Nazi submarine and a shocking legacy of Hitler’s quest for Atlantis. Archaeologist Conrad Yeats discovers in the ruins of the Third Reich the key to an ancient conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of every major government. Yeats is plunged into a deadly race across the Mediterranean, hunted by international assassins who will stop at nothing to revive an empire. Only Serena Serghetti, the Vatican linguist Yeats loved and lost, can help him save the world.

Sandra Brown’s latest thriller is titled SMASH CUT (Simon & Schuster hardcover). The murder of Paul Wheeler has all the elements of a blockbuster: family rivalries, incalculable wealth and a prominent man dying in the arms of his beautiful mistress. It's a case that could earn Derek Mitchell even greater star power. When the Wheeler family approaches him about defending the man suspected of killing Paul – even before he's been charged – Derek jumps at the chance. But he soon discovers the mistress will stop at nothing to secure justice for Paul – and that includes preventing Derek from defending his client. Infuriated, Derek realizes his hands have been tied in a way that could not only cost him the case, but ruin his entire career.

FEAR THE WORST (Bantam hardcover) is another frightening thriller from Linwood Barclay. This is a compelling tale of an ordinary man desperately searching for his daughter after she fails to return from her shift working at a local hotel. He becomes terrified when he visits the hotel and the manager claims the girl never worked there. Grilling his daughter’s friends for clues leads nowhere – except to threats against his life – and as he frantically chases every lead, he can’t help but wonder if she’s even still alive. No matter how high the stakes become, he knows he will never stop looking.

August 25, 2009:

Mary Blayney continues her Pennistan series with STRANGER’S KISS (Bantam). In this third book, the scion of a powerful English family and a woman every bit his match begin an affair that will leave them both vulnerable to forces beyond their control. Mary is working on her next novel, HER WILDEST FANTASY.

THE DARKEST WHISPER (HQN) is the fourth book in Gena Showalter’s exciting Lords of the Underworld series. Sabin, bound by the demon of Doubt, unintentionally destroys even the most confident of lovers. So the immortal warrior spends his time on the battlefield instead of the bedroom – until he meets Gwendolyn the Timid. One taste of the beautiful redhead, and he craves more.

Debbie Macomber takes readers back to Cedar Cove, Washington, with 92 PACIFIC BOULEVARD (Mira). As the title suggests, this is the ninth book to feature the residents of this town as they face life’s challenges. Sheriff Troy Davis is trying to handle the end of his relationship with long-time love Faith Beckwith, as he also deals with the finding of unidentified remains in a cave outside town.

The sixth Ghost Hunters novel by Jayne Castle is OBSIDIAN PREY (Jove). Amber tuner and independent prospector Lyra Dore lost her heart – and her discovery of a rare amethyst ruin – to cutthroat businessman Cruz Sweetwater. But the ruin’s mysterious power has put everyone involved with the project in danger. Only by trusting their psychic instincts will Cruz and Lyra survive…and surrender to the desire that binds them.

HUNT HER DOWN (Pocket Star), the seventh book in Roxanne St. Claire’s dynamic The Bullet Catchers series, features former-FBI-agent-turned-bodyguard Dan Gallagher. When Dan takes time off for personal reasons, he faces the darkest secret of his past and learns some women – and some vendettas – are never forgotten.

Book six of Brenda Novak’s The Last Stand series is THE PERFECT LIAR (Mira). Air Force Capt. Luke Trussell is shocked when the police show up at his door charging him with rape. He knows he didn’t force his attentions on the woman who’s been stalking him for months. However, Karina has the bruises – and the DNA evidence – to support her claim. Karina goes to victims’ rights advocate Ava Bixby of The Last Stand, hoping Ava will help put Luke behind bars. But Ava soon realizes she’s defending the wrong victim.

MY FAVORITE WITCH (Zebra) is Lisa Plumley’s enchanting new novel about a runaway witch and the warlock who’s on her trail – and in her thrall. Born in a desert town populated by witches and blissfully ignorant humans, Dayna Sterling had magic, but no clue how to handle it. So she left to forge a regular life among ordinary Joes. Which is fine, until the day one most extraordinary Joe turns everything upside down.

TO TEMPT A KNIGHT (Leisure) is the first book in Gerri Russell’s new Brotherhood of the Scottish Templars series. Sir William Keith owes allegiance to no one save the mysterious brotherhood of the Scottish Templars. But his task to protect the legendary Templar treasure brings him straight into the path of Lady Siobhan Fraser, a bold lass who demands he help find her kidnapped father, the treasure’s previous guardian.

NICE GIRLS DON’T DATE DEAD MEN (Pocket Star) is the second book in Molly Harper’s rollicking vampire series relating the amusing exploits of Jane Jameson, the out-of-work-librarian-turned-vampire who just can't seem to avoid attracting trouble. Jane now works at a rundown occult bookstore, as she ponders where her relationship with her irresistibly sexy sire, Gabriel, is headed. While Jane is trying to master undead dating, she’s also donning the ugliest bridesmaid's dress in history for her best friend Zeb's wedding. Now she’s having to deal with a freaked-out groom-to-be, his hostile werewolf in-laws and Zeb's mother, intent on seeing Jane walk down the aisle with Zeb.

Stayed tuned for more great books next month...Tanzey Cutter