books about: debuts (spymaster gargoyle restless)

books about: debuts

books:

At the Bride Hunt Ball (Avon Romance)

21 reviews
Olivia Parker

Avon, 2008

CHARMING LITTLE GEM!!!!
AT THE BRIDE HUNT BALL What an enchanting little gem of a book! I read this book in one sitting and it charmed the pants off me! In her debut novel, Olivia Parker has incorporated a delightful blend of romance, passion, laugh out loud moments and tenderness, which reminds us that this is the reason why we read romances. The story isn't convoluted. It has no horrid villains or ...

Then We Came to the End: A Novel

211 reviews
Joshua Ferris

Back Bay Books, 2008

Good read for anyone that has worked in the corporate world
A good book for me is one that you won't forget. I won't forget this one. One of the characters tries to get through a day by quoting lines from The Godfather - that's laugh-out-loud funny. The mix of that level of humor with a topic as serious as cancer is very well done, as is the ending of the book. Anyone that has ever worked in the cube world will like it - you will recognize some of the ...

The Accidental Demon Slayer

22 reviews
Angie Fox

Love Spell, 2008

Forget the Red Hat Society, let's all join Grandma's biker gang.
Sigh. I'm too old to be Lizzie, although her hunky Dimitri sure makes me dream of reversing the clock. So I want to be the hilarious and wondrous Grandma. I love this book full of strong, unpredictable, and unconquerable women. And pardon me if I drooled all over the keys again thinking about Dimitri.

The Gargoyle

137 reviews
Andrew Davidson

Doubleday, 2008

Outstanding New Author
This story is different than any other I have ever read. I loved the stories weaved in and out of the events of the present day. The details about burns and burn wards was fascinating and did not put me off at all. This author puts you right in the story with his description - and what is wrong with that? I have a deeper appreciation of what burn patients go through and only hope I never have ...

A Fraction of the Whole

58 reviews
Steve Toltz

Spiegel & Grau, 2008

Should have won the booker!
Okay, I didn't read the winner's work, or any of the other finalist but I still speak confidentally when I say this cat should have won. All in all this is a fantastic book, I just wish it were either a hundred pages longer or a hundred shorter. Some of the schemes felt like...well just that schemes to move the story along and he could have gotten more in depth within those plot devices but still ...

Sweetheart

173 reviews
Chelsea Cain

St. Martin's Minotaur, 2008

Great Book
This is a great book. Really keeps your interest. I would recommend you read the 1st in the series "Heartsick" first. It was great also.

Schooled

69 reviews
Anisha Lakhani

Hyperion, 2008

Smart chick lit
After reading books like Gossip Girl and Academy X, I have been fascinated by the elite power of NY teenagers living the glamorous life that I never got growing up. Schooled is no different. It tells the story of Anna, a recent Ivy League graduate who somehow lands a job at a prestigious prep school with pretentious staff and pompous students. Anna finds out that the only way to fit in with ...

Promise Not to Tell: A Novel

78 reviews
Jennifer Mcmahon

Harper Paperbacks, 2007

Amazing
The author did a great job! I could not put it down. Each page gave a new clue so it keeps you hooked. I recommend this to everyone!!!

Child 44

137 reviews
Tom Rob Smith

Grand Central Publishing, 2008

The best book I've read in a while
I've been reading a lot of thriller/mystery novels lately, and this one by Smith is the best of them all. It is a political thriller, crime mystery, character-development love story all wrapped up in to one. And, more importantly, none of the three "types" of genre represented in Smith's book suffer for being put together. As a political thriller, the book shines with its great portrayal of ...

In the Woods

220 reviews
Tana French

Penguin (Non-Classics), 2008

The Perfect October Read
French's debut really is everything it's cracked up to be: literate, taught, and consummately spooky. Her characters are achingly believable, from the police, victim and villains right down to the not-so-innocent bystanders. The central mystery is satisfying as well, though it's less puzzle than psychodrama, with the damaged detective-narrator playing the main role. His gradual disintegration, ...

Beginner's Greek: A Novel

129 reviews
James Collins

Little, Brown and Company, 2008

A comedy of manners, a dramady of errors
This spirited novel gets off to a questionable start. I believe it is intended that way, until you fall into its rhythm. At about page 60 I was hooked. By that time, I really grokked the narrator's flow and the prose became so natural that it was like I was living the story. The low-star reviewers did not get it. This was not "zany" or "40's style" or vacuous. The narration is intentionally ...

Oxygen: A Novel

94 reviews
Carol Cassella

Simon & Schuster, 2008

Engaging and emotional medical drama
Based on the description I'd expected a medical thriller similar to Robin Cook. Instead I found a story far more dramatic with a lot of deep character development. The story revolves around the death of a patient and how the anesthesiologist handles the examination and malpractice suit. In working through the problem it becomes clear that there are far more factors are work than initially ...

Private Arrangements

45 reviews
Sherry Thomas

Bantam, 2008

Fabulous and different historical!
I'm not going to summarize the book because that's been done here by other commenters, but whoa, this is a fabulous story! No, it's not your mother's historical romance. These are flawed people, and while we might wish for them to grow up and get over it much sooner, I believe their actions are well-motivated. The author writes with a delicious and witty voice that simply shines. This is ...

No One Heard Her Scream

37 reviews
Jordan Dane

Avon, 2008

Slow start, but an interesting mystery
It's been five months and the only thing that police have managed to find of homicide detective Rebecca Montgomery's kid sister Danielle is a bloody crime scene. Guilt rules her and she desperately wants on the case, but is reassigned to an arson investigation which turns into a murder when skeletal remains are uncovered. At the crime scene she runs into the dashing Diego Galvan, a shadowy man ...

Catching Genius

23 reviews
Kristy Kiernan

Berkley Trade, 2007

Started off a little slow (for me) and picked up nicely.
First off, one of the bad reviews had some incorrect information and apparently the reviewer did not read through to the end. I don't typically write reviews (more a fan of listmania) but I enjoyed this book quite a bit and was sad to finish it. It's about Connie and Estella, two sisters who were close in their childhood but then are separated by a parent who is clearly consumed by one child's ...

Sweet and Deadly

28 reviews
Charlaine Harris

Berkley, 2007

Love Charlaine Harris!
If you haven't started reading Charlaine Harris - you should! If you like this book, try the Sookie Stackhouse, Harper Connelly, Aurora Teagarden, and Lily Bard series! These books are great - entertaining and smart, and they flow very easily from one to the next, leaving you wanting more. I can't believe I just "found" Charlaine Harris last year! :)

A Restless Knight (The Dragons of Challon, Book 1)

63 reviews
Deborah MacGillivray

Zebra, 2006

Enjoyable light read.
I thought this book was a very light and enjoyable read. I am shocked at the harsh reviews. I can't find anything so bad that it requires such negativity. It is not a stellar book, but I did enjoy it. The beginning immediately got my attention, and I found myself wanting to read to the end. I am also very interested in the next story. Damian and Aithinne are both interesting characters and ...

To Tempt A Scotsman (Zebra Debut)

13 reviews
Victoria Dahl

Zebra, 2007

A hero and heroine who were flawed but deeply in love made this story powerful.
I liked both the hero and heroine in this book. Even when they made some pretty messy mistakes, their regret was genuine. They each had a lot to learn about how to be a couple. Their fears for the future were realistic, and their resulting actions made sense. Dahl never fell into any of the typical, overused themes that we read repeatedly. The characters were not built like gods/ goddesses. ...

The English American: A Novel

46 reviews
Alison Larkin

Simon & Schuster, 2008

Charming!!!!!!!!
I thought the book was absoutely brillant. I loved the whole thing from cover to cover, I couldn't put it down. I could actually feel what Pippa was going through and I enjoyed reading about the characters. The part where she handed flowers to a complete stranger was in my opinion.... excellent. Why don't we all do that once in awhile.... the world today could use some happiness spread around ...

The Spymaster's Lady (The Spymaster Series)

54 reviews
Joanna Bourne

Berkley, 2008

This book is amazing. It surprises and delights me.
Annique is French and works as a spy for the French. Robert Grey is the British head of spies. Leblanc is French military and has captured them both and put them in the same dungeon. I don't want to say any more about the plot because much of the fun was in the surprises. Readers will enjoy this book much better without knowing the plot summary. I will say the plot involves danger, escaping, ...