Calm down, it's Friday

 TGIF

The audio book I think I'm going to stick with is the next in a sci fi series for me, PRIVATEER by J A Sutherland. 5th of 7 in Alexis Carew series.

 Even with no war on, there are always battles to fight. A cease-fire in the war with Hanover leaves Lieutenant Alexis Carew on half-pay, in-atmosphere, and with her ship laid up in ordinary until called upon once more for the “needs of the Service.” She was, at least, lucky enough to be in her home star system when here last ship, HMS Nightingale, paid off, unlike much of her former crew. She’s left to help manage her family lands, though still with no certainty she’ll be allowed to inherit them. It would be a tranquil, peaceful life, if not for the influx of asteroid miners seeking their fortunes, the uncertainties of her inheritance, and the nagging certainty that her current life is not what she really wants. She’d give anything to command a ship again.

Published 2017; 470 pages. I also have this as a Kindle Unlimited book. 

I still have moments of thinking we have the boys in the house. 

 But that being said ... Coda crossed the rainbow bridge in December. We knew Ryker, being almost 15, wasn't going to be much longer. We've been prepared. So we grieve but we are dog people who have so much love to give. We know we want a big, male, non-puppy either from a shelter or rescue. Maybe two. Soooo .... I found a couple rescue Akitas in Montana. One is in Park City and one is in Thompson Falls. Both are males about two to three years old about 80 pounds which is a little less than what the boys were. We're starting to put out feelers for the possibility of Keo and/or Marlin.

 This weekend, I have the coffee shop but I haven't decided yet if I'm going to go. I still need to get my webcam/YouTube situation going. I'm going to otherwise read, nap, etc.

 Have a good day

 

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster

Having a positive attitude at work

 Thursday

 

Currently reading  EXPECTING HER EX'S BABY by Shannon Stacey. 3rd in Sutton's Place romances.

 

 Getting pregnant was never Evie Sutton’s intention. But then again, neither was sleeping with her ex-husband, Lane Thompson. Lane wants to be in their baby’s life, but Evie is afraid of getting too close to the man she has never been able to resist. Is love enough to make them a family? Lane believes it is. He is sure this child will help them find their way home…

Published 2022; 229 pages. I try not to read the same author too closely together but I need something light and easy to read at the moment. Not counting murder of course.

And just started MURDER IN MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS by Victoria Thompson. 19th of 26 in Gaslight series.

 

 After spending his first few weeks as a private detective by investigating infidelities of the wealthy, Frank has a more serious case at hand. Abigail Northrup of Tarrytown, New York, was her parents’ pride and joy. After graduating from a prestigious women’s college in Morningside Heights, she took a job there as an instructor. She also joined the ranks of the New Women, ladies planning for a life without a husband in which they make their own decisions and make a difference in the world. Unfortunately, her murder ended all that. When the police declare the incident a random attack and refuse to investigate further, Abigail’s parents request Frank’s help. Of course, he’ll need Sarah’s assistance as she’s more familiar with the world of academia, and it will be far easier for her to interview the lady professors. Yet difficulties arise as they learn that although Miss Northrup may have been an exemplary student and teacher, she lived in a world of secrets and lies…

 Published 2016; 296 pages.

Looking for an audiobook to listen to today.

 

 I got some sleep last night but I'm still tired. Going to read and go to bed. We've got BattleBots but I don't know if I'll watch. No sprints tonight - Thursday nights moved to Fridays.

 

 Have  a good day

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster

My Ryker

 

 

Coda and Ryker are running in fields together now.

And people wonder why I'm having meltdowns

Tuesday. No service manager - 4th week gone. No receptionist - maybe this afternoon. She hasn't worked a full week in two months. 

 It's the coworkers. It's the pissy customers. I'm tired of always having to take the high road. But I will.

 

 Just gonna get through the day. Then, afterward, I'll take care of Ryker and Steve, read and go to bed. That's it. That's all.

 

Have a good day

 Much love,

PK the Bookeemonster

Stay with me, Pookie, it's Monday

 Monday. No service manager per usual.

 

 I finished reading all the books I had going this weekend.

• CAFE AU LAIT by M.L. Hamilton - 3.5 stars
  
• AN UNEXPECTED COWBOY by Shannon Stacey - 4 stars
  
• DOUBT by Jenny Schwartz - 5 stars
  

 

 Currently reading 1) a new-to-me-series but it's been on my TBR since 2017 and 2) a "dangler" - I had started it but not finished it and 3) I will be starting a new-ish release. 

MURDER ON BLACK SWAN LANE by Andrea Penrose. 1st of 7 in series featuring The Earl of Wrexford, a scientist, and Charlotte Sloane, a satirical cartoonist working under her dead husband’s name, in Regency London.

 

The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London’s most popular satirical cartoonist, A.J. Quill, skewers them both. But then the clergyman is found slain in a church—his face burned by chemicals, his throat slashed ear to ear—and Wrexford finds himself the chief suspect. An artist in her own right, Charlotte Sloane has secretly slipped into the persona of her late husband, using his nom de plume, A.J. Quill. When Wrexford discovers her true identity, she fears it will be her undoing. But he has a proposal—use her sources to unveil the clergyman’s clandestine involvement in questionable scientific practices, and unmask the real murderer. Soon Lord Wrexford and the mysterious Mrs. Sloane plunge into a dangerous shadow world hidden among London’s intellectual enclaves to trap a cunning adversary—before they fall victim to the next experiment in villainy . . .

Published 2017; 370 pages

Currently listening to the audiobook of JUSTICE DELAYED by Marti Green. 5th of 6 in series featuring Help Innocent Prisoners Project attorney Dani Trumball.

The brutal murder of sixteen-year-old Kelly Braden sends shock waves through a community—and an intellectually disabled man to jail. The only witness to Kelly’s murder is the five-year-old cousin she was babysitting. The young girl names their neighbor, Jack Osgood, as the bat-wielding criminal. Two decades later, Osgood faces execution. Defense Attorney Dani Trumball and her partner, investigator Tommy Noorland, are summoned to the Georgia prison where Osgood is on death row. With no friends or family of his own, there is no one left to believe Jack didn’t kill Kelly but Dani and her Help Innocent Prisoners Project. With a mentally disabled son of her own, defending Osgood could be her most heartrending case yet. While fighting a system that blocks her attempts to overturn his conviction, Dani must race to identify the real killer before Osgood’s time runs out—and the murderer strikes again.

Published 2017; 286 pages.This was one of my "danglers". I had started it but paused it pursuing other books. 

And I will be starting THE RECOVERY AGENT by Janet Evanovich. 1st in new series featuring Gabriela Rose, a globe-trotting insurance fraud investigator.

 

Lost something? Gabriela Rose knows how to get it back. As a recovery agent, she’s hired by individuals and companies seeking lost treasures, stolen heirlooms, or missing assets of any kind. She’s reliable, cool under pressure, and well trained in weapons of all types. But Gabriela’s latest job isn’t for some bamboozled billionaire, it’s for her own family, whose home is going to be wiped off the map if they can’t come up with a lot of money fast. Inspired by an old family legend, Gabriela sets off for the jungles of Peru in pursuit of the Ring of Solomon and the lost treasure of Cortez. But this particular job comes with a huge problem attached to it—Gabriela’s ex-husband, Rafer. It’s Rafer who has the map that possibly points the way to the treasure, and he’s not about to let Gabriela find it without him. Rafer is as relaxed as Gabriela is driven, and he has a lifetime’s experience getting under his ex-wife’s skin. But when they aren’t bickering about old times the two make a formidable team, and it’s going to take a team to defeat the vicious drug lord who has also been searching for the fabled ring. A drug lord who doesn’t mind leaving a large body count behind him to get it.

Published 2022; 314 pages. People were describing it as a female Indiana Jones so I'll give it a try. It's from a library.

Tonight I may have sprints starting at 5pm. I also heard that it may be canceled. Either way, I'll take care of Ryker and Steve and then read and then go to bed. 

 Have a good day

Much love

PK the Bookeemonster

TGIF at last

 Friday. At last. Receptionist here.

I finished the McNeil book last night. I gave it two stars. Had a good premise but it fizzled. 

 

One of the nice things about participating in the scavenger hunts with the cozy reading group, is finding not-so-well-known authors and enjoying them enough to continue with the series. This is one of them.

CAFE AU LAIT by M.L. Hamilton. 2nd of 7 in Zion Sawyer cozy mystery series.

 Zion has settled into her new routine in Sequoia. She runs her coffee shop, spends her evenings on dinner dates with her lawyer boyfriend, and enjoys the calm, quiet of her little cottage. However, summer tourist season begins and the Sequoia Chamber of Commerce decides to hold Redwood Stock.The rock festival brings a whole new clientele to sleepy Sequoia – loud music, tattoos, and late night parties – but it also brings revenue. Until a young woman drops dead after the concert and everyone becomes a suspect. Once again, Zion teams up with ex-cop Tate Mercer to find the murderer before anyone else is killed.

 Published 2017; 307 pages.

 I think I'm pausing on the McKenna book. I was feeling like I was forcing it at this time. I'm still listening to the audio of the Schwarz scifi. 

Also starting AN UNEXPECTED COWBOY by Shannon Stacey. 2nd of Sutton's Place category romance "series".

He’d been told home is where the heart is. He never believed it until now. Lone-wolf cowboy Irish is no stranger to long, lonely nights. Some might say he even prefers it that way. But somehow Mallory Sutton tugs on his heartstrings. The feisty single mom is struggling to balance it all—and challenging Irish’s perception of what he has to offer. She shows the guarded cowboy everything a family—and real love—can be. But will their unexpected connection keep Irish in town…or end in heartbreak for Mallory and her kids?

Published 2022; 227 pages. For category romance, I like her writing.

With the pending winter weather advisory starting this evening and going through the weekend, we canceled bead group tomorrow. Two of our regulars come in from Huntley so it's just safer. My haircut appointment had been rescheduled to tomorrow but I also canceled that because I then felt like "why go anywhere"?

 

I would like to get rested and alert and then work on getting my webcam and live stream going on YouTube this weekend. 

 And get some good reading done. I may have a reading sprint tonight and I know I have one on Sunday afternoon with no scavenger hunt for this one. Otherwise, napping, being with Ryker, etc. 

We have On Patrol Live on tonight and tomorrow. Also tomorrow I'd like to watch a Hallmark movie called A Picture of Her. It has my favorite actor from their stable, Tyler Hynes.

 

"Beth unwittingly becomes the subject of an award-winning magazine’s cover and goes on a quest to uncover the true identity of the mystery photographer who snapped her photo."

I know, I know, Hallmark movie are all the same, etc. 

 

 Speaking of romances, I'm giving the category romances a healthy try so I have a few of those in the TBR, too, I have to read.

 

And those are just the e-books (not Kindle). I have physical ones too. I'm trying to research the genre. And then all the Kindle Unlimited books. And then all the fantasy books I want to read ... 

 

Have a good weekend

 

Much love,

PK the Bookeemonter

We are not amused

Thursday. No receptionist (again) and no service manager (of course). 

This book was a hold from the Las Vegas Library that came up for me. It had to jump the queue because this library has informed non-residents that they are now NOT going to let out of staters use the service as of the 27th.

Currently reading THREE DROPS OF BLOOD by Gretchen McNeil. Stand alone.

 

A mundane office job takes a dark turn when a girl witnesses a double murder through the window. Being an actress, Kate is no stranger to drama. And when her chance at a leading role gets cancelled, she is willing to do whatever it takes to get her acting career back on track even if that means getting a boring office job at her best friend's father's law firm so she can prove to her parents she can to support herself rather than go back to high school. Now, rather than living life on the big screen, she is stuck filing mundane contracts and watching the people in the office across from hers live their equally boring lives. But when Kate sees things heat up between a woman and her assistant, her new source of entertainment take a turn for the worse when she witnesses a double murder. Now, she must get anyone to believe her and find out who this mystery woman is to get answers. But as she learns more and more about the circumstances leading to the gruesome act, she begins to realize there is a bigger mystery under the surface... In this voyeuristic thriller filled with twists and turns, can Kate get anyone to believe her before she becomes the next victim?

Published 2023; 315 pages. Luckily, I'm liking it rather a lot so I'll get through it quickly.

And I have reading sprints tonight starting at 5 so maybe I'll get to get some good reading in before they call it a night. We also have BattleBots to watch. 

 

 That's it for me.

Have a good day

 

Much love

PK the Bookeemonster