Dru has always known about the poltergeists, vampires and werwulfen that inhabit the Real World since her father has traveled the country battling them, often with Dru's help. But when he is killed after they move to the Dakotas-and sent back as a zombie to kill her-Dru digs deeper into her history, trying to find out who murdered her mother and who is after her. Graves, an orphan, joins up with her and is soon turned into a loup-garou by a wolf bite, and Dru is able to get some answers from Christophe, a djamphir(part human, part vampire).

Strange Angels is not my type of book, but all I can say is WOW!!! Lily St. Crow packs a whopper in her debut YA novel. Strange Angels was fast paced and gripping and anyone who likes the supernatural should like this book, as it has almost everything one could think of. What I truly enjoyed about the storyline was Dru and the emotional side that came out. She cared, she cried, she kicked butt. But at no time did she have a pitty party. She made friends during her tough ordeal and fought to keep them by her side. To me, that is a true heroine.

All year round, retired schoolteacher Phyllis Newsom is as sweet as peach pie-except during the Peach Festival, whose blue ribbon has slipped through Phyllis's fingers more than once...

Everyone's a little shook up when the corpse of a no-good local turns up underneath a car in a local garage. But even as Phyllis engages in some amateur sleuthing, she won't let it distract her from out-baking her rivals and winning the upcoming Peach Festival contest.

She and all the other contestants guard their secret, original recipes with their lives-and talk a whole lot of trash. With her unusual Spicy Peach Cobbler, Phyllis hopes to knock 'em dead. But that's just an expression-never in her wildest dreams did she think her cobbler would actually kill a judge. Now, she's suspected of murder-and she's got to bake this case wide open.

Livia Washburn's style of writing is just very comforting to me...kind of like peach pie on a cool autumn evening. A Peach of a Murder is the 1st book in her Fresh Baked series. While I, once again, read the second book first, Murder By the Slice, this book was wonderful and refreshing and just gives you a sense of home, family and friends. The things that are important in life.

While everyone seems to be popping up dead around her, Phyllis Newsom puts a few skills she didn't know she had to work and searches for clues to the killer. The police believe it may be someone who lives in her home and Phyllis sets out to clear their name. In the meantime, more bodies keep showing up in town, none of them with any ties to each other. Is there a serial killer on the loose in their sleepy little town? With the help of some friends, Phyllis will find out.

Bobbie Faye Sumrall just landed in a mess of trouble. It started when she agreed to help her diva cousin, Francesca. Turns out Francesca’s mom, Marie, swiped a fortune in gems from Bobbie Faye’s uncle, who’d swiped them from someone else. Now there’s a hit out on Marie, and Bobbie Faye is racing to find her—and the jewels.

Plenty of people would shoot Bobbie Faye for a stash of diamonds. Hell, some would pay for the privilege. But now Bobbie Faye has other distractions, including: Trevor, the drop-dead-sexy FBI agent who may or may not be the real deal; and Cam, her steamy (and steamed) detective ex-boyfriend who’d do anything to keep Bobbie Faye out of harm’s way…and get her back into his arms.

I really enjoyed the 2nd installment of the Bobbie Faye series. I am terrible when it comes to series reading in that I don't always read them in order and this one is no exception. However, I did not feel lost in the story as Causey did a good job building the back story for people just like me. I fould myself laughing and rooting for Bobbie Faye as she unearingly found (put) herself in harms way. I was torn between the two men in her life, Trevor and Cam, trying to figure which one was better for her. But in all honesty, in my mind, it truly is a toss up! lol Very good book and another series I must follow.

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

BOOKPLATE SPECIAL (Booktown Series #3)

By: Lorna Barrett

Publisher Review:

Bookstore owner Tricia Miles has put up—and put up with—her uninvited college roommate for weeks. In return, Pammy has stolen $100. But the day she's kicked out, Pammy's found dead in a Dumpster, leaving loads of questions unanswered.

Pub. Date: November 03, 2009
ISBN-13: 9780425231197
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages

When 16-year-old Katrina leaves coffee and pastries for the homeless guy sleeping behind her grandmother's coffeehouse, she has no idea he's actually an angel named Malcolm, who will change her life by giving her coffee beans that will bring her what she most desires. Katrina is skeptical, even after her best friend, Vincent, drinks coffee from the first bean and gains fortune, and the second bean is eaten by the coffeehouse cat, Ratcatcher, who becomes famous for killing a huge wharf rat. Instead, she is too busy worrying about aggressive attempts by neighboring coffee shop Java Heaven to drive them out of business. When Vincent starts dating Heidi, daughter of the owner of Java Heaven, the friends have a falling out. Bits of Scandinavian culture lace Selfors's (Saving Juliet) smalltown America setting, and she ties up the loose ends nicely. Though this airy story is slow to start, the conclusion will satisfy.

I have to admit the cover of Coffeehouse Angel is what first pulled me in and made me want to read the book. However, I was not unsatisfied by the story one bit. Katrina is your typical teenage girl who isn't sure she doesn't want more from life. She feels lost and as if she has no real goals or direction in what she wants to do. While she has two best friends, Vincent and Elizabeth, she doesn't know when she stopped making more. One morning she finds a young man sleeping in her alley. At first she believes he is homeless and leaves coffee and pastries for him. This one act of kindness, will forever change her life. Is it the type of change she wants and is she ready to find out who she really can become.

When an old friend of her ex-husband develops the world's first botanically decaffeinated coffee bean and smuggles it into the country, Clare Cosi, manager of Village Blend, believes it's a business opportunity she needs to investigate...at least until the first dead body shows up.

This is by far my favorite coffeehouse mystery by Cleo Coyle. Decaffeinated Corpse is the fifth book in the coffeehouse series and WOW!!!! There is no other words for it. I read the fourth book right before this one and thought I would have a hard time getting into it. No way! The storyline grabbed me and sucked me right in.

Clare Cosi's ex-husband, Matteo, is launching a new decaffeinated line that his old friend has grown. This means good business for everyone...except a few people do not want to see the success happen. When two dead bodies surface and Matteo is accused of murder, Clare will do what it takes to clear his name.

Clare Cosi's new friend, millionaire David Mintzer, has an offer no New York barista could turn down: an all-expenses-paid summer away from the sticky city. At his Hamptons mansion, she'll relax, soak up the usn, and, oh yes, train the staff of his new restaurant. So Clare packs up her daughter, her former mother-in-law, and her special recipe for iced coffee for what she hopes will be one de-latte-ful summer...

Soon, Clare tends the coffee bar at her first Hamptons gala. But the festivities come to a bitter end when an employee turns up dead in david's bathroom--a botched attempt on the millionaire's life. Thanks to the fourth of July fireworks, no one heard any gunshots, and the police are stuck in holiday traffic. Concerned for everyone's safety, Clare begins to investigate. What she finds will keep her up at night--and it's not the java jitters...

This is the 4th installment of the coffeehouse mysteries by Cleo Coyle. While I am new to the cozy mystery scene, I am not new to mysteries. I have enjoyed mysteries and thrillers my whole life and like to think that I have good taste when it comes to mysteries. Coyle serves up a blend of humor and danger in her mysteries that I truly enjoy. I have yet to figure out her killer in any of her books, which is quite charming for me. After the killer is revealed I back track and say, "ah, yes, okay".

In Murder Most Frothy she takes Clare out of Manhattan and transplants her for the season in the Hamptons. Some of the police procedures are unbelievable, but for the most part they are fun to see unfold. Clare gives a breath of fresh air while trying to solve and stop a future murder as she also deals with her ex-mother-in-law, daughter and even her ex-husband, who comes to town. Even better is that Clare finally lets her hair down and spends some time with a man, even in the name of work. :)

No one’s ever seen it. Everybody wants it. That’s why the government has just unleashed its secret weapon. Drop-dead-gorgeous art dealer Suzi Toussi has been tapped for the toughest mission of her career: to locate the Memphis Sphinx, an ancient artifact rumored to possess otherworldly powers. Tracking it to Paraguay means going up against Dax Killian, the sexy special ops agent who’s planning to snatch the coveted relic right out of her hot little hands. If he can find it first… Dax first spotted her outside a seedy bar—in three-inch heels and a too-tight dress. He’d know those curves anywhere. But what was Suzi doing in a hellhole like Ciudad del Este? Dax knows the answer: the Sphinx. Suddenly the game is on—and only one of them will walk away with the prize. With the Sphinx surfacing and passion taking Suzi and Dax under, they’re headed for a showdown that could reveal the secrets of the ages…or expose them to the hottest danger of all.

Tara Janzen is one of my all time favorite authors. I have followed the Steele Street gang from Book 1 and have enjoyed every twist and turn that she has written. In this 9th book, Dax Killian, who once was part of the Steele Street gang when he was a youth, is now a special ops man, who can hold his own in any country...at any time. Suzi Toussi, an art dealer by trade is in Paraguay for the US government on a top secret mission. Both Suzi and Dax have the same goal, to get the Memphis Sphinx and bring it back.

While Breaking Loose did not keep me on the edge of my seat like some of the past Steele Street books have, there was no shortage of steam and fast paced danger in this book. I did enjoy Suzi and her moments of realism when she would break down and not be as tough as she wanted to be. Showing the human side of Suzi put the reader in touch with her...made her be almost like any other woman...well any woman with the ability to kick butt! :) All in all, I'm still a fan of the Steele Street gang and I love that the books take me to a place I know and love....LoDo. I'm hoping the next book will address issues surrounding JT.