What did we order this week?!

It's my favorite day of the week and I'm sooo excited this week because we have some really great stuff to order!  Now, we have great stuff to order every week, but every week I'm this excited!

First, we have our reviewer picks!

Reviewer pick one is Queen of the Tearling, and this is a stunning cover!

Reviewer pick two is Spilled Milk, which I'm told is a great book!

Next up, we have a book from our 'to buy and review' list.  Let's see...Henning Mankell was suggested to me awhile back.  We're going to try the first book in the Joel Gustafson series.

Now we get to pick a book that has fewer than five reviews!  These are always my favorite because I never know exactly what I'm getting into until I begin reading! We're actually going to be buying two of them this week.  Why?  Because I'm greedy!!

The first is a suggested book that just looks darn fun!

Sometimes I accidentally fall into awesome things.  Today, I accidentally came across Bill Hiatt while I was looking up something completely unrelated.  Hello, Bill!  Pleasure to meet you!  So when I did a quick stalking of him, I found out that he's got some great looking books out!  We're going to start with this one because it just looks intriguing!

That's our order for this week!  Unless we come across more books and deals that we just CAN'T wait until next week for!  Happy good week, guys!

The Last Guard by K.J. Taylor

Guards stay at their posts, and die to defend their cities...Southerner Sergeant Kearney 'Red' Redguard is the last of a disgraced family, and a loyal guardsman.  And with a murderer stalking the streets, the city guard is his city's best defense.  But in the North, King Caedmon Taranisaii is gathering his army, and the cruel Night God prepares for the downfall of the South.  A new dark griffin roams the land, warning of the war to come.

Betrayed and sent on the run, Red must fight to save his homeland.  But it may already be too late...(taken from the back of the book)

Normally, I prefer to write my own description of the book, but after several attempts, I realized I couldn't with this one.  The description the book gives barely even scratches the surface, but it comes closer than I could.

The world building here is absolutely phenomenal.  I know that Taylor has several other book series out, and I'm hoping they're built in a similar world but with different characters.  It's sort of a Middle Earth meets alternate reality type of place.  Griffins are key players in this world.

The griffins are stunningly done.  Taylor gets to the heart of what makes a griffin tick and keeps them true to her vision.  There are several points where we see conversations that differentiate between griffin thoughts/actions and that of human.

'Taylor's character creation is perfection as well.  Each one, down to the tiniest throwaway character, has been intricately designed and given a unique personality.  Even if you only have a glimpse of them, they're real enough that you keep them in your memory.  Perhaps not connected to the name, since some of them are difficult, but the character itself you can remember.

If action is your thing, this is your book.  I picked it up and couldn't believe it started off in such dire circumstances.  Then I was happily reading and came to the end and thought to myself 'Wow! That was a great book, but short!' At that stage, I realized I was only on chapter three with plenty more book to go!  I had this experience several times while reading.  I felt certain everything was wrapped up, only to find out that I was so wrong!  About ten chapters into the book, I considered going on blood pressure medication to deal with all of the stress and pressure I was feeling by living vicariously through Red.

In the beginning, I only had one complaint.  Sometimes the dialogue doesn't really match what you'd think a character would say.  You read something and it gives you that tiny disjointed feeling, because it just doesn't match who you have in your head.  However!  This is absolutely necessary!  The characters randomly saying things that are so out of character add some much-needed levity to the book.  Those moments are when you get to breathe in between all of the action and chaos.  Instead of nitpicking, realize that it's written that way for a reason and it works!

The ending of this book is one of the best endings I've read in years.  I was devastated and overjoyed.  It was exactly how I wanted it to end and I hated every single moment of it.  Actually, my true devastation came in when I realized the sequel isn't out yet.  As soon as it comes out, it's mine!  Miiiine!

It's Tuesday! Let's hear those suggestions!

Every Wednesday we put in a book order.  Every Tuesday, I ask for suggestions for what to buy!

Every suggestion you post either here, Facebook, or Twitter will be put on my 'to buy and review' list.  That means that at some point,  each book suggested will be reviewed on our website as well as have an Amazon purchase verified review.  Simply for suggesting it!  We have plenty of reviewers who read all different genres, so there is someone guaranteed to be the right person to snatch up your book and read it.

If you're an author, pitch me your book!  If you read something recently that you really enjoyed, sell us on it!  If you're one of my review staff, this is the place you post what you want to read next!  Are you a publicist, marketer, or publisher?  Start giving us book suggestions!  We'll take them all!

On Wednesday, we'll order one book from the suggestions list and the rest, one from our 'to buy and review' list, as well as a book that has fewer than five Amazon reviews.

And...go!

Amish Midwife by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould

-Wendy

Description:  A dusty carved box containing two locks of hair and a century-old letter regarding property in Switzerland, and a burning desire to learn about her biological family lead nurse-midwife Lexie Jaeger from her home in Oregon to the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country.  There she meets Marta Bayer, a mysterious lay-midwife who desperately needs hep after an Amish client and her baby die.

Lexie steps in to assume Marta's patient load even as she continues the search for her birth family, and from her patients she learns the true meaning of the Pennsylvania Dutch word Demut which means 'to let be' as she changes from a woman who wants to control everything to a woman who depends on God.

A compelling story about a search for identity and the ability to trust that God securely holds our whole life-past, present, and future.

My Thoughts:  Alexandra 'Lexie' is a nursing mid-wife in Oregon when she gets the dreaded phone call at work.  Her father, who has cancer, doesn't have long for this world.  She takes a leave of absence and rushes to his side.  On his death bed, he tells her about a box in the closet for her, one he never opened but one that might bring her closer to finding her birth parents.  After his death, she looks into the box that has a letter about property in Switzerland, 2 swatches of hair and not much else.  Her dear friend Sophie makes some enquiries, and finds that a mid-wife in Pennsylvania needs some help and it might do Lexie good to take a break and to also look for her birth parents.

When she arrives at Marta's house, against Marta's wishes, things go awry.  No one wants to giver her information about her birth, and no one wants her help.  Marta is going through some legal battles at the moment and when pushed against the wall, realizes she needs Lexie's help with her Amish patients and the babies soon to come.

Along the way, Lexie meets a doctor who she starts having meals with, even though she left her fiance James back in Oregon, telling him they were on a break.  She also pokes her nose into everyone's business to get the information she is seeking.  She won't take no for an answer, even though the Amish prefer to leave the past in the past and not discuss it.

Things eventually come to a head, with the heal of someone close to Lexie and all is revealed.  however, it isn't quite what Lexie was looking for.  She needs to look to God for the peace and comfort of the answers she's given.  I liked most of the characters in this novel, and I found it interesting to see how different Amish settlements lived.  I did not care for Lexie.  While I felt for her plight, she didn't care if she hurt people in her path to her goals.  She was actually a pretty flat character except when she was angry.  Then she became a full dimensional person who had some life and fire in her.

I look forward to reading the next installment in the Lancaster series.  I thought the settings were great and would love to delve into some of the secondary characters' lives.  I just hope Lexie is better behaved if she makes any cameo appearances.  All in all, a great story if you love reading about the Amish, prefer your fiction clean and a mystery that keeps you turning the pages long into the night.

Hammer of God by Robert E. Hirsch

-Reagan

Hammer of God is the second book in The Dark Ages Saga of Tristan de Saint-Germain series. And although there is a favorable review of the first book, Promise of the Black Monks, from another reviewer, I'm afraid that I wasn't a very big fan.

For me, while I generally enjoy historical fiction, this particular point and place in history is not overly interesting.  However, that wouldn't have stopped me from enjoying the book had the writing and characters been more interesting.

The plot was not bad, but I did not enjoy the way it was executed.  The entire book, and the book before it, were really expositional and all tell instead of show.

The characters were also too simplistic to be either realistic or interesting.

So, while this is a book that I may have picked up on my own, I have been very disappointed and don't plan on continuing the series.

Evil and the Details by Roy A Teel Jr

-Griffin

In Evil and the Details, John Swenson lives a double life as an FBI agent and the serial killer known as The Eagle.  The Eagle hunts down horrible criminals, tortures them, and makes sure to leave evidence of their evils for the FBI to find.

This book has realistic characters, showing how one would think FBI agents would actually act in these scenarios.  The story switches views between some of the agents, mainly going between John and Steve.  My only complaint is that the dialogue feels really rushed. Usually, I have been taught to make a new paragraph every time the person who is speaking changes, and that doesn't happen in this book.  I also do have to warn that they are very graphic with the torture, and will explain what is happening as much as an excited child would describe their new favorite toy.  It's graphic.  Really graphic.

However, dialogue and brutality aside, the book is a really good read.  I personally loved the psychology behind the book.  The author very accurately portrays how John's character actually would act if in real life.  If you can stomach gruesome things, then you are good to go.

Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics by Jason Porath

-Reagan

This is a collection of non-fiction stories about women throughout history.  And it is absolutely amazing.

This book is essentially a picture book for intersectional feminist adults, and I loved it.  Porath covers a variety of different women from a variety of different places.  Every subject of each story has their own picture created by the author himself who used to be an animator for Dreamworks.

Between the pure awesomeness of the project itself, the artwork, and the narration of each story, this book was a fun, informative, and easy read.

The author also wasn't afraid to pull any punches or insist that he knew everything.  He was more than willing to admit the people he was writing about weren't always perfect and that history isn't always definitive.

The point is, Rejected Princesses is awesome and everyone should read it.  And also buy it.