#COYER Scavenger Hunt...I'm In!!

I've participated in previous #COYER events and have always had a good time.  Add that to the fact that I get a little extra reading in thanks to these challenge and of course I am going to sign up once again!  I've been reading at a pretty good pace considering how busy we have been lately.  I could always stand to get more ahead though especially as I have had a serious addiction to NetGalley lately.  Ugh, why do I do this to myself?  So many books that I want to read right now so what better way to get them read but by challenging myself with other readers!?!

They have lots of fun things planned including read-a-thons, scavenger hunts and Twitter chats to name a few.  Any book that you own qualifies but I would really like to focus mainly on review books and books on my kindle.  I have entirely too many unread NetGalley/Edelweiss books that definitely need my attention.  Goals for this challenge?  Read as much as I possibly can!!  Simple as that.  Here are just a few of the many books that I might choose to read for this challenge:

So many GREAT sounding books here!  I absolutely cannot wait to begin!  Still on a pretty good thriller/suspense kick which I think that my pool of books reflect but as summer begins I have also been craving some summer romance.  Any other review book on my kindle or in print will also be considered as a possibility for this challenge.  I am so excited I just cannot wait to begin!  Bring on the reading!!

Are you participating in this upcoming #COYER reading event?  What books are you hoping to get read?  Do share!

Disclaimer by Renee Knight (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Finding a mysterious novel at her bedside plunges documentary filmmaker Catherine Ravenscroft into a living nightmare. Though ostensibly fiction, The Perfect Stranger recreates in vivid, unmistakable detail the terrible day Catherine became hostage to a dark secret, a secret that only one other person knew--and that person is dead.

Now that the past is catching up with her, Catherine’s world is falling apart. Her only hope is to confront what really happened on that awful day even if the shocking truth might destroy her."

My Thoughts:

This book had me intrigued from the very beginning!  A thriller where the main character finds a book that mirrors her life and possibly exposes her secrets to everyone that she knows and loves.....I just could not resist!  This book turned out to be much more than I expected though as I went into the book looking for a creepy thriller.  Instead, I found a suspenseful but sad read that really pulled me into its' depths.  This was definitely the page turner that I had been hoping for but it was also more than that.  The author did a really amazing job with giving the reader pieces of the puzzle without giving everything away too early on.  I loved what the author did with the ending of this book and I won't tell you any more than that.  Ha!  Suffice it to say that there was one unexpected twist that really just tied the rest of the book up for me.  Very nicely done if I do say so myself.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one as I had a hard time setting it down.  Set up with a very chilling premise, this book was more than your average thriller which has me so excited to read more by this author!!  I felt for the characters in this book and what they were going through!  I appreciated that I was able to connect with the characters so easily in this story (and especially Catherine's character).  It made me enjoy this book all the more especially as the author peeled away slowly all of the layers to reveal the truth behind what happened.  Perfection!  This isn't your typical suspense/thriller and I enjoyed it all the more because of those differences!  Recommended!

Bottom Line:  Definitely a book not to be missed in my opinion!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from the publisher as part of a TLC book tour.  Thoughts are my own!

Crossing Danger by Colleen Helmes (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Shelby Nichols isn’t your average soccer-mom turned private investigator. She’s more on the quirky side with a little wild thrown in. That’s because a near-fatal gunshot wound to the head left her with the ability to read minds. This lands her in all kinds of trouble, and this time is no exception. Helping a reporter, Billie Jo, get the low-down on a case is just the tip of the iceberg. When her best friend’s niece goes missing, Shelby is pulled into a conspiracy that involves the police and the leader of a violent drug ring. Add to that a stranger in town with ties to the mob-boss she works for, along with a known assassin out to kill him, and Shelby is crossing danger at every turn. Will she find the answers in time? Or will this be her last adventure?"

My Thoughts:

A mystery series based on the fact that the main character can hear what everyone around her is thinking?  How could I possibly resist?  I couldn't and found myself instantly intrigued on how this unique ability would play out.  I love a good mystery series and just knew that I would enjoy this one based off this premise alone.  It was certainly unique and very entertaining! 

Shelby works as a private investigator but also helps out with police investigations when asked.  No one but her husband and a few select others knows about her ability to hear others' thoughts.  This means that she allows for everyone to believe that she has premonitions to help explain her knowing things she shouldn't.  Even though I started mid-series (this is the seventh book) I was easily able to immerse myself within the storyline, and the fact that I hadn't read those previous books really didn't matter a whole lot.  I know there are some details that I am missing but since I enjoyed this one so much I will just go back and start at the beginning.  In this book, Shelby finds herself caught up in a couple of different investigations.  Each one seems to be unrelated to the others and Shelby really has her work cut out for her.  I loved getting the chance to hear the other character's thoughts and really found it interesting as Shelby was constantly working to not give her true abilities away.  It was a balancing scenario and one that she didn't always do well.  It really added to the suspense as I wanted to see if anyone would be able to figure out her secret.

The mystery portion of this book was well done and kept me reading way later than I should have.  I liked that the author also portrayed Shelby's family life and responsibilities throughout the book.  It helped to show the constant balancing act as she tries to juggle her investigations and the needs of her family.  My one and only complaint with the book was that I didn't quite get her attraction to Ramos.  She has a husband that she clearly loves but yet there was some very strong feelings towards Ramos that I just didn't quite understand.  Maybe this comes from me not having read previous books but really that was the only part of the book that didn't work for me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am eager to read more from this series.  I liked watching Shelby work through investigations while trying not to give her true secrets away to others.  This book was both fast paced and fun to read.  I really just enjoyed this one as a whole and was left very excited about this series.  I can't wait to go back to the beginning and see how everything started very Shelby!  Definitely recommended to other mystery lovers who enjoy some paranormal thrown in.

Bottom Line:  A mystery series that has one of the most unique characters that I have ever had the pleasure to read about!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book as part of a Reading Addiction Virtual Blog Tour.  Thoughts are my own!

The Sunday Post (Playing Catch Up Edition)

"The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme"

Has it really been almost two weeks since my last post?  Yikes!  What have I been doing during my time away?  Things like this:  planting my garden, spending a weekend on the river, soccer, softball, and baseball games just to name a few.  And practices.  So many practices!  It has been nonstop almost every single day which has certainly kept me on my toes.  Things I haven't been doing:  blogging, commenting...and more blogging.  It is what it is I suppose although I managed to miss a book tour review date this past week.  That's never good but it happens and I am hoping to reschedule.  Today is going to be a good day though as I have absolutely nothing planned.  Woohoo for the little things that make me happy!

Reading is going slowly but steadily at times.  I'm still three books ahead of my Goodread's goal which I find absolutely amazing.  I'm in one of those phases where ALL of the books sound really good and I wish I was reading them all.  This means that I haven't quite settled on a new read for my kindle as I can't seem to make up my mind.  I've got lots of reviews to write and I'm hoping to work on a few of them today.  After I work out in my garden for a little while of course.  I have radishes growing already!!  I promise to try and share pictures soon because I am super proud of my little garden.

On to the books!  Here are the books that I have finished in the last couple of weeks (I think at least...I haven't been keeping very good track):

Demon's Vengeance by Jocelynn Drake - I've already shared my thoughts on this one here but suffice it to say that it was an excellent read.  I'm holding out hope that we possibly get another book but this is supposed to be a series ender. 

Disclaimer by Renee Knight - This was a really great thriller that I read as part of a blog tour for later this month.  I loved the premise for this one with the main character reading a book and realizing that is based on her own life.  Both dark and chilling and I will share more of my thoughts on it in a few weeks.

The Day Before by Liana Brooks - This was a fantastic read and one that I am so excited to share my thoughts on.  This is a futuristic mystery and a really compelling read that I couldn't put down.  I am super pumped though because I just found it that this is going to be a series and I definitely want to read more!  My review will posted as soon as I reschedule it as this was also supposed to be part of a  book blog tour.

Crossing Danger by Colleen Helme - I also read this one for a blog tour for later this week (and now I am all caught up for reading for tours in May) and it is part of an established mystery series.  This one was very unique as the main character can hear what everyone is thinking.  I feel like I missed out a bit not having read the previous books in the series but it was a pretty solid read.  I think I will try and go back to the beginning soon.

I'm now currently reading the following:

This book is the first in a mystery series and already has me hooked.  I'm really enjoying it so far and am hoping to get a bit further into it later today.

New Additions:

Oh boy!  I'm not even attempting to share the physical copies that have come into my house recently.  I really need to quit acquiring books and work on reading what I already have.  One of these four are most likely going to be my next Kindle read but I can't decide which one.  Which one would you choose if you had to decide??  Help a girl out here!

Plans for the day include laundry, gardening, cleaning, and review writing.  I have lots of plans as you can probably see.  I would also love to fit a run in and work on baking some muffins to munch on for the rest of the week.  Reading would be really great as well.  I'm off to get some of this started but I will be back to visit/comment later this afternoon.  Have a great Sunday and Happy Reading!!!

Demon's Vengeance by Jocelynn Drake (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Jocelynn Drake continues her successful urban fantasy series, Asylum Tales, with Demon’s Fury, set in a world where elves, faeries, trolls, werewolves, and vampires walk free among humanity.

Powerful warlock and tattoo artist Gage has managed to escape the magical Ivory Towers who terrorize the rest of humans and monsters – but at a price. Now he must join forces with his nemesis Gideon to stop an unknown entity who is using old magic to commit gruesome murders. And if that’s not keeping him busy enough, an investigator recruits Gage to help her track a killer … who might be targeting tattoo artists."

My Thoughts:

I'm starting with my overall thoughts on this series as a whole because I read them back to back.  I absolutely loved this unique urban fantasy series and am sad to see it end.  It was a completely engrossing reading experience filled with twists, turns, and everything else that left me wanting more.  Really.  I want more.  More Gage and his world filled with dark wizards and witches.  More of the other supernatural creatures that inhabit his world and make it one of the most unique worlds that I've read about in urban fantasy.  I'm a bit sad to not have more books to look forward to but it was overall an amazing reading experience and I would read these again in a heartbeat!

For me this was a really great way to tie up many of the different threads that the author created within the first two books.  Gage is caught up yet again in way too many things and actually the summary I shared is meant just for the first part of this book.  The book is broken into three separate sections but they all tie together so nicely that really it felt like just one book to me.  I love how the author isn't afraid to really put Gage in situations that almost seem hopeless for anyone else.  The reader is really given the chance to see what he is made of and I loved that we were shown different sides of the situation as Gage struggled to find the answers.  There was a darker side to Gage in this book then we have seen but I really understood it after all that he has been through.  He was ready and willing to fight for what he wanted and that really sums up his personality brilliantly.

Books like this are why I read and love urban fantasy so much!  I flew through the pages of this one on my kindle and didn't want to put it down.  In fact, I was avoiding putting it down as much as possible just so I could read one more page.  The ending of this book was done really well in my opinion although I still think the author could write one more.  Pretty please one more?  I would love to see Gage's adventures continued myself.  It was wrapped up pretty well but left open enough for the reader to decide on how a few things must have ended.  I liked that even when I wanted more.  Really that is what a book is supposed to in my opinion!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the series overall!  I have lots more to say as I haven't yet shared my thoughts on the first two books but I will be doing that very soon.  I just ran out of time on posting the reviews before this one.  This is a series that is not to be missed for urban fantasy fans and I really, really recommend reading them back to back like I did.  It really allowed for me to fully immerse myself in this dark and magical world that Drake has created.  I just am sad that I won't be going back any time soon.  Oh well, that is what rereads are for, right?  Recommended but with the addition that you should really read this series in order.  So start with Angel's Ink!

Bottom Line:  A great and satisfying conclusion to this urban fantasy series.  I'm sad to see it end!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a Pump Up Your Blog book tour through Edelweiss.  Thoughts are my own!