Programmed for Danger:

Computer programming isn’t usually a dangerous occupation, but Andrea Kingston finds herself fighting for both her love and her life when she’s hired to solve Ferverill-West Company’s computer problems.

Andrea Kingston is surprised by the cool reception she receives when she arrives with her team of troubleshooters to work on Feverill-West’s computer problems. It’s not the first time she’s dealt with people aggravated by programming flaws and hardware malfunctions. Nor is she any stranger to corporate politics and bickering. But normally people are happy to see her since she promises to fix their technical issues. The level of hostility she encounters this time is new, as is the serious nature of the incidents plaguing  Feverill-West’s data processing system.

With the reluctant help of Feverill-West’s attractive Operations Manager, David Purcell, Andi tackles the problems, only to discover that at least some of them are deliberate sabotage. The closer she gets to the source of the attacks, the more personal and vicious they become.

When someone knocks her out to prevent her learning anything more, Andi realizes that more than just her professional reputation is on the line. She’ll have to risk her life to solve the crimes being perpetrated against the company.

Book Questions:

Is this book part of a series?  If so, when do you expect the next one to be available? No, it’s not part of a series.

What age would you say this novel is written for? Avalon Books were considered young adult because of their length and the insistence on clean language and lack of adult content, but I think the story would be suitable and enjoyable for anyone from pre-teen to adults

If it is not a YA novel, what content pushes into the adult market? The protagonists are adults, and the plot centers around a mystery that arises in the course of their employment

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 Read an excerpt here.

A Gift for Murder:

For fifty-one weeks of the year, Heather McNeil loves her job as assistant to the director of the Washington, D.C. Commerce & Market Show Center. But the Gifts and Home Decorations trade show, the biggest show of the year at the center, is a week-long nightmare. This year’s version is being worse than usual. Misplaced shipments, feuding exhibitors, and malfunctioning popcorn machines are all in a day’s work. Finding the body of a murdered executive dumped in a trash bin during the show isn’t. The discovery tips throws Heather’s life—personal and professional—into havoc.

The police suspect the victim’s wife killed him, but Heather doesn’t believe it. She’s gotten glimmers of an entirely different scenario and possible motive. Questioning exhibitors about the crime doesn’t make her popular with them or with her employers, but if she doesn’t identify the murderer before the show ends, the culprit will remain free to kill again.

Her only help comes from an exhibitor with ulterior motives and the Market Center’s attractive new security officer, Scott Brandon. Despite opposition from some of the exhibitors, her employers, and the police, Heather seeks to expose the killer before the show ends. To solve the mystery, she will have to risk what’s most important to her and be prepared to fight for answers, her job, and possibly her life.

Book Questions:

Is this book part of a series?  If so, when do you expect the next one to be available? Yes, it’s part of a projected series. I’m just finishing up the next book, so it may not be available for quite a while yet.

What age would you say this novel is written for?  Adults

If it is not a YA novel, what content pushes into the adult market?  The protagonists are adults, and the plot centers around a mystery that includes some adult themes.

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Read an excerpt here.

The Night Prowlers

Graduate assistant Jan Lindell has her hands full supervising a team of archaeology students as they excavate the site of a Colonial-era inn in central Virginia. Sweltering heat, feuding students, vandalism, a visit from the local lunatic fringe, and complaints from the handsome son of the property’s owner are all complications she doesn’t need.

Her problems increase when it becomes clear someone doesn’t want them around. Vandalism turns into threats and then attacks on the students. On the bright side, when Gary Simpson, whose mother owns and lives on the property, assists her in the effort to thwart and identify the assailants, they discover a mutual attraction.

But someone seriously wants to stop them. When the attacks escalate and threaten to turn deadly, Jan realizes she’s fighting for more than a graduate degree and an archaeological site. All of their lives may be at stake.

Book Questions:

Is this book part of a series?  If so, when do you expect the next one to be available? No, it’s not part of a series.

What age would you say this novel is written for? This is a republished version of a book originally published by Avalon Books. Their books were considered young adult because of their length and the insistence on clean language and lack of adult content, but I think the story would be suitable and enjoyable for anyone from pre-teen to adults

If it is not a YA novel, what content pushes into the adult market? The protagonists are adults, and the plot centers around a mystery that includes some adult themes.

Cover currently being redesigned.

Read an excerpt here.

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Eona is the second book in Alison Goodman’s Eon and Eona series.  To read my review on Eon, click here.  Since they are categorized as young adult fiction, I will give a conservative parent’s review.

Eona is very different and better than Eon.  No longer is she surrounded by rules and pretending to be a boy.  She can now be herself, and we don’t have to read about all the proper ways she is to do things.  There’s more adventure and fantasy in this one, as she is traveling and learning to use her dragon’s power.  This read is also less morbid than the first one, where just about everyone was unhappy and had to deal with slavery or some type of abuse.

It read like an adventure with challenges and happy moments along the way.  The love triangle was done well, and her emotional struggle was believable.  The author introduced new characters into the story and mixed things up this time.

As for sexual content for a teen, there was no sex, just heavy kissing.  (He was shirtless on one of them.)  She does have a power relationship (hard to explain without giving too much detail and spoiling) with one of the men, and that power comes through sexual type emotions.

The Eunach is still a main character, and so is the transgender, Lady Dela.  Although, Lady Dela has to dress as a man in this book.

If you’ve already invested your time in Eon, I would go ahead and read Eona.  It is much better and written very differently than the first novel.

The holiday weekend is the perfect time to spend with friends, and my girlfriend and I stopped by a bookstore and did some browsing with the six children we have between us.  We browsed the teen fiction section, and I eventually chose Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey as a light read.  This was my first time reading this author, and because this book is considered teen fiction, I will give a conservative parent’s view of it.  I consider it to be a clean fantasy romance.  Although there were three mild curse words, the romantic part of the book has an old world element to it.  It appears that the characters held Christian beliefs, and the society believed in waiting until after marriage to have intimate relations.  With that being said, there were no heated scenes, and the author kept her young audience in mind.

As for the writing, it flowed naturally and was an interesting read.  My only complaint is that there were too many hints throughout the book, and although the main character was clueless about some things, I had the ending figured out midway through.  The book was fun but not filled with suspense, and it did not keep me guessing.  However, I did enjoy the book filled with humans, dragons, and fairies.

Although you don’t have to read her other book called Dragon’s Keep to understand this one, it is a book based on events that happened many years prior to Dragonswood, and it might be an interesting read also.