Challenge Update

I seem to be where I need a few books to complete my challenges for the year.  I have 3 letters left of A-Z challenge - I am half-way in one of the letters.  I started to read several classic books, just need to finish one of them.  I finished cozy challenge and what an animal challenge but will continue to read cozies and have another animal book to read.

I have been posting some reviews on Goodreads. 

Haunting Obsession

I obtained this book for free for my Kindle for PC application from Amazon.com.

Haunting Obsession by R.J. Sullivan is the tale of a man with a crush on an icon.  The "obsession" is Maxine Marie who according to the author is based on Marilyn Monroe.

Daryl Beasley has pictures of Maxine Marie in his workspace and in his home.  He goes to buy his girlfriend Lorretta a birthday present and sees a framed rent check signed by Maxine and buys the check.  This causes Lorretta to break off with him.

He brings the framed check home and hence begins his problem.  Maxine appears and starts to haunt him/   When Lorretta cannot find Daryl at work, she goes to his apartment.  Loretta and Maxine fight and Daryl does all he can to get Lorretta out of his place alive.

Lorretta searchs the Internet for help and finds some.  You will have to read this book to find out what happens.

I enjoyed this book.  It is more paranormal than horror and I will thus need to find another one for my horror book.  The book is a story about love and obsession/  It gives some rules about ghosts that I was not aware of and don't know if they were just created for this work or uses in other works.

The Wicked Wager

The Wicked Wager is a book by Anya Wylde that has romance and a murder mystery in the Regency period.

Lord Richard Hamilton falls for Emma Grey and asks her to marry him.  Her parents approve but, her uncle the Duke of Arden wants them to wait a year vs the two months that Richard wanted to wait.  Richard makes a wager with Emma about whether the Duke or someone else would see through his disguise as new head gardener or find him in a compromising situation with Emma so they would be forced to marry earlier.  Richard discovers that the Duke's sister has been blackmailing people and she tries to blackmail him.  To complicate matters the Duke sens for Richard to come for a visit.  So, Richard gets his good friend (who has black hair vs Richard's blond hair) to come as Lord Hamilton.  Of course, the friend falls madly in love with Emma's best friend and sometimes forgets to woo Emma.

To further complicate matters, the servants quarters are locked and Richard cannot make his way back to them one night and winds up spending the night in Emma's room.  It happens that the Duke's sister is murdered during the night and almost everyone is a suspect except the Lord's one servant who was following the real Richard and Emma.  The fake Richard is seen going into his "love's room" and the Duke decides both couples must marry as soon as possible.

 I have to admit I was looking for the murder much earlier than in actually occurs.  I did enjoy reading this e-book.  I feel that anyone who likes romantic novels especially in the Regency period would love this book.  I am not sure all mystery fans would feel the same way about the mystery happening so late in the work as the characters are well developed and the book is interesting to read.

I was given a free e-book by the author who asked me to write an honest review.

Junior Intern

Junior Intern by Alan E. Nourse

Ted Coleman receives a note from Dr. Bart (Bartholomew) to meet him at his office.  Ted thinks it is because he had been dating the doctor's daughter.  It turns out that the doctor is concerned that Ted would not be able to study pre-med and play football in college.  Ted had won a football scholarship to college.  Dr. Bart has 'adopted' boys and payed all of their college and medical school expenses as needed.  He is willing to do the same for Ted if he is a "winner".  A job at Darwin Hospital working under intern Neal Tucker who is one of the doctor's boys.

Ted's job is to do heavy work as moving beds, setting up oxygen tanks and other things as being in charge of sterile supplies and helping doctors with procedures.  Ted is taught how to do blood counts and cross matching.  He learns how to take blood pressures and how to observe patients.  He even discovers uneven pupils in one patient which lead to his observing an operation and forgetting that he had a date.

During an emergency, Ted takes charge and helps move patients, supplies, and doctors from one location to another.  While helping out during the emergency situation, Ted discovers the answer to the question that Dr. Bart had asked him, "Why do you want to become a doctor?"  it is because there was nothing else he could do.  Medicine ...is a way of life.

I found this book on one of my bookcases and decided it fit in with this challenge.  Alan Nourse is an M.D. and also wrote a book called Intern under the name 'Doctor X'.  He is better known for his science fiction books.

This book describes the way things were in hospitals in the early 50's.  Blood is collected by the Red Cross or Commuity Blood Banks vs individual hospital (at least here in Tioga County, PA).  Donors are asked lots of questions and many tests are run on the blood before it is used.  People can even bank their own blood when facing surgery.

I loved the book and gave it 4 out of five stars on Goodreads.  I have not read any of Dr. Nourse's other books recently.  I enjoyed this book and wish it was more easily available for others to read.

Allergic to Death

Allergic to Death by Peg Cochran is about Gigi Fitzgerald and her company Gigi's Gourmet De-Lites.  Reg, the dog on the cover belonged to Martha Bernhardt who winds up dead from a peanut allergy after eating one of Gigi's meals.  The death is ruled accidental.  However, Gigi does not keep anything containing peanuts in her cottage. Winston Baernhardt, Martha's ex does not want the dog but, Gigi does.  Reg plays an important part in this book.  The dog helps find a clue and is very helpful at the end of the book in more ways than one.

I certainly think I would enjoy some of the meals described in this book.  Since, I attend performances of a small theater group, I do like the theater as a backdrop for many of the scenes.  I think any fan of cozy mysteries would love this book and would like me look forward to reading more about Gigi and her friends.

Operation XOXO

The challenge for September is to read a book with a school in it.  Operation XOXO by Elle James certainly fits this challenge.  Elise Johnson (Alice Klaus) is a history teacher at a high school in Breuer, Texas.  She was married to Stan Klaus in 'South Dakota who was identified as a serial killer.  Everyone thought he had died in a fire but a body was never found.  Alice changed her name and moved to Texas with her two boys.  Much of the book occurs in the school or Elise's classroom.

One day. Elise gets a message making her think her ex is alive and will murder her if he gets the chance.  Enter FBI agent Paul Fletcher who helped her in South Dakota and who is now working in Texas.  When a girl is reported missing in Breuer, Agent Fletcher decides he needs to protect Elise.

I do not want to give away too much of the story.  This book is a Harlequin Intrigue book and there is a sex scene in it so it is not for younger readers.

It is a very quick book to read and I read the book in less than a day.

Death by the Dozen

The cover of Death by the Dozen features a small picture of Captain Jack.  Captain Jack is a kitten that is found by Mel who is one of the owners of Fairy Tale Cupcakes.  Mel lives over the shop.  One day she and Angie hear a noise that "..sounded like someone being stabbed."  The sound was coming from the dumpster.  They find a tiny white kitten with a black patch over one eye.  Being film buffs they name the kitten Captain Jack after Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean.

This kitten winds up in Mel's apartment and finds its way into her heart, 

Since there is an animal on the cover, it fits the criteria for this challenge.  Captain Jack may not be a major character but the cat does provide companionship for Mel when she needs it most.  I am sure I will be reading more books with animals but I did want to include this one because I also fell in love with a kitten that was found and now Reese is a very active member of our household.  Reese was not found in a dumpster but we saw him at a private club that we belong to and brought her home.  I don't know if she was after a cupcake when she was found but she sure likes her kitten "milk".