The Akamai Reader

It's Monday! What are you reading? November 26, 2012

This Monday meme is held by the The Book Journey. Feel free to join in and tell us what you’re reading!

Title: Cat Telling Tales

Author: Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From Goodreads:

Even the bright seaside village of Molena Point has been hit hard by the economic downturn, bringing a rash of foreclosures in which many residents are abandoning their family pets. While feline P. I. Joe Grey’s human friends join together to care for the starving cats, a fire leaves a twelve-year-old boy homeless. The body of his alcoholic guardian is discovered in the smoldering ruins, causing Joe to wonder if escape was really impossible for the elderly woman or if something more sinister occurred.

Meanwhile, Debbie Kraft descends uninvited on the Damens’ home with her two children, claiming that her ex-husband has left her with no money and nowhere else to go. But when Joe learns that the victim of the fire was Debbie’s estranged mother and that Debbie is not broke at all but carrying plenty of cash, his fur is on end with suspicion.

As Debbie’s abandoned tomcat follows her all the way down the coast from Oregon with his own clues to add to the mix, Joe learns that Debbie’s Realtor ex-husband may be involved in a number of intricate real estate scams. Furthermore, his sales partner may be missing, and while Joe and his pals prowl through the dead woman’s house, they discover that her reclusive neighbor has disappeared as well.

But it’s not until Debbie’s tomcat arrives that Joe and his feline detective pals find the biggest clue of all: a grave that the cops have missed. And as the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together, tortoiseshell Kit sees her own dreams coming true in the handsome new cat with whom she might share her life’s adventures.

Title: Cat Bearing Gifts

Author; Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From the Publisher:

The confusing events that early fall in Molena Point began perhaps with the return of Kate Osborne, the beguiling blond divorcée arriving in California richer than sin and with a story as strange as the melodies spun by a modern Pied Piper to mesmerize the unwary. Or maybe the strangeness started with the old faded photograph of a child from a half-century past, and the memories she awakened in the old yellow tomcat. Perhaps that was the beginning of the odd occurrences that stirred through the coastal village, setting the five cats off on new paths. . . . 
On the way home from visiting their friend Kate Osborne in San Francisco, tortoiseshell Kit and her elderly housemates, Lucinda and Pedric Greenlaw, are hurt in a terrible car crash on a winding coastal road. The accident is terrifying enough, but then two dangerous men steal the Greenlaws’ town car, making off with a secret hoard of jewels and gold—a gift bestowed from Kate’s newfound treasure—carefully hidden inside its doors. As paramedics rush the Greenlaws to the emergency room, a badly shaken Kit hides from hungry coyotes in the forested hills above the highway, waiting for Joe, Pan, and their human companions, Ryan and Clyde Damen, to rescue her.

Back home in Molena Point, yellow tomcat Misto, discovering a faded photograph of a child living fifty years ago, becomes lost in his memories of that past century—while Joe Grey and his tabby lady prowl an abandoned stone cottage where they’ve discovered two rough-looking men hiding. The cats smell mildewed money, and soon smell human blood, too, and they wonder: Could these unsettling incidents be tied to the injury of the Greenlaws and to the theft of their car and treasure? Could they be, as well, part of the larger mystery involving the very source of the cats’ magical powers?

Misto and his unfailing memory might provide some answers, but his feline detective efforts are nearly derailed when Misto’s son, Pan, the bold red tomcat, led on by the Greenlaws’ exotic treasure and by his taste for adventure, drives a painful wedge between himself and Kit, just when their romance feels so filled with joy.

But Kit is busy with other matters, too, as she follows the two housebreakers, one badly injured and the other eager to end his partner’s misery, as they make off with more wealth than even they realize. Though the cats know more than the thieves about the unique items stolen, their investigation is still in trouble. Only slowly, and after two sudden murders, do they at last claw their way to the truth, examining more intently the source of the gold and jewels, understanding more clearly, as well, the secrets of the moldering treasury bills—the mystery of their source, generations past, when Misto lived another life.

Title: Lost

Author: Pandora Richardson

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From Goodreads:

Amelia Jones is a 25 year-old virgin, werewolf and Private Detective who is prone to make rash decisions. Amelia has been lying to her parents about her finances and now has a mountain of bills and is facing eviction.

After a chance encounter with a wealthy heiress, Amelia is hired to go undercover to catch her client’s attractive, much younger husband cheating. Unfortunately, being a virgin with primal passions on a mission to seduce a man isn’t necessarily the best way to maintain emotional stability and Amelia must remain in control. Amelia has to decide whether the allure of money and risking her secrets is better than asking her parents for help.

I’m not actually reading a book right now. Right now I’m reading over samples of book submissions, kind of auditioning which books I want to review. I did read Cat Telling Tales last week though. That means I’ll be able to read Cat Bearing Gifts this week. I’m really enjoying the Joe Grey books. Can you believe there are nineteen of them and  Murphy is still going strong?

Lost is a book submission that I’ll read after I’m done with the Joe Grey books. It looks really good and I enjoyed the sample I read of it. It looks like I have some good books to read this week which is good because I have a cold. The weather here can’t make up its mind which always plays havoc on my system. I need something good to read while I rest! These are the perfect types of books to read while I’m sick too.

As always, thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great week and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

It’s Monday! What are you reading? November 26, 2012

This Monday meme is held by the The Book Journey. Feel free to join in and tell us what you’re reading!

Title: Cat Telling Tales

Author: Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From Goodreads:

Even the bright seaside village of Molena Point has been hit hard by the economic downturn, bringing a rash of foreclosures in which many residents are abandoning their family pets. While feline P. I. Joe Grey’s human friends join together to care for the starving cats, a fire leaves a twelve-year-old boy homeless. The body of his alcoholic guardian is discovered in the smoldering ruins, causing Joe to wonder if escape was really impossible for the elderly woman or if something more sinister occurred.

Meanwhile, Debbie Kraft descends uninvited on the Damens’ home with her two children, claiming that her ex-husband has left her with no money and nowhere else to go. But when Joe learns that the victim of the fire was Debbie’s estranged mother and that Debbie is not broke at all but carrying plenty of cash, his fur is on end with suspicion.

As Debbie’s abandoned tomcat follows her all the way down the coast from Oregon with his own clues to add to the mix, Joe learns that Debbie’s Realtor ex-husband may be involved in a number of intricate real estate scams. Furthermore, his sales partner may be missing, and while Joe and his pals prowl through the dead woman’s house, they discover that her reclusive neighbor has disappeared as well.

But it’s not until Debbie’s tomcat arrives that Joe and his feline detective pals find the biggest clue of all: a grave that the cops have missed. And as the pieces of the puzzle begin to come together, tortoiseshell Kit sees her own dreams coming true in the handsome new cat with whom she might share her life’s adventures.

Title: Cat Bearing Gifts

Author; Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From the Publisher:

The confusing events that early fall in Molena Point began perhaps with the return of Kate Osborne, the beguiling blond divorcée arriving in California richer than sin and with a story as strange as the melodies spun by a modern Pied Piper to mesmerize the unwary. Or maybe the strangeness started with the old faded photograph of a child from a half-century past, and the memories she awakened in the old yellow tomcat. Perhaps that was the beginning of the odd occurrences that stirred through the coastal village, setting the five cats off on new paths. . . . 
On the way home from visiting their friend Kate Osborne in San Francisco, tortoiseshell Kit and her elderly housemates, Lucinda and Pedric Greenlaw, are hurt in a terrible car crash on a winding coastal road. The accident is terrifying enough, but then two dangerous men steal the Greenlaws’ town car, making off with a secret hoard of jewels and gold—a gift bestowed from Kate’s newfound treasure—carefully hidden inside its doors. As paramedics rush the Greenlaws to the emergency room, a badly shaken Kit hides from hungry coyotes in the forested hills above the highway, waiting for Joe, Pan, and their human companions, Ryan and Clyde Damen, to rescue her.

Back home in Molena Point, yellow tomcat Misto, discovering a faded photograph of a child living fifty years ago, becomes lost in his memories of that past century—while Joe Grey and his tabby lady prowl an abandoned stone cottage where they’ve discovered two rough-looking men hiding. The cats smell mildewed money, and soon smell human blood, too, and they wonder: Could these unsettling incidents be tied to the injury of the Greenlaws and to the theft of their car and treasure? Could they be, as well, part of the larger mystery involving the very source of the cats’ magical powers?

Misto and his unfailing memory might provide some answers, but his feline detective efforts are nearly derailed when Misto’s son, Pan, the bold red tomcat, led on by the Greenlaws’ exotic treasure and by his taste for adventure, drives a painful wedge between himself and Kit, just when their romance feels so filled with joy.

But Kit is busy with other matters, too, as she follows the two housebreakers, one badly injured and the other eager to end his partner’s misery, as they make off with more wealth than even they realize. Though the cats know more than the thieves about the unique items stolen, their investigation is still in trouble. Only slowly, and after two sudden murders, do they at last claw their way to the truth, examining more intently the source of the gold and jewels, understanding more clearly, as well, the secrets of the moldering treasury bills—the mystery of their source, generations past, when Misto lived another life.

Title: Lost

Author: Pandora Richardson

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From Goodreads:

Amelia Jones is a 25 year-old virgin, werewolf and Private Detective who is prone to make rash decisions. Amelia has been lying to her parents about her finances and now has a mountain of bills and is facing eviction.

After a chance encounter with a wealthy heiress, Amelia is hired to go undercover to catch her client’s attractive, much younger husband cheating. Unfortunately, being a virgin with primal passions on a mission to seduce a man isn’t necessarily the best way to maintain emotional stability and Amelia must remain in control. Amelia has to decide whether the allure of money and risking her secrets is better than asking her parents for help.

I’m not actually reading a book right now. Right now I’m reading over samples of book submissions, kind of auditioning which books I want to review. I did read Cat Telling Tales last week though. That means I’ll be able to read Cat Bearing Gifts this week. I’m really enjoying the Joe Grey books. Can you believe there are nineteen of them and  Murphy is still going strong?

Lost is a book submission that I’ll read after I’m done with the Joe Grey books. It looks really good and I enjoyed the sample I read of it. It looks like I have some good books to read this week which is good because I have a cold. The weather here can’t make up its mind which always plays havoc on my system. I need something good to read while I rest! These are the perfect types of books to read while I’m sick too.

As always, thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great week and I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

It's Monday! What are you reading? (27) November 19, 2012

This Monday meme is held by the The Book Journey. Feel free to join in and tell us what you’re reading!

Title: Days of Blood and Starlight

Author: Laini Taylor

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From Goodreads:

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster’s apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she’ll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

I thought this book would get me out of my reading slump and it kind of did, but I’ve been really busy! I just haven’t had time to read. My weekend was jam-packed. Plus I was too sick to read last week. Hopefully I’ll be better this week. Although I feel like I’m still recovering from the weekend, it might take me a bit to get back into the groove of things.
I am really enjoying Days of Blood and Starlight. Some of the story is told in emails back and forth between Zuze and Karou and I’m really getting a kick out of Zuze. In fact I think she’s stealing the show.

Title: Cat Bearing Gifts

Author: Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From the Publisher:

The confusing events that early fall in Molena Point began perhaps with the return of Kate Osborne, the beguiling blond divorcée arriving in California richer than sin and with a story as strange as the melodies spun by a modern Pied Piper to mesmerize the unwary. Or maybe the strangeness started with the old faded photograph of a child from a half-century past, and the memories she awakened in the old yellow tomcat. Perhaps that was the beginning of the odd occurrences that stirred through the coastal village, setting the five cats off on new paths. . . .
On the way home from visiting their friend Kate Osborne in San Francisco, tortoiseshell Kit and her elderly housemates, Lucinda and Pedric Greenlaw, are hurt in a terrible car crash on a winding coastal road. The accident is terrifying enough, but then two dangerous men steal the Greenlaws’ town car, making off with a secret hoard of jewels and gold—a gift bestowed from Kate’s newfound treasure—carefully hidden inside its doors. As paramedics rush the Greenlaws to the emergency room, a badly shaken Kit hides from hungry coyotes in the forested hills above the highway, waiting for Joe, Pan, and their human companions, Ryan and Clyde Damen, to rescue her.

Back home in Molena Point, yellow tomcat Misto, discovering a faded photograph of a child living fifty years ago, becomes lost in his memories of that past century—while Joe Grey and his tabby lady prowl an abandoned stone cottage where they’ve discovered two rough-looking men hiding. The cats smell mildewed money, and soon smell human blood, too, and they wonder: Could these unsettling incidents be tied to the injury of the Greenlaws and to the theft of their car and treasure? Could they be, as well, part of the larger mystery involving the very source of the cats’ magical powers?

Misto and his unfailing memory might provide some answers, but his feline detective efforts are nearly derailed when Misto’s son, Pan, the bold red tomcat, led on by the Greenlaws’ exotic treasure and by his taste for adventure, drives a painful wedge between himself and Kit, just when their romance feels so filled with joy.

But Kit is busy with other matters, too, as she follows the two housebreakers, one badly injured and the other eager to end his partner’s misery, as they make off with more wealth than even they realize. Though the cats know more than the thieves about the unique items stolen, their investigation is still in trouble. Only slowly, and after two sudden murders, do they at last claw their way to the truth, examining more intently the source of the gold and jewels, understanding more clearly, as well, the secrets of the moldering treasury bills—the mystery of their source, generations past, when Misto lived another life.

I’ve been reading Joe Grey books forever so I have to read the newest when it comes out this week. In fact, it comes out tomorrow. This is one of the few mystery series I actually read. The cats aren’t too cute just because they talk. They retain their dignity and their catlike nature. Cats aren’t very cute all the time when you get right down to it. They’re ruthless and predatory. Rousseau manages to convey that while still maintaining their compassionate and quirky, endearing sides. That’s why I appreciate this series so much. I’m really looking forward to reading this book and I hope it doesn’t disappoint.

I also hope I can get through two books this week. I was such a prolific reader earlier this year. What happened to me?

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans!

It’s Monday! What are you reading? (27) November 19, 2012

This Monday meme is held by the The Book Journey. Feel free to join in and tell us what you’re reading!

Title: Days of Blood and Starlight

Author: Laini Taylor

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From Goodreads:

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster’s apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

In this stunning sequel to the highly acclaimed Daughter of Smoke & Bone, Karou must decide how far she’ll go to avenge her people. Filled with heartbreak and beauty, secrets and impossible choices, Days of Blood & Starlight finds Karou and Akiva on opposing sides as an age-old war stirs back to life.

While Karou and her allies build a monstrous army in a land of dust and starlight, Akiva wages a different sort of battle: a battle for redemption. For hope.

But can any hope be salvaged from the ashes of their broken dream?

I thought this book would get me out of my reading slump and it kind of did, but I’ve been really busy! I just haven’t had time to read. My weekend was jam-packed. Plus I was too sick to read last week. Hopefully I’ll be better this week. Although I feel like I’m still recovering from the weekend, it might take me a bit to get back into the groove of things.
I am really enjoying Days of Blood and Starlight. Some of the story is told in emails back and forth between Zuze and Karou and I’m really getting a kick out of Zuze. In fact I think she’s stealing the show.

Title: Cat Bearing Gifts

Author: Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Available at: Amazon – Kindle – Barnes and Noble

From the Publisher:

The confusing events that early fall in Molena Point began perhaps with the return of Kate Osborne, the beguiling blond divorcée arriving in California richer than sin and with a story as strange as the melodies spun by a modern Pied Piper to mesmerize the unwary. Or maybe the strangeness started with the old faded photograph of a child from a half-century past, and the memories she awakened in the old yellow tomcat. Perhaps that was the beginning of the odd occurrences that stirred through the coastal village, setting the five cats off on new paths. . . .
On the way home from visiting their friend Kate Osborne in San Francisco, tortoiseshell Kit and her elderly housemates, Lucinda and Pedric Greenlaw, are hurt in a terrible car crash on a winding coastal road. The accident is terrifying enough, but then two dangerous men steal the Greenlaws’ town car, making off with a secret hoard of jewels and gold—a gift bestowed from Kate’s newfound treasure—carefully hidden inside its doors. As paramedics rush the Greenlaws to the emergency room, a badly shaken Kit hides from hungry coyotes in the forested hills above the highway, waiting for Joe, Pan, and their human companions, Ryan and Clyde Damen, to rescue her.

Back home in Molena Point, yellow tomcat Misto, discovering a faded photograph of a child living fifty years ago, becomes lost in his memories of that past century—while Joe Grey and his tabby lady prowl an abandoned stone cottage where they’ve discovered two rough-looking men hiding. The cats smell mildewed money, and soon smell human blood, too, and they wonder: Could these unsettling incidents be tied to the injury of the Greenlaws and to the theft of their car and treasure? Could they be, as well, part of the larger mystery involving the very source of the cats’ magical powers?

Misto and his unfailing memory might provide some answers, but his feline detective efforts are nearly derailed when Misto’s son, Pan, the bold red tomcat, led on by the Greenlaws’ exotic treasure and by his taste for adventure, drives a painful wedge between himself and Kit, just when their romance feels so filled with joy.

But Kit is busy with other matters, too, as she follows the two housebreakers, one badly injured and the other eager to end his partner’s misery, as they make off with more wealth than even they realize. Though the cats know more than the thieves about the unique items stolen, their investigation is still in trouble. Only slowly, and after two sudden murders, do they at last claw their way to the truth, examining more intently the source of the gold and jewels, understanding more clearly, as well, the secrets of the moldering treasury bills—the mystery of their source, generations past, when Misto lived another life.

I’ve been reading Joe Grey books forever so I have to read the newest when it comes out this week. In fact, it comes out tomorrow. This is one of the few mystery series I actually read. The cats aren’t too cute just because they talk. They retain their dignity and their catlike nature. Cats aren’t very cute all the time when you get right down to it. They’re ruthless and predatory. Rousseau manages to convey that while still maintaining their compassionate and quirky, endearing sides. That’s why I appreciate this series so much. I’m really looking forward to reading this book and I hope it doesn’t disappoint.

I also hope I can get through two books this week. I was such a prolific reader earlier this year. What happened to me?

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans!