Category Archives: 2011

2011

by | December 24, 2012

Erin McCarthy. The Chase: A Fast Track Novel. New York: Berkley Sensation, 2011.

Ten years ago, Evan Monroe broke Kendall Holbrook’s heart when he mocked her dream of becoming a professional driver with the North Carolina racing circuit. A fresh-faced eighteen-year-old, she had thought what they had was true love, and when he laughed at her goals it hurt her so deeply that she wasted no time in cutting him out of her life. Unfortunately, ten years later, both she and Evan meet again as a part of the same driving team. Kendall is an unstoppable force as the first female to successfully break the glass ceiling of the racing industry, while Evan is struggling to keep his head above water.

But Kendall isn’t as happy with her life as she should be. She’s thrilled with how her career is going, but misses having a dating life. If she’s being honest with herself, Evan really was the only man for her, until he turned out to be a sexist pig. But when her best girlfriend discovers that what divided Evan and Kendall may have been only a terrible misunderstanding, it looks like they might have a happy ending after all…the only thing that could get in the way would be their competitive racing careers. Will they be able to rekindle their romance? And more importantly, will they be able to keep that flame alive?

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, McCarthy, Erin, Mecklenburg, Novels in Series, Piedmont, Romance/Relationship

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by | December 3, 2012

Brian Lee Knopp. Naked Came the Leaf Peeper. Asheville, NC: Burning Bush Press of Asheville, 2011.

What happens when you mix twelve of western North Carolina’s most adept storytellers with one impossible plot? The answer is Naked Came the Leaf Peeper, a merry and mysterious game of literary tag among the likes of Vicki Lane, John P. McAfee, Tony Earley, and Alan Gratz. Brian Lee Knopp, the mastermind behind this zany novel, begins the plot: high on an overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, a man falls to his death…helped by a young assassin armed with a potato gun. Improbable? Absurd? The fun is only just beginning.

Garnell Lee Ray, assassin-for-hire, is out to avenge her mother and father, murdered for their land by greedy developers and their compatriots. She has knocked off three of the four with her simple, yet effective style: the use of gravity. A man overbalances on an overlook, helped along by a stray potato. Another is crushed by a conveniently placed tree. Gunning down the first was a mistake, but not one that the savvy Garnell will make again. Now the only one left is rapacious State Senator Andy Micheaux…and Garnell is coming for him. Unfortunately, someone gets to Garnell first, and she is highly annoyed to find herself passing out from a gunshot wound at her campsite in Linville Falls. She survives, but getting shot raises questions, even in the Appalachians. Relocated Yankee detective J.D. Kontz has a lot of questions for the attractive Miss Ray, but she escapes from the hospital before providing any real answers. Still, Detective Kontz begins to piece together Garnell’s tale, despite the clumsy ministrations of his dim-witted deputy, Marshall Harris. In fact, if he didn’t know better, Kontz would suspect the Fife-like deputy to be purposely misleading him.

Buckle up as this story weaves through the switchbacks at breakneck speed in a plot including (but not limited to): llamas, Baptists, golf, the Blue Ridge Parkway, moonshine, first love, runaway wives, pigs, tourists, heathen Yankees, beagles, ladies selling Mary Kay, gun-toting grannies, the SBI, ravens, backstabbing relations, secret agents of all different kinds, camping, and folk tunes. So grab some biscuits and red-eye, y’all, and gather round for the tallest tale ever told!

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

This is our 1000th post. We’ll be celebrating and hope that you will too.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Avery, Barrett, Linda Marie, Buncombe, Caldwell, Wayne, Chappell, Fred, Cheek, Gene, Clapsaddle, Annette Saunooke, Earley, Tony, Gratz, Alan, Hays, Tommy, Knopp, Brian Lee, Lane, Vicki, Madison, McAfee, John P., Mitchell, Mountains, Mystery, Reinhardt, Susan, Romance/Relationship, Suspense/Thriller

by | November 16, 2012

J. Leon Pridgen, II. Hidden Secrets, Hidden Lives. New York: Strebor Books, 2011.

Travis Moore has been able to move beyond his troubled past.  As a high school student named Perry he became a drug runner, in part to keep his mother off the streets. His partner in crime was his good friend Kwame “Bone” Brown.  But while Perry kept his grades up and his street profile low, Bone wanted respect on the streets, dressing flashy and pushing the limits. Bone’s behavior eventually landed him in a juvenile detention facility.  As agreed, Bone did not give up Perry and in return Perry left Bone their remaining drug stash and all their cash.

As the years go by, Bone comes to believe that he got the raw end of the deal, and he plots revenge against Perry, now a college graduate, married man, and a financial professional for a large home improvement chain.  The crafty Bone uses his drugs and cash to lure old friends and a young boy that Travis has been mentoring into the plot against Perry/Travis.  Author Pridgen gives us a chilling look at how the desire for revenge can warp a person and how in tense moments each of us acts in our own self-interest.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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by | October 30, 2012

J. Leon Pridgen, II. Color of Justice. New York: Strebor Books, 2011.

James Pruitt grew up with the security that every child deserves.  He knew that he was adopted, but his adoptive parents, William and Mamie Pruitt, always made him feel like he was their own.  Their love, and the careful guidance that he received from them, has helped him to succeed in school.  As this novel opens, James believes that he has the inner strength that will allow him to be successful in his career, begin his own family, and handle whatever life throws at him.

Have brother …. Help him.  James has no idea what his father’s final words could mean until he finds a box of newspaper clippings and photographs in William’s closet.  Only then does Mamie tell James about his parents and that his birth mother had another son–a man who is now on death row.  Warren Johnson isn’t pleased when James comes to see him in prison.  Warren resents the easy life that James has had and he thinks that the man who raised him, Geoffrey Taylor, is doing all that can be done to save him.  James, a lawyer, has a bad feeling about Taylor, and his prosecutor’s instincts won’t let him accept Warren’s case at face value.  Although it upsets his mother and strains his relationship with his girlfriend and his boss, James and his friend Chuck race to clear Warren’s name, no matter what the cost.

Despite the dirty dealings that James and Chuck uncover, this well plotted novel is at heart a warm story of family and loyalty.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Buncombe, Mecklenburg, Mountains, Piedmont, Pridgen, J. Leon, Wake

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by | October 10, 2012

Brenda Tetreault. Then, Now, Forever. Baltimore, MD: PublishAmerica, 2011.

Molly Sinclair has shut herself away from human connection over the last six years. She has her twin sister Natali and her five-year-old son, Jack– so far, those relationships have met her needs. But when Chance Younger walks through the door of her flower shop one day, Molly finds herself unexpectedly caught up in a whirlwind romance that not only been destined…it’s already happened once before.

Chance Younger can’t explain why he’s immediately, viscerally attracted to the young, hazel-eyed florist. He’s only in Bounty Cove for a short time to visit his cousin Nick “Devil” Damien and his family, but Molly Sinclair makes him want to stay much longer. Molly makes it clear she isn’t interested in a short-term relationship, but after one evening together, Chase feels like he has no choice but to leave– although in the process of divorce, he’s technically still married to his mean-tempered wife, making any relationship with Molly impossible. Still, he’s drawn back, as is Molly, by this inexplicable feeling that they’ve known one another before. Unfortunately, both admit that they have a terrible feeling that their past relationship, while passionate, was not a happy one, and ended in blood. Were they married in a past life? And more importantly, is it possible to change the pattern, and live happily ever after?

While the first book of the Bounty Cove Chronicles focused on ghosts and the second gave us a glimpse of life with a hyperempathetic individual, this third paranormal romance from Brenda Tetreault delves into the world of reincarnation and past lives. Are we all just living the same pain over and over again? And can we ever change?

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog, where you can also find the first two novels in the series, The Witcher Legacy and The Devil’s Own Angel.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Coast, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Romance/Relationship, Tetreault, Brenda

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by | September 14, 2012

Casey Mayes. A Killer Column. New York: Berkley Prime Crime, 2011.

Derrick Duncan, the demanding syndicator of Savannah Stone’s newspaper puzzles, has just been found stabbed with a steak knife in a luxury Raleigh hotel. This would be cause for celebration if only Savannah had not be the one who discovered his body. The fact that only moments before his death she had slapped him across the face – in front of his executive assistant, Kelsey – for firing her does not help her situation. Luckily for Savannah, many people were delighted to see him go, so there are lots of suspects. Plus, she has her husband Zach, the former Charlotte chief of police, and Jenny Blake, her college roommate and a top lawyer, to help draw attention to other people who may have been left disgruntled by Derrick’s behavior. Savannah visits many City of Oaks landmarks as she uses her logic, matched with Zach and Jenny’s professional expertise, to solve the crime and to keep her job.

A Killer Column is the second novel in the “Mystery by the Numbers” series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Mayes, Casey, Mystery, Novels in Series, Piedmont, Wake

by | September 4, 2012

Wendy L. Young. Come the Shadows. Lexington, KY: CreateSpace, 2011.

Campbell Creek, North Carolina is the epitome of a sleepy small town. Officer Will Harmon, now in his forties, hasn’t seen much action over his near-twenty year career on the police force. His day usually consists of eating at the local diner and center of the community, the Pie Shop, and chasing after young teenage ne’er-do-wells as they think up new pranks. But one morning all that changes when Campbell Creek has its first murder in seventeen years. A group of kids discovers a pile of bones in an abandoned factory, and no one seems to know to whom they could belong.

Soon Will is caught up in the investigation, bringing a young rookie cop named Ricky along for the ride. But this rabbit-hole goes much deeper than it appears on the surface. Is the murder connected with all the new housing developments going up in the quiet town? Will’s wife Laura is busy protesting the high-handed way developers are dealing with the Campbell Creek community, and soon she’s receiving threatening responses to her activism. Can Will, Ricky, and Laura find the wrongdoers before it’s too late for them, and for Campbell Creek? Find out in the first book in the Campbell Creek Mysteries.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Mystery, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Piedmont, Young, Wendy L.

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by | August 31, 2012

Marcia Gruver. Raider’s Heart. Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour Publishing, 2011.

Back in the early 1850s, Silas McRae was a no-good thief and a charlatan. He had to be: despite having the surname name “McRae” he and his family, like other Lumbee residents of Robeson County, North Carolina, were looked down on and scorned by most North Carolinians. Now it’s 1871, and as an older man with a family, Silas regrets his thieving ways. But his greatest regret is the loss of a beautiful golden lamp, stolen from a rich Fayetteville home one fateful night in 1852. Silas has told the tale repeatedly to his two boys, Hooper and Duncan: how beautiful the lamp was, and how Silas was sure that its strange shape held a genie that would answer all of his problems. When Hooper and Duncan hear from a cousin that the lamp might have found its way to the family of a wealthy local planter, how can they resist stopping by to acquire it?

It seems like a simple job of thievery, but the boys don’t count on the feisty Dawsey Wilkes, the (supposedly) gently raised daughter of Colonel Gerrard Wilkes. Dawsey apprehends the criminals in the act of stealing her father’s precious lamp, but the situation goes terribly awry for all parties involved, and somehow the McRaes end up kidnapping Dawsey. But the trouble is just beginning. When the McRaes arrive home in Scuffletown with Dawsey, they discover that she is the spitting image of their little sister Ellie, who is exactly the same age. Are the two girls twins? And could the beautiful, haughty Dawsey ever fall for the likes of Hooper McRae? What unfolds is a tale of danger, unexpected family, and romance. This first novel in Gruver’s Backwoods Brides series charts a stormy course through the racially charged history of Reconstruction era Robeson County.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

 

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Gruver, Marcia, Historical, Novels in Series, Piedmont, Robeson, Romance/Relationship

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by | August 13, 2012

Suzanne Adair. Regulated for Murder.[United States: CreateSpace], 2011.

It’s 1781 in Wilmington, North Carolina, and Lieutenant Michael Stoddard has just kicked down the door of a traitorous land agent named Horatio Bowater, when his commanding officer abruptly pulls him away. Michael is furious, especially since his role as chief investigating officer will now go to his young assistant, but Major Craig is adamant that he needs Stoddard for something else. Unfortunately, Michael’s new mission is that of a lowly courier: Craig wants him to deliver a message to a man working for Lord Cornwallis in Hillsborough, far away from the bustling seaport of Wilmington. So Stoddard reluctantly disguises himself for the dangerous journey across a colony in the throes of a revolution. But this mission will be far less simple, and far more perilous, than he thought.

When Michael arrives in Orange County, he finds the man he’s supposed to meet, a Mr. Griggs, has been murdered. More than that, the county sheriff is a corrupt and devious man, and he’s bent on finding out who Michael is and why he has come to Hillsborough. Michael takes refuge with a local woman and her daughter, posing as a nephew, but he doesn’t have much time to find out what happened to Griggs before the sheriff discovers his true identity. Unfortunately, an old nemesis picks this as the perfect time to come to town: the sadistic Duncan Fairfax of His Majesty’s Seventeenth Light Dragoons. The last time they met, Stoddard barely escaped with his life…and Fairfax remembers him all too well. Will Michael solve Griggs’s murder and avoid his own?

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill library catalog.

 

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Adair, Suzanne, Coast, Historical, New Hanover, Orange, Piedmont, Suspense/Thriller

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by | August 7, 2012

Jennifer Estep. Touch of Frost. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp., 2011.

Gwendolyn Frost doesn’t think she’s anything particularly special. Sure, she’s a Gypsy: like all the women in her family, she has a special gift related to knowing secrets. Her grandmother can see the future, her mother could tell if someone was lying or not, and Gwendolyn can learn things about a person by just touching them or objects belonging to them. But Gwen doesn’t think this gift adds up to much, at least not compared to her classmates. Because Gwen attends the prestigious Mythos Academy, high in the mountains north of Asheville, North Carolina, and her classmates are all descendants of warriors or mythical beings: Spartans, Romans, Valkyries, Amazons…the list goes on and on. The only thing they can’t do, it seems, is befriend an awkward Gypsy girl. The only one who seems to pay any attention is Logan Quinn, the most gorgeous, and the baddest, guy in school. Gwen isn’t sure what she’s done to earn his scrutiny, but she’s more frightened than flattered.

But something odd is going on at Mythos Academy– something bigger than Gwen’s friend problems. One night, working late in the Library of Antiquities, Gwen finds Jasmine Ashton murdered. Jasmine was one of the most popular, and powerful, Valkyries at the Academy, but no one seems to care that she’s dead. Academy students die all the time– with their talents come great risks. But Gwen doesn’t see it that way. To this sensitive Gypsy girl, every life matters. Additionally, whoever murdered Jasmine stole the powerful Bowl of Tears, and may be trying to wake dark forces that will threaten Earth. Gwen decides it’s up to her to figure out who murdered Jasmine and bring him or her to justice, and to find the Bowl of Tears before it’s too late. Now if only she would stop running into Logan Quinn…

Young adult readers ages 13 and up will enjoy this mythological urban fantasy series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Buncombe, Children & Young Adults, Estep, Jennifer, Mountains, Novels in Series, Science Fiction/Fantasy

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