Archive for December 9, 2015

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Murder Fir Christmas
by Joyce and Jim Lavene

Murder Fir Christmas will have you humming carols and ho-ho-ho-ing quicker than the Big Guy’s sled makes it around the world!
~Back Porchervations!!

Masterfully written…filled with intrigue, action, laughter, joy, and a mystical beauty that touched my heart, MURDER FIR CHRISTMAS has beat out every book this year to become my number one favorite book of 2015.
~Lisa K’s Book Reviews

This has mystery, humor and a touch of paranormal that combine to entertain you.
~readalot

An awesome cozy story! Mystery with just a flake of folklore and a touch of paranormal and a little romance too. These authors have imaginations that are truly off the charts.
~Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book

This book was full of adventure and mystery…
~Community Bookstop

The book was wonderful seeing Bonnie again and the way she handles herself with the Tree Farm and more.
~Bab’s Book Bistro

Murder Fir Christmas was a well-crafted mystery with a spunky heroine, engaging characters and a whodunnit that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
~Moonlight Rendezvous

MURDER FIR CHRISTMASMurder Fir Christmas
(Christmas Tree Valley Mysteries)

Cozy Mystery
New Series
Print Length: 208 pages
Publisher: J. Lavene (December 1, 2015)
ASIN: B016APS2PI
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My Review

This is my favorite book by these authors. I loved it. And it’s the first book in a brand new series!

Bonnie is living the life I wished I could. She’s a Federal Wildlife Agent. Returning to her roots in Sweet Pepper, Tennessee to take care of her mother, she hardly has time to check in on her new job before she’s called out to help rescue some wildlife when a small island catches on fire.

While rescuing the animals, she finds not one, but two people dead, the latter being the retiring agent who’s position she is taking.

A good cozy mystery requires multiple suspects, with the main protagonist becoming a target of the killer or a prime suspect themselves. You get that, because Bonnie is not about to stay out of the investigation. It also requires a little romance. You get that too, and it’s a hoot.

And there’s another plus to this story. A little bit of paranormal and folklore. Right from the beginning I sensed something peculiar and it wasn’t long before Bonnie was made aware of it too.

Bonnie’s affinity with wild animals is another thing I loved about this story. She rescues a young wolf cub from the island and takes him home to rehabilitate and then release back into the wild. Well, of course I fell in love with the cub and it became a focal point for me. Would she turn the wolf loose, and would it go? It didn’t seem to want to leave Bonnie’s side.

How to describe my reading experience? I had a blast. Loved the budding romance, Had to laugh because they could deny it all they wanted but the heart wants what the heart wants. The murder mystery had a lot of suspects and I loved following the clues, discarding a suspect, finding another, and another. And the wolf cub. He was so adorable. I loved how he attached himself to Bonnie, accepting her as pack leader, never wandering far from her. I couldn’t decide whether I wanted him to integrate back into the wild or stay with Bonnie. And there’s much more going on. Every page led me to something else.

With a puzzling mystery, lots of wildlife, a touch of romance and some paranormal elements, I was hooked from the first chapter and didn’t stop until I read the last page. One of those books you can’t wait to finish and hate to finish at the same time.

5 Stars

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Synopsis

Down the mountain from Sweet Pepper, Tennessee is Christmas Tree Valley, a place filled with hundreds of Christmas tree farms where generations of growers have made people’s lives brighter. Yet even here in this quiet, postcard-perfect corner of the world, darkness and murder can still stalk the night.

Federal Wildlife Agent Bonnie Tuttle has always had a special gift with wild animals. It was one of the reasons she decided to train with the wildlife agency. She’s spent the last ten years in Alabama working, but her mother needs her home and she’s back despite all the bad parts of her life she hoped to leave behind.

Her first day home begins with a fire on the island in Sweet Pepper Lake and the death of Harvey Shelton, the wildlife agent she’s supposed to replace. Bonnie manages to rescue dozens of animals from the fire – including a wolf pup that was shot with the same bullet that killed Harvey.

Now she’s hot on the trail of Harvey’s killer and trying to reintegrate the wolf back into the wild even though he seems to want to stay with her. Yet old memories persist in the small community where she grew up, and the killer now seems to believe that she has what he killed Harvey for. All she has to do is figure out what that is before it’s too late.

Christmas Recipes included!

About Authors Joyce and Jim Lavene

I just love this picture of Joyce and Jim

 

Joyce and Jim Lavene write award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family.

Author Links

Website / Facebook / Amazon / Twitter

Purchase Link:

Amazon

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Follow the tour for more fun stops.

December 2 – Back Porchervations – Review 

December 3 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – Review

December 3 – readalot – Review

December 4 – Community Bookstop – Review

December 4 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – Review

December 5 – Babs Book Bistro – Review

December 6 – Moonlight Rendezvous – Review

December 7 – Bubble Bath Books – Review

December 8 – Cozy Up With Kathy – Review

December 8 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – Review

December 9 – fuonlyknew – Review

December 10 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy,  &, Sissy, Too ! – Review

December 10 – fundinmental – Review

December 11 – Mallory Heart Reviews – Review

December 12 – Shelley’s Book Case – Review

December 13 – Laura’s Interests – Review

December 14 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review

December 14 – Socrates’ Book Reviews – Review

December 15 – View from the Birdhouse – Review

December 15 – Book Babble – Review

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Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the Christmas Flamingos below!

I love Yancy Lazarus.

For today, I’m sharing reviews for all three books in the series.

Come on in and stay for a while.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Wendigo Rising:

A Yancy Lazarus Novel

Episode Three

James A. Hunter

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Genre: Urban Fantasy

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My Review

A Sasquatch! Yancy Lazarus meets Big Foot. How could I not love this book.

Yancy has charmed me from the very beginning. Not by his looks, he’s okay. Not by his smoking and drinking, does way too much of that. And definitely not because of his behavior. But, in spite of it.

Now, he’s teamed up with a sasquatch who needs his help. Seems one of his kind has gone off the rails, munching on flesh, cannibalizing his own species, and liking it too much.

Now, these beings like their privacy. They’ve managed to stay secluded, with everyone believing they don’t exist. One rogue sasquatch could put them on the front page and here comes the hunters. Not good at all.

In comes the big bad Wendigo. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another, and the state of Montana may be one big ghost town if Yancy doesn’t take care of it.

If that isn’t enough, Yancy’s still trying to stop the supernatural beings and their plans for armageddon.

When I wasn’t snortin with laughter, I was talking out loud. Cheering Yancy on. The poor guy just wants a break. Some time off to smoke, drink, and jam some blues. Not today, Yancy

As with the first two books, I ate this up. The author kept the suspense ramped up, threw in some new supernatural beings, put Yancy through the wringer, and continued to make me laugh.

I’ve been thinking about who should play the part of Yancy if there were a movie. I’m going with Russell Crow or Gerard Butler. Picture them in Gladiator and The 300.

Still lovin Yancy Lazarus, and still wanting more.

5 Stars

***

Synopsis

Bigfoot is real. Yancy Lazarus—mage, bluesman, and rambler—knows because there happens to be a nine-foot-tall, walking myth standing in the road, flagging him down.

Yancy just can’t escape his reputation as a supernatural Fix-it man even when cruising through the forgotten backwoods of Montana. Turns out Bigfoot has a serious problem on his hands: one of his own has gone rogue, developing a taste for the flesh of humans and Sasquatch alike. A greater Wendigo has risen for the first time in thousands of years and if Yancy can’t stop the creature it could be a slaughter for the residents of a rural Montana town.

But even with the monstrous threat looming on the horizon, Yancy has bigger fish to fry. He’s working as an agent of Fate, attempting to put the kibosh on a nefarious scheme, aimed at upsetting the tenuous balance between the supernatural nations. When your boss is Lady Luck, however, nothing is ever left to chance, and his two cases may have more in common than it appears. If he can’t figure out the missing link it could usher in a new world order: an age of inhuman creatures and walking nightmares … one where Yancy Lazarus doesn’t exist.

Available at Amazon

Enjoy The Excerpt:

Bigfoot is real. I know the existence of this nigh-mythical figure is pretty controversial in a lot of circles; tons of drunken bar brawls and fistfights have started over this very topic. Money, religion, politics, and Bigfoot: these are the things best avoided in polite conversation. Unless, of course, you want someone to punch you in the nose or call the men in white jackets. Don’t believe me? Next Thanksgiving, ask your assorted family members their thoughts on Bigfoot and see where the conversation goes. It’ll be entertaining, that much I can promise.

Me, though? I’ve never been one for polite conversation, and I’d love to see the crazy-police try to haul my ass in.

Plus, this isn’t some delusional, government-conspiracy, paranoia thing. I know Bigfoot is real. There was one standing in the road, flagging me down.

Jeez, my life.

I’d glimpsed one years ago and at a distance. A rare encounter. The creatures—Chiye-tanka, for those in the know—are elusive as hell and covet their privacy like paparazzi-weary celebs, evidenced by the fact that no one has ever managed to get much on ’em despite what basically amounts to a nationwide ape hunt. They’re monstrously big and about as inconspicuous as a pro wrestler sporting a neon pink tutu, but they’re also faster than the Road Runner high on speed, uncannily quiet, and boast some crazy-impressive skills with illusion and glamour constructs.

Apparently, the creature standing in the road was the slow kid in the class, the one sitting in the corner with the dunce cap, because this big, hairy roadblock was taking approximately zero percent of the usual Bigfoot evasive precautions. Might as well have been wearing a road guard vest and waving a friggin’ hand flare.

He was colossal, nine feet easy, all mud-colored hair and muscle. Lots and lots of muscle—heck, his muscles had muscles with their own gym membership. He was built on the same scale as a gorilla, only bigger. Much bigger. His face was leathery black and flat, surrounded by flecks of silvered hair. He had deep recessed eyes of brilliant green, which regarded me with a strangely thoughtful expression.

He didn’t look particularly pissed off, which was good since I was sure he could throw me into orbit with those big ol’ monkey arms. Either that or put an asteroid-sized dent in the hood of my ’86 El Camino—part car, part mobile home, and one hundred percent badass—the worse of the two options in my book. I braked since there was no point in trying to run the walking carpet over. With my luck, a collision would level my car without putting so much as a dent in Kong. I slowed to a crawl, the engine rumbling beneath me as I tried to decide what in the hell to do. I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel.

Dammit.

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Strange Magic

A Yancy Lazarus Novel

Episode One

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My Review

Yancy’s having one of those days, weeks…. Starts out innocently enough and then goes to s!#t.

It all started with a simple phone call from a friend in need. Now Yancy’s in a world of hurt and it ain’t gonna be getting better any time soon..

“I’d been pumped full of tranquilizers,busted a hole in the back wall of The Full House, got shot in the ass, and had, eventually, passed out in a dog pee under a car. Right?”

“So, how’d I end up Saran-wrapped to a table in white-picker suburbia?”

Yancy Lazarus (AKA The Fixer) He drinks too much. Smokes too much. And gambles too much. Or so they say. He just likes to live large.

He can do magic, using the VIS – Latin word meaning force or energy. Yancy’s neat trick is he can manipulate energy, using things like water and fire.  But a big gun comes in handy too when he comes face to face with the Rakshasa,  their face kind of like a hyena, with a mouth full of shark teeth, beady eyes, over long arms and gray flesh. Nasty things.

He’s 65 and looks 45 due to the longevity the Vis gives him. The FBI has his mug on a Most Wanted poster for domestic terrorism and murder, among other things. Sure, he’s killed, but most were of the non-human type.

Ya gotta love Yancy. He’s a shit-kickin, blues lovin, rambler and gambler, playing piano for drinks, gambling to feed himself, and living out of the back of his precious El Camino. A true nomad and bad ass.

From the first paragraph –

“The piano keys bobbed and danced under the pressure of my fingers. Music – low, slow, and soulful – drifted through the club, merging and twirling with wandering clouds of blue-gray smoke. So many places have no-smoking laws these days, it seems like there’s nowhere in the country where a guy can take a drag from a cigarette in peace. Everyone is so worries about their health, they make damn sure you stay healthy by proxy.”

to the last I had a rip snortin time and can’t wait to see what kind of Hell Yancy winds up in next.

Strange Magic is Author James A. Hunter’s debut novel. They say a writer gets better with each books he writes. If this is true, I can’t imagine what he has in store for this series.

5 Stars

***

Synopsis

Yancy Lazarus is having a bad day: there’s a bullet lodged in his butt cheek, his face looks like the site of a demolition derby, and he’s been saran-wrapped to a banquet table. He never should have answered the phone. Stupid bleeding heart—helping others in his circles is a good way to get dead.

Just ask the gang members ripped to pieces by some kind of demonic nightmare in LA. As a favor to a friend, Yancy agrees to take a little looksee into the massacre and boom, he’s stuck in a turf war between two rival gangs, which both think he’s pinch-hitting for the other side. Oh, and there’s also a secretive ass-hat with some mean ol’ magical chops and a small army of hyena-faced, body- snatching baddies. It might be time to seriously reconsider some of his life choices.

Yancy is a bluesman, a rambler, a gambler, but not much more. Sure, he can do a little magic—maybe even more than just a little magic—but he knows enough to keep his head down and stay clear of freaky-deaky hoodoo like this business in LA. Somehow though, he’s been set up to take a real bad fall—the kind of very permanent fall that leaves a guy with a toe tag. Unless, of course, he can find out who is responsible for the gangland murders, make peace in the midst of the gang feud, and take out said magical ass-hat before he hexes Yancy into an early retirement. Easy right? Stupid. Bleeding. Heart.

Available at Amazon

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A Yancy Lazarus Novel

Episode Two

25496308

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My Review

Once again, Yancy Lazarus is on the job.

He’d like nothing better than to enjoy some good blues music, chain smoke some cigarettes, and throw back some shots, chasing them with a few beers. But nope. Instead he has to rescue some kid who’s been kidnapped and dragged below to the Winter regions.

It’s no pick-nick there. lots of tunnels, bitter cold, and some really nasty Fae that want to eat him for dinner.

Known as the Fix-It man, it’s just another case and with a few bumps and bruises, and spilled blood, Yancy takes care of business. Except, it doesn’t stop there.

Things are hinky. Others are scheming to open the supernatural gates, inviting in all manner of beasts. Can’t be good for mankind, or Yancy. It’s gonna get tricky without his VIS, his powers.

Aah, Yancy. You can’t help but love him. He’s not a good catch. Smokes too much. Drinks too much. And kind of lazy. And he’s a lot older than he looks. But there’s something about him. Once you get past his smart mouth, you find he has a large heart, even though he tries to hide it behind a cavalier attitude. I’m thinking a lot of you men can relate with Yancy.

Like the first book, the action is wild, the beings are out of this world, in more ways than one, and Yancy charms you yet again.

Sorry Mom. I know you warned me about the bad boys. But, I just love Yancy.

And I love this series. I sure you hope you give it a try. It’s all good.

5 Stars

***

Synopsis

Yancy Lazarus just wants to be left alone. He wants play his blues music, smoke a few cigarettes, and otherwise leave the supernatural world to fend for itself.

He especially wants to be left alone by the Guild of the Staff—the mage ruling body—where he used to work as a Fix-It man. But when a little kid gets nabbed by an ancient Fae creature from the nether regions of Winter and the Guild refuses to set things right, he just can’t seem to heed good sense and leave things be.

Nothing’s ever easy though. Turns out, the kidnapping is just the tip of one big ol’ iceberg of pain and trouble. It seems some nefarious force is working behind the scenes to try and unhinge the tenuous balance between the supernatural nations and usher in a new world order. So now, if Yancy ever hopes to see the bottom of another beer bottle, he’s gonna have to partner up with an FBI agent—an agent who’s been hunting him for years—in order to bring down a nigh-immortal, douchebag mage from a different era. And to top it off, Yancy’s gonna have to pull it off without his magical powers … Boy, some days just aren’t worth getting out of bed for.

Available at Amazon

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About the Author:

James A. Hunter

 

Hey all, my name is James Hunter and I’m a writer, among other things. So just a little about me: I’m a former Marine Corps Sergeant, combat veteran, and pirate hunter (seriously). I’m also a member of The Royal Order of the Shellback—‘cause that’s a real thing. And, a space-ship captain, can’t forget that.

Okay … the last one is only in my imagination.

Currently, I work as a missionary and international aid worker with my wife and young daughter in Bangkok, Thailand. When I’m not working, writing, or spending time with family, I occasionally eat and sleep. Strange Magic is the first novel in the Yancy Lazarus series—the third, full-length novel, Wendigo Rising, just released on November 3rd, 2015.

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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The author has offered a great giveaway for ya’ll!

Five eBook copies of Wendigo Rising, Book Three

or

Five Audible copies of Strange Magic, Book One

Winners choice!

To enter, please leave an email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:

“How do you like your hero?”

  1. Tall, dark, and handsome
  2. Tall, dark, and dangerous
  3. Tall, dark and rough around the edges
  4. None of the above. Tell me your perfect hero.

Giveaway ends December 17th.

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Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For a list of my reviews go HERE

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways click on the Christmas Flamingos below!