A Shore Thing

It's a summer to remember at the Jersey Shore! Giovanna "Gia" Spumanti and her cousin Isabella "Bella" Rizzoli are soaking up all that Seaside Heights, New Jersey, has to offer: hot guidos, cool clubs, fried Oreos, and lots of tequila. So far, the summer is on fire. Between nearly burning down their rented bungalow, inventing the popular "tan-tags" at the Tantastic Salon where she works, and rescuing a shark on the beach, Gia's a local celebrity. Bella meanwhile, has one goal in mind: hooking up with a sexy gorilla for a no-strings attached summer fling.

In no time, the cousins are scooped up by a couple of superhot guys, but they soon realize that for every friend they make on the boardwalk, there are also rivals, slummers, and frenemies who will do anything to ruin their summer-and try their relationship. Before July ends, the bonds of family and friendship will be stretched to the breaking point. Will the haters prevail, or will Gia and Bella find love at the Shore?

CAAAAABS HERE! If you love watching Jersey Shore then your gonna love reading this "fresh to death" book! It's officially summer time and Gia and her cousin Bella hit the shore hard in this fist pumping, pouf loving tale of two hilarious girls with "guidette problems"! Sun, fun, a drink in hand and gorillas on the beach...what more could a Jersey girl ask for? The book was a funny, easy read and I enjoyed all the little Shore anecdotes throughout the book. I even want to try to make a "snookie sandwich" (Neutella and Peanut Butter between two chocolate chip cookies, then deep fried) It's what Gia orders for herself on the boardwalk while out on her hot date with a guido that sounds a awful lot like a "situation" (if you know what I mean...). It's no Jane Austen novel, but it sure is a cute and entertaining read while hanging out on the beach this summer.

The Berlin Boxing Club

Fourteen-year-old Karl Stern has never thought of himself as a Jew. But to the bullies at his school in the Nazi-era Berlin, it doesn't matter that Karl has never set foot in a synagogue or that his family doesn't practice religion. Demoralized by relentless attacks on a heritage he doesn't accept as his own, Karl longs to prove his worth to everyone around him.

So when Max Schmeling, champion boxer and German national hero, makes a deal with Karl's father to give Karl boxing lessons, Karl sees it as the perfect chance to reinvent himself. A skilled cartoonist, Karl has never had an interest in boxing, but as Max becomes the mentor Karl never had, Karl soon finds both his boxing skills and his art flourishing.

But when Nazi violence against the Jews escalates, Karl must take on a new role: protector of his family. Karl longs to ask his new mentor for help, but with Max's fame growing, he is forced to associate with Hitler and other Nazi elites, leaving Karl to wonder where his hero's sympathies truly lie. Can Karl balance his dreams of boxing greatness with his obligations to keep his family out of harm's way?

If there is two things Karl Stern loves its; boxing and comics! The book is a great coming of age tale, that tells the story of Karl Stern, a Jewish teenage boy growing up in Nazi Germany during the 1930's. With a country that is on the brink of war and terror aimed at the Jews in Berlin, Karl starts to take boxing lessons from the famous heavyweight champ Max Schmeling. He soon learns however that the fight within and the fight for freedom is worth so much more than any fight he could ever win in the ring. The book was both thrilling and humorous, and it even had some funny comics "drawn" by Karl in the book as well. All in all, I liked it very much!

Scots on the Rocks (A Bed and Breakfast Mystery)

Hoping to dispel the late winter gloom, inn-keeper Judith McMonigal Flynn flies off for a much-needed vacation to Scotland. Instead, she and prickly Cousin Renie find themselves marooned in an ancient castle perched high above the North Sea while their husbands go off on a fishing trip with a local police inspector. But when an explosion rocks Grimlock Castle, leaving a dead body in its fiery wake, an ever curious Judith is once again up to her neck in a murder investigation. The victim is a young man who seemed to have it all: marriage to a bonnie oil heiress, a baby son and a stately mansion. His lovely widow has an abysmal track record with men, all of whom have met with untimely ends. But is she merely unlucky in love... or adept at dealing with death.? The cousins have plenty of other suspects, not to mention some less than earthy voices that reverberate around the castle, lending credibility to spooky tales of a restless ghost sharing their royal quarters. Then there's Chuckie, a distillery owner's oddball son and heir, who's more interested in the castles dungeon and torture chamber than he is in his whiskey. The situation grows even murkier when the husbands and their Scotland Yard buddy go missing... The hunt is on for a killer through the bonnie braes and sea green glens of Scotland. And if Judith and Renie aren't careful, this could turn out to be their most dangerous and last Highland fling.

I'm pretty disappointed in this one. I don't know if its because this is my first time reading a "Bed and Breakfast" Mystery and I jumped right into the middle of the series or if it's the actual book itself?! I found it kinda boring and dull. I also had a hard time focusing on all the characters and what they mean to each other and how they relate to the plot. I was also kind of appalled to find that the main character makes her mother live in a converted tool shed! I mean... honestly... who does that?! It also became pretty predictable about half way through the book as well.

Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series)

A fighter by nature, a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of the Chosen female, Payne is cut from the same warrior cloth as her brother. And that's before human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello gets sucked into her dangerous world. Although he's never believed in things that go bump in the night-like vampires-he's more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks him as her own. But as the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human an the vampire worlds collide... just as a centuries-old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy.

WOW! I amazed with the way this book turned out... I was kinda holding my breath till the last minute. I really had been fearing the worst (and by worst, I mean thrilling, nail-biting suspense!), you tend to do that if you've read some of the other books in the BDB series, so I was happy to read such a amazing ending or "ending's" if you will. Although having said that... I now can't wait for Torh's book to come out! Hurry March! I need to know what happens next! Bravo J.R. Ward... your books keep me enthralled!