Brilliance Audio review of Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz

Today I'm psyched because I'm fulfilling a promise I made to myself to go back to the beginning of the Orphan X series to experience Evan Smoak from the start.
Enjoy! (I did) ;-)

 

ASIN: B0198MF8H0
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Release Date: 01-19-2016
Length: 11hours-15 minutes
Source: Purchase Chirp audio
Buy It: * Chirpbooks/ Audible

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

“Brilliantly conceived and plotted... Read this book. You’ll thank me later.” - David Baldacci

The first in the international bestselling series!

Who is Orphan X?

The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It’s said that when he’s reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them. But he’s not merely a legend.

“Excellent...A smart, stylish, state-of-the-art thriller...might give Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books a run for their money.” - The Washington Post

Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He’s also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as an Orphan, an off-the-books black box program designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence asset: An assassin. Evan was Orphan X - until he broke with the program and used everything he learned to disappear. But now someone is on his tail. Someone with similar skills and training who will exploit Evan’s secret new identity as the Nowhere Man to eliminate him.

“Hurwitz melds nonstop action and high-tech gadgetry...in this excellent series opener.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Sophia Rose Reviews: Her Country Gentleman by Sian Ann Bessey, Sarah M Eden, and Rebecca Connolly

Today Sophia Rose takes us back in time to review a historical romance anthology.
Enjoy!

Her Country Gentleman by Sian Ann Bessey, Sarah M Eden, and Rebecca Connolly

Narration by Kim Bretton

#1 Timeless Georgian Collection

Historical Romance

Publisher: Mirror Press

Published: 2.15.22

Time:  7 hours 31 minutes

Speed: 1.3x

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: Audible

Source:  AustenProse

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

GoodReads Blurb:

London is not the only place to find love....

'Spring at Tribbley Hall'
by Sian Ann Bessey

When Charlotte's grandmother invites her to accompany her to Norfolk, Charlotte jumps at the chance to visit the sea and escape the fuss surrounding her sister's wedding preparations in London. Lord William Cheston, on the other hand, is most unhappy when his mother informs him that her old friend and a granddaughter are coming to stay. Not only is it lambing season, but he's also dealing with the mysterious loss of several sheep. The last thing he needs is a child underfoot.

When Charlotte and William first meet, he does not realize that the lovely young lady is the granddaughter in question, and she assumes that the man dressed in work clothes in the barn is a servant. A dinner party at the house introduces Charlotte to some of the gentry living nearby but cannot compare to her experience the next evening, when she and William battle to save the life of a newborn lamb.

Soon afterward, Charlotte stumbles upon a clue to William's sheep's disappearance. And when her life is placed in jeopardy, William is forced to choose between saving Charlotte and catching the thief.

'Love of My Heart'
by Sarah M. Eden

Cordelia Wakefield has never lived anywhere but London and is not overly happy when her family is forced to retrench to a small estate near Teviotbrae, Scotland. An ill-fated game of battledore and shuttlecock brings her face-to-racquet with Sebastian, who runs the home farm at nearby Teviot Castle. What begins as a clash of personalities, expectations, and preferences, soon leads to a friendship neither had expected.
As the magic of Teviotbrae weaves its spell, the possibility of something more than friendship begins to blossom. But what future is there for a lowly farmer and a London lady?

'Miss Smith Goes to Wiltshire'
by Rebecca Connolly

Martha Smith wants to marry for love, and will not be persuaded otherwise. She is highly sought after in Society for her beauty and status, but refuses to consider any suitor whose only claim is that his prospects meet with her mother's approval. Her widowed mother has had enough of Martha's romantic sensibilities, and is sending her to stay with unfortunate cousins in Wiltshire to show her that marrying for love is a risk that is too great.

Benjamin Steele, Lord Hillier, is working on his new and dilapidated estate when he first catches sight of the striking Martha Smith. Becoming Lord Hillier has only brought him a house that needs significant repairs, tenant farms that had been abandoned, and only the money he'd already possessed. He wants meaning in his life, and he's more than willing to work for it. Though worlds apart in all else, on this point they can agree: a life of meaning would change everything.

Showcase - School Days by Jonathan Galassi

Today I'm showcasing School Days a novel by poet and essayer Jonathan Galassi.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13:  978-1-63542-189-7
Publisher: Other Press
Release Date: 04-05-2022
Length: 224pp
Buy It: Publisher/ Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

The new novel from the acclaimed poet and publisher asks fundamental questions about love and sex, friendship and rivalry, desire and power, and the age-old dance of benevolence and attraction between teacher and student.

Sam Brandt is a long-term denizen of Connecticut’s renowned Leverett School. As an English teacher he has dedicated his life to providing his students with the same challenges, encouragement, and sense of possibility that helped him and his friends become themselves here half a lifetime ago.
Then Leverett’s headmaster asks Sam to help investigate a charge brought by one of his classmates that he was abused by a teacher. Sam is flooded with memories, above all of his overwhelming love for his friend Eddie and the support of his most inspiring mentor, Theodore Gibson.
Sam’s search for the truth becomes a quest to get at the heart of Leverett, then and now. The school has changed enormously over the years, but at its core lie assumptions about privilege and responsibility untested for more than a century. And Sam’s assumptions about his own life are shaken, too, as he struggles to understand what really happened all those years ago.

Sophia Rose Reviews: First Time Gardener: Raised Bed Gardening: All the know-how you need to build and grow a raised bed garden by KaliKim

Today Sophia Rose is here getting her hands dirty and showing off her green thumb reviewing The First Time Gardener: Raised Bed Gardening.
Enjoy!

First Time Gardener: Raised Bed Gardening: All the know-how you need to build and grow a raised bed garden by KaliKim

Non-Fiction, Gardening

Publisher:  Cool Springs Press

Published: 4.12.22

Pages:  176

ISBN:  0760372756

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads

 

GoodReads Blurb:

Setting up your first raised bed garden? With help from YouTube gardening star CaliKim, you’ll soon be growing your own fresh, organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers like a pro.

Whether your yard is big or small, raised beds are the perfect fit. They allow you to create a controlled growing environment, filled with fertile soil, where plants thrive. Raised beds help gardeners overcome rocky or less-than-ideal soils, there’s little to no weeding involved, and they can be as large or as petite as you’d like. You can even use an elevated or mobile raised bed if the only sunny space you have to grow is on a patio, deck, or driveway. In The First-Time Gardener: Raised Bed Gardening, you’ll learn how to select the best raised bed for your space, what to fill it with, and tips for staking and trellising plants to save space and improve yields.

Showcase - Policing the City An Ethno-graphic by DIDIER FASSIN by FRÉDÉRIC DEBOMY

Today I'm featuring a graphic novel that takes a deep look into policing and how it leads to discrimination and violence. Now just looking at the headline you would automatically think its about the United States, but you'd be wrong this is in 2005 France.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13:  978-1-63542-250-4
Publisher: Other Press
Release Date: 03-15-2022
Length: 112pp
Buy It: Publisher/ Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

Adapted from the landmark essay Enforcing Order, this striking graphic novel offers an accessible inside look at policing and how it leads to discrimination and violence.

What we know about the forces of law and order often comes from tragic episodes that make the headlines, or from sensationalized versions for film and television. These gripping accounts obscure two crucial aspects of police work: the tedium of everyday patrols under constant pressure to meet quotas, and the banality of racial discrimination and ordinary violence.
Around the time of the 2005 French riots, anthropologist and sociologist Didier Fassin spent fifteen months observing up close the daily life of an anticrime squad in one of the largest precincts in the Paris region. His unprecedented study, which sparked intense discussion about policing in the largely working-class, immigrant suburbs, remains acutely relevant in light of all-too-common incidents of police brutality against minorities.
This new, powerfully illustrated adaptation clearly presents the insights of Fassin’s investigation, and draws connections to the challenges we face today in the United States as in France.

Showcase - Far Side of The Moon: Apollo 8 Commander Frank Borman and the Woman Who Gave Him Wings by Liisa Jorgensen

Today I'm so excited to be showcasing Far Side of The Moon a true love story about Frank and Susan Borman. Be sure and check back later in the month when I review this touching story.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13: 978-1641606066
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Release Date: 12-07-2021
Length: 336pp
Buy It: Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

The decades-long love story of a NASA commander and the leader of the Astronaut Wives Club

Far Side of the Moon is the untold, fully authorized story of the lives of Frank and Susan Borman. One was a famous astronaut—an instrumental part of the Apollo space program—but the other was just as much a warrior. This real-life love story is far from a fairy tale.

Life as a military wife was beyond demanding, but Susan always rose to the occasion. When Frank joined NASA and was selected to command the first mission to orbit the moon, that meant putting on a brave face for the world as her husband risked his life for the space race. The pressure and anxiety were overwhelming, and eventually Susan’s well-hidden depression and alcoholism finally came to light. Frank had to come to terms with how his “mission above all else” mentality contributed to his wife’s suffering. As Susan healed, she was able to begin helping others who suffered in silence from mental illness and addiction.

Discover how Frank and Susan’s love and commitment to each other is still overcoming life’s challenges, even beyond their years as an Apollo commander and the founder of the Astronaut Wives Club.

Showcase - The Detective's Daughter by Erica Spindler

No April Fool's today I'm showcasing Erica Spindler's latest novel, The Detective's Daughter.
Enjoy!

ISBN-13:  978-1944323295
Publisher: Double Shot Press
Release Date: 3-29-2022
Length: 426pp

Buy It: Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

From Erica Spindler, the New York Times bestselling author of The Other Girl and The Look-Alike, comes The Detective's Daughter, a thrilling crime drama about a woman who risks everything to solve the cold case that destroyed her father-but will it destroy her as well?

New Orleans Detective Quinn Conners is haunted by her father's whiskey-soaked, last words-that he solved the Hudson murder and kidnapping. It wasn't the first time he'd made that drunken claim, and she didn't believe him. Twenty-four hours later she found him dead by his own hand.
Quinn blames the investigation for his downfall, so when a woman researching a book about the kidnapping contacts her for help, Quinn shuts her out. But an attempt on the writer's life and an anonymous message that puts her father's suicide in question convinces Quinn there's more to the writer's story.
Soon, Quinn finds herself entangled in the web of mystery surrounding Grace Hudson's disappearance and the powerful, secretive family at the heart of it. With nowhere else to turn, she immerses herself in her dad's private notes-they lead her down a dark, twisted path where nothing is as it seems and no one is above suspicion.
Too late, Quinn sees that, like her father before her, the case threatens to consume her. But turning back is not an option-she's determined to unearth the truth of whatever happened to Grace Hudson . . . even if it costs her life.