Win "My Forbidden Desire"

Drey's Library is one of the tour stops for Carolyn Jewel's My Forbidden Desire, a paranormal romance.

About the book: Alexandrine Marit is a witch in mortal danger. An evil mage craves the powerful, mysterious talisman that supplies her magic, and the only person who can keep her safe is a dark and dangerous fiend called Xia. With his fierce animosity toward witches, he's hardly the ideal bodyguard. Yet as days turn into nights, she can't deny the white-hot passion between them.

Xia hates witches. They enslave and mercilessly kill his kind. But he's been ordered to protect Alexandrine, who, to his surprise, has a spirit he admires and a body he longs to possess. With the mage and his henchmen closing in, Alexandrine and her protector must trust the passion that can unite them...or risk losing everything to the enemies who can destroy them both.

Sound like something you'd like to read? To enter, you have to share the contest in some way such as blogging, tweeting, or emailing friends with a CC to Drey. For complete info, check it out here. Contest ends 6 PM July 11. Good luck!

Murder in the Midwest

No make-believe story here, foks. There was a murder in my hometown Friday night. That's right, small town U.S.A., population about 5000, covered bridge capital of Iowa, and home of ever-growing crime.

A couple of months ago, a local man who was separated from his wife, went to her home in the middle of the night. He attacked her new boyfriend and severely injured him with a knife as his wife and kids watched. Really gave his kids some warm, fuzzy memories. He was arrested and charged with attempted murder.

This time a 43-year-old woman was attacked and killed in her apartment by her ex-boyfriend also wielding a knife and 2 of her neighbors were hurt. He had threatened her before so she had a no-contact order against him. She had plans to move to a different city to start a new life. He lived in Des Moines which is only about 30 miles away.... a half hour drive and a knife and she's dead. Several neighbors saw him break into the apartment and one rushed in to help. She was one of those also attacked. When he tried to escape, another neighbor tackled him and was also slightly injured but held him until police arrived. What good was the restraining order? If someone is that mad, what good is a piece of paper? Do you think he cared about being in contempt of court or a fine? Hell, no!

What is it with men who can't let women go? Is it an ego thing? 'I can't have her so no one else can either.' If you love her so much, why kill her? Is that going to help? Does that leave ANY chance of reconciliation? I don't think so! Murder, like suicide, is something you can never take back or make right; once it's done, there's no second chance.

Win an Oscar Mayer Prize Pack

You could win an Oscar Mayer Prize Pack, including an Oscar Mayer apron, Wiener Whistles for the kids, and coupons for free Oscar Mayer All Beef hot dogs and select condiments from Lattes and Life. Five more people will win coupons for free Oscar Mayer beef hot dogs (one coupon per winner). To enter all you have to do is go here and tell her what you like on your hot dog. Many other entry options. Contest ends at midnight July 12 and will be notified by email the next day. Open to U.S. only

Books I've read this week - Sassy

Sassy by Gloria Mallette

From the book cover: The murder of two women in New York City has Detective Frank Keifer looking for a vicious killer while Sassy Davenport, a popular romance novelist, has finally met the man of her dreams.

When architect Norris Yoshito, on a whim, steps off the street into one of Sassy's book signings, he is instantly smitten and Sassy is curiously intrigued. A passionate relationship develops, but when key people associated with Norris are brutally murdered, Sassy is thrust into a world of uncertainty and doubt. Norris appears to have two personalities. One is that of a violent man, the other is a man of great compassion who helps Sassy with her cousin who is dying of AIDS.

Fear and edge-of-the-seat suspense plunges Sassy into a nightmare of deception and danger where romance cease(s) to exist and the real world of murder is the force to be reckoned with.

This was an interestng mystery where the main characters are a young, black romance writer, Sassy, and a successful businessman, Norris, who was born of a Japanese mother and a black, Amercian serviceman. When Sassy meets Norris, she feels like one of her book characters has come to life. He seems like the perfect man for her. Why then do witnesses and the police think he's killing people? Is he really a psychopath with a split personality or is someone trying to frame him?

This book combined a romance novel with a mystery and did a pretty good job. Although by the middle of the book I had an idea of who was behind the killings, I wasn't completely right and nothing is clear until the end of the book. It's a good summer read.

Books I've read this week - End of Grace

Just a few minutes ago I finished reading End of Grace by K. Thomas Murphy ©2009. My first reaction is, "Wow!"

From the book cover: An incident in computer specialist Rick Maye's past has put him on the path of revenge. If his plan is successful, the object of his wrath, the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, could lose millions of dollars and thousands of members. What Rich cannot foresee are the sinister ways this church will react when threatened.

Mormons begin receiving letters that question the validity of their gospel and inform them that loved ones have been baptized into an alternative faith. It's an assault on the authority of the church, and more importantly, it's beginning to impact church revenues.

The Mormon leadership dispatches kay Summers, a young but capable administrative assistant, to Oregon, where she finds and follows a thread leading to Rick. Unbeknownst to her, they've also dispatched agents from the church's secret army, the Danite Knights, to follow her to the source of the problem and fix it - permanently.

Initially, Rick and Kay play cat and mouse, each trying to find out what the other knows, while in the shadows the Danites use limitless resources preparing to stop not only the letters, but anybody involved with them. Soon, the mysterious deaths and close calls start happening. Rick and Kay, two adversaries, become a team; ultimatedly running for their lives, desperately trying to put the puzzle together as they stay one step ahead of the tempest Rick has awakened.

This was a fascinating book. I'm sure the Mormon church may feel otherwise, but I thought it was a thrilliing story about the abuse of power by one of the biggest religious organizations in the world. I found the background of the church hierachy to be very interesting and it would be very interesting to know how much of the church tenets mentioned are true. The author is a computer geek and he made the main character, Rick, a computer whiz, and the things he was able to do really added a lot of interesting detail to the book. It contained all the elements to make a good story - high-tech espionage, ruthless power struggles, blackmail, great characters, religion, scenic locations, with a little romance thrown in. I think this is movie material. This was the author's first book but I'm looking forward to reading whatever he writes next.