An Unexpected Guest by Anne Korkeakivi

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB; choose sentences at random from your current read. Identify the author and title for readers.

"Madame," he said in heavily accented English, his voice low and guttural.
She suppressed the urge to cry out in surprise, her free hand flew up in front of her mouth. (ch. 5)

An Unexpected Guest by Anne Korkeakivi
Hardcover; April 17, 2012
Genre: fiction

Clare Moorhouse, the American wife of a high-ranking diplomat in Paris, is arranging an official dinner crucial to her husband's career. As she shops for fresh stalks of asparagus and works out the menu and seating arrangements, her day is complicated by the unexpected arrival of her son and a random encounter with a Turkish man, whom she discovers is a suspected terrorist. More unnerving is a recurring face in the crowd, one that belonged to another, darker era of her life. One she never expected to see again.

Anne Korkeakivi weaves the complexities of an age into an act as deceptively simple as hosting a dinner party. (publisher's description)

I received this book as a complimentary review copy.

Saturday Snapshot 2

Visit Alyce at At Home With Books to join in the Saturday Snapshot and post your picture on the linky there.

The irises in my backyard in full bloom right now. There is one yellow one that will soon open and I'm looking for the single blue one that sometimes shows up.

Before the Poison by Peter Robinson

Welcome to The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice

Rules:*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence (or a few) that grabs you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post to the Friday 56 Linky. It's that simple.

Here's a page 56 quote from my current read:

I told him what I did for a living, and he seemed genuinely interested. He gave a little chuckle when I said I wrote the music nobody listens to. "That must be hard to take sometimes," he said. "No matter how much they pay you."

Title: Before the Poison: A Novel by Peter Robinson
Published February 21, 2012

Book description: New York Times best selling author of the Inspector Banks series. A stand-alone novel in which a man's obsession with a decades-old crime leads him down a dark and winding path.

I received this book as a complimentary review/feature copy.

The Playgroup by Janey Fraser: Opening Sentences

Opening sentences of a book can give a taste of the writer's style, a sense of the story. Here are the beginning sentences for The Playgroup, a novel about a daycare, the Puddleducks Playgroup, by British author, Janey Fraser.

'Mrs. Merryfield. Mrs. Merryfield. Went to More-ishus. And it rained.'
Hi, Gemma! Nice tan! Listen, I'm pretty sure Molly is dry now but just in case she's not, there's a spare pair of pants in her sandwich box. That's the one with a picture of a giraffe on it - sorry I didn't have time to label it.'
'Morning, Miss Merryfield. Had a good break? Darren, have you said good morning to your playgroup leader?'
'Gemma, I'm so sorry. But we just had Beth checked again and it turns out she's allergic to wheat as well as salt, sugar, any kind of additives and - get this- any food that's yellow.Weird, isn't it? So can you make sure she doesn't have any biscuits at breaktime?'

Title: The Playgroup by Janey Fraser
Published February 2, 2012

It's the start of a new term at Puddleducks Playgroup. For Gemma Merryfield it'll be her first year in charge. Watching the new arrivals, she can already tell who the troublemakers will be, and not all of them are children!

What Gemma doesn't realise, thought, is that former banker Joe Balls, now head of Reception at the neighbouring school, will be watching her very move. As far as he's concerned, Puddleducks puts too much emphasis on fun and games, and not enough on numbers.

But when one of the children falls dangerously ill and another disappears, Gemma and Joe have to set aside their differences and work together. (publisher's description).

A good book for those with kids in daycare?

This book is a complimentary review copy.

Book Feature: The China Gambit by Allan Topol

Title: The China Gambit, a Craig Page Thriller
Published January 1, 2012; Vantage Press

Craig Page—a daring and resourceful former CIA agent, now fighting terrorism in Europe—is determined to find out who killed his daughter, Francesca, a young American reporter about to publish an explosive story about a conspiracy of international proportions. Joined by the gutsy Elizabeth Crowder, Francesca’s editor, Craig peels back the conspiracy layer by layer.

The action moves from Canada to Tehran, Beijing and Washington, and finally to Aspen, with Craig and Elizabeth narrowly escaping repeated attacks in their attempt to prevent a catastrophe for the United States. Craig must bury his personal loss, as he confronts his adversaries. (Publisher's description).

This book is a complimentary review copy.

Skinnydipping by Bethenny Frankel: Teaser

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB; choose sentences at random from your current read. Identify the author and title for readers.

Was I really that fat? I was five foot seven and I weighed 134 pounds. Wasn't that...relatively normal? (ch. 9)

Title: Skinnydipping: A Novel by Bethenny Frankel

A hilarious romantic novel about a struggling actress and aspiring businesswoman’s pursuit of  a wildly successful career, the perfect man, and an amazing body. Written by bestselling author and reality star, Bethenny Frankel. (publisher's description)

I received this book as a complimentary review copy.

Books: In a Cozy Mood

I've been in a cozy-mystery reading mood lately.

A Spirited Gift

I finished Madelyn Alt's Home for a Spell, a Bewitching Mystery series, yesterday and am now in the middle of A Spirited Gift, a Missing Pieces Mystery by Joyce and Jim Lavene.

Home for a Spell

Both books have an element of the paranormal to give the mystery stories a bit of spice.

The Wild Wood Enquiry

Next on my list will be The Wild Wood Enquiry by Ann Purser, one of the Ivy Beasley Mystery series. No spirits or witches here, I don't think.

Read any cozies lately?