Book two in the Hell's Valley focuses on Shelby and Eric. They have both secretly had a thing for the other for years, and after she put herself in harms way to save Sara and Zach and Eric learned the truth about her psychic abilities, well tensions have run high. He has become far more protective and in her eyes overbearing. She has a stubborn self-sacrificing attitude that he has run out of patience with. On a rescue mission she uses her abilities again causing her to go blind for several hours. He is coming to his breaking point and fears her hurting herself permanently. Well the tension snaps and the proverbial cat is let out of the bag and neither truly knows what to do now. While they figure out how to take a lifelong friendship to the next level, evil is building up power and using the Brand family once more to carry out its evil deeds. Will Shelby and Eric come to terms with their feelings and her growing abilities or throw in the towel before things really heat up? Once together will they stick it out or push each other away?  In the end the adventure and love story were great (though I think I have to say I liked book 1, Legacy of Lies, a bit more. There was just something about Garrison and Sara that just heated up the page). Book two was fun, fast paced, tense in the emotional category, and full of passionate moments. Never pegged Eric for the take-charge-and-be-in-control-in-the-bedroom kind of guy but it worked for him.  I'm glad both of them found their happily ever after and that in the end they knew what they had and fought to keep it. Great book and the series is getting better and better.

So.. May wasn't a great reading month, but that was because of finals. Most of the books I read during the last week of May. These are the books I've read:

- Yes Please by Amy Poehler (on audiobook) 4/5 review

- The Queen (The Selection #0.4) by Kiera Cass (novella) 4/5

- Deception Point by Dan Brown 5/5 review

- It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini 5/5 review

- Legacy Lost (Serena Legacy #0.5) by Anna Banks (novella) 3/5

I've read Deception Point during the first three weeks of May and finisht in in the last week. I also started Animal Farm by George Orwell last night and at chapter 7 out of 10, but that will be in my June wrap-up. My review of the novellas will be up when I've read the entire series.

What have you read in May?

Lost Legacy is the story of hidden family secrets. Since everyone has a family of some sort, I think most people will find that intriguing. Zoe Chambers, EMT in Monongahela County PA, didn’t realize there were any family secrets in her family until a farmer turns up dead in a barn that her uncles use to own. When the investigation into the death begins, it gets very personal for Zoe very quickly. Her mom and stepdad coming to visit from Florida don’t help the situation.

This is the second mystery in the Zoe Chambers series and I am really enjoying them. In the first one, Circle of Influence, we met our characters, Zoe, Pete, Sylvia, the Krolls, and they became people we could relate to instantly. There wasn’t any of that first-book-in-a-series awkwardness. Now we meet Zoe’s mom and Pete’s dad. The characters become even more 3-dimensional. Annette Dashofy knows how to write realistic characters.

This is what I classify as a Contemporary Traditional Mystery. It’s not a cozy but it’s not gritty. The mystery is the focus and it’s well done. There are believable red herring and the answer makes sense with what we’ve read. I’m definitely ready to move on to the next one!

Book provided by Netgalley but my reviews are always honest and written for other readers like me.

So, four more books showed up this week adding to my ever expanding TBR pile.

The Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther: A farm to table traditional foods cookbook. Perfect for cooking with my garden.  Already read, reviewed (and cooked from) here. 

Spirited Legacy (Lost Library 2) by Kate Baray: I have the first book of this on my e-reader and the author was nice enough to send me the second book!  An urban fantasy romance that takes place in magic library.

Edwin, High King of Britain by Edoardo Albert: Historical fiction about the rise of the Northumbrian Edwin in 604 A.D. 

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett: High Fantasy with spies, gods and history.

Happy Reading!  Have you read any of these books or are you interested in reading any of these books?

Thank you Net Gallery and Henery Press for this e-galley. Here is my honest review.

This was my first book by Annette Dashofy and I LOVED it!!! I loved all the characters, well except for bad guys and Zoe's mother, ha!

A lot of killings are going on and somehow they relate back to a 45 year old murder/suicide, or was it? The story was very well written with great character development. I especially loved the relationship between Zoe and Pete, but the characters didn't spend all their time wondering, "do I love him/her"?, becoming so redundant you want to reach out and strangle the characters. It's a mystery and this author kept it that way. You know they will eventually get together, but it wasn't the main focus. YAY for you Annette!!

This is definitely a series wherein I will be looking forward to many more books!