Category Archives: 2008

2008

Mike Sanders. Thirsty. East Orange, NJ: Wahida Clark Presents Publishing, 2008.

Hustling in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a dangerous business; Justice Dial knows this. Still, she enjoys the perks – designer clothes and jewelry, a fancy car, a beautifully decorated home, and an endless supply of money – not to mention the thrill she gets from it. Her gorgeous appearance and quick wit make her a successful hustler: wealthy and well-connected men are distracted by her charms long enough for her to get necessary information. Justice then gives the important details to her brother, Monk, so that he and his friends can steal the men’s money and goods.

This time, however, Justice and Monk have gotten caught up with the wrong men. Monk’s new accomplice stole money from Carlos, a powerful drug lord who happens to be Justice’s ex-boyfriend. Carlos’s crew comes after Monk and Justice. The siblings fear for their lives so much that they decide to return to Chicago. Before they leave, Justice discovers that J.T., the handsome man she has been seeing, is not the nice guy she imagined. Justice gets her revenge, but going to war with Carlos’s gang changes her life forever.

This novel contains graphic sexual and violent content.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Mecklenburg, Novels in Series, Piedmont, Sanders, Mike, Suspense/Thriller, Urban Fiction

Karen Hawkins. Talk of the Town. New York: Pocket Books, 2008.

Divorce is not what Roxie Treymayne expected. After discovering her husband’s affair with his law partner, she is determined to go a little bit wild. She spent years playing the perfect Raleigh country club wife, and now Roxie wants to be who she really is. Roxie transforms her prudish look with a tattoo, a navel ring, revealing clothes, and a bleach blond ‘do. She is ready to start over in some far-away city when she gets the news–her mother has suffered a mild heart attack and Roxie is needed back home in Glory, North Carolina.

Roxie does not plan to stay in Glory for long, but bumping into Nick Sheppard, the new sheriff, makes her consider staying even after her mother recovers. Although Nick spurned Roxie in high school after a brief romance, the two still share a mutual attraction, and the tension is thick whenever they are together. In the meantime, Roxie has taken over her mother’s volunteer activities, which includes spending time with the three-member Murder Mystery/CSI-Watching Club at the local assisted living center. The club’s trio thinks that they are on to a real-life murder mystery, and Roxie helps with the investigation. Fortunately, this means that she and Nick begin seeing more of each other and building their trust in one another.

Although Roxie never imagined moving home, she finds happiness, love – and a little bit of suspense – in Glory, North Carolina.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

Comments Off on Karen Hawkins. Talk of the Town. New York: Pocket Books, 2008.

Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Buncombe, Hawkins, Karen, Mystery, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Romance/Relationship

Cynn Chadwick. Babies, Bikes & Broads. Ann Arbor, MI: Bywater Books, 2008.

After five years teaching literature and carpentry at a girls’ school in Scotland, Cat Hood returns home to Galway, North Carolina. Unfortunately, her homecoming is for the sad occasion of her sister-in-law’s funeral. Although Cat believes this will be a short trip back, she quickly discovers that she has more reasons to stay in the Blue Ridge Mountains than to go back to Edinburgh.

First, there is the matter of helping her brother and his twins cope with the death of Marce. Cat realizes that the three of them need her, which is a strange feeling for someone so solitary. However, she quickly falls in love with her niece and nephew and appreciates the youthfulness that they bring out in her. Second, she finds herself drawn to the people and the places of Galway. Cat has missed her friends and being a part of the community. She secures odd carpentry jobs and work at OzGirlz, the lesbian bar, supplementing her income as she continues writing novels. Third, Cat decides to end her destructive relationship with Isobel, her Scottish married lover. Getting over Isobel is made easier by the return to town of Janey, a former flame. Feeling comfortable around each other again takes time, but eventually Cat finds that she can trust Janey and becomes willing to accept her love.

If the old adage that “home is where the heart is” is true, Cat belongs with her friends and family in Galway.

Babies, Bikes & Broads is Cynn Chadwick’s third novel in the “Cat Rising” series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Chadwick, Cynn, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places

Lois Gladys Leppard. The Mandie Collection, Volume Three. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2008.

This selection of novels in the Mandie series follows the heroine chronologically.  As Mandie and the Holiday Surprise opens, Mandie is back at school in Asheville, eager to return home for the Christmas holidays.  Mandie’s nemesis, April Snow, attempts to get Mandie in trouble by letting Mandie’s cat, Snowball, out of her room.  But Mandie and Snowball are both soon free to leave for home.  The mountains are beautiful at Christmas and there is a mystery (stolen presents and strange footprints in the snow), but there are bigger developments.  Mandie’s mother is pregnant.  Mandie does not take this news well, but soon she is distracted by an important invitation. President McKinley has heard of Mandie’s work on the hospital and has invited her to the forthcoming inauguration for his second term.

In the other novels in this volume, Mandie and the Washington Nightmare, Mandie and the Shipboard Mystery, and Mandie and the Foreign Spies, Mandie is in new places–Washington, DC, on an ocean-liner bound for Europe, and in London.  But first she has to return from school and accept that she will no longer be her mother’s only child (Mandie and the Midnight Journey).

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Buncombe, Children & Young Adults, Leppard, Lois Gladys, Macon, Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series

Lois Gladys Leppard. The Mandie Collection, Volume Two. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2008.

The five novels in this volume take Mandie over familiar territory–the mountains of North Carolina–but also include a trip to the beaches near Charleston, South Carolina. Mandie is trying to learn to become a lady as her teachers in Asheville demand, but back in Franklin, she wants to visit old friends, roam the neighborhood, and just be herself.  And there are always things to investigate! Vandalism at a hospital, an abandoned mine, buried treasure, and church bells at midnight all attract Mandie’s attention, and she mobilizes her friends to get to the bottom of each mystery.

The titles in this volume are: Mandie and the Medicine Man, Mandie and the Charleston Phantom, Mandie and the Abandoned Mine, Mandie and the Hidden Treasure, Mandie and the Mysterious Bells.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Buncombe, Children & Young Adults, Leppard, Lois Gladys, Macon, Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series

Leanna Sain. Gate to Nowhere. Kingsport, TN: Twilight Times Books, 2008.

“Before I tell you anything, Gavin, I want to assure you that I’m not crazy. I’m not an escapee from an asylum, and I’m not a witch. I’m just me. My name is Emma Jane Franklin. I’m thirty-four years old; my birthday is April 6… 1970.”

Emma Franklin has been in Nowhere, North Carolina, for a few days when she reluctantly begins to tell her host, Gavin MacKinlay, the story of how she arrived. Gavin can hardly believe his ears – how can someone from the twenty-first century be in his apple orchard? He is transfixed by her beauty, charm, and interest in him and his property; this leads him to believe that she is not lying to him. If what she is saying is true, Emma passed through the gate during a full moon in 2004 to arrive on his plantation in 1827.

Although the thought of traveling through time is shocking enough, Emma gives Gavin some very startling news. In a few days time, the community, which has decided to rename their settlement “MacKinlay” out of admiration of his successes, will suddenly turn on him. Because Emma knows the future, she knows that generations of MacKinlay residents have cursed Gavin’s name, but neither she nor Gavin understand why. Equipped with the information Emma does have, they work together to prevent the events that caused this rift and thus change the course of history.

When the month has passed and the moon is full again, Emma is able to walk through the gate to get back to 2004. Once there, she finds neighbors who are genuinely friendly and who are proud to tout their town’s history. However, Emma is torn. She misses Gavin, who she found to be an honest, gentle person. She finds she likes the practices of the nineteenth century and has no desire to stay in this century. Emma must choose which life to live, although this time, if she passed through the gate, there can be no turning back.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Henderson, Historical, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Sain, Leanna, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Lynette Kent. Smoky Mountain Home. Toronto: Harlequin, 2008.

Ruth Ann Blakely has invested her whole life in the Hawkridge School.  She grew up helping her father care for the horses at the school; now Ruth Ann is the equestrian trainer and instructor.  The stable that she works in has stood for a hundred years; it’s functional and it has history and charm. So why are the school’s trustees so gung-ho about building a new stable?  Ruth Ann wants no part of this change, and Jonah Granger, the slick architect who’s come down from New York with his design for the new structure, just sets her blood to boiling.  He’s arrogant, clueless about what makes a good stable, and a bad parent to boot!  But wait, maybe things are not what they seem.  As Ruth Ann gets to know Jonah’s stepdaughter, Darcy (a new student at the school), and Jonah spends time at the barn, she sees his affection for Darcy. But Jonah has ideas about lots of things and he pushes Ruth Ann out of her comfort zone–professionally and personally.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Kent, Lynnette, Mountains, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Romance/Relationship

Kay Salter. Thirteenth Summer. 2nd ed. Beaufort, NC: Bara Media, 2008.

When she was twelve, Sarah Bowers spent the summer at her grandparents’ house in Beaufort, North Carolina. Now that it is her thirteenth summer, Sarah has returned to the coastal town. Besides being in a place she loves, Sarah has much to be excited about this season: a new baby sister, Amy, reacquainted friends, a makeover to look more mature, and the imminent end of World War II. However, she also experiences difficult situations. When she witnesses a boy being bullied twice, she bravely defends him in court to expose the truth. Her girl friends’ bodies are changing quickly, and she is dissatisfied with her lack of curves. And at birthday party for her cousin Marnie, Sarah feels uncomfortable around older boys who are drinking alcohol. As the summer progresses and Sarah encounters more new ordeals, she values the advice and support of her grandparents more than ever.

This is the second novel in the Sarah Bowers Series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Carteret, Children & Young Adults, Coast, Historical, Novels in Series, Salter, Kay

Kay Salter. Twelfth Summer. Beaufort, NC: SoundSide Publications, Inc., 2008.

Sarah Bowers’ father has just been called to serve in World War II. To give the rest of the family a diversion, her parents decide that Sarah, her mother, and her brother should live with her grandparents in Beaufort, North Carolina for the summer. Although at first Sarah is disappointed to leave the bustle of Raleigh, she learns to love the sight and the smell of the salt marshes as well as the kind coastal natives. Surrounded by her adoring grandparents and new acquaintances, Sarah finds many adventures in Beaufort that she could not experience in Raleigh. For example, she and her friend, Porter, find themselves stranded on Piver’s Island in the middle of a storm – and an air raid drill. As the Bowers cope with the temporary absence of her father and their sacrifices amid the ongoing war, Sarah discovers what is truly important in life: family.

This is the first novel in the Sarah Bowers Series.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Carteret, Children & Young Adults, Coast, Historical, Novels in Series, Salter, Kay, Wake

Nancy Gotter Gates. Death on Disaster Day. Kernersville, NC: Alabaster Books, 2008.

Tommi Poag is trying to move on with her life after an unexpected midlife divorce. New activities and new friendships help with that, and one of Tommi’s new friends is her divorce lawyer, Evan McCandless.  It’s Evan who talks Tommi into playing a victim at a disaster preparedness program at a Girl Scout camp outside Greensboro, North Carolina. However, nothing could prepare Tommi for Evan’s murder, or the case that the police build against Tommi’s ex-husband, Bernard. Yielding to the pleadings of Bernard’s new wife, Tommi begins to investigate Evan’s death, turning up shady dealings that put Tommi and those close to her in danger.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Gates, Nancy Gotter, Guilford, Mystery, Novels in Series, Piedmont