Death, Taxes and a French Manicure by Diane Kelly

Tara Holloway is a special agent on the IRS's payroll and she makes sure that you  pay your taxes; and keeps her finger on the pulse her love life at the same time.  After all, she needs one!

After being attacked by a small-time tax cheat who slices her wrist open with a box-cutter, Tara is put onto a case where she has to be under cover with an agent from the DEA.  They are tailing - of all people - an ice-cream man who is suspected of selling drugs from his truck in the poorest area of town.  And Tara and her partner for this case get down and dirty dressing in clothes she'd rather give to charity; and dressing like anyone but herself.

While she's working this case, an even bigger case falls in her lap; in the shape of a handsome, well-built landscape gardener called Brett.  He's working for some really big, dirty scammers who are stealing money off the retired folks and leaving them with empty bank accounts and nothing to live on.  But with Brett in her sights as a possible hotty to land, the small-time drug-dealer ice-cream man to bust, can Tara really handle everything on her plate right now?  Can she trust Brett with her heart and with what her job is?  Or is Brett in cahoots with the scammers and will she have to arrest the man who has become a big part of her world?

I won this book on The Romance Bandits site and thought it was the typical run-of-the-mill romance.  But before I turned the first page, I was laughing out loud!  By the end of chapter one, I was really gunning for main character (literally; as she can shoot a gun!) and by the time Tara met Brett and scored her first kiss, I wanted to meet the guy and steal him off her... only kidding.  Before I knew it I was putting aside an hour or two to read this book and today I finished it!  What a funny, sassy, hot book to read; and a great spin to put on romances.  I swear that I won't look at romance novels the same again.

Diane Kelly is a tax attorney by day, a writer by night.  A recipient of the 2009 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award for Best Novel with Strong Romantic Element, she has received more than two dozen RWA chapter awards.  Diane's fiction, tax and humor pieces have appeared in True Love magazine, Writer's Digest Yearbook, Romance Writers' Report, Byline magazine and other publications.  'Death Taxes and a French Manicure' is her first mystery novel, with more in the series to come. 

Code Name: Millicent by Bryon Williams

Millicent is a highly-trained cat who works for the CIA (Cat Intelligent Agency) and has been sent on a mission by her boss - Tom - in Canberra to investigate and infiltrate the growing drug problem in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales in the town of Nimbin.  While there, Millicent meets King - a very dashing and mysterious Burmese; a character in himself.  But is he a distraction, or is he in on the operations?  Her assignment becomes extremely dangerous when the investigation takes a cat-astrophic turn and unexpectedly leads her into intrigue and murder.  For Millicent, the somewhat quiet inland town of free love was beginning to turn into something she didn't expect; especially when another attractive ginger Tom shows up on the scene to help with the investigation... someone she has never heard of from inside the CIA.

I've had a great time reading this book.  From the very beginning I began laughing my way through; on the second paragraph of the introduction actually, and the adventures don't stop there.  Whether you enjoy cats or animal stories, this is a must-read for anyone who has had these interesting and humourous animals in their lives at some point or another.  And being a person who is horribly allergic, I've enjoyed the company of quite a few cats with the problematic reactions that go with them.

Bryon Williams is an ex-actor, script writer, stage and television producer and director, and recently turned novelist, is settled in the beautiful Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia. 

His previous novels 'Grumpy Old Withered of Oz' and 'The Twilight Escort Agency' were published in 2009 and enjoyed by a very successful launch and reader response.  His next two novels 'The Tourist From the Light' and 'The Burning Boy' are to be published in the near future.

The Monkey's Mask by Dorothy Porter

There's been a murder of a young uni student.  She's a poet and her work spoke volumes about where her mind was at when it all went down.  Jill, the private detective Mickey's parents hired is down to earth, patient woman who sifts through the evidence the police seem to glean over as a school-girl crush.  During the investigation, things get strange as Jill becomes involved with Mickey's mother, Diane, and gets her nose into police files from other people she works with.  As time goes on, she begins to receive creepy phone messages on her answering machine spoken in a poetic way and the affair with Diane begins to wane.  However, this whole thing isn't over as Mickey's teacher - her mentor - is killed in a horrific car crash near Jill's home.  now she's a suspect (which doesn't last very long).  Just who killed Mickey?  In the most poetic and suspenseful book I've read in a long time, find out in 'The Monkey's Mask'.

I love reading this kind of book.  It got its hooks into me immediately and wouldn't let go; and I couldn't wait to get back to reading it when it came time to read again.  I loved this book in the wonderful way.  I will most definitely have to read more of Dorothy Porter's work.  This book is lesbian fiction; however, it's beautiful and sexy as well as gritty and gripping to the last poem.  Very much worth a read.

Dorothy Porter is one of Australia's most prominent authors and poets.  She wrote many collections and books over her fifty-four years and won The Book Age of the Year Award, Miles Franklin Award and the Christopher Brennan Award.  Dorothy was born in Sydney, Australia and passed away in 2008 in Melbourne of breast cancer.  I'm unable to find an official website for her; and so I'll still keep on looking for you to put onto the sidebar.   

Adding to the Collection

In the last few days, I've been helping my Mum with sorting out her books.  Well, okay, just recent ones she's received and hasn't found a place for yet.  So, on Friday, while I was over their way to see some doctors, I helped her go through her Bookcrossing stuff and books that she had packed up and scored a book or two.

The first one was one I had lent her from my birthday; but she hadn't gotten around to reading.  It's called 'Spooky South' by S.E. Scholosser.  It's a re-telling of the old campfire stories from the Southern States in the USA.  I love these kinds of stories; they are the kinds that become legendary.  And I do look forward to finally reading this one (there are quite a few I haven't read yet from my birthday last year as I received over 20 books from across the miles as a birthday bomb that Mum organised through Bookcrossing... it was so much fun!).  

The next book was from Mum's birthday last year; which I've had my eye on since she received it.  It 's called: 'An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England' by Brock Clarke.  It's a mystery novel with a funny twist to it.  And I love the read books that are based on writers and have that twist to it that pulls the reader in.  So, I'm looking forward to getting my nose into this one too.

So, these to are going to my ever-growing Mt To Be Read ... to be guarded over by Clifford.  He is getting concerned around being pushed off the shelf.  But I know he's got nothing to be concerned about.  I will read a few more books soon and he'll have more space to stretch out on.