So was King Arthur real or not? That is the real question in this book.

Title: Death in an Ivory Tower by Maria Hudgins (A Dotsy Lamb Travel Mystery #5)
Checked out from public library.
Why I chose this book:  I have loved this series and always catch the newest one when it comes out.
About the book: Dotsy Lamb, an ancient and medieval history teacher from VA, is attending a conference at Oxford UK, with her professor Larry Roberts, on "The Lingering Effects of the King Arthur Tales on Life in Elizabethan England". Her contribution to the conference would be "Shakespeare's Historical Sources and References to Arthurian Legend in his Plays" which comes from her dissertation she is currently writing.  After getting settled in at the dorm rooms at one of the colleges the first night, one of the presenters dies mysteriously after dinner.  Dotsy thinks right off the bat that something simply does not add up right.  Along with her best friend, Lettie, who is staying in the same dorm but not attending the conference but assisting her doctor daughter who is participating in a doctor trade program, she sifts through the animosity between all the speakers to determine if there was foul play.  She gets really confused when Lettie's daughter gets shot right outside her rental house.  Where do the two incidents related?  When the killer tries to do her in also, Dotsy waits up to see who shows up and catches them in a trap of sorts. 
Tidbit of info from the book: Learned lots of little tidbits on theories of topics of this conference. 
My rating: Good read
Check out the author's website for other books: http://mariahudgins.com/

Book 6 in the Cat in the Stacks Series

Title: Arsenic and Old Books by Miranda James (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #6)
Checked out from public library.
Why I chose this book:  I have loved this series and always catch the newest one when it comes out.
About the book: Charlie Harris is an archivist for a library in Athena MS, along with his trusted companion Diesel, a Maine Coon cat, who goes everywhere with him.  So when the local mayor finds some hidden diaries, in her attic, of her husband's great-great grandmother, Rachel Afton Long, and wants them preserved for everyone to read, Charlie is the man to see.  But what the mayor does not anticipate is so many people wanting to read them right off the bat.  Wanting to read them so bad, they would steal and murder for them. The diaries prove to be enlightening of the trials and tribulations about the time of the Civil War but could one volume damage a family legacy? When one of the most eager readers dies from a hit and run, Charlie wants to know what's up.   Lots of library research for him to figure out what is going on and who the killer is. 
Tidbit of info from the book: "The standard ink used at the time was iron gall, or oak gall, ink made from a combination of iron salts, tannic acids and vegetable matter.  The latter tended to be the galls, formed by wasps that infested oak trees and caused the plant tissue to swell,  The resulting ink is acidic and sometimes caused so-called ghost writing on the obverse side of the writing surface, usually vellum or paper."
My rating: Must read
Check out the author's website for other books: http://www.catinthestacks.com/

Loved this first book in a new series!!

Title: Well Read, Then Dead by Terrie Farley Moran (A Read 'Em and Eat Mystery)
Checked out from public library.
Why I chose this book:  The setting of a book store inside a restaurant.
About the book: Read 'Em and Eat Café and Book Corner is run by Mary "Sassy" Cabot and Bridget Mayfield, in Fort Myers Beach, FLA.  A cozy café that has tables honoring authors, a menu that has literary specials and that is host to many book clubs meetings.  Older cousins Augusta and Delia like to attend one of those book club and when Delia was found dead the next morning after one meeting, Augusta declares Sassy must find out who killed her.  When not staring into the blue eyes of the new Police Lieutenant, Sassy is crossing off suspects on her list of possible murders.  This was quite a entertaining read and I will look forward to many more in this series.
Great laugh from the book:  "If we weren't in Southern Florida, I would have thought we were mid-snowstorm in Brooklyn, that's how white the kitchen was - the floor, both work counters, the stove, even a swath of wall. My first thought was food fight.  But no.  A food fight would require cooked food,  This mess looked like someone took bags of flour, slit the sides, held then at arm's length and shook."
Tidbit of info: "Ten Thousand Islands... no one's ever counted them, of course.  The are so many types of landmasses down there....right here on the south bank of the Chatham River, Possum Key is a large island, while on the north bank is a smaller body, originally a shell mount, which provided fertile farmland for the likes of Edgar Watson and other settlers arriving either side of 1900."
My rating: Should read
Check out the author's website for other books: http://terriefarleymoran.com/

Another new cozy series.

The next book I am going to review is a first book in a new series. 
Title: A First Date with Death by Diana Orgain (A Love or Money Mystery)
Checked out from public library.
Why I chose this book:  The concept of this book to me was so outrageous, I just had to read it. And sort of set in San Francisco.
About the book: Georgia Thorton is a ex-cop that was left at the altar by her cop fiancé.  So she gets roped into doing a reality show called Love or Money by her best friend, her best friend thinking Georgia will meet the right guy.  So 10 guys compete for her, 5 wanting love and to split the winnings with her and 5 who want her to pick them and they get all the money.  But a murderer is eliminating the competition right off the bat.  It was a playful read with little bios interspersed through the book on which guy wants what.  So hard not to read ahead and know ahead of time which guy to root for. 
My rating: Must read.
Check out the author's website for future books:  http://dianaorgain.com/

First review is a cozy...of course.

My first book I am going to review is a first book in a new series. 
Title: Assault and Pepper by Leslie Budewitz (A Spice Shop Mystery)
Checked out from public library.
Great line from the book:  Too bad "He had it coming" is no defense to premeditated murder.
Tidbit of info: The beginning of every chapter is a tidbit of info on spices.  Very informative and fun!!
Why I chose this book:  It is set in Seattle's Pike's Place Market area.  I used to live on Whidbey Island and went down there many times.  It was such an interesting place to shop.
About the book: Pepper Reece has bought out an existing spice shop in Seattle 1 year ago, after leaving a cheating husband and losing a job with a failing corporation.  While she is in the process of putting her personal touch on the Seattle Spice Shop, a seemingly homeless man dies on her shop stoop.  One of her employees is accused of the murder and Pepper vows to find the real killer while Detectives Spenser and Tracy are making her life miserable.  While Pepper finds out who the victim is, all her questioning makes the killer nervous.
My rating: Should read
Side note:  Recipes in the back of the book!!!
Check out the author's website for other books:  http://www.lesliebudewitz.com/

.   

Okay I am going to try this again. I have missed it.

I have thought about this blog and have decided to start it up again. And I hope to get peeps to like it and follow it.   I format the blog a way to focus on why I picked the book, where I got it, a paragraph that caught my attention, a tidbit I learned and of course what I thought about it and my rating.  My ratings are in order of how good I think a book is:

Absolutely have to read,
Must read,
Should read,
Good read,
Nice read,
Don't really bother.

Fourteenth Cozy

Title of the book: Puzzle Lady vs. the Suduko Lady by Parnell Hall

Cozy type: #11 in the Puzzle Lady Mystery Series

What caught my attention about this series: Again a novel idea of the crime solver is a crossword puzzle lady

Tidbit from the book: Pyrrhic Theory: A victory gained at too great a cost.

www.parnellhall.com/

Twelveth and Thirteenth Cozy

Cozy type: Book 1 and 2 in the Deadly Past Mysteries by Marion Moore Hill. Deadly Will and Deadly Design.

What got me started with this author was her Scrappy Librarian series.

I got these books through ILL from my library.

I am again going to stray from the normal review. These two books were chock full of wonderful historical info from the early American Revolutionary time period. These books are the first 2 in a series centering around Millie Kirchner, a single Mom with a young boy Danny, who is working and trying to go to school to earn a degere in History. In Deadly Will, she finds out she is one of many relatives of Nathan Henry, who has bequeathed his legacy to his ancestors 200 years in the future. Out of 16 heirs, 10 show up in Philadelphia to claim a part of the money and a chance at a historical antique. In the span of the week they are to spend at Nathan Henry's house, heirs start getting bumped off, and panic arises.

Eleventh Cozy

Title of the book: Indigo as an Iris by Fran Stewart
Cozy Series: #5 in the Biscuit McKee Mysteries
Bought the book on Amazon and will donate it to my local library as no one seems to have a copy of it in the local area.
Why I choose this book: Again this is a series that I have sort of been following. Books are far between. This is the first one I actually bought.
Little Tidbit I learned from the book: A new concept - green cemeteries. The bodies are placed about three and a half feet deep in hand-dug graves. right among the trees. That way you don't have heavy equipment in there compacting the ground around the roots. It's all part of the natural cycle of life. The bodies feed the trees. There aren't any of those nasty chemicals that poison the soils in regular cemeteries. No caskets. The bodies are kept cold until burial and then wrapped in something of meaning, like a quilt, before burial.
Interesting paragraph from the book: Amazing Grace, as my father, a high-school music teacher, once explained to me, uses the pentatonic scale. It's a far older scale than the do-re-mi folderol. That's why the melody is so haunting. Maybe that's one of the reasons it's so overused at funerals. Just those five black keys, and all the pain, all the sorrow, all the anguish comes rolling out. Also all the hope and the wonder. Maybe not so overused at that.
My take on the book: Biscuit McKee is a librarian in a small town of Martinsville, Georgia. This book deals mostly with a case of mistaken identity involving a kidnapping with fatal results. With that as the main part of the story, a interesting family history and a side story of one lady, of the group of friends ,who decides to organize a cruise and gets a good deal on a group rate and invites close friends and relatives to go. We get letters going back and forth deciding if they can or not. On top of that, at the end of each paragraph, we have Biscuit and her cat Marmalade giving 5 things they are thankful for. Yes, the cat is reminiscent of Garfield, we can hear what he is thinking but no one else can. It's cute. I will be interested to see if more come about.
My rating on this book: Good read.
http://franstewart.com/

Tenth Cozy

Title of the book: To Hell in a Handbasket by Beth Groundwater
Cozy Type: A Claire Hanover, Gift Basket Designer Mystery #2
I bought this book from Amazon and will donate it to my library since no one else seems to have it in the area.
Why I choose this book: Really, the idea that a basket designer solves murders is novel.
Tidbit of info from the book: This book is centered on skiing. What I didn't know is making a X with your skis is the universal call for help at ski areas. I also learned quite a few terms for different slopes and skiing methods. Which I can tell you won't do me any good, as you will never get me on a pair of skis.
Great paragraph: (Claire is walking on a trail in snowshoes.) A squirrel chittered at her from a tree. Claire looked up. She promptly stepped on the back of her forward snowshoe and did a face plant in a deep snowbank.
Pride goeth before a fall. (Heh, I thought it was funny enough to laugh)
My take on this book: Claire is on vacation with her husband and daughter, really with hopes to reconnect with her husband after the result of the murder in the first book. They decided to go to Breckenridge, CO and have her daughter's boyfriend meet them there. He brings his family, too. Only it becomes too apparent after the murder of the boyfriend's sister, that this family is connected to the Russian Mafia indirectly. Quickly Claire finds a witness to the murder and sadly he gets run over by a SVU right in front of her. I may have gotten a little confused at the end with who rats on whom and their plea deals.
Beth gives a couple of ideas for 3 different baskets in the course of the book but I somewhat would of expected maybe a little more hints at the end of the book. Just a thought.
My rating: A good read and hope she writes more. But it looks like she is starting a new series so I will check that one out. Rocky Mountain Adventure series starting with Deadly Currents, March 2011
http://bethgroundwater.com/Home.html

Ninth Cozy

Title of the book: A Darker God by Barbara Cleverly
Cozy series: A Laetitia Talbot Mystery #3
Checked out of the public library
Why I picked this: it has to do with archaeology and I read her first 2
I am not going to give a favorite paragraph or tidbit from this book. My mind was overwhelmed by the full-bodied, rich-writing of this archaeology, historical mystery. These are very intense, well written and fact based novels, seemingly a cross between Elizabeth Peters and Agatha Christy. Laetitia Talbot is a young women, in the 1920's, striving to be recognized in a male dominated profession in which she is well suited and with a good head on her shoulders for. Being an archaeologist. In this third book, she has returned to her mentor, after going into the field, to rest and recover. He has translated a play of Agamennon while writing a biography of Alexander the Great. Laetitia is roped into helping with the play, only to be present when her mentor shows up dead in place of the prop she designed for the death scene. One of the actors of the play is a police detective on loan from Scotland Yard in Greece during a cultural exchange, so to speak. Anyway, he takes charge of the murder scene and accepts Laetitia's Help. The mentor's wife is on the scene and seemingly does not seem over upset of the death. But interestly, she shows up dead the next day. Lots of sexual intrigue in this book, too.
My rating: these are must read books

Eighth Cozy

Title of the book: Dark Alley by Evan Marshall
Cozy series: #3 in the Hidden Manhattan mysteries
What caught my attention: I started out with this author with his Jane Stuart series but when it appeared he was done with that, I picked up on this one.
I got this book through ILL with my library
Tidbit of Information: Mews is a street, usually private, lined with buildings that were originally stables but have been renovated as dwellings - apartments, condos, co-ops and townhouse - similar to courtyards.
Great paragraph from the book: A trash artist is heard to say: "I take what the world doesn't want and turn them into things of beauty...Most of the things we throw away should be used for something else. This would be a far more beautiful world if we did."
My take on the book: Our heroine of the story, Anna Winthrop, is a rich deb who decides that she is more interested in garbage than money. So she works her way up the ladder to become a NY Sanitation Supervisor. With her cop boyfriend, Santos, she solves this mystery of the death of one of her sanitation workers - in a mews. But he is only the beginning. Every time they turn around another body turns up in a mews or a courtyard. And they all feel something is significant with that. Lots of side stories kept the action going. I will continue to catch these books. Learn a lot about inner NY workings from these books.
My rating on this book: A should read. Next book City in Shadow Oct 2010
http://evan-marshall.com

Seventh Cozy

Title of the book: Wicked Craving by G A McKevett
Cozy series: okay technically not a cozy but... #15 in the Savannah Reid, Moonlight Magnolia Detective Agency
What caught my attention: Another series I read faithfully. Savannah is saucy.
Checked out the public library
Great paragraph: (I actually have 2 quotes from the book that made me laugh) Dr Lui, the medical examiner, says at one point at a crime scene: "I can find one stray blond hair on a brunette victim or a single carpet fiber and match it to a killer's car trunk. I think I can find a dead woman on a beach."
And Savannah is heard to say: " The only way to lose a bunch of unwanted excess weight without starving to death is to get a divorce. And even then that takes six months here in California."
Tidbit of Information from the book: This series is based in San Carmelita, CA, home to one of 21 missions that had been built along the Pacific Coast by Franciscan friars, two hundred years ago, of adobe walls that have withstood earthquakes, fires and even a tidal wave.
My take on the book: I love the curvaceous detective and her eclectic crew. And in this one, her Granny comes to visit and helps. Which is a hoot. The wife of a diet therapist, who claims you could diet just listening to his tapes, turns up dead at the bottom of a cliff. All does not seem what it seems here and there are no shortage of suspects. Including allot of the doctor's patients who have been seduced. And we have the usual sexual tension between Savannah and Dirk, which we all wish gets satisfied soon. At least Granny hopes so. I will continue to gobble these up as they come along.
My rating: A should read
www.sonjamassie.com

Sixth Cozy

Title of the book: Unzipped by Lois Greiman
Cozy Type: Ex-Bartender/Shrink/Crimes Solver Mystery (My words)
What caught my eye about this book: Found out Lois Greiman was from North Dakota and the book synopsis sounded like a hoot.
I checked it out from my public library
Tidbit learned from the book: (Okay it is a little dumb but I had never thought about it before). Sweating like a pig is a misnomer because apparently pigs don't sweat.
Great paragraph from the book: (at the beginning of every chapter are clever little one-liners quoted by different characters in the book.) Here are a few:
Some people are street-smart, some people are book-smart but most people are just dumber than dirt.
There are none so troubled as one who thinks himself perfectly sane.
Chocolate may be cheaper than a psychologist but the latter doesn't generally adhere to you ass for the rest of your natural life.
Today's problems are yesterday's mistakes come back to bite you in the ass.
What I thought about the book: Chrissy McMullen, was we assume putting herself through college as a cocktail waitress/bartender and has now worked her way from Chicago to LA to start her psychotherapy business. One of her patients was a bad boy football star who has come to her for counseling supposedly for impotency. Apparently not the case when he dies in her office with a hard on sticking out of his pants. The police suspect her of the crime, of course, and she decides she needs to clear herself as a suspect. So off she goes to interview people who knew him, with the police detective, Rivera, not far behind. The relationship between two runs hot and cold as she constantly slaughters his name. Humorous, and of course they are interested in each other in the end. I am kind of iffy on whether to read more.
My rating: It was a good read.
www.loisgreiman.com

Fifth Cozy

Title of the book: Holly Blues by Susan Wittig Albert
Cozy type: by my calculations Book #18 in the China Bayles Herb Mysteries
Why I am reading this book: I have loved, loved, loved all the others and have to read this one
Had to send away to another library in the area to read it - I love Interlibrary Loan people!!!
Tidbit of info: Every one of Susan's books has great info about the herb the book represents. In this case holly. I had no idea holly was considered so magical. It has been said if holly is planted near a house that it is suppose to defend it from lightning and witchcraft. But in the same sense, holly sprigs have also been exchanged as tokens of friendship, offering a sincere wish that the recipient might enjoy a season free of bothersome bolts from the blue. Lots more can be learned at the beginning of every chapter in the book.
Great Paragraph: (Too many to choose from but I picked one that is also a wealth of info) ...I cam back and waited on two customers of my own (after being in Ruby's shop next door), which took a little time, because they wanted to find out about natural dyes, a fairly complex subject. I discouraged them from buying dried herbs, since from my experience, it's much better to work with fresh material you can grow or gather. I also suggested that if they wanted to try some easy vegetable dyes, they might experiment with onion skins and tea leaves for beige, coffee grounds for brown, red cabbage leaves for blue and purple, carrot tops and spinach leaves for green. Oh, and turmeric, a spice that makes a vibrant orange.
My take on the book: China Bayles runs a herb store, partners in a tea room, catering and a gourmet personal chef business in Pecan Springs, TX, plus she has a quaint little cottage in the back, amongst her herb gardens, that she rents out. One partner and best friend is Ruby who has a New Age store right next door to China. In this book, China's husbands' ex, and mother of his son, comes calling around Christmas time because she is supposedly in trouble. But what kind of trouble is not fully recognized until close friends and relatives start getting bumped off. Even though you are pretty sure through the book who the bad guy is, it is another great read.
My rating: All her books are must reads. Next one is Mourning Gloria (April 2011)
http://www.mysterypartners.com/China/, http://www.abouthyme.com/index.shtml, http://www.susanalbert.com/,

Fourth Cozy

Title: Dead Air by Mary Kennedy
Cozy Type: A Talk Radio Mystery #1
Checked out of the public library
Why I picked this book: I actually thought the catch phrase on the front cover is what hooked me. "How's she going to talk her way out of this one?"
Tidbit of Info from this book: There were a few interesting ones that I would have liked to include but the one that I thought was amusing even if it may not be true. She writes: It is a standing joke in Hollywood that whenever actors want to beef up their resume, they use Matlock as a credit because they figure no one will ever check.
Great paragraph: (Okay a long one but cute). Pugsley( her pug dog) guided us through the last stretch of the evening's walk, and we headed for home after he enjoyed a long, leisurely sniff at a neighbor's bougainvillea bush. A dog behaviorist appeared on my radio show last month, and he explained that a dog sniffs a bush or tree the way you and I read the newspaper. It's endlessly fascinating to him. Who would think so much drama could be found on the base of a tree trunk or a lamppost? Love, hate, revenge, betrayal, all the makings of a Shakespearean play sitting withing sniffing distance of Pugsley's shiny black nose.
It's his way of scoping out the local news. Who's been on his home turf? Are they fearful? Friendly? Aggressive? Apparently dogs can tell all this from one sniff. .."Remember, it's only a walk around the block to you, but it's the highlight of your dog's day."
What I thought of the book: Maggie Walsh is a recent transplant from New York to sunny Cypress Grove, Fla. And she is the host of a radio talk show called On the Couch with Maggie Walsh, after being a psychologist in NY. She decides to have a New Age prophet on the show, Guru Sanjay Gingli, and soon realizes that he is a con artist. And apparently in more ways than one. That night after the show, he turns up dead. And her roommate was in the area when it happened. Maggie, with the help of her actress mom Lola, decides they need to prove that there are many people who had gotten cheated by the Guru in the span of his life and they all had motive to murder, as far as Maggie is concerned. The anecdotes about her mother's acting career are amusing and the story quite entertaining. Unfortunately, Maggie ends up with the hots for the police detective in the end.
My rating: Should read and will read future ones. Reel Murder in June 2010
http://www.marykennedy.net/

Third Cozy

Title: Chill Before Serving by Cynthia Lawrence
Cozy Type: States a Mystery for Food Lovers
Checked out from public library
What grabbed my attention in this book is of course the cozy type and the wine bottle on the label
Great paragraph: I actually hate to say it but there weren't any that jumped out at me.
Little Tidbit of info: Vitamins and herbal remedies aren't considered drugs so they are not regulated by the FDA but yet if taken in large doses, they can have severe effects on you and can react to medicines you are taking.
What I thought of the book: Catherine Deean works as a caterer in the restaurant business, with her partner Nick in LA. Cat and Nick recently hired a new chef that comes with baggage. Mainly he has been accused of murder. But it soon becomes evident that the past murder and the ones that happen later are not directed at the chef but something else. And that is what Cat tries to prove. In this cozy, she becomes involved with the newspaper journalist, who she has known for a long time. Someone different for a change.
My rating: It was a good read.

Second Cozy

Title: Raining Cats and Dogs by Blaize Clement
Cozy type: Dixie Hemingway Pet Sitter Series #5
Checked out from the public library
One of many great paragraphs from the book: (I kind of related to this paragraph and that is why I picked it) I was the only woman in the entire world who didn't have a list of friends she could call for an impromptu dinner. The only woman in the entire world who couldn't drop in a good friend and eat with chop sticks from cute little take out boxes like people on TV do. The only woman in the entire world who couldn't pick up spur-of-the-moment deli stuff to share with a close friend. Clever finger foods. Stuffed grape leaves. Delish spring rolls. At least cheese fries. It was flat depressing.
Interesting little tidbit from the book but I had many to choose from: A bloom of microscopic algae, red tide's technical name is Karenia Brevis,but by any name, it's nasty stuff that causes respiratory irritation and watery eyes for people and pets.My thoughts on the book: Dixie is a former cop, a result of her husband and daughter being killed, is now is a petsitter. While she solves mysteries. In this one, her supposed best friend's husband gets kidnapped and Maureen, her best friend, just wants to pay the ransom and get her husband back. She convinces Dixie to make the drop. But things don't end up so well. On top of that, she is tending her pets through fascinating problems and meets a young girl at the vet who catches her eye and a neighbor lady's. The young girl volunteers to help the neighbor with training a guide dog and ends up disappearing. And of course we have the ongoing relationship Dixie has with a homicide cop. It was a very enjoyable read and I am still a big fan of these books.
My Rating: Should read
Website: http://www.blaizeclement.com/

First Cozy

Title: Cook the Books by Jessica Conant-Park and Susan Conant
Cozy series: #5 in the Gourmet Girl
Checked out from public library.
Great paragraph: I checked another blog that I was nuts about, Chef's Widow, where the CW (as she refers to herself and to other women involved with rarely seen chefs) chronicles life with her chef and their two children. She's posted great videos of her kids and pictures of her few-and-far-between dates with her husband and she wrote honest, raw, sometimes painful accounts of her life.
Tidbit of info: The previous paragraph is from the book and real. The website is http://www.chefswidow.com/
About the book: Chloe's boyfriend, Josh, has left his chef position, when his restaurant closes, and decides to move to Hawaii to be a personal chef. Chloe is beside herself as she feels she cannot follow him and he won't stay for her. So she finally moves on with her life and answers a ad on Craigslist for a asst writer for a cookbook. She gets an immediate call after submitting her resume and gets hired. Her job is to take all the misc scraps of info and manage to put a book together for the son of a famous chef. A whole lot of pressure going on there. Death comes when she is asks to find certain recipes, from her ex-boyfriend of all people. But when she finds out how to get them from his friend, he turns up dead in a mysterious fire. And then the same thing almost happens to her best friend, she realizes she has to solve the case. Good unexpected ending and with good vibes for the future books.
My rating: Should read
Side note: Recipe for Baked Tomato Nests in the back of the book sounded really yummy.
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/conantparkmysteries/home

Better than Twilight

So here is the last book from April before I launch the cozy month of May. Catchy, heh. Talking about the title, this had the ring of Twilight in it but it is not about vampires. Even better.
Title of the book: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.
Checked it out of my library.
What caught my attention about the book: YA Twilight-like book featuring a new kid in town, who appears different, and the referring to past and present, down south.
Great paragraph from the book: (The two main characters go to the library to research)
The library itself was beautiful. I had spent so many hours in it as a kid. I'd inherited my mother's belief that a library was sort of a temple....this particular library was one the few buildings that had survived Sherman's March and the Great Burning...It smelled like again wood, creosote, plastic book covers and old paper. Old paper, which my mom used to say was the smell of time itself.
Tidbit if info: (There were actually a lot of tidbits to choose from) Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR, is where you have to prove you were related to an actual patriot from the American revolution to be eligible for membership. Sisters of the Confederacy, lesser cousin of the DAR, you have to prove your southern Civil War roots.
About the book: Lena has moved to Gaitlin, SC, to stay with her eccentric uncle at Ravenwood, after her parents die. Ravenwood has sort of a scary past and has been around as one of the founding families of town. Ethan senses her discomfort and befriends her as if fate. What is interesting is the unraveling of the power of Lena and her coming into her being "claimed" on her 16Th birthday as a Dark or Light Caster, like a witch. Ethan comes along for this eye opening experience and falls for Lena hard. Good story of good versus evil with some school bullying thrown in. This story was much move believable in relation to Twilight in that sense.
Rating: It is most definitely a must read. Loved it!

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrVl6pq1gNE

Website: http://beautifulcreaturesthebook.com/

Next book out Oct 2010: Beautiful Darkness