Paranormal romance has become a very popular genre and A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness may stand as one of the classics in the category. Not only is it a tale of star-crossed yet forbidden love, the richness of the adventure and the historical snippets can keep you enthralled as well.

Diana Bishop has been a reluctant witch all her life. She choses to live as a human, forging an identity as a well-respected historian and distancing herself from her magical heritage. After examining a magical book as part of her research, Diana draws the attention of magical creatures, among them the vampire Matthew Clairmont who is also a geneticist with an interest in other-worldly DNA.

Thanks to Matthew’s DNA testing, they learn that Diana is not just a witch but potentially the most powerful witch who has ever lived. This, combined with other creatures’ lust for the ancient manuscript, has turned Diana into a hunted individual who starts to uncover threats to her life, not the least, her new magical powers which she has no idea how to control.

This book gives us multiple suspenseful moments.  Will Matthew and Diana go from enemies to lovers? Will she avoid the creatures who wish to hunt her down? Most importantly, having grown interested in the characters, will there be further books to wrap up the story?

Thankfully, the answer is yes. You can find all three novels as e-books and audiobooks from the Overdrive service and A Discovery of Witches as a print novel and audiobook on the shelves of the Augusta Richmond County Library. There is even a DVD of the first part of the TV series so you can explore A Discovery of Witches as a multimedia experience. For more information, contact your library branch or visit us at arcpls.org for the start of an absorbing adventure.

On a summer night in Portland, Oregon, violence erupts at a Little League game — and attorney Ami Vergano watches in horror as the quiet, gentle artist she recently befriended does the unexpected and unthinkable . . .

In a cheap motel room in Washington, D.C., Vanessa Kohler — ex-mental patient, supermarket tabloid reporter, and estranged daughter of a powerful general running for president — views a news broadcast of the bizarre incident and believes she’s found the only witness to a deadly conspiracy.

Caught between a possible madwoman and a confessed mass murderer, between reality and delusion, Ami races to unearth the terrible truth about dark events that may or may never have happened twenty years earlier in a secluded cabin on Lost Lake.

The Details

The main character, Vanessa Kohler, is a tabloid reporter living and working in Washington, D.C. She writes fantastic stories about a vast government conspiracy headed by General Wingate, a popular presidential candidate who also happens to be her father, and most dismiss her as a crackpot using sensationalism to sell papers.

Drawing from 25 years of courtroom experience to create nuanced characters and high-intensity action, Margolin’s novels just keep getting better and better. Critics report that “Lost Lake,” with all of its murderous intrigue and plot-driven suspense, will not disappoint.

Phillip Margolin fans take note: HarperCollins Publishers released the author’s follow up hardcover thriller,  Proof Positive , in which the author relates just how unreliable CSI evidence can be-when misused by a remorseless killer.

Find it in the stacks at FIC MAR.

Doug Weaver is a defense attorney who always believes the best of his clients, and Jacob Cohen, on trial for murder, is no exception. Jacob may be homeless and mentally ill, but Doug can’t imagine that this meek and intensely religious man could have killed and dismembered a woman. Yet Bernard Cashman, a forensic expert at the Oregon State Crime Lab, finds evidence that indisputably connects Cohen with the crime.” “Frustrated and confused, Doug consults Amanda Jaffe, star of Margolin’s spine-tingler Wild Justice. Amanda and her father, Frank, are working on a case that seems completely unrelated – gangster Art Prochaska is accused of murdering an informer. When Amanda starts looking too closely at the seemingly air-tight evidence in these two apparently unconnected cases, people start to die – and she discovers that a madman with the power to alter the truth is on the loose.

The story takes place in the early 20^th century. Women have yet to receive the right to vote and divorce creates a scandal that most women would never recover from.  As a married woman, having an affair with a public figure Mamah has put herself in a soul shredding position.

Initially you worry that Mamah will be an Anna Karenina, acting reluctantly and never coming to grips with the new reality she has created for herself. Over time we see a heroine stripped to the core of her soul and rebuilt into a woman, with regrets it is true, but essentially strong and perceptive. Mamah manages to live with a genius without being subsumed by him.

As a strong believer in the Women Movement, Mamah gives glimpses of two opposing sides in the movement. Examining Mamah’s relationship with Ellen Key gives the reader a glimpse into the international scope of the movement Horan also gives a little bit of an architecture lesson by showing Wright’s evolution from his prairie period to an architecture in tune with its surroundings as brought to fruition in the couples’ home, Taliesin.

But the novel is essentially Mamah’s. and is a mirror to the soul of one woman and the forces that molded her.

If you like historical novels centered on real people you will read this one and feel acquainted with Mamah Borthwick in all her strengths, aspirations, and weaknesses. Check out this book through the LIBBY app provided by the Augusta-Richmond County Library. For more information or assistance, please contact your local branch library or check the website at arcpls.org.

Well, a girl has to roll with the flow.  She’s okay with the talking dog and the fairy cat. What is shocking is her mother’s sudden interest in Carl the town sheriff, her introverted friend Evie coming out of her shell, and her brother Shep whose perfect marriage has fallen apart.

All the while, Addy’s falling hard for the dominating interdimensional hunk while fighting off ghouls and demons.  Will hunky Brand stay with our feisty heroine or will he go back to his home world never to be seen again?

This book is a lighthearted romp, but beware, it’s a little bit racy which is only to be expected from the strong, silent, interdimensional types. Check out Lexi George’s Demon Hunting in Dixie through the Augusta-Richmond County Libraries’ Overdrive service or LIBBY app. For more information call your local branch  library or the library’s website at arcpls.org.

Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh

The story of the cunning Mariko continues in this final book of the Flame in the Mist series!

This book is available in book format in our PINES Catalog and to patrons with print disabilities in Braille and Audio Reading Downloads (BARD) through the website or mobile app for download.

In this masterful conclusion to this duology by Renee Ahdieh, Mariko has had her eyes opened to who the Black Clan truly are, fallen in love with Okami, and now entering the imperial castle to fight for the new family and man she loves. Mariko uses her wit and new skills and knowledge to navigate her life at court as the ideas and agendas of many unfold around her. Between the battle of which prince will seat on the throne, Mariko finds that her assassination attempt is merely a chess piece in the courtly game being played by the Empress Genmai and the Emperor’s favorite Lady Kanako. Mariko and Okami strive to do the right thing, the best thing and save their kingdom from possible chaos so that the empire and maybe even themselves can finally be at peace. Will Mariko save Okami and the kingdom? Which prince will sit on the throne?

Read Smoke in the Sun by Renee Ahdieh today to find out!

Every piece of luck comes with a downside though.  These things have attracted a lot of negative attention starting with the dismantling of the old wooden horse that is part of the locker haul. The thieves leave behind a chilling clue, the body of a man garroted to death.

Her policeman boyfriend Pete tries to discourage Lee from getting involved in the case, but Lee is cursed with boundless curiosity, prodded along by mysterious visions only she can see. As Lee and Aunt Ibby piece together the clues in the items from the storage locker, they develop a theory that someone is hunting for an elusive, but priceless, treasure.

As the clues mount Lee and Ibby get closer to both the treasure and the murderer. Perry’s comfy cozy crime novel, part of a series that can be downloaded in Overdrive thought the LIBBY app. For more information, visit our website at arcpls.org or contact your local branch library.

These are, in order of the internal chronology of events:

1 – The Magician’s Nephew
2 – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3- The Horse and His Boy
4 – Prince Caspian
5 – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6 – The Silver Chair
7 – The Last Battle

The novel “Prince Caspian” begins one year after the events told in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” on a railroad platform where Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy are waiting for trains that will take them to their boarding schools. Suddenly they feel themselves transported into another world, and after a few hours of wandering about they realize that it is Narnia, where many centuries have passed in the meantime.

The second plot line involves young Prince Caspian, heir to the throne of Narnia, who has to flee from his usurping uncle Miraz. Deep in a forest he discovers some of the “Old Narnians” – talking beasts and dwarfs – and later decides to challenge his uncle for the kingship.

Soon, though, the military situation deteriorates for Caspian and his small army, and they end up besieged on Aslan’s How, a hill built over the site of the stone table that played a crucial role in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. When things look utterly bleak, Caspian uses his most precious object, Queen Susan’s Horn, to summon help.

This review does not try to give away too much more of the plot and spoil the reader’s enjoyment, so let me just say that the two plot lines intertwine, there are thrilling battle scenes (including a duel) and a wonderful celebration at the end.

Lewis does a good job of showing the gradual re-transformation of the four children, who once again turn from being English schoolchildren to becoming Kings and Queens of Narnia.

To me, “Prince Caspian” is one of the three best books in the Narnia series, together with “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and “The Magician’s Nephew”. In many ways, it repeats themes from “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, but adds an interesting perspective by having the events of the earlier book become the stuff of legend.

Celaena Sardothien was Aldaran’s premiere assassin, but even the best can be betrayed. Condemned to the salt mines of Endovier, Celaena will take any deal to escape a sure death sentence. The best deal on offer is to fight to become King’s Champion for a ruthless and corrupt king and be freed after four years of service.

Assuming a secret identity, Celaena travels to Rifthold to compete in a brutal contest between thieves, poisoners, soldiers and murderers.  As the competitors work through the tests of their various skills, the group is dwindling faster than foreseen as members are brutally murdered between the tests.

As Celaena trains to regain her lethal skills, she develops friendships with Chael, her chief guard, Damion the Crown Prince and Nehemia a foreign princess and regains her zest for living which makes her even more determined to win the contest. Her quest to become Champion becomes even more urgent when Elena, neither living nor dead, and the first Queen of Aldaran tasks Celaena to become the King’s Champion and to fight a mysterious evil that is loose in the castle. As the final duel draws near, will the Assassin prevail or will she be undone by deceit?

Don’t be afraid to fall in love with this world and its characters since Throne of Glass is an eight book series which can be read in a combination of e-books from the LIBBY app and Overdrive, and print books from the Augusta-Richmond County Library. For more information, contact your local branch library or visit our webpage at arcpls.org to start your journey.

Writer Finlay Donovan can tell you. It starts with a misunderstood conversation with her agent and a bloody knife in her diaper bag, and the next thing you know, she’s got a contract. For $50,000. That’s quite a lot of money. Especially for someone who is behind on the rent, the electric bill, the credit card bill, and drives a van that’s on its last legs. Throw in the fact that you need to pay a good lawyer to win a custody battle with your ex-husband, and any gal might have 50,000 reasons to do the job.

Finlay’s curiosity gets the better of her as she does research on the intended victim. Following him to an upscale bar, she finds the mark is the type that puts roofies in women’s drinks and worse. Slipping him the mickey instead, Finlay drives off with the mark in her van.

But she doesn’t intend to kill the creep until she accidentally does. In a panic, she teams up with her babysitter to bury the body and split the loot 60-40. How out of control can a situation get?

Pretty out of control. Before she knows it, Finlay has another contract she doesn’t want, a secret identity she created out of spite, and a police detective, angling for a personal relationship, who is sure the mark she offed is murdered and not missing.

Will Finlay find a way to keep her kids, her career, and her sanity, or will this multi-stranded farce completely unravel leaving Finlay wearing an orange jumpsuit and a shiny pair of cuffs? The only way to find out is to read Elle Cosimano’s page turning Finlay Donovan Is Killing It. And you can get that e-book right now, with your library card, Overdrive and the LIBBY APP. For more information on setting up an account just call your local branch library and check it out.

This fictional tale based on the true story of the Greenbrier Ghost is brought to life through two characters, the grieving mother Mary Jane Heaster and the African-American defense attorney James Gardner. Mary Jane tells the story of her wild child daughter and her ill-fated marriage to the no-count Trout Shue. While Mary Jane tells the story of her quest to find justice for Zona, we see much more of Mary Jane than we do of Zona. In reminiscing about her daughter Zona and her quest to see Trout hang for murder, we learn about the importance of family and the role of justice in the life of a woman confined to a small backwoods farm.  In James Gardner’s frank and formal retelling, we learn about his unique place as an African-American lawyer apprenticed under a notorious white practitioner.  These mother and the  defense attorney characters allow us to observe workings of a county legal system and examine the place of tragedy, not only in the lives of our main characters but also in the lives of those testifying at the trial and those dispensing justice in the 19^th century.

If you like fiction based on true stories, this is a story handled by a master storyteller. This book can be found as an ebook and audiobook through the LIBBY app.  If you find you like Sharon McCrumb, many of her works are available in print through the Augusta-Richmond County Library.