Reading Ahead: February 2014, part 2

If my list of thrillers and suspense novels from last week didn't quite float your boat, or perhaps only just got your reading list started, never fear.  I've always got a little something for everyone.  Today's list has a bit of everything--futuristic suspense, juicy tales of teenage rebellion, family sagas, romance and a bit of history.  Care to guess which of the following is which?

The Museum of Extraordinary Things, by Alice Hoffman

Confessions of a Wild Child, by Jackie Collins

Kiss and Tell, by Fern Michaels

Somerset, by Leila Meacham

Evening Stars, by Susan Mallery

Concealed in Death, by J.D. Robb

So what's making my reading list?  I'm going with the bookends (please forgive the pun) of this booklist.  For my reading pleasure, I really can't beat Alice Hoffman.  She does not repeat herself, and she is never boring.  Some of my favorites include The Dovekeepers and  her collection of intertwined short stories in The Red Garden.  If you're new to her work, I highly recommend either.  But you can bet that The Museum of Extraordinary Things will be reviewed in one of my reading challenge posts this spring.  From what I've read about it so far, it combines Hoffman's signature gorgeous prose and deft hand with a volatile time in history (1911-1925 in New York) and a brilliant love story between two very different people.  Intrigued?  Me, too.

On the other end of the spectrum, of course, is my need for something a bit on the light and fast-reading side.  J.D. Robb's Eve Dallas series is always a good bet for that.  Following 2013's Thankless in Death (which was one of the best of the series to date, in my opinion), Concealed in Death finds Dallas's husband, wealthy business mogul Roarke, beginning the demolition of an old building where he plans to build on a new addition to his empire.  Only the first swing of the sledgehammer reveals two skeletons wrapped in plastic.  Dallas is on the case, and with not two but twelve murders to solve.  I am giddy with anticipation!