Where I’m at, we’ve had a few weeks with cold and snow. It’s white everywhere, so I figured I’d do a What-To-Read-Post with white (and grey) covers.
I’m on Pinterest, I love Pinterest, and I have a board there where I sort books according to the colour on the cover. Last month, I did blue covers, and there are sooo many good books with blue covers. Same with black, many many books with mostly black covers, but white?
Let’s see what we have.
The Mermaid Murders
The Mermaid Murders (The Art of Murder #1) by Josh Lanyon – is it white? White enough in my world LOL. I read this back in 2016 and I’ve been meaning to read the next in this series, but I haven’t. If you like mysteries give it a go. If you’re a Lanyon fan, you’ve probably read it already.
There is a serial killer, and we get to follow FBI agents Jason West and Sam Kennedy as they hunt him down.
Blurb:
Special Agent Jason West is seconded from the FBI Art Crime Team to temporarily partner with disgraced, legendary “manhunter” Sam Kennedy when it appears that Kennedy’s most famous case, the capture and conviction of a serial killer known as The Huntsman, may actually have been a disastrous failure.
For The Huntsman is still out there… and the killing has begun again.
books2read.com/TheMermaidMurders
Cut & Run
Cut & Run (Cut & Run #1) by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux – this whole series has white covers. I’ve read the first four, which is high praise since I often lose interest in series. We have FBI agents here too – Zane Garrett and Ty Grady. Each book is a case, and while both Ty and Zane have a few weaknesses there isn’t anything they’re unable to do. I liked the first books a lot, then Ty got a bit too much of a superhuman for me, but definitely worth a try if you haven’t read them.
If I’ve understood it correctly, there’s been some disagreement between the authors and the books are no longer available in the shops, but I’ve seen them in Libby (can’t check Hoopla since I’m not in America) so check your libraries if you haven’t read them but want to.
Blurb:
A series of murders in New York City has stymied the police and FBI alike, and they suspect the culprit is a single killer sending an indecipherable message. But when the two federal agents assigned to the investigation are taken out, the FBI takes a more personal interest in the case.
Special Agent Ty Grady is pulled out of undercover work after his case blows up in his face. He’s cocky, abrasive, and indisputably the best at what he does. But when he’s paired with Special Agent Zane Garrett, it’s hate at first sight. Garrett is the perfect image of an agent: serious, sober, and focused, which makes their partnership a classic cliche: total opposites, good cop-bad cop, the odd couple. They both know immediately that their partnership will pose more of an obstacle than the lack of evidence left by the murderer.
Practically before their special assignment starts, the murderer strikes again this time at them. Now on the run, trying to track down a man who has focused on killing his pursuers, Grady and Garrett will have to figure out how to work together before they become two more notches in the murderer’s knife.
In the Middle of Somewhere
In the Middle of Somewhere (Middle of Somewhere #1) by Roan Parrish – I loved this! It’s been ages since I read it, but I remember being surprised by how much I liked it. Daniel applies for a job in Michigan to get away from his family and there he hooks up with Rex. Rex is a shy, gentle giant who sees through Daniel’s snark. Loved it!
Blurb:
Daniel Mulligan is tough, snarky, and tattooed, hiding his self-consciousness behind sarcasm. Daniel has never fit in—not at home in Philadelphia with his auto mechanic father and brothers, and not at school where his Ivy League classmates looked down on him. Now, Daniel’s relieved to have a job at a small college in Holiday, Northern Michigan, but he’s a city boy through and through, and it’s clear that this small town is one more place he won’t fit in.
Rex Vale clings to routine to keep loneliness at bay: honing his muscular body, perfecting his recipes, and making custom furniture. Rex has lived in Holiday for years, but his shyness and imposing size have kept him from connecting with people.
When the two men meet, their chemistry is explosive, but Rex fears Daniel will be another in a long line of people to leave him, and Daniel has learned that letting anyone in can be a fatal weakness. Just as they begin to break down the walls keeping them apart, Daniel is called home to Philadelphia, where he discovers a secret that changes the way he understands everything.
books2read.com/MiddleOfSomewhere
Watching Elijah Fall
Watching Elijah Fall (Short North #1) by Amy Spector – totally cheating on this one! Ms Spector changed the cover just the other week, it used to be mostly white LOL. This is the first story by Amy Spector. I read it before she was the friend she is to me today, and I loved it. Elijah is a widower and Jacob is still recovering from the breakup with his long-term boyfriend. It’s a gentle story about moving on. Lovely! (*clears throat* and free).
Blurb:
a Short North story
A simple story about moving past the terrible things that life throws at you and finding happiness on the other side.
Months after his breakup with a long-term boyfriend, Jacob Pierce is still more than a little fragile, he has withdrawn from life, his friends are concerned and even he knows that something needs to change. With the encouragement of his friends and a nudge from the newest member of Jacob’s small circle, he agrees to sign up for a film based photography class.
Elijah Fall, a widowed photography teacher, is exactly the man to bring Jacob back to life. But, while Jacob may have found the man of his dreams, will Elijah, someone who has lost everything once, be willing to risk his heart again?
books2read.com/WatchingElijahFall
The Reasons Why
The Reasons Why by J.M. Snyder. This is a hot flash, an in-house multi-author series from JMS books where the stories are 2-5k, so really, really short. The Reasons Why is a snapshot from a relationship but it left me smiling. Eliot works hard and comes home to find Ben lazying on the sofa. He loses his temper, but then he finds a note, and then another, and another. It’s sweet.
Blurb:
After a long day at the office, all Eliot Travers wants is a much needed nap before dinner. Which his husband Ben is supposed to make.
But when he gets home, Ben is playing a game on his phone and Eliot doesn’t smell anything cooking in the kitchen. As Eliot’s temper starts to rise, he wants to know what exactly Ben’s been doing all day long.
Ben tells him to look on the table by the stairs, where Eliot finds a note he missed when he came in. A note that reads The Reasons Why I Love YOU.
A second note on the steps leads upstairs. Then Eliot finds a third, and a fourth.
Note: This short story was originally published in the charity collection, Love Is Proud.
No Place Like Home
No Place Like Home (Love Can’t #1.5) by Kim Fielding – This is one of those stories I have no idea when or where I got, but one day I read it. I liked it a lot! And it wasn’t until later I realised it was part of a series. I haven’t read any other stories in the series, so you don’t have to read them to enjoy this one. It’s about two 50+ gentlemen finding love. It’s just a shorty and it can be downloaded on Kim Fielding’s website.
This short story is available now as a free download from the author’s website. If you’ve read Love Can’t Conquer, you might enjoy meeting Stephen Walker, a resident of Bailey Springs, Kansas. He was mentioned briefly in LCC.
This story originally appeared in the Dreamspinner Press anthology Snow on the Roof, but has been lightly edited.
Angel and Firebird
Angel and Firebird by Nell Iris – This is a gripping short story. Five years ago, Phoenix boyfriend was killed. He’s tried to move on, but he can’t, and on the anniversary of Gabriel’s death, Phoenix’s apartment building catches fire. Phoenix should leave, run out, save himself, but… It’s an ugly-cry kind of story.
Blurb:
Five years ago, Phoenix lost his lover Gabriel, his angel, in a horrific hate crime. All he wanted was to follow him into death and he struggled a long time trying to get his life back together. All this time later he still hasn’t been able to put the past behind him and forget about the love of his life.
On the anniversary of Gabriel’s death—and 25th birthday—Phoenix’ apartment building catches fire. Will Phoenix do the reasonable thing, or will he rise from the ashes to reunite with his beloved angel?
books2read.com/AngelAndFirebird
The Snowflake
The snowflake – I’m gonna let my crazy show LOL. The Snowflake is mostly white… So this story is about Theo, an ice sculptor, who’s loved Dylan since they were in school together. I would say this is romance, serial killers fall in love too LOL. Okay, there are murders, and Theo is bat shit crazy, but he loves Theo, and if it takes a pile of corpses to show it, then so be it! It might not put me in a good light, but I love this story LOL
Blurb:
Nothing inspires art like love.
Theophile Lekas has spent the last seventeen years trying to build a name for himself as an ice sculptor. Ice is his world, but he lives for Dylan Mincer.
But loving from afar isn’t enough, and if Theo wants to win Dylan’s heart, he’ll need to sweep him off his feet. And what better way to do it than with a sculpture that will leave Dylan breathless and the world in no doubt of Theo’s genius?
After an argument leads to murder, Theo is hit with true inspiration. And he has the perfect block to begin his project. For Dylan, Theo will create his masterpiece. And it will be as unique as a snowflake.
Great art requires the perfect muse.
Be Still, My Heart
Be Still, My Heart by Holly Day – if you’re looking for something a bit more romantic and a lot less bloody than Theo and Dylan’s story, then perhaps check out Be Still, My Heart. No one dies. Elian has been invited to speak at a Valentine dinner, but he needs a plus one, so he goes to a dating agency thinking he could rent a date for the night. There he meets Dimitri who tells them they’re not that kind of place.
Four years ago, Dimitri Petrov had his leg blown off by a landmine while in military service. Suffering from PTSD, he doesn’t do crowds, and he doesn’t do people. If he had his way, he’d never leave his house at all. Dimitri’s sister, Irina, runs a dating agency, and despite that it would be better for business if they had a pretty woman working the front desk, Irina insists Dimitri’s the man for the job.
In a whirlwind of pink shirts, flapping hands, and outrageous flirting enters Elian Hubert. Elian needs a date. Invited to speak on love through time in fiction at a Valentine dinner, there is no way he’s showing up alone. When Dimitri tells him The Single Pursuit is unable to help on such short notice, Elian suggests Dimitri be his date.
Dimitri doesn’t do dates, and he doesn’t do dinners, but Elian’s made him happier in the last few minutes than anyone’s been able to do in years. He might not do Valentine’s, and he might not do gatherings, but maybe he can do Elian … a favor and accompany him to his presentation? If things go too badly, he can always hide behind a curtain and pretend he’s somewhere else.
I think I’ll stop there. There are more stories with mostly white covers I’d recommend, but many are Christmas stories, and I skipped those, and others are perhaps more toward brown than white-grey. I’ll save those for another day.
Ofelia Grand 
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