Book Review - Deadly Currents

Cressida Valentine is in danger. Not the kind of danger one would expect to find in the process of finishing the book her father was researching before he died, but the kind that requires a bodyguard around the clock. After all, the subject of her research is the stuff of maritime mystery, hardly international intrigue. Yet somehow, every time she gets close to a source who can help demystify the ghost ship off the Washington coast, someone gets hurt, something gets damaged, or someone dies. The Specter’s Bounty body count exceeds her crew and Cressida just might be next.

Elizabeth Goddard hoists the sails on the third book in her Hidden Bay series with Deadly Currents, and it is no pleasure cruise. It is, however, a “cancel everything and curl up in front of the fire with lots of drinks and snacks because nobody is going anywhere until this is resolved” excursion. For proof, I submit the incredible patience of  the husband who got a late supper because I genuinely lost track of about three hours when the book got “really good.” I promise I meant to be cutting sweet potatoes instead of clutching my Kindle for dear life as the action unfolded in a way that I simply could not put down. Cressida is tenacious and probably more like her mother than she would care to admit. Braden has his own battles, but taking on Cressida and protecting her from herself is one he cannot refuse. The residents of Hidden Bay are practically family by this point in the series, and the ghost ship has a pull few can resist. With characters like these and a storyline crafted as intricately as any seafaring vessel, it is no wonder Deadly Currents pulls you into its world and only spits you back out when it is done.

Deadly Currents, the third book in the Hidden Bay series by Elizabeth Goddard, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House    Christian Book    Amazon     Barnes & Noble    Walmart

Thank you to the author for allowing me a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Storm Warning

Storm season in the Pacific Northwest is particularly harrowing this year, as it finds Remi Grant facing her demons and running for her life. A chance run in with a foreign physicist has made her the target of arms dealers and government operatives hungry to get their hands on the dead man’s technology. Hiding was an effective strategy until it was not. Now the winds, waves, and storms pummeling her beloved coast are just added complications as she struggles to stay alive. Hawk Beckett is also a complication; he seems to arrive at just the right time and is oddly attached to Remi, unless there is an ulterior motive. Struggling to regain her memory seems more urgent when she cannot tell who to trust. But Hawk knows a thing or two about trust; learning that his brother and his mentor are both involved in this situation with Remi in one way or another is enough to shake all he thinks he knows.

Elizabeth Goddard knows romance and suspense. Storm Warning is no exception. With characters so well developed they feel like family and settings so vivid you cannot help but feel like you are there, Goddard pulls you in and holds your attention securely through the entire story. Storm Warning is a gutsy, action packed wallop that is the first in a series I can’t wait to continue.

Storm Warning, the first book in the Hidden Bay series by Elizabeth Goddard, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House    Christian Book    Amazon    Barnes & Noble    Walmart

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Hidden in the Night

It is with great success that Elizabeth Goddard presents the final installment of her Missing in Alaska series, Hidden in the Night. This new release gives us the story of Alaska State Trooper Nolan Long and Ivy Elliott, the Sunshine Girl who stole his heart and took it home to Florida with her. Ivy returns to Shadow Gap to track down a lost manuscript of an unknown Jack London novel, only to find herself up to her ears in snow and intrigue. Together, Jack and Ivy are racing to find the missing girl who is the last person known to have the manuscript and someone is hot on their trail to keep them from finding it. Goddard writes suspense like nobody’s business and Hidden in the Night is no exception. Danger lurks around every corner, seemingly two steps ahead of our heroes, with more red herrings than a pack of Swedish Fish. Her characters are relatable and there are those we have come to know throughout the series who resurface to welcome us back to the once peaceful Alaskan town and its local hangout, The Lively Moose. With her careful crafting, Hidden in the Night reads like a standalone, but I personally recommend reading the entire Missing in Alaska series to get to really know the wonderful people of Shadow Gap.

Hidden in the Night, book three of the Missing in Alaska series by Elizabeth Goddard is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House       Christian Book        Amazon        Barnes & Noble        Walmart

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine. 

Book Review - Shadows at Dusk

The latest installment in Elizabeth Goddard’s Missing in Alaska series is a frantic flight to find a missing sister and stop a murderer before he kills Carrie James (again.) The bush pilot finds herself thrown into Detective Trevor West’s search for his missing sister, even though he is the last thing she needs. Island hopping in southeast Alaska involves spending too much time with this man who makes her feel things she refuses to ever feel again, and it is hard to avoid opening up to someone when you continually find yourself in vulnerable positions with them. Goddard keeps the reader hopping as well, following the whodunnit of multiple transgressions while dodging danger by the most narrow margins. Also appearing in this sequel are several of our friends from the first installment, Cold Light of Day, who help search for the truth amidst the information Carrie and Trevor give and other evidence that turns up. Shadows at Dusk is sure to keep you enthralled from dusk til dawn.

Shadows at Dusk, Missing in Alaska series book 2, by Elizabeth Goddard is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House            Christian Book                Walmart                Amazon

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Cold Light Of Day

Elizabeth Goddard kicks off her latest series, Missing in Alaska, with double barrels of action and intrigue. Cold Light of Day finds Shadow Gap police chief Autumn Long fighting for her job and ultimately her life. As suspicious deaths start to add up in an area where death is usually clearly related to the harsh landscape, details about the mysterious-but-helpful newcomer in town begin to trickle to light. There’s no reason for Autumn to trust Grier, but intuition tells her he’s the only outsider she can trust. Even when her investigation leads directly to his doorstep, she knows there’s more to the story than he is telling her - a story which implicates, but ought to exonerate him. Losing her position as chief may be more blessing than the curse it seems, and when the truth about Grier brings Autumn face to face when the mother she thought had been long dead, reality becomes stranger than fiction. Goddard has laced her boots tight to forge a path of action adventure and romance worthy of lacing up your own to follow where she goes.

Cold Light of Day, Missing in Alaska series book 1, by Elizabeth Goddard is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House        Christian Book        Barnes & Noble        Amazon

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Critical Alliance

Have you ever gotten to the big reveal in a mystery and been disappointed that you totally saw it coming? I have got to hand it to Elizabeth Goddard; I totally did not see the whodunnit coming in her final installment of her Rocky Mountain Courage series, Critical Alliance. What I did see, was the simmering love interest between the super intelligent Mackenzie Hanson and DSS Special Agent Alex Knight. And I saw how Jack and Terra from Present Danger and Nathan and Erin from Deadly Target were expertly woven into Critical Alliance to bring the trilogy full circle with friends we already know and love.

Mackenzie messed up big time as a frustrated youth and has suffered consequences far beyond the legal ramifications, as years of estrangement have kept her from her family. Driven by the need to right her wrongs, she has worked passionately to counter the measures that took her down a destructive path. All of a sudden, her youthful misadventures have dragged her back home to Montana on a mission to save her family and their lucrative tech business from a cyber criminal bent on revenge. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, Mackenzie finds herself thrown into a situation where she must count on the one guy who won’t stay off her mind. Romance has to take a back seat to quietly and quickly putting her attacker in his place, but it is so difficult when Alex keeps being so incredibly irresistible.

Alex Knight is supposed to be on a mandatory three week vacation, but it is not easy to rest and relax when the terrible events of his most recent assignment plague his waking and sleeping hours alike. Furthermore, someone has defaced the Rocky Mountain Courage memorial again. This time, the damage is done to the his father’s memorial. Catching the vandal will be the diversion he needs. Alex finds himself with a much larger diversion when he finds the girl who got away in his own neck of the Montana wilderness, especially when he finds that she is in need of protection. Solving two separate cases that shouldn’t even be his keeps Alex entirely too busy to be sidetracked for his feelings for Mackenzie. At least it should, but how can he stifle the Mackenzie makes him feel?

I am not going to pretend that I actually sat down and read this book in one sitting. It is back to school time and our household contains one groomsman, one matron of honor, and one incredibly adorable maid of honor for a wedding that is approaching at a rate that sure does feel like warp speed. So what I can honestly tell you is that I did absolutely devour Elizabeth Goddard’s finale to her Rocky Mountain Courage series in one day. I’ll spend the next few days making up for everything I put off for the sake of this delicious binge read, but I have absolutely zero regrets.

Critical Alliance, the finale to Elizabeth Goddard’s Rocky Mountain Courage series, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House     Christian Book    Barnes & Noble    Amazon

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Deadly Target

Oh, what a tangled web we weave in the name of protecting our loved ones. At least, the characters in Deadly Target by Elizabeth Goddard find themselves in quite the web of intrigue for this second book of her Rocky Mountain Courage series. With a flash and a crash, we are introduced to Dr. Erin Larson. A criminal psychologist with an anonymous true crime cold case podcast, Erin is far enough removed from her subjects that she can’t imagine why anyone would target her, so the attack must have targeted her friend. But when the body count starts rising and Erin is repeatedly involved, things start to become increasingly clear that she is a common denominator. With former flame, Nathan Campbell, thrust into the fray alongside her, Erin finds that her life isn’t the only thing at stake. Staying alive long enough to identify her attacker and find a way forward with Nathan keep Erin and the plot of Deadly Target in motion until the very last thread is untangled.

Deadly Target by Elizabeth Goddard is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Present Danger

Elizabeth Goddard starts her latest series with a crash-bang and doesn't stop until the entire mystery is unraveled. Following up her Uncommon Justice series with Rocky Mountain Courage, Goddard fires hard right from the start of Present Danger. The plane crash and missing artifact are just the beginning of the dangers surrounding Detective Jack Tanner and USFS Special Agent Terra Connors. Their shared history and traitorous chemistry certainly don't help ease the stress of their investigation, and the question of who can be trusted is a tricky one at best.

It was nice to revisit some of our friends from Uncommon Justice, and I have to admit that I read Present Danger while making a list of characters whose stories I would like to follow through the remainder of the series. Divulging that list just might merit a spoiler alert, though, so I'll have to keep that information to myself. (I really hate spoilers and would never do that to you!) I can safely say the preview of book 2 reveals that Goddard's series will follow a pattern I hoped to pursue. On that note, I recommend you check out Present Danger for yourself and let me know if you agree!

Present Danger by Elizabeth Goddard is currently available from your favorite local bookseller, or online:

Christian Book        Barnes & Noble        Amazon

Thank you to the author and the publisher for allowing a copy to read and review. All opinions stated here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Don't Keep Silent

The McKade boys are in it again. This time, it's Liam, and he's still trying to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. Sure, he has served in the Marines and in the DEA, but a blown cover and a bullet have him back at the Emerald M with his brothers while he figures out what God has planned for him next. He didn't dream it would be the woman who blew his cover. The woman he took that bullet to save. The woman he thought he loved, before he realized she had used him for her own purposes. The woman who now needs him to help her find her missing sister-in-law before time runs out.

Elizabeth Goddard's Don't Keep Silent is the third book in her Uncommon Justice series. If you don't know the McKade boys by now, it's high time to pick up the first book and read your way through the adventures kicked up by Austin, Heath, and now Liam. Goddard balances danger and romance intricately and pulls the reader into the lives of the Emerald M. Don't Keep Silent is another action packed page turner. Sure, you could read it as a stand-alone, but frankly, you wouldn't skip straight to the end of the book, so why miss out on the rest of the Uncommon Justice series.

Thank you to the author and to the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions in this review are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Always Look Twice

I was not familiar with Elizabeth Goddard prior to receiving a copy of

Always Look Twice for review. Once I learned that it was part of a series, I decided to

purchase the first book of her Uncommon Justice series, Never Let Go. I read Never Let Go first,

in order to determine the flow of the series, and was pleased to find that Ms. Goddard had great

continuity of the series, while maintaining the integrity of Always Look Twice as its own storyline.

It could be read as a stand-alone, but I am very glad I didn’t.

As childhood friends torn apart by tragic circumstances, Heath and Harper are thrown

together again as adults in a tragic situation. It felt like this scenario could have easily become

a sloppy tangle of premature or undeveloped emotions, and I was worried that this might happen.

Therefore, I was quite pleased that Ms. Goddard did a great job of balancing the childhood familiarity

with the timid miasma of emotion tied to the circumstances of their reunion.

The suspense is well written, and the romance is tastefully and artfully done.

While there are times in the unraveling of the mystery that get a bit confusing,

I am not sure I can consider this a problem; I feel that the confusion served to help me

relate to the frustrations of Heath, Harper, and those involved in the investigation.

I look forward to reading the final installment of the Uncommon Justice series,

Don’t Keep Silent, upon its release. The character development of the McKade

brothers, the dynamic of their relationships with each other, and romantic suspense

of their endeavors have certainly grasped my interest!

I did receive a copy of Always Look Twice from the publisher and

the views shared here are solely my own.