Book Review - Critical Threat

Never underestimate the power of a bored serial killer, even if he is living out the rest of his days in prison. Especially when he can afford to pull strings for a puppet. Particularly when he has managed to weasel his way into a transfer to the facility where his son is trying to carry on a life out of the tainted shadow cast upon him.

Supervisory Special Agent Grace Billingsley is tasked with building a profile on a serial killer who has mannerisms similar to The Cell Phone Killer. This cannot be the work of Peter Romanos, who is already in prison. But someone is certainly paying homage to him, and Grace has to figure out who is doing this before he takes another victim. Especially when Grace unwittingly catches his interest and set off an obsession that may end up being his undoing.

Sam Monroe has spent years trying to rebuild his life and reconstruct his image after finding out his father was a serial killer and providing the evidence that led to conviction. Now working as a prison psychologist, Sam must work every day with the knowledge that his father is in the same facility and trying consistently to get Sam to answer his phone calls. As the top expert on Peter Romanos, Grace has asked Sam for input while building her current profile.

With a title like Critical Threat and in a series called Extreme Measures, it is no surprise that this  book delivers hits and hooks at every turn. Lynette Eason is at the top of her game with this series and Critical Threat is another shining star.

Critical Threat, Extreme Measures book 3, by Lynette Eason 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 - The Rose and the Thistle

Laura Frantz delivers eloquent prose to delight and thrill the senses with her new release, The Rose and the Thistle. Set in the early 18th century, amid the tension of the Jacobite rebellion against the Hanoverian king of Britain, the reader is not so much on the outside looking in as up to their feathered riding hats in intrigue.

Stained by her mother’s notorious behavior at court before she was even born, Lady Blythe Hedley is longing for her father and her home, away from the insipid intrigue of the French court of the Stuart who should be king. However, both her beloved father and Northumbrian home are under watchful eye; therefore, her father must appeal to Lady Blythe’s godfather in Scotland for protection.

On the eve of his father’s passing, Everard, the new Lord Wedderburn, learns of his father’s decision to send for Lady Blythe after she and her companion Elodie are already ensconced in Wedderburn Castle. Now he must decide what to do with these English Catholic Jacobite roses hiding within his Protestant Lowland Scots stronghold. Marrying Blythe may be the best way to guarantee her safety, but Everard wants more from marriage than a solution to political intrigue.

Intrigue is delivered in carriage loads in The Rose and the Thistle. Davey the Devil’s exploits as the spare and not the heir of Wedderburn, Lord Hedley’s insistence upon supplying arms and financial support to the cause of the rebels, the cares thrust upon the shoulders of the new laird as he also takes on the care of his youngest brother, sweet wee Orin. Then a spark lights the smallest candle’s flame which grows to burn a torch in Everard’s heart and mind for the fair Lady Blythe. But romance is not so easy in light of the religious and political perils they must overcome. And marriage just may not be enough to save the life of the fair Lady Blythe.

The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz 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 - Sundown

The Kingston boys are back, this time unraveling the mystery of the beautiful woman who appeared out of the wreckage of a crashed plane on Denali. Taylor Price isn’t telling everything and Colt Kingston is bound and determined that she isn’t going to bring trouble to his family’s doorstep. Even if he is trouble through and through on his own. He has no problem leading the way into the fight, but he can’t quite figure out what that fight is as far as Tae is concerned. This woman who nursed him back from the brink of death, his very own Florence Nightengale, is something else he can’t quite decipher. Also on the list of things he can’t seem to get a grasp on: his role in his mother’s death, his place with his family, and his future with or without Tae.

Now, fans of Susan May Warren can tell you that Colt is going to go through a lot of pain and growth in Sundown. Especially, those who are already familiar with his daddy, Barry Kingston, and the great wisdom and love he has for his children. Also, you know Tae and all her secrets are going to be quite the handful for Colt. Combined elements like those create the perfect storm to break down the barriers that keep him walking wounded and help him begin to heal. Not only is Sundown a thrilling conclusion to the story of the Kingston triplets, but a profound exploration of our own misunderstandings and their tendency to get in the way of following God’s plan and enjoying His blessings.

Sundown, Sky King Ranch series book 3, by Susan May Warren 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 - Honor’s Refuge

Not to be outdone by the first two books in the series, Hallee Bridgeman continues her Love & Honor series with a book all about taking shelter in the storm. We met medic Phil Osbourne in the introductory book, Honor Bound, and I don’t know about you, but I really hoped we hadn’t heard the last of him. Bridgeman brings us Phil’s story, picking up two years after he lost his leg as the result of a firefight with an African warlord and still in the midst of trying to figure out what a broken man has to offer offer the girl he loves too much to love her. The storm raging within our tortured warrior threatens to tear him apart, even as his efforts to keep her at a distance rage against her heart.

Melissa Braxton knows all about storms. The one that was her father, beating her mother to death when Missy was five. A tempest that ripped her apart from her little sister, Lola, for whom she has never stopped searching. The storm that pushed her to pursue a career in counseling and open a shelter for battered spouses, seeking refuge from their abusers. And Melissa is all caught up in the storm of loving Phil, in every bit of his grumpy glory. But as a surprise hurricane bears down on Miami in the midst of Thanksgiving preparations, Melissa and Phil have to find refuge from one storm while standing firm against a whole different kind of threat.

For some reason, I liked Phil from the moment I started hoping for his survival in the jungles of Africa in Honor Bound and am glad Bridgeman chose to give us more to his story. I’ve cheered for Doc Oz as a supporting character and now as a main character. Bridgeman really did him justice by pairing him with the character of Melissa; both are written with a depth that really brings them both off the pages and tugs on the heartstrings. Honor’s Refuge is a must read within the series, but it packs the punch that makes it worthy of picking up as a stand alone.

Honor Bound by Hallee Bridgeman, Love & Honor series book #3, 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 - Body of Evidence

Irene Hannon serves up the final installment of her Triple Threat series in the steaming hot Body of Evidence. The baby of the Reilly sisters, Grace, has always been the romantic one. It’s not so easy finding The One when the ones you generally work with are dead. Sheriff Nate Cox, however, is definitely not dead and he makes her feel all kinds of alive from their very first interaction. As a pathologist who has to work with the handsome sheriff on a regular basis, Grace is compelled to work with him when she finds a pattern of consequences among the deaths of several local seniors. Following the evidence puts Grace squarely into the line of fire and together they have to figure out who is killing, how they are killing, and why strange things keep happening to Grace. Hannon simmers Body of Evidence to perfection and polishes off Triple Threat with all the flourish of a chef’s kiss.

Body of Evidence, Triple Threat book #1, by Irene Hannon 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 unbiased.

Book Review - The Lost Melody

Certain books are felt physically even as they are read. Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights are two of my favorite examples, and I would add The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano to that list. I dare suggest that I would rank it right there with my two favorite Gothic romances of all time. Politano threads music through the atmosphere of a Victorian pauper asylum to express the sheer determination and subtle delicacies of Vivienne Mordant’s character. The great mystery of the lost melody and the beautiful woman who played it carry the reader and our beloved concert pianist into the bowels of darkness, through seething depravity, into the mind of madness. And yet, are we not all just a bit mad? And it is so terribly dreadful to be just a tad mad? And can one be the kind of light in the darkness who uses their God given gifts to reach those lost in the depths of that hopeless existence? Politano explores themes of value with a most deliciously troubling romance in her latest release.

The Lost Melody by Joanna Davidson Politano 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 - A Quilt for Christmas

It’s that time of year again and this one always gets me giddy. I’m not talking about football season, or marching band competition season, or even pumpkin-spice-everything season; I’m already securely into all of those, which I celebrate with great joy. I am talking about Melody-Carlson’s-New-Christmas-Novella season! *Insert angel chorus here.* I literally feel warm and cozy just thinking about it. So grab a cup of tea and a cozy blanket, and I will introduce you to Melody’s 2022 Christmas novella, A Quilt for Christmas.

Vera Swanson doesn’t feel much like celebrating Christmas this year. In years past, nobody could rival the glory of a Christmas season done up in Vera’s style, all wrapped up in love. But now there is nobody to celebrate with her. The big, beautiful home in which she and her husband raised their family has been sold, and this small condo doesn’t feel the same. When a small child knocks on Vera’s door and begs help for her mommy, things become even more different as she finds herself suddenly helping neighbors she didn’t even know through a difficult situation.

Little Fiona Albright is a spunky little girl whose family has had their own series of unfortunate events. When her mother’s sudden and intense illness send Fiona searching for help, she begins to form a bond with the grandmotherly woman next door. Slowly, Fiona and Vera forge a friendship that eventually extends to an eclectic group of women who come together to fulfill Fiona’s wish of a quilt for Christmas. Everyone has their own burdens that try to bog them down this season, especially cranky old Eleanor Rasmussen, but somehow Fiona melts even the coldest heart. Together they forge a family for Christmas that none of them expected, brought together by one little angel with an old soul.

A Quilt for Christmas by Melody Carlson 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.