Kelly reviews Snow Creek by Gregg Olsen

TITLE: Snow Creek
SERIES #: Detective Megan Carpenter Tapes #1
CHARACTERS: Megan Carpenter
AUTHOR: Gregg Olsen
PUBLICATION DATE: November 18, 2019
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
From the Number One New York Times and Amazon Charts bestselling author, comes an absolutely heart-stopping and completely unputdownable crime series, introducing Detective Megan Carpenter.

Footprints were scattered about like fallen leaves. She looked down into the ravine, and once more her lungs filled with fear. A body, blackened and motionless lay splayed out in the bushes.

Detective Megan Carpenter is no stranger to evil. Escaping the horrors of her old life, she’s vowed never to let anyone hurt her or those she loves ever again. Joining the small police force in Jefferson County’s Port Townsend, Megan is determined to get every victim of a crime the justice they deserve.

So when Ruth Turner walks into the Sheriff’s office claiming her sister Ida Watson has been missing for over a month, Megan’s instincts tell her that she needs to do more than just file a report.

Arriving at a secluded farmhouse in the hills above Snow Creek, she finds Ida’s teenage children alone and frightened.

Then a few days later, close to the Watsons’ home, the blackened body of a woman is discovered in an abandoned pickup truck.

Megan must unravel the disturbing secrets of the isolated Snow Creek community if she is to catch the killer.

But Megan has dark secrets of her own too…

Hidden in the back of her closet is a box of tapes containing every single recording of her therapy sessions with Doctor Albright over thirteen years ago. As Megan begins to play the tapes, she’s taken straight back to her terrifying childhood, back to the time she was a kid called Rylee, fighting to survive.

Can Megan finally confront the past she’s spent years trying to block out and will listen to her own painful story help her solve the complex case she is now entangled in?

REVIEW:
3.75 Hearts Snow Creek is the first book in the Detective Megan Carpenter Tapes series and my first book by Gregg Olson. I enjoyed this book.

There are a lot of twists and turns that had me guessing until the end. Throughout the novel we learn snippets of Megan’s life before she became a Detective. But there are still so many questions unanswered. I am already looking forward to the next book in this series to find out more about Megan.

If you like a good suspense book you need to pick up a copy of Snow Creek.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley & Bookouture in exchange for an honest review. This review is my own opinion and not a paid review.

4 Hearts

Winter Romance Wednesday (sorta)! Kimberly reviews The Last Christmas by F. Paul Wilson

TITLE: The Last Christmas
SERIES #: Repairman Jack #16
CHARACTERS: Repairman Jack
AUTHOR: F. Paul Wilson
PUBLICATION DATE: 01/01/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Jack is back.
Wilson never said he was through with Repairman Jack. He said he was through turning in a new novel every year. He also said when a story came along that was right for Jack, he’d write it.
The Last Christmas is that story.
It’s late December between Ground Zero and Fatal Error, a winter of discontent for Jack who’s perhaps spending too much time hanging at Julio’s. An old contact, Edward Burkes, convinces him to take on a missing-person fix. As usual, nothing is as it seems, and the missing person isn’t exactly a person. In fact, it’s like nothing anyone has ever seen.
And in the middle of all this, the mysterious Madame de Medici hires him to safeguard a valuable object. Simple, right?
Not even close.
Yep, Jack is back and, as usual, weird trouble is on his heels.

REVIEW PROVIDED BY: Kimberly NUMBER OF HEARTS: 4.5 Hearts

REVIEW:
Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

Jack is back! Whoo hoo! It’s been so long and an added bonus to have some more time with Jack.

This is a different kind of Repairman Jack story and yet the same. The characters we have known and loved are all back. We get to see the quirkiness of Jack and the weirdness of his case just as we always have. And then there is a bit of supernatural (for lack of a better word) that happens with Jack.

Any fan of the series will be thrilled to have this last visit. It is like seeing a friend that we thought we would never see again.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4 Hearts

Kelly reviews The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

TITLE: The Starless Sea
CHARACTERS: Zachary Ezra Rawlins
AUTHOR: Erin Morgenstern
NARRATOR: Dominic Hoffman, Dion Graham, Bahni Turpin, Fiona Hardingham, Allan Corduner, and Jorjeana Marie
RUN TIME: 18 Hours & 39 Minutes
PUBLICATION DATE: November 5, 2019
ORDER LINKS: Audible | Amazon | B&N | Google Play | Penguin Random House

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Circus, a timeless love story set in a secret underground world–a place of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a starless sea.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues–a bee, a key, and a sword–that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library, hidden far below the surface of the earth.
What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians–it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also those who are intent on its destruction.
Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly-soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose–in both the mysterious book and in his own life.

REVIEW:
After 8 long years after the release of The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern has done it again! She just hit the ball out of the park with bases loaded!!!! GRAND SLAM!!!!

I really don’t want to recap the whole story for you. So I will say that this was an absolute fabulous story and I loved every second of this book. Erin is such an amazing story teller. They way that she is able to build each character. How she creates a story that weaves a path for each character that you just never really know where it will end or how or why that character is important. But Erin is able to create characters and a story that you are so totally 100% invested in. All the highs and lows of the story will tug at your heart strings. Again I loved this story so much.

I was able to get an early copy of the audiobook from Random House Audio to listen too. Normally I don’t like multiple narrators of a story but they way they put this audiobook together was perfect.

If you are looking for a great book I would highly suggest this book to you. If you have already picked up this book and have not read Erin’s The Night Circus you need to pick that up too.

Side note to Erin: Please don’t make me wait another 8 years for your next great story.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Audio in exchange for an honest review. This review is my own opinion and not a paid review.

Kimberly reviews Dark Illusion by Christine Feehan

TITLE: Dark Illusion
SERIES #: Dark #29
CHARACTERS: Julija & Isai
AUTHOR: Christine Feehan
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/03/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
A mage and a warrior must see beyond their facades and embrace the bond that links their souls in this powerful Carpathian novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan.

At any other time, Julija Brennan would find solace in the quiet of the Sierra Mountains, but now the mage is in the race of her life. Having broken free from her controlling family, Julija’s attempts to warn the Carpathians of the coming threat has failed and put a target on her back—and those who hunt her are close behind…

After centuries locked away in a monastery in the Carpathian Mountains, Isai Florea can’t believe he’s finally found his lifemate—the missing half of his soul. The second he sees Julija his world blazes with color. But despite their explosive connection Julija rebels against what she sees as Isai’s intent to control her and rejects the bond that would prevent him from becoming a monster.

As their unfulfilled bond continues to call to them both, Julija and Isai aim to complete the task that brought them together. They are used to facing danger alone, but now the mage and the ancient warrior must learn how to rely on each other in order to stop a plot that threatens all Carpathians…

REVIEW:
First I consider Christine Feehan as one of the best paranormal authors of our generation and most times I love her books. This one I am on the fence about.

I liked the story itself. But I had a problem with Isai. He was really an abusive jerk who after seeing him through the first few chapters I never was able to connect to him.

And Julija just never seemed to be anything more than a doormat. Yeah she has times of coming into her own but again maybe because of the first few chapters I couldn’t connect with her either.

Now that being said, the story itself was interesting. I enjoyed the danger that the characters went through and of course the writing is really good.

Just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy this couple.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Winter Romance Wednesday! Kimberly reviews It’s A Christmas Thing by Janet Daily

TITLE: It’s A Christmas Thing
CHARACTERS: Rush & Claire
AUTHOR: Janet Dailey
PUBLICATION DATE: 09/24/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon BN

The best gifts last a lifetime . . .
Veterinarian J.T. “Rush” Rushford isn’t looking be his first without his beloved
four-year-old daughter, Claire. A year ago, Rush’s wife divorced him for another man–then broke his
heart further by revealing that Claire was her lover’s child. The final blow was Rush losing all parental
rights. Now he’s in Branding Iron, Texas, with his mobile vet practice, just hoping to get through the
season–until something like a Christmas miracle happens . . .
Turns out Claire’s parents are going on an extended cruise, leaving Rush to take her for the holidays. It’s
bittersweet, knowing that he and Claire will have to part again, maybe forever. . . . Until a smart, not to
mention beautiful, lady judge with a pregnant cat and an aging mutt takes a liking to the vet and his little
girl and gets involved. With her on their side, and love in their hearts, this Christmas just might be the
most joyous of all . . .
REVIEW PROVIDED BY: Kimberly NUMBER OF HEARTS: 4 Hearts
REVIEW:
Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com
Oh how I loved this story. This is a great book to snuggle up with on the couch and fall into the Holiday
season.
Rush was madly in love with his daughter just to find out that he is not Claire’s dad, breaking his heart.
When Claire’s mom and her new boyfriend go on vacation they have to leave Claire with Rush. But there
is still sadness for Rush and Claire knowing they have to part soon. And then Rush’s new girlfriend brings
the fun back into the holidays.
What a delightful story. I loved Claire and her world of an old dog and a pregnant cat and of course Rush,
her favorite cowboy. To me this was Claire’s story.
Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4 Hearts

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We would love to start featuring upcoming releases for 2020. If you have a book release coming up (authors & publishers) or if your next favorite books is coming up. Please let us know.
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