Category: 3 Star

TITLE: Walking The Edge
SERIES #: Danger In The Big Easy #1
CHARACTERS: Mitch & Cath
AUTHOR: Sue Ward Drake
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/29/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
On the knife edge of danger in the streets of New Orleans, these rugged men call the Big Easy home, and they’ll do whatever it takes to protect their own

Ex-army ranger Mitch Guidry never should have let his brothers talk him into joining them in the Big Easy. Particularly when they have him going head-to-head with the very last thing he needs: a feisty redhead who has more opinions than even his hard-headed brothers. Loyal and overprotective to a fault, Catherine Hurley will do everything she can to stop Mitch from finding her fugitive brother…and yet, he can’t get enough of her.

Cath should be furious with the overbearing ex-ranger who shows up on her doorstep looking for her brother. Sure, Mitch Guidry is hotter than a Louisiana summer and pushes every one of her buttons, but he’s also an immediate threat to her family, and family is everything to Cath. Unfortunately, the only way to save her brother is to stick to Mitch like glue. But sharing close quarters with him while they search for her missing brother together proves to be more than a little challenging…particularly when it comes to protecting her heart.

Sue Ward Drake takes you on a wild ride through the steamy streets of New Orleans in this action-packed, sexy romantic suspense!

REVIEW:
I am on the fence on this one. I think the story was good. I LOVED that there were characters who were deaf but while a hurtile it was not a disability. It gave the characters some different definition than other suspense.

The problem was the writing. I had a hard time with it and had to figure out a lot of things than normal. I spent a good amount of time looking back on something or other because it was not what was originally said/described.

I think this book had a lot of potential but just needed a little more time.

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

TITLE: Wrong Alibi
SERIES #: Murder In Alaska #1
CHARACTERS: Evelyn Jones
AUTHOR: Christina Dodd
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/29/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
WRONG JOB
Eighteen-year-old Evelyn Jones lands a job in small-town Alaska, working for a man in his isolated mountain home. But her bright hopes for the future are shattered when Donald White disappears, leaving her to face charges of theft, embezzlement—and a brutal double murder. Her protestations of innocence count for nothing. Convicted, she faces life in prison…until fate sends her on the run.

WRONG NAME
Evelyn’s escape leaves her scarred and in hiding, isolated from her family, working under an alias at a wilderness camp. Bent on vengeance, intent on recovering her life, she bides her time, patiently searching for the man who took everything from her.

WRONG ALIBI
At last, the day comes. Donald White has returned. Evelyn emerges from hiding; the fugitive becomes the hunter. But in her mind, she hears the whisper of other forces at work. Now Evelyn must untangle the threads of evidence before she’s once again found with blood on her hands: the blood of her own family…

REVIEW:
3.5 Hearts This is a new series from Christina Dodd. I haven’t picked her books up in a bit so decided this was the time to try her writing again.

This was a bit different than what I used to read by Dodd which is a nice change.

I found the characters interesting to read. I enjoyed the dynamic of a number of characters that you wouldn’t think would be allies. There were some surprises as the story progressed which is always an interesting thing.

There were a big number of too far-fetched ideas in the book as well. Some things were just not logical and should have been reined in.

All in all I thought the story was good.

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

TITLE: The Girl She Wanted
CHARACTERS: Alexa & Carrie
AUTHOR: K.L. Slater
PUBLICATION DATE: 10/22/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
What if my sister is unstable and everyone can see it but me? What was she really doing standing over Florence’s cot in the middle of the night?

Alexa has always looked up to her older sister Carrie. Carrie lives in Alexa’s family home, and adores her one-year-old niece Florence. Alexa doesn’t know how they would cope without her. So when Carrie is suspended from her job as a senior nurse, accused of the most terrible crime, Alexa reels in disbelief. Alexa knows how caring Carrie is, and as she watches Florence gurgling and cooing whenever Carrie is around, she knows her little girl is in safe hands.

Alexa’s husband doesn’t trust Carrie. He wants her out of the house, unable to ignore what people are saying about her. But when he suggests that Carrie could be a danger to their daughter, Alexa shuts him out. Nobody will ever come between her and her sister.

Then Florence is hurt while in Carrie’s care and Alexa at last starts to wonder. Alexa has always wanted to protect Carrie from the past they have hidden. But does Alexa know what Carrie wants? And will the secret that has kept the sisters together now destroy her little girl?

A completely gripping rollercoaster of a read about the darkness families hide behind closed doors. Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will be hooked on The Girl She Wanted.

REVIEW:
3.5 Hearts If given the chance would you believe your own sister or your husband? And would you trust your sister with your precious child or trust your husband’s instinct and keep her far away?

I had a hard time getting into this book but once I did I enjoyed it. There was some suspense as to why Carrie was fired and did she really hurt the people she was nursing which I found interesting and kept me wanting to read to find out what really happened.

I also worried for the baby. The title led me to believe something was going to happen one way and that then it didn’t. So I kept waiting.

Interesting read.

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

TITLE: Silent Ridge (original title: Dark Falls)
SERIES #: Detective Megan Carpenter #3
CHARACTERS: Megan & Ronnie
AUTHOR: Gregg Olsen
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/04/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
They say your past can come back to haunt you. For Detective Megan Carpenter, her past might just come back to kill her.

Detective Megan Carpenter is no stranger to horrifying crime scenes, but when she arrives at the home of a woman whose body has been brutalized, Megan is shocked to discover that she knows the victim. Monique Delmont helped Megan when she was in danger years ago. And the killer has left a disturbing calling card… two laminated photographs of a sixteen-year-old high school girl – Megan.

Someone is taunting her in the worst way possible and Megan is convinced she knows who is responsible. She just has to find him.

With the help of her new partner, Deputy Ronnie Marsh, Megan begins to unravel the clues that will lead them to the killer including links to three female murder cases from nearly twenty years ago – one of which was Monique’s daughter.

But to protect those closest to her, Megan must continue to hide the dark truth of her past, even if that means lying to her team about her connection to Monique.

When two photographs of a teenage Megan are found at her boyfriend’s place in Snow Creek, she knows the killer is circling and ready to strike again.

Can she get to him before he finds her? And will she pay the ultimate price for trying to keep her terrifying past buried?

An addictive edge-of-your-seat crime thriller from the Number One, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Amazon Chart bestselling author.

REVIEW:
When I requested this book from NetGalley it was titled Dark Falls but now it has been changed to Silent Ridge. Not sure of the reason for the change but I wanted to get that out of the way for those confused by the name change.

This is the third in the series and while I somehow missed book #2 having read the first in the series, Snow Creek, it was helpful to know the character already. I am not sure someone just coming into this series will appreciate the character as someone who has read one or both of the previous books.

I don’t know how I feel about this book. I mean I really like the writings of Olsen but I am already a little tired of Megan. I am not sure why everyone she encounters as a detective she has known before. And I am not sure I appreciate all the baggage she comes with. That being said she is a strong character who prevails above her past.

Will give the series more time to develop. And I hope we see a few more sides of Megan.

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

TITLE: Haunting In Old Tailem
SERIES #: Haunting Clarisse #3
CHARACTERS: Clarisse
AUTHOR: Janice Tremayne
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/01/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
An Australian Ghost town. A resident demon and a local Shaman. A confrontation with evil awaits.

Clarisse realizes that running from evil is not a bad idea until you figure out you can’t hide. When some ghosts get tired of hanging around, they latch onto you. At the centre of the war on evil is a historic Church that carries dark secrets within its walls. After she meets with the local Shaman, Clarisse discovers secrets with evil consequences by digging too deep into the town’s past. When matters become complicated, she visits a circus of young performers on the outskirts of town triggering unexpected paranormal events and unleashing memories of a one-hundred-year curse. After being caught in the crossfire of a battle for evil supremacy, Clarisse confronts Little Charlie as he rallies the town’s ghosts into an impeccable evil stronghold.

Can the local Shaman and townsfolk rally in her quest to defeat the evil incarnate or will the town succumb to Little Charlie and his evil crew?

Haunting in Old Tailem is the third book of the Haunting Clarisse Series. If you like spine-tingling, chilling, creepy and spooky supernatural thrillers, then you will love this story by 2020 USA Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards Finalist in Supernatural Fiction, Janice Tremayne.

Pick up your copy today and follow Clarisse through her battles with evil!

★ This book can be read as a stand-alone

REVIEW:
First the synopsis says that this can be read as a stand alone. But I think having not read the first two I missed out on something. I feel I didn’t have a good feel for the characters even after getting to know them in this book.

Clarisse is a clairvoyant who goes to Australia to work with Henry but a spooky church in the town becomes more of the focus than the work Henry needs to do. Soon it becomes clear that this is not just ghost haunting but way more. Like Satan and his henchmen attracting legions to do is bidding. Including children who visit the town.

I was really looking for a ghost story but got more of a horror flick. Seems that the read is either dull or action packed. There is no in between. I have to say that once I was reading it I was fine with continuing but I was not jumping up to grab the book after having set it down.

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