Category: Review Sunday

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Kimberly reviews A Walk Along The Beach by Debbie Macomber

TITLE: A Walk Along The Beach
CHARACTERS: Willa & Harper
AUTHOR: Debbie Macomber
PUBLICATION DATE: 07/14/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
TWO SISTERS MUST LEARN FROM EACH OTHER’S STRENGTHS AND TRUST IN THE REDEEMING POWER OF LOVE IN A TOUCHING NEW NOVEL FROM NUMBER ONE ‘NEW YORK TIMES’ BEST-SELLING AUTHOR DEBBIE MACOMBER.

The Lake sisters are perfect opposites. After their mother died and their father was lost in grief, Willa had no choice but to raise her sister, Harper, and their brother, Lucas. Then, as an adult, she put her own life on hold to nurse Harper through a terrifying illness, Now that Harper is better and the sisters are living as roommates, Willa has realized her dream of running her own bakery and coffee shop, bringing her special brand of caretaker to the whole Oceanside community.

Harper, on the other hand, is always on the go. Overcoming a terrible illness has given her a new lease on life, and she does not intend to waste it. When Harper announces her plan to summit Mount Rainier, Willa fears she may be pushing herself too far. Harper, for her part, urges Willa to stop worrying and do something outside of her comfort zone – like taking a chance on love with a handsome new customer.

Sean O’Malley is as charming as he is intriguing – a freelance photographer whose assignments take him to the ends of the earth. Soon Willa’s falling for him in a way that is both exciting and terrifying. But life has taught Willa to hedge her bets, and she wonders whether the potential heartache is worth the risk.

Life has more challenges in store for them all. But both sisters will discover that even in the darkest moments, family is everything.

REVIEW:
Can you really go wrong with a Debbie Macomber novel? Simply put… No!

This book has more emotion than I could stand. And yet I wanted more. The end is a bit more abrupt than I would have liked but the story is such a roller coaster of emotions.

If you have someone (anyone) who is sick that you have walked through the sickness with them you will be more sensitive to this book than others. And when you have a family even if you are not that close anymore, at a time like this they learn that family is more important than anything.

What a story but have a box of tissues near!

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

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews One In Three by Tess Stimson

TITLE: One In Three
CHARACTERS: Louise, Andrew & Caz
AUTHOR: Tess Stimson
PUBLICATION DATE: 07/09/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Both of them loved him. One of them killed him . . .

Louise has had to watch her husband, Andrew, start a new family in the four years since he left her. The ‘other woman’ is now his wife – but Louise isn’t ready to let Caz enjoy the life that was once hers, or to let go of the man she still loves.

As Louise starts to dig into Caz’s past, the two women’s pretence of civility starts to slip. But in trying to undermine each other, they discover more about the man they both married.

And when Andrew is murdered at a family party, both women are found standing over the body.

And when Andrew is murdered during the anniversary celebrations, both women are found standing over the body.
It’s always the wife. But which one?

REVIEW:
What a crazy ride. Ok so Andrew leaves his wife a week after their child is born, marries another woman right after the divorce is final and yet wife #2 thinks she is second in line to wife #1. And then Andrew and wife #2 are invited to wife #1’s parents anniversary party. And guess what… he ends up dead. And both women are standing over the body. Confused yet?

We read a number of different accounts as to what happened and my loyalties kept changing.

I really enjoyed this story and all the mayhem that went with it.

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

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews Holy Blood by Kim Fleet

TITLE: Holy Blood
SERIES #: Eden Grey #2
CHARACTERS: Eden Grey & Aidan Fox
AUTHOR: Kim Fleet
PUBLICATION DATE: 01/20/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Eden returns in a thrilling time slip mystery! Perfect for fans of Kate Morton, Dan Brown, Kate Mosse and Tom Harper.

Digging up the past has deadly consequences…

16th Century England
Dark secrets surround Hailes Abbey – a medieval monastery with a shrine supposedly containing the blood of Christ.
When one of the priests is suspected of hatching a deadly plot against Queen Elizabeth I, a contract killer is sent to the Abbey.
But more than one person has a motive for murder…

Cheltenham, 2015
500 years later, Private Investigator Eden Grey stumbles upon a medieval skeleton when exploring Hailes Abbey with her boyfriend, archaeologist Aidan Fox.
Next to the corpse is an ancient relic – a relic that could contain legendary ‘Holy Blood’ – an artefact that some people believe to have miraculous powers.
But when the relic goes missing and another violent death occurs, Eden must connect the secrets of the past to the crimes of the present…

HOLY BLOOD is the second book in the Eden Grey Mystery Series, dual timeline conspiracy thrillers with a strong female lead.

THE EDEN GREY MYSTERY SERIES:
Book One: Paternoster
Book Two: Holy Blood

REVIEW:
3.75 Hearts This book was originally published in 2017 and re-released in January of 2020. And this is the 2nd in the series that I did not read the first one of but it can be a stand alone because it is mostly the mystery that the book is about.

I really enjoyed the history of the story. It felt like reading a Brad Meltzer or Dan Brown story when you are discussing the history discussed.

The other areas of the story are ok but worth the read to be entwined in the history.

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

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews Signalz by F. Paul Wilson

TITLE: Signalz
SERIES #: Prelude to Nightworld
CHARACTERS: Elli & Hari
AUTHOR: F. Paul Wilson
PUBLICATION DATE: 07/07/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Twilight has come. Night will follow.
It will begin in the heavens and end in the Earth
But before that…the rules will be broken
The Change is coming and the world as we know it is ending. Sixteen-year-old Ellie has changed. She looks the same but her mother detects someone else looking out through her blue eyes. Ellie builds a “shelter” in her room with an entrance that leads…elsewhere.
And what of the convoy of tractor trailers Hari Tate watches drive up a mountain road and return without the trailers…leaving nothing on the mountain. What are they shipping?
And the writer who finds a hole in the floor of his NYC apartment and tumbles through into… elsewhere.
They will all find each other and find their answers in the electromagnetic pulses piercing the Earth from Out There, pulses that no one should hear, but some do. But they are not simply pulses. They are SIGNALZ.

REVIEW:
As a fan of Repairman Jack I was not missing this book. It is a novella from before Nightworld. The story is typical of Wilson with an eeriness not many could match.

Since it is a novella not much could be said without giving much away. But know that this is typical Wilson and a part of the Repairman Jack series you should not miss.

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

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews Desolation Road by Christine Feehan

TITLE: Desolation Road
SERIES #: Torpedo Ink #4
CHARACTERS: Absinthe & Scarlet
AUTHOR: Christine Feehan
PUBLICATION DATE: 07/07/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Take the ride of your life with the Torpedo Ink motorcycle club in this thrilling romance novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Christine Feehan.

Torpedo Ink is Aleksei “Absinthe” Solokov’s whole life. They’re his brothers, his family—his everything. But that doesn’t stop him from wanting something that only belongs to him. That’s why the tough biker has spent the last six weeks at the library, reading every book he can get his hands on and watching the prim and proper librarian who makes his blood rush.

For the past six weeks, Scarlet Foley has been fantasizing about the handsome, tattooed man whose eyes follow her every move. She senses he’s dangerous. She wants him to get close enough to touch. She wishes she could let him know the real woman, not the one she pretends to be. But Scarlet has a plan to carry out, and she can’t afford any distractions.

Absinthe is well aware that Scarlet is hiding something. She’s a puzzle he intends to solve, piece by intoxicating piece….

REVIEW:
Christine Feehan is honestly one of the best. And I truly enjoyed this story. This one was about Absinthe and Scarlet. Absinthe has Scarlet on his mind and he can’t seem to get her off. When Scarlet becomes “his” the whole team takes her as their own.

Scarlet has issues that Absinthe and the team are slowly finding out about and they will do anything to protect her.

Another great story by Feehan. This is the fourth in the series and I love this series and everything Feehan writes and this one doesn’t disappoint.

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

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Kimberly reviews Catch Me If You Can by Donna Kauffman

TITLE: Catch Me If You Can
SERIES #: Men Of Rogue’s Hollow #3
CHARACTERS: Tag & Maura
AUTHOR: Donna Kauffman
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/31/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Oh, those Morgan Brothers. In Bad Boys Next Exit and Jingle Bell Rock, USA Today bestselling author Donna Kauffman’s bad boys, Austin and Jace Morgan, couldn’t seem to stop themselves from getting into the most delicious kinds of trouble. Now, it’s brother Tag Morgan’s turn. The brainy anthropologist is in for the biggest discovery of his life – and his greatest treasure – in a woman who blows the dust off his libido…and unearths his secret desires…

IF IT’S TUESDAY, THIS MUST BE SCOTLAND

All Tag Morgan wants to do is help settle his father’s estate so he can get back to properly cataloguing his Mayan ruins. So he’s caught quite off guard to discover that A) his father had holdings in Scotland, and B) the property now belongs to Tag. Leafing through his father’s correspondence with the property’s overseer, one Maura Sinclair, yields even more surprises. His father’s letters reveal a warmer, kinder man – nothing like the harsh, cold disciplinarian Tag remembers. Surely it has to do with Maura, whose writing is filled with a dry wit, and infectious charm that keeps Tag reading all night. By the time the sun rises, Tag knows he’s going to Scotland to find this woman who has so thoroughly captivated him.

Traveling alone through the Scottish highlands with an old car and an even older map, the man who dissects other cultures for a living is completely out of his element in this one. Eccentric locals. Bone-chilling weather. Lethal-strength ale. Scary sheep. It’s a lot to take in. More unsettling is Maura Sinclair, the woman with the sparkling blue eyes and the even sparkier temperament…a woman who’ll fight to keep the land for her tenants…and who ignites passions Tag didn’t even know he had. Once he gets a taste, Tag only wants more. And if he does, he’ll have to let go of the past and embrace the future with everything he’s got…especially his heart.

REVIEW:
This is a reprint from 2005 that I had never read. And I will be honest and say having read most of Donna Kauffman’s books and especially the newer ones and I can see how she has grown as an author. But that being said it was still a great book.

I loved some of the scenes that are in the book, especially the first meeting of Tag and Maura. The story is sweet and humorous. It is a light read but enjoyable.

I love that this story was set in Scotland in a castle the boys father bought years ago and now Tag is responsible for. And he meets Maura who has been caring for the castle for years. And the romance begins.

Such a great story to sit back and enjoy. It isn’t a mindless read but it is a simple read.

I will have to go back and see if I missed this whole series and pick them up.

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

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews Deep Freeze by Vicki Hinze

TITLE: Deep Freeze
SERIES #: Stormwatch #2
CHARACTERS: Emma & Gregory
AUTHOR: Vicki Hinze
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/12/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
The storm sweeps in like a thief in the night…

Winter storm Holly is the worst in eighty years bringing high winds, subzero temperatures and snowfall better measured in feet than in inches. The weather paralyzes everything in its path, but, in this storm, weather isn’t the only threat.

Emma Miller, a probationary security consultant posing as a reporter, is stranded at Portal International Airport in the worst storm in eighty years. She’s reassigned to protect a top-secret High Containment Lab in the international airport that houses the deadliest bio-contaminate diseases on the planet. A lab under attack by international terrorists who want those pathogens to sell on the black-market.

Dr. Gregory Mason Martin is a bio-containment specialist who runs the top-secret lab, and he knows Emma well. They grew up together, went to school together, and she’s always fascinated him, but she has a long-standing habit of going through men like water, so he’s kept his distance. He doesn’t dare to trust her or her abilities.

Now, all these years later, they must work together to protect the lab and stop the terrorists from obtaining the pathogens. And they must protect the pathogens from Holly, the deadly storm barreling mercilessly toward them. If those pathogens are stolen, the world will be held hostage, and worse, if mishandled, the country could be facing the worst pandemic in history. A pandemic that in short order could wipe out not just cities and states, but the entire nation.

Both are willing to risk their lives. Both are reluctant to risk their hearts. Yet events prove neither of them is who they were thought to be. And a fierce battle against terrorists and the storm proves challenging but no match for the challenges chambered in their human hearts.

REVIEW:
I became a fan of Hinze with the Seascape Trilogy (OH HOW I LOVE THAT SERIES!!!) but this is far from that series.

In this story there is a secret lab under an airport which is bogged in by a snowstorm. Having thousands of people stranded is bad enough but let’s add terrorists and a lab filled with bio-chemicals putting them all in danger.

The writing is great which is not unexpected with Vicki Hinze but, of course, the storyline is completely unrealistic. I mean a major lab under a major airport??? Nope! But then we don’t always read a book for reality do we?

If you are looking for a take you out of your own head suspense this is the one for you.

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

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews Dark Hollow by Steve Frech

TITLE: Dark Hollow
CHARACTERS: Jacob Reese
AUTHOR: Steve Frech
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/06/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Your past is catching up with you.
Jacob Reese enjoys the quiet life, running a coffee shop and renting out his cottage in The Hollows, Vermont.
But the calm is shattered when a woman who looks eerily similar to his ex-girlfriend Laura turns up to stay in the cottage, and leaves a mysterious note in the guest book.
Now Jacob’s seeing Laura everywhere—a glimpse of her face across the street, her music box left outside his house, a gift he gave her years before hanging from the trees.
But it can’t be Laura. Because Laura’s dead.
A gripping, twisted and haunting thriller. Fans of Gillian Flynn, Gregg Olsen and Mark Edwards will love Steve Frech.

REVIEW:
3.5 Hearts So I am a bit on the fence about this. This book was not what I thought it would be and so maybe my preconceived notions caused me to think differently about the way I am reviewing it.

The story was good. The suspense was interesting but I really wanted it to be something more. Where was the eeriness that the cover made it seem like it would have. I hoped for a ghost story or some kind of mystery since Laura is dead and yet it seems she has just come to the cottage.

I will give the author another try and I do not say this often but may even go back and re-read this later to see if I have a different feel now that I know what the story is really about.

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

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Kimberly reviews Reckless With You by Carrie Ann Ryan

TITLE: Reckless With You
SERIES #: Less Than #2
CHARACTERS: Amelia & Tucker
AUTHOR: Carrie Ann Ryan
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/03/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
From the NYT Bestselling Author of Breathless With Her comes a fake relationship romance that’s all too real.

Professing her love to her best friend while wearing only her favorite panty set and coat probably wasn’t the best decision Amelia Carr has ever made. In fact, it’s perhaps the worst. But when her family becomes their overprotective selves while encroaching on her life, she makes a rash decision: her brother’s best friend will just have to be her beard. Too bad, he has no idea what he’s in for.

Tucker Reinhard loves women, and they tend to love him even more. Despite the love, he never would have expected Amelia to come up with the plan she poses to him. He’ll go along with it, but only because he doesn’t want to see her hurt—even if that means fighting his best friend.

In the midst of her scheme, Amelia realizes she doesn’t know Tucker as well as she thought. And neither of them are prepared for what happens when they let the façade go and see what truly lies beneath.

REVIEW:
I have been a fan of Carrie Ann Ryan’s for a while. Seems I have been reading her for years now.

I really liked Amelia and Tucker. They have known each other for a while but are able to see each other in a different light.

I thought this was a great story that pulled me in from the first page. Another great story from Carrie Ann Ryan!

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

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews The Silent Victim by Dana Perry

TITLE: The Silent Victim
SERIES #: Jessie Tucker #1
CHARACTERS: Jessie Tucker
AUTHOR: Dana Perry
PUBLICATION DATE: 11/20/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
The woman’s golden hair is spread out beneath her on the bed of leaves where she’s fallen, her beautiful blue eyes open wide. The police are calling it a random attack, but Jessie Tucker isn’t so sure – she’s seen this crime scene before… she was the victim.

Twelve years ago, Jessie Tucker was attacked as she made her way home from an outdoor concert. She still walks with a limp from that night, and every day since has been a struggle to rebuild her life. The police told her she was unlucky – that she was safe after they charged a local man for the crime. But Jessie has never managed to shake the feeling that there was someone else in the park that night… someone she knew.

But then Margaret Kincaid’s murder file lands across her desk, and Jessie knows she can’t keep silent any longer. Margaret’s wounds so exactly match her own it’s spooky – but Jessie’s attacker is in prison, and Jessie has never met the victim. What links her to Margaret Kincaid, and why did the attacker let one woman live, and the other die?

Nail-biting, gripping and absolutely unputdownable! Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Kendra Elliot and Gregg Olsen.

REVIEW:
3.5 Hearts This is a new series about Jessie Tucker who is a crime reporter after being attacked years ago she wants to get justice for those that attack others. She clamps on to the murder file of Margaret Kincaid which has similar details to her own attack so she goes out on her own to find out what happened to Margaret.

I liked Jessie even though there are a few times I wanted to roll my eyes at her. And just like shows on tv somehow the copus can not solve it but a reporter can just doesn’t always work for me.

There are a few sex scenes that ar3e explicit and make me think they were thrown in for erotica value when it really wasn’t needed.

As with any first in a series there is a lot just to get to know the characters. I will give the next in the series to try to see if there is more depth to the story.

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

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Kelly reviews The Best Man Plan by Jaci Burton

TITLE: The Best Man Plan
SERIES #: Boots and Bouquets #1
CHARACTERS: Jason Callum & Erin Bellini
AUTHOR: Jaci Burton
PUBLICATION DATE: July 7, 2020
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
New York Times bestselling author Jaci Burton kicks off a dreamy new series with a sweep-you-off-your-feet friends-to-lovers romance.
Three days before Erin Bellini’s wedding, her fiancé breaks up with her–in an email! Hurt and embarrassed, she decides to have a fling with veterinarian Jason Callum, who’s both the best man and the hottest guy she knows. But Jason wants a lot more than just a one-night stand with the woman he’s cared about for years. So he’s taking things slow. And hot. And showing Erin what real love can look like.
Suddenly Erin finds herself spending a lot more time with Jason than she intended. Feelings she never planned on having again are wrapping around her heart, refusing to let go. Erin isn’t sure she can trust her instincts, though. After all, she made a terrible choice with her ex-fiancé. But Jason intends to convince her that he’s the best man for her, and that what they have together is a real love that will last forever.

REVIEW:
Erin Bellini finds herself dumped just days before her wedding. After a few seconds of freaking out Erin does what she does best. She puts on a brave face and pulls herself together and moves on. But moving on is not going to be as easy as she thinks.
Jason Callum can’t believe what his best friend just did, by email no less. But Jason is determined to be there for Erin no matter what it might cost him.
Jason and Erin have been best friends since they were kids and have always had each other’s backs no matter what. This time will be no different. The only issue is that Jason is not holding back on his feelings any more.

The Best Man Plan is the first full novel in Jaci Burton’s new Boots and Bouquets series. This was a great story and a wonderful start to a new series by Mrs. Burton.

I am already looking forward to more books in this series.

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

4 Hearts

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Kelly reviews A Touch Of Stone And Snow by Milla Vane

TITLE: A Touch of Stone and Snow
SERIES #: A Gathering of Dragons #2
CHARACTERS: Aerax & Lizzan
AUTHOR: Milla Vane
PUBLICATION DATE: July 7, 2020
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Milla Vane returns to a world of kings, magic, and passion in her exhilarating A Gathering of Dragons series, as a great alliance forms to stand against an evil warlord intent on their destruction.
Danger lurks in the western realms. The Destroyer’s imminent return has sent the realms into turmoil as desperate citizens seek refuge—but there’s no safety to be found when demons and wraiths crawl out from the shadows. Even Koth, a northern island kingdom left untouched by the Destroyer a generation past, is besieged by terrors spawned from corrupt magics.
When Lizzan leads the Kothan army against these terrors, only to see her soldiers massacred and to emerge as the only survivor, she is called a coward and a deserter. Shunned from her home, Lizzan now wanders in solitude as a mercenary for hire, until she encounters a group of warriors seeking new alliances with the northern kingdoms—a group that includes Aerax, the bastard prince of Koth, and the man who sent her into exile.
Though they were childhood friends, Aerax cannot allow himself to be close to the only woman who might thwart his treacherous plan to save their island realm. But when a goddess’s demand binds them together, Lizzan and Aerax must find a way to overcome their painful pasts. Or there will be no future for the western realms…

REVIEW:
Another exciting installment in Milla Vane’s A Gathering of Dragon’s series. In A Touch of Stone and Snow we are introduced to a new set of characters. There are a couple of familiar names from A Heart of Blood and Ashes that we do get to see. But in this story we follow Aerax & Lizzan both who are from Koth but have been separated for a number of years.
Aerax & Lizzan both have a very tangled history that will come full circle in this story. We also will learn a lot more about the world past, present and future.
I would highly recommend reading this series in order that you can better follow the story arc of what is happening in this world.
I am extremely excited for the third installment in this series!!!

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

4 Hearts