Happy Thanksgiving from B-n-K!
Winter Romance Wednesday! Kimberly reviews Christmas Past by Mary Burton
TITLE: Christmas Past
CHARACTERS: Nicole & David
AUTHOR: Mary Burton
PUBLICATION DATE: 10/29/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N
BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Christmas Past is a seasonal, serial-killer-thriller from New York Times bestselling author, Mary Burton.
Photographer Nicole Piper just received a very unwelcome Christmas gift – a letter that holds clues to an elusive killer’s identity. Uncovering the truth means enlisting homicide detective David Ayden’s help, and embarking on a road trip that will take them both into the heart of danger and desire . . .
Christmas Past is a pacy, action-packed novella that’s guaranteed to send chills down your spine – the perfect Christmas scare-fest that will appeal to fans of Tess Gerritsen, Kathy Reichs and Karin Slaughter.
REVIEW:
This was originally part of the anthology Silver Bells.
This is a quick novella that really has nothing to do with Christmas but that being said it was a fast read that leaves you in suspense.
As with most novella’s you can’t say too much about the plot or you give things away and with this story going so quick (about 100 pages). But I will say it is a wonderful romantic suspense that is perfect between full novels.
As always Burton is on par with the best.
Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Kimberly reviews Spy by Danielle Steel
TITLE: Spy
CHARACTERS: Alexandra Wickham
AUTHOR: Danielle Steel
PUBLICATION DATE: 11/26/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N
BOOK SYNOPSIS:
A young woman is caught up in a dangerous double life on behalf of her country during World War II in Danielle Steel’s thrilling new novel.
At eighteen, Alexandra Wickham is presented to King George V and Queen Mary in an exquisite white lace and satin dress her mother has ordered from Paris. With her delicate blond looks, she is a stunning beauty who seems destined for a privileged life. But fate, a world war, and her own quietly rebellious personality lead her down a different path.
By 1939, Europe is on fire and England is at war. From her home in idyllic Hampshire, Alex makes her way to London as a volunteer in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry. But she has skills that draw the attention of another branch of the service. Fluent in French and German, she would make the perfect secret agent.
Within a year, Alex is shocking her family in trousers and bright red lipstick. They must never know about the work she does–no one can know, not even the pilot she falls in love with. While her country and those dearest to her pay the terrible price of war, Alex learns the art of espionage, leading to life-and-death missions behind enemy lines and a long career as a spy in exotic places and historic times.
Spy follows Alex’s extraordinary adventures in World War II and afterward in India, Pakistan, Morocco, Hong Kong, Moscow, and Washington, D.C., when her husband, Richard, enters the foreign service and both become witnesses to a rapidly changing world from post-war to Cold War. She lives life on the edge, with a secret she must always keep hidden.
REVIEW:
4.25 Hearts This is Danielle Steel so really what do you expect other than greatness? Danielle Steel has been around for what seems like forever and I have read most of her books. Ms Steel has a way of not just pulling you into a story but walking you softly with sweet words until you are so entranced that you can’t remember anything but what is going on in her story. Well it is the same with this one.
In this one Alexandra is an aristocrat who comes from a good family and expects nothing more than to be a wife and mother. But then WWII begins and everything changes. She soon by chance becomes a spy for the country and her adventures really begin.
There are only a couple of authors that as I read make me wish I could jump through the pages and visit the area. And Danielle Steel is one of them. Her heroine’s are always someone women can relate to. And there is always a touch of romance. But more so is the scenery, the historical information, the ambience that make you want to jump on a plane and visit the sites.
Another incredible read from Danielle Steel.
Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Kimberly reviews Single by K.L. Slater
TITLE: Single
CHARACTERS: Darcy & George
AUTHOR: K.L. Slater
PUBLICATION DATE: 11/25/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N
BOOK SYNOPSIS:
‘I keep feeling like I’m being watched – dropping the boys off at school, choosing wine at the supermarket – but when I turn around there’s nobody there…’
When single mother Darcy’s son falls from a rope bridge at a local playground, life stands still. She clutches his small, limp body, frozen, until a pair of strong hands push her aside, and she watches as George, a local doctor, saves her son’s life.
George is a single parent too, and with his twinkling hazel eyes, easy charm, and lack of wedding band is almost too good to be true, but coffee becomes lunch, lunch becomes dinner, and soon they can’t go an evening without seeing each other. When he invites her to move into his beautiful home with its sprawling garden for her boys, Darcy doesn’t hesitate.
But as Darcy is settling in, she receives a bunch of flowers with a chilling message. George says they’re from an obsessed ex-girlfriend, Opal, and days later Opal turns up at Darcy’s son’s football match. She claims to have shocking information that could threaten George’s custody of his daughter.
Darcy doesn’t know who to trust, but she’s starting to suspect that, whatever the truth, she might have put her beloved boys into terrible danger…
From the million-copy-bestselling author K.L. Slater this utterly gripping psychological thriller will make you gasp out loud as you race towards the unforgettable twist. If you loved The Girl on the Train and The Wife Between Us this book is for you.
REVIEW:
It has been a while since I read K.L. Slater and now I kind of remember why. I had a hard time getting into this book. I never got into the characters and the thriller part just didn’t thrill.
I enjoyed the children the most. And I enjoyed the scenery of the area… And of course the house. Wow!
I didn’t find the ending surprising. There were parts that kept me involved which is why I put the rating as 3. I can imagine there are people who will enjoy it but it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Kissin’ The Week Of Nov 18th – Nov 23rd Goodbye
2020 New Features…. and we need your input!!!
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.
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.
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.
New features coming in 2020… And we need your input!
Kissin’ The Week Of Nov 11th – Nov 16th Goodbye
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.