Dani Pettrey knocks it out of the park once again with her third novel in her Chesapeake Valor series.  The main characters in this romantic suspense novel are Declan Grey and Tanner Shaw.  Both are working hard to find the terrorist ring and their target before they can cause destruction in the U.S.  The romance in the book is definitely present, but it is overshadowed by the evil that they are desperately trying to thwart.  There is also a sub-plot, involving a former coach named Haywood who wants Griffin to find out who is skimming money from his clients and making it look like he is the one doing it.  This sub-plot involves the subterfuge of various characters as well as a murder and not a little mayhem.  And in this third book, Luke, an agent who has been missing for seven years, reappears and has his own mysterious part to play in catching the terrorists.  This was a great clean read and very pleasurable entertainment.  I am looking forward to book #4 that will focus on the story of Luke.

 

Tom and Karen Krupps are a happily married couple who live in a nice neighborhood and seem genuinely in love. But Karen has a secret and it leads to problems in their marriage and in her life. Without divulging her secret, I will say that she ends up being suspected of murder and Tom loses his job because of it. They have a nosy neighbor who wants Tom for her very own. So, what is her part in Karen’s arrest? Brigid is demanding and unstable psychologically, so who knows what she may or may not have done? Certainly not the reader until the end of the book. The author keeps the suspense and secrecy going for the entire book and does a really good job of exposing the secrets gradually, keeping the reader intensely interested in finishing the book.

I got this book digitally from the local library and it was well worth waiting for!

My favorite character in all of the books that James Patterson authors is Michael Bennett.  I think I love him because he is so real, with a huge family of lovable kids that he has adopted and a caregiver named Mary Catherine who is calm and focused.  In the latest book, Bennett goes on vacation to a huge house in Maine, and as a police officer who is supposedly off duty, he certainly attracts trouble.  He left to get away from drugs and violence in NYC and encounters the same in rural Linewiler, Maine.  There he finds an old friend, Sandy, who is a police officer there trying to maintain the peace and security there with lots of bad guys who make her life difficult, most notably the drug dealer who just kills the people who get in his way and doesn’t hesitate to threaten the local constabulary since he feels that he is beyond the reach of law enforcement.  Dell Streeter sets his sights on Michael Bennett, much to his chagrin since Bennett has been deputized by Sandy and is not into allowing drug dealers to ruin the small community.  I really loved the character of Sadie in this book.  She is a homeless orphan whose mother succumbed to the drugs from Dell Streeter and her help in bringing him to justice is intense and suspenseful.  Since all of the Michael Bennett books have a happy ending, I wasn’t too concerned during the tense scenes, but the happy ending in this one even has a surprise to it.  This was a seriously good and entertaining read; I would give it four stars just because multiple scenes are predictable.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Revell Publishing who gave me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

In Irene Hannon’s latest romantic suspense, DANGEROUS ILLUSIONS, the reader has to be ready for a lot of surprises in the plot. Trish Bailey is an art teacher who recently lost her father and husband in a car accident. Now she is taking care of her mother who had a stroke and trying to help her mother maintain the family’s charitable foundation. Matthew Parker, the accountant who takes care of the foundation’s business has a romantic interest in Trish and is there to comfort her when her mother suddenly dies. The police are called in to investigate the death since it happened at home and there were suspicious circumstances. Now Trish has to wonder if she had something to do with her mom’s sudden death and she feels like she has no one to turn to. Police detective Colin Flynn, one of the investigators, is also interested in getting to know Trish better but has to maintain a professional distance while he investigates. This is where the plot gets very complicated, with the disappearance of a manicurist, the Russian mafia involved and what seems to be a dual personality in the bookkeeper. The tale is very well-told and keeps the reader interested in reading to find out exactly what is going on and who will survive in the end. An excellent Christian read with the author’s faith clearly shown in the reactions of the characters to life’s tragedies.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

 

Merry Knight is working very hard for a temp agency so she can earn enough money to go back to college when her mom and brother Patrick decide to sign her up for the dating site Mix and Mingle. She is having a little trouble with her curmudgeonly boss who wants to follow all of the rules exactly to the letter. Jayson Bright catches her working and eating lunch at her desk one day and quotes the rule book that says she is not allowed to do that. Merry continues to work cheerfully for him because it is not in her nature to hold a grudge, but she really doesn’t like him much. She does look forward to going home each evening and going online to communicate with her new friend Jay who is kind and thoughtful and seems to be made for her. Of course, everyone can guess where this is going. Jay is none other than Jayson Bright, and he is not so enthused about the girl that he has met online is none other than the office temp. Will it work out in the end? If you have read Macomber’s books before, you can guess the ending, but you have to read it to find out exactly how it works out. This is an excellent, fun and quick read for the holidays and I highly recommend it!

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

This stand-alone novel by Ellison is a must-read for fans of fiction and mystery/suspense alike.  The main characters, Ethan and Sutton Montclair, are both well-known authors.  Ethan has lost his spark and has been unable to write for a while but considers himself a serious author.  Sutton writes general fiction and has continued to write, but she definitely has some mental issues.  When the story begins, Ethan gets up to find a note from Sutton telling him that she is leaving and not to try to find her.  So, although Ethan thinks his marriage is fine, apparently it is not as he is thrown into the police investigation to find Sutton.  Of course, he is a suspect.  Police officer Holly Graham is like a dog with a bone and won’t let this investigation go the way of most, with the husband the sole suspect and convicted in the media already.  She is determined to get to the truth, and the truth, as noted by the title, is hard to come by since there have been a lot of deception in the Montclair household.  They have had hard times, with a bad review for Sutton that seemed to derail her writingand the death of their infant son from SIDS.  Getting to the bottom of what is really happening is the job of Holly, and she is my absolutely favorite character.  Her character is thoughtful and thorough, and she personifies good detective work.  Sutton and Ethan, in spite of the many tragedies that they have faced in their lives, are not very likeable because both are so selfish and narcissistic. This book is a must-read with so many twists and turns that it was totally engaging and unbelievably entertaining.