Shattered by Dani Pettrey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Shattered is book 2 in the Alaskan Courage series. The story starts off that a woman has been slain in her room and the prime suspect is Reed McKenna. Pipper McKenna believes her brother to be innocent and sets out to prove it along with the rest of the McKenna clans and several people who are almost family to the McKennas. Landon works takes a leave from his job as an officer of the law so that he can help Piper.

Authors will tell you that their books can be read as a stand alone but I think it is helpful to read the previous book. Landon loves Piper but it did not start in this book. It started in the previous book.
The romance was done exceptionally well in this book. Landon loved Piper and Piper came to realize she loved Landon but they were afraid for a while to let the other one know.

The search for the real murderer kept me in suspense. The trail took many directions and many places. Kept me turning pages until the end! We were introduced to a new character in this book who was Darcy. I think Darcy is going to be the love interest of Gage in the next book. They already care for each other as friends.





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Sins of the Past A Romantic Supense Novella Collection by Dee Henderson, Dani Pettrey and Lynette Eason

Three suspense novellas in one book.

Missing by Dee Henderson is the first novella in this book.  John Graham, a Wyoming sheriff has come back home to Chicago because his mother Martha has come up missing. Her car is in its spot and her purse with all the contents is next to the front door. Martha lives in a retirement home. Is Martha the victim of foul play? Is so what could be the motive? Could it be someone John Graham arrested in the past has a grudge against John and wants revenge. Also I was wondering if maybe Martha had onset of dementia and lost her way. Lt. Sharon Noble helps John in his quest to find out what happened to his mother. The novella kept me engaged since I wanted to find out what happened to his mother. Of course you do eventually find out what happens but I shall not give too much of the story away.  In the end a friendship develops between John and Sharon and is implied that it could develop into something more.

Shadowed by Dani Pettrey is the second novella in this book. This novel is more of a prequel to his Alaska Courage series which consists of five books and deals with one family, the McKennas. This novella is about the parents Libby and Ben, how they met, the mystery they helped solved and their love story. It started out suspenseful with the discovery of a female corpse in the water.  Libby was a competitive swimmer and recognized the victim as a member of the Russian team. As the story progressed it seem to drag some the main reason was too hard to keep up with all the characters. I had never read any of the Alaska Courage books so this novella did spark an interest in me reading the Alaska Courage books.

The last novella was Blackout by Lynette Eason. It was by far the best. I knew it would be. I didn't start this late at night because I knew I could not stop until I finished and I was right. This book had me hooked from the first page. Lynette's books always get me hooked from the beginning.  In this book Macey had gone through a traumatic experience a few years before. She has no memory of what happened but has nightmares of what happened to her. She is afraid to let anyone get close to her. She is afraid that anybody close to her will die. Eventually she has no choice but to trust Chad, her next door neighbor who is also a detective. I liked the way the love story developed in this novella. It did not feel rushed or anything since Chad has always hoped Macey would open up and talk more to him about her troubles.

This novella collection is due to be released on April 26, 2016. Thanks to Netgalley and  Bethany House Publishers for allowing me to preview this book.

Submerged by Dani Pettrey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Your past does not define you

First book in the Alaska Courage series. This is a five book series that centers on the McKenna family. The author did an excellent job of introducing the readers to the members of this close knit family. This novel centered on Cole and Baylie. Baylie had left the town many years before to escape her reputation of a girl who slept around. She had broken Cole's heart with her behavior. She only returned because of the death of a relative. While there she gets involved in helping to solve mystery and in the meantime gets closer to Cole.

At times the mystery story lagged. I am more used to faster paced mystery/suspense writes like Lynette Eason, Terri Blackstock and Brandilyn Collins but the book was still good and picked up the pace toward the end.

I enjoyed getting to know the rest of the McKenna family and look forward to reading the rest of the series which will focus on each member of the McKenna family.





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Stay With Me by Carolyn Astfalk

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I loved the characters in this book. Well most of them. I didn't care for her overbearing abusive father who never changed even at the end of the book. The author did a good job of making the reader despise him.

I loved Rebecca and Chris. They were from completely different religious backgrounds but fell in love anyway. Both were devoted Christians but Rebecca has some baggage due to her abusive father. Chris is a new Christian who loves the Lord and wants his family to know the love of Christ too but he doesn't push. Even though Chris and Rebecca love the Lord they are not immune to sin but they are repentent. I loved Father John. He was so wise and gave Chris godly advice.

I enjoyed this book even though I am a Christian Protestant and Chris is a Christian Catholic and would desire for his wife to share the same faith.

One thing that bothered me in this book was Rebecca's sister, Abby. Abby had no filter on her mouth and some of the things that came out of her mouth was just not appropriate. Not swear words or anything but just inappropriate comments. Another thing that may possibly bother some people is the use of alcohol.




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Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Not one of her best but still good

I thought the connection to the movie Gone With The Wind was quite interesting. Violet started out as a sweet southern gal living in California but most of the book she was not very likeable. She was an immature whiney woman jealous of her best friend Audrey. Audrey was more worldly but she matured greatly and was very forgiving.

At times the story dragged but overall a good story.



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What God Brings Together by Melissa Wardwell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Sweet romance where forgiveness is the theme

Loved this romance. Well developed characters nd the plot moved smoothly. After been disfigured beyond recognition in an auto accident he thought his family would be better off without him. He stayed gone for eight years while his wife tried to get on with her life. Good thing he let Christ back in his life. I loved how both Ryan and Emma had faith but got aggravated at Ryan for waiting so long for her to learn the truth. A couple people picked up right away he was Ryan instead of David but not Emma but I think deep down she knew in her heart who he was. There is a sequel after this book. I already have it downloaded and plan on reading it next.




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Finding Hope in Savannah by Melissa Wardwell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Kept me in suspense

Characters were well developed. Lizzie strayed away from God after her parent's death. She rebelled and made some poor decisions like having sex with a man she just met and not even knowing his last name. This little one night stand resulted in a child. She then got involved with man just so her son could have a male influence but said male was evil. She was a little naive in that regard. I loved the suspense in the novel and how she finally found her true love. He had never forgotten since that one night stand and he really did love her. I would have like a little more detail as to what happened to Dom toward the end.I would love to read more by this author.



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Fair Play by Deeanne Gist

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


It was an okay book. I have loved Deeanne Gist's books in the past but not a fan of this one. Billy, the lady doctor was very unlikeable for the majority of the book. She always thought she was right, wanted her own way and very resistant to Hunter's protection. It was not until the last 10 percent of the book that I began to like her some. I liked Hunter from the get go. Who wouldn't like a man like Hunter?

Some reviewers were uncomfortable with Billy as a doctor doing physical exams. There was one scene at the beginning where she was examining a male patient and I won't go into details as I hate to spoil it. If you want details you can read other reviewers take on this. I didn't think the scene was in bad tastes. For goodness sake the woman was a doctor. She had no sexual feelings at the time with her patient. I do think the author devoted a little too much dialogue in that scene but that is just my opinion. Overall I think this is a very clean novel. Even the wedding night scene in the book was squeaky clean.




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A Son's Vow by Shelley Shepard Gray

This book was so good I had a hard time putting it down. Shelley Shepard Gray has always tackled hard subjects in her books and this one was no exception. There was domestic abuse and bullying in this book. I think she handled it quite well. I loved how Lukas cared for Darla and her well being. Darla was the pariah of the little town of Charm. She and the rest of her family was blamed for the action of her father that resulted in five men being burned to death in the lumber.

I highly recommend this book where the theme is forgiveness.

Always Watching by Lynette Eason

Lynette Eason always seems to write heroines who are strong women. They are not afraid to handle a gun and don't act squeamish at the sight of blood or a dead body. They are not going to be the damsel in distress always having to be rescued by some man. This series fits the bill. They are the Elite Guardians, a body guard agency composed mostly of women.  Olivia Edwards has been hired by the father of Wade Savage as a body guard. Wade is a popular radio psychiatrist and is being stalked. He also has a preteen daughter that needs protecting too.

We quickly suspect that the stalker is a woman. She knows why too much. How did she know all this about Wade and his family? I had my suspicions early on but I was wrong! It too me by surprise. I highly recommend this book for anybody who loves seatbelt suspense. There was a little romance in the book but it had a minor role that could have been developed more.

I can't wait for the next in the series which will be released sometime in summer 2016. This book will focus on Katie.

Stars over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner

Not one of her best but still good

I thought the connection to the movie Gone With The Wind was quite interesting. Violet started out as a sweet southern gal living in California but most of the book she was not very likeable. She was an immature whiney woman jealous of her best friend Audrey. Audrey was more worldly but she matured greatly and was very forgiving.

At times the story dragged but overall a good story.