Chasing Secrets by Lynette Eason
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I saw that Lynette Eason had another book coming out I knew I had to read it. This book did not disappoint me. It kept me in suspense from the beginning to the end. I can't decide if this book or the one previous is the best one in the series. They're both good. I loved the character of Haley and Steven. Haley is one of the Elite Guardians and in this book she discovers something about her past as a child in Ireland. I kept turning the pages to see who was stalking her and wanted her dead. This book kept me guessing and boy was I surprised who it was. I can't say too much as I would spoil the story.
There is also a side story of a young boy, his mother and the boy's very ill brother that I enjoyed.

Chasing Secrets will be published August 2017. Thanks to Netgalley and Revell Books for providing me an ARC to read and review.


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Heart on the Line by Karen Witemeyer

People these days meet this spouse all the time online. Of course back in the 1800s there was no internet but they did have the telegraph and after hours people were allowed to "talk" with other people on other lines. Harper's Station is the perfect place for Grace Mallory to hide out. She fears for her life. She takes on a job as a telegraph operation and strikes up a conversation with someone on the other end she has never met. She doesn't know what he looks like but when she is in trouble he shows up in her town ready to protect her.

I like it that the author did not create a hero that is typical of most romance novels. Amos Bledsoe is not particularly good looking. He is not muscular and he wears spectacles. These days we would call him geeky looking but Grace was a woman of character and looked beyond someone's looks. I also liked it that she was a gutsy character and thought on her feet. 
As in all of Karen Witemeyer's novels there is a tiny bit of humor. I loved it that Amos was going to teach the ladies how to ride a velocipede which was some sort of bicycle.

There was a bit of suspense in the book which kept me turning pages. I kept hoping the villain would get his comeuppance and I was not disappointed.

Heart on the Line is book 2 in the Harper's Station series and will be published June 6, 2017. Thanks to Netgalley and Bethany House Publishers for providing me a digital copy of this book to read and review.

Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter

Sweetbriar Cottage is a stand-alone book by Denise Hunter. It's the story of Noah and Josephine Mitchell, a couple who thought they were divorced but it turned out the papers had never been signed by a judge. Josephine goes to Noah's home to hand him the divorce signed divorce papers so they can be filed but while at his mountain home gets caught in a storm and is forced to stay there.  At first I didn't like either of the characters. I thought Josephine was a little too flirty with her barber clients calling everyone sugar and honey. I thought Noah was way to bitter and harsh with Josephine. It was not until later in the story that the characters begin to understand what went wrong in the marriage. We see that Josephine went through some horrendous things in her childhood that influenced what she did as an adult before marriage and what contributed to the downfall of her marriage.  I highly recommend this book even though the topics are a little more heavy than most of her books and the storyline a bit more darker. It is a novel of forgiveness and redemption

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Thomas Nelson for providing me an e-copy of this book to read and review. Sweetbriar Cottage is due to be released on June 13, 2017.

A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Susan Meissner has perfected the art of writing dual timeline stories. A Bridge Across the Ocean involves post war 1946 and the present day and involves three women. The two women in the 1946 timeline are Annaliese and Simone and Brette is in the modern timeline. Brette's viewpoint involves ghosts called drifters but don't let the paranormal aspect of this story scare you off. It's only one minor aspect of the story and not the whole. I loved the strength of the women involved particular the women in the post war story. They suffered hardships no woman should have to go through but came out strong.

Even though the story involved three women and would jump around from one woman to another I did not find it difficult to keep up at all. I got so absorbed that I could not put this book down. I must offer a warning. There is a brutal rape scene that may be difficult for some to read. Also one character's harsh treatment by her cruel husband may be difficult for some people.

This book had lots of surprises in it. Just when you thought the story was headed one direction you are quickly surprised. I was pleased with how it ended.


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A Matter of Trust by Susan May Warren

A Matter of Trust by Susan May Warren started out slowly but quickly gained momentum like a snowball on that mountain. It got to the point that I was quickly turning pages to see what would happen next. There were many intense moments when lives were in danger. This book focuses on Gage Watson and a new girl the reader has not been introduced to yet. Ella and Gage know each other. They have history and Gage still harbors hard feelings for what he thought was a betrayal from her. Gage has to get over the past temporarily in order to help her in a desperate situation. What follows is a roller coaster of events. I could not stop reading and stayed up late to finish this book.

This is the fourth book in the series, not counting the prequel. I don't know if he is my favorite hero or not. They are all good but I think he is the best looking of the bunch and I'm the type of gal who usually doesn't like long hair on a man but he does it well.

I loved the love story that slowly unfolded. It was not too rushed so therefore believable. We were also introduced to Ella's friend Brett. Now there is something mysterious about her. She is probably hiding a secret of some sort but it was not revealed to us in this book. Maybe we will find out in a future book? Maybe the next book? I certainly hope so. I am really enjoying this series. I loved the Christensen series but I do believe I like this series better. I can't wait until the next book, Troubled Waters which is due to be released either in 2017 or early 2018.

I was provided a copy of this book to read and review by the author, Susan May Warren and the published Revell, a division of Baker Books. This book is due to be released on July 4, 2017.

Dark Deception by Nancy Mehl

Dark Deception is Book 2 in the Defenders of Justice series.  Kate O'Brien had experienced something horrific in her life four years earlier and she was the only survivor. She has to live in a small town under an assumed name in order to protect her while the criminal is brought to justice. She has already sat through two trials.  Something happens and her quiet life in the small town is about to end. Tony DeLuca will have to do everything in his power to protect her against the evil.

I liked the characters. I thought Kate was strong even though she had been through a lot.  This story had lots of twists and turns in the story that kept me turning pages.  I had to pay close attention because there were numerous characters that I had to keep straight in order to follow the story.  I have to admit I had a tiny inkling of who the major villains but that was only because mystery/suspense is my favorite genre to read and I have gotten pretty good at detecting who the villains are.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bethany Publishers for providing me a digital copy of this book to read and review.  Dark Deception will be released on July 6, 2017.

The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck

Rachel Hauck does it again. She writes another outstanding book. The Writing Desk is a dual-timeline story. One story takes place in the gilded age.  Birdie, a young woman of marriageable age desires to become a writer but it was very difficult from women during that time to be taken seriously. Her overbearing mother wanted her to enter into a loveless marriage that would benefit both families. She was very hateful to Birdie and nothing Birdie could say could convince her mother. Her mother was more concerned about her own selfish wishes than the happiness of her only living child. Birdie tried to stand up to her mother and I wanted to keep reading to find out if Birdie was able to overcome what her mother wished. There were twist and turns in this story that kept me engaged. 

The modern timeline involved  Tenley Roth who has written one best seller and is struggling to write another novel. She lives in New York with her boyfriend.  At the request of her estranged mother she goes to Florida to take care of her mother while the mother undergoes treatment.  At first I did not like Tenley. I thought she was self-centered and a little too quirky but as the story progressed I began to like her a lot better.

Thanks to Netgalley and Zondervan for providing me a digital copy of this book to read and review. The Writing Desk is due to be published on July 10, 2017.

Pursued by Lisa Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have loved suspense mystery books ever since I was a child and remains to this day my genre. I had read all of my current favorite authors and needed something to read so I picked up the first book in the Nicki Boyd series at the library and was hooked. I decided to read the rest of the series. While waiting for the chance to read book 3 I read all the books in her Southern Crime series. Lisa Harris has become one of my favorites as an author that manages to keep me engaged in her books. Her books keep me up too late at night trying to finish them.

Starting with book 1 we learn that Nikki's first career was teaching school. She became interested in the Missing Persons unit of law enforcement when her teen sister comes up missing. She has been able to solve many missing persons mysteries but has yet to solve the case of her missing sister. In each book in the series she gets closer to learning the truth. In this book she is on a flight from California back to Nashville and is engages a conversation with a woman. The plane comes close to crashing and they make an emergency landing but then it is like the woman never existed. Where did the woman go? I had to keep turning this action packed novel to find out the mystery. This books has so much action in it. Lisa Harris' style of writing suspense is very much similar to Lynette Eason another suspense author I love.

Lisa Harris will be releasing the fourth in the Nickki Boyd series. I can't wait to find out what happens. Will she ever find out what happened to her sister.

Thanks to LilbraryThing Early Reviewers and Revell Books for providing me a copy of this book to read and review.


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Weaver's Needle by Robin Caroll

Landry Parker and Nickolai Baptiste are in competition against each other to find a lost map. They were hired by a client whose husband was murdered for this map. The first one who finds this map will get a hefty finder's fee. By the middle of the book they learn they must work together to find the map. Their lives are in constant danger. Someone does not want them to find the map.  Both the main characters were likeable and each had a good motive to find the map.  I did not like this book as well as I have Robin Caroll's previous books. At times I got confused with all the legend thrown on.  The book did get suspenseful toward the end.

Thanks to Barbour Press and Netgalley for providing me an e-copy of this book to read and review. Weaver's Needle will be published on June 1, 2017.