Hannah G

Olivia needs a little peace in her life, so she decides to escape the scandal her father sparked in the newspapers before his death by going to spend some time sorting through things in his secret beach house. Except…someone most definitely wants her to keep her nose out of the beach house! And the good-looking firefighter who shows up claiming to have rented the house is either a slick deceiver or her only hope to solve the crimes and stay alive.

Kinda has elements of a locked-room mystery as a tropical storm has the island bridge closed and no one can come or go from the mainland for a few days. They’re trapped in a small town as the bodies pile up…

I ended up reading each story pretty independently of the other ones, since I've had nearly zero time for reading this summer. All three were really enjoyable and kept me guessing as to who was after the MCs and wanting to get them killed. There were some of the better short stories I've read in awhile, as each one stands on its own and doesn't require other books from each series to complete the picture--although knowing the characters and history is helpful, of course.

I think the last one was my favorite.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

Absolutely lovely story about a single mom looking for her adult purpose by exploring filmmaking, and a missions pastor seeking to make sense of watching the church and job he loves crumble around him.

Both characters engaged me easily and deeply, but while I identified more with Val personally, I identified fully with Miles’s job woes, because I work in a church that’s had more than its fair share of change in the past two years. The words from the wise counselors in the story, especially Rev, Trisha, and Nurse Charlotte, are reminders we should all have about the importance of even the “smallest” bits of ministry.

Recommended for everyone, and maybe especially for stuffy church employees who read little more than weighty theology tomes. :)

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

Karen Barnett has the rare talent of being able to portray many things in a short space, which really shines in this dual timeline story. It’s a lovely story of the hunt for family roots and of love for each other—sisters in one, grandmother/granddaughter in the other. Have your tissues handy when you read through this one!

A nice twisty thriller with strong lead characters. Most of the content is focused on finding the killer and it gives a nice trail of clues so I felt like I was alongside Charlotte and Austin while they worked to find the killer on a very tight deadline. I'll definitely be reading more from this author.

I loved this story! The book itself is beautiful (usually Bethany House is my favorite designer of gorgeous books, but Revell did an outstanding job with designing this one...it's much prettier in hard copy). I am guilty of buying this book because the cover was so pretty, which does not happen to me often.

Once I got past the front cover, there's a wonderful story inside. Elizabeth returns home after her mother's death to a home life that could easily tip over into her misery, since her family is very much set on her marrying well. Her aunt begins causing trouble between her and her slaves, who have until now been her friends; her father is nearly at the end of his resources after trying to give everything to have her brother walk again. Her brother is sharp and suspicious of her after her four years away.

Another thing I loved was the absence of uncomfortable sensuality. Kudos to the author for portraying a couple whose attraction to each other is based also on their excellent opinion of each other's moral character!! The hero is a “real man” and exactly what this spunky heroine deserves!

Highly recommended.

3.5 stars
The story held my attention easily and was an enjoyable story of two sisters, with some mystery and romance thrown in for good measure. I liked that the romance was so chaste and felt realistic. Though I guessed parts of the mystery early on, I didn't guess it all. And the parts with the puppy were so cute and accurate!

I'll definitely be reading the next book soon. I have to find out what happens to Charlotte now. There are definitely strings left hanging to be answered later in the series.

Such an enjoyable, solid book! I really enjoyed reading about who Crockett had become and getting to know the delightful Joanna Robbins. Plenty of twists and turns in this one! And each resolution was so satisfying.
One little thing got on my nerves a bit; the mention of “stings like a fire ant” is a bit before its time, as my mom still remembers when fire ants invaded the area in the 1950s and 1960s, much later than this story. And the phrase “for crying out loud” felt very modern. But otherwise it was quite perfect!

A very inspiring story about how a few men's refusal to give up hope resulted in the rescue of many. I'd read another book about the rise of Tito and it was chilling to see how he didn't mind slandering his rival and taking credit for the good he'd done in order to take power; it was also sad to see that Yugoslavia would fall to unrest and a totalitarian government simply for lack of good leadership.

I'd have enjoyed it even more without the frequent profanity and with the addition of a bibliography for further reading/more research.

3.5 stars
There were a number of things that didn't add up in the book, and even some editing issues with words randomly missing from sentences...but somehow it was heartwarming anyway. It was a bit of a challenge to pick up near the end of a complicated series, but I managed to figure out what was going on, and will definitely consider reading more of the books.
*peeve warning: really, don't look at the cover. It is not representative of the story or the characters...

First off...an absolutely gorgeous cover. I'd like to have that picture hanging on my wall.
I liked these characters from page one, with the exception of Cam...he rubbed me wrong from the very start. I loved the fix the hero found himself in! Definitely a novel one...but Johnny and Sally make a great couple.
I enjoyed watching Sally heal from her past scars and watching John become a man, willing to stand up for what is right. The resolution was believable and satisfying. I have to say that I appreciate the time when Sally's parents save the day, too! Great scene.

4.5 stars.
I'm loving this series! Kendig is a new favorite author of mine, and I definitely expect to finish this series soon. I've really come to love these characters and am enjoying the thrill of the storylines.

An enjoyable, absorbing, heartfelt story. After having a miss with Katie Ganshert in [b:The Art of Losing Yourself 22822925 The Art of Losing Yourself Katie Ganshert https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1410272498s/22822925.jpg 42375774], I was hesitant to try again; but because of friends' excellent reviews, I decided to give it a try. I'm quite glad I did! The characters were so vivid and so well-drawn. I especially enjoyed seeing the heroine and the victim's daughter bond with each other...though I must say that my favorite scene was the basketball game in the rain!The main thing I didn't like was the repeated simile of a phoenix from the ashes. It's a mythological creature, and the myth of it isn't exactly compatible with the tenets of Christianity. I understand many people use the symbol now, and have since the times of ancient Egypt, but it was heavily revered and idolized in pagan culture, and not something it seems Christians should compare themselves to.Thanks to NetGalley for a free review copy.

4.25
I really liked Danika and cared quickly what was going to happen to her. In typical Mills style, we find out pretty quickly who the villain is but have to work to discover the villain's henchmen, and nobody is safe. The Border Patrol aspect was an interesting twist and lent a bit of novelty to the romantic-action plot.

3.5 stars.
Pure, enjoyable, escapist fiction. A story to get lost in briefly without feeling deep emotional upheaval...mostly well-written, except for some explanation hiccups at the beginning (characters got a little jumbled in my head at one point.) Maggie and Tru are thrown together by chance and their publicity groups; he's got to take this klutzy beauty and turn her into an accomplished horsewoman in a rediculously short amount of time, and it quickly blossoms into a romance.
I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a solid, sweet romance. It's written from a Christian standpoint, but the only real mention is that they go to church and say “Thank God”....no big spiritual lessons here, so definitely no “preachiness”.

I think I might have a book hangover after this...

SO good! I loved this one. I was on the edge of my seat for the last half, which was fine by me; the library bought the copy at my request, but it has holds, and expires tomorrow, so I needed to cram. I may regret it at 6:30 am, but right now I'm just feeling warm fuzzies and hoping to find my own copy soon.

So much for a coherent review. But I loved the foursome: Jack, Ruth, Charlie, and May...and it was great to have the little cameos of Walt and Allie from the first book.

This one's a solid four stars for me. It's suspenseful for sure, with such a creepy perp that I had to keep laying the book aside just to be able to digest his villainy. And at the end I was so engaged in the story that I couldn't lay it aside, so I'll be going for some light reading next! I still like the third book best, but every book in this series has been great.

4.5 stars

An engaging and interesting dual timeline story that grabbed my attention and kept me flipping pages. While it's a gentle story, the mystery in both timelines is well built and suspenseful despite being relatively dangerless.

The Lake District setting has always been one of my favorite English settings and I loved how the location itself was almost a character of its own. The two sets of characters are equally engaging, although I was left wanting a lot more. I'd have liked this story if it was 500-600 pages and the characters all had more page time! A number of the elements seemed brushed over just because of space and I'd have liked those areas to be expanded and deepened.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

This was such a romp! I loved every minute of it. If you need a good laugh, this is definitely the one to pick up. And yet, under the humor of it, there is the stark reality of the spies Marlow is risking his life to catch. There is drama and excitement.

What I loved best is how hard Miranda tries to be a lady. Yet she's always managing to mess up, to fall going down the stairs, to knock her food off her plate, to run into people in the hallway, even to smash her own nose into someone else's raised fist! Sounds like me.

I loved the men of the book, too—Miranda's protective brothers and the manly “Marlow”—thoroughly enjoyed these chaps.

What a ride! I couldn't put this one down. But stop: before you pick this one up, be sure you read the first book (Cold Shot) and get familiar with these characters. Many romantic suspense stories are written only in the POV of the two main characters, but this one has snippets from each of the crime-solving friends, which might be confusing for those who aren't already familiar with this fun group of characters.

Also...yes, the crime is creepy. I've watched plenty of episodes of Criminal Minds, First 48, Dateline, and CSI, so the crime really didn't bother me. However, if you're more of a White Collar, NCIS, Blue Bloods, or Psych fan, this guy might be more of a perp than you prefer to read about. If so, skip the confession in chapter 46. But if you read plenty of Irene Hannon, you're probably fine with it. (Her “Trapped” even got to me.)

I really enjoyed seeing Parker and Avery grow closer. They showed off plenty of sparks in Cold Shot, and it's nice to see them come to fruition here. Now, it's Declan and Tanner shooting sparks and making me eager for their story in book three! We also have a few more hints about what might possibly have happened to their missing friend, Luke.

Christianity: very strong, which of course I loved. Avery has a Past, but she has been born again and is learning to get beyond what happened back then. I really liked Parker encouraging her in her faith and her “new creation” status.

A pleasant story set in old Texas. I only give it three stars because in many places the writing was choppy (for example, at one scene the girl is pulling a shotgun on someone, and the next scene we see her in her home parlor with a gentleman visitor), and I felt like there was a great deal of telling. But I really did enjoy the Christian message.

The last book in the Spencer family's series concerns the youngest brother, Luke, who was abducted from the crash site where his parents died and grew up as Ian Stone. He doesn't have a very high opinion of himself, as he has very severe dyslexia and never did well in school. But the characterization is subtle, and it's easy to see what a true hero he is at heart. I also really liked Sylvie and her determination to look out for her town and her son, even when that put her in peril.

I really enjoyed discovering this new-to-me author. It's a mystery with strong tones of legal and thriller elements. Jessica is a new lawyer with the Miami prosecutor's office; Zach is a rookie FBI agent who sometimes makes rookie mistakes. Both being new at their jobs made it possible to have unusual twists, like when they make an error and see in retrospect what went wrong.

Both characters are already strong Christians, so instead of a salvation message there are little comments about daily living that illustrate how they take their faith seriously.

4.5 stars
I truly enjoyed this story of a single mom and her relationship with her daughter, and of a local firefighter and his friends and family.

*18+ simply because of discussion about teen pregnancy