Darkness Awakened

In Katie Reus's Darkness Awakened, the first installment in the Darkness paranormal romance series, you'll be howling at the moon and join the pack in this sexy novel. Finn Stavros is the Alpha of his pack in Biloxi. When his former flame, Lyra Marius, a vampire, asks him for his help to rescue her teenage daughter Vega, he became curious to know about her hybrid daughter. Lyra had kept the truth from Finn, that he's the father of her daughter, when they were lovers 17 years ago, as she was kicked out from her coven, pregnant with his baby. When he agreed to help look for her, it had brought old hard feelings from what they had each other and look for signs of where she might be taken in New Orleans. As the truth dawned to his on Vega's true paternity, he would search tooth and limb to close out the hellgate from Akkadian demons and to seek revenge on Lyra's brother, Claudius, who needed Vega's blood to open the gates. As when hell did break loose, it was up to both Lyra and Finn to stop the madness and to close the gate. That's when there's a new peace treaty between the wolves and the vampires on the land, when Finn claimed Lyra and Vega as his own and have his packmates at his feet to rule the kingdom with a happy ever after of his own.

This was a most splendid and delightful paranormal romance debut with tons of surprises. I cared for Finn and his wolf pack and Lyra with her former vampire coven. I felt enchanted to know their story of how they met in the past and bonded with each other now. I loved how they came for different species and how they defied the odds to find each other as their mates. I loved the dual locations of Biloxi and New Orleans and how the animal shifters bonded with the vampires and destroyed the bad guys. This sent shivers down my spine as the exoticism had upped the hotness level of their steamy romance. This has non-stop action, drama, suspense, and plenty of romance along the way.

Will you be ready to read Darkness Awakened today?

Murder on Astor Place

In Victoria Thompson's Murder on Astor Place, the first installment in the Gaslight Historical Mystery Series, this tale would captivate you and grip you with riveting storytelling. Set in the late 1890s, Sarah Brandt is a widow and a midwife in New York City, when Theodore Roosevelt was police commissioner. When she arrived for a birthing of a baby, she recognized someone from her past. Before she knew it, it was too late, when she found her... dead by strangulation. That's when NYC Police Detective Frank Malloy was on the scene, a widower with a crippled baby boy to raise for his own, who had butted heads with Sarah. When she identified the victim of Alicia VanDamm, one of the daughters of the most prominent families in NYC, the daughter of Sarah's closest childhood friend. When the Van Damm had encouraged Malloy to be removed from the case, he prompted Sarah to do the snooping and find justice for the family by finding the killer. She would have to stoop so low to look for answers with Malloy's help and asking for people for answers, even to listening to gossip from her mother and snooping around to ask Mina, her friend herself. As soon as they learn about the diary being stolen, another death had befallen on the VanDamm property. Before she knew it, during a raging thunderstorm, she had pieced the truth together with Malloy on their own sordid family secrets of sins, and why she had to be killed with a gripping ending.

This was an amazing read in a gripping setting to take place in the 1890s without DNA and other high tech methods to prosecute criminals. I cared for Sarah's and Frank's plight and what they had to do to make ends meet. I've found something with iffy with Mina's uncharacteristic behavior and how sickened in the end to learn about the truth to learn about their sordid family secrets. I did feel bad for Alicia who had dealt with the secrecy before she died. I loved the NYC setting in the 1890s and how picturesque it was at that time wen things weren't so simple for the rich and the poor. This mystery would leave you hanging at the end of your seat from start to finish with drama, non-stop action, intrigue, and a hint of suspense, too.

Will you be a witness to see the Murder on Astor Place? Give it a read today!

Orchid Beach

In Stuart Woods's Orchid Beach, the first installment in the Holly Barker thriller series, this tale would raise your eyebrows and make your hold your breath. After Holly Barker retires from the military, she receives an offer to help out a family friend, Sheriff Chet Marley from the Orchid Beach PD down in Florida. He has some suspicious information he wanted to tell her. But when she arrives in Orchid Beach, as his deputy sheriff, she later learns that he's been shot and in a coma. As the new sheriff in town, she has suspicions of her own in her new department, when she learns about another murder of Hank Doherty, another family friend. She adopted Doherty's dog Daisy and meets Jackson Oxenhandler, an attorney she met on the first week on the job, and the sparks fly between them. From there, her father retires from the military to join her and wants to help her out pull off a special operation. Under the close scrutiny of the city council to be the new sheriff, she learns about a secret military base on Palmetto Gardens that's closed off to the public and heavily guarded. She becomes under attack and wary of a police mole, until they learn new inside information and bring in the big guns as in the feds to shut that operation down and eliminate the man in charge for going further in a showdown you wouldn't believe in the end.


This was a gripping and fascinating new thriller debut. I cared for Holly and Jackson's blooming romance. I was worried if Holly would make the cut as the new sheriff as she held her own and proved her worthiness. I hated to hear about the mole in her department and the secret military operation near her jurisdiction with Barney Noble as the despicable person who would kill to not have his property blown. I loved the Orchid Beach location in Florida and the Palmetto Gardens for the depicted scenic locations with amazing visuals. This thriller will make you hold your breath, root for Holly and Daisy, curse at the bad guys, and so much more. It has non-stop action, drama, intrigue and a lot of mystery to keep you in suspense with a spark of romance.

Will you take a detour in Orchid Beach?

Open and Shut

In David Rosenfelt's Open and Shut, the first installment in the Andy Carpenter legal mystery series, this debut has plenty of twists and turns along the way in this compelling novel. For Andy Carpenter, it all started when his father asks him to perform a retrial for one of his clients who was going on Death row. When his father died, he discovered a windfall of money and a mystery photograph. When Andy took on the case to defend Willie Miller's innocence, a couple of people would do anything to stop him from going further. From death threats to being a shot out, he would stop anything to clear his name. While he continued to dig deeper on why he became rich and the connection to the photograph, it brought him and his assistant closer, while things didn't work out with his wife Nicole.  One by one, the mystery unraveled with a missing link, and it lead straight to a shocking conclusion between the past and present with a surprise twist in the end that hits close to home.

This was a compelling mystery that's set in the legal scene. I began to like Andy and how he made his father proud to see it through. I did wish things worked out with Nicole, but his father-in-law continued to get in the way. He had gotten his comeuppance in spades, when he wanted him to drop it. I also felt bad for Willie being framed for a crime he didn't dare commit as the real bad guys covered it up and sabotaged Andy's valiant efforts to clear his name. I do see him falling for Laurie and I adored Tara. I loved the New Jersey and New York City locations in the tri-state area. As a former New Jersey girl, it made me feel like home. You'll be rooting for Andy as he later became triumphant and found nailed the bad guys to provide justice where they belong in bars. This has non-stop action, drama, intrigue and a hint of mystery along the way.

Will you check out Open and Shut today?

Going for the Goal

In Sara Rider's Going for the Goal, the first installment in The Perfect Play hockey sports romance series, this novel scores on all levels and across the board on and off the ice. Jillian Nichols first met Nick Salinger, when she was a sports agent intern. Fast forward to a decade later, she now runs her own sports management agency and trying to make a name out for herself in the sports world. When Nick "the Punisher" Salinger needs a new agent, he remembers Jillian and asks her to sign him up. Hesistantly, she agrees to start a professional business relationship with him. While she helped him to control his temper, stay out of trouble, and maintain his sports image, the heat between them is sparking red hot, when they date and get to know each other better! As Jillian wants to be nominated for ASLMA as president, she dealt with a lot of interference from her former mentor and rival, who's a bit of a prick, and had poached her clients. When she was disqualified for the running of the board, due to ethical reasons, Nick has his own issues with his fellow team mate Sebastian Liakos, a hot head who likes to causing trouble amongst the team. He also would love to let his team win the Stanley Cup if Liakos didn't get in the way. Together, they've figured out a way to settle the score and get a happy ending to get what they want in the end... with each other.

This was a fantastic sports romance that features a hockey theme. I really liked Jillian and Nick together as a couple and really feel their pain on what they have to do to make ends meet. I couldn't stand Liakos and Parsons, when they had their comeuppance in the end for their shady business to ruin the fun for the both of them.  I really loved the New York sports scene with the compelling settings and the scenic locations in the area. This would make you root for Jillian and Nick on how they defeated the odds and grunt and groan for every twist and turn on every page. This sports romance has a lot of steamy romance, drama, non-stop sports action, and intrigue along the way.

Will you be going for the goal today?

 

When She's Gone

In Jane Palmer's When She's Gone, the first installment in the Ara Zuyev thriller series, this fast-paced thriller will keep you at the edge of your seat. For bodyguard Ara Zuyev, a woman with a mysterious past and a former cop, she's sworn to protect Samantha Harper, the stepdaughter of millionaire Oliver Boone. When she was kidnapping from a restaurant, she chases the van that snatched her from her eyes. That's when the FBI is called in and Agent Luke Patrick is one the case. In order for them to talk together, they needed to trust each other. For the both of them, they discovered that Sam orchestrated the kidnapping as payback, which had taken a dangerous turn for the worst. After Oliver receives a ransom request via phone, she listened to her message on the phone and played it back in her mind to connect the dots. She pieced the together about the forged paintings from the gallery, which has dangerous Russian mob connections. In a race against time with the body count piling up, Ara puts herself in the line and faces somebody from her past to bring Sam home.

This was a fantastic thriller debut from start to finish. I really cared about Ara and on how she had put herself on the line to save Sam. I really felt bad for her on how she had endured a lot as a young Russian teenager and also as a cop. I also found Luke quite charming and amusing with his quick wits and sharp street smarts. I loved the New York City location with vivid depictive and scenic settings from the mansion to the shipyard in the end and everywhere in between. This would make you want to grit your teeth and hold your breath in this energetic thriller with non-stop action, drama, suspense, intrigue and plenty of mystery along the way.

What would you do when she's gone?

The Quilter's Apprentice

In Jennifer Chiaverini's The Quilter's Apprentice, the first installment in the Elm Creek Quilts Woman's Fiction series, this heart-warming tale would intertwine stitches of historical fiction/romance into this tale of love, loss, life, and friendship. For Sarah McClure, she and her husband had moved to Waterford, Pennsylvania for a new job prospect for her husband. While Sarah searched for a new accounting job and had no luck with interviews, she had made a friend for Mrs. Sylvia Compson, an elderly widow who needed help sorting out her late sister's belongings inside of her manor home before the sale. While she landed a temporary job helping Sylvia, she learned a lot about her life during World War II as a young girl, along with some tales on how to make a variety of quilts. From time to time, she made new friends with the Tangled Web Quilters and discovered a great deal about how to piece quilts. In a race of time to prevent Sylvia to stay and not to sell her home, she came through on her promise to keep it alive and to find out what she was missing along. She had found an ideal job right there with Sylvia, too.

This was a wonderful and lovely woman's fiction novel. I cared about Sarah and Matt and also about Sylvia's plight about being a young war widow and how she befriended Sarah in her home. I also loved learning to hear a great idea about Sylvia's life and hope Sarah could make amends with her own mother. The locations for Waterford was beautiful and lovely in the scenic settings from Sylvia's home to the Tangled Web Guild. In great detail, we learned a lot about how quilts are made and the variety of designs. This was a fantastic read and really enjoyable from start to finish to give you a feeling of faith and hope and warmth. No wonder my late mother loved this series right before she died. This would make you cheer for Sylvia and Sarah's quilting designs in this novel with a hint of romance, drama, intrigue, suspense and mystery.

Distress Signals

In Catherine Ryan Howard's Distress Signals, this thriller debut will throw you some nasty surprising punches and leave you breathless. It all started when Adam Dunne fell overboard the cruise ship and rescued by the French Coast Guard. In this four-part story, we learn how Adam's girlfriend Sarah O'Connell had disappeared from her business trip and never returned home. That's when panic sets in when he calls the Garda for help after he receives a mysterious note from her in the mail. On a mission to discover disturbing answers, he did research on the Blue Wave Cruise line and looked up cruise crimes, until he'd found one that was similar to his and contacted Peter Brazier, a man who "lost" his wife a year before. We also learn about Romain Dupont, a French man who had a troubling childhood with a family secret and a "dark" past, and his mother Corinne, who worked on the same ill-fated cruise ship to escape from him. Later on, the tides have turned for Adam to discover the truth about Sarah and how Peter used him to find justice for his wife Estelle when no clues lead him into the opposite direction with a shocking conclusion in the end.

This was a gripping and compelling thriller debut from Catherine Ryan Howard. I cared about Adam and his search for answers to find Sarah, even if it had a grisly ending. I liked how Corinne and Romain's stories intersected into the storyline, when one event had lead to another. I felt pity for Peter and sorry for those innocent lives lost at sea in his insane search for justice. I liked the backdrop of the cruise ship along Eastern Europe especially Ireland for the center location with scenic settings. This would leave you at the edge of your seat with non-stop action, drama, intrigue and suspense along the way.

Will you listen to the SOS in Distress Signals?

Foreclosed

In Traci Tyne Hilton's Foreclosed, the first installment in the Mitzy Neuhaus Cozy Mystery series, get ready to enter the world of real estate. Mitzy Neuhaus is the top realtor in Portland who's against a rival realtor named Alonzo Miramontes. While the economy is dead for new prospective hot properties, there's a mansion that's been foreclosed by the bank. She wants to sell it to its new owners. But she had hit some snags along the way, besides Alonzo wanting that home for her sister Carmella to use as an inn. First, there's the stolen Russian jewelry at a charity auction that was bid on, her brother and sister-in-law's home broken into, including her office too. And there have been more things that have gotten awry, even after she broadcasted over the air in her radio spot. The potential buyers of that Victorian home pulled out, her best friend gets assaulted, and her rental burned down. When she wanted to check the place for herself, she meets the owner of the home and would do anything to stop her from buying it, even if the stolen jewels are hidden inside somewhere. It's up to Alonzo to team up and work together to stop him in its tracks.

This is a great new cozy mystery debut that deals with the cutthroat world of real estate business. I cared about Mitzy and her real estate firm. I had warmed up to Alonzo toward the middle and could see something brewing between them. I liked Sabrina and Ben and cared for her sister-in-law and brother and even her friend Joan, too. I liked the location of Portland Oregon to be very surreal with the settings. This would teach you a lot about foreclosure and real estate and entertain you with a gripping good tale with drama, suspense, intrigue, and lots of non-stop action.


Will you be wary when your home is foreclosed?

A Death at the Yoga Cafe

In Michelle Kelly's A Death at the Yoga Cafe, the 2nd installment in the Keeley Carpenter cozy mystery series, the town of Belfrey is hit by another gruesome tragedy. After the Terry Smith murder, things haven't seem to calm down for Keeley. When she witnessed the heated argument outside of her yoga cafe between Raquel and her mayor boyfriend. Then when he's found  murdered, Raquel is the prime suspect and asks Keeley for help to prove her innocense.  At the same time of her mother's surprise arrival to visit, things had got cozy for her and DC Ben Taylor, until she did some outside snooping of her own for Raquel's insistance. That had put a kink into her relationship with Ben. When she had finally figured it out, the killer had put her in the face of danger with the shocking truth, and things had gotten better with Ben, too.

This was an intriguing cozy that's set in Belfrey, England. I found Keeley and Ben both charming as a couple and how they sorted through their feelings for each other. I did feel sorry for Raquel in a way. I did like the scenic locations in Belfrey and amusing settings for the storyline like her yoga cafe with delicious healthy treats. I did enjoy the storyline arc, when each chapter emphasizes on a yoga pose and its benefits in learning yoga. This would keep you guessing and root Keeley on with every twisted turn with drama, non-stop action, intrigue and suspense along the way.

Will you enjoy a visit and read A Death at the Yoga Cafe today?

Murder Strikes a Pose

In Tracy Weber's Murder Strike a Pose, the first installment in the Downward Dog Cozy Mystery, you'll enjoy this debut and strike a yoga pose at the same time too. When yoga teacher Kate Davidson encountered a homeless man named George and his monster-sized German Shepherd named Bella outside of her yoga center hawking cheap newspapers, she befriends him and his dogs and tries to force him to leave. But when she overheard a conversation outside of her center and discovers his dead body, she needs to provide a home for Bella, she digs into George Levin's background and learned what lead to him to live on the streets. When the police thought it was nothing but a brawl that did him in, Kate thinks otherwise, though she'd been threatened along the way. She would stop to nothing. With help from her best friend Rene and her boyfriend Michael, they figure it out, when she discovered who did him and why in the end as Bella saved her life and had found a new happy home with Kate.


This was a delightful yoga-centric cozy mystery debut. I loved everything about it, since I've been a fellow yogi for 2.5 years. I loved Kate and Rene as best friends and how Kate took care of Bella under her wings after George was murdered. I did feel sorry for him and thought Bella's former owners, Jake and George's daughter was creepy and bad in their own way. I felt sorry for Bella who endured such abuse and dealt with her own disease. I loved the Seattle locations and scenic settings from Kate's center to down in Seattle. This would make you cheer for Kate and Bella, boo at the bad guys, root for Kate and Michael, and feel at peace with yoga. This has great drama, non-stop action, intrigue, and plenty of suspense.

Will you dig into Murder Strikes a Pose and relax with yoga today?

Three

n Ted Dekker's Three, this thriller will make you look closer and make your heart beat race. It all started for Kevin Parsons, a Seminary student, when he received a call from someone named Slater. If he doesn't answer the riddle, his car would blow up in three minutes. In a race against time, Kevin is thrown into the spotlight and a person of interest of the Long Beach PD and the FBI. With more cryptic riddling messages from Slater, he calls his childhood friend Sam Sheer. For FBI Agent Jennifer Peters, she's on the hunt to find the Riddle Killer who killed her brother three months ago. She joins forces with the LBPD and helps Kevin in this case, tracking this person who calls himself Slater. That's when she digs deeper into Kevin's past, when she shed some light into his childhood as more explosive riddles tick by. Each ones were opposite and divided by three, when Kevin couldn't confess his sin on his own. When it had caught up to him, it's another race against time, when the truth would be divided in the end on who's Slater in a shocking ending.

This was a fascinating and compelling thriller with a Christian fiction slant. I cared about Kevin and how he had been through a terrible childhood living with his horrible aunt. She was the real reason why he came out that way. I also liked Jennifer Peters who mourned the loss of her brother and had been on a mad hunt for his brother's killer. I liked they came together to solve the biggest puzzle of them all to solve the riddle. I loved the California locations of Long Beach and the scenic settings between past and present in Kevin's state of mind. This would leave you breathless and at the edge of the seat with non-stop action, drama, intrigue and a lot of suspense. 

Will you be able to answers the riddled questions in Three?

Waking Nightmare

In Kylie Brant's Waking Nightmare, the first installment in the Mindhunters romantic suspense series, this debut would keep you at the edge of your seat. Be careful on who you tell your darkest secrets and fears too. For Abbie Philipps, she's the newest member of Detective Ryne Robel's task force team in Savannah, when they deal with a serial rapist/murder on the scene. With a lot of emotional baggage from her past and her sister's mental health issues, she had a lot on her own plate to deal with. Being criticized by Robel and his fellow task members shouldn't be one of them. They needed her to profile this UNSUB's mind and to get inside to make him tick. One by one, she began connecting the dots to what drew his victims together, while she tried not to get too close to Ryne. For Robel, Abbie was more than a pretty face to join his team. But when they worked together to establish victimology, he had his own heated feelings for her on a more intimate and personal nature.  He also carried a darkest secret of his own that he had to live with. As they discovered closer to identifying the perp, it hit too close to home when Abbie's sister had brought home the killer and put their own lives in danger, when they had to find for themselves in the end.

This was a mind-blowing fantastic romantic suspense debut. I cared about Abbie and what she had to go through and endure with Callie. I hoped Callie would get the medical help she needs with her medication, or she could be a danger to herself or to others. I also loved Ryne Robel and how he put himself in front of others and cared for Abbie along the way. I adored the Savannah locations and scenic settings from the GBI and elsewhere inside and outside. This would send you a wild emotional roller coaster ride as you would moan and swoon for Ryne as you would take heart of how Abbie took care of herself. This had tons of hot romance, plenty of drama, suspense,  intrigue, non-stop action and chills along the way.

Will you be wary of the secrets and fears your keep in Waking Nightmare?