Broken Windows

In Paul D. Marks's Broken Windows, the 2nd installment in the Duke Rogers PI mystery series, this compelling tale that could've been ripped from the headlines. For famed private investigator Duke Rogers, who had been notoriously famous for catching the killer of the Teddie Matson case, a new case had landed and darkened on his Hollywood doorstep. When actress Susan Karuvian jumped off the Hollywood sign as a suicide, it made news headlines. But when Marisol Rivera asked Duke to help find her brother's killer, he might be a little over his head. With his partner Jack Riggs, they've encountered the Hollywood PD and all sorts of swarmy characters along their way including some dirty politicians, a crooked priest, and the Proposition 187 bill on illegal aliens. Little did they know, they were being followed by a well-known drug smuggler who wanted them stopped and to catch their every move. When Marisol turns up missing and later ends up dead, it was nothing but personal to find her killer and to make the connections to an illegal human smuggling ring. In the end, they would shake down the criminals and put a stop to things before someone else gets hurt.

 This was a real good mystery from Paul Marks. It had a lot of various good elements to almost make it as an excellent thriller. I did care for Duke as a PI, who cared for his dog Molly, and had a good partnership with Jack. I loved how he worked together with him when they tied everything together in this twisted case. I did feel bad for Marisol and almost wished she didn't up dead as a loose end. I loved the Hollywood scenery and the compelling scenery to take me right there in Hollywood and behind. This would make you shake you head, grimace and groan, hold your breath, and hang on for a wild ride with non-stop drama, action, suspense, and plenty of mystery to keep you hanging on every page.

Will you be there to solve the mystery in Broken Windows tonight? 

What I've Done

In Melinda Leigh's "What I've Done", the fourth installment in the Morgan Dane romantic suspense series, this gripping novel would take you on a wild and dangerous ride. It all started when Haley Powell had awakened in a puddle of blood and in a land of confusion.  Then she was accused of killing Noah Carter, her date for the night. For Morgan Dane,  a lawyer, a widow, and a single mother of three young girls, she had just been assigned to the case, courtesy of her friend Lincoln Sharp, who works for her law firm. After she had been decked by her former client when he didn't want to make a deal, she had taken some hard knocks. And then she took Haley's case and learned more about Haley's past and also about the victim's past. She encountered a couple of protesters, death threats, and plenty of scare tactics that included thrown rocks at Lance's car. Some people would do anything to throw the suspicion off themselves and cause the innocent a scare or two. For Morgan, and her boyfriend, Lance Kluger, her investigator for her firm, they look into the hard evidence from Haley's ex to Noah's best friends. From there, they connected the dots to the recent missing persons case in the news and one from the past. And like it or not, they would tooth and nail to clear her name, and would stop for nothing in a life and death manner.

This was a super and fantastic romantic suspense novel. I did feel sorry for Haley and how she had gotten sucked into this mess as an innocent pawn. I did care for Morgan and Lance, who together make the perfect team in court and outside of it. I'm so happy for Morgan to find a new love to help her take care of her young daughter who dote on him. I loved how she took control of a hard situation and let no one or nothing to slow her down. I loved the NYC location and how it made the scene pop in vibrant color and great details. This would make you gasp and bite your lip a few times and to buckle your seatbelt for a wild ride with non-stop action, sparks for romance, drama and plenty of suspense to keep you hooked on every page.

Will you dig into What I've Done tonight and grab a copy right away?

The Switch

In Joseph Finder's The Switch, this gripping thriller would have you at the edge of your seat.  When businessman Michael Tanner accidentally picked up the wrong laptop at the airport, he became embroiled into a deep mystery. As the owner of Tanner Roast, a coffee bean company, he needed to make a big move with a big deal. But when he discovered he had the wrong laptop, he became even more curious on what he had uncovered. Back in Washington D.C., Senator Susan Robbins would do anything to stop someone from leaking out her top-secret agenda to the press. And she would make sure her chief of staff, Will Abbott, would do anything to bring the laptop back or to stop it from happening. Meanwhile, when he told his friend Landon, he became over-excited about this secretive story to report it in the paper. Before that could happen, he wounded up dead, potentially a suicide. Besides Abbott, there were other people who would stop to nothing from getting the word out including the Russians and the NSA. It's now up to Michael to do the right thing even if his life had depended on it and to set things right, once and for all, in an explosive ending.

This thriller had a great storyline that could've been ripped from the headlines. I did love the dual locations of Washington D.C/Maryland and of Boston. It was filled with strong writing on the descriptions and the settings had excellent visuals to take you right there. I did care for Michael and how he would get himself out of this situation and back together with Sara. I did like his friends Carl and Landon and had thought Susan and Will was a bit slimy as they could get the laptop. This would make you do a headshake and gasp a couple of times with shocking twists on every page with non-stop action, drama, suspense, and intrigue to keep you hooked.

Will you be there to see the switch today?

The Marsh King's Daughter

In Karen Dionne's The Marsh King's Daughter, this standalone thriller will have you at the edge of your seat in every single page. For Helena Pelletier, she had once lived an ideal life with her husband and two daughters. But when word around about her father's prison break, it shattered the peacefulness she shared with her family in Michigan. She had hidden a dark secret about her upbringing, her parents, and who she used to be. And that might splinter her marriage like a shard of glass.  As she sent her husband and two young daughters away, she promised herself that she would track him down right to the end. As she trailed him, she flashbacked to where she lived in the cabin with her mother and narcissistic and abusive father, how she learned to live outdoors from the outside world. There was so much out there she didn't know about until her mother concealed the truth from her and betrayed her trust. While she followed in his footsteps through the marshy lands, she recalled how cruel he was to her mother and to her, and how she planned their escape to turn him in. Later, she caught up to him in a face-to-face battle to fight for her survival and to save her marriage in an intense climax.

This was a nail-biting and mind-blowing thriller. I loved the vast locations of the marsh lands in Michigan from the rustic cabin in the past to where it is in everyday present life. I loved the intricate descriptions and visual images of each and every setting to tell this story. I instantly cared for Helena and how she endured and thrived as a young child in a complex household and how she grew up to take care of her own young family. She became no ordinary heroine who had emotional scars that were too hard for her to contain and to conceal. This would make you want to root for her in this ultimate fight of survival of life and death with non-stop action, drama, suspense and mystery.

Will you join forces to stop her father in The Marsh King's Daughter tonight?





 

Halcyon

In Rio Youers's Halcyon, this thriller has elements of the Lord of the Flies with a modern day twist. Think of "Hotel California" by the Eagles:  "You can check out, but you can never leave..." That's what happened to Martin Lovegrove and his family in this chilling and disturbingly dark thriller. Martin Lovegrove is a well-respected architect in New York City and has a happy life with his two daughters, Edith and Shirley, and still in love with his wife Laura. But when Edith experiences some kind of "night terrors" in the night, it's enough to wake more than the death. She had witnessed the tragic devastation of the Buffalo car bombing in her mind right after it happened. With a bit of probing, they learned she had a special psychic ability at night and had learned to use positive energy. But later, she had "streamed" a high school shooting and her mother's death. For Valerie Kemp, she's a twisted soul who had been a victim of a sadistic fetish group and dealt with four years of abuse until she fought back in a violent way. Then she discovered Gray Peaks Island, which she had called Halcyon,  right on Lake Ontario, a safe haven for disillusioned American who deal with loss and grief, while she profits from her own greed. She manipulates the people to self-destruct and destroy other people's lives. But when Martin decides to check it out for himself with his family, it's not what it seems when they meet Valerie and learn about her sordid life in the past.  This paradise island is more than lost. And when Valerie learns about Edith's special "powers" from Shirley, she would have no choice to take matters into her own hands to get what she wants until the bitter end...

This was a gripping and compelling thriller that would leave you chilled from the first page to the last. I did care for Martin and his family and how they dealt with so many hardships during the storyline. I did feel bad for Edith who had to deal with her psychic powers and how she put them to good use. But I could see how Martin dealt with loss and how supported his two daughters, on and off the island. The private island in Lake Ontario was the perfect idyllic location along with some fantastic scenes on the mainland and in New Jersey too. This would make you want to shake your head a few times, bit your lip, and could feel the pull of the psychic energy from Edith on every page.
This has non-stop action, drama, suspense, and intrigue in one mind-numbing novel.

Will you be tempted to go to Halcyon tonight?

 

As the Tide Comes In

In Cindy and Erin's Woodsmall's As the Tide Comes In, this emotional, heart-warming and tear-jerking Christian romance novel would make you shed tears and blow your nose a few times throughout the novel. For Tara Abbott, she lived in a foster care system and never knew much about her parents or grandparents. At age eighteen, her grandmother asked her to take care of her two younger half-brothers since she was dying from cancer. After she almost refused her, one look at them had sent her heart soaring and agreed to do so. For twelve years, she did everything she could to raise them and watch them grow up, graduate and spread their wings. But before they could do that, tragedy happened during a storm, when she was knocked out unconscious with a head injury. When she recovered, she later learned they didn't make it and they died in the cabin. Bereft from grief and confusion, she went to St. Simons Island to heal and find what she was looking for. That's when she met Gavin Burnside, a firefighter who had lived a hard life on the island. He once grew up overweight and had a special bond with a childhood friend named Siobhan. But his mother was stuck in debt from a tragic accident after his father died. Besides his mother, her three other friends had pseudo-adopted him as he grew up to an outstanding man he was today. When they crossed each other's paths, they learned a lot about life, love, and believing in God. While Tara continued to grief and recover, a connection between Gavin and her grew from friendship and then later blossomed to love, as she set a foot to find her own path to make a life out of herself and to fill her life with happiness and true love by God's hand.

This was so beautiful and heart-warming from beginning to end. It pulled at the heart-strings and made me crazy with a heavy heart. The Woodsmalls have a wonderful way to describe emotional heart-wrenching pain in fantastic prose. I did care for Tara as I watched her grow up and heal from her grief, how she made a name out of herself in her brothers' memory and how she followed her heart to go back home to Gavin. I did love Gavin and the Glynn Marsh Ladies in thier wonderful and tender story, when each of them dealt with life's surprises, both good and bad, and how they pulled together to help Tara find her own way home.  This would make you crazy and feel blessed by God with all of his miracles with non-stop action, drama, tender romance, and a hint of intrigue on every page.

Will you be there to find your way home as the tide comes in tonight?

https://www.amazon.com/As-Tide-Comes-Cindy-Woodsmall-ebook/dp/B077RH5MNT/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536452544&sr=8-1&keywords=as+the+tide+comes+in+woodsmall

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation

In Lauren Willig's The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, the first installment in the Pink Carnation historical romance series, this debut will sweep you off your feet and take you on an adventurous journey. For Eloise Kelly, an American who's writing a thesis on the Pink Carnation, a legendary hero that helped saved the English from the French Guillotine along with the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Purple Gentian in the same league.  She would have to go to England to read the manuscript from Lord Selwick's aunt over the span of that fortnight for her research. When she started reading, we're introduced to Amy Balcourt, a 20-year-old French woman who always looking for excitement and adventure, especially to see her brother Eduoard. In order to go there, her cousin Jane and her chaperone, her Aunt Gwen, must come with her on the boat ride. And that's what she met Lord Richard Selwick, an insufferable man who has a secret to hide. At first, they had gotten off on the wrong foot. But later, after Amy surprises her father, she becomes intrigued on the Purple Gentian's identity. And when she plotted to join his league, the Gentian was under her nose and kissed her passionately. That's when things get heated and intense between them, when Richard had to put his foot down. He had been broken-hearted before and didn't want to get his defenses down. But he tried not to get the best of him, when he must be jealous of his alter ego's self.  Instead of being in a compromising position, they both set out to thwart Delaroche by stealing the Swiss gold. And when he unmasked himself, it was up to Amy and Jane to become the Pink Carnation. While Amy fell in love and followed her heart to her greatest passion, she saved Richard and professed her true love for him... leaving a surprise twist on who was the Pink Carnation's true identity for future adventures...

This was a fantastic and excellent historical romance series. No wonder my sister-in-law had devoured her serial books in the past and loved it so much. This has a lot of excellent elements to keeps us from reading: romance, action, suspense, intrigue. I did care for Eloise who loves to dig into her research and needs to lighten her load a bit. But I did thik Colin Selwick is insufferable and could be her greatest adversial match.  I also have found Amy and Richard both daring and dashing, compelling and amazing, that they found their soul mate into each other. I loved the English and French dual locations with fascinating and eye-popping scenic scenes. This would make you swoon and sway, fan yourself, drink a tall glass of water, and become hooked from start to finish with non-stop action and adventure, plenty of romance, suspense and intrigue on every page.

Will you be swept away in the Secret History of the Pink Carnation today?