Ten Days in Paradise

  In this blog post, I reviewed Linda Abbott’s Ten Days in Paradise. This memorable woman’s fiction novel deals with matters of the heart.  For Ellen Bennett, all she wanted to do is to go on vacation in Sanibel Island and take a break from her failing marriage and troublesome son. Sun, surf, and sand were all she expected to find in Sanibel Island. While she relaxed in paradise, she had a chance encounter with David Blakemore on the beach, a fellow traveler who’s vacationing with his family for his parent’s 50th wedding anniversary. At first they were strangers and later potential friends. But it later became something more intimate between them. During this time when she felt revitalized like never before, she befriended Liz Taylor, a priest at Grace Chapel, that’s about to be demolished by a wealthy businessman to built a family home on the island. With Ellen’s encouragement to go to the public, she helped Liz and her congregation in the biggest way by letting the public know about this in the news to spread the word. For David Blakemore, he’s a father of three kids and had never thought to fall in love with Ellen on the beach. His wife Marianne is a handful. His sister Maggie is estranged from his father, who’s going through some memory issues, that his mother couldn’t put her finger on.  Between them, things are a kind of nice, though they’re both married with children. This affair wouldn’t last long since it wouldn’t work. During David’s parents 50th wedding anniversary celebration, things change between his father and Maggie especially when his son Colin goes missing. At this time, Ellen’s husband Jeremy surprises her and tells her he wants to give their marriage another change and explained the issues that’s going on with their son. At the end of her stay, Ellen decides to follow her heart to stay in her marriage and break it off with David forever.
 
This tender-hearted woman’s fiction is about family, life, and marriage. I cared for Ellen who had been going through some difficult times in her marriage and had hit the crossroads. This break was what she needed to make the toughest decisions she had to ever face in her life. I did feel a bit bad for David, who’s been going through a turbulent crisis in his marriage, and also with his family as well. The picturesque location of Sanibel Island, Florida, made the scenic  settings pop on the page. The theme of the story is family brings us together when crisis pulls us apart.

This emotional woman’s fiction pulls at your heart strings. I have found a couple of nitpicks in this story, though this is just my opinion: the focus should be on David and Ellen and to trim the excess chapters dealing with the Grace Chapel and David’s family, unless they’re in the scene. There a lot of characters in this novel as well. Less is more.  I rated this book, four out of five stars because it has a HFN ending. If you love woman’s fiction that deals with family and matters of the heart, a hint of drama and non-stop action, Ten Days of Paradise will take you away. This book is recommended if you like woman’s fiction novels like Taylor Reid Jenkins and Karen White.

The Lady Loves Danger

  In this blog post, I reviewed Anabelle Bryant’s The Lady Loves Danger,  the second installment in the Maidens of Mayhem historical romance series. This historical  romance is enriched with drama and intrigue  will sweep you off your feet on every page. Lady Delilah Ashbook is looking for Oliver, a young boy who had been snatched under her care in the dangerous streets of London. Everywhere she looked, she couldn’t find him and needed all the help she could get to find him before it was too late. That’s when she met a mysterious man named Sebastian St. Allan, who knew the streets like the back of his hand as a secret agent for the prince regent. When they worked together to find the missing boy, he had his own mission to locate the queen’s diamond collar for her missing dog.  Could both cases be linked together to the same culprit? While Delilah sought out the Maidens of Mayhem’s help, she became intrigued on how they operated and wanted to join them to help out with her causes to save London’s impoverished children who had no families to call their own. Sebastian worked with his colleagues and Eva Fields, the only agent in their team, who worked undercover to unearth a startling link to the queen’s paramour himself. The chemistry between Sebastian and Delilah were fiery hot, though her Aunt Helen wishes she would find more suitable like a lord to court her. But Sebastian had stolen her heart. When they worked together to find the culprit, it became life and death for Delilah when an unforeseeable foe reared their ugly head to turn against her. During her recovery from that harrowing ordeal, she wondered how Sebastian felt for her before she had find her happy ever after ending.
 
This lovely historical romance is passionate, daring, and wonderful. I cared for Delilah who wanted to do something to change London’s poverty state and take daring risks to locate Oliver and to go above and beyond to find her true calling. I’ve found Sebastian as a sexy debonair man, who had a sordid childhood past, and became his own true person. This awesome twosome make quite a pair and a lovely duo that would scorch the pages. The location of London and its surrounding neighborhood were picture perfect for the scenic settings.  The theme of the story is be your own true self by becoming our own person to make things happen.

This sensational historical romance is so hot, it sizzles with a capital S. I didn’t find anything to nitpick on this book. I rated this book, four out of five stars because of no reason. If you love historical romance with daring non-stop action, a tidal wave of sexy romantic drama, and heart-stopping suspense on every page, The Lady Loves Danger is the one for you. This book is recommended for readers who love Bridgerton and Downtown Abbey, classical historical romance movies, and intriguing historical romance authors like Lisa Kleypas, Eloisa James, and Teresa Mederios.  

The Gossip

  In this blog post, I reviewed Nancy Bush’s The Gossip, the 2nd installment in the River Glen romantic suspense series. This romantic suspense will have you at the edge of your seat. For former cop Mackenzie Laughlin, it all started for her when she was assigned to look for Rayne Sealy, who had been reportedly missing by her best friend Bibi. While she looked into her disappearance, she looked for clues in her life from her family and friends. Back at the Ridge Point Assisted Living facility, she’s been the latest gossip among the ladies including Emma Whelon, who might have a piece of the puzzle. But when her body was founds in the river weeds, she knew something sinister happened to her. And that’s when she hooked up with Jesse James Taft, a PI who’s working on a different angle on the same case with the same suspect in mind. While they worked together, someone lurked int he distance, keeping an eye on the investigation and the players involved with a watchful eye. He hated the pretty mean girls who made fun of him in high school. And now it was his time to pay them back with karma. During the investigation, they begin to connect the dots and piece the puzzle together while they’ve gotten underneath each other’s skin. When they’ve thought they had the right suspect to help out the RGPD, they guessed wrong when it hit come to home for Mackenzie as she fought for her life to bring him down in the end.

 This twisted romantic suspense will send you goosebumps and take you on a wild ride. I cared for Mackenzie who wanted her job back at the police force and climb the ladder her own way. A woman on a mission, she cared for her mother and step-sister while she needed to find a place of her own. As for Taft, I’ve found him charming and amusing as a PI, and how he cared for her and Carnoff’s two pugs. They do make a helluva team and have great chemistry with each other. The dual locations of River Glen and Laurelton Oregon painted a vivid picture to the scene. The theme of the story is if you don’t have nothing nice to say, they don’t say it at all since what goes around comes around.

This spine-tingling romantic suspense has all the right ingredients splashed together for a recipe of a great read this summer. I did find one thing to nitpick on since most spots were repetitive in nature in some scenes. I rated this book, four out of five stars because of some dragged spots. If you love romantic suspense with spine-tingling suspense, a splash of romantic drama, and tons of non-stop breath-taking action, The Gossip is the one for you. This book is recommended for readers who love Lisa Jackson, Karen Rose, and other romantic suspense novels that make you want to read more.