The Girl Who Survived

   In this blog post, I reviewed Lisa Jackson’s The Girl Who Survived. This dark romantic  thriller is so warped and bone-numbing that keeps you in suspense.  At the tender age of eight, Kara McIntyre had witnessed an atrocity when she lost her whole family to a bloody massacre. Saved by her sister Marlie who later vanished, her step-brother Jonas was accused of the murders. Now after his release due to new evidence, the past had come back to haunt her, while she searched for the truth about what happened that night and why. But it wasn’t easy when someone kept an eye on her and sent her mysterious text messages. And new murders had turned up on the twentieth anniversary for her on that cold and viscous night. Then she ran into Wesley Tate, the son of the man who saved her life in the lake, while losing his own. He was also after the same answers for her. Together, they teamed up to work on this puzzle while they unearthed new clues and she needed a place to hide, going through her distorted and faded memories. The only way to face her fears was to the place where it all started for her at her former home. But in the end, it was a life-and-death battle to remember and to escape from another harrowing ordeal.

This chilling thriller would have you gasping at every turned page. I cared for Kara and became connected to her and her journey to discover the truth. She had lost everyone she cared about in a brutal act of violence, and had the scars to prove and live through it. Now, it happened all over for her. But she had found a formidable alley in Wesley, who wanted to care about her and protect her like his late father did. The dual locations of Whimstick and Bend Oregon painted bone-chilling scenic settings to transport you there. The theme of the story is that you can’t hide from your past, but having a revengeful greed is a lethal sin. 

This shocking romantic thriller will give you goosebumps and chill your skin. I rated this book, four out of five stars, for no reason. If you love heart-stopping romantic thrillers with non-stop action, plenty of dramatic suspense, and bone-numbing twists, The Girl Who Survived will deliver. This is recommended for fans of Karen Rose, Erica Spindler, Laura McHigh, and all romantic and dark thriller movies and novels.

Twice Kissed

 In Lisa Jackson's Twice Kissed, this reissued classic romantic suspense will send you into a crazy and twisted world of secrets, lies, and deception. When Maggie McCrae receives a cryptic telepathic message from her twin sister, Mary Theresa (aka Marquise), it sent her world into a tizzy. She lived a private remote life in Settler's Ridge, Idaho with her 13-year-old daughter Becca. While her in-laws wanted control of her daughter and Becca acted cold to blame her of her father's death, she tried to keep it altogether. But when Thane Walker, her first love who stole her heart, twenty years ago in Palo Verde, California, needed her help to look for her sister and to help clear his name. It'd brought her back into the past on when she dealt with an alcoholic mother, a demanding father, and twisted secrets her twin had shared with her... and when she first met Thane at the ranch. During the search for her twin in Denver, she learned more devastating truth on her sister's career, her mental state, and what Thane had held back from her. The closer they get to discover if she's dead or alive, it brought them closer together to rekindle their old flame. In the end, it's a matter of life or death with a sobering ending to leave you cold all over.

 This was an astonishing and captivating tale that's filled with twists and turns on every page. I cared for Maggie on what she had been through in her youth, even if she had to look up to her twin sister who was everything she wasn't, and what she had to endure as an adult. But I loved how she kept it together for her composure. Dark, tall, dangerously handsome--those words described Thane the best in my opinion. I did like how Becca changed for spiteful to caring when she learned what her aunt and uncle had been up to and had planned for her. I loved the variety of locations for the scenic descriptions for the settings: California, Idaho, Colorado.  The themes for the stories is that revenge is a deceptive sin while secrets from the past have a way of coming out into the open.

If you love spine-tingling suspense that would give you the shivers with non-stop action, red-hot sparking romance, lots of combustible drama, and heaps of suspense,   Twice Kissed is right up your alley.

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If She Only Knew

In Lisa Jackson's If She Only Knew, the first installment in the San Francisco romantic suspense series, this thriller would leave you at the edge of your seat, breathless. It all started with Marla Cahill's car accident, which left her in a coma. When she woke up, her family were nothing but strangers to her, while she had no memory of anything. Not even in the crash. Back in her family home, she recovers and starts to recover her memories, leaving her in peril for her health and safety. Somehow she was drawn to her brother-in-law and more distant to her husband. Meanwhile, someone killed people to get to her, all for a blood thirst for her family money. In the end, when she discovered the truth of the crash, she knew who she really was and how she needed to get out, before it was too late to discover her true identity. Is she really Marla Cahill or somebody else?

This romantic suspense would leave you hanging at every page and your spine tingle. I loved the dual locations of California and Oregon for the picturesque scenery in the settings and locations. I cared for "Marla" and her plight, while they was a growing attraction between her and Nick. I didn't like Alex and the whole sick plot I can' t give away until the end. This would chill the marrow of your bones and leave you numb all over, head to toe. This has non-stop action, drama, suspense, and plenty of romance from start to finish.

Will you be dying to read  If She Only Knew today? Check it out!

Chosen to Die

If you loved Left to Die, you would enjoy the second installment in this Alvarez/Pescoli romantic suspense series. This continues from the first, when we're knee deep into the Star-Crossed Killer murderer and why he targeted his victims. Here, Detective Pescoli's one of the victims. We root for her and her survival to life, during that wintry holiday season in the Montana mountains. We're in her psyche and the killer's, when Regan's family falls apart, and people are on the hunt for the shocking twist and turns in store for them in the end. And we never saw it coming! Very descriptive scenes to connect with Regan and Selena.

Without Mercy

If you love bone-chilling romantic suspense, you'll love Without Mercy by Lisa Jackson. Julia Farrentino has recurring troubling nightmare's of her father's death. When her troubled half-sister Shaylee is sent to Blue Rock Academy in Oregon, Julia is worried about it being the wrong move for her. When her sister calls her, Jules decided to go undercover as a teacher and help bail Shaylee out. She also runs into Cooper Trent, her former boyfriend, who still make her blood boil and ease her mind. Together, they undercover the mystery of three murdered students and a possible cult at Blue Rock. As they get closer to the truth, Cooper and Julia get together, as danger looms for them. In the end, there's a shocking twist I don't want to give away! You'll love it!

Hot Blooded

Lisa Jackson's romantic suspense novels keeps getting better in every one. In Hot Blooded, Dr. Samantha Leeds is a radio psychologist in New Orleans at night. Someone prank called her at home, and on the line, making insinuating suggestions on sins and retribution, claiming himself as "John." Meanwhile, Detectives Montoya and Bentz are on a hunt of a serial killer who killed prostitutes. As the threat level is series, so is the danger she faces. Someone wants to do her in. It could be her ex-boyfriend, ex-husband, a disgruntled co-worker at the radio station, or even Ty Wheeler, her new love interest. Especially when there's a connection to the past that haunts her, she's closer to the dangerous truth than she realizes. What an great thrill ride for this one.

Careless Whispers

This is my third romantic suspense I've read from Lisa Jackson. This version is an expanded newer version from the original she released years. In Whispers, Claire St. John returns to her small town in Oregon, when a 16-year old murder is being uncovered by Kane Moran, her former lover. In the first half of the book, you'll learn about the scandal in the present. In the second half, we'll rewind back in time to what lead to the scandal, as Claire and her two sisters, Miranda and Tessa, each share a hidden secret, that's about to be discovered. Lies are kept and whispers are brought to the small town. In the last half, we're back to the present, when the truth comes out, as both worlds collide with a happy ending. I love the pairing of Claire and Kane.

A Chilling Obsession

This is another thrilling romantic suspense from Lisa Jackson. Deep Freeze is the first book in the Northwest trilogy, when Jenna Hughes, a former Hollywood actress moves from Hollywood to Oregon, after a stalker, her marriage falling apart, and a tragedy on the set that killed her sister. Now a stalker is after her with a sick twisting obsession of knowing her routine and watching her family and her every move, until he makes her his prize possession as his own, since he's her new one fan. And only Sheriff Shane Carter, the man she butted heads with and falls in love, is the one who can save her. I can't wait to read Fatal Burn next year, the second book in the series.

Left to Die

Better late than never, this was my first pick to read for my Lisa Jackson challenge I signed up for last year and have won this very book. Left to Die has plenty of action and suspense, lots of drama with hints of romance, and great twists to lead into the second book, Chosen to Die, which I'll read in September. This book will keep you hooked and guessing to the very end and to pick up the second book in the series. Pretty great read on a cold winter read. Beware of the stars.

Lisa Jackson 2009/2010 Reading Challenge

If you're a big fan of Lisa Jackson, this is the contest for you. At http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/2009/07/bloggers-20092010-lisa-jackson-reading.html, she's holding a Lisa Jackson reading challenge starting now. It ends on 12/31/10. So you'll have plenty of time to read as many as your want. She had one that started in May and ended last month. I read Final Scream a bit too late and didn't make the cut. So I'm aiming for six books to read between now and then.


My picks are:
1. Deep Freeze
2. Whispers
3. Malice
4. Chosen to Die
5. Left to Die
6. Hot Blooded