Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Kelly Irvin: Tell Her No Lies


By Kelly Bridgewater

Even the most admired families have secrets to hide . . .
Nina Fischer carries a camera wherever she goes—so she can view life through a filter. Safely. After her mother abandoned her to the streets, Nina has kept people at a distance, including her uncle, who adopted Nina and her sister. Wealthy and proud, he is a good man, a fair judge, and someone many in 
San Antonio admire. 

But when he is murdered, and the detective assigned to the case accuses Nina of the crime, she knows she must act. She’s determined to use her journalism background to find the real killer. The two men in her life want to help, but can she trust them?  She’s known Rick since they were children, but now he’s an attorney whose political aspirations seem more important than Nina’s tragic loss. And then there’s Aaron, a news videographer; using their friendship could break the biggest story of his career. 

Following the evidence leads Nina on a journey of discovery into her father’s shocking masquerade as a law-abiding, family-loving Christian. Unlocking these secrets could prove fatal, but it’s the only way Nina will ever be able to trust love again. 

Combining romance and suspense, bestselling author Kelly Irvin’s Tell Her No Lies is a high-stakes race for the truth.

From Amazon


My Thoughts:

Kelly Irvin has been known for writing Amish romances, and as a reader who can't stand Amish anything. Romance. Suspense. Or Historical. I decide to stay away from majority of Irvin's writing. But when Thomas Nelson showed her writing a romantic suspense novel, which is a genre I read widely in, I was curious. The novel sounded interesting, so I thought I would give it a shot.

The plot is my biggest issue, so I'll start there. The novel does start with a dead body in an office so that is done correctly. BUT . . . then the next thirty-two percent of the novel takes place right after the dead body, and Irvin wanted to show EVERY single person's perspective of the dead body. From the cop to the daughter, Nina, the heroine, to a number of reporter's and a lawyer slash boyfriend for Nina. It dragged and lost my attention really quickly. As for the rest of the novel, it was just killing everyone important to Nina in a hurry to make her more anxious and send her back to the police station for questioning for about the fourth time. That is a lot for a romantic suspense novel. I figured out from the first chapter who the two bad people were. No surprise for me.

The characters wanted more for their life, but I really didn't see them changing at all. Nina learned more about her biological mother and made her wish she didn't learn what she did. Adam, the best friend and love interest, arrived in the first couple of chapters, and I didn't really like him either. I didn't know if he really liked Nina for who she was or using her moment of hurt as a way to further his own personal career. So the ending didn't sit well with me.

Overall, Tell Her No Lies by Kelly Irvin didn't have a fast-pace story line like a romantic suspense should have. I wanted a lot more action with moments of holding my breath. The characters were bland with a boring romance. Not a novel I would recommend for fans of romantic suspense.

I received a complimentary copy of Tell Her No Lies by Kelly Irvin from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

About the Arthur:

From Amazon
Best-selling novelist Kelly Irvin's latest book is Beneath the Summer Sun, the second book in her Amish romance series, Every Amish Season, from Zondervan/HarperCollins Christian Publishing. This four-book series delves into the lives of four Amish women linked by life altering experiences that bring them together as wives, mothers, and grandmothers in the small town of Jamesport, Mo. The first book, Upon a Spring Breeze, received critical acclaim from the Library Journal: "A moving and compelling tale about the power of grace and forgiveness that reminds us how we become strongest in our most broken moments."

Kelly Irvin is also the author of The Amish of Bee County series, which includes the critically acclaimed The Beekeeper's Son. Publishers Weekly called the first book in the series a beautifully woven masterpiece and Romantic Times Magazine called Kelly a storyteller extraordinaire. It was followed by The Bishop's Son and The Saddle Maker's Son, which is an ECPA bestseller.

A two-time ACFW Carol finalist, Kelly's novellas have been included in numerous anthologies, including An Amish Summer, The Amish Christmas Gift, An Amish Market, an Amish Christmas Love, and Amish Quilt.

She also penned the Bliss Creek Amish series and the New Hope Amish series, both published by Harvest House Publishers. Love Still Stands, the first book in the New Hope series, debuted in September 2014, and the follow-up, Love Redeemed, released March 1, 2014. The final book in the series, set in Branson, MO., was A Plain Love Song, released in July 2014.

The Bliss Creek Amish series, set in Kansas, includes To Love and to Cherish, A Heart Made New, and Love's Journey Home.

In the New Hope series, familiar characters from Bliss Creek move to Missouri to start a new district and a new life.

Kelly is also the author of two romantic suspense novels, A Deadly Wilderness and No Child of Mine, set in San Antonio, Texas. Two more romantic suspense novels are on the horizon, with the first, Tell Her No Lies, slated for publication by Thomas Nelson Publishing in January 2019.

Kelly recently contracted with Zondervan for a new 3-book series set in Montana. More details to come!

The Kansas native is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and the ACFW San Antonio local chapter Alamo City Christian Fiction Writers, as well as Romance Writers of America (RWA) and Sisters in Crime.

A graduate of the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism, Kelly wrote nonfiction professionally for thirty years. She studied for three semesters at the University of Costa Rica, learning the Spanish language. As a journalist, she worked six years in the border towns of Laredo and El Paso, where she was exposed to culture and language that serves as fodder for her fiction writing. She has written hard news, features, entertainment pieces, restaurant critiques, editorials, and weekly columns. Writing awards include the Silver Star Award from the Texas Mental Health Association for articles pertaining to mental health and numerous awards in news, feature, and editorial writing from the Texas Press Association and Texas Press Women.

Kelly retired in 2016 from her position of 22 years as public relations manager for the San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department, where her duties included writing and designing an employee newsletter, writing news releases, collaborating on marketing campaigns, coordinating ribbon-cuttings and groundbreakings, coordinating press conferences, updating the web site, and acting as a media spokesperson.

Kelly has been married to photographer Tim Irvin for more than 30 years, and they have two young adult children and two grandchildren. In her spare time, she likes to write short stories, read books by her favorite authors, and visit the babies. (Taken from Amazon.)

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