Elizabeth Camden: Carved In Stone

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Gwen Kellerman is an heiress to the infamous Blackstone family, whose history of scandal nearly destroyed her. She now lives a quiet life at the idyllic college founded with her family's fortune and hopes to keep the tragedies of her past safely behind her.

Patrick O'Neill survived a hardscrabble youth to become a lawyer for the downtrodden Irish immigrants in his community. He's proud of his work, even though he struggles to afford his ramshackle law office. All that changes when he accepts a case to challenge the Blackstones' legacy of greed and corruption by resurrecting a thirty-year-old mystery. 

Little does Patrick suspect that the Blackstones will launch their most sympathetic family member to derail him. Gwen is tasked with getting Patrick to drop the case, but the old mystery takes a shocking twist neither of them saw coming. Now, as they navigate a burgeoning attraction, Patrick is the only one who can save Gwen from new danger on the horizon.

 

My Thoughts:

Carved in Stone by Elizabeth Camden is filled with romance, a missing child, and tons of wealth. The story gives readers a glimpse into the creation of U.S. Steel, J.P. Morgan and the Carnegie's at the height of the Industrial Revolution. I enjoyed seeing them interact. Camden made them come to life with real heart and issues just like any normal family. Just because they have money does not mean that the struggles of life do not occur. The romance was a little awkward for me. I did not mind the heroine and hero falling in love. It was just a little too fast. She fell in love within moments of meeting him and the rest is history. It was a nice story. I loved the plot. I couldn't flip through the pages fast enough. Since this is the first book in a three-book series, I am excited to see what comes next. Overall, Carved in Stone by Elizabeth Camden once again teaches readers a little more about history without a lecture, but a well-written and delightful story. I can't wait to see what the next book will cover.

I received a complimentary copy of Carved in Stone by Elizabeth Camden from Bethany House Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Purchase Carved in Stone

Most Anticipated Suspense Fall 2021

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Last week, I shared my most anticipated Historical Romance. 

This week, I am sharing my Most Anticipated Suspense. 

(All images come from Goodreads!)

Dark Intercept by Brian Andrews

Labyrinth of Lies by Irene Hannon

Lights Out by Natalie Walters

Dead Fall by Nancy Mehl

Crosshairs by Patricia Bradley

Deadly Target by Elizabeth Goddard

How about you? Anything to add?

Johnnie Alexander: The Cryptographer's Dilemma

 By Kelly Bridgewater

About the Book

Book:  The Cryptographer’s Dilemma

Author: Johnnie Alexander

Genre: Historical Christian Fiction

Release date: August, 2021

A Code Developer Uncovers a Japanese Spy Ring
 
Full of intrigue, adventure, and romance, this new series celebrates the unsung heroes—the heroines of WWII.
 
FBI cryptographer Eloise Marshall is grieving the death of her brother, who died during the attack on Pearl Harbor, when she is assigned to investigate a seemingly innocent letter about dolls. Agent Phillip Clayton is ready to enlist and head oversees when asked to work one more FBI job. A case of coded defense coordinates related to dolls should be easy, but not so when the Japanese Consulate gets involved, hearts get entangled, and Phillip goes missing. Can Eloise risk loving and losing again?

 

My Thoughts:

The Cryptographer's Dilemma by Johnnie Alexander is a World War II novel focused on studying of codes and secrets. With the heroine's experience and brainpower. She is tossed into a world of secrets and even more daring adventures than she bargained for. While the chase to find the hidden message behind the Doll letters, the heroine and hero find romance as they try to work together and work hard to solve the mystery. The World War II world sounds familiar, even a little chiche at times. Sometimes, I felt like the World War II scenery was not that important that I forgot I was chasing someone who was giving away our nations secrets through these letters. The ending scene where the climactic moment occurred was very unclimactic too. Here is the horrible elements leading up to it. Here is the ultimate showdown. Oops! Story over. Wait! Backtrack. Did I miss something? After reading the ending for the second time, I did see the moments, but it was not all it was cracked up to be. Overall, The Cryptographer's Dilemma started out pretty interesting, and I could not wait to see what happened, but as the story progressed, the stroy and moments fell flat to me.

I received a complimentary copy of The Cryptographer's Dilemma by Johnnie Alexander published by Barbour Publishing through Celebrate Lit. Tours, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Purchase The Cryptographer's Dilemma

About the Author

Johnnie Alexander creates characters you want to meet and imagines stories you won’t forget in a variety of genres. An award-winning, best-selling novelist, she serves on the executive boards of Serious Writer, Inc. and the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference, co-hosts Writers Chat, and interviews other inspirational authors for Novelists Unwind. Johnnie lives in Oklahoma with Griff, her happy-go-lucky collie, and Rugby, her raccoon-treeing papillon. Connect with her at www.johnnie-alexander.com and other social media sites via https://linktr.ee/johnniealexndr.

More from Johnnie

American Traitor in WWII

Not all secret messages involve substitution codes where random letters and numbers replace the original letters and numbers. Velvalee Dickinson, a doll collector who owned a doll shop on Madison Avenue in New York City, used jargon code to pass along information to the Japanese about the U.S. ships that had been damaged at Pearl Harbor.

Here’s an excerpt from one of the letters (as originally written):

The only new dolls I have are THREE LOVELY IRISH dolls. One of these three dolls is an old Fisherman with a Net over his back—another is an old woman with wood on her back and the third is a little boy….I can only think of our sick boy these days. You wrote me that you had sent a letter to Mr. Shaw, well I want to see MR. SHAW he distroyed Your letter, you know he has been Ill. His car was damaged but is being repaired now. I saw a few of his family about. They all say Mr. Shaw will be back to work soon.

Velvalee, who the FBI nicknamed The Doll Woman, wrote this letter on her Underwood typewriter. She used the return address and forged the signature of one of her regular customers, Mary Wallace of Springfield, Ohio. Then Velvalee mailed the letter to an address in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Unknown to Velvalee, the Japanese had abandoned the Buenos Aires address as a drop point. The letter was marked “return to sender.” When Mrs. Wallace received it, she turned it in to the Post Office Director in Springfield who passed it along to the FBI.

Cryptographers determined that the letter was written in jargon code. To the casual reader, the letter is about dolls. But the intended recipient would have understood it’s about much more than that.

In this example, only one of five letters given to the FBI between February and August of 1942,

cryptographers decoded the message as follows:

Old Fisherman with a Net over his back ~ refers to an aircraft carrier which has anti-torpedo nettings on its sides.

• Old woman with wood on her back ~ refers to an older battleship, one made of wood.
• A little boy plus our sick boy ~ a damaged ship.

Cryptographers believed that the words Mr. Shaw and Your were purposely capitalized and that the word distroyed was purposely misspelled to draw attention to them. Mr. Shaw referred to the USS Shaw, a destroyer (distroy + your = destroyer).

The remainder of the letter says Mr. Shaw is ill but “will be back to work soon.”

The ship was in dry dock at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. As the heroine in The Cryptographer’s Dilemma explains, “About two weeks before this letter was written, it [the USS Shaw] was undergoing repairs in San Francisco.”

In the novel, Eloise Marshall is a naval cryptographer who teams up with FBI agent Phillip Clayton, to find the person responsible for forging the signatures on the letters. Their search takes them from Washington, DC to the Springfield, Ohio, to the west coast and back again. On their journey, Eloise will confront an unexpected specter from her past and Phillip will risk his life to save hers.

Blog Stops

Life of Literature, August 25

Where Faith and Books Meet, August 25

Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, August 25

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, August 26

Reflections From my Bookshelves, August 26

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, August 27

Bizwings Blog, August 27

Daysong Reflections, August 27

Texas Book-aholic, August 28

A Baker’s Perspective, August 28

Inklings and notions, August 29

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, August 29

For Him and My Family, August 30

Simple Harvest Reads, August 30 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Older & Smarter?, August 31

Mypreciousbitsandmusings, August 31

Aryn the Libraryan , September 1

Rebecca Tews, September 1

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, September 2

deb’s Book Review, September 2

Locks, Hooks and Books, September 3

Blossoms and Blessings, September 3

Mary Hake, September 3

Connie’s History Classroom, September 4

A Good Book and Cup of Tea, September 4

Sodbusterliving, September 4

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, September 5

Labor Not in Vain, September 5

Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, September 6

Moments, September 6

Splashes of Joy, September 6

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, September 7

Pause for Tales, September 7

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Johnnie is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1161a/the-cryptographer-s-dilemma-celebration-tour-giveaway

Amanda Dykes: Yours is the Night

 By Kelly Bridgewater

A mysterious song in the forest . . .
A discovery in war-torn France . . .
A journey toward hope. 

The trenches of the Great War are a shadowed place. Though Platoon Sergeant Matthew Petticrew arrived there with a past long marked by shadow, the realities of battle bring new wounds--carving within him a longing for light, and a resolve to fight for it.

One night, Matthew and his comrades are enraptured by a sound so pure, a voice so ethereal, it offers reprieve--even if only for a moment. Soon, rumors sweep the trenches from others who have heard the lullaby too. "The Angel of Argonne," they call the voice: a mysterious presence who leaves behind wreaths on unmarked graves. 
 
Raised in the wild depths of the Forest of Argonne, Mireilles finds her reclusive world rocked when war crashes into her idyllic home, taking much from her. When Matthew and his two unlikely companions discover Mireilles, they must embark on a journey that will change each of them forever . . . and perhaps, at long last, spark light into the dark. 

On the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier comes an emotive tale inspired by the courageous soldiers of World War I.

 

My Thoughts:

Yours is the Night by Amanda Dykes has a beautiful synopsis that made me grab this novel. I have read the first two books by Dykes and enjoyed the writing style and the story. I have not read many novels that feature around the horror of World War I, but I have read plenty of novels that feature the nightmares circling World War II. This novel sounded interesting, and I know Dykes would do a wonderful job with it. Her writing is nicely done. I could see the mud drenches trenches that the soldiers hovered around in. I could see them coming out of these trenches to fight the Germans. While Dykes has a masterful way of showing the details of the story, I had a hard time with the plot. There was nothing really interesting happening. I got bored pretty early on, and kept switching to other novels. I know it is a World War I story, but it appears it was a history textbook with boring facts. This story did not capture my attention. The characters were flat. I really did not care what they did either. I wanted this novel to be something more, but for me, it was not. If fell really short for me. I have seen some reviews where people love it. It could just be a bad time for me to read a World War I novel.

I received a complimentary copy of Yours is the Night by Amanda Dykes from Bethany House Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Purchase Yours is the Night

Most Anticipated Historical Fiction

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Another publishing season is about to occur. For this post, I will share my most anticipated Historical Fiction, usually in Historical Romance. (All images come from Goodreads unless noted!)

The Mistletoe Countess by Pepper Basham

A Midnight Dance by Joanna Davidson Politano

A Picture of Hope by Liz Tolsma

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan

As Dawn Breaks by Kate Breslin

Shadows of Swanford Abbey by Julie Klassen

What about you? Anything else to add?

Review of Silence the Siren

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Huntress Ro LeFevre is hired to hunt the sirens who have been sinking the king of Angleterre's ships, and in turn, vast amounts of his wealth. All who have gone before her have failed.

Fleeing heartbreak, Ro gladly accepts, but there's just one problem. The king will credit the Marquis de la Valere, and no other women are allowed on the voyage.

Ro will just see about that.

Hiring an all-female pirate crew without the king's knowledge, Ro hopes they will follow her to the Caribbean, not take the gold and flee.

But when Ro is plunged deep into the ocean by the siren she's being paid to kill, presented the siren's side of the story at knife point, and pressed to join them or die. Ro must decide whether to complete her mission, join the sirens, or something in between.

Before the sirens sink the ship full of men above.

A Little Mermaid reimagining.

 

My Thoughts:

Silence the Siren by Michele Israel Harper is a delightful adventure filled with pirates, sirens, a huntress, and hints of a popular tale readers thought they knew. Harper does a fabulous job at inviting her readers on a journey across the ocean and below the surface of the water. The description of the boat and the underwater Siren's world are detailed and captivating. My imagination bloomed as much as the huntress bloomed in her drive to complete her quest. The plot moved quick fast for a story that took place on a ship and a certain point in the ocean for the majority of the novel. I have read Beast Hunter and Kill the Beast, so I am pretty familiar with the Huntress' past story. Not that it is important to understand this story, but it does deepen the character journey of Ro, the Huntress. Of course, what story that is categorized as a fairy tale does not have a hint of romance. Romance starts to sparkle between Ro and a deckhand. Harper has left this open-ended, so readers will have to return to the next installment. Overall, Silence the Siren is a thick, hardy novel that really captured my attention. I had a hard time putting it down and can't wait for the next installment. There is some questions that I need to have answered about Ro, the huntress. Anyone who enjoys pirates, fairy tales, or a story full of adventure should pick up this book.

I received a complimentary copy of Silence the Siren by Michele Israel Harper by Love2ReadLove2Write Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Purchase Silence the Siren

About the Author:

Michele Israel Harper spends her days as a work-at-home mom and her nights typing away furiously on her laptop. Sleep? Sometimes . . . 

Harper has her Bachelor of Arts in history, is slightly obsessed with all things French—including Jeanne d’Arc and La Belle et la Bête—and loves curling up with a good book more than just about anything else. Author of Wisdom & Folly: Sisters, Zombie Takeover, Beast Hunter, and Kill the Beast, Michele prays her involvement in writing, editing, and publishing will touch many lives in the years to come.

Visit www.MicheleIsraelHarper.com to learn more about her.

Social Media Links: 

Amazon Author: www.amazon.com/Michele-Israel-Harper/e/B016YW4Q6Q 

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/14554353.Michele_Israel_Harper 

BookBub: www.bookbub.com/profile/michele-israel-harper 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/michele_israel_harper 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/micheleiharper 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/MicheleIsraelHarper 

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/micheleisraelharper

GIVEAWAY

Author Michele Israel Harper is hosting a giveaway through Kingsumo. https://kingsumo.com/g/2owetc/silence-the-siren-newsletter-giveaway

Facebook Party:

These are a lot of fun and very organized!!!!! I hope to see you there!

Online Silence the Siren Release Party, Thursday, August 19th, 8–10 PM EST.

Online Release Party Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/l2l2bookreleaseparties

Todd M. Johnson: The Barrister and the Letter of Marque

 By Kelly Bridgewater

As a barrister in 1819 London, William Snopes is a strong advocate who chooses to defend the poorer classes against the powerful. That changes the day a struggling heiress, Lady Malissa Jameson, arrives at
his door. 

In a last-ditch effort to save her faltering estate, Lady Jameson invested in the acquisition of a merchant brig, the Padget, allowed by a letter of marque from the king's regent to legally capture cargo from French traders operating illegally in the Indian Sea. Yet when the ship returns to the London harbor, it's met by constables and soldiers ready to seize its goods, accusing the sailors of piracy. And the letter proving their legality has disappeared. 

Moved by the lady's distress, intrigued by the claimed letter, and goaded by an opposing solicitor, William Snopes cautiously takes the case. But as he gets deeper into the mystery and prepares for trial, he learns that the forces arrayed against Lady Jameson, and now himself, are even more powerful than he'd imagined.

 

My Thoughts:

The Barrister and the Letter of Marque by Todd M. Johnson is a Victorian era lawyer procedural novel. The story starts with setting the background for the novel, then jumps right into the action leading up to the climactic moment where the court proceeding occurs. The Barrister, William, ran away from his families fortune to pursue the career in law. The skills from this time period versus today is different, but with less technology. This story does prove how smart the lawyers aka barristers actually had to be in order to solve the mystery. The plot was pretty lengthy. There were moments that progressed the story alone, but then there were moments where the story stood still, and the plot didn't advance. While the mystery and the court proceedings captured my attention, I wanted a little more mystery to make it feel like a Victorian style mystery like Jack the Ripper and Sherlock Holmes. Overall, if readers enjoy lawyer and court stories, then this might be right up their alley.

I received a complimentary copy of The Barrister and the Letter of Marque by Todd M. Johnson from Bethany House Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3.50 out of 5 stars

Purchase The Barrister and the Letter of Marque

A Disservice to America’s Future

 I am a graduate student who has achieved my Masters in Writing and my Bachelor of Science degree in English from Indiana State University. While I enjoyed my time as an Indiana State University student and learn to read many different authors, I, also, learned how to improve my writing, making contributions to the world of academic and intellectual writing. Similarly, I learned how to think critically and see the world for the way that it really is and make informed decisions. The education I was given and gladly accepted made me a more valuable citizen of the world and a competitive employer for future companies.

After receiving an email in October 2020 about a proposal for a new required Foundational Studies course, I was a little more than upset. “Social Justice through the Lens of Systemic Racism” is a difficult title to swallow. The definition of Systemic Racism is “racism that is embedded as normal practice within society or an organization. It can lead to such issues as discrimination in criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, political power, and education, among other issues” (Oxford English Dictionary). As I read the attached Word Document with what has gone through the committee already, I kept shaking my head in disbelief. Why are we, as an institution, coming down to offer this as a course? If we are going to offer such a wrongly entitled course, then why are we making it a requirement for all incoming students? Does all incoming students mean graduate students? Transfer students? Or just incoming freshman?

www.thefreethoughtproject.com

My fears is that you will adopt this into the curriculum, and this course will not share different viewpoints or shun the students who do not agree. Even though you do quote in the Word Document that the class will not teach students “to adopt, adhere to, agree with or support the paradigmatic approach.” But as a college graduate, this is exactly what will happen. I see it, like the political arena in many states currently, as a boiling point for the students. Certain students will be shamed into buying the “lie” that is going to be taught in this course while other students will be raising their hands in glory as they are proving that they are being biasedly successful. As a university, we are responsible for teaching students to be open to other viewpoints but not forced to take their thoughts as their own. This course could cause more strife and dilemma on campus than I think you are taking into consideration.

While I love the diversity of our campus, I have an issue where a proposal comes across the desks of educated Americans where universities have to appease the popular outspoken minority in our country. Many Americans, black, white, yellow, purple, red, and blue, do not believe that Systemic Racism even exists. I know many Americans of different skin colors who have personally told me this themselves and is offended by all this talk of Systemic Racism. In American’s culture today, color does not matter to get a job, your income level, where you live, your career path, cars you drive, and schools your children attend. You cannot tell me that in 2020 there is much racism in our country. I am not denying that there are some people that do have race issues, but majority of Americans see Americans as Americans. If you allow future generations to believe there is an issue, then you are teaching them to allow Americans with different colored skin or ethnic backgrounds to walk all over them.

 As a university, professors need to teach all Americans to take responsibility for their own behavior, but as Americans, we can learn from history on how to fight for better wages, working conditions, and/ or equality. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Cesar Chavez and the United Farmer Workers helped improved pay and the working conditions for farm laborers in California. Similarly, Martin Luther King did not want to be seen as better than other cultures. He wanted to be equal with the white man. No more separation between race and color. We have come so far since the 1960’s, but with this course, most United States universities are taking all the work they fought for and throwing it into the wind. Everyone has the opportunity and right to better their lives. Our culture, even our school, needs to treat everyone the same. If not, this is the bigger issue.

Yes, college is expensive, but any American citizen can have the same rights to attend. All students are allowed to have a college education. Some might have to take out loans; whereas, others might have a free ride with grants or scholarships. Nothing wrong with students working for a number of years, at McDonalds even, to pay for college, then go, so they do not have any debt following them after they graduate. Then they can purchase a nice home in a nice neighborhood. Have their students attend the nicer schools with more funding. All white colored Americans do not a road paved with gold bricks, like the outspoken minority wants the rest of the world to believe. Trust me, I have struggled at or barely above the poverty line for the past twenty-two years of my life. I have worked, learned, and applied for a higher paying job with benefits to make a better life for my husband and my three boys. I did not blame other races. I took responsibility for the choices I made early in my life. As a university, it is our job to teach students to be better contributors of society and take responsibilities for ALL of their actions and choices. Even the bad ones. 

A better solution than the one that you are proposing to the education community and staff of all college campuses is to teach a class entitled “Ethical Behavior.” This class can show how racism has occurred through the years. Starting with the Israelites back in Egypt. Move forward to discuss other cultures. Mexican. Italians. Native Americans. Chinese. Jews. Women. White Man. (Don’t you dare tell me that it has not happened! Watch the news!) You can have a diverse staff who focuses and traces the cultures through history that has been persecuted and forced into lower class living. You can show what has happened to their cultures now. How far have they transpired? How the students should respond to this now and in the future? Teach the students that anyone, no matter their ancestor’s background, is an American. No more African-American, no Italian American, no Native American. Why are any white-colored skin American all lumped into the white category, but they cannot claim their ancestor without being shunned? Let’s educate that there should be no bias on the color of their skins, but base their perspective on the character of the person before they judge them. Universities should teach and educate this upcoming generation about how not to be biased.

 As a university, it is your responsibility to teach these students to leave a better future. Not allow them to take a required class that will fan the flames of anger and seclusion.

 Sincerely,

Kelly Bridgewater, MA in Writing

David James Warren: Set in Stone

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Trapped in time, he’ll have to use the past to fix the present.

Thirty-eight women. Dead. All the in the past. All because Detective Rembrandt Stone played with fate, and somewhere in time unleashed a serial killer. He can’t undo their deaths, not anymore, but the serial killer is still at large, twenty-four years later, and now it’s personal. Especially when the evidence points to the last person on anyone’s radar: Rembrandt himself.
Now he’ll have to use the clues from his pasts to track down the killer in the present.

But the killer is onto him and puts the one person Rembrandt loves in his cross hairs. Now, Rembrandt must outwit time to save the people he loves.

Because time is playing for keeps.

The fourth installment of the True Lies of Rembrandt Stone will have you holding your breath and leave you gasping for more.

 

My Thoughts:

This time, in Set in Stone, Rem Stone hits the mystery a little closer than ever to his home. Solving the mystery of the Jackson Killer takes over his thoughts and his actions as Stone tries to still work through understanding the difference between what his real present life is to what he has done to change things. I can't imagine trying to figure out what is the current reality and what has changed as he has moved through the time differences. Every time Stone does something that affects what his future would be, so he tries to change it. This time, the plot does move a little closer, but of course, something goes wrong, and Stone needs to fix it. I definitely enjoy the stories, and I really believe that you need to read these stories in their published order or readers will be confused. There are two novels left in this series, and I can't wait to see what Warren does to end the series. I wonder if Stone will actually arrive back in his normal life before the time traveling started.

I received a complimentary copy of Set in Stone by David James Warren through JustRead Tours, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Purchase Set in Stone

Lynette Eason: Hostile Intent

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Ava Jackson entered the military shortly after high school, but her mother's illness has forced her to request an early discharge. She already lost her father while deployed, and there's no way she's going to let her mother die alone. But after a visit to the nursing facility where her mother lives, Ava is attacked walking back to her car. Fortunately, FBI Special Agent Caden Denning arrives in time to help fight off her attacker.

Caden reveals to Ava that she may hold the key to the murders of three families, and he needs her help before anyone else is harmed. The hits show a pattern, and clearly the killer has an agenda. But if Caden and Ava can't discover what it is, Ava may be next on the hit list.

Bestselling author Lynette Eason concludes her latest suspense-filled series with a bang as secrets are revealed and the guilty are brought to justice. 

 

My Thoughts:

Hostile Intent by Lynnette Eason is a rush through spies and Russian KGB. Suspense. Check. Hints of Romance between the heroine and hero. Check. Running for their lives. Check. Just what I want in a suspense novel. The action was definitely worth keeping an eye on. Like all of Eason's novels, the stories were well-written, and just the way I enjoy them. There is a scene with a drone. This is the first one I have encountered in a suspense novel, and I actually really enjoyed it. From the first chapter Ava and Caden were chasing the clues, hunting for the reality of why these families were dying. The romance was not over the top either. There were moments where the romance came to the front of the story, but I honestly, did not mind it. With Eason, I know this is not the whole storyline. The suspense is. Overall, Hostile Intent by Lynette Eason is a wonderful way to end this four book series. I can't honestly wait to see what she comes up with next.

I received a complimentary copy of Hostile Intent by Lynette Eason from Revell Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Purchase Hostile Intent