Christy Barritt: Gaffe Out Loud

By Kelly Bridgewater

Actress Joey Darling is beginning a new season . . . of her TV show and her life.

Joey Darling’s life is finally on track. Her hit series has been picked up by a new network, her relationship with Detective Jackson Sullivan couldn’t be better, and she’s even bought a house. But right after taking possession, Joey discovers a dead body upstairs.

Joey knows she won’t have any peace until she figures out why a dead woman was left at her house and who killed her. And she desperately needs peace as the “normal” life she’s trying to establish quickly progresses from great to the brink of collapse.

The countdown is ticking as Joey must soon leave to begin filming. But one gaffe after another slows her investigation and makes her question her choices. The closer Joey gets to answers, the more someone is determined to make sure this season of her life is canceled—permanently.

From Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Reading a Christy Barritt novel is like returning to a family reunion after a couple months away. I get swept up into the character's lives right where Barritt left them in the last book. I watched the characters move forward, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worst. I enjoy returning to familiar characters and familiar settings. Barritt is also a wonderful creator of cozy mysteries. All of her mysteries are different and unique. I don't know how she does it. As for me, her newest book in the Joey Darling series, Gaffe Out Loud, had a mystery element I didn't see coming, but I thoroughly enjoyed the hunt as Joey and Jackson worked together on their relationship and the hunt for clues. The story moved quickly, and I was sad to see another Barritt novel end, but I know Barritt will write more, so it lifts my spirit. I recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of any of Barritt's previous 

novels or enjoy a good mystery to pass the time.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

From Amazon

About the Author:

USA Today has called Christy Barritt's books "scary, funny, passionate, and quirky."

A Publishers Weekly best-seller, Christy writes both mystery and romantic suspense novels that are clean with underlying messages of faith. Her books have won the Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Suspense and Mystery, have been twice nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, and have finaled for both a Carol Award and Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year.

She's married to her prince charming, a man who thinks she's hilarious--but only when she's not trying to be. Christy's a self-proclaimed klutz, an avid music lover who's known for spontaneously bursting into song, and a road trip aficionado.

Christy currently splits her time between the Virginia suburbs and Hatteras Island, North Carolina. She has more than fifty books published with over one million copies sold.

For more information, visit her website: www.christybarritt.com. (Taken from Amazon.)

First in Series

By Kelly Bridgewater

Have you ever picked a book that happened to be the first book in a series and loved it, anxiously waiting for the second or third or even more to be published?

I have.

Below I have attached images of the books that are the first in a series that had gotten me hooked on the author's writing. (All covers come from Amazon unless noted.)

Hazardous Duty by Christy Barritt



Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman

 

Irish Meadows by Susan Anne Mason



Happily Ever After by Susan May Warren

 

The Road to Paradise by Karen Barnett



A Cry from the Dust by Carrie Stuart Parks

 


 Submerged by Dani Pettrey



For Such a Time by Kate Breslin

 
Thanks!

Feel free to add some more authors who their first books in a series captured your imagination.

Christy Barritt: Dangerous Waters

By Kelly Bridgewater

Danger lurks on the horizon, leaving only two choices: find shelter or flee. Cassidy Livingston’s new identity has begun to feel as comfortable as her favorite sweater. She’s been tucked away on Lantern Beach for weeks, waiting to testify against a deadly gang, and is settling in to a new life she wants to last forever. When she thinks she spots someone malevolent from her past, panic swells inside her. If an enemy has found her, Cassidy won’t be the only one who’s a target. Everyone she’s come to love will also be at risk. Dangerous waters threaten to pull her into an overpowering chasm she may never escape. Can Cassidy survive what lies ahead? Or has the tide fatally turned against her?

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

Christy Barritt has done it again. Dangerous Waters is a great addition to her Lantern Beach series. I could say this is my favorite book in the series. What Barritt has been leading up to has finally happened. Someone from Cassidy's past has come and found her. The entire story is one non-stop case to prove Cassidy's greatest fear. Barritt does leave me guessing on some issues that I have a suspicion on how the series might end, but I'll see how she writes it. I really enjoyed this installment. If you haven't read any of the previous three books, I believe, you won't feel lost, but you will definitely be taken for a joy ride of suspense sprinkled with a romance. I really enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to see what else Barritt comes up with.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Christy Barritt: Storm Surge

By Kelly Bridgewater

A storm is brewing hundreds of miles away, but its effects are devastating even from afar. Laid-back and light: that's Cassidy Livingston's new motto. But when a makeshift boat with a bloody cloth inside washes ashore near her oceanfront home, her detective instincts shift into gear . . . again. Seeking clues isn't the only thing on her mind-romance is heating up with next-door neighbor and former Navy SEAL Ty Chambers as well. Her heart wants the love and stability she's longed for her entire life. But her hidden identity only leads to a tidal wave of turbulence. As more answers emerge about the boat, the danger around her rises, creating a treacherous swell that threatens to reveal her past. Can Cassidy mind her own business, or will the storm surge of violence and corruption that has washed ashore on Lantern Beach leave her life in wreckage?

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

Storm Surge by Christy Barritt is an awesome addition to her Lantern Beach series. With the return of Cassidy and Ty, the mystery jumps off the page with the addition of a raft coming on shore. Cassidy is on the hunt for the people in the boat, so of course, she has to jump and look for clues without giving away her true identity again. Ty is taken to the hospital in the first couple of chapters, throwing Cassidy for a while ride on a rollercoaster of emotions. The suspense flies as the mystery comes close to home, and Cassidy has to once again save the day. I read the story in a little over a couple of hours. A great way to spend the afternoon. I keep looking forward to everything Barritt writes. She knows the needs and wants of a good mystery. I highly recommend anything she has written. I enjoyed this quick read and can't wait for the next installment coming out in April 2018.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Christy Barritt: Flood Watch

By Kelly Bridgewater

The tide is high, and so is the danger on Lantern Beach.

Still in hiding after infiltrating a dangerous gang, Cassidy Livingston just has to make it a few more months before she can testify at trial and resume her old life. But trouble keeps finding her, and Cassidy is pulled into a local investigation after a man mysteriously disappears from the island she now calls home.

A recurring nightmare from her time undercover only muddies things, as does a visit from the parents of her handsome ex-Navy SEAL neighbor. When a friend's life is threatened, Cassidy must make choices that put her on the verge of blowing her cover.
With a flood watch on her emotions and her life in a tangle, will Cassidy find the truth? Or will her past finally drown her?

www.christybarritt.com

My Thoughts:

Flood Watch is the second book in the Lantern Beach series by Christy Barritt with Hidden Currents being the first book. You can read Flood Watch without actually reading Hidden Currents. But there is information in the first one to explain why Cassidy is at Lantern Beach, even though Barritt does hint about the reasons in Flood Watch. The romance between Cassidy and Ty's kicks-up a notch when Ty's parents drop by unexpectedly, and Ty asks Cassidy to pretend to be his girlfriend. Funny things happen. Romantic things happen. Arguments happens. Just like I expect from Cassidy and Ty. While they are figuring out their emotions for each other, a missing produce man comes onto the scene and figures the death at Skye, their friend. The hunt is afoot. Cassidy and Ty work together to try to solve the mystery. Around every turn, something goes wrong, and Cassidy tries really hard not to give her real self away to anyone. I really enjoyed the quick and easy to read mystery. I finished it one evening. I figured out the bad guy before Barritt told me but don't worry. It doesn't ruin the story. I really enjoyed this story and can't wait for Storm Surge, which releases next month.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars