Terri Blackstock: Aftermath

By Kelly Bridgewater

A devastating explosion.

Three best friends are at the venue just to hear their favorite band . . . but only one of them makes it out alive.

A trunk full of planted evidence.

When police stop Dustin with a warrant to search his trunk, he knows it’s just a mistake. He’s former military and owns a security firm. But he’s horrified when they find explosives, and he can’t fathom how they got there.

An attorney who will risk it all for a friend.

Criminal attorney Jamie Powell was Dustin’s best friend growing up. They haven’t spoken since he left for basic training, but she’s the first one he thinks of when he’s arrested. Jamie knows she’s putting her career on the line by defending an accused terrorist, but she’d never abandon him. Someone is framing Dustin to take the fall for shocking acts of violence . . . but why?

 

My Thoughts:

Aftermath by Terri Blackstock is not reader’s typical romantic suspense novel. There really is not a suspenseful element that drives the story along and has the reader grasping for justice. Right away, there is an element of tension that affects the outcome of the characters. The hero is thrown for a loop and trying to stay out of jail with the help of the heroine. While there is a hunt to figure out who created the bomb and wanted it to destroy the politician, the story really centers around the characters emotions and feelings as they try to solve who set up the hero. As I was reading the story, the plot reminded me a lot of Life After by Katie Ganshert. Not a real suspense novel. Just a contemporary novel with a little bit of the uneasiness of knowing who did the damage. The person who actually set the bomb in motion had a clear motive that I could have gotten behind, but I still do not agree with how he did it. Overall, if readers enjoyed this story, then I suggest picking up Ganshert’s novel too. It is along the same storyline.

I received a complimentary copy of Aftermath by Terri Blackstock by Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Purchase Aftermath 

Terri Blackstock: Smoke Screen

By Kelly Bridgewater

One father was murdered. Another was convicted of his death. All because their children fell in love.

Nate Beckett has spent his life fighting wildfires instead of the lies and rumors that drove him from his Colorado hometown. His mother begs him to come back now that his father has been released from prison, but it isn’t until he’s sidelined by an injury that he’s forced to return and face his past. But that means facing Brenna too.

Fourteen years ago, Nate was in love with the preacher’s daughter. When Pastor Strickland discovered Brenna defied him to sneak out with Nate, the fight between Strickland and Nate’s drunken dad was loud—and very public. Strickland was found murdered later that night, and everyone accused Roy Beckett. When the church burned down not long after, people assumed Nate set the fire to get even for his father’s conviction. He let the rumors fly and left town without looking back.

Brenna is stunned to learn that the man convicted of murdering her father has been pardoned. The events of that night set her life on a bad course, and now she’s fighting a brutal custody battle with her ex and his new wife where he’s using lies and his family’s money to sway the judge. Brenna is barely hanging on, and she’s turned to alcohol to cope. Shame and fear consume her.

As Nate and Brenna deal with the present—including new information about that fateful night and a wildfire that’s threatening their town—the past keeps igniting. Nate is the steady force Brenna has so desperately needed. But she’ll have to learn to trust him again first.

From Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Suspense is definitely something I read a TON of Terri Blackstock is also an author who I have read everything she has written. So when I heard Blackstock was writing another book, I couldn't wait to get my hand on it. With her newest novel, Smoke Screen, I wouldn't really classify it as a suspense novel. There was an element of surprise in the plot, but it didn't have the spine chilling chase from something or someone that Blackstock's stories usually do. Smoke Screen reminded me a lot of Center of Gravity by Laura McNeil. A story where the main heroine is trying to cope with the loss of a marriage and what it does to her. While the suspense element, trying to find out who really killed the preacher, was there, it didn't really capture the whole story. There was romance between the heroine and hero. Something that started fourteen years ago and tried to resume in the pages of the story. I really liked how Blackstock created a safe and honorable hero who didn't take advantage of a weak woman as she moaned the lost of her marriage. Overall, Smoke Screen reminds me of a contemporary woman's fiction with a hint of suspense. Not a bad novel but not what I was expecting.

I received a complimentary copy of Smoke Screen by Terri Blackstock from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Purchase Smoke Screen

About the Author:

From Amazon

Terri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over six million copies sold worldwide. She has had over twenty-five years of success as a novelist. Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in an Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual "new kid," her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.

In 1994 Terri was writing for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening drew her into the Christian market. As she was praying about her transition, she went on a cruise and noticed that almost everyone on the boat (including her) had a John Grisham novel. It occurred to her that some of Grisham's readers were Christians, and that if she wrote a fast-paced thriller with an added faith element, she might just find her niche. As God would have it, Christian publishers were showing interest in the suspense genre, so she quickly sold a four-book series to Zondervan. Since that time, she's written over thirty Christian titles, most of them suspense novels.

Terri has appeared on national television programs such as "The 700 Club" and "Home Life," and has been a guest on numerous radio programs across the country. The story of her personal journey appears in books such as Touched By the Savior by Mike Yorkey, True Stories of Answered Prayer by Mike Nappa, Faces of Faith by John Hanna, and I Saw Him In Your Eyes by Ace Collins. (Taken from Amazon.)

Most Anticipated for Rest of 2019

By Kelly Bridgewater

Now that fall is within reach, there is a number of books coming out from now to the end of the year that I can't wait to get my hands on.

Here they are in particular order: (All images come from Goodreads, unless noted.)

The Spice King by Elizabeth Camden 

 

Diamond in the Rough by Jen Turano

 

 

 Memories of Glass by Melanie Dobson

The Painted Castle by Kristy Cambron

 

Synapse by Steven James

 

 

 Deadly Deceit by Natalie Walters

 Smoke Screen by Terri Blackstock

 Echoes Among the Stones by Jaime Jo Wright

The Piper's Pursuit by Melanie Dickerson

 

 The Bridge to Belle Island by Julie Klassen

What about you? Do you have any books to add to this collection? Are you looking forward to any of these books too?

Terri Blackstock: Catching Christmas

By Kelly Bridgewater

This Year, Christmas Comes Just in Time

As a first-year law associate, Sydney Batson knows she will be updating her resume by New Year’s if she loses her current court case. So when her grandmother gets inexplicably ill while she’s in court, Sydney arranges for a cab to get her to the clinic.

The last thing cab driver Finn Parrish wants is to be saddled with a wheelchair-bound old lady with dementia. But because Miss Callie reminds him of his own mother, whom he failed miserably in her last days, he can’t say no when she keeps calling him for rides. Once a successful gourmet chef, Finn’s biggest concern now is making his rent, but half the time Callie doesn’t remember to pay him. And as she starts to feel better, she leads him on wild goose chases to find a Christmas date for her granddaughter.

When Finn meets Sydney, he’s quite sure that she’s never needed help finding a date. Does Miss Callie have an ulterior motive, or is this just a mission driven by delusions? He’s willing to do whatever he can to help fulfill Callie’s Christmas wish. He just never expected to be a vital part of it.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

A Christmas novel in any time of the year is special. Terri Blackstock is known for writing suspense novels, but she decided to switch it up and write a contemporary feel good story that takes place during Christmas. She has written some contemporary novels before, and I have enjoyed them too. 

With Catching Christmas, Blackstock introduces me to a tale of second chances and forgiveness. Finn, the hero is a cab driver who used to be a chef who needed forgiveness for his mother's funeral. While Sydney, the heroine, is the overworked lawyer who feels bad about not taking care of her grandmother. The story has a happy storyline and a feel good ending but not passing through some sad moments first. The romance sprinkled through the ending felt nice and not overwhelming. I enjoyed the story and am glad that I spent the time with it. This is a sweet little novel that took no time to finish. I recommend this novel to fans of Karen Kingsbury and Melissa Tagg's Christmas novels. This story would fit right in.

I received a complimentary copy of Catching Christmas by Terri Blackstock from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

About the Author:

From Amazon

Terri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over six million copies sold worldwide. She has had over twenty-five years of success as a novelist. Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in an Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual "new kid," her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.

In 1994 Terri was writing for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening drew her into the Christian market. As she was praying about her transition, she went on a cruise and noticed that almost everyone on the boat (including her) had a John Grisham novel. It occurred to her that some of Grisham's readers were Christians, and that if she wrote a fast-paced thriller with an added faith element, she might just find her niche. As God would have it, Christian publishers were showing interest in the suspense genre, so she quickly sold a four-book series to Zondervan. Since that time, she's written over thirty Christian titles, most of them suspense novels.

Besides entertaining her readers, Terri tackles issues that she hopes will change lives. Her recent book, Predator, was inspired by her experiences on Facebook and Twitter, and her concern that people posted too much personal information about themselves. The book deals with an online predator who uses social networks as his playground. She hopes the book will change readers' online habits. Her New York Times best-seller, Intervention, was inspired by her own personal struggles with a daughter on drugs. In the book, a mother hires an interventionist for her drug-addicted daughter. But on the way to treatment, the interventionist is murdered, and the daughter disappears. Barbara, the mother, sets out to search for her daughter. Terri modeled Barbara after herself, and poured many of her own emotions and experiences into that character. As a result, many families experiencing drug addiction have written to thank her for telling their story and giving them hope.

Other recent books include her stand-alone novel Shadow in Serenity, and Vicious Cycle (Book 2 in her Intervention Series). She's also known for popular series such as the Restoration Series, the Cape Refuge Series, the Newpointe 911 Series, and the SunCoast Chronicles series.

Terri has appeared on national television programs such as "The 700 Club" and "Home Life," and has been a guest on numerous radio programs across the country. The story of her personal journey appears in books such as Touched By the Savior by Mike Yorkey, True Stories of Answered Prayer by Mike Nappa, Faces of Faith by John Hanna, and I Saw Him In Your Eyes by Ace Collins. (Taken from Amazon.)

Terri Blackstock: If I Live

By Kelly Bridgewater

THE HUNT IS ALMOST OVER.

Casey Cox is still on the run after being indicted for murder. The hunt that began with her bloody footprints escalates, and she’s running out of places to hide. Her face is all over the news, and her disguises are no longer enough. It’s only a matter of time before someone recognizes her.

Dylan Roberts, the investigator who once hunted her, is now her only hope. Terrifying attempts on Dylan’s life could force Casey out of hiding. The clock is ticking on both their lives, but exposing the real killers is more complicated than they knew. Amassing the evidence to convict their enemies draws Dylan and Casey together, but their relationship has consequences. Will one life have to be sacrificed to protect the other?

With If I Live, Terri Blackstock takes us on one more heart-stopping chase in the sensational conclusion to the If I Run series.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

Not that long ago, I wrote a blog post about why suspense authors can't carry the suspense over one book. Television shows do it every season, so why can't books do the same thing. Terri Blackstock took the idea of a suspense that carries over three books, and I have loved them all.

The plot moved very fast with the final conclusion to Blackstock's If I Run series, If I Live. Just like the previous two books, Casey Clark was on the run from the law and didn't know who to trust. I really enjoyed following and getting to know Casey as she star lighted in three different novels. In If I Live, just when I thought the novel was completed, Blackstock threw a twist in the plan and made Casey and me struggle a little more to that moment of happiness. I really enjoyed that. This third book was worth waiting for. I stayed up really late finishing the book in one day. It was great.

Through the entire three novels, I watched as Casey finally learned to trust God and give all her struggles over to him. She learned to lean on him and see his movement in her dire situations. Her transformation story was really cool to watch. Blackstock's ability to dig deep into what it really means to hunt and surrender to God stroke a cord with me.

Dylan is a huge character in the final book. I think he gets more air time in the If I Live than Casey does. He works really hard to free her, so he can spend the rest of his life getting to know her. He was a strong, honorable man of God. I liked him as a hero. He grew on me.

The romance developed over the three novels, and I liked how Casey and Dylan had to learn to trust each other and started to fall in love with each other by the end of the series. I really enjoyed how Dylan didn't want to rush the relationship at the end because he understood that relationships that start under dire circumstances might not last. He wanted to take it slow and get to understand the real Casey. That was realistic.

Overall, If I Live by Terri Blackstock is a fast-pace thrilling ending to a three book suspense series with an admirable heroine and a hero worth waiting for. I really enjoyed this series. Now I need to sit down and read all three of them in a row to fully grasp the story.  Fans of Lynette Eason, I believe, would love this series. I really hope more suspense writers create a story that lasts more than one novel.

I received a complimentary copy of If I Live by Terri Blackstock from Zondervan Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars