Becky Wade: A Love Like Ours

By Kelly Bridgewater

Back Cover Copy:

Former Marine Jake Porter has far deeper scars than the one that marks his face. He struggles with symptoms of PTSD, lives a solitary life, and avoids relationships.

When Lyndie James, Jake's childhood best friend, lands back in Holley, Texas, Jake cautiously hires her to exercise his Thoroughbreds. Lyndie is tender-hearted, fiercely determined, and afraid of nothing, just like she was as a child. Jake pairs her with Silver Leaf, a horse full of promise but lacking in results, hoping she can solve the mystery of the stallion's reluctance to run.

Though Jake and Lyndie have grown into very different adults, the bond that existed during their childhood still ties them together. Against Jake's will, Lyndie's sparkling, optimistic personality begins to tear down the walls he's built around his heart. A glimmer of the hope he'd thought he'd lost returns, but fears and regrets still plague him. Will Jake ever be able to love Lyndie like she deserves, or is his heart too shattered to mend?

My Review:

I personally met Becky Wade at the 2014 ACFW conference in St. Louis. What a truly nice and approachable lady. She wrapped me in a hug and listened intently to everything I had to say. So when I found out she was writing another book in her Porter family series, I couldn’t wait to read it.

Wade’s writing is excellent. I feel like I’m right there with the characters, dealing with their personal struggles, thoughts and dilemmas. She does a great job at inviting her readers into the characters internally. The story is grammatical sound with an even amount of prose and dialogue. No head hopping between characters. I always knew which character I was following and never got lost once in the story.

Former Marine Jake Porter is my favorite character of A Love Like Ours. He suffers daily from PTSD and doesn’t spend a lot of time with people. The only relationship he thinks about is the relationship with Lyndie, his former friend. But Jake believes he allowed his former Marinemates down, so he hides from everyone. The continuing transformation in Jake was nice to watch, and Wade has proven her research into PTSD and made it come alive in Jake’s character.

As for Lyndie, I really enjoyed her love and compassion for her family, Jake, and her horses. Lyndie never gives up hope in any of them and is a truly wonderful woman of God. She has such a passion to see the better in everyone, including Jake. I liked her as a heroine.

My only gripe with the story was the pace of the story. The prologue that shows Jake and Lyndie as little kids grips me instantly and draws me into the adult relationship between the two. But for this suspense loving person who loves action in her story, the story dragged a lot in the middle. I kept skimming pages and flipping forward, and I never really missed anything that happened in the plot.

In short, Becky Wade’s newest book, A Love Like Ours has a hero that I loved spending more time with after reading her preceding two books in the Porter family series. I loved Wade’s writing, but the pace dragged in the middle for me. Fans of Beth K. Vogt, Janice Thompson, Katie Ganshert, and Melissa Tagg would devour this book.

I received a complimentary copy from Bethany House and all opinions are mine.

Becky Wade’s Writing Bio:

During her childhood in California, Becky frequently produced homemade plays starring her sisters, friends, and cousins. These plays almost always featured a heroine, a prince, and a love story with a happy ending. She's been a fan of all things romantic ever since.

Becky and her husband lived overseas in the Caribbean and Australia before settling in Dallas, Texas. It was during her years abroad that Becky's passion for reading turned into a passion for writing. She published three historical romances with Avon Books, then put her career on hold for several years to care for her kids, then recently returned to writing sheerly for the love of it. She felt led to move to the genre of contemporary Christian romance and couldn't be more thrilled with it. 

These days Becky can be found failing but trying to keep up with her housework, sweating at the gym, carting her kids around town, playing tennis, hunched over her computer, eating chocolate, or collapsed on the sofa watching TV with her husband.

Taken from Becky Wade's Facebook Profile Picture

Where to connect with Becky Wade:

Personal Website

Facebook

Where to purchase A Love Like Ours:

Amazon

Barnes and Nobles

Christianbook

Your local favorite bookstore

What aspect of a hero do you find necessary to keep your attention?

Dee Henderson: Taken

By Kelly Bridgewater

From Amazon

Back Cover Copy:

An investigator who knows tragic loss firsthand, and his new client, missing far too long...

Abducted at the age of sixteen and coerced into assisting the Jacoby crime family, Shannon Bliss has finally found a way out. She desperately wants to resume some semblance of normal life, but she also knows she has some unfinished business to attend to. She might have enough evidence to put her captors behind bars for a very long time.

When Shannon contacts private investigator Matthew Dane, a former cop, to help her navigate her reentry into society, he quickly discovers that gaining her freedom doesn't mean her troubles are over. If the Jacoby family learns she is still alive, they'll stop at nothing to silence her.

If justice is to be done, and if Shannon's life is ever to get on track again, Matthew will need to discover exactly what happened to her--even if it means stirring up a hornet's nest of secrets.

My Thoughts: 

When I think of romantic suspense, I think of Dee Henderson. She was the first author I was ever read who combined my love of mysteries and Christian fiction into one genre. I discovered her O’Malley series when I was working at a local Christian bookstore (they allowed us to check out the books on the shelf—great gig!), and that and her Uncommon Heroes series really set my personal standard for romantic suspense. But recent books haven't hit the same mark for me, and sadly, that includes Taken.


Characters ultimately make or break a novel for me. In Taken, Shannon Bliss was the abductee, but Matthew Dane, a forty-two-year-old father of an abducted child, was the only point-of-view character. And all the while I was reading, that was a problem for me: I kept wondering, "Why is Matthew the one telling this story? It is not his story; it’s Shannon’s." The book would have been much stronger for me if I'd been allowed inside Shannon's point-of-view, to see her hurts and fears from the inside-out (Henderson's previous abduction-survivor story, Danger in the Shadows, did this really well). Instead, having the story delivered to me from only Matthew’s perspective, I felt distanced from the actual abduction and the pain Shannon felt.

Henderson’s writing did allow me to fully grasp the action. The scenes flowed smoothly, allowing me to follow the unfolding story of Shannon’s abduction. The dialogue sounded natural, reflecting each character, and as evidenced in Matthew’s manners, Henderson clearly did her research when it comes to gaining the trust of an abducted victim. And the book started off strong, promising lots of layers and drama, but it ultimately felt slow and didn't fully hold my interest. It just didn't have the same page-turning, can't-put-it-down excitement than I've loved about many of Henderson's previous books. All the conflict in Taken felt like it happened before the book started. I kept waiting for some terrible trouble to befall Shannon, but in the end, I never once felt truly scared for her. Another problem I had was that, for a romantic suspense novel, there wasn't a lot of romantic tension. The relationship between Shannon and Matthew reminded me more of a father-daughter relationship, especially the way Matthew kept referring to his past experience with his own daughter's abduction. That made the romance thread of this story a bit awkward for me.

The spiritual message in this book also felt a bit too heavy-handed. When Shannon and Matthew talked about God, it felt quite preachy, and while Shannon's concept of God might be pretty interesting to believers, I'm not sure I can recommend this one to my non-Christian family and friends. But there was no questionable content in this story, and I would recommend it to Christian readers of all ages.

Overall, readers who are brand new to Dee Henderson might find a lot to enjoy about Taken, but fans of her earlier series may feel, as I did, that the storytelling just isn't as mysterious, fast-moving, and exciting as it used to be. With the wrong person telling the story, an awkward romantic thread, and the central conflict actually happening before the story even began, I was sadly disappointed with Taken.

I received a complimentary copy of Taken from Bethany House and the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Deception on Sable Hill by Shelley Gray

By Kelly Bridgewater

Back Cover Copy:

The World’s Fair has introduced many new ideas to Chicago society—but can two individuals from very different backgrounds find love together?
It’s mid-September 1893 and Eloisa Carstairs is the reigning debutant of Gilded Age Chicago society. To outsiders she appears to have it all. But Eloisa is living with a dark secret. Several months ago, she endured a horrible assault at the hands of Douglass Sloane, heir to one of Chicago’s wealthiest families. Fearing the loss of her reputation, Eloisa confided in only one friend. That is, until she meets Detective Sean Ryan at a high-society ball.
Sean is on the fringes of the Chicago elite. Born into a poor Irish family, becoming a policeman was his best opportunity to ensure his future security. Despite social boundaries, he is enamored with Eloisa Carstairs. Sean will do anything to keep her safe—even if he can never earn her affections.
Eloisa longs to feel normal again, but a killer is on the loose. In the last month, three debutants have been accosted by an assailant wielding a knife, and Eloisa fears for her safety at every event she attends. As the danger in the city increases, and as the romance between Eloisa and Sean blossoms, they both realize they want to be seen as more than how the world views them. But will they catch the killer before all their hopes come crashing down?

My Review:
I enjoy reading mysteries centered in the late Victorian Era. Even though most of the books I have read and heard of come from Victorian England, not in America. Sherlock Holmes. Jack the Ripper. But when I saw the notice for a mystery series surrounding around the World’s Fair in Chicago during the same time period, my interest was piqued. What was going on American during this time frame? I did not know, but I couldn’t wait to find out by reading this new mystery series by Shelley Gray.
The idea of a Society Slasher going around slashing woman to scar them and then up the dealings to murder later in the book reminded me a lot of Jack the Ripper who killed prostitutes. Deception on Sable Hill occurs five years after Jack the Ripper made his mark on the London community. While the identity of Jack the Ripper was never truly found, the identity of the Society Slasher does come to light at the end of the book. Gray did a good job at keeping the identity of the Slasher hidden. I kept believing the murder was someone. I followed all the clues, but even, I was proven wrong. That is the markings of a good story teller.
The characters make or break the book. Sean Ryan is an enjoyable hero because he wants to improve himself and rise above his humble beginnings. He worked his way up the chain of command in the police force and is respected by many. Eloisa Carstairs, our heroine, feels safe with Sean Ryan around, even so far enough to tell him the dark incident in her past. I enjoyed following Sean through the story, and Eloisa is an admirable heroine because she sees past the social status and views Sean for who he really is. A loving, caring man who will do anything to protect her.
Overall, Shelley Gray, in her second book of the Chicago World’s Fair Mystery Series Deception on Sable Hill does a great job at recreating a Victorian mystery that will keep readers, either historical or mystery lovers, up all night, flipping through the pages hoping to find out who the Society Slasher is.
I received a complimentary copy from Zondervan through Netgalley and the opinions stated are all my own.

From About Shelley on her personal Website

Where to connect with Shelley Gray:

Facebook

Author’s Personal Website

Pinterest

Goodreads

Where to purchase her books:

Amazon

Christianbook

Barnes and Nobles

Do you enjoy historical suspense fiction? What other authors have you found in this genre?

Ronie Kendig: Falcon

By Kelly Bridgewater

From Amazon

Back Cover Copy:

Special Forces operator Salvatore “Falcon” Russo vowed to never again speak to or trust Lieutenant Cassandra Walker after a tragedy four years ago. But as Raptor closes in on the cyber terrorists responsible for killing two of their own, Sal must put his life—and the lives of his teammates—in her hands. Despite his anger, Cassie is ill-prepared for his resistance and the fallout when she must protect the one asset who can end the attacks. As allies become enemies and hostiles become unlikely partners, Raptor fights for its very existence.

My Thoughts:

I have read a good chunk of Ronie Kendig’s military fiction, so I couldn’t wait to read Falcon. I enjoy how Kendig mixes her life with the military into a romantic suspense book that grips me from the first page. After finishing Falcon, I still believe Kendig’s writing is at the top of her game and pray for God to keep blessing her writing talents for him.

One of my favorite things about Kendig’s writing is her ability to create the military world in Afghanistan to come to life for me. I have never been in that country, but she describes the sandy, desolate place in such great detail that the falling apart buildings and the hurting people who live there come to life in my imagination. Kendig does a great job with knowing the terminology and the inner-workings of a military soldier that I believe everything she states about the characters populating the book. Kendig’s love and respect for our military shine in every aspect of the book.

In the Quiet Professionals, Kendig has introduced all three heroes and brought them back in each book, begging me to feel that connection with them again. In the first two books, Raptor and Hawk, I met Falcon but really didn’t know how he ticked, but Kendig dwelled deep into the inner pain and struggles of Falcon. I liked learning and empathizing with Falcon as I watched him struggle with his pain and guilt from the past. As for the heroine, Lieutenant Cassandra Walker, Kendig made me care about the dilemmas from the past that haunt her as she tore her way through the book. The transformation through forgiveness and allowing God to change the individual characters struck a chord with me. The mention of God is not heavy handed or preaching. I believe a secular reader could enjoy the book and not be smacked upside the head with a Sunday School lesson.

Another area of Kendig’s work that I truly enjoy is her ability to dig deep into the character’s emotions and body languages through her writing. With every thought and dialogue, Kendig truly shows how observant she is of the human race. In my humble opinion, I believe her characters have some of the deepest emotions in book form today. Speaking of her writing, the story starts off with an incident, which throws all the characters into action and keeps piling higher and deeper as the story progresses. When I thought Kendig would give a break, she doesn’t, another horrible moment occurs to the characters, keeping me glued to the plot.

To go along with her writing is Kendig’s ability to create external and internal tension in the story. First, the external conflict affecting the Raptors is high-paced and surprising. As the external devices squeeze tighter so does the internal romantic tension between Falcon and Cassie. I like how Kendig made Falcon and Cassie have a past that appears impossible to get passed. It rang true to me like a real relationship with pains and sorrows.

Just as a warning, there are some moments of torture and beatings, which is evident from America’s enemies. I would take caution in allowing even my teenager to read the book. Kendig does a good job at describing the pain and torture, so it might be hard for younger readers to embrace those moments.

Falcon is formulaic and typical of Kendig’s writing style but that is why I return to her books over and over. I know what to expect and look forward to returning to the inner workings of the military without feeling like I have to be a soldier to understand what is happening. Being original and completely unpredictable, I got swept up in the story and couldn’t wait to finish the book. Who needs sleep, anyways? Fans of Don Brown, Lynette Eason, and Janice Cantore would love this book. I truly enjoyed it and will be sharing the book with many of my suspense-loving friends.

Overall, Ronie Kendig’s Falcon  invited me in for a inside look into the world of the military and kept me spellbound with her depth of the character’s emotions and the horrific tension between the opposing sides, but Kendig redeems herself with the realistic, sweet romance between Falcon and Cassie.

I received a complimentary copy of Falcon from Shiloh Run Press and the opinions stated are all my own.  

My Rating:  5 out of 5 stars

Sarah E. Morin: Waking Beauty

By Kelly Bridgewater

From Amazon

Back Cover Copy:

What if the Sleeping Beauty Refused to Wake Up?

The rescue wasn't going at all how he planned. Prince Arpien intends to gain a throne and the sleeping beauty's heart with a single kiss that wakes her from the evil fairy's curse. But kissing the princess is only the beginning of a series of unforeseen obstacles: man-eating bugs, deadly spindles, talking lapdogs, and fiery pickles. The sleeping beauty is the biggest complication of all.

Princess Brierly is beautiful and Fairy-Gifted, but also...daft. After one hundred years of sleep imprisonment, Brierly refuses to believe this rescue is anything more than a tantalizing but doomed dream.

Arpien is drawn to the vibrancy beneath Brierly's indifferent exterior. Can they reclaim her kingdom? Do they dare trust in the Prince of the old tales to help them battle the evil fairy who cursed Brierly? What is the price of waking beauty?

My Thoughts:

During the Zone breakfast at the 2014 ACFW Conference in St. Louis, I sat down with the Indiana Chapter of ACFW’s president, Rick Barry. A beautiful woman with blonde hair named Sarah E. Morin sat down next to me. We started talking about what we wrote. She was a finalist for the Genesis award this year. I learned about Waking Beauty, and Morin intrigued me. When I found out the book was being published, I contacted Morin and asked if I could review it for her. Waking Beauty does everything a young adult fairy tale book should do.

Fairytales have been rapidly popular lately with shows like Once Upon a Time; movies like Frozen; and books like Melanie Dickerson. I believe fairy tales capture our imagination because readers think they understand the popular stories, and we want to see what others can dream up. One of my favorite things about Morin’s book, Waking Beauty, besides the beautiful cover, is the visual story world that Morin paints for me. As Prince Arpien rescues Princess Brierly, I pictured the cobwebs, dusty indentions on the pillow, and her pink rose gown. It was visually stunning.

The writing is accurate and grammatically sound. In honor of the writing of 1812, Morin follows the same type of pattern with her prose and dialogue. There is more prose than dialogue, which sometimes make the story hard to plow through. Today, books are more dialogue than prose. Not that I mind it because I was still swept up in the action, but be warned. With this in mind, the story starts off with the exciting kiss and then it kind of slows down in the middle before picking up to a happy ending.

Prince Arpien is a tall, broad-shouldered, narrow waisted man with kind eyes who is passionate, sensitive, clever, heroic, and romantic. He is the type of Prince Charming that I believe every girl would like to come rescue them. He is easy on the eyes and shows chivalry. While Princess Brierly first comes off as an air-head because she has been asleep for the past hundred years, she eventually transforms into a heroine who wants to save her people from the evil fairy, Voracity.

The conflict stems from a series of external events that prevent Brierly and Arpien from progressing on their journey to happiness. The most pressing external conflict is Arpein trying to convince Brierly that she has woken up and lives in reality. On the other hand, Arpien is trying to keep the kingdom from falling into the wrong hands. While the Disney version has Sleeping Beauty and Prince Philip fall in love the moment he wakes her, Arpien has to woo Brierly back to reality and to his noble intentions.

Waking Beauty had no questionable content just like most fairy tales don’t. Morin really use the Thorn King as a spiritual allegory, but it is not preachy at all. I truly enjoyed the ending where the spiritual elements came to reality. Waking Beauty is a unique and unpredictable twist on a fairy tale that most people are familiar with, allowing me to rethink what I know. Anyone who is a fan of Once Upon a Time or Melanie Dickerson’s novels would enjoy this book. I spent many hours lost in the land of Boxleyn, wandering along reality and dream world with Brierly and truly enjoyed it.

I received a complimentary copy of Waking Beauty from Sarah E. Morin and the opinions stated are all my own. 

My Rating:  3.5 out of 5 stars

Chance of Loving You

By Kelly Bridgewater

Back Cover Copy:

An anthology by three bestselling romance authors

For Love of Money by Terri Blackstock Trying to launch her own design firm while waitressing on the side, Julie Sheffield was drawn to the kind man she waited on at the restaurant last night . . . until he stiffed her on the tip by leaving her half of a sweepstakes ticket.

The Recipe by Candace Calvert Hospital dietary assistant Aimee Curran is determined to win the Vegan Valentine Bake-Off to prove she’s finally found her calling. But while caring for one of her patients—the elderly grandmother of a handsome CSI photographer—Aimee begins to question where she belongs.

Hook, Line & Sinker by Susan May Warren Grad student Abigail Cushman has agreed to enter the annual Deep Haven fishing contest. She’s a quick learner, even if she doesn’t know the difference between a bass and a trout. But nothing could prepare her for competing against the handsome charmer she’s tried to forget since grief tore them apart.

One chance for each woman to change her life . . . but will love be the real prize?

My Review:

Chance of Loving You is an anthology by three bestselling romance authors, including Terri Blackstock, Susan May Warren, and Candace Calvert. I am a huge fan of all of their writings individually, so when I found out they were teaming up to write a book together with common themes, I couldn’t wait to get my hand on a copy.

This sweet anthology features three couples who run into each other: one after many years and the other two were first encounters. The idea of three couples falling in love after meeting seemed like a good idea. Happens all the time.

The story by Candace Calvert, “The Recipe” was my favorite story. I truly enjoyed how Lucas and Aimee had a connection with strawberries. Lucas’s grandmother used to paint strawberries while Lucas was fascinated his grandparents’ love story and has been recording it through photography for years. Aimee, however, has enjoyed how her mother used to make this Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble for her birthday.

The nursery home story world created a nice feeling to grab the affection and interest of Lucas and Aimee. I enjoyed watching the transformation of Aimee and Lucas by the story’s end.

While “The Recipe” was my most favorite novella of the collection, “The Love of Money” by Terri Blackstock seemed unrealistic. Blackstock is known for her romantic suspense, so I think she should stick to that. “The Love of Money” has Julie and Blake winning twenty thousand dollars and deciding how much it can change them. I had a hard time swallowing the concept behind the story. Plus, the romance between Julie and Blake was too fast for my taste. I don’t even think Julie and Blake really like each other. The money tied them together.

I read “Hook, Line, and Sinker” by Susan May Warren before. It has way too much fish terminology that I forget that I’m reading a contemporary romance novel in the process. Being a huge fan of Susan May Warren, this is a short novella that I would have a hard time recommending to my friends.

Overall, Chance of Loving You by three best-selling authors has one enjoyable story while the other two really didn’t capture my attention.

I received a complimentary copy of Chance of Loving You from Tyndale Publishing and the opinions stated are all my own.

Each author’s Bio Links:

Author Terri Blackstock - view author info
Author Susan May Warren - view author info
Author Candace Calvert - view author info

  

Where to purchase Chance of Loving You:

Amazon

Barnes and Nobles

Christianbook

Your Local Favorite Bookstore

What aspects of reading a an anthology by three bestselling romance authors appeal to you?