Shelley Shephard Gray: An Uncommon Protector

By Kelly Bridgewater

Overwhelmed by the responsibilities of running a ranch on her own, Laurel Tracey decides to hire a convict—a man who’s just scary enough to take care of squatters and just desperate enough to agree to a one year post.

The years following the war have been hard on Laurel Tracey. Both her brother and her father died in battle, and her mother passed away shortly after receiving word of their demise. Laurel has been trying to run her two hundred acre ranch as best she can.

When she discovers that squatters have settled in her north pasture and have no intention of leaving, Laurel decides to use the last of her money to free a prisoner from the local jail. If she agrees to offer him room and board for one year, he will have to work for her to pay off his debt.

Former soldier Thomas Baker knows he’s in trouble when he finds himself jailed because he couldn’t pay a few fines. Laurel’s offer might be his only ticket out. Though she’s everything he ever dreamed of in a woman—sweet and tender-hearted, yet strong—he’s determined to remain detached, work hard on her behalf, and count the days until he’s free again.

But when cattle start dying and Laurel’s life is threatened, Thomas realizes more than just his freedom is on the line. Laurel needs someone to believe in her and protect her property. And it isn’t long before Laurel realizes that Thomas Baker is far more than just a former soldier. He’s a trustworthy hero, and he needs more than just his freedom—he needs her love and care too.

www.fictiondb.com

My Thoughts:

After reading Shelley Shepard Gray's Chicago World's Fair Mystery series and being pleased with two out of three of them, I had a good idea of how Gray writes. She invites me into the historical setting with no problem. I could picture the setting and see the characters moving around. I understood the character's plight and emotions. While the story is predictable and non-original, I did like the hero who was a "bad" guy turned right, even though I believe his crime that put him in prison wasn't that horrible. Since it is a historical romance, I knew right away that Laurel and Thomas would fall in love and end up married. While the plot idea of someone wanting to scare Laurel off her hundred acres has been overdone, I did enjoy the time I spent reading the story. Once the bad guy was revealed to Laurel and Thomas, it was a quick hand trick and the bad guy was hauled off to jail. I hoped for a better stand-off, but Gray didn't give me one. An Uncommon Protector is a great book for fans of historical romances right after the Civil War. While I prefer to read something with more suspense in it, Gray does a good job at weaving together a story that I enjoyed.

I received a complimentary copy of An Uncommon Protector from Zondervan Publishing and the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

What makes you pick up a book that is out of your genre of choice? Is it the cover? The synopsis? A recommendation?

Dani Pettrey: Stil LIfe

By Kelly Bridgewater

Blacklisted in the photography business over a controversial shot, Avery Tate answered an ad for a crime scene photographer. She expected to be laughed at, but crime scene analyst Parker Mitchell hired her outright--and changed her life. But six months ago, when her feelings for Parker became too strong, she left his employ to sort out her heart.

Now, for the first time, Avery is facing the world that rejected her to attend the gallery opening of a photography exhibit and support her best friend, who modeled for the show. But the only image of her friend is a chilling photo of her posing as if dead--and the photographer insists he didn't take the shot. Worse, her friend can't be found. She immediately calls Parker for help. As Avery, Parker, and his friends in law enforcement dig into the mystery, they find themselves face-to-face with a relentless and deadly threat.

From Amazon

My Review:

I really enjoyed Dani Pettrey's Alaskan Courage Series and couldn't wait to see what else happens with her writing. After reading Cold Shot, I enjoyed seeing the friends work together to solve crimes and hoped to see more of their relationship.  When I spend a couple of hours reading a mystery, suspense, or romantic suspense, I want to be taken away on a fast pace journey to solve a murder. I, also, want to see a romance that is evident on the page but isn't the focus of the story. I want the romance to deepen the characters.

Pettrey starts the story with a bang and moves along at a nice clip. There were moments were the romance took over and made me want to return to the mystery solving part of the story. Pettrey does follow the clues and keeps asking different people who fingerprints show up at different crime scenes. Her research into the world of art and the suspense elements flowed seamlessly across the story. I never once was taken out of the story and wonder if what she wrote was true or not.

The writing was clear and concise. I stayed in the point of view characters for each scene and completely empathized with each individual character. Through the four different characters solving two different crimes, I understood and enjoyed spending more time with them. As for the characters, no one really matured and grew in the story. No one became a better person by the end. No one's relationship with God was changed for the better or worse. All the characters started one way and ended the same. I wished there was more character development in each individual characters.

As for the plot, there were two plots to keep suspense lovers happy. There was a terror threat and a dead body. I really liked the dead body story. It flowed nicely and kept moving. On the other hand, the terror threat story doesn't come until about fifty percent through the story, and it didn't fit right with the story. It felt like Pettrey needed something to fill her story, so she threw in another twist from left field. As for the suspense, it read like every other romantic suspense novel I have ever read. It is suitable for mature audiences with really no violence on the pages. Fans of Pettrey's other works, Dee Henderson, Lynette Eason, Colleen Coble, and Terri Blackstock should pick up Still Life.

The art angle was original, and I didn't solve the crime until about the end right before Pettrey revealed him/her, which is good for any writer to do. God was mentioned in the story, but not a lot. It won't keep anyone away from reading the novel. Even though Pettrey is marketing this book as darker than previous books, I didn't find it any darker at all. It had the normal about of violence for a romantic suspense novel. Steven James, my contemporary favorite author, is a master at psychological thrillers, and they are MUCH darker!

An interesting look in the art world, Dani Pettrey's latest novel Still Life continued her story in Chesapeake Harbor while filling in information about each individual character's life while keeping the suspense moving.

I received a complimentary copy of Dani Pettrey's Still Life from Bethany House Publishers, and the opinions stated are all my own. 

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Do you enjoy romantic suspense novels that touch the darker side of crime? Why or Why not?

Welcome to 2017 (Part II)

By Kelly Bridgewater

Wow! I can’t believe it is 2017. Where has the time gone? I graduated from high school in 2000, so I can’t believe it is the year of my sixteen year high school reunion. Not like I’m going because there were 1,000 kids in my graduating class, and the ones who I would want to see again, I still keep in contact with.

But as we look on the vast expanse of the New Year, what do you plan to do? It is a time of new beginnings. Time to start again. Even though, I believe you can do this anytime of the year, not just in January.

If you missed my post last week, where I shared how to start the year off on the right foot. Here is the link to that post. I hope you read it and then return to this entry.

doublemesh.com

As a writer, I set personal goals during each month. Right now, there in the back page of 2014’s planner, which need to be transferred to my new planner. My yearly planner is a 400 page planner that I customize with handmade calendars then two pages for each day. I am the most productive that way. Plus, it costs an arm and a leg to buy planners that are daily and monthly. I don’t like the weekly monthly ones. There is never enough time for me to write in. My husband keeps joking that there is an app for that on my Note 3, but something about writing it down every day. Must be the writer in me. J

Back to my writing goals.

During January, I have started another research marathon to prepare myself to work on the first book. I hope to finish all the research in January, but I think it will leak over in February too.

During February, I hope to start writing the first book and come up with the main idea for the second book. Now these aren’t full on sketches. I use the cork board method in Scrivener and write little ideas for each chapter. I love being able to drag and move the chapters around.

During March, with Seekerville, who offers prizes and advice to encourage writers, I plan to research my second book in the series.

April, I plan to start writing my second book.

May, I will finish my second book and start researching and planning my third book.

June. Complete research. Start writing the third book

July. Rest and relax. Catch up on reviews and blog posts. (I like to be at least three months ahead! Surprising. I know!)

August. Start editing book one.

September, Prepare one sheets and my pitch for the annual ACFW conference. This year, I don't plan to attend the ACFW Conference because it is a lot of money when you include an airplane ticket. Next year, it will be back in Nashville, TN, so I'll attend then. 

October. Work on editing second book. Hopefully, preparing my book to send to an agent or editor who I sparked their interest.

November. Revise book three or write another book for NaNoWriMo.

December. Spend time with family while finishing the book I started in November and plotting my next book.

A lot of writing goals for one year, but we’ll see how the year actually goes. Stayed tune for my next post next Friday on February 10 where I will share my reading goals. It won’t be month by month like my writing goals. It will be something more interesting. So come back. I need tons of feedback on both of these posts.

Do you set writing goals in the beginning of the year? How do you do it? If you don’t, should you?

I would love to hear your comments on what you do to set the year off in the right foot when it comes to writing.

Christy Barritt: Shadow of Suspicion

By Kelly Bridgewater

First, computer specialist Laney Ryan's accused of kidnapping her neighbor's daughter—and now someone's trying to kill her. The police don't believe Laney's story…except for Detective Mark James, whose instincts say Laney isn't guilty. Together, Mark and Laney must figure out who really abducted the teen and uncover why they're framing Laney. But when their search for the truth turns deadly, Mark realizes his feelings for Laney aren't strictly professional and that he'll stop at nothing to keep her safe. With a dangerous suspect swiftly closing in, can they find the missing girl and clear Laney's name…before their possible future together is fatally cut short?

http://www.christybarritt.com/book/shadow-of-suspicion/

 My Thoughts:

Christy Barritt is at it again. With her latest Love Inspired Suspense novel, Shadow of Suspicion, I really was drawn into the story right away with the doors banging open and invading Laney's home. From there on, the rest of the story lives up to the same height of rush and hide. Something happened at the end of every chapter, capturing my intrigue and making me flip the pages to see what happens next. The romance between Laney and Mark doesn't even hint at anything until page 100. It slowly progresses, and then ends up at a predictable marriage. I know it is required of this publisher, but it always makes me shake my head. Except for the romance, I really like Barritt's take on how she created Laney to be the perfect suspect for the kidnapping, but she laid the story out so well that I didn't figure out who the main bad guy was. I highly recommend this story for fans of Barritt's other works and fans of the Love Inspired Suspense line.

I received a complimentary copy of Shadow of Suspicion from Christy Barritt, but my opinions are my own.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Do you like to read the Love Inspired line? Regular Romance? Suspense? Historical? What draws you to this genre? If not, what repeals you from these books?