Nadine Brandes: Fawkes

By Kelly Bridgewater

Thomas Fawkes is turning to stone, and the only cure to the Stone Plague is to join his father’s plot to assassinate the king of England.

Silent wars leave the most carnage. The wars that are never declared but are carried out in dark alleys with masks and hidden knives. Wars where color power alters the natural rhythm of 17th-century London. And when the king calls for peace, no one listens until he finally calls for death.

But what if death finds him first?

Keepers think the Igniters caused the plague. Igniters think the Keepers did it. But all Thomas knows is that the Stone Plague infecting his eye is spreading. And if he doesn’t do something soon, he’ll be a lifeless statue. So when his Keeper father, Guy Fawkes, invites him to join the Gunpowder Plot—claiming it will put an end to the plague—Thomas is in.

The plan: use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow up the Igniter King.

The problem: Doing so will destroy the family of the girl Thomas loves. But backing out of the plot will send his father and the other plotters to the gallows. To save one, Thomas will lose the other.

No matter Thomas’s choice, one thing is clear: once the decision is made and the color masks have been put on, there’s no turning back.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

I haven't read anything by Nadine Brandes, even though I have wanted to read her previous series. I just don't own them yet. But when I heard about Fawkes, I LOVED the cover, so I couldn't wait to jump into the story. I'm really glad that I did. Brandes captivated me, and I have already recommended that my sixteen year old read this novel too.

The writing was well-done. I loved how well Brandes dives into the character's personalities and thoughts. I loved being able to see what Thomas and Emma thought and felt. Since London is my dream place to visit, I loved seeing Brandes bring the seventeenth century to life for me. Even though it is a fantasy novel mixed with a historical element, I loved how Brandes mixed the historical with her imagination. It filled the story and made a wonderful story.

The plot kept moving quite well and quickly. There were many moments I kept glued to the story and couldn't wait to see what happened next. Brandes wrote a wonderful story. It is different than everything I have every read, and I loved it. I loved the idea of power color masks that use the elements according to the colors. The idea of the White power fascinated me, and I understood the metaphors, enjoying the story. I anxiously sped through the plot. I really couldn't wait to see how the story would unfold before my eyes.

The romance isn't really there. It is a teenager crush, developed during the trials and troubles claiming their personalities and talents. It isn't overly done, yet I know Brandes wrote this novel to capture they young adult crowd.

Overall, Fawkes by Nadine Brandes is a unique story with a mixture of historical and pure imagination. Brandes' story captured me and kept me spellbound as I flew through the story. I really loved this story and can't wait to tell everyone about it. Pick it up. It is wonderful!

I received a complimentary copy of Fawkes by Nadine Brandes from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Rachel McMillan: Murder at the Flamingo

By Kelly Bridgewater

“Maybe it was time to land straight in the middle of the adventure…”

Hamish DeLuca has spent most of his life trying to hide the anxiety that appears at the most inopportune times -- including during his first real court case as a new lawyer. Determined to rise above his father’s expectations, Hamish runs away to Boston where his cousin, Luca Valari, is opening a fashionable nightclub in Scollay Square.  When he meets his cousin's “right hand man” Reggie, Hamish wonders if his dreams for a more normal life might be at hand. 

Regina “Reggie” Van Buren, heir to a New Haven fortune, has fled fine china, small talk, and the man her parents expect her to marry. Determined to make a life as the self-sufficient city girl she’s seen in her favorite Jean Arthur and Katharine Hepburn pictures, Reggie runs away to Boston, where she finds an easy secretarial job with the suave Luca Valari. But as she and Hamish work together in 

Luca’s glittering world, they discover a darker side to the smashing Flamingo night club.
When a corpse is discovered at the Flamingo, Reggie and Hamish quickly learn there is a vast chasm between the haves and the have-nots in 1937 Boston—and that there’s an underworld that feeds on them both. As Hamish is forced to choose between his conscience and loyalty to his beloved cousin, the unlikely sleuthing duo work to expose a murder before the darkness destroys everything they’ve worked to build. 

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

Rachel McMillan and I adore Sherlock Holmes. That was our connection, so of course, when I heard she was writing a series on women like Sherlock Holmes characters I jumped at the chance to read them. Boy, am I glad that I did. It was a great introduction to the 1910's Toronto. So now, I am familiar with McMillan's writing, so I knew what I would be expecting. A mystery to drag the plot along with characters who come to life as much for me as they have done for McMillan. With the introduction to her new series Murder at the Flamingo, I dived right into the world of 1930's Boston with Hamish and Reggie.

One of my favorite aspects of the novel was McMillan's ability to bring Boston to life. As soon as Hamish jumped off the transportation into Boston, McMillan allowed me to see Boston through Hamish's eyes. It reminded me of J. K. Rowling's introduction to the world of magic through Harry Potter's eyes. A trait of an awesome writer. McMillan allowed me to see the towering buildings and smell the world of Boston.

As for Hamish and Reggie, I really liked Hamish. McMillan stayed true to his flaws and allowed him to see the better in others, including his cousin, Lucas. Hamish definitely had the seek for justice gene from his parents, who are part of the main couple in the Herringford and Watts Mysteries series. Similarly, Reggie is a character who left her cushy wealthy life and decided to seek her own independence. I enjoyed how she didn't go crawling back to her parents after a couple of days and kept a journal of things she accomplished on her own.

The plot. The number one reason I enjoy a story. With McMillan's previous three novels and three novellas, she had the mystery element occurred right away, which most mysteries and suspense do, BUT McMillan does not do that in Murder at the Flamingo. The story was half over before we found the dead body. I don't know why it took so long to get to the mystery element. I believe McMillan could have had the murder occur right after Hamish arrived in Boston, and I could have observed Hamish and Reggie as they tried to help Lucas open the Flamingo night club. Even though the mystery took awhile to rev up, I did enjoy the story and really enjoyed watching Hamish and Reggie solve who killed the person.

Overall, a Murder at the Flamingo is a fascinating view of Boston's nightlife in the 1930's. It matches what I know about the history of the time period. Hamish and Reggie are a wonderful pair of people to work together to solve the mystery. I still wish the dead body appeared much earlier in the novel.

With family loyalty, betrayal, and trying to climb the ladder of success, A Murder at the Flamingo by Rachel McMillan is a wonderful deeply layered historical novel that will entrance fans of McMillan's previous writings or fans of historical mysteries. I can't wait to read the second installment in this series.

I received a complimentary copy of Murder at the Flamingo by Rachel McMillan from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own. 

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

God's Call (Part 1)

Kelly Bridgewater

How do you know God's calling for your life?

Do you think about this aspect of your life ALL THE TIME?

Do you have sprinkling of ideas pop in your head at weird times of the day, so you have to write down the ideas before they leave?

Do you actually get excited when you are immersed in this world?

Have you tried to stop and move to something else, but the tug of this aspect keeps dragging you back in with new ideas?

If not, lucky you.

I have.

riverroadumc.org

I believed and have believed for the past twenty-four years of my life that writing or books IS my calling from God.

I love to read. I love to analyze books, and the writers ability to show me a good story.

I love to write. Writing a research paper or crafting a story from my imagination fills me with excitement. I love the moment when a story idea or plot twist plops into my lap, and I can't wait to run with it and write the scene playing around in my head.

I love promoting authors. (Just look at the number of books on my blog!!!!!)

I have written three full length romantic suspense novels. I have written a number of bad novellas and really bad fan fiction for movies when I was younger. I have written stories since I was little.

The grammar aspect of writing and reading really didn't catch my attention until college when a professor introduced grammar like a puzzle that not everyone knows the answer. It made me feel special. Especially today, when texting lingo bothers me, which is why I blocked all texts to my phones. Keeps my friends close or they would eventually hate me.

What about you? What is your calling for your life? Is it writing? It is being an artist? An accountant?

Colleen Coble: The House at Saltwater Point

By Kelly Bridgewater

The dangerous beauty of Lavender Tides is harboring secrets that reach around the world.

Ellie Blackmore is making a name for herself as a house flipper. But when her sister Mackenzie disappears, Ellie can’t focus on anything but uncovering what happened. Her only clue is the bloodstain on the deck of Mackenzie’s boat. Ellie knows her sister isn’t on the best of terms with her ex-husband, Jason, but he wouldn’t kill her—would he? 

Coast Guard intelligence officer Grayson Bradshaw believes Mackenzie faked her own death after stealing a seized cocaine shipment. The problem is convincing Ellie, who seems to view him as the true enemy.

Both Ellie and Grayson want truth, but truth—and family—is often more complex than it first appears. From international terrorism to the peaceful lavender fields of Puget Sound, The House at Saltwater Point is a thrilling race to uncover the truth before it’s too late.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

A House at Saltwater Point by Colleen Coble is the second book in her Lavender Tides Series. I read the first one. I believe that the most interesting aspect of the story was the missing siblings that died in the earthquake. I wish more of the story focused on this thread instead of the suspense with the dead body or missing body of Mac, Ellie's sister. The novel's structure does fit a romantic suspense. Fifty percent is about the romance and fifty percent is about the suspense. The suspense leads the story and Ellie and Grayson look for clues to find Mac. The romance also plays off each other as Ellie and Grayson depend more on each other and learn to trust one another as the story progresses. To be honest, I wish the story had more depth. It wasn't that suspenseful, and I wasn't worried about Ellie or Grayson's life. And what is it with practically every romantic suspense novel anymore always having a car being pushed by another car from behind? Think of something else.

Overall, A House at Saltwater Point by Colleen Coble didn't thrill me like I want a romantic suspense novel to. I felt cheated with bland characters, a plot I wanted more of, and a romance that really didn't feel like a romance.

I received a complimentary copy of A House at Saltwater Point by Colleen Coble from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Jaime Jo Wright: The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond

By Kelly Bridgewater

For over a century, the town of Gossamer Grove has thrived on its charm and midwestern values, but Annalise Forsythe knows painful secrets, including her own, hover just beneath the pleasant faade. When a man is found dead in his run-down trailer home, Annalise inherits the trailer, along with the pictures, vintage obituaries, and old revival posters covering its walls. As she sorts through the collection, she's wholly unprepared for the ramifications of the dark and deadly secrets she'll uncover.

A century earlier, Gossamer Grove has been stirred into chaos by the arrival of controversial and charismatic twin revivalists. The chaos takes a murderous turn when Libby Sheffield, working at her father's newspaper, receives an obituary for a reputable church deacon hours before his death. As she works with the deacon's son to unravel the mystery behind the crime, it becomes undeniably clear that a reckoning has come to town--but it isn't until another obituary arrives that they realize the true depths of the danger they've waded into.

Two women, separated by a hundred years, must uncover the secrets within the borders of their own town before it's too late and they lose their future--or their very souls.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

Jaime Jo Wright is making a name for herself in time-slip mysteries. I really enjoy historical mysteries, but for years, I have had a hard time finding an author who would do it justice. Wright has stepped up the genre game and has impressed me with her stories. I thoroughly enjoyed The House on Foster Hill, so I couldn't wait to get a copy of The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond. Gossamer Pond was much more exciting than Foster Hill. Wright did an awesome job writing this time-slip mystery.

Her writing is clear and concise. I had no problem visualizing the small town of Gossamer Pond. From the quirky characters to the historical buildings and town. I loved traveling through the town in present day with Annalise and Garrett and traveling with Libby in the past.

The mystery was deeply woven together from the past to the present. I don't know how Wright kept track of who showed what before the other story learned it, but she does a wonderful job at weaving two timelines together. As for the mystery, I really enjoyed it. I had some suspicions on who did the killing, but Wright pulled someone out that I really didn't see doing it. I flipped back through the story to see if I could follow the trail of clues. The past one I found the trail, but the present one, I didn't find any clues to signify that person. Oh, well. Maybe need to study more. Overall, the mystery kept my attention, and I couldn't read the story fast enough. I wanted to spend more time reading, but life gets in the way.

As for the romance, I really didn't feel anything toward one set of characters over another. They were both interesting and had past elements they needed to reconcile and move forward with. I didn't see the past relationship coming at all. But I'm glad the present relationship moved forward with the hurts from the past.

The spiritual element of redeeming the past rang pretty strong and clear in this novel. Wright doesn't shove it down my throat, instead, she wraps it in a wonderful tale. 

In conclusion, The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond is a captivating tale of mystery filled with a plot of quirky characters who make the story what it is. I spent a lot of time investing in reading this story, and I thoroughly loved it. I really can't wait to read Wright's next book. Fans of Johanna Davidson Politano and Wright's first book would love this book.

I received a complimentary copy of The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond by Jaime Jo Wright from Bethany House Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own. 

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars