Prayer for 2023

 By Kelly Bridgewater

 Dear Lord,

As 2023 begins, please keep my focus on you and your plan for my life. Help me to write my books. Help me to be a good wife, mother, and teacher. Allow me to show your light and love to everyone.

I pray for Michael as he keeps guiding our family through your Word. Pray for his strength and guidance every day. Help me to grow closer to you. Help him to stay joyful and keep serving you.

I pray for Elijah as he attends college and works toward his degree. Stay with him. Keep his faith strong as he grows stronger and stronger in you. Guide his path where you want him to go.

 I pray for Isaiah as he finishes high school. I know, at this moment, he does not know what he wants to do with his life, but you do. You have a plan for his life. Keep his focus on you and allow him to grow every day.

I pray for Obadiah as he navigates teenage hood. Allow him to claim you and your faith for his life. Be with him. Keep him strong, but respectful.

I pray for our protection from the enemy as it attacks our home, faith, and life every day.

Amen. 

Lynette Eason: Critical Threat

By Kelly Bridgewater

FBI Special Agent Grace Billingsley tracks serial killers, using her skills as a psychiatrist and behavioral analyst to get dangerous people off the street and safely behind bars. But prison psychiatrist Sam Monroe knows that just because a killer is incarcerated doesn't mean they're not a threat. His own father, Peter, is a serial killer--in prison but certainly not out of Sam's life, as much as he wishes he was.

When bodies start showing up with Peter's MO, Sam and Grace are both called in to consult. They've met before--and though Grace thought they'd made a real connection, Sam ghosted her. They'll have to get past the awkwardness and mistrust to solve this case--especially because it's about to get personal.

USA Today bestselling author Lynette Eason doesn't give you time to catch your breath in this breakneck race to stop a serial killer.

 

My Thoughts:

Critical Threat by Lynette Eason features a serial killer on the loose. The killer is mocking a past serial killer, and the connections are drawing close to home. The hero, Sam Monroe, is the son of a serial killer who has turned into a psychiatrist. He wants to remove the stereotype of the images of his father from his persona. He works really hard with Grace, the heroine, as she tries to find out who is leaving these women in parks with their tongues cut out. Grace uses her skills to try to stop the killer, but it draws personal as he targets her over and over again. Eason’s writing style is top notch. She dives nicely into the action and does not let go. She allows moments where the characters can flirt with the idea of a relationship together, but the tension keeps getting deeper and deeper as the story moves along. Was I surprised at the villain? Yes, because there is really nothing in the entire plot that leads to this unknown character. No red herrings or even a mention of his name until the climactic moment. I wanted this person to play around the edges of the story to make the villain a little more believable for audiences. Overall, Critical Threat by Lynette Eason is a dynamic suspense story with a serial killer, and Eason delivers exactly what she promised. A non-stop action story with a hint of romance. A keeper for my shelf.

I received a complimentary copy of Critical Threat by Lynette Eason from Revell Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

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Favorite Books of 2022

 By Kelly Bridgewater

One of my favorite posts of the year. I love being able to share of the 144 books that I read this year which ones are my favorite. I hope that you have read them and possibly own them. 

Here they are: (All covers come from Goodreads!)

Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright

In Love's Time by Kate Breslin

Madness in Wonderland by Tabitha Bouldin

Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner

RJ and York Trilogy (Out of the Night, I Will Find You, and No Matter the Cost) by Susan May Warren

Milestone of Doubt by Erica Vetsch

The Debutante's Code by Erica Vetsch

What about you? Did any of these hit your favorites this year? Any that I missed?

Renee Ryan: The Secret Society of Salzburg

 By Kelly Bridgewater

London, 1933

At first glance, Austrian opera singer Elsa Mayer-Braun has little in common with the young English typist she encounters on tour. Yet she and Hattie Featherstone forge an instant connection—and strike a dangerous alliance. Using their friendship as a cover, they form a secret society with a daring goal: to rescue as many Jews as possible from Nazi persecution.

Though the war’s outbreak threatens Elsa and Hattie’s network, their efforts attract the covert attention of the British government, offering more opportunities to thwart the Germans. But Elsa’s growing fame as Hitler’s favorite opera singer, coupled with her secret Jewish ancestry, make her both a weapon and a target—until her future, too, hangs in the balance.

From the glamorous stages of Covent Garden and Salzburg to the horrors of Bergen-Belsen, two ordinary women swept up by the tide of war discover an extraordinary friendship—and the courage to save countless lives.

 

My Thoughts:

With plenty of intrigue and rescue moments, The Secret Society of Salzburg by Renee Ryan captured the horror of being part Jewish with a Hitler supporter for a husband. My favorite aspect of reading World War II stories is showing the brave women and men who risked their own lives to help the Jews who were being persecuted for their religion or their appearance. With the plot, it really captured my attention as readers will observe Elsa as she struggles with helping the Jews and keeping her opera singing career alive. Hattie used her art to help rescue many Jews and help them escape into England. Of course, there was romance, but nothing too over the top. A little bit of horror when the story moves to a concentration camp, but nothing that readers familiar with this genre have not read before. Overall, The Secret of Salzburg by Renee Ryan is a nice World War II novel that I enjoyed reading.

I received a complimentary copy of by The Secret Society of Salzburg by Renee Ryan from Love Inspired Trade Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:   4 out of 5 stars

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Most Anticipated Suspense or Mysteries

 By Kelly Bridgewater

Most Anticipated Suspense or Mystery Novels that will publish between January 1, 2023 to April 30th, 2023. (All Images come from Goodreads!)

Critical Threat Lynette Eason

Blind Trust Natalie Walters

Cold Light of Day by Elizabeth Goddard

Under Fire by Lynn H. Blackburn

Broker of Lies by Steven James

What about you? Know of any mysteries I can add to this list. This is my favorite genre. I would love to find more to add!!!!!

Amanda Dykes: All the Lost Places

By Kelly Bridgewater

When all of Venice is unmasked, one man's identity remains a mystery . . .

1807
When a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the quiet canals of Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as a son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn't until a woman washes ashore on his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make a choice that could alter not just his own future, but also that of the beloved floating city.

1904
Daniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden with regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book. There, he discovers a city of colliding hope and decay, much like his own life, and a mystery wrapped in the pages of that filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city . . . and in the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato.

 

My Thoughts:

All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes dives into a world of identity. It is a timely novel with so many people trying to figure out who they are by diving into a world of sin and chaos. No, Dykes does not touch on those issues in her story, but she allows her hero in 1807 to dive into the world of discovering who he really is. At first, the story starts a little odd, and I was following the story, but I had no idea what was really occurring. But once the story moved to Italy, it made more sense, and I became fully invested in the character's lives. I love the hunt for the missing pages of the story. I enjoyed reading the actual story as Daniel is translating it while he is in Italy. Both stories intertwined really nicely and had a satisfying ending. Both characters discovered who they were created to be and relished in God's love and plan for their lives. Dykes does have a lyrical way of crafting the description. I took notice of how she described certain things like the water and the lagoon and marveled at her use of imagery to convey the scenes and the emotion of the scenes. Nicely done! Overall, All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes is a unique, yet important story with a lesson that everyone needs to uncover. I really enjoyed the story.

I received a complimentary copy of All the Lost Places by Amanda Dykes from Bethany House Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Most Anticipated Historical Romance

 By Kelly Bridgewater

That time of year. I love showing covers that I can't wait to read and add to my collection. 

Today is the Most Anticipated Historical Romance covers that release from January 1, 2023 through April 30, 3023. (All images come from Goodreads!)

Hearts of Steel by Elizabeth Camden

A Match in the Making by Jen Turano

The Metropolitan Affair by Jocelyn Green

Vanishing at Castle Monreau by Jaime Jo Wright

Code Name Edelweiss by Stephanie Landsem

Spotlight and Shadow by Rachel Scott McDaniel

The Cairo Curse by Pepper Basham

What about you? Add anyting?