Distress Signals

In Catherine Ryan Howard's Distress Signals, this thriller debut will throw you some nasty surprising punches and leave you breathless. It all started when Adam Dunne fell overboard the cruise ship and rescued by the French Coast Guard. In this four-part story, we learn how Adam's girlfriend Sarah O'Connell had disappeared from her business trip and never returned home. That's when panic sets in when he calls the Garda for help after he receives a mysterious note from her in the mail. On a mission to discover disturbing answers, he did research on the Blue Wave Cruise line and looked up cruise crimes, until he'd found one that was similar to his and contacted Peter Brazier, a man who "lost" his wife a year before. We also learn about Romain Dupont, a French man who had a troubling childhood with a family secret and a "dark" past, and his mother Corinne, who worked on the same ill-fated cruise ship to escape from him. Later on, the tides have turned for Adam to discover the truth about Sarah and how Peter used him to find justice for his wife Estelle when no clues lead him into the opposite direction with a shocking conclusion in the end.

This was a gripping and compelling thriller debut from Catherine Ryan Howard. I cared about Adam and his search for answers to find Sarah, even if it had a grisly ending. I liked how Corinne and Romain's stories intersected into the storyline, when one event had lead to another. I felt pity for Peter and sorry for those innocent lives lost at sea in his insane search for justice. I liked the backdrop of the cruise ship along Eastern Europe especially Ireland for the center location with scenic settings. This would leave you at the edge of your seat with non-stop action, drama, intrigue and suspense along the way.

Will you listen to the SOS in Distress Signals?

Foreclosed

In Traci Tyne Hilton's Foreclosed, the first installment in the Mitzy Neuhaus Cozy Mystery series, get ready to enter the world of real estate. Mitzy Neuhaus is the top realtor in Portland who's against a rival realtor named Alonzo Miramontes. While the economy is dead for new prospective hot properties, there's a mansion that's been foreclosed by the bank. She wants to sell it to its new owners. But she had hit some snags along the way, besides Alonzo wanting that home for her sister Carmella to use as an inn. First, there's the stolen Russian jewelry at a charity auction that was bid on, her brother and sister-in-law's home broken into, including her office too. And there have been more things that have gotten awry, even after she broadcasted over the air in her radio spot. The potential buyers of that Victorian home pulled out, her best friend gets assaulted, and her rental burned down. When she wanted to check the place for herself, she meets the owner of the home and would do anything to stop her from buying it, even if the stolen jewels are hidden inside somewhere. It's up to Alonzo to team up and work together to stop him in its tracks.

This is a great new cozy mystery debut that deals with the cutthroat world of real estate business. I cared about Mitzy and her real estate firm. I had warmed up to Alonzo toward the middle and could see something brewing between them. I liked Sabrina and Ben and cared for her sister-in-law and brother and even her friend Joan, too. I liked the location of Portland Oregon to be very surreal with the settings. This would teach you a lot about foreclosure and real estate and entertain you with a gripping good tale with drama, suspense, intrigue, and lots of non-stop action.


Will you be wary when your home is foreclosed?

A Death at the Yoga Cafe

In Michelle Kelly's A Death at the Yoga Cafe, the 2nd installment in the Keeley Carpenter cozy mystery series, the town of Belfrey is hit by another gruesome tragedy. After the Terry Smith murder, things haven't seem to calm down for Keeley. When she witnessed the heated argument outside of her yoga cafe between Raquel and her mayor boyfriend. Then when he's found  murdered, Raquel is the prime suspect and asks Keeley for help to prove her innocense.  At the same time of her mother's surprise arrival to visit, things had got cozy for her and DC Ben Taylor, until she did some outside snooping of her own for Raquel's insistance. That had put a kink into her relationship with Ben. When she had finally figured it out, the killer had put her in the face of danger with the shocking truth, and things had gotten better with Ben, too.

This was an intriguing cozy that's set in Belfrey, England. I found Keeley and Ben both charming as a couple and how they sorted through their feelings for each other. I did feel sorry for Raquel in a way. I did like the scenic locations in Belfrey and amusing settings for the storyline like her yoga cafe with delicious healthy treats. I did enjoy the storyline arc, when each chapter emphasizes on a yoga pose and its benefits in learning yoga. This would keep you guessing and root Keeley on with every twisted turn with drama, non-stop action, intrigue and suspense along the way.

Will you enjoy a visit and read A Death at the Yoga Cafe today?

Murder Strikes a Pose

In Tracy Weber's Murder Strike a Pose, the first installment in the Downward Dog Cozy Mystery, you'll enjoy this debut and strike a yoga pose at the same time too. When yoga teacher Kate Davidson encountered a homeless man named George and his monster-sized German Shepherd named Bella outside of her yoga center hawking cheap newspapers, she befriends him and his dogs and tries to force him to leave. But when she overheard a conversation outside of her center and discovers his dead body, she needs to provide a home for Bella, she digs into George Levin's background and learned what lead to him to live on the streets. When the police thought it was nothing but a brawl that did him in, Kate thinks otherwise, though she'd been threatened along the way. She would stop to nothing. With help from her best friend Rene and her boyfriend Michael, they figure it out, when she discovered who did him and why in the end as Bella saved her life and had found a new happy home with Kate.


This was a delightful yoga-centric cozy mystery debut. I loved everything about it, since I've been a fellow yogi for 2.5 years. I loved Kate and Rene as best friends and how Kate took care of Bella under her wings after George was murdered. I did feel sorry for him and thought Bella's former owners, Jake and George's daughter was creepy and bad in their own way. I felt sorry for Bella who endured such abuse and dealt with her own disease. I loved the Seattle locations and scenic settings from Kate's center to down in Seattle. This would make you cheer for Kate and Bella, boo at the bad guys, root for Kate and Michael, and feel at peace with yoga. This has great drama, non-stop action, intrigue, and plenty of suspense.

Will you dig into Murder Strikes a Pose and relax with yoga today?

Three

n Ted Dekker's Three, this thriller will make you look closer and make your heart beat race. It all started for Kevin Parsons, a Seminary student, when he received a call from someone named Slater. If he doesn't answer the riddle, his car would blow up in three minutes. In a race against time, Kevin is thrown into the spotlight and a person of interest of the Long Beach PD and the FBI. With more cryptic riddling messages from Slater, he calls his childhood friend Sam Sheer. For FBI Agent Jennifer Peters, she's on the hunt to find the Riddle Killer who killed her brother three months ago. She joins forces with the LBPD and helps Kevin in this case, tracking this person who calls himself Slater. That's when she digs deeper into Kevin's past, when she shed some light into his childhood as more explosive riddles tick by. Each ones were opposite and divided by three, when Kevin couldn't confess his sin on his own. When it had caught up to him, it's another race against time, when the truth would be divided in the end on who's Slater in a shocking ending.

This was a fascinating and compelling thriller with a Christian fiction slant. I cared about Kevin and how he had been through a terrible childhood living with his horrible aunt. She was the real reason why he came out that way. I also liked Jennifer Peters who mourned the loss of her brother and had been on a mad hunt for his brother's killer. I liked they came together to solve the biggest puzzle of them all to solve the riddle. I loved the California locations of Long Beach and the scenic settings between past and present in Kevin's state of mind. This would leave you breathless and at the edge of the seat with non-stop action, drama, intrigue and a lot of suspense. 

Will you be able to answers the riddled questions in Three?

Waking Nightmare

In Kylie Brant's Waking Nightmare, the first installment in the Mindhunters romantic suspense series, this debut would keep you at the edge of your seat. Be careful on who you tell your darkest secrets and fears too. For Abbie Philipps, she's the newest member of Detective Ryne Robel's task force team in Savannah, when they deal with a serial rapist/murder on the scene. With a lot of emotional baggage from her past and her sister's mental health issues, she had a lot on her own plate to deal with. Being criticized by Robel and his fellow task members shouldn't be one of them. They needed her to profile this UNSUB's mind and to get inside to make him tick. One by one, she began connecting the dots to what drew his victims together, while she tried not to get too close to Ryne. For Robel, Abbie was more than a pretty face to join his team. But when they worked together to establish victimology, he had his own heated feelings for her on a more intimate and personal nature.  He also carried a darkest secret of his own that he had to live with. As they discovered closer to identifying the perp, it hit too close to home when Abbie's sister had brought home the killer and put their own lives in danger, when they had to find for themselves in the end.

This was a mind-blowing fantastic romantic suspense debut. I cared about Abbie and what she had to go through and endure with Callie. I hoped Callie would get the medical help she needs with her medication, or she could be a danger to herself or to others. I also loved Ryne Robel and how he put himself in front of others and cared for Abbie along the way. I adored the Savannah locations and scenic settings from the GBI and elsewhere inside and outside. This would send you a wild emotional roller coaster ride as you would moan and swoon for Ryne as you would take heart of how Abbie took care of herself. This had tons of hot romance, plenty of drama, suspense,  intrigue, non-stop action and chills along the way.

Will you be wary of the secrets and fears your keep in Waking Nightmare?

Before the Scandal

In Suzanne Enoch's Before the Scandal, the second installment in the Notorious Gentlemen series, get ready to be hooked into a wild ride of romance and danger. When Colonel Phineas Bromley received a mysterious missive from his sister Elizabeth, he took a leave from fighting the war and returned home to London. Little did he know and later find, someone tries to push his family into ruin. First the fire, then the wells, and the loose bloodhound. Phin needed his ally Thad Gordon, and someone close to help him discover the truth. Ten years ago, before the scandal when he accidentally handicapped his brother, Phin and Alyse were friends. Now he had returned from the war, he gets to know her more intimately and becomes her friend. For Alyse, she's been forced to be her aunt's companion and with her cousin, both people she couldn't stand to be with, ever since her parents died. As Phin learns more shocking revelations, he believed it was his neighbor Richard Donnelly, who wants the land for himself and insinuates himself into his family by courting Beth.  Both Phin and Alyse create a secret alliance of intimate proportions as she spies for her cousin and vice versa. Undercover, Phin poses as the French Highwayman to make some noise. Now her cousin Richard needs her to point the finger to Phin with a handsome bribe. When push comes to shove, Phin has the right evidence to make Richard confess and makes Alyse his own.

This was a fascinating and thrilling historical romance to read. I loved Phin and Alyse's story to read and how it captivated me from the beginning. I found Phin real charming and Alyse a real doll to put up with Richard and her aunt. I loved the ruse of the Highwayman concept real enduring as I liked the settings of England from the Bath ruins and to the Bromley house for the location's scenery. This made me want to swoon and sigh with their intimateness in every page with non-stop action, plenty of heated romance, lots of drama and intrigue along the way.

Will you be tempted to seek vengeance before the scandal?