Darkness Awakened

In Katie Reus's Darkness Awakened, the first installment in the Darkness paranormal romance series, you'll be howling at the moon and join the pack in this sexy novel. Finn Stavros is the Alpha of his pack in Biloxi. When his former flame, Lyra Marius, a vampire, asks him for his help to rescue her teenage daughter Vega, he became curious to know about her hybrid daughter. Lyra had kept the truth from Finn, that he's the father of her daughter, when they were lovers 17 years ago, as she was kicked out from her coven, pregnant with his baby. When he agreed to help look for her, it had brought old hard feelings from what they had each other and look for signs of where she might be taken in New Orleans. As the truth dawned to his on Vega's true paternity, he would search tooth and limb to close out the hellgate from Akkadian demons and to seek revenge on Lyra's brother, Claudius, who needed Vega's blood to open the gates. As when hell did break loose, it was up to both Lyra and Finn to stop the madness and to close the gate. That's when there's a new peace treaty between the wolves and the vampires on the land, when Finn claimed Lyra and Vega as his own and have his packmates at his feet to rule the kingdom with a happy ever after of his own.

This was a most splendid and delightful paranormal romance debut with tons of surprises. I cared for Finn and his wolf pack and Lyra with her former vampire coven. I felt enchanted to know their story of how they met in the past and bonded with each other now. I loved how they came for different species and how they defied the odds to find each other as their mates. I loved the dual locations of Biloxi and New Orleans and how the animal shifters bonded with the vampires and destroyed the bad guys. This sent shivers down my spine as the exoticism had upped the hotness level of their steamy romance. This has non-stop action, drama, suspense, and plenty of romance along the way.

Will you be ready to read Darkness Awakened today?

Murder on Astor Place

In Victoria Thompson's Murder on Astor Place, the first installment in the Gaslight Historical Mystery Series, this tale would captivate you and grip you with riveting storytelling. Set in the late 1890s, Sarah Brandt is a widow and a midwife in New York City, when Theodore Roosevelt was police commissioner. When she arrived for a birthing of a baby, she recognized someone from her past. Before she knew it, it was too late, when she found her... dead by strangulation. That's when NYC Police Detective Frank Malloy was on the scene, a widower with a crippled baby boy to raise for his own, who had butted heads with Sarah. When she identified the victim of Alicia VanDamm, one of the daughters of the most prominent families in NYC, the daughter of Sarah's closest childhood friend. When the Van Damm had encouraged Malloy to be removed from the case, he prompted Sarah to do the snooping and find justice for the family by finding the killer. She would have to stoop so low to look for answers with Malloy's help and asking for people for answers, even to listening to gossip from her mother and snooping around to ask Mina, her friend herself. As soon as they learn about the diary being stolen, another death had befallen on the VanDamm property. Before she knew it, during a raging thunderstorm, she had pieced the truth together with Malloy on their own sordid family secrets of sins, and why she had to be killed with a gripping ending.

This was an amazing read in a gripping setting to take place in the 1890s without DNA and other high tech methods to prosecute criminals. I cared for Sarah's and Frank's plight and what they had to do to make ends meet. I've found something with iffy with Mina's uncharacteristic behavior and how sickened in the end to learn about the truth to learn about their sordid family secrets. I did feel bad for Alicia who had dealt with the secrecy before she died. I loved the NYC setting in the 1890s and how picturesque it was at that time wen things weren't so simple for the rich and the poor. This mystery would leave you hanging at the end of your seat from start to finish with drama, non-stop action, intrigue, and a hint of suspense, too.

Will you be a witness to see the Murder on Astor Place? Give it a read today!

Orchid Beach

In Stuart Woods's Orchid Beach, the first installment in the Holly Barker thriller series, this tale would raise your eyebrows and make your hold your breath. After Holly Barker retires from the military, she receives an offer to help out a family friend, Sheriff Chet Marley from the Orchid Beach PD down in Florida. He has some suspicious information he wanted to tell her. But when she arrives in Orchid Beach, as his deputy sheriff, she later learns that he's been shot and in a coma. As the new sheriff in town, she has suspicions of her own in her new department, when she learns about another murder of Hank Doherty, another family friend. She adopted Doherty's dog Daisy and meets Jackson Oxenhandler, an attorney she met on the first week on the job, and the sparks fly between them. From there, her father retires from the military to join her and wants to help her out pull off a special operation. Under the close scrutiny of the city council to be the new sheriff, she learns about a secret military base on Palmetto Gardens that's closed off to the public and heavily guarded. She becomes under attack and wary of a police mole, until they learn new inside information and bring in the big guns as in the feds to shut that operation down and eliminate the man in charge for going further in a showdown you wouldn't believe in the end.


This was a gripping and fascinating new thriller debut. I cared for Holly and Jackson's blooming romance. I was worried if Holly would make the cut as the new sheriff as she held her own and proved her worthiness. I hated to hear about the mole in her department and the secret military operation near her jurisdiction with Barney Noble as the despicable person who would kill to not have his property blown. I loved the Orchid Beach location in Florida and the Palmetto Gardens for the depicted scenic locations with amazing visuals. This thriller will make you hold your breath, root for Holly and Daisy, curse at the bad guys, and so much more. It has non-stop action, drama, intrigue and a lot of mystery to keep you in suspense with a spark of romance.

Will you take a detour in Orchid Beach?

Open and Shut

In David Rosenfelt's Open and Shut, the first installment in the Andy Carpenter legal mystery series, this debut has plenty of twists and turns along the way in this compelling novel. For Andy Carpenter, it all started when his father asks him to perform a retrial for one of his clients who was going on Death row. When his father died, he discovered a windfall of money and a mystery photograph. When Andy took on the case to defend Willie Miller's innocence, a couple of people would do anything to stop him from going further. From death threats to being a shot out, he would stop anything to clear his name. While he continued to dig deeper on why he became rich and the connection to the photograph, it brought him and his assistant closer, while things didn't work out with his wife Nicole.  One by one, the mystery unraveled with a missing link, and it lead straight to a shocking conclusion between the past and present with a surprise twist in the end that hits close to home.

This was a compelling mystery that's set in the legal scene. I began to like Andy and how he made his father proud to see it through. I did wish things worked out with Nicole, but his father-in-law continued to get in the way. He had gotten his comeuppance in spades, when he wanted him to drop it. I also felt bad for Willie being framed for a crime he didn't dare commit as the real bad guys covered it up and sabotaged Andy's valiant efforts to clear his name. I do see him falling for Laurie and I adored Tara. I loved the New Jersey and New York City locations in the tri-state area. As a former New Jersey girl, it made me feel like home. You'll be rooting for Andy as he later became triumphant and found nailed the bad guys to provide justice where they belong in bars. This has non-stop action, drama, intrigue and a hint of mystery along the way.

Will you check out Open and Shut today?

Going for the Goal

In Sara Rider's Going for the Goal, the first installment in The Perfect Play hockey sports romance series, this novel scores on all levels and across the board on and off the ice. Jillian Nichols first met Nick Salinger, when she was a sports agent intern. Fast forward to a decade later, she now runs her own sports management agency and trying to make a name out for herself in the sports world. When Nick "the Punisher" Salinger needs a new agent, he remembers Jillian and asks her to sign him up. Hesistantly, she agrees to start a professional business relationship with him. While she helped him to control his temper, stay out of trouble, and maintain his sports image, the heat between them is sparking red hot, when they date and get to know each other better! As Jillian wants to be nominated for ASLMA as president, she dealt with a lot of interference from her former mentor and rival, who's a bit of a prick, and had poached her clients. When she was disqualified for the running of the board, due to ethical reasons, Nick has his own issues with his fellow team mate Sebastian Liakos, a hot head who likes to causing trouble amongst the team. He also would love to let his team win the Stanley Cup if Liakos didn't get in the way. Together, they've figured out a way to settle the score and get a happy ending to get what they want in the end... with each other.

This was a fantastic sports romance that features a hockey theme. I really liked Jillian and Nick together as a couple and really feel their pain on what they have to do to make ends meet. I couldn't stand Liakos and Parsons, when they had their comeuppance in the end for their shady business to ruin the fun for the both of them.  I really loved the New York sports scene with the compelling settings and the scenic locations in the area. This would make you root for Jillian and Nick on how they defeated the odds and grunt and groan for every twist and turn on every page. This sports romance has a lot of steamy romance, drama, non-stop sports action, and intrigue along the way.

Will you be going for the goal today?

 

When She's Gone

In Jane Palmer's When She's Gone, the first installment in the Ara Zuyev thriller series, this fast-paced thriller will keep you at the edge of your seat. For bodyguard Ara Zuyev, a woman with a mysterious past and a former cop, she's sworn to protect Samantha Harper, the stepdaughter of millionaire Oliver Boone. When she was kidnapping from a restaurant, she chases the van that snatched her from her eyes. That's when the FBI is called in and Agent Luke Patrick is one the case. In order for them to talk together, they needed to trust each other. For the both of them, they discovered that Sam orchestrated the kidnapping as payback, which had taken a dangerous turn for the worst. After Oliver receives a ransom request via phone, she listened to her message on the phone and played it back in her mind to connect the dots. She pieced the together about the forged paintings from the gallery, which has dangerous Russian mob connections. In a race against time with the body count piling up, Ara puts herself in the line and faces somebody from her past to bring Sam home.

This was a fantastic thriller debut from start to finish. I really cared about Ara and on how she had put herself on the line to save Sam. I really felt bad for her on how she had endured a lot as a young Russian teenager and also as a cop. I also found Luke quite charming and amusing with his quick wits and sharp street smarts. I loved the New York City location with vivid depictive and scenic settings from the mansion to the shipyard in the end and everywhere in between. This would make you want to grit your teeth and hold your breath in this energetic thriller with non-stop action, drama, suspense, intrigue and plenty of mystery along the way.

What would you do when she's gone?

The Quilter's Apprentice

In Jennifer Chiaverini's The Quilter's Apprentice, the first installment in the Elm Creek Quilts Woman's Fiction series, this heart-warming tale would intertwine stitches of historical fiction/romance into this tale of love, loss, life, and friendship. For Sarah McClure, she and her husband had moved to Waterford, Pennsylvania for a new job prospect for her husband. While Sarah searched for a new accounting job and had no luck with interviews, she had made a friend for Mrs. Sylvia Compson, an elderly widow who needed help sorting out her late sister's belongings inside of her manor home before the sale. While she landed a temporary job helping Sylvia, she learned a lot about her life during World War II as a young girl, along with some tales on how to make a variety of quilts. From time to time, she made new friends with the Tangled Web Quilters and discovered a great deal about how to piece quilts. In a race of time to prevent Sylvia to stay and not to sell her home, she came through on her promise to keep it alive and to find out what she was missing along. She had found an ideal job right there with Sylvia, too.

This was a wonderful and lovely woman's fiction novel. I cared about Sarah and Matt and also about Sylvia's plight about being a young war widow and how she befriended Sarah in her home. I also loved learning to hear a great idea about Sylvia's life and hope Sarah could make amends with her own mother. The locations for Waterford was beautiful and lovely in the scenic settings from Sylvia's home to the Tangled Web Guild. In great detail, we learned a lot about how quilts are made and the variety of designs. This was a fantastic read and really enjoyable from start to finish to give you a feeling of faith and hope and warmth. No wonder my late mother loved this series right before she died. This would make you cheer for Sylvia and Sarah's quilting designs in this novel with a hint of romance, drama, intrigue, suspense and mystery.