Avonna

Book Review: Silver Bells: A Holiday Romance by Jacquie Biggar

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

SILVER BELLS: A Holiday Romance by Jacquie Biggar is a holiday novella that was sweet and easily read in one sitting curled up on the couch while the weather outside is frightful.

Joel Campbell, award winning mystery writer, has moved from Scotland to Vancover Island. He wants to be closer to his grandmother and hopes the change will get him over his writers’ block. Hating his fame, he has walled off his heart, become gruff and hates anyone interrupting him and yet, he is lonely.

Christy Taylor is an artist who has started her own shop attached to her rented home. Her life cannot be more hectic. She is attempting to grow her clientele, while caring for her small daughter, Jill, who has been diagnosed with Type 1, Juvenile diabetes. Christy is a great mother, but her divorce and her ex’s attitude toward their daughter has made her distrustful of any help from any man.

These two need to open up their hearts and learn to trust again before it is too late.

This novella is an enjoyable and quick read. I loved the characters in this short read, but being short, I felt some of the character development was lost. Jill was adorable and her disease was handled extremely well. I also feel this novella was not really a Christmas or holiday story, just a winter setting. That said, still a good heartfelt novella for a cold winter day.

Book Review: Flawless Mistake by Rachel Woods

Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars (Reading as a Prequel)

Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars (Reading as a Standalone Novella)

FLAWLESS MISTAKE (The Spencer & Sione Series, #0) by Rachel Woods is the prequel to her series and establishes the characters and the “mistake” that brings them all together.

Spencer Edwards is out of work and money. She allows her half-sister to talk her into her ‘Dating Protocol’ scheme even though she knows it is criminally wrong. When she is sitting in the park one afternoon debating this turn in her life, a handsome and charismatic stranger, Ben Chang, sits next to her and she begins to want more. Spencer doesn’t believe in love or marriage, so in her fear of her growing relationship with Ben, she makes the “mistake”.

Ben Chang is not the man he portrays himself to be to Spencer. To cross him is to owe him. Spencer now owes Ben and even as she is horrified by him, she still finds herself drawn to him.

Sione Tuiali’i has a violent past that he wants to forget as his uncle has trusted in him and left him his resort in Belize to run. Once friend, now enemy, Ben Chang is trying to destroy Sione and Sione has to figure out why.

Spencer and Sione are on a collision course set up by Ben.

This prequel is a more of a set up for the novel to come than a standalone novella. It is great for me as I continue on to Flawless Danger, because I always want more information on characters and their motivations. I would recommend this prequel to those reading more in this series, but it does not give a satisfactory conclusion on its own.

Book Review: Girl In The Water by Dana Marton

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

When I was asked if I would like to review Dana Marton’s latest book, GIRL IN THE WATER, I agreed right away because she has always given me an all-around enjoyable and entertaining romantic suspense read. What a surprise I was in for! This story is more intense, dark, intricate and emotional than any of her previous works.

In the beginning of this story you are introduced to a man who only lives to drink and fight since his discharge from the Army. Ian Slaney blames himself for the death of his wife and twins while he was in Afghanistan. A world away in the Amazon rain forest, Daniela has grown up dirt poor, but happy with the dream of becoming a teacher. One day, a logger stops at her hut and Daniela is raped and becomes a prostitute like her mother. She is then trafficked to a whore house up the river when her mother drowns in a flood.

Their lives intersect with the murder of Ian’s friend and Army buddy, Finch. Finch had bought Daniela from the whore house to cook and clean for him. When she returns to find a dead body, she stays and pretends nothing has changed so she won’t have to return to her old life. But Finch has sent an S.O.S. out to Ian that he needs help and by the time Ian arrives he is dead. Ian must now deal with the mystery of Finch’s murder and what to do with Daniela.

They return to the U.S. and four years of growth and major changes occur. Ian is sober and working for the Civilian Personnel Recovery Unit of the DOD. Daniela has graduated from college. The secondary plot then pulls them back to Brazil to the area of Daniela’s youth for the recovery of a missing 7 month old baby of U.S. charity workers. The book takes off from here at a rapid pace revolving around stolen diamonds, helping trafficked children, and a romance that can no longer be denied.

Ms. Marton has written a romantic suspense novel that delivers a unique couple that both had to forgive themselves of their pasts to get to their HEA futures. It is also a unique and strong suspense novel filled with exotic locales, intrigue and danger. This is the third book in The Civilian Personnel Recovery Series, but is easily read as a standalone. This is a read that satisfied me on every level. This story is a banquet, not fast food. I recommend this book highly!

Book Review: The Dead Key by D.M. Pulley

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

The Dead Key is D.M. Pulley’s first book and the winner of the 2014 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award-Grand Prize and Mystery Thriller Fiction Winner. After reading and being immersed in this mystery, I can understand the awards. I lived and worked in Downtown Cleveland during both protagonists’ time periods and find this to be an intriguing fictional history and mystery of what happened to the old bank in 1978 and 1998 at 9^th and Euclid.

Two timelines and protagonists come together to solve the mystery of the bank’s safe deposit boxes. In 1978, Beatrice Baker takes a secretarial job at 16 and begins to find that there are secrets to kill for at the First Bank of Cleveland. In 1998, Iris Latch is an engineer sent to the bank to do a floor to floor survey for buyers interested in the old bank building. She finds many rooms, offices and files exactly as they were the day the bank locked its doors in 1978. Even though there is a twenty year time span, both young women become endangered as they try to understand the importance of the keys to the safe deposit boxes in the vault.

I really enjoyed the two intertwining timelines and protagonists. Beatrice was a much more sympathetic and strong character. She faces extremely difficult personal problems and dangerous situations for her young age. Iris hates her job, parties too much and is not very responsible. I feel many of us at that age can relate to boring first office jobs, wanting to get away from home and few friends which can lead to bad judgement at times. Plot twists, spooky atmosphere and an interesting mystery makes for a very happy reader. I recommend this book highly.

Book Review: Snow & Secrets by Rozenn Scott

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

SNOW & SECRETS (Stanford Creek, #3) by R.J. Scott writing as Rozenn Scott is a fast to read, short, classic style contemporary romance, but with a hero and a hero. I love these two characters coming together for their HEA! This is the third book in this series, but it can be easily read as a standalone.

Tyler ‘Ty’ Hart, boy band star is all over the internet, but not for a good reason. Threatened with blackmail, chased by the paparazzi and having anxiety attacks he takes off for an isolated cabin in the snow in Stanford Creek, VT. Two of his former bandmates have settled and found happiness there, so he is hoping it will work for him.

Garrett Campbell is back in his hometown for Christmas to regroup and heal after an assignment goes FUBAR. The death of his friend, his own near death and the unknown source of the danger have him wanting to stay alone in his brother’s cabin, but be close for his sister’s delivery. His unexpected arrival means he has to share the cabin with Ty, who just happens to be a secret fantasy.

Isolated cabin, snow, hot tub and fantasies become reality. The romance is quick and yet it doesn’t feel rushed. Both men realize that they not only have each other, but a cast of secondary characters that all love and care about both of them very much. A little suspense is thrown in to the mix and you have a really entertaining read.

I recommend this book and author to any lovers of M/M romance. Ms. Scott also writes M/F romance, as in Books 1 and 2 of this series. The sex is very sweet and hot in this book. There are explicit scenes of M/M sex, but it is never gratuitous. Excellent romance read!

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.

Book Review: Lone Wolf by Sara Driscoll

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

If I see a book contains a suspense plot and a dog, I am definitely grabbing it! LONE WOLF (FBI K-9 #1) did not disappoint. The first in a new series by Sara Driscoll takes you inside the FBI K-9 unit and focuses on Meg Jennings and her dog, Hawk.

The action in this book takes off at the beginning with a bombing via drone of a government building by the National Mall in Washington, DC. Meg and her black Lab, Hawk, are sent into the aftermath for search and rescue. (The author gives a very realistic description of the scene and the work this team would do together.) This is just the start of this bomber’s agenda of revenge on government agencies he feels have destroyed his life. It is a race to find out who is behind this devastation and stop him before more innocents die.

The book is an easy to read thriller/suspense with a few graphic scenes of violence from the bombings. It is a page turner that will keep you engaged. Meg lives with her sister, Cara, who is a professional dog trainer and their dogs Hawk, Blink, a red brindle retired racing greyhound and Saki, a blue pit bull therapy dog. I especially loved this author’s take on pit bull bans, because I live with two pit bull rescues that I love dearly.

With Clay McCord, a reporter from the Washington Post and Todd Webb, a firefighter and EMT, you have a bit of possible romance in future books. There are also two other teams of FBI K-9s, Brian with his German shepard, Lacie, and Lauren with her border collie, Rocco. There is a lot of information besides plot in this first book. I would like to see future books in this series have more attention given to character depth, but besides that, I felt this was a great start to a new series I will definitely be following!

Thanks very much to Kensington Books and Net Galley for allowing me to read the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.