Avonna

Book Review: Silver Thaw by Catherine Anderson

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

SILVER THAW (Mystic Creek, #1) by bestselling author Catherine Anderson is the start of a new traditional contemporary romance series set in Mystic Creek, Oregon. This is an extremely well written story that has a hero that we all dream of meeting and a heroine with a small daughter who both need him desperately.

Jeb Sterling is a self-employed precision woodworker who finds messages scattered across his land on pink strips of paper. He becomes intrigued by the writer’s hopes and wishes for herself and her six year old daughter. When a severe ice storm hits, Jeb goes to check on his mysterious new neighbors and ends up rescuing Amanda Banning and her daughter. He finds himself drawn to this pair that are on the run and hiding from a physically abusive spouse and father.

Amanda and her daughter’s previous physical and psychological abuse is handled very convincingly by this author. Jeb is a strong hero to take on this pair and to deal with all the fallout to come. There are mild religious references, but only before meal prayers and the idea of praying for help. All Ms. Anderson’s books have very mild sexual scenes and focus more on the growing of the love between the H/h. The growth of the relationship in this book is the main focus. It is well plotted and realistic to the situation.

This romance is character driven and tells the tale of overcoming past adversity and starting over with the love and help of a strong hero and a caring community.

I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Book Review: Stark Shadows by C.D. Bradley

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

O-M-G!!!

STARK SHADOWS by C.D. Bradley is the second book in the Stark Trilogy and a great addition well worth the wait, but this book’s ending was even harder to take than the last one! Everyone who is familiar with my reviews, knows I hate cliffhangers, but there have been a few trilogies that I am willing to forgo that dislike because either the story and/or characters are so amazing as to be worth the wait. This is one of those trilogies!

The start of book two has Kira being attacked in her home with flashbacks to her previous college attack. It is a well written and intense scene that still has you wondering if it is real or an alcohol induced dream. When she wakes up in the hospital, Holt is once again trying to help her, or is he? Kira has Paige stay with her until she is to be deployed in two weeks and Paige is kidnapped.

Owen Stark is back from deployment and looking to make things right with Kira, who he realizes is the only woman for him, but with Paige’s kidnapping and Kira’s attack nothing is going as planned again. Nothing between Kira and Owen is settled as Kira wants to focus on her military career and Owen vows to get Paige back and find out who is attacking Kira and why.

Although Kira and Owen are apart more than they are together in this book, the split into two separate paths never lets up in an intense, emotional, intriguing read. I got to read more about Owen’s true character, his willingness to do anything for those he loves and that no matter how dark things become there is a line of integrity he is not willing to cross. I was interested in all of Kira’s storyline revolving around her deployment to Peru and the history and study of the Zika virus.

And then BANG!

Book boyfriend that makes the pages sizzle! Strong, realistic characterization. Smart, intelligent plot. I love these books and am lucky that I have the third one available to read now, because if I had to wait I would go crazy.

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

Book Review: You’ve Got Aliens by Fiona Roarke

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

I loved this story and characters! They are both entertaining, fun and quirky. YOU’VE GOT ALIENS (Alienn, Arkansas Book 1) by Fiona Roarke is a laugh out loud short romance read that I highly recommend. I just finished the first book in this new humorous alien vs. human romance series and I want the next one NOW!

Juliana Masters needs money and accepts a writing assignment from her old college professor. She is to go to nearby Alienn, Arkansas for travel publication, Finders, and find out if the alien sightings at the Big Bang Truck Stop are real.

The Fearless Leader of the Big Bang Truck Stop is Diesel Grey. The oldest of seven children, inherited the leadership of the Truck Stop last year from his father and takes his job very seriously. The Big Bang Truck Stop is located in a small town with fun alien ads everywhere on the surface, but a galactic refueling station and rest stop underneath. When Juliana shows up for an interview, he can’t believe how attracted he is to this human, but he has to be careful or all of their covers will be blown and humans will know that aliens have always been here among them.

Besides the cute premise for this story, you just have to love all the clever names, Big Bang Truck Stop, Alienn, Arkansas, Diesel, Axel, Cam, Wheeler, Gage, Jack and Valene. The romance was fun as both Diesel tried to hide his true heritage and Juliana wanted the truth for her article so that she could use the funds to discover her past. The romance was very sweet and the sex was behind closed doors.

The secondary characters were all as entertaining as the H/h. An elderly aunt who wants to raise funds for her retirement home with a wet t-shirt contest. A brother who is head of security and keeps mind zapping Juliana into forgetting what she has learned.

This is a fun story that you just have to read. You will be wanting the next in the series as much as I do. Please write quickly Ms. Roarke!

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

Book Review: The Girl In the Maze by R.K. Jackson

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE GIRL IN THE MAZE is the debut book by R.K. Jackson featuring Martha Covington. This book was an enjoyable mix of thriller and mystery with a little psychic/seer thrown in on a Georgia coast island.

The island and its inhabitants are descendants of plantation slaves who are self-sustaining and still follow their old religion and belief system. Martha is out of inhouse treatment for schizophrenia suffered during college and is working an internship for the historical society to interview and write a book on the GeeChee people of Shell Heap Island as a test to see if she can maintain a normal life and return to college for journalism.

There is a battle between the town council and the GeeChee for control of development on their island which leads to dirty money, corruption and murder. Martha is caught in the middle and doesn’t know if her disease is taking over again or if voices and visions she begins to hear and see are due to being more, like Lady Albertha, an old seer in the GeeChee community.

Martha is a wonderful character. She is brilliant, driven, and at the same time doubts herself due to her illness. The plot flows with many rich characters and twists. The writing is very descriptive and you feel immersed in the small Georgia town, the island and traveling in the marshes. I am looking forward to reading more about Martha and where the author takes her.

Book Review: The Girl At the Bar by Nicholas Nash

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

I absolutely love when I try a new author with no expectations and am completely absorbed into the story. THE GIRL AT THE BAR by Nicolas Nash is one of those mystery/thrillers that are rich in backgrounds, technical information and clues without bogging down the pace and keeps you guessing until the end.

Dr. Rebecca Chase is a brilliant cancer researcher in New York City for a medical conference. The night before she is to present, she meets Ragnar Johnson at her hotel bar. She leaves to go to his place for a one night stand. When Ragnar wakes up the next morning, she is gone, not just from his apartment, but she has completely disappeared.

No one knows why she would disappear. Her research has placed her in the middle of a high-stakes battle between two mega pharma companies. Her personal life is a mess, but she is not the type of person to just walk away from her life’s work and career. After her disappearance, others associated with her start to be killed and there are so many different motives and agendas, you don’t know who to trust.

Ragnar is a brilliant out of work trader with social and psychiatric problems. Even though he knows he looks to be the prime suspect in Rebecca’s disappearance, he can’t stay uninvolved. He and his tech expert/hacker friend, Eddie chase clues. As he works the case, he is being followed by Raoul Perez who heads up security for Atticus Biopharma and was a NYC detective previously. You also have a competent team of detectives, Timothy and Roberta, who we follow as they work the case.

During the story, you are introduced to an entity that just calls itself “the void”. It is never completely satisfied or filled for long. You realize this is the mind of the kidnapper/killer and the way it describes itself is extremely chilling.

There are so many characters that have a variety of motives that I was continually changing my mind on who was the guilty party and why. Even with all the moving parts, I was never confused on who was who. All of the characters were so interesting and realistic that I just had to keep turning the pages. I love this type of mystery as it takes you step by step and lets you think and discover along with the detectives and Ragnar. Please note: There is a moment of graphic violence in the climax of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed this first novel and will be looking for more from this author.

Thanks very much to Fireflies Publishing LLC and Net Galley for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. It was my pleasure.

Book Review: Cowboy Pride by Anne McAllister

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

COWBOY PRIDE (Code of the West #5) by Anne McAllister is a second chance romance that is part of a contemporary cowboy romance series that can be easily read as a standalone. The strong, silent and brooding ranch foreman gets a second chance with his high school sweetheart and daughter of the ranch owner turned famous and talented artist after eleven years.

Widowed and pregnant, Brenna Jamison returns home to run her father’s Montana ranch while he is in a nursing home recovering from a stroke. When asked if she could tutor a talented artistic child, Tuck, she agrees, but doesn’t know what she will do if she runs into his uncle and guardian. He walked away from her once before and broke her heart.

Jed McCall cannot believe that Brenna is back home. He states he doesn’t want anything to do with her, but when Tuck tells him of the troubles she is having on the ranch he goes over to check it out. He gets rid of her unreliable hired cowboys and rounds up her old friends to help her get the round-up done for the year.

Without knowing of their pasts, Tuck decides that Jed needs to marry Brenna so the child welfare people don’t take him away from his uncle and Brenna needs a husband to help run the ranch and take care of the place while she is pregnant and give her the help she needs to bring her father home. They reluctantly agree to the idea for these reasons only, but they each have personal unstated hopes, too.

Brenna is a wonderful heroine. Talented, loving, caring and determined to find out why Jed walked away from her. She makes her life choices based on love and you are seriously involved with her finding love again. Jed is a good, caring protective, hardworking man, but he is not an outgoing or happy man. This hero had me sighing over how he took care of others and wanted to love, but he also made me want to shake him over how often he hurt others by not explaining why he walks away.

This is a quick read with minimal sex only in the final chapters of the book. I enjoyed the HEA for all the characters, but I was not satisfied with how long it took the author to get to Jed’s true motivation for what he did. The story otherwise was satisfying read.

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