Today I am excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for the Release Blitz of WATCHING TRIN (On Call Book #7)(Police and Fire Operation Alpha) by Freya Barker.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Freelance journalist and single mom, Katrina (Trin) Paige, has recently returned to her hometown to help her sister care for their elderly father. They’ve barely settled back into Durango’s daily life when her rebellious teenage son gets himself in tumultuous waters. While being rescued by the local fire department, he unwittingly uncovers a decades-old crime hidden underneath the churning rapids of the Animas River.
Once Trin’s life is back on an even keel, her sharp nose for a compelling story starts twitching and she dives headfirst into an investigation of her own. The more she uncovers, the closer she gets to the firefighter who not only pulled her son from the river, but who also seems present everywhere she turns.
Bodhi (Roadkill) Jones doesn’t believe in things like fate, although, he can’t deny the way his life seems to be entwined with the spunky redhead is more than mere coincidence. In fact, he’s been wondering how it is possible she escaped his attention growing up in the same town, even though she is a few years older. Swept up in an unfamiliar current, he finds himself looking for ways to spend time with her and her family.
However, when a murder investigation touches his personal life, it invades Trin’s as well, leaving him scrambling to make sure the woman he’s fast falling for is protected.
WATCHING TRIN (On Call Book #7)( Police and Fire: Operation Alpha) by Freya Barker is the latest romantic suspense and wonderful new couple in the On Call series to follow. While this is book #7 and some of characters crossover between books, it can be easily read as a standalone. I have read the whole series and anxiously wait for each of Ms. Barker’s mature, intelligent, and sexy heroes and heroines.
Katrina “Trin” Paige has returned to her hometown to help her sister with their father who has dementia. Single mom Trin is a freelance journalist so it is easy to relocate to Durango, and she hopes the move will be good for her rebellious fourteen-year-old son, Tucker.
Barely settled in, Tucker must be rescued by the local fire department from the Animas River in the middle of the night when the stolen raft he and his friends stole capsize in the rapids. During his rescue, the firefighter who pulls him out discovers an old crime scene.
Bodhi “Roadkill” Jones is surprised by his instant attraction to the spunky mother and sister to one of his fellow firefighters. As he finds ways to spend time with Trin, her investigation into the old crime scene he discovered seems to be placing her life in danger. He discovers he will do anything to protect her and her son, but will it be enough?
I always enjoy Ms. Barker’s characters and writing style. The romance between Bodhi and Trin is realistically paced and believable. The sex scenes are hot, but never gratuitous. The secondary characters all add to the story and never feel like placeholders. The scenes dealing with Trin’s father’s dementia were heartbreaking and from friends with a similar situation, were handled with empathy and honesty, as well as the problems Tucker was dealing with as a bi-racial child. I did figure out the way the suspense plot was going very early on in the story, but it did not take away from my overall enjoyment of the story.
I recommend this addition to the On Call series and all the books written by this author.
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Author Bio
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, and Finalist for the 2020 Kindle Book Award with “When Hope Ends”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
I will be posting Feature Post and Book Review blog posts on the Harlequin Investigator Blog Tour for all of these great reads throughout this month and the next.
Today I am sharing my blog post for COLD CASE DOUBLE CROSS (Cold Case Investigators Book #2) by Jessica R. Patch.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Come back throughout the month for more and enjoy!
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Book Description
They’re on a cold trail
and running out of time.
Convinced his brother was wrongly convicted of murder years ago, detective Cash Ryland’s determined to find the real killer—even if it puts him in the crosshairs. But he needs help from cold case investigator Mae Vogel, whom he mistreated in high school. Can they put their past aside to solve the murder…before the killer succeeds in silencing them for good?
COLD CASE DOUBLE CROSS (Cold Case Investigators Book #2) by Jessica R. Patch is a Christian romantic suspense in the Cold Case Investigators series. Each book features a member of the MBI (Mississippi Bureau of Investigations) Cold Case Unit involved in a crime mystery/suspense. They meet and work with their perfect match and as their case progresses so does the romance. Each book can easily be read as a standalone with minimal crossover of the characters in the MBI unit introduced in the first book.
Detective Cash Ryland believes his brother was wrongly convicted of murdering his ex-wife. He is determined to find the real killer no matter how long it takes.
MBI Cold Case Investigator Mae Vogel is home on vacation to visit her ailing grandmother. Cash wants Mae’s expert assistance, but he mistreated her years ago in high school. Mae is willing to help with the case, but she is having difficulty forgiving Cash personally.
Can they work out their differences and solve the mystery before the killer silences them for good?
I enjoyed this quick romantic suspense read. The suspense plot is fast-paced, action packed and gives the reader many suspects and red herrings. The killer was a surprise to me and I like when that happens. It is well integrated with the Christian romance which has no sex scenes. Mae must learn to truly forgive past transgressions and learn and believe that there are some good men out there. Cash is hiding a secret that he has held for far too long. Ms. Patch does a good job of working the H/h through their pasts and misunderstandings.
I can recommend this Christian romantic suspense for a fast and entertaining read.
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Excerpt
She moved toward the lawn chairs Mom and Grandma Rose were sitting in, glanced up at the radiant display and smacked into marble.
Nope. A man.
She peered up to apologize, but the words died on her lips as recognition dawned. Cash Ryland. Mae hadn’t laid eyes on him, by design, since high school.
Maybe this was the origin surrounding her jittery feeling.
She put some pep in her step and moved backward, but Cash’s tanned arm reached out, as if assuming she’d stumbled and not retreated from him.
She swatted away his steady hand. “I’m perfectly fine.” No need for physical touch between them.
His thick eyebrows tweaked upward. “Sorry.” His voice had grown deeper, huskier since he was a kid. Cash shoved his hand into his pocket, drawing her eye to the badge clipped to his thick black belt looping through well-fitted jeans.
What? How in the world did Cash Ryland make it into any branch of law enforcement and why would he want to? His teenage years had been spent as a juvenile delinquent. Not that she’d imagined what Cash might be doing now, but if she had it would be more along the lines of doing time for drug possession or grand larceny or maybe both. Not on the grounds with a criminal investigations division badge from Willow Banks Sheriff’s Office.
Unbelievable.
“You never were too good at masking your feelings.”
She glanced from his badge to his face and his lopsided grin rolled another wave into her stomach. How dare her body betray her common sense by being attracted to his strong, chiseled features.
His blond hair had turned a little sandier, but it worked for him, unfortunately. His eyes hadn’t changed—they were still the same intense shade of blue that won the hearts of girls determined to rebel against their parents. Cash had never been meet-the-parents material, unless a girl wanted to give them a heart attack and end up grounded for life.
Not Mae.
Mae knew better.
And she’d still been charmed then burned.
Speak, Mae. You have to at least speak. “I’m just surprised, I guess.” As if she were still a high school girl enamored by the bad boy of Willow Banks and unsure of herself, she folded her arms, which felt like dead weight across her chest.
Cash Ryland—a detective. She’d seen it all.
“Well, it’s a surprising thing. Um…” He scratched the back of his neck. “I actually was looking for you. I saw your family and hoped you would be here. Your brother mentioned you were in town on vacation.”
Why did Barrett have vocal cords? He hadn’t mentioned Cash to her. But then, why would he? Barrett was clueless about what had transpired during her senior year with Cash. All he knew was Mae had tutored Cash in English. But if anyone had been schooled that semester, it was Mae.
“Barrett talks too much.” She tried to pass around him, but he blocked her. “Detective or not,” Mae said, tossing grit into her tone, “if you don’t move, I’m going to move you. And I promise you, size doesn’t matter. I can do it.”
While Cash towered above her five-foot-one frame, she was not porcelain, and attached to her petite frame was the muscle to maneuver him if necessary.
His hands shot up in surrender, but there was no teasing in his eyes. “I have no doubt, Mae. You’ve always been strong.”
No one had ever uttered those words about her before, but flattery wasn’t going to get him one solid inch. His charm no longer affected her.
He cleared a path for her to flee. “I just want to talk to you for a minute or two. Please?”
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About the Author
Publishers Weekly Bestselling author Jessica R. Patch is known for her dry wit and signature twists. When she’s not hunched over her laptop, you can find her cozy on the couch in her mid-south home reading books by her favorite authors, watching movies with her family, and collecting recipes to amazing dishes she’ll probably never cook. Sign up for her newsletter “Patched In” at www.jessicarpatch.com.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for A THIN DISGUISE (Richter Book #2) by Catherine Bybee. I love the strong, intelligent and highly trained women action heroines in this series!
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review an excerpt from the book and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
A former gun for hire and a federal agent find themselves on the right side of love but the wrong end of a bullet in this Richter installment from New York Times bestselling author Catherine Bybee.
On a fateful night in Las Vegas, FBI agent Leo Grant is working on a critical detail in a high-profile child prostitution trial when a beautiful woman jumps into the path of a bullet meant for him. Little does Leo know that the woman is Olivia, an ex-assassin who is seeking redemption one good deed at a time.
One minute, Olivia is lunging in front of Leo on the Vegas Strip. The next, she’s waking up in the hospital in a haze of pain with no memory of her past, her enemies, or even her own name.
With Olivia suffering from memory loss and completely unaware of the danger she is in, it’s up to Leo and Neil MacBain’s team of operatives to keep her safe. With Olivia and Leo both unaware of her past crimes, the two have little reason to avoid their growing attraction. Slowly her past seeps in through the cracks as she struggles to find the answers of who she is. When the veil is lifted and her dark past is staring her down, Olivia must turn her back on Leo and the love she can never allow herself to have, and race to find her would-be killer.
A THIN DISGUISE (Richter Book #2) by Catherine Bybee is an exciting and action-packed romantic suspense. Once again, even though all the male characters of MacBain Security are highly trained, it is the women taken in from Richter who are elite, highly trained, kick-butt heroines. The plot of this book continues months after the ending of the first book with the same characters, but the romance plot is unique to this story.
Olivia Naught was groomed from a young age to live a life not of her choosing. She expected to be an international spy with her training from Richter, but soon learned she was to be an assassin with no control over her own life. When the man controlling her is killed, she works to redeem herself. She refuses to join MacBain Security, but she does agree to secretly guard the witness that will put the leader of a criminal family in prison.
FBI Agent Leo Grant has worked the criminal case that Olivia is guarding the principal witness for. Leo accidently interferes and he stops Olivia on the Vegas strip where Olivia takes a bullet for Leo from a passing car.
Waking in the hospital with no memory puts Olivia in danger. Leo and the MacBain team of operatives work to keep her safe until she can remember her past. Olivia and Leo’s attraction grows, but there are secrets in her past and the others know she will walk away when she remembers who she is.
Will Leo be able to pull Olivia in from her solitary life and prove they are stronger together with a little help from their friends?
I love Olivia and Leo together. The ex-assassin and the FBI agent who you think could never work, but Ms. Bybee’s deft plotting makes it happen. Olivia, like all the girls of Richter, have pasts that could destroy them, but they meet the one man who will emotionally save them. All the romances in this series continue to add members to the MacBain Security pseudo family. These books are all action-packed and full of thrills, but this book does have a few slower chapters while Olivia has amnesia and is healing from her gunshot wound, but it is necessary to show there can be a different Olivia than the solitary assassin from previous books. The sex scenes are passionate and explicit, but I feel they are not gratuitous.
I love this book, series and author and I am looking forward to many more books to come!
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Excerpt
Inside the eye of a scope, there is a spot where two lines come together. If that scope is mounted on top of a high-powered rifle and is in the hands of someone who understands the mathematical calculation of how much the projectile will descend before it reaches its target, that spot becomes deadly.
Olivia noted three snipers positioned south, east, and west of the entrance to the courthouse. SWAT…all of them. While she had no doubt they’d do their job well if put to the task, the fact that none of them had noticed her pissed her off.
She positioned a camera behind her sope and snapped photos of the uniformed men.
Once she was satisfied with what she had, she wrapped up her location and moved to the next. It took ten minutes to change her appearance, and ten more to get in position.
The familiar thump of her heart pounded blood up to her brain. The first time she’d ever squeezed the trigger, she’d pictured a video of red blood cells pushing through veins. With each beat, her blood pushed forward and stopped as valves closed off behind them only to be pushed forward again with another beat of her heart.
After pulling the trigger…the imaginary blood in her mind manifested into real puddles on the pavement.
The images he’d put in her head were nothing next to the real thing.
Nothing had prepared her for what followed.
Not one of the classes she’d been forced to take at Richter equipped her for what she needed to survive.
And yet here she was.
Heart still beating.
Soul still bleeding.
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Author Bio
Catherine is a #1 Wall Street Journal, Amazon, and Indie Reader bestselling author. In addition, her books have also graced The New York Times and USA Today bestsellers lists. In total, she has written thirty-six beloved books that have collectively sold more than 10 million copies and have been translated into more than twenty languages.
Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in the hope of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full time and has penned The Not Quite series, The Weekday Brides series, The Most Likely To series, and The First Wives series.
A former gun for hire and a federal agent find themselves on the right side of love but the wrong end of a bullet in this Richter installment from New York Times bestselling author Catherine Bybee.
On a fateful night in Las Vegas, FBI agent Leo Grant is working on a critical detail in a high-profile child prostitution trial when a beautiful woman jumps into the path of a bullet meant for him. Little does Leo know that the woman is Olivia, an ex-assassin who is seeking redemption one good deed at a time.
One minute, Olivia is lunging in front of Leo on the Vegas Strip. The next, she’s waking up in the hospital in a haze of pain with no memory of her past, her enemies, or even her own name.
With Olivia suffering from memory loss and completely unaware of the danger she is in, it’s up to Leo and Neil MacBain’s team of operatives to keep her safe. With Olivia and Leo both unaware of her past crimes, the two have little reason to avoid their growing attraction. Slowly her past seeps in through the cracks as she struggles to find the answers of who she is. When the veil is lifted and her dark past is staring her down, Olivia must turn her back on Leo and the love she can never allow herself to have, and race to find her would-be killer.
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Elise’s Thoughts
A Thin Disguise by Catherine Bybee delves into forgiveness, love, and redemption. There are very few authors that can write a riveting mystery with gripping characters. Bybee does both along with humorous dialogue, a lot of action, and romance.
The story has FBI Agent Leo Grant working a protective detail for a child witness against a Russian mob boss engaging in sex trafficking. Olivia Naught, a former assassin and Richter student, is working the same detail for MacBain Security, keeping her eye on the witness and the people protecting her. Although Olivia knows about Leo, he knows nothing about her. They meet on the Las Vegas Strip where Olivia takes a bullet meant for Leo. Following this incident, she suffers amnesia. To protect her and to make Olivia a permanent part of the team, MacBain Security seizes upon the opportunity of her memory loss to show her, with help from the smitten Leo, the new life she could have if she no longer worked alone. As Olivia’s memories return, she feels guilt and unworthy of love because of her past. The team, Leo, and Olivia try to figure out who is responsible for the shooting, while the unlikely pairing of Leo, an FBI Agent and Olivia, a former assassin, navigate their personal feelings and chemistry for each other.
Olivia realizes how much she cares for the team and decides to disappear, fearful if she stays, she will jeopardize their lives. She has wit, strength, and intelligence. Bybee does an excellent job is peeling away all the layers of this female protagonist.
The Bybee readers are once again treated to another wonderful story. The team of Claire Kelly, Cooper Lockman, Jax Simon, Sasha and A.J. Hoffman and Neil and Gwen McBain joined by Olivia and Leo are riveting characters. They are not only a team but a pseudo family who care, protect, and do anything for each other. It is a story of characters who survive in spite of the circumstances of their pasts. Hopefully, this series will continue with a lot of future books that have this team of characters. It is one of those series that should have a book out every year.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: This series has characters from previous books?
Catherine Bybee: If someone is a Bybee reader they know there will be glimpses of character crossovers between series. I hope to continue writing with this team. It comes down to the publisher asking for more books from the Richter Series. I would love to write a Richter espionage book every year.
EC: Olivia is from previous books?
CB: She showed up in Sasha’s book, Say It Again, and briefly in the first book of this series, Changing The Rules, along with Leo. Each book can be read on their own.
EC: You definitely redeemed Olivia in this book?
CB: She was an assassin, but I wanted her to be sympathetic. The only way I could do that is to have her get Transient Amnesia. Once she could not remember anything she became the person who was a student at Richter. She felt connected to the team and knows she can count on them. She allowed herself to feel for others.
EC: How would you describe assassin Olivia?
CB: She was afraid to love because she did not want anything to happen to those she cared about. After she had graduated from Richter, she thought she was being a spy who was good and altruistic. She did not see the sinister side because she was young and naïve. She wanted to connect but would not allow herself to. Both Olivia’s are bold, stubborn, and independent.
EC: How would you describe the relationship between Leo and Olivia?
CB: A tug of war. In the beginning she was in charge, but after she is shot, he gets some control until she gets her memory back. Once that happens, she has an internal battle. Overall, they are two peas in a pot that are attracted to each other. She would not have fallen for him if he was not an FBI Agent. I think she was more of a teaser than Leo.
EC: Do you think Sasha, the lead of the book Say It Again, is similar to Olivia?
CB: No, they are different. Sasha is not as damaged or jaded as Olivia. If Sasha put a bullet in somebody, she knew why she was doing it. Olivia is the alias character who never got a say in who she killed. Sasha had people who loved her as well as freedoms in her life whereas Olivia is always on the run. Sasha did care for Olivia and made sure she got what she needed to survive. Sasha and the team were a pseudo-family. In all my books the family is not blood relatives because of my own personal life.
EC: Who do you identify more with, Sasha or Olivia?
CB: Sasha is the hero to my own heart. She is the best operative. I could see Sasha as a heroine on the big screen. Sasha can be clandestine and lethal, but she is also someone who supports other women. Olivia knew if the chips would fall, Sasha would have her back.
EC: How would you describe Leo?
CB: He gave Olivia humanity and heart. He is outgoing, loyal, and assertive, helping Olivia make choices in her life.
EC: Claire and Jax, the younger generation, are not the same personality types as Sasha and Olivia?
CB: They have more of a sense of humor, are spunkier, and more demonstrative. I think that is because they were never faced with the sinister side of Richter. Sasha actually helped Claire get out, so she did not turn into Olivia. Claire and Jax are huggers and more happy- go- lucky. What I wanted to show is how different people from the same place have different home lives with different families.
EC: How were you able to write about the details of a sniper?
CB: I own certain weapons. Since I am a successful single female, I am not afraid of having weapons to protect me. I have used many of the guns I describe. What is interesting and ironic is that I found out the teams I made up exist and I got it right. If I think about it, then it probably has been done professionally.
EC: What about your next books?
CB: The next Richter book will be Jax’s story. The title is An Unexpected Distraction, out in November of this year. This book will come full circle, but I am hoping there is a clamoring for more in the series. I love writing these characters and want to write them for some time.
I am currently working on a non-espionage book, but more women’s fiction, set in San Diego. It is family driven and inspired by my own life. I have to deal with putting my elderly father in an assisted living residence. It is hard to try to create, while taking care of someone else.
THANK YOU!!
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
I am very excited to share my Feature Post and Book Review on the Buoni Amici Press Release Blitz for LOST & FOUND (PASS Series Book #4) by Freya Barker.
Below you will find a book description, my book review and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Even with a degree in psychology and a keen ability to read people, security specialist Bree Graves can’t seem to get a bead on her boss. There was a time she thought she had him figured out but she’d been wrong. Still, she loves her job with PASS and her team has become her family. However, she doesn’t realize how much she needs them until her latest assignment puts her on the radar of a dangerous stalker.
For Yanis Mazur the safety of his PASS team is paramount. Even if that means sacrificing his personal life. Not only did he spend years building his security firm, but also the shield protecting his emotions. Yet when the one person who could breach his walls goes missing during an assignment he sent her on, he’s willing to risk both his business and his heart to get her back.
A victim of obsession, betrayal, and violence, Bree has no choice but to put her faith in the man who almost broke her.
LOST & FOUND (PASS Series Book #4) by Freya Barker is an action and romance filled thrill ride romantic suspense. This is the couple I have been waiting for and it was worth it. This book can be read as a standalone for the crime and suspense plot, but the PASS characters work together and have evolved as characters over the four books.
Briane “Bree” Graves loves working at PASS. She is a five-foot two spitfire who can hang with all the big boys. She has an emotional past with her boss, Yanis, but she loves her job more and buries any personal feelings between the two. Her latest assignment puts her in the path of dangerous stalker and after she is injured, she finds that she may have been wrong about her and Yanis’ past relationship. Yanis wants her back, but he is the one person who could destroy her.
Yanis Mazur has given up a lot as he has built up PASS Security including a personal life. He has shielded his emotions since a he broke off his relationship with Bree. When Bree is targeted, it wakes him up to what he has been missing and what he wants back. Can he protect Bree and get her to trust him again?
I LOVE Bree and Yanis! They have so much past baggage to overcome and all while just trying to stay alive. The romance works well since they are both 15 years older since their breakup and more mature. They are more willing to talk through their problems and misunderstandings. The build up to their reuniting and the sex scenes progresses at a realistic pace with everything else that is happening in the suspense plot. The sex scenes are perfectly hot and never gratuitous. The suspense plot has many surprises and keeps the characters and readers on their toes right up to the climax. I enjoyed catching up with all that is happening with the other men of PASS and their significant others.
I highly recommend Bree and Yanis’ story, the entire series and all of Ms. Barker’s romantic suspense books!
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Author Bio
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, and Finalist for the 2020 Kindle Book Award with “When Hope Ends”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
Today I am on the Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour. I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for AFTERMATH by Terri Blackstock.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
A devastating explosion.
Three best friends are at the venue just to hear their favorite band . . . but only one of them makes it out alive.
A trunk full of planted evidence.
When police stop Dustin with a warrant to search his trunk, he knows it’s just a mistake. He’s former military and owns a security firm. But he’s horrified when they find explosives, and he can’t fathom how they got there.
An attorney who will risk it all for a friend.
Criminal attorney Jamie Powell was Dustin’s best friend growing up. They haven’t spoken since he left for basic training, but she’s the first one he thinks of when he’s arrested. Jamie knows she’s putting her career on the line by defending an accused terrorist, but she’d never abandon him. Someone is framing Dustin to take the fall for shocking acts of violence . . . but why?
Genre: Christian Suspense Published by: Thomas Nelson Publication Date: May 11th 2021 Number of Pages: 320 ISBN: 0310348587 (ISBN13: 9780310348580) Series:Aftermath is a stand-alone novel
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
AFTERMATH by Terri Blackstock is a standalone Christian romantic suspense with multiple characters that pull you immediately into this fast-paced read.
Taylor Reid and two of her best friends are attending a political rally/rock concert when the stage explodes. Taylor, in fight-or-flight mode, is able to escape, but when she realizes her friends did not, she is immediately filled with not just grief, but also guilt. Taylor already is living with OCD and this tragedy sets her mind spiraling.
Dustin Webb is the co-owner of a security firm with a fellow ex-soldier. He is pulled over and the police on the word of a tipster and find the same type of explosives used in the bombing in his trunk. He is taken into custody and accused while knowing he is innocent. He calls his childhood friend, who is now an attorney for help.
Jamie Powell is shocked when she receives the call for help from her childhood friend. They have not spoken since he left for basic training even though she tried to keep in touch. She is willing to put everything on the line to defend Dustin because she believes in his innocence as they search for the real bombers.
Jamie and Dustin are strong main characters and their reconnection and faith in each other is strong even after years apart. This is a Christian romance with no sex, but strong emotional connections between the couple and their religious faith. Ms. Blackstock was also able to intertwine Taylor’s story and show her devolving and her dangerous ideation yet I always felt empathy for her. The suspense plot eventually led to the real person who set the bombing into motion and was not a surprise which was a little disappointing. It was more of a mystery investigation than there being any actual suspense when you know who did it. There are many serious issues covered, and in my opinion handled well by the author throughout this story such as mental health, cancer, death, grief and forgiveness.
I enjoyed this character driven Christian romantic suspense.
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Excerpt
Aftermath
Chapter One
Taylor Reid’s phone flashed as she snapped the selfie with her two friends, their heads touching and their backs to the stage. The shot from the third row, with the lead singer in the background and the three of them in the foreground, was perfect. No one would believe their seats were so close.
They turned around to face the band, dancing to the beat of the song they’d been listening to in the car on the way to Trudeau Hall.
Taylor quickly posted the pic, typing, “Ed Loran targets nonpoliticals for his rally with band Blue Fire. Worked on us!”
She put her phone on videotape and zoomed onto the stage.
“I don’t want it to end!” Desiree said in her ear.
“Me either!” Taylor yelled over the music.
“Maybe they’ll play again after his speech,” Mara shouted.
The song came to an end, and the crowd went crazy, begging for one more song before the band left the stage.
But an amplified voice filled the auditorium, cutting off the adulation. “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the next president of the United States, Ed Loran!”
The crowd sounded less enthusiastic as the band left the stage and Ed Loran, the Libertarian celebrity magnet, made his entrance. Taylor kept cheering and clapping, letting her enthusiasm for the band segue to him.
It happened just as the candidate took the stage. The deafening sound, like some confusing combination of gunshot and lightning bolt, a blast that blacked out the lights and knocked her to the ground. Smoke mushroomed. Screams crescendoed—shrieks of terror, wailing pain, shocking anguish . . . then sudden, gentle silence, as if she were underwater. A loud ringing in her ears filled the void.
She peered under the seats, choking for breath as dimmer lights flickered through the smoke. Even from here, she could see the fallout of whatever had happened. Blood pooling on the ground, people hunkering down as she was, feet running . . . What was happening? An explosion? A crash? She looked around and couldn’t see her friends.
She clawed her way up and looked over the seat. Smoke and fire billowed from the stage into the crowd, and heat wafted over her like some living force invading the room. Muffled, muted sounds competed with the ringing.
Get out! Now! She dropped back down and crawled under two rows of seats until she came to someone limp on the floor. She felt herself scream but couldn’t hear her own voice. Scrambling to her feet, she went to her left to get to the aisle, but her foot slipped on something wet. She grabbed the seat next to her to steady herself, then launched into the frantic crowd in the aisle. The room seemed to spin, people whizzing by, people under her, people above her, people broken and ripped and still . . . She stepped and fell, crawled and ran, tripped and kicked her way to the bottlenecked doorway, then fought her way through it.
The ringing in her ears faded as she tumbled downstairs, almost falling into the lobby below. The sound of crying, coughing, wretching, and the roaring sound of pounding feet turned up as if some divine finger had fiddled with the volume.
She set her sights on the glass doors to the outside and pushed forward, moving through people and past the security stations they’d stopped at on the way in. She made it to the door and burst out into the sunlight.
Fresh, cool air hit her like freedom, but at first her lungs rejected it like some poison meant to stop her. At the bottom of the steps, on the sidewalk, she bent over and coughed until she could breathe.
After a moment, the crowd pushed her along toward the parking garage until she remembered that her car wasn’t there. She had parked on the street, blocks away. She forced her way out of the flow of people and ran a block south. Where was it?
She turned the corner. Her car was here, on this block. Near the Atlanta Trust Bank. Wasn’t it? Or was it the next block?
Sweat slicked her skin until she found her silver Accord. There!
She ran to it and pulled her keys out of her pocket, wishing she hadn’t lost the key fob. Her hands trembled as she stuck the key into the passenger side lock and got the door open. She slipped inside on the driver’s side, locked it behind her. Instinctively, she slid down, her head hidden as if someone were coming after her.
What just happened?
One minute they’d been taking selfies and videotaping the band, and the next they were on the floor . . .
Where were Mara and Desiree? She hadn’t even looked for them! Should she go back for them?
No, that would be insane. She could smell the smoke and fire from here. They would know to come to the car when they got out.
Call the police!
She tried to steady her hands as she swiped her phone on.
“911, what is your—”
“An explosion!” she cut in, her voice hoarse. “At the Ed Loran rally at Trudeau Hall!”
“Where are you now?” the woman asked in a voice that was robotically calm.
“I got out. There’s fire . . . People are still in there. Please send ambulances!”
“Ma’am, did you see what exploded?”
“No . . . the stage area, I think. I don’t know where my friends are. Please . . . hurry!”
“We’ve already dispatched the fire department and police, ma’am.”
She heard sirens from a few blocks away and cut off the call. She raised up, looking over the dashboard for the flashing lights. She couldn’t see any, but the sirens grew louder.
She knelt on the floorboard, her knees on her floormat and her elbows on her seat, and texted Desiree.
I’m at the car. Where are you?
No answer. She switched to a recent thread with Mara and texted again.
Got out. At car waiting. Where are you?
Nothing.
She dictated a group text to both of them.
Are you all right?
They were probably running or deaf, fighting their way out like she had. She tried calling them, but Mara’s phone rang to voicemail. When Desiree’s phone did the same, she yelled, “Call me! I’m waiting at the car and I’m scared. Where are you?” She was sobbing when she ended the call.
***
Author Bio
Terri Blackstock has sold over seven million books worldwide and is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She has had over twenty-five years of success as a novelist. She’s the author of If I Run, If I’m Found, and If I Live, as well as such series as Cape Refuge, Newpointe 911, Moonlighters, and the Restoration series.
