I have been posting Feature Post and Book Review blog posts on the Harlequin Investigators Blog Tour for all of these great reads throughout this month and last.
Today I am sharing my blog post for ROGUE CHRISTMAS OPERATION (Fugitive Heroes: Topaz Unit Book #1) by Juno Rushdan.
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 link. This is my last post for this tour. Enjoy!
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Book Description
He’ll sacrifice his safety
…for a woman who could completely upend his Christmas.
After Gage Graham saves her from drowning, Hope Fischer revives, determined to learn the truth about her sister’s death. All she has to do is infiltrate a mysterious closed Virginia town and discover why the attractive—but secretive—Gage feels compelled to help her. Can she trust him? Will he risk being discovered by his former employer, the CIA, for a woman he just met? Neither will matter if a killer succeeds.
ROGUE CHRISTMAS OPERATION (Fugitive Heroes: Topaz Unit Book #1) by Juno Rushdan is an action-packed, edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense. This book is the start of a new Harlequin Intrigue series by a new-to-me author. While Christmas is in the title and when the book is set, it is not really a holiday read, but it is an excellent romantic suspense.
Hope Fischer is a globe-trotting photojournalist who is notified that her sister, Faith has committed suicide. Hope finds everything about the supposed facts regarding her sister’s death unbelievable and she is willing to do anything to get to the truth.
Gage Graham rescues Hope from drowning as her car crashes on the rode to the Benediction, which is a rural Virginia closed town, locked down by the government. Gage feels compelled to help Hope find what truly happened to her sister even as it may cost him his safe sanctuary and expose him to his former CIA employer.
Can Gage and Hope trust each other enough to uncover the truth, find a killer and escape with their lives?
I read this book in one sitting. It is exciting and has two fast-paced suspense plots which are both equally intriguing. You get the main suspense plot of the H/h searching for the truth of Faith’s death and the secondary suspense plot featuring the Topaz Unit hiding out while they attempt to figure out why they have been targeted for elimination. Hope and Gage are engaging main characters who both love family, are intelligent and resilient. The danger they are in speeds up their connection and trust, but I never felt like it was forced or unbelievable in this story. The sex scenes are explicit, but not gratuitous. This new-to-me author gave me everything I am looking for in a Harlequin Intrigue and I will definitely be looking for more of her stories.
I highly recommend this romantic suspense and I am anxiously waiting for the next book in the Topaz Unit series!
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Excerpt
She’d been warned. That’s what everyone wanted. For her to leave it all alone. To go back to California and bury her head in the sand.
But then a murderer would go free.
She had failed her sister once. Not again. She swallowed past the ball of anxiety in her throat. You can do this.
The SUV zoomed up alongside her, sending a new wave of fear crashing through her. What was he doing?
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than the SUV swerved sharply. The front end slammed into her side of the car, propelling it into a wild slide toward the edge.
Hope panicked, hitting the brakes. The wheels locked. Her vehicle lost traction and went into a skid. Everything was happening so fast. Too fast.
Spinning out of control, her car missed a large tree and slid over the edge of the slope. A high-pitched cry escaped her lips. Dirt and rocks spit up. She tried to straighten the steering wheel and pumped the brakes. Her car fishtailed, clipped a tree and went airborne.
The sedan flipped. Rolled end over end down the gradient. Metal crunched and groaned around her.
Hope’s seat belt jerked hard across her body, cutting off her oxygen for a second.
The airbag deployed like a hot fist, knocking her head back against the seat. Dust and chemicals saturated the air.
Her lungs seized as a scream lodged in her throat.
The car slammed to a stop with the impact of crashing into a brick wall. Her skull smashed into something hard.
A riot of pain flared…everywhere. In her head, chest, bones—even her teeth hurt.
Her vision blurred. Not that it mattered. She couldn’t see past the airbag, which was the size of a large beach ball in her face.
Hope pushed on the light fabric, and the airbag deflated. Coughing, she wiped at the wetness coming from her nose with the back of her hand. Blood. Her nose was bleeding.
She switched on the interior light and pushed the deflated airbag out of her way.
The headlights were still on.
Water.
The car was in the lake. Beneath the water, or at least half of it. The weight of the engine pitched the front end forward, so that the car was almost pointing straight down. She looked back at the rear window. Rain and darkness.
Water was starting to seep inside the vehicle. The foot well was filling up as water rushed in. Faster and faster.
Hope pressed the button to release the seat belt. But nothing happened. It was stuck, jammed tight. She yanked on the belt, trying again, tugging and pushing. Praying.
Oh, God. She was trapped.
Icy water rose past her hips to her waist. Shockingly cold. Her toes were already growing numb, and she was shivering. She had to get out. Now!
Her purse floated up on the passenger’s side. If she reached it, got to the Swiss Army knife inside, she could cut herself free.
She extended her hand in the water. Her bag was inches from her fingertips. She stretched out as much as she could, straining her arm muscles. A pang wrenched through her chest, her eyes tearing at the intense pain, but she didn’t stop. She kept reaching for her purse. Almost had it. The bag was so close—she needed to stretch a hair farther, but the seat belt had her pinned.
The car shifted, still moving. Down and down it sank. The car tipped to the side, and water carried her purse away, out of reach.
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About the Author
Juno Rushdan draws from real-life inspiration as a former U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer to craft sizzling romantic thrillers. However, you won’t find any classified leaks here. Her stories are pure fiction about kick-ass heroes and strong heroines fighting for their lives as well as their happily-ever-after.
Although Juno is a native New Yorker, wanderlust has taken her across the globe. Fortunately, she is blessed with a husband who shares her passion for travel, movies, and fantastic food. She’s visited more than twenty different countries and has lived in England and Germany. Her favorite destination for relaxation is the Amalfi Coast, Italy for its stunning seascape, cliffside lemon groves, terraced vineyards, amazing pasta, and to-die-for vino.
When she’s not writing, Juno loves spending time with her family. Exercise is not her favorite thing to do, but she squeezes some in since chocolate and red wine aren’t calorie-free.
She currently resides in Virginia with her supportive hubby, two dynamic children, and spoiled rescue dogs. Check her out on Instagram, Facebookor follow her on Twitter or BookBub. She loves to connect with readers!
Picking up where the “tour de force” (The Providence Journal) Total Power left off, the next thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mitch Rapp series follows the CIA’s top operative as he searches for a high-level mole with the power to rewrite the world order.
Mitch Rapp has worked for a number of presidents over his career, but Anthony Cook is unlike any he’s encountered before. Cunning and autocratic, he feels no loyalty to America’s institutions and is distrustful of the influence Rapp and CIA director Irene Kennedy have in Washington.
Meanwhile, when Kennedy discovers evidence of a mole scouring the Agency’s database for sensitive information on Nicholas Ward, the world’s first trillionaire, she convinces Rapp to take a job protecting him. In doing so, he finds himself walking an impossible tightrope: Keep the man alive, but also use him as bait to uncover a traitor who has seemingly unlimited access to government secrets.
As the attacks on Ward become increasingly dire, Rapp and Kennedy are dragged into a world where the lines between governments, multinational corporations, and the hyper-wealthy fade. An environment in which liberty, nationality, and loyalty are meaningless. Only the pursuit of power remains.
As “one of the best thriller writers on the planet” (The Real Book Spy), Kyle Mills has created another nail-biter that not only echoes the America of today, but also offers a glimpse into its possible future.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Vince Flynn’s Enemy at The Gates by Kyle Mills brings back Mitch Rapp, Irene Kennedy, and Scott Coleman. There is no coincidence that the 20th book in the Mitch Rapp series coincides with the 20th anniversary of September 11th.
In this thriller, Rapp and Kennedy are dragged into a world where the lines between governments, multinational corporations, and the hyper-wealthy fade. An environment in which liberty, nationality, and loyalty are meaningless with only the pursuit of power remaining.
The book opens with a meeting between the new President, Anthony Cook, and CIA Director Irene Kennedy, who is very distrustful of him. Meanwhile, Mitch is contemplating his future realizing he is not getting any younger. He feels a strong draw to a quieter life with Claudia and Anna in South Africa, getting out of the CIA, and diving back into the world of competitive triathlons. But life does not go as planned. Irene asks him for his help after discovering evidence of a high-ranking mole scouring the Agency’s database for sensitive information on Nicholas Ward, the world’s first trillionaire. She asks Mitch and Scott to protect him and find the scientist Ward hired to develop a vaccine for all viruses. In the coming decades, Ward’s technologies will help make Saudi oil worthless. And along with Dr. David Chism, Ward hopes to transform health care worldwide. Ward is a menace to the general world order, and to Cook’s financial empire. With the help of the Saudis, President Cook and the First Lady hire the crazed Ugandan warlord Gideon Auma, aka God’s representative on Earth, to neutralize David Chism and stop the research. Cook and his wife will do anything in their power to rid themselves of Kennedy and Rapp who they see as an existential threat.
President Cook is easy to hate and along with his wife, Catherine, they are a formable duo to challenge Mitch and Irene. They are both egotistical, self-centered, cunning, autocratic, and feel no loyalty to America’s institutions. Plus, they are distrustful of the influence Rapp and CIA director Irene Kennedy have in Washington.
This story has counterintelligence, geo-politics, wealthy individuals who want to change or at least influence the world order, and betrayal at the highest level. The last sixty pages are classic Vince Flynn: suspenseful, gripping. captivating, and riveting. This story does have somewhat of a cliff hanger, leaving readers to wonder what will happen next. But that is also classic Vince Flynn a la Separation of Power and Executive Power.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Last time we spoke you said this would be a three-book arc, will that happen?
Kyle Mills: No. I’d planned for the next three Mitch Rapp novels to follow the destruction of America’s democracy from within. Power-hungry politicians, a co-opted military, and multiple foreign actors would work in concert to degrade our freedoms until there was nothing left. America would become a democracy in name only. The problem was that the claims of fraud in America’s 2020 presidential election and the subsequent Capitol riot made the book feel a little too close to reality. In the end, I decided to abandon the grand political arc. I rewrote the first ten chapters. For the first time in his life, Mitch is working for a president who doesn’t like or trust him. I hope to wrap everything up in the next book.
EC: Is there is new Mitch in this book which also seems more personal and has humor?
KM: I added quite a bit of humor to the series when I started writing. He is calmer, more efficient, and is trying to tone down his actions.
EC: The enemies appear to be more than just Islamic terrorists?
KM: The world has changed since Vince has gone. He would never imagine the divisions within the US. The threat profile is much more complex: China, an unfriendly competitor, Russia, an Internet troll, and the threat from within. I think at the time Vince was writing the fundamental threat was Islamic terrorism. Just like when Tom Clancy was writing the fundamental threat was the Soviets. Mitch sees the polarization in America where certain people root for America to have problems so they can use it against their foes.
EC: There is a very relevant quote about power?
KM: You must be referring to this one, “Power is like a drug. In the right dose it saves lives. Too much though, and it becomes deadly.” And the other quote, “We give willingly to precisely the ones who shouldn’t have it.” Washington does not reward loyalty and courage. Those who get the power are the ones that thirst for it the most. The goals of politicians are to create strife and not to solve any problems. We are to blame because we reward these people by voting them into power.
EC: How would you describe President Cook?
KM: Smart, charismatic, and ambitious. He uses the cracks in America’s democratic institutions to increase his own and his wife’s power and wealth.
EC: Did you model the President and First Lady on the Clintons?
KM: I made them up. I did not think of the Clintons because they are so far removed from the Presidency. The Obamas came to mind. Barak Obama is very smart and charismatic. Michelle had she run for President could have won. They could have been this massive power couple having a sixteen-year reign that would have transformed the way the US political system worked.
EC: Did you base the Ugandan rebel, and murderer, Gideon Auma, on Idi Amin?
KM: I could see why you thought that. It is hard to pick between all these psychopaths. I based it on Joseph Kony who has never been captured. He was the head of the LRA in Uganda. He and his forces have abducted and murdered masses of people. They are brutal. Most of the stuff I said in the book was accurate.
EC: Were you afraid that there would be reader’s remorse with the mentioning of a Covid virus?
KM: In this book there is no Corona virus. It was just a shout out to the past book, Lethal Agent. Mitch got the virus at the end of it, but it was called Yars, because it came from Yemen. In the Rapp universe Covid does not exist.
EC: Can you give a heads up about the next book?
KM: The prologue starts where this book left off. It will be written from Mitch’s point of view about the person who betrayed him. President Cook realizes that Irene and Mitch and Ward know what he did. It will be Mitch and Irene versus the President who has a lot of resources. My goal is to tie things up in the next book with the Cooks. It should be out about this time next year.
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.
Today I am excited to be on the HTP Books Fall 2021 Women’s Fiction Blog Tour. I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for SISTERS OF THEGREAT WAR by Suzanne Feldman.
Below you will find an author Q&A, a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Author Q&A
Q: Your books have won quite a few awards. Do you ever feel pressure when you write a new book to make it an award winning book?
A: I do love awards and who doesn’t? (I’m striving for a Pulitzer!) But awards are sort of a wonderful perk for what I already love doing, which is making something big from a little spark of an idea. I think it’s a stretch to think to yourself, ‘I’m going to write something for THIS award.’ because what if the book doesn’t win anything? I’m much happier just writing and editing until I think it’s ready to go out into the world–then we’ll see how it does.
Q: What inspired this book?
A: Sisters of the Great War was a four-year project that started one morning as I walked into my classroom at some pre-dawn hour. I’d been thinking about my next project after ‘Absalom’s Daughters’ and I knew I wanted to write a war story–but there were already so many books about WW2. So I thought, what about WW1? Could I write something epic yet intimate about that period? I wrote on a post-it: ‘WW1; epic yet intimate,’ and put it in my pocket. After school that day, I found the post-it and by some miracle, I still knew what I’d meant.
I started doing research and realized pretty quickly that the reason WW1 literature peaked with All Quiet on the Western Front was because it was a trench war, and over the space of four years, the trenches barely moved so there were very few ‘victories.’ The war itself was awful beyond description. Troops went out and were mowed down by new weapons, like the machine gun, tanks, and poisonous gas. It’s hard to write a glorious book about a barbaric war that had no real point, so I decided to explore the lives of the forgotten women–the nurses and ambulance drivers who were in the thick of the action, but not really mentioned in the movies and books about the period.
Q: Where is your favorite place to write?
A: I have a room where I write, my ‘office.’ I have all my favorite art, my most-loved books, and a bed for my dog. I love being able to close the door and just get into the groove of writing, but I have been known to write in coffee shops and libraries. When I was teaching, when I would get an idea, I would write on a post-it and put it in my pocket, so, yes, technically I have written at work as well.
Q: Do you have a writing routine?
A: My writing routine involves getting really wired on coffee in the morning and then taking a long walk with my dog, sometimes by the river and sometimes in the mountains. I get my ideas for the day in order, and the dog gets tired. Then I spend about four hours working on writing projects–sometimes novels, sometimes short stories, and drinking a lot more coffee. By then the dog has woken up, and we go out for another walk. I like to treat writing as a job. It’s not too exciting, but it works for me.
Q: Are you a plotter or pantser when it comes to writing?
A: I’m a pantser and proud of it! I love not really knowing what’s going to happen, and I love the discovery of plot points and personalities that might not show up in an outline. My favorite part is when a character does something on the page that I never thought of, and I get to go with that. What’s funny is that as a teacher (before I retired) I needed a plan for everything!
Q: What is a fun fact about you?
A: I was a high school art teacher for almost 30 years, and I am also a visual artist. I do a lot of abstract painting, which you can see on my Instagram account, Suzanne Feldman Author. I’ve taught every art class you can imagine, from darkroom photography to ceramics. I had a wonderful time teaching, and I loved nearly all of my students.
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Book Summary
Two sisters. The Great War looming. A chance to shape their future.
Sisters Ruth and Elise Duncan could never have anticipated volunteering for the war effort. But in 1914, the two women decide to make the harrowing journey from Baltimore to Ypres, Belgium in order to escape the suffocating restrictions placed on them by their father and carve a path for their own future.
Smart and practical Ruth is training as a nurse but dreams of becoming a doctor. In a time when women are restricted to assisting men in the field, she knows it will take great determination to prove herself, and sets out to find the one person who always believed in her: a handsome army doctor from England. For quiet Elise, joining the all female Ambulance Corps means a chance to explore her identity, and come to terms with the growing attraction she feels towards women. Especially the charming young ambulance driver who has captured her heart.
In the twilight of the Old World and the dawn of the new, both young women come of age in the face bombs, bullets and the deadly futility of trench warfare. Together they must challenge the rules society has placed on them in order to save lives: both the soldiers and the people they love.
SISTERS OF THE GREAT WAR by Suzanne Feldman is a Woman’s fiction/historical fiction story which follows two American sisters who volunteer to work at the front during WWI. Both want to escape the conventional roles society and their father demand they follow.
Ruth Duncan has grown up assisting her doctor father and dreams of attending a medical school to train as a doctor rather than the nursing school she is currently attending. Her father refuses to even consider assisting her and wants her to be a nurse then a wife and mother.
Elise Duncan has grown up being able to take anything mechanical apart and put it back together again. She is currently living at home and is the mechanic for her father’s car he needs for house calls. She has always felt different than other girls and her father believes she will continue to live at home and never marry.
Both sisters want their freedom and travel to England to join the war effort. Ruth volunteers as a nurse and Elise follows volunteering as an ambulance driver and are sent to the front at Ypres, Belgium. As both adjust to the appalling conditions, they also both seize the opportunities to realize their dreams. The sisters suffer heartache and loss, but also realize their resilience and strengths. Bonds of friendship are forged that cannot be broken by war.
I really enjoyed this story even as there are many scenes depicting the horrors and suffering of the troops and volunteers during WWI. The field hospital doctors and nurses had to deal with so much loss and the lack of current medical knowledge and antibiotics underscore how lucky we are with the medicine of today. The sister’s personal dreams and love interests are depicted with strength, vulnerability and empathy. This Women’s fiction/historical fiction story realistically depicts some of the horrors of WWI, feminist issues and an LGBT relationship all through the eyes of two American sisters.
I recommend this Women’s fiction/historical fiction story.
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Excerpt
1
Baltimore, Maryland
August 1914
Ruth Duncan fanned herself with the newspaper in the summer heat as Grandpa Gerald put up a British flag outside the house. If he’d had a uniform—of any kind—he would have worn it. People on the sidewalk paused and pointed, but Grandpa, still a proper English gent even after almost twenty years in the U.S., smoothed his white beard and straightened his waistcoat, ignoring the onlookers.
“That’s done,” he said.
Ruth’s own interest in the war was limited to what she read in the paper from across the dining table. Grandpa would snap the paper open before he ate breakfast. She could see the headlines and the back side of the last page, but not much more. Grandpa would grunt his appreciation of whatever was in-side, snort at what displeased him, and sometimes laugh. On the 12th of August, the headline in the Baltimore Sun read; France And Great Britain Declare War On Austria-Hungary, and Grandpa wasn’t laughing.
Cook brought in the morning mail and put it on the table next to Grandpa. She was a round, grey-haired woman who left a puff of flour behind her wherever she went.
“Letter from England, sir,” Cook said, leaving the envelope and a dusting of flour on the dark mahogany. She smiled at Ruth and left for the kitchen.
Grandpa tore the letter open.
Ruth waited while he read. It was from Richard and Diane Doweling, his friends in London who still wrote to him after all these years. They’d sent their son, John, to Harvard in Massachusetts for his medical degree. Ruth had never met John Doweling, but she was jealous of him, his opportunities, his apparent successes. The Dowelings sent letters whenever John won some award or other. No doubt this was more of the same. Ruth drummed her fingers on the table and eyed the dining room clock. In ten minutes, she would need to catch the trolley that would take her up to the Loyola College of Nursing, where she would be taught more of the things she had already learned from her father. The nuns at Loyola were dedicated nurses, and they knew what they were doing. Some were out-standing teachers, but others were simply mired in the medicine of the last century. Ruth was frustrated and bored, but Father paid her tuition, and what Father wanted, Father got.
Ruth tugged at her school uniform—a white apron over a long white dress, which would never see a spot of blood. “What do they say, Grandpa?”
He was frowning. “John is enlisting. They’ve rushed his graduation at Harvard so he can go home and join the Royal Army Medical Corps.”
“How can they rush graduation?” Ruth asked. “That seems silly. What if he misses a class in, say, diseases of the liver?”
Grandpa folded the letter and looked up. “I don’t think he’ll be treating diseases of the liver on the battlefield. Anyway, he’s coming to Baltimore before he ships out.”
“Here?” said Ruth in surprise. “But why?”
“For one thing,” said Grandpa, “I haven’t seen him since he was three years old. For another, you two have a common interest.”
“You mean medicine?” Ruth asked. “Oh, Grandpa. What could I possibly talk about with him? I’m not even a nurse yet, and he’s—he’s a doctor.” She spread her hands. “Should we discuss how to wrap a bandage?”
“As long as you discuss something.” He pushed the letter across the table to her and got up. “You’ll be showing him around town.”
“Me?” said Ruth. “Why me?”
“Because your sister—” Grandpa nodded at Elise, just clumping down the stairs in her nightgown and bathrobe “—has dirty fingernails.” He started up the stairs. “Good morning, my dear,” he said. “Do you know what time it is?” “Uh huh,” Elise mumbled as she slumped into her seat at the table.
As Grandpa continued up the stairs Ruth called after him. “But when is he coming?”
“His train arrives Saturday at noon,” Grandpa shouted back. “Find something nice to wear. You too, Elise.”
Elise rubbed her eyes. “What’s going on?”
Ruth pushed the letter at her and got up to go. “Read it,” she said. “You’ll see.”
Ruth made her way down Thirty-Third Street with her heavy bookbag slung over one shoulder, heading for the trolley stop, four blocks away, on Charles. Summer classes were almost over, and as usual, the August air in Baltimore was impenetrably hot and almost unbreathable. It irritated Ruth to think that she would arrive at Loyola sweaty under her arms, her hair frizzed around her nurse’s cap from the humidity. The nuns liked neatness, modest decorum. Not perspiring young women who wished they were somewhere else.
Elise, Ruth thought, as she waited for a break in the noisy traffic on Charles Street, could’ve driven her in the motor-car, but no, she’d slept late. Her younger sister could do pretty much anything, it seemed, except behave like a girl. Elise, who had been able to take apart Grandpa’s pocket watch and put it back together when she was six years old, was a use-ful mystery to both Father and Grandpa. She could fix the car—cheaper than the expensive mechanics. , For some rea-son, Elise wasn’t obliged to submit to the same expectations as Ruth—she could keep her nails short and dirty. Ruth wondered, as she had since she was a girl, if it was her younger sister’s looks. She was a mirror image of their mother, who had died in childbirth with Elise. Did that make her special in Father’s eyes?
An iceman drove a sweating horse past her. The horse raised its tail, grunted, and dropped a pile of manure, rank in the heat, right in front of her, as though to auger the rest of her day. The iceman twisted in the cart to tip his hat. “Sorry Sister!”
Ruth let her breath out through her teeth. Maybe the truth of the matter was that she was the ‘sorry sister.’ It was at this exact corner that her dreams of becoming a doctor, to follow in her father’s footsteps, had been shot down. When she was ten, and the governess said she’d done well on her writing and math, she was allowed to start going along on Father’s house calls and help in his office downstairs. Father had let her do simple things at first; mix plaster while he positioned a broken ankle, give medicine to children with the grippe, but she watched everything he did and listened carefully. By the time she was twelve, she could give him a diagnosis, and she remembered her first one vividly, identifying a man’s abdominal pain as appendicitis.
“You did a good job,” Father had said to her, as he’d reined old Bess around this very corner. “You’ll make an excellent nurse one day.”
Ruth remembered laughing because she’d thought he was joking. Her father’s praise was like gold. “A nurse?” she’d said. “One day I’ll be a doctor, just like you!”
“Yes, a nurse,” he’d said firmly, without a hint of a smile. It was the tone he used for patients who wouldn’t take their medicine.
“But I want to be a doctor.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. He hadn’t sounded sorry at all. “Girls don’t become doctors. They become nurses and wives. Tomorrow, if there’s time, we’ll visit a nursing college. When you’re eighteen, that’s where you’ll go.”
“But—”
He’d shaken his head sharply, cutting her off. “It isn’t done, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”
A decade later, Ruth could still feel the shock in her heart. It had never occurred to her that she couldn’t be a doctor because she was a girl. And now, John Doweling was coming to town to cement her future as a doctor’s wife. That was what everyone had in mind. She knew it. Maybe John didn’t know yet, but he was the only one.
Ruth frowned and lifted her skirts with one hand, balancing the bookbag with the other, and stepped around the manure as the trolley came clanging up Charles.
Suzanne Feldman, a recipient of the Missouri Review Editors’ Prize and a finalist for the Bakeless Prize in fiction, holds an MA in fiction from Johns Hopkins University and a BFA in art from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her short fiction has appeared in Narrative, The Missouri Review, Gargoyle, and other literary journals. She lives in Frederick, Maryland.
Today is my turn on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for MERCY CREEK (Jo Wyatt Mystery Book #2) by M.E. Browning.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio, the author’s social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
In an idyllic Colorado town, a young girl goes missing—and the trail leads into the heart and mind of a remorseless killer.
The late summer heat in Echo Valley, Colorado turns lush greenery into a tinder dry landscape. When a young girl mysteriously disappears, long buried grudges rekindle. Of the two Flores girls, Marisa was the one people pegged for trouble. Her younger sister, Lena, was the quiet daughter, dutiful and diligent—right until the moment she vanished.
Detective Jo Wyatt is convinced the eleven-year-old girl didn’t run away and that a more sinister reason lurks behind her disappearance. For Jo, the case is personal, reaching far back into her past. But as she mines Lena’s fractured family life, she unearths a cache of secrets and half-lies that paints a darker picture.
As the evidence mounts, so do the suspects, and when a witness steps forward with a shocking new revelation, Jo is forced to confront her doubts, and her worst fears. Now, it’s just a matter of time before the truth is revealed—or the killer makes another deadly move.
MERCY CREEK (Jo Wyatt Mystery Book #2) by M.E. Browning is an intense small town police procedural/mystery/thriller with a determined female detective lead and a strong cast of secondary characters that is fast becoming a must read for me. This is the second book in the Jo Wyatt series and it is easily read as a standalone, but I feel you should go back and read the first book just because it is as intriguing a crime/mystery and will give you a little more back story on the main characters.
Detective Jo Wyatt is in the dunk tank for charity at the carnival that has come to Echo Valley on a late summer morning when she and her partner are notified of a missing eleven-year-old girl, Lena Flores. Lena’s parents are divorced and she was staying at her mother’s home the night of the 4-H show. Her older sister was with her at the carnival as she took care of her steer in the 4-H show the night before and returns home with her later. But she does not show up for the morning show.
Jo is convinced Lena did not runaway, but something more sinister happened to her. As she and her partner investigate the parent’s, she attended high school with in the past, she discovers secrets and lies which leave her questioning decisions in her past. There are plenty of suspects and with each new piece of evidence in the investigation, Jo is soon facing a shocking revelation which could be her last.
I am always amazed and intrigued with the intricate plotting and step-by-step investigations in this author’s stories. The plots and characters are both believable and emotionally engaging. Jo is the type of strong, intelligent and determined law enforcement officer I love to follow. Her personal life is not smooth and that just makes her more relatable. All the secondary characters are fully developed, good and bad. The crime plot in this book is dark and horrific with a stunning climax. I was on the edge-of-my-seat to the very end.
I highly recommend this new Jo Wyatt book and I cannot wait for more!
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Excerpt
Chapter One
Everyone had a story from that night. Some saw a man, others saw a girl, still others saw nothing at all but didn’t want to squander the opportunity to be part of something larger than themselves. To varying degrees, they were all wrong. Only two people knew the full truth.
That Saturday, visitors to the county fair clustered in the dappled shade cast by carnival rides and rested on hay bales scattered like afterthoughts between games of chance and food booths, the soles of their shoes sticky with ice cream drips and spilled sodas.
Detective Jo Wyatt stepped into the shadow of the Hall of Mirrors to watch the crowd. She grabbed the collar of her uniform and pumped it a few times in a futile attempt to push cooler air between her ballistic vest and sweat-sodden T-shirt.
The Echo Valley Fair marked the end of summer, but even now, as the relentless Colorado sun dipped, heat rose in waves around bare ankles and stroller wheels as families retreated toward the parking lots. An older crowd began to creep in, prowling the midway. The beer garden overflowed.
Within minutes the sun dropped behind the valley walls and the fairground lights flickered to life, their wan orange glow a beacon to moths confused by the strobing brightness of rides and games. Calliope music and the midway’s technopop collided in a crazed mishmash of notes so loud they echoed in Jo’s chest. She raised the volume of her radio.
The day shift officers had clocked out having handled nothing more pressing than a man locked out of his car and an allegation of unfair judging flung by the second-place winner of the bake-off.
Jo gauged the teeming crowd of unfamiliar faces. Tonight would be different.
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Carnival music was creepy, Lena decided. Each ride had its own weird tune and it all seemed to crash against her with equal force, following her no matter where she went.
The guys in the booths were louder than they had been earlier, more aggressive, calling out, trying to get her to part with her tickets. Some of the guys roamed, jumping out at people, flicking cards and making jokes she didn’t understand while smiling at her older sister.
Marisa tossed her hair. Smiled back. Sometimes they let her play for free.
“Let’s go back to the livestock pavilion,” Lena said.
“Quit being such a baby.” Marisa glanced over her shoulder at the guy running the shooting gallery booth and tossed her hair. Again.
Lena rolled her eyes and wondered how long it would be before her sister ditched her.
“Hold up a sec.” Marisa tugged at the hem of her skintight skirt and flopped down on a hay bale.
She’d been wearing pants when they’d left the house. The big purse she always carried probably hid an entire wardrobe Momma knew nothing about. Lena wondered if the missing key to grandma’s car was tucked in there too.
Marisa unzipped one of her boots and pulled up her thin sock.
Lena pointed. “What happened to the bottom of your boot?”
Her sister ran her finger along the arch. “I painted it red.”
“Why?”
“It makes them more valuable.”
“Since when does coloring the bottom of your shoes make them more valuable?”
Marisa’s eyes lit up in a way that happened whenever she spoke about clothes or how she was going to hit it big in Hollywood someday. “In Paris there’s this guy who designs shoes and all of them have red soles. He’s the only one allowed to do that. It’s his thing.”
“But he didn’t make those boots.”
“All the famous women wear his shoes.” She waved to someone in the crowd.
“You’re not famous and you bought them at Payless.”
“What do you know about fashion?”
“I know enough not to paint the bottom of my boots to make them look like someone else made them.”
Marisa shoved her foot into her boot and yanked the zipper closed. “You bought your boots from the co-op.” She handed Lena her cell phone.
“You should have bought yours there, too.” Lena dutifully pointed the lens at her sister.
“Take a couple this time.” Marisa leaned back on her hands and arched her back, her hair nearly brushing the hay bale, and the expression on her face pouty like the girls in the magazines she was always looking at.
Lena snapped several photos and held out the phone. “All those high heels are good for is punching holes in the ground.”
“Oh, Lena.” Marisa’s voice dropped as if she was sharing a secret. “If you ever looked up from your animals long enough, you’d see there’s so much more to the world.” Her thumbs rapidly tapped the tiny keyboard of her phone.
In the center of the midway, a carnival guy held a long-handled mallet and called out to people as they passed by. He was older—somewhere in his twenties—and wore a tank top. Green and blue tattoos covered his arms and his biceps bulged as he pointed the oversized hammer at the tower behind him. It looked like a giant thermometer with numbers running along one edge, and High Striker spelled out on the other.
“Come on, men. There’s no easier way to impress the ladies.” He grabbed the mallet and tapped the plate. “You just have to find the proper motivation if you want to get it up…” He pointed with his chin to the top of the game and paused dramatically. “There.” He craned his neck and leered at Marisa. Lena wondered if he was looking up her sister’s skirt. “What happens later is up to you.”
Never breaking eye contact, he took a mighty swing. The puck raced up the tower, setting off a rainbow of lights and whistles before it smashed into the bell at the top. He winked in their direction. “Score.”
Twenty minutes later, Marisa was gone.
Lena gave up looking for her sister and returned to the livestock pavilion. Marisa could keep her music and crowds and stupid friends.
Only a few people still wandered around the dimly lit livestock pavilion. The fireworks would start soon and most people headed for the excitement outside, a world away from the comforting sound of animals snuffling and pawing at their bedding.
Marisa was probably hanging out near the river with her friends, drinking beer. Maybe smoking a cigarette or even a joint. Doing things she didn’t think her baby sister knew about.
Lena walked through an aisle stacked with poultry and rabbit cages. The pens holding goats, swine, and sheep took up the middle. At the back of the pavilion stretched a long row of three-sided cattle stalls. The smells of straw, grain, and animals replaced the gross smell of deep-fried candy bars and churros that had clogged her throat on the midway.
Near the end of the row, Lena stopped.
“Hey there, Bluebell.” Technically, he was number twenty-four, like his ear tag said. Her father didn’t believe in naming livestock, but to her, he’d always be Bluebell—even after she sold him at the auction to be slaughtered. Just because that was his fate didn’t mean he shouldn’t have a name to be remembered by. She remembered them all.
She patted his hip and slid her hand along his spine so he wouldn’t shy as she moved into the stall. She double-checked the halter, pausing to scratch his forehead. A piece of straw swirled in his water bucket and she fished it out. The cold water cooled her hot skin.
“You did good today. Sorry I won’t be spending the night with you, but Papa got called out to Dawson’s ranch to stitch up some mare.”
He swished his tail and it struck the rail with a metallic ring.
“Don’t get yourself all riled. I’ll be back tomorrow before you know it.”
If she hadn’t been showing Bluebell this afternoon, she’d have gone with her father. Her sutures had really improved this summer and were almost as neat as his. No one would guess they’d been made by an eleven-year-old. If nothing else, she could have helped keep the horse calm.
Instead, she’d go home with Marisa and spend the night at Momma’s. She wondered if Marisa would show up before the 4-H leader called lights out in the pavilion or if Lena would have to walk to her mom’s house by herself in the dark.
She reached down and jiggled the feed pan to smooth out the grain that Bluebell had pushed to the edges.
“That’s some cow.”
The male voice startled them both and Bluebell stomped his rear hoof. Lena peered over the Hereford’s withers. At first all she saw were the tattoos. An ugly monster head with a gaping mouth and snake tongue seem to snap at her. It was the carny from the High Striker standing at the edge of the stall.
“It’s a steer,” she stuttered. “And my sister isn’t here.”
“Not your sister I wanted to talk to.” He swayed a bit as he moved into the stall, like when her mother drank too much wine and tried to hide it.
Lena ducked under Bluebell’s throat and came up on the other side. She looked around the pavilion, now empty of people.
“Suspect they’re all out waiting on the fireworks,” he said.
The first boom echoed through the space. Several sheep bleated their disapproval and Bluebell jerked against his halter.
“Shhhh, now.” Lena reached her hand down and scratched his chest. “All that racket’s just some stupid fireworks.”
“Nothing to worry about,” the man added. He had the same look in his eyes that Papa’s border collie got right before he cut off the escape route of a runaway cow.
A bigger boom thundered through the pavilion. Halter clips clanged against the rails as uneasy cattle shuffled in their stalls. Her own legs shook as she sidled toward Bluebell’s rear.
He matched her steps. “What’s a little thing like you doing in here all by yourself?”
“My father will be back any minute.” Her voice shook.
He smiled, baring his teeth. “I’ll be sure to introduce myself when he arrives.”
A series of explosions, sharp as gunfire, erupted outside. Somewhere a cow lowed. Several more joined in, their voices pitiful with fear.
“You’re upsetting my steer. You need to leave.”
“Oh, your cow’s just fine. I think it’s you that’s scared.”
He spoke with the same low voice that Lena used with injured animals. The one she used right before she did something she knew would hurt but had to be done.
“You’re a pretty little thing,” he crooned. “Nice and quiet.”
Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She stood frozen. A warm trickle started down her leg, and the wet spot expanded on her jeans.
He edged closer. “I like them quiet.”
***
Author Bio
M.E. Browning writes the Colorado Book Award-winning Jo Wyatt Mysteries and the Agatha-nominated and award-winning Mer Cavallo Mysteries (as Micki Browning). Micki also writes short stories and nonfiction. Her work has appeared in dive magazines, anthologies, mystery magazines, and textbooks. An FBI National Academy graduate, Micki worked in municipal law enforcement for more than two decades and retired as a captain before turning to a life of crime… fiction.
Ravens In The Rain centers around Pru and Carney, she’s a woman with a past, and he’s a man with no future. Down on luck and down on love, they meet over a game of chance at an off-strip Vegas casino, and Carney wonders if Pru’s sparkle is what he needs to lift him from his darkness. He doesn’t even mind that she swiped a hundred-dollar bill from an old cowboy. It excites him.
While Pru, disillusioned by her sparkle, is now accustomed to the cynical disposition of vagabond life. She’s not looking for a one-night stand; she’s looking for survival and sizing Carney up as a comfortable solution, for the moment. When she finds out who he really is, she’ll ante up for the game of her life.
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
RAVENS IN THE RAIN: A Noir Love Story by Christie and Jeff Santo is an intriguing story that is a noir romance. I love noir mysteries and crime stories, but they usually do not end well for the main characters, so I was very interested in reading how a noir romance is imagined. (And of course, I imagined it in black and white.)
In the subgenre of noir romance the protagonists should never fall in love, but they do. They are cynical, disillusioned and/or feel more despair than hope. In the traditional romance novel, the H/h may not believe they belong together, but they work through diversity to end up together. In both, the H/h must end up together to be a romance no matter how light and hopeful or dark and gritty the journey.
Ravens In the Rain pulled me in to the despair and drama of Pru and Carney’s lives. What kept me reading was the constant tension and unanswered questions between these two. When I began to feel as if I had an understanding of either character, the authors would throw in a twist that would change my perspective of the character/characters or their situation. I love the continual speculation between truth and lies and the differing perspectives of each.
Can Pru and Carney’s very different and yet equally unsettling pasts decide the future for these two, or do they break free of their pasts and find their own happiness together?
I recommend this unique genre bending, but not breaking modern day dark romance with fascinating protagonists.
From USA TODAYbestselling author Kathryn Springer comes a tale of starting over when life takes an unexpected turn.
Winsome Lake, Wisconsin, is postcard-pretty, but for chef Jessica Keaton it’s also a last resort. Fired from her dream job, Jess is starting over as a live-in cook and housekeeper. When she arrives, she finds her new employer is in rehab after having a stroke, and Jess expects she’ll be all alone in Elaine Haviland’s quaint house. A chef with no one to cook for.
But instead, she encounters a constant stream of colorful visitors who draw her back into the world. As Jess contends with local teenagers, a group of scrappy women and a charming football coach, Elaine faces some battles of her own that extend past her physical challenges. For both of them, all the ingredients for a fulfilling life are within reach, if they’re willing to take a leap. And maybe Jess will start to see that it’s not just what’s on the table that matters—it’s the people gathered round it.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Gathering Table by Kathryn Springer would be great for a Hallmark movie. The characters and the plot are relatable to anyone who has struggled with betrayal. Despite the many bumps along the way, the characters end up having hope after reinventing themselves. Readers realize how new friendships can help with overcoming past secrets.
Meet Jessica Keaton, who was unjustly fired from her job and accused falsely of improprieties. She decided to start anew by accepting a job offer to be a live-in cook and housekeeper for Elaine Haviland. Elaine had fallen, sent to rehab, and while there had a stroke. With Elaine recovering, Jess has her house to herself. While settling in, Jess is bombarded with Elaine’s friends and neighbors. Sienna Bloom is a girl who uses Elaine’s piano to practice for a recital where she can win a scholarship, but also uses the living room couch to sleep. Besides Elaine, it seems that Jess has a lot in common with Sienna regarding secrets and a past life. It is almost like they are The Three Musketeers.
There is also Nick Silva, a neighbor, and the high school coach, who takes an interest in Jess. Although attracted to each other Jess has built walls, which must be torn down. Another character helping Jess realize she no longer wants to be a loner is Christopher Benjamin Gardner, a young man who stutters, has a light case of Down Syndrome, and has become Jess’s sous chef. Jess allows him to venture out and realize he can have a job. His mother Nita, along with her friends, Peg and Marri, nicknamed the Scrappy Ladies, feel the need to protect Jess even though they are busy bodies. All these people, including Elaine who has returned home, help Jess to navigate the feeling of comradeship and family. Realizing she no longer needs to rely on herself she accepts the warmth and caring ways of those around her.
Elaine has also found romance with Matthew Jeffries, a former military Chaplain, who visited Elaine in rehab where they both realize someone in their fifties can find a relationship.
This story leaves a sweet taste in readers’ mouths. The characters are strong people with good values and are very caring. Anyone who wants a feel-good story should read a Kathryn Springer book. These are the type of friends everyone needs.
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Elise’s Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Why did you make Jess, the main character, a chef?
Kathryn Springer: I have this secret dream of wanting to own a restaurant, something I will never do. If I can’t realize my dream, then my characters can. I was also inspired about what happens when people gather around the table together, to hear shared conversations and stories.
EC: What is the role of cooking?
KS: Food is an icebreaker and brings people comfort. It brings people together. They have shared traditions and dinners have attachment to memories. It helps people bond. It helped Jess escape just as the piano helped Sienna escape.
EC: Community is important in this book?
KS: It was like a second family. Jess realizes that there are people out there for her and she is not alone.
EC: How would you describe Jess?
KS: She came from the wrong side of the tracks who had to overcome those unkind to her. She became isolated and a loner. By moving to Winsome Lake, Wisconsin, she reinvents herself and becomes successful. She wants to belong and be accepted for who she is as a person. In the beginning she was distrustful, afraid of failure, but also feisty, strong, sensitive, and kind.
EC: Jess had to overcome people’s cruelness?
KS: There is a character, Libby Tucker, who had to fight off many tribulations in her life. She wrote a diary about being betrayed, and felt her life and career were over. Jess relates to Libby, and is quoted in the book, “She left because it didn’t matter how hard she worked. It didn’t matter that all she wanted was to do the work that she loved. She knew no one would believe her. She knew good things didn’t happen to people like her… Libby’s mistake was thinking she could put the past behind her and start over again.”
EC: One of those characters was Gwyneth Donovan, Jesses former boss who fired her. She seemed to be demanding, difficult to please, and somewhat of a snob?
KS: Jess saw those qualities but also looked on her as a role model. She was the picture of success to Jess. Gwyneth was wealthy, independent, respected, well presented, and had friends in high places.
EC: How would you describe Elaine, Jess, and Sienna?
KS: All wanted to belong, and all have secrets. They did not want to be judged by their past.
EC: How would you describe Elaine?
KS: She is afraid if she is honest, she might lose her friends. She has strength, independence, and is caring.
EC: Why give Elaine a stroke?
KS: It happened to some people I know that were in their mid-fifties. They were in good health and then had a stroke. Some were able to recover.
EC: Nick is the male lead?
KS: He was the small-town high school quarterback who came back home. He has a strong sense of community and family. Overall, a good guy. Because he is now a coach, he has become sensitive to different types of personality. He is also funny and charming.
EC: How about Sienna?
KS: She is broken but wants something more from her life. As the story unfolds, she gains confidence. Jess helped her to trust again. Jess understood her because she was like Sienna at that age.
EC: Christopher was such a great character?
KS: He is tender hearted. I think he added a lot to the story. Jess allowed him to enter her kitchen and life. He is sweet, optimistic, and joyful.
EC: How about Elaine’s love interest, Matthew?
KS: He was not a character who appeared in the synopsis or in my head. He came about as I was writing the scene with Elaine in rehab. I typed the words “knock-knock” and thought who would be there. Matthew walked into the room. Their relationship was unexpected, but why should young characters always get all the romance?
EC: What about your next books?
KS: I am thinking of writing a sequel to this book. There is no contract and of course no release date. I am always thinking how I cannot say good-bye to these characters. They have become my friends over the course of the book. I would love to hear from readers about a second book. They can contact me at https://kathrynspringer.com/contact/ .
I am also going to self-publish and reissue a women’s fiction that will be out in January as a series of three books. It is the “Staple Hill Café” series make over.
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.
