Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Abilene by Dare DeLano

Abilene

by Dare DeLano

November 28 – December 01

Black Coffee Book Tours

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for ABILENE by Dare DeLano on this Black Coffee Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Three strong Southern women — twelve-year-old Len, her mother Cora, and her Aunt Jean — grapple with love and loss in this poignant tale set on a hardscrabble cattle ranch in a small Texas town. Len yearns to find the father who abandoned her, and after a chance encounter with a country music star who she suspects is him, she embarks on a life-altering journey to find the truth about her past. At the same time, Cora and Jean must deal with another shocking family betrayal that complicates everything. Told in turns by these three remarkable women, Abilene explores the boundaries of love and the transformative power of self-discovery.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/180315462-abilene?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=EueBnmuOVB&rank=1

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Link for the book on the publisher’s website

Universal link for the book on Amazon

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

ABILENE by Dare DeLano is a beautifully written Southern women’s fiction novel that has the main characters on an intense and heartfelt life-changing emotional journey on their ranch in Abilene, Texas. The book is told in alternating chapters by the three main female characters, and this debut novelist had me on an emotional rollercoaster throughout.

Twelve-year-old Len has an idyllic life growing up on the family ranch with her mother, Cora, and her grandmother. The only wish she yearns for is to have a father like all her friends. Her mother never had enough information to find the man who got her pregnant, after he left and before she even knew she was pregnant with Len. When the women see a country western singer on TV, Len knows from her mother’s reaction that he is her father.

At the same time, Jean, Len’s aunt by marriage shoots her husband, Roger, and is arrested. As Jean is questioned by her lawyer and a psychologist, she begins to understand that she has been mentally abused her entire marriage. Roger survives. Jean learns to deal with his betrayal and trauma while in prison. When she is paroled, Jean discovers a letter in a box Roger left in their home that leads to even more betrayal and life-altering consequences in all the women’s lives.

This book had me emotionally attached to Len, Cora, and Jean, and completely immersed in their points of view from start to finish. A young girl wise beyond her years and two strong women who have their young lives changed by a duplicitous man, survive, and eventually triumph. I was completely surprised this is the author’s first novel. The writing brings fully developed complex characters to life and the descriptions of the landscapes were vivid mind pictures. I loved this book and hope that I will be able to read more wonderful stories by this new author in the future.

I highly recommend this emotional Southern women’s fiction novel!

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About the Author

Dare DeLano holds an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University. Her work has been short-listed as a finalist for the Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition, and her children’s book Odus and the Long Way Home won the San Diego Book Award. Her work has been published in “A Year in Ink Anthology, Vol. 10, San Diego Writers, Ink, and has been exhibited in the San Diego Central Library’s Local Author Exhibition. Dare lives in San Diego, but her heart remains in the south. This is her first novel.

Social Media Links

Website: https://daredelano.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094211826844

Twitter: https://twitter.com/daredelano

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daredelano/

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Red Line by Blake Rudman

Red Line

by Blake Rudman

November 28 – December 01

Black Tide Book Tours

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for RED LINE by Blake Rudman on this Black Tide Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Baltimore Police Detective Mitch Wilson wants a nice day out with his wife and son. Instead, they are all caught up in a catastrophic terrorist attack that has repercussions across the USA and triggers events that could alter the course of civilization.

Having lost everything, Mitch sets out to seek justice – and revenge and stumbles upon a global conspiracy.

On the other side of the world, renowned linguistic professor, Yasaman Karami, flees her native Iran for the freedom of the west; she holds one of the keys to defeating the terrorist organization.

Yasaman and Mitch’s worlds collide as, alongside federal agents and allies, they race against the clock to hunt down the terrorist masterminds and prevent worldwide catastrophe.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/196771181-red-line?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=c2fZ0swei1&rank=1

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Universal link for the book on Amazon

My Book Review

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

RED LINE by Blake Rudman is a chilling noir crime thriller based on a twisted and yet believable scheme that could change the governments and economics of the world as we know it. This thriller starts with the two disparate main characters, one in Baltimore and one in Tehran who come together to stop a worldwide catastrophe.

Baltimore Police Detective Mitch Wilson is enjoying the day by taking his wife and young son to the latest animated hit movie. He drops them off at the theater and goes to park the car when a suspicious man catches his attention. He realizes the man is headed for the theater and before Mitch can stop him, he detonates a suicide vest killing everyone. This is happening all over the U.S. where the new film is showing. Mitch is determined to exact revenge and uses information he has discovered to bribe his way onto the FBI team investigating the terror attack called the “Red Line”.

Yasaman Karami is an archeological linguist professor in Tehran, Iran. Her research has led her and her mentor to discover the origins of language. Her mentor is kidnapped for the knowledge they posses and now they are after Yasaman. She is running for her life and ends up being helped across the border and into the hands of the FBI team with Mitch when another Red Line attack hits Europe.

It is a fast paced and action filled race to discover who is responsible for the Red Line attacks and stop the global attack to come.

This is a scary and at the same time thought-provoking thriller. It has a noir feel to the writing style, two main characters that could not be more different and yet come together to make a believable team, and fast-paced action. I do wish Mitch and Yasamin had come together sooner in the story, but there was a lot to set up for the intricate plot and while there was action to keep me involved in the story until they did come together, when they did, I could not turn the pages fast enough. The idea of terrorists, who are not the type of terrorists we normally think of, and the use of super-charged subliminal messaging were just realistic enough to have me seriously cheering on the good guys. I liked the romantic elements and found they were well written for a thriller and not stereotypical.

I recommend this noir crime thriller with romantic elements for a exciting ‘save the world’ read and I will be looking forward to reading more books by this author.

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About the Author

Blake Rudman enjoyed a former, successful career in executive management, building his own companies from the ground up.

Success or not, Blake’s heart has always been in the written word, and the myriad ideas he spent much of his spare time jotting down in notebooks, Post-Its, and scraps of paper whenever the inspiration hit him.

Now a breakout author of five noir thriller novels – all to be published in 2023 – Blake’s destiny of becoming a writer of some renown is well under way.

When he’s not working diligently on his next novel, Blake spends quality time with his family and tropical fish.

Social Media Links

Website: https://hellboundbookspublishing.com/authorpage_rudman.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091948818990

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BRudmanThriller

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/profile/in/blake-rudman-806b51273

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brudmanthriller

Feature Post and Book Review: No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor

Hi, evreyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for NO STRANGERS HERE (County Kerry Mystery Book #1) by Carlene O’Connor. This is the first book in a new mystery/police procedural series set in Kerry County, Ireland and it is one of my favorites this year.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of Jimmy O’Reilly, sixty-nine years old and dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes, is propped on a boulder, staring sightlessly out to sea. A cryptic message is spelled out next to the body with sixty-nine polished black stones and a discarded vial of deadly veterinarian medication lies nearby. Jimmy was a wealthy racehorse owner, known far and wide as The Dancing Man. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he’s determined to unearth every last buried secret.

Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. As picturesque as Dingle may be for tourists in search of their roots and the perfect jumper, to her it means family drama and personal complications. In fairness, Dublin hasn’t worked out quite as she hoped either. Faced with a triple bombshell—her mother rumored to be in a relationship with Jimmy, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to clear her family of suspicion.

Despite plenty of other suspects, the guards are crawling over the Wildes. But the horse business can be a brutal one, and as Dimpna becomes more involved with her old acquaintances and haunts, the depth of lingering grudges becomes clear. Theft, extortion, jealousy and greed. As Dimpna takes over the family practice, she’s in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth, no matter how close to home it strikes .

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60393027-no-strangers-here

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

NO STRANGERS HERE (County Kerry Mystery Book #1) by Carlene O’Connor is an intricately plotted and captivating murder mystery/police procedural set in County Kerry, Ireland. This is the first book in a new series from a new-to-me author that kept me completely immersed in the story.

Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is dispatched from Killarney to head the murder investigation of a prominent and wealthy landowner, Jimmy O’Reilly. In Dingle, everyone knows something about everyone and there are secrets that have been kept for decades. DI O’Brien is determined to unearth all of them to catch a murderer.

Veterinarian Dimpna Wilde has lost everything she built in Dublin through no fault of her own. Even though she has not been home to Dingle in decades, she returns home to decide what she will do with her life now. She is shocked when she returns to find her family are the prime suspects in the O’Reilly murder. Dimpna is determined to clear her family members, but her return is digging up secrets from her own past and the terrible secrets that made her leave Dingle. Besides dealing with old friends and enemies, she has a very astute DI uncovering dark secrets right along with her.

This is a fantastic murder mystery story with realistic characters, a twisted plot with not only a murder, but also decades of secrets filled with lies, theft, extortion, greed and sexual assault all set in the scenic and beautiful coastal tourist town of Dingle in Ireland. Ms. O’Connor brought it all to life for me while I was also trying to uncover the clues to a murderer. The plot weaves effortlessly between the present and Dimpna’s revelations throughout the story of her past and her present with plenty of plot twists and red herrings that continually had me guessing. I am anxiously looking forward to the next book in this series to see how all the characters land and go forward since the resolution of this murder case.

I highly recommend this exceptional murder mystery/police procedural set in Ireland and I am very glad it is going to be a series!

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About the Author

USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland to America and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. She writes the bestselling IRISH VILLAGE MYSTERIES, the HOME TO IRELAND series, and the new COUNTY KERRY MYSTERIES. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, and optioned for television

Social Media Links

Website: https://carleneoconnor.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carlene.oconnor.5

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/carlene-o-connor

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B01BJ1KOFY/about?ingress=0&visitId=26f5521f-3075-443e-a9a5-d3327fe52a41&store_ref=ap_rdr&ref_=ap_rdr

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Black Fox One by Elyse Hoffman

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for BLACK FOX ONE (Project 613 Series Book #3) by Elyse Hoffman on this Black Coffee Book Tour.

Below you will find a book summary, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Summary

Jonas Amsel and Avalina Keller, devoted Nazis and best friends, have a bright future in Hitler’s Third Reich. Ava, a talented gymnast, wants to serve Germany in the Olympics, and Jonas, who has loved Ava since they were children, wants nothing more than to marry her and start a family. When he is about to propose, however, Ava and her entire family vanish without a trace.

Jonas blames the Jews for Ava’s disappearance and throws himself into a career in the Nazi Party. He serves the Reich under the ruthless Chief of the Gestapo, Reinhard Heydrich. Jonas becomes particularly good at capturing members of the Black Foxes, an anti-Nazi resistance group, earning Heydrich’s respect and the moniker of “the Fox Hunter.”

Impressed by Jonas’ skills, Heydrich gives him his most difficult task yet: capture the elusive Black Fox One, the Black Foxes’ most deadly and mysterious operative. No Nazi who has pursued Black Fox One has returned alive, but Jonas is determined and confident. Capturing Black Fox One might bring him one step closer to finding Ava.

But while he is hunting Black Fox One, Jonas makes a shocking discovery, forcing him to make an agonizing decision. He must choose between his love for the Reich and his heart, torn between the lies he has been taught all his life and the new truth before him.

Black Fox One is a thrilling World War II story of lost love, bravery, and the hard road to redemption.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122572652-black-fox-one

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Check out the book on Amazon here.

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BLACK FOX ONE (Project 613 Series Book #3) by Elyse Hoffman is a historical fiction/romance in the Project 613 series which features diverse stories of intrigue, love, and redemption during WWII. This story features a romance between childhood best friends to lovers with several life altering twists of fate. I feel these books are best read in order due to carry over characters and underlying themes.

Jonas Amsel and Avalina “Ava” Keller have grown up from childhood best friends to lovers in a changing Germany. Hitler is in power, and both believe in his vision. As they become young adults, Ava is set to represent her country in the Olympics as a gymnast and Jonas is going to follow his father into the ranks of the SS. When Ava returns, Jonas is ready to propose and start a family with the love of his life, but when he goes to Ava’s house, her entire family has disappeared.

Jonas throws himself into his SS career and becomes “The Fox Hunter” who is dedicated to capturing all the Black Foxes, who are members of a resistance group. He is especially determined to capture Black Fox One who is the most mysterious and deadly of their group. When he comes face to face with Black Fox One, he must make agonizing decisions.

This is a unique WWII historical romance. Both protagonists, Jonas and Ava, go through life altering events and emotional upheaval throughout their lives that kept me turning the pages. Their choices and decisions are the powerful pivotal points of the story. I also found the author’s depiction of the SS officers’ choices they made regarding their families and their loyalty to the Party throughout this series disturbing. This entire series has been fascinating so far due to the author’s character depictions and their moral choices.

I highly recommend this unique historical fiction/romance and I am anxiously waiting for the next book in this series.

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About the Author

Elyse Hoffman is an award-winning author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. She loves to meld WWII and Jewish history with fantasy, folklore, and the paranormal. She has written six works of Holocaust historical fiction: the five books of The Barracks of the Holocaust and The Book of Uriel.

Social Media Links

Home Page

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20851312.Elyse_Hoffman

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elyse-hoffman

Release Blitz/Feature Post and Book Review: Before I’m Gone by Heidi McLaughlin

Before I’m Gone

Author: Heidi McLaughlin
Genre: Contemporary/ Women’s Fiction
Release Date: November 7, 2023

Hi, everyone!

Release day! Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for BEFORE I’M GONE by Heidi McLaughlin on this Buoni Amici Press Release Blitz.

Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Blurb

Palmer Sinclair has never needed anyone’s help. A successful loan officer, she’s all work and no play. But when splitting headaches and blurred vision begin to affect her job, she begrudgingly sees a doctor and receives a diagnosis that leaves her shaken to her core and with little time left. Facing an uncertain future, Palmer makes a bucket list, determined to do the things she’d only dreamed of before she goes.

Kent Wagner has dedicated his life to helping others. An army medic turned paramedic, he’s a regular at Palmer’s bank who makes his monthly car loan payments in person just to see her radiant smile. After responding to not one but two 911 calls involving Palmer, he learns about her bucket list. Touched by her circumstances—and needing a distraction from his own—Kent offers to take Palmer to the places on her list.

Neither is prepared for the emotional journey ahead…or how little time they have left together, but the friendship they find in that brief time might be the most lasting legacy of all.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123170573-before-i-m-gone?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=d4yFI4Xc7e&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BEFORE I’M GONE by Heidi McLaughlin is an emotional romance/women’s fiction that left me swinging between beautiful and heartfelt to devastated and ugly crying. This is a story that reminds everyone to live life to the fullest because you never know what tomorrow will bring. (When you sit down to read this make sure you have a full box of tissues close at hand.)

Palmer Sinclair has always taken care of herself, from aging out of the foster care system to working her way up the corporate ladder in a bank. She begins to have terrible migraines and blurred vision which she tries to take care of on her own until she falls at work. Taken to the hospital, she has a cat scan that reveals the worst possible outcome. Now, with a limited future, she makes a bucket list but feels hopeless to accomplish it on her own.

Kent Wagner was an Army medic who is now a paramedic with the local fire department and a regular at Palmer’s bank. He is the responder when Palmer falls at the bank and in her home. He discovers Palmer’s secret when he accidentally pockets Palmer’s bucket list. Kent is having personal problems of his own and decides helping Palmer with her bucket list will help keep him from focusing on his life.

The connection they find in their time and travels together is an emotional journey you will not be able to forget.

What a tear-jerker, and yet hauntingly beautiful story with characters that I will never forget. This is an emotional rollercoaster that feels so real and raw, but you do not want to get off the ride and there are moments of humor to occasionally give you a break from the tissues. Palmer is a heroine that you want to wrap in your arms and Kent was the perfect hero for her. How many of us continually put off what we want, our bucket list, until it is too late? Even if you do not do something on a bucket list, this friendship/love story reminds you to live every day to the fullest.

I highly recommend this emotional journey!

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About the Author

Heidi McLaughlin is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of The Beaumont Series, The Boys of Summer, and The Archers.

In 2012, Heidi turned her passion for reading into a full-fledged literary career, writing over twenty novels, including the acclaimed Forever My Girl.

Heidi’s first novel, Forever My Girl, has been adapted into a motion picture with LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions, starring Alex Roe and Jessica Rothe, and opened in theaters on January 19, 2018, and is now available on DVD & Digital.

Social Media Links

Website: https://heidimclaughlin.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorHeidiMcLaughlin/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeidiJoVT/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/heidi-mclaughlin

Purchase Links

Feature Post and Book Review: The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen

Book Description

Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.

But when a body turns up in Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a message from former foes who haven’t forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends—all retirees from the CIA—to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This “Martini Club” of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they’re eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives.

Complicating their efforts is Purity’s acting police chief, Jo Thibodeau. More accustomed to dealing with rowdy tourists than homicide, Jo is puzzled by Maggie’s reluctance to share information—and by her odd circle of friends, who seem to be a step ahead of her at every turn.

As Jo’s investigation collides with the Martini Club’s maneuvers, Maggie’s hunt for answers will force her to revisit a clandestine career that spanned the globe, from Bangkok to Istanbul, from London to Malta. The ghosts of her past have returned, but with the help of her friends—and the reluctant Jo Thibodeau—Maggie might just be able to save the life she’s built.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/131068071-the-spy-coast?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Q0GMBUwcqY&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE SPY COAST (The Martini Club Book #1) by Tess Gerritsen is a suspenseful and gripping first book in a new series featuring a group of ex-CIA agents all settled into retirement in the small coastal town of Purity, Maine. This story introduces all the retired agents who call themselves “The Martini Club” and the small town’s acting police chief but features ex-agent Maggie Byrd and the case from her past that comes back to threaten her life and her friends.

Ex-CIA agent Maggie Bird has an active operative suddenly appear in her home inquiring about her last case, Operation Cyrano in Malta and the location of woman who ran the op. She has nothing to tell. While she attends her book club with the other ex-agents, the operative is dumped dead on her driveway. Police Chief Jo Thibodeau knows there is much more happening than what she is told.

With the help of The Martini Club members, Maggie travels back to where it all began in Bangkok and works to find her old teammates. Interspersed with flashbacks to her past that changed her life forever, she discovers the reason someone is out for revenge and requires a life for a life.

I always love to find new books and series with mature characters, and I am so happy Ms. Gerritsen is writing this one. I love her other books and was excited to try this one. I was not disappointed. The Martini Club members are all unique ex-CIA agents, and she brings them and their surroundings to life in Purity. The story switches narrative between Maggie, Diana (an old teammate from Operation Cyrano), and Chief of Police Jo Thibodeau as well as chapters where Maggie goes back in time to her last years in the CIA. Even with all these switches, I was never confused and followed the story plot line easily.

This is a well plotted espionage suspense/thriller with plenty of edge-of-your-seat moments, action, tears, and humor. I highly recommend this first Martini Club book and I cannot wait to get the next book in the series!

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About the Author

Internationally bestselling author Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D.

While on maternity leave from her work as a physician, she began to write fiction and in 1987, her first novel, Call After Midnight, was published. It was just the first of 32 suspense novels that she’s written over a 36-year writing career. She also wrote a screenplay, “Adrift,” which aired as a 1993 CBS Movie of the Week starring Kate Jackson.

Tess’s 1996 medical thriller, Harvest, marked her debut on the New York Times bestseller list and her novels have hit bestseller lists around the world ever since. Among her titles are Gravity, The Surgeon, Vanish, Listen to Me, and her upcoming spy thriller, The Spy Coast, which has just been optioned by Amazon Studios for a television series. Her books have been translated into 40 languages, and more than 40 million copies have been sold around the world.

Her series of novels featuring homicide detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles inspired the hit TNT television series “Rizzoli & Isles,” starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.

She lives in Maine.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.tessgerritsen.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TessGerritsen

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tessgerritsen

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tess-gerritsen