I am very excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for this enchanting YA fiction book. Normally I do not review YA books, but I love books revolving around the ballet. KISSES AND CROISSANTS by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau is well worth any readers time.
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
Mia Jenrow has always known she’s destined to be a professional ballerina. In fact, it’s in her blood—according to family legend, her too-many-greats-to-count-grandmother once danced for the Paris Opera and was painted by Degas himself! Her parents say it’s just a fantasy, but to Mia it’s so much more than that. It’s her fate.
Mia is planning to spend a magical summer in France pursuing her dream, but as she pirouettes into Paris, she soon realizes it may be a bit more complicated than she hoped. For starters, there’s her rival, Audrey, who will stop at nothing to show her up. There’s her ballet instructor, whose impossibly high standards push her to the breaking point. And then . . . there’s Louis. Devastatingly, distractingly charming Louis. He’s eager to show Mia his city—and Mia is more than happy to hop on his Vespa and wrap her arms around him as they pass the gleaming lights of the Eiffel Tower.
Mia’s summer was supposed to be about ballet—but there’s a reason Paris is called the City of Love. . . .
KISSES AND CROISSANTS by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau is an enchanting and heartwarming standalone YA fiction book about a seventeen-year-old American following her dream of becoming a professional ballerina one summer in Paris. I do not usually read and review YA books, but I love books about the ballet and I gave it a chance and I am so happy I did.
Mia has been accepted into the elite summer ballet program in Paris. She has worked single mindedly for this chance to learn and hopefully be asked to addition at the end of this summer for a position in a major ballet program preferably ABT in New York.
Mia has two challenges to her dream, her “nemesis” throughout her career, Audrey, who has always been perfect in her form and her major competition and a cute French boy, Louis, who makes her heart beat wildly for the first time in her life.
It is summer in Paris and Mia has many decisions to make.
I really loved this book! Ms. Jouhanneau brought the city of Paris in summer to vivid life on the pages with descriptions of the food and locations that make you feel like you are right there. She depicts not only the tourist locals, but also secret hidden gems to be discovered all over the city.
I believe Mia is a realistic depiction of a seventeen-year-old following her dream and some of the obstacles or distractions that can appear. While ballerinas seem so professional and composed, we sometimes forget just how young they are and what the demands are on their bodies and emotions and what they give up for their dreams of a professional life in their craft. I enjoyed the growth of Mia and Audrey’s relationship, both personal and professional. The first love interest, Louis was portrayed in a believable way with its ups and downs. The search for Mia’s family ties to the Paris ballet from the time of Degas added an interesting and inspiring subplot to the story.
I highly recommend this story for any reader!
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About the Author
Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau is a bilingual French author of young adult fiction and nonfiction. Her books have been translated into seven languages. Kisses and Croissants (Delacorte Press, 2021) is her U.S. debut. After graduating university in France, she moved to Amsterdam to begin a career in advertising. She then spent a few years in Melbourne before settling in New York City, where she lives with her Australian husband.
Today I am excited to be on the Harlequin Trade Publishing Women’s Fiction Summer 2021 Blog Tour. I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for CONFESSIONS FROM THE QUILTING CIRCLE by Maisey Yates.
Below you will find 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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Book Summary
The Ashwood women don’t have much in common…except their ability to keep secrets.
When Lark Ashwood’s beloved grandmother dies, she and her sisters discover an unfinished quilt. Finishing it could be the reason Lark’s been looking for to stop running from the past, but is she ever going to be brave enough to share her biggest secret with the people she ought to be closest to?
Hannah can’t believe she’s back in Bear Creek, the tiny town she sacrificed everything to escape from. The plan? Help her sisters renovate her grandmother’s house and leave as fast as humanly possible. Until she comes face-to-face with a man from her past. But getting close to him again might mean confessing what really drove her away…
Stay-at-home mom Avery has built a perfect life, but at a cost. She’ll need all her family around her, and all her strength, to decide if the price of perfection is one she can afford to keep paying.
This summer, the Ashwood women must lean on each other like never before, if they are to stitch their family back together, one truth at a time…
CONFESSIONS FROM THE QUILTING CIRCLE by Maisey Yates is a women’s fiction book with romance subplots featuring a mother, her three daughters and the secrets they keep.
When the Ashwood sisters’ beloved grandmother dies, they all return home to Bear Creek, Oregon for the summer. Lark, the youngest finds an unfinished quilt and convinces her mother and sisters to help her finish it.
As they discover the origin of the quilt’s cloth pieces in old diaries, they also begin to reconnect and lean on each other as they begin to reveal decades old secrets that have kept them apart.
Secrets, so many secrets in this book. Ms. Yates deftly handles difficult topics such as abandonment, spousal abuse, sexual abuse and stillbirth all with empathy. As the women come together and work on the quilt, they reveal their secrets knowing that to move forward, they have to face their pasts. The ancestors in the diaries ultimately share their secrets and help the women in the present.
This is not what I am used to reading from Ms. Yates. It is darker with disturbing topics, but it is not all dark, it does have a few touches of romance and ultimate happiness. This story is well written with characters that you become attached to and cheer for their happiness.
I recommend this emotionally difficult, yet ultimately satisfying story.
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Excerpt
1
March 4th, 1944
The dress is perfect. Candlelight satin and antique lace. I can’t wait for you to see it. I can’t wait to walk down the aisle toward you. If only we could set a date. If only we had some idea of when the war will be over.
Love, Dot
Present day—Lark
Unfinished.
The word whispered through the room like a ghost. Over the faded, floral wallpaper, down to the scarred wooden floor. And to the precariously stacked boxes and bins of fabrics, yarn skeins, canvases and other artistic miscellany.
Lark Ashwood had to wonder if her grandmother had left them this way on purpose. Unfinished business here on earth, in the form of quilts, sweaters and paintings, to keep her spirit hanging around after she was gone.
It would be like her. Adeline Dowell did everything with just a little extra.
From her glossy red hair—which stayed that color till the day she died—to her matching cherry glasses and lipstick. She always had an armful of bangles, a beer in her hand and an ashtray full of cigarettes. She never smelled like smoke. She smelled like spearmint gum, Aqua Net and Avon perfume.
She had taught Lark that it was okay to be a little bit of extra.
A smile curved Lark’s lips as she looked around the attic space again. “Oh, Gram…this is really a mess.”
She had the sense that was intentional too. In death, as in life, her grandmother wouldn’t simply fade away.
Neat attics, well-ordered affairs and pre-death estate sales designed to decrease the clutter a family would have to go through later were for other women. Quieter women who didn’t want to be a bother.
Adeline Dowell lived to be a bother. To expand to fill a space, not shrinking down to accommodate anyone.
Lark might not consistently achieve the level of excess Gram had, but she considered it a goal.
“Lark? Are you up there?”
She heard her mom’s voice carrying up the staircase. “Yes!” She shouted back down. “I’m…trying to make sense of this.”
She heard footsteps behind her and saw her mom standing there, gray hair neat, arms folded in. “You don’t have to. We can get someone to come in and sort it out.”
“And what? Take it all to a thrift store?” Lark asked.
Her mom’s expression shifted slightly, just enough to convey about six emotions with no wasted effort. Emotional economy was Mary Ashwood’s forte. As contained and practical as Addie had been excessive. “Honey, I think most of this would be bound for the dump.”
“Mom, this is great stuff.”
“I don’t have room in my house for sentiment.”
“It’s not about sentiment. It’s usable stuff.”
“I’m not artsy, you know that. I don’t really…get all this.” The unspoken words in the air settled over Lark like a cloud.
Mary wasn’t artsy because her mother hadn’t been around to teach her to sew. To knit. To paint. To quilt.
Addie had taught her granddaughters. Not her own daughter.
She’d breezed on back into town in a candy apple Corvette when Lark’s oldest sister, Avery, was born, after spending Mary’s entire childhood off on some adventure or another, while Lark’s grandfather had done the raising of the kids.
Grandkids had settled her. And Mary had never withheld her children from Adeline. Whatever Mary thought about her mom was difficult to say. But then, Lark could never really read her mom’s emotions. When she’d been a kid, she hadn’t noticed that. Lark had gone around feeling whatever she did and assuming everyone was tracking right along with her because she’d been an innately self focused kid. Or maybe that was just kids.
Either way, back then badgering her mom into tea parties and talking her ear off without noticing Mary didn’t do much of her own talking had been easy.
It was only when she’d had big things to share with her mom that she’d realized…she couldn’t.
“It’s easy, Mom,” Lark said. “I’ll teach you. No one is asking you to make a living with art, art can be about enjoying the process.”
“I don’t enjoy doing things I’m bad at.”
“Well I don’t want Gram’s stuff going to a thrift store, okay?”
Another shift in Mary’s expression. A single crease on one side of her mouth conveying irritation, reluctance and exhaustion. But when she spoke she was measured. “If that’s what you want. This is as much yours as mine.”
It was a four-way split. The Dowell House and all its contents, and The Miner’s House, formerly her grandmother’s candy shop, to Mary Ashwood, and her three daughters. They’d discovered that at the will reading two months earlier.
It hadn’t caused any issues in the family. They just weren’t like that.
Lark’s uncle Bill had just shaken his head. “She feels guilty.”
And that had been the end of any discussion, before any had really started. They were all like their father that way. Quiet. Reserved. Opinionated and expert at conveying it without saying much.
Big loud shouting matches didn’t have a place in the Dowell family.
But Addie had been there for her boys. They were quite a bit older than Lark’s mother. She’d left when the oldest had been eighteen. The youngest boy sixteen.
Mary had been four.
Lark knew her mom felt more at home in the middle of a group of men than she did with women. She’d been raised in a house of men. With burned dinners and repressed emotions.
Lark had always felt like her mother had never really known what to make of the overwhelmingly female household she’d ended up with.
“It’s what I want. When is Hannah getting in tonight?”
Hannah, the middle child, had moved to Boston right after college, getting a position in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She had the summer off of concerts and had decided to come to Bear Creek to finalize the plans for their inherited properties before going back home.
Once Hannah had found out when she could get time away from the symphony, Lark had set her own plans for moving into motion. She wanted to be here the whole time Hannah was here, since for Hannah, this wouldn’t be permanent.
But Lark wasn’t going back home. If her family agreed to her plan, she was staying here.
Which was not something she’d ever imagined she’d do.
Lark had gone to college across the country, in New York, at eighteen and had spent years living everywhere but here. Finding new versions of herself in new towns, new cities, whenever the urge took her.
Unfinished.
“Sometime around five-ish? She said she’d get a car out here from the airport. I reminded her that isn’t the easiest thing to do in this part of the world. She said something about it being in apps now. I didn’t laugh at her.”
Lark laughed, though. “She can rent a car.”
Lark hadn’t lived in Bear Creek since she was eighteen, but she hadn’t been under the impression there was a surplus of ride services around the small, rural community. If you were flying to get to Bear Creek, you had to fly into Medford, which was about eighteen miles from the smaller town. Even if you could find a car, she doubted the driver would want to haul anyone out of town.
But her sister wouldn’t be told anything. Hannah made her own way, something Lark could relate to. But while she imagined herself drifting along like a tumbleweed, she imagined Hannah slicing through the water like a shark. With intent, purpose, and no small amount of sharpness.
“Maybe I should arrange something.”
“Mom. She’s a professional symphony musician who’s been living on her own for fourteen years. I’m pretty sure she can cope.”
“Isn’t the point of coming home not having to cope for a while? Shouldn’t your mom handle things?” Mary was a doer. She had never been the one to sit and chat. She’d loved for Lark to come out to the garden with her and work alongside her in the flower beds, or bake together. “You’re not in New Mexico anymore. I can make you cookies without worrying they’ll get eaten by rats in the mail.”
Lark snorted. “I don’t think there are rats in the mail.”
“It doesn’t have to be real for me to worry about it.”
And there was something Lark had inherited directly from her mother. “That’s true.”
That and her love of chocolate chip cookies, which her mom made the very best. She could remember long afternoons at home with her mom when she’d been little, and her sisters had been in school. They’d made cookies and had iced tea, just the two of them.
Cooking had been a self-taught skill her mother had always been proud of. Her recipes were hers. And after growing up eating “chicken with blood” and beanie weenies cooked by her dad, she’d been pretty determined her kids would eat better than that.
Something Lark had been grateful for.
And Mom hadn’t minded if she’d turned the music up loud and danced in some “dress up clothes”—an oversized prom dress from the ’80s and a pair of high heels that were far too big, purchased from a thrift store. Which Hannah and Avery both declared “annoying” when they were home.
Her mom hadn’t understood her, Lark knew that. But Lark had felt close to her back then in spite of it.
The sound of the door opening and closing came from downstairs. “Homework is done, dinner is in the Crock-Pot. I think even David can manage that.”
The sound of her oldest sister Avery’s voice was clear, even from a distance. Lark owed that to Avery’s years of motherhood, coupled with the fact that she—by choice—fulfilled the role of parent liaison at her kids’ exclusive private school, and often wrangled children in large groups. Again, by choice.
Lark looked around the room one last time and walked over to the stack of crafts. There was an old journal on top of several boxes that look like they might be overflowing with fabric, along with some old Christmas tree ornaments, and a sewing kit. She grabbed hold of them all before walking to the stairs, turning the ornaments over and letting the silver stars catch the light that filtered in through the stained glass window.
Her mother was already ahead of her, halfway down the stairs by the time Lark got to the top of them. She hadn’t seen Avery yet since she’d arrived. She loved her older sister. She loved her niece and nephew. She liked her brother-in-law, who did his best not to be dismissive of the fact that she made a living drawing pictures. Okay, he kind of annoyed her. But still, he was fine. Just… A doctor. A surgeon, in fact, and bearing all of the arrogance that stereotypically implied.
One of the saddest things about living away for as long as she had was that she’d missed her niece’s and nephew’s childhoods. She saw them at least once a year, but it never felt like enough. And now they were teenagers, and a lot less cute.
And then there was Avery, who had always been somewhat untouchable. Four years older than Lark, Avery was a classic oldest child. A people pleasing perfectionist. She was organized and she was always neat and orderly. And even though the gap between thirty-four and thirty-eight was a lot narrower than twelve and sixteen, sometimes Lark still felt like the gawky adolescent to Avery’s sweet sixteen.
But maybe if they shared in a little bit of each other’s day-to-day it would close some of that gap she felt between them.
New York Times Bestselling author Maisey Yates lives in rural Oregon with her three children and her husband, whose chiseled jaw and arresting features continue to make her swoon. She feels the epic trek she takes several times a day from her office to her coffee maker is a true example of her pioneer spirit.
Today I am excited to be on the Buoni Amici Release Blitz and sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE PERFECT HERO (The Themis Series Book #1) by Anna Bishop Barker.
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:
Themis, the Titan goddess of justice. The purveyor of divine law and order.
The men and women of The Themis Group have a singular cause – to bring justice and closure to those who have lost hope.
But while they are united in mission, they all have their reasons for being with the mysterious private investigation firm that straddles the converging lines of crime scene science, traditional investigation, and mainstream law enforcement. Some do it for the thrill. Some do it for the satisfaction. Some do it because they are compelled.
But each member of the team is looking for something they will never find in the work they have chosen.
The Perfect Hero – Book 1 of The Themis Series
Hired to follow a trail of blood, bodies, and madness, Logan Pressley and the Themis Group are looking for a killer. Not just a killer—The Slayer.
He is not looking for a woman. At 45 years old, he has had enough of humanity, and wants no part of the myth that people call love.
Starting a new life, Maggie Robertson is not looking for a hero. Hell, she’s not even looking for a watered-down version of one. Romance, she has found, is a wasted phenomenon for the young, and the days for being swept off her feet are long past.
Then there was that one-night stand. The night Logan and Maggie lost themselves in each other. In that single night, all the carefully laid rules were broken.
THE PERFECT HERO (A Themis Series Book #1) by Anna Bishop Barker is the first book in a new romantic suspense series featuring the men and women of The Themis Group. The Themis Group is a private investigation firm in Tampa, Florida with all the capabilities of public law enforcement and more. They also have the willingness to help law enforcement and the hopeless when called.
One night out when neither was looking for anything, but a drink with friends, Maggie Robertson and Logan Pressley are thrown together and the sparks fly straight into a night of unexpected passion. While both would like to see the other again, it does not happen as expected.
The Themis Group has been hired by the FBI task force to assist in the chase of a vicious serial killer called The Slayer. Logan has been recovering the victims of The Slayer from bodies of water all around Florida. Co-owner of Themis with his brother and a former Army Ranger, Logan strives for perfection to make up for one terrible mistake from his past.
Maggie is a mature woman on the verge of a new career. Her son is in his last year at West Point and she decides to accept the offer from The Themis Group to put her new Criminal Psychology Degree to use. She is surprised to find her new boss is Logan’s brother. She is intelligent, smart and mature and willing to give the situation a chance and see where it leads.
As Themis searches for a serial killer, Logan and Maggie each find they have events from their pasts that have shaped them, but can they get past them and share their vulnerabilities to find happiness with each other?
This is my kind of romance with mature characters that have mature issues and work to solve them without games or lack of communication. Maggie and Logan are both in their forties and know what they want and do not want and are surprised by the instant connection they find. The sex scenes are explicit and smokin’ hot throughout the story. The suspense plot was not as intricately integrated into the romance as I would have preferred. The crossover was not brought to light until close to the end of the book and it is not one you can guess. There is a glimpse of one of the antagonists crossing over into the next book. This book also sets up many of the characters we are likely to follow into future books in The Themis Group.
I can recommend this romantic suspense for a great mature romance read and I am looking forward to many more books to come from this author.
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About the Author
I was born in Kentucky and raised in Florida, so I am a southerner through and through. Since I was old enough to pick up a book, I have been a voracious reader. I wrote the usual poetry and short stories in high school, and I kept the dream of writing in the back of my heart until opportunity and encouragement helped me to realize that dream.
I live in Tampa with my kids, grandkids, dogs, various other livestock, and way more books than is strictly healthy.
Hot Romance.
Suspense.
Humor & heart.
Grown up stories for grown up people. This is what I write. There’s also food, music, dogs, the occasional geek reference, and quite possibly an inappropriate joke. There will likely be dead bodies as well.
Three random facts about me: 1. I was bitten by a shark when I was 14. 2. I have read War and Peace. (When I get to the afterlife, I am demanding that week of my life back. Sorry, Tolstoy.) 3. It is my sincere belief that any situation can be improved by eating some cheese.
My life philosophy is guard your inner peace and read dirty kissing books.
Today I am on the Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for CONDITION BLACK by Stu Jones and Gareth Worthington.
Below you will find a book synopsis, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the authors’ bios and social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Synopsis
EVAN WEYLAND, a brilliant research scientist tasked with developing new technologies to fight cancer, sees the world differently through the lens of Autism Spectrum Disorder. His guiding light is his wife, Marie—a globally recognized war correspondent. When she returns home from Syria deathly ill with an unknown disease, Evan believes his research may be the key to unlocking the cure. However, when his superiors refuse his request for help, Evan’s single-minded love for Marie drives him to take matters into his own hands—a decision with far greater consequences than he could possibly fathom.
BILLY VICK, a Captain in the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command, is a combat veteran unable to leave the horrors of war behind. Only the love of his family and a sense of absolute justice keeps him grounded. When Billy’s unit becomes aware of a US-sanctioned airstrike on a civilian settlement in Syria and an eye-witness reporter comatose with an unknown illness, he fears the worst. An unethical military project thought mothballed has resurfaced, and a civilian, Evan Weyland, may be about to inadvertently unleash it upon the world. It’s a mistake that could cost the lives of millions.
Pitted against each other in a game of chess-like deception and intrigue, with time running out, both men must come to terms with the magnitude of what’s at stake—and what each is willing to sacrifice to win.
Genre: Thriller / Medical Thriller Published by: Dropship Publishing Publication Date: 27 April 2021 Number of Pages: 334 ISBN: 9781954386006 Series: Condition Black is a stand alone thriller.
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
CONDITION BLACK by Stu Jones and Gareth Worthington is an intense thriller which is part techno-thriller, part medical thriller, part terrorist thriller that I could not put down! Set in the United States of the future fraught with terrorist attacks, the nation is now under a form of lockdown and the military has broad domestic powers.
Evan Weyland is a brilliant research scientist working on new technologies to fight cancer. Evan is also on the autism spectrum. His wife, Marie is world renown foreign war correspondent and the light of his life. When Marie returns from Syria with an unknown bacterial disease, Evan will do anything to save her.
Captain Billy Vick is in the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command and has an unwavering sense of justice. Billy still flashes back to the horrors of past deployments and the death of his best-friend, but his loving wife and sons keep him grounded and are the reasons he took a position stateside. Billy’s unit receives intel that ties the return of a sick journalist from Syria with an air-strike sanctioned by the US on Syrian civilians. He fears a military project called Omega has resurfaced and it can kill millions.
Both men are pitted against each other as Evan tries to save his wife and Billy tries to stop him.
WOW! This is an intense, edge-of-your-seat thriller that was impossible for me to put down. The state of the US in this book and all the ethical questions regarding both personal freedoms and bio-medical research and uses bring a scary realism to this thriller. Evan’s characteristics and depiction show the authors did their research on people on the autism spectrum. Billy is a patriot and hero who believes in doing the right thing no matter the consequences. Even as they are pitted against each other, you cheer for both of them. The plot has many unexpected twists and leaves you with many thought-provoking ethical questions with memorable characters, good and bad.
I highly recommend this standalone thriller! I am looking forward to reading more from these authors.
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Excerpt
Through the lens of her SLR, Marie Wayland couldn’t pry her gaze from the morbid scene as it unfolded some two hundred feet away. Another twist of the objective and the image in her ultralight mirrorless camera became crystal clear, even in the fading evening light of the Syrian sun: a man, his hands bound secure with coarse rope, sucking with erratic breaths at the cloth bag over his head. The fabric molded to the shape of his quivering lips and stuck there for an instant before being blown out again. He cried out as two masked assailants forced him to his knees. A whimper emerged from beneath his hood, followed by a muffled plea for mercy. Unwavering, the men stood in a line behind the captive, their AK-47 rifles pointed to the sky. Above them all, a black flag, inset with white Arabic script, fluttered like a pirate banner in the desert wind.
A young man carrying a beat-up camcorder scurried onto the scene and set up his tripod. He fiddled with his equipment, then gave a thumbs up. One of the soldiers stepped forward and pulled a curved blade from his belt. He called out and pointed to the camera, stabbing the air with the long knife. For a moment, he seemed to look right at Marie. Her heart faltered and the hot prickle of perspiration dampened her forehead.
Marie lowered her camera and eased further into a small depression in the side of the hill, perfect for both observation and concealment. “Don’t be tree cancer,” she whispered to herself. A strange phrase, but one that had proved invaluable during her long and storied career as a war correspondent. A Marine Corps scout sniper had offered her this golden nugget of advice during a stint in Afghanistan. Master of short-range reconnaissance, he’d spotted her crouched in a ball, peering out from behind a twisted stone pine tree. After approaching undetected, he’d whispered in her ear: Don’t be tree cancer. Marie had nearly jumped out of her skin. She later discovered the phrase referred to an observer drawing attention to themselves by standing out from the world around them.
The voice of the knife-wielding man rose in pitch. Marie shuffled for a better view and raised her camera once again.
The knifeman jerked the hood from the captive’s head.
A chill crawled down Marie’s spine.
Glen Bertrum, the American relief worker kidnapped three months ago from the outskirts of Aleppo, shifted on his knees. With a brutal shove from his captors, the terrified relief worker flopped to his side, squirming. The knifeman descended on Glen, then sawed at his relief worker’s neck with the blade. Blood sprayed against the sand. Glen screamed for what seemed an eternity, the sound morphing into a horrible sucking wheeze.
His gore-drenched knife dripping, the murderer yanked Glen’s head free and held it aloft.
The men shouted in victory, thrusting their weapons into the air.
“Shit,” Marie said, lowering the camera.
The cruelty and barbarism of humankind knew no end, and these zealots had a way of making it even uglier, spreading their jihad across the globe like a pestilence. Without raising the SLR again, she watched the terrorists conclude the recording and march away, leaving Glen’s decapitated body to rot.
Marie’s stomach knotted, and she tried to swallow away the tingle of nausea in her throat. This isn’t why you’re here, she thought. A beheaded aid worker wasn’t news, even if she had met the man before. Such things hadn’t been news for a long time. The war had escalated, far beyond Syria and the Middle East, beyond single hostages and beheadings. Terrorist cells were now a pandemic, spread across the globe, and embedded in every country. There was no central faction anymore. No IS or al-Qaeda, or Allah’s Blade. The war against the west was now an idea, a disease infesting the world. Anyone, anywhere could be an enemy—the core vision metastasizing, traveling to every corner of the Earth and there propagating.
Major cities now operated under war-time policy; curfews and rationing to prevent too many people congregating in any one place, such as a supermarket or a major sporting event. Aerial surveillance and street-level military patrols did their best to keep people safe, but a cage was a cage. In some ways, Marie felt free out in the world, even if it was in the enemy’s backyard. Yet while hate for terrorists was justified, as in all wars the enemy wasn’t the only one capable of terrible things. So too were the allied forces—the people who stood against terror and extremism—and that was why she was in Syria.
The little jaunt Marie had undertaken was unofficial. Her boss would kill her if he knew she’d conducted this op. After flying into Istanbul and crossing the border south of Daruca, she’d spent the better part of the past three days moving from checkpoint to checkpoint, working her way along Highway 7 through northeastern Syria. With dark features and perfect Arabic, Marie hid with ease among the local population.
Marie pulled a tablet from her backpack and keyed up the map she’d gotten from her contact. The coordinates were correct. A tiny civilian village in Northeastern Syria. This ramshackle settlement was little more than a speck on the map, and from what she was told by her contact, this place was of zero military significance. No base, no known weapons caches, no landing strips. The small cell of terrorists she’d just found was likely that: a small cell. Little more than a coincidence, and by no means justification for this village to be firebombed back to the stone age.
Unless they’d found something of significance.
***
Stu Jones
Stu Jones. SWAT Sniper. Adventurer. Award-Winning Author of Epic Genre-Bending Fiction.
A veteran law enforcement officer, Stu has served as a beat cop, narcotics, criminal investigations, as an instructor of firearms and police defensive tactics and as a team leader of a multi-jurisdictional SWAT team. He is trained and qualified as a law enforcement SWAT sniper, as well as in hostage rescue and high-risk entry tactics. Recently, Stu served for three years with a U.S. Marshal’s Regional Fugitive Task Force – hunting the worst of the worst.
He is the author of multiple sci-fi/action/thriller novels, including the multi-award-winning It Takes Death To Reach A Star duology, written with co-author Gareth Worthington (Children of the Fifth Sun).
Known for his character-driven stories and blistering action sequences, Stu strives to create thought-provoking reading experiences that challenge the status quo. When he’s not chasing bad guys or writing epic stories, he can be found planning his next adventure to some remote or exotic place.
Stu is represented by Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo-Helin-Fountain literary
Gareth Worthington holds a degree in marine biology, a PhD in Endocrinology, an executive MBA, is Board Certified in Medical Affairs, and currently works for the Pharmaceutical industry educating the World’s doctors on new cancer therapies.
Gareth Worthington is an authority in ancient history, has hand-tagged sharks in California, and trained in various martial arts, including Jeet Kune Do and Muay Thai at the EVOLVE MMA gym in Singapore and 2FIGHT Switzerland.
He is an award-winning author and member of the International Thriller Writers Association, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, and the British Science Fiction Association.
Born in England, Gareth has lived around the world from Asia, to Europe to the USA. Wherever he goes, he endeavors to continue his philanthropic work with various charities.
Gareth is represented by Renee Fountain and Italia Gandolfo at Gandolfo Helin Fountain Literary, New York.
DEADLY LIES (Detective David Grant Book #3) by Ann Girdharry is the newest addition to this outstanding British police procedural/mystery series featuring DCI David Grant and his team. While the crime in this book is self-contained and the book can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading this series in order due to the progression of the main characters personal stories.
In the early morning hours, six-year-old Emily and four-year-old Lisa are kidnapped from their grandparent’s home.
Detective Grant and his team are called to the scene. The grandfather has been taken to the hospital and dies of a heart attack while the grandmother tells the officers everything she can remember. When the parents of the little girls show up, it is immediately apparent to the team that there are problems in this family. Grant once again asks criminal psychologist Ruby Silver to assist on the case.
A ransom is demanded and in the proof of life video it becomes apparent that Emily is seriously ill. The clock is ticking to find and save the little girls as Grant and his team deal with family secrets, lies and possible treachery within their own team.
I have been anxiously waiting for this third book in the Detective Grant series and I was not disappointed! This is a great group of characters. The plot is full of realistic police work detecting clues and sifting through the red herrings and lies. As the stakes rise, so does the pace and tight timeline. The ending surprised me with the twist in the kidnapping accomplice and I always love when that happens. This third book ends almost like a trilogy, by bringing together all the dangling threads from the previous books, but it also opens a new pathway for more books with some of this team in a new setting.
I highly recommend this book, the entire series and anything written by this author!
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About the Author
Ann Girdharry is a British, crime thriller author.
She is a trained psychotherapist and worked as a manager in the not-for-profit sector.
Her debut novel, Good Girl Bad Girl, is an ERIC HOFFER BOOK AWARD Finalist and two of her novels are READERS’ FAVOURITE Five Star Books.
Here are a few fun facts from Ann Girdharry –
I love to travel and visit different cultures and I’ve lived in the USA, Norway, UK and France.
Today is my turn on the Book n All Promotions Blog Tour and I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for BURY ME DEEP (Detective Rozlyn Priest Book #1) by Jane A. Adams.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
THREE VICTIMS. TWO MILLENNIA. ONE TIMELESS WEAPON.
Theadingford dig site, present-day.
Detective Rozlyn Priest never expected to find herself here. Teetering on the brink of an ancient grave. She takes a breath, willing herself to look down.
Old bones, broken relics. That’s what should be buried here. Not the dead man staring back at her now.
He is Charlie Higgins, a petty criminal Roz once called on for help.
Is she the reason he’s dead? Slashed with a spear that belongs in the Dark Ages?
Roz won’t rest until she finds the truth. But her investigation is leading nowhere. And now she’s seeing things — visions of a flame-haired Saxon warrior who shares her thirst for justice.
But just how much deeper is Roz prepared to dig?
Slipping effortlessly between two intertwining mysteries, Jane Adams has crafted a police procedural like no other. Her unique blend of intrigue, mystery and history will captivate fans of Kate Mosse, Barbara Erskine, Alex North and Stephen King.
BURY ME DEEP (Detective Rozlyn Priest Book #1) by Jane A. Adams is the story of a historical crime set in the Dark Ages intertwined with a present-day crime mystery/thriller/suspense with a bit of paranormal thrown into the mix. It sounds as though all of this could be a mess, but the author brings it all together in a unique, well woven plot with an intelligent and intriguing protagonist.
Detective Rozlyn Priest is called to the scene of an archeological dig where she identifies the body of one of her petty informants, Charles Higgins dead in ditch on the site. Charlie was not killed at the site, but he was stabbed through the heart with a spear from the Dark Ages.
As Rozlyn investigates, she feels remorse at not knowing Charlie better and vows to discover his killer. As she works the case, she has visions and vivid dreams of the area from long ago and a flame-haired Saxon warrior who shares her quest for justice.
This is such a unique read with its dual timelines, crimes and investigations. The author’s writing pulled me into both intertwining stories with fully fleshed main characters from the past and present. Both timelines have plenty of twists and red herrings which kept me turning the pages all the way to the satisfying conclusion.
This is a wonderfully unique, entertaining and satisfying introduction to a new protagonist I am looking forward to following on future adventures.
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Author Bio
“I am the author of more than thirty published crime novels. The first, The Greenway, was nominated for both the Authors’ club award and the CWA John Creasey for best debut novel.
I’m constantly amazed at where life has taken me. Writing had never been on my ‘possible careers’ list, but once stories take root in your brain, they just have to be told – and I feel very fortunate that people want to read them.
In addition to writing I teach creative writing, read and mentor for The Literary Consultancy, am a Royal Literary Fund Fellow and FRSA.”
