Feature Post and Book Review: The Sheriff’s Baby by Dolores Fossen

Book Description

When the mother of his unborn child is threatened, a lawman must match wits with a cunning killer.

A frantic call for backup brings Sheriff Duncan Holder to the home of his pregnant ex, a deputy haunted by her father’s unsolved murder. Now Joelle McCullough is the target of a kidnapping plot that’s only the beginning. When the twisting trail to the truth erupts in violence, Duncan will do whatever it takes to keep Joelle and their unborn baby safe. Even if that means going up against a killer leaving a string of dead bodies who won’t stop until a final revenge is carried out.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205246628-the-sheriff-s-baby?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=n4oGQmK83X&rank=2

Discover more action-packed stories in the Saddle Ridge Justice series. All books are stand-alone with uplifting endings but were published in the following order:

Book 1: The Sheriff’s Baby
Book 2: Protecting the Newborn
Book 3: Tracking Down the Lawman’s Son
Book 4: Child in Jeopardy

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE SHERIFF’S BABY (Saddle Ridge Justice Book #1) by Dolores Fossen is a gripping, edge-of-your-seat first book in a Harlequin Intrigue series featuring a law enforcement family in Texas. While each book stands alone with its own romantic suspense plot, there is an overarching mystery involving the murder of the McCullough sibling’s father and the disappearance of their mother, so I will read the series in the order published.

Sheriff Duncan Holder receives a frantic call for backup in the middle of the night for assistance for Deputy Joelle McCullough, who is on leave due to her pregnancy. Five months ago, Joelle’s father was murdered while Duncan and Joelle were together and she has avoided him since out of guilt even though she became pregnant that evening, also. Joelle is the target of a kidnapping plot. With suspects tied to the illegal sale of babies and possible ties to her father’s murder, Duncan and Joelle are continually in danger coming at them from all sides. Will Duncan be able to protect Joelle and discover who is trying to take her and their baby away?

This is a very fast-paced plot with twists happening at every turn of the page. Ms. Fossen does a great job of keeping all the suspects in play and keeping me guessing right up to the climax. Joelle and Duncan are fighting their attraction, but the danger has a way of clearing up any reservations or guilt and the chemistry takes over. There is one steaming sex scene in the shower, but it is later in the book and felt natural in the progression of their romantic reconnection. The mystery involving Joelle’s murdered father and missing mother is unresolved, but the main romantic suspense plot for this book is resolved. Joelle has two older brothers and a younger sister, so I am assured of more exciting books in this series.

I highly recommend this exciting romantic suspense/police procedural/mystery mash-up and I am looking forward to reading more in the series.

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About the Author

Former Air Force Captain Delores Fossen is a New York Times, USA Today, Amazon and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author whose books have sold over nine million copies worldwide. She’s received the Booksellers Best Award for Best Romantic Suspense and the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award. In addition, she’s had nearly a hundred short stories and articles published in national magazines.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.deloresfossen.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDeloresFossen/timeline/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deloresfossen/?hl=en

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/delores-fossen

Book Review: Here Comes Cowboy Claus by Diana Palmer, Kate Pearce, & Dolores Fossen

Anthology Individual Novella Descriptions and Mini Reviews

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

COLORADO CHRISTMAS CAROL – Diana Palmer

When a Texan lands in Colorado to solve a case, the last thing he expects to uncover is a sweetly pretty cook who’s also a struggling novelist—and who is more than ready to write their love story . . . 

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Dominic “Duke” Marston is a P.I. with a 10-year-old precocious daughter, Melanie “Mellie” who arrives in Benton, Colorado chasing a lead on a case. Estelle “Essa” is the head cook in the hotel, but she has dreams of crime fiction publication. This novella gave me problems from the beginning. There is an age gap between the H/h which did not bother me, but it was Duke’s attitude throughout that I did not like. For me, he was not hero material until almost the end of the novella which was too late. This romance did not work for me, but I loved Mellie.

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THE MOST WONDERFUL RANCHER OF THE YEAR – Kate Pearce

It’s sour meets sweet when a former rancher battling more than one private demon meets a woman who lights up his heart, and proves to him that anything—even love—is possible.

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This novella is an addition to the Three Cowboys trilogy from Ms. Pearce, but it can be read as a standalone. Bernie needs help with her wedding and asks her cousin, Pen to be her wedding planner. Pen’s ADD sometimes limits her, but she is great with customers at her other jobs and the constant shift in needs for the wedding seem to be right up her alley. Rob works for Bernie and works on Luke’s ranch. He has been afraid to follow his heart with Pen due to his past, but between the two of them, they discover they just might be perfect together. This is a wonderful novella with plenty of love, understanding, and forgiveness. It was also fun to catch up with the characters I loved in the full-length trilogy.

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HER CHRISTMAS COWBOY – Delores Fossen

A sheriff convinced to investigate an aging bigamist by the gorgeous P.I. he kissed at a party quickly discovers that the real crime would be missing a chance to get her into his arms again . . .

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Reese Darnell is a P.I. in search of a serial polygamist named Happy Harry in Loveland, Texas. When she checks in with the sheriff’s office, she is surprised to see Zack Caldwell is the town sheriff. She once stole a steamy kiss from Zach when she believed he was someone else and neither have been able to forget. Now as the two work together, the chemistry is still there, but can it last and will they find Happy Harry to solve her case?

Overall:

I was looking forward to some contemporary cowboy romances centered around the Christmas holiday, but all the heroes have other professions and only one is actually working on a ranch part-time. Overall, these novellas deliver a mixed bag of satisfaction, one I did not like and two that gave me satisfying HEAs from these authors that I usually always love.

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About the Author

I was born in south Georgia (USA), graduated from high school in Atlanta, married my husband, James, in Habersham County, and graduated from Piedmont College(Demorest, GA) summa cum laude in history with minors in anthropology and Spanish in 1995.

I worked for over 16 years as a newspaper reporter on both weekly and daily papers. In between reporting jobs, I had a son, Blayne, my greatest creative achievement. I love iguanas and most other animals, and am the biggest geek on earth. If it’s electronic, and non-lethal, I probably have one. I was always the kid who was out of step with the rest of the world, and I still am. My father was a college professor, so my sister and I grew up not quite understanding what prejudice was.

I traveled a lot when I was more mobile than I am now, and I never met a person I didn’t like. Writing books is more than a job to me, it’s my life, next to being a wife, mother and grandmother. I am a person of faith, but I respect all religions and all cultures.

I write romantic suspense for HQN books, mass market and series contemporary romance for Harlequin, and science fiction novels for Luna Books. In my spare time, I sleep. 🙂

About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kate Pearce was born in England in the middle of a large family of girls and quickly found that her imagination was far more interesting than real life. After acquiring a masters degree in history and barely escaping from the British Civil Service alive, she moved to California and then to Hawaii with her kids and her husband and set about reinventing herself as a romance writer.

She is known for both her unconventional heroes and her joy at subverting romance cliches about exactly who gets into bed with whom. In her spare time she self publishes science fiction erotic romance, historical romance, and whatever else she can imagine. She currently writes cowboys for Kensington Publishing and Regency mysteries under her Catherine Lloyd pen name.

You can find Kate at her website at http://www.katepearce.com, on Facebook as Kate Pearce, and on Twitter as Kate4queen.

About the Author

Former Air Force Captain Delores Fossen is a New York Times, USA Today, Amazon and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author whose books have sold over nine million copies worldwide. She’s received the Booksellers Best Award for Best Romantic Suspense and the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award. In addition, she’s had nearly a hundred short stories and articles published in national magazines. You can contact the author through her webpage.