Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Irish Daughter by Daisy O’Shea

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE IRISH DAUGHTER (Emerald Isles Book #4) by Daisy O’Shea on this Bookoututre Books-On-Tour blog tour.

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

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Book Description

Standing on the cliff above the wild Irish sea, Hannah wipes a tear from her eye and thinks about the man she called ‘Da’. She was never his daughter. Hannah has been lied to her whole life by everyone she loved. Will she ever find where she truly belongs?

When warm-hearted Hannah Barry’s father passes away, her life is turned upside down when she discovers he wasn’t her biological father, and the only family she’s ever known are not related to her at all. Now their tiny farmhouse overlooking Roone Bay feels unfamiliar and cold. So when a handsome, dark-haired stranger turns up on her doorstep, his kind eyes and shy smile are a welcome escape.

Justin Sanders is searching for clues about his long-lost grandfather, whose last letter home came addressed from the area. Justin is certain Hannah’s own grandfather is connected to the story somehow, and that the men knew each other years ago. Hannah can’t help but be drawn to Justin and his mystery – they both have a painful past to solve. Will helping Justin lead to the answers about her real family that she desperately longs for?

But Hannah is shocked when nobody in the village will speak of Justin’s grandad. What secret could be so terrible that a whole community turns their back?

Justin’s caring nature makes Hannah feel so safe, and she can’t ignore the way he makes her stomach flip. But when they discover the truth about the events of a tragic evening decades ago, it threatens to tear them apart for good… Can Hannah and Justin find a way to forgive and move forward together? Or will Hannah lose the only real love she’s ever known for good?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/226019442-the-irish-daughter?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=kESgIC4UJr&rank=1

Purchase Link: https://geni.us/B0DVTCML7Ssocial

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE IRISH DAUGHTER (Emerald Isles Book #4) by Daisy O’Shea is an emotional dual timeline mash-up of romance, mystery, and history that pulled me into the story and kept me turning the pages. This book is easily read as a standalone with a few carryover secondary characters, but the real connection between the stories is that they are all set in Roone Bay, Ireland on the southern coast.

Hannah Barry has dutifully taken care of her alcoholic and dismissive father until his death as she promised her mam on her death bed believing she would inherit their hard-scrabble farm. While the home and farm are not worth much it has been her home since she returned from the hospital at three years of age after recovering from polio. Then her brother returns from America with a will to claim it all.

Justin Sanders is an English doctor who has come to Roone Bay to find where his granddad, Jack, who was stationed there as a Black and Tan in 1920, was buried during the Troubles. Hannah is surprised that no one is willing to talk, so she offers to help.

They work together as both have family secrets and history to be uncovered.

This is an enchanting story of family, love, forgiveness, and discovery. The tissues came out at a time or two. Hannah was such a strong protagonist and Justin was the perfect hero for her. The historical dual timeline tells Jack, Justin’s granddad’s story, in 1920 while he was in Roone Bay and the present-day timeline with Hannah and Justin is set in their present day, but our late 1960’s. The author’s story telling and descriptions made me feel as if I was experiencing each timeline right along with each character. 

I have read all the Emerald Isles books, and they are all moving and engrossing. I highly recommend this one, also!

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Author Bio

Sue Lewando was a teacher for several years before migrating to the office environment, where she was PA to the Treasurer of Clarks Shoes, a multi-national company, then, briefly, PA to Susan George, the actress best known for Straw Dogs. Sue had many genre books published (M&B and Virgin), under pseudonyms, and self-publishes her crime thrillers. She was on the committee of the Romantic Novelists’ Association in England, for whom she assessed typescripts. She has been a fiction tutor for the London School of Journalism for twenty years. She has two grown-up children, a happy second marriage, and a bundle of cats and dogs. She moved to West Cork with her husband to undertake a farmhouse refurbishment project, foster their joint passion for playing Irish traditional music, and to invest time in their individual academic projects. She recently completed a Masters in Creative Writing at UCC, taking the opportunity to explore diverse writing genres. She works with the Jeremy Murphy Literary Consultancy in the capacity of typescript analyst, ghostwriter, editor, and online publishing advisor. She loves good commercial fiction, and is a devotee of the Oxford comma.

Social Media Links

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

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/evelynturner0990.bsky.social

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Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Two Seconds Too Late by Dani Pettrey

Book Description

A missing woman. Two hit men. When every second counts, who will survive?

In the stark but beautiful wilds of northern New Mexico, a couples’ retreat at a luxury resort turns into a chilling nightmare when a woman vanishes. Skip tracer Riley MacLeod and private investigator Greyson Chadwick pose as a couple to hunt for clues that might reveal the missing woman’s location. Those leads uncover a harrowing truth: They’re not the only ones looking for her. What begins as a normal tracking case turns into a deadly chase when they, too, become the hunted.

As Riley and Greyson work together, their partnership ignites a tumultuous attraction, but Greyson’s secrets prevent him from acting on his feelings for her, and Riley can’t bring herself to fully trust him. Delving deeper into the case, they find themselves fighting not only for justice and the chance at a loving relationship . . . but also for their very survival.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Two Seconds Too Late by Dani Pettrey is a romantic suspense novel. In this story the suspense drives the romance between the two main characters that is carefully plotted within the storyline.

The plot starts off with the main female lead, Riley MacLeod, struggling after shooting dead someone who was trying to kill her. Throughout the story readers see her trying to handle the PTSD that includes vivid nightmares.

After one of those nightmares, she finds a mysterious package on her doorstep. Then, a friend of hers calls and asks Riley to investigate the disappearance of someone she knew at a luxury resort. To see what happened, she along with one of her partners, Greyson Chadwick, decide to pose as a couple. They find that others are looking for the disappearing woman that includes some nefarious figures. Each clue pulls them deeper into a mystery that puts them in more danger. As they work together the attraction between Riley and Greyson becomes intense. But Greyson feels that the demons he is battling will be too much for the relationship to survive. He has depression and sees it as a reason to never get involved with anyone.

The book is full of mystery, mayhem, and murder, providing readers with a sense of intrigue.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Rumor has it when you wrote this you also had to deal with the aftereffects of Hurricane Helene. True?

Dani Pettrey: The hurricane took out most of our house and our belongings. We just got back in two weeks ago. It was a little bit crazy in writing this story because there was so much going on and we had to move out. My family felt like nomads since we had to move around to four different B & Bs because of availability dates. This was very distracting as I was writing, and it was a struggle to get the book done.

EC: The idea for the story?

DP: I had an idea for a fancy resort that had yoga and dancing. I thought about having someone go missing from there with two of my characters going undercover. The woman was tracking my main character who was her friend; my main character was tracking others; so, it took on a cat and mouse story.

EC: How would you describe Riley?

DP: She has guilt feelings after killing someone, stubborn, competitive, a risk-taker, someone who goes with her gut feelings, fearful, has PTSD, free-spirit, compassionate, and curious. She can be a little bit humorous and playful.

EC: How would you describe Greyson?

DP: Methodical, a planner, tender, former military, confident, logical, guarded, and witty.

EC: Why the military angle?

DP: When I thought of his background and struggles with life, I thought of those in the military, particularly as he tried, but failed, to help a friend who had gone through PTSD after the war. In my family there is a huge military history, six generations and my husband was military. I do enjoy putting in the military aspect. We had relatives in every war except Korea. They explained how there was those moments that they had to be killed, or they would be killed, which is why the quote in the book. They have some guilt even though they had no choice.

EC: What about the relationship between Greyson and Riley?

DP: She had a teenage crush on him. They like to tease each other. He thinks of her as a light in the darkness. He makes her feel safe. They are passionate. They had to overcome the boundaries since she was his friend’s kid sister. He thinks he is not really the right person for her since he has some baggage. They had to climb some walls to get together.

EC: What about the role of poker in the story?

DP: I have played but not in years. I watched a lot of poker on TV and went into a casino where they answered my questions. Originally it was going to be a heavier role. I had one of the characters winning a lot of money playing poker and suspects grew out of that.

EC: What about the role of cults?

DP: It explained why Riley’s friend was doing what she did. I set it in Las Vegas that has several cults. As I was doing research about Vegas I found out about some underground tunnels. I put that in the story.

EC: Why make Greyson having depression?

DP: I have depression. I wanted to show how he was getting help in a positive light. He was scared to put himself out there with Riley who was very supportive. I wanted to shed light how people with depression feel and how people can work through it together. I showed depression can be overcome. For me, now it is very level.

EC: Next books?

DP: The third book in the series will be coming out next June. The working title is Three Steps Behind. It will feature Riley’s brother Derek and someone he likes, Harper. They worked together in the first book.

I am also writing a novella collection with Lynette Easton out in February.

THANK YOU!!

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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.

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Dressmaker’s War by Michelle Vernal

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE DRESSMAKER’S WAR by Michelle Vernal on this Bookouture Books-On-Tour blog 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

She gazes at her mother’s face in the black and white photograph, her vision blurring as tears build. Could this wartime wedding portrait be the key to finding out why her mother went missing, all those years ago?

Brides of Bold Street is filled with beautiful, brand-new ivory gowns. But dressmaker Sabrina loves it when brides-to-be wear vintage, family heirloom dresses. Seeing wedding day photographs of future mothers and grandmothers beaming – as if knowing the happiness they feel will be passed down to their daughters – is a bittersweet reminder of the mother she’s never known.

And as she and her handsome beau, Adam Taylor, start talking about marriage, not having her mother by her side weighs on Sabrina’s heart more and more each day.

But when a bride walks into the store with a family dress made of rare parachute silk from World War Two, Sabrina feels hope rise again in her chest. Because the bride also has a photograph. A photo Sabrina is sure shows her mother’s face…

With the answers to what happened all those years ago almost within reach, Sabrina decides to risk another journey through the past – and this time, with Adam by her side. He’d never let her travel alone, to a time when air raid sirens broke the silence of the night and bombs fell on Liverpool.

Together, will they finally solve the mystery of Sabrina’s real family? Or will the dangers of the darkest days of World War Two prevent Adam and Sabrina from returning to their own time?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/232542182-the-dressmaker-s-war?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=PQe5Y30IXG&rank=4

Purchase link: https://geni.us/B0F2SVYS6Lcover

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE DRESSMAKER’S WAR (Brides of Bold Street Book #3) by Michelle Vernal is another captivating dual timeline adventure featuring wedding dress maker, Sabrina in 1982 Liverpool, England who is able to time slip into the past. While each book has Sabrina helping a different couple in different years and could be read as standalone stories, I preferred reading them in order as those around Sabrina continue to evolve in their relationships to Sabrina in her present.

In 1982, Sabrina’s work at Brides of Bold Street and her relationship with Adam are going well and right now she has no plans to attempt a time slip to find the mother she was separated from. When a bride-to-be walks into the shop to have her grandmother’s dress altered for her own wedding, she shows Sabrina a wedding photo from her grandmother’s wedding. Sabrina is shocked to see not only herself and her boyfriend, Adam, in the photo, but she is sure she sees her mother’s face also.

Now in 1945, Sabrina and Max have slipped to the day before the celebrations for VE Day and to meet Lily, whom readers have been following in the other of the dual timelines in this story. Before the time slip, we follow Lilly’s young life during the war up to the time she meets Sabrina.

A night around the celebratory VE DAY bonfires changes everything for Sabrina.

Every book just gets better and better. I love this series and all the characters; both the main group that appear in every book and the new couple we are introduced to in each past story. This book once again had me completely engrossed as I turned the pages. Ms. Vernal’s descriptions of each time period pulled me right into the era’s history and clothing and it is especially fun and brings back good memories when she lists what music Sabrina and her friends are listening to in 1982. This is a beautiful story that is full of emotional ups and downs, love, family, and surprising revelations.

I highly recommend this mash-up of time travel, romance. and mystery!

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About the Author

Michelle Vernal is a New Zealand author who writes stories that will take you onto the page with her characters and make you feel part of their lives. She writes with humor and warmth, and her readers describe her books as unputdownable, feel good and funny. Her writing has been likened to Maeve Binchy but with a modern-day vernacular. In 2015 she was shortlisted for the Love Stories Award. In 2020 she won the Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal Award for Chick lit, and in 2021 was shortlisted for the Page Turner Book Awards.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.michellevernalbooks.com/

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

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

Newsletter sign up: https://www.bookouture.com/michelle-vernal

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Amish Bride’s Secret and Uncovering Her Amish Past by Patrice Lewis

Book Descriptions and Elise’s Thoughts

The Amish Bride’s Secret and Uncovering Her Amish Past by Patrice Lewis both have female leads that appear to have deceived the male lead.

The Amish Bride’s Secret plot has Cara Lengacher needing to start over after a broken engagement and an out of wedlock pregnancy. She decides to accept Matthew Miller’s advertisement for a mail order bride and move to Montana. But she must navigate her pregnancy and hope it will not affect their relationship.

Uncovering Her Amish Past has Penelope Moore traveling to Pierce Montana to convince the B&B owner, Simon Troyer, to be a part of a franchise opportunity. She does not tell anyone in the community her real profession and passes for a traveling artist. Simon insists she meets his sister-in-law, Sarah, who appears to be the spitting image of her. They both start to investigate and realize they are twin sisters, separated at birth.  Stunned by the similarities between herself and bed-and-breakfast owner Simon Troyer’s sister-in-law, the truth comes to light: she and Sarah were separated at birth. Soon Penelope is welcomed into the Amish community with open arms. And the more time she spends with the Amish bachelor Simon, the more she rethinks her life in the Englisch world. She feels pulled to this community, not just because Sarah is her sister, and the community welcomes her but also realizes she and Simon have feelings for each other. The problem is that they are from different worlds where Simon is baptized, and she is not. Readers will enjoy seeing how they will navigate their relationship.

Both books are touching stories of self-reflection, faith, family, and love. They are heartwarming stories that readers will not want to put down.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: What was your starting point for the story of The Amish Bride’s Secret?

Patrice Lewis: I wanted to give the male character, Matthew, a wife.  The way I did it is to have a mail order bride, Cara.

EC: How would you describe Matthew?

PL: He is based on my husband.  He is nice, kind, transparent, a good listener, extremely handy, always courteous, trustworthy, dependable, and helpful.

EC: How would you describe Cara?

PL: She has made some bad decisions, including getting pregnant out of wedlock. She has a harsh father who blames her. She is desperate to get out of her childhood home, so she accepted the offer. She feels trapped in a corner.

EC: What about the relationship?

PL: It is based on secrets. She deceived Matthew but did not betray him because she had every intention of fessing up to him before the wedding. They eventually fall in love with each other. She is grateful to him and wants to be a good wife to him but is hoping he will be the white knight to her. I put in this quote to explain his feelings, “He wanted to fall in love with her, but also to fall in like with her.” I thought this is the basis for a happy couple. My husband and I after 35 years of marriage are still each other’s best friends.

EC: What about your other book, Uncovering Her Amish Past?

PL: I have three brothers, no sisters.  I have always been fascinated by twins. When I was 7 years old, I tried to convince my friends I was a twin. It was a flop. I did this because I longed for a sister.  This was the genesis of the story.

EC:  How would you describe Penelope?

PL: She is an introvert.  She was desperate to pay off her bills and had no idea that the company she worked for was immoral. She is exuberant and envies Sarah.

EC: What about Sarah, the twin?

PL: She is Simon’s sister-in-law. She is quiet, sedate, calm, and has confidence. Penelope envies her because she feels a lack of belonging.

EC: How would you describe Simon?

PL: Introverted, independent, determined, lonely, and has baggage from his childhood. He is motivated to not fail and get his business going.

EC: How about the relationship?

PL: She was ethical and had no intention of deceiving Simon. Penelope realizes she and Simon can be a formidable team because his business weaknesses are her strength. Being from different worlds is a huge barrier. I did research into what it takes to convert to being Amish. She changes her mindset realizing to be successful she needs the approval of family members and community. She realizes she must put aside the worldly aspects that define success.

EC: You allowed readers to understand how Amish could use technology.  Please explain.

PL: If it does not impact their daily life, they are OK with it, depending on the sects. The very strict have no modern conveniences ever and the liberal communities are more flexible. The idea is that they are competing in a modern world and to overcome the problem they must compromise to have a website and a telephone.  However, if they are allowed to have a business phone, they cannot have it in their pocket all the time.  The same with a website, to put out the product to a wider world, but not to have it daily.

EC: What was the role of the bishop in both books?

PL: He is the perpetual source of wisdom for the community. He is an older man. He and his wife are wise, discreet, trustworthy, helpful, and examples of the community.  They do not breach people’s confidence. They have Amish people coming in from all over the US.  The bishop’s job is to smooth over conflicting habits and traditions.  His job is to blend everyone into the community and for it to be cohesive.

EC: Next book?

PL: The next book is titled An Amish Marriage Agreement, released in Fall 2025. The plot has a baby dumped on a single woman’s doorstep.  She and a construction worker have a marriage of convenience.  The woman’s sister comes back to the Amish community.  The two sisters are very different and have led very different lives.

THANK YOU!!

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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.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Rustler Mountain by Maisey Yates

Book Description

The citizens of historic Rustler Mountain, Oregon, have a history as colorful as the Wild West itself. Most can trace their lineage back to the original settlers, and many remain divided into two camps: outlaws, or lawmen. But none more legendary than the Wilders and the Talbots . . .

Every year, thousands of people come through Rustler for the rodeo, historic home tours, old-fashioned candy making demonstrations, sharpshooter shows—and to see the site of the 1800s shootout in which notorious outlaw Austin Wilder was killed by Sheriff Lee Talbot. Now Millie Talbot, the sheriff’s descendant, wants to bring back the town’s Gold Rush Days. But she needs the current Austin Wilder’s support to make her dream a reality. . .
 
The Wilders are rumored to be as true to their last name as their ancestors. Nonetheless, Austin is agreeable to helping Millie. But he wants something in return. Austin is working to clear his family name by writing the true history of his outlaw ancestors and Millie might just hold the key.
 
When Millie wrangles Austin into helping plan Gold Rush Days, he figures it’s a chance to get to the truth of the past. . . . But when sparks start to fly between this bad boy and good girl, will either of them come out of it unscathed?

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Elise’s Thoughts

Rustler Mountain by Maisey Yates is two stories in one novel.  There is the modern western and it also takes readers back to the Wild West days.

The Wild West was known for its bank robbers, stage robbers and the shootouts as well as the Gold Rush. In the town today they still believe what was told to them about outlaws’ vs lawmen. The journal entries made by the ancestors of a fictional town show how it was the site of an 1800s shootout in which notorious outlaw Austin Wilder was killed by Sheriff Lee Talbot. Now Millie Talbot, the librarian, and the sheriff’s descendant, wants to bring back the town’s Gold Rush Days. Facing resistance, she approaches Austin Wilder who grew up being shunned because his family ancestors were the bank and stagecoach robbers of legend. When Millie asks for his help reviving the history events, he agrees but with the condition that she help him clear some of the false information regarding his family. He plans on doing this by writing a book about his family’s past and what really happened. He needs Millie to help him go through her family’s papers while he gives her access to his family’s belongings. As the two get to know each other, while working to get the facts straight about each other’s ancestors, they cannot ignore the explosive energy they have toward each other.

As usual, this book has the traditional Yates witty banter. The good girl/bad boy dynamic made for a wonderful story. The unraveling of the truth about the Talbot-Wilder feud adds to the story with an enticing mystery.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Was there really a Rustler Mountain?

Maisey Yates: I made it up, but it is very much rooted in the history of the area. I have a good idea where in the mountains it would be if it existed. I place it deliberately in a certain spot, a couple of miles from the real town, Copper Oregon.

EC: What was the role of the ancestor of Austin’s journal?

MY: I am a history nerd.  It is important to understand that people in the past are not functionally different than we are now. Historical romance makes those people real.  I was involved in the historical society, especially the gold rush town, which is like Rustler Mountain. The journal shows how the past echoes into the present day.

EC: How would you describe Millie?

MY: She is trapped by her own reputation. It is a good reputation, but in a toxic way. It is keeping her from responding back to those people who were awful to her. A lot of the story is how Millie found out how to express herself. I based her on my own thoughts of living in a small town and the way people get ideas about you based on what they heard, and the way they know you. She is timid, homely, passionate, a goody to shoes, vulnerable, and a people pleaser. Over the course of the book, she steps out of the people pleaser role, leading with her passion. Her nickname was Millie Mouse because that is the way other people saw her.

EC:  How would you describe Austin?

MY: Like the Tim McGraw song, he was a bad boy but is now a good man. He has a strong sense of family.  He has a lot of integrity. He is more grounded than Millie. I think Austin is a deep thinker, a book worm, and deeply misunderstood. I think he can be defiant and stubborn. He is less cocky than some of my other heroes.

EC:  What about the relationship?

MY: They were both trapped by their reputations, good and bad. Neither one was necessarily the whole story of who they were. On the surface they appear to be opposites but are not. They both love books, have deep connections to the past, and are trying to figure out what that means in the present.  I also think they both want to find someone who loves them for who they are. At first, she is jealous of him, he does not want a commitment which makes her feel rejected and humiliated. There is physical intimacy and now she makes him feel calm while he makes her feel passionate.  At the deep core they offer each other what the other does not have.

EC:  What about their family legacy?

MY: People are more complicated than what is perceived.  Things are not as cut and dry as they appear. They are both people who did good and bad things.  It challenged the truth of the past. Neither ancestor was a great guy. Yet, past Austin loved his wife and children and had a morality. Millie’s ancestor got an outlaw off the streets at any cost. Both are anti-heroes with their own moral compass. Their legacy was based on the person who told their story. They were both heroes in their own minds but villains to the other. Millie and Austin are living out more than just their reputations influenced by their past ancestors. She is not just a mousy librarian, and he is not just an outlaw.

EC: Next book?

MY: The end of this month there is a novella anthology coming out with Lori Foster titled The Two of Us with a focus on rescue dogs and how they brought together two “meant to be couples.” Out in April is The Outsider and in July The Rogue, both part of my “Four Corner Series.”  There will be a woman’s fiction coming out in June. There is another anthology with Linda Lael Miller, a cowboy novella, titled Small Town Hero, out in July.  Outlaw Lake, the sequel to this book, is out in September.

THANK YOU!!

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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.

Feature Post and Book Review: Arctic Pursuit by Anna J. Stewart

Book Description

FBI special agent Ty Savakis keeps his promises. That’s why he’s asked Wren McKenna to join him in an isolated Alaskan town: he wants her help safeguarding a witness he swore to protect. To find the assailant who tried to kill her, Ty and Wren go undercover as a married couple. These partners have always been a perfect team, but sharing an apartment makes it impossible to resist the attraction they’ve both fought to deny. Will the violent criminal they’re tracking give them a chance to imagine a future together?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/211104519-arctic-pursuit?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=LrbO97FZxT&rank=2

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

ARCTIC PURSUIT (The McKenna Code Book #1) by Anna J. Stewart is an exciting page-turner of an introduction to this new Harlequin Romantic Suspense series featuring the McKenna law enforcement family as they solve crimes and find their HEAs. This book and author delivered everything I look for in a romantic suspense genre book.

FBI special agent Wren McKenna has a special relationship with her partner of seven years, FBI special agent Ty Savakis. Her family members believe they should be together in more than just their working relationship, but she does not want to spoil what they have. Ty is supposed to be on leave right now but comes to Wren for help on an old case in a small Alaskan town. Their cover is as a married couple.

Ty swore to protect a witness in a past case and now the criminal she testified against is getting a new trial. When he hears her be run down over the phone, he asks Wren to help him protect her and her family. Wren and Ty are the perfect partners, but will living together as a married couple make it impossible to resist the chemistry that has always been between them as they fight to bring down a dangerous criminal in winter in small town Alaska?

This is a suspenseful introduction to this new series with just the right amount of romance intertwined throughout. The crime/suspense plotline is fast-paced and continually kept me turning the pages and the romance kept progressing at a realistic pace as the danger makes them realize and admit to how they feel for each other. There are sex scenes, but I never felt they were gratuitous because they fit so well into the friendship and feelings they already had, but did not acknowledge. Like all Harlequin Romantic Suspense books, this story is not overly long and easily read in one sitting. I could not put it down.

I highly recommend this first romantic suspense in The McKenna Code series and I am anxiously awaiting more books in this series!

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About the Author

Award-winning, USA Today and national bestselling author Anna J Stewart writes sweet to sexy romances for Harlequin and ARC Manor’s CAEZIK (Kay-Zehk) Romance. Her sweet Harlequin Heartwarming books include the Butterfly Harbor series as well as the ongoing Blackwell continuity series. She also writes the Honor Bound series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense and has contributed to the bestselling Coltons. Her Circle of the Red Lily romantic suspense series, published by CAEZIK, will launch with EXPOSED in November of 2022.

A Holt Medallion winner (BRIDE ON THE RUN), as well as a Golden Heart, Daphne DuMaurier, and National Reader’s Choice finalist, Anna loves writing big community stories where family found is always the theme. Since her first published novella with Harlequin in 2014, Anna has released more than fifty novels and novellas and hopes to branch out even more (horror romance, anyone?). Anna lives in Northern California where (at the best times) she loves going to the movies, attending fan conventions, and heading to Disneyland, her favorite place on earth. When she’s not writing, she is usually binge-watching her newest TV addiction, re-watching her all-time favorite show, Supernatural, and wrangling two monstrous cats named Rosie and Sherlock.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.authorannastewart.com/

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

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