Mackenzie Hanson’s special set of skills opened the door to a successful career as a professor of cybersecurity at a Michigan university, allowing her to put her criminal past behind her. But when a long-ago partner in crime delivers a cryptic message about her father’s tech company being under cyberattack, she heads for Montana to secure exposed assets, close security breaches, and hopefully save lives.
Diplomatic Security Services special agent Alex Knight is back home in Montana to decompress from a mission gone wrong. But even as he’s trying to relax, he’s drawn into another mystery, complete with suspicious deaths, lethal threats, and whispers of espionage that all have one thing in common–a beautiful cybersecurity expert with a dark past.
When the situation turns deadly, Alex and Mackenzie will have to work together to find the answers they need–before someone silences Mackenzie for good.
USA Today bestselling author Elizabeth Goddard weaves a tangled web of nail-biting suspense and heart-stopping romance in this fast-paced conclusion to her Rocky Mountain Courage series.
***
Elise’s Thoughts
Critical Alliance by Elizabeth Goddard explores the impact of cyber criminals, a thrilling battle of wits between two hackers. A bonus for every series of Goddard is that readers can know what is happening with characters from previous books. In this series it is Jack and Terra from Present Danger, as well as Erin and Nathan from Deadly Target.
The plot begins with MacKenzie Hanson on an amusement park ride where she spots a former partner in cybercrime. He gives her a message about her father’s Montana company being targeted. Realizing she must now face her past she decides to return to Montana and visit her estranged family.
As a teenager MacKenzie and her partners hacked into wealthy companies in Robin Hood fashion, stealing from the rich to give to charities. But when one of the partners used their skills for nefarious reasons, she and one other partner blew the whistle. She was able to put her criminal past behind her to become a successful college professor.
Also back in Montana is Diplomatic Security Services (DDS) special agent Alex Knight to decompress from a mission gone wrong. He and MacKenzie also had a past when he took her on a tour of the DDS offices. They end up meeting on a trail path after he notices a drone is following her. When a shooter attacks them, they barely escape unharmed. She recruits Alex for protection while figuring out who’s trying to hurt her family. With suspicious deaths, lethal threats, and possible espionage, Alex and Mackenzie work together to find the dangerous hacker and their use of technology.
The plot has escalating tension. Family issues, putting one’s past to rest, and renewing relationships also add to this action-filled story.
***
Author Interview
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story?
Elizabeth Goddard: This is the last book in the series. I wanted to do a criminal cyber security story because I have a computer science background. I am a technical person although I did speak to a cyber security expert. I talked with them about every single aspect of the story to make sure I got it correct. I had in the story drones, artificial intelligence, and cyber weapons.
EC: What about the Montana setting?
EG: I love to write action adventure within beautiful settings, set in the mountains or a rocky beach. I thought it would be fun to have the story set in the mountains of Montana. Tech companies really are moving to Montana so their employees can have more fresh air and productivity.
EC: I thought of the “Jungle Cruise” ride when I read the waterfall scene. Did you base it on that?
EG: No, but I do remember now, the line in the “Jungle Cruise” movie. How they said ‘here is the backside of water’ after going around the waterfall. I had the scene in earlier books, Targeted for Murder and Deception. I love waterfalls so I put it in this book. I think they are amazing with the caves behind them. When writing about the mountains I need to put in a waterfall somewhere within the story.
EC: The scene in the amusement park?
EG: The ride, Octopus was a horrible experience for me. I think the Carnival experience is kind of creepy. All the noise and smells.
EC: How would you describe MacKenzie?
EG: Athletic, vulnerable, stubborn, determined, and brilliant. She was a troubled person who has found her way. She was a cybercriminal and now as a professor she can share her knowledge to do something good with her life.
EC: What is penetration testing, something MacKenzie teaches?
EG: A cyber security company is hired to go into a system to see if they can hack into it to find the vulnerabilities. Can they penetrate the system?
EC: What about the relationship with her sister Nora?
EG: Very challenged. There is a lot of emotional drama. But now they want to put the past behind them. They both feel betrayed and hurt by each other. Now they must work together to find the murderer.
EC: How would you describe Alex?
EG: He is a diplomatic security agent, a true professional. Being from Montana, means he has some cowboy in him. He is kind, thoughtful, caring, strong, and protective.
EC: Next book?
EG: It is a new series based in Alaska called “Missing in Alaska.” The first book is titled, Light of Day to be released in February 2023. A character from Critical Alliance will be the main character in this first book. There will be murders with the body count rising.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE BINDING ROOM by Nadine Matheson on this HTP Summer 2022 Mystery & Thriller Bog Tour.
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!
***
Book Summary
Detective Anjelica Henley confronts a series of ritualistic murders in this heart-pounding thriller about race, power and the corrupt institutions that threaten usfor fans of S.A. Crosby and Tami Hoag
When Detective Anjelica Henley is called to investigate the murder of popular preacher in his own church, she discovers a second victim, tortured and tied to a bed in an upstairs room. He is alive, but barely, and his body show signs of a dark religious ritual.
With a revolving list of suspects and the media spotlight firmly on her, Henley is left with more questions than answers as she attempts to untangle both crimes. But when another body appears, the case takes on a new urgency. Unless she can apprehend the killer, the next victim may just be Henley herself.
Drawing on her experiences as a criminal attorney, Nadine Matheson’s new novel deftly explores issues of race, class and justice through an action-packed story that will hold you captive until the last terrifying page.
THE BINDING ROOM (An Inspector Anjelica Henley Thriller Book #2) by Nadine Matheson is an intense and gritty British police procedural thriller. This is the second instalment in this series and can be read as a thriller standalone, but there are major character relationships that are better understood if you read The Jigsaw Man, Book #1 first.
Detective Anjelica Henley and her team are back and still dealing with the trauma of their last case as they are pulled into another difficult investigation. Henley is called to a scene of a brutal stabbing of a popular preacher in his own church and as they search the church discover another apparently tortured body barely alive, tied to a bed in a hidden room.
Henley and her team work both cases even as politics, secrets and lies make the team feel like they are getting nowhere fast. More bodies are discovered with the same terrible injuries and the female victim shows signs of having given birth. Both investigations have crossover suspects, but the clues lead to different motives. Henley must move quickly to stop more tortured murder victims.
I am happy to announce there was no sophomore slump with this addition to the series. Henley is still having problems emotionally from their last case and the loss of her mother. Her marriage is still in flux, and I still do not know how that will turn out in future books. Her entire team has become more fully fleshed and I care for them all with all their quirks and differences. This book does have several very dark and graphically disturbing scenes, but it is about sadistic torture murders and Ms. Matheson’s first book was the same, so I was expecting it. The investigative plot was well paced with several twists throughout that keeps you reading with a major twist right before the end.
I highly recommend this thriller and I am looking forward to many more in this series!
***
Excerpt
“We all lost,” said DS Paul Stanford as he held out a Quality Street tin in front of Henley.
“What on earth are you talking about?” Henley asked as she took off her coat and flung it onto a spare desk. “Are there any toffee pennies in there?”
“You might want to keep your coat on. The heating’s on the blink again. Either that or they’ve forgotten all about us and haven’t paid the bill. There’s a hundred and forty pounds in the pot and no toffee pennies.”
“Why is there a hundred and forty quid in there?”
Stanford rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. “Remember our bet?” he said. “On him. Our illustrious fully fledged Detective Constable Ramouter.”
“What have I done?” Ramouter asked from his position in the kitchen where he’d been eyeing the bottom of a mug with disgust.
“This is ridiculous,” Henley said. Her ears picked up the whirr coming from the electric fan heaters and the ice-fueled wind whistling outside and rattling the glass.
“You lasted, Ramouter; that’s what you did,” said Stanford. “We had a bet on how long you would last in the SCU.”
“And you didn’t think that I would last six months?” asked Ramouter as he picked up another mug.
“Mate, I didn’t think you would last six days. I’ll have a coffee if you’re making.”
“You shouldn’t be so mean to him,” said Henley as she took off her scarf and pushed it against the rotting frame of the window to block the icy draft that was sweeping across her desk.
“How am I being mean? I’m paying him a bloody compliment. After everything that happened, no one would have blamed him if he’d bolted for the door.”
“Well, he didn’t. He’s stuck with it. So, what are you going to do with the money?”
“I could give Ramouter the money. He could spend it on a train ticket to Bradford or something.”
“Now who’s getting soft?” Henley said. The phone on her desk started to ring.
“Or I could book a table at the curry house down the road. It will be teambuilding.”
“Or a normal Friday night out with you falling asleep in your chili chicken.”
“Rude,” Stanford replied as Henley picked up the phone and Ramouter appeared by his side with a mug of steaming coffee for him.
“Right. I see,” said Henley, reaching for the pad of blue Post-it notes on her desk and a ballpoint pen with a chewed cap. “I didn’t realize that we were still on duty. Can you send me the CAD details? No, I can’t get it myself because the system has crashed again. Thank you. Who found the body? Right.”
Henley pulled off the Post-it note and stuck it to the side of Ramouter’s mug. He peeled it off and looked at it quizzically. “Depending on traffic, we should be there in fifteen minutes.”
“You’re not going to have time to finish that,” said Henley, putting the phone down and grabbing her scarf.
“There’s a body in a church?” Ramouter said as he read the note. “Seriously?”
“That’s what it says.”
“Why are we dealing with this?”
“We’re dealing with it because the borough commander decided that the Serial Crime Unit should be helping out Homicide and Serious Crime with their caseload,” Henley replied wearily.
“Anyone would think that we were just sitting here watching Netflix all day,” Ramouter moaned. “Is it even a murder?”
“We won’t know until we get there, will we?”
“Can I say it?” asked Stanford, a grin spreading across his face.
“No, you can’t,” Henley replied. She picked up her bag and headed toward the door, with Ramouter in tow. She knew Stanford well enough to know exactly what he was going to say.
“I bet you a tenner that it was the Reverend Green with a candlestick in the library,” Stanford shouted out as Henley slammed the door shut behind her.
“I’m not telling you again. Step away from the tape.”
“What’s going on?”
“If I knew I was going to spend the afternoon standing out in the freezing cold I would have stayed in bed this morning.”
“I bet that they’ve found a body or something.”
“Look, those CSI lot have turned up.”
“I only popped out for a coffee and now the old bill are saying that I can’t go back into my own office.”
“F this. I’m going home.”
“I’m telling you that they’ve found a body.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“I don’t understand these kids. Too busy stabbing each other up. No value for life.”
“You can dress it up as much as you like. It’s Deptford innit.”
The murmurings of the curious and disgruntled crowd met Henley and Ramouter as they walked toward the scene of the crime.
“This is a church?” Ramouter asked as he looked up at the cream-colored facade of the brickwork. “I was expecting something a bit more… I don’t know, church-like. Maybe a steeple. This looks like a bank.”
“It used to be a NatWest when I was seventeen. The space was once cheap to rent. Not so sure now,” Henley replied.
“I did a quick Google search—”
“Of course you did.”
“And there’s another seven churches on the Broadway.”
“I’m not surprised,” said Henley. “Betting shops, churches and chicken shops on literally every London high street.”
Henley and Ramouter held up their warrant cards to the officer behind the police tape. Henley scoped the gathering crowd. Nothing about them raised any alarms, but she knew from experience that some murderers were voyeuristic by nature.
“Look likes Dr. Choi is here,” Ramouter said, pointing out the car of Henley’s friend and the Serial Crime Unit’s favorite pathologist, parked between a police motorbike and small white transit van that had ‘Forensic Services Crime Scene Investigation’ marked in black font on the side.
Henley stopped and looked around the small car park. There were no security cameras. She felt a sense of calm as she walked closer to the crime scene. It was a welcome emotion and a respite from the anxiety that was usually coursing through her veins, which she could keep at bay if she bothered to take her prescription to the chemist. She spotted the police officer that she was looking for leaning against the side of a police car, flipping through the pages of his notebook with a pen in his mouth.
“PC Tanaka? DI Henley from the SCU.”
PC Tanaka looked up and then stood to attention a little bit too quickly as Henley walked toward him.
“Ma’am,” said PC Tanaka.
“This is my colleague, DC Ramouter.”
“Shit,” said PC Tanaka when he dropped his notebook. “Sorry.” He brushed off slush from the cover. “It’s bloody freezing.”
“You were first on scene?” Henley asked.
Tanaka nodded. Henley could tell that he wanted to get it right. Giving a senior officer information about a murder scene was a lot different to dealing with burglaries, domestics and breaking up a fight between a couple of crackheads at the bottom of the high street.
“We, that’s the sarge, Sergeant Rivers, and I were driving back to the station. We’re based around the corner at Deptford station. We had just finished our shifts and was coming back from the McDonald’s up the road…”
PC Tanaka paused and took a breath.
Henley felt sorry for him as nerves or possibly shock overtook him. She saw a look of sympathy on Ramouter’s face as they both waited for PC Tanaka to continue.
“Sorry, guv, I mean ma’am,” said PC Tanaka straightening himself again and lowering the volume on his crackling police radio. “As I said, we were heading back to the station and one of the guys who works in the design agency practically threw himself onto the bonnet of the car. He was screaming about a body. We found the cleaner in hysterics in the staffroom of the agency. She refused to leave and take us to the church. I left her with the sarge and I went into the church and yeah, I won’t forget what I saw.”
The proprietor of a fairy garden and tea shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Courtney Kelly has an occasional side gig as a sleuth–with a sprinkling of magical assistance. . . .
Courtney has thrown a few fairy garden parties–for kids. But if a local socialite is willing to dip into her trust fund for an old sorority sister’s fortieth birthday bash, Courtney will be there with bells on. To make the job even more appealing, a famous actress, Farrah Lawson, is flying in for the occasion, and there’s nothing like a celebrity cameo to raise a business’s profile.
Now Courtney has less than two weeks to paint a mural, hang up tinkling windchimes, plan party games, and conjure up all the details. While she works her magic, the hostess and her girlfriends head off for an indulgent spa day–which leads to a fateful facial for Farrah, followed by her mysterious death. Could the kindhearted eyebrow waxer who Farrah berated in public really be the killer, as the police suspect? Courtney thinks otherwise, and with the help of her imaginative sleuth fairy, sets out to dig up the truth behind this puzzling murder . . .
***
Elise’s Thoughts
A Hint of Mischief by Daryl Wood Gerber is a well written cozy mystery. This is the third installment of the series. It has a murder, delightful characters, and an inviting setting that is very magical. If readers believe in fairies, instead of clapping their hands, they should read these novels. If people do not believe that fairies exist, they can read this one and let their imagination take over.
There are three mysteries to solve for the main character Courtney Kelly, the owner of the store Open Your Imagination, a gift shop in the community of Carmel-by-the-Sea, in California. She is trying to find a murderer, a thief who is robbing nearby stores, and the person leaving fairy “doors” around town.
The plot has socialite Misty Dawn recruiting a fairy garden specialist, Courtney, to host a fairy-themed 40th birthday party for her sorority sisters. When one of the sisters, Farrah Lawson turns up dead, apparently a poisoning victim, the police have questions for Twyla Waterman, who was seen in the vicinity not long before the body’s discovery, and a former cult member. Both Courtney and her fairy friend Fiona believe Twyla would not hurt a fly. Determined to prove her innocence they set out to find the real culprit along with finding the thief and the maker of the fairy doors. Since there are plenty of suspects to go around, Courtney and Fiona have their hands full.
The author throws readers a lot of curve balls to keep them guessing. Because of a wide cast of characters, both human and fairy alike, the cast of characters at the beginning of the novel is very welcome.
***
Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Idea for the story?
Daryl Wood Gerber: At the beginning of Covid I was at a cocktail party. I spoke to someone who told me they had a Fairy party for her daughter. After seeing the pictures, I thought I must do this for adults. I came up with the idea that sorority sisters at a reunion would do it to have some fun. Then, of course one of them is murdered.
EC: How did you get the idea for the murder?
DWG: Someone known as “The Poison Lady” gives talks. She was very helpful about poisons. I only used poisoning once before in another series. The plot surrounds how did the poison get into the victim. I did a lot of research on the different poisons I could use.
EC: Is it more difficult to find fairy quotes at the beginning of each chapter?
DWG: I must have quotes over 75 to 100 years for copywriting reasons. Everything I am finding is written pre-1920. I bought some fairy poem books and googled as well. Some of the poems are twenty stanzas long so I could piece them apart to maybe get four or five quotes out of them. At some point I will start writing fairy quotes. The one at the beginning of chapter 17 is made up by me. It says, “Is a fairy a demoted angel, or is an angel a fairy reunited with its Maker?” Some of them are anonymous, which we can use as well.
EC: How would you describe fairies-are they like children?
DWG: In this book they fear noises, they tease, and they sing. They are very impish, very playful, and curious. The Fairy Queen is more like an Angel.
EC: How would you describe Farrah Lawson, the victim?
DWG: She has turned forty and is a very popular actress. She is a go-getter, pompous, full of herself, and dismissive. She likes to belittle. Farrah has a dark side, can be a diva, spiteful, and is self-centered. Farrah became the mean girl.
EC: Fairy door versus fairy rings?
DWG: A fairy door is what people put at the base of trees. I put them in a lot of my gardens. Usually, people leave messages or pieces of food for the fairies so they can come and bring good wishes. A fairy ring allows humans to step from their world to the fairy world after the portal opens.
EC: There is a large community in this series?
DWG: In any cozy mystery the population grows. Each time a book is written it cannot be about the same seven people. My basics are Courtney, Fiona the Fairy, Pixie the cat, Josh, Meaghan, Brady, and Dylan the cop. It is almost unavoidable in a cozy to have a large community. In a TV mystery there are also the basics, but there are people that do not have any names. But if it were a book those people with speaking lines must have a name. The difference between TV and a book is that in a novel the people must be anchored visually. There is a world in a cozy mystery.
EC: What about the Sherlock Holmes comment?
DWG: Fairies are very intelligent and want to learn. Josh is a big fan of reading and has Fiona reading Sherlock Holmes. In the next book Fiona will be reading a lot more Shakespeare. With each book I want Fiona to get wiser and wiser, absorbing the material in books like a sponge.
EC: Next book?
DWG: It is titled Flicker Doubt, coming out this same time next year. The plot has a theater foundation tea requesting Courtney bring fairy garden stuff. One of the artists there is killed. He is very dark, gloomy, and temperamental. Meaghan’s art gallery partner is seen as a person of interest.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today is my turn to share my Feature Post and Book Review for SILENCE ON THE ISLAND: A Detective Liam O’Reilly Mystery by Stewart Giles on this Book ‘n’ All Promotions Blog Tour.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
***
Book Blurb
January on the island of Guernsey is grim. It’s dark and depressing. Detective Liam O’Reilly expected as much.
What O’Reilly didn’t bargain for was the eerie silence on the island in the dead of winter.
And when an old lady disappears from a care home and reappears, dead on the grave of a soldier who died 80 years ago, O’Reilly has absolutely no idea what to think.
When more old people are found, murdered amongst the tombs of these dead soldiers, and O’Reilly is met with silence everywhere he turns, he really has no idea why these people had to die.
Then he finally hears the truth.
But it is a truth that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
SILENCE ON THE ISLAND: A Detective Liam O’Reilly Mystery (DI Liam O’Reilly Mysteries Book #7) by Stewart Giles is another exciting addition to this series. Each crime mystery can be read as a standalone book and while the characters progress in their relationships, it is still easy to follow.
It is a frigid and quiet January on Guernsey Island for DI O’Reilly and the entire team until elderly patients begin turning up dead one-by-one on the graves of past relatives in the war memorial graveyard. When the third victim is taken, he pretends to be dead and survives the night, but is unable to identify the large, but gentle man who took him.
O’Reilly and his team have no leads and no motive, but plenty of suspects. They hope to flush out the killer by claiming to have a description, but they get a lead from a young man, known to the other PCs as a shady character and they are willing to follow any lead at this point in the investigation to stop a killer.
I love this series, DI Liam O’Reilly and his team! The author always has several plot twists and red herrings thrown into each book and this one was no exception. O’Reilly is that grumpy, older friend you just have to love. His interactions with his daughter, girlfriend and adopted stray cat always add levity to the stories, but he is one hundred percent focused on his cases. His team keeps becoming more fully fleshed as characters, also. This is another book in this series that I read much too quickly and once again must wait for more to come, but it is always worth it.
I highly recommend this mystery, this series, and this author!
***
Author Bio
After reading English at 3 Universities and graduating from none of them, I set off travelling around the world with my wife, Ann, finally settling in South Africa, where we still live.
In 2014 Ann dropped a rather large speaker on my head and I came up with the idea for a detective series. DS Jason Smith was born. Smith, the first in the series was finished a few months later.
3 years and 8 DS Smith books later, Joffe Books wondered if I would be interested in working with them. As a self-published author, I agreed. However, we decided on a new series – the DC Harriet Taylor: Cornwall series.
The Beekeeper was published and soon hit the number one spot in Australia. The second in the series, The Perfect Murder did just as well.
I continued to self-publish the Smith series and Unworthy hit the shelves in 2018 with amazing results. I therefore made the decision to self-publish The Backpacker which is book 3 in the Detective Harriet Taylor series which was published in July 2018.
After The Backpacker I had an idea for a totally new start to a series – a collaboration between the Smith and Harriet thrillers and The Enigma was born. It brought together the broody, enigmatic Jason Smith and the more level-headed Harriet Taylor.
The Miranda trilogy is something totally different. A psychological thriller trilogy. It is a real departure from anything else I’ve written before.
The Detective Jason Smith series continues to grow with book 17 now available. In addition, I have a new series featuring an Irish detective who relocated to Guernsey. The first 7 books in the Detective Liam O’Reilly series are now available. There are also 3 stand alone novels.
Welcome to Triple Stripe Stables, a farm in the heart of Canadian Thoroughbred horse country… He’s racing cross-country, looking for a safe place to land.
She’s dreading a future that was never her choice.
They both want the same thing: to leave the past behind.
September means school, but this year, Nate’s not going back. He’s heading east, and while everyone at home thinks he’s pursuing a career as a jockey, he’s really just running away.
After always being a student, he lands a job as a teacher — of young Thoroughbreds, starting yearlings on a small but classy farm in Ontario. It’s the perfect place to hide, until a jockey’s agent comes along promising to give him everything he thought he ever wanted. How can he say no to a fast track to the career of his dreams? But can he go back on his commitment to the farm that gave him a break when his world had fallen apart?
Liv likes the new guy she hired to start the babies, but she kind of hates him too. He’s doing what she wants to do herself — dropping out to chase a future on the front lines of horse racing. She wishes she could be content, accepting the path vet school has firmly set her on. But a filly named Claire has captured her heart and ignited her real passion: riding racehorses. Does everyone get to follow their heart?
Meanwhile, a cherished mare on the farm carries a foal that will change both their lives and remind them… good things come to those who wait.
***
Elise’s Thoughts
Bright, Broken Things by Linda Shantz is a very enjoyable read. As with all her stories, this novella will allow readers to understand more about horses and racing along with very relatable characters.
The story includes the backstory on how Nate and Liv meet. She decides to hire him to help train the horses. Although there is an attraction at first sight, Nate realizes that Liv is hands off. What they do have in common is the love of horses and racing. Along with her sister Emilie who is the direct opposite of Liv, and a filly named Claire that stole Liv’s heart, readers get more of an understanding of the personalities of each character.
***
Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Why write this novella?
Linda Shantz: After the books I had readers who requested a prequel. This will lead those who have not read any books into the series, the backstory of Liv and Nick. I am thinking of writing the backstory on some of the other characters.
EC: You have this quote by Liv about her feelings?
LS: You are referring to this one, “The safest place is on the back of a racehorse. It is sanctuary.” Take for example what happened to me. I hurt my ankle. So being on the ground is hard, while being on a horse allows me to borrow their body. Horses provide for Liv the safety where no one can touch her.
EC: How would you describe Claire, the young thoroughbred?
LS: Flighty and excitable. She has a good head on her shoulders. Nothing ruffles her. She is ready to take on the world. A solid buddy who is a horse.
EC: What about the sisters Liv versus Emilie?
LS: Even though there is a physical resemblance they are quite opposite. Emilie does not have the competitive drive that Liv has for riding. Emilie is much more balanced. She is not obsessed with horse racing like Liv. She does not have the same need to be immersed in the whole horse racing world that Liv does. While Liv is standoffish, serious, with trust issues, seeing the glass as half empty, broken, and aloof; Emilie is mischievous, carefree, talkative, and easy going.
EC: What did you want to point out about horses being drugged?
LS: There are people who put money above horses. Racing gets a bad rap because of the drugging of horses. The vets play a big role. I point out in the book the vets are essentially working for the trainers who know what drugs are available and do things under the radar. Sometimes people have an unfair advantage because testing has not caught up with finding the drugs. Unfortunately, the vet received a very light sentence. Up here in Canada it is taken very seriously.
EC: Why is it so bad?
LS: There is not one governing body in horse racing. Each state gets to make their own decision on horse racing and drug testing. If the US adopted a single governing body, I am sure Ontario, and the other Canadian tracks would be a part of it.
EC: Next book?
LS: I am going to write the Emilie and Tim book next, probably out around Christmas. In that book Liv is going to go to England for a big race so there will be a lot of Nate, but not her.
EC: Are you still painting?
LS: Yes, I have some commissions of horses and dogs.
THANK YOU!!
***
BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for WHEN IT FALLSAPART (The D’Angelos Book #1) by Catherine Bybee on this Montlake Blog Tour.
Below you will find an author Q&A, a book summary, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section, the author’s social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Good luck on the giveaway and enjoy!
***
Author Q&A
Interview with Catherine Bybee
For anyone wondering the plot of your newest release, you give a great sneak peek with the title—When it Falls Apart. What is “falling apart” in this novel?
All the threads that hold my heroine, Brooke, together are crumbling down around her. When it Falls Apart begins with Brooke’s romantic relationship crashing and burning. At the same time, in a different state, her father is circling the drain in the ICU. And for the cherry on the top of her “falling apart life”, Brooke has found herself demoted at work. In short, everything in Brooke’s life is dissolving around her.
Like all of your books, When it Falls Apart has a beautiful romance, however, there is a rawness about Brooke’s story. How was writing this novel different from your others?
If you read my notes both in the front and the back of this novel, you’ll soon realize that the story was very personal to me. Rawness comes from experience. The relationship Brooke has with her father is hauntingly familiar to me and my dad. The emotions that the heroine experienced when taking care of him were easy for me to grasp onto and write about. Sadly, the love story with Luca was completely made up and I didn’t have the support of a strong Italian family to help deal with the struggles, but I digress.
Relationships with a parent who wasn’t there for you growing up are messy. When that parent ages and needs their child, sometimes that help comes with a bucketload of resentment, even if the child wishes they could stop those ugly feelings from creeping up on them. And THAT is the rawness you speak of.
Books, TV shows, and movies oftentimes glamorize what it means to care for a loved one. However, in When it Falls Apart you don’t sugar-coat anything about caregiving and the toll it takes on a person. How do you think readers who have been in similar situations will be affected by this story?
Justified. Validated. Accepted.
It’s a hard job taking care of an elderly family member. And if there aren’t other siblings to help, or won’t help, it’s made even more difficult. It’s difficult, gritty, dirty work that only has a bad ending…eventually. What I do hope my readers take away is that they’re not alone. That the struggle is very real and that if they don’t find balance (which is almost impossible at times) they will burn out completely and not be fit to help at all. I hope my readers are empowered to set boundaries and balance, so they come out on the other side of caring for an elderly loved one whole themselves.
Brooke gets virtually no support from her significant other, which has her reevaluating their relationship. She realizes she has settled and has to make some hard decisions. Do you think this happens too many times to women in real life?
100% Yes! There is a song by Taylor Swift with a line that says, and I’m paraphrasing here, I can be what you want for the weekend. But often that weekend ends up being a relationship that women hold on to or are convinced they can’t live without. Often it takes a huge shake-up to remove yourself from that situation. But once you’re away from the day to day dysfunctional relationship, the easier it is to see the dysfunction.
After her breakup and move, Brooke is not looking for a relationship. In fact, she tells her best friend: “I haven’t wiped off my smeared mascara from Marshall yet, the last thing I want is to jump into anything else.” Her crying over a man lasts all about two minutes when she meets Luca. Tell us about him.
Hmmm, Luca… he is the kind of man who doesn’t want a place on Brooke’s dance card…he wants to rip it up.
Luca is wired to help the people in his life. Brooke becomes a part of his inner circle simply by moving into the family building where he sees her every day.
Now, if Luca had flat out asked Brooke on a date, she would have run the other way…so no, he doesn’t go about it that way. He simply shows up and does not leave. Not when things get tough, or messy…or when his own past peeks its head in. Luca is a man who is right there at Brooke’s side without question or censor on why she does the things she does. His support and validation of her feelings is the part she was missing. Add in the hunky Italian single father and “Mamma Mia!”
At first, Luca is not thrilled that Brooke is renting a room in his family’s building. What changes his mind about her?
Her strength and vulnerability. I know that sounds contradicting, but some of the strongest women I know have a big vulnerable spot in their life that if you know them well enough, you see. The biggest smiles often hide the deepest pain. Luca sees her struggle and dedication to helping her elderly father and since family is first on Luca’s list, she passes his unconscious test.
Luca’s family, the D’Angelo’s, are incredibly close and share everything from ownership of the family restaurant to helping care for Luca’s daughter Franny. How is this different from Brooke’s relationship with her family?
Brooke doesn’t have that family. She has a father who abandoned her as a little girl that she carved out a relationship as an adult, and now she’s charged with caring for. Even her previous romantic relationship didn’t support her unconditionally the way the D’Angelo’s do for each other. She’s rather dumbfounded when they start treating her like family. It’s a wonderful thing to watch happen.
San Diego’s Little Italy plays a huge part in the story. The community, language, and food are in full display. Tell us about your own experiences in your adopted city.
I love Little Italy, the food, the pace… the people. There are many places in San Diego that are overrun with the college scene, San Diego is a college town. But Little Italy is more family friendly. Very touristy, but there isn’t a day you don’t see locals hanging out. I go to the farmer’s market often. Pick up authentic Italian ingredients for my own home cooking. I try new restaurants and take all my friends there when they are visiting from out of town. Not to mention it was the closest thing to the “real Italy” that I could go during the travel restrictions. So why not write about it and tell the world of this small island within San Diego that shouldn’t be missed?
There are two more siblings in the D’Angelo family. Where will you be taking readers next with the series?
Chloe is a yogi. Think Bali!
And Giovanni loves wine… think Tuscany, Italy.
I cannot wait to show you what I have in store for these two!
***
Book Summary
Brooke Turner has always had a complicated relationship with her father. But when his health takes a turn for the worse, she drops everything to care for him. He’s her dad, after all, and he needs her. What Brooke doesn’t anticipate is the unraveling of her long-term relationship and a cross-country move to San Diego’s Little Italy.
Luca D’Angelo is the oldest of three children and a single father to a young daughter. When his mother rents the top floor of their house to Brooke, he’s angry. Who is this beautiful stranger with no ties to the neighborhood? Can she be trusted in such close proximity to his family?
As Luca learns of Brooke’s difficult journey with her ailing father, his heart softens. And Brooke, who witnesses Luca’s struggle as a single parent, develops feelings for him, too. But when it all falls apart, will love heal their wounded hearts?
WHEN IT FALLS APART (The D’Angelo’s Book #1) by Catherine Bybee is the first book in a new contemporary romance series featuring the very tight knit Italian D’Angelo family who own and live above their restaurant in the enchanting setting of Little Italy in San Diego, California. Each book will feature one of the D’Angelo siblings and their HEA romances.
Brooke Turner has an on-line marketing career which works well with her partner who is a travel blogger as they travel more than they are home. Brooke receives a call from the hospital that her father is very sick and needs surgery. She just got him back on his feet after a lengthy recovery from a stroke and now she needs to leave again. This blows up Brooke’s relationship even though Brooke’s father was never much of a father, she still feels responsible to help him since he has no one else.
Luca D’Angelo is the eldest son of three children and a single father to a young daughter. Since the death of his father, he runs the family restaurant with the help of his mother, brother, and sister who all work there and live above the restaurant. When his mother talks to Brooke when she visits the restaurant and discovers she is looking for a place to rent, Luca’s mother rents the top floor apartment to Brooke. At first Luca is worried about this stranger living in the family building, but he soon learns of Brooke’s difficult life and current problems with her father and only wants to help.
They develop feelings for each other, and Brooke loves Franny, Luca’s daughter. They want to take it slow, but in Little Italy everyone knows everyone else’s business and the nonnas are always looking to match their loved ones. When Luca’s ex-wife shows up, will their fragile romance survive, or will it all fall apart?
This is one of those stories that pulls you right in and keeps you there until the HEA. Brooke is an amazing person despite her terrible upbringing. She is loving and always giving to her own detriment many times. Luca is the handsome Italian single dad whose momma raised him right and he is a chef. Who wouldn’t fall for that? The entire family, neighbors and secondary characters are brought to life with realistic and difficult situations that many of us have or will face in the future. The H/h in this story face each situation with maturity and open communication. I loved Luca, Brooke and Franny and the entire D’Angelo family.
I highly recommend this wonderful romance and I cannot wait for the next in the series!
***
Excerpt
“Oh my God, Carmen. He was standing at his car first thing this morning. Like ‘hop in, bella, let’s get stuff done today.’ Who does that?”
Brooke had picked up the phone as soon as Luca was off in search of a dump guy.
“We’re talking about the single, hot, Italian dad, right?”
Brooke rolled her eyes. “Yes. Luca.”
“Oy, oy, oy.”
“Stop it. I need advice. And I need it before he gets back.”
Carmen stopped teasing. “You don’t need advice. You need to relax. He sounds like one of the good ones. Let it happen.”
“Let it happen,” she mocked. “I don’t ‘let’ things happen. It happens to me and it’s never good.”
“You didn’t used to be such a pessimist.”
“Once upon a time the glass was half full. Not these days.”
“Okay, Debbie Downer. You want my advice . . . here it is. Keep doing whatever it is you’re doing.”
“I’m not doing anything. Zero effort.”
“Really?” Carmen didn’t sound convinced. “Makeup . . . a nice dress?”
Brooke hesitated. “Maybe . . . a little last night, but that was it.”
Carmen chuckled.
“Carmen!”
“Sorry. Okay . . . any red flags?”
Brooke thought about that. “He loved his ex-wife.”
“That’s a red flag?”
“I guess not.”
“Is he good to his mom?”
Brooke looked back on the dinner the night before. “To the whole family. He takes being the oldest brother quite seriously.”
“And his daughter?”
All Brooke could do was smile. “Great dad. We should all be so lucky.”
“He’s Italian, does he smoke?”
“No.”
“A lot of Italians smoke,” Carmen pointed out.
“In Italy. The San Diego variety are less in that wheelhouse.”
“That’s good.” Carmen sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you, Brooke. How does he kiss?”
“He hasn’t kissed me,” Brooke nearly yelled.
“Now then . . . we have a problem.”
“There hasn’t been . . . I don’t even know if—”
“Stop right there. He did not drive your sorry ass all the way to Upland to do grunt work all day if he wasn’t interested in kissing you, bellllaaa. More than that, you want him to.”
Brooke closed her eyes, and even in her own head she couldn’t convince herself that Carmen was wrong.
“Let it happen. You deserve some happiness, Brooke.”
The van with the air conditioning repair guy pulled into the driveway.
“I gotta go.”
“I want a kissing update the next time we talk,” Carmen teased.
“Love you,” Brooke said with a laugh.
“Back at ya, boo.”
She hung up.
Her best friend was such a dork.
***
About the Author
New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee has written twenty-eight books that have collectively sold more than five million copies and have been translated into more than eighteen languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in the hope of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned the Not Quite Series, the Weekday Brides Series, the Most Likely To Series, and the First Wives Series.
