Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for HOME THIS CHRISTMAS by Sue Roberts on this Bookouture blog tour.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, the author’s bio, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Ruby hasn’t been back home since she made the heart-wrenching decision to leave her childhood sweetheart, Nathan, for a career in London. But when she’s invited to judge the charity gingerbread competition, she decides it’s time. And it seems there’s Christmas mischief at work. Because Nathan is joining her as a gingerbread judge.
But it’s clear he would rather she’d stayed away, from his icy silence when they are alone, to the snarky comments and his accusing glare as they prepare for the event with other members of the community. And all Ruby wants to do is get back to London.
Then bad weather leaves her snowed in the village until after Christmas, with nowhere to stay. And things go from bad to worse when she slips on the ice… And falls straight into the arms of Nathan.
The pain of her injured ankle is nothing when, her heart aflutter, Nathan surprises her. As he scoops her up and sweeps her off to the hospital, it seems like the frost between them is finally thawing. But could the magic of Christmas mean a second chance is possible? Or is it too little too late?
HOME THIS CHRISTMAS by Sue Roberts is a heartwarming Christmas women’s fiction/second chance romance mash-up featuring a young woman named Ruby who left her small village and first love behind to chase her dreams of success in London. Now she has attained many of her dreams, a beautiful flat in London and successful career as a food and restaurant critic and another Christmas is just around the corner.
Ruby is happy with her London life, but she is just out of a relationship and at loose ends. She has made plans with her girlfriend for Christmas but then receives a note from her hometown to be a judge for the charity gingerbread competition. She decides to accept and be in and out of the village in one day. When she shows up at the competition, she is surprised to discover her first love, Nathan, is the other judge.
Nathan is even more handsome than Ruby remembered, and she is surprised that their attraction is still strong. As Ruby gets involved in village affairs and makes new friends, she ends up staying longer and the attraction between them only grows. Ruby is afraid that she will have to leave Nathan behind again or can this second chance at romance be strong enough to keep her in the village?
This is an enchanting holiday read. The first half of the story is more focused on Ruby and her career and life in London, while the second half has her in her old hometown and the second chance romance begins to bloom with Nathan. The romance plot is sweet, charming, and believable. We get to see the village through Ruby’s eyes from her memories of her youth and how things have changed in the present. Ms. Roberts does a wonderful job of making the village and all its Christmas activities come to life on the page. This is a wonderful story to escape into over the holidays.
I recommend this delightful holiday HEA genre mash-up.
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Author Bio
Sue Roberts lives in Lancashire with her long term partner Derek and has had a lifelong love of writing, encouraged by winning a school writing competition at the age of 11.
She always assumed that ‘one day’ she would write a book, always having a busy household and a job, the idea remained firmly on the back burner but never forgotten.
The inspiration for her first novel came to her on a holiday to a Greek village. Her daughters had left home and suddenly the time had come to write that book!
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for CRIME WRITER by Vinnie Hansen on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my mini book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Promoamp giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
In the peaceful California coast city of Playa Maria, CRIME WRITER ZOEY KOZINSKI joins a local police officer for a ride-along in hopes of breaking through her writer’s block. But during a routine traffic stop, the cop is shot, the victim of a brutal homicide.
Zoey realizes she is the only witness and the number one target on the killer’s hit list. PTSD kicks in, sending her into a tailspin. It doesn’t help that she lives on an illegal cannabis farm and that her estranged mother has just arrived. Even the police officer’s widow points a finger at the writer, claiming she was a distraction, and the police department knew it.
Lurking on the fringes is a man who stopped briefly at the crime. Good Samaritan or sinister suspect? For her safety, Zoey needs to find out.
Genre: Suspense Published by: Level Best Books Publication Date: September 9, 2025 (ebook) Number of Pages: 266 (paperback) ISBN: 979-8-89820-027-5 (paperback)
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My Mini Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
CRIME WRITER by Vinnie Hansen is an immersive crime thriller where the reader knows who the killer is and what he is doing to cover his tracks, but the interest, twists, and action are all centered around the protagonist, a crime writer and musician named Zoey Kozinski.
The red-headed and feisty Zoey witnesses the murder of the police officer she is doing a ride-along with during a routine traffic stop. The killer knows there is a witness and the drug trafficker he works for tells him he must eliminate her. With PTSD from the incident, the arrival of her estranged mother she has been hiding from, the cop’s widow who blames Zoey and wants revenge, and a man who appeared at the scene of the crime and keeps popping up in her life, Zoey needs to unravel what is happening and who to trust before she ends up dead.
This story starts out appearing to be very straight forward, but the more you learn, the more twisted and anxiety inducing the story becomes. Zoey is interesting and Ms. Hansen’s writing brings her to life with all her problems. The ending was not what I was expecting, but it is satisfying. For me, this was an interesting change in perspective from the usual crime thriller/police procedural mystery.
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Excerpt
One
Day 1 – early evening
Heat from the Mobile Data Transmitter radiated onto Zoey Kozinski’s arm. The interior of the patrol car cooked, muggy and close. September brought the hottest weather to the central coast of California, anxiety about fires flaring as the oak leaves curled and undergrowth crisped. Thankfully, Officer Austin kept the windows of the patrol car open even as the sun started to set.
“Must be boiling with your vest.”
“Better to sweat than bleed.” Austin’s profile was sharp angles, pointed nose, strong chin.
“How much does that thing weigh?” Zoey already knew, but the officer didn’t seem talkative. She needed to crack the façade and dig out some grist to apply to Officer Horne, the character in her book. Her stalled, barely-started book.
“Six pounds.”
Officer Austin rolled along Scenic Drive, a main thoroughfare through Playa Maria County. Zoey wished they could listen to music, something to go with driving on a sultry evening, maybe Ella Fitzgerald’s “Summertime.” Instead, the police radio spat information, filling awkward silence. Zoey jotted down that a list of stolen cars was tucked on the left side of his dash. She’d chosen a night shift, hoping for a modicum of action but nothing on the radio stirred Austin’s interest.
“How do you feel about ride-alongs?” She flipped her legal pad and the printed-out opening pages of her manuscript winged to the floor. All two of them. A whopping three hundred ten words. She bent down to retrieve them.
“It’s part of our Community Policing.” Austin kept his focus forward. “To increase civilian awareness of what police work entails.”
She didn’t bother to write down the canned response.
Austin must be a rookie to receive the crappy assignment of hauling a ride-along, but he didn’t look like one. Silver highlighted his short hair. Older than her fictional Officer Horne. Her protagonist Horne should be young, freshly free of his training wheels, a more credible character to rush toward a terrible mistake after witnessing the shooting of a fellow officer.
In the margin of the legal pad, she scribbled: A hot-head. Temper=hubris. Too eager to prove himself?
Then she wrote Stan and put a question mark after it. The name of the murdered officer in her manuscript had appeared in a magician’s puff of smoke, typed by her fingers before she was conscious of a choice. Not a common name for guys of her generation, the lost kids born between Generation X and the Millennials. The name had merit—easy to pronounce, but not overly used. Why had it popped into her head?
She slipped her pen through her tangle of red hair and scratched her scalp.
Austin shot her a glance, maybe thinking she didn’t know she was using the ink end.
“Writing off the top of your head?”
She smiled slightly. Witty for a police officer.
He quirked a brow. “Making headlines?” His tone was dry. No smile. Was he being funny or busting her balls?
Zoey tapped the legal pad. Her next question wasn’t on it, but Austin’s age and his quips begged for it.
“What did you do before becoming a law enforcement officer?”
Long fingers curled around the wheel, maneuvering the vehicle through the rush-hour clog of Scenic Drive. He scanned the lanes of traffic and sidewalks long enough that she thought he wasn’t going to answer.
“I was a teacher.”
“Really?” Her voice squeaked with unveiled surprise. Heat rose up her face. With her coloring, there was no playing off a blush. When she was a kid, her Grosse Pointe classmates had pinned her with the nickname Tomato.
“High-school history.” In the parking lot, he’d offered a firm handshake and introduced himself formally as Officer Austin, although he’d added with a trace of humor ‘at your service.’ Over six-feet with ropy muscles, he was a bit old for her, maybe forty-five, but a hottie, nonetheless.
“That’s a strange career trajectory.”
“Not really. In both jobs you deal with a lot of young punks.”
As part of the outreach program, he probably was not supposed to refer to members of the community as punks. She was making progress.
“In policing I bet you have more flexibility about how you deal with punks?”
His lip curled, but he didn’t respond.
“So why the career move?”
“In teaching, the more you work, the less you’re paid,” he said. “Police work offers time-and-a-half for overtime. Ten-hour shifts and four-day work weeks. More money and time for my family.”
“Kids?”
“Three.”
She felt a twinge of disappointment. Her sex life had been reduced to her Magic Wand, and Austin wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, so a bit of fantasy had slipped under her normally guarded door. Since she didn’t want a relationship, a hot cop could be the ticket. Married killed that idea.
And three kids! With the world’s exploding population and global climate change, that was self-indulgent. One of her least favorite character flaws—in reality. In fiction, it was a great character flaw.
“My wife’s the one who should have made the career move to cop,” Austin volunteered. “She’s a tiger. Can outshoot me.” He shook his head in admiration.
Another twinge. She had a serious weakness for men who complimented women in absentia.
Zoey touched the cool metal of the AR15 propped in front of the passenger seat. “This is some serious fire power.”
The creases in his uniform lifted infinitesimally, a hint of a shrug. “You should see what they have on the street.”
She ran her finger down her list of questions. Nothing so far had gotten the juices flowing. “What kind of handgun do you carry?”
“Smith & Wesson. Officers with more seniority get Berettas. The most senior officers have Glocks.” Jealousy tinged his voice. “But if you want a better gun, you can buy one. I’m looking at a Glock.”
The crackling voice of dispatch relayed a report of a middle-aged black male dealing drugs in Playa Maria Park.
Austin swung off Scenic onto a street that cut along the seedier edge of downtown, where the homeless population dwarfed the number of university students. He slowed at the park.
Dusk had sifted into darkness, but streetlights illuminated the perimeter of the grass. Young men played basketball in a well-lit court. A lone man leaning against a light pole straightened at the cruiser’s arrival. Austin put the windows up, parked the car, and plucked a wood baton from the base of his door. “Remain in the vehicle.”
Another patrolman rolled up and joined him. She noted details. Suspect’s dreadlocks glisten in bluish light. Tan pants bag around skinny legs.
Austin questioned the man, while the other officer patted him down and dipped into the pockets of his army-fatigue jacket. With the window closed, Zoey sweated.
In the end, the man bumped away and swaggered toward the basketball court.
Talking together, the officers watched him, then turned in the direction of the vehicle. Austin nodded. The other man laughed. They were talking about her. The inside of the cruiser steamed like a sauna. Austin was letting her marinate in a patina of sweat.
Zoey opened the passenger door, which prompted Austin to step toward the cruiser. Before he plopped into his seat, he thunked his baton into its spot.
“I asked the suspect if we could search him and he said no,” he started before Zoey even asked. “But he has a Search Clause.” Austin cleaned his hands with foam sanitizer. “That’s a bargain he made for probation. He relinquished his right to probable cause.”
She scribbled the information. This was good stuff, strengthening her knowledge of the law.
“But you didn’t find anything?”
“Maybe he sold out.”
Dry humor. Deadpan delivery. Her favorite. To curtail a blush, she cast her eyes to the pocket of his door.
“Don’t most officers these days carry whip-batons?”
He gave her a look.
Amazing eyes—way greener than her own. He yanked the baton from its spot and held it across his lap, the top grazing her thigh.
Phallic symbol, for sure. The air inside the car shifted subtly.
“See all those nicks?” he said. “My T.O. gave this to me, said the riff-raff on the street notice the dents. They’re mostly from getting in and out of the car, but hey,” he returned the baton to the door pocket, “they don’t know that.”
He gave his hand a second squirt of the sanitizer. “I tell you one part of this job I don’t like. The grime. You’d have to get up close to appreciate how much that guy . . . how grubby he was.” Austin started the car. “Tell you the truth, I’m more afraid of an accidental needle poke than a gunshot.”
“Was he dealing?”
“I imagine.” Austin put down the windows. Fresh air rushed into the compartment. “He doesn’t have any other means of income.”
The radio called Austin to roust a panhandler near the entrance to the freeway. Civilian complaint. Austin zoomed back up to Scenic. At the intersection before the freeway entrance, he stopped at a red light with the rest of the traffic. The girl panhandling on the median spotted the cruiser, folded her sign, and meandered down the sidewalk.
Austin turned and rolled along the street across from the girl. In spite of a curvaceous figure packed into tight jeans, with her wavy brown hair hitched into pigtails she looked all of fifteen. The girl ignored them.
Zoey twisted toward Austin. “Are you going to stop?”
“She’s not doing anything illegal now. She didn’t even jaywalk.” He sped up. “We got her off the median.”
“Yup. Sure did.” He knew, and she knew, that as soon as they were out of sight, the girl would return to her spot.
How do they negotiate spots? She wrote. First come, first served?
If she asked Austin about the girl—did he know her—what was her story—she sensed he’d blow off the questions. The police department had picked the wrong officer to give ride-alongs. Austin lacked a gregarious, empathetic personality.
Zoey tried to unpack how she’d arrived at this conclusion. Maybe because he’d chosen policing over teaching. Police work had to be more frustrating than high school teaching, certainly less rewarding.
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Author Bio
A Claymore and Silver Falchion finalist, Vinnie Hansen is the author of the Carol Sabala mystery series, the novels LOSTART STREET, ONE GUN, and CRIME WRITER, as well as over seventy published short works.
She is a member of Mystery Writers of American, Sisters in Crime, and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. A retired high-school English teacher, she lives with her husband and the requisite cat in Santa Cruz, CA.
Since her arrest for disobeying orders and going ashore at Iwo Jima almost a decade earlier, combat correspondent Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle has been unmoored. Her military accreditation revoked, her marriage failing, and her savings dwindling, Dickey jumps at the next opportunity. In the aftermath of a an assignment gone wrong, a flame is lit deep inside Dickey—to survive in order to be the world’s witness to war from the front lines.
Never content to report on battles unless her own boots are on the ground, Dickey and her camera journey with American and international soldiers from frozen wastelands to raging seas to luscious jungles, revealing one woman’s extraordinary courage and tenacity in the face of discrimination and danger. And it’s along the way, in Dickey’s desire to save the world, she realizes she might also be saving herself.
At a time when a woman’s heroic spirit often gave way to homeland reality, Dickey blazed a trail for the revolutionary hearts inside us all.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Last Assignment by Erika Robuck delves into the life of a trailblazing woman photojournalist, Georgette “Dickey” Meyer Chapelle, known for her work as a war correspondent from WWII through the Vietnam War. Through the novel, readers will understand her desire to capture the raw, human side of war, and shows her bond with the troops she was embedded with.
The story shows how she was very supportive of the Marines, who considered her a partner. She trained with them and went to war with them. Most of the book centers on her life during the 1950s and 1960s. It starts with her floundering, having her photo credentials revoked from the military because she disobeyed orders while embedded with the troops at Iwo Jima, the battle fought during WWII. She also had her relationship with her live-in partner crumbling and unable to find a job.
Readers take a journey with her feeling that they are amid a war zone whether in Hungary during the Cold War, Cuba during the revolution of Fidel Castro, and Laos, and South Vietnam. There are potent scenes of her time in a Communist prison after being captured while working in Hungary. Her next assignment takes her to Cuba, where she covers the rebels in the Sierra Maestra and witnesses the revolution of Fidel Castro against Batista’s regime. In 1961 she went to Laos and showed the true horrors of what was happening there. After that she was off to Vietnam and knew that she needed to show her support for the soldiers there.
She wanted to be known as the person who would document the realities of war. She often put herself in danger to make sure that Americans could see what was going on in war zones. Robuck does a wonderful job of showing how Dickey would risk everything to uncover the truth.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Do you have any military influences?
Erika Robuck: I have grown up around the military. My father-in-law served in the Army in Vietnam. I have always been interested in that area, ever since I was a teenager. There were a lot of movies that came out around that time. Living in Annapolis I am around the Naval Academy. My grandfather was in the Navy. I was always immersed in the world of the military. A lot of my most recent fictions have been about women involved in the world of military intelligence.
EC: Why write about Georgette “Dickey” Meyer Chapelle?
ER: I was looking through a photograph book of Vietnam where I discovered her pictures and then learned about her personal story. I think of this book as historical fiction or bio fiction where the story is very close to the truth. It has facts but I make up the dialogue. Plus, I sometimes consolidate characters.
EC: Why the setting of Hungary, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam?
ER: She served in seven conflicts. I chose those that were united in theme. The more research I did, the Cold War became the subject of personal fascination. The time, 1955 to 1965, had the most significant conflicts where she had the deepest relationships and the highest stakes.
EC: Do you think she supported American troops?
ER: Yes, I have this book quote, “American men are dying for the protestors right to free speech and democracy, yet they villainize them.” They are doing it to make sure Americans can retain their freedom. We are spoiled where we are. It is easy to comment when people enjoy their coffee while at their computer.
EC: Why did Dickey become a photojournalist of war zones?
ER: Freedom was an important theme within her philosophy. She was willing to go into very dangerous situations. She wanted to be the eyes and ears of the people so they could understand what was happening. She wanted to see it herself and was always looking for the pictures that showed the collateral of war.
EC: Was she a complex character?
ER: She had a pacifist upbringing but supported the troops and photographed war. My thoughts are that her thirst for adventure was a sort of rebellion as a young person in her pacifist household.
EC: How would you describe her?
ER: She was an optimist, risk taker, courageous, resilient, had self-doubt, gutsy, restless, impulsive, and sometimes she did not think through what she was doing. She was very hopeful.
EC: What role did Tony play in her life?
ER: He taught her about photography. He saw the glamor in her and drew out her feminine side. She came into herself as a woman, an awakening in the early years of their relationship.
EC: Was she affected by being arrested for disobeying the order in Iwo Jima?
ER: It wounded her. Because she did not respect the chain of command she got cut off and had to face the consequences when she lost her military credentials. This was a period of real darkness for her. She learned that if she went into combat, she had to follow the rules.
EC: After she was captured in Eastern Europe, did it make an impact on her?
ER: She was tortured, interrogated, put in solitary confinement, and threated with death daily. She lost a large amount of weight. This fueled her fire to fight for democracy even more after her experience in a Communist prison. This why she wanted to go to regions where they fought Communism.
EC: What do you want readers to get out of the story?
ER: She also lived in New York where she led the glamourous life, between conflicts. People can learn a lot about the human conditions through her. Going into these places with her was like traveling with Forest Gump.
EC: Next book?
ER: I am writing a woman in intelligence military history.
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.
It’s 10 p.m. on a Thursday in the spring of her freshman year of college, and April is standing at the back of a crowded Manhattan bar waiting for her friend, Rudy, to arrive. Their eyes lock the moment he enters the room, and in an instant, lives and legacies are altered forever.
Within hours, Rudy is arrested. Within days, April is expelled. Within weeks, he’s incarcerated. And within months, she meets Peter, a prodigious young attorney who makes her world recognizable again.
Nearly fifteen years later, April is happily living in Chicago married to Peter, a mother of three with a fulfilling career and standing yoga date with her girlfriends. On the eve of Peter’s election for local office, Rudy is up for parole. Headlines explode about April’s past, jeopardizing Peter’s campaign and everything they hold dear. Suddenly, April is faced with an impossible choice: protecting the life she created, or the person who sacrificed everything to make that life a possibility. Such Good People is a captivating portrait of blurred lines, divided loyalties, and what it means to love purely, steadfastly, and interminably.
SUCH GOOD PEOPLE by Amy Blumenfeld is a character driven fiction novel featuring two friends who have their lives changed in an instant and the emotional ripple effects it has on their lives and their families’ lives. This is not the usual type of book I read, but I found the description so intriguing that I gave it a try and I am glad that I did. I will be thinking of these characters well past the closing of this book.
April and Rudy have been friends for their entire childhood and when you see one, you see the other. Their families are close and celebrate many milestones as one unit.
They are separated for the first time when April goes off to college and Rudy is left at home working with his father and at the local bagel store. It is a huge adjustment, but April asks Rudy to visit to include him in her new life. When Rudy meets her after an event in a Manhattan bar, both their lives are changed forever in an instant.
For thirteen years, one life moves forward while the other is on hold. There is so much heartache and guilt not just personally, but also in the connected families. How can April cling to her new life without sacrificing her lifelong friend?
This book looks at family and friendship in a way that pulls you into the main characters’ lives so completely and immerses the reader in their story. Life in this story is messy, but it is believable in its portrayal of friendship, love, family, and forgiveness that are all intertwined. The characters and their behaviors and reactions are the focus of this story, but I also found the legal system portrayed in this story realistic and disheartening.
I recommend this moving friendship fiction novel and if you are like me, you will be thinking of these characters and their choices well into the future.
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About the Author
Amy Blumenfeld grew up in Queens, New York. She is a graduate of Barnard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she received the James A. Wechsler Award for national reporting. Her essays and articles have appeared on the cover of People, in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, O, The Oprah Magazine, as well in George where she worked as a staff editor and writer. Amy’s debut novel, The Cast, was selected as a New York Post Best Book of the Week and named Winner of the Independent Publisher Book Award in Popular Fiction. She has also been a contributing author to a best-selling anthology and two non-fiction books. Amy lives in New York with her husband and daughter.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for CANYON OF DECEIT by DiAnn Mills on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.
Below you will find a book description, my mini book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Promoamp giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Description
When wilderness survival expert Therese Palmer receives a frantic phone call from former colleague Professor Rurik Ivanov, she is shocked by the news that his young daughter, Alina, is missing—and that Rurik wants Therese’s help finding her. She’s sure Rurik hasn’t given her the whole story . . . especially since he refuses to report the kidnapping to the police. Yet with a child’s life hanging in the balance, Therese can’t turn down this mission. She knows the clock is ticking and she can’t do this alone.
Therese reaches out to Texas Ranger Blane Gardner, whom she met seven months ago during one of her training courses in wilderness survival skills. Blane’s specialized training and background with the Crisis Negotiation Unit make him uniquely prepared for this search-and-rescue mission. He agrees to help Therese and to accept Rurik’s terms to keep Alina’s disappearance quiet, and as the two begin working together, Therese is determined the spark growing between them won’t distract from their mission to save Alina.
Traversing deep into the desert of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Alina’s last known location, Therese and Blane struggle to separate truth from lies within the mix of intel they’re receiving. As they close in on answers that suggest the involvement of Russian organized crime and a high-profile international assassination attempt, they must fight to rescue Alina before she becomes an innocent casualty of a much bigger plot—no matter the risk to their own lives.
Genre: Romantic Suspense Published by: Tyndale House Publishers Publication Date: September 9, 2025 Number of Pages: 352 (pbk) ISBN: 9781496485151 (ISBN10: 1496485157) pbk
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My Mini Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
CANYON OF DECEIT by Diann Mills is a suspenseful and intricately plotted Christian romantic suspense/mystery/thriller set in the beautiful and rugged Guadalupe Mountain National Park of New Mexico. The protagonists are Therese Palmer, a wilderness survival expert and Blane Gardner, a Texas Ranger on the hunt for a kidnapped child. This is a standalone story that is tension filled with many surprising twists that kept me on the edge of my seat and turning the pages.
This romantic suspense plot is well paced with physical struggles and obstacles as well as struggles with their faith. What starts as a kidnapping soon turns into a complex web of assassination, murders, and military espionage. Therese and Blane both have traumas in their pasts that lead to their beliefs, but heartfelt, honest conversations occur between the action as both come to care for each other. Therese lives her faith, and she is clear with Blane that she will not compromise her beliefs even for a relationship, but she is not preaching at him. Blane is the protagonist on a spiritual journey in this story. This is a Christian romantic suspense so there are no sex scenes.
I recommend this exciting, well written Christian romantic suspense.
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Excerpt
Chapter One
New Caney, Texas
October, Thursday, Current Day
Therese
The shrill ring of my mobile phone jolted me awake at 2:00 a.m., a haunting prompt that emergencies seldom emerged in daylight. Someone had ventured into the wilderness and needed me to lead a rescue mission. My skills of trekking over precarious terrain to find victims who suffered from physical injuries, dehydration, starvation, or all three, kept me on alert. At times I viewed my life like a Star Trek tagline, “Where no man has gone before.”
I grabbed the phone off my nightstand. Unidentified caller. “Hello?”
“Ms. Palmer, this is Professor Rurik Ivanov from Houston Leonard University. We met nearly a year ago. You taught a course in wilderness survival as an adjunct professor.”
I captured a mental image of the Russian man—gray-blue eyes, stone-gray hair, angular face. “Yes, sir. How can I help you?”
“I apologize for the hour, but I’m in a desperate situation.”
The angst in his voice zapped me into guarded mode, especially when I barely knew the man. I snapped on my bedside lamp. “Are you all right?”
“No, ma’am, which is why I’m calling you. Do you remember my wife and daughter?”
“I met them both at a faculty dinner last Christmas. A lovely family.”
“My wife was murdered today, and kidnappers have taken my daughter.”
I inhaled sharply, and alarm for the professor’s family fired hot from the soles of my feet. “Daria? Alina? What happened?”
“A man called me late this afternoon while I prepared to leave for home. He said he’d taken Alina. Then he sent a link to a video showing my wife’s execution—”
He stopped abruptly, his final words drumming into my senses. The seconds ticked by, and I waited.
“I watched Daria grab her chest and struggle . . . The blood rushed from her precious body—my dear Daria’s life gone forever.” He grappled again to control his tear-filled voice. “He said they would release Alina unharmed if I paid three million dollars. They’d call with instructions. When the man hung up, I hurried home thinking it had to be a terrible mistake or someone had used AI to generate the video. On the way, I phoned Daria and the call went to voice mail. I also redialed the man who’d contacted me. The phone rang repeatedly, but the number offered no way to leave a message. I contacted Alina’s school and learned Daria had picked her up before noon.
“At home, reality rooted. A lamp and a table in the living room lay in pieces. Daria would have fought hard, but there were no signs of blood. I didn’t recognize the place in the video where they killed her. I even checked for geotag information on the clip, but it had been stripped. I later clicked on the link . . . the video had disappeared.”
I ached for his loss. “What do the police say?”
Silence answered me, then Rurik finally said, “Contacting them is impossible. The man warned me against telling anyone who works in law enforcement, or I’d never see Alina again.” He sobbed into the phone. “Please, give me a moment.”
“Take all the time you need.”
The professor taught Russian language and literature at Leonard University and was highly respected and liked among faculty and students. I’d enjoyed our occasional chats, and he’d observed some of my classes. What had he done to upset the wrong people?
“Thank you. I can talk now,” he said. “I have no idea where the killers have taken Daria’s body or how to find Alina. Neither do I suspect anyone.”
I willed my pulse to slow. “Professor, the police are trained in handling confidential matters and how to find who is responsible. They have families and understand what you’re going through.”
“And endanger my daughter?” Panic throbbed in his ragged voice.
“I’m sorry.” My grief over losing Kate many years ago surfaced raw and bleeding. “Are you alone?”
“Yes. At home.”
“Are there family or friends who can stay with you?”
“My family is in Russia, and I do not trust anyone.”
“You could very well be in danger too.”
“My welfare is unimportant.”
“Who are these people, and why has your family been victimized?”
“I have no idea. The man refused to identify himself, but he did say ‘we.’ Maybe he thinks I have money or believes I have done something criminal to my country or to the US.”
What was he not telling me? I tossed off my blanket and stood in my bedroom, shivering, not from the cold but the horror of this unfolding story. “Professor Ivanov, I’m confused. Why call me? This is a job for the police or the FBI.”
“I cannot risk my daughter’s life. You are my only hope to find Alina. You have the skills to get her back.”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “I’m a wilderness-survival specialist, nothing more. I’m not equipped to carry out a hostage negotiation without backup, which is another reason you need to involve the authorities.” More questions bolted into my mental space like a landslide. “How would I find her?”
“That’s where I can help you. Alina has GPS trackers hidden in her shoes. Not even Daria knew about them.”
“Why would you track your young daughter?”
“Alina’s biological mother died when she was a baby, and I’ve been consumed with protecting my daughter ever since. I checked my phone app and learned at one thirty this afternoon, Alina was taken to a private landing strip west of Houston. I called there, and a woman who worked in the small office said no one had filed a flight plan. But she made a mistake. The tracker had stopped registering.” He coughed and asked me to wait while he got a glass of water.
A connection at Harris County Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management popped into my consciousness. They had the technology to confirm the date and time a plane took to the skies and where it landed.
“I’m better. I apologize for my lack of control,” the professor said. “My app showed tracking again near an abandoned airstrip in a remote area south of Hobbs, New Mexico. The tracking indicated ground-speed movement for two and a half hours to a section on the north side of Guadalupe Mountains National Park called Dog Canyon. That’s where the tracking ended, and I’ve detected nothing since. I assume the kidnappers parked the vehicle and proceeded on foot with Alina. Research shows the area is off-grid. Ms. Palmer, did they remove her shoes? How would they expect her to walk in bare feet?”
My thoughts trailed to the worst possible scenario. Why take Alina to a remote location unless they planned to dispose of her body there? Another argument lay with logic. Why go to the expense of transporting a kidnap victim there when they had the ability to dispose of her body in their backyard? A morbid idea, except true. Whatever the reason, they risked exposure from security cameras until they reached an off-grid area.
“I can’t stress enough how the authorities have technology and skills to find Alina. They can unravel valid threats and comprehend the danger of taking your story to the media.”
“The man who called me said they’d be watching my every move. I bought a burner phone tonight to call you.”
His anguish rippled through me, interfering with my ability to think clearly. “What about the ransom?”
“I can liquidate assets here and in Russia to meet their demands, but the statistics on kidnappers returning my Alina alive are not good. Perhaps they would accept what I can put together now. I’m sorry . . . I wish I had an answer. Why harm an eight-year-old little girl?”
“I have empathy for your grief.” Daria’s lovely face and the white-blonde-haired little girl refused to leave me alone. “Although I could lead you into Dog Canyon, I have no idea how to pull her out of the clutches of dangerous men. You’d need armed law enforcement and possibly a negotiator.”
“That would draw attention. I’ll pay you whatever you want.”
“Money is not the issue, Professor—”
“Alina means more to me than anything else in this world. What is love but to take ownership of a problem and do all I can to stop those men?”
“What if I fail?” The terror of not finding his daughter alive resurrected an echo from the past that had shaped my career.
“Can you live with yourself if you don’t try?”
Unaware, he’d pressed my weakest button. “I’ll hear you out. But I don’t believe you’ve given me the whole story, and I need the truth before I risk my life.”
“I’ve . . . I’ve given you all of it.”“You’ve stated what you want me to know. What have you done or not done in this tragedy that Daria is dead, Alina is missing, and you can’t go to the police?
***
Author Bio
DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who invites her readers to step into stories where suspense meets adventure and romance warms the heart. Known for crafting unforgettable characters tangled in unpredictable plots, DiAnn believes every breath we take unfolds a story waiting to be told—so why not make it thrilling?
Her novels have consistently landed on bestseller lists including CBA, ECPA, and Publishers Weekly, and have won prestigious awards such as the Christy, Selah, Golden Scroll, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol awards.
DiAnn is a founding board member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Conference Advisor for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers. She actively participates in Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, and International Thriller Writers, DiAnn passionately invests in helping fellow authors succeed through mentoring, book coaching, and editing. She travels nationwide speaking and teaching engaging writing workshops.
A proud coffee snob who roasts her own beans, DiAnn also enjoys diving into good books, experimenting in the kitchen, and unabashedly spoiling her grandchildren—whom she insists are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband make their home under the sunny skies of Houston, Texas.
Connect with DiAnn online for behind-the-scenes glimpses, writing tips, and lively discussions:
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE HOUSE OF LOST CHILDREN by Marty Wingate on this Bookouture Books-On-Tour blog post.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
English countryside, 1940. A brave mother’s love offers hope for children fleeing war. When her world falls apart, will they be her guiding light?
When a class of frightened children escape the city’s bombs for her countryside home, Louisa vows to do everything in her power to protect them. As she sends up silent prayers for her only son David, fighting the Nazis in the skies above Britain, she tucks them in to bed. Her heart aches as they cry in their sleep, and she knows they need all her love and care.
Among them is wide-eyed orphan Gracie, who was found next to her mother in the rubble, and clings to Louisa like a shadow. And little Alf, who begins to smile again as he cares for Lulu the dog, the only other survivor of his family. Alongside their handsome teacher Jack, can Louisa help the children to heal? Or when the school governors threaten closure and the war edges closer than ever before, will she soon lose them all?
Then devastating news about David shatters Louisa’s world. Through the depths of her grief, she must find the strength to fight for her beloved lost children. Can they show her the way through the darkness? Or when German planes fly over their peaceful village, will Louisa and the orphans be torn forever apart?
THE HOUSE FOR LOST CHILDREN by Marty Wingate is an emotional and heartwarming standalone WWII historical fiction novel with romantic elements. Set in England during the Blitz, it features a generous and loving woman who opens her home in the country to a group of children and their teachers who have their charity school destroyed in London.
Lady Louisa Brightford is alone in a rambling mansion in the countryside with a minimal staff and her son, David, away flying Spitfires for the British Air Force. When she learns of a group of children and their two teachers displaced by a bombing in London, she calls the family lawyer and asks for his assistance in moving them to the mansion. She hopes the children can find safety and love of the countryside as they each capture her heart in their individual ways and with their particular needs, especially the youngest named, Gracie.
Louisa becomes attached to Gracie, who lost her mother in the bombing. Gracie has not spoken since she lost her mother, but clings to Louisa who continues to offer her love. Louisa also finds herself becoming closer to Jack Barry, one of the teachers. So, when the governors of the charity that run the school threaten to take the children away because she is a divorced woman, she will do everything in her power to keep them. While she is fighting for the children to stay, she receives news that her son is missing in action.
Even through her grief and anxiety over her son, Louisa is determined to keep the children in her home. With the help of Jack, long-time friends in the village, and new surprise allies, Louisa does not give in to despair but fights for the future of the children.
This is an emotionally uplifting and satisfying read that had me completely invested in all the characters. Ms. Wingate brought all the characters in this story to life. Louisa was so strong in the face of everything she had gone through personally and was still able to share so much love and understanding with the children. It was also satisfying that she found someone for herself as well. I loved all the children and their individual personalities. This story demonstrates love in all its manifestations even when you have to go through worry or despair to find it.
I highly recommend this WWII historical fiction with romantic elements and dare you to not fall in love with Gracie!
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Author Bio
Marty Wingate is a USA Today best-selling author of both mysteries and historical fiction. Marty enjoys weaving humor into her books and creating characters—from quirky and loveable to sinister and duplicitous—that leap off the page. Before embarking on her series about the London Ladies Murder Club with Bookouture, Marty published three contemporary cozy mystery series (the Potting Shed, Birds of a Feather, and First Edition Library books). She has also published two standalone books of historical fiction and found stories of the past to be compelling. She’s delighted to combine her penchant for both mysteries and histories to bring her readers more satisfying stories. Marty currently resides near Seattle, Washington.
