Usually a character who is utterly despicable and seemingly unredeemable is the villain, not the main character. In A.F. Brady’s suspense novel Once a Liar, cut-throat defense attorney Peter Caine is such a horrible person throughout this book that I couldn’t believe that anyone would put up with him. But I could not […]
I took a little break from reading and blogging to end 2018, to refresh my batteries from the stresses of a busy work schedule along with a very full home life with nightly martial arts commitments for both my son and I. The stresses haven’t exactly gone away with a government shutdown (where I’m […]
I’ve been a big fan of Marie Force’s Fatal series for a while now, and the latest book, Fatal Invasion delivers everything I expect from this series: danger, intrigue, fast-paced action filled with Sam’s snark and Freddie’s choir boy goodness, and great romance to offset the often dark tone from the crimes throughout the book. […]
After reading a lot of contemporary fiction geared towards women lately, I didn’t know how much I needed to sink my teeth into a gritty, hard-boiled thrilling mystery. Alex Segura’s last installment in the Pete Fernandez Mystery series, Dangerous Ends, was my first introduction to this fantastically rich and dirty look at the seedy underbelly […]
I really love thrillers that I can fall right into–the atmosphere, the characters, and the storyline. I Am Justice by Diana Munoz Stewart fit all that and more. This romantic thriller follows Justice Parish, a trained assassin who fights human trafficking of all kinds along with her adopted sisters and one brother. When they finally […]
Eighteen years ago, Joanna Guthrie was abducted and held captive for two weeks along with two other girls. Forced to do unspeakable things to survive, she and another girl were set free, and Joanna has tried to put that dark time in her past–but the past won’t stop chasing her. She lives an isolated life […]
I’ve really enjoyed Marie Force’s Fatal series, and in 2016 I eagerly read through books one through four before having to turn my attention elsewhere for the blog. Fatal Chaos is book number twelve, and I’m happy to report that this series is consistently fresh, full of suspense and romance, and also has a […]
I haven’t read a hard-boiled, noir-ish detective novel in a while, and Alex Segura’s Dangerous Ends hit all the right notes when it comes to my must-have list in these types of books. Brave yet borderline stupidly fearless main character whose sense of justice and right and wrong drives him to investigate no matter how […]
I really enjoyed Claire Booth’s debut novel The Branson Beauty, and I’ve been looking out for the follow up ever since. Having solved the murder of the popular, pretty young woman in the previous book, Hank thinks that he should be able to keep being sheriff and live a quiet existence in Branson […]
Red Leaves focuses on a group of four friends in their senior year at Dartmouth College, and their seemingly perfect relationships and friendships that have frayed to the breaking point until one of them ends up dead right before Thanksgiving in 1993. The first third of the book is told in Kristina Kim’s point […]
I have an excerpt from B.J. Daniels’ new book, RENEGADE’S PRIDE, for TLC Book Tours. This is the first installment in what’s sure to be a great new western romance series that has a heap of mystery. Ely Cahill perked up a lot after his Johnson breakfast. Lillie had studied him as he’d eaten every […]
If you crack open the pages of The Drifter expecting a murder mystery, you’ll be a bit disappointed. It’s stated in black and white in the back cover blurb that former sorority girl Betsy and her two best friends experience a horrible act of violence while in their last year of college in Gainesville, […]
I really loved the serial format of the Tough Justice series by authors Carla Cassidy, Tyler Anne Snell, Emmy Curtis and Janie Crouch that Harlequin published last year. Each installment blended from each one pretty seamlessly, even though each author wrote two installments in the eight part serial featuring FBI agent Lara Grant. And these […]