Book Review: The Catch by Lisa Harris

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This final story pulls together all the loose threads the first 2 stories leftover. Like all Harris stories, this one starts fast and doesn’t let up. Going back to one of Harris’s stories is always a joy for this reason – it’s consistent pace. She keeps the reader turning pages.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Madison and Jonas’s characters arcs. The 3 stories provide the page depth to really develop characters and Harris does this marvellously with these two. We finally get to discover who killed Madison’s husband, Luke, and her stalker, but Harris sure keeps us guessing with this one.

This story had so much going on and Harris does a good job keeping the reader on top of it. It could easily have run out of control but Harris links the threads of the various plots really well. I was a little surprised by a couple of the end outcomes but they are all generally satisfying.

If you’re a romantic suspense reader who likes to be challenged in their reading you’ll enjoy this US Marshalls series. Start with Book 1 so you get the full picture.

I was very fortunate to receive an early ebook copy via NetGalley as part of the Revell Readers program but this had no bearing on my review.

Book Review: Until Leaves Fall in Paris by Sarah Sundin

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This is my first Sundin novel and wow, I realise I’ve been missing out on a wonderful story teller. Set in 1941 in German-occupied Paris, we meet Lucie Girard and Paul Aubrey, two Americans who choose to stay in Paris to serve the war effort in different ways. Lucie, a ballerina at the esteemed Paris Opera Ballet, retires from her great love to purchase a bookshop of her much loved friends, the Greenblatts. They are Jewish and sensibly choose to return to America.

Paul, a widower, elects to convert his successful automobile factory into one that builds civilian trucks for the Germans. Or so he believes. But in so doing, he also elects to use his esteemed position in Parisian society to spy on the Germans and feed the information back to his American comrades.

On first meeting, Lucie and Paul have an immediate attraction but she is opposed to the fact he is a German collaborator. Gradually, circumstances change and she too becomes a willing member of the resistance using her bookshop as a front for the distribution of messages. Paul’s daughter, Josie, plays a pivotal role in capturing Lucie’s heart and in so doing forcing the two of them to keep meeting. But how can Lucie let down her strong stance against Paul being a collaborator?

Sundin writes beautifully and brings the Paris of 1941 alive. It’s definitely a bit more grim than one comes to typically expect from the City of Lights. I learnt much about the German occupation of this wonderful city that I wasn’t previously aware and its impact on its residents and society in general.

The romance is very special. Sundin brings the passion and beauty of new love and the hope and wonder that goes with it. It was wonderfully portrayed on the page.

There is suspense, some good conflict, and plenty of twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing as to what the outcome will be. Will our two lovers finally be able to declare their love and be united?

I must now read some of Sundin’s early works.

I was very fortunate to receive an early ebook copy of the novel from the publisher via NetGalley with no expectation of a favourable review.


	Book Review: ‘The Girl who Could Breathe Under Water’ by Erin Bartels				
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Following her bestselling debut novel, Kendra Brennan, is in a writing slump. She puts it down to the receipt of an inflammatory note from “A Very Disappointed Reader”. Believing she had a hunch to the identity of the note writer, Kendra decides to return to her old holiday cabin on the lake. She now owns it having inherited it from her loving grandfather who had recently passed away.





The story starts with Kendra ‘thinking’ in the second person to her old best friend, Cami, who she spent many wonderful summers as teenagers. However, they haven’t seen each other since the last time Kendra visited the lake, eight years ago. It was an unusual method of sharing the story but I found it tremendous and worked relatively seamlessly when Kendra jumped into 1st person POV.





I was quickly engrossed by Kendra’s recollections of her past summers and her relationships with the Rainier family: father Robert, mother Beth, and adopted children: Cami and Tyler. ‘That Summer’, her breakout smash debut story included many fictionalised elements of these summers on the lake. All the Rainiers, bar Cami, have returned for the summer. Kendra realises she must confront each of them to ascertain which one of them may be the “Disappointed Reader.” 





Kendra’s on a tight deadline for her second novel and as she endeavours to start it along comes a stranger, Andreas, who has arrived announced to translate her debut into German. They soon develop a friendship as well as a professional connection.





This is an emotionally gripping story as Kendra confronts people and issues in her past that are terribly challenging. She discovers much about each one of her relationships with the Rainier family. Some of them indeed are quite a shock. But it’s what Kendra discovers about herself which I found most stirring. Self-absorption is one of our great struggles as humans and it’s in both returning to her past and drafting her second story that Kendra is able to self-discover much about herself. Further, the notion of stepping into another’s shoes before casting judgement or criticism is another valuable insight for Kendra.





Kendra’s fortunate to have a supportive ally in Andreas who demonstrates so many positive attributes in his gentleness and kindness while a certain naivety in the romance department.





It’s a powerful story that was so pleasurable to read as Bartels deals with some tremendously important personal matters which many of us can all relate to.





Bartels characters are very beautifully crafted humans, no cardboard cutouts here. Robert and Beth’s marriage, Tyler’s struggles as a child, Kendra and Cami’s friendship, Andreas’ passion for stories and willingness to listen to someone tell theirs, are all wonderfully brought to the stage. 





I loved this story for its intricacy, powerful themes, wonderful writing which kept us guessing and the cast of characters. 





I fell very blessed to have received an early ebook copy of the story from Revell as party of their Readers Program via NetGalley. This has no influence over my review.


	Book Review: “Deadly Target” by Elizabeth Goddard				
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I’d read the first one in this series but this could be read as a standalone. The main characters in the first story are really just ‘bit’ players in this one and the plots aren’t related.





It took a little while to get into this story as the initial inciting event didn’t connect for me until later in the story. Goddard makes this quite an involved story with various potential possibilities for the antagonist which keeps you on your toes but also perhaps could have been connected with a little more precision.





I liked Erin Larson and Nathan Campbell. I particularly appreciated Erin’s anxieties and we spend a bit of time in her head as she grapples with her past and also running away from Nathan once before. Nathan is a good cop chasing after his father’s killer when specifically asked not to by his boss which makes him wonder whether his boss knows more than he’s letting on.





There’s some dramatic action with dam’s being blown up and chasing down mines which really keeps us guessing especially when everyone’s in darkness.





The suspense ratchets up in the end but it wrapped up a little quickly for me and the fact we need to be ‘told’ the who, what and why tells me the plot could have been more precise and easier for the reader to determine all the connections.





I enjoyed reading it and I look forward to the final in the series.





I received an early ebook copy as part of the Revell Readers Blogging Program via NetGalley with no expectation of a favourable review.


	Book Review: “The Debutante’s Code” by Erica Vetsch				
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This was a delightful surprise for me. A Regency novel full of mystery and amateur sleuthing. I happily turned the pages as Lady Juliette, the debutante of the title, discovers her extended family is more than it seems. 





Lady Juliette returns to London after 7 years at a Swiss school and is hoping to be met by her parents whom she hasn’t seen for the duration. However, they have disappeared to the family country estate on urgent business and  Lady Juliette finds she will be escorted to her ‘coming out to society’ ball by her uncle, who has been tasked with looking after her.





It’s not long before mayhem erupts from one posh gathering to the next as a series of recently arrived artwork is being mysteriously stolen. It’s a lot of fun as our debutante gets stuck in the middle of it all and is thrown into the world of amateur sleuthing under the stewardship of her uncle.





Enter Daniel Swann, a local police detective who is tasked with investigating these thefts. But he is on his last chance to deliver for his pompous boss, or else he’ll be looking for a new vocation. It will take all of his intelligence and a share of good fortune for him to track down those responsible.





There a moments of madcap and suspense as a number of different players are caught up in the mayhem. Vetsch does a wonderful job keeping is on our toes with various layers of intrigue that keeps us guessing as to the culprit.





Juliette is a delightful character who is easy to like, so to Daniel, and we are left with many possibilities of what might eventuate in Book 2 of this fascinating and cleverly written series. I can’t wait to see where Vetsch takes us next.





I was very fortunate to be receive an early ebook copy as part of Audra Jennings blogging tour via NetGalley with no expectation of a favourable review.


	Book Review: “Lights Out” by Natalie Walters				
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Walters is a new author for me this year. But she knows how to write quality realistic suspense stories with a great attention to detail and plenty of romance tossed in. I had read Initium, the SNAP Agency prequel, and it set me up for the team that I was soon to become very familiar with. Interestingly, Initium features Director Tom Walsh as the focal point and how he goes about setting up SNAP. However, he has a very minor role in Lights Out which surprised me but didn’t affect my view of this story. 





This story moves fast and throws the reader into the action immediately which gets you turning pages which I love. Our two leads, Brynn Taylor and Jack Hudson, have a history and this creates an additional layer of intrigue and tension which adds to the reading experience. I liked the chemistry between them and also how Walters creates a positive encouraging vibe within the small SNAP team. They sound like a team that would function well and look after each other. 





Walters is good with the detail too which I suspect has something to do with her military connections. This adds authenticity to Lights Out especially when it comes to cyber security and cyber terrorism. Tough concepts to write about but Walters does it well. In this story, what initially appears to be an isolated situation blows out into becoming a major domestic and global one that sure grabs the reader’s notice. 





The supporting cast are well crafted especially Kekoa, the Jason Momoa-esque Hawaiian giant who also happens to be a crazy computer nerd and a very fun guy to have around. Garcia was the quiet one and I hope we see more of him in a later story. 





My only reservation was the conflict got resolved a little too quickly and I thought some of the detail of the resolution was missed which took a little away from the authenticity of the detail that had come before. 





Thoroughly entertaining story and I’m excited for the next instalment. 





I was very fortunate to receive an early ebook copy from Revell as part of their Readers Program via NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review.


	Book Review: “Tacos for Two” by Betsy St.Amant				
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“You’ve Got Mail” is a movie I watch regularly as there is so much to like about it. ‘Tacos’ borrows from it in many ways including a romance that starts via online messaging (as against AOL email), the two lead characters duelling over similar career paths (this one Mexican food trucks), Rory Perez inspired by her great aunt and Jude Worthington coming from a rich pompous family, the patriarch of which is not a very nice fellow.





It was an easy fun read with two well crafted lead characters in Rory and Jude plus a supporting cast that had plenty of likeable people especially on Rory’s side. Like Rory and Jude looked forward to their ‘night time messaging date’ I looked forward to the next instalment in their cooking adventures and the will she/he, won’t she/he combative nature of their initial in-person connection.





One of the great aspects of the movie is that after initially sparring and hurting each other, the two characters: Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox, spent time getting to know each other as regular friends do. This didn’t really happen in this story and St. Amant relied on the online connection to initiate healing in Rory and Jude’s relationship. Hence, it wasn’t as believable and tended to rely on the electricity of physical touch and passionate kisses.





Overall, I enjoyed Tacos for Two and if you’re someone who loves ‘You’ve Got Mail’ you’ll certainly enjoy whiling away some hours reading this enjoyable romance.





I was fortunate to receive an early ebook copy from Revell via NetGalley as part of the former’s ‘Revell Read’s” bloggers program with no expectation of a positive review.


	Book Review: “Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery” by Amanda Cox				
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Oh my! What a beautiful story Amanda Cox has written for her sophomore novel. It’s quite remarkable. Set over two different time periods: the present day and the years from 1965 into the 1980s, we meet three generations of Clearwater ladies: Glory Ann (or Nan), her daughter Rosemary and the latter’s daughter, Sarah. Cox weaves a compelling small town story of kept secrets, parental expectations, familial loss and forgiveness through the lives of these strong women. All so alike in many respects but also unique I warmed to each of the three for different reasons.





The three ladies lives pivot around the Old Depot Grocery which Glory Ann ran with her husband and both Rosemary and Sarah grew up working in from an early age. It serves as a physical statement of so much life shared between the three but it also served as a mechanism for the three to ‘hide’ their secrets and ‘hide away’ from the possibilities of doing something different with their lives.





It was powerful reminder of the importance of truth but also unconditional familial love that allows forgiveness and redemption. There’s also a strong side note regarding the difficulty of war vets adjusting back to normal life which I enjoyed reading too.





I appreciated how we saw quiet strength in some of the male characters too. Clarence Clearwater was a superb character demonstrating unconditional love not just to his wife and daughters but the community as well. Clay Ashby also was a beautiful illustration of a man of quiet strength, who didn’t push himself onto Sarah, giving her the time and space she needed to grieve her loss and reconcile her past and future aspirations.





Cox managed the different POVS well and I always felt confident in who’s voice I was reading and the time period each scene/chapter was set.





I’m so looking forward to Cox’s next story. She might have become a ‘must read’ author for me.





I received an early ebook copy as part of Revell Reads blogger program via NetGalley with no expectation of a favourable review.


	Book Review: ‘Under the Bayou Moon’ by Valerie Fraser Luesse				
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This was a charming story of Ellie Fields who leaves her Alabama home to take up a solo teaching position in Bernadette, a small town situated on one of many bayous of the Atchafalaya Delta Basin in Louisiana. Ellie is a fish out of water and perhaps settles in a little too easily for someone who is new to the mixed culture of the area.





I delighted in reading the Cajun history and sampling a small element of its unique and varied culture through Ellie’s eyes. And the bayou, its sounds, smells and sights were a joy to behold. At times, Luesse took my breath away. And then there was the white alligator – the piece de resistance. Oh what a gorgeous creature and what a beautiful connection it had with Raphe who seemed to be the only human it dared to be seen by.





There is so much to like about this story and it was such an easy read even though Luesse often led us in the Cajun dialect and French as well. The plot was quite simple and as another reviewer stated, there were a number of threads that just fizzled out. The romance between Ellie and Raphe was a little unrealistic – full of sweetness but for two who came from such diverse backgrounds didn’t seem to struggle as a couple.





There were some good themes explored: racism, the clashing of multiple cultures, the hardship of poverty but the trauma both Ellie and Raphe experienced either before this story or during it were superficially handled when there was a lot more that could have been explored.





It was a good read and I’m thoroughly pleased to have spent some time Under the Bayou Moon.





I received an early ebook copy from Revell as part of their Revell Reads Program via NetGalley with no expectation of a favourable review.


	Book Review: The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner				
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This is a hard one for me to comment on mainly because not a lot happens in this story of a family told over four decades. We have three separate POVs, all first person, told over three distinct years: 1975, 1988 and 2013. Bruce and Linda, Dad and Mom, and first born, Sonny, short for Sondra.





It’s a story of family, of adoption, of the fallout of Vietnam, of growing old and coming of age. It’s about a mom’s love for her girls, a dad’s love for his girls, a husband and wife growing old together and falling more in love with each other, of grappling with parents and an adopted child’s impressions as a kid, a teen and as as an adult.





It’s quite ordinary. Every day stuff as we go to the mall, go on first dates, family vacations, fishing trips, visiting grammy and grumpy and caring for sick parents.





And it’s surprisingly captivating. Most of the time. It’s more literary than I expect from Christian fiction which was a nice change. An author is allowed to write about the ordinary in literary fiction. It’s almost essential. Finkbeiner keeps swapping POVs and years with ease and after a few chapters it’s easy to get in the groove, even though we’re unsure of what the next year and/or POV will feature next.





But it’s Minh’s story, the adopted Vietnamese girl from Operation Babylift, that I find most compelling. So much so I wish I had her POV. She arrives in a new country to new parents as a four year old and there’s always a sense of displacement whenever Minh or Mindy, as she becomes known, enters the story irrespective of whether she’s 4, 17 or 42. It adds a sense of discomfort to a very happy family story. Mindy is greatly loved and accepted and she knows this but it’s that sense of loss of not knowing her birth parents, of birth siblings, of birthplace. Finkbeiner does a great job managing this dichotomy.





I liked how the three POVs were very distinctive and their three characters were extremely likeable. I particularly appreciated how Bruce and Linda had found such contentment in the choices they’ve made and the life they’ve engineered together. And their love for each other is very believable and admirable. They’ve learnt how to love by championing the other and making the other each other’s focus and priority. I especially liked Bruce, a wonderfully gentle, kind man who adored his wife and daughters and grappled with the notion of letting his daughters fly the coup.





There really is a lot to like in this story and I recommend it heartily.





I received an early ebook copy as part of Revell Reads Blogger program via NetGalley with no expectation of a positive review.