I was introduced to Susan Griscom from some freebies and I am so glad we met. I am super excited to share my review of Cursed By A Vampire by Susan, who kindly gifted me a copy.
I have read a lot of the Immortal Hearts of San Franciso series by Susan Griscom and enjoyed them immensely, so when I got my hands on Cursed By A Vampire, I quickly cleared my shelves of the books in my way and began reading. I mean, we’re talking about humans and vampires…
Some say vampires are monsters…they could make you drink their blood and turn you into one of them. A fate that most would shudder. Or…They can be compassionate and amorous creatures who would do anything to save the life of someone they loved…These are the vampires this story is about.
I can deal with either type, I love them all.
Susan Griscom writes with humor, from the poker table to the kids playroom cluttered with toys and such. I love a vampire that has his own fashion sense. Lane wore purple shorts, a green Tshirt and red flip flops. Kayden, one of the triplets, could conjure cartoon dragons. They love the planet, so seeing them driving down the road in a Tesla should come at now surprise. I smiled and read on.
Ari is a human that lives in a houseful of vampires, wanting to be one of them. He is a member of the family, run errands, managing the club, occasionally bouncing, while the guys play some of the best rock and roll around. I love it.
Abella is human too, and when the two meet, sparks fly. She refers to him as Hunky Dick and Ari thinks of her as his warrior princess, but you’ll need to read the book to find out why. She fights her attraction to him because she was cursed by a witch and falling in love with her could mean his death. Abella is a doctor, specializing in hematology. She lives with her vampire grandfather and is determined to discover a way for vampires to be out in the sunlight.
Cursed By A Vampire by Susan Griscom was a fresh look at a familiar tale. Her vampires were original, full of personality. The storyline was unique, with twists and action that kept me glued to the pages. There will be a happy ever after, so I feel I can share this:
“I hope that……didn’t mess with you manly parts.”
“Only one way to find out. My manly parts have been dying to say hello to your lady part.”
Some great dialogue made the characters come to life and I hope to visit them again soon.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Cursed By A Vampire by Susan Griscom.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Living with the DeMarco vampires has been a lifesaver for Ari. However, as a human, he’s always felt inferior; has always wanted to be turned, while his vampire friends have refused his one wish.
And then he meets Abella, and suddenly he isn’t sure what he wants anymore.
Abella is also human, although she too is familiar with vampires. Her grandfather is one. The half-witch who cursed her is a vampire. She’s learned to live with both her grandfather and the curse; was content with her life.
Until she meets Ari.
Now she’s living a nightmare, because falling in love could lead to Ari’s death, thanks to her curse. What will these two ill-fated humans do?
ABOUT SUSAN GRISCOM
Susan Griscom, writes paranormal and contemporary romance. She’s hooked on gritty romances and is a huge fan of superheroes and bad boys confronted with extraordinary forces of nature, powers, and abilities beyond the norm mixed with steamy romance, of course.
She loves those days when she gets to sit around in her sweat pants, doing nothing but writing emotionally charged stories about love and violence and drinking coffee.
She lives in Northern California with her romantic husband and together they have five great superhero kids and eight mini-superhero grand kids, so far.
Chris…you will always be a must read author for me! I love vigilante stories and Chris Lewando has outdone herself in The Loyalty of Children, Book III of the Suffer The Little Children series. I love walking on the dark side of life through words, wallowing in the filth of humanity, the dregs of society. I, also, like seeing them get their comeuppance.
Chris Lewando’s writing style speaks to me. Below is just one example of how in sync we are. She is talking about watching the news, which Dee and I don’t do.
“…What good does it really do to ‘know’ what horrible things are happening if we don’t act? And most of us don’t have that freedom, we’re too busy just hanging in there with our family and financial dramas to get out and make a difference. And I guess that’s just what the politicians need us to do.”
The Suffer The Little Children series may be fiction, but it has the ring of truth when describing the villains and the depths they will go to to scratch their itch. There are a lot of triggers in the series, so if you don’t have a strong stomach and a need for vengeance…BEWARE.
I love Dee, a character that I could never be. Feisty doesn’t begin to describe her. To face what she faces, a sense of humor does come in handy. Living on the run, constantly picking up her bag and moving to the next place. She knows how dangerous her life is, but that doesn’t stop her from doing what she feels needs to be done. She does not run from danger, but takes a methodical approach to meeting it head on. How will her story end?
…the criminal mindset is new to me; it’s a leaning curve. I wonder if I’ll live long enough to get the certificate.
Mikey…WTF…I don’t even know what to say. The author’s end note tells how Mikey came to be and I had to research it and find out more for myself. I love when an author has me doing research, arousing my curiosity, making me have to know more.
The ending….oh man, I did not see that coming. I couldn’t figure out how Chris Lewando would wrap it up and I love that she caught me so off guard. I would love to crawl around in her head. BUT, I hate that the story was over. I have to know what comes next for Dee, her father, Amy, Greg, and all the other characters that work together to save the children. I feel there must be more coming….
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Loyalty Of Children by Chris Lewando.
5 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
If her family is going to survive, Dee needs to kill the bad dude, or die trying… Deirdre and her father rescue two children who are living rough. But are they what they seem? As she tries to find out why the boys ran from their foster home, the action escalates once again… ***** ‘It feels like a TV Netflix series the whole way through. There MUST be a sequel planned.’
Dee has saved her vigilante-father from the clutches of the FBI, and a long term of imprisonment, but in her moment of triumph, she learns that the man she calls ‘the pedo baron’ has infiltrated her sister’s home in the guise of a friend. This silent threat to her sister’s family means she has to take action, but what?
*It’s possible to read this as a standalone novel, but there are brief references to previous action, so the author recommends that the series be read in order.*
A feisty character with a crusty sense of humor, this unintentional heroine brings an original voice to a character-led story, and finds an inner strength even she hadn’t known about.
ABOUT CHRIS LEWANDO
I trained as an English teacher, but the planned storyline drifted off-track. I landed in an office, producing management statistics – a different kind of fiction. I have been writing for many years, with quite a few mainstream genre novels and short stories published while I was still working full time. I gained a Creative Writing Masters (hons), and have been a novel-writing tutor since lessons were sent by snail mail and the nearest thing to a mobile phone beamed Captain Kirk onto the Enterprise. I live in rural South West Ireland, play Irish music in pubs for tourists, drive a camper the same age as me, and self-publish standalone novels with multiple viewpoints and complex characters.
I saw the tropical cover, investigated further and saw it takes place in Florida, and it was based on a true crime, what more could I ask for?
The book starts out slow and I am wondering how the two storylines will come together.
Author Deborah Goodrich Royce mother’s best friend was murdered. In Reef Road, we have a writer whose mother’s best friend was murdered and she never recovered from it. Her life was wrapped around her mother’s inability to move on. We, also, have a woman whose husband and two children disappear. These two points of view come together takes place during the pandemic lockdown. How convenient.
Two boys, on a beach where they aren’t supposed to be, don’t even notice the woman sitting alone, when they find a hand.
“What the fuck are we supposed to do with this?”
Isn’t that what you would expect coming out of their mouth? And, the mystery begins.
Not only do we have the pandemic, murder, a missing husband and kids, we also have 9.11. There is so much going on and the flip flopping back and forth, made it seem like I was reading two books at once, was confusing for me. It does come together in a weird way in the second half of the book and that is what saves it for me. By then, I was devouring the pages. I had to know how Deborah Goodrich Royce would wrap up Reef Road.
I enjoyed the story and would read more of Deborah Goodrich Royce’s work.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Reef Road by Deborah Goodrich Royce.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
When a severed hand washes ashore in the wealthy enclave of Palm Beach, Florida, the lives of two women—a lonely writer obsessed with the unsolved murder of her mother’s best friend and a panicked wife whose husband has disappeared with their children—collide as the world shutters in the pandemic lockdown of 2020.
“Reef Road is magnificent. It feels utterly real, a novel of deeply personal context. It swerves between truth and lies—the lies that lead to an even deeper—and more devastating—truth. Though pure fiction, it reads as compellingly as a mixture of memoir and exposé. It has left me shaken to the core. Deborah Goodrich Royce writes with brilliant understanding of the mystery and occasional grace of trauma.” —Luanne Rice, New York Times bestselling author
A young woman’s life seems perfect until her family goes missing. A writer lives alone with her dog and collects arcane murder statistics. What each of them stands to lose as they sneak around the do-not-enter tape blocking Reef Road beach is exposed by the steady tightening of the cincture encircling them.
In a nod to the true crime that inspired it, Deborah Goodrich Royce’s Reef Road probes unhealed generational scars in a wrenching and original work of fiction. It is both stunning and sexy and, like a bystander surprised by a curtain left open, you won’t be able to look away.
ABOUT DEBORAH GOODRICH ROYCE (from Amazon)
Deborah Goodrich Royce’s thrillers examine puzzles of identity. Ruby Falls won the Zibby Award for Best Plot Twist in 2021 and Finding Mrs. Ford was hailed by Forbes, BookRiot, and Good Morning America’s “best of” lists in 2019. Her newest, Reef Road, will be published on January 10, 2023.
She began as an actress on All My Children and in multiple films before transitioning to the role of story editor at Miramax Films, developing Emma and early versions of Chicago and A Wrinkle in Time.
With her husband, Chuck, Deborah restored the Avon Theatre, Ocean House Hotel, Deer Mountain Inn, United Theatre, Savoy Bookstore, and numerous Main Street revitalization projects in Rhode Island and the Catskills.
She serves on the governing and advisory boards of the American Film Institute, Greenwich International Film Festival, New York Botanical Garden, Greenwich Historical Society, the Preservation Society of Newport, the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, and the PRASAD Project.
Deborah holds a bachelor’s degree in modern foreign languages and an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Lake Erie College.
Robert Bryndza’s novels have great covers. I love covers that arouse my curiosity, and fit the story inside. So put on your walking shoes and let’s follow the mystery of the missing boy.
The story sounded familiar to me and I wondered if it was taken from the headlines or I saw something on one of my TV show thrillers. If so, Robert Bryndza managed to make the story his on. The mystery grows, taking on a life of its own, becoming muddled in murder. We have suspects, but none of them stand out to me. Of course, I blamed the family first and kept telling myself, don’t get tunnel vision, manipulating the facts to fit my hypothesis.
Devil’s Way is a police procedural that takes us step by step through the mystery with Kate and Tristan. I kept trying to come to my own conclusion, but I do that with every book. Don’t you?
I love water, and so does Kate Marshall. She lived in a house that sits on the top of a cliff looking out over Thurlow Bay, England. Water is her friend, except when she isn’t paying attention and gets caught in a riptide. That is when she meets Jean.
Kate Marshall is a private detective, and ex police officer, working with her friend and partner, Tristan Harper. They’d become close, since she took him on as a research assistant seven years ago. She also owns a caravan park, but that has stories of its own. She has a son, Jake, who is now a college student. His father is a convicted serial killer, and she lost custody of him because of her drinking problem. She has been in AA for thirteen years.
Mysteries and police procedurals are always hard for me to rate. I love thrills, blood and guts, edge of my seat suspense, but then, I also like to have to follow the step by step process of solving a crime. Devil’s Way by Robert Brundza has all the elements we need to follow the investigation to its conclusion, with a twist and turn thrown in for good measure.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Devil’s Way by Robert Bryndza.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
THE TRUTH HIDES IN THE DARK Kate Marshall’s investigation into a young boy’s disappearance sends her down an unexpectedly twisted path in a riveting thriller by multi-million bestselling author, Robert Bryndza.
When Private Investigator Kate Marshall is rushed to hospital after being pulled into a riptide current in the sea, the near-death experience leaves her shaken. During her recovery, she befriends Jean, an elderly lady on the same ward. Jean tells the harrowing story of how her three-year-old grandson, Charlie, went missing eleven years ago during a camping trip on Dartmoor.
By the time Kate is well enough to go home, she’s agreed to take on the case, but when Kate and her trusty sidekick Tristan start to look at the events of that fateful night, they discover that Jean has a dark past that could have put Charlie in jeopardy.
Was Charlie abducted? Or did he fall into Devil’s Way? A rushing river that vanishes into a gorge close to where they were camping.
When Kate and Tristan discover that a social worker who flagged concerns about Jean and her daughter was found brutally murdered shortly after Charlie vanished, it makes them question everything they thought they knew about the family…
Filled with twists and turns, Devil’s Way is the fourth Kate Marshall novel and the most gripping and satisfying yet!
ABOUT ROBERT BRYNDZA
Robert Bryndza is an international bestselling author, best known for his page-turning crime and thriller novels, which have sold over five million copies.
His crime debut, The Girl in the Ice was released in February 2016, introducing Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster. Within five months it sold one million copies, reaching number one in the Amazon UK, USA and Australian charts. To date, The Girl in the Ice has sold over 1.5 million copies in the English language and has been sold into translation in 29 countries. It was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Mystery & Thriller (2016), the Grand prix des lectrices de Elle in France (2018), and it won two reader voted awards, The Thrillzone Awards best debut thriller in The Netherlands (2018) and The Dead Good Papercut Award for best page turner at the Harrogate Crime Festival (2016).
Robert has released a further five novels in the Erika Foster series, The Night Stalker, Dark Water, Last Breath, Cold Blood and Deadly Secrets, all of which have been global bestsellers, and in 2017 Last Breath was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Mystery and Thriller. Fatal Witness, the seventh Erika Foster novel, is now available to pre-order and will be published 7th July 2022.
Most recently, Robert created a new crime thriller series based around the central character Kate Marshall, a police officer turned private detective. The first book, Nine Elms, was an Amazon USA #1 bestseller and an Amazon UK top five bestseller, and the series has been sold into translation in 18 countries. The second book in the series is the global bestselling, Shadow Sands and the third book, Darkness Falls, has just been published.
Robert was born in Lowestoft, on the east coast of England. He studied at Aberystwyth University, and the Guildford School of Acting, and was an actor for several years, but didn’t find success until he took a play he’d written to the Edinburgh Festival. This led to the decision to change career and start writing. He self-published a bestselling series of romantic comedy novels, before switching to writing crime. Robert lives with his husband in Slovakia, and is lucky enough to write full-time.
Don’t ya just love it when you finish a series? Fated In The Dark by Scarlett West wraps up the Fae Bureau Investigation series. I can hardly wait to see where she takes me next.
I’ve been kidnapped again, and this time I may be separated from my fated mate for eternity.
Poor Adalee. The girl can’t catch a break. 🙂
She wakes…in the dark…chained, not knowing where she is or who has her. A suppression cuff keeps her from being able to use her magic to save herself, trapped in the Unseelie Realm.
I have been with Adalee from the beginning, watching her grow and gain confidence, finding her place in the wondrous world created by Scarlett West. With her team by her side, she will find the answers she has been seeking. Who are kidnapping the Fae? Why does Queen Vorelei want her so badly? Why is she cursed? Can they win the war?
Baylor is a wonderful surprise and I loved watching her develop into a riveting character that wants nothing more than to see the Queen pay for killing her love.
We have some steamy luvin’.
“…Ironically, we found out here, in the darkest kingdom.
We were FATED IN THE DARK…”
Scarlett West gave me hours of angst in the action packed finale of the Fae Bureau of Investigation. The world she created was filled with magical creatures, danger, and suspense. The pacing kept me engrossed, wondering how their adventure would end. With a happy ever after, I hope. And, yes, Scarlett wrapped everything with a pretty bow and I am eager to see what she will come up with next.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Hunted In The Dark by Scarlett West.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
I’ve been kidnapped again, and this time I may be separated from my fated mate for eternity.
A dark enemy has taken me to an unknown world, leaving me to fight alone in a series of trials. They torture me with visions of Damien and my team caught in a war in Faery.
The adversary wants to force me to join with a malevolent mate and bond to this new kingdom forever. Between passing these dangerous trials, and dodging the unwanted mate, I don’t know if I will survive.
Once again, the fate of Faery is in my hands and if I make the wrong choice, we face ultimate annihilation.
Fated in the Dark is book five out of five.
ABOUT SCARLETT WEST
Scarlett West writes steamy, paranormal romance featuring sexy Fae. Deep characters and hot romance are her thing.
An avid reader and writer who will never stop dreaming, Scarlett has traveled to many countries and been on tons of adventures. She draws her stories from these places, life experiences, and her grand imagination.
Besides writing, she’s a hobby herbalist and a dancer. If she’s not by the computer typing these things up, she can be found in a forest, on a mountain, or by the ocean.
Scarlett West would like to thank her three F’s: Fans, Family, and Friends. Thank you forever for your support.
Three Small Bones is the third book I have read by Jennifer Chase. Ever since I read Dead Cold, an Emily Stone novel, I grab anything I see from her. Some books are five star, others not, but that won’t keep me from reading on.
A house burns down. Is it to cover up the murders that are discovered, or to expose the crime? As the investigation heats up, those doing the investigating become targets. The hunters become the hunted.
What does the death of Sara Simms, twenty five years ago, have to do with the death of the Cross family, who went missing much later?
Jennifer Chase uses her skills from real life to create her novels. I do love a dog in a story, especially a K9 and her experience in dog training shows.
The last ten to fifteen percent of the novel made for urgent, suspenseful reading.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Three Small Bones by Jennifer Chase.
3 Stars
BOOK BLURB
Smoke curls from what’s left of the beautiful family home on the edge of the woods. The heat is unbearable as she descends the stairs to the basement, past a set of bicycles––two big, one small. That’s when she sees three little white bones in the cracked earth at her feet, turning her blood to ice…
When firefighters tackling a blazing house in a quiet suburb of Pine Valley, California discover human remains, Detective Katie Scott races to 717 Maple Street. She calls a halt to the excavations the moment she sees the full number and size of the bones; someone has buried a whole family down here.
Working night and day, it’s up to Katie to prove her theory that the fire was no accident, that someone wanted to expose the secret in the basement. Tiny traces of explosives residue found at the scene is all the proof she needs. But the Cross family have been missing for months––leaving friends and loved ones in agonizing pain––what twisted soul would do this now? And why?
The case takes another heart-shattering turn when Katie’s suspicions over recent renovation work on the house leads to the discovery of more bodies in the back yard: two little girls, buried years apart. What other devastating secrets are hidden in this perfect family home?
It’s a dead end at every turn as Katie tracks down anyone who knew the family. Just when it looks like all hope is lost, reports of the Cross’s landlord harassing the family before they went missing gives Katie a crucial lead. With a menacing grey sedan following her every move, how many more innocent lives will be lost before Katie can dig up the truth?
“Edge-of-your-seat suspense to the very end! … Clear your schedule… you will not want to put it down!” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
“Love, love, LOVE… I absolutely adore this series!!” Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars
“Grabbed me from the very first page! It was so intense, and enthralling. I stayed up until 11pm two nights in a row so I could finish it.” NetGalley reviewer
The heat was even more scorching than usual. It wasn’t a surprise to the special army team whose mission it was to find bombs and insurgents in Afghanistan while keeping civilians safe. It was late afternoon, barely 1700 hours. Still, the temperature raged at one hundred ten degrees and wasn’t showing any remorse.
The assignment was to enter a small village, search it, and maintain a presence while waiting for further orders. They had intelligence information that the enemy had possibly used the village for storing bomb-making paraphernalia. The inhabitants were not known hostiles, merely farmers, and would not pose any type of danger.
Katie Scott took point, which meant she was holding the most exposed position leading her unit. She trudged forward, feeling every muscle ache in her body. Her gear seemed heavier than it had only two hours ago. She adjusted her helmet and, keeping her weapon poised and ready, watched the black German shepherd pad along the roadway. The dog’s posture was almost regal and he was on high alert, ears perked forward as his head moved from side to side catching scents from the open area. Cisco was Katie’s constant companion and partner, one who had alerted her team to danger on several occasions. The dog was invaluable in so many ways, thwarting multiple potential dangers and keeping the team safe.
They finally entered the village. A couple of elderly townspeople acknowledged the American soldiers with a subtle nod but stopped what they were doing immediately to take refuge in their small, makeshift homes. There were supposed to be families with children in the village, but now Katie could only see two young men out and about.
It seemed strange.
Something was out of place.
Katie slowed her pace and her sergeant caught up with her.
“What’s up, Scotty?” he said quietly, still keeping his eyes on any movement around the village.
“I don’t know…” she said softly. “But something is wrong.”
They stopped.
The rest of the team spread out and kept a watchful eye around them.
Cisco stopped too. He stood completely still, taking in the sights and sounds as the hot breeze ruffled his black fur. He growled and turned his attention ahead toward a group of buildings.
“He senses something,” she whispered to her sergeant.
The sergeant gestured for the rest to follow in that direction.
The company moved out. Each soldier had their position, watching for any movement as they covered each other’s backs.
Katie could feel her heart beating hard. She shivered even though the temperature was blistering. Moving cautiously in the direction that Cisco had headed, she brought the dog close by her side. She was ready to return fire or take cover. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and keep focus. They continued to advance.
A building made of mud bricks and concrete with blocked up windows sat silent. It didn’t appear to be the same structure type as the family homes around it. On one side of the dwelling the windows were crumbling, appearing more ancient than the rest.
Katie watched Cisco slow his pace. His fur bristled down his spine.
The team stopped just before the entrance. There was no visibility as to what was inside.
Under the direction of the sergeant, two team members opened the door and then cleared the entrance, heading farther inside.
Katie heard gasps from her group. She cautiously entered behind them, directing her weapon in front of her. The musty stench hit her first—it was an unmistakable odor. As her vision slowly became accustomed to the dim, dusty lighting, she saw what her teammates had seen. Death.
At first, it appeared to be a large pile of clothes. Katie saw shoes and various materials, but she then realized that the clothes were covering bodies that were by now mostly bones but there were some that were in the first stages of decomposition. There were smaller bones that had been children.
She gulped and took a few steps back. Her mouth went dry and her heart hammered. Her team searched and cleared the building before moving out in formation.
Cisco kept close to her side as Katie tried hard to erase the horrific spectacle from her mind. It had been a massacre. Parents had still had their arms wrapped around their children. She had seen tiny shoes and part of a toy.
Without warning, gunfire bombarded them, peppering off the old clay walls. Smoke filled the air. The team took their positions and returned fire. Katie tucked into a safe place with Cisco next to her. She began to help hold off the ambush attack by firing in the direction of the threat.
Later on, Katie realized that it had been the longest gun battle she had been in, lasting nearly thirty minutes. But the worst part wasn’t the shooting. It was that now she could never forget the image of the town whose inhabitants had been systematically murdered just to keep the enemy’s weapons safe. Something had changed in her perspective that day. The incident fused into her soul, and she would always now carry it with her.
ABOUT JENNIFER CHASE
Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and USA Today Best Selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells. In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling.
MY REVIEW for The Rumor That Refused To Die by Chris Verstraete
“Do you mean that story wasn’t true?…It says the policeman died in 1950 after his car fell into a giant sinkhole. I thought newspapers had to print the truth?”
“You be the judge,” her teacher said.
The Rumor That Refused To Die by Chris Verstraete shows how quickly a story changes, from person to person and time to time.. Amanda takes her school assisgnment and runs with it, digging deep, and I love where Chris went with the story. It had me smiling, because I have seen a movie with a creature like this, so it was easy to visualize. What is released to the public is far from the truth, so being prepared is impossible. If you want to know the truth of anything, you must seek it out from many sources, and then you may still never know. After all, who really shot John F Kennedy?
MY REVIEW for the anthology as a whole
O is for Outbreak is a part of a twenty six horror anthology series. It is the fifteenth book, and if the other 14 were anything like this, I am sorry I missed them. Many of the thirteen short stories are pandemic related, so I think most of us can relate to them. Brain eating larva, viruses, insects, government conspiracies, the evil eye, a giant worm, and so much more had goose bumps running up and down my spine. I was caught up in the creepy and didn’t stop until I read the last story. The wonderful thing about an anthology, you can pick it up for a quickie no matter where you are.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of O Is For Outbreak
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
O is for Outbreak is the fifteenth book in an epic series of twenty-six horror anthologies. In this book you will find a selection of thirteen unsettling tales from some of the most talented independent horror authors writing today. From government conspiracies to historic plagues, otherworldly viruses to deadly insects, O is for Outbreak brings a wide selection of pandemic-inspired horror tales that will have you hiding away, face mask in place.
Protecting Sparrow by Jane Blythe is Book IV of the Prey, but the series is part of something so much bigger. There are many more books and authors putting their own spin on the Operation Alpha World.
About Operation Alpha
Operation Alpha is the fan fiction world for Susan Stoker’s SEAL of Protection, Delta Force Heroes, and Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Worlds. The books all have at least one of Susan’s characters in them. Check it out at Aces Press.
I was excited to begin Protecting Sparrow by Jane Blythe. I don’t know why, but I didn’t connect with Protecting Sparrow like I did the first three books in the series. That doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy my trip to Africa. After all, I know danger and romance are on the way.
It all starts with Sparrow’s helicopter being shot down. She is a member of the Air Force’s Nightstalkers, the best of the best. She knew the helicopter was too badly damaged after being hit by a missile to stay in the air. A crash was eminent. Who would survive? AND…go figure. She was going home to New York tomorrow…NOT.
There’s a couple storylines going on at the same time. One I knew about because of the last book, Protecting Falcon, which is still ongoing. Bringing Ethan Zimmerman into the story created the second. He came to her rescue and they were both kidnapped by a drug trafficker.
They had been friends for a long time and she wondered if there could be more. Ethan had lost his wife and could not get past it. He felt moving on was a betrayal, but…Sparrow had a big heart and knew what to say to reach people. She was a calm in the storm, yet she could fight like a hellcat when called upon to do so.
The last part of the book didn’t go the way I thought and I do love when I can’t see it coming.
All in all, an entertaining read and I look forward to getting my hands on Book V, Protecting Hawk, and his one night stand.
There are some very sad moments and lots of running from danger, a missile, a catastrophic crash and Colt….OMG! A punch to the gut.
On that note:
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Protecting Sparrow by Jane Blythe.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Grief is all that’s stopping this friendship becoming more.
When Sparrow Oswald’s helicopter is shot down in Africa the last person she expects to come to her rescue is her old friend Ethan Zimmerman. She’d love for there to be more between them but he’s not over his wife’s death. As they work together to find who is using Ethan’s plane to smuggle drugs the spark between them grows. Only question is will Ethan do anything about it.
Ethan isn’t looking to move on. He’s already loved and lost and no way is he willing to open his heart up to let it happen again. But when he and Sparrow are kidnapped by a drug trafficking warlord and have only each other to rely upon he can’t deny that feelings he didn’t want are there nonetheless and they’re growing. He’s going to have to look at his life and decide what he wants his future to look like, only by the time he makes those decisions it might be too late.
ABOUT JANE BLYTHE
USA Today bestselling author Jane Blythe writes action-packed romantic suspense and military romance featuring protective heroes and heroines who are survivors. One of Jane’s most popular series includes Saving SEALs, part of Susan Stoker’s OPERATION ALPHA world! Writing in that world alongside authors such as Janie Crouch and Riley Edwards has been a blast, and she looks forward to bringing more books to this genre, both within and outside of Stoker’s world. When Jane isn’t binge-reading she’s counting down to Christmas and adding to her 200+ teddy bear collection!
I love finding new author’s and sharing their debut novels, like Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita.
A blizzard in a small town in Alaska. Oh yeah, I am intrigued from the getgo. THEN, add 205 residents that all live in the same highrise. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?
A boot with a foot. A hand. Washed up on shore. I have seen TV shows about the body parts that wash ashore in the Northwest. Really creepy and using this topic to get Cara to the small town of Point Mettier, Alaska, with her own reasons for wanting to investigate, begins the mystery and danger that is to follow.
I shiver as she drives through the tunnel. It is one way and switches directions every half hour. I felt a bit claustrophic with her. Two and a half miles. I get creeped out in the drive through car wash. LOL
The highrise used to be an army post, with tunnels because of the weather and to keep from being seen. Of course, kids are going to explore and even though I think I would be creeped out, I would have to explore too.
All towns have secrets, but small towns make it much harder to keep them. Everyone knows everyone. They live and breathe in the same space.
The descriptions of the highrise and the people are richly detailed. It made it easy for me to paint pictures in my mind. I love odd characters and City Under One Roof has its fair share. Are they on the run?
I could hear the wind howling, I could feel the icy cold.
Told, mainly, from three characters point of view: Cara, who is a detective from Anchorage, Alasksa, Amy, who is the teenager that found the body parts, and Lonnie, who came to live in the high rise after leaving a mental institution. She is one of the best characters, her and Denny. And Susie, always hanging out in the hallway.
City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita has all the elements I look for in a thriller, a fabulous location and the storm is a bonus, great characters, danger, intrigue and mystery.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A stranded detective tries to solve a murder
in a tiny Alaskan town where everyone lives in a single high-rise
building, in this gripping debut by an Academy Award–nominated
screenwriter.
When a local teenager discovers a severed hand
and foot washed up on the shore of the small town of Point Mettier,
Alaska, Cara Kennedy is on the case. A detective from Anchorage, she has
her own motives for investigating the possible murder in this isolated
place, which can be accessed only by a tunnel.
After a blizzard
causes the tunnel to close indefinitely, Cara is stuck among the odd and
suspicious residents of the town—all 205 of whom live in the same
high-rise building and are as icy as the weather. Cara teams up with
Point Mettier police officer Joe Barkowski, but before long the
investigation is upended by fearsome gang members from a nearby native
village.
Haunted by her past, Cara soon discovers that everyone
in this town has something to hide. Will she be able to unravel their
secrets before she unravels?”
ABOUT IRIS YAMASHITA
Iris is the Academy Award nominated writer for the movie LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA, directed by Clint Eastwood. The film received a Golden Globe award for “Best Foreign Language Film” and was nominated for 4 Oscars®, including Best Original Screenplay. Her debut novel, CITY UNDER ONE ROOF, the first in a mystery series, will be released by Berkley Group in January, 2023.
Non, je ne regrette rien (No I don’t regret anything)
Reading A Reservoir Man by L J Ambrosio was me stepping outside my comfort zone and I am so glad I did. A Reservoir Man has a deeper meaning in the story than just a title for the book.
From the day he was born in 1947, Michael was looked at differently. He had a harelip and all the old wives tales and folklore made his life more difficult than it had to be, but his parents loved him, unconditionally. His innocence makes him a victim to those who prey on the naive. I love that he was able to rise above it. Some people are givers, some people are takers, and Michael is a giver. I love that he is an observer. I, too, like to people watch. We both have an affinity for benches, a great place to watch people from. He was used and abused, yet still kept moving forward. I felt so many emotions while reading A Reservoir Man. The story feels like a true life biography. AND, the ending….brought tears to my eyes. Well done, L J.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of A Reservoir Man by L J Ambrosio.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A Reservoir Man, critics have hailed this explosive and timely work as “a must-read coming-of-age story of 2022.” Twists and turns further pull the reader in to Michael’s action-packed tale, with powerful themes, from betrayal and family to secrets and identity. “Be sure not to blink because you just might miss a pivotal moment in Michael’s rousing, larger-than-life story.” –R.C. Gibson, Indiestoday. “This book is a dream, a gamble, a utopia, even.” — Kalyan Panja, Bookmarkks.
ABOUT L J AMBROSIO
Louis J. Ambrosio ran one of the most nurturing bi-coastal talent agencies in Los Angeles and New York. He started his career as a theatrical producer, running two major regional theaters for eight seasons. He taught at over 7 universities in America. Ambrosio also distinguished himself as an award-winning film producer and novelist over the course of his impressive career.
