Andy and Rebecca had been told to stick together, but when he went into the library and Rebecca refused, the worst happened. He came out and she was gone.
I know many of us have had that annoying sibling…the one that keeps hanging on, following us around, and just down right making a pest of themselves. The funny thing…I was the annoying pest. I latched onto my older sister like a leech. LOL
In books, nothing ever happens by accident – there is always deeper meaning.
This quote definitely applies here.
Andy goes out every night…looking for Rebecca…looking for the elusive yellow van no one believes was there.
Told from multiple points of view and that always works for me. I love to get the view from each characters perspective, their thoughts and feelings.
WOW! This took a wild turn making me rapidly ‘flipping the pages’ to see what the outcome will be…and another wonderful twist that has me hopeful for a good outcome.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Girl Who Wasn’t There by Nick Clausen.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Monsters are real. And they steal children.
A young girl disappears without a trace. The police have no clue as to what might have happened. The severed family is thrown into despair as weeks go by, and still no sign of her. The girl’s older brother begins looking for her on his own. Soon he becomes convinced that a supernatural being has taken her. Unfortunately, it turns out he’s right …
The Girl Who Wasn’t There is a gripping supernatural thriller.
ABOUT NICK CLAUSEN
Born 1988 in North Jutland,
where I still live with my wife, who also happened to be my earliest
childhood girlfriend. From 2017 I have lived as a full-time writer. Up
until then, I had different jobs beside the writing. I have been
studying as a carpenter for three years, and have also read two years of
psychology at Aalborg University. It turned out that the writing had a
much more powerful pull on me.
I decided early on that I would be an author when I grew up. In
fact, the decision came to me already when I read my first book,
Snevampyren by Dennis Jürgensen. My first “real” stories I wrote at
14-15 years of age. They were rejected by the publisher, but still got
praise. There were some years when I was busy with being a teenager and
trying to get an education before I suddenly remembered that I should
be an author.
That day I made a promise
to write 1,000 words a day until I got a book published. I sat down and
started writing. I continued to write every single day for a year and a
half. I sent the finished manuscripts to different publishers, and the
rejections piled up. Twelve of them by the end. But each time I could
feel it was a little bit better. The criticism became more positive. The
thirteenth story was called Tidevandet, and it was adopted by the
publisher and came out a year later.
I have always enjoyed writing, although in the beginning I put a lot
of pressure on myself. My approach to the process has become much more
free over the years. For example, I no longer plan my stories. That
way, I feel that I’m experiencing the story while writing it and the
characters feel like real people. I do not know where the ideas come
from, but I’ve never had trouble finding them.
I have seen Darynda Jones name bandied about for a long time now, so I am glad to finally pick up one of her books and have an introduction into her world with A Bad Day for Sunshine. I couldn’t resist this fabulous cover. I want to thank Darynda Jones and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review my first Darynda Jones novel.
It will be released on April 7, 2020 and is available for preorder HERE.
I have been wanting to read a Darynda Jones novel for some time now, so when I saw the chance to grab this advanced review copy from NetGalley, I jumped all over it.
Sunshine Vicram is back in town after some shenanigans pulled by her parents, getting her elected as the sheriff of Del Sol, New Mexico, and supplying her with an adorable home for her and her daughter, Aurora.
Right off I liked Sunshine and Auri’s relationship, their verbal banter leads to some very humorous dialogue, and I could see there are some underlying problems.
Sunshine has a past that demands answers and she is going to find them
Auri has seemed a bit off since the New Year’s party she went to when they arrived.
Del Sol is a small town with all kinds of crazy going on. We have some unique, quirky, entertaining characters and lots of secrets surround them. There is a sense of mystery underlying every event that transpires and no one gives answers easily.
I enjoyed the beginning of the book, but began to wonder what all the hoopla was about Darynda Jones’ work. The fun writing and character’s personalities had me liking them and the undercurrent in town made me think there was danger coming, but where is that feeling that I can’t stop reading until I have all the answers? At 30%, I became more involved, but the verdict is still out.
At 62%, Darynda Jones got my attention with a twist and I even teared up thinking about Auri…and the rest of the pack. After this it moved quickly. I know how this will end, but the last third of the book is what made it all worthwhile, keeping me glued to the pages.
Well…I love it and, even though this story is told, I am sure there is more to come for these fabulous characters and I hope to be there with them.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of A Bad Day For Sunshine by Darynda Jones.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
New York Times bestselling author Darynda Jones is back with the brand-new snarky, sassy, wickedly fun Sunshine Vicram series!
Sheriff
Sunshine Vicram finds her cup o’ joe more than half full when the small
village of Del Sol, New Mexico, becomes the center of national
attention for a kidnapper on the loose.
Del Sol, New Mexico
is known for three things: its fry-an-egg-on-the-cement summers, its
strong cups of coffee—and a nationwide manhunt? Del Sol native Sunshine
Vicram has returned to town as the elected sheriff–an election her
adorably meddlesome parents entered her in–and she expects her biggest
crime wave to involve an elderly flasher named Doug. But a teenage girl
is missing, a kidnapper is on the loose, and all of it’s reminding Sunny
why she left Del Sol in the first place. Add to that trouble at her
daughter’s new school and a kidnapped prized rooster named Puff Daddy,
and Sunshine has her hands full.
Enter sexy almost-old-flame
Levi Ravinder and a hunky US Marshall, both elevens on a scale of one to
blazing inferno, and the normally savvy sheriff is quickly in over her
head. Now it’s up to Sunshine to juggle a few good hunky men, a
not-so-nice kidnapping miscreant, and Doug the ever-pesky flasher. And
they said coming home would be drama-free.
ABOUT DARYNDA JONES
NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious RITA, a Golden Heart, and a Daphne du Maurier. As a born storyteller, she grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike. She currently has two series with St. Martin’s Press, the Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. Darynda lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of more than 25 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys.
Welcome to my stop for Finding Lisa by Sigrid Macdonald. Which fork would you take? I love book covers and often grab a book for that reason alone. Sometimes it works against me. LOL Let’s send out a big welcome to Sigrid Macdonald.
TOPIC: MY BOOK COVER
Dear Sherry:
Thank you for having me on your blog and
for asking about my book cover. It took me a long time to choose this cover
because I wanted it to represent so many things.
Tara, my protagonist, has a dilemma.
Everything is going wrong in her life, with her marriage, on the job, and with
her moody teenage son. And, to top it off, she’s about to turn 40, and the
thought terrifies her. The only thing right in her life is her best friend,
Lisa. One night the two women have a typical night out on the town watching a
flick at the foreign film theater and going for a snack at the deli afterward.
It’s status quo. They do this all the time. But this night is different. This
night Lisa tells Tara that she is pregnant, and her partner, Ryan, may not be
the father. Tara is worried because Ryan has a history of domestic violence and
was incarcerated for assaulting his first wife. Tara doesn’t think Ryan will
handle this news well. But there is no time to find out because right after
that night at the movies, Lisa goes missing. Tara has no idea what to do.
The cover illustrates Tara’s
indecisiveness. A woman is standing, looking out into an empty field. She is at
a crossroads where she could go left, or she could go right, or she could walk
straight across the grass without a path at all. But Tara has no idea what to
do. She’s never been in this situation. It’s possible that Lisa could have
broken her sobriety and gone on a drinking binge. If that’s the case, Tara
doesn’t want to embarrass her by attracting publicity. Or maybe Lisa was too
afraid to tell Ryan about a baby that might not be his. But deep down, Tara
knows that Lisa would never take off without contacting her boss, her parents,
or Tara. She might not tell Ryan where she’s going, but she would let the
others know so they wouldn’t worry. So, now Tara is worried!
Eventually, Tara will make several
decisions, for good or for bad. It’s up to the reader to decide whether Tara
does the right thing in her search for her friend, along with her own shaky
sense of self-identity. As Charles Dickens said in the first line of David Copperfield, “Whether I shall
turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by
anybody else, these pages must show.” The same can be said for Tara.
Thanks so much.
Best,
Sigrid
PS I had a midlife crisis and pretended to
be 39 for several years! It was so much easier for me to turn 60 than 40, so I
wanted to give this particular issue to my character because we live in such a
youth-oriented culture that I think this magic number of 40 affects a lot of
people, especially women who are told that they need to stay young to be
relevant.
Finding Lisa by Sigrid Macdonald
GENRE: Mystery/women’s fiction
BLURB
Finding
Lisa is a character driven story about a quirky Canadian woman named Tara who
is about to turn 40. She dreads the thought. Everything is going wrong in her
life from her stale marriage to her boring job to her hopeless crush on a
24-year-old guy. The only thing right in Tara’s life is her best friend Lisa
who has just confided that she is pregnant and the baby does not belong to her
partner Ryan, who has a history of domestic violence. Then Lisa disappears and
the search is on to find her.
EXCERPT
All the carts were taken at the supermarket on Tuesday. I
found one off to the side of the vegetable aisle. It had a defective wheel,
which resulted in me almost overturning a display of cantaloupes. The cart was
also enormous. No doubt this was a deliberate ploy on the part of the
supermarket to encourage excess shopping.
“I feel as though I’m driving a school bus,” I
announced to the frail, pale orange-haired woman to my left, who was squeezing
the small, unappetizing looking cantaloupes.
She smiled faintly and nodded. I wondered how she had the
strength to push the heavy cart through the long aisles of the grocery store at
her age.
“Mum, I’ll go with you to one of those Women against
Rape meetings if you want?” Devon
said to my astonishment, his voice rising at the end of his sentence.
“There’s only one condition. You have to watch 8 Mile with me.”
“8 Mile? Isn’t that the movie based on the book by
Stephen King?”
“Nah, you’re thinking about The Green Mile,” Devon
replied. “8 Mile is the story of a rapper in Detroit. It’s based on the
life of Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers. Eminem even stars in
it,” he said with increasing enthusiasm.
“I think it’ll give you a better idea of where he’s
coming from. You know, you’re always talking about these girls who’ve been,
like, abused and what horrible lives they’ve had. You even feel bad about boys
who were taken advantage of by priests or their hockey coaches. So why don’t
you have any sympathy for Marshall? His mother was abusive. She was mean to
him, and she did drugs! Also, she, like, gave him something called Munchkins
syndrome,” Devon added uncertainly.
“Munchausen syndrome?” I asked, trying to picture the
tough guy with the tattoos and bad attitude as a small child with a
manipulative and controlling mother.
“Yeah, that sounds right. She made him feel sick when
he was totally healthy. And, Mum, I know you would respect the way Em felt
about his little brother, Nathan. He, like, didn’t wanna leave him alone in the
house with his mother when he finally split from Detroit. He’s also really keen
about his daughter, Hailie Jade. He talks about her all the time in his songs
and on TV.”
I pushed the buttons on the radio. The Steve Miller band was
singing, “Time keeps on slipping, slipping into the future.” I had a
sense of motion. The car was moving forward, and with every traffic light I
passed, I was moving farther away from Lisa and our routine evenings at the
ByTowne Theatre. The rest of us were going ahead, and Lisa had been left
behind. I wanted to go back, not just to last Thursday night, but to my university
days, so I could live my life all over again.
I wanted to be sixteen or twenty-six again, making decisions
based on what I knew now. So many lost opportunities. How had I managed to
completely screw up my life? I’d done everything wrong except that I hadn’t
become a street prostitute or a serial murderer. Too late for the former—who
would want me? But there was still time for the latter.
AUTHOR Bio and Links
Originally from New Jersey, Sigrid Macdonald lived for almost thirty years in Ottawa, Ontario, and currently resides in Weston, Florida. She has been a freelance writer for years. Her works have appeared in TheGlobe and Mail newspaper; the Women’s Freedom NetworkNewsletter; the American magazine Justice Denied; The Toastmaster; and the Anxiety DisordersAssociation of Ontario Newsletter. Her first book, Getting Hip: Recovery from a Total Hip Replacement, was published in 2004. Her second book, Be Your OwnEditor, followed in 2010. Although Finding Lisa is written in first person, Macdonald only resembles her character in the sense that she once had a neurotic fixation on her hair, and she has always been called by the wrong name; instead of being called Sigrid, people have called her Susan, Sharon, Astrid, Ingrid and, her personal favorite, Siri.
Macdonald
is a social activist who has spent decades working on the seemingly disparate
issues of women’s rights and wrongful convictions; she has worked at the
Women’s Center at Ramapo College of New Jersey and Carleton University in
Ottawa, Ontario, and was a member of AIDWYC, The Association in Defense of the
Wrongly Convicted. She owns an editing company called Book Magic. Sigrid is a
public speaker and a member of Mothers against Drunk Driving, Ottawa
Independent Writers, the American Association of University Women, and the
Editors’ Association of Canada. Visit her website at http://bookmagic.ca/ or friend her on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/sigridmac.
Sigrid Macdonald will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Follow the tour and comment, the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Follow the tour HERE.
Jane Blythe has been entertaining me with her stories for some time now, and Forgotten did not let me down. Even though I knew a lot of what would happen from previous novels, it still felt like the first time. Glad I put some distance in between books.
OMG! OMG! OMG! JANE! JANE! JANE! Even though I knew a lot of what would happen because I read the previous novels, it still felt like the first time and you blew me away.
I love these characters and it is so wonderful being back with them again. They are all flawed in their own ways, but I would still want them by my side in a clutch situation. Jane has put them through hell…repeatedly…and does not give them a break in Forgotten.
Their past comes back to haunt them, over and over again. Secrets will be exposed…and trouble, which is Tessa’s middle name, will find them.
Tessa and Parker’s inability to get past their own insecurities and trust in each other causes a separation they may never be able to overcome. Do we ever really know a person? People are not always what they seem.
Jane has brought all the events in the previous books into play and wraps it up in a NOT pretty package. She has no trouble killing off her characters and the loss of this one was gut wrenching. Even though I knew it was going to happen, I still had all the feels I did the first time around, maybe even more.
The villains are monstrous, but I understand how they got that way. I see their motivation, empathize with their pain, but they know right from wrong and there can be no forgiveness.
It broke my heart when Maisy…and then Jane finished me off with… Tears were rolling down my face as….I couldn’t hold them back. Sometimes knowing what’s coming doesn’t change anything.
You only get one shot at life and you had to make it count.We’re all responsible for our own choices.”
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Forgotten by Jane Blythe.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Sometimes love can’t conquer all.
With his relationship to wife Tessa strained almost to the point of breaking, Detective Parker Bell finds himself once again becoming too invested in his latest case, that of a young woman who was kidnapped and is suffering from amnesia. As he becomes intrigued by and attracted to the beautiful and mysterious young woman he names Hope his friends and family feel that he is losing his objectivity, and risking everything he cares about in the process.
Meanwhile Tessa is working to battle her demons and finally become the woman who can give her husband what he needs. When Parker pulls away from her, intent on helping his newest project, Tessa must figure out what secrets Hope is hiding before it’s too late. Unfortunately Hope’s secrets will end up costing someone their life.
↝ Trigger warning – themes of sexual assault ↜
ABOUT JANE BLYTHE
Jane
has loved reading and writing since she can remember. She writes dark
and disturbing crime/mystery/suspense with some romance thrown in
because, well, who doesn’t love romance? She has one completed series,
Detective Parker Bell, and one new series, Count to Ten.
When she’s not writing Jane loves to
read, bake, go to the beach, ski, horse ride, and watch Disney movies.
She has a black belt in Taekwondo, and a 200+ collection of teddy bears.
She has the world’s two most sweet and pretty Dalmatians, Ivory and
Pearl. Oh, and she also enjoys spending time with family and friends!
I would like to send out my thanks to Anita Dickason for the opportunity to read Not Dead. I fell in love with the creepy cover and could hardly wait to find out what’s ‘between the covers’.
The creepy cover for Anita Dickason’s Not Dead drew me in. I love suspense and the supernatural, so this was a perfect fit for me.
There is a long list of characters, which Anita lists in the beginning of the book.
Mandy, a four year old girl, is missing. Meridian, Oklahoma, is a small town, so I am thinking it has to be someone who knows her. Strangers would be noticed.
Chief Chad Bishop is sitting at his desk, rounding up help and doing the basics, amber alert, reward….when in walks HER.
She is the niece of the missing girl and the new editor of the Tribune, Ashley Logan. She is a hotshot reporter from Baltimore, and knowing Chad had left the Atlanta Police Department abruptly to come to to Meridian, she investigates…HIM, while investigating Mandy’s disappearance. Why did he leave such a great position to come to the small town of Meridian. Of course, we could ask the same of her. We will find out all the details.
Ashley thinks she can pump the secretary for details, but she is mistaken.
Anita Dickason’s descriptions of the characters make them easy to picture in my mind.
At the end of Chapter Three there is an eerie moment that ramps up my anticipation for this new element. I wonder, will it be a good thing…or a bad thing.
The story keeps getting more interesting the more I read. It’s nice to see something good coming with the bad. I’m not sure what to share without spoiling things. There is so much more going on than just a missing child and the villains that are truly evil.
The fog…is all fog hiding evil? I didn’t anticipate where the story would go and that is a very good thing. I loved it.
It’s not hard to predict that Ashley will run straight into trouble. She’s persistent, dogged, and determined to find Mandy before her time runs out. She’s not going to leave it up to the coppers to do it.
We switch character’s points of view and I love hearing from the horses mouth, so to speak. It allows me to understand their motivations and feelings that lead them to do what they do.
I love the mix of child trafficking and the supernatural. I can overlook a problem or two that I had with Chad and Ashley working together. After all, it is fiction and I allow the author to take me where they will, as long as there is a good story to go along with it. Not dead did not blow me away, but I loved the mix of romance, suspense and the supernatural…AND THE DOLL.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A small-town Texas cop who is haunted by his past. A reporter who risks it all, even her life. A kidnapping that crosses into an unearthly realm.
Focused on the abduction of four-year-old Mandy Norton, Chad Bishop, Meridian’s Police Chief, ignores the twinges of foreboding triggered by an eerie fog that shrouds his town. What he can’t ignore is the editor of the Tribune.
When Ashley Logan becomes embroiled in the search, nothing stops the hard-hitting, investigative reporter, including Chad’s threats to throw her in jail. She’s Mandy’s aunt.
As the mystery of Mandy’s disappearance deepens, unnerving details emerge. Chad refuses to believe they’re connected to his past until the case turns deadly. He’s forced to face the terror that haunts him. It’s waiting in the shadowy depths of the unearthly fog.
This time, it could cost Chad more than his sanity.
ABOUT ANITA DICKASON
Code Name: Trackers: The elite of the elite. FBI agents, each with a secret, an extra edge, that defies reason and logic.
Characters with unexpected skills—that extra edge for overcoming danger and adversity—have always intrigued Anita. Adding an infatuation with ancient myths and legends of Native American Indians, and Scottish and Irish folklore creates the backdrop for her characters.
Anita is a retired Dallas Police Officer. During—what she refers to as an extraordinary career—Anita served as a patrol officer, undercover narcotics officer, advanced accident investigator, and SWAT entry/sniper.
Upon retirement, she became involved in a research project that dealt with the death of a witness to the Kennedy assassination. The research led to her first book, JFK Assassination Eyewitness: Rush to Conspiracy, that details the results of her reconstruction of a 1966 motor vehicle accident that killed Lee Bowers, Jr., a key witness to the assassination.
Once the Bowers book was written, Anita reached the same point many authors ultimately face: I’ve written it, now what do I do? Answering that question has become another career, one she has wholeheartedly embraced. The publishing field is in a constant state of flux, offering unlimited possibilities for an author, but also endless landmines.
Anita started a new company, Mystic Circle Books & Designs LLC, offering cover design and manuscript services. In addition to her works as an author, she enjoys helping other authors see their dream become a reality.
I first found Sibel Hodge by participating in a tour by Partners In Crime and never looked back. Whenever I see her name, I immediately check further. This will be my third book by Sibel Hodge and I have loved every one of them.
Their Last Breath has a powerful cover that definitely fits the storyline. Done by BlackSheep.
I love the simple but powerful cover and it definitely pertains to the story inside. Does it make you curious? Good! I love Sibel Hodge’s work and was so excited when she gave me a copy for review.
Detective Warren Carter retired…with a haunting secret, so when the call came from the Chief Superintendent of the Professional Standards Department, he was on full alert. She wanted his help and gave him free rein to investigate. He felt the justice system failed many, all politics, all the time, so he didn’t always follow the rules, going rogue and I like that. I feel his frustration. This time, it was with approval.
Nice touch, with the old neighbor. I felt his feebleness, oldness, loneliness.
I wondered how Warren and Becky’s cases would intersect.
Their Last Breath by Sibel Hodge is one of those books that takes off early, ticking me off, getting my emotion in an uproar. Human trafficking and enslavement. The reason for the women’s abductions was a new one for me and that just added to my disgust. I loved trying to understand what could possibly make someone think that is okay. Delving into the minds of twisted characters fascinates me.
Becky…she eats often…she’s a grazer. I almost snorted out loud. LOL Sibel Hodge’s writing. She creates complex characters and she knows how to ‘show’ their personalities.
Early on, I find HER very fishy. My spidey senses are tingling and instinct is a valuable tool when reading, writing, and investigating.
I love flawed characters and Warren is one for sure. I would want him and Becky in my corner if I am ever in trouble. Their tenacity and instinct lead them to success.
Well done, Sibel. You hooked me from beginning to end. The characters are filled with depth and personality and that made me me love and hate them. The storyline is one I am familiar with, kidnapping and trafficking, but you added that little bit extra that I am always looking for, getting my emotion in an uproar, filling me with disgust at the villains and empathy with those that can find no way out of the position they find themselves in, just because they wanted a better life. Their Last Breath has the feeling of reality, of events that go on today.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Their Last Breath by Sibel Hodge.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Detective Carter knows all about torture – but he’s never known a case as dark as this one.
The Six…
An
abandoned building goes up in flames. Six women are chained inside and
left to die – the truth is left to burn with them. Only one piece of
evidence remains, but will it be enough to find their killer?
The Detective…
Retired
detective Warren Carter has been suffocated by grief for his wife and
is looking for a new start. But when he gets a call that cuts to the
heart of the force, investigating a corrupt police officer, he has to
accept. This time, though, he’s going to have to face his demons and
work out who to trust when the truth is guarded by his own colleagues.
The Bad Cop…
It
was supposed to be the perfect crime: they knew the system well enough
to beat it and get away with murder. But they didn’t know Detective
Carter, and how far a man will go when he has nothing left to lose…
Their Last Breath is the gripping new thriller perfect for fans of Line of Duty, from the bestselling author of Duplicity and Into The Darkness
ABOUT SIBEL HODGE
Sibel Hodge is the author of
the #1 Bestsellers Look Behind You, Untouchable, and Duplicity. Her
books have sold over one million copies and are international
bestsellers in the UK, USA, Australia, France, Canada and Germany. She
writes in an eclectic mix of genres, and is a passionate human and
animal rights advocate.
Her work has been nominated and
shortlisted for numerous prizes, including the Harry Bowling Prize, the
Yeovil Literary Prize, the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition, The
Romance Reviews’ prize for Best Novel with Romantic Elements and Indie
Book Bargains’ Best Indie Book of 2012 in two categories. She was the
winner of Best Children’s Book in the 2013 eFestival of Words; nominated
for the 2015 BigAl’s Books and Pals Young Adult Readers’ Choice Award;
winner of the Crime, Thrillers & Mystery Book from a Series Award in
the SpaSpa Book Awards 2013; winner of the Readers’ Favorite Young
Adult (Coming of Age) Honorable award in 2015; a New Adult finalist in
the Oklahoma Romance Writers of America’s International Digital Awards
2015, and 2017 International Thriller Writers Award finalist for Best
E-book Original Novel. Her novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave
has been listed as one of the top forty books about human rights by
Accredited Online Colleges.
It’s the end of the Count To Ten series by Jane Blythe and I am so sad to say goodbye to some characters that I have known and loved for a long time. Jane Blythe found me through another, in her word, amazing blogger and I can only say thank you to whoever it was, because I have been loving Jane since 2016 because of them. I eat her books up like M&M candies. If you have tried her work, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, and are a thriller lover, than I recommend you give her a try.
I turn my Kindle on, search for Ten by Jane Blythe, then click the cover with trepidation. I have been following Jane Blythe’s Count To Ten journey since 2016 and I am eager, yet hesitant to begin, wanting to know the end, yet wondering if it will meet all my expectations. Fair or not, I have set the bar high for Jane Blythe…and I am so happy to say that even though I hate to see the journey come to and end, I am very sad, yet satisfied with the end. She not only met my expectations, she exceeded them.
An electrifying beginning and it doesn’t take long for the bodies to start falling and I am fearful of those characters I have come to care so much about.
Tessa…independent, reclusive, strong…she has been through so much, yet Jane is done with her yet. She’s and urban legend.
JANE JANE JANE! You’re breaking my heart. Hope you enjoyed your killing spree.
He sure isn’t what I expected, but now I am even more worried about my family. You have put them through hell, but the horror just keeps on coming. I must be almost as bad as you because I sure do love reading what you write. The darker, the better, and you paint a bleak picture with your words.
I am almost half way in and I cannot begin to guess at what is to come. Whether it’s because I don’t want to know or face it, I would have to stop long enough to think about it…and I can’t seem to do that.
These characters cannot get a break. Maybe it is time to end the series, Jane, while some of them are still standing. I kinda smiled when I typed that. How evil am I? Will any of them find a happy ever after? How will Jane Blythe wrap it up? Will it have a casket or a pretty bow?
NO NO NO! At 85% tears are falling down my face. I am soooo sad.
OH NO! More tears. I finally gathered my self together, thinking the worst is over…
Jane, woman, OMG, you’re killing me…And it’s still not over.
I laughed, I cried. And I want more. Thank goodness, she has a new series coming, Broken Gems and Cracked Sapphire is due for release in February of 2020.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Ten by Jane Blythe.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
They say time heals all wounds.
Tessa
Micah is snatched from her bed in the middle of the night. She manages
to make a phone call to her best friend, the partner of her deceased
police officer husband, before she disappears. Tessa has a complicated
past and as the widow of a decorated cop, there are a long list of
suspects. Retired detective, Skylar Wyatt, is determined to find her and
honor the promise he made to his partner; to protect and care for his
wife should anything ever happen to him.
Then people connected to
Tessa start getting murdered. The cops don’t know who from her past is
targeting her, or if it has something to do with her dead husband’s
cases. With time running out, and more bodies falling, vocations will be
questioned, futures reassessed, and not everyone will survive.
** Warning: Graphic violence and themes of sexual assault/abuse **
ABOUT JANE BLYTHE
Jane
has loved reading and writing since she can remember. She writes dark
and disturbing crime/mystery/suspense with some romance thrown in
because, well, who doesn’t love romance? She has one completed series,
Detective Parker Bell, and one new series, Count to Ten.
When she’s not writing Jane loves to
read, bake, go to the beach, ski, horse ride, and watch Disney movies.
She has a black belt in Taekwondo, and a 200+ collection of teddy bears.
She has the world’s two most sweet and pretty Dalmatians, Ivory and
Pearl. Oh, and she also enjoys spending time with family and friends!
There is more happening in July than the beach, so let’s celebrate Christmas In July with Jane Blythe’s Winter Wonderland. I love the old time feel of the cover and, of course, the bullet holes got my attention.
The chills will come from more than the Winter Wonderland and Jane does manage to give me a steady supply. Though Winter Wonderland is the second book, Jane recaps Book I, A Secret To The Grave.
We start out with screeching tires and a screaming voice on a cold winter’s night. Did we get your attention? Made me sit up straight.
Detective Parker Bell is a very patient man and he will need all of that for his love interest, Tess. She is super private, not sharing her nightmares that haunt her sleep. She has a knack for reading people and can whip up a scrumptious pancake. The only place she feels safe is in Parker’s arms, but even her love for him has not overcome her trust issues. Parker can wait, he is strong, heroic, determined, loving…and did I say patient.
THE ICEMAN IS BACK…”death or capture, those are the only things that will end this…”
Jane Blythe does a fabulous job with the description of HIS hiding place. You will have to find it for yourself, though.
The ease with which HE creeps through the houses and takes THEM makes me wonder how that would work in real life. I love a book that gets my mind revved up, and Jane Blythe is doing it just fine. I can’t imagine how terrifying it would be to wake up, gasping for breath, a gun pointed at my head.
The past keeps coming back, complicating an already complicated scenario. The poor girls. I can’t imagine how they felt, the utter hopelessness, helplessness…
So freakin’ creepy. Never a dull moment. It may seem easy, at times, to decipher the plot, but Jane Blythe will NOT reveal HIM, until she is good and ready…and I do love that about her. Is she setting me up for something? Wouldn’t surprise me a bit.
I am only now at 42%…and Parker…WTF?
Wave after wave of shocks and surprises flow through the pages. Good luck trying to figure it out before Jane is ready to tell you. I wanted to scream and yell at them, tell them to look…please look…think Tessa, she told you…
Think the story is over, brace yourself. I did. One shock after another. Danger, threats…doesn’t quit, but I do see something good coming out of it. I could not stop reading. Kept me guessing who would live and who would die. Teeth gritting tenseness, gripping the kindle tightly, wishing, hoping…Can’t die…Can’t die…
Whew. I feel rode hard and put up wet.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Winter Wonderland by Jane Blythe.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
When winter comes this killer comes out of hiding.
With
the city in the grips of Iceman fuelled terror, Detective Parker Bell
is handed the task of finding a killer who is meticulous enough to leave
behind no physical evidence and self-controlled enough to lie dormant
through spring, summer and fall. While hunting the serial killer Parker
must also balance his fledgling relationship with Tessa Micah, who is
still struggling to deal with the emotional backlash of her own
encounter with a madman.
Tessa Micah is fighting to put the past
behind her. She is trying to focus on the positives, she has fallen in
love, she has friends to support her, she can have the future that she
always dreamed of but never thought she would have. But she can only get
it if she can learn to let go, move forward, and let her past be just
that-her past. Her chance to do that might be ripped away from her when a
killer targets her as the next victim.
** Warning: Graphic violence and themes of sexual assault/abuse **
ABOUT JANE BLYTHE
Jane
has loved reading and writing since she can remember. She writes dark
and disturbing crime/mystery/suspense with some romance thrown in
because, well, who doesn’t love romance? She has one completed series,
Detective Parker Bell, and one new series, Count to Ten.
When she’s not writing Jane loves to
read, bake, go to the beach, ski, horse ride, and watch Disney movies.
She has a black belt in Taekwondo, and a 200+ collection of teddy bears.
She has the world’s two most sweet and pretty Dalmatians, Ivory and
Pearl. Oh, and she also enjoys spending time with family and friends!
