Author: Robert Dugoni

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Release Date: October 2014

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

In every book you want to get to that one part that keeps you turning the page till the end. That part started on page one and Dugoni kept cranking the tension all the way to the very end. By far, the best book I have read all year.

For Twenty years Tracy Crosswhite has felt something was off with the conviction of her sister’s killer. She let these feelings lead her all the way to becoming a detective with the Seattle homicide unit. At the time there was no body, but now her remains are uncovered and Tracy is determined to get the answers she has been searching for.

While Tracy works to uncover the secrets kept from her all these years, she finds that things went deeper than she ever could have imagined. Her home town of Cedar Grove was never the same after Sarah’s death, which was one of the reasons she couldn’t stay. Now, being back, she can’t help the feeling that is nagging at the back of her neck that something isn’t right. She doesn’t know if it has to do with trying to free the man convicted of killing her sister or just being home. Either way she knows she had better watch her back because things could get even worse very soon.

This has to be one of the best books I have read in a long time. Even saying that doesn’t seem to do the book justice. I first heard about it last October at a conference with Robert Dugoni. He was telling me the premise of the book he was working on and I was very intrigued. I am happy to say the final product didn’t disappoint. My Sister’s Grave kept me turning the page, reading in the car (at stoplights), and not wanting to go to bed until I finished. The writing flowed at such a pace that was clear and easily understood keeping me engaged throughout. Dugoni knows his stuff. There are twist and turns throughout that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Dugoni has woven a tale that crosses between a police procedural and a legal thriller with a great cast of characters. The lead character, Tracy Crosswhite, is a very strong female that the readers get to see not only her strengths, but her weaknesses as well.

The only criticism I have is the language. There is some harsh language throughout, not a ton but more than needed. This is usually enough to turn me off a book very quickly. The difference here is the story was so good it made me over look the language for the first time. It takes a very strong, and incredibly talented author to do that. Dugoni is fast becoming one of my very favorite authors.

I wish that I could go above five stars for this rating as it deserves many more!

Author: Mary Volmer

Publisher: Soho Press

Release Date: May 10, 2016

Reviewer: Jen Roman

In 1874, thirteen-year-old Madelyn Branch and her mother, Rebecca, arrive in Reliance, Illinois from rural Kentucky so that Rebecca can meet and marry the man she chose via the Matrimonial Times.  Rebecca has not mentioned Madelyn to Mr. Dryfus, so when she meets him, she explains Madelyn as her orphaned sister.  Rebecca is beautiful and hardworking, so Mr. Dryfus decides to marry her despite her deception, and she persuades Mr. Dryfus to take in Madelyn as well.  Mr. Dryfus is the businessman he has claimed to be, but he does not make as much money as leads Rebecca to believe, and he leads a very frugal lifestyle.  Additionally, he has several friends and family members living with him.   Soon after Rebecca and Mr. Dryfus marry, Rebecca announces she is pregnant.  Knowing she will soon be replaced by a baby, Madelyn accepts a job caring for the failing town founder under his daughter’s supervision.  His daughter, the dynamic Miss Rose, is a feminist and an outspoken supporter of women’s suffrage and contraception.  In exchange for Madelyn caring for Mr. Werner, Miss Rose offers to educate Madelyn and to teach her social convention.

Without giving away too much of the story, I will say that there are a lot of plot twists and turns, most involving Madelyn learning secrets about her friends and neighbors. Some pertain to her own family, but most relate to the townsfolk and to Miss Rose’s family as well.  She becomes an excellent secret keeper while still maintaining relationships with these people.  Her own personal downfall is that she has fallen for William, a photographer who is haunted by his Civil War experience.  He is one of just a handful of people who don’t judge Madelyn by her port wine birthmark running halfway down her body, and she mistakes his kindness for interest in her.  Her close circle of acquaintances finds out about her feelings for William and uses them to their advantage.

This story is chock full of romance, adventure, murder, deception, mystery, and secrets. Living with Miss Rose gives Madelyn access to everyone’s state of affairs; somehow Madelyn has to keep them to herself.  The characters are spirited and fascinating; Mark Twain even makes a few appearances along with his signature humorous quips.  Volmer has clearly spent a lot of time developing the characters of the town, and it pays off for the reader. The large group of people takes time to get to know, but it is a pleasant reward when that happens.  Each character is someone who could be found in a small struggling town, and everybody has a story to tell.

The plot is so much more than what has been mentioned above; something different and interesting happens throughout the development of the book to keep the reader’s interest piqued. I thoroughly enjoyed both the story and the ending, although it may not be the happy ending that some may expect.  It is, however, satisfying and appropriate to the entire book.

Reliance, Illinois contains profanity and coarse language that may not be appropriate for younger readers.  Topics such as murder, abortion, domestic assault, and sexual themes come up several times.  These are not gratuitous; they definitely lend to the book’s credibility and help to develop the story, but may not be appropriate for all.  Because of this, I recommend this book for mature readers.

Author: Becky Wade

Publisher: Bethany House

Release Date: May 3, 2016

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A fast paced romantic novel with just the right amount of suspense to keep the pages turning quickly.

Dru Porter is trying to redeem herself from her last protection assignment. It’s hard for people to take her seriously as a bodyguard, but that’s what she is.  A former Marine with a black belt and a better markswoman than most men, Dru has been assigned to protect Gray Fowler.  Gray is a star NFL tight end who is being pursued by a stalker.  His team hires Dru’s protection agency to keep a watch on Gray.  He doesn’t think much of his new bodyguard, after all she’s half his size.  How can she possibly protect him?  Dru is determined to uncover the identity of Gray’s stalker and keep the relationship between them strictly professional, which proves to be the more difficult of the two.  The closer they get to uncovering the stalker, the closer Gray and Dru grow to each other.  With each day, the danger grows and it is hard to keep their hearts and lives separate.

It can be hard to want to take Dru and what she does seriously. A woman being a bodyguard is not what would be expected.   But sometimes the unexpected is good.  Dru is able to look at situations differently than most, not only because she is a woman but also because of her training.  She proves to be very good at what she does and I really liked her as a character.  I enjoyed the fact that Gray wasn’t made to be the quarterback or the only reason the team was a success.  Yes he was a big part of that success, but it was shown that it was a team effort.  The attraction between Dru and Gray was obvious from their first encounter but was played out well.

It is clear this has more of the romance aspect than suspense, but the suspense moments were done well and at the right moments. I did not realize until reading this book that it is the fourth book in a series.  It makes me wonder what the others are like, but also shows that it can easily be read as a stand-alone without a problem.  Overall it was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend to those that enjoy romantic suspense, especially in the Christian genre.

Authors: Dee Henderson, Dani Pettrey, & Lynette Eason

Publisher: Bethany House

Release Date: May 3, 2015

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Three short stories by three of the top Romantic Suspense Authors brings a sure fired hit!

Dee Henderson writes in Missing about a Wyoming Sheriff who is searching for his missing mother in Chicago.  Dani Pettrey digs into the roots of her Alaskan courage series with Shadowed, the tale of the parents of the McKenna clan.  Lynette Eason gives us Blackout, the story of a woman trying to piece together lost memories that someone is willing to kill to keep her from remembering.

This is an interesting book. The stories themselves have nothing to do with one another but go together none-the-less.  I think one of the things I liked best about this collection is each story was just the right length.  It might seem that it wasn’t enough to flesh out the story, but I found just the opposite to be true.  I enjoy all three of these authors but sometimes feel their individual works can be a bit wordy, especially Henderson.  With these being novellas, they didn’t have the chance to become drowned out with too much detail that takes away from the story.  Of the three stories, I think I enjoyed Shadowed by Dani Pettrey the best, probably because I am a fan of the entire Alaskan Courage series and enjoyed seeing how the McKeena clan got started.  That and the story itself was fast paced and exciting all the way through.

Romantic Suspense is a hard genre to write in. For me, I am much more a fan of the suspense aspect than the romance.  I do enjoy the relationships and watching how they develop, but if they totally take away from the suspense that can kill the story for me.  In this collection, the stories didn’t have a chance to delve to deeply into the romance so the relationships either went at just the right speed, or went unbelievably fast.  With Missing, I felt the focus should have been totally on the search for the missing mother instead of the detective and the sheriff playing off of each other’s feelings.  I also didn’t find the story itself fully believable.  I think if this one were a full fledge novel and had more time to work out some of those details, there would have been more for me to believe about the story.  I thoroughly enjoyed Shadowed and could see that developing into a future novel with more story to tell. Blackout had good potential and could also be further developed.  Overall all three stories were enjoyable, some more than others, but I think that could also be personal preference.  These three authors are at the top of their field for a reason.  They are good at what they do and many people, including myself, enjoy reading their work.

Author: Kathryn Cushman

Publisher: Bethany House

Release Date: May 3, 2016

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Great read for anyone experience inner conflict or self-esteem issues!

Lauren Summers is living her dream career. She has been given a prestigious intern position at a well-known Los Angeles fashion house.  She even managed to work on a dress for the current hottest teen sensation.  She gained her trust and made some last minute modifications to the dress to give the young girl a sense of adulthood, but keep her appearance innocent for her publicity.  On awards night the dress looks great until during an award presentation, an accidental step on the dress causes it to come ripping off exposing the young girl in her underwear.

Within minutes, Lauren receives a text message that she is fired and soon her name is publicly humiliated across television. With no other options, she takes a position as a costume designer for a high school drama group in Santa Barbara.  It has less than meager pay, but fortunately there is a theater donor that allows her to live in a house so that she can babysit the contractors working on it.  There is a mysterious, reclusive neighbor next door that doesn’t seem to want Lauren around and tries multiple times to have her removed from the neighborhood.  But Lauren feels that she is somehow supposed to help this elderly lady.  Has everything happened just to have her meet this lady that is tied back to Hollywood sixty years ago?

Once again, Kathryn Cushman has an awesome story on her hands! I have also read her book Finding Me and the story lines were similar.  The main character is a young girl that has experienced recent trouble.  She relocates to a new area and befriends an elderly person that needs some sort of help.  And in the end, the young girl has a romance kindled.  Even so, the circumstances and stories were completely different.

I really enjoy the California coast, so anytime I have the opportunity to read a book that is set there, the scenery always comes easily. I also identify with the Lauren’s character.  Recently I have gone through events that have really challenged the identity of my career of choice.  So much so that I thought I was going to lose any footing that I had in it.  But then, I’ve found that the new path I’ve taken has really opened several more doors for me.  Thank you for helping me realize that my journey is going in a positive direction along with Lauren’s.

There were several spiritual elements in this book. Many uplifting verses as well as some that constitute warnings.  The prayers in this book were very powerful and it also helps to see how much you need friends in the faith.  Readers will not be disappointed in Fading Starlight!

Author: Alison Love

Publisher: Crown

Release Date: April 19, 2016

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A story of forbidden love set in war torn England.

Olivia and Antonio have a chance encounter one night outside a London nightclub known as the Paradise Ballroom. When Antonio learns the truth about something that Olivia has just done, he is shocked, but has problems of his own to worry about.  He lives in Soho with his father, sister, brother, and his wife, who is about to have their first child.  As his brother and father pledge allegiance to the Fascists party for Mussolini, Antonio gets grief for not joining.  He is mostly interested in developing his singing career for a new patron.  At the first meeting, Antonio finds out that Olivia is his wife.  Scared that Antonio will tell her secrets to her husband, she tries to avoid Antonio at all costs.  She finds that she cannot and eventually learns that Antonio has secrets as well.

Overall, this was a really good romance set in World War II London. The setting was well depicted and the characters were adequately flawed (some even insufferable).  It’s good to have antagonist throughout the novel, but a couple of these characters I couldn’t wait to be rid of.  Even so, the relationships that they developed played out well.  There were definitely a couple of times that Love took me by surprise with what happened.  In those instances, she tapped into my emotion for the characters and it takes a talented story teller to do that.

However, I felt that there was a little bit of telling the reader the story instead of showing the reader the story. There were times that it told me something that the character being portrayed could not have known.  I wish that she would have let the character and reader figure that out together.  I also felt the pent up frustration between Olivia and Antonio was diminished too quickly.  Other than that, I thought it was a worth read.

Author: Dee Henderson

Publisher: Bethany House

Release Date: May 3, 2016

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A cold case that has sat unsolved for too long is about to expose secrets that will affect the lives of many!

Gabriel Thane is the sheriff of Carin County and is proud of his job and his town. When Evie Blackwell comes to town to help launch a new task force whose goal is to solve cold cases, their paths cross and sparks fly.  Evie wants to find Mr. Right and settle down but has always been driven by her work more than her personal life.  Now as she works closely with the sheriff, she finds herself drawn to him as their work uncovers more secrets that lead to potentially solving more cold cases than she originally thought possible.  Secrets throughout the town and its residents make the work more difficult for both of them, who are determined to find answers at all cost.

One thing I have found from reading Dee Henderson novels is she is much better at the romantic aspect of writing than the suspense. I did find several suspenseful moments throughout the story that kept the pages turning quickly, but I also found areas when the tension dialed down with the romance scenes.  These areas were just too slow with too much narrative that weighed the story down bringing it to a standstill at times.  I have a strong feeling this is the first in a series.  I believe this because throughout the book there were SO many second hand characters that got more time than they needed, which makes sense if they will be the focus of stories yet to come.  Even so, several of the characters were needed to bring different aspects of the story together.  I am curious to see where they might lead if they get their own story next.

Overall it was an enjoyable read that I recommend to romance and romantic suspense lovers!

Author: Billy Coffey

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Release Date: May 3, 2016

Coffey probes deeper into the darker part of the lives of the citizens of Mattingly. His new book will leave you questioning whether or not your own daily routine is really just a routine!

One night, Bobby Barnes is riding through the mountain roads behind Mattingly with his twin boys Matthew and Mark. As usual, he is drunk and every night he and the boys take a drive, but he is not worried because there is never anyone else out on these roads.  Suddenly, headlights appear around the corner and he can’t get his truck out of the way.  There is the sound of screeching metal and he tries to grab one of his sons before the other is thrown out of the window.  The last thing Bobby remembers before everything goes black is there will be stars.

The next day starts the same as the previous, or so it seems to Bobby. He can’t put his finger on it, but it feels like he has done everything before.  He knows where people will be on the drive to the gas station and he knows who he will have to talk to at the gas station.  But when he doesn’t whistle at Laura Beth as he drives by, she suddenly takes off her sunglasses and starts yelling at him and coming out in traffic to his truck.  Scared, he drives off to the gas station.  Eventually, things start falling into place and Bobby begins to realize that he is living the same day over and over, always with the same ending.  To his surprise, he finds that there are others stuck in the same loop and they believe that this is heaven.  But is it really?

First off, thank you Billy Coffey for writing another fantastic novel!. Second, thank you for writing Bobby Barnes’s story.  He has been a constant character through several of the books.  He is also one of the first citizens of Mattingly that Billy introduced to his readers.  In his first novel, Snow Day, there is a chapter dedicated to Bobby Barnes and how he went from being one of the most respected citizens of the town who decided to help with missionary work in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina, which led to his downward spiral and eventually becoming the town drunk.  In true Coffey fashion, even in There Will be Stars, you will need to read that one chapter in Snow Day to get the rest of the story.  Unfortunately, the prettier picture that is painted for Kayla and the boys in Snow Day doesn’t quite work out that way.  Lots of new findings are brought to light.

Coffey continues to write with such prose that it is hard to ever turn the book away. He is not afraid to write about the darker parts of today’s world.  With each book he tackles something new and this one is no exception.  Readers will be shocked to learn about Laura Beth’s unfortunate heaven with regard to what she wakes up to and continual ending.  Readers will also be shocked to find out who has been stuck in the loop the longest and who actually sends those messages from God.

Aside from being a great suspense/thriller, this book also has great redemption qualities. Finding the truth of your life and changing what you need to in order to make amends is always a great part of his stories.  If you never have read a book by Billy Coffey, you really need to start now.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Author: Susie Finkbeiner

Publisher: Kregel

Release Date: October 27, 2015

Ever so often you discover a book that is so wonderfully written that it could be a classic in its own right. A Cup of Dust is such a book!

Pearl Spence has been enduring the dust bowl in Red River, Oklahoma for over two years of her ten on this earth. She remembers the times when everyone had plenty, but now she sees everyone suffering.  Her family is fortunate because her father is the sheriff and has a steady income, but all of the share croppers have to rely on the government relief trucks and handouts because of the cursed earth.  Pearl’s world gets even more distraught when a stranger jumps from the train.  Somehow he knows her name and tries to make her think that her family is not what she has known all her life.  She tries to avoid him, but somehow he keeps showing up in her life claiming that he is going to teach her the truth.  But does the truth really matter?

Susie Finkbeiner has spun a master tale dealing with the dust bowl era. While reading this book, my husband’s grandmother who had survived the dust bowl in northwest Texas passed away.  I remember her recounting stories of the dust bowl from stuffing towels under the cracks in the doors and hanging wet blankets over the windows that made the houses stuffy.  She even talked about when her younger sister was born that they would put her in a clean bassinet and two hours later when they took her out there was a silhouette with half an inch of dust around it.  Finkbeiner brought all of these stories back into my head while reading her book.  She even captures events like jackrabbit roundups and the government paying ranchers to kill their cows.  This is such an undocumented era of our history that I’m glad she took it on to bring it to life.

From the opening phrase, I knew this book was destined to grab my attention. The prose throughout was astounding.  Told from ten year old Pear’s perspective, I connected immediately with her.  Her struggle to be more of an adult was evident throughout the book.  Yet, she still longed to be a child and to be loved.  The hardships are brilliantly depicted by the characters, but not stereotypically.  I would equate this novel to Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath concerning this time in history.  I would love to see this come to the silver screen one day!