Cherish

Author: Tracy Wolff

Series: Crave #6

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Release Date: May 30, 2023

The sixth and final book in the Crave series wraps things up on a crazy, fun fantasy series!

It has been three months since Grace and her crew defeated Cyrus and tried to have a shot at a normal life. But like everything else Grace has been involved in, that is not going to be the case. All of the Courts are falling apart, the Vampire Court is without a king, Dragon court missing it’s heart, and Grace herself is in charge of the Gargoyle Court having just come into the supernatural recently. Now, the team must return to the Shadow Realm to try and save their friend and hopefully Grace can save her relationship with Hudson before the Crone comes to collect.

I started with this series on Book 1 and couldn’t wait to see how it all wrapped up with this final book. I really enjoyed the series and all the characters but felt a little let down by the way it all wrapped up. Each book had so much action, suspense, romance, drama and more that I was hooked throughout each 500 plus page book. The problem with having a book of this length is you have so many threads to tie up and it becomes almost impossible to answer every little question readers might have. Each book in the series had so much going on and this book fell flat on pulling me in like the others did. At times it felt rushed, but it also felt like a good hundred pages could have been taken out and not affected the outcome of the book. On the other hand, another hundred pages could have been added to answer questions. While this wasn’t my favorite, I am happy to have wrapped up the series. Even though this is labeled as a Young Adult I wouldn’t recommend it to readers that are too young because of all the adult themes and language.

3 Days to Live

Author: James Patterson

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Release Date: February 14, 2023

3 new short stories full of suspense and thrills!

3 Days to Live – When a CIA agent and her newlywed husband are poisoned on their honeymoon, she has 3 days to figure out who wants her dead.

Women and Children First – When an Army Special Ops officer is told to either execute his entire family or they will be tortured and killed, he is torn between saving them or having to kill them himself.

The Housekeepers – A doctor finds out someone is targeting end of life patients and the Russians are involved. When the doctor ends up murdered, those that work for her end up trying to find those responsible and staying alive.

In usual James Patterson fashion, these stories read fast and take very little effort. James Patterson is the Number 1 selling author in the world for a reason, his books are fast reads that don’t take a lot of thought. These stories are each suspenseful in their own way with good characters and storylines. None of the stories tie in with the others and can be read independently of the others, so if you are looking for a story that flows through to the next this is not it. If you are a fan of James Patterson these will be fun reads for you.

A Cloud by Day, A Fire by Night

Author: A.W. Tozer

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Release Date: March 5, 2019

Whatever problems may arise in your life, day or night, you can always find God’s will for you.

Everyone that follows Christ wants to know what God’s will for their life is, no matter how firm you are in your faith it is a question we all ask. At different stages in our lives that might change, and we have to be open to following what is in store for us. Tozer uses sermons from his church in Chicago to show the will of God and gives us examples of difficult decisions that will help guide us.

This is one of the few non-fiction books I have read that I wanted to go back and read again and again because of the authenticity of the words on the pages. When struggling with what to do and if we are on the right track to following God’s will Tozer gives us a great tool to keep in our arsenal in dealing with the ups and downs of life. I recommend this book to everyone going through their spiritual journey.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

You Make it Feel like Christmas

Author: Toni Shiloh

Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Release Date: September 5, 2023

A quick and fun holiday story that will get readers in the holiday spirit!

When Starr returns home for the holidays to attend her sister’s wedding to her ex-boyfriend, she thinks that is going to be the hardest part, that and keeping the secret of losing her job. The tension with the rest of her family is high and when her brother’s best friend, Waylon Emmerson shows up, the attraction is making her think it might not be all bad coming home for the holidays.

If you are looking for a quirky holiday romance that can be read in a day and not involve a lot of deep thinking, this will be the book for you. It was a little too much at times with all the characters’ names and holiday type references, but if you didn’t think too much about that it made for an enjoyable story. This is the type of holiday story that can be quickly read and enjoyed. The family drama that Starr had to deal with made the story more entertaining and her involvement with Waylon was written just right. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a clean and enjoyable read.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

With Every Memory

Author: Janine Rosche

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: June 6, 2023

One of the best books I’ve read all year! The characters and emotion I felt reading this were next to none!

It’s been ten months since a tragic accident caused Lori Mendenhall to lose her memories of the last nine years. As she leaves the rehab center to come back to a home she has no memory of, she feels little memories trying to surface and secrets coming to light that could change everything for her.

I picked this book up fully expecting to skim through it and not enjoy or remember much about it, to my surprise I couldn’t put it down and it has stuck with me for a while now. I read this in a single day and by the time I turned the last page I was enthralled with this story! I have got to stop doubting contemporary novels; they turn out to be some of the best written ones I have read in a very long time. Each new chapter revealed a secret or new memory, adding meaning to the characters and story. This is the first book I’ve read by Rosche and it for sure won’t be the last. I recommend this book to anyone that wants a good contemporary read with deep meaning and a love story to boot.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.

Bad Blood

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Series: The Naturals #4

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Release Date: November 21, 2017

The final book in The Natural series ties it all together and left me smiling at a job well done but sad for the series to end!

Cassie Hobbes has been a part of the FBI’s Natural program long enough to experience some crazy events and even work on uncovering the truth about what happened to her mother. She thought she knew what happened the night her mother was murdered but now everything she thought she knew turned out to not be true. Her mother is alive and the people that have her are more dangerous than she could have imagined. Cassie must work carefully with the rest of the team to try and uncover the secrets of the mysterious group before anyone else winds up in their crosshairs.

Wow, this series went out with a bang, I loved following Cassie and the team as they worked to help the FBI solve crimes using their special skills. Each book had great suspense and characters that I couldn’t help but love. The connection I felt with these characters was strong and I felt really sad knowing the series was coming to an end even though the ending was very well done.

Jennifer Lynn Barnes has become one of my new favorite authors because she can craft a story and characters that are unique and enjoyable. The way things all came together by the end of this story and tied back through each book was great, I couldn’t read it fast enough. I recommend this book to readers that have read the first three and love good suspenseful series.

All In

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Series: The Naturals #3

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers

Release Date: November 3, 2015

The third book in The Naturals series has the team working on an active case and the stakes have never been higher, making the suspense the best yet!

Now that Cassie and the Naturals team are allowed to work active cases, they are called in to help with murders in Las Vegas. Just before they leave, Cassie finds out that there has been a break in her mom’s case. While her mind should be focused on helping solve the murders in Las Vegas, she can’t help but think about her mom and what the new development could mean. While in Vegas, they are trying to stop a serial killer that is using a different method every time he kills. There is a secret message in the way he kills, and it will take all the skills the Naturals possess to stop him.

I loved the new development that Cassie found out involving her mom’s case and how it affected her in all that she did. This book brought a little more depth to both Michael and Sloane. Readers get to find out a little more about them and how they came to be in the program which I enjoyed. The series focuses on Cassie, but the other characters are what bring the story alive. This is more of an ensemble than fully focused on one main character throughout. Each book takes where the previous one left off and continues the story. I’m trying to find something I didn’t like about this book and series and I can’t, I love that I’ve found another author that I enjoy everything she’s written so far. I would recommend this series to young adult readers that enjoy mystery, suspense and great characters.

Killer Instinct

Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Series: The Naturals #2

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readres

Release Date: November 4, 2014

The final book in The Natural series ties it all together and left me smiling at a job well done but sad for the series to end!

One Last Kill

Author: Robert Dugoni

Series: Tracy Crosswhite #10

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Release Date: October 3, 2023

Another Tracy Crosswhite edition that is sure to leave readers satisfied and yearning for more Tracy action!

Tracy Crosswhite oversees the cold case division for the Seattle Police department and has just been tasked with reopening the Route 99 serial killer case. It’s been three decades since the killer of thirteen women stopped killing and left no further clues. Now, Tracy is in charge of bringing closure to the families after all these years. With so many cases to investigate, she asks for help and gets it in the form of the former task force leader, her nemesis, Captain Johnny Nolasco. The two have always had a tense relationship and being forced to work together on the case he couldn’t solve makes Tracy an even deeper thorn in Nolasco’s side. As they start to investigate, a new body shows up with the same MO as the previous thirteen. Tracy and Nolasco must work together to find and stop Seattle’s old threat before he takes more lives.

This is the tenth book in the Tracy Crosswhite series and each time I enjoy seeing what case Tracy is going to have to solve and how the rest of the characters will be involved. The first book in the series is still my absolute favorite, not sure if any will ever top it. This book was fun though because we got to see a fun dynamic between Tracy and her captain who has always had it out for her. Having them work together on a case that has haunted him for years was a brilliant writing move by Dugoni. For me, Dugoni is one of the very best suspense thriller writers I have read, I know when I pick up one of his books I am going to enjoy the entire story.

Fans of the Crosswhite series will enjoy the back and forth banter between the two detectives and how they go about solving this cold case. I would highly recommend reading this series in order to get the most out of it. I will absolutely be reading as many Tracy Crosswhite stories as Dugoni will write. Job well done.

Lightlark

Author: Alex Aster

Series: Lightlark Saga #1

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Release Date: August 23, 2022

A new fantasy full of twists and turns with an ending that will leave readers aching for more!

The island of Lightlark only appears once every 100 years and only for 100 days. During that time, the rulers of the six realms come to play a game to try and end the curse set upon them all. To end the curse, one of the rulers must die. Isla Crown is the ruler of the Wildling realm and knows that she is going to have to lie, cheat and do anything and everything she can to break the curse and save her people and everyone else.

I picked Lightlark up after hearing lots of great things about it from Instagram and was hoping for a fun new fantasy read. While this was an overall good story, it took far too long for me to get into it. I didn’t connect with the characters until a good way in; once I did get into it, the story was good and the ending left me anxious for the next in the series.

Isla had a hard time going into the Centennial and all that she went through made her a likable character to me. While this was good, I can’t say it was great. I do want to see what happens in the next book, but I felt it took too long to get moving and I almost lost interest. If you are a reader who enjoys fantasy this will be a good one to read but make sure you have plenty of time to devote to reading it or you will miss out on some of the important details.