The Fifth Daughter of Thorn Ranch

Author: Julia Brewer Daily

Publisher: Admission Press, Inc.

Release Date: November 1, 2022

Unique story set amongst scenic South Texas.

Emma Rosales is the heir to her family’s ranch, The Thorn. As owners of the largest ranch in Texas, each generation of Rosales produce only one child, a daughter who inherits and runs the ranch. For five generations this pattern has continued, and Emma is next in line, but not sure she wants the life set out for her. While obtaining her veterinarian’s degree at Texas A&M University, Emma begins to wonder what it would be like to settle down in a small town with her own vet practice, but she still returns home after graduation. One day while riding out on the ranch, her favorite horse breaks his leg, and she must put him down and walk back to the ranch house. But what she discovers along the way will not only prevent her return home but change everything she knew about the ranch she has spent her life on.

This book turned into nothing that I expected. I was intrigued by the setting of Southwest Texas, which is near the area I live and have traveled through much of it, so I always enjoy books set close to home. I’m not sure what I thought I would get into, but this was very different than what I thought it would be. That said, I still enjoyed the story of Emma and how she went from heir apparent to captive amongst an almost primitive tribe. The story was written very well and believable given the different story lines between Emma and her mother Josie. I also enjoyed the switchover to Kai when Emma become sick and turned into a shell of herself. The ending, while partly sad due to what is implied by Kai working on the ranch, was still an overly happy ending with two people that seemed destined to be together.

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

100 Disney Adventures of a Lifetime

Author: Marcy Carriker Smothers

Publisher: National Geographic

Release Date: October 25, 2022

The essential guide for the hard-core Disney Park fanatic!

National Geographic has published an amazing and colorful guide to adventures in Disney Parks for the most seasoned Disney Park traveler as well as the first timer. This book provides adventurers with different options at all parks, not just those in the United States. The book is separated into five categories: 1) Fun for All Ages, 2) Activities for the Tame and Daring, 3) Vacations and Excursions Around the Globe, 4) From Counter Service to White Tablecloth Dining, and 5) Once-in-a-Lifetime Splurges.

For me, I know the Florida parks pretty well and the California parks decently, but there are whole other experiences I had no idea existed in Paris, Tokyo and Shanghai. If Disney Parks are your thing, you need to get this book so that you can plan out those once or twice in a lifetime trips to the other Parks. Whether for a ride, show, or dining experience, this book has you covered!

The pictures throughout this book are incredible and make readers want to get on a plane today to try out several of these adventurers. Remember, you’re never too young or old to being an adventure today!

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

Where the Road Bends

Author: Rachel Fordham

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: June 7, 2022

Where the Road Bends is a perfect blend of romance, twists, and a journey of hope.

Norah King has one goal, to save her family’s land. It’s 1880 in Iowa and the land is all she has left. To save the land, she might have to marry a man she doesn’t love or know very well. Right before she is to be married, she finds a man injured on her property and tries to help him. This one act is enough to endanger the life she has worked for and change her future, maybe for the better.

Have you ever read a book where the characters win your heart from the very first chapter? This book did that for me, Norah was able to pull at my heartstrings and had me rooting for her to find the love her heart wanted. Noah and Quincy had the perfect witty banter to keep a smile on my face while turning the pages. This was a straightforward historical romance with not much mystery or anything else to it. Fans of this genre will not want to pass this one up.

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

The Apostle’s Sister

Author: Angela Hunt

Publisher: Bethany Hosue

Release Date: June 1, 2022

Hunt always amazes with her Biblical fiction!

Aya has enjoyed her life as a merchant’s daughter in Tarsus. Her Jewish family is well respected among both Jews and gentiles. She has enjoyed her life of singing and learning the Torah scrolls with her brother Sha’ul before he moved to Jerusalem to become a temple scholar. But all that changes when her father decides to have her betrothed to another scholar. She and her brother have both of their weddings in the same week and soon she moves to Jerusalem as well. There she hears of the workings of a man named Yeshua, but believes like her brother that he must be stopped. After Yeshua is executed, her brother seeks out his followers to shut down the sect known as The Way, but on the way to Damascus, he has an encounter that changes his life forever. Aya cannot believe that her brother has been converted and doesn’t know who to respond when he sends her letters. Soon after her husband and parents die and she feels completely abandoned, but there is only one who can save her.

This is biblical fiction at its best. It’s very subjective as Paul’s sister and son are mentioned by reference only in the bible, but it is a great work to craft a story as seen through the eyes of his sister. Hunt placed many of Paul’s well-known stories throughout the book and gave some backstory on his time in Tarsus as well so that readers can understand how he was born a Roman citizen. Great job with the history of that era as well as incorporating common characters. One of the top reads of the year!

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

Dark Rivers to Cross

Author: Lynne Reeves

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Release Date: November 8, 2022

An explosive and surprising read that shows the lengths a mother is willing to go to to protect her children.

Lena Blackwell has spent all her time trying to keep her sons safe and teach them all they need to know to take over the river lodge they own in Northern Maine. Their past is something she can’t let them discover. Luke has been content to work at the lodge, but Jonah wants to know about their biological parents and is determined to find out who they are and where they came from. Some secrets are best left in the dark and this one might end up being more dangerous than any of them could have imagined.

It’s not often I come across a book that surprises me from so many different angles but this one hit all the right buttons for me. The way Reeves wrote Lena as a mother trying to do whatever is necessary to protect her children really hit home for me. The love a mother has for her children is like none other and the emotional challenges that raises is powerful. Even though her sons are grown, it is still hard to worry about their wellbeing and if the past will come back to haunt them. The way the brothers are at odds with wanting to find out what about their past plays into the tension of the story and kept me intrigued. The ending was well written as well as the whole story and I would highly recommend this book to fans of psychological thrillers.

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

Dark Fall

Authors: Brian Andrews & Jeffrey Wilson

Series: The Shepherd Series #3

Publisher: Tyndale House

Release Date: November 8, 2022

The powerhouse duo of Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson have done it again with Dark Fall! One of the most action-packed, adrenaline laced thrillers I have read this year.

The Shepherds are called in on a mission after a village in Peru is found in ashes leading them to question if it is from a human weapon or some higher power. Jedidiah Johnson is the leader of the group and as they head to investigate rumors of a new energy-based weapon, tensions mount as the weapon is unlike anything any of them have ever dealt with. The team heads to Hong Kong to try and find a scientist that helped create the weapon but what they learn from Dr. Zhao is that things are worse than they imagined.

Dark Fall is the third book in The Shepherd Series book and each time I pick one of these books up I shouldn’t be surprised by how amazing they are but am always blown away by the writing of Andrews and Wilson. The way these two come together to write these military thrillers keep me on the edge of my seat and up way past my bedtime. Jedidiah Johnson is the perfect protagonist to lead these stories. In a way he reminds me of Hondo from SWAT, or Gibbs from NCIS; a great leader and all-around fantastic character.

Each book in the series has proven to get better and better with more explosive plots, characters that pull at the heartstrings and so much more. This story had all the right points and the best tension I have read in a very long time with none of the normal drudgery that so many books have included lately. There was not a scene or chapter that didn’t feel right or pulled me out of the story. This is a very different kind of book than a lot out right now and I love the feel of the unknown coming from what is written within these pages. I recommend this book for fans of fast action, military, and supernatural thrillers. I do also recommend reading the whole series to get the most out of the story.

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

Honor’s Refuge

Author: Hallee Bridgeman

Series: Love & Honor #3

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: November 1, 2022

The final book in the Love and Honor series will give fans a satisfying end to a series that surprised me from the beginning.

Melissa Braxton was just a young child when she saw her father kill her mother. She was then taken and placed away from her sister, Lola, and grew up trying to help others dealing with abusive relationships by becoming a family therapist with her own domestic abuse shelter. Phil Osbourne has had a hard time finding a purpose for his life since losing his leg in the line of duty. He learns of Melissa trying to find her sister she lost contact with when she was little and finally feels a purpose for his life again. Making it his mission to help her ends up putting them all in danger with a cartel coming after them.

The Love and Honor series took me by surprise! This was the first series I had read by Hallee Bridgeman and wasn’t sure what to expect. I will say that I was pleased with how well the series played out. The characters in each book meshed well and had me glued to the edge of my seat to see what would happen. Of the three in the series, this was probably my favorite. There were a few moments that slowed the pace of the story but overall, it read quick and kept me engaged. There was something about Melissa that grabbed me from the very beginning, and I really wanted to see her happy and successful. The chemistry between her and Phil was right on point and not too over the top. With romantic suspense stories, I love the dynamic between romance and suspense and how it can move the story along. This is the type of series that I would recommend being read in order to get the most out of each book and the series as a whole. Fans of romantic suspense will really enjoy this series.

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

Walt’s Apprentice

Author: Dick Nunis

Publisher: Disney Editions

Release Date: October 11, 2022

Equal parts memoir, history, and business leadership! A terrific read!

Dick Nunis has led a very interesting life. He was a high-level football player in high school with some great coaching mentors and was able to obtain a scholarship to play at USC in college with dreams of making a professional career out of the sport. But an unexpected injury sidelined his dreams and coming out of college took a job working as a supervisor trainer for the release of a new amusement park called Disneyland. This first job would change his life and eventually become his career. As one of the original workers for Disneyland, he had the opportunity to work alongside Walt Disney the man for a decade. Dick rose through the ranks of leadership and eventually become the chief of Disney World Resort parks. His experience included opening Disneyland, the 1964 Worlds Fair, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM Studios, EuroDisney, and Disney Tokyo. In his memoir, Dick shares his memories and life lessons for others to enjoy.

I’m typically a little skeptical about picking up a memoir of someone that I haven’t really heard much about, but sometimes those are the best stories out there. That proved true in Walt’s Apprentice. I love how this book was equal parts memoir, Disney history, and business leadership! The chapters are short and read fast but contain lots of information held within. My favorite part concerned the history of the Disney Parks and how they were developed and the process that took place. There was so much that I didn’t know about and loved getting to discover it. It was like the magic behind the magic. Plus understanding the challenges and obstacles that they had to overcome to make it what it is today was very inspiring.

If you’re a fan of Disney or just like discovering new things, give this book a try! Or maybe give it as a gift!

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

Targeted

Authors: Lynette Eason, Lynn H. Blackburn, & Natalie Walters

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: November 1, 2022

What’s better than a new romantic suspense story by one of Christian fiction’s best? How about three new stories by three of the top writers in Christian romantic suspense!!!

Targeted brings together three short stories by three of the top writers in Christian fiction. The first story, On the Run, gives us IT Specialist Daria Nevsky, an FBI agent who is an expert hacker and is now being hunted by someone. She tries to hide while figuring out who wants her dead.

The second story, Deadly Objective, shows physical therapist Emily Dixon and Secret Service Agent Liam Harper, who have tried to keep their relationship strictly professional, which becomes difficult when a killer targets the son of the vice president.

In the third story, Caught in the Crosshairs, CIA officer Claudia Gallegos and army officer Ari Blackman are not close after Claudia is shown to be part of a murder against a Saudi Prince. Ari’s trust has been broken and that is hard for him to get back but in order to keep America safe, but they will have to find a way to work together.

Lynette Eason, Lynn H. Blackburn and Natalie Walters are three of the top writers in Christian fiction, and team up they produce a collection of stories that fans will fall in love with. I always love when a writer finds a way to write romantic suspense in a manner that leans a little heavier on suspense than romance and these three have made a fantastic novel that was hard to put down. Each story has its own plot and characters, but they are each individual and entertaining in their own way. Each of these authors are fantastic at what they do and putting them together for this novella collection will be the perfect read for fans of romantic suspense.

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

Sundown

Author: Susan May Warren

Series: Sky King Ranch #3

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: November 1, 2022

Warren hits it out of the park once again with Sundown to conclude a fantastic series readers will love!

Once thing Colt Kingston is best at is spotting someone trying to lie to him. As a former Delta Operative, he has many skills and has used them in many different dangerous situations. He is suspicious of Tae, the woman taking care of his father at Sky King Ranch. His suspicions of her, up until men come looking for her at the ranch. The secrets she holds go much deeper than Colt would have predicted when he finds out she knows the antidote to a plague that could threaten the whole world. Colt is going to have to work with his brothers to protect both Tae and the rest of the country.

Susan May Warren is a master with Romantic Suspense and blows it out of the park with the conclusion to the fantastic Sky King Ranch Book. These characters are fun, strong, and full of all the action you would want from a great romantic suspense read. The character of Colt is probably my favorite of all the Kingston brothers, just the way his story unfolded made the story click in the best way for me. Tae had so much intrigue and mystery that I loved how her story played out as well. With these two as main characters, the pages of this book fly. To be honest, there isn’t much I didn’t like about this story, it was a classic Susan May Warren Romantic Suspense making for a great weekend read. If you are a fan of her writing or just love romantic suspense novels, I would highly recommend this series.

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