Willow

Author: Ronie Kendig

Series: Metcalfe Family #2

Publisher: Task Force Press

Release Date: April 22, 2022

Ronie Kendig has out done herself!! Williow is a hard story that is raw, emotional, and filled with more page turning tension than any book I’ve read this year! Do not miss this amazing addition to the Metcalfe Family!

Willow Metcalfe is not like the rest of her family; she has found her own place in the world helping survivors of trafficking through the healing process. When the compound she works at is attacked by the Nigerian Mafia, she is taken hostage and is thrown firsthand into the horrors she has only heard about. One of her captors turns out to be working against the evil men; Chijioke “Chiji” Okorie has worked with Willow’s brother for years. Now, he has returned home to try and find his sister who was taken years ago. Chiji goes undercover in the trafficking ring to try and find her and bring her home when he finds Willow. Having seen her in a picture with her family, he has thought of her often over the years and knew she was the one he would one day marry. At first Willow doesn’t trust this man with the group that has taken her, but something about him changes her thoughts and she begins to trust him and hope that he can be the one to help save her before it is too late.

Ronie Kendig is really amazing me with this new series. I have enjoyed her writing for years, but this is my favorite series of hers by far. The way she has written the characters in these books have hooked me faster than most authors have ever been able to and kept me glued to the pages with all the feels for what is happening. I am deeply invested with the characters both from Stone and now Willow. This second book in the series was darker and harder material to read about but it was handled in a way that readers will get a sense of the darkness in the world without feeling like anything has gone too far to make it not appropriate to read. This is a book dealing with hard topics and the normal, Christian fiction readers that go for Ronie Kendig and her writing may have a hard time with this one because of the evil portrayed but nothing within the pages made it too much for me. It was packed with tension in all the right ways to keep my heart pounding and emotions high for these characters. It doesn’t always have to be a gun battle or high-speed car chase to make it a thriller or create tension, simple acts can do that and Ronie Kendig accomplished that in all the right places in this book. I recommend this book to readers that are looking for a tension laced action packed read that will be hard to put down and oh so good to think about long after the final page is finished.

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

The Catch

Author: Lisa Harris

Series: US Marshals #3

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: April 5, 2022

The third book in the US Marshals series is the best yet, wrapping things up nicely but leaving me aching for more from a series I’ve loved!

US Marshals Madison James and Jonas Quinn are back on the case after an attempt is made on a judge’s life. Now they are in search of a missing woman and child that might be in danger connected to the murdered wife of the judge. They thought their hardest case was behind them, but with each clue Madison and Jonas turn up, they discover a tangled web that goes deeper than they could have imagined. Not only do they have a young child and missing woman to find, but they are also on the lookout for the person who shot Madison and left her for dead. The possibility of coming face-to-face with the person that killed her husband is all that she wants and what terrifies her more than anything.

The Catch was a fun conclusion to a great series. For me, I loved the way the story played out finding Madison in danger but keeping her as a strong female protagonist for the story. It can be easy in a story like this to lose sight of the fact that she has trauma she is working through but must be strong for her job and those around her. Playing the part of damsel in distress would have been easy enough, but Madison stayed strong and didn’t want those around her hurt. She used all the pent-up anxiety and energy she had to propel her forward in helping others and being able to solve her greatest mystery. Lisa Harris did a fabulous job of writing these characters and this storyline in a way that kept me engaged and feeling as if I’m following along with these characters as they face many challenges on the job and in their personal lives. This book had a fabulous mix of suspense and romance at just the right times, I never felt like the romance was too much and stayed on the edge of my seat with the tension from all that was happening. I would recommend this series to readers that love following characters on adventures and seeing them grow closer with each book. I would recommend reading the series in order though to get the most out of it and not miss important parts needed to enjoy the most.

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

Dark Angel

Author: Brian Andrews & Jeffrey Wilson

Series: Shepherds Series #2

Publisher: Tyndale

Release Date: April 5, 2022

The second book in the Shepherds Series is even darker, more sinister and thrilling than the first! Readers will be entranced with this fantastic supernatural thriller!

After his first mission with the Shepherds, Jeddiah Johnson returns to Nashville for extensive training with the group. At the training, he meets a whole new group training to be Shepherds working in a state-of-the-art facility. Many have been training for a while and when Jed comes in as the new team leader while technically being a rookie, several feathers are ruffled. Jed tries to fix the team dynamic, but when he starts having visions of an attack overseas, the team are sent over to stop the threat before they finish their training. Jed and the team go up against their biggest threat yet, Nicholas Woland, once a Shepherd himself who now works against them spreading chaos and knowing how the Shepherds work makes it easier for him to defeat them. Jed and the Shepherds race against Woland and his sinister plot to stop hundreds from being taken out and evil to win. With their team still in training, they will have to work together and trust one another more than ever in order to win this battle against good and evil.

The first book in the Shepherds series laid the groundwork for the supernatural battle within the pages. Dark Angel picks up where the first left off and takes it even deeper into the world of evil we live in and how many of us walk around oblivious to the sinister and dark attacks we are under daily with angels around to help keep us safe. I loved the character of Jed and how he knew he needed help to fulfill the missions he was sent on. Even though he is a highly trained Navy SEAL, he knows that the skills needed to succeed are more than he alone possesses. There is a lot to unpack within the pages of this novel, but for me, it was well written with a fast plot, characters I wanted to see succeed and a lot of moments that left me with some good questions to ponder about life, spiritual matters and so much more. This is a book that will leave readers thinking about more than just the work of fiction. That said, it is a work of fiction and needs to be read as such, it isn’t a bible study or writing in that way. I recommend this book to those that love supernatural thrillers that are going to get your heart rate up and be hard to put down.

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

Clean Air

Author: Sarah Blake

Publisher: Algonquin Books

Release Date: February 8, 2022

What a great take on climate change with a dystopian twist!

Throughout the years, there has been disaster after disaster after disaster. Wildfires, floods, and earthquakes ravaged the earth, but no one expected the one disaster from the trees that killed many of the people. The trees decided to express so much pollen that people couldn’t breathe. Those that were trapped outside never had a chance. People huddled in the hospital sealing off the outside to protect everyone from the pollen. But people evolved and created new sealed houses with automated vehicles for transport to keep everyone safe. Until a new threat emerged.

Izabel has grown into a state of mediocrity with her family. She lost her mother just before the pollening and found purpose helping people, but she eventually settled down with someone she met and they had a kid. While he works from home as a robot operator and their daughter Cami goes to school, Izabel tries to find happiness in old news apps and isolation chambers, but struggles to find purpose. When one of the houses in their town is slit open one night, all the occupant’s die, causing the first murder in several years. This shocks the town to its core and sends several families to put in transfers to new locations. The it happens again. And again. The most shocking part is that when Cami sleeps, she has conversations with someone that knows where the serial killer is, but who would believe them? One night while on a ride, Izabel comes across the killer as he has just cut open the protective seal of a house. When she tries to help the family, Izabel finds herself in a whirlwind of activity that she never anticipated.

This has unexpectedly become on of my favorite books for the year. I’ve always enjoyed the dysptopian genre, but it has become quite predictable over the years. I’m glad to see such a unique take with Clean Air. From the premise of the book to the characters, I loved it all. I was hooked from the beginning and just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. There wasn’t really a slow moment throughout. Izabel is an interesting main character who has had some bad experiences and seems to have lost her purpose, which I think is a lot more common than people realize. I loved tagging along with her to try and figure out the mind of the killer. I do think the ending could have been developed a little more, but who knows, maybe this could be a series?

There is some language throughout the book that would make it more appropriate for mature audiences, but it didn’t take away from the story. I recommend this to readers who enjoy stories about climate change and those who enjoy the dystopian genre.

The Souls of Lost Lake

Author: Jaime Jo Wright

Publisher: Bethany House

Release Date: April 5, 2022

Wow! Wow! Wow! Jaime Jo Wright has outdone herself! The Souls of Lost Lake pulled me in deeper than the waters of Lost Lake with a magnificent story that will stay with me long after the last page.

Wren Blythe has a complicated life. She lives with her father, working ministry at a youth camp in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. She joins in the search for a little girl who has gone missing in the area causing rumors of decades old murderess, Ava Coons, could be involved. In the 1930s, Ava Coons comes out of the woods carrying an ax and covered in blood. Her family’s cabin is found burned to the ground with blood around the ground but no sight of any of her family. At thirteen years old, Ava doesn’t remember what happened to her family and the townspeople blame her for their deaths. Years pass before another murder hits the town and Ava is the prime suspect. Decades separate Ava and Wrene, but there is a wickedness in town that will bring them together to save the lives of those they love.

Jaime Jo Wright is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. I was slow to pick up her books because she writes part of her stories in the past and historical fiction has not been one of my top go to genres. But when you write in the way Jamie Jo Wright does, it doesn’t really matter if it is past, present, or future; the story is so good it takes time out of the equation and puts the reader deep within the story. I am finding with each of her books that I read it is better than the last and The Souls of Lost Lake is no exception. Both the past and the present timelines are so intriguing with characters readers will have no choice but to fall in love with and want to desperately find out how their story turns out. I have never enjoyed historical stories much, just hard for me to get into and relate to the characters, but here I have fallen in love with even the secondary characters and can’t wait to turn the pages and see what happens. I started this one while in a reading slump, not even wanting to read for a few weeks, which is very unusual for me, but this book turned me around and I flew through the pages devouring the story within. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great mystery that will be hard to put down and accomplish anything else. One of the rare books I wish I could give more than five stars.

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

Looking for Leroy

Author: Melody Carlson

Publisher: Revell

Release Date: March 1, 2022

A quirky fun look at second chance romances that is clean, and fun, for readers as a quick read.

Brynna Phillips has been burned one too many times by men and wants nothing more to do with them. She is a schoolteacher on summer break and decides to go with her friend on a camping vacation in Sonoma Wine Country. The further they go into the wine country, the more it reminds Brynna of the teenage summer romance she had with a boy named Leroy. It’s been almost 30 years since she has seen him, but she remembers his family had a vineyard in Sonoma. Her friend convinces her that she should try and find her long lost love and see if there is still a spark there before totally giving up on love forever.

If you are looking for a fun, quirky romance that is clean and sweet, Looking for Leroy is just the book for you. Carlson’s books always have a light, easy aspect to them that you can just sit and enjoy without the burden of trying to solve a mystery. Throughout a lot of the book, I found myself scratching my head at the way Brynna acted, what made her think that after 30 years Leroy would be the same type of man she fell in love with all those years ago, I know many people that are not the same as they were when I knew them long ago. She was also a very wishy-washy character; I couldn’t decide if I liked her and wanted her to succeed or not. Other than that, I enjoyed the book, especially the last half which moved much quicker than the first half. I would recommend this book to readers that enjoy contemporary romance stories with a fun, happy ending.

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

Blood Scion

Author: Deborah Falaye

Series: Blood Scion #1

Publisher: Harper Teen

Release Date: March 8, 2022

An interesting debut that was brutal, bloody and full of action and complex characters.

Sloane lives with her grandfather after her mother disappeared. She has a deep secret inside that if revealed would be the end of her. She is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods. If her emotions run high, she can incinerate her enemies; so, keeping her powers hidden has kept her alive while the Lucis’, those that rule the country, hunt the scions down and kill them. On her fifteenth birthday, Sloan is drafted into the Lucis’ army and uses this as a way to get on the inside and destroy them from within before they hurt anyone else she cares about.

Blood Scion is one of those unique books that was a bit of a slow start with the world building but once it got me, I didn’t want to put the book down. This was definitely a dark book at times and not one for a young audience; even though it is marketed as a YA book I would keep this to the older teen market as much as possible with some of the more mature themes. Sloane is an interesting character and developed really well throughout the course of the book. I would love to see more from her in future novels in the series, so I got really excited when I found out this is a duology. The story does wrap up nicely at the end but is left open for more to come when the author decides to expand on this storyline. There were several characters that played smaller roles that I would like to see expansion on their character arc, each of these minor characters really helped pull the story together. While the premise overall was unique to me I did notice hints of other stories throughout, especially the Divergent series, just minor moments here and there that made me think of the other series. Overall, I would recommend this to older teen readers that enjoy a good fantasy read that has lots of action and adventure.

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

The Search for the Astral Dragon

Author: Bryan Davis

Publisher: Wander Press

Release Date: March 8, 2022

A Young Adult novel that has themes of Star Wars and other science fiction novels that is full of action and adventure.

Search for the Astral Dragon follows a young girl, Megan, who is on a search across the planets to find her mother. While searching for her mother, Megan witnesses horrors throughout the planets causing her to join with a group of teens to fight and become a voice for those in need. Together they will race to help each other and those around them before it is too late.

I wanted to like this book, I really did, but I had a really hard time getting into it and staying engaged with the characters and story. I have read others by Bryan Davis and enjoyed them but for some reason couldn’t get into this one. Even though I had trouble getting into this one I do think it is a good one for young readers that are big into science fiction and fantasy type novels. Megan is an intriguing protagonist, if the story had been a little quicker picking up speed to get me engaged, I would have been more likely to keep reading. While it wasn’t the right fit for me, I do believe young readers will enjoy this clean read, which is something I think is important with so many books incorporating mature content while still aimed at a young audience.

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

Count the Night by Stars

Author: Michelle Shocklee

Publisher: Tyndale House

Release Date: March 8, 2022

Terrific historical time-slip centered around the historic Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville!

Tennessee in 1897 was the place to be. The state was celebrating its centennial anniversary and everyone came to Nashville to celebrate at the exposition. Priscilla Nichol’s father was instrumental in bringing the railroad to Tennessee and took full charge of the exhibit, which brought their family to Nashville for the exposition. While there, Priscilla befriends their young carriage driver Luca Moretti and his younger sister Gia. But Nashville, like many large cities, has a dark side that people don’t want to talk about. Priscilla learns that people that run in her family’s circles aren’t always the ones you should keep company with.

Almost seventy years later, Audrey Whitfield is helping her father run the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville. It’s not the crown gem that it once was, but it still has several residents as well as guests. When Ms. Nichols, one of the longtime residents, has a stroke and is admitted to the hospital, Audrey begins going through her personal items and finds a scrapbook from the Centennial Exposition in 1897. The more she goes through the scrapbook, the more she uncovers a mystery of the woman that she never really got to know. Who was she?

There is nothing quite like a good time slip and when both periods deal with historical fiction, you have a very happy reader. Shocklee did a great job tying in major historical events to both timelines with the exposition in 1897 and the hotel fire in 1961. Both storylines were very intriguing and I keep devouring each chapter to discover what was going to happen next. It’s not often that I get that involved in both timelines, but they were interwoven so well that I just had to know what was going to happen! I loved the character growth of both Audrey and Priscilla and really wanted to know more. Great read for springtime!

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

Fires of Edo

Author: Susan Spann

Series: Shinobi Mystery #8

Publisher: Seventh Street Books

Release Date: February 15, 2022

After almost three years, Hiro Hattori and Father Mateo have returned for another mystery!

Upon arriving in Edo to fulfill their task of alerting Iga operatives that they may be in danger of Lord Oda’s uprising, Hiro and Father Mateo get caught up in the fire brigade’s rush to extinguish a burning building before it can spread to other structures. Head of the fire brigade is no other than Hiro’s childhood nemesis from Iga, but he must put feelings aside to warm him of the possible danger. When the remains of a samurai are discovered in the fire, all attention is put on the shop owner who is responsible for the damage and the death. As the penalty in Edo for a negligent fire is death, Father Mateo and Hiro agree to investigate and determine the true cause of the fire to hopefully spare an innocent man’s life.

I have loved this entire series and this installment is no different. What makes these stories so great is the banter between the two main characters. It’s just comical and makes the story move along so well, but the mysteries are always intriguing to keep the reader trying to guess at what the truth is. With colorful supporting characters as always, Spann does a great job introducing new friends as you lose some along the way. The ending made me feel like this could be the end for the series, but I sure hope not. I’ve waited three years just for this one and I hope she manages to pen one or two more before it’s officially over.