There’s a meme going around Facebook right now that encapsulates why I’m not really a fan of Christmas romances:
So I was a little apprehensive about signing up to Darlene L Turner’s review team to read and review Explosive Christmas Showdown, her latest title from Love Inspired Suspense. After all, Christmas is right there in the title …
But when I read the book description, I realised this wasn’t the cliché Hallmark Christian romance the meme is mocking. Explosive Christmas Showdown starts with a bang:
And the pace doesn’t let up until the final page.
It was the perfect blend of all the components that go to making up a great romance.
There was Olive Wells, an intelligence analyst for the federal police in Ottawa – I always like a professional woman who is good at her job. There was Zac Turner, her ex-fiancé, who is also a law enforcement professional – who is immediately loveable enough that I wondered why they ever broke up.
There is Zika, Zac’s K-9 partner in policing – I am always suspicious of a man who doesn’t like animals, so a dog handler is a perfect occupation for a romance hero. And there is the evildoer: the Jingle Bell Bomber, someone from Olive’s past with vengeance on their mind.
Olive and Zac used to be together, so I enjoyed finding out more about their history and why they broke up when they are so evidently a great match (yes, I always enjoy a good reunion romance, especially in shorter fiction like Love Inspired, as long as there is a good reason for them breaking up in the first place. In this case, there was).
Ziva was lovely. I’m more of a cat person than a dog person, but even I want a Ziva of my own. The suspense was excellent. While we’re made aware early on that the bomber knows Olive, their identity isn’t obvious, which adds to the tension. And there is plenty of tension, both from the bombs and the romance.
All in all, Explosive Christmas Showdown has everything I enjoy in a novel, set in a snowy December in Ontario (so nothing like the sunny Christmases I experience living in New Zealand).
Recommended for fans of Christian romantic suspense.
Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.
About Darlene L Turner
Darlene L. Turner is an award-winning author and lives with her husband, Jeff in Ontario, Canada. Her love of suspense began when she read her first Nancy Drew book. She’s turned that passion into her writing and believes readers will be captured by her plots, inspired by her strong characters, and moved by her inspirational message.
Find Darlene L Turner online at:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter
About Explosive Christmas Showdown
as the presents go tick…tick…boom.
With criminal investigative analyst Olive Wells at the center of a bomber’s dangerous game, she’ll do anything to catch the culprit—even work with her ex-fiancé and his K-9 detector dog. But with the Christmas rampage drawing ever closer, Zac Turner’s convinced the attacks are personal. Can they piece together their ties to the bomber…before another gift explodes?
You can find Explosive Christmas Showdown online at:
Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads
