Tag: Romantic Suspense

How could they stop the Jingle Bell Bomber's deadly game?

Book Review | Explosive Christmas Showdown by Darlene L Turner

There’s a meme going around Facebook right now that encapsulates why I’m not really a fan of Christmas romances:

A moment of silence for all the big city, suit-wearing guys who are about to get dumped for a small-town guy wearing flannel in a Hallmark Christmas movie this holiday season.

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:

Someone in your office will die today.

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 TurnerDarlene 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

A bomber brings terror to Christmas

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

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

You don't have to control every moment, plan every step. Maybe you just say yes to the doors God opens.

Book Review | Sundown (Sky Ranch #3) by Susan May Warren

I read this series in the wrong order (I read Sunburst before Sunrise, although I did read #3 last). I actually found Sunrise the hardest book to get into, because there were so many character names being mentioned in the early chapters, and it took me a while to work out who the main characters were, and which names were actually bears or dogs.

Sundown starts pretty much where Sunburst left off.

Ranger and are Noemi at Big Sky Ranch with Colt and their Jane Doe, who they have just discovered is Dr Taylor Price, who is somehow connected with the Russian terrorists Dodge and Echo (that’s the heroine, not one of the dogs) fought in Sunrise.

Sundown starts with the premise that Taylor (Tae) is the only person who can prevent a deadly smallpox outbreak because she is the only person to have successfully created a vaccine from an ancient strain the Russians have located. But it’s not a novel about vaccination. It’s a chase novel, as Colt finally reconciles with his brothers and obtains their help to locate the evildoers before they can infect the population with the virus.

I liked the way Sundown built on the plot and character points introduced and developed in the previous two novels, and the way it did a great job of rounding out the unfinished character arcs.

However, I didn’t like the way the timeline kept jumping around.

Now, this could be the formatting of the electronic review copy, but the story often moved from one scene to another without any kind of scene break, and the scenes were often showing the same actions from different points of view. Yes, that helped ramp up the tension, but it also meant I had to backtrack several times to figure out which characters were in the scene.

I also thought there were too many flashbacks, to the point where they messed with the tension. As a reader, it felt like every time we got to something fast-paced and exciting, the character stopped think about a formative experience from months or years ago, which slowed the story down. Confession: I actually skimmed a lot of the backstory because I wanted to know what was happening now, not what happened months or years or decades ago.

One of the best features of Christian fiction by Susan May Warren is that it absolutely is Christian fiction.

The main characters – in this case, Colt and Tae – have issues with God that need to be sorted out and worked through, and Warren doesn’t leave the reader in any doubt of the fact that God is the answer. That’s always good to read in Christian fiction (because otherwise it’s not Christian fiction. It’s just fiction with no sex or swearing.)

Overall, Sundown was a solid romantic suspense that those who have read the first two novels in the Sky King Ranch series will want to read to find out about Tae and to see Colt get his happy ending.

Thanks to Revell and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Susan May Warren

Susan May WarrenSusan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling author of nearly 90 novels with more than 1.5 million books sold, including the Global Search and Rescue and the Montana Rescue series, as well as Sunrise and Sunburst. Winner of a RITA Award and multiple Christy and Carol Awards, as well as the HOLT Medallion and numerous Readers’ Choice Awards, Susan makes her home in Minnesota.

Find Susan May Warren online at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

About Sundown

Former Delta Operative Colt Kingston knows when someone is lying. He may not know the truth, but he sure doesn’t trust Tae, the woman who is caring for his ailing father at Sky King Ranch. Behind those beautiful blue eyes, he can tell there is a troubled–and smart–woman.

A few of her stories prove true–he’s found the crashed plane and the dead body inside. Still, her story of survival seems too incredible to believe . . . until the thugs she claims to be hunting her show up and threaten Sky King Ranch. Now Tae must disappear, along with her secrets.

But Colt’s not about to let her go it alone. And when they discover that her secrets include the antidote to a plague that threatens the world, it’ll take all three Kingston brothers to save the country they’ve vowed to protect.

Susan May Warren brings her Sky King Ranch series to a climactic close with this high-stakes race against the clock.

Find Sundown online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

There’s a way I can keep you here. But you’d have to trust me. You’d have to marry me.

Book Review | Dangerous Beauty by Melissa Koslin

After Liliana Vela’s family is murdered and she is trafficked from Mexico to Texas, she escapes at the first opportunity and is rescued by the mysterious Meric Toledan. Meric then offers a marriage of convenience as a way of keeping her safe, so she doesn’t have to return to Mexico where she fears she’d just be kidnapped and trafficked again.

(I’m fairly sure that it takes more than marriage to a stranger to be allowed to stay in the USA, but we’ll let that minor detail pass. The “billionaire marrying a stranger” did remind me of Streiker’s Bride by Robin Hardy, if you’ve been reading Christian fiction long enough to remember that one.)

I initially hesitated to request Dangerous Beauty for review because the topic was human trafficking. I read for entertainment, and there’s nothing entertaining about forcing women into sexual slavery.

But after reading Melissa Koslin’s debut novel, Never Miss, I decided to give Dangerous Beauty a chance and I’m glad I did. While trafficking provides the main tension in the plot, there is nothing explicit about trafficking (although there are a couple of well-written fight sequences).

Liliana is an excellent character.

She’s strong, intelligent, and determined. She’s also brave – she’s not afraid to trust Meric, to leave the apartment, to learn new things, even when that will potentially put her at risk.

Meric is more of a mystery, one that is uncovered slowly as the novel progresses. It’s obvious he’s hiding something from Liliana, but it’s also clear that she trusts him. It’s a credit to Koslin’s writing that she convinces me that because Liliana trusts Meric, I should as well.

The story is fast-paced to the point where I didn’t stop to ponder the logic or possibility of plot points like the marriage of convenience or even Liliana’s feelings towards Meric. It swept me along to the inevitable yet satisfying conclusion that answered all my questions, including one I hadn’t even realised I had.

Recommended for romantic suspense fans who enjoy authors such as Dee Henderson and Dani Pettrey.

Thanks to Revell Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Melissa Koslin

Melissa KoslinMelissa Koslin is a fourth-degree black belt in and certified instructor of Songahm Taekwondo. In her day job as a commercial property manager, she secretly notes personal quirks and funny situations, ready to tweak them into colorful additions for her books. The author of Never Miss, Melissa lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with her husband, Corey.

Find Melissa Koslin online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

About Dangerous Beauty

Liliana Vela hates the term victim. She’s not a victim, she’s a fighter. Stubborn and strong with a quiet elegance, she’s determined to take back her life after escaping the clutches of human traffickers in her poor Mexican village. But she can’t stay safely over the border in America–unless the man who aided in her rescue is serious about his unconventional proposal to marry her.

Meric Toledan was just stopping at a service station for a bottle of water. Assessing the situation, he steps in to rescue Liliana from traffickers. If he can keep his secrets at bay, his wealth and position afford him many resources to help her. But the mysterious buyer who funded her capture will not sit idly by while his prize is stolen from him.

Melissa Koslin throws you right into the middle of the action in this high-stakes thriller that poses the question: What is the price of freedom?

Find Dangerous Beauty online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week #244 | Never Miss by Melissa Koslin

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from Never Miss, a Christian romantic suspense from debut author Melissa Koslin. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:

"Sarah Jean Rogers," she muttered. "Elizabeth Jeane Jones." Which ID to use this time?

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About Never Miss

Former CIA sniper Kadance Tolle possesses a special set of skills and a rare pedigree. She comes from a family of assassins, and by saving Lyndon Vaile’s life she risks being found by them. Despite the danger, Kadance feels compelled to help Lyndon discover who is after him–and his research that seems to prove that the Ebola virus was manmade and is about to be weaponized.

With shadowy figures pursuing them and a Mastermind watching their every move, Kadance and Lyndon must scramble to stop an impending bioattack at the State of the Union address. But their warnings fall on deaf ears, and it becomes increasingly clear that there’s no one they can trust–except perhaps each other.

Strap in for a breakneck story that will have you up all night, hurtling toward the last page as the clock ticks and time runs out.

You can find Never Miss online at:

Amazon | BookBub | Goodreads | Koorong

Click here to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Safe House Exposed by Darlene L Turner

Book Review | Safe House Exposed by Darlene L Turner

Canadian Police Constable Mason James is undercover to investigate a leak in the Canadian Witness Protection Program when he learns one of the targeted witnesses is Emily, a Canadian Border Services Agency officer … and his widowed sister-in-law. Emily and her daughter, Sierra, are in danger from the criminal Luther family after she put the father in jail.

Safe House Exposed has a strong suspense thread.

I didn’t find the romance element as compelling. There’s always a should-they-shouldn’t-they element with siblings interested in the same person, even if the other sibling is dead. My main issue was that I simply didn’t see the romance. Sure, I could see they should have a relationship—Mason should have been around to support his sister-in-law and niece since she lost her husband—but I didn’t see the underlying emotion to make that relationship romantic.

But maybe I was focussing too much on the suspense. While I’m not a fan of dirty-cop plots, this one was well done. There were a couple of great twists that I didn’t see coming, and while I guessed a couple of vital clues in advance, I had no idea who would turn out to be the evildoer. yes, it was obvious in hindsight (as it should be), but I had no idea.

I do have a content warning:

Emily’s marriage to Brady wasn’t the rainbows and unicorns relationship Mason or Seth (Mason’s father and boss) thought it was. Emily is one of many law enforcement spouses who is a domestic violence survivor. While there were no detailed descriptions, I do know that’s a topic some readers would prefer to be aware of ahead of time. Also, (spoiler alert), I was disappointed in Mason’s reaction to learning about his brother’s behaviour, even though Mason’s reaction was probably the most true to real life.

Overall, Safe House Exposed ticks all the Love Inspired Suspense boxes.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

About Darlene L Turner

Darlene L TurnerDarlene 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 Safe House Exposed

Witness protection should have kept them safe.

Instead, it left them completely exposed…

Canadian border patrol officer Emma James has only one concern after putting a crime boss behind bars: keeping her daughter safe. But witness protection has a leak, and Emma’s enemies know exactly where to find her. Now on the run with no safe haven, trusting her estranged former brother-in-law, police constable Mason James, to shield them is her only hope…

You can find Safe House Exposed online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

You train for it, you know what to do should you have to do it, but you never actually expect to have to use the training.

Book Review | Life Flight (Extreme Measures #1) by Lynette Eason

Penny Carlton is a helicopter ambulance pilot who gets caught up in the investigation when a serial killer escapes from a nearby prison. Holt Satterfield is her ex-boyfriend, and leading the search for the killer.

I found the opening chapters of Life Flight an awkward combination of annoying and thrilling.

Thrilling, because they are fast-paced and placing the characters in a life and death situation (yes, the clue is in the title). But annoying, because of the situation they’d been placed in—forced to undertake a rescue in bad weather, and without a satellite phone to communicate with. Yes, the phone issue was resolved (but even the resolution left a loose end), but it still left me wondering if these characters were competent.

There were also a couple of frustrations as the story progressed. For example, if a serial killer who is known to use disguises disappears into a stairwell, wouldn’t it make sense to check everyone who exits the stairwell i.e. don’t ignore people just because they’re not dressed the same as the killer?

(Yes, I wanted the good guys to win even if I wasn’t convinced they deserved to.)

You may wonder why I’m sharing these moans, given I enjoyed the book overall. It’s because these are the things I would have liked to have known before I read the book. I find it much easier to ignore issues that pull me out of the story or force me to suspend disbelief if I know the issues in advance … because then I’ve made the decision in advance to not be annoyed by the problems.

I enjoyed the will-they-won’t-they chase to catch the serial killer before he found his next victim … especially once it became obvious Penny was going to be the next victim. It was a fast-paced novel with excellent characters, and kept me turning the pages to find out what happened.

Life Flight by Lynette Eason was a fast-paced #Christian novel with excellent characters, and kept me turning the pages to find out what happened. #BookReview Share on X

I also liked the fact Life Flight was clearly Christian fiction. Holt and Penny are both Christians who believe God is in control and seek to follow Him. If a novel is categorised as Christian fiction, then I want to see that play out in the characters. They did in Life Flight, which is a definite positive.

Overall, I enjoyed Life Flight, and I’ll look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Thanks to Revell Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Lynette Eason

Lynette EasonLynette Eason is the bestselling author of the Women of Justice series, the Deadly Reunions series, and the Hidden Identity series, as well as Always Watching, Without Warning, Moving Target, and Chasing Secrets in the Elite Guardians series. She is the winner of two ACFW Carol Awards, the Selah Award, and the Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award. She has a master’s degree in education from Converse College and lives in South Carolina.

Find Lynette Eason online at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

About Life Flight

EMS helicopter pilot Penny Carlton is used to high stress situations, but being forced to land on a mountain in a raging storm with a critical patient–and a serial killer on the loose–tests her skills and her nerve to the limit. She survives with FBI Special Agent Holt Satterfield’s help. But she’s not out of the woods yet.

In the ensuing days, Penny finds herself under attack. And when news reaches Holt that he may not have gotten his man after all, it will take all he and Penny have to catch a killer–before he catches one of them.

Bestselling and award-winning author Lynette Eason is back with another high-octane tale of close calls, narrow escapes, and the fight to bring a nefarious criminal to justice.

Find Life Flight online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

This entire building is filled with people to trained to appear genuine. It's our job.

Book Review | Lights Out (The SNAP Agency #1) by Natalie Walters

CIA operative Brynn Taylor has almost completed her latest mission— running an international inter-agency program teaching agents from seven countries how to locate and identify domestic terrorists—when one of her students disappears.

Was she really supposed to rely on a bomb expert, a giant techie, a young woman dressed like she'd spent all night at a club, and an ex-boyfriend.

Jack Hudson left the CIA and joined SNAP, the Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency, a private security firm employing a band of talented misfits that reminded me of CSI characters. Jack is also Brynn’s ex-boyfriend from eight years earlier.

So Lights Out is a second-chance romance.

One of the problems with this kind of plot is that it can be hard to come up with a convincing reason the couple broke up in the first place that still allows room for them to get back together. Often it comes down to a simple misunderstanding that could have been resolved with a single adult conversation, and I thought that was the case with Lights Out.

We realise early in the story that something happened when Brynn and Jack were going through CIA training, but we’re not sure what. When I finally found out, I didn’t think it was convincing. In fact, it gave me the impression Jack didn’t understand one of the key training objectives … which leaves me wondering about his professional competence.

Lights Out by Natalie Walters is a strong suspense story with all the chases and bangs readers want interspersed plenty of banter and a second-chance romance. #ChristianFiction #BookReview Share on X

But that was the only thing that annoyed me. The main plot was a strong suspense story set in and around Washington DC, with all the chases and bangs readers want … interspersed with the comic relief of the banter between the members of SNAP, and the will-they-won’t-they Brynn/Jack relationship.

Recommended for fans of DiAnn Mills and Irene Hannon.

Thanks to Revell and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Natalie Walters

Natalie WaltersNatalie Walters is a military wife who currently resides in Hawaii with her soldier husband and their three kids. She writes full-time and has been published in Proverbs 31 magazine and has blogged for Guideposts online. Natalie comes from a long line of military and law enforcement veterans and is passionate about supporting them through volunteer work, races, and writing stories that affirm no one is defined by their past.

Find Natalie Walters online at:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter

About Lights Out

CIA analyst Brynn Taylor developed a new program to combat terrorism, and she invited members of foreign intelligence agencies to America to foster cooperation between countries. Now one of them, Egyptian spy Remon Riad, is missing.

Jack Hudson has been working for the Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency (SNAP) for almost nine years and takes the lead in hunting down the missing spy. But he isn’t at all pleased to find out Brynn is involved. It’s hard to trust a woman who’s already betrayed you.

Every lead they follow draws them dangerously deeper into an international plot. Kidnapping, murder, explosions, poisoning–the terrorists will do anything to accomplish their goal of causing a digital blackout that will blind a strategic US military communications center and throw the world into chaos.Can Brynn surrender control to a man who doesn’t trust her? And can Jack ever get over what she did to him? The fate of the world–and their hearts–hangs in the balance.

Find Lights Out online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Book Review - Labyrinth of Lies by Irene Hannon

Book Review | Labyrinth of Lies (Triple Threat #2) by Irene Hannon

It’s been a while since I read any of Irene Hannon’s romantic suspense novels. They were what first got me hooked on her as an author, but I found they started to get a bit of a “samey” feel and stopped reading them. Instead, I started reading more of her excellent women’s fiction/romances.

But Labyrinth of Lies looked interesting, so I requested a review copy. The idea of a woman in her thirties going undercover as a high school student in an exclusive boarding school appealed to me (you can thank Johnny Depp and 21 Jump Street, and Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed). I was doubly hooked when I realised her lost love was also undercover in the same school, but working a different case for a different agency.

I very much enjoyed the interactions between Cate and Zeke.

What I enjoyed less was the additional characters: the school counsellor, the janitor, and the security guard, and the evildoer themselves (who I won’t identify because #spoilers but I did roll my eyes at the big reveal). I guess the point of having Will and Eduardo as major characters was to show how one “minor” bad decision can lead to a whole lot of trouble. But I just found it distracted from the Zane plot because knowing what the evildoers thought and were planning destroyed much of the tension.

It also puzzled me that the students smoked (it seems very last century—I’m told students in New Zealand have switched to vaping because it’s cheaper and tastes better), the students didn’t wear school uniform, even in a posh boarding school (and didn’t even seem to have a dress code—or is that normal for all American schools?), and the school didn’t provide housing for staff. They made a point of saying the school was in a fairly remote setting (although still within easy driving distance of a larger town).

Yes, the Christian message was excellent, but I thought the message was delivered at the expense of the plot and the development of the main characters.

Thanks to Revell and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Irene Hannon

Author Photo: Irene Hannon

Irene Hannon is the best-selling author of more than 35 novels. Her books have been honored with the coveted RITA Award from Romance Writers of America, the HOLT Medallion, the Reviewer’s Choice Award from Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine and the Daphne du Maurier Award for mystery/suspense. Irene and her husband make their home in Missouri, USA.

Find Irene Hannon online at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

About Labyrinth of Lies

When the daughter of a high-profile businessman disappears from an exclusive girls’ boarding school, police detective Cate Reilly is tapped for an undercover assignment. It doesn’t take her long to realize that beneath the veneer of polish and wealth, things are not as they seem at Ivy Hill Academy. But the biggest surprise of all? The only man she ever loved is also working at the school.

Zeke Sloan has never forgotten Cate, but now isn’t the best time for their paths to cross again. When their two seemingly disparate agendas begin to intertwine–and startling connections emerge among the players–the danger escalates significantly. But who is the mastermind behind the elaborate ruse? And how far will they go to protect their house of cards?

Queen of romantic suspense Irene Hannon invites you to scale the heights of human folly and plumb the depths of the human heart in this second gripping book in the Triple Threat series.

Find Labyrinth of Lies online at:

Amazon | BookBub | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

She enjoyed her independence. Independence was great. It was also lonely.

Book Review | Survive the Night (Harmony Grove #4) by Carol J Post

Survive the Night

Lexi Simmons was planning a girl’s night with her cousin, Kyla, when she got the call. The serial killer she’s chasing has killed again … and the victim is Kyla. The case becomes even more personal when Lexi finds she’ll be working with Alan White, her college boyfriend.

Working with Alan isn’t bad. In fact, he comes up with some intelligence that provides a valuable clue. As they work the case, they also discover the truth behind their college breakup, which gives them the opportunity to consider their personal and professional relationship.

Meanwhile, they have a serial killer to catch.

The problem with reading (and reviewing) a Carol J Post romantic suspense novel is that they’re hard to put down. I read this in a single day, and re-read good portions of it as I wrote my review.

Survive the Night by @CarolJPost is an enjoyable second-chance romance set against the backdrop of a hunt for a serial killer. #ChristianRomance #BookReview Share on X

Survive the Night is an enjoyable second-chance romance set against the backdrop of a hunt for a serial killer. The characters are strong, the plot has plenty of twists and turns, and there were enough red herrings that I was completely surprised by the identity of the evildoer.

I especially liked the Christian thread.

Lexi isn’t a Christian, but Alan is. According to the unwritten rules of Christian romance, that means she needs to change. Some novels gloss over the change (perhaps because they don’t want a Damascus Road conversion experience). I thought Survive the Night addressed the issue well (which is something I expect from Carol J Post novels).

Recommended for Christian romantic suspense fans.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

About Carol J Post

Carol J PostFrom medical secretary to court reporter to property manager to owner of a special events decorating company, Carol’s resume reads as if she doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up. But one thing that has remained constant through the years is her love for writing. She currently pens fun and fast-paced inspirational romance and romantic suspense stories. Her books have been nominated for a RITA® award and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award.

Carol lives in sunshiny Central Florida with her husband, who is her own real-life hero, and writes her stories under the shade of the huge oaks in her yard. Besides writing, she works alongside her music minister husband singing and playing the piano. She enjoys sailing, hiking, camping—almost anything outdoors. Her two grown daughters and grandkids live too far away for her liking, so she now pours all that nurturing into taking care of a fat and sassy black cat and a highly spoiled dachshund.

You can find Carol J Post online at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

About Survive the Night

She’s a shoo-in for a serial killer’s next target…

Tracking a serial killer in Harmony Grove turns personal for Detective Lexi Simmons when her cousin becomes a victim. The situation goes from bad to worse when she’s teamed up with Officer Alan White whose heart she broke seven years ago. But she is determined to find justice for Kayla and the other women brutally murdered and won’t let her and Alan’s shared past interfere.

Harmony Grove Police Officer Alan White has lost a good friend. He vows to help the Sheriff’s Department in any way he can, even if it means working alongside the woman who left him with a rejected ring and lots of excuses.

They fight the resurgence of long-buried emotions while working together to solve the case. The only connection between the victims is their approximate age and that they are beaten, strangled and left in the woods, with pictures mailed to the local newspaper shortly thereafter. Eventually, the investigation leads them to a decade-old incident on a college campus…and the realization that Lexi is a shoo-in for the killer’s next target.

You can find Survive the Night online at

Amazon

 

Quote from Deadly Intentions: This isn’t some storybook tale where everything ends when the hero kisses the heroine. What about after that?

Throwback Thursday Book Review | Deadly Intentions by Lisa Harris

When one of your colleagues is killed in a home invasion, it’s easy to think it’s a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But when three of your colleagues die in a year, then someone tries to run you off the road, then it’s easy to start thinking something more suspicious is happening.

Catilyn Lindsey works for a pharmaceutical company, and she’s getting suspicious. She gets even more suspicious when someone runs her car off the road and she barely survives. Caitlyn persuades Josh Solomon, a police detective who is also the widower of the first of Caitlyn’s colleagues to die, to help her investigate. Josh isn’t convinced at first, but it doesn’t take long before the inconsistencies pile up.

Someone is clearly after Caitlyn, and it doesn’t take long before Josh is in trouble too. It’s a great ticking clock chase novel, as Caitlyn and Josh work to find the evildoer … and find the truth.

Deadly Intentions was typical Lisa Harris, a fast-paced thriller with strong and intelligent characters.

It definitely kept me turning the pages (well, flicking the forward button on the Kindle) to get to the end and make sure Caitlyn and Josh both survive …

Deadly Intentions is another gripping Christian romantic suspense novel from Mozambique-based author and missionary Lisa Harris. #ChristianFiction #BookReview Share on X

There is also a romantic thread, and that’s possibly more compelling than the suspense thread. Josh is obviously a widower who lost his wife in tragic circumstances. But Caitlyn has her own issues as well, and one of the strengths of the novel is watching her work through those issues, with Josh’s help. There is also a strong Christian element, as both Caitlyn and Josh are Christians who have to work through where God is in the tough times.

Overall, Deadly Intentions is just what Christian romantic suspense should be.

It’s a great suspense plot, a heroic hero and a hardworking and intelligent heroine, both with a desire to seek justice and put God and others first. Recommended.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Lisa Harris

Lisa HarrisI’m a wife, mom, teacher, author, dreamer, photographer, world explorer, but most importantly a follower of Christ Jesus.

I currently live with my husband near the Indian Ocean in Mozambique where we work as church-planting missionaries. We’ve started the empty next stage with two children spread around the globe and a third—thankfully—still at home.

As a homeschooling mom, life is busy, but I see my writing as an extension of my ministry which also includes running a non-profit organization.

The ECHO Project works in southern Africa promoting Education, Compassion, Health, and Opportunity and is a way for us to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.” (Proverbs 31:8)

When I’m not working l love hanging out with my family at the beach, playing games, cooking different ethnic dishes, and heading into the African bush on safari.

Find Lisa Harris online at:

Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

About Deadly Intentions

Research scientist Caitlyn Lindsey is convinced that someone is taking out her team one by one. First, a friend and research partner was killed in a home invasion. Three months ago, her boss died in a suspicious car accident. Four days ago, another partner supposedly committed suicide. And now Caitlyn herself has miraculously survived a hit-and-run. Afraid for her life with nowhere to turn, she reaches out to one of the victim’s husbands, Detective Josh Solomon.

Though initially skeptical about Caitlyn’s theory, Josh soon realizes that the attack that took his wife’s life was anything but random. Now the two of them must discover the truth about who is after Caitlyn’s team–and what their end game is–before it’s too late.

Find Deadly Intentions online at:

Amazon | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Read the introduction to Deadly Intentions below:

Don’t forget to click here to check out Deadly Intentions and other great Christian fiction in my Amazon shop!