Deadly Encounter by DiAnn Mills

Deadly Encounter by DiAnn Mills ISBN-13: 9781496410979 Trade Paperback: 400 pages Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers Released: Aug. 1, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Airport Ranger volunteer Stacy Broussard expected a peaceful Saturday morning ride around the perimeter of Houston's airport. What she encounters instead is a brutal homicide and a baffling mystery. Next to the body is an injured dog, the dead man's motorcycle, and a drone armed with a laser capable of taking down a 747.

Though FBI Special Agent Alex LeBlanc sees a clear-cut case of terrorism, his past has taught him to be suspicious of everyone, even witnesses. But when Stacy's gruesome discovery is only the first in a string of incidences that throw her life into a tailspin, Alex begins to wonder if Stacy was targeted.

As a health emergency endangers Stacy's community, and the task force pulls in leads from all directions, Alex and Stacy must work together to prevent another deadly encounter.


My Review:
Deadly Encounter is a Christian romantic suspense novel. The main characters were well-developed, and the 12-year-old Whitt was a great character. Stacy, Alex, and Whitt all have issues in their past that affected how they dealt with the current string of events. I liked how these three characters slowly built trust and caring for each other.

The suspense came from the series of baffling, potentially dangerous events that don't seem connected yet must be. It was quite a puzzle as the evidence didn't seem to fit together. For example, the dead man came on a motorcycle yet had a dog on a leash. A dog that wasn't his dog. The end explanation did make sense of it. But I was surprised that someone who refuses to touch a gun managed to not only use it but hit a small, apparently moving target. :P

Stacy and Alex were Christians, though not very strong ones until their faith was tested. Whitt came from an abusive home, so he had trouble with the idea of God as a loving Father. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting suspense novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Dressed to Kilt by Hannah Reed

Dressed to Kilt by Hannah Reed ISBN-13: 9780425265840 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: July 5, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Winter is leaving the residents of the Scottish village of Glenkillen snowbound, but Eden isn’t about to let the weather dampen her spirits. With only a little time left in Scotland, she’s determined to make the most of it—starting with attending a fancy whisky tasting with local looker Leith Cameron. But her classy date turns into a major party foul after a woman is found drowned in one of the vats of alcohol.

Eden immediately steps in as a Special Constable to help solve the case, but her investigation turns sour when she realizes that the killer could be somehow connected to her own Scottish heritage. Now, in order to find the proof she needs to put the murderer behind bars, she’ll have to take a shot at unearthing her family’s past—before she herself winds up buried.


My Review:
Dressed to Kilt is a cozy mystery. This book was the third in the series, but you don't need to read the previous novels to understand this one. This book didn't spoil the previous whodunits.

This was a clue-based, puzzle mystery with some complexity. I didn't have the final clues needed to firmly know whodunit and why until near the end, though I did figure it out before the heroine. There wasn't enough evidence to convict without a confession, so of course the author made sure Eden ended up in a dangerous situation again. At least it wasn't due to stupidity and Eden's pretty good at taking care of herself in these situations.

There was a very minor amount of UK bad language (the blood-related word). There was no sex. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Honor Redeemed by Christine Johnson

Honor Redeemed by Christine Johnson ISBN-13: 9780800723514 Trade Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Revell Released: July 5, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Two years ago, Prosperity Jones waved farewell to her beloved David as the army sent him to faraway Key West. Now with her parents gone, she impulsively decides to travel from Nantucket to Key West and surprise him. Surely love will fill his eyes and he'll take care of her. Arriving penniless in the South, Prosperity is dismayed to find David married to someone else.

Nursing a broken heart, she gains the friendship--and the affection--of a kind doctor. But she can't stop thinking about David, even after his betrayal of her trust. If only his wife would die... Though she quickly repents of that thought.

Misunderstandings reign as Prosperity refuses to let David explain his actions. David wrestles with the betrayal of his wife, who tricked him into marrying her and now he's responsible for a child not his own.


My Review:
Honor Redeemed is set in 1852 in Key West. The romantic dual spent very little time together as Prosperity avoided David as much as possible. They had been deeply in love for years before this story, and their love endures despite David's marriage to another. Prosperity rejected the idea of marrying the doctor (a friend who respects and cares for her) to gain companionship and security since she doesn't feel a "I can't stop thinking about you" love for him. She'd rather do hard, hot manual labor for the rest of her life.

Prosperity caused much of her own pain through her impulsive actions and by repeatedly jumping to wrong conclusions. She was angry at David for a bunch of things he hadn't even done. She avoided David and cut him off when he tried to explain. She's "oh, I wronged David and hope he'll forgive my rudeness" one moment and then angry at him over another misunderstanding the next. She kept assuming the worst. She also had no care for her reputation, even though it's all she had left. The only check on her behavior was the threat of losing her job if she acted inappropriately, though this didn't help as she didn't think through the consequences of her actions.

I liked David. He did the honorable thing even when no one supported it. A fallen woman claimed that her baby was his. She produced witnesses that said the one night he got drunk, he went off with her. He's torn up by his unremembered sin and the need to break off his engagement with Prosperity, but he tried to make his marriage work even though his wife wasn't faithful to him.

The historical details were minimal and mostly acted as a backdrop. The Christian element was a brief mention that forgiveness is an act of will, not an emotion. There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

Grace Sees Red by Julie Hyzy

Grace Sees Red by Julie Hyzy ISBN-13: 9780425281628 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime Released: June 28, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Grace Wheaton, curator and manager of Marshfield Manor, and her benefactor, Bennett Marshfield, are discussing the manor when Grace’s trusted—if testy—assistant, Frances, calls, saying she needs some assistance. Arriving at the address Frances has given them, they find a coroner’s van and police cars parked outside an upscale assisted-living facility called Indwell.

One of the elderly residents has been found dead under suspicious circumstances, and Frances, seen arguing with the man earlier that day, is now a person of interest. It’s up to Grace to clear her assistant’s name and find the real killer—before another Indwell resident checks out early.


My Review:
Grace Sees Red is a cozy mystery. It's the seventh book in the series, but you don't need to read the previous novels to understand this one. However, this book did a minor spoiler relating to the mystery of the previous book (#6).

As usual, the characters were enjoyable and interesting. It was clue-based, puzzle mystery. I guessed whodunit and why about two-thirds of the way through. This was a group read, and when it turned out I was right, the others asked if I'd peaked. I didn't, but this means that it's not obvious even if all the clues were there at that point.

Minor point, but both my mom (once a nurse) and I (professionally trained in giving shots to horses) cringed when the author had a trained nurse remove the cap from a needle on a syringe by using his teeth. And it's implied that all the nurses do this. *shudder* Don't do this in RL.

There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

An Elegant Façade by Kristi Ann Hunter

An Elegant Façade by Kristi Ann Hunter ISBN-13: 9780764218255 Trade Paperback: 368 pages Publisher: Bethany House Released: July 5, 2016

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Lady Georgina Hawthorne has worked tirelessly to seal her place as the Incomparable for her debut season. At her first London ball, she hopes to snag the attention of an earl.

With money and business connections, but without impeccable bloodlines, Colin McCrae is invited everywhere but accepted nowhere. When he first encounters the fashionable Lady Georgina, he's irritated by his attraction to a woman who concerns herself only with status and appearance. What Colin doesn't know is that Georgina's desperate social aspirations are driven by the shameful secret she harbors.

Association with Colin McCrae is not part of Georgina's plan, but as their paths continue to cross, they both must decide if the realization of their dreams is worth the sacrifices they must make.


My Review:
An Elegant Façade is a Christian romance set in 1813 in England. This is the second book in the series, but you don't need to read the first one to follow this one. The first part of this book retold some events from the first book (from a different perspective), so you may wish to read them in order.

Georgina deliberately acts like a spoiled child whose only thought is a good marriage, but she does it to hide her shameful secret. She doesn't like the deception, but fear prevents her from getting help outside her loyal lady's maid. Her overriding goal is to make a good match before her secret gets out and ruins her chances. For Georgina can't read and write (due to severe dyslexia), one of the major requirements for a useful Lady. She believes that God must have cursed and abandoned her for some reason.

Colin is driven to accumulate wealth due to worries that his father will gamble the family business away. He's now a wealthy man, yet he hasn't let go of that fear.

The author created complex characters who kept my interest and sympathy. I understood why the two main characters fell in love after they started to really know each other. There was plenty of running around on adventures in addition to balls and such. The historical details were a backdrop for the story.

The Christian element was Georgina realizing that her goals and behavior were ultimately not going to get her the security she craved and that God didn't abandon her. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting romance.

Side note: Most authors who write a character with dyslexia don't really understand what it's like, so I appreciate that this author did the extra work to accurately portray it. While my dyslexia is not as bad as Georgina's and I did get help for it when I was young, I actually picked up a few tips that have made reading easier for me. Thank you!


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

The Loyal Heart by Shelley Shepard Gray

The Loyal Heart by Shelley Shepard Gray ISBN-13: 9780310345398 Trade Paperback: 320 pages Publisher: Zondervan Released: July 12, 2016

Source: Review copy from the publisher through BookLook.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Robert Truax, former Second Lieutenant and Confederate officer in the Civil War, made a promise to his comrade Phillip Markham. If anything happened to Phillip, Robert would look after his beloved wife, Miranda. She was his life, his world, his everything.

After the war, Robert travels to Miranda's home in Galveston, Texas. Phillip's name has been dragged through the mud, everyone in town believes him to be a traitor, and his widow is treated as an outcast. Miranda seems hopeless, lost, and so very alone. Robert makes it his duty to protect Miranda, turn her reputation around, and to find some way to help her smile again.


My Review:
The Loyal Heart is historical fiction. One part was set in 1865 in a POW camp on Johnson's Island, Ohio. These scenes had a vivid setting, good character development, and helped set up later motives. The main story occurred in 1867 in Texas. Except for the clothing and some comments to remind us of the time period, the main story could have happened after any war. Some words, phrases, and even behavior were a bit modern for the actual time.

As for the romance, much of the book focused on how much Phillip had loved Miranda and developed their romance story. Robert was in love with Miranda before he even met her because he longed for a love like Phillip's. Miranda felt so alone that Robert's willingness to stand up for her (even though it didn't help her reputation) made him seem like her savior. By the end of the book, they still hardly know the other person yet are certain they love each other.

The book sounded like it had mystery/suspense: Robert needs to track down who started the false rumors and stop them. In the book, once he finally started this task, it took one short scene (10 pages long) to reveal the who and why. The answer wasn't surprising as there were only a few possible candidates. But there was some suspense during their attempt to capture the miscreant.

In the main story, each character spent a lot of time thinking, mainly about the past. A person would ask a question, the next few paragraphs would be thinking, and then the scene continued. One time the thinking lasted four pages before the question was answered. This really slowed the flow of the action and made the story drag for me.

The Christian element was basically references to prayer. There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

In a Killer's Sights by Sandra Robbins

In a Killer's Sights by Sandra Robbins ISBN-13: 9780373447541 Paperback: 224 pages Publisher: Love Inspired Released: July 5, 2016

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
When Gwen Harwell witnesses someone dumping a body into a Tennessee river, she knows she's the killer's new target. Far from home on a work assignment, she isn't sure where to turn—especially when her ex-husband appears.

Five years ago, Dean Harwell's burdens from his police work tore their marriage apart. But now he's working as a rancher and put his problems behind him. He's committed to keeping her safe until the killer is caught. With their troubled past, trusting him with her life is hard enough. Can she trust him with the truth about the child he doesn't know they have?


My Review:
In a Killer's Sights is a Christian suspense novel. The murderer repeatedly targeted Gwen and Dean, but they don't know whodunit. There's enough information that the reader can guess whodunit, but there's a good reason that Gwen and Dean don't make the connection.

The characters were generally nice, engaging people. In the rare moments without flying bullets or flames, Gwen and Dean got to know each other again. Gwen realized Dean had overcome the alcoholism which motivated their divorce. But she's kept a secret that she doesn't think he'll forgive. She struggled with what was the right thing to do and exposing herself to needing his forgiveness.

The Christian element was mainly short prayers for help and references to God's help in Dean overcoming his past. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this quick, exciting novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.