Calculated Risk by Heather Woodhaven

Calculated Risk
by Heather Woodhaven

ISBN-13: 9780373446476
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
Released: January 6, 2015

Source: Borrowed using Kindle Unlimited.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Accountant Victoria Hayes never would have thought discovering fraud in her office would put her life at risk. When her house catches fire, destroying the evidence she's collected, it seems the mastermind will do anything to keep Victoria from disclosing what she knows. Unsure what to do, she turns to her charming supervisor for help. But without much evidence, Jeff Tucker is reluctant to believe Victoria until they both become suspects. Now they must work together to prove their innocence and stay alive.


My Review:
Calculated Risk is a Christian romantic suspense. The main characters were engaging and acted realistically. There was plenty of suspense from the danger they're in as they raced to save the remaining proof that they're not the ones stealing company money. Along the way, they got to know one another better and started to admire each other. They generally worked well together as a team. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable suspense.


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.

Blue Ridge Mountain Escape by Loretta Eidson

Blue Ridge Mountain Escape
by Loretta Eidson

ISBN-13: 9781335468376
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Inspirational Mountain Rescue
Released: June 27, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
A peaceful vacation is what Haley Gordon needs to put her troubles behind her. Instead, she finds herself fighting for her life against a raging forest fire. Forest Service firefighter Kendall Simpson vows to protect Haley—although he has questions about her story. But with the firestorm out of control and escaped convicts on the mountain, can Haley and Kendall survive?


My Review:
Blue Ridge Mountain Escape is a Christian romantic suspense novel. It started with forest firefighters going into a burning area at the start of the blaze to evacuate people. Haley and Kendall got separated from his group and were forced to flee in front of the fire. Even though the front edge of the fire is where efforts would be made to stop the fire, more than two days pass without signs that anyone is fighting the fire--no fire breaks, no airplanes dropping fire retardant or water, no smoke jumpers. Nothing but the fire, wild animals, and escaped convicts trapped in the same area as them. Suspenseful, yes, but not realistic. I've read an autobiography by a smoke jumper, and many details in this book just weren't realistic. In fact, Kendall seemed to deliberately leave safer areas just so they could get stuck running from flames right behind them (except at night, when they somehow always had time to rest).

Anyway. Haley's sworn off men, yet she kept flirting with Kendall. They're in imminent danger, and she's thinking how romantic it would be--just like in a movie--if Kendall would stop and kiss her. She played the perfect damsel-in-distress and repeatedly needed to be rescued by Kendall. He finally told her that he'd like to get to know her after they survive this fire, but right now he really needed to focus on getting them out alive, not on flirting. She's crushed--rejected!--but, no, he lead me on! Um, no, girl, he didn't and he made a valid point. When Kendall finally did kiss her, she felt like she 'belonged.' On the other hand, Kendall also thought kissing in the middle of dangerous situations sounded romantic, so maybe they're a good match after all.

Haley asked God to send help and thanked Him when it arrived, and she tried to reach out to her criminal cousin to get him to change. Yet the bits about the criminals also didn't make a lot of sense. Everyone kept saying the escaped convicts would kill Kendall and Haley because they could identify them. Um, everyone already knew who they were and the general area they were in. Then Kendall and Haley asked the men their plans if they do escape, the convicts promptly confessed their plans, and now the men really did have a reason to kill them. Brilliant! Author, kudos for giving the two main characters issues to deal with and the slow, steady winning over of Haley's cousin, but I just couldn't take the story serious it was so unrealistic. 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.

Fugitive in Hiding by Jenna Night

Fugitive in Hiding
by Jenna Night

ISBN-13: 9781335587824
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
Released: June 27, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
When her brother is set up for a murder he didn’t commit, the last thing Naomi Pearson wants to do is turn to her bounty hunter ex-husband for help. But she knows Connor Ryan is her best option to bring Jared home safely after he disappears. When the criminals come after Naomi too, will Connor’s protection keep her alive long enough to find her brother?


My Review:
Fugitive in Hiding is a Christian romantic suspense. It's the 4th in a series but works as a stand-alone. The bounty hunter angle was interesting. Since Connor wasn't law enforcement, it limited what they could do to solve the case. His team mostly tried to protect Naomi from repeated attacks, tried to figure out why she was a target (as she had no clue), and tried to track down and arrest her brother, who had failed to show up for his court date.

The main characters were likable and reacted realistically to events. Naomi and Connor were briefly married before a tragedy pulled them apart. Now, years later, they discovered that they liked the other's more mature personality. They felt that life experience plus the fact that both accepted God and allowed Him to change them would help them respond better as a couple in the future. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable 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.

The Lady of Bolton Hill by Elizabeth Camden

The Lady of Bolton Hill
by Elizabeth Camden

ISBN-13: 9780764208942
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Bethany House
Released: April 23, 2011

Source: Borrowed using Kindle Unlimited.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
When Clara Endicott and Daniel Tremain's worlds collide after twelve years apart, the spark that was once between them immediately reignites into a romance. But time has changed them both. Daniel is an industrial titan with powerful enemies. Clara is an idealistic journalist determined to defend underprivileged workers. Can they withstand the cost of their convictions while their hearts--and lives--hang in the balance?


My Review:
The Lady of Bolton Hill is a Christian romance set in 1879 in America. Historical details were woven into the story, providing a distinct sense of time and place. Clara and Daniel were close friends as children and shared a passion for classical music. After years apart, they still had an easy friendship but Daniel's determined to crush the business owner whom he blamed for his father's death on the job and his mother's suicide. He also rejected God, who wasn't enough to sustain his devout mother through her grief. He intended to seduce Clara into abandoning her concerns about him and into marrying him.

Clara's a courageous journalist who's determined to expose abuses of the working class, partly because of her friendship with working-class Daniel. Ironically, he's now a robber-baron who's letting his quest for revenge prevent his companies from paying better wages.

The main characters were complex, well-developed, and acted realistically. They didn't always make the best decisions, but their reasoning made sense. Clara and Daniel grew as people throughout the story and became well-suited by the end. Daniel finally realized how his unforgiveness was causing other people (than just his target) to suffer and wrestled with making needed changes.

Clara cared about others due to her Christian faith. Daniel struggled with forgiveness. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable story.


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.

A Fatal Illusion by Anna Lee Huber

A Fatal Illusion
by Anna Lee Huber

ISBN-13: 9780593198483
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Released: June 20, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Yorkshire, England. August 1832. Relations between Sebastian Gage and his father have never been easy, especially since the discovery that Lord Gage has been concealing the existence of an illegitimate son. But when Lord Gage is nearly fatally attacked on a journey to Scotland, Sebastian and Kiera race to his side. Given the tumult over the recent passage of the Reform Bill and the Anatomy Act, in which Lord Gage played a part, Sebastian wonders if the attack could be politically motivated.

But something suspicious is afoot in the sleepy village where Lord Gage is being cared for. The townspeople treat Sebastian and Kiera with hostility when it becomes clear they intend to investigate, and rumors of mysterious disappearances and highway robberies plague the area. Lord Gage’s survival is far from assured, and Sebastian and Kiera must scramble to make the pieces fit before a second attempt at murder is more successful than the first.


My Review:
A Fatal Illusion is a mystery set in 1832 in England. It is the 11th book in a series. It can be read as a standalone, but it'll probably be the most meaningful to those who've read at least some of the series. That's because much of the story was about Sebastian, Kiera, and Henry's strained relationship with Lord Gage. I thought the author did a good job showing how Kiera tried to understand what motivated others and have a good relationship with them even though still feeling hurt, frustrated, and such with them. The main characters were complex, well-developed, and acted realistically.

Kiera, Sebastian, Henry, and their servants investigated who attacked Lord Gage. It didn't help that Lord Gage hid critical information about his past. Kiera's crew uncovered clues, followed up on them, and steadily sorted out the bad guys and figured out their motive. While the main characters were unconventional for their time, overall, the story felt historically accurate and brought out some interesting details about the place and past events.

There were no sex scenes or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this mystery to fans of the series.


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.

Rocky Mountain Rendezvous by Misty M. Beller

Rocky Mountain Rendezvous
by Misty M. Beller

ISBN-13: 9780764241536
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Bethany House
Released: June 6, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In 1837, Juniper Collins and her sisters are shocked by their father's final request in his will for a special set of beads to be returned to a Piegan Blackfoot woman he credits with saving his life during his travels west. Together, the sisters set out for the trapper rendezvous to find the woman, but their mission turns more daunting when they come upon the mass of men and lodges spread out in the Green River Valley.

Riley Turner came west to find peace and quiet and live off the land, but when four unprotected women arrive at the rendezvous, he feels compelled to help them and is more fascinated by Juniper than any other woman he's known.

As their search brings only empty leads and dead ends, the sisters must decide whether to return east or stay in the mountains to continue looking--and that's if the mystery woman is even still alive. Is it worth risking the danger they find at every turn?


My Review:
Rocky Mountain Rendezvous is a romance set in 1837 in Wyoming territory. It's the first book in an ongoing series. Juniper's romance was wrapped up, but they'd only just gotten another lead about finding the Piegan Blackfoot woman that they're looking for. The sisters came out with a trading caravan for a big trapper rendezvous, assuming they'd quickly find the woman and return with the caravan. Only, they didn't bring any supplies for their stay, the trappers only traded for enough for themselves, and the women decided to stay even after the caravan departed...

Riley protected the women and guided them to the various bands of Blackfoot. Riley and Juniper spent a lot of time together getting to know each other's past and character. They became friends, then came to more deeply care for each other. They worked well together and built each other up. Historical details about the trappers and local Indian tribes were woven into the story. The main characters were engaging, complex, and reacted realistically to events. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting story.


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.

Fairest of Heart by Karen Witemeyer

Fairest of Heart
by Karen Witemeyer

ISBN-13: 9780764240416
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Bethany House
Released: June 6, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
An enchanting Western take on the classic Snow White fairy tale. Beauty has been nothing but a curse to Penelope Snow. When she becomes a personal maid for a famous actress whose troupe is leaving Chicago to tour the West, she hides her figure beneath shapeless dresses and keeps her head down. But she still manages to attract the wrong attention, leaving her prospects in tatters--and her jealous mistress plotting her demise.

After his brother lost his life because of a beautiful, manipulative woman, Texas ranger Titus Kingsley has learned to expect the worst from women and is rarely disappointed. So when a young woman found in suspicious circumstances takes up residence at his grandfather's ranch with the seven old drovers, Titus keeps a close eye on her. With a promotion hanging in the balance, Titus is assigned to investigate a robbery case tied to Penelope's acting troupe. The evidence points to her guilt, but Titus's heart divines a different truth--one that might just get Penelope killed.


My Review:
Fairest of Heart is a retelling of the Disney version of Snow White but loosely set in 1892 in Texas. This was not an attempt to make the fairy tale realistic but fitted the main parts of the tale into a new setting and filled it out some. This made some parts (especially the beginning and the end) unrealistic. For example, a dog charged a Texas Ranger during an arrest. Titus was determined to save the dog that his teammate shot. Somehow this wound ended up on the dog's abdomen. He flipped the strange, previously-aggressive dog on it's back and pressed hard on his wound, and the dog just calmly submitted to it. Titus then abandoned his duty to help take his captives (one of whom was also shot) to jail and put this injured dog on his horse to canter several miles to the nearest doctor. The dog still didn't object. Fairy-tale, yes? And, seriously, why tear up a perfectly good blanket to make "shoes" for a barefoot Penelope to wear when Titus could have just gotten a horse for her to ride. On the other hand, the author made the effort to learn about corsets since they played a major role, so good job there.

And the core story was good. Even after Penelope was wronged, she sweetly sorrowed for the actress who was so obsessed with her appearance. Her kindness and goodness won everyone over (except the actress). I appreciate that Titus was able to see past the accusations against Penelope and his own prejudice against beautiful women when he was presented with her side of the story (as in, the truth). I like that he sincerely apologized for his behavior toward her and fought his tendency to want to doubt her again. He slowly but steadily sorted through the clues to figure out and then prove who the true criminal was.

Everyone on the ranch were better people by the end of the story, and Titus and his grandfather worked through their guilt over the death of Titus' brother. The main characters were Christian, and Penelope's faith was why she was able to forgive and not turn bitter over how she's been wronged in life. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this story to those who enjoy the fairy tale.


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.

An Uncharted Devotion by Amanda Taylor

An Uncharted Devotion
by Amanda Taylor

ISBN-13: 9781524421557
Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Released: June 5, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Lady Sarah Whitfield becomes the newest member of English nobility when her husband, Lord James Whitfield, inherits the family estate and title. After a five-year post in the navy, James has returned from war a very different man: cold, stoic, and tortured by an unresolved past. How can he carry on with a life of wedded bliss when his oldest friend in the world is starving in a French prison?

Heartbroken by the changes in her husband, who seems to have lost both his love for life and for her, Sarah leaves for London. James, haunted by the war and the loss of his wife, cannot make sense of his pain and regret. He knows one thing, however: he cannot let the woman he loves slip through his fingers. But when he receives news of his friend, he is forced to decide whether he can face the horrors of his past to save his friend and reclaim a future with Sarah or whether he must sacrifice one for the other.


My Review:
An Uncharted Devotion is a historical set in 1810 in England and France. James is completely self-centered. He admitted that he never considered how his actions made Sarah feel (and he didn't start doing so, either). He married her right before joining the navy and quickly forgot about her. The story never was a choice between her and the best friend as he always put the best friend first. He's forced to leave his beloved navy and return home, but he felt guilty that his best friend was captured by the French and focused on trying to locate his friend. Sarah warmly greeted him home, and he rejected her. When he realized her friends treasured her, he alienated her friends to make her as miserable as he was. The first half of the book was him being a total jerk and making no effort to fix things.

The next 20% of the book was his effort to court Sarah after enough people told him to go apologize. However, he then learned that a French big-wig might know where his friend was, so he wrote a vague goodbye note to his wife and ran off by himself on a suicide mission. The last 30% of the book was Sarah and her friends risking their lives to find him and rescue his friend. While Sarah and her friends were likable, James wasn't.

Some historical details were wrong (like about the navy) or improbable (like how easily they traveled to Paris during a time of war). Others things were simply unrealistic: James found a walled, gated private garden in London and not only had a picnic there (no indication of asking permission) but later impulsively took a bunch of flowers. Though James started as a midshipman, he became captain of his own ship in less than 5 years, which should indicate extraordinary leadership skills. Instead, he's impulsive and unable to plan. It was Sarah's friend who planned out how to achieve James' goals. James didn't even realize he hadn't been given a role (vote of no confidence) until everyone else was doing theirs. 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.

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies
by Alison Goodman

ISBN-13: 9780593440810
Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Released: May 30, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Lady Augusta Colebrook, “Gus,” is determinedly unmarried, bored by society life, and tired of being dismissed at the age of forty-two. She and her twin sister, Julia, who is grieving her dead betrothed, need a distraction. One soon presents to rescue their friend’s goddaughter, Caroline, from her violent husband.

The sisters set out to Caroline’s country estate with a plan, but their carriage is accosted by a highwayman. In the scuffle, Gus accidentally shoots and injures the ruffian, only to discover he is Lord Evan Belford, an acquaintance from their past who was charged with murder and exiled to Australia twenty years ago. What follows is a high adventure full of danger, clever improvisation, heart-racing near misses, and a little help from a revived Lord Evan.

Back in London, Gus can’t stop thinking about her unlikely (not to mention handsome) comrade-in-arms. She is convinced Lord Evan was falsely accused of murder, and she is going to prove it. She persuades Julia to join her in a quest to help Lord Evan, and others in need—society be damned!


My Review:
The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is set in 1812 in London. It's not a mystery, though it might qualify as a suspense if you happened to care for the characters. It just exasperated me as it was self-inflicted danger caused by lack of planning. Augusta was arrogant and self-righteous. She didn't really plan things out but trusted to luck, her quick thinking (which wasn't always the best thinking), and Evan to get her out of the trouble she constantly rushed into. She thinks she's so smart, but she's not. At about halfway through, she needed to find one girl in a brothel, knew that there were several girls that could be brought to her, and didn't even bother to get a description of the girl. Seriously?! She's also a hypocrite: her brother surprised her with something so she couldn't argue or say no and she was extremely angry, but then she did the same thing to her sister and felt justified. The other characters (even her sister and Evan) weren't really developed enough for me to care about them, one way or another. And she's massively infatuated with Evan, declaring her love for him after just a few hours total around him.

The author exhaustively researched the time period (wonderful!) but felt the need to put in so much detail that it slowed the action. And she often chose details I didn't want, like a long description of agonizingly popping a dislocated shoulder back into place or the graphic details of a woman who had her breast surgically removed. Augusta didn't believe in God (mostly, it seemed, because she felt she could do a better job than God). Okay, but the author made a point of giving her the current politically correct attitudes. For example, she's friends with a mature man whom everyone knew was attracted to male youths.

The cases: paying a blackmailer for the return of a friend's indiscrete love letters and helping an abused woman escape her husband. The next one could have been handled by the legal process as it involved a kidnapping of a 12-year-old girl from an orphanage. But Augusta wanted save the girl herself even if it meant cutting her hair, dressing as a man, and going unarmed into a brothel that offered every sort of sexual abuse. The last case involved rescuing a woman from an insane asylum.

The only real mystery was what happened at Evan's duel (still not solved) and why he returned (which rumor said had something to do with his sister running off with another woman). He won't tell her anything and warned her not to snoop, but she did anyway. There were no sex scenes (though plenty of mentions of people's sexual preferences). There was a fair amount of 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.

Death from the Druid's Grove by Deb Marlowe

Death from the Druid's Grove
by Deb Marlowe

ISBN-13: 05142023DTDG1
Kindle: 261 pages
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing
Released: May 26, 2023

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
October 1851 . After millions of visitors and months of success, the Great Exhibition is winding down. Mr. Niall Kier and Miss Kara Levett are busy with the celebrations planned for the last weeks—and with all the commissions their involvement has brought them. Their artistic works stall, though, when the closing ceremonies are interrupted by a murder. Suddenly, a friend is under suspicion and the murder has been linked to the Druid’s Grove, the secret society in which Niall is a member and Kara has just been inducted. They dive in, hoping to quickly clear their ally’s name, except nothing is simple in the Grove and no one is exactly who they seem to be.

Niall and Kara put their talents and resources to work once more, but they find that old, sinister secrets might be behind the present-day bloodshed. And as they investigate, it appears someone might also be digging about in Niall’s mysterious past.


My Review:
Death from the Druid's Grove is a mystery set in 1851 in England. It felt like the series moved from a historical to a fantasy version of London. Yes, the mystery was based on historical problems of the time. However, the Druid’s Grove club was just bursting full of talented, outspoken women. Suddenly Kara seemed like just one of the crowd rather than uniquely talented, especially as so few of her skills were used to solve the mystery.

The clue-based mystery was still interesting, and whodunit wasn't obvious. Kara and Niall asked good questions. They used logic and their unique resources to find clues and solve whodunit. They worked well together and built each other up. There was no sex, but they had some rather intense kissing that made me think the next book might not stay sex-free. There was some bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this story to fans of historical mysteries.


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.