Target Acquired by Lynette Eason

Target Acquired
by Lynette Eason

ISBN-13: 9780800741204
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Revell
Released: August 20, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Tough-as-nails Kenzie King has finally earned her place as a tactical medic on a SWAT team. But not everyone on the all-male team accepts her. Rumor is, she didn't get the position because of what she could do but because of who she knew. Which means she has to work harder and longer than anyone else to prove herself.

Cole Garrison is a man with deep faith who is finally ready to settle down and build a family of his own--if he can find the right person, that is. Kenzie sure has set off his interest meter, but trouble seems to follow in her wake. Since she joined the team, someone has begun to ambush and pick off team members, one by one.

It's all hands on deck to discover the culprit and end the killing. Can Kenzie and Cole put aside their differences and work together as a team? Or will their budding attraction be snuffed out by a sniper's bullet?


My Review:
Target Acquired is a Christian romantic suspense. While it's the second book in a series, it works as a standalone. Kenzie was the most qualified person to apply for the spot of tactical medic for the SWAT team, but many on the team wonder if she can really pull her own weight (or, more accurately, pull their weight if they're injured). While she slowly proves her worth during call-outs, one team member resents that she won the spot instead of his friend. When she's targeted during fake call-outs and warned to quit the team during an attack, she and Cole begin to wonder if this teammate or his friend are involved.

The main characters were likable, capable people who reacted realistically to events. Cole supported and protected Kenzie, though he had trouble figuring out how to handle his growing attraction to her since he's now her team leader. She's been attracted to him for a long time. They worked well together. The suspense remained high throughout due to the ongoing danger to Kenzie and the team. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this exciting 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.

A Proper Facade by Esther Hatch

A Proper Facade
by Esther Hatch

ISBN-13: 9781524426477
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Released: August 20, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Mercy Rothschild has always been granted an unusually long tether by her parents, who have never pushed her to marry until she’s ready. She assumes that when the right man comes along, she will marry for love. However, as she embarks on her third Season, her parents begin to pressure her to find a match. And the Duke of Harrington wants to court her!

Nicholas Kendrick, Duke of Harrington, follows the rules of the ton meticulously. When he determines that Mercy is the ideal candidate for a wife, he carefully courts her. Desperate to extricate herself from Harrington’s advances, Mercy concludes that there is only one course of action: she must push her intended into the arms of another woman. But when Mercy becomes acquainted with the man behind the proper facade, her plans come crashing down as she realizes that stiff and proper Harrington might be the very man she’s been waiting for.


My Review:
A Proper Facade is a romance set around 1846 in England. When Nicholas was 17 years old, a woman who wanted to marry him for his title aroused his passions in an attempt to entrap him. His father sent him to the army to learn self-disciple. He's been extremely careful with his and other's reputations since then as he realized how damaging his actions could be.

Mercy's more interested in dancing than marriage. She told several people that she wanted to marry for love--like her parents and her sister--and that she believed that the evidence of love is (before marriage) enflamed passions. As in, she wants the guy to get her alone and intensely kiss her every chance he gets. Mercy's the daughter of an Earl. I find it unbelievable that no one told her "lust is not love. Any guy who can't keep his hands off of you cares more about what he wants than about you."

Mercy's convinced that Nicholas' restraint is lack of interest rather than a show of respect and that his comments about the things he likes about her are worthless. Even knowing how he felt about reputations, she set him up several times so he was alone with scheming women who wanted to entrap him into marriage. She finally got him alone and got physical with him to provoke passion, demanding a passionate kiss before she'd agree to marry him. Only after this did she realize that passion doesn't always mean love and that she'd undervalued Nicholas.

Frankly, I don't understand why Nicholas wanted an unpredictable wife, which is what attracted him to Mercy in addition to her connections and her freckles. Especially when that unpredictable nature was turned against him rather than used to support him or build his confidence. I felt like they really needed some time to rebuild trust, so the ending felt rushed to me. There was no sex. The kissing was on the face, and the touching stayed in the face to (his) chest area. There was no 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.

Protecting the Amish Child by Dana R. Lynn

Protecting the Amish Child
by Dana R. Lynn

ISBN-13: 9781335980090
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
Released: August 20, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
When Francesca Brown discovers a dead body, bullets start flying her way. Soon FBI agent Tanner Hall arrives—only to find an autistic Amish boy hiding nearby. As a witness to a crime, it’s clear someone will stop at nothing to silence the little boy—permanently. Can Fran and Tanner unravel a lethal conspiracy before the murderer strikes again?


My Review:
Protecting the Amish Child is a romantic suspense. Though part of a series, it works fine as a stand alone. Fran is a forensic artist who works with local area law enforcement. Her husband may have been murdered, but she doesn't know why. Now a young man from one of his cases is found murdered in her yard and a young, Amish, autistic boy is found hiding nearby. The boy seems most comfortable with her, so she and Tanner protect him as a potential witness while trying to find ways to find out who the boy is and what he knows. The use the clues from the boy to track down answers.

The suspense came from hired killers repeatedly attacking them. Fran and Tanner worked well together. They became friends and started to care for each other as they spent time together. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting 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.

Buried Too Deep by Karen Rose

Buried Too Deep
by Karen Rose

ISBN-13: 9780593638583
Hardcover: 528 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Released: August 13, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Employed as the nighttime security guard of Broussard Private Investigations, Phineas Bishop has been working through overwhelming PTSD episodes from his Army service while still utilizing his military skills. When a violent break-in occurs at the office, Phin resolves to help track down the intruder. Their only lead and witness is Cora Winslow, a spirited librarian who also needs answers.

Her father’s body has been discovered under a recently demolished building, murdered twenty-three years ago. So, who has been sending her the handwritten letters—written and signed by him—every year since she was five? Someone wants to keep Cora in the dark. And now, they’re coming for her.

Phin is surprised by his fondness for the woman’s fierce determination and research prowess. But New Orleans’s Garden District holds secrets as old as the streets themselves. With help from the entire Broussard P.I. team, Phin and Cora enter a labyrinth of fraud and homicide that threatens to bury them all.


My Review:
Buried Too Deep is a romantic suspense. Though a part of a series, it works as a stand alone. Phin feels like a failure because of his PTSD and how he runs away from his friends (and family) every time it gets bad. He now has a support dog who helps him a lot, but he's embarrassed to need a dog's help. After the initial confusion of the crime scene, no one really suspects him of shooting someone at Broussard Private Investigations. However, he saw a potential witness flee the scene, so he helps track her down to question her. Cora wanted help investigating who killed her father, why, and why someone tried so hard to make her think that her father was still alive but abandoned her and her mother. The PIs (including Phin) and Cora work together to figure it out.

Since we get the viewpoint of the bad guys, we know that a television evangelist had something to hide all those years ago. He uses his nephew now to help him keep that crime covered up. The nephew has helped his uncle in the past by digging up dirt on those who threaten his uncle's reputation. He decides to find out why his uncle's running scared now. In the process, more people are killed to hide past secrets.

The suspense was created by the known threat to Cora (and others). The main characters were likable and reacted realistically to events. Phin and Cora worked together well, and Cora encouraged and built Phin up. I grant that the TV evangelist wasn't really a Christian and he certainly had a bad situation that he wanted to hide. But when we finally found out the secret motivating so much killing, I had a hard time believing that Cora's father (a proven secret keeper) was killed to hide a part of it while others were left alive.

There was a fair amount of bad language. There was a detailed sex scene.


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.

A Berry Suspicious Death by Peg Cochran

A Berry Suspicious Death
by Peg Cochran

ISBN-13: 9781960511799
Paperback: 194 pages
Publisher: Beyond the Page
Released: August 20, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
The cranberry bogs at Sassamanash Farms have never looked more festive than when Monica’s half-brother celebrates his wedding there. It’s a genuinely joyous occasion, and even greeting a strange assortment of guests and witnessing a heated argument can’t spoil Monica’s mood. But that all changes when one of the guests is found murdered at the reception—and then one of Monica’s employees is accused of doing the deed to get his hands on the dead woman’s money.

It doesn’t take long for Monica to discover that the victim had amassed her fortune by marrying a very wealthy—and very ill—older man. What’s more, the old man’s daughters despised the scheming, gold-digging woman, and thought the inheritance money should have been theirs. That seems like motive enough for murder, but Monica suspects there’s more to this case than simple greed. With her employee in hot water and time running out, Monica will have to act fast to catch the killer, before a case that started with a family wedding ends with her own funeral...


My Review:
A Berry Suspicious Death is a cozy mystery. It's maybe the 9th book in the series. You can understand this book without reading the previous ones, and this novel didn't spoil previous mysteries.

Monica just happened to repeatedly be right where she needed to be to see or overhear some clue to the mystery. She also stumbled upon a side mystery, which was actually the easier one to guess as she gathered more clues about it. However, Monica didn't seem very clever as she had troubles putting the clues together. I was a little confused by the ending--not whodunit, but why Monica didn't just tell the cop when she had the chance rather than hope he understood an little-known signal. Anyway. The writing also didn't read smoothly, but this is an Advanced Reader Copy, so the writing might be more polished in the final copy. There was no sex. There was no bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this to fans of cozy 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.

Beyond Ivy Walls by Rachel Fordham

Beyond Ivy Walls
by Rachel Fordham

ISBN-13: 9780840718808
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Released: August 13, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Early 1900s. When an accident leaves Sadie West's family in dire financial need, she nervously leaves the land she loves to work in the Hoag duster factory. But sending all her money home means that she has nowhere to board, and she's forced to take up residence in an abandoned building--a choice that throws her in the path of the town's mysterious bachelor.

Recently returned from exile, and determined to keep his arrival a secret, Otis Taylor makes the impulsive decision to hire the woman he finds hiding on his family's property with the strict instructions she tell no one he has returned. The dark halls of his boyhood flood him with memories he's long tried to forget. The only bright light is the woman he has hired. Can the optimistic Sadie teach the wounded Otis to trust again? To love? Can the pair unravel the family secrets that have long cast a shadow over the mansion and those who reside within?


My Review:
Beyond Ivy Walls is a sweet romance set in 1903 in Monticello, Iowa. Otis has no hair and has scars on his scalp from his father's attempts to make his hair regrow. Sent away from his family to live in an isolated cottage, he feels deeply rejected by his family. He's convinced his former friends will view him as a beast, a monster to be rejected. He returns after his father and brother died and discovers that his brother had a child out of wedlock. He's determine to find her and give her all of the love and acceptance he lacked. Sadie sees his scars and doesn't reject him. She's hired to help clean up the house and teach him social skills. She helps him find the courage to face the community.

Sadie and Otis became friends as they spent time together. They learned to work through misunderstanding and conflict. The historical details were woven into the story and didn't slow the pacing. Sadie prays for her father's healing and trusts that God will see her family through this hard time. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable romance.


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.

Master of the Art of Detection by Liese Sherwood-Fabre

Master of the Art of Detection
by Liese Sherwood-Fabre

ISBN-13: 9781952408328
ebook: 170 pages
Publisher: Little Elm Press
Released: August 13, 2024

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Sherlock Holmes, the most cerebral of detectives, finds his deductive powers put to the test in this intriguing collection of cases. Each adventure presents a web of secrets, clues, and deceptions. Only his highly honed observational skills lead him to the truth.

In a locked-room murder, did the victim succumb to “The Curse of Kisin?” And how had the daughter of Squire Northridge disappeared from her own locked bedroom? Can Holmes, an ocean away, determine if a missing treasure hunter ran off with Jean Lafitte’s fabled buried plunder? The disappearance of a beloved dog is an adventure filled with whimsy and humor, as are the return of Lady Frances Carfax and the howling dog of Baker Street.


My Review:
Master of the Art of Detection is a collection of 9 short story mysteries set in the 1890s in England. This includes a couple originals by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, provided to offer the needed background for the new stories. The stories often filled in cases that were referred to by Holmes or Watson but never written by Doyle. As with most short mysteries, they were narrations of the clues and the solution (which is quickly uncovered) rather than a puzzle mystery to be solved. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend these enjoyable 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.

Justice Delayed by Patricia Bradley

Justice Delayed
by Patricia Bradley

ISBN-13: 9780800727086
Paperback: 354 pages
Publisher: Revell
Released: January 31, 2017

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
It's been eighteen years since TV crime reporter Andi Hollister's sister was murdered. The confessed killer is behind bars, and the execution date is looming. But when a letter surfaces stating that the condemned killer didn't actually do it, Detective Will Kincaide of the Memphis Cold Case Unit will stop at nothing to help Andi get to the bottom of it. After all, this case is personal: the person who confessed to the crime is Will's cousin. They have less than a week to find the real killer before the wrong person is executed. But much can be accomplished in that week--including uncovering police corruption, running for your life, and falling in love.


My Review:
Justice Delayed is a Christian romantic suspense. Frankly, I had a hard time relating to Andi. People kept telling her that she won't ask for help when she needs it, and she basically thinks, "It's not my fault that I don't need help," not even from God. Yet she's so very obviously in need of help and can't see it. Though she did ask God for help at the end, I didn't get the feeling that she'd really seen her need for help. It seemed like she still felt capable of handling things on her own.

The Cold Case unit worked to prove that Will's cousin, about to be executed for the murder of Andi's sister, didn't do it when their potential witness ended up dead. Andi helped gather information, but even though they only had four days, she spent hours editing video that someone else could have handled or filming a new segment that could have been done later. She's driven to succeed and won't take a break from anything. I honestly didn't understand why Will was attracted to her beyond people saying she needed a protector (even if she doesn't want one) and why won't he act on his attraction and take up the job? He's kind, honorable, and a good investigator. He deserved someone who would be an actual partner in life.

Anyway, the investigate was interesting; even though the reader knows who was involved, we don't know exactly what happened. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this as an 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.

The Spice King by Elizabeth Camden

The Spice King
by Elizabeth Camden

ISBN-13: 9780764232114
Paperback: 348 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Released: September 3, 2019

Source: Free ebook.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Gray Delacroix has dedicated his life to building an acclaimed global spice empire, but it has come at a cost. Resolved to salvage his family before they spiral out of control, he returns to his ancestral home for good after years of traveling the world.

As a junior botanist for the Smithsonian, Annabelle Larkin has been charged with the impossible task of gaining access to the notoriously private Delacroix plant collection. If she fails, she will be out of a job and the family farm in Kansas will go under. She has no idea that in gaining entrance to the Delacroix world, she will unwittingly step into a web of dangerous political intrigue far beyond her experience.

Unable to deny her attraction to the reclusive business tycoon, Annabelle will be forced to choose between her heart and loyalty to her country. Can Gray and Annabelle find a way through the storm of scandal without destroying the family Gray is fighting to save?


My Review:
The Spice King is a Christian romance set in 1900 in America. This story sets up the next two novels in the series but can be read as a stand-alone. The historical details about the events and politics of the time were woven into the story and affected everyone's lives. There were interesting details about the spice trade and how some companies were doing things like passing off corn syrup as maple syrup by using chemistry to modify the taste and save a few bucks.

The characters reacted realistically, were complex, and I cared about what happened to them. Gray need someone like Annabelle to draw out his better tendencies rather than just think about himself and his family. They shared interests and spent time together, becoming good friends and then romantically interested. The issue that stood between them was believable, but Annabelle didn't give up.

The main character's Christian belief's affected how they behaved toward others. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this well-written, interesting historical romance.


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.