intrigue

More read and enjoyed. March 27, 2023

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Just now finished this one. It’s another 5 star read and to my great disappointment it ended much too soon. It could have easily gone on a few more chapters.

There were strong elements of the story that were familiar enough to make me think I had read this before. On the other hand there were also unfamiliar elements. Mostly, I think it was a new story but I’m not one hundred percent sure about that. I loved the story anyway and I’m glad to have read it, either way.

Searching for Anna: (Love in Lansing Book 1)

As the Great War rages in Europe, Anna Gibson struggles to make ends meet as a seamstress in a small dress shop in Lansing, Michigan. She is content with her life. Or, so she thinks. However, a handsome suitor from her former life unexpectedly reappears, and she finds herself questioning her future when he begins to open doors to her past.

Warren Mallory has never taken life too seriously…until now. Suddenly, he is very serious about finding the amber-eyed beauty that has haunted his thoughts since she left him standing alone on that street corner. And once he has, he doesn’t plan to let her vanish again.

But even as fate draws them together, the sparks of chemistry are doused when a mysterious package and a long-hidden secret threaten to drive them apart. Can Anna forgive the past in order to be with Warren, or will pride and misconceptions make her walk away from the only man she has ever loved?

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This next one did not rate as high in my estimation. I gave it four stars. The story was enjoyable, I had no complaints there. It just couldn’t hold my attention as well as the previous book. When I consider the reason for that, it comes down to the writing, or maybe more fairly, it comes down to the editing. Many of the lines shaking my attention were easily fixable and I so wanted to do it. It wasn’t a waste of time though, I did enjoy the story…

Two life changing events have adversely affected Jade’s work performance and her boss insists she take all of her three months accumulated vacation time to grieve and recuperate.

Returning to the scene of happier days and deep regret, Daniel is at the end of his rope, hoping somehow to make things right.

Beach House Promises (Brighton Beach Retreat Series Book 1)

Jade Brighton can’t take much more. Her life has already been upended, leaving her and her daughter in desperate need of recovery time. So they pack their bags and head to the family beach house to recharge and recover.

Daniel Barnhill has spent his life lamenting the one who got away. In a desperate attempt to escape his father, Daniel heads for the small town of Blackstone Cove. Not only is he surprised to find her again, but he also can’t believe she has a child.

Can Jade and Daniel rebuild what they once had or has time and life pushed them too far apart?

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I thought I had my next read picked out but if I did it’s disappeared. Maybe it would be good to try another partially started World War II story. Hopefully it will work for me this time, some stories are just tough to get into. If it doesn’t work, I will at least read the ending, I can do that much.

Shadowed by a Spy (Suspicious Shores Book 2) 

When Lexie Smithfield boards the early morning Long Island train to Manhattan in 1942, she feels safe having left the threat of danger behind her at Jekyll Island. Little does she know, the four men who boarded the train with her are Nazi spies sent to wreak havoc in the United States.

Did the so-called Smithfield family curse follow her to New York?

What will happen to Lexie when she innocently befriends one of the spies and gets involved in the spy ring? And with her fiance Russell overseas, who will protect her?

I loved this book December 28, 2022

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Well that bargain didn’t last long. It seems we have to hurry if we want the good deals. But enough of that.

There are many things about this book that I loved. There was one thing in particular, though. Read on to see what that was.

Romeo’s Way (Mike Romeo Thrillers Book 2)

Mike Romeo had a difficult life as a kid. Bullied, not fitting in, misunderstood, neglected at home, he had to find ways of coping to survive. He started life as an overweight kid, that was bad enough but attending university as a young teen was no picnic and his out in both cases was books.

A kind soul took pity on him as he grew older and taught him to box. Well enough to hold undefeated titles. As an adult he was a powerhouse with an arsenal of moves that made him a formidable opponent. That coupled with his vast reading and wicked sense of humor, he was amazing.

That’s what I loved most about him, his sense of humor. His opponents were either impressed or confounded with the flow of pithy quotes. Most of the time words did the job leaving no need for physical altercations.

He wasn’t a fun kind of guy though, life had taught him enough hard lessons that he would never be the life of the party. He was more apt to be a runner when things were uncomfortable. The definition for uncomfortable was relative. It didn’t take much for him to decide to move on. He had friends who disagreed and wanted him to stay.

All of the characters had depth but Mike Romeo was by far my favorite, just as the author intended.

I loved the way the story played out and the way it ended.

This was a Five star read, definitely.

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Book description from Amazon…

“I don’t want anybody bleeding to death, okay?” I said. “I think your problem is education. There’s just no discipline anymore. You have to know there are consequences for bad behavior. Without that, society falls apart.”
Baton Guy croaked, “I can’t breathe.”
“You just can’t go around doing this sort of thing,” I said. “It isn’t right. Now, one of you is bleeding pretty badly and won’t be riding a bike anytime soon. The other one still needs to learn, am I right?”
“Don’t kill us,” Knife Guy said.

Mike Romeo, the former cage fighter living low in L.A., doesn’t look for trouble. He doesn’t have to. It comes after him. So when he’s hired by a California senatorial campaign to do undercover work, Romeo doesn’t have any illusions. Especially when his duty takes him to San Francisco.

But as Romeo gets closer to solving the mystery of who is behind the hit job on an honorable man, things heat up in the City by the Bay –– and between Mike and a beautiful political operative. Until a bullet nearly takes him out for good.

Now all bets are off. Because if there’s one thing Romeo wants, it’s justice. And he’s going to get it––his way.

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I guess the synopsis was going for no spoilers and in my mind that’s why it didn’t do this book the justice it deserved. The reading experience was so much better than the book description led me to believe it would be.

This book is definitely on my top five list. Although 5 is too small for the number of books read that should be on my top five list. Maybe I will make it a fat five so more will fit. I’d have to read fewer books for there to be a smaller number of top five books, so we have to be creative.

This book is worth the read at any price.

Check it out and . . .

Happy Reading

Frost? It’s a bit early isn’t it? September 27, 2022

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Frost. We’ve had the first one of the season and it’s only September 27, 2022. I wonder when the first snow will fly. I’m sad to see summer leave but… winter has it’s own charm.

Everything is still green although with the change in weather it probably won’t be for too much longer. It’s hard to tell though. Every year seems to have a different timetable.

So, I’m just popping in for a short while. My current book is a page turner and it’s not easy to break away long enough to write anything of any consequence. I’m loving the story. I love the characters, the setting, the story line, but most of all I love that it makes me laugh out loud. And long sometimes. A good laugh is good for the soul and this book does it for me. I’m going to be sad when it ends. That said, the joy of the read will soon win out over the sadness.

This is the kind of story where you forget you are reading a book and find yourself living life along with the characters. The last week or so we’ve been staying at the country estate having a house party, but the guests have all suddenly departed, a sign it’s time to go back to the city. We have a murderer to flush out and catch. Well, a potential murderer. He or she, (we haven’t ruled anyone out yet,) has made several attempts on Herman’s life but so far hasn’t succeeded. We don’t want them too either.

Personally, I think it is the grandmother’s friend. He is a doctor and some of the coddling he does to his patient/friend seems a bit manipulative. He may have a reason to want the grandson out of the picture. We’ll see if I’m right about him, or if I’ll change my mind before the end.

To Write a Wrong (The Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency Book #2)

Miss Daphne Beekman is a mystery writer by day, inquiry agent by night. Known for her ability to puzzle out plots, she prefers working behind the scenes for the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency, staying well away from danger. However, Daphne soon finds herself in the thick of an attempted murder case she’s determined to solve.

Mr. Herman Henderson is also a mystery writer, but unlike the dashing heroes he pens, he lives a quiet life, determined to avoid the fate of his adventurous parents, who perished on an expedition when he was a child. But when he experiences numerous attempts on his life, he seeks out the services of the eccentric Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency to uncover the culprit. All too soon, Herman finds himself stepping out of the safe haven of his world and into an adventure he never imagined.

As the list of suspects grows and sinister plots are directed Daphne’s way as well, Herman and Daphne must determine who they can trust and if they can risk the greatest adventure of all: love.

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This is definitely a favorite read. Five stars, for sure.

It’s still a bargain too if you are tempted. I hope you are because you will love it.

Happy Reading!

Bargain book September 07, 2022

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1531 Entertainment has a suggestion for us from an author who was often in my pile of library a decade ago when that was still my main source of reading material. I’m looking forward to this read. I wondered if I may have read it when it first came out but it’s not ringing any memory bells for me. That means I would need to reread it anyway.

Beyond Tuesday Morning: Sequel to the Bestselling One Tuesday Morning (9/11 series Book 2) 

The hope-filled sequel to the bestselling One Tuesday Morning. In this new novel by Karen Kingsbury, three years have passed since the terrorist attacks on New York City. Jamie Bryan, widow of a firefighter who lost his life on that terrible day, has found meaning in her season of loss by volunteering at St. Paul’s, the memorial chapel across the street from where the Twin Towers once stood. Here she meets a daily stream of people touched by the tragedy, including two men with whom she feels a connection. One is a firefighter also changed by the attacks, the other a police officer from Los Angeles. But as Jamie gets to know the police officer, she is stunned to find out that he is the brother of Eric Michaels, the man with the uncanny resemblance to Jamie’s husband, the man who lived with her for three months after September 11. Eric is the man she has vowed never to see again. Certain she could not share even a friendship with his brother, Jamie shuts out the police officer and delves deeper into her work at St. Paul’s. Now it will take the persistence of a tenacious man, the questions from her curious young daughter, and the words from her dead husband’s journal to move Jamie beyond one Tuesday morning.

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My current read is turning out to be a good choice. I left off at a good part and I need to hurry back and see what is going to happen next.

Flee the Night (Team Hope Book 1) 

Ex-CIA operative Lacey Montgomery is a liar, a murderer, and a fugitive—or is she? Former Green Beret Jim Micah must either prove her innocence or bring her to justice. Too bad his heart won’t stay out of the way. With a little girl’s life and national secrets hanging in the balance, Jim and Lacey must trust God to help them flee the secrets of the night.

The little blurb with the book sells this story short. There are life threatening things happening at every turn and who to trust is a question with no apparent answer. Not yet anyway.

This story reaches out and grabs the reader and it’s impossible to keep from being drawn in to the action. At the moment we are running for our life.

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Check it out, you may want to read it too.

That’s it for today, sadly, that’s all I have.

Happy Reading y’all

Bargain books July 22, 2022

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Hi everyone. This is catch-up time after most of the week spent camping. We have had a bit of everything from very hot to nearly blown away with severe rain and thunder storms. It has been fun though, a special time with family. Something we don’t get to do very often so we treasure every minute.

There were lots of suggestion emails waiting for me and it will be an adventure to see how many good books come out of them.

This first one is a BookRunes suggestion, It’s an author I’ve never heard of and reading the first two chapters I want to give it a try. Searching to see what this author is all about I found there are three other bargain books all with a supernatural aspect. I’m going for all four.

First Cause : An Amari Johnston Novel, Volume 4 

In 1990, while carefully reviewing data received from NASA’s newly launched Hubble Telescope, Dr. Benjamin Zeller, Science Advisor to President Bush, makes a shocking discovery that will bridge the gap between science and religion.

Just as Dr. Zeller is about to reveal his findings to the world, he goes missing, narrowly avoiding an assassin’s bullet. Evidence leads authorities to believe he has drowned in the Potomac River. In reality, he is in hiding, fearing a government conspiracy to keep his discovery a secret. Rather than contact the FBI, he reaches out to a trusted friend in Tucson, Arizona.

Dr. Kevin Brenner is a brilliant experimental physicist who is about to marry Amari Johnston, a feisty private investigator known for thinking outside the box. Just before the wedding, Kevin receives a coded message on his computer from Dr. Zeller. Kevin and Amari realize the message is a veiled cry for help giving only cryptic clues as to Dr. Zeller’s location. They hastily change their honeymoon plans and travel to Washington, D.C., desperate to locate Dr. Zeller and protect him from the determined assassin.

Will they find Dr. Zeller before it’s too late? And what is this astonishing discovery that some would stop at nothing to keep hidden? Or is Dr. Zeller in danger for an entirely different reason?

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This is the next book I found.

The Near-Death Experience of Justin Parks

This novel, written from a Christian worldview, was inspired byImagine Heaven, The New York Times Best Seller, by Pastor John Burke.

Every year, thousands of people cheat death and come back to life. Many people have near-death experiences that offer a glimpse of Heaven. But none of these can compare to the remarkable near-death experience of Justin Parks.

The past three years haven’t been easy for Justin, causing him to lose faith in a loving, personal God. His fiancée gets killed by a drunk driver a week before their wedding. A year later, after enrolling in the police academy in a misguided effort to avenge his fiancée’s death, he mistakes a Black church pastor for an armed robber, shoots him in the chest, and nearly kills him. In the following months, he struggles with the backlash from the public outrage caused by negative media attention. And just when his life has seemingly returned to normal, a blow to the head sends him to a watery death, only for him to be revived by paramedics a few minutes later.

When Justin awakes from a coma in the hospital, he remembers nothing about the moments leading up to his death or the time between his death and resuscitation. He learns from his doctor that as his traumatic brain injury heals, fragments of memory from the moments before and after his death will eventually return. And return they do, in astonishing ways. Not only does he experience ultra-realistic visions of heavenly realms, but he also remembers portions of a judgment day-style life review that includes not only events from his past but terrifying events in his future.

Fearing he may be losing his mind, he looks for answers by attending a near-death research conference held at a local convention center. During one of the lectures, he meets Lydia Theodoropoulos, a quirky, young freelance reporter with a funny last name—and his life will never be the same.

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Two more. . . both stand-alone novels

Carbon-14: The Shroud of Turin (An Amari Johnston Novel Book 1)

More than 99 percent of the evidence proves the Shroud of Turin is the authentic burial cloth of Jesus Christ. Only one test says otherwise—the carbon date performed in 1988.

A serial killer with a fetish for fire targets the faithful of Tucson, Arizona. Homicide detective, Pete Johnston, works to catch the killer before more clergy are killed, before more churches are burned.

His daughter, Amari, is a criminal justice major at the University of Arizona. When the Shroud is carbon dated at her university, the results reveal that the relic is a medieval forgery. Amari investigates this ancient cold case file for a class project and makes a shocking discovery that could alter the fate of Christianity.

She teams up with Dr. Kevin Brenner, a brilliant young experimental physicist, and together they gather evidence so they can plead their case to the Vatican—unless the killer can stop them first. Her father desperately tries to protect her and catch the killer before she becomes his next victim.

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Sixty-Five Roses: An Amari Johnston Novel, Volume 3

Cystic fibrosis is a progressive disease with no cure. And for one dying little girl with this illness, there is only one hope—an ancient Christian relic with an astonishing power to heal.

Amari Johnston is a feisty private investigator fresh out of college. Her father is a retired homicide detective. Together, they work as a team for a wealthy philanthropist named Ernesto Galliano. While staying at Ernesto’s estate, Amari befriends an endearing four-year-old foster child named Kathleen. But Kathleen isn’t like the other foster children staying at the estate. She has a severe case of cystic fibrosis, and Amari is desperate to find a cure. She researches the latest medical advances, but after learning that effective treatment is decades away, she nearly gives up hope.

Meanwhile, inside the restoration laboratory of the Royal Ontario Museum, a conservator discovers a relic with miraculous healing powers: a woolen scrap of fabric from the cloak of Jesus Christ.

When the museum conservator gets fired, and the miracle cloth goes missing, Ernesto sends Amari and her father to investigate the case. As Kathleen lies dying in the intensive care unit, Amari puts her own life on the line in a desperate attempt to find the miracle cloth before it’s too late.

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These four should keep us going for awhile but I will still check to see if we have any more.

Be back soon.

Happy Reading.

Bargain book June 24, 2022

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1531 Entertainment has a bargain suggestion that sounds like it will be a lot of fun. This is our first introduction to this author too.

Meet Me in the Margins

Savannah Cade’s dreams are coming true. The Claire Donovan, editor-in-chief of the most successful romance imprint in the country, has requested to see the manuscript Savannah’s been secretly writing while working as editor herself—except at her publishing house, the philosophy is only highbrow works are worth printing and commercial fiction, particularly romance, should be reserved for the lowest level of Dante’s inferno. But when Savannah drops her manuscript during a staff meeting and nearly exposes herself to the whole company—including William Pennington, new publisher and son of the romance-despising CEO herself—she races to hide her manuscript in the secret turret room of the old Victorian office.

When she returns, she’s dismayed to discover that someone has not only been in her hidden nook but has written notes in the margins—quite critical ones. But when Claire’s own reaction turns out to be nearly identical to the scribbled remarks, and worse, Claire announces that Savannah has six weeks to resubmit before she retires, Savannah finds herself forced to seek the help of the shadowy editor after all.

As their notes back and forth start to fill up the pages, however, Savannah finds him not just becoming pivotal to her work but her life. There’s no doubt about it. She’s falling for her mystery editor. If she only knew who he was.

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That’s all we have for today but it looks interesting enough to make up for being the only one.

My current read is an engaging story and I do like it. My disappointment is in the writing style. I prefer show rather than tell and this author uses tell. I will keep on with it because I want to know what happens, not just how it ends.

Ben in Love: A Ben Mitchell/Titus Ray Thriller (Ben Mitchell/Titus Ray Thrillers)

I’m this far along in the story.

Ben’s love life is complicated . . .
Ben claims to be in love with Kamila Hanim, the daughter of an exiled Muslim cleric, who’s been accused of trying to overthrow the Turkish government. Titus doesn’t believe him. He thinks Ben is in love with Jennifer, another CIA operative. Can Ben’s feelings for Jennifer survive his deception?

Ben’s love life is confusing . . .
After Titus decides to put Ben under surveillance, he follows him to a compound in northern Virginia, where he discovers Ben is entangled in a duplicitous joint operation involving the FBI and an operative from Titus’s past. Will Titus be able to share his newfound faith with an old enemy?

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It’s Friday. It’s hot, muggy, and thunder/lightening stormy. A good day for reading.

It was stormy and rainy earlier today with unfulfilled promises of more. Heavy duty noises are starting up in the heavens and looking at the swollen clouds much more is on the way.

At least I don’t have to water.

There is always a silver lining.

Happy reading this weekend y’all.