A Promise to Protect by Patricia Bradley

Acting Sheriff Ben Logan arrives at Tony’s hotel room to see his friend lying in a pool of blood.  As Tony lay dying, he extracts a promise from Ben to protect his sister Leigh Somerall and her son TJ from those who shot him.  Reluctantly Ben agrees.  It has been ten years since he last saw Leigh and she broke his heart.  He does not want his heart broke again.

Dr. Leigh Somerall is back in town working as an ER doctor to fulfill her contract to help pay for med school.  Her goal is to get out of town as quickly as possible and to avoid seeing Ben.  She did not count on her brother getting murdered and Ben’s promise or the attempts on her life. 

This is an action, suspense, romance rolled into one book.  It was hard to understand Leigh’s stubbornness about accepting help from Ben when her life and that of her sons kept getting threatened.  As the story progresses, I understood it a little bit better.  I am usually very good about figuring out “who done it”.  But there were so many twists and turns I kept changing my mind about the guilty party.  Of course you know Ben and Leigh will get together in the end.  But there is a lot of forgiveness that has to happen on both their parts and not just on their previous relationship. 

This is the second book in the Logan Point Series.  It is not necessary to read the first book to fully enjoy this one.  The main character is mentioned briefly in this book.  I would highly recommend this book.

I was given this book by the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

The Brickmaker's Bride by Judith Miller

The story takes place shortly after the end of the Civil War in the newly formed state of West Virginia.  Laura Woodfield is the daughter of the deceased owner of the Woodfield Brickyard.  It has lane unused since her father went off to war and was killed.  Ewan McKay has immigrated from Ireland with his Uncle Hugh and Aunt Margaret in the hopes of finding a better life.  Ewan and Hugh are in the market to purchase a brick yard.  With Ewan’s knowledge of how to run a brick yard and Hugh having the money, they are hoping to make a success of the business.

Laura volunteers to help Ewan with the books and rounding up men to work in the brick yard as she assisted her father when he was alive. Ewan and Laura realize that more than friendship is developing.  But Laura is being courted by a lawyer with political ambitions.  Ewan wants to focus his time on working hard at the brickyard to make enough money to bring his three sisters to America from Ireland. 

There is tension in Ewan’s household.  Hugh is a gambler and know it all.  Margaret is a social climber who has to have her way or everyone will hear about it loudly and often.  All Ewan wants is to be made partner in the brickyard and bring his sisters to America.  He also would like to court Laura. When Hugh signs loan papers that put the business in jeopardy, all of Ewan’s hard work is put in on the line.

I will start by saying this is not my typical genre.  I am more of a mystery reader.  The book started out slow and then got better.  There was too much description on how a brick was made and how a brick yard is run.  The essence of the story was good.  Both of the main characters were likable.  The Christian aspect of the story was handled well, although there wasn’t a lot mentioned about God.  I am giving the book three stars as it was a good book but not one I couldn’t put down and it was a slow read in several places.

I was given this book by the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

Deceived by Irene Hannon

Kate Marshall has built a new life for herself after the death of her husband and four year old son in a boating accident three years ago.  All of that changes when she spots a child on an escalator in the mall that is a dead ringer for her son.  When she calls his name the child stops and turns to look at her.  The police don’t really believe she saw her dead son.  But she won’t give up.  She contacts the Phoenix PI group and tells Connor Sullivan her story.  Connor is a former Secret Service agent and is at first just as skeptical as the police were.  The more he digs into the case the more he starts to believe Kate saw her son. 

This is the third in the Private Justice Books.  It is not necessary to read the other two books to enjoy this one.  Although, I highly recommend reading the other two books as they are just as good as this book.  All the way through the book you pretty much know how it is going to end. But the twists and turns it takes to get to that conclusion is a very good read.

I would recommend this book to everyone who loves mystery and romance all in one book. Also, Kate’s reliance on God is brought out throughout the book.  Without Him she would not have survived the years after her husband and sons deaths.

I was given this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

Magnolia Market by Judy Christie

Avery Broussard is ready to sign on the dotted line for the boutique she has been working at.  She has saved it from financial ruin and has been promised she could buy it from her deceased husbands mother.  It is the first anniversary of her husband’s death and she is ready to sign on the dotted line.  In comes her mother-in-law with the new owners of the boutique.  Not only is the boutique sold out from under her, she is evicted from the house owned by her in-laws, and her bank account emptied.  During a snow storm and due to her agitated condition she runs into the store front of Magnolia Market.  Avery starts working in the Magnolia Market cleaning up the mess she made.  The owner’s wife suffers a stroke which makes Avery feel even guiltier.  So Avery along with Kathleen, the lady who she also ran into, start working in the market to keep it open while the owners are at the hospital.

Unbeknownst to Avery, T. J. Aillet hears everything Mrs. Broussard says to her in the boutique.  He is a carpenter who has been hired to do some repairs at the boutique.  T. J. is not a stranger to the Samford society.  In fact, his mother and Mrs. Broussard are best friends.  Mrs. Aillet is having a fit that T. J. is working as a lowly carpenter.  T. J. is also working at Magnolia Market repairing the damage done by Avery’s car.  As you can guess, T. J. is the love interest in the story.

This is a cute read. It is a clean Christian novel. It will make you happy.  But then make you mad at the way Avery is treated by her ex in-laws.  Avery and T. J. have to work through their feelings for each other as Avery didn’t have a good marriage and T. J. led a rebellious life before returning to Samford.  This is the second novel in the Trumpet and Vine series and the first novel I have read by this author.  I have already got the first book “Sweet Olive” and plan to read it soon.  It is not necessary to read the first book though. 

I was given this book by the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in anyway

Nowhwere to Turn by Lynetter Eason

Danielle Harding has decided she has had enough of her abusive husband.  She decides to take her 11 year old son, Simon, and run for it when Kurt is out of town.  She plots and plans.  Last time she tried to leave Kurt caught her and threatened to kill Simon if she tried it again.  She finally has a chance to leave.  She is on her way out of the house when Stuart, Kurt’s brother, shows up.  She makes a run for it only to have Stuart try to follow.  Having nowhere to turn, she turns to Adam Buchanan of Operation Refuge.  In the mean time Kurt is killed and she is left a widow.  Unfortunately it seems her troubles are just starting with Kurt’s death.  Now someone is trying to kill her.  Adam and his team keep moving her to safe houses only to be found every time. 

Stuart is obsessed with Dani and won’t leave her alone.  But it doesn’t appear that he is the one trying to kill her.  They can’t go to the police because Stuart is an FBI agent and so was Kurt.  They don’t know who they can trust. 

This book has many twists and turns.  When I thought I had it all figured out I was thrown for a curve and had to rethink my conclusions.  Even when I thought the book was winding down to the end and everything was solved I was thrown another curve.    I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good mystery.  I love all of Lynette Eason books and this one did not disappoint me. 

I was given this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way. 

Tried & True by Mary Commealy

Kylie Wilde is the youngest sister of the Wilde family.  She has had it with dressing as a boy, wearing britches, short hair, and posing as a man.  She has started wearing dresses and has let her hair grow.   It is a risk as she and her sisters, also posing as men, are homesteading using their exemption they earned for serving in the Civil War as men.  The problem with that is that women were not allowed to serve in the Civil War.  So if they were found out they would lose their exemption.  Kylie plans on working only as long as she has to on her homestead to have ownership.  Then she plans to sell the property and return to the luxuries of life back East.

Aaron Masterson is the local land agent.  He is fascinated with Kylie from the moment he rescues her from her roof while she was trying to nail a wood shingle on during a rain storm.  Now that he knows she isn’t a man he can’t in good conscious allow the Civil War exemption to stand.  Kylie is furious that she will have to work additional time before heading back East.  Not only does she have to work her homestead longer, someone is trying to force her off her homestead. Aaron wonders if he will have any luck convincing her to marry him to protect her.  His future plans include settling further into the frontier and he knows that Kylie wants to go back East.

Mary Connealy has done it again.  This is a great light hearted read with some mystery and romance combined.  I would highly recommend this book to all ages.  I am anxious for Shannon’s story in the next book in the series.

I was given this book by the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.