Sinister Secrets

This book contains three short novellas by authors that I wasn't familiar with till now.  The first novella is by Traci Hunter Abramson.  This is about a FBI agent that goes on a mission/vacation to Paris to investigate a private girls school where American girls go.  While there he discovers a young girl in the back seat of his car.  This wasn't an edge of your seat mystery.  But I did enjoy it.

The nest novella is by Paige Edwards.  Jaclyn is caught in the crossfire of a FBI sting.  Cody rescues her before she is hurt.  Now her life is in danger from the bad guys.  I enjoyed this also.

The third novella is by Claire M. Poulson.  Renn, a newly retired Army Ranger, is looking for a job as a Private Investigator.  He learns that someone is targeting his boss and trying to kill him.  This book is more fast paced than the other two books.  

I enjoyed all three books and look forward to reading more by these authors in the future.

I was given this book by Covenant Communications via NetGalley for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.  

  

Fall Out by Carrie Stuart Parks

After a difficult childhood, Samantha Williams craves simplicity: jigsaw puzzles, lectures at the library, and the students she adores in her role as an elementary school art teacher in the dusty farming community of LaCrosse, Washington.

But when an SUV crashes into the building where she teaches, her entire world is upended. Samantha manages to keep the children safe, but her car isn’t so lucky. Oddly, her purse—with her driver’s license, credit cards, and other identification—is missing from the wreckage.

After authorities discover that the driver in the accident was shot seconds before the crash, Samantha quickly becomes entangled in increasingly strange events that have her constantly looking over her shoulder.

Samantha has long tried to forget the tragedy of her past, but the twisting connections she discovers between the murdered driver, a deadly secret government project, and an abandoned town can't be ignored. Those involved are determined to keep these secrets buried, and they’ll use any means necessary to stop Samantha’s search for truth.

My review.  This book kept me reading when I should have been going to bed.  It appears someone wants Samantha dead and she has no idea why.  As investigation gears up, it seems that other deaths have occurred and they all seem to be related to a government secret and her murdered parents.  It took me a bit to get all the characters straightened out.  But once I did, it fell into place.

I recommend this book to all who want an action filled book.

I was given this book by Thomas Nelson Publishing via NetGally in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.  

To Win a Prince by Tony Shiloh

Iris Blakely is best friends with queen of the African island country Oloro Ille and is starting a clothing line to help the citizens rise above poverty.  She finds out that Ekon Diallo has been assigned to be her business consultant by the elders of the country.  He's one of the ones who tried to dethrone the queen.

The story goes back and forth between Iris and Ekon describing their feelings. The storyline was good but I found myself skimming through parts of it because it seemed to be repeats of previous parts of the book.  There seemed to be more introspective conversation than actual story.  The actual story itself was good.  And of course they found love in the end.

I was given this book by Bethany House Publishers via Net Galley for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

Honor Bound by Hallee Bridgeman

Dr. Cynthia Myers is a missionary medical doctor in a war-torn African country.  She is there because her fiancé publicly humiliated her.  What makes it worse is that her father is the newly appointed vice-president of the United States.  A band of terrorists invade the village she is at demanding she save the life of the mortally wounded war loads son.  In comes Army Special Forces Captain Rick Norton.  He has to use deadly force to save Cynthia's life.  She's a pacifist so she didn't appreciate his interference.  Rick demands that she leave with him because the rest of the terrorists after her because they know who she is.  This book is their journey to safety.  

The first part of the book is action packed with lots of twists and turns as Cynthia and Rick and his team try to get out of Africa.  Once they got to safety it seems like the action dwindled.  It was still a good book.  But I would like to have had action in all the book.  Cynthia and Rick are both strong willed people with strong opinions and aren't afraid to vocalize those opinions.  Of course in the end they come to respect each others point of views and fall in love.

I was given this book by Revell Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

Dangerous Beauty by Melissa Koslin

This book starts out with Liliana being kidnapped by human traffickers.  She escapes and finds a gas station to hide in.  She is found but Meric steps in and asks her to marry him as a way to save her from the traffickers.  This is just in the first several pages.  

I found Liliana to be a very strong woman who was determined to rise above what has happened to her.  At first she seemed very naive.  As the story progresses, she is shown as a very intelligent woman.  I had trouble liking and understanding Meric.  He seemed like a very sullen unapproachable person.  As his story unfolded, I began to understand his character better.  I would class this book as a dark book as it deals with human trafficking.  I kept my interest and I would like to read more books by this author. This book was published by a Christian publishing house.  But there little if any real reference to Christianity.  

I was given this book by Revell Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.    

Deception by Patricia Bradley

As an FBI agent, Madison is happy with her transfer to white collar crimes after she had to fatally shoot a fellow agent who turned traitor.  As far as she was concerned, she never wanted to be involved in another violent crime.  That all changes when her grandfather is shot and left for dead.  Then another person who looks exactly like her is attacked.  She reconnects with Clay, who she always looked at as someone who tormented her as a child.  Clay is now a park ranger who has been tasked with helping her in the investigation.  

This book has a lot of twists and turns that I didn't see coming.  As I read the book, a lot of characters were introduced that was at first hard to keep straight.  But they all played a role in the story.  It seemed they were out in left field.  But they were all brought around to being vital parts of the story.  I was never bored with book and stayed up reading several nights.

I was given this book by Revell Publishing via NetGalley for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any way.

Crossfire by Lynette Eason

This is the second book in the series "Extreme Measures".  It is not necessary to read the first book to read this one.  Julianna is a FBI negotiator who has the reputation of never having lost a hostage.  Clay is a former military sniper who is now a police officer at the local high school.  Clay and Julianna meet while Julianna is negotiating with a person holding hostages in a court room where Clay's sister is a juror.  There's a lot of action is this book.  Sometimes I thought it was almost overdone with so much happening to Julianna and Clay.  But I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  Julianna and Clay both had issues from their pasts to overcome which played a big part in the story.  

Ms. Eason did not disappoint and I look forward to the next book in the series.

I was given this book by Revell Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  I was not compensated in anyway.