authentic reviews and insightful interviews for inquisitive readers
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Havoc by Ronie Kendig allows readers to get a three for one: a great plot, great characters, and a heroic dog named Havoc. This book is very appropriate since the 9/11 remembrance just passed. The story opens when former Special Forces operator Sergeant Crew Gatlin had his career ended after his leg was blown up from an IED. Returning to the States he was separated from his working dog Havoc K027. Putting his life …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Allison Ashley’s two books, Would You Rather and The Roommate Pact, show how friends can be supportive and love each other in different ways. These books show that as love grows so does the intimacy as well as finding a soul mate. Would You Rather has the heroine, Mia, given an opportunity to pursue her education and find her dream job. The problem is that she needs her job because she needs health insurance. …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Each of Foster’s Indiana Summers books—The Honeymoon Cottage, The Little Flower Shop, and The Love Shack (out June 2024)—has two romances in it. The lead characters, and the secondary characters. There’s also a close friendship and a deepening of other relationships, such as Yardley (The Honeymoon Cottage) with Betty, who is the town matriarch; Emily (The Little Flower Shop) with her aunt and uncle. Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Patricia Johns’s books, A Single Dad in Amish Country and Their Amish Secret are both endearing stories. Readers will go through the emotions with the characters from pain and sadness to hopefulness and love. As with all her books people are drawn to each character and their feelings. The plot of A Single Dad in Amish Country has an emphasis on single parenting. Hazel Dobbs and Joe Carter both raised daughters without a spouse. …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Paris Assignment by Rhys Bowen is a story of love and war, bitterness and brutality, bravery, and forgiveness. The setting moves from England to France to Australia. The heroine Madeline Grant is sent to study overseas at the Sorbonne in Paris. There she meets charismatic French journalist Giles Martin. After the Christmas holiday, she defies her stepmother and returns to Paris to live with Giles. After finding out she is pregnant Giles eventually …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Dead and Gone by Joanna Schaffhausen brings back popular police detective Annalisa Vega. In this latest installment there are not one but five crimes to solve. Because she is such an excellent author, readers do not get confused at all as to what is happening, and which crime is being focused on in a particular chapter. The plot has Annalisa Vega being pulled in by her boss, Commander Zimmer, to investigate the death of …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The first four books in the Three Springs, Texas series by Cari Lynn Webb will draw on reader’s emotions. They will smile, cry, and take a journey with the characters. The Texas SEAL’s Surprise has Abby James coming to visit her cousin, Tess, in the small town of Three Springs Texas. She is a single pregnant woman whose fiancé cheated on her. She initially meets Wes, the hero, after her car has a flat …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Electra McDonnell series by Ashley Weaver blends a mystery within a spy thriller. There are spies, murders, a tinge of romance, and some historical tidbits to entice readers. A Peculiar Combination is the first in the Electra McDonnell series. She was raised by her Uncle Mick and has become part of the family business, pickpocketing, opening locks and safes, to steal valuables. Unfortunately for them they were set up and caught stealing. Because …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo is once again another home run. She blends an intense crime mystery with some light-hearted scenes and detailed insight about the Amish community. The story opens with twenty-year-old Aden Karn being violently killed with a crossbow. He was well-liked, kind, funny, hardworking, and engaged to be married. Now Kate Burkholder, Painters Mills police chief, must find his killer. But as she delves into Karn’s past, Kate begins to …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper The Secret to Happiness by Suzanne Woods Fisher delves into how someone can find their way again when life’s issues seem to be overwhelming. There are issues of forgiveness, redemption, family, love, and hope for the future as family and friends try to bring someone out of their despair. The plot has Callie Dixon fired from her job as an executive chef when she makes a huge error in the kitchen. Now unemployed she …