authentic reviews and insightful interviews for inquisitive readers
I don’t review every book I read. Not nearly. As much as I wish otherwise, I simply don’t have time—or sometimes the brain energy—to write dozens upon dozens of reviews. Plus, sometimes it’s nice to just enjoy a book without having to analyze as I read. But I wanted to talk about some of the books I read recently, so I thought perhaps I could compile a series of brief overall opinions for them. A review roundup, if you will. …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Wrangler’s Rescue by B. J. Daniels is the last in the Montana Cahills series. It is filled with a little romance, tension, emotion, suspense, and a lot of mystery that involves betrayals, murder, and distrust. The readers try to put the pieces of the puzzle together along with the characters. This story has a new twist as AJ, a city gal turned cowgirl, battles Juliette, a seductive sociopath black widow, while the hero is …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper In Too Deep by Lynn Blackburn blends romance, suspense, and a riveting subject matter, labor human trafficking. The first book of the series was good but this book is excellent. The novel begins with a partially submerged car that drives off a bridge, killing the woman occupant, where readers might think of Chappaquiddick. After recovering the body, the Carrington North Carolina dive team finds an encrypted laptop, and an unsettling connection with investigator Adam …
Title: Summoned to Thirteenth Grave Author: Darynda Jones Series: Charley Davidson #13 A hollow narrative with only humor and charismatic characters as its merits Edit 1/23/19 – Changed rating to two stars So, after reading the book again and giving it more thought while writing my spoiler review last week, I realized very little of this story makes sense. The plots are hollow, and ultimately, there’s no reason Charley couldn’t have snapped her fingers and fixed everything. As has been …
Book Review by Elise Cooper Vendetta by Iris Johansen brings back characters introduced in the Eve Duncan books. Although it is billed as an “Eve Duncan” she is only mentioned briefly. But, this does not take anything away from the plot and the main characters, Rachel Venable and Jude Brandon. The story centers on these two and their attempts to bring down Max Huber, the head of Red Star, a terrorist organization with immense power. The story begins with the …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker is a psychological thriller about two sisters. This dysfunctional family adds a whole new meaning to this word. Judy Martin always used her beauty and charm to manipulate her family, requiring her daughters to flatter her to win her affection. Threatening her fragile ego are her daughters’ looks. Now the family’s life has been in limbo since the two daughters have been missing for three years. Cass, …
Article and Interview by Elise Cooper With Death Is Not Enough Karen Rose has out done herself. This story highlights love and friendship, romance and passion, gruesome murder, frustrating injustice, with an engaging hero/heroine. Although Rose’s readers have seen Thomas Thorne and Gwyn Weaver in previous books this novel is their story. Thorne actually gives defense attorneys a good name, always attempting to help those unfairly charged, as was the case when he was young. His backstory is very compelling, …
Title: The Curse of Tenth Grave Author: Darynda Jones Series: Charley Davidson #10 Had to dig deep for flaws To prepare for the release of Summoned to Thirteenth Grave in January, I started re-listening to the Grave series audiobooks a couple of months ago (Lorelei King is AMAZING). I got through Nine and needed a breather…then I received an invitation to participate in a blog tour for Thirteen beginning on Halloween, and part of the deal is to review one …
Book Review by Elise Cooper Don’t Look Back by Dawn Ryder ends the “Unbroken Heroes Series” with a bang. This suspenseful story is full of political intrigue that started six books ago. The plot relies heavily on events from previous books in the series, basically wrapping up the loose ends of those operatives in the covert organization Shadow Ops. “I wanted the Shadow Ops team to take on messy cases. They understand absolute power corrupts absolutely. They see how ambition …
Title: Edge of Darkness Author: Karen Rose Series: Cincinnati #4 A powerfully realistic and moving story Sweet Baby Jorge, I love Karen Rose. Her work continues to awe me. I don’t know if it’s her or her editor, but I almost never find any flaws in logic. Every plot point is methodically positioned and relevant and it all makes so much sense. And the level of detail, especially in police/FBI procedure—it simply astounds me. And the feels! I don’t know …