Annabel Lee by Mike Nappa

 The way the cover is drawn tell it all.  This is a suspense filled, can't put it down, book.

Annabel Lee doesn't understand why her uncle has put her in a deep underground army type bunker with a dog that growls at her.  He tells her not to open the door to anyone and leaves her with a secret code.

Trudi Coffey is a private investigator who owns her own firm.  Every day she reads the newspaper personal ads, especially the one word ad "safe".  One day she reads it and notices the word has changed.  The word now says "unsafe".  

She has a visit in her office by a Dr. Smith who is looking for a gift given to her by her ex-husband.  She doesn't turn the gift over.  Shortly after that visit she is visited by her ex.  She gives him the book - minus one thing she figures is very important.

Soon Trudi realizes that as much as she doesn't want to work with her ex-husband Samuel Hill, she is drawn into the mystery and she will need to use everything she has learned as a private investigator to work along with her husband to find what they are looking for.  More importantly she needs to use those skills to stay alive.

Mike Nappa does a remarkable job at drawing you into the story and leaves you not wanting to put the book down until you are finished.  His characters are compelling and very realistic.  I love who the story is told from the point of view of the different characters of Annabel, Trudi and The Mute.  You are seeing the story unfold from their eyes.  It makes the story much more personal.  I especially enjoyed how you could tell that Annabel has some education, but her grammar wasn't the best, though she keeps trying to correct herself!

I do have to say I found some of things near the end a little on the disturbing sound.  There was almost science fiction coming into play near the end of the book.  Though that was the part where it would have been impossible to put the book down as things were moving so fast at that point!

This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.   I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are entirely my own.

The Red Door Inn by Liz Johnson

 

Marie Carrington is broke and desperate.  She wants to escape her past and looks for sanctuary on Prince Edward Island.  She meets up with Jack Sloane and he hires her to help renovate the bed-and-breakfast he wants to open.   She has an eye for color and Jack see potential and a desire to help her.  She will be working with his nephews Seth.  Seth has moved over 3,000 miles away.  He wants to forget the fiancé who broke his heart.  Helping keep an eye on a woman who is skittish and has an eye for expensive antiques wasn't part of the deal. 

Marie and Seth both want to help get the bed-and-breakfast ready and opened in only two months.  It will take everything they have.  As they slowly learn to work together, they learn that life on the island may be better then they imagined.  Marie learns that everything she imagined about PEI that she read about is even better.

Liz Johnson did a remarkable job with the characters.  While we pretty much knew about Seth and his past right away, the secrets behind Marie were slow to come out throughout the whole books.  It made her character much more intriguing.  You had a desire to reach out and help her. 

I loved Jack and his desires not only to help Marie, but also to willful his dead wife's dream of opening the bed-and-breakfast.  As they encounter each roadblock along the way your heart breaks for him as his dreams seem to shatter.

I loved Aretha and Caden.  Both of them became such good friends to Marie and were able to help her in different ways.  I also like the friendship the developed between Aretha and Jack, and how she refused to help him much more when certain things started to happen (NOT going to spoil it!) and she didn't like how Jack handled it!

I do have to say that after reading this book, as a bookworm and a lover of cats, I found the perfect name for my next cat - Chapter!  Loved the cat's name in this book!

This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.   I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are entirely my own.

A Treasure Concealed by Tracie Peterson

 

 Emily Carter has grown up with a father who hopes for striking it rich in the gold fields leads them from one gold mining camp to another all her life.  She desires for a home of her own and a family.  She knows she needs to stay with her father and help to care for her dying mother.  She can only try to conceal herself from those around her and wonder if he dreams will ever come true. While she does struggle in her day to day life she does make the best of it.  She has a hard time accepting help from other, including Caeden. 

Caeden Thibault is a young geologist from the east who has come to Montana on a job with the government.  He has a past he is trying to escape, a past he wants to leave behind him, and he feels like the place where he has been sent in the perfect place to do just that.  He has met several people in the past who all they want is to strike it rich, but when he meets Emily, he meets someone so is the complete opposite of that.  He has a desire to help her and to help her father.  When troubles arise, he is there to help them through all the hardships they endure.  

As Emily and Caeden develop a closer and closer friendship, new discoveries are made.  Caeden's past comes back to haunt him.   Will they be able to endure it all?   Will they also learn to turn to God and fully trust Him and put their faith in Him?

Tracie Peterson has written another wonderful book.  I enjoy all of her books and this one was no exception.  Tracie does a wonderful job of helping you see each character and the town.  I could easily see Emily in her layers she used to disguise her figure, even in the heat of summer.  I enjoy how she focuses each of the characters on God and the lessons that God is teaching them as they go through their hardships.  

I would definitely recommend this book!

This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.   I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are entirely my own.

A Fool & His Monet by Sandra Orchard

 

Serena Jones works for the FBI Art Crime Team tracing and recovering stolen art.   Her passion for recovering stolen art is nearly equal to her passion for uncovering who murdered her grandfather.  Her grandfather gave her her passion for art and she has hopes that by joining the Art Crime Team she can uncover her killer.  Serena has a passion for her work and loves what she does - even though her mother wants to see her work a safer job, marry and give her grandchildren!

The local museum discovers to pieces of art work have been stolen - a Money and a Rijckaert.   Serena dives right into the work of tracing them down and into a lot of trouble at the same time!  All of her mother's fears seem to be coming true.

She works well (VERY well!) with her former training partner Tanner.  You can see that Tanner cares for her a little more then as a college.  Whenever she is in trouble he seems to be there.  At the same time, Nate (building supervisor) is also always there.  He is there to give some tender care an advice when it's needed.

Serena's family tries to "help" in their own way - especially her Aunt Martha!  Aunt Martha seems to get her self in trouble, but she is able to help the case in a big way!

Sandra Orchard has written a laugh out loud book!  This was so good, I missed my bus stop on the way to work one day! I absolutely loved Serena's family - especially Aunt Martha!  While her mom does want her to marry and have kids, you can tell deep down she is proud of what he daughter does.  

The interactions between Serena and Tanner and Serena and Nate were wonderful.  You can tell she feel for both men and is torn between them.  While Nate is closer to her age, Tanner is older by 10 years.  (Personally I think her and Tanner are perfect for each other!)  Unfortunately it seems we have to wait for the next book to find out who she chooses!

I did have to look up the works of both painters mentioned.  I love the paintings by Monet!

This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.   I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are entirely my own.

Fliration Walk by Siri Mitchell

 

 Lucinda Pennyworthy is the daughter of a con man.  When she finds out her father is deceased, she leaves the finishing school where she was and goes to Buttermilk Falls to find her mother's sister and her family.  She wants to start a new life and leave her past behind her.  She doesn't want people know who her father was and her past.  As she is near West Point, she sets her eyes on marrying well and pleasing her relatives.  

Seth Westcost is in his final year at the academy and the top of his class.  He is well on his way to getting a sought after position upon graduation.  When his mother dies, he is unable to return home and his sister has to seal to the sale of the farm.  His sister the looses all their money to a con man who swindles her out of their money.  Seth knows the man was headed west but only the cadets at the bottom of the class are sent out west.  His friends urge him to break the record of getting the most demerits in a single year. 

Lucinda and Seth have their eyes set on each other, but when Seth starts to follow his friends advice, her uncle refuses her to allow her to speak to him.  When Lucinda realizes who the con man was that swindled Seth's sister from their money, what can she do to help Seth get it back?  Will she put into practice everything her father taught her?  Everything she is trying to forget?

I found this book to be slow to start and had a hard time getting into it.  While I liked Lucinda from the start, with the way she was trying to change and put her past behind her, I did not like Seth.  I couldn't image someone who would ruin a perfectly good record to try to get what he wanted.  How he allowed his friends to influence him and never once sought advice from anyone else as to what he could do. 

You could see the ways Lucinda was struggling to change in how she took care of her younger cousins.  She did her best to try to portray herself as someone else and doing what she could.  While she was doing her best to start over, a part of who she was and how she grew up was still there.  Seth also seemed to struggle with breaking the rules and not doing what he should be doing.  

Siri Mitchell did a good job in writing this book.  While I do feel it could have started a little better to draw you in a little sooner, it did end well.

This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.   I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are entirely my own.