Tag Archive | romantic suspense

Spatzle Speaks: Madi’s Secret (Book Review)

Aug21
Reading Time: 2 minutes

My mom wrote Madi’s Secret many years ago and then she forgot it was releasing. I think my brother, Benji, who has dementia has been distracting her. And then there are other life things going on too, much I don’t understand. Still, I really liked this book except there’s no dog in it. Really, mom?

So Madi comes back to Wisconsin with her teenage son, but she left without a trace a long time ago leaving the love of her life behind. He never really understood where she was or why she’d left.

Parker had moved on after a while and married, had a daughter and became a widow. As a paramedic he’d seen many challenging things but nothing challenged him as much as finding his long-lost love trapped in an upside down car on the side of the highway.

She was back. But why had she left? Why wouldn’t she tell him? And her son? Who was the father?

Could love reignite in the shadow of the secrets she hasn’t shared? Madi isn’t even sure what it is that she saw that has her hunted by unknown evil. She returned to Wisconsin because she believed God was leading her back. But would she survive that obedience? And would God ever give her a relationship with Parker once the truth came out?

I recommend this book. Sure, it was written by my mom, but I know she pours herself into these stories. Check it out. It’s in ebook only for now but hopefully it will come out in print soon!

I give this book five bones, because I’m a dog and that’s how I roll.

Spatzle Baganz, book reviewer for the silygoos blog because that’s how we roll.

Spatzle Speaks: Lord Harrow’s Heart (Book Review)

Jul13

Reading Time: 2 minutesSpatzle here. Mom’s Maltese who she’s tricked into writing these reviews. I’ve been slacking off and not posting as much lately. Mom says it’s because I’m getting older. But not too old to enjoy her latest novel in the Black Diamond Gothic Regency series. Book #4, Lord Harrow’s Heart, releases today and I’m excited about that.

Lord Theodore Harrow has watched all his friends fall in love and marry. Kind of the papa bear of the group, he’s been a faithful friend through all their adventures. Now he wants a woman of his own but he longs for someone who wants him – not just his title or wealth. He’s not quite as dashing as his friends, but he’s one of those solid good guys. So when he runs over a young woman who is supervising a nasty child, he is instantly smitten by her.

Valeria is not so easily wooed. She is in service although Theodore can tell she’s not of the servant class. She’s also distinctly French in her heritage and language. And to top it off, she has a child. The last thing she wants is to be noticed by anyone as she is in hiding from her evil father-in-law. Being injured in a carriage accident and meeting Lord Harrow was not something she was prepared to deal with.

Theo is not so easily put off and Valeria finds herself surrounded by him and his friends as she encounters a mother’s worst nightmare. Someone has kidnapped her son. But to retrieve the boy could cost Theo and his friends much more than a few days travel as they encounter and meet face to face, the Black Diamond himself.

Spatzle Baganz, book reviewer for the silygoos blog because that’s how we roll.

If you’ve been reading the series and wondering who the Black Diamond is – this is the story where he is finally revealed. Come on, Mom. Why did you make us wait this long? Such a tease.

There is a kitten in the story. I like cats a lot so those parts were great for me. Mom won’t let me have a cat because she’s allergic to them. I guess having one in a book is a passable substitute.

Adventure, romance, intrigue, danger all set against the backdrop of the early 1800’s in Regency England. This story will not disappoint. I give it five bones, because I’m a dog and I don’t have thumbs.

 

 

Spatzle Speaks: A Shattered Image (Book Review)

Nov18

Reading Time: 2 minutesI’ll admit I’m a sucker for a good romantic suspense because Mom cuddles up to me more as she reads them. This debut novel, Through a Shattered Image by Linda Widrick is a winner in that category.

First of all let’s just put a young woman, Karina into a Witness Protection program under a new name, Leah. She’s never met her handler and they only talk on the phone. She doesn’t realize that the job she chose puts him in the precarious position of also being her employer. But what a better way for a US Marshal to keep his charge safe?

Phillip didn’t anticipate the complication of falling in love with his employee, as she confesses to him her attraction for her boss when they talk on the phone, about her loneliness and the challenges of adapting to living a life that’s a lie. And she doesn’t know the truth about him or her boss… who are one and the same person also living a lie.

Add to the mix some criminals and an unknown twin who is searching for her sister, a plane crash, and a kidnapping of Phillips young child, and you have a multi-layered story filled with love, passion, frustration, and new dreams for a future for all the main characters.

I strongly recommend this novel as it has everything a good read requires to keep you riveted to the page and waiting to see if Leah and Phillip could possibly overcome their obstacles to reach a happily-ever-after. I give this book five bones, because I’m a dog and I don’t have thumbs. 

Spatzle Baganz, book reviewer for the silygoos blog because that’s how we roll.

Spatzle Speaks: Through Raging Waters (Book Review)

Jul8

Reading Time: 2 minutesRagingWaters copyRenee Blare has done it again with a fast paced romantic suspense that will be hard to put down. The last we left the Snowy Range Chronicles, in To Soar on Eagle Wings, Steve Mitchell had married Rachel Fitzgerald. Now a new adventure hits the area featuring Rachel’s best friend as her brother who his also Steve’s best friend. And life is going to get rough in Through Raging Waters.

Mother nature is doing her best to wash out the town of  Timber Springs and Ranger Steve Mitchell is going to do everything he  can to prevent that. Obstacles continue to rise and when his father-in-law suffers a heart attack in the middle of he storm he calls on his best friend, and son of the pastor, Paul Fitzgerald to assist. Unfortunately Paul is going to be need for even more than saving his dad’s life.

As the flood continues to escalate wiping out everything in its path and the storms keep coming, Steve calls on Paul and others to a rescue mission in the mountains. Paul hasn’t done any of that since a disaster traumatized him in his past but he steps up and his controlled life is slowly eroded in the process. He’s only just started to open his heart to love again with Melissa but is forced to set that aside to do the head into danger. Getting injured and relying on his annoying brother wasn’t part of his plan, but maybe that’s just what God needed to use to get through to his heart and faith locked away deep inside.

Melissa Hampton has been battling on several fronts: her mysterious beginnings being discovered in her mother’s keepsakes, her budding affection for the enigmatic pharmacist, brother to her best friend, Paul and the challenges of working for BJ Parker. When BJ is in danger she tries to find him only to realize the one who is really in trouble is Paul. She realizes she has more courage than she expected when forced into challenging circumstances to save the man she loves.

The best part of the story is that Paul has a dog. Yup. A great dog. They call it a therapy dog but hey, aren’t all dogs therapeutic? I think that’s what I am to my mom. So because it’s a non-stop action-packed novel filled with faith and love, I’ll give it five bones. I’m a dog. I don’t do stars.

Spatzle Baganz, book reviewer for the silygoos blog because that's how we roll.

Spatzle Baganz, book reviewer for the silygoos blog because that’s how we roll.

 

 

5 bones for blog

 

Spatzle Speaks: Hounded (Anita Klumpers)

Feb5

Reading Time: 2 minuteshoundedFinally, a book about dogs. Could anything be better? Well, the answer is yes, as author Anita Klumpers writes a fascinating tale about dogs called Hounded.

Mom says that’s not true. It’s about a woman.

Really? 

Okay. So it’s about a widow named Elise. She’s not too sad that her stuffy husband croaked. After all she has to dogs to love her. But this is the second husband she’s lost and this one is filthy rich. (Mom says she wished she could relate to that, but I’m content.) And now they think he was murdered and she is suspect number one.

This book is part of a new series by Prism Book Group called “Love is . . .” which is exploring 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a. This one looks at “Love is patient.”

An old friend who happens to be a pastor is really patient with Elise. Oh, boy is he patient. But love makes you do weird things from what I understand. I love my mom and dance for her for a treat so I can relate. But the dogs keep getting into mischief and the last thing she wants is to hear about the God who allowed her first husband, who she loved, to die. Life isn’t fair and she was having nothing of a God who orchestrated that.

This is a fast-paced romantic suspense that will keep the reader turning the pages. Anita has a special way with words and obviously with dogs because I kept panting for more. It’s a tail-wagger for sure. I give it five bones because that’s what I do. I’m a dog. I don’t do stars and I lack thumbs.

Spatzle Baganz, book reviewer for the silygoos blog because that's how we roll.

Spatzle Baganz, book reviewer for the silygoos blog because that’s how we roll.

 

 

5 bones for blog

 

 

 

Spatzle Speaks: Her Deadly Inheritance (Book Review)

Jan1

Reading Time: 2 minutesher deadly inheritanceNothing like starting out the new year with a great book, right? Well, Mom really liked Beth Ziarnik’s debut novel, Her Deadly Inheritance which releases tomorrow (January 2nd) but is available for preorder at ridiculously great prices. Seriously – go check it out.

Now I’m a dog but I cannot imagine coming home after everyone is trying to declare me dead. But that happened to Jill Shepherd and her family was in for a surprise. Something devious is afoot and she needs to stay alive long enough to figure out just what’s going on.

Of course, no romantic suspense would be complete without a love interest and Clay Merrick is a handy-man with a past life in Special Forces. He’s trying to track the a killer to Jill’s historic house that’s being renovated but this girl gets in his way. So now he needs to save her life or lose the woman he’s come to love.

How does this all work out? Well, snuggle up and find out for yourself. No spoilers here. But Mom really liked this book a lot. And that’s how I know, because I got lots of snuggles, petting and tummy rubs as she read it, so I know it’s a great story by a fabulous author.

No bones about it. It’s a five bone book. (I don’t do stars – I’m a dog).

Bone Clipart Doodleblob (2)Bone Clipart Doodleblob (2)Bone Clipart Doodleblob (2)Bone Clipart Doodleblob (2)Bone Clipart Doodleblob (2)Spatzle Speaks1Spatzle Baganz, your new reviewer of wonderful tomes.

For Our Good (Book Review)

Sep4

Reading Time: 2 minutes

For Our Good book coverAuthor Paula Mowery departs from her romantic fiction to add suspense into her latest offering, For Our Good.

Our heroine, Charlie Jarvis has suffered some painstaking losses as a result of her pursuit of drug-traffickers.

After her latest loss she gets an unexpected undercover assignment–back in her hometown where her most painful memories are buried. She returns to do her job and finds herself dismayed that it includes attending a church where suspects might be. She has abandoned her faith a long time ago but is determined to do her job, even if it means sitting in a building where people worship the God who killed everyone she loves.

Colton Thomas is a free-wheeling corporate pilot who is intrigued by the dark-haired beauty.

He’s also tempted by the chance to earn large sums of money delivering packages. His partner, Marshall interferes with this desire much to his frustration. Charlie challenges him in a different way, by making him want to be the kind of man she would want in her life. He’s forced to look harder at his own life and walk with God before he can ever help her with her own.

Charlie likes Colton but struggles with the lies she’s had to tell as part of her undercover work.

Friends she makes in her old hometown shine God’s light with painful regularity and encourage the relationship between the two. But the air needs to be cleared and the drug dealers brought to justice before healing can take place and God can once again restore life, love and faith for them both.

This book is a great look at the power of love and faith, first with God and then in relationship with others.

It confronts the sometimes superstitious thoughts we attach to God when bad things happen, and how we can allow those to keep us from growing closer to Him. I really enjoyed this story and the characters in it. She created an entire group of people to become acquainted with and she deftly tells the tale of more than Colton and Charlie’s journey because the reality is, we never walk this path of faith alone, and Paula illustrates that beautifully.

Available in print and ebook versions.

To Soar on Eagle’s Wings (Book Review)

Jul10

Reading Time: < 1 minuteToSoaronEagleWings copyI love a good romantic suspense and Renee Blare delivers with her novel, To Soar on Eagle’s Wings. A sweet romance combined with intrigue, threats and the sometimes confusing love of family.

Starting out in spring, Rachel, a school teacher has some time off, but lots of work to do. Her favorite escape is to ride her snowmobile into the Snowy Range but after reuniting there with an old friend, Steve Mitchell, she finds her life begins to turn upside down.

Between uncertainty about teaching and chaos in her family, there are threats coming at her and she finds her best friend is struggling as well. Add a budding romance and trouble that Steve, the new game warden has to ferret out, will life ever be the same for her? She struggles to find the courage to fight for what she really wants even if it means disappointing others.

The top of her list is seeing where her relationship with the hunky game warden even if it means enduring the scrutiny of her brother.

The greatest peace she has always found, is in the mountains, watching the eagles soar. And maybe, with the help of friends, her renewed faith in God and the love of a good man, she can soar too.

This is the first in a series of novels and I look forward to seeing how the journey’s of the secondary characters progress.

 

 

 

Beast of Stratton (Book Review)

Mar13

Reading Time: < 1 minuteBeastofStratton_eBookRenee Blare has written a novella of Beauty and the Beast with a modern twist in her debut offering, Best of Stratton. Miles is struggling with intense physical and emotional pain as a result of injuries suffered in the war. He’s let his hair grow, making him look like the “beast of Stratton” everyone thinks he is. He was seeking treatment when an emergency called him back to his very successful business. Once there he encounters the daughter of his best friend. But is Aimee a spy like many suspect her father is, or can she be trusted to help ferret out the truth? Who has sold out his company? And can Miles overcome enough of the pain of his past to ditch his monster façade and the kind of man Aimee needs?

This  novella is a wild ride. Author Renee Blare writes in a cryptic manner, not giving all the clues away to the mystery and fills the story with compassion and suspense. A delightful read.

Legitimate Lies (Book Review)

Jan16

Reading Time: < 1 minutelegit lies ebookLegitimate Lies is the sequel to Hush in the Storm by suspense author and abolitionist activist Julie B. Cosgrove. She has a unique story to tell that pulls you into the web of deceit and treachery of the human slave trade that takes place around the world. While Hush is centered in the United States, this book takes the reader to Great Britain because this is an international problem.

Suspense is paramount as Jen’s cover in Witness Protection is blown by the Tom, the man she loves. She is whisked away to Great Britain to undertake a new identity. When her smooth talking criminal husband hunts her and kidnapps her, she fights to hold on to truth in the web of lies keeping her prisoner. Can she escape? And where is Tom? Will he find her? Is there any hope they could be free from the lies, free from her marriage to a criminal mastermind and free from the sins of her past? Only God can lead the way to that as well as providing perhaps healing and hope for others caught in her husband’s web of slavery.

This book is hard to put down. Fast paced and filled with action and drama as well as heart-rending romance, it is sure to satisfy any reader while drawing attention to the very real evils that are currently at play in our world.