Honor's Refuge, Love and Honor Series #3 by Hallee Bridgeman

Book description: 

You can't give up on love

When she was just five years old, Melissa Braxton watched her father take her mother's life and suffered the pain of separation from her sister, Lola. Melissa grew up with a strong desire to help those stuck in abusive relationships. It's why she became a therapist and opened a domestic abuse shelter.

After losing a leg to a gunshot wound in the line of duty, Phil Osbourne has felt like a man without a purpose--until he hears Melissa's story and decides to use his Special Forces contacts to track down her missing sister, the wife of a Colombian cartel teniente. He knows what he discovers will break Melissa's heart. What he doesn't realize is that helping the women reunite will bring the cartel down on them like the category 5 hurricane striking Miami.

Bruised yet not quite broken, Melissa and Phil battle the storm and the cartel, calling on strength they didn't know they had to escape death, save the innocent, and--just maybe--find healing in each other's arms.

My review: 
     I have been eagerly anticipating this book since I read the second a month ago. It is awesome that all three books came out a month apart. Most series has books come out at least 6 months apart.

 It was well worth the wait. This has been an awesome series, and introduced me to a great author whose other books I have been reading. (I highly recommend the Song of Suspense Series)

  Honor's Refuge is not as military in nature as the first two. Two of Phil's former Special Forces buddies make an appearance for part of the book, and he makes use of his Special Forces training in the book, but it all takes place in Miami. The other two books involved all of his former team, and took the reader to other countries.

 Not to say this book was not as good. It was definitely as good. I really enjoy books that have a character that has some handicap or past to overcome. Though the characters are fictional, it is not fictional that no matter what our past or handicap is, we can persevere and God can help us in whatever it is.

  Phil lost his leg on a mission in the first book. He also had a previous medical drug addiction made easier by his being in the medical field.  Though he has a great attitude about the loss of his leg, he is letting those two things keep him from a couple things he wants in life: to be an ER doctor instead of an EMT, and to admit his love for Melissa and have a relationship with her.

  The book didn't just have romance, but also a lot of suspense and bad guys. There was one part of the book that I was saying in my mind to the author "How could you?!"...but even with that very sad part of the book, it was truly a masterpiece of Christian fiction. The author is new to Revell Publishing with this series, but it is such a great series that her place as one of their authors should be firmly cemented in place.

  A big part of the book is Melissa's work with abused women and men. Again, though the book was fiction, I was saddened by the thought of how prevalent that is, and am thankful there are people out there in real life helping those in that kind of situation.

 Faith played a large part in the book. Things happened that made Phil crave the drugs he used to be addicted to, and his praying and Melissa's praying with him happened a few times. I appreciate authors who do not shy away from that.

 I really enjoyed this series, and loved the characters. Phil may be my favorite, with all he had to overcome, but the author did a great job on the characters she created and the interplay between them.

 The book did have a happy ending, worthy of not just the book, but the whole trilogy. It has left me wanting to read more by this fairly new-to-me-author, and I am looking forward to what she writes next.

I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions in this review are my own.

About the author:

Hallee Bridgeman is the USA Today bestselling author of several action-packed romantic suspense books and series. An Army brat turned Floridian, Hallee and her husband finally settled in central Kentucky, where they have raised their three children. When she's not writing, Hallee pursues her passion for cooking, coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. An accomplished speaker and active member of several writing organizations, Hallee can be found online at www.halleebridgeman.com.

 Honor's Refuge will be released in four days, November 1 from Revell Publishing, part of the Baker Publishing Group.

Thanks to Revell for the review copy.

Check out the first two books in the series. And they definitely need to be read in order.

                                                            Book #1, September 2022

                                                             Book #2, October 2022

Dangerous Beauty by Melissa Koslin

Book description: 

What is the price of freedom?

Liliana Vela hates the term victim. She's not a victim, she's a fighter. Stubborn and strong with a quiet elegance, she's determined to take back her life after escaping the clutches of human traffickers. But she can't stay safely in America--unless the man who aided in her rescue is serious about his unconventional proposal to marry her.

Meric Toledan was just stopping at a service station for a bottle of water. Instead, he becomes the key to Liliana's rescue. If he can keep his secrets hidden, his wealth and position afford him many resources to help her. But the mysterious buyer who funded her capture will not sit idly by while his prize is stolen from him.

My review:
    Confession: I will admit that after the book came, the cover and description didn't grab me, and I had set it aside and almost forgot about it. I got an email this week that it had to be reviewed by today, and put it off til today......and man was I surprised. This is the second solo endeavor by this author, and man did she hit it out of the park. Once I started it, I did not want to put it down. (And other than bathroom breaks and a supper break, I did not).

  This is a novel about sexual trafficking, and a very good one. The author created two terrific main characters in Liliana and Meric. Liliana made a great victim....the kind who did not let it define her or make her live in fear. She did not feel in debt to Meric for rescuing her in the way he did, yet she was thankful and determined to help him. Meric....he was a multi-faceted complicated character. Determined to keep his hands and emotions to himself when it came to his new wife, he lived in fear he would turn into his father all the while secretly fighting the very people his father was like. He lived behind a cold and uncaring façade that only Liliana could see through. At times I wanted to smack him, but realized the way he acted was because of the way he was raised and played into making sure his wife felt safe. From even him. (I will admit to muttering a couple times "just kiss her and admit you love her, you idiot). :)

  Another author described this novel as a "fresh twist on a marriage of convenience", and that is a very great description. The romance part of the book was on a back burner. A back burner turned down very low, while other parts of the book took precedence. 

  This was not what I would call a fast paced suspenseful novel, as things moved fairly slow, but it was still suspenseful and things did happen.

  The author did a great job of shining a spot light on the horrors of sex trafficking, and did it in a way to showcase the awesomeness of people being set free from that life.

  Slight spoiler: the romance was finally pulled from the back slow burning burner to the front full flame one. :)

  This was a great read, and I am glad I took the time to read and review it. I definitely recommend it.

I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions in this review are my own.

About the author:
Melissa Koslin is a fourth-degree black belt in and certified instructor of Songahm
Taekwondo. In her day job as a commercial property manager, she secretly notes personal quirks and funny situations, ready to tweak them into colorful additions for her books. The author of Never Miss, Melissa lives in Jacksonville, Florida, with her husband, Corey. Find more information on her books at www.MelissaKoslin.com.

Dangerous Beauty is available from Revell Publishing, part of the Baker Publishing Group.
Thanks to Revell for the review copy.

Check out Melissa's previous novel from Revell: Never Miss

Word of Honor, Love and Honor #2 by Hallee Bridgeman

Book description:

 You can't outrun the past

FBI Special Agent Lynda Culter is investigating an ecoterrorist organization in the Alaskan wilderness when she and her partner are taken captive and he's murdered before her very eyes. The only person who can identify the key players, Lynda gets assigned to take part in a joint operation in Istanbul to take the organization down.

As a woman in a Muslim country, she'll find it much easier to move around undetected with a fake husband. Unfortunately for her, the one assigned to play the role is none other than Army weapons specialist Bill Sanders--the man who crushed her heart in college.

With a cargo bay's worth of hurt and baggage between them, these two consummate professionals must play their parts perfectly if they hope to stop those responsible for bombing oil pipelines, which has killed innocent civilians and threatened to destabilize the oil markets. Protecting Lynda becomes Bill's primary focus--but love long buried has a way of resurfacing at the most inopportune times.

My review:

   Usually when I say I have been eagerly waiting for a sequel, it has been 6 months or more. In this case, it has been only a month....but I have still eagerly been waiting. I don't know why these three books are coming out a month apart, but I love the fact that they are.

 This sequel did not disappoint. It had a lot of the same characters, at least regarding the Army team, but the plot and locations were totally different. This book was all over the place geographically: Alaska, Kentucky, Alabama, Kuwait, and Turkey.

  Bill - Sanders - was the hero of this story, back from the life threating injury in book #1, and the heroine was his college sweetheart he walked away from. The antagonism she had towards him for part of the book made everything all the more interesting.

 The plot was well thought out and riveting: attacks on oil pipelines globally. I will admit to being a bit anti-Muslim, but found that angle of the book interesting....the food, practices, dress, etc. In fact, I found myself Googling some foods to find out exactly what they were. Then I got to the end of the book, and the author has recipes for some of them. :)

 There is a lot of suspense, bad guys, drama....and yes, romance. But there is also themes of forgiveness, and trusting God. Lynda had to forgive Bill. He had to forgive himself, and come to an understanding that our past does not need to define us, and that we are all equal in God's eyes. This book is not just an awesome story of eco-terrorists and their plot to blow up oil pipelines and wreak other havoc, and the attempts of the good guys to stop them. It is also the story of two souls ripped apart by one man's shame and feelings of unworthiness for the girl he loves...of a decade old romance finally coming to fruition.

   This book was truly an amazing read. There was a lot I did not see coming, especially that one thing that has left me puzzled about a certain body...but I will not give away any spoilers.

   The story has also given me a bigger appreciation for our military personnel. Not just for the danger they face, but what they leave behind and the personal sacrifices they make of family and comfort.

  Word of Honor is only the 4th or so book I have read by this author, but I love her writing style, the characters she creates, and the message and themes of those books. I am definitely counting down the days until the third and final book in this series, which is coming out November 1 of this year.

I was provided a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions in this review are my own.

About the author:

Hallee Bridgeman is the USA Today bestselling author of several action-packed romantic suspense books and series. An Army brat turned Floridian, Hallee and her husband finally settled in central Kentucky, where they have raised their three children. When she's not writing, Hallee pursues her passion for cooking, coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. An accomplished speaker and active member of several writing organizations, Hallee can be found online at www.halleebridgeman.com.

Word of Honor is available from Revell Publishing, part of the Baker Publishing Group.

Thanks to Revell for the review copy.

                                                                          Book #1

Book #3, coming November 1, 2022