The Prince and the Prodigal by Jill Eileen Smith

Book description:

 Two brothers. One betrayal.

The patriarch Jacob has made it no secret that young Joseph is his favorite son. Growing up as the pampered heir to his father's legacy, Joseph thrives under the praise of his father but struggles with the disdain of his older brothers, especially Judah. When a chance comes along to rid themselves of Joseph, his brothers sell him to slave traders and deceive their father about his fate.

Joseph, now serving the captain of Pharaoh's palace guard, is imprisoned after being falsely accused of rape. Back home, Judah leaves his father and builds a new life in Canaan, attempting to flee the memory of his complicity in the betrayal of his younger brother.

Decades later, the brothers will come face-to-face, and this time Joseph has the upper hand. Will forgiveness or vengeance win the day?

My review:
   I don't read much Biblical fiction, but this book grabbed my attention. The story of Joseph is one of the best Bible stories, and the cover of the book is very eye catching.

 As is often the case with Biblical fiction, the author brought out things in a new way and even helped me see aspects of the story that I had not considered before, and brought out insights one may not consider while reading the story in the Bible. Sure, it is Biblical fiction, so  the author did take some liberties, but she did no harm to the original Bible story. 

  The thing with Biblical fiction: you know what is going to happen....yet the author wrote the book in such a way that it was fresh and still exciting. I definitely recommend.

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

About the author:

Jill Eileen Smith is the bestselling and award-winning author of the biblical fiction series The Wives of King David, Wives of the Patriarchs, and Daughters of the Promised Land, as well as The Heart of a King, Star of Persia: Esther's Story, and Miriam's Song. She is also the author of the nonfiction books When Life Doesn't Match Your Dreams and She Walked Before Us. Her research into the lives of biblical women has taken her from the Bible to Israel, and she particularly enjoys learning how women lived in Old Testament times. Jill lives with her family in southeast Michigan. Learn more at www.jilleileensmith.com.

  

The Prince and the Prodigal are available from Revell Publishing, part of the Baker Publishing Group.

Thanks to Revell for the review copy.

Ever Constant, The Treasures of Nome #3 by Tracie Peterson and Kimberly Woodhouse

Book description:

 She's always determined to be the stable, reliable one. But now her commitment may destroy her.

On the surface, Whitney Powell is happy working with her sled dogs and welcoming the new additions to her family through her sisters' marriages and an upcoming birth. But her life is full of complications, including an estranged father, that have her on the edge of losing control. Growing up, she was the strong sister, and she can't give that up now.

When villagers in outlying areas come down with a horrible sickness, Dr. Peter Cameron turns to Whitney and her dogs for help navigating the deep snow, and they become close while ministering to the sick together. Peter has long recognized her finer qualities but is troubled by the emotions and secrets she keeps buried within. He wants to help but wonders if she is more of a risk than his heart can take.

As sickness spreads throughout Nome and another man courts Whitney, she and Peter will discover that sometimes it is only in weakness that you can find strength.

My review:

   This is the second series and eighth book by the dynamic writing duo Peterson and Woodhouse, and the third book in this series.

  The Treasures of Nome series is set in the early 1900's in Nome, Alaska. This has been a fascinating series. Woodhouse does an excellent job on historic research and includes a lot of historical facts, places, and occasionally people in her books. Peterson may also contribute to that aspect, but I do know from reading Woodhouse's solo books that she excels on the historical aspect of her novels.

  Ever Constant is about the oldest of the Powell sisters, and was as great of a read as the others. There was more focus on sled dogs and the driving of dog sleds in this one, and that has always interested me. Also the ways of doctoring in those days and conditions were definitely of interest.

  This IS historical romance, so that is a big aspect of the book. To be honest, Woodhouse's books are one reason I started not minding romance in books. Whitney had two guys interested, and I was hoping it wouldn't be the bad guy she settled for. (Honestly, why did it take 3 books for people to see the truth about him with the name Judas?) :)

  I did read the book in one setting, and thoroughly enjoyed it. All three books have a suspenseful element, even though they would not necessarily be classified as suspense. Regardless, I loved this whole series and am looking forward to seeing what is coming next from this writing duo.

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

About the authors:

Kimberley Woodhouse (www.kimberleywoodhouse.com) is an award-winning, bestselling author of

more than twenty-five fiction and nonfiction books including The Heart of Alaska series and The Treasures of Nome series. Kim and her incredible husband of twenty-nine-plus years have two adult children. She loves the gift of story and is passionate about music and Bible study. You can connect with Kimberley on her website www.kimberleywoodhouse.com.

Tracie Peterson (www.traciepeterson.com) is the award-winning author of over 100 novels, both historical and contemporary. Her avid research resonates in her many bestselling series. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana. Visit www.traciepeterson.com to learn more.

Ever Constant and the rest of the series is available from Baker Publishing, part of the Baker Publishing Group.

The series should be read in order.

                                                                          Book #1

Book #2

Never Leave Me, Waters of Time #1 by Jody Hedlund

Book description:

 Facing death takes courage. Facing life takes even more.

In the last stages of a genetic disease, Ellen Creighton has decided to live out her remaining days at the estate of her longtime friend Harrison Burlington. Though he's never allowed himself to get serious in a relationship due to his paralysis, Harrison cares deeply for Ellen and is desperately trying to save her life by finding the holy water that is believed to heal any disease--the same substance Ellen suspects is responsible for the deaths of her father and sister.

But Harrison is not the only one seeking the holy water. Dangerous criminals are mere steps behind, and Ellen soon learns they will go to any lengths to get the powerful drug--including sending her back into the past to locate it for them.

Bestselling and award-winning author Jody Hedlund plunges you into the swiftly flowing river of history in this second breathtaking Waters of Time story.

My review:

   Time travel books intrigue me. I was happy to review the first book in this series, and enjoyed it so much that I have been waiting to read this second book in the series.

 In my humble opinion, the second book is even better, and an easier read in some ways. The method of time travel  and the main characters were already introduced in book #1. The scene of 1382 was already set in 1382 also, so the reader was able to be pulled into the story faster....at least that was the case for me.

  Ellen and Harrison were both great and likable characters. This book pulled them from being minor characters in the first book, to being the two main characters in the second book. Harrison especially was an awesome character, and his strengths and character really shone in this book.

 There is some suspense and bad guys in the story, which is something I always like. In addition to the suspense angle with the bad guys, there was also a part that was suspenseful of what was going to happen to Harrison and Ellen. One would assume they both survive and get their happy ever after......but where.....in the present, or would they also be consigned to the year 1382 like Ellen's sister? I had my own prediction, and am happy to say I was correct.

 All in all, the book was an excellent and enjoyable read that held my interest til I read it from cover to cover in one sitting. Hedlund was a new author to me until last year, and this is just one of several books of hers I have enjoyed. I definitely recommend this book, but the two should definitely be read in order.

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

About the author:

Jody Hedlund (www.jodyhedlund.com) is the bestselling author of over 30 historical novels for both adults and teens and is the winner of numerous awards, including the Christy, Carol, and Christian Book Awards. Jody lives in Michigan with her husband, busy family, and five spoiled cats.

 Never Leave Me is available from Revell, part of the Baker Publishing Group.

Thanks to Revell for the review copy.

                                                                            Book #1

Sunrise, Sky King Ranch #1 by Susan May Warren

Book description:

 Coming home was never the plan

After a terrible family fight, pilot Dodge Kingston left home to join the Air Force. A decade later, he's headed back to the destiny that awaits him as heir to Sky King Ranch. But that's not all that's waiting for him at home.

Echo Yazzie is a true Alaskan woman--a homesteader, dogsledder, and research guide for the DNR. After her childhood best friend and former flame, Dodge, fled Denali, she settled into life on the Alaskan range. She's made her peace with being left behind--by her mother and by Dodge. And she's strong enough to live without them.

When one of Echo's fellow researchers goes missing, Echo sets out to find her, despite a blizzard, a rogue grizzly haunting the woods, and the biting cold. What she doesn't know is that there are more than just the regular dangers of the Alaskan forests stalking her . . .

As Dodge sets out to find Echo, he can't ignore the feelings he still has for her. But will he be able to find her in time? And if he does, is there still room for him in her heart?

My review:

   I just started reading Susan May Warren's books in the last couple of years, and have enjoyed everything I have read by her. I was excited to see a new series by her to start the new year.

 Two things to know:
#1 There will be three books, all releasing this year. 

#2 The books are about triplet brothers, with each book being about one of the brothers: Dodge, Colt, and Ranger

  Awesome gets thrown around a lot, but this book was an awesome read. I loved the characters: Dodge, holding on to anger and unforgiveness towards one of his brothers and his dad, neither of whom he had seen for 10 years. Echo, loving a man who had left her 10 years ago, and she struggling to forgive her mother.

 This is not what I would call a mystery/suspense novel, yet the book is full of drama and suspenseful situations: poachers, a lost woman, stressful landings of planes, and more. Warren does an excellent job of describing the area of Alaska the book is set in, and weaves a great story around the characters and setting. I did find the book difficult to put down once I started reading it, and fortunately had the time free to read it in one setting.

 The book is categorized as a contemporary romance, and that has a big part of the story.

 The theme of forgiveness plays a big part in the story, and some great truths are brought in on that subject.

  There was a very satisfying end to the book, and then you turn the page and it says "what comes next". The author sets the stage for the next book, and leaves you dangling over a cliff with what is a major cliffhanger, and makes you wish the second book was out already. 

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

About the author:

Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 85 novels with more than 1

million books sold, including the Global Search and Rescue and the Montana Rescue series, as well as Sunrise and Sunburst. Winner of a RITA Award and multiple Christy and Carol Awards, as well as the HOLT Medallion and numerous Readers' Choice Awards, Susan makes her home in Minnesota. Find her online at www.susanmaywarren.com, on Facebook @SusanMayWarrenFiction, and on Twitter @SusanMayWarren.

   

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

Thanks to Revell for the review copy.

                                                   Coming June 2022, Ranger's story

Life Flight, Extreme Measures #1 by Lynette Eason

Book description:

 EMS helicopter pilot Penny Carlton is used to high stress situations, but being forced to land on a mountain in a raging storm with a critical patient--and a serial killer on the loose--tests her skills and her nerve to the limit. She survives with FBI Special Agent Holt Satterfield's help. But she's not out of the woods yet.

In the ensuing days, Penny finds herself under attack. And when news reaches Holt that he may not have gotten his man after all, it will take all he and Penny have to catch a killer--before he catches one of them.

Bestselling and award-winning author Lynette Eason is back with another high-octane tale of close calls, narrow escapes, and the fight to bring a nefarious criminal to justice.

My review:

   Lynette Eason never disappoints, and I am always excited to see a new book and series coming out by her. I have read all of her Revell books and loved them, and read all, or most of her Love Inspired books and also loved them. To review this book was a no-brainer.

  The book does not slowly go into the drama and suspense these books have. It launches immediately into it on page one with a life flight in trouble, then a forced landing, and a serial killer on the loose.

  There was a lot going on in this book, and everything was pretty much non-stop action, drama, and suspense. There were some things I did not see coming at all -  especially in regards to the serial killer - and there was one thing I did see coming in regards to a criminal towards the end of the book, I am kind of proud to say.

  Both main characters were extremely likable, and Eason did something that is not quite the normal for romantic suspense novels: the two main characters were already dating when the book began, and did not meet, fall in love, and get married while dodging bullets...not that there is anything wrong with that. It was just a good kind of different that the hero and heroine were already involved, and made the romance angle all  the more interesting and believable. 

  This was a read in one sitting book, if you can make the time......and I did. The idea of Life Flights has always intrigued me, so that made a great story all the more interesting to me. And of course the serial killer stalker ramped up the suspense. Life Flight is definitely a great start to a new series that promises to be standard setting Christian suspense. 

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

About the author:

Lynette Eason is the bestselling author of Life Flight and the Danger Never Sleeps, Blue Justice, Women of Justice, Deadly Reunions, Hidden Identity, and Elite Guardians series. She is the winner of three ACFW Carol Awards, the Selah Award, and the Inspirational Reader's Choice Award, among others. She is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and has a master's degree in education from Converse College. Eason lives in South Carolina with her husband and two children. Learn more at www.lynetteeason.com.

Life Flight is available from Revell Publishing, part of the Baker Publishing Group.

Thanks to Revell for the review copy.

Coming August 2022: Crossfire, #2 in the Extreme Measures Series

Crosshairs, Natchez Trace Series #3 by Patricia Bradley

Book description:

 When evil just won't quit, good must prevail

Investigative Services Branch ranger Ainsley Beaumont wishes the visit to her hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, was under better circumstances. When she arrived to investigate the murder of a pregnant teenager, she never imagined that she would become the killer's next target--or that she'd have to work alongside an old flame.

After he almost killed a child, former FBI sniper Lincoln Steele couldn't bring himself to fire a gun, which had deadly consequences for his best friend. Crushed beneath a load of guilt, Linc is working at Melrose Estate as an interpretive ranger. But as danger closes in on Ainsley during her murder investigation, Linc will have to find the courage to protect her.

The only question is, will it be too little, too late?

My review:

    This author is one who became a favorite when I read her first book. To be honest, it took me a while to get into this one. I started it, and read a few chapters, and  didn't get back to it til a couple of weeks later. That is likely just me, as I have never had that problem before with her books, and had no problem getting into it after that. It did seem to have a somewhat slow start though.

  Once I got past the first few chapters, the book really picked up, and I read the rest of it in one evening. There was a lot happening, and a lot of suspense....and more than one bad guy, which becomes evident fairly early in the book.

 Topics of fear, forgiveness, regret, and guilt are dealt with in addition to the suspense and drama. 

 The identity of the bad guys is kept a secret and really had me guessing, and I was totally surprised at the identity of one, which brought a couple other surprises with that revealing.

 Once I got past the first few chapters - which may have been just me - the book was another awesome read from this great author.

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

About the author:

Patricia Bradley is the author of Standoff, Obsession, and Crosshairs, as well as the Memphis Cold

Case novels and Logan Point series. Bradley won an Inspirational Reader's Choice Award in Romantic Suspense, a Daphne du Maurier Award, and a Touched by Love Award; she was a Carol Award finalist; and three of her books were included in anthologies that debuted on the USA Today bestseller list. She is cofounder of Aiming for Healthy Families, Inc., and she is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Sisters in Crime. Bradley makes her home in Mississippi. Learn more at www.ptbradley.com.

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

Thanks to Revell for the review copy.

                                                                        Book #1

 

                                                                           Book #2

Lights Out, The SNAP Agency #1 by Natalie Walters

 

Book description:

CIA analyst Brynn Taylor developed a new program to combat terrorism, and she invited members of foreign intelligence agencies to America to foster cooperation between countries. Now one of them, Egyptian spy Remon Riad, is missing.

Jack Hudson has been working for the Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency for almost nine years and takes the lead in hunting down the missing spy. But he isn't at all pleased to find out Brynn is involved. It's hard to trust a woman who's already betrayed you.

Every lead they follow draws them dangerously deeper into an international plot. Kidnapping, murder, explosions, poisoning--the terrorists will do anything to accomplish their goal of causing a digital blackout that will blind a strategic US military communications center and throw the world into chaos.

Can Brynn surrender control to a man who doesn't trust her? And can Jack ever get over what she did to him? The fate of the world--and their hearts--hangs in the balance.

My review:

   Natalie Walters is still a fairly new author, having just one trilogy published before this series....and it was a great series.

 If this book is any indication, she is just getting better. It was a truly great read, and has all the ingredients to make it that great read:

Plot: A very current and danger is terrorism, and in this book: terrorists targeting the power grids of the USA. 

Characters: Walters created some awesome characters for the SNAP team, all of them totally different and all very likable. Kekoa, a huge Hawiian, the "size of a mini van" is hilarious and makes everything more interesting. (He gets his own story coming out in May). Jack, the main character of this story, is more serious and just as likable. 

Suspense: There is a lot going on in this book, and it kept me on the edge of my seat reading as fast as I could. Knowing this fiction could happen some day (hope not!), made it all the more of an interesting and suspenseful read. 

Romance: This is the third book I have read recently that had two main characters who had previously been in a relationship. I like that.

   I am no expert on the ins and outs of procedures of law enforcement, but it seems the author did a lot of research and did a great job describing tech stuff and such procedures that make sense and were still interesting.

  I definitely recommend this book, and am looking forward to the other books in the series. 

 The author wrote a novella that is a prequel to the series, and it tells how the SNAP team became a team, and how each team member was recruited. I recommend reading it first. It is available in paperback or e-book.

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

About the author:

Natalie Walters is the author of Lights Out, as well as the Harbored Secrets series. A military wife, she currently resides in Texas with her soldier husband and is the proud mom of three. She loves traveling, spending time with her family, and connecting with readers on Instagram and Facebook. Learn more at www.nataliewalterswriter.com.

  Lights Out is available from Revell Publishing.

 Thanks to Revell for the review copy.

                                                                 Prequel

Book #2, coming May 2022

                                                       Harbored Secrets, 1-3