Submerged by Dani Pettrey

This week, theChristian Fiction Blog Allianceis introducingSubmerged• Bethany House Publishers; Original edition (May 1, 2012)byDani Pettrey



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dani Pettrey is a wife, homeschooling mom, and author. She feels blessed to write inspirational romantic suspense because it incorporates so many things she loves--the thrill of adventure, nail biting suspense, the deepening of her characters' faith, and plenty of romance. She and her husband reside in Maryland with their two teenage daughters.



Just in case you’re curious…The real Dani does love traveling. She’s been to some amazing places (Greece, Hawaii, the Keys) and there are many more she hopes to visit in the future.



And while she’s not quite up to sky-diving, cave diving or heli-skiing (too high, too enclosed, too cold!) she and her family love hiking, canoeing, wave jumping and a ton of other outdoor adventures a little further down on the risk scale.



ABOUT THE BOOK

A sabotaged plane. Two dead deep-water divers.



Yancey, Alaska was a quiet town . . . until the truth of what was hidden in the depths off the coast began to appear.



Bailey Craig vowed never to set foot in Yancey again. She has a past, and a reputation--and Yancey's a small town. She's returned to bury a loved one killed in the plane crash and is determined not to stay even an hour more than necessary. But then dark evidence emerges and Bailey's own expertise becomes invaluable for the case.



Cole McKenna can handle the deep-sea dives and helping the police recover evidence. He can even handle the fact that a murderer

has settled in his town and doesn't appear to be moving on. But dealing with the reality of Bailey's reappearance is a tougher challenge.



She broke his heart, but she is not the same girl who left Yancey. He let her down, but he's not the same guy she left behind. Can they move beyond the hurts of their pasts and find a future together?



If you would like to read the first chapter of Submerged, go HERE.

My review:

I will say right off that this was what I call a "read-in-one-sitting-book", a term that I give to books that are so good that I read it in one sitting if I could, or as close to one sitting as possible.

An author probably hates to hear something like this, but after I got the book, it just didn't grab me for some reason. With the review dates at hand, I grabbed it to read in between waiting on customers at our garage sale, and was I ever pleasantly surprised.

What I liked about the book:
1) The characters. They are all very likable, and the McKenna family made me wish I was a part of them, fictional though they may be. And it might sound strange, but I identified a lot with Bailey, the heroine of the story. Her history and story reminded was a reminder that God does indeed forgive and not hold sins against us. Even the sins she had committed.

2) The plot. The book just dives in with a sabotaged plane crashing into the water and keeps on going from there. A lot of suspense, drama, action, and more suspense. It kept this suspense/mystery lover hooked and eagerly turning pages.

3) Romance. Yeah, I can handle some of that in books, and the romance plot woven throughout the suspense was well done and not super sappy. I was even hoping for a good ending in that department.

4) Christian content. There was a great message throughout the book of how God can change anyone and forgive any sin. I like it when a novel brings a message like that.

This was the first book in a series, and I can't wait to read more in the series. As far as I can tell, this is the first book by this author, and it is a tremendous debut novel. I am definitely looking forward to reading more from her.