Wednesday, March 22, 2023

New and notable author: Marissa Shrock

 


  I use this blog for book reviews, but decided to start a new feature...if I keep up with it. I am going to occasionally do a "new and/or notable author" post, featuring a new, or new to me author I discovered.

  Most will be authors I recently discovered, but I may feature ones I discovered months ago, or even last year. If I remember correctly, I discovered over 20 authors last year that were either new, or new to me.

 For my first such post, I am featuring Marissa Shrock. Someone recommended her books in a Facebook group I am in - Avid Readers of Christian Fiction. Great group, though it is run like a HOA sometimes :). Someone had just read #2 in the author's series and was raving about it. It is suspense, but sounded pretty funny. I pulled up the author's books, and was surprised to find out I had gotten #1 free for Kindle, and it is one of the 1200 + books on my Kindle.

 The series is The Georgia Rae Winston Mystery Series. It is what I call an "I book" (I should sue Apple for using a word I used long before they did)  - meaning the series is written first point of view, not something I am crazy about. But this author does it well.

 The main character is a single 30-ish woman who works on her own farm. She desperately wants to change her single status, and keeps getting involved in solving murders. Toss in her twin 24 year old stepbrothers, aka "the twin menaces",  who appear in book #2, and you have the makings of suspense with comedy thrown in. I am on book #3, and the twins, who have declared themselves her crime fighting partners, have already made an appearance.

 Honestly....this is not a series or author I would have picked up without the recommendation, but I am really enjoying this series. There are 6 books total, all with "Deadly" in the title. Suspense is my favorite genre', but I like funny also....and I find myself chuckling as I read these books. And the author is not afraid to put a lot of Christian content in her books.

 An excerpt from books #2, Deadly Holiday. (One stepbrother twin calls her "sissy", and the other calls her "babe".)

  Georgia, the "I" and Preston, the stepbrother who calls her "Babe" (mush to her dismay) are trying to get information out of a lady while sitting in their car talking to her out the window. They are giving the idea they are a couple looking to move into the area. 

The excerpt: "That is encouraging. I am Georgia, by the way. This is Preston....my boo."  I patted his knee and winked. 
The color drained from his face.


(After the woman left):
"Uh, Georgia". Preston ran his fingers over his phone.
"Yes?" My boo.
"If I promise to stop calling you babe, will you swear to never again refer to me as your boo"?
Inside my head, I executed a fully choreographed happy dance, but managed to keep a straight face. "Deal."

 Great series, and great author. Check out her books.

As of today, March 22, 2023, the first book is still free for Kindle. Click here.

Update, March 23, 2023: I have finished the series.....and wow. What a great series.



Marissa Shrock is a survivor of many awkward blind dates and many years of teaching middle school. Both provide excellent inspiration for her fictional yarns.

Since childhood, she’s loved to read a variety of genres, so her own work includes dystopian thrillers and cozy mysteries. She’s the author of the Emancipation Warriors Series and the Georgia Rae Winston Mystery Series. Her debut novel, The First Principle, was a Carol Award Finalist.

Marissa enjoys playing golf, building elaborate LEGO creations, and traveling to new places. Her home is in Indiana, where she’s surrounded by corn and soybean fields.

Check out her website here.


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