review: vanished in the night by eileen carr

Eileen Carr’s thrilling Vanished in the Night has Veronica learning the tragic truth behind the disappearance of her older half-brother. When Veronica was a child, Max was sent to a reform school; one year later he vanished forever. But now after nearly 20 years someone has decided the truth should be known. First Max’s bones are found at a construction site, then people connected to the reform school are murdered in quick succession. Clearly Max’s death is not a simple case of a rebellious teen getting into more trouble than he could handle.

Although the original crime took place decades ago, the peripheral murders kept the suspense ever present. Not knowing exactly how the reform school connection would come into play further added to the suspense and made it difficult to guess the killer before Carr wanted to make that revelation. Vanished in the Night is a gripping suspense with just the right mix of romance.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Pocket Books.

giveaway winners: hope ramsay and bella riley

Congratulations to Puttputt1198Eve and Kat who have won Last Chance Beauty Queen by Hope Ramsay and With This Kiss by Bella Riley!

review: sleepwalker by karen robards

Mick followed in her father’s footsteps and became a Detroit cop years after witnessing her mother’s murder. The trauma of that event frequently leads to her sleepwalking which is how she comes across the men who are burglarizing Uncle Nicco’s house on New Year’s Eve. Not about to let them get away, Mick confronts them as a cop until she sees the photos from Nicco’s safe. The photos implicate Nicco in a high-profile murder, which leads Mick to question everything, including the circumstances of her mother’s murder. So now Mick is running from Nicco’s security team along with one of the burglars, who just happens to be a very attractive man.

Sleepwalker sucked me in right away by not waiting even a minute to get into the action. From the beginning, the pace was quick and the danger was always present. Just like Mick, I was trying to figure out who she could trust. The answer was pretty surprising. Karen Robards kept the suspense going throughout with many twists from beginning to end.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Gallery Books.

giveaway: jami alden and dee davis

One person will win copies of both Run from Fear by Jami Alden and Deadly Dance by Dee Davis! Thanks to Hachette for providing the giveaway copies.

Check out the descriptions from the publisher:
Run from Fear: "With each step she takes, he tracks her every move, waiting for the perfect time. The perfect revenge. Until then, he'll watch her...RUN FROM FEAR

More than anything, Talia Vega wanted to leave behind her harrowing past. Moving eight hundred miles away, she succeeded...until the one man who knows her darkest secrets wanders into the restaurant where she works. Now the agonizing memories come crashing back-along with an undeniable desire for Jack Brooks, the ex-Green Beret who rescued her from a sadistic monster two years ago.

Jack Brooks knows that showing up unannounced is a purely selfish move. Talia doesn't need his protection anymore, but he can't get the raven-haired beauty out of his mind. And when a twisted madman is hell-bent on resurrecting her torturous past, Jack vows to do anything to keep her safe-even risk his own life to save the only woman he's ever loved."

Deadly Dance: "As the intelligence officer for A-Tac, a black-ops CIA unit masquerading as Ivy League faculty, Hannah Marshall is used to working behind the scenes. But when a brutal murder hits too close to home, Hannah finds herself in the middle of the action, falling in love while racing to outwit a sadistic mastermind.

A KILLER CLOSES IN
After the death of her A-Tac partner, Hannah doubts everything she thought she knew about love and loyalty. When handsome Harrison Blake joins the team, she's reluctant to trust him - or to act on her intense attraction to him. Then Hannah receives a podcast of a gruesome murder, and the only person who can help her find the killer is Harrison.

Harrison has spent years trying to hunt down the cunning monster who killed his sister. Now investigating with Hannah, he faces a shocking possibility - his sister's murderer has resurfaced. As the danger escalates, Hannah and Harrison grow closer, the desire simmering between them ignites. And when Hannah disappears, Harrison has only one chance to save the woman he loves."

The rules: Enter by leaving a comment to this post with your email (if I can't contact you, you can't win). You can gain additional entries by leaving separate comments letting me know that you're a follower (one extra each for the blog and Twitter) or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on April 7. Winners will be selected at random. Since this is from Hachette the winners must have mailing addresses in the US or Canada; no PO Boxes.

review: deadly dance by dee davis

When one Sunderland College student disappears and another is emailed a video of a young woman’s death, the A-Tac team gets involved immediately. But do these incidents actually have any connection to A-Tac or is it coincidence that students at A-Tac’s cover university have been targeted? It soon becomes clear to Harrison, the newest team member, that it’s no coincidence. The killer is using methods similar to those of the serial killer who murdered Harrison’s twin sister. This time the hunt for the killer is personal in more ways than one.

Deadly Dance is romantic suspense, but the suspense here works far better than the romance. Although I knew there would have to be a romance, I just found the situation odd. Here’s Hannah, who is very closed off from romantic relationships because of a horrific childhood, suddenly hopping into bed with her coworker while they’re on a case. I understood Harrison’s interest in Hannah, but not Hannah’s interest in him. The romance ended up being a distraction in a book that I would’ve otherwise thoroughly enjoyed.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Forever Romance.

review: run from fear by jami alden

The story that started with Beg for Mercy continues once again with Run from Fear. This time the focus is on Talia, the one who escaped the Seattle Slasher. She tries to start her life over again in the San Francisco Bay area, but she is forever fearful. Her paranoia turns valid when someone first tries to break into her home, then starts sending reminders of her past. As I read about Talia and all her troubles, I had one prevailing thought, "I don't care." I simply could not connect with Talia who constantly showed her weaknesses. Despite her protests about not needing help, it was quite clear she'd never survive on her own as she relied on Jack for everything. Furthermore, I didn't care for Jack, the romantic interest/hero, either. He had such a need to save "broken birds" (his father abused Jack's mother) that it was a total turn-off. So by the time that Talia's life was truly in danger, I just wanted the book to over regardless of the outcome.
1/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Forever Romance.

review: so pretty it hurts by kate white

Bailey Weggins, who works the crime beat for a tabloid-y magazine, almost has her life on track. The magazine gig pays regularly, her book is out (although she’d like her Amazon ranking to be much higher), and things look pretty good with her boyfriend. But then her boyfriend pisses her off a bit by sending a text that sort of implies she should spend the weekend waiting around for him in case he makes it back to the city in time for them to do something. So that’s why Bailey agrees to go along with her best friend Jessie to the country estate of Jessie’s love interest who just happens to be a major record producer. There are plenty of other guests for the weekend, including dangerously thin model Devon, who wouldn’t you know it, winds up dead.

As Bailey works on the story and tries to solve the murder (which the police initially don’t believe is murder given the victim’s history with anorexia), her love life takes a hit. But Bailey never lets that stop her; she’s full speed ahead with her focus on Devon’s murder. And that’s why I loved Bailey. She never turned into a damsel in distress, even when her own life was in peril. Even better, the murder mystery actually kept me guessing. I did narrow it down to the final two before Bailey (who took forever to remember a very important detail), but I was otherwise with her until the end.
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.

giveaway: bella riley and hope ramsay

Thanks to Hachette you could a copy of both With This Kiss by Bella Riley and Last Chance Beauty Queen by Hope Ramsay! Two winners will be selected.

Read excerpts from the books by clicking on the links below.

The rules: Enter by leaving a comment to this post with your email (if I can't contact you, you can't win). You can gain additional entries by leaving separate comments letting me know that you're a follower (one extra each for the blog and Twitter) or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on March 24. Winners will be selected at random. Since this is from Hachette the winners must have mailing addresses in the US or Canada; no PO Boxes.

review: with this kiss by bella riley

This post contains affiliate links.

Rebecca was set to marry a really great friend even though there was never any spark, but the engagement ended three weeks ago when Rebecca and Stu separately decided to go after something more. That something more is an unknown for Rebecca, but Stu may have found the answer with John. Immediately after confessing his feelings, Stu swears Rebecca to secrecy and then leaves town forcing Rebecca to face some uncomfortable questions. Stu’s mother makes no secret of her belief that Rebecca is responsible, but Rebecca has a surprising defender in Stu’s brother who showed up for the now canceled wedding.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably figured out that I love good soap. With This Kiss is some good soap! Bella Riley sucked me right into this multigenerational drama that has not only plenty of romance, but a bit of a ghost story as well.
5/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Forever Romance.

review: last chance beauty queen by hope ramsay

The third installment of Hope Ramsay's Last Chance series brings Rocky Rhodes (although she much prefers Caroline) back to her hometown to work on a deal for a factory at the behest of her boss. There's a big complication though--her father owns the adjoining land and refuses to sell because the angels don't want him to. Yes, the angels are back in full force, which is always the plot point that detracts from my enjoyment of the series. Aside from the angels, Last Chance Beauty Queen is a fairly typical romance with Rocky falling for the man who needs her father's land.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Forever Romance.