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Showing posts with label Lisa Lickel reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lisa Lickel reviews. Show all posts

Sunday, October 11, 2020

New from Cheryl Colwell Astoria Rumors

 


Astoria Rumors, Get Eaven series #1
Cheryl Colwell
Suspense

October, 2020
$3.99 ebook, 283 pp

Buy on
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J7KJ5SH
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Astoria-Rumors-Get-Eaven-Book-ebook/dp/B08J7KJ5SH
Amazon AU https://www.amazon.com.au/Astoria-Rumors-Get-Eaven-Book-ebook/dp/B08J7KJ5SH/

About the Book
She's desperate, alone and unprotected. But she will survive.

Homeless, broke, and broken, Eaven Alexander resurrects her career, but with an innovative twist. Her degrees in historical architecture and antiques attract a lucrative but questionable job offer to locate an important document for the mysterious Greg Sault.

The hunt takes her inside a decaying mansion and into conflict with Clayton Mercer, a town heavyweight and Greg’s enemy. Too late, she realizes that something insidious is lurking beneath Astoria’s idyllic façade. And that no one is who they claim to be.

 

Lisa’s Review

Dragging herself out of her rut might have been the most important thing Eaven has done for herself since a devastating accident robbed her of her happiness. Eyes wide shut to the crumbling decay of her comfort zone, she feels hung out to dry after her husband reveals the depth of his own despair. Waking to reality forces Eaven to face unpleasant truths about herself. Coming from high society in Charleston SC, Eaven had run as far northeast as she could to rural Washington State, Eaven decides to reclaim her former professional life as an antiques appraiser. But first she needs to build her stakes. Her first stop down the coast is Astoria, where she meets a mystery man, Greg, and becomes privy to the town’s unnerving history.

Greg hires her to help clean out his grandmother’s house, but his real objective is hidden in the mists of time and allusion. At the same time, one of the last town bigwigs has died, and his relative, Clayton, is looking for help getting an old moldy family mansion inventoried and hopefully ready for sale. Eaven happens to fill that need, and she’s put in a position to be able to double agent, so to speak.

A series of awkward and dangerous events, filled with clues and a curious series of historical flashbacks, flood the book until the conclusion. There’s obviously something nefarious happening in Astoria; that’s never a secret; but how the rest of the citizens, and in particular the visitors like Eaven, act on those events and that history provide an intriguing visit to Astoria. Good details engage the reader.

About the Author

Author of Romantic Suspense, Women's Suspense, Political Suspense

Cheryl Colwell loves to travel. and loves being home with family and friends, authentic conversations, the gifts of faith and writing, and people who are as passionate about life as she is. Each new adventure, whether traveling, listening, or writing a book, reveals things she needs to know. Things she needs to share. Readers will find these adventures and insights on her Journey with Me blog. Visit www.cherylcolwell.com.








Friday, April 17, 2020

contemporary suspense with Robin Fuson



The Race of Her Heart
Robin Fuson

Contemporary Christian Romantic Suspense
218 pp
Forget Me Not books, Feb 14, 2020

Ebook $3.99
Paperback $8.97

Buy on Amazon

About the book
An engaged Jalyn Stewart returns to her hometown of Durango, Colorado following an accident that changed her life and Olympic dreams. A future with Timothy, her lawyer fiancé, moves forward with his new business partnership and their wedding plans. Jalyn’s part-time journalist job brings an unexpected encounter with an old flame and sparks fly. Can she believe him when he says he has changed?

Disturbing messages and threats make her realize, she's being stalked. Jalyn searches through her mind trying to discover why and who might be the stalker and does it have anything to do with her accident? Nothing points to the answers to her questions, causing more frustration. Jalyn’s faith is challenged as fear clutches her heart and soul.


An electric bicycle race takes Adam Walker to his home town of Durango, Colorado and through the mountains to the historic mining town of Silverton. His heart never got over the beautiful Jalyn after he left, hoping to be rid of the God she lived for. At their first encounter after his return, he notices she wears an engagement ring and his heart plummets. Can he accept them as friends or should he fight for more? Pride and a wager pits cycles against the mighty steam engine in an unheard-of race. Adam must conquer the mountain to win the race and the heart of the one he loves. Through overcoming dangerous obstacles is his new faith strong enough to rely on the Lord?


My review
Fuson’s new contemporary suspense in dramatic form. When Jalyn’s Olympic hopes are shattered, she returns to her touristy small hometown of Durango, Colorado, convincing her attorney fiancé to come along. Timothy sets up shop with a colleague and begins to build a clientele while Jalyn begins to integrate back into her former life of church and home and friends, and enjoys her many part-time jobs of cub reporter, summertime youth baseball umpire and wintertime ski instructor.

But home isn’t quite so friendly and familiar when Jalyn begins to receive threatening notes insinuating she was the source of someone else’s misfortunes and would pay. From then on, Jalyn feels she’s being watched and reports the matter to the local law enforcement. Durango has many attractions and happy summertime events, including the Durango to Silverton train. The train is not only famous for happy rails riding, but the subject of races of all kinds. This summer, it’s electric bicycles racing the train. Jalyn is sent to cover the intrepid bicycle riders and meets her former boyfriend, Adam, who’s made some marvelous life-changing decisions and cleaned up his act. As Jalyn’s fiancé continues to downplay her growing fears and the threats against her, oddly withdrawing more and more as their wedding approaches, Jalyn begins to turn to Adam for comfort and advice.

As Jalyn’s stalker acts out, affecting the lives of her friends and their businesses, even their lives and her own, Jalyn has many truths to face. She’s not alone. Faith, family, and friends enjoin in this gripping tale of romantic suspense.

About the Author
Robin is a Colorado native. Together, with her husband Jimmy. they celebrate with seventeen grandchildren. An award winner for romance and flash fiction. Robin is multi-published and writes stories on her blog for children. Robin is a member of ACFW, Vice President of ACFW Colorado Western Slope, and member of John316 Marketing Network. She enjoys leading a Bible study group and singing in two community choirs. Robin loves company and challenging her young guests to discover the many giraffes in the obvious and hidden nooks and crannies of their home.

Monday, April 8, 2019

New From Robin Densmore Fuson

The Encounter



The Encounter
Robin Densmore Fuson

Romantic Contemporary Inspirational Novella
March 23, 2019
Forget Me Not Romances

Buy on Amazon US'
Paperback $6.74
Ebook $2.99

About the Book
At first blush, fifty-two-year-old Renee Harris appears to be a confident sophisticated woman. Hidden are the scars of deep pain and fear. A meeting in an ordinary elevator will not only take Renee to the designated floor but also on a journey of discovery. Chaplain Lance Freeman’s only thought is to help a family in their hour of need though unknown to him, the woman in the elevator needs him more than the family down the hall. Elevators can be strange things. Full of ups and downs, they may be used as a vehicle to change the course of someone’s life. Renee and Lance are about to find out just how much a chance meeting can alter a person’s direction. Can real love be a part of their new beginnings? Will they allow God to lead and interrupt their lives so they can eventually find peace, joy, and love?

Lisa's Review
After I got over the shock of Renee and Lance’s first meeting and the unusual reaction Renee had to her husband’s passing, I was entranced with how Renee picked up the pieces of her life. As she slowly reveals her history, she forges a new direction and takes control of her destiny as a challenge to the childhood that had been stolen from her. Lance is one of those wonderful, fantastic people who deserve a break, and as a bonus, has Renee’s daughter firmly on his side. He finds new love in Renee, but realizes they have a lot of work to do to mend from their recent traumas. After healing, they revisit a potential relationship. Renee learns that Lance has kept important information from her, a blow to her delicate recovery. Together they explore whether they are truly meant to be together or better as friends.

About the Author
Robin Densmore Fuson
Robin recently moved to Tennessee with her husband Jimmy. Together, they celebrate with seventeen grandchildren. An award winner for romance and flash fiction. Robin is multi-published and writes stories on her blog for children. Robin is a member of ACFW, Vice President of ACFW Colorado Western Slope, and member of John316 Marketing Network. She enjoys leading a Bible study group and singing in two community choirs. Robin loves company and challenging her young guests to discover the many giraffes in the obvious and hidden nooks and crannies of their home.


Friday, August 3, 2018

Book review and interview for A Crash Course in the Bible


Nonfiction Bible study
Released May, 2018 from Bible Believer's Publishing
See this post
US $2.99 eBook
US $6.99 Print
A Crash Course in the BibleBuy on Amazon US

About the Book: 
God is the author of the Bible as well as the author of life. He reveals his heart and his mind through his words. And when you read his words, you get to know him. A Crash Course in the Bible contains approximately two hundred Bible verses. And these Scriptures will teach you what God wants you to know.

Lisa Lickel’s review:
Larry Vaughn, author the The Bible Believer’s Handbook, has released another little gem in A Crash Course in the Bible. In this tidy little book, Vaughn plucks lessons from everyday life, from children to faith to recompense to salvation and wisdom, and shows how the Word of God teaches God’s ways to humankind.

Opening with an introduction on how times have changed since the Pilgrims first sought America, Vaughn urges us to return to those spiritual roots, and ends with “Twelve things” every believer should know; again, the basics from what faith and redemption are to how to achieve that state of grace and what we should do about it through our newly opened conscience and confidence.

Readers of nonfiction Biblical works will find peace and comfort in these verses, as well as a good way to quantify your faith to share it in a meaningful and understandable way with others.


Briefly:
Larry, What do you want readers to know about your latest book, Larry?
I wanted to make the Bible easy to access and easy to understand. And to show how great God is and how generous he is to us.

What do you hope readers will take from this book?
The readers of my book will know what the Bible says. And they will understand what that means to them.

About the author:
Larry Vaughn has been married to his best friend Marie for fifty-one years. They have three daughters, eleven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. And they live just outside of Memphis, Tennessee. Web: http://larryvaughnauthor.blogspot.com and http://Biblebelieverspublishing.com











Friday, July 20, 2018

A New Mystery from Carole Brown


40786134

released July 10, 2018
$2.99 ebook
$11.99 Print
Buy on US Amazon
Book 4 in the series

About the book
Everyone loves Toby Gibson. A co-owner of Undiscovered Treasures, a unique shop of antiques, collectables and junk, Toby is friendly, generous to a fault, the director of the local plays in Appleton and supports his church's youth functions. But the minute his sister, Caroline and her new husband, take off for their honeymoon, a “ghost” begins to haunt the shop—or maybe it's just an intruder. If so, Toby has no idea for what the thing is looking. To add to his troubles, he suspects Amy, not only is bidding for the property he's wanted forever, but is in love with him. And he's not interested.

Amy Sanderson who owns the only flower shop in Appleton—Bloomin' Life—is drawn into capturing Toby's “ghost” when her own business is damaged by a destructive intruder. Having loved Toby since a teenager, she's more than willing to join forces with him. But she has no interest in being his best friend or a sister to him. And if she has to resort to schemes of outbidding him at his frequent auction attendences to get his attention, then so be it. She can be just as stubborn as the man who's determined to ignore her love.

In between the break-ins, destruction of property, thefts and personal competitions against each other, Amy and Toby work together to find the thief who seems so determined to find a valuable item, he'll stop at nothing.


Lisa Lickel's Review
Toby Gibson is sure he’s got a ghost in Undiscovered Treasures, the store he owns with his sister, who’s out of town on her honeymoon. He’s alone in the above store apartment, but as sure as he is that he’s got an unwanted visitor, he’s equally sure Detective Eddie of the Appleton Police won’t be able to help. Not until his friend Amy from the flower shop on the other side of the abandoned building between them and he start experiencing real break-ins, that is.

From the moment Toby meets a grumpy old man badgering Amy who outbid him on a piece of furniture we wanted at an auction and stole his dream of expanding into next building this fourth book in Brown’s series is like coming home to old friends.

Poor, clueless Toby, is about to get a lesson in the real meaning behind best friends. It’s a riot to watch Toby get what’s coming to him while working with his friends to unravel the mystery of dark family secrets in sunny Appleton, West Virginia.

Cleverly weaving businesses and friends from the previous stories and melding them into a new mystery, Brown makes Appleton a fun place to visit. Told from multiple perspectives with good pacing. Brown’s stories are clean and inspirational, and recommended for junior high readers and up.



About the Author

My photoBesides being a member and active participant of many writing groups, Carole  Brown enjoys mentoring beginning writers. She loves to weave suspense and tough topics into her books, along with a touch of romance and whimsy, and is always on the lookout for outstanding titles and catchy ideas. She and her husband have ministered and counseled across the country. Together, they enjoy their grandsons, traveling, gardening, good food, the simple life, and did she mention their grandsons? 
Connect:

Friday, May 25, 2018

Three Strand Cord by Tracy Krauss



Kindle Ebook $2.99
May 2018

About the Book:
Tempest. Stella. Cherise. Fate brought them together, but can their friendship survive the tangled web of danger and deception that threatens their very lives? When Cherise convinces Tempest to pretend to be her so that she can sneak out of the country to be with her dashing Italian boyfriend, she is inadvertently implicated in an international drug ring. An unexpected complication forces Tempest to prolong the charade and she finds herself attracted to the very man who might be out to cause her harm. Meanwhile, Stella’s high ideals are met with suspicion and disdain at her father’s Texas ranch, until she uncovers a dangerous secret that could put all their lives in jeopardy. At the same time, her own errant emotions take over as she falls in love with two brothers at the same time. Things heat up when Cherise is kidnapped and the three friends must turn to one another – and God - to get out of harm’s way. Three Strand Cord is a story of intrigue and romance told from three different points of view, all coming together to prove that when it comes to true friendship, ‘a three strand cord is not easily broken’. 

All Good Things Come In Threes

Good things come in threes. Three act plays, primary colours, most fairy tale structures (three pigs, three bears, three mice), the three musketeers, and of course God Himself – Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

In my own childhood, this was certainly the case. I had two ‘best’ friends growing up and we literally spent every day with each other. We talked, we played, we told secrets – it didn’t matter as long as we were together. One friend moved away, but I soon gravitated to another set of ‘best’ friends during my teen years. The three of us were initiated into adulthood as we navigated those tempestuous waters, tasting the ‘forbidden fruit’ and all that other jazz that teens are ‘supposed’ to do. (My shortened version so as not to shock you, dear readers!) Even after we went on to college, we kept in touch. One introduced me to my husband, and these two were bridesmaids at my wedding.

Lasting friendship is one of the themes of my new novel, Three Strand Cord. The three friends, Tempest, Stella, and Cherise, have been through a lot together, but in this story their loyalty is tested to the limits as a simple ‘fib’ leads to a web of deceit that lands one of them in serious trouble.

I’m not sure how many readers will catch the hidden acrostic in the title. Three Strand Cord contains the first letters of each character’s name – Tempest, Stella and Cherise. It wasn’t originally that way.  I had the title down quite early in the project – not something that always happens – but I knew it fit perfectly with the theme of friendship as well as the theme that God is the truest friend anyone can have.  Originally, Stella was named Myriah, but somewhere I had an epiphany that if I changed her name to something with an ‘S’, it would mirror the title. I spent some time scouring baby name books and finally settled on Stella.


There are two more books in the series – Blood Ties and Tempest Tossed. In the end, the real theme of the series is that God is the best friend of all. He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. I hope those that read it find encouragement to let Jesus be that kind of friend.

Lisa Lickel's Review:
Tracy Krauss gives her fans a new novel of friendship that takes her readers on a tumultuous ride across the United States and across the ocean to Italy.

Three friends who met at boarding school come from very different backgrounds. Tempest, the naïve orphan, Stella the cowgirl, and Cherise the spoiled rich daughter. All have secrets, weaknesses and strengths that draw them together and, as iron sharpens iron, helps make them want to be better.

The first half of the book is divided into three segments as each girl shares current events. Tempest wants to reconnect with her past, and when an unexpected opportunity falls in her lap, she reluctantly pushes aside her conviction of newfound faith to participate in a lie. She becomes an unwitting pawn in a game perpetrated by her friend Cherise’s equally spoiled brother. Stella, having completed a masters degree in environmental science, returns home to the Texas ranch where she was raised. Her complicated relationship with her stepmother and her best friends, the foreman’s sons, create tension, exacerbated when she stumbles on the not-too-subtle secret shame of the land she’s loved all her love. When Stella realizes her friends have grown up and no longer consider her a kid, either, all’s fair in love and war. The ranch becomes both battleground and haven when Tempest needs a safe harbor. Both Tempest and Stella’s devout housekeeper help Stella to reexamine her absent faith. Cherise lives in the moment, doing exactly what she pleases and forcing everyone around her to bow to her wishes. When she follows her Italian lover, she gets a rude awakening. But going home is impossible when she’s caught up in international intrigue. A secret phone call to Tempest sets up a risky rescue attempt.

Although there will be more stories in this series of friendship adventures, A Three Strand Cord is a complete story. Initially told from the three friends’ viewpoints, the second half of the story comes together beautifully as each of the three learn to rely on dependence and trust in each other and the Lord.

While inspirational, some of the situations in the story portray sexual situations and violence, as well as pet death. A Three Strand Cord is a big story, from the east to west coast US and Texas, as well as Italy, and covers a lot of action. With three very different personalities in the main characters, readers of contemporary romance with suspense and action will find the book a breathless read. 


Tracy Krauss is a multi-published novelist, playwright, and artist with several award winning and best selling novels, stage plays, devotionals and children’s books in print. Her work strikes a chord with those looking for thought provoking faith based fiction laced with romance, suspense and humor – no sugar added. She holds a B.Ed from the U of S and has lived in many remote and interesting places in Canada’s far north. She and her husband currently reside in beautiful BC where she continues to pursue all of her creative interests.  http://tracykrauss.com “Fiction on the edge – without crossing the line”