More Than Ivory

by

Gina Augustini Best

Riveting young adult thriller!

More Than Ivory by Gina Augustini Best is an absolutely riveting young adult thriller about a teenager whose mother, a well-loved local teacher, is forcibly abducted by two ski-masked men as she withdrew money from an ATM one morning before school. With its wonderful characters and the unrelenting tension of time running out for this single mother’s safe return, once I started reading, I couldn’t put this book down. 

Mireya Torres is the relatable young main character, the only child of Ana María, the woman who has been taken, and at 17 years of age, she is beginning to build a life separate from her mother. She likes a boy on her debate team at school and, naturally, wants to spend some free time hanging out with her friends and, hopefully, get to know and develop a closer relationship with Luke, the object of her affections. However, her mother is unnaturally protective and, predictably, would squelch any such plans, so Mireya has been lying about where she is going and what she’s doing after school. While her afterschool pursuits are innocent enough, the last words she will have said to her mother will turn out to be lies, and this knowledge haunts her for the entirety of the look. 

Mireya’s Uncle Angel, Ana María’s brother, is a DEA agent, and he takes an active role in the investigation, but she knows he’s hiding critical information from both her and the police. She is wracked by suspicions that this man, who has always cared for her and her mom, may have had a hand in her abduction. As the police appear to be dragging their feet and going off in the wrong directions, and Uncle Angel refuses her help in finding her mother, Mireya takes matters into her own hands. Helping her in her hour of need is her best friend, Cici, and a more “ride or die” partner would be difficult to find. 

The author’s storytelling is mesmerizing, totally captivating me from the first scene, and completely immersing me in her narrative. I couldn’t delay seeing this story through to its resolution and stayed up almost all night to do so. The mysterious plot takes some shocking twists and turns as family secret after family secret comes to light, and the suspense mounts as Ana María’s abduction shifts from being a random act of opportunity to a targeted operation. The plot addresses tough, realistic issues that readers sensitive to these topics may find difficult to read. Others, however, may gain valuable knowledge and take heed. The action swiftly moves from Mireya’s quiet north Dallas suburban community to the prairie farmland west of Fort Worth to the Pineywoods of East Texas to the eerie, otherworldly deserts of West Texas as the author uses the ecological diversity of the state to her spectacular advantage. 

I recommend MORE THAN IVORY to readers of young adult mysteries, thrillers, and family dramas. 

Content warning: Discussion of sex trafficking, sexual abuse, missing children, abduction, murder, cartels and gangs

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Whispers

by

J. Herman Kleiger

Someone is killing all the shrinks in this fantastic standalone sequel.

Whispers by J. Herman Kleiger may have been written as a sequel to the author’s earlier book, Tears Are Only Water, but this fascinating psychological thriller stands perfectly well on its own. However, this book was so absorbing and exciting, book one is definitely on my TBR list now! The series follows the career of Special Agent Nicola Kitts of the FBI, and book two focuses on her first assignment with the Bureau’s elite Behavior Analysis Unit in Washington, D.C. Three psychologists have been murdered under similar circumstances. The FBI gets involved when evidence left at the scenes indicates one person, a serial killer, is responsible for them all. 

Nicola Kitts is an interesting and likable main character. Charged with solving these cases and bringing their perpetrator to justice, she’s young, somewhat insecure in her new role, and flawed, with a lifetime of sorrows and guilt weighing her down. But even when she was getting involved in things that were painfully obvious to be risky to her career and well-being, I still rooted for her to come out okay on the other side.

 Nicola is surrounded by a team of engaging and, sometimes, quirky colleagues in the BAU. Dr. Siddharth Ramachandran is the team leader and straight man to the quibbles of the others. Dr. Bernice De Vere is well known for her brilliance and recently completed her transition from Dr. Bernard De Vere. Dr. Gideon Saks is an intellectual bully who intimidates the agents on the team, including Nicola. Later additions to the team include the irresistible older married man, Dr. Solomon Mendelson, and Carmine “Books” Luedke, an old friend out of Nicola’s Colorado law enforcement days. Together, they form a formidable team as they try to profile the killer. 

The plot progresses quickly as the killings continue and their first suspect, Raevyn Nevenmoore, is identified. The story has a couple of surprising twists and turns that had me revising my guesses as to the probable outcome of the book several times. The cryptic messages – poetry and complex mathematical equations – left at the murder scenes were absolutely stellar bits of business, too. 

I recommend WHISPERS to readers of psychological thrillers, especially those who enjoy FBI connections in their stories. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

The Cardinal Code

by

Avery Sterling

Exciting and sexy new vampire romantasy!

The Cardinal Code is a suspenseful and sexy new vampire romantasy by author Avery Sterling that presents a fresh and intriguing perspective of vampire lore. With its irresistible main characters, slow-burn romance, and fascinating vampire social order, I was hooked until the very final page. 

Michael Chamberlain is the cool, collected, wealthy scion of his elite Sicilian cardinalis family now residing on Long Island. He’s preparing to take over ownership of his father’s successful New York City nightclub, Allusion, when he becomes enamored of a new waitress at the club. 

Paislee Sullivan is a college student just trying to pick up the pieces of her interrupted life after a terrible accident two years earlier had almost ended it. With huge medical bills hanging over her head, she takes a job as a waitress at the exclusive Allusion nightclub. One night, the unwanted attentions of a persistent and obnoxious customer lead her to grab the first man she sees, pretending he’s the boyfriend she’s waiting on, in hopes his presence will discourage her pest once and for all. Her surprised rescuer turns out to be none other than Michael Chamberlain, the club’s new owner, and the pest is his estranged brother, Esben. 

The couple’s attraction to one another is undeniable, and so begins their slow-burning romance, which starts as a contracted business arrangement. They experience several rocky moments as they learn about each other, and Esben continues to target Paislee as a means of getting back at Michael. The back and forth between the two before convincing Paislee to agree to the contract and then what their relationship was going to look like went a little long for me as they rehashed their motives, emotions, and intentions. Their relationship includes some sexy, erotic scenes as well as darker incidents of anger and violence. Readers sensitive to these kinds of depictions should consider this and proceed accordingly, taking into account their tolerance for such scenarios. An author’s note at the beginning of the book accurately and clearly details this. 

The concept of the Codex and an all-powerful order to enforce it was intriguing to me as a reader and intimidating to many characters in the book. There are some surprising twists in the plot, not only regarding past events involving the brothers but also the current action. The story concludes with a cliffhanger ending, which absolutely begs for a quick sequel. 

I recommend THE CARDINAL CODE to readers of darker, more adult paranormal romance. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.

They Came at Night

by

Westley Smith

An absolute stunner of a thriller!

They Came At Night is an absolute stunner of a thriller by author Westley Smith, and I was absolutely enthralled from start to finish. From the horrific opening scene to the uneasy relationships among the characters and the unsettlingly atmospheric setting of an almost abandoned rural town, I developed a case of the heebie-jeebies that I couldn’t shake until the story’s climactic resolution. 

Sandra Leigh had been a promising concert pianist until she’d suffered a career-ending injury during an attack on a deserted rural highway one night. She’d escaped with her life, but the emotional trauma eventually sent her away from her family to a secluded rehab program for those suffering from PTSD run by a retired former Navy SEAL in the West Virginia hills. Five years later, she agrees to accompany her sister and her family on a restful weekend trip to a lovely vacation rental home outside the quiet little town of Little Hope, Pennsylvania. 

The reunion with her sister and her family is awkward at first, and it becomes even more so when Sandra’s critical and manipulative mother shows up unannounced. Then, too, rather than being a quaint tourist town, Little Hope is eerily empty, with many properties bearing either “SOLD” or “CLOSED” signs. Sandra feels like someone is watching their every move, even when they arrive at the beautiful rental home, and because of her past, the rest of the family scoffs at her growing sense that something is off. But then, little things start happening … 

Sandra, the main character, is a tragic figure, but one who refuses to remain a victim any longer. Even when her family refuses to take her feelings seriously, getting angry with her for voicing her concerns, she stands firm and continues to trust her gut. At first, her family seems to tiptoe around what happened to her five years earlier, but as her niece Emalyn begins to warm back up to her, her sister and mother seem to release pent-up anger and frustration toward her. I was relieved when Sandra’s relationships with the women in her life finally started to heal as the story progressed, even if this did happen under the worst of circumstances. 

The author creates one heck of a creepy atmosphere from the very beginning. The descriptions of the various settings are vivid and literally gave me goosebumps. The suspenseful plot is full of twists and unseen, yet palpable menace that begins with a shocking attack. There are exciting, Rambo-esque action sequences later on that match or surpass the opening in intensity and its highly visceral impact, so readers sensitive to this kind of thing should be forewarned. In between, the suspense was constantly building, and I couldn’t put the book down because of the feeling that something more was just about to happen. I was riveted to my seat and read the book in one gloriously tension-filled sitting. 

I recommend THEY CAME AT NIGHT to readers of action or psychological thrillers. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

Murder on the Books

Cozy Bookshop Mystery, #1

by

Toni LoTempio

Great start to this new cozy mystery series featuring a retired thriller writer who discovers the body of a real murder victim in the basement of her new bookstore.

Murder on the Books is the first book in veteran author Toni (T.C.) LoTempio’s excellent new Cozy Bookstore Mystery series and combines many of my favorite cozy mystery themes: a bakery, bookstore, a writer as the amateur sleuth, an engaging store cat, and an initially grumpy potential love interest. When thriller author Charley James, known as CJ Barrett to her leagues of fans, returns to her hometown of Austin, Pennsylvania, she’s in dire need of a vacation from her fictional world of intrigue, mystery, and murder. But when she finds out her best friend since childhood has been left high and dry by her new business partner right before the grand opening of her own bakery, she gladly steps into the void to take up the reins of the partner’s bookstore, which shares the bakery’s space (and the expenses). However, before much progress is made toward getting the bookstore ready, Charley discovers the body of Zane’s former partner stuffed into the trunk in the bookstore basement; she hadn’t left town as her hasty note had indicated. But when the police start eyeing Zane as their best suspect, Charley must put her detective mindset back in place and find the real murderer and clear her friend’s name. 

Charlotte “Charley” James is the likable main character and a successful novelist going through a spot of writer’s block. A failed romance on top of her burnout has led her to return to her hometown, hoping the comfortable, familiar surroundings and old friends will heal her soul and rejuvenate her spirit. Naturally, while some things have stayed the same, others have definitely changed, including the transformation of one of her high school classmates from prom queen to local cop and soon-to-be thorn in Charley’s side. 

The murder is discovered early in the story, so the focus of the book is mainly on the investigation, with world-building happening organically. Officer Barbara Donaldson is not at all secure in her role and compensates with unnecessary power plays directed toward Charley and Zane. The detective-in-charge on loan from Philadelphia, Ian Grant, starts out as a big ol’ jerk but quickly does an about-face once he’s gotten to know Charley better. Even with his rough start, I still rooted for them to develop a relationship. 

I loved that Charley blatantly uses the town gossips to obtain information and to catch up on what’s going on in their little town. There are few secrets these ladies don’t know about, and Austin has the typical small-town vibe where everyone knows you, your family, and what everyone is up to. I also enjoyed the anthropomorphic cat, Poe, and his antics. 

The story progresses quickly, and the grand opening deadline is breathing down the women’s necks; so much is riding on the businesses proving to be successes and soon. While there are some alternate suspects besides Zane, the resolution may still come as a surprise, and it makes sense. The story was entertaining, the characters engaging, and I was immersed in Charley’s debut story from start to finish. 

I recommend MURDER ON THE BOOKS to cozy mystery readers, especially those who enjoy bookstore or bakery settings, writers as amateur sleuths, and fun romantic subplots. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.