Monday, August 29, 2022

Review: Composing Amelia by Alison Strobel

Gener: Women's Fiction
Publisher: David C. Cook
Released: Sept. 1, 2011
352 pages

About the Book:

Can a brand-new marriage withstand the weight of generations-old baggage?

Newlyweds Amelia and Marcus Sheffield are recent college grads, trying to stay afloat in LA while searching for their dream jobs. Marcus hopes to become a mega-church pastor. Amelia has an esteemed music degree, and longs to play piano professionally. The Sheffields are clearly city people.

But when a small town church offers Marcus a job, the couple’s dedication to their dreams and each other is tested. After a risky compromise is made, Amelia falls into a dark emotional place, where she finds skeletons she’d fought hard to deny. In desperation, she calls out to God. But why can’t she find Him? While Amelia struggles, Marcus learns news that nearly crushes him. He must lean on his faith to withstand the pressure… or risk losing his wife forever.


 

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐


I have such mixed thoughts about this story. Marcus and Amelia are newlyweds and recent graduates both working multiple odd jobs while sending out resumes in hopes of claiming their dream job, Amelia - music and Marcus - pastoring. Within days of each other they are both offered jobs however these jobs are in two different states, what will they do? I quickly became intrigued with these characters wondering how they would handle this situation. Amelia’s attitude really bothered near the beginning, she came across very selfish and unwilling to have a rational discussion with Marcus about the situation. Even her best friend questions her and she just walks away. It was definitely Marcus that kept me reading. As the story develops it begins to take on a heavy feeing with depression and bipolar taking center stage. Both characters are battling inner struggles due to recent revelations and past experiences. I feel if they had communicated with one another much earlier than they did about their inner thoughts, their struggles wouldn’t have gone on for as long as it did. I hate to see relationships break-up so I was cheering for these two to be able to work through the challenges and come out better on the other side. I couldn’t stand Marcus’ father, he was two different people one person his church would see and a whole other person to his family, especially Marcus. Always finding the negative when Marcus tried to share good news. I was so thankful when Marcus turned to Ed for guidance and the support that Ed and the church provided. This was a wonderful example of how church members should treat one another. I struggled with deciding what to rate this book because while I found myself anxious to return to the book each time I had to put it down, I also thought the story tended to drag and I became frustrated with it at times. Another thing that bothered me is a lot was shared about a what happened after the fact rather then readers experiencing the situation right there with the characters. It would jump weeks at a time and then do a recap of what happened in over those weeks. Overall I settled on 3 stars because while I was invested in the characters and wanted things to work out for them, the slow pace of the story took it down for me.

 
Favourite Quote: 
“Remember that actions speak louder than words. It doesn't matter how much you say it, if what you do tells a different story.”

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 
in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

 

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Friday, August 26, 2022

Review: Crossfire by Lynette Eason

Series: Extreme Measures #2
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Revell
Released: August 2, 2022
308 pages
About the Book:

FBI special agent Julianna James is a top-notch negotiator who has never lost a hostage. Surely, she can manage to take care of her much younger sister, Dottie, who showed up unannounced to live with Julianna while she finished her senior year of high school.

A former sniper with the 75th Ranger Regiment, Clay Snyder left the army after a tragic incident that he can't get past. Now he's working as a high school resource officer until he can figure out what to do with the rest of his life.

Their paths cross when Julianna is called in to negotiate a courtroom hostage situation involving Clay's sister. Impressed and a bit intimidated by the calm, capable woman with the dark hair and blue eyes, Clay invites her to speak at his school. Dottie's school.

But as the anniversary of a school shooting from Julianna's past approaches, it becomes clear that her perfect record is about to be tested and that Dottie is at risk. If Julianna and Clay can't figure out who's behind the attacks, more innocent people will die--and Julianna just might be one of them.

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Julianna has honed the ability to stay calm under pressure and has become a top-rated hostage negotiator for the FBI. She is called to a hostage situation and ends up meeting School Resource Officer Clay who has arrived on scene after learning his younger sister, Reese, is one of hostages. Clay is intrigued by Julianna and her job. Once the hostage situation is resolved he explains an event that he is putting on at the school and asks if she will speak at it about her job. She agrees and a friendship between them begins to develop. Clay & Julianna both have younger siblings who they are very close to and protective of, Reese and Dottie. These two girls end up forming a friendship themselves which was fun to see. Then an incident happens while they are together leading Clay and Julianna to ask if it was random or were the girls targeted? Meanwhile Julianna keeps getting personally requested to hostage situations by the hostage taker, this has not happened in the past leading her to ask why? We get snippets from the villain’s point of view, without revealing who they are. As much as I tried, I could not figure out who the villain was or what motivated them until Julianna had figured it out. I loved getting an inside look at negotiating and the way the whole team (negotiator, research analysts and SWAT) must work together in these situations. I enjoyed how the story showed that God is always there for us. He doesn’t stop bad stuff from happening (because we live in a fallen world and people have free will) but he is there to help us through it. I really enjoyed the sibling relationship that both Clay and Julianna had with their sisters. The only thing I struggled is at times the POV would switch to a particular person and I couldn’t figure out how they fit into the story, their involvement wasn’t revealed until the very end. Only just before this reveal did I guess how they were involved. I don’t think their sections really added to main storyline.

I couldn’t put this book down and read it in two days. I quickly came to care about the main characters and was engrossed in trying to figure how everything that was happening tied together. While I do enjoy romance in books, I liked that the budding romance did not overshadow the suspense, it just there in the background and added some sweet moments. While I always recommend reading series books in order, this one could easily be read as a standalone. 

Favourite Quotes: 
“Living in a fallen world meant there would be bad times, but He was still good.”

“I am who you made me to be, and as long as I'm walking the path you've set me on, I have no reason to feel inferior or 'less than'.”

(I received an ARC of this book from Revell through NetGalley; opinions expressed 
in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

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Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Review: Life Flight by Lynette Eason

Series: Extreme Measures #1
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Revell
Released: January 4, 2022
336 pages
About the Book:


EMS helicopter pilot Penny Carlton is used to high stress situations, but being forced to land on a mountain in a raging storm with a critical patient--and a serial killer on the loose--tests her skills and her nerve to the limit. She survives with FBI Special Agent Holt Satterfield's help. But she's not out of the woods yet.

In the ensuing days, Penny finds herself under attack. And when news reaches Holt that he may not have gotten his man after all, it will take all he and Penny have to catch a killer--before he catches one of them.





  


My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


I was hooked right from the first sentence. Penny is flying a helicopter in the middle of a storm with a critical patient on board, but then the helicopter is damaged, and she must do an emergency landing on a mountain without any of her equipment to help her. Once they land Penny trudges out in the storm to try to locate some help, little does she know the FBI is also in the area searching for a serial killer who has escaped prison. As the story develops further it becomes apparent that the serial killer has set their sights on Penny. Due to Penny’s actions on the mountain reporters begin hounding her and one journalist becomes overzealous in his actions. Penny now has both a journalist and a serial killer following her, could they possibly be working together? FBI Special Agent Holt Satterfield gets called in to lead the manhunt for the serial killer and when he hears that Penny is involved his determination takes on a whole new level. He and Penny have known each other for a couple years and he has been wanting to ask her out but there always has always been something holding him back. But now with her life in danger he realizes just what she means to him, can he protect her and share his feelings with her. I enjoyed that these two characters already had a friendship building towards a relationship when the story began. (I am not a huge fan of the troupe where two characters just meet and then fall in love while in the middle of very traumatic stressful situations.) I enjoyed the way their relationship developed and reading their inner dialogue about their feelings and hesitations about sharing certain things about themselves. I loved the character of Penny, even though she was shaking on the inside she able to stay calm and think straight during the highly stressful moments, she was also willing to fight back to protect herself and those around her. These actions helped her survive. However also had a vulnerable side and cried when she had a moment to release the tension. Holt was a strong, fierce agent determined to catch the killer. He was protective of Penny without being overbearing and he had a sweet soft side to him. I loved him and it was easy to cheer for these two. While it the serial killer himself was scary, the part that that freaked me out the most was reading about those who worship serial killers and want to become like them. That is so twisted. This story is filled with action and fast paced, I did not want to put it down, and just when I thought I knew what to suspect next a twist happened that shocked me even more. I loved these characters and I really hope I get to see them again in the rest of the series. 


Favourite Quote: 
“You are stronger than you think, Penny, but where you're weak, the Lord is strong. Let him be your strength.”

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 
in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

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