Attracted to Fire

One thing is for sure with me-when I select a Diann Mills book to read, I always know it will be great. Her latest book, Attracted to Fire did not let me down with the storyline, suspense, romance and ending. It is a fast paced read and what I found most intriguing was what the Secret Service does and how they go above and beyond to protect their detail.

The story encompases around two agents protecting the vice president's rebellious daughter when threats are made against her life. The two agents, Megan who has a dream of protecting the president, and the agent in charge, Ash who has a reputation for being critical and exacting need to find out who is behind the threats. Not only threats but agents are killed, security on the ranch is breached and who is really behind everything. That is just a teaser about the storyline. I found myself engrossed in the plot and trying to figure out just who is the culprit and why. It came as a surprise how it all came together in the end. It had all the earmarks of a political intrigue plot and could that ever happen today?

Loved the main characters Megan and Ash and how their competitiveness and drive started out and how they found each other beyond the job of Secret Service agents. The author left their story open for continuation and I hope she writes more about them and the "rest of the story" of their lives. If you have not read any of Diann Mills books, you are missing a superb writer-both historical and suspense.

Thank you Tyndale Publishers for sending me this free book for my honest review of it.

A Sound Among the Trees

This is the third book by Susan Meissner that I have read and can't wait till her next one comes out. She is a superb storyteller and her books have such a heartwarming flow to them. She loves to intersperse history throughout her stories and this one was fascinating.

Holly Oaks in an antebellum mansion in Virginia. It is a house that lots of people believe to be haunted. It is haunted by the ghost of Susannah Page who was rumored to be a Civil War spy. Adelaide the great granddaughter of Susannah has lived in the house her whole life and thinks the house is holding a grudge since the Civil War. Adelaide's granddaughter died in this house and now her son-in-law has brought a new wife to the house and she hears from people that the house brings misfortune to the women of the house. Marielle must find the letters that she hears have been left by Susannah to help sort out the truth. She does find the letters with the help of the prodigal daughter of Adelaide that comes home again. This is such a heartwarming story of different generations of women that have lived in the house and how they all tie together with their heritage. The most interesting part of the book were the letters Susannah wrote during the Civil War to her cousin that spanned three years and what she endured during that time in history. Loved the ending and how the author tied everything together.

Thank you Waterbrook/Multnomah for letting me review this for free just for my honest opinion.

Pattern of Wounds

When I pick books to read I tend to gravitate to suspense fiction books. I chose this book because a good friend read it and loved it. I did not realize that this was the second in the Roland March series by J. Mark Bertrand. Luckily, it was a story in itself, to some extent. There is a lot about the character and his relationship with his wife that I picked up only bits and pieces in this second book. Enough said about the background of my picking this book.

It was one of those books I "think" I liked-I am still not sure about my feelings after reading it. I have waited a few days to put these ideas down on paper. Roland March is a homicide detective in Houston. He has a past but he is really a good cop. He investigates a young woman found dead in a swimming pool in a rich area of Houston. He sees it as a copycat crime but the other investigators see it only as another crime. Roland has already sent a murderer to prison ten years ago for crimes like this one that was committed. Then he starts getting scary messages from the killer and the violence gets a little too close to home. The interesting thing is that with each crime after this there is a pattern of wounds on the bodies so he must try to figure out what exactly is the hidden message.

There was a lot of trying to guess "who did it" and I don't think I figured it out and I still after rereading the ending am lost. The last page ends with a twist and that really made me mad. Everything is left up in the air so I guess I have to read book number three to find out just how this ends-bummer. This is one of those books that will have different reviews from everyone.

I do appreciate being able to pick this one from Bethany Publishers for free just for my honest review