Friday, February 28, 2020

Review: River Run: The Forensic Geology Series by Toni Dwiggins



Genre: Thriller/Mystery

Description:

“There are plenty of ways to die in the Grand Canyon.

Forensic geologists Cassie Oldfield and Walter Shaws investigate one way: trouble on the canyon's Colorado River. Stranded raft. Life vests unused. Rafters missing.

The only clue to the fate of the rafters is a bag of pebbles caught in the bowline. Following that clue, the geologists uncover a hellish scheme. Not only are the rafters in peril, but the river itself is under attack.

The race to stop it takes Cassie and Walter deep into the canyon, and onto the mighty river, putting their own survival at stake.”

Author:

“Toni Dwiggins is an award-winning and bestselling author. She takes forensic mystery into thriller territory, bringing her characters from the lab to outdoor adventure. She has hiked the same trails, skied the same mountains, run the same river, and kayaked the same sea as her characters -- but she doesn't get into nearly the trouble that they do.”

For more, visit Ms Dwiggins’ website.

Appraisal:

This is the fifth book of this series and the second that I’ve read. By virtue of the basics of the series you’re going to have some forensic geology involved. That is, after all, the name of the series. But you’re also going to have some unique outdoor settings throughout these books. In this case you’ll get a chance to explore, along with Cassie and Walter, the area of the Grand Canyon with a brief foray into the red rock area of Southern Utah as a bonus. If you’ve visited the Grand Canyon, you’ll be able to imagine what Cassie and Walter are seeing. If you’ve ever taken a ride on a raft down a river, your knuckles will turn white as Walter and Cassie run rapids on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. It’s a fun time.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot. There’s also the mystery at the heart of the story. What happened to the rafters who have gone missing? Figuring that out will keep you on the edge of your seat too. Just be sure to hold on tight and whatever you do, don’t take off your life vest.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Although the fifth book of a series, each book stands alone and can be read in any order.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Review: Risque Romance Vol 2 by Mandi Konesni



Genre: Erotic Romance/Paranormal/Short Stories

Description:

UNLEASHED- Naomi Trahern is as straight laced as they come. She deals in facts and cold hard science. Stubborn to the core, she hasn't met a theory she can't solve. That is, until a visit to the Amazon rainforest yields a sample she just can't explain. Trapped with a larger than life jaguar in a sunken temple, Naomi is forced to accept that her cut and dry world isn't so easily explained after all. When two worlds collide and the steamy jungle unleashes fantasies hidden in the depths of night, can Naomi embrace the extraordinary and unexplained, or does reality rear its head and pull her home?”

CONSUMED- Bored of a solitary existence, a titan goddess creates Esoteric Inc., an agency that handles cases "normal" Private Investigators wouldn't touch. Then Ryder Dreki, alpha of the Icelandic dragons, steps into her office. His request? Assist him with locating a kidnapped dragonling as well as the Stone of Wisdom, stolen from his hoard. When Ryder demands to accompany her, she soon realizes that dealing with a hot-headed, arrogant dragon was definitely not in her job description. When Ryder is attacked, Electra must choose... protect the world, or protect the scaled menace she's grown to love.

What would you risk to have it all?”

Author:

 “Mandi resides in Ohio, where she shares her workspace with an ornery bassle pup. In addition to writing, she runs an online storefront, a roleplaying website, and is a 3rd Degree High Priestess. She's an avid reader and blogger, who adores music. Whenever there is a concert in town, you can bet she's taking the night off and cheering on her favorite bands. She can easily be bribed with peanut butter M&Ms, gemstones, hot lead singers, and gargoyles.”

To learn more about Ms. Konesni visit her website.

Appraisal:

Ms. Konesni is a new to me author. I needed something short, and enjoyable.  Risque Romance hit the spot. Both of these stories are independent of each other. They are well written and drew me in quickly to care about how things were going to work out in both stories.

In UNLEASHED, Naomi finds something interesting in a blood sample she brought back from the Amazon Rainforest. Not willing to hand it over to the company she is working for until she can explain what is going on. She finds an independent lab where she can study her samples. Unleashed, has some unique emotional twists in the plot that seem to take you away on a different path. Then it twists back onto itself and leaves you with a satisfying ending.

CONSUMED, takes a leap into Mythic figures. Goddess Electra and Raina, a diva spirit—Pixie, have been together forever. They create Esoteric Inc., an agency that handles cases "normal" Private Investigators wouldn’t touch. Then Ryder Dreki, alpha of the Icelandic dragons, steps into her office. His request? Assist him with locating a kidnapped dragonling, his eight-year-old niece, as well as the Stone of Wisdom, stolen from his hoard. Ryder is a hot-headed, arrogant dragon who keeps finding himself one or two steps behind the kidnappers. Even though this is a serious situation Ms. Konesni inserts witty dialogue and humor between these strong-willed characters. There is a lot of globetrotting and a race to beat the clock to save the world and sacrifices are made. And a heartfelt ending.

I enjoyed both of these stories, they are intelligently written. I would recommend them to any reader who enjoys paranormal romances, and doesn’t mind a little graphic sex.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Risque Romance is book 2 in this series. If you are offended by well written graphic sex scenes then these stories may not be for you.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 40-45,000 words

Monday, February 24, 2020

Reprise Review: A Reason to Live by Matthew Iden



Genre: Mystery/Police Procedural

Description:

“In the late nineties, a bad cop killed a good woman and DC Homicide detective Marty Singer got to watch as the murderer walked out of the courtroom a free man.

Twelve years later, the victim's daughter comes to Marty begging for help: the killer is stalking her now.

There's just one problem: Marty's retired...and he's retired because he's battling cancer. But with a second shot at the killer--and a first chance at redemption--Marty's just found A Reason to Live.”

Author:

“Matthew Iden writes fantasy, science fiction, horror, thrillers, crime fiction, and contemporary literary fiction with a psychological twist.

An eclectic resume--he's held jobs with the US Postal Service, international non-profit groups, a short stint with the Forest Service in Sitka, Alaska and time with the globe-spanning Semester at Sea program--has given him inspiration for short stories and novel ideas, while trips to Iceland, Patagonia, and Antarctica haven't hurt in the creative juices department, either. A post-graduate education in English Literature wasn't necessary, but it helped define what he didn't want to do with his life and let him read a great deal of good books.”


Appraisal:

I’d barely started reading A Reason to Live when I hit this paragraph.

I was killing time at a coffee shop, slouched in an overstuffed chair that had been beaten into submission years earlier. The cafĂ©—I don't know the name, Middle Grounds or Mean Bean or something precious—was a grungy, brown stain of a place flanked by a failing Cajun restaurant on one side and a check-cashing store on the other. A crowd of Hispanic guys hung around out front looking simultaneously aimless and expectant, hoping their next job was about to pull up to the curb. I looked up from my cup and stared at the girl who'd called me by name. She was slim, with delicate brown hair worn past the shoulders and intense, dark eyes set in a face so pale Poe would've written stories about it.

I was impressed. In a single evocative paragraph I understood the coffee shop, the neighborhood it was in, the crowd outside (which figures into a later scene), a lot about the narrator Marty, and not only pictured the girl who’d approached him, but was curious about what she wanted. I was hooked. And I stayed hooked.

The premise, that a murderer who escaped punishment has returned and is stalking the original victim’s daughter, is a good one that gives the protagonist, Marty, a chance at some kind of redemption. That Marty is retired because he has cancer complicates things in a couple of ways. First, although this is much like a police procedural, technically Marty isn’t even a cop anymore, so he doesn’t have ready access to the resources he had in the past. Then his chemotherapy treatment interferes with his ability to do much of anything some days, so detecting is out of the question.

This is the first of a series with at least three more books already available. I’m not sure if that means chemo goes well, but I’m eager to find out what his next case turns out to be.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK
              
FYI:

Adult language.

Added for Reprise Review: A Reason to Live by Matthew Iden was a nominee in the Mystery category for B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran January 17, 2014

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 85-90,000 words

Friday, February 21, 2020

Review: Cremains by Rob Johnson



Genre: Crime/Comedy

Description:

“When sacked bank manager turned bank robber Max Dempsey (aka Simon Golightly) finds himself deep in debt to dodgy undertaker Danny Bishop, he’s prepared to do almost anything to pay it off and keep all of his fingers.
But he’s likely to lose a lot more than his fingers when he agrees to do a ‘little job’ for Danny and unintentionally crosses psychopathic Greek gangster, Nikos Spiropoulos.

Meanwhile, Bernard Pemberton and his granddaughter Tess are on a road trip to scatter their beloved Dottie’s ashes on a Scottish hilltop, but is it really her ashes in the cremation urn or something else altogether?
Cremains is a crime caper that twists and turns its way towards a conclusion that even Max himself couldn’t have predicted.”

Author:

Rob Johnson is a playwright with four plays that have been professionally produced and toured throughout the UK. This is his fifth book.

For more, visit Johnson’s website.

Appraisal:

Forty years ago a big part of my reading material was made up of comedic crime novels by authors such as Donald Westlake with his series featuring John Dortmunder and Lawrence Block’s series with gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr as the star. Now I read a much wider range of genres and those comedic crime novels don’t seem to make it to my reading list nearly as often. For that reason alone this was a nice change of pace.

Cremains is different from those comedic crime novels of my younger years in that back then I always knew Dortmunder or Bernie or whoever the protagonist was would survive their current adventure, even if they came out of it empty handed. Here I wasn’t sure if our protagonist, Max, was going to survive the story or not. (I’m not going to tell you either.) I wasn’t sure if he did survive this adventure whether he’d be wishing he hadn’t if his wife found out what he’d been up to. (Not to mention his sister-in-law.) It definitely kept me guessing, but also laughing. Both good results.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Uses UK spelling conventions and slang. A lot of UK slang. I didn’t feel like I had any issues understanding, but if you think there is only one flavor of English and it’s what you learned growing up in Kansas, this will expand your horizons. Consider yourself warned. (It will be good for you. You’ll feel like you aren’t in Kansas anymore.) I’m not going to mention the little bit of Greek you’ll be exposed to. It’s no big deal, I promise.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words

Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Review: Windmaster Legacy (The Windmaster Novels Book 2) by Helen Henderson



Genre:  Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery

Description:

“Newly handfasted to the dark-haired archmage Lord Dal, Ellspeth and her husband escort his mother on a final journey to her ancestral lands. Their plans change when mercenaries under the control of a rogue mage attack. Dal's mother is severely wounded and Ellspeth is captured. Her sole hope for escape is Nobyn, an untrained wizard going through the throes of awakening magic. However, Nobyn is Bashim's apprentice and under the mage's total control.

Dal must make an impossible decision whether to rescue his wife, cure his mother, or thwart Bashim's plans. More than who lives or dies is at stake. He might be able to live with his responsibility for the death of a loved one, but could he survive killing the future of magic.”

Author:

Helen B. Henderson writes about herself, “Although I wrote fiction for myself as long as I can remember, and been a professional writer for many years, pursuing publication for my fiction is a more recent endeavor… My writing crosses genres and types, from fiction to historical documentaries. I'm especially proud of the two romantic fantasy series, the Dragshi Chronicles and the Windmaster novels. Originally conceived as short stories, the characters came to life for me and my readers. I hope they will for you also.”

To learn more please visit Ms. Henderson’s website.

Appraisal:

Windmaster Legacy begins with a fair bit of drama around Ellspeth. If you haven’t read book 1, Windmaster, this will give you a clear picture of Ellspeth’s character. She is a strong, well-balanced woman who lives a bit too much in her head. However, she has also turned this into a strength by weighing and balancing the situations around her before she reacts.

Lord Dal, an ex-mercenary, who has gained the position of Archmage over all territories, is about to become handfasted to Ellspeth, a sea captain in her own right. It’s been said for all time that magic and the sea don’t mix. Lord Dal and Ellspeth are taking on the challenge to put that misconception to rest.

Their mutual friend King Fraunces of the Second Kingdom has commissioned them to imbue his new ship Windmaster with all modes of magical protection. On Windmaster’s maiden voyage Dal and Ellspeth have a two-fold mission. To escort Dal’s mother, Eilidh, on her final journey back to her ancestral lands, and secondly to bring back a special passenger on behest of the King. It’s all smooth sailing at sea, however, once they are on solid land again, things slowly start falling apart.

When Ellspeth is captured by an evil mage with visions of grandeur, he blocks Dal’s and Ellspeth’s ethereal connection using black magic. During the abduction Dal’s mother is severely injured. It’s all Barris, Dal’s young apprentice mage, can do to keep Eilidh alive until Dal arrives. Once Eilidh is stable, Dal leaves her in Barris’s reliable hands. He’s a smart young man who thinks outside the box, he refuses to let Lord Dal down so he perseveres above and beyond to figure out why Eilidh keeps relapsing.  

So now the race is on to try to find Ellspeth. The FĂ laire, magical beasts that look like huge horses play a large part in this book. We get to know several of them by name. The storyline is a rollercoaster of plot twists as no one is in any one place for very long. Dal is all over the countryside always two steps behind the demented mage and his minions. Ellspeth can do nothing with iron manacles on her hands and feet which allow little movement. She must gain Nobyn’s, Bashim's apprentice mage,  to help them both escape Bashim’s control, and then hope beyond all hope that Dal is able to locate them before Bashim catches up with them.

I love this series! The characters come to life and jump into your heart. Except for Bashim. You’ll want to see him burn in the pits of hellfire.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Windmaster Legacy is book 2 in Ms. Henderson’s The Windmaster Novels, following Windmaster.

Format/Typo Issues:

Nothing to note.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 90-95,000 words

Monday, February 17, 2020

Reprise Review: Lay Death at Her Door by Elizabeth Buhmann



Genre: Mystery/Psychological Thriller

Description:

“Twenty years ago, Kate Cranbrook’s eyewitness testimony sent the wrong man to prison for rape and murder. When new evidence exonerates him, Kate says that in the darkness and confusion, she must have mistaken her attacker’s identity.

She is lying.

Kate would like nothing better than to turn her back on the past, but she is trapped in a stand-off with the real killer. When a body turns up on her doorstep, she resorts to desperate measures to free herself once and for all from a secret that is ruining her life.”

Author:

“Elizabeth Buhmann is originally from Virginia, where her first novel is set, and like her main character, she lived several years abroad while growing up. She graduated magna cum laude from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and has a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh. For twenty years, she worked for the Texas Attorney General as a researcher and writer on criminal justice and crime victim issues. Elizabeth now lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, dog, and two chickens. She is an avid gardener, loves murder mysteries, and has a black sash in Tai Chi.”

Appraisal:

In 1986, a man was murdered. I was beaten and raped. The ensuing trial dominated local headlines until my eyewitness testimony sent a man named Jules Jefferson to prison for life.

I lied.

You what? Oh, my.

Common wisdom says an author should grab the reader from the first few words, which is correct (or at least a good idea if you don’t want to lose too many readers). But that same advice says the way you do that is with action or conflict of some kind. I’m not sure these first words fit any of the most touted techniques for grabbing a reader’s attention, but they sure did mine.

From those first words we slowly learn what happens when Jefferson, convicted based on the narrator Kate’s testimony, is exonerated based on DNA evidence as she tells her side of the story. I’m hesitant to go into any kind of detail for fear of a spoiler other than to say that despite knowing from the outset that Kate knew she lied (and therefore must have some clue what the truth is) that each new revelation changed my perception of where the story was going, right up to the very end. A well written, unpredictable story. You’ll love it.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK

             
FYI:

A small amount of adult language.

Added for Reprise Review: Lay Death at Her Door by Elizabeth Buhmann was a nominee in the Mystery category for B&P 2014 Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran June 18, 2013.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words

Friday, February 14, 2020

Review: Stacey in the Hands of an Angry God by Thomas Keech



Genre: Dystopian

Description:

“A fundamentalist preacher with a misogynous bent gains control of the Kansas legislature and begins enacting laws to subjugate women. Law student Stacey Davenport starts a political resistance and begins an affair with an idealistic, married legislator who is holding out alone against the worst of these measures.

But as her lover’s passion for her slowly morphs into an uncontrolled jealousy, his deep-seated urge to control her overpowers all constraints of politics and religion. Only then does she realize the dysfunctional family she had scorned and avoided for many years is her only hope.”

Author:

“Thomas Keech has written four previous critically acclaimed novels dealing with state politics, teenagers entangled in suburban corruption, college romance, and a predatory physician. He sincerely hopes that this dystopian novel of fundamentalist madness is not predictive of the future. He currently lives in a very blue state that has it own problems. He hopes to visit Kansas some day.”

Appraisal:

In the dystopian country imagined in this story, the US has become much like two different countries, the red states and the blue states, each set of states passing laws at the state level that make sense from their partisan point of view. As might be expected, with many of the reddest among us caring most about one specific issue, the red states have implemented lots of laws and regulations to prevent a potential mother from ending her pregnancy early. This goes so far as requiring a female to have documentation showing she isn’t pregnant to leave the state. If she forgets, a quick ultrasound at the airport and, if all goes well, she’ll be on her way.

Our protagonist, a law student in Kansas, takes exception to these laws. Worse, a religious zealot doesn’t think the laws go far enough and is aiming to make them even more stringent. Stacey decides to fight back on behalf of herself and her sisters.

Like all dystopian novels, this takes a current direction some people are trying to pull the world or, in this case, country in. It then imagines a slippery slope and what the world would be like if we slid all the way down that slope. Part of me had a hard time believing the premise. Slippery slope arguments are, most of the time, fallacious arguments. I wondered whether we’d ever go this far, even in those states most likely to be willing. But then I pondered how much more credible 1984 feels to me today than it did just a couple years ago, and I was suspending my disbelief, at least for purposes of reading the book. If nothing else, it should get you thinking, which ultimately is the point.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 60-65,000 words

Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Review: Pity The Dead by Keith Nixon



Genre: Police Procedural/Suspense

Description:

Don’t waste your time, he’s just another dead junkie.

That’s what Detective Inspector Solomon Gray is told when the body of a junkie is found. But Gray recognises the junkie’s name – an old school friend of his daughter. The trouble is, drug users are the underclass, who cares about them? Investigations are brief and the deaths ruled accidental, the people are soon forgotten and life moves on.

Soon, Gray learns there’s a new gang in town, quietly supplanting the previous channel. Albanians, well known for their brutality, run by the vicious Leka Krisniqi, work by fear and intimidation, making it near impossible for Gray to break in. Word from the street is Krisniqi’s gang are killing anyone remotely suspected of working with the police, spiking drugs with enough contaminant, just the weight of a snowflake, to ensure the user is dead the moment the narcotics enter their body.

And Gray gets a call from an old foe, Sylvia – she was PA to Gray’s deceased and disgraced boss and ex-friend. Sylvia’s husband has gone missing. Early one morning he upped and left with just the clothes on his back and hasn’t been seen since. However, Gray isn’t keen to help, one missing man who’s walked out on someone he doesn’t much like hardly seems important when compared to a spate of murders.

Eventually, Gray finds someone who just may be able to help, a street dealer called E. But she’s afraid for her own life and that of her family. But first Gray must do something for her…”

Author:

“Keith Nixon is the best selling author of fourteen novels, including the Margate based Solomon Gray series with 200,000 copies in circulation and reached no.1 on Amazon in the UK, US, Canada and Australia.

Keith lived near the gritty seaside town of Margate, where all his novels are based, for 17 years before relocating to the edge of the Peak District with his family where he lives today.”

Appraisal:

Even though a typical police procedural series like this one or whatever others you’ve read typically have books that stand alone with the same main character or characters, but a new case each time, the Solomon Gray series, while mostly fitting that pattern, had one issue that was always in the background. That was a situation where those who hadn’t been with the series from the beginning might not fully grasp. But that issue came to an apparent resolution in the last volume, so this story was fully focused on the current case or situation.

A former junkie becomes not-so-former and overdoses. That Gray knew the deceased as a kid gets his attention. Then he realizes that his area has seen a large increase in the number of junkies dying from overdoses and he starts digging into this when he wonders why. As you might expect, the answers aren’t pretty, and getting to the bottom of this is an adventure. Part of that is that not everyone is playing for the side Gray thought they were. I’m a long-time fan of police procedurals and the Solomon Gray series has been one of my favorites in recent years. This installment continues that streak.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Uses UK spelling conventions and slag.

Format/Typo Issues:

The version of the book I read was a pre-release ARC, so I can’t judge the final
version in this regard.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words

Monday, February 10, 2020

Review: Screamcatcher: Web World by Christy J. Breedlove



Genre: Urban Fantasy/Young Adult/Native American Myths

Description:

“When seventeen-year-old Jory Pike cannot shake the hellish nightmares of her parent’s deaths, she turns to an old family heirloom, a dream catcher. Even though she’s half-blood Chippewa, Jory thinks old Indian lore is so yesterday, but she’s willing to give it a try. However, the dream catcher has had its fill of nightmares from an ancient and violent past. After a sleepover party, and during one of Jory’s most horrific dream episodes, the dream catcher implodes, sucking Jory and her three friends into its own world of trapped nightmares. They’re in an alternate universe—locked inside of an insane web world. How can they find the center of the web, where all good things are allowed to pass?”

Author:

Christy J. Breedlove: “I became a story teller. I'm a diehard frantic creator of Young Adult fiction, whether it's paranormal, science fiction, suspense or fantasy. I believe in pure escapism with unceasing action adventure and discovery. If you want a moral message or cultural statement, you're apt to get a small one. But let me tell you something, reader, I want to make you laugh until you gag, cry until you're dry and tear out tufts of your hair.”

To learn more check out the author’s website or follow on Facebook.

Appraisal:

Jorlene “Jory” Pike’s parents were killed in a horrific car wreck one month ago. She is suffering from horrific nightmares of losing her parents. Her only relative is her grandfather, Albert Pike. Albert owns and runs White Feather Novelty Store. He sells Native American artifacts and novelty items to tourists visiting the Black Hills. Albert has been giving Jory tea blends to help her sleep, but they aren’t working. So he offers her a dream catcher, which she refuses, and Albert laments the passing of native ways. Jory has heard all the old stories, she is just an unbeliever.

A constant friend for the last three years is Choice Daniels. He longs to be considered a boyfriend, however, Jory clearly has him in the friend zone. Since Jory’s parents have passed her friends have made sure that Jory isn’t home alone at night, so someone always stays the night with her. Tonight is Darcy’s night. She’s a couple of years younger than Jory and a pampered rich kid. Darcy brings along Lander Cunningham since Choice was there as well. This way they could couple up playing board games and watching movies.

Oh, and while they were at White Feather Novelty Store, Choice buys Jory a late graduation present. A huge and very old dream catcher, so Jory has to accept it. Albert taught Choice the legend of the dream catcher and he agreed with Albert that Jory should give it a try. That night a huge thunderstorm moves through the area and the boys stay the night. Jory’s nightmares added to all the other nightmares this dream catcher has is too much, and it implodes. Sending these four teenagers into a dystopian web world.

The small group must work together as they are faced with nightmare challenges. They must work their way through the web of the dream catcher to find the center which they are hoping will lead them out of this hell. Jory must rely on her Native American history to unravel the web bits at a time. Choice is right there by her side to help whenever he can. Darcy is a mess, Jory does all she can to help her dig deep and find the strength to carry on. Lander is a mystery.

The story is unique and has a nice pace. The dialogue seems authentic as things spin out of control. Some of the twists I did not see coming. The ending is emotional and bittersweet.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

Nothing to note.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words