The power of fiction, the beauty of words, and the God who made us to wield them for His glory.

First Line Friday – This Life (Jennifer Rodewald)

Happy Friday and welcome to First Line Friday, hosted by Hoarding Books. Next week is the release date for the next book in Jennifer Rodewald’s Murphy Brothers series: This Life. If you’ve read any of the other books in the series, you’ll already be familiar with Jacob and Kate—at least, as familiar as they’ve allowed readers to be so far. They haven’t exactly been giving off warm ‘n’ fuzzy vibes! I suspect we’re about to find out why…

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Network of Deceit (Tom Threadgill) – Review

After her rescue of nearly fifty kidnapped children made international headlines, Amara Alvarez gets what she’s worked for: a transfer to San Antonio’s Homicide Division. Reality sets in quickly, though, as her first case, the suspicious death of a teenager at a crowded local water park, brings chaos to her personal life.

As the investigation moves forward and she increases the pressure on the suspects, Amara finds herself under attack by cybercriminals. Her every move is being potentially watched online, and she’s forced to resort to unconventional methods to find the killer. With few leads, she fights to keep her first murder investigation from ending up in the cold case files.

Tom Threadgill is back with another riveting page-turner featuring the detective who is willing to put everything on the line to see that justice is served and lives are protected.

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First Line Friday – Shadows of the White City (Jocelyn Green)

Happy Friday and welcome to First Line Friday, hosted by Hoarding Books. This week I’m finally diving into Jocelyn Green’s new release, Shadows of the White City. Jocelyn is one of my favourite historical fiction authors, and having enjoyed Veiled in Smoke last year, I’m keen to read Sylvie’s story and catch up with Meg and Nate. I especially love that this story takes place many years later. It’s not often we get to catch up with characters so many years down the track!

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The Lady in Residence (Allison Pittman) – Review + Giveaway

Can a Legacy of Sadness be Broken at the Menger Hotel?

Young widow Hedda Krause checks into the Menger Hotel in 1915 with a trunk full of dresses, a case full of jewels, and enough cash to pay for a two-month stay, which she hopes will be long enough to meet, charm, and attach herself to a new, rich husband. Her plans are derailed when a ghostly apparition lures her into a long, dark hallway, and Hedda returns to her room to find her precious jewelry has been stolen. She falls immediately under a cloud of suspicion with her haunting tale, but true ghost enthusiasts bring her expensive pieces of jewelry in an attempt to lure the ghost to appear again.

In 2017, Dini Blackstone is a fifth-generation magician, who performs at private parties, but she also gives ghost walk tours, narrating the more tragic historical events of San Antonio with familial affection. Above all, her favorite is the tale of Hedda Krause who, in Dini’s estimation, succeeded in perpetrating the world’s longest con, dying old and wealthy from her ghost story. But then Dini meets Quinn Carmichael, great-great-grandson of the detective who originally investigated Hedda’s case, who’s come to the Alamo City with a box full of clues that might lead to Hedda’s exoneration. Can Dini see another side of the story that is worthy of God’s grace?

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First Line Friday – Network of Deceit (Tom Threadgill)

Happy Friday and welcome to First Line Friday, hosted by Hoarding Books. If you love suspense novels, you’re going to love the book I’m featuring today: Network of Deceit by Tom Threadgill. I’ve only just discovered this author, but I’ll definitely be keeping a lookout for his next novel, especially if it features Detective Amara Alvarez. I’ll have a review up in the next few days, but in the meantime, check out the first line!

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Cast the First Stone (David James Warren) – Review

One case haunts him. One chance to fix the past. One mistake could cost him everything.

Ex-Minneapolis Police Detective Rembrandt Stone walked away from a career he loved—just the price of being sure he can come home to the wife and daughter he cherishes. But he can’t shake the deep regret over a case left behind.

When his mentor, the former Chief of Homicide dies and leaves Rembrandt with a box of cold cases and a mysterious watch, he finds himself thrust into a world he recognizes—a world from twenty years ago—the same world he’s woken from in a cold sweat a hundred times. But is it a dream, or some kind of twisted reality?

If he solves the case that plagues him, and justice is finally served, will it destroy the life he loves?

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Top Ten Tuesday – Books with Yellow Covers

Happy Tuesday, reading friends, and welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, thanks to That Artsy Reader Girl. Apparently today is Mardi Gras, or would be if it weren’t for that C-word we didn’t even know existed until a little over twelve months ago. I’m all the way Down Under, so I have no idea whether Mardi Gras is going ahead, but in honour/memoriam of Mardi Gras, today’s TTT topic is Purple, Yellow, and/or Green Book Covers. It’s summer here in Australia and I’m wearing a yellow top, so that seems a perfectly reasonable reason to go with a yellow cover theme for today’s post. And so I give you my expertly curated selection of yellow-covered novels. (In other words, I scrolled through my Kindle library and picked the first ten yellow covers I came across. 😂)

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Boundless (Tamara Leigh) – Review

THE WULFRITHS. IT ALL BEGAN WITH A WOMAN

A battle. A crown. The conqueror. The conquered. Medieval England—forever changed by the Battle of Hastings. And the rise of the formidable Wulfriths.

DECEIT WRAPPED IN SOMETHING SWEET

After aiding the English resistance who once more fail to reclaim their country from the invaders, Lady Marguerite returns home to Scotland in the aftermath of William the Conqueror’s harrying of the North—and does not come alone. Accompanying the Sparrow of King Malcolm’s Court is a warrior mistakenly believed her enemy, the price for which may be his irreparable loss of sight. Burdened by having laid the trap for a man she regrets not recognizing sooner, and strangely drawn to him, she determines she will be the one to tend this Norman. But that is possible only if he does not learn she is responsible for what could strip the warrior from him. When her deception is unveiled, will he reject what he has come to feel for her? When he leaves, will he take her heart with him?

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