Title: CROSSROADS BAY
Author: Kathleen E. Kovach
Publisher: Heartsong Presents
March 2010
ISBN: 978-1-60260-773-6
Genre: Inspirational/contemporary romance
Meranda Drake’s dad was a fortune hunter, and everyone—family, friends, and community—believe he was insane, crazy for risking his life looking for a long-lost treasure which most probably didn’t exist. Meranda is determined to prove that the treasure did exist, and she would find it.
Paul Godfrey is a chef, hired to cater a meet onboard Meranda’s boat for whale watchers. But he doesn’t exactly envision meeting the woman of his dreams when he’s hanging over the rail of a boat losing the contents of his stomach.
When Paul is drawn into Meranda’s dream of finding this alleged treasure, Paul risks his reputation and his business—but soon they discover they might be risking so much more…maybe even their lives.
CROSSROADS BAY is a sweet contemporary romance with a surprise twist. To be honest, I was rather grossed out by Paul’s seasickness (though I sympathize, I was there once…) and Meranda was introduced as a kind of pirate wannabe, dressing as a pirate, having a pirate ringtone, and well, being as unfeminine as possible. However, these characters quickly grew on me, and I started to care for them. I also liked the interesting array of secondary characters. If you are looking for a contemporary romance with a twist, then you will want to read CROSSROADS BAY. Available on www.amazon.com, or www.heartsongspresents.com. $4.95. 170 pages.
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Title: FIRESTORM
Author: Kelly Ann Riley
Publisher: Love Inspired Suspense
July 2010
ISBN: 978-0-373-44403-8
Genre: Inspirational/romantic suspense
Kitty McGuire has returned to her home town of Pine Lake to clear her father’s name. She received a phone call from an unverified source claiming that he can prove that Kitty’s deceased father is an arsonist. Kitty drops everything and returns home, to find that her father’s cabin has been turned over to the city, and that she is being accused of breaking and entering.
Luke Tanner is an FBI agent working as a temporary fire chief in Pine Lake ever since the previous fire chief, Kitty’s father, was killed. Now, all the evidence is pointing to Mr. McGuire starting the fire that burned down the hotel and killed two men—even though Mr. McGuire was several miles away, dead, at the time the blaze started, as Kitty pointed out.
It soon becomes apparent that someone lured Kitty back into town with ulterior motives. A string of arson erupts that could engulf them all—unless they find the real arsonist…
FIRESTORM is the debut novel by Ms. Riley. I heard good things about it, on ACFW and I thought I’d give it a try. I didn’t realize at the time that it was about a string of arsons, for some reason I thought it’d be about smoke jumpers. But that is not important.
The cover of the book is absolutely gorgeous, and Luke Tanner is a strong, capable hero, struggling with a traumatized son, the death of his wife, and a serious lack of trust. Likewise, Kitty is also suffering from a lack of trust, and has a tendency to act without thinking.
Throw these two characters together and you have conflict. And this doesn’t let up through the course of the book. I did grow to care for Luke. Kitty, not so much, though she did have her good points. Some of the events seemed rather contrived and even cliché for this genre. Still a good read, and if you are looking for a good romantic suspense, you might want to consider getting FIRESTORM. Available on www.amazon.com or at www.steeplehill.com. Discussion questions are included at the end of the book. 215 pages. $5.50.
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