Crossfire, a novel by Traci Hunter Abramson

 

I discovered Traci Hunter Abramson a year and a half ago when I bought and read her book Royal Target. Tracy has been writing since 2004 and has at least seven thrillers to date, but it wasn’t till I was browsing in an LDS Bookstore and noticed the gold crown on the pink cover of Royal Target that I became aware of her as an author. Turns out she lives in Virginia, down the street from a good friend of mine from college… it’s a small LDS world isn’t it?

Abramson is an ex-CIA employee who uses her years in the agency to give her thrillers a biting edge of realism. Last year I read her novel Lockdown and though I thought it was good, I found the romance seemed to overshadow the plot. Then at the beginning of the year, Crossfire was released and I fell in love with Abramson’s style all over again.

Both Lockdown and Crossfire are Whitney Award Finalist in the Mystery/Suspense catagory and feature a group of LDS Navy SEALs known as the Saint Squad. Lockdown is set at a college campus and featured Tristan Crowther a member of the Squad and Riley Palmetta a woman who lived through a tragic college mass shooting.

Crossfire is set in the Caribbean where a powerful terrorist group is plotting a huge strike on the US. Vanessa Lauton has infiltrated the powerful crime family behind the plot posing as a family member, but when her CIA handler has a sudden heart attack, the Saint Squad is called in to find her and stop the threat.
Seth Johnson has a personal interest in this case. He dated Vanessa when they were younger and would have married her, but he wasn’t a member and she wanted a temple marriage. Six years has past and Seth has since joined the church, but it may not matter. The situation had turned deadly and Vanessa and Seth are balanced in a life and death struggle.

The pacing was perfect. Abramson keeps the suspense high on both the thriller side and the romance side, not allowing either to overrun the other. She has created characters that seem real both as government trained SEALS and as Latter-day Saints. Not an easy thing to do.

I had a hard time putting this book down until I got to the explosive climax. This is a true romantic thriller and a must read for anyone like me who loves a good suspenseful novel.

Elodia Strain's Previouisly Engaged

 

One of the first things I liked about Elodia Strain was her name. It’s unique, fun to say and in fact sounds like a name for a romance writer. Then I saw her photo.



Is she cute or what?

After reading her book Previously Engaged a 2009 Whitney Award Finalist in the Romance category, I thought her picture and her writing style match perfectly.

Strain’s website, all pinks and purples with a really cute bouncing bridal bouquet, says that she was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, her favorite color is pink, she could live on chips and salsa for the rest of her life and her dream car is a 1967 Ford Mustang.

Published by Cedar Fort, Previously Engaged is her second novel and a follow up to her first book, The Icing on the Cake which was also published by Cedar Fort in 2007.

Previously Engaged follows Annabelle Pleasanton a young women with a good heart and a penchant for getting herself into unbelievably funny trouble. Consider the predicament she finds herself in after entering a contest for a free cake and instead winning a $50,000 dream wedding. Sounds perfect except for just one tiny little problem, her boyfriend Isaac hasn’t actually proposed yet.

To complicate matters further, her handsome, single and now rich ex-boyfriend Alex drops into her life unexpectedly, while Isaac’s family has their heart set on sexy former model Chloe as his future wife.

Annabelle, like all the characters in this book, is well developed. She’s the type of girl that would drive you nuts as your daughter, but would make a fun best friend. And the romantic conundrums kept me on the edge of my seat till the very last moment. The plot was fast, and the style clever and light.

If you love romance and want to enjoy a good laugh, then Previously Engaged by Elodia Strain is the perfect book for a spring afternoon of light reading or a fun Mother’s Day gift.

 

Murder by the Book by Betsy Brannon Green

 

 

It may be my imagination but I think Betsy Brannon Green get better with every book she writes. And I’m not the only one. Author of over fifteen novels to date, Green was chosen as a finalist for the 2008 Whitney Awards in the category of Best Mystery and Suspense. Her book Murder by the Numbers, published through Covenant Communications in 2009 is also a finalist this year.

If the title Murder by the Numbers, doesn’t clue you in to the fact that this is a murder mystery, then the cover riddled with gunshot holes and dripping blood is a dead giveaway (Get it… DEAD giveaway…) There are a lot of things about Green’s writing that I like, her unusual settings, her imaginative plot twists, but I think where Green really shines is in her characterizations. When you open the cover of a BB Green book you are walking into a world peopled with unique and believable characters so real you feel like they might live down the street or work at the post office where you buy your stamps.

In Murder by the Book, Green creates a very complex heroine by the name of Kennedy Killingsworth. Kennedy has just divorced her philandering husband and runs the local library in Midway, Georgia. Granted the facility consists of two trailers, but Kennedy (who lives on Pepsi and cookies) has dreams of expanding into four one day.

When Foster Scoggins the old unkempt patriarch of the Scoggins brood and owner of the local salvage yards brings his grand-daughter Heaven (who is nothing like her name) into the library, little does Kennedy know that within a few hours the man will be dead.

Rumors fly around Midway that old Scoggins killed himself over a love affair gone sour, but Kennedy doesn’t buy it. People who are ready to leave this world don’t apply for library cards and what woman in her right mind would have gotten anywhere near the smelly old coot?

Miss Eugenia of nearby Haggerty, agrees with Kennedy. You may remember this clever matronly crime solver from former Green books. With encouragement from her elderly friend, Kennedy pushes for answers and finds more secrets and motives than she ever imagined and almost as many possible love interests.

I love a good mystery and Murder by the Book fits the bill. Green creates a perfect balance of clever humor and romance while never dropping the suspense ball. The pace is quick, the clues are plentiful and the author keeps her readers guessing right up to the climax.

This book will not disappoint.

 

Saving Madeline by Rachel Ann Nunes

 

Rachel Ann Nunes is something of an icon in LDS writing. Author of over twenty-nine novels, including the well known Ariana series, Nunes has broached a broad variety of subject matter and settings in her books. In Flying Home, Nunes’ main character flies home to India to confront her past. The Ariana series is begun in France, and The Independence Club deals with the lives and loves of five very different single women.

Rachel’s newest novel coming out in April 2010, Imprints, deals with a heroine who can read the emotional imprints left on treasured objects and uses this paranormal gift to try and help find missing loved ones.

I recently had the opportunity to read Saving Madeline, published in September 2009 by Shadow Mountain. Saving Madeline was inspired by the huge problem of young children being raised in and around the dangerous world of drug abuse.
On her website, Nunes’ explains the issue like this:

“States seem to be losing the battle against methamphetamine addiction. Child welfare, law enforcement, substance abuse, and treatment systems are overloaded. Some estimate that over 8.3 million children in the United States live with a parent who has a substance abuse issue. Nearly 2 million child abuse cases each year are investigated and a half million of those have enough evidence to act on. Some 200,000 children are removed from their homes each year.

But what about the cases that aren’t proven? What about the children who fall through the cracks, but are still at risk? To what lengths might a non-custodial parent be compelled to go in order to protect a child from danger?”

Saving Madeline tells the story of Parker Hathaway , a non-custodial father who fears for the life of his four-year-old daughter. Her mother and her mother’s boyfriend are heavily into drug use and sales, but smart enough to keep their activities below the radar of the local police. In frustration, Parker makes a daring attempt to kidnap his daughter, but is eventually caught, and his daughter returned to her mother.

Caitlin McLoughin is a public defender, who’s getting tired of defending the bad guys. Assigned to Hathaway, she is hesitant to believe that his concerns have any truth. But as she investigates the situation it soon becomes clear that young Madeline’s life may very well be in danger if something isn’t done soon.

This story combines a strong love story aspect with a very well written and suspenseful plot and the pace was fast enough to keep me on the edge of my seat. Nunes’ creates characters that are interesting with unusual aspects and quirks. And although this is a book that an LDS reader would be comfortable reading, it does not overtly mention the church itself or its teachings.

For those readers who like the excitement of mystery with the romance of love discovered, you won’t be disappointed in Saving Madeline by Rachel Ann Nunes.

 

Josie Kilpack's Culinary Mysteries

 

 

Josi Kilpack is no stranger to LDS fiction. The author of more than seven novels, Kilpack has a way consistently producing plot lines that are both current and unique. Last year she came out with the first in a series of Culinary Murder Mysteries titled Lemon Tart.

Lemon Tart featured the adorably quirky Sadie Hoffmiller, a middle aged widow with a talent for cooking and a penchant for solving murders. (Think Jessica Fletcher meets Rachael Ray).

In this mystery, Sadie’s single mom neighbor turns up dead in a field near their homes. The victim’s young son is missing and nearly everyone in the neighborhood is a suspect.

Toward the end of last year, Kilpack followed up her successful Lemon Tart with the second in the series, English Trifle.

Sadie and her daughter Breanna are on vacation in the English countryside visiting Southgate, the huge English manor and home to Breanna’s boyfriend Liam. Within the first few pages Sadie and Breanna discover a dead body impaled to the wall of the sitting room by a fireplace poker. And as if that weren’t strange enough, the body disappears before anyone else has seen it.

Last January book three in the series, Devil’s Food Cake was released and featured Sadie's son Shawn. When bestselling author Thom Mortenson returns to his home town for a special library benefit, guess who’s in charge of dessert? Naturally Thom’s manager ends up murdered on stage, and Sadie is ready to jump into the investigation with both feet.

Kilpack’s books are packed with adventure, humor and delightful characters. And this in and of itself would make them worth recommending, but then there is also the food. In Lemon Tart, Kilpack includes a wonderfully refreshing Lemon Tart recipe that was easy to make and quite popular with my family. Her recipe for Alfredo sauce was to die for.

The English Trifle recipe from the book of the same name got rave reviews from my son-in-law when I made it at Christmas, and the Chicken Tikka Masala (an Indian curry dish) was delicious.

Book three is on the way to my house from Amazon.com even as we speak, but according to Kilpack’s website:

http://www.josiskilpack.com/Official_Josi_S._Kilpack_Website/Devils_Food_Cake.html

It includes such delights as:
Devil’s Food Cake, with Sandra’s Chocolicious Frosting
Tina’s Turtle Cookies
Melinda’s French Chocolate
Angel Snow Ball Cake
Classic Cocoa Mix
And the list goes on…

The other day I ran into a woman shopping in our local LDS bookstore for a fun light novel to read while her husband was out of town for the weekend. I recommended Kilpack to her and I recommend her to you.

One warning. You might want to copy the recipes out of the book before you actually make them. Otherwise, like my copies, your books will have nice butter and sugar stains on the recipe pages.

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Like everyone else in the world I am a huge fan of Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice as depicted by A&E staring Collin Firth. What’s sad is that this movie was really my first introduction to Austin’s writing. I think I got turned off of The Classics after being forced to read them throughout my school years, generally in a very hurried fashion the night before the test. So unfortunately, Austin remained a hidden treasure until the first night A&E began their classic mini-series.

Since then, I’ve been hooked.

There’s something about that formal world, where every possible situation had a prewritten and appropriate response. And humor was delivered with a quick mind and a clever use of words. (Compare that with the R or worse rated comedians of today!)

So when I learned that Shannon Hale had written a book about a woman obsessed with Mr. Darcy and the world of Jane Austin, I knew I had to read it.

Shannon Hale is a first rate writer and an excellent representation of the talented authors we have in the LDS Church. The New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Newberry Honor Award, has written six young adult novels, two graphic novels (which are not books with lots of sex and language, but a type of book told with both words and comic book like graphics) and two adult novels.

Last year LDSBookcorner ran Hale’s latest adult novel called The Actor and The Housewife, which followed the unlikely friendship between Mormon house-wife Becky Jack, pregnant with baby number four and super sexy, world known heartthrob Felix Callahan.

Austenland published in 2008 by Bloomberry, tells the story of Jane Hayes a woman in her early thirties who is obsessed with the above mentioned version of Pride and Prejudice, and specifically with Collin Firth’s Mr. Darcy.

Jane has a list of ex-relationships that are scary enough to make any girl give up men forever. (Hale recounts these various love encounters as headings for many of the chapters.)

The manor is everything promised and more. Jane finds herself dressed for the time period, following the customs, and even learning the steps to the minuet. She is surrounded by actors playing the part of handsome and eligible young suitors or mistress and master of the house. It’s easy to slip into her role as an Elizabeth Bennett type heroine.

But as the weeks move on, the line between fantasy and truth becomes blurred, and it’s hard to know what’s real and what isn’t.

This was a wonderful read. Hale’s sense of humor is sharp and edgy. Her characters are believable, and her heroine is perfect as an often a confused and awkward woman trying to find herself. There are a couple of kissing/necking scenes, but nothing that made me uncomfortable. And the plot kept me guessing right up until the last few pages.

Amazon sells it for under $5.00 new and has plenty of copies. I would highly recommend it and give it five stars.

Annie Talks About Havng Hope by Terri Ferran

This week I just finished reading Having Hope by Terri Ferran. Having Hope is Ferran’s second novel and is the sequel to her first novel Finding Faith. It was published in 2009 by Bonneville Books and is available at Amazon.com. Just click on the title links above.

Kit Matthews, baptized just a little over a year before, has waited two years for her missionary to come home. Now that Adam Bridgers is back, something happens to turn Kit’s world upside down. She receives a strong undeniable prompting that she is to travel to Romania for the fall semester and volunteer as a worker in an orphanage there. A handsome Romanian medical student she works with and an aggressive female back home who wants Adam, add to the challenges Kit faces as she sees the world in a whole new way.

Ferran’s book caught my attention because it deals with volunteers working in a Romanian orphanage. Like many of you, I have had my heart strings tugged by the plight of babies and young children around the world being raised in orphanages that are too often short on both money and staff. And I’ve wished there was something I could do to help. Because of this, I began this book with the anticipation of experiencing second hand the adventure I’d often imagined.

Having Hope didn’t let me down.

Sometimes books set in foreign locals or different time periods fall short in the authenticity department. This was not the case with Having Hope. Ferran‘s descriptions and knowledge of her material were so spot on, I was certain she’d actually been to Romania herself. As it turns out, her daughter Brianna spent time as a volunteer in a Romanian Orphanage. Ferran drew on her daughter's journals and first hand experiences to craft this story and it shows. She captures the bitter sweet experience of working in such a hopeless environment and, as the title suggests, learning to find hope even there.

Reading Ferran’s novel felt like sitting down on the couch with my best friend and listening to her recount a major, life changing experience. There was that sort of intimacy in the novel. I liked the fact that she moved through the story in a very linear manner so that I felt as if I was experiencing the culture shock of Romania right along with Kit.

On the other hand, this style did lend itself to running a bit long, particularly in the portion of the story between Kit’s inspiration to volunteer and her arrival in Romania. Once Kit arrived at the hospital and orphanage in Romania, the story picked up and moved along at a much quicker pace.

Characterization was excellent not only with her main characters, but also with her minor characters. Kit had both strengths and weaknesses which made her easy to relate to. And her hero’s reaction to life in a totally different environment was right on the ball.

I would have liked to see a little more descriptive prose to set the scene a little clearer. And the plot was good but could have moved a little faster.

All in all I would give this book 4 stars out of 5 and I would recommend it to anyone, especially those who like stories set in unusual locations.