Book Reviews

Life Flight by Lynette Eason

About the Book

Title: Life Flight
Series: Extreme Measures #1
Author: Lynette Eason
Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Revell
Release Date: January 4, 2022

EMS helicopter pilot Penny Carlton is used to high stress situations, but being forced to land on a mountain in a raging storm with a critical patient–and a serial killer on the loose–tests her skills and her nerve to the limit. She survives with FBI Special Agent Holt Satterfield’s help. But she’s not out of the woods yet.

In the ensuing days, Penny finds herself under attack. And when news reaches Holt that he may not have gotten his man after all, it will take all he and Penny have to catch a killer–before he catches one of them.

Bestselling and award-winning author Lynette Eason is back with another high-octane tale of close calls, narrow escapes, and the fight to bring a nefarious criminal to justice.

Grab your copy here!

About the Author

Lynette Eason is the best-selling, award-winning author of over 60 books including the Women of Justice series, the Deadly Reunions series, the Hidden Identity series, the Elite Guardians series, the Blue Justice series, and the Danger Never Sleeps series. She is the winner of three ACFW Carol Awards, the Selah Award, and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, among others. Her Elite Guardians series, featuring strong, successful female bodyguards, has captured readers’ hearts and minds. Visit her at www.lynetteeason.com.

Connect with Lynette: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

My Review

Life Flight
by Lynette Eason
Book 1 in the Extreme Measures series
Rating: 4.5/5

I really enjoyed this heart racing, adrenaline-filled, Christian romantic suspense thriller full of mystery and real danger. The story starts off with a bang and draws you in with each chapter. The story is a bit confusing at first since the author dives right into the scene but she eventually helps clarify who is who and what’s happening. The mystery surrounding all that is happening is sometimes unbelievable but explained in the end. I always enjoy a mystery that I can keep guessing at.

The romance between the two leads is relatable but not as focused on. They have their own hangups and flaws which make them more authentic and make the reader want to root for them.

The author is also able to weave her faith into the story in a way that is genuine and natural.

Highly recommend if you enjoy Christian romantic thrillers that will keep you guessing till the end!

My thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC of the book. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No positive review was expected and no compensation received.

Read an Excerpt

April 3, 2022 by Kim Book Reviews

Labor of Love by Marguerite Martin Gray

About the Book

Book: Labor of Love
Series: Gardens in Time #1
Author: Marguerite Martin Gray
Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Release date: February 15, 2022

Something sinister lurks in Pitti Palace.

Despite having spent eight years as companion to her cousins, Ana Geovani still questions her role and place in the Medici household. This uncertainty compounds and alarms as her cousin’s marriage approaches and a marriage is arranged for Ana.

With no say in her own future, fear and despair dulls even the splendor of the gardens she holds so dear.

As the newest under gardener at the palace, Marco Rossi should have everything he’s dreamed of–beautiful gardens to tend and master architects and gardeners to learn from. Yet a secret mission threatens his peace of mind, his position, and even the love of Ana. Although God is always with him, reminding him of a bigger plan, Marco feels the weight of the consequences he will face if he challenges a Medici member.

The desires of men and women, both royal and common, create costly dilemmas and potential disasters of hearts and souls. What will it take for Marco and Ana to prevail against everything driving them apart?

Click here to get your copy! Also available on Kindle Unlimited.

About the Author

Marguerite Martin Gray enjoys the study of history, especially when combined with fiction. An avid traveler and reader, she teaches French and Spanish and has degrees in French, Spanish, and Journalism from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and a MA in English from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene. She has two grown children and currently lives with her husband in north Louisiana. She writes historical fiction.

My Review

Labor of Love
by Marguerite Martin Gray
Book 1 in the Gardens in Time series
Rating: 4/5

It’s always fun to be introduced to a new author and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the author can weave a beautiful story about love, life and faith in a historical setting.

First, the book cover is beautiful. They really captured a beautiful garden backdrop which is part of who the heroine is.
Second, the story wastes no time jumping into the story and finding where the conflict is. The story always kept moving along but after reading a lot of suspense, it’s definitely not as fast-paced. It still has some mystery but it is more like a steady stream than a rushing river if that makes sense.
Third, the love story is very fun and flirty while still having to face each of the character’s insecurities and baggage.
Fourth, the way the author weaves in her faith is beautiful and delicately done. The message has a way of staying with you and searching out your own heart.

Highly recommend this historical Christian romance with humor, mystery and a lot of heart!

My thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC of the book. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No positive review was expected and no compensation received.

More from the Author

Are you a gardener? My mom calls me the accidental gardener. Is there such a thing? Well, I threw a pumpkin off my deck into a flower bed in December. By March, I had a garden full of beautiful, big pumpkins and luscious vines.

I love the idea of gardening, although I’m not very successful with my planting and grandiose plans. I stick with zinnias, potatoes, and onions. But I admire all kinds of gardens—flower and vegetable. Gardens are full of surprises—zingers in my ordinary life.

From the beauty of organized formal gardens like Versailles and Boboli to quaint, colorful English gardens, I relish the assault to all the senses. I’m refreshed, renewed, and relaxed just by being in a garden.

The birth of my Gardens in Time series arose from my travels. Labor of Love, set in the Boboli Gardens in Florence, springs from memories of wonder and beauty as I roamed the avenues and paths as a child and then an adult. I never had the adventures of Ana as she struggles and grows in the court of the Medici, but I walked in the Medici’s steps and let my imagination journey with Ana. She now has her own story.

I hope that you can experience some of the awe and amazement through Ana’s wanderings. I invite you to roam the Boboli Gardens with Ana.

Blog Tour

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 19
Texas Book-aholic, March 20
Inklings and notions, March 21
For Him and My Family, March 22
Betti Mace, March 23
deb’s Book Review, March 24
Locks, Hooks and Books, March 25
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, March 26
Connie’s History Classroom, March 27
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, March 28 (Spotlight)
Mary Hake, March 28
Musings of a Sassy Bookish Mama, March 29
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 30
Tell Tale Book Reviews, March 31 (Author Interview)
Paula’s Persuasion, March 31
Blossoms and Blessings, April 1
Inside the Wong Mind, April 2

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Marguerite is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/1bc99/labor-of-love-celebration-tour-giveaway

Read an Excerpt

April 2, 2022 by Kim Book Reviews Giveaway

The Do-Over by Bethany Turner

About the Book

Title: The Do-Over
Author: Bethany Turner
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: March 15, 2022

Sometimes dreams come true. Other times, the best outcome begins with an epic fail.

Career-driven McKenna Keaton has devoted her life to attaining the senior partnership at her law firm. So asking a man on a date should be nothing. But the past four days have been the worst of her life and have called everything she thought she knew about herself into question. Besides, she can’t remember her last real date—one that didn’t involve using a blind date as an opportunity to get a stranger’s perspective on effective cross-examination techniques. (It’s like sharing fondue with a jury!)

But a real date? And with shy, nerdy Henry Blumenthal—McKenna’s high school rival for valedictorian who once took three hours to beat her at chess? Scratch that. He’s Hank Blume now, the famed documentarian, Durham’s darling son, who has attained all his dreams and more. He also happens to look like he stepped out of an Eddie Bauer catalog.

Whereas McKenna is a disgraced workaholic from New York on unpaid leave, accused of a white-collar crime she would never commit, succumbing to panic attacks, watching her dreams unravel. At age thirty-eight—and destined by the family curse to die before she turns forty, it appears—it’s absolutely the wrong time to have a major crush on a man. Especially one who treasures his memories of McKenna as the girl Most Likely to Succeed.

Grab your copy here!

About the Author

Bethany Turner has been writing since the second grade, when she won her first writing award for explaining why, if she could have lunch with any person throughout history, she would choose John Stamos. She stands by this decision. Bethany now writes pop culture-infused rom-coms for a new generation of readers who crave fiction that tackles the thorny issues of life with humor and insight. She lives in Southwest Colorado with her husband, whom she met in the nineties in a chat room called Disco Inferno. As sketchy as it sounds, it worked out pretty well in this case, and they are now the proud parents of two teenagers. Connect with Bethany at seebethanywrite.com or across social media @seebethanywrite, where she clings to the eternal dream that John Stamos will someday send her a friend request. Text her any time at (970) 387-7811.

Connect with Bethany: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube

My Review

The Do-Over
by Bethany Turner
Rating: 4.5/5

“You know . . . You probably won’t actually die if you’re not married by forty.”

Wow. Bethany Turner does it again! I can’t believe I devoured this book and read it in one day. I couldn’t stop LOL.

First, the cover is stunning. I LOVE the cover. It is eye catching and beautiful with whimsy.
Second, Henry Blumenthal is my favorite. He is smart and artistic. I fell in love with him as McKenna was re-falling in love with him. The author is so good with her characters and the chemistry between him and McKenna was well written and believable.
Third, I loved all of the pop culture references that the author always incorporates. She is so creative in the way she weaves them throughout the story in such unique ways that make you laugh and sigh. She has a true gift that I’ve come to expect in her stories but I feel like this one goes above and beyond.
Fourth, the author really puts you inside McKenna’s head and it can get intense but it’s so worth it. I sort of wish she did dual POVs so I could get inside Henry’s head too.

Highly recommend if you enjoy a swoon worthy hero and a fiercely independent heroine on a journey back to each other.

PG-13.

My thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC of the book. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No positive review was expected and no compensation received.

More from the Author

Read my review of Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish here.

Read my review of Plot Twist here.

March 28, 2022 by Kim Book Reviews

Inside the Wong Mind: Reading is my therapy

Hello. This blog is all mine and I will do my best to post what interests me and what books I read with honest reviews. I am a lover of good Christian fiction with a touch of romance, mystery, intrigue, humor, fun, etc. I invite you to join me as I read my way through books and life. I am currently pursuing my residency training as a family medicine physician!!! I have to carefully choose what I want to read for fun. My name is Kim and you are entering the Wong Mind.