Book Review: Signature (A David Wolf #9) by Jeff Carson

Title: Signature  (A David Wolf  #9)

Author: Jeff Carson

Stars: 4 stars

Review:
A bang up police/action adventure story set in Colorado. The action continues through the entire book. The story line is solid and details the chase for a serial killer. As with all good thrillers there is a twist in the end and I did not see it coming. I felt justice was done in the end but that is only my opinion yours may differ. This is book nine in a series with this main character and is the first one I have read. It stood alone very well and was an excellent read.

I have given this book a 4 star rating.

I obtained this book from Amazon in Kindle format.

Thank you Frank

Synopsis:
Wolf is called to a crime scene next to the Chautauqua River, where a woman resident of Rocky Points has been murdered. The killer has left a well-known signature not seen for years--a severed ear. 

For Wolf, the gruesome display is a surprise, but so is the FBI beating the local department to the scene. 

Three days earlier a truck is unearthed from south of Durango, Colorado. Within it is DNA evidence linking to killings in southwest Colorado that have stumped the FBI for years. The evidence, and now a new body, has led them north, where it seems the monster known by all as The Van Gogh Killer has chosen Rocky Points as his new venue to display his horrific works. 

While the town reels with panic, Wolf learns the latest victim was dating an SBCSD deputy whose past directly links to the killings in the Four Corners area. Worse, the news the case involves one of their own means the higher-ups want to outsource the investigation to the feds. It's a matter of due process and objectivity. 

With his community in danger there's no swaying Wolf, however, and special agent Kristen Luke sees the value in using his skills, convincing her superiors to add Wolf to the killer task force. Now part of the team, Wolf learns there are more secrets the FBI isn't telling everyone, and the unanswered questions are more than anyone can deal with. 

About the Author:

Jeff Carson is from the Front Range of Colorado where he lives with his wife and two sons. His David Wolf series of books takes place in the fictional ski town of Rocky Points, Colorado.

Book Review: Kiss Kiss Bang (Iron Clad Security #3) by Sidney Halston

Title: Kiss Kiss Bang (Iron Clad Security #3)

Author: Sidney Halston 

Stars: 4 out of 5 stars

Review:
Kiss Kiss Bang was so much fun to read. Its doesn't take long to figure out who and why  Olivia is being stalked and hunted. Normally I like to be kept in the dark about who is the real killer\Stalker\Scum Bag but Sidney Halston was able to keep the story moving at a wonder pace it will keep readers beyond happy.
Kiss Kiss  Bang is a perfectly blended suspense, romance and human that will have readers up into the night wanting more but Sidney Halston.

Olivia daughter will have readers cracking up and if you have a 5 year old you will laugh even more. The author is able to make Olivia very likable and readers will connect with her right away. The author adds a little message in between all the romance, suspense, Meyerbeer and life of a parent. The past doesn't define us.  Our past is apart of us and we can live there or change.

Kiss Kiss Bang is a well placed insta-love romance that will have readers falling in love with Joey and Olivia. Readers will champion for Olivia and her desire to do right by the people of her state. 
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Swerve for the advance copy. I can't wait to read more by this  Sidney Halston.

Synopsis:
Six-foot-two and ripped...with superior computer skills, Josef “Joey” Clad is not your typical ex-Marine. The co-owner of Iron-Clad securities is 100% Alpha male, but under his muscular physique, he's the best hacker in Miami who specializes in running Iron-Clad's cyber ops. The perfect skill set for their new client who is getting threatening emails, a client who he definitely wants to get to know better. Much better.

Single mom, widow, Olivia Monroe has exceptional dreams that she refuses to let go of. Fifteen years ago, she left her broken home in New York City and never looked back. Now a dark horse candidate for Florida governor, she's not looking for a relationship. Even with the hot guy who sweeps in and saves her computer the night before a big speech. Her hero has trouble written all over him. Joey is too handsome, too funny, too confident, and way too hard to resist.

Too bad he's now her bodyguard.

Paperback, 304 pages

Expected publication: December 5th 2017 by Swerve

About The Author:

USA Today bestselling author, Sidney Halston lives her life with one simple rule: “Just Do It” Nike, and that’s exactly what she did. After working hard as an attorney, Sidney picked up a pen for the first time at thirty years old to begin her dream of writing. Having never written anything other than very exciting legal briefs, she found an outlet for her imaginative romantic side and wrote Seeing Red, among four other novels currently in the works, including the sequel to Seeing Red. That first pen stroke sealed the deal and she fell in love with writing.

Sidney lives in South Florida with her husband and children. She loves her family above all else, and reading follows a close second. When she’s not writing you can find her reading and reading and reading… She’s a reader first and a writer second. 

When she’s not writing or reading her life is complete and utter chaos trying to balance family life with work, and writing (and reading). But she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Book Review: Claiming Bailey (Ace Security #3) by Susan Stoker

Title: Claiming Bailey (Ace Security #3) 

Author: Susan Stoker 

Stars: 2 stars out of 5

Review:
I have read now a couple of book by Susan Stoker so I have a feel for her writing style and a pretty good understand if how the characters are going to act and react.  This book was a huge disappointment in so many ways. 
First off your have already go an idea of who Bailey and why she is running away from her former life. She clears the air right away that she felt like a sex object and she wasn't good enough to have happiness in her life. I mean right off the bat. So when Nathan takes one look at her and all his thoughts go straight to sex I was beyond disappointed.  It made everything stop for this reader. The story went from helping the characters to sex in just a few short pages. 
Even though the story changes you know the male lead has the hots and at some point they will have sex. Romance readers and even mystery readers enjoy a little mystery instead of sex. Yes the author creates a friendship that develops over time that leads to sex. Its still doesn't take away the sting of the brothers first thoughts of her.
The author drove home the message don't judge someone until you get to know them. Along with men feel insure about their bodies, looking. I loved the message it just went a little longer than needed.
The brothers and either wives\girlfriends as well as extra characters from the different books appeared and readers who love the series are left with a fun little nugget.
The message in the book after a while felt like the reader is being beaten over the head with Don't Judge People Until You Get To Know them.
Thank you to Netgalley and  Montlake Romance publishing for the advance copy.

Synopsis:
Bailey Hampton will do whatever it takes to keep both herself and her little brother safe from the vicious Inca Boyz gang. Hiding out in Castle Rock, Colorado, is only a temporary solution until she can earn enough money to get out of the state altogether. But when she meets handsome security nerd Nathan Anderson, she discovers a reason to stay and fight for what she wants.

Ace Security’s Nathan Anderson has always been the “numbers guy,” not the man any of the firm’s clients look to when their safety is threatened. But from the first time he ran into Bailey, she never made him feel like less of a protector than his brothers. Nathan was attracted to the petite, black-haired pixie with wild tattoos from the start, and by some miracle, she seems to return his interest.

But danger stalks Bailey and her brother, so it’s up to Nathan to channel his inner alpha and find a way to end the threat to their lives once and for all—and he’s not giving up Bailey without a fight.

Kindle Edition, 267 pages

Expected publication: December 5th 2017 by Montlake Romance

About the Author:

New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author, Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives, but this all American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She's married to a retired Army man who now gets to follow her around the country.

She debuted her first series in 2014 and quickly followed that up with the SEAL of Protection Series, which solidified her love of writing and creating stories readers can get lost in. 

Connect with her at www.facebook.com/authorsstoker or www.facebook.com/authorsusanstoker

Book Review A Dead Husband (Jessica Huntington #1) by Anna Celeste Burke

Title: A Dead Husband (Jessica Huntington #1) 

Author: Anna Celeste Burke 

Stars: 4 out of 5

Review:
An action based murder mystery set in the moneyed desert area of California. The main character comes from money and is in the process of getting a divorce. She is smart, a lawyer, and not afraid to get her hands dirty. When she is physically attacked, twice, she stands her ground and fights back. If you are in trouble she will have your back. An enjoyable cozy mystery that can be read in one day.

I have given this book a four star rating.

I obtained this book from Amazon in Kindle format.

Thank you Frank

Synopsis:
Jessica Huntington, rich, beautiful, and smart, seeks refuge from betrayal in a desert paradise near Palm Springs only to discover life is full of surprises...like a dead husband. Jessica Huntington is hiding out from her own well-planned life, now in shambles. Her law career tanked by the Great Recession, she failed miserably as a desperate housewife in the Silicon Valley playing beat-the-clock with her 30-something hormones. In the end she put on a little baby fat, but no baby. The final blow: walking in on her husband in bed with a well-known Hollywood blond. The Rancho Mirage home where she grew up, surrounded by the beauty of the desert resort town near Palm Springs, seems the perfect place to take refuge. That is until her best friend's husband is murdered. Jessica and her friends are soon thrust into the fray stalked by scoundrels in pantyhose, stilettos, Bruno Magli shoes, and Armani suits. Roger Stone had something that got him killed. What was it and to what lengths will they go to get it back? 

About The Author:

Anna Celeste Burke is an awarding-winning, USA Today Bestselling author!
Welcome! Join me, snooping into life's mysteries with fun, fiction, & food--California style!

Life is an extravaganza and so unpredictable! Figuring out how to hang tough and make the most of the wild ride is the challenge. 

On my way to Oahu to join the rock musician and high school drop-out I married in Tijuana, I was nabbed by the police as a runaway. When the police let me go and the rock band broke up, my husband and I had to find another way to survive. Our next stop: Disney World where we trained to be chefs, courtesy of the Walt Disney World University. 

A GED for my husband, and many more years of education eventually landed us in academia—with Ph.D.s from the University of Michigan we took professor jobs with U of M’s longstanding football rival, The Ohio State University. 

Retired now from my role as a professor in social work and behavioral science, I have picked up a long-time interest in writing fiction. In my professional career I wrote and published widely as a scholar, with more than forty manuscripts of varying lengths on my vita. I also carried out hundreds of training, consulting and speaking engagements on a number of gloriously nerdy topics.

So what on earth does a research scientist have in common with a mystery writer? As avid fans of the mystery genre will tell you at the core of any good mystery is a passionate search for the truth. Discovering the truth involves finding and assembling pieces of complex puzzles in order to solve seemingly intractable problems—scientist and sleuth are cut from the same cloth! 

Still married to the same sweet guy, I live with my husband in one of the seven desert resort cities in the Palm Springs area. In addition to reading and writing mysteries I enjoy painting, hiking, hanging out with my handsome husband and tending to my Siamese cats. 

The Sonoran Desert is a beautiful setting to ponder life’s mysteries, by the surrounding mountains and the bountiful delights of the desert resort communities. I hope you enjoy reading the books in my three cozy mystery series: The Jessica Huntington Desert Cities Mystery Series, The Corsario Cove Cozy Mystery Series, and the Georgie Shaw Cozy Mystery Series. Cheers! Ann

Book Review Free Hostage by S. Ann Cole

Title:  Free Hostage

Author: S. Ann Cole

Stars: 3 out of 5

Review:

I wanted to give this book 5 stars. The story is clever, cute, sweet and steamy everything you would want in a Cat and Mouse type of story. I don't know it is the way the author writes or just the story but many times I found the book to be choppy, the wrong use of certain terms made the 22 year old Timberly Day feel 90 years old.
The author gave a authentic feel when it came to the character losing her virginity I will give her points for that.
Honestly the story was choppy why the characters did what they did really didn't feel natural. A lot of talk but very little show. Timberly I suppose to be a genius and yet I wanted to see her use those gadgets but most of the time it was spent with Timberly talking about how hot and the ice blue eyes of her love interest was. readers need more with this story.
After a while as a read I wanted to yell YES I GET IT HE IS HOT AND HAS AMAZING EYES!
the names were cliche at best Jaxon King and the reason why just need more. I needed more reason than they were bored.
Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for the copy of this story.

Synopsis:
My name is Timberly Day. I don’t drink, but I do know things.  
I know the heart beats over 100,000 times per day.  
I know for every one second, lightning strikes the Earth 100 times.  
 
I also know that Jaxon King—the bloody tosser!—is a muddler.  
A manipulator. A liar. A con, a thief...and a closet nerd. 
He’s as beautiful as innocence, as harmless as a feather.  
Except, it’s all an illusion.  
 
I see him and I see lies. I smell him and I taste deceit.  
And still—fool that I am—I rush in. 
His eyes are like ice. His tongue is like fire.  
His lies are white, but his touch is red hot.  
 
I had the chance to run. 
I didn’t.  
Now, I am a part of the game. 
And the only way to win...is to give in.

Published November 27th 2017 by Entangled Publishing, LLC (Amara) 

About The Author:

S. Ann Cole is an exaggerator, a laugher, sometimes overly chatty, sometimes overly shy. She’s afraid of cats, dogs, snakes—heck, she’s only tolerable to gold fishes in a tank.
She hates fireworks, schmaltz and arrogance.
She loves carbs, full moons and humility.
She lives nowhere and everywhere.
Jokey people are her favorite people to be around, as laughter is the way to her heart.
She's also #TeamBreezy and #TeamMiley and she doesn't care what you think about that. 

When Ann’s not abusing her computer keyboard, you can find her nosing a novel, watching anything on television that makes her laugh until she breaks into hiccups (loves Disney, TBS, and Impractical Jokers!) studying the Bible, or sipping red wine.