Synopsis:~

It’s a summer of change for Jennifer O’Malley.

The busy physician has a pediatrics practice in Dallas, Texas, and meeting and falling in love with surgeon Tom Peterson is adding a rich layer to her life. She’s sorting out how to introduce Tom to her family–she’s the youngest of seven–and thinking about marriage.

She’s falling in love with Jesus too, and knows God is good. But that faith is about to be tested, and in a way she didn’t expect. The results will soon transform her entire family.

My take:~

This story appeared on Dee’s website a number of years ago in response to readers’ requests to know more about Jennifer and Tom’s love story, as Jennifer was the only O’Malley without her own book. It is lovely to now have the physical novel to add to the O’Malley collection. Those looking for a full length novel may be disappointed as Jennifer is a novella but regardless of length, it is a sweet story of discovery, love, and a young woman’s journey towards faith and the man who led her there. Jennifer will go a long way towards satisfying the desire of readers to know more about this beloved O’Malley and it completes the O’Malley circle very nicely.

With thanks to Bethany House for my review copy

Relz Reviewz Extras
Interview with Dee
Review of Full Disclosure
Visit Dee’s website and the Full Disclosure site
Buy Jennifer at Amazon or Koorong

Meet an academic and a business woman in 

Ian Acheson’s

supernatural thriller

Angelguard

Monarch/Kregel

The Story

Within a period of weeks, three horrific bomb blasts devastate areas of London, Los Angeles and Sydney. No explanation is offered, no victory claimed for these acts of terror. Yet behind the scenes a Machiavellian European businessman is planning to bring the G8 nations to their knees for his own larcenous purposes, aided by the dark forces to whom he has sold his soul.

Jack Haines, an Australian academic, is grieving the loss of wife and children in the Sydney blast. Against his will he finds himself thrown into a war that transcends the physical world, a conflict in which angelic guards have a special mission for him.

This is a gripping novel of the unseen forces that throng our world.

Enjoy meeting Jack & Loren

Brief physical description

Jack Haines is tall, 6 ft 1’, and lean. But he’s been blessed with broad shoulders that exacerbate his size. His warm friendly smile soon puts people at ease. He has a full head of thick brown hair with specs of grey that reflects his forty-something age.

Loren is 5 ft 6’ with a natural attractiveness, brunette with bright blue eyes. Her regular thrice-weekly personal trainer sessions ensure she keeps a toned by shapely physique for the almost 40 year old.

Resembles… 

Hugh Jackman but not the Wolverine rather a mix of the knockabout budding novelist of “Paperback Hero” (yes ladies, one of his early roles set in the Aussie outback) and Leopold in “Kate & Leopold.”

I’ve always pictured a brunette Naomi Watts for Loren. Not sure why. I like her understated strength of character whilst there’s a fragility about her that I find alluring.

Strengths and weaknesses

Jack is intuitively smart. A workaholic with an intensity to be the best scholar and teacher to his students. He’s passionately loyal to a few people whom he dearly loves that can sometimes disarm him.

He looks fabulous in a suit especially with those shoulders.

Copyright: Splash

Loren is a very smart businesswoman who knows how to “play the corporate game” to her advantage. She is direct and can be demanding. Surprisingly, she is less sure of herself outside of work.

Strongly independent so can be too self-reliant rather than allowing others to both help and see into her heart. Tends to rely on her mind rather than her heart.

Quirk (if any)

Neither is letting me in on them even though I’ve got a fair idea bout a couple of them. I’ll find them in the follow-up.

Your inspiration for the character

Jack is a mix of Jim Collins, the master teacher of what makes great companies great (“Good to Great”) and Indiana Jones, the academic who saves the world from bad guys.

I’ve been fortunate to work with some very talented senior women executives and Loren is a reflection of my admiration. I’m blessed to share life with one, Fiona, my wife.

Background to the story

I started writing Angelguard 18 months after 9/11. Having worked in the Corporate world for 25 plus years and being a student of its leaders I’ve been able to view first hand how individuals can misuse power. Weaving spiritual warfare through a story of terrorism and abuse of power grabbed me as being a great catalyst for a rollicking tale.

Thanks Ian!

Relz Reviewz Extras
Interview with Ian
Review of Angelguard
Ian’s Author Alert
Visit Ian’s website and blog
Buy Angelguard at Amazon or Koorong

Husband, father, journalist, scuba diver

Thriller writer

Comes A Horseman, Germ, Deadlock, & more

~~~~~~~~

What did you do on/for your 13th birthday?

Wow, that was a long time ago, and this will tell you just how long: I got a newly release Eagles Greatest Hits cassette and a Cheech and Chong album. I was living in Utah and had a party with my friends. I remember a girl I liked, named Amy, gave me a jar of mint-flavored M&Ms that tasted like soap, but it was my favourite gift because it was from her.

What creepy crawly or critter do you most fear?

Black widow spiders. When I was about fifteen, one bit me. I felt pretty sick, but ended up being all right. Still, they creep me out. I read a book in which about two dozen black widows were found under a baby’s mattress. I couldn’t finish the book. Those spindly legs! That shiny, bulbous abdomen! Agh!

What 3 adjectives would your friends/family use to describe your personality?

Curious, compassionate, friendly—I hope.

What’s guaranteed to make you laugh?

A wipe-out: someone jumping over a mud puddle and landing face-down in it, a biker tumbling down a hill. I know, I know, it’s terrible, and I’ll stop laughing quickly if someone gets hurt, but wipe-outs get me every time.

Where did your penchant for writing supernatural thrillers begin?

Reading Richard Matheson, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Dracula as a kid. Sounds like Dracula was an author, too, huh? Imagine those stories!

Describe The Judgment Stone in 5 adjectives

Thrilling, adventurous, heartbreaking, thought-provoking, inspiring.

Share a favourite paragraph from The Judgment Stone

There are a few I like, including the first one—but that one is more about action than about emotion, and I think the story, at heart, is emotional. So, I’ll say this one, which happens when Nevaeh, an immortal, reunited with her centenarian son, whom she abandoned when he was a child; crying, he embraces her and calls her Mamãe, Portuguese for mommy:

“Mommy, not “mother,” as she’d expected, if he called her anything at all. Mommy, and it broke her heart. It told her he remembered her, had wanted her, needed her. Time had not soured him on her, age and independence had not made him bitter by her absence. She squeezed him, as firmly as she dared, as she had done when he was a baby. His clutching arms loosened and he nearly collapsed. She held him, righted his chair, and eased him into it. She pulled out the one next to his, angled it toward him, and sat.”

If you could bring one character to life from your own books, who would it be and why?

Only one? Bummer. It would be Owen from The 13th Tribe and The Judgment Stone. I don’t want to give anything away, but readers of these stories will understand. Owen’s insight into and knowledge of God would be so quenching. The questions I would ask him! Plus, he just seems like a totally cool guy, someone I’d like to hang with. Writing him is a pleasure; I like spending time in his head.

Please share a favourite Bible verse

My favorite verse is 2 Chronicles 31:21: “In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.” To me, this verse unites human endeavor with God’s sovereignty and providence. Seek God and work hard. Often, we forget one side of that equation.

Thanks Bob!

Relz Reviewz Extras
BLGs’ Book Club interview ~ Part 1 and Part 2
Reviews of Deadlock and Germ
Character Spotlight on John “Hutch” Hutchison
Interview with Bob
Visit Bob’s website
Buy The Judgment Stone at Amazon or Koorong

Meet a lip reader and an inventor in

Deeanne Gist’s

historical romance

It Happened at the Fair

Howard

The Story

Gambling everything—including the family farm—Cullen McNamara travels to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with his most recent invention. But the noise in the fair’s Machinery Hall makes it impossible to communicate with potential buyers. In an act of desperation, he hires Della Wentworth, a teacher of the deaf, to tutor him in the art of lip-reading.

The young teacher is reluctant to participate, and Cullen has trouble keeping his mind on his lessons while intently watching her lips. Like the newly invented Ferris wheel, he is caught in a whirl between his girl back home, his dreams as an inventor, and his unexpected attraction to his new tutor. Can he keep his feet on the ground, or will he be carried away?

Enjoy meeting Cullen & Della

Brief physical description

Della: Tall, Blonde, Willowy

Cullen: 6’2”, Brown Hair, Muscular, Great Smile

Resembles…

For inspiration, I used non-famous people this time.

Strengths and weaknesses

Their greatest strengths are they greatest weaknesses. For Cullen it’s loyalty. For Della it’s compassion.

Quirk (if any)

Cullen is a mechanical whiz.

Della is claustrophobic.

Your inspiration for the characters

For Cullen, it was Fredrick Grinnell—the inventor of the automatic fire sprinkler

For Della, it was a woman who taught at The Pennsylvania Home for the Training in Speech of Deaf Children Before They Are of School Age. (Quite a mouthful, huh!)

Background to the story

Our hero, Cayden McNamara, travels to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with his most recent invention, but the noise in the Fair’s Machinery Palace makes it impossible to communicate with potential buyers. In an act of desperation, he hires Della Wentworth, a teacher of the deaf, to tutor him in the art of lip-reading.

He becomes distracted watching her lips and finds his attraction for her growing with each encounter. This isn’t good because not only does he have big plans for his future, but he has a girl back home. Della Wentworth could ruin everything.

Thanks Dee!

Relz Reviewz Extras
Reviews of Maid to Match, Beguiled, A Bride in the Bargain, Courting Trouble, Deep in the Heart of Trouble and A Bride Most Begrudging
Interview with Deeanne

Visit Deeanne’s website and blog
Buy It Happened at the Fair from Amazon and Koorong

Wife, mum, grandma, award winner, farm girl

Author of contemporary women’s fiction

After All, Remember to Forget, A Vow to Cherish, & more

~~~~~

What did you do on/for your 13th birthday?

That was so long ago! I truly don’t remember, but assuming it was like most of my childhood birthdays, my mom made me a frosted angel food cake encircled with the pink old-fashioned roses and peonies that were always in bloom in time for my birthday on the farm where I grew up.

What 3 adjectives would your friends/family use to describe your personality?

optimistic, friendly, talkative (not sure if that’s good!)

Where did your penchant for writing women’s fiction begin?

I’ve always written the type of books I like to read, and women’s relationships with family and friends has always been a fascinating topic for me.

Describe (your novel) in 5 adjectives

Compelling, moving, mysterious, conflicting, satisfying.

What creepy crawly or critter do you most fear?

Snakes!

If you could bring one character to life from your own books, who would it be and why?

Wade Sullivan from A Nest of Sparrows. He’s just an all-around great guy!

What’s guaranteed to make you laugh?

My husband! NO ONE can make me laugh like he can! I love it (and him!)

Please share a favourite Bible verse 

Romans 8:28 because it seems to be the theme of my life. Things––even the hard things––in my life have always worked for good. Sometimes it takes a while, but I usually am able to see God’s hand on my life (and what He was trying to teach me) even through the tough times.

Thanks Deb!

Relz Reviewz Extras
Character spotlight on Bryn & Garrett
Reviews of Forever After, Almost Forever, Beneath a Southern Sky, Remember to Forget and Leaving November
Visit Deb’s website
Buy The Face of the Earth at Amazon or Koorong

Meet three very different women in

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen’s

women’s fiction

Pastors’ Wives

Plume

The Story

Ruthie follows her Wall Street husband from New York to Magnolia, a fictional suburb of Atlanta, when he hears a calling to serve at a megachurch called Greenleaf. Reeling from the death of her mother, Ruthie suffers a crisis of faith—in God, in her marriage, and in herself.

Candace is Greenleaf’s “First Lady,” a force of nature who’ll stop at nothing to protect her church and her superstar husband.

Ginger, married to Candace’s son, struggles to play dutiful wife and mother while burying her calamitous past. All their roads collide in one chaotic event that exposes their true selves.

Inspired by Cullen’s reporting as a staff writer for Time magazine, Pastors’ Wives is a dramatic portrayal of the private lives of pastors’ wives, caught between the demands of faith, marriage, duty, and love.

Enjoy meeting Ruthie, Candace, and Ginger

Brief physical description

RUTHIE: Tall, gangly, messy

CANDACE: Tiny, coiffed, immaculate

GINGER: Named for her hair color, voluptuous, delicately beautiful

Resembles…

RUTHIE: Emma Stone

CANDACE: Meryl Streep (in “Devil Wears Prada”)

GINGER: Jessica Chastain

Strengths and weaknesses

RUTHIE: Strength—honesty; weakness—lack of conviction

CANDACE: Strength—fearlessness; weakness—intransigence

GINGER: Strength—true faith; weakness—fear

Quirk (if any)

RUTHIE: Tells jokes when she’s nervous.

CANDACE: Hates talking to strangers.

GINGER: Dislikes sharing her Bible.

Your inspiration for the characters

Ruthie, Candace and Ginger are all on some level an extension of me—the me I wish I was, the me I wish I wasn’t. Still, I’ve had early readers tell me they know this woman.

Background to the story

“Pastors’ Wives” is about three women married to pastors at an evangelical megachurch outside Atlanta. Ruthie follows her Wall Street husband there when he hears a calling; Candace is the church’s fierce and powerful senior pastor’s wife; Ginger is Candace’s daughter-in-law, unhappily married and hiding a turbulent past. Their three lives intertwine and then collide, leaving none of them the same. “Pastors’ Wives” asks: What is the price of loving a man of God?

Thanks Lisa!

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen is the author of “Pastors’ Wives,” a new novel from Penguin/Plume, and “The Ordained,” a 2013 CBS drama pilot. Previously, she was a staff writer for Time magazine. Readers can friend her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @lisacullen, or visit her website at www.lisacullen.com.

Relz Reviewz Extras
Visit Lisa’s website
Buy Pastors’ Wives at Amazon

Apologies for my absence over the last week ~ I had an impromptu holiday in one of our northern states, the usually sunny Queensland which was something other than sunny! We had a lovely time away regardless but it means I have a bit to catch up on now I’m back!

So here’s some things to catch up on

~~~~~~~~~

Winners

A Heartbeat Away ~ Janet E

Talon ~ Amber S

Kendig Bundle ~ Dianne D

When the Morning Glory Blooms ~ Diane W

A Healing Heart ~ Nancee M

~~~~~~~~

Cover Reveal

My dear friend CJ Darlington, who many years ago gave me the chance to to expand my wings at TitleTrakk.com, is self publishing her third novel and I’m thrilled to be able to share the cover and synopsis with you all. CJ is a talented writer and a wonderful woman so be sure to check out her books.

Love this cover art, by the way!

Ties that Bind by CJ Darlington

On a quest to find her father, a young woman discovers she has two sisters who have no idea she exists.

Newly released from prison, Brynn Taylor is determined to find her father, a man she’s never met. Her only clue to his whereabouts is the address she finds in a volume of an 1811 copy of Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibilityhe inscribed to her years ago. Armed with a bus ticket, backpack, and her grandfather’s gun, her search leads her to Elk Valley, Colorado where her plans and her life begin to unravel.

When she discovers she has two sisters who have no idea she exists, she can’t bring herself to reveal her identity right away. Trying to make a good first impression, Brynn finds her life quickly intertwined with theirs. Will her past catch up with her before she finds the courage to tell them the truth?

Available now!

~~~~~~~~

A Hero in the Making

In my new series at Casey Herringshaw’s blog, I’ve interviewed the fabulous Beth Vogt about her latest hero, Griffin Walker, from Catch a Falling Star. Learn the meaning behind Griffin’s name, which NCIS star Beth imagines him to look like, and what makes Griffin a true hero.

Click here to access the feature and join in the chat!

~~~~~~~~

Litfuse Contests

I have the pleasure of working with the Litfuse Group who are offering some fabulous contests featuring some amazing writers and their excellent stories ~ here’s some you do not want to miss out on! Look for my reviews, character spotlights, and author interviews coming soon for these authors.

Beth Vogt

Becky Wade

Rachel Hauck

Deeanne Gist

Deborah Raney

Meet a cowboy and an heiress in

Becky Wade’s

contemporary romance

Undeniably Yours

Bethany House

The Story

When Meg Cole’s father dies unexpectedly, she becomes the majority shareholder of his oil company and the single inheritor of his fortune. Though Meg is soft-spoken and tenderhearted–more interested in art than in oil–she’s forced to return home to Texas and to Whispering Creek Ranch to take up the reins of her father’s empire.

The last thing she has the patience or the sanity to deal with? Her father’s thoroughbred racehorse farm. She gives its manager, Bo Porter, six months to close the place down.

Bo’s determined to resent the woman who’s decided to rob him of his dream. But instead of anger, Meg evokes within him a profound desire to protect. The more time he spends with her, the more he longs to overcome every obstacle that separates them–her wealth, his unworthiness, her family’s outrage–and earn the right to love her.

But just when Meg begins to realize that Bo might be the one thing on the ranch worth keeping, their fragile bond is viciously broken by a force from Meg’s past. Can their love–and their belief that God can work through every circumstance–survive?

Enjoy meeting Meg & Bo

Brief physical description

Meg has long blond hair, light brown eyes, curvy  build.  Her make-up clothing and hairstyle — always impeccable.

Bo has a tall work-hardened body, stunning grey eyes,  rugged even features, very close-cropped hair.

Resembles…

See pics!

Strengths and weaknesses

Meg’s greatest strength is her generosity.   Her weakness is her anxiety.  When the book opens we find her struggling  against panic attacks.

Bo’s greatest strength is his integrity.  His greatest  weakness is his belief that he’s not good enough, not worthy enough,  for Meg.

Quirk (if any)

Meg: Her eyes fill with tears every time she encounters  deep emotion.

Bo: Loves Dr. Pepper.

Your inspiration for the characters

Meg: I was walking through Nordstroms one day and  spotted a pair of fancy pale pink heels.  They were strappy and  ultra feminine and expensive.  I thought, “Who would wear  those?”  And came up with Meg.

Bo: The Texas cowboys of the Old West.

Background to the story

I’m a huge fan and student of the romance genre.   When I think back over all the decades of my relationship with love  stories, a few classic plotlines rise to the top as my personal favourites.   They inspire me and challenge me to adapt them into modern times and  give them my own  unique twist.

Undeniably Yours is my contemporary version of a Regency love story  between a wealthy and well educated Countess and the man who works for  her in her stables taking care of her horses.

The book begins with Meg attempting to fire Bo after  inheriting her father’s ranch.  As it turns out, Bo is a wee bit  more difficult to fire than expected…..

Thanks Becky!

Relz Reviewz Extras
Review of My Stubborn Heart
Character Spotlight on Matt & Kate
Get to know Becky
Visit Becky’s website
Buy Undeniably Yours at Amazon or Koorong

Synopsis:~

Investigative reporter Jillian Carter knows it’s time to put the past to rest. She’s tired of looking over her shoulder, letting a killer go free. She’s no longer the scared kid who changed her name and disappeared. Now, no matter what the cost, Jillian must do what she is trained to do-find the truth and expose it. And the truth is that Senator Frank Hoffman committed murder ten years ago-and Jillian watched it happen.

Didn’t she?

Get ready for the spine-tingling, nail-biting conclusion to this explosive series.

My take:~

The third and final instalment in Lynette Eason’s Deadly Reunions series is by far my favourite, finally drawing all the loose ends together from the ongoing mystery that has been at the heart of each novel. We finally get to know Jillian Carter, the woman at the centre of the assassination attempts upon her friends Alexia and Serena in the previous stories. Fast paced with intense suspense, the story rockets towards its intriguing conclusion as Jillian and Colton negotiate their long held attraction that reignites from the moment that meet,despite a decade apart. Lynette throws in some neat twists and turns as the romantic tension builds until it is shattered when a long buried secret is revealed. While the resolution of this deeply emotional issue happens with a little too much ease, Lynette has created an engaging story with more than appealing characters, concluding this enjoyable series strongly. I am eagerly anticipating more from a writer that readers of Ronie Kendig and Dani Pettrey will enjoy.

Available May 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

With thanks to Revell for my review copy

Relz Reviewz Extras
Reviews of When A Heart Stops, When the Smoke Clears,  A Killer Among Us, Too Close to Home & Don’t Look Back
Visit Lynette’s website and blog
Buy When A Secret Kills at Amazon or Koorong

New friends are made and intriguing sights and sounds experienced at Cora and her siblings attend a bull fight, tackle mountain climbing, and continue to discover what motivates each other’s choices. Cora’s faith is tested when she experiences betrayal from unexpected places and learns that it is easier than she thought to forget her humble beginnings and embrace the life that wealth can offer her.

Lisa T Bergren provides both an adventure and an education in Grave Consequences, immersing the reader in the history, architecture, and beauty of Europe in the early 1900s through the eyes of Cora and from time to time, bear and tour guide, Will McCabe. Historical detail is a hallmark of this series and readers will either love it, as I do, or find it a little too much. Having travelled to many of the places Cora visited, it was delightful to return if only in literary form, and Lisa weaves many interesting titbits seamlessly into the tale. Balancing the history with plenty of danger and romance, numerous tender moments between Cora and Will, and then Cora and Pierre, keeps readers guessing about which eligible man will win Cora’s heart. The characterisation is excellent, including minor players and villains alike. I experienced some frustration with Cora’s choices and how she is easily swayed from time to time but I suppose being pursued by two handsome and respectable men, hounded by danger, and adjusting to the societal mores of the upper class, she can be excused from some naivety and foolishness!  While a little lengthy, Grave Consequences is another fine instalment in this epic trilogy that will come to a close with Glittering Promises. I can’t wait to journey some more with Cora, Will, the Kensingtons, and the Morgans as this supremely talented writer brings their physical and spiritual journeys to a close.

With thanks to Litfuse for my review copy

Relz Reviewz Extras

Review of Glamorous Illusions, Waterfall, Cascade, Torrent, Bourne & Tributary

Character spotlight on Cora Diehl

Character spotlight on Will McCabe

Lisa’s Pop Quiz

Interview with Lisa

Character interviews with Luca,  Lia, Gabi and Marcello

Character spotlight on Gabi, Marcello, Luca & Lia

Character spotlight on Lord Greco

Visit Lisa’s author website and her travel website

Buy Grand Consequences at Amazon or Koorong