Carol Moncado

Nickels by Karen Baney

Niki Turner has finally arrived. Her career as a Software Engineer is soaring—she has just been offered the company’s most sought after account, Helitronics. Life would be perfect, if she could stop her roommate from playing matchmaker. Then

Kyle Jacobs mysteriously re-enters her life. As painful memories resurface, his presence turns her life upside down and threatens to waylay her career. She must find a way to work with him—after all, he’s the helicopter flight consultant for the new flight control system she’s coding.

Can she forget the past and see him as the new man he has become? Or will her resentment keep her from finding what she has always been searching for?

This contemporary novel is an upbeat and compelling story set in the Phoenix Metro Area. Karen Baney shows a new side to her writing with great wit and banter between the main characters. Inspired by her love of romance and of computers, this story takes readers on a journey filled with laughter and tears.

I hadn’t planned on crying today :p. I blame Karen.

I mean, come on! It’s a romance. No matter what anyone says there is a bit of a “formula” to it. And that formula includes an HEA.

Happily.

Ever.

After.

So before the book even starts, and I can’t imagine this actually being a spoiler, I KNOW Niki and Kyle are going to end up together! They HAVE to! It’s the RULES!

So why the tears?

Because Karen created a world where I cared SO MUCH about the characters that even though I KNEW that, I hurt for them. I KNEW there was going to be a HEA, but I also knew it wouldn’t come without a few trials and tribulations. And I knew pretty early on what one of them would be.

But when it came time for that particular trial to show up, tears filled my eyes, I wondered what was going to happen, even though I KNEW. Part of me wondered, deep down, if this would be one of those “the couple doesn’t get together until the end of the SERIES” things. And I’m okay with that if I know it going in but it’s one of my pet peeves with TV shows [Castle and Beckett? Tony and Ziva? It’s TIME ALREADY! At least Booth and Brennan are getting a shot FINALLY! Do you know how many others I could add to that list? A million to the first one and about none to the second…]. They take too stinkin’ long to get the couples together and screw it up when they do [Hello, Ross and Rachel! At least they got Monica and Chandler right!].

Er, right. Nickels.

So Niki has had lots of pain in her life. She doesn’t let people, especially men, in easily. Along comes her high school nemesis in the form of her best friend’s older brother. Even as she remembers the angst he put her through, he makes her heart go pitter-pat in a way no other guy ever has.

I loved Niki and Kyle. I loved Marcy and Chad. Alana was adorable. The church friends were great!

There was one thing, or group of things, I would have liked to see more resolution with. Niki works for a company who then does jobs for other companies – on site. So she was working at Kyle’s company for several months. I would have liked to see more resolution to the WHYs behind Todd [the boss there]. She handled it as best she could – as did Kyle – but I’d like to know more about why he was the he was.

There was also a recurring thing with the helicopters/simulators/instrument readings being off from what was really happening. It seemed like there was something to it [the conspiracy theorist in me has a few ideas…] but there was no resolution to that [and it’s possible there wasn’t really an issue – that it was all perception of the pilots, not errors of some kind in the programs or that it was just mechanical failure of some sort, but it seemed to be brought up a few too many times for that to be the case].

Karen has another three book series out. I don’t know if this is also supposed to be the first in a series of related books. I hope it is. And if so, there’s ample opportunity for both of those issues to be addressed as Kyle still works with Todd and one of the church gang got a job at Niki’s parent company. Several people pop to mind as potential hero/heroines for future books. Even if this is the only book in this series, those two things aren’t enough to hinder my enjoyment of it.

Plus. I grew up in the Phoenix area and still have MANY friends there. I recognized a number of the places she talked about and know people living in some of the suburbs she mentioned [though she didn’t mention mine ;)]. I love that :D.

I’ll definitely be looking forward to more books by Karen.

Overall rating: 9 out of 10 stars

So I may or may not update my goals every week – or even every month – but for now, here’s the first update…

1. Bible study – doing better. Have a plan to do the kids’ workbooks with them this week.

2. Blog 3xs a week – you’ll be happy to know that tomorrow is my last scheduled book review ;). I enjoyed all of the books and am so very happy to be caught up with them! Hope to have more fun stuff [not that book reviews aren’t fun, but you know what I mean!]

3. Not much I can do about conference etc. just yet…

4. Date nights… ditto… though I did send out an email to see if I can get the kids taken care of the weekend after our anniversary and did some hotel research etc.

5. Lose weight – down about 2-2.5lbs this week :D. This is especially good since I’ve been too sick to do much of anything exercise wise…

6. Exercise – see 5.

7. Developed house cleaning routines. Will have to see how they actually work…

8. Family fun stuff – have been doing a lot of that this week :).

9. Finish rough drafts of 4 MSs. Finished one this week! Finding Mr. Write’s rough draft is officially DONE! Since then, I’ve been working mostly on Baby Burbs. This week I’ve written a total of 19766 words, about 6260 on Finding Mr. Write and 13447 on Baby Burbs. The other 59 words were on Rolemodel Romeo, book 2 – after SS, before BB – but my heart wasn’t in it and since I’m not under contract, I can write what I want ;). I wanted to write Baby Burbs. So Baby Burbs it is – at least until it’s time to start editing Finding Mr. Write.

10. Finished MSs. Not yet…

11. Enter contests – none to enter this week, but thinking about Genesis and what I need to do to get ready.

12. Read several books this week :). Hence the reviews!

13. No agents/editors researched or queried.

14. Read some of the influencer books, but the office is still just as big a mess as it was :).

15. Always remember why – yep. I sure do! <3 my kiddos. Even when they’re being snotty :D.

 

I won’t always do such a complete run down but there it is :). I’m happy with my accomplishments this week – how about you?

Book Review: Redeeming Liberty by Diane/David Munson

In this timely thriller by ExFeds Diane and David Munson (former Federal Prosecutor and Federal Agent), parole officer Dawn Ahern is shocked to witness her friend Liberty, the chosen bride of Wally (former “lost boy” from Sudan) being kidnapped by modern-day African slave traders. Dawn tackles overwhelming danger head-on in her quest to redeem Liberty. When she reaches out to FBI agent Griff Topping and CIA agent Bo Rider, her life is changed forever. Suspense soars as Bo launches a clandestine rescue effort for Liberty only to discover a deadly Iranian secret threatening the lives of millions of Americans and Israelis.

Glimpse tomorrow’s startling headlines in this captivating story of faith and freedom under fire. 

What do an Israeli Mossad officer, a Russian double agent, several Iranian scientists, a very sick little boy, a former Lost Boy from Sudan, a close-minded deputy sheriff, an FBI agent, a CIA guy, an ICE agent, and a parole officer just trying to help a friend have in common?

All have a role to play in Redeeming Liberty.

Redeeming Liberty is a political and legal thriller along the lines of John Grisham and Vince Flynn from a Christian perspective.

All those people up there were part of a number of seemingly disconnected plotlines that were wrapped up fairly neatly by the end of the book. They all connected as you’d expect in this genre.

Liberty is engaged to Wally, a former Lost Boy of Sudan, now living in the States. She’s still in Africa when Dawn, girlfriend of Wally’s adopted dad, comes to help deliver supplies to Liberty’s people. A string of events is set in motion to thwart an international terrorist plot and save Liberty and, eventually, bring her to the States so she can marry Wally.

I won’t try to get into all the plots and subplots because that would bog this review down and I’m sure they can be found elsewhere. You’d be better off just reading the book ;).

The… problem I had with Redeeming Liberty wasn’t in the writing or plot or anything of that nature. It has more to do with me. I like political/legal thrillers, but I have to be in the right mood for them. When I offered to be an influencer for it, I was in that sort of mood. When it arrived, I really wasn’t :/. I did read it and enjoyed it, though probably not as much as I would have if I’d actually been in the mood for it. I took that into consideration when giving it a rating.

I’ve also enjoyed reading Diane and David’s break down of the very popular TV show NCIS from an insider’s perspective. You can find those  on their blog, Two Ex Feds.  Have I ever mentioned NCIS is my favorite show? 😉

Despite the issue I mentioned above, I recommend Redeeming Liberty to those who like political and legal thrillers with an Inspirational/Christian thread and a bit of romance thrown in for good measure [without it overwhelming the other aspects of it].

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10

Thanks to Diane, David and Micah House Media for an Influencer copy of this book.

Natalia’s about to discover her place in the world . . . and it’s not following in her father’s footsteps.

After watching her father jump from one marriage to the next, Natalia has completely written off love. And when her father divorces his third wife—the only one who has been a mother to her—Natalia is ready to write him off too.

Needing a change of scenery, Natalia leaves her home in Spain and relocates with her stepmother to sun-soaked Florida. But she didn’t realize just how far a new school, a new culture, and a new lifestyle would push her out of her comfort zone.

One of her biggest surprises comes from Brian, a pastor’s son with an adorable smile, who loves God with a sincerity that astounds Natalia. She doesn’t want to fall for him, but she can’t seem to avoid him long enough to get him out of her mind.

Love is the last thing Natalia wants. Even so, God has her right where she belongs.

This is the third book in this series by Ms. McGee and the third of her books I’ve read. I picked up the first book, First Date, last year but didn’t realize at the time it was YA. It wasn’t an issue, but I was a big shocked. This one, of course, I went into knowing mostly what to expect as far as that’s concerned :).

As with the others, right where i belong was a fairly quick, easy read while dealing with serious issues of absentee parents, knowing God’s will, and what to do when God’s will conflicts with the will of those same parents – and so on.

Natalia is a lovely girl, fairly typical despite the cultural differences from her home country of Spain v. the U.S.. She and her friends talk about make-up and clothes and boys, along with God, the Bible, and His plan for their lives.

We do get a bit of Brian’s point-of-view, which I really liked for several reasons – first I just love getting in “his” head [whoever he is in the scenario] and because I’ve not seen it done much in the YA I’ve read.

The two fight an attraction to each other, both believing, for different reasons, that they’re not supposed to be together. God works with them separately and, eventually, will show them if/how their lives could mesh.

I also really liked Spencer – he probably shows the most growth, especially in the spiritual arena. From spoiled rich kid to wondering how God’s going to use his life… Well, I hope Ms. McGee one day decides to write “New Adult” or “Grown-up” fiction so we can see how all of these peeps turn out. I’d LOVE to read the story of Spencer finding his Ms. Right!

Er, anyway – as I often find with YA, there’s a bit less than I prefer in the romance department [not all YAs even have that first kiss, for instance] but are perfectly in tone with what I’d what my now-11yo reading one day.

It appears this is the end of this series [unless she picks up my idea of Spencer’s story – and maybe Lexi’s or… hey – they could be the same story – or different ones 😉 – though them ending up together could be great fun 😀 – er right – thinking out loud here…] and it seems that Ms. McGee’s next offering is going to be a bit different, though still YA. It’s less in my preferred reading wheelhouse but I’ll still give it a shot :).

Overall Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

Thanks to BookSneeze and the publisher for a review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Turnabout’s Fair Play by Kaye Dacus

From the Back Cover:

The matchmaker has met her match. . .

 Flannery McNeill has sworn off men. . .at least the handsome, charming kind who are nothing but trouble. So when handsome and charming Jamie O’Connor shows up as an usher at her best friend’s wedding, Flannery tries her best to avoid him. But it seems like someone is conspiring to throw them together. Two someones, to be exact—Flannery’s grandfather and Jamie’s grandmother.

 Maureen O’Connor thinks Kirby McNeill’s granddaughter is perfect for her grandson and convinces Kirby to help make the two a couple. But soon the matchmakers find the tables turned when Flannery conspires with Jamie to play matchmaker, too.

As the juniors scheme to bring the seniors together, a hilarious tumult of mayhem and misconceptions ensues. . .but will it end in romance?

YAY! A book I got to read JUST for fun!

That’s not to say I don’t like the other books I’ve been reading and reviewing, but this one was ONLY because I love Kaye and I love her books. I actually won this book in her blog drawing a few months ago – in fact, I won all three of the series, autographed, of course ;). I already had a copy of book 2 so it became a Christmas present and these found their way to my shelves.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a Very. Bad. Day. And I thought “I’m going to read what I want today. Not something I HAVE to read, but something I just WANT to read. For fun. Because I love it.”

And this was on the top of my stack.

So I read Turnabout’s Fair Play in just over a day.

I love Flannery and Jamie!

Plus I love seeing Caylor and Dylan and Zarah and Bobby from the first two books and seeing how their stories have played out.

Now… I’m not a total geek. I don’t role play or paint ball or laser tag or any of that stuff. But I’m just geek enough to laugh hysterically when my sister asks her iPhone/Siri what the meaning of life is and Siri says “42”.

So when the world of fan fiction and laser tag and the King Arthur fandom comes into play, I was highly amused. Much more so than most people probably would be. While it made me squeal a bit, it wasn’t quite so over the top that those who aren’t as geeky as I am would be totally off-put by it.

So there’s Flannery and Jamie who are fighting their attraction for each other. Secrets which have to be dealt with, because without them the plot would be boring.

Plus there’s Jamie’s grandmother, Cookie, and Flannery’s grandfather, Big Daddy, who have serious crushes on each other.

The characters are wonderful. The writing is wonderful.

The saddest part about the book is page 315.

When it ends.

/sigh/

I’ve not read Kaye’s historicals [though I have book 1 in her Ransome series]. She’s working on a series set in the 1850s now [The Great Exhibition Series – set at Prince Albert’s Great Exhibition in 1851]. I find myself wishing she was writing another contemporary series because I know I love those – both The Matchmakers and Brides of Bonneterre. Will I read the others? Of course. Because I do love Kaye and I do enjoy historicals as well as contemporary books.

Kaye’s characters are loveably quirky, real, flawed, and wonderful.

And for that I’ll follow her to any time period.

😀

Plus Kaye’s pretty cool too ;).

Turnabout’s Fair Play is book 3 in the series. While someone who has read the first two will likely enjoy the 3rd more, they’re not strictly necessary to read first.

Overall rating: 9.5 out of 10 stars

From the back cover:

When Clara Endicott and Daniel Tremain’s worlds collide after twelve years apart, the spark that was once between them immediately reignites into a romance neither of them thought possible.

But time has changed them both.

Daniel is an industrial titan with powerful enemies.
Clara is an idealistic journalist determined to defend underprivileged workers.

Can they withstand the cost of their convictions while their hearts – and lives – hang in the balance?

Book description:

Female journalists are rare in 1879, but American-born Clara Endicott has finally made a name for herself with her provocative articles championing London’s poor.

When the backlash from her work forces a return home to Baltimore, Clara finds herself face-to-face with a childhood sweetheart who is no longer the impoverished factory worker she once knew. In her absence, Daniel Tremain has become a powerful industry giant and Clara finds him as enigmatic as ever. However, Daniel’s success is fueled by resentment from past wounds and Clara’s deeply-held beliefs about God’s grace force Daniel to confront his own motives.

When Clara’s very life is endangered by one of Daniel’s adversaries, they must face a reckoning neither of them ever could have foreseen.

Review:

Clara and Daniel had lived worlds apart for more than a decade. It was obvious from the beginning [and I can’t imagine this is a spoiler…] that they were meant for each other – they’d just have to overcome the obstacles to getting there.

I love the journalistic aspect of Clara. Perhaps because I’ve watched a few too many Superman movies and love Lois Lane. Perhaps because I have friends in the newspaper business. Perhaps because I like to write. Whatever the reason, I loved it ;).

The chemistry between Clara and Daniel was wonderful as were the secondary characters and the setting. I was able to visualize their locations especially as the plots came to a climax.

The subplots were interesting, opium and music. What more does one need? 😉

Overall rating: 7.5 out of 10 stars

Thanks to Ms. Camden and Bethany House for an influencer copy.

Board to Death

This book is three novellas, connected through the board games from a rummage/indoor garage sale at the very beginning of the first novella.

Baby Boomers Polly Nichols, Lindsay Wilson, and Gretchen Anderson may live worlds apart, but they have one common hobby – a penchant for board games.

Polly’s serene Kentucky campground turns sinister when the manager is a VICTIM of murder. In New Zealand, Lindsay’s life is turned upside down when MIND GAMES and evidence drag her into a murder case – as a suspect. At the Kettle’s On Campground in Georgia, Gretchen matches wits with a murderous wordsmith intent on winning the latest game of SENTENCED.

You’ll love the games, the characters, and the stories – and we promise, you won’t be BOARD to Death! To our readers: Our characters are Christians, just as the authors are who created them, so their lives and their stories reflect this viewpoint. We hope you enjoy our fun and unique stories.

The first novella, Victim by Amy Barkman, is about Polly, who moves into a trailer park [more of a retirement community than a typical trailer park] in order to downsize and simplify her life. She’s friends with a number of the people there, including those who meet daily to play games in the community room.

The problem? One of them turns up murdered.

As the investigation continues, Polly realizes that Sheriff Steve, the younger brother of her best friend, has feelings for her. In high school, he was the annoying younger brother. But now, nearing retirement age, those three years don’t seem like such a big difference.

The second novella, Mind Games by Debbie Roome, is set in New Zealand. It is the story of a game sold online by the people in the first book. Lindsay sells hard to find items and antiques. One of her regular customers, Sheridan, buys it and invites her over to play with his game group.

The problem? The owner of shop next door turns up dead with cards from the game in his pocket.

Will Lindsay or Sheridan be implicated? Or will they be able to find their way through the mine field of mind games and find love?

The third novella, Sentenced by Tracy Ruckman, moves to Georgia where Gretchen is running a campground for a friend and up-and-coming chef Melvin looks to be the highlight of the trip.

The problem? The head of the Sentenced gaming group is murdered and another one follows.

Is Melvin’s past about to catch up with him? Or is there another suspect willing to take the life of another?

When Tracy asked me if I’d consider influencing for this book, I looked at the Amazon page and read a couple reviews. One said “Encyclopedia Brown for adults.” Now, I can’t get my [loves-to-read] 10yo interested in Encyclopedia Brown, but just reading that made me happy.

I didn’t solve any of the crimes before the characters did, and I was fine with that. The hints were there, but I was reading for pure enjoyment not to see if I could outwit the cops and characters. I’ll likely reread it, now that I know the answers, to see if there were any other hints I didn’t pick up on, kind of like watching Sixth Sense a second time, but I don’t know that it’ll become one of my annual rereads.

I recommend it to those who like a light mystery and some romance, complete with happy endings. I promise you won’t be Board to Death ;).

If you’re looking for more heavy duty suspense, this probably isn’t for you, but for a fun read, it certainly fits the bill. I look forward to the release of the next book in the Dangerous Games series.

Overall rating: 7.5 out of 10 stars

Thanks to Tracy and Write Integrity Press for an influencer copy of Board to Death.

Protection for Hire by Camy Tang

Tessa Lancaster’s skills first earned her a position as an enforcer in her Uncle Teruo’s Japanese Mafia gang. Then they landed her in prison for a crime she didn’t commit. Now, three months after her release, Tessa’s abilities have gained her a job as bodyguard for wealthy socialite Elizabeth St. Amant and her three-year-old son.

But there’s a problem or two … or three …. There’s Elizabeth’s abusive husband whose relentless pursuit goes deeper than mere vengeance. There’s Uncle Teruo, who doesn’t understand why Tessa’s new faith as a Christian prevents her from returning to the yakuza. And then there’s Elizabeth’s lawyer, Charles Britton, who Tessa doesn’t know is the one who ensured that she did maximum time behind bars. Now Tessa and Charles must work together in order to protect their client, while new truths emerge and circumstances spiral to a deadly fever pitch.

Factor in both Tessa’s and Charles’s families and you’ve got some wild dynamics—and an action-packed, romantic read as Tessa and Charles discover the reality of being made new in Christ.

I’ve talked with Camy once on the phone and met her at conference last year. She has a fabulous synopsis worksheet which I’m sure is of little interest to most of you but was a lifesaver for me! In short, she’s a very cool person. Plus she used to have a pink streak in her hair. I loved that ;).

On to the review…

I loved this book! Finished it in two days, which is saying something these days. Not because I don’t love reading still or whatever, but I have so much going on that I rarely have enough time in any given day to read a whole book.

Tessa is wonderful! She’s human and flawed and made new through salvation. Charles has the potential to be a real stick in the mud [he’s a lawyer, after all], but he’s not in the slightest. Well, maybe a bit. But not too much.

The twists and turns were hard to predict. One of the biggest ones niggled at me off and on during the book, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Camy did a wonderful job of keeping the suspense high and realistic. The action was wonderful and “kick butt”. I wish I had moves like Tessa!

I did know this was a series, but didn’t realize it was one of those series with the same main character all the way through. So the romance side of the book was a bit disappointing for me, but I’ll reserve overall judgment until the series is over. For a series of this kind, the romance was exactly where it should be but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t a bit disappointed still ;).

Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10

Thanks to Camy and Zondervan for a free influencer copy of this book.

Yes. Some of these are repeats from last year ;). Here’s praying this year goes a bit better :D.

1. Do my Bible study every day by the end of the year. With the kids, too.

2. Blog.  Three times a week.  Every week.  Or at least a note why I won’t be blogging that day.

3. Go to ACFW‘s conference in Dallas this September.  Meet more people. Meet online friends for real. Watch LOST with my LOSTies Kristy and Jess. Live up to my cookie diva reputation ;).

4. Date night – at least every other month with my honey. And a nice trip somewhere for our 15th anniversary in May. Even if it’s just St. Louis for the weekend and a series of ball games.

5. Lose weight. I’m not going to post the goals again this year. Suffice it to say, I’m very disappointed in my lack of reaching them. This year, I’m just going to try to work harder on it.

6. Exercise daily – that means at least 5 days a week – also, RUN a 5K. This will help a lot with #5. [And I already did about 35 minutes on my Wii Fit Plus today! We, uh, won’t mention how many days it had been since I checked in…]

7. Develop and make habitual house cleaning/other routines
Something to work on this week…

8. More fun stuff as a family – game night at least twice a month; Wii Fit/Resort Fun Night the other two weeks

9. Finish first drafts of at least four manuscripts
a.    Finding Mr. Write
b.    Role-model Romeo
c.     Baby Burbs [Mostly I want to finish RR so I can get to this one because I love this story!]
d.    Something completely new for NaNoWriMo
e. Another new one I’ve not even thought of yet – possibly a Tuesday morning one based partially on this post – and think of two others for a series of three books to have ready to pitch at conference.

10. Complete/finished/”final” draft of 3 manuscripts
a.    Finding Mr. Write
b.    The ‘e’ up there. Whatever it is.
c.    Something else

11. Contests – enter them
a.   Enter two manuscripts in Genesis – Suburban Straightjacket and Finding Mr. Write
b.    Enter RWA contests
c.    Enter at least one MS in RWA’s Golden Heart
d.    Try to enter at least one contest at least every other month

12. Read 4 books a month.  For research.  Yep.  That’s it.  Plus one non-fiction or craft book.

13. Research agents some more and send out queries/proposals for Suburban Straightjacket and Finding Mr. Write.

14. Organize office/writing time/reviews and DO THEM! I’m doing much better about getting books READ but writing the reviews tends to be a problem… I’m working on it… ;). And keep track of expenses for tax time…

15. Always remember Why I Do What I Do.