She moved to Sandwich, Illinois, in search of a new life, but ended up in a giant pickle. 

Sandwich represents hope for twenty-year-old Maddie Buckner and Kyle, the eleven-year-old brother Maddie wants to spring out of foster care. Then she loses her new job after less than a day. It’s all Reuben-the-Jerk’s fault, and she’s determined to make him right the wrong.   

He does so, reluctantly, by giving her a job at his restaurant, The Sandwich Emporium. Then crazy things start happening at the restaurant, and Kyle’s foster parents apply to adopt him. To stop it all, Maddie must learn the art of humbling herself and accepting the help God has arranged, risking her heart to Reuben in the process.  

And she’d rather eat a million corned-beef on rye sandwiches than do that. 

Krista Phillips is a friend of mine. Not a friend I know REAL well, but a friend nonetheless. One who has been through incredibly trying times the last couple of years. Her now-two-year-old daughter was born with a heart defect requiring a transplant before she was a year old. Krista and her family have been a shining example to all of us of love and perseverance – and trust in God’s plan even when things got REALLY hard.

When Krista asked for influencers, I jumped at it. I’d heard so much about the book and the storyline from her friends, that I knew I wanted in.

As advertised, Sandwich was a fun romp. I felt for Maddie as she struggled to fit in in her new town. As she tries to take nothing and turn it into enough for a place to live and a way to get her little brother to come live with her.

Rueben has a girlfriend but struggles with feelings for Maddie. She’s not what he’s looking for – or is she?

It’s a romance, so of course they belong together. And eventually they realize that – the question is how and will her brother end up with her or not?

This book was great fun and it was even more fun to meet Krista in person at the ACFW conference last month [where I, incidentally, got the book signed ;)]. I look forward to Krista’s next offering and rejoice with her and so many others that her little girl is doing well!

Overall Rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars

Thanks to the publisher for a free influencer copy of this book.

$10,000,000 Is Missing.

Erin Larson is running out of options. In the wake of her father’s death, she found a slim piece of paper–a deposit slip–with an unbelievable amount on it. Only the bank claims they have no record of the money, and trying to hire a lawyer has brought only intimidation and threats. Erin’s last chance is Jared Neaton.

How Far Will One Lawyer Go to Find the Money?

When Jared wearied of the shady ethics of his big law firm and started his own, he never expected the wheels to fly off so quickly. One big loss has pushed him to the brink, and it’s all he can do to scrape by. 

And How Far Will Someone Go to Stop Him?

He’s not sure if Erin’s case is worth the risk, but if the money is real, all his problems could vanish. When digging deeper unleashes something far more dangerous than just threats, both Jared and Erin must decide the cost they’re willing to pay to discover the truth.

This book reminded me of the John Grisham books of the mid-to-late 90s. Legal drama with just a smidge of unresolved romance [which leads me to hope this is a series starring Jared and Erin solving other cases].

The twists were well-designed. I was kept guessing. I did guess a few of the turns the storyline took but others caught me by surprise [as they were designed to do]. The legalities weren’t so tricky or convoluted I couldn’t follow them, but complicated enough for the hero/heroine to have a hard time.

Overall, I enjoyed the book very much. Just like a good John Grisham book and I hope there will be more in the future.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[I know I said this would be posted yesterday, but my laptop is well and truly dead. /Sigh/ But here it is… Look for more book reviews in the coming days.]

They say there’s three sides to every story – his, hers, and the truth.

In Sinner’s Creed, we get Scott Stapp’s side of the story. The story of his life to this point, including his perspective on the break-up of popular rock band, Creed.

I remember Creed. Mostly, I remember Arms Wide Open, a song he wrote when his first wife was expecting his first child, Jagger.

In Sinner’s Creed, Stapp goes back to his childhood, with a different name and a very different life.

I won’t get into Stapp’s story too much here, because much of it is likely available online [at least the highlights if not the details – but I haven’t looked] and because I’d recommend reading the book.

My… dissatisfaction, and I hesitate to use that word, comes with the… incompleteness of the memoir. But Stapp’s life isn’t complete, therefore the memoir can’t truly be.

Does that make sense?

There’s answers I’d love to know about how his life turns out, but because his life isn’t over, the answers can’t be there.

For instance, though Creed reunited recently, it didn’t SOUND like there was a true reconciliation between Stapp and the other members. That said, books are finished long before they actually go into print. So what happened over their 2012 tour isn’t fully included. Maybe they did truly have that kind of heart-to-heart clearing up of misunderstandings – coming to terms with how one saw it isn’t the way the other did – and neither may be wrong. Etc. But if so, it’s not included here.

There’s other relationships I would love to know the true outcome of, but with Stapp’s life still [thankfully] on-going, I can whisper a prayer for those relationships to be truly restored without money being a factor [because, face it, anyone with money knows there are people in your life only because of the money].

There were other details that were glossed over or not included, and there’s many reasons why they could be. Including protecting people like Jagger. And I certainly can’t blame Stapp for that. Part of it is my inner “literary voyuer” I’ve mentioned before*. I always want to know more. Stapp is open about his alcohol use and drug use [including prescription drugs he thought were good for him but he’s lucky didn’t kill him], but less open about his “love” live on the road. Maybe because there wasn’t much of one – I don’t know and really, truly, it’s none of my business. But that was one question that lingered for me after he did mention part of that part of his life as a college student. We hear the stories of “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” and that’s part of the story not mentioned specifically – or if it is, I missed it.

The other thing that kind of bugged me was that fully 1/3 or so of the book is comprised of song lyrics. I get it. The lyrics of Stapp’s songs are a huge part of who he is and of his story. That said, the novelist in me [see below] would have preferred more ‘prose’.

So what did I like? I loved how open he was with his struggles. With the abuse in his past that made my heart ache for the young Stapp and whisper another prayer for him today. With how God was portrayed to him at different points in his life and how that God differed from the God I know. Yes, God is a God of absolutes – of right and wrong, a God who allows both a heaven and a hell – but God is also a God of love and mercy. That’s the God Stapp wasn’t always shown by those in power in his life.

The “behind the scenes” with Creed was also interesting. Seeing how the group came together – and fell apart. Interesting doesn’t always mean “good” after all.

To say I was left dissatisfied overall isn’t quite right. Dissatisfied isn’t the right word, but I can’t come up with another one. I can’t say that I was fully satisfied though.

Maybe part of it goes back to my novel-writing side. As novelists, generally everything is wrapped up in a neat bow by the end of the book [or at least the series]. The hero gets the girl. The bad guy gets what’s coming to him [in the case of Mary Connealy, shot; in other cases maybe jail time, or just the knowledge that he didn’t get the girl, etc.]. The Happily Ever After.

I truly hope the Stapps [including Scott, his second wife/love of his life Jaclyn and their children Jagger, Milan, and Daniel] are getting their happily ever after. That it will continue and the struggles of the past will stay there. In the past. That’s he’s truly overcome his problems with alcohol and other drugs of choice. That he continues to make amazing music that glorifies his Savior.

I know I’m off to buy some Creed/Scott Stapp CDs here in the next few days. [After I buy a new laptop.]

Overall rating: 8 out of 10 stars

*Yesterday’s Facebook status [one of them]: “The trouble with “The Trouble with Cowboys” [by Denise Hunter]? Too short. /sigh/ But that’s the trouble with lots of books. With the *possible* exception of Julie Lessman ;). And even then I’m not sure :D.”
The point? I always want more from my books ;).

Thanks to Tyndale’s Book Review program for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Yesterday I was reading about-to-be-released memoir Sinner’s Creed by Scott Stapp. Came across this Facebook status from my friend, Chris:

Every now and then I catch myself wishing I could have things “my way”.
But then I remember how much I screwed things up in the past by having things my way.
Thanks God for reminding me.

I don’t know what Chris is talking about but it struck me as I’m reading about Scott’s screw-ups. It’s easy to think they’re “greater” than mine, but I know there’s no “scale” in God’s eyes. We’ve all fallen short.

The old hymn ran through my head:

Millie Evans has changed, choosing to leave rather than join an outlaw gang with her brother. Hoping for a new future, she boards a stagecoach but runs into her past and David Stone—a man she and her brother once tried to swindle. As she tries to convince David she’s changed, her brother’s gang holds up the stagecoach. Fighting beside David goes a long way to softening his heart, but he’s still not convinced. Millie must trust God to show David the truth, but will he see before it’s too late?

I read book 1 and was fairly disappointed with the ending until I realized there were more books coming. I was almost certain I’d seen book 3 as a review copy already and was fortunate enough to find books 2 and 3 available! Yay!

FYI – there may be spoilers for books 1 and 2 in here!

Book 2, Lady Anne’s Quest, gave more closure but left a few questions dangling. Like who was really after Uncle David. They got the bad guy, but just before he died, he told them he wasn’t hired by who they thought. So the bad guy behind the bad guy is still out there and doesn’t seem likely to give up.

But it’s been over a year and things are going well. Anne and Dan are set up helping run David’s stage line and it’s now time for David to head for England to claim his title and inheritance – or decide if he’d rather stay in America and let it fall to his cousin.

When he gets in the stagecoach, he’s met by one of the people he’d rather never see again – Millie.

Millie had, albeit sort of unwillingly, been part of the reason he’d been shot and nearly killed in the first place [see Lady Anne’s Quest]. She was after him, but for his money and had no idea there was a would-be assassin after him.

Since then she’s gone straight, working honest work and saving as much as she can to be respectable. But things with her half-brother [Sam, who had impersonated David to Anne in the last book] take a turn for the worse and she heads east where there’s more opportunities for a woman alone – without being unsavory.

When I first read the back cover copy, I couldn’t believe Millie could be redeemed, but Ms. Davis did an excellent job showing the change in her character – and the change in David as he forgives her for what she’d been a part of and realizes that people can change.

There is, once again, much more closure than in book 2, but I do find myself hoping for a book 4 [or at least an online epilogue ;)] to tie up the few loose ends still left out there [okay – one really, but sometimes that’s the way life is… and I’m really okay with not knowing what happens with that one thread].

I will miss these characters and wish to know more about David and Millie over the next few years. Do they make their life – permanently or temporarily – in England or Oregon? I’d love to see Anne and Dan [and Elise and Eb from the first book] some more.

Overall rating: 8.5 out of 10

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

I came back from ACFW’s annual conference this year thinking about how different it was from two years ago when I barely knew ACFW existed, but I followed the gala in the live chat. This year, I sat near the stage [okay, way up front and off to the way side, but still]. And one of the Carol Award winners is a dear friend – and I know several others, and many more nominees.

And I’ve been privileged enough to beta read for this gal! [What does that mean? It means I’ve read her next two contracted manuscripts – and I like to think I might have even helped a little bit with them :D.]

Just over two years ago, I wrote this post – mentioning just a couple of the authors I was aware of at the time.

I still don’t claim to be part of the in crowd but I can’t say that God hasn’t brought innumerable people into my life in the last two years. People I adore and who certainly seem to like me. Even if just a bit ;). And some even a bit more than that :D.

For me, this year was about making connections – particularly face-to-face meetings with editors and agents that can’t happen any other time of year. I ordered the class mp3s because that wasn’t where my focus was, but I’ve heard so many great things that I just had to. But also, I focused on making connections with other writers. People I knew well but had never met. People I barely knew but now know better. And brand new people too.

First up – my NovelSistas – Jessica and Kristy. Amazing writers. Better friends. And our 4th roomie, Joanna – just as incredible.

Whether or not I’m one of the cool kids, I get to be friends with them. There were about 700 people at conference this year. I’m sure there’s hundreds of cool kids I’m not friends with, but I do claim these folks – and I like to think they claim me.

Beth, who has been a blessing and encouragement to me for some time but especially since the Bell’s Palsy incident earlier this year, and I had breakfast plans for Thursday morning before conference started. Candy, one of my very first ACFW friends, asked to join us. They didn’t know each other before breakfast – but I hope they do now! They were such a blessing to me that day (and during the rest of conference) and I thank God for both of them!

 

This year I didn’t get a picture of Casey Herringshaw chair dancing, so I have to settle for this one of us laughing hysterically. (Thanks Tina Russo Radcliffe!)

 

 

 

The lovely ladies of Seekerville and Seekervillager Melanie celebrate after Mellie’s win. I absolutely adore every woman in this picture. ‘Nough said.

 

 

 

 

 

Last year, I knew I would like all of the Seeker gals, but I was surprised by how much I absolutely fell in love with the beautiful Audra Harders. This year, when I needed a pal to truly commiserate with me, she did just that (don’t ask what about, I’m not telling).

 

 

 

Casey Miller is the appointments guru. It’s up to him to take on the daunting, but hopefully not thankless, task of assigning hundreds of appointments. I’d imagine he also gets the brunt of it when someone’s schedule doesn’t turn out quite to their liking. But what’s uber-cool is how he, his wife Robin (conference director, below) and Cheryl Wyatt (assistant appointments guru, also below) pray over every meeting – during scheduling, before appointments and as the meetings take place. These folks are all that – and a bag of chips besides.

Robin Carroll is the Conference Director. How she manages to put together such an amazing conference and still churn out incredible romantic suspense books (see reviews from “Romantic Suspense Review Week” a couple weeks ago) is beyond me. But I’m so grateful she does.

Plus she and Casey let me share their anniversary (Matt and I started dating on their anniversary – but I won’t say how long they’d been married at the time ;)).

 

Cheryl Wyatt is an amazing gal. After a rough meeting, she took a few minutes out of her very busy schedule just to hug on, love on and pray for me. Love her. To pieces.

 

 

 

And, of course, my very dear friend. My long lost literary twin. My alleged partner in crime. My sweet Pepper Basham.

 

 

 

 

 

There are more pictures I could include. Lots of them. Off the top of my head, Susan Tuttle, Michelle Massaro, Jordyn Redwood, Erica Vetsch, Angie Dicken. The list goes on and on. Watch for more pics in future posts, but in the meantime…

I’m not sure there is an “in crowd” – not like we all thought there was in high school. What there is, at least in my ACFW experience, is a group of authors willing to go out of their way to help each other in the increasingly challenging world of publishing. Friends who love and encourage one another. Who give up seats or appointments so a friend can have a chance to pitch to that editor or agent. Who forego half their dinner – while pregnant no less! – so you can have a complete meltdown in the bathroom (yes, Kristy, I’m looking at you – you kept me from spending the next three days hidden in our room).

Friends who share not only your highs but your lows.

If I gave up this writing thing tomorrow. If I never wrote another word. All the time. All the money we’ve spent on conference and critiques and everything else. All of it would be worth it.

Because of the friendships and relationships forged over the last two years.

They are invaluable to me and I thank God for them daily.

Now. Bedtime. Because I have some proposals to get out ;).

Night’s chill tickled her skin. Lonnie pressed her hands together and glanced up. He was even more handsome up close. Having grown up the shy, awkward daughter of Joel Sawyer, she’d hardly spoken to any boy, let alone the one who had mothers whispering warnings in their daughter’s ears and fathers loading shotguns.
 
Pretty Lonnie Sawyer is shy and innocent, used to fading into the background within her family, and among the creeks and hollows of the Appalachian hills. Though her family is poor and her father abusive, she clings to a quiet faith.  But when handsome ladies’ man and bluegrass musician Gideon O’Riley steals a kiss, that one action seals her fate.  
 
Her father forces her into a hasty marriage with Gideon—a man she barely knows and does not love. Equally frustrated and confused by his new responsibilities, Gideon yearns for a fresh start, forcing  Lonnie on an arduous journey away from her home in Rocky Knob. 
 
Her distant groom can’t seem to surrender his rage at the injustice of the forced matrimony or give Lonnie any claim in his life.  What will it take for Gideon to give up his past, embrace Lonnie’s God, and discover a hope that can heal their two fractured hearts?
 
Gideon only ever cared about himself. Now that Lonnie is his wife, will he ever be worthy of her heart?

This is my first book by Joanne and I hope it’s not my last.

The setting was Appalachia [which always makes me think of my lovely friend Pepper Basham and that always makes me smile :)].

But not everything in the book is smile worthy.

They say girls marry someone like their dad – and in this case it turns out to be scarily true. Or does it?

Lonnie grows up with an abusive father and is almost to the point where he’ll let her go live with her aunt instead of at home. Escape is imminent.

Until her father sees Gideon kissing her.

Though things go no further than the kiss [not for lack of trying on Gideon’s part] the two are forced to get married within the next few days.

Lonnie fears she’s married a man just like her father until they [mostly she] is rescued by a kindly farmer and his wife.

This couple works hard to teach both Lonnie and Gideon what a good, God-fearing marriage should be like but it’s not easy. Gideon’s not-too-distant past catches up with him. Is it the end of Lonnie and Gideon or just the beginning of a new life for both of them?

They both have to learn to trust God though Lonnie is light years ahead of Gideon at the beginning of the book.

Ms. Bischof made me cry – more than once but also brought a smile to my face.

Something I didn’t particularly notice while reading but has been niggling at me a bit since is Lonnie’s ‘perfection’. She doesn’t come across as perfect like we’d think of today but in looking back I have a hard time finding any character flaws except maybe she tries to hard to please – to the point of not standing up for herself when she needs to [though, to be fair, this may have been ‘beaten’ out of her by her father in the years prior]. It’s not enough to ruin my enjoyment of the book, but it seemed like pretty much all the character flaws were in a very imperfect hero…

Overall rating: 7.75 out of 10

Thanks to Blogging for Books and Waterbrook Multnomah for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In a future United States under the power of a charismatic leader, everyone gets the Mark at age thirteen. The Mark lets citizen shop, go to school, and even get medical care—but without it, you are on your own. Few refuse to get the Mark. Those who do . . . disappear.

Logan Langly went in to get his Mark, but he backed out at the last minute.  Now he’s on the run from government agents who will stop at nothing to capture him. But Logan is on a mission to find and save his sister, Lily, who disappeared five years ago on her thirteenth birthday, the day she was supposed to receive her Mark.

Logan and his friends, a group of dissenters called the Dust, discover a vast network of the Unmarked, who help them travel safely to the capital city where Lily is imprisoned. Along the way, the Dust receives some startling information from the Markless community, opening their eyes to the message of Christianity and warning that humanity is now entering the End of Days.

When the Dust finally arrives in the capital, it seems that all their careful planning is useless against a government that will do anything to bend its citizens to its will. Can the gentle words Logan has found in a tattered, banned Bible really stand against the most powerful military the world has ever known? Can Logan even sacrifice his own freedom, choosing to act through faith alone?

I tried to read this book and just couldn’t finish it, but not for the usual reasons. It wasn’t poorly written or anything of that nature. When I requested it from BookSneeze, I didn’t realize it was YA or book 2 in a series. Neither particularly bother me. I read YA from time to time and mostly book 2s are fine as well.

But with this one, I just felt lost :(. It seems to be one of those series where each book builds on the other and doesn’t really stand alone. Mr. Angler did explain bits and pieces from the first book, but it wasn’t enough. I kind of felt like I jumped into LOST in the middle of season 3…

So I’m giving this book an incomplete. I’m going to pass it on to a friend who writes YA Dystopia type stories and recommend she get a copy of book 1 first. Then borrow them both back and update my review ;).

Thanks to BookSneeze for a free copy of the book in exchange for my unbiased review – I just hope I can finish them both [the book and the review] sooner rather than later.

Yay! I get to be a part of Kaye Dacus’s cover reveal! Isn’t it gorgeous?!?!?! Check out the following info on her next release! See below for the instructions on how to enter to win a signed copy of Follow the Heart!

Follow the Heart by Kaye Dacus
Book 1 in The Great Exhibition Series
Coming from B&H Publishing in May 2013

Kate Dearing’s life is turned upside down when her father loses everything in a railroad land speculation and she and her brother are shipped off to their mother’s brother, Sir Anthony, in England with one edict: marry money.

Though their uncle tries to ensure Kate finds matrimonial prospects only among the highest echelon of British society, her attentions stray to the one of the least eligible people at her uncle’s home—the garden designer.

Trying to push her feelings for the handsome—but not wealthy—man aside, Kate’s prospects brighten when a friend of Sir Anthony’s, a wealthy viscount, shows favorable interest in her. But will marrying for the financial security of her family be the right thing to do, when her heart is telling her she’s making a mistake?

Mandates . . . money . . . matrimony. Who will follow the heart?

Author Bio:

Humor, Hope, and Happily Ever Afters! Kaye Dacus is the author of humorous, hope-filled contemporary and historical romances. She holds a Master of Arts in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, is a former Vice President of American Christian Fiction Writers, and currently serves as President of Middle Tennessee Christian Writers. Kaye lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and even though she writes romance novels, she is not afraid to admit that she’s never been kissed.

Scavenger Hunt Trivia:

Directions: Each participating blog has both an answer and a question—but the answers and questions aren’t on the same blog. DON’T POST YOUR ANSWERS HERE! Collect the questions and answers in an e-mail—along with the address of the site where you found each—to be sent to Kaye Dacus once you’re confident you have all of them and be entered to win one of FIVE signed copies of Follow the Heart when it releases in May 2013. Visit http://kayedacus.com for the list of participating sites in the scavenger hunt and rules for entering the contest.

Question: What happened to all of the stuff that was on display at the Great Exhibition?

Answer: The Crystal Palace was enormous, covering over 830,000 square feet—about 1,850 feet long and 450 feet wide, with the majestic glass transept in the center soaring about 100 feet (about ten stories) into the sky. “The impression when you get inside is of bewilderment. It looks like a sort of fairyland. Far as you can look in any direction, you see nothing but pillars hung about with shawls, carpets, canopies…” (Lewis Carroll).

For your entry from this blog, please answer one of the following questions in the comments:

What’s your favorite Kaye Dacus book? If you don’t have one [and if you don’t, you totally should!], what’s your favorite book set in the mid-1800s, in England or not?

So I’ve been waiting for this book for, like, ever. So has everyone else. It’s been somewhere around six years since Dee’s last book. I have lots of writer friends and in March 2011 I asked one of them [who’d been around much longer than I] what the deal was [in part because her last book just sort of… ended… there was resolution to the suspense-y side of it, but not the romance…]. I was told at the time no one really knew.

A year later [almost to the day?], Bethany House announced a new book coming from Dee and pretty much everyone I knew started squealing :D.

On her website, she mentions that she had a severe neck injury that limited many of her activities [I want to say I read somewhere else it was a car accident but don’t quote me on that]. She remains in my prayers as she continues to heal.

So… In October, her first book in eons comes out.

And I got to read it already :D. WOOHOO!

And here ’tis. My review.

Dee Henderson Is Back!

Ann Silver is a cop’s cop. As the Midwest Homicide Investigator, she is called in to help local law enforcement on the worst of cases, looking for answers to murder. Hers is one of the region’s most trusted investigative positions. 

Paul Falcon is the FBI’s top murder cop in the Midwest. If the victim carried a federal badge or had a security clearance, odds are good Paul and his team see the case file or work the murder. 

Their lives intersect when Ann arrives to pass a case off her desk and onto his. A car wreck and a suspicious death offer a lead on a hired shooter he is tracking. Paul isn’t expecting to meet someone, the kind that goes on the personal side of the ledger, but Ann Silver has his attention. 

The better he gets to know her, the more Paul realizes her job barely scratches the surface of who she is. She knows spies and soldiers and U.S. Marshals, and has written books about them. She is friends with the former Vice President. People with good reason to be cautious about who they let into their lives deeply trust her. Paul wonders just what secrets Ann is keeping, until she shows him the John Doe Killer case file, and he starts to realize just who this lady he is falling in love with really is…

I equate Dee Henderson with Romantic Suspense, but it’s been a long time since I read any of the O’Malley books [my favorites] or any of her other books. This one struck me not so much as RS but “Romantic Mystery”. To me, suspense means there’s someone taking shots at you and things like that. This one has more mystery to it. More a whodunit than a true suspense. And I’m good with that though I kept waiting for a shoe to drop and bullets to break windows or something. I would have been fine with that kind of story, but this one is more of a puzzle. Can you figure out the big secrets/twists before the main characters do?

I’m usually pretty good at that and I did pick up on one of the twists earlier than I think most would have, but the big one? Not a stinkin’ clue!!!! Good job, Dee!!!

So the story itself…

Everything starts off with a bang, as you’d expect, and soon Paul and Ann’s paths have crossed.

There’s several storylines, weaving in and out.

A female sniper/assassin Paul’s been trying to catch for years and Ann just may have stumbled on a tidbit of info to bring her into the open.

A side project Ann, the person every police department in the Midwest calls when they’re stumped, is working on and Paul may be able to help her with.

An unsolved kidnapping.

There must be some thread linking the three. Dee does a masterful job weaving them together and making even seemingly-unrelated and unimportant tangents mean something.

The romantic element was also well done. I talked with one friend who said she thought Ann came across as uncompromising. I can see how she thought that. I saw her as someone who knew herself and her limitations and what compromises she was willing to make. She opened with the compromises already in place rather than starting at A and the other person starting at Z and ending up around L or so. She started at L and said take it or leave it. I could see how she could come across as sort of stiff but I didn’t see her that way at all. Maybe because she has a creative side I, as a writer, could identify with.

I really think whether you like Ann is a personal thing – some people will love her and identify with her and others won’t – but I don’t think they’ll dislike her either [and my friend didn’t dislike her, just didn’t love her].

Once I get my copy back [it’s going out on loan – to at least three people who have been begging me to borrow it – why yes, yes, I did stoke the flames a bit when I sent a few texts of it out the day it arrived ;)], I’ll reread it and try to figure out the clues – to see if I could have picked up on them earlier. I’d love to know if you do :).

Overall, it wasn’t the best book I’ve read this year, but it’s definitely up there and definitely a keeper!!!

If you’re waiting for it to come out in October, grab your copies of the O’Malleys [and Danger in the Shadows] and read up to get ready for this one!

Overall rating: 8.75 out of 10

Thanks to Dee and the publicity folks at Bethany House for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Oh  and spoilers.

Seriously.

Don’t read the next section if you don’t want MAJOR SPOILERS!!!!

You have to highlight it to read it, but DON’T DO IT if you don’t want major spoilers!!!! Not about the plot twists but about some other stuff. Seriously. I wouldn’t recommend highlighting this and reading it unless you’ve already read the book – or at least the first few chapters [you’ll know when I mean]. Honest. But once you have, I’d love to hear your thoughts [via email please – not in the comments where it might spoil someone else]!

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!! 😀

So… one of the first people to show up is a cop named Kate. Who is married to an FBI agent named Dave. In Chicago. And Kate knows the head of the US Marshals. But her last name isn’t O’Malley [or Richman]. There’s Lisa. Quinn. Shari. And so on. It was all… right. But it was all wrong at the same time. To the point where I spent some time after page 2 or 3 looking around Amazon to make sure I wasn’t nuts.

So… it turns out Ann is an author. And she’s written books with familiar titles – like Danger in the Shadows. And the O’Malley series. And the rest of Dee’s books. And the books Ann writes are based on people she knows. In real life. So The Negotiator is based on her friends Kate and Dave.

I’ve read Dee’s other books but none captured me like the O’Malley Series [including the prequel Danger in the Shadows]. They weren’t bad, but I haven’t read all of them but they aren’t on my shelves and I don’t reread them. But the characters are all in there [I presume anyway].

In some ways, I absolutely love it. That was my initial thoughts. The O’Malleys were all there and I could follow them even if they had a different name. But at the same time, it saddens me just a bit to know that they’re fictional. Yeah. I know. I’m not crazy!!!! Of course they’re fictional!!!! But they’re fictionally fictional! If that makes any sense. So on one level I love it and love knowing what happened to Kate and Dave [for instance], but at the same time, I’m a bit sad to know they’re “not real”.

What do you think?