Golden Gate Chronicles-Book 3

Posted on by August 7, 2016
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Deb’s Dozen: Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound That Saved a Wretch Like Me

Through the Shadows is Book 3 in Karen Barnett’s The Golden Gate Chronicles. I have enjoyed each and every book in the series. This book follows Elizabeth King, a talented seamstress and concert pianist. Her family has been impoverished by the Great Earthquake where all their investments in property came crashing down. Or did they? Something nefarious seems to be going on. The young attorney, Charles McKinley, who comes to explain their standing, offends Elizabeth immediately by taking her for the maid.

Elizabeth has abandoned the piano to her mother’s dismay—but Elizabeth connects piano with her piano teacher, who seduced her and then informed her he was married. In her mind, she is ruined forever. What man would want an impure woman? After hearing about the plight of young Chinese girls who have been sold as sex slaves, she decides to volunteer at a home in San Francisco whose purpose is to rescue these waifs. Here the girls are housed after they escape or are rescued. They are taught skills such as sewing and music as well as other life skills. Also a talented seamstress, Elizabeth is hired to teach sewing.

Charles McKinley, working at his uncle’s law firm, is disillusioned quickly about the high calling of law. He is apprenticed to Attorney Spencer who views Charles as a threat to his own success. Charles soon learns his uncle is only concerned with acquiring wealth and power—not in seeing justice obtained. Charles is handed the King case to handle—and keeps running into Elizabeth.

How Elizabeth finds solace, comfort, and faith through her students and how Charles discovers his true calling form the basis of the novel. You’ll care deeply for the characters and ache for the young Chinese girls. Through the Shadows will sadden, educate, and encourage you as you read the story. I look forward to more novels from Karen Barnett.

Romantic Suspense Through the ShadowsKaren lives in Oregon with her husband and two kids. The Golden Gate Chronicles is her first series.

Abingdon Press gave me a copy of Through the Shadows in exchange for my unbiased review.

What a Tangled Web We Weave …

Posted on by August 6, 2016
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Deb’s Dozen: What a wicked web we weave—sometimes the web leads to murder.

Book 2 of The Nikki Boyd Files by Lisa Harris is equally as good as the first book, Vendetta. I loved Nikki as I got to know her in the first book, although I wanted to tell her to forget the past and get on with life on occasion. In Book 1, we met Nikki and her best friend’s husband, Tyler Grant. Both were in mourning as Tyler’s wife, Katie, had been killed in a freak accident. Tyler still blames himself although he could not have prevented the tragedy. Harris gives just enough of the backstory to allow each book to stand alone. I really appreciate that in an author writing a series!

Nikki Boyd works missing persons. She’s been instrumental in closing a number of cold cases. But this time, she’s been called in on a homicide. Two murders have been committed, and two people connected to the crime have gone missing. One of the first clues leads Nikki and the other detectives working the case to a marina—and a boat owned by Tyler Grant—which has another dead body onboard! Katie’s dad, George, hidden aboard the boat, suddenly takes off for deep water. He is pursued and taken into custody—as Nikki, George, and Tyler are walking out of the station, shots erupt and George falls, wounded.

Lisa has written more twists and false clues into this story to stump even the most ardent detective. How everything interrelates and how everyone is connected is amazing. You’re deep in the middle of the action by the end of the fifth chapter. Missing is such fun to read, I’m not going to tell you more. Buy the book. You’ll love Nikki Boyd and be rooting for a romance to bloom! Four stars.

VendettaLisa Harris is a Christy Award winner and the winner of the Romantic Times Best Inspirational Novel for 2100. She and her family have spent twelve years on the mission field in southern Africa and presently live in Mozambique, where she leads a women’s ministry and a non-profit organization. You can find her at www.lisaharrriswrites.com

Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Company, gave me an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of Missing in exchange for my unbiased review.

Man’s Best Hero & Unconditional Love

Posted on by August 7, 2016
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Deb’s Dozen: “Love ignites fires that provide light in the darkest places on earth.”

Those words penned by Ace Collins in Service Tails explain how that love—the unconditional love of a dog for its owner and the owner’s love for the dog—turn darkness into light. Brian Tracy said, “The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love.” The dogs we come to know in these “tails” are experts in giving that gift. And Collins relates their tales in a style only one who has known a dog’s unconditional love could employ.

Collins begins this book of “tails” with the story of how service dogs came to the United States. Morris Frank was a bright and talented young man from a well-to-do family. When he was six, he lost the sight in his right eye when he collided with a tree branch while horseback riding. Then, during a boxing match ten years later, an unfortunate punch cost him the sight in the left. Suddenly, he was totally blind. Because of his family’s wealth, he was able to attend prep school and college by employing readers to vocalize his textbooks. Still, even with a cane to aid him in getting around, he was limited in what he could do. Listening one evening to his father reading an article about service dogs from the Saturday Evening Post, he realized if the story was true, he could once again become mobile. How he journeyed to Switzerland to the training school, gained a dog he named Buddy, and brought the concept back to the States is a tale of its own.

To the blind, to the elderly, to the physically disabled, to an Alzheimer’s affected woman, service dogs gave the gifts of freedom and unconditional love. Trained to guide their afflicted owners around campuses and towns and even on extreme hiking trails, these dogs lived out their love. Once in harness, they were all business; unharnessed, they were playful and somewhat mischievous pets. Their owners experienced and returned the love and became better for it.

You’ll love the tales of all these tails—and how they served the people they loved—unconditionally.

Ace CollinsAce Collins is a prolific writer whose interests span many areas. A World War II buff, he’s penned a series, In the President’s Service, for Elk Lake Publishing that now stretches to eleven books, with more to follow. He writes about dogs and music and Christmas and murder and mayhem. He’s published over seventy books for over twenty-five publishers that have sold more than two and a half million copies and won major awards. He speaks frequently across the country and has appeared on many national television shows. Ace and his wife, Kathy, live in Arkansas, where he plays his guitar for inspiration and restores classic cars. Ace Collins.com is the place to go to learn more.

Ace Collins gave me a copy of Service Tails as an unconditional gift. My pleasure is to write this review of the book.