Abby's Gift by Kim Janine Ligon

 

The best presents are not wrapped.

 About Abby’s Gift: At age twenty-five, Janet Marshall returns to the small town where she lived as a foster child. There, she reconnects with childhood friends and has a job she enjoys. But something is missing. 

After Abby, Janet’s college roommate, calls to arrange a weekend visit, Janet soon discovers her old friend is frightened and running from something—or someone.

          Without warning, Abby is gone as suddenly as she appeared but leaves something for her trusted friend. Can Janet find it in her heart to reconstruct her life and embrace this gift?

Our Review: Once again, the author demonstrates her ability to weave suspense into the everyday life of a small town. The supporting characters can be found in any village and are as remarkable for their quirks as well as their ‘humanness’. For an extra treat is the slow, trial-and-error progression of the mother-daughter relationship. Equally as fun to watch is the profound devotion the entire town harbors for Janet when the chips are down and she and her beloved child are thrust into danger from unknown sources.

Do not miss this page-turner of a story; it’s a winner.

Based on a scale of 1-5, Abby’s Gift merits a 7.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews 

When I Was Your Man by Jana Richards

 About the Twice in a Lifetime Series: After Gabriel Daniels’ car accident, he finds himself in a waiting room next door to Heaven. To earn his angel wings and be allowed the privilege of looking out for his loved ones back on Earth, he is tasked with giving three mortals their second chance at love. What Gabriel doesn’t count on is having to examine his own life during this process. Coming to terms with his mistakes, especially those when it comes to love, is the biggest test of his afterlife.

About Book 3, When I Was Your Man: Apprentice angel Gabriel Daniels has traveled from his first assignment during World War II, to the swinging sixties-seventies and in his third and last assignment, finds himself in modern day Toronto. There, he is confronted with the biggest mistake of his life—breaking off his relationship with Sloane, the woman who stood at his side through thick and thin.

With his mentor, senior angel Thomas, at his side, Gabriel takes a long, hard look at the hardest lessons life hands a mortal: working through guilt, resentment, acceptance, and letting go. At the painfully emotional ending, everything comes clear to him and those he loved.

Our Review: Author Jana Richards' ability to infuse gut-wrenching emotion into her plots leaves the rest of us in the dust. Another talent is to include common life events such as the effects of mental illness and subsequent divorce on children of a failing marriage, canceling a wedding, literally at the altar, then repairing long-standing family relationships. This story is a valuable lesson in how we cope—or fail to—with difficult life lessons. Well done!!

 Based on a scale of 1-5, When I Was Your Man merits a 7.

 Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

 

 

 

 

Tiny House, Big Fake Fiance

                  Come to Pinevale, Washington, for cozy vibes, heartwarming chosen family, and spicy second-chance romance where the houses are tiny, but the joy is so big!  

About Tiny House, Big Fat Fiancé:

Zax Dupré gave Lilah Alves, a leather craftsman, the hottest night of her life—then he ran off with her tiny house. If she doesn’t get it back, she’ll be homeless. The hunky carpenter and she strike a deal: he’ll customize her tiny house if she pretends they’re engaged, smile pretty for his social media followers, and fool his prudish auntie long enough to finish the job by her impossible deadline.

Easy peasy, right?

Our Review: Welcome to another of Sadira Stone’s fun, sexy contemporary romance series. This one, set in the Pacific Northwest, features underlying themes of tiny houses, hunky master carpenters, and gorgeous leather workers. As always, while enjoying a steamy, second-chance romance, the reader learns about the planning and construction of tiny houses, the latest rage for those looking to downsize—or have the option to pick up and go when the mood strikes.

Stone gives it all—and we’re better off for it.

Based on a scale of 1-5, Tiny House, Big Fat Fiancé merits a 7.

 Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

 

 

 

 

Fractured Valor by AA DaSilva

                Danger isn’t the only thing they can’t outrun.

About Fractured Valor: After a mission went wrong, Xavier Mastroianni’s takes a slow two-year trip downhill, one drink at a time. But after a former brother-in-arms appears in the local drunk tank, and proposes an impossible assignment, Xavier reluctantly agrees to transport research scientist Isabel Torres cross-country to deliver the antidote to a lethal biohazard threat. One day at a time; one bad guy at a time—and there’s a whole slew of them—around every corner, it becomes a mission of international security as well as personal recovery. 

As Xavier and Izzy race against the clock, facing danger at every turn, he becomes fixated on more than just the mission. For a woman accustomed to feeling nothing, she makes him want to feel everything.

Our Review: This is AA DaSilva at her best: fast paced, descriptive emotions, complex, multi-layered characters and realistic, honest dialogue. Action-suspense plot lines like this don’t come any better.

Based on a scale of 1-5, Fractured Valor merits an 8.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

Art of Deception by Maxine Douglas

 Every masterpiece tells a story—this one whispers murder.

 About Art of Deception, A Mystery on Lilac Lane Story:

In the picturesque town of Wisteria, Wisconsin, gallery owner Skye Johnson loves celebrating local art and the friends who create it. When photographer Lucas Cooper agrees to show his new collection honoring his late mentor, Skye can’t wait to display it—until one photo reveals something strange. Hidden in the image of the old Hendrickson barn, where Lucas’s mentor was found dead, is a detail that doesn’t belong.

Someone has added a painted clue—a silent cry for help from a witness too afraid to speak. Now, Skye and Lucas must unravel the mystery brushstroke by brushstroke before the truth—and the artist—are buried for good.

Our Review:

It’s always a pleasure to read something crafted by the multi-published, award winning Maxine Douglas. A writer of different genres, with Art of Deception, her talent for creating suspense—then putting it to paper—excels. Plus, the small-town atmosphere of Wisteria is a pure pleasure to read, including the unique flower-related names of businesses and events.

And not to be overlooked is the slow burn romance between Skye and Lucas, a heart- warming journey that keeps the reader turning the pages to see if these two stubborn artists will ever take that last step toward happy. Do not miss this one; it’s a winner.

Based on a scale of 1-5, Art of Deception merits a 7.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

Never Can Say Goodbye by Jana Richards

             The Twice in a Lifetime time-travel romance series features apprentice angel Gabriel Daniels who, in order to earn his angel wings and be allowed the privilege of looking out for his loved ones back on Earth, is tasked with giving three mortals their second chance at love. What Gabriel doesn’t count on is having to examine his own life during the process. Coming to terms with his mistakes, especially those in his own love life, becomes the biggest hurdle he must overcome.

About Never Can Say Goodbye: It is 1979 and Gabriel’s newest ‘client’ is Joanna Compton a college student who, eight years before, ended her engagement to Lucas Kendall after a car accident left her a paraplegic. She sent Lucas away—not because she stopped loving him—but because she was terrified of becoming a burden to him.

Now, Joanna is a successful lawyer, specializing in advocating for the rights of the disabled, has cut herself off, refusing help from friends, co-workers, or even her mother, believing that because of her disability, she must constantly prove her worth.

When Lucas comes to her for help with his wrongful dismissal case, she refuses him, claiming it would be a conflict of interest. Gabriel, anxious to earn his wings, needs her to change her mind. Helping Joanna reclaim what she’s been too afraid to want would bring him one step closer to Heaven—and the only way he’ll be able to keep watch over the people he loves back on Earth.

Gabriel and Joanna both have their work cut out for them.

Our Review: Once again, author Richards has infused heart wrenching emotion into her work, showing the reader the depths of despair as well as triumph. Joanna and Lucas, two lonely, desperate people, deserve happiness but both are too stubborn and hard headed to accept it. While intense in the descriptions of the rights of employees, especially those who are ‘differently abled’ this is a story of love, devotion, and triumph. And a beauty.

            Based on a scale of 1-5, Never Can Say Goodbye merits a 7.

           Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

Bedeviled by the Baroness by Kathy L Wheeler

 London, 1823: A scandalous masquerade, a missing heir, and a baroness who refuses to play by the rules.

About the Book: When widowed Baroness Lady Rose Stanford crashes a notorious masquerade in search of a titled husband, she doesn't expect to kiss a mysterious stranger—or get pulled into a dangerous game of blackmail and murder.

     Emerson Whitmore, a self-made merchant, wants nothing to do with the peerage until a cousin’s suspicious disappearance and a damning note thrust him into aristocratic intrigue and into the path of the most irritating and desirable woman he...wishes he'd never met.

     Sparks fly and secrets unravel as Rose and Emerson join forces to uncover a killer, protect vulnerable young women, and navigate a society where appearances deceive and love may be the ultimate scandal.

Our Review: The latest in the Rebel Lords of London series by the talented Kathy L Wheeler covers a range of serious topics such as murder, kidnappings and human trafficking—yet we often found ourselves smiling due to the quick, snappy dialogue and all too human responses from the two lead characters, Emerson and Rose. Once again the author shows her talent at combining mounting suspense with down to earth emotions. Now we wait—and hope—for Ben to have his day.

Based on a scale of 1-5, Bedeviled by the Baroness merits an 8.

Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews