"Always Watching" by Lynette Eason (Elite Guardians Book 1)

Always Watching by Lynette Eason is the first book in her Elite Guardians series. It is a good romance mystery about a wealthy widower who has a 12-yr. old daughter that suffers from anxiety attacks. He is nice guy, founder of a charity and a radio talk show host but has a stalker. His father secretly hired a bodyguard to protect his son which proved to be wise. It soon becomes clear someone is out to kill him and the police and his bodyguard think it may be his stalker who left him gifts. As the investigation progresses, it becomes clear than not only is one person out to get him, but two! The question is who and why? Olivia, his bodyguard, has a hard time protecting him because he is so stubborn and doesn’t want to change his usually routines or plans. When his daughter is confronted by his stalker, he finally realizes he needs to start cooperating to keep her safe.

This is a very good book I read quickly. It had enough action to keep my attention and for the most part, things made sense. I figured out who his stalker was early on, but her accomplice was a complete surprise to me! It seemed the bodyguards did a pretty poor job which made for a good story. I liked the suspense and that the bodyguards were not perfect like super heroes. I look forward to reading the other books in this series!
 (Karen’s review, 5 stars)

"Hunted" by Meagan Spooner

The father in Hunted by Meagan Spooner has three daughters.  He wants the best for them and invests his entire wealth into a plan.  When that plan blows up, he must move with his daughters to the forest.  There he will go hunt the beast and regain some wealth.  When he does not come back for some time, the youngest daughter heads out to find him and help kill the beast.

I really enjoyed this book a lot!  Yeva, the youngest daughter, is a great character.  There are subplots that really add to the enjoyment of the book.  The ending was perfect and this is a stand alone!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"The Freedom Broker" by K. J. Howe

In The Freedom Broker, Thea is one of 25 Kidnap and Rescue (K&R) specialists in the world--the only woman and the best!  Her father has been taken and it will take all her skills to rescue him, as more than just her father's life hangs in the balance. 

This is an adult novel to be sure with good action and plenty of twists and turns.  The ending caught me by surprise too!  This is the author's first book so I will be looking for more.
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"The Unseen World" by Liz Moore

In The Unseen World by Liz Moore,  Ada is 12 years old and works with her dad and his associate in a lab.  Ada is very smart.  When her dad becomes forgetful and wanders off, Ada tries her best to take care of him.  Soon though, he needs more help than Ada alone can give.  Now she must go out in the world and deal with school and everyday things in life that she never had to deal with before.  She learns things that will question just about everything that Ada thought to be true!

I thought Ada was a great character and loved watching her grow up.  I got into this book early.  The story moved along okay and I always wanted to get back into it!  I also enjoyed this author's first book, Heft.
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Seashell Season" by Holly Chamberlin

Seashell Season by Holly Chamberlin is about Gemma, a girl who was kidnapped by her father when she was just a baby and after 17 years, is finally reunited with her mother who is now a complete stranger to her.  The whole book is about adjusting to her life with her mom and trying to understand her dad.  The mother is an artist who teaches art at a college in Maine and is a bit apprehensive about how exactly to get to know her daughter and make her feel at home.

This book reminded me of a Hallmark or Lifetime movie.  I enjoyed it a lot and liked how the author let us see how both Verity, the mother, and Gemma thought about things.  I think women would enjoy this book much more than men because it is very heavy on developing relationships and low on action.   I read it because one of my co-workers recommended it to me and I liked the summary of it.
(Karen's review, 4 stars) 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Defender" by Graham McNamee

Defender by Graham McNamee is a creepy mystery about family secrets that Tyne and her friend, Stick accidentally discover and proceed to figure it out.  Tyne is the building superintendent's high school daughter who is really tall and plays center on her basketball team.   When Tyne find's a dead girl's cut up body hidden in her basement wall, she thinks her dad knows something about it or had something to do with it.

This is a very quick read that I liked okay.  It is creepy though but had a good ending.  To me, this came across as a bit unrealistic that Tyne and Stick could put together the pieces to the mystery so easily.  (Karen's review, 3 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"The Watcher in the Wall" by Owen Laukkanen

In The Watcher in the Wall by Owen Laukkanen, there is a website that young teens are going to.  It's a suicide how to and somebody is encouraging them to do it!  The detectives are on it and it's a race to stop this person before more kids die.  But they will need all their skill to stop it.

I thought this action-packed book was really good; the pages flew by!  The characters were developed well and very believable.  The ending was kind of drawn out, but that is a minor point.
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee was Disappointing

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee is about the girl Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird grown up. She comes back to her hometown from living on her own in New York to visit for a couple weeks. She is shocked at some of the changes she finds and is especially disappointed in her father who she idolized as a girl.

This was a big disappointment to me and I almost quit on it twice, but plowed through to the end. It was just very boring. The only parts I really liked were the few flashbacks to when Scout was a child and teenager which were humorous. I really liked her in the first book, but didn’t like her at all in this one. The theme was that everyone needs to follow their own conscience and not to judge others based on only their actions without knowing their motives. I would highly suggest you pass on this book.
(Karen's review, 1 star)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"The Nightingale" by Kristin Hannah is Amazing! We Both Loved it!

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is a heartbreaking story of two sisters, Vianna and Isabelle, living in France during World War II. It is action packed with well-developed characters who the reader comes to care about. Both sisters are very brave in different ways. The sisters both find themselves in difficult situations and have to make some hard choices. What both sisters endured was horrible, but love prevailed.

I didn’t realize the Nazis actually occupied France until I read this book. This novel gives insight into what it was like for civilians during World War II in France and also what great lengths parents would go to in order to protect their children. I was eager to get back to this book to see what was going to happen next. There is a lot of adventure, some romance, sadness and touching moments along the way. This is a fascinating historical fiction novel I highly recommend.
(Karen's review, 5 stars)

Gerard's review, 5++ stars:
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is set in France during World War II.  Two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, now live in a country that is run by the Nazis.  Isabelle wants to fight for her country while Vianne does what she has to do to keep her family alive.  

This is a fantastic read!  It is fiction, but the events in the book really happened.  The pages went by quickly as I became totally engrossed in this story.  Books to do get much better than this!  I LOVED it and am naming it my "book of the month."  This is a must read!  You won't be sorry!


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Vanished" by Kendra Elliot

Vanished by Kendra Elliot starts out with a young girl missing.  Who took her and why?  The two detectives working this case soon form a relationship.  This book has pretty good action that kept me turning pages.  I liked all the characters and the ending was good.
(Gerard's review, 5+ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Picture Me Gone" by Meg Rosoff

Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff is about a father and daughter who live in England.  One day the father and daughter come to America to find a friend of his who has left his wife and baby and cannot be found.  The daughter tries to help and slowly puts the pieces together, but just when she thinks she has it solved, a twist comes and she is shocked.  

This book was all right but moved too slow for my taste.  However, it kept my interest but the ending was okay, not great.  

(Gerard's review, 3.5 stars)

  
Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Suspicion" by Joseph Finder

Suspicion by Joseph Finder deals with a dad whose daughter attends an exclusive school.  When he cannot come up with the money for a school trip to Italy and falls behind on her tuition, another dad whose daughter attends the same school pays it for him.  Problem solved, or is it? 

This book is filled with twists and turns which make it a real good page turner.  I always wanted to pick it up to see what would happen next!  Do not miss this one!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"I Promised My Dad—An Intimate Portrait of Michael Landon"

I Promised My Dad—An Intimate Portrait of Michael Landon by His Eldest Daughter, Cheryl Landon Wilson with Jane Scovell is about the life of Michael Landon.  I was impressed by how much his daughter knew about his childhood.  By reading this book, I learned many things about Michael Landon that I never knew.  Since I watched him as “Little Joe” in Bonanza and then as Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie, I was eager to learn about him as a person.  This book answers the question, What was Michael Landon really like?  It has a lot of interesting things in it but I especially liked his reason for letting his hair grow long—it gave him more confidence and made him feel like he could do anything, like Samson who had great strength when his hair was long.  He was a loving man with a great sense of humor.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Impossible Knife of Memory" by Laurie Halse Anderson

This book is about a young girl who has to deal with her dad who is suffering from PTSD.  Then she gets a boyfriend to complicate matters more.  I really enjoyed this because the main characters are really good and the plot line is true to life.  Kept me turning the pages--LOVED it!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Too Close To Home" by Lynette Eason

Too Close To Home by Lynette Eason drew me in quickly and kept my interest throughout.  It is a Christian fiction thriller about a widower detective, Connor, with a 16-yr-old daughter, Jenna.  As Connor tries to hunt down a serial killer who keeps killing young teens, his daughter gets drawn in to the guy's scheme of finding girls on the internet and offering them a modeling interview.  Connor's partner, Andrew and computer geek, Samantha, working the case with him are both Christians who try witnessing to Connor.  Samantha resembles his dead wife and Jenna is immediately drawn to her.  Jenna blames her dad for her mother's death and deep down, he kind of blames himself too.

I really enjoyed this book even though you are introduced to the killer early on and it didn't take much to figure out who it was.  I could feel the frustration of the detectives as the killer seemed to keep one step ahead of them.  I recommend this highly to teens as there is a good warning in it not to meet up with people from the internet.  
(Karen's review, 4 stars, read this on Kindle so sorry no cat pictured with the book)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Good, Clean Murder" by Traci Tyne Hilton was Disappointing

Good, Clean Murder by Traci Tyne Hilton is indeed a plain Jane mystery.  It is about Jane, a 20-yr-old college student hoping to go to the mission field and cleaning houses to earn her way.  Unfortunately, she gets involved in a big mess because she refused to listen to her parents.  Although it started out with the murder which captured my interest, it quickly went downhill from there and I found myself plowing through.  I do not recommend this one—didn’t care for it.
(Karen's review, 2 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Price of Victory" by Sandra Leesmith

The Price of Victory by Sandra Leesmith is a love story about two cyclists, Debra and Sterling.  Debra is not good at studying so decides to try to make her father proud by winning major cycling races.  Her dream is to get on a professional team and race in Europe.  Sterling is bored until he meets Debra at a race and it’s pretty much love at first sight.  Throughout the book, he seeks Debra’s love by becoming her “knight in shining armor.”  The big question is will Debra follow her dream and make her dad proud or will she choose Sterling instead.    

 

This book started off a bit slow but got more interesting as it went along, finishing strong.  It gives insight into competitive cycling with a good romance.  I really liked the happy ending.  (Karen's review, 3 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"Don't Go" by Lisa Scottoline is a Must Read! (UPDATED 7/3/13)

This is SO good!

Don't Go by Lisa Scottoline is about Mike Scanlon, an army doctor in Afghanistan who gets the awful news that his young wife is dead. Coming home, he finds out that his daughter does not even know who he is! He also discovers that the battles he has to face on the home front are more than he could have imagined.

This book is very hard to put down, a real page-turner with plenty of "Wow, I didn't see that coming" turns. The ending? Well, you have to read it to believe it! Books just don't get any better than this--a must read!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

UPDATED 7/3/13:
Don’t Go by Lisa Scottoline is a good read about an army podiatrist who not only is a hero in Afghanistan, but also fights to become a hero on the home front in spite of being an amputee, his failing business, drug addiction, the death of his wife, and the custody battle for his baby daughter who doesn’t even know him. This book delves into issues vets have when coming home from seeing horrendous things in battle and the struggles they face. Dr. Scanlon has it tough but rises to the challenge after his passionate no-nonsense, kick-butt attorney, Stephanie, “lights a fire” under him and gets him back on track.

I enjoyed this book, it’s a good read and you can’t help but pull for the doctor to succeed and get to the bottom of things. I felt very sorry for him throughout the book; however, the suspense was kind of ruined by the book cover which gives away the ending. I think this would be a good book club read if done along the way because of the characters and the mystery of who killed the Doctor’s wife’s best friend.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Shape of the Eye" by George Estreich (Memoir)

The Shape of the Eye by George Estreich is the true story of a dad who has to deal with his special needs daughter.  I found it very interesting how they had to do sign language to communicate with her.  Also, the various ways that his life changed due to his daughter was enlightening to me.  This is a quick read; if you have a special needs child, you will find this book encouraging!
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

"The Tutor's Daughter" by Julie Klassen

The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen is a clean historical romance that held my interest all through with the mysterious events that happen to Emma, the tutor's daughter while staying at the cliff-top manor where her father tutors two teen boys. This book is very interesting because of the family secrets, interesting characters and the family dynamics involved. Emma knew the older two Weston boys, Philip and Henry, from when they attended her father's boarding school. Their father invited Mr. Smallwood to live at his manor and privately tutor his two younger sons, Julian and Rowan, when the academy's last student left.

I liked this book very much because although it is a romance novel, there is a lot of mystery in it as well and it doesn't have any sex scenes at all. It's a very enjoyable read and a couple times while reading I actually said, "oh no!" right out loud! This is also one that when reading on the bus, I almost missed my stop. I looked up just in time. I highly recommend this one for a book club because it has interesting discussion questions in the back covering topics such as life choices, homeschooling, special needs kids, history of shipwrecks and the characters in the book. I liked this one much better than the first book I read by Julie Klassen, The Girl in the Gatehouse.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

Linking up with Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop, responding to the prompt to share a book review.