This Side of Midnight - Tamsen Schultz

 A thrilling tale of murder, conspiracy, friendship, and love.

Despite constantly having to struggle to prove she’s worthy of the title, Detective Anika Anderson loves her job with the Tildas Island Police Force. But when tourists start dying under suspicious circumstances, she never imagines that the biggest battle she’d have to fight is within her own department. That is, until her friend, Dominic Burel, and the FBI Task Force he’s a part of, prove she’s right to be concerned.

As an FBI agent and former PJ with the elite Air Force Pararescue Unit, Dominic Burel has been happy to move through life solely focused on work. But when a family visit leaves him shaken, he realizes his friendship with Anika could, and should, be so much more. Now he has to change her mind about them and he’s not above using his investigative skills to finagle his way into her case—and life—to do it.

As Anika and Dominic hunt a killer, they quickly realize they’ve uncovered something much more sinister. The simple murders aren’t so simple and there’s a much grander plan at play. And when they find they aren’t the only ones hunting, it will take everything they have to stay out of the true killer’s crosshairs.

If you revel in escaping into a story, this friends-to-lovers romantic suspense will keep you turning the pages. 

My Review

This Side of Midnight is the fourth book in the Tildas Island series. It doesn't have to be read as part of the series, but as there is an overarching storyline, across the whole series, then you might want to check out the others too. 

This time we have Anika and Dominic. I have mentioned before, when reviewing books by Tamsen Schultz, these don't really fall just into romance or mystery/thriller books. They seem to be able to do both of these genre's justice, which is really quite unusual. Anika is a detective in the local police force when she has a couple of dead bodies to investigate, it soon becomes clear to her that there is something not quite right going on. She might be under pressure from her superiors to sign things off as accidents and suicides, but she is fairly sure that there is more going on here. She turns to Dominic, an FBI agent who is on the island on a long term assignment. Together he and his team help Anika to get to the bottom of things.

Dominic and Anika work well together in a professional sense, but it is clear that there is much more between them than that. They cannot avoid the chemistry and things develop between them on a personal level as well as a professional one. I liked the relationship between them and the way that it developed. 

It's clear that we need the next instalment of the Tildas island series to really see what is going on and who is behind it all. I'm looking forward to finding out how it is all going to unfold. 

Winds of Fear - Gledé Browne Kabongo

Winds of Fear
Glede Browne Kabongo
(Fearless Series #3)
Publication date: October 23rd 2019
Genres: Adult, Psychological, Psychological Thriller, Thriller

Their dark secret could destroy her family

When Abbie Rambally meets the couple next door for the first time, she’s convinced something isn’t right. Why are the Paynes so fascinated with her oldest son and why do they ask so many probing questions about him? Then Abbie’s loyal and dependable nanny quits without giving notice, and Jenna Payne is only too happy to step in and help out. But Abbie begins to suspect that the Paynes’ choice of neighborhood was no accident.

Though Abbie wants to believe she can trust her neighbors, too many things about the couple don’t add up. So when a stranger in a café calls Jenna by a different name and insists they’ve met before, one thing becomes clear. If Abbie doesn’t uncover what the Paynes are hiding, her family will be in terrible danger.

From an award-winning author comes the latest installment in the “gripping and powerful” Fearless Series. This nail-biting psychological thriller can be read as a stand-alone, and will leave you breathless until the final, jaw-dropping twist.

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Author Bio:

GLEDE BROWNE KABONGO writes gripping psychological thrillers–unflinching tales of deception, secrecy, danger and family. She is the #1 Amazon bestselling author of The Fearless Series, Swan Deception, Conspiracy of Silence, and Mark of Deceit. Her love affair with books began as a young girl growing up in the Caribbean, where her town library overlooked the Atlantic Ocean. She was trading books and discussing them with neighbors before Book Clubs became popular.

Gledé holds a Master’s degree in Communications, and was a featured speaker at the 2016 Boston Book Festival. She leads workshops on publishing and the craft of writing and hopes to win an Academy Award for screenwriting. Gledé lives outside Boston with her husband and two sons.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

My Review 

Winds of Fear is actually the third book in a series. That said, I read this as a standalone, not having read the previous books. I still really enjoyed it and was gripped by this thriller. The book tells the story of the Rambally family. Abbie and Ty are both busy with their careers and with three children to raise, life is busy. When a new couple moves to the area and becomes interested in their lives, at first they seem to be helpful and offering what they need, but it soon becomes clear that they have other motives that are a lot more sinister.

Like all good thrillers, I found myself almost screaming at the book, 'don't trust them' as Charlie and Jenna start to infiltrate the family. But of course, that's the way that it should be, we have the advantage of being able to see everything that's going on, so it's easy for us to see what they can't.

This was a gripping read and it really didn't matter that I hadn't read the previous books. They do feature the same main characters I believe and I would be interested in going back and reading them too. 

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Sanctity of Sloth - Greta Boris

About the Book

Title: The Sanctity of Sloth
Author: Greta Boris
Genre: Suspense, Mystery
Series: The Seven
There's one thing more dangerous than testifying to a crime—staying silent. 
Locked in the ruins of a California Mission, Abby Travers watches helplessly as a girl dies outside her window. As she struggles between her moral obligation to come forward as a witness, and her commitment to a Medieval religious practice that requires her to retreat from the world, the situation spins out of control. 
Abby's hesitation starts a series of catastrophes. She finds herself at the centre of a deadly cover up where every minute counts and indecision could be fatal. She questions all her beliefs and everyone she knows becomes suspect. To save herself and those she loves, she must break free from her self-imposed prisons of stone and fear. 
The Sanctity of Sloth is a taut, psychological thriller that answers the question: What happens when a good woman does nothing? Fans of Paula Hawkins and A.J. Finn will enjoy this third book in Greta Boris's Seven Deadly Sins Series. 

Author Bio

Greta Boris was raised in Greenwich Village, New York by an opera singing, piano playing, voice coach and a magazine publisher. Her original life plan was to be a famous Broadway actor, singer, and dancer, but when she moved to Laguna Beach, California, she changed her plans due to the commute. Today she writes to inspire, entertain, motivate, and so she can afford nice wine.

Links

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My Review

The premise of this book is 'what happens when a good woman does nothing?' It's an interesting question, but not one that I'm convinced this book answers. Why? Because I'm not particularly of the opinion that the main character, Abby, is a good woman. I'd go as far as to say that most of this book is populated with characters who aren't particularly likeable. That doesn't mean that it is a bad story, or that I didn't find myself totally gripped by it.

Abby is spending forty nights locked in a small room that her father has built in the side of a Californian mission. I'm not really sure what missions are, but obviously some kind of religious structure, Google tells me that they were used by the Spanish for converting the native population to Christianity. Her father hasn't done this as a punishment for Abby, or anything like that. Instead, she is trying to write a book about the Anchorites who lived in small cells in the walls of Churches and Cathedrals in medieval Europe. She does this without the permission of the people who run the Mission, putting her father's job in danger. She also pressures her father, who is against the whole idea, into helping her and doesn't tell the man that she is thinking of marrying that she is doing and where she is going. So far this 'good woman' seems to be self-obsessed and only bothered about what she wants to do.

When she sees a young woman, who is clearly in a bad way, dumped on the grass outside of her cell, she does nothing. While she couldn't have got out, she doesn't try particularly hard, she doesn't shout and scream on the off chance, however remote, of getting help. She stays quiet when the now dead body is discovered and the police arrive. She then pressures her father into claiming to have seen everything that happened. These actions then lead on to the thriller aspects of this book as we try to discover who the girl was, why she was left and by whom.

I was gripped by this story. I have to admit that I wasn't convinced who, if anyone, I wanted to win through. Abby, as I've mentioned is a childish, self-obsessed type and her father enables this behaviour. Her boyfriend Carlos was a little more likeable, but I couldn't really see what he saw in Abby. In any case, I did want to know what was going to happen and where the story would lead. I thought that the idea behind the storyline and the way that the plot played out was very interesting and the book itself was a thoroughly enjoyable read. 

Guardian Angel - Ruchi Singh

Guardian Angel

A thrilling tale of unconditional love amidst danger and certain death.

The Man 
Security expert Nikhil Mahajan is in mortal danger. Gravely injured and unable to see, he is in the midst of hostile strangers in an unknown place. Any hope of survival is fast fading away. 

The Angel 
Should an innocent man be left to die just because he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time? Someone has to intervene.

My Review

I don't mind admitting that I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I didn't really know what to expect going in, but I was engrossed within minutes of picking the book up and I polished it off pretty quickly. I always enjoy a good un-put-downable read and this one certainly fell into that category.

The characters in this book and the story as it progresses soon drag you quickly along. I believe that Nikhil has been introduced in a previous book, The Bodyguard, but unfortunately, I haven't had the pleasure of reading that as yet. We meet him in this book in mortal danger. He has been injured in a bomb blast and now finds himself blind and bandaged. He has no idea where he is or what has happened to him to end up there.

His only assistance is from the young woman who tends to his wounds each day and patiently feeds hi via a straw. She won't talk to him and when he hears her speak it is in a language that he doesn't understand. 

I really don't want to give too much away about this book and what is going on. I'd hate to give away any spoilers as there are twists and turns in the plot of this book that I didn't spot coming. Needless to say, if you are looking for an exciting and thrilling read with a good dose of romance thrown in for good measure, then I would highly recommend this one. Give it a read, I don't think that you will be disappointed.

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Healing Danger - Maddie Wade

Book one of the Fortis Security series, by Maddie Wade.

Healing Danger

Dealing with the horrific murder of her best friend is more than enough for school teacher Lauren Cassidy, but now a madman has decided that she needs to die for her part in that death. With her life in danger and her past catching up with her, will she stay alive long enough to trust the one man with her heart, that she has never forgotten?

With the promise to catch a killer and keep Lauren safe, Dane Bennet must now protect her from the evil in her past. A sick cult group with ties to the government and the rich and powerful are determined to use her powers for their own evil gain. Will Dane be able to protect the woman he loves or will he have his chance at happiness snatched away? Dane must use every ounce of his elite special forces training to keep her safe, even if it means breaking her heart.

Determined to stop the evil that threatens the world and avenge the death of a friend, will Lauren and Dane be able to overcome their intense attraction to stop the people determined to end her life and start Armageddon or will their passion blind them?

My Review

I was quite keen to read Healing Danger, written by a British author, I was hopeful that it would be something a little different. Sadly, I couldn't help but feel that the author really wanted to write a US style suspense but just placed it in England. There wasn't a great deal that made it stand out as a British book. For me, this was a real opportunity lost. Fortunately, the story itself had enough going on that it didn't completely put me off.

The book was quite quick moving, with plenty going on and lots of characters to keep you interested. The interaction between the hero and heroine was good and mostly believable. The only thing I struggled with a little was why Lauren had got involved with a previous partner when she was already interested in Dane. Of course, there wouldn't be much of a story if they'd got together before the book was set, but it still just didn't ring quite true for me.

There was plenty of action that took place over the course of the book, so despite some of the small things that irritated me, I still enjoyed this book. There was lots of action and the romance between Lauren and Dane was believable. There were a few cliches that it would have been better without and the dialogue wasn't always natural, but I think this probably has more to do with it being the first book. Hopefully, it will get better in future books in the series.

I'm not sure if I'll read the next book in the series. I would like to hear what happens to some of the other characters that were introduced in the book. The very long epilogue at the end was a little annoying. It seemed to go on for pages, covering many different people, rather than summing up what had just happened and giving a little hint of what was to come. Overall, I think that the series has potential and the second book may well we worth checking out.