Eight Minutes to Sunrise - Tamsen Schultz

 When a conspiracy leads to a second chance, anything can happen.

At the age of twenty-two, Benita Ricci walked away from the man she loved and never looked back. He was destined for great things and having her in his life would only get in his way. Sixteen years later, time has proved her right. She may have gone on to a successful career first as an Army medic then as a member of the elite Tildas Island FBI Task Force, but he’d gone on to be the Vice President of the United States. She’d resigned herself long ago to only being a part of his life from afar. Too bad fate, and the man himself, had other plans.

Calvin Matthews never knew why Nita had left him—one day she was there and the next she was gone. First to the Army and then to the FBI. But now, as a conspiracy unfolds on Tildas Island that has him at the centre, he finally has the opportunity to get some answers from the one and only woman he has ever loved. But answers aren’t the only thing he wants, especially once he has them. He wants her, all of her, back in his life for good.

But navigating old hurts, new chances, and a tentative new future aren’t the only hazards they face. There’s a conspiracy threatening Cal. A conspiracy that’s been quietly brewing for three years. A conspiracy that could destroy not just their chance at happiness, but American Democracy itself.

Grab this thrilling conclusion to the Tildas Island Series and discover just how powerful friendship, love, and second chances can be. 

My Review

Eight Minutes to Sunrise is the fifth and final book in the Tildas Island series. Like the others, it is a careful balance of thriller and romance. It brings together the storylines from the previous books, although I think that it would probably still work if you hadn't read the other books.

Benni and Cal were once a couple but when in their early twenties. Benni decided that although they were in love, they would never reach their potential or do what they needed to do if they stayed together. Now, years later, they meet again and it's clear that the spark between them has never gone out.

Cal is the vice president of the US and as such has been the ultimate target of much that the team has been dealing with. They need to bring down those working against him and clear his name. Much of this opposition is because he and the president are from different parties. I have to admit, I thought that was a bit odd, but then I am from a country where parliamentary opposition is a big part of government and we elect the party rather than the leader. I've tried to understand the US system before, but I still don't really have my head around it.

Much of the book is about bringing these people to account and explaining how the stories that we read in the previous books all weave together into one conspiracy theory. We do have Cal and Benni's second chance romance too, which is nice, but it really is the overall story that makes this book.

This is a great conclusion to an exciting and interesting series. As is often the case, I was sad to see it come to an end. I do hear that we will see some of these characters making cameo appearances in future books by Tamsen Schultz. I for one, am looking forward to meeting them again. 

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.