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Break of Day–Christian suspense
Break of Day
by Colleen Coble
I strongly encourage readers who enjoy Christian suspense to read the three part Annie Pederson series. As a mystery fan, I rarely read thrillers, only reading suspense that I think will be more mystery than psychologically creepy. This series walks the border for me, but the violence is not graphically depicted and evil is called out for what it is. I really liked Edge of Dusk (#1 in the series), but was not as enamored with Dark of Night (#2 in the series). This last book in the series blew me away. There were surprises right and left and lots of character development. Character motivations, both good and bad, were revealed.
Annie’s daughter Kylie, that I didn’t much care for in Dark of Night, was not an active character in this third book, but concern for her and her safety was appropriately inserted. Relationships were fractured and healed. Roadblocks rose up and were gradually dismantled through trust in God.
The focus of the book was the horrible hunting of innocent tourists and hikers as a game. This thread began in the first book, but was central to Break of Day. Annie’s law enforcement skills, outdoor survival tactics, nautical expertise, stamina, protectiveness, and moral character make her a protagonist to be admired and applauded. The themes of forgiveness and trust in God are woven throughout the tale as sisters Annie and Sarah relive past traumas and learn that their love for each other trumps previous hurts and mistakes.
There is beautiful symbolism of God’s faithfulness in a goldfinch he sends to reassure Kylie in a moment of crisis. Other symbolism is found in the darkness of the forest when Annie and Sarah are being hunted. They couldn’t tell which way to go because they couldn’t see the sun. They needed God to shed light on the situation and give direction.
I have to give a shout out to the dogs in the series. Samson is a search and rescue dog whose skills in Edge of Dusk are amazing. In Break of Day Sarah rescues Scout who later provides comfort and help to her. Samson’s pup Milo causes some welcome humorous chaos as this serious series draws to a close.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery & Thriller, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. #3 in the Annie Pederson Novels. I recommend reading this series sequentially and close together time wise. Each book is a continuation of the prior book and will be best enjoyed if read as a unit.
Publication: July 4, 2023—Thomas Nelson
Memorable Lines:
“How many times does the Bible say ‘Fear not’? Enough times that we know God doesn’t want us to cower in our homes. And I’m not going to do it. What kind of example would that be for Kylie? I want to model courage not cowardice.”
“There’s room for all of us. Love is like that. It doesn’t matter how many people you love, there is always room for more.”
She found it hard to believe anyone could be so twisted and cruel. Evil was the real word. There was evil in the world, and the three of them faced it right now.
Dark of Night–kidnapping
Dark of Night
by Colleen Coble
This mystery/thriller has it all—suspense, action, Christian values, and some clean romance. It is all tied up with themes of family, loyalty, and honesty.
Annie, Law Enforcement Ranger on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is the protagonist. She has spent twenty-four years dealing with feelings of guilt from her inability as a child to keep her little sister Sarah from being kidnapped. Annie is reigniting a relationship with Jon who, unbeknownst to either Annie or Jon, is the father of her daughter Kylie.
A woman shows up, initially in disguise, and claims to be the long lost Sarah. This woman is vindictive and confused. Meanwhile, there are other major plot threads. One involves Michelle Fraser, a formerly abused wife who has been living in a shelter for a year while she works to restore her confidence. Now she is ready to pursue her dangerous interest in mountain lions. There are three current kidnappings for apparently various reasons. Annie, Sheriff Mason, and an FBI agent along with Bree, her dog Samson, and the local search and rescue team combine efforts to find the victims.
There are too many threads to mention them all, but they are interesting and following them as they intersect with other threads keeps the reader quite involved.
I did have two issues with Dark of Night which kept it from being a five star book for me. As the second book in the series, it is heavily dependent on characters and plot found in the first book. There is just too much background that needed to be carried over and that can cause some confusion for the reader. It is a good read but not a good standalone. Also, I usually like characters who are children, but Kylie was not very appealing to me as a character. While she had been carefully taught personal safety, obedience, and respect, I had trouble empathizing with her because she was the center of everyone’s world. She gets a huge dose of reality in this book, and I will be watching to see if it affects her in the next book which I am looking forward to reading.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Mystery & Thriller, Romance
Notes: 1. #2 in the Annie Pederson Novels. I recommend it, but not as a standalone.
2. Be sure to followup by reading my review of #3 in the series. That book, the last in the series, changes my opinion of the whole series, which I already liked, in an even more positive direction.
Publication: January 10, 2023—Thomas Nelson
Memorable Lines:
His love for her had never wavered in the nine years he’d been gone. It had just gone underground and erupted the moment he saw her face again.
The discovery of a body was always hard for a search dog, and Samson had an especially tender heart.
Since she’d come here and seen how a real family lived, her rage over what she’d missed had grown.
Kissed by the Country Doc–snowed in romance
Kissed by the Country Doc
by Melinda Curtis
The Monroe family is the center of this new Heartwarming Harlequin series The Mountain Monroes. The first novel, Kissed by the Country Doc, by Melinda Curtis, opens with the reading of Grandpa Harlan Monroe’s will. Full of surprises for the Monroe heirs, the will sends some of the younger generation of Monroes off to Second Chance, a small mountain town in Idaho. One of them is Ella, a Monroe by marriage, but widowed for two years, with an adorable two-year old. What will happen when Ella, after a childhood of foster homes and seeking a love that will last, encounters Dr. Noah Bishop, whose successful career as an orthopedic surgeon was crushed in an accident?
As snow strands the four Monroes in Second Chance, we learn more about them, the inhabitants of the town, and its mysterious history. In fact, we discover just enough to pique curiosity about the origins of the town and why Grandpa Harlan left the town to his grandchildren. The Monroes are divided about what should be done about the town—sell it off, try to inject new life into it, reinvent it as a high-end tourist destination, or some other solution. Their inheritance could be a blessing or a disaster, and perhaps the hardest part will be to get all of the grandchildren to agree on a decision.
Since sixteen relatives of Harlan Monroe are shown on the handy family tree included in the book, I feared I would have trouble distinguishing and remembering all of the characters. That actually is not a problem as only four of them, plus Ella, are characters in this book.
Ella is a very likable character as is her daughter Penny. More of a puzzle is Dr. Noah Bishop who struggles with his identity as a former surgeon whose hand injury keeps him from what he and his family view as his full potential. The author cleverly helps the reader understand the dual nature of Noah as he struggles to disassociate the man who falls hard for Ella and her daughter from the jaded, self-loathing failure, Dr. Bishop, by sharing the reactions of both. For example, “Dr. Bishop fell off his stool in a dead faint. Noah’s reaction was equally shocking. His mouth dropped open and his waffle-loaded fork hung in midair.” Both Ella and Noah have issues to overcome to be able to give and receive love. Read Kissed by the Country Doc for a sweet romance in a snow-covered mountain setting. Add in a lovable two year old and an injured dog and hang on to your heart so you don’t lose it in Second Chance. I am looking forward to more stories about members of the Monroe clan and the fate of this little town and its residents.
I would like to extend my thanks to Melinda Curtis for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. #1 in The Mountain Monroes series
2. Clean and heartwarming romance
Publication: February 1, 2019—Heartwarming Harlequin
Memorable Lines:
“My four sons are too old to unlearn the privilege of the silver spoon, too busy to enjoy the priceless beauty of a mountain sunrise, too calloused to appreciate the comfort that comes from loyalty, or the joy that love for love’s sake can bring.”
“Don’t get attached to people. They always leave. And when they go, they take a piece of you with them until you feel like you’re dying inside.”
The dog did what Ella and Noah couldn’t. Penny’s sobs subsided. She snuffled and buried her hands in Woof’s fur, her lower lip trembling.
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