Good Series to Follow

See Her Die by Melinda Leigh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Bree Taggert has her hands full. Her sister's two children, her new job and now a crime that may not be real. The plot is well planned. I loved how Bree handles her problems. Look for a love interest and to see the sisters from the previous series become aside characters in. See Her Die. A good new series to follow.

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Interesting surprise

Save Your Breath by Melinda Leigh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A nice addition to the series. Morgan and crew are trying to find Olivia who has been abducted. Along the way they run into other crimes that they solve. Olivia on the other hand was much harder to find. It too Lance's mother to put them on the right track. By that time it was almost too late. Look for a nice ending as the two finally tie the knot.

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Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 381 - Kierce by Veronica Scott, Secrets Never Die by Melinda Leigh

Kierce: A Badari Warriors SciFi Romance Novel by Veronica Scott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Best thing after the two main characters - the hints about new characters and where the story arc will go in the future. Kierce is a new bread of Badari and he has to come to terms with what he can do. Elianna McNamee is a new character who is put into Kierce's cell. After the two are rescued Elianna's skills are vital to getting help from the Sector. This adds new and interesting characters while moving the plot forward. I loved Kierce and would love to have someone like him around.


Secrets Never Die by Melinda Leigh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Once again Cris Dukehart (Goodreads Author) (Narrator) does a great job. I love Morgan and Lance and look forward to their next adventure. As always danger stalks the story line as Morgan and Lance work to find a teenager and to prove he is innocent. There are some interesting new characters and a new possibility of a romance for Sharp. Another thrilling adventure that kept me listening.

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Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 327 - Once Upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare, Widow's Island Novella by Kendra Elliot and Melinda Leigh

Once Upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not my favorite Spindle Cove story. I liked the two main characters but felt that the story moved very slowly and without enough to keep me interested. A nice conclusion to what was keeping the two apart but it could have come around much sooner.


Widow's Island Novella by Kendra Elliot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A nice mystery with interesting characters. Widow's Island is the setting for this introduction to the Widow's Island mystery series. The island seems to call to the main characters offering them a place where they belong. There are two mysteries and only one is solved leaving room for much more action and danger.

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Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 299 - Hidden by Rebecca Zanetti, What I've Done by Melinda Leigh

Hidden by Rebecca Zanetti
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This caught me from the first few pages. I loved Pippa and how her curosity kept her watching her new neighbor. As for that neighbor, Malcolm West had secrets of his own. It was fun watching the two get to know each other as they worked to build trust. Turns out neither were who they said. That lead to a interesting story line with a lot of danger, tension and of course romance. This is first in a series and I am looking forward to the next Deep Ops characters to get hit with romance mixed with danger.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.


What I've Done by Melinda Leigh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Morgan Dane has a new client. Haley Powell does not know what happened; just that she woke up covered in blood and the man she went home with is dead. This leads to a thrill a minute case when Morgan, Haley, Sharp and Lance all are put in danger of their lives. This series gets better with each new book. Cris Dukehart is the voice of What I've Done and she does a great job in bringing the story to life. I loved the ending but no spoiler here. Listen to find out.

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Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 188 - Her Last Goodbye by Melinda Leigh, The Caledonian Gambit by Dan Moren

Her Last Goodbye by Melinda Leigh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoy Chris Dukehar's performance. I have listened to several books she has narrated and like her style in all. Morgan and Lance continue to take dangerous and interesting cases. This one had several surprises as they tried to first find a kidnapped woman and then find the man responsible. This had a plot that build keeping interest up, characters that fit the story line and a surprise romance.


The Caledonian Gambit by Dan Moren
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eli Brody does not fit anywhere. After all everyone thinks he is dead. That is the start to a thrill a minute space opera with some science mixed in. Eli is tasked to find who and what is being developed and used as a weapon and stop its use. He has to deal with family, spies, old gang members, and not knowing who to trust. This is a fun read with a very well developed plot, fully fleshed out characters, and good world building. This ended with the mystery solved but there could be a interesting follow up. So far I have not seen any indication that one is in the works.

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Short and Sweet Book Reviews # 185 - Say You're Sorry by Melinda Leigh, Dangerous Minds by Janet Ivanovich

Say You're Sorry by Melinda Leigh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A interesting mystery with some very well developed characters. One girl is missing and one has been murdered. Are the two related? A nice mystery with enough red herrings to keep the plot going. I did think that there were two many points of views and they slowed the story down at times. Other than that it was a five star not four. Morgan is a very strong female character who is getting over the loss of her husband. Ready to go back to work she chooses to defend her neighbor and try to find who really killed Tessa. Lance has issues but now has choices to make. Like Morgan he chooses to find the killer closing a door he had hoped would stay open. The story sets up future books featuring the two. A very good start to a series.

Dangerous Minds by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Buddhist monk Wayan Bagus has lost his island so of course he comes to his friend Emerson Knight for help. That starts a fun rump with Emerson, Riley Moon and Emerson's childhood friend Vernon. The plot is outrageous, the dialog snarky, and the danger more fun that serious. Of course there is the chance of destroying the Earth. This is a great group of main characters aided by some equally good secondary characters. A fun series that does not take anything seriously. I listened to the audio book and the reader had everything down pat making the story even more fun. I had a lot of laughs out loud moments.

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She Can Run by Melinda Leigh

Romantic Suspense

“Amazon cuts publishers out of book cycle” was the title of the lead article in the Business/Technology section of my Sunday paper.  In smaller print was “It lets authors offer works directly to site’s customers.”  What does this have to do with She Can Run you are asking?  She Can Run appears to be is one of the 122 books Amazon’s fledging publishing program will release this fall.

I received an ARC of She Can Run from Amazon Vine.  One of the first things I noticed was the thanks to the Amazon Publishing team.  I had just read the article and everything clicked.  So how was the book that cut publishers out of the book cycle?  It was OK.

Beth Baker is on the run after discovering a dangerous secret about her politician husband.  She has been aided by James, her almost uncle and has just gotten a position as caretaker at an out of the way estate in Pennsylvania.  When she arrives she finds that her new employer has died and his nephew, Jack O’Malley, has inherited the estate. 

Jack O’Malley is a policeman who was injured in the line of duty.  He and Beth are immediately attracted to each other.  He knows Beth is hiding something but decides to let her stay as his caretaker.  Jack wants to help but Beth must learn to trust him with her secret.

I said She Can Run was only OK for several reasons.  The story tries to be too many things while including too many story lines.  It is romance (which happened with out any buildup only immediate attraction), suspense (there is more than one bad guy after Beth and there are times when it leads to confusion), and a little paranormal (the paranormal shows up with a side character that does not have much of a role and is in only a few scattered scenes).  I don’t think She Can Run cut out a publisher as much as it found one willing to publish and promote.

While there is no publisher listed on the front pages of the book on the back there is the following:

“Montlake Romance connects reader with fresh, innovative, and swoon-worthy love stories across a broad range of categories – from historical to contemporary, romantic suspense to paranormal fantasy.”

Montlake Romance published She Can Run by Melinda Leigh in 2011.