Book Review -If Spring Comes

SUMMARY

Motivated by a traumatic past, Candice Stevens has survived to become a respected Medical Examiner  in St. Louis. Though successful in her career, she is much less so in her social life. Candice likes to keep to herself. She is also consistent in rejecting the advances of FBI agent Dorian “Sal” Salivas. But when Candice finds a rare piece of evidence which might provide a clue in the long term hunt for a serial killer, she is forced to turn to the man she just can’t take seriously.

Sal has been injured in the line of duty and sidelined by his boss at the FBI. Though unfit for active duty, he is given an undercover assignment to determine if there is a mole in the department who might be in league with the serial killer known as Vivaldi. He of course is thrilled that he must work closely with Candice, a woman Sal has been fascinated with since their first meeting.  It will give Sal the time to prove that he is serious in his pursuit of her while also proving that they just may have more in common than they think. But hunting down a serial killer is dangerous work and not exactly the environment for a romance. When Candice is threatened, Sal realizes he could lose her before he has even won her. Continue reading “Book Review -If Spring Comes”

Author Spotlight -Amy Leigh Simpson

I love discovering authors who I’ve never read before. If they happen to be indie publishing their debut novel then I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot.

Amy Leigh Simpson was such a discovery for me. I can’t even remember how I first found her, but after reading her first title I knew I had found an author who would have a permanent place on my auto-buy list.

Simpson writes adrenaline pumping, heart rate raising, romantic suspense stories. I can’t determine which element is the most intense and surprising, the romance or the suspense. If you are one who usually guesses the villain in a mystery, you will find it isn’t so easy in Simpson’s novels. And if you like a clean but passionate romance then you won’t be disappointed.

She currently has two books published and a third one in the works for her Girl Next Door series. Learn more about this author at her Amazon author page or her Facebook author page. Continue reading “Author Spotlight -Amy Leigh Simpson”

Ten Underrated/Hidden Gem Authors

Today I’m linking up for the first time with The Broke and the Bookish to share my Ten Underrated/ Hidden Gem Authors. The prompt was actually for underrated books, but I tweaked it slightly just because.

  1. Sibella Giorello -I’m addicted to her Raleigh Harmon mystery series about a slightly prickly female forensic geologist with trust and family issues. The first book of the series The Stones Cry Out, is free for Kindle readers.
  2. Brandy Vallance -fell in love with her debut historical romance release in 2014 and had to wait (impatiently, I might add) two years until her next. She tells unique stories.
  3. Joyce DiPastena Medieval stories are my favorite and she certainly knows how to transport a reader to the Middle Ages.
  4. Amanda DeWees -writes what I would call gothic-lite historical suspense with a slight hint of the paranormal and great heroes.
  5. Amy Leigh Simpson -a fairly new voice in the romantic suspense genre, but one that keeps me on the edge of my seat and swooning at the same time.
  6. Nichole Van -love, love, love her light and airy time-travel romances with endearing, quirky characters.
  7. Becky Doughty discovered her this past year and have devoured almost all of her contemporary YA and women’s fiction novels about flawed, imperfect, yet brave women. Her first YA story All the Way to Heaven which has the feel of Under the Tuscan Sun, is free for Kindle readers.
  8. Heather Burch -another contemporary fiction author whose stories I have consumed. She writes broken characters so well and then redeems them in a believable way. One Lavender Ribbon is available for free Kindle download for Amazon Prime members.
  9. Chana Keefer -adore her Night with a Rock Star books. She takes a potentially cliche story and gives it surprising depth.
  10. Catherine West – another amazing women’s fiction author whose stories center around family and redemption.
  11. Mary Jane Hathaway -I have enjoyed both the Cane River Valley series (with the same setting as Steel Magnolias) and her Jane Austen Takes the South series as well as her stand-alone novels. She also writes historical fiction under the name Virginia Carmichael. Pepper in the Gumbo, her first book in the Cane River Series is currently free for Kindle.
  12. Julianne Donaldson -author of Blackmoore and Edenbrooke. The first is very Bronte-esque and the second is lighter, yet equally engaging, but more in the style of Jane Austen. I’ve been anxiously waiting for a new release for a couple of years now and continually revisiting these two excellent stories.

Okay, I know the prompt was only for ten, but math has never been my forte. Plus, I’ve never been very good at limiting myself. Who would you say is an underrated author?