The Girls She Left Behind by Sarah Graves

This is the second book in the Lizzie Snow series. I didn't realize that when I started reading, but I had no trouble reading it as a standalone. I will start by saying if you are looking for traditional romantic suspense, this is not it. This story is basically a police procedural with slight romantic elements. Honestly, it started off a bit slow for me, and the format was a bit of an adjustment too. Parts of the story were first person from the perspective of the "she" from the title ( You will have to read the story to find out if "she" turns out to be villain or hero.) The rest of the book is third person. I actually read the first twenty-five percent or so then left it and read two other books before coming back to it. Thankfully, the story picked up, and I ended up staying up past 2:00am to finish it.

Lizzie is a deputy in a very small town. She is relatively new to the area and appears to have been lured there by Dylan, a state policeman she unwittingly had an illicit affair with years prior. He lied to her about his marital status in the past, and I'm pretty convinced he's lying to her now in order to keep her near him (Time will tell.). Trey, a nice local vet ( who apparently lacks Dylan's physical attractiveness) is also interested in Lizzie, but keeps getting blown off in favor of Dylan and the case. In the event that you're wondering, I'm highly pro-Trey.

Basically, a young girl is missing, and a former collector and captor of young girls has escaped from his confinement at a criminal psychiatric facility. Add some out of control wildfires, possibly vengeful former victims, and a deceitful mother to the mix, and you have a good idea of the complicated plot of this story. I personally never could have predicted the way this book ended. It definitely had a nicely surprising twist to it ( which is how I ended up still reading at 2:00am).

The story had a good creepiness vibe to it without being too terribly gory, and though it was a bit of a departure from my usual norm in genres, I will probably check out the next book.

I received an ARC from Net Galley for review.

Fighting Dirty by Lori Foster

Finally, Armie and Merissa get their own story! I have read all the books in this series so far, and outrageous Armie has been one of my favorite characters. He was always so funny, but very thoughtful and protective when the situation called for it...except with Merissa. He has been attracted to her for years, but avoids her like the plague frequently hurting her feelings in the process.A huge secret in his past makes Armie feel unworthy of Merissa and unwilling to risk losing his best friend, Cannon, in order to date his little sister, so he keeps his distance. Everything changes, however, when Armie walks into a robbery in the bank Merissa manages and an attack on her that feels personal for some reason. Armie clicks into protective mode, and Merissa decides to take bold steps to stay with him even though she believes the attack was random. As seemingly unrelated incidents begin to plague Merissa, threats to reveal Armie's secrets put his new SBC career in jeopardy and make him renew his efforts to distance himself from Merissa even as he tries to ensure her safety. In the end, the awesome friendships Merissa and Armie cherish are their best assets in discovering who is trying to destroy them.

I really enjoy this series, and this book has overtaken Stack's story as my favorite. MMA is honestly not a scene that interests me, but the author has created amazingly flawed but honorable characters who draw the reader in. The stories have great chemistry, lots of emotion, and a bit of suspense to keep things interesting. ( This book had even more suspense than usual...Yay!!!) I'm ready for the next book, and I hope it will be Leese's story.

I received an ARC from Net Galley for review.

Endgame by Tess Diamond

Love!Love!Love! Seriously, this book made me so happy! I read extremely fast, so at the pace of a novel a day, I frequently get bored with what I'm reading or I can very easily figure out the plot but keep reading because I like the characters. It is a rare treat when a book has me nervous. In this story, between the unpredictability of Mancuso, the conniving underhandedness of the newly arrived Mr. Black, and the downright bullheadedness Maggie displayed, I was completely on edge in the best of ways stressing out about what on earth would happen next.

This book picks up right after the failed attempt to rescue Kayla at the end of book two. The situation has gone from bad to worse with Mancuso adding not only a second hostage but also a bomb to the mix. Maggie's prior warnings are now vindicated, but she is only concerned with saving Kayla and now Paul as well. Maggie and Jake are still working together and covering each other's backs. I will interrupt myself here to say, as I have in reviews of the previous books, that Jake and Maggie are the perfect fit as a couple. There is no alpha in this relationship, just two strong people willing to risk it all for each other and anyone else who needs them. That said, back to the synopsis...

Just when I thought things were getting stressful, but at least a plan was taking shape, all manner of trouble breaks loose. A comment is made referencing the events of Maggie's childhood, Mr. Black arrives to stick his nose (and other assorted body parts) where it doesn't belong and foul up the rescue operation, and members of the team are attacked. At this point, I didn't have a clue what might happen next. When Maggie did finally act, I was shocked by what she did. I don't want to say too much more, because it would ruin the twists and turns. This story does get a real ending, although threads of what might be on the horizon for Maggie are laced thought the book.

I can't say enough about the quality of the writing and my enjoyment of the story. It was a great way to wrap up the kidnapping situation and the nagging employment issues. The series has been wonderful so far.

Thanks so very much to the author who gifted me a copy of this book for review.

On His Watch by Katie Ruggle

This story is a novella prequel to a series which will be releasing pretty close together in 2016. I had never read this author before nor had I read about ice rescue divers. I thought the story was interesting and had some suspenseful moments. The couple already had a history, so the relationship developed fairly quickly over some extreme circumstances. Basically, as one child falls through the ice on a school field trip and is being rescued, two others disappear. Artemis, their teacher, is desperate to find them. She teams up with her former lover and rescue diver, Derek, to search the frozen who's for the missing girls. As the temperatures drop, Derek is determined to heat things up between himself and Artie.

The story is pretty short but introduces some interesting characters which will be featured in the upcoming series. It has a definite conclusion, but also leaves a few mysterious threads out there to trail into the other stories. The short preview of the next book at the end was pretty intriguing.

I received an ARC for review from Net Galley.

Edge of Night by Jill Sorenson

I wasn't familiar with this author as I started this book, and I really didn't expect it to be very realistic. Overall, I was kind of iffy on my prospects of liking it. Having worked with teens in gangs as a substance abuse counselor in a boot camp type program, I have a decent amount of knowledge about that lifestyle. Surprisingly, I thought the author's description was pretty realistic. She didn't sugarcoat things or make her characters perfect. They were flawed in so many ways which made them identifiable and real.

The story really was two stories in one, April and Noah, and Eric and Meghan. Both couples come across young with the latter couple being around nineteen. Unfortunately, not everyone gets a happy ending in this book. I liked that about it. Don't get me wrong, I'm a happy ending all the way sort of gal, but it would have been completely unrealistic for this story and these characters. I'm now going to have to search around and see if the author wrote a follow up for my favorite characters.

I received an ARC from Net Galley for review.

Gone Black by Linda Ladd

Oh my word!!!! This blew me out of the water. After reading the description, I honestly delayed reading it for a bit. I am completely addicted to this series, so there was no way I was skipping this one, but I just couldn't stand the idea of Claire thinking Black was dead. Once I finally made myself start reading, however, I couldn't put it down...literally. It was definitely not for the faint of heart. Though this tends to be a bit of a dark series anyway, this installment is much more so. I don't want to spoil the story by giving much description, so I will skip giving a synopsis. If you are a fan of the series, you know that Black's most fervent wish is to marry Claire. She put it off before, but has finally given in and planned Black's dream ceremony. Everything is perfect, but we all know that never lasts in Claire's world. This story is the hardest situation Claire has ever had to face. Everything rides on her and the help of a small abused little boy. Black's life and sanity depend on them. Claire has some help on the outside from Holliday, Booker, and Novak, but it's anyone's guess whether they will arrive in time.

This was the best book in the series so far. It is Claire's turn to pull out all the stops to save Black. She really shows what she is made of. Also, can I just say how much I love Novak! I liked him in the previous book, but now I love him. His part in the ending was spectacular!


Thankfully, I received an ARC from Net Galley for review. :-)

Dead by Midnight by Pamela Clare

So many couples, so much danger, so many reasons to check out this book.  In one part of the hotel, the newspaper's I-Team (investigative team) it's involved in their company Christmas party. In another area, the Lt. Governor and the Secretary of State are attending the British Consulate General's Christmas party. Unfortunately, a third group is spread throughout the hotel disguised as staff...Columbian terrorists. Just as the parties are getting started, Holly Andris notices a gun sticking out from underneath a staff cart. She manages to get a warning text out and pull the fire alarm before being taken down by a bullet. Her actions save the many people who are able to make it outside, but the terrorists still manage to take hundreds of hostages including most of Holly's closest friends. Marc Hunter manages to avoid capture even though his wife, Sophie, is among the hostages. He begins to wage his own small war trying too take the rooftop off the hotel. Nick, Holly's husband, hears she is down, but he is stuck on the outside. He is an agent with Cobra, a private security firm. He and his co-workers end up coordinating with SWAT and even the FBI's HRT team (courtesy of author Kaylea Cross) to mount a rescue.

This book starts off with mega doses of super hot chemistry as each couple enjoys their date night away from their children and gets ready for their respective parties. It then morphs into non-stop action as both those on the inside and those on the outside work to find a way to stop the terrorists before their loved ones are harmed.

Kaylea Cross is one of my favorite authors. I love her HRT series, and choose to read this book for that reason. I didn't remember having read any of the I-Team books until after I started reading and recognized a couple characters. I enjoyed this story and the I-Team couples enough that I'm now going to have to go back and read the books I missed.  The Christmas time setting of the story was nice and thankfully not overdone.

I received an ARC from Net Galley for review.