Breaking Jess by H.B. Moore

 

What do a crooked detective, an upstanding psychiatrist, and a teenager who can’t remember killing her parents all have in common? Nine years of lies.
He hid her away from society so she couldn’t turn him in. But, in the end, he couldn’t hide her forever. 

 * Amazon * Goodreads *

Review by Jaalah: 

Breaking Jess was such a good read from start to finish. I found myself hanging onto the words in suspense- waiting for the next discovery in this engaging mystery. I thought I knew from the beginning what was going to happen (I’m good at guessing the who-done-it), but when the big climax did roll around, I was completely satisfied to find an ending better than I expected. H. B. Moore did more than just the perfect mystery, however. Readers are also provided with a realistic tale, intriguing and complex characters, and a twist of love that seems tangible and complicated. Through the whole book, I found myself waiting on edge for what was going to happen next to Jess and Logan, and as things began to play out, my poor husband heard every detail. That’s what constitutes a good book when you can’t help but share the story.  

Content:  mild swearing, some violence, implied sexual situation with no details

- I received a complimentary copy of this book.  All opinions expressed are my own. 

Poetic Justice by H.B. Moore

Justice comes in all types, but justice always comes.

Claire Vetra is looking for two men. The first man she’ll kill. The second man she’ll also kill—after she makes him watch as she destroys everything he’s ever built.

This is only the start of her revenge against the World Alliance Order, which held her hostage for a year and subjected her to live human testing in the name of medical science.

But when Claire begins to unravel her past, she discovers that unlocking the memories of what happened to her might destroy the remaining shreds of her sanity.

 * Amazon * Goodreads *

This book is part of the Murder and Mayhem boxed set which is what the Amazon above is linked to.  I believe it will be released as a stand alone at a later date.

I think my stomach was clenched for the majority of this book.  It had me on edge and cringing.  Intense!  Are there really humans out there that do these sort of things to other humans?!  I'm sure there are and it just makes me sick.  I did feel kind of sick at some points of this book but I'm a lightweight when it comes to thrillers like this.  This one had me walking the edge of what I can tolerate.  Yes.  Lightweight.

Claire is amazing.  So smart, so savvy.  After all she has been through it's so surprising that she has even a shred of humanity left.  That's strength.  The book jumps back and forth between the present and varying places in the past until the two collide.  It's a crazy ride and you will absolutely love to hate the bad guy.  He is pure evil.  Ooh, I get the shivers just thinking about him.

And, I have to say, after reading this book, I'm glad I am not a gifted intellectual brainiac because that's what Claire is and look what it got her!  I think I'm perfectly content to be average me- just smart enough.  ;)

Content:  sexual relations outside of marriage with no details, rape described with minimal details leading up to it, swearing (too much for me), violence, torture

- I received a copy of this book from the author.  All opinions expressed are my own.

The Quantum Deception by Denver Acey

What starts out as a calm night in Salt Lake City turns into chaos when a passenger plane crashes into the mountains. When reformed cyber hacker Tanner Stone links the accident to an ingenious Chinese computer virus, it’s up to him to prevent it from destroying the financial data of everyone in America! Thrilling, explosive, and packed with twists, this book changes everything you know about Internet security.

* Goodreads * Amazon *

This is the second book in this Tanner Zane series.  The first book is "The Quantum Breach" (on sale for just $.99 at Amazon) and you really should read that book before diving into this book.  It will make so much more sense.

This book starts out right in the thick of things.  I was immediately pulled in- right from the very first paragraph.  The pacing was fabulous and full on.  It's exactly what you would expect from a cyber thriller.  I love when I am drawn in from the very beginning and kept there, captive, the whole book.

Internet security is a scary thing.  Cyber terrorism is real and terrifying to think about.  I know things like this really happen and I am grateful to the men and women who's jobs I have no idea about that are protecting and helping our country in this area today.  Most of us don't even have a clue, I think.  At least I don't.

I loved this book.  It was full on and fabulous.  As far as content, there is some violence but no swearing or sexual content.  There is a couple references to the main character being a Mormon but nothing preachy or religious.  

My thanks to Cedar Fort for providing a copy of this book for review.

Eruption by Adrienne Quintana

Jace Vega has finally landed her dream job—working for Omnibus, an up-and-coming tech firm. But a mysterious message from her future self sets Jace and her old friend Corey racing to piece together clues before Omnibus destroys their future—and their past. This fast-paced thriller will keep you guessing till the very last page.

 * Amazon * Goodreads *

Do you love time travel books?  Dr. Who kind of TV shows and movies?  If you do, you will probably really enjoy this book.  For me, time travel books are usually just confusing.  I have a really hard time keeping everything straight in my head.  I gave up watching Dr. Who but my husband and kids love it.  The one time travel movie I love is Somewhere in Time.  ha.  And even that one confused me to some degree.

So, yeah.  I was a bit confused in this book.  There is a lot of jumping around through memories (or are they memories?) or is it the future that hasn't happened (or has it?).  My brain just could not do it.  That's not anyone's problem buy my own because I actually think the concept of this book is great.  I liked the story and the characters.  I thought the pacing was good and the details kept me interested.  I didn't really understand the relationships between characters- that was mostly surface without a lot of detail because most of it happened in the future.  I think.  Uugh!!

Because I was just a wee tad bit confused the whole time, I always felt like I was missing something.  I was curious when the book started and I grew more and more confused in some areas while others things became more clear.  I can't say that by the end everything was all cleared up because I was left on a cliff that I didn't fully understand in the end too.  <sigh>  Maybe time travel is like calculus or trig to my brain.  It just doesn't compute.

Bottom line is that while I was confused by the time travel aspect, I was interested and I liked the story.  This book is clean (no sexual situations or swearing) which is always a plus in my opinion.

Ring Around the Rosie by Julie Coulter Bellon + $30 and book giveaway!

Ring Around the Rosie Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Today is the kickoff for the blog tour for my new novel, Ring Around the Rosie! There are some awesome prizes being given away, so be sure to scroll down and enter to win!  

Ring Around the Rosie

Revenge is a dish best served cold . . .

As the ex-wife of a law enforcement officer, Sarah Reed has known loneliness and loss. In order to cope, she makes a life for herself that's full of routine while building a wall of ice around her heart. Everything about her is as predictable as she can make it until a tiny detour for her ex-husband, Ron, changes her life forever. Caught in a bomb crisis, Sarah is taken hostage by a man who wants Ron and everyone around him to suffer---and his idea of suffering is more terrible than Sarah had ever dreamed.

Captain Ron Reed has seen the worst of humanity in his job with the Hostage Negotiation Team, but he never expected his past to come back with a vengeance---literally. Aaron Starks, a criminal explosives expert, has stolen next-gen bomb technology and uses it to force Ron to bargain for the lives of his team and his ex-wife, Sarah, the woman he still loves. But the situation escalates when Ron discovers that Starks has an even bigger objective in mind---using the bomb to show how vulnerable America and her people truly are.

Ron is willing to risk everything to save his country and those he loves, but when negotiations break down, will his sacrifice be too little too late?

Excerpt 

Her words were cut off by a blast of hot air and fire, an explosion so large it blew them all backward. Ron hit the floor hard and lay there dazed and groggy. Glass and debris rained down. Confetti-sized menus and napkins floated like snowflakes in slow motion all around him. For a second the entire world was a silent tunnel with him at the end of it. It would be so easy to just close his eyes and let the blackness suck him down into unconsciousness. But he couldn’t. Not yet. Get up. Get everyone out.

“Sarah?” he croaked. He tried again. “Sarah?” His legs felt like lead and the urge to just lie back was stronger than ever. No. Keep moving. “Claire?” He coughed and tried to catch a breath, but couldn’t get the oxygen to his lungs. With a shallow intake of air, he turned over on his stomach and used his arms to raise himself to a sitting position. The inside of the diner looked like a destructive madman had rearranged it. The booths were toppled or stacked on top of each other. The hostess station was next to him now. The only thing that was still standing where it had before the blast was the four walls, the ceiling, and the antique counter. “Sarah,” he called again. “Bart? Colby?” The little girl. Was she still in the back with her mother?

No one answered. Where is everyone? He crawled forward. Sarah had been nearly right beside him. Now there was no sign of her. He rubbed his eyes and coughed. Moving slowly, he prayed she was alive. It didn’t take long to find her sandwiched between an overturned booth bench and the podium for the hostess station. With some effort he managed to maneuver close to her, the adrenaline kicking in as his blood pounded through his system. Don’t let her be dead. Not like this.

Purchase Your Copy

Amazon * Barnes and Noble

iTunes * Kobo

Being a reviewer sort of has its ups and downs.  Sometimes you read books you don't love and it's really hard to get through them.  But most days it's the most awesome job ever.  Some days you feel like a kid on Christmas day.  When you get your hands on the newest, latest book by an author you love, it's Christmas day.  That's how I felt when I finally got to read Julie's latest book.  Yes, I'm a fan.  I've read all her books and I always love them.  I only just recently joined up with her "swat team" and I still feel a little giddy over it.

This book is the latest in the hostage negotiation series.  All the titles from this series have a line from the Ring Around the Rosie rhyme.  It's sort of creepy and awesome all at the same time.  Each book revolves around characters from Captain Reed's Hostage Negotiation Team but I don't think one is dependent on the others.

One of the things I love about Julie's books is the suspense.  I feel that charged air feeling and the desperation to get through a scene because I have to find out if the characters make it and how they are going to make it, but I never feel overwhelmed.  The tension in this book is almost always there.  It starts off with a bang (quite literally) and never really lets up.  

Captain Ron is a giant of a man.  He is a protector.  He cares about people and he has great intuition.  Well, great intuition about his job but not so much about his ex-wife, Sarah.  He made a mistake years ago letting her walk away but he never stopped loving her and wishing for a way back to her.  Ron is willing to give his life to save the lives of everyone on his team, strangers caught up in the hostage mess and especially Sarah but that creepy bad guy, Sparks, has other ideas of retribution and torture in mind.

This was such a great read.  It was easy to get caught up in this book and forget that I had other things to do.  I loved the pacing, the characters and the crackle of tension.  I also love that this book is squeaky clean.  (no swearing or sexual scenes)

About the Author

Julie is married with eight children and eleven published books. She loves to travel and her favorite cities she's visited so far are probably Athens, Paris, Ottawa, and London. She would love to visit Hawaii, Australia, Ireland, and Scotland someday. She loves to read, write, teach, watch Castle, Hawaii Five-O, and eat Canadian chocolate. Not necessarily in that order.        

Website * Blog * Facebook  * Twitter 

Sign up for my newsletter

Giveaway

Prize #1---$30 Amazon Gift Card 

Prize #2---Booklovers Basket

Prize #3---Four Book Set of Hostage Negotiation Team series 

Ends 9/15/14 

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

On Tour with Finding Sheba by H.B. Moore

 

 An ancient legend is reborn . . . One that might prove the Bible false. For centuries, historians have theorized the Queen of Sheba as only a seductive legend, and scholars have debated over the legitimacy of King David or King Solomon. When undercover Israeli agent, Omar Zagouri, stumbles onto a tomb in Northern Jerusalem he unknowingly finds the final clue that threatens to overthrow government claim to the Holy Land, pits wealthy collectors against one another, and sends ruthless archaeologists scrambling to find the queen’s secret burial place. An assassination attempt on the Coptic Pope, His Holiness, Patriarch Stephanus II, is only the first in the chain of lethal crimes. Omar must find a way to prevent the greatest discovery of the century from becoming the most deadly.

Wow, this book was packed full of interesting things.  I want to call it a historical thriller but it wasn't really fully historical because obviously it's fiction and it wasn't really a thriller because it wasn't scary or anything but it thrilled me.  :)   Hum, is that clear as mud?  Historical Thriller.

At first I was a bit confused because there are quite a few different characters, all in different places doing different things.  It took me awhile to get to know the characters enough that I felt like things were coming together in my head.  I really did love how all these characters are all on different paths taking them to the same place where they all collide in great climactic force.  It was, well, thrilling.

I love books based on historical things, even loosely.  What an amazing job Ms. Moore has done with research, making this book feel so believable.  I loved the Queen of Sheba story that was interwoven through the book.  I feel like that could have been stretched even longer to a whole book of it's own and I would have gladly bought into it.  

This was just a very satisfying read.  I loved it.

Content:  some violence, including a human sacrifice that was somewhat graphic.

Add to Goodreads

Purchase on Amazon

Heather B. Moore is the award-winning author of ten novels, two inspirational non-fiction books, and two anthologies, including The Newport Ladies Book Club Series, A Timeless Romance Anthology, and Christ’s Gifts to Women (co-authored by Angela Eschler). Her historical fiction is published under the pen name H.B. Moore. She is the two-time recipient of Best of State in Literary Fiction, two-time Whitney Award Winner, and two-time Golden Quill Winner for Best Novel. Her most recent historical novel under H.B. Moore is Daughters of Jared (2012 LUW Gold Award of Excellence & 2012 LUW Best Book Trailer).

Website * Blog * Facebook * Twitter

 

Tour Schedule