Autumn by the Sea (By: Melissa Tag)

Autumn by the Sea
By: Melissa Tagg

Story Line: 4 Stars
Depth: 4 Stars
Faith: 3 Stars
Love Story: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars

Autumn by the Sea captured our attention before we even opened the book! The author, the title, and cover drew us in. 

We have become big fans of author Melissa Tagg, and her writing just keeps getting better with each book. We thoroughly enjoyed the setting, pace, and mystery in this new series. Her characters grow on the reader quickly, and give us much to look forward to as the rest of the series is released. Melissa weaves different layers into the plot so engaging the book kept us turning pages long into the night. 

What caught us off guard - different from Melissa's previous books - was the ongoing mystery will seemingly take more than one book to solve! Therefore we eagerly wait for the next in the series. While we may have preferred a stronger faith aspect to be woven in a little more, we would highly recommend this book to others.

Note: We were given this book in exchange for our honest review.  

Tangled Webs (By: Irene Hannon)

Tangled Webs

By: Irene Hannon

Storyline 

Finn MacGregor is finished with his career as an Army Ranger, and just wants a little peace and quiet to figure out what he is going to do for the rest of his life. When he rents a secluded cabin deep in the backwoods of Missouri, he figures the solitude and lack of cell phone coverage won't be hard to get used to. And maybe he can get his secrets and demons figured out while there. But when a woman's terrified scream pierces through the night, he finds himself back in rescue mode to his beautiful neighbor - who has secrets and demons of her own to wrestle through.

Dana Lewis plans to stay at her own secluded cabin indefinitely. That is, unless a mysterious prankster can convince her to leave by frightening her off the property. As Finn and Dana work together to figure out who is behind the pranks and why they want her gone, these two troubled souls learn to trust each other - both in solving the mystery and in their personal lives.

Depth

Finn and Dana both have damaged souls from their pasts. As they very slowly learn to trust each other, they must learn to let go and have the courage to move forward in their lives. Also addressed in a side storyline is the very real issue of absolute truth, absolute right and wrong. What do you do when the only answer (it seems) to a tough situation is unethical - at best? Author Irene does an excellent job detailing how quickly that decision can become a tangled web of lies, deceit and cover ups.

Additionally, some of the main characters either have a broken past to deal with or currently have great pain to contend with. Broken families, past mistakes, and unfulfilled dreams are addressed.

Faith

The best faith storyline in this book actually comes through the wrestlings of one of the perpetrators. He is a church-going, Bible-believing, man of honor who makes one wrong decision - and continues to walk in it as he descends further down into the tangled web of its consequences. His conscience tries to kick in, but after ignoring it enough times, that voice becomes harder to distinguish. It's a good reminder to the reader that every choice, no matter how small, will either bring you closer to or further away from God. Thankfully, even after walking in a way contrary to God, He will always be there, waiting for us, ready to offer forgiveness and redemption

Love Story

Finn and Dana are instantly attracted to each other and have a few sparks as they get to know one another, but ultimately their love story is wrapped up in the mystery and depth of the story, so the romance isn't overpowering.

Overall

We have enjoyed the Men of Valor series, and it was good to finally hear Finn's story. The first half of the book was a little slow and didn't really have much meat to its plot, which accounts for this less than stellar star rating. The second half of the book picked up the pace however and concluded in a satisfying ending.

Find it on Amazon: Tangled Webs

Note: We were given this book free in return for our honest review

Falling Like Snowflakes (By: Denise Hunter)

Falling Like Snowflakes

By: Denise Hunter

Denise Hunter has become one of our favorite authors because any of her books are almost a sure guarantee of an entertaining read! And with this newest novel, the first book in the Summer Harbor series, she has hit another home run.

Storyline
Eden Martelli is on the run from dangerous men who want to take her life and the life of her son, Micah. When her car breaks down and her cash is stolen, they become stranded in Summer Harbor, Maine and must find a way to make a living but stay hidden from those who would destroy them. When she meets the Callahan family - three grown brothers and their aunt - it seems God is providing not only a place to stay and a job for her, but a family to call her own as well. Beau Callahan slowly learns of the danger Eden is in and wants nothing more than to protect her and her son. But how can he do so when she is determined to keep hiding and running? 

This book captivated us from the first page and never stopped pulling us in. We were completely swept away into the story, so much so that we didn't want the book to end! Author Denise gave us her usual intriguing characters and dynamite romance, but she also ventured into the world of mystery and suspense and nailed it!

Depth

Eden faces a lot of fear in the wake of her past and the danger now at her door. She has to learn to let go of the fear in order to open herself up to a new life, but it isn't easy and takes some painful lessons to learn how. Beau is struggling with the loss of his parents and the responsibility of the family now that it's their first Christmas alone. Family relationships are complicated at times but they always come back to each other, despite the conflicts. We loved the way Denise writes families - flawed, funny, lovable and real.

Faith

"When you can't trust others, and you can't trust yourself, you can always trust God. He'll carry you through whatever comes your way." Faith is an important part of the character's lives, and they have to learn many things: giving fears to God, trusting the Lord, letting go at times, learning His character and knowing the Bible.

Squeal Factor

Eden does not feel she can ever trust a man again. But when she and Beau can no longer deny their strong attraction to one another, she lets her guard down just a little - and the chemistry they share is like fireworks! Denise is so good at writing deep, clean, passionate romance!

Overall

This book felt like a hot buttered roll right out of the oven. We savored every bit of it as it tantalized our taste buds and settled warmly into our bellies! We are putting this book on our Golden List because it was just that enjoyable. Now we are eager for the rest of the Summer Harbor series!

Find it on Amazon: Falling Like Snowflakes


Note: We were given this book in exchange for our honest review