Tag Archives: romantic suspense fiction

Mini-Book Review — Canyon of Deceit

10 Nov

There was a lot going on in DiAnn Mills‘s newest romantic suspense, Canyon of Deceit, and I loved every minute of it! This fast-paced novel features a wilderness survival trainer/guide and a Texas Ranger as they track a kidnapped girl through the high desert of west Texas. They also dodge assassins bullets and uncover a plot by the Russian mafia. Whew! The twists and turns kept the characters and Mills’ readers on their toes. This was pure escape fiction for me. The romance is slow and careful, as the main characters are on different wavelengths spiritually. I appreciated that and the faith thread the author wove naturally through the narrative. Truth without preachiness. If you like to be kept on the edge of your seat while furiously turning the pages, then Canyon of Deceit is for you.

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

(I received a complimentary ebook from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

A rescue team searches for a missing young girl and suspects all is not as it seems in this high-stakes romantic suspense novel from the author of Lethal Standoff and Facing the Enemy.

When wilderness survival expert Therese Palmer receives a frantic phone call from former colleague Professor Rurik Ivanov, she is shocked by the news that his young daughter, Alina, is missing—and that Rurik wants Therese’s help finding her. She’s sure Rurik hasn’t given her the whole story . . . especially since he refuses to report the kidnapping to the police. Yet with a child’s life hanging in the balance, Therese can’t turn down this mission. She knows the clock is ticking and she can’t do this alone.

Therese reaches out to Texas Ranger Blane Gardner, whom she met seven months ago during one of her training courses in wilderness survival skills. Blane’s specialized training and background with the Crisis Negotiation Unit make him uniquely prepared for this search-and-rescue mission. He agrees to help Therese and to accept Rurik’s terms to keep Alina’s disappearance quiet, and as the two begin working together, Therese is determined the spark growing between them won’t distract from their mission to save Alina.

Traversing deep into the desert of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Alina’s last known location, Therese and Blane struggle to separate truth from lies within the mix of intel they’re receiving. As they close in on answers that suggest the involvement of Russian organized crime and a high-profile international assassination attempt, they must fight to rescue Alina before she becomes an innocent casualty of a much bigger plot—no matter the risk to their own lives.

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who invites her readers to step into stories where suspense meets adventure and romance warms the heart. Known for crafting unforgettable characters tangled in unpredictable plots, DiAnn believes every breath we take unfolds a story waiting to be told—so why not make it thrilling?

Her novels have consistently landed on bestseller lists including CBA, ECPA, and Publishers Weekly, and have won prestigious awards such as the Christy, Selah, Golden Scroll, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol awards.

DiAnn is a founding board member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Conference Advisor for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers. She actively participates in Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, International Thriller Writers, Outliers Writing University, and The Christian Pen. DiAnn passionately invests in helping fellow authors succeed through mentoring, book coaching, and editing. She travels nationwide speaking and teaching engaging writing workshops.

A proud coffee snob who roasts her own beans, DiAnn also enjoys diving into good books, experimenting in the kitchen, and unabashedly spoiling her grandchildren—whom she insists are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband make their home under the sunny skies of Houston, Texas.

Mini-Book Review — Lost Hours

5 Nov

Lost Hours, a romantic suspense novel by Susan Sleeman, was a fun read. The second-chance-at-love trope added a lot to the chemistry between the two main characters, Nolan and Mina. Brought together when a game night turns deadly, the two join forces to solve the murders in the small Pacific Northwest town. I really liked the twists and turns that Sleeman took her characters and readers through. I love solving the crimes along the way as I follow the investigation by the main characters. And the forensic science shared was very intriguing. The novel was fast-paced and kept me turning the pages — I read this one in record time. There is an ensemble cast of characters, so more great books to come! There are 5 books in the Lost Lake Locators series (2 due out in 2026)! I look forward to more great reading ahead.

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

(I borrowed this book from Kindle Unlimited. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Protecting his friends has always come first…

When Nolan Orr, founding member of Lost Lake Locators, and his teammates receive a mysterious invitation to a secluded mansion on Lost Island for what seems to be an innocent game night with his closest college friends, he eagerly agrees to attend. Not only to enjoy the event with friends who were more like family to him than his actual family, but to figure out which friend set up the fun but unusual night.

Until he has to consider one of them a suspect for murder.

However, as the evening progresses, he soon realizes that they are pawns in a deadly game orchestrated by a twisted mastermind. Where betrayal and survival go hand in hand, ultimately leading to a missing friend, to murder and a murder investigation that Sheriff Mina Park arrives to take charge of. Problem is, Nolan and Mina had a brief summer fling one year on his visit to the island, and it ended badly. Will she let him into the investigation and work with him, or avoid him as she’s been doing for years?

Susan Sleeman writes the kind of romantic suspense that makes you double-check the locks—and maybe fall a little for the hero.

Her clean, high-octane stories are packed with danger, heart, and just enough faith to light the darkest corners.

With over sixty novels, multiple awards, and more than two million books sold, she knows a thing or two about keeping readers on the edge of their seats—and her FBI and police citizen academy training doesn’t hurt either.

These days, she calls Oregon home, where she juggles plotting crimes (fictional ones, promise), spoiling grandkids, and running The Suspense Zone.

Ready to lose sleep over your next favorite book? Head to Susan’s website.

Top 10 Tuesday — Random Books from The Shelves

4 Nov

Happy Tuesday! Today TTT bloggers are posting random books from our shelves — either physical or digital. Sharing from either is really going to expose my lack of timely reading. 😉 My Kindle, physical shelves, and NetGalley shelf are filled with hopes and dreams — hope that I will finally choose a book and dreams of having all the time in the world to read! Sad for so many reasons. But I will play along anyway. I chose to go the physical book route — have you read any on my list? Tell me which should head to the top of the TBR pile.

For more random book goodness, please visit That Artsy Reader Girl.

10 Random Books from My Book Shelves

The Cairo Brief by Fiona Veitch Smith

Code of Valor by Lynette Eason

Every Hour Until Then by Gabrielle Meyer

A Gardin Wedding by Rosey Lee

The Secret Book of Flora Lee by Patty Callahan Henry

Outbreak by Davis Bunn

The Queen by Stephen James

Things We Didn’t Say by Amy Lynn Green

Under The Tulip Tree by Michele Shocklee

Visible Threat by Janice Cantore

Top 10 Tuesday — Atmospheric Reads, Halloween Edition

28 Oct

Happy Tuesday! Today’s TTT topic is a Halloween Freebie. Last week bloggers posted about cozy/atmospheric novels. I chose cozy with a follow-up of atmospheric books today. To fit with the Halloween theme I am defining atmospheric as a book setting that conjures up a feeling of mystery and intrigue, with a little bit (or a lot) of spooky thrown in. It’s always good to have at least one spooky read during October. 😉 I hope you find one that intrigues you.

For more Halloween-ish posts, please visit That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Atmospheric Reads

The Devil Walks in Mattingly by Billy Coffey

Man of Shadow And Mist by Michelle Griep

Of Gold And Shadows by Michelle Griep

On The Cliffs of Foxglove Manor by Jaime Jo Wright

Queen of Hearts by Heather Day Gilbert

Shadows of Swanford Abbey by Julie Klassen

Shattered Sanctuary by Nancy Mehl

Specters in The Glass House by Jaime Jo Wright

Storm Warning by Elizabeth Goddard

Wicked Is The Hollow by K. E. Ganshert

Spotlight on Romantic Suspense — Wasted

27 Oct

Wasted Blog Tour

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Wasted by Jerusha Agen, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About The Book

Wasted

Title: Wasted
Series: Windy City Westons #2
Author: Jerusha Agen
Publisher: SDG Words, LLC
Release Date: October 23, 2025
Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense

She always follows the rules. But what are the rules for murder?

Victoria Weston encounters tough things as a home health physical therapist, but this is a first—a dead body. The police call the patient’s death accidental. Victoria knows that can’t be true. Her efforts to convince the police they’re dealing with a murder get her labeled a troublemaker by all but one man—the troubler of her youth.

When Cillian Doherty returns to right the wrongs of the past, he finds his high school flame in a different kind of danger than he expected. As a social worker, he’s in the perfect position to corroborate her cry of murder or give her what she wanted—to handle her problems without his help.

But someone wants to silence Victoria. When lies escalate to violence and threaten more lives, the Weston siblings join the battle to save their sister.

Yet it will take a God more powerful than all of them for Cillian and Victoria to make peace with their past and catch the killer. Before the killer catches them.

Wasted continues the thrilling Windy City Westons series that features five siblings who encounter danger, love, and God in the city of Chicago. (Each book can stand alone or be read as series installments.)

Praise for Jerusha

“Jerusha Agen once again delivers top-level suspense and thrilling action. Fast-paced suspense at its best.”

– DiAnn Mills, bestselling author of Concrete Evidence on Covert Danger

“Fast-paced, explosive thriller. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.”

Carrie Stuart Parks, award-winning, bestselling author of Relative Silence on Rising Danger

Excerpt

She pressed her lips together in that pinched expression. “If you’ve truly returned in connection with me for some unknown reason, then I suggest you leave again and forget about me as you did before. We’ll all be better off.”

He stood, quickly, so she wouldn’t have enough warning to leave.

She barely got in one step back in the second it took for him to stand in front of her, forcing her to look up at him instead.

“I never forgot you, Vicks. Never.” 

She stared up at him, frozen with her elegant brows pushed together and a battle of emotions playing out in her eyes. Fear, confusion, anger, and what he hoped was longing. For him.

She spun on her heels and left, the fear or anger apparently winning out. For now.

He wouldn’t leave this time, even if she asked him to. He’d changed in that way, too. He had learned how to fight bullies and win.

Her father would not control her for the rest of her life. No matter what it took, Cillian would set her free.



PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Jerusha Agen shop | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | BookBub

More in This Series


About The Author

Jerusha Agen

Jerusha Agen imagines danger around every corner but knows God is there, too. So naturally, she writes romantic suspense infused with the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. Jerusha loves to hang out with her big furry dogs and little furry cats, often while reading or watching movies. Find more of Jerusha’s thrilling, fear-fighting stories at JerushaAgen.com.


Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will receive a signed paperback copy of Wasted, a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card, and a Wasted mug, notebook, and magnet!

Wasted JustRead Tours blog giveaway

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight October 27, 2025 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on November 3, 2025. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway


Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

JustRead Publicity Tours

First Line Friday — Canyon of Deceit

24 Oct

I love a good romantic suspense novel, and DiAnn Mills is one of the best authors to combine fast-paced plotting with sizzling sparks between her characters. Her latest book, Canyon of Deceit, does both equally well. You’ll hold your breath as the two mains face danger and their attraction.

Here’s the first line of chapter one:

The shrill ring of my mobile phone jolted e awake at 2:00 am., a haunting prompt that emergencies seldom emerged in daylight.

A rescue team searches for a missing young girl and suspects all is not as it seems in this high-stakes romantic suspense novel from the author of Lethal Standoff and Facing the Enemy.

When wilderness survival expert Therese Palmer receives a frantic phone call from former colleague Professor Rurik Ivanov, she is shocked by the news that his young daughter, Alina, is missing—and that Rurik wants Therese’s help finding her. She’s sure Rurik hasn’t given her the whole story . . . especially since he refuses to report the kidnapping to the police. Yet with a child’s life hanging in the balance, Therese can’t turn down this mission. She knows the clock is ticking and she can’t do this alone.

Therese reaches out to Texas Ranger Blane Gardner, whom she met seven months ago during one of her training courses in wilderness survival skills. Blane’s specialized training and background with the Crisis Negotiation Unit make him uniquely prepared for this search-and-rescue mission. He agrees to help Therese and to accept Rurik’s terms to keep Alina’s disappearance quiet, and as the two begin working together, Therese is determined the spark growing between them won’t distract from their mission to save Alina.

Traversing deep into the desert of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Alina’s last known location, Therese and Blane struggle to separate truth from lies within the mix of intel they’re receiving. As they close in on answers that suggest the involvement of Russian organized crime and a high-profile international assassination attempt, they must fight to rescue Alina before she becomes an innocent casualty of a much bigger plot—no matter the risk to their own lives.

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who invites her readers to step into stories where suspense meets adventure and romance warms the heart. Known for crafting unforgettable characters tangled in unpredictable plots, DiAnn believes every breath we take unfolds a story waiting to be told—so why not make it thrilling?

Her novels have consistently landed on bestseller lists including CBA, ECPA, and Publishers Weekly, and have won prestigious awards such as the Christy, Selah, Golden Scroll, Inspirational Readers’ Choice, and Carol awards.

DiAnn is a founding board member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Conference Advisor for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers. She actively participates in Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Mystery Writers of America, the Jerry Jenkins Writers Guild, International Thriller Writers, Outliers Writing University, and The Christian Pen. DiAnn passionately invests in helping fellow authors succeed through mentoring, book coaching, and editing. She travels nationwide speaking and teaching engaging writing workshops.

A proud coffee snob who roasts her own beans, DiAnn also enjoys diving into good books, experimenting in the kitchen, and unabashedly spoiling her grandchildren—whom she insists are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband make their home under the sunny skies of Houston, Texas.

Learn about all of DiAnn’s books and connect with DiAnn @ diannmills dot com.

Happy Release Day! — Battle Charged

17 Oct

Happy release day to Hannah Hood Lucero. Her latest romantic suspense novel, Battle Charged, is now available! I had the pleasure of meeting Hannah at a book festival in January of this year. What a fun author she is (her mother is great too 😉 ). If you like books that feature the military, check this one out! Hannah knows her stuff — she’s a veteran and a military spouse.

Silence kills.

As a professional body builder, Gatlin Baker knows fitness. And as a survivor of a
chronic diagnosis and a broken family, he’s no stranger to overcoming insurmountable odds. Yet no one has ever mystified him more than the laser- focused young woman who comes to his gym at five o’clock every morning to complete a flawless routine. Something other than a training goal is motivating the army medic he secretly nicknames “Athena.” Gatlin wants to figure it out, but her story is far darker and more complicated than he ever imagined.

Randee Carter’s whole world came crashing down in one week’s time. Now she’s
threatened with the loss of her career, while ghosts of the past keep haunting her
at every turn. Betrayed by those closest to her and plagued with guilt and grief, whom can she trust, and how will she ever find answers to move forward in her life?

As Gatlin and Randee draw together in a blossoming romance, dark forces close in, threatening to rip them apart. Will the truths kept silent too long be revealed before it’s too late?

HANNAH HOOD LUCERO is a wife, mom of three, Army veteran, and self-proclaimed word-slinger. While it is the brackish waters of the Mississippi Sound that flow through her veins, western North Carolina holds her heart. Her love for storytelling is the fruit of a lifetime of cultivation in the vibrant cultures of the Gulf Coast and the Blue Ridge Mountains. She currently resides in South Mississippi with her husband and three children on their ten-acre homestead. They have a dog, thirteen chickens, and at least fifty species of mosquitos, depending on the month of the year. When she isn’t in the garden, at the stove, or homeschooling, she can be found at her computer—just follow the sound of frenetic typing. Her motto is, “Draft, edit, read, repeat.”

Top 10 Tuesday — Long Book Series

7 Oct

Happy Tuesday! Today TTT is all about favorite book series, and I am specifically focusing on series that are longer than the standard 3 books. Some have concluded, which gives you a great reason to binge read, and others are still on going, so you better catch up! All are great in my opinion. I have included a variety of genres so that you can find the perfect book for you.

For more fabulous book series, please visit That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Book Series with Lots of Books!

Daughters of The Mayflower series by various authors (12 books)

Hope Harbor series by Irene Hannon (12 and counting!)

Hugh De Singleton’s Chronicles by Mel Starr (17 and counting!)

The O’Malley series by Dee Henderson (6 books)

Psalm 23 Mysteries series by Debbie Viguie (21 books)

Timeless series by Gabrielle Meyer (6 and counting)

True Colors series by various authors (11 books)

True Crime Junkies series by Christy Barritt (10 books)

Top 10 Tuesday — Fall-Vibe Book Covers

30 Sep

Happy Tuesday! It’a finally fall, y’all! Although the temps in my part of the world would not be considered sweata weatha, there is hope in sight! To commemorate the change of seasons, this week’s TTT topic is book covers that give all the fall vibes — whether they feature autumn sights or have the rich colors of the season. I have a mix of genres, as well as new releases and older books. What do you think?

For more autumnal book covers, please visit That Arsty Reader Girl.

Top Fall Vibe Book Covers

The Heart of Bennet Hollow by Joanne Bischof DeWitt

Hearts in Circulation by Sarah Monzon

The Highland Heist by Pepper Basham

Of Gold And Shadow by Michelle Griep

The Second Story Bookshop by Denise Hunter

A Song in The Dark by Kimberly Woodhouse

The Sound of Falling Leaves by Lisa Carter

The Sowing Season by Katie Powner

Unintended Witness by D. L. Wood

The Wood’s Edge by Lori Benton

Top 10 Tuesday — Fall TBR

23 Sep

Happy Tuesday! I’m finally back with another TTT post. It has been crazy the last few months, and I haven’t had the mental bandwidth to come up with lists that I think anyone would want to read. 😉 I have a few days to breathe and this week’s topic, Fall TBR, should be a no-brainer, so here is my list. I don’t have a lot of mandatory reading so this list is fairly loose — books that have caught my eye and I hope to read them in the coming weeks. Let me know which ones you have enjoyed.

For more Fall Reading Lists, please visit That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top 10 Books on My Fall TBR List

Between The Sound And Sea by Amanda Cox

Canyon of Deceit by DiAnn Mills

Echoes of A Silent Song by Amanda Wen

Final Approach by Lynette Eason

From The Valley We Rise by Elizabeth Musser

The Heart of Bennett Hollow by Joanne Bischof DeWitt

Over The Edge by Irene Hannon

Perilous Tides by Elizabeth Goddard

The Stories We Carry by Robin Pearson

The Words We Lost by Nicole Deese