This year, one of the Challenges I signed up for is Blog All About It, hosted by The Herd Presents. The guideline is basically a blogging prompt challenge. Each month there’s a different prompt that you can interpret as you’d like then create a blog post around it. The 2019 list of prompts can be seen here on my Challenge Page. I will be posting for this Challenge on the 2nd Saturday of each month.

This month’s prompt is: BLOOM

It’s been a very rainy and dreary Spring here in RI and flowers are a bit late in blooming. I have been waiting patiently to get outside, clean up my flower beds and plant. So no actual pictures of my gardens.

I have perennials planted along a wall on one side of our backyard and in May add some annuals. In a corner of our backyard, I have a statue of the Blessed Virgin with an angel on each side, which I also plant annuals. In another corner, we have a hydrangea bush, with perennials and again, will add annuals for more color. My favorite blooms in this area are the Star Gazer Lilys. The fragrance is beautiful but the actual flowers do not last long.

I also have 4 large pots located in each corner of where our pool is that I plant annuals, usually Impatiens.

Wednesday of this week, the sun finally made an appearance, so I took advantage of the day and planted these seeds and fingers crossed, they will be blooming in a few weeks.

What I am really hoping that will bloom, which I had never seen before, was a seed paper that includes multiple wildflower blends in the shape of a butterfly. Recently, my son’s girlfriend’s Mom passed away and after the funeral, guests were given these packets in her memory.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this year I have a backyard full of color and beautiful blooms.

Synopsis:

Tough-as-nails Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong returns in this electrifying ninth installment of the series, by USA Today bestselling author Jon Land

1994: Texas Ranger Jim Strong investigates a mass murder on a dusty freight train linked to a mysterious, missing cargo for which no record exists.

The Present: His daughter, fifth generation Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong, finds herself on the trail of that same cargo when skeletal remains are found near an excavation site in the Texas desert. She’s also dealing with the aftermath of a massacre that claimed the lives of all the workers at a private intelligence company on her watch.

These two cases are connected by a long buried secret, one that men have killed and died to protect. Caitlin and her outlaw lover Cort Wesley Masters must prove themselves to be as strong as steel to overcome a bloody tide that has been rising for centuries.

**Read my review HERE and enter the giveaway**

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller
Published by: Forge Books
Publication Date: April 23rd 2019
Number of Pages: 336
ISBN: 0765384671 (ISBN13: 9780765384676)
Series: Caitlin Strong #10
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Author Bio:

Jon Land is the award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of 50 books, including ten titles in the critically acclaimed Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong series, the last of which, STRONG TO THE BONE, won both the 2017 American Book Fest and 2018 International Book Award for Best Mystery. The next title in the series, STRONG AS STEEL, will be published in April. MANUSCRIPT FOR marked his second effort writing as Jessica Fletcher for the MURDER, SHE WROTE series, and he has also teamed with Heather Graham for a new sci-fi series starting with THE RISING. He is a 1979 graduate of Brown University, lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

She was inspired to follow the Strong family tradition by becoming a Texas Ranger, only after she was sexually assaulted as a college student and the man who did it was never caught.

Her legendary father and grandfather, Jim and Earl Strong, worked on only a single case together as Texas Rangers, tracking killers who were after the legendary lost treasure of the pirate Jean Lafitte who really did base his operations off Texas’ Galveston Island, as told in STRONG VENGEANCE.

In the next book in the series, STRONG FROM THE HEART, she develops an addiction to opioids she’s being treated with for something that happens at the end of STRONG AS STEEL.

She actually left the Rangers for a time after tracking down and executing the cartel soldiers who killed her Texas Ranger partner Charlie Banks.

She was married for a brief stretch and her husband was thought to have died while serving as a contractor in Iraq. But the first book in the series, STRONG ENOUGH TO DIE, brings him back into her life as an amnesiac with no memory of her or what happened to him. This proved to tbe the impetus for her return to the Rangers.

Her grandfather taught her how to shoot at the age of six or seven and she could handle the likes of a 1911 Springfield model .45 by the time she was nine when she won her first shooting competition.

At the age of four, she witnessed the murder of her mother by drug mules but has no memory of that to this day, though she believes a lot of her more violent tendencies, and gunfighter mentality, stem from that day.

Caitlin also believes that incident is to blame for the fact that she never married or had children of her own. But it also explains her attachment to the sons of her outlaw lover Cort Wesley Masters for whom she becomes a surrogate mother.

When she was thirteen she witnessed her father gunning down a villain who’d escaped the law. Years later, as told in STRONG AT THE BREAK, she comes up against the man’s son, who also bore witness to Caitlin’s father Jim Strong killing his father.

Caitlin’s giant, deadly protector and guardian angel Guillermo Paz, the former head of the Venezuelan Secret Police, was actually hired to kill her in STRONG ENOUGH TO DIE. But she turned the tables in classic Caitlin form.

Caitlin is a quarter Mexican, thanks to an affair her grandfather, and fellow Texas Ranger, Earl Strong had with a woman he rescued from an early form of human trafficking in 1934 Texas.

Staying on the family theme, Caitlin also has a half-sister thanks to an affair her father Jim Strong had with a Mexican crime boss whose life he saved in STRONG AS STEEL, the most recent, and just released, book in the series

Catch Up With Our Jon Land at:
jonlandbooks.com, Goodreads, Twitter @jondland, & Facebook!

Read an excerpt:

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!

Enter To Win!:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Jon Land. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on April 22, 2019 and runs through May 24, 2019. Void where prohibited.

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Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

 

**Stop by tomorrow for a Guest Post by Jon Land**

Synopsis (via PICT)

Tough-as-nails Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong returns in this electrifying ninth installment of the series, by USA Today bestselling author Jon Land 1994: Texas Ranger Jim Strong investigates a mass murder on a dusty freight train linked to a mysterious, missing cargo for which no record exists. The Present: His daughter, fifth generation Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong, finds herself on the trail of that same cargo when skeletal remains are found near an excavation site in the Texas desert. She’s also dealing with the aftermath of a massacre that claimed the lives of all the workers at a private intelligence company on her watch. These two cases are connected by a long buried secret, one that men have killed and died to protect. Caitlin and her outlaw lover Cort Wesley Masters must prove themselves to be as strong as steel to overcome a bloody tide that has been rising for centuries.

My Thoughts

Hold on to your hats, bad ass Caitlin Strong, Texas Ranger, is taking the reader on another wild ride!!! Twenty-five years ago, Caitin’s father, Jim Strong, was on a case that wasn’t resolved and now Caitlin finds herself dealing with the same case. Some people want what was buried 25 years ago, which has eluded them, but Caitlin has to figure out who these people are and what are in the buried ossuaries. And bodies are also piling up. This book is the 10th book in this series but reads as a stand alone. What I enjoy in this series is the profound and immense research that goes into the books interweaving historical facts into the story. It is not only a thrilling read but I always learn new facts. For me, this was a page turner, trying to keep up with the action and to see what really was in those ossuaries. The action is nonstop! I highly recommend that you pick up a copy and I guarantee you will be hooked! Check out my reviews for previous books in this series: Strong To The Bone, Strong Cold Dead Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Giveaway:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Jon Land. There will be 1 winner of a $20. Amazon GC. The giveaway begins on April 22, 2019 and runs through May 24, 2019.

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REVIEW DISCLAIMER

This blog was founded on the premise to write honest reviews, to the best of my ability, no matter who from, where from and/or how the book was obtained, and will continue to do so, even if it is through PICT or PBP.

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.

I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Synopsis (via GR)

A missing child sets the lives of three women on a collision course in this powerful and compelling novel by USA Today bestselling author Bette Lee Crosby.

1971.

When a music festival rolls through the sleepy town of Hesterville, Georgia, the Dixon family’s lives are forever changed. On the final night, a storm muffles the sound of the blaring music, and Rachel tucks her baby into bed before falling into a deep sleep. So deep, she doesn’t hear the kitchen door opening. When she and her husband wake up in the morning, the crib is empty. Emily is gone.

Vicki Robart is one of the thousands at the festival, but she’s not feeling the music. She’s feeling the emptiness over the loss of her own baby several months before. When she leaves the festival and is faced with an opportunity to fill that void, she is driven to an act of desperation that will forever bind the lives of three women.

When the truth of what actually happened that fateful night is finally exposed, shattering the lives they’ve built, will they be able to pick up the pieces to put their families back together again?

My Thoughts

How can this be? Where have I been? Thinking under a rock since this is the first book that I read by this author. I am a member of multiple Facebook book groups and according to so many positive comments about her books, this is her 21st book, and many rave reviews for this book, which was the reason I chose to read it.

As the synopsis states the final day of a music festival, Emily Dixon, 6 months old, was kidnapped, taken from her crib while her parents slept. Vicki Robart, attended the festival, but due to drugs and depression of losing her own child, a stillborn, months before, she believes Emily is her Lara.

Emily’s parents, Rachel and George, never gave up hope that someday she would be returned to them but as each year passed that possibility seemed it was not to be. Every day, the “what ifs” were torturous to this couple.

In the beginning, Rachel is so broken that getting up each day is a feat in itself. Her mother-in-law, Helen a bitter lady due to the loss of her own husband and her son getting married and leaving their home, suddenly has a change of heart, and becomes a loving and influential person in Rachel’s life.

The characters were lifelike to the point that I felt that I was also a participant in their lives. The story and writing style flowed so smoothly that I felt I was transported to Hesterville, GA. I felt every emotion of the characters, the profound grief of losing a child, the anger, grief, despair, sadness, guilt, despondency Most of all, the love of a mother and the hope that Emily was being loved by the person who took her. And what surprised me was the emotions I felt towards the kidnapper (vague to not include spoiler).

Do wishes come true? What about fate? Is there anything stronger than a mother’s love? And would one be able to forgive after such a horrific act?

Do I recommend this book? I say that you HAVE and NEED to read this book!!! But have a box or 2 of tissues nearby!

And I have a lot of Bette Lee Crosby reading to do!!!!!!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

REVIEW DISCLAIMER

This blog was founded on the premise to write honest reviews, to the best of my ability, no matter who from, where from and/or how the book was obtained, and will continue to do so, even if it is through PICT or PBP.

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.

I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Mailbox Monday

Monday:
A NEARLY NORMAL FAMILY by Rachel Willson-Broyles ~ ARC TPB from Celadon Books
THE LAST WIDOW by Karin Slaughter ~ eBook from Harper Collins via NetGalley
LADY IN THE LAKE by Laura Lippman ~ eBook from William Morrow via NetGalley
GOOD GIRLS LIE by J.T. Ellison ~ eBook from Mira Books via NetGalley
Tuesday:
WHISPER NETWORK by Chandler Baker ~ ARC TPB from Flatiron Books
THE BODY IN THE WAKE by Katherine Hall Page ~ HC from William Morrow
Wednesday:
TURN OF THE KEY by Ruth Ware ~ eBook from Gallery Books via NetGalley
Thursday:
THE CHESTNUT MAN by Søren Sveistrup ~ ARC TPB from Harper Collins
THIN AIR by Lisa Gray ~ eBook via Prime

Hosted by McGruffy’s Reader and 15 and Meowing

This week’s Fill-Ins:

1. 13 years ago, I __________________.
2. By this time next year, I hope to ________________________.
3. One word that describes me is _________.
4. If my life were a book or movie, it would be in the _________ genre.

My answers:

1. 13 years ago, I didn’t even know what a blog was or that there was a book community online.

2. By this time next year, I hope to make a bigger dent in my TBR books.

3. One word that describes me is compassionate. IMO, a trait that made me choose to go into nursing.

4. If my life were a book or movie, it would be in the suspense/thriller genre.

Synopsis:

Every human life is supposed to be important. Everyone should matter. But that’s not the case in the cutthroat TV news-rating world where Clare Carlson works. Sex, money, and power sell. Only murder victims of the right social strata are considered worth covering. Not the murder of a “nobody.”

So, when the battered body of a homeless woman named Dora Gayle is found on the streets of New York City, her murder barely gets a mention in the media. But Clare―a TV news director who still has a reporter’s instincts―decides to dig deeper into the seemingly meaningless death. She uncovers mysterious links between Gayle and a number of wealthy and influential figures. There is a prominent female defense attorney; a scandal-ridden ex-congressman; a decorated NYPD detective; and―most shocking of all―a wealthy media mogul who owns the TV station where Clare works. Soon there are more murders, more victims, more questions. As the bodies pile up, Clare realizes that her job, her career, and maybe even her life are at stake as she chases after her biggest story ever.

I am always a bit skeptical when I start reading the second book in a series, when the first book, in this case, YESTERDAY’S NEWS, blew me away. Did BELOW THE FOLD stand up to the comparison?

Clare Carlson, news executive at Channel 10 news and former Pulitzer Prize winner for a missing child that she covered when she was a journalist, decides that the murder of a homeless woman, Dora Gayle, would be an item on the evening news, even though it fell below the fold. What she didn’t see coming, was that this story would become a major news story involving a former Congressman, a defense attorney, a stockbroker, an NYPD homicide detective, and a multimedia mogul, who is also her boss.

The Dora Gayle case fell “below the fold” which does not make it important enough to make the top news story, but Clare had a gut feeling about it. She was right because bodies are starting to pile up since the broadcast. A list of names was left at the scene of the second murder. but what is the connection between these 4 people to the homeless woman? Clare lives and breathes news’ stories, always on the hunt for the BIG story, which this one is becoming, and she doesn’t let up, even when it has come to an end. Or has it?

Clare Carlson takes the reader through a maze of leads and tips, with some being significant parts of the puzzle and others a dead end. Or is it really a dead end?

An exciting narrative with lifelike characters that was hard to put down! A heart pounding read with so many moving parts! A frantic story that will have you turning the pages as fast as you can!

Did this book let me down? Absolutely NOT!! And since there were hints about the previous case that was in YESTERDAY’S NEWS, I can’t wait to see what and where Clare Carlson will take us on her next big story!!!!

KUDOS Mr. Belsky!!! I’m hooked!!!

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery
Published by: Oceanview Publishing
Publication Date: May 2019
Number of Pages: 357
ISBN: 978-1-60809-324-3
Series: Clare Carlson #2
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

 

 

Author Bio:

R.G. Belsky is an author of crime fiction and a journalist in New York City. His newest mystery , YESTERDAY’S NEWS, was published in May 2018 by Oceanview. It is the first in a series featuring Clare Carlson, the news director for a New York City TV station. A second Clare Carlson book, BELOW THE FOLD, will be out in May 2019. Belsky’s last book, BLONDE ICE, was published by Atria in October 2016. It is the third in a series of books from Atria about Gil Malloy, a hard-driving newspaper reporter with a penchant for breaking big stories on the front page of the New York Daily News. The first book in the Gil Malloy series – THE KENNEDY CONNECTION – was published in 2014 and SHOOTING FOR THE STARS came out in 2015. Belsky himself is a former managing editor at the Daily News and writes about the media from an extensive background in newspapers, magazines and TV/digital news. At the Daily News, he also held the titles of metropolitan editor and deputy national editor. Before that, he was metropolitan editor of the New York Post and news editor at Star magazine. Belsky was most recently the managing editor for news at NBCNews.com. His previous suspense novels include PLAYING DEAD and LOVERBOY. BLONDE ICE was nominated as a finalist for the David Award at Deadly Ink and also for the Silver Falchion at Killer Nashville in 2017. He was the Claymore Award winner at Killer Nashville 2016 and also a Silver Falchion Finalist in both the mystery and thriller categories.

Catch Up With Our R.G. Belsky On:
rgbelsky.com, Goodreads, BookBub, Twitter, & Facebook!

 

 

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!

 

Enter To Win!:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for R.G. Belsky. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on May 01, 2019 and runs through June 02, 2019. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
;

 

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

 

REVIEW DISCLAIMER

This blog was founded on the premise to write honest reviews, to the best of my ability, no matter who from, where from and/or how the book was obtained, and will continue to do so, even if it is through PICT or PBP.

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.

I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Synopsis (via GR)

The internationally bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish follows that success with an addictive novel filled with shocking twists about the aftermath of a brutal high-society murder.

Dr. Kate English has it all. Not only is she the heiress to a large fortune; she has a gorgeous husband and daughter, a high-flying career, and a beautiful home anyone would envy.

But all that changes the night Kate’s mother, Lily, is found dead, brutally murdered in her own home. Heartbroken and distraught, Kate reaches out to her estranged best friend, Blaire Barrington, who rushes to her side for the funeral, where the years of distance between them are forgotten in a moment.

That evening, Kate’s grief turns to horror when she receives an anonymous text: You think you’re sad now, just wait. By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll wish you had been buried today. More than ever, Kate needs her old friend’s help.

Once Blaire decides to take the investigation into her own hands, it becomes clear that all is not as it seems in Baltimore high society. As infidelity, lies, and betrayals come to light, and tensions rise to a boiling point, she begins to alienate Kate’s friends and relatives with her relentless, accusatory questions, as she tries to find Lily’s killer. The murderer could be anyone—friend, neighbor, loved one. But whoever it is, it’s clear that Kate is next on their list. . .

In The Last Time I Saw You, Liv Constantine takes the lightning pace of The Last Mrs. Parrish and raises the stakes, creating an exquisitely tension-filled and absorbing tale of psychological suspense in which innocent lives—and one woman’s sanity—hang in the balance.

My Thoughts

After reading The Last Mrs. Parrish!, I knew I had to get my hands on this extraordinary writing duo’s next book, and it didn’t disappoint!

Kate mother, Lily, is brutally murdered days before Christmas. A distraught Kate reconnects with her best friend, Blaire Barrington, a famous mystery author and who Kate hasn’t seen since her wedding day since Blaire felt that the impending groom is not good for Kate and n argument ensues. Blaire, having spent much time with Kate and her family, returns for the services and the friendship rekindles.

As the synopsis states, on the day of the funeral, Kate receives the first threatening text, one of many, which now threaten Kate’s life. Blaire stays by Kate’s side and decides she is going to try and solve who killed Lily and is now threatening Kate. Is she successful?

This book was a page turner!! The list of suspects are all close to Kate but who is trying to make her appear “crazy” and who killed Lily?

The suspense started on page 1 and didn’t let up to the final page! So many twists and turns that had me reading as fast as possible to learn who dun it! It concludes with an explosive ending that I didn’t see coming!

Warning!! This is a novel that will leave you with a book hangover!!!

Chilling and thrilling throughout!!

I can’t wait for their next book! I hope it is soon!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

REVIEW DISCLAIMER

This blog was founded on the premise to write honest reviews, to the best of my ability, no matter who from, where from and/or how the book was obtained, and will continue to do so, even if it is through PICT or PBP.

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.

I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.