For Love Of Liberty by Julie Lessman

Liberty O’Shea and Griffin McShane have been rivals from grade school. Griffin has teased and tormented Liberty unrelentingly and Liberty’s temper has blasted Griffin more times than he or she can count. Now they are all grown up and Liberty and Griffin are once again butting heads. As co-chairs for the upcoming fourth of July celebration in town they are required to be in close proximity to each other. More than fireworks flare when these two butt heads!

Oh my goodness! Julie Lessman knows how to make her characters feisty and funny! Liberty’s salty tongue had me rolling on the floor laughing! And just in case that last line gives you pause, an example of Liberty’s tongue is her use of “horse apples!” as one of her expressions of exasperation. Liberty is definitely head-strong. She is for the downtrodden and women’s rights, and she is definitely against “Finn McShane” her old nemesis.

Underlying all of their sparring is a deep attraction that neither Liberty nor Finn acknowledged before, but now that they are adults that attraction is quickly turning into something deeper.

In true Julie Lessman style the passionate kisses the two share will curl your toes, and the sparring will have you laughing out loud. Along with the passion and humor there is also the characters desire to please their Creator. I always love the aspects of faith in this authors books, and love to see how the Lord touches the hearts of broken people and brings peace and balance to their lives.

For Love Of Liberty is the prequel to a new series and I am definitely looking forward to more!

High Treason by DiAnn Mills

Monica is a CIA agent and Kord is an FBI agent. They are thrown into a protection detail when an assassination attempt on a visiting Saudi prince occurs. Relations are strained between the US and Saudi's and the Prince has a twofold purpose for his visit. His mother has been diagnosed with cancer and is visiting MD Anderson and the Prince is looking into leasing some oil fields to the US. If the Prince was killed on US soil the tenuous relationship would be severed. Monica has experience in the protocol of behavior for women with Saudi men. And Kord is a friend to the Prince and insists on being part of the detail to protect him. Neither Kord nor Monica are happy with the situation at first, but as time goes on they manage to forge a shared respect for each others abilities.

High Treason was filled with excitement as well as quite interesting relationships between the characters. I love that Monica didn't try to change years of tradition by being an overbearing female. She gained respect from the Prince and his entourage through her behavior and ability. I also loved the peek into the life of a Saudi leader. It was interesting to the story as well as an interesting look into that culture. Monica had trust issues and through the story had to work through those. This led to a couple of good spiritual discussions between Kord and Monica as well as Monica and the Prince. I liked that the characters were able to have healthy dialogue without spewing hate. Monica was a very strong female lead and I really enjoyed that. She was strong and determined and ready to run into danger to protect. I liked how Monica and Kord's relationship grew and how they were able to establish a mutual respect for each other. The suspense was timely placed and kept the story moving along at a fast clip. If you are a fan of romantic suspense then I highly recommend this FBI Task Force series, you won't be disappointed!

The King by Steven James

Lien Hua is abducted by serial killer Basque. Can Patrick find her in time to save her? Patrick is asked to investigate His boss's brother's death. And Tessa has been asked to make a speech at her high school graduation. On top of all of that Pat and Lien Hua are getting ready to get married.

Whew, a lot goes on in this book! Basque is obviously back and going after Pat and his loved ones. He is evil for sure! There are a lot of suspenseful encounters with him and a lot of gross-out scenes. Another evil person is lurking in the wings, just in case Basque isn't enough evil! There's a lot of self-evaluation in the characters and maybe I'm forgetting the other books(because it has been awhile since I read The Queen), but there was more of a spiritual questioning going on in this one than I remember. I liked it! When death knocks at the door it should cause people to contemplate God's existence. I see some maturing in Tessa, but she still is a bit too impulsive and impetuous which ends up getting her into trouble. I do like that she is resourceful and stands apart from the crowd, and she's smarter than the average bear! Lien Hua is quite capable of handling herself, and serves as a perfect balance between Tessa and Pat. I took my time reading most of the book, but found myself gorging at the end because I couldn't put it down! I highly recommend the whole series, but don't read it at night unless you plan to keep the light on!

The Austen Escape by Katherine Reay

Mary is having issues at work. Her creativity is being stifled and things are not going well with a new gadget she has created. Isabel has been her best friend for years but their relationship has been filled with strain. When Isabel asks Mary to go on a vacation to Bath and dress in period clothing to help Isabel nail down her thesis Mary is tempted to say no. But with things going downhill at work Mary decides to take Isabel up on her offer. When Mary and Isabel arrive in Bath they embark on a voyage of self-discovery. Both women work through their own hurts and disappointments as well as misconceived ideas about situations and relationships.

Just when I would think, "okay things are going to get better, Mary's figured it out" things would go downhill again. It kind of annoyed me! I did like the romance between Nathan and Mary, but I also got frustrated with that. Isabel was a wounded soul, her father had pretty much ignored and rejected her all of her life. Her behavior made her a rather unlikable character for a while. I enjoyed the setting and the fun of reading about the characters dressing up in their favorite characters from Austen's novels. Even though I did get frustrated with Mary and Isabel's issues I enjoyed the book and was happy when everything turned out in the end.