Monday, March 23, 2020

Monday Book Review: The Forgotten Coast Florida Suspense Series: Books 1-4, by Dawn Lee McKenna

The Forgotten Coast Suspense Series, Books 1-4:
Low Tide
Rip Tide
What Washes Up
Landfall

by Dawn Lee McKenna
Published by Sweet Tea Press, 2017

About the Books:

Book 1: Low Tide  In the quaint coastal town of Apalachicola, sinister things are afoot, as sinister things tend to be.

Lt. Maggie Redmond is called to a crime scene on St. George Island, where she is met with the body of Gregory Boudreaux. The medical examiner calls it a suicide, but no one knows that Maggie has a horrible connection to the dead man.
When Gregory’s uncle, Bennett Boudreaux, the richest and scariest man in town, takes a sudden interest in Maggie, people start to wonder, Maggie included. Maggie knows he may suspect her of killing his nephew, but she finds herself slowly drawn to the man.
As Maggie fights to help a young girl escape the clutches of a volatile drug dealer who’d love to see Maggie dead, she also struggles to hide her dark link to a dead man, and her burgeoning relationship with her boss, Sheriff Wyatt Hamilton.
Unfortunately, secrets have a way of revealing themselves at low tide.

Book 2: Riptide   Once again, sinister things are afoot in Apalachicola, FL, and one of them is an actual foot.

When a local fisherman finds a severed limb in his net, it sets off a chain of events that no one can anticipate.
Lt. Maggie Redmond soon discovers that the foot belongs to the friend of another recently dead guy, Gregory Boudreaux, the man she never told anyone about. Gregory’s death was thought to be a suicide. That seems less likely, now that his best friend Sport’s foot has shown up out of the blue, as it were.
When it starts looking like town villain Bennett Boudreaux might be responsible for eliminating Sport, things begin to get a little weird. Especially since Maggie’s started to take a liking to Bennett. She’s also taken a real liking to her boss, Sheriff Wyatt Hamilton, but her growing friendship to Bennett and her secret connection to the dead men threaten her and Wyatt’s relationship.
Is Bennett avenging Maggie for some reason, or does he have something altogether different on his mind?

Book 3: What Washes Up    Karma’s alive and well in Apalachicola, Florida, and there are several people who are about to meet it face to face.

When more than a dozen bodies wash up on the beach of St. George Island, the residents of Apalach are outraged, and none more so than investigator Maggie Redmond and Sheriff Wyatt Hamilton. It’s time for the greedy to answer for the lives of innocents.
Meanwhile, a man is found tied to a burning boat in the middle of the bay, and Maggie’s instincts tell her Bennett Boudreaux is behind it.
If he is, Maggie has to decide whether she really wants him punished, or if justice has already been served.

Book 4: Landfall  Two storms that nobody thought were coming just made landfall.

As a hurricane gathers its power just off Apalachicola’s shore, another storm comes to a head in Lt. Maggie Redmond's home.
Held prisoner by a man bent on avenging the death of a son, Maggie must find a way to save herself and her two children. No one knows where they are. No one is coming to help.
Maggie and her children will have to find a way to survive both the madness inside their home and the madness raging outside.

My Take:

What are you doing while you socially distance? Are you reading? Me too!

I grabbed this box set as a BookBub deal, never having read anything by this author previously. I figured I'd try the first one and see if I liked her writing style.

A few days later, I've finished all four and contemplating buying more of this series.

Well plotted and paced, each story has its own complete arc but also (and obviously) ties in with a bigger series arc. It was a little like eating potato chips in that I finished one and started right in on the next. Told in the third person, most is from Maggie's POV but other characters take over the narrative in different chapters, giving the reader a more complete picture of just how complex life in a small coastal town can be.

Although the main character is a lieutenant in the sherrif's department, the stories are more character driven than procedural. There are definitely crime scenes and bad guys and shootings and worse, but Maggie Redmond is driven by emotions, her love of family and her sense of justice. She is a kickass strong female character and I loved every minute of all four of these fast reads.

While the sale is no longer on, this set is available on Kindle Unlimited if you're a member. It's also only $5.99 for 4 complete books, which isn't a bad price to find a new go-to author.

5 satisfied stars for this shining collection. Grab a copy on AMAZON


Wednesday, March 18, 2020

New Release from Claire Marti! FOR THE LOVE OF YOU Available Today!


AVAILABLE TODAY!

About the Book:

For a French soccer icon, and a gifted artist, a fake engagement is the perfect solution for their current dilemmas. But when last summer’s fling slips from lust to love, their pretend relationship becomes too hot to handle.

Gabriel DuVernay is heir to one of the oldest wineries in France, but his passion is playing soccer, not tending vines. When he signs a multi-million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy, he’s able to postpone his unwelcome duties and help his younger sister convince their old-fashioned father she should be their family’s first female winemaker. Another bonus of moving to California is reuniting with the striking redhead who snuck out of his apartment after the hottest night of his life.

Last summer, artist Dylan McNeill’s life on her family’s Southern California horse-breeding ranch was thrown into chaos and she escaped to Paris. One electrifying night with a gorgeous playboy athlete helped her forget her problems. She’s never forgotten Gabriel, but aspiring artists trying to break into the elite art world don’t have time for romance. She’s determined to get discovered without trading on her family’s famous name.

When Gabriel suffers a career-shattering injury, he needs to buy some time to figure out how to remain in America and choose his own future. His influential mother can open important doors in the art world and help Dylan fulfill her dreams ––for a price. A fictitious engagement seems like the simple answer until living at Pacific Vista Ranch and pretending to be in love starts to feel real.

Can last year’s one night stand and this year’s fake engagement turn into true love forever?

About the Author:


Claire Marti started writing stories as soon as she was old enough to pick up pencil and paper. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a BA in English Literature, Claire was sidetracked by other careers, including practicing law, selling software for legal publishers, and managing a non-profit animal rescue for a Hollywood actress. 


Finally, Claire followed her heart and now focuses on two of her true passions: writing romance and teaching yoga.

Her award winning debut novel, Second Chance in Laguna, was a Finalist for Best Contemporary Romance in the prestigious Stiletto Contest, won best unpublished contemporary romance in the Heart of the Molly and third place in the Maggie. Book two in the Finding Forever in Laguna series, At Last in Lagunaand Book three, Sunset in Laguna, ​are available everywhere. Sunset in Laguna ​was a Golden Quill finalist.
 
Claire's exciting new Pacific Vista Ranch series set on a horse-breeding ranch in exclusive Rancho Santa Fe, California, launched in September 2019. 

When Claire's not writing, she's teaching yoga. You can find her teaching at studios in sunny San Diego or enjoy fifty online classes on the international website 
www.yogadownload.com. A breast cancer survivor, Claire is a sought-after speaker on the power of yoga and meditation. She's been published in numerous magazines with articles on wellness and is the author of a memoir, ​Come Ride with Me Along the Big C, on her experience beating breast cancer. 
 

Claire is a member of the Romance Writers of America, Contemporary Romance Writers, and the San Diego Romance Writers.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
Twitter:  https://www.twitter.com/clairepmarti
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clairepmarti
Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/claire-marti


 Grab a copy of this book today!

Amazon:  https://amzn.to/3a95T7l