Publisher: St. Martin's Paperback

Review ~ The Highwayman ~ Kerrigan Byrne

Review ~ The Highwayman ~ Kerrigan Byrne

The Highwayman was so good. Soooo good. That is all.   You didn’t believe I’d leave it at that, did you? 😉 KByrne – a new-to-me author – bowled me over with this gripping, intense, and emotional story. I’ll endeavor to do it justice. Farah met Dougan MacKenzie in an orphanage when they were both young. They became fast friends thanks to Farah’s compassionate heart. One night, something terrible happens and Farah and Dougan are separated. But not before Dougan performs a hand-fasting. Years later…maybe 15 years?…Farah his living as a widow – Farah MacKenzie – and working as a clerk at Scotland Yard. She’s lived a chaste life despite the liberties she’d be afforded as a widow but she’s […]

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Review: Face Off – Brenda Novak

Review: Face Off – Brenda Novak

Face Off was a good story, but I have to admit I’m starting to think Evelyn will never ever find any peace. And it took quite a bit of suspension of disbelief to get that she could go through so much and still be sane. I really enjoy Evelyn and her thoughts on what makes a psychopath a dangerous person. However, in Face Off, I just started to feel a bit tired because Evelyn can never catch a break! She never had a moment of peace, between her one-time boyfriend from her youth, and Amarok’s ex who was trying to get to Amarok any way she could. The overall story in Face Off was very exciting, especially because I as […]

Posted 28 August, 2018 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 3 Comments
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Review: Shattered Fear – Tara Thomas

Review: Shattered Fear – Tara Thomas

Shattered Fear started out pretty strong, but as the story went on, I found Janie to be a rather weak female character. For a seasoned police officer, she acted more like a damsel in distress than someone who could take control and catch a killer. Story: The mystery is pretty strong in Shattered Fear, and I enjoyed how one character remained unknown until the end. Only alluded to as ‘The Gentleman’ the brain behind missing women and murdered dancers never showed his face. Not even to the readers. Apart from the mystery, though, I was left with wanting more. I wanted more character development. More interactions between the protagonists. More of the actual police work. Characters: Janie was working as […]

Posted 6 February, 2018 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 20 Comments
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Review: Hello Again – Brenda Novak

Review: Hello Again – Brenda Novak

Hello Again was so eery, I felt the suspense during the whole story, and it just seems impossible to me that Evelyn will make it through the end. There is more than one enemy now, and my goodness, the ending left me speechless and breathless. Story: The suspense and the psychological thriller aspects were even stronger in Hello Again. Evelyn has more than one person she needs to be wary of, and her newest inmate is so smart and vengeful. He’s at least as scary as Justin. Several things happen to bring more heat to Justin’s revenge, and on top of that, there are murders that seem different from his MO, but could still be by him. Amarok and Evelyn’s […]

Posted 27 September, 2017 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 6 Comments
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Review: Her Darkest Nightmare – Brenda Novak

Review: Her Darkest Nightmare – Brenda Novak

Her Darkest Nightmare has a lot of tension, the psychological aspect of this thriller is very well done. There were, however, several instances where I had to consciously suspend disbelief in order to follow Evelyn. Her Darkest Nightmare happens about six months after the ending of Hanover House, and the prison / psych ward has opened and is almost at capacity. With one of the doctors out sick, and another one having left because of the long winter in Alaska, Evelyn has a smaller team to deal with, which means there’s more work for all of them. Because Evelyn has brought in a new inmate – without discussing it with her colleagues first – the sense of mistrust was very […]

Posted 6 September, 2016 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 19 Comments
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Review: Thirty Nights with a Dirty Boy: Part 1 – Shiloh Walker

Review: Thirty Nights with a Dirty Boy: Part 1 – Shiloh Walker

Thirty Nights with a Dirty Boy was delicious and intriguing, as Walker always manages to include very complex characters, even in her shorter stories. I don’t know how she does it, but Walker manages to draw me in from the start, and Thirty Nights with a Dirty Boy is intriguing, to say the least. Both Ella and Sean are fleshed out and realistic, even if there is an air of mystery surrounding both of them. Ella is accomplished, at least on the outside, she has an organization to help women in trouble, and she’ll soon open up a safe haven for them to help them, the same way she was helped by her mentor in the past. However, beneath the […]

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Review: Firsts – Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

Review: Firsts – Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

Firsts is an emotional read, told from Mercedes’ point of view. Mercy keeps everyone she knows at arms’ length, and wants to be in control. As the story unfolds, it becomes very clear why that is, and my heart broke for her. The ending was a little ‘too easy’ for me, wrapped up too nicely for such a dark and gritty story. Mercy’s story in Firsts is one of an abandoned teen, where after her father left, her mother more or less checked out, and she was left to tend for herself with the strangest parental guidance I have ever read about. Kim, Mercy’s mom, was more interested in how Mercy dressed – for success with the boys – than anything […]

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Review: The Fractured Heart – Scarlett Cole

Review: The Fractured Heart – Scarlett Cole

This series is addictive! The Fractured Heart brought a lot of tension and suspense to the table, and I absolutely loved getting to know Brody and Drea better! I thought I already knew Drea and Cujo (Brody) from their appearances in The Strongest Steel, however, there was so much more to both of them than the bordering on mean teasing, and the way they did their best to stay clear of each other. In The Fractured Heart, I got a very good understanding of why they were both shying away from a relationship. They were both amazing, loyal friends to other people, but they didn’t feel like a romantic relationship was for them. Seeing the reasons behind this, through a […]

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Review: The Strongest Steel – Scarlett Cole

Review: The Strongest Steel – Scarlett Cole

The Strongest Steel is a hot contemporary romance featuring a sexy tattoo artist who helps a broken woman get back control of her life. There are many sparks, some danger, sweet, sweet romance and a solid story with characters I wanted to spend more time with. My The Strongest Steel review: Harper. She started breaking my heart the first time I met her. She was skittish, didn’t want anyone to touch her, and became panicked if someone came too close to her from the back. As her story unfolded, I could understand why, and it was impossible to not admire her strength. She had been betrayed in a horrific way, first by someone she loved, then by those who should […]

Posted 17 December, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 18 Comments
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Review: Shifting Gears – Audra North

Review: Shifting Gears – Audra North

Shifting Gears is another great story about race-tracks, romance and very strong female characters having unconventional professions! My Shifting Gears review: The mix between action and romance, character development, a good story and a solid plot made Shifting Gear a really good read! Of course, the fact that the protagonists already knew each other and had grown up as next-door neighbors made the story all the more delicious to me. I love the friends-to-lovers trope, and here, that was even stronger because Annabelle and Grady hadn’t seen each other for years. Realizing that they had both had a ‘thing’ for each other when they were younger made everything that happened to them even sweeter. Annabelle’s life hadn’t exactly been a […]

Posted 3 December, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 16 Comments
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