The amount of inspirational fiction on my TBR list continues
to stay well-stocked. Here is the second of such posts for 2020.
*This is the second novel in a series.*
Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) team members Rissi
Dawson and Mason Rogers have been called to duty aboard Textra Oil’s Dauntless after an oil-rig worker is
killed in an accident. Tensions aboard the rig are high. The rig’s already
working with a skeleton crew, for some haven’t shown up to work because they
think the waters around it are cursed. Then there’s the Freedom, a marine research vessel carrying scientists who are
mostly environmental activists hassling the crew aboard Dauntless. The mounting evidence suggests that Greg Barnes’ death
was not an accident, and it’s up to Rissi and Mason to discover who was
involved. There’s more than one suspect and another death aboard Dauntless only adds to the mayhem and
strengthens the rumor of a curse. How will Rissi and Mason sift through all the
willful and/or fearful personalities to gain helpful information? Are the two
deaths related? Why is Caleb Eason’s nephew, Lucas, working on Dauntless when he thought Lucas was
attending college thanks to the tuition Caleb paid for? Who is Gwyneth Lansing
and what is her connection to the Freedom Group? Amidst all that is going on,
will Rissi and Mason overcome their intertwined, haunted pasts and admit their
attraction to each other?
Someone is
stalking Brooke Kesler. Brooke is a Coast Guard Medic. Her home has been broken
into, and her life has been threatened. The primary suspect is her ex, Brodie
O’Connell, who has historically harassed her for breaking up with him. But is
he the perpetrator? CGIS team lead Noah Rowley plans to find out, and he also
finds that he cares very much for Brooke, despite the fact that he’d decided
awhile back to close his heart on love. Has he, really?
The second
in Pettrey’s Coastal Guardians
series, this romantic suspense, inspirational fiction novel presents us with a
harrowing adventure with multiple viewpoints. The story is buoyed by more than
one engaging plot, interesting characters and sufficient detail without making
the story too lengthy. Pettrey is a dynamic writer and her writing shows this.
Although the main characters appear to adhere to a white default, I find that
I’d still want these characters to be my friends and my neighbors. The one item
that sank for me was calling the stingrays “slimy.” I’ve always found them to
feel velvety. But, to be fair, I’ve not encountered them in the middle of the
ocean. I’m sure that would change a perspective real quick.
Book One:
The Killing Tide
Diamond in the Rough
(Sept. 3, 2019) by Jen Turano.
*This is the second novel in a series.*
The delightful Miss Poppy Garrison is a sight to behold. She
cannot dance, which doesn’t bother Poppy so much, but probably has her
imposing, high-society grandmother, Mrs. George Van Rensselaer (Viola) about to
suffer an apoplectic fit (so what if that is a bit melodramatic). Poppy has
come to live with Viola for a New York social Season, for those were the terms
set by her grandmother in exchange for financially helping her family.
22-year-old Poppy is not equipped to deal with society; she is far better with
horses. She falls into one fiasco after another and also into the arms of the
brooding Mr. Reginald Blackburn. Posing as Charles Wynn’s traveling companion,
Charles being the Ninth Earl of Lonsdale, Charles and Reginald are actually
cousins. And Reginald isn’t just a humble citizen; he, too, is of the British
aristocracy and is, in fact, the second son of a duke (the Duke of Sutherland).
Charles needs an American heiress who can save his family’s estate. Reginald
does not, and with his proper British manners, he’s both astounded and enamored
by Poppy. Not that he wants to admit it, and he seems horrified at the
challenge of teaching Poppy proper etiquette. Meanwhile, Poppy assumes that
Reginald is something of a pauper. What will her reaction be if she discovers
Reginald’s true identity? Is Reginald at risk of being recognized by any knickerbockers
of the New York Four Hundred? Is Mr. Nigel Flaherty truly interested in Poppy? (After
all, he is twice her age, and he’s usually known as a bit of a scoundrel.)
Set in
1885, this peppy second installment in Turano’s American Heiresses series is a delightful whimsy. Her characters
are snappy, and the leading ladies are fabulously outspoken, independent and
feisty. Poppy is no exception. As an inspirational, historical fiction novel,
faith is present, but it is not heavy-laden. It’s like a light breeze caressing
your face now and again. The environments that Turano creates are always rich,
and her prose never wavers in its ease of reading. Her stories make me laugh,
and I suddenly want to learn the Dresden China Quadrille (honestly, I have zero
idea if that is a real dance or not).
Quote: “Once
past the lips, a lady will certainly find it on her hips.” --Adele Tooker,
unkindly to another young lady after Adele purposely orders gowns that are too
small for everyone but herself (p. 299). Does any other woman out there feel at
least the occasional truth to this statement?
Book One:
Flights of Fancy
The Number of
Love (June
4, 2019) by Roseanna M. White
*This is the first novel in a series.*
Three years into the Great War (World War I), Margot De
Wilde thrives in the secretive Room 40, where she spends her work days deciphering
intercepted messages, breaking the codes. She is part of a team of England’s
greatest assets, those codebreakers who can crack the German codes for hints of
the enemy’s plans. Their information is vital to the agents in the field who
risk their lives based on the decoded information and the information they are
tasked to gather. Margot loves what she does, and she loves numbers. Numbers
make sense to her; they speak to her.
Numbers, according to Margot, are how the Lord brings things to her attention.
They lead her to Dorothea “Dot” Elton, someone who needs a friend, and she keeps
thinking of the number 18. Agent 18. She’s even thinking it when an unexpected
loss sidelines the numbers in her mind.
Dot’s
brother, Drake Elton, has returned wounded. He’s got secrets of his own to
share with his sister (and likely Margot). He may enjoy the refinement of his
abuelo’s Spanish estate, but Drake hasn’t admitted to Francisco Mendoza de Haro
what he’s really doing, either. He isn’t a student at a university; he’s a
field agent, and that is why he is wounded. The enemy (is there more than one
in pursuit of him?) won’t give up. He’s smitten right away by witty and brainy
Margot (whom he wrongly assumes is one of the many secretaries) when she
answers that she’s Antarctican after he correctly guesses Belgian. His
potential pursuit of her will have to wait, as the danger draws closer. It isn’t
only a game of Go. It could be life or
death.
While this
historical, inspirational fiction novel has a touch of potential romance, the romance
is not cloying. In fact, Margot doesn’t initially find even the thought of
romance worthwhile, because she figures that any potential suitor would be
thinking toward homemaking and babies, while Margot wants to attend university
and obtain more knowledge. She is refreshingly forward-thinking and
independent, but still believably vulnerable when one she so loves is unexpectedly
taken away. Her take on the world is unique, which means this story is unique.
It doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff, yet I found myself chuckling at
times. I appreciate how smartly written this story is, and I love that a
familiar character from “The Lost Duchess” has a supporting role. I am a sucker
for familiar characters (that I like) showing up in other novels (being ones I
also like). This novel is a fantastic start to The Codebreakers series!
