Rutabaga's Reads 2020: Part 9

The amount of inspirational fiction on my TBR list continues to stay well-stocked. Here is the second of such posts for 2020.

The Crushing Depths (June 30, 2020)  by Dani Pettrey.

*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!