Dead Or Alive by Jane Blythe is Book III in the Detective Parker Bell series and it is wonderful to be back with such a fabulous group of characters and to see what trouble they find themselves in this time.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Dead Or Alive by Jane Blythe starts out with a BANG…and keeps on going.

Detective Parker Bell is doing his grocery shopping, just a mundane chore we can all relate to, when he hears a gunshot and sees a car screeching out of the parking lot. Two bodies are lying on the pavement…

The characters all have their heavy baggage to bear and miscommunication abounds because of their need to protect themselves, and their secrets. Parker and Tessa are together, but she holds tight to her thoughts and feelings. It’s a good thing he has patience and so much love for her.

Wyatt is Parker’s partner, but he thinks of him as his brother. Parker has a tendency to let his emotions rule him, becoming personally involved in many of his cases. That is how him and Tessa came to be together, but that is another story.

I love Jane Blythe’s ability to put me in the middle of the suspense and danger, Darkness and their past seem to dog their every footstep.

Tessa…she is my favorite character. If something needs to be done, she feels she must do it herself. She will sacrifice everything for Parker and her friends and family. She puts herself last.

I had trouble with a few things, but as the story came together and Jane was wrapping everything up, it all became clear. I love when an author leads me down a path that trips me up and leaves me saying, AHA, I get it now.

When Parker comes up missing, she makes a deal with the devil…and that is the tease for the next book in this standalone series. I do recommend beginning at the beginning because I have loved every step of the way, but Jane Blythe recaps a lot of the past action so that you can know why these characters do what they do.

SO…What’s the cost of making a deal with the devil? Find out in Little Girl Lost.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Dead Or alive by Jane Blythe.

4 Stars

There is more happening in July than the beach, so let’s celebrate Christmas In July with Jane Blythe’s Winter Wonderland. I love the old time feel of the cover and, of course, the bullet holes got my attention.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The chills will come from more than the Winter Wonderland and Jane does manage to give me a steady supply. Though Winter Wonderland is the second book, Jane recaps Book I, A Secret To The Grave.

We start out with screeching tires and a screaming voice on a cold winter’s night. Did we get your attention? Made me sit up straight.

Detective Parker Bell is a very patient man and he will need all of that for his love interest, Tess. She is super private, not sharing her nightmares that haunt her sleep.

She has a knack for reading people and can whip up a scrumptious pancake. The only place she feels safe is in Parker’s arms, but even her love for him has not overcome her trust issues. Parker can wait, he is strong, heroic, determined, loving…and did I say patient.

THE ICEMAN IS BACK…”death or capture, those are the only things that will end this…”

Jane Blythe does a fabulous job with the description of HIS hiding place. You will have to find it for yourself, though.

The ease with which HE creeps through the houses and takes THEM makes me wonder how that would work in real life. I love a book that gets my mind revved up, and Jane Blythe is doing it just fine. I can’t imagine how terrifying it would be to wake up, gasping for breath, a gun pointed at my head.

The past keeps coming back, complicating an already complicated scenario. The poor girls. I can’t imagine how they felt, the utter hopelessness, helplessness…

So freakin’ creepy. Never a dull moment. It may seem easy, at times, to decipher the plot, but Jane Blythe will NOT reveal HIM, until she is good and ready…and I do love that about her. Is she setting me up for something? Wouldn’t surprise me a bit.

I am only now at 42%…and Parker…WTF?

Wave after wave of shocks and surprises flow through the pages. Good luck trying to figure it out before Jane is ready to tell you. I wanted to scream and yell at them, tell them to look…please look…think Tessa, she told you…

Think the story is over, brace yourself. I did. One shock after another. Danger, threats…doesn’t quit, but I do see something good coming out of it. I could not stop reading. Kept me guessing who would live and who would die. Teeth gritting tenseness, gripping the kindle tightly, wishing, hoping…Can’t die…Can’t die…

Whew. I feel rode hard and put up wet.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Winter Wonderland by Jane Blythe.

5 Stars