Review: Sabotaged by Dani Pettrey

Excellent Romantic Suspense

Kirra Jacobs and Reef McKenna have been paired as volunteers supporting the annual Iditarod race in Alaska, but they quickly find themselves working together on quite a different kind of project after Kirra’s Uncle Frank doesn’t report in after one of the early stages. They locate Frank, who tells them Kirra’s cousin, Meg, has been kidnapped, and they need to find her before the end of the nine-day race so Frank doesn’t have to complete the job. And no cops, or Meg dies.

What follows is a fast-paced race against time as Kirra and Reef search for Meg and try to find why she and Frank have been targeted. Both Kirra and Reef have to address to some aspects of their past they are less than proud of, which adds a depth to the overall plot. It's hard to say anything more about why I liked it without giving away important plot details, so I'll just say I thought the suspense elements were excellent, and I loved the way the romance developed over the course of Sabotaged. Ah, Reef ...

Sabotaged is the fifth and final book in Dani Pettrey’s Alaskan Courage series, each of which follows the story of one of the McKenna siblings. Romantic suspense is one of my favourite genres, and I’ve enjoyed them all. Dani Pettrey’s writing style is similar to Dee Henderson’s, and I’d definitely recommend Sabotaged (and the rest of the Alaskan Courage series) to fans of Henderson’s O’Malley series.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Dani Pettrey at her website.

ARCBA Blog Tour: The Land Uncharted by Keely Brooke Keith

2 - 6 February 2015

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

The Land Uncharted 

Edenbrooke Press


October 2014

By

Keely Brooke Keith

About the Book:
Lydia Colburn is a young physician dedicated to serving her village in the Land, a landmass in the South Atlantic Ocean undetectable to the outside world. When injured fighter pilot Connor Bradshaw’s parachute carries him from the war engulfing the 2025 world to her hidden land, his presence threatens her plans, her family, and the survival of her pre-industrial society.

As Connor searches for a way to return to his squadron, his fascination with life in the Land makes him protective of Lydia and her peaceful homeland, and Lydia’s attraction to Connor stirs desires she never anticipated. Written like a historical, set like a scifi, and filled with romance, The Land Uncharted weaves adventure and love in this suspenseful story of a hidden land.

I've already reviewed The Land Uncharted. Click here to read my review. Keely is about to release the sequel, Uncharted Redemption, and I'll be reviewing that towards the end of February. Meanwhile, click here to see the cover of Uncharted Redemption (beautiful!).

About the Author


Keely Brooke Keith, author of the Uncharted series, is a bass guitarist and frequently performs and tours with her husband, singer/songwriter John Martin Keith. When she isn’t writing stories or playing bass, Keely enjoys dancing, having coffee with friends, and sifting through vintage books at antique stores. Keely resides on a hilltop south of Nashville with her husband and their daughter, Rachel.
If you'd like to know more about Keely, you can click here to find out about her favourite books.

Review: Oxygen by Randy Ingermanson and John B Olsen

Excellent Sci-fic from a Christian Perspective

There are certain genres of Christian fiction I don’t read often, for one reason or another. I don’t read some because I find them somewhat juvenile in terms of the characters and the writing (*cough* Amish *cough*). My desire to read novellas and category romance waxes and wanes, probably along with my concentration levels (sometimes they are just too short). I find allegory hit and miss, and have never developed a taste for fantasy. And I don’t read a lot of science fiction … despite being a big fan of sci-fi TV shows.

Part of the reason I don’t read a lot of sci-fi is there simply isn’t a lot of Christian science fiction around. Christian fantasy, yes. Speculative, yes. But not a lot of sci-fi, whether pure sci-fi or the space opera I prefer (because it mixes in a little romance). I read the Firebird trilogy by Kathy Tyers, and enjoyed the first book (the one with the romance) far more than the other two.

I downloaded Oxygen: A Science Fiction Suspense Novel when Randy Ingermanson had the ebook on sale (and later found I already owned the unread paperback. Oops). It’s the story of the first manned mission to Mars, looking to find evidence of life on the Red Planet. It was written in around 2001, when NASA first considered such missions, and is (was) futuristic: the novel starts in 2012, and the mission blasts off in early 2014, aiming to land on Mars on the Fourth of July (highly symbolic).

Valerie Jansen aka Valkerie is a doctor twice over: a medical doctor with a PhD in an obscure branch of biology. She’s discovered and identified previously unknown life forms in Antarctica and Iceland, and now NASA have approached her about joining the team heading for Mars. The trouble is it’s a four-person spacecraft, and there are already four people on the team.

Bob Kaganovski can see the writing on the wall: despite his years of work and selection for the team, he won’t be going to Mars. And he can’t even find it in himself to resent Valkerie for taking his place—she’s got all his skills, plus more. The only problem is she’s a Christian, which might mean she’s aligned with the anti-evolution brigade protesting outside. He can’t let her jeopardize this mission.

I really enjoyed Oxygen, and have already downloaded the sequel, The Fifth Man (although I did check to see it wasn’t already lurking on my bookshelves before buying!). It’s a fast-paced thriller set in the near future (recent past?), with a compelling cast of intelligent characters. The story is told predominantly from the points of view of Valkerie and Bob, who have a rocky relationship that’s a combination of mutual admiration, attraction and mistrust. Because things keep going wrong with the mission, and each believes the other to be the most likely culprit. Who is right? Or are they both being played? If so, by whom?

There was a lot of science in Oxygen, and while science has never been my strong point, everything was explained at a level I could understand, even some of the more philosophical discussions. I’d like to see more books like this, by authors who are also scientists. There’s a view that science and religion (especially Christianity) are incompatible, yet as Christians we know science is merely trying to explain what God has created, so the two things should be perfectly compatible. But to show this, we need Christians who are scientists.

Recommended for sci-fi fans, or those who like to have to think about the ramifications of wider issues. You can find out more about Randy Ingermanson's novels at his website, or find out about his writing instruction at Advanced Fiction Writing.

This book counts towards by 2015 Reading Challenge as a book with a one-word title.

February 2015 New Releases

It's time for the new releases in Christian fiction from Ellie at Soul Inspirationz.

First up we have the new releases in category romance (shorter romance novels, published by the Christian imprints of Harlequin/Mills & Boon):

And also the new general fiction releases:

What are you planning to buy or read this month?

Review: Heaven Help Heidi by Sally John

A Sequel with Heart

Heaven Help Heidi is the second novel in Sally John’s Family of the Heart Series, although you don’t need to have read Between Us Girls first (although—as with most series—it is best to read them in order to avoid spoiling the storylines relating to the recurring characters). The series is set in San Diego, in the Casa de Vida Cottages in the fictional Seaside Village. As with Between Us Girls, the story starts with a young woman who needs a new start moving into Casa de Vida, befriending one of the existing residents, and finding the answers to questions she didn’t know she had.

Heidi Hathaway is a successful real estate salesperson, but horrific injuries sustained in a car accident mean she can’t drive and she can’t navigate the stairs in her beautiful three-story condo. Piper, a business acquaintance, invites her to move into a vacant cottage at the one-level Casa de Vida. Heidi accepts, mostly because she has no other options. Her ongoing health issues mean she can’t work to the capacity she used to, which means Val, her friend and boss, is having to take on more and more—but Val has problems too. Piper has her own issues. Her fiance died four years ago, and although she still misses him, she’s finally learned to cope without him.

What I thought lifted Heaven Help Heidi above Between Us Girls was the hidden linkages between the characters. Heidi moving into Casa de Vida is the catalyst that forces some of the minor characters to reconsider their perceptions of the past, and to look for reconciliation, and I enjoyed this aspect. The novel has underlying Christian themes, but while several of the characters (especially Liv) are Christians, it’s not in-your-face preachy Christian fiction (in fact, the Christian aspects felt a bit understated at times).

There is also a touch of romance in the novels (well, perhaps more than a touch). Part of me would like to see more on-page development of the relationship, but I think I see the point Sally John is making by keeping the romance low-key. We can’t rely on a man to come in and “fix” our lives. We have to sort through things with God first, and then we can come to a place where we are ready to share our lives with someone else. It’s not that we’re “fixed” (are we ever?), but that we know who we are in ourselves and in God. That knowledge and security allows us to open ourselves to new personal and professional possibilities. Thought-provoking.

I really enjoyed Heaven Help Heidi, and I’ll be looking forward to the next book in the series.

Thanks to Harvest House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Sally John at her website.