Catherine Duval remembers better days when Gabriel Duval didn’t drown himself in cups of wine. A chronic alcoholic, he’s still a caring father when sober, but when he’s drinking, he mixes her up in his mind with the native wife who divorced him. At those times, he takes out his anger and resentment on Catherine. For her part, she focuses on the good times and walks on eggshells in the bad, but the turmoil at home heightens her longing for peace, something she finds hard to acquire.
 
France and England fight over control of New France and New England impacting the area’s economy. Her Lachine fur trading business, on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, gains no exception. Situated across from Montreal, she finds herself in the midst of conflicting forces tugging at her desire to remain neutral. She must balance upon a tightrope. In order to keep her business thriving, she must trade between two powerful nations battling for dominance. Still she manages well until her former British fiancé returns as a servant courtesy of her father’s indolence and avarice.
 
When Gabriel Duval acquires prisoner Samuel Crane, Catherine’s heart does a double take. She thought she was over him after he had abandoned her to find his brother, but now she must decide if she’ll help him carry important military information to the English, to General Wolfe, in order to shorten the war and bring peace to the region. To do so would be no small feat which would require her to paddle with Samuel along the St. Lawrence between opposing forces. Any misstep could end both their lives. If caught by the French, she would be branded a traitor and execution would be her fate, but when she arrived among the English, they might suspect her motives. Being half-Mohawk and half French, she might be imprisoned or executed. Catherine must decide if she should take the risk and assist her former fiancé. If she does, will she be killed or survive? Will her heart endure constant contact with her former love? Will her endeavor aide the cause of peace?
 
Jocelyn Green’s writing sparkles like sunshine glistening upon rippling water. Her high prose rises to poetic in places while her plot compels the reader to flip pages and see what happens next. Like an incoming tide, urgency carries the reader along seeking to know how the story will end. Even if one is a history buff and knows how native and colonial history ended, this author makes the era surge with life. Although constrained by historic events, Jocelyn Green weaves a tapestry of intricate design bursting with vibrant color. This is a book to be cherished and read and reread. It’s that good.
 
Having said as much, the reader will simply have to buy the book when it is released in February to find out what happens to Catherine and Samuel as they run the gauntlet through French territory to bring crucial intelligence to the English.
 
This reviewer received a pre-publication copy from NetGalley.com courtesy of the author Jocelyn Green in order to provide an honest, unbiased review of this book. This reviewer is under no obligation to provide a positive review, just an honest one.  

​Mary Connealy has done it again! She's written a nailbiter of a novel that can't be put down. This reader and reviewer has almost no nails left! What a heart pounding read this was!​ That said, Mary Connealy's sense of humor has the reader hooting at the most unexpected times. Thankfully, this peppering of humor throughout keeps the reader sane as we wade through blood, gore and guts... figuratively speaking, that is.

An assassin takes a shot to kill two people with one bullet. His bullet hits his targets but he's seriously underestimated their resilience. Natalie Brewster, a deep undercover agent for a group that doesn’t officially exist, saw the gunman reflected in the glass. She knew that he definitely waited, lined up the shot, but just as he squeezed the trigger, she thrust the man in front of her toward the Metro stairs in front of her. The Assassin tried to kill both of them...with one shot! Nat and Case Garrison hit the ground bleeding, but they both come up shooting.

That just makes the killer, Prometheus, livid. He never misses.

Now Case and Nat, who have never before met, must figure out what they have in common to make them a killer's target. Not to mention, they have to do it while running for their lives. Despite the two of them being highly skilled at keeping a low profile, the killer keeps finding them. Contrary to their knee jerk reaction to stand and fight, they run at break-neck speed, hiding with all the skill of long-time undercover agents while falling in love with a passion that might be one reason why dodging the killer has become so hard...their focus isn't as sharp as they need it to be when the person they are running beside is so doggone attractive.

Clues to their dilemma keep surfacing, but their panicky cross country flight, not to mention that doggone attraction,  keeps them from connecting the dots.

This reviewer found this novel nearly impossible to put down. It kept me reading far, far past bedtime. What an incredible novel. By it, rent it, borrow it...but be prepared to lose a whole lot of sleep!

by Tricia Goyer  (Author), Cara Putman (Author), Sarah Sundin  (Author)
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*****
Product Description from Amazon
Siblings forge new paths and find love in three stories filled with the wonder of Christmas. 

Turn back the clock to a different time, listen to Bing Crosby sing of sleigh bells in the snow, as the realities of America’s involvement in the Second World War change the lives of the Turner family in Lafayette, Indiana. 

In Cara Putman’s White Christmas, Abigail Turner is holding down the Home Front as a college student and a part-time employee at a one-of-a-kind candy shop. Loss of a beau to the war has Abigail skittish about romantic entanglements—until a hard-working young man with a serious problem needs her help. 

Abigail’s brother Pete is a fighter pilot hero returned from the European Theater in Sarah Sundin’s I’ll Be Home for Christmas, trying to recapture the hope and peace his time at war has eroded. But when he encounters a precocious little girl in need of Pete’s friendship, can he convince her widowed mother that he’s no longer the bully she once knew?

In Tricia Goyer’s Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Meredith Turner, “Merry” to those who know her best, is using her skills as a combat nurse on the frontline in the Netherlands. Halfway around the world from home, Merry never expects to face her deepest betrayal head on, but that’s precisely what God has in mind to redeem her broken heart. 

The Turner family believes in God’s providence during such a tumultuous time. Can they absorb the miracle of Christ’s birth and His plan for a future?
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My Review

Love, love, loved this collection of interwoven stories, written by some of my favorite authors, centered on one extended family's experiences during WWII. Set in the USA and in Europe this novel deposited me squarely in my early childhood memories of that disruptive era. I heard the songs in my mind, pictured the people, smelled the chestnuts roasting and turkey baking. Tasted the sugar cookies and savored the peppermint candy canes. And felt the ever present fear of looming war. Can't say this book was totally nostalgic, but it did bring back so many memories. Well written stories seamlessly tied together, yet each one with its own unique style and flavor, "Where Treetops Glisten" was a very good read.
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​Texas My Texas is an authentic, true to the pre-civil war era story of life in what would become the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area. Depicting rugged folk who settled the frontier, it never soft pedals the dangers they faced from wildlife, highwaymen, and harsh weather. Indeed this book is no goody-two-shoes, glossed over account of area settlers. The characters are rugged, hard-nosed, out-spoken, and sometimes frayed around the edges. The hero, Thomas, is such a likable, long-suffering man, but when we meet the heroine, she’s an immature, self-centered, love sick girl who fantasizes way too much about her former boyfriend. Seeing how these two grow and mature keeps the reader engaged. Likewise, an atheistic character, Monroe refuses to believe in a good God and in Christ Jesus and thus acts as a foil to Corbin’s and Thomas’ faith—a faith that is presented with sensitivity and honesty. All things considered, Texas My Texas is a full length novel that’s not for the faint of heart, but it is one that is well worth savoring as it is read.

​From Amazon: When western Alaska erupts in a devastating fire, the elite firefighting crew of the Jude County Smokejumpers is called in to save the day. They’ll do anything to stop the fire, including fighting alongside a crew of local prisoners.

The last thing they expect is a jailbreak and when the prisoners disappear into the forest with one of their own, they’ll have to fight not only the fire, but for the freedom of their friends…during the Summer of the Burning Sky. 
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Amazon Book #3 Review: 

Riley McCord is trouble, from his blue eyes to his renegade smile—a cover for the grief of losing his father three years ago in Afghanistan, a loss that is still top secret. Riley masks it all by living large—working hard and playing hard, and that includes romancing Larke Kingston, local wilderness medic. When he’s sidelined while working the forest fire, he’s determined to rejoin his team, but to do so, he'll have to accompany Larke into the wilderness when she is dispatched to a medical emergency. What he doesn’t realize is that trouble is waiting for him in the woods…

Medic Larke Kingston lost the man she loved during her service in Afghanistan and she’s not interested in a troublemaker, so Riley’s no threat to her heart. Just a short-term distraction. Until, that is, a wilderness medical mission puts her face-to-face with an escaped prisoner. Suddenly she needs Riley more than she wants to admit.

Riley is shocked when the escapee claims to have answers about his father’s death. However, before he can uncover them, the fire turns and is bearing down on Larke’s ranch, and his team. Now, only Riley and Larke stand between the flames and destruction of everything they both love. But will the price of saving the ranch—and the team—be greater than they both can bear?

In book 3, the epic Summer of the Burning Sky series comes to a blazing, shocking finale.

My comments: 

​The final book in the series, Summer of the Burning Sky, wrapped up the story line nicely and left me wanting to find another Susan May Warren book to read. This is such a good series. Buy or borrow it for hours of reading pleasure.​

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Amazon Review of Book 1: Light My Fire

Former bad-boy Tucker Newman has learned his lesson—as the temporary team leader of the Jude County Smokejumpers, he’s all about following the rules to keep his team safe. Especially when he has to partner with a group of local low-security prisoners to knock down the raging fire. But the prisoners are not who they seem, and when they stage a break, kidnapping one of his teammates, he’ll have to break every rule he knows to get her back. 

US Marshal Stevie Mills knows that to get the job done, she must work alone. She simply can’t risk another person getting hurt because of her. When she discovers that a wanted fugitive accused of rape and murder has not only been set free to fight the fire—but is now on the lam with a hostage-- the last thing she needs is a zealous smokejumper getting in the way of her pursuit. 

Whether they like it or not, Tucker and Stevie must join forces if they hope to save lives, and in the meantime, they just might discover a new definition for the word teamwork, in book 1 of the Summer of the Burning Sky. 

My comments: 
​​Oh my, my heart leapt into my throat at the end of this book, but my brain found following the twists, turns, and backburns difficult to follow. Could barely keep the cast of characters straight. Too bad because "Light My Fire" by Susan May Warren lost one star due to that particular flaw. I still bought book #2 "The Heat Is On".  Reading it next.

Book 2: The Heat is On

FBI Agent Rio Parker is tired of playing the bad guy, even if it is for a good reason. Undercover with a group of prisoners to babysit a federal informant, he can’t believe he’s been enlisted to fight a forest fire…or sucked into a prison break. Worse—a female smokejumper has been kidnapped. Now, he’ll have to protect her from a rapist, keep his informant from escaping, and stay out of the gunsights of the US Marshal hot on his trail.

Smokejumper Skye Doyle knew trouble was brewing when the group of prisoners joined the firefight. She never expected, however, to be kidnapped during their breakout. But can she trust a hardened felon to keep her safe? Except, Rio is not who he seems, and when his identity is uncovered, she must decide if she can trust a man who has been lying to her…

But staying alive on the run isn’t their only problem, they’ll have to learn to trust each other if they hope to survive in book 2 of the Summer of the Burning Sky.

My Thoughts: ​Okay heart you can drop from my throat back into my chest. It's just fiction even though it feels so real when I'm reading. Body you can stop producing fight or flight hormones. It's really only fiction, but it's so well written, such excellent fiction. The Heat really is on! Well done, Susan May Warren!

 From Amazon Website:
Jacie Moreau is a tough-as-nails security specialist who works with the Long Pine Texas police. She takes care of herself and doesn’t ask for help from anyone.

Brett Garrison is an odd-man-out in the Garrison family. He’s a soft-hearted veterinarian from a family of daring Texas lawmen.

Jacie runs afoul of a hired killer and no one is there to step between her and danger but Brett.

Brett’s good-hearted plan to care for the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen draw an assassin’s attention.

Jacie never needs help, but Brett’s kindness when she is so vulnerable sneaks past all the emotional walls she’s built around her heart.

The killer keeps coming and their only hope is to run. And as they run they try and figure out who’s hired a killer, and why, and how to stop him.

If they hide well enough and live long enough, they might make it to the day they can fall in love.

My Thoughts: A Mad man threatens the lives of everyone connected to Brett and Jacie. Some have already fallen victim to the insanity of a serial killer. This high tension suspense novel flips between the sanity of law and order, and the insane processes of a warped mind. So well written, Mary Connealy grabs the reader and doesn't let go. What a riveting book!​ Five Stars!