#BookReview: Perilous Tides by Elizabeth Goddard

Solid… Mystery/ Christian Fiction? Christian Fiction/ Mystery? This is one of those action/ mysteries where both the mystery and the action pick up almost from the first words… and then you’ll hear the characters involved in actively hiding (or hunting, as the case may be at times) also actively praying. It also picks up a bit after the events of Book 1 and actively continues some of the threads left dangling there, so if you’ve already read Book 1 (and you really should), you largely already know what to expect from Goddard’s style here.

On the mystery/ action side, this book was 100% spot on. Great use of the Pacific Northwest setting in all of its environments, including both on the water and in the forests. Solid pacing throughout, it is really going to make you feel like you’re reading a more explicitly Christian Matthew Reilly or early Jeremy Robinson book at times – the pacing can get *that* frenetic. But it isn’t sustained throughout the book, and thus isn’t *quite* as “balls to the wall” as those authors tend to do. Still, their fans would likely find quite a lot to like here, and particularly with Robinson’s early works being more overtly Christian themselves… yeah, a really good fit action wise there. 🙂

The Christian side is admittedly where some will absolutely *LOVE* that these facets are included, and others will at best roll their eyes or even actively defenestrate the book over. Hence emphasizing this side of the book in the review – if you truly detest all things Christian, know up front this is NOT the book for you, and that is *perfectly fine*. There are many other awesome books for you without this focus, please just let those who do want this to have it, and follow me wherever you’re reading this review and I guarantee you I’ll show you something more to your liking at some point. 🙂

Ultimately truly a strong sequel, and I’m very much looking forward to the next book in the series -= apparently currently scheduled for February 2026!

Very much recommended.

This review of Perilous Tides by Elizabeth Goddard was originally written on July 28, 2025.

#TwelveDaysOfRomance #BlogTour: Buried Cold Case Secrets by Sami A Abrams

For this entry in the Twelve Days of Romance blog tour series we’re looking at a solid Christian Fiction romantic suspense novel ala Dee Henderson. For this entry, we’re looking at Buried Cold Case Secrets by debut author Sami A Abrams.

Solid Tale Of Its Type. So apparently “Inspired” / “Inspirational” is code for “Christian” in American marketing parlance (I guess similar to how “family friendly” is code for “kids”?). Did not know this going in (or, more likely, had known it long ago and forgotten over the years since I left that world behind). Thus, I was quite surprised to see a Christian Fiction book on the same blog tour schedule (well, emails sent within a few minutes of each other anyway, though in fairness there were a few different sets and I’ve picked up books from all of them) as some other… steamier… books, one of which I had just read earlier in the same day as this one. 🙂

My semi-shock at stumbling into a Christian Fiction tale published by Harlequin aside (and kudos to them for reaching out to *all* segments of their market), this tale was actually quite solid. Reminded me a bit of Dee Henderson’s O’Malley Family series many years ago in that the suspense was high wire level tight, the leads worked well together personally and professionally, and the religious aspects were at least worked in as every day parts of the characters’ lives and thus never truly preachy. And hell, the actual mystery at hand was actually sufficiently creepy that fans of the general romantic suspense genre will find quite a bit to enjoy here – so long as you don’t mind praying. (I know of at least some readers who absolutely will not touch a book that mentions God or prayer *at all*, *no matter what*. If you’re that level… yeah, this book isn’t for you. If you’re at least ambivalent about that particular feature and just looking for a great suspense tale… you’re gonna like this one.) As I said in the title here, this is truly a solid tale of its type, and thus it is very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, social media and buy links.
Continue reading “#TwelveDaysOfRomance #BlogTour: Buried Cold Case Secrets by Sami A Abrams”

#BookReview: Clean Exit by Kent Holloway

Holloway does an excellent job here of using his day job to give his writing a degree of life that makes this tale special. With Ajax Clean, you think you know what you’re getting – a cleaner for the mob and the various crimes he has to cover up. What you don’t expect is the larger mystery and the various twists and turns it takes. Truly solid and truly enjoyable. And fairly fast – I finished it within about 72 hrs of starting. Maybe even 48?

This review of Clean Exit by Kent Holloway was originally published on February 27, 2016.