Submerged - Dani Pettrey

Getting tired of all my favorite authors who keep cranking out good stories? Well, here's a new one for you! Dani Pettrey. I stumbled across her story and loved what I read (well okay, the cover caught my eye first - nice job!) but then the back cover hooked me. And since Dee Henderson recommended it, I had to check it out!

So tell me Dani, are you a diver? or have you dived in any way before?

I took scuba diving lessons, but found I didn't enjoy the sensation of breathing through a mask so I much prefer snorkeling :) 

I often wonder if I would feel the same way. Although I didn't like snorkeling because I was afraid I would suck up water! So many people I know who love swimming have not liked scuba. Perhaps you're a little claustrophobic? 

I'm not sure if it has something to do with feeling claustrophobic with me. I think it's more you can't come straight up when you want to with scuba diving, but you can snorkeling :)) I like to know I can reach the top at any time I want to. 

Well, no matter, you've done a marvellous job taking us down there with you. It certainly felt like you went plenty deep!

Blurb:

A sabotaged plane. Two dead deep-water divers. One single clue.

Bailey Craig vowed never to set foot in Yancey, Alaska, again. She has a past, and a reputation--and Yancey's a town that doesn't forget. She's returned only to bury a loved one killed in the plane crash, but then dark evidence emerges and Bailey's own expertise becomes invaluable for the case.

Cole McKenna can face dangerous rescue dives. He can face the fear a murderer may be threatening his town. But facing the reality of Bailey's reappearance is a tougher challenge. She broke his heart... but doesn't seem to be the same girl who left Yancey ten years ago. And he's not the same guy she left behind.

Racing against the clock and a rising body count, Bailey and Cole must move beyond the hurts of their pasts to work together until the truth of what is hidden in the depths finally surfaces.

WOW! Certainly makes me want to find out more! Come on, dive in!

Excerpt:

Never wager unless you control the stakes.

And she’d thought she held such a strong hand.

Agnes Grey forced her head against the rattling seat back, clenched the armrests with such force her nails broke. Perspiration soaked her brow, seeping into her eyes, but she refused to cry. She was too old to cry.

The plane was going down into the water within sight of her home. Home—warm, safe, dry. She’d never see it again.

Her friend Henry Reid strained to look back, his white knuckles bulging on the wheel as he fought to regain control of the spiraling Cessna, but the fiery plane seemed bent on destruction. Panic flashed through his eyes. “Tighten your belts. Put your head between your knees.”

His concern was sweet, but it wouldn’t change the outcome. Their fate was set.

They were going down—hard and fast. The other passengers’ terrified expressions said they knew it too. Innocents, every one, Agnes thought, fury on their behalf trumping her own fear. She was the only one on board who knew this catastrophe was no mechanical failure. It was him. She knew it as surely as she knew she’d seen her last sunset.

A bitter cry tore from her cracked lips. Any semblance of control on her part had been an illusion.

She’d played her hand, and he’d just called her on it.

If she hadn’t been so stinking stubborn, if she’d kept her mouth shut and given him what he wanted . . But Momma hadn’t raised her like that. She’d done the right thing. She only wished she hadn’t brought the others down with her.

Managing to crane her neck left, she took in the sight of the loving couple’s hands clasped tight, crying as they whispered frantic words to each other.

Agnes’s stomach lurched. She’d brought them on this journey, doomed them to a watery tomb.

At least now he’d be satisfied. She’d be gone. They’d be gone. No one was left to . . .

Acid burned up her throat.

Bailey.

Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/Submerged-Alaskan-Courage-Dani-Pettrey/dp/0764209825

Review:

Wow! Have you ever started a story, intending just to read a couple pages...then you can't put it down. You take it with you everywhere you go and read at every chance you get, even if it's a page or two. Well, that's what you can expect from this one. Submerged grabs hold of you from page one. Be ready to dive in, just don't forget to come up for air! Enjoy!

About the author:

Dani Pettrey is a wife, homeschooling mom, and author. She feels blessed to write inspirational romantic suspense because it incorporates so many things she loves--the thrill of adventure, nailbiting suspense, the deepening of her characters' faith, and plenty of romance. She and her husband reside in Maryland with their two teenage daughters. Visit her website at www.danipettrey.com.

The Watchman - VB Tennery

Welcome back, Virginia! My goodness, you're getting to be a regular here! Some people might think I'm hooked on romantic suspense...they'd be right! Just wish I could write the stuff! LOL

But once again, this book had me hooked from the first page. Who can resist a story of abuse with a chance of a happy ending? First of all, there is no excuse, no pardon for abuse to a woman or child, and secondly my heart goes out to all who seek shelter from such abuse. May God's hand guide and protect them!

To some, this might just be a story, to me, this is a cry to the Creator to protect the innocents of this world!


So here's a peek:

When Detective Noah Adams meets the abused son of a powerful judge, he knows he must intervene, and fast. The violence is escalating, and even Noah’s special gifts may not prevent the unthinkable from happening.                    

Relentlessly pursuing two cases, Noah receives a chilling message: Cody’s deranged father has taken his son and it’s up to Noah to follow the judge’s twisted trail to find the boy before it’s too late.

Corrupt city officials, a missing socialite, an attempted murder, and a rescue in the middle of a blizzard entangle Noah in the most complicated case of his career. A case that will mean his ultimate redemption or will take him back into the dark history that haunts him.

Excerpt: 

Hebron, Wyoming

What if you knew you could learn the deepest, darkest secrets of anyone you touched, but it would cost you emotionally? What if from your earliest childhood you could disappear in thirty-minute intervals and while invisible you could move through solid objects with impunity? What if these anomalies came as natural as breathing—clothing and anything in pockets or hand disappeared—an unknown field that surrounded you erasing everything inside?

What would you do with such powers?

I’d settled that question long ago, but this afternoon, as I focused on the scene outside my car window, it occurred to me perhaps I needed to rethink my mission. I’d covered domestic abuse cases during my five years with the Hebron Police Department, and I’d put away a lot of bad people. Different scenario here. I was no longer a cop.

Ahead, a small boy stepped from a school bus into the upscale Crown Heights neighborhood. Dead leaves and powered snow swirled around his high-end sneakers as he shuffled along the sidewalk.
My foot hovered over the gas pedal. The image disturbed me, and I almost drove away. His small shoulders slumped forward, and I was hooked. I had to know.

He stopped and turned around as if he might go back to the bus stop. He reversed and faced me again.

Confused? Lost?

Cute kid, maybe six years old. The designer logo on his backpack bounced with each step. Blonde locks pressed against his brow under a blue baseball cap, reminding me of another little boy—minus the designer gear.

Decision made, I swung the SUV to the curb, snatched the cell phone from its holder, and texted my friend.

Got 2 bow out of dinner talk 2 u later.

I left the car and stepped to the sidewalk. With a glance both ways, I moved into the boy’s path. Slow and easy. Not too close, not too fast. I didn’t want to frighten him.

With my friendliest smile, I took a step closer. “Hey, son, can you tell me where to find Oak Street?”
He gazed up at me and shook his head. Eyes dull, as if he’d lived life and found it wanting.

I patted his shoulder. “Thanks, anyway.”

He winced and jerked away as if I’d slapped him. I’d suspected abuse, but his pain caught me by surprise. In an instant his life opened up, film clips at the speed of light. Visuals of physical pain, overwhelming fear, helplessness, and a silent scream for help. Emotions too heavy for a child to carry streamed through my consciousness. With proof of abuse came certainty. The violence at home was escalating.

Something frightening rose within me―rage against the defenselessness of children and those who caused them pain. Abuse cases drew and repelled me at the same time, reviving memories I’d long ago buried.

I inhaled a resolute breath. When had I ever walked away from a troubled child? I couldn’t save the world—just the small corner God gave me. A common man, given uncommon gifts—a watchman on the wall.

Review:

What a phenomenal story! I love Virginia's writing! Pardon the exclamation points, but it's true. Her stories are wonderful. This is the fourth one I've read and they're all great.

The Watchman grabbed me, literally, from page one! Abuse a child? No way! And especially from someone he should be able to trust? Plus abuse the child's mother for trying to protect him? Not on my watch! We all need that Watchman, someone to watch over us when those who have  power are not what they should be.

This story is written with a gentle, but firm hand, true to the seriousness of the topic, but not overwhelming in the horrible details - but certainly enough to bring out the protector in anyone's heart. The dialogue is sometimes witty and entertaining, and the characters all reach out to touch your heart.

Wonderful story! Really, DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!!!

Purchase Links:

http://pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_47&products_id=599

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NK7AD8E

About the author:

Author V. B. Tenery lives with her family in East Texas. Her passion is writing books with shinning characters and settings with plots so exciting readers come away feeling delighted with the experience. Not content to stay in one genre, her novels range from contemporary suspense and supernatural suspense, to an upcoming historical suspense set in WWII England. When not writing she enjoys reading, hiking, and tube-floating down rivers in the Hill Country 

God's child trying to make Him proud.