Friday, July 11, 2025

Shadowed Witness by Angela Carlisle Blog Tour Book Review

 

Shadowed Witness by Angela Carlisle Banner

SHADOWED WITNESS

by Angela Carlisle

July 7 - August 1, 2025 Virtual Book Tour

Synopsis:

Shadowed Witness by Angela Carlisle

THE SECRETS OF KINCAID

 

A haunting attack. A killer in the shadows. A protective love.

Murder--that's what photographer Allye Jessup knows she witnessed as she departed her studio one evening. Waking with bruises on her neck and a foggy memory, she believes she survived an attack, but everyone seems to think she simply sustained a head injury from falling down the stairs outside her studio. Plagued by an undiagnosed health condition, she is torn between the haunting reality of what she may have seen and the possibility that her mind is playing tricks on her.

Without proof the other victim ever existed, Detective Eric Thornton can hardly declare the area a murder scene. Still, he adds Allye's report to his already full caseload. But when new evidence surfaces to support her claims, Eric must stay one step ahead of a ruthless killer and uncover the truth before the suspect closes in on Allye again.

Praise for Angela Carlisle:

"Fans of romantic suspense, add Angela Carlisle to your must-read list!"
~ Lynn H. Blackburn, bestselling and award-winning author

"Make room on your shelves--this is a keeper!"
~ Jaime Jo Wright, bestselling author on Secondary Target

"Surprising twists and unfolding mysteries kept me turning pages until the end."
~ Jerusha Agen author of the Guardians Unleashed series on Secondary Target

My Review:

I liked this inspirational romantic suspense that centered around Allye and the believably of the incidents she reported to the police. Others being so critical of what she was sure she saw made her a very vulnerable character. Police detective Eric was a flawed hero. I was disappointed he did not believe Allye and consider her in danger but that made for more suspense later on. Eric did come through as a hero in the secondary plot of the boys needing help after their mother died.

I found it interesting that Allye had so many physical and psychological issues. I had suspicions of what was going on so the ending was not a surprise. While there were clues leading to the identity of the villain too there was a twist at the end and plenty of suspense.

This is a good inspirational romantic suspense with relatable characters, a good mystery plot and a good faith message. While it is the second in a series, it reads well on its own.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

You can read my review of the first book in this series, Secondary Target. 

Book Details:

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Published by: Bethany House Publishers
Publication Date: July 1, 2025
Number of Pages: 336
ISBN: 9780764242519 (ISBN10: 0764242512)
Series: The Secrets of Kincaid, Book 2 (Amazon | Goodreads)
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | BookBub | Baker Book House

Read an excerpt:

 

Author Bio:

Angela Carlisle

Angela Carlisle resides in the hills of northern Kentucky and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and The Christian PEN. Angela’s debut novel, Secondary Target, was a Parable Weekly top seller and was included in the Library Journal Stars So Far listing. Angela is an editor by day and prefers to spend her free time reading, baking, and drinking ridiculous quantities of hot tea.

Catch Up With Angela Carlisle:

AngelaCarlisle.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub - @AngelaCarlisle
Instagram - @angelacarlislewriter
Facebook - @AngelaCarlisle.Writer

 

Tour Participants:

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I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Partners in Crime Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review. The rest of the copy of this post was provided by Partners in Crime Book Tours.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.) 

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Thursday, July 10, 2025

A Dead Draw by Robert Dugoni Book Review

About the Book:


A killer fueled by revenge. A detective haunted by the past. They are headed for a high-stakes showdown in this bone-chilling new Tracy Crosswhite novel by New York Times bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

Detective Tracy Crosswhite isn’t one to lose her cool. Until her interrogation of the taunting and malicious Erik Schmidt, a suspect in two cold case killings. Schmidt also has unnerving ties to the monster who murdered Tracy’s sister, stirring memories of the crime that shaped Tracy’s life. After a critical mistake during a shooting exercise, Tracy breaks.

Haunted by nightmares and flashbacks, Tracy heads to her hometown of Cedar Grove to refocus. Just a peaceful getaway with her husband, her daughter, and their nanny at their weekend house. But Tracy’s sleepless nights are only beginning. A legal glitch has allowed Schmidt to go free. And Tracy has every reason to fear that he’s followed her.

Forced into a twisted game of cat and mouse, Tracy must draw on all her training, wits, and strength to defeat a master criminal before he takes away everyone Tracy loves.


My Review:

I am always a little leery when a male author writes a female main character but I have liked this series in general. The plot may be a little of a rehash with the same nemesis, or his disciple, posing a threat. I think it's time to move on. I prefer a concentration on police work rather than Tracy facing personal issues. And why so much about guns and competition? I liked it but I don't think this is the best in the series.

My rating: 4/5 stars.


About the Author:


Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle, which has sold more than 10 million books worldwide. He is also the author of The Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, the Keera Duggan legal thriller series, and several stand-alone novels including the literary novel, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell - One of Newsweek Magazines Best Books of All Time and Suspense Magazine’s Book of the Year. Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award. He has also written critically acclaimed historical novels based on true events: The World Played Chess a coming of age story and the Vietnam War; Hold Strong an untold story of WWII; and A Killing on the Hill, about a 1933 killing and trial in Seattle. HIs nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. His novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and multiple awards for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. He has also been a finalist for many other awards including the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award.

Thomas and Mercer, 373 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)

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Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Threads of Empire by Dorothy Armstrong Book Review

About the Book:


Dorothy Armstrong’s Threads of Empire is a spellbinding look at the history of the world through the stories of twelve carpets. Beautiful, sensuous, and enigmatic, great carpets follow power. Emperors, shahs, sultans and samurai crave them as symbols of earthly domination. Shamans and priests desire them to evoke the spiritual realm. The world’s 1% hunger after them as displays of extreme status. And yet these seductive objects are made by poor and illiterate weavers, using the most basic materials and crafts; hedgerow plants for dyes, fibers from domestic animals, and the millennia-old skills of interweaving warps, wefts and knots.

In Threads of Empire, Armstrong tells the histories of some of the world’s most fascinating carpets, exploring how these textiles came into being then were transformed as they moved across geography and time in the slipstream of the great. She shows why the world’s powerful were drawn to them, but also asks what was happening in the weavers’ lives, and how they were affected by events in the world outside their tent, village or workshop. In its wide-ranging examination of these dazzling objects, from the 5th century BCE contents of the tombs of Scythian chieftains, to the carpets under the boots of Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill at the 1945 Yalta Peace Conference, Threads of Empire uncovers a new, hitherto hidden past right beneath our feet.

My Review:

Well crafted rugs tell stories. Armstrong, with her love of the subject, did a fine job telling those stories. Quilts frequently get the attention for historical works like this and I was glad to see a different focus. I like how she combined the historical setting of the carpet's creation as well as the history of the carpet itself. I was surprised at the labor, of children or slaves, unlike quilt origins. I was not as interested in the actual materials used in the carpets and found that information not as interesting. Her writing style did make the information less dry, however.

This book did give me a new appreciation for what one can reveal about culture through creations such as carpets. It is a book for readers who would like to look at the world through the often overlooked topic of carpet construction and trade.


My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:


Dr. Dorothy Armstrong is a historian of the material culture of South, Central and West Asia, and for the last decade has tried to penetrate the mysteries of Asian rugs. She has published, podcast and lectured widely on carpets. She was tutor at the Royal College of Art and Edinburgh College of Art, and from 2021 has been the Beattie Fellow in Carpet Studies at the Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. She is an avid collector of carpets and is as a result also an expert on clothes moths. Photo Credit: Toby Long, PhotoExpress, Edinburgh.

St Martin's Press, 368 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)

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Tuesday, July 8, 2025

New Release: Embedded by John Lansing


 I'll be reviewing this book in August but it releases today. I have read other novels by Lansing and liked them so I am looking forward to reading this one. It is the beginning of a new series and looks great.

Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple | Kobo | Goodreads | BookBub

Sponsored by Partners in Crime Book Tours.

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Winter's Season by R J Koreto Cover Reveal

 Winter's Season by R.J. Koreto Banner

WINTER'S SEASON

by R.J. Koreto

July 8, 2025 Cover Reveal

Synopsis:

Winter's Season by R.J. Koreto

In 1817 London, Before the Police, There Was Captain Winter.

London, 1817. A city teeming with life, yet lacking a professional police force. When a wealthy young woman is brutally murdered in an alley frequented by prostitutes, a shadowy government bureau in Whitehall dispatches its "special emissary"―Captain Winter. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and a gentleman forged by chance and conflict, Winter is uniquely equipped to navigate the treacherous currents of London society, from aristocratic drawing rooms to the city's grimmest taverns.

Without an army of officers or the aid of forensic science, Winter must rely on his wits and a network of unconventional allies. His childhood friend, a nobleman, opens doors in high society, while a wise Jewish physician uncovers secrets the dead cannot hide.

But Winter's most intriguing, and potentially dangerous, asset is Barbara Lightwood. Shrewd, beautiful, and operating as a discreet intermediary among the elite, Barbara shares a past with Winter from the war years. Their rekindled affair is fraught with wariness; she offers intimate information crucial to his investigation, but guards her own secrets fiercely. Like Winter, she is both cunning and capable of danger.

From grand houses to dimly lit streets, death stalks Captain Winter. He must tread carefully to unmask a killer, navigate a web of secrets and lies, and perhaps, in the process, save his own soul.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Mystery
Published by: Histria Books
Planned Publication Date: January 20, 2026
Number of Pages: 300
ISBN: 978-1592116898
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads

Author Bio:

R.J. Koreto

R.J. Koreto is the author of the Historic Home mystery series, set in modern New York City; the Lady Frances Ffolkes mystery series, set in Edwardian England; and the Alice Roosevelt mystery series, set in turn-of-the-century New York. His short stories have been published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, as well as various anthologies.

Most recently, he is the author of "Winter's Season," which takes place on the dark streets and glittering ballrooms of Regency-era London.

In his day job, he works as a business and financial journalist. Over the years, he’s been a magazine writer and editor, website manager, PR consultant, book author, and seaman in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Like his heroine, Lady Frances Ffolkes, he’s a graduate of Vassar College.

He and his wife have two grown daughters, and divide their time between Paris and Martha’s Vineyard.

Catch Up With R.J. Koreto:

www.RJKoreto.com
Amazon Author Profile
Goodreads
BookBub
Instagram - @rjkoreto
Threads - @rjkoreto
Facebook - @rjkoreto

 

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Monday, July 7, 2025

Does Science Make God Irrelevant? by Hans Madueme Book Review

About the Book:


How Faith and Science Can Coexist to Glorify Our Creator  

Questions surrounding the origins of the universe and the accuracy of biblical accounts place science at the forefront of discussions between atheists and Christians alike. Believers criticize the natural sciences as untrustworthy or even as an enemy of faith, while atheists reprimand Christians for denying empirical facts of nature. Is it possible to rightly love both God and science?

In this concise book, author Hans Madueme offers a biblically informed perspective on science, helping readers embrace both faith and science in a responsible and God-glorifying way. Does Science Make God Irrelevant? addresses misconceptions, explains how Christian assumptions make science possible, clarifies the tension between science and miracles, and illustrates ways faith and science can coexist as allies. In turn, readers will see how good science glorifies God and helps us praise our Creator. 

  • Optimistic: Helps readers maintain a biblically sound worldview and a positive view of science 
  • Informed Perspective: Author Hans Madueme’s medical and theological background informs his thoughts on the topic of faith and science 
  • Short, Accessible Format: Explains science from a biblical perspective using 4 simple steps
  • Part of the TGC Hard Questions Series: Equips readers with answers to difficult questions facing today’s church

My Review:

This is a small book so it is not going to go deeply into the issue. It is a good introduction, however. Madueme has good insights into the ways to address perceived conflicts between science and faith. He clarifies misunderstandings, such as how the popular idea of The Scopes Trial does not represent the actual events. He explores the idea of scientific truth and how it changes with continued experiments. He has positive comments on the anthropic principle, that our earth is particularly situated for life. I like how he points out the difference between science and scientism.

This is not an extensive book on the topic. It is a good beginning point for one who loves Jesus and also loves science. It is also a good book with which to begin a dialogue on the topic.

My rating: 4/5 stars.


About the Author:


Hans Madueme (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is professor of theological studies at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and an editorial board member for Themelios. He is the co-editor of Adam, the Fall, and Original Sin: Theological, Biblical, and Scientific Perspectives and the author of Defending Sin: A Response to the Challenges of Evolution and the Natural Sciences. Before training in theology, Madueme received his MD and completed his medical residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic.

Crossway, 96 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)

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Unhurried by Samantha Decker Book Review

About the Book:


Experience the joy of slowing down, creating margin, and surrendering control to God.

Samantha Decker lived a hurried life. Swimming in chaos with a never-ending to-do list, she experienced the fatigue and desperation of rushing from one thing to another. But, amidst her chaos and fruitless efforts to do and be everything, the Lord gently met her. He invited her to slow down and experience His created design for rest.

In Unhurried, we will explore our busy, hurried lives and discover how we can experience the joy of slowing down. We will learn more about margin—what is it, how did Jesus create it, and how can we follow Him? Through the Lord’s guidance and grace, Samantha also shows us how to make time for eternal realities.

  • Are your days marked by busyness, striving, and planning?
  • Does rest feel unattainable?
  • Do you regularly describe yourself as “busy”?


This book is an invitation to rest, create space, and join God in the work He’s doing.

This is the story of a God who knows how to rest. A God who has everything under control. A God who gave His only Son to save us from our sins and the bondage they bring. In Christ, there is freedom from striving, busyness, and hurry. Are you ready to take off these weights and follow Jesus?


My Review:

Decker does a good job of taking us through the problem of hurry. She helps us learn how to create margin so when God speaks to us we can be available. She identifies our desire for control. “Margin, at its core, involves conceding control.” (141) She explores how God might use us when we give Him the opportunity to talk to us and we actually listen. She writes about abiding. “Abiding is the decision to remain so in tune with the Spirit that everything else pales in comparison." (82) She gives practical suggestions on topics like solitude and making decisions.

This is a good book for Christians who want to learn how to live in the presence of Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There are good questions at the end of each chapter for personal reflection or for use in a group study. I recommend this book to those desiring to be attentive to the presence of the Lord and his guidance.

My rating: 4/5 stars.


About the Author:


Samantha Decker is a wife, mom of 4, author, Bible teacher, speaker, and above all, a follower of Jesus. She is passionate about encouraging believers to deepen their walk with Jesus through discipleship relationships and an unrelenting love for the Word of God. She and her husband, Dustin, live in Oklahoma and enjoy serving in their local church, trying new restaurants (especially if it’s Tex-Mex), and adventuring with their three rambunctious boys and baby girl. You can find out more at samanthadeckerwrites.com.

Moody Publisher, 224 pages.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publishers. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)

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Sunday, July 6, 2025

Island Shadows by Stacy Angell Curtis Book Review

About the Book: 


Tayla Faraday’s tragic past still haunts her nightmares. But when she discovers her only living relative—her dear uncle, Leland—is in danger, she curbs her fear and rushes to a remote island in the Caribbean to warn him.
He’s kept a secret from her. And the truth stings. But maybe that’s unfair. Because she has her own secrets. Former CIA operative, Jason Bridger, works for the private security company, WhiteRock. Jason arrives on Isadora Island to track down a fellow agent, hoping the agent’s lack of communication is simply due to poor cell service in the tropical paradise.
His mission is complicated when he meets the intriguing Tayla Faraday and learns she’s searching for her uncle on the same island.

When suspicious attacks escalate to murder, Jason realizes finding the truth and protecting Tayla may put his life—and his heart—in the crosshairs. 

My Review:

This is the first novel in a new series and the very first I have read from this author. It begins with action and doesn't let up. Tayla is a good heroine. She is willing to travel to find her uncle and is not hesitant to get in harm's way when it will help protect him. Jason is a good hero. He is part of a tough security team but has a soft heart. Both of them have had past tragedy they need to overcome to respond to a potential romance. There is a good faith element to see them through their issues.

The tropical setting is quite interesting. That it is a non-extradition country makes for many bad guys on the scene. Jason and Tayla must stay alive with more than one villain after them. There is a twist in the character structure so one of the potential villains was a surprise. The plot gets wrapped up a little too quickly and easily for what I thought was reasonable.

I like this novel, my first from this author. We are introduced to a few interesting people who work for this security company so I am sure there will be additional novels featuring them. I'll be looking for the sequel.

My rating: 4/5 stars. 

 

About the Author:


I am humbled and thrilled to have the opportunity to write and share stories with others.

Stories are powerful. Our hearts, minds and souls grow when we journey with characters through their struggles, doubts, triumphs and happy endings. The Christian Romantic Suspense genre is my personal favorite because it tests and grows the characters' faith in God through heart-pounding danger and the fears and joys of sweet romance - ALWAYS leading to a happy ending.

I live in College Station, Texas with my husband, our two sons, and our dog, Radar.

Connect with me at stacyangellcurtis.com.

Joy Print Press, 369 pages.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through BookSirens. My comments are an independent and honest review.

(My star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it, 1-I hate it.)

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