Review: Keeper’s Reach by Carla Neggers

keepers reach by carla neggersFormat read: ebook provided by the publisher via NetGalley
Formats available: hardcover, ebook, audiobook
Genre: romantic suspense
Series: Sharpe & Donovan #5
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: August 25, 2015
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan, two of the FBI’s most valuable agents, are preparing for their next big assignment—their wedding—when Colin’s brother Mike alerts them that onetime friends from his military past are on Sharpe and Donovan home turf on the Maine coast. Now private security contractors, they want to meet with Mike. One of them, an FBI agent named Kavanagh, is supposed to be on leave. What is he investigating—or does he have his own agenda?

Mike zeroes in on Naomi MacBride, a freelance civilian intelligence analyst who, aside from a few hot nights, has never brought him anything but trouble. Newly returned from England, Naomi clearly isn’t telling Mike everything about why she’s snooping around his hometown, but he has no choice but to work with her if he wants to uncover what’s really going on.

But the case soon takes a drastic turn—Emma is targeted, and a connection surfaces between Naomi and Kavanagh and a recently solved international art theft case. Not every connection is a conspiracy, but as the tangled web of secrets unravels, Emma and Colin face their greatest danger yet. With everyone they know involved, they must decide who they can trust… or lose everything for good.

My Review:

saints gate by carla neggersI got hooked on the Sharpe & Donovan series a few books ago, and at this point I’ve read them all. If you like romantic suspense featuring a couple of smart but opposite FBI Agents, start with Saint’s Gate (reviewed here).

I’m also saying start at the beginning if you’re interested in the new book, because the story relies a lot on past events and relationships. For series fans, it’s a solid entry, but it does not stand alone.

This story takes place in Maine, as much of the series does. Colin and Emma originally hail from two relatively close small towns on the Maine Coast – Rock Point for Colin and Heron’s Cove for Emma. Even though they are relatively close in age, they never met growing up. Rock Point seems to have been mostly blue-collar, and Heron’s Cove is more middle and upper-middle class. Colin’s family owns an inn, and one of his brothers is a lobsterman, while another does wilderness adventure tours on Maine’s Bold Coast.

Emma’s family are world-renowned art detectives. They recover precious art that someone else has stolen. And that’s where a lot of the background of this particular story takes root. For a decade, Emma’s grandfather Wendell has been chasing one particularly challenging thief. In the previous book in the series, Harbor Island (reviewed here) Emma finally tracks the man down, only to discover that her grandfather’s art thief is a wealthy Brit with a dual identity who has covered his tracks way too well.

But now that the jig is up, Oliver Fairbarn/Oliver York has been quietly giving all of his stolen work back to the folks he stole it from. This is mostly a win/win, but Oliver is still rightfully worried that Interpol, or more likely MI5, is going to come knocking on his door.

Instead he gets a freelance intelligence analyst, a secretive FBI agent, and a possible unknown third party who attacks his assistant and takes his insane quest back to the U.S., only to deliver it to Colin Donovan and Emma Sharpe – in a very roundabout fashion.

But that’s what finally gets him caught. Along with thinking that he is much, much cleverer than anyone chasing him.

It almost works.

Escape Rating B-: Keeper’s Reach, as I said at the beginning, is not a good entry point for this series. Everyone in this book knows everyone else, and series readers will be familiar with the background. While the events that happen within the story are well-explained, there is a lot of nuance in the background that newbies will miss.

The story is all about everyone’s past. Colin’s brother Mike is the wilderness tour guide. His self-exile to a remote cabin on the Bold Coast is Mike’s way of finding healing after a lot of shit he went through in the Army. In Afghanistan.

But Mike’s experiences are all coming back to haunt him. The group that he worked with are all coming to Maine to see him, and to see if he can be recruited to do private security work. They are invading his territory, and bringing a lot of shit with them.

The weird thing about the group is that none of them seem to really trust each other. They all worked together, but there’s also the possibility that there was a traitor in their midst even back then. And none of these folks are people to whom trust comes easily.

None of this is helped by Mike’s romantic history with intelligence analyst Naomi MacBride. They had chemistry then, and they have chemistry now, but Naomi has a way of rushing in and putting herself in harm’s way that Mike doesn’t trust.

The story is told in the third person, but the perspective moves from one to another as the scene shifts. This worked well in Harbor Island, but it doesn’t here.

One of the many things that go wrong in this story is that Emma gets kidnapped early on. She rescues herself about halfway through, but her kidnapping takes her out of the main action for too long. I missed her point of view.

With Emma out of the way, a lot of the story is told from Naomi MacBride’s perspective. Naomi may be an intelligence analyst, but she is too emotionally involved in what is going on. She makes an unreliable narrator, in that she doesn’t seem to tell herself everything she’s thinking, and none of the other players in this game trust her (or each other) and everyone is investigating everyone else and keeping important secrets.

The story got much better when Emma got herself out of her prison, but then she shipped herself off to England to investigate that part of the trail. I missed her common sense perspective on events. A lot.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Harbor Island by Carla Neggers + Giveaway

harbor island by carla neggersFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, audiobook
Genre: romantic suspense
Series: Sharpe & Donovan, #4
Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: August 26, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Emma Sharpe, granddaughter of world-renowned art detective Wendell Sharpe, is a handpicked member of a small Boston-based FBI team. For the past decade Emma and her grandfather have been trailing an elusive serial art thief. The first heist was in Ireland, where an ancient Celtic cross was stolen. Now the Sharpes receive a replica of the cross after every new theft—reminding them of their continued failure to capture their prey.

When Emma receives a message that leads her to the body of a woman on a small island in Boston Harbor, she finds the victim holding a small, cross-inscribed stone—one she recognizes all too well. Emma’s fiancé, FBI deep-cover agent Colin Donovan, is troubled that she’s gone off to the island alone, especially given the deadly turn the thief has taken. But as they dig deeper they are certain there is more to this murder than meets the eye.

As the danger escalates, Emma and Colin must also face do-or-die questions about their relationship. While there’s no doubt they are in love, can they give their hearts and souls to their work and have anything left for each other? There’s one thing Emma and Colin definitely agree on: before they can focus on their future, they must outwit one of the smartest, most ruthless killers they’ve ever encountered.

My Review:

Declan's Cross by Carla NeggersI was introduced to the Sharpe and Donovan series with last year’s Declan’s Cross (reviewed here), the third book in this romantic suspense/mystery series. Being a completist, I went back and read the prequel novella, Rock Point, and the first two books in the series, Saint’s Gate (review) and Heron’s Cove (review), so that I could get up to speed.

All of that catching up certainly came in handy when I got to Harbor Island, because all of the characters who have had important roles in the previous books get major parts (and have major parts of their arcs resolved) in this story. And, the quest that has been driving the entire Sharpe family of art detectives crazy for ten years also acquires some new twists and turns.

That bit is resolved, and it isn’t, both at the same time, which was pretty cool. But I’m not giving it away.

Sharpe and Donovan are two FBI agents who fell in love while investigating a murder. Both Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan are Mainers, but Emma Sharpe grew up in middle-class Heron’s Cove, while Colin Donovan spent his childhood in the rough and tumble fishing village of Rock Island.

Emma’s family are well-respected and relatively well-to-do art detectives. Colin’s family were fishermen and innkeepers. They came to the FBI from very different roads, and have very different jobs. Emma uses her knowledge of art history to track down art thieves. Colin is an undercover agent.

When one of her art thieves turned out to be his mob boss undercover assignment, they found each other. For the moment, her art thieves have turned up so many murders that Colin has been able to have a relatively regular assignment with the Boston High Impact Team, where Emma is stationed.

Harbor Island is yet another convoluted case where Emma’s art thieves turn to murder and mayhem in both New England and olde Ireland, allowing the chase to involve their friend Sean Murphy, a senior investigator with the Garda.

The Sharpe family of art detectives has been investigating a string of high end art thefts that have been going on for ten years, starting in Sean Murphy’s patch at Declan’s Cross. When a woman starts probing that string of art thefts for a possible movie, someone turns to murder.

But no one who has ever been involved in the case thinks that it’s their thief. So who is targeting Emma, and why?

saints gate by carla neggersEscape Rating B+: There has been a large cast of fascinating characters involved in the entire Sharpe and Donovan series, and it seems like every single one of them has a part to play in Harbor Island. As much as I enjoyed Harbor Island, and I did very much, I was extremely glad that I had read the other books first. These people have a lot of intertwined relationships, and the story is better if you know who the players are and what parts they are playing. (Start with Saint’s Gate)

Emma is the primary investigator (and target) in this one. The crime seems to be wrapped up in her family’s long-running search for that mysterious thief. Not only was the first victim following in the Sharpe family footsteps, but she was poking her nose into lots of lives and secrets that no one wanted revealed–even in a fictionalized version.

As the victim’s last movements are traced from Boston to LA to Maine to Ireland and back, it seems as if she stirred up multiple hornet’s nests; accusing relatively innocent parties of being the notorious thief, and alienating her family with her relentless pursuit of her project, intending to use someone else’s money to make it happen.

There’s always a question, did the thief kill her, did she expose something else she shouldn’t have, or did her family finally explode? The answers are a surprise.

And in the background, we have a forbidden love story simmering, and the second chance at a happy ending for an estranged married couple, mixed with a fascinating exploration of art and murder.

~~~~~~TOURWIDE~~~~~~

We’re giving away a copy of Harbor Island to one lucky (U.S.) commenter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Q&A with Carla Neggers + Giveaway

cider brook by carla neggersMy guest today is Carla Neggers, the author of today’s featured review book, Cider Brook, and also the author of one of my new favorite romantic suspense series, the Sharpe & Donovan series.

Q:      You have more than two dozen books on The New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. What does it feel like to have such a loyal fan base that keeps coming back for more?

A: It’s wonderful! My first readers were my three sisters. They found one of my early works-in-progress and read it aloud and then urged me to finish the story, which I did. It was great to have them connect with a story I’d made up. Since then, I’ve met and corresponded with many, many readers, and I’m truly grateful for each and every one. It’s an honor and a pleasure.

Q:      You have taught writing workshops across the country. Do you have anything currently planned for the future?

A: I’m going to be at Thrillerfest in New York City in July. It’s a gathering of writers and readers put on by International Thriller Writers. It’s too early to know my exact schedule, but I look forward to hanging out in New York and talking books and writing!

Q:      What is your strangest writing quirk?

A: I don’t know if it’s strange or a quirk but I don’t eat when I’m writing. You won’t find breadcrumbs or BBQ sauce on my keyboard or notepads. I don’t know if it goes back to my days writing up in a tree as a kid, but it’s one of my few rules. I sometimes will write at a coffee shop or restaurant, but I’ll stick to a latte or pot of tea when I’m actually writing.

Q:      We know you love to travel, but where is a place you haven’t been that has high priority on your list?

A: Italy! I want to see Tuscany, Rome, Venice. My husband does, too. We love to travel. We visit

Ireland often, We head back there this spring. We’ll also take a week to walk in the Cotswolds in England. Of course, there’s the Netherlands, too. I have lots and lots of family there, including in one of the cutest Dutch villages ever. And Montana, Wyoming, the Pacific Northwest…I could go on and on!

Q:      What are you reading right now?

A: I’m reading Home to Seaview Key by my good friend Sherryl Woods. I loved Seaview Inn and couldn’t wait to revisit the endearing people and beautiful scenery of Seaview Key.

Carla NeggersAbout Carla NeggersCarla Neggers is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 60 novels, with translations in 24 languages. Born and raised on the western edge of the beautiful Quabbin Reservoir in rural Massachusetts, Carla grew up with tales of her father’s life as a Dutch sailor and her mother’s childhood in northwest Florida.At a young age, Carla began penning her own stories on a branch high up in her favorite sugar maple. Now she enjoys spending time at the family homestead (now a tree farm) with her six brothers and sisters and their families. When she’s not writing, Carla loves to travel, hike, kayak, garden, and, of course, dive into a good book. She lives with her family in Vermont, near Quechee Gorge.

To learn more about Carla, visit her website or follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

~~~~~~GIVEAWAY~~~~~~

Carla is giving away a copy of Cider Brook to one lucky (U.S.) commenter. To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Cider Brook by Carla Neggers

cider brook by carla neggersFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: paperback, ebook, audiobook, large print
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Series: Swift River Valley #3
Length: 379 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: January 28, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Unlikely partners bound by circumstance…or by fate?

Being rescued by a good-looking, bad-boy firefighter isn’t how Samantha Bennett expected to start her stay in Knights Bridge, Massachusetts. Now she has everyone’s attention—especially that of Justin Sloan, her rescuer, who wants to know why she was camped out in an abandoned old New England cider mill.

Samantha is a treasure hunter who has returned to Knights Bridge to solve a 300-year-old mystery and salvage her good name. Justin remembers her well. He’s the one who alerted her late mentor to her iffy past and got her fired. But just because he doesn’t trust her doesn’t mean he can resist her. Samantha is daring, determined, seized by wanderlust—everything that strong, stoic Justin never knew he wanted. Until now…

My Review:

After having finished this story and had a chance to think about, it feels like the theme of Cider Brook is finding peace with the ghosts of the past. And that applies whether they are they are the ghosts of the long-dead past, or your own past.

A lot of the characters in the story are seeking redemption for something that they feel they did wrong, or think might have been the wrong thing. Part of the story is that the people they think they wronged have died. So they are searching for peace within themselves.

I feel like I should start the way that A Christmas Carol starts; Duncan McCaffrey was dead, to begin with. Yet the story centers around him and his death, even though he isn’t still around.

Duncan was a larger-than-life treasure hunter and explorer. And so was Harry Bennett, Samantha Bennett’s grandfather, also lately deceased. While cataloging and processing her grandfather Harry’s huge and disorganized collections, Sam comes across a painting of a mill over Cider Brook and a handwritten romance novel between a pirate and an English Lady.

Sam recognizes the scene in the painting and is fascinated with the book. She has been hunting pirates all of her professional life, and the story points her towards Knight’s Bridge. Sam was there once before, when she briefly worked for Duncan McCaffrey.

That’s where Sam feels the need for redemption. She concealed her investigation of Knight’s Bridge and her identity as a member of the slightly infamous Bennett family from Duncan. He fired her because he couldn’t trust her after that.

Now she’s back in Knight’s Bridge chasing her pirate legend, and everyone is pretty wary of her and her motives. She wasn’t exactly above board the last time, after all.

A freak thunderstorm forces her to break into that very same Cider Bridge mill for shelter, and when the place catches fire, she gets rescued by Justin Sloan, the same man who outed her presence to Duncan.

The Sloans do their level best to keep her around while Justin investigates what she is there for. He wants to keep her from treasure hunting, and she’s out chasing pirate legends. They strike sparks from the beginning.

As Sam investigates the local legends, she discovers that her pirate may really have been part of the history of Cider Brook and Knight’s Bridge. Her confirmation of that history lies in a little secret that Justin has been keeping from her all along.

Escape Rating B: In the end, it’s the historical story that turns out to be more interesting than the slow-burning love story between Sam and Justin in the present.
I enjoyed the way that the entire Sloan clan adopts Sam and involves her in the wedding and the other events going on while she is there. Even though I haven’t read the first two books in the Swift River Valley series, Sam’s introduction to everyone served as my introduction as well. (Although I am curious enough about the previous stories that I’m planning to read them!)

Sam and Justin arrive slowly at a relationship; they need to trust each other, and at first they really, really don’t.

But the historical investigation is what held my interest. Sam is trying to find a 17th century pirate, and her trail has led her to Knight’s Bridge. The more she digs, the more she discovers, and the closer she comes to a piece of her own past. The way that this thread circled around to the present was very cool.

Sam’s past with Duncan, and why she felt so bad about what happened, is never quite clear. But the subplot it introduces with Duncan’s lawyer, Loretta, and how she felt about encouraging Duncan to fire Sam, as well as Loretta’s inability to move on after Duncan’s death, was a poignant side-plot.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Q&A from Author Carla Neggers + Giveaway

Today I’d like to welcome Carla Neggers, who recently published the third novel in her marvelous romantic suspense Sharpe and Donovan series, Declan’s Cross (reviewed here). Here she is to do a bit of Q&A!

carla-negger-BT

Where do you do most of your writing? Do you have a certain place that inspires you most?

Carla: I do most of my writing in my office at our house on our hilltop in Vermont. I look out at a huge old maple tree on the edge of the woods. Great view when I need to think! But I don’t stay in my office. I migrate to other parts of the house, local cafes…and Ireland. Ireland is an incredible place to write.

How did your own trip to Ireland inspire this book? What inspired you most?

Declan's Cross by Carla NeggersCarla: When I started thinking about Declan’s Cross, I knew that Emma and Colin were taking a break in Ireland. What could go wrong? I had no idea but I knew that something would! Then my husband and I visited Ardmore, a lovely village in the heart of Saint Declan country on the south Irish coast…and I got to thinking what if Emma’s grandfather, a renowned art detective, had investigated an unsolved Irish art theft, and what if an American with no apparent connection to the theft disappeared? Throw in Julianne Maroney, the hotheaded marine biologist with an on/off relationship with Colin’s lobsterman brother, Andy, and Declan’s Cross started taking shape.

Your books have been described as being very down-to-earth. Do you think your strong sense of roots and your big family have something to do with that?

Carla: No doubt! Having six brothers and sisters helps keep me grounded. We grew up in rural New England but our father was Dutch — he’d been a sailor -– and our mother is from the Florida Panhandle. Imagining their lives before we were born, in such different places, fueled my imagination. My Dutch cousin Christine and I were pen-pals as kids. I used to try to picture her life in Holland. We finally met as adults when I visited her in her pretty Dutch village, not unlike the one I’d imagined for her. “Roots” don’t necessarily involve people down the street!

Favorite place to read?

Carla: In bed, under a cozy comforter…whether it’s at home or on the road.

Carla NeggersAbout Carla Neggers

Carla Neggers is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 60 novels, with translations in 24 languages. Born and raised on the western edge of the beautiful Quabbin Reservoir in rural Massachusetts, Carla grew up with tales of her father’s life as a Dutch sailor and her mother’s childhood in northwest Florida.At a young age, Carla began penning her own stories on a branch high up in her favorite sugar maple. Now she enjoys spending time at the family homestead (now a tree farm) with her six brothers and sisters and their families. When she’s not writing, Carla loves to travel, hike, kayak, garden, and, of course, dive into a good book. She lives with her family in Vermont, near Quechee Gorge.

To learn more about Carla, visit her website or follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

~~~~~~GIVEAWAY~~~~~~

Carla is kindly giving away a hardcover copy of Declan’s Cross to one lucky winner (U.S. and Canada only). To enter, please use the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

booktrib

Review: Declan’s Cross by Carla Neggers

Declan's Cross by Carla NeggersFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, paperback
Genre: romantic suspense
Series: Sharpe and Donovan, #3
Length: 317 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Date Released: September 1, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

For marine biologist Julianne Maroney, two weeks in tiny Declan’s Cross on the south Irish coast is a chance to heal her broken heart. She doesn’t expect to attract the attention of FBI agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan—especially since a Donovan is the reason for her broken heart.

Emma and Colin are in Ireland for their own personal retreat. Colin knows he’s a reminder of everything Julianne wants to escape, but something about her trip raises his suspicion. Emma, an art crimes expert, is also on edge. Of all the Irish villages Julianne could choose…why Declan’s Cross?

Ten years ago, a thief slipped into a mansion in Declan’s Cross. Emma’s grandfather, a renowned art detective, investigated, but the art stolen that night has never been recovered and the elusive thief never caught.

From the moment Julianne sets foot on Irish soil, everything goes wrong. The well-connected American diver who invited her to Ireland has disappeared. And now Emma and Colin are in Declan’s Cross asking questions.

As a dark conspiracy unfolds amid the breathtaking scenery of Declan’s Cross, the race is on to stop a ruthless killer…and the stakes have never been more personal for Emma and Colin.

My Review:

saints gate by carla neggersDeclan’s Cross is the third book in Carla Neggers’ Sharpe & Donovan series, and just like the first two books in the series, Saint’s Gate and Heron’s Cove (reviewed over at Book Lovers Inc. here and here), the suspense part of this romantic suspense story involves both a case from Emma’s past as a art recovery expert for her family’s firm from before she became an FBI agent and a mystery out of her grandfather’s murky past.

The case also explores more of Father Finian Bracken’s backstory in Ireland and naturally uses the investigative talents of both Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan. As well it should, as they are both FBI agents.

Emma and Colin came to Ireland to get away from their jobs, but their jobs have found them. It seems as if the past and present have both collided and sought them out, when the last few days of their vacation are interrupted by a message from Maine. Someone from home is coming to a small village in Ireland on vacation, and is planning to pursue an internship in a few months.

It shouldn’t be their business, except that Julianne Maroney is leaving Rock Point to get away from a broken relationship with one of Colin’s brothers. The place she is coming to in Ireland, Declan’s Cross, is the site of the first of a series of unsolved art thefts; and the thief is still active and still taunting Emma’s grandfather. Last and finally, the person who is supposed to meet Julianne at Shannon airport is missing.

Julianne’s plan was to mend her broken heart by finally finishing her master’s degree in marine biology as far away from Rock Point, Maine as she could get. Her acceptance of an impulsive offer to open a marine substation in tiny Declan’s Cross with the woman Lindsay Hargreaves is seen as the act of a young woman looking for a quick way out of her troubles. Then Lindsay turns up dead, and it opens up an investigation not just into her death, but into a crime that has haunted Declan’s Cove and the Sharpe family for ten years.

Some troubles just refuse to stay buried.

Escape Rating B: One of the things I enjoy about the Sharpe & Donovan series is that even though this is romantic suspense, not only is the emphasis on the suspense rather than the romance, but Emma Sharpe definitely does not play into the submissive female stereotype. She’s an FBI agent and she does not lose her gun or need to be rescued. The romantic tension in the story is about how she and Donovan will balance their careers and the different secrets they have to keep from each other.

I also like the way that the cast of characters has been expanding over the three books so far. There are two romantic side plots in Declan’s Cross; one involves Colin’s brother Andy and Julianne (Colin has two other brothers, this has possibilities!) and the other involves Father Finian’s garda friend Sean Murphy and Kitty, the woman who owns the inn. There are a lot of past issues that come out and affect the present, including the romances.

One thing that fascinates me; every story so far has involved, not just Emma’s past working for her grandfather’s art recovery firm, but an actual case that her grandfather worked on back in the day. I wonder how many of his old cases are going to come back to haunt her new FBI team? While her boss’s comment about wishing he could do a Vulcan mind-meld on the old man was hilarious, the team does need to get some cases that aren’t generated from her grandfather’s storied past sooner or later.

That being said, I still had a great time watching Emma and Colin work out more of the kinks in their relationship and investigate a murder while trying to work both around and with the rules since they did not have jurisdiction in Ireland. There were plenty of hints about the future and I’m looking forward to more.

carla-negger-BT

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Heron’s Cove by Carla Neggers

Heron's Cove by Carla NeggersFormat read: ebook borrowed from the library
Series: Sharpe and Donovan, #2
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: July 31, 2012
Number of pages: 336 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, paperback, mass market paperback, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

When your safety depends on living a lie…

After escaping certain death, deep-cover agent Colin Donovan is back home on the Maine coast with his new love, FBI art crimes expert Emma Sharpe. Then Tatiana Pavlova, a London-based jewelry designer, arrives in Heron’s Cove, asking for Emma’s help—a prized collection from a lost era of Russian opulence, decadence and rare beauty has resurfaced, and Tatiana warns Emma it’s about to be stolen again. And Colin realizes his nightmare isn’t over. It’s just begun.

And everyone you love is a target…

Emma guards her past closely, and Colin is determined to unlock her secrets. As they investigate the mysterious collection and the equally mysterious Tatiana, they confront their greatest challenge. Now they must count on their expertise—and each other—to outwit an enemy who wants to destroy them and everyone they love most.

Who can you afford to trust?

My Thoughts:

The Sharpe & Donovan romantic suspense series is just as suspenseful in the second outing as it was in the first. Possibly even a bit more.

The romance in this romantic suspense series is different and interesting because it’s not the usual romantic tension of new lovers meeting and navigating the initial rush of attraction–that already happened in Saint’s Gate (reviewed here). In Heron’s Cove, FBI Agents Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan are trying to figure out whether the love can withstand the incessant pressure of their dangerous careers; as well as the weight of the secrets that both of them still keep.

The story begins with both the danger and the secrets jumping up to bite them; Colin is nearly killed while working deep undercover, and his rescue comes by way of a phone call from a man that Emma knows from one of her secret pre-FBI contacts.

Colin is afraid that the busted operation left too many loose ends that will come up to Maine to chase him down, and equally that there are too many secrets from Emma’s family’s work in art recovery. (Of course he turns out to be right on both counts or we wouldn’t have a story!) Colin always wonders whether everything the Sharpe family has done has been completely legal. He doesn’t like Emma’s secrets, no matter how many of his own he continues to keep.

Emma feels the weight of all the different loyalties that she has accepted in her life. Her boss still believes that her contacts are an added bonus to her work, but there are times when her worlds conflict. The secrets she learned while working for Sharpe’s Art Recovery still have to be kept as an FBI agent, as long as they don’t contravene the law. They don’t, even if they drive Colin Donovan crazy.

And while Colin is still recovering from his last near-death experience, a yacht docks in Heron Cove with visitors who represent a case from Emma’s past. It should be simple, but of course, it isn’t. Especially when the case turns out to involve Colin’s past as well. His recent, and nearly deadly, past.

Saint's Gate by Carla NeggersVerdict: If you like romantic suspense, this series is fun, but I think it works better if you start from Saint’s Gate.

The push/pull of the romance between Colin and Emma is great. He may want to go all alpha male, and his family is certainly wired that way, but Emma doesn’t take a lot of that BS. She is also an FBI agent and is both trained and wired to take care of herself. There is an immense irony that he complains that he doesn’t know everything about her and she can’t know everything about him, and it keeps getting in the way and they both need to just let it go.

The suspense part of this particular story was a lot like a Russian nesting doll, which is possibly the way the author designed it considering the story. There are Russian mobsters, and a stolen collection based on Russian folklore. Then a Russian designer says the collection is going to get stolen again. Then more Russian mobsters, and former mobsters. Along with some ex-wives and ex-daughters. It’s almost tragic enough to be a Russian folktale.

Emma’s grandfather had some very interesting clients. We get to meet another one in book 3, Declan’s Cross. I’m looking forward to finding out more about the most fascinating character in the whole series so far, Father Finian Bracken, who is supposed to look like Bono.

4-Stars

I give  Heron’s Cove by Carla Neggers 4 nested stars!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Saint’s Gate by Carla Neggers

Saint's Gate by Carla NeggersFormat read: ebook borrowed from the Library
Series: Sharpe and Donovan, #1
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: Aug. 23, 2011
Number of pages: 400 pages
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, mass market paperback, audiobook
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website | Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK)

Two people, isolated by their pasts. An obsessive killer who will force them together. Welcome to Saint’s Gate.
Emma Sharpe is summoned to a Maine convent, partly for her FBI art crimes work, partly because of her past with the Order. At issue is a mysterious painting of Irish lore and Viking legends. But when the nun who contacted her is murdered, it seems legend is becoming deadly reality.

Colin Donovan is one of the FBI’s most valuable deep-cover agents. Back home in Maine after his latest mission, a contact clues him in to an intrigue of murder, international art heists and long-held secrets that is too tempting to resist. As danger spirals ever closer, Colin is certain of only one thing—Emma Sharpe is at the center of it all.

My Thoughts:

In Saint’s Gate, we have the opening of a romantic suspense series where the emphasis is definitely on the suspense rather than the romance. This reader is grateful that the series does not look like it is going to revolve endlessly around the heroine’s lame inability to decide between love interests.

Not only is that trope verging on TSTL, but in this case, it would be less sensible than usual, as heroine Emma Sharpe is an FBI agent. It’s a job requirement that she be decisive, even in her rather complicated personal life.

The complications in Emma’s personal life form the background for this case, and are also the extras that she brings to the table as part of the FBI’s High Impact Team (HIT). Emma’s family is in the art detection business, and have been for generations. They find lost treasures, they are respected art appraisers. Some might even say the Sharpes are treasure hunters.

But before Emma became an FBI agent, she spent three years of her life as a novice at the convent of the Sisters of the Joyous Heart, a convent devoted to art restoration and teaching art.

The case, and the series, begins when one of the sisters is murdered. The question is why Sister Joan asked Emma to visit. Was there a painting? A problem? Nothing about her request for Emma to visit was within the rules of the Order.

There are too many questions about whether the murder is related to Sister Joan, the convent, a painting, to Emma, an FBI case, or Emma’s family connections. There are endless possibilities.

Added to those possibilities is Colin Donovan. Also an FBI agent, and also originally from that same rocky coast of Maine. But unlike Emma, Colin generally works deep undercover. Emma and Colin should not know each other. Initially they don’t. Except…Emma’s art expertise provided the information that Colin used to put away someone very, very bad. It’s just barely possible that this murder has something to do with Colin’s case.

Sticking his head up, identifying himself to too many people might expose him too publicly as an FBI agent. Colin Donovan might just have to come in out of the cold. Emma Sharpe might just make it worth Colin’s while, if this case doesn’t get them both killed.

Verdict: Although Saint’s Gate is romantic suspense, it definitely falls more on the suspense side of the equation. Not just because the subtitle “a novel of suspense” is a dead giveaway, but because the point of the story is solving the crime, not the romance. Emma and Colin are meant to be.

Rock Point by Carla NeggersThe story does carry the weight of setting up the series, so there is a certain amount of information that needs to get conveyed about both families and the Heron Cove/Rock Point area of Maine. Readers need the stage set. The most fascinating side-character in the story so far is Father Finian Bracken from Ireland. (How he gets to Maine from his native Ireland and meets Colin is told in Rock Point; while it’s billed as book #0.5 in the series, it was written between books 2 and 3).

The cool thing about this story is how much everyone’s past is influencing the present. Emma’s past life as a novice brings her into the case, and her history with the convent influences how she thinks about the people involved. Also her past influences how people think about her. Father Finian’s past, especially escaping it, brought him to Maine.

Emma’s grandfather’s past is wrapped up in the present crime, as is the past of the founder of the convent and others who were their contemporaries. The truth about those not knowing the past being condemned to repeat it is very much in evidence.

I’ve already started Heron’s Cove the second book in the series, because I enjoyed visiting this place with these people. I’m looking forward to more of their adventures.

4-Stars

I give  Saint’s Gate by Carla Neggers 4 brightly painted stars!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.