Category: Litfuse

In Fetching Sweetness, standing between Stephanie and her dream is one hundred pounds of lovable trouble.

About Fetching Sweetness

It should have been so simple for Stephanie Pink: Meet up with Agnes Wharton in a small town in California, retrieve the reclusive author’s valuable new manuscript, and be promoted to a full-fledged literary agent.

But Agnes’s canine companion, Sweetness, decides to make a break for it before Stephanie can claim her prize. Until Agnes has Sweetness safely back at home in Eagle Cliff, Washington, Stephanie will never set eyes on the manuscript she needs to make her dreams come true.

When Stephanie tracks the runaway mutt to a campground, she meets Rhett Hastings—a man also on the run from a different life and a costly mistake. Rhett agrees to help Stephanie search for the missing dog thus launching a surprising string of adventures and misadventures.

Once Sweetness gets added to the mix, it’s a recipe for love and loss, merriment and mayhem, fun and faith in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest.

My Thoughts

A funny romantic story with such a deeper meaning. We have our two main characters both of whom are suffering from a loss (each from different reasons) who are forced together by a very unsuspecting character, Sweetness (a furry friend who constantly manages to make and find trouble).

Stephanie is living the life she always dreamed of with her brother (well not quite) – a literary agent. She is tasked with retrieving a manuscript from an author, whose first book changed her life as a child. She is in awe and can’t wait to meet the woman, even though she is quite eccentric! But Agnes refuses to give her the manuscript unless she can bring her Sweetness home. Now Stephanie must go on quite the adventure in order to rescue the furry animal (and one she has never laid eyes upon!) all before her nemesis arrives to try to steal the manuscript before she gets her hands on it!

This is when she meets Rhett, a very rich and famous young man who has turned his back on it all. He has hurt others and been hurt in turn and wants to make amends for what he has done. You can see how much he is trying and your heart goes out to him. You want him to learn to trust again but you can see the internal struggle he is facing.

Both of our characters are slightly flawed which makes them that much more loveable. They are honest, real and moving. They are struggling like many of us have in life and together with Sweetness they learn many life lessons. You will laugh, cry and be happy throughout this well written novel. You watch as they grow and learn that what they thought they wanted out of life was a dream that may not have been their own to begin with. A definite must read!

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse Blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Dana Mentink lives in California, where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Dana is an American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and an award winner in the Pacific Northwest Writers Literary Contest. Her suspense novel, Betrayal in the Badlands, earned a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third and fourth grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with her husband, two daughters, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle, and a feisty parakeet.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

In When Death Draws Near, death has always been part of Gwen Marcey’s job. But when faced with her own mortality, everything takes on a different hue.

About When Death Draws Near

Forensic artist Gwen Marcey is between jobs and homes when she accepts temporary work in Pikeville, Kentucky. The Eastern Kentucky town, located deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, has been plagued by a serial rapist and a series of unexplained deaths. Before Gwen can develop a composite drawing, the latest witness vanishes, just like all the previous victims.

Turning her attention to sketching the face of an unidentified body, she discovers a link between his death and a Pentecostal serpent-handling church. Serpent-handling is illegal in Kentucky, and the churches have gone underground to avoid the authorities and continue to worship as they believe. Gwen is offered a handsome reward to infiltrate the renegade members, a reward she desperately needs as it seems her breast cancer has returned.

Joined by her digitally obsessed, Generation Z daughter, Gwen goes undercover to a nineteenth century revival, planning to draw the faces of the snake handlers so they can be identified and arrested. Instead she uncovers a murderous plot and a festering evil.

My Thoughts

Gwen is a fighter, a cancer survivor and a loving Mother. She is employed in a very interesting line of work – forensic artistry, something I never even knew existed. Gwen is brought in for work in Pikeville, Kentucky where a mysterious string of rapes and deaths has occurred.

The plot is well thought out and built up, constantly keeping you guessing. The novel is full of characters and while you do need to pay attention, you will not get lost or have a hard time keeping up. I loved how the Pentecostal serpent-handling church was tied into this story. It definitely was not what I was expecting and how it was tied into the story was fascinating. We learn about their history, their beliefs and family values. While I think their beliefs are frightening at times, they have amazing family values which makes it harder to understand how they could even be associated with the rapes and deaths.

Along with her daughter, Gwen sets upon an impossible task of identifying a murderer, help to solve a case and keep them both alive. This novel was exciting and full of adventure that I just could not put down!

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Carrie Stuart Parks is a Christy finalist as well as a Carol award-winning author. She has won numerous awards for her fine art as well. An internationally known forensic artist, she travels with her husband, Rick, across the US and Canada teaching courses in forensic art to law enforcement professionals. The author/illustrator of numerous books on drawing and painting, Carrie continues to create dramatic watercolors from her studio in the mountains of Idaho.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.