BOOK REVIEW BLITZ and GIVEAWAY! ~~ Trouble In Mind by Donna S. Frelick
Title: Trouble in Mind (Book #2, The Interstellar Rescue
series)
Author: Donna S. Frelick
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Publisher: Ink’d Press
Hosted by: Lady Amber's PR
Blurb:
She couldn’t get him out of
her mind—
and that’s when the trouble
started.
FBI Special Agent Alana Matheson is good at her job,
despite a past that would make even a seasoned agent cringe. She has no time
for the outside help the victim’s family has brought in on a kidnapping case,
no matter how good-looking he is.
But galactic tracker Gabriel Cruz is no ordinary private
investigator, and the skills he brings to the job will save both their lives.
Because Lana and Gabriel are not the only ones seeking an unusual little boy
and his mother. Their rivals in the chase are not of this world, and only an
alliance built on the bonds of love can ensure that Lana and Gabriel beat the
alien hunters to their prey.
Praise for The
Interstellar Rescue series:
“Part political thriller, part sci-fi, part romance,
Unchained Memory is an exciting read full of unexpected twists and turns
highlighted by Donna Frelick's excellent prose."
- Linnea Sinclair, author, The Dock Five
Series
First of all, I have to
say how incredibly impressed I was from page 1 of this book, because I received
this book from the author in exchange for an honest review, BUT, at the time I
accepted it, I had no idea it was the second book in a series. Due to time constraints, and not wanting to
let the author down, I decided to see if it was a book I could read without
reading the first in the series, and maybe piecing together what had happened
previously. As it turned out, I did not
need the first book at ALL. In fact, I
had to work really hard at guessing what may have happened in
the first book. Even without reading the
first one, this was truly the easiest book to jump right into. And as you read the rest of my review, you’ll
see even more just how impressive that is.
This book – in every
possible good way – was complicated.
There wasn’t a single storyline; there wasn’t even a single storyline with
tiny little side story lines added into it.
This was a book PACKED with several very important storylines that
literally crossed all of outer space. Of
course, there was a ‘main’ storyline for this particular book, based here on
Earth, with your everyday human FBI agent searching for a woman and her child
that were kidnapped by other humans, but she had NO idea what she had really
gotten herself into. This was not a
normal woman, and especially not a normal child. And the person that she thought was a human
PI, forcing himself into her investigation…she had no idea how much he would
turn her world (and other worlds, ships, intergalactic politics, etc.)
completely upside down.
Lana quickly learns her
biggest problem isn’t the ‘men in black’ that did the kidnapping. There are others MUCH more dangerous that are
looking for the kidnapped victims as well.
And the man she can’t seem to avoid (or want to avoid) is more involved,
and knows much more than she could even imagine.
Oh…did you think that was
all? No, no, no! Those on Earth (and those currently hunting
on Earth) aren’t the only story at all.
Turns out, Earth isn’t the only place with politics, political
espionage, and all the norms that tend to go with politics on any planet. There’s SO much of that going on too. And all of it – both on Earth and other
planets – gets a bunch more complicated when it’s not just how people can read
your emotions on your face or through your body movements. If you’re not careful, your own mind can very
easily give up your deepest secrets, no matter how hard you try to hide them.
I absolutely cannot say
enough about how impressed I am with this book (except for maybe the excessive,
excited rant I just gave my poor husband)…the MASSIVE amount of details,
several different things happening at once, the amount of things created solely
by the imagination of one author (ships, weapons, planets, languages – the list
goes on), and to top it all off, how EASY it is to follow all of this
information. And let me repeat – WITHOUT
even reading the first book, where I’m assuming much of these details were
initially created. I felt like I was
reading so many of my favorite sci-fi books, watching my fave sci-fi movies,
and reading some of my favorite mystery novels all at the same time. And for the author to put this much into one
book without confusing anything, or my NEVER once saying “that couldn’t have
happened” – impressive!
Did I say ‘impressive’
enough in this review? Because clearly I’m impressed! And obviously, I’m going
back and reading book 1 ASAP, because I can’t wait to find out more about the
origins of this world created by this author.
And I DEFINITLEY can’t wait to see what comes next from this incredible
author!
Along the way to her science fiction suspense career
she’s been married to a wonderful guy since just out of college, been a Peace
Corps Volunteer in Africa, raised a family (two girls, two grandkids), tried
organic farming, worked as a freelance journalist and editor, been a community
activist, and earned black belts in two different styles of martial
arts.
Her first two SFR novels finaled in the Romance Writers of
America® Golden Heart® contest.
She
lives on 44 beautiful mountain acres in Marshall, NC, with her husband and two
talkative cats.
Author Links:
Website: http://www.donnasfrelick.com
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1mKVgxg
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1ovsS40
Gabriel Cruz had spent time dirtside on most of the
planets clustered around the galaxy’s busier jump nodes. He’d pulled
a few tours on some of the worlds of the distant Outer Reaches. His
job required plenty of travel and a familiarity with many of the galaxy’s
exotic locales and bustling centers of commerce, the slums and the luxury
resorts, the slave markets and the sex trade. Gabriel hadn’t seen it
all, but he’d seen a lot of it. And he could still find much to
admire in a summer morning in a temperate climate zone on the planet its
inhabitants called Earth.
The yellow sun was
shining out of a flawless blue sky as he got out of the car and followed Rayna
up the sidewalk toward Ethan’s house. It would be hot soon, but
Gabriel didn’t mind the heat. He hated the cold of ships and space
stations and dank colonial outposts, always balancing the scarcity of resources
against the needs of many. Here he could smell the rich earth, the
vegetation growing in it, the asphalt and the car exhaust. He could
hear the birds singing, the neighbors mowing lawns and taking out the
garbage. For one minute, he could pretend his life was like anyone
else’s. Gabriel took that minute. Then he took a deep
breath and went up the steps into Ethan’s house.
A young man in the
white uniform shirt of a Metro Nashville PD officer stopped them at the front
door with the usual bluff and bluster. Gabriel could see Ethan start
toward them from the office inside on the right, but FBI Special Agent Alana
Matheson was quicker.
She waved them in
from a desk in the smaller office to the left, dismissing the uniform. “It’s
all right, Officer. They’re friends of the family.” She nodded as she
came to join them. “Morning, folks.”
“Agent Matheson.” Gabriel was intrigued by the way her
grass-green eyes locked on to his. They studied him, as if they’d
never quite encountered anything like him before. He didn’t know
whether to be flattered or insulted by the thought, but he recognized he had
that much in common with the FBI agent. He’d never seen local law enforcement
like her before either.
Slightly
unnerved, he said the first thing that came to mind. “Have you been
here all night?”
She smiled, her
fatigue showing. “No, I did get a little sleep. Don’t think
your friend got any at all, though. He’s looking pretty
slammed.” She indicated the office where the doctor was talking with
Rayna.
Gabriel noted the
signs of weariness in Ethan’s body that went beyond the obvious need for sleep
and healing, his bone-cracking tension and heart-rending pain, his
desperation. He felt his own chest tighten in sympathy. He
turned back to Alana to see her watching him.
“How long have you
known Ethan Roberts, Mr. Cruz?”
He held her gaze to
see what her reaction would be and was delighted to see the color rise in her
face in the seconds before he answered her question. “Not long. Sam
and Rayna are mutual friends. They asked me to see if I could be of
help.”
“In what way?”
“You might say I
specialize in recovering what is lost.”
“As in missing
persons.” She gave him that thorough once-over again. “I’m aware
you’re a private investigator. Has Roberts hired you to find his wife
and son?”
Gabriel smiled. It
hadn’t taken her long to find his data plant.
“As I said, Sam and
Rayna asked me to help. I’m not being paid.”
“Mr. Cruz, I hope I
don’t have to tell you that interfering with a Federal investigation is against
the law.”
Somehow he found her
warning intensely sexy. “I have no intention of
interfering. I’m simply here helping a friend recover something he’s
lost. In this case, starting with his memory of what happened
yesterday at the river.”
Alana’s gaze
narrowed. “Are you also a psychiatrist of some sort, sir?”
“No.”
“A hypnotherapist?”
“Not really.”
“Then how do you
expect to be able to help?”
He
shrugged. “I have my ways. Some people would consider them
somewhat . . . unconventional.”
Her lips
curved. His breath stopped.
“Really.
Okay. Maybe I should sit in on your meeting today, see for myself.”
He almost
laughed. He hadn’t planned on this, but he could see no real harm in
it. He would leave her behind long before he got to the point where
the chase got dangerous.
“Why not?”
Her smile widened, revealing
white, even teeth, and she waved a hand toward the office. “After you, Mr.
Cruz.”
“Thank you, Agent
Matheson. And, please, call me Gabriel.”
“Might as well call
me Lana,” she murmured as he passed her. “We’re going to be very
close friends from now on.”
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