Congratulations to the First Place Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner of the CHATELAINE Book Awards for Romance and Romantic Fiction novels, a division of the 2019 CIBAs.
The Search for the Best New Romantic and Romance Books!
Chanticleer International Book Awards is celebrating the best books featuring romantic themes and adventures of the heart, historical love affairs, a little steamy romance, paranormal, young adult, mystery, and any other genre with a romantic theme. We love them all.
The 2019 Chatelaine Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the CHATELAINE Grand Prize winner were announced at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference that was broadcast via ZOOM webinar the week of September 8-13, 2020, from the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Washington.
Janet Shawgo, author of Find Me Again – 2014 Chatelaine Grand Prize Winner announced the 2019 Chatelaine Book Awards.
This is the OFFICIAL 2019 LIST of the CHATELAINE Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the CHATELAINE Grand Prize Winner.
Congratulations to All!
T.K. Conklin – Threads of Passion
Jule Selbo – Find Me in Florence
Gail Avery Halverson – The Skeptical Physick
Michelle Cox – A Veil Removed
Heather Novak – Headlights, Dipsticks, & My Ex’s Brother
A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in October. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
If you have any questions, please email info@ChantiReviews.com ==we will try our best to reply in 3 or 4 business days.
Congratulations to the First Place Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner of the GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards for High Stakes Fiction, a division of the 2019 CIBAs.
The CIBAs Search for the Best Suspense High Stakes Thriller and Lab Lit Novels
Chanticleer Book Reviews is celebrating the best books featuring Suspense, Thrilling stories that put the balance of world power or that will end the world as we know it. We include with Global Thrillers the Lab Lit genre. Lab Lit is when Fiction Meets Real Science and Research or stories that are based on real science and research up to a certain “what if” point. We love them all.
The 2019 GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the GLOBAL THRILLER Grand Prize winner were announced at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference that was broadcast via ZOOM webinar the week of Sept 8 -13, 2020 from the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
Sara Stamey, author of The Ariadne Connection – 2017 GLOBAL THRILLER Grand Prize Winner announced the 2019 GLOBAL THRILLER Book Award Winners.
This is the OFFICIAL 2019 LIST of the GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the GLOBAL THRILLER Grand Prize Winner.
Congratulations to:
Randall Krzak for Carnage in Singapore
Courtney Leigh Pahlke for Life Force Preserve
Jett Ward for Execute Order
Nicole Mabry for Past This Point
Avanti Centrae for VanOps: The Solstice Shadows
Joanne Jaytanie for Salvaging Truth, Hunters & Seekers, Book 1
The GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards
2019 Grand Prize Winner is
SOLSTICE SHADOWS – A VanOps Thriller
by Avanti Centrae
This is the badge for the 2018 GLOBAL THRILLER Grand Prize Winner – The Moving Bladeby Michael Pronko
How to Enter the 2020 GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards?
We are accepting submissions into the2020 GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awardsuntil October 31, 2020. After this date, all entries will go into the 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards.
The 2020 GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC 21 on April 17, 2021.
A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in October. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
If you have any questions, please email info@ChantiReviews.com == we will try our best to reply in 3 or 4 business days.
Congratulations to the First Place Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner of the CLUE Book Awards for Suspense, Thriller, and Mystery Novels, a division of the 2019 CIBAs.
The CIBAs Search for the Best Suspense Thrillers Novels
Chanticleer International Book Awards is celebrating the best books featuring Suspense, Thrilling Adventure, Detective Work, Private Eye, Police Procedural, and Crime Solving. We enjoy reading them all.
The 2019 CLUE Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the CLUE Grand Prize winner were announced at the Virtual Chanticleer Authors Conference that was broadcast via ZOOM webinar the week of Sept 8 -13, 2020 from the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash.
J.L. Oakley, author of Tree Soldier – Previous Overall Grand Prize Winner announced the 2019 CLUE Book Award Winners.
This is the OFFICIAL 2019 LIST of the CLUE Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the CLUE Grand Prize Winner.
Congratulations to:
John W Feist –Blind Trust
Nancy Adair –RABYA
Janet K. Shawgo –Legacy of Lies
V. & D. Povall –Jackal in the Mirror
Joanne Jaytanie –Salvaging Truth, Hunters & Seekers, Book 1
Marian Exall –A Splintered Step
J.P. Kenna –Joel Emmanuel
The CLUE Book Awards
2019 Grand Prize Winner is
Salvaging Truth by Joanne Jaytanie
This is the badge for the 2018 CLUE Grand Prize Winner – California Sonby Timothy Burgess
How to Enter the CLUE Book Awards?
We are accepting submissions into the2020 CLUE Book Awardsuntil September 30, 2020. After this date, all entries will go into the 2021 CLUE Book Awards.
The 2020 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC 21 on April 17, 2021.
A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in October. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
If you have any questions, please email info@ChantiReviews.com == we will try our best to reply in 3 or 4 business days.
October is for OZMA, but of course, it also stands for Ooooooo-Oooooo!
Ghosts and goblins and haunted places. Oh, my!
Welcome to the PARANORMAL Book Awards!
We’re ready. Are you?
Every year during the month of October, we carve faces into our pumpkins, turning them into Jack O’Lanterns and set them burning on our porches to light the way for trick or treaters. We decorate our homes in spider webs and skeletons and all sorts of creepy crawlies. Now is the time of year we binge on all things haunted, possessed, inexplicable, unseen.
Why?
Because we are thrilled by the experience of riding high on candied apples and candy corn and relish being frightened – just a little – especially when we know the thing we’re frightened of is just a story, some tale we tell over and over at this time of year. Because this is the season when it’s perfectly acceptable to scream.
Last year, Joy Ross Davis won the Grand Prize for her manuscript, The Mad Woman of Preacher’s Cove! The story was just that good. We are waiting for the release!
Joy Ross Davis!
Send us your stories of dark places, alien abductions, magic and magical beings, the supernatural, vampires & werewolves, angels & demons, fairies & mythological beings, weird otherworldly tales… and gothic horror stories. We will put them to the test and discover the best among them for the 2019 Paranormal Book Awards, a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.
The deadline for the Paranormal Awards is October 31, 2019.
Travel with us through the Paranormal Book Awards Hall of Fame…
The 2018 PARANORMAL Book Awards Grad Prize for Supernatural Fiction is awarded to:
Joy Ross Davis for her manuscript, The Madwoman of Preacher’s Cove.
“Joy Ross Davis is more than an eloquent storyteller! A college professor, mother, daughter of Irish descent whose family settled in the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee, Joy loves all things Irish, including the Green Isle itself. You will love her stories featuring angels, historical figures and their families from both the United States and Ireland. Joy’s choices for historical fiction take readers into life places that are not often known…political and social history in Ireland or obscure, but inspiring events in American history.”
She was awarded the Paranormal Grand Prize award at the CIBA ceremony by nonother than J.D. Barker himself—the master of suspense.
Joy Ross Davis, Paranormal Grand Prize Book Award Winner
The First in Category Winners are:
Path of the Half Moonby Vince Bailey
Anthesteria byK.A. Banks
Suburban Vampire Ragnarokby Franklin Posner
Storm Island: A Kate Pomeroy Mystery by Linda Watkins
Peaches and Laceby Joy Ross Davis
The Balance and the Bladeby Olivia Bernard
The Sea Archer –Jeny Heckman
The 2017 PARANORMAL Book Awards Grand Prize for Supernatural Fiction is awarded to:
Van Ops – The Lost Poweris a story in which “Alexander the Great’s obscure Egyptian weapon has been lost for eons. Can Maddy Marshall and covert agent Bear Thorenson find the ancient weapon in time to stop fragile post-Cold War peace from being forever shattered?”
Avanti Centrae is the author of the international award-winning VanOps thriller series. Her work has been compared to that of James Rollins, Steve Berry, Dan Brown, and Preston/Child’s Pendergast series.
2017 Paranormal Book Awards First Place Winners for Supernatural Fiction Novels are:
A Pocketful of Lodestones, Time Traveler Professor Book 2 by Elizabeth Crowens
Dark Waterby Chynna Laird
The 2016 PARANORMAL Book Awards Grand Prize:
Almost Mortal “Blending the high-octane thrust of a contemporary legal thriller with the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “Almost Mortal” cleaves a new, inventive niche in the legal thriller genre. This fast-paced legal thriller will leave the reader hungering for more. A terrific read!”
Christopher Leibig is a novelist and a criminal defense attorney. He thinks about Fiction like this…”Fiction, while by its definition invented, need not tell that lie. In fiction, the devil is everywhere. And everyone has their story.”
2016 Paranormal Book Awards First Place Winners for Supernatural Fiction Novels are:
The Aurora Affair(retitled asMobius) “… is a story about a skeptical heroine who discovers that her love affairs
are the key to harnessing her own power to influence the world—for better if she does it right, or for worse if she fails.”
Carolyn Haley “… is a freelance writer and editor who lives in rural Vermont. I write a mix of commercial copy, articles for regional and national publications, and edits diverse projects in fiction and nonfiction.” She writes award-winning novels in her spare time.
2015 Paranormal Book Awards First Place Winners for Supernatural Fiction Novels are:
An Ex to Grind in Deadwoodis a wickedly funny paranormal mystery romance series that takes place in its namesake city in South Dakota.
Ann Charles, USA Bestselling Author
Ann Charles“…lives in the beautiful Northern Arizona mountains with her clever husband, charming kids, and an incredibly sassy cat. After many years and several colleges, she managed to obtain her Bachelor’s Degree in English with an emphasis on creative writing from the University of Washington.”
2014 Paranormal Book Awards First Place Winners for Supernatural Fiction Novels are:
The Watcher is a story where “…ancient history is only the beginning.”
Lisa Voisin “… spent her childhood daydreaming and making up stories, but it was my love of reading and writing in her teens that drew her to Young Adult fiction.”
2013 Paranormal Book Awards First Place Winners for Supernatural Fiction Novels are:
Sacred Firesis a well written and crafted romantic paranormal novel with elements of intrigue and suspense along with a story set in a lush locale with mystic Aztec undercurrents. Greenfeder has succeeded in writing a fast-paced romantic suspense novel that is refreshingly different.
Catherine Greenfeder “… continues to pursue her dream of getting her work published. To date, she has had five novels including a western historical, two adult paranormal novels, and two young adult paranormal novels published. She anticipates a few short stories and another young adult novel published in the near future.”
Who will win the PARANORMAL Book Awards Blue Ribbons for 2019?
Submit your works today!
The last day for submissions into the 2019 Paranormal Book Awards is August 31, 2019.
Famed marine biologist and researcher Claudia Rawlings is presumed dead. When Claudia’s research vessel goes down, her daughter Riley goes on a desperate search to discover what happened, eventually turning to Dagger Eastin, co-owner of Hunters and Seekers a marine salvage business. Dagger soon realize this isn’t a simple search and reclaim mission when someone takes a shot at him during an exploratory dive with Riley.
Former Navy SEALs, Dagger, and his partners Kaleb LaSalle and Stone Garrison are the definitions of relentless, and they quickly become embroiled in the investigation that has caught the attention of some very influential people, all seeking Claudia’s important research. And while Riley learns that her mother has left behind clues to her missing research, the Hunters and Seekers pull out all the stops to help and protect her. The wild scavenger hunt sends Dagger and Riley on a trip to discover the truth, but Russian spies, big oil cronies, and psychopathic hitmen lurk around every corner.
Much more than a pretty face, Riley is a smart, successful female main character who refuses to wait for the official investigation patiently and as a result, faces challenge after challenge. Despite being thrust into a dangerous environment, Riley is no timid female victim. But she isn’t without vulnerability, knowing instead when it is time to ask for help and rely on Dagger’s expertise. Riley is a fallible protagonist with guts and brains, one with whom readers of the genre will instantly connect and admire.
The first in a series, Salvaging Truth introduces readers to three heartthrobs destined to create an immediate book crush. The men of Hunters and Seekers are not only tall, dark, and handsome, but smart, funny, and lethal. The relationship between this “band of brothers” is touching and promises a myriad of future adventures.
The touching bond these men share creates an extended-family that is almost as close as Riley is with her mother. In fact, “created families” is a strong theme throughout the novel. Riley, an only child whose father passed away some years before the novel’s action, finds a family when she meets Dagger, Kaleb, and Stone. Many times, she relies on these men to not only protect her but to also provide the emotional stability she needs when she learns her mother has been killed. In her effort to salvage the truth behind her mother’s death, Riley relives many important familial moments while creating this new family with Dagger.
Joanne Jataynie’s Salvaging Truth (Hunters & Seekers, Book 1) won the GRAND PRIZE in the CIBAs 2019 CLUE Awards for best suspense/thriller novel.
A Valentine to Mark Twain, a beloved American Author
“Both marriage and death ought to be welcome: the one promises happiness, doubtless the other assures it.”
– Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain
Editor’s Note: Samuel Clemons writing as Mark Twain is a beloved author to Fairhaven, a village in Bellingham, Wash. where Chanticleer Reviews’ home office is located and where the company was founded. On August, 14, 1895, Mark Twain spoke to a full house at the Lighthouse Hall (700 seats) and received a standing ovation. Admission was seventy-five cents and one dollar for the best seats. This was the last stop in his United States tour. He arrived from presenting in Seattle on August 13, 1895. His next stop was Vancouver, British Columbia before heading out west across the Pacific Ocean for a world tour.
February 14th is really one of the strangest holidays we celebrate with its origins in the early Church, mired with martyrs. No one really knows for sure if there was one Valentini or two, or perhaps an entire herd of them, but, it is believed that Saint Valentine lost his head over converting people to the Christian faith. The head in question now resides in “…glass reliquary in a small basilica in Rome, surrounded by flowers.” [Atlas Obscura]
Editor's Note: Did we mention that Sharon Anderson, the author of this article, writes horror...
For us, February 14th is the day we all wear our hearts on our sleeves (literally), write little notes professing our love to one another, exchange candied hearts (Necco hearts may not be on the shelf this year because the company that purchased the popular brand said they, “Didn’t have time…” ), buy long-stemmed red roses for those we love (One site claims that in 2010, over 110 million long-stemmed roses were sold! That’s a lotta roses!), and chocolates… let’s not forget about the chocolates!
Susan Marie Conrad offering CHOCOLATES at her book signing, The INSIDE PASSAGE.
Whichever way you celebrate February 14th, we’ve got some fabulous reads lined up for you that are just
too sweet to pass up!
A Valentine of Great Reads for YOU from Chanticleer!
Daughter of Destiny: Guineviere’s Tale, Book 1 by Nicole Evelina is rich in historical detail and fantastical landscapes. This novel takes a brilliant twist on the historical perception of Queen Guinevere: she has magical powers, but will her gift be enough to save her people?
Nicole Evalina not only won the 2015 Chatelaine Grand Prize for this novel and took home the Overall Grand Prize!
Twisted Threads by Kaylin McFarrenis a fast-paced romantic thriller complete with secret assassins, notorious secrets, steamy passion nights abound on this luxury Caribbean cruise – in other words, exhilarating! This is the fourth book in the Threads Romantic Thriller series and won Grand Prize in the 2017 CIBA CLUE Awards.
Find Me Again by Janet Shawgois a mystery, a conspiracy theory, and an amazing love story that crosses generations—all combined into one amazing read. Although there are two more novels in the series, each book stands alone. Wait For Me. WWII Women Look For Me. Civil War Historical Fiction
The Winters Sisters Series by Joanne Jaytanie contain elements of genetic engineering, strong women and the men who love them and nods to the author’s beloved dogs. These are hot romantic thrillers!
Under an English Heaven by Alice Boatwrighthas twists and turns aplenty that will make any cozy fan enjoy this easy read, and enough descriptions of the bucolic village landscape and teas to make anyone who loves all things British happy. A second Ellie Kent Mystery is promised sometime this year.
Building Mr. Darcy by Ashlinn Cravenis a fun, fast-paced cozy reveals what happens when the witty and charming Mr. Darcy springs to life as an A.I. But, is he more than his two developers can handle?
Seize the Flame by Lynda J Coxis a romantic Western celebrating second chances and proving that lightning not only strikes twice – but sometimes in the exact same spot.
The Blackbird by Kristy McCaffrey is a steamy, intelligent historical fiction set in the Arizona desert where the harsh environment matches the characters who populate it. This is the fourth book in McCaffrey’s Winds of the West series.
Hot Scheming Mess by Lucy Carolis a hilarious, fast-paced sexy cozy mystery with a believable lead and a gripping plot. Sassy, smart, and FUNNY!
Mistress Suffragette by Diana Forbes is an engaging, stimulating, and action-packed novel that examines the facts of life, the challenges of social restrictions, and the woes of youthful love through the eyes of a sharp-minded, sharp-shooting young woman.
The Passage Home to Meuse by Gail Noble Sandersonis an epic journey back to the post-war world of the 1920s where Noble Sanderson’s characters explore whether love can indeed conquer all.
The Boundary Stone by Gail Avery Halverson – This story is set against the backdrop of the black plague, one woman of note risks everything to follow her calling and find her true love…
Jaytanie veers off the sister track with her introduction to brand-new characters in her latest sizzling Winters Sisters Series read, Corralling Kenzie.
Kenzie Vaughn leaps out of her bed in the dead of night, responding to a cry from her horse. She discovers Boone shot and bleeding out. Kenzie contacts her neighbor, Victory Winters, who happens to be the closest vet in the area. While Victory is tending to Boone and Kenzie, Logan Mendoza, one of the DNA-enhanced Special Operations Command team (SOCOM) who investigates her ranch, is confident that the notorious Kaleidoscope Group (KG) used the mysterious shooting to get to Kenzie. Further probing indicates that Kenzie’s background may provide essential clues, particularly from her brother, Marcus who was sent to an institution when he was seven.
It is during an attempt on Kenzie’s life that she encounters Marcus. He, in turn, sets up a meeting with SOCOM to divulge the connective tie with KG. Indeed, KG is in the process of furthering their diabolical DNA experimentation, and Kenzie is a key player. More information unfolds with each day as Kenzie develops friendships with the Winters sisters. During Logan’s assignment to guard Kenzie, the two become close, and their friendship evolves into a steamy romance. Logan determines to keep her safe even while he’s away on a brief mission. But upon his return, Kenzie is not around. She’s been kidnapped!
For fans who are caught up in the lives of the Winters sisters, they are in for a big surprise with Jaytanie’s fourth installment. Up to this point, books one thru three have mainly concentrated on Victory, Payton, and Willow and KG’s sinister schemes directed toward the girls. But with the addition of the sisters’ neighbor Kenzie, Jaytanie opens the door to a whole new world of outsiders who have fallen prey to DNA tampering. Although pseudo-realism in design, this chilling realm into the dark side of medicine is reminiscent of the grisly experiments on children throughout history.
Jaytanie does a stellar job balancing the bad and ugly with the good, and “good” comes in various forms, the most obvious from the alpha-male SOCOM team and the Winters sisters. But on a deeper level, Jaytanie has created relatable characters; their near-realistic personas are riddled with strengths and weakness, even on a romantic playing field. Certainly, when Logan and Kenzie get their mojo on, it’s steamy. Leading up to those moments, Jaytanie sets an example of what a beautiful friendship should look like—slow but steady.
As with all of the books in this series, Corralling Kenzie functions perfectly well as a stand-alone read. There is richness when readers start from the very beginning of the series. Let’s just say that Jaytanie is a master of all things and will thrill and delight new readers as well as her loyal fans with this new installment.
The exciting aspect of this series is that book four does not complete the set. Closing on a major cliffhanger, Jaytanie has much more in store for her beloved audience. Stay tuned!
More danger lurks around the Winters Corporation with Willow as the next target in Willow’s Discovery, book three of the romantic thriller series by Joanne Jaytanie.
Willow enters her office one morning to find it completely trashed. Fortunately for them, the Winters Corporation’s files weren’t touched. But Wyatt Farraday, Tristan’s brother, believes that this was an inside job and he thinks Willow should use her newfound aura skills to interview the corporation’s staff in an attempt to uncover a mole. The interviewing process leads to clues that Biotec (connected to the infamous Kaleidoscope Group) is indeed spying on the Winters Corporation.
Meanwhile, Willow plans to meet with a potential buyer for her parent’s old complex. But when she gets there, things go from eerie to dangerous as a strange man attempts an attack. Although Willow narrowly escapes, she can’t shake the memory of the event – which is understandable – but moreover, there is something about the man that seems familiar… Willow is shocked to realize she knows the man’s voice. Now, if only she can place it.
Willow’s experience is nothing less than unnerving. Yet, she has no idea that there will be more attempts on her life. Amid unsettling scenes, a burgeoning romance ripens between Willow and her protector, Wyatt. Whether or not Wyatt can successfully shield her from harm remains to be seen, especially when she finds herself face-to-face with her stalker.
Winters series’ fans have much to look forward to in Jaytanie’s third installment. Willow’s Discovery is a nail-biter and as more familial secrets surface, danger mounts for Willow! Jaytanie surrounds Willow with both favorite and dark characters from the previous novels—plus a few new members—and then places her cast within settings that are a balanced mix of engaging dialogue, suspense, romantic tension, and steamy love scenes. Of course, as with Victory and Payton in books one and two, Willow not only discovers but also must find a way of embracing her own set of telepathic abilities in order to survive the road ahead.
Joanne Jaytanie aptly incorporates back-stories from the previous books a little at a time and savvy readers new to the series will want to go back and read from the beginning. Each book is truly a stand-alone story, but readers of the romantic thriller genre won’t want to miss one word of Jaytanie’s hot, steamy action scenes and compelling storylines. Jaytanie closes Willow’s Discovery with an eye-opening cliffhanger—a perfect set-up for book four, Corralling Kenzie.
Thrilling and tantalizing, Joanne Jaytanie’s third book in the Winters Sisters series, is sure to please loyal fans and have new readers begging for more in Willow’s Discovery.
A diabolical plot brews in the midst of a steamy romance in author Joanne Jaytanie’s second Winters’ sisters’ novel, Payton’s Pursuit.
Continuing where book one left off, Victory and Tristan marry, and Morgan and Collin—Lawrence Braxton’s DNA guinea pigs—join forces with Tristan’s team and the Winters Corporation in Washington State for book two. Payton Winters, one in a set of triplet sisters, learns from Victory that her ability to detect and inadvertently calm Collin’s unstable emotional levels has something to do with the specially formulated fertility drug their mother used for conception.
Concurrently, Braxton, his company Biotec, and the clandestine Kaleidoscope Group remain at large, which means that Victory (and quite possibly all of the sisters) is still a prime target because of her powerful telepathic ability to communicate with animals.
Payton attends dog shows with the last person she would want assigned to be her bodyguard: Collin McBain, the very same man who kidnapped Victory when she was held captive at Biotec (in book one).
During one of the dog shows, Collin finds out that his young stepsister, Emma, may be in trouble and assigns a team to keep an eye on her. After connecting the dots, he and Payton learn that the Kaleidoscope Group runs the boarding school for specialized students, and that the group has chosen Emma for more reasons than Collin and Payton realize. What’s even worse is Victory’s discovery of their mother’s fertility research, which has ties to none other than Biotec.
Needless to say, close quarters breeds love, and Collin and Payton fall in love. Amid their burgeoning romance, Braxton relentlessly searches for Emma. Providing for Emma’s safety, however, turns out to be a more complex problem than Collin and Tristan’s crew thought.
Many returning characters, as well as a new supporting cast, grace the pages of Jaytanie’s second book in the Winters series. Punctuated with aspects of book one, Chasing Victory, Payton’s Pursuit clearly can function as a stand-alone, yet, it is highly recommended for readers new to Jaytanie’s Winters series to start with book one to appreciate the series’ plot dynamics. One of the most important plot dynamics is in understanding how telepathy plays into the sisters’ lives. This begins with Victory who first discovers that her gift—which is heightened when she meets her future husband Tristan—goes well beyond working with animals. Of course, Jaytanie does not dwell on the details of Victory’s story—kidnapping and romantic ties to Tristan. So, first-time readers will miss out on those nerve-racking and spicy tidbits.
Payton’s Pursuit plot tension builds slowly while throwing in a whole bunch of twisty turns that will have your engines racing until the very end. Consistent with her series is Jaytanie’s writing style, including a well-defined cast, woven together with engaging dialogue and riveting scenes.
Greed, power, and genetics combine with a steamy love story to stir up an action-packed, hot read in Joanne Jaytanie’s Chasing Victory: The Winters Sisters, Book One.
Responding to a cryptic phone call from an old college classmate, Victory Winters, veterinarian and geneticist, makes her way through the foothills of the Olympic Mountains to the agreed upon meeting point. Spotting him from a distance, Victory’s excitement quickly turns to dread when shots ring out.
To make matters worse, Victory observes a local police detective at the scene – and not in a law-enforcement capacity, either. She can’t go to the cops, and she’s terrified the killers know she witnessed the murder. Needing a safe space to retreat to, Victory flees to her sister, Payton, who is residing in a motorhome at the San Francisco Fairground for a dog show.
Author Joanne Jaytanie is off and running with a tension-driven novel, opening with a gripping scene. Jaytanie sets the stage for her story by featuring Victory—a vet who combines telepathy with acupuncture to heal dogs. Victory is also close to finding “a genetic link between the canine world and the human world,” an endeavor that has promising potential to cure diseases in humans. This work of hers makes her a hot commodity – so hot, in fact, others will go to great lengths to gain control of her and her work.
Two entities are indeed keeping track of our heroine. One, Tristan Farraday, a special ops hunk from the U.S. military sent to protect Victory. And second, a nefarious group headed by the malicious Lawrence Braxton, a genetics corporation. Of course, our gal doesn’t know about Braxton’s intentions when he sends her a rather flattering job offer which is where the proverbial screws tighten, and the story takes flight.
Jaytanie shifts character POVs which increases tension gives her the opportunity to develop her characters and drives the story forward. There are some proofreading errors, but on the whole, this book is a good start for the first in the series. Jaytanie adds chapter cliffhangers, sprinkles in romance and everything sinister, and proves her worth through rich descriptions and excellent dialogue all to produce a flurry of narrative twists to make a fast, fun read.
Congratulations to the First Place Category Winners and the Grand Prize Winner of the CHATELAINE Book Awards for Romance and Romantic Fiction novels, a division of the 2019 CIBAs.
invented, need not tell that lie. In fiction, the devil is everywhere. And everyone has their story
The Watcher is a story where “…ancient history is only the beginning.”
Catherine Greenfeder
Famed marine biologist and researcher Claudia Rawlings is presumed dead. When Claudia’s research vessel goes down, her daughter Riley goes on a desperate search to discover what happened, eventually turning to Dagger Eastin, co-owner of Hunters and Seekers a marine salvage business. Dagger soon realize this isn’t a simple search and reclaim mission when someone takes a shot at him during an exploratory dive with Riley.
