It Started with a Whisper by Shannon McCrimmon

Title: It Started with a Whisper
 
Author: Shannon McCrimmon
 
Publisher: CreateSpace

Published Date: May 19, 2016

Buy on Amazon: Kindle & Paperback

Author Website: http://shannonmccrimmon.com/

Synopsis: 

Five simple words: That’s all it takes to change the course of 18-year-old Josie Graham’s life in the summer of 1989.

Josie is a musical prodigy: She can sing, play guitar and is a natural on the piano. Instead of spending her last summer before college traveling the country with her rock star father, she’s made a last minute decision to spend it working at her Aunt Bernie’s inn, in Ambler’s Fork, North Carolina. But what could have turned her life-long passion for music into a hatred for an industry she’s worked so hard to get into?

Her aunt’s inn seems like the perfect place to escape, to clear her head and figure things out, but on her first day there, she almost drowns before Chic Hobbs saves her.

Chic wants nothing more in life than to leave Ambler’s Fork and his sordid past behind—at least not until that day Josie Graham swims into his life. The problem is, Chic’s got a secret. It’s a secret he’s keeping from Josie, and he’s worried if it gets out, it’ll ruin everything, and she’ll judge him for his past mistakes the way everyone else in town has.

Josie is carrying a burden of her own. One that made her run to Ambler’s Fork – away from her family and everything she’s ever known.

Chic saved Josie once. Can he save her again? Or will Josie rescue him this time?

My Thoughts:

Shannon McCrimmon's 7th novel, It Started with a Whisper, takes place at a North Carolina lake resort during the summer of 1989. Josie, hiding a secret, decides to work at her Aunt Bernie's inn instead of going on tour with her rock star father. Chic is the boy who literally saves Josie's life (and steals her heart) on her first day there. Chic is fighting his own demons as he works for Bernie and also helps his father at the family canoe livery. Together the two embark on their blossoming relationship and tackle saving Bernie's floundering inn and in return Chic's father's canoe business.

It Started with a Whisper is a wonderfully written tale of love, redemption, and forgiveness. I enjoyed watching the relationship between Josie and Chic unfold. What started as two people not looking for love grew into a story of Josie and Chic helping the each other deal with their unresolved issues. McCrimmon did a wonderful job with character development. Each character, even minor ones,were fully developed. I also enjoyed watching the mystery of Chic's father unfold. Throughout the whole novel Chic's father was hard and unforgiving. He openly judged Chic and the choices he had made. However, when his father's backstory was revealed he became more human.

My favorite relationship in the novel was between Chic and his brother Dunny. Dunny was Chic's older brother yet mentally he was like a 3rd grader. Dunny loves Star Wars, comic books and music. Chic was Dunny's protector, friend, and brother. Their relationship was endearing and wonderful to read about.

Shannon McCrimmon's It Started with a Whisper is a wonderfully heartwarming read. It's full of highly likable characters, a realistic plot, and a perfect ending! Here's hoping for a sequel!!!!!

Shannon McCrimmon

                                               

*I have been provided a complimentary copy of the book, It Started with a Whisper, for the purpose of review.*

Quinn II by J.C. Cliff

     


Title: Quinn II (Undaunted Men Series)
 
Author: J.C. Cliff
 
Publisher: J.C. Cliff LLC

Published Date: April 19, 2016

Buy on Amazon: Kindle & Paperback

Author Website: http://www.jccliff.com/

Synopsis:
 

QUINN IS BACK and pushing the limits on it all -- suspense, sex, love, gut-wrenching emotions -- with a fiery intense conclusion to his and Lexi's story. The more Alexis runs, the harder Quinn fights for her.
 
It's an undeniable truth; bad things happen to good people, and Lexi is not impervious to the realities of the life she left behind.
 
Keeping Lexi safe at all cost, Quinn remains unwavering in his duties, constantly putting his life on the line, time and time again.
 
Two tortured souls are pushed to the edges of their sanity and their love will be put to the test. Tempers flare, emotions burst, and love flickers, but after the ultimate explosion, can forgiveness be found amongst the rubble?
 
Alexis needs Quinn more than ever...and Quinn must decide if Lexi is truly his fate or if their romance was never meant to survive beyond his mission. One thing is for certain: neither Quinn nor Alexis will be the same after surfacing from the mountain trails. Now that they've survived the wild, can they survive each other?
 

My Thoughts:

Quinn and Quinn II, by JC Cliff, are the first two novels in her Undaunted Men Series. These suspenseful and sensual romance novels take place on a trail in the Appalachian Mountains. Quinn is retired from the Military and runs his own investigative company with his best friends. Quinn starts when he gets an unwanted call from someone he had once done a job for he automatically says no.  He wants nothing to do with Tony Moretti, the head of a Mob empire. He is not one to get involved in mob affairs and he in no way wants to be put in the middle of two mob families fighting. However, when Quinn hears the problem he can't ignore that Lexi, the 'mob princess' has gone underground and disappeared in the wilderness of the Appalachian Mountains with no warning. Knowing that things could go very wrong, Quinn takes the job.

Lexi stays out of all Mob business. She's leads a regular life and tries to forget who her family is and what they are involved in. However, when she finds herself set up for a murder that she didn't commit and then blackmailed to marry the guilty, Lexi is beside herself. When the opportunity is presented for her to disappear in the mountains she runs with it. Nevermind that she knows nothing of hiking, snakes, starting fires, bears, etc. After a day in she realizes how much she is in over her head. When a stranger named Quinn happens upon her and offers to help her get where she's going, Lexi feels like he is a gift from above. However, Quinn and Lexi aren't prepared for the instant chemistry or onset of emotions that follow as they are with each other, and only each other, for such a long period of time in the mountains. Each secret they keep threaten to tare them apart.  As danger approaches, they must decide where their loyalties lie.

Quinn II follows Quinn and Lexi out of the mountains as they are thrust into a reality neither want.  They find themselves in the middle of a Mob War with repercussions for every step they took and continue to take. Sacrificing herself to save Quinn, Lexi does the unforgivable. Quinn is devastated, and loses all faith in Lexi. Is there anything she can do to win Quinn's forgiveness? Will she ever be able to forgive herself?

J.C. Cliff does a fantastic job of weaving a steamy and heartbreaking story together that revolves around characters she truly makes us care deeply for. There are times I wanted to smack both Quinn and Lexi for their errors in judgment, but the end of the novel made up for their mistakes. I can't wait to read the next book in J.C. Cliff's Undaunted Men series.  

                                                

*I have been provided a complimentary copy of the books, Quinn & Quinn II, for the purpose of review.*