Danger in the Wilderness by Darlene Turner Review

 

Danger in the Wilderness by Darlene Turner is an awesome Christian romantic suspense story, heavy on the danger and suspense.

There is a serial killer that has been abducting people from campsites in Canadian national parks, then torturing them and ultimately killing them. Dekker Hoyt is a park ranger who is trying to restore his relationship with his father. While on a camping trip, his father is abducted. It is a race against the clock to find his father and discover the identity of the PCK (Park Campfire Killer), while at the same time trying to find additional victims and discover the pattern which is eluding Blaire Tremblay and her team of criminal investigative analysts. 

There was a lot of action and suspense in this book, which I loved. The villain was diabolical and always seemed to be a step ahead. Lots of twists and turns kept me on my toes and zinging through the pages. I wasn't sure who the killer was for sure, though I did have a bit of a suspicion. But the author did a great job of keeping me guessing. 

Faith was an important part of this book, which I loved. And I loved the relationship that developed between Dekker and Blaire. Though they definitely had issues they had to work through. 

This is the first book I have read by this author, and I can't wait to read more. I did want to mention that I didn't realize that this book, even though it is book one of a series, has characters that have appeared in earlier books. If I had known that, I would have read them first. The story itself is a stand alone; however, I felt I was missing things because I didn't know the characters' histories and their relationships with each other. 

I received an e-copy of this book through NetGalley and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.

Friday Fun - September 26, 2025

Welcome to my Friday Fun post. This is where I share with three different book parties that post on Fridays: Book Beginnings on Fridays, the Friday 56, and First Line Friday.

This week I have three books to share with you.

I started reading a novella collection titled, Every Life Treasured featuring three novellas about the value of life by Jennifer Q. Hunt, Hannah Hood Lucero, and Aubrey Reiss Taylor. I finished the first story, A Mother's Tender Hand by Jennifer Q. Hunt, and started the second story, The Missionary and the Marine, by Hannah Hood Lucero. This book releases on October 1st. 

I also started Danger in the Wilderness by Darlene Turner.

And I reread Innocent Lives by Julie Bonn Blank because I learned that book three in this Guardians of Grace series released recently. I've been waiting for the third book since I originally read the first two books. 

        Book Beginnings on Friday     

(Please join Gilion Dumas for Book Beginnings every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.)

and

First Line Friday

(Please join Carrie for First Line Friday.)

Here are my Book Beginnings/First Line Friday selections:

A Mother's Tender Hand by Jennifer Q. Hunt, the first story in Every Life Treasured:

"Alice Vogel stood before a mill cottage in need of fresh white paint and a new tin roof."

I wondered what Alice was doing at the cottage.

The Missionary and the Marine by Hannah Hood Lucero, the second story in Every Life Treasured:

"'. . . Happy birthday, dear Walt, Hppy birthday to you!' DuWayne Walters beamed at his makeshift family as they concluded the obligatory serenade."

The "obligatory serenade" wording made me think of how my daughter is not a fan of having us sing happy birthday to her. 

Danger in the Wilderness by Darlene Turner:

"Park Warden Dekker Hoyt tensed and scanned the area in Clovercross National Park after closing the news alert."

I wondered what had been in the news alert.

Innocent Lives by Julie Bonn Blank:

"They were no longer children, and finally allowed real fun."

Knowing what the book was about made this line really sad.

Now for:

The Friday 56 

The Friday 56 is normally hosted over at Freda's Voice. But Anne from My Head is Full of Books is taking over for a while. 

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Here are my Friday 56 selections:

A Mother's Tender Hand by Jennifer Q. Hunt, the first story in Every Life Treasured:

 

"Alice nodded, looking ready to cry, and Milly went into the bedroom to tell Ezra. He sat beside her on the bed, his one arm comfortingly around her. So, so much they'd been through together. Her mind flitted back to the story she'd told Alice last week."

The Missionary and the Marine by Hannah Hood Lucero, the second story in Every Life Treasured:

"In his hurry to beat Iris and Nadia back to her room, Walt strode right past the woman who had brought him into the world and threatened, on occasion, to take him out of it.

'Mom?' He skidded to a halt a few feet away from Nadia's door."

Danger in the Wilderness by Darlene Turner:

"'Anyway, to answer Blaire's question, same MO. Ripped tent, chairs knocked over. That sort of thing.' Quinton snapped his fingers. 'Oh, except for the bloody rock and note addressed to Dekker. That's new. Why would he add that? Does he have a vendetta against you?'"

Innocent Lives by Julie Bonn Blank:

"'I don't know. Just wanted to know. What's your real name?'
With the dim light from the very small window towards the top of the bedroom wall, Jasmine saw Amber sit up, glare at her, and then flop back on her pillow, pulling her blanket up to her chin. 'Teresa. Again. Why. Do. You. Care?'

Reviews:

Last week I shared two books in my Friday Fun post. I ended up having to set those aside. However, here's the review for the book I shared a couple of weeks ago:

Unexpected Danger by Penny Zeller

And here is the link to my updated review of Innocent Lives by Julie Bonn Blank.

 

Innocent Lives by Julie Bonn Blank Review

 

Innocent Lives by Julie Bonn Blank is an intense book dealing with the horrors of child sex trafficking. When I originally read it two and a half years ago I zinged through it in less than a day. This book wasn't on my radar until I saw the author mention it. I assumed, because the author was Christian, that this book would have more Christian faith in it; however, I did realize afterward that it wasn't marketed as Christian fiction. So yes, there was more detail than I expected, but I was thankful there wasn't explicit detail. There is talk of angels but no real mention of God or faith. 

The book is told from multiple points of view. Jasmine and Cienna are the main characters, two young girls who were kidnapped and sold, one into a brothel, the other to one man. However, we also see the story from the points of view of their parents, the detectives, and one chapter from the point of view of one of the horrid men holding one of the girls in captivity. 

Yes the book is disturbing. The truth of this horror should be disturbing. If you do not want to read a story about such abuse, you may want to skip this book. However, it is quite powerful, so I do recommend it. 

I reread it, and will be rereading book two, because I recently learned that book 3, Innocent Souls just released.   

Spoiler:

It also deals with the aftermath of the effects on the families and the individual girls after they are freed.

Unexpected Danger by Penny Zeller Review

 

Unexpected Danger by Penny Zeller is a great  romantic suspense story, the second in the Mountain Justice series. In this story we return to Pronghorn Falls, the setting from book one. We get to see beloved characters from the first book, Unexpected Witness and meet new characters. This book focuses on Brodie Brenneman who is the sheriff of Pronghorn Falls and his ex, Londyn Siegler who left town after breaking his heart in the past. 

Londyn has been living in a city where she has made some new friends, has a new job, and, as the book opens, we learn she has a stalker. It didn't take me long to figure out exactly who the real stalker was, I think the author meant for it to be a bit obvious to the reader. But once Londyn realizes who her stalker is, the suspense really gears up. Personally I loved that there was even more suspense than the first book. Brodie, who is trying his hardest to protect the woman he still loves, and Londyn and the reader have no clue when or where the stalker is going to strike next. The anticipation keeps building. More than once Londyn's life is in danger. Not only her life, but those around her. The author sure did make a villain who is dispicable. He's crafty, and manipulative, and always a step ahead. 

And of course, this is a romantic suspense, so I was rooting for Brodie and Londyn to be able to work out their relationship. I thought they made a cute couple. 

As with all the author's books, faith is an important part of the story. The main characters are both Christians and they pray and seek the Lord's will throughout the book. We also see how Londyn realizes she never sought God's will before making the big move taking her away from Pronghorn Falls. 

If you are looking for a faith-filled book that will keep you on the edge of your seat you will want to read this book. 

I received an e-copy of this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.

Friday Fun - September 19, 2025

Welcome to my Friday Fun post. This is where I share with three different book parties that post on Fridays: Book Beginnings on Fridays, the Friday 56, and First Line Friday.

This week I have two books to share with you.

I'm continuing my reread of the Timeless series by Gabrielle Meyer with book 3, For a Lifetime.

I'm also starting Transactions We Expose by Chelsea Michelle Mysteries so I can be ready to read the new release, Coffee We Spill. 

        Book Beginnings on Friday     

(Please join Gilion Dumas for Book Beginnings every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.)

and

First Line Friday

(Please join Carrie for First Line Friday.)

Here are my Book Beginnings/First Line Friday selections:

For a Lifetime by Gabrielle Meyer:

"It was a strange reality to be on the precipice of tragedy and not be able to stop it."

I guess that is something noone would really ever deal with, unless one was a time traveler or lived in two separate times.

Transactions We Expose by Chelsea Michelle Mysteries:

"Numbers always lined up. It was my motto. My lifeline."

I wasn't sure exactly what I thought of the first few lines, though I knew I needed to use more than just the first one this time. But it seemed like maybe something was going to go wrong with numbers. 

Now for:

The Friday 56 

The Friday 56 is normally hosted over at Freda's Voice. But Anne from My Head is Full of Books is taking over for a while. 

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Here are my Friday 56 selections:

For a Lifetime by Gabrielle Meyer:

 

"The differences were jarring, especially as a child. Which one was right? I believed that God existed-but who was He? Was He the Puritan's God of strict rules and regulations who predestined people for salvation? Or was He the God of my parents who offered grace and mercy and provided salvation to repentant sinners?"

Transactions We Expose by Chelsea Michelle Mysteries:

"Typically, I drew comfort from having a regular in the building with me so I wasn't so completely alone, but tonight the regular happened to be Greg, and nothing about him had brought me confort since I overheard him arguing with Mo."

Reviews:

Last week I shared one book in my Friday Fun post. I haven't quite finished it, so I will share my review link next week. I can, however, share the review of the second book I posted about two weeks ago:

The Heart of the King by J.J. Fischer

 

The Heart of the King by J.J. Fischer Review

 

The Heart of the King by J.J. Fischer is a wonderful, fantasy story with adventure and prophecy and danger and awesome characters.. It drew me in from the very first line when we learned that someone had "found the girl." As the story goes on, we discover that there are others who are also searching for said girl, or Rigan, who has never felt that she has any value to anyone, and has been living a lonely life as a grave digger. That is until she was kidnapped on the order of the king by Corcoran and his men. What exactly does the king want with her? Who else is after her and why? 

I like that we don't really know what the prophecy exactly is at the beginning of the story, though we can sort of figure it out a bit. We learn more as the story progresses. Just like we learn more about the dreaded Shro Khan. 

I love the characters and seeing them fleshed out as they make their journey. Rigan is so fiesty, yet she is also kindhearted. And you can see the struggle that Corcoran is going through as he follows the orders he has. And I just love the interactions between the two. Additionally, I just love this world the author has created. I can't wait to read more in this series. 

Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this book as a member of the review team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.

Friday Fun - September 12, 2025

Welcome to my Friday Fun post. This is where I share with three different book parties that post on Fridays: Book Beginnings on Fridays, the Friday 56, and First Line Friday.

This week I have one book to share with you.

I'll be starting an eARC of Unexpected Danger by Penny Zeller. This is the second book in her Mountain Justice series. It releases next week on September 16th.

        Book Beginnings on Friday     

(Please join Gilion Dumas for Book Beginnings every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.)

and

First Line Friday

(Please join Carrie for First Line Friday.)

Here is my Book Beginnings/First Line Friday selection:

Unexpected Danger by Penny Zeller:

"The noise jolted her from a sound sleep."

That's usually not a good thing. Even if it ends up being nothing major, it sure gets the heart pumping. And it definitely caught my attention when I read. I needed to find out what was going on.

Now for:

The Friday 56 

The Friday 56 is normally hosted over at Freda's Voice. But Anne from My Head is Full of Books is taking over for a while. 

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Here are my Friday 56 selections:

Unexpected Danger by Penny Zeller:

 

"His eyes searched her face. Eyes that might not have been the eyes of the one who was at her door that day. Eyes that may not have been the ones watching her in her bedroom that night."

Reviews:

Last week I shared two books in my Friday Fun post. I'm still reading that one book, but here's my review for the other. It's actually my original review from a couple of years ago. My thoughts remain the same after my reread.

In This Moment by Gabrielle Meyer

 

Friday Fun - September 5, 2025

Welcome to my Friday Fun post. This is where I share with three different book parties that post on Fridays: Book Beginnings on Fridays, the Friday 56, and First Line Friday.

This week I have two books to share with you.

I'm continuing my reread of the Timeless series by Gabrielle Meyer. This week I am reading In This Moment.

I'll also be reading The Heart of the King by J.J. Fischer, the first book in the Painted Wind series. 

        Book Beginnings on Friday     

(Please join Gilion Dumas for Book Beginnings every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.)

and

First Line Friday

(Please join Carrie for First Line Friday.)

Here are my Book Beginnings/First Line Friday selections:

In This Moment by Gabrielle Meyer:

"Most days, I could pretend that my life was normal."

Knowing the series, even if I hadn't read this particular book before, it made sense that her life wasn't normal and she would need to pretent it was. But, I was wondering if there was something specific about this day making it harder to pretend. And it's been a couple of years since I read it, so I couldn't remember. 

The Heart of the King by J.J. Fischer:

"'Your Majesty, we have found the girl.'"

That could be a good thing or a bad thing.

Now for:

The Friday 56 

The Friday 56 is normally hosted over at Freda's Voice. But Anne from My Head is Full of Books is taking over for a while. 

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
 *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.

Here are my Friday 56 selections:

In This Moment by Gabrielle Meyer:

 

"'It's not a secret. I met the train of soldiers who came in from Baltimore and brought them food and medical supplies.' I wouldn't tell him I had provided medical assistance-that would need to remain a secret. Or that I had brought two of them home with me."

The Heart of the King by J.J. Fischer:

"'You're taking me down the mountain?'
He inclined his head. 

'Why?' Curiosity briefly overtook anger and fear.
He took in the bronze piece on her headband, barely visible through the strands of muddy, disheveled hair. She was right to try and protect herself from the Shro Khan. But there was little she could do to protect herself from him. How much more would she fear him once she knew her fate?"

Reviews:

Last week I shared three books in my Friday Fun post. Here are the links to the reviews:

The Rules of Falling for You by Mollie Rushmeyer

Hours We Regret by Chelsea Michelle

Chaos We Unravel by Chelsea Michelle

 

The Rules of Falling for You by Mollie Rushmeyer Review

 

The Rules of Falling for You is the third book I've read by Mollie Rushmeyer. While it was a completely different type of book, it was still just as great as her previous books. It's said to be a "regency-infused contemporary rom-com" which I found quite intriguing. 

Zoe is an almost-thirty-year-old podcaster who is obsessed with the Regency Era. She shares regency inspired relationship advice while searching for love herself. However, because of embarrasing and heartbreaking relationship disasters in her past she has built walls around her heart and has this regency inspired checklist that she is using to try to find just the right guy. 

Harrison is Zoe's best friend's brother, who is also like a brother to her, and a friend. Things are a bit awkward between them because of an event in the past, but he is back in town to help with her and his sister Eden with the podcast. 

An opportunity comes up for all of them to attend a Regency themed singles retreat. This seems like a great way to boost the podcast while participating in activities to help her find someone who will fit all of the boxes on her list. Though Harrison was not interested in this whole Regency thing, he wanted to be there for the podcast, plus there was the chance for him to advance his career.

I have to say, I loved reading about all the Regency themed activities the characters were participating in. I have an interest in the Regency era; however, I have not read any of the books that are referenced in the story, or watched the movies. So, I sort of know what the stories are about, and could sort of understand some of the referrences, and I will add, this book has really intrigued me and I sort of want to read the classic books to really get to know the characters that are being talked about throughout this book.

So, there were definitely some humorous happenings but there was a lot of serious stuff going on as well. A lot of looking deep within themselves and learning to remember that God is sovereign. This passage is one that really spoke to me as I was reading:

"'If you have everything planned, how is that any fun? Besides, even when we think we're controlling things, we're really not. Surrender is acknowledging the fact that God has it under control, has our backs, and loves us. We don't have to carry the burden of making everything right.'"

As much as I liked Zoe and Harrison and wanted to see them together, I have to say, their relationship got a bit frustrating at times. Especially with the twist toward the end. I'm not going to spoil anything, but with this twist and the characters reactions, I felt it was a bit off from how they had been growing, both in their relationship to each other, and their faith. It was because of this that I took away one star from my rating. 

That said, The Rules of Falling for You is a great book with great romance and it definitely had me laughing at times. Definitely recommended.

I received a copy of this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.