Book Title: Copper Waters – A New Zealand Mystery (Annalisse Series Book 4) by Marlene M. Bell
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 340 pages
Genre: Mystery-Suspense
Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing
Release date: October, 2022
Content Rating: G. Book is for general audiences. No profanity. No graphic scenes. Crimes described briefly after-the-fact. Mild and limited romance
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MY REVIEW
I wonder if Analisse and Alec will finally seal the deal and get married. It seems Annalisse is wondering that also. Needing a break from the stress of it all, she heads to New Zealand to visit a family friend at his sheep ranch. Not able to go along, Alec sends his friend Bill Drake to accompany her on the flight. She’s no fan of flying and he’s proved handy when things go sideways. Which they quickly do.
Not one but two deaths occur and Annalise and Bill are right in the thick of it. Not exactly suspects, their help isn’t desired and in now way do the residents or authorities want them digging into things. The way ahead is going to be tricky and dangerous.
It’s been a whole lot of fun getting to know these characters. No many different personalities. And so many secrets and obstacles to overcome. I enjoyed each book as much as the other and would be quite happy if more were to come.
4 STARS
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Book Description:
Annalisse Drury and Alec Zavos find themselves on opposing sides when an ex-lover from Alec’s past introduces him to his alleged son. With Alec distracted and their future engagement in limbo, Annalisse accepts a key to her dream cottage—situated on a picturesque sheep station on South Island, New Zealand—only this time, she travels alone.
But not long after her arrival she’s confronted by two peculiar deaths—either accidental, or the deliberate acts of a psychopath.
Local investigators are closing the cases too quickly and want Annalisse to exit the country before she reveals the town’s darkest secrets.
Will she return to Alec, or sacrifice their future together to expose it all?
Book Details:
Book Title: Stolen Obsession (Annalisse Series Book 1) by Marlene M. Bell
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 296 pages
Genre: Mystery-Suspense
Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing
Release date: March 2018
Format available for review: print – softback, e-book (mobi file (for Kindle), ePub, PDF), audiobook (audible download)
Will send print books out: USA
Content Rating: PG. Subtle romantic interludes. No profanity.
People die, but legends live on.
New York antiquities appraiser Annalisse Drury’s best friend was murdered. The killer’s identity may be linked to her friend’s expensive missing bracelet—a 500-year-old artifact that carries an ancient curse, one that unleashes evil upon any who dare wear the jewelry created for the Persian royal family.
Weeks later, Annalisse sees a matching necklace at a Manhattan gallery opening. She begs the owner to destroy the cursed piece, but her pleas fall on deaf ears—despite the unnatural death that occurs during the opening. With two victims linked to the jewelry, Annalisse is certain she must act. Desperate, Annalisse enlists the gallery owner’s son to help—even though she’s afraid he’ll break her heart. Wealthy and devastatingly handsome, with a string of bereft women in his wake, Greek playboy Alec Zavos dismisses Annalisse’s concerns—until his parents are ripped from the Zavos family yacht during their ocean voyage near Crete.
Annalisse and Alec race across two oceans to save his parents, feared kidnapped or even dead. When the killer changes tactics and goes after Alec behind Annalisse’s back, can her plan to rescue Alec’s mother save them all?
MY REVIEW
It started innocently enough. A display at a grand opening for a valued client. One piece of jewelry. A curse. And people start dying.
This is a fast paced story with a lot of characters. Took me a bit to get them all in place and then it was a race to the finish. From one time zone to another, it’s danger around every corner. Out of one situation and right into another, with some shocking and tragic outcomes. I could hardly catch my breathe. I know the characters couldn’t.
I kept wondering when or if Annalisse and Alec would act on their attraction to each other and I think I was as frustrated as they were. The timing was always wrong or they were interrupted. Jet around the world. Try to stay alive. Start a romance. So much to do and so little time.
I had such fun reading this and am already into the next book. More exciting adventures to come.
4 STARS
Book Details:
Book Title: Spent Identity (Annalisse Series Book 2) by Marlene M. Bell
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 378 pages
Genre: Mystery-Suspense
Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing
Release date: Nov 2019
Format available for review: print – softback, e-book (mobi file (for Kindle), ePub, PDF), audiobook (audible download)
Will send print books out: USA
Content Rating: PG-13+M. Main Character is accosted and fights an assailant in one chapter. Mild profanity.
Book Description:
Antiquities appraiser Annalisse Drury drives to her family farm in upstate New York to consult with Aunt Kate about her troubled relationship with Greek tycoon, Alec Zavos. When Annalisse arrives, she learns the beloved farm she expects to inherit is for sale.
That same morning, they find a stranger’s body decaying in the barn. Then her aunt vanishes.
In Spent Identity, Annalisse and Alec join forces for the second time. They must find the mastermind behind her aunt’s abduction before Kate’s health issues worsen. Was the corpse in the barn a coincidence or a warning? The clock ticks for Annalisse to find her aunt and repair what she has left with the man she loves.
MY REVIEW
Annalise needs time to think about her relationship with Alec so she heads home to the farm where she grew up, raised by her beloved Aunt Kate. Once again she finds herself pulled into a dangerous situation. A dead body is discovered in the barn and her aunt is kidnapped.
This chapter in the series is a convoluted trail of breadcrumbs leading to a very satisfying ending. Annalise comes from quite the dysfunctional family and there are so many suspects. I was second guessing myself often and was tempted to skip ahead to get answers, I didn’t do that, of course, but I did devour the book to get those answers. Hmm…. more surprises right til the end.
4 STARS
Book Title: Scattered Legacy (Annalisse Series Book 3) by Marlene M. Bell
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 352 pages
Genre: Mystery-Suspense
Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing
Release date: Oct 2021
Format available for review: print – softback, e-book (mobi file (for Kindle), ePub, PDF)
Will send print books out: USA
Content Rating: PG+M. Brief kissing/romance. mild use of profanity like “damn.” No F Bombs. Some violence and talk of an attack by villain that doesn’t materialize.
Book Description:
To outsiders, the relationship between Manhattan antiquities assessor Annalisse Drury and sports car magnate Alec Zavos must look carefree and glamorous. In reality, it’s a love affair regularly punctuated by treasure hunting, action-packed adventure, and the occasional dead body.
When Alec schedules an overseas trip to show Annalisse his mother’s birthplace in Bari, Italy, he squeezes in the high-stakes business of divesting his family’s international corporation. But things go terribly wrong as murder makes its familiar reappearance in their lives – and this time it’s Alec’s disgraced former CFO who’s the main suspect.
Accompanied by friend and detective Bill Drake, Annalisse and Alec find themselves embroiled in a behind-closed-doors conspiracy that threatens the reputation and legacy of Alec’s late father – linking him to embezzlement, extortion, and the dirty business of the Sicilian Mafia. The search for the truth sends the trio straight into riddles, secrets, and an historic set of rosary beads. Annalisse leads Alec toward a discovery that is unthinkable, and events that will change their futures forever.
Scattered Legacy is the third in Marlene M. Bell’s thrilling Annalisse series, which weaves romance, crime, and historical mystery into addictive tales to instantly captivate fans of TV show Bones or Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.
MY REVIEW
This time, it’s Alec’s family skeletons that are coming out of the woodwork and it ain’t pretty. Could his father have done something illegal or looked the other way while some who worked for him did? It’s time for Annalisse and Alec to jump on a jet and head to Italy to get to the bottom of things. Hopefully also squeezing in some alone time.
Something that stood out for me right from the start was how Annalisse and Alec acted with each other. The relationship is still in the early stages and they don’t act like they’ll die if they aren’t together. Sure there’s some insecurity to deal with, but they are very much in love. I have high hopes for them.
Even though the previous books had killers doing horrible things, I felt the bad guys were more diabolical in this book. Italian mafia is nothing to mess with and the couple are right in the thick of things. I had my fingers crossed that they’d get things sorted out and clear Alec’s fathers name.
Just when I thought we were reaching a happy ending, the past rears it’s ugly head. I truly worried that a character I was fond of would perish. That had me hesitant to turn the next page but also in a hurry to do so. And now I’ve read the ending and already started the next book, Copper Waters. I wonder what’s coming next.
4 STARS
Meet the Author:
Marlene M. Bell is an eclectic mystery writer, artist, photographer, and she raises sheep in beautiful East Texas with her husband, Gregg, three cats and a flock of horned Dorset sheep.
The Annalisse series has received numerous honors including the Independent Press Award for Best Mystery (Spent Identity,) and FAPA— Florida Author’s President’s Gold Award for two other installments, (Stolen Obsession and Scattered Legacy.) Her mysteries with a touch of romance are found at marlenembell.com. She also offers the first of her children’s picture books, Mia and Nattie: One Great Team! Based on true events from the Bell’s ranch. The simple text and illustrations are a touching tribute of compassion and love between a little girl and her lamb.
connect with the author: website ~ website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ instagram ~ goodreads
5 Things a Beginning Writer Should Know
- Learn the craft before you begin. It doesn’t matter what genre you choose, writing a novel is like nothing else you’ve ever written. Read as many self-help books from the masters, like James Scott Bell and Donald Maass. Pick up tons of books on sentence structure and the basics. Buy all of the Emotion Thesaurus books that you can afford by Angela Ackerman. Once you’ve exhausted English basics, then fine tune your writing. The key is to know what your readers want in your genre.
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- Authors write for their readers, not themselves. It’s okay to write a first draft the way you want, but in your edited drafts, your writing must reflect what your reader is expecting from your genre. As an example: Romantic Suspense expects your protagonist’s love interest have tension built into the character. If your main character is a woman, she and her love interest have some form of a wedge between them. Something that keeps them apart or drives them from each other at the beginning of your novel. The plot continues to slowly work them back together for a finish with a Happily Ever After ending. Romance genre endings should be HEA or happy for now. If you plan to kill off a main in the book, remember this: you will upset some of your readers. Never, ever kill a family pet or an animal in your novels, if you can help it. Readers will forgive a person’s murder, but most won’t stomach the killing of animals, especially those that are beloved in the plot.
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- Invest in the best editors you can afford. It doesn’t pay to skimp on the editing. I went through several drafts before I published Stolen Obsession and updated the entire book again in 2022. During the process, I used beta readers, developmental editors, critique groups, copy editors, line editors, and proofreaders before heading to a pro book formatter. Experienced professionals will make your work shine. Try out several different editors before settling on your favorites. I’ve found it too easy to lose the writer’s voice if an editor prefers to rewrite the story for themselves. Readers are subjective and have different preferences. The same goes for an editor. Choose one who will enhance your work, not just remove every adjective because it bothers them. Good overall fiction editors are hard to find. You might have to work with a few to find the ones who’ll enhance your story.
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- Writing, Reading and Editors are all subjective. So are reviewers. Your written work will affect each reader differently. Expect it. Some may not like the style or voice; others won’t like a character’s personality. Still others won’t be expecting romance even though your work is designed to include romantic interludes. It happens to the best of us. Grow a thick skin and shrug off your detractors. It’s okay that some people criticize your work. Please yourself with your reader in mind, and you’ll be fine.
I also get a lot of mileage out of negative reviews. They can teach us so much about our book’s weaknesses. Not all criticisms are worth more than a few seconds of your time, but if several point out the same flaws in your writing, it’s time to address it so that these same errors don’t pop up in new releases.
- Have fun writing and don’t kill yourself doing it! Typing for long hours in front of your laptop or PC takes perseverance. Everyone has a life beyond the keyboard. Take walks and read lots of books in and out of your genre. You’ll be happy to find out how reading helps writer’s block. Having a bad day writing means a better day reading. It’s where I go when the words won’t flow smoothly.
COPPER WATERS Book Tour Giveaway
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Great review, thank you for sharing.
Thank you for the review.
This sounds like a great read.
Yeah, I feel the same way about Annalisse. Come on, make a decision. I say…Go for it!
sherry @ fundinmental
I am such a fan of the ‘Annalisse’ books. Marlene M. Bell writes so good.