Knit by Pendragón: a Cozy Little Tale

Deb’s Dozen: To knit with love and prayer is to share His love everywhere.

My mother knit and did counted cross-stitch and read and accomplished all those things with love. She was a wonderful woman, and I miss her terribly. While I read The Unlikely Yarn of the Dragon Lady by Sharon J. Mondragón, one of her characters, Margaret, needed to be in control much like I do. Margaret regretted not talking with her mother more before she died. Although I talked with Mom up until she couldn’t any longer, I wish I had spent more time with her during the sweet period before she went Home.

All of the women in the Heavenly Hugs Prayer Shawl Ministry have secret wishes they hope will come true. They’ve knitted for ages in the Prayer Chapel at their church. A failing church slated to be closed. The pastor, in a stroke of brilliance (or a nudge from above), suggests they take their knitting to the local mall while a volunteer paints the chapel they’d been knitting in.

From a quiet group not doing anything but knitting and praying, they become an active group that still knits and prays. They also become involved in the lives of the people who work in the mall and see them knitting. Will this activity help them surmount their own problems and concerns? Come and meet Margaret and Fran and Jane and Rose and the others. Maybe you’ll even learn to knit.
Sharon Mondragón wrote a delightful set of characters and a delightful story in which to display them. You’ll love them as much as I’ve grown to. Five stars.

Sharon J. Mondragón herself facilitates a prayer shawl ministry for a group near her home in Midlothian, Texas. She also teaches knitting. She has lived every writer’s dream of having her work made into a motion picture after it earned recognition from the Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest and ACFW.

Kregel Publications gave me a copy of The Unlikely Yarn but did not obligate me in any way to write a review. Should you purchase this book (and I hope you will) from any of the links in this blog post, I may receive a small commission as an Amazon associate.

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Murders Abound–Pursued with Hostile Intent

Deb’s Dozen: Someone murders entire families—how are they related? Now someone’s after her.

Hostile Intentby Lynette Easton concludes her Danger Never Sleeps series. Finishing the book was sad. I’m not ready to leave these characters. Lynette’s many talents include creating characters who become real to you as you’re reading. I dislike having to say goodbye to friends even when they’ve been involved in tracking murders.

Ava Jackson received an early discharge from the Navy to come home to be with her ailing mother. While deployed, she’d lost her father. She couldn’t bear the thought of not being with her mother in her mom’s last days. After visiting her mom, a man attacks her as she makes her way to her car. She fights back savagely and runs the attacker off when FBI Special Agent Caden Denning arrives to help in the nick of time.

And so starts this exciting, terrifying, unpredictable effort to find the attacker. Ava seems to be the key to the murders of three families. The FBI fears the murders will continue unless they find the commonality among the killings. Ava hides secrets; Caden hides his attraction to Ava. hey both relentlessly try to solve the puzzle and catch the killer—before the killer succeeds in his quest to get Ava.

Hostile Intent engrossed me to the point Ava and Caden’s world became my reality, and true reality hid somewhere outside their realm. Finding a book that plunges you into the middle of the characters’ lives and takes you with them on their journey is rare. Lynette Eason is one of today’s mystery/suspense/thriller writers capable of doing so. Hostile Intent rates five stars.

About Lynette

Hostile Intent+MurdersMany awards grace Lynette Eason’s shelves—three ACFW Carol Awards, the Selah Award, the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, and the Golden Scroll Award among many others. She graduated from the University of South Carolina and obtained a master’s degree in education from Converse College. Lynette lives in South Carolina with her husband, Jack, and two children. You can learn more about Lynette at www.lynetteeason.com.

Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group gave me a copy of Hostile Intent but did not in any way require me to write a review. As an Amazon Associate, I may receive a small commission should you purchase Hostile Intent through any of my links.

Tried for Murder; Served Her Time. Still Guilty?

Deb’s Dozen: Tried for murder, served her time. Despised by many, looking for justice.

Trace of Doubt by DiAnn Mills fascinated me. Unlike most of her other books, we meet the criminal at the onset. But this murderer, Shelby Pearce, served her time for the crime of shooting her brother-in-law and had been paroled. Coming to the small town of Valleysburg, she finds some will not allow her to peacefully start over.

One of the people most against her parole is FBI Special Agent Denton McGuire—a rookie when she was tried and convicted he investigated her case. But the murder, in his mind, was not her only crime. He suspected, but had been unable to prove, she had embezzled five hundred thousand dollars from her brother-in-law’s account—money earmarked to be sent to African orphans.

Shelley begins to receive death threats; Denton finds he cares for her and decides to help protect her. And the drama takes over, with twists and turns to the very end. Mills writes her characters with care to ensure they come alive in the readers’ imaginations. You will be intrigued by Shelby and come to admire her. You will agonize with Denton as he finds his heart and his job at cross purposes. Although not the most complex of Mills’s books, Trace of Doubt will capture you and keep you reading. I loved the story. Four and a half stars.

Suspense and mysteryDiAnn Mills, a prolific author who has been awarded many honors—two Christy Awards and finals for the RITA, Carol, Golden Scroll, and awards—as well as placed on the CBA and ECPA best-seller lists. She loves coffee, quite the aficionado, and roasts her own beans. She and her husband live in Houston, Texas.

Tyndale Books gave me a copy of Trace of Doubt, but did not require me to write a review.