Unraveling a Crime Ring

When a kidnapper strikes,
a K-9 team leaps into action.

FBI Special Agent Emmett Dane and his K-9 partner, Gemma, thwart a masked man’s abduction of a woman and child with only seconds to spare. But from the moment they take single mom Winona Garland and her adopted baby girl into protective custody, Emmett and Gemma are met with a constant barrage of attacks. Who has this K-9 duo in their sights—a sinister baby trafficking conspiracy…or a lethally vengeful enemy? With danger everywhere in the icy Colorado mountains, Emmett and Winona must uncover the truth before someone’s obsessive endgame finishes them for good…

My Review:

This heart-wrenching edge-of-your-seater brings ‘The Colorado K-9 Unit’ series to an emotional conclusion. Justice is finally served, albeit with some innocent casualties. I really appreciate the way this 8th book wraps up. It could have gone in so many directions but this one just felt right.

Kudos to all the authors who created so many epic reads with the kind of memorable heroes and heroines a reader loves to cheer on (and I am including the dogs in that sentiment!)

While all of the books can be read as standalones, this ‘grand finale’ to the series will make a bigger impact if you have read at least a few of the earlier books, especially the 7th one.

I listened to the audible edition of ‘Unraveling a Crime Ring’ and narrator Teri Schnaubelt delivered an amazing performance. She’s really good at building the tension during the suspense scenes and then releasing it and relaxing into the lighter moments. It’s subtle, but she conveys so much just through her voice which makes for an enthralling listening experience.

Christy Awards 2026 Finalists – Speculative + Giveaway

The Christy Award is destined to nurture creativity and quality in the writing and publishing of fiction written from a Christian worldview and showcase the diversity of genres. These 2026 finalists are books published in 2025. 

You select one of the Speculative finalists you would like to receive if your name is drawn. Mention the title in a comment. If you win that’s the book that will be sent to you. Easy Peasy. Here are the finalists. (I have provided links to my reviews of the books I have read.)

Every Hour Until Then, Gabrielle Meyer
Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group, 9780764243011

Gifted with the ability to time-cross between Victorian-era London and World War II Washington, DC, Kathryn faces two lives fraught with danger. In 1938 amid the looming shadow of war, Kathryn is invited to the London Museum as a guest curator to create a groundbreaking exhibit on Jack the Ripper and his reign of terror. As she delves into her grim research, she uncovers a chilling discovery: her own sister is destined to become the Ripper’s final victim decades earlier.

In 1888, in a race against fate, Kathryn is assisted by her handsome childhood friend in hunting down history’s most elusive killer. As they unravel the threads of mystery woven through time, Kathryn must decide if she’ll unmask the murderer history has chosen to hide, forfeiting a life with the man she loves to save her sister.

Bestselling author Gabrielle Meyer presents yet another thrilling time-travel tale of intrigue, loyalty, and romance–threaded with suspense and decisions that could change history.

Heir of Light, Niki Florica and Jill Williamson
Sunrise Publishing, 9781963372649

Sir Rigil Barak came to Land’s End expecting a routine investigate some rumors, spy on some nobles, and above all, play the perfect knight. Instead, he is reunited with his less-than-shining past–the same past that has kept him on the road for years, fleeing his noble father’s scorn and grieving the woman he thought dead.

Until now.

Because in Land’s End, he sees a face he never thought he’d see again . . . at least, not outside his dreams. And if she’s alive, he’ll do anything for a second chance to save her.

Years of captivity to a madman left Sethe with a face full of scars and one never be trapped again. Except, to keep that rule, she’ll have to ask for help from Rigil, the thief who broke her heart and abandoned her long ago. Now, years later, he shows up to rescue her from Land’s End like a knight in shining armor? Who does he think he is?
And even if the boy from her past has become a real knight with real honor, can she fall for a man who lied to her?

Maybe that doesn’t matter now, because Sethe’s old captor is hot on her heels with a new invention that could turn her into something worse than a prisoner. He could turn her into a weapon.

Fortunately, Rigil and Sethe always did know how to pull off a heist–and if they can steal the enemy’s deadly new weapon, they can save the kingdom. For Sethe, this means trusting Rigil without letting him anywhere near her heart. For Rigil, it means a second chance with the woman whose heart he once broke.

And this time, failure could cost them everything.

Dive into this swashbuckling story of second chances, forbidden love, espionage and epic adventure in this fourth book in the Blood of Legends series.

Maxine Justice: Public Offender, Daniel Schwabauer
Enclave, a division of Oasis Family Media, 9798886052381

The case she didn’t need. The client she didn’t want. The trial she couldn’t win.

Fresh off her single-handed defense against alien adversaries in a galactic courtroom, Maxine Justice discovers that saving the Earth is not enough to earn a hero’s welcome back home. Once again broke and now looking for revenge, her return to night court as a public defender takes an immediate detour when she’s tasked with defending a Therapod murder suspect.

The case drags her into the quirky theories of her new client, Father Gilbert Barthes, and the corrupt underbelly of corporate robotics. As her defense takes on global significance, Maxine lands squarely in the crosshairs of new enemies determined to conceal their plans for acquiring the planet. Worse, her probably guilty client may be the only one who can expose what’s really happening.

Stripped of all credibility and most of her friends, can Maxine find some way to save humanity when the world is bent on self-destruction? Or will Earth finally succumb to the most unlikely deception?

Of Dawn and Embers, Gillian Bronte Adams
Enclave Escape, a division of Oasis Family Media, 9798886052428

He rides a dawnling, a steed of light and glory, destined to restore.

Jakim Ha’Nor will save his people, or so says the prophecy that upended his life and drove his brothers to betray him. Now, he has returned as the dawnrider to fulfill his purpose and reconcile with his brothers—only to find himself embroiled in a war.

Captured in the fallout of a deadly attack, Rafi grapples with the ghosts of the past. His brother is alive but no longer himself, and Rafi will stop at nothing to save him. Farther up the coast, Ceridwen strives to reignite the embers of the rebellion to burn the empire down. When Rafi is sentenced to execution before the imperial court, Ceridwen must rally every spear and steed she can for a blistering strike at the heart of the capital.

But the empire’s schemes are already in motion, and Jakim’s two missions collide when an unexpected encounter with one of his brothers reveals the true threat behind the imperial thirst for ancient secrets. Hidden forces intend to unleash a cataclysmic power, spurring Ceridwen, Rafi, and Jakim to challenge the full, crushing might of the empire for the fate of the world.

Stars weep and ash falls as the tides of battle propel the Fireborn queen, the Sea-Demon prince, and the Dawnrider priest toward a meteoric clash in this thunderous series finale.

Conversations With Kav – Introducing the Best Reads Autumn 2026 Bingo Reading Challenge!

Hello July + Giveaway

It’s a Best Reads blog tradition! Celebrating the month’s new releases the first week of each month.

Because I recently discovered that a book’s success or failure is often determined by first month sales! (Though I bet preorders play into that as well.) Publishing houses look at those stats to determine whether they’ll add on to a series or accept the author’s next manuscript! All that literary goodness hanging in the balance but for a month’s worth of sales! (This was a cozy mystery author, but I imagine all traditional publishers use the same ‘system’.) So I thought I should do my wee little bit to promote Christian Fiction.

By hosting a special ‘Hello – insert month’ giveaway. It’s easy to play along. You just have to choose ONE of the July 2026 new releases on your TBR wishlist (must be Christian Fiction) and mention the title in a comment below (or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca) If your name is drawn, that July release is the book you will win and we’re one book closer to keeping our fave authors in business.

Reader’s Choice Giveaway – Summer 2026 Edition – Mystery/Suspense


Publication date must be July, August or September 202
6

Each day is genre specific, so only submit titles from that genre

Christian Fiction / Closed Door books only please!

You can offer up to three suggestions per genre day BUT they need to be made in 3 separate comments (easier for me to keep track of.)

No email entries this time round since WP comments are working

OF SPECIAL NOTE: IF YOU HAVEN’T COMMENTED ON THIS BLOG BEFORE, YOUR FIRST COMMENT WON’T APPEAR UNTIL I APPROVE IT. AFTER THAT YOUR COMMENTS WILL POST AUTOMATICALLY.

Entrants must submit their own selections (no piggybacking on someone else’s log in.)

It’s helpful to include your email (using AT and DOT instead of @ and . to protect yourself from spammers) but you only need to add it to one of your comments per day. If you choose not to include your email then it’s up to you to contact me if you are a winner.

.

At Bluebonnet Lake + Giveaway

Her life is set to warp speed. His is slowing to a crawl. But love has its own timing.

Marketing maven Kate Sherwood’s world is fast-paced, challenging, and always changing. The last thing she wants to do is grind to a halt at Rainbow’s End, a dilapidated resort in the Texas Hill Country. Still, she cannot deny her ailing grandmother’s request to visit the place where she and her deceased husband spent one glorious week fifty years ago. There, Kate meets Greg, who appears to be the resort’s unassuming handyman. But there’s more to Greg than meets the eye–billions more, in fact.

Kate isn’t looking for romance, but she can’t deny the sparks of attraction that fly every time she and Greg are together. Could there be a future there? Or will Kate’s long-sought promotion take her back to the big city?

The last thing Kate Sherwood needs is a man, so why is she so drawn to the handsome handyman at the Rainbow’s End resort?

Amanda Cabot invites you to step into a place away from the pressures of the day. You might be surprised by what you find at Rainbow’s End.

My Review:

published in 2014

Wow — so excited that this is the first in the Texas Crossroads series. Not only is ‘At Bluebonnet Lake’ a stunning contemporary romance, but Cabot has laid some wonderful groundwork for the future books. She says there will be at least two more. I’m hoping for way more than that.

Love the whole idea behind Rainbow’s End. The symbolism brings a certain magic to the story. But the physical resort is completely captivating too. I totally want to visit — especially if I get to meet Kate and Greg in person. 

Don’t you just love it when romance takes a heroine unawares? Especially a ladder-climbing executive type who has no intention of setting foot in Texas again after this one vacation with her grandmother. Never say never, Miss Kate Sherwood, especially when God has different plans for your future. 

Though Kate is career-oriented, she’s kind, compassionate, funny and dedicated to her grandmother. Really, why would Greg even try to resist? Well, he doesn’t try hard, though he is at a crossroads of his own and hesitates to add romance into the mix. 

There is a great inspirational thread seamlessly woven into the very fibre of this story. I love how natural it felt — and though both Kate and Greg are Christians, they learn a lot about trusting God not just with their future, but their present and their past as well. Some really powerful testimonies touched me during the course of this read.

Simply put — ‘At Bluebonnet Lake’ is a special blend of inspiration and romance that will lift your spirit and touch your heart. It doesn’t get any better than that, right?

February Giveaway – Week Four

Note about the Oympic Readathon Winners

I’ve decided to post the winners separately tomorrow. I started compiling lists of the books we all read over the past month and the project got away from me. Plus it’s taking awhile to cross-reference my tallies before doing the actually draws. So….you will have to wait with bated breath one more day to find out who our Gold, Silver and Bronze winners are!

Winners will be contacted if they left their email address, otherwise it’s up to the winner to contact me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca (please note it’s ca as in Canada, not com.) From time to time a winner and I do not connect so I have a one month time frame on giveaway wins. If I haven’t been able to reach you within 30 days of your win, it will be forfeited. This has happened a few times now, so please, DON’T BE SHY — CONTACT ME IF YOU DIDN’T LEAVE AN EMAIL OR IF I HAVEN’T BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN REACHING YOU!

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE REST OF THE YEAR:

Conversations With Kav – Olympic Readathon Winners Announced!

August Giveaway – Week One

LATE BREAKING NEWS! MY TOMATOES ARE TURNING RED!!!! I was in such a tizzy of joy I forgot to post the winners today! Oops. Spent most of it in the garden weeding and deadheading and cutting back – trying to get as much work done as I can before the next heatwave hits tomorrow.

Winners will be contacted if they left their email address, otherwise it’s up to the winner to contact me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca (please note it’s ca as in Canada, not com.) From time to time a winner and I do not connect so I have a one month time frame on giveaway wins. If I haven’t been able to reach you within 30 days of your win, it will be forfeited. This has happened a few times now, so please, DON’T BE SHY — CONTACT ME IF YOU DIDN’T LEAVE AN EMAIL OR IF I HAVEN’T BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN REACHING YOU!

LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK:

Conversations with Kav – a place for us to chat about bookish topics if anyone is so inclined. Sometimes there will be giveaways, sometimes there won’t. It will just depend on the topic of the day. Hope to see you there! Otherwise my inner book nerd and I will carry on by ourselves. Bwahaha!

2025 Carol Award Finalists – (Young Adult) I can’t believe it’s that time already but the finalists were just announced this week and the winners in each category will be announced on September 6 at the ACFW Conference Gala. Soooo exciting. This year especially because 40% of the finalists are indie authors! And most of the rest are from small publishing houses. Tons of new-to-me authors listed and books I’ve never even heard of.

So, while all that is exciting, I’ve discovered it can be a little be tricky when it comes to sourcing all editions of the books. I’ve noticed that small press books seem to carry hefty price tags in print format for a while now, but some of these were crazy! One 300 page book is $80 in Canada! And a $10 US book is $32 in Canada while another book was $7 here and $40 in the US. All kinds of crazy — so, all this to say pay particular attention to the giveaway options for each Carol Award Finalists title in the coming weeks. They will be listed in bold after the title/author/publishing info statement and will be divided by US, Canada and International.

If All Else Sails

In this enemies-to-lovers romance, school nurse Josie agrees to help her brother’s best friend, hockey player Wyatt, recover from his knee injury . . . oh, and sail down the intercoastal waterway. What could go wrong?

When elementary school nurse Josie arrives to meet her brother for their not-quite-annual summer trip, instead of finding Jacob, she discovers she has been duped. Jacob can’t take off work for a trip and instead is calling in a huge favor from Josie: helping his best friend recover from surgery. Wyatt is the perpetual grump, a famous hockey player Josie has never particularly liked, and a terrible patient. His foot is in bad shape, but nowhere near as bad as his surly attitude.

Begrudgingly, Josie agrees to stay for a week that becomes two. But when she finds out that Wyatt’s injury ruined his plans to sail down the east coast on the Intracoastal Waterway, Josie surprises them both by agreeing to be his second set of hands.

Smooth sailing is nowhere to be found, and Wyatt is one cranky captain. With one disaster after another slowing their progress, Josie questions if they’ll even be able to make it home without killing–or kissing?–each other. And yet, the longer they share cramped quarters and canned food, the more of Wyatt’s layers she peels back until Josie realizes she misunderstood him and perhaps herself as well.

My Review:

My first Emma St. Clair book and it definitely won’t be my last. I’ve heard her name bandied about on social media but clearly I wasn’t taking all the banter seriously enough. Now I’m on a mission to read her entire backlist! Because this author knows how write a rom/com. Pacing perfection and the comedy beats are brilliantly executed. I howled with laughter so many times. (The meet-cute was beyond hysterical!) But there’s also a lot of heart and solid ‘real life’ stuff too and that anchors the story, making it both believable and relatable.

So, enemies to more, with sparks flying and electrical undercurrents sizzling from the very beginning. Love the snappy inner dialogue of our heroine and the more contemplative (though occasionally agitated) thoughts of our hero. Wyatt and Josie are made for each other, they just don’t know it…yet.

And what fun to go along on that journey of discovery with them. He’s a tad (understatement) cranky to her cheery (mostly) glass half full outlook. Of course they clash. And they have a back story – not a romantic one – but they’ve known each other for years courtesy of Josie’s brother who is also Wyatt’s best friend. So, lots of favourite romantic tropes here that made me absolutely giddy with bibliophile delight.

‘If All Else Sails’ is destined to be a blockbuster summer read (it releases on August 5, 2025.) Definitely a rom/com to look forward to with great anticipation.

I really enjoyed listening to the audio edition courtesy of Thomas Nelson, Zondervan Fiction Audio and Net Galley. This one is a dual narration which was highly entertaining. Andi Arndt and Patrick Zeller portrayed Josie and Wyatt’s personalties to perfection. Increased by ‘reading’ pleasure and really brought the whole story to life for me.

Conversations with Kav – Spring into Reading Book Tag + Giveaway

So it happened again this week. The unthinkable, unwelcome April snow. Sigh. Sure, it’s melting now but still…Hellllooooo, Spring! Are you out there anywhere? I wish you could share photos in comments ’cause I’d ask you to show me your spring-y ones! Instead, let’s make do with my very own ‘Spring into Reading’ book tag. A spring inspired look at the books we have read or want to read…

And, there’s a giveaway! Participate by answering one (or more) of the book tag questions in a comment below and I’ll enter you in a draw for a $10 Baker Book Store e-card.

SPRING INTO READING BOOK TAG

The questions first – then I’ll share my answers below.

  1. April Showers bring May flowers – a book with flowers on the cover
  2. Spring Fling – a romance
  3. Spring Break – book with a friend group you’d want to vacation with
  4. Spring Gardening – a book featuring gardening or farming
  5. Allergies – a book that made you teary eyed and sniffly
  6. Rebirth – a book that helped you grow emotionally or spiritually or in understanding
  7. The Warmth of Sunshine – a book that gives you all the cozy, happy vibes
  8. Renewed Growth – a fresh take on a classic or a fairytale retelling
  9. Spring Cleaning – the next book you’re going to pick from your tippy toppy TBR pile
  10. Fresh Start – a new series you want to start
  11. Cadbury Mini-Eggs – a short, sweet read
  12. In like a lamb, out like a lion or vice versa – a mystery or suspense

April Showers Bring May Flowers – a book with a flower on the cover

Spring Fling – A Romance

Spring Break – a book with a friend group you want to vacation with

Spring Gardening – a book featuring gardening or farming

Allergies – a book that made you teary-eyed and sniffly

Rebirth – a book that helped your grow emotionally or spiritually or in understanding

The Warmth of Sunshine – a book that gives you all the cozy, happy vibes

Renewed Growth – a fresh take on a classi or a fairytale retelling

Spring Cleaning – the next book you’re going to pick from your tippy toppy TBR pile (ack! this is giving me too much bookish anxiety! How do I choose just one out of so many????)

Fresh Start – a new series you want to start

Cadbury Mini-Eggs – a short, sweet read

In like a lamb, our like a lion or vice versa – a mystery or suspense

Ha, now it’s your turn. Share a book (or more) in the comment section and you’ll be entered in. a draw to win a $10 Baker Book House e card.

TAG! YOU’RE IT!