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Healing Hearts: Gene & Amanda’s Story (The Echo Series) by C.R. Alam – Review by Tara Johnson Barnes

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Healing Hearts (Echo #0.5)Healing Hearts by C.R. Alam
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Healing Hearts is the prequel to The Echo Series and tells us how Gene and Amanda first met. We were first introduced to them in previous books in the series, but this book gives us the backstory of these beloved characters. It is a contemporary romance novella with drama, suspense, gossip, mystery, intrigue, passion, romance, and witty banter. Gene Rowland is an ER Doctor who is suffering from burnout. He decides to return to his small hometown in the hopes of finding a slower paced life and rekindling his passion for helping others. On his way home he witnesses an accident as a car drives off the road. Gene stops to help and that is when he meets Amanda Garner. She swerved off the road after nearly hitting a young girl that ran out in front of her. The police, paramedics and even Gene are doubtful of Amanda’s story of the young girl. Amanda, however, is insistent the young girl is out there and needs help. She refuses medical attention but is willing to allow Gene to keep an eye on her overnight just in case she has a concussion. As the two spend time together Gene finds himself drawn to Amanda’s kindness and compassion towards others and finds himself compelled to help her in any way he can, which includes finding the mystery girl from the night of the accident. Amanda remembers Gene from high school and has been carrying a crush on him since then. As the two spend more time together the chemistry and passion between them becomes intense and explosive. As Amanda and Jean get wrapped up in the mystery of the missing girl it turns into far more than they ever expected. This book hooked me from the first few pages, and I was unable to put it down until I found out the mystery surrounding this mysterious girl Amanda had seen. Amanda and Gene were lovable characters and I enjoyed watching their growth throughout the book as their romance unfolded.

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Stars Like Gasoline by Jessika Grewe Glover – Review by Tara Johnson Barnes

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Stars Like GasolineStars Like Gasoline by Jessika Grewe Glover
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Stars Like Gasoline had me riveted from the first few pages and it was impossible to put down. I love a good ghost story and this one had it all with haunted houses, paranormal happenings, ghosts, apparitions, mystery, suspense, drama, and danger. The storyline immediately intrigued me and captured my attention because it was full of ghostly apparitions and hauntings right at the start. Although the book immediately captured my attention because of the phantoms in the museum, that was not all there was to the story.

The story is centered around Celia, an art curator, and has an air of mystery and suspense when an art heist takes place. This book is superbly written with vivid scenes that pull you into the story alongside the characters. Each scene is described in so much detail that you are immersed in that time and place, seeing the same things as the MC, Celia. The apparitions appear before your very eyes. The artwork magically appears before you. It is all very surreal to experience and magical in its feel. You will surely feel the goosebumps start popping out on your arms and feel the tingling as the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when the ghostly apparitions come at you. The characters were well crafted, and the storyline was multi-faceted with interwoven elements of romance, poetic prose, family relationships, love, secrets, loss, and hidden agendas. I look forward to reading more from this new to me author.

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