Flames and Thorns

My good friend, Gina Barlean, has done it again. She’s released a new book, the sequel to Thorns of Rosewood. This latest story is called Flames of Rosewood, and the suspenseful mystery sucked me right in from page one. She’s good at doing that in her books. Her writing is sharp and witty…and she can weave an intense mystery with her words and amazing characters. In fact, she’s so good that she’ll weave you right into the plot as well so you can’t escape the problems of the main character.

Gloria is our heroine in this one. I loved her in Book 1, but I loved her even more in this one. She’s strong, feisty, curious, and honest. There’s even a hint of romance that made me cheer…just a hint, but it added to the story a lot. This book deals with Naomi’s death (the wicked witch of the west who happens to be Gloria’s birth mom and is an ultra-evil woman—even as an old lady). She’s murdered, but you don’t know who dun it because there are so many possibilities of people who despised her. This book has lots of surprises and lots of action. I love the stories that come out of Gina’s head.

This book could be read as a stand-alone, but do yourself a favor and read Thorns of Rosewood first (it’s only 99 cents right now!). You’ll get so much more backstory of characters that will enhance this story for your reading pleasure. And the characters are some of my favorite things I love about Barlean’s books. They are as rich and decadent as hot fudge brownies with chocolate chips in them. Yum! Hopefully, Barlean writes another book soon to fill my hunger…or I could get off the couch and make my own dessert. But what’s the fun in that. Besides, books have way less calories in them.

Happy Reading!