Author – Linda Masemore Pirrung
iUniverse
978-1440140747, April 2009
Right always wins out over wrong in the end
4 out of 5 stars

Linda Masemore Pirrung is the author of several romantic suspense novels including “Cracked Hearts” and “I Will Wait for You”.

“Explosion in Paris” is the newest romantic suspense novel from this author. Angie has been married to Mitch for seven years and of those seven, only the first year was a good one. Mitch has a very controlling personality and subtly forced Angie to resign from her job as a teacher stating that he needed her at home to maintain their home and assist him with his career as an architect. Eventually his actions over the years become those of an abuser, both emotionally and physically. Angie knows she needs to get out but doesn’t have the confidence any more to know that she can make it on her own. That is until a chance meeting with Ross. It started with Ross accidently wandering onto their property from the woods behind their home to a chance meeting at a local restaurant. From that moment on, Angie feels a kinship with Ross and they start spending more time together as friends which eventually turns into more.

During this time Angie thinks that Mitch doesn’t know about her friendship with Ross but she later finds out she is wrong. Mitch has a business trip to Paris and Angie must go along with him. Mitch has other plans for this trip besides business which include killing his wife in a boat explosion. What Mitch doesn’t realize is that Angie wasn’t on the boat when it exploded, that she managed to get off before that happened. The up side to this is that she is able to start a new life in Paris without Mitch, but this also means a life without Ross.

The story continues with her experiences in France, the messages she is sending Ross without him realizing it and how she confronts her past without having to forfeit her future. I don’t want to spoil the rest of the story so you will have to read the book for the rest of the details!

When I first started reading this book I wasn’t sure what to expect. At first I didn’t like the storyline because I saw that Mitch was an abuser and that didn’t sit well with me. But as I continued reading I saw that Angie blossomed from her friendship with Ross and that it was most likely that she would have left Mitch if he hadn’t tried to kill her. I was glad to see that Mitch didn’t escape punishment from his actions. There were times when I felt that the descriptive language could have been trimmed back and nothing would have been lost from the story or the imagery that the author created.

Overall I would recommend this book. The description on the back of the book does not do this storyline justice and I think you will be pleasantly surprised at all of the storylines come together. I also found it to be a fairly fast read and it was hard for me to put down because while I guessed what happened next in many places, there were also parts of the story that I didn’t see coming and it surprised and delighted me to read those chapters.

Reviewed for RebeccasReads (6/09)

Amanda Hamm was born in Ohio and now lives in North Carolina with her husband and children. Writing has been a life long dream for Amanda and has written several books including Dear Jane Letters and Zero Station: A Science Fiction Novella.


“Tightening the Knot” begins with Meredith Donnor sitting in an attorney’s office contemplating filing for divorce. At some point she realizes that she doesn’t want to be there and walks out before getting very far with the process. Meredith has been married to Greg for six years, but at some point over the last year they stopped really talking to each other due to a sensitive subject, fertility and her inability to get pregnant. As the months go by, the communication decreases and Meredith is frustrated because Greg is not interpreting her hints at restarting communication. Then Greg signs them up for a Tightening the Knot marriage seminar through church, could this be the help they need to get back on track and rekindle their marriage?


This is not a very long book at all, but it does a good job of reflecting how many relationships sour and what causes the decline and what could turn the relationship around. Meredith’s “hints” and Greg’s inability to read between the lines is typical of many male-female relationships. Too many women don’t say what they think or want or need and men just can’t figure it out without the direct approach.


As I was reading the book, I was reminded of the movie “Fireproof” in small ways. When Greg started doing nice things for Meredith I immediately thought of the principals of that movie. However, the book changed direction and I was glad that it would be different.


When Greg and Meredith decide to attend the marriage seminar, I wondered if it would help their relationship. The description of the exercises they did together did seem strange but they were good principals that every married couple should remember in their day to day relationship with their spouse. As it turns out, the seminar has a positive effect on Greg and Meredith and was what their relationship needed to turn it around.


Along with Greg and Meredith’s story line is Meredith’s friendship with Jenna. There is also Tom and Ellie – Meredith’s brother and future sister-in-law. Greg’s mother, Judy, also arrives for a visit and creates some tension. These are all minor story lines but play an intricate part to the story as a whole and add sufficient background to give the reader a larger picture of why Greg and Meredith are in this situation.

Author: Eileen Davidson

978-0451228253
Published by Obsidian, a division of Penguin Group

From the back of the book:
Alexis Peterson’s days are flled with scheming, backstabbing, adultery and murder. She is a soap opera star after all. But a new role has her feeling like she’s in the horror business.

Tabloids and fans are stunned when Alexis Peterson leaves her popular show for another soap, but she’s too busy preparing to be a presenter at the Daytime Emmy Awards to even notice. When her copresenter loses his life before presenting a winner, Alex realizes she has another murder mystery on her hands.

Working behind the scenes to find out how her costar could have met such an end, Alex invites handsome Detective Frank Jakes – a man she can’t stop imagining having a real love scene with – back into her life. But first Alex must focus on finding the killer before she sees another one of Hollywood’s brightest stars burn out.

My thoughts:
They always say you should write about what you know and Eileen Davidson has done just that. As an actress who has had roles on The Young and the Restless and Days of our Lives, she definitely has an in to the soap opera world and is able to use that knowledge to her benefit. She even mentions some well known soap actresses in the book although she has changed the names of the various shows but the titles aren’t too far off!

This is the second in a series and while this book could stand on its own, it would be best to read “Death in Daytime” before this one because there are many references to the murder that occurred in that book. I did feel a little lost at times not having read “Death in Daytime” but not too much! Plus the storyline between Alex and Jakes started in the first book and continues to develop in this installment.

Alex is like many of the main characters in other cozies, she gets involved in helping to solve a murder even though she has another career field. But somehow she manages to stumble across the murderer but not without putting herself in danger.

With all that said, I really enjoyed this book. While I don’t watch soaps anymore, I used to watch Days of our Lives and remember Eileen Davidson on the show. Reading this book was like going back to those days and a behind the scenes look at what goes on the set of a soap. The book is fast paced and has short chapters (some are only 4 pages!) which made it quick reading for me but would easily give me a place to stop. There is a nice cliff hanger at the end that leads you wondering what will happen in the next book (no title or date as of yet).

If you like cozies, check out this book. I’ll even make it easy for you, the publisher has given me 2 copies to give away. So leave a comment with contact info and I will draw two names on Monday, July 20th.