Monday, May 23, 2011

Litfuse Blog Tour and Review: Missions of Mercy

Thanks to the fabulous people at Litfuse Publicity, I’ve been given the chance to review not just one book…but three!  Exciting, right?  So, here we go:

The Mercy of Missions series by Susan May Warren:

Three heroes, all on missions of mercy, who discover that God not only saves us from evil, but from the darkness inside.

Point of No ReturnPoint of No Return: An American boy and a warlord's engaged daughter have disappeared-together-in an Eastern European border country. Only one man can find them in time to prevent an international meltdown-Chet Stryker. But Chet is taken aback when he realizes the boy is the nephew of Mae Lund, Chet's former flame. When Mae insists on rescuing her relative herself, Chet knows he has to protect her from the enemy on their trail. Yet can he protect himself from falling for Mae again?


Mission Out of ControlMission: Out of Control:
Brody "Wick" Wickham is a former Green Beret turned security agent-with a 100 percent mission success rate. No way is his new assignment changing that. Even if it's protecting a diva American rock star while she's on tour in Europe. Except Veronica "Vonya" Wagner isn't just a beautiful celebrity used to having her way-she's the daughter of a U.S. Senator. And she's hiding a dangerous secret. When Wick discovers what's at stake, how far over the line will he go to keep them both alive?


Undercover PursuitUndercover Pursuit:
The only way to get security agent Luke Dekker to a wedding? An undercover mission as groomsman. He'll bust the groom, a drug cartel heir, before anyone can say "I do." Then Luke can escape all this love and romance nonsense-and the too pretty bridesmaid/agent assigned as his "fiancĂ©e" for the weekend. Until Luke discovers that sweet, vulnerable Scarlett Hanson isn't his contact. Isn't an agent.  Isn't trained for the high-stakes mission now trapping them both. And worse, Luke's falling for her-which is not part of the assignment.

My Review:

I adore Susan May Warren!  She’s one of the best romantic suspense authors that I’ve read.  Susan has an excellent way of transporting the reader into the settings and filling them with the conflict, emotion and heart of the characters; plus, always including the love of God into the story.

Of the three, Point of No Return was my favorite.  Why?  Because it was the perfect combination of high action suspense, faith and romance.  Plus, how can you not love a strong willed female lead like Mae?  She’s a hot shot helicopter pilot, after all.  It doesn’t gets much cooler than that. :)  I also feel that this was the most action-packed of the three.  Mae is trying to save her nephew, Chet is trying to save her, all in a country where he is public enemy #1.  Throw in a couple of explosions, a daughter that Chet never knew he had, an understanding of God’s love and forgiveness for both Mae and Chet, followed up by an intense final battle scene… I loved it!  Sara’s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Mission Out of Control picks up the series not too long after the first book ends and it follows Wick on an outside job, while Chet is on his honeymoon.  I love Wick, but in all honestly, I didn’t like Vonya as much as the other female leads in this series.  She was just a bit too crazy for my tastes, but I did like how she “fit” Wick’s personality and they balance each other out.  The suspense in this book was enjoyable and it was fun to try to figure out who was behind everything.  Sara’s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars!

Undercover Pursuit didn’t have as much suspense as the first two books, but I found it very entertaining and it’s my second favorite of the series.  I loved the plot concept of “mistaken identities” from both Luke and Scarlett, and then, following them as they try to figure out what to do about it.  Also, this book has a strong faith element.  Luke is struggling to realize that he can be forgiven by God for his past mistakes, while Scarlett is trying to realize that she is worth something in Gods eyes and not just a shadow of her sister.  Lastly, I loved how the whole Stryker team shows up near the end to “save the day” and I loved the epilogue.  If you’ve read my reviews before, then you know that I’m a sucker for a happy ending. :)  Sara’s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Susan May Warren has yet to disappoint me.  I thoroughly enjoyed all these books and many thanks to Litfuse for allowing me the opportunity to participate in this blog tour!  I received the 3 books in the Missions of Mercy series from them in return for my honest review. 

About Susan:

head turn susSusan May Warren is the RITA award-winning author of thirty novels with Tyndale, Barbour, Steeple Hill and Summerside Press.  A four-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Carol Award.  A seasoned women’s events speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you! She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

For more about Susan and her other books, please visit www.susanmaywarren.com.

To celebrate the series, Susan is giving away a Missions of Mercy Prize Pack worth over $200! One grand prize winner will receive:

* A brand new FLIP HD Camera

* The entire Missions of Mercy series

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. You may enter once per email, facebook, and twitter. The contest ends on May 31st. Tell your friends! Winner will be announced on June 1st at the Litfuse Publicity site and at Susan May Warren's website. (While you're there, check out her rockin' new website!)

Enter via E-mail Enter via FacebookEnter via Twitter