The Magnolia Series are stand-alone books, each with its own cast of characters. Each book is set in a small town in Mississippi. There are only two books at the moment, but I have plans for several more.
The Magnolia Series: Every town has a story to tell.
MAGNOLIA SECRETS (2.99. Available on kindle, nook, ibooks, and kobo.)
You can watch the book trailer here.
Magnolia Secrets has earned a 4.7 star rating on Amazon.
Blurb: Walker and Lainey share one explosive night together, and he awakens to find her gone. Shrugging it off as just a glorious one-night stand, he accepts a new job in a small town: New Hope, Mississippi. That’s where he finds Lainey again. She just happens to be married to the Chief of Police-and Walker’s new boss.
Lainey is terrified that Walker will divulge their secret. If he does, Lainey is a dead woman. But despite the danger, she can’t forget the one passionate night she spent in Walker’s arms. Walker demands answers from Lainey: What secret is she hiding? Why is she so afraid? And when people begin dying, he wants to get to the bottom of it. Why is the police chief trying to brush off the deaths? Why doesn’t he want Walker to work the cases? What kind of secrets is he hiding?
Drawn together, unable to deny their passion, they risk their lives. Lainey is trapped. Walker is determined to save her and uncover the truth. Can they expose the secrets before a ruthless man destroys any hope for a brighter future?
Review: As a southern gal, I really enjoy mysteries about small quient southern towns with lots of secrets, and Magnolia Secrets by Beth Hale didn’t disappoint. The book opens to a sexy scene with two attractive strangers having what they thought would be a passionate but meaningless fling, neither realizing the impact their indescretion would have on their lives and the lives of others. Walker Bell later realizes his one night stand is the wife of his new boss, the chief of police of New Hope. Lainey was trying to escape her abusive husband at the time, but she was pulled back when her husband threatened others.
Hale does an excellent job of portraying an abused wife, conveying the shame, guilt, hopelessness, and lack of self-worth abusers cause their victims to feel. Her husband/abuser is also realistic in his manipulation and ambiguity in sending his wife mixed messages of anger, control, disappointment, blame, jealousy and traces of tenderness and love. I felt her pain and the hopelessness of her situation especially when her husband held such a position of power in the town. It reminded me that abuse comes in all socioeconomic levels of society.
This is an easy, fast-paced read with crisp dialog. There is romance, mystery, and corruption that keeps you turning pages. The most poignant part to me was how accurately Ms. Hale portrayed the life of an abused woman. They all need a rescuer like Walker Bell. I highly recommend this novel.
MAGNOLIA FLAMES (1.99. Available on Amazon)
Magnolia Flames has earned a 4.7 star rating on Amazon. It’s a Kindle Worlds novella and part of the Dallas Fire & Rescue world.
Blurb: Churches are burning in Oak Bend, Mississippi, and time is running out to find the arsonist.
ATF Special Agent Carter Boone arrives in Oak Bend after following church fires across two states. Determined to find the suspect and make the arrest so he can earn his next promotion, Carter believes he has finally identified the arsonist: the brother of an Oak Bend police officer. But instead of making what he’d hoped would be an easy arrest, he finds himself locking horns with his suspect’s beautiful sister.
Police Officer Eve Sutton is conducting an investigation of her own. She knows her brother is innocent, even if the handsome but stubborn special agent in charge refuses to believe her. But as she gets closer to uncovering the truth, arson turns to attempted murder, and Eve discovers that her role in the investigation could cause her to become the killer’s next victim.
As Carter and Eve race to catch a deadly criminal, tempers clash and desires erupt, but the simmering passion between them is as difficult to contain as the fires burning in Oak Bend. Can they find the culprit before the town – and their hot romance – goes up in flames?
Review: I read the first book in the “Magnolia” series and I just knew that I had to continue with the series. In “Magnolia Flames,” which is a stand-alone novel, a young police officer Eve is called to investigate a church fire that seems to be an arson. However, when an ambitious ATF investigator from out of town – Carter – arrives at the precinct and links the fire to several other arsons that happened around the state, a fire of a different nature ignites between the two. The problem is, Carter believes that an arsonist could be Eve’s younger brother, Jamie.
I absolutely loved how protective Eve was of her sibling despite the evidence, even though circumstantial, pointing out to him. What I also appreciated was the small glimpses into an arsonist’s mind that were dotted throughout the narration and helped the readers better understand his twisted nature. The development of Eve and Carter’s relationship with all of the ups and downs was also fascinating to watch, and I sincerely hoped for everything to work out between the two. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more by Ms. Hale! Five stars.
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