STOLEN OBSESSION
Annalisse Series, Book 1
by
Marlene M Bell
Genre: Spicy Romantic Mystery
Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing
Date of Publication: March 20, 2018
Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing
Date of Publication: March 20, 2018
Number of Pages: 284
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PEOPLE DIE, BUT LEGENDS LIVE ON.
Manhattan antiquities appraiser Annalisse Drury dreams of a quiet life on the family farm among the sheep she loves, when her best friend is murdered. The police assume robbery is the motive because her friend’s expensive bracelet is missing. But the 500-year-old artifact is rumored to carry an ancient curse, one that unleashes evil upon any who dare wear the jewelry created for the Persian royal family—and Annalisse believes her friend is the latest victim.
Weeks later, Annalisse sees a necklace matching the stolen bracelet at a gallery opening. Convinced the necklace is part of the deadly collection, Annalisse begs the gallery’s owner to destroy the piece, but her pleas are ignored— despite the unnatural death that occurs during the opening. With two victims linked to the jewelry, Annalisse is certain she must act.
Desperate to keep the gallery owner safe, Annalisse reluctantly enlists the owner’s son to help—even though she’s afraid he’ll break her heart. Wealthy and devastatingly handsome, with a string of bereft women in his wake, Greek playboy Alec Zavos dismisses Annalisse’s concerns—until his parents are ripped from the Zavos family yacht during their ocean voyage near Crete.
Annalisse and Alec race across two oceans to save his mother, feared dead or kidnapped. As time lapses, the killer switches mode and closes in on the man who’s meant for Annalisse with the lifestyle she wants most.
But when it’s her turn as the hunted, will she choose to save Alec and his mother, or sacrifice everything to save herself?
Hold on for a heart-thumping adventure through exotic lands in this fast moving, romantic suspense mystery by Marlene M Bell.
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Stolen Obsession is a suspense-filled mystery. The reader follows along with our main character, Annalisse, who lands on the wrong side of cursed, historical, jewelry, while she tries to determine who is attacking those she loves.
What I liked:
The concept \ mystery aspect of the novel really works for me. I avidly followed the mystery of who is after the necklace. Similarly to Annalisse and Alec, I couldn’t figure out who we could trust and who we couldn’t. Are the FBI\\CIA agents trustworthy? What about the household staff? And honestly, before the end, I was not even sure I could trust Alec’s mother, Gen. This was some masterful plotting on the part of Ms. Bell.
I quite enjoyed the relationship between Annalisse and Alec. It feels very authentic to me. The two have an instant physical attraction, but more importantly, spend time actually getting to know one another before falling into bed. Both characters have been hurt in the past and have trust issues. I appreciate how Ms. Bell shows the growth in both characters learning to open up and trust one another. I also really adored the drawn-out foreplay between the two characters. Steamy flirting at it’s best!
Where I struggled:
I found the dialog between characters stilted. On more than one occasion, I had to re-read sections of dialog to determine what was actually happening. Every time Annalisse walked out of an argument to avoid conflict, I wanted to walk out with her. I’ve read some other reviews of Stolen Obsession and I have the feeling this issue might be my own. Maybe it was my lack of ability to focus while I was reading? I’m not really sure.
I also grappled with the random POV shifts from Annalisse to Alec. The majority of the book is told from Annalisse’s POV, but there are a handful of chapters from Alec’s. I’m not really sure why this is? The switch in POV does make sense during the final chapters, as we need to see both perspectives to follow the unraveling mystery. But for me, maybe a recap of Alec’s POV would have been easier to understand than the switching to Alec’s POV.
While the beginning of the novel started off slow, once the action kicks off, I enjoyed Stolen Obsession. Read it if you are interested in a suspenseful mystery.
Thanks to author Marlene M Bell and Lone Star Book Blog Tours for providing this opportunity to review Stolen Obsession. I received the novel free in exchange for my honest review.
Marlene M Bell is an acclaimed artist and photographer as well as a writer. Her sheep landscapes grace the covers of publications such as, Sheep!, The Shepherd, Ranch & Rural Living and Sheep Industry News. Ewephoric, her mail order venture, began in 1985 out of a desire for realistic sheep stationery. A color catalog of non-fiction books and sheep-related gifts may be requested at www.marlenembell.com or www.texassheep.com.
Marlene and her husband, Gregg reside on a wooded ranch in East Texas with their 50 head of Horned Dorset sheep, a lovable Maremma guard dog named, Tia, and 3 spoiled cats who rule the household.
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MARCH 1-10, 2018
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[…] and solving a couple of murders to boot! If you need to catch up with the series, read my review of STOLEN OBSESSION (Book 1) and SPENT IDENTITY (Book […]
seems interesting
thanks!
Seems like a great book. I like the cover!
Thanks, Julie! The cover drew me in right away as well!
Yay!! Another new author & that means new books to read! Thank you!!
Welcome, Amy! Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks for giving your pros & cons of the book — it really helps readers make a decision about what to read next.
I agree completely, Kristine! Thanks!
Looks yummy! I can’t wait to read this. I love all I have read so far.
Thanks, Audrey! I hope you enjoy it!