Have you been a bit scared to crack open one of those new books by a favorite? Those thoughts that maybe this might be the end of that author’s writing those plots and characters that you’ve come to enjoy so much over the years are running through your head? That has happened before, but maybe it depends on the author. These that we will highlight for you this week have found their voice in new and exciting ways.
We begin with Nalini Singh. Who in Romancelandia hasn’t read her ever-popular Psy/Changelings or her Archangels series? Both of which are very beloved series. Can she strike gold again now writing romantic thrillers?
A Madness of Sunshine was Nalini’s first foray away from her paranormal work:
On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.
That is until one fateful summer—and several vanished bodies—shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement to not look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.
Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.
It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light.
See Veena’s review of A Madness of Sunshine here, especially if you haven’t picked it up yet.
Ms. Singh then followed that with Quiet in Her Bones
My mother vanished ten years ago.
So did a quarter of a million dollars in cash.
Thief. Bitch. Criminal.
Now, she’s back.
Her bones clothed in scarlet silk.
When socialite Nina Rai disappeared without a trace, everyone wrote it off as another trophy wife tired of her wealthy husband. But now her bones have turned up in the shadowed green of the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, a haven of privilege and secrets that’s housed the same influential families for decades.The rich live here, along with those whose job it is to make their lives easier. And somebody knows what happened to Nina one rainy night ten years ago. Her son Aarav heard a chilling scream that night, and he’s determined to uncover the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance…but no one is ready for the murderous secrets about to crawl out of the dark.
Even the dead aren’t allowed to break the rules in this cul-de-sac.
Our Veena definitely approves of this author’s new works! See her review of QiHB here.
With an author as good as Nalini Singh, who proves herself over and over again, these changes can only keep you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next imaginative book you can dive into.
::raises hand:: I haven’t read a single one of Singh’s paranormals because….I really have a hard time with paranormals. They’re not my jam. But I loved these two suspense novels. I do think Quiet In Her Bones is the “better” book from a writing and storytelling standpoint, but I loved what she did with A Madness of Sunshine – a domestic thriller that uses an entire small town as the backdrop. I read these back-to-back recently and now I’m crossing my fingers she has the time to write another suspense in between paranormal commitments….