Book Review: Heart and Soul

Today I'd like to tell you about a romantic suspense book in the Minstrel series called, Heart and Soul,  by Lee Strauss.

This book intrigued me from the start.  We meet our heroine, Gabriele, who is mourning the loss of her husband.  She goes to England to get some closure and to see the cottage he's left to her in his will, but ends up finding out how many secrets her husband was really keeping.  The author has some chapters in flashback so we can really get a sense of her husband before his death.  I didn't think I would like that at first, but it really added to the suspense and the layers of secrets that Gabriele is uncovering.

While at the cottage she meets her husband's twin brother, Callum.  He's abrupt and cold, nothing like her husband, and he wants her to leave England. Now.  He will do anything he can to get her out of the country. Of course, Gabriele doesn't want to leave until she has answers and their battle of wills begins.

I loved the suspense and I loved the romance.  Both of them kept me turning pages until way past my bedtime just so I could see how it would end.  There wasn't much I didn't like about this book, there were just two tiny things that stuck out like when a house gets a bunch of windows blown out, but when the owner stays there later, there's no mention of that, and then a safehouse door is opened without checking to see who it was first, and that was just unbelievable for the professionals that were supposed to be on guard. (See, I didn't give away hardly any spoilers! I'm proud of me.)  But other than those two small items, this book was really well done. The setting was awesome, I could totally picture the tiny English town and the cottage, but the heroine and hero, both a bit bruised by life and the lot they've been dealt, are the ones who really make this story shine.  Highly recommended.  (I know this is part of a series, and I read the first book, but missed the second one and it didn't diminish my enjoyment at all.  I think I will go back and read it now, though. I really enjoyed this author's style.

Think this is a book you'd enjoy? You can get the Kindle version for $2.99.  Just click the title below:

Heart & Soul: a contemporary romance (The Minstrel Series Book 3)

Here's the back copy:


ROMANCE. SUSPENSE. MUSIC. DANGER. HOT BRITISH GUY

She's heartbroken. He's heartless.

Gabriele Baumann-Smith is deliriously in love with her young husband Lennon.

Except, it turns out that Lennon Smith isn't his real name. In fact, he's full of secrets: a cottage on the southern British coast, an old girlfriend and... an identical twin brother.

Callum Jones--not his real name--can't believe his brother's widow came to England. He'd warned Mick--Lennon--that an inheritance could put the girl's life in danger, and he was right.

"Mrs. Smith" is the last thing Callum needs to worry about right now. She's beautiful, sure, takes his breath away at times. But when she looks at him, who does she see?

Gabriele's heart is battered and bruised. Can one brother fix what the other left behind? And will they live long enough to find out?

Best enjoyed read in sequence:

Sun & Moon: Katja and Micah
Flesh & Bone: Eva and Sebastian
Heart & Soul: Gabriele and Callum

The Minstrel Series is a collection of contemporary romance novels set in the singer/songwriter world. The books are companion novels, with shared settings and characters, but each is a complete stand-alone story with a HEA (happily ever after) and no cliffhangers!

The books include MP3 links to original music by talented Indie Artists.