2.5 stars

Lone Witness is the 4th book in the FBI: Special Crimes Unit and it was an okay read for me. I don't know why, but I struggled to connect with the characters/romance.

The book had a lot of suspense/danger, which made it a quick read. I didn't understand some of the characters' actions at times or why they let certain things happen.

All in all, this was an okay read for me.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention/review it on my blog. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own and I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.*

This is part of the FBI: Special Crimes Unit series, however I feel it is a stand alone book. If you like FBI type suspenseful mysterious books with romance you will like this one.

Tessa Carlson is just trying to keep to herself and stay safe and out of trouble. When she steps in to help a little girl she can not imagine all the trouble it will place her in.

Special Agent Henry Miller can not believe his daughter has been put in danger. When Tessa seems to continue to be in trouble, he knows she is hiding something.

Another great story by Shirlee McCoy. She writes about stories that really keeps your attention from the first page to the very last word.

This book begins with the attempted kidnapping of a little girl, and holds onto your heart all the way through this face-paced story. I felt compassion for Tessa. She had made mistakes in her past and had done her best to rebuild her life. She had successfully hidden from the people who would want to harm her, but unselfishly puts herself back in the media spotlight as she stepped in to rescue the little girl. Events that follow threaten to overwhelm her, but she moves forward in faith. Henry Miller, an FBI agent, is grateful to Tessa for rescuing his daughter. As her works with Tessa, he soon realizes that she means more to him than just someone he needs to protect. The ending to this book is suspenseful and pulls the whole story together in a very satisfying way.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I am a big fan of Love Inspired romantic suspense books, I love the three dimensions of the stories, the romance, the suspense, and the faith in God.
The Lone Witness has an arresting storyline. The whole set up of the story is intriguing, I was fascinated by the heroine and the fact that she was smudging the fine lines of law and order.
Tessa Carlson turns out to be an interesting heroine, she is smart, strong-minded yet resilient, kind, caring person, who has survived the unimaginable and did what she had to to survive. I liked her, I admired her spunk, and her determination to do the right thing while hiding in the shadows. Yes, a complex character, indeed.
Henry Miller is a grieving widow, father of twin girls, and as dedicated to his job as he is to his girls. He is determined to keep the twins and Tessa safe and sound while solving the crimes.
The danger seems to follow Tessa, yet Henry is not sure why she is so prone to the attacks, as Tessa is determined to keep her secrets.
The suspense is building up, it is intense and dangerous, and it takes both the local law enforcement as well as the FBI to solve the puzzling net of crimes.
I liked the suspense in the story, as well as the whole concept of the books. I wish Tessa and Henry wouldn't have gotten to know each other off the pages, it seemed that the whole romance and character development happen during the off time.
The other point that lowered the score in the story for me was the lack of showing the faith in God in the characters lives. Just going to church on Sundays does not make the case for me...
Despite the conflicted mind towards some of the aspects of the story, I read it at one sitting and found the tale to have a good ploy of tense suspense and action.
~ Three Spoons

Tessa just wants a quiet life and now is faced with the decision of her life remaining quiet walking away from a strange situation or stop the man from walking away with the child who doesn't seem to be his. Now it seems like someone is trying to scare her away and the father of the child FBI agent Henry will do everything to protect her.

I you like mystery novels you'll like this book. I loved seeing how everything played out in this book. There was plenty going on and it was clear someone wanted her out of the picture. It was just a matter of time with finding out who and why. I did like there was a sublet romance going on between the two and that things remained clean in the book which I appreciate. Overall this was a pretty good book I ended up binge reading this book because I enjoyed it that much.

Tessa Carlson prevents the abduction of FBI Agent Henry Miller's daughter, but her act of bravery has thrust her into the sights of the would-be abductors.



Tessa has kept a low profile since getting out of an abusive relationship, but preventing the kidnapping puts everything that she has worked so hard for at risk. Henry offers his protection and his family welcomes her with open arms, as they work to catch the kidnapper on the loose. But Tessa has a secret that may put them at risk.



Tess struggles to trust, after everything that she has been through, she doubts her judgement, but has a passion for helping others and can't stay silent in the face of wrong.



Henry is a devoted and dedicated FBI agent, he works hard to protect his daughters and is grateful to Tessa for what she did. He is a brave man of action, with a strong faith.



A riveting read, filled with intrigue and suspense. The danger grows and the clues don't add up, all coming together in a thrilling climax. A suspenseful read, great tension, with many secrets. Filled with action and great interaction.





I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

What a great read the author gives us, and it starts with the main character, sacrificing her own life for the sake of an unknown child. This selfless act leads to a lot of heartache and danger, but you will wonder almost to the end of the book who the perpetrator is.
We are also given an FBI agent who has suffered the loss of his beloved wife, and is now raising his twin daughters alone.
I kept hoping that this poor abused and valiant woman would find a family, maybe my wish not hers, but she touched so many lives since she arrived in Massachusetts.
The story has non-stop action from beginning to end, and when it is over, I loved the epilogue!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Harlequin, and was not required to give a positive review.

3.5 STARS

Tessa Carlson happens to be in the right place at the right time. There have been a series of very young girls taken from their homes and later found wandering in isolated places after having been drugged. Almost by accident she prevents the kidnapping of yet another young girl.

This girl is the child of FBI Special Agent Henry Miller .. and he's extremely grateful to Tessa. Having lost his wife several years earlier, he cannot fathom the pain of losing a child.

Tessa is keeping secrets .... she's actually been in hiding for 3 years ... hiding from a violent abusive boyfriend. And her name is not Tessa. She's happy that she saved a child ... but absolutely wants nothing to do with the media. What if her picture goes out and her ex should see it?

Henry knows she's hiding something, and until she wants to confide in him, all he can do is protect her as she is the lone witness to the attempted kidnapping.

This is a short, easy to read Christian Mystery/Romantic Suspense. There's lot of action .. several suspects to watch especially when Tessa starts receiving threatening notes.

Many thanks to the author / Harlequin Romance / Netgalley for the digital copy of LONE WITNESS. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Rating 4.5/5*

This is an enthralling romantic suspense with a heroine who has escaped an abusive relationship by running away and keeping herself under the radar being thrust into the lime light when she thwarts an attempt to kidnap a young girl, the daughter of Special Agent, Henry Miller who is a widower. This not only introduces her to the girl's father, but also places herself in danger. Dare she trust him with her secrets? Can he keep her safe and catch the serial kidnapper?

This is a story from the Love Inspired series and lives up to that genre. It is a suspense filled, heartwarming romance with well developed characters, plenty of twists and turns and lots of love! The romance is a slow build as Henry and Tessa slowly learn to trust each other and she reveals her secrets. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading further books in this series and by this author in future. I have no hesitation in highly recommending it to anyone who enjoys romantic suspense.

I requested and was gifted a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest review after choosing to read it.

I’m going to be that person…I really wanted to love this book and give it 5 stars, but I can’t. I have few too many issues with it to let them all go. Some of my issues are quite small, but I feel they matter…at least to me.

Math is important. So Tessa was 18 years old when she starts a relationship with Patrick. 9 years in the relationship. 3 years 4 months and 12 hours out and on the run. That’s 30. She has to be 30. She can’t be “almost” 30. It’s a small, and petty issue, but math is important.

The fact that Tessa has a lapse in her general smartness for the sake of moving the plot forward. Being paranoid and thorough for 3+ years since she escaped her abusive ex-boyfriend she dismisses FOUR things that were not as they usually were. The unlocked window, the notepad, the door jam, and the light at the bottom of the stairs not working. Up to this point, Tessa seems to be a pretty smart lady, so I found this to be out of character, even if she was ‘distracted’. One thing, yes. Four things, not as plausible.

Once again the author putting in an epilogue that includes a six month whirl wind romance that I, again, cannot find believable. Particularly when at the actual end story she’s JUST agreed to date him, more or less. That’s 100% a me thing though.

But don’t get me wrong, this book had some awesome things going for it! Like how most of the time Tessa is not a damsel in distress. Most of the time she is not incompetent. She gets herself out of a few tight spots for sure. She fights for herself and those she cares about. Which is why I really like her, in general, save for when she has to do stupid things for the sake of moving the plot forward. I liked Henry too, but just like Tessa until he went under the same temporary personality change in order to move the plot forward.

I also like how the author makes an excellent point about cops going to DNA ancestry companies to try and find their perp. That’s a thing. I love that the author included it! And, how McCoy sneaks in a great social commentary about how medicine for a sick person can cost people in the states $400 a month (or more, or less) and how poorer people can get desperate enough to do anything to make the money to cover that bill for someone they love, like a parent. Koodos Shirlee McCoy, I applaud you!

The action. In general, this book is full of action. I love that. I firmly believe a suspense should be pretty suspenseful throughout and it was, which leads directly into my next bit. The pacing of this book is pretty good. I didn’t find myself getting bored. Why, well mostly because everything was always moving forward, either through the action or the advancement of Tessa’s relationships with other characters.

So, to sum it up. This book did have some flaws in it, some were legit, some were just personal preference when it comes to reading material. I would totally recommend this to someone.

"Lone Witness" is a Christian romantic suspense novel. The characters were nice people who struggled with realistic fears. Tessa changed her identity (illegally) to escape her dangerously abusive boyfriend, and she took some jewelry that he had given to her to fund her escape. She doesn't trust her judgement in people and is afraid he's still after her, but she risked her safety to stop a kidnapping. The kidnapped girl's widowed father happened to be on the FBI team tracking this serial kidnapper. He's determined to keep his sole witness safe (partly from gratitude), and his loving family comes to know and care about her.

The author focused mainly on the periodic suspenseful events (where various people attempted to scare or kill Tessa), but the story covered over a month of time. This gave the hero and heroine some time to get to know each other and fall in love. He's attracted to her character as well as her beauty. She feels safe with him and that he brings out the best in her. He builds her up, unlike the ex-boyfriend that tore her down. He's kind, caring, and supportive. She's courageous and good at finding ways to survive. I enjoyed the characters and cared about what happened to them.

The heroine struggled with believing that God could have good things in store for her future due to her bad childhood and an abusive ex-boyfriend in her past. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable suspense novel.