Cover Image: Soldier's Christmas Secrets

Soldier's Christmas Secrets

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Soldier’s Christmas Secrets is the first installment in the Justice Seekers Series. I was wondering if this was going to be a total new series or if they would be tied into the Callahan family's series and was glad to know it was a spin off. Hawk was the co-partner of Mike Callahan in the private investigator company they had. Now Hawk has his own mission to protect his wife and daughter. I couldn’t believe that his memory had just been recovered and he had not said a word to his wife. I knew that he was not the same man he was before he left his wife he was a changed man. Jillian thought her husband was dead so when men were trying to kill her and her daughter she didn’t understand why. When she looked at Hawk there was something about him that reminded her of someone but she couldn’t think of whom. Hawk knows that he needs to tell Jillian the truth that he suffered a terrible accident and couldn’t remember anything but something deep inside he has feelings for his wife. Jillian can’t believe that her husband is alive and she knows that she will have to let him know that he is a daughter. They are going to have to switch vehicles and motels in order to keep his family safe. They are going to have to recruit all the help he can get in order to capture the people that are after him. Once they finally capture the bad guys they will finally be able to live happily ever after.

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A sweet and cozy read! Not to mention a quick one. Perfect with a cup of hot chocolate in front of your Christmas tree.

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An intense and thrilling start to the story pulled me in and the twists in the fervent tale had me inhaling it at one sitting. The story is engaging, filled with deadly danger, desire to survive, to have a new chance in life, to make amends, to redefine their fate in God and His guidance in life.
I enjoyed all aspects of the tale so much that I didn't even stop to consider if the plot was plausible, and honestly, I don't care, it entertained, it inspired, and gave me an adrenaline rush like a great thriller does.
The protagonists have both had so much sorrow and hardship, yet their hearts and minds were filled with grace and forgiveness. The Love Inspired books are all based in Christian faith, and Jillian's strong, unvarying trust in God, and Hawk's doubts and weariness to believe anything or anyone was true, palpable, and natural part of the harrowing events their go through while fighting to survive in the hands of the culprits.
There are heartfelt, adorable, and emotional moments as Jillian and Hawk deal with their relationship and Hawk getting to know his daughter. I loved the connection between Hawk and his friends, the Callahans, who were the stars of a previous series with the author.
A fabulous, potent start to a new spinoff series, highly recommend
~ Five Spoons

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Oh my goodness, what a story! Laura Scott has given me a read that provides an intriguing plot that didn't slow down from start to finish. The story is filled with suspense. The characters were well developed and I quickly came to care what was happening and had already been done to them. Hawk is the strong lead that is magnetic as he has undergone an unimaginable yet believable series of events. Jillian has had heartbreak yet moved forward with life to emerge as a strong independent woman. They meet in a fresh, fast paced storyline that is hard to set aside. There's a touch of Christmas joy too.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of the book. This is my own unsolicited opinion about the story. It is excellently plotted and written.

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Soldier's Christmas Secrets is the first book in the Justice Seekers series and it was a delightful read! I was so surprised to start reading this one and notice familiar characters (from Callahan Confidential series). I had thought that there wouldn't be anymore books with them, so this made me very happy!

I found Hawk to be an amazing character. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to have to hide the fact that you are alive from your spouse in order to try and keep her safe. I did find the fact that his wife interacted with "Hawk" and yet didn't realize that it was him (presumably because of his scars) a bit unrealistic, but I still loved the story.

All in all, a promising beginning to a new series and I'm looking forward to reading more.

*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.*

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A Christmas Romantic suspense novel featuring a wounded solider whom his wife thought he was dead. It’s also a love story with a second chance.

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The suspense starts immediately in this book within the first couple of pages. and gets more intense as the story progresses. Hawk will do anything to keep his wife and daughter safe from those who would like to kill him. He’s hampered by the fact that, due to his severe injuries from a plane crash, he can’t remember everything about the details of the men with whom he used to serve. He calls on his friends, the Callahan family, to help protect them and assist him in figuring out the mystery.

I liked the characters of Jillian and Hawk. They deserved a second chance at happiness. It was also good to have another connection with the Callahan family. I liked the balance of suspense and faith in this book, and will look forward to reading the next one.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
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4 1/2 STARS!

The intrigue kicks off early when danger comes visiting right from the start in this emotionally riveting book! SOLDIER'S CHRISTMAS SECRETS is the first book in the Justice Seekers series from Laura Scott and revolves around reuniting a family.

Special ops soldier Hawk Jacobson went down in a plane crash and for years had no memory of his previous life. When he did start to remember, he knows things aren't right with how this whole thing played out, so he stays "dead" to keep his wife safe.

Jillian has no clue the helpful stranger who moved in next door to her a few months ago and started doing the occasional outside chore for her without prompting or discussion is her supposed dead husband.

I recommend this story to anyone looking for a read filled with emotional depth, exciting danger and unrelenting faith. I really enjoyed it!

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Things I love to read about...military romance. Holiday love stories. Second-chance at love. This being my first time reading Laura Scott I didn't know quite to expect. Here is your warning, there is prayer. There are references to God. It isn't a lot and, for me, I think it added to the severity of the situation that was unfolding.

I liked Hawk. How even with his distorted memory and the gaps in this story he had this innate ability to sniff out danger. To want to protect Jillian and Lizzy. I liked seeing Jillian fall for the man Hawk is now. And don't even get me started on the sweetness that was Lizzy. She was the right amount of innocence to break up some of the heaviness of what was going on. But as the threat surrounding them keeps escalating, it was all Hawk could do to try and stay one step ahead of who was after them.

From the get go, Soldier's Christmas Secrets was rippling with danger and suspense. There were a lot of unexpected twists and the final one truly had my head spinning. But at the heart of it all was the unyielding love between Hawk and Jillian that even a sinister plot, time and a boatload of mercenaries couldn't stop. While things wrapped up a little to nice and neatly with how messy they were, I was still pleased with how everything turned out in the end.

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I tried. I really did. I love suspense romances and I don’t mind so mind “clean” romances, but I do have a problem with author’s shoving their religious beliefs down our throats.
That being said, the romance & plot was disappointing and boring. Hero survived a plane crash and lost his memory. He has been living next door to heroine whom he is married to and she doesn’t recognize him (scars and all)? Then there is the logic of trying to find who & why which made no sense. Gave up at 70%.

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Laur Scott has delivered another well written inspirational romantic suspense. Great plot with well developed characters. Couldn’t put this book down. My thanks to the publisher for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.

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Who and what is Hawk Jacobson? Who are Jillian and Lizza? What does Hawk do for a living? How does he know the ladies? Who is or was James Wade? I like Mike Callahan and how he takes things in stride. What is Maxwell, Inc? My head was spinning crazily by the end of this story. Who was behind everything that was going on? You're going to have to read to find out.

RECEIVED THIS BOOK AS A GIFT FOR A FAIR/HONEST REVIEW and REVIEWER FOR Bloggin' With M. Brennan.

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This was a pretty fast read for me, I couldn't put it down. There was so much suspense! When you think you know what's up, everything changes.

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Wow, this was a thought provoking and good book. Hawk isn't the man his wife remembers him to be because, well, he doesn't remember that man. I cannot imagine how horrible and scary that must be to wake up and not remember anything. Jillian's dedication to her husband, even when isn't the man she remembers was touching.

There are some really tense moments and I loved seeing characters from previous books. Their daughter is precious and it was sweet watching the father/daughter bond happen. The author really did a good job with this one and it was touching!

4/5 for me. I truly enjoyed it from start to finish.



Thank you to the publisher for the review copy of this book via netgalley. I received this book in exchange for an honest review and the opinions stated above are 100% mine.

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To be honest I found the whole amnesia thing a bit confusing at first but then I was able to get past that and really enjoy the book I found it hard to put the book down. I loved that there was so much going on, twists and turns. There was clearly someone trying to stop Jillian and Hawk from getting farther into what they are trying to keep hidden and I know I'm being vague af but its a mystery suspense novel and I don't want to give anything away. Trust me there is so much to enjoy about this book that'll make it hard to put down and I reocmmend you readers to check it out to see.

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Four years ago a plane went down with Special Ops Agent Hawk Jacobson on board, and he is assumed dead. He suffers from amnesia but he knows that the plane crash wasn't an accident and that he's a target. So he goes into hiding living life off the grid, using his skills working as a private investigator. But when his past work bring him and his wife, Jillian back together, he is afraid that she has moved on, but he is still determined to keep her and her daughter safe.



Hawk is a skilled soldier, and even though he lost a lot of memories, he is a natural protector. He was one of my favorite characters in a previous companion book, so I was so excited to see that he got his own story. He is a good man, and he loves his family fiercely, he wants to do all that he can to protect them. I admired his willingness to put others' needs before his own, and how he is shows by his actions his true character.



This is a fast paced-read, with a compelling and complex plot. Easy to follow, yet filled with action, intensity, and I didn't want to put it down! I'm by no means a Love Inspired expert, but I've read my fair share, and this is only the second book I've read from them where the main characters are already married. I loved the twists, the character development, and interaction. The story was compelling, thrilling, and well developed. You won't want to miss this one!



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

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I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and I am voluntarily reviewing it.

This was a book that starts the intrigue right from the beginning and drew me in. Hawk comes home just in time to save his next door neighbor, Jillian and her daughter Lizzy, from two intruders. Come to find out Hawk is really James Wade, Jillian's deceased husband. How could this be? He has been dead for 5 years? The day she discovered that she is pregnant, is the day she also is told that she was a widow. Apparently James was the only survivor from the plane crash that killed his team. He had amnesia from the crash and over the years, was able to piece together some facts in his "swiss cheese memory".

The trials that this family of three, along with a few good friends, go through over the next few days is one that will keep you guessing. The person that is ultimately behind all of the nefarious happenings was one that took me by surprise. I was glued to me e-reader to discover the truth behind everything. The plot was a well written one that flowed nicely.

I appreciated having a duel POV format here. Getting in the mind of Hawk (James) was such an interesting one. The poor man went through a great deal and was willing to sacrifice all for his family. Jillian on the other hand has to overcome the thought of being married to Hawk, who used to be James. Yes, this one really was enchanting.

This was a clean romance that I would highly recommend to anyone.

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Heat Factor: Extremely chaste
Character Chemistry: In a “we’re already married” forced proximity kind of way?
Plot: Former soldier has to figure out who’s trying to kill him and his family
Overall: Not many highs but also not many lows

This was an uncharacteristically - shall we say wholesome? - read for me. It is “Love Inspired” from Harlequin, after all. I once read a blog post somewhere discussing how the author only read “clean” romance. I had previously interpreted this to mean sexless, but the author also said that she stopped reading if there were more than something like two swear words.

So anyway, that’s the audience for this book, I guess. I’m not the audience for this book, really, because I have issues with the use of the word “clean” in that context and also I am the last person on earth to object to bad language. Or sex, for that matter. I also have issues with “love inspired” as a label, but that’s a conversation for a different post.

I chose this Love Inspired Romantic Suspense Christmas book for a few reasons. First, I wanted to read a Christmas book. Second, it’s a category romance. Third, I thought maybe I should know just what this Christian-oriented series contained. All I’ll say regarding the Christian aspect is that it is overt and central to the story, so if you would not be comfortable with that, do not read these books.

This particular book is romantic suspense, so there is a suspense story central to the plot. In this case, a former soldier, Hawk, has knowledge of a crime that was committed while he was in Afghanistan. He survived a plane crash that was meant to kill him, but he lost his memory and took some years to recover from the near-death experience. For the past 8 months he’s been living next door to his wife and daughter (Yep!). His wife, Jilly, doesn’t recognize him because his face is so scarred (Yep!).

At this point I was just somewhat awed in a what-is-even-happening-right-now kind of way. Sadly, Hawk tells his wife who he is after incapacitating a couple of guys he caught breaking into her house, so we just end up in wholesome suspense land. There is a great deal of running and hiding and trying to figure out whom to trust and how to solve the mystery, as one would expect in a suspense novel. This one adds the wife and daughter into the mix so Hawk has something to fight for / something to worry about. Romantic suspense seems like it might not be a great match for the “Love Inspired” because morality and humanity just really get in the way. Think about it. Just think about the wanton destruction of a proper action movie.

The fact that Hawk was a badass spec ops soldier who’s in a seriously high stakes (life threatening for the whole family!) situation should make this an emotional rollercoaster of a read. I should have been biting my lip in anticipation of what came next! The fact that we had to stop and think about all the bad things that were happening, processing all Hawk’s and Jilly’s feelings (and faith, of course) all the time, was a real drag on the suspense. Way too much pragmatism. There was one point when Hawk thought about how he was going to need a good connection so he wouldn’t go to jail for all the stuff that had gone down. Who thinks about the paperwork in a suspense book?

I was also confused by some conclusions the characters, especially Hawk, jumped to. For example, he starts off by telling his wife that the guys breaking into her house were there to kill her. How did he come to that conclusion? I have no idea. And then in the next chapter he starts speculating that maybe they wanted something else. At another point Hawk and his buddies go on a mission to get some letters from Jilly’s house, and Jilly starts hoping that there was something valuable in the letters because otherwise the mission wouldn’t be worthwhile. This occurs approximately ten seconds after the guy who’s with her just told her that Hawk was able to question a perp who confirmed everything they had only speculated before. Is she too stupid to live? It was just constant, with one or more characters saying, “This is the situation” or “Wait, this is what we’re going to do” and me sitting there wondering, “But why though?”

I guess if you really like “clean” romance and you like the “Love Inspired” mission, you might enjoy this book. Especially if you don’t get invested in something ridiculous like logic.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

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An inspirational romantic suspense to heal the hurts. Hawk is hiding many secrets. He has partial amnesia from an injury but still remains true to his core values. Jillian is living as a single mother and widow. When evil comes to her door Hawk saves them and her world is forever changed. The story is about faith, friendship and love. What you have to hold on to in the worst of times is sometimes the only things that will see you through to the other side.

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Goodness! What an awesome book from new to me author Laura Scott!
Oh my! I couldn't turn the pages fast enough! Such a great plot and the characters!
I can't imagine doing what this soldier did! Imagine going away and then coming home only to find that you aren't the same as when you left. Just wow!
The author has done a great job in keeping her readers in suspense and certainly full of surprises!
I usually don't like surprises but this one took the cake so to speak!
I will be looking for more from this author! I just adored this book!
I strongly recommend this fantastic book!
My thanks to Netgalley. NO compensations were received. All opinions are my own.

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