Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC for an honest review.
I have been to Jekyll Island, so that made this book more enjoyable for me. I could picture the places the author described. The story line was interesting and the characters were likable. As always, the language and love scenes were decent. You can count on Colleen to keep it clean. The marine aspect with the sea lions adds an interesting touch to the story.

We are offered a precocious young girl, that you will fall in love with, and a young woman who's mother and best friend have died, were they murdered? Also we are gifted with sea lions, these guys are special and they work for crabs and our government, keeping us safe, and trained by Joe , and now befriended by Torrie.
I have enjoyed many books by this author, and this one was a hit!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Torie Bergstrom is wealthy. Very, very wealthy. Her father is the owner of Jekyll Island Club Resort Hotel. Torie travels overseeing her father's high class hotels. Now, she has returned to Jekyll Island, her childhood home. Her father moved her away after the death of her mother.
Torie's had assisted her best friend in a job there. Torie was shocked when she learned of her friend's death. It was ruled a drowning, but Lisbeth was afraid of water and never went near the ocean. Never.
Now, Torie has returned to look into the death of her childhood friend. She returned as Tori Berg, not wanting anyone to realize her true identity. She feels she can look into Lisbeth's death under the guise of the new IT employee.
It quickly becomes apparent that someone doesn't like Torie nosing around. Has that someone discovered her true identity?
While this was a good story, there were a few things that just didn't add up. Possibly the biggest one was Torie's aunt who runs the hotel. While I realize Torie hadn't been back in 18 years, she looked like her mother, even wore her hair like her mother did, yet the aunt didn't recognize her.
Still, a great story. I recommend this one if you enjoy fast paced, heart racing Christian fiction.
I was given an advanced ecopy by the publisher, Thomas Nelson and Netgalley. I was under no obligation to leave a positive review.

This author is new to me I found her book at thrift store. I bought what they had. I have really enjoyed reading her books. The number one thing I love is she is a Christian write. So I know her books will always be clean. She also always writes a great suspenseful book! I loved this book! Just don’t read to late at night you may have a hard time sleeping! 😊

In A Stranger’s Game, Victoria Bergstrom has travelled to Jekyll Island to investigate the suspicious death of her best friend. The resort hotel on the island is owned by her father, Anton Bergstrom, but Victoria doesn’t want the employees to know who she really is, so she has assumed the identity of Torie Berg, the new IT hire, so she can dig for information without the staff hiding anything from her. But soon after her arrival creepy things start happening causing her to believe that similar things surely led to the untimely death of her friend. Luckily, Torie finds an ally and protector in Joe Abbott who works security for the resort and who also trains sea lions for the Navy. Can Torie and Joe find the clues that prove Torie’s friend was murdered before Torie suffers the same fate?

I enjoyed reading A Stranger’s Game. It was well-paced and full of action. Torie and Joe both have compelling backstories, so you can’t help rooting for them to be together. I always enjoy when there’s a little bit of history involved in the story, so I enjoyed learning a little bit about the history of the Federal Reserve. Overall, this story is exactly what I’ve come to expect from Colleen Coble — a clean romance with some element of faith, lots of action, and lots of drama. An enjoyable read.

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

A wealthy hotel heiress.

Even though Torie Bergstrom hasn’t been back to Georgia since she was ten, she’s happy to arrange a job for her best friend at one of the family properties on Jekyll Island.

A suspicious death.

But when Torie learns that her best friend has drowned, she knows it is more than a tragic accident: Lisbeth was terrified of water and wouldn’t have gone swimming by choice.

A fight for the truth.

Torie goes to the hotel under an alias, desperate to find answers. When she meets Joe Abbott and his daughter rescuing baby turtles, she finds a tentative ally.

The more Torie and Joe dig, the more elusive the truth seems. One thing is clear: someone will risk anything—even more murder—to keep their secrets buried.

Torie just can't believe that her friend drowned. She was terrified of water so how could she drown. She arranges to go to the hotel to get some answers. There she meets Joe and his daughter. Torie doesn't want anyone to know she is there to investigate her friends death. Her dad, the owner of the hotel, arrange for her to get and job in the IT department. Of course she solves the mystery, along with Joe's help. I enjoyed this book and recommend to all who like a good mystery.

I was given this book by Thomas Nelson Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.

Firstly, I love Colleen Coble’s writing style, usually. Her clean novels draw me in. Romantic suspense is her crown jewel and she does it well. I appreciate the “vanilla” goodness of her books. No foul language. No explicit content. The most we get is a couple of kisses and embraces between the love interests. I appreciate that.
This book however was a swing and a miss for me.
The first 150 or so pages had me intrigued and I even held my breath a time or two but sadly, it waned and got scattered and dull after that. Then it just completely sputtered out in my opinion and the plot got totally unbelievable. Ugh.
Oh, If I read the phrase “or more sinister” one more time, anytime soon, I’ll scream. My gracious. It just seemed that she was searching for ways to drag on the story to get another 100 pages into it or something.
I found myself annoyed with the rest of the book. Very disappointing.
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If you don’t want spoilers, don’t read any further!
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- If someone tells me they pushed my mother and that’s how she fell to her death, ummmm I’m not going to go walking on the beach or crawling into a treehouse on an adventure after. I’m calling the police or going straight to the police station. That was the weirdest part of this book. Then that part of the story is just swept under the rug? Ummm, naw. Unrealistic.
- The 8 year old child, Hailey, is kidnapped not once but 2 times? Oh and let’s not forget, there was that other time in the very beginning of the book that Joe lost track of her and that’s how fate just threw he and Torie together…… Good grief.
- Torie, the main character is a wilting flower one minute and screaming at her weirdo aunt with the God complex the next. Her character is all over the place.
- Trained seals for the Navy, Homeland Security and sarin gas……really? Come on. Must every present day book of fiction go in a political direction?
- Characters “darting poisonous glares” at one another over and over. (Major eye roll)

This book was just really too far fetched, political and fantasy driven in my opinion. Ick.

I was given an eARC (but after its publication date), from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I want to visit Jekyll Island!!!

18 years ago heiress Victoria “Torie” Bergstrom left home after her mother’s death. She returns home after best friends coincidental I mean accidential death. Tori drcides to go undercover to find out the truth. This book had tons of different storylines that somehow connected to one another. Normally I don’t like it when authors wove different storylines but in this book it worked. It took me only a couple of hours to read this book.

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

This story had so many things that I enjoy in a book. To name a few, it had an action-packed suspenseful plot, fabulous characters, romance, coastal southern setting, and a sea mammal sidekick that I just adored. This novel takes place at Jekyll Island where Torie goes to figure out what really happened to her best friend because she does not believe Lisbeth took her own life. While there, she meets Joe and his daughter Hailey. Joe trains sea lions for the Navy to detect intruders, I found that part so fascinating that our Navy uses sea mammals for this purpose.

It becomes obvious very quickly that someone does not want Torie digging up the truth. What begins is a very dangerous game to try to keep Torie from finding out what really happened to her best friend. There was plenty of action and danger for lovers of romantic suspense. At times, there seemed to be a lot going on in the book, but when all was revealed at the end of the book I was very surprised.

Colleen Coble's A Stranger's Game, is like a game of chess being played with an opponent who doesn't realize they're competing. It took me a while to settle in, finding I really needed to focus while reading to follow all the different directions and storylines that were surfacing. If I were to try to find a word to decsribe this story I would choose "random". So many different "random" things happen it was definitely a crazy adventure. As always, Coble does an excellent job of keeping readers guessing.
Torie Bergstrom goes undercover on Jekyll Island to her family's Club Resort to discover what really happened to her best friend Lisbeth. She lines up a job for Lisbeth at the Resort so she could look in to what really happened to Torie's mother (she never believed she killed herself). When Lisbeth turns up dead also, Torie is determined to get to the truth. Almost as soon as she arrives strange things begin to happen and she finds herself fast friends with hotel security, Joe Abbott and his spunky daughter Hailey. But can she trust him?
With all the crazy going on around her and around Joe will she ever figure out what's going on, or should she just give up and go back to Scotsdale? She wouldn't be able to live with herself if anything happened to sweet Hailey.
In this dramatic tale Coble draws readers in to the wonder of the life of sea turtles, security sea mammals, war games, and mysteries. I was enthralled by the use of sea mammals in tracking hostile swimmers and threats to national security. I really enjoyed getting to peak in on how these unique elements might be used today.
Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas Nelson, for the opportunity to review this book. All opinions are my own.

Colleen Coble is a well-known Christian author who is known for weaving mystery and romance together. In "A Stranger's Game," Torie heads to Jekyll Island to uncover what happened to her best friend who died suddenly. While her death was said to be a suicide, Torie knew that couldn't be true. Torie has to hide her true identity to keep herself safe. However, meeting and falling in love with Joe (and his daughter) makes it even harder to keep her distance. This was a quick book to read, and I enjoyed the romance and the family aspect. However, the mystery was a little hard to follow and I didn't understand the Navy portions.

Overall, this was a cute book and I enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

A Stanger's Game by Colleen Coble is a stand-alone suspense novel that incorporates family dynamics into its plot. Torie Bergstrom decides to go undercover at her family's hotel to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend. The circumstances of her best friend's death involve drowning, but her best friend was afraid of water and avoided swimming wherever possible. This book is perfect to introduce new readers to Coble and recommended for library collections.

4.5 stars

Colleen Coble has long been one of my go-to authors for romantic suspense, and she proves why in A Stranger’s Game! (She also made me love a seal named Simon, so there’s that. lol)

I really liked getting to know Torie, Joe, and Hailey, thanks in large part to Coble’s skill with character development, and I was especially intrigued with Joe’s unique job. There’s more than one suspicious death in play here, and part of the fun of this reading experience is trying to determine whether or not they were caused by the same person(s). Layers are revealed at just the right pace, and the ‘creepiness factor’ was spot on for me, too. As in, just enough creepy moments to make me look over my shoulder a little bit but not so much that I’m scared to go to sleep or move through the house without a bodyguard haha.

Bottom Line: A Stranger’s Game by Colleen Coble kept me glued to the page from beginning to end. Part psychological thriller, part romantic suspense, part mystery, it’s all riveting. The suspense and romance are well balanced so, if you don’t like romance with your suspense, you won’t feel like that part of story overshadows the suspense. Layered characters and a fun setting add further dimension to the plot, and the story takes several twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. A word of advice, though: Read this with the lights on and when you have plenty of time to finish it. I wasn’t able to put it down, and I suspect you won’t be able to either!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

Torie Berg, the heiress of the Bergstrom resort empire, returns to Jekyll Island, Georgia to investigate undercover the death of her best friend Lisbeth Nelson. Torie meets Joe Abbott and his daughter Hailey. Keeping her true identity under wraps leads to many discoveries including a growing attraction to Joe and his daughter. Torie while investigating her friend’s death uncovers many hidden family secrets.
This latest offering from Collen Coble will not disappoint fans. The mystery and romance kept this reader turning pages and many late nights. From page to page and chapter to chapter, Ms. Coble keeps the reader wondering who is the enemy and who was ultimately responsible for Lisbeth’s death. The characters are likable and relatable. Following the struggle that Torie has in honoring her family’s business while following her own passion was told in such a voice that one can relate to the decision between the needs of others vs. your own needs. A very a satisfying read and recommended to all who like quick thrillers and a little romance thrown in for good measure.
I received an ARC ebook from NetGalley and the publisher, Thomas Nelson, in exchange for an honest review.

A Stranger’s Game is the latest novel, a stand alone, by author Colleen Coble. Torie Berg (Victoria Bergstrom, heiress to the Bergstrom resort empire) has returned undercover to the Jekyll Island, Georgia, resort where she spent her early childhood in search of what happened to her best friend Lisbeth Nelson. Lisbeth had come to the island seeking information about what actually happened to Torie’s mom 18 years ago. Whatever Lisbeth had discovered had cost her life.

On Torie’s first night on the island she meets Joe Abbott and his young daughter Hailey. Joe, who trains sea mammals for the Navy and does part time security work for the resort, shares an instant connection with Torie, as does Hailey. On that first night Torie finds haunting occurrences and scary music in her cabin. She immediately turns to Joe for help and they become a team to thwart whatever this enemy is.

But who is the enemy? Terroristic things had happened to Joe on the job. Torie uncovers that there was some “plan” that Lisbeth may have stumbled upon. And, simultaneously, the Navy is holding off shore war games while the resort is preparing to host a Federal Reserve meeting on site. Who is the threat?

In this well plotted thriller, Ms. Coble brings a wonderful story with likable, damaged characters and ominous enemies to her readers. In a beautiful setting these characters work to solve both current national threats as they also lead to closure for long term trauma.

In the following days things are learned that put both Torie and Hailey in danger. As the clues mount and the danger tightens around them it takes luck and love to overcome.

This is a wonderful story and I do recommend it to the lovely readers of this genre. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it

This book was provided by NetGalley and Thomas Nelson publishing for an honest review.

At 28% in, I can honestly say that the author really seems to like red hair. So fair 2 characters have red hair and one has red highlights... red isn't a super common hair color to find amongst non-related people in a small group so either there are some family relationships going on here that we aren't told about yet, or there seems to be an overabundance of red-heads on Jekyll Island in this book.

Overall the story was interesting enough to hold my attention. Although Colleen Coble is a Christian author and this does have some Scripture in it, it was not overly Christian throughout and the times the Scripture is inserted felt off to me. That said, if you want a clean mystery with a minimal amount of Christianity tossed in, then this would be a great choice.

Another stellar Colleen Coble thriller that keeps you on your seat, A Stranger's Game brings readers to Jekyll Island, which turns out to be a very dangerous place to be for Torie Bergstrom. Torie has a lot to hide herself, but would do anything for her best friend, Lisbeth. Lisbeth wants to work at one of the hotels in the area, and Torie is all too happy to help her get that job. However, when she arrives, she finds her best friend has tragically died.
Can Torie get to the bottom of what happened? Taking matters into her own hands, Torie decides to play Nancy Drew and go undercover, complete with an alias. But the bodies keep piling up. Could Lisbeth's murder have something to do with Torie's mom's murder years ago? With the help of the kind, intelligent Joe Abbott and his animal loving daughter, Hailey,Torie begins to see that all secrets will be revealed when the time is right--if only she can survive the investigation!

Readers of Coble will recognize the strong characters, complete with flaws and heroic tendencies. Fast paced and gripping, A Stranger's Game will pull you in and keep you hooked until the last page!

I was an early reader, thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

In A Stranger's Game, author Colleen Coble transports the reader to Jekyll Island, Georgia for an intriguing Romantic Suspense story that will keep the reader guessing and turning the pages.

Victoria Bergstrom, hotel heiress comes home to her family owned Club Resort hotel on Jekyll Island, Georgia after eighteen years to find out how best friend Lisbeth Nelson died. Using the alias Torie Berg, the hotel's new IT specialist, she is on a mission to prove that Lisbeth did not accidentally drown on the beach, and bring Lisbeth's killer to justice.

Torie meets Joe Abbott, Navy marine sea lion trainer and part-time hotel security guard and his eight year old daughter Hailey on the beach. Both Torie and Joe have similar tragic pasts, and Torie thinks that she may have an ally to help her search for the truth in Lisbeth's death.

As Torie and Joe search for the truth behind Lisbeth's death, cryptic warnings, accidents, attempted kidnappings and sinister events start to occur. The further they dig, the harder someone is determined to stop them at all costs.

Author Colleen Coble weaves a fast-paced and suspenseful tale written in the third person narrative that follows Torie and Joe's investigative journey in search of the truth behind Lisbeth's death. When Torie and Joe's investigation intertwine with a sinister terroristic plot planned to occur at the hotel resort, it will take a lot of digging and dangerous situations to find the truth. And if that's not enough, Torie and Joe have a strong connection that could lead to an unexpected chance at romance.

The reader will be easily drawn into this well written story with its richly descriptive plot and idyllic southern island setting. A Stranger's Game has enough drama, tension, action, flashbacks and clues from the past, romance, and unexpected twists and turns that kept me thoroughly engaged and guessing what would happen next, it will definitely take the reader on one heck of a thrilling roller coaster ride.


Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my participation and book review in a virtual book tour event hosted by Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours.

https://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/01/a-strangers-game-by-colleen-coble-vbt.html

Colleen Coble just has this way of sucking you into her stories, making you feel like you are right there, living in the thick of it. This book is no different. It’s full of mystery and suspense, leaving you hard pressed to put it down until you’ve read every last page.

My thoughtls Colleen has written a spell binding Romantic suspense set on an island in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean near Georgia. The princess has returned, but nobody knows who she is until her father arrives. Not even her aunt recognizes her. She's there to investigate the supposed murder of her best friend which nobody believes is a murderer. Can she prove that it is and find a killer before the killer finds her? And what about a long unsound mystery that has had people baffled for years. Is it possible to solve that one too? I couldn't put this book down and had to keep reading until the end. Colleen coble is one of my favorite romantic suspense authors for good reason and if you haven't read any of her books you need to pick one up and read it. This one would be a good one to start with. I was given a copy free and all opinions are my own.