Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Desert Intrigue - by Linda Weaver Clarke


Mystery...Adventure...Romance...Humor...Intrigue! When Julia's brother announces that his dude ranch is haunted, she believes that someone is trying to sabotage his place and force him to sell. The mysterious happenings have to do with Superstition Mountain, the lost Dutchman's goldmine, and the great Thunder God. Is it possible that the legend of the Thunder God is actually true? After a terrible thunderstorm, everyone begins to wonder. John and Julia quickly head to Mesa, Arizona and discover a few mysterious events. Will they find out who is behind these disasters before Uncle Kelly's dude ranch is ruined?
While Sharlene and Faith are busy helping their uncle save the ranch, April and Matthew are planning their wedding but everything seems to go wrong

This is the 4th book in the "Adventures of John and Julia Evans" series by Linda Weaver Clarke.  I will admit that I haven't read the other books in the series, but it really didn't seem to matter.  There were a lot of interactions between the characters that you can tell have come about after time together, but you catch right on quickly.  John and Julia have a storybook marriage, their strengths counter each other's weaknesses.  As a guy, it was really great to see a man, check that men, being shown as strong not only physically, but emotionally as well.  I've read a lot of books where the guy in the book isn't shown as being connected to his wife/girlfriend through anything other than surface thoughts.  With John and his brother-in-law Kelly, though, I saw them as "men's men", and ones that also were invested in the life of the women around them.  The additional storyline of the 3 daughters gave you the view of a family that you wanted to know more about.

I was a little concerned going in about whether or not I would like this book.  I do enjoy a good adventure and I can handle a little bit of romance as long as it didn't overshadow the story.  I will say, Linda handled both of these aspects well.  Within the first couple of pages, I was already running to "Google" to learn more about this story.  I'm not a "true life story" person, but it's always interesting when there's some truth added to a story.  I also got a kick out of how one of the landmarks in the story got it's name (wink, wink).  The story moved quick enough, there were plenty of red herrings to keep me guessing, right down to the ending of the book.  To me, this read like a TV script of "Murder She Wrote", and I always loved that show.  

So, should you read it?  Sure, but I would step out further and say that if you're going to read this, why not go ahead and start from the beginning with the first in this series.  Check out Linda's website (lindaweaverclarke.com) to read the first chapters and to purchase the ones that you'd like.

About Linda Weaver Clarke

I was raised on a farm surrounded by the rolling hills of southern Idaho and have made my home in southern Utah among the beautiful red mountains and desert heat. I have been happily married for 36 years and am the mother of six daughters and have four wonderful grandchildren .
After my family began to leave the nest, I decided it was time to finish what I had started long ago. I decided to go back to college and get a degree. It had been 30 years since I had been to college and it was one of the most frightening things I had ever done. I had to learn how to study and take tests all over again. The first day of college, I was a nervous wreck and wondered if I could do this, but with the support of my husband and children I was able to graduate. I received my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre and Music at Southern Utah University and received the Outstanding Non-Traditional Student Award for the College of Performing Arts in 2002. During the meantime, I cut a CD named "Romantic Love Songs of Sigmund Romberg and Victor Herbert."
I have enjoyed writing short stories and novels for several years but it took a lot of courage to begin submitting them. After "Melinda and the Wild West" was published, I entered it in the Reader Views Literary Contest and my book was chosen as a Semi-Finalist in the "Reviewers Choice Awards 2007." It was one of the top ten out of hundreds of other entries.


Linda is offering a free eBook copy of "Desert Intrigue" to be given away to a commenter on my blog.  This is kinda cool as this is my first blog giveaway.   So leave a comment and make sure to leave a contact email so that we can contact the winner.  We'll let this run through midnight on Thursday, May 24th, so make sure to spread the word!


I received an eBook copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.

23 comments:

  1. Rick's review has intrigued me. This sounds like an interesting book to read. I don't usually go for fiction books, but this sounds like an excellent one to try. I'll probably end up wanting to read the prequels, too, so that I will get to know the whole story! Thanks, Rick!

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    1. Thanks for the comment, Kim. This book was such fun to read, I can't wait to read the other ones myself :)

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  2. From the looks of the author interviews, online chat parties, etc., it seems as though we have a lot of the same interest in books. I will be sure to add it to my "to read" book list! Thanks for the review.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and commenting, I'm sure you will enjoy the book, especially if you win it :)

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  3. Great review. Kudos to Linda for capturing a male reader's praise! I'm looking forward to reading this book!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I hope you'll come back for more :)

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  4. Great review! I've read the book as well and greatly enjoyed both the story line and the characters. I didn't think about it from a specifically "man's perspective," so it's good to see you bring that out. We need more books that show strong, yet emotionally mature men who care more about people than the almighty dollar, success at all costs, and the exploitation of women.

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    1. Great comments, Steve! Thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you will continue to read my reviews.

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  5. Sounds fascinating, indeed! Thank you for bringing Linda to my attention again. I had intended to get a copy of her book, but it slipped my mind. Guess it's time for me to remember again, eh? Great review. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Tweeted it for you!

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    1. Thanks, Amanda! Looking forward to posting your review next week :)

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  6. I've read one of her books and am looking forward to reading this! Thanks for the chance!
    katsaddress AT gmail. DOT com

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  7. Excellent review. I'm looking forward to reading this one over the summer.

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    1. Thanks, Cheryl. Don't forget to pick up the first couple in this series, too.

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  8. Great job Rick. It sound like a great book and it is cool to see what you thought about it. Thanks for the post.
    Anna del C. Dye
    for clean tales of Elfs & Romance
    http://www.annadelc.com

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll come back for more reviews in the future.

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  9. Terrific review! I'm glad you enjoyed this as much as I did. It was my favorite in LWC's mystery series. No need to enter me in this giveaway, as I held onto my copy of the book.

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    1. It was such a fun read, glad you enjoyed it too!

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  10. Thanks for the interesting male point of view. I too have read Desert Intrigue and enjoyed the warmth, the mystery, history and the family love in it as well as romance.

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  11. Well, you made me want to read it (maybe even before I read the other 750 books on my Kindle). Great review. Sounds like my kind of book. Thanks for all you do to promote reading "good" books.

    From: Betty Hodges (you remember I am technilogically challenged (can't spell sometimes either.))

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    1. Thanks, Ms. Betty. I think this would definitely be a book (even the whole series) that you would enjoy.

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