Flashpoint [Large Print]

Flashpoint, the next book in Stephanie Newton's Emerald Coast 911 series, opens with fire cop in training Matt Clark fighting a very suspicious fire with his partner Lara Hughes. And it becomes even more suspicious when the walls are torn down exposing a cache of weapons and large sums of money. They soon realize this is a house where drugs are manufactured, but not the meth house they are used to finding. No, there is some strange new drug on the market and it is lethal. When Lara witnesses the dealer returning to the scene, she becomes his target and Matt vows to protect her. But can he? Especially when Lara's sister who's had a long history of drug use, disappears and Lara fears her sister might ingest this new drug and die. She heads into the seediest areas of town to find her sister and Matt has his work cut out if he hopes to keep Lara alive. Stephanie Newton. What can I say? She is one of my favorite romantic suspense writers and if you love to read then do yourself a favor and pick up Flashpoint, her latest book. When I pick up Newtons's books I can always count on well developed, captivating characters, a storyline that keeps the plot moving and a spiritual message that is not forced but resonates with me. Flashpoint follows in that vein and certainly doesn't disappoint. I devoured the book in one sitting and ended it wishing another Newton book was sitting in my to be read pile. Fortunately, Newton publishes multiple books per year so I already have Holiday Havoc her next book releasing in November to look forward to.

Really is 4 1/2 stars. Lara Hughes is a firefighter who would rather risk her life rushing into a burning building rather than risk her heart in a relationship. Her feelings of unworthiness go deep. Matt Clark is a firefighter and Lara's partner. He is developing strong feelings for Lara as he sees what a strong and caring woman she is, but she won't seem to give him a chance. As the two of them investigate suspicious fires that seem to be connected to a drug ring, they become targets. Will they be able to find out who is truly behind this activity before it's too late and will this change how Lara thinks? After reading four books by this author I've come to believe that you are guaranteed a GREAT story! Her characters come to life and seem to be real people. She makes you care about them. I like that she's kept the characters from previous books interactive in the story but not in such a way that you would be lost if you picked up any book in the series. She did a great job addressing Lara's feelings of unworthiness. It was believable to me. I also liked how Matt kept gently showing her that everyone has a past but God is bigger than all of that. One thing that I really enjoy about this author's books is she has a lot of interactive dialog between the characters, which keeps you turning pages. I took a liking to Matt's brother Tyler and would love to hear more from him. If you like Dee Henderson, Irene Hannon or Lynette Eason you will definitely want to pick up all of Stephanie Newton's books. I highly recommend this story and am looking forward to "Christmas Target". A thank you goes to the author for sending me this book to review.