Celebrate Lit / July 5, 2024

Bold of Heart

About the Book Bold of Heart

Book: Bold of Heart

Author: Susan K. Beatty

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Release date: May 28, 2024

A reporter, a rich man, and a chaplain walk into a mystery…

Tamzin Murray has three goals: Follow Jesus. Control her no-filter mouth. And no romance. When her friend offers her a job as a reporter on the South Pacific Suamalie Islands, she jumps at the chance for a fresh start. But when she’s forced to meet the handsome, wealthy investor, she not only finds herself involved in a love triangle but also a dangerous mystery.

When Wentworth “Sully” Sullivan’s yacht is sabotaged, he does not expect to fall for the reporter covering his story. Especially since his experience with women has mostly been with gold-diggers.

Émile Durand is too shy to date, but when he meets his sister’s new coworker, he can’t help his attraction to her. And the more he helps her out of scrapes, the further he falls in love with her.

As the mystery becomes more dangerous, and the more their hearts get entangled, how will Tamzin, Sully, and Émile get out of the messes they’ve put themselves into?

Take a trip to the Suamalie Islands where palm trees sway, the sand and sea pulse with life, and the people will steal your heart.

Click here to get your copy!

My Thoughts on Bold of Heart

I love these island novels. Travelling to somewhere I’ve never been, even if just in books and my imagination is amazing. I’ve always dreamed of travelling. Maybe someday I’ll be jetting all over the world on a regular basis. But for now, I’m reading about all the places to go in my books.

Bold of Heart is a sweet romance with a love triangle plus suspense and mystery thrown in for good measure. It’s a keeper! I’m not normally a huge fan of books that are just romance so I was intrigued by this one when I learned that it had more suspense than the island series normally do.

The romance in this book is super clean. The suspense is there but it’s mild. And the mystery is fun. There is danger lurking with threats of death and more lurking around the corners. Sully is a fun older character to Tazmin is younger. He’s got wealth and she doesn’t. I enjoyed their relationship. And then there is Emile. I wasn’t sure that I would like him. He’s the goody-goody character, right? But I did end up enjoying his character.

Though I rooted for Sully and Tazmin all through the story.

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from Celebrate Lit. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

About the Author of Bold of Heart

Susan K. Beatty is in her third career—from journalist to homeschool tech writer to her life-long dream of becoming a novelist. She is proof you can start a new writing career late in life. Susan released her first published fiction in September 2019, and now an awarded author, this is her third novel, with several novelettes and short stories to her credit. She is passionate about finding courage through faith and grit. Susan lives with her husband of forty-nine years in Southern California. Add children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren to the mix and she has little time for her favorite hobbies of reading, watching classic movies, British crime dramas, and travelling.

More from Susan

I love to follow my characters from struggling with a character flaw (or two or three) to victory, even if it isn’t complete. Yet. It blesses me when I see the characters becoming bold and courageous through following Christ and with the support of those around them.

Yes, I know I’m talking as if they do this without my help as the author. And, in some respects, that would almost be true. I may have an idea what the character is going to say or do next, but often what appears on my computer monitor is not what I expected. Yes, as if they had a mind of their own.

Such is the case with my three main characters in Bold of Heart. I had planned that Tamzin would fall for one character, only to have her go for the other one. Then there was of who was Sully’s bad guy. Again, I thought it was going to be one character until another character shot to the forefront.

And Émile?

I didn’t expect him to be so bold. It would be a spoiler if I gave more detail here.

(Do you hear Simon Legree-like laughing here?)

I’ve known a couple of people who just have no filter on their mouths, but are still good-hearted, well-meaning folks. Thus, Tamzin’s major character flaw. Getting her to the Suamalie Islands, and away from her prime example, her mother, for a fresh start, gives Tamzin a chance to work on softening her remarks.

How can a hospital chaplain be shy?

Well, that is Émile’s issue. Actually, he’s only shy outside of the hospital room. Near women.

I’ve never been wealthy, and don’t expect to be, so I had to imagine how our millionaire Sully could be wary of dating. It didn’t help he’d already been through an unpleasant experience after his wife passed away.

Love triangles are a familiar Christian romance trope, but to keep it from getting sticky, I threw in some mystery and suspense. It was a bonus that the experiences helped the characters develop their bold hearts.