review 1: A new and different kind of mystery / suspense has landed and it is fun. Lots of new ideas show up in this debut effort by mother/daughter team Kimberly and Kayla Woodhouse. I actually learned quite a bit while reading this book. The setting is Alaska and the situation is bad guys after mother / daughter, Jenna and Andie want them dead - but who are the bad guys, who are the good guys and why are they after them? How does this all link up with how Marc died a year ago (Jenna's husband/Andie's dad)? There are some hair raising moments when a blizzard sets in while they are stuck on the side of a mountain - good stuff!We see everything through 4 perspectives... Jenna's, Andie's, Cole's and Leaper's. We don't know if Cole and Leaper are good or bad so their perspective's are ... morevery interesting. Jenna is seen as the over-protective mom that she is and plays her part well. The only unrealistic viewpoint for me was Andie - she is supposed to be a 12 year old but she comes off a little more as an annoying 20 year old. Her viewpoint was a little inconsistent because she thinks like a 12 year old but talks like a 20 year old. The crazy thing is I liked her, her viewpoint just didn't ring very true.Over all I really enjoyed this book and have to admit that the identity of Leaper surprised me at the end and that is hard to do. Everything toward the end deals with the espionage, betrayal and mystery and that is all handled really well. A good first attempt by this pairing and I look forward to more from them. review 2: From the publicity information: A young widow and her physically challenged daughter survive a plane crash in the Alaskan mountains but must puzzle together how it relates to the recent death of their husband and father. Written by a mother and her teenage daughter whose rare medical condition led to their family’s story being shared with millions on the hit ABC television program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Elements of their real-life story are worked into this exciting novel.I did a little better with this effort from B&H Publishing than I did with its predecessor, but I gave on this at 130 pages. The text reads very much like teenaged writing – the chapters are far too short as the narrative bounces back and forth between the three main characters in tiny bursts, and there must have been some heavy fingers on the exclamation point key given their liberal use.The adventure is set up far too quickly, as is the romance, and I have yet to figure out where the Native Alaskan aspect fits into things…Confusing. Promising, but too confusing to continue with. less
