About the Book
Book: Watch Your Back (Crossroads Suspense Book Three. It can be read as a standalone).
Author: Kristen Hogrefe Parnell
Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense
Release date: March 5, 2025
You can’t watch your own back.
Private Investigator Avery Reynolds leads the charge to expose Tampa’s supposedly “extinct” mob. The crime boss responsible for her foster brother’s death is within her grasp—until she hits a wall in the form of Ethan Bridger, a Coast Guard veteran who unknowingly derails her sting operation. When the elusive “Big Eddie” comes out of hiding, he targets their mutual friends about to tie the knot.
Avery sets aside her angst toward Ethan to focus on ending the crime boss’s reign of terror. But working together exposes her trust issues and his PTSD stemming from a comrade’s tragedy. When Avery goes solo into a prisoner exchange operation, she discovers her vulnerability too late—and must lean on Ethan and the God she thought had abandoned her. But will that help reach her in time?
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About the Author
Kristen Hogrefe Parnell writes suspenseful fiction from a faith perspective. Her books have won the Selah Award and the Grace Award, among others. She lives in the Tampa, Florida area with her husband and son.
More from Kristen
Finding God in Our Fears and Failures
Whenever I write a heroine’s character, I generally see a small piece of myself in her. Although I relate to some characters more than others, I can usually spot some shared quality that helps me empathize with her early on in my writing.
Writing private investigator Avery Reynolds in Watch Your Back was different. I liked her, despite all her sharp edges, but I didn’t see myself in her at first. As time went on, I found our shared similarity: a fear of failure.
While our situations are wildly different, this fear is not. She fears failing to take down Tampa’s elusive mob boss and letting down the few people close to her that she cares about. The stakes are so high at the end of the story that failure is worse than death to her.
While I was writing her story, I was raising a one-year-old, working online, trying to keep up with my home, and barely holding my head above water. Fears of missing my deadline—or worse, fears of letting down my family—ate away at my confidence. I couldn’t do it all. I wasn’t cut out for it.
That revelation was in fact the most freeing discovery I could make. I couldn’t do it all on my own, because I was never meant to. God provided a supportive husband, grace for each day, and the inspiration I needed to finish this story. Most importantly, He provided His never-failing presence. “For not, for I am with you,” the prophet Isaiah writes (Isaiah 41:10a NKJV). Ultimately, the reason we should not fear is Immanuel, “God with us.” (See Matthew 1:23.) He will never leave or forsake His children (Hebrews 13:5).
I don’t want to give away any spoilers in Avery’s story, but I will say she has her own moment of self-revelation as well. But will she recognize God’s hand reaching out to her in time?
When was the last time you found yourself in a situation you couldn’t handle on your own? How did God show up in your story?
My Thoughts
Watch Your Back is book three in the Crossroads Suspense Series that is written by Kristen Hogrefe Parnell While while is part of a series, this can be read as a standalone. I was captivated by this book.
PI Avery Reynolds is leading an investigation that she is hoping will expose the mob. She’s had a vendetta against them since her foster brothers death that the mob was responsible for. When she sets up a sting, it’s derailed by Coast Guard Vet turned security specialist, Ethan. Both of our characters have some deep flaws and are real feeling. Both have some issues they need to work around.
I loved the non stop action. The author has done a great job in keeping readers in suspense throughout the book. I loved seeing our characters evolve. I loved the slow build romance between the two.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Celebrate Lit for allowing me to read a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.
Blog Stops
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, March 11
A Reader’s Brain , March 12 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, March 12
Texas Book-aholic, March 13
Betti Mace, March 14
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, March 15
Locks, Hooks and Books, March 16
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, March 17
For Him and My Family, March 18
Holly’s Book Corner, March 19
Book Looks by Lisa, March 20
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, March 21
Stories By Gina, March 22 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, March 22
Books Less Travelled, March 23
Artistic Nobody, March 24
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Kristen is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
