Stolen Obsession by Marlene M Bell Book Spotlight and Review!

People die, but legends live on.

New York antiquities appraiser Annalisse Drury recently lost her best friend to murder. The killer’s identity may be linked to her friend’s expensive missing bracelet—a 500-year-old artifact that carries an ancient curse, one that unleashes evil upon any who dare wear the jewelry created for the Persian royal family.

Weeks later, Annalisse sees a matching necklace at a Manhattan gallery opening. She begs the owner to destroy the cursed piece, but her pleas fall on deaf ears—despite the unnatural death that occurs during the opening. With two victims linked to the jewelry, Annalisse is certain she must act.

Desperate, Annalisse enlists the gallery owner’s son to help—even though she’s afraid he’ll break her heart. Wealthy and devastatingly handsome, with a string of bereft women in his wake, Greek playboy Alec Zavos dismisses Annalisse’s concerns—until his parents are ripped from the Zavos family yacht during their ocean voyage near Crete.

Annalisse and Alec race across two oceans to save his mother, feared dead or kidnapped. When the killer changes tactics and goes after Alec behind Annalisse’s back, can her plan to rescue Alec’s mother save them all?

Hold on for a heart-thumping, thrilling adventure through exotic lands in this fast-moving romantic suspense mystery by Marlene M. Bell.

Marlene M. Bell is an acclaimed artist and photographer as well as a writer. Her previous book, a memoir entitled Among the Sheep, offers a look into her life history, along with a selection of written works on the subject of care and breeding of sheep. She and her husband, Gregg, have raised breeding stock of nationally renowned, purebred Horned Dorset sheep for over thirty-five years. Marlene is considered one of the foremost experts in this field of livestock and writes on the subject often. Marlene’s art photographs of sheep landscapes grace the covers of publications such as, Sheep!, The Shepherd, Ranch & Rural Living and Sheep Industry News. Ewephoric, her mail order venture, began in 1985 out of a desire for realistic sheep stationery.

Of Marlene's first novel, Stolen Obession, Kirkus Reviews said, "Debut author Bell delivers a great, slow-building romance, gently examining her characters' painful pasts." Stolen Obession also won the 2018 IndieReader Discovery Award (IRDA) for Best Fiction Cover and the 2018 Independent Book Award for Best Fiction Cover.

Marlene and her husband reside on a wooded ranch in East Texas with their Dorsets, a lovable Maremma guard dog named Tia, and 3 spoiled cats who rule the household.

Visit Marlene Bell’s website at www.marlenembell.com

Goodreads

My Review 

Stolen Obsession by Marlene M Bell is the first in a series that features Annalisse Drury. She is an antiquities appraiser and after the death of her boss Harry, she notices an Iranian horse necklace that is on exhibit for her friend Generosa (Gen) Zavos. She has a bad feeling about the necklace, that it is cursed. At the exhibit, she meets Gen's son Alec a wealthy good looking man who Annalisse is attracted to. The necklace is one of two identical necklaces and one of them is on the island of Crete. 

Her best friend Sam had been murdered and she wore a bracelet that had the same design as what is on the necklaces. She enlists Alec and her friend Chase to investigate what happened to her best friend. On their way to Crete, they are met with some nefarious people who are after the necklace and tragedy occurs. What is the connection between her friend Sam's murder and the death of her boss Harry?

Again, this is first in the Annalisse series, that I was able to get into quickly. The novel is set in New York, Crete, and at the farm where Annalisse grew up. I loved the atmosphere in which it was written especially on the yacht and in Crete. Lots of characters to love and a plot that keeps the reader on edge. 

I got into the book immediately and enjoyed the storyline. I have already read the second in the series with a review to come! 

I thank the author for the two books and this review is done voluntarily.