Book: Lost Christmas Memories

Author: Dana Mentink

Genre: Inspirational Romantic Suspense/Christmas

Release Date: November 1, 2018

A witness with amnesia

Can she trust this Gold Country Cowboy with her life?

Tracy Wilson witnessed a murder—but after a head injury, she can’t remember what she saw. Now someone plans to silence her for good, and only cowboy Keegan Thorn believes her. With a killer after her at Christmas, Tracy is running out of time to remember…and falling dangerously hard for the cowboy who could break her heart.

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My Review

It would be easy to review a book based on my personal criteria of what I like to read, but that wouldn’t be fair to the author or other readers. I tend to read full-length novels. For those of you not into writer lingo, that means between 80,000 and 100,000 words. Why should that matter to you? Because Lost Christmas Memories by Dana Mentink, which I’m reviewing in this article, is a Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense novel. Those in the Love Inspired line have a stricter word count—55,000-60,000—so authors writing for this publication don’t have the luxury of wordiness.

With that in mind, Dana does a wonderful job building suspense and romance in her story. Lost Christmas Memories is the fourth, and final, book in her Gold Country Cowboy Series. Having lived in California’s Gold Country for twenty-five years, I enjoyed having that connection, although I didn’t recognize any of the settings she used. It could be my limited knowledge, or that they were fictional. Regardless, it isn’t important to the storyline.

As with other series books, stepping into this one without reading the previous stories left me feeling a little lost—like stepping into the middle of a conversation. At the most, you get a quick replay to catch you up, which doesn’t have the same impact of actually being there. However, we’re not talking about a confusing Jack Reacher novel, so even if you don’t read the previous books, you won’t be left wondering.

The only point of suspended reality I have is that the characters knew each other for less time than it takes me to break in a clean pair of jeans, and yet they were devastated over the possibility that their relationship might be doomed. It’s not that I don’t believe in love at first sight (and I don’t), but even if I did, my practical side would question the validity of a relationship built on extremes. But hey, we don’t read romantic suspense for another course in practicality; we read it to be entertained—and Lost Christmas Memories pulls it off.

I was given a copy of this book for my honest review.

Guest Post from Dana

Writing this book was bittersweet for me. It was lovely to finally be able to tell youngest Thorn brother Keegan’s story, but I sure am sorry to say goodbye to this series! It was such fun to write about these four kinsmen and the family bonds that held them together through all manner of murder and mayhem! Here at Mentink Manor, we have recently sent a bear cub away to college for the first time. It feels like I have lost a limb now that my Boo Boo is gone! Fortunately, we will enjoy having her home for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Though it won’t be a cozy country Christmas like it is for Keegan (we live in a city of 80,000 here in Northern, CA) we will be thrilled to have all our family home to celebrate together (Mama Bear, Papa Bear, two cubs, a naughty terrier, and a senior citizen box turtle!) I hope you enjoy this last installment in the Gold Country Cowboy series. I am sending along our best wishes for a blessed holiday season, from our Mentink household to yours!

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