My Kirkus Indie Review Arrived!

I was in Australia for my daughter's wedding when I heard about Kirkus Review for Indie Authors. A friend had emailed information about it. I knew very little about Kirkus Indie at that point, but I had an instant gut feeling that it was what I should do. As an author struggling to make my mark, Kirkus seemed like the logical choice but I didn't have the PDF file of "What She Doesn't Know" with me, so I had to wait until I got home to send my book off for review.

I sent it the very day I arrived home. Jet-lag and all.

Yes, this review was a little more costly than what I had previously paid for promoing my work, and Kirkus is well known for being brutally honest in their reviews. Let's face it, they wouldn't have their renowned credibility otherwise.

I still had that gut feeling that I SHOULD do it, and after doing my research I learned that the review would not be posted for the world to see unless I wanted it to be. Therefore, if I got a less than stellar review, I could bury it deep within my files and it would never see the light of day. Needless to say, I hoped that wouldn't happen, but I was well aware of the possibilities.

On the upside, my treasure hunting romantic suspense was receiving very good reviews online. It is currently rating at 4.24 on Goodreads, and 4.6 out of 5 on Amazon. So, I waited - week after week, marking off the requisite time on my desk calendar. Nine weeks later I received an email. I was in the kitchen when the email came in, we'd just rushed home to start a late supper when I took a peek at my iPod and saw that the email from Kirkus was waiting.

Supper was even later that night, let me tell you! :) I told my husband to take over and I rushed down the hall to my computer so I could read the email on a bigger screen. Cliched as it might be, my heart was literally in my throat. My pulse had picked up, I held my breath in nervous trepidation/anticipation....


I read the review. My heart lurched. Wait! Had I read that correctly? I'd gone over it so quickly, I might have missed something. It seemed great to me. I read it again and I started to breathe, and smile and thank my lucky stars.... I had received a review to be proud of. And they even mentioned one of my favorite movies of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

My gut feeling hadn't steered me wrong.

There are indie writers out there who are wondering about Kirkus Reviews. Should they risk it? My response: Writing is all about risk taking from the first moment you put pen to paper. We can say we're writing for ourselves, but the moment you publish, you're writing for your readers and you want it to be the best product you can muster. Kirkus Indie was a great choice for me. I'm thrilled with my review and I'd love to share it with you.

"Gardiner takes everything positive about romance novels, mixes it with a little bit of adventure and throws in an evil villain or two, resulting in a perfect petit four for sating a romantic craving. Just don’t be surprised if you are hungry for more 30 minutes later." -- Kirkus Reviews


https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/lina-gardiner/what-she-doesnt-know/

REVIEW of WHAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW

My Review: Smitten With Reading Christi Snow

There is a whole history in this book that neither you nor the heroine knows and that makes this book so much fun to read. Raven is the heroine of this novel and she is looking for her dead husband who tried to kill her. Something just isn't right about his death and she can't hide out in her house any longer, so she decides to take action. That action leads her to Sloan, her husband's look-alike cousin, although she doesn't realize that they are related, and a mystery about her life that she doesn't remember.

And I don't know what else to say about this book without giving something away. Before the book even starts, you are given a poem (which is just gorgeous) that plays into the story line of the entire novel.

On an Island

In an Ocean

Lies a Castle

Heart's Devotion

King and Queen

And Golden Princess

Behold their Realm

With Guarded Interest

Beyond the Sea

Beyond the Wall

A Name that Doesn't Suit

At All

The Key Becomes

For those who Seek

The Answer to its own

Mystique

I just love it and I really enjoyed the entire story! There is great suspense here and the basis for a gorgeous romance. There are several mysteries here. First, the questions about what happened to Raven's parents? Is her husband really dead? Why doesn't she remember a huge chunk of her life including Sloan? How does the Protectorate and the treasures they protect come into it all? Who's the mysterious stranger on the island? What is Raven not remembering? It's all really very good!

If there is one complaint that I have about this book, it's that the author didn't compound on the romantic story line and sexual tension more. All the elements were there and what is there was really good...I just wanted more. More in the way of sexual tension and more in the way of the HEA. I am thinking that this may be the beginning of an ongoing series with these two characters though. If that's the case, then I completely agree with how much the author put in this one. The door is definitely there for Sloan & Raven to create a partnership going after the American Protectorate and if that's the case, I can't wait until the next book!