Thursday, October 15, 2020

Texas Holiday Hideout by Virginia Vaughan

Texas Holiday Hideout Banner

About the Book

Book:  Texas Holiday Hideout
Texas Holiday Hideout CoverAuthor: Virginia Vaughan
Genre:  Christian Romantic Suspense
Release Date:  October 1, 2020
When her identity’s exposed,
hiding on a lawman’s family ranch is her last hope.
After her mother is killed, Melissa Morgan’s shocked to learn she’s spent her life in witness protection. Now it’s US marshal Miles Avery’s job to keep her and her little boy safe. And with a mole in his agency, the only way to evade the killer is to hide Melissa on Miles’s family ranch…and pretend she’s his wife for the holidays.

My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book.  Melissa had no idea her entire life was a lie.  Well, not necessarily a lie, but not what she thought.  She has lived as an unknowing part of the witness protection program her whole life.  That has to be a hard thing to wrap your head around.
I hated that Miles had to keep everything secret from those he trusted at work, but at the same time it was the only thing that made sense.  I did figure out the bad guy ahead of time, but I had to read it just to see how everything played out.  I loved Miles' family and cannot wait to read more about them in (hopefully) future books.
It was a 5/5 for me.

Thank you to the author/publisher for the review copy of this book.  I received this book in exchange for an honest review and the opinions stated above are 100% mine.

About the Author

virginia-vaughan-HR-2Virginia Vaughan is a multi-published author of inspirational romantic suspense. Blessed to come from a large, southern family, her fondest memories include listening to stories recounted by family and friends around the large dinner table. She was a lover of books even from a young age, devouring gothic romance novels and stories of romance, danger, and love. She soon started writing them herself. A former investigator for the State of Mississippi, Virginia utilizes her criminal justice background with her love of writing to transform words into powerful stories of romance and danger.

More from Virginia

What if one day you discovered you were in the Witness Protection Program and didn’t know it?
This is the premise for my October book, TEXAS HOLIDAY HIDEOUT, which releases this month. My heroine, Melissa Morgan, learns she and her mother entered the program when Melissa was a child. Her mother never told her and, when Melissa witnesses her mother being murdered, she becomes the assassin’s next target. US Marshal Miles Avery steps in to protect the single mom and her son from a killer, but a leak in WITSEC leaves him with little options except to take his witnesses to his family’s ranch…and pretend she’s his wife for the holidays.
So, in celebration of TEXAS HOLIDAY HIDEOUT releasing this month, here are 10 things about the Witness Protection Security Program (or WITSEC) I learned during my research for this book.
  1. The program is voluntary. No one can be forced to enter.
  2. You can leave the program at any time—although it is not recommended.
  3. No person in the program, who follows the rules, has ever been killed.
  4. People entering WITSEC sometimes keep their same first name and/or initials so that if they mess up and start to sign their name, they have time to correct.
  5. Since WITSEC is a federal program, many states have their own programs to protect witnesses of gang or street-level crimes.
  6. If you get married while in WITSEC, you must lie to your new spouse to protect your true identity in the event the relationship doesn’t last.
  7. Protected witnesses are mostly criminals. Only about 5% are innocents despite the popular trope in movies and fiction.
  8. Local law enforcement may or may not be notified when a protected witness is relocated to their jurisdiction.
  9. Divorced, non-custodial parents have had their children hidden from them and now must agree to allow their children to enter the program.
  10. WITSEC protected witnesses are expected to eventually become self-sufficient. They do not get to live off the government for the rest of their lives.
Did any of these facts about WITSEC surprise you? I’d love to hear which ones. I had a lot of fun researching WITSEC for TEXAS HOLIDAY HIDEOUT. I hope you enjoy Miles and Melissa’s story! Look out for the next book in the series—middle brother Navy SEAL Paul Avery’s story—coming in TEXAS TARGET STANDOFF in March of 2021.

Blog Stops

Genesis 5020, October 8
Hallie Reads, October 8
Artistic Nobody, October 8 (Guest Review from Joni Truex)
Texas Book-aholic, October 9
deb’s Book Review, October 10
The Cafe Scholar, October 10
KarenSueHadley, October 11
Older & Smarter?, October 12
Simple Harvest Reads, October 12 (Guest Review from Mindy Houng)
She Lives To Read, October 13
Betti Mace, October 14
lakesidelivingsite, October 15
Lighthouse Academy, October 15
Sara Jane Jacobs, October 16
Blogging With Carol, October 16
Book Love, October 16 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)
Batya’s Bits, October 17
Emily Yager, October 18
Labor Not in Vain, October 18
HookMeInABook, October 18
Mary Hake, October 19
Daysong Reflections, October 19
Bigreadersite, October 20
EmpowerMoms, October 20
Splashes of Joy, October 21
Pause for Tales, October 21
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Virginia is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of Texas Holiday Hideout!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review!Sounds like I would like it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The book sounds like such a great book Thanks for sharing !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for sharing. The book sounds wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this story and the book and author details, this sounds like an excellent read.

    ReplyDelete