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High Exposure by Kelly Borjas Review and Giveaway

September 17, 2026 Babbling Becky L

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for High Exposure by Kelly Borjas, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

Book Details

Title: High Exposure
Series: Jagged Edges #1
Author: Kelly Borjas
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Release Date: September 15, 2026
Genre: Romantic Suspense

The riveting start to an adventure-driven romantic suspense series from a debut author

Determined travel blogger Julia Stevens is on her final assignment in snowy Silverberg, Colorado. She’s running from her past—and God—but the charm of small-town life brings little comfort when she’s face-to-face with the winter sport that killed her sister: skiing. Upon her arrival in town, she discovers a dead body and is quickly compelled to research the situation, give justice to the man’s story, and kick off her new career in journalism.

Cade Haskins is back home after a failed mission and his subsequent retirement from the DEA. His father’s declining health has pushed Cade to prioritize family, and he helps at the historic Silverberg Hotel on his dad’s behalf. When Julia shows up at the hotel, Cade becomes her local contact. He quickly realizes she has a knack for sniffing around where she shouldn’t, and he attaches himself to her side.

With the local death connected to a meth ring, Julia’s investigation has unknowingly put a target on her back. As the danger increases and she begins to learn more about Cade and his family, she finds herself trusting the God she was running from. And Cade? He doesn’t want to get dragged back into DEA work, but it seems like he may not have a choice if he wants to protect Julia . . . and his growing attraction to her.

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Author Details

Kelly Borjas grew up in Southwest Colorado and later moved to Southern California. She has a degree in communication studies from Biola University and a master’s in leadership and organizational studies from Azusa Pacific University. She is a cohost of the Lit Ladies podcast. Find her at kellyborjas.com.

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My Impressions

“The time had come—to face her past … and her future.”

Why should you pick up High Exposure, Bk 1 of Jagged Edges, from debut author Kelly Borjas? To be honest, covers can make or break a book. This one lets you know you’ll be frozen cold along with the characters before you’re very deep into this great romantic suspense novel. Brrrr! And a travel blogger? Right now, in America, there are some very successful individuals visiting different sites, taking pictures, trying local food offerings, and describing local scenery to invite tourists. And this is exactly what our determined heroine, Julia, is doing for a living. Plus, the locale? A small, obscure town in the wintry Colorado mountains. Yes, please! I want to visit Silverberg! Or maybe not, there may be a little too much tension and cooking going on in that small town, and not the legal kind! Now, attach the Kregel publishing name to a book, and I am convinced I am going to love the book. Last, but not least, Kelly’s literary agent is Lynnette Eason. There’s a very well-known name in romantic suspense that promises this book will be well-worth the read!

And it is! While Julia’s attempt to outrun a tragedy in her past sends her touring the States as a photo-journalist for a travel magazine, her real desire is to become a news journalist. Can her depiction of a dead-in-the-winter Colorado mountain town boost the town’s winter tourism and help the town’s hotel (that Cade’s family owns)? Will that be enough to move her into the realm of serious reporting? Little does Julia know the avalanche that will begin to build slowly when she first enters town to find a very unpleasant surprise in her rental air bnb!

Thanks to his dad’s cancer battle, Cade has recently returned home to Silverberg to help run the hotel. Now, in his dad’s sickness, former DEA agent Cade needs to show newly arrived photo-journalist Julia all the alluring winter possibilities of Silverberg. Unfortunately, getting stalked, threatened, and facing constant danger from an unknown source might put the town in the most positive light. Can Cade run the hotel, protect Julia, protect his DEA association, and protect his heart from the beautiful travel blogger as well?

Borjas quickly got me invested. The town seems so picture-perfect in so many ways. Until Julia’s present begins to unravel, a bit at a time, just as she’s struggling to put it back together. “If she were still a praying woman, she’d ask God for a solution. But she’d abandoned that faith element the day Nikki had died.” Julia convinces a grudging, hot-and-cold Cade to help her investigate the mystery she lands in the middle of. But the deeper they delve into trying to solve the oddities of the town, the more complex their relationship becomes, as both try to keep secrets yet work together.

Themes running through the novel are family, belonging, faith, secrets, meth, DEA, travel photographer, skiing, and Colorado.

I’m already looking forward to Borjas’s second book, Dark Chasm. I need more of Cade’s family! I received a copy of the book from the author and publisher through JustRead Tours via NetGalley. I also bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“…you don’t have to be all things to all people. You’re human and can ask for help, even if you’ve messed up before.”…

“Especially if you’ve messed up before.”

“He would choose to be thankful today for all that he had. No one ever knew how much time was left. But they had today.”

“Men like to give solutions to problems. Women just want to be heard.”

“As a writer, I work to convey the beauty around me—sometimes it’s in the orthodox; other times it’s in the unorthodox that beauty shines. Most of all, truth and love showcase beauty, shining through despair and lies.”

“Struggles create either endurance or termination. As humans we must decide whether to pursue the challenge or give up.”

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Superb! A very exciting start to an amazing new romantic suspense series from debut author Borjas! More, please!

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Want to Win? (Tour Giveaway)

(1) winner will receive a signed copy of High Exposure, a bookmark, and a $20 Amazon gift card!

The Fine Print… because, of course, it’s necessary!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight September 15, 2026 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on September 22, 2026. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

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Want more opinions and info?

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

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Read, Write Rendezvous 2026 Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway!

June 19, 2026June 19, 2026 Babbling Becky L

Welcome to the Blog Tour that brings Rendezvous 2026 to you, hosted, sponsored, and organized by JustRead Publicity Tours!

Bringing Rendezvous ’26 to You!

Rendezvous: reader and writer gathering
November 7, 2026
Holiday Inn Nashville Airport

I am so excited to go again this year to Rendezvous and meet so many authors and other reader friends! Everyone is very friendly and happy to include others. Whether you are a newbie, a longtime attender, an introvert, or an extrovert, you will find friends and join in laughter, fun, and great times of faith with like-minded readers and authors. Come!! Join us!!

Readers and Writers will gather at the fourth annual Read Write Rendezvous, organized and sponsored by JustRead Publicity Tours, LLC, on November 7, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. CT at the Holiday Inn Nashville Airport. Rendezvous celebrates Christian fiction and sweet reads, featuring corporate worship, speaker sessions, author panels, small-group discussions, games, giveaways, a pop-up bookshop, and book signings. This event aims to sweeten reading and storytelling experiences with fellowship and encouragement. Over forty featured authors are participating, including The Christy Award Hall of Fame and bestselling author Tamera Alexander who will deliver the keynote address. USA Today and top ten Publishers Weekly bestselling author Lisa Phillips will lead worship. We will announce several more authors in the coming weeks! We prayerfully honor the legacy of the Christian Fiction Readers Retreat through each Rendezvous event, and this year we are especially celebrating the very first CFRR which was held 10 years ago in Nashville. Rendezvous is open only to registered attendees. Want to extend your reader getaway? The Christy Award Gala and Art of Writing conference will be held at a nearby venue on November 6.

Learn more about the 2026 Rendezvous

If you’re unable to attend Rendezvous this year, we don’t want you to miss out on getting to know our authors and their books. Our bloggers are bringing Rendezvous to you by spotlighting several of the participating authors this week. Follow along to grow your TBR list to astronomical proportions!

Check out recent releases by these participating authors in the JustRead Amazon Storefront.

About My Featured Author

Liz Johnson is the author of more than 20 novels, a New York Times bestselling novella, and a handful of short stories. She’s a Christy Award finalist, a three-time ACFW Carol Award finalist, and winner of an FHL Readers’ Choice Award in 2025. She makes her home in Phoenix, where she loves exploring local theater, cheering for the 49ers, and doting on her nieces and nephews. She reads and writes stories filled with heart, humor, and happily ever afters.

Liz’s Featured Book

About the Book

Title: Sidelined by Love

Released: February 17, 2026

Genre: Sweet Rom-com, Sports Romance

Zoe Peebles: America’s Sweetheart or Drama Queen?

The tabloids have always been kind to me—until an on-set scandal leaves me single, unemployable, and looking for a place to hide. My only option is staying with my grandma in Colorado Springs, but my dad—owner of the local professional football team—makes it clear that he doesn’t want my personal brand of drama in his locker room. No problem. I’m not interested in dating anyone in the public eye. Ever again.

But I do need quarterback Grant Reddington’s help preparing for an audition that will be my last if I can’t land the role. As I spend time with my father’s QB1, I discover there’s a lot more to him than a rocket arm and a ridiculously handsome face.

Grant Reddington: Fumbling His Most Important Role

When my sister is deployed for six months, she asks me to take care of her 13-year-old daughter Kenna. They’re my only family, and I can hardly say no. But having a teenager obsessed with acting at my place isn’t exactly conducive to focusing on the game and taking my team to the playoffs, especially since she and I have nothing to talk about.

But the moment Kenna discovers that I know a real-life movie star, she begins to smile again, and maybe we have a way to connect. Now I have a certified drama queen hanging around my house. I can’t believe half the tabloid stories about Zoe, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe to have her around. Especially when she’s becoming my favorite distraction.

Purchase here:

https://www.amazon.com/Sidelined-Love-Fourteeners-Football-Romantic-ebook/dp/B0DXF41VFL

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My Impressions

“What do you know to be true right now?”

“Well, let’s start with the good ones. You’re forgiven. Completely and wholly by the only One who matters. You are loved by a good God and a cranky grandma. And you are worthy to be loved.” -Nan

I am to the point as a reader that one of the best parts of a book is a “Notable Quotable,” ( as I call them) a takeaway Truth that I can either live by or share with someone else in need. So this review of Liz Johnson’s sports comedy- slash-sweet rom-com may be backwards from my usual. The above truth nugget is such a life-changing mind shift if our rumor-beleaguered actress Zoe can wrap her brain around it. But it is so relevant to life today.

All that being said, guess who, besides Zoe, an actress being smeared by the tabloids, and hunky NFL quarterback Grant “Red”, is my fave secondary character? Nan, of course. I just love these supporting characters who quietly come in and stand in the gap for hurting MCs when everyone else (i.e. Zoe’s Fourteeners owner father, her agent Cyndi, and producers) treat Zoe like poison for a mistake that she couldn’t foresee. Nan is so wise, and she takes Zoe in when no one else will. If need be, Nan will become a formidable human dervish that could mow down Zoe’s naysayers.

As I write this, Father’s Day is coming. Zoe would have absolutely no reason to celebrate her rich, famous, and double-standard father. His treatment of her makes me want to cry.

Thank goodness for muscly, 5-o’clock shadow, great smelling, (did I say hunky) star quarterback Grant Reddington, who is on Zoe’s father’s team. Totally off-limits. Totally uninterested in helping Zoe when asked. But the catalysts for the start of their relationship might be furry beasts and a sullen 13-yr-old niece of Grant’s, forced to live with him temporarily.

Such a fun story to read and watch the characters grow and see the different relationships mature or dissolve. Personally, I could have used a little less emphasis on the physical, but Johnson does keep it sweet. A couple of words I prefer not to see in CF, but as some might say, soft. Still, the cute story stays within its category boundaries and I believe most will get a good kick out of it! Great for those who love sports rom-coms, sweet rom-coms, great Truth lessons, and novels written in first-person present POV with alternating narrators.

I bought my own copy of the book. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“You’re not who they say you are,” he whispers into my ear. “You are who God says you are.” Grant

“The truth ceased to matter a long time ago. No one cares what really happened. They only care what they can sell. Reality is whatever the headlines declare it to be.” -Cyndi

“‘The truth always matters.’ She clamps her wrinkled and spotted hand over mine on the table. ‘It will set you free. Jesus said it, so it must be true.’” -Nan

“The Good Book says that love casts out fear. It also says that a cord of three strands is stronger than two. When you’re with the right person, you’re a stronger, better version. Of both of you.” Hank

“None of us should be judged on our worst mistakes.” -Grant

My Rating

Great! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loved the Marriage of Sweet Rom-com and Golden Truth Nuggets!!

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Giveaway

(11) winner will receive a $30 gift card (winner’s choice of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook, or Baker Book House)!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight June 15, 2026 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on June 22, 2026. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

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Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

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Before the Dawn by Erica Vetsch Review and Giveaway

February 5, 2026 Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: Before the Dawn

Author: Erica Vetsch

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release Date: February 10, 2026

A determined wife and a blind mining engineer—separated by fear, connected by love, and tested by darkness that threatens to tear them apart.

David Mackenzie was the most capable mining engineer in Colorado until a cave-in left him blind and filled with guilt over the deaths of his workers. Now he fears he’ll never be worthy of love or respect again. When his fiancée returns from nursing her sick aunt, he must find the courage to break their engagement before she wastes her life caring for a broken man.

Karen refuses to give up on the man she loves, but David has built a wall between them that grows higher with each passing day. When he tries to call off their engagement, she forces him into marriage through an unconventional lawsuit. Now she must find a way to break through his bitter shell and prove that her love hasn’t changed—before his fears and pride drive them apart forever and she loses not only the man she loves but also her chance at the family she’s always longed for.

When David’s cousin reveals a deadly secret about the cave-in, Karen and David find themselves trapped underground, forced to work together to survive. In the darkness, they must confront the fears that threaten to destroy them both. But even if they survive, can they find their way back to the love they once shared?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Best-selling, award-winning author of The Debutante’s Code, first in the Thorndike & Swann Regency Mystery Series, Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum.

More from Erica

My story, Before the Dawn, is set in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. As a girl born and raised in Central Kansas, the first time I visited mountains, I was in awe…and also a little worried. Having grown up in a land where you can watch your dog run away for three straight days, not being able to see very far when in between mountains was a bit claustrophobic.

My children, growing up in SE Minnesota, had a similar experience. We were able to take the kids to Colorado several years ago, which is where I first became interested the history of Colorado Mining.

We took the kids to Idaho Springs, where we toured a mine and ore processing facility from the 1880’s. The Argo Mine was fascinating. When I ask my kids about what they remember, it’s always the panning for gold. My daughter reminded me that I was the first in the family to find any gold in my pan, a few little bright flakes, upon which many an adventurer has wagered his life.

The kids also got to sift through a box of sand and dirt to find colorful stones. As my son was enamored with agates and polished rocks at the time, this was the highlight for him.

When I wrote Before the Dawn, I tried to make the setting a character. The story is so tied to the setting, that if I changed where the story took place, it wouldn’t be the same story at all.

I hope, as you read Before the Dawn, you are drawn into the mountains, that you can feel a bit of the same sense of awe that I felt the first time this prairie girl saw the Rockies.

My Impressions

“You are so swamped with fear, you aren’t just blind. You’re emotionally paralyzed.”– Rex

I love Christian fiction marriage of convenience stories. Before the Dawn is an older story of Erica Vetsch’s, set in Colorado in the 1880s. Karen Worth, the young, beautiful fiancée of David MacKenzie returns to her fiancé’s home to an unpleasant surprise. David, a mine engineer, is caught in a deadly explosion. It robs him of his sight and also of his life’s purpose and faith. When his personality and treatment of his family and Karen become unbearable, they take matters into their own hands.

I am proud of the MacKenzie family for their refusal to allow David to sulk his days away in self-pity and hatred. Many measures they put into place are very helpful, if hard for David. But, the final solution may be the death of David and Karen’s forced relationship!

I could easily relate to either main character, David or Karen. David, with his frustrations, feels like life has stopped and left him at the station. Karen now has full responsibility for David’s care and emotional well-being. I am amazed at Karen’s resourcefulness in her husband’s behalf. I love that she employs Rex to teach her husband. I wanted to thrash David more than once for being such a heel and refusing to try to relearn how to live.

With a few prominent, ringing Scriptures that David and Karen hear at a school presentation, Truth nuggets begin to work their way into the couple’s life- slowly. Of course, there is a great twist just when things begin to improve in the marriage.

My fave secondary character is a tie between two different men. The first is Rex, who is a teacher at the school for the blind in town. He is an amazingly patient, understanding, and yet prodding teacher. The other is Buckley, the family butler. He never seems to pity David, but somehow is a very supportive friend.

I loved the mystery and action that are a part of this marriage of convenience story. I look forward to reading the next book.

I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit. I also bought my own ecopy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“Prayer was the only thing that kept despair at bay.”

“He wanted to pray, to ask for guidance, but he was afraid. Afraid God wouldn’t hear him. Even more afraid the answer would be no.”

“We never realize what we have until it is gone.” – David

“As for losing my independence, isn’t that what God wants most for us as His children? God doesn’t want us to be independent. He wants us to be totally dependent on Him. Without Him, even men with perfect vision are blind.” – Rex

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great! Especially recommended for readers who love learning about mines in the Old West, marriages of convenience, and dealing with pride and blindness.