Mission: Russia

I first fell in love with Susan May Warren's writing with her Team Hope series (though I had enjoyed Ekaterina - co-written with Susan K. Downs - earlier). In her Mission: Russia series, she brings her trademark romantic suspense (I'm not sure who does the genre better, Susie or her friend Dee Henderson) back to the country where she and her family served as missionaries.

In Sheep's Clothing has doubtful missionary Gracie Benson stumbling onto a murder scene. Terrified, she flees. FSB agent Vicktor Shubnikov recognizes the kills as trademark of a man simply known as the Wolf. Gracie could be next, but how can Vicktor protect her when she thinks Vicktor is the threat?

In Sands of Time, medical missionary Sarai Curtiss watches helplessly as two children die from an unexplained illness. A government takeover brings a 48-hour notice for all foreigners to leave the area, but Sarai can't abandon her work and the clinic she is about to open. Her brother David asks Roman Novik, the man whose heart she shattered years ago, to get her out in time. Roman still loves her, and while he's realistic about her rebuffs of nearly a decade, he still hopes for a miracle. But Sarai's not happy to see him, and she's not leaving without a fight.

Filled with compelling characters, haunting secrets, and twisting plots, these novels are a must-read for romantic suspense. (The only good reason they should wait in your to-be-read pile is if you're in the middle of one of Susie's Team Hope novels.) I give both novels the Waterfall Books rating of Cascade, though In Sheep's Clothing is my favorite of the two (likely because I can't see myself breaking a guy's heart because I feared for his safety and disagreed with his occupation).