Beanth a Star-lit Sky

About the Book

Book: Beneath A Star-Lit Sky

Author: JL Crosswhite

Genre: Christian romantic suspense

Release date: February 21, 2022

Beneath a Star Lit Sky Small town girl looking to mend her broken heart…

…Small town boy needing to repair his reputation.

Who knew those simple goals could unearth life-threatening danger?

Holcomb Springs has a wild past, and the wilderness outside its borders hides a treacherous present.

Teacher Ella Sommer is ready to forget about her broken engagement and escape from running into her ex. An overnight hiking trip on the Pacific Crest Trail offers what she needs to clear her head and breathe out under the stars.

Ex-military Reese Vega left Holcomb Springs with a bad boy rep, but has returned wiser, longing for a fresh start in his hometown. His hiking tour business offers that opportunity, especially when he can get into the great outdoors and let his past evaporate into the mountain air.

When Reese and Ella are thrown together on the overnighter, what starts as a simple trek ends up being filled with danger when they stumble across something they weren’t supposed to see.

Can they put aside their history and use their wits to get out of this situation?

Or will it be too late?

You’ll love Beneath a Star-Lit Sky because while the wilderness can’t be tamed, the human heart can.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Jen Headshot 032119 JL’s favorite thing is discovering how much there is to love about America the Beautiful and the great outdoors. She’s a mom to two, navigating the young adult years while battling her daughter’s juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, exploring the delights of her son’s autism, and keeping gluten free. A California native who’s spent significant time in the Midwest, she’s thrilled to be back in the Golden State. Follow her on social media to see all her adventures and how she gets inspired for her books!

More from JL Crosswhite

What does writing a book have in common with…

Compost?

I’ve got a new series with the first book releasing this month. The series is called Holcomb Springs Small Town Romantic Suspense, and the first book is Beneath a Star-Lit Sky. I like how this series and this book show how long the creative process can end up being for me.

Before when I’ve talked about where I get my book ideas, I mention that I call it the compost pile. Any of you gardeners know about the magic of compost. You take a bunch of unrelated kitchen scraps—coffee grounds, carrot tops, egg shells, lettuce that went bad, rotten oranges—and throw them in your compost pile. With the magic of decomposition, in about a year you have something wonderful for your plants.

The creative process is a lot like that for me. I get bits and pieces of ideas from all over the place—things I’ve experienced, places I’ve visited, a news story that stuck with me—and I toss them in my mental compost pile. When something has come together enough to actually be a story idea, it gets its own file.

The germination of Beneath a Star-Lit Sky began at least ten years ago. I remember being on a long drive and talking to my dad on the phone and somehow getting on the topic of criminals in the wilderness, particularly the Sidney Poitier movie, Shoot to Kill. A lot of things can go wrong in the wilderness, and having a bad guy after you just makes it worse.

As I was writing and finishing up the previous series, In the Shadow, I had been wanting to write a series set in a small town. I liked the idea of all the characters continuing to run into each other and being a part of one another’s lives, for good or for ill.

My previous books had been based in the Southern California beach town of Laguna Vista (which also exists only in my imagination). But if you’ve read any of the In the Shadow books, you might have noticed that they made frequent visits to the Southern California San Bernardino mountains.

Since I grew up at the base of these mountains and spent a lot of time up there, I wondered if I might figure out how to create a small town in the mountains. There are some up there, but I like creating my own so I can take liberty with things and not feel like I’m insulting any real town.

There was an old gold mining town—Belleville—that used to exist in an area called Holcomb Valley. I imagined what would have happened if that boomtown had continued on to become a resort town similar to Big Bear or Lake Arrowhead. I liked the idea of having a small town on the edge of the wilderness with all of the problems and possibilities it can bring. And it was within driving distance of Laguna Vista, so all of our old friends could come up and visit.

So the compost pile came together to truly cause my story idea to flourish and blossom into a full-fledged book! Toss in a few previous characters, and I had a ton of fun thinking about all the possibilities while keeping in touch with old characters who have become like friends. I hope you enjoy what’s to come. It’s going to be an adventure!

My REVIEW

This is the perfect story for those who love suspense, danger, twists and faith. The action is non stop where you are on the edge of your seat waiting for the next twist to appear. I loved learning about hiking and felt a little winded after following Reese and Ella on their journey. It was definitely an adventure with a mountain lion making an appearance and bullets flying at them.

Ella is a good character who I was able to relate to right away. Working in a library for many years myself I understood why some people thought Ella was boring. Oh everyone liked her but they wanted her to go have fun every once in a while. Okay I laughed when she decided to do the hiking trip. She was no where near ready for the treacherous journey but she wanted to prove to herself that she could take risks.

Reese oh how I liked this character so much. He has been through a lot and carries the guilt of a tragedy that he can’t get past. When he comes back to town to help his brother out he still feels like an outsider. Most of the people were nice to him but there is always that one person who wants to make you feel miserable. I thought Reese handled himself well when unkind remarks were made towards him. It was easy to figure out that Ella and Reese were going to encounter danger but I still don’t know for sure who is behind everything. I have my guesses but the author does a good job of throwing a few surprises in to keep me on my toes.

The time that Ella and Reese spend in the mountains allowed them to learn to trust again and share their struggles. I love a good story where the male is vulnerable and Reese really allows himself to let go of his insecurities while opening up to Ella. Ella is drawn to Reese and seeing how good he is at survival strategies calms her nerves as they try to stay one step ahead of danger. The author has left us with a cliffhanger so I’m excited to read the next book.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.