The Mischief Thief by Johnnie Alexander {A Book Review}

**I received a complimentary copy of this book for consideration. All thoughts are 100% my own. 

Two wrongs don’t make a right . . . except when they do.

For con artist Chaney Rose, life hasn’t been easy. In desperate need of cash, she readily agrees to find Mischief, a stolen racehorse. Hunting for clues, she breaks into the suspected horse thief’s home only to be caught—with a few pilfered items in her pockets—by the police detective who’s tailing her.
By-the-book Adam Thorne was fired from his church because of his father’s involvement with the valuable thoroughbred. In a burst of Les Miserables-inspired grace, Adam tells the detective that he gave Chaney the stolen items.
Adam wants Chaney to find his missing father. When Chaney learns that Mischief’s owner intends to kill the racehorse, she needs Adam’s help expose the cruel plan before it’s too late.
Will a con artist with a conscience and a minister without a ministry risk imprisonment to do the wrong thing for the right reason?

Johnnie Alexander is a wannabe vagabond with a heart for making memories. Whether at home in Oklahoma or on the road, she creates characters you want to meet and imagines stories you won't forget.

Her award-winning debut novel, Where Treasure Hides, is a CBA bestseller and has been translated into Dutch and Norwegian. Her contemporary romance novels include Where She Belongs, When Hope Arrives, and What Hope Remembers. She currently writes cozy mysteries and contemporaries for Annie's Fiction and historical novellas for Barbour. Her first indie novella released in 2019 as part of the Resort to Romance Series. She's also teamed up with other authors for the Mosaic Collection, a series of contemporary novels releasing in 2019-2020.

Johnnie is on the executive boards of Serious Writer, Inc, co-hosts an online show called Writers Chat, and interviews inspirational authors for Novelists Unwind. She also teaches at writers conferences and for Serious Writer Academy.

Sharing her vagabond life are Griff, her happy-go-lucky collie, and Rugby, her raccoon-treeing papillon. Connect with Johnnie at www.johnnie-alexander.com and on other social media sites via https://linktr.ee/johnniealexndr.

I read a LOT of Christian suspense books...and while I would say this one certainly fits the genre, it certainly is unlike others I have read. Rather than a murder mystery, this one draws us into the world of horse thievery and general grifting... and where the bad guys are typically very clear, this one blurs the lines a little bit more. Oh sure, there's definitely an obvious bad guys... but then the good guys might be a little questionable in their techniques as well. Though I cannot give too much away, that certainly does read to a rather unique and intriguing story!

At first I admit that it took me some time to get into this story. There were several characters introduced from the start and it took me a bit to sort out who was who and how they all fit together into the story... though the story was intriguing even from the start, it took me about halfway through the book to really get into it... though admittedly, that could have just been the busy-ness of life right now getting in the way as well. Once I really sat down and dug in, I really enjoyed getting to know this unique cast of characters. As I said, sometimes the lines seemed a bit blurred, so it was interesting trying to figure out who could be trusted. This is fitting considering trust is a big theme throughout this story. Another big theme was grace. Grace is easy to talk about, but harder to give. When they meet Adam offers grace to Chaney without knowing her story... and oh what a difference that can make in a person's life.  I think oftentimes when we know someone's story, it is easier to give grace... and I do believe the story showed this well. 

This is the first book in the author's Rose & Thorne series. Despite my initial hesitations, I do find myself looking forward to reading more from the series. It is also part of the Mosaic Collection and a great addition at that. I enjoyed it, and think fans of Christian suspense will as well... I think those who are interested in horses will appreciate this story even more!