Good mystery with some romance- I will read more of this series - enjoyed it. ( )

The first Sharpe and Donovan mystery was an entertaining story with fascinating characters.

The story begins when Emma Sharpe is called to the Convent of the Joyful Heart at the request of Sister Joan. The convent specializes in art restoration and other artistic endeavors. Emma herself was a novice there for three years before leaving to join her family's business tracking down art thieves and then later joining the FBI to do the same sort of work.

Sister Joan doesn't tell Emma what she wants. She finds a gate she thought open locked and goes to get a key to let Emma in. Before she can return, someone kills her by hitting the back of her head. Emma feels guilty that she didn't accompany Sister Joan on the key hunt and is confused about what Sister Joan wanted to show her.

A novice named Sister Cecelia saw someone in the garden but didn't recognize the person. She does indicate that there was a painting in Sister Joan's studio that is now missing.

Colin Donovan is an FBI agent from nearby Rock Point who is home for some downtime recovering from an undercover assignment - though his family believes he's a desk jockey. Emma's boss contacts him to look after Emma who is actually a desk jockey. Colin would rather be kayaking or camping but he's curious about Emma who provided some key information that helped finish up his last case.

Both Emma and Colin are great characters. They are both independent and smart. Emma has some concerns that her past as an almost-nun will cause her colleagues to look at her differently and Colin does some teasing about it.

The story quickly becomes more complicated as details of the missing painting are discovered with connections to Emma's grandfather. There is also a new priest Finian Bracken who has come from Ireland to fill in for the local priest's sabbatical who has an interesting backstory of his own and who provides clues that help solve the crime.

I enjoyed the growing relationship between Colin and Emma. I liked the Maine and Ireland settings. I liked learning more about Emma's family and their business. The story had nicely building tension as the clues were gathered and the villain was unmasked.

This is the first of a nine book series. I reviewed the third and fourth books back in 2013 and 2014 and had the first two on my TBR mountain since then so that I could catch up. Looks like I have quite a few more to read and am looking forward to it. ( )

If the female lead had spent half as much time worrying about the case as she spent worrying about people finding out she had a been a nun-this book would have much, much better. It was had an interesting plot but the vague and confusing dialogue was distracting. ( )

Won this in a First Read Giveaway for the second book, Heron's Cove, which included a copy of this book.

I liked it. It was enjoyable, well written and well researched. I don't know much about Ireland, Maine, nuns or saints. The information was given nicely to the reader to follow along. I didn't become lost or bogged down in details. All the information exchanged worked in the story. I think some of the things that stood out as odd to me is just me being uninformed and not familiar with this setting. I did adjust well and it wasn't confusing. I didn't get lost.

I like the characters but they weren't delved into very deeply. This is after all the first book in the series. There were some things that didn't sit right with right with me, but that very maybe cultural differences. Like just having everyone pop over to a strange person's house and yet the stranger is nice, polite, doesn't question and just accepts their lame ass reasons for being there? Don't buy it. Then there is the romance between Emma and Colin. Emma talks mostly about physical attraction noticing how Colin moves and trying to figure him out. Colin is all about going to bed with her, then gets weirded out by the fact that she was a novice, then it doesn't bother him. I don't get why the cool, calm, calculated Emma all of a sudden seduced Colin. I don't see the connection between the two of them, even though the author tried to show their similarities well enough and throw physical attraction sparks in the mix. Maybe that's a cultural difference too. I just don't see the "oh my god look at his hips" becoming full blown love 100 pages later. One thing that wasn't a cultural difference and that makes me question the authors knowledge of murderers. The fact that the murder was also all of a sudden a sadistic torturer though he never did it before and never showed the signs. I do believe the fiance could have been duped by him, it happens enough in real life. I just think making the murder a true villain by adding in the torture was a misstep.It was out of place, it doesn't fit with how real people work and really just come off as a sloppy trick to make the reader hate him more and build more suspense. Nothing indicated sadistic tendencies. I don't think the psychology of this murdered was well done.

I do think the characters are well done beginnings. I can see them as people, understand them but there isn't much dept yet. I'm expecting that will come in the second book. I like them well enough, but I can see issues coming up depending on how the next book goes. Any thing that didn't fit can be amended, clarified, or just avoided in the next book. The issues I brought up detracts a star from this book in my eyes, as it could have been better. But it still wasn't a bad book or a bad read.

I like whodunnits, it just gets frustrating when the books follow the same pattern. It gets predictable and boring. The only things I saw coming was the death of the nun in the beginning, but that only made it seem more suspenseful. Then there was fact they would all trek off to Ireland. I did think they would've stayed longer, get more clues, but they got plenty out of that whirlwind trip as it happened. . I didn't come up with who was the murder until the end, which is nicely refreshing. There wasn't much nail biting suspense, it's more of a built up I-want-to-know-who. I didn't feel any danger. This isn't a bad thing, whether or not the author meant for me to feel danger. I think people forget that there can be suspense that doesn't involve worrying about someone else getting murdered. Considering the crimes and the murder I wasn't worried a bit. I just want to follow the case along and find out the culprit.

I was satisfied with a quick, rewarding, interesting read. I didn't predict the outcome early, which is a huge plus in my book. For all my nit picking, the book stands up well on its own. Bringing up my minor concerns is not to dissuade people from reading this book. On the contrary, I think people should read this book and find out for themselves. This is more for my records. If anyone has doubts or worries about reading this book, I hope my review shows that despite any drawback I found, I still enjoyed it. I look forward to reading the next book. If the next book improves, I just might have a new author to follow.

This book may not have blown me out of the water, so to speak, but don't let that dismay you. It's a good book, not all books can be life-changing amazing. Just pick up this quick, fun, enjoyable book that pulls you along for a good whodunnit ride. ( )

This will be a "quickie" review. :-)

I've wanted to read a book by Carla Neggers for a long time, and the setting of SAINT'S GATE drew me in. Most of the story takes place in and around Heron's Cove located in southern Maine, and specifically the crime occurs in a secluded-ish convent overlooking the sea. The author's descriptions of this area were rich and detailed, which an armchair traveler like me appreciates.

I enjoyed the information the author presented on modern-day convent life, Catholic saints and their presence in art throughout history, and the Vikings' influence in early Ireland. It was a very interesting lesson, and it's clear this book was well-researched.

On the downside, as a romantic suspense novel, I didn't think the story was that suspenseful or romantic. The mystery itself was good. I enjoyed putting all the pieces together to figure out the killer, but the plot wasn't all that gripping. While I liked Emma's character, I didn't care for the hero at all. For most of the book, Colin was a wooden character who lacked emotion, and was kind of rude to Emma after he found out her connection with the convent. Grow up, Colin! I just didn't understand his reaction. I'm hoping that he grows as a character and their relationship develops more in the next book.

I said this would be a quick review, so I'll wrap it up. Will I read the next book in the series, HERON'S COVE? Yes, I think so. ( )