The Dilemma | B.A. Paris | St. Martin's Press | Pub: June 30, 2020 I must start this review by saying that B.A. Paris is one of my favorite authors!!! However, this was my least favorite book of hers.. I had initially heard that this book would be quite different than a typical B.A. Paris book and the rumors were true. It was still a very gripping read, however, it wasn’t your typical psychological thriller. I would categorize more as general fiction to be honest which I don’t particularly love. The premise was more about a family keeping secrets from each other and how that unfolds. I also had a hard time liking the characters and/or having sympathy for them. I just wanted to scream TELL THEM THE SECRETS AND LET’S MOVE ON. At 50% I really kind of had enough of the back and forth and just wanted to be done with the book. There was still a small element of mystery, as we had to uncover what the numerous secrets were, and that’s why it’s a 4 star for me....
Throne of Glass | Sarah J Maas | Bloomsbury | Pub: 8/2/12 “There was good in people – deep down, there was always a shred of good. There had to be.” Well Natalie and I have taken the dive into our Throne of Glass buddy read. While you could absolutely tell this book was Sarah J Maas’ first book, it was still such a delight to read. Celaena is a deadly assassin, rotting away in a terrible mine for her crimes. Until the Crown Prince comes to see her with a proposition she cannot refuse. Compete to work for the king or sit in the mines and die. Easy choice, right? The competition to work for the king involves a whole lot of criminals and Celaena is the only woman. Then you have Dorian- the Prince and Chaol- Captain of the Guard and they both sound incredibly handsome and smart and the way Dorian, Chaol and Celaena develop throughout the book… SO GOOD. This first book in the series was not very fantasy and was pretty slow to get going but once you get to the competitio...
Into The Dark | Karen Rose | Berkley Publishing Group | Pub: November 14, 2019 After reading Say You’re Sorry, I become obsessed with Karen Rose and as soon as I was approved for this title, I started reading it and it did not disappoint!!! Karen Rose is absolutely brilliant at putting together mystery/thriller and romance! Which in my opinion is hard to execute! This was book #5 in the Cincinnati series, and I wish I had read the previous four books since there are some spoilers in this one, but I loved it so much I would probably still read book 1-4 after reading this one. This also pulled at your hear string! I immediately fell in love with Dr. Dani Novak and Diesel Kennedy !! I truly felt like I was a friend of theirs and was in the same story. That’s how Karen Rose’s writing is amazing! It’s a very high paced page-turning novel! It kept changing POVs, including the “killer’s” POV. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an electronic ARC o...
Eight Perfect Murders | Peter Swanson | Harper Collins | Pub: March 3, 2020 I heard that this was quite different from Peter Swanson usual novels, but I really loved Before She Knew Him so I thought I would give this one a try. I agree that it’s different however if you are a fan of classic mystery novels and “whodunits” you will most likely enjoy this one! I must warn you that there are spoilers of classic mystery novels, so if you haven’t read them, you might want to read them before reading this one. I didn’t mind since I will mostly forget everything soon anyways lol but just be warned. The story is narrated solely by Mal, therefore, we are only getting his version of the story. This initially made me suspicious, especially after he mentioned The murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie since we only have one version of the events. I usually really love difference POVs but I must say it really worked in this book. Overall, this novel wasn’t a page-turner thr...
A Song Below Water | Bethany C Morrow | Tor Teen | Pub: 6/2/20 “What’s gonna happen is gonna happen.” Fantasy books are a fairly new genre for me. Besides loving Twilight and Harry Potter when I was younger, fantasy just didn’t seem to be for me. But in 2019 I started reading more fantasy and it has quickly become a go to genre. A Song Below Water is a YA Fantasy. Checked off two of my favorite genres. This book follows Tavia and Effie as the navigate junior year of high school, Black Lives Matter and the various types of mythical creatures in the story. Tavia has to hide who she really is, and Effie doesn’t know who she really is. A woman was murdered, and the court decided it was fine because she was supposedly a siren. This sparks outrage amongst the other sirens and then a famous YouTuber outs herself as a siren. Things start to get really crazy after that. This story is full of friendship and love and trying to teach you how to love who you are even if you’ve b...
Home Before Dark | Riley Sager | Dutton Books | Pub: 6/30/20 “Every house has a story to tell and a secret to share.” For those who have followed me for a while, you know my love for Riley Sager’s books. I read a lot of thrillers, but Riley’s somehow still thrill me. Guess after guess after guess and I still couldn’t figure out who, what or why. Home Before Dark follows Maggie as she goes back to a home she lived in for all of 20 days as a five year old. Maggie’s dad wrote a book about Baneberry Hall and about how it was haunted and how her family fled in the middle of the night. Maggie has had to deal with that book her entire life. So, Maggie ventures back there to try to learn the truth about those 20 days. She feels like the book is a total lie because there is no such thing as ghosts. Or are there? Riley gripped me with this one. It alternates between present day Maggie and the Book her father wrote 25 years ago. It was so creepy. Every noise I heard gave me goose...
The Secret, Book & Scone Society | Ellery Adams | Kensington | Pub: 10/31/17 “No, but like my mama says, doing the right thing usually isn’t easy.” The Secret, Book and Scone Society was my book club’s pick for June. I read it the very end of May because I have a giant 8 book buddy read coming up from June through July so I wanted to make sure I got the book done before getting sucked up into the series. I had actually won the book from the author, Ellery Adams, she had a giveaway and was sending out enough copies for your entire book club. The Secret, Book and Scone Society is a cozy mystery and the action starts right at the end of chapter 1. I don’t think it was hard to figure out but some stuff didn’t click into place for me for a bit, which I appreciated. It’s 4 women from a small town coming together to solve the murder of a tourist. I loved the four women in the group because they were all such different people and they each had their own secret that they had ...
The Widow | Fiona Barton | Penguin Random House | Pub: February 16, 2016 I’ve heard great things about Fiona Barton, so I decided to listen to the Audiobook for The Widow. Right from the start I was intrigued, why did everyone want to speak to this widow? What was her husband’s nonsense as she called it Since I listened to the Audiobook, I really enjoyed the narrator’s voice, to me it made it even more mysterious. I don’t know if I would have enjoyed the book as much if I had read it to be honest Overall, it was an enjoyable psychological suspense novel. I really loved the different POVs included in the story. It wasn’t the best thriller I’ve ever read but it was still entertaining and kept me interested until the end! Synopsis When the police started asking questions, Jean Taylor turned into a different woman. One who enabled her and her husband to carry on, when more bad things began to happen... But that woman’s husband died last week. And Jean doesn’t have to be ...
The Half Sister | Sandie Jones | Minotaur Books | Pub: June 16, 2020 This book is written using different POVs, and the first thing I noticed was how interesting it was to read the two perspectives of the sisters, Kate and Lauren. It was clear that Kate envied Lauren and vise versa. All this time, they thought the other sister had the perfect life, but little did they know each of them weren’t living happy lives. I found the story predictable, however, the author managed to keep me entertained. Due to all the secrets and lies, I couldn’t put it down! Since Kate is an investigative reporter, it gave a bit of a mystery aspect in the story which I really appreciated! I also loved how we got to learn about what each character was going through and their past experiences. It was multiple stories all intertwined. I really enjoyed that! Especially at the end when the action picked up a bit, such a great ending!!! Thank you to Minota...
In Another Time | Jillian Cantor | Harper Perennial | Pub: March 5, 2019 I have to start out by saying I never read historical fiction since I really don’t enjoy this genre, but I will admit I actually ended up enjoying this book! It was very interesting overall and very interesting seeing the perspective of the characters during the war as this book revolves around WWII and how it was living in Germany prior to Hilter’s climb in popularity and afterwards This book is a mix of historical fiction and science fiction, two genre that aren’t generally my cup of tea, and you know what? it worked perfectly in this story! In addition, it’s also a love story between Hanna and Max. Hannah is Jewish so when it becomes dangerous to be a Jew in Germany, Max must save Hannah. I absolutely fell in love with Max and Hannah and was absolutely rooting for them. This book will pull at your heartstring, so many emotions from start to finish. I’m actually glad my friend recommended t...
Stranger in the Lake | Kimberly Belle | Park Row Books | Pub: June 9, 2020 Last year I read Dear Wife, and it was such an amazing read I had to read this one ASAP! First thing that got me right away was the atmosphere of the book! The scenery of it all was just the perfect setting for this mystery! You can’t ask for more than a mansion on a secluded lake, winter blizzards, cold foggy lake and a dark deep forest. This was a complete page-turner! The story was very original and gripping! The characterization of Charlotte aka Charlie, the main character, was genius! She was very likable, and I truly loved how she stood by her values. Even though her upbringing wasn’t perfect, she became one hell of a strong woman and I truly appreciated that. Some parts I did predict but overall, I was left in shock by numerous twists and turns. It was extremely well written, and the book was action-packed. What else could you ask for? Kimberly Belle is just such a great write...
Someone We Know | Shari Lapena | Penguin Random House | Pub: July 30, 2019 I expected nothing less from Shari Lapena!! What an entertaining and brilliant story! This was such a fast-paced whodunit that contained multiple twists and turns where you can’t trust any of the characters. Speaking of characters, most were unlikable, so I truly felt like a detective reading this book since I had no emotional stake in the characters. In addition to everything, Shari finished this book with a bang! I highly recommend this book! Thank you to Penguin Random House for providing me with an ARC of this book. As usual, my reviews are my honest and unbiased opinions. Synopsis Maybe you don't know your neighbors as well as you thought you did . . . "This is a very difficult letter to write. I hope you will not hate us too much. . . My son broke into your home recently while you were out." In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking ...
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