Review: Wowser! Coming Home by Lauren Lee was my first book by this author and it was a good one. 

It wasn’t a terribly long book. If I had started out earlier in the day, it would have been a one sitting book. But, I didn’t start until almost bedtime. I read until I couldn’t read anymore. 

I like her writing style. She is concise and tells you what you need to know. There is not a lot of fluff. The story was engaging and interesting. Definitely a page turner.

This is a really good detective story and if that is in your wheelhouse, you will be glad you picked up a copy of this book. I highly recommend it! 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author for a fair and honest review.

SYNOPSIS: You can leave your home, but you can never escape your past . . .

Detective Elle Dahlia is a magnet for death. Still grieving the murder of her fiancé, Dahlia travels home to attend the funeral for her stepmother. Haunted by the ghosts of her past, she finds herself staring at the bottom of the bottle.

When a young woman is brutally murdered in her home, Dahlia discovers the victim was a young girl she watched over for many years. On a desperate path to avenge the girl’s death, she opens her own, unofficial investigation into the crime. Surrounded by secrets, Dahlia must connect the dots and find the murderer before he finds her.

Heart wrenching and suspenseful, Coming Home is a journey into one woman’s soul as she hunts for truth, justice, and the man with evil rooted in his soul.

REVIEW: Brilliant! The Night Swim by Megan Goldin was one of the most unique premises for a book that I have ever come across. The main character has a podcast called “Guilty ot Not Guilty” that explores both old and current crimes. She is covering a rape case but, while in town, an old rape case comes to her attention. 

The characters are believable and some of them are likeable right off the bat. I learned to like others and some are not anyone you would want to know. She brings out the feels. 

Another thing I just realized is there is not a romance going on as a secondary plot. That’s okay! This book didn’t need it. Obviously, I didn’t miss it.

I also read her previous book The Escape Room and I have to tell you that I liked this one much better. The author doesn’t have to worry about this book. I have a feeling it will do quite well.

I really liked this book and it kept me turning the pages. I often just read in the evenings but, I had to finish this one this morning. It just kept beckoning me to read the ending. Oh, what an ending it was! If you like Psychological Thillers, you will like this book as well. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review. 

SYNOPSIS: In The Night Swim, a new thriller from Megan Goldin, author of the “gripping and unforgettable” (Harlen Coben) The Escape Room, a true crime podcast host covering a controversial trial finds herself drawn deep into a small town’s dark past and a brutal crime that took place there years before.

Ever since her true-crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become a household name—and the last hope for people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.

The new season of Rachel’s podcast has brought her to a small town being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. A local golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season 3 a success, Rachel throws herself into her investigation—but the mysterious letters keep coming. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insist she was murdered—and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody in town wants to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases—and a revelation that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

Electrifying and propulsive, The Night Swim asks: What is the price of a reputation? Can a small town ever right the wrongs of its past? And what really happened to Jenny?

REVIEW: A spectacular page turner! The Wife Who Knew Too Much by Michele Campbell was just that. I must have been hiding under a rock for her to just come into my radar. Wow! She is good. Ms. Campbell had me on the edge of my seat with my heart pounding out of my chest and so breathless, I was hoping I wouldn’t pass out. Now, that is my kind of book! 

Tabitha who is the main character is someone most of us can identify with. She is a struggling waitress who runs into the guy she fell in love with one summer as a teenager. We’ve all been there. Right? You really care for her and she is an upstanding woman. The hell she goes through will keep you turning the pages late into the night. 

This book crosses a few genres including Domestic and Crime Thrillers. Those two are a couple of my favorite genres to read. If you haven’t discovered Michele Campbell yet, I strongly urge you to try this book. I just know you will love it!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review. 

SYNOPSIS: From Michele Campbell, the bestselling author of It’s Always the Husband comes a new blockbuster thriller in The Wife Who Knew Too Much.

Meet the first Mrs. Ford
Beautiful. Accomplished.
Wealthy beyond imagination.
Married to a much younger man.
And now, she’s dead.

Meet the second Mrs. Ford.
Waitress. Small-town girl.
Married to a man she never forgot,
From a summer romance ten years before.
And now, she’s wealthy beyond imagination.

Who is Connor Ford?
Two women loved him. And knew him as only wives can know.

Set amongst the glittering mansions of the Hamptons,
The Wife Who Knew Too Much is a decadent summer thriller about the lives of those who will do anything for love and money. Who is the victim? Who is the villain? And who will be next to die?

REVIEW: Oh my goodness! Twisten Kiersten is at it again. The Liar’s Wife is my third book by Kiersten Modglin and I’m here to tell you that all three of them are very different. Kiersten has such twisted plot lines. I wonder how her mind comes up with her plots. If I knew her husband, I would warn him to be very, very careful. I hope he knows who he is dealing with. I don’t think I could sleep in the same house with her, although she seems very nice. 

This book starts out with the typical suspicious wife but, that is where it all goes crazy. I felt like I was on a mountain road navigating switchbacks at about 90 miles an hour downhill. You felt like you were going to crash and burn at any moment. Your head was spinning trying to keep up!  Kiersten never misses a chance to give you whiplash. 

The characters are real in your mind. You know them and care about them. The circumstances could be something that happens to you or your best friend. I had the hardest time putting this book down. It was imperative that I find out where the latest twist in the road was taking me. 

I am totally hooked and in love with her books. I can’t urge you strongly enough to get this book. If you like Psychological and Domestic Suspense, you won’t be disappointed. 

I received a copy of this book from the author for a fair and honest review. 

SYNOPSIS: Palmer Lewis married a liar. But just how deadly are his lies?

Shortly after marrying her soulmate and the birth of their son, the lies begin.

First, it’s the phone calls, always held in secret, always deleted from his phone.

Then it’s his odd disappearances and the little nagging voice in her head screaming: something is not right.

When Palmer follows her gut — and her husband — she catches him with an unfamiliar woman in the park and in his biggest lie thus far. Learning from her past, she hatches a plan to protect herself and their child. But when her husband and son disappear one afternoon and don’t return, Palmer must retrace her steps and dig deep to discover the truth before it’s too late.

Who is the mysterious woman her husband lied about meeting? Who knows what happened to her family? Who’s lying? In this twisted psychological thriller, the better question is, who isn’t?

REVIEW: Are you ready to get your mind blown? Your heart pumping out of your chest? Then your ready to pick up a copy of The Safe Place by Anna Downes! I couldn’t put this book down. My husband ate cereal for dinner because I wasn’t taking time out to cook.

This was one of the best debut novels I have read in a long time. If Anna Downes comes out this strong, I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Her characters are fabulous and you don’t really see their cracks until about two thirds into the story. She gives you such a false sense of security and then BANG! You’re racing for the finish. Oh boy! It’s quite a ride. 

The Safe Place is so well crafted. I didn’t find any flaws. There were a few clues along the way but, to tell you the truth, I was so lulled by the story I didn’t pay much attention to them. 

The setting was idyllic. A private and secluded property on the coast of France with anything your heart desires except for internet, phone service and a connection to the outside world. Sounds like heaven. Doesn’t it?

If you like Psychological Suspense like I do, don’t put this on your “To Be Read” list. Get it now! Read it NOW! You’ll love it. I promise. 

I received this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review.

SYNOPSIS: Superbly tense and oozing with atmosphere, Anna Downes’s debut, The Safe Place, is the perfect summer suspense, with the modern gothic feel of Ruth Ware and the morally complex family dynamics of Lisa Jewell.

Welcome to paradise…will you ever be able to leave?

Emily is a mess.

Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day.

Emily is desperate.

Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily.

Emily is perfect.Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn’t play along, the consequences could be deadly.

REVIEW: I read Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay a couple of weeks ago and it has taken me a while to digest this book. Let me tell you up front that this book is not in my wheelhouse. One of the genres is Horror Fiction. I’ve never read anything in that genre before. So that being said, I probably won’t again. That doesn’t mean it was a bad book! 

This book gave me nightmares! It is so vivid, my mind couldn’t let go of it. I guess you could say the author did his job. I just don’t like to be scared out of my wits. If you like Terror and Horror, you’re gonna love this book. It will be right up your alley especially while we are in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Maybe that is what bothered me so much. 

Paul Tremblay did an awesome job scaring me! He will scare you too.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review. 

SYNOPSIS: In a matter of weeks, Massachusetts has been overrun by an insidious rabies-like virus that is spread by saliva. But unlike rabies, the disease has a terrifyingly short incubation period of an hour or less. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb. Hospitals are inundated with the sick and dying, and hysteria has taken hold. To try to limit its spread, the commonwealth is under quarantine and curfew. But society is breaking down and the government’s emergency protocols are faltering.

Dr. Ramola “Rams” Sherman, a soft-spoken pediatrician in her mid-thirties, receives a frantic phone call from Natalie, a friend who is eight months pregnant. Natalie’s husband has been killed—viciously attacked by an infected neighbor—and in a failed attempt to save him, Natalie, too, was bitten. Natalie’s only chance of survival is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible to receive a rabies vaccine. The clock is ticking for her and for her unborn child.

Natalie’s fight for life becomes a desperate odyssey as she and Rams make their way through a hostile landscape filled with dangers beyond their worst nightmares—terrifying, strange, and sometimes deadly challenges that push them to the brink. 

Paul Tremblay once again demonstrates his mastery in this chilling and all-too-plausible novel that will leave readers racing through the pages . . . and shake them to their core.

REVIEW: Extraordinary! The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse was extraordinary in every way. I loved this book. Let me count the ways.

First, the characters are fabulous. Primrose was the grandmother everyone would love to have. Although, she is in her eighties, she stays young, vibrant and loving. She is the mother figure for the main character whose name is Victoria. Victoria is her 18 year old granddaughter who lost her mother as an infant. There are other characters in the book that you either love…or don’t.

Second, I really liked the story line. I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like it. It takes place in Epsom in Surrey, England about 13 1/2 miles south of London. I think what really captured my interest is part of the book took place in Oslo, Norway. My grandmother came to the states from Norway when she was six years old. I got a glimpse of the country I always wanted to visit. 

Third, the family home Victoria and Prim grew up in was called Rosebank and was an added character in the book. This house has been in the family for many years and was built by Victoria’s great grandparents who also hand dug a little lake in the back yard. That home came alive for me. I wanted to visit and roam through all the rooms.

Fourth, this book had all the feels. So many emotions were explored including friendship, love, anger, hurt, fear, loss…its all in this story. If you love books that take place in other countries and time periods, you can’t go wrong in picking up a copy of The Day She Came Back. 

Fifth and finally, this book was written by Amanda Prowse! This is the third book I’ve read by her and I’ve fallen hard for every one of them. If you haven’t read any of her books, I highly suggest that you do. She has written a lot of books so, I have to get a move on! Happy reading.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review. 

SYNOPSIS: From the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a story that asks: how do you forgive the family that lied to you, and love the mum you never had?

When her loving, free-spirited grandmother Primrose passes away, Victoria is bereft, yet resilient—she has survived tragedy before. But even her strength is tested when a mysterious woman attends Prim’s funeral and claims to be the mother Victoria thought was dead.

As the two women get to know each other and Victoria begins to learn more about her past, it becomes clear that her beloved grandmother had been keeping life-changing secrets from her. Desperate for answers, she still struggles to trust anyone to tell her the truth.

To live a full and happy life, Victoria knows she must not only uncover the truth, but find a way to forgive her family. But after so many years, is trusting them even possible?

REVIEW: Magnificent! What a wonderful, poignant book. This story crosses three genres. Historical, Christian and Domestic Fiction. They are some of my favorites, especially Historical Fiction. 

When you read this book you will learn about the devastation at Normandy Beach on D-Day both physical and mental. You’ll learn about breast cancer and it’s emotional and physical devastation on the patient, their caretakers and relationships. You will learn how holding in feelings of anger and disappointment in ourselves and others has a profound effect on our lives.  The fragments of light shining on all of the devastation is beautiful.

The characters in this book are ones that you will root for, cry for and love to the very end and beyond. When I finished this book, I was speechless. I had to wait a bit to write this review because I just didn’t think I could do it justice and I still am not sure I can get across how much I loved this book. Can I give it 10 stars out of five? I think Fragments of Light is fabulous. 

I did a little research on Michele Phoenix and discovered why this book is so heartfelt. The cancer struggle is so raw and the love is so real and honest. Michele is a cancer survivor and knows the struggle intimately. Prayers for Michele’s continued health. We need more of her wonderful books.

I received  a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review.  Thank you!

SYNOPSIS: An impossible decision in the chaos of D-Day. Ripples that cascade seventy-five years into the present. And two lives transformed by the tenuous resolve to reach out of the darkness toward fragments of light.

Cancer stole everything from Ceelie—her peace of mind, her self-image, perhaps even her twenty-three-year marriage to her college sweetheart, Nate. Without the support of Darlene, her quirky elderly friend, she may not have been able to endure so much loss.

So when Darlene’s prognosis turns dire, Ceelie can’t refuse her seemingly impossible request—to find a WWII paratrooper named Cal, the father who disappeared when Darlene was an infant, leaving a lifetime of desolation in his wake.

The search that begins in the farmlands of Missouri eventually leads Ceelie to a small town in Normandy, where she uncovers the harrowing tale of the hero who dropped off-target into occupied France.

Alternating between Cal’s D-Day rescue by two young French sisters and Ceelie’s present-day journey through trial and heartbreak, Fragments of Light poses a timeless question: When life becomes unbearable, will you press toward the light or let the darkness win?

REVIEW: “What You Wish For” by Katherine Center is a fun and entertaining book. It totally held my interest and made me laugh out loud and giggle several times. Who doesn’t need that during these trying times in our country? If you want a book to get you out of your head, this should be your next read. You won’t be disappointed. 

There is some predictability to her story but, it is okay because the dialog, situations and the characters make up for it. The author made me love and care for her characters and what they were each dealing with in their lives. There were a few heavy subjects in the story but the way they were handled with empathy and humanity gave me hope.

I love a story that teaches me a few things and because the narrator was a librarian, there are some interesting things to learn. One of her friends is a math teacher and has a lot of cute little math jokes. So, I learned something new with this book. 

Katherine Center is new author for me and I am excited to read more from her. If you haven’t read any of her books yet, give her a try. You might find a new author to add to your list of favorites. I know I did!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a fair and honest review.  

SYNOPSIS: Samantha Casey is a school librarian who loves her job, the kids, and her school family with passion and joy for living. But she wasn’t always that way.

Duncan Carpenter is the new school principal who lives by rules and regulations, guided by the knowledge that bad things can happen. But he wasn’t always that way.

And Sam knows it. Because she knew him before—at another school, in a different life. Back then, she loved him—but she was invisible. To him. To everyone. Even to herself. She escaped to a new school, a new job, a new chance at living. But when Duncan, of all people, gets hired as the new principal there, it feels like the best thing that could possibly happen to the school—and the worst thing that could possibly happen to Sam. Until the opposite turns out to be true. The lovable Duncan she’d known is now a suit-and-tie wearing, rule-enforcing tough guy so hell-bent on protecting the school that he’s willing to destroy it.

As the school community spirals into chaos, and danger from all corners looms large, Sam and Duncan must find their way to who they really are, what it means to be brave, and how to take a chance on love—which is the riskiest move of all.

With Katherine Center’s sparkling dialogue, unforgettable characters, heart, hope, and humanity, What You Wish For is the author at her most compelling best.

REVIEW: There is nothing as satisfying as sitting down with another installment of The Lakeside Resort series. I was so excited to receive Susan Schild’s new book Wedding at the Lakeside Resort. I felt like I was going to have a nice long visit with my old friends. 

Susan’s character development is spot on because I feel like I know Jenny and Luke, her friend Charlotte and her mom and Step-dad. They are all such loving and caring folks. Her smooth style allows you to flow through the story and enjoy all that is happening.

This book is a continuation of Jenny’s life leading up to her wedding day. We share in all the preparations and planning for the big day. I am so excited for Jenny and Luke to be off on their long honeymoon pulling their restored airstream camper. I can only imagine what adventures are waiting for them. 

Susan Schild has done it again, If you have read any of the Lakeside Resort series, you will want to read this one too! Wedding at the Lakeside Resort will read well as a stand alone book, so go ahead and jump right in and catch the rest of the series later.

I received this book from the author for a fair and honest review. 

SYNOPSIS: Ready for more love and adventure after forty?
Come see why readers have fallen in love with the Lakeside Resort Series.
 
When it comes to love, forty-four year old Jenny Beckett’s track record isn’t great, but she’s finally found Luke Hammond, a kind, down to earth man who adores her. And she’s marrying him!
 
But Jenny has no time to moon about the big day. With the Lakeside Resort’s busiest season fast approaching, she’s busily preparing for guests coming to stay in her tiny cabins and vintage campers.
 
When Luke is called away on business, Jenny must single handedly manage the resort, oversee construction of their new cabin, and plan the wedding. But she’s also dealing with more troubling events. A late-night trespasser is destructive, and a developer is intent on building condominiums right next door. Jenny and Luke must scramble to protect the serenity and beauty of their beloved resort.
 
With love over 40 blooming all around, a plus-sized heroine, and relatable characters, come join your friends for a June wedding and stay awhile at the Lakeside Resort.
 
“A sweet, heartwarming story that will make you believe second chances are special gifts from heaven. I highly recommend this book as a great way to relax and enjoy time with characters created by a wonderful storyteller.” –Judith Keim, Bestselling Author of the Beach House Hotel Series