Review: Take Me Apart by Sara Sligar

Title: Take Me Apart Author: Sara Sligar Published: April 2020, MCD Format: ARC Paperback, 368 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  A young archivist’s obsession with her subject’s mysterious death threatens to destroy her fragile grasp on sanity, in a riveting debut novel of psychological suspense. When the famed photographer Miranda Brand died mysteriously at the height of her career, it sent shock waves through Callinas, California. Decades later, old wounds are…

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Review: A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler

Title: A Good Neighborhood Author: Therese Anne Fowler Published: March 2020, St. Martin’s Press Format: ARC Paperback, 311 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  In Oak Knoll, a verdant, tight-knit North Carolina neighborhood, professor of forestry and ecology Valerie Alston-Holt is raising her bright and talented biracial son. Xavier is headed to college in the fall, and after years of single parenting, Valerie is facing the prospect of an empty nest. All…

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Review: The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman (audio/print)

Title: The Heirloom Garden Author: Viola Shipman Narrator: Nan McNamara, Lauren Ezzo Published: April 2020, Harlequin Audio, Graydon House Length: 11 hours 27 minutes, 384 pages Source: Audio via Library / Print – ARC E-copy via Netgalley Summary: In her inimitable heartwarming style, Viola Shipman’s brand-new novel follows two women, separated by a generation but equally scarred by war, who find hope, meaning and friendship through a garden of flowers.…

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Blog Tour Stop & Excerpt: The Secrets of Love Story Bridge by Phaedra Patrick

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the Secrets of Love Story Bridge by Phaedra Patrick blog tour – I have an excerpt for you to read thanks to Harlequin Publishing. Title: The Secrets of Love Story Bridge Author: Phaedra Patrick Published: April 2020, Park Row Books Format: Hardcover, 336 pages Summary:  A single father gets an unexpected second chance at love in the heartwarming new novel…

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Short & Sweet Review: Target: Alex Cross by James Patterson

Title: Target: Alex Cross Author: James Patterson Series: Alex Cross, #26 Published: November 2018, Little, Brown & Company Format: Hardcover, 414 pages Source: Personal copy Summary:  TARGET: HEAD OF STATE A leader has fallen, and the procession route from Capitol Hill to the White House is lined with hundreds of thousands of mourners. None feel the loss of a President more keenly than Alex Cross, who has devoted his life…

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Month in Review: April 2020

Well…April has certainly been a better month reading-wise. I just made the best of it and read as much as possible, clearly. Not turning on the tv has helped and not really paying attention to the news every five seconds has helped as well! There’s not much I can do and so might as well just turn to my books which provide as great escape. Now if only the weather…

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Review: The Missing Sister by Elle Marr (audio)

Title: The Missing Sister Author: Elle Marr Narrator: Sarah Naughton Published: April 2020, Brilliance Audio / Thomas Mercer Length: 9 hours 48 minutes / 300 pages Source: Audio – Brilliance Audio / Print – ARC Paperback via Thomas & Mercer Summary: In Paris, her twin sister has vanished, leaving behind three chilling words: Trust no one.  Shayna Darby is finally coming to terms with her parents’ deaths when she’s delivered…

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Review: Little Family by Ishmael Beah

Title: Little Family Author: Ishmael Beah Published: April 2020, Riverhead Books Format: Hardcover, 272 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  A powerful novel about young people in a conflict-scarred land, struggling to replace the homes they have lost with the one they have created together. Hidden away from a harsh outside world, five young people have improvised a home in an abandoned airplane, a relic of their country’s chaos. Elimane, the bookworm,…

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Review: The Sweeney Sisters by Lian Dolan – with link to #Giveaway

Title: The Sweeney Sisters Author: Lian Dolan Published: April 2020, William Morrow Format: ARC E-copy, 304 pages Source: Netgalley via Wunderkind PR Summary:  An accomplished storyteller returns with her biggest, boldest, most entertaining novel yet—a hilarious, heartfelt story about books, love, sisterhood, and the surprises we discover in our DNA that combines the wit of Jonathan Tropper with the heart of Susan Wiggs. Maggie, Eliza, and Tricia Sweeney grew up…

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Review: The Love Story of Missy Carmichael by Beth Morrey

Title: The Love Story of Missy Carmichael Author: Beth Morrey Published: April 2020, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Format: ARC E-copy, 352 pages Source: Netgalley Summary:  For readers of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and A Man Called Ove, a life-affirming, deeply moving “coming-of-old” story, a celebration of how ordinary days are made extraordinary through friendship, family, and the power of forgiving yourself–at any age. Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. Woman…

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Review: Afterlife by Julia Alvarez (audio)

Title: Afterlife Author: Julia Alvarez Narrator: Alma Cuervo Published: April 2020, Recorded Books Length: 6 hours 26 minutes Source: ALC via Libro.fm Summary: The first adult novel in almost fifteen years by the internationally bestselling author of In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost Their Accents  Antonia Vega, the immigrant writer at the center of Afterlife, has had the rug pulled out from under her. She has just retired…

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Review: Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Title: Feels Like Falling Author: Kristy Woodson Harvey Published: April 2020, Gallery Books Format: ARC Paperback, 400 pages Source: Author   Summary:  From “the next major voice in Southern fiction” (Elin Hilderbrand) and the bestselling author  of the Peachtree Bluff series comes an odd-couple tale of friendship that asks just how much our past choices define our happiness. It’s summertime on the North Carolina coast and the livin’ is easy.…

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Review: The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez (audio)

Title: The Friend Zone Author: Abby Jimenez Narrator: Teddy Hamilton, Erin Mallon Published: June 2019, Hachette Audio Length: 9 hours 32 minutes Source: Library Summary: Kristen Petersen doesn’t do drama, will fight to the death for her friends, and has no room in her life for guys who just don’t get her. She’s also keeping a big secret: facing a medically necessary procedure that will make it impossible for her…

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Review: Strike Me Down by Mindy Mejia

Title: Strike Me Down Author: Mindy Mejia Published: April 2020, Atria/Emily Bestler Books Format: ARC E-copy, 352 pages Source: Negalley via Publisher Summary:  From the critically acclaimed author of Leave No Trace, the “nail-biting page-turner that grabs you early and never lets go” (The Real Book Spy), comes a visceral thriller where a high stakes crime triggers a woman’s complicated and potentially deadly search for the truth. Nora Trier catches…

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Review: The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Title: The Guest List Author: Lucy Foley Published: June 2020, William Morrow Format: Hardcover, 313 pages Source: Personal copy Summary:  A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the author of The Hunting Party. The bride ‧ The plus one ‧ The best man ‧ The wedding planner ‧ The bridesmaid ‧ The body On an island off the…

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Short & Sweet Review: A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs (audio)

Title: A Conspiracy of Bones Author: Kathy Reichs Series: Temperance Brennan, #19 Narrator: Linda Emond Published: March 2020, Simon & Schuster Audio Length: 11 hours 57 minutes Source: Library Summary: #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs returns with a new riveting novel featuring her vastly popular character forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan, who must use all her tradecraft to discover the identity of a faceless corpse, its connection to…

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Review: Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

Title: Little Secrets Author: Jennifer Hillier Published: April 2020, Minotaur Books Format: ARC Paperback, 352 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  From the author of Jar of Hearts, a mother driven to the edge by the disappearance of her son learns her husband is having an affair with the woman who might have kidnapped him. Four hundred and eighty seconds. That’s how long it took for someone to steal Marin Machado’s four-year-old…

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Review: Hold Your Breath by B.P. Walter

Title: Hold Your Breath Author: B.P. Walter Published: April 2020, Avon Books UK Format: ARC E-copy, 400 pages Source: Publisher via Netgalley Summary:  If you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise… Kitty Marchland has always known that her family aren’t like others. But when her father uproots them to a remote cottage in the woods, she realises that her parents are keeping secrets from…

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Review: Sister Dear by Hannah Mary McKinnon

Title: Sister Dear Author: Hannah Mary McKinnon Published: May 2020, MIRA Format: ARC Paperback, 384 pages Source: Author Summary:  Beauty. Wealth. Success. She’s got it all. And it all should’ve been mine. When Eleanor Hardwicke’s beloved father dies, her world is further shattered by a gut-wrenching secret: the man she’s grieving isn’t really her dad. Eleanor was the product of an affair and her biological father is still out there,…

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Review: The Other Family by Loretta Nyhan (audio)

Title: The Other Family Author: Loretta Nyhan Narrator: Mary Robinette Kowal Published: April 2020, Brilliance Audio Length: 8 hours 56 minutes Source: Publisher Summary: From the bestselling author of Digging In comes a witty and moving novel about motherhood, courage, and finding true family.   With a dissolving marriage, strained finances, and her life in flux, Ally Anderson longs for normal. Her greatest concerns, though, are the health problems of…

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Review: Little Lovely Things by Maureen Joyce Connolly (audio)

Title: Little Lovely Things Author: Maureen Joyce Connolly Narrator: Elisabeth Rodgers Published: April 2019, Recorded Books Length: 10 hours 14 minutes Source: Publicist Summary:  A mother’s chance decision leads to a twist of fate that is every parent’s worst nightmare. Claire Rawlings, mother of two and medical resident, will not let the troubling signs of an allergic reaction prevent her from making it in for rounds. But when Claire’s symptoms…

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Review: Holding Strong by Lori Foster (audio/print)

Title: Holding Strong Author: Lori Foster Series: Ultimate, #2 Narrator: Jim Frangione Published: March 2015, Recorded Books / HQN Books Length: 13 hours 45 minutes / 475 pages Source: Audio – Personal copy via Audible / Print – ARC e-copy via Netgalley Summary:  Heavyweight fighter Denver Lewis plays real nice, but he doesn’t share. That’s why he’s been avoiding top-notch flirt Cherry Peyton. But a man can only resist those…

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Book Review: Sunrise on Half Moon Bay by Robyn Carr

Title: Sunrise on Half Moon Bay Author: Robyn Carr Published: April 2020, MIRA Format: ARC E-copy, 336 pages Source: Netgalley via Little Bird Publicity Summary:  Sometimes the happiness we’re looking for has been there all along… Adele and Justine have never been close. Born twenty years apart, Justine was already an adult when Addie was born. The sisters love each other but they don’t really know each other. When Addie…

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Review: The New Husband by D.J. Palmer

Title: The New Husband Author: D.J. Palmer Published: April 2020, St. Martin’s Press Format: ARC Paperback, 384 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  What makes Simon Fitch so perfect? -He knows all her favorite foods, music, and movies. -Her son adores him. He was there when she needed him most. -He anticipates her every need. -He would never betray her like her first husband. The perfect husband. He checks all the boxes.…

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Review: In Plain Sight by Laurie Holbrook

Title: In Plain Sight Author: Laurie Holbrook Series: Mabel Peters, #2 Published: April 2020, Frisson Publishing Format: ARC E-book, 314 pages Source: Author Summary:  Across Colorado, girls are disappearing. Mabel Peters and her partner, Frankie Dowdy, have dedicated their lives to bring them home before they are gone for good. Thirteen-year-old Isabel Dumel is no longer a child, but not yet an adult. Her mom is dead and her dad…

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Review: The Secret Admirer by Carol Wyer

Title: The Secret Admirer Author: Carol Wyer Series: Detective Natalie Ward, #6 Published: April 2020, Bookouture Format: ARC E-copy, 413 pages Source: Netgalley Summary:  ‘I tried to talk to you today but you snubbed me and walked away. It wasn’t wise to give me the brush-off, Gemma. I can be a truly good friend but I also make the perfect enemy.’ Sasha’s eighteen-year-old daughter Gemma was all she had in…

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Review: The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel (print/audio)

Title: The Astronaut Wives Club Author: Lily Koppel Narrator: Orlagh Cassidy Published: June 2013, Hachette Audio / Grand Central Publishing Length: 7 hours 46 minutes / 302 pages Source: Audio via Library / Print via Publisher Summary: As America’s Mercury Seven astronauts were launched on death-defying missions, television cameras focused on the brave smiles of their young wives. Overnight, these women were transformed from military spouses into American royalty. They…

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Review: The Shadows by Alex North

Title: The Shadows Author: Alex North Published: July 2020, Celadon Books Format: ARC Paperback, 336 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  The haunting new thriller from Alex North, author of the New York Times bestseller The Whisper Man You knew a teenager like Charlie Crabtree. A dark imagination, a sinister smile–always on the outside of the group. Some part of you suspected he might be capable of doing something awful. Twenty-five years…

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Review: Watching From the Dark by Gytha Lodge

Title: Watching From the Dark Author: Gytha Lodge Series: DCI Jonah Sheens, #2 Published: February 2020, Random House Format: Hardcover, 352 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  One crime. One witness. One question . . . Why didn’t he call the police? When a vibrant young woman is murdered while on a video chat, a small-town detective wades into a circle of friends and lovers with dangerous secrets—in the new novel from…

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Review: A Mother’s Lie by Sarah Zettel — With link to #BookGiveaway!!!

Title: A Mother’s Lie Author: Sarah Zettel Published: April 2020, Grand Central Publishing Format: Paperback, 416 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  Beth Fraiser finally has her life together. She’s built a successful career in the tech sector, has a bright fifteen-year-old daughter, and she’s completely put all evidence of her troubled past behind her. At least that’s what she thought. Dana Fraiser loves her mom. But the backup phones, emergency drills,…

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Review: The Third Sister by Sara Blaedel — with link to #BookGiveaway!!!

Title: The Third Sister Author: Sara Blaedel Series: Ilka/Family Secrets series, #3 Published: April 2020, Grand Central Publishing Format: Hardcover, 304 pages Source: Publisher   Summary:  Family drama, deadly secrets, and deception come to a head in the explosive conclusion of #1 internationally bestselling author Sara Blaedel’s Family Secrets trilogy. Ilka Jensen’s life is in chaos following the tumultuous events of Her Father’s Secret. The funeral home she inherited after…

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Review: The Roxy Letters by Mary Pauline Lowry (audio)

Title: The Roxy Letters Author: Mary Pauline Lowry Narrator: Jayme Mattler Published: April 2020, Simon & Schuster Audio Length: 9 hours 39 minues Source: ALC via Libro.fm Summary: Meet Roxy. She’s a sometimes vegan, always broke artist with a heart the size of Texas and an ex living in her spare bedroom. Her life is messy, but with the help of a few good friends and by the grace of…

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Review: The Last Bathing Beauty by Amy Sue Nathan

Title: The Last Bathing Beauty Author: Amy Sue Nathan Published: April 2020, Lake Union Publishing Format: Paperback, 304 pages Source: Author Summary:  A former beauty queen faces the secrets of her past—for herself and the sake of her family’s future—in a heartfelt novel about fate, choices, and second chances.   Everything seemed possible in the summer of 1951. Back then Betty Stern was an eighteen-year-old knockout working at her grandparents’…

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Month in Review: March 2020

So…anyone else still struggling to find a new normal? I think what is most frustrating is the not knowing how long this is going to last. I normally work from home, so that wasn’t an adjustment, but what is an adjustment is being able to head out when I want to – head to a bookstore to just wander aimlessly or head out to Starbucks just to grab a drink…

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Blog Tour & Review: The Eighth Girl by Maxine Mei-Fung Chung

Title: The Eighth Girl Author: Maxine Mei-Fung Chung Published: March 2020, William Morrow Format: ARC Paperback, 480 pages Source: Publisher via TLC Booktours Summary:  Optioned by Netflix and a most anticipated book of 2020 from Bustle, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, and LitHub. “The Eighth Girl is an exquisite exploration of childhood trauma and its impact on the psyche. Part thriller, part character study, I devoured this novel in one sitting, reflecting…

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Review: Summer of ’79: A Summer of ’69 Story

Title: Summer of ’79: A Summer of ’69 Story Author: Elin Hilderbrand Published: February 2020, Little, Brown & Company Format: E-book, 61 pages Source: Personal copy Summary:  AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY! Elin Hilderbrand’s brief, irresistible postscript to her #1 New York Times bestselling novel Summer of ’69.   Catch up with Blair, Jessie, and Kirby ten years after the summer everything changed. This “Summer of ’69 story” by…

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Review: The Familiar Dark by Amy Engel

Title: The Familiar Dark Author: Amy Engel Published: March 2020, Dutton Books Format: ARC Paperback, 256 pages Source: Publisher   Summary:  A spellbinding story of a mother with nothing left to lose who sets out on an all-consuming quest for justice after her daughter is murdered on the town playground. Sometimes the answers are worse than the questions. Sometimes it’s better not to know. Set in the poorest part of…

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Review: Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

Title: Darling Rose Gold Author: Stephanie Wrobel Published: March 2020, Berkley Format: ARC E-copy, 320 pages Source: Netgalley Summary:  Sharp Objects meets My Lovely Wife in this tightly drawn debut that peels back the layers of the most complicated of mother-daughter relationships… For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at…

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Review: Miss Austen by Gill Hornby

Title: Miss Austen Author: Gill Hornby Published: April 2020, Flatiron Books Format: ARC E-copy, 288 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  Whoever looked at an elderly lady and saw the young heroine she once was? England, 1840. For the two decades following the death of her beloved sister, Jane, Cassandra Austen has lived alone, spending her days visiting friends and relations and quietly, purposefully working to preserve her sister’s reputation.…

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Book Spotlight: Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan — with link to #BookGiveaway

Yesterday, Patti Callahan’s latest book, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, was released in paperback. I am really looking forward to read this – it sounds like the perfect book to get lost in right now.  I am also thrilled to be able to share this book with one lucky reader!  This expanded paperback edition is the perfect book to read while quarantined with your family and friends. It includes: A map of…

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Review: Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen

Title: Please See Us Author: Caitlin Mullen Published: March 2020, Gallery Books Format: ARC E-copy, 352 pages Source: Netgalley Summary:  In this sophisticated, suspenseful debut reminiscent of Laura Lippman and Chloe Benjamin, two young women become unlikely friends during one fateful summer in Atlantic City as mysterious disappearances hit dangerously close to home. Summer has come to Atlantic City but the boardwalk is empty of tourists, the casino lights have…

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Review: The Nine of Us: Growing Up Kennedy by Jean Kennedy Smith

Title: The Nine of Us: Growing Up Kennedy Author: Jean Kennedy Smith Published: December 2018, Harper Perennial Format: Paperback, 272 pages Source: Personal copy Summary:  In this evocative and affectionate memoir, Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, the last surviving child of Joe and Rose Kennedy, offers an intimate and illuminating look at a time long ago when she and her siblings, guided by their parents, laughed and learned a great deal…

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Review: Problem Child by Victoria Helen Stone

Title: Problem Child Author: Victoria Helen Stone Series: Jane Doe, #2 Published: March 2020, Lake Union Publishing Format: ARC Paperback, 266 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  She’s cold, calculating, and can deceive with a smile. Jane Doe is back in the Amazon Charts bestselling series—and this time she’s met her match. After a brutal childhood, Jane Doe has been permanently wired to look after herself and only herself. Now, looking next…

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Blog Tour & Review: Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

Title: Eight Perfect Murders Author: Peter Swanson Published: March 2020, William Morrow Format: Hardcover, 270 pages Source: Publisher via TLC Booktours Summary:  From the hugely talented author of Before She Knew Him comes a chilling tale of psychological suspense and an homage to the thriller genre tailor-made for fans: the story of a bookseller who finds himself at the center of an FBI investigation because a very clever killer has…

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Review: Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent

Title: Lying in Wait Author: Liz Nugent Published: February 2019, Gallery/Scout Press Format: Paperback, 336 pages Source: Personal copy Summary:  From the author of the international bestseller Unraveling Oliver comes a “truly outstanding” (Crime by the Book), brilliantly plotted, utterly immersive novel lauded by A.J. Finn—#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window—as “extraordinary…crackles and snaps like a bonfire on a winter’s night.” My husband did…

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Review: No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez

Title: No Bad Deed Author: Heather Chavez Published: February 2020, William Morrow Format: ARC Paperback, 312 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  Packed with the electrifying pacing and pulse-pounding suspense of Harlan Coben and Lisa Gardner, a thrilling debut about a mother desperate to find the connections between her missing husband and a deadly stalker who knows too much about her own dark family history. Driving home one rainy night, Cassie Larkin…

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Review: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle (audio)

Title: In Five Years Author: Rebecca Serle Narrator: Megan Hilty Published: March 2020, Simon & Schuster Audio / Atria Books Length: 6 hours 44 minutes / 272 pages Source: Audio – ALC via Libro.fm / Print – ARC E-copy via Netgalley   Summary: Where do you see yourself in five years?  When Type-A Manhattan lawyer Dannie Cohan is asked this question at the most important interview of her career, she…

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Review: The Operator by Gretchen Berg

Title: The Operator Author: Gretchen Berg Published: March 2020, William Morrow Format: Hardcover, 352 pages Source: Publisher via TLC Booktours Summary:  A clever, surprising, and ultimately moving debut novel, set in a small Midwestern town in the early 1950s, about a nosy switchboard operator who overhears gossip involving her own family, and the unraveling that discovery sets into motion. In a small town, everyone knows everyone else’s business . .…

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Author Q&A: Emily Bleeker

Emily Bleeker is quickly becoming a favorite author for me  – I’ve read some of her more recent books and really enjoyed them.  Her latest book, What It Seems, will be published next week. Earlier today I shared my review of the book – you can read that here. Today I have a conversation that Emily has prepared that I found to be quite interesting.  Do let me know if…

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Review: What It Seems by Emily Bleeker

Title: What It Seems Author: Emily Bleeker Published: March 2020, Lake Union Publishing Format: ARC Paperback, 284 pages Source: Publisher via BooksForward PR Summary:  A page-turning novel of suspense about the perfect family, and the perfect lies, by the bestselling author of When I’m Gone and The Waiting Room.   Adopted by her controlling foster mother at the age of eight, twenty-year-old Tara has seen little of the outside world.…

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