Short & Sweet Review: The Stranger by Camilla Lackberg (audio)

Title:The Stranger Author:Camilla Lackberg Series:Patrik Hedstrom /Fjallbacka, #4 Narrator:Simon Vance Published:April 2013, HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Length:11 hours 24 minutes Source:Library A string of suspicious deaths points to a potential serial killer who has turned his eye toward Fjällbacka and her dark forests, where two children vanished decades before. A local woman is killed in a tragic car crash, but it isn’t a clear-cut drunk driving case. The…

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Short & Sweet Review: Night Watch by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen (audio)

Title:Night Watch Author:Iris Johasen & Roy Johansen Series: Kendra Michaels, #4 Narrator:Elisabeth Rodgers Published:October 2016, Recorded Books Length:12 hours 4 minutes Source:Personal copy via Audible   The #1 New York Times bestselling author and the Edgar Award winning author are back with a new a new novel featuring Kendra Michaels—hired gun for both the CIA and FBI. Born blind, Kendra Michaels spent the first twenty years of her life living…

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Review: Dark Water by Robert Bryndza (audio)

Title:Dark Water Author:Robert Bryndza Series:DCI Erika Foster, #3  Narrator:Jan Cramer Published:October 2016, Bookouture Length:8 hours 55 minutes Source:Personal copy via Audible Beneath the water the body sank rapidly. She would lie still and undisturbed for many years but above her on dry land, the nightmare was just beginning. When Detective Erika Foster receives a tip-off that key evidence for a major narcotics case was stashed in a disused quarry on…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in November 18

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   I had another good week – I took it easy, got lots of rest and am ready to get back to my training. I’m not going to go crazy, but I am anxious to take it up a notch! And since I’m not working, I don’t need to do it first thing in the…

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#FRC2016 Book Spotlight: In the Heart of Texas by Ginger McKnight Chavers

Title: In the Heart of Texas Author:Ginger McKnight Chavers Published:October 2016, She Writes Press Format:Paperback, 328 pages   Pitched as “a poor man’s Halle Berry,” forty-one-year-old soap star Jo Randolph, has successfully avoided waiting tables since she left Midland, Texas at eighteen. But then, in the span of twenty-four hours, Jo manages to lose her job, burn her bridges in Hollywood, and accidentally burn down her lover/director’s beach house—after which…

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Review: North of Here by Laurel Saville

Title:North of Here Author:Laurel Saville Narrator:Pete Simonelli Published:March 2016, Brilliance Audio Length:9 hours 29 minutes Source:Publisher   The sounds of unexpected tragedies—a roll of thunder, the crash of metal on metal—leave Miranda in shock amid the ruins of her broken family. As she searches for new meaning in her life, Miranda finds quiet refuge with her family’s handyman, Dix, in his cabin in the dark forests of the Adirondack Mountains.…

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Review: Crepe Factor by Laura Childs

Title:Crepe Factor Author:Laura Childs Series:A Scrapbooking Mystery, #14 Published:October 2016, Berkley Format:ARC Paperback, 336 pages Source:Author The Winter Market in the French Quarter is in full swing, but murder isn’t taking a holiday in the latest from the New York Times bestselling author of Parchment and Old Lace…   The holidays are a busy time for scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand—but not so hectic that she doesn’t have time to…

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Review: The Waiting Room by Leah Kaminsky

Title:The Waiting Room Author:Leah Kaminsky Published:November 2016, Harper Perennial Format:ARC Paperback, 320 pages Source:Publisher   Leah Kaminsky’s powerful fiction debut—a multi-generational novel perfect for fans of The Tiger’s Wife and A Constellation of Vital Phenomena—unfolds over a day in the life of a young physician in contemporary Israel, who must cope with modern threats in the shadow of her parents’ horrific wartime pasts. A young doctor in Haifa, Israel, must…

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#Fitreaders: Weekly Check-in November 11

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   I had a pretty good week – even made it to the gym this week 😉 I got in 2 5k’s and I think I may finally have turned the corner with my sickness – yay!!! I’m slowly easing back into things – it’s amazing how tired I still am, even though I’ve basically…

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#FRC2016 Book Spotlight: Found by Emily Brett

Title:Found Author:Emily Brett Published:October 2016, SparkPress Format:Paperback, 308 pages   Twenty-seven-year-old ICU nurse Natalie Ulster has a desire to see the world, in case she dies young like her mother, and a need to heal, which is compensation for her own damaged heart. Armed with an independence and self-reliance that stems from her father s emotional abandonment and wanting to separate herself from a deranged nurse whose husband just died…

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Short & Sweet Review: Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes by Karin Slaughter

Title:Blonde Hair, Blue Eyes Author:Karin Slaughter Published:August 2015, Cornerstone Digital Format:E-Copy,  115 pages Source:Library   A missing girl in the news reminds Julia Carroll of herself: nineteen, beautiful, blonde hair, blue eyes. Julia begins to dig deeper and plans an article for her college paper. She becomes gradually more obsessed with the case, never imagining how close she herself is to danger. ***Short & Sweet Reviews are short, quick reviews. These…

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Review: Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter (audio)

Title:Pretty Girls Author:Karin Slaughter Narrator:Kathleen Early Published:September 2015, Blackstone Audio Length:19 hours 59 minutes Source:Library #1 internationally bestselling author Karin Slaughter returns with a sophisticated and chilling psychological thriller of dangerous secrets, cold vengeance, and unexpected absolution, in which two estranged sisters must come together to find truth about two harrowing tragedies, twenty years apart, that devastate their lives. Sisters. Strangers. Survivors. More than twenty years ago, Claire and Lydia’s…

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Review: The Off Season by Colleen Thompson (audio)

Title:The Off Season Author:Colleen Thompson Narrator:Hillary Huber Published:September 2016, Brilliance Audio Length:12 hours 5 minutes Source:Publisher   Winter winds off the Atlantic have turned the tourist mecca of Seaside Creek, New Jersey, into a ghost town. Dr. Christina Paxton, however, is growing accustomed to living with ghosts. Recently widowed, the emergency room physician has returned to the shore with her young daughter, house-sitting a sprawling beachside Victorian home. One night,…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in November 4

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   Ok…so, I think I might actually be on the mend…finally! I have not been sick this long in forever and every time I think I am getting better, the cough/cold seems to come back. Luckily I’m not working right now (quit my job after realizing the stress/aggravation just wasn’t worth it!) so I’ve been able…

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#FRC2016 Book Spotlight: Unexpected Love by Kristy Kryszczak

Title:Unexpected Love Author:Kristy Kryszczak Published:October 2016, She Writes Press Format:Paperback, 218 pages   As a young woman living in the wondrous city of New York, Inez Champlain has always aspired to be like Carrie from Sex and the City, sans the tulle skirts and poor financial decisions, of course. Inez has it all: great friends, her dream job as a notable beauty writer, a studio loft on the Upper East…

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Review: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Title: The Woman in Cabin 10 Author:Ruth Ware Published:July 2016, Gallery/Scout Press Format:ARC E-copy, 352 pages Source:Netgalley From New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery” (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, comes The Woman in Cabin 10, an equally suspenseful novel from Ruth Ware—this time, set at sea. In this tightly wound story, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the…

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Review: Fool Me Once by Harlan Coben (audio)

Title:Fool Me Once Author:Harlan Coben Narrator:January LaVoy Published:March 2016, Brilliance Audio Length:10 hours 6 minutes Source:Publisher In the course of eight consecutive #1 New York Times bestsellers, millions of readers have discovered Harlan Coben’s page-turning thrillers, filled with his trademark edge-of-your-seat suspense and gut-wrenching emotion. In Fool Me Once, Coben once again outdoes himself. Former special ops pilot Maya, home from the war, sees an unthinkable image captured by her…

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Month in Review: October 2016

Here are my reading stats for October!  Books read: 15 Books I read:  The Things We Wish Were True — Marybeth Mayhew Whalen (audio book) Little Blue Blue — M.J. Arlidge (e-book) The Girl in the Castle — Santa Montefiore (audio book) Field of Graves — J.T. Ellison (audio book) In the Woods — Tana French A Kiss in the Snow — Susan Mallery (e-book) Summit Lake — Charlie Donlea…

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Short & Sweet Review: The Stonecutter by Camilla Lackberg (audio)

Title:The Stonecutter Author:Camilla Lackberg Series:Patrik Hedstrom /Fjallbacka, #3 Narrator:David Thorn Published:May 2012, HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Length:16 hours 58 minutes Source:Library The remote resort of Fjällbacka has seen its share of tragedy, though perhaps none worse than that of the little girl found in a fisherman’s net. But the post-mortem reveals that this is no case of accidental drowning… Local detective Patrik Hedström has just become a father.…

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Review: The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

Title:The Couple Next Door Author:Shari Lapena Published:August 2016, Pamela Dorman Books Format:ARC E-copy, 320 pages Source:Netalley   It all started at a dinner party. . . A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors—a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. . . Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in October 28

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   I feel like a broken record over here…I’m still sick with bronchitis – I can’t remember the last time I was this sick. I’ve been on so many different meds that now I just want to be off them all! The only good thing is that I am drinking so much water because of…

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Review: In the Woods by Tana French

Title:In the Woods Author:Tana French Series:Dublin Murder Squad, #1 Published:May 2008, Penguin Books Format:Paperback, 429 Source:Personal copy A gorgeously written novel that marks the debut of an astonishing new voice in psychological suspense. As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the…

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#FRC2016 Book Spotlight: The Next by Stephanie Gangi

Title:The Next Author:Stephanie Gangi Published:October 2016, St. Martin’s Press Format:Hardcover, 320 pages Is there a right way to die? If so, Joanna DeAngelis has it all wrong. She’s consumed by betrayal, spending her numbered days obsessing over Ned McGowan, her much younger ex, and watching him thrive in the spotlight with someone new, while she wastes away. She’s every woman scorned, fantasizing about revenge … except she’s out of time.…

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Review: The Girl in the Castle by Santa Montefiore (audio)

Title:The Girl in the Castle Author:Santa Montefiore Series:The Deverill Chronicles, #1 Narrator:Genevieve Swallow Published:September 2016, HarperAudio / William Morrow Paperbacks Length:17 hours 25 minutes / 576 pages Source:Personal copy via Audible / Publisher International sensation Santa Montefiore presents the first book in a trilogy that follows three Irish women through the decades of the 20th century – perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Hazel Gaynor. Born on the ninth…

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Short & Sweet Review: The Preacher by Camilla Lackberg (audio)

Title:The Preacher Author:Camilla Lackberg Series:Patrik Hedstrom (Fjallbacka), #2 Narrator:David Thorn Published:June 2011, HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books Length:15 hour 46 minutes Source:Personal copy via Audible In the fishing community of Fjällbacka, life is remote, peaceful, and for some, tragically short. Foul play was always suspected in the disappearance twenty years ago of two young campers, but their bodies were never found. But now, a young boy out playing has…

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Short & Sweet Review: Night & Day by Iris Johansen (audio)

Title:Night & Day Author:Iris Johansen Series:Eve Duncan, #21 Narrator:Elisabeth Rodgers Published:July 2016, Recorded Books Length:12 hours 3 minutes Source:Personal copy via Audible   From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes the explosive third book in the latest Eve Duncan trilogy. Iris Johansen’s third book in her latest explosive trilogy starring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan takes readers on a high-energy adventure with Eve fighting to overcome the odds. Protecting…

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Review: Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra

Title:Only Daughter Author:Anna Snoekstra Published:September 2016, MIRA  Format:Paperback, 288 pages Source:Publisher   In 2003, sixteen-year-old Rebecca Winter disappeared. She’d been enjoying her teenage summer break: working at a fast-food restaurant, crushing on an older boy and shoplifting with her best friend. Mysteriously ominous things began to happen—blood in the bed, periods of blackouts, a feeling of being watched—though Bec remained oblivious of what was to come. Eleven years later she…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in October 21

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   So I thought I was feeling better…boy was I wrong! I ended up at the doctor’s – twice and it turns out I have asthmatic bronchitis. Needless to say, while I did meet my step goals – it was from being home and walking the dogs. The one day I was feeling a little…

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Review: Nowhere Girl By Susan Strecker

Title:Nowhere Girl Author:Susan Strecker Published:March 2016, Thomas Dunne Books Format:ARC e-book, 304 pages Source:Netgalley via Publisher    “The day Savannah was killed she was fifteen minutes late to meet me.” So begins bookseller favorite Susan Strecker’s second novel of twin sisters and the murder that left one twin behind. Savannah was the popular bad girl skipping school and moving quickly from one boyfriend to the next, so when she didn’t…

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#FRC2016 Book Spotlight: The Witch House of Persimmon Point by Suzanne Palmieri

Title:The Witch House of Persimmon Point Author:Suzanne Palmieri Published:October 2016, St. Martin’s Griffin Format:Paperback, 400 pages When Byrd Whalen returns to her family’s ancestral home to uncover secrets threating to destroy a legacy she holds dear, she gets more than she bargained for. Over the course of one harrowing weekend, the dark haunted histories of the Amore women reveal themselves, leading Byrd to question everything she’s ever believed about herself.…

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Review: Field of Graves by J.T. Ellison (audio)

Title:Field of Graves Author:J.T. Ellison Series:Taylor Jackson, #8 Narrator:Joyce Bean Published:August 2016, Brilliance Audio Length:10 hours 7 minutes Source:Publisher With FIELD OF GRAVES, New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison goes back to where it all began… All of Nashville is on edge with a serial killer on the loose. A madman is trying to create his own end-of-days apocalypse and the cops trying to catch him are almost as…

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Review: Dear Amy by Helen Callaghan

Title:Dear Amy Author:Helen Callaghan Published:October 2016, Harper Paperbacks Format:Paperback, 352 pages Source:Publisher   Fans of Jennifer McMahon, Mary Kubica, and early Gillian Flynn will love this chilling, tightly-spun debut novel of psychological suspense about an abduction that stirs memories of a twenty-year-old cold case. As a thirty-something Classics and English literature teacher, working at a school in Cambridge, Margot Lewis leads a quiet life. In her spare time, she writes…

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Review: The Year We Turned Forty by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke (audio)

Title:The Year We Turned Forty Author:Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke Narrator:Lisa Larson Published:April 2016, Dreamscape Media LLC / Washington Square Press Length:11 hours 8 minutes / 322 pages Source:Library / Netgalley   If you could repeat one year of your life, what would you do differently? This heartwarming and hilarious novel from the authors of The Status of All Things and Your Perfect Life features three best friends who get…

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Review: As Time Goes By by Mary Higgins Clark (audio)

Title:As Time Goes By Author:Mary Higgins Clark Series:Alvirah & Willy, #10 Narrator:Jan Maxwell Published:April 2016, Simon& Schuster Audio Length:7 hours 32 minutes Source:Library   In this exciting thriller from Mary Higgins Clark, the #1 New York Times bestselling “Queen of Suspense,” a news reporter tries to find her birth mother just as she is assigned to cover the high-profile trial of a woman accused of murdering her wealthy husband. Television…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in October 14

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   I’m back from my vacation to Nova Scotia, Canada and I had so much fun! Even though my husband wasn’t able to go with me due at the last minute, it was still great getting to see my family. I didn’t do any sight-seeing but spent a lot of time hanging out with my…

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Review: The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen (audio)

Title:The Things We Wish Were True Author:Marybeth Mayhew Whalen Narrator:Taylor Ann Krahn Published:September 2016, Brilliance Audio Length:8 hours 16 minutes Source:Publisher   In an idyllic small-town neighborhood, a near tragedy triggers a series of dark revelations.   From the outside, Sycamore Glen, North Carolina, might look like the perfect all-American neighborhood. But behind the white picket fences lies a web of secrets that reach from house to house. Up and…

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#FRC2016 Book Spotlight: London Belongs to Me by Jacquelyn Middleton

Title: London Belongs to Me Author:Jacquelyn Middleton Published:October 2016, Kirkwall Books Format:Paperback, 394 pages   A New City A New Start. Same Old Demons. Alex Sinclair couldn’t jump on a plane fast enough. Broken from an unexpected betrayal, the twenty-one-year-old flees sunny Florida for the Britannia cool of London—home of her favourite TV shows, plays, and fangirl heroes. Alex believes London is where she belongs, where she’ll heal old wounds,…

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Review: What Doesn’t Kill Her by Carla Norton (audio)

Title: What Doesn’t Kill Her Author:Carla Norton Series:Reeve LeClaire, #2 Narrator:Christina Delaine Published:June 2015, Macmillan Audio / Minotaur Books Length:11 hours 22 minutes / 320 pages Source:Personal copy via Audible / Netgalley Reeve LeClaire is not a victim. Not anymore. After four years of being held captive by Daryl Wayne Flint, Reeve is finally getting her life back on track. Little does she know that Flint—imprisoned a top psychiatric hospital—has…

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#FRC2016 Book Spotlight: We Are Unprepared by Meg Little Reilly

Title:We Are Unprepared Author:Meg Little Reilly Published:August 2016, MIRA Format:Paperback, 352 pages We Are Unprepared is a novel about the next big storm, the one that changes our relationship to nature and each other…the superstorm that threatens to destroy a marriage, a rural Vermont town and the Eastern Seaboard when it hits. But the destruction begins months earlier, when fear infects people’s lives and spreads like a plague. Ash and…

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Review: Little Boy Blue by M.J. Arlidge

Title:Little Boy Blue Author:M.J. Arlidge Series:Helen Grace, #5 Published:October 2016, Berkley Format:ARC E-copy, 432 pages Source:Netgalley Detective Helen Grace faces her own dark compulsions in the twisty new thriller from the author of Pop Goes the Weasel and Eeny Meeny. In the darkest corners of the city, there is a thriving nightlife where people can let loose and cross the lines of work and play, of pleasure and pain. But…

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Review: The Life She Wants by Robyn Carr

Title:The Life She Wants Author:Robyn Carr Published:September 2016, MIRA Format:ARC Paperback, 368 pages Source:Publisher via Little Bird Publicity #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr creates an emotional and uplifting ensemble of characters in this rags-to-riches-to-rags novel about women, friendship and the complex path to happiness In the aftermath of her financier husband’s suicide, Emma Shay Compton’s dream life is shattered. Richard Compton stole his clients’ life savings to…

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Review: No Way Back: A DCI Helen Grace Short Story by M.J. Arlidge

Title: No Way Back: A DCI Helen Grace Short Story Author:M.J. Arlidge Published:August 2016, Penguin Format:E-book, 54 pages Source:Personal Copy Jodie’s arriving at her third children’s home. She’s only fifteen. Maybe this time will be different. She’ll be safe. Looked after. But the truth is Jodie has no one left to protect her. She must defend herself. She must change. My thoughts: I absolutely love M.J. Arlidge’s Helen Grace series…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in September 30

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   The crazy time at work has finally passed…our data reports have been sent off to the feds and now we just wait and see how we ended up doing. The good news is that now I can concentrate on not only my training for my big walk coming up in March, but even closer…

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Month in Review: September 2016

Here are my reading stats for September!   Books read: 12 Books I read:  The Night Stalker — Robert Bryndza (audio book) Before He Found Her — Michael Kardos (audio book) Triple Love Score — Brandi Megan Granett The Vanishing Year — Kate Moretti (e-book) Missing Pieces — Heather Gudenkauf (audio book) In Twenty Years — Allison Winn Scotch (audio book) Echo Lake — Carla Neggers (audio book) Only Daughter…

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#FRC2016 Review: Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale (audio)

Title:Everything We Keep Author:Kerry Lonsdale Narrator:Amy Landon Published:August 2016, Brilliance Audio / Lake Union Publishing Length:9 hours, 9 minutes / 306 pages Source:Publisher / Netgalley   Sous chef Aimee Tierney has the perfect recipe for the perfect life: marry her childhood sweetheart, raise a family, and buy out her parents’ restaurant. But when her fiancé, James Donato, vanishes in a boating accident, her well-baked future is swept out to sea.…

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Review: The Vanishing Year by Kate Moretti

Title:The Vanishing Year Author:Kate Moretti Published:September 2016, Atria Books Format:ARC E-book, 304 pages Source:Netgalley   Zoe Whittaker is living a charmed life. She is the beautiful young wife to handsome, charming Wall Street tycoon Henry Whittaker. She is a member of Manhattan’s social elite. She is on the board of one of the city’s most prestigious philanthropic organizations. She has a perfect Tribeca penthouse in the city and a gorgeous…

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Review: The Night Stalker by Robert Bryndza (audio)

Title:The Night Stalker Author:Robert Bryndza Series:DCI Erika Foster, #2 Narrator:Jan Cramer Published:June 2016, Bookouture Length:9 hours 38 minutes Source:Personal copy via Audible   If the Night Stalker is watching, you’re already dead… In the dead of a swelteringly hot summer’s night, Detective Erika Foster is called to a murder scene. The victim, a doctor, is found suffocated in bed. His wrists are bound and his eyes bulging through a clear…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check September 23

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   This is a really crazy time at work and I am definitely feeling all types of stress…so, I put my training on hold until for the time being. The last thing I need is to wind up really sick – and I know me, I definitely will if I push myself to do it…

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#FRC2016 Book Spotlight: Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris (Plus link to Review!)

Title:Behind Closed Doors Author:B.A. Paris Published:August 2016, St. Martin’s Press Format:Hardcover, 304 pages My review The 2016 debut bloggers can’t stop raving about. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train and The Ice Twins Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You might not want to like them, but you do. Though, you’d like to get to…

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Review: Triple Love Score by Brandi Megan Granett

Title:Triple Love Score Author:Brandi Megan Granett Published:September 2016, Wyatt-MacKensie Publishing Format:Paperback, 304 pages Source:Author via the Publicist What happens when you stop playing games?   Miranda Shane lives a quiet life among books and letters as a professor in a small upstate town. When the playing-by-the-rules poet throws out convention and begins to use a Scrabble board instead of paper to write, she sets off a chain of events that…

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