Always With a Book

k2reader October 2, 2024

The Doll’s House: A Short Story by Lisa Unger #bookreview #shortstory

I obtained this e-book through my Kindle Unlimited Subscription. Publisher: Amazon Original Stories Published: September 12, 2024 Summary: A widowed mother, ready to give love another chance, moves into her fiancé’s old family home with her teenage daughter. But as they try to build a future together, the past refuses to let go in this haunting short story from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger. When Jules first meets the handsome…

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k2reader October 1, 2024

The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose #bookreview #audiobook #holidayread #novella

Thank you Penguin Random House Audio,#partner for the advanced listening copy of The Mistletoe Mystery in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Published: October 1, 2024 Summary: Molly the Maid has a whole new mystery to solve in this heartwarming novella from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid and The Mystery Guest. Molly Gray has always loved the holidays. When Molly was a child,…

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k2reader September 30, 2024

The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Celadon Books #partner, for the advanced copy of The Sequel in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Celadon Books / Macmillan Audio Published: October 1, 2024 Summary: After the “insanely readable” (Stephen King) and “perfectly told” (Malcolm Gladwell) New York Times bestseller The Plot comes Jean Hanff Korelitz’s equally captivating new novel: The Sequel. Anna Williams-Bonner has taken care of business—that is to say, she’s taken…

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k2reader September 30, 2024

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Marysue Rucci Books #partner, for the advanced copy of The Night We Lost Him in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Marysue Rucci Books / Simon and Schuster Audio Published: September 17, 2024 Summary: Estranged siblings discover their father has been keeping a secret for over fifty years, one that may have been fatal… Liam Noone was many things…

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k2reader September 30, 2024

Nothing Ever Happens Here by Seraphina Nova Glass #bookreview

Thank you to Thrillerbookloversthepulse, Graydon House, #partner, for an advanced e-copy of Nothing Ever Happens Here in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Graydon House Published: February 11, 2025 Summary: Nothing ever happens in small towns… When Shelby Dawson survives a harrowing attack that should have left her dead, she tries to move past it—for herself, and for her family. Fifteen months later, with the help of her best…

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k2reader September 29, 2024

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Penguin Random House Audio for the ALC and Berkley Pub, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of The Hitchcock Hotel in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Berkley / PRH Audio Published: September 24, 2024 Summary: A Hitchcock fanatic with an agenda invites old friends for a weekend stay at his secluded themed hotel in this fiendishly clever, suspenseful new novel. Alfred Smettle is not your average Hitchcock fan.…

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k2reader September 29, 2024

Once More from the Top by Emily Layden #bookreview

Thank you to Mariner Books, #partner, for an advanced e-copy of Once More from the Top in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Mariner Books Published: September 10, 2024 Summary: A propulsive, layered novel about the meteoric rise of a legendary pop star and the secret she’s kept hidden for fifteen years, for fans of Megan Abbott and Daisy Jones & the Six. Everyone in America knows Dylan Read,…

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k2reader September 25, 2024

The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy #bookreview

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons, #partner, for an advanced copy of The Christmas Countdown in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Published: October 22, 2024 Summary: From the author of The Christmas Wager comes a charming holiday rom-com about a young, recently heartbroken woman who is tasked by her sister to complete Advent calendar challenges in the lead up to Christmas to reignite her belief in herself, the…

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k2reader September 24, 2024

Enemy of the State by Robert Swartwood #bookreview #audiobook #bookseries

Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers The Pulse, Blackstone Publishing, #partner, for an ALC of Enemy of the State in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Blackstone Publishing Published: August 20, 2024 Summary: From USA Today bestselling author Robert Swartwood comes Enemy of the State, the propulsive, thrilling, and much anticipated follow-up to The Killing Room … The world believed Daniel Burke was dead. At least, the few people in the…

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k2reader September 23, 2024

Hometown Vendetta by Traci Hunter Abramson #bookfeature #upcomingrelease

Thank you to the author for the gifted copy. Today, I’m featuring a book that is coming out next week. I met Traci back in May at Thrillerfest and then had the opportunity to actually spend some time with her last month at Bouchercon. I am thrilled to have this opportunity not only to have my hands on her latest book, but to help spread the word!!! This is the…

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k2reader September 16, 2024

The Summer of Love and Death by Marcy McCreary #bookfeature #guestpost

Thank you to the author for the gifted copy. Please join me in welcoming Marcy McCreary to Always With a Book. Marcy’s latest book, The Summer of Love and Death, came out last month. I hope to read it soon, but for now, please enjoy this guest post where she discusses how she came up with the title – something she is often asked at book events. Publisher: CamCat Books…

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k2reader September 16, 2024

The Examiner by Janice Hallett #bookreview

Thank you Atria Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Examiner in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Atria Books Published: September 10, 2024 Summary: Told in emails, text messages, and essays, this innovative pause-resister follows a group of students in an art master’s program that goes dangerously awry, from the internationally bestselling “new queen of crime” (Electric Literature) Janice Hallett. Gela Nathaniel, head of Royal Hastings University’s new…

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k2reader September 15, 2024

Month in Review: August 2024

August was a month of adjustments as we brought home 2 new puppies! Welcome chaos!!! It’s been fun but hectic and I have never been so tired in my life! The puppies are super cute but can also be demons…but we love them anyway. Our older dog isn’t quite a fan just yet…hopefully once the puppies are a bit bigger, she will be more amenable to them! Needless to…

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k2reader September 13, 2024

Death at the Sanatorium by Ragnar Jonasson #bookreview #translatedbook

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Death at the Sanatorium in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Minotaur Books Published: September 10, 2024 Summary: Fresh off his career-changing standalone co-written with Icelandic PM, Reykjavík, #1 Icelandic bestseller Jonasson presents a riveting new thriller spinoff from The Darkness, soon to be a TV series. 1983 At a former sanatorium in the north of Iceland, now a hospital ward,…

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k2reader September 12, 2024

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Penguin Random House Audio for the ALC and Berkley Pub, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of So Thirsty in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Berkley / PRH Audio Published: September 10, 2024 Summary: A woman must learn to take life by the throat after a night out leads to irrevocable changes in this juicy, thrilling novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth and Black Sheep.…

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k2reader September 12, 2024

On the Run by Iris Johansen #bookreview #audiobook #bookseries

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC and @NovelSuspects & Grand Central Publishing, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of On the Run in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Grand Central Publishing / Hachette Audio Published: September 3, 2024 Summary: #1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen introduces a bold new heroine—and her search-and-rescue dog—as Kira Drake begins an international search for an elusive killer. Kira Drake has come to Paris…

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k2reader September 9, 2024

Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Agony Hill in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my collection. Publisher: Minotaur Books / Brilliance Audio Published: August 6, 2024 Summary: Set in rural Vermont in the volatile 1960s, Agony Hill is the first novel in a new historical series full of vivid New England atmosphere and the deeply drawn characters that are Sarah Stewart Taylor’s…

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k2reader September 9, 2024

Mud Season by Sarah Stewart Taylor #bookreview #shortstory

I obtained this e-book through my Kindle Unlimited Subscription. Publisher: Minotaur Books Published: June 11, 2024 Summary: Enter the world of 1960s Bethany, Vermont in this suspenseful short story featuring characters from the forthcoming Agony Hill. It’s mud season in Bethany, Vermont. As spring nears, the thawing ground and melting snow-pack has created muddy, impassable roads. It’s not unusual to see a driver pushing their car or going for help.…

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k2reader September 8, 2024

Flashback by Iris Johansen #bookreview #audiobook #bookseries

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC and Grand Central Publishing, #partner, for the finished copy of Flashback in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Grand Central Publishing / Hachette Audio Published: June 25, 2024 Summary: Kendra Michaels uses her heightened powers of deduction to draw out a serial killer who has not been seen or heard from in over fifteen years. Chloe and Sloane Morgan were only children when…

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k2reader September 8, 2024

The Return by Rachel Harrison #bookreview #audiobook #bookclubbook

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: Penguin Audio Published: March 24, 2020 Summary: A group of friends reunite after one of them has returned from a mysterious two-year disappearance in this edgy and haunting debut. Julie is missing, and no one believes she will ever return – except Elise. Elise knows Julie better than anyone, and feels it in her bones that her best friend is out…

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k2reader September 6, 2024

Dangerous Play by Elise Hart Kipness #bookreview #bookseries

Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers The Pulse, Thomas & Mercer, #partner, for an advanced e- copy of Dangerous Play in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Published: September 17, 2024 Summary: After a tumultuous murder case that almost cost more than her job, sports reporter Kate Green is back on assignment covering women’s Olympic soccer. Between her experience with athletic stardom and days playing with Savannah Baker, head…

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k2reader September 5, 2024

Talking to Strangers by Fiona Barton #bookreview #audiobook #blogtour #bookseries

Thank you Berkley Books, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of Talking to Strangers in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio Published: August 27, 2024 Summary: Detective Elise King’s investigation into a woman’s murder is getting derailed by a reporter who insists on doing her own investigation in this nail-biting mystery from the author of Local Gone Missing.…

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k2reader September 4, 2024

Between Lies and Revenge by Hannah D. Sharpe #bookfeature #authorinterview

Thank you to Rising Action, #partner, for an advanced e- copy of Between Lies and Revenge in exchange for this feature. Today, I’m happy to be featuring this book, which published yesterday. I have already read and reviewed this book – spoiler alert…I really enjoyed it and you can read my review here! I also have an interview to share that was done with the author. Publisher: Rising Action Published: September 3,…

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k2reader August 27, 2024

The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Scribner #partner, for the advanced copy of The Same Bright Stars in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my collection. Publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: July 2, 2024 Summary: Three generations of Schmidts have run their family’s beachfront restaurant, and Jack has been at the helm since his father’s death. He puts the demands of the restaurant above all else, with…

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k2reader August 26, 2024

A World of Hurt by Mindy Mejia #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Recorded Books, for the ALC and @NovelSuspects & Atlantic Monthly, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of A World of Hurt in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press / Recorded Books Published: August 6, 2024 Summary: When someone dies to save your life, how do you ever forgive them? A World of Hurt is Mindy Mejia’s highly-anticipated follow-up to the “propulsive” USA Today…

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k2reader August 23, 2024

The Women by Kristin Hannah #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the finished copy of The Women in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: February 6, 2024 Summary: Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative…

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k2reader August 22, 2024

Running Cold by Susan Walter #bookreview

Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers The Pulse, #partner, and the author for an advanced e- copy and print copy of Running Cold in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Lake Union Publishing Published: October 8, 2024 Summary: In this heart-pounding story of deception, murder, and survival, a former Olympian retreats to the Canadian wilderness for a fresh start, only to find out that the past will always catch up to…

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k2reader August 22, 2024

The Chamber by Will Dean #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Atria Books #partner, for the advanced copy of The Chamber in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Atria Books / Simon & Schuster ALC Published: August 6, 2024 Summary: And Then There Were None meets The Last Breath in this tense and suspenseful locked-room thriller that takes place inside a hyperbaric chamber from the author of the “brilliant, twisted, and oh so…

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k2reader August 19, 2024

Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Brilliance Audio for the ALC and Over The River PR, #partner, for the advanced copy of Dear Hanna in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Thomas & Mercer / Brilliance Audio Published: August 13, 2024 Summary: Zoje Stage delivers another knockout with a blood-chilling follow-up to international sensation Baby Teeth, taking readers back into the unsteady world of a young sociopath who’s all grown up. Hanna is no…

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k2reader August 19, 2024

The Night Flowers by Sara Herchenroether #bookreview

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Tin House Books Published: May 2, 2023 Summary: In 1983, deep in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest, the bodies of a young woman and two children were found. Who were they? How did they get there? Thirty years later, two women find themselves drawn to the cold case. Librarian Laura MacDonald begins her own investigation as a way to…

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k2reader August 16, 2024

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Macmillan Audio, for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the advanced copy of House of Glass in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: August 6, 2024 Summary: On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie. A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed?…

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k2reader August 12, 2024

Month in Review: July 2024

It was a weird July. I managed to get a lot of reading time in, mostly via audiobooks but that’s because I was home a lot. Life is chaotic right now and we are adjusting to a lot of changes. And there are more to come…wait until next month’s update! I am really trying to get caught up with my reviews and my Goodreads reading log. I am trying…

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k2reader August 11, 2024

Jackie by Dawn Tripp #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Goodreads /Random House #partner, for the advanced copy of Jackie in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Random House Published: June 18, 2024 Summary: In this mesmerizing novel about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, acclaimed author Dawn Tripp has crafted an intimate story of love and power, family and tragedy, loss and reinvention. The world has divided my life into three: Life…

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k2reader August 9, 2024

The Kill List by Nadine Matheson #bookreview #series

Thank you Hanover Square Press/Netgalley, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Kill List in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Hanover Square Press Published: August 6, 2024 Summary: He will come for them, one by one…Five shocking murders Twenty-five years ago, DCI Harry Rhimes arrested Andrew Streeter for the brutal murders of five young people. Streeter’s ‘kill list’ of victims was found in his home, and he was convicted…

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k2reader August 4, 2024

Thicker Than Water: A Memoir by Kerry Washington #bookreview #audiobook

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: Little, Brown Spark Published: September 26, 2023 Summary: Award-winning actor, director, producer, and activist Kerry Washington shares the “exquisitely moving” journey of her life so far (Isabel Wilkerson), and the bravely intimate story of discovering her truth. While on a drive in Los Angeles, on a seemingly average afternoon, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a…

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k2reader August 4, 2024

A Happier Life by Kristy Woodson Harvey #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Uplit Reads / Gallery Books #partner, for the advanced copy of A Happier Life in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Gallery Books / Simon and Schuster Audio Published: June 25, 2024 Summary: Present Day: Keaton Smith is desperate for a fresh start. So when her mother needs someone to put her childhood home in Beaufort, North Carolina, on…

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k2reader August 3, 2024

Fire and Bones by Kathy Reichs #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Scribner Books #partner, for the finished copy of Fire and Bones in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Scribner Books / Simon and Schuster Audio Published: August 6, 2024 Summary: It’s never easy working fire scenes. Called to Washington, DC to analyse the victims of a mysterious arson attack, Tempe quickly finds her misgivings justified. The fire site is in…

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k2reader August 3, 2024

The House on Cold Creek Lane by Liz Alterman #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the ALC and ThrillerBookLovers The Pulse, Severn House, #partner, for an advanced e- copy of The House on Cold Creek Lane in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Severn House / Dreamscape Media Published: August 6, 2024 Summary: An unflinching examination of motherhood and the dark side of domesticity set against a suburban backdrop that’s anything but blissful. This twisty tale invites readers…

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k2reader July 31, 2024

The Second Mrs. Strom by Kaira Rouda #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers The Pulse, Bookouture, #partner, for an advanced e- copy and ALC of The Second Mrs. Strom in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Bookouture Published: August 16, 2024 Summary: I don’t want the perfect marriage. I want revenge… If you had met me a year ago, you wouldn’t have noticed me. A beautiful woman, but a struggling nobody in a tiny apartment, invisible… Meeting Paul…

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k2reader July 31, 2024

Between Lies and Revenge by Hannah D. Sharpe #bookreview

Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers The Pulse, Rising Action, #partner, for an advanced e- copy of Between Lies and Revenge in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Rising Action Published: September 3, 2024 Summary: For fans of Megan Miranda and Sally Hepworth, BETWEEN LIES AND REVENGE by Hannah D Sharpe is a gripping debut of domestic suspense, where a daring jewel heist becomes a lifeline for two women entangled in…

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k2reader July 30, 2024

Shades of Mercy by Bruce Borgos #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Shades of Mercy in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Minotaur Books / Recorded Books Published: July 16, 2024 Summary: In the usually quiet high desert of Nevada, Sheriff Porter Beck faces one of his greatest challenges—a series of unlikely, disturbing and increasingly deadly events of unknown origins. Porter Beck is the…

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k2reader July 30, 2024

Pub Day Reviews – Thriller Edition #bookreviews #thrillers #mysterythrillers

Thank you PRH Audio, partner for the ALC of What Have You Done and Knopf, partner for the advanced e-copy of Like Mother, Like Daughter in exchange for my honest reviews. It’s been a while since I’ve read either of these authors & I’m not sure why…but after flying through both these books, you can bet I’ll be checking out both authors’ backlist to see what I missed! ⁣…

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k2reader July 30, 2024

All This & More by Peng Shepherd #bookreview

Thank you William Morrow, #partner, for the finished copy of All This & More in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: William Morrow Published: July 9, 2024 Summary: From the critically acclaimed, bestselling author of The Cartographers and The Book of M comes an inventive new novel about a woman who wins the chance to rewrite every mistake she’s ever made… and how far she’ll go to find her elusive “happily ever after.” But…

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k2reader July 28, 2024

The Haters by Robyn Harding #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC and @NovelSuspects & Grand Central Publishing, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Haters in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Grand Central Publishing / Hachette Audio Published: July 2, 2024 Summary: The bestselling author of The Party and The Drowning Woman returns with a twisted tale of fame, obsession, and the dark recesses of social media. Camryn Lane is living her dream. After years of struggle…

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k2reader July 25, 2024

Shadowheart by Meg Gardiner #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Blackstone Publishing, #partner for both the ALC and advanced copy of Shadowheart in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Blackstone Publishing / Blackstone Publishing Published: June 18, 2024 Summary: What happens when two serial killers begin to compete with each other? From #1 New York Times bestselling author Meg Gardiner comes a new high-octane thriller in the acclaimed UNSUB series. FBI Special Agent Caitlin Hendrix faces a case from…

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k2reader July 23, 2024

Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton #bookreview #audiobook #series

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Berkley / Blackstone Audio Published: February 6, 2018 Summary: After the death of her beloved grandmother, a Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity–and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution… Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of…

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k2reader July 23, 2024

The Lost Victim by Robert Bryndza #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Netgalley, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Lost Victim in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Raven Street Publishing / Raven Street Publishing Published: July 11, 2024 Summary: When school girl Janey Macklin disappeared from the seedy side of London in 1988, her case went cold, with no body and no witnesses. Now, thirty years later, private detective…

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k2reader July 23, 2024

Trust Her by Flynn Berry #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you PRH Audio for the ALC and Viking #partner, for the advanced copy of Trust Her in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Viking / Penguin Audio Published: June 25, 2024 Summary: Two sisters find they can’t outrun their past in the riveting new thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Northern Spy Three years after they narrowly escaped the IRA’s worst punishment for informing, Northern…

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k2reader July 18, 2024

The Last Party by A.R. Torre #bookreview

Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers The Pulse, Thomas & Mercer, #partner, for an advanced e- copy of The Last Party in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Published: August 20, 2024 Summary: A loving mother. A notorious murderer. They both have reasons to hide their secrets in a novel of escalating shock and suspense by New York Times bestselling author A. R. Torre. Perla Wultz lives with her husband,…

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k2reader July 18, 2024

The Altar Girls by Patricia Gibney #bookreview #audiobook #series

I purchased this audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Bookouture Published: November 9, 2023 Summary: The little girl looked like an angel in her thin white robe, her long black hair spread around her head like a dark halo on the snow. Her hands rested on her chest, fingers interlaced as if she had fallen asleep while praying. But she would never wake up again… When Detective Lottie Parker receives…

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