Review: Girl Gone Mad by Avery Bishop

Title: Girl Gone Mad Author: Avery Bishop Published: September 2020, Lake Union Publishing Format: ARC Paperback, 412 pages Source: Publicist Summary:  They say everything is fun and games until someone gets hurt. Well, someone did—and now the game has changed… Emily Bennett works as a therapist in Pennsylvania, helping children overcome their troubled pasts—even as she struggles to forget her own. Once upon a time, Emily was part of a…

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Book Feature: Amazon Original Stories: Out of Line

Amazon Original Stories, an imprint of Amazon Publishing, is pleased to present OUT OF LINE: Women on the Verge of a Breakthrough. What happens when women step out of line and take control of their own stories? Big fears, small frustrations, and power of hope collide as seven award-winning authors explore the possibilities. From demanding equal pay to resisting a genetically engineered future, this collection offers up visions that are…

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Month in Review: August 2020

It was another good reading month and I am continuing to be content staying home and reading my books. I am looking forward to the cooler weather, though I do still plan on reading outside as much as I can – I’m totally fine wearing a sweater and scarf! As long as it’s not raining or snowing, I will be outside either on the deck or my front porch, with…

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Review: White Out by Danielle Girard

Title: White Out Author: Danielle Girard Series: Badlands Thriller, #1 Published: August 2020, Thomas & Mercer Format: ARC Paperback, 364 pages Source: Author Summary:  After surviving a car accident on an icy road in Hagen, North Dakota, Lily Baker regains consciousness with no idea where or who she is. Scattered Bible verses and the image of a man lying in a pool of blood haunt her memory. The same night…

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Blog Tour Stop & Excerpt: The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim – I have an excerpt for you to read thanks to Park Row.  Title: The Last Story of Mina Lee Author: Nancy Jooyoun Kim Published: September 2020, Park Row Format: Hardcover, 384 pages Summary:  A poignant mother-daughter story and surprising mystery, The Last Story of Mina…

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Review: The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis

Title: The Lions of Fifth Avenue Author: Fiona Davis Published: August 2020, Dutton Books Format: ARC E-copy, 368 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  A Good Morning America Book Club Pick! “A page-turner for booklovers everywhere! . . . A story of family ties, their lost dreams, and the redemption that comes from discovering truth.”—Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of The Shoemaker’s Wife In nationally bestselling author Fiona Davis’s latest historical…

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Review: Hidden Bones by Vivian Barz (audio)

Title: Hidden Bones Author: Vivian Barz Series: Dead Remaining, #2 Narrator: Julie McKay Published: August 2020, Brilliance Audio Length: 7 hours 33 minutes Source: Publisher Summary: Amazon Charts bestselling author Vivian Barz pits Susan Marlan and Eric Evans against a new menacing adversary in this suspenseful sequel to her acclaimed debut, Forgotten Bones.   Two months have passed, and the horrors of Death Farm still torment police officer Susan Marlan…

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Blog Tour & Review: When I Was You by Amber Garza

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for the When I Was You by Amber Garza. Thank you MIRA for inviting me to participate.  Title: When I Was You Author: Amber Garza Published: August 2020, MIRA Format: ARC E-copy, 384 pages Source:Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  You meets Fatal Attraction in this up-all-night story of suspicion, obsession and motherhood. It all begins on an ordinary…

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Review: The Friendship List by Susan Mallery

Title: The Friendship List Author: Susan Mallery Published: August 2020, HQN Format: Hardcover, 384 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  [ ] Dance till dawn [ ] Go skydiving [ ] Wear a bikini in public [ ] Start living   Two best friends jump-start their lives in a summer that will change them forever… Single mom Ellen Fox couldn’t be more content—until she overhears her son saying he can’t go to…

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Book Club Picks/Mini Reviews: Paradise Books 1 & 2 by Elin Hilderbrand

I was excited when I heard my book club had selected Winter in Paradise and What Happens in Paradise, the first two book in Elin Hilderbrand’s Paradise trilogy. Yes, I had already read (or actually listened to) these books when they first came out, but I figured this was the perfect opportunity for me to reread them and be ready for when the third book came out later this year. …

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Review: The Woods by Vanessa Savage

Title: The Woods Author: Vanessa Savage Published: August 2020, Grand Central Publishing Format: ARC Paperback, 384 pages Source: Publisher   Summary:  Two girls went down to the woods… But only one came back There’s a lot from Tess’s childhood that she would rather forget. The family who moved next door and brought chaos to their quiet lives. The two girls who were murdered, their killer never found. But the only…

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Review: The Daughters of Foxcote Manor by Eve Chase

Title: The Daughters of Foxcote Manor Author: Eve Chase Published: July 2020, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Format: ARC E-copy, 386 pages Source: Netgalley Summary:  Readers of Lisa Jewell and Simone St. James will delight in this haunting, touching story of mothers, daughters, and belonging–and the devastating lies families tell themselves in order to survive. An isolated forest estate. A family with a terrible secret. The discovery that changes everything. England, 1970.…

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Review: Betty by Tiffany McDaniel

Title: Betty Author: Tiffany McDaniel Published: August 2020, Knopf Format: ARC E-copy, 480 pages Source: Netgalley via Author   Summary:  A stunning, lyrical novel set in the rolling foothills of the Appalachians in which a young girl discovers stark truths that will haunt her for the rest of her life. “A girl comes of age against the knife.” So begins the story of Betty Carpenter. Born in a bathtub in…

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Review: Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams

  Title: Her Last Flight Author: Beatriz Williams Published: June 2020, William Morrow Format: Hardcover, 400 pages Source: Publisher via TLC BookTours   Summary:  In 1947, photographer and war correspondent Janey Everett arrives at a remote surfing village on the Hawaiian island of Kauai to research a planned biography of forgotten aviation pioneer Sam Mallory, who joined the loyalist forces in the Spanish Civil War and never returned. Obsessed with…

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Review: The Heatwave by Kate Riordan (audio)

Title: The Heatwave Author: Kate Riordan Narrator: Miranda Raison Published: August 2020, Hachette Audio / Grand Central Publishing Length: 8 hours 46 minutes / 352 pages Source: Audio –  ALC via Libro.fm / Print – ARC Paperback via Publisher Summary: “A sultry, gorgeously written and hugely atmospheric thriller with a dark, compelling mystery at its heart.”-Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author of The Hunting Party and The Guest List…

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Book Tour Stop & Excerpt: The Dazzling Truth by Helen Cullen

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for The Dazzling Truth by Helen Cullen – I have an excerpt for you to read thanks to Graydon House. Title: The Dazzling Truth Author: Helen Cullen Published: August 2020, Graydon House Format: Paperback, 384 pages Summary:  One Irish family. Three decades. One dazzling story. In the courtyards of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1978, aspiring actress Maeve…

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Review: Until I Find You by Rea Frey

Title: Until I Find You Author: Rea Frey Published: August 2020, St. Martin’s Griffin Format: ARC E-copy, 320 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  In Until I Find You, celebrated author Rea Frey brings you her most explosive, emotional, taut domestic drama yet about the powerful bond between mothers and children…and how far one woman will go to bring her son home.  “Frey is a rising star in the suspense scene” –…

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Blog Tour & Giveaway: Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman

Earlier this month, Ellen Feldman’s latest novel, Paris Never Leaves You, was published. I’m so happy to be participating on the blog tour for this book and am excited to be able to host a giveaway for one lucky reader. I just finished reading the book and posted my review earlier today – you can find my review here.   Read on to see what others have to say and…

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Blog Tour & Review: Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for Paris Never Leaves You by Ellen Feldman. Thank you St. Martin’s Griffin for inviting me to participate. Title: Paris Never Leaves You Author: Ellen Feldman Published: August 2020, St. Martin’s Griffin Format: ARC E-copy, 368 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary: Living through WWII working in a Paris bookstore with her young daughter, Vivi, and fighting…

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Review: What You Wish For by Katherine Center

Title: What You Wish For Author: Katherine Center Published: July 2020, St. Martin’s Press Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  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…

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Blog Tour & Review: The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for the The Night Swim by Megan Goldin. Thank you St. Martin’s Press for inviting me to participate. Title: The Night Swim Author: Megan Goldin Published: August 2020, St. Martin’s Press Format: ARC Paperback, 352 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  In this new thriller from the author of The Escape Room, a podcast host covering a controversial trial…

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Review: Family for Beginners by Sarah Morgan

Title: Family for Beginners Author: Sarah Morgan Published: May 2020, HQN Books Format: Paperback, 368 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  New York florist Flora Donovan is living the dream, but her bubbly optimism hides a secret. She’s lonely. Orphaned as a child, she’s never felt like she’s belonged anywhere…until she meets Jack Parker. He’s the first man to ever really see her, and it’s life changing. Teenager Izzy Parker is holding…

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Blog Tour & Review: Lies Lies Lies by Adele Parks

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for the Lies Lies Lies by Adele Parks. Thank you MIRA for inviting me to participate.  Title: Lies Lies Lies Author: Adele Parks Published: August 2020, MIRA Format: ARC E-copy, 384 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  Daisy and Simon’s marriage isn’t what it seems… After years together, the arrival of longed-for daughter Millie sealed everything in…

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Short & Sweet Review: The First Lady by James Patterson

Title: The First Lady Author: James Patterson Published: March 2019, Grand Central Publishing Format: Paperback, 368 pages Source: Personal copy Summary:  From the world’s #1 bestselling writer comes a book that takes politics and mixes it with suspense creating a must-read thriller. Sally Grissom is a top secret service agent in charge of the Presidential Protection team. She knows that something is amiss when she is summoned to a private…

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Review: Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis

Title: Dear Emmie Blue Author: Lia Louis Published: July 2020, Atria/Emily Bestler Books Format: ARC E-copy, 311 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  In this charming and poignant novel, teenager Emmie Blue releases a balloon with her email address and a big secret into the sky, only to fall head-over-heels for the boy who finds it; now, fourteen years later, the one thing Emmie has been counting on is gone…

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Blog Tour & Review: Louisiana Lucky by Julie Pennell

Title: Louisiana Lucky Author: Julie Pennell Published: August 2020, Atria/Emily Bestler Books Format: ARC E-copy, 320 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  From the critically acclaimed author of The Young Wives Club, a “heartwarming story about friendship, heartache, and self-discovery” (Karen White, New York Times bestselling author), comes a charming novel reminiscent of the works of Mary Alice Monroe and Kristy Woodson Harvey, about three sisters who win a huge…

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Review: The Son by Jo Nesbo

Title: The Son Author: Jo Nesbo Published: January 2015, Vintage Crime/Black Lizard (1st published March 2014) Format: Paperback, 512 pages Source: Personal copy Summary:  The author of the best-selling Harry Hole series now gives us an electrifying tale of vengeance set amid Oslo’s brutal hierarchy of corruption.   Sonny Lofthus has been in prison for almost half his life: serving time for crimes he didn’t commit. In exchange, he gets…

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Review: The First to Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Title: The First to Lie Author: Hank Phillippi Ryan Published: August 2020, Forge Books Format: ARC Paperback, 352 pages Source: Publisher/Publicist Summary:  Bestselling and award-winning author and investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan delivers another twisty, thrilling cat and mouse novel of suspense that will have you guessing, and second-guessing, and then gasping with surprise. We all have our reasons for being who we are—but what if being someone else could…

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Review: The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard (audio)

Title: The Nothing Man Author: Catherine Ryan Howard Narrator: Alana Kerr Collins, John Keating Published: August 2020, Blackstone Publishing Length: 9 hours 57 minutes Source: Netgalley audio Summary: At the age of twelve, Eve Black was the only member of her family to survive an encounter with serial attacker the Nothing Man. Now an adult, she is obsessed with identifying the man who destroyed her life. Supermarket security guard Jim…

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Blog Tour & Review: Someone’s Listening by Seraphina Nova Glass

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for the Someone’s Listening by Seraphina Nova Glass. Thank you Graydon House for inviting me to participate.  Title: Someone’s Listening Author: Seraphina Nova Glass Published: July 2020, Graydon House Format: ARC E-copy, 352 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  She wrote the book on escaping a predator… Now one is coming for her. Faith Finley has it…

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Month in Review: July 2020

It was certainly a good reading month – MY BEST EVER! Yes, things have slowly been going back to normal, but I for the most part am still content staying home. We are no where close to this pandemic being over and while the numbers in my area are pretty good, they are not at zero. I have a few people I see, but I actually don’t mind staying home…

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Review: Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

Title: Home Before Dark Author: Riley Sager Published: June 2020, Dutton Books Format: ARC E-copy, 384 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  What was it like? Living in that house. Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of…

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Blog Tour & Review: Behind the Red Door by Megan Collins

Title: Behind the Red Door Author: Megan Collins Published: August 2020, Atria Books Format: ARC E-copy, 320 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  The author of the “suspenseful, atmospheric, and completely riveting” (Megan Miranda, New York Times bestselling author) debut The Winter Sister returns with a darkly thrilling novel about a woman who comes to believe that she has a connection to a decades old kidnapping and now that the…

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Book Feature & Review: Amazon Original Stories: Hush

Amazon Original Stories, an imprint of Amazon Publishing, is pleased to present HUSH, six stories exploring a web of lies. Where do you go for truth in an age of social media illusions and deep divisions? How do you trust what you think you know about your friends and family? In stories featuring conspirators, psychics, deceptive lovers, and desperate killers, some of today’s most popular and award-winning crime writers explore…

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Review: The Wife Who Knew Too Much by Michele Campbell

Title: The Wife Who Knew Too Much Author: Michele Campbell Published: July 2020, St. Martin’s Press Format: ARC E-copy, 352 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  From Michele Campbell, the bestselling author of It’s Always the Husband comes a new blockbuster thriller in The Wife Who Knew Too Much. Tabitha Girard had her heart broken years ago by Connor Ford. He was preppy and handsome. She was a pool girl…

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Review: Left for Dead by Caroline Mitchell (audio)

Title: Left for Dead Author: Caroline Mitchell Series: DI Amy Winter, #3 Narrator: Elizabeth Knowelden Published: July 2020, Brilliance Audio Length: 10 hours 4 minutes Source: Publisher Summary: A victim on display. A detective on the rails. Shopping with her sister, DI Amy Winter is admiring a Valentine’s Day window display of a perfect bride encrusted in diamonds and resplendent in lace—until she notices blood oozing from the mannequin’s mouth.…

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Book Spotlight: The Fate of a Flapper by Susanna Calkins

Today, Susanna Calkins’s latest novel, The Fate of a Flapper, is being published and to celebrate, I’m helping the publisher get the word out. This is the second book in her Speakeasy Murders series, a series set in 1920s Chicago.  Title: The Fate of a Flapper Author: Susanna Calkin Series: The Speakeasy Murders, #2 Published: July 2020, St. Martin’s Griffin Format: Paperback, 320 pages Summary:  The Fate of a Flapper,…

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Review: His & Hers by Alice Feeney (audio)

Title: His & Hers Author: Alice Feeney Narrator: Richard Armitage, Stephanie Racine Published: July 2020, Macmillan Audio / Flatiron Books Length: 10 hours 38 minutes / 304 pages Source: Audio – ALC via Libro.fm / Print – ARC E-galley from Publisher Summary: There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying.    Anna Andrews finally has what…

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Cover Review: Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig

I am so excited to help Lauren Willig spread the news today about her newest book – and share the cover!!! I love reading historical fiction and Lauren’s previous books have been so good. I am so excited to read this one.This book will be released March 2, 2021, but you can pre-order now. See the pre-order link below.   Title: Band of Sisters Author: Lauren Willig Published: On Sale…

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Review: You Can’t Catch Me by Catherine McKenzie (audio)

Title: You Can’t Catch Me Author: Catherine McKenzie Narrator: Julia Whelan Published: June 2020, Brilliance Audio Length: 8 hours 35 minutes Source: Publisher Summary: When the game is deception, nothing is as it seems in this novel of cunning psychological suspense by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of I’ll Never Tell.   Do you want to play a game? Twelve years ago Jessica Williams escaped a cult. Thanks to…

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Blog Tour & Review: The Woman Before Wallis by Bryn Turnbull

Today, I’m so happy to be a tour stop on the blog tour for the The Woman Before Wallis by Bryn Turnbull. Thank you MIRA for inviting me to participate. Title: The Woman Before Wallis: A Novel of Windsors, Vanderbilts, & Royal Scandal Author: Bryn Turnball Published: July 2020, MIRA Format: ARC E-copy, 416 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  For fans of The Paris Wife and The Crown ,…

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Review: The Switch by Beth O’Leary (audio)

Title: The Switch Author: Beth O’Leary Narrator: Alison Steadman, Daisy Edgar-Jones Published: August 2020, Macmillan Audio Length: 10 hours 11 minutes Source: Netgalley Summary: A grandmother and granddaughter swap lives in The Switch, a charming, romantic novel by Beth O’Leary, who has been hailed as “the new Jojo Moyes” (Cosmopolitan UK)…  When overachiever Leena Cotton is ordered to take a two-month sabbatical after blowing a big presentation at work, she…

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Review: The Cuckoo’s Cry by Caroline Overington (audio)

Title: The Cuckoo’s Cry Author: Caroline Overington Narrator: Aimee Horne Published: July 2020, Audible Original Length: 4 hours 43 minutes Source: Personal copy Summary: On the eve of the global lockdown, Don Barlow opens the door of his old beachside cottage to find a pretty girl with pink-tipped hair, claiming to have nowhere to go. He allows her entry, and so begins a mystery set in unprecedented times: with the…

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Review: A Woman Alone by Nina Laurin

Title: A Woman Alone Author: Nina Laurin Published: June 2020, Grand Central Publishing Format: Paperback, 336 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  A high-stakes, pulse-pounding thriller from the bestselling author of Girl Last Seen. A year after a brutal home invasion that left her traumatized, Cecelia, along with her husband and their three-year-old daughter, move into a new house with a complex security system that is supposed to make her feel safe.…

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Review: The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley

Title: The Butterfly Room Author: Lucinda Riley Published: July 2020 (First published May 2019), Blue Box Press Format: ARC E-copy, 403 pages Source: Netgalley via GetRed PR Summary: Posy Montague is approaching her seventieth birthday. Still living in her beautiful family home, Admiral House, set in the glorious Suffolk countryside where she spent her own idyllic childhood catching butterflies with her beloved father, and raised her own children, Posy knows…

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Review: Don’t Make a Sound by T.R. Ragan (audio)

Title: Don’t Make a Sound Author: T.R. Ragan Series: Sawyer Brooks, #1 Narrator: Jennica Damon Published: June 2020, Brilliance Audio Length: 8 hours 6 minutes Source: Publisher Summary: Her own past could be a reporter’s biggest story in this twisting thriller about murder and family secrets by the New York Times bestselling author T.R. Ragan.    Plagued by traumatic childhood memories, crime reporter Sawyer Brooks still struggles to gain control…

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Review: The Queen’s Secret by Karen Harper

Title: The Queen’s Secret: A Novel of England’s World War II Queen Author: Karen Harper Published: May 2020, William Morrow Paperbacks Format: ARC Paperback, 384 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  If you love Jennifer Robson or The Crown you will love New York Times bestselling author Karen Harper’s novel about Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. 1939. As the wife of the King George VI and the mother of the future queen, Elizabeth—“the…

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Review: Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel

Title: Musical Chairs Author: Amy Poeppel Published: July 2020, Atria/Emily Bestler Books Format: ARC E-copy, 416 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary:  The “quick-witted and razor-sharp” (Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones & The Six) author of Limelight and Small Admissions returns with a hilarious and heartfelt new novel about a perfectly imperfect summer of love, secrets, and second chances. Bridget and Will have the…

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Review: The Safe Place by Anna Downes

Title: The Safe Place Author: Anna Downes Published: July 2020, Minotaur Books Format: ARC Paperback, 352 pages Source: Publisher Summary:  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.…

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Review: Hello, Summer by Mary Kay Andrews

Title: Hello, Summer Author: Mary Kay Andrews Published: May 2020, St. Martin’s Press Format: Hardcover, 472 pages Source: Publisher via Kathleen Carter Communications Summary:  New York Times bestselling author and Queen of the Beach Reads Mary Kay Andrews delivers her next blockbuster, Hello Summer. It’s a new season… Conley Hawkins left her family’s small town newspaper, The Silver Bay Beacon, in the rearview mirror years ago. Now a star reporter…

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