{Thank you to Random House and Ballantine Books for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book}
Continue reading “When The Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain | Ballantine Books {Book Review}”
{Thank you to Minotaur Books for my gifted copy}
Continue reading “Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano | Minotaur Books {Book Review}”
When I saw that author Megan Goldin was publishing another book this summer I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Her 2019 novel The Escape Room was one of my favorite suspense reads last summer and I became an instant fan of her writing style. You can read my blog tour post featuring The Escape Room HERE.
Continue reading “The Night Swim by Megan Goldin | Blog Tour and Author Q&A”
Something hasn’t been right at the roadside Sun Down Motel for a very long time, and Carly Kirk is about to find out why in this chilling new novel from the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of The Broken Girls.
Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.
Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.
February 18th, 2020
Thriller/Mystery
Amazon Link | LibroFM Bookstore Link
The Sun Down Motel is my kind of mystery. I struggle with super graphic books in this genre and I appreciated that this was the perfect creepy reading ride while also not being gory.
The suspense factor came from the simple chilling details and I loved that The Sun Down Motel was not just the scene for the novel but also one of the main characters of this novel.
This book starts off slowly and builds up with both suspense and intrigue. The dual timelines worked well for me and helped flush out all the details that made me feel invested and drawn in.
While I am not normally interested in books regarding the paranormal, the balance was perfect here and this element was not offputting as I worried about when I heard there was a “ghost” aspect of this book. There was just as much of a murder mystery which is definitely more my style so if that is one of your hold-ups, don’t fear! This was my first book by Simone St. James and it won’t be my last.
Thank you to Berkley Publishing for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
Disclosure: Some of the links above are Amazon affiliate links. This means if you click through and make a purchase, I receive a small commission that helps support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you!
Two sisters travel the same streets, though their lives couldn’t be more different. Then one of them goes missing.
In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, walks those same blocks on her police beat. They don’t speak anymore, but Mickey never stops worrying about her sibling.
Then Kacey disappears, suddenly, at the same time that a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey’s district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit–and her sister–before it’s too late.
Alternating its present-day mystery with the story of the sisters’ childhood and adolescence, Long Bright River is at once heart-pounding and heart-wrenching: a gripping suspense novel that is also a moving story of sisters, addiction, and the formidable ties that persist between place, family, and fate.
January 7th, 2020
Literary Fiction/Suspense
I wasn’t sure I was going to pick a book this month from Book of The Month Club, as I had read a couple of choices already as ARCs and the rest of them weren’t really calling to me. I have been taking a break from thrillers and thought this one might fall into that category too.
Then I started reading reviews from my most trusted #bookstagram sources highly recommend Long Bright River. I decided to go for it! and I am so glad I did!
(*You can get your first Book of the Month Club book for just $5 when you use my referral link HERE.)
Long Bright River alternates between past and present and shares the lives of Mickey and Kacey, two sisters who each are involved in the opioid crisis in very different ways. When Kacey goes missing, Mickey starts unraveling the clues of her disappearance while also bringing us back in time to share how each of them got to the places they are in.
This book was thought-provoking and sometimes was uncomfortable to read, which is a good thing in my opinion! It is part mystery and part family drama, which I think is why it worked for me so well…because we really get to know these women and their stories. I had a hard time putting this one down and can’t stop thinking about it now.
“Seraphine Mayes and her twin brother, Danny, were born in the middle of summer at their family’s estate on the Norfolk coast. Within hours of their birth, their mother threw herself from the cliffs, the au pair fled, and the village thrilled with whispers of dark cloaks, changelings, and the aloof couple who drew a young nanny into their inner circle.
Now an adult, Seraphine mourns the recent death of her father. While going through his belongings, she uncovers a family photograph that raises dangerous questions. It was taken on the day the twins were born, and in the photo, their mother, surrounded by her husband and her young son, is smiling serenely and holding just one baby.
Who is the child, and what really happened that day?”
When I requested The Au Pair from the library, I was under the impression that this would be a domestic thriller. While it had mystery, it was more of a slow burn family drama with a rather unrealistic ending. There was also a fantastical element that just didn’t work for me. I did enjoy the concept of having the two narrators Seraphine and Laura tell this story while going back in forth in time.
While it was a slow build, I was initially drawn into this family mystery/literary fiction and enjoyed learning more as Seraphine started to dig into her families past. The setting was intriguing and reminded me a lot of the Lake House by Kate Morton which I loved.
There were many people to keep track of which made it a little tricky to connect some of the dots for a while but I was intrigued. The ending was just too implausible for me and left me feeling disappointed. This was a 3-star book for me because I did really enjoy the first 3/4 of this book.
This is my very favorite time of year to read. I love snuggling up on our couch and reading by our woodstove. Winter is long here in Vermont but I do love the slower pace of life during this time of the year…well at least after the holidays.
I get asked about book recommendations quite a bit and recently some friends have asked about books I would suggest for cozy winter reading. For me, books like that are easy and enjoyable to read and nothing too heavy or stressful. I love reading for all different reasons but sometimes I just like it as an escape and these books fit that bill.
How to Find Love in a Bookshop was a surprise hit for me. When I picked this one up at the library I was worried it could be cheesy because of the cover…I try not to judge a book by its cover in a negative way but it’s hard for me!
I was pleasantly surprised that not only was it not cheesy but it ended up being such a delightful and enjoyable read. There is a great mix of characters and a great balance of loss, hope, and love within the different storylines. This book was filled with charm and warmth but also some depth and I enjoyed how the ending wrapped up in the most perfect, non-perfect way.
“The enchanting story of a bookshop, its grieving owner, a supportive literary community, and the extraordinary power of books to heal the heart.
Nightingale Books, nestled on the main street in an idyllic little village, is a dream come true for book lovers–a cozy haven and welcoming getaway for the literary-minded locals. But owner Emilia Nightingale is struggling to keep the shop open after her beloved father’s death, and the temptation to sell is getting stronger. The property developers are circling, yet Emilia’s loyal customers have become like family, and she can’t imagine breaking the promise she made to her father to keep the store alive.
There’s Sarah, owner of the stately Peasebrook Manor, who has used the bookshop as an escape in the past few years, but it now seems there’s a very specific reason for all those frequent visits. Next is roguish Jackson, who, after making a complete mess of his marriage, now looks to Emilia for advice on books for the son he misses so much. And the forever shy Thomasina, who runs a pop-up restaurant for two in her tiny cottage–she has a crush on a man she met in the cookbook section, but can hardly dream of working up the courage to admit her true feelings.
Enter the world of Nightingale Books for a serving of romance, long-held secrets, and unexpected hopes for the future–and not just within the pages on the shelves. How to Find Love in a Bookshop is the delightful story of Emilia, the unforgettable cast of customers whose lives she has touched, and the books they all cherish.”
I wouldn’t say I am a huge fan of romance novels but this is definitely in that genre. It reminded me a lot of a Judy Blume book and had the perfect first romance and coming of age storyline that just got me and I was hooked.
I think the thing I think of with “romance” books is predictability. I found Love and Other Words to have a depth I was not expecting and it was just such an enjoyable and satisfying book.
“Love, loss, friendship, and the betrayals of the past all collide in this first fiction novel from New York Times and #1 international bestselling author Christina Lauren (Autoboyography, Dating You / Hating You).
The story of the heart can never be unwritten.
Macy Sorensen is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new pediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.
But when she runs into Elliot Petropoulos—the first and only love of her life—the careful bubble she’s constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot was Macy’s entire world—growing from her gangly bookish friend into the man who coaxed her heart open again after the loss of her mother…only to break it on the very night he declared his love for her.
Told in alternating timelines between Then and Now, teenage Elliot and Macy grow from friends to much more—spending weekends and lazy summers together in a house outside of San Francisco devouring books, sharing favorite words, and talking through their growing pains and triumphs. As adults, they have become strangers to one another until their chance reunion. Although their memories are obscured by the agony of what happened that night so many years ago, Elliot will come to understand the truth behind Macy’s decade-long silence, and will have to overcome the past and himself to revive her faith in the possibility of an all-consuming love.”
How to Walk Away was my first ever Book of The Month club pick and it was such an enjoyable read. The storyline is semi-predictable but it is the character development that Center just does so well and that makes her books so satisfying.
I enjoyed watching Margarets journey towards healing and she had the perfect mix of vulnerability and strength that kept me rooting for her while also being relatable. Katherine Center excels at infusing both humor and also resilience into her characters and I just enjoy her books so much.
“From the author of Happiness for Beginners comes an unforgettable love story about finding joy even in the darkest of circumstances.
Margaret Jacobsen has a bright future ahead of her: a fiancé she adores, her dream job, and the promise of a picture-perfect life just around the corner. Then, suddenly, on what should have been one of the happiest days of her life, everything she worked for is taken away in one tumultuous moment.
In the hospital and forced to face the possibility that nothing will ever be the same again, Margaret must figure out how to move forward on her own terms while facing long-held family secrets, devastating heartbreak, and the idea that love might find her in the last place she would ever expect.
How to Walk Away is Katherine Center at her very best: an utterly charming, hopeful, and romantic novel that will capture the reader’s hearts with every page.”
I first found The Mother’s Promise when I was searching for a book to read in the middle of the night on my Libby app and it quickly got me hooked on her books in general. It is an easy and engaging story that also beautifully shows the power of connection and relationships. This story is heartbreaking but also gives you so much hope. Hepworth really excels at getting you so connected to her characters and I could relate to them so much while I was reading this.
“With every book, Sally Hepworth becomes more and more known for her searing emotional portraits of families—and the things that test their bonds. In The Mother’s Promise, she delivers her most powerful novel yet: the story of a single mother who is dying, the troubled teenaged daughter who is battling her own demons, and the two women who come into their lives at the most critical moment.
Alice and her daughter Zoe have been a family of two all their lives. Zoe has always struggled with crippling social anxiety and her mother has been her constant and fierce protector. With no family to speak of, and the identity of Zoe’s father shrouded in mystery, their team of two works—until it doesn’t. Until Alice gets sick and is given a grim prognosis.
Desperate to find stability for Zoe, Alice reaches out to two women who are practically strangers, but who are her only hope: Kate, her oncology nurse, and Sonja, a social worker. As the four of them come together, a chain of events is set into motion and all four of them must confront their sharpest fears and secrets—secrets about abandonment, abuse, estrangement, and the deepest longing for family. Imbued with heart and humor in even the darkest moments, The Mother’s Promise is an unforgettable novel about the power of love and forgiveness.”
I found this to be the perfect escape reading. I loved the twist of family drama, mystery and suspense and I had a hard time putting this one down. For what it’s worth, I have never read Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca so I didn’t have that to compare this to, and maybe that helped me just read this for what it is. The creepiness factor with the characters made this super engaging and I just needed to know what was going to happen.
“Inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, a spellbindingly suspenseful novel set in the moneyed world of the Hamptons, about secrets that refuse to remain buried and consequences that can’t be escaped
After a whirlwind romance, a young woman returns to the opulent, secluded Long Island mansion of her new fiancé Max Winter—a wealthy politician and recent widower—and a life of luxury she’s never known. But all is not as it appears at the Asherley estate. The house is steeped in the memory of Max’s beautiful first wife Rebekah, who haunts the young woman’s imagination and feeds her uncertainties, while his very alive teenage daughter Dani makes her life a living hell. She soon realizes there is no clear place for her in this twisted little family: Max and Dani circle each other like cats, a dynamic that both repels and fascinates her, and he harbors political ambitions with which he will allow no woman—alive or dead—to interfere.
As the soon-to-be second Mrs. Winter grows more in love with Max, and more afraid of Dani, she is drawn deeper into the family’s dark secrets—the kind of secrets that could kill her, too. The Winters is a riveting story about what happens when a family’s ghosts resurface and threaten to upend everything.”
This was my first Liane Moriarty book I ever read and it made me into a big fan. This story is told from 3 separate points of view that become intertwined. I always love Moriarty’s character development and she does such a great job of showing the complexities in relationships. The Husband’s Secret has mystery along with incredible wit and I just found this one so satisfying.
“At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read.
My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died…
Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.
Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.”
I chose this book expecting a lighter “rom-com” type feel. I was pleasantly surprised that there was a little more than that and enjoyed the story of love, loss, and friendship. The story is told over a period of 10 years and I enjoyed that even though I didn’t love the characters all the time I could relate to their challenges and enjoyed the concept of falling in love with someone vs staying in love and what that really means in the long term.
“Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.
Laurie is pretty sure love, at first sight, doesn’t exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic…and then her bus drives away.
Certain they’re fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn’t find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they “reunite” at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It’s Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.
What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and an immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.”
I don’t read a lot of book series but last year I was looking for a holiday-themed book and this came highly recommended. Winter Street is book #1 of a four-part Winter Series and is the introduction to the Quinn Family and takes place on Nantucket. Elin Hilderbrand is known for her “summer book” so this series was a departure from that and makes this the perfect cozy winter read.
I found this whole series to be light but not super fluffy and just a great escape. I loved getting to know this family and going through their ups and downs with them over the course of this series. It definitely has aspects of a Hallmark movie so it may not be for everyone but I found it thoroughly enjoyable and really missed the Quinn family when it was over.
“In bestseller Elin Hilderbrand’s first Christmas novel, a family gathers on Nantucket for a holiday filled with surprises.
Kelley Quinn is the owner of Nantucket’s Winter Street Inn and the proud father of four, all of them grown and living in varying states of disarray. Patrick, the eldest, is a hedge fund manager with a guilty conscience. Kevin, a bartender, is secretly sleeping with a French housekeeper named Isabelle. Ava, a school teacher, is finally dating the perfect guy but can’t get him to commit. And Bart, the youngest and only child of Kelley’s second marriage to Mitzi, has recently shocked everyone by joining the Marines.
As Christmas approaches, Kelley is looking forward to getting the family together for some quality time at the inn. But when he walks in on Mitzi kissing Santa Claus (or the guy who’s playing Santa at the inn’s annual party), utter chaos descends. With the three older children each reeling in their own dramas and Bart unreachable in Afghanistan, it might be up to Kelley’s ex-wife, nightly news anchor Margaret Quinn, to save Christmas at the Winter Street Inn.
Before the mulled cider is gone, the delightfully dysfunctional Quinn family will survive a love triangle, an unplanned pregnancy, a federal crime, a small house fire, many shots of whiskey, and endless rounds of Christmas caroling, in this heart-warming novel about coming home for the holidays.”
Do you have any cozy reading book suggestions? I would love to hear in the comments below. <3
“A twisty, compelling novel about one woman’s complicated relationship with her mother-in-law that ends in murder…
From the moment Lucy met her husband’s mother, Diana, she was kept at arm’s length. Diana was exquisitely polite, and properly friendly, but Lucy knew that she was not what Diana envisioned. But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice who helped female refugees assimilate to their new country. Diana was happily married to Tom, and lived in wedded bliss for decades. Lucy wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.
That was five years ago.
Now, Diana has been found dead, a suicide note near her body. Diana claims that she no longer wanted to live because of a battle with cancer.
‘But the autopsy finds no cancer.
The autopsy does find traces of poison and suffocation.
Who could possibly want Diana dead?
Why was her will changed at the eleventh hour to disinherit both of her adult children and their spouses?’
With Lucy’s secrets getting deeper and her relationship with her mother-in-law growing more complex as the pages turn, this new novel from Sally Hepworth is sure to add to her growing legion of fans.”
April 23, 2019
This was one of those books that I just couldn’t put down. I always enjoy Sally Hepworth’s writing but this was especially addicting. It’s part thriller, part mystery and also a terrific family drama. It has the relationship conflicts and murder/suicide mystery along with the everyday life of this family that kept me drawn in. Hepworth does an amazing job with portraying motherhood so accurately and vividly.
I enjoyed the evolving relationship Lucy has with her mother-in-law, Diana. Seeing the layers pulled back from this family was fascinating and while the ending did seem a little far-fetched, it was a page turner through and through. I also loved the last section that shared about the family 10 years later, which really helped tie up the book in such an enjoyable way.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for gifting me an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.
