#BookReview In Sight of the Mountain by Jamie McGillen @JamieMcGillen #JamieMcGillen #InSightoftheMountain #TheRainierSeries

#BookReview In Sight of the Mountain by Jamie McGillen @JamieMcGillen #JamieMcGillen #InSightoftheMountain #TheRainierSeries Title: In Sight of the Mountain

Author: Jamie McGillen

Series: Rainier Series #1

Published by: Evergreen Bookshelf on Sep. 19, 2019

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 362

Format: Paperback

Source: Jamie McGillen

Book Rating: 9/10

~ Inspired by the trailblazing women of the 19th Century who dared to summit Mount Rainier ~

In the devastating aftermath of the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, nineteen-year-old Anna Gallagher faces considerable pressure to marry well and soon. She has two serious suitors: a well-meaning but condescending doctor, and an evasive fisherman who challenges her mind. But Anna has no intention of giving up her freedom to keep house; she has a dream to reach the summit of Mount Rainier.

Despite her family’s disapproval and her own self-doubt, she secretly trains, raises money for supplies, and buys a train ticket to the base of the mountain. If she succeeds in reaching its icy peak, she could pioneer the way for women mountaineers; but it’s a tall task and there’s much at risk—including the heart of a man who just might love her as an equal. On the journey, Anna will face glaciers, avalanches, and frozen temperatures, all without knowing if she even has a family or a future to return to.

In Sight of the Mountain is a charming coming-of-age story, but it also casts the reader’s gaze upon issues of colonialism, class, and women’s far-too-narrow options.


Review:

Fascinating, engaging, and rich!

In Sight of the Mountain is a heartwarming, atmospheric tale set in Seattle during the late 1880s that takes you into the life of Anna Gallagher, a nineteen-year-old-girl who yearns to be more than just a wife and mother, and who finds through her unusual friendship with a young Duwamish woman the excitement she craves and the mettle she needs to train and pursue her greatest wish, to become the first woman ever to successfully summit the treacherous Mount Rainier. 

The prose is evocative and fluid. The characters are feisty, driven, and independent. And the compelling, well-paced plot is an adventurous journey filled with familial drama, heartbreak, life, loss, courage, self-discovery, hope, friendship, romance, and love.

Overall, In Sight of the Mountain is an absorbing, well-written novel by McGillen that showcases her passion and knowledge for Pacific Northwest history and highlights humanities ability to dream, strive, conquer, endure, and still seek love in times of political upheaval, natural disasters, extreme prejudice, and social oppression.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

              

 

 

Thank you to Jamie McGillen for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jamie McGillen

Jamie McGillen Photo

Jamie McGillen lives in the shadow of Mount Rainier, and no matter how many times she moves away, it draws her home. Everything about large evergreen trees delights her, except how poky they are, and the sap.

Her first novel In Sight of the Mountain was released in 2019, the sequel In Light of the Summit was released in 2020. The final book in the series, In the Heart of Paradise, came out in November 2021!

Her poems and essays have been published in Rust + Moth, Marathon Literary Review, The Raven Chronicles Journal, Avalon Literary Review, and Arcturus Literary Magazine.

One of her poems was selected to be included in the anthology Thanku: Poems of Gratitude (Lerner/Millbrook, 2019). This amazingly diverse collection includes poems by Jane Yolen, Margarita Engle, and Naomi Shihab Nye.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

  

#BookReview Heard It in a Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves @tgarvisgraves @smpromance @StMartinsPress #HeardItInALoveSong #TraceyGarvisGraves #StMartinsPress #SMPRomance #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview Heard It in a Love Song by Tracey Garvis Graves @tgarvisgraves @smpromance @StMartinsPress #HeardItInALoveSong #TraceyGarvisGraves #StMartinsPress #SMPRomance #SMPInfluencers Title: Heard It in a Love Song

Author: Tracey Garvis Graves

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Nov. 9, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

Layla Hilding is thirty-five and recently divorced. Struggling to break free from the past—her glory days as the lead singer in a band and a ten-year marriage to a man who never put her first—Layla’s newly found independence feels a lot like loneliness.

Then there’s Josh, the single dad whose daughter attends the elementary school where Layla teaches music. Recently separated, he’s still processing the end of his twenty-year marriage to his high school sweetheart. He chats with Layla every morning at school and finds himself thinking about her more and more.

Equally cautious and confused about dating in a world that favors apps over meeting organically, Layla and Josh decide to be friends with the potential for something more. Sounds sensible and way too simple—but when two people are on the rebound, is it heartbreak or happiness that’s a love song away?

From the bestselling author of The Girl He Used to Know comes a love song of a story about starting over and second chances.


Review:

Understated, thoughtful, and sweet!

Heard It in a Love Song is a captivating, simmering romance that takes you into the lives of music teacher Layla Hilding and single father Josh Summers as they each navigate the end of their first marriages, learn to reconcile the past, accept the things they cannot change, rediscover their true selves, and begin to trust again.

The prose is honest and smooth. The characters are attentive, hesitant, and unique. And the plot is an absorbing tale of life, loss, love, patience, understanding, regret, acceptance, forgiveness, familial drama, friendship, loneliness, parenthood, music, and unconditional love.

Overall, Heard It in a Love Song is an immersive, tender, satisfying tale by Graves that’s perfect for fans of contemporary romance novels about second chances that are brimming with healing, heartache, and hope.

 

This book is available now. 

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following link.

 

       

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy in an exchange for an honest review.

 

About Tracey Garvis Graves

Tracey Garvis Graves is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and international bestselling author of contemporary fiction. Her debut novel, On the Island, spent 9 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, has been translated into thirty-five languages, and is in development with MGM and Temple Hill Productions for a feature film. She is also the author of Uncharted, Covet, Every Time I Think of You, Cherish, Heart-Shaped Hack, White-Hot Hack, The Girl He Used to Know, and Heard It in a Love Song. She is hard at work on her next book.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview An Unexpected Distraction by Catherine Bybee @catherinebybee @ThomasAllenLTD @AmazonPub #AnUnexpectedDistraction #RichterSeries #CatherineBybee #Montlake

#BookReview An Unexpected Distraction by Catherine Bybee @catherinebybee @ThomasAllenLTD @AmazonPub #AnUnexpectedDistraction #RichterSeries #CatherineBybee #Montlake Title: An Unexpected Distraction

Author: Catherine Bybee

Series: Richter #3

Published by: Montlake Romance on Nov. 30, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense

Pages: 365

Format: Paperback

Source: Thomas Allen & Son

Book Rating: 9/10

Family secrets and fresh romance collide in this heart-pounding Richter series installment by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee.

Jacqueline “Jax” Simon knows how to expose secrets: she’s a skilled operative with MacBain Security and Solutions. When Jax hears her parents are divorcing, she races to London to find out why. She’s determined to learn the truth, especially when her investigation uncovers why her parents sent her to Richter, the German military school that made her a fighter.

Andrew Craig collects Jax at Heathrow Airport as a favor. He’s heard she’s a handful, but he didn’t know she’s dangerously gorgeous too. His instant attraction could change his life…or end it.

Jax doesn’t want to fall for Andrew, but soon he’s worming his way into her life. Together, they infiltrate Richter to discover if it has returned to its covert purpose: training children to be spies and assassins and blackmailing parents to look the other way. As the attraction between the two intensifies, so do the secrets exploding all around them. How deadly are those secrets—and who will survive?


Review:

Charged, colourful, and enticing!

An Unexpected Distraction is a smart, seductive, sinister tale featuring the talented Jacqueline “Jax” Simon who, after receiving a call from her brother informing her of their parent’s abrupt separation, returns to England, where she is quickly swept up in uncovering the underlying cause of her parent’s troubles, discovering how the military-like boarding school she attended in Germany may play a part, and accepting a helping hand from her brother’s handsome best friend, Andrew, who she reluctantly seems to have more than a passing fancy for.

The writing is steamy and intense. The characters are skilled, loyal, and reliable. And the plot is a seductive, mysterious tale of undeniable attraction, familial responsibilities, deception, corruption, secrets, danger, tender moments, and swoon-worthy romance.

Overall, An Unexpected Distraction is a menacing, alluring, edgy addition to the Richter series by Bybee that’s got all the elements we’ve come to know and love in her contemporary romance/romantic suspense novels, including a fierce heroine, a sexy sidekick, and a highly entertaining, adventurous storyline.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

       

 

 

Thank you to Thomas Allen & Son for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Catherine Bybee

Catherine Bybee is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-five books that have collectively sold more than three million copies and have been translated into twelve languages. Raised in Washington State, Bybee moved to Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned the Not Quite series, the Weekday Brides series, and the Most Likely To series.

#BookReview When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham @michaelrobotham @ScribnerBooks #WhenYouAreMine #MichaelRobotham #ScribnerBooks

#BookReview When You Are Mine by Michael Robotham @michaelrobotham @ScribnerBooks #WhenYouAreMine #MichaelRobotham #ScribnerBooks Title: When You Are Mine

Author: Michael Robotham

Published by: Scribner on Jan. 4, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Scribner

Book Rating: 9/10

In this page-turning psychological thriller from an author who Stephen King called “an absolute master,” a young female police officer faces danger on all fronts—from a clever victim of abuse, her colleagues on the force, and even her own mobster father.

Philomena McCarthy is a young, ambitious police office with the elite Metropolitan Police in London. When she responds to a domestic violence call, she finds the victim, Tempe Brown, trying to protect her abuser, a married man named Darren Goodall, a decorated Scotland Yard detective afraid of no one. As Philomena pursues the case against him, she not only encounters resistance from her police force colleagues but also becomes dangerously entangled with the victim—who is not at all whom she appears to be—much to the increasing endangerment of herself and Henry, her fiancée.

Complicating matters is Philomena’s estranged father Edward McCarthy, a powerful man who has built a criminal empire along with his brothers. Philomena has long tried to pursue her career as a police officer without her father’s involvement, but as she falls under suspicion of stalking and harassing Goodall, her father becomes involved.

As the situation escalates, Tempe’s sinister maneuvers further entangle Philomena in a web of secrets, corruption, and murder, putting Philomena’s impending marriage, career, and very survival in jeopardy…​

Spellbinding, suspenseful, and filled with complex characters that could be heroes or villains, Robotham has crafted a smart and propulsive thriller that’s impossible to put down.


Review:

Unpredictable, creepy, and brilliantly paced!

When You Are Mine is a sinister, psychological thriller that introduces us to Philomena McCarthy, a young police officer who, after responding to a domestic callout, finds her life turned upside down when she befriends the victim who seems to be an obsessive pathological liar, arrests the offender who turns out to be a decorated detective with corrupt friends in very high places, and ultimately needs some help from the one man, her gangster father, she never wanted to rely on to not only save her career but potentially save her life.

The prose is taut and intense. The characters are vulnerable, secretive, and suspicious. And the well-crafted, menacing plot builds nicely to create the perfect amount of tension and suspense as it unravels all the questionable personalities, duplicitous motivations, manipulative actions, and parasitic relationships within it.

Overall, When You Are Mine is an intricate, tight, satisfying thrill ride that had just the right amount of twists, turns, and surprises to keep me thoroughly engrossed from start to finish. It’s the first novel I’ve read by Robotham, but I can guarantee you it won’t be my last.

 

This book is available on January 4, 2022.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

           

 

 

Thank you to Scribner for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Michael Robotham

Michael Robotham is a former investigative journalist whose psychological thrillers have been translated into twenty-three languages. In 2015, he won the prestigious UK Gold Dagger for his novel Life or Death, which was also shortlisted for the 2016 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel. Michael has twice won a Ned Kelly Award for Australia’s best crime novel for Lost in 2015 and Shatter in 2008. He has also twice been shortlisted for the CWA UK Steel Dagger in 2007 for The Night Ferry and 2008 with Shatter. He lives in Sydney with his wife and three daughters. His recent novels include When She Was Good; The Secrets She Keeps; and Good Girl, Bad Girl.

Photo by Tony Mott.

#BookReview A Dog’s Chance by Casey Wilson @CaseyWilsonAuth @grandcentralpub #ADogsChance #CaseyWilson

#BookReview A Dog’s Chance by Casey Wilson @CaseyWilsonAuth @grandcentralpub #ADogsChance #CaseyWilson Title: A Dog's Chance

Author: Casey Wilson

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Nov. 9, 2021

Genres: Women's Fiction

Pages: 256

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

A reminder of the unbelievable bonds we form with the dogs in our lives. No matter how broken you are, the unconditional love of a dog can piece you back together in this book that’s perfect for fans of A Dog’s Purpose, The Art of Racing in the Rain, and Marley and Me.

Madison knows her fourteen-year-old daughter Abbie is struggling. She wishes she could give Abbie stability, the promise of a forever home in Millbury, but she is scared to stay in one town for too long, and every day Abbie seems more anxious. Until a chance encounter with a beautiful, boisterous golden retriever puppy called Duke changes everything…

Duke bounces into the community centre where Madison is working and when Abbie meets him she stops pacing the room. Duke is tugging his owner, seventy-five-year-old Arthur, along for the ride, and instantly Madison sees a way she and Arthur can help each other. She offers to train Duke so that Abbie gets to see him, and from that moment the four of them become a family.

Madison finally feels like she has a second chance at life and a reason to stay in town, but when her past catches up with her they are all at risk. Duke may have united this family, but will he be able to keep them together?


Review:

Moving, charming, and uplifting!

A Dog’s Chance is an optimistic, engaging novel that takes us into the lives of four main characters. Arthur, a kind-hearted widow whose loneliness is palpable and who spends the better part of his days thinking of his lost wife, Rosie; Madison, a nurse practitioner who would love to settle down but knows she must always keep one step ahead of her past; Abbie, a troubled teenager, struggling with anxiety and a place to fit in; and Duke, a stray golden retriever who is determined to bring together all those around him and ultimately find himself a forever home.

The prose is reflective and sweet. The characters are caring, endearing, and resilient. And the plot is a compelling tale of life, loss, friendship, tension, kindness, self-discovery, generosity, happiness, taking chances, unconditional love, growing old, and the healing power of pets.

Overall, I found A Dog’s Chance to be a heartwarming, emotive, touching novel by Wilson that reminds us that family can be any unit created by love and not limited to those related by blood and that life should always be lived to the fullest.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Casey Wilson

Casey Wilson is the author of A Dog's Hope. Born and raised in the United States in Nevada, she is the owner of a gorgeous golden retriever, who may or may not have inspired the dogs in her novels.

#BlogTour #BookReview The Midwife’s Secret by Emily Gunnis @EmilyGunnis @Mobius_Books @headlinepg #TheMidwifesSecret #EmilyGunnis #MobiusBooksUS

#BlogTour #BookReview The Midwife’s Secret by Emily Gunnis @EmilyGunnis @Mobius_Books @headlinepg #TheMidwifesSecret #EmilyGunnis #MobiusBooksUS Title: The Midwife's Secret

Author: Emily Gunnis

Published by: Headline Books on Dec. 7, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: Mobius Books US

Book Rating: 9/10

A little girl goes missing from Yew Tree Manor – the same house from which a girl vanished decades before. Does the key to the present lie buried even deeper in the past, in the forgotten history of an innocent midwife accused by a family of shocking betrayal? A gripping, heartwrenching story of love, loyalty and family secrets.

From the internationally bestselling author of THE GIRL IN THE LETTER and THE LOST CHILD.

When six-year-old Alice Hilton goes missing in the snow on New Year’s Eve 1969 from Yew Tree Manor, suspicion immediately falls on local man Alf Simms. Simms had a grievance against Alice’s father, wealthy Richard Hilton, and he is arrested, tried and found guilty for Alice’s death. Tragically the child is never found.

Decades later, Willow Simms, an architect working on a development at Yew Tree Manor, discovers that the land surrounding the house is holding a secret. And when another little girl goes missing from Yew Tree, Willow realizes the key to her disappearance lies in the history of the house, and the two families attached to it. A terrible wrong needs to be made right…and to uncover it, Willow must unravel events from long ago, when in 1919 a court sentenced a midwife to death, for a shocking crime that happened at Yew Tree Manor…


Review:

Absorbing, mysterious, and moving!

The Midwife’s Secret transports you to Sussex, England between 1946 and 2017, and immerses you into the ongoing, complex, multi-generational relationships between the wealthy, entitled Hilton family and the poor, victimized James family complete with all the powerful emotions, despicable tales, long-buried secrets, and unimaginable tragedy that has tied them together for the past seventy years.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are vulnerable, conflicted, and hardworking. And the plot is an enthralling, emotional saga filled with life, loss, familial drama, survival, betrayal, corruption, social injustice, tragedy, inequality, manipulation, and heartbreak.

Overall, The Midwife’s Secret is a heart-tugging, clever, haunting tale by Gunnis that reminds us that the choices we make often have far-reaching consequences, and skeletons often find their way to the surface no matter how well they’re buried.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                

 

 

Thank you to Mobius Books US for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Emily Gunnis

Emily Gunnis previously worked in TV drama and lives in Brighton with her young family. She is one of the four daughters of Sunday Times bestselling author Penny Vincenzi.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

 

#BookReview True Crime Story by Joseph Knox @josephknox__ @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TrueCrimeStory #JosephKnox #bookmarkedbylandmark

#BookReview True Crime Story by Joseph Knox @josephknox__ @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #TrueCrimeStory #JosephKnox #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: True Crime Story

Author: Joseph Knox

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Dec. 7, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 10/10

THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!

What happens to all the girls who go missing?

The thrilling story of a university student’s sudden disappearance, the woman who became obsessed with her case, and the crime writer who uncovered the chilling truth about what happened…

In 2011, Zoe Nolan walked out of her dormitory in Manchester and was never seen or heard from again. Her case went cold. Her story was sad, certainly, but hardly sensational, crime writer Joseph Knox thought. He wouldn’t have given her any more thought were it not for his friend, Evelyn Mitchell. Another writer struggling to come up with a new idea, Evelyn was wondering just what happened to all the girls who go missing. What happened to the Zoe Nolans of the world?

Evelyn began investigating herself, interviewing Zoe’s family and friends, and emailing Joseph with chapters of the book she was writing with her findings. Uneasy with the corkscrew twists and turns, Joseph Knox embedded himself in the case, ultimately discovering a truth more tragic and shocking than he could have possibly imagined…

Just remember: Everything you read is fiction.


Review:

Mystifying, intricate, and tight!

True Crime Story is an edgy, intense mystery that introduces us to the tenacious writer Evelyn Mitchell as she endeavours to solve the cold case of missing nineteen-year-old Manchester University student, Zoe Nolan, by interviewing her old friends, roommates, and family and with the occasional support of fellow writer Joseph Knox, seven years after she vanished one night without a trace.

The writing style is calculated and unconventional. The characters are consumed, impressionable, impulsive, and flawed. And the plot, using a past/present, back-and-forth style and told from multiple POVs, builds nicely to create just the right amount of tension and suspense, as it unravels all the manipulative personalities, duplicitous actions, questionable motivations, and complex relationships within it.

So I’m not such whether to be incredibly impressed with Knox for his ability to create and compose this story, and of course for his good taste in lead characters’ names, or totally unnerved that he actually thought this whole thing up and was able to keep it all straight. That takes some serious skill. True Crime Story is creative, unique, mind-blowing, and without a doubt, a brilliantly crafted story that I knew from the very first page was fiction but still went to Google at least three times searching for more information on the victim of this crime. Honestly, this book needs to be read to be truly appreciated, and I challenge you to read it and not search the internet at least once for the unfortunate “Zoe Nolan.”

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Joseph Knox

Joseph Knox was born and raised in and around Stoke and Manchester, where he worked in bars and bookshops before moving to London. He reads, writes, and runs compulsively. His novels have been translated into 14 languages.

#BookReview The Savage Instinct by M.M. DeLuca @DeLucaMarjorie @Inkshares #MMDeLuca #TheSavageInstinct

#BookReview The Savage Instinct by M.M. DeLuca @DeLucaMarjorie @Inkshares #MMDeLuca #TheSavageInstinct Title: The Savage Instinct

Author: M.M. DeLuca

Published by: Inkshares on May 4, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 377

Format: Paperback

Source: Inkshares

Book Rating: 8/10

August 1872. Clara Blackstone, travels to Durham City to meet her husband, Henry, a newly appointed Professor of Mathematics at Durham University. It is supposed to be a fresh start – a chance to put recent troubles and nightmarish events behind her. But after a tense reunion, their carriage runs into a mob gathered to witness the mass murderer Mary Ann Cotton being brought into Durham Jail. Buried memories of Clara’s second tragic miscarriage begin to resurface, and her inability to recall events of the months leading up to her subsequent committal to a private asylum, cause her to question her husband’s motives for placing her there.

When Clara befriends Catherine, an outspoken Suffragist, she joins her as a prison visitor, working with female inmates. The childless Clara encounters Mrs. Cotton and becomes increasingly fascinated with her story. When she learns the murderer is pregnant her obsession grows, while public outrage grows about this “unnatural monster” who would go against her God-given instincts and murder her children, step-children and several husbands.

Against all this controversy, Clara struggles to find her place as a wife and future mother until a disturbing encounter finally unlocks the truth behind the terrible events surrounding her miscarriage. But when her husband falls under the controlling influence of a devious colleague, she soon finds herself fighting for her grandmother’s inheritance, her freedom and her sanity.

Fact meets fiction in this dramatic novel set against the backdrop of real-life murderer, Mary-Ann Cotton’s sensational arrest and trial.


Review:

Eerie, ominous, and gritty!

The Savage Instinct is a well-paced, historical thriller set in England in the late 1800s that takes you into the life of Clara Blackstone, a young woman who, after losing her unborn child and being confined to the Bethlem Asylum for the past year, finds herself back under her husband’s loveless care and spending her days visiting a local women’s prison where she befriends a woman, Mary Ann Cotton, who is charged with the most heinous of crimes.

The writing is sinister and gloomy. The characters are troubled, tormented, and resourceful. And the plot, using a back-and-forth style, is an engrossing tale rife with desperation, manipulation, abuse, survival, defiance, class disparity, marital inequality, and murder.

Overall, The Savage Instinct is a dark, sinister, intense novel by DeLuca that does a wonderful job of interweaving historical facts and compelling fiction into a suspenseful mystery that is deliciously atmospheric and highly entertaining.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

              

 

 

Thank you to Inkshares for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About M.M. DeLuca

M. M. (Marjorie) DeLuca spent her childhood in the beautiful cathedral city of Durham in North-Eastern England. She attended the University of London, Goldsmiths College, studied psychology, then became a teacher. She immigrated to Canada and lives in Winnipeg with her husband and two children. There she also studied writing under her mentor, Pulitzer Prize winning author, Carol Shields.

She loves writing for all ages and in many genres—suspense, historical, sci-fi for teens.
She also teaches workshops in Creative Writing and the writing process.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

  

#BookReview The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale @RKapelkeDale @StMartinsPress #TheBallerinas #RachelKapelkeDale #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview The Ballerinas by Rachel Kapelke-Dale @RKapelkeDale @StMartinsPress #TheBallerinas #RachelKapelkeDale #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: The Ballerinas

Author: Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Dec. 7, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 7/10

Dare Me meets Black Swan and Luckiest Girl Alive in a captivating, voice-driven debut novel about a trio of ballerinas who meet as students at the Paris Opera Ballet School.

Fourteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg––taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career––and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she’s been away…and some secrets can’t stay buried forever.

Moving between the trio’s adolescent years and the present day, The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passion, and the sublimated rage that so many women hold inside––all culminating in a twist you won’t see coming, with magnetic characters you won’t soon forget.


Review:

Gloomy, consuming, and tragic!

The Ballerinas is an ominous, gritty, character-driven tale that takes you into the lives of three friends, Delphine, Lindsay, and Margaux, as they each struggle to find some semblance of control, power, and love in a life littered with competition, dysfunction, self-obsession, and insecurities.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are disciplined, secretive, and damaged. And the plot is a slow-burning, immersive tale full of life, loss, deception, desperation, friendship, drama, manipulation, jealousy, obsession, dedication, betrayal, and ruthless ambition.

Overall, The Ballerinas is a dark, ominous, astute tale by Kapelke-Dale that I found a little slow to start but, ultimately, did a remarkable job of delving into the complex dynamics between friends and highlighting just how gruelling, parasitic and toxic the world of ballet can truly be.

 

This book is available on December 7, 2021.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rachel Kapelke-Dale

Rachel Kapelke-Dale is the co-author of GRADUATES IN WONDERLAND (Penguin 2014), a memoir about the significance and nuances of female friendships. The author of Vanity Fair Hollywood's column "Advice from the Stars," Kapelke-Dale spent years in intensive ballet training before receiving a BA from Brown University, an MA from the Université de Paris VII, and a PhD from University College London. She currently lives in Paris.

Photo by author.

#BookReview Mercy (Atlee Pine #4) by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @HBGCanada @grandcentralpub #DavidBaldacci #Mercy #AtleePineSeries

#BookReview Mercy (Atlee Pine #4) by David Baldacci @davidbaldacci @HBGCanada @grandcentralpub  #DavidBaldacci #Mercy #AtleePineSeries Title: Mercy

Author: David Baldacci

Series: Atlee Pine #4

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Nov. 16, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 416

Format: Hardcover

Source: HBG Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

FBI Agent Atlee Pine’s harrowing search for her long-lost sister Mercy reaches a boiling point in this breakneck thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci. 
 
For her entire life, FBI agent Atlee Pine has been searching for her twin sister, Mercy, who was abducted at the age of six and never seen again. Mercy’s disappearance left behind a damaged family that later shattered beyond repair when Atlee’s parents inexplicably abandoned her.
 
Now, after a perilous investigation that nearly proved fatal, Atlee has finally discovered not only the reason behind her parents’ abandonment and Mercy’s kidnapping, but also the most promising breakthrough yet: proof that Mercy survived her abduction and then escaped her captors many years ago. 
 
Though Atlee is tantalizingly close to her family at last, the final leg of her long road to Mercy will be the most treacherous yet. Mercy left at least one dead body behind before fleeing her captors years before. Atlee has no idea if her sister is still alive, and if so, how she has been surviving all this time. When the truth is finally revealed, Atlee Pine will face the greatest danger yet, and it may well cost her everything.


Review:

Thrilling, twisty, and meticulous!

Mercy is a propulsive, gripping tale that picks up right where Daylight left off, taking us back into the life of FBI agent Atlee Pine, as she and her loyal assistant, Carol Blum, decide to take a leave of absence from the bureau to work full-time on discovering once and for all what happened to her twin sister, Mercy, who after escaping from her captors nineteen years ago seems to have vanished without a trace.

The writing is gritty and descriptive. The characters are cunning, ruthless, and persistent. And the plot keeps you on the edge of your seat as it immerses you into a malicious tale full of twists, turns, mayhem, chaos, revenge, survival, danger, violence, cruelty, and murder.

Overall, Mercy is another compelling, intricate, addictive mystery by Baldacci that I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend, and although it seems like it might be the last novel we get to enjoy in this series, it certainly introduced us to a new, formidable heroine, Spectator, who is easily in my opinion definitely worthy of a series of her own.

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

            

 

 

Thank you to HBG Canada & Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About David Baldacci

David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 130 million worldwide sales. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television. David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. Still a resident of his native Virginia, he invites you to visit him at DavidBaldacci.com and his foundation at WishYouWellFoundation.org.

Photograph by Allen Jones.