Category: General Blog Posts

#CoverReveal The Wedding Veil by Kristy Woodson Harvey @kristywharvey @uplitreads #TheWeddingVeil #kristywoodsonharvey

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Today I am excited and honoured to bring you the Cover 

for the next novel from USA TODAY bestselling author 

Kristy Woodson Harvey!

 

The Wedding Veil

Releasing on March 29, 2022!

 

 

“Four women. One family heirloom. A secret connection that will change their lives—and history as they know it. 

Present Day: Julia Baxter’s wedding veil, bequeathed to her great-grandmother by a mysterious woman on a train in the 1930s, has passed through generations of her family as a symbol of a happy marriage. But on the morning of her wedding day, something tells her that even the veil’s good luck isn’t enough to make her marriage last forever. Overwhelmed and panicked, she escapes to the Virgin Islands to clear her head. Meanwhile, her grandmother Babs is also feeling shaken. Still grieving the death of her beloved husband, she decides to move out of the house they once shared and into a retirement community. Though she hopes it’s a new beginning, she does not expect to run into an old flame, dredging up the same complicated emotions she felt a lifetime ago.

1914: Socialite Edith Vanderbilt is struggling to manage the luxurious Biltmore Estate after the untimely death of her cherished husband. With 250 rooms to oversee and an entire village dependent on her family to stay afloat, Edith is determined to uphold the Vanderbilt legacy—and prepare her free-spirited daughter Cornelia to inherit it—in spite of her family’s deteriorating financial situation. But Cornelia has dreams of her own. Asheville, North Carolina has always been her safe haven away from the prying eyes of the press, but as she explores more of the rapidly changing world around her, she’s torn between upholding tradition and pursuing the exciting future that lies beyond Biltmore’s gilded gates.

In the vein of Therese Anne Fowler’s A Well-Behaved Woman and Jennifer Robson’s The Gown, The Wedding Veil brings to vivid life a group of remarkable women forging their own paths—and explores the mystery of a national heirloom lost to time.”

 

 

PRE-ORDER NOW

    

 

 

About Kristy Woodson Harvey

Kristy Woodson Harvey is the USA TODAY bestselling author of six novels, including Feels Like Falling, The Peachtree Bluff series, and Under the Southern Sky. A Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s school of journalism, her writing has appeared in numerous online and print publications including Southern Living, Traditional Home, USA TODAY, Domino, and O. Henry. Kristy is the winner of the Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award for Excellence in Creative Writing and a finalist for the Southern Book Prize. Her work has been optioned for film and television, and her books have received numerous accolades including Southern Living’s Most Anticipated Beach Reads, Parade’s Big Fiction Reads, and Entertainment Weekly’s Spring Reading Picks. Kristy is the co-creator and co-host of the weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction. She blogs with her mom Beth Woodson on Design Chic, and loves connecting with fans on KristyWoodsonHarvey.com. She lives on the North Carolina coast with her husband and son where she is (always!) working on her next novel.

Photo by Jay Ackerman.

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#BookReview Ice and Stone by Marcia Muller @GrandCentralPub #MarciaMuller #IceandStone #SharonMcConeMystery

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#BookReview Ice and Stone by Marcia Muller @GrandCentralPub #MarciaMuller #IceandStone #SharonMcConeMystery Title: Ice and Stone

Author: Marcia Muller

Series: Sharon McCone #34

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Aug. 10, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 272

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

Private Investigator Sharon McCone goes undercover to investigate the murders of two Indigenous women in remote Northern California in this gripping, atmospheric mystery in the New York Times bestselling series.  

When the bodies of two Indigenous women are found in the wilderness of northern California, it is only the latest horrific development in a string of similar crimes in the area. Despite all evidence to the contrary, officials rule the deaths isolated incidents, which soon join the ranks of countless other unsolved cases quickly dismissed by law enforcement.
 
In a town where too many injustices are tolerated or brushed under the rug, only a few people remain who refuse to let a killer walk free. But Private Investigator Sharon McCone is one of those few. She is hired by an organization called Crimes against Indigenous Sisters to go undercover in Meruk County—a community rife with secrets, lies, and corruption—to expose the truth.
 
In an isolated cabin in the freezing, treacherous woods, McCone must work quickly to unravel a mystery that is rooted in profound evil—before she becomes the killer’s next target.

Review:

Duplicitous, intense, and atmospheric!

In this intriguing, thirty-fourth instalment in the Sharon McCone series, Ice and Stone, Muller has written a fast-paced, sinister thriller that finds San Francisco PI Sharon McCone going undercover in the town of Meruk at the request of the Crimes Against Indigenous Sisters to investigate the murders of two native woman that seem to have slipped through the cracks of the local justice system due to ongoing battles over jurisdictions, but when two more native women go missing, and some of the richer, white folk in the area start acting shadier than usual, the case may be a little more complex and dangerous than anyone could have imagined.

The prose is smooth and rich. The characters are strong, relentless, and resourceful. And the plot unfolds quickly into a menacing tale of mischief, mayhem, corruption, manipulation, racial tension, abuse, sexual assault, coercion, greed, heinous violence, and murder.

Overall, Ice and Stone is a tight, intricate, engrossing thrill ride by Muller that is highly entertaining, a little disturbing, and the perfect choice for anyone who enjoys a good mystery threaded with ongoing social issues and injustices.

 

This novel 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 Marcia Muller

Marcia Muller has written many novels and short stories. She has won six Anthony Awards, a Shamus Award, and is also the recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award (their highest accolade). She lives in northern California with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini.

Photo courtesy of Grand Central Publishing Website.

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#BookReview Gone for Good by Joanna Schaffhausen @slipperywhisper @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #JoannaSchaffhausen #GoneforGood #DetectiveAnnalisaVega #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Gone for Good by Joanna Schaffhausen @slipperywhisper @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #JoannaSchaffhausen #GoneforGood #DetectiveAnnalisaVega #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: Gone for Good

Author: Joanna Schaffhausen

Series: Detective Annalisa Vega #1

Published by: Minotaur Books on Aug. 10, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 10/10

Gone For Good is the first in a new mystery series from award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen, featuring Detective Annalisa Vega, in which a cold case heats up.

The Lovelorn Killer murdered seven women, ritually binding them and leaving them for dead before penning them gruesome love letters in the local papers. Then he disappeared, and after twenty years with no trace of him, many believe that he’s gone for good.

Not Grace Harper. A grocery store manager by day, at night Grace uses her snooping skills as part of an amateur sleuth group. She believes the Lovelorn Killer is still living in the same neighborhoods that he hunted in, and if she can figure out how he selected his victims, she will have the key to his identity.

Detective Annalisa Vega lost someone she loved to the killer. Now she’s at a murder scene with the worst kind of déjà vu: Grace Harper lies bound and dead on the floor, surrounded by clues to the biggest murder case that Chicago homicide never solved. Annalisa has the chance to make it right and to heal her family, but first, she has to figure out what Grace knew―how to see a killer who may be standing right in front of you. This means tracing his steps back to her childhood, peering into dark corners she hadn’t acknowledged before, and learning that despite everything the killer took, she has still so much more to lose.

Review:

Dark, disturbing, and exceptionally entertaining!

In this latest novel by Schaffhausen, Gone for Good, we are introduced to Chicago PD Det. Annalisa Vega, a complex, tenacious young woman who finds herself investigating the death of Grace Harper, a member of a group of online amateur sleuths, whose investigation into the murder of seven women in the 1990s may have just triggered the reappearance of a serial killer from the past.

The writing is bold and tight. The characters are committed, persistent, and vulnerable. And the plot starts off with a bang and then quickly unravels into an ominous tale full of twists, turns, red herrings, secrets, lies, obsession, deception, emotion, violence, and murder.

Gone for Good is the first book in the new Detective Annalisa Vega series, and once again, Schaffhausen has written a highly suspenseful, intricately woven mystery with superb character development that gives the story a touch of human frailty and authenticity that takes it from being just a good thriller to a great one!

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Joanna Schaffhausen

JOANNA SCHAFFHAUSEN wields a mean scalpel, skills developed in her years studying neuroscience. She has a doctorate in psychology, which reflects her long-standing interest in the brain—how it develops and the many ways it can go wrong. Previously, she worked for ABC News, writing for programs such as World News Tonight, Good Morning America, and 20/20. She lives in the Boston area with her husband and daughter. She is also the author of The Vanishing Season and No Mercy.

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#BookReview In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead @ashleywinstead @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #InMyDreamsIHoldaKnife #AshleyWinstead #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead @ashleywinstead @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #InMyDreamsIHoldaKnife #AshleyWinstead #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: In My Dreams I Hold a Knife

Author: Ashley Winstead

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Aug. 3, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: ARC, eBook

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 9/10

Six friends.
One college reunion.
One unsolved murder.

A college reunion turns dark and deadly in this chilling and propulsive suspense novel about six friends, one unsolved murder, and the dark secrets they’ve been hiding from each other—and themselves—for a decade.

Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her triumphant return to southern, elite Duquette University, down to the envious whispers that are sure to follow in her wake. Everyone is going to see the girl she wants them to see—confident, beautiful, indifferent—not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather’s murder fractured everything, including the tight bond linking the six friends she’d been closest to since freshman year. Ten years ago, everything fell apart, including the dreams she worked for her whole life—and her relationship with the one person she wasn’t supposed to love.

But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather’s murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years’ worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.

Told in racing dual timelines, with a dark campus setting and a darker look at friendship, love, obsession, and ambition, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is an addictive, propulsive read you won’t be able to put down.

Review:

Creepy, unpredictable, and exceptionally gripping!

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife transports you into the life of successful NYC consultant, Jessica Miller, as she heads to her ten-year reunion at Duquette University, where the past will collide with the present, long-buried secrets will finally be unearthed, and the senseless murder of her roommate and fellow member of the East House Seven clique will finally be solved.

The writing is meticulous and tight. The characterization is spot on with a cast of characters that are insecure, self-involved, and secretive. And the plot using flashbacks and a back-and-forth, past/present style intertwines and unravels effortlessly into a machiavellian tale of manipulation, deception, lies, drama, callousness, jealousy, secrets, revelations, hatred, mayhem, and murder.

Overall, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife is a clever, sinister, fabulous debut by Winstead that kept me guessing from the very first page and left me chilled, entertained, pleasantly surprised, and eager to read whatever her remarkably devious mind manages to come up with next. 

 

This novel is available now.

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

              

 

 

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

 

About Ashley Winstead

Ashley Winstead holds a Ph.D. in contemporary American literature from Southern Methodist University and a B.A. in English and Art History from Vanderbilt University. She lives in Houston, TX, where she drinks red wine and dreams up novels.

Photo by Luis Noble.

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#BookReview The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SandieJones #TheGuiltTrip #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SandieJones #TheGuiltTrip #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Guilt Trip

Author: Sandie Jones

Published by: Minotaur Books on Aug. 3, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8/10

In the vein of The Other Woman, Sandie Jones’s explosive new novel The Guilt Trip will have readers gripped to the very last page.

Six friends.

Rachel and Noah have been friends since they met at university. While they once thought that they might be something more, now, twenty years later, they are each happily married to other people, Jack and Paige respectively. Jack’s brother Will is getting married, to the dazzling, impulsive Ali, and the group of six travel to Portugal for their destination weekend.

Three couples.

As they arrive at a gorgeous villa perched on a cliff-edge, overlooking towering waves that crash on the famous surfing beaches below at Nazaré, they try to settle into a weekend of fun. While Rachel is looking forward to getting to know her future sister-in-law Ali better, Ali can’t help but rub many of the group up the wrong way: Rachel’s best friend Paige thinks Ali is attention-seeking and childish, and while Jack is trying to support his brother Will’s choice of wife, he is also finding plenty to disagree with Noah about.

One fatal misunderstanding . . .

But when Rachel discovers something about Ali that she can hardly believe, everything changes. As the wedding weekend unfolds, the secrets each of them hold begin to spill, and friendships and marriages threaten to unravel. Soon, jumping to conclusions becomes the difference between life and death.

Review:

Gripping, tight, and ominous!

The Guilt Trip is a twisty, pacey, domestic thriller that delves into the complex bonds that exist between friends and family members and reminds us that behind all those happy, smiling faces often lies an abundance of devastating secrets and destructive lies.

The writing is taut and edgy. The characters are secretive, manipulative, and troubled. And the plot is suspenseful and highly entertaining as it twists, turns, and unravels all the motivations, personalities, and relationships within it.

The Guilt Trip, at its core, is a novel about marital discord, friendship, deception, jealousy, misconceptions, devious behaviours, and murder. It’s an intense, dramatic, exceptionally menacing tale by Jones, and even though it seems to be getting some mixed reviews at the moment, I thoroughly enjoyed it and am now, more than ever, eager to read the copy of The Other Woman that has been sitting on my unread shelves for far too long.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Sandie Jones

SANDIE JONES has worked as a freelance journalist for more than twenty years and has written for publications including The Sunday Times, Woman’s Weekly, and Hello magazine. She lives in Lon-don with her husband and three children. She is the author of The Other Woman, a Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine pick, as well as The First Mistake and The Half Sister. The Guilt Trip is her fourth novel.

Photo by Harriet Buckingham.

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#BookReview Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch (The Ryan Family #1) by Carolyn Brown @ReadForeverPub @GrandCentralPub #ReadForever #Forever2021 #CarolynBrown #SecondChanceatSunflowerRanch #TheRyanFamilySeries

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#BookReview Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch (The Ryan Family #1) by Carolyn Brown @ReadForeverPub @GrandCentralPub #ReadForever #Forever2021 #CarolynBrown #SecondChanceatSunflowerRanch #TheRyanFamilySeries Title: Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch

Author: Carolyn Brown

Series: The Ryan Family #1

Published by: Forever on Jul. 27, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 375

Format: Paperback

Source: Forever

Book Rating: 8/10

From the bestselling author of Queen of Cowboy: regrets and old heartbreaks are unearthed in this sweeping love story as hometown sweethearts get a second chance at love—and being a family.

Retired combat medic Jesse Ryan hasn’t been home much since he enlisted twenty years ago. Now he’s headed back to Texas to help take care of his aging foster parents and run Sunflower ranch. But when he gets there, he finds his parents’ live-in nurse is Addison Hall, his high school best friend and the woman he always regretted leaving behind after their one steamy night together before he shipped out. He’s not at all surprised that their chemistry is still sparking, but Jesse is shocked to learn Addy gave birth to a little girl about nine months after he left—his little girl.

​Addy has her hands full as a single mom of a nineteen-year-old daughter who suddenly wants to rebel at everything. The last thing she needs is Jesse Ryan complicating her life even further, especially since she’s always had a crush on the handsome cowboy. But the more time she spends with Jesse, the more she wonders what might happen if they finally let their friendship blossom into something more and became the family she’d always hoped for. 
 
Includes the bonus novella Small Town Charm for the first time in print!

Review:

Big-hearted, sweet, and engaging!

Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch is an emotive, second-chance romance between the driven, successful Jesse and the kind, hardworking, single mother Addy as they discover that beneath all the miscommunication and past secrets is a deeply-rooted friendship, sizzling attraction, and unconditional love that is still smouldering and certainly worth fighting for.

The writing is fluid and warm. The characters are caring, hesitant, and appealing. And the plot is a push-pull tale of relationship dynamics, familial expectations, parenthood, introspection, acceptance, forgiveness, friendship, love, romance, and new beginnings.

Overall, Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch is a charming, colourful, tender tale that is a fantastic start to The Ryan Family series by Brown with characters you can’t help but root for, a storyline with a nice mix of drama and passion, and a happy-ever-after ending that definitely leaves you with a smile.

 

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Carolyn Brown

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author and RITA® Finalist who has sold more than 3 million books. She presently writes both women’s fiction and cowboy romance. She has also written historical single title, historical series, contemporary single title, and contemporary series. She lives in southern Oklahoma with her husband, a former English teacher, who is not allowed to read her books until they are published. They have three children and enough grandchildren to keep them young.

Photography by Charles C. Brown.

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#BookReview When All Light Fails by Randall Silvis @randallsilvis @PPPress #WhenAllLightFails #RandallSilvis #RyanDeMarcoMystery #inkedinpoison

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#BookReview When All Light Fails by Randall Silvis @randallsilvis @PPPress #WhenAllLightFails #RandallSilvis #RyanDeMarcoMystery #inkedinpoison Title: When All Light Fails

Author: Randall Silvis

Series: Ryan DeMarco Mystery #5

Published by: Poisoned Pen Press on Aug. 3, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 400

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Poisoned Pen Press

Book Rating: 8/10

A new mystery from Randall Silvis, critically acclaimed master of crime fiction

When powerful men pull strings to get what they want… someone almost always ends up dead

There’s not much that would convince retired police sergeant Ryan DeMarco to take on another private investigation case, but he can’t refuse a nine-year-old Michigan girl begging for help finding her biological father. The road trip to the Upper Peninsula promises DeMarco and his partner, Jayme, a chance to heal from their last case, which ended in a traumatic brush with death for DeMarco. But things aren’t as they first appear in the woods of Michigan, and the seemingly simple paternity investigation soon morphs into something deadly.

The deeper DeMarco, Jayme, and the rest of their team dig, the more ugly truths they reveal, all while doing their best to keep one member of their team, from falling prey to her own kind of darkness. This investigation just might be the most emotionally troubling one DeMarco and Jayme have yet encountered, for there are plenty of people who will do whatever it takes to shut them down before the truth comes to light.

Review:

Menacing, compelling, and sly!

When All Light Fails is a sinister, engaging police procedural that takes you back to Pennsylvania, where after recovering from an almost fatal altercation with a former adversary PI Ryan DeMarco and his partner, Jayme Matson, find themselves immersed in an investigation that seems at the start to be a simple case of confirming the paternity of a little girl but which quickly escalates into a tragic, multiple murder in at least two jurisdictions.

The writing is crafty and intense. The characters are ruthless, determined, and impulsive. And the plot is a suspenseful tale full of twists, turns, manipulation, desperation, duplicity, corruption, intrigue, self-reflection, violence, and murder.

Overall, When All Light Fails is a shrewd, pacey, action-packed fifth novel in the Ryan DeMarco series by Silvis, and even though it can be easily enjoyed as a standalone story, I highly recommend reading the first four novels in the series to truly appreciate the continuity of the storyline and the depth in characterization.

 

This book is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Randall Silvis

Randall Silvis is the internationally acclaimed author of over a dozen novels, one story
collection, and one book of narrative nonfiction. Also a prize-winning playwright, a
produced screenwriter, and a prolific essayist, he has been published and produced in
virtually every field and genre of creative writing. His numerous essays, articles, poems and short stories have appeared in the Discovery Channel magazines, The Writer, Prism International, Short Story International, Manoa, and numerous other online and print magazines. His work has been translated into 10 languages.

Silvis’s many literary awards include two writing fellowships from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the prestigious Drue Heinz Literature Prize, a Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Award, six fellowships for his fiction, drama, and screenwriting from the Pennsylvania Council On the Arts, and an honorary Doctor of Letters degree awarded for “distinguished literary achievement.”

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens @ChevyStevens @StMartinsPress #DarkRoads #ChevyStevens #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Dark Roads by Chevy Stevens @ChevyStevens @StMartinsPress #DarkRoads #ChevyStevens #SMPInfluencers Title: Dark Roads

Author: Chevy Stevens

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Aug. 3, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 9/10

The acclaimed and beloved author of Still Missing is back with her most breathtaking thriller yet.

The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. Isolated and vast, it has become a prime hunting ground for predators. For decades, young women traveling the road have gone missing. Motorists and hitchhikers, those passing through or living in one of the small towns scattered along the region, have fallen prey time and again. And no killer or abductor who has stalked the highway has ever been brought to justice.

Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to respect nature, how to live and survive off the land, and to never travel the highway alone. Now he’s gone, leaving her a teenage orphan in the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a means to bully and control Hailey. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to work, socialize, or date, Hailey vanishes into the mountainous terrain, hoping everyone will believe she’s left town. Rumors spread that she was taken by the highway killer—who’s claimed another victim over the summer.

One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her sister Amber lived—and where she was murdered. Estranged from her parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her and why. But Beth’s search for answers puts a target on her back—and threatens to reveal the truth behind Hailey’s disappearance…

Review:

Unsettling, twisty, and intricate!

Dark Roads is a tortuous, disturbing mystery that introduces us to Beth Chevalier as she heads to Cold Creek, British Columbia, to investigate the horrific murder of her younger sister, Amber, after her body is found brutalized on the side of Cold Creek Highway, a lonely stretch of road where multiple women have suspiciously disappeared, including local Hailey McBride, over the past several decades.

The writing is brisk and sharp. The characters are tormented, vulnerable, and scarred. And the plot told from alternating POVs and using a back-and-forth style is an eerie whodunit full of twists, turns, lies, deception, familial drama, depravity, violence, and murder.

I can honestly say I have yet to read a novel by Stevens that I didn’t really enjoy, and Dark Roads is no exception. It’s a taut, tense, gripping tale that packs a real punch and is a spine-chilling reminder, especially for those of us who grew up hearing about this real-life crime this tale is loosely based on, that evil can often live comfortably amongst us, merely hidden behind masks of normality.

This novel is available now.

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 of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Chevy Stevens

CHEVY STEVENS lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and daughter. When she isn’t working on her next book, she’s hiking with her two dogs on her favorite mountain trails and spending time with her family. Chevy's current obsessions are vintage Airstreams, Hollywood memoirs, all things mid-century modern, and stand-up comedians--not necessarily in that order. Her books, including Still Missing, a New York Times bestseller and winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel, have been published in more than thirty countries.

 

Photo by Poppy Photography.

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#BookReview Love Next Door (Lakeside #1) by Helena Hunting @helenahunting @AmazonPub @ThomasAllenLTD #LoveNextDoor #HelenaHunting #LakesideSeries

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#BookReview Love Next Door (Lakeside #1) by Helena Hunting @helenahunting @AmazonPub @ThomasAllenLTD #LoveNextDoor #HelenaHunting #LakesideSeries Title: Love Next Door

Author: Helena Hunting

Series: Lakeside #1

Published by: Montlake Romance on Jul. 27, 2020

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Source: Thomas Allen & Son

Book Rating: 10/10

When Dillion Stitch left her hometown, she had no intention of going back. But when her brother gets into trouble, Dillion reluctantly agrees to return home to take her place at the family business.

Being back in Pearl Lake after all these years feels familiar, but also brings a few surprises. She’s quick to notice that someone new has shown up at the cottage next door. Dillion gets more than an eyeful when she goes to check out the newcomer and meets Donovan “Van” Firestone—her beloved neighbor’s grandson—in all his unclothed glory.

Having gotten off to a rocky start, it’s not long before they begin bickering with each other all over town. All that back and forth inevitably sparks an undeniable attraction. But Dillion’s family has issues, Van’s family resents him, and neither Dillion nor Van feels truly at ease in the small town. For these Pearl Lake exiles, home isn’t just where the heart is—it’s where things get complicated.

Review:

Sincere, sexy, and sophisticated!

Love Next Door is a heartfelt, adorable tale that features the sweet, spirited Dillion and the handsome, dependable Van as they navigate a relationship that includes undeniable attraction, smouldering tension, a legacy bursting with memories and mementoes, families mired in drama and troubles, and one unforgettable kiss from a long time ago.

The writing is smooth and fluid. The characters are generous, charismatic, and kind. And the plot is an irresistible mix of family, friendship, introspection, tender moments, witty dialogue, passion, emotion, and swoon-worthy romance.

Overall, Love Next Door is another emotional, playful, charming read by Hunting that has without a doubt become one of my new all-time favourites and is an absolutely brilliant start for this new Lakeside series.

This book 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 Helena Hunting

Helena Hunting is the author of The USA Today and NYT bestselling PUCKED Series. She lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She writes everything from romantic sports comedy to new adult angst.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview All the Little Hopes by Leah Weiss @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #AlltheLittleHopes #LeahWeiss #bookmarkedbylandmark

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#BookReview All the Little Hopes by Leah Weiss @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #AlltheLittleHopes #LeahWeiss #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: All the Little Hopes

Author: Leah Weiss

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Jul. 27, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 9/10

From the acclaimed author of If the Creek Don’t Rise comes a Southern story of friendship forged by books and bees, when the timeless troubles of growing up meet the murky shadows of World War II.

Deep in the tobacco land of North Carolina, nothing’s the same since the boys shipped off to war and worry took their place. Thirteen-year-old Lucy Brown is curious and clever, but she can’t make sense of it all. Then Allie Bert Tucker comes to town, an outcast with a complicated past, and Lucy believes that together they can solve crimes. Just like her hero, Nancy Drew.

That chance comes when a man goes missing, a woman stops speaking, and an eccentric gives the girls a mystery that takes them beyond the ordinary. Their quiet town, seasoned with honeybees and sweet tea, becomes home to a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp—and more men go missing. The pair set out to answer the big question: do we ever really know who the enemy is?

Lush with Southern atmosphere, All The Little Hopes, is the story of two girls growing up while war creeps closer, blurring the difference between what’s right, what’s wrong, and what we know to be true.

Review:

Poignant, optimistic, and intriguing!

All the Little Hopes is a mysterious, heartwarming tale that sweeps you away to North Carolina in the early 1940s when war is raging overseas, “real bad men” seem to be disappearing in the small town of Riverton, and two thirteen-year-old girls from different backgrounds, Lucy Brown, an inquisitive young girl who yearns to be an amateur detective just like her favourite literary character, Nancy Drew, and Allie Bert Tucker, a young, poor girl with no formal education who is sent to live with her aunt after her mother dies during childbirth become the best of friends.

The prose is rich and expressive. The characters are quirky, curious, and vulnerable. And the plot is a heartfelt, coming-of-age tale about life, love, loneliness, heartbreak, war, loss, grief, guilt, hope, family, and friendship.

Overall, All the Little Hopes is a beautifully written, informative, absorbing tale with intriguing characters that I devoured from start to finish. It’s the first book I’ve had the chance to read by Weiss, but it definitely won’t be my last, and it is undoubtedly the perfect choice for anyone who loves the historical fiction genre.

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 Leah Weiss

Leah Weiss was born in North Carolina and lives in Virginia. She retired in 2015 from a 24-year career as an Executive Assistant at Virginia Episcopal School and published her debut novel, IF THE CREEK DON’T RISE in August, 2017; it has sold over 100,000 copies. ALL THE LITTLE HOPES will be released in July 2021. Leah writes full time, enjoys meeting with book clubs and speaking about finding the story and the characters to tell it.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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