#BookReview Too Good to Be True by Carola Lovering @StMartinsPress #TooGoodtoBeTrue #CarolaLovering #StMartinsPress

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#BookReview Too Good to Be True by Carola Lovering @StMartinsPress #TooGoodtoBeTrue #CarolaLovering #StMartinsPress Title: Too Good to Be True

Author: Carola Lovering

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Mar. 2, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

ONE LOVE STORY. TWO MARRIAGES. THREE VERSIONS OF THE TRUTH.

Skye Starling is overjoyed when her boyfriend, Burke Michaels, proposes after a whirlwind courtship. Though Skye seems to have the world at her fingertips―she’s smart, beautiful, and from a well-off family―she’s also battled crippling OCD ever since her mother’s death when she was eleven, and her romantic relationships have suffered as a result.

But now Burke―handsome, older, and more emotionally mature than any man she’s met before―says he wants her. Forever. Except, Burke isn’t who he claims to be. And interspersed letters to his therapist reveal the truth: he’s happily married, and using Skye for his own, deceptive ends.

In a third perspective, set thirty years earlier, a scrappy seventeen-year-old named Heather is determined to end things with Burke, a local bad boy, and make a better life for herself in New York City. But can her adolescent love stay firmly in her past―or will he find his way into her future?

On a collision course she doesn’t see coming, Skye throws herself into wedding planning, as Burke’s scheme grows ever more twisted. But of course, even the best laid plans can go astray. And just when you think you know where this story is going, you’ll discover that there’s more than one way to spin the truth.

Review:

Intricate, creepy, and twisty!

Too Good to Be True is a sinister, psychological thriller that introduces us to three main characters. Skye Starline a young woman with looks, money, and a great career but unlucky in love, until recently, due to her often debilitating OCD, Burke Michaels, a handsome, mature father of three who seems to be the perfect fiancé except for the fact he’s broke and actually already married, and Heather, a middle-aged wife with a past littered with heartbreak and loss and a compulsive desire to have all the good things in life.

The prose is taut and intense. The characters are suspicious, secretive, and vulnerable. And the plot using a mix of narration, diary entries, and flashbacks, and told from multiple POVs, intertwines and unravels effortlessly into a machiavellian tale of deception, lies, manipulation, jealousy, secrets, revelations, and mind-blowing mayhem.

Overall, Too Good to Be True is an unpredictable, tight, satisfying thrill ride by Lovering that had just the right amount of twists, turns, and surprises to keep me thoroughly engrossed from start to finish.

 

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 for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Carola Lovering

Carola Lovering is the author of TELL ME LIES (Atria Books) and TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE (St. Martin's Press). She attended Colorado College, and her writing has appeared in W Magazine, National Geographic, Outside, and Yoga Journal, among other publications. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and son.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview The Unfit Heiress by Audrey Clare Farley @GrandCentralPub #TheUnfitHeiress #AudreyClareFarley #AnnCooperHewitt #GrandCentralPub

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#BookReview The Unfit Heiress by Audrey Clare Farley @GrandCentralPub #TheUnfitHeiress #AudreyClareFarley #AnnCooperHewitt #GrandCentralPub Title: The Unfit Heiress

Author: Audrey Clare Farley

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Apr. 2, 2021

Genres: Nonfiction

Pages: 304

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

For readers of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Phantom of Fifth Avenue, a page-turning drama of fortunes, eugenics and women’s reproductive rights framed by the sordid court battle between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her socialite mother.

At the turn of the twentieth century, American women began to reject Victorian propriety in favor of passion and livelihood outside the home. This alarmed authorities, who feared certain “over-sexed” women could destroy civilization if allowed to reproduce and pass on their defects. Set against this backdrop, The Unfit Heiress chronicles the fight for inheritance, both genetic and monetary, between Ann Cooper Hewitt and her mother Maryon.

In 1934, aided by a California eugenics law, the socialite Maryon Cooper Hewitt had her “promiscuous” daughter declared feebleminded and sterilized without her knowledge. She did this to deprive Ann of millions of dollars from her father’s estate, which contained a child-bearing stipulation. When a sensational court case ensued, the American public was captivated. So were eugenicists, who saw an opportunity to restrict reproductive rights in America for decades to come.

This riveting story unfolds through the brilliant research of Audrey Clare Farley, who captures the interior lives of these women on the pages and poses questions that remain relevant today: What does it mean to be “unfit” for motherhood? In the battle for reproductive rights, can we forgive the women who side against us? And can we forgive our mothers if they are the ones who inflict the deepest wounds?

Review:

Detailed, fascinating, and shocking!

The Unfit Heiress is the candid, expository tale of Ann Cooper Hewitt, a young woman who sued her mother in 1936 for involuntarily having her sterilized in order to acquire her inheritance, as well as an inside look into her infamous parent’s history and relationship, and the horrifying practice of forced sterilization.

The writing is intensive and insightful. And the novel is an intriguing tale of one woman’s personal experiences, legal battles, and struggles to find compensation, justice, love and happiness.

Overall, The Unfit Heiress is a thought-provoking, comprehensive debut by Audrey Clare Farley that does a remarkable job of highlighting her incredible knowledge and research into this monumental case, the eugenics movement, and the evolution of society’s perception and acceptance of women’s sexuality.

 

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 Audrey Clare Farley

Audrey Clare Farley is a writer, book reviewer, and historian of twentieth-century American fiction and culture. Having earned a PhD in English from University of Maryland, College Park in 2017, she occasionally lectures in history and literature at local universities. Her essay on Ann Cooper Hewitt, published in July 2019 in Narratively, was the publication’s second most-read story of the year. Her writing on the eugenics movement and other topics has appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Public Books, Lady Science, Longreads, and Marginalia Review of Books, where she is a contributing editor. She lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

Photo by Grace Farley.

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#BlogTour #BookReview The Whispers by Heidi Perks @arrowpublishing @HeidiPerksBooks #TheWhispers #HeidiPerks

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#BlogTour #BookReview The Whispers by Heidi Perks @arrowpublishing @HeidiPerksBooks #TheWhispers #HeidiPerks Title: The Whispers

Author: Heidi Perks

Published by: Century on Apr. 15, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: Arrow Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A MISSING WIFE. FOUR FRIENDS. WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH?

Anna Robinson hasn’t been seen since she went on a night out with her four closest friends.

She has a loving husband and a son she adores. Surely she wouldn’t abandon them and her perfect life. . .

But what has happened to her?

At the school gates, it’s not long before the rumours start. Anna’s oldest friend Grace is beside herself with worry – desperately searching for answers, and certain that someone is hiding the truth.

With each day that passes, Anna’s life is under increasing threat. And a the pressure mounts, it won’t be long before something cracks. . .

Review:

Ominous, atmospheric, and twisty!

The Whispers is a menacing, character-driven thriller that delves into the complex dynamics between friends and highlights just how dependent and toxic some of those relationships can ultimately become.

The prose is taut and intense. The characters are plagued, deceptive, and impulsive. And the plot using a back-and-forth, past/present style does a nice job of building tension as it unfolds a tortuous tale of friendship, lies, secrets, manipulation, and obsession.

As some of you know, I’m a huge fan of Heidi Perks, and this novel didn’t disappoint. The Whispers is another riveting, edgy, unsettling tale by Perks that kept me guessing from start to finish, and as always, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

This novel is available now.

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

          

 

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House UK – Arrow Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Heidi Perks

Heidi Perks was born in 1973. She lives by the sea in Bournemouth with her husband and two children.
Heidi graduated from Bournemouth University in 1997 with a BA (Hons) in Retail Management, and then enjoyed a career in Marketing before leaving in 2012 to focus on both bringing up her family and writing.
Heidi successfully applied for a place on the inaugural Curtis Brown Creative online Novel Writing Course and after that dedicated her time to completing her first novel, Beneath The Surface.
She has a huge interest in what makes people tick and loves to write about family relationships, especially where some of the characters are slightly dysfunctional.

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#BookReview A Hundred Suns by Karin Tanabe @karintanabe @BookSparks @StMartinsPress #AHundredSuns #KarinTanabe #SPRC2021 #SpringBookScope

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#BookReview A Hundred Suns by Karin Tanabe @karintanabe @BookSparks @StMartinsPress #AHundredSuns #KarinTanabe #SPRC2021 #SpringBookScope Title: A Hundred Suns

Author: Karin Tanabe

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Mar. 16, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 416

Format: Paperback

Source: BookSparks

Book Rating: 8/10

A faraway land.
A family’s dynasty.
A trail of secrets that could shatter their glamorous lifestyle.

On a humid afternoon in 1933, American Jessie Lesage steps off a boat from Paris and onto the shores of Vietnam. Accompanying her French husband Victor, an heir to the Michelin rubber fortune, she’s certain that their new life is full of promise, for while the rest of the world is sinking into economic depression, Indochine is gold for the Michelins. Jessie knows that the vast plantations near Saigon are the key to the family’s prosperity, and though they have recently been marred in scandal, she needs them to succeed for her husband’s sake—and to ensure that the life she left behind in America stays buried in the past.

Jessie dives into the glamorous colonial world, where money is king and morals are brushed aside, and meets Marcelle de Fabry, a spellbinding expat with a wealthy Indochinese lover, the silk tycoon Khoi Nguyen. Descending on Jessie’s world like a hurricane, Marcelle proves to be an exuberant guide to colonial life. But hidden beneath her vivacious exterior is a fierce desire to put the colony back in the hands of its people––starting with the Michelin plantations.

It doesn’t take long for the sun-drenched days and champagne-soaked nights to catch up with Jessie. With an increasingly fractured mind, her affection for Indochine falters. And as a fiery political struggle builds around her, Jessie begins to wonder what’s real in a friendship that she suspects may be nothing but a house of cards.

Motivated by love, driven by ambition, and seeking self-preservation at all costs, Jessie and Marcelle each toe the line between friend and foe, ethics and excess. Cast against the stylish backdrop of 1920s Paris and 1930s Indochine, in a time and place defined by contrasts and convictions, Karin Tanabe’s A Hundred Suns is historical fiction at its lush, suspenseful best.

Review:

Tense, lush, and twisty!

A Hundred Suns is predominantly set in Hanoi during 1933 and is told from two different perspectives. Jesse Lesage, a young mother who becomes overwhelmed and in over her head when she gets swept up in the ex-pat lifestyle while her husband, a member of the renowned Michelin family, is away overseeing his family’s rubber plantations, and Marcelle de Fabry, a charming woman on a ceaseless pursuit for retribution who will do whatever it takes to exact revenge on those she deems responsible. 

The prose is clever and rich. The characters are multifaceted, driven, and secretive. And the plot told from alternating perspectives is a mysterious, gripping tale about life, love, friendship, indulgences, political unrest, heartbreak, loss, guilt, grief, vengeance, and deception.

Overall, A Hundred Suns is an intriguing blend of evocative fiction, captivating suspense, and palpable emotion, and as a historical fiction lover, I think what I enjoyed the most was being able to delve into a time and place not typically found in this genre.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to BookSparks and Karin Tanabe for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Karin Tanabe

KARIN TANABE is the author of six novels, including A Hundred Suns and The Gilded Years (soon to be a major motion picture starring Zendaya, who will produce alongside Reese Witherspoon/Hello Sunshine). A former Politico reporter, she has also written for The Washington Post, the Miami Herald, the Chicago Tribune, and Newsday. She has appeared as a celebrity and politics expert on Entertainment Tonight, CNN, and CBS Early Show. A graduate of Vassar College, Karin lives in Washington, D.C.

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#BookReview Jack & Bet by Sarah Butler @PGCBooks @picadorbooks #Jack&Bet #SarahButler

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#BookReview Jack & Bet by Sarah Butler @PGCBooks @picadorbooks #Jack&Bet #SarahButler Title: Jack & Bet

Author: Sarah Butler

Published by: Picador on Apr. 13, 2021

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 272

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Even the longest marriages have their secrets . . .

Jack Chalmers is a man of few words, married to a woman of many. He and Bet have been together for seventy years – almost a lifetime – and happily so, for the most part.

All Jack and Bet want is to enjoy the time they have left together, in the flat they have tried to make their home. Their son Tommy has other ideas: he wants them to live somewhere with round-the-clock care, hot meals, activities. Bet thinks they can manage just fine.

When they strike up an unlikely friendship with Marinela, a young Romanian woman, Bet thinks she has found the perfect solution – one that could change Marinela’s life as well as theirs. But this means revisiting an old love affair, and confronting a long-buried secret she has kept hidden from everyone, even Jack, for many years.

Tender, moving and beautifully told, Sarah Butler’s Jack & Bet is an unforgettable novel about love and loss, the joys and regrets of a long marriage, and the struggle to find a place to call home.

Review:

Touching, sentimental, and bittersweet!

Jack & Bet is a heartwarming, affecting story that sweeps you away to London, England, and into a tale where long lives lived are pondered, a 70-year marriage is celebrated, friendships are developed and savoured, memories are cherished, secrets are unearthed, tears are shed, lives are remembered, and love is forged and shared.

The writing is smooth and heartfelt. The characters are sincere, genuine, and lovable. And the plot is a delightful blend of heart, hope, humour, nostalgia, drama, and emotion.

Jack & Bet is, ultimately, a story about life, love, loss, dreams, heartbreak, friendship, family, ageing, and finding happiness, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and in the end, it left me smiling.

This novel is available now.

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

               

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah Butler

Sarah Butler is the acclaimed author of Ten Things I've Learnt About Love, Before the Fire and Jack & Bet. Her writing has been translated into fourteen languages. She is also the author of a novella, Not Home, written in conversation with people living in unsupported temporary accommodation. Sarah is a part-time lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University and lives in Manchester with her family.

Photo courtesy of Pan MacMillan website.

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#BookReview While Paris Slept by Ruth Druart @grandcentralpub #RuthDruart #WhileParisSlept

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#BookReview While Paris Slept by Ruth Druart @grandcentralpub #RuthDruart #WhileParisSlept Title: While Paris Slept

Author: Ruth Druart

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Feb. 23, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 464

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

One woman must make the hardest decision of her life in this unforgettably moving story of resistance and faith during one of the darkest times in history.

Santa Cruz, 1953. Jean-Luc is a man on the run from his past. The scar on his face is a small price to pay for surviving the horrors of Nazi occupation in France. Now, he has a new life in California, a family. He never expected the past to come knocking on his door.

Paris, 1944. A young Jewish woman’s past is torn apart in a heartbeat. Herded onto a train bound for Auschwitz, in an act of desperation she entrusts her most precious possession to a stranger. All she has left now is hope.

On a darkened platform, two destinies become intertwined, and the choices each person makes will change the future in ways neither could have imagined.

Told from alternating perspectives, While Paris Slept reflects on the power of love, resilience, and courage when all seems lost. Exploring the strength of family ties, and what it really means to love someone unconditionally, this debut novel will capture your heart.

Review:

Pensive, poignant, and insightful!

While Paris Slept is an affecting, heartwrenching tale set in both France during 1944, as well as California during 1953, that takes you into the lives of five people whose lives are unimaginably changed one day when Sarah Laffitte, a Jewish prisoner, hands her newborn child to a Drancy railway worker in order to save his life.

The prose is emotive and charged. The characters are brave, selfless, and compassionate. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine seamlessly into an alluring tale of life, loss, family, tragedy, desperation, secrets, friendship, war, parenthood, unconditional love, and the true meaning of family.

Overall, While Paris Slept is an atmospheric, intense, impactful novel by Druart that sweeps you away to another time and place and reminds you that survival of any form takes unimaginable sacrifice, courage, strength, and often moral and ethical dilemmas.

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 Ruth Druart

Ruth Druart grew up on the Isle of Wight, leaving at eighteen to study psychology. In 1993 she moved to Paris, the city that inspired her to write While Paris Slept. There she pursued a career in international education and raised three sons with her French husband. She recently left her teaching position, so she can write full time while running her writing group in Paris.

Photo courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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I Can’t Wait For . . . Find You First by Linwood Barclay @linwoodbarclay @harpercollinsca #FindYouFirst #LinwoodBarclay #BooksofHCC

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Can’t-Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings is a weekly
post to spotlight books we’re excited about that we have yet to read.

 

 

This week the book I’m waiting on and excited to read is …

 

 

The New York Times bestselling author of Elevator Pitch and master of psychological suspense returns with a riveting thriller in which the possible heirs of a dying tech millionaire are mysteriously being eliminated, one by one.

Tech millionaire Miles Cookson has more money than he can ever spend, and everything he could dream of—except time. He has recently been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and there is a fifty percent chance that it can be passed on to the next generation. For Miles, this means taking a long hard look at his past . . .

Two decades ago, a young, struggling Miles was a sperm donor. Somewhere out there, he has kids—nine of them. And they might be about to inherit both the good and the bad from him—maybe his fortune, or maybe something much worse.

As Miles begins to search for the children he’s never known, aspiring film documentarian Chloe Swanson embarks on a quest to find her biological father, armed with the knowledge that twenty-two years ago, her mother used a New York sperm bank to become pregnant.

When Miles and Chloe eventually connect, their excitement at finding each other is overshadowed by a series of mysterious and terrifying events. One by one, Miles’s other potential heirs are vanishing—every trace of them wiped, like they never existed at all.

Who is the vicious killer—another heir methodically erasing rivals? Or is something even more sinister going on?

It’s a deadly race against time . .

 

This novel is available on May 4, 2021.

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

            

 

 

 

What do you think? It sounds so good, doesn’t it! 

 

Have you had a chance to read Find You First or any other books by Linwood Barclay?

 

Will it be added to your TBR shelf?

 

Thank you so much to HarperCollins Canada for my gifted copy!

 

#BookReview The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth @SallyHepworth @StMartinsPress #TheGoodSister #SallyHepworth #StMartinsPress

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#BookReview The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth @SallyHepworth @StMartinsPress #TheGoodSister #SallyHepworth #StMartinsPress Title: The Good Sister

Author: Sally Hepworth

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Apr. 13, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 9/10

From the outside, everyone might think Fern and Rose are as close as twin sisters can be: Rose is the responsible one and Fern is the quirky one. But the sisters are devoted to one another and Rose has always been Fern’s protector from the time they were small.

Fern needed protecting because their mother was a true sociopath who hid her true nature from the world, and only Rose could see it. Fern always saw the good in everyone. Years ago, Fern did something very, very bad. And Rose has never told a soul. When Fern decides to help her sister achieve her heart’s desire of having a baby, Rose realizes with growing horror that Fern might make choices that can only have a terrible outcome. What Rose doesn’t realize is that Fern is growing more and more aware of the secrets Rose, herself, is keeping. And that their mother might have the last word after all.

Review:

Simmering, pacey, and brilliantly clever!

The Good Sister is an intricate, character-driven, domestic thriller that takes you into the lives of two sisters, Rose, a hardworking wife who longs for a child, and Fern a quirky, librarian who struggles daily to navigate a world bursting with sensory overload.

The prose is crisp and intense. The characters are devious, cunning, and scarred. And the plot told from differing perspectives unfolds rapidly into an exhilarating tale full of twists, turns, surprises, familial drama, tragedy, greed, lies, and deception.

Overall, The Good Sister is another gripping, twisty, suspenseful tale by Hepworth that does a wonderful job of delving into all the complex, dysfunctional dynamics that can exist between family members and reminds us just how parasitic and toxic some of those relationships can truly be.

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 Sally Hepworth

Sally Hepworth has lived around the world, spending extended periods in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Canada. She is the author of The Secrets of Midwives, The Things We Keep, The Mother's Promise, The Family Next Door and The Mother-in-Law. Sally now lives in Melbourne with her husband, three children, and one adorable dog.

Photo by Mrs. Smart Photography.

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#BookReview The Murder Game by Carrie Doyle @SourcebooksFire @RaincoastBooks #TheMurderGame #CarrieDoyle

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#BookReview The Murder Game by Carrie Doyle @SourcebooksFire @RaincoastBooks #TheMurderGame #CarrieDoyle Title: The Murder Game

Author: Carrie Doyle

Published by: Sourcebooks Fire on Apr. 6, 2021

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Raincoast Books

Book Rating: 7/10

What if your best friend and roommate killed a teacher at your prep school? Or what if he didn’t do it, but he’s being framed, and you’re the only person who can save him?

Luke Chase didn’t mean to get caught up solving the mystery of Mrs. Heckler’s murder. He just wanted to spend alone time with the new British girl at their boarding school.

But little did he know someone would end up dead right next to their rendezvous spot in the woods, and his best friend and roommate Oscar Weymouth would be the one to take the blame. With suspects aplenty and a past that’s anything but innocent, Luke Chase reluctantly calls on his famous survival skills to solve the mystery and find the true killer.

Review:

Mysterious, twisty, and well-paced!

The Murder Game is an intriguing murder mystery that transports you to St. Benedict’s boarding school in eastern Connecticut and into the life of Luke Chase, a teenage student who, after a faculty member is found murdered and his roommate becomes the prime suspect, decides to conduct his own investigation to discover the real culprit and to prove his friend’s innocence once and for all.

The writing is light and smooth. The characters are intelligent, resourceful, and impulsive. And the plot is a creative whodunit full of amateur sleuthing, dangerous situations, suspects, deduction, friendship, secrets, and murder.

Overall, The Murder Game is a quick, engaging, sinister YA thriller by Doyle that is satisfying and entertaining as long as you’re able to suspend disbelief for a little while.

 

This book is available now.

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

          

 

 

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

 

About Carrie Doyle

Carrie Doyle is the best selling author of multiple novels and screenplays that span many genres, ranging from cozy mysteries to chick lit to comedies to Young Adult.

A born and bred New Yorker, Carrie has spent most of her life in Manhattan, with the exception of a six-year stint in Europe (Russia; France; England) and five years in Los Angeles. A former Editor-in-Chief of the Russian edition of Marie Claire, Carrie has written dozens of articles for various magazines, including countless celebrity profiles. She is also a screenwriter, and her movie Intern (co-written with Jill Kargman) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Carrie has three books that will be published in 2021: Death on Bull Path (the fourth book of the Hamptons Murder Mystery Series); The Murder Game; and It Takes Two to Mango (the first book of the Trouble in Paradise Series.)

Carrie currently splits her time between New York and Long Island, with her husband and two teenage sons.

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

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#BookReview The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon @ScoutPressBooks @SimonSchusterCA #TheDrowningKind #JenniferMcMahon

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#BookReview The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon @ScoutPressBooks @SimonSchusterCA #TheDrowningKind #JenniferMcMahon Title: The Drowning Kind

Author: Jennifer McMahon

Published by: Scout Press on Apr. 6, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 336

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Be careful what you wish for.

When social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and the property. And as she dives deeper into the research herself, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.

In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumored to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives.

Review:

Intricate, haunting, and imaginative!

In this latest novel by McMahon, The Drowning Kind, she transports us to Bradenburg, Vermont during 1929, as well as present-day, and into the family estate, Sparrow Crest, where emotions run high, tragedy seems to strike, tales are told, secrets are kept, skeletons are long buried, and the spring-fed pool provides hope and healing but only at a very steep price.

The prose is dark and tight. The characters are damaged, unsettled, and vulnerable. And the plot told from alternating timelines is a suspenseful tale of tension, desperation, loss, familial drama, tortured spirits, dark magic, supernatural phenomenon, and the dynamic relationship between sisters.

Overall, The Drowning Kind is a tragic, engrossing, mystical tale by McMahon that does a beautiful job of reminding us that often the choices we make have far-reaching consequences.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jennifer McMahon

Jennifer McMahon is the author of nine novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Promise Not to Tell and The Winter People. She lives in Vermont with her partner, Drea, and their daughter, Zella.

Photograph by Zella McMahon.

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