#BookReview Middle of the Night by Riley Sager @PenguinRandomCA #MiddleOfTheNight #RileySager #PenguinReads #PenguinRandomCA

#BookReview Middle of the Night by Riley Sager @PenguinRandomCA #MiddleOfTheNight #RileySager #PenguinReads #PenguinRandomCA Title: Middle of the Night

Author: Riley Sager

Published by: Dutton on Jun. 18, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 367

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.

The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?

The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed monsters roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.

The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present.


Review:

Atmospheric, dramatic, and intriguing!

Middle of the Night is a dark, captivating mystery that takes us into the life of Ethan Marsh who, upon moving back to his childhood home, decides it’s finally time to probe, explore and piece together what actually happened to his best friend Billy on the night he vanished thirty years prior.

The writing is crisp and precise. The characters are troubled, determined, and genuine. And the plot builds quickly, creating intensity and suspense as it unravels all the relationships, motivations, personalities, deception, and devious behaviours within it.

Overall, Middle of the Night is, ultimately, a story of lies, secrets, revelations, manipulation, friendship, violence, and murder. It’s a tight, clever, eerie thrill ride by Sager that had just the right amount of twists, turns, and surprises to keep me absolutely engrossed from start to finish.

 

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 Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Riley Sager

Riley Sager is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels, most recently The Only One Left and The House Across the Lake. A native of Pennsylvania, he now lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Photo by Michael Livio.

#BookReview The Hidden Girl by Lucinda Riley @lucindariley @panmacmillan @PGCBooks #TheHiddenGirl #LucindaRiley #PGCBooks

#BookReview The Hidden Girl by Lucinda Riley @lucindariley @panmacmillan @PGCBooks #TheHiddenGirl #LucindaRiley #PGCBooks Title: The Hidden Girl

Author: Lucinda Riley

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Sep. 17, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 576

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

A breathtaking novel from the international bestselling author of the Seven Sisters series, Lucinda Riley.

You can’t alter destiny…

Born and raised in a small village on the Yorkshire moors, Leah Thompson grows more beautiful with each passing day. When she catches the attention of the influential, troubled Delancey family, she knows her life will never be the same again.

Years later, Leah has taken the modelling world by storm, travelling from Milan to London and New York and living life in the lap of luxury. But her past follows her like a dark shadow, mysteriously intertwined with the tragic tale of two young siblings in Poland during World War II.

As two generations of secrets threaten to explode, Leah is haunted by a fatal, forgotten prophecy from her past, and must fight to challenge the destiny that has been mapped out for her in the stars.

Sweeping and evocative, The Hidden Girl is a lost treasure from global bestseller Lucinda Riley, reworked and given new life by Harry Whittaker, Lucinda’s son and co-author of the record-breaking, international phenomenon Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt.


Review:

Absorbing, moving, and mysterious!

The Hidden Girl transports you from Yorkshire to New York to Poland between 1942 and 1992 and immerses you into the ongoing, complex, multi-generational relationships between two families, complete with all the powerful emotions, haunting tales, long-buried secrets, and unimaginable tragedy that has plagued them for over fifty 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, brutality, tragedy, manipulation, horrors, obsession, heartbreak, and love.

Overall, The Hidden Girl is a heart-tugging, clever, captivating tale by Riley that reminds us that the choices we make often have far-reaching consequences, and skeletons always seem to find their way to the surface no matter how well they’re buried.

 

This book is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to PGC Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Lucinda Riley

Lucinda Riley was born in Ireland and, after an early career as an actress in film, theatre and television, wrote her first book aged twenty-four.

Her books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and sold thirty million copies worldwide. She is a New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestseller.Lucinda's Seven Sisters series, which tells the story of adopted sisters and is inspired by the mythology of the famous star cluster, has become a global phenomenon. The series is a number one bestseller across the world and is currently in development with a major TV production company.

Though she brought up her four children mostly in Norfolk in England, in 2015 Lucinda fulfilled her dream of buying a remote farmhouse in West Cork, Ireland, which she always felt was her spiritual home, and indeed this was where her last five books were written. Lucinda was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and died in June 2021

#BookReview Precipice by Robert Harris @Robert___Harris @harperbooks #Precipice #RobertHarris #HarperBooks

#BookReview Precipice by Robert Harris @Robert___Harris @harperbooks #Precipice #RobertHarris #HarperBooks Title: Precipice

Author: Robert Harris

Published by: Harper Books on Sep. 17, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 464

Format: Hardcover

Source: Harper Books

Book Rating: 9/10

A spellbinding novel of passion, intrigue, and betrayal set in England in the months leading to the Great War from the bestselling author of Act of Oblivion, Fatherland, The Ghostwriter, and Munich.

Summer 1914. A world on the brink of catastrophe.

In London, twenty-six-year-old Venetia Stanley—aristocratic, clever, bored, reckless—is part of a fast group of upper-crust bohemians and socialites known as “The Coterie.” She’s also engaged in a clandestine love affair with the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith, a man more than twice her age. He writes to her obsessively, sharing the most sensitive matters of state.

As Asquith reluctantly leads the country into war with Germany, a young intelligence officer with Scotland Yard is assigned to investigate a leak of top-secret documents. Suddenly, what was a sexual intrigue becomes a matter of national security that could topple the British government—and will alter the course of political history.

An unrivaled master of seamlessly weaving fact and fiction, Precipice is another electrifying thriller from the brilliant imagination of Robert Harris.


Review:

Immersive, evocative, and nuanced!

Precipice is a compelling, enlightening tale that sweeps you away to London in the early 1900s and into the life of H. H. Asquith, from his position as Prime Minister of Great Britain to his all-consuming infatuation and love affair with a woman, Beatrice Venetia Stanley, who was more than half his age.

The prose is tight and fluid. The characters are intelligent, multilayered, and driven. And the plot is a fascinating tale about life, love, power, corruption, recklessness, loyalty, the inner workings of government, and the complexities of war.

I have to admit that I knew very little about H. H. Asquith when I started Precipice, but Harris did such a wonderful job of blending historical facts with captivating, alluring fiction that I was not only left entertained but incredibly intrigued to learn more about his life and his contribution to British politics.

 

This novel is available now.

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

        

 

 

Thank you to Harper Books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Robert Harris

ROBERT HARRIS is the author of fifteen bestselling novels: the Cicero Trilogy—Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator—Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, The Ghost, The Fear Index, An Officer and a Spy, which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, Conclave, Munich, The Second Sleep, V2 and Act of Oblivion. Several of his books have been adapted into films, including The Ghost. His work has been translated into forty languages and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in West Berkshire with his wife, Gill Hornby.

#BookReview Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood @TraceyEnerson @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #KatharineTheWrightSister #TraceyEnersonWood #bookmarkedbylandmark

#BookReview Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood @TraceyEnerson @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #KatharineTheWrightSister #TraceyEnersonWood #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: Katharine, the Wright Sister

Author: Tracey Enerson Wood

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Sep. 10, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 448

Format: Hardcover

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 9/10

She helped her brothers soar… but was the flight worth the fall?

 It all started with two boys and a bicycle shop. Wilbur and Orville Wright, both unsuited to college and disinclined to leave home, jumped on the popular new fad of bicycle riding and opened a shop in Dayton, Ohio. Repairing and selling soon led to tinkering and building as the brothers offered improved models to their eager customers. Amid their success, a new dream began to take shape. Engineers across the world were puzzling over how to build a powered flying machine—and Wilbur and Orville wanted in on the challenge. But their younger sister, Katharine, knew they couldn’t do it without her. The three siblings made a the three of them would solve the problem of human flight.

 As her brothers obsessed over blueprints and risked life and limb testing new models on the sand beaches of North Carolina, Katharine became the mastermind behind the scenes of their inventions. She sourced materials, managed communications, and kept Wilbur and Orville focused on their goal—even when it seemed hopeless. And in 1903, the Wright brothers made the first controlled, sustained flight of humankind.

What followed was the kind of fame and fortune the Wrights had never imagined. The siblings traveled the world to demonstrate their invention, trained other pilots, and built new machines that could fly higher and farther. But at the height of their success, tragedy wrenched the Wright family apart… and forced Katharine to make an impossible choice that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

 From internationally bestselling author Tracey Enerson Wood, Katharine, the Wright Sister is an unforgettable novel that shines a spotlight on one of the most important and overlooked women in history, and the sacrifices she made so that others might fly.


Review:

Immersive, evocative, and fascinating!

Katharine, the Wright Sister is an atmospheric, absorbing tale that sweeps you away to the turn of the twentieth century and into the lives of the Wright brothers and their often unknown, overlooked or forgotten sister, Katharine, who not only provided support and assistance to her siblings during the continual ups and downs of attempting to invent, build, and fly the first powered airplane but was a consistent motivator that kept them focused on the tasks at hand and the dream firmly alive.

The prose is expressive and eloquent. The characters are well drawn, multilayered, and authentic. And the plot is an intriguing, absorbing mix of life, loss, loyalty, friendship, family, dreams, drive, ambition, successes, failures, imagination, and innovation.

Overall, Katharine, the Wright Sister is a compelling, rich, illuminating tale by one of my all-time favourite authors, Tracey Enerson Wood, that once again enthralled, entertained, and informed me!

 

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 gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Tracey Enerson Wood

Tracey Enerson Wood has always had a writing bug. While working as a Registered Nurse, starting her own Interior Design company, raising two children, and bouncing around the world as a military wife, she indulged in her passion as a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. She has authored magazine columns and other non-fiction, written and directed plays of all lengths, including Grits, Fleas and Carrots, Rocks and Other Hard Places, Alone, and Fog.

Her screenplays include Strike Three and Roebling’s Bridge.

Other passions include food and cooking, and honoring military heroes. Her co-authored anthology/cookbook Homefront Cooking, American Veterans share Recipes, Wit, and Wisdom, was released by Skyhorse Publishing in May, 2018, and all authors’ profits will be donated to organizations that support veterans.

A New Jersey native, she now lives with her family in Florida and Germany.

#BookReview The Paris Understudy by Aurélie Thiele @AlcovePress @angelamelamud #TheParisUnderstudy #AurelieThiele #angelabookspr #AlcovePress

#BookReview The Paris Understudy by Aurélie Thiele @AlcovePress @angelamelamud #TheParisUnderstudy #AurelieThiele #angelabookspr #AlcovePress Title: The Paris Understudy

Author: Aurélie Thiele

Published by: Alcove Press on Sep. 10, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: Hardcover

Source: Angela Melamud

Book Rating: 9/10

This powerful debut novel brings to life the hard choices Parisians made–or failed to make–under Nazi occupation, in the tradition of Pam Jenoff and Fiona Davis.

1938. Paris Opera legend Madeleine Moreau must keep newcomer Yvonne Chevallier, whose talent she fears, off the stage. As the long-standing star of the opera, she is nowhere near ready to give up her spotlight. The perfect solution: enlist Yvonne as her understudy so she can never be upstaged. When Madeleine is invited to headline at Germany’s preeminent opera festival, she is sure this will cement her legacy. But war is looming, and when she learns that Adolf Hitler himself will be in attendance, she knows she’s made a grave error. As Madeleine makes a hurried escape back to France, Yvonne finds herself unexpectedly thrown into the limelight on the German stage.

When a newspaper photograph shows Hitler seemingly enraptured by Yvonne, Yvonne’s life is upended. While she is trying frantically to repair her reputation at home, Yvonne’s son is captured and held as a prisoner of war. Desperate to free her son, she makes an impossible choice: turn to the enemy. 

As the Nazis invade Paris, both women must decide what they are willing to do in pursuit of their art. They form an unlikely alliance, using their fame to protect themselves and the people they love from the maelstrom of history.

Painting an enrapturing portrait of resilient wartime women, The Paris Understudy is a love letter to the arts and a stark depiction of the choices we make to survive, for fans of Kate Quinn and Kristen Harmel.


Review:

Charged, intense, and intriguing!

The Paris Understudy is an enticing, absorbing tale set in France during WWII that takes you into the lives of two opera singers, the esteemed Madeleine Moreau and the up-and-coming Yvonne Chevallier, as they both veer down different paths to survive the Nazi occupation of Paris.

The prose is fluid and rich. The characters are strong, resourceful, and trustworthy. And the plot is a captivating mix of life, love, loss, secrets, passion, heartbreak, betrayal, tragedy, survival, danger, friendship, war, and opera.

Overall, The Paris Understudy is a compelling, heart-tugging, atmospheric tale by Thiele that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly in the feelings, lives, and personalities of the characters you can’t help but be fully invested.

 

This novel is available now!

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

 

       

 

 

Thank you to Alcove Press and Angela Melamud for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Aurélie Thiele

Aurélie Thiele is French American and lives in Dallas, TX. She has studied writing at the UCLA Extension School and Bennington Writing Seminars. Her love of opera started when she was a high school student and her parents would take her to the opera at La Monnaie in Brussels. 

#BookReview The Swimmer by Loreth Anne White @Loreth @AmazonPub @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #TheSwimmer #LorethAnneWhite #Montlake #FireflyDist

#BookReview The Swimmer by Loreth Anne White @Loreth @AmazonPub @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #TheSwimmer #LorethAnneWhite #Montlake #FireflyDist Title: The Swimmer

Author: Loreth Anne White

Published by: Montlake Romance on Sep. 10, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 349

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 9/10

A deviously twisty novel of psychological suspense about secrets, neighbors, a need to belong, and murder by the award-winning author of The Maid’s Diary.

Socially awkward Chloe Cooper divides her time between dog walking, bartending, caring for her ailing mother, and at a safe distance, watching people and inventing the stories of their lives. Like Chloe’s new neighbors: glamorous influencer Jemma Spengler and Jemma’s husband, Adam, a renowned surgeon. They’re attractive, wealthy, and in a house of open windows, so exposed.

A move to the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be a fresh start for Jemma and Adam. It’s a renewed commitment to a marriage fractured by secrets. A chance to work through the tragic losses in their past. For Jemma, however, this new beginning also comes with an unnerving sensation that she’s being watched.

Then, on a fog-shrouded beach early in the morning, Chloe witnesses the murder of a swimmer. Her suspicions aroused, she suddenly sees her neighbors in a sinister new light. But as a detective and her partner close in, nothing is quite as it seems. Because the Spenglers are not the only ones with secrets. And Chloe isn’t the only one who’s been watching.


Review:

Brisk, riveting, and suspenseful!

The Swimmer is an intense, ominous thrill ride that introduces us to Chloe, a middle-aged woman who, after becoming consumed with her beautiful, affluent new neighbours, quickly discovers that everything is not as perfect as it seems, everyone has skeletons in their closet, and more than one person is desperate enough to murder.

The writing is edgy and brisk. The characters are consumed, devious, and persistent. And the plot is an intricate, action-packed tale full of twists, turns, secrets, surprises, questionable personalities, duplicitous motivations, manipulative actions, parasitic relationships, violence, and ruthless murder.

Overall, The Swimmer is another tortuous, addictive, unnerving tale by White that is deliciously relentless, surprising, deceptive, and bursting with misdirection.

 

This novel is available now.

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

     

 

 

Thank you to Firefly Distributed Lines for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Loreth Anne White

Loreth Anne White is an award-winning, bestselling author of romantic suspense, thrillers, and mysteries.

A three-time RITA finalist, she has also won the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the National Readers’ Choice Award, and the Romantic Crown for Best Romantic Suspense and Best Book Overall, in addition to being a Booksellers’ Best finalist, a multiple Daphne Du Maurier Award finalist, and a multiple CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Award winner.

A former journalist and newspaper editor who has worked in both South Africa and Canada, she now resides in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest with her family. When she’s not writing, you will find her skiing, biking, or hiking the trails with her Black Dog.

#BookReview Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #HereOneMoment #LianeMoriarty #PenguinReads

#BookReview Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #HereOneMoment #LianeMoriarty #PenguinReads Title: Here One Moment

Author: Liane Moriarty

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Sep. 10, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 512

Format: Hardcover

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?

Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all of them will be forever changed.
 
Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their deaths are far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their predicted deaths are not far away at all.
 
How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled, gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.”
 
Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what she did on that flight was truly remarkable.
 
A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more passengers die—again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.
 
If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?
 
Liane Moriarty’s Here One Moment is a brilliantly constructed tale that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. A modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery, Moriarty asks profound questions in her newest I-can’t-wait-to-find-out-what-happens novel.


Review:

Intricate, thought-provoking, and immersive!

Here One Moment is a pensive, moving, emotionally-charged novel that takes you into the lives of a handful of people whose worlds are irrevocably changed and linked by one plane ride and a woman who feels the need to tell every passenger the age and manner in which they will die.

The prose is eloquent and intense. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are complex, conflicted, and genuine. And the plot is a compelling, sobering tale of life, love, loss, family, friendship, grief, guilt, acceptance, fate, consequences, and choices.

Overall, Here One Moment will make you think and will resonate with you long after the final page. It’s an impactful, enthralling, reflective tale by Moriarty that does a remarkable job of highlighting humanities weaknesses and emotional fragility and reminds us just how important it is to appreciate all those little things in life, the moments, the sunsets, and the shared smiles.

 

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 Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Liane Moriarty

Liane Moriarty is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret, and Truly Madly Guilty; the New York Times bestsellers Nine Perfect Strangers, What Alice Forgot, and The Last Anniversary; The Hypnotist’s Love Story; and Three Wishes. She lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and two children.

Photo by über photography

#BookReview Enchanted Hill by Emily Bain Murphy @UnionSqandCo #EnchantedHill #EmilyBainMurphy #UnionSqandCo

#BookReview Enchanted Hill by Emily Bain Murphy @UnionSqandCo #EnchantedHill #EmilyBainMurphy #UnionSqandCo Title: Enchanted Hill

Author: Emily Bain Murphy

Published by: Union Square & Co. on Nov. 7, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Union Square & Co.

Book Rating: 8/10

Escape to Enchanted Hill in this historical mystery where two people with a dark, shared past collide while working undercover at a glittering mansion on the California coast.
 
The year is 1930 and Cora McCavanagh is posing as a maid at Hollywood magnate Truman Byrd’s legendary estate. She’s closing in on the damning evidence she needs for a high-profile client. 
 
An aspiring PI, Cora was trained by her father, a former prison guard at the notorious Pelican Island, where Cora grew up surrounded by hardened criminals.
 
Which is why she recognizes Jack Yates as soon as he walks through the door. The last time she saw him was on an ill-fated night that changed the course of her life and still haunts her more than a decade later. Cora never expected to see Jack again—and now a single misstep could cause both their secret identities to come crashing down.
 
They strike a tentative truce to help each other during a week of parties overflowing with champagne and caviar. But there are puzzles hidden in every corner of Truman Byrd’s labyrinthine estate, and if Cora is to finally learn the truth about Jack Yates, she must unravel a sinister history that the rich and powerful will do anything to keep concealed.
 
Filled with intrigue and Old Hollywood glamour, Enchanted Hill is an unforgettable, sweepingly romantic novel set in a world you won’t want to leave.


Review:

Mysterious, atmospheric, and entertaining!

Enchanted Hill is a menacing, action-packed tale that takes us into the life of private investigator Cora McCavanagh who, after being hired to provide proof of ongoing adultery by the wife of media tycoon Truman Byrd, heads undercover to work at his infamous estate, Enchanted Hill, only to have the past collide with the present when the one man whom she’s never forgotten but assumed was long dead suddenly reappears using a different name and having questionable motives of his own.

The prose is descriptive and light. The characters, including the intelligent, independent heroine, are multi-layered, intriguing, and well-developed. And the plot is a well-paced, captivating tale full of red herrings, amateur sleuthing, dangerous endeavours, deduction, attraction, secrets, lies, deception, and a touch of the unexpected.

Overall, Enchanted Hill is a cosy, enjoyable, satisfying adult fiction debut by Murphy that is a solid choice for anyone who prefers mysteries set in historical times.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to Union Square & Co. for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Emily Bain Murphy

Emily Bain Murphy was born in Indiana and raised in Hong Kong and Japan. She graduated from Tufts University and has also called Massachusetts, Connecticut, and California home. Murphy is the author of two critically acclaimed young adult novels: The Disappearances, which was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, and Splinters of Scarlet. Murphy lives in St. Louis with her husband and three children, where she's always on the lookout for beautiful old mansions hiding new stories.

Image by Randall Kahn.

#BookReview The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves @AnnCleeves @PGCBooks #TheDarkWives #VeraStanhope #AnnCleeves #PGCBooks

#BookReview The Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves @AnnCleeves @PGCBooks #TheDarkWives #VeraStanhope #AnnCleeves #PGCBooks Title: The Dark Wives

Author: Ann Cleeves

Series: Vera Stanhope #11

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Aug. 29, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

A LOCAL MYTH. A DEADLY THREAT.

A body is found by an early morning dog walker on the common outside Rosebank, a care home for troubled teens. The victim is Josh, a staff member, who never showed up to work.

DI Vera Stanhope is called out to investigate. Her only clue is the disappearance of fourteen-year-old resident Chloe. Vera can’t bring herself to believe that a teenager is responsible for the murder, but even she can’t dismiss the possibility.

Vera, Joe and new team member Rosie are soon embroiled in the case, but when a second body is found near the Three Dark Wives standing stones in the wilds of the Northumbrian countryside, folklore and fact begin to collide.

Vera knows she has to find Chloe to get to the truth, but it seems that the dark secrets in their community may be far more dangerous than she could ever have believed. . .


Review:

Sinister, mysterious, and tight!

The Dark Wives is an intense, intricate thrill ride featuring the dependable DI Vera Stanhope and her loyal, hardworking team as they work together as quickly as possible to solve the puzzling murder of a young group home worker and find a somehow connected missing teen.

The writing is sharp and meticulous. The characters are intelligent, multilayered, and persistent. And the plot is an unpredictable, ominous tale filled with twists, turns, deception, red herrings, suspicious personalities, corruption, secrets, deduction, greed, and murder.

Overall, The Dark Wives is another thrilling, addictive, well-crafted addition to a series that, with its credible characters, great pace, and constant sense of urgency, is still one of my all-time favourites.

 

This book is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Ann Cleeves

Ann Cleeves is the author behind PBS’s Vera and BBC One’s Shetland. She has written over twenty-five novels, and is the creator of detectives Vera Stanhope and Jimmy Perez – characters loved both on screen and in print. Her books have now sold over 1 million copies worldwide.

Ann worked as a probation officer, bird observatory cook and auxiliary coastguard before becoming a crime writer. She is a member of ‘Murder Squad’, working with other British northern writers to promote crime fiction. In 2006 Ann was awarded the Duncan Lawrie Dagger (CWA Gold Dagger) for Best Crime Novel, for Raven Black, the first book in her Shetland series, and in 2012 she was inducted into the CWA Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame. Ann lives in North Tyneside, England.

#BookReview Knives, Seasoning, and a Dash of Love by Katrina Kwan @PenguinRandomCA #KnivesSeasoningAndADashOfLove #KatrinaKwan #PenguinReads

#BookReview Knives, Seasoning, and a Dash of Love by Katrina Kwan @PenguinRandomCA #KnivesSeasoningAndADashOfLove #KatrinaKwan #PenguinReads Title: Knives, Seasoning, and a Dash of Love

Author: Katrina Kwan

Published by: Random House Canada on Aug. 27, 2024

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 360

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House

Book Rating: 8/10

In this spicy workplace romance, a hotheaded celebrity chef finds himself drawn to his inexperienced new hire. But when her bubbly attitude collides with his sharp edges, can they handle the heat, or will their love be a recipe for disaster?

Alexander Chen is one of the most talented chefs to ever grace the culinary world of French haute cuisine. He rules his kitchen with an iron fist and fiery temper, so it’s no secret that if you can’t handle the heat, he’ll gladly toss you out with the trash. As one of the first Chinese-American chefs to claw his way to the top, he has a lot to prove and a massive chip on his shoulder.

But he wasn’t always like this. Eden Monroe, his newly hired sous chef—who may or may not have (definitely) embellished a lot on her resumé to land herself the job—knew him back when he still went by his real name, Shang. He used to be sweet and helpful and definitely not the second coming of the devil himself.

Eden won’t say anything, though, no matter how hot her curiosity burns. Especially if it could cost her this job, which she needs if she has any hope of hiring a private detective to find something she lost long ago.

All she has to do is fly under the radar. It’s just a shame that she and her new boss butt heads more often than they fulfill orders. But what happens when things finally boil over, and they discover the feelings between them are spicier than they ever imagined?


Review:

Seductive, spicy, and sweet!

Knives, Seasoning, and a Dash of Love is a sultry, heartwarming tale featuring the quick-tempered, talented culinary genius Alexander Chen and the hardworking, determined sous chef Eden Monroe as together they discover a sense of purpose, passion, and fulfilment beyond their careers and remember the importance of family, friendship, and history.

The writing is provocative and smooth. The characters are scarred, devoted, and supportive. And the plot unravels quickly into a sizzling tale full of chemistry, attraction, familial heartache, expectations, responsibilities, tender moments, sexy times, forgiveness, and new beginnings.

Overall, Knives, Seasoning, and a Dash of Love is a steamy, uplifting, heartfelt tale by Kwan that was a delight to read and which ultimately reminded me that rarely does life ever turn out the way we planned it, but often it actually turns out better.

 

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 Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Katrina Kwan

KATRINA KWAN is a Vancouver-based author and actress. After graduating from Acadia University in 2017 with a BA in political science with honors, Kwan spent the next six years honing her creative skills as a freelance ghostwriter. With several ghostwritten romance novels under her belt, she’s ecstatic to finally be writing books under her own name. She lives in Vancouver with her husband and two cats, and when she isn’t writing, she is desperately trying to keep her collection of houseplants alive.