#BookReview The Hollywood Jinx by Sariah Wilson @sariahwilson @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #TheHollywoodJinx #SariahWilson #Montlake #FireflyDist

#BookReview The Hollywood Jinx by Sariah Wilson @sariahwilson @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #TheHollywoodJinx #SariahWilson #Montlake #FireflyDist Title: The Hollywood Jinx

Author: Sariah Wilson

Published by: Montlake Romance on Jul. 25, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 299

Format: Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 8.5/10

When Hollywood comes to small-town Ohio, the scene is set for an unpredictable romance in a fun and flirty novel by Sariah Wilson, the bestselling author of The Chemistry of Love.

The small town of Patience needs a financial boost. Temporary librarian and aspiring film-score composer Jane Wagner’s plan? Invite movie star Nick Haddon to the town’s harvest festival and stand back for the tourist surge. No one thought he’d say yes—much less that he’d bring a documentary crew to stream his visit.

Given Nick’s affinity for trouble, his reputation and films are tanking. Patience is the perfect stopover on a journey of self-improvement and his chance to put good karma out in the universe. Spending time with a sweet and lovely guide like Jane is a bonus. But Jane’s heartbroken past keeps her on guard against men. Especially when they’re jinxed.

The truth is, Jane’s falling hard. But she can’t ignore the differences between them. He’s famous. She isn’t. He’s here for two weeks. This is her home. Where can it possibly lead? She’ll see. Because day after blissful day, Nick’s encouraging Jane to trust again and, best of all, to dream beyond Patience.


Review:

Romantic, hopeful, and sweet!

The Hollywood Jinx is a heartwarming, sassy tale that takes you to the idyllic town of Patience, Ohio and into the life of the hardworking, kind Jane Wagner as she juggles the renovations of her family-owned B&B, the responsibilities of being the temporary librarian and town mayor, the organization of the town’s much-needed revenue making annual festival, and a growing attraction for a movie star who’s only in town for two weeks.

The prose is smooth and light. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are fun-loving, supportive, and endearing. And the plot is a heartfelt, flirty blend of tricky situations, tender moments, humorous hijinks, self-discovery, new beginnings, friendship, family, happiness, romance, community, and love.

Overall, The Hollywood Jinx is a charming, witty, adorable read by Wilson with characters I couldn’t help but root for and a swoon-worthy ending that left me smitten, satisfied, and already looking forward to reading whatever she comes up with next.

 

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 Sariah Wilson

USA Today bestselling author Sariah Wilson has never jumped out of an airplane, never climbed Mt. Everest, and is not a former CIA operative. She has, however, been madly, passionately in love with her soulmate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters—which is why she writes romance. She grew up in southern California, graduated from Brigham Young University (go Cougars!) with a semi-useless degree in history, and is the oldest of nine (yes, nine) children . She currently lives with the aforementioned soulmate and their four children in Utah, along with two cats named Pixel and Callie, who do not get along. (The cats, not the children. Although the children sometimes have their issues, too.)

Photo courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse @KateMosse @PGCBooks #TheGhostShip #KateMosse #TheJoubertFamilyChronicles #PGCBooks

#BookReview The Ghost Ship by Kate Mosse @KateMosse @PGCBooks #TheGhostShip #KateMosse #TheJoubertFamilyChronicles #PGCBooks Title: The Ghost Ship

Author: Kate Mosse

Series: The Joubert Family Chronicles #3

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Jul. 11, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

Piracy. Romance. Revenge. Across the seas of the seventeenth century, two seafarers are forced to fight for their lives. The sequel to The City of Tears, The Ghost Ship is the third novel in The Joubert Family Chronicles from bestselling author Kate Mosse.

The Barbary Coast, 1621. A mysterious vessel floats silently on the water. It is known only as the Ghost Ship. For months it has hunted pirates to liberate those enslaved by corsairs, manned by a courageous crew of mariners from Italy and France, Holland and the Canary Islands.

But the bravest men on board are not who they seem. And the stakes could not be higher. If arrested, they will be hanged for their crimes. Can they survive the journey and escape their fate?

A sweeping and epic love story, ranging from France in 1610 to Amsterdam and the Canary Islands in the 1620s, The Ghost Ship is a thrilling novel of adventure and buccaneering, love and revenge, stolen fortunes and hidden secrets on the high seas.


Review:

Action-packed, alluring, and exceptionally atmospheric!

The Ghost Ship is a rich, informative tale that picks up a few years after The City of Tears left off, sweeping us from France to the Canary Islands in the early 1600s and into the life of the independent, bold Louise Reydon-Joubert who, after dreaming of life on the high seas forever, finally gets her chance when she sets sail on her aunt’s merchant ship the Old Moon with a motley crew, a young Huguenot man accused of murder, and a determination to rid the waters of the Barbary pirates who enjoy nothing more than raping, pillaging and overindulging.

The prose is eloquent and vivid. The characters are stubborn, selfless, and courageous. And the plot is an immersive, fascinating tale of life, loss, love, bravery, survival, tragedy, romance, adventure, religion, politics, war, gender fluidity, sacrifice, revenge, the roles of women in 17th century Europe, and the ins and outs of living on a ship.

Overall, The Ghost Ship is another beautifully written, incredibly enthralling third addition to The Joubert Family Chronicles by Mosse that grabs you from the very first page and does an outstanding job of blending historical facts with fiction that is both enlightening, romantic, and wonderfully compelling.

 

This novel 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 Kate Mosse

KATE MOSSE is a multiple New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author with sales of more than eight million copies in thirty-eight languages. Her previous novels include Labyrinth, Sepulchre, The Winter Ghosts, Citadel, The Taxidermist’s Daughter, and The Burning Chambers. Kate is the founder director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, a visiting professor at the University of Chichester, and in June 2013, was awarded an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature. She divides her time between Chichester in the United Kingdom and Carcassonne in France.

Photo Credit: Ruth Crafer

#BookReview The Block Party by Jamie Day @StMartinsPress #JamieDay #TheBlockPartyNovel #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview The Block Party by Jamie Day @StMartinsPress #JamieDay #TheBlockPartyNovel #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: The Block Party

Author: Jamie Day

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Jul. 18, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

This summer, meet your neighbors.

The residents of the exclusive cul-de-sac on Alton Road are entangled in a web of secrets and scandal utterly unknown to the outside world, and even to each other.

On the night of the annual Summer block party, there has been a murder.

But, who did it and why takes readers back one year earlier, as rivalries and betrayals unfold—discovering that the real danger lies within their own block and nothing—and no one—is ever as it seems.


Review:

Suspenseful, relentless, and tight!

The Block Party is a tempestuous, edgy domestic thriller that takes us to the affluent Alton Road, where financial woes are hidden, drama is high, marriages are in trouble, lives are messily intertwined, and by the end of this year’s annual Memorial Day party at least one resident won’t be alive.

The prose is brisk and sharp. The characters are self-absorbed, deceptive, and intrusive. And the plot, using a present/past style, is a juicy tale filled with secrets, deception, scandal, tragedy, infidelity, suspicions, revelations, mayhem, fractured relationships, inappropriate behaviours, substance abuse, jealousy, and murder.

Overall, The Block Party is a dark, twisty, compelling page-turner by Day that delves into the intricate and dynamic bonds that can exist between residents of tight-knit communities and has just the right amount of pace, mood, atmosphere, and surprises to keep you guessing until the very last page.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Jamie Day

Jamie Day lives in one of those picture-perfect, coastal New England towns you see in the movies. And just like the movies, Jamie has two children and an adorable dog to fawn over. When not writing or reading, Jamie enjoys yoga, the ocean, cooking, and long walks on the beach with the dog, or the kids, or sometimes both.

#BookReview Little Souls by Sandra Dallas @StMartinsPress #LittleSoulsBook #SandraDallas #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview Little Souls by Sandra Dallas @StMartinsPress #LittleSoulsBook #SandraDallas #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Little Souls

Author: Sandra Dallas

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Aug. 22, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

Sandra Dallas’s Little Souls is a gripping tale of sisterhood, loyalty, and secrets set in Denver amid America’s last deadly flu pandemic.

Colorado, 1918. World War I is raging overseas, but it’s the home front battling for survival. With the Spanish Flu rampant, Denver’s schools are converted into hospitals, churches and funeral homes are closed, and horse-drawn wagons collect corpses left in the street. Sisters Helen and Lutie have moved to Denver from Iowa after their parents’ deaths. Helen, a nurse, and Lutie, a carefree advertising designer at a fashionable women’s store share a small, neat house, and each finds a local beau―for Helen a doctor, for Lutie a young student who soon enlists. They make a modest income from a rental apartment in the basement. When their tenant dies from the flu, the sisters are thrust into caring for the woman’s small daughter, Dorothy. Soon after, Lutie comes home from work and discovers a dead man on their kitchen floor and Helen standing above the body, an icepick in hand. She has no doubt Helen killed the man―Dorothy’s father―in self-defense, but she knows that will be hard to prove. They decide to leave the body in the street, hoping to disguise it as a flu victim.

Meanwhile Lutie also worries about her fiancé “over there.” As it happens, his wealthy mother harbors a secret of her own and helps the sisters as the danger deepens, from both the murder investigation and the outbreak.

Set against the backdrop of an epidemic that feels all too familiar, Little Souls is a compelling tale of sisterhood and of the sacrifices people make to protect those they love most.


Review:

Immersive, tragic, and hopeful!

Little Souls is an alluring tale set in Denver during 1918 that takes you into the lives of two sisters, Lutie, a young fashion illustrator and Helen, a hardworking nurse whose lives are unimaginably changed forever when they decide to take in and protect their renter’s ten-year-old daughter Dorothy from an abusive father all while dealing first-hand with devastating losses both from the great war and the ravaging Spanish flu.

The prose is vivid and smooth. The characters are kind, dependable, and resilient. And the plot is a moving tale of life, loss, heartbreak, abuse, determination, hope, loyalty, tragedy, secrets, survival, friendship, love, war, and the sacrifices of life during an influenza pandemic.

Overall, Little Souls is a rich, informative, uplifting tale by Dallas that does an exceptional job of highlighting the special bonds that exist between sisters while reminding us of the incredible impact the great war and the influenza of 1918 had on the people whose lives it touched both at home and away.

 

This novel is now available in paperback.

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

         

 

 

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

 

About Sandra Dallas

Sandra Dallas, dubbed “a quintessential American voice” in Vogue Magazine, is the author of over a dozen novels, including Prayers for Sale and Tallgrass, many translated into a dozen languages and optioned for films. Six-time winner of the Willa Award and four-time winner of the Spur Award, Dallas was a Business Week reporter for 25 years covering the Rocky Mountain region, and began writing fiction in 1990. She has two daughters and lives with her husband in Denver and Georgetown, Colorado.

Photo Credit: Povy Kendal Atchison.

#BookReview Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains @AnnieRainsBooks @KayePublicity #KayePublicity #AnnieRains #ThroughTheSnowGlobe #HolidayReads #WomensFiction

#BookReview Through the Snow Globe by Annie Rains @AnnieRainsBooks @KayePublicity #KayePublicity #AnnieRains #ThroughTheSnowGlobe #HolidayReads #WomensFiction Title: Through the Snow Globe

Author: Annie Rains

Published by: Kensington on Aug. 22, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Kaye Publicity

Book Rating: 8.5/10

It’s a Wonderful Life meets Groundhog Day, as a woman dangerously close to losing it all receives an unexpected Christmas gift that prompts a surprising journey of self-discovery… and another chance at happiness.

What if you could have one more day with someone you lost?

Diana Merriman, a physical therapist, is probably the only person in the small town of Snow Haven, North Carolina, who isn’t looking forward to Christmas. It’s been three weeks since her fiancé Linus was critically injured when a car hit him as he biked home from the toy store he owns and manages. Watching him open his eyes is the only gift she wants, but she can’t help losing a little more hope every day.

But an unexpected visit from a friendly neighbor and finding a snow globe of Snow Haven—a gift Linus had hidden in the closet—the night before Christmas Eve changes things in ways Diana never would have imagined. Because on Christmas Eve Diana wakes up to find that it’s not—Christmas Eve, that is. Instead, it’s somehow December 4 all over again, the day Linus got hurt, and as mystified as Diana is, she immediately starts a plan to save her partner from his fate.

Nothing is that simple, of course. Instead of a single repeat of that day, Diana finds herself in an endless loop of December 4, experiencing every possible variation of events. Along the way, she uncovers startling truths about herself, her relationship, and even her career that illustrate the ways she’s retreated from her life—and in the face of life’s slights and outright blows, from her deepest feelings. Suddenly hope is second only to joy as Diana opens her heart to the people she loves in every way she can.


Review:

Thought-provoking, optimistic, and creative!

Through the Snow Globe is a moving, time-loop tale that takes you into the life of Diana, as after a tragic day when everything seems to go wrong, patients get injured, feelings are hurt, dreams of a promotion are shattered, and her beloved fiancé is involved in an accident that leaves him fighting for his life, fate magically intervenes twenty-one days later on Christmas Eve when she discovers a present hidden by Linus that once enchanted allows her to relive December 4 over and over again to try and change, grow, reshape relationships, strengthen friendships, and recognize what’s truly important.

The writing is sensitive and sincere. The characters are flawed, genuine, and weary. And the multi-layered plot is a heartfelt, absorbing tale about life, love, family, friendship, trust, compassion, romance, happiness, destiny, self-reflection, and second chances.

Overall, Through the Snow Globe is an emotional, pensive, heartwarming tale by Rains that reminds us that life is complicated, things happen for a reason, often the choices we make have consequences, letting people in is never a bad thing, and love is, ultimately, always worth fighting for.

 

This book is available now.

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

        

 

 

Thank you to Kaye Publicity for gifting me a copy in an exchange for an honest review.

 

About Annie Rains

Annie Rains is a USA Today bestselling contemporary romance author who writes small town love stories set in fictional places in her home state of North Carolina. When Annie isn’t writing, she’s living out her own happily ever after with her husband and three children.Annie Rains is a USA Today bestselling contemporary romance author who writes small town love stories set in fictional places in her home state of North Carolina. When Annie isn’t writing, she’s living out her own happily ever after with her husband and three children.

Photograph courtesy of Read-Forever Website.

#BookReview The Trade Off by Sandie Jones @realsandiejones @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SandieJones #TheTradeOffBook #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview The Trade Off by Sandie Jones @realsandiejones @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #SandieJones #TheTradeOffBook #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Trade Off

Author: Sandie Jones

Published by: Minotaur Books on Aug. 15, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: ARC, eBook

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 7.5/10

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Reese’s Book Club Pick The Other Woman comes The Trade Off, an electrifying new novel of suspense that begs the Would you tell a story, if you knew it was a lie? Or tell the truth and sleep at night?

For Stella, deputy editor of The Globe, the choice has always been clear. It doesn’t matter how low she has to stoop―getting the best story is what she’s built her reputation on.

For Jess, The Globe ’s rookie reporter, the story stops when the truth does. But she knows that the dirty tricks of the tabloids will be hard to overturn.

And when a celebrity is hounded by The Globe and pays the ultimate price, Jess wonders just how much Stella and the paper are responsible.

Determined to show the world what the tabloid is capable of, Jess will do whatever it takes to uncover the truth, but she needs to watch her back, because someone else is prepared to kill to bury it.

RISK or REWARD. JUSTICE or REVENGE. INNOCENCE or GUILT.


Review:

Intricate, crafty, and suspenseful!

The Trade Off is an engrossing, ominous tale that transports you into the lives of two main characters, Stella, the deputy editor of The Globe who will do whatever it takes to get the story, and Jess, the new rookie reporter who believes that the only story that should be printed is the truth, especially when that story can lead to devastating consequences.

The prose is tight and tense. The characters are secretive, ruthless, and driven. And the plot unravels quickly into a gripping tale full of twists, turns, lies, deception, power, abuse, corruption, greed, indulgence, revelations, ambition, and violence.

Overall, The Trade Off is a sinister, entertaining, intense thriller by Jones that explores the ethical and moral fine line between right and wrong. And even though it isn’t my favourite novel by this author, it does do a wonderful job of combining the morally questionable, somewhat sleazy atmosphere of tabloid journalism with unsavoury characters, poor choices, and eerie motivations.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

 

Thank you to Minotaur Books – St. Martin’s Press for gifting me 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.

#BookReview Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan @kennedyrwrites @Read_Bloom #ReadBloom #KennedyRyan #LongShot #HoopsSeries #SourcebooksCasa

#BookReview Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan @kennedyrwrites @Read_Bloom #ReadBloom #KennedyRyan #LongShot #HoopsSeries #SourcebooksCasa Title: Long Shot

Author: Kennedy Ryan

Series: Hoops #1

Published by: Bloom Books on Aug. 8, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 480

Format: Paperback

Source: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Book Rating: 10/10

*Reader Advisory: Please be aware of the content warning in the beginning of the book.

From award-winning author Kennedy Ryan comes the soul-gripping, unforgettable first installment of the Hoops trilogy.

Iris DuPree meets August West in a sports bar during her last semester of college. It’s the conversation of a lifetime and sends sparks flying in every direction. The connection is undeniable…but the timing is all wrong. August is poised for the NBA draft, and Iris belongs to another man—basketball’s “golden boy” and August’s long-time rival.

The two go their separate ways, but they often recall that electric night and what could have been. While August has embarked on his all-star life, studded with wealth and fame, Iris’s perfect public relationship has become a nightmare behind closed doors. A tarnished dream of fool’s gold.

When August re-enters her life, the world seems briefly bright again, but Iris’s darkest nights are not over yet. To survive, she must build her own strength and trust that her bond with August can endure after all this time.

Even when her fraudulent prince has vowed never to let her go.


Review:

Powerful, consuming, and heartbreaking!

Long Shot is an immersive, emotional, heart-wrenching tale that takes us into the life of the intelligent, driven Iris DuPree as she struggles to survive a surprise pregnancy, broken dreams, a daughter she loves more than life itself, a boyfriend who was once loving but is now always angry, controlling, and brutally violent, a strained relationship with a cousin who always had her back, and a complicated attraction with a man who somehow has been stealing her heart piece by piece since the day they first met.

The writing is tender and expressive. The characters are genuine, vulnerable, and resilient. And the plot, told from alternating POVs, is a haunting tale of life, loss, secrets, perseverance, power, shame, self-blame, violence, denial, pain, healing, hope, empowerment, sexual assault, new beginnings, and unconditional love.

Overall, Long Shot is not for lovers of the lighthearted. It’s dark, gritty, raw, at times disturbing, but it’s also tragic, memorable, beautiful, and romantic. It made my heart smile, shatter, and then put it all back together again in 480 pages, and I can guarantee that even though it’s shockingly the first novel I’ve read by Kennedy, it definitely won’t be my last.

This novel is available now.

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

     

 

 

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

 

About Kennedy Ryan

A RITA® and Audie® Award winner, USA Today bestselling author Kennedy Ryan writes for women from all walks of life, empowering them and placing them firmly at the center of each story and in charge of their own destinies. Her heroes respect, cherish, and lose their minds for the women who capture their hearts. Kennedy and her writings have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, TIME, O magazine, and many others. She is a wife to her lifetime lover and mother to an extraordinary son.

#BookReview The President’s Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood @TraceyEnerson @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #ThePresidentsWife #TraceyEnersonWood #bookmarkedbylandmark

#BookReview The President’s Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood @TraceyEnerson @Sourcebooks @sbkslandmark #ThePresidentsWife #TraceyEnersonWood #bookmarkedbylandmark Title: The President's Wife

Author: Tracey Enerson Wood

Published by: Sourcebooks Landmark on Aug. 15, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 336

Format: Hardcover

Source: Sourcebooks Landmark

Book Rating: 8/10

The incredible story of the First Lady who clandestinely assumed the presidency, from the USA Today bestselling author of The Engineer’s Wife and The War Nurse.

Socialite Edith Bolling has been in no hurry to find a new husband since she was widowed, preferring to fill her days with good friends and travel. But the enchanting courting of President Woodrow Wilson wins Edith over and she becomes the First Lady of the United States. The position is uncomfortable for the fiercely independent Edith, but she’s determined to rise to the challenges of her new marriage—from the bloodthirsty press to the shadows of the first World War.

Warming to her new role, Edith is soon indispensable to her husband’s presidency. She replaces the staff that Woodrow finds distracting, and discusses policy with him daily. Throughout the war, she encrypts top- secret messages and despite lacking formal education becomes an important adviser. When peace talks begin in Europe, she attends at Woodrow’s side. But just as the critical fight to ratify the treaty to end the war and create a League of Nations in order to prevent another, Woodrow’s always-delicate health takes a dramatic turn for the worse. In her determination to preserve both his progress and his reputation, Edith all but assumes the presidency herself.

Now, Edith must contend with the demands of a tumultuous country, the secrets of Woodrow’s true condition, and the potentially devastating consequences of her failure. At once sweeping and intimate, The President’s Wife is an astonishing portrait of a courageous First Lady and the sacrifices she made to protect her husband and her country at all costs.


Review:

Informative, sentimental, and intriguing!

The President’s Wife is a vivid, captivating tale that sweeps you away to the early 1900s and into the life of successful entrepreneur Edith Bolling who, after befriending the President’s cousin and meeting President Woodrow Wilson while attending a dinner at the White House, quickly becomes his friend, confidant, wife, and subsequent decision maker when during the latter part of his presidency he suffers a debilitating stroke which leaves him unable to fulfil all of his head-of-state duties.

The prose is evocative and rich. The characters are multilayered, engaging, and intelligent. And the plot, infused with love letters, is a fascinating tale about life, loss, family, friendship, history, emotion, determination, decisions, obligations, passion, war, secrets, alliances, and the intricacies of world politics during the early twentieth century.

Overall, The President’s Wife is a well-written, enlightening, exceptionally researched story by Tracey Enerson Wood that incorporates an engaging mix of real-life historical figures, insightful information, and plausible fiction into a comprehensive tale about the life, loves, losses, actions, and accomplishments of Edith Bolling Wilson both individually and in her role as the First Lady of the United States.

 

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 Dark Corners by Megan Goldin @megangoldin @StMartinsPress #DarkCornersBook #MeganGoldin #RachelKrall #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers

#BookReview Dark Corners by Megan Goldin @megangoldin @StMartinsPress #DarkCornersBook #MeganGoldin #RachelKrall #StMartinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Dark Corners

Author: Megan Goldin

Series: Rachel Krall #2

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Aug. 8, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Hardcover

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 9/10

Rachel Krall, the true crime podcaster star of Megan Goldin’s acclaimed The Night Swim, returns to search for a popular influencer who disappears after visiting a suspected serial killer.

Terence Bailey is about to be released from prison for breaking and entering, though investigators have long suspected him in the murders of six women. As his release date approaches, Bailey gets a surprise visit from Maddison Logan, a hot, young influencer with a huge social media following. Hours later, Maddison disappears, and police suspect she’s been kidnapped—or worse. Is Maddison’s disappearance connected to her visit to Bailey? And why was she visiting him in the first place?

When they hit a wall in the investigation, the FBI reluctantly asks for Rachel Krall’s help in finding the missing influencer. Maddison seems to only exist on social media; she has no family, no friends, and other than in her posts, most people have never seen her. Who is she, really? Using a fake Instagram account, Rachel goes undercover to BuzzCon, a popular influencer conference, where she discovers a world of fierce rivalry that may have turned lethal.

When police find the body of a woman with a tattoo of a snake eating its tail—identical to a tattoo Rachel had seen on Bailey’s hand—the FBI must consider a chilling possibility: Bailey has an accomplice on the outside and a dangerous obsession with influencers, including Rachel Krall herself. Suddenly the target of a monster hiding in plain sight, Rachel is forced to confront the very real dangers that lurk in the dark corners of the internet.


Review:

Dark, ominous, and unnerving!

Dark Corners is an intense, well-crafted tale that takes us back into the life of podcaster Rachel Krall as she heads to Florida to help the FBI with a case involving a missing influencer with ties to a convicted killer that will see her using her talents to infiltrate BuzzCon, a cutthroat convention of influencers, where everyone is willing to do anything they have to in order to be the next big thing.

The writing is sharp and crisp. The characters are sly, self-obsessed, and competitive. And the plot is an intricate, gripping tall full of twists, turns, secrets, deception, manipulation, obsession, greed, jealousy, gossip-mongering, red herrings, malicious intentions, and murder.

Overall, Dark Corners is an unpredictable, eerie, entertaining tale by Goldin that didn’t have as much of that podcast feel as the first novel in the series, The Night Swim, but was nevertheless still an intricate, creepy, fantastic thrill ride.

 

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 gifting me a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Megan Goldin

MEGAN GOLDIN worked as a correspondent for Reuters and other media outlets where she covered war, peace, international terrorism and financial meltdowns in the Middle East and Asia. She is now based in Melbourne, Australia where she raises three sons and is a foster mum to Labrador puppies learning to be guide dogs. THE ESCAPE ROOM was her debut novel.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

#BookReview The Playground by Michelle Frances @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #ThePlayground #MichelleFrances #PGCBooks

#BookReview The Playground by Michelle Frances @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #ThePlayground #MichelleFrances #PGCBooks Title: The Playground

Author: Michelle Frances

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Aug. 15, 2023

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Looking to escape her old life, Nancy and her ten-year-old daughter Lara move to Ripton. A quiet, picturesque village in the rolling Derbyshire countryside, it seems like the perfect place to settle down.

But when Nancy reaches the school gates, she learns that beneath the quaint village atmosphere is a minefield. And after her daughter clashes with her school friends, Nancy quickly finds herself outside the whispering circle of parents.

As much as Nancy finds the playground politics absurd, they soon become impossible to ignore when Lara is accused of hurting another girl.

Desperate to clear Lara’s name, Nancy is about to learn just what lengths a parent will go to for their child . . .


Review:

Fast-paced, twisty, and captivating!

The Playground is a brisk, suspenseful thriller that introduces us to Nancy, a young mother who, after losing her husband in a tragic accident, decides to move to the Derbyshire countryside in hopes of a fresh start. But when her ten-year-old daughter is accused of trying to drown her popular classmate and the bullying and toxicity seems to just keep escalating from there, it quickly becomes apparent that life is going to be anything other than safe and peaceful in this village where everyone knows everyone and loyalties are long set.

The prose is sharp and crisp. The characters are manipulative, vulnerable, and cunning. And the plot is a menacing tale full of danger, deception, adultery, jealousy, gossip, obsession, negligence, and small-town drama.

Overall, The Playground is a cleverly plotted, eerie, intricate page-turner by Frances that had just enough twists, turns, and surprises to keep me on the edge of my seat 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 Publishers Group Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Michelle Frances

Michelle Frances graduated from Bournemouth Film School and then from the Masters programme at the American Film Institute, Los Angeles. Returning to London, she has worked for several years in film and TV as a script editor and producer for both the independent sector and the BBC.

Her first novel, The Girlfriend, became an international best seller.