Format: ARC, Paperback

#BookReview Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry @Tamara_Morgan @PPPress #BuriedinaGoodBook #TamaraBerry #BytheBookMysteries #inkedinpoison

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#BookReview Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry @Tamara_Morgan @PPPress #BuriedinaGoodBook #TamaraBerry #BytheBookMysteries #inkedinpoison Title: Buried in a Good Book

Author: Tamara Berry

Series: By the Book Mysteries #1

Published by: Poisoned Pen Press on May 24, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 312

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Poisoned Pen Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A thriller writer who knows way more than anyone should about death and dismemberment

Her young daughter who’s more intrigued by dead bodies than she probably should be

An isolated cabin in the woods that’s probably―definitely―hiding something

The tiny mountain town that seems less than troubled by a sudden abundance of murders

Bestselling thriller writer Tess Harrow is almost at the end of her rope when she arrives with her teenage daughter at her grandfather’s rustic cabin in the woods. She hopes this will be a time for them to heal and bond after Tess’s recent divorce, but they’ve barely made it through the door when an explosion shakes the cabin. Suddenly it’s raining fish guts and…is that a human arm?

Tess was hardly convincing Gertie that a summer without Wi-Fi and running water would be an adventure. Now she’s thrust into a murder investigation, neighbors are saying they’ve spotted Bigfoot in the woods near her cabin, and the local sheriff is the spitting image of her character Detective Gabriel Gonzales―something he’s less than thrilled about. With so much more than her daughter’s summer plans at stake, it’s up to Tess to solve this case before anyone else gets hurt.

Review:

Intricate, fresh, and funny!

Buried in a Good Book is a wacky, mischievous tale that transports you to Okanogan County and into the life of Tess Harrow, a famous mystery writer who, after arriving at her late grandfather’s cabin for some rest and relaxation with her teenage daughter, Gertrude, quickly discovers that facts are sometimes even stranger than fiction when she finds herself smack dab in the middle of a bizarre murder investigation involving flying body parts and fish guts, exotic animals freely roaming in the woods, and a broody sheriff with an uncanny resemblance to Detective Gonzales, the beloved leading man of her successful series.

The prose is sharp and witty. The characters are endearing, unique, and persistent. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel quickly into an exceptionally humorous, thrilling tale filled with family, friendship, secrets, deception, danger, violence, spirited hijinks, hilarious mishaps, and small-town antics.

Overall, Buried in a Good Book is a quirky, clever, edgy mystery that kept me amused and entertained from the very first page. It’s the first novel I’ve read by Berry, but based on this fantastic, creative start to the new By the Book Mysteries series, I can guarantee you it won’t be my last.

 

This book is available now.

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

               

 

 

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

 

About Tamara Berry

Tamara Berry is a part-time author and part-time freelance copywriter/editor. She has a B.A. degree in English Literature from Eastern Washington University. In addition to books, she has mad love for all things TV, movies, and pop culture.

She also writes romances under the pennames Lucy Gilmore and Tamara Morgan.

Photo by Emily Jones Photography.

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#BookReview The Favor by Nora Murphy @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheFavorBook #MinotaurBooks #NoraMurphyBooks #FavorForAFriend #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview The Favor by Nora Murphy @MinotaurBooks @StMartinsPress #TheFavorBook #MinotaurBooks #NoraMurphyBooks #FavorForAFriend #MinotaurInfluencers #SMPInfluencers Title: The Favor

Author: Nora Murphy

Published by: Minotaur Books on May 31, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 288

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Minotaur Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Staying is dangerous. Leaving could be worse.

Leah and McKenna have never met, though they have parallel lives.

They don’t—ever—find themselves in the same train carriage or meet accidentally at the gym or the coffee shop. They don’t—ever—discuss their problems and find common ground. They don’t—ever—acknowledge to each other that although their lives have all the trappings of success, wealth and happiness, they are, in fact, trapped.

Because Leah understands that what’s inside a home can be more dangerous than what’s outside. Driving past McKenna’s house one night, she sees what she knows only too well herself from her own marriage: McKenna’s “perfect” husband is not what he seems. She decides to keep an eye out for McKenna, until one night, she intervenes.

Leah and McKenna have never met. But they will.

Review:

Devious, alluring, and intense!

The Favor is a riveting, character-driven thriller that immerses you into the lives of two strangers, Leah and McKenna, as their eerily similar worlds intersect, unravel, and collide while anxiously surviving day-by-day dangerous, controlling, troubling marriages.

The writing is brisk and precise. The characters are complex, troubled, and resolved. And the plot unravels quickly into an unnerving tale of secrets, power, control, deception, jealousy, obsession, domestic abuse, unlikely friendships, and murder.

Overall, The Favor is an addictive, twisty, brilliant debut by Murphy that delves into all the emotional and psychological damage caused by domestic abuse and highlights just how easily intimidation, manipulation, and dominance can often be masked as love.

 

This novel is available May 31, 2022.

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

            

 

 

 

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

 

About Nora Murphy

NORA MURPHY attended law school in Washington, D.C., then worked as a judicial law clerk before transitioning to private practice. During law school, she participated in two clinics through which she represented and studied the issues facing survivors of intimate partner violence. A practicing attorney, Nora writes as much as she can, usually long before the sunrise or on her phone for brief moments when the inspiration strikes. Nora resides in Maryland with her husband, young son, and five rescue pets. When she’s not working, writing, or chasing her toddler, Nora can be found contemplating her next ice cream run or reading. The Favor is her first novel.

Photo by Crystal Tseng Photography.

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#BookReview Sinkhole by Davida G. Breier @leekinginc @KayePublicity @unopress #Sinkhole #DavidaGBreier #KayePublicity

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#BookReview Sinkhole by Davida G. Breier @leekinginc @KayePublicity @unopress #Sinkhole #DavidaGBreier #KayePublicity Title: Sinkhole

Author: Davida G. Breier

Published by: University of New Orleans Press on May 26, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 263

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Kaye Publicity

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Boiled peanuts, lovebugs, and murder.

Lies from the past and a dangerous present collide when, after fifteen years in exile, Michelle Miller returns to her tiny hometown of Lorida, Florida. With her mother in the hospital, she’s forced to reckon with the broken relationships she left behind: with her family, with friends, and with herself.

As a teenager, Michelle felt isolated and invisible until she met Sissy, a dynamic and wealthy classmate. Their sudden, intense friendship was all-consuming. Punk rocker Morrison later joins their clique, and they become an inseparable trio. They were the perfect high school friends, bound by dysfunction, bad TV, and boredom—until one of them ends up dead.

Confronting the death of her best friend requires Michelle to face her past if she is going to survive. But what if everything she remembers is a lie? Or just as dangerous: What if it isn’t?

An ingenious debut from editor and publisher Davida Breier, Sinkhole is a mesmerizing, darkly comic coming-of-age thriller immersed in 1980s central Florida. A disturbing and skillful exploration of home, friendship, selfhood, and grief set amidst golf courses, mobile homes, and alligators.

Review:

Raw, sinister, and consuming!

Sinkhole is a simmering, character-driven novel that transports you into the life of Michelle Miller who, after fifteen years away, reluctantly heads home to Lorida, Florida, knowing that the past will inevitably collide with the present, long-buried secrets will undoubtedly be unearthed, and a life littered with dysfunction, lies and insecurities will finally be confronted.

The writing is emotive and tight. The characters are flawed, vulnerable, and conflicted. And the plot is an immersive, coming-of-age tale about life, loss, deception, desperation, friendship, familial drama, manipulation, jealousy, obsession, cruelty, callousness, social inequality, and emerging sexuality.

Overall, Sinkhole is an astute, tragic, gritty tale by Breier that does a remarkable job of delving into the complex dynamics between friends and family and highlights 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 one of the following links.

           

 

 

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

 

About Davida G. Breier

Davida G. Breier was born in Miami, FL and spent her formative years in Florida, rural Minnesota, urban New Jersey, and suburban Pennsylvania. She’s worked as a youth sports photographer, TV extra, substitute teacher, jewelry maker, bookseller, and ATM cleaner. Davida discovered the world of zines and independent publishing in 1994 and Baltimore’s City Paper awarded her with “Best Local Zinester” in 2000 and “Best Zine” in 2003. She won the Literary Death Match, Baltimore 3.0 event in 2011. She’s spent the last two decades in various roles within the book industry and currently works for Johns Hopkins University Press. Davida lives in Maryland with her family, a pack of wee rescue dogs, a rescue tortoise, and two companion chickens.

Photo by Richard Montgomery.

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#BookReview My Wife is Missing by D.J. Palmer @djpalmerauthor @StMartinsPress #MyWifeisMissing #DJPalmer #StMarinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview My Wife is Missing by D.J. Palmer @djpalmerauthor @StMartinsPress #MyWifeisMissing #DJPalmer #StMarinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: My Wife is Missing

Author: D.J. Palmer

Published by: St. Martin's Press on May 10, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 9/10

A family vacation turns into a nightmare for Michael Hart when he discovers his wife and two children have disappeared from their New York City hotel room. Horrified, he fears they’ve been kidnapped. Michael’s frantic search to find them takes a shocking turn when he discovers that his wife, Natalie, appears to have left quite willingly, taking their children with her. The police want to know why, and so does Michael. But there may be a reason why Natalie ran, something Michael can’t tell the police―the truth about his past.

While untangling his deceptions might be the key to locating Natalie, Michael knows it could also be his undoing. To find his wife, he must now turn to the one person capable of exposing all that he’s been hiding. Natalie thinks she has Michael all figured out and has hatched a plan to escape from him permanently. One detail, though, threatens to derail her efforts: sleep―or more accurately, the lack of it. Since the moment the shocking revelations about her husband came to light, Natalie’s insomnia has worsened to the point that she now suffers from delusions.

Are her fears about Michael valid―or a symptom of her condition? With her children’s lives at risk, the stakes for Natalie could not be higher. On her own, running low on energy and resources, avoiding increasingly close calls with Michael―who is on the hunt and closing in fast―Natalie needs someone to turn to for help. But who can she trust when she can’t even trust herself?

Review:

Clever, twisty, and well written!

My Wife is Missing is an intricate, perfectly paced thriller that takes us into the life of Michael Hart, a husband and father of two who finds his life turned upside down when he returns from picking up a pizza for dinner only to find his wife and children missing from the hotel and only his son’s beloved bear left behind as evidence that they were ever even there.

The writing is smooth and fluid. The characters are astute, devious, and committed. And the plot unravels briskly into a sinister tale full of twists, turns, manipulation, deception, desperation, jealousy, red herrings, familial drama, marital strife, tragedy, and murder.

Overall, My Wife is Missing is an intricate, crafty, addictive read by Palmer that captivated, satisfied, and highly entertained me and was a good reminder that things are never quite what they seem, and behind closed doors nobody really knows what happens.

 

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 gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About D.J. Palmer

D.J. PALMER is the author of numerous critically acclaimed suspense novels. He received his master’s degree from Boston University and after a career in e-commerce he shifted gears to writing full time. He lives by the ocean in Massachusetts where he is working on his current novel. Besides writing, DJ enjoys yoga, songwriting, and family time with his two children and his ever faithful dog.

Photo by Ron Cowie.

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#BookReview Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak @Flatironbooks #HiddenPictures #JasonRekulak #FlatironBooks

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#BookReview Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak @Flatironbooks #HiddenPictures #JasonRekulak #FlatironBooks Title: Hidden Pictures

Author: Jason Rekulak

Published by: Flatiron Books on May 10, 2022

Genres: Horror, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Flatiron Books

Book Rating: 8/10

Fresh out of rehab, Mallory Quinn takes a job in the affluent suburb of Spring Brook, New Jersey as a babysitter for Ted and Caroline Maxwell. She is to look after their five-year-old son, Teddy.

Mallory immediately loves this new job. She lives in the Maxwell’s pool house, goes out for nightly runs, and has the stability she craves. And she sincerely bonds with Teddy, a sweet, shy boy who is never without his sketchbook and pencil. His drawings are the usual fare: trees, rabbits, balloons. But one day, he draws something different: a man in a forest, dragging a woman’s lifeless body.

As the days pass, Teddy’s artwork becomes more and more sinister, and his stick figures steadily evolve into more detailed, complex, and lifelike sketches well beyond the ability of any five-year-old. Mallory begins to suspect these are glimpses of an unsolved murder from long ago, perhaps relayed by a supernatural force lingering in the forest behind the Maxwell’s house.

With help from a handsome landscaper and an eccentric neighbor, Mallory sets out to decipher the images and save Teddy—while coming to terms with a tragedy in her own past—before it’s too late.

Review:

Intense, eerie, and dark!

Hidden Pictures is a haunting, character-driven thriller that takes you into the life of recovering addict Mallory Quinn who, after recently being hired to nanny the delightful five-year-old Teddy, whose love for drawing and his imaginative friend Anya become creepier day by day, discovers quickly that something isn’t right in this seemingly perfect home of Ted and Caroline Maxwell, and that someone or something is determined to reveal the secrets they’re desperately trying to hide.

The prose is unsettling and taut. The characters are suspicious, troubled, and wary. And the plot is a simmering, sinister tale of familial drama, class division, tension, deception, violence, and desperation, all interwoven with a sliver of the supernatural.

Overall, Hidden Pictures is a tight, creepy, atmospheric tale by Rekulak that, with its quick pace and disturbing illustrations, kept me unnerved and highly entertained right from the very first page.

 

This book is available now.

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

           

 

 

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

 

About Jason Rekulak

Jason Rekulak is the author of The Impossible Fortress, which was translated into 12 languages and was nominated for the Edgar Award. For many years, he was the publisher of Quirk Books, an independent press, where he acquired and edited multiple New York Times bestsellers. He lives in Philadelphia with his family.

Photo by Jason Varney.

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#BookReview The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill @PPPress #TheWomanintheLibrary #SulariGentill #inkedinpoison

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#BookReview The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill @PPPress #TheWomanintheLibrary #SulariGentill #inkedinpoison Title: The Woman in the Library

Author: Sulari Gentill

Published by: Poisoned Pen Press on Jun. 7, 2022

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 288

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Poisoned Pen Press

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In every person’s story, there is something to hide…

The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers sitting at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.

Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.

Review:

Devious, intense, and full of surprises!

The Woman in the Library is an intricate, twisty, complex thriller featuring Hannah, a successful writer who is writing her latest mystery about four strangers, Freddie, Cain, Whit, and Marigold, who accidentally meet one day as they all share a table in the Boston Public Library and after they hear a woman scream subsequently work together to not only identify who the slain woman was but who out of the four of them, as impossible as it may seem, actually murdered her.

The prose is complex and tight. The characters are multilayered, secretive, and consumed. And the plot builds nicely to create just the right amount of tension and suspense as it unravels all the different personalities, questionable motivations, duplicitous actions, and relationships within it.

Overall, The Woman in the Library is a compelling, sly, creative tale by Gentill that, with its story within a story, is a clever, unique, addictive whodunit that certainly kept me guessing from start to finish.

 

This book is available June 7, 2022.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Sulari Gentill

Once upon a time, Sulari Gentill was a corporate lawyer serving as a director on public boards, with only a vague disquiet that there was something else she was meant to do. That feeling did not go away until she began to write. And so Sulari became the author of the Rowland Sinclair Mysteries: thus far, ten historical crime novels chronicling the life and adventures of her 1930s Australian gentleman artist, the Hero Trilogy, based on the myths and epics of the ancient world, and the Ned Kelly Award winning Crossing the Lines (published in the US as After She Wrote Hime). In 2014 she collaborated with National Gallery of Victoria to write a short story which was produced in audio to feature in the Fashion Detective Exhibition, and thereafter published by the NGV. IN 2019 Sulari was part of a 4-member delegation of Australian crime writers sponsored by the Australia Council to tour the US as ambassadors of Australian Crime Writing.

Sulari lives with her husband, Michael, and their boys, Edmund and Atticus, on a small farm in Batlow where she grows French Black Truffles and refers to her writing as “work” so that no one will suggest she get a real job.

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#BookReview Last Dance on the Starlight Pier by Sarah Bird @sarahbirdwriter @StMartinsPress #LastDanceOnTheStarlightPier #SallyBird #StMarinsPress #SMPInfluencers

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#BookReview Last Dance on the Starlight Pier by Sarah Bird @sarahbirdwriter @StMartinsPress #LastDanceOnTheStarlightPier #SallyBird #StMarinsPress #SMPInfluencers Title: Last Dance on the Starlight Pier

Author: Sarah Bird

Published by: St. Martin's Press on Apr. 12, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: St. Martin's Press

Book Rating: 8/10

Set during the Great Depression, Sarah Bird’s Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a novel about one woman—and a nation—struggling to be reborn from the ashes.

July 3. 1932. Shivering and in shock, Evie Grace Devlin watches the Starlite Palace burn into the sea and wonders how she became a person who would cause a man to kill himself. She’d come to Galveston to escape a dark past in vaudeville and become a good person, a nurse. When that dream is cruelly thwarted, Evie is swept into the alien world of dance marathons. All that she has been denied—a family, a purpose, even love—waits for her there in the place she dreads most: the spotlight.

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a sweeping novel that brings to spectacular life the enthralling worlds of both dance marathons and the family-run empire of vice that was Galveston in the Thirties. Unforgettable characters tell a story that is still deeply resonant today as America learns what Evie learns, that there truly isn’t anything this country can’t do when we do it together. That indomitable spirit powers a story that is a testament to the deep well of resilience in us all that allows us to not only survive the hardest of hard times, but to find joy, friends, and even family, in them.

Review:

Hopeful, heartwarming, and atmospheric!

Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is an intriguing tale that sweeps you away between Chicago and Texas during the early 1930s and into the life of Evie Grace Devlin, a young woman who yearns to become a registered nurse, but who after her past as a Vaudeville performer comes to light and she is denied graduation, ends up in the world of competitive dance competitions until tragedy strikes, and she must rethink what’s truly important and where, what and who she’d truly like to be.

The prose is smooth and expressive. The main characters are spirited, resilient, and hardworking. And the plot is a compelling, emotional tale about life, loss, self-discovery, familial drama, social injustices, political unrest, poverty, inequality, heartbreak, courage, romance, and friendship.

Overall, Last Dance on the Starlight Pier is a sweet, entertaining, sentimental tale by Bird that was a pleasure to read with a setting I don’t often get a chance to read about and a unique storyline that was informative as well as refreshing.

 

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 in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarah Bird

Sarah Bird’s novel, Above the East China Sea, was long-listed for the Dublin International Literary Award. A Dobie-Paisano Fellowship helped in researching Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen. Raised in an Air Force family on bases around the world, Sarah is the child of two warriors, a WWII Army nurse and an Air Corps bombardier, who met at a barn dance in North Africa. She lives in Austin, Texas.

Photo by Sarah Wilson.

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#BookReview The Last Summer by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheLastSummer #TheWildIsleSeries #KarenSwan #PGCBooks

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#BookReview The Last Summer by Karen Swan @KarenSwan1 @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheLastSummer #TheWildIsleSeries #KarenSwan #PGCBooks Title: The Last Summer

Author: Karen Swan

Series: The Wild Isle #1

Published by: Pan Macmillan on May 3, 2022

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 496

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

When the residents of St Kilda ask to be evacuated from their remote island home in the summer of 1930, it’s in search of a better life on mainland Scotland compared to the scratch existence on their mountain in the sea.

For eighteen-year-old tomboy Effie Gillies, it’s a bittersweet departure. She’s the best young climber on the island, as skilled and brave as any of the men. But it is Effie’s expansive knowledge of local bird life that leads her to take up a position as curator of Dumfries House’s ornithological collection – and back into the arms of Lord Dumfries’ son and heir, Sholto.

During her last summer on St Kilda, Effie had been Sholto’s guide, and their attraction had seemed irresistible. But, in the glamorous polite society of Ayrshire, it is clear they are worlds apart. When a body is discovered on the island, soon after the evacuation, a scandal erupts as Effie is implicated. Sholto knows she’s keeping secrets – but are they even her own?

The Last Summer is the first in an epic, sweeping historical series by Sunday Times bestseller Karen Swan, set in and around the Scottish island of St Kilda.

Review:

Enthralling, mysterious, and romantic!

The Last Summer is an absorbing tale that sweeps you away to 1930 and into the life of Effie Gillies, an eighteen-year-old girl who, along with her family and closest friends, is one of thirty-six inhabitants of the isolated St. Kilda archipelago who is content with her isolated existence, living a simple life amongst the birds and the cliffs, until things start to get a little more complicated and she falls for a man way above her station, the government decides to evacuate the island villagers to the mainland, she takes on a new job curating the ornithological collection of Lord Dumfries, the father of the man who stole her heart, and the deserted island is left with more than just empty dwellings and whispered secrets, but the body of a man who wasn’t all that kind or liked and had more than one person who wished him dead.

The writing is eloquent and vivid. The characters are hardy, resilient, and brave. And the plot is an alluring tale of life, loss, family, friendship, community, intrigue, mystery, drama, expectations, angst, social division, heartbreak, and love.

Overall, The Last Summer is a beautifully written, incredibly atmospheric, brilliant start to a new series by Swan that I absolutely devoured, highly recommend, and is hands down one of my favourite reads of the year.

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 Karen Swan

Karen Swan began her career in fashion journalism before giving it all up to raise her three children and a puppy, and to pursue her ambition of becoming a writer. She lives in the forest outside Sussex, England, writing her books in a treehouse overlooking the Downs.

An internationally bestselling author, her numerous books include The Rome Affair, The Paris Secret, Christmas Under the Stars, and The Christmas Secret. 

Photograph by Alexander James

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#BookReview Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForeverPub #ReadForever2022 #PartofYourWorldBook #AbbyJimenez #TheFriendZoneSeries

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#BookReview Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez @readforeverpub @grandcentralpub #ReadForever #ReadForeverPub #ReadForever2022 #PartofYourWorldBook #AbbyJimenez #TheFriendZoneSeries Title: Part of Your World

Author: Abby Jimenez

Series: The Friend Zone #4

Published by: Forever on Apr. 19, 2022

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 400

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Forever

Book Rating: 10/10

The New York Times bestselling author of Life’s Too Short delivers a refreshingly modern fairy tale perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Emily Henry.

After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.

While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important. Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

Review:

Quaint, alluring, and undeniably affecting!

Part of Your World is a sweet, intimate, evocative tale that takes you into the life of ER doctor Alexis Montgomery as she struggles to juggle a successful career, a toxic ex, weighty familial expectations, and a budding attraction to a man almost ten years her junior who seems to be slowly stealing her heart piece by piece.

The writing is heartwarming and tender. The characterization is spot on with a wonderful cast of characters that are multilayered, quirky, amusing, and endearing. And the plot unwinds and unravels effortlessly into a beguiling tale bursting with heart, hope, healing, and heat.

Part of Your World is, ultimately, a story about life, love, expectations, trust, forgiveness, family, friendship, community, relationship dynamics, and discovering one’s true self. It is an addictive, moving, exceptionally romantic novel by Jimenez that is hands down one of my favourite reads of the year and is, without a doubt, another brilliant novel by an author I can never get enough of.

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

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

 

About Abby Jimenez

Abby Jimenez is a Food Network champion, motivational speaker, and contemporary romance novelist living in Minnesota. Abby founded Nadia Cakes out of her home kitchen in 2007. The bakery has since gone on to open multiple locations in two states, won numerous Food Network competitions and amassed an international cult following. Abby has since turned her talents to penning novels. She loves a good book, coffee, doglets, and not leaving the house.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases by Paul Holes with Robin Gaby Fisher @PaulHoles @CeladonBooks #UnmaskedBook #CeladonBooks #CeladonReads

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#BookReview Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases by Paul Holes with Robin Gaby Fisher @PaulHoles @CeladonBooks #UnmaskedBook #CeladonBooks #CeladonReads Title: Unmasked: My Life Solving American's Cold Cases

Author: Paul Holes

Published by: Celadon Books on Apr. 26, 2022

Genres: Nonfiction

Pages: 288

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Celadon Books

Book Rating: 9/10

From the detective who found The Golden State Killer, a memoir of investigating America’s toughest cold cases and the rewards–and toll–of a life solving crime.

I order another bourbon, neat. This is the drink that will flip the switch. I don’t even know how I got here, to this place, to this point. Something is happening to me lately. I’m drinking too much. My sheets are soaking wet when I wake up from nightmares of decaying corpses. I order another drink and swig it, trying to forget about the latest case I can’t shake.

Crime-solving for me is more complex than the challenge of the hunt, or the process of piecing together a scientific puzzle. The thought of good people suffering drives me, for better or worse, to the point of obsession.

People always ask how I am able to detach from the horrors of my work. Part of it is an innate capacity to compartmentalize; the rest is experience and exposure, and I’ve had plenty of both. But I had always taken pride in the fact that I can keep my feelings locked up to get the job done. It’s only been recently that it feels like all that suppressed darkness is beginning to seep out.

When I look back at my long career, there is a lot I am proud of. I have caught some of the most notorious killers of the twenty-first century and brought justice and closure for their victims and families. I want to tell you about a lifetime solving these cold cases, from Laci Peterson to Jaycee Dugard to the Pittsburg homicides to, yes, my twenty-year-long hunt for the Golden State Killer.

But a deeper question eats at me as I ask myself, at what cost? I have sacrificed relationships, joy—even fatherhood—because the pursuit of evil always came first. Did I make the right choice? It’s something I grapple with every day. Yet as I stand in the spot where a young girl took her last breath, as I look into the eyes of her family, I know that, for me, there has never been a choice. “I don’t know if I can solve your case,” I whisper. “But I promise I will do my best.”

It is a promise I know I can keep.

Review:

Candid, eye-opening, and fascinating!

Unmasked is the intriguing, informative story of Paul Holes’ personal and professional experiences, successes, frustrations, and accomplishments as a CSI for the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, focusing specifically on cold cases and serial killers with one of his most infamous cases being that of the Golden State Killer.

The writing is detailed and precise. And the novel is an introspective, compelling, absorbing tale of one man’s dedication, passion, and almost obsessive commitment to identifying the most heinous of criminals and making sure there’s enough evidence to put them behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Unmasked is, ultimately, a memoir that I absolutely loved and which gives a valuable, insightful, disturbing look into crime scene investigation, scientific advancements and their effect on the evolution of the crime-solving process, and how pieces, evidence, and clues are collected and reviewed in order to identify and eliminate suspects, and prosecute criminals successfully.

 

This novel is available April 26, 2022.

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

                

 

 

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

 

About Paul Holes

In 2018, Paul Holes retired as a cold case investigator after spending more than twenty-seven years working in Contra Costa County, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Paul specialized in cold case and serial predator crimes, lending his expertise to notable cases, including the murder of Laci Peterson and the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard. Most prominently, Paul’s career culminated with his identification of the Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, the most notorious and cunning serial predator in U.S. history.

Since the arrest of DeAngelo, Holes has been very involved on the media side, continuing to assist law enforcement and victims’ families with their unsolved cases through the television shows The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes and America’s Most Wanted and the podcast Jensen & Holes: The Murder Squad.

Photo by Steve Babuljak.

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