Format: ARC, Paperback

#BookReview The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean @SimonSchusterCA #TheReturnOfEllieBlack #EmikoJean #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Return of Ellie Black by Emiko Jean @SimonSchusterCA #TheReturnOfEllieBlack #EmikoJean #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Return of Ellie Black

Author: Emiko Jean

Published by: Simon & Schuster on May 7, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s life is turned upside down when she gets the call Ellie Black, a girl who disappeared years earlier, has resurfaced in the woods of Washington state—but Ellie’s reappearance leaves Chelsey with more questions than answers.

It’s been twenty years since Detective Chelsey Calhoun’s sister vanished when they were teenagers, and ever since she’s been searching: for signs, for closure, for other missing girls. But happy endings are rare in Chelsey’s line of work.

Then a glimmer: local teenager Ellie Black, who disappeared without a trace two years earlier, has been found alive in the woods of Washington State.

But something is not right with Ellie. She won’t say where she’s been, or who she’s protecting, and it’s up to Chelsey to find the answers. She needs to get to the bottom of what happened to Ellie: for herself, and for the memory of her sister, but mostly for the next girl who could be taken—and who, unlike Ellie, might never return.

The debut thriller from New York Times bestselling author Emiko Jean, The Return of Ellie Black is both a feminist tour de force about the embers of hope that burn in the aftermath of tragedy and a twisty page-turner that will shock and surprise you right up until the final page.

Review:

Intricate, compelling, and sharp!

The Return of Ellie Black is a well-paced, ominous tale that takes you into the life of Detective Chelsey Calhoun as the past suddenly collides with the present when an investigation into the sudden reappearance of the missing teen Ellie Black shockingly uncovers years of tragedy, dark secrets, and perversion.

The writing is tight and intense. The characters are layered, secretive, and persistent. And the plot, told from multiple perspectives and in a back-and-forth style, is an engrossing tale full of twists, turns, red herrings, secrets, deduction, depravity, mayhem, manipulation, and abuse.

Overall, The Return of Ellie Black is a relentless, suspenseful, tortuous thriller by Jean that keeps you guessing from start to finish and is an eerie reminder that evil can live easily amongst us, simply hidden behind masks of normality.

This novel is available now.

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

        

 

 

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

 

About Emiko Jean

Emiko Jean is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult novels Tokyo Dreaming and Tokyo Ever After, a Reese Witherspoon/Hello Sunshine pick, as well as the novel Mika in Real Life, which was a Good Morning America Book Club pick. She lives in Washington with her husband and two kids.

Photograph © Katy Weaver Photography.

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#BookReview Collide by Bal Khabra @authorbalkhabra @PenguinRandomCA #BalKhabra #Collide #OffTheIceSeries #PenguinReads

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#BookReview Collide by Bal Khabra @authorbalkhabra @PenguinRandomCA #BalKhabra #Collide #OffTheIceSeries #PenguinReads Title: Collide

Author: Bal Khabra

Series: Off the Ice #1

Published by: Berkley on May 14, 2024

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 416

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

An ultimatum from her professor thrusts Summer Preston into an unexpected collision with hockey captain Aiden Crawford. She’s caught in a delicate balance between fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a sport psychologist and veering far away from this god-awful sport.

For Aiden Crawford, being the captain of the college hockey team has its perks, except when a reckless mistake by his team threatens to jeopardize their entire season. Consequently, his coach nominates him as the subject of a research paper. It’s the last thing he wants to do, especially since the girl leading the project looks like she could wield his skates as a weapon.

Summer can’t stand his blasé approach to life, and Aiden doesn’t understand her uptight, scheduled one. They are off to a rocky start, and provoking each other is what they do best, but defeat isn’t something either of them is willing to accept.

Review:

Sporty, sexy, and satisfying!

Collide is a passionate, sweet tale featuring the intelligent, feisty Summer who is more than happy to use a hockey player as a subject for her research paper but is more than confident that she would never date one, and the responsible, hunky Aidan who will do whatever it takes to get his team to the playoffs even if it means working off their escapades by helping out a girl that drives him absolutely crazy but is infuriatingly pretty.

The writing is light and crisp. The characters are charismatic, kind, and fun-loving. And the plot is the perfect blend of drama, emotion, humour, heat, witty banter, chemistry, friendship, family, romance, and hockey.

Overall, I found Collide to be a charming, steamy, entertaining start to this new Off the Ice series by Khabra that, as a true fan of the sports romance genre, has left me excited and definitely eager for more.

 

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 Bal Khabra

Bal Khabra is a Canadian writer and book lover. Before she decided to jump into the romance pool, she spent her time gushing about books on social media. When inspiration strikes, she is found filling her notes app with ideas for romance novels. She loves reading about love, watching movies about love, and now, writing about it herself. There really isn’t much else that gets her heart fluttering the way HEAs do. She fell in love with writing and hopes to continue living out her romance author dreams.

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#BookReview Extinction by Douglas Preston @ForgeReads #Extinction #DouglasPreston #ForgeBooks #ForgeReads

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#BookReview Extinction by Douglas Preston @ForgeReads #Extinction #DouglasPreston #ForgeBooks #ForgeReads Title: Extinction

Author: Douglas Preston

Published by: Forge Books on Apr. 23, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Science Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Forge Books

Book Rating: 8.5/10

Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. When a billionaire’s son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators.

As killings mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient, intelligent, and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection—but extinction.

Review:

Menacing, creative, and creepy!

Extinction is a fast-paced, addictive thriller that sees Colorado CBI Agent Frankie Cash heading to the exclusive Erebus Resort to investigate the disappearance of two honeymooners, Mark and Gloria Gunnerson, but while it seems at first glance to be a case of kidnapping and possible murder, it quickly becomes apparent that something a lot more sinister is underway in this speciality facility where science and genome editing have managed to bring some of the most beloved prehistoric mammals back to life.

The writing is crisp and polished. The characters are complex, astute, and tenacious. And the plot is an eerie tale full of twists, turns, secrets, deduction, mayhem, experimentation, power, grandiose delusions, violence, and murder.

Overall, Extinction is an intense, enthralling, disturbing page-turner by Preston that is a scary reminder that advances in science can be good or bad depending on how someone chooses to use them.

 

This book is available now.

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

             

 

 

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

 

About Douglas Preston

DOUGLAS PRESTON has published forty books of both nonfiction and fiction, of which over thirty have been New York Times bestsellers, a half-dozen reaching the #1 position. He is the co-author, with Lincoln Child, of the Pendergast series of thrillers. He also writes nonfiction pieces for the New Yorker Magazine. He worked as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and taught nonfiction writing at Princeton University. He is president emeritus of the Authors Guild and serves on the Advisory Board of the School for Advanced Research in Santa Fe.

Photo Credit: Deborah Feingold

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#BookReview A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke @SimonSchusterCA #AShortWalkThroughAWideWorld #DouglasWesterbeke #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview A Short Walk Through a Wide World by Douglas Westerbeke @SimonSchusterCA #AShortWalkThroughAWideWorld #DouglasWesterbeke #SimonSchusterCA Title: A Short Walk Through a Wide World

Author: Douglas Westerbeke

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Apr. 2, 2024

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Pages: 400

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue meets Life of Pi in this dazzlingly epic debut that charts the incredible, adventurous life of one woman as she journeys the globe trying to outrun a mysterious curse that will destroy her if she stops moving.

Paris, 1885: Aubry Tourvel, a spoiled and stubborn nine-year-old girl, comes across a wooden puzzle ball on her walk home from school. She tosses it over the fence, only to find it in her backpack that evening. Days later, at the family dinner table, she starts to bleed to death.

When medical treatment only makes her worse, she flees to the outskirts of the city, where she realizes that it is this very act of movement that keeps her alive. So begins her lifelong journey on the run from her condition, which won’t allow her to stay anywhere for longer than a few days nor return to a place where she’s already been.

From the scorched dunes of the Calashino Sand Sea to the snow-packed peaks of the Himalayas; from a bottomless well in a Parisian courtyard, to the shelves of an infinite underground library, we follow Aubry as she learns what it takes to survive and ultimately, to truly live. But the longer Aubry wanders and the more desperate she is to share her life with others, the clearer it becomes that the world she travels through may not be quite the same as everyone else’s…

Fiercely independent and hopeful, yet full of longing, Aubry Tourvel is an unforgettable character fighting her way through a world of wonders to find a place she can call home. A spellbinding and inspiring story about discovering meaning in a life that seems otherwise impossible, A Short Walk Through a Wide World reminds us that it’s not the destination, but rather the journey—no matter how long it lasts—that makes us who we are.

Review:

Poignant, hopeful, and creative!

A Short Walk Through a Wide World is an immersive, evocative tale that sweeps you away to Paris during 1885 and into the life of nine-year-old Aubry Tourvel who, after throwing her beloved wooden puzzle ball into a well, becomes inflicted with a mysterious disease that seems to only be healed by never staying in one place for more than a few days and thus begins a lifetime adventure that sees her looping the globe multiple times while experiencing such wondrous things as fishing in Greece, love on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and the joy of perusing unimaginably vast libraries where time and space don’t even exist in order to stay alive.

The prose is vivid and rich. The characters are vulnerable, conflicted, and burdened. And the plot is a enigmatic, absorbing tale of life, love, loss, family, friendship, self-identity, magical realism, solitude, and joy.

Overall, A Short Walk Through a Wide World is a mystifying, impactful, hopeful debut by Westerbeke that combines a contemplative imagination with the magic of the supernatural to weave a heart-tugging, bittersweet tale steeped in an abundance of loneliness, optimism, tenderness, and pain.

 

This novel is available now.

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

             

 

 

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

 

About Douglas Westerbeke

Douglas Westerbeke is a librarian who lives in Ohio and works at one of the largest libraries in the US. He has spent the last decade on the local panel of the International Dublin Literary Award, which inspired him to write his own book.

Photograph by Roan.

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#BookReview The Celestial Wife by Leslie Howard @SimonSchusterCA #TheCelestialWife #LeslieHoward #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview The Celestial Wife by Leslie Howard @SimonSchusterCA #TheCelestialWife #LeslieHoward #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Celestial Wife

Author: Leslie Howard

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Apr. 9, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 368

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A young fundamentalist Mormon girl facing a forced marriage escapes her strict, polygamist community and comes of age in the tumultuous 1960s in this captivating novel inspired by shockingly true events.

Keep sweet no matter what, for this is the way to be lifted up
Keep sweet with every breath, for it is a matter of life or death

1964. Fifteen-year-old Daisy Shoemaker dreams of life beyond her small, isolated fundamentalist Mormon community of Redemption on the Canada—US border—despite Bishop Thorsen’s warning that the outside world is full of sin. According to the Principle, the only way to enter the celestial kingdom is through plural marriage. While the boys are taught to work in the lucrative sawmill that supports their enclave, Daisy and her best friend, Brighten, are instructed to keep sweet and wait for Placement—the day the bishop will choose a husband for them. But Daisy wants to be more than a sister-wife and a mother. So when she is placed with a man forty years her senior, she makes the daring decision to flee Redemption.

Years later, Daisy has a job and a group of trustworthy friends. Emboldened by the ideas of the feminist and counterculture movements, she is freer than she has ever been…until Brighten reaches out with a cry for help and Daisy’s past comes hurtling back. But to save the women she left behind, Daisy must risk her newfound independence and return to Redemption, where hellfire surely awaits.

For readers of Emma Cline’s The Girls and Ami McKay’s The Virgin Cure comes an arresting coming-of-age novel about a fearless young girl’s fight for freedom at a time of great historic change.

Review:

Intense, heart-tugging, and intriguing!

The Celestial Wife is a gripping, emotional tale that sweeps you away to a fundamentalist FLDS community in Redemption, British Columbia and into the life of Daisy Shoemaker, a fifteen-year-old girl who, after being married off as a sister-wife to the middle-aged Bishop of the sect, escapes to find and start a new life outside the compound until she must head back no matter the danger to herself to do whatever she can to save the best friend and mother she left behind.

The writing is crisp and expressive. The characters are vulnerable, determined, and scarred. And the plot is a compelling, hopeful tale of life, loss, secrets, resilience, abuse, friendship, revelations, childhood trauma, self-identification, and freedom.

Overall, The Celestial Wife is an eerie, fascinating, moving tale by Howard that does a beautiful job of reminding us of all the emotional, psychological, and physical effects caused by long-term manipulation, control, indoctrination, and deviant ideologies.

 

This novel is available now.

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

             

 

 

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

 

About Leslie Howard

Leslie Howard is the instant bestselling author of The Brideship Wife. She grew up in British Columbia and developed a passion for the province’s history. She divides her time between Vancouver and Penticton, where she and her husband grow cider apples.

Photograph by Bopomo Pictures.

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#BookReview The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher @sfletcherauthor @PenguinRandomCA #SusanFletcher #TheNightInQuestion #PenguinReads

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#BookReview The Night in Question by Susan Fletcher @sfletcherauthor @PenguinRandomCA #SusanFletcher #TheNightInQuestion #PenguinReads Title: The Night in Question

Author: Susan Fletcher

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Apr. 2, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 440

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A lyrical and emotionally engaging novel infused with mystery and wisdom about love, friendship, and the power of forgiveness.

Florrie Butterfield—eighty-seven, one-legged, and of cheerful disposition—believes there can’t be any more adventures or surprises in life to experience. Yet one midsummer’s evening, there’s an accident at Babbington Hall—the adult residence where she lives—so shocking and strange that Florrie is suspicious; is this really an accident? Or is she being lied to? Is she, in fact, living alongside a potential murderer? In her efforts to learn the truth, Florrie is forced to look back on her own life, with all its passions and regrets; she must confront her own bloody secret—and, at last, forgive herself. Above all, Florrie learns, through the help of her new friend, Stanhope, that you’re never too old to have the life you’ve always dreamed of. When it comes to love, it’s never too late.

Readers of moving fiction about late-in-life second chances such as Fredrik Backman’s A Man Called Ove and Rachel Joyce’s The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry will love this un-putdownable book.

Review:

Poignant, satisfying, and mysterious!

The Night in Question is a charming, tender tale that takes you into the life of eighty-seven-year-old Florrie Butterfield, a feisty resident of Babbington Hall who, after witnessing the facility’s young manager fall from a third-floor window, takes it upon herself to recruit another fellow resident to help her prove that it was not an attempted suicide after all but rather a more sinister plan that had actually been in the works for a very long time.

The writing style is sentimental and heartfelt. The characters are quirky, determined, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced, compelling whodunit full of red herrings, amateur sleuthing, tricky situations, awkward moments, troubled pasts, deduction, danger, and vengeance.

Overall, The Night in Question is a cosy, satisfying, entertaining read by Fletcher that was such a delight to read with all its intricacies, drama, and endearing characters.

 

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 Susan Fletcher

SUSAN FLETCHER is a British novelist. Her debut, Eve Green, won the 2004 Whitbread First Novel Award, the Betty Trask Prize, the Author’s Club Best First Novel Award and the Richard and Judy Summer Read in 2005. It was also shortlisted for the LA Times First Novel Award. Her other novels include Oystercatchers (longlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize), Witch Light (shortlisted for the John Llewellyn-Rhys Award and the Writer’s Guild Best Fiction Award) and A Little In Love (winner of 2016 North East Children's Book Award). Susan is the current Fellow at the University of Worcester as part of the Royal Literary Fund's fellowship scheme. She lives in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England.

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#BookReview The Lost Letters of Aisling by Cynthia Ellingsen @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #TheLostLettersOfAisling #CynthiaEllingsen #LakeUnion #FireflyDist

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#BookReview The Lost Letters of Aisling by Cynthia Ellingsen @FireflyDist @AmazonPub #TheLostLettersOfAisling #CynthiaEllingsen #LakeUnion #FireflyDist Title: The Lost Letters of Aisling

Author: Cynthia Ellingsen

Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Apr. 1, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 302

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Firefly Distributed Lines

Book Rating: 9/10

A woman faces the past she fled in a heart-stirring novel about unforgettable love and indomitable courage by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Lighthouse Keeper.

Rainey’s grandmother makes a startling Take me home. To Ireland, the country she fled post–World War II. Though they’re inseparably close, Rainey knows few of her grandmother’s secrets. Until they arrive at Aisling—the majestic estate on the southern coast of Ireland where her grandmother was raised—and Rainey discovers a collection of seventy-year-old letters in a trunk.

Dublin, 1945. The Germans surrender, celebrants crowd the streets, and fourteen-year-old Evie meets her best friend, the spirited Harding McGovern. Years on, they are more like sisters when rumors begin that Harding works in the black market trade—a source of wealth that could give her a dream life in America but could also cause great danger. Evie is uncertain of the truth but will stand by Harding, whatever the cost.

As Rainey uses the letters to reunite her grandmother with the past, what unfolds is a never-forgotten story of family, friendship, and love, and the healing that comes from letting go of secrets.

Review:

Captivating, rich, and absorbing!

The Lost Letters of Aisling is predominantly set in Ireland during the early 1950s, as well as present day, and is told from two different perspectives. Rainey, a young woman who journeys to Ireland to honour her grandmother’s wishes to return to her homeland to finally confront the past, and Evie, a young woman whose platonic love for her best friend will ultimately change her destiny and life forever.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are troubled, determined, and endearing. And the plot is a moving tale about life, loss, love, emotion, betrayal, family, friendship, heartbreak, guilt, grief, hope, and regret.

Overall, The Lost Letters of Aisling is a heartwarming, alluring, compelling tale by Ellingsen that highlights the enduring passion, loyalty and power of love and is a wonderful choice for anyone who enjoys a dual timeline story with both a sliver of mystery and a touch of romance.

 

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 Cynthia Ellingsen

Cynthia Ellingsen is the Amazon Charts bestselling author of the Starlight Cove series. The Lost Letters of Aisling is her tenth novel. A Michigan native, Cynthia has lived in Los Angeles and Chicago. Currently, she lives in Lexington, KY with her family and two sassy but charming Siamese cats.

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#BookReview The Gathering by C.J. Tudor @cjtudor @PenguinRandomCA #CJTudor #TheGathering #PenguinReads

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#BookReview The Gathering by C.J. Tudor @cjtudor @PenguinRandomCA #CJTudor #TheGathering #PenguinReads Title: The Gathering

Author: C.J. Tudor

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Apr. 9, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A detective investigating a grisly crime in rural Alaska finds herself caught up in the dark secrets and superstitions of a small town in this riveting novel from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man

Deadhart, Alaska. 873. Living.

In a small Alaska town, a boy is found with his throat ripped out and all the blood drained from his body. The inhabitants of Deadhart haven’t seen a killing like this in twenty-five years. But they know who’s responsible: a member of the Colony, an ostracized community of vampyrs living in an old mine settlement deep in the woods.

Detective Barbara Atkins, a specialist in vampyr killings, is called in to officially determine if this is a Colony killing—and authorize a cull. Old suspicions die hard in a town like Deadhart, but Barbara isn’t so sure. Determined to find the truth, she enlists the help of a former Deadhart sheriff, Jenson Tucker, whose investigation into the previous murder almost cost him his life. Since then, Tucker has become a recluse. But he knows the Colony better than almost anyone.

As the pair delve into the town’s history, they uncover secrets darker than they could have imagined. And then another body is found. While the snow thickens and the nights grow longer, a killer stalks Deadhart, and two disparate communities circle each other for blood. Time is running out for Atkins and Tucker to find the truth: Are they hunting a bloodthirsty monster . . . or a twisted psychopath? And which is more dangerous?

Review:

Unique, mysterious, and atmospheric!

The Gathering is a gritty, unsettling tale that takes you to Deadhart, Alaska, a small town that has lived a relatively quiet existence for the past twenty-five years since the Colony moved away after the death of a local boy. But now the Colony is back, and another young boy has suddenly been found with his throat ripped out, and the townspeople are no longer interested in finding the one person or thing responsible, they’re out for blood and won’t be happy until the whole Colony of vampyrs are slaughtered once and for all.

The writing is sharp and descriptive. The characters are meticulous, intelligent, and driven. And the plot unfolds and unravels quickly into a suspenseful, action-packed tale full of twists, turns, manipulation, deception, community, surprises, suspects, hostility, savagery, deduction, desperation, complex relationships, violence, murder, and the supernatural.

Overall, The Gathering is a clever, tight, disturbing thrill ride that had just the right amount of twists, turns, and surprises to keep me thoroughly engrossed from start to finish. It’s surprisingly the first novel I’ve read by Tudor, but I can guarantee you it 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 Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About C.J. Tudor

C. J. Tudor is the author of The Drift, The Burning Girls, The Other People, The Hiding Place, and The Chalk Man, which won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel, the Barry Award, and the Strand Critics Award for Best Debut Novel. Over the years she has worked as a copywriter, television presenter, voice-over artist, and dog walker. She is now thrilled to be able to write full-time, and doesn’t miss chasing wet dogs through muddy fields all that much. She lives in England with her partner and daughter.

Photo: © Bill Waters

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#BookReview Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda @MeganLMiranda @SimonSchusterCA #DaughterofMine #MeganMiranda #SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda @MeganLMiranda @SimonSchusterCA #DaughterofMine #MeganMiranda #SimonSchusterCA Title: Daughter of Mine

Author: Megan Miranda

Published by: Marysue Rucci Books on Apr. 9, 2024

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The new thrilling novel from Megan Miranda, the instant New York Times bestselling author of All the Missing Girls, The Last to Vanish, and The Only Survivors.

When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake’s longtime local detective, unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she’s warily drawn back to the town—and people—she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel’s not the only relic of the past to a drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge…including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.

Review:

Intricate, unsettling, and gritty!

Daughter of Mine is a compelling, absorbing tale that transports you to Mirror Lake, North Carolina, and into the lives of the Holt family as the past suddenly collides with the present when, soon after the patriarch passes, an automobile is found submerged at the bottom of the lake, and at least one person is on edge and threatened by the long-buried secrets it may finally bring to light.

The writing is intense and tight. The characters are vulnerable, impulsive, and scarred. And the plot intertwines and unravels seamlessly into a riveting tale full of lies, deception, secrets, desperation, manipulation, familial drama, troubled pasts, suspicious behaviours, violence, and murder.

Overall, Daughter of Mine is a dark, atmospheric, engrossing tale by Miranda that kept me enthralled from the very first page and left me entertained, satisfied, and more than a little eager to read whatever her deliciously sinister mind manages to come 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 Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Megan Miranda

Megan Miranda is the New York Times bestselling author of ALL THE MISSING GIRLS and THE PERFECT STRANGER. She has also written several books for young adults, including FRACTURE, THE SAFEST LIES, and FRAGMENTS OF THE LOST. She grew up in New Jersey, graduated from MIT, and lives in North Carolina with her husband and two children.

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#BookReview The Secret Keeper by Genevieve Graham @GenGrahamAuthor @SimonSchusterCA #TheSecretKeeper #GenevieveGraham #CanadianHistory

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#BookReview The Secret Keeper by Genevieve Graham @GenGrahamAuthor @SimonSchusterCA #TheSecretKeeper #GenevieveGraham #CanadianHistory Title: The Secret Keeper

Author: Genevieve Graham

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Apr. 2, 2024

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 448

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

From USA TODAY and internationally bestselling author Genevieve Graham comes a gripping World War II novel about two sisters who join the war effort—one as a codebreaker and the other as a pilot—and the secrets that threaten to tear them apart. Perfect for fans of The Rose Code and The Nightingale .

Twin sisters Dot and Dash Wilson share many things, and while they are practically inseparable, they are nothing alike. Dot is fascinated by books, puzzles, and Morse code, a language taught to both girls by their father, a WWI veteran. Dash’s days are filled with fixing engines, dancing with friends, and dreaming of flying airplanes. Almost always at their side is their best friend Gus—until war breaks out and he enlists in the army, deploying to an unknown front.

Determined to do their duty, both girls join the WRENS, Dash as a mechanic and Dot as a typist. Before long, Dot’s fixation on patterns and numbers takes her from HMCS Coverdale , a covert listening and codebreaking station working with Bletchley Park in England, to Camp X, a top-secret spy school. But when personal tragedy strikes the family, Dot’s oath of secrecy causes a rift between the sisters.

Eager to leave her pain behind, Dash jumps at the opportunity to train as a pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary, where she risks her life to ferry aircraft and troops across the battlefields of Europe. Meanwhile Dot is drawn into the Allies’ preparations for D-Day. But Dot’s loyalties are put to the test once more when someone close to her goes missing in Nazi-occupied territory. With everyone’s eyes on Operation Overlord, Dot must use every skill at her disposal to save those she loves before it’s too late.

Inspired by the real-life stories of women in World War II, The Secret Keeper is an extraordinary novel about the unbreakable bonds of sisterhood and the light of courage during the darkest of nights.

Review:

Immersive, evocative, and affecting!

The Secret Keeper is a rich, alluring tale predominantly set in Canada during WWII that follows two sisters, Dash, a thrill seeker who enlists as a WREN working as a mechanic before she receives her dream posting as a pilot for the ATA in England, and Dot, a whiz with puzzles and codes that once enlisted is recruited to hold an invaluable position at Camp X, a top-secret spy school.

The prose is vivid and smooth. The characters are dependable, courageous, and resilient. And the plot is a moving tale of life, loss, secrets, self-discovery, determination, hope, loyalty, survival, friendship, sisterhood, war, love, and Canadian history.

Overall, The Secret Keeper is an emotive, rich, absorbing tale by Graham inspired by real-life stories that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the feelings, lives, and personalities of the characters you can’t help but be enthralled and fully invested 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 Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Genevieve Graham

Genevieve Graham is the #1 bestselling author of The Forgotten Home Child, Tides of Honour, Promises to Keep, Come from Away, and At the Mountain’s Edge. She is passionate about breathing life back into Canadian history through tales of love and adventure. She lives near Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Photo by Bryghton Towns.

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