Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

#BookReview Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy by Andrew Morton @andrewmortonuk @GrandCentralPub #MeghanandtheUnmaskingoftheMonarchy #AndrewMorton #GrandCentralPub

#BookReview Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy by Andrew Morton @andrewmortonuk @GrandCentralPub #MeghanandtheUnmaskingoftheMonarchy #AndrewMorton #GrandCentralPub Title: Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy

Author: Andrew Morton

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Oct. 19, 2021

Genres: Nonfiction

Pages: 336

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

The New York Times bestselling biography of Meghan Markle, the American actress who won Prince Harry’s heart.

Women who smash the royal mold have always fascinated the public, from Grace Kelly to Princess Diana. Now acclaimed royal biographer Andrew Morton, the New York Timesbestselling author of Diana: Her True Story, brings us a revealing, juicy, and inspiring look at Meghan Markle, the confident and charismatic duchess whose warm and affectionate engagement interview won the hearts of the world.

When Meghan Markle and Prince Harry were set up by a mutual friend on a blind date in July 2016, little did they know that the resulting whirlwind romance would lead to their engagement in November 2017 and marriage in May 2018.

Morton goes back to Meghan’s roots to uncover the story of her childhood growing up in The Valley in Los Angeles, her studies at an all-girls Catholic school, and her fraught family life-a painful experience mirrored by Harry’s own background. Morton also delves into her previous marriage and divorce in 2013, her struggles in Hollywood as her mixed heritage was used against her, her big break in the hit TV show Suits, and her work for a humanitarian ambassador-the latter so reminiscent of Princess Diana’s passions. Finally, we see how the royal romance played out across two continents but was kept fiercely secret, before the news finally broke and Meghan was thrust into the global media’s spotlight.

Drawing on exclusive interviews with her family members and closest friends, and including never-before-seen photographs, Morton introduces us to the real Meghan as he reflects on the impact that she has already had on the rigid traditions of the House of Windsor, as well as what the future might hold.


Review:

Informative, intriguing, and perspicuous!

Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy is the interesting, candid biography of Rachel Meghan Markle, a divorced, mixed heritage, American actress who grew up in a somewhat dysfunctional family, although supported and loved, before appearing in a successful tv series, and then ultimately capturing the heart of a British prince.

The writing is crisp and clear. The characters are influential, hardworking, and driven. And the novel is a compelling tale of one woman’s life, from a young girl in Hollywood to a grown woman with her very own real-life prince.

Overall, Meghan and the Unmasking of the Monarchy, especially this new updated novel, which includes even the most recent events involving the Monarchy in early 2021, is an insightful look into a strong, independent woman and her struggles to retain a modicum of independence, privacy, and freedom after marrying into an institution ruled by tradition, image, and responsibility.

 

This book is available now.

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

                

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Andrew Morton

Andrew Morton studied history at the University of Sussex, England, with a focus on aristocracy and the 1930s. Morton has written biographies featuring the British Royal Family as well as celebrities, including Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, and Madonna. His bestselling biography of Princess Diana, Diana: Her True Story, met with international acclaim as “the closest we will ever come to her autobiography.”

Photograph courtesy of GCP Website.

#BookReview #Audiobook The Wish by Nicholas Sparks @HBGCanada @NicholasSparks @grandcentralpub @HachetteAudio #NicholasSparks #TheWish #GrandCentralPub #HachetteAudio

#BookReview #Audiobook The Wish by Nicholas Sparks @HBGCanada @NicholasSparks @grandcentralpub @HachetteAudio #NicholasSparks #TheWish #GrandCentralPub #HachetteAudio Title: The Wish

Author: Nicholas Sparks

Narrator: Mela Lee, Will Collyer

Published by: Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Audio on Sep. 28, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 400

Length: 11 hrs 42 min

Format: ARC, Audiobook, Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Audio

Book Rating: 10/10

1996 was the year that changed everything for Maggie Dawes. Sent away at sixteen to live with an aunt she barely knew in Ocracoke, a remote village on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, she could think only of the friends and family she left behind . . . until she meets Bryce Trickett, one of the few teenagers on the island. Handsome, genuine, and newly admitted to West Point, Bryce gradually shows her how much there is to love about the wind-swept beach town—and introduces her to photography, a passion that will define the rest of her life.

By 2019, Maggie is a renowned travel photographer. She splits her time between running a successful gallery in New York and photographing remote locations around the world. But this year she is unexpectedly grounded over Christmas, struggling to come to terms with a sobering medical diagnosis. Increasingly dependent on a young assistant, she finds herself becoming close to him.

As they count down the last days of the season together, she begins to tell him the story of another Christmas, decades earlier—and the love that set her on a course she never could have imagined.


Review:

Pensive, absorbing, and profoundly moving!

The Wish is a beautifully written, touching novel that takes us into the life of Maggie Dawes as she spends her last Christmas savouring all the little things, enjoying time with those she loves, reaping as much pleasure and joy out of each day, and having no regrets before her battle with cancer comes to an end.

The prose is eloquent and reflective. The characters are strong, compassionate, and endearing. And the plot is a compelling, highly emotional tale of life, love, friendship, kindness, generosity, honesty, humour, contemplation, and acceptance.

Overall, The Wish is a charming, insightful, bittersweet tale by Sparks that, unlike most of his books that usually make me a little teary, this one absolutely slayed me. I think there was more than once when tears were trickling down my face. However, saying that this is the most exquisite, good for the soul story I’ve read in a while, and I do hope everyone grabs a few tissues and picks this one up in any version, as the audiobook narrators, Mela Lee and Will Collyer are fabulous, and spends a few hours immersed in a story that is guaranteed to remind you that life is short and every moment is truly precious.

 

This novel is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to HBG Canada & Hachette Audio for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Nicholas Sparks

With over 100 million copies of his books sold, Nicholas Sparks is one of the world’s most beloved storytellers. His novels include fifteen #1 New York Times bestsellers, and all of his books, including Three Weeks with My Brother, the memoir he wrote with his brother, Micah, have been New York Times and international bestsellers, and were translated into more than fifty languages. Eleven of Nicholas Sparks’s novels–The Choice, The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, Safe Haven, The Lucky One, The Last Song, Dear John, Nights in Rodanthe, The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, and Message in a Bottle–have been adapted into major motion pictures.

Photography courtesy of Grand Central Publishing Website.

#BookReview High Stakes by Iris Johansen @Iris_Johansen @GrandCentralPub @HBGCanada #HighStakes #IrisJohansen #GrandCentralPub

#BookReview High Stakes by Iris Johansen @Iris_Johansen @GrandCentralPub @HBGCanada #HighStakes #IrisJohansen #GrandCentralPub Title: High Stakes

Author: Iris Johansen

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Sep. 7, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

All bets are off as #1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen introduces gambler Logan Tanner, a man with a secret past that’s about to come back to haunt him.

Logan Tanner lives the exhilarating life of a professional gambler, taking risks with nerves of steel. From casinos in Macau to Monte Carlo to Milan, he’s racked up a fortune and become a living legend. But all the glitz and glamor hide a dark and violent past as an extractor—a world that comes rushing back to him when the beautiful and innocent Lara Balkon enters his life.

Soon Logan is drawn into the conflict between two Russian mafia bosses over Lara, whose life now hangs in the balance. Logan has been offered something more valuable to him than money—information he desperately needs—in exchange for getting Lara out of Russia and to safety. Once together, Tanner discovers that Lara is a force to be reckoned with in her own right. Tanner’s search for the truth leads them to the bright lights of Las Vegas. Where the person who was hunting Lara now lies in wait for them.

With the stakes climbing with each deadly confrontation, Logan and Lara are soon catapulted into a game against pure evil. The odds are stacked against them, but it’s a game they know they must play…even if it may cost them their lives.


Review:

Tense, twisty, and suspenseful!

High Stakes is a well-executed, menacing tale that features professional gambler, sometimes extractor Logan Tanner, as he heads out on a special mission to extract the talented pianist, Lara Balkon, and her mother Maria from the clutches of the ruthless, depraved Russian mafia in return for a nice paycheck and some sought after intel on someone very special to him who has been missing for some time.

The prose is crisp and precise. The characters are hot-tempered, callous, talented, and resourceful. And the plot is a fast-paced, cat-and-mouse game full of twists, turns, action, intrigue, power, corruption, duplicity, immorality, manipulation, danger, terror, and murder.

Iris Johansen is an award-winning, best-selling author, and with this new release, it’s easy to see why. High Stakes is a sinister, edgy, action-packed page-turner that is intricate, entertaining, and undoubtedly extremely satisfying.

 

This novel is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Iris Johansen

Iris Johansen is a New York Times bestselling author. She began her writing after her children left home for college. She first achieved success in the early 1980s writing category romances. In 1991, Johansen began writing suspense historical romance novels, starting with the publication of The Wind Dancer. In 1996 Johansen switched genres, turning to crime fiction, with which she has had great success.

She lives in Georgia and is married. Her son, Roy Johansen, is an Edgar Award-winning screenwriter and novelist. Her daughter, Tamara, serves as her research assistant.

#BookReview All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle @mikegayle @GrandCentralPub #AlltheLonelyPeople #MikeGayle #GrandCentralPub

#BookReview All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle @mikegayle @GrandCentralPub #AlltheLonelyPeople #MikeGayle #GrandCentralPub Title: All the Lonely People

Author: Mike Gayle

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Jul. 13, 2021

Genres: General Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 10/10

If you loved A Man Called Ove, then prepare to be delighted as Jamaican immigrant Hubert rediscovers the world he’d turned his back on, in a novel that is “warm, funny, and gives you all the feels” (Good Housekeeping).

In weekly phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Bird paints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun, friendship, and fulfillment. But it’s a lie. In reality, Hubert’s days are all the same, dragging on without him seeing a single soul.

Until he receives some good news — good news that in one way turns out to be the worst news ever, news that will force him out again, into a world he has long since turned his back on. The news that his daughter is coming for a visit.

Now Hubert faces a seemingly impossible task: to make his real life resemble his fake life before the truth comes out.
Along the way Hubert stumbles across a second chance at love, renews a cherished friendship, and finds himself roped into an audacious community scheme that seeks to end loneliness once and for all . . .

Life is certainly beginning to happen to Hubert Bird. But with the origin of his earlier isolation always lurking in the shadows, will he ever get to live the life he’s pretended to have for so long?


Review:

Powerful, poignant, and memorable!

All the Lonely People is a nostalgic, touching novel that takes us into the lives of three main characters; Hubert Bird, a kind-hearted, Jamaican widow whose loneliness is palpable and who spends the better part of his days in companionable silence with his beloved cat, Puss; Ashleigh, a friendly, determined, young mother living in a new place with no family or friends nearby to turn to; and Jan, an elderly woman with a heart of gold who not only spends her time having a little fun but helping anyone in need.

The prose is eloquent and reflective. The characters, including all the supporting characters, are unique, endearing, multi-layered, and warm. And the plot, alternating between “Now” and “Then,” is a beautiful tale of friendship, happiness, kindness, generosity, loss, grief, solace, forgiveness, honesty, humour, unconditional love, growing old, and the true meaning of family.

Overall, All the Lonely People is a moving, delightful, exceptional story by Gayle that will make you laugh, make you cry and is hands down one of my favourite reads of the year that, in my opinion, everyone should read at least once.

This novel is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Mike Gayle

Mike Gayle was born and raised in Birmingham, UK. After earning a Sociology degree, he moved to London to become a journalist and ended up as an advice columnist for a teenage girls’ magazine before becoming Features Editor for another teen magazine. He has written for a variety of publications including the Sunday Times, the Guardian, and Cosmo. Mike became a full-time novelist in 1997 and has written thirteen novels, which have been translated into more than thirty languages. After stints in London and Manchester, Mike now resides in Birmingham with his wife, two kids, and a rabbit.

#BookReview The Siren by Katherine St. John @thekatstjohn @GrandCentralPub #TheSiren #KatherineStJohn #GrandCentralPub

#BookReview The Siren by Katherine St. John @thekatstjohn @GrandCentralPub #TheSiren #KatherineStJohn #GrandCentralPub Title: The Siren

Author: Katherine St. John

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on May 4, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Women's Fiction

Pages: 416

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

From Katherine St. John, author of The Lion’s Den, comes another sublimely escapist thriller: When dangerously handsome megastar Cole Power hires his ex-wife, Stella Rivers, to act in his son’s film, he sparks a firestorm on an isolated island that will unearth long-buried secrets and unravel years of lies.

In the midst of a sizzling hot summer, some of Hollywood’s most notorious faces are assembled on the idyllic Caribbean island of St. Genesius to film The Siren, starring dangerously handsome megastar Cole Power playing opposite his ex-wife, Stella Rivers. The surefire blockbuster promises to entice audiences with its sultry storyline and intimately connected cast.

Three very different women arrive on set, each with her own motive. Stella, an infamously unstable actress, is struggling to reclaim the career she lost in the wake of multiple, very public breakdowns. Taylor, a fledgling producer, is anxious to work on a film she hopes will turn her career around after her last job ended in scandal. And Felicity, Stella’s mysterious new assistant, harbors designs of her own that threaten to upend everyone’s plans.

With a hurricane brewing offshore, each woman finds herself trapped on the island, united against a common enemy. But as deceptions come to light, misplaced trust may prove more perilous than the storm itself.


Review:

Captivating, seductive, and sinister!

The Siren is a scheming, scintillating tale that sweeps you away to the Caribbean and onto the movie set of Cole Power’s latest film where a varied cast of characters have gathered, tensions are running high, money is low, deception is rife, everyone has a hidden agenda, and sex, violence, despicable behaviour, and murder are definitely not out of the question.

The writing is crisp and edgy. The characters are self-obsessed, ambitious, and secretive. And the plot is an enticing, addictive mix of domestic drama, unpredictable mystery, and breezy summer read all rolled up in one.

Overall, The Siren is another entertaining, enjoyable, satisfying read by St. John that does a wonderful job of reminding us that revenge is best served cold.

 

This novel is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Katherine St. John

Katherine St. John is a native of Mississippi and graduate of the University of Southern California. Over the years she has worked as an actress, screenwriter, director, photographer, producer, singer/songwriter, legal assistant, bartender/waitress, yoga instructor, real estate agent, and travel coordinator… but finds she likes writing novels best. Katherine currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and children.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Website.

#BookReview Ice and Stone by Marcia Muller @GrandCentralPub #MarciaMuller #IceandStone #SharonMcConeMystery

#BookReview Ice and Stone by Marcia Muller @GrandCentralPub #MarciaMuller #IceandStone #SharonMcConeMystery Title: Ice and Stone

Author: Marcia Muller

Series: Sharon McCone #34

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Aug. 10, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 272

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

Private Investigator Sharon McCone goes undercover to investigate the murders of two Indigenous women in remote Northern California in this gripping, atmospheric mystery in the New York Times bestselling series.  

When the bodies of two Indigenous women are found in the wilderness of northern California, it is only the latest horrific development in a string of similar crimes in the area. Despite all evidence to the contrary, officials rule the deaths isolated incidents, which soon join the ranks of countless other unsolved cases quickly dismissed by law enforcement.
 
In a town where too many injustices are tolerated or brushed under the rug, only a few people remain who refuse to let a killer walk free. But Private Investigator Sharon McCone is one of those few. She is hired by an organization called Crimes against Indigenous Sisters to go undercover in Meruk County—a community rife with secrets, lies, and corruption—to expose the truth.
 
In an isolated cabin in the freezing, treacherous woods, McCone must work quickly to unravel a mystery that is rooted in profound evil—before she becomes the killer’s next target.


Review:

Duplicitous, intense, and atmospheric!

In this intriguing, thirty-fourth instalment in the Sharon McCone series, Ice and Stone, Muller has written a fast-paced, sinister thriller that finds San Francisco PI Sharon McCone going undercover in the town of Meruk at the request of the Crimes Against Indigenous Sisters to investigate the murders of two native woman that seem to have slipped through the cracks of the local justice system due to ongoing battles over jurisdictions, but when two more native women go missing, and some of the richer, white folk in the area start acting shadier than usual, the case may be a little more complex and dangerous than anyone could have imagined.

The prose is smooth and rich. The characters are strong, relentless, and resourceful. And the plot unfolds quickly into a menacing tale of mischief, mayhem, corruption, manipulation, racial tension, abuse, sexual assault, coercion, greed, heinous violence, and murder.

Overall, Ice and Stone is a tight, intricate, engrossing thrill ride by Muller that is highly entertaining, a little disturbing, and the perfect choice for anyone who enjoys a good mystery threaded with ongoing social issues and injustices.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Marcia Muller

Marcia Muller has written many novels and short stories. She has won six Anthony Awards, a Shamus Award, and is also the recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award (their highest accolade). She lives in northern California with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini.

Photo courtesy of Grand Central Publishing Website.

#BookReview Look What You Made Me Do by Elaine Murphy @ElaineMbooks @GrandCentralPub #EmilyMurphy #LookWhatYouMadeMeDo

#BookReview Look What You Made Me Do by Elaine Murphy @ElaineMbooks @GrandCentralPub #EmilyMurphy #LookWhatYouMadeMeDo Title: Look What You Made Me Do

Author: Elaine Murphy

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Jul. 13, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A gripping thriller about a woman who must help cover the tracks of her serial killer sister — only to discover her sibling isn’t the only serial killer in town . . . and they’re both next on his kill list.

Carrie wants a normal life.
Carrie Lawrence doesn’t need a happily ever after. She’ll just settle for “after.” After a decade of helping her sister hide her victims. After a lifetime of lies. She just wants to be safe, boring, and not trekking through the woods at night with a dead body wrapped in a carpet.

Becca wants to get away with murder.
Becca Lawrence doesn’t believe in happily ever after because she’s already happy. She’s gotten away with murder for a decade and has blackmailed her sister into helping her hide the evidence—what more could a girl want?

But first they have to stop a serial killer.
When thirteen bodies are discovered in their small town, people are shocked. But not as shocked as Carrie, who thought she knew all the details of Becca’s sordid pastime. When Becca swears she’s not behind the grisly new crimes, they realize the town has a second serial killer who has the sisters in his sights, and what he wants is…Carrie.


Review:

Intricate, gritty, and unsettling!

Look What You Made Me Do is a suspenseful, eerie thriller that transports you to Brampton, Maine and into the life of Carrie Lawrence, a twenty-eight-year-old woman who has spent the last ten years of her life helping her serial killer sister hide a dozen bodies, but when the police begin to discover multiple, mutilated victims buried in the woods that aren’t the result of Becca’s malicious behaviour, it quickly becomes apparent there are two serial killers operating in the same small town, and at least one of them needs to go

The writing is edgy and tight. The characters are troubled, complex, and scheming. And the plot builds nicely as it twists, turns, surprises, and unravels all the behaviours, motivations, personalities, and relationships within it.

Look What You Made Me Do at its core is a novel about secrets, sisterhood, manipulation, coercion, obsession, revenge, mayhem, and murder. It’s an absorbing, creepy, somewhat darkly comedic debut by Murphy that does a fantastic job of delving into all the complex, dysfunctional dynamics that can occur between family members and reminds us just how toxic and evil some of these relationships can truly be.

 

This novel is available now.

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

            

 

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Elaine Murphy

Elaine Murphy is a Canadian author who has lived on both coasts and several places in between. Among other things, she has volunteered in Zambia, taught English in China, jumped off a bridge, and out of an airplane. She has a diploma in Writing for Film & Television but has never worked in either field. She took an interest in the dark side and began plotting suspense and thrillers. She enjoys putting ordinary people in extraordinarily difficult situations and seeing what they do about it. She lives in Vancouver, Canada.

Photo by Laura Shortt Photography.

#BookReview What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster @zafatista @GrandCentralPub #NaimaCoster #WhatsMineandYours

#BookReview What’s Mine and Yours by Naima Coster @zafatista @GrandCentralPub #NaimaCoster #WhatsMineandYours Title: What's Mine and Yours

Author: Naima Coster

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

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 341

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 8/10

From the author of Halsey Street, a sweeping novel of legacy, identity, the American family-and the ways that race affects even our most intimate relationships.

A community in the Piedmont of North Carolina rises in outrage as a county initiative draws students from the largely Black east side of town into predominantly white high schools on the west. For two students, Gee and Noelle, the integration sets off a chain of events that will tie their two families together in unexpected ways over the span of the next twenty years.

On one side of the integration debate is Jade, Gee’s steely, ambitious mother. In the aftermath of a harrowing loss, she is determined to give her son the tools he’ll need to survive in America as a sensitive, anxious, young Black man. On the other side is Noelle’s headstrong mother, Lacey May, a white woman who refuses to see her half-Latina daughters as anything but white. She strives to protect them as she couldn’t protect herself from the influence of their charming but unreliable father, Robbie.

When Gee and Noelle join the school play meant to bridge the divide between new and old students, their paths collide, and their two seemingly disconnected families begin to form deeply knotted, messy ties that will shape the trajectory of their adult lives. And their mothers-each determined to see her child inherit a better life-will make choices that will haunt them for decades to come.

As love is built and lost, and the past never too far behind, What’s Mine and Yours is an expansive, vibrant tapestry that moves between the years, from the foothills of North Carolina, to Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Paris. It explores the unique organism that is every family: what breaks them apart and how they come back together.


Review:

Graceful, thought-provoking, and moving!

What’s Mine and Yours is a beautifully written, affecting tale that takes you back and forth in time and immerses you into the lives of two single-mother families as they grapple with all the secrets, wounds, smiles, tears, strength, discontent, and compassion that life seems to have handed them.

The prose is effortless and rich. The characters are authentic, angry, and raw. And the story is a touching, coming-of-age tale about life, loss, love, grief, forgiveness, familial drama, friendship, race, discrimination, marital discord, courage, hope, socioeconomic disparities, and the complex dynamics that exist between family members.

Overall, What’s Mine and Yours is an insightful, nuanced, multi-generational family saga by Coster that reminds us that life is complicated, messy, challenging, short, heartbreaking, as well as all those other special moments and lovely times that happen in-between.

 

This book is available now.

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

           

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Naima Coster

Naima Coster is the author of Halsey Street, and a finalist for the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Fiction. Naima's stories and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Kweli, the Paris Review Daily, Catapult, the Rumpus, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University, as well as degrees from Fordham University and Yale. She has taught writing for over a decade, in community settings, youth programs, and universities. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.

Photo courtesy of grandcentalpublishing.com

#BookReview Evil Games by Angela Marsons @WriteAngie @GrandCentralPub #AngelaMarsons #Evil Games #DIKimStoneSeries

#BookReview Evil Games by Angela Marsons @WriteAngie @GrandCentralPub #AngelaMarsons #Evil Games #DIKimStoneSeries Title: Evil Games

Author: Angela Marsons

Series: DI Kim Stone #2

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Apr. 13, 2021

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 10/10

Detective Kim Stone learns the heard way that the greater the evil, the more deadly the game in this gripping psychological thriller from USA Today bestselling author Angela Marsons.
 
When a rapist is found mutilated in a brutal stabbing, Detective Kim Stone and her team are called in to bring a swift resolution. But as further disturbing events come to light, it soon becomes clear that there is someone even more sinister at work.

With the investigation gathering momentum, while also trying to expose the secrets of a sick pedophile ring, Kim finds herself in the sights of a lethal individual undertaking their own twisted experiment.

Pitted against a dangerous sociopath who seems to know her every weakness, for Detective Stone, each move she makes could be deadly. As the body count starts to mount, Kim will have to dig deeper than ever before to stop the killing. And this time–it’s personal.


Review:

Captivating, dark, and incredibly chilling!

Evil Games is a skillfully crafted, perfectly executed police procedural that highlights just how easily vulnerable people can be swayed and manipulated into doing some of the most horrific things and reminds us that the most heinous of evil often lives comfortably amongst us merely concealed behind masks of normality.

The writing style is edgy and brisk. The characters, including the scarred, tormented, intelligent heroine, are genuine, driven, and persistent. And the plot is a sinister rollercoaster ride of twists, turns, secrets, deception, violence, manipulation, deviance, child abuse, rape, violence, revenge, and murder.

I have to admit that over the past six years that I’ve been reviewing novels, I’ve seen a lot of Angela Marsons books floating around and am shocked that it has taken me this long to finally pick one up. Evil Games is a disturbing, sinister, enthralling tale that has everything you look for in a riveting thriller, including multilayered characters and juicy, complex storylines, and even though it does have a lot of triggers that will prevent some people from being able to read it, I for one loved it and am eagerly looking forward to getting my hands on some of the other DI Kim Stone novels in the series as soon as possible.

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Angela Marsons

Angela Marsons is the USA Today bestselling author of the Detective Kim Stone series, and her books have sold more than four million copies and have been translated into twenty-seven languages. She lives in the Black Country, in the West Midlands of England, with her partner and their two Golden Retrievers. She first discovered her love of writing at junior school when actual lessons came second to watching other people and quietly making up her own stories about them. Her report card invariably read “Angela would do well if she minded her own business as well as she minds other people’s.” After writing women’s fiction, Angela turned to crime — fictionally speaking, of course — and developed a character that refused to go away.

#BookReview Seven Days in June by Tia Williams @TiaW_Writes @GrandCentralPub #SevenDaysinJune #TiaWilliams #GrandCentralPub

#BookReview Seven Days in June by Tia Williams @TiaW_Writes @GrandCentralPub #SevenDaysinJune #TiaWilliams #GrandCentralPub Title: Seven Days in June

Author: Tia Williams

Published by: Grand Central Publishing on Jun. 1, 2021

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 336

Format: Hardcover

Source: Grand Central Publishing

Book Rating: 9/10

Seven days to fall in love, fifteen years to forget and seven days to get it all back again… From the author of The Perfect Find, this is a witty, romantic, and sexy-as-hell new novel of two writers and their second chance at love.

Brooklynite Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer, who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning literary author who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up in New York.

When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas, but the eyebrows of New York’s Black literati. What no one knows is that twenty years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can’t deny their chemistry-or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books ever since.

Over the next seven days in the middle of a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect, but Eva’s not sure how she can trust the man who broke her heart, and she needs to get him out of New York so that her life can return to normal. But before Shane disappears again, there are a few questions she needs answered. . .

With its keen observations of Black life and the condition of modern motherhood, as well as the consequences of motherless-ness, Seven Days in June is by turns humorous, warm and deeply sensual.


Review:

Humorous, romantic, and gritty!

Seven Days in June is an emotional, all-consuming, character-driven, second-chance romance that takes you on a journey into the lives of Eva Mercy and Shane Hall, two tormented and tortured souls who spent seven days as teens finding comfort and solace in each other’s arms, and who now fifteen years later must discover if what they had was real, unconditional love that’s still worth fighting for.

The prose is rich and polished. The characters are consumed, damaged, and sincere. And the plot using flashbacks and told from alternating POVs intertwines and unravels effortlessly into a complex, absorbing tale of life, love, friendship, family, addiction, introspection, palpable emotion, undeniable chemistry, motherhood, childhood trauma, chronic pain, and the ups and downs of life as a writer.

Overall, Seven Days in June is a raw, fresh, unforgettable tale by Williams that is the perfect blend of heart, hope, humour, and heat and is undoubtedly one of the must-read novels for summer 2021.

This book is available now.

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

            

 

 

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Tia Williams

Tia Williams had a fifteen-year career as a beauty editor for magazines including Elle, Glamour, and Essence. In 2004, she pioneered the beauty blog industry with Shake Your Beauty. She wrote the bestselling novel, The Accidental Diva, and penned two YA novels: It Chicks, and Sixteen Candles. Her award-winning novel, The Perfect Find, will be adapted into a Netflix film starring Gabrielle Union. Tia is currently an Editorial Director at Estée Lauder Companies, and lives with her daughter and husband in Brooklyn.

Photo courtesy of grandcentralpublishing.com.