Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada

#BookReview The Jazz Club Spy by Roberta Rich @SimonSchusterCA #RobertaRich #TheJazzClubSpy #SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview The Jazz Club Spy by Roberta Rich @SimonSchusterCA #RobertaRich #TheJazzClubSpy #SimonSchusterCA Title: The Jazz Club Spy

Author: Roberta Rich

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Nov. 21, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A riveting historical thriller about a Jewish cigarette girl in 1930s New York who finds the soldier who burned down her Russian village years earlier only to be swept up in a political conspiracy on the eve of World War II—from the #1 bestselling author of The Midwife of Venice .

New York, 1939

Giddy Brodsky knows she’s lucky to have a job as a cigarette girl at a Manhattan jazz club, but she dreams of opening her own beauty shop and lifting her family out of poverty. The Brodskys have lived cheek to jowl in the Lower East Side tenements since they came to America nineteen years ago, fleeing a deadly pogrom in their Russian village. But they continue to face prejudice, especially with the rise of the fascist organization the American Bund.

Yet Giddy is focused on the future—until she recognizes one of the Cossacks who irrevocably changed her life and the past comes flooding back. Determined to get justice, she enlists the help of Carter van der Zalm, a regular at the jazz club who also happens to be the director with the Department of Immigration at Ellis Island. When Carter discloses that the Cossack is an “undesirable” and may be of interest to the government, Giddy agrees to moonlight as a spy for him.

Not everyone is who they appear to be, and after a shocking betrayal, Giddy finds herself embroiled in a political conspiracy that could bring America into the war in Europe.

From the gritty tenements to the glittering jazz clubs of 1930s New York, The Jazz Club Spy is a thrilling historical novel about a brash young woman who must use all her wits to save the ones she loves.


Review:

Compelling, vivid, and absorbing!

The Jazz Club Spy is a rich, engaging tale set in NYC during 1939 that takes you into the life of Giddy Brodsky, a young woman who, after immigrating to America with her family after surviving a pogrom in her Russian village, finds herself dreaming of opening a cosmetics store, working as a cigarette girl at a jazz club, and suddenly moonlighting as a spy when she accidentally bumps into the cossack who brutalized her family, and she gets mixed up with the Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island whom she goes to for help.

The prose is evocative and expressive. The characters are independent, spirited, and brave. And the plot is a mysterious tale of life, loss, love, self-discovery, war, politics, secrets, friendship, determination, poverty, family, betrayal, and espionage.

Overall, I found The Jazz Club Spy to be an intriguing, absorbing, atmospheric tale by Rich that did a lovely job of blending historical events, intense emotion, and thought-provoking suspense.

 

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 Roberta Rich

Roberta Rich is the #1 bestselling author of The Midwife of Venice, which was published in thirteen countries, The Harem Midwife, and A Trial in Venice. She divides her time between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Colima, Mexico.

Photograph by Guy Immega.

#BookReview Consider Me by Becka Mack @SimonSchusterCA #ConsiderMe #BeckaMack #PlayingforKeepsSeries #SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview Consider Me by Becka Mack @SimonSchusterCA #ConsiderMe #BeckaMack #PlayingforKeepsSeries #SimonSchusterCA Title: Consider Me

Author: Becka Mack

Series: Playing for Keeps #1

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Nov. 21, 2023

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 544

Format: Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

In the sizzling hockey romance that has taken TikTok by storm, the ultimate player turns romantic to charm the woman he is desperate to win over.

The first book in the globally popular Playing for Keeps series.

For a shot at love, he’ll do whatever it takes…

Carter Beckett is the NHL’s best player—both on and off the ice. His career is at its peak, his friends are performing better than ever, and there’s no shortage of women to spend the night with. What more could he want?

Olivia Parker isn’t new to professional hockey players, thanks to her best friend’s boyfriend, but she has no interest in dating one herself—no matter how hot he is. And anyway, she loves working as a teacher and hanging out with her best friend, drama-free. Why would she want to spend her time stroking the ego of an arrogant athlete?

But once Carter meets Olivia, he can’t think of anything else. Too bad for him, Olivia is hellbent on keeping him at arm’s length, with no intention of giving into his charms. Perhaps it’s time for Carter to up his game…after all, nobody said he had to play fair.

Sparks will fly as Carter does whatever it takes for Olivia to consider him.


Review:

Sassy, tender, and romantic!

Consider Me is a passionate, lighthearted tale about the fun-loving, feisty Olivia, who is not a one-night kind of a gal even when it comes to a hunky athlete and the hard-bodied, delicious Carter, who is more than happy being a bachelor and is confident that casual hookups are all he’ll ever need.

The writing is smooth and sweet. The characters are charismatic, hesitant, and endearing. And the plot is a playful, spicy tale filled with friendship, family, insecurity, temptation, desire, palpable chemistry, sizzling attraction, tender moments, sexy times, light drama, and hockey.

Overall, I found Consider Me to be a charming, steamy, entertaining start to this new Playing for Keeps series by Mack that I am positive will be a big hit with fans of the sports romance genre and lovers of contemporary romance that has a nice amount of heart and heat.

 

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 Becka Mack

Becka Mack is an avid romance reader, writer, and kindergarten teacher. Becka enjoys writing swoon-worthy romances with lovable and relatable characters, loads of humor, and a healthy dose of drama on the way to a happily ever after. She lives with her husband, children, and four-legged babies in Ontario, Canada.

#BookReview The Homecoming by Kate Morton @SimonSchusterCA #Homecoming #KateMorton #SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview The Homecoming by Kate Morton @SimonSchusterCA #Homecoming #KateMorton #SimonSchusterCA Title: Homecoming

Author: Kate Morton

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Apr. 4, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 560

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

The highly anticipated new novel from the New York Times and #1 Globe and Mail bestselling author of The Clockmaker’s Daughter, a sweeping saga that begins with a shocking crime that echoes across continents and generations.

Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959

At the end of a scorching hot day, beside a creek in the grounds of a grand country house, a local man makes a terrible discovery. Police are called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most baffling murder investigations in the history of South Australia.

Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, she now finds herself unemployed and struggling to make ends meet. A phone call summons her back to Sydney, where her beloved grandmother, Nora, who raised Jess when her mother could not, has suffered a fall and is seriously ill in hospital.

At Nora’s house, Jess discovers a true crime book chronicling a long-buried police case: the Turner Family Tragedy of 1959. It is only when Jess skims through its pages that she finds a shocking connection between her own family and this notorious event—a murder mystery that has never been satisfactorily resolved.

An epic story that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love, how we protect the lies we tell, and what it means to come home. Above all, it is an intricate and spellbinding novel from one of the finest writers working today.


Review:

Layered, unpredictable, and tortuous!

Homecoming is a captivating, eerie tale set in Australia during 1959, as well as 2018, that sweeps you away and immerses you into the complex, multi-generational Turner-Bridge family, complete with all the powerful emotions, distorted memories, inaccurate tales, long-buried secrets, and unimaginable tragedy that has unconsciously defined and plagued them for the past sixty years.

The prose is rich and lyrical. The main characters are inquisitive, determined, and resourceful. And the plot is an emotional, mysterious saga filled with life, loss, love, familial drama, heartbreak, community, secrets, lies, deception, moral dilemmas, sorrow, and tragedy.

Overall, Homecoming is another exquisitely written, exceptionally detailed, beautifully cunning novel by Morton that kept me guessing from the very first page and ultimately left me surprised, satisfied, and thoroughly entertained. 

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 Kate Morton

Kate Morton is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of The House at Riverton, The Forgotten Garden, The Distant Hours, The Secret Keeper, The Lake House, and The Clockmaker’s Daughter. Her books are published in thirty-six languages and have been #1 bestsellers worldwide. Born and raised in Australia, she holds degrees in dramatic art and English literature, and now lives with her family in London and Australia.

Photo courtesy of Amazon.

#BookReview The Other Daughter by Caroline Bishop @calbish @SimonSchusterCA #TheOtherDaughter #CarolineBishop

#BookReview The Other Daughter by Caroline Bishop @calbish @SimonSchusterCA #TheOtherDaughter #CarolineBishop Title: The Other Daughter

Author: Caroline Bishop

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jan. 10, 2023

Genres: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 432

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A timely novel about an ambitious London journalist who reports on the fight for women’s rights in 1970s Switzerland, and the daughter who uncovers the long-buried truth about the assignment years later—for fans of Genevieve Graham and Heather Marshall.

2016

Jess is at a crossroads in life. In her late thirties, all she has to show for it is a broken marriage and a job teaching a bunch of uninterested kids. But when she discovers a shocking secret about her late mother, Sylvia, Jess begins to question all she’s ever known. Her search for answers leads to a 1970s article about women’s rights in Switzerland that Sylvia wrote when she was a young journalist. But to uncover the real story of what happened all those years ago, Jess will have to go to Switzerland and find someone who knew her mother…

1976

Sylvia’s life is on track. She has a loving fiancé and her dream job as a features writer in a busy London newsroom—if only her editor would give her the chance to write about something important instead of relegating her to fashion, flowers, and celebrities. When Sylvia learns about the growing women’s liberation movement in Switzerland, where women only recently got the right to vote, she knows the story could be her big break. There’s just one wrinkle: she’s pregnant.

Determined to put her career first, Sylvia travels to Switzerland, and as she meets the courageous band of women fighting for their rights, she stumbles across an even bigger scoop, one that would make her male colleagues take her seriously. But telling the story will change her—and her baby’s—life forever.

Inspired by an important chapter of women’s history, The Other Daughter is an unforgettable novel about the bond between mothers and daughters—and the fight of women, generations over, for the freedom to choose their own path.


Review:

Astute, tender, and nostalgic!

The Other Daughter is a layered, intriguing tale set in Europe during 1976, as well as 2016, that is told from two different perspectives; Jess, a young woman who journeys to Switzerland after her mother’s death to unravel the secrets of her birth, and Sylvia, a writer who after travelling abroad to cover women’s rights not only befriends a wonderful group of courageous women but also unexpectedly delivers her baby girl early resulting in a turn of events that will ultimately have heart-shattering consequences.

The prose is reflective and sweet. The characters are troubled, inquisitive, and endearing. And the plot using a past/present, back-and-forth style, intertwines and unravels effortlessly into a touching tale of life, loss, family, friendship, drama, emotion, secrets, heartbreak, passion, self-discovery, and love.

Overall, The Other Daughter is a heartfelt, sentimental, affecting read by Bishop that does a lovely job of interweaving historical facts and compelling fiction into an insightful, heart-tugging tale that is atmospheric and highly absorbing.

 

This book 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 providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Caroline Bishop

Caroline Bishop is a journalist, an editor, and the author of two novels, The Other Daughter and The Lost Chapter. For the past fifteen years, she has written about travel, food, and theatre for many publications, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, and BBC Travel. A British-Canadian, she currently lives in Switzerland.

Photo courtesy of S&S website.

#BookReview Letters Across the Sea by Genevieve Graham @GenGrahamAuthor @SimonSchusterCA #LettersAcrosstheSea #GenevieveGraham #CanadianHistory #BattleofHongKong

#BookReview Letters Across the Sea by Genevieve Graham @GenGrahamAuthor @SimonSchusterCA #LettersAcrosstheSea #GenevieveGraham #CanadianHistory #BattleofHongKong Title: Letters Across the Sea

Author: Genevieve Graham

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Apr. 27, 2021

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

Inspired by a little-known chapter of World War II history, a young Protestant girl and her Jewish neighbour are caught up in the terrible wave of hate sweeping the globe on the eve of war in this powerful love story that’s perfect for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

If you’re reading this letter, that means I’m dead. I had obviously hoped to see you again, to explain in person, but fate had other plans.

1933

At eighteen years old, Molly Ryan dreams of becoming a journalist, but instead she spends her days working any job she can to help her family through the Depression crippling her city. The one bright spot in her life is watching baseball with her best friend, Hannah Dreyfus, and sneaking glances at Hannah’s handsome older brother, Max.

But as the summer unfolds, more and more of Hitler’s hateful ideas cross the sea and “Swastika Clubs” and “No Jews Allowed” signs spring up around Toronto, a city already simmering with mass unemployment, protests, and unrest. When tensions between the Irish and Jewish communities erupt in a riot one smouldering day in August, Molly and Max are caught in the middle, with devastating consequences for both their families.

1939

Six years later, the Depression has eased and Molly is a reporter at her local paper. But a new war is on the horizon, putting everyone she cares about most in peril. As letters trickle in from overseas, Molly is forced to confront what happened all those years ago, but is it too late to make things right?

From the desperate streets of Toronto to the embattled shores of Hong Kong, Letters Across the Sea is a poignant novel about the enduring power of love to cross dangerous divides even in the darkest of times—from the #1 bestselling author of The Forgotten Home Child.


Review:

Powerful, immersive, and unforgettable!

Letters Across the Sea is a pensive, enlightening tale that sweeps you away to Toronto during the 1930s and into the lives of the Irish Ryan family and the Jewish Dreyfus family as they navigate relationships strained by the Great Depression, religious differences, hatred, loss, misunderstandings, forbidden love, tragedy, and the sacrifices and inherent consequences of war.

The prose is evocative and rich. The characters are genuine, kindhearted, and courageous. And the plot, including all the subplots, unravel and intertwine seamlessly into an alluring tale of life, loss, love, family, devastation, hardship, hope, friendship, self-discovery, and ultimately survival.

When it comes to novels involving Canadian history, nobody writes stories like Genevieve Graham. She takes little known or forgotten historical facts, infuses them with humanity, and then edges them all with a love story that is hard to put down, and Letters Across the Sea is no exception. It’s beautifully written, exceptionally memorable, and in parts devastatingly heart-wrenching, and in case it wasn’t obvious already, I absolutely loved it.

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 & Genevieve Graham for providing me with 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.

 

#BookReview The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham @GenGrahamAuthor @SimonSchusterCA #britishhomechildren #canadianhistory

#BookReview The Forgotten Home Child by Genevieve Graham @GenGrahamAuthor @SimonSchusterCA #britishhomechildren #canadianhistory Title: The Forgotten Home Child

Author: Genevieve Graham

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Mar. 3, 2020

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

The Home for Unwanted Girls meets Orphan Train in this unforgettable novel about a young girl caught in a scheme to rid England’s streets of destitute children, and the lengths she will go to find her way home—based on the true story of the British Home Children.

2018

At ninety-seven years old, Winnifred Ellis knows she doesn’t have much time left, and it is almost a relief to realize that once she is gone, the truth about her shameful past will die with her. But when her great-grandson Jamie, the spitting image of her dear late husband, asks about his family tree, Winnifred can’t lie any longer, even if it means breaking a promise she made so long ago…

1936

Fifteen-year-old Winny has never known a real home. After running away from an abusive stepfather, she falls in with Mary, Jack, and their ragtag group of friends roaming the streets of Liverpool. When the children are caught stealing food, Winny and Mary are left in Dr. Barnardo’s Barkingside Home for Girls, a local home for orphans and forgotten children found in the city’s slums. At Barkingside, Winny learns she will soon join other boys and girls in a faraway place called Canada, where families and better lives await them.

But Winny’s hopes are dashed when she is separated from her friends and sent to live with a family that has no use for another daughter. Instead, they have paid for an indentured servant to work on their farm. Faced with this harsh new reality, Winny clings to the belief that she will someday find her friends again.

Inspired by true events, The Forgotten Home Child is a moving and heartbreaking novel about place, belonging, and family—the one we make for ourselves and its enduring power to draw us home.


Review:

Thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, and significant!

The Forgotten Home Child is a powerful, impactful tale that sweeps you away to the mid-1930s and into the lives of the British children who through the Dr. Barnardo’s homes were sent from England to Canada with the promise of a better life, which in reality was more likely to include forced labour, abuse, starvation, and violence.

The prose is immersive and heartfelt. The characters are vulnerable, scarred, and determined. And the plot is an authentic, pensive tale of friendship, heartbreak, loss, love, hardship, self-discovery, hope, courage, and survival.

Overall, The Forgotten Home Child is a beautiful blend of historical facts, alluring fiction, and palpable emotion that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly into the personalities, feelings, and lives of the characters you never want it to end. It is a nostalgic, fascinating, affecting tale that highlights an important aspect of Canadian history that is unfortunately often unknown, forgotten or overlooked.

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 & Genevieve Graham for providing me with 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.

 

#BookReview The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda @MeganLMiranda @SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda @MeganLMiranda @SimonSchusterCA Title: The Last House Guest

Author: Megan Miranda

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jun. 18, 2019

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 352

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 7.5/10

Littleport, Maine is like two separate towns: a vacation paradise for wealthy holidaymakers and a simple harbour community for the residents who serve them. Friendships between locals and visitors are unheard of – but that’s just what happened with Avery Greer and Sadie Loman.

Each summer for a decade the girls are inseparable – until Sadie is found dead. When the police rule the death a suicide, Avery can’t help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie’s brother Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they’re saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name before the facts get twisted against her.


Review:

Tempestuous, relentless, and tight.

In this latest novel by Miranda, The Last House Guest, she transports us to the small coastal town of Littleport, Maine where secrets and gossip are rampant, class tensions run high, and the reopening of the investigation into the recent death of one of the wealthy seasonal residents will uncover more suspects and more skeletons than anyone could have imagined.

The prose is tense and sharp. The characters are scarred, deceptive, and conflicted. And the plot, using a past/present, back-and-forth style is a suspenseful thrill ride filled with friendship, familial drama, collusion, manipulation, lies, scandals, revelations, and murder.

Overall, The Last House Guest is a dark, twisty, compelling page-turner that delves into the intricate and dynamic bonds between friends and has just the right pace, mood, atmosphere, and surprises to keep you guessing until the very last page.

This book 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 providing me with 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.

#BookReview The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley @marissastapley @SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview The Last Resort by Marissa Stapley @marissastapley @SimonSchusterCA Title: The Last Resort

Author: Marissa Stapley

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jun. 18, 2018

Genres: Mystery/Thriller, General Fiction

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

The Harmony Resort promises hope for struggling marriages. Run by celebrity power couple Drs. Miles and Grace Markell, the “last resort” offers a chance for partners to repair their relationships in a luxurious setting on the gorgeous Mayan Riviera.

Johanna and Ben have a marriage that looks perfect on the surface, but in reality, they don’t know each other at all. Shell and Colin fight constantly: after all, Colin is a workaholic, and Shell always comes second to his job as an executive at a powerful mining company. But what has really torn them apart is too devastating to talk about. When both couples begin Harmony’s intensive therapy program, it becomes clear that Harmony is not all it seems—and neither are Miles and Grace themselves. What are they hiding, and what price will these couples pay for finding out?

As a deadly tropical storm descends on the coast, trapping the hosts and the guests on the resort, secrets are revealed, loyalties are tested and not one single person—or their marriage—will remain unchanged by what follows.


Review:

Sinuous, compelling, and timely!

The Last Resort is an ominous, character-driven novel that takes us to the idyllic Harmony Resort where the illustrious marriage counsellors Miles and Grace Markell are once again ready to help another group of struggling couples find their way back to each other. But like most things involving money, power, and privilege everything is not always as it seems, and hidden away behind those polished, flawless exteriors lies an abundance of lies, secrets, adultery, greed, abuse, subjugation, and manipulation.

The prose is tight and intense. The characters are troubled, deceptive, and vulnerable. And the plot, including all the subplots, keep you engrossed from start to finish with a multitude of twists, turns, obsession, deception, jealousy, familial drama, revelations, violence, and murder.

Overall, The Last Resort is an atmospheric, intricately woven, engrossing mystery by Stapley that is highly entertaining and devilishly satisfying.

 

This book 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 providing me with a copy in an exchange for an honest review.

 

About Marissa Stapley

Marissa Stapley is the Globe and Mail bestselling author of the novel Mating for Life, and the forthcoming Things to Do When It’s Raining. She writes the commercial fiction review column “Shelf Love” for the Globe and Mail, reports on books and culture for the Toronto Star, and lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.

#BookReview Fatal Inheritance by Rachel Rhys @MsTamarCohen @SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview Fatal Inheritance by Rachel Rhys @MsTamarCohen @SimonSchusterCA Title: Fatal Inheritance

Author: Rachel Rhys

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jun. 11, 2019

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

She didn’t have an enemy in the world…until she inherited a fortune.

London 1948: Eve Forrester is stuck in a loveless marriage, isolated in her gray and gloomy house when out of the blue, she receives a letter. A wealthy stranger has left her a mysterious inheritance but in order to find out more, she must travel to the glittering French Riviera.

There, Eve discovers she has been bequeathed an enchanting villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and suddenly, life could not be more glamorous. But while she rubs shoulders with the rich and famous, challengers to her unexplained fortune begin to emerge—challengers who would love to see Eve gone forever.

Alone in paradise, Eve must unlock the story behind her surprise bequest—before her unexpected twist of fate turns deadly…

Fatal Inheritance is an intoxicating story of dysfunctional families and long-hidden secrets, set against the decadence of the Côte d’Azur.


Review:

Picturesque, mysterious, and incredibly captivating!

Fatal Inheritance is an alluring, compelling tale predominantly set in the idyllic French Riviera during 1948 that takes you into the lives of the rich and glamourous Lesters. They are affluent. They are privileged. And like most families with money and power everything is not always as it seems and behind all the fame and fortune hides an abundance of lies, secrets, temptation, scandals, secrets, heartbreak and tragedy.

The prose is polished and lush. The characters are multi-layered, alluring, and materialistic. And the plot is a well-paced, sweeping saga filled with familial drama, love, loss, mystique, heartbreak, romance, rivalry, greed, red herrings and jealousy.

Overall, Fatal Inheritance is a beautifully crafted, exceptionally absorbing novel that transports you to another time and place and immerses you so thoroughly in the decadence, lifestyle, luxuries, and scandalous behaviour of the characters you never want to put it down. It is a true guilty pleasure and undoubtedly one of my favourite novels of the year.

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 providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Rachel Rhys

Rachel Rhys is the pen-name of a successful psychological suspense author. A Dangerous Crossing is her debut novel under this name. The story is inspired by a real diary which the author discovered by accident while helping her mother move house. It was written with care and attention by a servant girl who travelled from England to Australia on a cruise liner in the late 1930s.

Rachel Rhys lives in North London with her family, including a much-loved dog.

#BookReview Your Life is Mine by Nathan Ripley @NabenRuthnum @SimonSchusterCA

#BookReview Your Life is Mine by Nathan Ripley @NabenRuthnum @SimonSchusterCA Title: Your Life Is Mine

Author: Nathan Ripley

Published by: Simon & Schuster Canada on Jun. 4, 2019

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 304

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 7/10

Blanche Potter never expected to face her past again—but she can’t escape it.

Blanche, an up-and-coming filmmaker, has distanced herself in every way she can from her father, the notorious killer and cult leader, Chuck Varner. In 1996, when she was a small child, he went on a shooting spree before turning the gun on himself.

Now, Blanche learns that her mother has been murdered. She returns to her childhood home, where she soon discovers there’s more to the death than police are willing to reveal. The officer who’s handling the case is holding information back, and a journalist who’s nosing around the investigation is taking an unusual interest in Blanche’s family.

Blanche begins to suspect that Chuck Varner’s cult has found a new life, and that her mother’s murder was just the beginning of the cult’s next chapter.

Then another killing occurs.


Review:

Slow burning, dark, and dangerous!

Your Life is Mine is an eerie, enthralling, domestic thriller that delves into the gritty, manipulative world of cults and the disturbing ideology that underlies their radicalism, extremism, and violence.

The prose is sinister and intense. The characters are single-minded, scarred, and conflicted. And the plot told from the first-person point of view, is a menacing tale about power, deception, control, lies, secrets, paranoia, abuse, obsession, jealousy, and murder.

Overall, Your Life is Mine is a twisty, intricate, timely tale by Ripley that highlights the scheming, murky, evil side of human nature and reminds us that sometimes even the most ordinary of people can be persuaded to commit the most heinous of crimes.

 

This book 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 providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Nathan Ripley

Nathan Ripley is the pen name of literary fiction writer and journalist Naben Ruthnum. His stories and essays have appeared in The Walrus, Hazlitt, Sight & Sound, and Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, among other places. He lives in Toronto.

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