#BookReview The Afterparty by Ruth Kelly @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheAfterparty #RuthKelly #PGCBooks

#BookReview The Afterparty by Ruth Kelly @PGCBooks @panmacmillan #TheAfterparty #RuthKelly #PGCBooks Title: The Afterparty

Author: Ruth Kelly

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Feb. 3, 2026

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 7.5/10

She was your best friend. Now she’s missing. And everyone suspects you.

People drift apart. You and Georgie were inseparable once; she knew you better than anyone. But that was then.

Now, out of the blue, Georgie’s back. She’s inviting you to a glamorous New Year’s Eve afterparty in Amsterdam – a chance to relive the good old days and the fun you used to have.

You go. You laugh. You remember.

But then Georgie vanishes.

And just like that, you’re the prime suspect.

She knows all your secrets – the ones you’ve managed to bury. But as the clock ticks and the accusations mount, you’re left with one terrifying how well do you really know her?


Review:

Menacing, dark, and suspenseful!

The Afterparty is a tight, sinister tale that draws us into the life of Becca, a young woman who, after reconnecting with an old friend on New Year’s Eve, suddenly finds herself the prime suspect in a possible murder when her friend disappears without a trace during the night’s festivities.

The prose is intense and ominous. The characters are troubled, vulnerable, and secretive. And the plot, told from multiple perspectives, unravels briskly into an unpredictable story of deception, lies, drama, manipulation, abuse, desperation, and the obsessive nature of social media.
 

Overall, The Afterparty is a complex, twisty, gritty thriller by Kelly that serves as a chilling reminder of just how low some people will go for a little taste of fame and fortune.

 

This book is available now.

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

         

 

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

 

About Ruth Kelly

Ruth Kelly is an award-winning journalist who has ghosted a string of Sunday Times top ten bestsellers - most recently The Prison Doctor, which sold over 250,000 copies, and The Governor, which went straight in at number one on the Amazon charts and number five in the Sunday Times bestseller list. The Villa is Ruth's debut thriller. She's drawn inspiration from her years working as a reporter for national newspapers as well as her experience writing for TV shows, most notably with Endemol, the creators of the original reality show Big Brother.

#BookReview Axe and Grind by Taylor Hutton @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #AxeAndGrind #TaylorHutton #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview Axe and Grind by Taylor Hutton @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #AxeAndGrind #TaylorHutton #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: Axe and Grind

Author: Taylor Hutton

Published by: Berkley on Jan. 6, 2026

Genres: Dark Romance

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 7.5/10

In this decadently dark romance, a virtual dating experiment spins into a deadly web of obsession, greed, love, and passion.

Josie Greene has always been a glass half-full kind of girl. But after a messy breakup, she’s broke, betrayed, and barely getting by. Even her trusted tarot cards point to chaos in her future. And they’re Axe MacKenzie needs her help.

As part of the tech CEO’s latest covert mission, Axe has been developing a simulator to create any user’s “Perfect Match,” and bubbly Josie is the ideal woman to test his product. When the gorgeous, reclusive billionaire makes her an offer—fake date him so he can launch his groundbreaking AI dating app—Josie’s in no position to refuse.

But Axe’s two worlds collide as the criminal underworld corrupts their experimental fling. What started as steamy role-play quickly spirals into a very real threat, leaving both Josie and Axe no choice but to uncover their well-buried pasts. With her life on the line, Josie will have to trust the man who has created the ultimate virtual illusion—and who might be hiding the most sinister truths of all…


Review:

Seductive, edgy, and menacing!

Axe and Grind is a tantalizing, provocative tale that plunges readers into the lives of Josie Green, a hardworking, spiritual young woman shaped by hardship and heartbreak, and Axe MacKenzie, a tech CEO who spends his days building an AI-driven dating app and his nights moonlighting as a vigilante, exacting brutal justice on society’s most depraved.

The writing is intense and charged. The characters are troubled, impulsive, and vulnerable. And the plot weaves an alluring mix of friendship, family, drama, danger, expectation, desire, vengeance, self-discovery, and lingering childhood trauma.

Overall, Axe and Grind is a tight, erotic, sinister novel by Hutton that is dark, layered, and entertaining.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

Thank you to Berkley Romance for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Taylor Hutton

Taylor Hutton is the pseudonym of a pair of writer friends, one of whom has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award and the other who is a New York Times bestselling author and Edgar Award finalist. Between the two of them, they have written over forty books. When they are not passing their latest sexy thriller back and forth on Google Doc, they are browsing bookstores, sending each other ridiculous memes, walking their dogs Trudy and Potato around their Los Angeles neighborhood, and making their children cringe with their TikTok videos.

Photo by Indy Flores

#BookReview Strike and Burn by Taylor Hutton @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #StrikeAndBurn #TaylorHutton #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads

#BookReview Strike and Burn by Taylor Hutton @BerkleyRomance @PenguinRandomCA #StrikeAndBurn #TaylorHutton #Berkley #BerkleyPartner #PenguinReads Title: Strike and Burn

Author: Taylor Hutton

Published by: Berkley on Jan. 28, 2025

Genres: Dark Romance

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Berkley Publishing

Book Rating: 7.5/10

A breathless romantic thriller that doesn’t just toe the line between danger and desire—it burns it to the ground.

Honor Stone is all alone in this world. No family, no money, no future. So when she locks eyes with Strike Madden—in the morgue of all places—she’s not in the mood to be seduced. Sure, he’s drop-dead gorgeous, and the sizzle of attraction between them is undeniable, but she’s reeling from her identical twin sister’s murder. It’s the wrong time, wrong place, wrong everything.

Still, the enigmatic billionaire hires Honor as an artist to spearhead his carefully curated erotic animation studio—a job they soon find to be a dangerous mix of business and pleasure.

But when her twin’s obsessive killer targets Honor, the painful secrets of Honor’s traumatic past will finally be exposed with devastating consequences. Strike will stop at nothing to protect her, uncovering his own bone-chilling demons—a beautifully broken, dark side that doesn’t scare Honor…

It consumes her.


Review:

Dark, menacing, and alluring!

Strike and Burn is a charged, passionate tale that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Honor, a hardworking young woman whose past is littered with tragedy, and Strike, a billionaire businessman with a checkered past of his own who spends his nights hunting down those who enjoy preying on the weak and vulnerable.

The prose is seductive and tight. The characters are scarred, hesitant, and troubled. And the plot is a compelling tale filled with secrets, deception, danger, familial drama, childhood abuse, sexual attraction, erotic animation, tension, mayhem, and murder.

Overall, Strike and Burn is an enticing, sensual, gritty tale by Hutton that is definitely a good choice for those who like their romantic suspense with a whole lot of spice.

 

This novel is available now.

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

         

 

Thank you to Berkley Romance for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Taylor Hutton

Taylor Hutton is the pseudonym of a pair of writer friends, one of whom has twice been a finalist for the National Book Award and the other who is a New York Times bestselling author and Edgar Award finalist. Between the two of them, they have written over forty books. When they are not passing their latest sexy thriller back and forth on Google Doc, they are browsing bookstores, sending each other ridiculous memes, walking their dogs Trudy and Potato around their Los Angeles neighborhood, and making their children cringe with their TikTok videos.

Photo by Indy Flores