Month: August 2025

A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

lisascubby

A Fashionably French Murder is filled with mystery, murder, intrigue, and Julia Child! In this installment we are also graced with another historical character, Christian Dior! Of course, the stories are fictional, but the plots are based on historical events which make them even more powerful.

As Tabitha Knight, an American in Paris and her beloved friend Julia Child once again find themselves in another messy murder (or two), the reader will laugh at the humor and salivate at the many dishes Julia is making. We also begin to see perhaps Tabitha’s changing style from an American to perhaps a Parisian.

Tabitha and Julia go to a private fashion showing and are so excited. All this is so new to Tabitha. But when she realizes she has forgotten one of her gloves and goes back, she finds more than her glove…a woman’s body…strangled with lace. The owner. When they call the police, she is very grateful her crush Inspecteur Ettienne Merveille, who unfortunately knows Tabitha’s track record for finding dead bodies is not the officer who responds.

As Tabitha searches for clues, and Merveille is put on the case, she discovers that there is a connection to the house of Dior with Christian Dior actually being a suspect. Of course this is impossible…right? In a rather shocking turn of events, Merveille decides Tabitha should assist with the case. Is he coming around? She does have a new hairstyle…

At the same time this is all going on the added stress of watching her grandfather and uncle open a restaurant eats away at her. They seem to be bickering all the time. Thank goodness for Julia who keeps them healthy by constantly bringing them food!

And then Tabitha stumbles upon another body! In another shop. Are the two murders connected?

As the murders are solved, we begin to see our lovable cast of characters beginning to become closer and some even changing. The American in Paris Series gets more cozy, more interesting and has even more twists and turns. A Fashionably French Murder is an enjoyable read, but even more because Cambridge sews real historic events into the plots in such clever ways. Bon appetite!

Thank you #NetGalley #Kensington #ColleenCambridge #AFashionablyFrenchMurder for the advanced copy.

I Am You by Victoria Redel

lisascubby

I Am You is a passionately heartbreaking, complex love story set in the 1600’s in which two women’s lives one whose social status is higher, evolve and revolve around each other. Their need to be together prevails on so many different levels and yet they sometimes appear to be like oil and water, a desperate need to be separate. But in the end, they can’t resist the love and need they each feel which will last their whole lives. This wonderful story although fiction, is based on the real Maria van Oosterwijck, who was the only female painter at the time.

In Amsterdam, back in the 1600’s a young woman must disguise herself as a boy in order to survive in the house she is a servant. An orphan, she has nowhere to go. Her name is Gerta Pieters, but they all know her as Pieters, a young boy. Except for one person. The young daughter of the esteemed family suspects what Gerta is doing. Her name is Maria van Oosterwijck and she is a painter.

When it is decided that Maria must move for her career, she insists that Gerta accompany her as her servant. And thus begins the story of these two women as they try to exist in a male dominated society with Maria attempting to break through the men’s monopoly in art as a painter.

But their lives will become even more tangled as Maria treats Gerta as her servant but also her teacher and shows Gerta how to use colors and paint. But teacher and student become entangled even more so as they begin to get closer and fall in love.

As time goes on and Gerta’s progress in art begins to shine, Maria begins having physical problems which make her unable to work without Gerta’s help. But this must be kept hidden, as is most of their relationship. Gerta must hide her talent for the sake of her employee as well as their love story. Unfortunately, jealousy is a silent green-eyed monster.

Gerta finds it difficult to maneuver all the moving pieces of their complicated lives which is made even more complicated by Maria’s nephew who Gerta is resentful of and dislikes. But Maria too is envious as Gerta begins to become known in the art world.

I Am You is a mesmerizing love story, set in a time when this love could never be known, when a woman painter was unheard of and whose relationship was so much more than what anyone would ever have suspected. Where one of them begins, the other will be there with love and their secrets for an eternity.

Thank you #NetGalley #SJPLit #VictoriaRedel #IAmYou for the advanced copy.

Pre order now. Book comes out September 30.

The Busybody Book Club by Freya Sampson

lisascubby

The Busybody Book Club is an enjoyable, cozy, funny mystery with so much heart and soul. You will fall in love with the characters, warts and all as they try and play amateur sleuths to solve a terrible crime, find a missing person, keep their community center open and most importantly learn so much about themselves and each other and the secrets they all carry that they will be friends for life.

Nova Davies has just moved from London to a little village with her fiancé. His parents live here, and they are staying with them until their wedding which is in just a few short weeks. Nova was fortunate enough to get a job working at the local community center thanks to her best friend. Although new at this job, she was a social worker back in London and is pretty good at handling people. Or so she thought.

On this night, the book club is gathering to discuss the book, Where the Crawdad Sings. The regulars are filing in. We have elderly Phyllis and her faithful companion Craddock, a bulldog. An Agatha Christie specialist, Miss Marple being her favorite, she would prefer to read something different. She is a bit of a curmudgeon. Then there is Arthur who is also elderly and takes care of his wife. He reads romance stories to her as she is blind. He enjoys getting out and the book club is one of his favorite activities. He sees the good in everyone and everything! Ash is a teenager who rather enjoys science fiction and is quite shy. Although he normally doesn’t participate, he’s trying to learn how to be more outgoing. There is a reason for this!

As they begin their discussion, a man walks in. He seems a bit sketchy. His name is Michael, and he seems nervous. Not really participating, he suddenly gets a text and shoots up and leaves. Needless to say, the group don’t know what to make of this.

The next day when Nova comes in she discovers someone last night stole the money which was set aside for the new roof for the community center. She realizes she accidentally left the office door unlocked. She is beside herself. And of course, they blame her.

Well, the book club group with Phyllis as their leader decide to investigate. They all believe it had to be Michael who stole the money. But when they finally find out where Michael lives, they discover he has disappeared, and his mother has been murdered.

Thus begins the most adorably well crafted, funny yet charming mystery. All of them trying to figure out who took the money and especially how to save Nova’s job. But be careful what you wish for because there are people who will try and stop them.

What they don’t realize is this mystery will not only bring The Busybody Book Club closer to each other but change their lives forever in the best way possible! The characters are entertaining, the mysteries a complete surprise! Hopefully they will be back to solve another whodunit!

Thank you #NetGalley #Berkley #FreyaSampson #TheBusybodyBookClub for the advanced copy.

Tart by Slutty Cheff

lisascubby

First and foremost, don’t let the author’s name, Slutty Cheff make you believe this is some kind of very smutty read…it is not, and neither is she. That is her Instagram name, and she has kept herself anonymous for some time. Her posts of food and restaurants never include her face. And her posts as well as her personal story are delectable!

Tart is her autobiography of sorts. She decided to make a transition from her 9-to-5 corporate job which she hated to something in the food industry because she loved food. As she was taking a course on cooking, she got her first job as the lowest cook in a restaurant and has not looked back since. Well, she did take a few mental illness, need to figure things out “vacations”.

As she began her restaurant jobs, she fell in love with the hustle and bustle, but so much more. The cooking, the comradery between employees, the after-service drinks at the bar…and yes, even falling for a bartender and a few chefs!

As she takes the reader into the kitchens where she is working, we see not everything is exciting. When she was starting out, she was basically the only woman in the kitchen and unfortunately was looked down on a bit. As the male chefs stripped off their clothes to get into their cooking outfits, she would just stand there awkwardly and wait so she would be able to change. Many chefs who for whatever reason could not fathom a woman in the kitchen, made sure she knew how they felt. And let’s not get into the bullying which would have any human resource department’s head spinning! But she got used to this and she endured.

She loved the work and the long hours and the food. She also explains in the book how she fell in love with a couple of chefs, and this is a part of her story as well. Parts which would break anybody’s heart and have them retreat and never want to step foot in a restaurant again. And she does give herself a break, only to realize cooking and food are in her blood and no matter what she knows this is where she truly belongs.

Tart will amusingly immerse you into the world of a woman chef who through her wit explains her loves of food, hard work, loss and bravery. It will also make and keep you very, very hungry!

Thank you #NetGalley #S&S/MarysueRucciBooks #SluttyCheff #Tart for the advanced copy.

Daughter of Mine by Megan Miranda

lisascubby

Daughter of Mine is another nail-biting, shocking, twisted mystery by the amazing storyteller Megan Miranda. With so many questions seemingly not answered and no idea where the plot is going, the reader will be lulled into just enjoying this rollercoaster but hold on tight for each surprise!

Hazel Sharp is an architect who has come home to Mirror Lake to bury her father who died suddenly. She does not come home often as she does not particularly get along with her brother Caden. Her other brother Gage has always been the one to referee the two. But now she must face not only the death of her father, a police officer in the town, as well as her brothers who have followed in his footsteps, but also her past which includes her mother’s abandonment of her years ago leaving her only a note.

At the same time, the town is experiencing a drought like no other. It’s been over 60 days since there has been any rain. The lakes have receded including the one their own house overlooks.

Suddenly, a car emerges from lake a few miles from their house. As her brother Caden goes to investigate, she must now deal with another reason she left years ago. Her best friend Jamie from childhood decided to go and marry her brother Caden without even mentioning to Hazel while she was away at college they were dating.

So, Hazel decides she will stay at their house which was her father’s, and some chilling things begin to happen. Motion sensor flood lights go on for no reason in the middle of the night and batteries seem to have been taken out of the fire alarms in the house when she was asleep.

Then another car is unearthed from the lake only this time it is their lake, and Hazel knows whose it is. Her best friend Jamie disappears after looking at some old pictures, and her brother Caden doesn’t seem all too concerned; only they have a young daughter who wants to know where her mother has gone.

Does she really want to know what happened all those years ago? As she begins to try and figure things out, she is being stopped by her father’s own co-workers who tell her to let sleeping dogs lie. But she can’t and she won’t, and this determination will open a can of worms which could possibly kill her.

What happened all those years ago and why now is this all coming to the surface?

Daughter of Mine is a twisty, warped mystery with page after page of shocking revelations. Your head will begin to spin. And of course, the always unexpected Megan Miranda ending you never would have seen coming and all you can do is gasp!

Published by S&S/Marysue Rucci Books. Thank you Bookreporter.com for the advanced copy.

The Lake Escape by Jamie Day

lisascubby

Put a lifejacket on before diving into Jamie Day’s new thriller, The Lake Escape! It’s a haunting story of loss, mystery and murder which spans decades. Follow a trio of best friends from childhood now adults with their own children who take their annual vacation together at their lake houses which have been passed on to them from their parents. But when something unexpectedly happens which will reek havoc on all their lives forever, what can they do to save themselves? The lake knows…

Julia, David and Erika grew up coming to their family’s vacation houses on a lake in Vermont since childhood. They have kept that tradition alive with their own families. Over the years their lives have changed both for the good and bad. They have also all grown up with secrets not shared with each other. That is about to change.

This vacation is different right from the start because David who has come into money has decided to expand his lake house and unfortunately Julia and her husband’s view of the lake is impeded. Erika, a lawyer decides to stay out of this fight.

Joining the friends are their children and David’s new nanny, Izzy who was extremely eager to get the position and come to the lake. Also, there is David’s new girlfriend, Fiona a young spitfire no one can figure out.

But after a night of heavy drinking (and other things) they awake to find Fiona missing. David is not too concerned but the others know the secrets of the lake. For the past thirty years every ten years someone has disappeared with no trace. Folklore is that the lake who hungers satisfies itself by taking someone. Is it a coincidence it is exactly 10 years since the last victim?

As the search begins for Fiona, we see the real personalities of the friends who all have secrets, some dark. Their facades and relationships begin to explode in front of our very eyes.

Once the pieces of the puzzles begin to surface like sludge from the deep lake they have always enjoyed, they begin to discover no one really knew the other and the one thing they all seem to have in common is death.

The Lake Escape is as exhausting as swimming in the water for a long period of time, but as exhilarating as well as the shocking outcome will roll over the reader like a wave!

Thank you #Netgalley #St.Martin’sPress # JamieDay #TheLakeEscape for the advanced copy.

Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret By Benjamin Stevenson

lisascubby

Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret is one of the most unique and funniest books I have read in a very long time. Although this is the third in the series, I can promise you not only will that not hinder the read, but more than likely have you go back and buy the previous two (on their way). The story is told by Ernest Cunningham a detective/not a detective getting ready to be married and oh, it’s less than a couple of weeks before Christmas.

Unfortunately for Ernest it will not be the most wonderful time of the year!

When his ex-wife Erin calls him to say she is in police custody because she was found with blood all over herself when she woke up that morning and to her horrible surprise discovered her beloved boyfriend, Lyle Pearse a wealthy philanthropist who has an organization for struggling addicts dead in the kitchen, well, what else was she supposed to do?

Ernest was planning to go see a magician named Rylan Blaze at a holiday party at Pearse’s Foundation. So of course, he decides to go early and see what he can sniff out for suspects. And of course, to help his ex!

As he begins to question those on staff as well as volunteers, most of whom owe their lives to Lyle Pearse, it seems like there are no suspects. Until that evening during the show, Rylan himself is murdered. Yes, during the show.

So now everyone is a suspect and what a cast of characters they are: the executive, a hypnotist, the twin of the hypnotist, the assistant and a fired volunteer. And yes, they all carry secrets.

As the days on the advent calendar count down…remember this clue…Ernest is baffled. But he will try and put the pieces of the puzzle together, giving the reader hints to follow along. He will also remind us he has done this!

The story and investigation move quicky and with the hysterical dialogue and its snarky tone (in my head), it’s a very enjoyable murder, yes, I know that’s an oxymoron… but it is riveting and quite amusing and of course a shocking twisted ending!

You will fall in love with Ernest the detective/not detective in this can’t put down book Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret!

Thank you #NetGalley #MarinerBooks #BenjaminStevenon #EveryoneThisChristmasHasASecret for the advanced copy.

The Tapes by Kerry Wilksinson

lisascubby

Imagine you’re mourning the loss of your father, cleaning his house out and in the garage, you find old, dusty cassette tapes one of which has your name written in your mother’s handwriting. Except your mother disappeared years ago. You begin to listen and after the shock of hearing your mother’s long forgotten voice you hear…If they say I’m missing, I’m not. If you are listening to this, I have been murdered.

Thus begins a quest for answers in this absolutely chilling all-consuming mystery which involves a missing woman who had emotional issues, her daughter hanging on by a thread to her sobriety and keeping her daughter in check and also, a serial killer. Get ready for the ride of your life!

Eve’s life has been hard. She dealt with her mother leaving years ago, got into trouble herself but now she is clean and sober, and she and her daughter Faith are now trying to deal with the death of her father who they will be burying at the end of the week.

But now after finding a tape made by her mother, Angela, and not being able to ask her father about any of this, she begins to investigate. Her mother had many emotional issues including she was a habitual liar and a kleptomaniac. As Eve begins to read the tapes, she discovers that her mother says she had stolen a jewelry box which she insisted was from the Earring Killer, a serial killer who tortured their town years ago. She also states she knows the name of the killer. But is any of this true? With her mother’s history, what should she believe?

Where is this jewelry box? Eve has never seen one in their house. Does she go to the police? She feels like with her history they would discard anything she has to say. So, she begins to try and not only piece whether her mother was killed, but also if her disappearance could really have been from this mysterious killer who after torturing their victim took one of their earrings as a souvenir.

Solving this mystery will not be easy for Eve. But what she does not realize as she begins her search is that she has accidentally awakened a serial killer who has been dormant for years and now she could possibly be the next victim.

The Tapes is a terrific murder mystery with a great deal of heart and soul and love. You won’t be able to put the book down and you won’t be able to breath until you discover the shocking, twisty ending you never saw coming.

Thank you #NetGalley #Bookouture #TheTapes #KerryWilkinson for the advanced copy.

Eat Post Like by Emily Arden Wells

lisascubby

Eat Post Like is a deliciously funny love story about loss, food and love, all of which are important to making a very heartwarming story with a strong woman as the main character. A woman who through trauma and sadness is able to pull herself together to become not only stronger but is able to decide what she truly wants in her life. And change her life she does.

Cassie Brooks is a workaholic lawyer who loves her life, or so she thinks. Although she works long hours her boyfriend James an accountant also puts in long hours, so he is not put off. He appreciates her hard work and instead of badgering, he takes to out for dinner to try new restaurants. He truly appreciates her life and she his.

Then tragically James dies. Cassie is lost. She can’t even go over to his apartment to figure out how to organize his things. When she finally does go, she discovers that James had a secret life she never knew about. How could he have kept something from her. Weren’t they soulmates?

James was not an accountant. He was actually a food critic with an Instagram account called @NewYorkSecretDiner, a beloved food account with millions of followers. Why did he not tell her?

Devastated at first, she decides to post on the account. Well, that does not go over very well…until Cassie decides to do something she never imagined she could. She accepts an invitation that @NewYorkSecretDiner had received. An invitation which will take her all over Europe tasting food and drinking wine at the most fabulous restaurants and visiting incredibly beautiful places.

But be careful what you wish for! As the trip begins, she never imagined the time and effort it took to research not only the dishes and wines, but the ingredients and locations. What a mess she feels she is making of Jame’s secret legacy.

So, she decides to create her own account…Eat Post Like. And well, you’ll just have to see what happens to Cassie next. But know there is delicious food, handsome men, very funny characters but especially, Cassie’s personal discoveries about herself, who she is and what she wants out of life. But it’s also about James who may have lived a secret life but loved a wonderful woman!

Thank you #NetGalley #HarperCollins #EatPostLike #EmilyArdenWells for the advanced copy.