Month: September 2025

Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle

lisascubby

Aftertaste is an extraordinary novel which encompasses so many genres. It’s a ghost story, a love story, part science fiction but also with a mystery/suspense element. It’s also about food and loss and how sometimes the taste of something can bring up a memory of someone who has passed. It also explores how love can change a person as well as what someone in love would do for the person they love.

Kostya Duhovny’s father tragically dies when he is ten years old. It changes his life forever. His mother checks out of life and lays in bed, Kostya at his young age must fend for himself, sometimes barely eating and being constantly bullied by the other children.

One day when he goes to the local pool, he begins to get this sensation in his mouth of a particular food he and his father use to make together. He becomes aware that perhaps his father is trying to tell him something, but what? He can’t imagine.

Years go by and Kostya begins to get use to this sensation of taste. Always different, never the one he got from his father. Unable to understand why this is happening, waiting for something else to push him to what he needs to know, he continues with life and its struggles. And he truly struggles.

Until one-night years later when he is a bus boy at a bar and someone comes in, and he begins to get the taste for a particular drink. Kostya decides to make the drink and serve it to the person who has just come in. And then he knows what he is supposed to be doing with this gift. He is to reunite the dead with a person they are missing so they can have one last conversation.

Of course, needless to say this does not go over so well when he decides to start his own restaurant! When something happens to his best (and only) friend, he is devastated, but his aftertaste draws him to a girl. Someone whose sister has passed. While trying to help her, they fall in love.

But unbeknownst to either of them there are problems with this gift and the afterlife. Kostya gets himself in trouble in the present but also begins to cause havoc in life after death. Now unfortunately he is the only one who can stop this train wreck his life is on and the trajectory of the afterlife.

Aftertaste is a heartwarming tale with so much love and loss but yet beautiful in a way that cannot be described unless you read this moving, delicious story.

Published by Simon & Schuster

Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

lisascubby

Five Found Dead is quite the mystery/thriller/whodunit with bodies which keep adding up and so many suspects your head will explode! On top of that we get to ride on the Orient Express…hmm…did someone else write a book about that train? Anyway, the story is unique, enjoyable and quite surprising!

Joe Penvale a writer and his sister Meredith a lawyer are twins. They have just boarded the famous train, the Orient Express. Joe who is a famous crime story author had recently completed treatment for cancer. Joe wants to begin a new novel, and Meredith just wants to relax because she was Joe’s caretaker during his cancer journey. Also, she wants to keep an eye on him to make sure he eats and drinks well with absolutely no libations!

Less than twenty-four hours later everything will change. Something has happened in Cabin 16G which is close to their cabin. There’s blood everywhere but shockingly no body! Both Joe and Meredith had seen the previous night a man enter the cabin. But now, he is missing.

As the passengers begin to congregate to swap stories as to what could have happened, they are hit with another emergency. Some of the passengers have tested positive for some illness and they must now be quarantined!

But lucky for them there seem to be a few criminal professionals on board, i.e. retired police, crime solvers and even a criminal podcast team who are friends of Joe’s. They are asked by the train manager if they would be able to try and figure out what happened. And just as they decide to go into the missing man’s cabin, they discover the steward who was guarding the room is dead!

As another person is discovered dead…and still no sign of the guest from the room, things begin to get even crazier when the train which is headed to Paris is told it must release the train which has the quarantined passengers if they want to get into the city! But if they do this what if the killer is living among them?

With everyone seeming to have alibis, Joe and Meredith race to discover who the killer could possibly be. What they all will discover is that deception and vengeance run deep; a masterful murder plan was created, and a mind-boggling conclusion which will knock your socks off! Five Found Dead will have you wanting to race to the end of the story and the bombshell ending!

Thank you #NetGalley #PoisenedPress #SulariGentill #FiveFoundDead for the advanced copy.

The Killer Question by Janice Hallett

lisascubby

Pour yourself a beer and settle into a comfy chair for another funny, entertaining mystery by the master of using social media in her written books, Janice Hallett. In her unique writing style, email, text and notes, you will begin to explore the goings on in a small town and its pub life including their exciting and competitive trivia nights. With very quirky, some humorous and some shady characters, and a sudden murder to solve, your only job if you should accept it is to enjoy the ride!

Mel and Sue Eastwood own a pub called The Case is Altered in a small town in England. They run a popular trivia game each week. Through text we soon will discover that some teams are more competitive than others. There is also a bit of cheating which is tried, but the pub owners in the area try to keep each other abreast of who the other’s need to watch out for.

As is the case with one group who come in and try and start trouble in The Case is Altered. Mel will have none of it and immediately throws them out.

It also seems there is a new group called The Shadow Nights who have been coming around and they are beating all the other quizzers by a mile. None of the pubs can figure out how they are cheating.

They come to trivia night at The Case is Altered and needless to say, win so big it makes the other quiz teams reevaluate themselves. The Shadow Nights decide they like Mel and Sue’s pub and become regulars…and weekly winners.

But a dead body changes everything.

One of the men who came into the pub that Mel threw out is found dead in the water near the pub. It looks like someone murdered him. As the police begin to investigate it is discovered that Sue and Mel use to be police detectives, (as seen through chapters which go back to a particular case, they were in charge of years ago). This is information they never wanted anyone to know about their past for reasons unknown.

Another question… why is their nephew trying to sell a documentary about Sue and Mel’s lives to Netflix?

How on earth does all this come together and solve a murder?

Are you exhausted? Well don’t be!

The Killer Question will have you hooked from the first text, keep you laughing and intrigued and startled at the explosive outcome to the story!

Thank you #NetGalley #AtriaBooks #JaniceHallett #TheKillerQuestion for the advanced copy.

The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen

lisascubby

The Locked Ward is a shocking, twisted thriller with continued stunning revelations and you won’t be able to figure out who the real villain could possibly be. But rest assured as the story unfolds the exciting suspenseful ending will startle you.

Georgia Cartwright is successful in her own right as a party planner. She comes from a wealthy family and is locked in a psychiatric ward. She is accused of killing her sister Annabelle. Actually, Annabelle and Georgia never really got along. You see, Georgia was adopted and her sister and mother never let her forget that fact. But kill her sister? No. Strangely the only person she is requesting to see to get her out of this mess is someone she has never met.

As the news media runs wild with this story, a woman named Amanda Ravenal who owns a bar passed on to her by her father hears about the story and doesn’t make much of it. Until she gets a call about the accused murderess and is told she needs her to come to speak with her.

Why her? She agrees to meet Georgia and what she is told will change her life and everything she ever believed. She discovers they are twins who were separated at birth. Georgia needs Amanda to help her find out who killed her sister.

Shocked, Amanda goes down the rabbit hole of Georgia Cartwright’s life. And it is a bit disturbing. She also now must reevaluate her own parents who are both dead and who never told her she was adopted let alone had a sister, a twin no less. Is Georgia trying to use her? Why did her parents not tell her any of this? What secret were they holding?

The chapters flip from Georgia to Amanda and what they are separately doing and thinking. For Georgia it’s surviving the locked ward, for Amanda it’s trying to snoop on the Cartwright family to see what she can discover.

It seems both Georgia and her parents are hiding some things. Why? And where does Amanda fit in to all this?

Who’s telling the truth? Who killed Annabelle?

The Locked Ward is not only a can’t put down psychological thriller, but a fascinating study into the habits of twins who never knew the other existed. This was such an interesting perspective and a creative, fascinating plot twist. Oh, and the astonishing ending is everything!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #SarahPekkanen #TheLocked Ward for the advanced copy.

If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens

lisascubby

If I Stopped Haunting You is a very funny “haunting” story with romance in two different dimensions one which takes place centuries ago and the other which takes place in the present. The plot has a wonderful mystery/romance as to why a mysterious woman in white is supposedly haunting this castle. It seems our two main characters are going to find out why, even if it gets them killed!

Penelope Skinner and Neil Storm hate each other. Why? Not sure but both writers, who were at an event together when Penelope suddenly lost her temper, threw a book at Neil and then stomped away. Well imagine not only the uproar in the industry, but Penelope’s embarrassment when she realized what she had done. Not that she regretted it! Of course, since then there has been bad blood between them, and thank goodness they haven’t run into each other …until now!

Unbeknownst to the other they both signed up for a writer’s retreat at a castle in Scotland. A castle which is notorious for having a haunting by a woman. So much so, not even the caretakers will stay, and God forbid you need something…they rarely come back!

Penelope and Neil begin to see each other in a different light and to understand the pressures each is under. They start to have feelings for each other. But of course, both keep them hidden although the other writers, amusing characters in their own right, can clearly see what’s going on.

But there’s more than love in the air! There’s an angry mystical force in the castle and for some reason she has her eyes set on Penelope and Neil! Why is she picking on them? She seems to dislike them for some reason. Especially Neil whom she continually tortures.

As they discover clues to her possible identity and a horrible snowstorm descends upon the castle, and they discover well, each other, it will take everything Penelope and Neil have to come out of this alive!

If I Stopped Haunting You is an adorable funny/romance/mystery/ghost story which will make you laugh but also give you goosebumps. A very enjoyable read!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #ColbyWilkens #If I Stopped Haunting You for the advanced copy.

Here For A Good Time by Pyae Moe Thet War

lisascubby

In this wonderfully creative romantic comedy/suspenseful thriller, Here for A Good Time gives the reader just that…a great, satisfying read! With many book genres meshed into an exciting, adorable suspense story set on a private isolated island, two roommates will experience every emotion known to mankind, fear, regret and of course love, just to name a few. Oh, and believe it or not, they are actually kidnapped!

Poe Myat Sabei is a writer, or in her words a won hit wonder. Her first, and only book was not only a bestseller, but also optioned by Netflix. Exciting right? Not to Poe who has not been able to write a single word in a very long time. Now unfortunately she has writer’s block, or I have no ideas block.

Zwe who is her best friend and roommate and is her encourager and motivator have been friends since college. His parents own a bookstore and although Zwe would love to try and get his PhD, he works at the store to help his aging parents.

So, Poe comes up with an idea for an exotic all-inclusive vacation on a private island figuring if she can convince Zwe to go with her not only will he be able to relax, but that’s all she will need to push her to come up with an idea and start writing again. He agrees to go, reluctantly.

But what happens next is astounding!

The serenity and excitement soon turn into a nightmare. They are suddenly kidnapped by a group of women with masks no less who want to take the island over. Why Poe and Zwe? Who are they? This was certainly not on the menu of activities they had signed up for!

Now they are dragged by these abductors and forced into their craziness as they begin the takeover. Once the kidnappers are finished with them, they are going to leave them to die! Unfortunately, at first Poe and Zwe begin to turn on each other as they start to rehash all of their lives’ misfortunes (and each other’s) and dissect what they both thought was a pretty solid relationship.

As it gets close to the end of the road (literally) and they realize just how much they mean to each other and need each other to figure out a way out of this situation, will they be able to keep their wits and come up with an idea to somehow con their abductors, or will they kill each other before they get killed?

Here For A Good Time is funny, gripping story with amazing twists and turns and a very satisfying ending.

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #PyaeMoeThetWar #HereForAGoodTime for the advanced copy.

What About the Dead Bodies by Ken Jaworowski

lisascubby

In this unique thriller, What About the Bodies, you will somehow fall in love with the three main characters, villains in their own right. With so much heart, promising futures and strength, if they can just make it through the next few days, you will suddenly find yourselves rooting for them and their happily ever after no matter what they have to do to get there, and boy let me tell you, it’s pretty deadly trying to get there.

Carla is a single mother whose son Olly, an MIT student has just admitted to her he has made a terrible mistake. Carla, a waitress her whole life has just finally been able to buy her own restaurant and begin to change their lives. Now, her future is unsure and no matter what she does this news will transform the trajectory of their lives.

Reed is a fifteen-year-old autistic boy whose mother has just died. Not well liked by anyone in the town, bullied his whole life, his only protector is now gone. His older brother who is married and has a young child wants him to move away to a different city; Reed is at a crossroads. Especially when he discovers that a promise he made to his mother went unfilled and he must somehow rectify the situation. He begins a long trek which will take him to many places in there small-town, meeting up with some shady characters but also some compassionate, caring folks.

Liz has always been a guitar player, writer and musician. She has just been let go of another music gig at another sleezy bar in the town. With a car ready to break down and less than one hundred dollars in her bank account and no money to pay her bills or fix her car she is at a crossroads in her life. Until she gets a phone call from Nashville which could possibly change her life. She just has to get there. But her car breaks down and her shady boyfriend, not boyfriend convinces her to go to an ex-con to fix it and now she’s in very big trouble.

You will become smitten with the characters as you watch these three lost souls whose lives will inevitably interconnect and feel their heartbreaks only intensify as they realize they are going to lose it all…their hope, their desire and their future. As for the dead bodies? Well, you will just have to read this fascinating story to find out about them.

Thank you #NetGalley #AtlanticCrime#KenJaworowski #WhatAboutTheDeadBodies for the advanced copy.

The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake by Rachel Linden

lisascubby

The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake is a wonderful, magical healing read! It is filled with love, regrets, hope and mending past choices. It is also filled with Italian delicacies and of course the Orange Blossom Cake! Yes, there may be a bit of magic, but in the end the power of strength comes from inside themselves. In the end it’s all about familia!

Jules Costa has an on-line cooking show with her roommate. But when he is wooed by an LA company to star in his own show, he decides to take the opportunity and go leaving Jules to have to decide to end her beloved show. But she also has a bigger problem. She signed to create a cookbook of her favorite Italian recipes. Unfortunately, since her father’s tragic death years ago, she can’t even remember the food she cooked with her Nonna Bruna in Italy where her family has an olive farm. And her deadline is fast approaching.

Enter her mother who decides she wants to spend the summer with Jules’ stepfather and Jule’s stepsister Alex has nowhere to go so her mother is insisting they both go to Italy to visit Nonna Bruna. But Jules has never really been close to Alex and has not stepped foot in Italy since her father’s death. But she decides to take the trip because she hopes Nonna will be able to help with her memory of all the foods they use to cook when life was so simple.

But when they get there, Alex already wants to go back and basically sits on her phone or in her room alone. And Jules discovers that her first love, Nicolo has not only come back to their small town but is helping her Nonna with the upkeep of the farm. You see Nicolo’s Nonna and Jule’s Nonna have had a feud going on forever with no one really know what happened.

As the girls settle in Jules discovers her Nonna’s recipe book. It is blank. She asks Nonna but she will not tell her why. But Nonna does tell her about a recipe which has magical properties, Orange Blossom Cake. But they must figure out how to create the recipe. Could this cake be the answer to all their prayers?

As they all work together to find answers, they also discover there has been much left unsaid since Jule’s last visit. As the healing begins, everything starts to fall into place. But is it really magic or just love? Will we ever know?

The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake is such a funny burst of love, even though it has heartbreaking moments, in the end those moments are what make you stronger and happy and at peace. Oh, and yes, the recipe for this magical cake is at the end of the book!

Thank you #NetGalley #Berkley #RachelLinden #TheSecretofOrangeBlossomCake for the advanced copy.

Pre-Order