Month: December 2025

The Last Session by Julia Bartz

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The Last Session is quite a compelling psychological thriller with an incredible mystery which will have you compulsively reading! Not knowing who the good guys are and not trusting anyone, the story scans the past and present and then intertwines them leading to a jaw-dropping ending.

Thea is a social worker in a psychiatric unit. Her choice of career, twofold as she herself grew up with insecurity, bullying and intimacy issues.

But when a young woman shows up in a catatonic state Thea believes she may know but can’t place her Thea’s life as she knows it will change forever.

Through investigation Thea realizes the woman is an actress from a movie from years ago which had a cult-like following, including by herself. Thea wants to talk to her about her life and try and figure out how she got to the unit, but unfortunately the minute the woman wakes up her parents come to discharge her and whisk her away.

But Thea believes the woman left her clues before she left…was it to help her out of a bad situation? As she follows the pieces of the puzzle, she comes across a podcast which then changes her perspective on everything. She now feels the woman could be in danger and needs her help.

Thea decides to go to a retreat in New Mexico which is being run by a very strange couple. The retreat is for people who have intimacy issues. She can’t understand what the woman’s connection could possibly be to this couple or this sanctuary?

Forced to pretend, she soon discovers there is more going on than trying to help those with personal problems. It seems there are missing people, including the woman from the movie, and many dark secrets amongst the staff.

What will soon be discovered is the couple running the retreat are not who they say they are and Thea will become the next victim of their obsession. She realizes they will do anything to keep her there. She knows too much. And time is running out. And she’s learned she can’t trust anyone. Will she make it out alive?

The Last Session is a juicy exciting story in which you will not be able to tell who is helping or who wants Thea dead. Nor will you understand the incredible reason why until the last session!

Thank you #NetGalley #Atria/EmilyBestlerBooks #JuliaBartz #TheLastSession for the advance copy. 






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The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gimore
	


	

							

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Yes, I know…I am reading last year’s favorite cozy a little late, but…I finally got around to the first in the series and I must say this is a cozy, charming, funny, mystery with some pizzazz!





When Jeanie’s aunt gifts her The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, it could not have come at a better time! After living in Boston for several years working in a corporate office well, let’s just say she needs a break!





Although Jeanie has no idea how to run a cafe, she feels she can get us to speed pretty easy.  That was her first mistake.  Her second was opening the back door of the cafe when she heard noises where she discovered a man with muscles and many pumpkins in his hands standing there.  This is farmer Logan who supplies the cafe with items from his farm.





Needless to say they get off on the wrong foot.  But both seem to be interested in the other but too shy to even think it to themselves.





But Jeanie has other problems…someone is trying to sabotage her cafe. But why? This town, Dream Harbor is close knit with very quirky residence, but no one seems dangerous. What she has discovered is most of them are way too kind. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone’s business and is not afraid to butt in! It’s also a place where it seems dreams are meant to come true…usually.





The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is adorable. It’s an easy quick read in which you will continually have a smile on your face. It’s a heck of a feel-good story in a town you wish you could live in and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next!





Published by Harper Collins










		


			
		
	






	
	

		
The Castaways by Lucy Clarke
	


	

							

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The Castaways is an epic thriller which you will not be able to put down.  It will be both your obsession and worst nightmare.  The story told by two sisters, Erin and Lori, takes you on a mysterious two-year journey when a plane heading to Fiji goes missing without a trace.   One of the sisters on the plane, the other by chance never made it to the airport.





Lori has just come out of a horrible marriage and has been living with her sister Erin.  She decides she needs a vacation and plans a trip for herself and Erin to Fiji.  





That was two years ago.  





Erin never got on the plane. Lori who had a fear of flying did. The plane disappears. All the passengers presumed dead. But Erin has never given up hope. Could it be her guilt for not getting on the plane with Lori? Their last conversation a fight? Or something else that happened.





Then one day the pilot of the plane appears in Fiji.  He says he has no memory of what happened…or does he?  Erin flies to Fiji to see him for herself.  He answers just one question which sends shivers down Erin’s spine.  





It’s now up to Erin to find out what really happened the day she lost her sister forever.





The Castaways is mind-boggling with so many twists and jaw-dropping turns. Each page more explosive (no pun intended) than the next. The only advice I would give to the reader, and I do highly recommend this book, is don’t take this one to read on a plane!





Thank you #NetGalley #AtlanticCrime #LucyClarke #TheCastaways for the advanced copy.





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The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey
	


	

							

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The List of Suspicious Things is an unforgettable, tragic story with a serial killer, two twelve-year-old girls and a small town frantic to figure out who the murderer is and why. But the story is so much more. It encapsulates how people who are different are treated, grief, mental illness and determination. And of course, the shocking discovery of just who the killer is. But by the end of the story and the damage to the mystery has caused to some of the innocent is palpable.





Twelve-year-old Miv and her best (and only) friend Sharon have decided to try and investigate who is killing women in their town.  Miv needs to find out as her father has just told her they may be moving to another town.  With Miv’s mother who does nothing but stay in her room, not speaking to anyone and then getting shuttled off for months at a time to somewhere, Miv has no idea where to, she cannot and will not accept the move.





So, she and Sharon devise a plan to look at the local men and write down reasons they feel they may be the killer.  Unfortunately, they have many on their list. As they begin to investigate Miv is much more determined to find the killer.  Sharon just wants to be with Miv and be her listener.





As they gather information, what they discover is there is much more going on in this small town than just having a serial killer amongst them.  They will learn people who are innocent of everything can be found guilty just by the color of their skin.  They will also learn some married couples have deep dark secrets which they desperately try to hide.  And they will also learn that evil is not that far away from them.





Their lives will be changed forever as the danger intensifies, but Miv will try to help those who can’t help themselves, and try and put a murderer, yet unknown in jail.





The List of Suspicious Things is a thriller but also explores many different types of characters and their deep flaws as well as loss, grief and humanity. In the end, this story has so many lessons which the reader needs to see and understand in order to discover who and why the characters do what they do. The ending, bittersweet…





Thank you #NetGalley #SourcebooksLandmark #JennieGodfrey #TheListofSuspicousThings for the advanced copy.





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Where Secrets Stay by CherAnn Wright
	


	

							

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Where Secrets Stay, which is based on real events, is an unexpected, chilling, incredible psychological thriller in which we have a missing young girl, a very dysfunctional family, murders, hidden items and dark secrets. As the mysteries unfold, the reader will hardly be able to fathom the intricate weavings of an incredible plot.





When Kevan comes back home to bury her grandmother, the memories of her abusive childhood and fear return. If it wasn’t for her grandmother, she would not be the woman she has become and would still be living rotting in this small town. Her grandmother was Kevan’s only lifeline to normalcy.





As she and her friend Beth try to sort out her grandmother’s items, there is an old key which for some reason jolts some sort of memory. What the key’s meaning holds is not only something which may perhaps open a door but open a pandora’s box of clues with dark hidden memories.





Nathan has come back home as well.  He is here to help his mother’s best friend take care of her place.  But this visit is bittersweet for him.  His young sister went missing years ago.  She went out for a walk and just vanished without a trace.  Coming back has made Nathan decide that he will once again try and discover what happened to his little sister all those years ago.





Incredibly, Kevan and Nathan’s worlds will come crashing down around them and then mysteriously collide when they separately find a dilapidated house in the woods with secrets which will change both their lives forever.





Filled with mystery, murder and suspense, Where Secrets Stay will grab you from the very first page, and keep you guessing as the past suddenly meets the present and all the answers come to light.





Thank you #NetGalley #SleuthingSlothPress #CherAnnWright #WhereSecretsStay for the advanced copy.










		


			
		
	






	
	

		
The Forget-Me-Not Library by Heather Webber
	


	

							

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Get cozy, sip a cup of something and begin to read The Forget-Me-Not Library the latest book by the magical, wonderful Heather Webber. The story, uplifting and comforting, tells the tale of a town, if you are honored to be drawn there, who will know exactly what you are looking for, even if you don’t have a clue. Along the way, you will meet very special people who will become your friends and whom you will cherish forever.





Julie Nightingale is a school nurse from Alabama who has decided to take a road trip to try and figure out her life. Lost in so many ways especially about her grandfather who recently was tragically killed and whom she feels responsible for being unable to help him is searching…for what? she has no clue. So, when her car breaks down suddenly in a small town called Forget Me Not, she just wants to get her car fixed and move on. But the town has other ideas.





Julie meets Tallulah Byrd Mayfield and her children.  Tallulah works at the Forget Me Not Library.  Recently divorced, she and her two very young children now live with her grandfather.  She is trying her best to keep everything together, work a full-time job, and take care of her family. 





As Julie waits for the part for her car to come in, she and Tallulah begin to get close as Julie watches her children, takes them to the library and even begins to volunteer. Julie also begins to learn all about the mysterious Forget Me Not town. She starts to meet some of the very eccentric townspeople and well, starts to actually feel as if she is healing. How can that be?





But that’s the magic of The Forget Me Not town and yes, there is a lure that their Library and who resides there is “special” as well.





Is it truly possible that a town can heal heartbreak? And fear? And panic?





Well, in the end, it’s truly the people who open their arms and embrace those who need love and care to try and make them whole again, but there truly is something which draws the lost to the town in order to have them find exactly what they are looking for, and even more. For some, they will never leave while others will get what they need and move on.





The Forget-Me-Not Library is an enjoyable, wonderful feel-good read with so much heart and soul and love and mystery.





Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #HeatherWebber #TheForget-Me-NotLibary for the advanced copy.