Lisa's Cubby

Dark Corners is the follow up to Megan Goldin’s popular thriller Night Swim, although this is easily a stand-alone story. Rachel Krall, our favorite true crime podcaster is once again called upon to try and assist with the disappearance of a social media influencer by a possible serial killer. This novel has it all! A suspenseful story has twists, a bit of romance and an unforeseeable incredible ending!

Rachel Krall is called for reasons unknown to the FBI in Florida. She reluctantly goes. There she discovers Terrence Bailey; an alleged serial killer is days away from being released onto the streets again. They were never able to prove he murdered young women but were able to put him behind bars for something else. But the FBI is concerned he is already plotting his next murder from his prison cell.

Madison Logan, a social media influencer recently went to visit Bailey at the prison. This in itself is puzzling as he has never in all the time he’s been in prison had a visitor. The prison video shows them exchanging something. That is the last time Madison was ever seen. They find her van parked in the woods near the prison and it looks like there had been some sort of struggle.

Unsure if this has anything to do with Bailey or if it has something to do with the social media conference Madison was attending, the FBI ask Rachel to talk to Bailey as he seems to know her name. That conversation just seems to complicate what they know. But she notices he has the same tattoo which Madison had.

So, against the wishes of the handsome FBI agent, Rachel decides to crash the conference and find out what she can about the missing woman. She notices some have the same tattoo Madison (and Bailey) had. What she learns is influencers can be brutal to each other! And then another influencer turns up dead!

They believe Bailey must be getting help from someone on the outside but who? He’s never had a visitor. With time running out and Bailey closer to his release date Rachel and the FBI try to figure out if he is connected to any of the other murders which happened before he went to prison. And he was!

Then, on the day of Bailey’s release, they were supposed to track his every move, but something goes wrong, and they lose him. Now it seems he has his sights set on Rachel!

This fast paced, mind-blowing nail-biter is a complex incredible psychological masterpiece with surprise after surprise. Dark corners can be spooky, but sometimes they can save a life!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #MeganGoldin #DarkCorners for the advanced copy.

California Golden is Melanie Bejamin’s homage to the carefree days of the 1960’s where free to be meant sex, drugs and rock and roll, where in California, surfing, sun and sand, beach bums and bonfires were all the rage. But the story is so much deeper than frolicking in the water and winning surfing competitions. It’s about a mother and her two daughters whose lives are changed not so much by what they did, but more because of what was expected of them during that time. Had they been able to pursue their own dreams, rather that fit the societal norms, perhaps their lives would have been different.

Carol Donnelly broke the surfing mold for women back in the 1960’s. When the male surfers told her she couldn’t do it, she proved not only could she, but she could win competition against them. An athlete in college, Carol was on her way to Chicago to try out for the first all-women baseball team. She found out she was pregnant. So, she put her dreams on hold, went back and married, and had two children, both girls, Mindy and Ginger.

But in her heart, she still wanted to follow her passion and unfortunately had a difficult time relating to her two girls. She tried. But when she discovered surfing, she chose one over the other. She began taking them with her daily to the beach, even though that meant they missed school. She would forget to buy food or feed them at all. With her husband traveling she was left to be the adult. But the reality was she had never really grown up.

She decided perhaps her love of surfing could translate to her love for her daughters, so she decided to teach her girls to surf. Mindy caught on right away and became just as good if not better than her mother. Ginger not so much. So, Carol spent more time with Mindy and Mindy spent more time with Ginger. Both dropped out of high school.

And that’s when all three go in radically different directions. The girls leave home. Carol continues to surf, knowing she was not the mother she should have been.

Mindy becomes a champion surfer with an agent, partying every night, popular with the Hollywood in-crowd and waiting for her next break. Until she makes a mistake. Something looked down upon and perhaps career ending. She must make a decision.

Ginger just becomes lost. She hooks up with a beach bum whose only job is to hustle drugs and is into just about everything illegal. But Ginger knows in her heart he loves her and can’t let him go not matter what he does. It’s the first time she’s ever felt valued, and she won’t lose that feeling for fear she will never have it again.

The story chronicles the Donnelly women’s lives and what happens to them until they come together years later. They’ve all lived hard lives. But, perhaps it’s time to move past all the anger and hardship and misunderstandings and try for once to be the family they never knew how to be.

California Golden is the story of society influencing choices rather than following one’s heart, tragedies, hard times and becoming an adult. It’s about forgiveness and how ultimately love wins out.

Thank you #NetGalley #DelacortPress #MelanieBenjamin #CaliforniaGolden for the advanced copy.

Looking Glass Sound is another remarkably different shock/horror/thriller from the creative mind of Catriona Ward. Its creepiness is overshadowed by the disturbing narrative and storyline development, not knowing where the plot is going but then it all come together, for an extraordinary ending.

When Wilder’s uncle passes away, his parents inherit a cottage on Whistler Bay in Maine on the water. They decide to go on a vacation there during the summer before selling the property. Wilder meets Nat a local and Harper who vacations there every summer, both who it seems have known each other forever. As they begin to include him in their outings, Wilder feels there is something they are not telling him.

During the time he is there Wilder learns of Dagger Man, who was all the talk from the past summer who allegedly killed people and left polaroids of them. This topic seems to bond the three teenagers as they try solving who he is and imagine what he did and why. They also tell him about a victim named Rachel, the first to disappear. She had gone to the beach with her family and as they set out lunch she went for her daily swim and never came back. Some say she still haunts the Sound.

At the end of the summer, Wilder’s parents decide not to sell the cottage but rent it out and use it as their own vacation home. But the next summer will be Wilder’s last with both his friends. Dagger man is captured, and it throws the town into a chaos of which Wilder will not only ever be able to forget, but he will never be the same.

He goes to college and begins to write down his thoughts as to what happened during those summers. He can’t particularly function well but then he meets someone who helps him. But they have a terrible falling out which leaves Wilder devastated.

Years pass and Wilder decides to face his demons and goes back the cottage to try and write a story about what happened, what he witnessed and how it impacted his life. To his surprise he finds Harper living on the Bay.

As he tries to write, strange things begin to happen. He finds notes in the cottage he knows were not written by him. He smells things he knows he should not and sees things he knows cannot be there. He discovers he has written chapters of his story which he can’t remember doing.

This is too much for Wilder. His life was never the same after what happened, and he is not sure just how much more of life he can handle. Or even if he wants to anymore.

Looking Glass Sound has continuous suspense, mystery, despair and dysfunctional friendships and family secrets with so much more mixed in with such an incredible ending your only thought will be the need to read this again!

Thank you #NetGalley #TorNightfire #CatrionaWard #LookingGlassSound for the advanced copy.

The Thursday Murder Club is still together in their retirement village in England and fans of the series are thrilled! The Man Who Died Twice is just as exciting, funny and full of surprises as the first installment, but with two additional add-ons. First, we learn more information about the past lives of our senior sleuths and hooray! love seems to be in the air!

Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are still the best of friends and continue to enjoy their murder club. Elizabeth still exhibits her Agatha Christie like intelligence, Joyce her humorous common sense through her journal entries, Ron being Ron and Ibrahim feeling more comfortable and begins to get out of the senior community more.

But that all changes when a man from Elizabeth’s past shows up using the name of a “dead” man no less. She realizes not only has her past come back to haunt her, but the group is in for a bit of excitement.

You see he has come for help and protection from Elizabeth. He has stolen diamonds worth millions from a very important multi-millionaire fencer who wants them back and will not stop until he a) finds Elizabeth’s friend, b) kills Elizabeth’s friend and c) gets back his diamonds.

But before Elizabeth can truly find out what’s going on, even with expert secret service protecting him, he is killed. Or is he? Had he planned this ruse from the start in order to disappear with a hefty retirement fund? It’s up to the club to figure out the who, what, why and where (the diamonds) have been hidden.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim who has begun to come out of his shell and has taken to driving around alone or with Joyce is injured in a robbery gone wrong and seems to now be terrified of everything. All his friends are concerned, but he insists he is fine.

So needless to say, Elizabeth and the crew have their hands full and besides finding killers and diamonds, she calls in every favor she can to find out who hurt Ibrahim.

The Man Who Died Twice is just so smart, skillfully written and quick-witted. The readers can see the clues and try to play along in the story and to solve the mysteries. But the ending still has that I should have seen that feel, and unexpected plot twists and turns.

The Legend of Rachel Petersen is a wonderfully chilling book which leaps in time between the Civil War era to now, all while telling the horrific tale, legend, real? story about a young girl’s tragic death and a writer’s obsession.

Christian is a sportswriter who has just discovered he’s been passed over for a huge promotion. Angered, he decides to quit his job, and write the great American novel, much to his wife Shelby’s dismay. But with her job, downsizing and pinching pennies, he begins a journey which will change his life.

After a disastrous start, while walking in the woods pondering if he had made the wrong choice, he comes across the grave of a young girl who lived during the 1800’s. He wonders what could have happened to her to have died at such a young age. And with that the Legend of Rachel Petersen is born.

She becomes his muse, his inspiration as he writes, his story now filled with horror and ghosts. And he seems to enjoy the comfort of writing next to her gravestone.

As the reader gets the chance to read what Christian has written, he tells the eerie tale of a lost young girl who is sent to live with people she doesn’t know and the kindness of one boy which gets her through. Then a horrible tragedy occurs, and she dies. Many believe she killed before she took her own life.

When two boys stumble upon her grave, knowing the legend, one of them digs up her remains, but he seems to have also opened up a pandora’s box in doing so. Suddenly Rachel is everywhere, trying to tell him something. But what?

After Christian has finished his book, he is shocked to discover it becomes a best-seller. Not only that, but they want to make Rachel’s story a movie! But be careful what you wish for…some ghosts would rather be left alone!

The Legend of Rachel Petersen is a terrifying, unsettling story you will not be able to put down. I suggest you give it a read since Halloween is just around the corner…just don’t tell Rachel!

Thank you #SkyPublishing #J.T.Baroni #TheLegendofRachelPetersen for sending this enjoyable read!

Here’s a YouTube link to a trailer for the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eer542BEY7M

Follow the book on its Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/thelegendofrachelpetersenbook

Gone Tonight will capture your undivided attention. This excellent psychological page turner encapsulates so many elements of a great suspenseful story, such as mystery, anticipation, surprise, and shock!

Ruth, the mother and Catherine the daughter each explain their own thoughts and background in their own chapters. Ruth is the single mother to Catherine who is now an adult. She has graduated nursing school and has been hired by a hospital so she will be moving away from her mother. Ruth has a problem with this. And a terrible secret.

Ruth’s childhood was miserable. She had an alcoholic mother and a father who tried his best to keep her and her brother safe from the turbulence she caused them. She was also bullied at school. But when she was a young teenager, Ruth’s life is turned upside down and she finds herself in danger, pregnant and alone. She decides to run away. And she makes a promise. She will always protect her daughter Catherine from the horror she witnessed.

But now with Catherine ready to move on to a new job and a new apartment, Ruth becomes terrified of what might lay ahead for them both. Then, Catherine discovers Ruth is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s. Now, Catherine feels as if she must put her own plans aside and take care of the mother who has sacrificed so much for her over the years.

Ruth begins to create a journal of her memories for Catherine so she can understand what happened to her and why she must always be careful. But Catherine begins to suspect something is going on. Knowing her mother will begin to forget, Catherine tries to get her to talk about her past, but Ruth does not seem to give her any answers to where she came from and who her family is. When Catherine tries to do a bit of investigating online, she cannot find anything about her mother’s life. What could she be hiding? And why?

Ruth can see what’s happening. Catherine is looking at her differently. How does she handle this? She must protect her daughter. Then out of the blue, Ruth’s world which she has so carefully built comes crashing down! And now Catherine is in danger!

Secrets it seems are always exposed no matter how hard you try to distance yourself from them. Now Ruth must not only put a plan into action she has been preparing for years, but she must tell Catherine what she has been hiding her whole life. And now they must try and work as a team to protect each other.

Gone Tonight is a chilling story of bullying, domestic violence and abuse, fear and so much more. With a twisty ending, this story will haunt you for awhile!

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

The Trade Off is another outstanding thriller by Sandie Jones author of The Other Woman, a Reese’s Book Club pick. It’s intriguing plot and in-depth portrayal of the cutthroat goings on at a tabloid newspaper, something Jones herself is very familiar with will shock the reader. Along with characters you will love/hate and a story which will both infuriate and surprise, The Trade Off is a must read.

Jess finally gets her big break as a reporter for The Globe, a tabloid paper. She is both nervous and excited. She wants to make a difference. She is also very, very naive.

Stella is the deputy editor of the paper. She and Max, the editor of The Globe have a long history of breaking unbelievably insane stories. It’s Stella’s dream to become the editor of the paper. Stella will do anything for a story…even by helping it along to make it much more sensational. Years before she and Max actually put someone in jail.

During Jess’s first assignment, she witnesses just what lengths the paper will go to assist a story along and she is shaken. She can’t forgive herself for the part she played. She realizes The Globe builds stories out of thin air.

But when Jess is promised it will never happen again, she agrees to another story. Unbeknownst to her she is once again used and this time the outcome is tragic. There was no reason for Stella to do what she did.

So, Jess begins to investigate Stella and what she discovers puts her not only in the line of fire but opens up a long-buried hornet’s nest. But even with what Jess knows, she can’t believe what is truly happening and that she is in danger. All she ever wanted to do was fight the good fight for those who couldn’t and now she is the target.

The Trade Off is an intense psychological thriller with incredible twists in the story lines and an exceptionally powerful ending.

Thank you #NetGalley #MinotaurBooks #SandieJones #TheTradeOff for the advanced copy.

Ghosted is a fascinating young adult book about finding oneself after a tragic loss and understanding you are not the only one grieving, and people grieve very differently. It’s learning how to deal with the guilt and anger which comes with this loss, and learning how to let go of it all so you can start anew and be the person you want to be and not be who you think others want you to be.

Hattie Tilney is a senior at Northanger Abbey. You would think she would be on cloud nine as she prepares her college applications and enjoys being with her friends. But unfortunately, Hattie’s dad, her best friend passed away prior to them arriving at the school which her mother had gotten the job as headmistress.

Her father had been so excited to move and explore Northanger Abbey because ghost hunting had been Hattie and her dad’s favorite pastime. It was their thing. And Northanger was notorious for their ghosts, even having a school club which hunted them.

But he never made the trip and now Hattie, her younger brother Liam, older sister Frankie and their mother are here, each dealing with the death of their father very differently. Hattie continues to mourn her father, Liam has gotten very quiet, Frankie dropped out of school and their mom, well she is never around, always at work.

Hattie copes by trying to please her mother and be the best daughter ever, never making waves even when she would rather be doing something else. But when her mother decides Hattie should take the new transfer student, Kit Morland, who is on a scholarship for the paranormal around and mentor him knowing that’s what Hattie and her dad use to do, well Hattie hates the idea. But as usual, anything to please her mother.

But what ends up happening is that through Kit, and their disagreements on do ghosts exist, something Hattie is now adamant do not! she begins to feel a change come over her and as their friendship begins to grow. Hattie starts to find her own voice and finally begins to understand the loss of her dad and how it has affected them all.

Not everyone is happy with the new Hattie. Her friends begin to see her change and don’t particularly care for it, her siblings don’t care for it either and her mother, well is she had been around more would perhaps have noticed something been available to help.

As her family continues to spiral out of control, Hattie has a crisis which could change her future forever. And that is the catalyst which begins the healing process for all of them as they bond together as the family they use to be and help her. That’s when her realization that her dad spent all his time searching for ghosts and when he died Hattie spent all her time trying to escape hers finally sets her free.

Ghosted is a terrific read about what happens when people are grieving but must continue to act as if nothing happened. It’s a heartfelt story with a bit of wit, romance and growing up all thrown together to make for a satisfying read.

Thank you #NetGalley #WednesdayBooks #Ghosted #AmandaQuain for the advanced copy.

The Deja Glitch is an adorable, funny, sensitive story with lots of charm and romance. Its unique plot makes the reader want to plow through the story to find out how it’s going to end while cheering on our two main characters.

Gemma Peters is a radio producer trying to succeed without anyone’s help, (her father being a god in the music business). Although she pretends everything is always fine, she can’t forgive her father for his past mistakes as she grew up as well as choosing her ex-boyfriend, who she thought was the love of her life over her.

Now her brother is flying in to meet with Gemma and her father. Gemma never sees her father alone. He’s having a difficult time getting there. Gemma has a very routine oriented life. Work, seeing her best friend Lila, a social media guru and the true love of her life, Rex (her dog).

Until one night…

She meets a stranger at Lila’s birthday party and ends up kissing him not knowing who he is or where he came from.

Until the next day…

When she literally bumps into said mystery man (Jack) in a coffee shop and he spills coffee all over her favorite shirt. They talk. It’s odd, he seems to know so much about her. Have they met before?

Then he explains what’s happening…

Gemma finds out that she and Jack have for some reason been living the same day over and over again unbeknownst to her. She thinks Jack is crazy, (cute) but crazy. But he does seem to know what her every move will be. So, Jack takes her to someone who has been trying to help him through this. A scientist who tries to explain this loop they are in. But Gemma has one question. If this is true, why hasn’t she ever been able to remember Jack from the night before? He explains that this has been the farthest he’s ever gotten to have her remember him. Why she asks?

The kiss last night.

And Jack has a theory. He believes if he and Gemma fall in love, the loop will be broken, and they will go back to normal. Although she’s not sure if this is really a trick or if it will help her to getting her life back, she decides to try it Jack’s way. And they begin to spend the day together with all types of crazy obstacles, some Jack knows about and others which just seem to come out of the blue. Is it possible two people can fall in love so quickly without knowing anything about each other?

Well, in this charming, sweet story we will certainly find out. And perhaps what they learn about each other and themselves will serve as the basis for a new beginning. The Deja Glitch is an adorable story with charm and romance. Oh, did I already say that?

Thank you #NetGalley #Dutton #HollyJames #TheDejaGlitch for the advanced copy.

Heather Webber’s magical, beautiful, uplifting writing of stories continues to treat her readers with another wonderful unique story, At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities. Her characters, stubborn, strong, quirky. Their problems secret, hidden deep in their souls, but the love they have for each other obvious which makes the story so romantic.

Ava Harrison broke up with her boyfriend and then he died. She is guilt ridden. Unable to pick up the pieces of her life which according to her late ex is so predictable and without risk, she decides to try new things, one of which is to apply for a job out of her comfort zone. After her ex passed away, Ava found a note. It was a classified ad for a job as the caretaker of an elderly man in a seaside town called Driftwood, Alabama. She has no idea where it came from, but she decides to travel to Driftwood and apply for the job.

There she meets Maggie Mae Brightwell who runs the local coffee and curiosity shop named Magpies. It’s her father’s now, but it was owned by her mother, the light of Maggie’s life who went missing when she was a young girl. Her father, Dez seems to be causing an uprising in the town as the rumor mill believes he is getting ready to sell the beloved shop. Maggie begins to think Dez’s age has caught up with him as he lives alone in the family house, is a bit of a packrat and claims to hear ghosts up in the attic. He also lives with a crotchety cat named Molly who only seems to like Dez.

So, when Ava shows up out of the blue, Maggie is grateful to have someone watch over her father. Maggie likes to keep busy, very busy so she doesn’t have to think about her past and her mother. But when Ava and Maggie meet, they bond over the losses in their lives and seem to be two old souls who were somehow destined to meet.

Both are holding on to what has happened to them from years ago, with fears of what may come, with regrets for what they did or didn’t do. But with the help of Estrelle, a mysterious elderly woman who owns a local shop who seems to have insight into just about everything, and who is feared (in a good way) by just about everyone, those feelings may soon change.

And Ava and Maggie do begin to see their pasts and futures differently as they allow those who they have always kept at arm’s length into their lives. Although they are afraid, they begin to open their wings and fly like confident butterflies to help not only themselves, but each other and those they love in this small town.

At The Coffee Shop of Curiosities is an exceptionally joyful read with funny, adorable townspeople and a satisfying ending which will continue to make you smile even after you’ve put the book on your own shelf.

Thank you #NetGalley #ForgeBooks/MacmillanPublishing #HeatherWebber #AtTheCoffeeShopofCuriousities for the advanced copy.