The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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A Fashionably French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

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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

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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

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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

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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.