Lisa's Cubby

Helen and her husband Daniel have been trying to get pregnant for years. Although able to conceive, Helen has been unable to take a child to full-term. So, when Helen becomes pregnant again, there is a cautious optimism. Then she and Daniel find out her brother Rory and his wife, Helen’s best friend Serena are expecting as well. What could be better for this foursome who have been friends since college and with Daniel and Rory who are working together in the architecture business, which was Helen and Rory’s father’s.

Although the other three have vibrant personalities, Helen is a timid wallflower who blends in with the background, is unable to stick up for herself and always feels when something goes wrong it is because of her. She has a difficult time making friends thus her limited circle.

With the pregnancy going so well and being told due to her history, she should begin her maternity leave early, she and Daniel decide to take the prenatal classes that have been suggested. Unfortunately, Daniel cannot attend the first class and Helen is stuck there alone. There she meets a young woman, alone as well, with a very boisterous personality who seems to be drawn to her. She agrees to go out with her after the class and proceeds to watch as the young girl drinks and smokes even though she is pregnant. Although not Helen’s cup of tea, Rachel seems to pop up at different places she is at. Helen, feeling bad for Rachel who seems to not have any friends and with Helen having so much time on her hands tries her best to be there for her, although she feels something is very off with the young girl.

Suddenly her husband seems to be withdrawing. She believes it is because of the work they are doing on the house Helen inherited from her parents and the stress of Daniel working with her brother Rory who has never been very motivated. As Helen sees more of her new friend, the uneasiness of their relationship continues. Rachel doesn’t have a job, yet she has a lot of money. She refuses to talk about the father of her unborn baby and seems to continue to drink and smoke without guilt She seems to want to meet all of Helen’s family and friends and even invites herself to a family get together.

But their relationship takes a bad turn when Rachel turns up at their door one day with bruises on her neck and says she fears for her life. From whom, she will not say, but begs Helen and Daniel to let her stay with them. Reluctantly Daniel agrees. As Rachel’s time with them seems to drag on, Helen begins to think Rachel is at their house for another reason. But what?

While all this is going on, Helen is just trying to maintain a sense of calm as she has never been this close to having a healthy baby. Daniel wants Rachel gone, and when Helen begins snooping in Rachel’s room, she discovers items which should not be there. How can she tell this young girl she needs to go?

Helen and Daniel have a last hurrah party before their baby is born. As the party seems to get out of control that night Helen has an argument and kicks Rachel out of her house. Unable to remember much about the night itself, when the police show up informing them that Rachel has been reported missing, Helen’s life begins to fall apart. What happened that night? Did she hurt Rachel? Where is Rachel?

What is discovered will blow the reader’s mind! How this tight group of friends for so many years could have harbored so many hidden secrets from each other is beyond belief. Then as the skeletons begin to be exposed the reader will be in awe up to and including the last sentence of the book!

This book is mesmerizingly exciting and would make an incredible beach read!

The Golden Couple has so many twists which keep coming one after the other after the other until the reader can’t seem to take anymore, but then they incredibly continue!

When Marissa and Matthew Bishop hit an impasse in their marriage, Marissa has been unfaithful and is afraid to tell Matthew, she convinces him to go to a marriage counselor under the guise of helping their 8-year-old son, Brandon. When they arrive at their first appointment, Matthew is hit with the realization his marriage was not as perfect as he thought.

Avery Chambers is a therapist who has recently lost her license but is still working just calling what she does crisis counseling. Her methods are unique and difficult, but those who stick with her, she promises will have a satisfactory outcome.

During the Bishop’s first session, Avery can see Marissa and Matthew are not being perfectly honest with her, but Avery has ways of finding out what and why they are keeping secrets. And the Bishops are both secret keepers. Part counselor and part detective she begins to see Marissa and Matthew who look as if they have it all, the golden couple to all those on the outside, may not be perfect or truthful. The more Avery digs, the less she is convinced of their outcome.

But while dealing with her increasing number of clients, Avery is also having her own personal issues. She is being stalked by a corporation for assisting one of their employees in whistleblowing. They seem to know things about her no one should. Find her at their will and let it be known they will not stop until they get what they need.

So as the Bishops try to repair their broken marriage someone seems to not be too pleased. Anonymous flowers and notes are sent to Marissa’s work, strange texts arrive. Matthew starts to become suspicious. Marissa starts to be concerned it could be the man she cheated with, someone whose name she has yet to divulge to either husband or Avery. Her assistant Polly, seems to be acting strange as well. She has begun to emulate Marissa’s wardrobe, hairstyle and perfume. She also seems to be getting closer to Matthew for some reason.

Then just when Marissa sees the light at the end of the tunnel and feels she and Matthew are finally headed in the right direction, Avery and the Bishop’s worlds collide into an astonishing ending which is devastating, shocking and chilling. The Golden Couple is brilliantly cleverly written, and I miss Avery already!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #GreerHenricksandSarahPekkanen #TheGoldenCouple for the advanced copy.

Death in the Sunshine is a well-crafted murder mystery about four retired investigators, three from England and one from America. They all find themselves in a Florida retirement community known as The Homestead. The association prides itself for its safety with a nightly watch group of residence to make it even more so. So, when Moira, a pretty new resident and former DCI Investigator from England returns from her morning walk and finds a dead body floating in one of the pools on the property with thousands of dollar bills surrounding the corpse, needless to say she is pretty shaken.

Another resident, Philp, a former detective from London sees Moira in distress as she is speaking with the police and tries to help. Not only do the police not want his help, but Moira, who is trying to keep her former life a secret from the residence just wants him to go away. But Philip is persistent and insists Moira come and meet his wife Lizzie, a former CSI person, and Rick a former police officer.

As they begin to discuss the evidence Moira has witnessed at the crime scene, they come to the conclusion that not only do the police not want any outside help but have missed important clues. They decide that as a group they will secretly investigate the death and if they find out anything then they will bring it to the police.

The first piece of the puzzle falls into place when they discover there have been a rash of burglaries at the property which seem to have been squashed by the higher ups at the retirement community, perhaps because they fear it will not look too good to potential residence. The question becomes are the two crimes connected and what evidence can they gleam from the stolen property which could tie into the murder.

As Moira tries to keep her past from becoming her present, she finds herself being stalked by someone. Unfortunately, she is not sure the person is after her for looking into the recent crimes, or for the reason she decided to retire from a job she loved but due to her last case which had such a devastating ending, she needed to leave.

And Philip and Lizzie seem to have some skeletons in their past as well. Although Philip retired due to health issues, Lizzie seems to believe there is more to his story than he is telling her which breaks her heart that he feels he needs to keep secrets from her.

Retirement should never be this hard! As the group works together to solve the puzzles, they begin to open up to each other about their past lives and what brought them to this retirement community which they hoped would be so relaxing it would solve all their previous worries! But the group, through their questioning of suspects, has put themselves in danger. Can they solve these crimes before one of them becomes the next victim? Why does it seem the police continually seem to look the other way?

Death in the Sunshine is a terrific cozy filled with murder, mayhem and mystery. Enough so that I am sure book two will continue to give us more information about the retirees’ past lives as they continue to try and enjoy The Homestead.

Thank you #Goodreads #Thomas&Mercer #StephBroadribb #DeathintheSunshine for the advanced copy.

Listening Still is the story of a woman who can speak to the dead. Jeanie Masterson is an undertaker in a small Irish town. Her family has owned a funeral home going back to her father’s father. She and her father have a gift. They are able to hear the last requests or words of those customers who choose to speak. Some of the dead just want their family members to know they loved them, while others need to relay information or secrets they have kept hidden for years. Others just ask for forgiveness.

Although Jeanie wanted to go to college in London and explore different career options, she always knew there was a family obligation for her to stay in their small town and keep the family business going. It was important to her that the gift she was given was used the way it had been intended. She owed that to the people who needed to speak through her.

She even married her childhood friend, Niall who became an embalmer and had loved her since they were very young. He was not the love of her life though. He moved to London for college and even though he begged her to join him, the obligation to her family was too overwhelming. Just another regret.

But Jeanie is now at a crossroads in her life. Her parents have just informed her that they are retiring and moving away leaving the business to her and her husband and her aunt. It is just expected Jeanie will take over. But Jeanie feels the itch of trying something different. Niall has begun to pressure Jeanie to have children, something she was never too keen on for fear she would pass her gift along and have the cycle of feeling trapped continue.

Intertwined through the story are some of the problems of the dead which Jeanie has helped resolve through the years, some good, some shocking and some which helped the living to move on.

But suddenly she begins to see that while everyone else seems to be putting their needs first, she on the other hand has never done that for herself. All through her life she has always done what was expected of her, not what she has really wanted to do. But what is it that she really wants? How on earth could she tell all the people in her life that she wants something more? Something which may not include some of them?

Jeanie needs to not only speak for the dead, but she needs to have the courage to finally speak up for herself in this incredibly unique heartfelt story about love and loss.

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #ListeningStill #AnneGriffin for the advanced copy.

The Eighth Detective is one of the most intriguingly different books I have ever read. With mystery after mystery, plot twist after plot twist and a surprise ending the premise of the book was both fascinating and unlike any I have encountered.

Grant McAllister wrote seven detective stories over twenty years ago. A mathematician by trade, he felt any detective novel could be figured out by deduction of possible suspects and killers. He then proceeded to write these narratives proving his point.

Julia Hart is an editor who was fascinated with McAllister’s theory and has come to the secluded Mediterranean Island where he has been living for years to see if he would be interested in republishing the stories.

McAllister who has not published since his early stories came out is curious as to Hart’s interest. He is not sure he is even interested but agrees to meet with Julia and they begin to discuss the plots as well as how he was able to mathematically predict each stories conclusion. Suddenly, Julia starts to see inconsistencies in the stories. When asked, McAllister finds he cannot really remember some of the parts, perhaps due to his age as his memory seems to be failing.

Julia continues to push McAllister who continues to refuse to give reasons for some of his writing tactics in the stories. She begins to question why he will not open up to her. She forms a theory and begins to put a trap in place to find out just what McAllister is hiding. In doing so, she opens up an astounding can of worms.

There are so many interesting facets of each detective story which are laid out in chapters and then each story is discussed by Hart and McAllister as to how he deduced the killer. But not only are there mysteries buried in each story, there seems to be a mystery buried in the present-day life of McAllister. Can Julia pull that out of McAllister?

This book would be a dream read for a lover of detective stories! It is also an incredibly well-crafted mystery as well for those who like to sink their teeth into a meaty puzzle!

The Harbor is Book 3 in the wonderfully crafted series of Copenhagen detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner who always find themselves in unique situations both personally and professionally as they try to solve mysterious deaths. Engberg’s unique plots and plot twists immediately grab the reader’s attention with of course the usual gasp at its unlikely conclusion.

The story also has pop-ins from characters who were in previous books such as roommates Esther and Gregers whose lives the readers are just as much invested in as we are the two detectives.

The story begins with a missing fifteen-year-old named Oscar Dreyer-Hoff who disappeared on his way home from school. His parents who own a profitable gallery think he has been the victim of a kidnapping. There was a note found at the home, but it’s meaning seems to make no sense. Is it possible someone other than a kidnapper could have written it? Something does not feel right about the whole kidnapping scenario to Detectives Korner and Werner. On top of this, Oscar’s family does not seem to be too open to giving out information.

Then it is discovered the Oscar’s father’s boat and boat key are missing from the harbor dock in which it is kept. Could Oscar have taken the boat? Or someone else? Was Oscar trying to get away from someone?

As the clues begin to pile up, it is discovered by interviewing some of the teachers at school that Oscar’s best friend, may have been sexually abused, and Oscar’s brother Victor had been bullying children at school which was squashed somehow and by someone. But what could Oscar’s involvement have been?

Then another body is found. Are too many questions being asked? Could they be getting close to what really happened? As the two detectives are in a race to save Oscar from whatever his fate, and with the family seemingly hiding things, they try to piece together Oscar’s last day and what could have happened.

In the meantime, Korner who has fallen in love is practically living full-time with his girlfriend and her two children, a situation which seems to be giving both of them anxiety as Korner who may be a brilliant detective has no idea about children. And Anette, who had a surprise baby with her husband a short while ago, is not sure she loves him anymore and suddenly feels tempted in ways she never imagined.

As they race to find Oscar, what Korner and Warner discover are chilling lies, secrets and skeletons which have hidden for years. The Harbor has it all! Surprising suspects and an amazing ending with more a personal storyline of the detectives and their friends lives which any reader of the series is now invested in.

The Harbor is intriguing, messy and juicy!

Thank you #NetGalley #Gallery/ScoutPress #TheHarbor #KatrineEngberg for the advanced copy.

Jodie “Nosey” Parker and her daughter Daisy have moved back to Jodie’s hometown after her bitter divorce. It is a small Cornish village where everybody knows everybody and everybody’s business. But her mother lives there and so do her friends from her childhood.

A former police officer, Jodie has decided to change her career. She has opened a catering company and by luck her ex-boyfriend Tony has become her first client. Tony is getting married, and their caterer has backed out. Although Tony is thrilled Jodie has said yes, his fiancée Cheryl does not seem as excited. Cheryl does not give Jodie that warm and fuzzy feeling, but Tony seems to adore her so that’s all that matters.

Hoping her first catering job ever “kills it”, unfortunately does not go as planned. The night before the wedding, Tony’s ex-wife Mel shows up and starts an argument at the rehearsal dinner telling Tony that Cheryl does not really love him and is just marrying him for his money. Tony owns an antique shop.

The next morning, Mel is found dead at the hotel site and Cheryl is missing, although her car and suitcase are still on the premises. Tony is despondent and can’t believe Cheryl would kill Mel or disappear without talking to him. He asks Jodie to see if she can find out what happened to Mel and why Cheryl has vanished.

In the meantime, DCI Withers, has been put in charge of the case and he has no patience for Jodie’s meddling. Nor does he feel he needs any assistance from a caterer. No matter how hard Jodie tries to help, it seems Withers has his eyes on only one suspect. He then arrests Tony for the murder of his ex-wife! Jodie knows Tony would never hurt anybody, well she hopes he wouldn’t and against the advice of her mother and the inspector who has had quite enough of her antics, she puts her detective’s hat back on.

So, who did kill Mel and where on earth is Cheryl? How is it possible for such a small village to have so much drama, AND so many suspects??

Murder on the Menu is a very funny, interesting cozy mystery with a terrific surprise ending. It would be very easy for the reader to fall in love with all the interesting characters found in this tiny village. Since this is Book 1, I can only assume there will be a second and quite frankly I can’t wait!

Thank you #NetGalley #OneMoreChapter/HarperCollins #FionaLeitch #MurderontheMenu for the advanced copy.

This building on London Lane will never be the same!

This morning, the occupants of the London Lane building each received a note under their doors which basically said someone in the building has been diagnosed with this new mysterious virus and in order to prevent the spread within the building there will be a 7-day quarantine. No one is allowed to leave the building, and no one is allowed to enter.

This adorable story follows some of the tenants in the building who are now “stuck”. The question becomes which of the tenants’ relationships will survive the week!

Isla and Danny have been dating for a month. Danny has never seen the “real” Isla, who is very routine oriented, does not cook, and hides trinkets when Danny comes over because she doesn’t want to embarrass herself. Now Danny must stay there for the week! Isla’s first thought is how on earth will she poop? Can she hold it for a week? Still in their honeymoon phase, will Isla be capable of keeping the charade up, or will Danny find the real Isla impossible to live with?

Ethan and Charlotte live together and love each other. Sure, Ethan sometimes takes Charlotte for granted, but they are happy. Ethan is a video influence blogger and Charlotte has always supported his job. Charlotte was not home at the time of the lockdown. She was actually downstairs coming home from a weekend at her parent’s house when she was told she could not come in. Will absence make the hearts grow fonder, or will out of sight out of mind win the day?

Imogen finds out about the quarantine as she is trying to sneak out of the apartment of her can’t remember the name one-night stand’s apartment. What on earth will they do for the week? How will they ever survive when they don’t even know each other’s last names?

Zach and Serena have lived together for four years, although their friends and families said it would never last! They have always been on different shifts, so their time together had been limited. Now, they are in their tiny apartment together with nowhere to go. They are just not use to so much togetherness. And well, there is Selena’s sudden realization that Zach likes pineapple on his pizza! Could this be the deal breaker?

Liz loves living alone, but her weekend has been anything but quiet. She hosted a bridesmaid weekend party for her best friend which included other friends of the bride, some of which she did not even know. Now not only are they making a mess of her small apartment, but they are beginning to get on each other’s nerves. Then the bride hears that her fiancée thinks they should postpone the wedding and well…

Lockdown on London Lane is an enjoyable, fun, laugh out loud read when you have a few hours to spare, or perhaps, when you find yourself quarantined!

Thank you #NetGalley #WbyWattpadBooks #BethReekles #LockdownonLondonLane for the advanced copy.

Delilah Dawson’s book The Violence is a very hard book to get through, but an important read for those who have been abused in some way, shape or form. Which probably embodies all of us. But as Dawson writes at the end of the book, “Living well is the best revenge.”.

Chelsea Martin’s life looks perfect on the outside. Perfect husband, two daughters 17-year-old Ella and 5-year-old Brooklyn in a perfect house. Pretending is exhausting. Her husband David physically and emotionally abuses her, he makes sure she has limited money and no access to accounts, he demands they all greet him at the garage door when he comes home from work, the meals they eat are all his favorites, and when he begins to drink at dinner…well… that’s when most of the physical abuse begins, something Chelsea has tried desperately to keep hidden from her children. Unfortunately, David has set his sights on Ella and now Chelsea fears everything is escalating.

David’s best friends are a police officer and a lawyer, so Chelsea’s escape seems unattainable. Her mother, Patricia, is a self-absorbed, egotistic woman who cares only about herself and money. After an abhorrent childhood, and abusive relationship, she feels she is due the wealth and security she now has with her husband who is a judge. Yes, so she has seen her only daughter Chelsea with a few bruises, but she believes Chelsea should just try harder to make her marriage work. And help her leave financially? Well, that’s just not her problem. Chelsea’s children are spoiled as it is.

But Chelsea begins to finally see a way out of this abuse. After the Covid pandemic, another type of sickness has begun. It seems to have started in Florida where they live. No one knows how, but people are being affected. They are calling it the Violence because it causes a person infected to explode into a horrible rage physically mutilating anyone around them, be it person or animal. Then, the rage leaves and the infected has no idea of what they have just done.

Chelsea devises a scheme to get David out of their lives. And it works, but the real problems truly begin when she goes to her mother, Patricia to ask for help because she has no money and needs to get out of Florida. Patricia refuses to help her but agrees to take her children. Left with no choice she leaves them with her uncaring mother, promising she will come back for them.

But this is a pandemic like no other and through no fault of anybody their lives take separate paths. And then David comes back and wants to get his revenge on them all. Each of them will be challenged in ways they could never imagine. They have three options, fight for themselves, fight for each other or fight together against both the Violence and David. Can these women finally face their pasts and create a new future?

This is a powerful story about generational abuse and how it is possible to break the cycle by strength, love and forgiveness. Again, living well IS the best revenge.

Thank you #NetGalley #DelRay #DelilahS.Dawson #TheViolence for the advanced copy.

This poignantly, beautifully written story is about the correspondence between two very different women in different stages of their lives during the early 1960’s and the development of a lifelong friendship which began when one of them wrote a simple letter to the other about food.

It all begins innocently when twenty-seven-year-old Joan Bergstrom, whose dream is to write about food, sends a letter to fifty-nine-year-old Imogen Fortier, a columnist for Northwest Home Life complimenting her on her latest column. She encloses a packet of saffron as a suggestion as to how to cook muscles. Joan lives in Los Angeles and Imogen, Camano Island in Washington.

What starts out as simple letters about food and recipes, begins to turn into a deep friendship about problems, loves, and hidden secrets. They begin sharing not only recipes, but their feelings about the world during that time, the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy’s assassination, and women being treated equally in the workplace.

Through their correspondence, Joan learns about Imogen’s relationship with her husband, who has now become obsessed with cooking because of their communication. Imogen learns about a crush Joan has on a man, but in those days is frowned upon. As the friendship evolves into two best friends writing about their secrets, they begin to become each other’s cheerleaders and emotional support systems.

They both seem to get such strength and joy from each other with the simplicity of just words. Sometimes the letters are filled with happiness and unfortunately, sometimes with tremendous sorrow, as their friendship is tested throughout the years.

What started out as one simple note about adding saffron to muscles, turns into a lifetime of friendship, love, and companionship which will last forever. Kim Fay’s story Love & Saffron will make you cherish your true friendships. You may even want to give them a tight squeeze!

Thank you #NetGalley #G.P.Putnam’sSons #Kim Fay #Love&Saffron for the advanced copy.