Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours

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Needy Little Things is a wonderfully suspenseful, mysterious story which will keep you reading and on the edge of your seat the whole time! Although a young adult novel, this adult was engrossed from the first page. It’s imaginative, poignant and heartfelt. But also filled with peculiar characters and relatable family issues.

Sariyah Lee Bryant is a “hearer”. What does that mean? Well, she is able to hear what some people need by somehow listening to their thoughts. For example, as she walks by a school mate she may hear pencil, candy, tissue. She actually carries a bag she calls the Santa Claus bag in which is packed with things she feels she will need to distribute.

She can read most people, except for her family and best friend Malcolm. She does not understand this. But feels it’s perhaps for the best. Her family life is difficult. Her younger brother is ill, and her single mother is always depressed. Sariyah tries desperately to keep the family together. That is her main goal. She worries about everyone but herself. But suddenly her mother has lost her job and won’t come out of her room which now Sariyah feels she must once again become the mother and provider.

Worst of all her friend Deja disappears at an outdoor concert which Sariyah was supposed to be watching her friend knowing she had asked her for pepper spray. This hits too close to home for her and Malcom as his sister Tess disappeared years ago never to be seen again. She was Sariyah’s best friend whom she still dreams about.

Now Sariyah feels she must figure out what happened to Deja as the police are not very interested, as well as make some extra money as her mother has taken to her bed. She begins to sell her services in a bad part of a bad city.

As she begins to put the pieces together as to what could possibly have happened to her friend, what she discovers makes no sense. This information will put her life in jeopardy. But she will not allow what happened to Tess to happen to Deja.

The ending is shocking but will make Sariyah realize what is important in life as well as reevaluate herself and her future plans.

Needy Little Things is an inventive, creative story with a wonderful mystery, which addresses many present-day issues but also takes a somber look at life and family issues but gives a spark of hope, togetherness and friendship.

Thank you #NetGalley #WednesdayBooks #ChannelleDesamours #NeedyLittleThings for the advanced copy.

The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict

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I know I say this ever time, but Marie Benedict is brilliant! The Queens of Crime is a juicy murder mystery which is trying to be solved by none other than the greatest women mystery writers of their time. Actually based on an incident which happened to writer Dorothy Sayers in the 1930’s, Benedict has created an exciting story as the five women writers, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Emma Orczy, Margery Allingham and Sayers herself decide after being belittled by a group of men authors in a club the woman were “allowed” to join, dub themselves The Queens of Crime and take it upon themselves to figure out how a nurse from England went missing in France and was found dead. As they rely on their own masterful created detectives, they are able to piece together the extraordinary circumstances as to what happened and quite honestly embarrass the police.

May Daniels and her friend, both nurses, decided to spend their few days off together, going to a play and vising France. But unfortunately, May never returned to England. She went into the woman’s bathroom at the end of the trip before boarding the boat back to England and not only never came out but was never seen again and months later her body was found in woods with blood under her body and a syringe nearby. The police felt the case was closed and considered it a drug overdose. End of story.

But Dorothy Sayers, who was married to a journalist, felt something was off. She decides that the police don’t know what they are doing and suggests to her new friends the women in mystery, Queen of Crimes that they begin their own investigation into what could have happened to the young girl. And to add to this mystery, they are able to find a letter, which of course the police missed, which will send them down a path they could never imagine.

Thus begins their investigation into murder and the antics and their intuitiveness used to begin to piece the puzzle back together one step at a time. But unfortunately, this process will put one of their lives in jeopardy and will have a deep dark secret this writer has been keeping exposed. But through it all as they retrace May’s steps and sometimes get on each other’s nerves, these five strong women will discover they are better together than alone.

The Queens of Crime is a wonderful mix of their imaginative detectives…Poirot of course, Inspector Roderick Alleyn, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Albert Campion and Lord Peter Wimsey. It was truly enjoyable and of course shows women empowering women which is Benedict’s main achievement in her writings. I am sure if still alive these women would be beaming at her!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #MarieBenedict @TheQueensofCrime for the advanced copy.

The Really Dead Housewives of New Jersey by Astrid Dahl

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For those Housewife of (name a city) fans, this book should be a must read! It is hilarious, dramatic, filled with hate, deceit, egos and murder. It is so very good! The housewives in the story are composites of some of the real housewives. The most fun I had was trying to piece together which real character each character was based on! The book will catapult the reader into the dizziness of the multiple story lines of these well-developed pretty narcissistic characters with an ending made for television!

Hope Bennett is the newest cast member of the Garden State Goddess cast set in New Jersey. She is also the cousin of the producer of the series. She has recently married another cast member’s brother, Leo. Carmela, the sister of Leo who is an original cast member and known for causing trouble is not pleased with the casting and will make sure Hope knows it every chance she can get.

The saga starts immediately when one of the housewives is found dead. The reader has no idea which, but that sets the story to go back in time which leads up to who the late cast member is.

Thus begins the story of each housewife, their backstory, their secrets, their drinking and drug problems and much, much more! At the end of each chapter, you will get a taste of each member’s “confessional” and what it takes to get something out of each of them.

The story itself is a wild ride you won’t want to get off and the ending will make you feel as if you were in an actual season of Real Housewives where there is hairpulling and lying, shock and horror and make-up and hair and drunk women galore! It was a very fun read!

Thank you #NetGalley #Simon&Schuester #AstridDahl #TheReallyDeadWivesofNewJersey for the advanced copy.

To Sicily with Love by Jennifer Probst

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To Sicily with Love is a beautiful love story between a mother and daughter, a woman and a country and a woman who finds not only a family, but also a soulmate. The message of the story is so important…sometimes a woman’s greatest loss can become her greatest strength in life.

Aurora York is a superstar! She can do it all! She has a popular podcast, is a life coach, and is writing a book. She has a wonderful boyfriend Jason who is just as busy as she is, and they both treat their bodies like temples. An only child and with her father’s tragic passing, it is her responsibility to take care of her mother who continually tries to malign her lifestyle. She doesn’t care for her boyfriend and feels Aurora starves herself. She reluctantly makes the trek to her house alone as little as possible, not realizing this visit where she tries to convince her to stay for dinner would be the last time she sees or speaks to her.

She is devastated at the loss of her mother. Now she is truly alone with no family or relatives, only Jason who himself is constantly busy. At first, she feels she is holding it all together, but as her emotions and feelings get the best of her, she begins to have breakdowns one in particular which is on air.

She decides to put her book on hold and seek help. One of the suggestions is to do a DNA test to see if she can find any relatives, she was unaware of. What she discovers will change the trajectory of her life forever!

Unbeknownst to her, her mother was born in Sicily and left her family behind to come to America. But the family she left including her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all still live in a small seaside town in Sicily. Against the wishes of her boyfriend but encouragement of her therapist she decides to go meet them and stay for ten days.

She is of course overwhelmed by these people who pull her in and love her unconditionally even though they did not know she existed. Her grandparents, especially her grandfather does not have much to say to her still angry that his daughter abandoned the family all those years ago. But they refuse to tell her why.

Aurora’s light begins to shine as she spends time and many, many meals (and carbs) with her relatives, laughing, going to church and learning the language. The more time she is there, the more it feels like a home. And of course, there is a very handsome man who continually gives her sage advice.

As her time in Sicily draws to an end, she begins to feel a loss she never imagined. She still does not have the answers to all her questions, or even what the life she knew is even worth her time anymore, and there is the mystery as to why her mother left and never mentioned having a family to her at all.

To Sicily with Love is full of love and hope as well as guilt, but most importantly, it’s about finding out who you really are in so many ways, slowing down and looking around for the beauty which can be seen through yours and other people’s eyes as well, including the main character of this wonderful story, Sicily.

Thank you #NetGalley #Berkley #JenniferProbst #ToSicilywithLove for the advanced copy.

What In The World? by Leanne Morgan

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We were fortunate to be invited to watch former SNL comedian and musician Fred Armisen try out some new stand-up comedy material and music at an event last year. After his sets he did a Q&A with the audience and one of the questions asked was who he thought was a new upcoming comedian. His answer was Leanne Morgan. My ears perked up. What in the world? I had somewhat heard of her, but new and upcoming was a surprise as she is in her fifties. Then, lo and behold she had her own Netflix comedy special about a month later. I watched it and fell absolutely in love. Then I found out she had a book coming out so, my love affair with her continued. And it honestly has not stopped!

Leanne Morgan although older has been in comedy since she came out of the womb. But especailly starting in her twenties. Born in rural Tennessee, her parents owned a meat plant, the only one for miles and they serviced just about everybody. Leanne writes that when she was little people knew she was behind them because of her smell. Read the book!

She knew at a young age she was headed to Hollywood, never knowing how she was going to get there, but just that she would. She was always told she was beautiful and used it to her advantage! Again, read the book. Both her parents but especially her mother always encouraged her to go after her dreams, always made she and her sister feel loved and special, so Leanne decided to go after everything! She made many good choices, but unfortunately the bad ones were bad.

In her charming storytelling style (watch the Netflix special) she goes into great laugh out loud details about how she only wanted to finish college and go to Hollywood. Well, her first pass at college led to her dropping out. But her parents never gave up hope for her and once Leanne grew up a bit with their financial help she graduated.

She kissed a few frogs (read the book) and then met the love of her life Chuck Morgan (whom she calls Chuck Morgan) watch the Netflix special, and they began an unconventional life together. Chuck Morgan was a hard worker and saver who advanced in each company he worked. But that meant Leanne moved many, many times ending up on the Appalachian Trails living in a trailer with no steps. Oh, and she had babies too.

So Leanne decided if Chuck Morgan was going to be cheap, she would just get a job to try to buy herself and her children extras. She ended up selling jewelry at housewife parties which she not only became sought after by all the wives because she was so funny, but she also made a great deal of money. Then companies started calling her to do her comedy at their fundraisers.

She tells many hysterical stories about her three children as babies and toddlers, and you can honestly feel the love she has for each seep out in the stories. And how proud she and Chuck Morgan are now to have grandbabies!

She knew what direction she wanted her life to go in but was unprepared that meeting Hollywood would take as long as it did. But for sure she is an inspiration to anyone of a certain age.

Her stories of birthing her babies are laugh out loud funny. As are her stories of Chuck Morgan’s frugality. But don’t think this is just book full of comedy bits. She relays many sad and heartbreaking stories as well, in particular the loss of her best friend when her children were young. No, she didn’t die, she just ghosted her. Forever. To this day she still doesn’t know what happened and feels the loss this caused.

She has a great deal of faith and believes she has someone always looking out for her from above. There is one story when her mother was in the hospital, and they thought she was going to die in which she insists something beyond this world happened.

What In The World? is a funny, delightful feel-good book. You will truly laugh from the minute you begin it and feel so bad for yourself when it’s over. My only suggestion to enjoy this even more is to rather than buy the book which I did, treat yourself to the audio book which Morgan reads, and I heard bits of. I promise you won’t be sorry!

Published by Random House

A Christmas Ghost Story by Kim Newman

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A Christmas Ghost Story is a delightfully demented chilling mysterious ghost story within a story. It’s dangerously addictive as you begin the haunting climb to the unexpected ending. It’s a book which should be read in the daylight only… at night if you are brave!

It’s the Christmas season in England for Rust, a teenager and his mother Angie, a struggling novelist. It’s just the two of them and they don’t have much but come Christmas they splurge! But this Christmas everything seems to be off, and they don’t quite understand what is going on. Their first hint of a problem is when on December 1 Rust opens the first day of his advent calendar and there is something wrong with the taste of the chocolate.

Then, they begin to receive unsigned Christmas cards with ominous poetic writings in them. Rust wants to throw them out but Angie for some reason feels scared by doing that so they begin to put them on their mantel. Each day.

They try to figure out if this is some sort of a sick joke and even attempt to fool the writer of the cards and try to see who is putting them in their mailbox and on their property with no luck. They begin to feel it must be a ghost, but really, they are both too sensible. Each card is more frightening than the previous.

Worse, strange things begin to happen to them and their surroundings. Rust feels sick after eating the chocolate. A strange plant begins to overtake their backyard. And the Christmas turkey, well it just goes bad in the refrigerator.

But Angie fears she knows what’s happening and it has something to do with when she was a child and she secretly watched a Christmas horror story on the television without her parents knowing after they had gone to bed. More importantly is if she is correct, Rust is in danger. She must figure out how to stop this.

As she searches the internet for clues of the story she watched, she finds nothing. It’s as if it never existed. Did she imagine the whole thing? And as the days towards Christmas get closer, her fears grow because she knows what happens on December 25. How do they stop this?

A Christmas Ghost Story is a spine-chilling tale in which you won’t know the outcome until the very end. How can such a happy time take such a terrible turn? Well, you will certainly find out!

Thank you #NetGalley #TritonBooks #KimNewman #AChristmasGhostStory for the advanced copy.

The Rival by Emma Lord

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The Rival is a wonderful coming of age romance between two friends who have known each other since early childhood. Best friends from the start, something happens early on which in some ways changes their dynamic, but not their love for each other, although they don’t see that back then. What it does do is make them rivals in everything. Even bond they feel towards each other. The story is beautifully “Emma Lord” told as only she knows how. Most important, the positive messages enforced as these two friends must learn so much that they never knew about each other and themselves in order to move ahead in each other’s lives.

The story, filled with family expectations, versus their own beliefs and wants, changing friendships, but more importantly, learning on how to become an adult and accepting the fact they aren’t in high school anymore.

Sadie has just started college. She and her best friend are rooming together in a dorm, and she knows this is the beginning of her new life! She’s free to do what she chooses for the first time, and she does…by cutting her very long hair very short! Her first grown-up decision made by herself. She also feels free to explore other areas of her life as her best friend Seb decided to go to another school. The first time they have been apart since they were in diapers…well, practically. As rivals in everything Sadie wants to blossom on her own. Until she sees Seb walking towards her! This is a dream. It can’t be happening.

Now Sadie and Seb will once again have to breath the same air and yes, like it or not again compete with each other by no choice but their own. And the first competition will be for the only slot on the highly regarded school newspaper and sot after privilege. Sadie is already beginning to get depressed. But she decides she will fight to the bitter end to get what she knows she deserves.

As they both write their stories for the newspaper, a crisis arises on campus. Sadie begins to shine with some very avant-garde ideas which impress many on campus, including Seb. As they work together to fight the good fight, Sadie and Seb begin to realize it’s nice to work together, rather than trying beat the other.

But unfortunately, life is never that easy. They both have family issues which need to be sorted out and as they grow closer, they also need to sort out what happened all those years ago to make them what they became towards each other.

The Rival is a charming rom/com with many poignant messages about how to let go of insecurities, finally come into your own, decide what you really want to do in life and of course, realize sometimes best friends don’t have to always compete. They can actually just be in love.

Thank you #NetGalley #WednesdayBooks #EmmaLord #TheRival for the advanced copy.

The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

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The Wedding Witch was the long awaited third book in Sterling’s adorably funny Graves Glen series. It continues the story of the Penhallow men and their witchy loves. This story I believe is the best in the series yet. It has mystery, romance, a creative plot and of course lots of magic! It’s charming!

Bowen Penhallow, the last of the Penhallow brothers still single owns a bar and likes his privacy. He is indeed very grumpy, does not like to talk, let alone socialize with anyone. So, when his best friend, who is sort of a ghost, comes and begs him to attend the wedding of his girlfriend when he was alive, well he certainly can’t say no seeing as Bowen believes he caused his friend to become the ghost he is now.

Although when he gets there, he is shocked to find Tamsyn Bligh, a human who he secretly has a bit of a crush on and uses to find missing items he wishes to recover. Tamsyn is a free spirit who has Raiders of the Lost Ark vibes. She’s not afraid of anyone or anything, except when she thinks about her client Bowen, (and she does that a great deal)!

Tamsyn has decided to do a search for another client for a mysterious artifact and not tell Bowen who she is supposed to be working for exclusively. So Bowen is a bit angry to find her here.

But that anger turns to confusion as they are somehow transported back in time to Bowen’s grandparents’ wedding and to add to the chaos, his grandparents have had a fight and have called off the wedding! Which means if Bowen doesn’t fix this he will never be born and never have met Tasmyn!

They somehow must figure out how to fix whatever the problem is between his relatives and then assess how on earth they get out of this place and back to the future all while hoping they haven’t changed history.

As they begin to search for clues as to what has happened and how to get home. their relationship begins to change. They might actually like each other…a lot! Even more reason to try and get home. To add to their anxiety, they have been told they only have a certain amount of time to fix the problem, or they will no longer exist, like ever!

The Wedding Witch is a fun read with visits of course from our favorite characters from the previous two stories with a wonderful mysterious lovable ending which will hopefully continue this delightful series.

Thank you #NetGalley #AvonPress #ErinSterling #TheWeddingWitch for the advanced copy.

She Doesn’t Have A Clue by Jenny Elder Moke

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She Doesn’t Have A Clue is a wonderfully funny, romantic mystery romp with very quirky characters, some of which you will love and some which you will love to hate. But mostly the absolutely loveable heroine and her, gulp… handsome sidekick. The premise, cute, the dialogue humorous and the ending swoony! But let’s not take away from the story which has murder, mayhem and an island full of suspects!

Kate Valentine is a writer known for her Loretta Starling mysteries. Loretta is gruff and bossy and smart. Everything Kate is not and wishes she could be! Anyway, Kate has been invited to a wedding…why, she has not idea, which is on an exclusive island for the marriage of her ex-fiancé Spenser and his new fiancé, Kennedy. They all work at the same publishing firm. He was and still is her editor. Can you say awkward? But Kate feels as if she has to go as to prove she is over “him”.

But not only has Kate been invited, so has her handsome former crush an Aussie named Jake Hawkins. She thought they were on the same page back then but for some reason he decided to pretty much ghost her. Can you say even more awkward?

So, as they begin the weekend, Kate realizes Kennedy’s family is a bit, shall we say, odd. They don’t care for each other and the matriarch is downright mean. But whatever… Unfortunately for Kate, after the reception on the first night, she finds Kennedy at the bottom of a staircase. Not dead, but somehow poisoned. That’s not the worst of it! The family thinks she is the one who did the poisoning because for some reason it has been taken right out of one of her books! As if Kate is the only one who knows how to read!

As Kate and Jake begin to look for clues, they come upon a dead body! Now they must make a choice…what should they do…tell everyone and have Kate arrested…or ignore it. Guess which one they picked?

In the meantime, the weather on the island has turned torrential, there is no electricity or water, and everybody is accusing everybody of everything. And now Spencer, the soon to be groom has decided he wants Kate back.

She and Jake get together (Ahem) and try and break the case, with Loretta’s voice constantly in Kate’s mind. What is going on? Can these two amateur sleuths figure out who the murderer is, or will they be the next victims? Someone seems to not want this wedding to happen. Why?

She Doesn’t Have A Clue is a wonderful cozy mystery romance with wit which will keep a smile on your face, intrigue as to where the story is going and who the surprise murderer could indeed be!

Thank you #NetGalley #MinotaurBooks #JennyElderMoke #SheDoesn’tHaveAClue for the advanced copy.

The Sequel by Joan Hanff Korelitz

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The Sequel is literally the sequel to the best-selling thriller The Plot. Not only does it answer all those unanswered questions, but we get a glimpse into what an actual psychopath’s mind looks like. And honestly, her mind is pretty messed up! While picking up where The Plot left off, we now delve into the devious secret past of the late Jacob Finch Bonner’s widow, and quite frankly her life as a mastermind. The story is smart and undeniably shocking!

Anna Williams-Bonner, the widow of best-selling author and perhaps plagiarist Jacob Finch Bonner whose own life included many demons, has decided she will now write her own book. Afterall, how hard could it be? Although living she is living off her late husband’s royalites, she is quite bored.

And Anna does write a book called The Afterward and lucks out because her publisher is the same as her late husband’s. They were, of course excited to have her.

As she begins her first book tour, some strange things begin to happen. A person comes to one of her book signings and is a bit off to say the least. He seems to know a bit too much about her. Coincidence? Maybe. But when she begins to receive excerpts from a story written long ago in which she thought she had purged every copy of and taken care of the person who wrote it, she realizes there is still a copy out there and she needs to find it and make it and whoever has it go away.

You see, if someone exposes her secret backstory her beloved lifestyle will cease to exist. And she can’t have that! So, she goes on a hunt to find who this person is and make sure she destroys both them and the copy. She believes she has solved the problem, but when another excerpt is sent to her late husband’s parents, well… all bets are off!

Now she knows time is running out and after failing once, she decides she must revisit her sick disgusting past because clearly that’s where the threat is coming from. She is not afraid of killing to keep her secrets …never has been!

As the reader goes on the ride of a lifetime with a true psychopath who feels nothing and cares about no one but herself, we learn her jaw dropping backstory as she tries desperately to justify her life. Who has the last copy and why now are they trying to hurt her?

The Sequel is an entertaining, imaginative, off-putting psychological thriller with shocking turns of events in the life of one very flawed yet happy widow.

Thank you #NetGalley #CaladonBooks #JeanHanffKorelitz #TheSequel for the advanced copy.