Tag: book-reviews

The Examiner by Janice Hallett

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With her new book, The Examiner, Janice Hallett creates an original cross between a thriller, a who-done-it and a spine-chilling genre. The story is told in her usual masterful prose of texts, emails and other social media platforms. This well-crafted imaginative narrative will have you stunned as you read the story and especially as it begins to come together and of course, the absolutely shocking ending!

The Royal Hastings University’s Mulitmedia Art course has six students who the head of the department, Gela Nathaniel has hand chosen for a new innovative class. But unfortunately for her, from what she reads from their texts and emails these “students” have become nothing but a headache!

The class consists of:

Cameron, an executive in marketing.

Patrick, the manager of an art store.

Jem, a recent graduate who is a sculpter.

Johnathan, who assists in running his family’s art gallery.

Ludya, a single mother who is a designer and desperate for income.

Allyson, a well-known artist who is there…just because.

But immediately the reader begins to see the dynamics of the group start to fall apart. At first, they are cordial, but very quickly they seem to begin to turn on each other as to who is not doing enough of the work, or who seems to come and go as they please. Jealousy in its purest form. As artists, they also begin to critique each other’s work, and that too becomes a problem. They are supposed to be working together to an end goal, but that seems unlikely to happen.

As they push towards their final essay and project which will be judged by an examiner, we begin to see the cast of characters in a different light. Each seems to have their own secrets and dislike which then spills over into their work. They also have a group dark secret which no one knows…not even the reader!

We discover Gela has her own secrets. Who are these students? What are they hiding and why? Then, of course they start to turn on each other. This experiment seems to have gotten out of control. No one really seems to be who they say they are and when the truth reveals itself, so one is safe, at least not from each other! It’s every artist for themselves as the final project begins to sink.

The Examiner is a remarkable, inventive, intense story of a group of students and their love/hate relationship which gets them into a great deal of trouble as they begin to fall apart and reveal an astonishing secret.

Thank you #NetGalley #AtriaBooks #JaniceHallett #TheExaminer for the advanced copy.

Magical Meet Cute by Jean Meltzer

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In Magical Meet Cute, Jean Meltzer, author of the hysterical The Matzah Ball, proves she can tell a story a bit out of her rom-com comfort zone by creating an amazing, haunting, funny romance/thriller which will tug at your heart but also emphasize what is happening in today’s world.

Faye Kaplan has a broken heart. Once engaged but that went south, she decides to leave her law practice and create a new life in Woodstock, New York doing something she always loved as a child. Create art through pottery.

Faye’s childhood was perfectly imperfect with a horrible mother and what she ended up getting out of that life was she always needed to be perfect in everything she does, which includes if there is one mistake while creating her art, means it gets dumped.

Now, lonely and feeling like she will never find someone, she goes to a mixer and discovers someone is putting anti-semantic flyers everywhere. This on top of her loneliness (and perhaps because she was a bit drunk, she decides to create a “golem” a being from Jewish folklore which is made from bits and pieces of whatever you have around, like clay for example, and once buried you make a wish. She buries it in the backyard. She hopes it will protect her.

But unfortunately, the very next day while riding her bike she accidently knocks down a very handsome man who is rushed to the hospital. He can’t remember anything about himself. Faye, who feels terrible and because no one has claimed him decides he needs to come home with her and recuperate, much against the advice of all her friends who think she will now be murdered!

They come to the decision together that his name should be Greg. Unfortunately for Greg, he remembers nothing not even how to do the simplest things. So, he begins reading books on just about everything. He does become a pretty good cook, and a great listener for Faye. As they begin to spend more and more time together, they both feel the start of something, but for Faye, she starts to believe he is the golem in human form she buried in the backyard and is now waiting for the right moment to make her life miserable.

And then it does. As the antisemitism begins to increase, a brick is thrown through the window of her pottery shop. The community doesn’t understand why this is happening, or maybe they do. Faye decides to take a stand and puts a pro-Jewish display in her window trying to lure whoever the beasts are who hate them so much.

As for Greg, she believes he is a bad golem and tries to do everything in her power to get rid of him. But he won’t go! She is so scared to fall in love, she’s willing to believe the worst of man she thinks she conjured.

But terrible things are brewing in this small town and trying to discover who and what are causing the violence will take the whole community banning together. As for Greg? Well, you’ll just have to read the book…

Magical Meet Cute is a fun book with very serious issues, which is trademark Meltzer, which melds romance with ripped from the headline problems, with a touch of mystery and of course, magic!

Thank you #NetGalley #MiraBooks #MagicalMeetCute #JeanMeltzer for the advanced copy.

https://www.amazon.com/Magical-Meet-Cute-Jean-Meltzer/dp/0778334414/ref=sr_1_1?crid=32BUFEDQ97GW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vihd-XX5iQk2OSqsXNFIKGg3ycn8T9zmWq6JQ_pryFgbOJ9xDc5oZ41oLU0Tm9uGi1L_0-wbEL6P4lkfIZQ65bgiGbPh9TEih17cR9TuuQw.R5Klhs5_AKtTmE014g7At1tPph7aM2JbLukt3LW9-38&dib_tag=se&keywords=magical+meet+cute+jean+meltzer&qid=1736523504&sprefix=%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-1

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord

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Emma Lord, author of the adorable book, Tweet Cute, has once again created an imaginative story, with lovable characters who must re-discover not only themselves but also learn to live in the moment and let go of their pasts in order to have any kind of future, not matter how difficult that can be. The story is funny, sensitive and just lovable!

June is struggling to pay the rent on her tea shop which she and her late sister Annie created. On top of that, her boyfriend of years has left her for someone else and she was caught on a video having a complete sobbing meltdown which then went viral and now she is the laughingstock of the internet.

To add to all this, her childhood friend (and crush) Levi, who was also her sister Annie’s best friend has come back to their seaside town after living in New York as a financial manager. When she sees him, she is shocked at the change. The old Levi was an imaginative writer who only wanted to create stories, but it seems something happened to him, and he stopped trying.

She discovers he is going through a bad break-up and after the two are caught unknowingly gazing into each other’s eyes on a video and that too blows up on social media, well, they decide on a plan. Pretend they are falling in love and attempt to make their former partners jealous.

But what they never expected would be all the interest they would generate and the feelings it would bring up in both of them. But June and Levi are still trying to get over what they think are their past mistakes which continue to haunt them today.

So now, they must decide separately and together which direction their lives must go. They must reflect and try and move on both together and separately. One thing is for sure, they know they can’t live in the past anymore and they know they can’t try and fool each other either because when you attempt that, you only fool yourself. How honest are they both willing to be?

The Break-Up Pact is a tender love story which is filled with poignant messages about life, loss, moving forward and of course, love.

Thank you #NetGalley #GriffinBooks #EmmaLord #TheBreak-Up Pact for the advanced copy.

Cross My Heart by Megan Collins

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Cross My Heart is a heart palpitating thriller with surprising twists and turns during the story in Megan Collins style, which will keep you reading until the stunning unexpected ending. Her creative deviousness plays well into the plot about a woman who previously had been jilted by a boyfriend, and she ends up having a heart transplant. But it is so much more. You are going to have the ride of your life!

Rosie Lachlan’s life was changed forever when she discovered she needed a heart transplant. She now must take medications without fail morning and night for the rest of her life, or until she needs another transplant. She works in a bridal salon owned by her parents. Even though she has a new life, she finds herself a bit depressed because prior to the transplant she was dumped by someone she thought she would be spending the rest of her life with (and it became very difficult) and being in the wedding dress industry, she starts to feel like she will never find the one.

Also, Rosie is curious about the person whose heart is keeping her alive. She decides to do a bit of research, and she discovers (or so she thinks) the heart came from Daphne Thorne, wife of the best-selling author and local, Morgan Thorne. According to what she can find, Daphne had an accident in their house and tripped and fell.

She goes against protocol and contacts Morgan through the Donor Connect Service which has been set up. She at first emails Morgan anonymously to find out if she was right. As they begin to correspond, she begins to feel a connection to him. Is this in part because Daphne is inside her? They begin to tell each other more about each other’s lives and Rosie begins to fall for Morgan. She even finds out he lives close to where she lives. Sometimes she even walks by his house.

But as she looks online, she discovers social media does not have the same feelings about Morgan. Many believe he actually killed his wife. Even Rosie’s best friend Nina who works at the hospital in which Daphne died said Morgan had been acting strange the night of her death.

It is then that Rosie begins to research Morgan and Daphne’s relationship. And she begins to wonder…

Until Morgan is found dead in his home and unfortunately for Rosie she suddenly becomes the main suspect in what is now considered a murder! Due to Rosie’s complicated past relationship, well, it does not help with the process of finding her innocent.

Rosie knows it wasn’t her. Which means someone else killed Morgan. But who? Did they know what she was up to by having an online relationship with the author? As Rosie ponders these questions, she discovers her new life is in danger. But what on earth does she know that would make someone want to kill her?

How can Rosie save herself and prove she did not kill Morgan?

Cross My Heart is filled with psychological drama and shocking revelations. Trust me you will never see the ending coming…cross my heart…

Thank you #NetGalley #AtriaBooks #MeganCollins #CrossMyHeart for the advanced copy.

The Night Guest by Hildur Knutsdottir

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The Night Guest is eerie, creepy and delicious! A can’t put down nightmare of a story where nothing makes sense until everything makes sense. The intensity of the book makes for a heart-palpitating quick read which will continue to give you goosebumps for hours after.

Iounn lives in Iceland. She has a great job, good friends (sort of), but unfortunately many horrible health problems which no doctor seems to be able to resolve.

She is tired all the time, her body achy and she has constant unexplained bruising sometimes almost every day. Finally, she sees a female doctor and Iounn feels more comfortable with the results of her blood tests which all come back fine, she feels as if she is now able to relax. Until the next time she wakes up tired, bruised and with what looks like rust under her fingernails.

Her friends believe it is her diet. They tell her to eat more. They tell her to exercise more. They tell her to take sleeping pills to help her sleep. Reluctantly, her doctor does prescribe the sleeping pills and at first they are a miracle! Until one night when she goes to take them and there are none left in the bottle. What happened to the pills?

Her weekly dinner with her parents is another added stress in her life. She’s vegetarian and her mother refuses to change the dinner menu for her. The table talk is always tense and irritating which adds to her anxiety.

Then someone suggests she buy a watch which tracks your daily steps to make sure she’s getting enough exercise to tire herself out. But one morning she discovers she forgot to take the watch off before going to bed and is horrified to see an added 40,000 steps! This can’t be right.

What is happening to her? Now she must try and figure out what is going on at night. She refuses to tell anybody her secret. What could she be doing at night and why?

Well reader, that’s all you are going to get from me. But read The Night Guest you must! It’s a spine-chilling story and the ending? Well, see for yourself!

Thank you #NetGalley #TorNightlife #HildurKnutsdottir #TheNightGuest for the advanced copy.

I Need You To Read This by Jessa Maxwell

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I NEED you to read I Need You To Read This! It’s a flawless example of a perfect thriller! With an outstanding plot, mysterious characters and clues, you will be kept on your toes by this all-consuming story. It truly checkmarks all the ways which make for an amazing read…murder, mystery, secrets, thrill and a gasping ending!

Advice columnist extraordinaire Francis Keen has been murdered. Alex Marks who is a copywriter by day and a hermit by night in New York City is devastated. Alex grew up with Dear Constance and feels like she survived her childhood through reading her column.

Alex tries to stay under the radar. She goes to the same coffee shop every morning, then to her job and then home. Her only friends…the waitress and a customer at the diner and she only sees them for five minutes a day.

But something happens to Alex when she sees the job announcement for a replacement for Keen’s Dear Constance column. She feels something she has never felt before. And so, without thinking she applies for the job. Surprisingly she actually gets it! Ah, but always be careful what you wish for!

After meeting with the editor in chief Howard Dimitri she begins what she considers a new life, with a new purpose…to help those in need. But, unfortunately, someone does not feel the same way as Alex. She begins to get threatening notes. She believes it’s just a reader who is angry that they have replaced Keen and she is now Dear Contance.

As she settles into the office, she discovers the editor in chief has a few secrets and then discovers there are some shady goings on in the office. Her mind starts to wander and she begins to think perhaps someone who worked with Keen could possibly have killer her. But, why?

As Alex tries to discover what exactly is going on in the office, her past which she left behind suddenly begins to collide with her present! Now Alex is frightened! Just as she believes she knows what happened to Dear Constance, well, let’s just say she’s wrong! And now she could be the next dead Dear Constance!

I Need You To Read This is an absolutely enjoyable read with so many layers and hidden secrets it will make your head spin! The twists and turns are impeccable, but scattered within the story are new friendships and trusts and trying to create a new life. But mostly it’s a downright great murder mystery!

Thank you #NetGalley #AtriaBooks #JessaMaxwell #INeedYouToReadThis for the advanced copy.

Till Death Do Us Part by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

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Till Death Do Us Part is an amazingly shocking thriller you never thought you needed and won’t be able to put down. Each chapter draws you deeper into the riveting mystery and every revelation gives you tingles until finally, finally! the crescendo of the jaw dropping ending you do not see coming, slaps you in the face!

June is ready to take the leap and get married again. You see, ten years ago June met and married the love of her life Josh, only to have him taken away a week later when he disappears after going for a swim on their honeymoon. After an intense search he is presumed drowned making June a widow.

Now, after all these years, and with much therapy, she has met someone and is ready to marry again. Owning her own wine bar in New York City now, and having some success at it, June is taking the leap although still to this day she has never fully believed Josh died. Not after reading his final text to her. But she is finally excited for her future.

Until one day when she is in Central Park and turns to see a man who is Josh staring at her. She immediately returns back to the days just after he went missing when she would turn and see him, even though he was not there. But, for some reason this is very different. She absolutely knows what she saw was real!

So, she quietly begins to do a bit of research on where his family ended up, his family owned a winery in Napa Valley, and when she pulls the website up, there before her eyes is a picture of Josh, a woman and two young children. In shock, she decides to lie to her fiancé and go out to the winery to confront Josh.

But what June will discover is that nothing makes sense and the deeper she opens the Pandora’s box, the more confused she becomes. And then, she discovers her fiancé has been hiding a secret from her. Something she is not sure she can forgive him for.

June must begin to wade through Josh, his family and her own past to discover some terrible truths that were hidden from her all those years ago.

The lesson in Till Death Do Us Part is… love can be the death of not only a life, of their love of their trust but open the flood gates to more questions than answers and horrible secrets and perhaps even more unknown tragedy…until it all becomes exposed.

Thank you #NetGalley #Simon&Schuster #LaurieElizabethFlynn #TillDeathDoUsPart for the advanced copy.

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

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House of Glass is another thriller by Sarah Pekkanen, author of The Golden Couple. It will grab the reader from the very first page and take them on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, and just when you think you know where the story is going, you realize you had absolutely no idea where the story was going! The main plot is about a little girl who witnesses a terrible accident at her family home and the psychologist who is assigned to her case to determine which parent she should live with. You may ask, why can’t the little girl tell her? Well…since the accident she has not spoken. And our psychologist can not only sympathize with our little girl but empathize as she too was mute after her own mother was discovered dead at their home many years ago. The story, complex in nature, is fascinating and the ending extraordinary!

Rose Barclay is a mute nine-year-old child who witnessed her nanny plunging from a bedroom window and falling to her death at their home. Now, the parents are in the middle of a terrible divorce as it was discovered that Rose’s father, Ian was having an affair with the nanny. The Barclays, Ian and Beth live in a beautiful house with Ian’s mother who had surgery and has not been able to live on her own.

Now Stella Hudson is approached to figure out who Rose would be better suited to live with as she cannot speak for herself. Stella understands. When Stella was a young girl, her own mother was found dead in their house and Stella fearful, stayed in her closet until help arrived. She too became mute after the trauma, and it took years of therapy to help her understand what had happened. Or so she thought. Because this case has brought up Stella’s horrible memories of year’s past.

Stella begins to try and win Rose over, but Rose seems to not be able to make any kind of connection, no matter how hard she tries. Then Rose discovers all the glass has been removed from the house and replaced with plastic. Why? And Rose seems to have unhealthy fascinations, which disturb Stella. She begins to believe Rose may have a hidden side to her. Could this tragedy have actually been a murder? It seems Rose is keeping many secrets.

Stella soon begins to believe Rose’s parent and grandmother may be covering up for her. And Rose seems to not be so happy with Stella. As Stella delves deeper into Rose’s psyche, she can’t help but remember her own pain. And she takes an unhealthy walk down her own memory lane. But when strange things begin to happen to Stella, she can’t help but feel something else is going on. Something evil. Stella discovers the nanny had been afraid of Rose and wanted to leave.

She understands she must get to the bottom of what really happened in that house the day the nanny died, and she will use any trick she knows to find out. But unfortunately for Stella, that may be her undoing.

House of Glass has so many layers to it and is so fascinating you won’t be able to put the book down. The story is certainly suspenseful, but it’s also a gripping story of a lost child, and an adult who realizes she is still lost.

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

The In Crowd by Charlotte Vassell

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The In Crowd checked all the right boxes for an exciting, funny mystery. Filled with dead bodies, shocking twists and surprises, and even romance, this second book in the series is as good if not better than the first called The Other Half. But don’t worry if you did not read the first, this book could be stand-alone.

When Detective Inspector Caius Beauchamp goes to the theatre, not only does someone die, but he meets a mysteriously adorable milliner (hat maker). But unfortunately, it’s what occurs AFTER finding the dead body that the amazing cat and mouse game begins among the wealthy, egotistical upper elite suspects. Was this a murder or a heart attack? Also, the person who dead seems to be connected with another mystery from years ago.

As the clues start to come in, Beauchamp and his band of adept funny detectives notice the possibility that some of the cast of characters could have been involved with a 16-year-old girl who went missing from the boarding school she attended years ago and was never again seen, and foul play was certainly suspected. To add to the intrigue, they are also investigating a possible drowning by suicide which unbelievably coincides with the mysterious disappearance of man who allegedly stole all the pension money from a corporation never to be seen again!

Are you exhausted yet? Well don’t be because as the team searches for answers from some of the wealthiest and important people in English politics, it seems that not only is no one talking, but they have enough power to perhaps shut down the whole investigation.

But, as the team begins to dissect all the information and put the pieces of this puzzle together and as Beauchamp begins to totally fall for the milliner, which in itself is another story…even the wealthiest men and women who try to stop the investigation will be shocked and in awe as to the outcomes of the investigations. It shows, even if you have money and power, sometime the in crowd can humiliatingly fall just as quickly as a regular bloke. And honestly, it’s as good as it gets to read!

The In Crowd will not disappoint! The plot is innovative, the characters are droll and amusing as is our heroic group of police who amazingly walk the reader through the first-class ending! When your brain finishes digesting this read, don’t be afraid to pick up the first. It too will not disappoint.

Thank you #NetGalley #Doubleday #TheInCrowd #CharlotteVassell for the advanced copy.

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

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The Pairing is another uniquely creative story by Casey McQuiston, author of Red, White and Royal Blue and my favorite, One Last Stop. It’s the love story between two friends who are bisexual who have known each other since childhood and become romantically involved, until one day while heading on the vacation of a lifetime together have an argument which ends up tearing them apart. It’s very funny and extremely adorable as well as charming. In my opinion also one of the main characters you may say, is the beautiful, imaginative scenery McQuiston creates for the reader to envision as the two characters trapse around Europe.

Theo and Kit had been best friends since childhood, then turned boyfriend and girlfriend. But after a horrible fight at the airport when they were going on a dream vacation to Europe to visit beautiful countries and eat their way through cities and towns, they break up. Never to see each other again.

But, a few years later, Theo has decided it’s time to take this trip no matter what. The ticket is expiring, and she could use a break from her chaotic life in California where she is the daughter of an all-famous acting family, (except her) who has decided to do life on her own and has not really been able to find exactly what her talent should be. But as soon as she boards the bus in Paris to begin the eating and drinking tour of Europe, she is taken aback when she sees sitting in one of the seats, her ex-boyfriend Kit. Now, the two must attempt to get along, play nice and try and stay away from each other so they can enjoy the trip.

But, of course, that begins to become extremely difficult as they start to remember what their relationship used to be and just how much they enjoyed each other’s company. So, as a joke, they decide to participate in a bet. But of course, things begin to go downhill because of jealousy and misinterpretations.

And then something starts to happen as they travel to beautiful areas with gorgeous scenery and delightful food and very wonderful friends they begin to make at each stop. But what about the bet? They both know this will never work. Kit, a chef in Paris and Theo a sommelier and catering company owner in California are not going to change their lives…are they? With so much to lose, how could whatever this is be a win?

The Pairing is an apt name for this enchanting, humorous wonderfully sensitive story with delicious food and beautiful scenery to admire in your imagination. The book will have you so delighted by the end that you will be booking your very own trip to experience what you have created in your mind’s eye!

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sGriffin #ThePairing #CaseyMcQuiston for the advanced copy.