Tag: book-reviews

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.

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.

Winter Solstice by Elin Hilderbrand

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Winter Solstice is the long awaited (a bit longer for me as it has been on my TBR shelf for a while) finale of Hilderbrand’s Winter in Nantucket/Quinn family series. The story is beautiful, funny, but also heartbreaking yet heartwarming. It’s time to say goodbye to the
Quinn family and discover what they have been up to and where they end up as they prepare for the chaos of another Quinn Christmas at their Inn. Our final one.

Bart Quinn is home from being held captive in Afghanistan but can’t quite seem to get settled back into “normal” life as his life and mind are still back in the war. He’s tried a few jobs, but nothing can even compare with where he was and what he went through. He is certainly depressed and as he thinks about his life lying in bed all day long, Mitzi, his mother decides to throw Bart a birthday party on his Halloween birthday, much to his dismay.

Kevin and Isabelle have a very popular Nantucket restaurant. They also have two babies now and their lives are full of work, family and love. That is until Isabelle witnesses something and her feelings for one of them changes.

Patrick is finally out of prison and once again living on Beacon Hill with his wife Jennifer and their young children. Jennifer is trying to be the breadwinner by working as an elite interior decorator while Patrick begins all over again to form a company. But something happens to Jennifer, and she loses a client and can’t tell Patrick. Perhaps the secrets begin again…

Ava has moved to New York to teach music and be closer to Potter, whom she now believes is “the one”. Of course, we’ve been here before so…

Margaret (Patrick, Kevin and Ava’s mom) who has married is now having an identity crisis. The long-time famous TV anchor feels like it might be time to retire. But to what?

Mitzi is trying to stay strong as health issues have arisen. She just wants one final Thanksgiving and Christmas with the whole family together.

And in an incredibly delightful twist, Hilderbrand has included Eddie and Grace Prancik, characters from a previous book, The Rumor, to join into the festivities as well since the funny Eddie has just come out of prison himself!

In Winter Solstice you will laugh and yes, you will cry at the Quinn family’s attempt to have their last holiday season together, but they all come from strong loving parents and no matter what, will always, always remain family. So, just sit back, enjoy and treasure all these characters we have grown to love and their memories!

Published by Back Bay Books

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.