Tag: fiction

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gimore

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Yes, I know…I am reading last year’s favorite cozy a little late, but…I finally got around to the first in the series and I must say this is a cozy, charming, funny, mystery with some pizzazz!

When Jeanie’s aunt gifts her The Pumpkin Spice Cafe, it could not have come at a better time! After living in Boston for several years working in a corporate office well, let’s just say she needs a break!

Although Jeanie has no idea how to run a cafe, she feels she can get us to speed pretty easy. That was her first mistake. Her second was opening the back door of the cafe when she heard noises where she discovered a man with muscles and many pumpkins in his hands standing there. This is farmer Logan who supplies the cafe with items from his farm.

Needless to say they get off on the wrong foot. But both seem to be interested in the other but too shy to even think it to themselves.

But Jeanie has other problems…someone is trying to sabotage her cafe. But why? This town, Dream Harbor is close knit with very quirky residence, but no one seems dangerous. What she has discovered is most of them are way too kind. It’s a place where everyone knows everyone’s business and is not afraid to butt in! It’s also a place where it seems dreams are meant to come true…usually.

The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is adorable. It’s an easy quick read in which you will continually have a smile on your face. It’s a heck of a feel-good story in a town you wish you could live in and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next!

Published by Harper Collins

The Castaways by Lucy Clarke

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The Castaways is an epic thriller which you will not be able to put down. It will be both your obsession and worst nightmare. The story told by two sisters, Erin and Lori, takes you on a mysterious two-year journey when a plane heading to Fiji goes missing without a trace. One of the sisters on the plane, the other by chance never made it to the airport.

Lori has just come out of a horrible marriage and has been living with her sister Erin. She decides she needs a vacation and plans a trip for herself and Erin to Fiji.

That was two years ago.

Erin never got on the plane. Lori who had a fear of flying did. The plane disappears. All the passengers presumed dead. But Erin has never given up hope. Could it be her guilt for not getting on the plane with Lori? Their last conversation a fight? Or something else that happened.

Then one day the pilot of the plane appears in Fiji. He says he has no memory of what happened…or does he? Erin flies to Fiji to see him for herself. He answers just one question which sends shivers down Erin’s spine.

It’s now up to Erin to find out what really happened the day she lost her sister forever.

The Castaways is mind-boggling with so many twists and jaw-dropping turns. Each page more explosive (no pun intended) than the next. The only advice I would give to the reader, and I do highly recommend this book, is don’t take this one to read on a plane!

Thank you #NetGalley #AtlanticCrime #LucyClarke #TheCastaways for the advanced copy.

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Where Secrets Stay by CherAnn Wright

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Where Secrets Stay, which is based on real events, is an unexpected, chilling, incredible psychological thriller in which we have a missing young girl, a very dysfunctional family, murders, hidden items and dark secrets. As the mysteries unfold, the reader will hardly be able to fathom the intricate weavings of an incredible plot.

When Kevan comes back home to bury her grandmother, the memories of her abusive childhood and fear return. If it wasn’t for her grandmother, she would not be the woman she has become and would still be living rotting in this small town. Her grandmother was Kevan’s only lifeline to normalcy.

As she and her friend Beth try to sort out her grandmother’s items, there is an old key which for some reason jolts some sort of memory. What the key’s meaning holds is not only something which may perhaps open a door but open a pandora’s box of clues with dark hidden memories.

Nathan has come back home as well. He is here to help his mother’s best friend take care of her place. But this visit is bittersweet for him. His young sister went missing years ago. She went out for a walk and just vanished without a trace. Coming back has made Nathan decide that he will once again try and discover what happened to his little sister all those years ago.

Incredibly, Kevan and Nathan’s worlds will come crashing down around them and then mysteriously collide when they separately find a dilapidated house in the woods with secrets which will change both their lives forever.

Filled with mystery, murder and suspense, Where Secrets Stay will grab you from the very first page, and keep you guessing as the past suddenly meets the present and all the answers come to light.

Thank you #NetGalley #SleuthingSlothPress #CherAnnWright #WhereSecretsStay for the advanced copy.

The Forget-Me-Not Library by Heather Webber

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Get cozy, sip a cup of something and begin to read The Forget-Me-Not Library the latest book by the magical, wonderful Heather Webber. The story, uplifting and comforting, tells the tale of a town, if you are honored to be drawn there, who will know exactly what you are looking for, even if you don’t have a clue. Along the way, you will meet very special people who will become your friends and whom you will cherish forever.

Julie Nightingale is a school nurse from Alabama who has decided to take a road trip to try and figure out her life. Lost in so many ways especially about her grandfather who recently was tragically killed and whom she feels responsible for being unable to help him is searching…for what? she has no clue. So, when her car breaks down suddenly in a small town called Forget Me Not, she just wants to get her car fixed and move on. But the town has other ideas.

Julie meets Tallulah Byrd Mayfield and her children. Tallulah works at the Forget Me Not Library. Recently divorced, she and her two very young children now live with her grandfather. She is trying her best to keep everything together, work a full-time job, and take care of her family.

As Julie waits for the part for her car to come in, she and Tallulah begin to get close as Julie watches her children, takes them to the library and even begins to volunteer. Julie also begins to learn all about the mysterious Forget Me Not town. She starts to meet some of the very eccentric townspeople and well, starts to actually feel as if she is healing. How can that be?

But that’s the magic of The Forget Me Not town and yes, there is a lure that their Library and who resides there is “special” as well.

Is it truly possible that a town can heal heartbreak? And fear? And panic?

Well, in the end, it’s truly the people who open their arms and embrace those who need love and care to try and make them whole again, but there truly is something which draws the lost to the town in order to have them find exactly what they are looking for, and even more. For some, they will never leave while others will get what they need and move on.

The Forget-Me-Not Library is an enjoyable, wonderful feel-good read with so much heart and soul and love and mystery.

Thank you #NetGalley #St.Martin’sPress #HeatherWebber #TheForget-Me-NotLibary for the advanced copy.

The Tattered Cover by Ellery Adams

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In Adams’ new book, The Tattered Cover, the next in her series The Secret, Book and Scone Society, death and murder will find Nora’s Miracle Springs bookshop, Miracle Books. But along with solving a murder, uncovering hidden secrets and placing terrific book recommendations into the story, there will also be a great deal of joy as in this story we also have a wedding and a birth!

It’s Fall and Halloween is literally right around the corner. So, Nora has decided to add book signings to her repertoire of trying to get more customers. The first went very well and now for Halloween she has a medium coming to not only sign her new book, but for some lucky patrons who pay extra, an actual reading!

But unfortunately, a tragedy occurs while medium Lara Luz is giving a reading. During a storm the lights in the shop go out and when they come back on Lara is clutching her chest and dies! Not only that but Nora is knocked down and ends up hospitalized.

Nora’s instinct tells her this was no ordinary heart attack and she, her boyfriend the Sherriff and her Book and Scone Society friends begin to delve into the past life of medium Lara Luz. Along the way, they discover a tattered handwritten ledger with symbols and notes which make absolutely no sense.

The list of suspects includes their own pharmacist whose wife had recently died, and Lara’s assistant Enzo who travels with her as her companion. There just seems to be no link between Miracle Springs and Lara Luz.

At the same time, the women are preparing for not only a special delivery, but also a wedding! Except that one of them is in the wrong place at the wrong time. And by wrong time, time is running out for one of them. They need to solve this murder and fast because they may lose one of their own!

Thank you #NetGalley #KensingtonCozies #ElleryAdams #TheTatteredCover for the advanced copy.

Summit Lake by Charlie Donlea

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I am pretty sure I have not read one book by author Charlie Donlea which I have not thought was perfection! Summit Lake is no exception. Filled with dozens of surprises and an epic shocking ending, you will devour the story until you are just exhausted. The twists and turns and secrets of this amazing story are exceptional.

There has been a murder in Summit Lake, a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Becca Eckersley, a first-year law student at her father’s alma mater went up to the family’s lake house to study for tests and was brutally murdered.

Investigative reporter for a magazine, Kelsey Castle, back on the job after taking a leave of absence gets assigned the story. Kelsey believes this is a slam-dunk robbery gone bad and Becca was killed by a random break-in.

The story, which is told in chapters, Kelsey’s by her, Becca’s as a story which begins when she was in college and ending on the fatal night she died are both riveting and hold so many secrets each chapter will astound you.

Kelsey soon discovers that there may have been some sort of coverup by the police in this sleepy town. But why? What is there to hide? She discovers buried in Becca’s past are many hidden clues to what may have happened. Why then is no one talking except some of the locals whose theories run the gambit?

But the closer Kelsey gets to the truth, the more she feels she is being followed and then begins to be questioned by the detective looking into the murder. She knows this proves she’s on the right track and won’t stop for Becca and also because she discovers this hits too close to her own past.

Who or why would someone kill sweet Becca Eckersley? And what were the secrets she took to her grave?

Summit Lake is a spine-chilling psychological thriller which will have you racing with Kelsey to the very unexpected conclusion!

Published by Kensington.

The Eight Hearbreaks of Hanukkah by Jean Meltzer

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Author Jean Meltzer, known for her beautiful uplifting stories about people who are surviving chronic illness, herself included, and how they endure by showing strength and toughness always trying to be uplifting even when met with pain, or in this case heartache. The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah is the epitome of the movie: It’s A Wonderful Life/A Christmas Carol. It has humor, mixed with a combination of sadness, grief, loss and yes, heartbreak, but more, it’s a story about strength, love and togetherness.

Evelyn Schwartz is producing a live TV showing of A Christmas Carol. With only a few days left until air everything which could go wrong, goes wrong! Evelyn is a workaholic who does not sleep and gets debilitating migraines. So, when she has an accident on the set, while having a migraine they call for the show medic who unfortunately is Evelyn’s ex-husband David who is substituting for the permanent medic.

They have been divorced for two years and the breakup for Evelyn was unexpected. David just up and left one day, saying nothing. So, you can imagine how that meeting went with David insisting Evelyn go to the hospital and telling David where he should go!

Because David knows Evelyn so well, he tries to tell her to at least get some rest and take her medicine. But Evelyn would rather die than do what David tells her. But then some crazy things begin to happen to her. She begins to be visited by ghosts…Hanukkah ghosts, the first being her former mentor who passed away years ago who informs Evelyn she must change her ways. But Evelyn believes this was a dream and she’s just exhausted.

Until she is visited by the first ghost named One. Who takes Evelyn down memory lane and it’s not great. As the snippets from each ghost get harder and harder to endure, she turns to David who seems to be predominantly placed in these visits from the past.

She begins to live the unlivable, including her losing David and what led up to that traumatic experience. Why is this happening and right now when her main focus is to put on a great show? She’s been able to suppress all these difficult memories for years. Why now are they being awakened?

The Eight Days of Hanukkah is a warm, sad and yes, heartbreaking story of loss and trauma, but not only is it filled with wonderful life lessons, more importantly, it is filled with hope, love and anticipation of what has yet to come by finally admitting that by understanding what you couldn’t because your own light had gone out you can realize just how to light the match to see again.

Thank you #NetGalley #Mira #JeanMeltzer #TheEightDaysofHanukkah for the advanced copy.

The Perfect Hosts by Heather Gudenkauf

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The Perfect Hosts is another chilling, shocking story by author Heather Gudenkauf. It centers around a gender reveal party where something goes terribly wrong. Someone dies. The story so mesmerizing you won’t be able to put it down. Sometimes the rich just don’t know when to stop as they try to outdo each other. Unfortunately, this time it’s so over the top that unbeknownst to all the guests, many deep secrets and lies will be exposed and we will all learn the deep dark hidden truths.

Madeline and Wes Drake are having a baby and decided to have a gender reveal party at their sprawling horse ranch. Wealthy beyond belief, they spared no expense to make it the party of the year…and oh, it was. Just as the reveal was set to begin, there was a massive explosion which leaves many injured and one dead. But unfortunately, it seems it was not an accident.


Enter ATF Agent Jamie Saldano who must now return reluctantly to a town, Nightjar, Wyoming where he lived as a child, was almost beaten to death by someone they never found and whose sister disappeared. Although he has changed his name, he knows Wes Drake. He was the one who found him when he was almost killed.

Shaken, Madeline is taken to the hospital to make sure she and the baby are fine. There she meets a young woman who helped cater the party. She too is pregnant. Because the girl has nowhere else to go, she invites her to stay at the ranch. And another surprise awaits Madeline when she gets home…her stepsister Lucy has shown up at the ranch as well. The last time they saw each other was at their father’s funeral where Madeline was given control of his estate which included his and Lucy’s horses.

As Agent Saldano investigates, it seems that the Drake family’s hands are not clean. But which of them, if any, would benefit by killing someone? Saldano also takes this opportunity to revisit the mystery of what happened to his sister all those years ago.

But, secrets have a way of being exposed in many different ways. The Perfect Hosts are absolutely not perfect and the shocking twists, lies and jaw dropping ending proves that!

Heather Gudenkauf is the critically acclaimed author of several novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Weight of Silence, The Overnight Guest and Everyone Is Watching. She lives in Iowa with her husband and children. 
Website: https://heathergudenkauf.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Heather-Gudenkaufs-Books-259685275092/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathergudenkauf/ 

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hgudenkauf/ 

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/heather-gudenkauf 


The book is available now at the following sites:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Hosts-Novel-Heather-Gudenkauf-ebook/dp/B0DQQ9BRLR 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-perfect-hosts-heather-gudenkauf/1146709766?ean=9780778360049 

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-perfect-hosts-original-heather-gudenkauf/22162822?ean=9780778360049&next=t 

Libro.fm: https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781488236150-the-perfect-hosts 

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Perfect-Hosts/Heather-Gudenkauf/9780778360049 

Target: https://www.target.com/p/the-perfect-hosts-by-heather-gudenkauf/-/A-94483956?preselect=94481317#lnk=sametab 

Indigo: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/otherwise-engaged-a-novel/9780778387268.html  

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-perfect-hosts?sId=7c9b6427-a9f0-4dbf-824b-e63babdb3880 

AppleBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-perfect-hosts/id6739534386 

Thank you #NetGalley #ParkRow #HeatherGudenkauf #ThePerfectHosts for the advanced copy.

This Is Not A Ghost Story by Amerie

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This Is Not a Ghost Story is an enjoyably inventive twist on…a ghost story! Set in modern day, it is quite unique in that it encompasses a mystery, is part romance, funny and has a dysfunctional family thrown in for good measure. It takes the reader on quite an adventure!

John, a ghost, enjoys his life living in his house and has done so for many years. One day, a dark grey man-shadow literally throws him out of the house. He lands In Los Angeles. All he wants to do is go back home but has no idea how. The most startling thing about John is people can see him.

Unable to remember anything about his past, he seeks guidance by visiting a “psychic” who tells him he can help get him back home and they begin a present-day journey with a few other folks met along the way including a publicist and a want to be actress. John immediately becomes the new sensation on television, and social media with everyone trying figure out if he is really telling the truth. Of course, there are also people who want to jump on the John band wagon who will say and do anything to get into the spotlight.

The group begin to bond as John begins to get rich off his appearances. But when the grey man-shadow appears again, something starts to happen to him. He seems to fade. With the help of his new friends, they try to take care of him, all the while John is trying to remember where he lived and came from when he was alive. Also, why has this happened to him?

Will John find his way home? This Is Not a Ghost Story can be intense, but it is very humorous, sad, touching and filled with hope and love.

Thank you #NetGalley #WilliamMorrow /HarperCollins #Amerie #ThisIsNotAGhostStory for the advanced copy.

Food Person by Adam Roberts

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Food Person is a lovely, funny, poignant story about two very different women who after having a love/hate relationship with each other while in the process of trying to write a cookbook together discover not only buried guilt and fears about themselves, but also are able to finally pull up their big girl pants and become the adults they were meant to become. Even if it takes the pain, suffering and heartaches of their pasts to get them there.

Isabella Pasternack works for a digital food magazine. She loves her stories and mostly loves to cook. Sadly, no one at her place of work, including her boss know who she is and when suddenly she is thrown in front of a camera during a crisis, it goes so bad she is fired.

Thank goodness she lives with her best friend Owen whom she cooks meals for in exchange for paying rent. But she realizes she perhaps needs money and decides to bite the bullet and go to her mother. Sadly, her mother has become a bit “eccentric” ever since the sudden loss of her husband, Isabella’s father a few years ago. Unfortunately, her mother would rather go dumpster diving and cook for the homeless rather than help her daughter.

Then Owen drops a great job in her lap. His father has a client; a former famous actress who wants to write a cookbook in order to get her career going again. The money is exceptional, and Isabella jumps at the chance, sort of … until she meets Molly Babcock a self-centered, food hater whose only enjoyment seems to be to do drugs and drink!

Unable to get along, they somehow come to a truce but when Isabella decides she wants to use Molly’s late mother’s recipes in the book, the relationship turns from bad to worse. And that is when both their lives begin to blow up!

How do you mend a broken heart? Well, the book Food Person with its delicious comfort food, creative recipes, snark, while finding love and friendship along the way will make you, the reader, believe anything is possible!

Thank you #NetGalley #Knopf #AdamRoberts #FoodPerson for the advanced copy.