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Reasons to Lie
Author: Emily Listfield
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: February 24, 2026It’s always fun to read the backstory of rich, glamorous families, especially when you have outliers in their midst. And Abby definitely doesn’t fit the mold. She’s a single mom and artistic. Her daughter attends the elite school on scholarship. Hollis is hiding a secret and is worried her son, Daniel, might repeat a mistake he made at his last school. And Kara’s picture-perfect life isn’t.
The one thing all three moms have in common is that their teens are uncommunicative. And all moms are familiar with that stage. But it means that their kids are covering up the facts when a fellow student is murdered on a school trip, and now the parents are also.
I loved that I had no idea where this was going, and I suspected everyone!
Thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse for an arc introducing me to this new-to-me author. -
Be Mine
Author: Lizzy Barber
Publisher: Datura Books
Published: May 27, 2025“It is only by breaking down the barriers of the past that we can progress through the gates of the future.”
Elixir Manifesto
The list of how they do that is exhaustive:
• 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨
• 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯
• 𝘍𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴
• 𝘚𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯
• 𝘚𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺
• 𝘋𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯
• 𝘙@𝘱𝘦
Told through multiple timelines, extracts from a podcast, transcripts from audio recordings of “extractions”, and excerpts from the Elixir Manifesto, the story of Elixir reveals an obvious cult/MLM enterprise. The tiers to strive for -Advanced Level, Advanced Level II, Elite Status, and Perfection. The leader is, of course, magnetic. The followers are, of course, loyal. They don’t leave because they are, of course, brainwashed.
Beth has made her break from the cult, but learns that the manifesto should read:
“You can run, but you can’t hide. ”Because they’ve found her. And she’s discovered the distinctive hourglass timer in her home. An invite to a “Founder’s Day Celebration” at the exclusive headquarters called The Jungle is slipped into her mail. She finds an ad for a local play group in her trash – and she didn’t put it there.
Faster than you can say Gone Girl, the reveals start, they don’t stop. Because Beth is not who you think she is. She is hiding a dark secret. And so is everyone else in this twisty thriller.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ebook, to Datura for a physical copy, and to Novel Tours for taking me along on their book tour! -
First Date
Author: Gemma Amor
Publisher: Datura
Published: February 11, 2026My main takeaways from this book are:
1. I felt cold the entire time I was reading it
2. No one could have survived what the two MCs went through
3. [Spoiler alert]: I am so grateful the author saw fit to dispense with the Lone Diner in the way that she did!
Even with some distance between reading the book and writing this review, I am unsure how I feel about it. The torture of the poor main characters, Amandine and Connor, went on and on. It was excruciating to read, and maybe this reader’s discomfort meant that I identified with the main characters. The feeling of being out in the cold was vivid, especially as I read this as the temperatures dropped outside. It’s a great read for snuggling under a blanket.
If you like your suspense intense, your horror gory, and your characters a little bit (well, a lot) flawed, this one’s for you!
Thank you to NetGalley and Datura for an advance reader’s copy.Background photo courtesy of Markus Spiske @unsplash
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The Better Mother
Author: Jennifer van der Kleut
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Published: February 10, 2026Birth Announcement (Just kidding! Book Review 🙂
Everything is going well for Savannah at last. She’s pretty much over the breakup with her boyfriend, her career looks to be headed on track, and she’s comfy in her new apartment. She’s started dating. And there’s the red flag!
After three years with Jason, Savannah was ready for a baby. The problem: Jason wasn’t. So when she ends up looking at the two blue lines on the pregnancy stick after her casual encounter with Max, her feelings are all over the place. The first thing she does is get in touch with Max to let him know. The second thing that happens totally blindsides her- Max is back with his girlfriend. And now his girlfriend wants to meet her.
Madison seems much too invested in the pregnancy and, if you’re hearing dun dun dun in the background, you heard correctly. Madison is evil. And she has plans for this baby. Plans that don’t include Savannah.
The tension ramps up as we find out who’s gaslighting whom…and how far people are willing to go to protect themselves.
Thanks so much to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Jennifer van der Kleut, for her debut novel. I can’t wait to see what she writes next! -
First Date
Author: Gemma Amor
Publisher: Datura Books
Published: February 10, 2026My main takeaways from this book are:
1. I felt cold the entire time I was reading it
2. No one could have survived what the two MCs went through
3. [Spoiler alert]: I am so grateful the author saw fit to dispense with the Lone Diner in the way that she did!
Even with some distance between reading the book and writing this review, I am unsure how I feel about it. The torture of the poor main characters went on and on. It was excruciating to read, and maybe this reader’s discomfort meant that I identified with Amandine and Connor. The feeling of being out in the cold was vivid, especially as I read this as the temperatures dropped outside. It’s a great read for snuggling with under a blanket.
If you like your suspense intense, your horror gory, and your characters a little bit (well, a lot) flawed, this one’s for you!
Thank you to NetGalley and Datura Books for an advance reader’s copy. -
We Were Never Friends
Author: Kaira Rouda
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Published: February 3, 2026This author’s books are ones I go to when I’ve just come off a series of hard-hitting thrillers or horror books, or a deeply moving nonfiction book. Her writing is just fun, soap opera, housewives of (locality) material. Not a lot for the reader to think about. Just pure devious fictional characters with secrets and lies.
What made this book even more enjoyable for me was the setting. A recently renovated Palm Springs vacation home that reeks of the hotel these sorority sisters stayed in 25 years ago – with disastrous results. Ostensibly a celebration of two of their children’s future marriage to each other, it’s a showcase…and showtime…for Roxy Gentry, the self-appointed “hostess with the mostest”. But when the secrets start being revealed, not one person will come out of the house the same. Some of them may not even come out!
Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for indulging my love of thrillers with an advance reader’s copy. -
Murder Manor
Author: Cori Nevruz
Publisher: Masonboro Press
Published: February 3, 2026Cori Nevruz is becoming one of my go-to authors for creepy house settings. I read The Unwelcome Guest last year, a locked-room (island) thriller about a family reunion on a remote island. The setting of this, a remote mountain-top retreat, gave me the same creepy vibe.
The Johnson family of five has decided to spend their vacation at Murdoch Manor. They have no idea that it’s been linked to the disappearances of several people throughout the years, starting with the disappearance of Maryanne Maxwell in 1954. The story alternates between the POVs of Rachel and Mia Johnson and the victims of those who went missing over the years. To complicate matters, there is a family that is responsible for cooking and cleaning, BnB style, but their interactions with the family are rather suspect to me!
As much as I try to stay away from paranormal events in stories, Mia’s ability to see spirits is a thread that is important to the story, and it was so well done that it didn’t make me cringe.
Thank you to Book Sirens and Masonboro Press for keeping this author on my radar with an advance reader’s copy. -
This House Will Feed
Author: Maria Tureaud
Publisher: Kensington Publishing
Published: January 27, 2026I have said I don’t read historical fiction.
I have said I don’t read romance.
I have said I don’t read fiction with supernatural elements.
Dear reader, I lied! Because I absolutely loved This House Will Feed, which has all of the above and more. Horror. Suspense. And plenty of other things that may or may not be triggers for you. Suffice to say, Maria Tureaud has done her research and has opened my eyes to the horror that was The Great Hunger, otherwise known as the Great Irish Potato Famine, when a fungus blighted the potato crops of Ireland.
Reading the author’s note is a must, because while the lack of food stocks caused great hunger, it was the British landowners who ousted tenants and/or confiscated their possessions and land who were responsible for so much suffering. My heart ached, not just for the fictional Maggie O’Shughnessy and her family, but also for the real people of Ireland who lived through that painful era. Come for the gothic horror; stay for the history lesson!
The author includes references, a pronunciation guide, translations/meanings of words in the book, and a reading group guide.
I love Irish fiction and I will read anything Maria Tureaud writes. Thank you to Kensington Publishing for sending me an advance reader’s copy so that I could discover a new favorite author! -
Dead in the Water
Author: John Marrs
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: January 20, 2026I thought I knew where this book was going, but no, I did not!! Oh yes, I guessed the first twist. But I was foolish to think the author was going to stop there. Because, come on, this is John Marrs. He just has to give you another twist…and another…and then the twists just keep coming.
Once Damon has a near-death experience, he can’t stop obsessing over the visions he had. He swears that he is not hallucinating, but seeing the people from those visions in real life. And those people have a message for him. One he must die again to interpret. And again. And again.
Before long, Damon’s compulsion has driven away his ex-wife and her girlfriend, and they’re not even sure they want him to father their child anymore. Because he’s a ghost of who he was before he drowned. And something has changed.
At one point Damon says, “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 97. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘥.” Oh no, Damon, your life ends at Chapter 39 (IYKYK).
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for an advance reader’s copy. -
The Locksmith
Author: Danielle Fear
Publisher: Indie
Published: January 27, 2026You can hide in your houses. You can lock your doors. But nothing is keeping The Locksmith out.
Just thinking about someone stealthily lurking around your house, creeping into your bedroom while you’re sleeping, sent shivers down my back. This book began as an investigation into a gruesome serial killer but turned into so much more. It explores the unknown impact our actions may have on others, the obsessions we hold while ignoring what should matter more to us, and the perceptions that blind us to facts.
The author built the story slowly, but by the end, things move so rapidly that you cannot avert your eyes quickly enough to the chaos that is about to unfold.
Thank you to the author, @daniellefearauthor for including me in the ARC group!
Book Cravings 