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One Big Happy Family
Author: Jamie Day
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Date Published: July 16, 2024What’s scarier than a closed room mystery? How about a hotel on a cliffside (aptly named The Precipice), with a hurricane coming, and a murderer on the loose!
Charley is a maid in a desperate situation – she can’t afford a place of her own and her Nana’s care fees both, so she’s lucky she has a free room (well, closet) at the hotel. But the owner has died – will the new owners be as generous? Day has done an excellent job of showing us the characters of each of the three Bishop sisters and their partners who come to stay for their Dad’s funeral. And then there’s the guest Charley is hiding from an ex-boyfriend. She’s protective of Charley, but can they trust her ex not to find her? Everything is precarious, not just the hotel, and it is all leading up to a crazy night of flickering lights, horrendous rain, and (dun dun dun)….murder.
I flew through this book in a day, and now I’m going back to read The Block Party!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced reader’s copy of this thrilling read.Photo courtesy of Lennart Nacke @unsplash
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Girl Next Door
Author: Karen King
Publisher: Bookouture
Date Published: July 9, 2024Put aside a day just to read because you won’t be able to put this one down. I read into the wee hours because the suspense was killing me!
Vanessa and Aaron have a blended family, one son from her, one son from him, and a 3-year-old between them. They have sworn to treat all kids equally and mostly they do. Until the new neighbor next door falls from her bedroom window. When blame threatens to tear them apart, how far will Vanessa go to protect her son?
King will have you questioning each character’s motivation and suspecting almost all of them at some point. We hear their individual points of view. King perfectly captures teen angst and sibling relationships, loyalty, and secret-keeping
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for inviting me on this Books On Tour!
Author BioKaren King was born in Birmingham and has always enjoyed reading and writing. She’s been published for over thirty years, in a variety of genres for both children and adults. She loves writing about the complexities of relationships. Her first three books for Bookouture were romances where relationships came right, she has now turned to the darker side of relationships, writing two psychological thrillers about relationships that go badly wrong. Karen now lives in Spain where she loves to spend her non-writing time exploring the quaint local towns with her husband, Dave, when she isn’t sunbathing or swimming in the pool, that is.
https://www.instagram.com/karenkingauthor/
Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Karen King here: https://www.bookouture.com/karen-king
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0D274VT3Gsocial
You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo
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Just the Nicest Family
Author: Alison James
Publisher: Bookouture
Date Published: June 23, 2024Book Tour
This is my third Alison James novel and my third 5-star review!
What would be worse than being on vacation in a foreign country and being arrested for a crime you may or may not have committed, but at the same time, you are definitely keeping secrets you don’t want to come out?
That’s the situation Tim Cutler finds himself in when he travels to France to meet and vacation with a potential buyer for his veterinary business. When he sees someone from his past, he opens the door to what happens next.
Told in alternating timelines and POVs, this was a fast read with a main character you don’t know whether to root for, pity, or boo!
This was part of a Bookouture Books on Tour.Alison James
Author Bio:
Alison James was born in the Cotswolds but spent most of her formative years abroad. She studied languages at Oxford, then became a journalist and author, returning to university after her two children to take a law degree. After a three-year stint as a criminal paralegal, she worked as a commercial copywriter and then a TV storyliner, before coming full circle to write fiction again.
Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Alison James here: http://www.bookouture.com/alison-james
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0D2HRFXXKsocial
You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you’ll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo
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Two Sides to Every Murder
Author: Danielle Valentine
Publisher: Penguin Group, Penguin Young Readers Group
Date Published: June 25, 2024I rarely read YA but when I do, you can be sure it will be Danielle Valentine.
I loved that the publisher stayed true to the colors and font of How to Survive Your Murder which combined all the murder tropes into a campy (pun intended) rendition. The author also used the same voice, which fulfilled my expectation that this was going to be a gory, twisty, but sideways smile read.
16 years ago, the unthinkable happened at Camp Lost Lake, giving birth to the story of the person, most likely a woman, whose face was “misshapen, old, haggard, with green-tinted skin and long, stringy gray hair; and her eyes were black, sunken, surrounded by deeply lined, rubbery skin, her nose long, hooked, covered in warts…”
A witch, hunting down people at a summer camp? Yikes! But still, just as Camp Lost Lake is getting ready to reopen, two teens are searching for the truth about what happened – one for her bio father, the other to clear her mother’s name. As their paths cross, the truth will come out. But not before more harrowing victims fall prey to the Witch of Lost Lake.
Thanks so much to Bookish First for an advance reading copy.
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Her Last Summer
BLOG TOUR
Author: Nina Manning
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Date Published: May 30, 2024If you like atmospheric stories, this book is for you. The settings at the beach, at the local recreation center in Camden, England, and the film set in Scotland (and particularly the food) will evoke your senses.
Rey Levine is an out-of-work actress, living in the best place she can afford, drinking, doing drugs, and hopping into bed with random strangers. We find out that though she was a rising star, she’s so traumatized by the fact that her sister disappeared when she was young…and the guilt she feels…that she is sabotaging her career. But when she’s offered a chance at a come-back role, she must do everything in her power to fight the fear of swimming that she’s formed.
It wasn’t until Rey was on the set of her film that I started to really get into her character, through the eyes of her co-star and heartthrob Dexter Rice. Through his character, she starts to open up about her past. As I expected, Rey’s big secret isn’t a surprise, but the circumstances around it take the book in a whole other direction.
Thanks to NetGalley, Boldwood Books, and Rachel’s Random Resources for an advance reader’s copy. Photos courtesy of RRR.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nina Manning studied psychology and was a restaurant-owner and private chef (including to members of the royal family). She is the founder and host of Sniffing The Pages, a book review podcast. The Daughter in Law is her debut psychological thriller and since then Nina has gone on to write 9 more books including: The Guilty Wife published in March 2020, The House Mate published in October 2020.The Bridesmaid published May 2021 and Queen Bee in January 2022. She has also written two ‘mum-lit’ fiction books: The 3 am shattered mums’ club and the 6 pm frazzled mums’ club. Her tenth book, Her Last Summer, another thriller, is published in May 2024.Nina currently lives in The Highlands in Scotland with her family.
Social Media Links –
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083674816362
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ninamanninguk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ninamanningauthor/
Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/NinaManningNews
Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nina-manning
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The Divorce Lawyer
BLOG TOUR
Author: Ellie Monago
Publisher: Bookouture
Date Published: May 10, 2024“But as I stand in the courtroom, listening to this poor woman break down sobbing, my stomach twists. I can’t look. Her husband says she can’t be trusted. Her child is about to be taken away from her. And it’s all my fault.Because she is not my client. Her husband is.”
This book was a cautionary tale about what happens when you stray from your convictions about what is the morally right thing to do. It’s also a wake-up call about the ubiquitousness of surveillance and technologies that can be used for evil in the wrong hands.
Monago builds on the character of Esther, who insists that she deals in “family law” not divorce. But up until now, she has worked as an advocate for women in what she considers bad relationships, working to win custody battles. Peter seems determined to threaten to expose her secret, forcing her to take his custody case, and someone is anonymously messaging her with ominous disappearing texts in an app called Sleight, which was created by Peter’s prodigy, Avery, Ellie begins to spiral down wondering if she really is the “good” person she thought she was, and if now Avery, or even her boyfriend, know her secret too.
The author is a practicing therapist, so there is a ring of truth to the custody and mediator portions of the book. Almost all of the characters in the book were unlikeable, so not everyone will like it, but it was quick-paced and an interesting read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance reader’s copy.
Ellie Monago is the pen name of an acclaimed novelist and practicing therapist. She’s also a wife and mother, and when you add it all up, she doesn’t wind up with much time for hobbies. But she’s an avid tennis fan, a passionate reader of both fiction and nonfiction—especially memoir (nothing’s as juicy as the truth!)—and she relishes a good craft cocktail. -
The Night Nanny
BOOK TOUR
Author: Nelle Lamarr
Publisher: Bookouture
Date Published: May 13, 2024“Please don’t worry, Ava. Your baby is safe with me. I’m going to take care of her like she’s my own…”
Nothing says “you better worry” more than that when you’re reading a thriller!
Poor Ava had a rough pregnancy with complications, so when she is unable to even get out of bed to lift up her own baby, her husband suggests hiring a night nanny. He figured it would be great for Ava and for little Isa, and would allow him to get some sleep as well.
Cue the dun…dun…dunnnn…. Enter Marley, the night nurse. You know this is going to go south. Ava continues to be a dishrag, letting Marley take over the day, as well as night feedings, while her depression and lack of self concept continue to dip. But after a few weeks, Ava starts to connect with her baby (finally). And that’s when the action takes off. Did this book require a huge suspension of disbelief? Yes. But was it worth it for the twists and turns? Absolutely!
Thank you so much to Bookouture for taking me along on this book tour!About the author
Nelle Lamarr is the pen name for Nelle L’Amour, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, who has sold over 350,000 books worldwide. Her books feature flawed, complex characters and nail-biting twists you won’t see coming. A former executive in the entertainment industry, she lives in Los Angeles with her Prince Charming-ish husband, beautiful twin princesses, and a bevy of royal pain-in-the-butt pets. When she isn’t writing, you can find her reading gripping thrillers by her favorite authors with a cup of coffee or glass of wine. -
The Return of Ellie Black
Author: Emiko Jean
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Date Published: May 7, 2024I was super impressed by this debut thriller from Emiko Jean.
The story is told through dual POV which gives us insight into both main characters. But it’s the characterization of Detective Chelsey Calhoun and the girl who returns from the missing, Elizabeth, that really grabbed me. We see the determination of Chelsey to solve the missing person cases, partly for her own personal reasons, but she really cannot let go of this case, even when her marriage is threatened. Elizabeth goes through a gruesome ordeal, but it’s her grit that helps in her survival. The chapters are interspersed in a timely manner in order to provide a backstory to the character’s motivation.
This story with its strong plot, twists and revelations, and emotional tug, stayed with me for a long time after I read it.
Background photo courtesy of Photo by Marek Piwnicki @unsplash
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A Game of Lies
Author: Clare Macintosh
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Date Published: April 23, 2024I will never look at game shows the same after reading A Game of Lies! In a real-life version of bait-and-switch, 7 contestants find out the reality show premise is not what they signed up for. Whose secret is worth killing for and why?
DC Ffion Morgan is back to try to figure out everyone’s alibi, including staff and friends. The setting is the Welsh countryside and the Exposure encampment, surrounded by a wire fence. Everyone has an alibi, but everyone also has a motive. Mackintosh masterfully creates a well-developed persona for each of her characters through backstories and retellings from each POV of their time on the set of the reality show. I loved the addition of Dave, a large rescue who thinks he’s a puppy and clings to Ffion like Velcro. -
Hiding Places
Author: E. J. Post
Publisher: BDA Publishing
Date Published: April 16, 2024This was a beautifully written story about the aftermath of trauma, and the consequences of the way our society deals with mental health issues.
In the wake of a mass shooting, Ellie is at once called both a hero, and a killer, and even accused of cheating on her dead husband. She and James are both dealing with their PTSD, and cling to each other for emotional support. But both must deal with survivor’s guilt in their own way. It’s also about forgiveness of oneself, and of others.
I love how Ellie was portrayed. She is honest with herself and others, without displaying the naivete that is too common in FMCs. Her inner and outer struggles were visceral.
This book was almost lyrical in its use of prose, and I am grateful to the author and BDA Publishing for an advance reader’s copy.
Background photo courtesy of Jay Rembert at Unsplash.
Book Cravings 