-
The Artist’s Way Toolkit
Author: Julia Cameron
Publisher: St. Martin’s Essentials
Date Published: January 14, 2025The Artist’s Way Toolkit is a readily accessible “how to” guide for releasing the creative process. It is based on four tools: Morning Pages (extended journaling), Artist Dates (something you do by yourself, for yourself), Walks (minimum 20 minutes, no earphones or companions – not even dogs!), and guidance.
Guidance might be the hardest concept to grasp, as it involves writing down the problem you need guidance on, then trusting that “inner voice”. However, there is a whole process to understanding what true guidance is.
There are a great number of tools to help a creator implement the process – affirmations, a 12-week checklist, guidance for teaching the process to others, ideas for artist’s dates, inspirational quotes, poems by Julia (“The Queen of Change”), and keywords and phrases. I like the term “fuse lighter” – “a person who sparks our creativity”.
I skipped over a lot of the spirituality parts of the guide, and may not be able to commit to all of the steps (3 pages each day not including dreams!), though I suspect a lot of that will come with practice. But for anyone who would like a quick overview of Julia Cameron’s very popular Living the Artist’s Way and Write for Life, the Artist’s Way Toolkit, this is a great way to jumpstart self-growth and creativity.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Essentials for both an eArc and physical copy. -
The Perfect Home
Author: Daniel Kenitz
Publisher: Scribner
Date Published: January 14, 2025As someone who grew up on the OG fixer-upper shows and loves the dynamics of the couples on those HGTV reality shows who buy/sell/fix/flip homes, this book really struck a chord!
You know them – the shows with magazine-quality curated cushions, fixtures, knick-knacks, and unlimited budgets. Those shows where houses are finished in a week without the stars getting anything more than a strategically placed speck of drywall dust on their perfectly makeup-clad faces. I’ve always wondered what the backstory was of those couples who seem so…well…perfect! Well, this book goes there!
Before there was Dawn and Wyatt, there was…just Wyatt. A man who thought he was above the reality show audience, who just wanted to tell the uneducated masses about ways to enhance their homes. But then Dawn came along, the Lucy to his Desi, and America fell in love with them. Mostly with Wyatt, while Dawn provided the comedic relief. And then they become even more perfect when they become parents to twins.
But there is a danger to fame, and that is that once it’s achieved, how much is too much? Wyatt feels he has to find better and more dramatic ways to keep his audience engaged and up the viewer ratings, so while in the throes of withdrawal from a fertility drug, he hatches a plan that he thinks will be a surefire ratings boost. The “he said, she said” drama that plays out will have you on the edge of your seat. This is a standout debut novel from Kenitz and I read it in one “stay up late until it’s done” book fever!
Thank you to NetGalley and Scribner for an advance reader’s copy! -
The Business Trip
Author: Jessie Garcia
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Date Published: January 14, 2025The Business Trip by Jessie Garcia
Holy cow! This is a debut author? Bravo!!
I really wish I could reveal spoilers, because I feel like I need to talk about parts of this book in more detail. But let’s just start with the idea of meeting your seatmate on a plane. When you think about it, you’re on a plane for maybe 2 hours, or more. You’re a captive audience and hopefully you’ve brought a book or are watching a movie on your device or the seat back. But you and your seatmate click. You find yourself revealing so much about yourself, because hey, you are never going to see this person again, right?
But then these two women go missing and the only thing they have in common is that they both texted friends that they had met a guy, Trent McCarthy. Presumably Stephanie has extended her trip to get to know Trent but her texts to her friends and co-workers just aren’t making sense. And since Jasmine let her one friend know she was fleeing her husband and would be in touch, no one except her abusive husband is missing her. I was scratching my head trying to figure out what was going on. And then the twist happened. And just when you think everything is tied up in a neat bundle…another twist!
I am a big fan of debut authors and I highly recommend this well done, fast paced book by Jessie Garcia!Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for an advance reader’s copy.
-
The Widow’s Lie
BOOK TOUR
Author: Melanie Price
Publisher: Wendlebury
Date Published: August 26, 2024Blurb
‘Welcome to the street!’ I say cheerfully as my new neighbor opens the door. But the moment I see her, my blood runs cold. I would know those bright blue eyes anywhere. She looks exactly like my husband’s ex-wife. The one who went missing. The one declared dead a decade ago…
I hurry back home, determined to get to the bottom of this strange coincidence. But my husband, Charles, tells me I’m just imagining things.
Anastasia is a beautiful young widow, and has moved to our idyllic, tree-lined street for a fresh start with her little girl. All my friends love our glamorous new neighbor, and my daughter, Matilda, wants nothing more than to play with her new best friend over the road.
Just as I’m about to accept my husband’s pleadings and put it down to paranoia, Anastasia says something that turns my world upside down. I can’t stop my hands from shaking and my heart from pounding. Does she know the one thing about me that she shouldn’t?
Now, I am sure Anastasia is lying.
And as my perfect life begins to crumble around me, I realize that my baby girl and I might really be in terrible danger.
But I have a plan of my own. This “widow” has no idea how far I’ll go to keep my family, and my secrets, safe…
An absolutely unputdownable psychological thriller that will have you glued to the pages and screaming at your Kindle at the jaw-dropping twist. If you love The Perfect Marriage, Gone Girl and anything by Lisa Jewell or Nicola Sanders, you’ll be hooked on The Widow’s Lie!
MY REVIEW
I love a book with a good unreliable narrator and in this book we have double the fun with Anastasia (Anna) and Jacqueline having opposing POV. Both are mama bears who will do anything to protect their daughters. So when their daughters become fast friends the day that Anna moves across the street from Jacqueline, it presents an opportunity and a dilemma.
Can Anna get close enough to Jacqueline’s husband Charles to find out who she really is without giving herself away? And can Jacqueline find a way to get rid of Anna, without revealing her own secrets?
In a twist you won’t see coming, the decision is made for them. And no one is safe.
Thanks to Love Books Tours for an advance reader’s copy from one of my newest favorite authors!
Author bio
Melanie Price is the author of page-turning psychological thrillers. She loves writing stories that will keep readers guessing late into the night! If you want to stay up to date with her newest releases, please follow Melanie’s Amazon profile.
You can also get in touch on her website, where you can download a copy of her FREE psychological thriller short story, The Husband’s Mistake.
Find It Here -
Lie Like the Devil
Author: Birgitte Margen
Publisher: Indie
Date Published: August 22, 2024The word that kept coming to mind while I was reading Lie Like the Devil was “intelligent”. The author has done her research to create a well-plotted fictionalized thriller/police procedural based on the real history of the Puritans and their beliefs based on scripture from the Geneva Bible (if you ever go to Salem, make sure you attend the story of the Salem Witch Trials at the Museum!). This dark thriller has:
• Cults
• Devils
• Ritual killings
• A serial killer
• Lots of suspects
• A super detective team
This book couldn’t have come at a better time for me! I had my first visit to Boston earlier this year, and the way that Margen used the city and surrounding area as almost another character in the book made it feel so real. I had to keep reminding myself I was reading fiction!
Thank you to the author for a e-copy of this book – I can’t wait to see what you do next!Background photo of Boston courtesy of Tiffany Chan on @unsplash.
-
The Perfect Couple
Author: Ruth Ware
Publisher: Gallery Books
Date Published: May 21, 2024This book was written by one of my favorite authors and included one of my favorite tropes – a locked room mystery. So of course I was going to love it!
Five couples join a reality TV show, The Perfect Couple. Half of the participants aren’t sure what they signed on for, since they are mostly there to support their acting/fame-seeking partners. But one thing is for sure – despite the producer’s promises, this show will be as cutthroat as any other Survivor/Love Island-type show. Nico, who has talked his skeptical scientist girlfriend into coming along is the first contestant cut from the show. Despite her promise to leave before him, Lyla is already having second thoughts about this man who seems to not get her at all.
And then the storm hits.When the untested infrastructure fails, it truly becomes a survivor experience for the remaining couples.
And then…they start dying. On…by…one. (pun intended, ifykyk)
The whole time I was reading this book I felt like this was a scenario that could happen in this age of fast production, quick-to-fame social media, and reality shows. Ware has a knack for making you feel as drenched from the rain, dehydrated from the sun, and itchy from the mosquitos as our poor protagonists are.
Ware remains on my list of auto-buy authors!
Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for an advance reader’s copy.Thanks to Meritt Thomas @unsplash for the background photo
-
My Darling Boy
Author: Helen Cooper
Publisher: Penguin Group Putnam
Date Published: December 3, 2024This was a heartbreaking psychological thriller about two families torn apart by the death of one mother’s child at the hands of another. Because of the subject matter, the other stories are almost lost in the thread of secrets, betrayal, and deceit.
It was a fateful New Year’s Eve. Robbie is killed by his best friend Leo. But was it murder or an accident? Either way, Leo is put away for manslaughter. In prison, he meets someone local to his hometown who takes him under his wing, but while in prison he also gets some unexpected news. On the day of his release, he is nowhere to be found. The secrets revealed in Chrissy’s frantic search to find her son start to snowball.Helen Cooper writes with great pacing that has you turning the pages!
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for an advance reader’s copy.
-
If You Lie
Author: Caleb Stephens
Publisher: Thrillerscape Press
Date Published: November 1, 2024This is a thriller done right! Stephens ramps up the pace from page one and doesn’t let up!
I had to take a minute before I could write a review so that I could digest everything that happened. And a LOT happened.
Olivia receives a letter from her estranged sister Quinn, inviting her on a cruise to meet her “intelligent, kind, hot, and very funny” fiancé. What could go wrong?
The limo, the yacht with a glittering chandelier, the beautiful stateroom – how did Quinn go from her former life of poverty to become the graceful, designer-clad version of herself now? Xclivity. And if that reminds you of all the cults you’ve ever heard of you would be right! Weird rituals. a mesmerizing leader, and a missing person. Once Olivia realizes she’s not safe, she is ready to leave the boat.
“They came with knives.”
To me, that was the most chilling line of the book!
Olivia has a master plan and she’s enlisted some of the other passengers, but they are out-weaponed. I could not see a way out for her. Thank goodness the author meticulously plotted this book so that you are on the edge of your seat the whole way through.
Caleb Stephens is a new-to-me author and I immediately downloaded his addendum (QR code at the end of the book) to read the letter one of the passengers writes to her son. I don’t often read series, but I would definitely read a sequel to If You Lie! Do yourself a favor and read this book!
Thanks to Caleb Stephens and Booksirens for an advance reader’s copy! -
One More Lie
Author: Sheryl Browne
Publisher: Bookouture
Date Published: November 18, 2024BOOKS ON TOUR
College friends have managed to remain a friend group even though they all are holding onto guilt from an incident 20 years ago. It all comes back to Pippa and what happened to her on the beach – and who was responsible!
Someone knows what happened, and that’s the person who was there on the beach with Pippa that night. Was it the guy she had sex with (no one knew she had a boyfriend)? Was it a crime of passion, jealousy, or hate? Those are the questions Becky has been living with for the past 20 years, and now she doesn’t know who to trust. And now her friends are dying…one…by…one.
The book turns dramatically about 50% in and though you might guess some of the twists, you’ll stay for the taut action and the unexpected ending.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Books on Tour for an advance reader’s copyAuthor Bio
Bestselling Author, Sheryl Browne, writes taut, twisty psychological thriller. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association and the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies where she completed her MA in Creative Writing. Sheryl has also obtained a Certificate of Achievement in Forensic Science and – according to readers – she makes an excellent psychopath. Sheryl’s latest psychological thriller HER HUSBAND’S HOUSE comes to you from BOOKOUTURE. Her previous works include the DI Matthew Adams Crime Thriller series, along with contemporary fiction novels, The Rest of My Life and Learning to Love.
To find out more about Sheryl. go to www.sherylbrowne.com
If you would like to join her Bookouture Mailing List you can grab her short story 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗬 #FREE! https://t.co/bIigwwALCs
Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Sheryl Browne here: https://www.bookouture.com/sheryl-browne
-
What the Nanny Saw
Author: Kaira Rouda
Publisher: Bookouture
Date Published: November 13, 2024BOOKS ON TOUR
Book Description:
I keep all her secrets. She thinks she can trust me…
Cecilia has it all. The house on the beach. The cute figure. The beautiful baby. But she’s a long way from perfect.
She’s let me into her gorgeous house as her nanny because now she’s on her own, she needs a little help with her baby daughter Peyton. She barely notices me. But I see everything.
While Peyton naps, I rifle through her drawers and discover the dark secrets in her past, the threatening letter from her ex-husband.
It’s a shame that Cecilia doesn’t have my powers of observation. If she took some time, she might just recognise me. I’ve been following her for a while, after all.
If she knew who I was then I don’t think I’d be so invisible. And she wouldn’t be so surprised one morning when little Peyton’s cot is found empty…
A completely gripping and unputdownable read that will have you turning pages deep into the night. Fans of Shari Lapena and Freida McFadden will be hooked by What the Nanny Saw.MY THOUGHTS
This is classic Kaira Rouda, a fun, over-the-top, domestic thriller! The author gives us a host of unlikeable characters to pick through and a couple of ambiguous ones as well. Because of that, we are just waiting to see who the bad guy turns out to be!
Facts:
• Lizzie was unappreciated in her job with the Johnson’s.
• Cecelia desperately needed help with her 5 month old, because her back injury prevented her from basic care.
• Cecelia is generous but naive.
• Paul, her husband who is in prison for attempted murder (of her), is a bad guy.
Needs context:
• Lizzie is an excellent nanny.
• Evan (Cecelia’s) partner and Peyton’s father, loves Peyton and cares about Cecelia.
Even though they are on my TBR, I didn’t realize Best Day Ever and The Second Mrs. Strom are book 1 and 2 in the series, respectively, but it didn’t matter, because Rouda describes enough background to make this book a standalone.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Books-on-Tour for an advance reader’s copy.AUTHOR BIO
Kaira Rouda is an award–winning, USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author of contemporary fiction that explores what goes on beneath the surface of seemingly perfect lives. Her novels of domestic suspense include The Widow, Somebody’s Home, The Next Wife, The Favorite Daughter, Best Day Ever, All the Difference, Beneath the Surface – optioned for a feature film – and Under the Palms. Her next novel, The Second Mrs. Strom, is out in August 2024, and Only the Nanny in November 2024. To date, Kaira’s work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Three of her novels have been named Amazon Editor’s Picks for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. The Next Wife was named a Suspense Magazine’s Best Book of 2021 Award, and a 2022 Silver Falchion for Best Suspense Novel and a 2022 Silver Falchion first runner-up for Best Book of the Year.
https://kairarouda.com/
https://www.facebook.com/KairaRoudaBooks
https://www.instagram.com/kairarouda/?hl=en
https://x.com/kairarouda?lang=en&lang=en
https://www.tiktok.com/@kairaroudabooksSign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Kaira Rouda here: https://www.bookouture.com/kaira-rouda
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0DC735YG3social
