Thriller Thursday Reviews: Last Girl Ghosted & The Replacement Wife
Happy New Year and Happy Thriller Thursday! Yup, that’s right it’s me Sharon. 🙂 I hope 2022 is treating everyone good so far. I have started off 2022 on a great reading note. My first 2 books of the year, Lisa Unger’s; Last Girl Ghosted and Darby Kane’s; The Replacement Wife were awesome!
Last Girl Ghosted Goodreads Author: Lisa Unger
Publication Date: October 5, 2021
Publisher: Park Row
As soon as Lisa Unger’s newest novel Last Girl Ghosted was released I bought a copy of it, but for some reason every time I went to start a new book I would pass this over. I am kicking myself now for passing it over so many times, but glad I finally picked it up to read because this book was great.
Wren Greenwood is an advice columnist who writes under the name of “Dear Birdie”. Wren has had a traumatic childhood and it takes a lot for her to open herself up to anyone. So needless to say, she does not date much. Wren’s best friend Jax encourages Wren to sign up on the dating APP “Torch”. It is on the dating app that Wren meets Adam, a nerdy IT guy. They hit it off instantly and after dating for a few months, Wren tells Adam about her past. The next day Adam disappears, all of his social media accounts are deleted and his phone is disconnected. Wren has been Ghosted. As Wren is trying to come to terms with how she could have let this happen, she is contacted by a private detective, Bailey Kirk. Bailey is looking for a missing woman named Mia, who also used the Torch app and after meeting a man on there she has disappeared. And there have been two other women who have also disappeared after meeting a man on Torch, and the man they all met is the same one. After doing online searches on Mia and the other missing women, Wren decides to help Bailey in his search for “Adam” and the missing women. But helping Bailey in his search brings up Wren’s dark past which sends her on a dangerous path.
I loved Wren. As more and more layers of her were revealed, I had such sympathy for her and was rooting for her to be able to come through this safely. As the book progressed and her past and her present connected, I loved watching how she would be vulnerable, but then shake it off and become one strong, bad-ass woman. Adam better watch out because he messed with the wrong woman this time! LOL.
I also loved Bailey Kirk. I loved how determined he was to find out what happened to Mia. Even when his boss told him it was time to admit they were not going to find her, he kept pushing and would not let it go. He was also sympathetic to Wren. Through his digging he was able to uncover the secrets of her past, but he made it known to her that what he knows would stay with him. He was not out to ruin her life, he just wanted to find Mia.
I really don’t want to say a lot about what happens in this book because that would spoil things. I can say that I was hooked from the first to the last page. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to the missing women and find out who ‘Adam” really was and why he targeted Wren as well as the other women.
The only issue I had with this book was that near the end I thought it dragged a bit. But other than that, I loved everything else about this book. If you are looking for mystery that has a deadly game of cat and mouse, then I recommend Last Girl Ghosted. 4 stars
The Replacement Wife Goodreads Author: Darby Kane
Publication Date: December 28, 2021
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
I loved Darby Kane’s debut novel Pretty Little Wife, so I was excited to read her next book The Replacement Wife, and I am happy to report that this was just as good.
Elisa Wright used to enjoy when her brother in-law, Josh, would come over to hang out, that is until she became convinced that he is a murderer. Josh’s wife died a few years ago when she slipped and hit her head on the stairs in their home and then a few months ago his fiancée went missing. Though Josh was cleared of any wrongdoing in both cases, Elisa has uncovered some information that makes her question Josh’s innocence. Josh now has a new girlfriend, Rachel, and Elisa fears for her safety. As Elisa starts looking into the death of Josh’s first wife and his missing fiancée, memories of a shooting that happened to her almost a year ago surface, along with panic attacks and a mysterious illness. Elisa starts to question whether she is having a breakdown or is this all Josh’s doing. What she does know is that she needs to keep pushing forward and uncover the truth before something happens to Rachel.
I loved how this book was told from the POV of Elisa and how she was an unreliable narrator. Elisa survived a shooting a year ago, outside the hospital where she used to work. While she has recovered physically, she still understandably has emotional scars. She suffers from panic attacks and only feels comfortable in her home. Elisa has never really come to terms with Josh’s fiancée, Abby, disappearing. She and Abby were best friends, so she cannot understand how she could just leave without contacting Elisa. When Elisa finds Abby’s favorite sweatshirt and laptop in Josh’s house she becomes suspicious, especially when she sees that Abby saved messages from someone calling themselves “Concerned” saying that Josh is dangerous and killed his first wife. I loved how Elisa pushed herself out of her comfort zone to investigate what happened to Josh’s first wife and Abby. Even though every time she caught Josh in a lie and he would talk his way out of it making Elisa look like the unstable one, she held her ground and kept pushing.
As much as I liked Elisa, I despised Josh lol. He was so arrogant. No matter what lie he was caught in, he would turn it around like it was Elisa who was in the wrong. And when he got away with it he would just give a smirk. Ugh! I wanted to punch him in the face so bad. LOL!
Rachel was the character I was going back and forth on. There were times I thought she and Josh were in this gaslighting of Elisa together, and then there were times I thought she was on Elisa’s side. And though I did figure some things out about her, there was a twist at the end I did not see coming with her.
I loved how this book kept me guessing on who to believe. And even though I did figure some things out, there were still some plot twists that caught me off guard. If you like psychological thrillers that have you doubting everyone then Darby Kane’s The Replacement Wife is the book for you. 4 stars
Top Ten Tuesday – Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection. I’m playing a little fast and loose with the “book collection” aspect of the topic because I’m including actual physical and ebooks I got for Christmas as well as my most recent e-arc approvals.
Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection
1. THE THINGS WE LEAVE UNFINISHED by Rebecca Yarros
2. THE SUMMER PLACE by Jennifer Weiner
3. BY ANY OTHER NAME by Lauren Kate
4. THE EMMA PROJECT by Sonali Dev
5. THE GUNCLE by Steven Rowley
6. THE MAGNOLIA PALACE by Fiona Davis
7. THE NEAR WITCH by V.E. Schwab
8. Ramón and Julieta by Alana Albertson
9. SISTERS OF THE VAST BLACK by Lina Rather
10. THE PAID BRIDESMAID by Sariah Wilson
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Question: What are the most recent additions to your book collection?
Reviews: WEATHER GIRL & MADE IN MANHATTAN
Hey everyone, hope your week is off to a great start. It snowed 14 inches here last week and since we don’t really do snow well here in central Virginia, the whole area was pretty much shut down all week. I work from home so it didn’t impact me too much, plus it made for a great excuse to cozy up in front of the fire with some wonderful books, two of which I’m sharing reviews for today.
Weather Girl Goodreads Author: Rachel Lynn Solomon
Publication Date: January 11, 2022
Publisher: Berkley Books
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
Rachel Lynn Solomon’s latest contemporary romance, Weather Girl, follows Ari Abrams, a young Jewish woman whose lifelong fascination with the weather has landed her a dream job as a TV meteorologist. Working alongside her longtime idol, legendary Seattle weatherwoman, Torrance Hale, Ari’s job is everything she ever hoped it would be. That is, with one exception: the unbearable tension in the workplace between Torrance and Seth, who happens to be the news director at the station as well as Torrance’s ex-husband. The two of them are constantly at each other’s throats, making everyone around them feel awkward and uncomfortable, including one of Ari’s coworkers, sports reporter Russell Barringer. Unable to take it anymore, Ari and Russell cook up a scheme to get Torrance and Seth back together. Adult version of The Parent Trap, anyone?
I had a lot of fun with this story. Ari and Russell are both such likeable characters and I enjoyed their attempts at nudging Torrance and Seth back together, especially since it became clear that the two of them were also growing closer along the way.
I also just loved how realistic and relatable Ari came across, particularly when it came to her struggles with mental health. Ari suffers from depression but has also struggled with the fear that no one would like her if they knew of her depression. Her way of coping with that has been to keep her depression and therapy a secret, put on a happy face and be a walking ray of sunshine to everyone around her. It was clearly not healthy and in fact, was downright exhausting at times, because all Ari really wanted was to feel like she could be herself. Could Russell finally be the one who gets her to let her guard down?
Speaking of Russell, I really loved this guy and honestly found him to be more realistic than most of the male leads I’ve read about in romance novels. He’s a Jewish single dad and he hasn’t been on a date in at least five years. Russell also struggles with his weight and so doesn’t really think of himself as a “catch” for any woman. I liked that sense of vulnerability about him, and I also liked that the more he and Ari hung out together, the more it was clear what a great match they could be because, even though their matchmaking schemes weren’t exactly professional, they really did bring out the best in each other.
If matchmaking a la The Parent Trap, a realistic exploration of a person coping with depression, excellent Jewish representation, and a friends-to-lovers romance appeal to you, Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon needs to be on your must-read list. It’s the fourth novel I’ve read from Solomon, and it’s definitely another winner for me. 4 STARS.
Made in Manhattan Goodreads
Author: Lauren Layne
Publication Date: January 18, 2022
Publisher: Gallery Books
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
As soon as I saw that Lauren Layne’s new contemporary romance, Made in Manhattan, was being advertised as a modern-day reverse My Fair Lady, I knew I had to read it. I’m a huge fan of My Fair Lady, the musical and the film, so I’m always up for a fresh take on an old favorite.
Made in Manhattan follows Violet Townsend, a young woman born and raised in the wealthy, privileged Upper East Side of Manhattan. Violet is an expert when it comes to knowing what to say, how to act, and what to wear in all elite social settings. Violet also loves to make people happy, especially Edith, who while not a blood relative, has practically raised her since Violet’s parents and grandparents all died when she was much younger. Edith runs a successful international corporation and has been troubled by the fact that she has no living family to take over the business when she retires, that is until she learns that she has a grandson named Cain Stone she never knew about. Edith is determined to groom Cain to take over the business, but there’s just one problem: Cain, who hails from New Orleans, is about as rough around the edges as they come. With his long hair, scuffed boots, faded jeans, and a vocabulary that consists largely of the four-letter ‘f’ word, Cain doesn’t exactly fit in with NYC’s elite. Edith enlists Violet to help give Cain a Manhattan makeover. Less than thrilled at the prospect, Violet reluctantly agrees because she just can’t say no to Edith. Unfortunately for Violet, Cain is even less thrilled at the prospect.
As with the original My Fair Lady, there are just sparks flying everywhere between Violet and Cain as soon as the makeover commences. Cain is impossible, fighting Violet every step of the way, and Violet becomes more and more frustrated. She can’t understand why he even bothered to come to New York if he’s not willing to do whatever it takes to become CEO of the company that is pretty much being handed to him. Cain, on the other hand, can’t understand why Violet, or Duchess as he refers to her, has nothing else better to do with her time than treat him as a human mannequin. While I found all the awkward, snarky banter at the beginning of their relationship quite entertaining, what I really enjoyed was watching their relationship evolve as they got to know each other better and could look past their initial impressions of one another. It becomes all too clear that the two of them have the hots for each other, whether they want to admit it or not.
The only thing better than watching their relationship evolve was watching Violet herself evolve. She really does start to question what she is even doing with her life and why she feels the need to be such a people pleaser all the time, even if it makes her miserable in the process. The more time she spends with Cain, the more she finds herself willing to step out of her lifelong comfort zone and try new things. It’s as if she’s undergoing just as much of a transformation as Cain is, and I loved to see it.
Made in Manhattan was everything I could have wanted from a My Fair Lady-inspired book and then some. I flew through the pages in less than a day and was sad when the story was over, even though the ending was immensely satisfying. 4 STARS.