Thriller Thursday Reviews: A Familiar Stranger & The Prisoner
Hey everyone! Welcome to Sharon’s Thriller Thursday. I hope everyone is doing well and having a good week with lots of great reading. I’m doing good and have been reading some great books. Today I am happy to share my thoughts on A Familiar Stranger by A.J. Torre and The Prisoner by B.A. Paris.
A Familiar Stranger Goodreads Author: A.J. Torre
Publication Date: September 27, 2022
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
A.J. Torre’s A Familiar Stranger follows Lillian Smith, a wife and mother, who is an obituary writer for a local newspaper. Lillian leads a quiet and ordinary life. Then she meets David Laurent in a coffee shop, and feeling restless with her life, Lillian starts an affair with David. Lillian creates a new persona when she is with David, and as their affair intensifies, her lies start to catch up with her and Lillian’s two worlds spiral out of control. But Lillian is not the only one leading a double life and someone is going to die.
The first chapter of this book is titled “2 Months Before Death” and that just piqued my interest right away. As the story progresses it gets closer to “the death”. The whole time I was reading I was trying to figure out who had died and once we find out who was dead, I was trying to figure out who killed them. I loved how Torre presented the book this way because it just made my investigative brain flip into high gear.
The story is told mostly from Lillian’s POV. Lillian is a very complex character who has a very dark sense of humor. She has a Twitter account where she posts murder mysteries, based on past obituaries, to her followers. I also really liked her relationship with her best friend Sam. She could be herself with him. Sam knows all of Lillian’s secrets, and because of that, I was watching him with a very cautious eye.
Lillian’s husband Mike is also leading a double life. I did not like Mike at all. He was so controlling and condescending when it came to Lillian. He was also very arrogant. He thought he had everything in his life just as he thought it should be. So, it was nice when things started to crumble, and he realized he was not in as much control as he thought.
I wish there was more I could say about this book, but I don’t want to spoil anything. I will say, I thought going in that I was going to be reading a domestic thriller, with cheating spouses and lies upon lies, but this book was so much more than that. Yes we have the cheating spouses, but we also have the mystery of who is dead and then who killed said person.
A Familiar Stranger was full of twists and turns that made me stop a few times to get my head around what I had just read. When the person who died was revealed I was totally taken by surprise and the cat and mouse game that played out after had me on the edge of my seat. 4 stars
The Prisoner Goodreads Author: B.A. Paris
Publication Date: November 1, 2022
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
B.A. Paris is an auto buy author for me. I fell in love with her books when I read her debut novel Behind Closed Doors a few years ago, so I was very excited when I saw she had a new book, The Prisoner, coming out. While this book was not up there with her other ones, I still enjoyed it and continue to look forward to her next book.
Amelie Lamont lost her mother when she was a small child, and she lost her father when she was seventeen. After the death of her dad, Amelie moved to London where she met her husband, billionaire Ned Hawthorne. Life was good at the beginning of their relationship, but then things take a turn for the worst. Ned is not who Amelie thought he was. Amelie is determined to stick it out though because it will be worth her while to do so. But then one night Amelie and Ned are kidnapped, and she wakes up alone in a pitch-black room. Who has taken them and why? And why does Amelie feel safer in that dark room than she did with her husband?
This story is told through an alternating dual timeline. It starts out the night Amelie and Ned were kidnapped, and then jumps back to when Amelie was seventeen. I loved Amelie. She was a very strong and determined protagonist, which comes across in both timelines. When she was being held in the dark room, she never stopped trying to find a way out and when she was suddenly on her own at seventeen, she took control and made a life for herself.
The chapters with Amelie trapped in the pitch-dark room really gave me the creeps. I could not even imagine what that must have been like. From the panic Amelie felt when she woke up in that room to the way she navigated around the room, I think Paris did a great job of bringing those scenes to life. I love how Amelie used her other senses in the room. She got the layout of the room by feel and counted steps to figure out where the bathroom door was, as well as where the door her captors would enter was. She also would be very quiet when they came into the room to bring her meals and listened to where they would come and stand and used that advantage for her escape attempts.
I really loved everything about this book up to the ending. I was not 100% sold on who kidnapped Amelie and Ned and why they did it. I had a couple of different scenarios that I thought would play out. But all in all, I thought The Prisoner was a solid read that kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat for most of the book. 3 ½ stars
Top Ten Tuesday – Ten Books That Create a Cozy Vibe
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 Cozy Reads (Share books that give off a cozy vibe, whether through atmosphere, setting, or some other factor. Please tell us why they’re cozy for you, too!). For me, there are a few different ways a book can create a cozy vibe for me. First, there are books like Once Upon a River and The Rules of Magic whose writing is just so atmospheric that it makes me want to cozy up in a blanket by the fire and read them. Second, there are books like The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches that have such a strong found family element to them that just warms my heart. Third, there are books like The Maid that although not technically a cozy mystery, they certainly read like one. And lastly, there are books like those from Amy E. Reichert and Freya Sampson who are both featured twice on my list, as well as those from Poppy Alexander, whose books are just such beautiful gems that leave me grinning from ear to ear and sometimes even crying happy tears by the time I’m finished.
Ten Books That Create a Cozy Vibe
1. THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA by T.J. Klune
2. THE KINDRED SPIRITS SUPPER CLUB by Amy E. Reichert
4. THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES by Sangu Mandanna
5. THE LAST CHANCE LIBRARY by Freya Sampson
6. ONCE UPON A RIVER by Diane Setterfield
7. THE LOST TICKET by Freya Sampson
8. THE RULES OF MAGIC by Alice Hoffman
9. THE LITTLEST LIBRARY by Poppy Alexander
10. ONCE UPON A DECEMBER by Amy E. Reichert
* * * * * *
Question: Have you read any of these? What kinds of books create a cozy vibe for you?
Reviews: BETTER THAN FICTION & TWO WRONGS MAKE A RIGHT
Happy Monday! I hope everyone who was celebrating Thanksgiving had a nice holiday. Mine was good, although not especially productive. I had intended to get caught up on all of my blog hopping and that just didn’t happen. I did sleep for at least 9-10 hours every day of my holiday though so I’ll be well rested for playing catch up this week, haha. Today I’m sharing reviews for two wonderful contemporary romances that I read over the long holiday weekend. One is from an author I always enjoy, Alexa Martin, while the other is from a new-to-me author, Chloe Liese.
Better than Fiction Goodreads Author: Alexa Martin
Publication Date: November 8, 2022
Publisher: Berkley
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
As soon as I read it was set in a bookstore, I knew I couldn’t resist Alexa Martin’s new novel, Better Than Fiction. What especially intrigued me about it is that based on the synopsis, the main character actually hates reading. I couldn’t wait to dive in and see if Martin could actually make me fall in love with a book hating protagonist!
Drew Young is a successful travel photographer who recently lost her beloved grandmother. Drew was practically raised by her grandmother. Although Drew spent countless hours in her grandmother’s bookstore, The Book Nook, while growing up, what she doesn’t anticipate is her grandmother leaving The Book Nook to her in her will. Drew herself isn’t a book lover at all and is in completely over her head trying to run the store, but she feels like she has to give it her all in order to honor her grandmother’s wishes, even if it means giving up on her own career dreams and settling in Colorado full time to run the store. She has no idea that The Book Nook and the meddling old ladies from the Dirty Birds book club are about to change her life in so many ways.
Thanks to the Dirty Birds, bestselling romance author Jasper Williams has a book signing event at the bookstore. When he meets Drew and she confesses to him that she doesn’t like to read, Jasper makes it his mission to help her discover the joys of reading while he’s in town. He makes a deal with her: he needs a travel expert to give him an in-depth look at Denver because it’s the setting for his next book. If Drew plays tour guide, he’ll curate a list of books he thinks she’ll love and for every one she reads, he’ll reward her with a book-inspired adventure.
I really enjoyed everything about this story! I loved Drew and Jasper together, from those awkward opening moments between them to later on in the story as they grow closer and bond as they work to complete their deal. There are so many fun and adorable moments between them as they visit local restaurants, admire the scenery, and even take an amazing whitewater rafting trip together. I was rooting for Jasper to not only make Drew fall in love with reading, but to also fall in love with him as well.
I’m a big fan of books that have many layers to them, and Better than Fiction really fits the bill here. Not only is there the blossoming relationship between Drew and Jasper, but there’s also a journey of grief here as Drew is still mourning the loss of her grandmother and trying to move forward. Add to that the hilarity of the Dirty Birds and their constant but well intentioned meddling, as well as some messy family drama because Drew’s father is jealous that she inherited the store, and you have a wonderful book that has something for everyone. 4 STARS
Two Wrongs Make a Right Goodreads
Author: Chloe Liese
Publication Date: November 22, 2022
Publisher: Berkley
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
I’ve been wanting to try Chloe Liese’s novels for a while now so when I heard that her latest romance, Two Wrongs Make a Right, was inspired by one of my favorite plays, Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, I knew I had to read it.
The story follows Bea Wilmot and Jamie Westenberg, two people who seemingly have nothing in common aside from a disastrous first meeting and a mutual disdain for one another. Bea thinks Jamie is cold and stuffy, while Jamie thinks Bea is a tornado of chaos. They couldn’t be more different and neither of them can understand why their friends keep trying so hard to push them together. When their friends take things a step too far and trick them into going on a date together, Bea and Jamie decide to abandon their dislike for one another in favor of seeking revenge on the meddling matchmakers in their lives. They hatch a plan to fake date and convince everyone that they’re madly in love with one another, which will then be followed by a dramatic breakup that will put an end to the matchmaking once and for all. What they don’t anticipate is that their friends may have been right about them all along…
This story was so much fun! Whether they were trading witty barbs, plotting their revenge, or having more heartfelt moments as they got to know each other better, Jamie and Bea were absolutely adorable together. They may be complete opposites, but they have incredible chemistry and those opposites play off of each other perfectly.
I also loved that both protagonists are neurodivergent. Bea is on the autism spectrum, while Jamie experiences anxiety. The author did a wonderful job portraying both of these characters realistically, particularly as she demonstrated how autism and anxiety can impact someone’s day to day life, especially in social situations such as the party where Bea and Jamie met and had their “meet disaster.” I was so moved by one scene in the story where Bea finally tells Jamie she’s autistic and he tells her that he’s glad she told him because it helps him to see her better. I already loved Jamie but that moment just really got to me and had me rooting for them to get together all the more.
As I mentioned, Two Wrongs Make a Right is inspired by Much Ado About Nothing. I recognized and delighted in the similarities between the two stories, but I don’t think it will hamper your enjoyment of Liese’s book at all if you aren’t familiar with Shakespeare’s play.
Two Wrongs Make a Right is the perfect read for anyone who enjoys fake dating and opposite attract romances. 4 STARS