Thriller Thursday Reviews: Never Coming Home & Take Your Breath Away
/9 Comments/by Sharon
Welcome back to Sharon’s edition of Thriller Thursday! This week I am reviewing Hannah Mary McKinnon’s, Never Coming Home and Linwood Barclay’s, Take Your Breath Away. I really enjoyed both of these books and they both had similar themes; husbands that are at the center of their wives disappearance/murder. LOL!
Never Coming Home Goodreads
Author: Hannah Mary McKinnon
Publication Date: May 24, 2022
Publisher: MIRA
I have enjoyed every book I have read by Hannah Mary McKinnon and Never Coming Home is no exception. Lucas Forester didn’t really hate his wife, Michelle. She was beautiful, sophisticated, and very rich. It is because she is rich that Lucas married her. He had originally planned on divorcing her after a couple of years to get his millions, but thanks to his father-in-law and an airtight pre-nup, Lucas had to adjust his plans to get his hands on her money. For years Lucas planned Michelle’s death. He hired a hit man to kidnap and kill Michelle, and he made sure he left no trace that would lead police to him. Lucas has been playing the grieving husband for a month and patiently waiting to be able to cash-in on Michelle’s fortune. But when shocking photos of Michelle start showing up, with notes stating, “I know what you did,” Lucas starts to unravel. How could anyone know what he did? Lucas is determined to find out who is behind the photos and notes and shut them up for good.
McKinnon did a great job of creating a villain that I hated, but also liked and had sympathy for at times. Lucas was a great character. Yes, I know he put a hit out on his wife, but he also had me chuckling a few times and he was very devoted to his mother in-law, who has terminal cancer and does not have long to live. He was always going over and sitting with her and you could tell his feelings for her were genuine. He also loved his father, and it is because of his father he is doing all this. His father had a stroke years ago, which Lucas blames himself for, and he needs the money to be able to keep his father in the best care facility. And he rescued and adopted a stray dog. See, he is a good guy, well except for the killing his wife part. LOL!
The book was told from Lucas’ POV, and I really loved getting inside his head and learning all about him and what made him do what he did. I especially loved watching him unravel as the photos and notes started arriving. He went from this cool, collected, and calculated guy, to a nervous, always looking over his shoulder guy, who was starting to make many mistakes. It was really fun to watch.
I did figure a few things out early on who was behind everything, but I still enjoyed the ride while Lucas was trying to piece it all together. The last chapter had me cringing, and I kind of felt bad for Lucas. If you are looking for a psychological thriller that features a somewhat likable villain, then check out Hannah Mary McKinnon’s Never Coming Home. 3 ½ stars
Take Your Breath Away Goodreads
Author: Linwood Barclay
Publication Date: May 17, 2022
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Take Your Breath Away is my second read by Linwood Barclay and while it did not knock my socks off like Find You First, I did enjoy it very much.
Andrew Mason’s wife, Brie, went missing six years ago while he was away on a fishing trip. Most everyone assumed he got away with murder but try as they might, the police could not build a case solid enough to arrest him. Andrew eventually sold his house, moved a couple of towns over and changed his last name. He has finally gotten his life back together and lives with his new girlfriend, Jayne, and her teenage brother, Tyler. Now six years after Brie went missing, a woman who looks just like her shows up at their old house, which has been torn down and rebuilt, screaming “Where’s my house? What’s happened to my house?” As quickly as she appeared, she disappeared again. The appearance of this woman has a ripple effect that puts a lot of people’s lives in danger. Who is this woman? If she is Brie, where has she been for six years? And if not, why is someone pretending to be her? And what did happen to Brie?
I really liked Andrew. Andrew’s life spiraled out of control after Brie disappeared, and it didn’t help that his sister-in-law, Isabel, was doing everything she could to make his life miserable. She was sure he was responsible and made it her mission to get the police to take action. I can totally relate to her on that aspect. If that had been my sister and I thought my brother-in-law was to blame, I would stop at nothing to make him pay. Now with the “Brie” sighting, Andrew’s life could come crashing down again and he is determined to figure out what is going on.
Detective Melissa Hardy was the original investigator on the case and she too made Andrew’s life hell. She had such tunnel vision that he was responsible for whatever happened to Brie, that she would not let up. And then when the mysterious woman appeared, Detective Hardy was back on Andrew’s case. I have to say I did not like her much. I thought she was too aggressive in her approach to things. She didn’t follow the true facts; she followed what she wanted to be facts.
Most of the characters in this book had secrets to hide, though some secrets were worse than others. And that just added to the mystery of who this mysterious woman was and what happened to Brie.
There is so much I cannot say about this book because I don’t want to spoil anything. There are so many twists and turns and I had no idea what the outcome was going to be. I was very surprised when everything was revealed at the end. 3 1/2 stars
Can’t Wait Wednesday – WELL TRAVELED by Jen DeLuca
/22 Comments/by Suzanne
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in since I first started blogging, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is WELL TRAVELED by Jen DeLuca. This is the fourth book in DeLuca’s Well Met series and I’ve enjoyed every book so far. The characters are always so easy to root for and I love the Ren Faire setting, so I have high hopes for this latest installment. 🙂
WELL TRAVELED by Jen DeLuca
Publication Date: December 6, 2022 by Berkley Books
From Goodreads:
The Renaissance Faire is on the move, and Lulu and Dex are along for the ride, in the next utterly charming rom-com from Jen DeLuca.
A high-powered attorney from a success-oriented family, Louisa “Lulu” Malone lives to work, and everything seems to be going right, until the day she realizes it’s all wrong. Lulu’s cousin Mitch introduced her to the world of Renaissance Faires, and when she spies one at a time just when she needs an escape, she leaps into the welcoming environment of turkey legs, taverns, and tarot readers. The only drawback? Dex MacLean: a guitarist with a killer smile, the Casanova of the Faire… and her traveling companion for the summer.
Dex has never had to work for much in his life, and why should he? Touring with his brothers as The Dueling Kilts is going great, and he always finds a woman at every Faire. But when Lulu proves indifferent to his many plaid charms and a shake-up threatens the fate of the band, Dex must confront something he never has before: his future.
Forced to spend days and nights together on the road, Lulu’s interest in the kilted bad boy grows as he shows her a side of himself no one else has seen. The stresses of her old lifestyle fade away as she learns to trust her intuition and follow her heart instead of her head. But when her time on the road is over, will Lulu go with her gut, or are she and Dex destined for separate paths?
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂
Top Ten Tuesday – My Most Anticipated Books Releasing the in the Second Half of 2022
/54 Comments/by Suzanne
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 Anticipated Releases of the Second Half of 2022. This is always an easy topic just because, of course, there are always so many books that I’m excited to get my hands on. I have ARCs for a few but will be waiting to read most of them when they’re actually out in the world. I fully expect several of these to make my best of 2022 list. 🙂
My Most Anticipated Releases of the Second Half of 2022
1. LOVE ON THE BRAIN by Ali Hazelwood – “From the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis comes a new STEMinist rom-com in which a scientist is forced to work on a project with her nemesis—with explosive results.”
2. CARRIE SOTO IS BACK by Taylor Jenkins Reid – “In this powerful novel about the cost of greatness, a legendary athlete attempts a comeback when the world considers her past her prime—from the New York Times bestselling author of Malibu Rising.”
3. THE AMERICAN ROOMMATE EXPERIMENT by Elena Armas – “From the author of the Goodreads Choice Award winner The Spanish Love Deception, the eagerly anticipated follow-up featuring Rosie Graham and Lucas Martín, who are forced to share a New York apartment.”
4. A VERY MERRY BROMANCE by Lyssa Kay Adams – “‘Tis the season for a Bromance Book Club matchmaking mission! This time, they’re pulling out the mistletoe for everyone’s favorite country music star, Colton, and his second chance at love.”
5. DAISY DARKER by Alice Feeney – “The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists returns…with a family reunion that leads to murder.”
6. DO YOU TAKE THIS MAN by Denise Williams – “After butting heads, an event planner and a wedding officiant begin an enemies with benefits arrangement as wedding bells chime around them in the newest rom-com from acclaimed author Denise Williams.”
7. IT STARTS WITH US by Colleen Hoover – “Before It Ends with Us, it started with Atlas. Colleen Hoover tells fan favorite Atlas’ side of the story and shares what comes next in this long-anticipated sequel to the “glorious and touching” (USA TODAY) #1 New York Times bestseller It Ends with Us.”
8. ONE LAST GIFT by Emily Stone – “When a young woman finds herself lost and at a crossroads, one last gift from her brother just might give her another chance at life and at love in this epic holiday romance from the author of Always, in December.”
9. THE VERY SECRET SOCIETY OF IRREGULAR WITCHES by Sangu Mandanna – “A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family–and a new love–changes the course of her life.”
10. THE FAMILY REMAINS by Lisa Jewell – “From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell comes an intricate and affecting novel about twisted marriages, fractured families, and deadly obsessions in this standalone sequel to The Family Upstairs.”
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