Fantasy Book Reviews: A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES & NAMESAKE

March 22, 2021/16 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Monday all! I hope everyone had a great weekend. We had wonderful weather to usher in the first day of Spring so I definitely won’t complain. I was also finally able to get my first dose of a COVID vaccine this weekend, which has really got me hoping this is the start of good things to come. Anyway, back to blog stuff… I’m sure you guys are used to mainly seeing rom-com reviews from me these days, but I actually did veer away from the rom-coms long enough to read a couple of new fantasy novels this month and wanted to share my thoughts on them with you.

Fantasy Book Reviews: A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES & NAMESAKE

A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4) Goodreads

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publication Date: February 16, 2021

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

I’m going to confess right now that I went into Sarah J. Maas’ new novel A Court of Silver Flames with somewhat low expectations. For me, A Court of Mist and Fury set the bar so high that the rest of the books in the series have paled in comparison. Nesta Archeron was also one of my least favorite characters in the series, so I was not overly excited to have an entire book that focused on her. All of that said, I was very pleasantly surprised with this book.

Maas does a beautiful job of taking us inside of Nesta’s thoughts so that it’s so much easier to understand how much pain she is in and why she lashes out at everyone the way she does. From losing her father to having to live with the guilt of how she treated him while he was alive, and of course, having to deal with the fact that she was forced to become High Fae against her will, Nesta’s life has been turned upside down in every way. When the story opens, she is not taking any of these things well and has pretty much turned her back on everyone who cares about her. I don’t want to give away any spoilers about Nesta’s journey in this book, so I’ll just leave it at there’s definitely plenty of the badass Nesta we already knew, but now we’re allowed to see a whole new vulnerable side that makes it much easier to have empathy for her.

In addition to Nesta’s journey, I was also a big fan of the further exploration of Nesta’s relationship with Cassian. It’s no secret that the two of them are attracted to one another, but this book takes that attraction to a whole new level, both sexually and emotionally, as Cassian is the one who is there for her no matter how hard she tries to push everyone away. I loved that he was so supportive of her and that he also wasn’t afraid to show her tough love if he thought that’s what would best serve her. And of course, don’t even get me started on the sex scenes. The sexual tension between Nesta and Cassian makes Rhys and Feyre’s scenes seem tame by comparison. Holy hotness!

Aside from getting to know Nesta and Cassian better, I also just loved being back in this world again and seeing some of my old favorites, like Rhys, Feyre, Mor, and Az, but I also loved that some great new characters were introduced. Gwyn and Emerie, two women Nesta meets while she’s avoiding everyone else, are such great additions to this cast of characters. I don’t want to give away too much about them but they are the friends Nesta doesn’t even realize she so desperately needs and they provide her with a sense of sisterhood that she is unable to achieve with her own biological sisters right now. I loved their bond and really hope that they will make appearances later in the series.

Bottom line: I was not expecting to come out of A Court of Silver Flames adoring Nesta and wanting to see more of her, but here we are. Well done, Sarah J. Maas! 4 STARS

Namesake (Fable, #2) Goodreads

Author: Adrienne Young

Publication Date: March 16, 2021

Publisher: Wednesday Books

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Namesake is the second book in an exciting YA fantasy duology by Adrienne Young. I loved the first book, Fable, because it featured a badass heroine and of course pirates, so I couldn’t wait to dive into the finale.

Namesake picks up right where the first book leaves off so you definitely need to have read the first book to have any idea as to what is going on. The crux of the story is that even though all Fable wants to do is sail away with the Marigold ship and its crew, free from the influence of her estranged father, Saint, Fable instead finds herself being used as a pawn in what turns out to be a very complicated scheme, the ultimate goal of which is to eliminate Fable’s father as a force in the shipping trade. Even though she’s estranged from Saint, she doesn’t want to see him ruined and so Fable must come up with a plan of her own, to save her father and to get back the crew (and the man) she loves.

Fable and her relationship with her father has definitely been one of the major draws for me of this series, so I was pleased to see it at the forefront of the finale. I was excited by the depth of the family drama that we delve into, not only with Saint, but also with Fable’s mother, who apparently took some pretty big secrets to the grave with her when she died. Where the first book in the series was all about gem trading and Fable trying to make her way in the world, Namesake is all about secrets, betrayal, deception, and the idea that no one Fable has known throughout her life is entirely as they seem. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just say here that I never would have expected going into this duology that Saint would end up being one of my favorite characters, but that’s exactly what happened.

While I enjoyed the family aspect of Namesake immensely, especially the unexpected addition of another member of Fable’s extended family who isn’t what she seems, I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as I enjoyed the first book in the duology. There were some places along the way where the pacing felt a little slow for me, particularly each time they went back into the water looking for gems. I think it was such a novelty in the first book that it fascinated me, but by the second book, I just really wanted to get back to the family drama stuff with Fable and didn’t care as much about how skilled she was at finding gems. I also wasn’t as into the romance in the second book as I was in the first. I’m honestly not even sure why. I think maybe it was, again, due to the fact that I was most interested in the family drama and everything else just felt in the way.

Even with those couple of issues though, I still found Namesake to be a satisfying conclusion to the series overall. I even teared up a bit at some of the final family moments. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoy YA fantasy, pirate adventures, and stories that feature complicated father-daughter relationships. 3.5 STARS

Reviews: Later & The Burning Girls

March 18, 2021/30 Comments/by Sharon

Hey, it’s Sharon and for today’s Thriller Thursday I am reviewing two books from two great horror authors. Stephen King’s new book Later (Hey, what would a Thriller Thursday be without a Stephen King book? LOL) and C.J. Tudor’s new book The Burning Girls. I couldn’t wait to read these books, and I am happy to say they did not disappoint.

Later Goodreads

Author: Stephen King

Publication Date: March 2, 2021

Publisher: Hard Case Crime

Stephen King is my all-time favorite author, and even though his new book, Later is not as long as his other books (it’s only 250 pages, short for a Stephen King book lol) he is still able to pull me in and make me become fully invested in the story and characters. It was everything I wanted/expected in a Stephen King read.

Jamie Conklin has a secret; he can see and talk to dead people. His mother urges him not to let anyone know what he can do. If anyone were to find out, they would use Jamie for their own purpose, and he could end up in a life-or-death situation. Which is exactly what happens when a New York city detective enlists Jamie’s help in stopping a killer from performing one final act from beyond the grave.

It is Jamie’s job to find out where this killer hid his final bomb, because you see when you ask a dead person a question, they have to tell the truth.

The book is narrated by Jamie Conklin, as he tells the story of his life, starting when he was 6 years old and through his teenage/young adult years. For the most part, the dead people that Jamie sees keep their distance and they fade away after a few days. That is until Jamie is thirteen years old and is pulled into the case with the NYPD. For some reason, this dead person does not fade away and keeps following Jamie. Jamie sees him outside of school, standing on the street late at night, and even in the elevator in their apartment building. Jamie needs to figure out how to make him go away, because he does not want to find out what will happen if he doesn’t.

I loved Jamie. Especially young Jamie, who just pulled at my heart strings. There is a scene at the beginning of the book when Jamie is six, he is walking home from school with this mother and he is holding a paper turkey he made. He thinks it is the cat’s ass, that is until they get to their apartment and find out their neighbor Mrs. Burkett has died. When Jamie sees Mr. Burkett crying, he tries to cheer him up by showing him his turkey. But then he sees Mrs. Burkett and when he proudly shows her his turkey, she tells Jamie it is more like what comes out of a cat’s ass. Aww Poor Jamie. I just wanted to hug him.

I also loved the relationship between Jamie and his mother. It is just the two of them and they both are protective of each other. They had a very special bond. And I as I was reading, I kept hoping nothing bad was going to happen to either of them.

This is a horror story, but it is also a coming-of-age story as Jamie navigates through life, as the boy who can see and talk to dead people. If you are a fan of Stephen King, I recommend this book and think you will love it. 4 ½ stars

The Burning Girls Goodreads

Author: C.J. Tudor

Publication Date: February 9, 2021

Publisher: Ballantine Books

C.J. Tudor has become a must-read author for me. I loved her earlier books, The Chalk Man, The Hiding Place; and The Other People so I couldn’t wait to read The Burning Girls. I am glad to say that it lived up to my expectations.

Chapel Croft is a small village in Sussex, England. Five hundred years ago eight protestant martyrs were burned at the stake, two of which were children. Thirty years ago, 2 local teenage girls went missing. And two months ago, the local vicar killed himself. Every year to commemorate the anniversary of the protestant martyrs the townspeople have a bonfire in the cemetery next to the chapel and burn twig figures, known as the burning girls.

Reverend Jack Brooks and her fourteen-year-old daughter, Flo, have just moved to Chapel Croft. Jack will be the interim vicar until a permanent one can be found. Jack is hoping for a fresh start for her and her daughter. As soon as Jack and Flo arrive, a small child covered in blood shows up at the chapel. Then Jack receives a package, that includes an exorcism kit. Flo befriends a strange local boy, has a few run-ins with some bullies and is having strange sightings of the burning girls. While cleaning out the basement in their house, Jack finds folders that belonged to the previous vicar which contain research into the 2 girls that disappeared thirty years ago. As Jack investigates these strange occurrences, she finds that the people in Chapel Croft do not want their secrets to be revealed and will do whatever they have to do to stop that from happening. So much for the peaceful fresh start Jack was hoping for.

The book is told from the POV of Jack and Flo. I loved their mother/daughter relationship. I especially liked Jack though, she was a down to earth flawed character and not your typical vicar. She smokes (behind her daughter’s back lol), drinks and swears when it is called for. And she is also a mother that will do anything to protect her daughter.

This book was filled with lots of twists and turns and I couldn’t wait to see if the martyrs, the missing girls and the vicar that killed himself were connected or not. I thought I had things figured out a few times, but I was wrong each time. The tension and suspense really pick up at the end with a final jaw dropping twist. 4 ½ stars

Rom-Com Reviews: THE DATING PLAN & ACT YOUR AGE, EVE BROWN

March 15, 2021/16 Comments/by Suzanne

Beware the Ides of March! More like, beware the day after Daylight Savings Time kicks back in. I feel like I have been dragging ever since we turned our clocks ahead. Oh well, hopefully sharing my thoughts on these two fabulous rom-coms will liven things up a bit.

Rom-Com Reviews: THE DATING PLAN & ACT YOUR AGE, EVE BROWN

The Dating Plan Goodreads

Author: Sara Desai

Publication Date: March 16, 2021

Publisher: Berkley Books

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Sara Desai’s new novel The Dating Plan is a heartwarming rom-com filled with quirky characters and laugh out loud moments. That’s not all though. It’s also a heartfelt story about two people who are perfect for each other, if they can only overcome painful events from the past that have shaped how they see themselves and how they see each other.

Daisy Patel is a software engineer who loves statistics, spreadsheets, and all things Marvel. Daisy, however, does not love Liam Murphy. In fact, she actually hates him. Why? Because ten years ago, Liam was supposed to be Daisy’s date to her senior prom and he stood her up. Not only did he stand her up, but he abruptly packed up and left town without a word. She hasn’t heard from him since that night, so when Liam shows up at a conference Daisy is attending, sparks fly…and not in a good way.

Liam is in a bind though and thinks Daisy might actually be the perfect person to help him get what he wants. Liam’s grandfather, who recently passed away, has left him the family business in his will, but there’s a catch. In order to secure his inheritance, Liam must marry before his next birthday and then stay married for at least one year. Otherwise, the business goes to Liam’s brother, who just wants to dismantle it and use it to infuse cash into his own struggling business. Liam is desperate to keep that from happening and when he witnesses Daisy being hounded by her matchmaking Aunties, he approaches Daisy with what he thinks is a win-win deal for them both. If Daisy will agree to marry him and stay married for a year, he can secure the family business for himself while Daisy is freed from the incessant matchmaking and arranged marriage frenzy. Daisy agrees reluctantly but says she cannot wing it when it comes to faking a whole relationship. She needs a plan, complete with a slate of dates, that will provide her with a realistic backstory.

The plan they come up with is what really drives the bulk of the action in the book and it’s so much fun to follow Liam and Daisy as they seek to fool people into thinking they’re a couple. There are so many hilarious moments, particularly involving Daisy’s aunties as well as some of the fun dates they decide to go on. Daisy and Liam are adorable together and it becomes clear the more time Daisy and Liam spend together that they really are perfect for each other. If only they could resolve and move past what happened ten years ago. I was really rooting for them every step of the way.

I don’t want to give away anything, but I found the progression of their relationship very satisfying overall, and I also appreciate the blend of rom-com and heavier topics as we learn more about why Liam so abruptly disappeared from Daisy’s life. The Dating Plan is a gem of a story for anyone who enjoys a light-hearted romance balanced with a healthy dose of family drama. 4 STARS.

Act Your Age, Eve Brown (The Brown Sisters, #3) Goodreads

Author: Talia Hibbert

Publication Date: March 9, 2021

Publisher: Avon

I’m so bummed that Act Your Age, Eve Brown marks the end of Talia Hibbert’s popular romance series, The Brown Sisters, but I’m thrilled to report that the final book in the series has quickly become my favorite. I devoured this book in just a few hours because I just couldn’t get enough of Eve and her new boss, Jacob. Their chemistry is off the charts so the sexy factor is high, but Eve is kind of a hot mess so the laugh factor is equally high.

As much as I adored Chloe and Dani from the first two books, I have to say that Eve just stole my heart from the very first page. With her purple hair, orange lip gloss, her kickass music playlist, and her overall sunny disposition, Eve is just a delight in every way. Eve does have one little problem though and that’s sticking with plans she has made, especially those plans that relate to a career. Eve has no idea what she really wants to do with her life and so she basically flits from one career to another, all the while living off of her trust fund. Until her parents decide to cut her off, that is. They’re both worried that she’s never going to get her life together so they kick her out of the nest and force her to get a job and fend for herself. Eve goes out for a drive to clear her head and comes across a charming bed and breakfast that has an opening for a chef. On a whim, she decides to interview for the position and immediately butts heads with Jacob Wayne, the sexy B&B owner. Jacob likes to be in control and wants everything just so. He can tell from the moment he meets Eve that there’s no way he could deal with having her in his kitchen. She’s just way too flighty for him to deal with. When an unforeseen accident forces Jacob to step back and let Eve work for him, he finds out there’s a lot more to Eve than meets the eye and he may have severely underestimated her.

As I’ve already mentioned, the chemistry between Eve and Jacob is fantastic. I was rooting for them to get together from their first snarky conversation during the job interview and cheering for them every step of the way as they got to know each other better. I love how Eve’s sunny disposition basically wears down Jacob’s inner grump in one hilarious scene after another.

I don’t want to give away anything else about the plot but if you’ve been enjoying this series so far, you are absolutely going to fall in love with Eve. And if you’re unfamiliar with the series but are looking for a delightful and sexy romance, Act Your Age, Eve Brown is just the read you’re looking for. My only disappointment was that another Brown sister didn’t turn up out of the blue so that the series could continue. Otherwise, the series has ended on a perfect note with me. 5 STARS.

Historical Fiction Reviews: Wartime Settings

March 8, 2021/16 Comments/by Suzanne

Hey everyone! Hope you all had a nice weekend and that this week is off to a good start for you. In a departure from the rom-com spree I have been on for most of the pandemic, I actually found myself craving some good historical fiction last week so I was excited to find that I actually had a couple of March ARCs on my TBR that fit the bill. Both feature wartime settings with World War II for the first one and the Civil War for the second, and I’m excited to share my thoughts on both of them with you.

Historical Fiction Reviews: Wartime Settings

The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz Goodreads

Author: Ellie Midwood

Publication Date: March 9, 2021

Publisher: Bookouture

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Ellie Midwood’s new novel The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz tells the inspiring yet tragic true story of Mala Zimetbaum, a young Jewish woman sent to Auschwitz and is known as the first woman to escape, and Edek Galinski, a long-time Polish political prisoner who also happens to be a member of the underground Resistance. Imprisoned in absolutely inhumane and hellish conditions, surrounded by cruelty and death, Mala and Edek somehow manage to find each other and fall in love. They make a promise to each other – that they will either escape the camp together or will die trying…

As with most accounts of Nazi atrocities, this is such a hard story to read, just knowing that the awful things described within the pages actually happened to real people, and that these monsters slaughtered so many innocent people. I found myself in tears often as I read the graphic and horrific accounts of the gas chambers and the crematoriums, and the story also had me furious as I read about how the Nazis were so easily able to fool the Red Cross into thinking they were treating their prisoners well.

What makes the story such a beautiful one in spite of everything, is the love story of Mala and Edek and just the overall selfless way they lived their lives in the camp. Although she was a prisoner, when it was learned that she was fluent in several languages, Mala was given a job as an interpreter and camp runner. She uses her position of privilege to help better the lives of as many fellow prisoners as she can, finding them jobs that are suited to their skills, slipping them extra rations whenever possible, etc. Edek, as a member of the Resistance, lives his life in much the same way. When the two of them meet and fall in love, they become a symbol of hope to those around them. A light in the dark.

I don’t want to spoil their story so I’m going to stop here so you can experience it for yourself. I’ll just conclude by saying that The Girl Who Escaped from Auschwitz is a powerful but heartbreaking story of strength, courage, hope and love against all odds. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys WWII historical fiction. 4.5 STARS

Sunflower Sisters (Lilac Girls, #3) Goodreads

Author: Martha Hall Kelly

Publication Date: March 30, 2021

Publisher: Ballantine Books

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Sunflower Sisters is the third and final book in Martha Hall Kelly’s historical fiction series, The Lilac Girls. For those unfamiliar with the series, the first two books introduce us first to Caroline Ferriday, an American philanthropist who does all she can to help young girls released from concentration camps during WWII, and then to Caroline’s mother, Eliza Woolsey, who, a generation earlier, helped displaced Russian families who made their way to America during the Russian Revolution and WWI.

The final book in the series, Sunflower Sisters, takes us back yet another generation to the Civil War to meet another Woolsey ancestor, Georgeanna (Georgy) Woolsey. Raised by an abolitionist mother, Georgy is determined to do her part to bring slavery to an end and so she trains to be an Army nurse. From New York City to Washington D.C. to the battlefield at Gettysburg, Sunflower Sisters follows Georgy everywhere her passion for nursing takes her.

One of my favorite things about all three books in the series is the way Martha Hall Kelly crafts her stories so that the events unfold from the perspectives of three very different characters, gradually pulling the threads of their stories together until their lives intersect. In Sunflower Sisters, we follow not only Georgy, but also a slave girl name Jemma who is sold off and then somehow ends up conscripted into the Union Army, and we follow a woman named Anne-May Wilson, a plantation owner in Maryland who also happens to be Jemma’s owner.

The story itself started off a little slow for me as each of these characters were introduced, but I quickly became invested in both Georgy and Jemma and just wanted to see Anne-May, as a cruel slave owner among other things, get what was coming to her. I loved Georgy’s determination and tenacity, especially as she was constantly being told by men that women should not be helping on the battlefront. She never let their blatant sexism deter her. As much as I loved getting to know Georgy, Jemma was the character who ultimately stole my heart. Jemma’s strength and determination in the face of endless cruelty from Anne-May and her nasty overseer was incredible to witness and I was wishing with every fiber of my being for her to find a way to safely escape to freedom. Where I loved Georgy and Jemma, Anne-May, on the other hand, was a character I loved to hate. She is a desperate, evil, manipulative woman and I was wishing for her to fail just as hard as I was wishing for Georgy and Jemma to thrive. The story became quite riveting as I was waiting for the lives of these three women to come together in what was shaping up to be an epic clash between slave, abolitionist, and slave owner. I don’t want to give anything away, but the clash does not disappoint!

Sunflower Sisters was a bittersweet read for me, just because I’m sad this wonderful series is ending, but the Ferriday/Woolsey family is filled with extraordinary women and I’m grateful to this series for introducing me to them. 4 STARS

Reviews: PERFECT ON PAPER & THE CASTLE SCHOOL (FOR TROUBLED GIRLS)

March 1, 2021/12 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Monday everyone. Can you believe it’s March already?! I’m so excited that we’re finally getting close to Spring and warmer temps because I’m just over the cold. Anyway, today I’m sharing two YA contemporary novels that I really enjoyed. The common thread between them is that they are both set in schools, but beyond that, they are pretty much night and day.

Reviews: PERFECT ON PAPER & THE CASTLE SCHOOL (FOR TROUBLED GIRLS)

Perfect on Paper Goodreads

Author: Sophie Gonzales

Publication Date: March 9, 2021

Publisher: Wednesday Books

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales was such a fun and delightful read. It follows Darcy Phillips, a bisexual teen, who has managed to commandeer a locker at her high school and uses it to anonymously dispense relationship advice to her fellow classmates. Students write letters and enclose a $10 fee and their email address, and after school, Darcy empties the locker and takes the letters home so that she can respond to them. What could possibly go wrong with this scheme? Enter Brougham, a member of the school’s swim team, who catches Darcy in the act of retrieving letters from the locker. Rather than rat her out, however, Brougham tells Darcy he desperately needs her help and wants to hire her to help him win his ex back. Again, what could possibly go wrong here?

For me, the most fun about this book was Darcy herself and what a perfectly imperfect character she is. She gives this business of hers her all, truly going out of her way to research the psychology of relationships and provide thoughtful answers to each of her classmates’ questions. Even though what she is doing is morally and ethically questionable, Darcy truly believes she is helping people and wants everyone to be happy. But when it comes to Darcy’s own love life, however, she’s basically a hot mess and can’t follow her own advice. For example, Darcy is in love with her best friend, Brooke, but she can’t work up her nerve enough to tell Brooke how she feels. Instead, she goes out of her way to sabotage all of Brooke’s relationships so that Brooke stays in her orbit and available in case she ever does work up the nerve. Darcy’s flaws in this area just made her all the more lovable of a character for me and I just wanted her to find her own happiness the way she was so intent on everyone else finding theirs.

There was really just so much to love about this book. In addition to adoring Darcy, I also really adored Brougham. He comes across as arrogant and obnoxious at first but it becomes clear over time that he is soft boy with a very dysfunctional home life, who just really needs a hug. I loved watching his friendship with Darcy evolve as they worked together and got to know each other better.

In addition to being a fun and super cute read, Perfect on Paper also tackles some important topics such as biphobia. I was a huge fan of the Q and Q (Queer and Questioning) Club where queer students could meet up and discuss whatever is on their minds. Darcy is the student who brings up biphobia as she discusses how people question whether or not she is actually queer if she has a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend. I loved that she had a group like this she could go to and receive support and validation from her peers.

Perfect on Paper is just an all around wonderful read and it really does have something for everyone. Friendships, flawed characters, humor, drama, teen angst, and so much more. If you’re looking for a fun read that will leave you with a contented smile on your face, this is the book for you. 4.5 STARS

The Castle School (for Troubled Girls) Goodreads

Author: Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Publication Date: March 2, 2021

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Moira Dreyfuss is seventeen years old and she lives in Manhattan. Even though she lives in one of the most exciting cities in the world, Moira feels alone. Her best (and only) friend, Nathan, has recently lost his battle with cancer and Moira is truly struggling to cope with this loss. She starts skipping school, acting out, refusing to eat, and even uses a fake ID to get a tattoo behind her parents’ back. At their wit’s end because they don’t know how to help her, Moira’s parents opt to send her away to The Castle School, a boarding school located in rural Maine along the coast. The headmaster is a doctor so not only will Moira attend classes to continue her school, but she will also attend therapy sessions with the headmaster.

As the school’s name implies, The Castle School is just that, a castle, and it looks like something out of a Gothic novel. Couple that with bars on the windows and the confiscation of all electronics and Moira is practically a prisoner, completely cut off from the outside world. I think because of this eerie, remote setting and the way Moira is introduced to the school, I was expecting this novel to be a mystery, thriller, or even a horror story (something along the lines of a Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children novel), but it’s none of those things. While there are a few small mysteries sprinkled throughout, by and large, The Castle School (for Troubled Girls) by Alyssa Sheinmel is a YA contemporary that explores grief, mental illness, and dysfunctional family relationships.

There are actually twelve girls in all at the school, but Moira is the one we follow most closely. We follow her as she meets and gradually begins to bond with the rest of the girls and as she learns why each of them has ended up at the school. Each girl’s story was just as heartbreaking and lonely as Moira’s, and each girl also had a history of mental illness, so it was great to watch them all bond and act as a support system for each other. Aside from watching Moira interact with these girls and start to form friendships, we also follow Moira to her therapy sessions, which were unusual, in part because Moira is so resistant to the idea of exploring her own thoughts and feelings about where she is in life. Instead, she spends most of her sessions asking the Doctor questions about his school. Why a castle? Why only twelve girls?, etc. He patiently humors her and answers her questions as he waits for her to come around and willingly discuss why she has landed at his school. I found that doctor/patient relationship quite interesting to watch develop, particularly because it is through Moira’s questions that we learn more about the school and rhyme or reason as to why the doctor runs thing as he does.

In addition to being an exploration of grief and mental illness, The Castle School (for Troubled Girls) is also a coming of age story in the sense that Moira has to figure out who she is and what her place in this world is without her best friend by her side. Moira’s journey is heartbreaking at times and the author does a wonderful job of making the overall story a compelling one that I found myself completely invested in. 3.5 STARS

Reviews: Circle of Doubt & The Wrong Family

February 25, 2021/17 Comments/by Sharon

Hi everyone! It’s Sharon, so you know what that means… Thriller Thursday! This week I have the psychological thriller, Circle of Doubt, and the domestic thriller, The Wrong Family. Both of these books kept me fully engrossed and had twists I did not see coming.

Reviews: Circle of Doubt & The Wrong Family

Circle of Doubt Goodreads

Author: Tracy Buchanan

Publication Date: January 5, 2021

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Emma and Dele adopted Isla 9 years ago when she was almost 2 years old. Emma, Dele and Isla live in a small town called Forest Grove, just outside of London. Emma has always been shy, so she really has no friends in their community. The one person she can turn to when she needs support or advice is her sister, Harriet. And Harriet is the only person (aside from their father) who knows the terrible secret that Emma has been hiding for years.

One day while dropping Isla off at school Emma runs into her new neighbors, Tatjana and Lawrence. Emma cannot believe how much Tatjana looks just like Jade, Isla’s birth mother. Emma tries to tell herself there is no way she can be Jade. Jade was a 17-year-old drug addict, and this woman is beautiful and sophisticated and nothing like the troubled teen Emma remembers. But when Tatjana takes too much of an interest in Isla, Emma’s suspicions start to grow. Then strange things start happening to Emma that make her look and feel like a bad parent. She receives an email saying the deadline to pay for a school trip was pushed out when it wasn’t. Then she starts missing school notices (including one saying it was dress down day, so Isla went to school in her uniform). Someone also starts rumors about Emma and the husband of her only friend, and a dead crow is placed in the front grill of Emma’s car. Who is behind all of this? Could Jade really be back to try and take Isla away? And will the awful secret that Emma has been hiding come back to haunt her? Emma is not going to give up her daughter without a fight, so with the help of her sister Harriet, Emma tries to find out if Jade and Tatjana are one in the same and if she is behind everything that has been happening.

The book is told through the POV of Emma and also through chapters that are letters “written” to Isla from an unknown source. The letters explain the plan to unravel Emma and why this person is doing what they are doing. I liked how the story was presented this way. Even though we find out about halfway through the book who is behind everything, the tension and suspense still ramped up as we are reading everything that is happening to Emma and what she was going though. And knowing who was writing the letters just added to the tension.

I really liked how Emma faced everything that was happening head on. And even though at times she thought she was not being a good mother, she really was. When things got tough, she would not let it show to her daughter. She put on a brave face for Isla no matter what she was feeling. And when push finally came to shove, her momma bear claws came out.

I will say the book started off a bit slow for me, but the tension and suspense took off the more I got into it. And there was one twist near the end that totally got me and made my mouth drop open. 3 ½ stars

The Wrong Family Goodreads

Author: Tarryn Fisher

Publication Date: December 29, 2020

Publisher: Graydon House

Tarryn Fisher’s mystery thriller The Wrong Family is full of flawed characters that kept me turning the pages and made me realize not everything is as it seems. What you see on the outside is not necessarily what is on the inside.

Juno is a sixty-seven former therapist who is originally from New Mexico. After a 2-year stint in prison due to unethical misconduct, which cost Winnie her family and practice, she moved to Seattle and is living with the Crouch family (Winnie, Nigel, and their son Sam). Juno has been diagnosed with lupus and is dying. One night she overhears a fight between Winnie and Nigel and she discovers that they are hiding a dark secret. Winnie doesn’t want to get involved; she just wants to live out her final days in peace. But the therapist in her just won’t let her sit back and let this secret destroy Sam, whom she has become close to. So she sets out to expose Winnie and Nigel’s secret and right the wrongs she believes they have done.

Winnie seems to have the perfect life on the outside, but on the inside it is falling apart. She used to be a counselor to the homeless but quit her job thirteen years ago. It was also thirteen years ago that

the dark secret that Juno overheard happened. Without giving anything away, Winnie committed a horrible act that Nigel helped her cover up. Now, thanks to Juno, the details are starting to come to light and the cracks in Winnie and Nigel’s marriage are getting larger. Winnie is trying to hold things together for the sake of their son. But when her twin brother Dakota, who is an unhinged alcoholic and drug addict, comes to stay with them after his wife threw him out and then a stranger shows up on their doorstep claiming to know Winnie’s secret, all hell breaks loose.

I really cannot say too much more about this book, because anything I say would be a spoiler and I think it is best to go into this book blind. What I can say is that this book is told in alternative POV’s from Winnie and Juno. They were both very complex and flawed characters. I flipped back and forth between liking and not liking them as different things were revealed as the story progressed.

I liked Juno as I was reading her chapters. While I may not have agreed with everything she did, I liked how she came across as the grandmotherly type with Sam. But then when I was reading Winnie’s views and what she was going though, I found myself having sympathy for her and I would get aggravated at Juno for what she was doing. I like how Tarryn Fisher could make my views on these women change so much.

While this was not an edge of my seat thriller, the tension did ramp up at the end of the book and then I couldn’t read fast enough to find out how it was all going to play out. I also loved how the author wrapped up the story, nothing felt rushed. 3 ½ stars

Reviews: DO NO HARM & THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL

February 22, 2021/14 Comments/by Suzanne

Another new week means it’s time for more reviews. This weekend was so cold and miserable that all I really did was hibernate and read the entire time. I got into a groove reading Christina McDonald’s domestic suspense novels and have a new release as well as one from her backlist to share today. I’m still working on my goal of reading more of the books I already own, so I was kind of proud of myself for grabbing the older book rather than just reaching for the next ARC, haha. Anyway, back to these books. One thing that really intrigued me about them was that they share a basic theme: How far will a mother go for her children?

Reviews: DO NO HARM & THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL

Do No Harm Goodreads

Author: Christina McDonald

Publication Date: February 16, 2021

Publisher: Gallery Books

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary audio copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Do No Harm is Christina McDonald’s latest novel and if you’re into stories that ask big questions, like how far will a mother go to save her family, then Do No Harm will be a must-read for you. As a mom, I was glued to this book from cover to cover, but I don’t think you need to be a parent to relate to the impossible situation main character, Emma Sweeney, finds herself trapped in.

Emma seems to have it all. She’s a well-respected physician, she’s happily married to the love of her life, and she has a beautiful son named Josh, who she loves with her whole heart. Emma’s seemingly perfect life spins out of control, however, when Josh falls ill and is diagnosed with a rare and often fatal form of leukemia. The only treatment that has thus far shown any signs of success is an experimental one that is only partially covered by insurance and is astronomical in cost. Even on a doctor’s salary, Emma and her husband can’t afford it. There’s no way Emma is just going to sit back and watch her baby die though. She’s willing to risk everything to save him – her job, her marriage, even her own life — so she takes matters into her own hands and starts her own drug ring selling opioids to fund her son’s treatment.

I have to tell you guys that Do No Harm blew me away on so many levels. I was so impressed that McDonald creates in Emma such a complex character that I alternated between wanting her to succeed and save her son and wanting her to be caught and arrested because what she was doing was so morally repugnant. I had tremendous sympathy for Emma because she’s in an impossible situation and I don’t know what I would do if I was in her shoes. I kept asking myself over and over: how far is too far when it comes to saving your kids? Much of the book is told from Emma’s perspective and she is wrestling with that same question and trying to justify it to herself by saying the ends are worth the means. She is especially conflicted since as a doctor, she has taken an oath to do no harm and her actions are clearly violating that oath.

Aside from the moral and ethical issues involved, which added so much depth to the overall story, I was also just fascinated by how adeptly Emma puts together the whole drug ring. Even though I was horrified by what she was doing, I still had to tip my hat to her because she’s a clever lady and she puts together a pretty impressive operation. I was especially impressed by her ability to elude the police, particularly since her own husband is the lead detective investigating opioid-related crimes in the area. Talk about a tense and suspenseful game of cat and mouse when the cop and the criminal live under the same roof!

I don’t want to give away anything else so you’ll just have to pick up a copy of Do No Harm if you want to see how it turns out! 4.5 STARS

The Night Olivia Fell Goodreads

Author: Christina McDonald

Publication Date: February 5, 2019

Publisher: Gallery Books

I loved Christina McDonald’s new novel, Do No Harm, so much that I went to my shelves to see if I had other books of hers I hadn’t read yet. I discovered I had a copy of The Night Olivia Fell, dove in and immediately found myself captivated by the opening scene. Abi Knight gets a late-night phone call informing her that her teenage daughter, Olivia, has been in a serious accident and has fallen off a bridge. Abi heads to the hospital right away and, upon her arrival, is given the devastating news that Olivia is brain dead and will not be waking up, but is also pregnant and because of state laws, must be kept on life support until the baby is born. Abi is in utter shock and disbelief. 1) She can’t believe her baby is gone, and 2) she had no idea her baby was pregnant. Upon viewing her daughter’s body, Abi sees angry bruises around Olivia’s wrists. When the police unexpectedly rules Olivia’s death an accident, Abi isn’t having it and sets out to figure out what really happened to Olivia and who’s responsible.

This was such a heartbreaking and emotional read for me. The story is presented in alternating chapters from both Abi and Olivia’s points of view and you could just see how close mom and daughter were. I loved both characters so much and I felt so bad for Abi and couldn’t even imagine what she must be going through. Losing a child that way would be hard enough but add to it the frustration of feeling like the police aren’t doing their jobs and it’s even worse. McDonald really drew me into the story and had me fully invested in Abi’s quest for the truth. I also liked the balance between Abi’s emotional journey as she grieves for her daughter and her steely determination to play detective and do what the police won’t.

I was also a big fan of how the story was presented too. The present-day chapters follow Abi from the moment she learns of Olivia’s death to the moment she finally discovers the truth about what happened that night. Abi’s chapters are alternated with Olivia’s, which start a few months prior to her death and gradually lead up to that night, revealing several potential suspects and motives, along with a number of deliciously dark secrets and lies, along the way. I liked the way the two POVs mirrored each other and I also liked how the author slowly ramped up the suspense and kept me guessing about who was responsible for Olivia’s death all the way to the very end.

The Night Olivia Fell is both a riveting mystery and a tragic, heartbreaking story of loss and grief. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good story of domestic suspense. 4 STARS.

Reviews: THE INITIAL INSULT & DESTINATION ANYWHERE

February 19, 2021/20 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Friday! I hope you’ve all had a great week. Mine was pretty good, just swamped at work as our busy season gets fully underway. I still managed to get some reading done this week though, so I have two new ARC reviews to share today. On the surface these are two books that are very different from one another, one with a dark vibe and one with a more uplifting vibe. The theme that they both share, however, is friendship — friendships lost and friendships found.

Reviews: THE INITIAL INSULT & DESTINATION ANYWHERE

The Initial Insult (The Initial Insult, #1) Goodreads

Author: Mindy McGinnis

Publication Date: February 23, 2021

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary audio copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Even though I haven’t really been in the mood for dark reads lately, I couldn’t resist Mindy McGinnis’ new novel, The Initial Insult. First because I’m a big fan of McGinnis’ writing, and second, because The Initial Insult is a modern day retelling of the classic Edgar Allan Poe short story, The Cask of Amontillado. I love Edgar Allan Poe and The Cask of Amontillado is a favorite of mine, so this was a must read. You don’t have to have read the classic Poe tale to understand and appreciate McGinnis’ version though so don’t let not having read the original deter you. While it somewhat mirrors Poe’s classic tale of revenge, The Initial Insult is at its core a story about a friendship that has fallen apart and all of the residual hurt feelings that still linger between the two former friends.

The Initial Insult follows Tress Montor, whose parents disappeared without a trace seven years ago. The last person to see them alive? Tress’ then best friend, Felicity Turnado. Tress’ life has pretty much fallen apart since her parents disappeared, while Felicity has become the social climbing belle of the ball, so to speak. As their lives have moved in such opposite directions, so has their friendship until they basically become more enemies than friends. It drives Tress crazy that Felicity can offer no insight into what happened to her parents, so she devises a dark and twisted plan to force Felicity to confess everything she remembers about that night because Tress is convinced she has been lying for all of these years. Tress’ plan involves bricks, mortar, manacles, and a party with lots of distractions so that no one will notice she and Felicity have gone missing. Sounds sinister, right? Because it totally is!

I don’t want to give away anything else about the story, but it’s definitely a wild ride and a dark and twisted one at that. I do have to say that I wasn’t a huge fan of either girl, although I did sympathize with them both as we learn more and more about their friendship and about some other secrets they are each hiding. They are both tragic characters in their own way, and Tress is definitely one of the more interesting and complex morally gray characters I’ve come across.

I do want to forewarn anyone who is sensitive when it comes to animals being harmed in books, there is a pretty devastating incident involving a family pet. I hope that’s not a spoiler, but I wish I had known it was coming when I started reading so I could mentally prepare myself for it.

The Initial Insult is a dark and heartbreaking read that ends on a jaw dropping note. I didn’t realize until I got to the end that it’s actually the first book in a duology, so I can’t wait to get my hands on the second book, which is apparently named The Last Laugh. 4 STARS

Destination Anywhere Goodreads

Author: Sara Barnard

Publication Date: February 23, 2021

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Sara Barnard writes some of the most relatable stories I’ve ever read. The struggles her characters face are struggles that I almost always identify with and that is definitely the case with her new novel, Destination Anywhere. Destination Anywhere follows Peyton King, a seventeen-year-old college student who has struggled her entire life to make friends. As if having no friends wasn’t bad enough, she was also the target of relentless bullying for most of her school career. Desperate to make friends once she arrives at college, she falls in with the wrong crowd and ends up in a world of trouble. Between that and the fact that she’s miserable at college because her parents are forcing her to study something she’s not interested in, Peyton takes matters into her own hands. She packs a bag and her sketchbook, buys a one-way plane ticket from England to Canada, and sets out to find herself and her own path in life.

Peyton’s journey is presented in present day chapters, alternated with chapters from her past, and I have to say that those past chapters were truly heartbreaking. I felt so bad for her as I was reading the feelings of self-doubt that Peyton expresses as she is rejected by classmate after classmate and then bullied by them on top of it. Those thoughts of “What is wrong with me?” or when she does finally find a potential friend and then overthinking it to the point where she’s trying too hard and makes things awkward. While I always had a core group of friends when I was in school, I was painfully shy and could relate to some of Peyton’s inner monologue.

While those past chapters were somewhat painful to read, however, the present chapters were pretty amazing. I loved watching Peyton’s confidence start to grow as she learned from past mistakes and challenged herself to get out there, pursue her passion, and find like-minded people. I was especially impressed with the way she stands her ground when it comes to her parents. That can be a hard thing to do.

I don’t want to give away any details of Peyton’s journey, but one of the highlights of her trip for me was the friend group she meets when she checks in to the hostel in Canada. It’s a group of young travelers from all around the globe and they practically adopt her as their little sister and make it their mission to ensure she gets the most out of her trip and finds whatever it is she’s looking for. Their mission even turns into a road trip at one point and I’m all about a good road trip, so I especially loved those adventures and of course the gorgeous Canadian scenery.

Destination Anywhere is a lovely and heartwarming story about finding yourself and about finding your people. It’s one of those wonderful reads that engaged all of my emotions. I went from being heartbroken for Peyton to absolutely elated for her, and pretty much everything in between. And don’t even get me started on the ending, which left me crying happy tears. Such an all around satisfying read. 4.5 STARS

Romance Reviews: FIRST COMES LIKE & THE WEDDING GAME

February 15, 2021/20 Comments/by Suzanne

If you saw my Top Ten Tuesday post last week, you’ll remember that I shared ten rom-coms I’m excited to read this year. Well, in honor of Valentine’s Day, I got a jump on reading them this past week and have reviews to share for the first two I read, First Comes Like by Alisha Rai and The Wedding Game by Meghan Quinn.

Romance Reviews: FIRST COMES LIKE & THE WEDDING GAME

First Comes Like (Modern Love, #3) Goodreads

Author: Alisha Rai

Publication Date: February 16, 2021

Publisher: Avon

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Even though I’m only reviewing First Comes Like, the latest book in Alisha Rai’s Modern Love series, I actually binge-read all three books in the series last month. Usually I’m terrible at keeping up with series, but once I started this one, I just couldn’t stop reading. What hooked me on Modern Love is the way Rai writes her main characters. I love the mix of strength and vulnerability she infuses them with and of course, the chemistry is always off the charts. I also love that, as the title of the series implies, all of the books are modern and focus on where many people turn these days when they are looking for love, social media.

First Comes Like follows Jia Ahmed, who is a very popular beauty influencer on social media. She’s busy making connections and trying to build her brand and has no time for men, although she’s willing to make an exception for Dev Dixit, a sexy Bollywood soap opera star, who has recently slid into her DMs and started flirting with her. Jia decides to score an invite to a party for his new film so that she can finally meet Dev in person. All is going swimmingly until she meets Dev face to face and he says he has no idea who she is. Awkward! It quickly becomes clear that someone has used Dev’s social media account to catfish Jia; the question is who. Things between them take an even more awkward turn when paparazzi photos of Dev and Jia embracing become public. Even though the photos are in actuality way more innocent than they seem, the public and both of their families flip out and that’s where things got really fun.

I had so much fun with this book. I loved the chemistry between Jia and Dev, especially watching their relationship evolve from her wanting to kill him at that first party to the two of them working together to concoct a plan on how best to deal their families. I also really loved the focus on their beliefs and culture, in particular the respect Jia and Dev each gave to the other’s beliefs as their relationship grows. I also thought it was wonderful that Dev was so respectful of Jia’s career. He didn’t think it was silly or shallow at all and even watched all of her videos and even helped her film and take photos. The two of them were just really sweet together and I was of course rooting for them to continue to grow closer.

I wouldn’t call this a hot and steamy romance, but it’s definitely a sweet, slow burn and I enjoyed every page of it. 4 STARS.

The Wedding Game Goodreads

Author: Meghan Quinn

Publication Date: March 1, 2021

Publisher: Montlake

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Amazon First Reads. All opinions are my own.

Meghan Quinn’s new novel, The Wedding Game is one of the most charming and entertaining romances I’ve read in a long time. I laughed, I cried, and I honestly loved every single character in the book. Okay, well two of them I loved to hate, but you know what I mean!

Set in New York City, the story follows Luna Rossi, a self-professed jack of all trades when it comes to crafting. There’s pretty much nothing Luna can’t do when it comes to crafts and she even has her own very popular social media accounts where she offers tips and tricks to others who share her passion for all things crafty. About the only thing Luna loves more than crafts is her brother, Cohen, so when she learns that a DIY reality TV contest called The Wedding Game is coming to NYC and is seeking contestants, she takes it upon herself to sign her brother and his fiancé up. Luna lives to make sure the people she loves are happy and so can’t resist the idea of giving her brother and the love of his life a perfect wedding day. Plus the grand prize of a NYC penthouse apartment for whoever designs the best wedding doesn’t hurt either. With the Queen of Crafts in their corner, how can they lose?

The Wedding Game also follows Alec, an attorney who, like Luna, has a brother, Thad, who is about to get married. Unlike Luna though, Alec is not especially close to his brother and has no interest in his wedding plans. Alec and Thad used to be incredibly close, but have drifted apart in recent years. Thad sees the ad for The Wedding Game and begs Alec to do it with him and his fiancé. For Thad, it’s a great opportunity to get his family started off on the right foot, but even better, it’s a chance for he and Alec to reconnect. Alec reluctantly agrees and it’s off to the races.

The bulk of the story focuses on the contest itself and an unexpectedly fierce rivalry that develops between Luna and Alec. Oh my goodness, you guys! I don’t want to give away any spoilers but these two have such intense chemistry from their very first hostile encounter. It was hard to tell if they were going to kill each other or rip each other’s clothes off, haha! I thoroughly enjoyed every scene they had together and some of their banter truly had me laughing out loud. The evolution of their relationship had me captivated more and more with each turn of the page and before long, I was rooting for them to have a happy ending of their own.

It wasn’t even just the relationship between Luna and Alec that had me so invested in The Wedding Game either. Honestly it was all of the relationships. Yes, this is a sexy, steamy enemies-to-lovers romance with a hilarious reality TV show as its backdrop, but it’s also a beautiful and heartwarming story about love, family, and forgiveness that left me with a big smile on my face. 4.5 STARS

Reviews: Pretty Little Wife and Three Single Wives

February 11, 2021/26 Comments/by Sharon

Happy Valentine’s weekend everyone! It’s Sharon here again. What better way to kick off Valentine’s Day than with a couple of reviews that the themes are wives killing their husbands LOL! And that is just what I have for this week’s Thriller Thursday. This week’s reviews are domestic thrillers: Pretty Little Wife and Three Single Wives. When I picked these two books to read for Thriller Thursday, I did not even make the connection about murdered husbands and Valentine’s day until Suzanne mentioned what a fun theme for Valentine’s weekend 🙂

Reviews: Pretty Little Wife and Three Single Wives

Pretty Little Wife Goodreads

Author: Darby Kane

Publication Date: December 29, 2020

Publisher: William Morrow

Pretty Little Wife is Darby Kane’s debut thriller novel and what a debut it was! It follows Lila Ridgefield and her husband Aaron Payne who live in a small town in New York. They seem to have a great life together. Lila is a real estate broker who works mostly from home, while Aaron is a beloved High School teacher and coach. He has never missed a day of school so when he does not show up one day, everyone is concerned and worried. Lila is concerned and worried as well, but for very different reasons.

When the book opens, Lila discovers some disturbing videos of her husband and some of the teen girls he coaches. Aaron lies and makes it seems like Lila is in the wrong for blowing this out of proportion when she confronts him, so she decides to take matters into her own hands to stop Aaron from hurting anymore children. She kills Aaron and leaves him in his car at the school. If he’s now missing, where did his car and his body go? If he’s not really dead like she thought he was, then he’ll be coming for Lila and she needs to be prepared.

The book then jumps ahead to where the investigation starts. Not only the police investigation, but also Lila’s. And not only do we have the mystery of what happened to Aaron, but there are also excerpts of a podcast that is investigating the disappearance of 3 college women from the surrounding Ithaca area. Coincidence or are they somehow related? As the investigation into Aaron’s disappearance continues, the police uncover more than they ever thought they would. The lead detective on the case is Ginny Davis, and she is sure that Lila is responsible for whatever happened to her husband. But trying to prove it is harder than she thinks. Lila is smart and has covered her tracks, well except for the missing dead body (lol). I loved the game of cat and mouse between these two women. They are both smart and determined and neither is going to be outsmarted by the other.

This book had so many twists and turns that I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading. Just when I thought I knew what was going on, Darby Kane threw in a curve ball and took it in another direction. By the time I got to the end I was like “Whoa! Wait! What?! Holy Crap!”

I also thought the author did an excellent job in writing and fleshing out the characters in this book, especially Lila. She was such a complex character. Yes, she killed her husband, but I still had a lot of sympathy for her and wanted everything to work out for her in the end. 4 Stars

Three Single Wives Goodreads

Author: Gina LaManna

Publication Date: September 1, 2020

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark

I have never read anything by Gina LaManna before, but when I saw the synopsis of Three Single Wives, where it states: a book club, wine, and murder, I knew I had to read it. And I am glad I did. This was a fast read that kept me guessing until the very end.

Eliza Tate has started her own Public Relations firm and her one big client is Marguerite Hill, a self -help guru and author of the bestselling book “Take Charge” and soon to be released sequel “Be Free”. On February 13^th, Eliza hosts a book club with two of her friends, Anne Wilkes, and Penny Sands, to discuss Marguerite’s new book “Be Free”, but then the discussion moves to cheating husbands and revenge and how they would kill their husband if given the chance. But they don’t really mean it, it’s just the wine talking. Or is it? On February 14^th one of their husbands is found murdered. And so, the mystery begins, who took their discussion seriously?

The book is told from the POV of Eliza, Anne, and Penny, with transcripts of the trial in between. When the story opens it is the day of the book club, then it jumps back 9 months and we get to learn more about these women and the circumstances that lead up to the night in question. We do find out pretty early in the book which husband is dead, but we don’t find out until the very end who killed him. I was all over the place on who I thought the killer was.

With each chapter we learn more about Anne, Eliza, and Penny. And let me just say these women have some serious issues. They are all so flawed and they all have secrets and oh the lies they tell. But even though none of them were very likable, I did enjoy getting to learn more about them and their secrets. And the more I learned about them, the more I suspected them all.

In addition to the mystery that surrounded the whodunnit, this book also had some make- me-chuckle moments. Especially on the transcript portion. Man, even on the witness stand these women were being snarky and, in some cases, cocky.

A few of some of the funny moments from the transcripts:

“Who’s the son of a bitch that spilled the beans?” – Anne’s response when the defense told her they had evidence she was being blackmailed.

“Then it’s my word against his, and he’s dead. I guess that means I win by default.” – Penny’s response when the defense said the victim called her a psychopath in his restraining order.

“Is it really a book club without wine?” – Eliza’s response when the prosecution asked if she served wine at the book club.

“I wouldn’t say it’s stealing. It’s adopting certain items that other people no longer need.”- Penny’s response to the prosecution asking about her “little hobby” of stealing things from others.

I don’t want to say too much and spoil anything, but I was happy with the ending and in no way did I figure it out. 3 ½ stars