Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Marriage Act & The Only Survivors

June 15, 2023/16 Comments/by Sharon

Happy Thriller Thursday! Sharon here and this week I am excited to share my thoughts on two books that I was very excited to read. John Marrs’, The Marriage Act and Megan Miranda’s, The Only Survivors. I really enjoyed both of these books and happy they lived up to my expectations.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Marriage Act & The Only Survivors

The Marriage Act Goodreads

Author: John Marrs

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Publisher: Hanover Square Press

What if the government issued incentives (IE: better health care, tax breaks, homes in better parts of town) to upgrade your marriage and enter into The Sanctity of Marriage Act, would you take it? Even if they monitored every aspect of your life and used that info to ensure that you and your spouse are still in love? That is the premise of John Marrs’ newest book The Marriage Act.

The Sanctity of Marriage Act, known as Smart Marriage, is not all that the government says it is. Sure, if the Audite listening device installed in your home deems your marriage healthy, then you are doing great. But if the device senses tension in the marriage then things can get very rocky and you could lose all of your benefits, or as some couples found out, your life.

The Marriage Act is told from multiple POVs. Also, throughout the book we get to read pamphlets regarding Smart Marriage. For example: “What is in it for me?” gives all the benefits of a Smart Marriage, “How Does it Work?” gives the definition of each level. I really liked learning about the levels. Level 1: Once the Audite picks up on marriage troubles from the recordings, it will send push notifications with hints on how to improve the marriage. Level 2: If the Audite still thinks you need extra help a Relationship Responder (trained counselor) will be assigned to you to help with one-on-one sessions to improve your marriage. Level 3: If the Audite and relationship Responder feel further support is required, then it will be passed to family court, and they will decide the fate of your marriage.

Roxi is an influencer who is promoting Smart Marriage, the more popular she gets the more her marriage suffers, and she will soon learn the downside to a Smart Marriage.

Corrine is part of the Smart Marriage resistance called Freedom for All. She and her husband Mitchell have not upgraded their marriage and in fact will be divorcing once their twins start college in a few months. I really liked Corrine. She was a strong character, and I was rooting for her all the way.

Anthony works for the government and is very much involved in promoting The Sanctity of Marriage Act. But Anthony does not like where the government is going and wants out. Only problem is, he knows too much, and the government will not let him leave so easily. I loved how Anthony’s conscience got the better of him and he tried to right all the wrongs he did.

Noah and Luca have reached level 2 and have been assigned Jeffrey as their Relationship Responder. But their lives are in danger as Jeffrey is not a stable person and has killed to get what he wants.

I loved everything about The Marriage Act. This was one wild ride of a book that had me glued to the pages. John Marrs did a great job of creating a story that had me on the edge of my seat, filled with characters that I both loved and hated. 4 ½ stars

The Only Survivors Goodreads

Author: Megan Miranda

Publication Date: April 11, 2023

Publisher: Marysue Rucci Books

Megan Miranda’s The Only Survivors follows a group of high school seniors who survive a deadly bus crash, and the effect their survivors’ guilt has had on them.

Ten years ago on a high school field trip, two buses that were carrying students crashed into a river. Only nine students survived the crash: Cassidy (who is the narrator of this story), Clara, Grace, Oliver, Amaya, Joshua, Ian, Hollis, and Brody. They make a pact to never talk about what happened and what they went through to survive. On the one-year anniversary of the crash, Clara killed herself. After Clara died the others decide to get together every year on the anniversary to help each other cope. They stay in the same place every year, a cabin called The Shallows. But now ten years after the accident another one of them is dead and the safe haven of each other and The Shallows does not feel so safe anymore. Someone is watching them and wants to know what really happened the night of the accident.

I loved the setting of this book. The Shallows is located in a small town, located on a river and aside from a couple of other houses it is pretty isolated. Add to that the fact that a storm is coming in and washes out the roads and strands them and you have a very creepy atmosphere. There are also strange things happening at The Shallows that start to make the group turn on each other. Cassidy finds a phone on the beach, and it is the same phone number that has sent her mysterious texts. Joshua’s medication goes missing and Amaya left The Shallows and is now missing.

There were a lot of characters to get to know in this book and I think Megan Miranda did a good job of bringing them all to life. The story is told from Cassidy’s POV. In high school Cassidy was an outsider, the only reason she is friends with this group now is because of the accident. She has been trying to distance herself from them and had no intension of going to The Shallows this year, but when she heard Ian was dead she had to go. Aside from the pact they all made the night of the crash, Cassidy is also keeping another secret and she can never let anyone know what it is. We also get chapters from each of the other characters from the night of the accident. I think getting those chapters with bits and pieces about what happened that night really added to the mystery of this book.

The Only Survivors was a slow burn mystery but by the end of the book I was on the edge of my seat and when the final twist was revealed I was shocked! 3 ½ stars

Reviews: CIAO FOR NOW and SAME TIME NEXT SUMMER

June 12, 2023/10 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all were able to enjoy the weekend and, most importantly, spend some quality time reading good books. Today I’m back to share my thoughts on what I think are going to be two very popular beach reads this summer. Between their sunny and vibrant covers and their promise of romance and happily ever afters, I think readers are going to find them irresistible. I know I did!

Ciao For Now: A Romantic Comedy Goodreads

Author: Kate Bromley

Publication Date: June 6, 2023

Publisher: Graydon House

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

In Kate Bromley’s new rom com Ciao for Now, Violet Luciano, a talented student of fashion design, has landed the opportunity of a lifetime. She gets to spend a month in Rome, Italy, interning at a popular fashion house and competing against two of her fellow classmates for the chance to secure a job at a major label back home in NYC. Violet knows this experience will change her life, but she has no idea how much!

What’s the opposite of a meet cute, a meet ugly? Almost as soon as Violet lands in Rome, she manages to trip and fall in a cafe, crash landing on a sexy man, crushing his laptop and dousing him in coffee. He is clearly not impressed and Violet can’t wait to get away from him, but guess what? Turns out he’s Matteo, the grumpy son of the professor who is hosting the students from New York so they’re staying in the same place. 😂

This was such a fun read! I love the enemies to lovers and forced proximity tropes so I had a blast following Violet and Matteo as they awkwardly navigated their way around each other, only to, of course since it’s a romance, eventually develop feelings other than hate for one another. I loved both characters and thought they had amazing chemistry.

I also loved hanging out with Violet and her endearing classmates as they interned in the fashion world. I don’t know much about fashion but it was fun exploring that world with them and watching them design pieces for their contest.

One of my favorite parts about the story though was that Violet is somewhat older than her classmates and has returned to school to find her passion. Her journey to Rome is also a journey of self discovery.

This is my third time reading Kate Bromley and I have yet to be disappointed. If you like rom coms, Italian settings, fashion design, and journeys of self discovery, you’ll definitely want to check out Ciao for Now! 4 STARS

Same Time Next Summer Goodreads

Author: Annabel Monaghan

Publication Date: June 6, 2023

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

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

Oh, how I do love a second chance romance! Annabel Monaghan’s new novel Same Time Next Summer features my favorite kind too – childhood sweethearts who are reunited after years apart. The nostalgic vibes and the sweet flashbacks showing a first love in bloom are just pure catnip for me.

Same Time Next Summer follows Sam, a young woman who has returned to her parent’s Long Island beach house to start planning her wedding. On the surface, Sam’s life seems perfect. Her fiancé is a handsome doctor and she has the perfect job. But the more we get to witness Sam in action, the more it becomes clear that things aren’t nearly as perfect as they seem. There’s trouble with her job, and her doctor fiancé isn’t quite the catch he should be. When Sam runs into Wyatt, her childhood sweetheart who she hasn’t seen in almost 14 years, it becomes clear that Sam has just been going through the motions both personally and professionally.

Monaghan does a wonderful job of alternating between past and present so we can witness the moving story of Sam and Wyatt when they first met, became friends, and then fell in love and then see them reconnect as adults and realize that they still have very strong feelings for one another. It made me sad to see what initially drove them apart but the bond between them is so strong that I felt confident that if Sam were to choose him, they could have a happily ever after.

The romance is lovely, but this is a story that features more than just a second chance at love. Sam’s return home, and everything she experiences while there, serves as a wake up call and a second chance for Sam to have the life she has always wanted professionally as well as personally. This creates a perfect balance between romance and women’s fiction. As someone who loves both rom coms and romances that have a little more meat to them, I loved the extra layers Sam’s personal journey added to the story.

Featuring a poignant second chance romance as well as a moving journey of personal discovery, Same Time Next Summer is a read that will appeal to so many readers. And with its vibrant beachy setting and nostalgic summer vibes, it’s the perfect book to toss in your beach bag this summer! 4 STARS

Reviews: MRS. NASH’S ASHES & MARRYING OFF MORGAN MCBRIDE

June 6, 2023/17 Comments/by Suzanne

Don’t mind me, I’m still playing catch up on my reviews. I thought I was done with May releases but then remembered I hadn’t share my thoughts on these two lovelies yet. Anyway, these really are the last of my May releases and I’ll be back to share some June releases later this week.

Reviews: MRS. NASH’S ASHES & MARRYING OFF MORGAN MCBRIDE

Mrs. Nash's Ashes Goodreads

Author: Sarah Adler

Publication Date: May 23, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Romance

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

As soon as I read the synopsis for Sarah Adler’s debut romance Mrs. Nash’s Ashes and saw it described as “A starry-eyed romantic, a cynical writer, and (the ashes of) an elderly woman take the road trip of a lifetime that just might upend everything they believe about true love,” I knew this was my kind of book. I love road trip books and grumpy-sunshine romances, and I also love quirky twists like someone’s ashes going along for the ride. This book had the added bonus of a dual timeline and second romance featured as a story within the story, which just made this read all the more special.

When the story opens, Millicent Watts-Cohen (Millie) is on a mission to keep a promise to Mrs. Nash, her elderly best friend who has recently passed away. Millie had promised to reunite Mrs. Nash with Elsie, the woman she fell in love with nearly 80 years ago. Mrs. Nash of course dies before Millie is able to find Elsie, but once she locates her and realizes that Elsie is in hospice care, Millie is determined to give these ladies a symbolic happily ever after. When we meet Millie, she is at the airport preparing to fly to Elsie in Key West with three tablespoons of Mrs. Nash’s Ashes in her bag.

A technological glitch causes all the flights to be grounded, so Millie, with no time to waste, agrees to catch a ride to Miami with Hollis Hollenback, whose flight was also grounded but who has a car. Their journey starts off rather awkwardly since Millie knows Hollis through her ex and because Millie can’t believe what a grump Hollis is. Thankfully the more time they spend in the car together, the more comfortable they get around each other and the more Millie is able to bring out Hollis’ cinnamon roll side. The more she is able to coax out that cinnamon roll side, the more Hollis becomes invested in making sure Millie gets to Elsie in time and it soon becomes all too clear that these two are starting to have feelings for one another. Their road trip is full of both hilarious and heartfelt moments, including a side trip to a tiny town where Millie ends up serving as Grand Marshal in a Broccoli parade, haha!

As hilarious and entertaining as Millie and Hollis’ road trip adventure is, I also love that it’s perfectly balanced with chapters that take us back in time to where Mrs. Nash and Elsie first meet and fall in love. Their chapters are just so beautiful and heartfelt, but are also tinged with sadness since it’s nearly impossible for them to have a future together because of the time period they are living in. My heart broke for the two women and it made perfect sense to me why Millie was so determined to reunite them in whatever small way she could.

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes just has so many wonderful layers to it. There’s a strong romcom element, but there’s an equally strong more dramatic one, but then there’s also an element of grief and loss. It’s truly a special book with a little something for every reader. 4.5 STARS

Marrying Off Morgan McBride Goodreads

Author: Amy Barry

Publication Date: May 30, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Romance

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

Set in Buck’s Creek, Montana in the 1880s, Marrying Off Morgan McBride is the second installment in Amy Barry’s The McBrides of Montana series, a historical romance series that focuses on the four McBride brothers finding love. There’s just one catch to that – none of the brothers are actively looking for wives. Junebug, their 14-year old sister, has decided she’s tired of being the one to do all of the cooking and cleaning and so she gets the idea that if she secretly sends out advertisements for mail order brides, then maybe she’ll get lucky and her brothers will get married and then she’ll have some help around the house!

This series is such a good time! It might be a historical romance, but Junebug is definitely the star of the show and it is hilarious to watch her pull the strings and orchestrate everything that happens between her brothers and their potential love interests. Junebug’s shenanigans had me chuckling all the way through the first two books in the series. I especially love how she writes these advertisements making her brothers sound like the absolute worst, that way any prospective wife will be pleasantly surprised when she actually comes to Buck’s Creek to meet them.

In this second book in the series, Junebug sets her sights on marrying off her gruff, oldest brother, Morgan. Junebug adores Morgan because since their mom died and their dad ran off years ago, Morgan has been like a father to Junebug. Junebug knows that Morgan is dying to hit the trail and get back to his life as a cowboy and is hoping to secretly find him a wife so that he won’t leave her. And it wouldn’t hurt if this wife happened to be a good cook and an even better baker of pies, haha.

I really enjoyed all the characters in this book. It was fun to see all of the quirky townsfolk again, and I especially love Pip, the woman who answers Junebug’s ad. All her life Pip has been led to believe that she’s not pretty enough or feminine enough to land a husband and had just about given up hope until she saw Junebug’s ad and its cooking requirements. Pip may not be a lot of things, but she is a fabulous cook so this gives her the confidence to head to Buck’s Creek and a new life. I loved watching Pip strike out on her own in search of happiness rather than just let herself be confined to spinsterhood and taking care of her parents who clearly don’t appreciate her. Pip’s chaperone on this trip, Granny Colfax, is also a hoot who could give Junebug a run for her money in the shenanigans department.

There’s obviously a romance as well, and it’s a slow burn one. I really enjoyed watching Pip and Morgan get to know one another. Morgan is pretty determined to send her away so as to discourage Junebug from continuing with her matchmaking antics, but he has to admit that Pip gets under his skin from the moment he laid eyes on her. I liked how Pip was able to get past Morgan’s gruff exterior to reveal the big hearted man beneath. She gets him to open up about emotions he has kept bottled up for years so as not to worry his siblings, namely the guilt and sense of failure he feels regarding his mother’s death.

If you enjoy historical romance with a hefty side of laugh out loud humor, be sure to check out this series. You won’t be disappointed. 4 STARS.

Reviews: FOURTH WING & IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS

June 5, 2023/16 Comments/by Suzanne

Hey everyone, I hope your week is off to a great start. I’m still playing review catch up, so I’m back today to share my thoughts on two wonderful sci-fi/fantasy reads from favorite authors that I enjoyed in May. I’ll be moving on to all of my June releases next so stay tuned for even more reviews later this week!

Reviews: FOURTH WING & IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) Goodreads

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Publisher: Entangled Publishing (Red Tower Books)

I read my first Rebecca Yarros book last year and it was a work of historical fiction called The Things We Leave Unfinished. It was a beautifully written story that ended up being one of my favorite reads last year. Needless to say, when I saw how much buzz her new fantasy novel, Fourth Wing, was generating, I had to check it out. Well, I’m here to tell you that the hype for Fourth Wing is definitely real. I don’t know if there’s anything I can say that hasn’t already been said, so I’m just going to touch on what the high points were for me.

🐉 Violet, the underdog heroine. Born with a condition that impacts her joints and muscles, Violet has trained her whole life to work as a scribe in the library. Her mom, the General, has other plans though and at the last minute, assigns Violet to enter the deadly training grounds to become a dragon rider. Not only is Violet physically unsuited to this, but she is also surrounded by fellow cadets who happen to be children of executed traitors, and who would love to see her dead to get back at her mother.

I adored Violet. In the face of truly impossible odds, she’s smart, fierce and resilient. She’s also sassy and sarcastic, which is always a bonus for me.

🐉 Found Family. Even though she’s in a kill-or-be-killed situation, Violet still manages to assemble a wonderful group of loyal friends. Even one she thought would be her mortal enemy but ends up being so much more.

🐉 Dragons. Not only are they massive and awe inspiring, but they also bond with humans and can communicate with them!

🐉 Worldbuilding. From the magic system to the politics to the Hunger Games style training grounds, everything is just *chef’s kiss.”

Fourth Wing not only lived up to the hype for me, but it exceeded my expectations and is now my new favorite read of the year. This primarily romcom reader did not see that coming at all. When I tell you I couldn’t put this book down until I knew how it ended, I’m not kidding. By the time I finished the book, I was drowning in dirty laundry and dishes from where I just ignored everything in my life until I got to the last page. 5 STARS

In the Lives of Puppets Goodreads

Author: TJ Klune

Publication Date: April 25, 2023

Publisher: Tor Books

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

TJ Klune’s latest novel In the Lives of Puppets is a queer retelling of the Pinocchio fairy tale and I don’t think I can even put into words just what a gem of a book it is.

The story follows Vic, the only human character in the book. Vic has been raised by three robots, and they are the only family he has ever known. Klune is a master when it comes to found families and Vic’s family is no exception to that. Giovanni Lawson (Gio), an inventor android, is the father figure in Vic’s life and Gio has Rambo and Nurse Ratched to assist him. Rambo is a little Roomba-style vacuum robot who has anxiety but who also just wants to be as helpful as possible. And then there’s Nurse Ratched, a medical android who often has very sadistic tendencies. (If you’ve read or watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, you know exactly what I’m talking about. This robot is very much like its human counterpart!). I really adored this little family. I loved the father-son vibe between Gio and Vic, and I also thought Rambo and Nurse Ratched were hilarious together since they fought and antagonized one another just like siblings.

In addition to loving the cast of characters, I also really enjoyed how creative and unique In the Lives of Puppets was even though it’s being billed as a retelling. When the story opens, Vic and his robot family have been living peacefully, hidden away in the forest, for years until Vic finds and salvages a decommissioned robot named Hap and learns that Hap and Vic have a shared and disturbing past that involved hunting humans. Things go from bad to worse when Hap accidentally alerts robots from their former lives to Gio’s location and Gio is kidnapped and taken back to his old lab in the City of Electric Dreams. Even though Vic hates that Gio kept his past a secret, he and the rest of his robot family are still determined to save Gio from being reprogrammed back to his former killing ways and so they set off on a dangerous rescue mission. Along the way, Vic realizes he is attracted to Hap but is conflicted since he also feels that Hap betrayed them. Can Vic get past those feelings for the sake of love? I don’t want to give anything away about their adventure, but it’s a wild ride!

As he did with The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door, Klune has created a world full of charming and whimsical characters that will steal your heart, all wrapped in a timely story that will leave you with plenty of food for thought about the relationship between humanity and machines. 4.5 STARS

Reviews: UNFORTUNATELY YOURS & SUMMER READING

June 3, 2023/10 Comments/by Suzanne

Hey everyone! I hope your weekend is off to a great start. I don’t normally post on Saturdays but after a busy week that involved a few trips to the hospital to run annual neurological tests on my son, I’m once again playing catch up. I’ve been reading a ton of great books and can’t wait to share my thoughts on them with you. I just need to either do better at scheduling time to sit down at my desk and write and blog, or else I need to figure out a more portable way to do those things. I hate lugging a laptop around but I’m also not great at typing on smaller devices. Oh well, I’ll figure out something. In the meantime, I’m here today to share my thoughts on two reads that you’re going to want to consider adding to your beach bag.

Reviews: UNFORTUNATELY YOURS & SUMMER READING

Unfortunately Yours (A Vine Mess, #2) Goodreads

Author: Tessa Bailey

Publication Date: June 6, 2023

Publisher: Avon Books

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

Unfortunately Yours is the second installment in Tessa Bailey’s A Vine Mess series. I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was immediately curious about this one as soon as I read that it features a marriage of convenience between an ex-Navy Seal and a Napa wine heiress who can’t stand each other. It sounded like a recipe for a good time and I’m happy to share that that’s exactly what it was.

August Cates is a former Navy Seal who is mourning the loss of his best friend, Sam, who died while on a Seal mission. Sam had always dreamed of opening his own winery, and so to honor his fallen friend, August is attempting to start a winery. There are just two problems: 1) he’s terrible at making wine, and 2) he needs additional funds if he’s going to get any better at it but no bank will give him a loan. When we meet August, he’s frustrated and feels guilty because he thinks he’s failing Sam. Even though he comes across as gruff and tough outside, August is an incredibly likeable character because he obviously has such a big heart.

Natalie Vos may be a wine heiress, but she has her own issues that she is working through. She was recently fired from a job on Wall Street because she made a bad trade and lost a lot of money. She has come home to lick her wounds and regroup. Her trust fund would go a long way to helping her get back on her feet and make a fresh start, but thanks to some archaic thinking by her father, Natalie isn’t allowed access to the trust fund until she is married. Natalie has the added annoyance that her reputation as a party girl precedes her and she’s tired of being underestimated by everyone she knows. When Natalie learns that August also needs money, even though all they ever do is insult one another, she proposes that the two of them get married. That way she can secure her trust fund, and the Vos name should make it easier for August to get his business loan.

I think the marriage of convenience is such a fun romance trope since it means the couple will inconveniently catch feelings for one another. Bailey always writes great dialogue and it was such a fun time watching Natalie and August go from trading hilariously snarky barbs with one another to eventually trading flirty albeit still somewhat snarky barbs. The snark was definitely a key part of their chemistry and I enjoyed every word of it.

Bailey also excels at bringing the heat, so when these two finally give in to their attraction, you can expect plenty of steam and sizzle. Beyond that physical attraction, I also loved how their relationship progressed to the point where they became each other’s biggest supporter. Mistakes are definitely made along the way because both characters are all too human, but whether they realize it or not, they really are a dream team.

If you’re a fan of the marriage of convenience trope and enemies to lovers romances, Unfortunately Yours is the book for you! 4 STARS

Summer Reading Goodreads

Author: Jenn McKinlay

Publication Date: May 16, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Books

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

I love to read books that feature bookish characters so when I saw that Jenn McKinlay’s latest novel, Summer Reading, features a “swoon-worthy bookworm” who falls for a non-reader, I was excited to dive in and meet these characters.

Set on Martha’s Vineyard, the story follows Samantha “Sam” Gale, a talented chef who was recently passed over for a promotion she should have been a shoe-in for. Angry and frustrated because she thinks her dyslexia is why she was passed over, Sam quits her job and moves back home and into her dad’s house. He and Sam’s stepmom are traveling for the summer so this will give her the opportunity to regroup in peace, her only responsibility being to chaperone her 14 year old stepbrother, Tyler, who she hasn’t had much of a relationship with in the past. Sam has no idea how life changing this trip home will be.

I’m going to say up front that while I really did enjoy this book, it wasn’t my favorite Jenn McKinlay book, mainly because the story felt a little uneven for me. I adored the part where Sam and Tyler really start to bond as brother and sister. They morph from practically strangers to true siblings throughout the course of the book and it’s a relationship that both of them clearly needed in their lives. I also loved the bond between Sam and her best friend, Em. Em is that kind of supportive friend who immediately asks whose butt she needs to kick when she learns someone has hurt Sam, and Sam is the same way for Em. It was lovely to see them looking out for each other.

The romance was actually the part of the story that I wasn’t completely sold on. I really liked Sam and Ben together. Ben was definitely a swoon-worthy bookworm as advertised and I was a big fan of the way he didn’t underestimate Sam’s intelligence once he learned of her struggles with reading. I also very much liked that he didn’t try to “fix” her but instead incorporated reading aloud into their time together so that he could share his love of reading and stories with Sam, just as she used some of their time together to share her love of cooking with him. As much as I enjoyed watching them spend time together, I didn’t quite feel the same level of “sparks flying” chemistry that I’m used to experiencing in romance novels. Since I didn’t experience that, I didn’t completely buy into them taking the relationship to the next level.

There were also a few dramatic side plots, including a big health scare for one of the side characters and a search for a long lost parent for another, and I felt like the story would have been better if those had been a bit more streamlined as I felt the side drama pulled me out of the story. There’s a grand gesture to end all grand gestures though that fully pulled me back in and had me grinning like a fool and finally buying into Sam and Ben as a couple, so all was well in the end.

As I said, Summer Reading was not my favorite Jenn McKinlay novel, but it’s still definitely worthy of going in your beach bag this summer. 3.5 STARS

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Fall & The Silent Bride

May 25, 2023/10 Comments/by Sharon

Hi everyone! Welcome to another edition of Thriller Thursday with Sharon. I hope you all are doing well. I am good, glad the weather is starting to get a bit warmer here. This week I am sharing my thoughts on Louise Jensen’s, The Fall and Shalini Boland’s, The Silent Bride. Both of these books are twisty psychological thrillers and I really enjoyed them.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Fall & The Silent Bride

The Fall Goodreads

Author: Louise Jensen

Publication Date: April 27, 2023

Publisher: HQ

Louise Jensen has a knack for writing twisty psychological thrillers and her latest book, The Fall, is no exception.

Kate Granger and her twin sister Beth are celebrating their fortieth birthday with a party and everything is going great. Kate feels like the luckiest woman in the world. But the day after the party, Kate’s world comes crashing down. Her fifteen-year-old daughter, Caily, is found unconscious under a bridge near their home and now lies in a coma. The police do not think it was an accident and as they investigate what happened to Caily, they find that not everyone in the family was where they said they were at the time Caily was hurt and that they all are hiding secrets. As the secrets are revealed, the once close family starts to be torn apart and all of their lives are in danger.

This book is told from multiple POVs and I loved getting bits and pieces of information from each person. The more secrets that were revealed the more I suspected everyone of attacking Caily. I also really liked getting Caily’s POV. Her chapters started a few months prior and added a lot more suspense to the mystery. With all the twists and turns that was going on, I was totally taken off guard and could not believe it when the person responsible for hurting Caily was revealed. Good job on that one Louise Jensen.

Jensen also created a lot of family drama. Kate and her twin sister Beth were always close, as were Caily and Beth’s daughter Tegan. But as the investigation started breaking holes in Tegan’s account of her whereabouts, Kate and Beth also started breaking apart as both mothers were defending their daughters. But even though their relationship was fracturing some, they were also still there for each other when push came to shove and their lives were in danger. I loved how realistic their relationship was in this situation. Even when my brothers and sisters and I are at odds with each other, we are still there when one of us needs help.

I think Jensen did a great job in creating a setting that added to the mystery and eeriness of the book. The story takes place in December, so it was cold and wet. A lot of the story also takes place on the farm that Kate and Beth grew up on, and where Kate, her husband Matt and Caily live with Kate’s parents.

As well as all the main characters, this book also had a lot of secondary characters that just added to the suspect pool on who attacked Caily.

If you are looking for a twisty and suspenseful psychological thriller, packed with family drama and secrets, with an ending that you will not see coming, then I recommend Louise Jensen’s The Fall. 4 Stars

The Silent Bride Goodreads

Author: Shalini Boland

Publication Date: June 1, 2023

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Imagine walking down the aisle to get married, only to get to the altar and not recognize the man standing where your groom should be. Kind of freaky right? Well, that is the premise of Shalini Boland’s newest book, The Silent Bride. And it was very much a freaky and wild ride.

Alice Porter has found the man of her dreams in Seth Evans and after a whirlwind romance the two are engaged to be married. Alice could not have been happier, but her wedding day was anything but happy. As Alice is walking down the aisle on her father’s arm, she stops as she gets closer to the altar, because the man standing where Seth should be is not Seth. Her father and everyone else in the church try and reassure Alice that it is Seth and to go ahead with the wedding, surely it is just her nerves playing tricks on her. But she is adamant that is not the case and this man is a stranger to her. Why is she the only one that does not recognize the man calling himself Seth? Alice sets out to find out what is going on and find her real Seth.

The Silent Bride is told from the POV of Alice, both in the present as she tries to find out what is going on and in the past when she first meets Seth and then follows their romance leading up to the wedding. There are also chapters from an unknown character that really add to the mystery and freakiness of the book. I did not know what to believe and was all over the place at what I thought was going on.

I don’t want to say too much as I don’t want to spoil anything. I will say I did have a lot of sympathy for Alice. I cannot even imagine what it was like for her to not recognize Seth, all the while everyone around her knew who he was. At first the doctors thought maybe she had prosopagnosia (also known as face blindness) but since it was only Seth and his parents she did not recognize, that was ruled out. But even the thought of having that gave me the creeps. I read a book about that a while ago and I still shiver whenever I think about it. I am glad Alice had the support of her friends as she tried to figure this all out. Her family supported her somewhat, but her parents really irked me at times. Especially when they went to visit her and brought Seth with them, so Alice could talk to him and realize he was the real Seth. I mean really why would they do that? Geesh! Talk about giving Alice a panic attack. I wanted to just smack them.

Shalini Boland’s, The Silent Bride is a fast paced read that had me guessing until the very end. And while the reason why Alice did not know Seth was a bit over the top for me, there were a few twists and turns at the end that made me not even care about that. 4 Stars

Reviews: THE COMEBACK SUMMER & THE TRUE LOVE EXPERIMENT

May 15, 2023/14 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Monday all! I hope your week is off to a great start. Today I’m back to share my thoughts on two of my highly anticipated reads of the spring. Also, here’s a fun coincidence…I didn’t even notice until I went to draft this post that both of these books have something in common. They are both written by author duos writing under pen names.

Reviews: THE COMEBACK SUMMER & THE TRUE LOVE EXPERIMENT

The Comeback Summer Goodreads

Author: Ali Brady

Publication Date: May 9, 2023

Publisher: Berkley

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

I love a good sister story and with their newest novel The Comeback Summer, writer duo Ali Brady really knocked it out of the park! It’s smart, fun, and heartfelt and just had me cheering the sisters on every step of the way.

The story follows Hannah and Libby, who have taken over their late grandmother’s PR firm but are really struggling to make a go of it. If they lose any more clients, they will seriously be in danger of going out of business. Lou, a wildly popular self-help guru, is looking for a new PR firm to represent her but says she will consider Hannah and Libby for the job, but only if they are willing to complete her 12 week “Crush Your Comfort Zone” program. Even though both sisters inwardly cringe at the idea of completing the program, Lou would be a big enough client to save the business, so they reluctantly agree. Lou goes on to customize a challenge for each sister, to help them combat their biggest fears. Hannah, whose comfort zone is numbers, struggles to make small talk to strangers, is tasked with going on 12 first dates. Libby, whose comfort zone is curling up with her cat and a good romance novel, is tasked with a 12 week training program to get her into good enough shape to compete in the annual “Down and Dirty” obstacle course race.

This truly was such a wonderful read! I loved watching the sisters in action and was equally invested in both Hannah and Libby. I really enjoyed how much the story focused not just on their efforts to crush their comfort zones, but also on the dynamics of their relationship as siblings. The authors did a wonderful job of realistically portraying the ups and downs of a self help journey, as well as the natural ups and downs that any relationship experiences. I loved how much personal growth both Libby and Hannah experience and how much they learn about themselves and about each other throughout the process.

There are romantic relationships for each sister as well and I thoroughly enjoyed those. For Hannah, it’s a second chance romance and for Libby, it’s a relationship that happens when she least expects it. While I adored both of their love interests and was cheering them on, I really have to say that it was the beautiful exploration of the theme of sisterhood that made me fall in love with The Comeback Summer. 4.5 STARS

The True Love Experiment Goodreads

Author: Christina Lauren

Publication Date: May 16, 2023

Publisher: Gallery Books

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

Snarky, sexy romance novelist Felicity “Fizzy” Chen was one of my favorite secondary characters from Christina Lauren’s novel The Soulmate Equation. She was one of those fabulous characters who stole every scene she was in and so I was thrilled to hear we would be getting her story in The True Love Experiment.

When we meet Fizzy in this book, however, she’s struggling a bit in the love department and it is spilling over into her professional life, giving her major writer’s block. She would do just about anything to give her personal life a much needed kick in the pants so she can meet her publisher’s deadline.

Enter Connor Prince, single dad and producer of nature documentaries. Connor’s boss wants to pivot from documentaries to reality TV and although Connor is not thrilled, he wants to stay with this company since it means he can live in San Diego where his daughter lives and see her more. Connor has been tasked with coming up with an idea for a reality TV dating series and a chance meeting with Fizzy gives him a perfect idea…if she’ll agree to it. Fizzy at first refuses, but then says she’ll do it, if he meets all her demands, including a hilarious list of hero archetypes that Connor must pull from in order to find acceptable dating candidates for Fizzy.

The chemistry between Fizzy and Connor is absolutely off the charts! It was pretty clear from their first meeting but only becomes more intense the more they work together and interact. I loved how hard Connor worked to find dating prospects that he truly thought would be great boyfriends for Fizzy, but then it was so freaking adorable how jealous he got behind the scenes if she actually seemed to like any of them. The reality TV show was also well done and a lot of fun to read about. I also loved that there was a forbidden love element to the story as well since Connor is technically Fizzy’s boss. It really added some juicy layers of sexual tension that kept me turning those pages to see what would happen between them.

I also adored being back in this world and seeing River, Jess, and Juno again. I thought it was an especially nice touch having the DNA technology from The Soulmate Equation play a part in Connor’s show. With my love for the first book and for all of its characters, especially Fizzy, The True Love Experiment was, no surprise, one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I’m thrilled to report it was everything I hoped it would be and more! 4.5 STARS

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Those Empty Eyes & Lovely Girls

May 11, 2023/12 Comments/by Sharon

It’s Sharon and it’s Thursday, so you know what that means! Thriller Thursday reviews. This week I am very excited to share my thoughts on Charlie Donlea’s, Empty Eyes and Margot Hunt’s, Lovely Girls. I loved both of these books and was glued to them from the very first page.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Those Empty Eyes & Lovely Girls

Those Empty Eyes Goodreads

Author: Charlie Donlea

Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Publisher: Kensington

My first book by Charlie Donlea was Twenty Years Later and I loved it, so I was very excited to read his latest book, Those Empty Eyes and I am happy to report I loved this book as well. Donlea is now a must-read author for me. Those Empty Eyes follows Alex Armstrong as she tries to find the person responsible for killing her parents and younger brother ten years ago and bring herself some closure.

When Alex was seventeen, she was woken in the middle of the night to the sounds of gunshots. When she peeked out her bedroom door, she saw her brother lying in the hall shot in the chest. Alex was able to hide from the killer, but when the police arrived they found Alex sitting in her parents’ bedroom holding a shotgun. Alex was accused of killing her family and the media named her “Empty Eyes” from the dazed look on her face when she was escorted from the house. With the help of attorney Garrett Lancaster, Alex was exonerated and also won a defamation lawsuit against the police. Ten years later Alex is working as an investigator for Garrett, and she has not given up on searching for the answers about who killed her family. Alex’s current case is the disappearance of college journalist, Laura McAllister. As Alex digs in Laura’s disappearance, she uncovers connections to the murder of her family. The closer Alex gets to the truth, the more her life is in danger. The killer left her as a loose end once; they won’t make that mistake again.

Right from the start my heart broke for Alex. She was a flawed character and did make some bad decisions, but hey who wouldn’t given what she had been through? But I loved how she was determined to find justice for her family. She was not giving up no matter what. She was also a smart character. Every piece of evidence she uncovers about her family’s murder she adds to the evidence board she keeps in her apartment. There comes a time in the story when her path crosses with the FBI, they need information from her on a case they are working, but Alex does not give it for free. She makes a deal that they can have the information, but in exchange she wants help with clues she has uncovered in her family’s murder. You go Alex!

This book is also filled with a great cast of secondary characters. I loved the found family relationship that Alex had with Garrett and his wife, as well as a few other characters. This book also has a few plots that seem unconnected to the main story, but Donlea does a great job of connecting the dots without giving away the mystery.

All I can say about this book is WOW! Those Empty Eyes had me hooked from the very first page. As well as putting a few tears in my eyes, Donlea kept me in the dark as to who killed Alex’s family until the very end. And what an end it was! 4 ½ stars

Lovely Girls Goodreads

Author: Margot Hunt

Publication Date: March 1, 2023

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Margot Hunt’s newest book, Lovely Girls, is Mean Girls on steroids LOL! The story follows Kate Turner and her teenage daughter, Alex, who have recently moved from New York to Shoreham Florida. After the sudden death of her husband, Kate wanted a fresh start for both her and Alex, but unfortunately, they get anything but.

The story is told mainly from the POV of Kate, but we also get chapters from a video diary that Alex kept. The book is also broken up into two parts, “Before She Died” and “After She Died.” I loved having it broken up this way. While I was reading the “Before She Died” part, my mind kept trying to figure out who died. Was it Alex or one of the girls that was bullying her? There is not much I can say about the “After She Died” part, because that would just give away who died. Duh. LOL!

Right off the bat Alex makes enemies of three girls on the tennis team and she soon realizes that these were the wrong girls to be on the wrong side of. These girls make it their mission to make Alex’s life miserable. After they learn that Alex’s father died in a car crash, they stuff her locker full of newspaper clippings from the accident and they even leave a doll hanging in her locker that is dressed up to look like her father. See told you, Mean Girls on steroids. But Alex is not one to back down. Along with making video diaries on her Ipad, she also likes to take random videos and she has taken a video of one of the girls that will bring all of their worlds crashing down and get one of them killed. I liked how Hunt created such a realistic teenager in Alex. I remember being a teenager (well kind of lol) and I could sympathize with the feelings Alex was having.

While Alex was having a hard time, Kate had it much easier to start with. She quickly made friends with the mothers of the three girls that were tormenting Alex, though she did not know at the time what the girls were doing to Alex. Though other moms tried to tell Kate to watch out for these women, she didn’t listen. She was just happy to have made friends in her new town. But as soon as the murder happened, these women turned on Kate so fast. They were just as conniving and evil as their daughters. But when their claws came out, so did Kate’s. She will do anything to protect her daughter.

Once we find out who died, it was pretty easy to figure out who killed them. But in no way did that make the second half of the book worse. This book was so addictive that I finished it in a couple days.

If you like books full of small-town gossip, jealousy, and betrayal then look no further than Margot Hunt’s Lovely Girls. But be forewarned, this book does deal with bullying. 4 stars

Reviews: THE LAST WORD and PRETEND YOU’RE MINE

May 8, 2023/6 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Monday all! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. The weather was great here on Saturday so I did a little yard work, but Sunday it rained most of the day so I read and start getting caught up on my blog hopping. Today I’m back with two new reviews from authors who are fast becoming auto-buy authors for me, Katy Birchall and Lucy Score.

Reviews: THE LAST WORD and PRETEND YOU’RE MINE

The Last Word Goodreads

Author: Katy Birchall

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

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

The Last Word by Katy Birchall is a fun new enemies/rivals-to-lovers romance. I just love Birchall’s humor and the way she writes her characters, and I’m also a huge fan of the enemies/rivals to lovers trope so I couldn’t wait to dive into this book.

The story follows Harper and Ryan, two journalists who crossed paths years ago when they were interns for the same publication. There was definitely chemistry between them back then but Ryan ultimately betrays her, and they haven’t spoken since. When we meet Harper, she is fully focused on her career as a successful and well-respected Celebrity Editor for a newspaper magazine. Life is good with the exception of her sexist boss. Not only does the man seem to go out of his way to be rude to her, but he also takes every opportunity to stifle her career growth. As if all of that wasn’t bad enough, now he has gone and hired Ryan to be his new Features Editor.

Needless to say, sparks fly as soon as Ryan and Harper are forced to work together. Constant bickering and disagreements eventually give way to a tentative partnership, and of course my favorite part of an enemies to lovers story – when the main characters realize that maybe they don’t hate each other after all and the trajectory of their relationship changes. I always love those moments and Birchall handles them well here.

Harper is a fantastic character. I love how she’s a real go-getter even in the face of blatant sexism that has her other colleagues shaking their heads. Harper is amazing at her job and is the go-to person when celebrities want someone who they can trust to respectfully and professionally handle their stories. Even though I went into this book craving a fun rom com, I really enjoyed Harper’s personal/professional journey as she fully comes into her own and takes the reins of her career. It took me a little longer to warm up to Ryan just because I was Team Harper all the way, but once we are finally allowed to learn the details of what happened all those years ago, my heart fully melted toward him.

The Last Word is the third book from Katy Birchall I’ve read and it definitely will not be my last! 4 STARS

Pretend You're Mine (Benevolence, 1) Goodreads

Author: Lucy Score

Publication Date: May 9, 2023 (First published, October 26, 2015)

Publisher: Bloom Books

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

I’m pretty late to the Lucy Score party and have been playing catch up on all of her popular romance novels. When I saw that Bloom Books was reissuing her Benevolence series with gorgeous new covers, I decided it was a good time to snag a copy of the first book in the series, Pretend You’re Mine. And boy did this story hook me — I read it cover to cover in one day!

Luke Garrison is beloved by everyone in the town of Benevolence. He’s a hometown hero whose life has been touched by tragedy. He has no interest in building a life with someone and thus fully devotes himself to his business and to serving his country through the National Guard. When Harper Wilde comes barreling into his life, he has no idea that his life will never be the same.

When we meet Harper, she has just caught her boyfriend in bed with another woman. Furious, she grabs her car keys, and nothing else, and just starts driving. She runs out of gas in Benevolence and while she’s trying to figure out what to do next, she witnesses a man assaulting a woman in the parking lot and without thinking, rushes over and actually jumps right on the man’s back. The man she went after has a reputation for being abusive, so Harper becomes a bit of a hero in the town herself for taking him on. Luke witnessed the incident in the parking lot and immediately made it his business to look after Harper, even reluctantly allowing her to stay at his place and temporarily work as his office manager once she confesses that she has nothing but a set of car keys to her name at the moment.

Pretend You’re Mine features so many of my favorite tropes. In addition to the small town romance, it also features forced proximity, only one bed, and even some fake dating. The fake dating aspect was probably my favorite because Harper agrees to go along with it to give Luke some peace from his well-meaning, but very meddlesome, family. Luke’s family is so sweet and loving, and I love how quickly they all fell in love with Harper and made her feel like she was part of the family. Since we learn early on that Harper’s life was also marred by tragedy that left her in the foster system, that made the Garrison family’s love for her all the more touching.

With its mix of sexy, steamy moments and full-on rom com antics, Pretend You’re Mine kept me thoroughly entertained, although I will admit that it also frustrated me at times. Luke was especially frustrating in that he was practically paralyzed from moving forward in his personal life because he felt like he was betraying the memory of someone else he cared about. He sent Harper so many mixed signals that at times, I just wanted to shake him. Even though I occasionally wanted to throttle Luke, I was still rooting for him to sort himself out and not lose Harper and I can’t wait to dive into the next book in the series and see what the folks of Benevolence get up to next. 4 STARS.

Romance Reviews: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT & MEET ME AT THE LAKE

May 5, 2023/12 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Friday, everyone! It has been a hectic week for me with the end of the school year fast approaching, but I’m planning for a relaxing weekend with nothing but blog hopping and reading on my agenda. Today I’m back to share my thoughts on another couple of romance novels that were highly anticipated reads for me. I’m so excited that so far none of the books I’ve hyped up in my own head have let me down and my winning streak continues with these two. 🙂

Romance Reviews: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT & MEET ME AT THE LAKE

Practice Makes Perfect Goodreads

Author: Sarah Adams

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Publisher: Random House, Ballantine, Dell

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

Sarah Adams’ new small town romance novel, Practice Makes Perfect, is sugar and spice and everything nice!

You guys, I don’t know that I have ever loved a fictional setting more than the tiny town of Rome, Kentucky and its wonderful cast of quirky characters. I adored them in the author’s last book, When in Rome, and couldn’t wait to visit them again in this new book. One of my favorite parts of When in Rome was Noah’s close relationship with his sisters, so I was thrilled that this new book would focus on one of them.

Annie Walker is a shy, romance reading, bookworm, who also runs the town’s flower shop. She is the epitome of the “girl next door” and her sweet personality has led the townsfolk and her siblings to nickname her Angel Annie. While the nickname is meant as a term of endearment, it makes Annie feel like she always has to behave in a certain way so as not to disappoint anyone.

When we first meet Annie, she is on a mission to meet her perfect match, a proper respectable husband whose life will mesh nicely with her own. Unfortunately, having had little experience with men, Annie is awkward around most men her age, and according to her most recent date, she’s also downright boring. Annie knows all she needs is some practice with dating and flirting, and so she turns to the one man, who surprisingly enough, doesn’t make her nervous at all, Will Griffin, the sexy, tattooed bodyguard of Noah’s wife, Amelia, who also happens to be the town’s resident pop star.

In many ways, Will really is perfect for the job. He’s a serial dater with no interest in a real relationship, so there’s no danger of either of them forming an attachment to the other. He also clearly has plenty of experience, and the fact that Annie is comfortable around him is a bonus. There’s just one problem – Will is secretly attracted to Annie and if anyone could make him rethink his decision to be in a relationship, it’s definitely her. He can’t resist Annie’s charms though and so he agrees to mentor and fake date her.

I can’t even express how much I love the chemistry between Will and Annie. Their “lessons” were just so adorable and sexy, and I especially loved how Will sees Annie in a way that no one else in the town or even her own family sees her. As much as I enjoyed watching the romantic relationship blossom between them, it was the emotional connection between them, and especially Will’s encouragement of Annie to be who and what she wants to be that really took this story to the next level for me.

Highly recommended for fans of small town, opposites attract romances! 4.5 STARS

Meet Me at the Lake Goodreads

Author: Carley Fortune

Publication Date: May 2, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Romance

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

Carley Fortune’s new novel, Meet Me at the Lake, is a second chance romance that follows Fern and Will. 22 year old Fern meets Will while she is working at a shop in Toronto. Will is a budding artist who has been hired by Fern’s boss to paint a mural in the shop. Fern and Will hit it off and end up spending an amazing day together seeing the sights in Toronto and getting to know one another. Both of them are leaving Toronto soon, but they feel such a strong connection that they vow to meet up in exactly one year in Muskoka, Canada, at the resort Fern’s family owns. One year later, however, Will is a no-show, and Fern is devastated.

Fast forward ten years and the untimely death of Fern’s mom has left Fern as the new owner of the now struggling resort. Fern is still mourning the loss of her mother and getting used to the idea that she now has to run the resort. As if she doesn’t have enough on her plate, she is utterly shocked when Will of all people comes strolling in. He tells Fern that her mother had hired him as a consultant to help her turn things around at the resort. Needless to say, Fern’s emotions are in complete turmoil at the thought of Will reappearing in her life after ghosting her all those years ago.

I have to say right now that I was a little worried going into this novel after the extreme hype that surrounded Fortune’s debut, Every Summer After, but I actually enjoyed Meet Me at the Lake even more. The storytelling and character development are spectacular in both novels, but something about the subject matter in this one just resonated with me more. I especially loved how the story is presented in a dual time line with scenes from Will and Fern navigating their present day awkward situation balanced out with flashbacks from their one amazing day together 10 years earlier. Even though I don’t normally buy into insta-love, Fortune brings that day to life in such a way that I could easily understand why Fern thought she and Will had such a special connection. The picture Fortune paints quickly had me invested in Fern and Will, and although I was initially furious that Will seemingly threw away that connection, my heart broke for him once he finally revealed why he didn’t meet Fern that day and I was really rooting for the two of them to find their way back to each other.

Carley Fortune truly has a gift for making her readers become emotionally invested in her characters. She broke my heart into a million pieces and then slowly put the pieces back together again as I followed Will and Fern’s journey, and that’s the kind of story that is going to stick with me. With Meet me on the Lake, Carley Fortune has cemented her status as an auto-buy author for me and I can’t wait to read more from her. 4.5 STARS