Reviews: BEAR WITH ME NOW & JASMINE AND JAKE ROCK THE BOAT

May 1, 2023/8 Comments/by Suzanne

Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a great weekend. It was gloomy and rainy here all weekend so I spent most of it napping and reading. Today I’m back to share my thoughts on two April releases from Berkley Romance. One is a solid debut, while the other is another entertaining read from an author I’ve been enjoying the past couple of years.

Reviews: BEAR WITH ME NOW & JASMINE AND JAKE ROCK THE BOAT

Bear With Me Now Goodreads

Author: Katie Shepard

Publication Date: April 25, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Romance

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

Bear With Me Now is Katie Shepard’s debut novel. and it’s one wild ride!

When we first meet Teagan, he has just been released from the hospital after suffering a severe panic attack. His sister Sloane thinks some quality time out in nature is just the thing to help Teagan clear his head and so takes him to a wilderness retreat in Montana. Teagan immediately decides he isn’t comfortable with group therapy and instead decides to wander off and enjoy a solitary hike. It is here where he is nearly eaten by a bear and where he is saved from this fate by the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, who just happens to be the retreat’s handywoman, Darcy.

Darcy and Teagan hit it off right away and he starts spending most of his time working out in nature on the grounds with her. There are lots of rom-com worthy moments as they get to know each other better, including plenty of witty banter that often had me laughing out loud.

The novel has plenty of serious moments too though as it explores Teagan’s panic disorder, including what is causing his panic attacks as well as the embarrassment he feels about them. Somehow everyone at the retreat thinks Teagan is in rehab for alcoholism, for example, and instead of setting the record straight, he instead decides to hide the truth from them all, including Darcy. The lie spirals to the extent that he actually hires Darcy to come home to NYC with him as his sober companion. While their personal relationship heats up here, it becomes clear that Teagan’s lie is unsustainable. I was not a big fan of the deception anyway so I was rooting for him to come clean to Darcy before he wrecked everything between them.

Both Teagan and Darcy are immensely likeable characters, and I liked how Shepard allowed their vulnerabilities to shine through, making them all the more realistic and relatable. While Teagan is struggling with his mental health, Darcy is also struggling to get her life on track, thanks to her parents wrecking her credit, her ex stealing her car, and most importantly, thanks to dyslexia making it nearly impossible for her to finish her college degree and land her dream job as a park ranger. I loved that the bond Teagan and Darcy forged was strong enough that they each were more focused on helping the other in spite of their own problems.

With its blend of heartfelt and hilarious moments, Bear With Me Now is a fantastic debut and I look forward to reading more from Katie Shepard. 3.5 STARS

Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat Goodreads

Author: Sonya Lalli

Publication Date: April 18, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Romance

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

I’m always in the mood for a good enemies to lovers story and Sonya Lalli did not let me down with her latest contemporary romance, Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat.

When we first meet Jasmine, her life is kind of a mess. She has just broken up with her loser boyfriend for the third time and has moved in with a friend. She has a good job but somehow still has no money, and as much as she would love to have a close relationship with her parents, that situation is a mess too. Her parents, as well as most of their South Asian community, view Jasmine as a bad girl and openly criticize her life choices and her “old maid” status since she is over 30 and has yet to land a husband. In what can only have been a moment of insanity, Jasmine agrees to go on an Alaskan cruise with her parents and dozens of others from their community, not realizing that it’s actually a cruise for seniors and that she’ll be surrounded by meddling Aunties and Uncles at every turn. The only other person even close to her age on the trip is Jake, a handsome but arrogant young man who is traveling with his dad.

Lalli gets me invested in this couple immediately by revealing that Jake and Jasmine have history. Jasmine actually used to babysit Jake when they were younger. Now Jake is all grown up and he is clearly attracted to his former babysitter. Reverse age gap romance anyone? Jasmine finds Jake to be incredibly annoying and tries to avoid him as much as possible at first, but being stuck on a ship, their paths cross way more than she would like. Although they are initially reluctant to hang out, they soon realize that they enjoy each other’s company and have more in common than they thought. I thought their scenes together were really sweet and that they made a pretty great team.

What I really enjoyed about this story is that even though it’s technically a romance, there’s still a pretty major personal journey for Jasmine. While Jasmine can admit that she really is attracted to Jake, she fights the idea of getting into a relationship with him. She has too much going on in her own life and really needs to sort herself out rather than just jump from one man to the next. Jasmine’s journey on this cruise is more about finding herself and redefining her relationship with her parents and her community than it is about finding love, and I loved the growth she experienced throughout the story.

Full of heart, wonderful character development, and a sweet slow burn enemies to lovers romance, Jasmine and Jake Rock the Boat makes for a delightful read. 4 STARS

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Maid’s Diary & The Suspect

April 27, 2023/10 Comments/by Sharon

Hi Everyone! It’s me Sharon, I hope everyone is doing well. I know it has been a while since I posted Thriller Thursday reviews, I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago and then it took another week for my brain to come back from vacation mode. 😀 But I am back and happy to share my thoughts on a couple of psychological thrillers I have read; Loreth Anne White’s, The Maid’s Diary and Kathryn Croft’s, The Suspect.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: The Maid’s Diary & The Suspect

The Maid's Diary Goodreads

Author: Loreth Anne White

Publication Date: March 1, 2023

Publisher: Montlake

I have loved all the books I have read by Loreth Anne White and I am happy to report that her newest book, The Maid’s Diary, was right up there with all her others.

Kit Darling is a maid with a snooping addiction. She cleans the homes of the wealthy and the wealthy always have something to hide and Kit loves finding their secrets. It’s a harmless addiction really, that is, until Kit starts cleaning the house of new clients Daisy and Jon Rittenberg. Kit uncovers a very dark secret they are keeping, and this makes Kit dangerous to them. It also makes Daisy and Jon dangerous to Kit as well. Someone is willing to kill to keep this secret.

Homicide detective Mallory “Mal” Van Alst is called to a luxury home known as the Glass House, where she finds evidence of a violent attack. There is so much blood at the scene there is no way the victim can still be alive. The only problem is there is no body, the owners of the house are gone, and their maid is missing. The only witness is an elderly woman who lives across the street. She was woken up by the screams coming from the Glass House and she saw two people carrying a rug rolled up with what looked like a body in it. As Mal starts her investigation, she uncovers the secrets of everyone involved and she soon realizes that nothing is quite as it seems.

The story is told from the POVs of Daisy, Jon, Mal, and Kit via pages from “The Maid’s Diary.” There is not a lot I can say about this book without giving anything away and I think it is best to go into this story blind.

The book starts from the POV of an unknown female who has been drugged and is in the backseat of a car. We then get alternating timeline chapters. Mal’s chapters take place in the present as she works on the investigation and tries to solve the mystery of what happened at the Glass House. Daisy and Jon’s chapters start two weeks prior and are titled “XX days before the murder” and progress up to the night at the Glass House. In between we get pages of Kit’s maid’s diary. I love how White presented the story this way. Each chapter gradually connected the main characters, as well as throwing in twists and turns as secrets were revealed.

Mal was my favorite character and I loved following the evidence as she uncovered it. I thought I knew where things were going to go and then something new was uncovered that took things in a new direction. I also loved finding out the secrets of Daisy, Jon, and Kit, and oh, what secrets they were!

If you are looking for a psychological thriller full of twists and turns and that will keep you guessing until the end, then I recommend The Maid’s Diary. 4 stars

The Suspect Goodreads

Author: Kathryn Croft

Publication Date: February 6, 2023

Publisher: Bookouture

Kathryn Croft’s newest psychological thriller, The Suspect, follows one woman’s determination to uncover the truth of her mother’s murder.

When Jess was two years old, her mother Lori was murdered while they were in the park. Jess has no memory of who killed her mother. The police had a suspect, Nathan French, but there was not enough evidence to convict him. Now twenty-eight years later, Nathan approaches Jess in the street and tells her that he did not kill her mother and has proof of who did. Nathan wants to meet up again with Jess and give her the proof, but before they can meet again, Nathan is murdered. Jess does not know what to believe now. Could the man that she thought killed her mother really be innocent? When Jess searches for answers, she starts to uncover information that changes everything she thought she knew, and she realizes that the person that murdered her mother is closer to home than she imagined.

This book is told from the POV of Jess and Lori in alternating timelines. Lori’s POV starts the year before she was murdered and Jess’ POV is in the present as she searches for answers to who killed her mother. I really liked having the story presented this way, as each timeline brings us closer to solving the mystery of who killed Lori. I also enjoyed both of the timelines equally.

The story opens with the day Lori died. Right from the beginning I liked Lori and as the book progressed and I learned more about her, my love for her grew. Lori’s mother and sister were not all that loving with her. Lori had been her father’s favorite and her sister resented her for that, so their relationship was very strained. Lori loved Jess’ father, Danny, and they had a great relationship, until Lori found out a secret he was keeping. When Lori found out his secret she broke things off with him and was planning on moving away. I loved how even though everyone seemed to be against her, Lori still pushed forward and was determined to make a great life for Jess. She was a great mother to Jess and it broke my heart knowing that as I was reading she was getting closer to being killed.

Jess had the same determination as her mother did. When she met Nathan in the street, it opened up all the emotions about her mother’s murder that she tried to keep at bay. I loved how she was determined to find out what really happened to her mother no matter where it took her.

As the story progresses, the suspect pool grew. I was all over the place on who I thought killed Lori. I loved all of the twists and turns The Suspect had. I think Kathryn Croft did an excellent job of weaving a great mystery, with an ending that I did not see coming. 4 stars

Reviews: YOURS TRULY and HAPPY PLACE

April 24, 2023/12 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Monday all! I’m back today to share my thoughts on two of my most anticipated romance reads of the entire year, both of which just happen to be releasing in April. Both of them are receiving a lot of hype, which made me a little nervous going in, but for me anyway, they both more than lived up to all that hype.

Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2) Goodreads

Author: Abby Jimenez

Publication Date: April 11, 2023

Publisher: Forever

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

Abby Jimenez’s novel Part of Your World was one of my favorite reads last year. I adored it so much that I immediately went on to binge her earlier series, The Friend Zone, which I also loved. My favorite part about Jimenez’s writing is the way she writes her characters. They’re always just so real and relatable. With her latest novel, Yours Truly, the second installment in the Part of Your World series, Jimenez has given me two of my favorite fictional characters ever, including a new favorite book boyfriend!

The story follows Brianna Ortiz, an ER doctor who is dealing with some pretty major life stressors when we first meet her. She is finalizing a divorce from her cheating spouse, her younger brother has renal disease and desperately needs a kidney, and the promotion she has wanted for as long as she can remember, is about to be stolen out from under her by Jacob Maddox, another ER doctor who has just transferred to the hospital where she works.

What Brianna doesn’t know is that Jacob isn’t actually her rival at all. Jacob recently discovered that his girlfriend was cheating on him with his own brother. He has started this new job in hopes of getting a fresh start and so that he can focus on his mental health, particularly his social anxiety. Jimenez does a beautiful job exploring Jacob’s anxiety, both by showing us how it impacts his life and also by showing us how he copes with it. As someone who also suffers from social anxiety, I felt seen and understood as I was reading Jacob’s story.

I honestly can’t even begin to express how hard I fell for both of these characters! Jacob is the epitome of the soft, vulnerable cinnamon roll and I just wanted to give him the biggest hug every time he felt anxious. I fell head over heels for him when, after the two of them get off to a rocky start, Jacob decides to write Brianna a letter. When he confides to her about his social anxiety, Brianna immediately decides to write back to him rather than confronting him in person, recognizing and respecting that he needs that space. This leads to the most adorable penpal relationship and I found myself grinning every time either of them received a new letter in their lockers. The letters are so sweet and earnest, with a hint of flirty banter, and I loved watching them become more open as they got to know each other. When they actually started hanging out together, I thought my heart would explode with joy and by the time I reached the end, I actually gave the book a hug, which I have never done before, haha!

This book also has all my favorite tropes so I was in heaven the entire time I was getting to know Brianna and Jacob and rooting for them to get together. If you like rivals-to-friends-to-lovers, workplace romance, fake dating, this is the book for you. And as if all of that isn’t enough, the book also features a potty-mouthed scene stealing parrot and a three-legged dog named Lieutenant Dan.

Yours Truly is charming and witty, and it absolutely stole my heart. It’s my favorite read of the year so far and I fully expect it to show up on my Best of 2023 list at year’s end. 5 STARS

Happy Place Goodreads

Author: Emily Henry

Publication Date: April 25, 2023

Publisher: Berkley

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

Emily Henry is just one of those authors who never disappoints. Her latest novel, Happy Place, is one of my most anticipated reads of 2023 and I’m thrilled to report that it not only exceeded my very high expectations, but it’s also my new favorite read from Henry.

The story follows Harriet and Wyn, who have recently ended their years long relationship. The break-up is awkward enough in its own right, but the awkwardness is compounded by the fact that Harriet and Wyn are part of a close knit friend group that dates back to their college years. Harriet and Wyn have been putting off telling their friends for fear of “breaking up the band,” so to speak. This is all fine and good until they head to Maine for the group’s annual vacation getaway. When they learn that the family home they have always stayed at is being sold and that this may be the group’s last trip together, Harriet and Wyn decide it’s easier to just pretend they are still together rather than wreck their friends’ final trip together. It’s only a week, so how hard can it be?

One of my favorite aspects of the story was how Henry incorporates flashbacks from Harriet and Wyn’s past into the story. I loved seeing how they met and became friends and how that relationship blossomed into something more. Seeing how perfect they were for each other made it all the more bittersweet knowing that they were no longer together. It also made me that much more emotionally invested in learning what went wrong between them and if there was any path to a second chance.

While Harriet and Wyn’s relationship definitely drew me into this book, what really took the story to the next level for me was Henry’s moving portrayal of the entire friendship group. There’s a major nostalgic vibe as this group of friends both relives some of their best memories as friends from over the years, but there’s also a sense of fear of the unknown and of drifting apart as their lives are pushing them in different directions. I loved how realistic and poignant that aspect of the story was and how it really allowed for some wonderful character development. I think it’s something that will resonate with many readers. I know it resonated deeply with me.

Filled with Emily Henry’s signature banter as well as heartfelt emotional moments, Henry’s Happy Place is perfect for romance readers who enjoy tropes like second chance romance and forced proximity, as well as for anyone who enjoys a beautifully written story about friendship. 5 STARS

Reviews: THE CUBAN HEIRESS and THE GOLDEN DOVES

April 17, 2023/8 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Monday all! Work deadlines kept me busy and away from the blog for much of last week, but as of today, our first big deadline of the year has passed. Woo hoo! Anyway, I hope to get back to more regular posting and blog hopping this week. Today I’m back to share my thoughts on a couple of excellent historical fiction novels that are releasing in April from two of my favorite authors.

Reviews: THE CUBAN HEIRESS and THE GOLDEN DOVES

Author: Chanel Cleeton

Publication Date: April 11, 2023

Publisher: Berkley

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

Set in 1934, Chanel Cleeton’s latest historical fiction novel, The Cuban Heiress, is a riveting tale that takes place aboard a luxury cruise ship, the SS Morro Castle, during a round trip from New York to Havana, Cuba.

The story is loosely based on the real-life SS Morro Castle disaster where the luxury cruise ship caught fire and ran aground on a beach in Asbury Park, New Jersey. But that historical event is more of a side element in Cleeton’s novel. Her story instead focuses on several seemingly unrelated passengers aboard this ship whose lives end up intertwined in ways that will truly surprise readers. First, there’s Catherine, who, for some reason, is pretending to be an heiress, and who is on the ship with her fiancé and his young daughter. Then there’s the mysterious Elena, a young woman who has been presumed dead but is clearly not as she can frequently be found lurking in the shadows aboard the ship. As if those characters aren’t intriguing enough on their own, there’s also a charming jewel thief named Henry aboard, as well as Julio, who is smuggling guns into and refugees out of Cuba.

I was enthralled from start to finish as Cleeton slowly weaves together the threads that intertwined the lives of these fascinatingly deceptive characters. The story is steeped in danger, suspense, romance, betrayals, and revenge, with plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. In many ways, it reads more like a thriller than a historical fiction novel. But, that said, while it doesn’t contain quite as much history as I’ve grown used to from Cleeton’s novels, The Cuban Heiress is still an immensely satisfying read that I would recommend to fans of both historical fiction and thrillers. 4 STARS.

The Golden Doves Goodreads

Author: Martha Hall Kelly

Publication Date: April 18, 2023

Publisher: Ballantine Books

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

With her latest novel, The Golden Doves, Martha Hall Kelly takes her readers back to WWII and follows two former female spies who are willing to risk everything to bring a fugitive Nazi scientist to justice.

American Josie Anderson and a Parisian named Arlette LaRue are two young women working in the French resistance during the war. They are so good at stealing Nazi secrets that they earn the title “Golden Doves” and are hailed by Allied Forces while being hunted by the Gestapo. Eventually their luck runs out and they are arrested and sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp. Josie and Arlette witness unbelievably horrific events on a regular basis at the camp and they also both experience devastating personal losses that will haunt them long after they are released from the camp – Josie’s mother is cruelly experimented on by a Nazi scientist and dies there, while Arlette’s infant son is stolen from her. A decade later, the opportunity presents itself for Josie to exact revenge on the scientist who tortured her mother, and Arlette suddenly has a fresh lead on where her son might have been taken.

I was completely engrossed in Josie’s and Arlette’s mission to finally hold this scientist accountable and to hopefully find Arlette’s son. Their adventure read like a thriller, filled with endless twists and turns and danger around every corner and I zoomed through the book, rooting for them to get justice for Josie’s mother and all the other women who were victimized at Ravensbruck.

As always though, what continually draws me to WWII historical fiction is my desire to learn everything that I wasn’t taught in history class. In this case, Martha Hall Kelly, through her extensive research, taught me how so many Nazi fugitives, particularly scientists, were allowed to escape justice and how my own country played an active role in their escape because they were so desperate to keep the knowledge and expertise the Nazi scientists possessed from getting into the hands of the Russians. I was shocked and truly appalled to learn this and don’t even get me started on what I learned about the Catholic Church’s involvement.

Inspired by true events, The Golden Doves is both a gripping and moving survivor’s tale and an eye opening lesson in WWII and post WWII history. 4.5 STARS

Romance Reviews: THE PLUS ONE & THE NANNY

April 3, 2023/7 Comments/by Suzanne

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that your April reading month is off to a great start. I have a lot of ARCs to review this month, which wasn’t great planning on my part since April is also a huge deadline month for me at work, but we’ll see how it goes. Today I’m sharing reviews for two really great romance reads. One is from an author I’ve been enjoying for a while now, and the other is a wonderful debut.

Romance Reviews: THE PLUS ONE & THE NANNY

The Plus One (A Brush with Love, #3) Goodreads

Author: Mazey Eddings

Publication Date: April 4, 2023

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin

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

The Plus One is the third book in Mazey Eddings’ A Brush with Love series and like its predecessors, this book features complex, well drawn characters who are dealing with relatable real life issues, working on their mental health, and who just happen to stumble upon love when they least expect it.

When we meet Indira, she has just caught her boyfriend in a sticky situation involving another woman and a jar of peanut butter. Disgusted, Indira grabs her stuff and storms out. She decides to move in with her brother Colin, who is busy planning his wedding. Indira figures she can help him with the planning while she regroups and starts looking for a place of her own. She doesn’t realize until she arrives on Colin’s doorstep that Colin’s best friend, and Indira’s archnemesis, Jude is also in town and is staying there. Needless to say, Indira is not very excited. At first anyway…

I love a good enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity story so I was practically giddy as Indira and Jude were forced to awkwardly interact on a regular basis. I also immediately became invested in both characters finding their way to some kind of happy ending since it’s obvious that both of them are dealing with some heavy stuff. Indira is a psychiatrist who is questioning her ability to effectively help her patients, while her own mental health isn’t where she thinks it should be, thanks to her cheating ex. Jude is a doctor who has spent the past several years traveling the globe to treat patients in need in war torn areas that are facing humanitarian crises. When Jude and Indira reunite, Jude is practically a shell of himself and is clearly suffering from PTSD because of all that he has seen on the job. I loved that their shared history, even if they were sworn enemies in the past, gave them both the comfort they needed to cope while all of the pre-wedding shenanigans were taking place. They even agree to fake date so people will leave them alone, which I particularly enjoyed since it gave them even more time to get reacquainted and realize their feelings for one another go well beyond hate at this point.

While The Plus One is the third book in the A Brush With Love series, it will definitely work as a standalone, although I personally recommend reading the other two books since we reunite with beloved characters since they’re all part of the same friend group. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys heartfelt romances that feature tropes like friends to lovers, forced proximity, fake dating, and brother’s best friend and I also recommend it to anyone who enjoys stories that normalize people seeking help when they are struggling with their mental health. 4 STARS

The Nanny Goodreads

Author: Lana Ferguson

Publication Date: April 11, 2023

Publisher: Berkley Books

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

Don’t let the cute cartoon cover on this one fool you – if you’re looking for a heartfelt romance that knows how to bring the heat, look no further than The Nanny by Lana Ferguson!

Cassie is a young woman trying to put herself through college. She has no support from her family, so in an effort to make money in a way that fits into her busy school schedule, Cassie starts an OnlyFans account (or a “boobycam” as her hilarious elderly neighbor calls it). When she gets too close to one of her anonymous fans, Cassie pulls the plug on her account. She struggles to find and keep a job after OnlyFans until she finally lands a gig as a live-in nanny.

Aiden is an executive chef at a popular local restaurant. He loves his job but it makes raising his 9-year-old daughter, Sophie, a challenging endeavor, especially since Sophie excels in running off nannies if she doesn’t like them. Aiden is desperate for help and when Cassie applies for the job, he practically begs her to take it.

Aiden and Cassie are clearly attracted to each other from their first in person meeting. The more Aiden watches Cassie try to win over Sophie, the more he cares about her, while the more Cassie watches Aiden trying to be the best dad he can for Sophie, the more she cares about him too. As the two grow closer and things start to really heat up between them, Aiden tells a story that Cassie has heard before…on OnlyFans!…and she realizes that Aiden is actually the fan that she grew too close to when she was on that site. Awkward!

I really enjoyed how all of the elements of this story came together, from the super steamy scenes between Cassie and Aiden to the more innocent and adorable family moments between Aiden, Cassie, and Sophie. I was just so invested in the three of them becoming a family and was on the edge of my seat waiting to see how things would play out once Aiden finally realized that he and Cassie have a very intimate history together.

I highly recommend The Nanny to anyone who enjoys romances that feature forced proximity, workplace romances, sizzling bedroom scenes, with a healthy side of family moments to round things out. 4 STARS

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Lying Beside You & The Angel Maker

March 23, 2023/9 Comments/by Sharon

It’s Thursday so you know what that means. Another Sharon edition of Thriller Thursday! This week I am reviewing the latest books by two must read authors for me. Michael Robotham’s, Lying Beside You and Alex North’s, The Angel Maker. Both of these books were in my top anticipated reads for 2023, so I was very excited to read them and happy that they lived up to the hype I had set for them.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Lying Beside You & The Angel Maker

Lying Beside You Goodreads

Author: Michael Robotham

Publication Date: February 14, 2023

Publisher: Scribner

Lying Beside You is the third book in Michael Robotham’s Cyrus Haven series. I fell in love with Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac in the first book Good Girl, Bad Girl and my love for them grew in the second book When She was Good, so I could not wait to reunite with them. In this third installment, a man is murdered, and his daughter, Maya Kirk, is missing. Cyrus is called in to help profile the killer and piece together Maya’s last hours. Not long after Maya’s body is found, another woman goes missing and Evie is the only person to get a glimpse of the man that has taken her. Can Cyrus find this man before it is too late for this other woman, as well as Evie?

There is so much I loved about this book. I will start with the mystery of who killed Maya. Robotham did an excellent job of creating suspense as we follow the police and Cyrus as they try and solve this mystery. He gives us just enough breadcrumbs to follow without giving anything away until the very end. I loved watching as the police and Cyrus tried to piece together the evidence they had. There were a lot of layers to unravel to find the killer and what his motive was. It was not until the end that I started to piece things together, and I never figured out who the killer. I was on the edge of my seat when everything came to a head.

While I love the mystery Michael Robotham created, my favorite part of the book was seeing Cyrus and Evie again. I love these characters so much. They are both still flawed and broken characters, and I loved watching them try to navigate their lives. Evie is still trying to find her way in the world and interact with people. At Cyrus’ insistence she gets a job and she had me smiling as she stumbles along. I love the relationship between Cyrus and Evie, they have a father-daughter/brother-sister relationship, and I loved watching them try and navigate this.

Cyrus is also dealing with the fact that his brother, who killed their parents and twin sisters nineteen years ago, is about to be released from the psychiatric hospital and will be coming to stay with him and Evie. Cyrus loves his brother and has forgiven him, but he is still dealing with all the pain his brother caused him. He wants to help his brother reenter society. Evie on the other hand cannot understand how Cyrus could be so forgiving and does not trust his brother at all and lets him know it. This just created another layer to a well written story.

Robotham does a great job of giving the backstory on both Cyrus and Evie, so this book could be read as a standalone, but I would really recommend reading the first two books in the series first as I think that would give more depth and feelings to this book.

Lying Beside You was everything I hoped it would be and more. I really hope we get more books in this series as I am not ready to let Cyrus and Evie go. 4 ½ stars

The Angel Maker Goodreads

Author: Alex North

Publication Date: February 28, 2023

Publisher: Celadon Books

Alex North’s latest novel The Angel Maker is a dark thriller that follows Katie Shaw as she searches for her estranged brother, Chris, who has gone missing and Detective Laurence Page as he searches for the killer of a distinguished professor who was brutally murdered. As evidence is uncovered, it leads to two old cases, an attack that happened to Chris when he was fifteen and a serial killer that could see the future.

Katie Shaw was always expected to watch out for her brother Chris, and she always did, except for one day when she was seventeen years old, and that will be a day she regrets for the rest of her life. Instead of walking her brother home from school, Katie went off with her boyfriend, and Chris was brutally attacked. Years later Katie is happily married with a child of her own. Chris had a hard life after the attack and turned to drugs and living on the street. Katie has not seen Chris in two years, but when she gets a call from their mother saying that Chris had turned his life around but is now missing, Katie knows that she has to be his big sister once again and this time she is determined to keep Chris safe.

I really liked the parts with Katie as she searches for Chris. She is carrying a heavy burden when it comes to Chris. The last time she saw him he stole money from her, and she called the police on him. But even still, when her mother calls and tells her that Chris is missing, that sister/brother love is there, and she will do anything to protect him this time. I loved her determination and mother bear persona that came out.

Alan Hobbes is a wealthy and distinguished philosophy professor who has been brutally murdered, but before he was murdered he let his staff go and got all of his affairs in order. Almost like he knew he was going to die. As detective Laurence Page investigates the death of Alan, he discovers that this case is somehow connected to the attack on Chris as well as a serial killer named Jack Lock, who is long since dead but was known as “The Angel Maker”. These chapters were very dark, especially as we learn more about who Jack Lock was and what he did.

This book had a lot going on in it, with multiple characters and timelines and it did get a bit confusing at times, but I loved the mystery of how everything was connected. This was definitely a book that needs to be read slow to take in all the information and keep things straight. While I did like North’s other two books, The Whisper Man and The Shadows better, I still enjoyed The Angel Maker. 3 ½ stars

Reviews: HER DEADLY GAME & WHAT HAVE WE DONE

March 20, 2023/13 Comments/by Suzanne

Hey everyone! I hope your week is off to a great start. At this point, I’m just hoping mine will be better than last week. I spent most of the week fighting a sinus headache and then someone on my team at work resigned so there way chaos and drama galore. Between not feeling well and being tired of the drama, I pretty much laid on the couch like a blob every night from 5pm on. Needless to say, no blog hopping happened so my apologies for that. Anyway, enough of that, today I’m back to share some rare thriller reviews from me. Alex Finlay and Robert Dugoni are two authors that have been on my list of authors to try for years now, and I decided it was time to finally make that happen. Today I’m reviewing each of their newest releases.

Reviews: HER DEADLY GAME & WHAT HAVE WE DONE

Her Deadly Game Goodreads

Author: Robert Dugoni

Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

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

My favorite legal thriller reads are those that offer up a perfect balance of police procedure, courtroom drama, and well developed characters. Robert Dugoni’s latest standalone thriller, Her Deadly Game, delivers in all those areas and more.

The story follows Keera Duggan, a prosecutor in Seattle who has to leave her job for personal reasons. She ends up working at her family’s once successful but now failing criminal defense law firm. The family firm’s reputation has taken a hit since Keera’s dad’s alcoholism started to impact his performance in court. When Keera is retained by Vince LaRussa, a successful investment advisor accused of murdering his wife, Keera hopes that her return to the firm will help to restore its reputation, give her own career a jumpstart, and most importantly, help to repair her relationship with her dad, which has also become strained due to the alcoholism.

The LaRussa case itself was fascinating and kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved following all elements of the investigation, from the crime scene unit gathering evidence at the scene all the way through to the courtroom action once the case goes to trial. All of these scenes were so detailed that I truly felt like I was there watching the case unfold in person. I’m also always a big fan of underdogs, so I was Team Keera all the way. Keera is up against not only the fact that in cases like this, the killer often is the husband, but also the fact that the prosecutor on the case is none other than her ex-boyfriend who would love nothing more than to take her down in court. There’s also an anonymous tipster that has Keera chasing down possible leads in an intricate cat and mouse style game.

As riveting and twisty as the LaRussa case was on its own, the complicated family dynamic of the Duggan family was what really made this book a standout for me. Patsy Duggan, the patriarch of the family, built his firm from the ground up, earning himself the reputation as ‘The Irish Brawler,” along the way. Now that his drinking has made him unreliable, it’s up to Keera and her two sisters to keep the firm afloat. The sisters of course love their dad, but there is definitely tension and resentment that they can’t count on him. Some of my favorite scenes were those where Keera and her dad were working together on the case, with Keera holding him to his promise that he wouldn’t drink or let her down. I became so invested in their relationship and was rooting for Patsy all the way to keep his promise and not let his girls down.

Her Deadly Game was my first time reading one of Robert Dugoni’s novels, but it definitely won’t be my last! 4.5 STARS

What Have We Done Goodreads

Author: Alex Finlay

Publication Date: March 7, 2023

Publisher: Minotaur Books

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

What Have We Done is the latest thriller from Alex Finlay. This was my first time reading anything from this author and I have to say it was a pretty wild ride!

This twisty story follows five seemingly different characters who on the surface have little in common – Ben is a federal judge, Donnie is a mostly washed-up rock star, Nico is a television producer, Jenna is a former assassin turned housewife, and Artemis is a wealthy entrepreneur. What these five do have in common is that 25 years ago, they all lived at Savior House, a group home for orphaned teens. While Savior House was meant to be a safe place for these teens, instead it was an environment of abuse and neglect and also a place where several teen girls that lived there mysteriously disappeared. The home is eventually shut down and the teens all eventually go on to lead successful lives, although they all still have painful memories from their time at Savior House, as well as a deadly secret.

When one of them is killed, and attempts are made on the lives of the other four, it leads the now-grown Savior House kids to have a reunion they never expected to have. It surely isn’t a coincidence that all of them have been targeted and they need to get to the bottom of who is after them after all these years and why.

I love a good twisty thriller so I really enjoyed how this novel was structured. The story unfolds primarily from the perspectives of Jenna, Nico, and Donnie, who were best friends while at Savior House. We follow each of them from the moment the attempt is made on their lives and get their perspective on everything as they try to piece together what is going on, first solo, and then as a team once they finally meet up. The story also alternates between past and present so that in addition to following these characters as they try to figure out who is after them, we also get flashbacks to when they were teens and therefore get a bird’s eye view of all of the horrors that took place at Savior House.

While I really enjoyed the story overall, I did have a couple of issues as I was reading, the first being that I didn’t particularly like any of the characters. I was definitely sympathetic to what they were going through and how terrifying it must have been, but that was the end of my connection to any of them. I also found myself preferring some of the perspectives over others, Jenna’s was much more interesting than the others so I found myself skimming through their chapters to hurry up and get back to hers. Overall, I enjoyed all three perspectives, but this did make for an uneven read for me. The skeptic in me also found all of their career choices to be somewhat farfetched – entertaining yes, believable not really.

Even with those few issues, I would still say I enjoyed my first Alex Finlay novel. I liked the suspenseful build up to the reveal and that the closer we got to the reveal, the wilder the ride became, and I definitely loved that the story kept me guessing until the final pages. If you like twisty reads filled with dark secrets from the past, you’ll want to check out What Have We Done. 3.5 STARS

Reviews: THE LOVE WAGER & THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF TANNER & LOUISE

March 13, 2023/9 Comments/by Suzanne

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and that Daylight Savings Time hasn’t thrown you too off kilter. Today I’m back with a couple of great new March releases from Berkley. I originally planned to post reviews for these later in the month, but I flew through them both so quickly that I just couldn’t wait any longer to share my love for them.

Reviews: THE LOVE WAGER & THE MOSTLY TRUE STORY OF TANNER & LOUISE

The Love Wager (Mr. Wrong Number, #2) Goodreads

Author: Lynn Painter

Publication Date: March 14, 2023

Publisher: Berkley

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

Lynn Painter is one of my go-to authors when I’m craving a hilarious and heartwarming read and her latest rom-com, The Love Wager, is all of that and more.

When the story opens, Hallie Piper is working at a wedding, tending bar. When Jack, the sexy best man, comes up to order a drink, Hallie hits it off with him, a little too well apparently, because they end up in a hotel room together. Hallie ends up belly-crawling out of the hotel room in a desperate attempt to avoid an awkward post- one night stand encounter, and she decides at that moment that it’s time to make some major life changes. She creates a profile on a popular dating app, hoping to meet her true love, and who does she see almost immediately as she’s scrolling for possible matches? Yep, you guessed it, Jack! Hallie messages him through the app, mainly just to mess with him, and the two of them end up actually becoming friends and actually putting a little friendly wager on which of them will find love first.

This story was just so much fun! Friends to lovers is a trope I enjoy anyway, but Painter really leveled it up when she added the one-night stand into the equation to make it more along the lines of a lovers to friends to lovers romance. Hallie and Jack were also both so likeable and had tremendous chemistry (no matter how many times they each tried to remind themselves that they were only platonic friends). I loved how they would set up their respective dates at the same place so that if things didn’t go well, they could give each other an out and escape to go get tacos together. The taco “not dates” were adorable and it was so much fun to watch these two clearly grow more and more attracted to each other, and more concerned for each other’s happiness and well-being, the more they hung out together. At one point, Hallie takes Jack to an event as her fake date and I was practically giddy watching the two of them interact because they had more chemistry than any of the real couples who were there. I was rooting so hard for them to see what I was seeing and just get on with it already, haha!

The Love Wager is a romance filled with heart and humor that has once again cemented Lynn Painter’s place on my list of auto-buy authors. 4.5 STARS

The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise Goodreads

Author: Colleen Oakley

Publication Date: March 28, 2023

Publisher: Berkley

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

The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley was a must-read for me because it contains two elements that I love and don’t come across often enough, an older protagonist and an unlikely friendship. Throw in a cross country road trip and this book was simply irresistible to me!

The older protagonist is Louise Wilt, a sassy octogenarian who, at her children’s insistence, finds herself in need of a full-time caregiver after falling and fracturing her hip. Louise hates being old, hates the way people treat her because she is old, and she has lots of other opinions that she isn’t afraid to share at any given moment. The irony is that while she doles out her honest opinion to anyone who will listen, it turns out she’s hiding a boatload of secrets and has lived a life wilder than anyone could possibly fathom. Oakley has created an incredibly rich, well drawn character with Louise and I really loved getting to know her and learning about her secrets and what motivated her to do what she does in this story.

Tanner is the other protagonist in the story and she’s a 21-year-old woman who has been forced to drop out of college because of a career-ending soccer injury that cost her a full-ride scholarship. Tanner feels like her life is over before it has even begun. She’s angry at the world and lashes out at her family to the point where they kick her out. Desperate for cash and a place to live, Tanner takes the caretaker job and moves in with Louise. Tanner is just as much a complicated character as Louise is, and it was interesting to peel back her layers and learn more about her as well.

My favorite part of the book was the unlikely friendship that develops between Tanner and Louise once they get past the initial awkwardness of a 21 year old and an 84 year old being roommates. An unexpected but urgent cross country road trip is actually the catalyst for their friendship to really blossom and it’s a wild ride. I don’t want to give anything away about the road trip, aside from to say that it’s directly tied to all those wild secrets Louise is keeping. What I will say about the road trip is that it really provides the opportunity for Tanner and Louise to bond. They have some moving heart-to-heart talks, and I loved that they were both able to learn from each other. The trip was a wonderful time to gain some perspective for each of them, particularly Tanner, so that she could forge a new path forward for herself.

With its sassy protagonists who shouldn’t be underestimated, unlikely friendships, epic road trip, and a mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end, The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise is a gem of a book that has a little something for everyone. 4.5 STARS

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Mothered & What Lies in the Woods

March 9, 2023/16 Comments/by Sharon

Hi everyone! Sharon here, back with another edition of Thriller Thursday. This week I am reviewing 2 awesome books. Zoje Stages’s, Mothered and Kate Alice Marshall’s, What Lies in the Woods. Zoje Stage is a must read author for me and Kate Alice Marshall is a new author to me. I was looking forward to reading both of these books and I am so happy that they both lived up to the expectations I had set.

Thriller Thursday Reviews: Mothered & What Lies in the Woods

Mothered Goodreads

Author: Zoje Stage

Publication Date: March 1, 2023

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

I fell in love with Zoje Stage when I read her first book Baby Teeth and I have loved everything she has written, so I was very excited to read her newest book Mothered and I have to say this one is my favorite so far.

Mothered takes place during Covid-19 and follows Grace, a hairdresser who bought her first house before Covid struck. Now that she is not working, due to businesses being shut down, Grace is finding it hard to pay her mortgage and other bills. When her recently widowed mother, Jackie, calls and asks if she can move in with Grace, Grace is apprehensive as she and her mother have a strained relationship, but Grace agrees since having her mother there will help Grace out financially. Not too long after her mother moves in, Grace starts having nightmares about her childhood and her twin sister who died when she was a teenager. These nightmares have Grace questioning what is real and what is not, and she starts to spiral into madness. When Jackie accuses Grace of an unthinkable act, Grace starts to question everything she thought she knew. The ghosts from her past and her mother cause Grace to spiral further into madness and the outcome will be deadly.

All I can say about this book is, WOW! Stage did an amazing job of creating a story that made me question what I was reading. When Grace started having her nightmares, she became such an unreliable character and I loved that. I was not sure what was true or made up in Grace’s mind. I also had a lot of sympathy for Grace as we learned about her childhood. Her twin sister had Cerebral Palsy and it was mostly Grace that took care of her. She loved her sister so much, even though her sister was not very nice at times. There were so many times I just wanted to give her a big hug.

What to say about Grace’s mother, Jackie? There were a few times I thought Grace was being a bit hard on her, but then she would go and do something, and I was like nope. LOL! Jackie clearly liked to cross boundaries, like rearranging things in the house, and when Grace’s best friend, Miguel, was able to come over, Jackie would tell embarrassing stories from when Grace was a child. So yeah, I had a love/hate relationship with her.

Mothered had my adrenaline on full speed with all of the twists and turns, as well as the claustrophobic atmosphere with being in lockdown during Covid-19. I had forgotten what it was like to not be able to leave the house and Zoje Stage did a great job of bringing all those memories back. Mothered was one of my most anticipated books of 2023 and I am happy to say it did not disappoint! 4 ½ stars

What Lies in the Woods Goodreads

Author: Kate Alice Marshall

Publication Date: January 17, 2023

Publisher: Flatiron Books

I have never read anything by Kate Alice Marshall, but when Goodreads suggested What Lies in the Woods as a book I would like, I decided to give it a read since it sounded right up my alley. And I am very happy to report that Goodreads was right, I loved this book.

Eleven-year-old Naomi and her 2 best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, loved to spend their summer roaming in the woods playing a game they made up called the Goddess Game. But one day Naomi was attacked and stabbed seventeen times. She miraculously survived and the testimony of all three girls put away a serial killer. They were considered heroes, but they were really liars. Twenty-two years later, the man they helped convict dies in prison. It should be a happy time for them, but the lies they told all those years ago start to unravel. Olivia wants to tell the truth and Naomi wants to find out the truth about what really happened in those woods. But telling and finding out the truth will have a very dangerous outcome.

I loved how broken and flawed Naomi, Olivia and Cassidy were. Their lives were never the same after that summer. Not only did Naomi have physical scars from the attack, but she also had emotional ones as well and rightly so. She was such a strong character. Naomi does not really remember the attack, and even though she identified her attacker, she is now starting to have doubts. As she starts to dig into what happened, she uncovers things that make her doubt everything she thought was the truth. I loved how determined she was in finding out the truth, even if doing so could potentially land her in jail.

During that summer the girls found some bones in a ditch hidden under a boulder. They never told anyone what they found and named these bones, Persephone, the Greek Goddess. Olivia has always had emotional problems, and the events of that summer just escalated them. Olivia figures out who the bones really belong to, and she wants to tell the authorities, but Naomi and Cassidy are against that. Olivia keeps pushing this issue, she has lived with this and the truth about that summer for too long and she just cannot take it anymore. But revealing the truth will put Olivia’s life in danger. I had such sympathy for Olivia. She was just so broken and I just wanted to give her a big hug.

Cassidy was probably the more stable of the girls, but boy did she have secrets. I never warmed up to Cassidy and I didn’t trust her.

I loved the dark creepy atmosphere of this book, as well as all the twist and turns. I thought I had things figured out and then a plot twist would happen to take me in another direction. The ending had me on the edge of my seat and my head spinning as things were revealed. I loved What Lies in the Woods and I definitely want to check out more books by Kate Alice Marshall. 4 stars

Reviews: A WITCH’S GUIDE TO FAKE DATING A DEMON & OFF THE MAP

March 6, 2023/27 Comments/by Suzanne

Hey everyone! I’m back today to share two reads that were both just so much fun. If you like witchy rom-coms and road trip books, you’re definitely going to want to check out both of these.

Reviews: A WITCH’S GUIDE TO FAKE DATING A DEMON & OFF THE MAP

A Witch's Guide to Fake Dating a Demon Goodreads

Author: Sarah Hawley

Publication Date: March 7, 2023

Publisher: Berkley

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

As a fan of all books with witchy vibes, I knew I had to read Sarah Hawley’s new romcom A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon. I mean, who can resist that fun title?! Well, I’m happy to report that the story itself is every bit as fun as the title and had me laughing out loud from start to finish.

The story follows Mariel Spark, a young witch who is prophesied to be the most powerful witch seen for centuries. There’s just one problem – Mariel is a train wreck when it comes to actually using her magic. If she tries to cast a spell, you’re going to want to duck and cover because it’s probably going to be a disaster. Mariel’s mother seems to thrive on pointing out what a failure and a disappointment she is, which only adds to Mariel’s frustration and makes her spell casting even worse. While Mariel’s spell mishaps are hilarious, Mariel is still a very sympathetic character because her mother is just the worst. It is during one of these spell mishaps that Mariel accidentally does something that will forever change her life – she summons a soul-bargaining demon, Ozroth the Ruthless.

Ozroth the Ruthless, as his name implies, is a legend in the demon world when it comes to bargaining for mortal souls. Only here’s the thing, Ozroth the Ruthless isn’t exactly ruthless anymore. He had a mishap of his own during a bargaining session with a warlock and now Ozroth has a mortal soul in his body. That soul has not only made it more difficult for him to trick mortals into giving him their souls, but it also makes him catch feelings easier, which has all but destroyed his reputation for being ruthless. When Ozroth lands in Mariel’s kitchen, he finds himself in quite a predicament. He can’t leave her side until he secures her soul, but since Mariel accidentally conjured him, she has zero interest in giving up her soul, which leaves them at a hilarious impasse.

This might be the most unique use of the forced proximity trope and I loved every page of it! The chemistry between Mariel and Ozroth was fantastic, even though neither one wanted to admit that they were starting to catch feelings for each other, and their banter as Ozroth tried and failed repeatedly to get Mariel to give him her soul had me just cackling away, as did their attempts to hide Ozroth’s demon identity, both with comical costumes and by pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend. As funny as they were together though, what actually captured my heart here was that they were each the main one who saw the other’s personal worth. Ozroth saw Mariel for so much more than a failed spell caster, while Mariel saw Ozroth as so much more than a failed soul bargainer. The connection that blossomed between them as they try to build each other up just warmed my heart and had me very invested in them finding a way to break this deal so that they could willingly be together.

I would recommend A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon to anyone who enjoys paranormal romances and anyone who loves their rom-coms to be heartwarming, a little steamy, and laugh out loud hilarious 4.5 STARS

Off the Map Goodreads

Author: Trish Doller

Publication Date: March 7, 2023

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin

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

I’m a sucker for a good road trip book so I was thrilled to learn that Trish Doller’s new novel Off the Map would feature a road trip across Ireland. As if that wasn’t irresistible enough on its own, I was sold as soon as I saw that cover with the couple sitting on top of an upside down SUV, literally promising me a wild ride!

Off the Map follows Carla Black, who has traveled from Florida to Ireland to attend her best friend’s wedding. Readers of Doller’s Beck Sisters series will recognize Carla’s best friend and her fiancé right away, Anna and Keane from Float Plan. Once Carla arrives in Dublin, the plan is for her to meet up with Keane’s brother Eamon, who will drive her across the country to the wedding destination. That plan goes a bit off the rails, however, when Carla and Eamon hit it off better than anyone else could have anticipated and their trip across the country takes quite an unexpected and possibly life changing turn.

Carla is a bit of a free spirit and has been traveling around the world on her own for the better part of a decade now. She returns to Florida to work just long enough to save up enough money to bulk up her travel funds and then heads out again. Carla doesn’t do relationships and she never goes home. What I love about Doller’s characters though is that they’re complicated and messy. It turns out that Carla doesn’t go home, not because she doesn’t want to, but rather because her beloved dad, who has dementia, has asked her not to. He wants her out there living her life to the fullest, not watching him slowly forget who she is over time. So she’s out there on her own, trying to keep her promise to him. I loved Carla’s free spirit, but it definitely broke my heart to learn the real reason behind her extensive traveling.

Eamon is just as complicated and equally as lovable as Carla. He is struggling because he feels like his life has just stalled out. He makes digital maps so other people can travel, but yet he has been nowhere himself. He is also tired of always being the responsible one in his family and really just wants to cut loose and go on an adventure. Meeting up with Carla turns out to be just the right person at the right time as she encourages him to throw caution to the wind and show her around Ireland rather than driving straight to meet his family.

I really adored this journey for both characters. There were of course lots of fun, shenanigans, and sexy, steamy moments to be had along the way, but the best part was the conversation. Carla and Eamon opened up to each other about their hopes, dreams, fears, and so much more. I enjoyed watching them grow close and I loved that they were each able to get some things off their chests that it seemed like they had been holding in for a long time.

Off the Map is the perfect read for anyone who enjoys humorous romantic adventure stories balanced with weightier, more emotional topics like dementia and loss. 4 STARS