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

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