Book Review / Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

 

Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it's now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They'll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other’s out, and they’ll both go on to find the love of their lives. It’s a bonkers idea… and it just might work.

Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected–including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?

Published:  2nd April 2024

Publisher:  Platkus

Goodreads :   Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Contemporary Romance

Pages:  432 pages, Paperback

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this novel.  This is the first story I have picked up from this author and it certainly won't be the last.  I found the writing style easy to read, which is what I was after with a contemporary romance.  I really wanted Justin to win in this book, and of course also Emma.  The fact that you have an unlikeable character in her mother and seeing her story play out as well along side was entertaining to say the least.   Read this in one sitting and don't regret it.  Would read it over and over again for sure!

Would I recommend... Absolutely.  Read it now!

Book Review/ Hello Girls by Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry

 

Best friends are forged by fire. For Winona Olsen and Lucille Pryce, that fire happened the night they met outside the police station—both deciding whether to turn their families in.

Winona has been starving for life in the seemingly perfect home that she shares with her seemingly perfect father, celebrity weatherman Stormy Olsen. No one knows that he locks the pantry door to control her eating and leaves bruises where no one can see them.

Lucille has been suffocating beneath the needs of her mother and her drug-dealing brother, wondering if there’s more out there for her than disappearing waitress tips and generations of barely getting by.

One harrowing night, Winona and Lucille realize they can’t wait until graduation to start their new lives. They need out. Now. All they need is three grand, fast. And really, a stolen convertible to take them from Michigan to Las Vegas can’t hurt.

Published:  6th August 2019

Publisher:  Katherine Tegen Books

Goodreads : Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Contemporary, Realistic Fiction and Coming of Age

Pages:  325 pages, Hardcover 

MY REVIEW

What I liked about this story...  This was a fun read.  Nothing complicated.   We follow Winona who has a complicated childhood with a very strict and controlling father who shows no signs of letting up even though she is ready to 'cut ties' and go off to college.  She wants to break free and takes her best friend Lucille along with her.  

What I didn't like with this story...  I just could not get invested in either the characters or the plot to be honest.  You also have two teenagers who decide to leave and, unrealistically, decide to steal and thieve to get the money and transport to carry on with their journey when, to me, it seems as though they have not done anything else wrong in their entire life.  

Would I recommend...  This was an ok fun read and one to read on face value and not delve too deeply into motivations...   

Waiting on Wednesday / Into the Storm by Cecelia Ahern

 

Waiting on Wednesday was a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog that I really enjoyed blogging about in the post, so I thought I would bring it back!  Below is this week's pick!

 

 

 

 Surviving the storm is only the beginning…It is a wild night in the middle of December, and GP Enya is crouched over a teenage boy, performing CPR in the freezing rain. She found him on a mountain road near Dublin, the victim of a hit-and-run.

The boy survives, but Enya goes to pieces. She leaves her husband, her son, and everything she knows to start a new life in remote rural Ireland.

But even in the quiet of Abbeydooley, beneath the boughs of an ancient tree, Enya is still haunted by that night in the rain. Can the stories of strangers and a land steeped in legend lay the ghosts of her past to rest? Or will the storm she's outrunning finally catch up with her?

 

Expected Publication:  24th October 2024

Publisher:   HarperCollins

Goodreads Link:   Click Here

Series or Stand Alone:   Stand Alone

Book Review / Middle of the Night by Riley Sager

 

In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.

The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?

The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed monsters roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.

The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present.

Published:  18th June 2024   

Publisher:  Hodder & Stoughton

Goodreads :   Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Mystery, Thriller, Suspense and Horror

Pages:  352 pages

MY REVIEW

What I liked about this story...  If it sounds right to say, I had such fun reading this novel.  The best part, by far, was the actual mystery.  What happened to Ethan's best friend, Billy.  So many scenarios ran through my mind and were even suggested throughout this novel, but the ending was one that I certainly didn't guess.  I loved the ending.  With this story there is a whole cast of characters with different points of view shown, which is not normally  what I get along well with in a novel, but I really enjoyed meeting all the characters and getting different viewpoints.  I felt that it added a lot of depth to the story and made me really want to root for certain characters.  

What I loved about this story...  I would have loved to have been surprised a lot more in this story.  I guessed most of it apart from the ending, to be honest.  

Would I recommend...  Absolutely.  This is a fun, entertaining, slow paced story that doesn't necessary have a lot of massive twists and turns but enough to make this fun.  

Book Review / Haunting Adeline & Hunting Adeline by HD Carlton (Cat and Mouse Series Duology)

This book was previously banned on Amazon due to the trigger warning. Please read many reviews or go to the author's website.

The Manipulator

I can manipulate the emotions of anyone who lets me.
I will make you hurt, make you cry, make you laugh and sigh.
But my words don't affect him. Especially not when I plead for him to leave.
He's always there, watching and waiting.
And I can never look away.
Not when I want him to come closer.


The Shadow

I didn't mean to fall in love.
But now that I have, I can't stay away.
I'm mesmerized by her smile, by her eyes, and the way she moves.
The way she undresses...
I'll keep watching and waiting. Until I can make her mine.
And once she is, I'll never let her go.
Not even when she begs me to.

Published:  12th August 2021 

Publisher:  Halley Carlton

Goodreads :  Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Dark, Thriller, Fantasy, Horror and Mystery

Pages:  583 pages (book 1) and 649 pages (book 2)

MY REVIEW

What I liked about this story...  Although the topics covered in this duology are very dark and hard hitting I just could not stop reading.  These books are definately an eye opener for many different reasons.  I'll be honest, I would not normally read books like these that are quite this spicy and not really reading much into these books before picking them up to read I didn't know what I was getting into, so there were a few scenes in the first book that I skipped over.

What I didn't like about this story...  More the first book than the second, but these were very uncomfortable reads due to the subject nature that were at times a bit too much for me to read.

Would I recommend...  I would go into this book with your eyes wide open to the sensitive subject matter which can be found in other reviews in the Goodreads link above or the author website here - https://hdcarlton.com/library/.  That aside, the thriller aspect of these books was really very good and addicting to read.  

 

Waiting on Wednesday / The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

 

Waiting on Wednesday was a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog that I really enjoyed blogging about in the post, so I thought I would bring it back!  Below is this week's pick!

 

 

The spellbinding new novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Girl on the Train.

An isolated Scottish island, accessible to the mainland only twelve hours a day. A famous (some might say infamous) artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared after visiting her twenty years ago. A present-day discovery that intimately connects three people and unveils a web of secrets and lies.

A masterful and propulsive novel that asks searing questions of ambition, power, gender and perception, The Blue Hour recalls the very best of Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith and cements Hawkins’s place among the very best of our most nuanced, powerful and stylish storytellers.

 

 

Expected Publication:  29th October 2024

Publisher:   Doubleday

Goodreads Link:   Click Here

Series or Stand Alone:   Stand Alone

Genres:   Mystery and Thriller

Book Review / One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware

 

Harkening to Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None, this high-tension and ingenious thriller follows five couples trapped on a storm-swept island as a killer stalks among them—from Ruth Ware, the New York Times bestselling author who “is turning out to be as ingenious and indefatigable as the Queen of Crime” (The Washington Post).

Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she’s pretty sure they won’t extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren’t going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, The Perfect Couple, she decides to try out with him. A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla find herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples—Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana—in order to win a cash prize.

But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real—and the stakes are life or death.

A fast-paced, spellbinding thriller rife with intrigue and characters that feel so true to life, this novel proves yet again that Ruth Ware is the queen of psychological suspense.

Published:       21st May 2024

Publisher:       Simon & Schuster UK

Goodreads :      Click Here  

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:          Bought

Genres:         Thriller, Mystery and Suspense

Pages:           416 pages, Hardcover 

MY REVIEW

What I liked about this story...  Notwithstanding what I say below, I did enjoy reading this novel.  What I liked the best was the characters.  There were some good, some bad and some plain awful.  They were all meant to be how they were meant to be and I liked to see how they all interacted and reacted to both each other and the situation.  

What I didn't like about this story...  There were really no surprises in this story for me.  I had pretty much guessed all of them.  I would have loved to have had a few surprises that I hadn't guessed, but that's not the case with this one.  Yes I did enjoy the writing and characters but the plot I didn't feel for quite so much.  

Would I recommend...  Honestly, if you were wanting to pick up a Ruth Ware I would go with a different novel of hers first so you get a feel for her writing and style so you can appreciate that in this novel.  

Waiting on Wednesday / Heir by Sabaa Tahir

 

Waiting on Wednesday was a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog that I really enjoyed blogging about in the post, so I thought I would bring it back!  Below is this week's pick!

 

 

 

 Prepare for the action-packed, ruthless, and romantic new fantasy from the #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award winning author Sabaa Tahir about love, legacy, and vengeance.

An orphan.
An outcast.
A prince.
And a killer who will bring an empire to its knees.

Growing up in the Kegari slums, AIZ has seen her share of suffering. An old tragedy fuels her need for vengeance, but it is love of her people that propels her. Until one hot-headed mistake lands her in an inescapable prison, where the embers of her wrath ignite.

Banished from her tribe for an unforgiveable crime, SIRSHA is a down-on-her-luck tracker who speaks to the earth, air, and water to trace her marks. Destitute, she agrees to hunt down a killer who has murdered children across the Empire. All she has to do is carry out the job and get paid. But then, she falls for a charismatic and inconvenient fugitive who keeps getting in her way.

QUIL is the crown prince of the Empire, nephew of a famed and venerated empress, but he’s loathe to pick up the mantle when his aunt steps down. As the son of the most hated emperor in the history of his people, he, better than anyone, understands that power corrupts. When a vicious new enemy threatens the survival of the Empire, Quil must ask himself if he can rise above his tragic lineage and be the heir his people need.

Beloved storyteller Sabaa Tahir masterfully interweaves the lives of three young people as they grapple with the burdens of power, the treachery of love and the devastating consequences of unchecked greed. Get ready for a dark and breathless journey that will captivate readers and that may cost these young people their lives―and their hearts. Literally.

 

Expected Publication:  1st October 2024 

Publisher:   Atom

Goodreads Link:   Click Here

Series or Stand Alone:   Heir Duology, Book 1

Genres:   Fantasy, Romance and Science Fiction

Book Review / Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

Secrets. Lies. Murder. Let the festivities begin...

It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests’ healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the “Manor Mule” cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something’s not right with the guests. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered.

THE FOUNDER * THE HUSBAND * THE MYSTERY GUEST * THE KITCHEN HELP

It all began with a secret, fifteen years ago. Now the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at… The Midnight Feast.

Published:  18th June 2024

Publisher:  HarperCollins

Goodreads :    Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Thriller, Mystery and Suspense 

Pages:  432 pages, Hardcover

MY REVIEW 

What I loved about this story...  I knew I had to pick this one up right after reading The Paris Apartment.  I just adore the way that this author's writing draws me in every time and just makes me addicted to the story right from the beginning.  This story was no different.   There were so many questions - What was the Secret?  What is the Manor?  What happened at the Manor? Is everyone who they say they are?  Now, I am not normally one who likes a story with a whole cast of characters, but this one felt different.  I found it easy to follow, remember and attempt to figure out what was going on.  Very creepy, I loved it!

Would I recommend... Absolutely!  If you haven't read a book by this author before, I would recommend starting with either this one or The Paris Apartment.  

Book Review / The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide…

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.

Published:  22nd February 2022 

Publisher:  William Morrow

Goodreads :  Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Mystery, Thriller and Suspense

Pages:  360 pages, Hardcover

MY REVIEW

What I liked about this story...  This has to be one of my favourites written by this author.  For me, this was one of those stories that just pulled me in and kept me there.   What on earth was going on and is everyone who they say they are?  What happened to Ben?  So many questions.  The fact that all the drama and the majority of the story takes place in one house I thought would not be as interesting as I found it to be, honestly.  I really enjoy this author's writing and the way that we get to see the story from the eyes of different characters so you get to feel more for different characters at certain points.  

What I didn't like about this story...  Although I did like the characters and seeing their viewpoints, there was quite a cast of characters in this and I did struggle at times to try and remember who was who.  

Would I recommend... A really fun and gripping thriller that I would highly recommend.  

 

Book Review / Funny Story by Emily Henry

 

A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex…right?

Published:  23rd April 2024 

Publisher:  Penguin

Goodreads :  Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Romance, Fiction and Contemporary

Pages:  395 pages, Kindle 

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this book...  I had such a fun time reading this book.  This was everything I was hoping for.  An easy summer read with romance and a bit of a laugh along the way also.  I felt so sorry for Daphne at the beginning of the story but the moment we follow her a she goes to live with Miles.  What seems to be two completely different characters actually understand each other a lot more than they thought they would.  

Would I recommend...  I most definitely would!  Such a fun read.

Waiting on Wednesday / Variation by Rebecca Yarros

 

Waiting on Wednesday was a weekly memo that is hosted by Breaking the Spine Blog that I really enjoyed blogging about in the post, so I thought I would bring it back!  Below is this week's pick!

 

 

 

 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fourth Wing comes a new contemporary romance about the summer a celebrated dancer returns home and unearths years of family secrets with the Coast Guard rescue swimmer she never forgot.

 

Expected Publication:  8th October 2024

Publisher:   Montlake

Goodreads Link:   Click Here

Series or Stand Alone:   Stand Alone

Genres:   Romance

Book Review / Camino Ghosts by John Grisham

 In this new thriller on Camino Island, popular bookseller Bruce Cable tells Mercer Mann an irresistible tale that might be her next novel. A giant resort developer is using its political muscle and deep pockets to claim ownership of a deserted island between Florida and Georgia. Only the last living inhabitant of the island, Lovely Jackson, stands in its way. What the developer doesn’t know is that the island has a remarkable history, and locals believe it is cursed…and the past is never the past…

Published:  28th May 2024

Publisher:  Doubleday

Goodreads :    Click Here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Thriller, Mystery and Legal Thriller

Pages:  304 pages, Hardcover 

MY REVIEW

What I loved about this story...  Read this novel in one sitting.  Could not put it down!  I loved being back on Camino Island revisiting a bundle of the usual residents and following a new story.  I really enjoyed the historical aspect of this story, learning more about the neighbouring deserted island and how it merged with the present day.

Would I recommend...  100% but to get the most of out this story I would recommend reading these Camino Island books in order.  

Book Review / One Moonlit Night by Rachel Hore

 Accept it, he is dead.

No, it’s not true.
It is. Everyone thinks so except you.

When the family home in London is bombed in the early 1940s, Maddie and her two young daughters take refuge in Norfolk, in the country house where Maddie’s husband Philip spent the summers of his childhood. But Philip is gone, believed to have been killed in action in northern France. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Maddie refuses to give up hope that she and Philip will some day be reunited.

Something happened at Knyghton one summer years before. Something unresolved, that involved Philip, his cousin Lyle and a mysterious young woman named Flora. Maddie’s curiosity, which turns to desperation to find out the truth, is shut down at every turn. No one will speak about it, and no one will reassure Maddie that Philip will ever return to Knyghton.

A beautifully rendered novel about loyalty and betrayal, hope and despair, a husband and wife separated by secrets as well as by distance, One Moonlit Night is the extraordinarily powerful new novel from the bestselling author Rachel Hore.

Published:  12th May 2022 

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster

Goodreads :   Click here

Series or Stand-Alone:  Stand-Alone

Source:  Bought

Genres:     Historical Fiction and Mystery

Pages:  480 pages, Kindle 

MY REVIEW 

What I liked about this story...  The best part of this story was most definitely the mystery that Maddie investigates once she returns to her husband's childhood home and lives with some members of his family.  There's more to her husband's past than she realises and I had great fun following Maddie as she finds out more.  Beautifully written and easy to read.  

Would I recommend...  Another great novel by this author which I would highly recommend.