Category: 4.5-Stars

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Book Review: Panther Gap by James A. McLaughlin 

Panther Gap
by James A. McLaughlin

 

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The thrilling follow-up to the Edgar Award–winning Bearskin, about two siblings on the verge of inheriting millions but who discover dark secrets in their family’s past.

Siblings Bowman and Summer were raised by their father and two uncles on a remote Colorado ranch. They react differently to his radical teachings and the confusion of adolescence. As young adults, they become estranged but are brought back together in their thirties by the prospect of an illegal and potentially dangerous inheritance from their grandfather. They must ultimately reconcile with each other and their past in order to defeat ruthless criminal forces trying to extort the inheritance.

Set in the rugged American West and populated by drug cartels, shadowy domestic terrorists, and nefarious business interests, Panther Gap shows James McLaughlin’s talents in full gorgeous environmental writing, a white-knuckle thriller plot, and characters dealing with legacy, identity, and their own place in the world.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He glanced at the fifth of Maker’s Mark propped up in the passenger seat, reached for it, had himself a snort. That’s how he described it to himself: a snort. It sounded vaguely cowboy, decidedly western. When he drank alone he sometimes entertained himself via self-mocking role-play.

The harsh malignance— the venom— in the man’s voice took Sam aback. This was worse somehow than the message. Live, he didn’t sound like an actor pretending to be a criminal in a movie, which was Sam’s only reference. He sounded like a person who habitually hurt other people, who liked doing it, whose life had been defined by his willingness and ability to hurt others. The vast majority of people weren’t like that. Certainly no one Sam had ever known was like that. He felt childish and naïve, stripped naked, even over the phone.

Sam’s butterflies had been slowly morphing into nauseous abdominal pit bulls…

Summer liked the museums. She said they were like funnels concentrating human endeavor and knowledge in one place where you could soak up a lot at once.

Darwin was unsure whether to believe him, didn’t want to believe him, but kind of did believe him and disliked the implications.

My Review:

 

This was a thoughtfully written and complicated tale with multiple timelines and multiple plotlines that slowly converged. The intense storylines were well populated with bizarre, oddly unique, complex, and well-textured characters that often weren’t all that likable yet tugged at my curiosity.

I was deeply invested and intrigued by the storytelling and deeply perceptive and absorbing writing style that slotted me into each scene, so much so that I often had the urge to bathe while the characters were camping for extended periods or living rough.

I was planning to give a 5-star rating until I came to the last chapter and an ending that has left me quite aggrieved. But I know I am rather ridiculous about such things.

 

About the Author

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James A. McLaughlin is the author of Bearskin, published by Ecco/HarperCollins in 2018, and winner of the 2019 Edgar Award for Best First Novel. In May 2018, McLaughlin was named one of 4 Writers to Watch This Summer by the New York Times. Bearskin has been included in Amazon’s Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2018 and Southern Living’s Best Southern Books of the Year 2018, was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, a July 2018 Indie Next pick, and a Publishers Weekly Summer Reads staff pick.

McLaughlin grew up in the mountains of Virginia and now lives in the mountains of Utah.

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Book Review: The Blame Game by Sandie Jones @realsandiejones @minotaurbooks

The Blame Game
by Sandie Jones

 

Amazon  / B&N  / GP / BB

In the vein of the Reese’s Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Club pick The Other Woman, Sandie Jones’s heart-pounding new novel The Blame Game will keep readers on the edge of their seats.
,

Games can be dangerous. But blame can be deadly.

As a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse, Naomi has found it hard to avoid becoming overly invested in her clients’ lives. But after helping Jacob make the decision to leave his wife, Naomi worries that she’s taken things too far. Then Jacob goes missing, and her files on him vanish. . . .

But as the police start asking questions about Jacob, Naomi’s own dark past emerges. And as the truth comes to light, it seems that it’s not just her clients who are in danger.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The thought of her being at the house when I’m not there sends me into a blind panic, even though I’ve got nothing to hide… Yet it still feels as if I’m a mouse with a cat clawing at my tail, holding me still before releasing me again.

 

My Review:

 

This was a fast-paced and tense thriller that kept me guessing, nibbling on my cuticles, and on edge from start to finish. I suspected everyone by the last chapter as not one in this oddly compelling mix of cagey characters seemed trustworthy.

The main protagonist of Naomi was deeply fractured and although she was well-meaning, she was also sketchy and kept digging her own grave with one annoyingly moronic decision after another. She quickly became a master at prevarication, although she was a lightweight when compared to her clients.

The cunningly crafted storylines prickled with angst and taut deception and tended to race across my kindle at an ever-increasing pace. I found myself picking up speed and reading faster and faster to keep up with the action, which may have singed the little pea in my brain as it rattled in overdrive while assimilating clues and building theories. I wasn’t able to remove my shoulders from my ears until the very last page. Sandie Jones is a devious minx.

 

About the Author

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Sandie Jones has been a freelance journalist for over 20 years, interviewing celebrities such as Justin Timberlake, Isla Fisher, Simon Cowell, and Naomie Harris.

Her debut novel, The Other Woman, is a psychological thriller about the destructive relationship between a woman and her partner’s mother.

If Sandie wasn’t an author she’d be an interior designer as she has an unhealthy obsession with wallpaper and cushions!

She lives in London, England, with her husband and three children.

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Book Review: Set on You by Amy Lea @amyleabooks

Set on You
by Amy Lea

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

A gym nemesis pushes a fitness influencer to the max in Amy Lea’s steamy debut romantic comedy.

Curvy fitness influencer Crystal Chen built her career shattering gym stereotypes and mostly ignoring the trolls. After her recent breakup, she has little stamina left for men, instead finding solace in the gym – her place of power and positivity.

Enter firefighter Scott Ritchie, the smug new gym patron who routinely steals her favorite squat rack. Sparks fly as these ultra-competitive foes battle for gym domination. But after a series of escalating jabs, the last thing they expect is to run into each other at their grandparents’ engagement party.

In the lead-up to their grandparents’ wedding, Crystal discovers there’s a soft heart under Scott’s muscled exterior. Bonding over family, fitness, and cheesy pick-up lines, she just might have found her swolemate. But when a photo of them goes viral, savage internet trolls put their budding relationship to the ultimate test of strength.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

At every opportunity, Dad warns me of the dangers of posting my whereabouts on Instagram, lest I be kidnapped and sold into sex slavery, Taken style. Except Dad is no Liam Neeson. He doesn’t have “special skills,” aside from his legendary sesame chicken recipe.

The window rack is close enough to the industrial-size fan to savor a stiff breeze mid-sweat, but not close enough to succumb to wind-induced hypothermia. It’s also in the prime position for gawking at the television, which, for unknown reasons, is cruelly locked to the Food Network. I worship this squat rack the way Mother Gothel regards Rapunzel’s magic hair. It gives me life. Vigor. Four sets of squats and I’ll be high on endorphins for at least a day, fantasizing about the strength of my thighs crushing the souls of a thousand men.

… he still pinches pennies, to the extreme. Tara and I even signed him up to be on TLC’s Extreme Cheapskates. When the producers called him and asked him to be on the show, he declined and refused to speak to us for five days.

His body is a work of art. It belongs in a Parisian museum, protected by velvet rope and an armored guard.

“Isn’t it funny, though? Grandma has a more active dating life than us.” She stares at the space on her finger where her massive princess-cut diamond used to sit. I’m half convinced one of the worst parts of her breakup was giving up the ring.

Even from an upward angle, the man is so hideously attractive, I’m convinced sorcery is at play.

 

My Review:

 

This was a fun read with endearing and quirky characters and a soul-pleasing message for those of us with a stacked rack. The storylines were engaging and jam-packed with sparkling humor and wry wit, as well as sprinklings of delectable bits of spice and scorching sensual scenes that had me seeking libation to rehydrate and calm my heart rate.

I waffled a bit on the star rating as while I enjoyed and savored the original and authentic cast and their engaging story threads and reveled in the effervescent jocularity, I could have done with less angst and far less gym workout details as I find repetitive inner conflict tedious and I am basically a slug and could care less how many torturous squats and vile exercises were completed. I confess to being inherently lazy and so far removed from the gym fitness culture that I needed to consult with Mr. Google for the definitions of swolemate and fitstagrammer.

However, when I rechecked my highlighted passages and favorite quotes I was again reminded of the cleverness of this perceptive scribe’s keenly overarching humor in her storytelling and incisive comical detailing, which balances out and overrules my petty complaints and personal pet peeves.

 

 

About the Author

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Amy Lea is an Asian-Canadian government analyst who runs the “Bookstagram” account @amyleabooks, where she promotes and reviews contemporary romance novels. Set on You is her debut novel.

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Book Review: The Magic of Found Objects by Maddie Dawson @maddiedawson1 @TLCBookTours

 

The Magic of Found Objects
by Maddie Dawson

Amazon  / B&N /  BB 

Paperback: 365 Pages

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (August 1, 2021)

From the bestselling author of Matchmaking for Beginners comes a feel-good story about becoming who you were meant to be all along.

Phronsie Linnelle was conceived at Woodstock in a serendipitous liaison between a free-spirited hippie and a farmer’s son and was born with magical wonder flickering in her DNA and rationality knit into her bones. All her life she’s been torn between the two. But now that she’s been betrayed by both love and the mother she once idolized, her rational side is winning.

So when her best friend from childhood proposes that they give up on romance and marry each other, Phronsie agrees. Who better to spend your life with than your best friend? Maybe the connection they already have is love. Maybe there’s no falling to be done. But immediately after they announce their engagement, she encounters someone who makes a very charming and compelling argument for revisiting romance.

While her even-keeled stepmother argues for the safety that comes with her new engagement and her mother relays messages from the universe to hold out for true love, Phronsie must look to her own heart to find the answers that have been there all along.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

 “I made a little temporary engagement ring for you out of a twist tie I had.” He reaches into his sweatpants pocket and pulls out a piece of wire covered with peppermint-striped paper, all knotted up into a circle, and hands it to me. “The good thing about this kind of ring is that it’s adjustable. And replaceable.” He gives me a big smile. “You could get a new one from me every week.”

 

So to tell you the real truth, I’m actually hiding out here. My apartment is about the size of a hamster cage, and I have this roommate who rehearses operatic duets in the bathroom with his girlfriend. Something about tile providing the best acoustics.

 

You can leave us if you want to, but think about whether you might do it kindly… don’t think you have to set fire to what’s behind you in order to go… Just take your place in the world with as much grace and gratitude as you can muster and try to see the best in us.

 

I’m sorry— but those boobs, Judd! The way she pokes them out at every opportunity. I think they have their own zip code. At the very least, they should be registered with the state.

 

You’re looking well, by the way. Unchanged in a Dorian Gray kind of way.

 

 My Review:

 

These are the types of unusual characters and original storylines that keep me interested, curious, and entertained yet twist me up inside and make me itchy and unable to determine if I liked it or loved it until I peruse through my highlighted passages. The writing was superb, engaging, and pulled sharp visuals to my mind’s eye.  Ms. Dawson’s style is also easy to follow, engaging, and cleverly amusing as well as emotive, insightful, and often disconcerting as I wanted more for the characters than what is happening for them on the page.

Phronsie’s was a train wreck of a family and it didn’t need to be, but then again, no family does. They were making each other miserable while saying and believing that what they were doing was for the best, and it kind of was and really wasn’t. Thankfully, there were generous servings of amusing wit and humorous observations and inner musings to lighten the tone and even out the balance of a lifetime of familial tension and hostility. Phronsie was not always likable but I was rooting for her, even when I wanted to give her a whack or two with my Kindle.  I had faith this crafty scribbler would get her there but she certainly kept me hanging until the last few pages with an eruption of pleasant and shrewdly paced twists.

About the Author

Maddie Dawson grew up in the South, born into a family of outrageous storytellers. Her various careers as a substitute English teacher, department-store clerk, medical-records typist, waitress, cat sitter, wedding-invitation-company receptionist, nanny, daycare worker, electrocardiogram technician, and Taco Bell taco maker were made bearable by thinking up stories as she worked. Today Maddie lives in Guilford, Connecticut, with her husband. She’s the bestselling author of six previous novels: Matchmaking for Beginners, The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness, The Opposite of Maybe, The Stuff That Never Happened, Kissing Games of the World, and A Piece of Normal.

Connect with Maddie

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Book Review: The Street Party by  Claire Seeber @claireseeber @Bookouture

 

The Street Party     
by  Claire Seeber

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The party was supposed to be the highlight of the summer. If only I’d known that night would destroy our lives…

All the neighbors were laughing, drinking out of plastic glasses, and getting along. I almost felt happy. Almost forgot about the terrible argument earlier and the sinister messages I’d been receiving from a strange address all week, threatening to expose the lies behind my perfect life.

As we finished with the red and gold fireworks and welcomed everyone back to our house, I believed that everything would be okay.

But I didn’t know who I was inviting in.

I never could have imagined what would happen here, in our home, after I’d gone up to bed.

Everyone saw something different.

It’s my daughter’s word against the story the boy from down the road is telling. But how can I find out what really happened that night without everyone finding out the truth about me?

An absolutely gripping story of the secrets you would do anything to keep hidden, with a twist you just won’t see coming. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl, Big Little Lies, and The Girl on the Train.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

‘Education is the key to all success, after all.’ ‘I thought that was inherited wealth and liposuction.’

 

I listened to a radio interview with the lead psychiatrist from Broadmoor Prison. ‘I’d rather work with a psychopathic murderer than counsel a couple in crisis,’ she joked. ‘It’s easier.’ But I found I wasn’t laughing. Laughing was getting harder these days for some reason.

 

The realisation hit me between my eyes, like a baton coming down. Like a fist. I had a picture in my mind, then, of all the women who ended up killing their husbands, who took a kitchen knife, who didn’t even know they had made that fatal thrust, who killed through hatred and sorrow, warped by a love laced with fear, a love that knew no other place to go – and then I knew. I knew I was capable of killing him too.

 

… word to the wise: if your small boy comes home boasting of learning about his Balzac, don’t be fooled into thinking he means the French writer, as I was, when in fact he means his own ball-sack. Pride so often comes before a fall.

My Review:

 

This is a unique hybrid of women’s fiction, suspense, and family drama. This was an oddly enticing book that kept my curiosity at the brain itching level with fret-inducing and tangled storylines while cast with obnoxious characters that continually annoyed and disappointed me, yet I had to know how their knotty issues would unravel.   I was hopelessly hooked, ensnared, and unable to resist Ms. Seeber’s fiendishly clever plotting with strategic lashings of caustic wit and cunning insights. This was my first sojourn with Ms. Seeber and I plan to be a frequent flier from now on.

 

About the Author

Claire Seeber is a Londoner who started her professional life as a (bad) actress and became a documentary maker, a journalist, and a writer of, so far, psychological thrillers. The Observer said of her first novel: ‘a disturbing debut’ whilst The Guardian called it ‘powerful’…she keeps writing whilst also studying psychology and (trying to) to manage a home of slightly feral kids and animals. Luckily she’s got a very nice partner to help too.

Author Social Media Links:

 Twitter:  https://twitter.com/claireseeber

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/ClaireSeeberAuthor  

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Book Review:  THE HIDING PLACE (Detective Morgan Brookes #3) by Helen Phifer @helenphifer1 @Bookouture

 THE HIDING PLACE   
(Detective Morgan Brookes #3)
by Helen Phifer

Publication Day: June 1, 2021

The little girl peered down the dark alleyway. She knew she wasn’t supposed to take this shortcut and her mother would kill her if she found out, but it was raining and all she wanted was to get home quickly. She stepped forward, not seeing the silent figure following her into the dark passageway…

When nine-year-old Charlotte Standish goes missing from her street in the small town of Rydale Falls, it sparks a media frenzy. Detective Morgan Brookes leads a frantic hunt for the girl, but little Charlie seems to have vanished into thin air.

Chasing up a lead at Charlie’s school, Morgan is chilled to learn that this isn’t the first time a child has gone missing on this street. Another girl disappeared fifteen years ago, and Morgan is the only one who thinks the cases could be related. But in the moment that she takes her eye off Charlie’s case to investigate the link between the two girls, another child, Macy, goes missing.

Then Morgan gets the call she was dreading, Charlie’s lifeless body has been found in a local park, lying in the shadow of a large tree. Morgan has let one girl down, but she refuses to give up on Macy. Determined to find an overlooked clue, she retraces Macy’s last steps. She’s getting close to the truth when her partner, Detective Ben Matthews, is attacked outside Morgan’s home. Is a twisted killer isolating Morgan from her team? And how long does Macy have left to live? Morgan must solve the case before more innocent lives are taken…

A nail-biting, unputdownable crime thriller that will keep you up all night, for fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott, and Patricia Gibney.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

It’s always the dog walkers; we wouldn’t find most of our missing persons or dead bodies if it wasn’t for them. Poor bastards, imagine coming home from work to take Scamp out for his teatime poopsie and you find a dead girl under a tree. It’s enough to put you off ever walking the bloody dog again.

He paused in the hallway to take in the mess. ‘Blimey, Morgan, this looks like a violent crime scene, your cooking isn’t that bad.’

 

… whatever you do you better not leave the house without a balaclava on, you look monstrous.

 

My Review:

 

Morgan Brookes continues to be a lightning rod for trouble and I enjoy her out-of-the-box methods and good heart. This installment was nonstop activity on both the personal and professional fronts with new relationships stirring pangs of jealousy, speculation, and gossip among her coworkers.   The storylines were engaging and rippling with tension, occasional hits of wry humor, and curiosity-prickling observations, yet a dearth of solid clues. This intriguing and absorbing series has been my introduction to the expertise of Helen Phifer’s crafty scribblings, and I am annoyed at myself for being so late to the party. I have a lot of catching up to do.

 

About the Author

Helen Phifer is the #1 Bestselling crime and horror novelist of the Annie Graham, Lucy Harwin, and Beth Adams series. Helen lives in a small town in Cumbria. Surrounded by miles of coastline and only a short drive from the beautiful Lake District. She has always loved writing and reading since the days she learned how to in infant school. She loves reading books that make the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and make her afraid to g.o to the toilet, alone in the middle of the night. She is eternally grateful to Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Herbert, and Graham Masterton for scaring her senseless in her teenage years. Unable to find enough of the scary stories she loves to read, she decided to write her own.

Author Social Media Links:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Helenphifer1

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/helenphifer

Twitter:      https://twitter.com/helenphifer1

Website:     https://www.helenphifer.com

 

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Book Review: Not My Mother by Miranda Smith @MSmithBooks @Bookouture 

Not My Mother
by Miranda Smith

 

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What if the person you trust most in the world is lying to you?

I’d heard of the Baby Caroline case, of course. When a baby is snatched from her mother’s arms, the whole country knows about it. I knew about the parents left lying by the swimming pool, the open window in the nursery. But I never dreamed it had anything to do with me.

Today, my beautiful daughter turned one. We were unwrapping gifts and blowing out candles when the knock came at the door, and they took my mother away.

The police say she’s not really my mother. That she stole me, thirty years ago.

When I visit her, desperate for answers, she looks me in the eye, and says nothing. I can barely breathe. Is my whole life a lie?

I have to find out, but the more I learn, the more scared I become. And soon I start to wonder, am I losing my grip on reality, or is my own daughter in terrible danger?

An absolutely gripping psychological thriller, perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, Ruth Ware, and Lisa Jewell.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Being a screw-up is genetic, I think. It is as hereditary as any other trait. I come from a long line of screw-ups, and although I was able to persevere, I had my missteps.

 

For a moment, Mom appears younger, like she is reverting to her prime, leaving behind the frail woman in her bed fighting to heal. Memories are an elixir in their own way, relieving the hardness of time, transporting a person back to a place, to see that familiar face, inhale that familiar smell.

My Review:

 

This was a tense one with a smartly conceived plot, family drama, and clever sleight of hand tricks woven into unpredictable storylines that easily lead me astray and tended to unfold ever so slowly with shrewd misdirections and red herrings. Miranda Smith is a wily and cunning trickster and I was totally hoodwinked and fell for her crafty deceptions. I feel like such a rube.

About the Author

Miranda Smith writes psychological and domestic suspense. She is drawn to stories about ordinary people in extraordinary situations. Before completing her first novel, she worked as a newspaper staff writer and a secondary English teacher. She lives in East Tennessee with her husband and three young children.

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Book Review: Hell and High Water (Maeve Malloy Mystery #3) by Keenan Powell @KeenanPowell6 @TLCBookTours @levelbestbooks

Hell and High Water
(Maeve Malloy Mystery #3)
by Keenan Powell

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound  | Apple

 

Alaskan attorney Maeve Malloy isn’t sure she’s cut out to be a lawyer. All she wants is to be treated like everyone else. Hiding her past, she takes a kitchen job at a remote lodge while she sorts out her life. The day after she lands at Fox Island, a tourist is killed and a rampaging bear has trapped her and the lodge’s guests inside.

The local cops can’t get to the lodge because of a storm so they ask Maeve for help. Her cover is blown and she’s thrown back into investigating the who, why, and wherefore of the murder before a killer among them can strike again.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

His shaggy eyebrows lifted briefly, came together, wiggled, and then settled back down. They looked like caterpillars trying to escape.

 

Mother Superior used to say if you connected the dots on Maeve’s face, they’d spell “Erin Go Bragh.”

 

She surveyed the room. One narcissistic tourist with an inebriated husband, a couple of nuns, a crazy old biker chick, a New Age woman, also drunk, her pot-smoking husband, and an awkward botanist. No one normal. Just her luck.

 

He didn’t trust nuns. What a strange Catholic thing, women cutting off their hair, giving up sex, wearing ugly clothes. He’d seen them in flocks back in Chicago and never thought he’d have one in his home, much less as an in-law. Back when he hooked up with Bernie, Iggy wasn’t a nun, she was a cop. He wasn’t sure which was worse.

 

Nothing he fixed worked right afterward. He didn’t talk much. At first, Roger wondered if that was because he was stoned all the time; lately, he’d suspected it was because Lester knew he was an idiot and didn’t want anyone noticing.

My Review:

 

Slowly unwinding, perceptively written, and shrewdly paced – this tautly written mystery held my attention and kept me on edge and guessing throughout perusal. Packed with a bracingly odd assortment of alcoholic personalities, mostly within one extended family unit, the fatally faulty characters’ development was brutally and insightfully observant and occasionally amusing in their descriptions.   These were not people most of us would invite into our homes for an enjoyable dinner party, or really, for any sane reason.

Hidden glints of levity were cleverly and unexpectedly sprinkled in to balance out the constant familial tension as well as the diabolical and heinous nature of the background issues. The histories of crimes were handled sensitively and thoughtfully despite being dishearteningly realistic and wretchedly relevant to the world we live in.   This was my introduction to Ms. Keenan Powell and her uniquely flawed yet keenly intelligent, Mauve Malloy, Alaskan based J.D. Esquire. And while this is the third in the series and although I’m sure I would also enjoy reading the first two books and would have possibly gotten a bit more out of the tale if I had, this installment has the strong legs of a mogul skier and can easily stand on its own.

About the Author

Keenan Powell is the award-nominated author of the Maeve Malloy Mystery series. Her first publication was illustrations in Dungeons and Dragons, 1st edition, while in high school.

Art seemed to be an impractical pursuit – she wasn’t an heiress, didn’t have the disposition to marry well, and hated teaching – so she went to law school instead. The day after graduation, she moved to Alaska, where she continues to practice law.

In 2009, there was a string of homeless deaths which the Alaska Medical Examiner had ruled were the result of natural causes. While attending a legal seminar, she learned of a little-known law that permits the medical examiner to declare death by natural causes without performing an autopsy. These deaths and that loophole inspired her to write Deadly Solution.

She won the William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic grant which led to a three-book deal with Level Best Books. Deadly Solution was published in January of 2018 and was nominated for a Lefty, Agatha, and Silver Falchion.

When not writing or practicing law, Keenan can be found connecting with readers on social media, chatting with fellow mystery authors in the Bouchercon and Crime Bake community, oil painting, or studying the Irish language.

Find out more about Keenan at her website, and connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

 

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Book Review: Imagine With Me by Kristen Proby @Handbagjunkie

Imagine With Me by Kristen Proby is now live! 

From New York Times Bestselling author Kristen Proby comes an all new novel in her beloved With Me In Seattle series! Shawn O’Callaghan loves his job as a screenwriter almost as much as he loves his family. But this latest project could quite possibly test his patience beyond anything he’s ever had to endure. Generally unflappable, the author he’s thrown into the trenches with pushes every button he has. Sometimes twice. And it doesn’t help that he can’t stop thinking about her in ways that are anything but professional. But how can he help it? The brunette is gorgeous beyond reason–and utterly infuriating.

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Bestselling author Lexi Perry is finally about to leave her mark on the world; after all, seeing her dark and dangerous words brought to life is a dream come true. Until she meets the man who is supposed to make that happen. From the minute they laid eyes on each other, it was clear there would be tension, but she had no idea how much until they got down to business. He obviously doesn’t understand her vision. Though she’s having trouble lately too, given all she can picture is what he looks like under his clothes and imagining what it would sound like if he talked dirty to her in that sexy Irish lilt of his. If they can find a way to meet in the middle, this movie could be one for the ages. As could their love.

  Download today on Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Apple!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/309fHem

Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/ImagineWithMeKP

Apple: https://apple.co/36Gk7vi

Nook: https://bit.ly/2ZN1Lag

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3ev39Te

Audible: https://amzn.to/2RZ2j7X

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2ZNfKx2

 

My Rating:

My Review:

 

I discovered this author just recently and haven’t read most of her series, but I have greatly enjoyed the ones that I have picked up. Each can stand alone yet the infinitely likable and highly appealing characters and their storylines appear and carry over in most of the installments. Written in my favorite dual POV, the storylines were engaging, easy to follow, low in angst, and sizzled with adult sensuality. I adored the featured couple of Shawn and Lexi, they scorched the sheets and undoubtedly, the ceiling tiles as well.
 
 

Excerpt

“What do you do, Lexi?”

“I’m a writer.”

Archer lifts a brow and turns to the man next to him. “Oh? Shawn’s also a writer. What do you write?”

“Novels,” I say and turn to the screenwriter, but he holds up a hand, stopping me.

“I’m not here to entertain any new projects tonight,” Shawn says, immediately cutting me off.

He thinks I’m trying to network with him? To get him to read something I’ve written and further my career?

Well, screw him.

My face goes from friendly to cold in a heartbeat. Luke sighs.

This is a fantastic way to start this working relationship.

“That’s convenient,” I say, ice dripping from every damn word. “I’m not here to pitch a project to you, Mr. O’Callaghan. I know who you are, but it’s not terribly important to me. I do fine all on my own. Have a good night, gentlemen.”

I give a curt nod and turn away, my heels clicking on the hardwood floor as I make a hasty retreat.

I want to get out of here.

The audacity! What a jerk. I was already nervous about being here. Now, I get the disappointment of knowing I have to work with a conceited ass who’s clearly completely full of himself.

“Lexi.”

I don’t turn around.

“Lexi.”

A hand lightly latches on to my elbow, and I turn to find Shawn staring down at me, his mouth set in a grim line.

“I owe you an apology. I didn’t know you were Nora, the author I’ll be working with over the next few weeks.”

“If you’d known, you would have been polite?”

He winces. “Again, I apologize. It’s been a shit day, and I was trying to avoid work talk. Not my finest moment.”

“No.” I glance down at the elbow he’s still holding hostage. He lets go. “It wasn’t. Have a good evening, Mr. O’Callaghan. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Lexi—”

But I don’t turn back. I know I’ll have cooled down by the time I see Shawn again. I won’t be embarrassed. My feet won’t be killing me.

For now, I want to hide.

I’m so far out of my comfort zone, I couldn’t find it with a map.

Meet Kristen

Kristen Proby has published more than forty titles, many of which have hit the USA Today, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists. She continues to self publish, best known for her With Me In Seattle and Boudreaux series and is also proud to work with William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins, with the Fusion and Romancing Manhattan Series. Kristen and her husband, John, make their home in her hometown of Whitefish, Montana with their two cats.

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Website: https://www.kristenprobyauthor.com/

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Book Review: The Faithfuls (The Sisterhood Series) by Cecilia Lyra  @ceciliaclyra @bookouture

The Faithfuls
(The Sisterhood Series)
by Cecilia Lyra 

Amazon  /B&N / GP/ Apple / Kobo

A summer house in the Hamptons doesn’t always buy happiness, as one woman is about to find out…

For fifteen glorious years, Gina Dewar has been married to her college sweetheart Bobby. Years in which she has lived in the small company town of Alma, New York, lovingly raised their son Calan, been secretary of the Alma Social Club, and tried not to think too often of the family she said goodbye to when she became a Dewar.

But then Bobby is publicly accused of having an affair, and Gina’s life changes overnight overwhelmed with scandal, speculation, and the agony of uncertainty.

Gina’s sister-in-law Alice is her polar opposite, she has never appreciated the traditional values of Alma or tried to fit in with its quaint neighborliness. But in these devastating circumstances, could she be the one person who can help Gina piece her life back together?

After Gina makes the decision to trust Bobby, who has claimed his innocence all along, she hopes her family can move forward. But then she hears the rumor that his supposed mistress is pregnant and she is shaken to the core. With Alice’s unexpected support, Gina must face up to the secrets within her marriage, and do whatever she can to protect the people she loves…

A moving, emotionally gripping novel about family secrets and the unbreakable strength of female friendship. A stunning new read for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Dorothea Benton Frank, and Nancy Thayer.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

… when Alice met Gina, she had been utterly unprepared for her new sister-in-law’s chirpy disposition and never-ending energy. Gina had seemed like the type of person who only existed in cartoons, carrying herself in a way that makes one envisage woodland animals talking to her.

 

There’s no word for what they are, and even if there was, Gina wouldn’t want to use it. She prefers her situation to remain nameless. Nameless things aren’t real.

 

Lies. The things we tell to protect the ones we love. To give us a fighting chance in an unpredictable world. To allow us to start over.

 

My Review:

 

This family had created and lived in quite an entangled, torn, and mangled web of deceit, power, love, privilege, familial bonds, and avarice. There were numerous betrayals, infidelities, scandals, and everybody lied.   And I mean e-v-e-r-y-b-o-d-y!   Even the Mormon lady, who was holding on to one of the biggest whoppers of all. And when I say lies, I don’t mean little white lies, omissions, misrepresentations, or even the current occupant’s self-aggrandizing “Alternative Facts.” I’m talking black-hearted and treacherous deceptions.

I fell right into this juicy and complex tale of family drama with no hesitation or struggle despite not having read the first in the series, although the characters from the initial book only briefly carried over in passing. The plot was multi-layered and tightly wound with considerable second-guessing, intrigue, and compelling and untrustworthy characters. But which liar is currently lying and which one isn’t this time? The gossip was rabid and even worse the actual events. Ah, small town living, I remember it well – and not at all fondly.

About the Author

Cecilia is an author with a reading addiction — a serious one. She is a lover of wine and all things chocolate, and the proud mother of Babaganoush, an English Bulldog. She is also a recovering lawyer but asks that you do not hold that against her.
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