Book Review: The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan  @katefagan3 @AtriaBooks  

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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo meets First Lie Wins in this electric, voice-driven debut novel about an elusive bestselling author who decides to finally confess her true identity after years of hiding from her past.

Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now.

As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she’ll be a whole person again.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Sidney is not someone I want as an enemy. Or, really, as a friend. No relationship at all was my preference.

Apparently, he’d wanted to make her an honest woman (eye roll), but then a few months after I was born decided he didn’t want honesty that bad.

“You know what I love about you?” “Do tell,” said the other, solicitously. “It’s like . . . ummm . . . how do I explain this? It’s like you hold me steady, but without holding me still.”

…our relationship always felt like such a tenuous thing. Aside from storytelling, Cass’s greatest gift seemed to be absence— that she could easily vacate her physical body. She was almost always somewhere else, and I had started to take it as a personal affront.

I’ve never let myself fully relive this memory before. It’s always been front and center but cordoned off behind yellow caution tape. No doubt my brain’s way of protecting me from feeling as I do right now, which is like a bomb of regret has exploded all over me and no amount of scrubbing could ever remove the stain

She wasn’t above such tactics— no one who succeeds in politics is. We’d both gotten our hands dirty over the years, and likely would again, but also, we donated monthly to six different nonprofits and sat on the board of three others— morality is a delicate ecosystem.

My Review:

 

Agnst, twists, heartbreak, clever snark, and profoundly insightful musings and observations permeated every page of this keenly and perceptively penned tome.  There was a heaping helping of angst and far more than I knew what to do with, as profound insecurity and anxiety are not my jam, but were an integral part of the main character’s personal journey.  This was my first experience reading Ms. Fagan’s clever arrangements of words, which alternated between squeezing my heart and putting a smirk on my face.

 

About the Author

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Kate Fagan is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of What Made Maddy Run, which was a semi-finalist for the PEN/ESPN Award for literary sports writing. She is also the author of three additional nonfiction titles, a former professional basketball player, and spent seven years as a journalist at ESPN. Kate currently lives in Charleston with her wife, Kathryn Budig, and their dog, Ragnar.

Book Review: Night of a Thousand Darlas by Brooke Abrams @aka.brooke.abrams @lakeunionpublishing

Night of a Thousand Darlas
by Brooke Abrams

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From the author of Penelope in Retrograde comes the sparkling story of three generations of women, each trying to live out their own dreams without breaking a leg in the process.

Liza Day’s mother isn’t dead, but leave it to Darla Day to throw herself a funeral anyway. It’s the kind of attention grab Liza left behind to build a quiet life for herself and rebellious teenage daughter, Avery. But between her students discovering her old daytime TV show and putting her teaching job at risk to her mother’s unexpected funeral invitation, Liza’s life feels truly like a soap opera.

When Liza returns to her family’s historic Day Ranch for her mother’s premature farewell, she’s not sure what to expect. Darla’s always been known for eccentricities, both on-screen and off-screen. Thankfully, Liza has her siblings to help navigate Mom’s antics, which include everyone dressing as one of Darla’s many iconic film characters, a harem of white rabbits, and one surprise Liza’s former costar and Avery’s father, Scotty.

The more time Liza and Avery spend on the ranch, the more Liza realizes that it might be time to trade in the scripted life she thought she wanted, for a leading role in the family she’s always needed.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

If there’s one common language between high school teacher and student, it’s sarcasm.

Mom places a hand to her forehead and crouches down low like she’s the Golden Girls version of Dora the Explorer.

But being close to Scotty, whether we’re holding hands or cuddled up together on a couch watching a movie, is like being wrapped up in warm sheets fresh from the dryer. I never want the feeling to end.

He leans over my shoulder to look at the tray and makes a face. “I don’t think we can call this cooking. It looks more like foraging. Feral cat foraging in a dumpster, to be exact.”

He doesn’t let go until I do. He never does. There’s something special about people who hug you as long as you need it.

My Review:

 

I adored this, I enjoy clever snark and this well-crafted tale delivered in spades. The writing was engaging, witty, perceptive, giggle-snort worthy, heart-squeezing, and often all on the same page.

 

Brooke Abrams lives in the Sonoran Desert with her husband, three children, three dogs, and a cat. She’s quite literally never alone. Not even now.

 

Book Review: The Cream Tea Killer (The Morwenna Mutton Mysteries Book 3) by Judy Leigh @judyrleigh   @theboldbookclub

The Cream Tea Killer
(The Morwenna Mutton Mysteries Book 3)
by Judy Leigh

 

 

 

Morwenna Mutton should be living the quiet life of a librarian and grandmother in Cornwall’s beautiful Seal Bay – if only dead bodies would stop turning up…

After the excitement of her last investigation, amateur sleuth Morwenna is looking forward to things getting back to normal. When local DJ Irina asks to meet however, desperate to share information she has discovered regarding nefarious goings-on, Morwenna can’t resist.

But Irina never arrives for their drink – instead her body is washed up on the beach, an apparent victim of an accidental drowning. At once keen wild bather Morwenna knows something is amiss as Irina was a strong swimmer who knew the local conditions well. What had Irina uncovered and who would want her dead?

When the local news dubs Irina’s murderer The Cream Tea Killer in honour of Cornwall’s famous delicacy, the clock starts ticking. Now the murderer knows Morwenna is on their trail, no one in her family is safe. She must get to the truth before the killer gets to her…

If you love The Thursday Murder Club, Agatha Christie and Richard Coles then you’ll love The Morwenna Mutton mysteries.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Elowen had hugged her and told her that Billy Crocker had told everyone in the class that her grandmother had found a ‘horrible drownded woman’ on the beach and Elowen had retorted that Billy was the reason God created the middle finger. The conversation had occurred during a lesson on religion and about how blessed the peacemakers were, so Miss Parker had not been best pleased.

Elowen declared she needed toys and clothes for her sleepover, despite Lamorna saying that in her day all she’d take to a friend’s was a pair of pyjamas and a toothbrush and if it was a male friend, she wouldn’t take the pyjamas. Tamsin shot her grandmother a look; Elowen didn’t need leading astray– she was already a handful.

‘It hurt my feelings and I felt like thunder and lightning inside.’ Morwenna took Elowen’s hand. ‘We all feel like that sometimes.’ ‘So I hit him in the face. It wasn’t just me. The thunderstorm in my heart did it really.’

I know that guilty face. Ever since you were a kid and peed in your toy box.

My Review:

 

Judy Leigh is a guaranteed fun read. She never fails to entertain and amuse me with her quirky, authentic, and entirely knowable characters. I am enjoying this new cozy series, the murders are well-contrived and unpredictable, and keep the little pea in my brain pinging.

 

About the Author

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Judy Leigh is the bestselling author of Five French Hens, A Grand Old Time, and The Age of Misadventure, and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.

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Book Review: Bloodshed on the Boards (Morwenna Mutton Mystery #2) by Judy Leigh @judyrleigh @theboldbookclub

Bloodshed on the Boards
(Morwenna Mutton Mystery #2)
by Judy Leigh

 

 

There is excitement in the air as the traveling theatre arrives in Seal Bay. When The Spriggan Travelling Theatre Company arrives in Seal Bay to perform a Cornish version of King Arthur the locals flock to be entertained. But for Morwenna Mutton, sexagenarian librarian, wild swimming enthusiast, and amateur sleuth, the theatre brings intrigue too. Actor and director Daniel Kitto is not the most popular member of the cast and unbeknownst to him, his role of Uther Pendragon on the opening night is to be his swansong.

In front of a horrified audience, he collapses during the dying moments of the performance in a pool of fake blood, and although the police are content that the causes of his death are natural, Morwenna isn’t so sure. And once it becomes clear that several people stand to gain from Daniel’s death, Morwenna’s investigation takes a dangerous turn.

If you love Miss Marple and The Thursday Murder Club, then you’ll love The Morwenna Mutton mysteries.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He’d worm his way into someone else’s grave, that man.

No one had noticed her. She smiled to herself– the invisibility of a woman in her sixties was useful sometimes…

I’m comfortable in my own skin… I don’t want to be in anyone else’s.

My Review:

 

Having not read the first book in this series, I’m not sure what I missed and was not as familiar with the characters as I would have been, but I didn’t experience difficulty following the tale and keeping up with the storylines. The writing was easy to fall into and the characters were authentically quirky and realistically conjured. I always enjoy reading this author, her clever arrangements of words entertain and amuse me.

About the Author

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Judy Leigh is the bestselling author of Five French Hens, A Grand Old Time, and The Age of Misadventure, and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.

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Book Review: PS: I Hate You by Lauren Connolly  @berkleypub   

PS: I Hate You
Lauren Connolly

 

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Sure, Dom was Josh’s lifelong best friend. He’s also the infuriating man who broke Maddie’s heart back when she was naïve enough to give it to him. But since Dom insists on following the rules and Josh didn’t leave much room for Maddie to argue the matter, they embark together on a farewell trip that spans thousands of miles, exploring new places and revisiting their complicated history along the way.
After a snowstorm leads to a shared bed, Maddie starts to wonder if her brother might be matchmaking from the grave. But when grief also reopens old wounds between them, Maddie will need more than Josh’s ghostly guidance to trust Dom again.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

When I’m next to her, I might as well be two inches tall and built of childish insecurities.

“She get tired of you refusing to let her peg you because you already have a stick up your ass?” Dom chokes on his swallow of beer and pounds a fist on the bar top as he struggles to get the liquid down his throat rather than his lungs. “Maddie!” He gasps finally. “What?” I hide an evil grin behind the rim of my gin and tonic. “I was just asking a question.”

Jeremy is so hot, I used to apply sunscreen before hanging out with him. If I could get sunburn from a person, it would be him. And worse than that? He has a great personality. Funny, smart, and kind.

A childhood that consisted of zero control over my life makes it almost impossible for me to allow someone else to dictate my choices now.

If I have one day left, or thousands, I want you to be in every one of them.

My Review:

 

This one had me feeling all the feels and produced a thousand pounds of heart-squeezing insights. The writing was cleverly parsed, highly perceptive, and so poignant it grabbed me by the throat and didn’t let go. I was turned inside out and upside down and I couldn’t have loved it more. I was totally enamored with Dominic, but Maddie broke my heart, several times. I may have experienced some ocular leakage and hot rocks in my throat in between giggle-snorts and outright laughing aloud. Maddie was concerned that she couldn’t cry, which is also something I rarely do, but oddly enough, I found I had no problem weeping for her.

 

 

Lauren Connolly is an award-winning author of contemporary and paranormal romance stories. She’s lived among mountains, next to lakes, and in imaginary worlds. Lauren can never seem to stay in one place for too long, but trust that wherever she’s residing there is a dog who thinks he’s a troll, twin cats hiding in the couch, and bookshelves bursting with stories written by the authors she loves.

Book Review:  Home for Christmas by Camilla Isley @camillaisley

Home for Christmas
by Camilla Isley

 

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Would you share a bed with your enemy to save Christmas?

Down with a bad case of writer’s block, Riven has escaped to a mountain cabin for a prolonged writing retreat. The last thing he needs this Christmas is for his family to invade his sanctuary away from LA. What he needs even less is for a family of strangers as large and boisterous as his own to also be stuck in the same house after a double-booking disaster.

Especially when he ends up having to share a bunk bed with Wendy—a gorgeous, feisty New Yorker who quickly learns how to get under his skin.

Sharing a room with her is sweet torture and Riven isn’t even sure what he dreads more: that every passing day brings them closer to saying goodbye or that they have yet another night to spend together…

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He smells like a sunny mountain day: fresh snow, pinecones, cold air, and hot kisses. Wendy, get a grip, no one smells like hot kisses. But if someone could, Riven would be that person.

You resuscitated his Bangaloo. I thought it was dead forever… I’d lost all hope until you came along.

I haven’t felt this giddy… well, if I have to be honest, probably not since my parents gave me the Barbie magical mansion Dreamhouse for Christmas in the second grade.

My Review:

 

Home for Christmas was a deliciously fun holiday read that left me smiling and well-entertained. A double-booking mishap meshed two lively families comprised of small children, teens, and adults, to share a cottage in the Utah woods during the holidays. Pranks, shenanigans, and sparks began to fly within twenty-four hours. There was a plethora of characters involved yet the storylines were easy to follow and kept me happily engaged, amused, and fully invested in their tale. Camilla Isley is not someone to annoy as her characters’ pranking was next level.

 

Camilla is an engineer who left science behind to enter the whimsical realm of romantic fiction.

She writes contemporary rom-coms. Her characters have big hearts, might be a little stubborn at times, and love to banter with each other. Every story she pens has a guaranteed HEA that will make your heart beat faster. Unless you’re a vampire, of course.

Camilla is a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.

Book Review: This Is Not a Holiday Romance (Funny Feelings #1) by Camilla Isley @camillaisley @theboldbookclub

This Is Not a Holiday Romance
(Funny Feelings #1)
by Camilla Isley

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Two sworn enemies snowed in over Christmas with chemistry that will melt the ice!

Nina Thompson has one Christmas wish: to avoid her brother’s obnoxiously handsome best friend, Tristan, like the plague. From the moment he humiliated her as a teenager to their escalating revenge schemes, Nina and Tristan’s relationship can only be defined as an all-out prank war! And there is yet to be a winner.

But it just so happens the ghost of Christmas present has other ideas. When Tristan unexpectedly crashes her family’s Christmas, Nina’s dreams of a peaceful holiday vanish faster than Santa up a chimney. Determined to end their rivalry for good, she braces herself for one last prank-filled showdown.

But when they find themselves snowed in, with no way of avoiding each other amongst the holiday festivities, they discover their heated exchanges have been masking a different kind of sizzle. Caught in a snow globe of holiday romance, they decide to let their fiery chemistry burn bright—but this is absolutely and unequivocally nothing more than a secret fling destined to melt with the snow, this is not a forever romance…

This Is Not a Holiday Romance is an enemies-to-lovers, brother’s best friend, forced proximity rom-com perfect for Sarah Adams, Abby Jimenez, and Lynn Painter fans.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

This close, I catch a whiff of his scent— he smells like a promise of dark nights and

broken hearts. It’s intoxicating,

If looks could kill, my ex would be already playing chess with the Grim Reaper.

My Review:

 

This may be my favorite Camilla Isley book of all time. This Is Not A Holiday Romance was cleverly amusing and unfailingly entertaining. I always enjoy Ms. Isley’s wit and snarky banter; she has undoubtedly topped herself with this offering. The characters were well-textured, realistically flawed, and endearing.  I enjoyed this one so much that I am scheming to treat myself this holiday season by indulging in more of her clever arrangements of words and am off to scour her Amazon page for any I haven’t yet read.

 

Camilla is an engineer who left science behind to enter the whimsical realm of romantic fiction.

She writes contemporary rom-coms. Her characters have big hearts, might be a little stubborn at times, and love to banter with each other. Every story she pens has a guaranteed HEA that will make your heart beat faster. Unless you’re a vampire, of course.

Camilla is a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.

Book Review: A Very Irish Christmas by Debbie Johnson   @harpermusebooks

A Very Irish Christmas
by Debbie Johnson 

One part American sugar, two parts Irish spice. Cassie O’Hara is about to discover the recipe for the sweetest Christmas…

When New York-born Cassie O’Hara decides to use the money her sassy Irish nana Nora left in her will to book a month-long stay in a quaint country village, she’s expecting a cozy cottage, steak-and-ale pie and plenty of Christmas cheer. Instead, she gets a draughty disaster covered in dust, a temperamental stray dog and two devastatingly handsome men vying for her attention…

There’s Charles, the dashing English aristocrat with an enormous manor house and a heart of gold. And Ryan, a curly-haired Irish handyman with a past he won’t talk about and an accent that makes her weak at the knees.

When Charles enlists Cassie’s event-planning expertise to save his family estate, she finds herself working shoulder to shoulder with Ryan, breathing new life into Bancroft Manor. As village life weaves its spell, Cassie uncovers some intriguing secrets about Nana Nora’s past. With her return ticket looming and her heart pulling her in unexpected directions, can Cassie find the love and belonging Nana Nora always wanted for her?

A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy filled with Irish charm, festive flirting and enough Christmas spirit to warm even the coldest of hearts. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Catherine Walsh and anyone who believes in the luck of the Irish…

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Suzie hasn’t eaten a carb since 2015, and what she’s lost in body fat she’s gained in meanness.

‘How did he look?’ ‘Fat, really fat. Bright red zit on the end of his nose. Losing his hair. Revolting. I almost threw up in my purse.’

But your mom, and your sister? When they’re on a roll, they make Cruella de Vil look like a pushover. They’d give Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones a self-worth problem. They’d eat Regina George whole, and have room left over for Nurse Ratched.

I scoot onto some rental sites, looking for somewhere cosy and pretty and safe. Somewhere I can be me, but a better version of me. Somewhere I can recreate myself, and not play the role of the girl-who-was-dumped. I desperately need to not be her anymore, or I’m going to end up alone and surrounded by cats, watching my damn wedding video through my cataracts when I’m ninety.

He looks a little misty-eyed as we walk, and says: ‘The pubs. The pubs were great. And the cursing– they curse at everything!’ Mom makes him put dollars in a swear jar at home, which is a shame, because he loves a good swear– it’s one of his greatest pleasures in life. Sometimes you overhear him in his den, cursing away just for the fun of it.

Georgina is my daughter– although I sometimes wonder about that. I think it’s entirely possible my ex-wife had some kind of liaison with Satan. You’ll meet her in due course. I suggest adopting the brace position at all times.

‘Is that woman a professional bitch,’ I ask, ‘or just a talented amateur?’

My Review:

 

My infatuation with Debbie Johnson has only deepened with this cleverly amusing tale. I adore and covet her brilliant word skills and wily humor. My cheeks are a tad sore from the constant smirking I seemed to be doing during my delighted perusal. Her characters are authentic, quirky, and unfailingly endearingly. I will have to go through the couch cushions and crush my piggy bank for the coin to amass as many of her books as can be squeezed out of Amazon.

About the Author

 

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Debbie Johnson is an award-winning author who lives and works in Liverpool, where she divides her time between writing, caring for a small tribe of children and animals, and not doing the housework. She writes feel-good emotional women’s fiction and has sold over a million books worldwide. She is published in the USA, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Norway, Sweden, Holland, the Czech Republic, Korea, Serbia, Russia, and the Ukraine. Her best-sellers include the Comfort Food Cafe series, Maybe One Day, The Moment I Met You, Forever Yours, and Falling For You. The Starshine Cove series will be published this year. Debbie’s book Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater was adapted into a Hallmark Christmas movie in 2020.

Book Review: Statistically Speaking by Debbie Johnson  @harpermusebooks

Statistically Speaking
by Debbie Johnson

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From Debbie Johnson, the author of the Comfort Food Café series, comes an emotionally rich, laugh-out-loud funny novel about the journey of self-discovery, family reunions, and finding peace with your past. Statistically Speaking is The Amazing Grace Adams meets Bridget Jones.

As a high school history teacher, Gemma Jones loves the certainty of the past–specific names, solid dates, and proven statistics. Maybe that’s because her past resembles a jumbled-up sock drawer, one where finding a match is impossible.

On paper, Gemma’s life is just like any other successful, single thirtysomething. Her students adore her. She lives in a cute beachside cottage next door to the world’s sweetest neighbor, Margie. And she’s caught the eye of Karim, the resident hot PE teacher at her school. But every day of her life, she can’t get one thing out of her mind: the baby she gave up for adoption when Gemma was just sixteen years old.

This is the year that Baby–the only name Gemma has for her little girl–will turn eighteen. And it might be the year she actually meets her daughter face-to-face. Or maybe she already has. Katie, a new student who’s moved into the area, shares Gemma’s hair color (bright red) and build (long and lean). And BTW–totally random stat–she also shares the same birthday (October 3) as Baby. And they’re both about to turn eighteen. What are the odds? But Gemma and Katie’s mom are becoming good friends, and Gemma is concerned that their newly minted friendship will unravel fast if Katie is indeed Gemma’s birthdaughter.

Gemma doesn’t know if this will be the year she finds Baby. But maybe, just maybe, it will be the year she finds herself–and finds peace with her life–past and present. And maybe that’s what truly counts.

Statistically Speaking by Debbie Johnson is a heartfelt and humorous novel about self-discovery, familial reconciliation, and dealing with one’s past. If you enjoy character-driven stories with a hefty dose of laughter like Bridget Jones or The Good Place, you’ll love this book. Fall in love with Debbie Johnson’s heartwarming novel (previously published in the UK as Forever Yours). Now available for the first time in the US!

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Dog walkers, I have come to learn, are a friendly bunch. I know none of their names, and I have never shared mine, but we know each other by our beasts.

… nobody likes to think their teachers have a life, or even exist, outside the classroom. Kids are always surprised if they see me in the shop or a café, like part of them thinks I just hook myself up to some batteries and recharge in a cupboard when they’re not around.

I have never called it “wanderlust.” I find that I like it— wanderlust sounds sparkly and fun, as opposed to “too dysfunctional to lay down roots.”

There’s been a distinct reduction in attention span over the last few years, and I do sometimes worry that if the entire history of the world can’t be compressed into a TikTok video then it is too difficult for them.

I have been trapped in anxiety dreams all night long. Dreams where my fingers have turned into actual sausages that are too big to operate a keyboard. Dreams where I have forgotten my phone passcode and get locked out so many times my phone actually explodes in my hands like a grenade, leaving me with bloody stumps. Dreams where I am in hospital and nobody will let me out of bed to check my emails, tying me to the headboard with surgical stockings.

His family are his heart— mine was more of a septic appendix.

It is a smile that says she is happy. I manage to tear myself away from the photo after a few moments, reluctant to let it leave my hands, and lay it carefully by my side, scared it might disintegrate like a message in Mission Impossible.

My Review:

 

I adored this book from start to finish. This wily author is highly perceptive and appears to have been blessed by the pixies with strong word voodoo. I quickly fell into her prose and resented any interruptions that required putting my Kindle down for adulting requirements. Written from a first-person point of view, her brilliant narratives often squeezed my heart with keenly insightful observations and had me giggle-snorting at her wry humor on the same page. It was rather painful to pare down the two-page list of favorite quotes I highlighted during perusal. Ms. Johnson has a new acolyte.

 

About the Author

 

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Debbie Johnson is an award-winning author who lives and works in Liverpool, where she divides her time between writing, caring for a small tribe of children and animals, and not doing the housework. She writes feel-good emotional women’s fiction and has sold over a million books worldwide. She is published in the USA, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Norway, Sweden, Holland, the Czech Republic, Korea, Serbia, Russia, and the Ukraine. Her best-sellers include the Comfort Food Cafe series, Maybe One Day, The Moment I Met You, Forever Yours, and Falling For You. The Starshine Cove series will be published this year. Debbie’s book Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater was adapted into a Hallmark Christmas movie in 2020.

Book Review: Hidden in the Dark (Val Costa #3) by H.K. Christie @authorhkchristie @bookouture

Hidden in the Dark
(Val Costa #3)
by H.K. Christie

   

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The table is set for family dinner; roast chicken, wine for them and juice for their darling boy, and a vase of fresh daisies from the garden for decoration. But the food is cold, and the flowers are wilting. You might think they were sleeping in the next room if it wasn’t for the blood dripping crimson onto the carpet…

FBI Agent Val Costa is drawn out of retirement once again when the Cramer family is found dead in their home in Red Rose County. She falls to her knees in despair at the sight of little Michael Jr., curled up on the couch. What monster would take the life of an innocent child? Val vows to find justice for the mother, Stephanie Cramer, who survived the attack but is fighting for her life in hospital.

Interviewing neighbors uncovers no leads, but Val knows there’s a message in the way Mike Cramer’s body was left, tied to a chair, with stab wounds all over his body. It seems that the mother and son were collaterals, and Mike was the real target. But why? Working in an auto shop between taking his boy to karate class, Michael was a perfect family man. There are no signs of a robbery, and all Val has to work with are small-town whispers about the age gap between him and his wife.

A break in the case comes when a secret phone is found hidden in Mike’s car and GPS reveals he’d been making late-night trips out of town for weeks before his family was attacked. Her team quickly suspects an affair, but Val’s instincts tell her it’s something far more sinister.

As more cracks in the perfect Cramer family picture begin to show—arguments, money troubles—Val must work around the clock to stop this twisted individual in their tracks. But does she know someone is watching her every move? And when a dark secret in Mike’s past surfaces, can Val stay ahead of her stalker long enough to catch the killer before another precious life is taken?

An absolutely pulse-pounding crime thriller with unputdownable suspense, perfect for fans of Mary Stone, Kate Gable, and L.T. Ryan.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

…he’s having a go at being a ruthless drug lord. Maybe he’s watched Scarface one too many times.

 

My Review:

 

My interest in this well-paced series hasn’t waned due to the wily author’s crafty writing style, one that keeps the little pea in my brain itchy, engaged, curious, and primed to gather the meager clues sprinkled throughout the several active and carefully constructed storylines. I am enjoying learning more about the primary and secondary characters as they become more comfortable with each other. I see trouble brewing in the next installment as the enigmatic serial killer appears to be prepping for another strike.

 

H. K. Christie watched horror films far too early in life. Inspired by the likes of Stephen King, Jodi Picoult, true crime podcasts, and a vivid imagination she now writes suspenseful thrillers. When not working on her latest novel, she can be found eating & drinking with friends, walking around the lakes, or playing with her favorite furry pal. 
She is a native and current resident of the San Francisco Bay Area. The MARTINA MONROE series featuring Private Investigator Martina Monroe and her unofficial partner, Detective August Hirsch of the Cold Case Squad, is a nail-bing crime thriller series full of suspense. If you like high-stakes games, jaw-dropping twists, and embattled seekers struggling to do right, then you’ll love the thrilling Martina Monroe series.

The SELENA BAILEY series is a collection of suspenseful stories detailing one young woman’s turbulent path to becoming a top-notch, kick-ass private investigator. If you like thrilling twists, dark tension, and smart and driven women, then you’ll love this new dark thriller series. A Permanent Mark is a suspenseful murder mystery featuring a grown-up Selena Bailey.