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When I Was You
by Amber Garza 

Publisher: MIRA Books

 

YOU meets FATAL ATTRACTION in this up-all-night psychological thriller about a lonely empty-nester’s growing obsession with a young mother who shares her name.

It all begins on an ordinary fall morning, when Kelly Medina gets a call from her son’s pediatrician to confirm her upcoming “well-baby” appointment. It’s a cruel mistake; her son left for college a year ago, and Kelly has never felt so alone. The receptionist quickly apologizes: there’s another mother in town named Kelly Medina, and she must have gotten their numbers switched.

But Kelly can’t stop thinking about the woman who shares her name. Lives in her same town. Has a son she can still hold, and her whole life ahead of her. She can’t help looking for her: at the grocery store, at the gym, on social media. When Kelly just happens to bump into the single mother outside that pediatrician’s office, it’s simple curiosity getting the better of her.

Their unlikely friendship brings Kelly a renewed sense of purpose, taking care of this young woman and her adorable baby boy. But that friendship quickly turns to obsession, and when one Kelly disappears, well, the other one may know why.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Lola was my best friend growing up. She had strawberry blond hair, and a smattering of freckles across her nose and pale cheeks. Her scent was a mixture of roses and popcorn, sweet and salty to match her personality. She was fun, adventurous and followed me around for years like my shadow. She was the best friend I’d ever had, which is sad because she was imaginary.

 

I shook my head. What was wrong with me? I was seriously trying to justify this? This wasn’t me. I’d never done anything like this in my life. Well, I mean, except that one time… But that was different. Completely different. Besides, I hadn’t been in my right mind then. I couldn’t use that same excuse tonight.

 

My insides were jelly. A part of me felt like I might unravel, becoming nothing more than a scattered mess on the floor.

 

My Review:

 

I don’t normally enjoy books with unreliable narrators and/or serious mental health issues, but this one was truly extraordinary and expertly done with cunning and clever craft.   What a wily minx Amber Garza has proven herself to be! Hours later, my shoulders are still in my ears from the ever-ratcheting tension as I clutched my Kindle in a death grip lest someone dare snatch it from me and disturb my perusal.

I was enthralled, engrossed, ensnared, appalled, riveted, and transfixed by this devilishly clever and twisted tale.   The little pea in my brain was on fire and popping like a jumping bean with continuously evolving theories. And while I had succeeded in narrowing much of it down – as I am such as suspicious cynic – my paltry gray matter could never have generated or shaped such a complex web or even approach her agile and compelling prose. Sigh. It was brilliant!

Amber Garza has had a passion for the written word since she was a child making books out of notebook paper and staples. Her hobbies include reading and singing. Coffee and wine are her drinks of choice (not necessarily in that order). She writes while blaring music and talks about her characters like they’re real people. She lives with her husband and two kids in Folsom, California, which is—no joke—home to another Amber Garza.

Author Website: http://www.ambergarza.com/

TWITTER: @ambermg1

FB: @ambergarzaauthor

Insta: @ambergarzaauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5582891.Amber_Garza

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Rachel Abbott was born just outside Manchester, England, and spent most of her working life as the Managing Director of an interactive media company. After her company was sold in 2000, she fulfilled a lifelong ambition of buying and restoring a property in Italy. She now splits her time between homes in Italy and Alderney, where she writes full time and has just completed her sixth novel.

Author Social Media Links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RachelAbbott

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelAbbott1Writer/

Website: https://www.rachel-abbott.com/

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Fragments of Light
by Michele Phoenix

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Every year—every year—I tell myself that it’s just a routine check… and that millions of women go through this without anything bad coming of it, but still … I sit in this room that’s clearly designed for optimism and calm, and it’s all I can do not to write an obituary in my mind.

 

Truly good men are as rare as rocking horse poo

 

“He’s not much of a talker, but he sure looks out for people.” A sad sort of envy hummed somewhere in the back of my mind. “You’re a very fortunate woman,” I said. “I know that now.” She laughed. “Didn’t always, mind you. But all these years later, when the frustrating stuff has settled into normal, it’s easier to see the treasure in the trash.”

 

“Pulled a Casper.” When I looked at her in confusion, she added, “Ghosted you. But not in a friendly way.”

 

When I was little and things would frustrate me, she’d tell me to give time the time it needs.

 

My Review:

 

This was an intensely emotive and heartrending tale that intertwined two narrations until they slowly and thoughtfully merged near the conclusion. The writing was staggeringly insightful and bruised my heart but I fell right into the shifting sands and curiously evocative and compelling nuances of both timelines, one a harrowing period in history and life-altering experiences for a young GI during WWII, and the other a distressing and devastating turn of events for a cancer survivor in modern times. Connected by a gossamer-thin thread being the vibrantly colorful and spirited character of Darlene, who was the relative of one and friend to the other, and who happened to be my favorite above all others. She was a colorful and spry little septuagenarian dynamo and what I aspire to be at any age.

Terrible things happened to good people in both soul-stirring narratives and I was engaged in their tale and as eager as the characters to unravel several maddening dead-end mysteries as well as the complicated connubial questions and issues in the current timeline.   Their issues were often painfully raw, keenly plotted, and shrewdly paced while keeping the curiosity primed.   Michele Phoenix is an agile and deft storyteller.

About the Author

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Fen closed her eyes at the memory, and before long others nudged their way into her mind. His spectacles with their round, dark rims and his dark brown eyes behind them. The way his neck always smelt of Palmolive soap, no matter what time of day she embraced him. His insistence on always carrying a penknife, a handkerchief and a small ball of string ‘just in case’.

 

And then there was Edith from the East End of London, tall and awkward and with a fondness for anything fanciful. She would be a fairy or a princess if she could, but God had decided, in his great wisdom, that instead she should be five foot nine of clumsiness, and for this she found it hard to forgive him.

 

She was dark-haired and slim, her face pinched and sallow, as if she had spent the war drinking vinegar rather than fighting off Germans.

My Review:

 

I enjoyed this engaging tale from beginning to end, but I was flummoxed to see it was classified as Cozy Mystery, hmm. It was a well-researched historical with the well-held tension of a suspenseful novel as well as trickles of humor and amusing observations, three clever murders, betrayals, peril, sabotage, sleuthing, theft, several well-nuanced mysteries, oddly curious and fascinating characters, and a strong and smart female protagonist. Add that all together and this seemed like a full-fledged historical mystery to me, so I sought the counsel of the all-wise Mr. Google who led me to Cozy Mystery.com – and yes, there actually is such a thing, and found an article/post titled What Makes a Cozy Just That?” And, well… A Dangerous Goodbye fits the definition… color me schooled!

The pleasantly evocative writing style and well-crafted storylines were expertly paced and held my attention throughout while keeping me tethered to my Kindle and taunting my inquisitive nature. I spun and cast aside numerous theories but this sly author tossed in more than a few red herrings among the clues, the minx. This was an excellent kick-off for a new series, and I hope I’m paying attention when the subsequent installments appear. I’m a fan and apparently I’m now an ardent cozy mystery reader – who would have ever suspected that?

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THE KIDS ARE GONNA ASK
By Gretchen Anthony

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Chef Bart served a buffet of appetizers and created a new cocktail called the “Truth Hurts”—one-part whiskey, three parts Fireball, and served in a glass rimmed with habanero pepper oil… He handed Maggie the inaugural glass. “You’re either swallowing fire or breathing it.”

 

George used to accuse her of being part earthworm— always making her way into the sun but forgetting how easily she wilted. “What am I going to do the day I come home to find you all shriveled up on the sidewalk?” he’d say.

 

For example, she found a white paper online about a woman named Sarah Adelbaum in Poplar Springs, Idaho, who had EKGs documenting her ability to match her heartbeat almost identically to Battle Hymn of the Republic and Yankee Doodle. Ms. Adelbaum’s quality of life was virtually unaffected and, even more, the only complaint she listed was that her heart didn’t have a wider catalog of music.

 

One woman, Alexis DuVrey posted a bedtime blessing for Thomas and Savannah every night at the same time. He only knew this, of course, because Sam Tamblin thought it was hysterical. “May the energy of the universe overwhelm those spirts that would do you hard,” she wrote one night. It was obviously an innocent and unfortunate series of typos, but ever since, Sam couldn’t resist calling on the “the spirts” to do him “hard.”

 

I may be dumb, but I’m not stupid.

 

My Review:

 

I am decidedly enamored with this author; I enjoyed her bitingly clever Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners and hoped I was in for a similar treat in picking her second offering. Ms. Anthony excels at unique and oddly enticing characters who are more than a tad off-center. And while the peculiar characters in this tale were not always admirable or likable, they were achingly realistic and gaining hard-won insights while learning painful life lessons in an extremely public manner. My favorite characters of The Kids Are Gonna Ask were the grandmother/guardian Maggie and the secondary cast members of Nadine and Chef Bart. Chef Bart, and in particular Nadine – while only a teen, were the type of human beings we all wished we were and or were even capable of being.

The writing was humorously and keenly perceptive, unfailingly engaging, and laced with cunning and witty scenarios and amusing brain-tickling twists such as the simple weekly Podcast that thrusts the teenage twins from obscurity into instant fame after their small independent production went viral when featuring an unusually odd dinner guest of their grandmother who imparted a rather bizarre in-utero twin-eating anecdote which was soon dubbed as “Zombie Baby.” The twins decided to parlay their sudden success into delving into their origin story to track down their biological father, who was completely unknown to them and had rarely been discussed by their deceased mother. Tested loyalties, anxieties, betrayals, revelations, humiliations, tears, devastations, and epiphanies occurred along their journey and the superbly evocative and emotive writing kept me right there with them every step of the way.

I am more than eager to see who and what the profoundly perceptive Ms. Anthony hones in on next.

GRETCHEN ANTHONY is the author of Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners, which was a Midwestern Connections Pick and a best books pick by Amazon, BookBub, PopSugar, and the New York Post. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, Medium, and The Write Life, among others. She lives in Minneapolis with her family.

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A Little Bit of Grace
by Phoebe Fox

From the bestselling author of Still Mine and Still Water—PI Clare O’Dey is on the hunt for two missing persons. Little does she know she’s the one being hunted.

With an MFA in Creative Writing, Stuart has been praised by New York Times as “a sensitive writer who has given Clare a painful past and just enough backbone to bear it.” Stuart is also the founder of Writerscape (18.2K Instagram followers), an online space for hopeful and emerging writers, a former high school and adult educator, and currently coaches competitive hockey.

The Heart of a Peach
by Jess B. Moore

 

 

Olivia Hamilton can do no wrong. Or at least that’s what the community of Fox River, North Carolina thinks of the odd but sweet young lady. She’s hiding a past she’d rather forget, engaged to the town’s most eligible bachelor, and longing for someone to see past the mask she wears. Olivia wants to find herself, forgive herself, and fall in love with someone who sees and embraces her flaws.

Denver MacKenna grew up the fiddle-playing prodigy of not only his hometown of Fox River but of North Carolina and the surrounding states. He plays obsessively and tours as often as possible, escaping a life of loneliness at home. Until he meets a beautiful siren who calls to him and has him making plans to settle down. Denver knows it’s wrong to covet the elusive Olivia, but finds himself inexplicably drawn to the brief glimpses she gives him of her true self.

The Heart of a Peach is the sixth book in the Fox River Romance series but can be read as a stand-alone heartwarming novel.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I settled in with my coffee. Bless whoever invented coffee. I savored every drop.

 

My father had liked me better before puberty, when I’d been his little girl… Everything changed as my body developed, and as my once kind father warned me what would happen if I let boys look at me. He never talked about them touching me, only looking, condemning me for merely existing.

 

To say my mood had bottomed out would be an understatement. I’d gone past a mix of worry and exasperation to a new level of morose. So low, I used the word morose and felt that shit in my soul.

 

My Review:

 

This was a sweet, satisfying, and lovely tale encompassing the genres of women’s fiction, family drama, small-town, and contemporary romance. I reveled in the transformation of the character of Olivia, although I initially had concerns I could appreciate her, as she was merely a veneer, and suffering in silence.

But to say I adore this author’s work is a gross understatement, and I strive not to be gross in any manner. 😉 Not that I’m always ladylike, as the character of Olivia was expected to be by her oddly uptight parents. No, I’m far from being a lady nor do I aspire to such nonsense, I’m proud to be a strong, sassy (and often brassy) woman. But Olivia tried, so very hard, under constant and unrelenting pressure to be just that, to please her savagely peculiar parents – whose ideal seemed to be a 1940s time warp when fathers bartered and often treated their daughters like livestock.

Other than a brief spree of early teenage rebellion, Olivia had adhered to a sheltered and isolated existence with strict supervision, a plethora of bizarre rules such as no coffee (which is cruel and unusual punishment if you ask me), and sky-high expectations while still living at home under their thumb at the age of twenty-four.   She had been tediously groomed to be a trophy wife and repeatedly told she wasn’t capable of much else. She fell in line and offered no resistance, but was miserable, constantly on edge and anxious of a misstep of their thousands of rules.

Of course she was!  I’m surprised she could sit erect having lost track of her spine… I didn’t know if I was going to be able to stick with this tale as the weak and fretful Olivia was chapping my feminist posterior… Had it been an unfamiliar author, I probably would have backed away with a DNF, but in this word maven I do trust, so I rolled my eyes and continued with a tense jaw until the introduction of the delectable snack of Denver MacKenna, and I was instantly enamored with his thoughtful, kind, and gentle demeanor. Sigh, and I was totally gone for this tasty treat the more I read. Denver was THE superlative BBF. His calm and steady nature was the perfect tonic to balance out Olivia’s debilitating self-doubt and anxieties and gave her the strength and courage to blossom.  I wants me one of those!

As is her style, Ms. Moore’s engaging arrangements of words were easy to follow yet told an unusually insightful, perceptive, and profoundly observant story with real-world issues, all the feels, and recognizable yet uniquely conflicted characters. She deftly slipped in updates and threads of the previously featured characters in this delightfully ongoing series while maintaining a strong standalone storyline in the current installment.   The little pea in my brain is already rattling and eager to see what entertaining tale she next conjures from her ever sparking and imaginative gray matter.

 

The Night Swim
by Megan Goldin

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

“Objectivity is so last century. Didn’t you get the memo?” said Pete. “These days everybody has an opinion. Whether they know what they’re talking about, or not. Usually it’s the latter.

 

My Review:

 

 

This was clever storytelling.   The tension and intrigue were held to a taut and ever ratcheting level throughout this intense and arresting tale.   My curiosity was making me itch, as were the realistic, traumatic, and dramatic storylines of the brutality, pettiness, and corruption of small-town living and family drama.

The writing was profoundly engaging and action-packed with evocative, striking, and poignant depictions that were maddeningly parceled out, well-crafted, and inhabited by deeply flawed yet compelling and true-to-life characters, some of whom were monstrously all too familiar to me having grown up in a similarly inbred small town. My mind spun with theories and while there was no way the little pea in my brain could have solved this shrewdly plotted and cunning paced tale, and I truly didn’t see this ending coming, I did come close with more than a few bits and pieces in my final hypotheses. Megan Goldin has mad skills and lifelong fangirl.

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Rules of the Road
by Ciara Geraghty 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

But she’ll be stressed about it and pretending she’s not stressed at all, which, in my experience, makes the thing you’re stressed about even more stressful.

 

This must be a swanky part of London because the charity shop is like a proper boutique with an accessories section and an immaculately turned-out young woman with terrifying eyebrows behind the counter and a bright, fresh smell that has no bearing on old, discarded clothes and worn-out shoes.

 

Vera rummages through a chest of drawers in the corner, dropping various bras and scarves on the floor until she finds a T-shirt with a picture of Tom Jones’s face on the front and the word “Sexbomb” printed below it.

 

Dementia likes the quiet. I picture the disease like an olden day’s librarian; all tutting and shushing. And usually I oblige.

 

The awful thing about thoughts is there’s no getting away from them. They’re right there. Going around and around on a track in your head like a toy train.

 

Motorbikes are on my list of terrors. High on the list. I’d prefer the girls to tell me they were, I don’t know, drug addicts, rather than owners of a motorbike. You can always go to rehab. But there’s no coming back from the morgue.

 

There is a collection of words, queueing at the back of my throat. Jostling against the back of my teeth. If I open my mouth, they will tumble out and none of them will be sufficient. None of them will be enough.

 

My Review:

 

This poignant and emotive story held a highly unusual premise and was rather ingeniously plotted and narrated through the highly anxious, introspective, and frustrated lens in the first person POV of the main character of Terry. The writing style was agile, evocative, and cleverly amusing as well as heart squeezing. If you were hoping for a fast-paced adventure and a road trip full of hi-jinx, you need to keep looking. This is a thoughtfully written yet highly engaging character-based tale with real-world issues while generously seasoned with humorous observations and vibrant imagery.

 

Two best friends, Iris and Terry, along with Terry’s elderly dementia patient father, impetuously struck out on a journey from Dublin to Zurich in Terry’s older car, to complete a personal mission for Iris, one that Terry hoped would not conclude as Iris had meticulously planned. Terry had insinuated herself into Iris’s plan at the last minute hoping to change the end result before reaching their destination.

Iris was besieged with the progressive physical deterioration, discomforts, and limitations of a chronic disease and did not relish living the remainder of her life trapped in her body – which is an issue that resonated intensely with me, as this is a personal fear of my own. Terry’s elderly father’s advancing Dementia was a constant concern and bone wearying challenge, which was deftly and sensitively handled with a surprisingly informative and often humorous approach to the complications.

Their odyssey was slow, quite arduous, and fraught with anxieties and a plethora of imagined catastrophes for Terry, a nervous driver who was afraid of the motorway and drove so slowly that even elderly drivers honked and swore at her. The trio experienced numerous detours and escapades as well as eye-opening insights and out of her comfort zone adventures that powered profound changes for Terry. The ending was not one I expected yet was realistic and surprisingly satisfying as I continue to ruminate over Ms. Geraghty’s clever missive. I have a feeling these characters are going to continue to inhabit my headspace for quite some time.

 

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Ciara Geraghty was born and raised in Dublin. She started writing in her thirties and hasn’t looked back. She has three children and one husband and they have recently adopted a dog who, alongside their youngest daughter, is in charge of pretty much everything.