Category: 5-Stars

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Book Review: Knowing You by Samantha Tonge

Knowing You

by Samantha Tonge

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An abrupt change; a new friendship; a dark secret…


 Kind-hearted Violet has never fitted in, but despite being bullied at school is now content. She is dating ambitious Lenny, has her dream job in publishing and runs a book club at the local retirement home.

 

However, when her relationship with Lenny begins to falter, Violet, hurt and alone, seeks the advice of her new flatmate, Bella. She changes her image and with her head held high aims to show that she doesn’t need Lenny in her life to be happy and successful.

 

Her long-term friends Mable and Farah worry about Bella’s influence and slowly Violet starts to distance herself from them. When she was a child, her closest confidant and companion was a boy called Flint. Her mother didn’t approve of their closeness and he suffered a terrible end. She won’t let the same thing happen to Bella, no matter what anyone says…

 

Knowing You is about friendship and knowing who to trust with your deepest secrets; it’s about taking control of your life and not being afraid to stand out. Perfect for fans of Ruth Hogan, Gail Honeyman, and Amanda Prowse

 

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

My first love was an assistant manager at the local bookshop where I had a Saturday job. It was then that I realised the most attractive thing about a man was the width of his reading list.

 

Uncle Kevin got headhunted. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Makes me think of my favourite Horrid Henry story about cannibals. It means he got offered a job in America, the place where people eat bacon with pancakes, do cheerleading and own guns.

 

I need help persuading Farah that there is no health scare big enough to warrant switching to soya milk.

 

I have a habit of calling on people at the worst moment. Like when Gran’s in the middle of putting on her tights or my brother has just plastered his face with shaving foam.

 

If she were an item of stationery, she’d be a stapler. Uncomplicated and unassuming but holding everything together.

 

I try not to think about it. But when I look in the mirror, I worry. I worry that the woman staring back isn’t me. She’s a stranger and I can’t find an instruction manual.

 

My Review:

 

Knowing You was an exceptionally engaging and thoughtfully written tale. I was intensely absorbed and quickly entranced by the ever enticing and smoothly fluent flow of the writing as well as the captivating narrative.   Ms. Tonge’s emotive and nimble writing style deftly hit all the feels while peeling back an elegant vulnerability of the highly sympathetic character of Violet at different ages and timelines.   Her poignant storylines were ingeniously paced, cunningly crafted, vibrantly detailed, and adroitly evocative.   I was so impressed I raced to Goodreads and added her entire backlist on my TBR.

 

In addition to a new favorite author to fangirl, I also garnered two new additions to my Brit Word List with bedsit – which appears to be what I know as a studio apartment, and collywobbles – which appears to have several meanings such as nervousness and/or a queasy stomach.

 

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About the Author

Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK and her passion, second to spending time with her husband and children, is writing. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has traveled widely.

When not writing she passes her days cycling, baking and drinking coffee. Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines.

In 2013, she landed a publishing deal for romantic comedy fiction with HQDigital at HarperCollins and in 2014, her bestselling debut novel, Doubting Abbey, was shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction best Ebook award. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category.

Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamTongeWriter

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

Website: http://samanthatonge.co.uk/

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Book Review: Imagine That (Small Town Big Love Series Book 2) by Kelly Collins

Imagine That

(Small Town Big Love Series Book 2)

by Kelly Collins

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

 

A mourning heiress. A selfless sheriff. Saving their town could free them both.

Maya Blackwood drowns her loss in alcohol. After her husband’s untimely death, she retreats to her family’s namesake town only to find they’ve sold it to shady developers. She hardly expected to be taken by the home she never knew and the handsome sheriff who patrols its streets…

Kevin Hoisington has always put everyone else first. And even with the whole town of Blackwood in danger, he finds himself drawn to helping the enchanting, damaged heiress. Holding her hand through recovery, he’s surprised to find that Maya has become his only priority.

When a sinister conman threatens to undo their efforts to protect the town, Kevin might have to give up everything to save the woman he’s falling for.

Will Kevin, Maya, and Blackwood fracture, or can they save both the town and their hearts?

Imagine That… is the second standalone book in the Small Town ~ Big Love series of contemporary romance series. If you like damaged heroines, self-assured heroes, and second chances for the heart, then you’ll love Kelly Collins’ sweet and sexy tale.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She was a Blackwood by birth and kept her name after her marriage to Brad Dick. He couldn’t say he blamed her.

 

Do you really want to report back to Togi that I let you slide? … I don’t. My coffee would never taste right again.

 

I’m not keeping anything on the down low. I’m just moving slowly. I want to do it right, but mark my words, it’ll be wherever and whenever after that. Got it?

 

While the universe hadn’t necessarily always been kind to her, it had offered her the gold standard for men when Kevin appeared in her life.

 

 My Review:

 

Oh swoon, I have a new BBF and his name is Kevin – he is simply divine; thoughtful, sexy, caring, and sweetness personified, he should be thoroughly checked for possible wings! He has to be fictional as men like this just do not exist out in the wilds of the real world, but I can still be totally enamored with him anyway. My fondness for Kelly Collins’ uniquely amusing and satisfying writing style and Small Town Big Love Series continues to grow, with eager anticipation already brewing for the next installment. I fully appreciate and have to stop to marvel how each crackerjack book interconnects with a continuing storyline yet are complete, cliffhanger free, hit all the feels, and are strong enough to standalone while enticing me to continue on for more. Boffo!

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping the love alive.

Always a romantic, she is inspired by real-time events mixed with a dose of fiction. She encourages her readers to reach the happily ever after but bask in the afterglow of the perfectly imperfect love.

Kelly lives in Colorado with her husband of twenty-seven years. She loves hockey, shiny objects and has a new-found appreciation for green smoothies.

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Book Review: Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward

Beautiful Bad

by Annie Ward

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

Hardcover: 368 Pages

Publisher: Park Row; Original edition (March 5, 2019)

A devoted wife, a loving husband and a chilling murder that no one saw coming.

Things that make me scared: When Charlie cries. Hospitals and lakes. When Ian drinks vodka in the basement. ISIS. When Ian gets angry… That something is really, really wrong with me.

Maddie and Ian’s love story began with a chance encounter at a party overseas; he was serving in the British army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend, Jo. Now almost two decades later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America. But when a camping accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending writing therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian’s PTSD; her concerns for the safety of their young son; and the couple’s tangled and tumultuous past with Jo.

From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, sixteen years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“What do you fancy? The throat or the crap?” He pushed the menu in front of me. It was immediately obvious to me that whoever had translated “trout” and “carp” for the English menu had made some very unfortunate spelling errors.

The toothless octogenarian playing the accordion suddenly fell upon our table like a vampire bat on a herd of cows, and I started digging through my wallet for a tip.

“You could never be just another one of the flock,” Ian said, leaning close to me and looking into my eyes. One of his fingers batted at my hair. “Your wool is far too dark.”

And all the while I was sitting there getting my head wrapped in foil like it was a giant baked potato, these girls kept bringing me drinks. In retrospect I see very clearly that I should have been suspicious of a salon that felt the need to get you drunk before you see the results of their handiwork.

Something profound had happened to me just before I lost consciousness. At the exact second that I gave up all hope of surviving, my mind sparkled with unhinged, ecstatic, unbridled euphoria, a joy of such magnitude that I was instantly captive to it, and of a replete and searing sensuousness so irresistible that I opened my mouth to take it all in more deeply. I knew with utmost certainty, as it were as simple as two plus two or the sky is blue, that there was nothing at all to fear.

My Review:

My mind is still processing this compelling tale, it was ingenious and frustrating, and mesmerizing, and maddeningly paced all the way to the chilling end. The characters were a train wreck, and much like arriving at a train wreck I couldn’t look away; they fascinated, vexed, intrigued, antagonized, annoyed, and held me captive to my Kindle. I wasn’t sure who was the most disturbed as they were both over the edge and a hazard to themselves and others. The storylines were intensely absorbing, deviously plotted, and distressingly tantalizing. The narrative thrummed with tension and I read with a ratcheting sense of apprehension. Ms. Ward’s writing was lushly descriptive, profoundly observant, and hauntingly addictive. I fear I will be ruminating on this one for days and am in need a glass of wine or ten. It was brilliant, unsettling, yet brilliant nonetheless.

 

About the Author

Annie Ward has a BA in English literature from UCLA and an MFA in screenwriting from the American Film Institute. Her first short screenplay, Strange Habit, starred Adam Scott and won awards at the Aspen and Sundance Film Festivals. She lives in Kansas with her two sons and British husband, whom she met in the Balkans. She was recently awarded a Fulbright scholarship and An Escape to Create artist’s residency.

Connect with Annie

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

 

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Book Review: I Invited Her In by Adele Parks

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I Invited Her In

by Adele Parks

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU / B&N

 

Hardcover: 432 Pages

Publisher: MIRA; Original edition (February 5, 2019)

Imagine the worst thing a friend could ever do.

This is worse.

When Mel receives an unexpected email from her oldest friend Abi, it brings back memories she thought she had buried forever. Their friendship belonged in the past. To those carefree days at university.

But Abi is in trouble and needs Mel’s help, and she wants a place to stay. Just for a few days, while she sorts things out. It’s the least Mel can do.

After all, friends look out for each other, don’t they?

I Invited Her In is a blistering tale of wanting what you can’t have, jealousy and revenge from Sunday Times bestseller Adele Parks.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Some people whispered that she was pretentious; they resented the fact that she only enjoyed listening to music on vinyl and was fussy about the strength of coffee beans; she refused to drink beer, sticking exclusively to French red wine; she rarely ate. She was, by far, the most interesting person I’d ever met.

 

“You’ll still get the fairy tale,” Abi said with her usual cool confidence. “I mean Snow White had seven little fellas hanging off her apron and she still netted a prince.”

 

Her body leaned into his when he walked into a room, like a compass pointing north.

 

He’s lucky if I pluck my eyebrows. I just find life busy and tricky enough without having to inflict extra pain on myself for an aesthetic that precisely one person is going to benefit from. I mean, I’d never ask him to put hot wax on his best bits. Ben has never complained about my lack of grooming in that area; it’s not as though he needs help finding his target.

 

I’m not the sort of shape that’s considered typically desirable. I only stop traffic if I press the button and the lights change.

 

I throw the phone at the hall wall. It makes a satisfying dent. I can’t believe I once painted that especially for her arrival. More sensible preparation would have been barricading the door, heating tar, sharpening knives.

 

My Review:

 

This stunning book was highly addictive and totally consuming; once I got my teeth into it I couldn’t seem to put it down. The writing and storylines were simply phenomenal as start to finish the multiple POV narratives were intensely intriguing, well-crafted, cunningly paced, and just crazy good with jaw-dropping twists that had my digestive system in knots. I was taut with tension, deeply invested and couldn’t read fast enough while also wanting to fully relish every tantalizing detail and shocking revelation. The compelling characters were irresistible, uniquely flawed, and captivatingly nuanced. I was absorbed, fascinated, annoyed, beguiled, frustrated, and horrified, yet I remained overwhelmingly curious while cycling through a variety of reactions to their encounters, inner musings, and shrewd insights. I didn’t think I could have been more impressed or profoundly engaged when an eye-popping and breath-stealing disclosure halfway through actually caused me to gasp, wobble, and nearly fumble my Kindle. I was rocked, and it was sensational! Adele Parks has mad skills and new fangirl.

About the Author

Adele Parks one of the most-loved and biggest-selling women’s fiction writers in the UK. She has sold over 3 million books and her work has been translated into 25 different languages.

1500+ 5 star reviews have kindly been written by her fans on Amazon.co.uk

She has published 15 novels in the past 15 years, all of which have been London Times Top Ten Bestsellers.

Adele was born in the North East of England, in 1969. She enjoyed a traditional 1970’s childhood, watching too much TV and eating convenience food because nobody minded if kids did that in those days. Since graduating from university, where she studied English Language and Literature, she worked in advertising and as a management consultant. In 2010 Adele was proud to be awarded an honorary doctorate of Letters from Teesside University.

Connect with Adele
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Book Review: HER by Britney King

Title: HER 
Author: Britney King
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Release Date: February 28, 2019
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“After four, I quit counting. What’s the point if you know it isn’t going to stop?”
 
Sadie is jealous. Why wouldn’t she be? Her life is falling apart. Meanwhile, her new neighbor is everything she is not.
 
Ann is perfect—the kind of woman everyone loves to hate—and a best friend to die for. She hosts over-the-top dinner parties, takes parenting to an entirely different level, and makes ambition look sexy as hell. 
 
Sadie learns quick: the best way to cure jealousy is to befriend it. She also learns there’s more to her new friend than meets the eye. She’s patient, she’s kind, and possibly a serial killer.
 
It isn’t until Ann’s proclivities hit a little too close to home that Sadie has to ask herself how much she’s willing to overlook in the name of getting what she wants.
 
Exquisitely paced, Her is an unnerving and electrifying psychological thriller about jealousy, passion, and the dangerous places desire can take you. Full of enough tension and twists to make even the most seasoned suspense reader break out in a cold sweat, it keeps you guessing until the very last page.
 
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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I wish someone had told me: worry is a waste of time. The real troubles of your life will be things that never even bothered to cross your mind.

 

Ann says a lot of things. She believes in survival of the fittest, and she wants everyone else to believe in it too. But there are too many stupid people in this world for me to embrace that notion wholeheartedly.

 

I only wish someone had told me that making friends as an adult isn’t any easier than it is as a kid. It’s worse. You have all of those hardened beliefs and insecurities to contend with. And those at the top? They like to stay there.

 

Her emotions have hairpin turns.

My Review:

 

A plethora of adjectives and adverbs came to mind as I raced through Britney King’s Her, but I have yet to find adequate words to encapsulate my thoughts. I am stunned and may be in shock as I’ve never read anything like this.   Her was deviously clever, brilliantly crafted, disturbing, surreal, unsettling, and simply riveting to say the least. It was frighteningly brilliant and kept me on edge, off-balance, and highly intrigued throughout. I could never get my footing with these intense and alluring sociopaths; I was smirking at their cleverly snarky observations and inner musings one minute and reeling from their heinously twisted plotting and rationalizations in the next. The ingeniously penned storylines were completely unpredictable and enthrallingly contrived, obviously dark magic had to have been invoked. At 85% in, my stomach and jaw both dropped and I couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen into my lungs. Britney King is a wickedly talented wordsmith and a cunning mastermind, and while I greatly admire her mad skills, I would definitely think twice about living in her neighborhood.

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Britney King lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, children, two dogs, one ridiculous cat, and a partridge in a pear tree.
When she’s not wrangling the things mentioned above, she writes psychological, domestic and romantic thrillers set in suburbia.
 
Currently, she’s writing three series and several standalone novels.
 
The Bedrock Series features an unlikely heroine who should have known better. Turns out, she didn’t. Thus she finds herself tangled in a messy, dangerous, forbidden love story and face-to-face with a madman hell-bent on revenge. The series has been compared to Fatal Attraction, Single White Female, and Basic Instinct.
 
The Water Series follows the shady love story of an unconventional married couple—he’s an assassin—she kills for fun. It has been compared to a crazier book version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Also, Dexter.
 
Around The Bend is a heart-pounding standalone, which traces the journey of a well-to-do suburban housewife, and her life as it unravels, thanks to the secrets she keeps. If she were the only one with things she wanted to keep hidden, then maybe it wouldn’t have turned out so bad. But she wasn’t.
The With You Series at its core is a deep love story about unlikely friends who travel the world; trying to find themselves, together and apart. Packed with drama and adventure along with a heavy dose of suspense, it has been compared to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Love, Rosie.
The Social Affair is an intense standalone about a timeless couple who find themselves with a secret admirer they hadn’t bargained for. For fans of the anti-heroine and stories told in unorthodox ways, the novel explores what can happen when privacy is traded for convenience. It is reminiscent of films such as One Hour Photo and Play Misty For Me. 
 
Without a doubt, connecting with readers is the best part of this gig. You can find Britney online here: 
Web• http://BritneyKing.com
Instagram • https://instagram.com/britneyking_ 
Facebook • https://www.facebook.com/BritneyKingAuthor
Twitter• http://twitter.com/BritneyKing_
Goodreads • http://bit.ly/BritneyKingGoodreads
 
To get more– grab two books for free, by subscribing to her mailing list at britneyking.com
Happy reading

 

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Book Review: California Girls by Susan Mallery

 California Girls

by Susan Mallery

AmazonUS / UK / AU / CA / B&N / iBooks

  • Hardcover: 432 pages
  • Publisher: MIRA; Original edition (February 26, 2019)

The California sunshine’s not quite so bright for three sisters who get dumped in the same week…

Finola, a popular LA morning show host, is famously upbeat until she’s blindsided on live TV by the news that her husband is sleeping with a young pop sensation who has set their affair to music. While avoiding the tabloids and pretending she’s just fine, she’s crumbling inside, desperate for him to come to his senses and for life to go back to normal.

Zennie’s breakup is no big loss. Although the world insists she pair up, she’d rather be surfing. So agreeing to be the surrogate for her best friend is a no-brainer—after all, she has an available womb and no other attachments to worry about. Except…when everyone else, including her big sister, thinks she’s making a huge mistake, being pregnant is a lot lonelier—and more complicated—than she imagined.

Never the tallest, thinnest or prettiest sister, Ali is used to being overlooked, but when her fiancé sends his disapproving brother to call off the wedding, it’s a new low. And yet Daniel continues to turn up “for support,” making Ali wonder if maybe—for once—someone sees her in a way no one ever has.

But side by side by side, these sisters will start over and rebuild their lives with all the affection, charm and laugh-out-loud humor that is classic Susan Mallery.

 

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Finola, we have models in the building. Tall, skinny, hungry models. They’re starting to look feral and turn on each other. I’m convinced it’s the smell of bacon.

 

… she alternated between trying to figure out a plan to win Nigel back and wondering if she could find a few anthrax spores to send him in the mail.

 

Finola told herself they weren’t deliberately cruel, they were just young and thoughtless. At least she hoped they were because otherwise the next generation was going to be a disappointment.

My Review:

 

I fell into this irresistible story and didn’t want to come back out. Susan Mallery has extraordinarily strong word voodoo. I was fully invested and right beside them or sitting in a corner watching as they bantered and argued. The storylines were deftly written and cleverly crafted with ample servings of levity and curiously addictive conundrums. Each character was uniquely compelling and so enticingly well drawn I could easily identify them in a police line-up. The mother was heinously shallow and possessed all the warmth and nurture of a rattlesnake and whose self-involvement was second only to her eldest daughter, Finola, who was a complete narcissist, although Finola had the wittiest quips of anyone. I adored Ali and Zennie, although my favorite character was the sweet and thoughtful Daniel and was totally besotted with him by the end of the book. Sigh, I want to clear off my TBR and only read Susan Mallery stories for the rest of my life.

About Susan Mallery

#1 NYT bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming, humorous novels about the relationships that define our lives-family, friendship, romance. She’s known for putting nuanced characters in emotional situations that surprise readers to laughter. Beloved by millions, her books have been translated into 28 languages.  Susan lives in Washington with her husband, two cats, and a small poodle with delusions of grandeur. Visit her at SusanMallery.com.

Connect with Susan

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Book Review: THE LOST GIRLS OF PARIS by Pam Jenoff

 

 THE LOST GIRLS OF PARIS

by Pam Jenoff

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Amazon US / UK / AU / CA | B&N | iBooks

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Park Row; Original edition (January 29, 2019)

From the author of the runaway bestseller The Orphan’s Tale comes a remarkable story of friendship and courage centered around three women and a ring of female secret agents during World War II.

1946, Manhattan

One morning while passing through Grand Central Terminal on her way to work, Grace Healey finds an abandoned suitcase tucked beneath a bench. Unable to resist her own curiosity, Grace opens the suitcase, where she discovers a dozen photographs—each of a different woman. In a moment of impulse, Grace takes the photographs and quickly leaves the station.

Grace soon learns that the suitcase belonged to a woman named Eleanor Trigg, leader of a network of female secret agents who were deployed out of London during the war. Twelve of these women were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but they never returned home, their fates a mystery. Setting out to learn the truth behind the women in the photographs, Grace finds herself drawn to a young mother turned agent named Marie, whose daring mission overseas reveals a remarkable story of friendship, valor and betrayal.

Vividly rendered and inspired by true events, New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff shines a light on the incredible heroics of the brave women of the war and weaves a mesmerizing tale of courage, sisterhood and the great strength of women to survive in the hardest of circumstances.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Professor Digglesby walked back into the workshop and returned with what appeared to be feces. “We plant detonators in the least likely of places,” he added. The girls squealed with disgust. “Also fake,” he muttered good-naturedly. “Holy shit!” Josie said.

 

Eleanor produced a necklace with a silver bird charm and held it out. Marie was surprised. But it was not a gift; Eleanor twisted the necklace and it unscrewed to reveal a cyanide capsule. “The final friend,” Eleanor declared.

 

Grace imagined herself at seventeen— she had been concerned with coming-out parties and summers at the beach. She could not have navigated her way across Manhattan at that point. Yet these girls were on their own in France battling the Nazis. Grace was overcome with awe and inadequacy at the same time.

 

My Review:

 

This was my first experience reading the talented Pam Jenoff and I became an instant and ardent fan. She has mad skills. I was quickly immersed in her tale and so fully invested and simpatico with her characters that I found myself flinching when one was injured. I seldom read historical fiction, as I don’t enjoy being reminded of the ignorant and concerted behaviors that oppressed women for centuries, although I will readily consider the genre when strong female trailblazers are featured. I cannot resist a kick-ass heroine! Such was the case with The Lost Girls of Paris, which featured everyday women who were recruited by for a specialized project within a little known agency of the British government during WWII, the SEO. I had never heard of this branch before but it was an actual section during Churchill. After significant failures and heavy losses of male agents, Eleanor, the secretary to the SEO Director, convinced her boss to employ female agents instead, an idea that was not well received by the Neanderthals of the day but was put into place under Eleanor’s exacting eye. The women weren’t spies and were resented and dismissively scoffed upon by MI6 and the British military, although once in place, the female’s contributions were soon heavily relied upon and invaluable, until through no fault of their own, something went amiss.

 

The compelling and well-crafted storylines were fictional although well researched, impeccably detailed, and featured three strong and admirably tenacious women across three timelines but only one of which, Marie, had been an actual operative and Eleanor her feared and revered supervisor/mentor. Marie’s story was the most poignant and perilous, and I often found myself taut with tension with my shoulders in my ears while I read. Grace came into the story shortly after the war when she stumbled upon Eleanor’s abandoned suitcase in New York’s Grand Central station with no awareness of what she had found until much later. Grace seemed to have sticky fingers, as she pocketed not only a set of photos before replacing the bag where she had found it, she also pilfered something else later on in the story. Grace had moxie and her own set of skills beyond typing.   It was Grace’s insatiable curiosity that led her to uncover the intriguing tale of Eleanor, the SEO, Marie, and the other women’s poignant tales of heroism and sacrifice, as well as the ultimate betrayal that led to their demise. But who had compromised their mission? The answer was heartbreaking, the premise was ingenious, and the writing was transcendent.

 

About Pam Jenoff

Pam Jenoff is the author of several novels, including the international bestseller The Kommandant’s Girl, which also earned her a Quill Award nomination. Pam lives with her husband and three children near Philadelphia where, in addition to writing, she teaches law school.

Connect with Pam

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

 

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Book Review: Fall (Montgomery Men #3) by C.A. Harms

Fall

(Montgomery Men #3)

by C.A. Harms

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

Knoxville Montgomery liked things his way. He kept everything simple and he was always in control. That is until a head-strong blonde stumbled into his life and changed everything. She became a challenge he refused to walk away from.

It didn’t matter how much Knoxville tried, Tinley would not give into him. She couldn’t. On the outside, she appeared to be resilient and untouchable, but her reality was a much different story.

But Knoxville would not give up. Little by little, he started to tear down her walls, and at that moment, Tinley knew. Even though she fought it with every, single fiber in her body, their outcome was fated.

She would Fall…
And all she could do now was hope he’d be willing to catch her.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Lexington Russell is my brother’s secretary, best friend to Kinsley and Shanelle, and the biggest fan of the Montgomery men. The last part was no fucking joke. Lex loved us, as in loved to get us riled up, flustered, and half-naked. Again, no fucking joke. The guy was a menace.

 

“I can assure you, I am not pleasant company… I’m moody and cranky at least eighty -two percent of the day.” “How about the remaining eighteen?” “I’m asleep.”

 

“Fancy to me is using real silverware instead of plastic.” The sad part is, I wasn’t joking.

 

“I don’t need you to set us up, because I’m confident I can do that on my own. I’m pretty terrific after all. I just need a chance to get him alone.” I suddenly feel a little bad for Greg. “I know a homosexual man when I see one, and he is in fact into men. If I have things my way, he’ll be into me.” Lexington wags his brows suggestively, as if I didn’t already catch on to his little innuendo.

 

My Review:

 

I was unfamiliar with the Montgomery Men series but that didn’t seem to matter as I had no problem comprehending the story, although after reading this installment I am more than eager to pick up the first two as I am already enamored with the entire family and am quite certain I would enjoy the earlier books as much as I did Knox’s story in Fall. Knox was a sweet treat, a sexy, fiercely protective, and thoughtful man who seemed to have the patience of a saint. He was magnetically attracted to lovely Tinley, who didn’t put of encouraging vibes, at all. Tinley had shut herself down following a traumatic attack the previous year and was a difficult and prickly pear to even converse with. Knox enjoyed the challenge as much as her snark and barbs, and gradually won her over one inch at a time. The writing was full of sizzle and sassy humor while the storylines were engaging, easy to follow, interesting, well-paced, and cast with highly appealing and well-matched characters. C.A. Harms has been a recent discovery for me starting with her Oh Tequila series, but I have greatly enjoyed each and every one of books I that I have had the pleasure to peruse.

About The Author 

I am an Illinois girl, born and raised. Simple and true. I love the little things; they truly mean the most. I may have a slight addiction to my new Keurig—oh my, that thing is a godsend. And so fast too. I have two children who truly are the greatest part of my days, and their faces never fail to put a smile on my face. I have been married to my best friend for seventeen years, and looking forward to many more.

I am one of those authors that adore my readers. I love to hear from you. After all, it is because of each one of you that I continue to write.

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCAHarms/
INSTAGRAM: Instagram.com/authorcaharms/
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AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/C.A.-Harms/e/B0…

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Book Review: Once a Liar by A.F. Brady

Once a Liar

by A.F. Brady

Amazon | B-A-M | B & N

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Park Row; Original edition (January 29, 2019)

 

In this electrifying psychological thriller, a high-powered sociopath meets his reckoning when he’s accused of the brutal murder of his mistress.

Did he kill Charlie Doyle? And if he didn’t…who did?

Peter Caine, a cutthroat Manhattan defense attorney, worked ruthlessly to become the best at his job. On the surface, he is charming and handsome, but inside he is cold and heartless. He fights without remorse to acquit murderers, pedophiles and rapists.

When Charlie Doyle, the daughter of the Manhattan DA—and Peter’s former lover—is murdered, Peter’s world is quickly sent into a tailspin. He becomes the prime suspect as the DA, a professional enemy of Peter’s, embarks on a witch hunt to avenge his daughter’s death, stopping at nothing to ensure Peter is found guilty of the murder.

In the challenge of his career and his life, Peter races against the clock to prove his innocence. As the evidence mounts against him, he’s forced to begin unraveling his own dark web of lies and confront the sins of his past. But the truth of who killed Charlie Doyle is more twisted and sinister than anyone could have imagined…

“A.F. Brady delivers a knockout sophomore effort. Peter Caine has a very Patrick Bateman air about him, and the whole story sizzles with sinister madness and incessant tension right to the last page. Not to be missed.” —J.T. Ellison, NYT Bestselling author of Tear Me Apart

“A smart, nuanced and spine-chilling portrayal of a sociopath walking among us… Brady’s depth of knowledge and skillful hand make us root for him in spite of everything he may—or may not—have done. Once a Liar is a thriller you won’t soon forget.” —Wendy Walker, bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten

“Brady is a master of intense characters and riveting storylines.” —Kaira Rouda, bestselling author of Best Day Ever and The Favorite Daughter

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Claire has been living in my house for eight years, but I still can’t fully acclimate to cohabitating with another human being with her own will and own needs… I still stumble over her things, crash into her when she stands between me and my destination and I can never remember how she takes her coffee.

 

I realize that I am lying to myself as much as I’m lying to everyone else. I’m not in control, and I see now that I never have been. I’ve just lied so much that I believe myself.

 

“You, sir—” he leans forward and bores a hole in my face with his penetrating eyes “— have a monster inside of you. The only question is, can you keep it contained? That is up to you and you alone.”

 

My Review:

 

I was enthralled by this deviously clever tale of Peter Caine, a highly successful and brilliant criminal defense attorney who had become as contemptible and loathsome as the wealthy yet repulsive criminals he represented. Peter didn’t start out that way but had become morally bankrupt, a prolific liar, a social fraud, a manipulative and narcissistic sociopath, and an atrocious human being. He had callously abandoned his child and avoided having any type of relationship with him, seeing his mere existence as a nuisance until deciding that taking custody of his motherless child would be good for his image. He put on a performance when required in public but he had long ago buried his emotional self and selfishly found human interactions to be an arduous waste of his energy. But was he a murderer?   I couldn’t decide, but I really didn’t think so as he seemed too arrogant and emotionally lazy to have committed such a passionate act, although… he might well have if he felt his well-crafted persona was threatened.

 

Peter was despicable and I despised him, deeply; yet the wily wordsmith known as A. F. Brady wove such a beguiling tale I was incapable of putting my Kindle down. Her word voodoo was far too strong. I was captivated, too invested, hopelessly intrigued, and deeply engrossed. I couldn’t tear myself away from this cunningly contrived story and read it in a day. The storylines were adroitly plotted, insidiously sly, and quickly sucked me into the vile vortex of Peter’s inner musings. I don’t believe I even took a full breath until the last page.   It was wicked good!

About A. F. Brady

A.F. Brady is a New York State Licensed Mental Health Counselor/Psychotherapist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Brown University and two Masters degrees in Psychological Counseling from Columbia University. She is a life-long New Yorker and resides in Manhattan with her husband and their family.

Connect with A. F.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Book Review:You Can’t Make Old Friends (Brighton’s No.1 Private Detective #1) by Tom Trott

You Can’t Make Old Friends

(Brighton’s No.1 Private Detective #1)

by Tom Trott

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU 

 

Blacklisted by the police. Being sued by a client. And broke. Things can’t get any worse for Brighton’s No.1 Private Detective, Joe Grabarz.

That’s when his best friend’s body washes up on the beach.

Could it really have been ten years? What happened? How could his life have ended like this? He needs answers.

But with the city in the grips of organized crime, and struggling to deal with an influx of legal highs, who cares about just another dead drug dealer?

Joe, that’s who. After all, you can’t make old friends.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I’ve been on the beach at two a.m. and found it just as packed as during the day. Full of people lighting pointless disposable barbecues and pouring vodka into a watermelon for no good reason.

 

I must be off my game. Being around her was like putting a magnet next to a compass.

 

‘I love lawyers.’ I smiled as genuinely as I could pretend, ‘Estate Agents. Politicians. Anyone who makes me feel like I have scruples.’

 

He was wearing a polo-neck with some kind of symbol over the left breast. What symbol doesn’t matter, just the presence of a logo seems to say “I can afford to buy nice things, unlike you”, although a lot of the time it just says “I have more money than sense.”

 

I have never felt scruffier than when I walked inside those doors. The way the guy on the reception desk’s eyes bulged when he saw me I might have been a marauding crackhead about to chow-down on his limbs.

 

You know, most people grow up to regret bullying people. The other people are psychopaths. If I was charitable I’d say he hadn’t grown up yet.

 

You were as thick as thieves then, and look at you now: still thick and still thieves.

 

My Review:

 

I have a new author to fangirl and lucky me, I have two more of his books to read already loaded on my shiny new Kindle. I am totally enamored with the cunningly talented Thomas Trott, his agile writing style was top-shelf entertainment with sly snark, colorfully amusing descriptions, prickling intrigue that continually jabbed at my curiosity, and compelling characters who were tattered and besmirched yet remained endearing with a battered but not beaten vibe. I frequently smirked and occasionally cringed, yet I didn’t want to put this captivating tale down despite the periodic gruesome finds and crime scenes, as the quirkiness of the character’s inner musings and unusual encounters kept beckoning to me. Mr. Trott is surreptitiously sneaky and cleverly slipped in wry humor in the most unexpected places; I bet he is a total caution at parties. And score – I have three new additions to my Brit word list with: half-inch – which is to steal; chav – a subculture of aggressive hooligans who wear designer clothes; and nonic – a conical shaped pint glass used in British pubs.

 

And now a moment in memoriam of my beloved faithful servant, Redhot. Sob, I am heartbroken to report I had to lay my precious red Kindle to rest (in a tissue lined box and placed in a bottom drawer). My dear Redhot apparently expired from exhaustion and could not be revived despite repeated attempts at defibrillation. Her canary blonde replacement was immediately placed into service and was dubbed as Ms. Bombshell. Bombshell has been primed with Mr. Trott’s next Brighton adventure, Choose Your Parents Wisely.

Author Bio 

 Born in Brighton, I went to school in here, worked many jobs here, and have never lived anywhere else. I first started writing at school, where I and a group of friends devised and performed comedy plays for assemblies, much to the amusement of our fellow pupils. The young ones would cheer (and the old ones would groan) as we stepped up onto the stage, the buzz was tangible. It has been with me ever since.

As an adult I have written a short comedy play that was performed at the Theatre Royal Brighton in May 2014 as part of the Brighton Festival; Daye’s Work, a television pilot for the local Brighton channel; and won the Empire Award (thriller category) in the 2015 New York Screenplay Contest. I published my first novel, You Can’t Make Old Friends, in 2016; my second, Choose Your Parents Wisely, in 2017, my third, The Benevolent Dictator, in 2018, and now my fourth, It Never Goes Away, in 2019. When I’m not writing books, I’m writing about writing, books, and film on Medium.

My inspirations as a writer come from a diverse range of storytellers, but I have a particular love for the works of Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie, Joel & Ethan Coen, Arthur Conan-Doyle, Daphne du Maurier, Alfred Hitchcock, Bryan Fuller, Ira Levin, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Towne, JRR Tolkien, and many many more books and films beside. If you can’t find me, or I’m not answering my phone, I’m probably at the cinema.

Social Media Links 

 www.twitter.com/tjtrott

www.facebook.com/tomtrottbooks

www.tomtrott.com