Category: Book Reviews

Posted on

Book Review: What Lovers Do by Jewel E Ann @JewelE_Ann

What Lovers Do
by Jewel E Ann

Amazon  / BB

 From bestselling author, Jewel E. Ann, comes a hilarious secret lovers story that redefines the meaning of friendship. 

Shep’s found the female version of himself … and he thinks she’s perfect—perfectly unavailable.

Everyone loves Shep, the charismatic employee at Scottsdale’s newest pet store. He has shared custody of his two dogs with his annoying ex-wife and a smile that can disarm most women.

Except … Dr. Sophie Ryan.

What starts out as a disastrous first meeting, involving a coffee catastrophe and mistaken flirting, turns into an unconventional friendship.

Fake phone sex.

Dog park dates.

And eighteen holes of golf.

The problem? Sophie’s taken herself out of the dating pool for a mysterious reason, imprisoning Shep in the friend zone for eternity.

As their competitive personalities hit a boiling point, the gloves come off and so do their clothes. When Sophie’s “real” life threatens their relationship, can Shep let go of his past to chase the one that might get away?

 

  Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Nora covers her mouth and snorts. “You had me. I honestly thought you had connections to royalty.” “I do.” I check my teeth in the oval mirror on the wall. “My mom is a royal pain in my ass.”

 

I sometimes miss the woman I married, but I never miss the woman I divorced.

 

“Stop talking about my nipples.” “You brought them up. Don’t get me wrong, I was hoping you would. Like… really hoping. I’ve been meaning to compliment you on them. That day at the store, I wanted to give them a slow clap or something special like that. Maybe a ribbon like at the state fair.”

 

“You should have been a politician.” “Because I’m a gifted orator?” “Because you’re full of shit.”

 

It’s nearly impossible for lovers to end and still be friends. Casually falling out of love is as likely as finding a unicorn at a petting zoo.

 

I’m spending way too much time thinking about all the ways I could make you leave my house and at least half of them involve your body being unresponsive and lacking a pulse.

 

My Review:

 

Jewel E. Ann has obviously been blessed by the ink fairies with divinely clever word skills and has graced us with another deftly written, engaging, and profoundly funny tale that hit all the feels. It was better than eating crackerjacks and finding a prize in every handful. The storylines were well-paced, brilliantly contrived, and laced together with sparkling irreverent humor that had me barking aloud at my kindle. I adored these well-nuanced characters and was rooting for them all the way.

 

 Jewel is a Wall Street Journal & USA Today best-selling author with a quirky sense of humor. When she’s not saving the planet one tree at a time, you can find her role modeling questionable behavior to her three boys, binge-watching Netflix with her husband, and writing mind-bending romance. 

 

Posted on

Book Review: THE LYING CLUB by Annie Ward @_Annie_Ward

THE LYING CLUB
by  Annie Ward

BookShop/ Harlequin / B&N / Amazon / B-A-M / Apple / Powell’s / GP / BB

ISBN: 9780778389408

Publication Date: March 22, 2022

Publisher: Park Row Books

From the acclaimed author of Beautiful Bad comes an explosive new novel of revenge, murder, and shocking secrets—where the victims aren’t who you might think. Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Lucy Foley, and Liv Constantine.

 

Three women. Two bodies. One big lie…

 

A tangled web of lies draws together three women in this explosive thriller of revenge, murder, and shocking secrets.

At an elite private school nestled in the Colorado mountains, Natalie, an office assistant, dreams of having a life like the school moms she deals with every day. Women like Brooke—a gorgeous heiress, ferociously loving mother, and serial cheater—and Asha, an overprotective mom who suspects her husband of having an affair. Their fates are bound by the handsome assistant athletic director Nicholas, whom Natalie loves, Brooke wants and Asha needs.

But when two bodies are carried out of the school one morning, it seems the tension between mothers and daughters, rival lovers, and the haves and have-nots has shattered the surface of this isolated, affluent town—where people stop at nothing to get what they want.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Reade was an undeniably handsome seventeen-year-old. He played lacrosse in the spring, wrestled in the winter, and was the captain of the soccer team in the fall. To Natalie, he looked like the sort of boy who would go on to pledge a good fraternity, major in economics with a minor in sexual assault, and eventually become a businessman like his dad. Had his circumstances been less affluent, she assumed he would have been just fine because of his looks alone. There was always Chippendales, reality television, and porn.

 

Everyone had problems with everyone.  The whole bunch. Every single last one of them had a reason to hate the other. Sometimes it felt like I was trying to do my job in a shark tank.

 

My Review:

 

There was a lot to unpack with this tautly written tale which featured a plethora of itchy elements that kept me on edge and debating the motivations and veracity of the entire cast of characters. And there was quite an oddly compelling and uniquely vile assortment to sift through.

The storylines were uncomfortably realistic, edgy, and disquieting. I had full-on cold prickles and was so immersed in her characters’ narratives I often found myself flinching during perusal. This was my second time falling into a well-contrived Annie Ward enclave of ghastly humans, torrid secrets, and twisty intrigue, and while I’m looking forward to many more, I need a spa day to release a boatload of tension and knots in my neck.

Annie Ward is the author of Beautiful Bad. She has a BA in English literature from UCLA and an MFA in screenwriting from the American Film Institute. Her first short screenplay, Strange Habit, starring Adam Scott, was an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival and the Grand Jury Award winner at the Aspen Film Festival. She has received a Fulbright scholarship and an Escape to Create artist residency. She lives in Kansas with her family.

 

 

Posted on

Book Review: The Sweetheart Locket by Jen Gilroy  @JenGilroy1 @orionbooks

The Sweetheart Locket
by Jen Gilroy

 

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

What if the key to your present lies in the past?

London, 1939
On the eve of the Second World War, Canadian Maggie Wyndham defies her family and stays in England to do her bit for the war effort. Torn between two countries, two men and living a life of lies working for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), Maggie’s RAF sweetheart locket is part of who she is…and who she isn’t.

San Francisco, 2019
Over twenty years after Maggie’s death, her daughter Millie and granddaughter Willow take a DNA test that’s supposed to be a bit of fun but instead yields unexpected results. Willow has always treasured her grandmother’s sweetheart locket, both family heirloom and a symbol of her grandparents’ love story. But now she doesn’t know what to believe. She embarks on a search for the truth, one she doesn’t know will reveal far more about herself…

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

In wartime, life sped up and was lived in snatches and you had to make the most of what you had, when you had it.

 

My mother says, “experience is what we call the accumulation of our mistakes.”

 

Her cousin was a young soul. Since childhood, Saffy had darted through life like a dragonfly in a summer meadow, landing in pleasant places and, apart from her parents’ tragic deaths which she’d been too young to remember, her way untouched by shadows.

 

Something the war had also taught her was that the truth wasn’t always best. Rather, it was elastic and sometimes you had to lie to save yourself and those you cared about.

 

Family wasn’t always the people you were connected to by blood, but also those who came into your life by chance and stayed by choice.

 

My Review:

 

This was an absorbing, heart-rending, and intriguing dual-timeline and multiple POV narratives between family members in WWII England and modern times. The storylines were original, engaging, well contrived, historically and culturally accurate, and laced with modern-day family tensions and 1940’s wartime dangers, and a sense of impending peril.

Unexpected revelations, family secrets, cultural concerns, clandestine operations, and identity issues were insightfully and thoughtfully explored in both timelines. I cared about the characters and was riddled with curiosity about what was to become of them.

The writing has emotive, perceptive, easy to fall into, and kept a smooth scroll of sharp visuals sparking across my gray matter. Ms. Gilroy is not only an agile storyteller but a wily one full of surprises.

 

About the Author

I write sweet romance and uplifting women’s fiction—warm, feel-good stories to bring readers’ hearts home.

A Romance Writers of America® Golden Heart® finalist and shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Joan Hessayon award, I live in small-town Ontario, Canada with my husband, teenage daughter, and floppy-eared rescue hound.

I love reading, ice cream, ballet, and paddling my purple kayak.

 

Posted on

Book Review: One Hundred Intentions (Aspen Cove #20) by Kelly Collins @kcollinsauthor

 

One Hundred Intentions
(Aspen Cove #20)
by Kelly Collins

 

Amazon /  BB

Aspen Cove welcomes you back for more love, hope, and happily ever afters…

Author Reese Arden has been hiding most of her life. Some would call her a wallflower, but she’s the root of that flower, hidden far beneath the soil, where no one sees her, hears her, or shames her. Her lifelong stutter has silenced her, but when she moves to Aspen Cove, she vows to give herself a new beginning and find the courage to be heard. An encounter with a handsome hitchhiker spurs her inquisitive writer’s brain. Tucked inside his pocket, next to his heart, is a mysterious pink envelope. Could this man be her muse?

The army created Brandon Fearless; he’s a protector at heart and driven to succeed. When his sister, and only living relative, passes unexpectedly, his world crumbles. Tasked with clearing out her apartment, he comes across a pink envelope that holds the secrets to her hidden illness. Inside is a note asking her to go to Aspen Cove. Dealing with the pain of not being there when she was alive, he promises not to abandon her in death. Her quest becomes his, but what will he find when he gets there?

A woman building a future. A man unearthing his past. Will what they uncover lead to heartbreak or true love?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

… she needed her muse to return. Without her, no words hit the paper, and no words meant no money. No money meant no future. Without money, she’d be living with her mother until they both needed walkers.

 

He was big and burly and had been told occasionally that if he wasn’t smiling, he looked like he was prepping for murder.

 

It wasn’t often she found someone who put her at ease. Then again, she spent most of her time with her mom and that woman made her want to cut her tongue out.

 

A good PI is like a good bra. It’s working behind the scenes, but it’s holding up its end of the bargain.

 

“Who needs a boyfriend when you have a dog like that.”… She sipped her wine and smiled. “Well, as far as the opposite sex goes, he’s been the kindest and most loyal. On a sour note, he farts in bed, and licks himself at all hours.”

 

My Review:

 

I adored this couple as much as I am enamored with their creator.   Kelly Collins has never failed to put a smirk on my face, cause occasional eruptions of giggle-snorting, and raise my pulse rate all in the same chapter. The engaging storylines and smooth writing style had an easy and pleasant flow with humorous descriptions, color small-town characters, and sage and insightful observations. I always enjoy my visits to Aspen Cove and will never tire of this quirky small town.

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

 

  Goodreads  / Website  / Amazon / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / Bookbub

International bestselling author of over 30 novels, Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping the love alive. Always a romantic, she blends real-life events with her vivid imagination to create characters and stories that lovers of contemporary romance, new adult, and romantic suspense will return to again and again.

Posted on

Book Review: Killer Looks (Assassins in Love #0.5)  by Tawna Fenske @tawnafenske

Killer Looks
(Assassins in Love #0.5)
 by Tawna Fenske

Amazon / B&N / GP/ Apple / BB

They’re hitmen. Trained assassins. If they nail this job, there’s a payoff. Possibly cookies.

But first, the bad stuff. Dante’s done with hitman life, but there’s one last job to do. A favor to the Duke of Dovlano targeting brutal gun runners. Dante calls on comrades, Matteo—brilliant, brooding, lethal—and charming Sebastian “The Dentist” LaDouceur. Each has skills he’s honed to take out threats at all costs. They’ve also got soft spots for family, lost loves, baby farm animals, and iambic pentameter.

But when the job falls apart, their carefully laid plans go up in smoke. Can three killers with a conscience stick together, or is it every man for himself?

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

Seattle’s so weird… Everyone wants to look like they just hiked back from chopping down a pine tree and now they’d like an extra-tall espresso to go.

 

My Review:

 

This fast-paced novella kicks off an unexpected genre from this talented scribe. The storylines were busy, action-packed, and went in all directions at once while introducing three quirky mercenaries with an eye on taking down bad guys. This installment was short, amusingly detailed yet tense with impending peril while peeling back just enough layers of their past to taunt and tease my curiosity while leaving me hanging about their future. If I didn’t know the next installment was already on its way I would be stamping my little foot and swearing a blue streak as well as a pox on this wily author for the heinous cliffhanger. I do believe I’m hooked.  And would you look at that – it is currently free – but, you better hurry!

About the Author 

 

Website 
Amazon
Goodreads 

Facebook
Twitter 

 

When Tawna Fenske finished her English lit degree at 22, she celebrated by filling a giant trash bag full of romance novels and dragging it everywhere until she’d read them all. Now she’s a RITA-nominated, USA Today bestselling author who writes humorous fiction, risqué romance, and heartwarming love stories with a quirky twist. Publishers Weekly has praised Tawna’s offbeat romances with multiple starred reviews and noted, “There’s something wonderfully relaxing about being immersed in a story filled with over-the-top characters in undeniably relatable situations. Heartache and humor go hand in hand.”

Tawna lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband, stepkids, and a menagerie of ill-behaved pets. She loves hiking, snowshoeing, standup paddleboarding, and inventing excuses to sip wine on her back porch. She can peel a banana with her toes and loses an average of twenty pairs of eyeglasses per year. To find out more about Tawna and her books, visit www.tawnafenske.com.

 

Posted on

Book Review, Excerpt: The Summer Getaway by Susan Mallery  @susanmallery @HarlequinBooks @tlcbooktours

The Summer Getaway
by Susan Mallery 

 

One woman discovers the beauty in chaos in this poignant and heartwarming story about the threads that hold family together from #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery.

With her divorce settlement about to run out and a mortgage she can’t afford, Robyn Caldwell needs a plan for her future. She nurtured her family and neglected herself. But how’s she supposed to think when her daughter has become the most demanding bride ever, her son won’t even consider college, her best friend is on the brink of marital disaster and her ex is making a monumentally bad decision that could bring everything crashing down on Robyn’s head? So when her great-aunt Lillian invites her to Santa Barbara for the summer, Robyn hops on the first plane.

But it’s hard to run away when you’re the heart of the family. One by one, everyone she left behind follows her across the country. Somehow, their baggage doesn’t feel as heavy in the sun-drenched, mishmash mansion. The more time Robyn spends with free-spirited Lillian, the more she sees the appeal in taking chances—on dreams, on love, on family. Life is meant to be lived on purpose. All she has to do is muster the courage to take a chance on herself.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Mindy, you make me crazy. You have a perfectly good penis at home. One is enough.

 

“I’m sorry to be the one to bring you such bad news.” “Are you?” Robyn asked before she could stop herself. “It seems to me you’re delighted. It must be hard having such a small life.”

 

You know to wear a condom every single time, right? Every time. You whip it out, you put on party clothes.

 

They grow up. It’s God’s way of saying go find a hobby.

 

We’re like a bad TV script… For a show no one wants to watch.

 

My Review:

 

This was a delightfully amusing and engaging read that kept me smirking and pleasantly entertained throughout perusal. I enjoyed all the various storylines, all of which were advancing at a steady pace.

Every character was in transition and actively moving forward while wading through unanticipated opportunities and conundrums. I adored the couple of Mason and Robyn, but Mason most of all, as he was not at all what I was expecting.

The writing was crisp, insightful, and smartly paced with a well-honed balance of clever humor and tension and surprising conclusions to several of the threads. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of these characters in an ongoing series.

Excerpt

“I’m not ready for us to live together.”

The blunt statement caught her off guard. “We’ve never discussed living together. What does that have to do with anything?”

“I thought that’s what you were expecting.”

There was something in the way he said the words—a tone that implied a weakness on her part. Or maybe it more about him judging.

“I wasn’t,” she said coolly. It had crossed her mind, but now she was firmly committed to getting her own house.

“I’m not ready for that,” he told her.

“So you’ve said.”

She told herself he wasn’t deliberately trying to be hurtful, implying she wanted more from the relationship than he did. She almost believed herself.

“Your expectations—” he began.

Okay. This had gone on long enough.

She cut him off by standing. “You’ve been in a mood since you walked in. I have no idea what’s going on with you. I’d ask, but then you’d feel interrogated. By the way, not liking when people ask about your day is dumb. Asking about someone’s day shows interest and affection.”

He started to speak, but she held up her hand. “I’m not done.”

“Perhaps I am.” He set down his drink and rose. “I’m not the only one in a mood. We should table this discussion.”

“Fine with me.”

She led the way to the front door and waited until he stepped onto the porch before closing it in his face. Childish? Maybe. But very, very satisfying.

She walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. She’d made a healthy salad and had fish ready to grill.

“Not eating that tonight,” she murmured.

She scrolled through her phone, then pushed a button.

“Hi. I’d like to order a pizza, please. A large, all meat, extra cheese.”

When the order was on its way, she sent a quick text to Austin.

Jase had to leave, so the coast is clear whenever you want to come home. There’ll be leftover pizza in the refrigerator, in case you’re hungry.

His reply came in seconds.

When did you order it?

Two minutes ago.

On my way home.

Robyn laughed. I’ll set the table.

 

About the Author

 

Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram 

 

#1 NYT bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming, humorous novels about the relationships that define our lives – family, friendship, and 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. 

 

Posted on

Book Review:The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen @MacmillanLib @sarahpekkanen @greerkh

The Golden Couple
by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen 

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

The next electrifying novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author duo behind The Wife Between Us.

Wealthy Washington suburbanites Marissa and Matthew Bishop seem to have it all—until Marissa is unfaithful. Beneath their veneer of perfection is a relationship riven by work and a lack of intimacy. She wants to repair things for the sake of their eight-year-old son and because she loves her husband. Enter Avery Chambers.

Avery is a therapist who lost her professional license. Still, it doesn’t stop her from counseling those in crisis, though they have to adhere to her unorthodox methods. And the Bishops are desperate.

When they glide through Avery’s door and Marissa reveals her infidelity, all three are set on a collision course. Because the biggest secrets in the room are still hidden, and it’s no longer simply a marriage that’s in danger.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Time is a chameleon. It’s ever changing, cannily adapting to circumstances. It stretches out some tiny moments for an eternity. Then it shifts course and swallows up whole days, years even, as if they never existed. It’s as slippery and elusive as water running through the cracks in a tightly cupped hand.

 

Grief is a shape-shifter. It defies logic, sneaking up on you when you least expect it and leaving you empty-handed and hollowed out when you go searching for it.

 

My fierce-looking dog’s favorite new toy is a fluffy stuffed rabbit. Instead of chewing it, Romeo has taken to carrying it around tenderly and sleeping curled around it at night. Love is an eternal mystery, I guess.

 

Grief isn’t linear. It isn’t logical. There’s no structure or civility to it; it grabs you when you least expect it and digs in its nails until you succumb.

 

My Review:

 

What guile! I fell right into a smartly laid trap and was easily led astray by these wily wordsmiths. I was totally hoodwinked by their agile misdirection and had felt so smug in my theories. I was sooo very, very, wrong! A lot was going on at once with multiple storylines that were actively engaging while taut with tension and a steadily ratcheting sense of intrigue and impending peril. The characters were an odd assortment of personalities and backgrounds with traits that prickled, enticed, annoyed, and teased my curiosity while leaving me with a desire to know more about each. Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen are full of craft and combined are a synergetic and breath-stealing dynamic duo.

 

 

About the Authors

 

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen are the number-one New York Times bestselling authors of THE WIFE BETWEEN US, AN ANONYMOUS GIRL, YOU ARE NOT ALONE, and THE GOLDEN COUPLE.

Prior to becoming a novelist, Greer obtained her master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University and spent two decades as an editor at Simon & Schuster. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Allure, Publishers Weekly, and other publications.

Sarah is also the author of eight internationally and USA Today bestselling solo novels. A former investigative journalist and award-winning feature writer, her work has appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, and many other publications

Posted on

Book Review: Cherish Farrah by Bethany C. Morrow @BCMorrow @duttonbooks @isabelrosedas

Cherish Farrah
by Bethany C. Morrow 

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

From bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow comes a new adult social horror novel in the vein of Get Out meets My Sister, the Serial Killer, about Farrah, a young, calculating Black girl who manipulates her way into the lives of her Black best friend’s white, wealthy, adoptive family but soon suspects she may not be the only one with ulterior motives. . . .

Seventeen-year-old Farrah Turner is one of two Black girls in her country club community and the only one with Black parents. Her best friend, Cherish Whitman, adopted by a white, wealthy family, is something Farrah likes to call WGS–White Girl Spoiled. With Brianne and Jerry Whitman as parents, Cherish is given the kind of adoration and coddling that even upper-class Black parents can’t seem to afford–and it creates a dissonance in her best friend that Farrah can exploit. When her own family is unexpectedly confronted with foreclosure, the calculating Farrah is determined to reassert the control she’s convinced she’s always had over her life by staying with Cherish, the only person she loves–even when she hates her.

As troubled Farrah manipulates her way further into the Whitman family, the longer she stays, the more her own parents suggest that something is wrong in the Whitman house. She might trust them–if they didn’t think something was wrong with Farrah, too. When strange things start happening at the Whitman household–debilitating illnesses, upsetting fever dreams, an inexplicable tension with Cherish’s hotheaded boyfriend, and a mysterious journal that seems to keep track of what is happening to Farrah–it’s nothing she can’t handle. But soon everything begins to unravel when the Whitmans invite Farrah closer, and it’s anyone’s guess who is really in control.

Told in Farrah’s chilling, unforgettable voice and weaving in searing commentary on race and class, this slow-burn social horror will keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“Being a spoiled white girl when you’re Black is literally my favorite thing ever. It confuses very literally everyone.” “That’s the only reason I put up with it.”

 

Polite society is a misnomer.

 

She’s the only person I still love when I hate her.

 

Whatever else you are, you’re still a Black girl. One day you’ll know how impossible it is to tell the difference between personalized terror aimed straight at you, and good ole run-of-the-mill systemic prejudice.

 

Cherish was a spoiled white girl who also happened to be Black, and it meant that the consequence of coddling, the incompetence it breeds, was dangerous.

 

My Review:

 

It has been over a day since I finished reading this one and I am quite conflicted and have been stewing and unable to start another book while I ruminate. I vacillated while reading but just couldn’t grasp all that was going on in this disturbing, multi-faceted, and complex tale. I occasionally felt lost, and frequently addled and confused while trying to understand the logic and symbolism the characters employed. And I wasn’t the only one as they were confusing and confounding each other as well.

There was a surfeit of personality disorders, anger, smoldering resentment, and an annoying sense of entitlement, as well as significant features of mental illness to wade through. I was invested and motivated, yet I couldn’t put all the pieces together, it was beyond my plane of experience or comprehension. Regardless, the various characters’ level of sociopathy was chilling and distressing.

I still can’t settle on whom I despise more, as every single one of them was a source of deep disappointment to me in the end. There were no heroes in this tale but quite a few victims. I must surrender and move on, yet I give the author her due and respect her process and word prowess.   Ms. Morrow kept me on edge, off-balance, and intrigued.

 

A somewhat-recovering ex-pat living in the American Northeast (with one foot still firmly planted in Quebec), Bethany C Morrow writes speculative fiction for both the adult and the young adult market.

Her adult debut, MEM, was an ABA 2018 Indies Introduce pick, and a June Indie Next pick, and was featured/reviewed in Locus Magazine, the LA Times, Buzzfeed, Book Riot, Bustle, and Tor.com, among others.

She was editor and contributor to TAKE THE MIC: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance, which was released with AAL/Scholastic in October 2019.

Posted on

Book Review: A Royal Murder (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #9) by Verity Bright @BrightVerity  @Bookouture 

A Royal Murder
(A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #9)
by Verity Bright

 

Amazon  / B&N / BB

At the royal boat race there are beautiful barges, plenty of bunting, a handsome prince and… is that a body in the water? Lady Swift is on the case!

Spring, 1923. One-time adventurer and now amateur sleuth Lady Eleanor Swift is attending the annual royal regatta with her new pal Tipsy Fitzroy. Tipsy has Eleanor trussed up like a debutante in a new dress, determined to turn her into a proper society lady. Even Eleanor’s favorite companion, Gladstone the bulldog, has a new outfit for the occasion.

But the sparkling prize-giving ceremony is interrupted when the devilishly handsome host gulps his glass of champagne on stage and collapses to the floor. The victim is none other than the king’s cousin, Lord Xander Taylor-Howard. He was rumored to be entangled in a rather dubious gambling ring, but did someone kill him instead of collecting his debt? Or was this simply an ill-timed tragic accident? Either way, a right royal scandal is afoot…

Sir Percival, the head of the royal police, asks Eleanor for her help investigating. He’d do anything to keep the story under wraps. She knows it will get her into hot water with a certain dapper Detective Seldon, but she’s determined to see justice done. However, as she digs deeper, she learns Lord Taylor-Howard was hiding more than one murky secret. It isn’t until she takes a closer look at the unfortunate royal’s shattered champagne flute that she stumbles upon just the clue she needs. But can she reel in the killer before her ship is sunk too?

A warm and witty 1920s mystery that cozy fans will just adore. Addictive reading for fans of T E Kinsey, Lee Strauss, and Agatha Christie.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I’ve only seen blue that deep in the most heavenly exotic lagoons. Those eyes could melt a nun on an iceberg.

 

 

‘I pity your guardian, since locking one’s ward in the cellar is probably frowned upon in today’s over-liberal times!’ ‘It doesn’t stop him wishing it wasn’t though,’ she said genuinely. ‘Honestly, if it wasn’t frowned on, I’d be lucky to see the light of day most weeks.’

 

… she tried to think of a more flattering description for him rather than “the perfect mix of everything average”, but failed.

 

Sir Percival’s nose is a nasal protrusion worthy of winning prizes.

 

Can you believe, someone once suggested I attract dead bodies like spinsters attract stray cats?

  

My Review:

 

Another lively and entertaining read from the winning husband and wife literary duo of Verity Bright. I am completely enamored with these smooth and creative wordsmiths as well as their engaging series. They never fail to come up with the most clever conundrums with generous servings of amusing humor, vibrant characters, and unpredictable head-scratching mysteries. The storylines were delightfully nuanced, smartly plotted, well-paced, curiously additive, colorfully detailed, and shrewdly contrived. I still struggle to determine if my favorite character is the lovely yet unconventional Lady Swift or Clifford, her ever prepared, indispensable, Google on legs butler. Honestly, I need more of both of them in my life and don’t want to do without either.

It has been a good while but I have an addition to my Brit word list that I have noted before but had never actually looked up to be sure with good shout – which is slang for a good idea.

About the Author

.
Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humor, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.
Posted on

Book Review: The Night Shift by Alex Finlay @MinotaurBooks

 

The Night Shift
by Alex Finlay 

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

From the author of the breakout thriller Every Last Fear, comes the electrifying new novel about a pair of small-town murders fifteen years apart—and the ties that bind them.

“The night was expected to bring tragedy.” So begins one of the most highly-anticipated thrillers of 2022.

It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in Linden, New Jersey, four teenage girls working the night shift are attacked. Only one survives. Police quickly identify a suspect who flees and is never seen again.

Fifteen years later, in the same town, four teenage employees working late at an ice cream store are attacked, and again only one makes it out alive.

Both surviving victims recall the killer speaking only a few final words. . . . “Goodnight, pretty girl.”

In the aftermath, three lives intersect: the survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive her tragedy; the brother of the original suspect, who’s convinced the police have it wrong; and the FBI agent, who’s determined to solve both cases. On a collision course toward the truth, all three lives will forever be changed, and not everyone will make it out alive.

Twisty, poignant, and redemptive, The Night Shift is a story about the legacy of trauma and how the broken can come out on the other side, and it solidifies Alex Finlay as one of the new leading voices in the world of thrillers.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

A man sits behind a cluttered desk. He wears thick glasses and keeps blinking, giving his eyes an insect quality. They hang back as the department head speaks with Walter, explaining why they’re here. Under his breath Atticus asks Keller, “You ever see the movie Office Space?”

 

“There’s only one thing sneakier than criminals.” “What’s that?” “Teenage girls.”

 

Who came up with all these acronyms? They sound like jobs on a porn set.

 

My Review:

 

This chilling tale kept me guessing and on edge with multi-layered storylines that were maddeningly paced, cunningly textured, taut with tension, and laced with clever snark. I was enthralled and in awe of this wordsmith’s devilishly wily word voodoo and engaging writing style.   Alex Finley has a new fangirl.

The characters were an odd bunch of complex personalities who were more than a bit fractured yet compelling and enticing. I was sucked into an oddly disconcerting, active, and prickly vortex of tension, tragedy, humor, and intrigue while the little pea in my brain was feverishly devising and tossing out wilder and wilder theories as the complications and twists mounted to higher and higher levels of crisscrossing deception. I’ve never enjoyed being so wrong.

 

Alex Finlay is the pseudonym of an author who lives in Washington, D.C. His 2021 breakout thriller, Every Last Fear, was an Indie Next pick, a LibraryReads selection, an Amazon Editor’s Best Thriller, as well as a CNN, Newsweek, E!, BuzzFeed, Business Week, Goodreads, Parade, PopSugar, and Reader’s Digest best or most anticipated thriller of the year. Alex’s work has been translated into more than a dozen languages and optioned for film and television.