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Book Review: Eliza Starts a Rumor by Jane L. Rosen

Eliza Starts a Rumor
by Jane L. Rosen

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU /
B&N / GP/ Apple

 

The author of Nine Women, One Dress delivers a charming, unforgettable novel about four women, one little lie, and the big repercussions that unite them all.

It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. When Eliza Hunt created The Hudson Valley Ladies’ Bulletin Board fifteen years ago she was happily entrenched in her picture-perfect suburban life with her husband and twin preschoolers. Now, with an empty nest and a crippling case of agoraphobia, the once-fun hobby has become her lifeline. So when a rival parenting forum threatens the site’s existence, she doesn’t think twice before fabricating a salacious rumor to spark things up a bit.

It doesn’t take long before that spark becomes a flame.

Across town, new mom and site devotee Olivia York is thrown into a tailspin by what she reads on the Bulletin Board. Allison Le is making cyber friends with a woman who isn’t quite who she says she is. And Amanda Cole, Eliza’s childhood friend, may just hold the key to unearthing why Eliza can’t step out of her front door.

In all this chaos, one thing is for sure…Hudson Valley will never be the same.

Funny, romantic, raw, and hopeful, this is a story about being a woman and of the healing power of sisterhood.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

There was no way Eliza’s polished, stick-thin mother, with her shiny golden hair, would have admitted that her daughter, who did not receive her skinny gene or her shiny gene, had only inherited her crazy gene.

 

The only thing worse than being cheated on was being made a fool of, and if that was what was going on, she would take him down.

 

She assumed that those first accusations against Carson were only the tip of the iceberg. Her gut told her that her husband would be going down like the Titanic, and like on the Titanic, all women and children belonged in lifeboats.

 

I am a twenty-eight-year-old feminist woman intent on raising a feminist daughter. We are just starting out on this journey together. There are no circumstances that would make me suck it up.”

 

“Do you want a protein shake?” “If by protein you mean tequila, then yes.”

 

“Alison could defend me. Temporary insanity.” “One can only hope it’s temporary,”

My Review:

This was a highly amusing yet thoughtfully written, perennially relevant, timely, engaging, and cleverly paced tale with multiple story threads that tangled and converged into a smoothly woven unit. The large cast of characters was diverse, endearing, deeply flawed, and interestingly quirky while dealing with humorous and curious conundrums as well as common and uncommon issues. There were a few mysteries to solve and personal and professional snooping was required to mete out the appropriate justice to make most things right in the end.   And it all started with an impulsively spread yet titillating and synergetic rumor that had been posted in haste in a desperate attempt to stay relevant.

About the Author

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Jane L. Rosen is an author and Huffington Post contributor. She lives in New York City and Fire Island with her husband and three daughters. She often takes inspiration from the city she lives in and the people she shares it with. She is the author of a young adult novel, The Thread, which she self-published. In addition to writing, she has spent time in film, television, and event production and is the co-founder of It’s All Gravy, a web, and app-based gifting company.
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Book Review: Can I Give My Husband Back? by Kristen Bailey

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Can I Give My Husband Back?
by Kristen Bailey

Amazon /B&N/ Kobo/ Apple/ GP 

 It’s normal to prefer getting a filling at the dentist’s to spending time with your husband, right?

I thought I was sorted on the life front. I was a heart surgeon with a loving partner and two gorgeous little girls. Except my husband’s version of ‘loving’ is lying, cheating, and sleeping his way around London. Which means I definitely deserve a refund.

Unfortunately, moving on isn’t that simple. Just because I know how to operate on a heart doesn’t mean I know how to fix my broken one. Plus, I lost the receipt for him years ago so I’m definitely getting short-changed.

But now I’m single, am I ready to mingle? There are a few minor issues:

1) The last time I went on a date double denim was in fashion and my eyebrows were horrendously overplucked.
2) Men wear stupidly skinny jeans now.
3) I don’t know how to use dating apps but at least I don’t have to get changed out of my pyjamas.
4) Sometimes the most promising thing you have in common with a guy is a shared love of prawns.
5) I don’t know whether to open a date with ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ or ‘hey’ and once I ended up saying ‘howdy’.

Everything happens for a reason, they say. There’s plenty more fish in the sea. But what happens when everything falls apart and you haven’t got a clue how to go fishing?

An absolutely hilarious and utterly relatable tale for anyone who has ever survived a nightmare relationship, felt a little lonely or nursed a broken heart with wine and carbs. This feel-good novel will get you back on your feet and genuinely laughing out loud. Perfect for fans of Why Mummy Drinks, Sophie Ranald, and Sophie Kinsella.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“I could be kidnapped and killed for my body parts. Look after my girls. Make sure Si doesn’t ruin them.” “Two things: Don’t mention that man’s name to me. And you’re too old to be kidnapped. Your organs would be a hard sell.”

 

She looks like the eighties ate her up and spat her back out again. That’s some slick hair and a strong shoulder. She stands on my doorstep expecting to be invited in; I’m pretty sure that’s what you traditionally have to do with vampires.

 

‘I also don’t eat blueberries, for future information,’ I carry on. ‘But blueberries are delicious?’ ‘My sister once told me they are Smurf testicles so I can’t bring myself to eat them now.’

 

He normally wears glasses but Meera didn’t want them in her photos so forced him to wear contact lenses for the first time. So the poor boy’s eyes are bulging like his pants are too tight.

 

… she told the thirty-odd people present that she was glad she didn’t marry me because I’m very hairy and she didn’t want my furball babies.

My Review:

 

This was a wicked funny tale laced with all varieties of humor from acerbic snark to highly comical events and everything in between. I haven’t had this much fun giggle-snorting into my Moscato in ages. While there were also parts of the storylines that were quite tragic as the loathsome husband was an unrepentant serial adulterer, the writing sparked with clever wit and wry humor. I was frequently smirking and a few times nearly apoplectic with laughter.

 

Being more prone toward the Lorena Bobbitt methodology for dealing with such issues, I was occasionally impatient and annoyed with the main character’s spineless inability to face her husband’s blatant and repeated infidelities as well as her overly forgiving nature once she finally did so, I still appreciated her journey and reveled in the manner her sisters and friends were shoring her up which enabled her to retrieve her own identity and sense of worth. Every single character was riotously amusing with my favorite being the fierce and mischievously salacious younger sister Lucy, whom I hope to see featured in her very own book soon with more Frozen Fiesta Fracas adventures.

 

About the Author

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Mother-of-four, gin-drinker, binge-watcher, receipt hoarder, enthusiastic but terrible cook. Kristen also writes. She has had short fiction published in several publications including Mslexia & Riptide. Her first two novels, Souper Mum and Second Helpings were published in 2016. In 2019, she was long-listed in the Comedy Women in Print Prize and has since joined the Bookouture family. She hopes her novels have fresh and funny things to say about modern life, love, and family.

You can find out more about her on Twitter (@mrsbaileywrites), Instagram (@kristenbaileywrites), and Facebook.

 

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Book Review: The Sea Gate by Jane Johnson

The Sea Gate
by Jane Johnson

One house, two women, a lifetime of secrets…

Following the death of her mother, Becky begins the sad task of sorting through her empty flat. Starting with the letters piling up on the doormat, she finds an envelope post-marked from Cornwall. In it is a letter that will change her life forever. A desperate plea from her mother’s elderly cousin, Olivia, to help save her beloved home.

Becky arrives at Chynalls to find the beautiful old house crumbling into the ground, and Olivia stuck in hospital with no hope of being discharged until her home is made habitable.

Though daunted by the enormity of the task, Becky sets to work. But as she peels back the layers of paint, plaster, and grime, she uncovers secrets buried for more than seventy years. Secrets from a time when Olivia was young, the Second World War was raging, and danger and romance lurked around every corner…

The Sea Gate is a sweeping, spellbinding novel about the lives of two very different women, and the secrets that bind them together.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Estelle swore in vehement French, which Olivia mentally noted down for future use.

 

She still did not believe there had ever been a Mr. Ogden. And if there had been he was probably, judging by his offspring, a hobgoblin.

 

The long mirror on the inside of the wardrobe door throws my image at me. There is little worse in life than being caught unawares by your reflection, before you’ve made the small adjustments all women make – I have avoided mirrors for so long that I have forgotten to look out for them – and there I am, thin and white and strangely shaped…

 

Olivia hated Sundays. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to have a day of rest and then make you get up early to go to church?

 

I feel nothing. Not regret, or hatred or even repulsion. Nothing at all. All my emotions appear to have burst out of me in that one punch. I imagine them flowing down my arm like Popeye’s spinach, pumping up the muscles, exiting in a cartoon-bubble POW!

 

 

My Review:

 

I adored this brilliantly crafted tale! The storylines were highly engaging, emotively written, colorfully and effusively detailed, insightfully observant, staggeringly eventful, and cleverly paced while hitting all the feels with a powerful punch and taunting my curiosity with a constant itch. The cast of characters was vastly diverse and well-drawn with despicable villains and endearingly flawed protagonists, but my favorite was the highly astute and humorously profane parrot. This was an epic tale that intrigued, squeezed my heart, amused me, and kept me well entertained and actively engaged while reading. This sly missive was my introduction to the wily Jane Johnson and has me greedy for more.

About the Author

Facebook

Twitter

Jane Johnson is a British novelist and publisher. She is the UK editor for George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, and Dean Koontz and was for many years publisher of the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Married to a Berber chef she met while researching The Tenth Gift, she lives in Cornwall and Morocco.

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Twitter: @HoZ_Books

Facebook: @headofzeus

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Book Review: Sweet Pea Summer by Alys Murray

Sweet Pea Summer
by Alys Murray

Amazon / B&N / GP/ Apple

 

Can you ever really forget your first love?

It’s been eight long years since May Anderson’s high school sweetheart Tom Riley drove down Main Street in his truck, leaving Hillsboro—and May—in his rearview mirror. Now he’s back and, try as they might, the pair can’t avoid each other.

As Hillsboro prepares to host the prestigious North West Food and Wine Festival, Tom and May are reluctantly called in to plan the big event. Tom needs May’s help to repair his bad-boy reputation and, with the whole town counting on them, May and Tom need to learn to trust each other again.

May is determined to protect her heart, but a lot has changed since high school. She can’t help but notice how the skinny boy she used to know is now a man who perfectly fills out his button-down, and Tom can’t seem to tear his gaze away from May’s sweet smile. It’s clear old feelings are surfacing again, but there is a secret keeping them apart and, until they find the courage to face it, their second chance summer will be only that…

A heartwarming story about first love, family, and the importance of second chances. Fans of Jenny Hale, Debbie Macomber, and Robyn Carr will adore Sweet Pea Summer.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

In the small town of Hillsboro, California, rumors were like honey. Sweet. Addictive. And, once stained, impossible to get out except with a good, long, painful scrubbing.

 

I look like a puddle of sweat made sentient by an evil witch.

 

Small town decorum dictated that if you said something with enough polite charm, you could get away with pretty much anything.

 

I’d rather be hated for telling the truth than loved for being a liar.

My Review:

 

This tale combined several genres, women’s fiction, family drama, small town, and contemporary and second chance romance.   The storylines were light and sizzle free and would receive a seal of approval from my elderly mother’s book club.   Small town issues and amusing characters and quirks were front and center, although I had a difficult time appreciating the character of May as I found her lacking in integrity, as she was essentially a selfish and cowardly weasel. But I also know that condition is one of the pitfalls of being small-town and having a gossipy social conscious snob for a mother, and also one of the reasons why I beat feet and couldn’t get away from the inbred hillbilly haven of my youth fast enough. Despite my lack of regard for the self-serving and deceitful May, I was curious and enjoyed the amusing observations, peculiar characters, and continuing storylines from the first book.

About the Author

Alys Murray is an author who writes for the romantic in all of us. Though she graduated with a degree in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Master’s in Film Studies from King’s College London, her irrepressible love of romance led her to a career as an author, and she couldn’t be happier to write these stories! Currently splitting time between her home state of Louisiana and London, she enjoys kissing books, Star Wars, and creating original pie recipes for all of her books. Tobey Maguire is her Spider-Man.
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Book Review: The Magnolia Sisters by Alys Murray

The Magnolia Sisters
by Alys Murray

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU /
B&N / GP/ Apple

 

Harper Anderson has a to-do list longer than the Colorado River, and fields of tulips to tend to at her family’s flower farm in Hillsboro County, California. It’s her dream to run the business with her sisters when their father retires, keeping up traditions that began with her great-great-grandmother.

That is, if there’s a farm left to run. Rich out-of-towners looking for a slice of country living are hiking up the prices in town and it’s putting her family out of business. So she has no time for the arrogant LA tech mogul who makes her an offer to use their farm as his sister’s wedding venue. No amount of money could make up for the destruction it would wreak on next season’s crop. The sooner Luke Martin is on his way, the better.

But Luke isn’t willing to go. He’s been looking out for his sister ever since their deadbeat parents left them to fend for themselves, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy. So when Harper’s newest farmhand leaves her in the lurch, he sees an opportunity to strike a deal. He’ll work on the farm for free if she’ll give him the chance to change her mind.

Harper and Luke each expect the other to crack first. What they don’t expect is the chemistry that sparks between them as they work side by side among the budding roses. But Luke’s presence is turning over more than the earth, and just as Harper is starting to let her guard down, he stumbles upon a secret that could spell disaster for the entire Anderson clan.

With her family’s happiness at stake, can Harper put her trust in a man who is worlds apart from everything she knows?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She yawned, practically tripping down the stairs with half-open eyes, probably following the scent of coffee instead of using her sight like some kind of millennial badger.

 

Harper noticed something about May she’d never noticed before. It was there in her walk, there in her sitting. She carried herself straight and broken, like she was trying not to disturb an open stab wound right in the center of her back. How had she never noticed before? How had she never taken the time to actually see the pain she’d been carrying around for years now?

 

One mystery solved. Well, not a mystery, more like a Scooby-Doo cartoon where the true culprit was before them all along.

 

My Review:

 

This was my first experience reading the agile and smoothly penned tales of Alys Murray and I have since added more of her books to my TBR. Her relatable characters were uniquely quirky and likable and inhabited storylines that were engaging, easy to follow, and well balanced between humor, family drama, and angst. I would classify the genre of this entertaining story as women’s fiction with a bit of light romance that only went as far as earth-rattling and heart-racing smooching. I was smiling throughout most of this pleasant and amusing tale until the author unfortunately tossed in one of my least favorite tropes near the end which took a bit off the shine, but I would still read it again and look forward to more from this clever storyteller.

About the Author

Alys Murray is an author who writes for the romantic in all of us. Though she graduated with a degree in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Master’s in Film Studies from King’s College London, her irrepressible love of romance led her to a career as an author, and she couldn’t be happier to write these stories! Currently splitting time between her home state of Louisiana and London, she enjoys kissing books, Star Wars, and creating original pie recipes for all of her books. Tobey Maguire is her Spider-Man.
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Book Review: Stranger in the Lake by Kimberly Belle

 

 

Stranger in the Lake
by Kimberly Belle

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When Charlotte married the wealthy widower Paul, it caused a ripple of gossip in their small lakeside town. They have a charmed life together, despite the cruel whispers about her humble past and his first marriage. But everything starts to unravel when she discovers a young woman’s body floating in the exact same spot where Paul’s first wife tragically drowned.

At first, it seems like a horrific coincidence, but the stranger in the lake is no stranger. Charlotte saw Paul talking to her the day before, even though Paul tells the police he’s never met the woman. His lie exposes cracks in their fragile new marriage, cracks Charlotte is determined to keep from breaking them in two.

As Charlotte uncovers dark mysteries about the man she married, she doesn’t know what to trust—her heart, which knows Paul to be a good man, or her growing suspicion that there’s something he’s hiding in the water.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

People say I married Paul for the money, but that’s just not true. I married him because I love him, and I love him for all the things he provides. A mortgage-free roof over my head and a belly stuffed with nutritious, organic food… And really, when you think about it, isn’t security just another word for love?

Annalee loves drama, and she loves when others share in hers.

Even if she had Paul when she was a teenager, even if she slept hanging upside down by her ankles every night, there’s no way someone her age— I’ve done the math, and the woman is well into her fifties— looks that good, not without a little help. But either her surgeon is really, really good, or somewhere along the line, Diana Keller made a deal with the devil.

As far as I’m concerned, this part of my life is like Vegas: what happened here stays here, hanging from velvet hangers upstairs in the closet.

 

Money can’t buy happiness or bravery. It can’t save a marriage or bring a drug dealer back from the dead. But in these United States of America, especially here in the South, it can keep a white man out of prison.

My Review:

 

This cleverly penned mystery kept my attention rapt and my curiosity sharply honed. This was my first experience with the wily Kimberly Belle and it greedily whetted my appetite for more. Her writing was easy to follow, expertly paced, colorfully descriptive, wittily amusing, and engagingly phrased. I was quickly lured into Ms. Belle’s intriguing yet somewhat smoky vortex where I couldn’t quite grasp who was trustworthy as this was such a slippery bunch. The ones I thought wouldn’t be actually were, and the ones I had higher aspirations for were rather tepid after all. I had hoped for a different ending as I always crave a romantic HEA, but I can accept the one written just as well.

About the Author

Kimberly Belle is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of six novels, including the forthcoming Stranger in the Lake (June 2020). Her third novel, The Marriage Lie, was a semifinalist in the 2017 Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Mystery & Thriller, and a #1 e-book bestseller in the UK and Italy. She’s sold rights to her books in a dozen languages as well as film and television options. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, Belle divides her time between Atlanta and Amsterdam.

Social Links:

Author website: https://www.kimberlybellebooks.com/

Facebook: @KimberlyBelleBooks

Twitter: @KimberlySBelle

Instagram: @kimberlysbelle

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/kimberlybelle

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Book Review: I Know Your Secret by Ruth Heald

 

I Know Your Secret
by Ruth Heald

You’re not who you say you are. Neither is she.

She thinks she knows me.

She believes my marriage is falling apart at the seams, that my husband can barely look me in the eyes. She thinks I’m desperate for a baby, that my longing for a family keeps me up at night. As much as I hate to admit it, all of this is true.

She thinks I listen to her advice, that I care about her opinion. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Because she has no idea who I am. She has no clue that I know everything.

I know her secret. I know that she did the unforgivable. I know how many lives she ruined.

I know exactly what she did. And I’m here for her.

An utterly gripping, addictive, and shocking read about the dark secrets we’re ashamed to admit, and the lengths people go to for revenge. Fans of K.L. Slater, My Lovely Wife, and The Wife Between Us will be racing through the pages, gasping at the twists, and reeling from the explosive ending of this unmissable page-turner.

My Rating:

My Review:

 

This was a slowly evolving tale fraught with interpersonal conflicts, marital discord, mind games, stalking, hidden agendas, habitual liars, cheating spouses, and mentally and emotionally unstable characters. I couldn’t decide who was the most unbalanced between the therapist and her new client, as they were both less than prime human beings in need of serious chemical assistance and a reality check. The tale was multi-layered and well textured with hidden clues and well placed red herrings. I was reluctant to put my Kindle down for fear I would miss something and was feeling rather smug thinking I had it cracked, yet I was well fooled by this sly and duplicitous wordsmith. Ruth Heald may appear to be a pleasant suburbanite like any other in your neighborhood coffee shop, but don’t you believe it. She is undoubtedly a crafty and cunning trickster and quite likely quietly plotting someone’s demise while sipping her coffee.

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Ruth Heald is a psychological thriller writer from a suburban Buckinghamshire town. She studied Economics at Oxford and then worked in an eclectic mix of sectors from nuclear decommissioning to management consulting.

Seeking a more creative environment, she found a role at the BBC and worked there for nine years before leaving to write full time. Ruth is fascinated by psychology and finding out what drives people to violence, destruction, and revenge. She’s married with one daughter and her novels explore our greatest fears in otherwise ordinary, domestic lives.

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Book Review: The Book Doctor by Britney King

 

The Book Doctor
by Britney King

Genre: Psychological Thriller
Release Date: June 11, 2020

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From the bestselling author of The Social Affair and HER comes a riveting new thriller about a writer desperate to make a comeback who realizes that success may cost more than he can afford to pay when a stranger arrives at his door.
 
George is bitter. As he should be. Once a household name, George is dying to make a comeback, and death may be the only option left to get the public’s attention. Ask anyone, his life is unraveling at the seams. Meanwhile, his new apprentice is everything he is not. 
 
The enigmatic man his publisher sends to help is young and ambitious, with looks that could kill, and possibly do.
 
When George discovers that his apprentice’s talent extends beyond fixing broken plots, that his winning formula may, in fact, be a result of making the crimes in his novels come to life, George has to ask himself how much he is willing to overlook to achieve mainstream success. 
 
Perfectly paced, The Book Doctor is an electrifying psychological thriller about a life’s work, obsession, and the dangerous places ambition 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:

 

Not that I’d call myself an alcoholic. But that doesn’t stop other people from doing it. From my agent, to my editor, to the garbage man, everyone has their opinions.

Bad decisions are written in permanent ink. Life cannot be reversed.

I realize I am seconds away from passing out. It’s funny how it isn’t until words are taken from you that you realize how many you have left to say.

No one is coming to save me. It’s only wishful thinking. Hope will suffocate you if you let it.

Trying to make a crazy person understand they’re crazy is a losing game. Believe me, I know.

My Review:

 

I do loves me some Britney King. She has her own uniquely clever, highly observant, and inherently crafty style and churns out riveting psychological thrillers that I seem to have developed quite a thirst for. But, man oh man! Based on the inner musings of her killers, she must be one twisted sister! I adore her smart snark, brilliant sociopaths, and wily sense of humor.   The pacing and plotting of her tales are pure genius. Her name will undoubtedly remain on my list of favorites into perpetuity… that is unless she starts writing about zombies, as I despise zombies with the heat of a thousand suns.

 

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 or just copy and paste bit.ly/britneykingweb into your browser. 
Happy reading.

 

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Book Review: Summer in the City by Emma Jackson

 

 

Summer in the City
by Emma Jackson

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

The heartwarming new holiday read from the bestselling author of A Mistletoe Miracle


Sometimes the one thing you’re looking for is right in front of you…

Stephen is on a very personal mission to find his father as per the wishes in their mother’s will. But he has no idea where to start, not that he’s going to tell anyone that… When Noelle, native New Yorker, daughter of a detective and desperate for a distraction from the novel she’s been struggling to write, offers to help, it feels like the perfect solution.

Except the last time she spoke to Stephen he thought they’d be seeing the New Year in together and instead she stood him up and sold him out! Stephen’s big enough and been around the block enough times to understand that all is fair in love and war, isn’t he? But when Stephen accepts her offer and they begin their search across the city, it soon becomes clear that the weather isn’t the only thing that’s heating up.

A heartwarming summer romance perfect for fans of Heidi Swain, Sarah Morgan, and Holly Martin.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The entire ride I watched all the couples, wondering what their deal was. How did they get together? Why did it work? I mean, I understood the basics of human biology– it was something like eighty percent the right pheromones to suit their genetic code, but I couldn’t write a satisfying finale to my series with the heroine choosing her partner because she’d noticed he smelt right. Could I?

 

People had told me it would be hot in New York in the summer, but dictators had nothing on this kind of oppression. I’d considered taking up religion just so I could thank God for the air conditioning in the office and my apartment when I first arrived.

 

I had no desire to be another notch on his bedpost– the thing was probably whittled to matchsticks by now.

 

Before nine is too early to call on people. It’s practically an act of aggression.

 

I am not a convenient set of lady-bits for you to make the most of while you’re in the vicinity. There will be no shenanigans.

 

Yesterday’s dead-end had only seemed to make her more stubborn though and I couldn’t help feeling that I’d started something with her that I didn’t have complete control over anymore. Like I’d programmed a diminutive redheaded terminator and couldn’t cancel the action now.

 

‘Unclench your muscles.’ ‘Are you checking out my physique again?’ He flicked a quick glance at me, a hint of that devilish smile playing over his lips. ‘Only because you look like you’ve got rigor mortis.’

 

My Review:

 

I enjoyed this story as much as I did the endearing couple featured, and I’m assuming I would also enjoy the earlier book in this series as I relished Emma Jackson’s cleverly amusing and engaging writing style. Her characters were smart yet flawed and gave good banter. Her writing was smooth, well-paced, easy to fall into, and kept me pleasantly entertained while dealing with unusual yet relevant issues and concerns.

About the Author

Author of the Best Selling A MISTLETOE MIRACLE, published in 2019 by Orion Dash, Emma has been a devoted bookworm and secret-story-scribbler since she was 6 years old. When she’s not running around after her two daughters and trying to complete her current work-in-progress, Emma loves to read, bake, catch up on binge-watching TV programs with her partner and plan lots of craft projects that will inevitably end up unfinished. Her next romantic comedy, SUMMER IN THE CITY, is due for release in June 2020.

Emma also writes historical and speculative romantic fiction as Emma S Jackson. THE DEVIL’S BRIDE will be published by DarkStroke in February 2020.

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Book Review: First Shot by John Ryder  

First Shot
by John Ryder  

 

Amazon / B&N 

 

When girls go missing here, no one says a word…

Twenty-four-year-old Lila has disappeared without a trace. It’s the kind of case that ex-military loner Grant Fletcher would normally be happy to take on—he will always seek justice if someone has the money to pay him. But this one he’s doing for free. This one’s personal.

Because Fletcher owes his life to Lila’s father. And Fletcher knows that returning Lila safe and sound is the only thing that matters to his wheelchair-bound friend.

She last called her father from a small town in rural Georgia. Arriving there, Fletcher’s feet barely touch the ground before he finds trouble. He also discovers that his friend’s daughter wasn’t the first girl to go missing there. Not the first by far.

Then the last person to have seen Lila before she disappeared is murdered. As an outsider, Fletcher becomes the local deputy’s only suspect, leaving him no choice but to go on the run. Because Fletcher knows someone’s abducting girls in this town. And he also knows he’s the only person who can find them…

Fans of high-octane action and unforgettable heroes like Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne and David Baldacci’s Amos Decker will love First Shot.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Tall Boy eyed him as if he was a circus freak from bygone days. ‘You’s talkin’ with the tongue outta your shoe… C’mon, let’s get outta here ’fore we catch arthritis from this old coot.’

 

Daversville was a town that time hadn’t ever known about, let alone forgot. The clothes worn by the townspeople weren’t so much outdated fashion as never having been fashionable. Each item was clean and well presented, but they were clearly worn as an alternative to nudity rather than make the wearer feel or look good.

 

Fellers wasn’t a bar for tourists, it was a spit and sawdust kind of place with genuine sawdust and extra spit.

 

With the pace of an arthritic sloth, Fletcher took a few gentle steps forward.

 

My Review:

 

I rarely read books of this genre but I would routinely add them to my routine if I could find a bevy of them as easy to fall into and difficult to let go of as First Shot proved to be. Mr. Ryder’s engaging writing was taut with tension, surprisingly emotive, and well packaged with glints of humor and refreshingly clear descriptive details where each perfectly honed word packed a powerful punch while also being smartly strung together in clever arrangements that pulled sharp visuals and defined step-by-step planning and eventful fight scenes that ran like a movie reel behind my eyes. I definitely wanted to give the caustic and surly FBI agent an attitude adjusting whack to the back of her head, although the bad guys eventually did that for me.

I was already duly impressed before I noticed First Shot was the only book listed for this author – could it actually be his first?!? I have just made a new addition to my list of authors to watch for, as I now have a taste for an action hero named Grant Fletcher.  

About the Author

John Ryder is a former farmworker and joiner. He’s turned his hand to many skills to put food on the table and clothes on his back. A life-long bibliophile, he eventually summoned the courage to try writing himself, and his Grant Fletcher novels have drawn inspiration from authors such as Lee Child, Tom Cain, Zoe Sharp, and Matt Hilton. When it comes to future novels, he says he has more ideas than time to write them.

When not writing, John enjoys spending time with his son, reading and socializing with friends. A fanatic supporter of his local football team, he can often be found shouting encouragement to men much younger and fitter than he is.

 

Author Social Media Links:

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnRyder101