6.29.2018 - The Last Time I Lied

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Dutton, and Riley Sager for the opportunity to read her new book.  I was a big fan of her debut novel, Final Girls, and this one did not disappoint! 

Emma got the opportunity to go to summer camp in upstate New York for her first time away from home.  She is put in a cabin with older girls and falls under the spell of Vivian, the clear leader of the group.  They play Two Truths and a Lie, discovering each other's deepest secrets.  Until one night when Emma sees her 3 cabin mates sneak out in the middle of the night never to be seen again.

Fast forward 15 years and Emma is an artist, still fighting her demons from that summer at camp and her role in the girls' disappearance.  The camp owner, Franny, spots her and makes an offer to come back to the camp as a painting instructor as Franny reopens the camp for the first time since the girls' disappearance.  Emma decides to confront her demons and uses the opportunity to see if she can find out what really happened to the girls.

A great, well-written mystery that has you questioning everyone.  Definitely a must-read around the campfire with a side of 'smores!

6.26.2018 - Into the Darkness

Many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Sibel Hodge for the opportunity to read her latest book. 

Wow.  Creepy, disturbing, scary, you will read this book with your heart in your throat and you won't be able to do anything else until you finish it!   This is the second of Hodge's books featuring Detective Sargent Carter but definitely a stand-alone read.

Told from the points of view of The Missing, The Vigilante, and The Detective, there are two mysteries going on.  DS Carter is investigating the seemingly random shooting deaths of an elderly couple at their remote farm.  Carter has a lot on his own plate - he's scheduled to leave the force and take another job with his ex-partner and friend investigating wildlife crimes.  The Viligante, Mitchell, comes to the aid of the wife of his deceased military operative friend when she calls him needing his help to find his missing daughter.  The Missing is that daughter, Toni, an 18-year-old.

When all these threads start coming together, you will not be able to put this book down!  Adding some needed light moments to the book are diversity issues in the police department.

6.25.2018 - All We Ever Wanted

Many thanks to NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and Emily Giffin for the opportunity to read her latest book - 5 stars!  I've always enjoyed Giffin's books before but this one takes a turn towards the more serious side of core values, class issues, and social media - very current in this #metoo climate.

Nina is living large in Nashville - she married Kirk who sold his tech company and is now uber-wealthy.  They enjoy galas, philanthropy, and want for nothing.  As does their son, Finch, a senior at Windsor, in an elite private high school, driving his own Mercedes SUV, and headed for Princeton.  However, one night causes her to change her views on her world and those in it.

Tom is living on the other side of the river in Nashville, a single dad raising Lyla alone after her mother took off.  A carpenter who makes extra money driving for Uber, Tom is thrilled with Lyla gets an academic scholarship to attend Windsor.

One drunken night and photograph from a party changes all their worlds.  What would we do for our children?  Are we teaching them the right things?

Great story - this would be a great book club selection especially for those raising teenagers.  Highly recommended!

6.23.2018 - Before and Again

Thanks so much to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Barbara Delinsky for the opportunity to read her latest book - a true winner!  I've been a big fan of Delinsky's books and this one will not disappoint.  4.5 stars!

Mackenzie Cooper was distracted for a moment, looking at her GPS, while driving her young daughter to a playdate when the unthinkable happened.  In that moment, she lost everything that she held dear.  She moved to a small town in Vermont to start over - a new name, a new job, a new life - and kept her past a secret.  She has a job she loves, doing makeup at a luxury spa in the area and sculpting with clay at a studio as her release.  Then a close friend's son gets into trouble for hacking and her friendship with his mom threatens to ruin her probation terms.

This is a great story that has lots of topics to consider - forgiveness, grief, family, media.  Very character driven - I couldn't put it down!

6.21.2018 - The Summer List

Many thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Graydon House, and Amy Mason Doan for the opportunity to read and review this book - 4.5 stars for this debut novel!

This is the story of two friends - Casey and Laura.  Laura grew up in a small lakeside town in California, adopted by much older parents.  Her mom was very religious and Laura didn't fit in at school.  Casey moves in across the lake with her free-spirit mother and the two girls become fast friends.  With Casey by her side, school is a different place and Casey's home life a refuge from her very different one.  Casey's mom, Alex, makes everything an adventure, including big scavenger hunts.  Laura falls in love with JB - a college boy who comes into town for the summers.  Laura and Casey make plans to live together in LA where they will all attend school.  Until one fateful night, when everything changes and Laura runs away from everyone. 

Fast forward and the former friends are in their 30s and they are still estranged.  Until an invitation shows up in Laura's mailbox from Casey asking her to come for a weekend for one last scavenger hunt.  The clues take them back to all their favorite haunts but lead to lots of unanswered questions and long-held secrets.

This was just a book to fall into - very well-written and going back in different time periods to eek out the story.  A great story about friendship, loyalty, secrets - it's all here.  Highly recommended and I can't wait to read more from this author!

6.20.2018 - A Steep Price

Many thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer, and Robert Dugoni for the opportunity to read and review his latest Tracy Crosswhite novel - loved it!  Reading this book was like getting reacquainted with old friends (well, okay, if your friends are Violent Crime detectives!).  You definitely need to read this entire series but even if you haven't, you could easily enjoy this book as a stand alone.

This book is basically two mysteries in one.  Tracy is drawn into a missing person case of a young Indian woman.  Kavita is smart, beautiful and on her way to medical school but is also estranged from her family who are pressuring her into an arranged marriage.  The other storyline involves Del and Faz investigating a mob-related police shooting of an unarmed man.  Meanwhile, Tracy is hiding her pregnancy from her fellow officers and contemplating her future with the Seattle Police Department.

Highly recommended - much to discuss in this book with the different traditional beliefs as well as current issues with police shootings.  Dugoni is just a great writer.  After The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell, which I loved, in addition to this Tracy Crosswhite series, I can only hope that Dugoni continues to put many stories to paper in the years to come!

6.19.2018 - Lost for Words Bookshop

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Stephanie Butland for the opportunity to read and review her book - absolutely loved it - 5 glowing stars!  This is why I love NetGalley - the opportunity to discover new authors - I want to go back and read everything Butland has written!

Loveday is a book person, definitely not a people person.  She is happy in her small flat in York, working for the eccentric Archie in his secondhand bookstore.  Something happened in her past to make her build a bubble around herself and not let anyone in too close.  But does someone know where she is now and is threatening to burst that bubble?

Told in Loveday's voice in different time periods to complete the tale, I fell hard into this book.  If you love books, people who love books (Loveday has tattoos of first lines of books meaningful to her), bookstores, all with a good mystery thrown in, this book is for you.  Highly recommended!  This book is out today so don't miss it!