5.1.2025 - Hello, Juliet

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer | Amazon Publishing for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by a favorite, Samantha M. Bailey.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars rounded up!

Ivy Westcott had her 15 minutes of fame as a casemate of the popular TV show, Hello, Juliet.  But that bubble popped quickly after a viral video caused her career to implode; only to have a documentary a decade later cement her fall.  But she's hopeful that a top-secret reunion episode can reunite her with her friends and give her and her mom financial security.  But the show has been haunted by secrets from the beginning.

This is a very binge-worthy book - I just wanted to sit and read until that explosive end that I sure didn't see coming.  Told in Ive's voice in dual timelines, we characters you just can't quite trust, yet each felt real and fleshed out.  You could feel Ivy's angst about just not fitting in or being good enough, but desperate to make it in Hollywood.  Bailey uses mixed media to show us just how quickly social media is ready to exploit all our flaws.  It's suspenseful and twisty.   Go into this one as blind as possible and enjoy the ride - it's a good one!

5.1.2025 - The Staircase in the Woods

 

Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House | Del Ray for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest thriller by Chuck Wendig.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

Five high school friends are bonded by an oath to protect one another no matter what.  Then, on a camping trip in the middle of the forest, they find something a mysterious staircase to nowhere.  One friend walks up—and never comes back down. Then the staircase disappears.  Twenty years later, the staircase has reappeared. Now the group returns to find the lost boy—and what lies beyond the staircase in the woods. 

This is a creepy, suspenseful story, weaving past and present timelines together so that we get a hint of how this group of friends finds themselves in a similar situation once again.  None of the characters are real likeable but that doesn’t mean you won’t be cheering for them; they are products of their pasts like we all are.  I loved some of the comparisons between a body and a house, what each absorbs, what each takes and gives.  A story that explores friendship and family, mixed in with a supernatural mystery.

4.30.2025 - Cold Burn

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press | Minotaur Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the next in the National Parks Thriller series by AJ Landau.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

We connect back with National Park Service special Agent Michael Walker who is called in to investigate a missing geological survey team in Alaska.  In the Florida Everglades, FBI special investigator Gina Delgado is investigating the murder of an environmental science intern.  Add in a frozen wooly mammoth and a strange contagion causing people to freeze from the inside out and you have the markings of a thriller!

I enjoyed reading about the latest adventures of this duo, even though they were working in separate areas.  There's a lot going on here, but Landau skillfully weaves everything together, including themes of climate control and conspiracy.  As in the first book, I like the snippets of National Park trivia between chapters.  The story is fast-paced and tense, and you'll be rooting for the good guys.  Hope there's more to come in this series!

4.29.2025 - How to Seal Your Own Fate

 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for gifting me a digital ARC for the second book in the Castle Knoll Files series by Kristen Perrin.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

We are reunited with characters from the first book (a must read!) as Annie tries to solve a decades old murder that took place in Castle Knoll.  In present day, Annie crosses paths with Peony Lane, a fortune teller, who shares a cryptic message.  In 1967, teenager Frances is caught between two men – Ford, from a very wealthy family, and Archie, who lives above the village pub and can’t seem to hold down a job.  Frances teams up with Archie to investigate a car accident that claimed the lives of Ford’s family, and things become very interwoven.  

I adored the first book in this series and was delighted to spend time with these characters again.  We hear from Annie in the present and Frances through her diaries.  I do have to say that the murder plot became a bit confusing to me, especially at the end, and you need to pay attention to the timelines to keep the characters straight.  But minor quibbles in a thoroughly engaging murder mystery with great characters.  Fingers crossed for more in this series!

4.29.2025 - The Road to Tender Hearts

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House | Ballantine Books for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest book by Annie Hartnett.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 5 stars!

PJ Halliday’s life hasn’t turned out like he thought.  His marriage fell apart after the sudden death of their oldest daughter, he’s mostly estranged from his younger daughter, Sophie, and he’s pretty much spent his million-dollar lottery win on alcohol.  He comes across an obituary and realizes his high school sweetheart is now single.  He decides he’s going to drive from Massachusetts to her retirement home in Arizona to win back her heart.  But before he can leave, a tragedy leaves 2 young kids in his care.  He expands his road trip plans to include them and Sophie, along with Pancakes, a former nursing home therapy cat with a knack of predicting death.

I’m a huge fan of Hartnett’s books, and this one is so wonderful!  Full of darkly comedic humor about some heavy subjects, the characters once again shine.  They are flawed, broken, but still remain hopeful that better things can happen; they will all break your heart and mend it back.  I felt emotionally invested in all of them and their stories.  Plus, who doesn’t love a crazy road trip?  Highly recommended!

4.28.2025 - Such a Good Mom

 

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this novel by Julia Spiro, with the audiobook perfectly narrated by Abigail Reno.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Brynn should be on top of the world - she has a new baby, a devoted husband, a career she enjoys, and life on Martha's Vineyard.  But she's struggling.  Her husband seems distant and new motherhood is hard.  When a family friend is found dead and her husband accused of the crime, Brynn's life is really turned upside down.

I loved this story of a new mom, struggling with all that entails.  Nothing in her life is as it was before – not her relationship with her husband, not her body, not her work.  She doesn’t trust herself enough to know who she can trust, even her husband..  You could feel Brynn's struggles and doubts about herself and those around her.  I liked the look into all that goes into the label of being a good mom, mostly how we as women judge ourselves and our own moms.  

4.28.2025 - Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng

 

Many thanks to NetGalley, MIRA and Harlequin Trade Publishers | Harlequin Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this novel by Kylie Lee Baker, with the audiobook perfectly narrated by Natalie Naudus.  All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner—but the bloody messes don't bother her, not when she's already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister being pushed in front of a train. The killer was never caught, and Cora is still haunted by his last words: "bat eater."  After a series of unexplained killings in Chinatown, Cora believes someone might be targeting East Asian women, and something might be targeting Cora herself.

Horrifying in so many ways, brutally honest in others, all wrapped up in a novel that is not for the faint of heart, but one that will open your eyes.  Covid brought so many of us to our knees, but the Asian Americans were subjected to that as well as all the racism and blame for the virus.  Add a cultural ghost story and a murder mystery into the mix, perfectly executed, and this book is a winner.  I loved Cora’s circle of found family - Yifei and Harvey – who were there for each other until the end.  This is dark but has so many important themes.  Don’t miss the author’s note at the end.