A Psychological Thriller with a Twist

Faith Finley is a psychologist and a best selling author. Her books on how to deal with an abusive spouse have catapulted her to fame. She’s also married to Liam, a food critic. Their’s is a happy marriage until on the night of a release of one of her books, he disappears.

She’s been receiving receiving accusations and is upset that Liam is not instantly supportive, but she gives him space and on the night of her book release things seem much better. That’s why it’s such a shock when he disappears.

The police go through the motions of investigating, but Faith knows they don’t believe her. She tries to deal with her demons with alcohol and pills, but threats keep coming, and she’s not sure who to trust. She particularly wants to avoid her neighbor, Hilly Lancaster who has an unexpected tie to Liam. When the police don’t believe her and threatening notes continue, Faith has to try to find the answer to the mystery.

This mystery is full of twists. I didn’t see the end coming until it was almost on me. I didn't’ care for Fiaith’s character. She had reasons to distrust events, but her use of alcohol and pills to solve her problems seemed a poor choice.

The story is well written, and it will definitely keep you guessing.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

A Family Podcast Becomes a Sensation

The twins, Savannah and Thomas, lost their mother when they were thirteen. They live with Maggie, the eccentric and quite delightful grandmother. Maggie believes that everyone should have a voice and wants to expose the twins to many different people. She hosts dinners at her upscale home around her red table. At these dinners, the twins get to express their ideas and get to know people.

One sadness for the twins is that they don’t know who their father is. At one of Maggie’s dinners, the idea of doing a podcast to search for their father is born. The family produced podcast isn’t very successful, but when a professionally produced podcast replaces it, the family find themselves famous.

This is an enjoyable story of family. The twins are inquisitive and Maggie doesn’t hold them back, although sometimes she wonders about her decision. My favorite characters were Maggie and Savannah. Savannah grows through the story learning to express herself. Maggie is eccentric, but she loves the twins and wants the best for them. Thomas was harder to like. He acted arrogant and unpleasant through much of the story.

The story line in interesting, and I enjoyed the characters, but the pacing is slow. To enjoy this book you have to commit time to getting to know characters rather then fast paced action.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Ever since reading a book about the Bartholomew when she was a child, Jules has wanted to live there. Out of a job, heartbroken from a breakup with her boyfriend, and with no place to live, Jules answers an advertisement and is suddenly offered the chance to live in the Bartholomew as an apartment sitter. It seems too good to be true.

There are rules: no visitors, don’t post pictures on the internet, don’t speak to the tenants, and orphans are preferred. Jules hesitates over the rules, but the chance to live in the gorgeous building is too good to pass up. At first things seem perfect. She even makes a friend, Ingrid, another apartment sitter, but then things get creepy, Ingrid disappears, and Jules begins to look into the dark history of the building.

If you enjoy stories with a menacing background, this is a good one. The contrast between the luxury of the apartment and the uncomfortable feeling that begins to creep over Jules can be deliciously chilling. I liked Jules character. She was inquisitive and wasn’t afraid to follow clues even if they appeared to lead to something very dark.

The ending was not particularly surprising, but it was satisfying. You get hints of the real character of the building throughout, but it’s only at the end that all the secrets are revealed.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

Domestic Violence, Abuse, and a Serial Killer

Roxy, Mayhem’s mother, married poorly the second time. Lyle, a pastor, seemed like a good choice when he rescued them from a shelter, but he rapidly turned to violence. When things get too bad, Mayhem and Roxy head for Santa Maria where Roxy’s twin sister, Elle, runs the family home, Brayburn Farm.

In Santa Maria, Mayhem learns that her family are local celebrities, having started the town. She also learns that something is different about her. She befriends the children staying with Elle and together they discover a serial killer taking girls like Mayhem from the local beach.

The book has some good prose, but it also has flaws. The pace is slow and there are lots of supernatural stories. Mayhem is trying to figure out who she is and as the narrator, her personality infuses the narrative.

The setting in California in the 80’s is accurate. Kids were into beach parties and taking risks that perhaps they shouldn’t have. I found the descriptions well done and added substance to the novel.

One of the hard parts of the book is the description of abuse and violence. It provides the impetus for Mayhem’s personality and her searching for identity. The way she sticks with her mother although Roxy is addicted to pain killers and alcohol and has to detox is positive. However, in some ways the description of her life before Santa Maria is a bit over the top with violence and fear.

I received this book from St. Martin's Press for this review.

A Journalist Searches for a Famous Author

Bree Bennett is newly divorced with a difficult teenage daughter, Chloe. She needs something to do other than pilots and dealing with her daughter. As a former journalist, she’d like to find a subject that would get her back into the business.

Ward DeFleur is a famous novelist, who has been in hiding since the murder of her daughter Stevie. Unable to cope with the fallout from the savage murder, Ward is hiding in her beautiful estate. She refuses to write and doesn’t want publicity surrounding the tragedy.

Bree, however, is persistent and against the odds, she meets and becomes friends with Ward.

I found the book very uneven. The stage is set through phone conversations between Bree and her friend, Maggie. While interesting, they didn’t move the story for me. Once Bree starts working on her quest, the pace picks up and the story becomes more interesting, but the ending was rather a shock. It seemed to come our of nowhere.

I couldn’t warm up to Bree or Ward. They seemed like stock characters. Bree’s mother was more interesting and flamboyant, but she couldn’t carry the story. Chloe was a typical teen, but again the motivation was lacking.

Although the characters didn’t draw me, the plot was interesting and well paced until the ending.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

A Lady Author Accused of Murder

Lady Amy Lovell is unique in 1890. Not only is she a suffragette, she writes crime novels. She is also unmarried at twenty-four which upsets her father. When Mr. Ronald St. Vincent, asks for her hand, although they are hardly acquainted, she isn’t eager to accept. However, her father pushes her until she agrees.

When she receives an anonymous letter accusing her fiance of conducting illegal activities, she knows the engagement must end. She breaks with him, but then he arrives at her house in a tremendous state. She puts him in the library to calm down, since she is expecting Lord Wethington to arrive to loan her a book.

Before Wethington arrives, she reenters the library to find St. Vincent on the floor with a knife in his chest. Wethington arrives in time to notify the police and calm her hysterics, but the police quickly form the impression the she’s guilty. After all, she just ended her engagement. Since the authorities appear to be unwilling to pursue the case, Lady Amy enlists Lord Wethington to help her solve the case.

I thought this would be a book I would love. I enjoy historical mysteries and here was one with a lady sleuth who is also an author. Unfortunately, although the plot is interesting, the pace is slow with lots of repetitive actions by the main characters. The ending came with a twist, but again it wasn’t very surprising.

I liked Lord Wethington. He was a calm, intelligent person who tried to keep Lady Amy’s enthusiasm within bounds. I didn’t relate to Lady Amy. She seemed rather silly for a lady who was a suffragette as well as an author.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

A Mother and Child on the Run

Olivia, eight months pregnant and with her three-year-old Aaron, has been on the run for six months. She married her brother’s best friend. They were both soldiers, but when they came back from the war and joined a band or mercenaries they changed. Her husband was no longer interested in the family. He’d become more interested in money. When he was killed, Olivia became a target for the mercenaries including her own brother.

For six months, she’s felt safe, but one day on the way home from the church, she’s grabbed and forced into an alley. Luckily Ryker, an ex-soldier, has been watching her. He intervenes and convinces her that she has to run again. Although she doesn’t want to trust another soldier, Ryker begins to earn her trust.

This book is filled with suspense and violence from the first pages. It moves quickly and keeps your attention hoping Olivia and Ryker will escape. Although this is a romance, there are no sex scenes and there is an emphasis on Olivia’s religious background.

I liked Olivia. She’s a fighter. She’s been on her own for six months and had to fight off one attack on her life. She’s attracted to Ryker, but she doesn’t immediately fall into his arms. She’s cautious where she gives her love for a second time. Ryker is also a good character. He wants to take care of Olivia and has feeling for her, but he doesn’t push her.

If you enjoy a romance filled with action, this is a good one.

Wishing to Have Your Friend’s Life

Marie has always admired her friend Nina and wishes she had her life. It’s the life she wants for herself. When Nina dies of a terminal illness, she makes Marie promise to take care of her husband, Stuart, and her children, Felix and Emily. Marie enjoys being needed by Nina’s family. When her marriage comes apart, she moves to become even more central in their lives.

At first it seems Marie will have her heart’s desire. She can actually live Nina’s life, but Nina wasn’t perfect, and Marie discovers that she kept secrets. As Marie uncovers the secrets, she finds them entwined with her own life.

The story is told through Marie’s eyes. At times she seems to give the straight facts, but at others you wonder if she’s a faulty narrator. She a character I found hard to empathize with. In many ways, she seemed callous wanting to take over someone else’s life.

The story has many twists. Trying to figure out where the narrative was headed kept me reading. I admit I was surprised at the ending. I also found that I liked Marie less at the end. Her character didn’t improve for me.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, you may enjoy this one. It can hold your attention even if the characters are not compelling.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

Ex-Lovers Must Cooperate on a Business Project

Max Abbot and his sister Zora have been working for two years to convince their father, Duke Abbot head of King’s Finest Distillery, to open a line of fruit brandies. The fruit would come from the Bazemore orchards and would be a cooperative venture. Finally, Duke agrees to start the project. Max is pleased until he discovers that Quinn Bazemore, the grandaughter of the owner of Bazemore orchards, will be heading the project.

This is a problem for two reasons. Max doesn’t want the project he nurtured for two years being done by someone else. More important, Quinn and Max shared a summer romance when he was in college. He couldn’t trust his feelings and broke up with her. Now he sees the beautiful woman she has become and all the old feelings are awakening. Quinn is likewise drawn to Max, but she’s afraid of being hurt again and refuses to accept his apologies. Still the old pull is there.

I though Max and Quinn were realistic characters. They are strongly drawn to each other and are obviously right for each other, but each is having trouble getting over the past. I particularly liked the fact that both were loyal to their families and wanted the best for the business.

This is a fun book to read, if you enjoy sizzling romance.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

Police Search for a Missing Child

A.L. McKittridge is just back from vacation when his partner, Rena Morgan, calls to tell him they have a missing five-year-old. Her grandmother dropped her off at the daycare center, but neither the teacher in her classroom nor the director, who was filling in that morning, saw the child.

The disappearance of a child and the possibility of kidnapping have McKittridge and Rena working flat out to discover what happened, but they keep coming up empty. The conclusion is that someone must be lying, but who?

This is an excellent police procedural. The actions by the police are realistic. The main characters come alive as real people. There is just enough of the off duty background for McKittridge and Rena to make them real, but not enough to disrupt the police investigation.

The plot is fast-moving with plenty of twists. It’s hard to guess the ending, but satisfying when you get there.

This is the second book in the A.L. McKittridge series. It’s as good as the first book and promises that this series will be one of my favorites. If you like police procedurals, try this one.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

A May-December Romance

Because his mother needs help, Summer Hemlock returns to his hometown. He gets a job as a teaching assistant at his old prep school, Albin Academy. Being a scholarship student and shy, Summer never felt comfortable at the school. There was, however, one person he idolized. He had a serious crush on his psychology professor, Fox Iseya.

Professor Iseya is a stern enclosed man. He lost his wife when he was young, and since has kept his emotions under tight control. However, working closely with Summer and trying to help him overcome his anxiety, Fox begins to thaw and come to care deeply for the young man.

This is a male-male love story, but it’s told with sensitivity. Even more than just a romance, it is a story of moving beyond the past to find your true self. The story addresses difficult issues including the age difference of the main characters, the problem of a teacher falling for his assistant, and the problems of letting go of past behaviors.

The setting for the story is well done. I hope the series continues so that we can see more of Albin Academy. The characters are compelling. Throughout the story they are testing their feelings and growing into the people they want to become.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.