Category: book review

Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Jane Anonymous: A Novel by [Stolarz, Laurie Faria]

5 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books

Date of publication: January 7th, 2020

Genre: Young Adult

Where you can find Jane Anonymous: Barnes and Noble | Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Bestselling author Laurie Faria Stolarz returns with Jane Anonymous, a gripping tale of a seventeen-year-old girl’s kidnapping and her struggle to fit back into her life after she escapes.

Then, “Jane” was just your typical 17-year-old in a typical New England suburb getting ready to start her senior year. She had a part-time job she enjoyed, an awesome best friend, overbearing but loving parents, and a crush on a boy who was taking her to see her favorite band. She never would’ve imagined that in her town where nothing ever happens, a series of small coincidences would lead to a devastating turn of events that would forever change her life.

Now, it’s been three months since “Jane” escaped captivity and returned home. Three months of being that girl who was kidnapped, the girl who was held by a “monster.” Three months of writing down everything she remembered from those seven months locked up in that stark white room. But, what if everything you thought you knew―everything you thought you experienced―turned out to be a lie?

First Line:

Dear Reader(s),

Before ten months ago, I didn’t know that the coil spring from a mattress could be used as a makeshift weapon, or that the rod inside a toilet tank worked just as well as the claw of a hammer.

Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz

My Review:

I was intrigued when I read the blurb for Jane Anonymous. I have read plenty of books about kidnapping and the effects on the victims, so I thought I was ready for the book. Well, I was wrong. Jane Anonymous was one of the rawest, more emotional books that I have read to date.

The plotlines for Jane Anonymous are split into two sections. There is “Then” and “Now.” The pacing for each plotline is fast and well written. There is no lag, which was great and complimented the fast pace of the plotline. There were also no dropped characters.

I wanted to reach through my Kindle, grab Jane, and hug her. The author did a fantastic job of showing the difference in her. She was an outgoing girl with a fantastic view of life before her kidnapping. After her abduction, though, she was the opposite. The author didn’t make her magically healed and had her forget what happened to her. Instead, she had Jane struggle with being home. She also showed how Jane was affected by PTSD and anxiety. Again, there were tears on my end.

The “Then” part of the storyline was amazingly written. I liked reading how Jane kept her sanity during her captivity. The author did a fantastic job of showing how Jane was broken down by her kidnapper and then built back up. It was a perfect example of Stockholm Syndrome. But, my favorite part of this book was when she escaped. It was amazing!!

The “Now” part of the storyline broke my heart. Jane was so broken. She tries to recreate her room from when she was kidnapped. Jane kept to the award system that her kidnapper used. She refused to talk to someone because of how they treated her. She had to deal with people alternately praising her and talking about her behind her back. But, there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

The end of Jane Anonymous was terrific. I can’t get into it, but I was a blubbery, sobbing mess. It made me have hope for her too. I am for sure going to be looking out for more books by this author!!

I would give Jane Anonymous an Older Teen rating. There are no sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would reread Jane Anonymous. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

No Mercy (Ellery Hathaway: Book 2) by Joanna Schaffhausen

No Mercy: A Mystery (Ellery Hathaway Book 2) by [Schaffhausen, Joanna]

4 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books

Date of publication: January 15th, 2019

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Series: Ellery Hathaway

The Vanishing Season—Book 1 (Review Here)

No Mercy—Book 2

All the Best Lies—Book 3 (expected publication date: February 11th, 2020)

Where you can find No Mercy: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Police officer Ellery Hathaway and FBI profiler Reed Markham take on two difficult new cases in this stunning follow-up to The Vanishing Season.

No Mercy is award-winning author Joanna Schaffhausen’s heart-pounding second novel.

Police officer Ellery Hathaway is on involuntary leave from her job because she shot a murderer in cold blood and refuses to apologize for it. Forced into group therapy for victims of violent crime, Ellery immediately finds higher priorities than “getting in touch with her feelings.”

For one, she suspects a fellow group member may have helped to convict the wrong man for a deadly arson incident years ago. For another, Ellery finds herself in the desperate clutches of a woman who survived a brutal rape. He is still out there, this man with the Spider-Man-like ability to climb through bedroom windows, and his victim beseeches Ellery for help in capturing her attacker.

Ellery seeks advice from her friend, FBI profiler Reed Markham, who liberated her from a killer’s closet when she was a child. Reed remains drawn to this unpredictable woman, the one he rescued but couldn’t quite save. The trouble is, Reed is up for a potential big promotion, and his boss has just one condition for the new job—stay away from Ellery. Ellery ignores all the warnings. Instead, she starts digging around in everyone’s past but her own—a move that, at best, could put her out of work permanently, and at worst, could put her in the city morgue.

First Line:

You kill one guy, one time, and suddenly everyone thinks you need therapy, Ellery Hathaway thought as she stood in the biting wind of the subway T platform overlooking the icy Charles River.

My Review:

No Mercy’s plotline was simple. Ellery is on involuntary leave after killing the person who had kidnapped four people and killed them. She is also forced into group therapy for people who have survived violent crimes. Figuring that all she needs to do is show up, Ellery is soon drawn into two different crimes. One involves a woman who survived a brutal rape and is desperate for the rapist to be found. The other crime consists of a woman who lost her son in a fire set by an arsonist, 25 years ago. The man convicted for the crime has been paroled, and Ellery isn’t sure if he did it. Instead, she thinks that someone close to the family set the fire. So, what does Ellery do? She calls Reed and asks him for his help. Will Ellery be able to help the rape victim? And will she get to the bottom of the arson?

When I started reading No Mercy, I didn’t know what to expect, plotwise. Because it is book 2, I was expecting this to be more of a filler book. I was expecting the pacing of this book to be slower than The Vanishing Season. Then I started reading it, and all of those preconceived expectations were blown away. This book was not a filler book. The pacing of No Mercy was as fast as The Vanishing Season, if not faster. I did not expect that and loved it!!!

I loved Ellery in No Mercy. She was the same wiseass woman, but there was more of an edge to her. She didn’t hide who she was or what had happened to her. That did cause some minor issues in the book. What amazed me about her was her character growth during the book. Instead of holding people at arm’s length, she started slowly letting them in. She showed empathy towards Wendy. It was beautiful to watch, knowing that her past hindered her. I hope that in the next book, there is even more character growth.

I liked Reed in this book. I liked that the author made his character flawed. There were some parts of the book where I didn’t feel bad for him, though. Like when he made promises that he couldn’t keep (taking his daughter to Disney World) or when he kept missing visitations with her. Because he was with Ellery, helping her with those two cases. But, at the same time, it was evident that he loved his daughter. He did help Ellery with her two cases. His insights lead to some significant breaks in those cases.

The one thing that I wasn’t crazy about in this book was the romance scenes between Ellery and Reed. While it did add to Ellery’s recovery (remember she was sexually assaulted), I didn’t think it had a place in the book. I could have done without it.

The plotline with Wendy, the rape victim, was heartbreaking. To see a woman beaten down the way she was broke my heart. When she reached out to Ellery, she was nearing rock bottom. I did like how the author kept that storyline going without it intertwining with the main storyline. I do wish that there was a better ending. But, unfortunately, that ending of that plotline was all too realistic.

The plotline with Mayra and the fire was interesting. There were so many twists and turns that I genuinely didn’t know how it was going to turn out. The author had me choosing between 3 people as to who set the fire and guess what; it was neither!! I did like how she wrapped that plotline up.

No Mercy cannot be read as a standalone book. It would be best if you read The Vanishing Season before reading this book. I can’t stress this enough.

The end of No Mercy was exciting. There was a small secondary storyline about Reed and his biological mother that was intertwined with one about a family DNA test, what Reed finds out at the end of the book set up for book three perfectly. I can’t wait to read it!!

I would give No Mercy an Adult rating. There are sexual situations. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread No Mercy. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

The Vanishing Season (Ellery Hathaway: Book 1) by Joanna Schaffhausen

The Vanishing Season: A Mystery (Ellery Hathaway Book 1) by [Schaffhausen, Joanna]

4 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books

Date of publication: December 5th 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Series: Ellery Hathaway

Vanishing Season—Book 1

No Mercy—Book 2

All the Best Lies—Book 3 (expected publication date: February 11th, 2020)

Where you can find Vanishing Season: Barnes and Noble | Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She’s an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen in the grisly story of serial killer Francis Michael Coben. The only victim who lived.

When three people disappear from her town in three years, all around her birthday—the day she was kidnapped so long ago—Ellery fears someone knows her secret. Someone very dangerous. Her superiors dismiss her concerns, but Ellery knows the vanishing season is coming and anyone could be next. She contacts the one man she knows will believe her: the FBI agent who saved her from a killer’s closet all those years ago.

Agent Reed Markham made his name and fame on the back of the Coben case, but his fortunes have since turned. His marriage is in shambles, his bosses think he’s washed up, and worst of all, he blew a major investigation. When Ellery calls him, he can’t help but wonder: sure, he rescued her, but was she ever truly saved? His greatest triumph is Ellery’s waking nightmare, and now both of them are about to be sucked into the past, back to the case that made them…with a killer who can’t let go.

First Line:

It’s too dark to go out but too hot to sleep.

The Vanishing Season by Joanna Schaffhausen

My Review:

When I saw the blurb for The Vanishing Season, I was intrigued. The victim of a serial killer becomes a cop who then sees a coincidence when people go missing each year around her birthday. The book had me at that. Forget that a famous profiler got involved, I wanted to read about how Ellery was dealing with the aftermath of her trauma. And the author more than delivered!!

The Vanishing Season takes place in the town of Woodbury, Massachusetts. Ellery Hathaway, the only living victim of a sadistic serial killer, is a police officer there. Over the past three years, Ellery has noticed that a person has gone missing on her birthday. Suspecting a serial killer, she tries to get the chief to investigate and is written off. With days left until another person disappears, Ellery reaches out to the FBI agent who rescued her. Reed Markham. Can he help Ellery find the killer before he/she strikes again?

The plotline for The Vanishing Season was lightning fast, and it kept up that pace throughout the book. There was no lag, which was surprising considering how fast this book went. The author was able to keep my focus on the book for the entire book. Put it this way; I picked this book up at 9 am and finished it at 11 am.

I loved how the author portrayed Ellery’s character. It was Ellery that drew me to the book. I wanted to know, “How could someone live after being tortured like she was?”. I got my answer back tenfold. She had severe PTSD and couldn’t form attachments. But she managed to live a normal (if you could call that normal) life. I did want to smack her mother upside the head at points in the book. Your kid was kidnapped, sexually assaulted over and over, and tortured, yet you didn’t get her into therapy? That was a massive WTF from me.

I liked Reed. He was a washed-up version of the person he was when he rescued Ellery. I liked that he acknowledged that. I wasn’t too sure what to make of his dropping everything to help Ellery when she called. But I understood why he did it. He wanted to see how she turned out. He also understood the implications of the people missing on her birthday, and he believed her when she told him what was going on. The small sub storyline with his family did catch my interest.

The main storyline was well written. The author did a fantastic job of keeping how the killer was and why he/she was doing it under wraps. She had me thinking that it was several different people until the big reveal. I was surprised at who it was. I was also shocked at the twist in the plotline. I was not expecting it to go the way it did or what happened.

The end of The Vanishing Season wrapped up beautifully. There was enough left where I did wonder what the next book will be about. I can’t wait to read it!!

I would give The Vanishing Season an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The Vanishing Season. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Stranger in a Small Town (Door County: Book 3) by Margaret Watson

Stranger in a Small Town (Door County Book 3) by [Watson, Margaret]

4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: August 15th, 2019

Genre: Romance

Series: Door Country

Small-Town Secrets—Book 1 (review here)

Small-Town Family—Book 2 (review here)

Stranger in a Small Town—Book 3

Where you can find Stranger in a Small Town: Barnes and Noble | Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Seth Anderson arrives in Sturgeon Falls determined to prove two things — he never fathered a child, and Kat Macauley is a counterfeiter.

Fiercely protective, passionate and loving, Kat is not what he expected. Also unexpected are his growing feelings for her. To protect his investigation, he doesn’t tell Kat the whole truth. But as he unravels the crime, he has second thoughts about choosing a career over a family.

That won’t matter if Kat can’t forgive him for lying to her. Will his lies, and Kat’s doubts, make it impossible to create a new family?

First Line:

The woman on the bed stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

Stranger in a Small Town by Margaret Watson

My Review:

Stranger in a Small Town is the 3rd book in the Door County series. After reading the first two books, I knew that this book was going to be a good read. I wasn’t disappointed by what I read.

The plotline of Stranger in a Small Town was medium paced and well written. There were no dropped storylines or characters mysteriously disappearing, which added to my enjoyment of reading the book. There was a twist in the plotline that I should have seen coming.

While Stranger in a Small Town is book 3 in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone. But, and I stress but, if you want to understand the different family dynamics and relationships, then I suggest reading the books in order.

The storyline involving Seth, Kat, and Regan was heartbreaking. I liked that the author showed all angles of the story. From Seth’s disbelief to Kat’s anger to Regan’s confusion, it was real. I also liked that the author let Seth process that he had a daughter before starting things off with Kat. After the DNA test came back positive, then it was full steam ahead for the romance.

The secondary storyline with the counterfeit money/the pregnancy (because they are interconnected) was well written. The build-up to who was putting money in the safe box was excellent, as was who was counterfeiting the money. I was surprised by who it was. I didn’t see it coming at all. Talk about a twist.

The pregnancy storyline, which went at the same time as the counterfeiting one, was heartbreaking. It left me in tears. How the author wrapped, that storyline up was heart-wrenching.

I do wish that more information about Seth’s Secret Service service. I was intrigued by it. The author gave the barest glimpse into what he did, and that left me wanting more. It also explained why he was so hard to find when Regan’s mother tried to tell him that she was pregnant.

The romance between Seth and Kat took some time to build up. Kat had trust issues, and she kept lashing out at Seth. But, once those trust issues were gotten over, the romance was on its A Game. That led to some hot and heavy sex scenes.

The end of Stranger in a Small Town was intense. I couldn’t put the book down. I needed to see how the counterfeiting/pregnancy storyline was going to end. While I knew that Kat and Seth were going to have a HEA, I wanted to know how it was going to come about. And the epilogue!! It was a perfect ending to the series.

I would give Stranger in a Small Town an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I am on the fence if I would reread Stranger in a Small Town. I am also on the fence if I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

The Vanished Birds: A Novel by [Jimenez, Simon]

3 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Del Ray

Date of publication: January 14th 2020

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

Where you can find The Vanished Birds: Barnes and Noble | Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

A mysterious child lands in the care of a solitary woman, changing both of their lives forever in this captivating debut of connection across space and time.

“This is when your life begins.”

Nia Imani is a woman out of place and outside of time. Decades of travel through the stars are condensed into mere months for her, though the years continue to march steadily onward for everyone she has ever known. Her friends and lovers have aged past her; all she has left is work. Alone and adrift, she lives only for the next paycheck, until the day she meets a mysterious boy, fallen from the sky.

A boy, broken by his past.

The scarred child does not speak, his only form of communication the beautiful and haunting music he plays on an old wooden flute. Captured by his songs and their strange, immediate connection, Nia decides to take the boy in. And over years of starlit travel, these two outsiders discover in each other the things they lack. For him, a home, a place of love and safety. For her, an anchor to the world outside of herself.

For both of them, a family.

But Nia is not the only one who wants the boy. The past hungers for him, and when it catches up, it threatens to tear this makeshift family apart.

First Line:

He was born with an eleventh finger.

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez

My Review:

I was on the fence about reviewing The Vanished Birds. To make up my mind, I read the first four reviews on Goodreads. That is something I never do, but I was conflicted. The reviews were evenly conflicted about the book. So, I decided to take a chance on it. For the most part, it was a good book. But some parts made me wonder why they were written, even after finishing the book.

The Vanished Birds had a slow to a medium-paced plotline. When the book focused on Nia and her relationship with Ahro/their travels until he was 16, the book moved at a medium-paced. But, when the book focused on Fumiko Nakajima (past and present) and her travels, it slowed to a crawl. I will be honest; I skimmed over a large part of her story. I started paying attention when she was on the secret base and the events afterward.

I enjoyed reading about the type of space travel that Nia used to go between planets. It fascinated me. I couldn’t imagine being in space for what I would have thought would be a few months and to find out that 15 years have passed.

Nia was a tough cookie to like during the book. She made some questionable decisions that affected the people around her. Nia kept people are arm’s length. She did unbend, slightly, when she met Ahro. She unbent, even more, when Fumiko asked her to keep him safe for 15 years. But, I couldn’t quite bring myself to like her.

When Fumiko was introduced in The Vanished Birds, I didn’t understand what her role was. I mean, it was explained relatively early on that she was the founder of the colonies in space, and she invented the engine that allowed space travel. But I didn’t know why her backstory was being told. It didn’t go with the flow of Nia’s story. Even when her story was brought to the present, I still wondered: “Why?” I also wondered why she was so invested in Ahro. It was explained, and it didn’t show her in a good light.

I loved Ahro. I loved seeing his character growth throughout the book. I wasn’t prepared for what his secret was, though. I honestly thought that it had something to do with music and his affinity for it. So, when it was revealed, I was shocked. I loved watching his relationship with Nia and her crew grow, which made what happened and who caused it such a shock.

I do wish that more time had been spent on the times they visited the planets. There were so many locations!!! All exotic and all made me want more. But that didn’t happen.

I wasn’t a fan of the last half of the book. I had questions about what was going to happen to Nia and Ahro once the dust settles. I also had questions about Fumiko. I can only assume what happened to her. And then there is the question about where Ahro originally came from and who The Kind One was.

I would give The Vanished Birds an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I am on the fence if I would reread The Vanished Birds. I am also on the fence if I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Small Town Family (Door County: Book 2) by Margaret Watson

Small-Town Family (Door County Book 2) by [Watson, Margaret]

4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: 2019

Genre: Romance

Series: Door County

Small-Town Secrets—Book 1 (review here)

Small Town Family—Book 2

Stranger in a Small Town—Book 3

Where you can find Small Town Family: Barnes and Noble | Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Reporter Dylan Smith comes to Sturgeon Falls to find his father. He has only one lead – charter boat captain Charlotte Burns.

After a rocky childhood and disastrous marriage, Charlotte is wary and guarded. The charming reporter sets off all her alarms, but she can’t resist him.

His questions point to Gus, who was like a father to Charlotte. Knowing this could destroy Gus’s marriage, Charlotte’s caught between her loyalty to Gus and her growing feelings for Dylan.

Families come in all shapes and forms. Can Dylan and Charlotte create the bonds that make a family? Or will secrets tear them apart?

First Line:

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Small-Town Family by Margaret Watson

My Review:

As I was reading Small-Town Family, I realized, it has been a while since I have read any romance. Which is crazy since they are the books I like to read the most. I was super excited to start reading Small-Town Family.

Another reason why I was so excited to read this book was that I kept pushing it to the back burner, which I try not to do. When indie authors contact me, I try to make their book a priority. But, sometimes, life gets in the way – which is what happened here. When I rewrote my reading schedule (something I do 2-3 times a year), I made sure that all indie authors were first.

The plotline for Small-Town Family was surprisingly fast-moving. I wasn’t expecting this book to have a fast-moving plotline. I was expecting it to be slower. But, it was a pleasant surprise and fit with the storyline. There were no dropped characters or storylines, either. That made for a great read.

I thought that the main characters in Small-Town Family were well written. I liked that they weren’t “perfect.” Charlotte had issues with trust, and she had a temper. Dylan was secretive to the point that it interfered with his and Charlotte’s relationship. I liked that the author wrote those characters like that. It made for an exciting read.

The main storyline, Dylan’s search for his father, was well written. I did figure out early on in the book who Dylan’s father was. I was suspicious at first because, hey, it was too convenient. It wasn’t until Charlotte was talking to a specific character that my internal radar went “ding, ding, ding.”

The secondary storyline about the marina was exciting, but honestly, I was not too fond of it. I get why the author put it in the book. There needed to be a common ground for Charlotte and Dylan to bond over. I figured out what was going on the minute Charlotte’s boat was chartered. I wasn’t surprised when the bad guys were revealed.

The romance between Dylan and Charlotte was sweet, but man, it seemed to take forever to get there. Charlotte’s instant distrust of Dylan was a big drawback. But, once Charlotte decided to let Dylan in, my cup runneth over. I liked that Charlotte was the one who chose to let things move forward. That led to some pretty hot sex scenes.

The end of Small-Town Family was satisfying. I wasn’t sure if I liked how Dylan’s father was revealed or the anger that went along with it. I also think that what was asked of Charlotte was wrong. But it did work out in the end. Both storylines were wrapped up in a way that made me smile and do a fist pump.

I would give Small-Town Family an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Small-Town Family. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

Big Lies in a Small Town: A Novel by [Chamberlain, Diane]

4 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: January 14th, 2020

Genre: Women’s Fiction

Where you can find Big Lies in a Small Town: Barnes and Noble | Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher’s life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women’s Correctional Center. Her dream of a career in art is put on hold—until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.

North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn’t expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.

What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?

First Line:

The children knew it was finally spring, so although the air still held the nip of winter and the grass and weeds crunched beneath their feet, they ran through the fields and woods, yipping with the anticipation of warmer weather.

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain

My Review:

When I was approached to review Big Lies in a Small Town, I was a little hesitant to read it. I knew from reading the blurb that this was going to be a dual plotline book, which I am not a fan of. I also knew, from reading the book, that this was going to be an emotional read. I have to be in a certain mood to read a book that I knew was going to make me cry. I ended up accepting the review because I was curious. I wanted to know how the mural and Morgan were tied together.

Big Lies in a Small Town had two fast moving plotlines. I didn’t have an issue with following either plotline. What I liked, and what made the book enjoyable for me to read, was that the flow of the book wasn’t disturbed when going from 1940 and 2018. The author clearly marked those chapters with the names of Morgan or Anna at the beginning.

I had a hard time connecting with Morgan. Her attitude at the beginning wasn’t the best. But as the author got into her backstory, I understood why she acted that way. By the end of the book, I loved her. She was committed 100% to finding out what happened to Anna and to refinishing the mural. I liked that she was able to keep her head on straight during certain situations (the bar fight was one) and that she was able to admit that she had major issues. Her character grew so much during this book and it was wonderful to read.

I didn’t feel the same way about Anna. I liked Anna right from the beginning. She was determined to paint that mural the way she wanted it, not the way the influential men wanted it. I loved that she didn’t care if her friendship with Jesse was causing issues with the “good folk” in town. I also loved that she didn’t back down when Marvin Drapple’s wife and her friends were douchenozzles.

I do want to throw in a trigger warning. There is a somewhat graphic rape scene that ends with the death of the rapist. To be honest, it took me by surprise. I was not expecting it. I wasn’t expecting the aftermath either. What I was expecting was the blatant racism shown when it was in the 1940’s. It was the South. There were derogatory names used. There was the threat of violence (lynching was discussed). So, a warning.

There are a couple of twists in the plotline that took me by surprise. The first one involved Morgan and her release from jail. The other, well, it happened at the end of the book. I should have seen it coming but I didn’t. So, I was taken by surprise.

There was a romance angle to the book. I’m not sure if I like it or not. The only reason being what was happening in the other plotline. Both started about that time.

I learned more about art restoration than I ever wanted to know. I will admit, it was fascinating to read about how to do it. I never thought that much work went into restoring old paintings. But then again, until this book, I never had to think about that.

The end of Big Lies in a Small Town was bittersweet. The 2nd plot twist happened towards the very end of the book. Like I said above, I was taken by surprise. I shouldn’t have been. The very end of the book was a bit frustrating. Only because it ended and I wanted to see that meeting!!

I would give Big Lies in a Small Town an Adult rating. There is no sex (but an explicit rape scene). There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Big Lies in a Small Town. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

A Critical Tangent (Moonlight and Murder: Book 1) by Reily Garrett

A Critical Tangent: A Suspenseful Romantic Thriller (Moonlight and Murder Book 1) by [Garrett, Reily]

3.5 Stars (rounded up to 4 for major sites)

Publisher:

Date of publication: December 29th, 2019

Genre: Romance, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Series: Moonlight and Murder

A Critical Tangent—Book 1

Where you can find A Critical Tangent: Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Enter world where ignorance and darkness mask chaos and deceit.

Keiki’s focus on designing drones shatters one morning when her prototype records the murder of her friend. Captured video detailed the masked killer’s promise to find his witness and finish the job.

Experience has given her good reason to not trust cops, especially when they come knocking on her door. Their suspicions narrow when her roommate disappears without a trace.

Conflicting evidence at a brutal crime scene leaves gossamer threads weaving a complicated web of lies and deceit. Every lead Detective Garnett finds steers the investigation to a deeper, darker network entangling Keiki in a labyrinth of cunning subterfuge.

Garnett is torn between following the letter of the law and protecting the witness determined to clear her name. Can he earn Keiki’s trust in time to save her life, or will a psychotic killer destroy the woman who has demolished his emotional barriers?

First Line:

“Aw, Keiki, if I could find the fun button in your brain, I’d switch it to permanent on.”

Critical Tangent by Reily Garrett

My Review:

When I read the blurb for A Critical Tangent, my attention was caught. I have read very few books where drones have been made part of the plotline. Add in that the drones were part of a murder mystery, and I knew I needed to read the book. Add that it is romantic suspense, and I would have been a fool to turn this book down.

A Critical Tangent had a fast-moving plotline. I like the fast-moving plotline in these genres. My only fault with a fast-moving plotline is that sometimes there are dropped plotlines/characters. I didn’t find that in A Critical Tangent. But I did find that there were some interesting facts (that kept coming up) that would have made for a fantastic secondary storyline. There was a tiny bit of lag towards the middle of the book, but the author was able to bring the book back on track with no trouble.

I was not too fond of Keiki during the first half of the book. She was vehemently anti-police, held back vital information about the case, and was just an overall pain in the bottom to Coyote and Noah during the investigation. I did start to like her in the second half of the book. She didn’t quite do a 180, but she came close.

I liked Noah. I liked that he was able to look at both sides of the case and was able to make decisions based on the facts. I liked that he dealt with Coyote’s insinuations with a sense of humor (at times). I was a little put off that he treated Keiki like she was a kid. By the way, he acted, I was expecting him to be considerably older than her. So, when his age was revealed, I was surprised.

The romance angle of the book was very slight. In hindsight, I am glad that the author wrote it that way. If Keiki and Noah’s romance had been written any other form or introduced sooner in the book, it would have taken away from the main story.

I do want to include a trigger warning. There is a harrowing scene where Keiki and Gabby are being held together. Gabby confesses to Keiki that she has been repeatedly raped and beaten for information. It is a raw scene, and it is made even more so by what happens after Keiki escapes. There are also a couple of smaller scenes where the kidnappers (and Porter) talk about raping Gabby. So, if that triggers you, I would suggest either not reading this book or entirely skipping those scenes.

I was confused by the main plotline at first. While I understood that someone was after Keiki and her drones, I didn’t understand why. Even the small chapter with Gabby and Porter didn’t explain anything. It wasn’t until the middle, when Porter explains everything to Keiki, that it finally made sense. I wish that explanation had come sooner.

I will say that the whole drone/Porter storyline was interesting. My attention was caught when the drone was used to attack Keiki at the Fun Run. I also liked that the author explained everything, down to how they were made. Now Porter did freak me out. He knew things he shouldn’t, and he was gunning for Keiki. I will say that he got what was coming for him.

The end of A Critical Tangent was excellent. The author did a good job wrapping up all of the storylines. I was excited to see how Keiki and Noah ended up. I was also excited when there was a hint as to who the next book was about.

I would give A Critical Tangent an Adult rating. There is no sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread A Critical Tangent. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

The God Game by Danny Tobey

The God Game: A Novel by [Tobey, Danny]

4 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: January 7th, 2020

Genre: General Fiction

Where you can find The God Game: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

You are invited!
Come inside and play with G.O.D.
Bring your friends!
It’s fun!
But remember the rules. Win and ALL YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE.™ Lose, you die!

With those words, Charlie and his friends enter the G.O.D. Game, a video game run by underground hackers and controlled by a mysterious AI that believes it’s God. Through their phone-screens and high-tech glasses, the teens’ realities blur with a virtual world of creeping vines, smoldering torches, runes, glyphs, gods, and mythical creatures. When they accomplish a mission, the game rewards them with expensive tech, revenge on high-school tormentors, and cash flowing from ATMs. Slaying a hydra and drawing a bloody pentagram as payment to a Greek god seem harmless at first. Fun even.

But then the threatening messages start. Worship me. Obey me. Complete a mission, however cruel, or the game reveals their secrets and crushes their dreams. Tasks that seemed harmless at first take on deadly consequences. Mysterious packages show up at their homes. Shadowy figures start following them, appearing around corners, attacking them in parking garages. Who else is playing this game, and how far will they go to win?

And what of the game’s first promise: win, win big, lose, you die? Dying in a virtual world doesn’t really mean death in real life—does it?

As Charlie and his friends try to find a way out of the game, they realize they’ve been manipulated into a bigger web they can’t escape: an AI that learned its cruelty from watching us.

God is always watching, and He says when the game is done.

First Line:

The blue light of the computer screen was flickering on Charlie’s and Peter’s faces, making them look like astronauts lit by the cosmos.

The God Game by Danny Toby

My Review:

I know I start 99.9% of my reviews off like this, but the blurb caught my attention. I have read plenty of books that use gaming a part of their main plotline. I have also read plenty of books where a game is using people for its agenda. So, what was different about this blurb that caught my eye? It was the shiver of suspense that I got from reading it. I needed to know what the GOD game was and how it was played. I will say that this book did deliver on that shiver of suspense, and it added a massive dollop of thriller also.

The God Game’s plotline is super fast. The whole book takes place within a couple of weeks of Charlie and Peter starting the game. It was so fast that I did end up having to reread some chapters because I missed things. Usually, I would be annoyed by that. But in this case, I wasn’t.

The plot for The God Game centers around Charlie and his group of coding friends, “The Vindicators.” Charlie and Peter discover The G.O.D. Game on the dark web. Charlie initially didn’t want to play the game, but Peter talked him into doing it. The G.O.D. Game is augmented reality and to play, The Vindicators got special glasses to play. The game was fun at first. Well, if you call breaking into the school and painting bloody pentagrams first. Since this was a morality based game, each good action was rewarded to Goldz or different prizes. But, each adverse action was rewarded with Blaxx. Get enough Blaxx and terrible things happen. The Vindicators soon find out that there is no getting out of The G.O.D. Game. But Charlie isn’t deterred. He and his friends (well minus Peter) are determined to quit the game. Even if that means someone dies.

There is so much that I want to say about this book. But doing so will end up with me giving away major spoilers. And it’s driving me nuts!! I will say that the author did a fantastic job of keeping me glued to my Kindle. I started reading this at breakfast (after dropping my six-year-old at school), and I was finished by 11 am. It was that good.

I would give The God Game an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread The God Game. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Wager for a Lady’s Hand: A Lockhart Regency Romance by L.G. Rollins

Wager for a Lady's Hand: A Lockhart Sweet Regency Romance by [Rollins, L. G.]

4 Stars

Publisher:

Date of publication: December 26th, 2019

Genre: Romance

Where you can find Wager for a Lady’s Hand: Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

Forced into a betrothal with an abusive man, the only way out might be to beat her fiancé at his own game.

Miss Marianne Twisden knows her best chance at a safe and happy life is to marry a kind man and leave her violent father behind. When her father signs papers betrothing her to Lord Cockell—a cruel and even more violent blackguard—Marianne is desperate for a way out. Her new fiancé gives her one: if Marianne discredits Lord Sheldon Lockhart, England’s newest barrister, Cockell will release her from the marriage contract.

Lord Sheldon Lockhart is determined to rid his neighborhood of Cockell—a man who preys on gamble-hooked gentlemen by loaning them far more money than they could ever hope to repay and then extracting it mercilessly. What he didn’t expect was to fall for Cockell’s most beautiful victim, Miss Marianne.

The seemingly simple game becomes complex when a deep, abiding affection grows between Marianne and Sheldon. It is made all the more perilous when Cockell refuses to play by the rules. Strategizing together, Marianne and Sheldon must think several steps ahead if they ever hope to out-play their opponent and have a shot at victory and their own happily ever after.

First Line:

Lord Sheldon Lockhart, second son of the Marquess of Rampart, would not allow himself to be distracted tonight.

Wager for a Lady’s Hand by L.G. Rollins

My Review:

When I got the invite to review Wager for a Lady’s Hand, I was intrigued. See, I have read several books by the author, but they were all steampunk/fantasy/dystopian/paranormal/romance based books. So, to see a historical romance by her caught my attention. When I read the blurb, I was all in to read this book. I am glad that I did because this was a wonderful historical romance.

The plotline for Wager for a Lady’s Hand was fast-paced and well written. The author didn’t allow for two many secondary storylines, and in turn, allowed for a book that flowed well. There was some slight lag towards the end of the book. But the author was quick to get the book back on track.

I loved Marianne. She dealt with a lot during the book. But she wasn’t one of those heroines who screamed and fainted when it started getting tough. Instead, she came up with solutions to her problems. Her father drinks too much and starts to become abusive? She drugs him. She didn’t want to be married to Lord Cockell? She tries to bargain with him. The list could go on and on.

I did think that Sheldon was a bit clueless during the first half of the book. Not that I didn’t like him, he just didn’t put two and two together when it came to Marianne. I mean, if the woman I was interested showed up with bruises around her neck and on her arms, I would make it my business to find out what is going on. Which he did but not until the second half of the book.

The romance involving Sheldon and Marianne was sweet. I loved watching them fall in love. Even when Marianne was at her lowest, Sheldon was there for her.

I also loved that it was a clean romance. There was one kiss between Marianne and Sheldon, and that was at the end. It was refreshing. Don’t get me wrong; I like a raunchy romance as much as the next person. But sometimes a book doesn’t need that. And this one was.

There were a couple of things that I didn’t like about Wager for a Lady’s Hand. The first was there was never any explanation about who was supplying Lord Cockell with all of his information. If the author had gone more into that, it would have made for an interesting side story.

The other thing I didn’t like about Wager for a Lady’s Hand was that it got repetitive. By repetitive, I mean that Sheldon’s case and Marianne’s blackmail was addressed a lot during the book. It got to a point where I started skimming over those parts when it happened.

The end of Wager for a Lady’s Hand. It did end in a HEA. But, the lead up to the HEA was fantastic. Honestly, I couldn’t have written a better ending.

I would give Wager for a Lady’s Hand an Older Teen rating. There is no sex. There is no language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would reread Wager for a Lady’s Hand. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**