This is a weekly meme where anyone can choose and highlight a random book from their Goodreads TBR. This meme was formerly featured on LaurensPageTurners and was taken over by Budget Tales Book Blog.
Two Fates. Two Worlds. One Love.
Eighteen-year old Daria Jones feels trapped in the cow-strewn suburbs of Fresno, California. And with a father so overprotective he’s installed video and thermal surveillance down the street, she doesn’t get out much. Until the night he disappears.
Following the trail of notes he’s left behind, Daria gathers three things: a dark force is hunting her, her father’s fled to another world on a cryptic mission, and the only one left to trust is her ex-best friend, Alexander Anderson. The more she learns about her father’s absence, the more she realizes she must go to this other world to find him. And Alexander is the only one who knows how to get there.
Amidst a world of diabolical creatures, ancient magic, and bizarrely intuitive vegetation, Daria must find her father before the dark force finds her. But the truth of who she really is could be her greatest enemy of all.
Hannah McKinnon, the acclaimed author of the “charming and warm-hearted” ( PopSugar) The Summer House , returns with a fresh beach read about a group of outsiders threatening the status quo at an exclusive New England beach club.
Mayhaven is the best keep secret in Massachusetts. Tucked between old cedars and a spring-fed lake, the Mayhaven beach club has long been the ultimate escape to understated exclusivity. It’s the place where Darcy Birch is supposed to be experiencing the best summer of her life, but there are a few things standing in her way. Her high-strung mother won’t stop hovering over her, her father is consumed by his job as president of Mayhaven, where she works as a summer camp counselor and things are not as rosy as they seem, and her neurodivergent little brother is struggling to live with a measure of independence not everyone is ready for.
Then there is the matter of the new neighbors. Flick Creevy, his mother, and stepfather have arrived in town, parking their enormous RV, not to mention all-night music and clouds of marijuana, in the Birches’s perfectly landscaped backyard.
Flick is not interested in the perfect summer or the girl next door. Pushed to get a job at Mayhaven by his mother, who had her eyes on a new life for their family, his own eyes have been opened to the ways of the upper crust. Even though Mayhaven prides itself on being an inclusive association of good New England families with good New England values, the fact either you’re on the inside or the outside.
As the heat of summer increases, it’s soon clear that the members of Mayhaven will have to struggle to stay cool in this sharply written and refreshing new novel that is perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Jennifer Weiner.
First Line
He was not a religious man, but the quiet ritual of his morning walk through the empty clubhouse came might close.
Important details about The Summer Club
Pace: Medium
POV: 3rd person (Ned, Darcy, Flick, and one chapter from Adam)
Content/Trigger Guidance: The Summer Club contains themes that include eating disorders, sexual assault, sexual harassment, ableism, bullying, classism, anxiety, depression, alcohol consumption, and alcohol abuse.
Language:The Summer Club contains mild swearing and language that might offend some people.
Sexual Content: There is no sexual content in The Summer Club.
Setting: The Summer Club is set in Rockwood, Massachusetts
My Review
I don’t know about you guys, but I like it when I read a book set in my state. So, when I saw that The Summer Club was set in Massachusetts (where I grew up and lived until my late 30s), it was a given that I was going to read it. I didn’t even read that blurb-which I don’t recommend doing. Always read the blurb!!
The main storylines of The Summer Club are centered around three people: Ned, Flick, and Darcy. Ned is the manager of an exclusive lakeside country club. Darcy is Ned’s teenage daughter, who is harboring some pretty dark secrets. Flick moved in next door to Ned and Darcy. The storylines with the teenagers were well-written and well-paced.
I liked Flick. He was a good kid who didn’t ask to be moved from Flushing, New York, to rural Massachusetts. His sense of right and wrong came across strongly in the book. And that sense of right and wrong was heightened around Darcy. He could tell that something was wrong, and when he found out what happened to her, he did what any normal human being would do: he punched the idiot in the face. So yes, Flick was my favorite out of the three.
I also liked Darcy, but I pitied her. From the start, I knew that there was something hugely wrong with her. For her to give up a game (golf) that she loved and excelled at on a dime was a huge red flag. Add in all of her risky behaviors, and it was screaming that something traumatic happened. But I was surprised when the author revealed what had happened.
I liked Ned, but he was too wrapped up in work to even see the cracks going through his family. I did like seeing how his life was at work. He had to deal with some of the most moronic, idiotic, self-centered people that I have read to date. He rises to hero status towards the end of the book when he does what any father would have done once he finds out what happened to Darcy.
The end of The Summer Club was almost anticlimactic after everything went down. But, if things had ended differently, I wouldn’t have liked the book as much as I did. I enjoyed the epilogue from Ned, Flick, and Darcy’s perspectives.
Many thanks to Atria Books, Atria/Emily Bestler Books, NetGalley, and Hannah McKinnon for allowing me to read and review North Side Of The Grass. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoy reading books similar to The Summer Club, then you will enjoy these books:
The dead body found inside a hollow tree is identified as a student at the Gifted Elite School, the one Casper Decuir was sent to investigate and secure.
When another student is kidnapped, Casper and her psychic partner set out to find the killer, before he finds them. Spirits, shifters, and psychics come together to keep the other psychic students from the clutches of the local mob.
Murder, mystery, betrayal, and romance combine for an irresistible read.
First Line:
Gray light on the horizon yieled to early morning pinks, golds, and lavender while long shadow arms of bare tree limbs scraped and rattled against each other overhead.
Important details about North Side Of The Grass
Pace: Medium
POV:3rd person (Hailey, Casper)
Series: Book five in the Hailey Arquette Murder Files. It cannot be read as a standalone.
Content/Trigger Guidance: North Side Of The Grass contains themes that include bullying, classism, alcohol consumption, drugging, body horror, dead bodies, loss of autonomy, needles, physical injuries, grief, death of a friend, confinement, kidnapping, murder, attempted murder, physical assault, and chemical gassing.
Language:North Side Of The Grass contains mild swearing and language that might offend some people.
Sexual Content: There is mild sexual content in North Side Of The Grass.
Setting: North Side Of The Grass is set in Hamnet, Texas.
My Review
I had been eagerly waiting for North Side Of The Grass since it was hinted about at the end of Phantom Reunion. So, when the author requested a review, I immediately jumped on it. I am a vast Reily Garrett fan and couldn’t wait to see what she had in store for Casper and Hailey. I wasn’t disappointed.
North Side Of The Grass is the fifth book in the Hailey Arquette Murder Files. This book cannot be read as a stand alone. You must read the previous four books before starting this one. You also need to read The Guardians series before starting this one (honestly, I would start with her first series and go down the list. All her books are interconnected).
The main storyline of North Side Of The Grass is centered on Casper, Hailey, and their ongoing investigation of the Gifted school where Casper is a student. A psychic student had gone missing and was found murdered. That same student is pissed at Casper for dating her love interest and throws some wrenches into her murder investigation. But that quickly ends when another psychic student is kidnapped, and a plot involving the local mob and the rest of the psychic students at the school is uncovered.
The main storyline was well-written and fast-moving. I could barely catch a breath between Casper and Hailey’s investigations. The author also showed more of Casper’s interactions with her found family (more background is given if you read The Guardian series). I loved seeing Casper act like a normal kid instead of the phasing/fighting machine that she had been portrayed as in the other books.
More attention was paid to Casper and her shifter boyfriend’s relationship. Since he is a wolf shifter, he does have that alpha male air around him, and it comes out hardcore when Casper is around other males. I figured out what that meant early in the book, but I enjoyed watching him try to figure out how to let Casper know.
The storyline with the students and the mob was interesting. I liked that the author brought a character that nullified other psychic powers. I also liked that the kids (the students) had to work together to escape where they were being held prisoner. It wasn’t a right away meshing of like souls. There were some pretty snobby people in that group. But they all came together in the end to kick some bad guys’ butts.
I loved how the book ended. The author left the main storyline wide open and added to it with the disappearance of a character introduced in book four. I cannot wait to read book six and see where that one takes me!
Many thanks to Reily Garrett for allowing me to read and review North Side Of The Grass. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoy reading books similar to North Side Of The Grass, then you will enjoy these books:
For years, single father Toby Tucker has done his best to keep his sensitive young son, Luca, safe from the bigotry of the world. But when Toby marries Alyssa Wright—the granddaughter of a famed televangelist known for his grandiose, Old Testament preaching—he can’t imagine the world of religion, wealth, and hate that he and Luca are about to enter.
A trip to the Wright family’s compound in sun-scorched Texas soon turns hellish when Toby realizes that Alyssa and the rest of her brood might have some very strange plans for Toby and his son. The situation only grows worse when a freak storm cuts off the roads and the family patriarch is found murdered, stabbed through the heart on the roof of the family’s mansion.
Suspicion immediately turns to Toby, but when his son starts describing a spectral figure in a black suit lurking around the house with unfinished business in mind, Toby realizes this family has more than murder to be afraid of. And as the Wrights close in on Luca, no one is prepared for the lengths Toby will go in the fight to clear his name and protect his son.
First Line:
The knife slides free, the door clicks closed and here, at last, is the rain.
Important details about No Road Home
Pace: Fast
POV: 3rd person (mainly Toby, with a couple of chapters from Luca and Julian’s POV)
Content/Trigger Guidance: No Road Home contains themes that include bullying, classism, conversion therapy, homelessness, incest, pedophilia, grooming, sexual assault, child abuse, cheating, infidelity, addiction, anxiety, depression, dissociation, alcohol consumption, drug abuse, overdose, infertility, pregnancy, blood, gore, chronic illness, dead body, loss of autonomy, medical treatment, physical illness, cancer, death of a parent, death of a sibling, grief, suffocation, confinement, knife violence, murder, attempted murder, physical assault, gun violence, and flood. Please read carefully if any of these triggers you.
Language:No Road Home contains explicit swearing and language that might offend some people.
Sexual Content: There is no sexual content on page in No Road Home.
Setting: No Road Home is set in Hebron, Texas.
My Review:
When I read the blurb for No Road Home, it caught my attention. I have a strange fascination for evangelical preachers. I don’t know why; they have always fascinated me. Anyway, when I saw that the family of such a preacher was going to be featured, I was super interested to see how messed up they were (and the book didn’t disappoint). With the main character being a man who is parenting a queer child, I was also very interested in seeing how that was going to play into this book. I wasn’t disappointed. No Road Home had me glued to it until the wee hours of the morning.
The main storyline in No Road Home is centered on Toby, his son Luca, and the hellish couple of days he spends with his new wife’s family in Texas. This storyline was twisted. Actually, it was not twisted; it was knotted. Much was happening with and around this family, and the author took his sweet time revealing everything. But the same thing can be applied to Toby. A lot was happening internally with him, and his internal issues added extra depth.
The book gets off to a slow start, but it doesn’t stay slow for long. After Jerome is found killed, everything just snowballs. Throughout the storyline, one surprise after another is revealed, and each reveal explains a little more about Toby and the Wright family. By the end of the book, this storyline was blazing fast.
The relationships in No Road Home did make the book. I liked seeing how the author defined each and changed each relationship. The one that stood out the most to me was Luca and Toby’s relationship. That was pure love. Toby was willing to do whatever it took to shield Luca from bigotry in any form. He was also willing to do whatever it took to make sure that he and Luca left the property. The other relationship that stood out was weirdly Jerome and Cora. I can’t get into that relationship without massive spoilers, but it was similar to Toby and Luca’s….except that Cora did everything for the wrong reasons.
No Road Home is huge on secrets. Every character in this book either had a secret or knew one. I was overwhelmed when the author started revealing everything because it seemed all done simultaneously.
There were quite a few mysteries with some huge twists. The author does a good job of keeping them all under wraps. My biggest one was Willow and her connection to Toby and the Wright family. That was one of the biggest twists in the book. The other twists paled in comparison but still took my breath away.
There is a paranormal angle to the book that interested me. At first, I thought what Luca was talking about was a type of imaginary friend. But the more Luca spoke about it, and what Toby found on the roof, the more I figured out not only who but also what Luca befriended (and, weirdly,who was shielding him from the family).
I have so much more to discuss, but doing so would mean revealing spoilers, and I don’t want to do that.
The end of No Road Home was quick. I liked how the author explained everything and left no storyline open. I rarely end a book like this feeling satisfied, but in this case, I did. Everyone in this book, except the victim, got what they deserved. Why except the victim? He should have been kept alive to face the music with everyone else.
Many thanks to Atria Books, NetGalley, and John Fram for allowing me to read and review this ARC of No Road Home. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoy reading books similar to No Road Home, then you will enjoy these books:
In this steamy Regency romp, Lady Selina is determined to find the Duke of Stanhope the perfect wife―the only problem is she’s starting to think that might be her.
Peter Kent―newly inherited Duke of Stanhope and recently of New Orleans, Louisiana―must become respectable. Between his radical politics and the time he interrupted a minor royal wedding with a flock of sheep―not his fault!―he’s developed a scandalous reputation at odds with his goal of becoming guardian to his half siblings. For help, he turns to the cleverest and most managing woman of his acquaintance, Lady Selina Ravenscroft.
Selina is society’s most proper debutante, save one tiny secret: she runs an erotic circulating library for women. When Peter asks for her help, she suggests courtship and marriage to a lady of unimpeachable reputation. (Which is to say, definitely not herself.)
But matchmaking doesn’t go according to plan. Peter’s siblings run rampant on Bond Street. Selina ends up in the Serpentine. And worst of all, the scorching chemistry between Peter and Selina proves impossible to resist. For the disreputable duke and his unpredictable matchmaker, falling in love just might be the ultimate scandal.
First Line
Peter suspected the project was doomed.
Important details about Ne’er Duke Well
Pace: Medium
POV: 3rd person (Peter, Selina)
Content/Trigger Guidance: Ne’er Duke Well contains themes of child death, grief, fatphobia, misogyny, death of parent, abandonment, domestic abuse, sexism, slavery, terminal illness*, vomit, medical content, death, pregnancy, death of a sibling, and sex worker shaming. Please read carefully if any of these triggers you.
Terminal Illness—Peter’s half-brother died of consumption (tuberculosis) as a child.
Language:Ne’er Duke contains no swearing but does contain language* that might offend some people.
There are examples of era-typical sexism and misogyny throughout the book.
Sexual Content: There is graphic consensual sexual content in Ne’er Duke Well.
Setting: Ne’er Duke Well is set in 1815 London, England.
My Review:
I will be honest with you all. When I read the blurb for Ne’er Duke Well, I almost didn’t accept the widget. I was drowning in ARCs and barely getting ahead with my reviews (I often do this to myself). What ultimately made me accept was that I love Regency romances. I am glad that I accepted because this book was a good read.
The plot for Ne’er Duke Well was medium-paced and centered around Selina and Peter. I liked that Selina and Peter knew each other before the book started. Their gradual falling into love seemed like an obvious next step instead of being forced upon them.
The plot for Ne’er Duke Well was a dual plotline. One branch followed Selina and her running of the erotic circulation library. The other branch followed Peter as he fought to become his half-sibling’s legal guardian. In the middle of the book, both storylines merge, and that is when the chaos starts to happen. I loved it!!
The storyline with Selina was well-written. The evolution of the erotic circulating library had good roots. Selina’s best friend had found herself pregnant a couple of years earlier, and she did not know how it had happened. Selina took it upon herself to try to educate the ladies of the ton with this library. And, surprisingly, it took off. I wish I could have gotten more glimpses into the material used because it seemed very pornographic (from what Selina read). Selina did her best to keep her ownership of the library secret, but secrets have a way of coming out, and oh boy, did Selina’s.
The storyline with Peter was also well-written. He wanted to get custody of his siblings but got in the way of himself. He was a little scandalous (he said and did things that the proper British ton didn’t like), but he was a good person. But, and this comes up later in the book, Peter does have his demons. Those demons come out in full force when Freddy (hisbrother) becomes deathly ill. I felt awful for that poor man; he was terrified and was willing to do anything to keep Freddy alive.
Ne’er Duke Well has strong and memorable secondary characters. These characters added much-needed depth (and, insome situations, levity) to both storylines.
As stated in the blurb, the romance angle of Ne’er Duke Well was steamy. The author gradually builds up the sexual tension between Selina and Peter. By the time their wedding night comes around, everything explodes. And it keeps exploding with every sex scene. While the sex scenes were good, the relationship between Selina and Peter caught my attention. They were true partners and stood by each other’s sides during two critical scenes in the book. Selina was even willing to go as far as to annul the marriage so Peter would have a better chance of gaining custody of his brother and sister.
The end of Ne’er Duke Well was an HEA. I liked how the author resolved both storylines. I hope she writes more books in this universe. I am keen to see how various characters find their matches.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin, NetGalley, and Alexandra Vasti for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Ne’er Duke Well. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoy reading books similar to Ne’er Duke Well, then you will enjoy these books:
As much as I hate to do this, I am making a post dedicated to the books I have read in the past month but haven’t reviewed. I cannot catch up with my reviews and keep falling further behind.
Just to be warned, this will be a lengthy post. So, I understand if you can’t or won’t read it. But I need to do this for my sanity (and my NetGalley rating).
This is the second P.J. Tracy book I have read, and she is quickly becoming one of my favorite mystery writers. City of Secrets was a well-written mystery that kept me on my toes. While I did guess what would happen and what would happen (to an extent), I was completely surprised by the ending. I am eagerly looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
I wasn’t sure if I would like The Slowest Burn when I started reading it. But that first chapter, when Ellie and Kiernan met in person, interested me. The deeper I got into the book and Kiernan and Ellie’s lives, the more attached I got. They each were dealing with so much: Kiernan with his addiction issues, ADHD, and that he will never measure up to what his parents want. For Ellie, it was dealing with her husband’s death and managing her mother-in-law’s grief. By the end of the book, I was alternately sobbing (Kiernan had the most beautiful things to say to Ellie) and laughing my ass off.
I am a huge Sound of Music fan but I never considered that the musical that I loved (well, still love) was based on something true. When I got the widget for Maria, I figured that this was going to be a creative interpretation of the film. Well, color me surprised when I did a quick Google search and found out that Maria Van Trapp was real, as were the events surrounding her escape. I shouldn’t have been surprised because writers have taken liberties with factual events since, well, forever. Reading this book was eye-opening; from Maria’s viewpoint and the viewpoint of the secretary, she told the “true” story, too.
I was very excited when I got the widget for this book. I love supernatural romances, and the blurb caught my interest. Well, that excitement turned to disappointment as I read the book. I didn’t like the characters, and the storyline alternated between one that could have been good (Cassie’s magic) and werewolf porn. If the author had chosen one, I would have been good (and yes, I am down for a good werewolf porn book). But she didn’t, and I couldn’t get into it.
I will admit I was a little hesitant to read this book. I love Shakespeare (I have read all the plays, can quote sonnets, etc.), and I wasn’t sure if I would like the author’s theory. But once I started reading the book (and googling while reading), I enjoyed it. Told from dual POVs (Melina and Elena), this is a wonderfully written book. Melina wasn’t likable, but I understand why she acted the way she did. Elena couldn’t make many choices in her life, and she fought for everything she got. The dual storyline complemented each other and showcased Melina’s strengths and weaknesses. This ended up being a delightful and eye-opening book.
I was interested in this book when I saw that it was centered around a road trip across the South and that the roadtrippers would visit significant Jewish historical sights. But it was more than that. It is a story about healing, letting go, and discovering that the one you were meant to be with is right in front of you the whole time. I loved it. The author explored Nia and Jade’s relationship (friendship to lovers). She also explored Nia and Jade’s friendship with Michal (the letters made me cry). And then there was Jade and Jonah’s (Jade’s brother and Michal’s boyfriend during her last cancer battle) very strained relationship. Add in some very interesting stops and a carsick dog, and I found this book delightful.
The Bitter Past is the first book in the Porter Beck series. Taking place in Nevada (in dual timelines), the book follows a KGB spy trying to infiltrate the nuclear program in the desert. It also follows, 60 years later, Sherriff Porter Beck’s investigation into a gruesome murder of a retired FBI agent. Each storyline was well written and kept me on my toes. The author tied the two storylines in an explosive reveal that I didn’t see coming.
Tehlor Kay Mejia is becoming one of my favorite queer authors. They write characters that have depth to them and that I, as a reader, can’t help but connect to. Cash Delgado is Living the Dream fits into that category. I loved watching Cash slowly start to realize that she was queer and that she had feelings for her best friend, Inez. She also had the most adorable daughter and an amazing community that closed ranks when a new bar came into town and threatened to close down the bar she worked at. I am eagerly awaiting her next book.
Shades of Mercy is the second book in the Porter Beck series. It takes place a few months after the events in The Bitter Past. Beck is brought into an investigation where his close friend had a prize bull killed by a drone that had been hacked. This book had it all. I did find the plotline a little over the top (the Chinese secret agent angle was a little over the top). But, it didn’t affect how I liked the book.
The Debutantes is a horror/mystery book that is set in New Orleans. It is centered around three debutantes who are looking into the disappearance of their friend and, by default, into the murder of another friend the past year. I was a little “meh” about this book for most of it. I did enjoy the storyline (the girls looking into Lily disappearance and Margot’s murder). But once it turned down the path of a powerful, secret, woman hating society that controls everything, I started to turn down the “meh” path. The ending was a very typical ending for this genre. But there was a neat twist that did take me by surprise.
Death by Misadventure is the 18th book in the Lady Emily Mystery. This is a dual storyline book with two very interesting storylines. The first storyline follows Lady Emily as she is invited to visit the mountain house of a friend of a friend in the Bavarian Alps. While there, the annoying husband of the hosts daughter is targeted by a series of mishaps. But, when the daughter is murdered and a snowstorm cutting off access to the nearest town, it is up to Lady Emily and her husband to solve the murder. In the other storyline, a talented young singer, Niels, becomes the close friend (and soon more) of the “Mad” King Ludwig. His time with King Ludwig is magical but Niels has responsibilities at home. There was a point in the book where I wondered how these two storylines were connected. My questions were answered at the end of the book. The author explains everything, in heartbreaking detail.
Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.
As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.
Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons’ investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.
Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie’s sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie’s sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories.
Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months—for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.
First Line:
The drive from Emilie Wendall’s house in Milton, Ohio, to Bernhelm Forest outside Louisville took a good two and a half hours.
Important details about The Lost Story
Pace: Fast
POV: 1st person (The Narrator), 3rd person (Emilie, Rafe, Jeremy)
Content/Trigger Guidance: The Lost Story contains themes that include homophobia, child abuse, physical abuse, domestic abuse, kidnapping, violence, alcoholism, death of parent, death, emotional abuse, hate crime, mental illness, physical abuse, abandonment, violence, injury, injury detail, panic attack/disorders, grief, medical content, suicide, bullying, drug use, addiction, terminal illness, blood, war, cancer, and trafficking.
Language:The Lost Story contains mild swearing and language that might offend some people.
Sexual Content: There is mild sexual content in The Lost Story.
Setting: Dead Tired is set in West Virginia and the fictional country of Shanandoah.
My Review
I was very excited when I saw that Meg Shaffer had a new book coming out. I loved The WishingGame and was very curious about The Lost Story. So, when Random House sent me a widget, I jumped on it. I didn’t even read the synopsis. I hit accept and then downloaded so fast that I think it might have confused my computer (there was a pause).
Because I was so excited about this book, I went into reading it with a little trepidation. I have been burned in the past by being excited and then the book not living up to my expectations. Well, TheLost Story did live up to my expectations and then some.
The main storyline of The Lost Story follows Emilie, Jeremy, and Rafe on their quest to find out what happened fifteen years earlier and what happened to Emilie’s older sister (she disappeared in the same forest a couple of years before the boys went missing). The storyline was well-written and well-fleshed out. But, I was getting frustrated by what I thought at the time was a lack of information or insight into Jeremy and Rafe’s past. That frustration lasted until they found Shanandoah again and Jeremy could explain everything to Rafe. And when I say everything, I mean everything. I’m not going to say much past that because of spoilers.
Every so often (usually when things get serious), the Narrator interrupts and explains situations or gives humorous outtakes of what is happening. Usually, I wouldn’t say I like the shift in POV or character, but in this case, it worked. I giggled over some of the things the Narrator said or alluded to. Of course, the Narrator’s identity is revealed at the end of the book; honestly, I wasn’t shocked at who it was. I had my suspicions, and the reveal confirmed them.
The Lost Story touches upon some heavy topics (suicide, drug use, child abuse) throughout the book. The author handled those topics with grace. I was also very thankful that only a little detail (other than what happened the night Jeremy and Rafe disappeared) was given.
The main characters brought so much to this book—Emilie, with her determination to hire Jeremy to look for her sister. Jeremy was the stable one whose line of work exposed him to the horrors of missing children, teens, and adults. And Rafe, well, he was damaged, and the author wasn’t afraid to show it.
The fantasy angle of the book was terrific. This book was inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia, and it showed. Everything in Shanandoah was vivid and looked like a child had created it. Because of how vividly the author described it, I would have been happy with just a book set in Shanandoah.
The romance/LGBTQ angle was perfect. I won’t go into it except to say that I loved how the author wrote the love story. It was heartbreaking, poignant, and heartwarming all at once.
The end of The Lost Story brought tears to my eyes. The author brought closure to many of the storylines but left some open. It made me wonder if another book would be written in this world, and the end certainly made it seem that way.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books, NetGalley, and Meg Shaffer for allowing me to read and review this ARC of The Lost Story. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoy reading books similar to The Lost Story, then you will enjoy these books:
The newest, riveting summer suspense by the author of The Block Party, Jamie Day.
The Precipice is a legendary, family-owned hotel on the rocky coast of Maine. With the recent passing of their father, the Bishop sisters—Iris, Vicki, and Faith—have come for the weekend to claim it. But with a hurricane looming and each of the Bishop sisters harboring dangerous secrets, there’s murder in the air—and not everyone who checks into the Precipice will be checking out.
Each sister wants what is rightfully hers, and in the mix is the Precipe’s nineteen-year-old chambermaid Charley Kelley: smart, resilient, older than her years, and in desperate straits.
The arrival of the Bishop sisters could spell disaster for Charley. Will they close the hotel? Fire her? Discover her habit of pilfering from guests? Or even worse, learn that she’s using a guest room to hide a woman on the run.
With razor-sharp wit, heart, thrills, and twists, Jamie Day delivers a unique brand of SUMMERTIME SUSPENSE.
First Line:
The power flickers on and off, as if the hotel is taking a dying gasp.
Important details about One Big Happy Family
Pace: Fast
POV: 1st person (Charley), 3rd person (Iris, Vicki, Faith, Bree)
Content/Trigger Guidance: One Big Happy Family contains themes containing murder, drug abuse, drug use*, addiction, sexual assault, sexual harassment, mental illness, car accident, eating disorder, gun violence, infertility, infidelity, violence, dementia, death of a parent, cancer*, pregnancy, classism, dubious consent scenarios*, adoption, cheating, child abuse, foster care, anxiety & anxiety attacks, substance addiction, involuntary pregnancy, blood, dead bodies, death from falling, grief & loss depiction, blackmail, attempted murder, poisoning, and hurricane. Please read carefully if any of these triggers you.
Drug Use—Charley’s mother and Iris were both drug addicts. Charley’s mother died from an overdose, and Iris talked about how hard it was to stay sober.
Cancer—Bree’s mother died from cancer caused by HPV.
Dubious Consent Scenarios—Bree’s mother was pressured into having a sexual relationship with George. It is later explained that he did that to numerous maids.
Language:One Big Happy Family contains moderate swearing and language that might offend some people.
Sexual Content: There is mild sexual content in One Big Happy Familly. The nonconsensual sexual content was not graphic, but enough was left unsaid to paint a picture of what happened.
Setting: One Big Happy Family is set in Jonesport, Maine.
My Review:
I was very excited when I saw that Jamie Day was publishing a new book. I had read her debut novel, Block Party, and liked it. I couldn’t wait to jump right in and read it. After reading it, I liked the book but was disappointed by it.
My disappointment was with how flat this book felt to me. I was expecting a more fleshed-out book that had layers to it. Don’t get me wrong, this book had layers. But unraveling one layer and going to the next became exhausting to read.
Other than Charley, the other characters in the book weren’t as fleshed out as they should have been. The dynamic between the sisters seemed forced and a little over the top at times. They were also flat. The author attempted to give them depth (and of the three, Faith had the most depth, in my eyes), but it wasn’t enough. Even Oliver, who was on the spectrum or neurodivergent and spoke in rhymes, was flat.
Don’t get me wrong—the book wasn’t that bad, and I will discuss the good parts after this paragraph. However, the lack of depth in the storyline and characters did bring it down in my eyes. Also, remember that this is her second book, and I haven’t met an author yet whose second book does as well as their debut novels.
So, with that said, let’s move on to the good.
I enjoyed the storyline and the secondary storylines that supported it. I felt they were well written, and some details gave additional insight into how the Bishop sisters’ relationship evolved. Significant trauma in their home life influenced how they turned out as adults. I’m not making excuses for them, but I didn’t see anyone walking away from their home life and being an emotionally healthy, stable adult.
Charley’s backstory was awful. She lived through so much in her life. She was devoted to her Nana and worked herself to the bone to cover the nursing home’s rent. The scenes with Nana broke my heart. Dementia is not an easy thing to happen to your loved one, and the author did hit the nail on the head. There is a twist to her storyline that made me so upset and so angry for her. All I have to say is thank goodness for Bree. If Bree hadn’t done what she did (to repay Charley’s kindness), what was happening would still be going on, with Charley none the wiser.
The mystery angle of the book was terrific. The author had me all twisted in knots trying to figure out who killed Todd and Ms. Black. The author brings in a paranormal angle to the mystery with Holly and Oliver. But I found that a bit distracting. The author also layered the mysteries. It also added to the overall suspense and tension of the situation (stuck at the hotel due to a hurricane). Believe me when I say that all the secrets are revealed. I was surprised at the twist with Todd’s murder, but, at the same time, it made sense (considering what was revealed later on). But the biggest reveal happens at the end of the book. Not only did the author reveal who Ms. Black’s killer was, but she also revealed another colossal surprise that, honestly, I should have seen coming.
The end of One Big Happy Family was anticlimactic. I can’t tell you what happened (spoilers), but everything made me a little let down.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, NetGalley, and Jamie Day for allowing me to read and review this ARC of One BigHappy Family. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoy reading books similar to One Big Happy Family, then you will enjoy these books:
Liz Lewis has tried everything to be what people want, but she’s always been labeled different in the boisterous world of wilderness expeditions. Her marriage to popular adventure guide Tobin Renner-Lewis is a sinkhole of toxic positivity where she’s the only one saying no.
When she gets mistaken for a server at her own thirtieth birthday party,Liz vows to stop playing a minor character in her own life. The (incredibly well-researched and scientific) plan? A crash course in confidence . . . via an improv comedy class. The catch? She’s terrible at it, and the only person willing to practice with her is a certain extroverted wilderness guide who seems dead set on saving their marriage.
But as Liz and Tobin get closer again, she’s forced to confront all the reasons they didn’t work the first time, along with her growing suspicion that her social awkwardness might mean something deeper. Liz must learn improv’s most important lesson—“Yes, and”—or she’ll have to choose between the love she always wanted and the dreams that got away.
Brimming with heart and heat, Rules for Second Chances explores the hardest relationship question of all: can true love happen twice . . . with the same person?
First Line:
The first minute of my thirtieth birthday party is everyone I want it to be.
Important details about Rules for Second Chances
Pace: Medium
POV:1st person (Liz)
Content/Trigger Guidance: Rules for Second Changes contains themes that include parental neglect, abandonment, anti-autistic bias, needles, medication, lost child, lost pet, childbirth, ableism, misogyny, sexism, gaslighting, toxic relationship, infidelity, emotional abuse, anxiety, anxiety attacks, depression, alcohol consumption, and animal injury. Please read carefully if these trigger you.
Language:Rules for Second Changes contains mild swearing and language that might offend some people.
Sexual Content: There is moderate sexual content in Rules for Second Chances.
Setting: Rules for Second Chances is set in Grey Tusk, British Columbia, Canada.
My Review
I was not expecting how this book would feel when I accepted the widget the publisher sent me. I had read the blurb and thought this would be quick and easy. Yeah, that wasn’t the case. Put it this way: I was a teary mess as the book ended. Since I read at night, that woke my husband up, and I tried to explain what set me off.
The main storyline for Rules for Second Chances is centered on Liz. When the book starts, Liz is hurrying to her thirtieth birthday party, which is thrown for her by her very popular, extroverted husband, Tobin. Liz loses her shit when a guest mistakes her for a server at her party. It pushes Liz to realize that she must take control of her life. And her way of doing that? Joining an improv class run by her husband’s best friend and asking Tobin for a divorce. Realizing she is terrible at improv, Liz decides to ask Tobin to help her practice. As she and Tobin grow closer, Liz begins to think that her social awkwardness might have a more profound meaning. Will she fold with pressure mounting at the wilderness guide company they both work for and in Liz’s personal life? Or will Liz roll with the punches, like improv has taught her? And most importantly, will she be able to save her marriage?
I started this book not liking Liz. The author didn’t give a lot of background to her. She worked with Tobin at the same wilderness guide company but was extremely socially awkward and insecure. But my dislike of her didn’t even last through the first chapter. The author made it almost painfully clear that Liz, for most of her life, was made to feel like she was a spectator in her own life. I loved seeing her character grow throughout the book. By the end of the book, she went from this mousy person who hated confrontation to this self-assured woman. It took Liz a lot of work to get where she was at the end of the book, but it was worth the journey.
Tobin was quickly my favorite character in Rules for Second Chances. He loved Liz and was willing to do anything to fix their marriage (the Little Mermaid scene will be forever etched into my brain). I liked that Tobin wasn’t as confident as he was made out to be. I also liked that he owned his mistakes and that, during one crucial scene, he was willing to let Liz go—because it would make her happy.
I did have characters I didn’t like, but I will touch on two because they were the most prevalent. I was not fond of Tobin’s father and Liz’s older sister. I was furious with both during different parts of the book. Tobin’s father was a piece of work (he was a piece of shit who managed to help ruin their wedding and an anniversary dinner). But Liz’s sister took home the award for the biggest asshole to date. She had her suspicions about Liz having autism, but instead of talking to Liz about it, she sat on it. It wasn’t in a normal conversation when she decided to tell Liz her suspicions. Instead, it was blurted out in an argument, which made it somewhat worse for Liz to hear. The author did attempt to have Liz’s sister redeem herself towards the end of the book. But Tobin’s father jetted and was only mentioned once or twice after that scene.
I loved the secondary storyline that revolved around the improv group and the self-help book. Those were some of the funniest scenes in the book, but they were also some of the most heartbreaking.
I liked how the author handled Liz’s journey through her autism diagnosis. The author’s forward explains that she wrote Liz’s character and autism journey to the best of her ability and that Liz doesn’t portray every adult autism diagnosis.
The end of Rules for Second Chances was terrific. I loved how the author ended things for Tobin and Liz. It was the perfect ending for this book!!
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin, NetGalley, and Maggie North for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Rules for Second Chances. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
If you enjoy reading books similar to Rules for Second Chances, then you will enjoy these books:
When an heiress goes missing, her best friend races to unravel the secrets behind her disappearance using clues left behind in an explosive manuscript…
Gia and Abby have been best friends since they were girls, forever bonded by the tragedy that unfolded in Greece when they were eighteen. In the aftermath, bookish Abby threw herself into her studies while heiress Gia chronicled the events of that fateful summer in a salacious memoir.
Twelve years later, Gia is back in Greece for the summer with her shiny new husband and a motley crew of glamorous guests, preparing to sell the family estate in the wake of her father’s death. When Abby receives an invitation from Gia to celebrate her birthday in September beneath the Northern Lights, she’s thrilled to be granted the time off from her high-pressure job. But the day of her flight, she receives a mysterious, threatening email in her inbox, and when she and Gia’s brother Benny arrive at the Swedish resort, Gia isn’t there. After days of cryptic messages and unanswered calls, Abby and Benny are worried enough to fly to Greece to check on her.
Only, when they arrive, they find Gia’s beachfront estate eerily deserted, the sole clue to her whereabouts a manuscript she wrote detailing the events leading up to her disappearance. The pages reveal the dark truth about Gia’s provocative new marriage and the dirty secrets of the guests they entertained with fizzy champagne under the hot Mediterranean sun. As tensions rise, Gia feels less and less safe in her own home. But the pages end abruptly, leaving Abby and Benny with more questions than answers.
Where is Gia now? And, more importantly, will they find her before it’s too late?
First Line
The night before Hugo Torres’s funeral, a cheetah escaped it’s enclosure at the Bronx Zoo and devoured a warthog.
Ladykiller by Katherine Wood
Important details about Ladykiller
Pace: Fast
POV: 1st person (Abby and Gia)
Ladykiller contains themes of infidelity, toxic relationships, gaslighting, toxic friendship, alcohol, death,drug use, emotional abuse, blood, and the death of a parent. Please read carefully if any of these triggers you.
Language:Ladykiller contains moderate to explicit swearing and language that might offend some people.
Sexual Content: There is explicit sexual content in Ladykiller.
Setting: Ladykiller is set in Greece, Sweden, New York, and California.
My Review:
Thrillers are one of my favorite genres to read (romance is my top genre), so I try to accept any and all requests that end up in my inbox. So, I didn’t hesitate when Random House sent me the invite for Ladykiller. I was taken in by the blurb and the cover (which is gorgeous). But now that I have finished the book, I am slightly disappointed.
There are two interconnected storylines in Ladykiller. The first centers on Gia and is told through a manuscript. The second storyline centers on Abby (and later Benny) and their search for Gia. Both storylines merge towards the end of the book. That merger and the events afterward made me go from really liking the book to feeling “meh” about it.
The storyline centered on Gia was interesting to read. The author provided a lot of information in those chapters of the manuscript. Gia came across as very trusting and, if I dare say it, a little naive. But that notion was blown away when she caught onto her husband’s duplicity. The end of her storyline was left up in the air, and I honestly didn’t know what to believe by the end of the book.
The storyline that centered on Abby was more straightforward than Gia’s. Abby seemed to be a straight shooter. But, after Sweden, there was something different about her. Her secrets ate her alive, and Greece was the center of everything. I found Abby boring. She wavered with her feelings for Benny. Her friendship with Gia was like a remora (right from the book), and I wish that she had taken the advice she was given.
As I said above, when the two storylines merge, I started to feel “meh” about the book. There was no lead into Gia’s disappearance nor clues as to where she could be. I also didn’t believe that everyone in that house disappeared without a trace or that the local authorities would let an outsider take over the investigation. I could have dealt with that and with not knowing who to believe. I would have been happy with the author’s half, no, and semi-explanations. But the epilogue made me go from “good book” to “meh.” It was too much.
The mystery angle of Ladykiller was truly that—a mystery. Because Gia was unreliable and her manuscript embellished, I had a hard time believing her story. I also had a hard time believing Abby’s story once both twists were revealed. Yes, there are two twists, and both I did see coming.
The end of Ladykiller was interesting. The author wrapped up one storyline but left the other storylines wide open. In a way, it is genius. I will never know what the real truth is, only what Abby precieves is the truth. And I don’t even believe that.
Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam, NetGalley, and Katherine Wood for allowing me to read and review this ARC of Ladykiller. All opinions stated in this review are mine.
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Escape Into Reading 