Nowhere by Allison Gunn

 

My thoughts

It has been a minute since I read a horror story. This one is definitely on the horror side. It kept me on the edge in quite a few places and in tears in a few. And oh boy that ending. The ending was perfect. 

Great job by this author on her debut novel. Very well written and told. It certainly wasn't what I expected. Though at this point I'm not sure what I did expect. It said it was in the horror genre. It was and more. 

When the Kennan's moved to the very small town of Dahlmouth they had high hopes. Happy times and relaxing days was what they had hoped for. But when a horrific accident changes their lives nothing will ever be ok again. 

Rachel Kennan is the police chief. She works way to hard and has put her family on hold in many ways. It seems she hates her husband now. He was driving the vehicle that crashed and caused their young son to perish. He has been drinking. She could not seem to move past the feelings she had. She never talked about the accident or their son. She loved their three children but after losing one she just wasn't there for the other two, both girls, like she should have been. It was her way of coping.

Finn Kennan had been a writer. He takes care of the children while his wife works. Though he hasn't written a thing since the accident. He hates the town and seems like he thinks he's way better than the people who live there. And they know it. They've read things he has written about them. They do not like him very much either.

The Kennan's have two daughters Charlie and Lucy. One is thirteen and the other only six. When things get bad in the town these two are at the heart of it all. What happens to the children is beyond belief. At least from the Sheriff. Chief Kennan tries to tell him what she thinks but he will not listen or help. Children are going missing. What is happening in this small town. Who is responsible for this.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It had a lot going on but was so easy to follow. Well written and descriptions that take you right to the heart of what is happening. I felt so many things reading this book. I had high hopes for Rachel and Finn. I actually rooted for them to make it. It was a breath holding experience for sure.

Thank you #NetGalley, #AtriaBooks, for this ARC.

Five big stars.

About

Mare of Easttown meets The Outsider in this spine-tingling and twisty debut about a series of disappearances in a small, fundamentalist town and what one broken family must do to remain together as dark forces close in.

After losing her young son in an accident, Rachel Kennan throws herself into her career as police chief of a small Virginia town to avoid focusing on her grief. Meanwhile, her husband, Finn, a washed-up writer whose alcoholism led to the devastating tragedy that changed everything, struggles to redeem himself before his family completely falls apart. Their two daughters are the only things keeping Rachel and Finn together, but the girls have demons of their own.

At the same time, a disturbing crime rocks their tightknit, religious community, sending Rachel chasing leads in a place that does not take kindly to outsiders. When an ominous force in the forest starts calling to the children, fear spawns hate among the townspeople, placing the Kennan family directly in the line of fire. Left with no choice but to rely on each other, Rachel and Finn must come together to face threats inside and out.

A haunting family saga and a disquieting horror debut, Nowhere draws from Appalachian folklore to caution us that true terror is what we bury in our own hearts.

The River Knows Your Name by Kelly Mustian

 

My thoughts

This is my first book by this author. I did go get a copy of her previous one, The Girls In The Stilt House, after reading this one though. 

Main characters: Nell, Evie, Hazel and Becca. There are a few more that play a big part in this story but these four will steal your heart by the end of this book.

This book is at the top of my favorites list. It will definitely be in my top twelve at the end of the year. I highly recommend this book. It's heartbreaking, beautiful, loving, hold your breath good. It will immerse you into a world of a mother's love. Another mother's need for control. And another mother's survival while allowing her child to live. To survive. To be free. It's just one you truly will not forget and will not want to put down. 

This book had be just a bit confused at first. Trying to see where it was headed. Trying to figure out what each part was about. How they would come together. They came together in a way that had me in tears. Some happy tears and just a few sad tears. This author knows how to capture your heart. How to make you feel what a true mother's love is...

Told in two timelines and different POVs throughout. You get to know each character and what they go through. How they feel about each other. The fears they have. The love of sisters who are not true blood sisters but sisters of the heart. Of mother's. Mothers in ways that only a true mother knows. Even if not by blood. How they survive and keep each other safe. 

There are a few characters in this story and it's fairly easy to keep them separate. To know who is who and what each has going on. How friends help even without knowing it sometimes. To be there for someone when it truly counts. The loss of a child. Not in death but in life. How a mother can go on knowing she did what was best. Even after she has lost everything else. Not knowing if she will ever see her baby again. Proof that your child is always your baby even when they are all grown and have their own family. In some cases anyway. 

This is one of those books that you don't want to say a lot about what happened because you certainly don't want to give anything away. But it also is one that shows how much you have to trust people sometimes. How the most desperate of times make you do things you never thought you could. Or would.

A masterpiece in my opinion. A book with such depth and feeling. Do not miss this one.

Thank you #NetGalley, #SourcebooksLandmark, for this ARC. 

About

From the acclaimed author of The Girls in the Stilt House comes a long-awaited novel both atmospheric and lyrical, a haunting Southern story about memory, family secrets, and fierce and fragile love.

For nearly thirty years, Nell has kept a childhood promise to never reveal what she and Evie found tucked inside a copy of Jane Eyre in their mother's bookcase—a record of Evie's birth naming a stranger as her mother. But lately, Nell has been haunted by hazy memories of their early life in Mississippi, years their reclusive mother, Hazel, has kept shrouded in secrecy. Evie recalls nothing before their house on Clay Mountain in North Carolina, but Nell remembers abrupt moves, odd accommodations, and the rainy night a man in a dark coat and a hat pulled low climbed their porch steps with a very little girl—Evie—then left without her.

In dual storylines, Nell, forty-two in 1971, reaches into the past to uncover dangerous, long-buried secrets, and Becca, a young mother in the early 1930s, presses ahead, each moving toward 1934, the catastrophic year that would forever link them. 

From a windswept ghost town long forgotten, to a river house in notorious Natchez Under-the-Hill, to a moody nightclub stage, Evie's other mother emerges from the shadows of Depression-era Mississippi in a story of hardship and perseverance, of betrayal and trust, and of unexpected redemption in a world in which the lines between heroes and culprits are not always clearly drawn. 

I Would Die For You by Sandie Jones

 

My thougths

Wow! Just WOW! I thought this was such a good book. A thriller that kept me guessing and turning the pages. It had everything I love about a good thriller.

Nicole has had secrets she kept from her husband. Big secrets but ones that I didn't think were all that bad. Yes she should have told him. But what could he have done about it? If she had told what would have changed? Maybe she would have felt better. Maybe she would have been more relaxed. But still.. Why open that can of worms now?

When Nicole and Brad's daughter Hannah goes missing they are in a panic. Of course they are. She's an eight year old child. Who would do this and why? When Hannah is found safe and sound she tells them that it was her aunt that had taken her. Supposedly Nicole had given permission but she knows that she didn't. She knows that there is no way she would have done this. Brad has no sister and, well, Nicole's sister died twenty-five years ago. Right?

This story goes back and forth between two timelines. Back in 1986 when you get to know Nicole and her younger sister Cassie. How close they were. How they would do almost anything for each other. Until Cassie falls for a singer in one of the biggest bands in England. She is convinced that they have something special. That he, Ben, loves her. But Nicole is not so sure. She knows Ben and she herself is in love with him. What could possibly go wrong with this situation?

Then you jump ahead to 2010 and get to know Nicole after the fact. She doesn't want to lose the life she has. She's living in the US now and has put so much distance between her and her past. Just wanting to move on with her life. But someone has different ideas. A stranger comes to see her and asks questions about what happened back then. In 1986. Who was to blame for it? Nicole has a lot of explaining to do. Hoping that Brad will understand why she never told him about her life before.

I throughly enjoyed this book. It kept me wanting to read to find out who the killer was and why. Though I did expect it to be another character who actually died. The way the author wrote it was perfect and that ending. WOW... I didn't see that coming. I felt so sorry for Nicole and wanted her to come out on top. For her family to stay intact. For her life to go on as usual. Sometimes we don't get what we want. Sometimes we do.

Thank you #NetGalley, #StMartinsPress, @MacMillanAudio, for this ARC.

Excellent story. Strong audio. The narrator did such a good job. Made the characters come to life. I loved both the book and the audio.

About

Now: Nicole Forbes lives a quiet life in a small seaside Californian town with her husband and daughter. She is not expecting a writer to knock on her door asking for her personal insight into the downfall of the biggest British band of the 1980s—unveiling the threads of a life she put behind her years ago. The same day, her daughter goes missing and the school claims her aunt picked her up . . . but she doesn’t have an aunt. Convinced of a link between the two, Nicole is forced to revisit long-abandoned memories from her past to protect everything she now holds dear.

1986: Sixteen-year-old Cassie is obsessed with the hottest band in London, Secret Oktober. Harboring an intense crush on the leading man, Ben Edwards, she will do anything she can to capture his attention among the throngs of groupies at the band’s scandalous backstage parties. But when Ben discovers her older sister Nicole singing at a local bar one night, he can’t help but feel drawn to her, setting in motion a collision course that could tear their family apart.

Infused with the sounds of the 80s, this thrilling new novel from the inimitable Sandie Jones will captivate her readers, as she explores what the frenzy of fandom can lead to in this shocking blockbuster. 

Gothictown by Emily Carpenter

 

My thoughts

This was a wonderful book. Emily Carpenter has done a great job of pulling me in and making my day. This is such a good book. From start to finish. Not holds barred. 

When Billie is at the lowest in her life she receives an email that will change her life. Not just her life but her husband Peter and their daughter Mere's lives also. Billie is at a point where she needs a drastic change. Her restaurant has closed due to the pandemic and her mother moved off to join a cult. Things are not going good for her. Her husband is a therapist who can easily work from home, and anywhere.

This family move from NY to GA and start a fresh life. The email that Billie received was from a town called Juliana. Juliana, GA it seems is a small town and you can buy a home for only a hundred dollars. She can own a new restaurant and have plenty of land for a garden and for her daughter to be able to run and play without worries. In Juliana, GA there is no crime. Everyone gets along for the most part. And it's easy to get what you need to do whatever it is you are doing. They barter with each other a lot. 

But there is also secrets in this small town. Deadly secrets. Things that have happened over the years that the founding fathers believe have made the town prosper and thrive. Seems you can do or have almost anything in Juliana if you know the right person. But there are secrets.... Deadly secrets... Be warned.

This was a very exciting read for me. From start to finish I enjoyed it. It made me hold my breath in a few places. Cringe a lot and I did shed some series tears too. 

If something seems to good to be true run from it. Run fast and hard.

Thank you #NetGalley, #Kensington, #rbMedia, for this ARC. 

Five big stars from me.

About

A restaurateur lured by pandemic-era incentives moves her family to a seemingly idyllic town in Georgia.

The email message that lands in Billie Hope’s inbox seems like a gift from the universe. For $100 she can purchase a spacious Victorian home in Juliana, Georgia, a small town eager to boost its economy in the wake of the pandemic. She can leave behind her cramped New York City rental and some painful memories. Plus she’ll get a business grant to open a new restaurant in a charming riverside community laden with opportunity.

After some phone calls and one hurried visit, Billie and her husband and daughter are officially part of the "Juliana Initiative." The town is everything promised, and between settling into her lavish home and starting a new restaurant, Billie is busy enough to dismiss misgivings.

Yet those misgivings grow. There’s something about Juliana, something off-kilter and menacing beneath its famous Southern hospitality. No matter how much Billie longed for her family to come here, she’s starting to wonder how, and whether, they’ll ever leave.  

Hiding In Plain View by Marcel Clarke

 

Synopsis

Hiding in Plain View is a gripping tale of resilience, redemption, and self-discovery. Entrepreneur, community advocate, and YouTube host Marcel Clarke shares his extraordinary journey from struggle to success, proving that adversity can be the catalyst for transformation.

Born in the streets of Philadelphia, Marcel honed his fearlessness and resourcefulness early on—skills that would later shape his path. But when his father’s poor choices thrust him into poverty, anger and uncertainty took hold. A chance encounter led him from suburban comfort to the dangerous world of drug dealing, forcing him into a relentless battle between survival and ambition.

Yet, his past did not define him. Determined to rewrite his story, Marcel found strength in faith, discipline, and a vision for a better future. His journey from the depths of hardship to entrepreneurship and financial success is both a cautionary tale and an inspiring roadmap for those seeking purpose and prosperity.

More than a memoir, Hiding in Plain View is a testament to the power of resilience and self-belief. Marcel’s story proves that no matter the obstacles, the power to rise above and forge a new destiny lies within.

Author bio:

Marcel Clarke, a serial entrepreneur from Philadelphia, transformed adversity into ambition. At 15, he overheard his family planning his life insurance policy, convinced he wouldn't live past 21. Instead of succumbing to their expectations, he used their doubts as motivation to redefine his future.

Translating street-learned skills—leadership, sales, marketing, and strategic thinking—into academia, he earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Strayer University and an M.A. in Organizational Communications from Bowie State University.

Today, Clarke's portfolio spans real estate development, commercial cleaning, stock market and cryptocurrency investments, and joint ventures.

Website: https://www.marcelclarke.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcelclarke_

Author Marketing Experts:

X: @Bookgal

Instagram: @therealbookgal

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ZNS3mG

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/222448325-hiding-in-plain-view

Trigger Warning: This book contains mature themes, including strong language, depictions of violence, substance use, and references to challenging life circumstances. Reader discretion is advised, particularly for those sensitive to these topics.

The Spanish Daughter by Soraya M. Lane

 

My thoughts

Book 6 in The Lost Daughters series and each seems better than the last. Though I'm sure I could go back and read anyone of the previous and feel the same. 

This book is set mainly in Argentina. Both in the late 1930s and partly present day. It's also set in England in present day. 

A story of a girl and boy who loved each other for many years. They were in their early teens when they feel head over heels in love even though they both knew her mother would never allow it. Would never approve. 

A story of a young women who recently lost her mother. She had lost her grandmother the previous year and felt so alone. Then she received a box from a lawyer with clues to a past she had no idea about. And a fortune that she certainly never knew about. It was in Argentina. A sprawling ranch filled with so much beauty and history. And her heritage that she had no idea existed until now. 

Rose travels to Argentina and meets Benjamin. Benjamin has always been a part of this area. His father and his father before him worked for the Santiago family. Benjamin's great grandfather had at one time loved Valentina Santiago more than anything. But it seemed their love was not meant to last. Rose uncovers so much during her time in Argentina and she finds a love story of her own. 

What happens to Valentina in this story was so sad. Her whole life seemed to be set before it ever had a chance to start. Her mother was a cruel woman. Her step brother was selfish in every way. Valentina lived a full life and was kind beyond words. She loved some from afar and others close and personal. But my heart wept for her. For her and Felipe. For a child that had to be given up. And for what might have been.

Ms Lane takes us into this story filled with so much love, loss, and tragedy to find what was and what could have been. To a family torn apart after a tragic death. To a young lady who is stronger than she thought. To one who took on her family when she had nothing left to lose. I rooted for her strongly.

Well done. Loved the characters. This story developed perfectly and both love stories keep you on your toes. This book will make your heart ache and bring tears to your eyes. It will also give you hope and a knew belief in things. It was just that good.

Thank you #NetGalley, #Bookouture, for this ARC.

About

Argentina, 1939: “My darling Valentina, I beg you to not go through with this marriage. I know your duty to your family means the world to you, but I pray our love means more. Let us run away together, and never be parted again…”

London, Present day. Rose once thought she was alone in the world, having just lost her beloved mother a few months ago. So, when she is presented with a mysterious box containing a small figure of a horse, a scrap of glittering silk and the hope of a lost family being found, Rose will stop at nothing to find them.

When her search takes her to a sprawling and luxurious estate in Argentina, where the best polo horses in the world were once raised, Rose wonders if she’s mistaken. But when she meets a charming local, Benjamin, he takes her by the hand and encourages her to rediscover her roots.

As they spend long sunlit days riding horses, and cosy evenings eating dinner with his family, Rose wonders how she will ever return to the grey skies back home. But then she discovers a heart-wrenching story of two forbidden of a wilful Spanish heiress and a hardworking stable hand, ripped apart by an arranged marriage and one of the largest inheritances in the country, which intertwines Rose and Benjamin’s families in ways she could never have imagined.

As Benjamin’s family grow wary of the stranger in their home dredging up the pain of the past, Rose finds herself at a crossroads. Will her great-grandmother’s story give her the courage to fly in the face of convention and follow her heart? Or will she too have to give up the one she loves most to heal family ties…

A heartbreaking and page-turning novel about following your heart and never giving up love. Perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore, Lucinda Riley and Victoria Hislop. This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone. 

The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry

 

My thoughts

This author has never disappointed me. Her books always take me away from the crazy things going on. To an adventure that I keep close to my heart. This book was exceptional. The prose was beautiful and the fact that it is about a girl searching for her mother who was an author... Well that just makes it that much better. 

When Clara Harrington receives a strange phone call from a man in London, England she begins to think about the what ifs in her life. The what if her mother had not left. What if her mother is alive somewhere. Or what if she finds out things that she may not want to know. What if she finds out it was her fault her mother left twenty-five years ago. What will she do if she goes to England and finds this man only to have her heart broken....again. Clara has her own daughter now to think about. Her daughter Wynnie is her whole world. And she is the same age Clara was when her mother left. 

If there is a chance that her mother is alive somewhere though she wants to know. She wants to find her and find out why she left. Why she abandoned her and her father. So she decides to go to England. Meet Charlie and get what he has to give her. What she doesn't know is this trip will change her life in a huge way. Her's and her daughters. She is divorced from Wynnie's dad and given up on love. But could she find love again? Could it be in a whole other country? And will she find answers to her many questions?

Clara's daughter Wynnie is a very inquisitive child. She's very smart for an eight year old. She has tons of questions about everything. Including her grandmother who she's never met. She has an invisible friend who she swears came to her way before her mother read her the book that her grandmother wrote. She knows things about England. About them finding people there. Finding a life there. Things that to her are meant to be. She is a very bright little girl. 

Charlie is only doing what he thinks is right when he calls Clara. He has no idea what lays in store after her and her daughter arrive. How his life and his mother's life will be changed. They are still grieving the loss of his dad. But they have answers that even they didn't know about.

This book is just beautiful. It grabbed me right from the first page. The way this author writes keeps your imagination peaked all the way through. She always writes books that are just filled with magical prose and uplifting endings. This is her best book yet.

Thank you #NetGalley, #AtriaBooks, for this ARC. 

About

“Brilliant, riveting, so beautifully written, impossible to put down.” —Louise Penny, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Inspired by a true literary mystery, New York Times bestselling author of the mesmerizing The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both.

In 1927, eight-year-old Clara Harrington’s magical childhood shatters when her mother, renowned author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, disappears off the coast of South Carolina. Bronwyn stunned the world with a book written in an invented language that became a national sensation when she was just twelve years old. Her departure leaves behind not only a devoted husband and heartbroken daughter, but also the hope of ever translating the sequel to her landmark work. As the headlines focus on the missing author, Clara yearns for something far deeper and more insatiable: her beautiful mother.

By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her own daughter, Wynnie. When a stranger named Charlie Jameson contacts her from London claiming to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother’s lost language. Clara is skeptical. Compelled by the tragedy of her mother’s vanishing, she crosses the Atlantic with Wynnie only to arrive during one of London’s most deadly natural disasters—the Great Smog. With asthmatic Wynnie in peril, they escape the city with Charlie and find refuge in the Jameson’s family retreat nestled in the Lake District. It is there that Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.

Told in Patti Callahan Henry’s lyrical, enchanting prose, The Story She Left Behind is a captivating novel of mystery and family legacy that captures the profound longing for a mother and the evergreen allure of secrets.