The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen

 

My thoughts

I enjoy Sarah Pekkanen's books almost every time. This one was a good story. It did start just a bit slow but picked up with each alternating chapter..

Riley applied for a job as a caretaker for an elderly woman. When she steps in Betty's home she is instantly transported to the 1960s. Betty has no television. Has never heard of the internet and no cell service. Her appliances are vintage and she's the sweetest women you'd ever hope to meet. Betty is in her 80s. She's in a wheelchair but gets around her home pretty good. Also.... Betty hasn't been out in like sixty years. Her husband brought her to this house and that is where they lived. He died and now Betty is all alone. 

This is one of those stories that makes you stop and think. About age and aging. About things that may have happened in a time when women were expected to obey and always be submissive to men. A time when men took advantage of women. In this case used the women's husband's jobs to make them do what was needed doing. A professor who was hoping to make it big with mind reading. He took four young women and shaped them. Made them do as he wanted. Put them through rigorous testing. Testing of their minds. They had to stay with him during one such testing period. I thought that if it was me I would have just left... If I had lived back then I would have done exactly what these young ladies did. Endure. Take whatever they had to take. Do what they were told.

I felt a lot of emotions while reading this story. One being so much anger. Anger at how females were treated. Anger at them for allowing it. Sadness for the losses that came. Anger at how the husbands treated their wives. But mostly I had sympathy for these women. You get to know Betty most of all. She is the one who hires Riley. Riley is a good person and helps Betty. Helps her find some semblance of closure and acceptance. Riley takes Betty outside. Takes her on adventures. She not only helped Betty, but also herself. 

I enjoyed this book. I didn't want to put it down. I did figure out who took the college girl in the present. It was just obvious to me. It did not in any way take away from the story though. Also I was very proud of Riley for how she handled her ex-husband in the end. Way to go girl!!

The audio was great. The narrator Saskia Maarleveld did such a good job of changing between many characters. She truly brought them to life.

Thank you St Martins and Macmillan Audio for the arc.

4.5 stars. 

About

The newest next thriller from #1 Bestselling Author Sarah Pekkanen combines a decades-old mystery with spine-tingling paranormal elements in this twisty novel of the seen and unseen.

Extrasensory perception.
The Gift.
A Sixth Sense.
Or something else….

In 1964, four remarkable young women at a prestigious university became the subjects of parapsychology experiments by a visionary scientist. On the cusp of a historic breakthrough, the women mysteriously vanished and the program was erased from history. Decades later, Riley Bell, newly divorced and desperate for a fresh start, accepts a caretaker job for an elderly widow named Betty. Riley steps into a home that is frozen in another era - no microwave, television, or cell phones, and Betty has never heard of the internet. Why has Betty lived in such profound isolation for so many years, and why does she need Riley now? As the story unfolds across two timelines - Betty’s 1960s era of 5 o’clock martinis and high-stakes experiments, and Riley’s quest to uncover the truth about the missing women - old secrets rise to the surface. And the only way to survive is to confront the mystery that has lingered for sixty years.

The Wonder of One by Suzanne Redfearn

 

My thoughts

I have read and loved so many of this author's books. This one may be her best one yet. It's a bit different from the others, but still holds your heart hostage throughout the whole story. There is a child in this one that will touch you in a very profound way. Vivien.

Vivien was born with a birthmark on her face. Around her eye. An ugly birthmark. One that makes some people shun her. Makes other children run from her. But to the ones that love her it's just a part of who she is. A part of her love and most sincere being. Vivien is a rare child. One that will touch your heart. Make you cry for her. Make you root for her. All the way through this book you just want to hug her. 

Vivien's mother was a bit cold. She was not kind to Vivien. Not motherly if you will. I'm not even sure if she truly loved Vivien. At least not in the way a mother should love her child. Maybe it was the circumstances of how Vivien came to be. Maybe it was just a deal to get what she wanted. 

Vivien had plenty of people who loved her though. Ones that stood up for her. The ones who were there for her no matter what. Feed her. Taught her. Clothed her. Did all the things a mother should have done. They were the ones who had been there from the beginning of Vivien's life. 

There is no father. But there is a male role model. She did have Profe. He was everything that a father should be. He was also someone who had been in the family for many years. He had worked for Vivien's grandfather and now for her mother. He was the one who taught Vivien until her mother finally sent her away to school. 

Vivien was bullied something awful. Mostly by a bully called Bart. A person who I believe was just jealous of Vivien. Vivien did have friends. She had people who were there for her at school. But there was also the ones who were mean and cruel, like Bart. Bart terrorized her. 

You read about Vivien's life throughout many years. She grows up to be, in my opinion, a very strong young lady. She gave ice skating a try and was very good. She met Meryl at a pond by the school where Vivien went. Meryl was an ice skating teacher. She saw something in Vivien. They became the best of friends.

This book is priceless in my opinion. It has everything you want in a story. There is laughter, joy, love, heartbreak, death. To much death maybe. Separation. Politics in a vague way. In a huge way when one of the most important people in Vivien's life is taken by ICE. This is one of those stories that will stick around. Make you wonder about things. I hope it will make you look at people who are different in a better way. Not be so judgemental. If you read it that is.

I listened to the audio and read the book. I loved Natalie Naudus as the female narrator. To me though, JD Jackson just wasn't right for the male part. He left a lot to be desired in my opinion. I just could not seem to get into his way of bringing the character to life. He seemed wrong for the part. 

Thank you Lake Union and Brilliance Audio for the ARCs. 

5 stars for the story but only 3.5 for the audio.... 

About

From the #1 Amazon bestselling author of In an Instant comes an inspirational coming-of-age story about one extraordinary girl’s determination to chase a dream.

Vivien Kendall has always been different. Born with a birthmark covering much of her face, she’s been bullied, ridiculed, and mistreated as a child. But at the age of six, Vivien learns that in each of us there burns a spirit flame—a deep belief in oneself that must be nurtured and never allowed to go out.

Living by that wisdom and through the enduring friendships of her nanny, her mentor, and the legend who eventually becomes her coach, she chases her dream to someday become the greatest figure skater in the world.

Along the way, she faces a rapidly evolving world full of modern prejudice and injustice. She falls in love, has her heart broken, learns what it means to win or lose, and discovers the wonder of one, the power within each of us to change things.

When You Loved Me by Beatriz Williams

 

My thoughts

Beatriz Williams is an automatic go to for me. If I see a new book coming, especially one set on Winthrop Island, I'll need to grab it. This is the best yet and I look forward to the next book. Very much so...

This book starts out with a horrific accident during a football game. One player is dead on the field and another's life is turned upside down, never to be the same again.

Nothing given away there. It's just how the story starts. Then you go to Winthrop Island and start searching for buried treasure.

Lucy Cooper had been coming to Winthrop Island during the summer for most of her life. When she was small she lived there with her parents. Her mother took her and left but Lucy came back to visit. She had a best friend, Laura Peabody, and Lucy's dad Bud Cooper,  who lived there. One summer though there was a teenage boy named Ben Ressler. Ben was visiting and both girls had crushes on him. That last summer a boy named Ben came between two best friends. Lucy did not mean to fall in love with Ben. But it happened. They were each other's first loves.. Laura didn't take it to well.

Ben had moved back to Winthrop after his football career plummeted. He became a landscaper and worked hard. He is well loved and no one on the island holds what happened against him. It was an accident.

When Lucy and Ben meet again the fire sparks. Though both it seems try to hide it and not make a deal out of it.

Then there is another story going on but set back in 1816-1817. Still on Winthrop Island. It's set during The Great Snow and is another romance in the making. Hephzibah is living with her sister and brother in law and there is a huge snow storm. Also there are pirates. When two men come in wanting help for their captian and promising to pay them handsomely what can they do. Silas who is married to Beulah, Hephzibah's sister, is sickly. Hephzibah takes charge and does what needs doing. The captain, Ramsay, is hurt and needs quite a few stiches. Hephzibah does the sewing and must do a fine job. 

You get to know the characters in both stories and how they weave together. Lucy's dad has spent his life researching buried treasure and was convinced there was treasure on his land. Thus the reason Lucy's mother took her and left. 

I adored this story. Both of them. Two strong women. Two strong love stories. Pirates and buried treasure. A mystery. A murder??? There are a few things going on and you just have to find out who is doing what and why. I wanted everyone to end up happy and together. I loved the love stories. I loved these characters. The way Ben helped the girls basketball team start winning. How he stood by Laura when she needed him but never left Lucy's side either. 

You may see a few names from other books set on Winthrop Island by this author also. I recognized some. I can't wait to read the next book already. 

Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC. I also received a physical copy from attending an author event. 

I bought the audio and am so glad I did. I loved how the three narrators made this book even better. The dialect from back in the early 1800s was great. So well done. Each one did great.

 

Five stars.

About

A young widow returns to her late father’s New England estate, only to be drawn into the hunt for the rumored pirate treasure that consumed his life, in this thrilling and moving novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Husbands & Lovers.

Local history insists that a legendary pirate buried his treasure somewhere beneath Windward, the decayed Cooper estate on Winthrop Island, but Lucy Cooper never trusted the fable that broke her family apart. When a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers the property’s buried under a mountain of debt, and Ben Ressler has just turned up on her doorstep.

Thirteen summers ago, a teenaged Lucy never meant to fall in love with Ben, a Dartmouth football star vacationing next door at the Peabody estate, and the object of an all-consuming crush by Laura Peabody, Lucy’s best friend. Those two weeks with Ben were the best and worst of Lucy’s life, dooming her friendship with Laura. Now Ben’s returned to live quietly in the Peabodys’ caretaker lodge, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career. He’s also the last person who saw Lucy’s father alive.

As Lucy reconstructs her father’s troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. To Lucy, this history points the way to a different kind of how to forgive yourself for the mistakes of the past and earn a second chance at love. But just as Lucy’s long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder.

A timeless story of love and atonement, When You Loved Me maps both a centuries-old treasure hunt and the intimate territory of the human heart, weaving together past and present as only Beatriz Williams can.

Where She Rests (Nikki Hunt, #12) by Stacy Green

 

My thoughts

I've read all of the Nikki Hunt books and will continue to as long as Stacy Green keeps writing them. Nikki is the best. So strong and take no crap bad.... 

When three young teens are brutally murdered Nikki makes it her mission to find the killer. Two of these young girls worked at the bakery she frequented. Shot execution style. Nothing missing. Except a possible third girl. A runaway. A street child. If she is alive Nikki will find her. 

Back when Nikki was a teenager her parents were brutally murdered. An innocent young man was sent to prison for it. Nikki truly thought he was the killer. He was released after the true killer was found and brought to justice. The innocent young man is now Nikki's brother in law. He's just about the kindest person ever. But he is taken in again. A possible suspect in the murder of the two young girls in the bakery. Nikki comes to his defense...

This story has many twists and turns. A few suspects. Don't even try to figure out who the murderer is.. You won't guess. I thought I had it all figured out. I was wrong. I'm glad I was wrong but I still didn't like the one I thought was the killer. He was a jerk. 

I love almost all of the characters in this series. They start to feel like friends after a while. This one kept me reading all day. I didn't want to put it down. I wanted so bad to know who the killer was and why. Why he killed the two girls in the bakery.

All questions were answered and I finally released a held breath right before the Epilogue... Once Nikki woke up and Rory could breath again I was happy. Now I can't wait for the next book. I'm wondering how Stacy will top this one. It was perfect. 

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC. I bought the audio and it was just great. Made the characters even more realistic.

5 big stars..

About

The girl feels her pulse spike as she tucks herself into the tight space hoping he can’t hear her heavy breathing. She watches him adjust the limp body beside him, and then pause, as if he’s noticed something…

When Special Agent Nikki Hunt walks into the local bakery, she can’t believe the terrifying scene inside. Owner, Claire, is in floods of tears and trembling, the bloodied blond hair of her two young shop assistants peeking out from beneath the white sheets covering them. Nikki immediately panics as she hears Stillwater police whispering that her brother-in-law, Mark, might be the killer…

Though Nikki once proved Mark was innocent of murder, there are people in town who still believe he should be in prison. And everyone knows he just started dating Claire. But finding Mark shaking in the station’s interrogation room, her gut tells her he’s innocent once again. Evidence that a homeless teen was sleeping in the bakery is Nikki’s first real lead, and she begins a desperate search.

But despite knocking on every door, Nikki can find no trace of the missing girl. And then she receives the call she dreads… another body has been found.

Will Nikki be able to protect the people of Stillwater, and her own family? Or has the girl she’s been searching for already lost her life?

Fans of Kendra Elliot, Lisa Regan and Mary Stone will inhale this unbelievably pacy crime thriller until the early hours, desperate to flip the final pages.

The Iron Hex by Victoria S. Walsh

 My thoughts

I did enjoy most of this book. Parts were repetitive and slow but still it was ok. You have a girl who seems to be in love with a guy. The problem is the guy is a witch killer and the girl is a witch. Her best friend is a rabbit. A literal rabbit. What could possibly go wrong?

Eira is a witch who has lost her memory. Her best friend is a rabbit. She thinks her family are all dead and gone. Then along comes Hugo to help her. And her friend Evangeline is suddenly there too. These three take a journey to find a memory witch who can restore Eira's memories. There are some big secrets along the way too. And a love story in the making. Well not exactly in the making since it's kind of been there all along. The problem is one is a witch. One is a killer of witches. How do you make a love match out of that? You'll see...

This is a three part story. I've only read the first part and do highly look forward to the next one. While parts of this story drove me crazy, most was so good. I hated hearing Iron Retinue in almost every paragraph. It was a bit overdone. But this was the author's first attempt at this kind of story so you have to give credit to that. A debut novel that seems to be a hit. 

I listened to the audio while reading the ebook and the narrator Jeremy Carlisle Parker did a good job with it. While she is not one of my favorite narrators she does do a decent job of holding your attention. Keeping the characters separate has to be a job on it's on. 

 

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA and Harlequin Audio/MIRA for the arcs.

3.75 stars. 

About

She doesn’t remember her past. But some memories come with a cost.

Eira Eckhart has spent years building a quiet life in a small town at the edge of a recently overthrown kingdom. Her memory is fractured, her past a blur—but with her shop, her loyal rabbit familiar, and practicing only the potions magic still legal under the watchful eye of the Iron Empire, she’s managed to remain unnoticed by the empire’s witch hunters.

Until Hugo Venton walks through her door.

Brash, clever, and infuriatingly handsome, Hugo is searching for something…and seems to know more about Eira than she knows about herself. But when a terrifying encounter with an unnatural, deadly new breed of soldier puts a price on her head, she has no choice but to join Hugo on his quest.

Their hunt for a missing princess pulls Eira across the continent—and deeper into a past she can’t recall. As buried memories, mysteries in the Iron Empire’s capital, forgotten feelings, and the truth behind her identity begin to surface, Eira realizes the forbidden magic simmering in her veins might be the very thing that could save them from the Iron Empire’s forces as they draw ever closer…if she can remember how to control it in time.

Meet Me In Paris by Kristin Harmel

 

My thoughts

I will read anything Kristin Harmel writes. Her books always take me to places I would not be able to go. (I don't fly) They give me the emotions that all good books give. All of the emotions. They always keep me wanting more. This book was just so good. Filled with several characters and their stories. Their feelings and emotions. From finding true love to losing old loves. From young to young at heart..

This is a story of many faces. A few young ladies coming to Paris to help their friend get over her husbands affair. A divorce vacation if you will. A mother/daughter who always planned to visit and are here before it's to late. The mother has terminal cancer. A group of people who were in Vietnam together, for a reunion of sorts. A single young lady who just wants to know her father who never was part of her life. (I didn't like him at all. He reminded me of someone in a way). An older man who found out the true love of his life didn't die. She's alive but in a home for memory loss. (dementia) What a story there....

You truly will get to know these characters and all their feelings. The emotions and caring they each have. And there is a lady's man in the group of Vietnam veterans. He was a hoot for sure. 

All of the stories are heartwarming and in ways heartbreaking. Very emotional. Very touching. 

I think this author always out does herself. This is such a good book. It was so interesting to read one that was not historical though in a couple of places there is history in the subject. 

I can't wait to read her next book. 

Thank you Gallery Books and NetGalley for this ARC. 

Five stars 

About

Nine Americans in Paris. Seven intertwined love stories. One City of Light.

Love Actually meets The Notebook in a tale of love, loss, and finding your way home, all set over the course of one life-changing week in Paris.

Julia Glover has brought her twenty-three-year-old daughter, Piper, to Paris for the first time—but they know it will also be their last trip here together. Julia is dying, and as the mother and daughter desperately try to make memories together as the clock ticks down, the world opens up around them. Piper meets a cute French waiter, who might just understand her better than anyone she’s ever met, and Julia meets a man at a dive bar and struggles with how to tell him the truth about her future.

Rock star Jackson Quick’s glory days are behind him. He had a handful of hit songs thirty years ago, but he hasn’t toured in a decade. This week, he’ll launch his reunion tour in Paris, the city where it all began. But he wants more out of life than being defined by fame. When he meets a woman who finally sees him for who he is at his core, the ground shifts beneath his feet.

Henry McGee has been writing hit songs for decades—including Jackson Quick’s biggest hit, City of Light. But his secret is that every love song he’s ever written is for a woman named Celeste, whom he loved a lifetime ago, when they were both teenagers in Paris during World War II. He has spent eighty years believing she died—but when a letter arrives telling him the opposite, he’s on the first flight to France. Can he break through the haze of her dementia, using the songs he’s written all these years, to remind her of who they once were to each other—and to tell her he came back for her?

Henry’s granddaughter, Melody, has just discovered that her husband of twenty years, Gilles, a French cosmetics executive, is having an affair. When she confronts him, he tearfully apologizes and begs her to forgive him. But can she? And, perhaps even more importantly, does she want to? Or is there a different kind of life out there for her if she chooses to be alone?

These intertwining stories—plus several others—unfold over a few breathtaking spring days, as an unforgettable group of Americans in Paris must find their way to their own versions of happily ever after in the City of Light.

A Curse of Beasts and Magic by Jeaniene Frost

 

My thoughts

This was my first by this author. It was so good too. 

The only thing that I didn't like was that dragons are not good in this story. I love a good dragon story and this one is good but not the dragons good. Yikes!! I did not like the dragon's host though. That kind of made up for the dragon being not nice. :) 

A girl with a beast inside meets a man with tons of money and possibly a beast inside of him. They become an item. A fake engagement too. 

Raine was infected with a beast at the young age of fifteen. She lost her mother and grandmother that day. She has tried everything to kill this beast but to no avail. When she saves an old man her life changes drastically. 

Remington is a very rich man. He owns most of the land and soon hopes to own Raine. Well maybe not own, but have. He likes her. He finds her to be kind and full of spunk. He also believes her to be beautiful and she has a beast in her. He wants to find out what kind of beast and what she knows about it. He never expected to fall in love. Or did he?

This book was a fun read and oh my I hope the next book comes out soon. I didn't want it to end yet...

Well written and filled with a few beasts and bad guys/girls. A big fight scene and a few love scenes. Hot but not too hot. This was just a good story. A good fictional story of love, loss, fights, beasts, humans, and some horrors too. 

I listened to the audio via NetGalley and it was fantastic. The narrator, Tavia Gilbert, did such a good job. She was able to do the voices so you felt each character. She truly brought this book to life.

Thank you MacMillan Audio for this ARC.

4.5 stars 

About

New York Times bestselling author of The Night Huntress series Jeaniene Frost returns with a brand-new series! It’s Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher, except Beauty IS the Beast, and he’s the Warden keeping mythical beings in check in our world and beyond.

Raine Stone is living a nightmare. Ever since she survived the attack that killed her family, she's been hiding a terrible secret--and a Beast inside her.

It feeds on violence and chaos, but she restrains its urges by playing vigilante on the city streets. Until one night, Raine uses the Beast’s energy to heal an elderly gentleman from a seemingly random attack and discovers a new world of danger—literally.

Remington “Remy” Byrne knows the wall between a realm of deadly mythic creatures and our own world is very fragile. After all, he’s the Warden who guards the gateways between them. Raine’s Beast contains power that could tip the scales in a sinister plot against Remy’s rule—if she allies with him.

Will they be friends or foes…or will their dangerous attraction turn into something else? And can our world be saved by their explosive alliance?