Who To Believe by Edwin Hill

 

My thoughts

I was gifted a copy of this book from the author and an ARC from NetGalley.

What a perfect title. It fits so well. Who to Believe indeed.

This is a complex story that has so many thrills and twists you will think everyone is guilty. Maybe everyone is guilty in ways. Guilty of things that they don't want anyone else to know. But who is the murderer? Who actually killed? It could have been anyone. Well anyone except one of the children. Or the dog. 

There is a birthday party. A group of six people. Some have secrets. Actually most have secrets. The problem is, it seems everyone knows most of these secrets and some may be willing to kill for them. Kill to keep them from getting around. Kill to protect themselves or maybe to protect another? I had many guesses but I was wrong about so much. 

The story is a mix of affairs, debts owed, secrets, lying, and a diverse array of characters. Each seemed to have a motive to kill. A reason. Even the Chief of Police could be a killer. Maybe multiple murderers? Or maybe a total stranger hidden in plain sight.

This book is well written. Keeps you guessing. Keeps you wanting to know more. It's edge of your seat scary in places too. Told from multiple POVs and many motives. My favorite was Harper. His is the last POV and I loved it. Everyone had a motive except Harper. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #EdwinHill, #KensingtonBooks, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five big stars. I highly recommend this one.

About

In this skillfully crafted domestic suspense thriller, full of unpredictable twists, a murder in a small Massachusetts town brings turmoil to a group of friends connected by love, jealousy, and secrets. For fans of Shari Lapena, Riley Sager, and Ruth Ware.

Monreith, Massachusetts, was once a small community of whalers and farmers. These days it’s a well-to-do town filled with commuters drawn to its rugged coastline and country roads. A peaceful, predictable place—until popular restaurateur Laurel Thibodeau is found brutally murdered in her own home. Suspicion naturally falls on Laurel’s husband, Simon, who had gambling debts that only her life insurance policy could fix. But there are other rumors too . . .
 
Among the group of six friends gathered for Alice Stone’s fortieth birthday, theories abound concerning Laurel’s death. Max Barbosa, police chief, has heard plenty of them, as has his longtime friend, Unitarian minister Georgia Fitzhugh. Local psychiatrist Farley Drake is privy to even more, gleaning snippets of gossip and information from his patients while closely guarding his own past.
 
But maybe everyone in Monreith has something to hide. Because before this late-summer evening has come to a close, one of these six will be dead.  And as jealousy, revenge, adultery, and greed converge, the question becomes not who among these friends might be capable of such a thing,
but—who isn’t?

Roses In December by Mark A. Gibson

 

My thoughts

This is book two of the Hamilton Place story. The ending to a deep and emotional story. 

In this book you get to know more about Jimmy and Becca's son James. About Becca's life after the loss of Jimmy. About Mack Lee, Jimmy's older brother. About Maggie, the boy's mother. What a piece of work she was.

This story pretty much picks up where A Song To That Never Ends stopped. Becca is dealing with the loss of Jimmy. The love of her life. Learning how to be a mother for the first time. To a newborn at that. She's living with Jimmy's mother and older brother because her parents kicked her out after she married Jimmy. A military guy. 

Becca was talked into marrying Mack Lee after Jimmy was killed in Vietnam. Her life takes a drastic turn for the worse. Her son, James, is brought up to believe that Mack Lee is his dad. He knows nothing about Jimmy or that his mother was married to him. Mack Lee was very abusive to Becca and to Jimmy also. He did not have a kind bone in his body. 

James was very much like his biological father. Very smart. At the genius level of smart. If he read it he never forgot it. That would help him in his life going forward and also hurt him. He had no problems in school as far as learning. He was a quiet boy who had very few friends. He graduated top of his class and went on to college. He met a girl who he feel hard for. Together they could do anything. It was not meant to be though. Other things happened that tore them apart..

James ended up joining the military after 9/11 because he felt it was his duty. He signed up for a six year tour and did what he felt he had to do. He was a medic and was good at what he did. Just like his father before him being a doctor was what he wanted. James was more than just a doctor though. He was a very gifted surgeon. 

This story takes you through so much. A lot of losses and one big find. When James finds out who his father really is he's angry at first. He doesn't understand why Becca would keep it from him. He learns though and his journey takes him from a small farm in South Carolina to many new places and new adventures. He meets the President of the United States and learns how is father saved the Presidents life in Vietnam. 

This is a very emotional story. It will bring tears to your eyes for sure. The only thing I didn't like was, to me it seemed a bit too long. Some of the descriptions could have been cut shorter. Some of the details. It was pretty obvious to me that this author had been in the military and knew his way about weapons and medicine. He knew a lot about both. While I did enjoy this book as much as the first, I did find it to be just to wordy in places. 

Four stars and I highly recommend you read it. It's very good. Very emotional. It does have a couple of chuckles in there too. 

Book Details:

Book Title:  Roses in December (Hamilton Place Book 2) by Mark A. Gibson
Category:  Adult Fiction 18 yrs +,  358 pages
Genre:  Family Saga Fiction, Thriller, Historical Fiction
Publisher:  Hamilton Press (Self)
Release date:   April, 2024
Content Rating: A soft R for the following: Language, although appropriate for situation, does have a smattering (perhaps 5 uses over 350 pages) of the F-word. Sexual situations are more so implied than graphic, although there is one soft description of fellatio. There is no use of derogatory descriptions for persons, sexes or races. No graphic violence is described.

Book Description:

Jimmy Hamilton overcame childhood tragedy to become a hero in Vietnam, only to die there in 1967. All but forgotten, Jimmy leaves behind a young wife, an infant son, and a man wracked by guilt.

Circumstances allow Becca, his young widow, to be manipulated into an abusive, loveless union with Jimmy’s brother and into raising her son ignorant of his father’s true identity—a wrong she knows must be set right…but how? When?

Like Jimmy before him, James, Jr. is an intellectually gifted, albeit troubled man. Hamstrung by the false narrative of his life and then tormented by an unspeakable loss, his days are spent treading the knife’s edge between present day reality and a past he’s incapable of forgetting.

With his final act of bravery, Jimmy unknowingly saved the scion of a powerful Washington family. In so doing, he set in place circumstances that just might draw his son back from the abyss…but only if he can somehow make it home from Vietnam.

Roses in December concludes the Hamilton Place series, an epic family saga extending from the Great Depression to present day. Through war and peace, love and loss, triumph and tragedy, follow the Hamilton family on their journey from a run-down farm in South Carolina, through the jungles of Vietnam, to the top of the world in New York City, and through the gardens of stone at Arlington.

Buy the Book:
(preorder now!)

Amazon

Meet the Author:

Mark A. Gibson is a physician who practices Cardiology in the mountains of rural North Georgia. He was raised on a small farm in upstate South Carolina—the last postage-stamp sized sliver of a much larger parcel granted to the family by land grant from King Charles II in 1665—and may or may not have once gotten in trouble for digging up his mom’s calla lily bed in search of the family’s long-lost charter.

Dr. Gibson graduated from the Citadel in Charleston, SC with a BS in Biology. Afterwards, he received his medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, SC. He received his Internal Medicine training through the University of Tennessee Medical System and Cardiology training through the Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center. He served for eight years on active duty with the US Air Force, before leaving the military for private practice.

Although a cardiologist by profession, Dr. Gibson is a dreamer by nature. He is a self-styled oenophile who enjoys travel and fine food. In his spare time, he builds sandcastles and dreams of distant shores.

Roses in December represents Dr. Gibson’s second offering to the world of literature, and the conclusion of his Hamilton Place Series. All previous publications have been of the professional, peer-reviewed, medical variety, and make for lovely sleep aids.

​Connect with the author: amazon  ~  X/Twitter  

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week

************

Warning:  Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.
************
Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @A Girl and Her Books, has a permanent home now at  MAILBOX MONDAY.
************
Here is a shout out to the administrators

Serena @ Savvy Verse and Wit

Martha @ Reviews By Martha’s Bookshelf

************

THANKS to everyone for keeping Mailbox Monday alive.

NetGalley approvals

Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate 

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours comes a sweeping novel inspired by the untold history of women pioneers who fought to protect children caught in the storm of land barons hungry for power and oil wealth.

Oklahoma, 1909. Eleven-year-old Olive Augusta Radley knows that her stepfather doesn’t have good intentions toward the two Choctaw girls boarded in their home as wards. When the older girl disappears, Ollie flees to the woods, taking six-year-old Nessa with her. Together they begin a perilous journey to the rugged Winding Stair Mountains, the notorious territory of outlaws, treasure hunters, and desperate men. Along the way, Ollie and Nessa form an unlikely band with others like themselves, struggling to stay one step ahead of those who seek to exploit them . . . or worse.

Oklahoma, 1990. Law Enforcement Ranger Valerie Boren O’dell arrives at Horsethief Trail National Park seeking a quiet place to balance a career and single parenthood. But no sooner has Valerie reported for duty than she’s faced with local controversy over the park’s opening, a teenage hiker gone missing from one of the trails, and the long-hidden burial site of three children deep in a cave. Val’s quest to uncover the truth wins an ally among the neighboring Choctaw Tribal Police but soon collides with old secrets and the tragic and deadly history of the land itself.

In this emotional and enveloping novel, Lisa Wingate traces the story of children abandoned by the law and the battle to see justice done. Amid times of deep conflict over who owns the land and its riches, Ollie and Val traverse the wild and beautiful terrain, each leaving behind one life in search of another.

What Lies In Darkness by Christina McDonald

A missing family. A traumatized detective. The past and present collide in a riveting novel of suspense by the USA Today bestselling author of These Still Black Waters, Do No Harm, Behind Every Lie, and The Night Olivia Fell.

Late Christmas Eve, the Harper family’s car crashed on a desolate stretch outside Black Lake. Sixteen-year-old Alice was found injured by the side of the road—alone. It was as if her parents and younger sister, Ella, had simply disappeared.

One year later, Alice is still dealing with nightmares and unanswered questions when she and her friends find Ella’s bloodstained backpack in the basement of an abandoned home. As Detective Jess Lambert investigates, she uncovers dark secrets that put her on a collision course with her past. Jess’s only witness is haunted by her own ghosts—ghosts that might ultimately be connected to Jess.

Jess will do anything to find out what happened to the Harpers—no matter how deep she has to dig. Because neither the living nor the dead are giving up their secrets easily.

The Reaping(Steinbeck and Reed, #2) by Jess Lourey

By-the-book forensic scientist Harry Steinbeck and rogue BCA agent Van Reed must catch a cold-case killer who’s returned to abduct a small town’s children one by one in this heart-stopping novel from the Edgar Award–nominated author of Unspeakable Things.

In 1998 an Alku, Minnesota, family of five was brutally murdered in their sleep. The event shook the insulated community but, without any solid leads, was relegated to the cold case files, where it moldered for twenty-five years. Until today.

Agent Harry Steinbeck hoped never to return to the northland, a place that holds terrible memories of his sister’s abduction. But when a recent homicide is connected to Alku’s unsolved mass murder, he and cold case agent Evangeline Reed have no choice but to investigate.

The case grows impossibly darker as, one by one, the children of Alku begin disappearing. And Harry and Van can’t shake the sensation that someone is watching every move they make.

As an elusive killer’s trail leads to a truth more sinister than either imagined, Harry knows there’s only one way to crack this he must finally face the secrets of his own past—even if doing so will cost him everything.

All The Way Gone by Joanna Schaffhausen

The fourth installment in the beloved Detective Annalisa Vega series

Is there such a thing as a good sociopath? Newly minted private investigator Annalisa Vega is skeptical, but her first client, Mara Delaney, insists that some sociopaths are beneficial to society. Mara has even written a book titled The Good Sociopath that is centered around Chicago neurosurgeon Craig Canning. Dr. Canning has saved hundreds of lives so it shouldn’t matter that he doesn’t actually care about his patients, should it? But Mara has a more urgent problem, which is that she is now concerned that Canning might not be such a good sociopath after all. A young woman in Canning’s apartment building mysteriously plunged to her death from a balcony, and Mara fears Canning could be responsible. She needs to uncover the truth about Canning before the book comes out, so Annalisa has little time to search for answers.

Annalisa quickly discovers that more than one person wanted the young woman dead. Canning insists he didn’t do it. His charming, unflappable demeanor suggests that either he’s telling the truth or Mara is right and he’s cold-hearted to the core. The cops, including Annalisa’s husband, think the girl’s death was an accident. The more Annalisa probes, the more she becomes convinced it’s a fiendishly clever murder, one only a brilliant psychopath could pull off. She draws deeper into a battle of wits with Canning, so determined to prove his guilt that she forgets Mara’s most important warning―that sociopaths only care about winning at all costs. When Annalisa finally peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the horrifying truth of the girl’s death, she may be too late to save herself.

Agony Hill by Sarah Stewart Taylor

Set in rural Vermont in the volatile 1960s, Agony Hill is the first novel in a new historical series full of vivid New England atmosphere and the deeply drawn characters that are Sarah Stewart Taylor's trademark.

In the hot summer of 1965, Bostonian Franklin Warren arrives in Bethany, Vermont, to take a position as a detective with the state police. Warren's new home is on the verge of monumental change; the interstates under construction will bring new people, new opportunities, and new problems to Vermont, and the Cold War and protests against the war in Vietnam have finally reached the dirt roads and rolling pastures of Bethany.

Warren has barely unpacked when he's called up to a remote farm on Agony Hill. Former New Yorker and Back-to-the-Lander Hugh Weber seems to have set fire to his barn and himself, with the door barred from the inside, but things aren’t adding up for Warren. The people of Bethany—from Weber’s enigmatic wife to Warren's neighbor, widow and amateur detective Alice Bellows — clearly have secrets they’d like to keep, but Warren can’t tell if the truth about Weber’s death is one of them. As he gets to know his new home and grapples with the tragedy that brought him there, Warren is drawn to the people and traditions of small town Vermont, even as he finds darkness amidst the beauty.

Last House by Jessica Shattuck

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Women in the Castle comes a sweeping story of a nation on the rise, and one family’s deeply complicated relationship to the resource that built their fortune and fueled their greatest tragedy, perfect for fans of The Dutch House and The Great Circle.

The war is over, and America has entered a golden age: The Age of Oil.

It’s 1953, and for Nick Taylor, WWII veteran turned company lawyer, oil is the key to the future. He takes the train into the city for work and returns to the peaceful streets of the suburbs and to his wife, Bet, former codebreaker now housewife, and their two children, Katherine and Harry. Nick comes from humble origins but thanks to his work for American Oil, he can provide every comfort for his family, including Last House, a secluded country escape. Deep in the Vermont mountains, the Taylors are free from the stresses of modern life. Bet doesn’t have to worry about the Russian H-bombs that haunt her dreams, and the children roam free in the woods. Last House is a place that could survive the end of the world.

It’s 1968, and America is on the brink of change. Protestors fill the streets to challenge everything from the Vietnam War to racism in the wake of MLK’s shooting—to the country's reliance on Big Oil. As Katherine makes her first forays into adult life, she’s caught up in the current of the time and struggles to reconcile her ideals with the stable and privileged childhood her Greatest Generation parents worked so hard to provide. But when the Movement shifts in a more radical direction, each member of the Taylor family will be forced to reckon with the consequences of the choices they’ve made for the causes they believed in.

Spanning multiple generations and nearly eighty years, Last House tells the story of one American family during an age of grand ideals and even greater downfalls. Set against the backdrop of our nation’s history, this is an emotional tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance and what we owe each other—and captures to stunning effect the gravity of time, the double edge of progress, and the hubris of empire.

The Sapphire Daughter by Soraya M. Lane

 

My thoughts

Book Four in The Lost Daughters series. A very heartfelt book about love and loss. A tearjerker that will leave you breathless.

There was a time when girls were sent to homes if they got pregnant. They were considered damaged. Loose. Bad. They were hidden so their family's could go on with their statues in life without that blemish. Sometimes these girls didn't want to give up their babies. Sometimes they were forced to do something that was so against what their hearts wanted. This is just that sort of story in many ways...

The Present, London 

You meet Georgia when she and her best friend have first sold their company. Georgia gets a call from a lawyer. When she goes to meet the lawyer she is given a box. Inside the box is something that will change her life forever. 

The Past, Lake Geneva, 1951 

A marriage of convenience. A loveless marriage. Delphine married Giovanni hoping he would come to love her. They had two children. A son and a daughter. That is where their life basically ends. They will always be married he said. But as long as she's discreet she's free to live her life as she sees fit. Just as he does only in different countries for the most part. In comes Florian. The man who will change Delphine's life. Forever.

This book took my breath away. It had me wishing for things to happen. Crying my eyes out in parts. Holding my breath in other parts. A love that couldn't be. A love that was. A love that will be. Lives forever changed. It all starts after a stay at Hope's House. Hope's House is a home for expectant mothers. A place where they can feel safe.

Told in two timelines and about two women who never met but are related. This is a rich and loving story with some very sad things happening too. But it's all for the sake of love. A true, deep, forever, love...

Thank you #NetGalley, #SorayaLane, #Bookouture, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five big stars.

About

Lake Geneva, 1951: Delphine looked up at Florian, her fingers grazing his cheek as she pressed her mouth to his, the sapphire tiara sparkling beside them. “Yes,” she whispered against his lips. “I will marry you. If you can find a way, then I promise you. I will marry you.”

London, present day. Georgia holds the rare pink sapphire in her hands, watching it glitter in the morning light. It was left for her at Hope’s House, a home for unmarried mothers whose babies were adopted. But how is it connected to the secrets of her family’s complicated history?

Georgia tries to forget about the sapphire, her heart too bruised by past hurts. But when she discovers the gemstone was part of a priceless tiara owned by the Italian royal family, she is drawn in by the mystery surrounding it. Her only way of finding answers is to travel to Lake Geneva to meet with the man who inherited the stunning tiara from his grandfather.

When she arrives at the breathtaking lakeside city, handsome Luca tells her he’s been searching for the missing stone for years and is eager to piece together how it arrived at Hope’s House. As they spend sun-drenched days together, Georgia and Luca grow closer and uncover the passionate, forbidden love story of Delphine and Florian, whose tragic romance forced Delphine to make a heartbreaking decision with devastating consequences…

As Georgia comes to terms with the decades-old secret, will it shatter everything she thought she knew about herself? Or will Delphine’s courage inspire her to open up her own heart and build a new life with Luca?

A completely gripping and escapist read about family mysteries and true love that lasts a lifetime, that will leave you spellbound. The perfect read for fans of Lucinda Riley, Victoria Hislop and Santa Montefiore.

This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

 

My thoughts

Graphic Audio

I listened to the graphic audio of this and boy it was good. Like watching a movie without the actual screen. I had no problem picturing it in my mind though. The end of last year and so far this year I have been stepping out of my comfort zone and trying a different genre of book and audio. While I listen to the book I also read along with my physical copy or ecopy. What a way to read. It's been so much fun....

I got this series as a gift and decided to start reading them between ARCs that I have pledged to read. I honestly wish I had not got the arcs now. lol I would love nothing more than to sit here and finish this series. This first book has been excellent and from what I understand it only gets better with each book.

In this one there are humans and faeries. Feyre is a human who has to go live with a high fae because she killed a wolf who was one of the faeries. While he was on human land she did still kill him and she has to pay for that when a huge and very scary wolf breaks in and demands she come with him. Her life is never going to be the same. Feyre has no choice but to go in order to save her two sisters and her father.

I'll spare you the about part as you can read that in the synopsis. This book was so well done. The audio was perfection and with a long list of characters. It had a full cast to play each person. The story is very good. Scary in the right places and keeps you on edge in some. You go with Feyre along this journey as she learns how to live in this faerie land. Gets to know her captor Tamlin. She is free to do things but can never leave. She is no longer hungry and very poor. This story takes you through all she endures at the hands of her captor. The good and the bad.

With graphic audios this book was divided into two audios. It's not really that long but with a full cast I can see where they had to divide it up a bit. The sound effects were so good and realistic. The narrators did a magnificent job of doing the scenes. You felt as though you was there. From loud growls to little sounds of rain. Footsteps to wind. It's all done so you feel it. This book gave me quite a few emotions too. 

I'll read more by this author for sure. I can't wait to jump into the next book in this series.

Five huge stars for me. 

About

The sexy, action-packed first book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series from Sarah J. Maas.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he's not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.

From bestselling author Sarah J. Maas comes a seductive, breathtaking book that blends romance, adventure, and faerie lore into an unforgettable read.

Young Rich Widows by Kimberly Belle, Layne Fargo, Kate Holahan, Vanessa Lillie

 

My thoughts

I listened to the audio of this one while reading along. It was so good. This book was just the right one at the right time for me. The audio was like watching a movie with four somewhat funny yet serious women. Four who couldn't possibly be any more different. Yet they worked. The narrators were perfect. Dina Pearlman, Karissa Vacker, Helen Laser, Ariel Blake, I'm not sure who was who but they were all just perfection.

After losing their husbands and significant other four widows have to learn to get along and work together to survive. What they have to do is nothing either of them ever thought they would face. A mobster wants his money and he's determined that they have it and need to bring it to him or else...

You meet each of these women and get to know them very well. Their ups and downs. Their strengths and weaknesses. What they are willing to do and go through for themselves and each other. Even though one is having an affair with another's husband, she's married too. One is a stripper. One is a bit older and helped her husband start the law firm. Can they put aside their differences and work together? Or will someone lose everything. Possibly her life?

Just when you think all is going to be ok you are faced with another twist. While there is much in this book to keep you on edge there is a lot of laughter also. I laughed so hard in parts and even cried in a couple of parts. This book was so well rounded. It had it all. Drama. Family. Thrills. Love. Acceptance. Friendship and even a death or two. 

These authors did such a good job writing this book. It was in my opinion perfectly done.

Thank you #NetGalley, #KimberlyBelle, #VanessaLillie, #LayneFargo, #CateHolahan, #SourcebooksLandmark, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five huge stars. Grab it as soon as it's up for sale. It's so worth it.

About

"An 80s romp with big hair and even bigger secrets! Grab your popcorn and settle in for this incredibly fun and twisty read." —  Jeneva Rose,  New York Times  bestselling author of  You Shouldn't Have Come Here

1985, Rhode Island. A private jet carrying four partners of a Providence law firm crashes outside New York City, killing all aboard but leaving behind more questions than answers and setting the stage for four widows to find the truth. Justine: a former fashion model adjusting to suburban life, Camille: a beautiful, young second wife whom some suspect is a gold digger, a stripper who was in a relationship with the firm's only female partner, and a founding partner's wife committed to the firm being a legacy for her sons. While the crash is initially ruled a tragic accident, something's not adding up. The team wasn't supposed to be in New York that day, and it's soon revealed there was a very large sum of cash that burned up with the plane. The scene is as wild as '80s neon, and the manic chase to uncover the Mafia-laced secrets gives this rip-roaring read a rad vibe that will linger long after the '80s soundtrack fades and the hairspray falls.

" Young Rich Widows is hands down the most original thriller you'll read all year. Laugh out loud funny, twisty and full of surprises." —  Wendy Walker, international bestselling author of  What Remains.

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week

************

Warning:  Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists.
************
Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @A Girl and Her Books, has a permanent home now at  MAILBOX MONDAY.
************
Here is a shout out to the administrators

Serena @ Savvy Verse and Wit

Martha @ Reviews By Martha’s Bookshelf

************

THANKS to everyone for keeping Mailbox Monday alive.

NetGalley approvals

Good Half Gone by Tarryn Fisher

Iris Walsh saw her twin sister, Piper, get kidnapped—so why does no one believe her?

Iris narrowly escaped her pretty, popular twin sister’s fate as a teen: kidnapped, trafficked and long gone before the cops agreed to investigate. With no evidence to go on but a few scattered memories, the case quickly goes cold.

Now an adult, Iris wants one thing—proof. And if the police still won’t help, she’ll just have to find it her own way; by interning at the isolated Shoal Island Hospital for the criminally insane, where secrets lurk in the shadows and are kept under lock and key. But Iris soon realizes that something even more sinister is simmering beneath the surface of the Shoal, and that the patients aren’t the only ones being observed…

The Astrology House by Carinn Jade

A group of wealthy Manhattanites escapes to an astrology-themed retreat, where simmering resentments and long-held secrets lead to a shocking death.

Margot needs a minute. She’s been working eighty-hour weeks as a newly minted partner at her law firm. She’s disconnected from her brother, the only family she has left. And she’s still not pregnant after years of trying.

Stars Harbor Astrological Retreat promises rest, relaxation, and wisdom for Margot and her friends. With Instagram-worthy views and nightly astrology readings in an impeccably restored waterfront Victorian house, this getaway should be nothing but idyllic fun. For Margot’s brother, Adam, it’s the perfect opportunity to rekindle the romance that fuels his writing, but his wife, Aimee, hides the darkness of her past with a beautiful social media feed. Their friend, Farah, is a successful doctor who cannot admit she’s losing control. But no one holds a greater secret than their astrologer host, Rini. She has a plan for all her guests, and one won’t be leaving Stars Harbor alive.

Where Butterflies Wander by Suzanne Redfearn

 

My thoughts

I absolutely loved this book. It was a heartbreaker but also had a chuckle in it. It was sad but with so much hope thrown in that I absorbed it. Way to go Suzanne Redfearn. Your books always leave me with a content feeling.

After a tragic loss the Egide family need a change. They travel to New Hampshire to Marie Egide's family home. She is planning on fixing it up and selling it then moving on to a new home. Life may have another plan for this family though. There is a woman living in a somewhat questionable cabin on the land. She's called the river witch. Her name is Davina. 

Davina has a story going on in this book also. She's been a part of this area her entire life. Her mother died when she was a young child. Davina is well known in this town as a healer. She delivers babies and does other things to help people and they all love her. She's a well respected member of their community even though she lives some what as a recluse. She was scared badly in a fire while serving in the military. She lost her husband and daughter when she was recovering. 

The Egide family get to know Davina. Some love her and two very much dislike her. The youngest daughter was frightened of her at first, but once she got to know her she loved her dearly. The oldest, Hannah, suffers from debilitating migraines and Davina helps her with that. Much to Marie's displeasure that is. She wants Davina off the land so they can sell it. Davina has lived there over twenty years with the blessing of Marie's grandfather but that means nothing to Marie. They can't sell the land and move on as long as she's there. Davina must go...

I loved these characters. All except Marie. I never liked her. I just couldn't. She was a cold person even though she suffered such a tragic loss. A person does not have to be so cruel under any circumstance. I thought Brendon, the couples son, was a brat. Yes he felt responsible for some things but he was a very uncaring youngster. He did grow on me later though. I adored Pen. She was a true treasure. And Hannah was also. The Egide's children were good kids. I liked her husband Leo also. He did grate on my nerves a few times but overall he was a good guy. I loved Banjo. Banjo was the family dog.

This book will touch your heart. Make you see a few things in a way you may not have expected. It will show you what empathy can look like. What deep true love looks like also. Not romantic love but the love a woman has for a child. A child she thinks is lost to her forever. 

Thank you #NetGalley, #SuzanneRedfearn, #LakeUnion, for this arc. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five huge stars. It's so good y'all... Just have tissues handy when you read it. 

About

From the bestselling author of In an Instant comes the moving story of a family grappling with grief and a woman with the power to help them through it—or stand in their way.

After a tragic accident claims the life of one of her children, Marie Egide is desperate to carve out a fresh start for her family. With her husband and their three surviving children, Marie travels to New Hampshire, where she plans to sell a family estate and then, just maybe, they’ll be able to heal from their grief.

Marie’s plans are thwarted when she realizes a war veteran known by locals as “the river witch” is living in a cabin on the property, which she claims was a gift from Marie’s grandfather. If Davina refuses to move on, Marie won’t be able to either.

The two women clash, and battle lines are drawn within Marie’s family and the town as each side fights for what they believe is right, the tension rising until it reaches its breaking point. And the choice is no longer theirs when a force bigger than them all—fate—takes control.

The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church

 

My thoughts

This author's debut of THE LAST CAROLINA GIRL was one of my favorites. I adored that book and this one is my new favorite by this author. This book will take you through the time when females had very little or no say in what happened to them and their lives if they got pregnant. They had to bear the shame no matter what if they were pregnant outside of marriage. Men could just go right on with their lives and do whatever they choose. No rules. No punishment. No shame.

Lorraine was a typical seventeen year old child back in the early 1960s. She was an only child and seemed to be the apple of her dad's eye. Her mom was a bit stricter in that she would call Lorraine on every little thing dealing with decency. How dare Lorraine let her swimsuit strap fall off her shoulder. Too much skin showing. Good grief. 

Lorraine was on track to be valedictorian of her high school that year. She had plans to go to college. She wanted to be someone who left her mark on the world. She loved anything to do with space and wanted to fly to the moon one day. All of that was dashed when she found herself pregnant after just one time with her boyfriend. Her friend for almost her whole life. Lorraine and Clint had known each other forever and been dating for two years. But Clint had other plans and that did not include being a husband or father. 

You get to know exactly what Lorraine went through at home and at the home for unwed mothers. All the hurt and pain she feels. All the fears she experiences. How her heart broke because no one seemed to care. Not Clint or her parents. No one at this awful home either. The librarian was nice to her and tried to help her get her GED. She seemed like a good friend who cared. Until it was time. Until Lorraine went into labor. Then she was on her own. The descriptions of what Lorraine felt in the delivery room felt so real. The way she hurt over losing her baby. Not being able to keep that child almost did her in. I felt her pain so deep. It made me weep. 

This book is filled with emotions. You feel it. I didn't like Lorraine's parents. I hated Clint. I adored Alan. I hoped that Lorraine's mother was going to be there but I didn't feel it. After all was said and done it was still about appearances for her. 

Do not miss the author's notes at the end. They are perfect. They give a lot of insight into this book and how it came to be. Being a mother is a hard job but it's a fulfilling one also. If that is what you're ready for. No woman should ever be forced into having a baby or giving one up. That is just wrong. It should be her choice. Her decision.

Thank you #NetGalley, #MeaganChurch, #SourcebookLandmark, #RBMedia for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

FIVE huge stars and the highest recommendation. 

About

A searing book club read for fans of Ellen Marie Wiseman and The Girls with No Names set in the Baby Scoop Era of 1960s and the women of a certain condition swept up in a dark history.

It's the 1960s and Lorraine Delford has it all – an upstanding family, a perfect boyfriend, and a white picket fence home in North Carolina. Yet every time she looks through her father's telescope, she dreams of the stars. It's ambitious, but Lorraine has always been exceptional. 

But when this darling girl-next-door gets pregnant, she's forced to learn firsthand the realities that keep women grounded. 

To hide their daughter's secret shame, the Delfords send Lorraine to a maternity home for wayward girls. But this is no safe haven – it's a house with dark secrets and suffocating rules. And as Lorraine begins to piece together a new vision for her life, she must decide if she can fight against the powers that aim to take her child or submit to the rules of a society she once admired.

Powerful and affecting, The Girls We Sent Away is a timely novel that explores autonomy, belonging, and a quest for agency when the illusions of life-as-you-know-it fall away.

A Song That Never Ends by Mark A. Gibson

 

Book Details:

Book Title:  A Song that Never Ends (Hamilton Place Book I) by Mark A. Gibson
Category:  Adult Fiction 18 yrs +,  338 pages
Genre:  Family Saga Fiction, Thriller, Historical Fiction
Publisher:  Hamilton Press (Self)
Release date:   January, 2024
Content Rating: A soft R for the following: Language, although appropriate for situation, does have a smattering (perhaps 5 uses over 350 pages) of the F-word. Sexual situations are more so implied than graphic, although there is one soft description of fellatio. There is no use of derogatory descriptions for persons, sexes or races. No graphic violence is described.

My Thoughts:

This is the first book I've read by this author. I do look forward to the next one,  Roses in December, it is the continuation of this story. The ending. 

I enjoyed this story but also got a bit aggravated in places. For a female I thought it was a bit to descriptive. The beginning or Prologue was a bit more descriptive but I see after finishing this book that most of it was necessary. 

This is a very sad story. It starts out with love and happiness but quickly turns sad when the main character, Walter Hamilton, joins the war during WW2. He doesn't have to go but he does. His wife, Maggie, is left behind with their young son and Walter's mother. 

This story takes you through the Hamilton's marriage from the start. You get to know both Walter and Maggie. I didn't like either one after a point in the story. Maggie was a horrible mother to her second son, James. She thinks the son rises and sets on their older son Mack Lee. Mack Lee is a very spoiled young man and he is most unlikable throughout this book. I also did not like Walter. He should have stood up for his young son. He should have done quite a few things differently. I understand that he had many issues. Who wouldn't after what he went through. But the author made it seem as if they would be ok initially. When Maggie went to see Walter in the hospital and he snapped out of things a bit...

I enjoyed the love story between James and Becca very much. I think they would have made a great couple and been together for many years. I also loved Uncle Howard or as James/Jimmy called him, Uncle. He was a kind and caring man. He took the time to teach young James about things. James is a very gifted young man who deserved so much more than his parents and brother gave. 

This book talks of miscarriage and death of a child, so be warned. It's a necessary part of the story but also very sad. 

I highly look forward to the next book to find out what happens to young Becca and the baby James Jr. 

I would highly recommend you NOT to read the synopsis of the second book. ROSES IN DECEMBER. It might give away some of the first book. 

I gave this one FOUR stars. 

Book Description:

Home.
For over three hundred years, that’s what the Hamilton family has called a shrinking swath of farmland in the Appalachian foothills of South Carolina.

Home.
That’s the failing tobacco farm where Walter and Maggie Hamilton choose to raise their three children. Walter has big plans to make the farm more profitable, but his plans are interrupted by World War II and family heartbreak. Walter returns from the war a changed man, and finds Maggie, too, has changed; neither of them for the better. But at least their family is together at...

Home.
More than anything, that’s where their eight-year-old son, Jimmy Hamilton, wants to be. However, after an unspeakable tragedy, he’s sent away from the only life he’s ever known—to live with a kindly uncle in North Carolina, far from…

Home.
That’s where Jimmy is finally going to be, unless fate has plans of its own…

A Song that Never Ends is the first installment of the Hamilton Place series, an epic family saga extending from the Great Depression to present day. Through war and peace, love and loss, triumph and tragedy; follow the Hamilton family on their journey from a run-down farm in South Carolina, through the jungles of Vietnam, to the top of the world in New York City, and beyond the gardens of stone at Arlington.

Buy the Book:
Amazon

CONCLUDE THIS EPIC FAMILY SAGA:

Book Details:

Book Title:  Roses in December (Hamilton Place Book 2) by Mark A. Gibson
Category:  Adult Fiction 18 yrs +,  358 pages
Genre:  Family Saga Fiction, Thriller, Historical Fiction
Publisher:  Hamilton Press (Self)
Release date:   April, 2024
Content Rating: A soft R for the following: Language, although appropriate for situation, does have a smattering (perhaps 5 uses over 350 pages) of the F-word. Sexual situations are more so implied than graphic, although there is one soft description of fellatio. There is no use of derogatory descriptions for persons, sexes or races. No graphic violence is described.

Book Description:

Jimmy Hamilton overcame childhood tragedy to become a hero in Vietnam, only to die there in 1967. All but forgotten, Jimmy leaves behind a young wife, an infant son, and a man wracked by guilt.

Circumstances allow Becca, his young widow, to be manipulated into an abusive, loveless union with Jimmy’s brother and into raising her son ignorant of his father’s true identity—a wrong she knows must be set right…but how? When?

Like Jimmy before him, James, Jr. is an intellectually gifted, albeit troubled man. Hamstrung by the false narrative of his life and then tormented by an unspeakable loss, his days are spent treading the knife’s edge between present day reality and a past he’s incapable of forgetting.

With his final act of bravery, Jimmy unknowingly saved the scion of a powerful Washington family. In so doing, he set in place circumstances that just might draw his son back from the abyss…but only if he can somehow make it home from Vietnam.

Roses in December concludes the Hamilton Place series, an epic family saga extending from the Great Depression to present day. Through war and peace, love and loss, triumph and tragedy, follow the Hamilton family on their journey from a run-down farm in South Carolina, through the jungles of Vietnam, to the top of the world in New York City, and through the gardens of stone at Arlington.

Buy the Book:
(preorder now!)
Amazon

Meet the Author:

Mark A. Gibson is a physician who practices Cardiology in the mountains of rural North Georgia. He was raised on a small farm in upstate South Carolina—the last postage-stamp sized sliver of a much larger parcel granted to the family by land grant from King Charles II in 1665—and may or may not have once gotten in trouble for digging up his mom’s calla lily bed in search of the family’s long-lost charter.

Dr. Gibson graduated from the Citadel in Charleston, SC with a BS in Biology. Afterwards, he received his medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, SC. He received his Internal Medicine training through the University of Tennessee Medical System and Cardiology training through the Wilford Hall USAF Medical Center. He served for eight years on active duty with the US Air Force, before leaving the military for private practice.

Although a cardiologist by profession, Dr. Gibson is a dreamer by nature. He is a self-styled oenophile who enjoys travel and fine food. In his spare time, he builds sandcastles and dreams of distant shores.

Roses in December represents Dr. Gibson’s second offering to the world of literature, and the conclusion of his Hamilton Place Series. All previous publications have been of the professional, peer-reviewed, medical variety, and make for lovely sleep aids.

​Connect with the author: amazon  ~  X/Twitter  

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A SONG THAT NEVER ENDS (Hamilton Place) by Mark Gibson Book Tour Giveaway