Red River Road by Anna Downes

 

My thoughts

I've read and enjoyed other books by this author and look forward to more. This one is outstanding. 

A story that kept me guessing about some things but also knowing who the main character was, or was not, as the case may be. 

Katy is the on a road trip trying to find her sister who went missing a year earlier and the cops gave up searching for. She does not believe that Phoebe is dead. She's convinced that she met with problems and just wants to find her and bring her home. She mets quite a few people along the way but none seem to know anything about Phoebe. She encounters some scares along the way and meets a girl who seems to desperately need her help. 

Beth escaped a violent encounter with her boyfriend while they were on a road trip. He started out loving and attentive but that quickly starts to disappear as his violent side comes to surface. He's says mean and cruel things and hits her. They are a team of thieves but it seems to be him who makes the cash and her who does most of the thieving. They take valuable items but are still broke for the most part. They have to stash the items and then someone picks them up and puts money into her guys account. Beth finally gets away from him but is afraid to tell anyone what he did. Or she's forgotten that he did it. 

This book takes you to a few beautiful places. Very descriptive and realistic. It's one that keeps you guessing and wondering who is doing what. Who leaves the stones outside. Who left the notes. Who are the people commenting on Phoebe's Instagram posts. The one getting angry. Private messaging her. What really happened to Phoebe and where is her van.

This is the story of van life and young women traveling alone. Going on a road trip alone in Western Australia. The many sides of meeting people. Getting to know strangers. Making friends. Coming to terms with losses. 

I enjoyed this book. It kept me turning the pages all the way through the Author's Notes. Be sure and read that. It's very interesting.

Thank you #NetGalley, #StMartinsPress/MinotaurBooks, #MacmillianAudio, for this ARC. This is my own thoughts about this book

Five big stars.

About

Anna Downes's extraordinary next thriller Red River Road follows a woman desperate to discover what happened to her sister on a solo road trip through the Australian outback.

Katy Sweeney is looking for her sister. A year earlier, just three weeks into a solo vanlife trip, her free-spirited younger sister, Phoebe, vanished without a trace on the remote, achingly beautiful coastal highway in Western Australia. With no witnesses, no leads, and no DNAevidence, the case has gone cold. But Katy refuses to give up on her.

Using Phoebe’s social media accounts as a map, Katy retraces her sister’s steps, searching for any clues the police may have missed. Was Phoebe being followed? Who had she met along the way, and how dangerous were they?

And then Katy’s path collides with that of Beth, who is on the run from her own dark past. Katy realizes that Beth might be her best—and only—chance of finding the truth, and the two women form an uneasy alliance to find out what really happened to Phoebe in this wild, beautiful, and perilous place.

Anna Downes takes us on a twist-filled journey into the dark side of solo female travel, in this gripping novel that explores what drives us to keep searching for those we have lost, the family bonds that can make or break us, and the deception of memory.

All The Way Gone (Detective Annalise Vega #4) by Joanna Schaffhausen

 

My thoughts

The fourth in the Annalisa Verga series. This one did fall just a bit short for me. I wanted more. I thought Annalisa was a bit of a sissy in this book. While she did do typical PI work at times(breaking into apartments, stealing keys... ) it was just a tad out there in places. 

Annalisa starts her PI business after being a detective for so long. After solving a huge case she gave it all up to be a PI, wife, and stepmom. I hope she either gets better at the job or goes back to being a detective. I thought she made a better cop myself but this book was still good. It kept me reading and though I did figure out who the real sociopath was it didn't make a huge difference in my wanting to keep reading. Of course I did want to know for sure I was right.

There are a few characters in this book to follow but that was not hard. A doctor who can almost perform miracles. Yes he's that good. He lives in a high rise apartment complex along with the victim and the older woman who saw the girl fall to her death. That would be most traumatic for most people. 

Dr. Mara Delaney hired Annalisa to find out if Dr. Craig Canning, a surgeon, killed his neighbor. He had been accused of drugging then raping the young woman. Did he do it. Is he what Dr. Mara calls a "good sociopath?" What is her motive? Maybe making sure nothing interferes with the publishing of the book she has written about Dr. Canning. Proving that some sociopaths are ok. Necessary. But are they? Is he? Mara has some secrets of her own that will be revealed. 

Vicki is the first victim in this story. The one that Dr. Delaney thinks Dr. Canning murdered. Did she maybe have other enemies? Or is the Dr really a sociopath. 

This book was good but didn't wow me like the first two. It still had some good things going on to keep me reading but I was disappointed in Annalisa's character. She seemed to fall short of her bravado. Considering she brought down the Lovelorn Killer I expected her to be fierce. In some places she was but overall I think she lost some of her spunk. Maybe she should be a cop again. We will see what happens in the next book and I am sure there will be another one.

Thank you #NetGalley, #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my thoughts about this book.

3.5 stars from me. 

About

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

 

My thoughts

This was a quick read for me. I enjoyed the book very much. It had a lot of great things. The descriptions of the area were so realistic. They make you feel like you are there. Walking in the woods or up a mountain. Like you can smell the smoke after the fires. Feel the way the community acted towards people who didn't have as much as them. Not a good trait but a realistic one.

The setting is Bethany, Vermont. The time frame is 1965. There is a death. A couple of fires. A few suspects. A possible suicide. 

When this book starts off I thought something awful had happened to the woman in the Prologue. Later you find out exactly what did happen. You get to know her pretty well. You'll be invested in her life. The lives of her children and the life and death of her husband who was not such a good man. In many ways he was very much disliked in the community. But his wife and children could not help the things he did. They could not help being poor. 

You get to know the new man in town. An investigator by the name of Franklin Warren, or Frankie to some. He was getting settled in when he was called to the scene of a fire with a body. The barn had partially burned and there was the remains of a person. Now it's his job to figure out exactly what happened and why. It could be a suicide but could also be murder.

There are several people in this book that you meet. Some likable and some not so much. Like a lot of stories there are secondary characters that you hope grow and become more important as the story is told. They are well written in this book and I look forward to meeting them again in the next Franklin Warren installment. Also a few things that will be cleared up in the next book. Nothing huge but just a few things that I want to know more about and expect will come up in the second book.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was not one that just wowed me but it was still good. It kept me turning the pages. It's a book that makes you feel like you are there. Like you know some of these people. It's a kind of feel good and kind of who did it. I figured out who did it and it did not in any way take away from the story. 

Thank you #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for this ARC. This is my honest opinion of this book.

4.5 stars. 

About

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.

Spirit Crossing by William Kent Krueger

 

My thoughts

While I still have a ways to go with this series this can be read without reading the previous nineteen books. I do still look forward to each of them though.

From Author's Notes: "I have no Native blood running through my veins. I'm aware every time I sit down to write a novel in my Cork O'Connor series that I'm intruding on a culture that is not my own. If I err in my evocation of the Anishinaabeg, it's not intentional and, I hope not detrimental. My wish is that in writing stories like this one, I may in some small way open the hearts and minds of readers to the enormous struggles our Native brothers and sisters face every day."

Be sure and read the Author's notes. It's always good and in this case informing.

This is book twenty of the Cork O'Connor series by one of my very favorite authors. I own in some form every book this author has written and will read them as I can. 

This is the story of a group. A family. What happens when a Native girl goes missing and what happens when a white girl goes missing are so different. Seems like an all out investigation is done when it's a rich white girl. Not so much with a poor girl and even less for Native girls. Isn't that sad. Considering we as white people immigrated to this country and then took the land away from the Native people. Very sad indeed.

This book is well written and so heartfelt. When two bodies are found Cork O'Connor and others start investigating. One is a rich white girl and one a Native girl. After the finding of the white child the cases are pretty much closed from the town's cops. But the Native police carry on. They don't stop until they get closure. Until some kind of justice is served. Until they identify the young girl. 

Cork's daughter Anne has come home with some sad news. She wants to wait until after her nephew's wedding to share the news. There is a lot going on in this book and a few characters. But I had no problem following them all. I shed lots of tears reading this, especially the ending. I learned a few things also and a few new words. 

This book is excellent. Heartfelt and true to life. True to the time period also. From trackers to cell phones. To the prejudices that are still strong against Native Americans. To the descriptions of the areas. It's just a good story even though it's about a bit of sadness. Well quite a bit of sadness but also much happiness. A good book about a very important thing going on in this country right now. 

Thank you #NetGalley and #Atria for this ARC. This is my true thoughts about this book. 

Five stars.

About

A disappearance and a dead body put Cork O’Connor’s family in the crosshairs of a killer in the twentieth book in the New York Times bestselling series from William Kent Krueger­, “a master storyteller at the top of his game” (Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author).

The disappearance of a local politician’s teenaged daughter is major news in Minnesota. As a huge manhunt is launched to find her, Cork O’Connor’s grandson stumbles across the shallow grave of a young Ojibwe woman—but nobody seems that interested. Nobody, that is, except Cork and the newly formed Iron Lake Ojibwe Tribal Police. As Cork and the tribal officers dig into the circumstances of this mysterious and grim discovery, they uncover a connection to the missing teenager. And soon, it’s clear that Cork’s grandson is in danger of being the killer’s next victim.

The House Of The Witch by Clare Marchant

 

My thoughts

What a book. A first for me by this author. It's very good.

This is the story of two women who are basically terrorized by men. Not in a physical way, at least for one, but emotionally. It's told by both women and in dual timelines. One is 1646 and the other in 2024. While some things have changed as far as women's rights, there is a lot to be done. Don't let them turn back the clock... 

In 1646 in the prologue a body is buried. Who's body is yet to be discovered by the reader. But eventually it will become clear. 

Ursula is a herbalist. She helps her neighbors by administering herbs when they are sick or expecting a baby. She's been doing this for a while. Ursula lives alone and likes it that way. She doesn't have any use for men. Her father was a brutal man who killed her mother so why would she want a life like that. She is doing fine until she's not. A man accuses her of being a witch and thus Ursula's story begins. What happens. And why she's been accused....

Adrianna left her job and apartment in London to move to the quiet of the country of Norfolk. She's had a breakdown of sorts and needed to get away for some rest and relaxation. She's rented a cottage for six months and begins to fix it up a bit. Working in the backyard clearing away brush she finds all kinds of interesting things. She's also found letters or a journal in the house and starts to translate it. It's very old and she discovers it was Ursula's. 

There are two men in this story who are horrible. One in 1646 and one in 2024. Neither have any respect for women and I honestly despised them both. The Dr, Oliver Bruton, wanted to have a relationship with Ursula but she wanted no part of it. Rick wanted control over Adrianna and almost succeeded in gaining that control. In many ways he did. He was horrible and I didn't like either man. But this story would not have been complete without both.

It didn't take much to accuse a woman of being a witch and for the whole community to believe it. A few tricks or accidents. A drastic change in the weather. Any natural cause and she could be held accountable regardless. People just turned. Friends would forsake her. Even in modern day it seems men are superior to women in so many ways. 

This is the story of two women. Two who you will like. Or at least I did...

Thank you #NetGalley, #BoldwoodBooks, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this story.

Five big stars. It's that good.

About

Now: When Adrianna arrives at the small, run-down cottage, near the sea in rural Norfolk, she can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Here she can forget her life in the city, and the problems she’s left behind there, at least for a while.

But – like Adrianna herself – the cottage holds secrets. And when Adrianna finds a mysterious bundle of notes hidden under a floorboard, she can’t shake the idea that they’ve been waiting for her. Especially when – in the rambling, overgrown garden – she then finds a strangely-carved stone, drawing her into a centuries-old mystery…

1646: Between her work as the village midwife and the medicines she sells from her cottage, Ursula has no need for a man. But this ideal leaves her unprotected in a world where just one accusation of witchcraft can mean certain death. So when she catches the eye of a powerful new local doctor, she must use every part of her cunning, or risk becoming his prisoner…

Can the two women – their paths bound by place and history – each find the keys to their own destiny?

The God Of The Woods by Liz Moore

 

My thoughts

This was a BOTM choice and I'm so glad I got it. It was very good. 

I enjoyed this book so much. I also figured out what happened to both children. The boy I figured out about midway through. I felt for the women in this family. The men married them young and proceeded to treat them as second class citizens after they gave birth to boys. 

This story is from the 1950s to mid 1975. Told from multiple POVs and back and forth in the timelines. I didn't have any problems keeping the characters or timelines clear. I can fully understand how it can be confusing though. It has a lot going on and a few timelines to keep up with. 

The story starts out introducing Barbara Van Laar. That she is missing. She's from a very prominent family and seems to be a troubled young lady. At least that is the way her family describe her when being nice. Barbara is not close to either of her parents or grandparents. They don't even give her a chance it seems. Just ship her off to boarding school and expect her to be a good child. I see why she acted out. Her own mother, Alice,  ignores her and says she's a bad kid. I think she is just misunderstood and neglected. Looking for attention.

Then you learn of an earlier loss. The boy named Bear. Of course Bear is a nickname as he is the fourth Peter Van Laar and to keep him separate they just call him Bear. Bear went missing in  1961 and was presumed dead. An arrest was made and accusations were abundant. But there was no body. No one it seems knew exactly what happened to Bear. 

You get to know these children and their family. You read a lot about each and if you pay attention closely you might figure out some things. I did. Maybe. 

There are a few innocent people in this story that I felt so bad for. I was so glad when justice was finally served for them. This one touches a bit on drugs, adultry, mental illness, abuse of a female physically, and of course the mental abuse of the women in this family. Seems rich people just get away with things. Until a detective comes along and solves the cases.

I truly liked Barbara, Louise, T.J. and Judyta. And Bear of course. I loved how this book let you get to know each character. How it ended but that didn't WOW me like it seems it did others. I expected it. Maybe not the area but the facts. 

Very well written and both horrible characters and very likable characters. It brought out a lot of emotions. I will be reading more of this author's work. 

4.5 stars. Only loses half a star because of the somewhat slow start and that I figured out some things. And it's not a thriller but a great mystery. I loved it.

About

When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin

 

My thoughts

This book was just ok for me. It hit on a few things that are current and made the story more realistic. It had some subtle political things that were pretty much spot on. It dealt with friendships and loss. Suicide and betrayal. Things that don't receive a lot of attention in books sometimes. 

While this book was good, it was not great. I didn't like any of the characters and that is not good. I did enjoy this book though and for the most part I enjoyed the scenery of the places these three friends visited. 

At the beginning you meet four college students. Just entering college and becoming somewhat grown up in ways. Lainey, Summer, Hannah, and Tyson. They become fast friends and help each other out with everything. Summer is upset over something and takes her life. I still am scratching my head about what exactly happened to cause her to do this. Grades I guess though I honestly don't remember reading that. She texted her three best friends and they all ignored her. Shame on them....

After Summer's suicide the three remaining made a pact to always be there for one another. No matter what. If one felt their lowest the other two would come to them and help. They do stick to this also and from there this story takes off...

Hannah was engaged to a jerk. She caught him in the act but didn't let him know. Yeah right. Anyway she called Lainey and Lainey called Tyson. They all took care of that problem and then went on a long vacation.

I thought Hannah was a bit whiny. She just seemed to be trying to hard to be strong and falling way short. Until she met Olivia that is. I have to admit that I did like Olivia. Lainey was a drunk and seemed to sleep around way to much. And Tyson was unbelievable. He's staying with two beautiful women and not trying anything. I didn't buy that. And I was right. Though I was happy for them after it happened. To me it was like they used each other for their own benefits and didn't really care if the other was hurt. That is my take on the story. Real friendships do not happen like this. I hope.

Great writing and a so so storyline. I could have walked away from this book but was determined to finish it and find out what happened. Though that was pretty much predictable. Happy endings always... 

Thank you #NetGalley, #RandomHousePublishing-Ballantine, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

3.5 stars. 

About

In the wake of tragedy, a group of friends make a pact that will cause them to reunite a decade later and embark upon a life-changing adventure together—from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Meant to Be.

Four freshmen arrive at college from completely different worlds: Lainey, a California party girl with a flair for drama; Tyson, a brilliant scholar and law school hopeful from D.C.; Summer, a recruited athlete and perfectionist from the Midwest; and Hannah, a mild-mannered southerner who is content to quietly round out the circle of big personalities. Soon after moving into their shared dorm, they strike up a conversation in a study lounge, and the seeds of friendship are planted.

As their college years fly by, their bond intensifies and the four become inseparable. But as graduation nears, their lives are forever changed after a desperate act leads to tragic consequences. Stunned and heartbroken, a pact is made to be there for each other in their time of need, no matter how separated they are by circumstances or distance.

Ten years later, Hannah is anticipating what should be one of the happiest moments of her life when everything is suddenly turned upside down. Calling on her closest friends, it soon becomes clear that they are facing their own crossroads. True to their promise, they agree to take a time out from lives headed in wrong directions and embark on a journey of self-discovery, forgiveness, and acceptance.

In this tender portrayal of grief, love, and hope, Emily Giffin asks: When things fall apart, who will be at our sides to help pick up the pieces?

What Lies In Darkness by Christina McDonald

 

My thoughts 

The sequel to These Still Black Waters and it's just as good. In the first book you met Jess Lambert. Got to know her and saw the heavy loss she endured. How it tore her life apart. In this story you find out the truth. But first you have to read about a family who are all killed except for one. The oldest daughter Alice. 

This story is about a family. The trauma a young girl goes through after losing her parents and younger sister. How being treated as a freak in school leads her to having problems. She is seeing ghosts and not feeling very secure in the house with her aunt and uncle. Of course her aunt and uncle are having problems also. Alice just wants some closure. She wants to know what happened and why. 

Jess is on this case and also dealing with her own trauma from a year ago. When she lost her child in a horrific wreck that she totally blames herself for. She's wrecked her marriage and her life but attempting to get back on track with her job. She takes this case seriously and to heart. She wants to give Alice closure. 

This book will take you to a dark place. A place of death and blame. After a whole family are wiped out, except their older teenaged daughter, people talk. They place blame. Many, including the police, blamed the dad. They think he killed his wife and daughter because the wife had an affair. Whether she had an affair remains to be seen. 

I enjoyed this book very much. There were a few things I found to be unbelievable but still enjoyed it. The ending was a bit over the top for me. I can't say more or I would give something away. I won't. I hope it's addressed in a future book though. This story was heartbreaking. It was sad. But it was very good also. I didn't much like many of the characters. Like I hated Mel and Laura. I loved Alice, Jinx, and Jess. They were good and decent. Mel, the aunt, was self-centered in my opinion. Laura, the mother, was just selfish. There are things you just don't do. Not to anyone much less your brother. Even if he was stingy and having affairs on your best friend.

Thank you #NetGalley, #Thomas&Mercer, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Four stars.

About

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 Housekeeper's Secret by Iona Grey

 My thoughts

This was a very interesting book for me. I've not read many at all set in this time period. From Edwardian Age to the trenches of WWI. Set in the moors of Northern England, Coldwell Hall. A story told from the servants POVs. 

Kate is determined to keep the secrets of Caldwell Hall in. She's also determined to keep her own secrets hidden. And yes she has a few. One that could hurt her. But she is very good at her job and does all she can to keep things running smoothly. Then she meets Jem and things take a turn. Is it love? Or something else? 

Jem has secrets of his own. He came to Caldwell Hall for reasons of his own and did not intend to fall for anyone much less the head housekeeper. 

Told from different timelines and different prospectives this story will hold your interest once it gets going. I have to admit that it was a bit slow starting for me but it didn't take to long to get there. To get the main characters. It's fairly easy to follow and the flow is pretty good. There are some things that tended to interfere with the flow but it can be overlooked in part. At least I managed. 

This book was a new subject matter for me. Being about the servants instead of the rich homeowner. All that they do each day and the secrets that they all tend to have. I think this author did a good job of getting things right. Well researched. Read the Acknowledgments for more info.

I enjoyed this book. 

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

Four stars. 

About

"This BEAUTIFULLY-WRITTEN HISTORICAL is a SUMPTUOUS, PAGE-TURNING DELIGHT
filled with an enticing mix of FORBIDDEN ROMANCE and buried secrets.”
—Ellen Marie Wiseman, New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

Duty, desire, and deception reside under one roof.

Standing in the remote windswept moors of Northern England, Coldwell Hall is the perfect place to hide. For the past five years, Kate Furniss has maintained her professional mask so carefully that she almost believes she is the character she has Coldwell’s respectable housekeeper.

It is the summer of 1911 that brings new faces above and below the stairs of Coldwell Hall—including the handsome and mysterious new footman, Jem Arden. Just as the house’s shuttered rooms open, so does Kate’s guarded heart to a love affair that is as intense as it is forbidden. But Kate can feel her control slipping as Jem harbors secrets of his own.

Told in alternating timelines from the last sun-drenched summer of the Edwardian Age to the mud-filled trenches of WWI, The Housekeeper's Secret opens its door to a world of romance, the truths we hold onto, and the past we must let go.

"RICH IN ATMOSPHERE AND BRIMMING WITH INTRIGUE, THE HOUSEKEEPER'S SECRET IS NOT TO BE MISSED!"
–Amanda Skenandore, award-winning author of The Nurse's Secret

"BRILLIANTLY RESEARCHED…I rooted for Kate, fell completely in love with Jem, and will hold their unforgettable story close for a very long time to come."
–Jenny Ashcroft, author of Island in the East and The Officer and the Spy

The Stranger At The Wedding by A. E. Gauntlett

 

My thoughts

I've not read any of this author's work before but was very intrigued with this one. I'm very glad I decided to read it. 

This is a very good and intense story. It's a bit of a love story and also a family story. With family drama and several deaths. Though none in great detail. In this book you meet Annie. Annie who has fallen deeply in love with Mark. Mark was married before and his wife Hope had gone missing presumed dead. That is the only part of this book that had me scratching my head. How Mark was able to remarry in about a year when his wife's body was not found. How can he do that? Do they not make you wait for a period before declaring a person truly deceased? But that is neither here or there with how the story moves forward.

I enjoyed reading this book. There are a few twists and turns. Annie has a few secrets. She is determined in what she wants and stops at nothing to get it. You learn about her and her sister's childhood. About them as young adults and interaction with their mother and dad. Their grandmother also. You get to know Annie quite well. But not completely. She's something else. Maybe a bit misunderstood. Perhaps underestimated. 

Did Mark and Hope really have a great life. Were they honestly madly in love and trying hard to have a child. Or was that just what he wanted you to believe... Or was someone else pulling the strings. Did someone else do something and possibly put the blame on Mark. I have to admit that I didn't see it coming. I missed the twist completely. 

While I was hoping for a few loose ends to be covered I did like the ending. I thought it was appropriate. Sometimes in life you get exactly what you deserve. In this case I believe someone did.

Thank you #NetGalley, #AEGauntlett, #HenryHolt&Company, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book. 

Four stars.

About

A sinful obsession with till death do us part...

Annie has never been surer of anything in her life as she is about her fiancé, Mark. Ever since their chance meeting on an early-morning train, she has been swept up in their whirlwind romance and hopelessly enamored with her husband to be. But when a stranger appears at their wedding and suspicions start to flare, questions arise around the fate of Mark’s first wife who vanished without a trace. Was Annie’s chance meeting as random as it first appeared? Or is there something more menacing at work?

Twisty and brilliantly compulsive, The Wedding Guest will make you think twice before saying “I do.”

Polite Calamities by Jennifer Gold

 

My thoughts

I've read two other books by this author and hope to read the third also. 

This book is very good. Very telling in ways too. Telling in that the setting is in the sixties and the pressure on women to be perfect. Or to develop their own skin and be tough. Be themselves. Be the person they are meant to be. Truly meant to be. Perfection is so overrated. 

Two women would could not possibly be more different from each other. One born into riches. Taught her whole life to be perfect. To marry a rich man. Have children. Never complain. Yes, be or pretend to be, PERFECT. That is the life June has always known. Always had. Until she didn't. Then there is Winifred. Winifred married a man for love. He was very rich and possibly could not have children. Winifred didn't marry him for his money or social standing. She truly loved him and he truly loved her. 

June and Winifred had two very different lifestyles. Two different lives. June's husband was a cheat. He was one that thought she was to do what he said and never question him. But he also wanted a divorce. He wanted their child. He was a jerk. But to be fair she was a horrible person. Not kind to others. She saw kindness as a weakness. I think they made the perfect pair for the most part. I felt for their little girl though. 

Winifred lost her husband. He had a fatal heart attack at their end of summer party. She was devastated. This happened and the high society women who were already being cruel took it as a weakness. Was she really not suppose to grieve the loss of her beloved husband. Oh that's right they said she only married him for money. That she somehow tricked him. Winifred was a free thinking and very good woman. She befriended Marie who was an artist and living in her car. She took her in and gave her a place to paint. Of course the nosy women all had something to say about that too. June especially. She was rather cruel with her words. 

Now this sounds like a mean story but it's not. It just has some mean women in it. Back in that day it seems that women were not true friends. If one was to get divorced then they shunned her. Made her feel beneath them. Like it was all her fault. Men could do no wrong. Just look the other way. At any and all costs keep your marriage. 

This story deals with some other things too. Like horrible painful cramping that the drs seem to think it all in the woman's head. Things have changed in that respect. At least for now. Being a wife and mother. Being perfect. Looking good always. Knowing your place and staying there. 

This was a good book with a good story. Friendships. True friendships. While June didn't really have any true friends she wasn't a true friend either. She hated Winifred for having a friend. For being able to be herself. For knowing about what June's husband was doing. She didn't think about being her friend. Winifred was not good enough for the rich women even after she was left so much money from her husband. She just wasn't one of them. Thank goodness...

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

Five big stars. It's great. 

About

In a hazy 1960s Rhode Island summer, three disparate lives converge and combust in this riveting story of the empowerment women find in friendship, solidarity, and rage, from the author of Halfway to You.

Winifred is blunt, opinionated, and outrageously colorful. In a community that demands domesticity, she simply doesn’t fit. When her wealthy husband suddenly dies, Winifred’s fellow society housewives no longer have a reason to play nice. Cast out entirely, Winifred throws roaring parties for the clerks and waiters that serve the town, finding the connections she’s been craving—and upsetting the gentle balance of her elite neighborhood in the process.

Flailing artist Marie wants to paint over her past before the painful memories consume her. On the brink of making a longtime dream come true, her newfound friendship with Winifred might be the key to finally moving forward—or her undoing.

High-society housewife June weathers a chronic pain that would make other women faint. With her veneer crumbling, she has no patience for the free spirit shaking up her community. Filled with a mixture of obsessive hatred and fascination for the outcast, June’s determined to destroy Winifred and return her life to the way it used to be.

When slow-simmering summer secrets and resentments finally reach the boiling point, everyone is at risk of being burned. Polite Calamities explores what “community” really means when societal survival is at stake, and what happens when women decide it’s time to stop behaving and start living.

The Days I Loved You Most by Amy Neff

 

My thoughts

This is a beautifully written story about a couple that love each other more than life. Literally more than life. 

When Evelyn is diagnosed with something that will ultimately take her life her and her husband decide to go together. Joseph can't imagine his life without her. She begs him to not leave their children, who are grown with their own families, but he won't agree. He has loved her all of his life and will love her in the next life. 

This book is mainly told from Evelyn and Joseph's point of views but their three children come in at times and tell things too. It goes back and forth between when Evelyn and Joseph were just teens and fell so madly in love. How her brother Tommy was Joseph's best friend and always there for Evelyn. How close the three were. 

The times apart and together. You get to know this couple in almost every way possible and you will love their story. It's both beautiful and heartbreaking. I shed so many tears reading this and I loved it from start to finish. All the highs and lows. All the fights and making up. The growth of this couple's three children. When they told these children what their plans were. How each reacted. How they finally came around. 

There was a twist that really made me weep but I can't elaborate on it. It would give something vital away. Suffice it to say this book will take your breath away. Make your eyes feel raw. Make you look at love in a whole new light. 

I fully understand Evelyn's fear. Her fear of forgetting. Her fear of people seeing her as weak. She was always so strong. And those letter that you will get to read are so good. Enjoy this one but have lots of tissues handy. You will need them.

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

Five big stars. It's just a good one. And a debut. 

About

Unforgettable and utterly romantic, The Days I Loved You Most is a heart-wrenching, life-affirming novel that asks, How much would you sacrifice for the one you love?

In the summer of 1941, on the New England shores where they were raised, Evelyn and Joseph fell in love. Now, more than sixty years later, with a lifetime between them, they have gathered their three grown children to share the staggering news: she has received a tragic diagnosis, and he cannot live without her. So in one year’s time, they will end their lives on their own terms.

As the couple comes to grips with their fate, they retrace their past—the joys and regrets, the laughter and the sorrow—that brought them to this moment. They embark on a journey to live out their greatest dreams and to comfort and connect with each of their children before they're gone. But as their final days draw closer, they must confront the stark reality of what they are about to do, and make peace with the legacy they will leave behind for their family.

Spanning the twentieth century from World War II to 9/11 and beyond, The Days I Loved You Most is a timeless tale of unwavering devotion -- a moving tribute to the enduring power of love and a reminder that even in the darkest moments, there is always hope and beauty to be found.

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

 

My thoughts

This is the second book by this author. The first was THE WISHING GAME and I loved it. I also loved this one. It's a bit different and was inspired by THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA. 

This is a very sweet but very intense story. It's about two boys. Two boys who were lost. For six months they were missing and no one knew where they were or even if they were alive. Then one day they are back....

Fifteen years later and the story begins. It actually begins earlier but it's told after they are grown now. After they returned and time went by and there was a reason for them to return to where they had been all those years before. Jeremy and Rafe grew up but didn't stay in touch all those years. After returning Jeremy's mother took him away and he just didn't keep in touch. Not exactly. 

Things happen and they have to work together to help a young lady find her sister. Emilie's sister went missing before Jeremy and Rafe. She was taken though. By a very bad man who meant her pain and suffering. Emilie asked Jeremy to help her as he was well known for finding missing girls and women. He was hesitant at first but once he finally got Rafe to help off they all went. Now it's hard to write without giving anything away so just suffice it to say that this story is magical. It's hard in places and so happy in others. It is a love story also. A sweet love story about two boys. 

I throughly enjoyed reading this book. It made me feel so much and for a while I believed in magic. In Red Crows and Unicorns. It made me smile and shed a few tears. Lots of tears in places. 

Most of the characters were likable. I did not want to like Rafe's dad. He was a jerk in so many ways. He was actually very horrible to Rafe. Rafe's choices were not what his father wanted. In the end I did find a tiny sliver of sympathy for him though. Just a bit.

Thank you #NetGalley, #RandomeHousePublishing, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts.

Five big stars.

About

Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.

As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.

Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons’ investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.

Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie’s sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie’s sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories.

Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months—for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

My thoughts

I liked this book but didn't love it. It just didn't WOW me like her other books have. But it was still good. I did find it easy to figure out. I was spot on correct in who did what and why... But it was still very good. This author always delivers good books.

This is a story about a little girl. In a way it's about two little girls. 

Rose who lives in a big house with everything she wants. Possibly not everything she needs though. Her parents are getting a divorce. Her grandma is crippled in a way. Walks with a cane and seems to be crazy about Rose. There is a dead nanny and Rose saw her fall. Rose can't talk, she is mute due to the trauma. She actually loved her nanny. 

Stella who is working with the the lawyers to determine who Rose should live with. Stella found her own mother dead when she was just a child and also became mute after. She feels a connection to Rose. She wants more than anything to save her. To protect her. But she is also a bit afraid of Rose. 

The house Rose lives in has absolutely no glass anywhere in it. Not the windows, cabinets, no mirrors. Nowhere. Not even the picture frames. Seems Rose might like to collect broken shards of glass. 

This story is very good. Very well written and will keep you guessing. Mostly. I did figure out who did what and why. In two parts I figured out the motives. That didn't really take away from the story though. The characters were fairly likable. After you get to know them that is. What took away from this story for me was feelings. I just had no feelings when reading it. No tears, laughter, happiness. Nothing. But again I did like it.

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

4/5 stars. 

About

The next thrilling novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah Pekkanen, House of Glass.

On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.

A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?

Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny - in the midst of her parent's bitter divorce - and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella's mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.

From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there's something eerie about the house itself: It's a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.

As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny's boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella's supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?