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Showing posts with the label netgalley

Dangerous Ledges

Liza has just divorced her husband and has been talked into going on a cruise with one of her best friends. She's looking forward to some time away. She bought new clothes and even splurged on a spacious cabin. But she never makes it on the ship. Her ex-husband, Ledge McAllister, is going to  reclaim what's rightfully his. Liza belongs to him. This book was hard to get into. At the beginning the writing seemed really juvenile, making the characters appear immature. Thankfully the writing gets better further along. The story held my interest, I didn't want to set it down but there's nothing that makes it stand out. I love the title! Thank you to Netgalley and Xpresso Book Tours for an ARC. 3/5.

One Little Secret

Three couples sublet a glass beach house for a week for some kid-free conversation. Susan has just moved to town and has invited her neighbours to join her and her workaholic husband. Each couple picks up on the other couples frustrations as well as reveal their own. The next morning one of the women is found dead on the private beach. Detective Gabby Watkins has to figure out who the killer is and as she questions everyone staying in the house she learns that every one of them is hiding something that could tie them to the murder. I'll be honest this book didn't grab my attention at first. I set it down for months and months, I'd try every now and then to get into it, but nope. Then one day I picked it up and read over half the book in one day. I couldn't get enough! All the secrets and motives and just when I thought I had it all figured out the author would throw something else into the mix. I wasn't crazy about the detective's parts in the story at first, bu...

Sprinkles of Suspicion

Cupcake caterer Emory Gosser Martinez has just seen, with her own eyes, her husband and her best friend Tori together. Several people witness the public altercation that took place outside Tori's house. Not only did Tori break up Emory's marriage, she also posted a fake photo of Emory in a compromising situation - a photo that went viral. So when Tori is found murdered, Emory is the prime suspect. It seems to her that the police aren't even looking into anyone else. It's up to Emory to dig into the past of her ex-best friend and find out who wanted her dead. This is a little more gritty than the cozies I've read. It was kinda refreshing. I liked Emory. One thing after another was thrown at her and she persevered. Some of the goodies she baked sounded delicious - there's lots of recipes included! It was interesting to dig up Tori's past. An entertaining read and a good start to a new series. I look forward to reading book number two! Thank you to Netgalley an...

Rewind

PLAY - Andrew is the manager of Shanamore Cottages. He's watching a guest via a hidden camera when someone kills her and destroys the camera. PAUSE - Natalie's not sure coming to Shanamore was a great idea. It's isolated and the manager of Shanamore Cottages is creepy. But she can't leave until she gets some answers. REWIND - We know what happens, but why did it happen? Who could have done it? You'll have to rewind and play it through to the end. I liked the concept of play, pause, rewind, fast forward. But to me the whole story just seemed to jump around and with that I wasn't as invested as I had hoped, it was just confusing. It was slow going and large chunks of the book seemed to go absolutely nowhere for me. I was interested in the mystery enough to read this the whole way through, but the ending was nothing special. I did like the setting and I liked the fact that Natalie was a big star on Instagram. Thanks to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an ARC...

You Are Not Alone

I don't really know what to say about this one. I could not get into it at first. I got to 25% and set it down for months. At times it is long and seems to go nowhere. But in the end I can appreciate the cleverness woven throughout. It's an interesting enough story, although maybe a bit far-fetched. The characters felt real. Lots of twists and turns. I can't wait to read more from these two! Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC. 4/5.

Till Death Do Us Part

Alice Tandy's wedding day has finally arrived. She has been dreaming of this day since she was young. Everything is going exactly as she had planned.. except she hadn't planned on her new husband, Ben, being arrested as they're cutting their wedding cake. The next day Ben is released on bail but Alice's nightmare is just beginning. Who killed Kerry Valentine? And how many secrets is Ben keeping from her? Unpopular opinion here, but I hated this book. When I began reading I just knew that I wasn't going to be gripped at any point. At 20% I began skimming. And when I got to the big reveal I just wished I listened to myself at about 20% and put it in my DNF pile. There is absolutely nothing I liked about this book. I didn't particularly enjoy the writing, I didn't like the characters and there was lots of filler. An unbelievable story. Thank you to Netgalley and HarperImpulse & Killer Reads for an ARC. 1/5.

Little Creeping Things

When Cassidy Pratt was seven she accidentally started a fire that killed her friend. She can't actually remember it happening, but that's what she's been told. Melody Davenport has never let Cassidy live it down because that was her cousin that died. But Melody goes missing, and Cassidy thinks she has information that could help. But she can't go to the cops. It's up to her to figure out what happened. This was a compulsive read for me. The story seemed to flow and it was easy to lose track of time. We get little morsels that kept me flying through the pages. I couldn't wait to discover exactly what happened, not only to Melody but with the fire all those years ago as well. I liked the twists and turns. Great cover! I was not disappointed with this young adult novel! Thank you to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for an ARC. 4/5.

For Whom the Book Tolls

Jenna Quinn has gotten into some trouble in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. Her uncle has reached out and offered her a place to stay in exchange for some help in his antiquarian bookstore. But not long after she arrives in the small town of Hokes Folly, she finds her uncle's body at the bottom of the staircase between his apartment and the bookstore. Jenna learns that she has inherited almost everything her uncle owned - she is now a millionaire. And the police believe that is a good motive for murder. I debated reading this one but the cover won me over. I liked this book more than I thought I would. At the beginning Jenna had a lot of lumps in her throat. But I grew to like Jenna and the old bookstore and the small town of Hokes Folly - I especially enjoyed learning about the history of Hokes Folly. I thought the friendship developed fast between Jenna and her neighbour, Rita, but I can't even complain about that - I really like their friendship and may even be a ...

The Girl from Widow Hills

Arden Maynor was only young when she was swept away while sleepwalking. She was missing for days and was eventually found alive, clinging to a storm drain. She was a living miracle, but fame took its toll and when she was old enough she changed her name and disappeared from the public eye. She's now known as Olivia and is living hundreds of miles away from the place she grew up. But the twentieth anniversary of her rescue is coming up and the media will no doubt have something planned. She feels like she's being watched, she begins sleepwalking again - something that hasn't happened in a long time. One night she wakes up outside her home and finds a corpse at her feet. I'll admit I had trouble getting into this one at first. The writing seemed abrupt and disjointed. But I kept plugging away and eventually I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I'll also admit that I did not read the part about the corpse on the blurb so I was really excited when I read about tha...

The Girl with the Kitten Tattoo

Lara Caphart's best friend is getting married. Sherry and her fiancé, David, are going to get married in Sherry's family's coffee shop. Lara couldn't be happier for them, but she can't help but wonder when her boyfriend, Gideon, will pop the question. It's business as usual at High Cliff Shelter for Cats. Lara and her aunt Fran take in and look after cats in their old Folk Victorian until they find loving homes for them. As if Lara didn't have enough going on, Gideon's ex, Megan, has just showed up, and to make matters worse for Lara, Gideon has never mentioned her before. When Megan's ex-boss is found dead, suspicion falls on Megan. But thanks to Lara's spirit cat, a cat named Blue that only she can see, she knows it couldn't have been Megan and she knows she has to help. I didn't find this one as enjoyable as the others. I thought it was a bit juvenile. Lara's always worrying about her boyfriend, and wondering if it's over a...

You Can't Catch Me

Jessica Williams has just been fired from her investigative journalism job for plagiarism. She decides to go to a resort in Mexico to escape the press coverage. While waiting at the airport, she finds a woman with the exact same name. After playing a game of twenty questions to see what other similarities they share, they exchange contact information. When Jessica returns home from Mexico, she discovers large cash withdrawals have been made from her bank account and that Jessica Two is the one who took the money. After doing some digging, convinced she's pulled this scam before, Jessica is determined to catch Jessica Two by reaching out to other Jessica's on Facebook. When she gets some responses from other victim's, she sets a plan in motion. I love when I read the first few words of a book and already know I'm going to love it. Everything this author writes is so good, she has such talent! Everything about this novel is interesting - Jessica's upbringing, all the ...

Don't Look for Me

Molly Clarke's car is found abandoned miles from home, her phone is left behind. She has left a note at a nearby hotel. She has simply walked away from her life, her family. But someone isn't convinced that's what really happened. I love the cover. This is an author, for me, that I already know the book is going to be good before I even crack the cover. I wasn't disappointed. I loved everything about this one - the characters are three-dimensional, the setting is a little eerie, the situations are heartbreaking. The writing is great and the whole story flows well. I couldn't wait to find out what was going on! It was twisty and I didn't see anything coming. A page-turner that kept me reading until early morning. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC. 5/5.

The Night Swim

Rachel Krall is now a household name thanks to her true crime podcast. It became an overnight sensation and it gives hope to many people who are seeking justice and have no one else to turn to. Nobody knows what she looks like, they just know the sound of her voice. So she's a little spooked when she finds a note addressed to her on her windshield, begging for help. Rachel is in Neapolis for a rape trial. The town's golden boy is accused of raping a high school student who also happens to be the granddaughter of the police chief. Rachel is investigating and interviewing and still receiving letters begging her to find out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Jenny Stills drowned, but the letters insist she was murdered. Rachel's intrigued. When she starts asking questions, nobody wants to answer them. Digging deeper Rachel uncovers connections between the two cases. This is a difficult subject to write about and to read about. A lot of different feelings come t...

Date Night

The writing wasn't that great, the whole story was boring and slow and unbelievable. The characters were unlikable. Libby needed to grow a backbone. I started skimming just before the halfway point. Should've stopped reading altogether. Lame ending. Ugh. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC. 1/5.

Good Little Liars

Emma's marriage has just fallen apart and she finds herself and her daughter moving into the headmaster's former cottage on the grounds of the school she attended long ago. It's in this cottage she finds an explicit photograph of Tessa - a former student who fell to her death twenty-five years ago. Emma had long suspected that Dr. Brownley, now headmaster, had been involved with Tessa. When Emma starts to question what really happened all those years ago, all involved must deal with the consequences of their actions. I thought this would be more of a mystery than a chick-lit, but I was wrong. With that being said, I enjoyed the book a whole lot more than I thought I would. Everyone has their own story, something they remember differently from everyone else and each story is tied into the whole big picture nicely. I liked the characters. There's lots of drama and secrets. A very solid and entertaining read for me. Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for an...

The Dilemma

This did not seem like a B.A. Paris novel. Very disappointing. I wanted to know what was going on, but after a while the story just dragged and I was nowhere near as interested as I was at the beginning. There was no big twist, nothing to make it stand out and be a great read that'll stick in my mind long after. I liked the plot and I liked that it was told from the husband's point-of-view as well as the wife's. But unfortunately this is a forgettable book for me. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC. 3/5.

Snoopy: First Beagle in Space

If you're a fan of Snoopy and the Gang, you won't be disappointed with this collection of comics. Why are you still reading this?! Go pick up this book right now! Thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an ARC.  5/5.

Last Licks

Kate McKay can't say no to the assistant movie director who desperately wants to shoot a scene at  Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe. Kate's going to get big bucks and all she has to do is tolerate a film crew for a few hours and provide an important prop - a scoop of ice cream. But up-and-coming actress Savannah Crane drops dead after a taste of some chocolate almond fudge. She was poisoned and the blame is on Kate. Kate is determined to clear her name and get the crime scene tape off her shoppe. I love the cover! I like reading the ice cream facts at the beginning of each chapter, I think it's a nice touch. There's nothing different I can say from the second book in the series - great characters, great setting, great mystery. I felt like I was part of and not just reading a book. Lots of creativity in that ice cream shoppe! I look forward to reading more. 4/5.

Hot Fudge Murder

It has only been six weeks since the grand opening of Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe and owner Kate McKay is ecstatic that she has been enlisted to cater a gala at world-famous fashion designer Omar DeVane's home. But things go sour pretty quickly when Omar's body is found. The murder is keeping customer's away from Lickety Splits, so Kate decides to crash high-profile photo shoots and mingle with fashion's biggest stars to find clues that will lead her to the killer. This is the second book in the series but it was the first one I read. I had no problem following along. I loved the idea of an ice cream shoppe with creative flavours - some of them sounded really good! I felt like I was included in the story. Great characters, great setting, great mystery, great cover. I will definitely read that first book and look for the others in the future! Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington for an ARC. 4/5.

The Stranger in Our Bed

I ended my marriage for a man who didn’t exist… Sounds interesting, right? I wish it was. This turned out to be boring, repetitious and far-fetched. Lots and lots of filler. I couldn't bring myself to even come close to finishing it. Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for an ARC. 1/5.