ARC Review Roundup: The Golden Couple, Under Lock and Skeleton Key, and Dark Circles

 I received ARCs of these books from the publishers in exchange for honest reviews. This did not affect my opinion of the books or my reviews themselves.

After losing her professional license, Avery Chambers is a therapist who feels free to develop her own methods. When a seemingly perfect couple, Matthew and Marissa Bishop, agree to do whatever it takes to repair their marriage after Marissa's infidelity, they set in motion events no one saw coming.

This, like previous books by these authors, is a read full of twists and turns. I can honestly say I did not see any of the reveals coming, and thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

Tempest Raj is a disgraced magician, from a family of magicians, foiled by a glitch she swears she had nothing to do with. Coming home to the other family business-building secret rooms in people's homes-the dead body of her stage double is found inside a sealed wall. Tempest must solve the mystery while fighting to regain her reputation and decide what her future holds.

This book was just so much fun. There's mystery, suspense, romance, and the depictions of the secret rooms and keys and staircases were so great to read. I definitely recommend this book and really am looking forward to more in the series.

Olivia Reed, an actress who has just suffered through a breakup and a significant scandal, is essentially ordered by her publicist to attend a retreat. When Olivia arrives at the House of Light, everything is as she expected-fasts, group time, yoga, and sunrise hikes. But then a local woman, Ava, who has spent many sessions at the House of Light, starts telling Olivia about the women who have committed suicide after spending time there. Olivia begins investigating, even starting a podcast as she dives deeper into what is truly going on at the House of Light.

Olivia is a complicated character trying her best in the world she has been thrust into. The House of Light is just mysterious enough to make it ominous, and the podcast parts are very cool. The ending of this surprised me so much in the best possible way. I was truly shocked, but everything made sense looking back. I definitely recommend picking up this book. 

ARC Review: The Children on the Hill

 

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

First, let me admit that I am a big Jennifer McMahon fan. I have a collection of her books on my bookshelf, and have reread quite a few. 

This book lived up to my excitement for sure.

It's the past tale of Vi and her brother Eric, and their grandmother, and Iris, a young girl their grandmother brings home one day from her famous mental health treatment center. Vi and Eric are fixated on monsters, what they look like, where they are and how to defeat them. As Vi tries to draw Iris out of her shell, per her grandmother's instructions, she invites Iris to join her and Eric's Monster Club.

This is also the present tale of Lizzy Shelley, a monster hunter with a highly successful podcast. Lizzy travels around the United States, responding to local legends and sightings. But her real motivation is to find her sister, who she knows is a true monster.

The way the past and present combine and intersect is masterfully done, and McMahon does an amazing job of examining the concept of monster and what it truly means. This book shocked me time and time again, with expertly plotted twists. I highly recommend this read.

ARC Review Roundup: The Night Shift, The Club, and The Book of Cold Cases

 I received ARCs of these book from the publisher in exchange for honest reviews. This did not affect my opinion of the books or my reviews themselves.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

I was especially excited to get an ARC of this book, as I really enjoyed Finlay's Every Last Fear. The Night Shift features two small-town murders years apart, where teenagers are murdered at local businesses after hours. The survivors from both crimes find themselves linked together, as well as an FBI agent, and the brother of the original suspect. The original suspect has never been seen again since he made bail, and fear is gripping the town once again.

This is a great book full of complex characters, secrets from the past, and lots of twists and turns. I could not put it down, and finished it quickly. The ending was a complete shocker to me that worked so well.

This book was a bit of a disappointment to me. I was highly intrigued by the concept, a very high-end getaway for those on the A list, where people suddenly start disappearing and turning up dead. I pictured a celebrity And Then There Were None.

This was not a bad book by any means. It kept my attention, and I wanted to know what was going to happen next. But the story moved slowly, and there wasn't a real heightened sense of danger. No one really seemed to know what was going on while it was happening, and so there wasn't any of that tension and fear that really make a book like this exciting and gripping. 

I'm not against recommending this book, just know going in it's a lot tamer than you're probably hoping for.

I have really enjoyed every book of St. James I have read. She has a way of twining together mysteries that feel real world with elements of the supernatural and paranormal, making it all feel realistic and as if it could happen in any small town. 

In The Book of Cold Cases, Shea Collins runs her own true crime blog. Having thwarted her own almost-abduction, she lives in fear and uses her blog as her outlet. By chance at her day job, she meets Beth Greer, once suspected of being The Lady Killer, the most infamous murderer to hit Claire Lake.

This book is eerie, scary, suspenseful, and full of twists and turns. The characters are complex and highly complicated, blood runs from taps and footsteps sound where they shouldn't, and there's even a romance that made me giddy. St. James keeps the hits coming, and I already can't wait for her next book.

ARC Review Roundup: The Christie Affair, Honey Roasted, and This Might Hurt

 

While there have been many books, fiction and non-fiction, that have tackled Agatha Christie's eleven day disappearance, this novel's spin on it is one full of twists and turns and clever creativity.

Nan O'Dea is our narrator through much of the story, and is Christie's husband Archie's mistress. Agatha is devastated by the knowledge that the affair is a serious one, and Archie fears that it was his actions that sent Agatha spiraling into drastic action. 

But there is more going on than meets the eye, and de Gramont delivers every surprise with aplomb. While Agatha Christie is my favorite author, I honestly saw none of the twists coming. This is not only a fresh take on a famous unsolved mystery, but one that is so well-thought out and so well-written that I could not put it down.

This is a cozy mystery that includes bees, honey, coffee, heroic rescues, drugs, an engagement possibly on the rocks, stances on food production, and a poetry slam, and somehow Coyle makes it all work.

I've always enjoyed this cozy mystery series centered around a coffee shop, mainly for the reason described above. No matter what the mystery is about, no matter what other side plots are going on, you know it's all going to come together in a way that makes sense, with a resolution where the good guys win and the bad guys lose. You get some great romance as well. If you're looking for a fun, truly cozy read with short chapters that pack a lot in, I would definitely recommend this series.

This is not a book for the faint of heart, as made evident by the opening pages. 

It is a really well-written book, keeping you just on the edge of figuring things out until Wrobel is ready for the foreshadowing to come together brilliantly.

Wisewood promises participants that if they commit to a six month stay without technology, that they will teach them how to truly be fearless. But Natalie has received an email that fills her with fear-that someone on Wisewood, where her sister Kit is currently living, is going to tell Kit a secret about Natalie that will absolutely shatter them both. So Nat sets out to get into Wisewood, find her sister, and tell her herself. But nothing is what it seems, including Wisewood itself.

I have to admit, when I realized what was really going on within the story, I gasped out loud and actually clapped my hands, I was so pleased by Wrobel's cleverness. While there are definitely some parts that can be hard to read, this book is well worth that read.

ARC Review: The Maid

 

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

This is an absolutely fantastic book.

Molly is a maid at a very prestigious hotel. She lives the same routine every day, home to work to home, though home is lessened by the loss of her grandmother, the one person who truly understood her and helped her navigate the social interactions of the world. So when Molly finds a dead man in one of the hotel rooms, her whole life is completely upended. Suddenly finding herself in the midst of a murder investigation, Molly must rely on her true friends to help her through.

I loved this book. Molly is such a wonderful and unique character, and making her the narrator was the perfect choice. The supporting cast are also really well-written and each one, even the minor background characters, come alive on the page. Prose gives readers just enough to put some of the pieces together, while still leaving a knockout reveal for the end-and the end of the book is so good.

I would absolutely recommend this book!

ARC Review: The Accomplice

 

Publication Date: January 25th, 2022

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

This is a book that has left me unsure exactly how I feel about it.

 And that may be the point? That it makes me like the characters, who all seem to be left unsure how they feel about each other and their lives by the end. Lisa Lutz is a great author, so I could absolutely see her playing with her readers' emotions that way.

In The Accomplice, Owen and Luna have been extremely close since college. They've never dated, no one else is really sure why, but they've always been each other's person. They've been there for each other through two murders now (one? three? the book keeps this secret for the perfect amount of time), but both think they still have secrets from each other-and from the reader.

I was really into this book up until around the last quarter. I loved the reveals of the (many) secrets, and found myself completely shocked every time. I just felt like the last quarter didn't entirely work for me, but that feeling seems a lot like personal preference and not a commentary on the actual book. I wanted the characters to make different choices, but in the world of the book, I honestly don't think they could have. 

ARC Review: Reckless Girls

 

Publication Date: January 28th, 2022

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

This is a good book. It's a gripping read. I was a big fan of The Wife Upstairs by this same author.

But the way it was described made it sound way more like an Agatha Christie-type, killer among us on a deserted island vibe. And it really didn't come across that way for me.

Hawkins did a fantastic job on slowly building suspense, but not so slowly that I lost interest. I thought the flashbacks were really effective, and definitely hooked me on trying to deduce everyone's true backstory. Lux is a great narrator because she feels real, drifting around after a terrible loss and hoping that the man she is in love with will heal her. When another character's flashback starts, they read as a completely different person to Lux, and the way relationships form on the island as their found family crashes together is really compelling.

What I wasn't as in love with was that with so much suspense, the ending felt a little rushed, and almost a little pat. I did really enjoy the twists and turns, but I was hoping for more buildup Christie style.