ARC Review: Separated

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.

Separated is the second book in Frances' In Midsummer series, and even though I have not yet read the first entry in the series (though I would like to), enough background was integrated into this second book that I felt I was able to follow along just fine.

This book is the continuation of the story of Rocky and Conner. Rocky is the sheriff of Midsummer, who is a single father to a young daughter named River. Conner is in Midsummer to create a social media presence for a small town in need of more tourists to keep afloat.

Conner and Rocky were drawn together in the first book, but Rocky pulled away, saying he didn't want a relationship. Rocky feels he has to focus solely on his town and his daughter, and that Conner will only leave anyway when his job is done.

At least this is what Rocky tells himself.

But River has already formed a bond with Conner, and Rocky can't stop thinking about him. When Conner starts receiving attention from a famous actor who has a house nearby, and then starts receiving death threats, Rocky can't deny how he feels anymore. He becomes extremely protective of Conner, and they have a very sweet scene where Rocky goes over to where Conner is staying simply to wrap him in his arms and make him feel safe so he can finally get some sleep.

Rocky and Conner make a great couple, and Rocky, Conner, and River make a very sweet family unit. I found myself very invested in all three of them. The small town setting really comes alive, and there are some good supporting characters. As the death threats escalate, they bring a lot of tension to the story and make Rocky's protective side really come out.

The only thing I found lacking was the solution to the mystery of the death threats. It was so out of left field that it just didn't give me that satisfied feeling I was hoping for. That said, the relationships kept this book as a read I really did enjoy, and I would like to read the other books in the series as they come out to continue to see these relationships develop.

ARC Review: I Killed Zoe Spanos

(Book mood board on left by me, book cover on right)

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.

Title: I Killed Zoe Spanos
Author: Kit Frick
Publication Date: June 30, 2020
Genre: Young Adult Thriller
Recommended If You Like: true crime podcasts (especially ones like Serial), books like Sadie, Are You Sleeping, and the Six Stories series, creepy Gothic houses, so many secrets

The Book:

Teenager Anna desperately needs a fresh start, and a nanny job in the Hamptons fits that need perfectly. But when she gets there, she discovers she looks exactly like a missing girl named Zoe, whose case is the subject of a local true crime podcast. While Anna's confusing memories and old friends try to pull her under, Zoe's body is found, and Anna is arrested-but is she confessing to a crime she didn't commit?

What I Liked:

This book was so good! I absolutely love a mystery and/or thriller centered around a fictional podcast (which would be one of the many reasons the Six Stories series is one of my all-time favorite series). It worked really well to have the podcast host be a teenager who lives in the town, who has a personal stake in solving the crime. Frick's story had so many twists and turns and reveals, and everything made sense looking back.

Anything I Didn't Like?

I wanted more of the podcast! There were some times when an episode was just casually referenced, and readers didn't get a transcript of it. I would have liked the book to include transcripts of all the episodes, and for there to be more (and longer) episodes in general.

So...?

I definitely recommend this book! Books are always a comfort for me, especially in times like these, and this was the perfect book to distract me. It's a thriller with substance, a young adult book adults can and should read (read more YA books!), and a story that will keep you hooked.

ARC Reviews: Only Love is Deathless, and Dragon Dilemna

In Only Love is Deathless, two men fall in love and fight a dragon (as well as an assortment of creepy otherworldly beasts).

In Dragon Dilemma, two men are in love, and one of them is a dragon (who can shift back and forth to his human form).

The story in Only Love is Deathless jumps into the action right away, with a prince coming to an agreement with a thief that they will get married, but it will be a fake marriage and only for a year. This will allow the prince's younger brother to marry his true love, because the rules of the land dictate that a younger member of royalty cannot marry until their older sibling does.

From the start, nothing goes as planned. The fake dragon the thief (who has magic) was supposed to conjure up so he and the prince could "meet" by dramatically battling the beast together, is actually a real one sent by someone unknown (but clearly evil), and the thief gets badly injured. Cue the prince and the thief pretty adorably falling in love with each other while the thief convalesces.

From there, the story essentially follows this format. Sweet love story, lots of battles with mythical creatures, a quest, and some highly dramatic tragedies. Just a note that there are quite a few explicit "strong sexual content" (as the movie rating system would say) scenes in this book. I know some people prefer to skip the erotica, so just a heads up there. The scenes start out well-written, demonstrating the love between the two characters, but then there are so many of those scenes, and they are written so similarly, that it just becomes very repetitive. Some variety in writing style would have helped there I think. But it's an enjoyable read with some sweet romance and a lot of page-turning drama, and flew by pretty quickly.

Dragon Dilemma is the third in a series, I have read the previous two. Dane, the extremely powerful son of a god, and Mercury, an extremely powerful dragon, are raising a group of dragon kits together (dragons can shift to human form). Dane and Mercury originally joined forces to stop a series of dangerous experiments being done on dragons, but quickly fell in love and are now a family with the younger dragons as their children.

In this entry in the series, Dane's mother, who is also extremely powerful, unexpectedly comes to visit, as do leaders of other supernatural territories. Someone is spreading lies and rumors in an attempt to cause dangerous conflict, which means readers get dramatic battles, mysteries, and protective family scenes.

This is a series I enjoy. It makes for fun, quick reading, with a good group of reoccurring characters. I would like to see more focus on Dane and Mercury's relationship, it is depicted as very strong, but we don't get a lot of scenes of just the two of them centered around their relationship and not around an ongoing emergency.

ARC Review: The Wife Who Knew Too Much

(Mood board on the left by me)

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.

Title: The Wife Who Knew Too Much

Author: Michele Campbell

Publication Date: July 28th, 2020

Genre: Psychological Suspense/Thriller

Recommended If You Like: Campbell's A Stranger on the Beach, unreliable everyone, a little bit of a Rebecca vibe

The Book:

The second Mrs. Ford feels like she's living in a fairy tale. Her first love has come back and swept her into a world of money and privilege. But the first Mrs. Ford had to die for Tabitha to live this life, and now Tabitha isn't so sure she believes the suicide theory her new husband has been assuring her is true.

What I Liked:

This is a very suspenseful book! I loved the way Campbell played with the damsel in distress, rescued by her first love, concept. Campbell has proven in both this and A Stranger on the Beach that she has a real talent for twisting common tropes. The gothic vibe once Tabitha moved in with her new husband was great, almost as if the house was alive and watching her. 

Anything I Didn't Like?

Because Campbell loves to play with twists and turns, the first part of the book sometimes read as a little predictable so as to set up the surprises. And I wanted to shake Tabitha out of what appeared to be her bad choices on a regular basis.

So...?

This was a really suspenseful read that I could not put down. Campbell seems to get better and better with each book written, and I'm excited to see what she writes next.

Cozy Mystery Review: Sugar and Vice

 

(On left: Mood Board by me)

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.

Title: Sugar and Vice
Author: Eve Calder
Publication Date: April 28, 2020
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Recommended If You Like: baking, small communities you would love to be a part of, friendship, mysteries involving history

The Book: 

Kate McGuire feels like she has a home in Coral Cay-a crazy, busy home, but a wonderful home nonetheless. She is juggling a lot right now though-baking for the Pirate Festival, plus an unwelcome surprise visit from her ex-fiance. Add in the mystery of the unknown skeleton found in her best friend's yard, and Kate may have more on her plate than she can handle.

What I Liked:

I love this series (this is the second book)! The characters are so fun and unique, and Calder has created such a wonderful world with Coral Cay. She makes me want to go visit Coral Cay, surround myself with beautiful flowers, eat all the delicious baked goods and drink the best coffee, all while petting the adorable local dog.

The mystery was also a good one, with lots of twists and turns. The ending completely surprised me, and Calder didn't hold back with the big reveal.

Anything I Didn't Like?

I've found that there's really nothing not to like about this cozy mystery series!

So...?

I highly recommend this series! It's one of my absolute favorite cozy mysteries series, from the characters to the setting to the mysteries-and how much it makes me want cookies!

Social Distancing Reading Recap #2

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe! Here are my reviews of the ARCs I've been reading!

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

These two authors create amazing psychological thrillers together, and this third book of theirs is no exception.

Shay Miller feels lost in her own life, until she witnesses a traumatic tragedy. Unable to shake what she has seen, Shay finds herself falling into the inner circle of Cassandra and Jane Moore, two glamorous sisters who seem to make all the pieces of Shay's life fall into place. That is, if Shay's alive long enough to enjoy her new life.

This book constantly kept me guessing, gasping out loud in surprise, and frantically flipping pages to find out what was going to happen next. I highly recommend this read.

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

A fictionalized take on the shocking story of Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard, you already know going in to this that you are in for a twisted tale. And Wrobel does not disappoint.

Patty, the mother who is infamous for making her daughter, Rose Gold, intensely sick, has just been released from prison. Rose Gold is there to pick her up and take her home, a choice that shocks the members of their small town. But neither mother nor daughter are being honest about their intentions, and how their story ends completely shocked me.

The Return by Rachel Harrison

When their friend Julie suddenly returns from a two year disappearance, the group of friends are determined to find a way back to the way things were. They head out for a girls' weekend at a mysterious inn, but as things start quickly turning dark, the friends are forced to reckon with the idea that it might not be the real Julie who came back.

This book is so terrifying, and takes a really crazy turn at the end that left me not entirely sure how I felt about it. I couldn't put the book down, and it made me think afterwards, which is a positive for sure, but it's not a book I would automatically recommend to everyone. Fans of the supernatural and horror will definitely want to give this book a try though.

The New Husband by D.J. Palmer

Nina's husband disappeared, presumed dead, also presumed a cheater. As Nina tries to support her children, a new man comes into their life, seemingly lifting Nina up from her misery. But some sinister signs become too glaring to ignore, forcing Nina to confront her past and present.

I really wanted to like this book. The problem with it, for me at least, is that there are so many books out there with similar themes, that an author has to put a surprising spin on the story for me to like it. Palmer's book felt so predictable, and so obvious. I was able to call essentially every twist chapters before it happened.

Social Distancing Reading Recap #1

During this uncertain, scary time, when I'm not virtual teaching, I'm helping keep anxiety at bay as best I can with snuggles with my beloved pup and lots of reading. I've been making it my goal to make my way through my TBR bookcases and the ARCs on my Kindle.

Since I've been social distancing at home, here's what I've read so far:

*The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James (ARC)

St. James is great at at intertwining a ghost story with a compelling mystery. Here, a woman named Carly Kirk revisits the scene of her aunt Viv's long ago disappearance. As Carly digs deeper into the past, the past comes looking for her, in terrifying ways she never anticipated. The flashback chapters of Viv, interspersed with Carly's present,  are really effective in building up suspense, and the scares hit hard.

*Haunted Hayride with Murder by Auralee Wallace

This is one of my favorite cozy mystery series. I love the hilarious and smart main character, Erica Bloom, and all of her Otter Lake Security Team friends, as well as her love interest, Sheriff Grady Forrester. Centered around the Halloween antics going on in Otter Lake, when a dead body is found it starts up talks again about the Apple Witch-but Erica believes something more human, though just as evil, is behind the murder.

*The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I can see why so many people have loved this book so much. Evelyn Hugo is such a complex character, one of the biggest movie stars the world had ever seen, until she went into seclusion. Now she is ready to tell her life story, but only to a barely known reporter. As readers and reporter learn more about Evelyn, the surprises build to a hard-hitting conclusion.

*Follow Me by Kathleen Barber (ARC)

Barber tackles the new age of social media in a only somewhat successful story. The tale of an Instagram influencer who may be paying the price for putting her whole life on display seems very timely, and is definitely interesting and suspenseful. But the big twist felt too predictable, though I didn't see the secondary twist coming.

*The Guest List by Lucy Foley (ARC)

This is the kind of book I tend to love. A huge wedding on a remote island during a storm brings together a group of people with ties both known and unknown. Foley does an amazing job of building suspense by cutting between past and present, and there were so many twists and turns that I never saw coming.

*Last Seen Alive by Dorothy Simpson

This is definitely a dated British mystery-there is an entire subplot where the Inspector has to talk to his son about the dangers of becoming addicted to gluesniffing-and it definitely does not have the speediest of plot developments. The mystery of who killed the woman in the hotel, who was extremely popular in high school, is an okay one, but the ending is definitely a shocker.

*One Little Lie by Colleen Coble (ARC)

I hadn't realized this was a Christian mystery when I originally got the ARC (I don't typically read mysteries with religious themes of any kind, it's just not a subgenre I'm particularly interested in), but decided to read it anyway. The religion aspect felt minor compared to all the other things going on in the book. It feels like Coble just keeps tacking on so many things that the mystery gets lost and the plot gets confusing. The book left me feeling unsatisfied, and not interested in picking up the sequel.

*Areas of My Expertise by John Hodgman

This is a fun, clever book full of purposefully fake information. It was definitely a good book to be reading during this time.

*Mr. Lemoncello's Great Library Race by Chris Grabenstein

I really like this middle grade series. It promotes a love of libraries and reading, as well as the power of friendship and knowledge. There are always fun adventures happening-in this entry, familiar characters go on a fact-finding race, while also encountering a blast from their hero Mr. Lemoncello's past.

*A Mold for Murder by Tim Myers

This is a cozy mystery with a male protagonist, which is definitely unusual. The problem is that he isn't a very likable protagonist-he spends so much time bemoaning how hard his love life is that the mystery seems to get lost in his shuffle. The ending was surprising, but the book was merely meh.