Thursday, January 30, 2020

Book Review: The Perfect Sister by Sheryl Browne



The Perfect Sister
 by Sheryl Browne 




‘You don’t know me, but I’m your sister.’

Claire is shocked when she receives a message out of the blue from Sophie, a beautiful young woman who tells Claire that she’s their father’s secret child. Having spent years nursing her sweet little daughter Ella through a life-threatening illness whilst dealing with the emotional fall-out of a devastating marriage breakdown, Claire feels tentatively excited to meet Sophie. Perhaps she might finally have someone in the family to lean on…

As Claire welcomes her sister into her life, she’s delighted to see just how much Ella loves her new Aunt Sophie. But as the pair spend more time together, Claire begins to wonder where exactly her perfect new sister came from and what kind of person she really is. With their elderly father’s mind rapidly deteriorating, is it possible that he’s hiding something from Claire about Sophie’s sudden appearance in their lives?

When Sophie suggests a family day at the seaside, little Ella is beyond excited. But as Claire takes an important phone call from her demanding ex-husband, leaving Sophie in charge of Ella, something unthinkable happens. And as Claire rushes into the ice-cold sea towards the small, limp figure of her daughter, she realizes that Sophie was watching the whole time. But why would Sophie want to hurt Claire’s precious daughter? Was trusting her new sister with Ella the biggest mistake of Claire’s life?

If you enjoyed The Girl on the Train, My Lovely Wife and Lucinda Berry’s The Perfect Child, you’ll love this heart-stopping psychological thriller from bestselling author Sheryl Browne. 


My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:



‘Don’t forget your helmet, Jimmy,’ she called after him. ‘Wouldn’t want you damaging your one brain cell, would we?’



Was it her fault she’d had nobody interested enough in her to show her the basics in the kitchen? Her gran’s idea of haute cuisine was to pour curry sauce on her chips.




My Review: 

Secrets, lies, betrayals, infidelity, mistrust, cons, revenge plots, chilling mind games, and a ton of prickly and complicated family drama were heavily featured in this twisty brain itching tale. The characters were untrustworthy, more than a bit frustrating, and not all that likable, but I pitied the poor husband, too bad he couldn’t seem to get his tongue to work and I periodically wanted to give him a swat to the back of the head to knock it loose.

My own wild theories were mostly, well, partly correct. I would doubt the veracity of anyone claiming that had it all figured out, as there is just no possible way to have unraveled or predicted all those deviously tangled and perplexing plotlines without psychic abilities. This was my first visit into the devilishly clever mind of Sheryl Browne and I enjoyed her wily written and intriguing tale while feverishly bumping around in her oddly compelling characters’ zigzagging reasoning. More, please!


About The Author
.
Sheryl Browne writes psychological thriller and edgy contemporary fiction. A member of the Crime Writers’ Association, Romantic Novelists’ Association and awarded a Red Ribbon by The Wishing Shelf Book Awards, Sheryl has several books published and two short stories in Birmingham City University anthologies, where she completed her MA in Creative Writing.

www.sherylbrowne.com
https://www.facebook.com/SherylBrowne.Author/ @SherylBrowne 




Book Review: The Beach House by P.R. Black



The Beach House
 by P.R. Black


Amazon US / UK / AU / CA
.
Kobo / Google Play / iBooks


This vacation is about to turn deadly...

Cora's on the island vacation of her dreams: a private beach in paradise, a romantic proposal, and an eight-figure cheque following the sale of her new fiancĂ©’s business.

When their island turns out to be not so private after all, Cora tries to make the best of a bad situation by inviting their strangely friendly neighbors to celebrate with them.

But it doesn't take long for her once-in-a-lifetime holiday to take a very sinister turn...



My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:


‘If that’s your best come-on line, then that’s some weak sauce.’ ‘Trust me,’ Jonathan said – with that particular twinkle in his eye that usually meant she should do the opposite.



They had gone to see a conch expert at the conch museum, where a man in bright red ‘CONCH MUSEUM’ T-shirt had held up a live specimen of the shellfish, dripping wet from the pool, and told the rest of the spectators with a straight face: ‘This is a conch. And this is its penis.’ He went on to tell the assembled tourists how the humble conch has the biggest penis-to-body ratio in the animal kingdom, at which point Cora began to suffer from a coughing fit, which meant she had to go outside and laugh properly.



Cora hadn’t failed to notice he was absurdly ripped, with one of those fat-free gym-honed physiques that looked as if they shouldn’t exist outside of a comic book – abs she could have played a tune on, straining muscle fibre best suited to a racehorse and a closely shaven chest that might have belonged to Action Man.



‘Mixed Martial Arts. I was only thinking about it. I’ve got this health condition that stops me from getting into the ring.’ ‘What’s that?’ ‘I’m allergic to getting punched in the face.’



When a man lives with a woman who could disembowel him with a dessert spoon, a man understands when to shut up.



I’ll let you in on another secret –I’m great at lying. Hey, I’m a primary school teacher… About eighty percent of my job is bullshitting children so they can sit still, and shut up. It’s a skill. You get good at it.





My Review: 


This compelling book started off with crisp humor and amusing levity that put a smirk on my face and had me gleefully nestling in my chair for a snug session of relaxed reading. However, the tone soon turned a bit tauter, and steadily more so, until the smirk disappeared and I fell into Mr. Black’s vortex of intriguing doppelgangers, dangerous con artists, and a stupidly rich idiot fiancĂ© and I totally lost track of myself as well as time. Wow, this absorbing read was nonstop action and cunningly well-paced with more twists and turns than a snake’s trail.

When I finally stopped to catch my breath and seek a bit of sustenance, I noticed my shoulders were in my ears and I was white-knuckling my Kindle, which was generally my reading posture for the remainder of the tale. I resented any interruption to my perusal and may have been rather snappish when my sweet husband inquired about dinner. Oops. I seemed to have fallen under what I’m calling The P.R. Black Spell, as this wordsmith is obviously a master of the darker arts of word voodoo.



About The Author

Goodreads
Facebook

Twitter

Author and journalist PR Black lives in Yorkshire, although he was born and brought up in Glasgow. When he's not driving his wife and two children to distraction with all the typing, he enjoys hillwalking, fresh air, and the natural world, and can often be found asking the way to the nearest pub in the Lake District. His short stories have been published in several books including the Daily Telegraph's Ghost Stories and the Northern Crime One anthology. His Glasgow detective, Inspector Lomond, is appearing in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. He took the runner-up spot in the 2014 Bloody Scotland crime-writing competition with “Ghostie Men”. His work has also been performed on stage in London by Liars’ League. He has also been shortlisted for the Red Cross International Prize, the William Hazlitt essay prize and the Bridport Prize. 

Follow Aria 

Twitter: @aria_fiction
Facebook: @ariafiction
Instagram: @ariafiction

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Book Review: The Look-Alike by Erica Spindler



The Look-Alike
by Erica Spindler 




Amazon US / UK / AU / CA



From Erica Spindler, the New York Times bestselling author of The Other Girl and Justice for Sara comes The Look-Alike, a thrilling psychological drama about a woman who believes she escaped a brutal murder years ago—but does anyone else believe her?

Sienna Scott grew up in the dark shadow of her mother’s paranoid delusions. Now, she's returned home to confront her past and the unsolved murder that altered the course of her life.

In her mother’s shuttered house, an old fear that has haunted Sienna for years rears its ugly head—that it was she who had been the killer’s target that night. And now, with it, a new fear—that the killer not only intended to remedy his past mistake—he’s already begun. But are these fears any different from the ones that torment her mother?

As the walls close in, the line between truth and lie, reality and delusion disintegrate. Has Sienna’s worst nightmare come true? Or will she unmask a killer and finally prove she may be her mother’s look-alike, but she’s not her clone?


My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:


Her mother released her and held her at arm’s length, studying her. It was like looking in a mirror, Sienna thought. One that bent time — herself thirty years from now.



She found each step akin to another crank of a jack-in-the-box, and with each a growing anxiety for what was going to jump out at her.



For a long moment, her mother was quiet. When she finally spoke, the words broke Sienna’s heart. “You can’t live in fear. And I can’t seem to live without it.”



My Review:


This was my first exposure to the devious word-stylings of Erica Spindler and I chose an excellent start point, if I do say so myself ~ well, honestly, how else could anyone recognize my genius if I don’t point it out? I instantly fell into this diabolically and ingeniously crafted, tautly written, and brain itching tale of intrigue, murder, family drama, and card-carrying mental illness. 

I conjured and cast aside a bevy of questionable and brilliant theories, as everyone was suspect at one time or another. The writing was stellar and the storylines were maddeningly paced and cunningly crafted while cast with a wide assortment of curiously compelling and brain-tickling characters. Now that I have had a taste of her word voodoo, I am greedy for all of Ms. Spindler’s clever words. I was provided with a review copy of this wily written book by Macmillan Publishing.





About The Author

Amazon
Goodreads
Website

Facebook
Twitter

A New York Times and International bestselling author, Erica Spindler's skill for crafting engrossing plots and compelling characters has earned both critical praise and legions of fans. Her stories have been lauded as “thrill-packed page turners, white- knuckle rides and edge-of-your-seat whodunits.”

Erica loves meeting and interacting with her fans, both in-person and online. She has a wicked sense of humor, an optimistic spirit and loves coffee, chocolate, and red wine, not necessarily in that order.

In 2002 her novel Bone Cold won the prestigious Daphne du Maurier Award for excellence. A Romance Writers of America Honor Roll member, she received a Kiss of Death Award for her novels Forbidden Fruit and Dead Run and was a four-time RITA® Award finalist. In 1999 Publishers Weekly awarded the audio version of her novel Shocking Pink a Listen Up Award, naming it one of the best audio mystery books of 1998.

Erica lives just outside New Orleans, Louisiana, with her husband and two sons.

Monday, January 27, 2020

Book Review: Her Secret Past (Detective Jessie Blake #3) by Kerry Watts



Her Secret Past
(Detective Jessie Blake #3)
by Kerry Watts



Jean Angus pours the last of the lukewarm tea into her chipped cup, shivering as she looks outside into the dark night. Her eyes are drawn to a slow movement not far from her cozy farmhouse. She’s not expecting visitors. And as the back door opens with a bang, she doesn’t even have time to shout for help.

On a dark winter night, the bodies of Malcolm and Jean Angus lie cold and still in a pool of blood in their kitchen. Detective Jessie Blake is called in to find out what happened to the reclusive pair.

Searching the couple’s property, Jessie learns about a vicious dispute with a nearby landowner, Rachel Ferguson, and when Jessie looks into Rachel further, she doesn’t expect what comes up. Rachel isn’t the person everyone thinks she is and a previous murder conviction just made her Jessie’s prime suspect.

The small Perthshire town begins to gossip about the double murder and Jessie’s own past comes back to haunt her, when her abusive ex-husband begins to interfere in her new life. As the town starts a witch hunt against Rachel, Jessie is under pressure to find out what really happened in the farmhouse that night. Because if it isn’t Rachel, then who is the murderer living among them, waiting to kill again?

If you like LJ Ross, Val McDermid, and Helen H. Durrant, you’ll love this addictive new crime thriller from Kerry Watts. Her Secret Past will have you hooked from the start!



My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:


Benito Capello had the knack of making her feel like a teenager again. It was his brooding Latin looks. The way his big brown eyes twinkled like he was sharing a naughty secret when he smiled.



My Review:


This tale was jam-packed with itchy twists, oddly peculiar and intriguing characters, compelling storylines, and a full slate of dark secrets and hidden agendas. The storylines seemed unlimited, as were my wild theories, and each was ingeniously complex and cleverly crafted -both mine and the authors ;) My brain was on fire while attempting to work this one out ahead of the detectives. I have a new favorite author to add to my list.



About The Author


Kerry Watts was born and grew up in a small town in the East of Scotland where she still lives today. She is always writing and carries a little notebook and pen with her wherever she goes because at her age ideas need to be captured before they disappear. 
Kerry specializes in crime fiction because she enjoys pushing the boundaries of what it is to be human. The nature versus nurture debate

Author Social Media Links

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/KerryWattsAuthor/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Denmanisfab




Saturday, January 25, 2020

Book Review: A Winter Wedding at the Little Duck Pond Café (Little Duck Pond Cafe #8) by Rosie Green



 A Winter Wedding at the Little Duck Pond CafĂ©
(Little Duck Pond Cafe #8)
by Rosie Green



Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

With Zak and Ellie’s wedding day approaching, there's high excitement in the pretty village of Sunnybrook, especially among the Little Duck Pond CafĂ© crew. Ellie is over the moon with her romantic surprise wedding gift from Zak, and Madison is promising to organise a hen party to remember. Everyone has high hopes for a magical Christmas Eve wedding celebration at gorgeous Brambleberry Manor. (Even Maisie-Moo has a sparkling new outfit.)

But sometimes, even the best-laid plans can go wrong. And with the journey to the altar turning out to be rockier than expected, it’s going to take nothing short of a Christmas miracle to ensure a happy ending . .


My Rating:


Favorite Quotes: 


The only time Zak gazes into my eyes these days is if I’ve got a bit of grit in them.



You have reached your final destination. Welcome to the Pleasure Palace. Calories do not count on a hen do, ladies.



I don’t believe in signs. Except for ones that say, “Free cake this way”.



Apparently nicotine patches work like magic… Yeah. You stick one over each eye and then you can’t find your fags.



My Review: 


This quick and easy to follow installment was written from multiple POV and was a fun and busy update featuring the plans for rapidly approaching wedding as well as the family issues experienced by all the ladies working at the café. The storylines varied from light and amusing to tense personal issues and anxious concerns, although it all leveled out at the end with happy news across the board. I still adore the sweet and mellow character of Rob best of all.



About The Author


Rosie has been scribbling stories ever since she was little.

Back then, they were rip-roaring adventure tales with a young heroine in perilous danger of falling off a cliff or being tied up by 'the baddies'.

Thankfully, Rosie has moved on somewhat, and now much prefers to write romantic comedies that melt your heart and make you smile, with really not much perilous danger involved at all - unless you count the heroine losing her heart in love.

Rosie's brand new series of novellas is centered around life in a village cafe. The latest, 'Bonfires & Hot Chocolate at the Little Duck Pond Cafe', is out now.

Watch out for 'A Winter Wedding at the Little Duck Pond Cafe', which will be published in December 2019.

Rosie is also writing a full-length, standalone book for Christmas 2019, entitled 'Snowflakes over Moondance Cottage', which will be out in November.

Follow Rosie on Twitter



Book Review: Almost Just Friends (Wildstone, #4) by Jill Shalvis




Almost Just Friends
(Wildstone, #4)
by Jill Shalvis 



KINDLE ➤https://amzn.to/2LK9EHo

APPLE ➤https://apple.co/2yerpWE

NOOK ➤http://bit.ly/2MgVFbs

KOBO ➤http://bit.ly/2LGM2Dy

GPLAY ➤http://bit.ly/2K3uxdr 

PAPERBACK ➤https://amzn.to/2LHtens

AUDIO ➤https://amzn.to/2SP4WJj 

CH 1 ➤http://bit.ly/AJF_SneakPeek 

BB ➤http://bit.ly/AJF_BB



Piper Manning’s about as tough as they come, she’s had to be. She raised her siblings and they’ve thankfully flown the coop. All she has to do is finish fixing up the lake house her grandparents left her, sell it, and then she’s free.

When a massive storm hits, she runs into a tall, dark and brooding stranger, Camden Reid. There’s a spark there, one that shocks her. Surprising her further, her sister and brother return, each of them holding their own secrets. The smart move would be for Piper to ignore them all but Cam unleashes emotions deep inside of her that she can’t deny, making her yearn for something she doesn’t understand. And her siblings…well, they need each other.

Only when the secrets come out, it changes everything Piper thinks she knows about her family, herself…and Cam. Can she find a way to outrun the demons? The answer is closer than she thinks—just as the new life she craves may have already begun.


Excerpt: 



My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:




Look, I’d have gotten to it eventually. But you’ve got to understand, my ability to remember to tell you things is far outweighed by my ability to remember every song lyric from the eighties.



Yes. I had my patience tested. I’m negative.



“Take your time.” He gave Cam a meaningful look. “And I mean that. Women like when you take your time.” Cam’s grimace said he’d maybe finally found the end of his patience. Emmitt held up a hand. “I know, who wants to take advice from your dad, right? But, son, I’ve been on Tinder for two years now, and trust me. I know these things.”



I’m not useless, at least not completely. For instance, I can be used as a really bad example.



… she was arrested at Walmart last week for driving one of those electric carts while drinking wine from a Pringles can in the parking lot. I don’t date felons.



She tried to look half as graceful as he while moving toward him, but instead she probably looked like an elephant fighting its way through a lake made of peanut butter.




My Review:


This amusing and engaging tale was laced with complicated characters, loads of family drama, obnoxious siblings, snarky banter, a swoony sexy soldier, and clever levity. This was a considerably more tense and angsty read than I was expecting but thankfully the humor and sizzling romance balanced out all the stress and HEAs were generously spread across the land. Sigh, I do loves me some Jill Shalvis.



About The Author


New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis writes warm, funny, sexy contemporary romances and women’s fiction. An Amazon, BN & iBooks bestseller, she’s also a two-time RITA winner and has more than 10 million copies of her books sold worldwide.

Author Links: 








Thursday, January 23, 2020

Book Review: Dream With Me (With Me in Seattle #13) by Kristen Proby

DWM - BT banner.jpg

Dream With Me by Kristen Proby
Release Date: January 21, 2020

Dream With Me FOR WEB.jpg

Dream With Me, an all-new standalone contemporary romance in the beloved With Me In Seattle Series by New York Times Bestselling Author Kristen Proby.

Kane O’Callaghan knows what it is to have his work shown all over the world. His pieces are on display in palaces and museums, including the O’Callaghan Museum of Glass just outside of his beloved hometown of Seattle. Kane is a bit of a recluse, spending time on his farm alone and committed to his art. His life is full.

Until the day he meets her.

Wandering through museums is Anastasia Montgomery’s favorite way to spend her time. Not only does art feed her soul, but it inspires her own art of designing wedding cakes. When her muse seems to be gone, she finds her again among the beauty in the museums of Seattle, and the O’Callaghan Museum of Glass is her favorite. She’s never met the artist, but he must be absolutely brilliant if he can make such beautiful things out of glass.

Bumping into a grumpy stranger at the museum wasn’t in Anastasia’s plan. And then discovering it was Kane himself was absolutely humiliating.

But when she sees him again at a charity fundraiser and ends up spending an incredible, unforgettable night with the mysterious glass smith, Anastasia finds herself thinking of Kane and little else, even her precious work. Will this relationship bloom into the romance of a lifetime, or will their dreams of success get in the way of true love?

Dream WIth Me AN FB.jpg

Download your copy today!
Amazon Worldwide: mybook.to/DreamWithMeKP
Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2XgTjwH



My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:



I’m not a fan of people, especially when they’re all in one place. That place being wherever I am. I bought my land away from civilization for a reason.


How could I explain to her that the minute my eyes fell upon her in the museum, it was like recognizing a part of me I didn’t know was missing? I knew her, right then and there. It was a kind of knowing that I can’t explain, nothing I’ve ever felt before, but my grandda used to tell me it was the same way for him when he saw my grandmother.


“Oh, now you want to act like a doctor. Earlier, you refused to put my shoulder back in place so I could just go out for lunch with you guys.” “I’m a freaking veterinarian,” she says with an exasperated laugh.



My Review:


Oh, swoon! This lovely couple was adorable, I would trade all the beautiful shoes and purses in my closet to be treated and treasured the way Kane did Stasia. I’ve only recently discovered the delightful storytelling of Kristen Proby but I was a quick convert and remain enamored and besotted with her sweet and sexy style. The characters were endearing, the storylines were entertaining and engaging, and the writing was cleverly amusing and insightfully observant. Sigh, to sum it up in one word – perfection. 




Copy of Dream With Me Teaser BT.jpg


About Kristen:

Kristen was born and raised in a small resort town in her beloved Montana. In her mid-twenties, she decided to stretch her wings and move to the Pacific Northwest, where she made her home for more than a dozen years.

During that time, Kristen wrote many romance novels and joined organizations such as RWA and other small writing groups. She spent countless hours in workshops and more mornings than she can count up before dawn so she could write before going to work. She submitted many manuscripts to agents and editors alike but was always told no. In the summer of 2012, the self-publishing scene was new and thriving, and Kristen had one goal: to publish just one book. It was something she longed to cross off of her bucket list.

Not only did she publish one book, she’s since published close to thirty titles, many of which have hit the USA Today, New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists. She continues to self publish, best known for her With Me In Seattle and Boudreaux series, and is also proud to work with William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins, with the Fusion Series.

Kristen and her husband, John, make their home in her hometown of Whitefish, Montana with their two pugs and two cats.

Connect with Kristen:

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Book Review: Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough




Cross Her Heart
by Sarah Pinborough


Amazon US / UK / CA / AU / B&N / HarperCollins


Paperback: 368 pages
 Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (January 14, 2020)

“Sarah Pinborough is about to become your new obsession.”—Harlan Coben

Lisa is living a lie and everyone is about to find out.

Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job and her best friend Marilyn.

But when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him, too. Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it’s time to let her terrifying secret past go.

But when her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see, Lisa’s world explodes.

As she finds everything she has built threatened, and not knowing who she can trust, it’s up to Lisa to face her past in order to save what she holds dear.

But someone has been pulling all their strings. And that someone is determined that both Lisa and Ava must suffer.

Because long ago Lisa broke a promise. And some promises aren’t meant to be broken.



My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:


I said yes because I wanted to. Because I’m lonely… being near him is like peeling back layers of delicate crepe paper wrapped around a treasure you’ve packed away somewhere to keep safe and forgotten about.



His eyes are full of quiet interrogation. Marriage, divorce… other boyfriends - all the information men are interested in. Things that boil down a woman’s relevance in relation to other men, rather than anything in and of themselves. The inside information comes later. Those talks are for the middle of the night, heads on pillows, faces only outlines in the darkness. That’s when people surrender their weapons to each other and hope they don’t end up stabbed in the night by them in the future.



This is the other thing she’s learned over time. The secret is her own. It's her burden and sharing it doesn't lighten the load it simply doubles it… You can’t trust a drunk, she knows that too.





My Review:



This was a darkly intriguing, tragically twisted, and disturbingly realistic tale, which was cast with a full slate of unlikable and contemptible characters. There wasn’t one admirable person in the lot while the vast majority were quite vile and committed heinous acts that had me flinching and cringing and wanting to swear the most wicked expletives I know, and maybe even create a few more for good measure.



The storylines were cunningly crafted, shrewdly paced, and deftly written from multiple POVs that kept the little pea rattling in my cranium on fire with constantly evolving theories and hypothesis, I fear the little legume will forever bear scorch marks.



Sarah Pinborough is obviously an evil genius, and someone her neighbors should seriously take heed to respectfully and quietly tip-toe around and should never even consider disturbing or knocking on her door without having armloads of tasty treats and posh bribes in hand.

I was provided with a review copy of this diabolically clever tale by HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours.


 About The Author

Sarah Pinborough is the number one Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author of the psychological thriller Behind Her Eyes, and more than twenty other novels and novellas, including The Death House and a young adult thriller, 13 Minutes. She has also written for the BBC. She lives in England.


Find out more about Sarah at her website, and connect with her on Twitter and Instagram.