Stacey's bookshelf: 2018netgalleychallenge en-US Sun, 20 Jan 2019 18:05:25 -0800 60 Stacey's bookshelf: 2018netgalleychallenge 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Water Cure 35448496
Hypnotic and compulsive, The Water Cure is a fever dream, a blazing vision of suffering, sisterhood, and transformation.]]> 248 Sophie Mackintosh 0241337348 Stacey 0 3.47 2018 The Water Cure
author: Sophie Mackintosh
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/20
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality and Our Destiny Beyond Earth]]> 36407347 The #1 bestselling author of The Future of the Mind brings us a stunning new vision of our future in space.

Human civilization is on the verge of spreading beyond Earth. More than a possibility, it is becoming a necessity: whether our hand is forced by climate change and resource depletion or whether future catastrophes compel us to abandon Earth, one day we will make our homes among the stars.

World-renowned physicist and futurist Michio Kaku explores in rich, accessible detail how humanity might gradually develop a sustainable civilization in outer space. With his trademark storytelling verve, Kaku shows us how science fiction is becoming reality: mind-boggling developments in robotics, nanotechnology, and biotechnology could enable us to build habitable cities on Mars; nearby stars might be reached by microscopic spaceships sailing through space on laser beams; and technology might one day allow us to transcend our physical bodies entirely.

With irrepressible enthusiasm and wonder, Dr. Kaku takes readers on a fascinating journey to a future in which humanity could finally fulfil its long-awaited destiny among the stars - and perhaps even achieve immortality.]]> 368 Michio Kaku 0241304849 Stacey 0 4.17 2018 The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality and Our Destiny Beyond Earth
author: Michio Kaku
name: Stacey
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/01/20
shelves: book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre, bookreviewsforedelweiss, 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, to-read
review:

]]> The Stranger Inside 39599967
She doesn't know how he knows her, but with those words Kimber knows this stranger isn't after anything as simple as her money or artwork or charming Craftsman bungalow. She has to find out exactly what he wants and get him out of her carefully orchestrated life before he ruins it.

There are plenty of people in her life who might help, but should Kimber trust any of them? Her lawyer, Gabriel, is also her ex-lover; Diana, her best friend, doesn't know Kimber slept with her husband; her ex-husband has a new, happier life since leaving her; and her co-workers know she'll do anything to get her next sale. And no one can know the real reason this man is in her house. Without trust, everyone's a stranger....]]> 345 Laura Benedict 0316444928 Stacey 4 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge
In Laura Benedict's The Stranger Inside, Kimber Hannon's life seemed to be going smoothly until she returns from a vacation to discover someone has moved into her house and taken over essentially her entire life. She calls the cops, who are completely unhelpful. They tell her the person who is in her house has a valid lease, and that she will have to figure out somewhere else to live until the courts can get things figured out.

Shocked and having no roof over her head, she seeks solace from her best friend, Diana, who lives in a huge cushy mansion with her handsome husband and delightful young daughter. Things seem okay while Kimber is safely enclosed within the four walls of Diana's posh house, that is until she ventures out of the house and to her job. Things to start to deteriorate at work and in her personal life, making her wonder if someone - such as the person who has taken over her house - is intentionally trying to destroy her life. And just maybe Kimber holds some responsibility for this situation.

If you enjoy books with an unreliable narrator and lots of shocking twists and turns, The Stranger Inside is definitely for you. It's well written and the suspense builds page after page. Thank you to Laura Benedict, Mulholland Books, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of the book!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.44 2019 The Stranger Inside
author: Laura Benedict
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2018/12/23
date added: 2019/01/20
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge
review:
**4 Stars**

In Laura Benedict's The Stranger Inside, Kimber Hannon's life seemed to be going smoothly until she returns from a vacation to discover someone has moved into her house and taken over essentially her entire life. She calls the cops, who are completely unhelpful. They tell her the person who is in her house has a valid lease, and that she will have to figure out somewhere else to live until the courts can get things figured out.

Shocked and having no roof over her head, she seeks solace from her best friend, Diana, who lives in a huge cushy mansion with her handsome husband and delightful young daughter. Things seem okay while Kimber is safely enclosed within the four walls of Diana's posh house, that is until she ventures out of the house and to her job. Things to start to deteriorate at work and in her personal life, making her wonder if someone - such as the person who has taken over her house - is intentionally trying to destroy her life. And just maybe Kimber holds some responsibility for this situation.

If you enjoy books with an unreliable narrator and lots of shocking twists and turns, The Stranger Inside is definitely for you. It's well written and the suspense builds page after page. Thank you to Laura Benedict, Mulholland Books, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of the book!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Last 40048961 For fans of high-concept thrillers such as Annihilation and The Girl with All the Gifts, this breathtaking dystopian psychological thriller follows an American academic stranded at a Swiss hotel as the world descends into nuclear war—along with twenty other survivors—who becomes obsessed with identifying a murderer in their midst after the body of a young girl is discovered in one of the hotel’s water tanks.

Jon thought he had all the time in the world to respond to his wife’s text message: I miss you so much. I feel bad about how we left it. Love you. But as he’s waiting in the lobby of the L’Hotel Sixieme in Switzerland after an academic conference, still mulling over how to respond to his wife, he receives a string of horrifying push notifications. Washington, DC has been hit with a nuclear bomb, then New York, then London, and finally Berlin. That’s all he knows before news outlets and social media goes black—and before the clouds on the horizon turn orange.

Now, two months later, there are twenty survivors holed up at the hotel, a place already tainted by its strange history of suicides and murders. Those who can’t bear to stay commit suicide or wander off into the woods. Jon and the others try to maintain some semblance of civilization. But when the water pressure disappears, and Jon and a crew of survivors investigate the hotel’s water tanks, they are shocked to discover the body of a young girl.

As supplies dwindle and tensions rise, Jon becomes obsessed with investigating the death of the little girl as a way to cling to his own humanity. Yet the real question remains: can he afford to lose his mind in this hotel, or should he take his chances in the outside world?


"Nuclear apocalypse meets murder mystery, with an amazing cast of characters. It's Stephen King meets Agatha Christie, in this fantastic and highly original novel� - Luca Vesta, author of Dead Gone

“The questions Jameson poses—who will be with you at the end of the world, and what kind of person will you be?—are as haunting as the plot itself. This is a chilling and extraordinary book.� - Emily St. John Mandel, bestselling author of Station Eleven]]> 392 Hanna Jameson 0241349176 Stacey 4 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge **4 Stars**

"The giant slate of the world was clean. Consequences no longer existed."
If I had to choose one word to describe Hanna Jameson's The Lost, it would be "haunting."The Lost is a brilliant piece of work that is a satisfying mix of old school Agatha Christie who-dun-it murder mystery and dystopian apocalyptic world gone to hell in a handbasket thriller. It will be a pleasant treat for fans of both dystopian literature and classic murder mystery.

As an academic who travels for work, the premise of the book is terrifying to me. The lead of the book, Jon Keller, is attending an academic conference abroad in Switzerland at a hauntingly beautiful historic mansion turned hotel. Mind-numbingly horrific life-altering news shatters the serenity of his trip: nuclear bombs have been detonated over the US and the UK. Jon is ripped from his family - his wife Nadia and two young daughters who are in the US - as all television and Internet communications go down, leaving a vast geographical space between him and all that he loves.

To cope with the terror around him, he does what any academic would do: meticulously documents and details the events that transpire after the nuclear blast:

"I need to write about day one, before too much time passes and my memories of it become too repressed. That's what the mind does with trauma; it erases it, making you relive it occasionally in flashbacks and dreams, sensations of vertigo, hyperventilation and panic. But the memory itself becomes a work of fiction."
In the process of creating this historiography of a world amid nuclear fallout, Jon immediately realizes the limitations of modern society. All his resources are no longer available, as so much of them have been digitized:

"I had no journals, no library, no resources. The era of instant information was over."
As if this wasn't enough to deal with, Jon and his colleagues discover the body of a young child in the water tank of the hotel. This places a curtain of suspension over the entire hotel and its guests, leaving Jon wondering who he can trust. Is the murderer hiding in plain sight, or did they leave the hotel when the first exodus of guests occurred immediately after the fallout?

As Jon tries to piece together this mystery and make sense of what his life will look like in this brave new world, secrets are revealed about his past that also call into question his motivations for telling us his story and essentially writing the history of this post-apocalyptic world. Who can we believe if the storyteller isn't honest with his readers?

The ending left open the possibility of a sequel, which I would definitely be up for reading. I hope to read more from Hanna Jameson and appreciate the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy of The Last! Thank you to Hanna Jameson, Atria Books, and NetGalley for a copy of the book!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.62 2019 The Last
author: Hanna Jameson
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2018/12/01
date added: 2019/01/20
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge
review:

**4 Stars**

"The giant slate of the world was clean. Consequences no longer existed."
If I had to choose one word to describe Hanna Jameson's The Lost, it would be "haunting."The Lost is a brilliant piece of work that is a satisfying mix of old school Agatha Christie who-dun-it murder mystery and dystopian apocalyptic world gone to hell in a handbasket thriller. It will be a pleasant treat for fans of both dystopian literature and classic murder mystery.

As an academic who travels for work, the premise of the book is terrifying to me. The lead of the book, Jon Keller, is attending an academic conference abroad in Switzerland at a hauntingly beautiful historic mansion turned hotel. Mind-numbingly horrific life-altering news shatters the serenity of his trip: nuclear bombs have been detonated over the US and the UK. Jon is ripped from his family - his wife Nadia and two young daughters who are in the US - as all television and Internet communications go down, leaving a vast geographical space between him and all that he loves.

To cope with the terror around him, he does what any academic would do: meticulously documents and details the events that transpire after the nuclear blast:

"I need to write about day one, before too much time passes and my memories of it become too repressed. That's what the mind does with trauma; it erases it, making you relive it occasionally in flashbacks and dreams, sensations of vertigo, hyperventilation and panic. But the memory itself becomes a work of fiction."
In the process of creating this historiography of a world amid nuclear fallout, Jon immediately realizes the limitations of modern society. All his resources are no longer available, as so much of them have been digitized:

"I had no journals, no library, no resources. The era of instant information was over."
As if this wasn't enough to deal with, Jon and his colleagues discover the body of a young child in the water tank of the hotel. This places a curtain of suspension over the entire hotel and its guests, leaving Jon wondering who he can trust. Is the murderer hiding in plain sight, or did they leave the hotel when the first exodus of guests occurred immediately after the fallout?

As Jon tries to piece together this mystery and make sense of what his life will look like in this brave new world, secrets are revealed about his past that also call into question his motivations for telling us his story and essentially writing the history of this post-apocalyptic world. Who can we believe if the storyteller isn't honest with his readers?

The ending left open the possibility of a sequel, which I would definitely be up for reading. I hope to read more from Hanna Jameson and appreciate the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy of The Last! Thank you to Hanna Jameson, Atria Books, and NetGalley for a copy of the book!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Judgment 40108808 **The Instant NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller**New York Timesbestselling author Joseph Finder returns with an explosive new thrillerabout a female judge and the one personal misstep that could lead to her—and her family's—downfall. It was nothing more than a one-night stand. Juliana Brody, a judge in the Superior Court of Massachusetts, is rumored to be in consideration for the federal circuit, maybe someday the highest court in the land. At a conference in a Chicago hotel, she meets a gentle, vulnerable man and has an unforgettable night with him—something she’d never done before. They part with an explicit understanding that this must never happen again. But back home in Boston, Juliana realizes that this was no random encounter. The man from Chicago proves to have an integral role in a case she's presiding over--a sex-discrimination case that's received national attention. Juliana discovers that she's been entrapped, her night of infidelity captured on video. Strings are being pulled in high places, a terrifying unfolding conspiracy that will turn her life upside down. But soon it becomes clear that personal humiliation, even the possible destruction of her career, are the least of her concerns, as her own life and the lives of her family are put in mortal jeopardy. In the end, turning the tables on her adversaries will require her to be as ruthless as they are.]]> 399 Joseph Finder 1101985828 Stacey 4 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge 3.90 2019 Judgment
author: Joseph Finder
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2019/01/03
date added: 2019/01/03
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Before She Falls (Detective Anna Gwynne, #3)]]> 41075739 Kimberley was a beautiful young girl with the world at her feet.
Before she fell.
Before she was gone.

When Kimberley Williams jumps off Southdown Cliff, her family and the close-knit community are shocked. What would make her take her own life when she had so much of it left to live?

Detective Anna Gwynne is assigned to the case after it becomes clear that someone made Kimberley jump. Someone had been sending Kimberley messages, saying they would tell everyone her secret�

Then Anna realises there are others, all being sent the same messages, all with their lives at risk. To find the truth she will have to confront her own past, the lies she’s told about her childhood and the demons hidden there�

Can she save these innocent lives?

What is the secret they’re all dying for?
]]> 324 Dylan Young 1786816199 Stacey 4 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge Review to follow! 4.27 2018 Before She Falls (Detective Anna Gwynne, #3)
author: Dylan Young
name: Stacey
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/11/04
date added: 2018/11/04
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge
review:
Review to follow!
]]> The Mansion 38355263
But the hard work and escalating tension have not been kind to their once solid friendship—Shawn’s girlfriend Emily has left him for Billy, and a third partner has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. While Billy walks away with Emily, Shawn takes Eagle Logic, which he uses to build a multi-billion-dollar company that eventually outshines Apple, Google, and Microsoft combined.

Years later, Billy is a failure, beset by poverty and addiction, and Shawn is the most famous man in the world. Unable to let the past be forgotten, Shawn decides to resurrect his and Billy’s biggest failure: a next-generation computer program named Nellie that can control a house’s every function. He decides to set it up in the abandoned mansion they worked near all those years ago. But something about Nellie isn’t right—and the reconstruction of the mansion is plagued by accidental deaths. Shawn is forced to bring Billy back, despite their longstanding mutual hatred, to discover and destroy the evil that lurks in the source code.]]> 415 Ezekiel Boone 150116550X Stacey 4
After reading Ezekiel Boone's The Mansion, I don't think I will ever, ever, EVER purchase an Alexa for my house! When I read about this book on a friend's Instagram feed, I immediately knew I needed a copy of it. Who wouldn't love a book that involves a love triangle, a haunted mansion, and artificial intelligence?If that sounds like a lot of themes to tackle in one book, yes, you are probably right. However, somehow Boone makes it work for the most part.

The book's central three characters are Billy, Shawn, and Erica. Shawn and Bill meet in college and become quick friends over their love of technology and coding. They set out to build an expansive artificial intelligence (AI) named "Nellie," devoting two whole years to making their dream a reality. To make it happen, they move out to a remote, dilapidated cabin on Shawn's family's property. The cabin is barely inhabitable, but they sacrifice comfort for the promise of wealth and Silicon Valley fame.

Emily is the girl in between the two men. She fell in love with Shawn while in college, eventually dropping out to help support Shawn in his pursuit of developing a revolutionary AI. She ends up living with Shawn and Billy in the cabin, cooking, cleaning, and tending to their needs as they throw themselves headfirst into coding Nellie. Unfortunately, things fall apart, and Emily ends up leaving Shawn for Billy. The project falls into despair, and the three don't see each other until nearly a decade later.

Flash forward to the present. Shawn is now a tech billionaire who, despite all his riches and fame, has yet to finish Nellie. Billy and Emily, who are now married, are broke and barely making ends meet. Shawn, who still is bitter that Emily left him for Billy, knows that the only way he can make Nellie come to life is to hire Billy. Shawn takes a risk and hires Billy to return to Nellie, which Shawn began to install at his family's historic mansion. Billy reluctantly accepts the challenge because he and Emily are nearly bankrupt and need the money. Shawn promises them the world if Billy can make Nellie work, so Emily and Billy move into the creepy mansion in hopes of a second chance at life.

My main critique of this book is that the characters' backstories took up most of the book (60%). The readers really didn't get to the gory, scary AI mansion stuff until the last 40% of the book. In fact, I would have probably read another 100 or so pages if the book included more about the mansion. Nonetheless, I kept reading because I was really into the characters and their motivations for returning to Nellie. The characters share really dark, depressing histories, which cloud their judgments and cause them to make poor decisions while trying to build Nellie. And if you're trying to build an AI in a human's image, do you really want these troubled young people creating Nellie?

Thank you to Ezekiel Boone, Atria Books/Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an advanced e-galley of The Mansion. This was the perfect spooky read for fall!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.32 2018 The Mansion
author: Ezekiel Boone
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.32
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/09/23
date added: 2018/09/23
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**4 ŷ Stars**

After reading Ezekiel Boone's The Mansion, I don't think I will ever, ever, EVER purchase an Alexa for my house! When I read about this book on a friend's Instagram feed, I immediately knew I needed a copy of it. Who wouldn't love a book that involves a love triangle, a haunted mansion, and artificial intelligence?If that sounds like a lot of themes to tackle in one book, yes, you are probably right. However, somehow Boone makes it work for the most part.

The book's central three characters are Billy, Shawn, and Erica. Shawn and Bill meet in college and become quick friends over their love of technology and coding. They set out to build an expansive artificial intelligence (AI) named "Nellie," devoting two whole years to making their dream a reality. To make it happen, they move out to a remote, dilapidated cabin on Shawn's family's property. The cabin is barely inhabitable, but they sacrifice comfort for the promise of wealth and Silicon Valley fame.

Emily is the girl in between the two men. She fell in love with Shawn while in college, eventually dropping out to help support Shawn in his pursuit of developing a revolutionary AI. She ends up living with Shawn and Billy in the cabin, cooking, cleaning, and tending to their needs as they throw themselves headfirst into coding Nellie. Unfortunately, things fall apart, and Emily ends up leaving Shawn for Billy. The project falls into despair, and the three don't see each other until nearly a decade later.

Flash forward to the present. Shawn is now a tech billionaire who, despite all his riches and fame, has yet to finish Nellie. Billy and Emily, who are now married, are broke and barely making ends meet. Shawn, who still is bitter that Emily left him for Billy, knows that the only way he can make Nellie come to life is to hire Billy. Shawn takes a risk and hires Billy to return to Nellie, which Shawn began to install at his family's historic mansion. Billy reluctantly accepts the challenge because he and Emily are nearly bankrupt and need the money. Shawn promises them the world if Billy can make Nellie work, so Emily and Billy move into the creepy mansion in hopes of a second chance at life.

My main critique of this book is that the characters' backstories took up most of the book (60%). The readers really didn't get to the gory, scary AI mansion stuff until the last 40% of the book. In fact, I would have probably read another 100 or so pages if the book included more about the mansion. Nonetheless, I kept reading because I was really into the characters and their motivations for returning to Nellie. The characters share really dark, depressing histories, which cloud their judgments and cause them to make poor decisions while trying to build Nellie. And if you're trying to build an AI in a human's image, do you really want these troubled young people creating Nellie?

Thank you to Ezekiel Boone, Atria Books/Simon & Schuster, and NetGalley for an advanced e-galley of The Mansion. This was the perfect spooky read for fall!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Silent Patient 40097951
Alicia’s refusal to talk, or give any kind of explanation, turns a domestic tragedy into something far grander, a mystery that captures the public imagination and casts Alicia into notoriety. The price of her art skyrockets, and she, the silent patient, is hidden away from the tabloids and spotlight at the Grove, a secure forensic unit in North London.

Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the opportunity to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations—a search for the truth that threatens to consume him....

The Silent Patient is a shocking psychological thriller of a woman’s act of violence against her husband—and of the therapist obsessed with uncovering her motive.]]> 336 Alex Michaelides 1250301696 Stacey 4 Review to follow! 4.17 2019 The Silent Patient
author: Alex Michaelides
name: Stacey
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2018/09/16
date added: 2018/09/16
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
Review to follow!
]]> An Anonymous Girl 39863515
Dr. Shields seems to know what Jess is thinking� and what she’s hiding.

Jessica’s behavior will not only be monitored, but manipulated.

Caught in a web of attraction, deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

From the authors of the blockbuster bestseller The Wife Between Us, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, An Anonymous Girl will keep you riveted through the last shocking twist.]]> 375 Greer Hendricks 1250133734 Stacey 4
"Sometimes a simple gift is actually a vessel utilized to issue a warning shot."

"We all have reasons for our actions. Even if we hide the reason from those who think they know us best. Even if the reasons are so deeply buried we can't recognize them ourselves."
To what lengths would you go if you were barely making ends meet?

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's latest book, An Anonymous Girl, examines this question when the book's lead character, Jessica, finds herself embroiled in a psychological study for generous compensation. Jessica is working as a struggling makeup artist when a client mentions a psychological study in which they are enrolled. This study piques Jessica's interest as she needs money to make rent and help her family out. Jessica decides to pose as her client to get access to the study. Surprisingly, she is accepted into the study.

At first, the study seems like a financial dream come true. She gets paid a generous sum each time she fills out digital surveys about morality and choices she would make in particular scenarios. Soon, however, Jessica starts to question the purpose of the study and the intentions of the psychologist running it. Jessica feels as though she is revealing her entire life story - good and bad - to the mysterious psychologist behind the computer screen and begins to wonder if sharing such intimate details of her life is worth the price.

She becomes infatuated with the psychologist running the study, Dr. Shields, and wants to know why Dr. Shields needs to know so much information about her study's subjects. Jessica discovers the gorgeous, wealthy, academically brilliant Dr. Shields has a dark past, one that Jessica believes may have led to the death of one of Dr. Shields' subjects. Jessica finds herself drawn closer to Dr. Shields, befriending her with the intention of unraveling the shocking truth about the psychological study and its effect on its participants. The closer Jessica gets the more she questions her initial consent to the study.

I really liked the premise of this book, but I think it could have used a bit more editing; at times it felt a bit drawn out and slow. That being said, the authors know how to weave a clever, engaging story with characters with whom the reader can relate. They are brilliant writers who craft interesting prose that keeps you reading even if the story is a bit farfetched. As a researcher who has to follow the same institutional review board protocols discussed in this book, I can't imagine someone like Dr. Shields surviving in academia (though she was on leave in the book for her misdeeds!). Psychological studies like the Stanford Prison Experiment have been known to take advantage of their subjects, though I would hope those are now far and few between.

Thank you to the authors, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced e-galley of what will likely be one of the hottest psychological thrillers of 2018!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.79 2019 An Anonymous Girl
author: Greer Hendricks
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2018/08/26
date added: 2018/09/03
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**4.5 ŷ Stars**

"Sometimes a simple gift is actually a vessel utilized to issue a warning shot."

"We all have reasons for our actions. Even if we hide the reason from those who think they know us best. Even if the reasons are so deeply buried we can't recognize them ourselves."
To what lengths would you go if you were barely making ends meet?

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's latest book, An Anonymous Girl, examines this question when the book's lead character, Jessica, finds herself embroiled in a psychological study for generous compensation. Jessica is working as a struggling makeup artist when a client mentions a psychological study in which they are enrolled. This study piques Jessica's interest as she needs money to make rent and help her family out. Jessica decides to pose as her client to get access to the study. Surprisingly, she is accepted into the study.

At first, the study seems like a financial dream come true. She gets paid a generous sum each time she fills out digital surveys about morality and choices she would make in particular scenarios. Soon, however, Jessica starts to question the purpose of the study and the intentions of the psychologist running it. Jessica feels as though she is revealing her entire life story - good and bad - to the mysterious psychologist behind the computer screen and begins to wonder if sharing such intimate details of her life is worth the price.

She becomes infatuated with the psychologist running the study, Dr. Shields, and wants to know why Dr. Shields needs to know so much information about her study's subjects. Jessica discovers the gorgeous, wealthy, academically brilliant Dr. Shields has a dark past, one that Jessica believes may have led to the death of one of Dr. Shields' subjects. Jessica finds herself drawn closer to Dr. Shields, befriending her with the intention of unraveling the shocking truth about the psychological study and its effect on its participants. The closer Jessica gets the more she questions her initial consent to the study.

I really liked the premise of this book, but I think it could have used a bit more editing; at times it felt a bit drawn out and slow. That being said, the authors know how to weave a clever, engaging story with characters with whom the reader can relate. They are brilliant writers who craft interesting prose that keeps you reading even if the story is a bit farfetched. As a researcher who has to follow the same institutional review board protocols discussed in this book, I can't imagine someone like Dr. Shields surviving in academia (though she was on leave in the book for her misdeeds!). Psychological studies like the Stanford Prison Experiment have been known to take advantage of their subjects, though I would hope those are now far and few between.

Thank you to the authors, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced e-galley of what will likely be one of the hottest psychological thrillers of 2018!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Lies 33652433 WHAT IF YOUR WHOLE LIFE WAS BASED ON LIES?
When Joe Lynch stumbles across his wife driving into a hotel car park while she's supposed to be at work, he's intrigued enough to follow her in.

And when he witnesses her in an angry altercation with family friend Ben, he knows he ought to intervene.

But just as the confrontation between the two men turns violent, and Ben is knocked unconscious, Joe's young son has an asthma attack - and Joe must flee in order to help him.

When he returns, desperate to make sure Ben is OK, Joe is horrified to find that Ben has disappeared.

And that's when Joe receives the first message . . .]]> 498 T.M. Logan Stacey 5
"Everything you know is a lie. There was a stranger in my house, and I was married to her."
Joe's ordinary life as a part-time English high school teacher and stay-at-home-dad to his adorable 4-year-old son William is thrown into absolute chaos when William sees his mother's car parked at a seedy hotel. William begs his dad to stop to see his mommy, which Joe does out of curiosity.

What is his wife, a stunning, successful businesswoman, doing at a rundown hotel in the middle of the afternoon when she should be at work?

Joe reluctantly parks their car and enters the hotel. There, he discovers that his wife is meeting with a mutual family friend, Ben, who is wealthy beyond imagination. Ben and Joe's wife are having what appears to be a heated discussion over a meal. Realizing this isn't the best place for a 4-year-old, Joe quickly exits the hotel hoping his wife and Ben did not see them. As soon as they get to their car, Ben appears out of nowhere. Joe and Ben get into a confrontation, which leads to Joe pushing Ben onto the ground. Ben's head hits the pavement and he is knocked unconscious.

As if things can't get worse, William starts to have an asthma attack and Joe can't find his inhaler. Joe abandons Ben in the parking lot and speeds home to get William's inhaler. Plagued with guilt, Joe heads back to the parking lot once William is better only to discover Ben is no longer there. What happened to Ben? Is he okay? Or did something terrible happen?

Even worse, Joe confronts his wife about Ben and fails to get a straight answer from her about their meeting. What is Joe's wife lying about? Why won't she tell Joe the truth? In the meantime, Ben has gone missing. Ben's wife, Beth, and teenage daughter, Alice, are distraught and report his disappearance to the police. Soon Joe is drawn into a police investigation and becomes the number one suspect in Ben's possible murder. Joe's friends and family doubt his innocence, leaving him on his own to solve the mystery of what happened to Ben.

TM Logan's Lies is a heart-pounding, fast-paced thriller that never has a dull moment. There are so many creative twists and turns in this book and I was sad to see it end. I loved all the cyber espionage in the story and the discussions of how technology can be used to sabotage a police investigation and conceal reality. Logan has a gift for drawing the reader into the story. I love books that have characters who are relatable, empathetic, and authentic. Joe, the lead character, was all of these things and more. While the ending was a bit Lifetime Movie-esque, I was captivated by all the scenes leading up to the finale. If you like novels that keep you guessing until the very last page, Lies is definitely for you.

Thank you to the author, TM Logan, and NetGalley for an advanced e-galley of Lies. I look forward to reading Logan's next book!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.92 2017 Lies
author: T.M. Logan
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2018/09/03
date added: 2018/09/03
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5 ŷ Stars**

"Everything you know is a lie. There was a stranger in my house, and I was married to her."
Joe's ordinary life as a part-time English high school teacher and stay-at-home-dad to his adorable 4-year-old son William is thrown into absolute chaos when William sees his mother's car parked at a seedy hotel. William begs his dad to stop to see his mommy, which Joe does out of curiosity.

What is his wife, a stunning, successful businesswoman, doing at a rundown hotel in the middle of the afternoon when she should be at work?

Joe reluctantly parks their car and enters the hotel. There, he discovers that his wife is meeting with a mutual family friend, Ben, who is wealthy beyond imagination. Ben and Joe's wife are having what appears to be a heated discussion over a meal. Realizing this isn't the best place for a 4-year-old, Joe quickly exits the hotel hoping his wife and Ben did not see them. As soon as they get to their car, Ben appears out of nowhere. Joe and Ben get into a confrontation, which leads to Joe pushing Ben onto the ground. Ben's head hits the pavement and he is knocked unconscious.

As if things can't get worse, William starts to have an asthma attack and Joe can't find his inhaler. Joe abandons Ben in the parking lot and speeds home to get William's inhaler. Plagued with guilt, Joe heads back to the parking lot once William is better only to discover Ben is no longer there. What happened to Ben? Is he okay? Or did something terrible happen?

Even worse, Joe confronts his wife about Ben and fails to get a straight answer from her about their meeting. What is Joe's wife lying about? Why won't she tell Joe the truth? In the meantime, Ben has gone missing. Ben's wife, Beth, and teenage daughter, Alice, are distraught and report his disappearance to the police. Soon Joe is drawn into a police investigation and becomes the number one suspect in Ben's possible murder. Joe's friends and family doubt his innocence, leaving him on his own to solve the mystery of what happened to Ben.

TM Logan's Lies is a heart-pounding, fast-paced thriller that never has a dull moment. There are so many creative twists and turns in this book and I was sad to see it end. I loved all the cyber espionage in the story and the discussions of how technology can be used to sabotage a police investigation and conceal reality. Logan has a gift for drawing the reader into the story. I love books that have characters who are relatable, empathetic, and authentic. Joe, the lead character, was all of these things and more. While the ending was a bit Lifetime Movie-esque, I was captivated by all the scenes leading up to the finale. If you like novels that keep you guessing until the very last page, Lies is definitely for you.

Thank you to the author, TM Logan, and NetGalley for an advanced e-galley of Lies. I look forward to reading Logan's next book!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> <![CDATA[Her Final Hour (Detective Gina Harte, #2)]]> 40213663 Anything can happen behind closed doors�

The gripping new novel from the author of bestseller THE NEXT GIRL. Her Final Hour will have you hooked!

Melissa Sanderson is the perfect wife and mother. She dotes on her daughter, and lives in her dream home in a quiet cul-de-sac in the suburbs.

But looks can be deceiving.

Something is amiss in that house � all the neighbours think so. Some say Melissa is having an affair. Others say she’s been drinking too much.

Then one night, sirens wake up the whole neighbourhood.

Melissa Sanderson is dead.

AN ABSORBING THRILLER WITH AN ENDING YOU WON’T SEE COMING � if you like Lisa Gardner, Robert Bryndza or Clare Mackintosh, you’ll love this absolutely heart-stopping thriller from Carla Kovach.

]]> 302 Carla Kovach 1786815184 Stacey 4
"Her secrets were her secrets. They were nibbling through her flesh like worms trying to eat their way out of an apple, but, as far as she was concerned, the apple could rot and take her with it."

Carla Kovach's Her Final Hour is the second installment in the Detective Gina Harte series and is the second book I've read by Kovach. I read the first installment earlier this year and my review can be found here. Beyond being great reads, I absolutely love the cover art for both of Kovach's books.

Kovach's latest book starts with a terrifying murder in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Melissa Sanderson and her daughter are home alone when intruders break into their house and terrorize Sanderson. Sanderson is murdered in a brutal fashion by a killer (or killers?) who seems to know how to keep a crime scene semi-pristine. Over the course of her murder investigation, Sanderson's private life, which from the outside appeared idyllic, is revealed. We discover that there were dark secrets she was hiding from the world. Melissa appears to be abused or the victim of longterm sexual violence, placing the spotlight on her husband as the potential killer. We also learn that Melissa was in an incredibly unhappy marriage to the point she had started to see someone on the side, someone who she had tried to leave.

Who is the killer? Melissa's husband? A man with whom Melissa was having an affair? Or someone else lurking in the shadows, tormenting other women?

While the murder investigation is underway, we are introduced to additional characters who are suffering or have suffered at the hands of a cruel man. Is this man somehow connected to Melissa's murder? This story occurs in between narratives about Detective Harte's investigation of Melissa's murder. It acts like a carrot dangled in front of the reader, taunting you to make connections between the several intertwined stories of women suffering at the hands of abusive men.

I love Kovach's ability to create three-dimensional, relatable characters. She makes you truly care about the fate of the characters and makes the reader want to know what will happen to them at the end of the story. My only critique of the book is that I would have liked to have a bit more backstory/parallel story with Detective Gina Harte. Her story was very compelling and kept me engaged in the first book of the series. Detective Harte's story is what will also keep me reading this series. Thank you to Bookouture, Carla Kovach, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Her Final Hour.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 4.06 2018 Her Final Hour (Detective Gina Harte, #2)
author: Carla Kovach
name: Stacey
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/08/25
date added: 2018/08/25
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**4 ŷ Stars**

"Her secrets were her secrets. They were nibbling through her flesh like worms trying to eat their way out of an apple, but, as far as she was concerned, the apple could rot and take her with it."

Carla Kovach's Her Final Hour is the second installment in the Detective Gina Harte series and is the second book I've read by Kovach. I read the first installment earlier this year and my review can be found here. Beyond being great reads, I absolutely love the cover art for both of Kovach's books.

Kovach's latest book starts with a terrifying murder in a quiet suburban neighborhood. Melissa Sanderson and her daughter are home alone when intruders break into their house and terrorize Sanderson. Sanderson is murdered in a brutal fashion by a killer (or killers?) who seems to know how to keep a crime scene semi-pristine. Over the course of her murder investigation, Sanderson's private life, which from the outside appeared idyllic, is revealed. We discover that there were dark secrets she was hiding from the world. Melissa appears to be abused or the victim of longterm sexual violence, placing the spotlight on her husband as the potential killer. We also learn that Melissa was in an incredibly unhappy marriage to the point she had started to see someone on the side, someone who she had tried to leave.

Who is the killer? Melissa's husband? A man with whom Melissa was having an affair? Or someone else lurking in the shadows, tormenting other women?

While the murder investigation is underway, we are introduced to additional characters who are suffering or have suffered at the hands of a cruel man. Is this man somehow connected to Melissa's murder? This story occurs in between narratives about Detective Harte's investigation of Melissa's murder. It acts like a carrot dangled in front of the reader, taunting you to make connections between the several intertwined stories of women suffering at the hands of abusive men.

I love Kovach's ability to create three-dimensional, relatable characters. She makes you truly care about the fate of the characters and makes the reader want to know what will happen to them at the end of the story. My only critique of the book is that I would have liked to have a bit more backstory/parallel story with Detective Gina Harte. Her story was very compelling and kept me engaged in the first book of the series. Detective Harte's story is what will also keep me reading this series. Thank you to Bookouture, Carla Kovach, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Her Final Hour.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Keep You Safe 40194687
Natalie is desperate to find her little boy. It has been more than three years since she saw Harry. Three long years in prison for a crime she knows she didn’t commit.

But her husband believed the police, and took their son.

Who has gone to such great lengths to destroy Natalie’s life? Everyone she once trusted � friends, family, everyone close to her � what secrets do they hide?

If Natalie finds the truth, will she get Harry back, or lose him forever?

A totally gripping psychological thriller� perfect for fans of Big Little Lies, The Girl on the Train and C.L Taylor.

Previously titled GUILTY LITTLE SECRETS]]> 363 Rona Halsall 178681482X Stacey 4
Natasha finds herself in a world of trouble in Rona Halsall's Keep You Safe (formerly titled Guilty Little Secrets) with few friends or family to help her out. Her picture-perfect life of comfort, wealth, and new motherhood is ripped away from her when the police arrest her for embezzling. Taken complete off-guard, she is confused and destitute, her only potential help a solicitor (lawyer for American readers) who seems disinterested in Natasha's case and doubtful of Natasha's innocence.

Natasha is encouraged to plead guilty to the crime to lessen her sentence so that she can get out in 2 years to see her son. Seeing no hope, she does it. She is immediately sentenced to prison for 3 years. When incarcerated, the prison doctor discovers she has opioids in her system. She has no recollection of ever taking them and believes her husband, a businessman who comes from old money, was drugging her. Her husband immediately files for a divorce from her, leading Natasha to believe that he may have been involved in both shady business practices that went unnoticed by her and an affair. He never writes or visits her in prison, leaving her to sort out the truth alone in prison - so far away from her baby son and the life she once knew.

The story seesaws between the past and present. The current timeline picks up with Natasha's unexpected early release from prison due to overcrowding. She is on the hunt for her husband in the hopes of finding her son. She gets in touch with an old friend, Sasha, who Natasha hopes will help her find her baby boy. We also hear the voice of an unknown predator, someone who is following Natasha's every move with malicious intent. Is it Natasha's ex-husband or someone associated with her prison time?

The story unfolds methodically. It's clear the author took great care in writing the story, pacing it so that only certain parts of the story were revealed to the reader as to avoid spoiling the mystery. It was fun to guess what may be going on. Is Natasha a reliable narrator? Is she telling the reader the truth? And who is this person stalking her? What parts of the story has Natasha left out? Why, for instance, hasn't her friend Sasha regularly visited her in prison? Why does Natasha's mother despise her so much that she, too, refuses to visit her in jail and doubts her daughter's innocence?

What also drew me into this story was the author's writing. She writes beautifully composed sentences that paint a vivid picture of what is going on in the characters' heads and what their surroundings look like. Here's one example of Halsall's writing:

"My first clenches around the phone, my patience a thin veneer."
Halsall takes the most ordinary, mundane parts of life and makes them come to life with her prose. That's what kept me turning the pages on top of wanting to know what was happening with Natasha.

Thank you to the author, Rona Halsall, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this thrilling book!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 4.12 2018 Keep You Safe
author: Rona Halsall
name: Stacey
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/08/18
date added: 2018/08/18
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**4 ŷ Stars**

Natasha finds herself in a world of trouble in Rona Halsall's Keep You Safe (formerly titled Guilty Little Secrets) with few friends or family to help her out. Her picture-perfect life of comfort, wealth, and new motherhood is ripped away from her when the police arrest her for embezzling. Taken complete off-guard, she is confused and destitute, her only potential help a solicitor (lawyer for American readers) who seems disinterested in Natasha's case and doubtful of Natasha's innocence.

Natasha is encouraged to plead guilty to the crime to lessen her sentence so that she can get out in 2 years to see her son. Seeing no hope, she does it. She is immediately sentenced to prison for 3 years. When incarcerated, the prison doctor discovers she has opioids in her system. She has no recollection of ever taking them and believes her husband, a businessman who comes from old money, was drugging her. Her husband immediately files for a divorce from her, leading Natasha to believe that he may have been involved in both shady business practices that went unnoticed by her and an affair. He never writes or visits her in prison, leaving her to sort out the truth alone in prison - so far away from her baby son and the life she once knew.

The story seesaws between the past and present. The current timeline picks up with Natasha's unexpected early release from prison due to overcrowding. She is on the hunt for her husband in the hopes of finding her son. She gets in touch with an old friend, Sasha, who Natasha hopes will help her find her baby boy. We also hear the voice of an unknown predator, someone who is following Natasha's every move with malicious intent. Is it Natasha's ex-husband or someone associated with her prison time?

The story unfolds methodically. It's clear the author took great care in writing the story, pacing it so that only certain parts of the story were revealed to the reader as to avoid spoiling the mystery. It was fun to guess what may be going on. Is Natasha a reliable narrator? Is she telling the reader the truth? And who is this person stalking her? What parts of the story has Natasha left out? Why, for instance, hasn't her friend Sasha regularly visited her in prison? Why does Natasha's mother despise her so much that she, too, refuses to visit her in jail and doubts her daughter's innocence?

What also drew me into this story was the author's writing. She writes beautifully composed sentences that paint a vivid picture of what is going on in the characters' heads and what their surroundings look like. Here's one example of Halsall's writing:

"My first clenches around the phone, my patience a thin veneer."
Halsall takes the most ordinary, mundane parts of life and makes them come to life with her prose. That's what kept me turning the pages on top of wanting to know what was happening with Natasha.

Thank you to the author, Rona Halsall, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this thrilling book!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Thinnest Air 36396032
Meredith Price is the luckiest woman alive. Her husband, Andrew, is a charming and successful financial broker. She has two lovely stepchildren and is living in affluence in a mountain resort town. After three years of marriage, Meredith’s life has become predictable. Until the day she disappears.

Her car has been discovered in a grocery store parking lot—purse and phone undisturbed on the passenger seat, keys in the ignition, no sign of struggle, and no evidence of foul play. It’s as if she vanished into thin air.

It’s not like Meredith to simply abandon her loved ones. And no one in this town would have reason to harm her. When her desperate sister, Greer, arrives, she must face a disturbing question: What if no one really knows Meredith at all? For Greer, finding her sister isn’t going to be easy…because where she’s looking is going to get very, very dark.]]> 286 Minka Kent 1503954811 Stacey 5
Newlywed Meredith Price seems to have it all: a sprawling mansion in a highly desirable mountain resort community; an older, but insatiably attractive husband whose wealth knows no end; and any and everything that money can buy.

But Meredith's infatuation with her husband and the lavish lifestyle he lives begins to dissipate when the reality of marriage sets in.

There's the obnoxious, spoiled stepchildren Meredith has to entertain, children who resent her for breaking up their parents' marriage. There are the cliquish older women in the neighborhood who gossip about her and her husband, Andrew, and who think she is just the newest flavor of the month for him. And then there's Andrew, whose behavior as of recent seems to confirm the neighbors' speculation that Meredith is just a new plaything for him to admire until he tires of her and moves on to a younger version of her.

Meredith feels as though there is so much more to life than wealth and comfort. Meredith starts to feel trapped by Andrew, who expects her to play house and keep up appearances for the neighbors. Bored with the life foisted upon her, Meredith ventures outside of her home, enrolling in self-defense classes taught by a local detective. Soon, she finds her heart straying from Andrew and becomes entangled in several relationships, one of which may lead to her demise.

When Meredith goes missing, her sister, Greer, must face some hard truths about her baby sister. Greer learns that her sister and family members kept secrets, some of which may provide clues as to what happened to Meredith. Did Meredith take off and abandon everyone for a reason? Is she safe, or in serious danger? Did Meredith's husband find out about her infidelities and harm her? Or is something else going on?

This book is a heart-pounding page-turner perfect for the beach or vacation. I liked how the narrative switched between Meredith and Greer, which gave the reader insight into how two very different people can have different versions of the "truth." I highly recommend this book to fans of suspense and psychological thrillers.

Thank you to the author, Minka Kent, the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Thinnest Air.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.87 2018 The Thinnest Air
author: Minka Kent
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/07/26
date added: 2018/08/08
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5 ŷ Stars**

Newlywed Meredith Price seems to have it all: a sprawling mansion in a highly desirable mountain resort community; an older, but insatiably attractive husband whose wealth knows no end; and any and everything that money can buy.

But Meredith's infatuation with her husband and the lavish lifestyle he lives begins to dissipate when the reality of marriage sets in.

There's the obnoxious, spoiled stepchildren Meredith has to entertain, children who resent her for breaking up their parents' marriage. There are the cliquish older women in the neighborhood who gossip about her and her husband, Andrew, and who think she is just the newest flavor of the month for him. And then there's Andrew, whose behavior as of recent seems to confirm the neighbors' speculation that Meredith is just a new plaything for him to admire until he tires of her and moves on to a younger version of her.

Meredith feels as though there is so much more to life than wealth and comfort. Meredith starts to feel trapped by Andrew, who expects her to play house and keep up appearances for the neighbors. Bored with the life foisted upon her, Meredith ventures outside of her home, enrolling in self-defense classes taught by a local detective. Soon, she finds her heart straying from Andrew and becomes entangled in several relationships, one of which may lead to her demise.

When Meredith goes missing, her sister, Greer, must face some hard truths about her baby sister. Greer learns that her sister and family members kept secrets, some of which may provide clues as to what happened to Meredith. Did Meredith take off and abandon everyone for a reason? Is she safe, or in serious danger? Did Meredith's husband find out about her infidelities and harm her? Or is something else going on?

This book is a heart-pounding page-turner perfect for the beach or vacation. I liked how the narrative switched between Meredith and Greer, which gave the reader insight into how two very different people can have different versions of the "truth." I highly recommend this book to fans of suspense and psychological thrillers.

Thank you to the author, Minka Kent, the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Thinnest Air.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Our Kind of Cruelty 36347888
Mike Hayes fought his way out of a brutal childhood and into a quiet, if lonely life, before he met Verity Metcalf. V taught him about love, and in return, Mike has dedicated his life to making her happy. He’s found the perfect home, the perfect job, he’s sculpted himself into the physical ideal V has always wanted. He knows they’ll be blissfully happy together.

It doesn’t matter that she hasn’t been returning his emails or phone calls.
It doesn’t matter that she says she’s marrying Angus.

It’s all just part of the secret game they used to play. If Mike watches V closely, he’ll see the signs. If he keeps track of her every move he’ll know just when to come to her rescue�

A spellbinding, darkly twisted novel about desire and obsession, and the complicated lines between truth and perception, Our Kind of Cruelty introduces Araminta Hall, a chilling new voice in psychological suspense.]]> 275 Araminta Hall 0374228191 Stacey 5
"And you should never trust people who yearn to be something other than who they are."

Araminta Hall's debut psychological thriller Our Kind of Cruelty takes you into the inner recesses of a deeply twisted mind. This is one of those books that won't leave my head for years to come.

Mike Hayes, the narrator, falls in love with a beautiful lithe woman named Verity while in college. Verity has a penchant for danger, finding arousal and excitement in a game that she and Mike have nicknamed the "Crave." Crave involves Mike and Verity going to nightclubs separately. Verity entices men at the nightclub, luring them to dance and/or kiss her. As soon as Verity gives Mike a sign (which involves touching an eagle necklace she wears), he intervenes and starts a fight with whoever is with Verity. Then Mike and Verity have passionate sex, sometimes right there in the public eye of a nightclub. Sometimes they take the game further, luring men and women into their hotel rooms.

Upon Verity's insistence, Mike leaves London to take a high paying job in the banking industry. According to Mike, Verity encouraged him to take the job so that they could save up enough money to retire in their 40s. He also took the job so that he could buy Verity a beautiful house in London.

However, Mike is lonely on his own in New York and makes a fatal mistake by having a one night stand with a coworker who he doesn't even like. When Mike returns to London for Christmas, he admits his betrayal to Verity, who immediately breaks up with him. Mike cannot believe that one brief affair could lead to the destruction of their long-term relationship. He begins to think that this is a new form of the Crave, as absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Much to his surprise, Mike discovers that Verity is getting married to a wealthy socialite a short 9 months after she broke up with him. He cannot believe Verity would move on so quickly after nearly 9 years of dating, so Mike continues to believe this is all part of the Crave. To what length will Mike go to get Verity back? Is her engagement part of an extended version of the Crave? Or is Verity playing both partners as part of a more elaborate game?

I read this book in a day. I absolutely could not put it down. The narrator's voice is infused with intensity, making you wonder what Mike is truly capable of. Is, for instance, the Crave all in Mike's head? Or is something even more twisted than the Crave taking place?

Thank you to Araminta Hall and the publisher, MCD/Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, for an advanced reader copy of Our Kind of Cruelty. I cannot wait to see what Hall publishes in the future!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.37 2018 Our Kind of Cruelty
author: Araminta Hall
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/07/11
date added: 2018/07/14
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5 ŷ Stars**

"And you should never trust people who yearn to be something other than who they are."

Araminta Hall's debut psychological thriller Our Kind of Cruelty takes you into the inner recesses of a deeply twisted mind. This is one of those books that won't leave my head for years to come.

Mike Hayes, the narrator, falls in love with a beautiful lithe woman named Verity while in college. Verity has a penchant for danger, finding arousal and excitement in a game that she and Mike have nicknamed the "Crave." Crave involves Mike and Verity going to nightclubs separately. Verity entices men at the nightclub, luring them to dance and/or kiss her. As soon as Verity gives Mike a sign (which involves touching an eagle necklace she wears), he intervenes and starts a fight with whoever is with Verity. Then Mike and Verity have passionate sex, sometimes right there in the public eye of a nightclub. Sometimes they take the game further, luring men and women into their hotel rooms.

Upon Verity's insistence, Mike leaves London to take a high paying job in the banking industry. According to Mike, Verity encouraged him to take the job so that they could save up enough money to retire in their 40s. He also took the job so that he could buy Verity a beautiful house in London.

However, Mike is lonely on his own in New York and makes a fatal mistake by having a one night stand with a coworker who he doesn't even like. When Mike returns to London for Christmas, he admits his betrayal to Verity, who immediately breaks up with him. Mike cannot believe that one brief affair could lead to the destruction of their long-term relationship. He begins to think that this is a new form of the Crave, as absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Much to his surprise, Mike discovers that Verity is getting married to a wealthy socialite a short 9 months after she broke up with him. He cannot believe Verity would move on so quickly after nearly 9 years of dating, so Mike continues to believe this is all part of the Crave. To what length will Mike go to get Verity back? Is her engagement part of an extended version of the Crave? Or is Verity playing both partners as part of a more elaborate game?

I read this book in a day. I absolutely could not put it down. The narrator's voice is infused with intensity, making you wonder what Mike is truly capable of. Is, for instance, the Crave all in Mike's head? Or is something even more twisted than the Crave taking place?

Thank you to Araminta Hall and the publisher, MCD/Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, for an advanced reader copy of Our Kind of Cruelty. I cannot wait to see what Hall publishes in the future!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Absolved 40732696
Meanwhile, it’s election season, and a candidate from a radical fringe party called the Luddites is calling for an end to the “Divine Rights of Machines.� After Henri is displaced from his job, two Luddite sympathizers—whom Henri has befriended at his local bar—frame him for an anti-technology terrorist act. The prospect of Henri’s salvation comes at the cost of foregoing his guiding principles in life. This new vision for the world, after all, just might prove better than the technological advancements that, paradoxically, have “left humanity out in the cold.”]]> 262 Matthew Binder 173293570X Stacey 3 The Absolved and humanity is living a questionable existence, one where automation has rendered human labor nearly obsolete. The "Absolved" refers to the majority of humankind who no longer have jobs. Instead, they are given a minimum wage on which to live and provided a home, food, and minimal comforts.

The story is narrated by Henri, a wealthy oncologist who has yet to be absorbed by machinery. He has a beautiful wife, Rachel, and a young son. He also has a woman on the side named Taylor who hopes to attend medical school someday. Henri is shielded from the reality of the Absolved for the most part, but every now and then he gets a thrill by hanging out in a dive bar frequented by many of the Absolved.

I had a lot of hope for this book because I enjoy speculative fiction and the premise sounded promising, but unfortunately, it fell short for me. For one, 2036 really didn't feel that far off from today's society; it felt like an amplified version of it, but nothing too drastically different for me to feel as though I was in an entirely unfamiliar and new world. I expect speculative fiction to present creative twists on the world as we know it, especially when it is set only 20 years from today's society. This world, for me, was too close for comfort. For instance, healthcare is one of the few areas of life that are not dictated by machinery. However, healthcare mandates passed down by politicians have resulted in universal healthcare that is based upon cost-benefit analyses of human life. I'd say this practice is very much alive here in the United States, where insurance coverage often dictates the care a patient is able to obtain.

The characters also left me wanting. Henri is self-motivated and narcissistic, engaging and indulging in anything that pleasures him despite who it might hurt. His wife, who has some fairly odd behaviors (such as dressing up as Snow White??!), is also superficial, obsessed with her looks, decorating their house, and her son's education. The characters' self-worth is entirely wrapped up in their money.

I kept trying to figure out what the plot was and how the characters would transform, but I was disinterested by the time the author got to it. Henri does experience a moral reckoning, but those around him fail to experience the same transformation. I felt that women, in particular, were painted as one-dimensional characters who were out for themselves or as objects of sexual desire: there is so much more to humanity (and women!) than this.

Thank you to the author, Matthew Binder, the publisher, Black Spot Books, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Absolved.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.62 2018 The Absolved
author: Matthew Binder
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2018/07/11
date added: 2018/07/14
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
It's the year 2036 in Matthew Binder's The Absolved and humanity is living a questionable existence, one where automation has rendered human labor nearly obsolete. The "Absolved" refers to the majority of humankind who no longer have jobs. Instead, they are given a minimum wage on which to live and provided a home, food, and minimal comforts.

The story is narrated by Henri, a wealthy oncologist who has yet to be absorbed by machinery. He has a beautiful wife, Rachel, and a young son. He also has a woman on the side named Taylor who hopes to attend medical school someday. Henri is shielded from the reality of the Absolved for the most part, but every now and then he gets a thrill by hanging out in a dive bar frequented by many of the Absolved.

I had a lot of hope for this book because I enjoy speculative fiction and the premise sounded promising, but unfortunately, it fell short for me. For one, 2036 really didn't feel that far off from today's society; it felt like an amplified version of it, but nothing too drastically different for me to feel as though I was in an entirely unfamiliar and new world. I expect speculative fiction to present creative twists on the world as we know it, especially when it is set only 20 years from today's society. This world, for me, was too close for comfort. For instance, healthcare is one of the few areas of life that are not dictated by machinery. However, healthcare mandates passed down by politicians have resulted in universal healthcare that is based upon cost-benefit analyses of human life. I'd say this practice is very much alive here in the United States, where insurance coverage often dictates the care a patient is able to obtain.

The characters also left me wanting. Henri is self-motivated and narcissistic, engaging and indulging in anything that pleasures him despite who it might hurt. His wife, who has some fairly odd behaviors (such as dressing up as Snow White??!), is also superficial, obsessed with her looks, decorating their house, and her son's education. The characters' self-worth is entirely wrapped up in their money.

I kept trying to figure out what the plot was and how the characters would transform, but I was disinterested by the time the author got to it. Henri does experience a moral reckoning, but those around him fail to experience the same transformation. I felt that women, in particular, were painted as one-dimensional characters who were out for themselves or as objects of sexual desire: there is so much more to humanity (and women!) than this.

Thank you to the author, Matthew Binder, the publisher, Black Spot Books, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Absolved.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Perfect Friend 40487715
My name is Alex, and my world has been shattered.
My husband has left me.
My children won’t speak to me.
My friend Carrie is the only person I have.
She’s the only one I can trust to keep all my secrets.
She’d never do anything to let me down.
Would she?

This dark, gripping psychological thriller will have you holding your breath until the very last page. Fans of Behind Closed Doors, Sometimes I Lie, and The Girl on the Train will be captivated.]]> 320 Barbara Copperthwaite 1786815486 Stacey 4
From the outside, Carrie and Alex's relationship seems healthy: two survivors who found each other at a support group for people suffering from all kinds of afflictions. Carrie, who is 24 years old, is in remission from a cancer that completely ravaged her body. Alex, who was abandoned by her twins and husband, is recovering from anorexia: a disease that started as a way to cope with the depression and sadness of being neglected by her family.

Both Alex and Carrie have more in common than they realize: they are both liars and are concealing secrets from each other and their support group. The secrets start to unravel as soon as Carrie's cancer comes back, which draws Alex into Carrie's life even further.

Threatening notes are left on Carrie's doorstep, which Alex intercepts thinking they are associated with the lies she has been telling Carrie about her past. Then Carrie's cat disappears and her car windows are smashed, suggesting that whoever is after either Alex or Carrie is intensifying their behavior. Alex begins to fear that whoever is targeting her or Carrie is going to harm them, so she starts digging deeper into Carrie's past. She finds that Carrie may have a darker past than herself, one that is coming back to haunt the both of them.

I really enjoyed the pacing of this book and how secrets were slowly unraveled chapter by chapter. This helps keep tension throughout the book, which made me want to keep turning the pages. I thought both of the characters were well developed, and, as someone who has struggled with eating issues, I also felt that the representation of anorexia was accurate and absolutely heartbreaking. If you like a simmering, well-written mystery, this book should definitely be on your shelf!

Thank you to the author, Barbara Copperthwaite, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Perfect Friend.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.76 2018 The Perfect Friend
author: Barbara Copperthwaite
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/07/05
date added: 2018/07/12
shelves: book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre, 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge
review:
**4 ŷ Stars**

From the outside, Carrie and Alex's relationship seems healthy: two survivors who found each other at a support group for people suffering from all kinds of afflictions. Carrie, who is 24 years old, is in remission from a cancer that completely ravaged her body. Alex, who was abandoned by her twins and husband, is recovering from anorexia: a disease that started as a way to cope with the depression and sadness of being neglected by her family.

Both Alex and Carrie have more in common than they realize: they are both liars and are concealing secrets from each other and their support group. The secrets start to unravel as soon as Carrie's cancer comes back, which draws Alex into Carrie's life even further.

Threatening notes are left on Carrie's doorstep, which Alex intercepts thinking they are associated with the lies she has been telling Carrie about her past. Then Carrie's cat disappears and her car windows are smashed, suggesting that whoever is after either Alex or Carrie is intensifying their behavior. Alex begins to fear that whoever is targeting her or Carrie is going to harm them, so she starts digging deeper into Carrie's past. She finds that Carrie may have a darker past than herself, one that is coming back to haunt the both of them.

I really enjoyed the pacing of this book and how secrets were slowly unraveled chapter by chapter. This helps keep tension throughout the book, which made me want to keep turning the pages. I thought both of the characters were well developed, and, as someone who has struggled with eating issues, I also felt that the representation of anorexia was accurate and absolutely heartbreaking. If you like a simmering, well-written mystery, this book should definitely be on your shelf!

Thank you to the author, Barbara Copperthwaite, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Perfect Friend.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> <![CDATA[Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer]]> 35959785 Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich explores how we are killing ourselves to live longer, not better.

A razor-sharp polemic which offers an entirely new understanding of our bodies, ourselves, and our place in the universe, Natural Causes describes how we over-prepare and worry way too much about what is inevitable. One by one, Ehrenreich topples the shibboleths that guide our attempts to live a long, healthy life � from the importance of preventive medical screenings to the concepts of wellness and mindfulness, from dietary fads to fitness culture.

But Natural Causes goes deeper � into the fundamental unreliability of our bodies and even our "mind-bodies," to use the fashionable term. Starting with the mysterious and seldom-acknowledged tendency of our own immune cells to promote deadly cancers, Ehrenreich looks into the cellular basis of aging, and shows how little control we actually have over it. We tend to believe we have agency over our bodies, our minds, and even over the manner of our deaths. But the latest science shows that the microscopic subunits of our bodies make their own "decisions," and not always in our favor.

We may buy expensive anti-aging products or cosmetic surgery, get preventive screenings and eat more kale, or throw ourselves into meditation and spirituality. But all these things offer only the illusion of control. How to live well, even joyously, while]]> Barbara Ehrenreich 1478961260 Stacey 4
"In the health-conscious mindset that has prevailed among the world's affluent people for about four decades now, health is indistinguishable from virtue, tasty foods are 'sinfully delicious,' while healthful foods may taste good enough to be advertised as 'guilt-free.' Those seeking to compensate for a lapse undertake punitive measures like fasts, purges, or diets composed of different juices carefully sequenced throughout the day.

I had a different reaction to aging: I gradually came to realize that I was old enough to die, by which I am not suggesting that each of us bears an expiration date. There is of course no fixed age at which a person ceases to be worthy of further medical investment, whether aimed at prevention or cure."

Have you ever struggled to get a medical diagnosis? Been told that you aren't sick or been dismissed by a doctor? I am guessing most people at some point in their lives have experienced this frustration, and while Barbara Ehrenreich's Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Our Illusion of Control isn't specifically about misdiagnosis, it's about the many problems involved in the healthcare industry.

Some people have written about this book as though it's merely about deciding not to have preventative care once you reach a certain age, but that's only part of the picture. Ehrenreich takes on the health industry full stop, debunking the myths that manage to still dictate patient care and revealing the industry as it is, which is that it is a business. She also unravels the wellness and mindfulness industry that pervades America right now, which severely lacks evidence to support its claims.

What I came away with after reading this book is that medicine (and the mindfulness industry), while wonderful and helpful, is still in the dark ages on certain issues, such as the immune system. We still have a lot to learn about how the immune system compromises and interacts with the rest of the body. The book also made me feel less responsible for what happens to my body, because sometimes you can do all of the right things that society tells you to do - exercise, eat well, meditate, etc. - and still end up with a body that turns on you. As Ehrenreich states:

"What is the point of minutely calibrating one's diet and time spent on the treadmill when you could be vanquished entirely by a few rogue cells within your own body?"

I like that Ehrenreich explores both the business side of medicine as well as how our culture pushes for control over one's body. Controlling one's body has become a business, whether it is one's looks, one's weight, or one's health. It's not just the medical industry that is trying to create more tests and interventions to prevent the inevitable - death - but it is also patients demanding more testing. But Ehrenreich does not see value in subjecting herself to more testing that has no evidence to prolong people's lives when they get to old age. She writes:

"I reject the torment of a medicalized death, but I refuse to accept a medicalized life, and my determination only deepens with age. As the time that remains to me shrinks, each month and day becomes too precious to spend in windowless waiting rooms and under the cold scrutiny of machines. Being old enough to die is an achievement, not a defeat, and the freedom it brings is worth celebrating."
Her reflections, of course, only apply to those of us healthy enough to not need regular prescriptions. It does not apply to people with chronic health issues or those who have been and are sustained by medicine. I personally know I could not get my inhalers - which I rely upon twice a day to breathe - without seeing my asthma doc at least once a year.

This review barely scrapes the surface of this book. There is so much good information here and so many thoughtful discussions about healthcare, medicine, and culture in the Western world. I think I highlighted half of the book. This is one of those books that will have a permanent place on my bookshelf for years to come (as is the case with Ehrenreich's other publications!). Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.21 2018 Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer
author: Barbara Ehrenreich
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/05/26
date added: 2018/07/01
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre, 2018
review:
**4.5 ŷ Stars**

"In the health-conscious mindset that has prevailed among the world's affluent people for about four decades now, health is indistinguishable from virtue, tasty foods are 'sinfully delicious,' while healthful foods may taste good enough to be advertised as 'guilt-free.' Those seeking to compensate for a lapse undertake punitive measures like fasts, purges, or diets composed of different juices carefully sequenced throughout the day.

I had a different reaction to aging: I gradually came to realize that I was old enough to die, by which I am not suggesting that each of us bears an expiration date. There is of course no fixed age at which a person ceases to be worthy of further medical investment, whether aimed at prevention or cure."

Have you ever struggled to get a medical diagnosis? Been told that you aren't sick or been dismissed by a doctor? I am guessing most people at some point in their lives have experienced this frustration, and while Barbara Ehrenreich's Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Our Illusion of Control isn't specifically about misdiagnosis, it's about the many problems involved in the healthcare industry.

Some people have written about this book as though it's merely about deciding not to have preventative care once you reach a certain age, but that's only part of the picture. Ehrenreich takes on the health industry full stop, debunking the myths that manage to still dictate patient care and revealing the industry as it is, which is that it is a business. She also unravels the wellness and mindfulness industry that pervades America right now, which severely lacks evidence to support its claims.

What I came away with after reading this book is that medicine (and the mindfulness industry), while wonderful and helpful, is still in the dark ages on certain issues, such as the immune system. We still have a lot to learn about how the immune system compromises and interacts with the rest of the body. The book also made me feel less responsible for what happens to my body, because sometimes you can do all of the right things that society tells you to do - exercise, eat well, meditate, etc. - and still end up with a body that turns on you. As Ehrenreich states:

"What is the point of minutely calibrating one's diet and time spent on the treadmill when you could be vanquished entirely by a few rogue cells within your own body?"

I like that Ehrenreich explores both the business side of medicine as well as how our culture pushes for control over one's body. Controlling one's body has become a business, whether it is one's looks, one's weight, or one's health. It's not just the medical industry that is trying to create more tests and interventions to prevent the inevitable - death - but it is also patients demanding more testing. But Ehrenreich does not see value in subjecting herself to more testing that has no evidence to prolong people's lives when they get to old age. She writes:

"I reject the torment of a medicalized death, but I refuse to accept a medicalized life, and my determination only deepens with age. As the time that remains to me shrinks, each month and day becomes too precious to spend in windowless waiting rooms and under the cold scrutiny of machines. Being old enough to die is an achievement, not a defeat, and the freedom it brings is worth celebrating."
Her reflections, of course, only apply to those of us healthy enough to not need regular prescriptions. It does not apply to people with chronic health issues or those who have been and are sustained by medicine. I personally know I could not get my inhalers - which I rely upon twice a day to breathe - without seeing my asthma doc at least once a year.

This review barely scrapes the surface of this book. There is so much good information here and so many thoughtful discussions about healthcare, medicine, and culture in the Western world. I think I highlighted half of the book. This is one of those books that will have a permanent place on my bookshelf for years to come (as is the case with Ehrenreich's other publications!). Thank you to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Ex-Wife 39082076
Newly married Natasha has the perfect house, a loving husband and a beautiful little girl called Emily. She’d have it all if it wasn’t for Jen, her husband’s ex-wife who just won’t leave them alone �

Then Natasha returns home one day to find her husband and Emily gone without trace. Desperate to get her daughter back, Natasha will do anything even if it means accepting an offer of help from Jen. But can she trust her? And do either of them really know the man they married?

If you loved The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl or The Couple Next Door then this dark, twisting psychological thriller from Amazon chart bestseller Jess Ryder is guaranteed to have you gripped.]]> 352 Jess Ryder 1786814048 Stacey 5
Natasha is struggling to make it as a barista in the city. Living on a tight budget, she cycles to work daily until one fateful day dramatically changes her life for the better - or so she thought.

While racing down a steep street on her bike, Natasha accidentally swipes the side of a car and tumbles to the street. A handsome, older man steps out of the car to check on Natasha. She's fine, but the man, Nick, feels guilty and offers to take her out to dinner. Things seem innocent until Natasha finds herself falling hard for Nick. There's only one little problem: Nick is married to Jen, his high school sweetheart.

Natasha falls pregnant - something Jen never was able to do - and Nick casts aside Jen. He is eager to be a father and ready to welcome his new baby girl Emily into his life. Natasha moves into the house Nick and Jen shared and everything seems shockingly perfect beyond Jen's occasional lengthy phone calls to Nick.

Things change when Nick gets one too many tickets and is under a court order not to drive. Jen suggests that he hire a private driver, which Natasha thinks is unnecessarily extravagant. Nick goes against Natasha's wishes and hires a driver, who ends up spending a great deal of time with Natasha. Natasha begins to question her reality as her driver suggests that Nick isn't being honest with her. Is Nick cheating on her? Is Jen somehow still involved with Nick? Is Nick really spending so much time on international business travel or is something else going on behind Natasha's back?

This book was an intense, hold-on-to-your seats ride from start to finish. The author drops hints here and there at what might be going on; clever suspense readers may figure out what's happening mid-way through the book, but that certainly won't spoil this tantalizing thriller for even the most seasoned mystery readers. This was a super quick read for me and so very difficult to put down! I loved how tension mounted in this book; it was there from the first page and continued to build with every turn of the page.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and Jess Ryder for an advanced reader copy of The Ex-Wife! I hope to read more of Ryder's books in the future!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 4.09 2018 The Ex-Wife
author: Jess Ryder
name: Stacey
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/06/04
date added: 2018/06/07
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre, 2018
review:
**5 ŷ Stars**

Natasha is struggling to make it as a barista in the city. Living on a tight budget, she cycles to work daily until one fateful day dramatically changes her life for the better - or so she thought.

While racing down a steep street on her bike, Natasha accidentally swipes the side of a car and tumbles to the street. A handsome, older man steps out of the car to check on Natasha. She's fine, but the man, Nick, feels guilty and offers to take her out to dinner. Things seem innocent until Natasha finds herself falling hard for Nick. There's only one little problem: Nick is married to Jen, his high school sweetheart.

Natasha falls pregnant - something Jen never was able to do - and Nick casts aside Jen. He is eager to be a father and ready to welcome his new baby girl Emily into his life. Natasha moves into the house Nick and Jen shared and everything seems shockingly perfect beyond Jen's occasional lengthy phone calls to Nick.

Things change when Nick gets one too many tickets and is under a court order not to drive. Jen suggests that he hire a private driver, which Natasha thinks is unnecessarily extravagant. Nick goes against Natasha's wishes and hires a driver, who ends up spending a great deal of time with Natasha. Natasha begins to question her reality as her driver suggests that Nick isn't being honest with her. Is Nick cheating on her? Is Jen somehow still involved with Nick? Is Nick really spending so much time on international business travel or is something else going on behind Natasha's back?

This book was an intense, hold-on-to-your seats ride from start to finish. The author drops hints here and there at what might be going on; clever suspense readers may figure out what's happening mid-way through the book, but that certainly won't spoil this tantalizing thriller for even the most seasoned mystery readers. This was a super quick read for me and so very difficult to put down! I loved how tension mounted in this book; it was there from the first page and continued to build with every turn of the page.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and Jess Ryder for an advanced reader copy of The Ex-Wife! I hope to read more of Ryder's books in the future!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Tell Me A Secret 39837786 Tell her all your secrets and she’ll tell you all her lies�

Everything in ǰԲ’s life runs like clockwork, from her 6 a.m. morning run to the strict 60-minute counselling sessions she gives. It’s the only way she can deal with the terrible secret she carries.

When a new client arrives for his first appointment, Lorna feels her perfect life unravel in a matter of seconds. It’s Andrew, the man she’s spent the last year desperately trying to forget. It seems he can’t forget her either�

Against her better judgement she anonymously contacts him on a dating site. Messaging him could mean the end of her marriage and her career, but she needs to know if his motives are genuine.

When Andrew is found dead in his home, grief quickly turns to fear when messages from him continue to arrive on ǰԲ’s phone. Somebody knows her secret and wants to use it to destroy everything she has.

Will she risk her family and her sanity to keep her secret? Will she risk her life�?

]]> 361 Samantha Hayes 1786814196 Stacey 5
"...the worst kind of secrets are always the ones we keep from ourselves."

"Even therapists have secrets."

Lorna has a deep, dark secret that threatens to destroy her family and her career. Her secret is so thorny that she will do everything in her power to keep it from the people she loves.

What is this secret?

Lorna has been hiding an affair from her coworkers, friends, and family for nearly a year. It's an intensely passionate relationship, one that caused her to violate her professional code of ethics as a practicing clinical psychologist. This is because the affair involved one of her patients, Andrew. Lorna tries to end the smoldering affair by up and leaving her psychology practice for a new one, but Andrew hunts her down at her new practice. And despite Lorna's best intentions, they rekindle old flames.

But there's someone watching from afar, taking note of Andrew and Lorna. They want revenge. They want to settle the score. They are stalking Lorna like prey. And Lorna and Andrew have no clue.

Samantha Hayes' Tell Me a Secret could be used in a master class on writing a suspenseful psychological thriller, one that shocks at every turn. I can't reveal much without revealing significant plot twists and turns, but I can promise you that this book will keep you on your toes. This would be the perfect book for a women's book club; when I finished it, I wanted to talk about the ending to anyone who would listen. I did not see the ending coming, which is all the more reason I enjoyed it!

Another thing that I enjoyed about the book was the different ways Hayes' told Lorna's story. She gives readers insight into Lorna's deep thoughts by providing snippets of Lorna's journals (take note, readers!). She also incorporates illicit conversations via text and a dating website into the narrative, giving us hints of what is to come with Lorna and Andrew. This writing style kept the book current and fresh for me.

Thank you to the author, Samantha Hayes, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy ofTell Me a Secret!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.85 2018 Tell Me A Secret
author: Samantha Hayes
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/05/25
date added: 2018/05/26
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5 ŷ Stars**

"...the worst kind of secrets are always the ones we keep from ourselves."

"Even therapists have secrets."

Lorna has a deep, dark secret that threatens to destroy her family and her career. Her secret is so thorny that she will do everything in her power to keep it from the people she loves.

What is this secret?

Lorna has been hiding an affair from her coworkers, friends, and family for nearly a year. It's an intensely passionate relationship, one that caused her to violate her professional code of ethics as a practicing clinical psychologist. This is because the affair involved one of her patients, Andrew. Lorna tries to end the smoldering affair by up and leaving her psychology practice for a new one, but Andrew hunts her down at her new practice. And despite Lorna's best intentions, they rekindle old flames.

But there's someone watching from afar, taking note of Andrew and Lorna. They want revenge. They want to settle the score. They are stalking Lorna like prey. And Lorna and Andrew have no clue.

Samantha Hayes' Tell Me a Secret could be used in a master class on writing a suspenseful psychological thriller, one that shocks at every turn. I can't reveal much without revealing significant plot twists and turns, but I can promise you that this book will keep you on your toes. This would be the perfect book for a women's book club; when I finished it, I wanted to talk about the ending to anyone who would listen. I did not see the ending coming, which is all the more reason I enjoyed it!

Another thing that I enjoyed about the book was the different ways Hayes' told Lorna's story. She gives readers insight into Lorna's deep thoughts by providing snippets of Lorna's journals (take note, readers!). She also incorporates illicit conversations via text and a dating website into the narrative, giving us hints of what is to come with Lorna and Andrew. This writing style kept the book current and fresh for me.

Thank you to the author, Samantha Hayes, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy ofTell Me a Secret!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> <![CDATA[Last Goodbye (Detectives Eli Quinn and Roxy Malloy, #1)]]> 38732653 A completely unputdownable thriller from Amazon chart bestseller Arlene Hunt.

‘The woman’s body lay on the bed, hair fanned out in a golden halo, blue eyes open. On the table stood an unmistakable sign: a bouquet of bright yellow roses...�

On a freezing January morning, a young couple is found dead in their cottage in the quiet Dublin suburbs. When Detective Eli Quinn arrives at the scene his stomach drops. It’s the second double homicide in as many months where the killer has left a bunch of yellow roses.

Tucked between the thorns is a little card, with an image of a broken heart. There’s no doubt the killer is trying to send a message, but what do the flowers mean? And can Eli figure out the killer’s motive, before they strike again?

Utterly gripping, fast-paced and nail-bitingly tense, this serial killer thriller will keep you up reading all night. If you love Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Patricia Gibney, you won’t be able to put this down.]]> 306 Arlene Hunt 1786812819 Stacey 5
"Today I reclaim my biological right. Today I stamp my will on the world. Today I will reclaim the Imperative."

Arlene Hunt's Last Goodbye is a heart-pounding thriller that follows two rookieofficers in the Irish Garda, Roxy and Cora, in their quest to find a serial killer. The pace of this book is intense in a good way; you can almost feel the clock ticking as detectives race to stop the killer before he or she kills again.

There is a serial killer on the loose in Dublin, one who is targeting seemingly happy couples. He or she leaves a distinct calling card: yellow flowers and champagne. Because of this, the killer gets nicknamed "the sweetheart killer" by the press. Roxy and Cora are initially assigned the case, but then kicked off of it by a more senior detective, Eli Quinn. Roxy, eager to make her mark as a newly commissioned sergeant, pleads to be put back on the case under Quinn. Roxy can be gruff and blunt, but her rough edges are smoothed out by her empathetic to a fault and sometimes blundering partner, Cora.

Roxy has a nose for crime, perhaps due to the factthat her father is a criminal and in prison. Though forced to work under Quinn and therefore limited to the information he provides to her about the case, Roxy sniffs out suspicious aspects of the case immediately. Roxy argues that some of the serial killer's cases seem different from one another, leading her to believe that there is a copycat killer. Quinn shrugs off Roxy's suggestion. Headstrong, Roxy follows her intuition only to discover that the killings are much more complex than the police wish to admit. Is Quinn hiding something? Are the police involved in a coverup?

There were so many things I enjoyed about this book. First off, the author is great at creating believable characters with intriguing but not preposterous backstoriesand histories. Despite some of the characters' serious flaws, I still wanted to know what their motivations were and what was going to happen to them. Second, there are scenes in this book where you absolutely cannot put this book down. The scenes are vividly described and paced in such a manner that the reader is kept on the edge of their seat wanting to know what is going to happen. I read a lot of suspense and this type of intense pacing is really difficult to pull off for most authors.

Because of the way it is artfully written and organized, this book will be of interest to readers who aren't merely into police procedurals. Readers who enjoy suspense, psychological thrillers, suspense, and murder mysteries will definitely want to pick up this book.

Thank you to the author, Arlene Hunt, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Last Goodbye.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.87 2018 Last Goodbye (Detectives Eli Quinn and Roxy Malloy, #1)
author: Arlene Hunt
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/05/23
date added: 2018/05/23
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5 ŷ Stars**

"Today I reclaim my biological right. Today I stamp my will on the world. Today I will reclaim the Imperative."

Arlene Hunt's Last Goodbye is a heart-pounding thriller that follows two rookieofficers in the Irish Garda, Roxy and Cora, in their quest to find a serial killer. The pace of this book is intense in a good way; you can almost feel the clock ticking as detectives race to stop the killer before he or she kills again.

There is a serial killer on the loose in Dublin, one who is targeting seemingly happy couples. He or she leaves a distinct calling card: yellow flowers and champagne. Because of this, the killer gets nicknamed "the sweetheart killer" by the press. Roxy and Cora are initially assigned the case, but then kicked off of it by a more senior detective, Eli Quinn. Roxy, eager to make her mark as a newly commissioned sergeant, pleads to be put back on the case under Quinn. Roxy can be gruff and blunt, but her rough edges are smoothed out by her empathetic to a fault and sometimes blundering partner, Cora.

Roxy has a nose for crime, perhaps due to the factthat her father is a criminal and in prison. Though forced to work under Quinn and therefore limited to the information he provides to her about the case, Roxy sniffs out suspicious aspects of the case immediately. Roxy argues that some of the serial killer's cases seem different from one another, leading her to believe that there is a copycat killer. Quinn shrugs off Roxy's suggestion. Headstrong, Roxy follows her intuition only to discover that the killings are much more complex than the police wish to admit. Is Quinn hiding something? Are the police involved in a coverup?

There were so many things I enjoyed about this book. First off, the author is great at creating believable characters with intriguing but not preposterous backstoriesand histories. Despite some of the characters' serious flaws, I still wanted to know what their motivations were and what was going to happen to them. Second, there are scenes in this book where you absolutely cannot put this book down. The scenes are vividly described and paced in such a manner that the reader is kept on the edge of their seat wanting to know what is going to happen. I read a lot of suspense and this type of intense pacing is really difficult to pull off for most authors.

Because of the way it is artfully written and organized, this book will be of interest to readers who aren't merely into police procedurals. Readers who enjoy suspense, psychological thrillers, suspense, and murder mysteries will definitely want to pick up this book.

Thank you to the author, Arlene Hunt, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Last Goodbye.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> A Noise Downstairs 36339629
The New York Times bestselling author of No Time for Goodbye returns with a haunting psychological thriller that blends the twists and turns of Gillian Flynn with the driving suspense of Harlan Coben, in which a man is troubled by odd sounds for which there is no rational explanation.

College professor Paul Davis is a normal guy with a normal life. Until, driving along a deserted road late one night, he surprises a murderer disposing of a couple of bodies. That’s when Paul’s "normal" existence is turned upside down. After nearly losing his own life in that encounter, he finds himself battling PTSD, depression, and severe problems at work. His wife, Charlotte, desperate to cheer him up, brings home a vintage typewriter—complete with ink ribbons and heavy round keys—to encourage him to get started on that novel he’s always intended to write.

However, the typewriter itself is a problem. Paul swears it’s possessed and types by itself at night. But only Paul can hear the noise coming from downstairs; Charlotte doesn’t hear a thing. And she worries he’s going off the rails.

Paul believes the typewriter is somehow connected to the murderer he discovered nearly a year ago. The killer had made his victims type apologies to him before ending their lives. Has another sick twist of fate entwined his life with the killer—could this be the same machine?Increasingly tormented but determined to discover the truth and confront his nightmare, Paul begins investigating the deaths himself.

But that may not be the best thing to do. Maybe Paul should just take the typewriter back to where his wife found it. Maybe he should stop asking questions and simply walk away while he can. . .]]> 10 Linwood Barclay 0062849468 Stacey 4 **4 ŷ Stars**

"Monsters can be very good at disguising themselves."

"There are some things even tenure can't protect you from."

Paul Davis is a professor in a sleepy university town who finds his life turned upside down while driving home one night from work. He spots a car in front of him driving erratically. As he gets closer to the car, he sees that the driver is an aloof but well-known professor and colleague. He backs away from the car and keeps his distance from it out of sheer curiosity. The old saying "curiosity killed the cat" applies here. Paul's curiosity gets the best of him when he sees his colleague pull over and start digging a hole in the pitch black night.

For most rational people, this would be a huge red flag to back away and call the police. But no, Paul is headstrong and confronts his colleague, only to discover that his colleague is responsible for the deaths of two women with whom he was having an affair. Paul's colleague knocks Paul unconscious, leaving Paul emotionally and physically scarred from the encounter. Paul's colleague gets life in prison, but that doesn't mean that Paul has moved on from that fateful night.

Paul takes a leave of absence from his university to recover. He spends his days at home with his second wife, Charlotte, and visiting his psychologist for assistance with PTSD. Paul believes he is becoming increasingly forgetful and confused due to a head injury he incurred when he confronted by his murderous colleague.

Charlotte gifts Paul an antique typewriter in the hope that Paul's writing will distract him from his anxiety and PTSD. But suddenly the typewriter comes to life. Paul hears a tapping in the middle of the night like someone is typing on the typewriter. He discovers that the typewriter may have been used as part of his colleague's killing spree, making Paul question his sanity and mental health.

Is Paul truly losing his mind or is something else more sinister taking place?

I really loved this book's pacing; each chapter took you in a different though totally plausible direction. This book is definitely going to be a favorite with people who love Agatha Christie whodunits. There is a wide cast of characters who could be responsible for taunting Paul, including his ex-wife, who wants full custody of their son; Paul's psychologist's father, who has a history of dementia and doing odd things; Paul's psychologist's demented client, who has been stalking some of his psychologist's clients; and Paul's colleague's (the killer) wife and son, both of whom blame Paul for turning their husband/father in for the murders. I would love to see this book turned into a film!

Thank you to the author, Linwood Barclay, publisher, William Morrow (Harper Collins), and Edelweiss+ for an advanced reader copy of the thrilling A Noise Downstairs.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.79 2018 A Noise Downstairs
author: Linwood Barclay
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/05/06
date added: 2018/05/20
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, bookreviewsforedelweiss
review:

**4 ŷ Stars**

"Monsters can be very good at disguising themselves."

"There are some things even tenure can't protect you from."

Paul Davis is a professor in a sleepy university town who finds his life turned upside down while driving home one night from work. He spots a car in front of him driving erratically. As he gets closer to the car, he sees that the driver is an aloof but well-known professor and colleague. He backs away from the car and keeps his distance from it out of sheer curiosity. The old saying "curiosity killed the cat" applies here. Paul's curiosity gets the best of him when he sees his colleague pull over and start digging a hole in the pitch black night.

For most rational people, this would be a huge red flag to back away and call the police. But no, Paul is headstrong and confronts his colleague, only to discover that his colleague is responsible for the deaths of two women with whom he was having an affair. Paul's colleague knocks Paul unconscious, leaving Paul emotionally and physically scarred from the encounter. Paul's colleague gets life in prison, but that doesn't mean that Paul has moved on from that fateful night.

Paul takes a leave of absence from his university to recover. He spends his days at home with his second wife, Charlotte, and visiting his psychologist for assistance with PTSD. Paul believes he is becoming increasingly forgetful and confused due to a head injury he incurred when he confronted by his murderous colleague.

Charlotte gifts Paul an antique typewriter in the hope that Paul's writing will distract him from his anxiety and PTSD. But suddenly the typewriter comes to life. Paul hears a tapping in the middle of the night like someone is typing on the typewriter. He discovers that the typewriter may have been used as part of his colleague's killing spree, making Paul question his sanity and mental health.

Is Paul truly losing his mind or is something else more sinister taking place?

I really loved this book's pacing; each chapter took you in a different though totally plausible direction. This book is definitely going to be a favorite with people who love Agatha Christie whodunits. There is a wide cast of characters who could be responsible for taunting Paul, including his ex-wife, who wants full custody of their son; Paul's psychologist's father, who has a history of dementia and doing odd things; Paul's psychologist's demented client, who has been stalking some of his psychologist's clients; and Paul's colleague's (the killer) wife and son, both of whom blame Paul for turning their husband/father in for the murders. I would love to see this book turned into a film!

Thank you to the author, Linwood Barclay, publisher, William Morrow (Harper Collins), and Edelweiss+ for an advanced reader copy of the thrilling A Noise Downstairs.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Three Secrets 38817373 A terrible secret killed your husband� But which one?

Robert kisses his wife on the head before heading out to the shop for more wine; he walks up the hill, takes a left across the footbridge and jumps to his death on the busy motorway below.

Two years later, Francesca and her young daughter are leaving London for a fresh start, money is tight and Robert’s mother has found them a little cottage in her village. Francesca is grateful for the help, but why does Robert’s mother want to keep them so close? Does she know about what Francesca did in the hour before Robert’s death?

Soon Francesca begins to suspect there was more to her husband’s death than she realised, that there might be even darker secrets hiding in his past than her own�

The closer she gets to uncovering the truth, the more she asks: is her own life in danger now too?

If you couldn’t put down The Girl on the Train or The Couple Next Door, then you will absolutely love this gripping and twisty psychological thriller.]]> 376 Clare Boyd 178681417X Stacey 4
Clare Boyd's Three Secrets started off slowly for me, but it picked up by the 30% mark. I struggled to figure out who was who at the beginning because there are a number of characters, though there are only two people telling the story (John and Francesca). I admit I wasn't quite sure what the "three secrets" were because there are SO many secrets in this book.

What made me enjoy it, however, was the lead character of Francesca, who makes a life-altering decision to marry Robert, a movie executive from a wealthy family. Francesca makes this decision after being rejected by Robert's handsome brother, John. John marries Dilys, a piercingly beautiful real estate mogul who is sharp, callous, and shrewd. Robert is an equally difficult partner to love, though Francesca accepts him for who he is in the face of John's rejection.

What propels the story forward is Robert's death, which was ruled a suicide. His death is shrouded in suspicion. Why would he kill himself? What would propel him to do such a thing when he has a loving wife and a beautiful young daughter?

The book seeks to understand Robert's reasons for killing himself, and through this process, we discover he had demons and secrets of his own. The characters will keep you turning the pages wanting to know what happened to Robert the nights leading up to his death.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and Clare Boyd for the advanced reader copy of Three Secrets. ]]> 3.90 2018 Three Secrets
author: Clare Boyd
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/05/20
date added: 2018/05/20
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**4 ŷ Stars**

Clare Boyd's Three Secrets started off slowly for me, but it picked up by the 30% mark. I struggled to figure out who was who at the beginning because there are a number of characters, though there are only two people telling the story (John and Francesca). I admit I wasn't quite sure what the "three secrets" were because there are SO many secrets in this book.

What made me enjoy it, however, was the lead character of Francesca, who makes a life-altering decision to marry Robert, a movie executive from a wealthy family. Francesca makes this decision after being rejected by Robert's handsome brother, John. John marries Dilys, a piercingly beautiful real estate mogul who is sharp, callous, and shrewd. Robert is an equally difficult partner to love, though Francesca accepts him for who he is in the face of John's rejection.

What propels the story forward is Robert's death, which was ruled a suicide. His death is shrouded in suspicion. Why would he kill himself? What would propel him to do such a thing when he has a loving wife and a beautiful young daughter?

The book seeks to understand Robert's reasons for killing himself, and through this process, we discover he had demons and secrets of his own. The characters will keep you turning the pages wanting to know what happened to Robert the nights leading up to his death.

Thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley, and Clare Boyd for the advanced reader copy of Three Secrets.
]]> The Good Twin 36317937 272 Marti Green 1503949850 Stacey 4
What if you had spent your entire young life in abject poverty only to find out that you had a twin who was living in luxury? Would you feel a tinge of jealousy? Or would you want something more: would you want revenge?

Marti Green's The Good Twin follows the character of Mallory, who grew up in poverty after her 17-year-old mother was booted out of her parents' house while pregnant with twins. Her mother keeps Mallory and puts the other twin up for adoption. Sadly, Mallory's father dies in the Gulf War, leaving Mallory and her mother alone and financially destitute. Mallory's mother never tells Mallory about her twin. Mallory experiences yet another tragedy when her mother passes away at a young age, taking the secret of Mallory's twin to the grave.

Mallory moves to New York to pursue a degree in art. She squeaksby working as a waitress and lives in a communal house that barely qualifies as habitable. Despite all of this, Mallory is living her dream of being an artist in New York. But everything changes when Mallory meets an attractive young man, Ben, while waitressing. Ben tells her she looks exactly like his wife, Charly, who runs an upscale art gallery. Mallory finds the art gallery and discovers that she indeed looks like an exact replica of Charly. She soon discovers that Charly is her biological twin that her mother abandoned.

Ben convinces Mallory that Charly is a "bad twin" of sorts. He claims Charly grew up as a wealthy only child and, as a result, is stuck up and cruel. Ben, who is leading a double life of his own, proposes that he and Mallory take over Charly's fortunes by having Mallory pose as Charly. Mallory, feeling resentful of Charly's posh upbringing, hesitantly agrees to Ben's plot. Little do they know that Charly, too, has a playbook of her own.

If you are a fan of books like Catherine McKenzie's The Good Liar or Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's The Wife Between Us, you'll enjoy this book. There are several unreliable narrators in this book and determining who is telling the truth and who is lying is half the fun of this book. This is one of those books that you will easily devour late at night because it's so easy to get invested in the characters from the very first page of the book. The book builds tension and suspense slowly and artfully; you find yourself turning the pages because you want to know how the story ends.

Thank you to the author, Marti Green, the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Marti Green's The Good Twin. I will definitely be reading more of Marti Green's books in the future!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.60 2018 The Good Twin
author: Marti Green
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/05/15
date added: 2018/05/15
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**4.5 ŷ Stars**

What if you had spent your entire young life in abject poverty only to find out that you had a twin who was living in luxury? Would you feel a tinge of jealousy? Or would you want something more: would you want revenge?

Marti Green's The Good Twin follows the character of Mallory, who grew up in poverty after her 17-year-old mother was booted out of her parents' house while pregnant with twins. Her mother keeps Mallory and puts the other twin up for adoption. Sadly, Mallory's father dies in the Gulf War, leaving Mallory and her mother alone and financially destitute. Mallory's mother never tells Mallory about her twin. Mallory experiences yet another tragedy when her mother passes away at a young age, taking the secret of Mallory's twin to the grave.

Mallory moves to New York to pursue a degree in art. She squeaksby working as a waitress and lives in a communal house that barely qualifies as habitable. Despite all of this, Mallory is living her dream of being an artist in New York. But everything changes when Mallory meets an attractive young man, Ben, while waitressing. Ben tells her she looks exactly like his wife, Charly, who runs an upscale art gallery. Mallory finds the art gallery and discovers that she indeed looks like an exact replica of Charly. She soon discovers that Charly is her biological twin that her mother abandoned.

Ben convinces Mallory that Charly is a "bad twin" of sorts. He claims Charly grew up as a wealthy only child and, as a result, is stuck up and cruel. Ben, who is leading a double life of his own, proposes that he and Mallory take over Charly's fortunes by having Mallory pose as Charly. Mallory, feeling resentful of Charly's posh upbringing, hesitantly agrees to Ben's plot. Little do they know that Charly, too, has a playbook of her own.

If you are a fan of books like Catherine McKenzie's The Good Liar or Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's The Wife Between Us, you'll enjoy this book. There are several unreliable narrators in this book and determining who is telling the truth and who is lying is half the fun of this book. This is one of those books that you will easily devour late at night because it's so easy to get invested in the characters from the very first page of the book. The book builds tension and suspense slowly and artfully; you find yourself turning the pages because you want to know how the story ends.

Thank you to the author, Marti Green, the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Marti Green's The Good Twin. I will definitely be reading more of Marti Green's books in the future!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> <![CDATA[Nyxia Unleashed (The Nyxia Triad, #2)]]> 35424762 Getting to Eden brought Emmett and his crewmates one step closer to their promised fortune. But surviving Eden may be the biggest reward of all.

Emmett Atwater thought Babel’s game sounded easy. Get points. Get paid. Go home. But it didn’t take long for him to learn that Babel’s competition was full of broken promises, none darker or more damaging than the last one.

Now Emmett and the rest of the Genesis survivors must rally and forge their own path through a new world. Their mission from Babel is simple: extract nyxia, the most valuable material in the universe, and play nice with the indigenous Adamite population.

But Emmett and the others quickly realize they are caught between two powerful forces—Babel and the Adamites—with clashing desires. Will the Genesis team make it out alive before it’s too late?]]> 393 Scott Reintgen 0399556834 Stacey 5
"The routine goes like this: Arrive. Unpack. Flirt a little. Feel guilty I'm flirting with the fate of multiple worlds on the line. Flirt some more. Drill down into darkness. Gut the planet. Get that money. Pack it in neat boxes. Sleep with one eye open. Rinse and repeat."

Are you looking for a heart-pounding science fiction adventure that features characters you truly care about? If so, Scott Reintgen's Nyxia series are for you. Nyxia Unleashed is the second book in theNyxiaseries and it was just as action-packed as the first book, Nyxia.

Nyxia ended with a cliffhanger - the teenagers who were recruited and trained to mine a magical but deadly substance called Nyxia were put to the ultimate test: to fight for their lives against their crewmembers. Those who won get to go to Eden to mine Nyxia for the profit-hungry company Babel. This battle was not in their contract, but most of what the teenagers - who were plucked from a poverty-strickenEarth - had been contractually promised were lies. Who would make it to Eden to mine Nyxia and who would be killed?

The second book picks up right where Nyxia left off. I won't spoil the plot, but as readers of the first book can probably guess, Emmett survives. Emmett, a rough and tumble but morally sound kid from Detroit, is faced with new challenges now that he and the remaining crew are on Eden, home to the alien race Imago. The Imago have been painted as dangerous and conniving by Babel. The Imago arefacing imminent disaster; their people are no longer able to conceive children and their moon is dying. Babel believes it has cut a deal with a desperate culture that will soon fade away. Babel, however, is in for a surprise.

Reintgen is a master of words and detail; he has created a world and people who are so vastly different from our own universe. He has a knack for description and for making you feel as though you, too, are on Eden experiencing new landscapes, creatures, and people for the very first time just like Emmett.I cannot wait for the third installment in this series! It was billed as a young adult series, but it is definitely for adults who enjoy science fiction, adventure, and richly drawn characters.I cannot recommend this series enough!

Thank you to Scott Reintgen, Random House Children's, Crown Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of Nyxia Unleashed! Looking forward to the third book in this series - and I LOVE the covers of these books!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 4.19 2018 Nyxia Unleashed (The Nyxia Triad, #2)
author: Scott Reintgen
name: Stacey
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/04/17
date added: 2018/04/28
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5++ ŷ Stars**

"The routine goes like this: Arrive. Unpack. Flirt a little. Feel guilty I'm flirting with the fate of multiple worlds on the line. Flirt some more. Drill down into darkness. Gut the planet. Get that money. Pack it in neat boxes. Sleep with one eye open. Rinse and repeat."

Are you looking for a heart-pounding science fiction adventure that features characters you truly care about? If so, Scott Reintgen's Nyxia series are for you. Nyxia Unleashed is the second book in theNyxiaseries and it was just as action-packed as the first book, Nyxia.

Nyxia ended with a cliffhanger - the teenagers who were recruited and trained to mine a magical but deadly substance called Nyxia were put to the ultimate test: to fight for their lives against their crewmembers. Those who won get to go to Eden to mine Nyxia for the profit-hungry company Babel. This battle was not in their contract, but most of what the teenagers - who were plucked from a poverty-strickenEarth - had been contractually promised were lies. Who would make it to Eden to mine Nyxia and who would be killed?

The second book picks up right where Nyxia left off. I won't spoil the plot, but as readers of the first book can probably guess, Emmett survives. Emmett, a rough and tumble but morally sound kid from Detroit, is faced with new challenges now that he and the remaining crew are on Eden, home to the alien race Imago. The Imago have been painted as dangerous and conniving by Babel. The Imago arefacing imminent disaster; their people are no longer able to conceive children and their moon is dying. Babel believes it has cut a deal with a desperate culture that will soon fade away. Babel, however, is in for a surprise.

Reintgen is a master of words and detail; he has created a world and people who are so vastly different from our own universe. He has a knack for description and for making you feel as though you, too, are on Eden experiencing new landscapes, creatures, and people for the very first time just like Emmett.I cannot wait for the third installment in this series! It was billed as a young adult series, but it is definitely for adults who enjoy science fiction, adventure, and richly drawn characters.I cannot recommend this series enough!

Thank you to Scott Reintgen, Random House Children's, Crown Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of Nyxia Unleashed! Looking forward to the third book in this series - and I LOVE the covers of these books!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Family at Number 13 39005742
Mary has everything. Beautiful and rich, she lives on an exclusive street in the heart of the city, in a house with gorgeous views and an immaculately maintained garden. Her life looks perfect.

But behind closed doors the truth is very different. Her husband Andrew barely speaks to her, spending his days down in the basement alone. Her teenage nephew is full of rage, lashing out with no warning. Her carefully constructed life is beginning to fall apart.

And then someone starts sending Mary anonymous notes, threatening her and her family�

Everyone has secrets. But is someone at number 13 hiding something that could put the whole family in danger?

A twist-filled thriller with an ending that will shock you to the core. ]]> 290 S.D. Monaghan 1786814463 Stacey 0 3.15 2018 The Family at Number 13
author: S.D. Monaghan
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.15
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at: 2018/04/28
date added: 2018/04/28
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:

]]> White Lies 38317916 When you have everything, you have everything to lose�

Alexandra Inglis is a respected family doctor, trusted by her patients to keep their most intimate secrets. And if sometimes the boundaries between duty and desire blur� well, she's only human.

But when Alex oversteps a line with Jonathan, one of her patients, she knows she's gone too far. Jonathan is obsessive, and to get what he wants he will tear Alex's world apart - threatening not only her career but her marriage and family too.

Soon Alex finds she's capable of doing almost anything to keep hold of her perfect life, as it begins to spin dangerously out of her control�

]]> 329 Lucy Dawson 1786814501 Stacey 5
For a mother of two young children, the opportunity to take a short vacation and let loose for a bit in Ibiza sounds tantalizing, right? In Lucy Dawson's White Lies what initially seemed like a fabulous trip to get a break from working motherhood turns into a living nightmare for Dr. Alexandra ("Alex") Inglis.

The book starts with Alex waking up with a severe hangover after a wild night in Ibiza. She startles when she discovers she's not alone in her hotel room and that a handsome young man in naked in her bed. She has little recollection of what happened the night before other than she knows she drank way too much alcohol. The young man stumbles out of the hotel room after she nearly kicks him out. Embarrassed and ashamed that she had a one night stand, Alex goes home and admits her misdeeds to her husband, Rob, hoping they can reconcile.

We soon learn that Alex's husband, Rob, isn't a saint, either. He recently had a one night stand with a mutual friend, which absolutely devastated Alex. Alex and Rob agree that they are even given their one and only affairs and commit to working harder on their marriage. Things seem to be looking up for Alex until she discovers the young man she slept with in Ibiza was not only her patient but also only 17 years of age.

The young man, Jonathon, threatens to reveal the affair to the world if she doesn't sleep with him again, but Alex refuses. Shocked, she immediately reports this to her supervisor, David, who starts to write a formal report on the situation. His work is interrupted by Jonathon's parents, who storm into Alex's practice and demand that she be held accountable for having a sexual relationship with their son.

Soon,word gets out to the public and media about Alex and Jonathon's affair. Jonathon claims that it wasn't merely a one night stand but a three-month affair where Alex pursued him incessantly. He claims he was victimized and plans to write a book about his experiences. Alex is persecuted and burned at the stake in social media. She loses weight, loses friends, and nearly loses her practice.

Who is telling the truth? Why would Jonathon lie about the affair? What's in it for him? Is Alex delusional?

This story dives headfirst into the terrifying consequences of an affair in a social media-saturated world. What once may have been dealt with behind closed doors or between a few families is now a social media event. This has serious consequences for all the parties involved in this rollercoaster ride of a book.

What I especially enjoyed about this book is that it told the story from multiple perspectives. Alex and Rob's affairs had a ripple effect on the people around them. Would Alex, for instance, engaged in an affair if Rob hadn't admitted to having one before she left for Ibiza? How does the affair affect the parents, friends, and partners of those involved? I also felt like I really understood every person affected by the affairs - the characters were fleshed out and had very sound reasons for feeling the way they did.

Thank you to the author, Lucy Dawson, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of White Lies.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.90 2018 White Lies
author: Lucy Dawson
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/04/24
date added: 2018/04/24
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5 ŷ Stars**

For a mother of two young children, the opportunity to take a short vacation and let loose for a bit in Ibiza sounds tantalizing, right? In Lucy Dawson's White Lies what initially seemed like a fabulous trip to get a break from working motherhood turns into a living nightmare for Dr. Alexandra ("Alex") Inglis.

The book starts with Alex waking up with a severe hangover after a wild night in Ibiza. She startles when she discovers she's not alone in her hotel room and that a handsome young man in naked in her bed. She has little recollection of what happened the night before other than she knows she drank way too much alcohol. The young man stumbles out of the hotel room after she nearly kicks him out. Embarrassed and ashamed that she had a one night stand, Alex goes home and admits her misdeeds to her husband, Rob, hoping they can reconcile.

We soon learn that Alex's husband, Rob, isn't a saint, either. He recently had a one night stand with a mutual friend, which absolutely devastated Alex. Alex and Rob agree that they are even given their one and only affairs and commit to working harder on their marriage. Things seem to be looking up for Alex until she discovers the young man she slept with in Ibiza was not only her patient but also only 17 years of age.

The young man, Jonathon, threatens to reveal the affair to the world if she doesn't sleep with him again, but Alex refuses. Shocked, she immediately reports this to her supervisor, David, who starts to write a formal report on the situation. His work is interrupted by Jonathon's parents, who storm into Alex's practice and demand that she be held accountable for having a sexual relationship with their son.

Soon,word gets out to the public and media about Alex and Jonathon's affair. Jonathon claims that it wasn't merely a one night stand but a three-month affair where Alex pursued him incessantly. He claims he was victimized and plans to write a book about his experiences. Alex is persecuted and burned at the stake in social media. She loses weight, loses friends, and nearly loses her practice.

Who is telling the truth? Why would Jonathon lie about the affair? What's in it for him? Is Alex delusional?

This story dives headfirst into the terrifying consequences of an affair in a social media-saturated world. What once may have been dealt with behind closed doors or between a few families is now a social media event. This has serious consequences for all the parties involved in this rollercoaster ride of a book.

What I especially enjoyed about this book is that it told the story from multiple perspectives. Alex and Rob's affairs had a ripple effect on the people around them. Would Alex, for instance, engaged in an affair if Rob hadn't admitted to having one before she left for Ibiza? How does the affair affect the parents, friends, and partners of those involved? I also felt like I really understood every person affected by the affairs - the characters were fleshed out and had very sound reasons for feeling the way they did.

Thank you to the author, Lucy Dawson, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of White Lies.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Something in the Water 36388243 If you could make one simple choice that would change your life forever, would you?

Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water. . . .

Could the life of your dreams be the stuff of nightmares?

Suddenly the newlyweds must make a dangerous choice: to speak out or to protect their secret. After all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt? Their decision will trigger a devastating chain of events. . . .

Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave?

Wonder no longer. Catherine Steadman's enthralling voice shines throughout this spellbinding debut novel. With piercing insight and fascinating twists, Something in the Water challenges the reader to confront the hopes we desperately cling to, the ideals we're tempted to abandon, and the perfect lies we tell ourselves.]]> 342 Catherine Steadman 1524797189 Stacey 3
Have you ever read a book where you feel like yelling at the main character "what are you doing?!," "you are sooo going to get caught!!," or "noooo, don't do that!!!"? Catherine Steadman's Something In The Water felt a bit like watching a disaster unfold before myeyes.

The lead character, Erin, is a newlywed who trusts her husband Mark more than she should. There are seriouslySO many red flags about him from day one, yet Erin disregards them. This is because she, too, hides many secrets - big and small - from Mark. Their relationship is certainly not built on trust, but rather built on a growing mountain of lies.

Erin is an aspiring filmmaker who is drawn into the world of crime when she begins a documentary on three people getting out of prison after long sentences. First, the project starts out innocently, but then it takes a darker turn when Erin and Mark find a mysterious bag full of riches while honeymooning in Bora Bora. They also discover something grisly near the bag, but I won't spoil that surprise. What do they do with the bag? Let's just say they make really poor decisions that leadto a terrifying climax and an epic ending.

So why 3 stars? My frustration with the book certainly wasn't the writing. What irked me was the unbelievable series of events that unraveled in the book. Erin, for instance, is already under police and homeland security surveillance due to her association with one of the prisoners who has been involved in terrorism. I kept waiting and waitingand waitingfor someone to knock on her door and arrest her, but it didn't happen. There wereSO many things she and Mark were able to get away with. It just didn't seem realistic given the intensity of modern surveillance in the digital age. The narratoralso grated on me at times, but I think that's more of a personality issue on my part. I had a hard time putting this book down, however, due to the growing unease and tension present in the plot, hence the 3 stars.

Thank you to the author, Catherine Steadman, the publisher, Random House - Ballantine, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Something In The Water.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.54 2018 Something in the Water
author: Catherine Steadman
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2018/04/22
date added: 2018/04/22
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**3 ŷ Stars**

Have you ever read a book where you feel like yelling at the main character "what are you doing?!," "you are sooo going to get caught!!," or "noooo, don't do that!!!"? Catherine Steadman's Something In The Water felt a bit like watching a disaster unfold before myeyes.

The lead character, Erin, is a newlywed who trusts her husband Mark more than she should. There are seriouslySO many red flags about him from day one, yet Erin disregards them. This is because she, too, hides many secrets - big and small - from Mark. Their relationship is certainly not built on trust, but rather built on a growing mountain of lies.

Erin is an aspiring filmmaker who is drawn into the world of crime when she begins a documentary on three people getting out of prison after long sentences. First, the project starts out innocently, but then it takes a darker turn when Erin and Mark find a mysterious bag full of riches while honeymooning in Bora Bora. They also discover something grisly near the bag, but I won't spoil that surprise. What do they do with the bag? Let's just say they make really poor decisions that leadto a terrifying climax and an epic ending.

So why 3 stars? My frustration with the book certainly wasn't the writing. What irked me was the unbelievable series of events that unraveled in the book. Erin, for instance, is already under police and homeland security surveillance due to her association with one of the prisoners who has been involved in terrorism. I kept waiting and waitingand waitingfor someone to knock on her door and arrest her, but it didn't happen. There wereSO many things she and Mark were able to get away with. It just didn't seem realistic given the intensity of modern surveillance in the digital age. The narratoralso grated on me at times, but I think that's more of a personality issue on my part. I had a hard time putting this book down, however, due to the growing unease and tension present in the plot, hence the 3 stars.

Thank you to the author, Catherine Steadman, the publisher, Random House - Ballantine, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Something In The Water.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Jar of Hearts 36315374
When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.

But fourteen years later, Angela Wong's remains are discovered in the woods near Geo's childhood home. And Kaiser—now a detective with Seattle PD—finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women.

To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer. But to Geo, he's something else entirely. Back in high school, Calvin was Geo's first love. Turbulent and often volatile, their relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met right up until the night Angela was killed.

For fourteen years, Geo knew what happened to Angela and told no one. For fourteen years, she carried the secret of Angela's death until Geo was arrested and sent to prison.

While everyone thinks they finally know the truth, there are dark secrets buried deep. And what happened that fateful night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong.

How far will someone go to bury her secrets and hide her grief? How long can you get away with a lie? How long can you live with it?]]> 311 Jennifer Hillier 1250154197 Stacey 5
"The past is always with you, whether you choose to think about it or not, whether you take responsibility for it or not. You carry the past with you because it transforms you. You can try to bury it and pretend it never happened, but that doesn't work."

"Because buried things can, and do, come back."

Jennifer Hillier's Jar of Hearts is a twisted, heart-pounding thriller that examines the life-long consequences of a crime a teenage girl, Geo, commits out of fear and misguided love.

The book is written from the perspectives of Geo and Kaiser, a young boy who was Geo's good friend now turned cop. Geo's best friend in high school, Angela, went missing after attending a party with Geo and Kaiser. Geo and Kaiser were always the second and third wheels to Angela, who was stunningly beautiful and the envy of her entire high school. Fingers were pointed at numerous suspects, including many of the teenagers at the party, but Angela's case remained cold until her body surfaces 14 years later.

When Angela's remains are found, Geo is accused and found guilty of killing and dismembering Angela. Friends, family, and coworkers are shocked at the trial's accusations and revelations. From all appearances, Geo was a successful, compassionate, and charitable CEO of a high-profile company in Seattle. According to the court, Geo assisted her much older boyfriend, Calvin, in the horrific crime when she was 16 years old. Calvin is accused of additional murders and is painted as a serial killer involved in other gruesome murders. Geo is sent to prison where she is forced to atone for her sins. There, she is the picture of a perfect inmate (if there is such a thing).

How, one wonders, could the seemingly put-together and kind Geo also be a hardened killer who took the life of her very best friend?

The book's timeline shifts between the past and present, giving a picture of the events leading up to Angela's death and the motivations behind Geo, Kaiser, and Calvin. The tension builds with each turn of the page, offering clues as to what happened that fateful night Angela was killed and how someone who had been a fastidious friend could be a part of her friend's untimely death. The book raises some difficult questions. For example, how long must one pay for a terrible crime they committed out of fear? How can someone be both a loyal friend and a killer?

If you enjoy character-driven thrillers with sensible twists and turns,Jar of Hearts is definitely for you. This was such a quick, exciting read for me, and I hope that Jennifer Hillier enjoys much success when the book is published this summer! Thank you to the author, Jennifer Hillier, the publisher, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Jar of Hearts and some candy hearts to go with it :) Jar of Hearts will be available for purchase on June 12, 2018!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 4.09 2018 Jar of Hearts
author: Jennifer Hillier
name: Stacey
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/04/10
date added: 2018/04/22
shelves: book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre, 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018
review:
**5 ŷ Stars**

"The past is always with you, whether you choose to think about it or not, whether you take responsibility for it or not. You carry the past with you because it transforms you. You can try to bury it and pretend it never happened, but that doesn't work."

"Because buried things can, and do, come back."

Jennifer Hillier's Jar of Hearts is a twisted, heart-pounding thriller that examines the life-long consequences of a crime a teenage girl, Geo, commits out of fear and misguided love.

The book is written from the perspectives of Geo and Kaiser, a young boy who was Geo's good friend now turned cop. Geo's best friend in high school, Angela, went missing after attending a party with Geo and Kaiser. Geo and Kaiser were always the second and third wheels to Angela, who was stunningly beautiful and the envy of her entire high school. Fingers were pointed at numerous suspects, including many of the teenagers at the party, but Angela's case remained cold until her body surfaces 14 years later.

When Angela's remains are found, Geo is accused and found guilty of killing and dismembering Angela. Friends, family, and coworkers are shocked at the trial's accusations and revelations. From all appearances, Geo was a successful, compassionate, and charitable CEO of a high-profile company in Seattle. According to the court, Geo assisted her much older boyfriend, Calvin, in the horrific crime when she was 16 years old. Calvin is accused of additional murders and is painted as a serial killer involved in other gruesome murders. Geo is sent to prison where she is forced to atone for her sins. There, she is the picture of a perfect inmate (if there is such a thing).

How, one wonders, could the seemingly put-together and kind Geo also be a hardened killer who took the life of her very best friend?

The book's timeline shifts between the past and present, giving a picture of the events leading up to Angela's death and the motivations behind Geo, Kaiser, and Calvin. The tension builds with each turn of the page, offering clues as to what happened that fateful night Angela was killed and how someone who had been a fastidious friend could be a part of her friend's untimely death. The book raises some difficult questions. For example, how long must one pay for a terrible crime they committed out of fear? How can someone be both a loyal friend and a killer?

If you enjoy character-driven thrillers with sensible twists and turns,Jar of Hearts is definitely for you. This was such a quick, exciting read for me, and I hope that Jennifer Hillier enjoys much success when the book is published this summer! Thank you to the author, Jennifer Hillier, the publisher, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Jar of Hearts and some candy hearts to go with it :) Jar of Hearts will be available for purchase on June 12, 2018!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Child Next Door 38112432 Oh my. A captivating unputdownable evocative emotional twisted thriller. Oh that ending... OMG that ending did NOT expect that. It blew me away…� Read Along With Sue, 5 stars

‘Don’t take my baby.�

Kirstie Rawlings is jolted awake by a child crying. Racing upstairs to check on her new-born, she is plunged into every parents� worst nightmare. She hears an unknown voice in the baby monitor, ‘Let’s take the child � and go.�

Is someone trying to steal her little girl?

In the bedroom, her daughter is safe asleep in her cot. Is the voice coming from a nearby house? But there aren’t any other children living on her quiet country road�

The police don't believe her. And neither does her husband.

Kirstie knows something isn’t right. She thought she could trust her neighbours, now she isn’t sure. As she unravels the secrets of the people living on her street, Kirstie’s perfect life begins to fall apart.

Because someone is hiding a terrible lie. And they will do anything to stop Kirstie uncovering the truth. But is the danger closer to home than she thinks?

From the top ten bestselling author of The Secret Mother, this completely gripping psychological thriller will make you wonder what really goes on behind closed doors. And will keep you guessing from the first page until the final shocking twist.

]]> 284 Shalini Boland 1786813815 Stacey 4
In the middle of a sizzling hot summer, new mother Kristie is restless, her ears tuned to the baby monitor anchored solidly beside her bed. She is jolted awake with fear when the sound of a man's cough ricochets through the monitor. Heart pounding with fear, she hears one of the worst things a parent could imagine echo from the monitor:

"Quick, let's just take the baby now and go."

Despite being paralyzed with fear, Kristie races into her baby Daisy's nursery, expecting to find her daughter's cot empty. But there Daisy is, peacefully slumbering in her crib. Kristie scans the room, looking for any sign of disarray, but there is nothing to be found. Rattled to her core, Kristie cannot help but wonder if she, in her exhaustion as a parent of an infant, perhaps heard the noises in her head. Thinking she may have heard another infant snatched away in the night due to old baby monitors that can sometimes pick up neighboring signals, Kristie and her husband, Dom, call the police. They search the neighborhood in vain, leaving Kristie on edge.

Is she going crazy, or is something more sinister going on in Kristie's seemingly quiet neighborhood?

The story doesn't end with the mysterious voice on the baby monitor. Paint is thrown on the doorstep of Kristie's house. A man with a brusque voice warns Kristie to stop investigating the baby monitor. Kristie's husband's car is keyed.

To make matters worse, Kristie has a suspicious cast of characters for neighbors and family members. Has Martin, her nerdy, eccentric, and generally off-kilter neighbor with a secret basement in his house, kidnapped a child? Is Mel, Kristie's friend and neighbor who owes her money, conspiring with Kristie's ex-friend who nearly broke up Dom and Kristie's relationship? Is Dom, Kristie's husband who disappears for days on end for work trips and half day marathons, somehow involved?

Shalini Boland's The Child Next Door is a page-turning domestic thriller that I devoured like chocolate. I easily related to Kristie's paranoia and fear of nearly everyone and everything that came near me as a fellow mother. The desire to protect your offspring is deep-rooted, one that often made me question my sanity after night upon night of sleep deprivation and worry over my baby's health. It can create paranoia in even the most sane of parents.

Thank you to the author, Shalini Boland, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Child Next Door. Thank you for including me in this blog tour! I can't wait to see what Boland writes next!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.93 2018 The Child Next Door
author: Shalini Boland
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/03/15
date added: 2018/04/08
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**4.5 ŷ Stars**

In the middle of a sizzling hot summer, new mother Kristie is restless, her ears tuned to the baby monitor anchored solidly beside her bed. She is jolted awake with fear when the sound of a man's cough ricochets through the monitor. Heart pounding with fear, she hears one of the worst things a parent could imagine echo from the monitor:

"Quick, let's just take the baby now and go."

Despite being paralyzed with fear, Kristie races into her baby Daisy's nursery, expecting to find her daughter's cot empty. But there Daisy is, peacefully slumbering in her crib. Kristie scans the room, looking for any sign of disarray, but there is nothing to be found. Rattled to her core, Kristie cannot help but wonder if she, in her exhaustion as a parent of an infant, perhaps heard the noises in her head. Thinking she may have heard another infant snatched away in the night due to old baby monitors that can sometimes pick up neighboring signals, Kristie and her husband, Dom, call the police. They search the neighborhood in vain, leaving Kristie on edge.

Is she going crazy, or is something more sinister going on in Kristie's seemingly quiet neighborhood?

The story doesn't end with the mysterious voice on the baby monitor. Paint is thrown on the doorstep of Kristie's house. A man with a brusque voice warns Kristie to stop investigating the baby monitor. Kristie's husband's car is keyed.

To make matters worse, Kristie has a suspicious cast of characters for neighbors and family members. Has Martin, her nerdy, eccentric, and generally off-kilter neighbor with a secret basement in his house, kidnapped a child? Is Mel, Kristie's friend and neighbor who owes her money, conspiring with Kristie's ex-friend who nearly broke up Dom and Kristie's relationship? Is Dom, Kristie's husband who disappears for days on end for work trips and half day marathons, somehow involved?

Shalini Boland's The Child Next Door is a page-turning domestic thriller that I devoured like chocolate. I easily related to Kristie's paranoia and fear of nearly everyone and everything that came near me as a fellow mother. The desire to protect your offspring is deep-rooted, one that often made me question my sanity after night upon night of sleep deprivation and worry over my baby's health. It can create paranoia in even the most sane of parents.

Thank you to the author, Shalini Boland, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Child Next Door. Thank you for including me in this blog tour! I can't wait to see what Boland writes next!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Believe Me 36399240 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Before, an actress plays both sides of a murder investigation.

A struggling actor, a Brit in America without a green card, Claire needs work and money to survive. Then she gets both. But nothing like she expected.

Claire agrees to become a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers. Hired to entrap straying husbands, she must catch them on tape with their seductive propositions. The rules? Never hit on the mark directly. Make it clear you’re available, but he has to proposition you, not the other way around. The firm is after evidence, not coercion. The innocent have nothing to hide.

Then the game changes.

When the wife of one of Claire’s targets is violently murdered, the cops are sure the husband is to blame. Desperate to catch him before he kills again, they enlist Claire to lure him into a confession.

Claire can do this. She’s brilliant at assuming a voice and an identity. For a woman who’s mastered the art of manipulation, how difficult could it be to tempt a killer into a trap? But who is the decoy . . . and who is the prey?]]> 370 J.P. Delaney Stacey 5
"Sometimes, when you wear a mask too long, you find it sticks to the skin."

"Never fall for anyone who prefers to speak someone else's words."

JP Delaney's Believe Me is a tantalizing character-driven thriller that explores the length at which an actress would take her craft. British born orphan Claire Wright has managed to flee England in pursuit of an acting career in New York City. A few months after living in New York and taking acting classes, Claire is beyond broke; she's behind on her rent and is about to be booted out of her apartment.

Her luck changes when she finds clandestine employment as an undercover agent of sorts. Claire's job is that of a temptress.She is hired by women to lure their husbands into committing adultery, to prove they are willing to cheat on their partners. This job allows Claire to put her acting skills to the test and helps her pay the mounting bills piling up in her shared apartment.

One fateful encounter, however, changes everything for Claire.

Claire meets the oh-so-charming Professor Patrick Folger when his wife requests for Claire to get him to cheat on her. Professor Folger is not like other men Claire has easily seduced. He doesn't take her bait despite one of the best performances she puts on for him. The day after Claire's failed attempt at making Folger hers, Folger's wife is found dead in her room, killed brutally by what police believe to be a serial killer obsessed with finding beauty in death.

Folger's academic research onpoet Charles Baudelaire's darker works makes him a prime suspect. Claire is then forced by the police to continue her cat and mouse game with Folger. But as Claire pursues Folger, she finds herself drawn into his deceptively dark sexual fetishes, some that border on the obscene. Folger, however, is the first man intelligent enough to intrigue Claire, leading her to wonder who is seducing (and perhaps blackmailing) whom. Claire finds that the character she was told to inhabit to attract Folger is taking over her sense of sense, claiming her mind and body with each passing minute she spends with Folger.

Is Claire falling into Folger's trap? Is Folger truly capable of committing such heinous crimes?

This book is sexy and absolutely lush. There are so many quotable passages and memorable scenes in Believe Me. It's clever, seductive, and everything a psychological thriller should be. I loved all the twists and turns of this book, and would love to re-read it to see the hints and clues as to where the book was taking me now that I know how it ended!

On a side note, I thought the back story to this book was very interesting. JP Delaney, which is a pen name of the author Tony Strong, rewrote Believe Me after the original version, calledThe Decoy, waspublished in 2002. I was interested in reading Believe Me because I absolutely adored JP Delaney's The Girl Before that was published last year. Both books kept me on the edge of my seat!

Thank you to the author, JP Delaney, the publisher, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Believe Me.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.68 2018 Believe Me
author: J.P. Delaney
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/03/31
date added: 2018/04/06
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5+ ŷ Stars**

"Sometimes, when you wear a mask too long, you find it sticks to the skin."

"Never fall for anyone who prefers to speak someone else's words."

JP Delaney's Believe Me is a tantalizing character-driven thriller that explores the length at which an actress would take her craft. British born orphan Claire Wright has managed to flee England in pursuit of an acting career in New York City. A few months after living in New York and taking acting classes, Claire is beyond broke; she's behind on her rent and is about to be booted out of her apartment.

Her luck changes when she finds clandestine employment as an undercover agent of sorts. Claire's job is that of a temptress.She is hired by women to lure their husbands into committing adultery, to prove they are willing to cheat on their partners. This job allows Claire to put her acting skills to the test and helps her pay the mounting bills piling up in her shared apartment.

One fateful encounter, however, changes everything for Claire.

Claire meets the oh-so-charming Professor Patrick Folger when his wife requests for Claire to get him to cheat on her. Professor Folger is not like other men Claire has easily seduced. He doesn't take her bait despite one of the best performances she puts on for him. The day after Claire's failed attempt at making Folger hers, Folger's wife is found dead in her room, killed brutally by what police believe to be a serial killer obsessed with finding beauty in death.

Folger's academic research onpoet Charles Baudelaire's darker works makes him a prime suspect. Claire is then forced by the police to continue her cat and mouse game with Folger. But as Claire pursues Folger, she finds herself drawn into his deceptively dark sexual fetishes, some that border on the obscene. Folger, however, is the first man intelligent enough to intrigue Claire, leading her to wonder who is seducing (and perhaps blackmailing) whom. Claire finds that the character she was told to inhabit to attract Folger is taking over her sense of sense, claiming her mind and body with each passing minute she spends with Folger.

Is Claire falling into Folger's trap? Is Folger truly capable of committing such heinous crimes?

This book is sexy and absolutely lush. There are so many quotable passages and memorable scenes in Believe Me. It's clever, seductive, and everything a psychological thriller should be. I loved all the twists and turns of this book, and would love to re-read it to see the hints and clues as to where the book was taking me now that I know how it ended!

On a side note, I thought the back story to this book was very interesting. JP Delaney, which is a pen name of the author Tony Strong, rewrote Believe Me after the original version, calledThe Decoy, waspublished in 2002. I was interested in reading Believe Me because I absolutely adored JP Delaney's The Girl Before that was published last year. Both books kept me on the edge of my seat!

Thank you to the author, JP Delaney, the publisher, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Believe Me.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> <![CDATA[The Next Girl (Detective Gina Harte, #1)]]> 37889327 Deborah Jenkins pulls her coat around her as she sets out on her short walk home in the pouring rain. But she never makes it home that night. And she is never seen again...

Four years later, an abandoned baby girl is found wrapped in dirty rags on a doorstep. An anonymous phone call urges the police to run a DNA test on the baby. But nobody is prepared for the results.

The newborn belongs to Deborah. She’s still alive.]]> 302 Carla Kovach 1786813858 Stacey 4 The Next Girl is a nail-biting thriller that is the first in Kovach's new female-led detective series.

Deborah Jenkins works late nights at the local pub to make ends meet for her children and husband. Not a fan of driving, Deborah takes the local bus home every evening after her night shift ends.

Someone is taking note of her behavior, observing her every move.

One particularly miserable, blustery night, a man approaches her and offers her a ride home. Though her feet are numb from standing in rain-soaked shoes, she leans into his car window and declines the offer. The man grabs her, knocks her unconsciousness, and takes her back to his family homestead where she is imprisoned.

Detective Gina Harte is on the case, but it goes cold.

Four years after Deborah's disappearance, a baby appears abandoned on the doorstep of a library. DNA testing links the baby to Deborah. Deborah's cold case is reopened by Detective Harte, who relates to the abuse Deborah may be experiencing. Her dark past compels her to throw herself into the case, sometimes at the expense of her family.

I like the pacing of this book and how it tacked back and forth between Gina, Deborah, and Deborah's family's perspectives. Sometimes multiple points of views are hard to follow, but this was certainly not the case for this book. I especially liked the character of Gina, who struggles to manage her many obligations at work and to her sometimes estranged daughter and granddaughter.

Thank you to the author, Carla Kovach, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Next Girl.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.84 2018 The Next Girl (Detective Gina Harte, #1)
author: Carla Kovach
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/04/03
date added: 2018/04/03
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
Carla Kovach's The Next Girl is a nail-biting thriller that is the first in Kovach's new female-led detective series.

Deborah Jenkins works late nights at the local pub to make ends meet for her children and husband. Not a fan of driving, Deborah takes the local bus home every evening after her night shift ends.

Someone is taking note of her behavior, observing her every move.

One particularly miserable, blustery night, a man approaches her and offers her a ride home. Though her feet are numb from standing in rain-soaked shoes, she leans into his car window and declines the offer. The man grabs her, knocks her unconsciousness, and takes her back to his family homestead where she is imprisoned.

Detective Gina Harte is on the case, but it goes cold.

Four years after Deborah's disappearance, a baby appears abandoned on the doorstep of a library. DNA testing links the baby to Deborah. Deborah's cold case is reopened by Detective Harte, who relates to the abuse Deborah may be experiencing. Her dark past compels her to throw herself into the case, sometimes at the expense of her family.

I like the pacing of this book and how it tacked back and forth between Gina, Deborah, and Deborah's family's perspectives. Sometimes multiple points of views are hard to follow, but this was certainly not the case for this book. I especially liked the character of Gina, who struggles to manage her many obligations at work and to her sometimes estranged daughter and granddaughter.

Thank you to the author, Carla Kovach, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Next Girl.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Last Night 38210162
There’s blood on the windscreen and bonnet � but it’s not hers and there’s no sign of anything or anyone she might have hit. The last thing she remembers is being in a hotel on a business trip but now she’s miles away.

Back home and her daughter’s boyfriend is missing. The last thing he did was argue with Rose over money. He left no note, no text, no clue as to his whereabouts.

The police have questions � and so does Rose’s family. But those are little compared to the ones she has for herself.

What happened last night? And, perhaps more importantly, does she really want to know the answer?]]> 340 Kerry Wilkinson 1786814234 Stacey 5
"This is what happens when you live with someone you can't stand. You make each other's lives a misery and, in the end, everyone loses."

"Is this me? Is this what I do? I destroy everything and everyone around me."
Kerry Wilkinson's Last Night is an impossible to put down character driven thriller featuring Rose, a middle age woman who finds herself parked in the middle of a field with no memory of what happened or how she got there. She discovers blood on her car's windshield, and frantically inspects the car for any signs of who or what she hit. Finding no evidence of bodily harm, Rose flees the scene. She washes the car clean of any evidence at home, and goes back to the humdrum of her daily life.

Despite her best efforts, Rose can't stop ruminating over that night. Rose's personal life takes a turn for the worst after that fateful night, too, causing her to worry that someone is out to get her family. Her 18-year-old daughter Olivia's boyfriend - a handsome but rough and tumble guy named Tyler from the wrong side of the tracks - goes missing after a fight with Olivia. This isn't the first time he's disappeared after a fight, but it is certainly the longest time he's left town.

Rose's work card is lost, but then reappears days later after she has turned her house upside down. Rose's house is broken into, but expensive items, like laptops and televisions, are left behind, with only a small amount of cash taken. Rose's boss also has Rose in the hot seat for her poor work performance and lack of professionalism. Finally, Rose and her husband of 18 years, Dan, are miserable together and plan to divorce. Dan seems to be pursuing a lover on the side, and Rose hints at doing the same.

Is someone taunting Rose for the sins of her past? Is Rose's husband seeking revenge amid divorce proceedings? Has Rose herself gone too far with Olivia's boyfriend, a guy Rose cannot stand but has put up with to remain close to her daughter? Or is someone else lurking in the shadows - a coworker, boss, fling, or trusted friend, someone seeking vengeance for Rose's unsavory deeds as a teenager or adult?

This book reminded me of Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train as it features a middle-aged woman struggling to keep things together in her personal life, which makes the reader question the narrator/Rose's claims. Is the narrator giving us the full picture, or are they concealing certain memories and events from the reader?

This book has so many quotable passages and memorable characters. Wilkinson has a talent for making characters come alive to the point it feels as though they are standing right next to you, urging you to be a part of the story. This was my first time reading his books, and I am looking forward to reading more from him.

Thank you to the author, Kerry Wilkinson, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Last Night.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.96 2018 Last Night
author: Kerry Wilkinson
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/03/28
date added: 2018/03/31
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5 ŷ Stars**

"This is what happens when you live with someone you can't stand. You make each other's lives a misery and, in the end, everyone loses."

"Is this me? Is this what I do? I destroy everything and everyone around me."
Kerry Wilkinson's Last Night is an impossible to put down character driven thriller featuring Rose, a middle age woman who finds herself parked in the middle of a field with no memory of what happened or how she got there. She discovers blood on her car's windshield, and frantically inspects the car for any signs of who or what she hit. Finding no evidence of bodily harm, Rose flees the scene. She washes the car clean of any evidence at home, and goes back to the humdrum of her daily life.

Despite her best efforts, Rose can't stop ruminating over that night. Rose's personal life takes a turn for the worst after that fateful night, too, causing her to worry that someone is out to get her family. Her 18-year-old daughter Olivia's boyfriend - a handsome but rough and tumble guy named Tyler from the wrong side of the tracks - goes missing after a fight with Olivia. This isn't the first time he's disappeared after a fight, but it is certainly the longest time he's left town.

Rose's work card is lost, but then reappears days later after she has turned her house upside down. Rose's house is broken into, but expensive items, like laptops and televisions, are left behind, with only a small amount of cash taken. Rose's boss also has Rose in the hot seat for her poor work performance and lack of professionalism. Finally, Rose and her husband of 18 years, Dan, are miserable together and plan to divorce. Dan seems to be pursuing a lover on the side, and Rose hints at doing the same.

Is someone taunting Rose for the sins of her past? Is Rose's husband seeking revenge amid divorce proceedings? Has Rose herself gone too far with Olivia's boyfriend, a guy Rose cannot stand but has put up with to remain close to her daughter? Or is someone else lurking in the shadows - a coworker, boss, fling, or trusted friend, someone seeking vengeance for Rose's unsavory deeds as a teenager or adult?

This book reminded me of Paula Hawkins' The Girl on the Train as it features a middle-aged woman struggling to keep things together in her personal life, which makes the reader question the narrator/Rose's claims. Is the narrator giving us the full picture, or are they concealing certain memories and events from the reader?

This book has so many quotable passages and memorable characters. Wilkinson has a talent for making characters come alive to the point it feels as though they are standing right next to you, urging you to be a part of the story. This was my first time reading his books, and I am looking forward to reading more from him.

Thank you to the author, Kerry Wilkinson, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Last Night.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Other Woman 38318767 The most twisty, addictive and gripping debut thriller you'll read this year.

HE LOVES Adam adores Emily. Emily thinks Adam’s perfect, the man she thought she’d never meet.

BUT SHE LOVES YOU Lurking in the shadows is a rival, a woman who shares a deep bond with the man she loves.

AND SHE'LL STOP AT Emily chose Adam, but she didn’t choose his mother Pammie. There’s nothing a mother wouldn’t do for her son, and now Emily is about to find out just how far Pammie will go to get what she Emily gone forever.

THE OTHER WOMAN will have you questioning her on every page, in Sandie Jones' chilling psychological thriller about a man, his new girlfriend, and the mother who will not let him go.]]> 303 Sandie Jones 1250192013 Stacey 4
"She'd become a master of deception, subtly changing her demeanor, prowess, and even her voice, I'd noticed, when he was around."

In Sandie Jones' The Other Woman, Emily thinks she has met the man of her dreams. Emily is wooed by Adam, a charming, hunky executive who buys her a drink at a hotel bar during a work conference. Emily, not one to usually be swept off her feet by a whirlwind romance, becomes surprisingly enamoured with Adam, who wines and dines his way into her life.

Emily isn't someone who necessarily needs a man in her life; she's an independent, financially successful woman working in a high-powered executive placement agency. But with Adam things are different, and soon she finds herself engaged in what she believes is a passionate romance unlike any other she's experienced before.

But then she meets Adam's mother.

Adam's mother, Pammie, is domineering, controlling, and possessive of her two sons (James and Adam). Pammie makes impolite and downright rude comments about Emily's hair, weight, and relationship with Adam, often in private so that no one else sees the abuse taking place. When Emily confronts Adam about his mother's behavior, he looks at Emily with disbelief and dismisses her feelings. Emily starts to dig into Pammie's past, and she discovers that Adam's former fiance, Rebecca, died of an asthma attack while alone with Pammie at Adam and Rebecca's new house.

Was Pammie somehow responsible for Rebecca's death, or was it merely an accident? Or is someone else responsible, someone lurking in the background of the story? Is Emily in danger?

What I liked about this book is the character development and the careful attention to the plot. The author has done a really good job fleshing out not only the lead characters (Emily, Adam, and Pammie), but also those on the sidelines, including Adam's brother, James, and Emily's mother and friends. I admit I saw some of the plot twist coming, but I could have also envisioned many other ways of finishing the book that would be satisfying because this thriller was so well crafted. I will warn readers that domestic violence is in this book in case it is a trigger.

Thank you to the author, Sandie Jones, the publisher, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of the suspenseful The Other Woman. I greatly appreciated the opportunity to read this book! This book will be available for purchase on August 18, 2018 - the perfect summer sizzler!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.81 2018 The Other Woman
author: Sandie Jones
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/03/18
date added: 2018/03/29
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**4 ŷ Stars**

"She'd become a master of deception, subtly changing her demeanor, prowess, and even her voice, I'd noticed, when he was around."

In Sandie Jones' The Other Woman, Emily thinks she has met the man of her dreams. Emily is wooed by Adam, a charming, hunky executive who buys her a drink at a hotel bar during a work conference. Emily, not one to usually be swept off her feet by a whirlwind romance, becomes surprisingly enamoured with Adam, who wines and dines his way into her life.

Emily isn't someone who necessarily needs a man in her life; she's an independent, financially successful woman working in a high-powered executive placement agency. But with Adam things are different, and soon she finds herself engaged in what she believes is a passionate romance unlike any other she's experienced before.

But then she meets Adam's mother.

Adam's mother, Pammie, is domineering, controlling, and possessive of her two sons (James and Adam). Pammie makes impolite and downright rude comments about Emily's hair, weight, and relationship with Adam, often in private so that no one else sees the abuse taking place. When Emily confronts Adam about his mother's behavior, he looks at Emily with disbelief and dismisses her feelings. Emily starts to dig into Pammie's past, and she discovers that Adam's former fiance, Rebecca, died of an asthma attack while alone with Pammie at Adam and Rebecca's new house.

Was Pammie somehow responsible for Rebecca's death, or was it merely an accident? Or is someone else responsible, someone lurking in the background of the story? Is Emily in danger?

What I liked about this book is the character development and the careful attention to the plot. The author has done a really good job fleshing out not only the lead characters (Emily, Adam, and Pammie), but also those on the sidelines, including Adam's brother, James, and Emily's mother and friends. I admit I saw some of the plot twist coming, but I could have also envisioned many other ways of finishing the book that would be satisfying because this thriller was so well crafted. I will warn readers that domestic violence is in this book in case it is a trigger.

Thank you to the author, Sandie Jones, the publisher, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced review copy of the suspenseful The Other Woman. I greatly appreciated the opportunity to read this book! This book will be available for purchase on August 18, 2018 - the perfect summer sizzler!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Choice 38094667 On a wet road in the black of night, Karl Seabury is driving home to his pregnant wife. Suddenly, caught in his headlights in the middle of the road is a woman shaking with fright.

The woman says her name is Liz Smith, that her home was attacked, and that she was the only one to escape.

In a split-second decision, Karl decides to help her to safety. But Liz is hiding a dark secret and now his good deed has put his family in terrible danger...

An absolutely unputdownable thriller, with twist after twist after twist, that will leave you breathless. Perfect for fans of Robert Dugoni, John Marrs and Harlan Coben.]]> 408 Jake Cross 1786814153 Stacey 4
In Jake Cross' The Choice, Karl is forced to make a life altering decision to help a stranger when a woman jumps out in front of his car on a dark, deserted road. Distressed and clearly in need of help, Liz gets into Karl's car hoping the stranger's kindness will protect her from the terror she was fleeing. What Karl doesn't know is that Liz is a wanted woman, someone who multiple people - the police and mobsters - are eagerly trying to track down. Karl, a man with a strong moral compass, decides to protect Liz at all costs despite not knowing much about her, but in the process he jeopardizes his wife and unborn baby's lives.

What follows is a high-octane chase that involves bloodthirsty criminals with a penchant for revenge and dirty cops who are more interested in money than protecting innocent citizens. Karl finds himself deeply enmeshed in a complex murder mystery that he must help solve if he wants his wife and Liz to survive. Will Karl find a way to both save his wife, Katie, and the runaway woman, Liz?

I was eager to read this book and be a part of its blog tour because I love fast-paced thrillers that keep you up at night turning the pages.The book's heart attack inducing pace reminded me a lot of the movie The Fugitive with Harrison Ford or 24 with Kiefer Sutherland. Thank you to the author, Jake Cross, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Choice.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.54 2018 The Choice
author: Jake Cross
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/03/24
date added: 2018/03/24
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**4 ŷ Stars**

In Jake Cross' The Choice, Karl is forced to make a life altering decision to help a stranger when a woman jumps out in front of his car on a dark, deserted road. Distressed and clearly in need of help, Liz gets into Karl's car hoping the stranger's kindness will protect her from the terror she was fleeing. What Karl doesn't know is that Liz is a wanted woman, someone who multiple people - the police and mobsters - are eagerly trying to track down. Karl, a man with a strong moral compass, decides to protect Liz at all costs despite not knowing much about her, but in the process he jeopardizes his wife and unborn baby's lives.

What follows is a high-octane chase that involves bloodthirsty criminals with a penchant for revenge and dirty cops who are more interested in money than protecting innocent citizens. Karl finds himself deeply enmeshed in a complex murder mystery that he must help solve if he wants his wife and Liz to survive. Will Karl find a way to both save his wife, Katie, and the runaway woman, Liz?

I was eager to read this book and be a part of its blog tour because I love fast-paced thrillers that keep you up at night turning the pages.The book's heart attack inducing pace reminded me a lot of the movie The Fugitive with Harrison Ford or 24 with Kiefer Sutherland. Thank you to the author, Jake Cross, the publisher, Bookouture, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Choice.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Educated 35133922
Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara never saw a doctor or nurse. Gashes and concussions, even burns from explosions, were all treated at home with herbalism. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure the children received an education and no one to intervene when one of Tara's older brothers became violent.

Then, lacking any formal education, Tara began to educate herself. She taught herself enough mathematics and grammar to be admitted to Brigham Young University, where she studied history, learning for the first time about important world events like the Holocaust and the civil rights movement. Her quest for knowledge transformed her, taking her over oceans and across continents, to Harvard and to Cambridge. Only then would she wonder if she'd traveled too far, if there was still a way home.

Educated is an account of the struggle for self-invention. It is a tale of fierce family loyalty and of the grief that comes with severing the closest of ties. With the acute insight that distinguishes all great writers, Westover has crafted a universal coming-of-age story that gets to the heart of what an education is and what it offers: the perspective to see one's life through new eyes and the will to change it.]]> 352 Tara Westover 0399590501 Stacey 5
"My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs."

"My father and I looked at the temple. He saw God; I saw granite. We looked at each other. He saw a woman damned; I saw an unhinged old man, literally disfigured by his beliefs."

Educated is a memoir of Tara Westover's unusual upbringing in a fundamentalist Mormon household in rural Idaho. It is a heartbreaking, gritty account of life in a family who believes the Second Coming is near, who abandon formal education for homeschooling, Western medicine for essential oils and herbs, and the outside world for family. God, Westover's parents reasoned, would provide, and His will would be done without the perceived constraints of the external world.

Had I not spent the last 9 years in Idaho, I might not believe that some of Westover's story could possibly be true. Reading about how Westover's parents eschewed hospitals when their children had severe injuries and burns, ripped seatbelts out of their cars because God was in control, and avoided public schooling because they perceived the government as corrupt and sinful was not shocking or surprising to me. The extreme remoteness of much of Idaho's geography allows radical groups to flourish and go unnoticed by local authorities, giving them complete control and reign over their children and sometimes even local communities. For Westover this meant that any abuse she suffered at the hands of her parents and brothers would stay within her household until she could pry her way out of it tooth and nail.

The most miraculous part of Westover's story doesn't involve God but rather Westover's sheer will to access education and break free from her family's toxic household. In order to access college, she had to carve out time to study books on the ACT, a college entrance exam. Her father makes this hard, forcing her to work in his junk yard during the day, salvaging and sorting through brittle, dangerously sharp metal to be resold. Westover has to petition the county clerk for a formal birth certificate since she and her siblings were born at home; her mother cannot remember what year or month she was born.

Westover's admittance to the Mormon Brigham Young University is met with familial disdain. In one instance, her parents throw all her clothes out in the rain when they find out she is heading back to college. When she comes home in between breaks at college, her father tries to assert control and authority over her as does her abusive and violent brother, Shawn. Both want her to be back in the fold, and try to manipulate her to stay through both emotional and physical violence. Ultimately, her choice to pursue an education forces her to make a choice between her parents and the siblings who work for them and the siblings who have left her family's homestead for education and a life beyond their purview. Her parents convince her uneducated siblings that Westover has been turned by the devil, and tell them she is not welcome back home.

It is education (hence the title of the book, "Educated") that thus creates a vast chasm between Westover's siblings and parents; two of her brothers left home and managed to get Ph.D.s, both of whom choose education over their family, and both of whom become lifeboats for Westover. Education makes Westover realize just how much of her inner world was controlled and conditioned by her father and mother. Like a number of fundamentalist groups in Idaho, Westover's father preached that slavery was good, "that slaves in colonial times were happier and more free than their masters, because the masters were burdened with the cost of their care." Westover discovers how anti-Semitism colored her understanding of the past when she takes an introductory course on Western civilization at Brigham Young. Her parents never taught her about the Holocaust, leading to a series of intellectually embarrassing moments for her at college.

Because Westover was deprived of what many Americans consider common knowledge, the outside world is daunting for her. Westover was not merely deprived of a formal education; she was also deprived of the very knowledge she would need to survive in daily life. Since her parents were anti-government and believed that the Illuminati had infiltrated the US government, she had no idea how any sort of formalized processes worked. Her parents didn't have auto insurance. They didn't register their cars. They avoided hospitals at all costs. Westover has to learn to navigate everything on her own. Visiting a doctor for the first time is terrifying. She has never done it before, so she takes a friend with her to help. When she's prescribed antibiotics for strep throat and mono, she's scared to take the medicine:

"I thought of Mother, and of the many times she'd told me that antibiotics poison the body, that they cause infertility and birth defects. That the spirit of the Lord cannot dwell in an unclean vessel, and that no vessel is clean when it forsakes God and relies on man. Or maybe Dad had said that last part."

For readers unfamiliar with extremist religious groups, this is an eye-opening tale of personal redemption and struggle amid a violent, abusive upbringing. This book offers more than just a shocking account of life in a fundamentalist household, however. It is breathtakingly written. Passages like the one below make the story come to life and feel as though you were in the author's shoes:

"For two days we explored Rome, a city that is both a living organism and a fossil. Bleached structures from antiquity lay like dried bones, embedded in pulsating cables and thrumming traffic, the arteries of modern life."

Thank you to the author, Tara Westover, the publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Educated.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 4.46 2018 Educated
author: Tara Westover
name: Stacey
average rating: 4.46
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/02/25
date added: 2018/03/16
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre, memoirs
review:
***5 ŷ Stars**

"My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs."

"My father and I looked at the temple. He saw God; I saw granite. We looked at each other. He saw a woman damned; I saw an unhinged old man, literally disfigured by his beliefs."

Educated is a memoir of Tara Westover's unusual upbringing in a fundamentalist Mormon household in rural Idaho. It is a heartbreaking, gritty account of life in a family who believes the Second Coming is near, who abandon formal education for homeschooling, Western medicine for essential oils and herbs, and the outside world for family. God, Westover's parents reasoned, would provide, and His will would be done without the perceived constraints of the external world.

Had I not spent the last 9 years in Idaho, I might not believe that some of Westover's story could possibly be true. Reading about how Westover's parents eschewed hospitals when their children had severe injuries and burns, ripped seatbelts out of their cars because God was in control, and avoided public schooling because they perceived the government as corrupt and sinful was not shocking or surprising to me. The extreme remoteness of much of Idaho's geography allows radical groups to flourish and go unnoticed by local authorities, giving them complete control and reign over their children and sometimes even local communities. For Westover this meant that any abuse she suffered at the hands of her parents and brothers would stay within her household until she could pry her way out of it tooth and nail.

The most miraculous part of Westover's story doesn't involve God but rather Westover's sheer will to access education and break free from her family's toxic household. In order to access college, she had to carve out time to study books on the ACT, a college entrance exam. Her father makes this hard, forcing her to work in his junk yard during the day, salvaging and sorting through brittle, dangerously sharp metal to be resold. Westover has to petition the county clerk for a formal birth certificate since she and her siblings were born at home; her mother cannot remember what year or month she was born.

Westover's admittance to the Mormon Brigham Young University is met with familial disdain. In one instance, her parents throw all her clothes out in the rain when they find out she is heading back to college. When she comes home in between breaks at college, her father tries to assert control and authority over her as does her abusive and violent brother, Shawn. Both want her to be back in the fold, and try to manipulate her to stay through both emotional and physical violence. Ultimately, her choice to pursue an education forces her to make a choice between her parents and the siblings who work for them and the siblings who have left her family's homestead for education and a life beyond their purview. Her parents convince her uneducated siblings that Westover has been turned by the devil, and tell them she is not welcome back home.

It is education (hence the title of the book, "Educated") that thus creates a vast chasm between Westover's siblings and parents; two of her brothers left home and managed to get Ph.D.s, both of whom choose education over their family, and both of whom become lifeboats for Westover. Education makes Westover realize just how much of her inner world was controlled and conditioned by her father and mother. Like a number of fundamentalist groups in Idaho, Westover's father preached that slavery was good, "that slaves in colonial times were happier and more free than their masters, because the masters were burdened with the cost of their care." Westover discovers how anti-Semitism colored her understanding of the past when she takes an introductory course on Western civilization at Brigham Young. Her parents never taught her about the Holocaust, leading to a series of intellectually embarrassing moments for her at college.

Because Westover was deprived of what many Americans consider common knowledge, the outside world is daunting for her. Westover was not merely deprived of a formal education; she was also deprived of the very knowledge she would need to survive in daily life. Since her parents were anti-government and believed that the Illuminati had infiltrated the US government, she had no idea how any sort of formalized processes worked. Her parents didn't have auto insurance. They didn't register their cars. They avoided hospitals at all costs. Westover has to learn to navigate everything on her own. Visiting a doctor for the first time is terrifying. She has never done it before, so she takes a friend with her to help. When she's prescribed antibiotics for strep throat and mono, she's scared to take the medicine:

"I thought of Mother, and of the many times she'd told me that antibiotics poison the body, that they cause infertility and birth defects. That the spirit of the Lord cannot dwell in an unclean vessel, and that no vessel is clean when it forsakes God and relies on man. Or maybe Dad had said that last part."

For readers unfamiliar with extremist religious groups, this is an eye-opening tale of personal redemption and struggle amid a violent, abusive upbringing. This book offers more than just a shocking account of life in a fundamentalist household, however. It is breathtakingly written. Passages like the one below make the story come to life and feel as though you were in the author's shoes:

"For two days we explored Rome, a city that is both a living organism and a fossil. Bleached structures from antiquity lay like dried bones, embedded in pulsating cables and thrumming traffic, the arteries of modern life."

Thank you to the author, Tara Westover, the publisher, Random House, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Educated.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> The Ever After 36373772 Glamour) The Perfect Neighbors goes deep into a marriage in crisis, peeling back layers of secrets to discover where the relationship veered off course—and whether it is worth saving.

Josie and Frank Moore are happy� at least Josie thinks they are. As parents of two young girls in the Chicago suburbs, their days can be both busy and monotonous, and sometimes Josie wonders how she became a harried fortysomething mother rather than the driven career woman she once was. But Frank is a phenomenal father, he’s handsome and charismatic, and he still looks at his wife like she’s the beautiful woman he married more than a decade ago. Josie isn’t just happy—she’s lucky.

Until one Saturday morning when Josie borrows her husband’s phone to make a quick call—and sees nine words that shatter her world.

Now Josie feels as if she is standing at the edge of a sharp precipice. As she looks back at pivotal moments in the relationship she believed would last forever, she is also plunging ahead, surprising everyone (especially herself) with how far she will go to uncover the extent of her husband’s devastating secret.]]> 272 Sarah Pekkanen 1501194836 Stacey 3
Sarah Pekkanen's The Ever After merges the genres of suspense and domestic drama to tell a story of a husband's infidelity. The lead character, Josie, discovers a salacious text from another woman on her husband, Frank's, phone by accident. The book follows the aftermath of this discovery, peering into the mind of Josie as she struggles to understand why her husband cheated on her. Was her marriage always a sham? Were there signs she missed?

To make matters worse, Josie and Frank have two young daughters. They both do their best to hide the situation from them, but ultimately Josie realizes she needs Frank out of the house to figure out a way forward. The book follows Josie's inner dialogue as she tries to reconcile the many sides of Frank: the loving and doting father, the once caring and adoring lover, the hard-working employee, the solid friend, son, and brother. How could someone who was all those things rip a marriage to shreds?

I struggled with the ending of this book as it felt flat and abrupt. I felt like I truly understood Josie's train of thoughts, but Frank's motivations for the affair still felt unclear to me. In some parts of the book I felt like I was reading a self-help non-fiction book rather than a piece of fiction. The writing is good, but I really struggled to see Frank's point of view in all of this.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria, the author, Sarah Pekkanen, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Ever After.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.01 2018 The Ever After
author: Sarah Pekkanen
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.01
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2018/03/11
date added: 2018/03/11
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**3.5 ŷ Stars**

Sarah Pekkanen's The Ever After merges the genres of suspense and domestic drama to tell a story of a husband's infidelity. The lead character, Josie, discovers a salacious text from another woman on her husband, Frank's, phone by accident. The book follows the aftermath of this discovery, peering into the mind of Josie as she struggles to understand why her husband cheated on her. Was her marriage always a sham? Were there signs she missed?

To make matters worse, Josie and Frank have two young daughters. They both do their best to hide the situation from them, but ultimately Josie realizes she needs Frank out of the house to figure out a way forward. The book follows Josie's inner dialogue as she tries to reconcile the many sides of Frank: the loving and doting father, the once caring and adoring lover, the hard-working employee, the solid friend, son, and brother. How could someone who was all those things rip a marriage to shreds?

I struggled with the ending of this book as it felt flat and abrupt. I felt like I truly understood Josie's train of thoughts, but Frank's motivations for the affair still felt unclear to me. In some parts of the book I felt like I was reading a self-help non-fiction book rather than a piece of fiction. The writing is good, but I really struggled to see Frank's point of view in all of this.

Thank you to the publisher, Atria, the author, Sarah Pekkanen, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Ever After.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Obscura 36440711 She's felt it before � the fear of losing control. And it's happening again.

In the near future, an aggressive and terrifying new form of dementia is affecting victims of all ages. The cause is unknown, and the symptoms are disturbing. Dr. Gillian Ryan is on the cutting edge of research and desperately determined to find a cure. She's already lost her husband to the disease, and now her young daughter is slowly succumbing as well. After losing her funding, she is given the unique opportunity to expand her research. She will travel with a NASA team to a space station where the crew has been stricken with symptoms of a similar inexplicable psychosis—memory loss, trances, and violent, uncontrollable impulses.

Crippled by a secret addiction and suffering from creeping paranoia, Gillian finds her journey becoming a nightmare as unexplainable and violent events plague the mission. With her grip weakening on reality, she starts to doubt her own innocence. And she's beginning to question so much more—like the true nature of the mission, the motivations of the crew, and every deadly new secret space has to offer.

Merging thrilling science-fiction adventure with mind-bending psychological suspense, Wall Street Journal bestselling author Joe Hart explores both the vast mysteries of outer space and the even darker unknown that lies within ourselves.]]> 348 Joe Hart 1503934446 Stacey 5
In Joe Hart's Obscura, researcher Dr. Gillian Ryan is on the verge of curing the disease that killed her husband and is threatening to destroy her 8-year-old daughter's life. The disease erases one's memories, much like Alzheimer's. When Dr. Ryan's research funding is axed, she makes a life-altering choice to work for a top-secret NASA program that promises to help her cure the disease.

As part of her assignment, Dr. Ryan must leave her daughter back on Earth for six months to investigate a mysterious case of memory loss involving several astronauts marooned at a space station. Her research on the astronauts promises a cure for her daughter, but when she arrives on the space station she learns that everything she thought about her mission was a farce. While in space, Dr. Ryan also begins to question reality as she struggles with hydrocodone withdrawals, an addiction that started after her husband passed away.

When Dr. Ryan and a team of scientists from NASA arrive at the space station, they discover that there is more than memory loss afflicting the astronauts: there's a murder, a suicide, and an attempted murder on Dr. Ryan. Is Dr. Ryan going mad, or is someone or something else is trying to take the lives of the space station's entire crew? In order to save her team, her research, and her daughter's life, Dr. Ryan and her colleagues will have to figure out what dark secrets the astronauts are hiding.

This was the second book I've read by Joe Hart, and it did not disappoint. I read it in less than 24 hours - it was so addicting. I loved that this book mixed so many genres, and if I had to choose a genre, I'd call it a psychological space thriller. I appreciate that the author included a female lead, as many sci-fi/technological thrillers are lacking in this regard. This book will be a favorite for readers who loved Blake Crouch's Dark Matter, Andy Weir's The Martian, or Annalee Newitz's Autonomous. Thank you to the author, Joe Hart, Thomas Mercer, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Obscura.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 4.07 2018 Obscura
author: Joe Hart
name: Stacey
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/03/04
date added: 2018/03/05
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5++ ŷ Stars**

In Joe Hart's Obscura, researcher Dr. Gillian Ryan is on the verge of curing the disease that killed her husband and is threatening to destroy her 8-year-old daughter's life. The disease erases one's memories, much like Alzheimer's. When Dr. Ryan's research funding is axed, she makes a life-altering choice to work for a top-secret NASA program that promises to help her cure the disease.

As part of her assignment, Dr. Ryan must leave her daughter back on Earth for six months to investigate a mysterious case of memory loss involving several astronauts marooned at a space station. Her research on the astronauts promises a cure for her daughter, but when she arrives on the space station she learns that everything she thought about her mission was a farce. While in space, Dr. Ryan also begins to question reality as she struggles with hydrocodone withdrawals, an addiction that started after her husband passed away.

When Dr. Ryan and a team of scientists from NASA arrive at the space station, they discover that there is more than memory loss afflicting the astronauts: there's a murder, a suicide, and an attempted murder on Dr. Ryan. Is Dr. Ryan going mad, or is someone or something else is trying to take the lives of the space station's entire crew? In order to save her team, her research, and her daughter's life, Dr. Ryan and her colleagues will have to figure out what dark secrets the astronauts are hiding.

This was the second book I've read by Joe Hart, and it did not disappoint. I read it in less than 24 hours - it was so addicting. I loved that this book mixed so many genres, and if I had to choose a genre, I'd call it a psychological space thriller. I appreciate that the author included a female lead, as many sci-fi/technological thrillers are lacking in this regard. This book will be a favorite for readers who loved Blake Crouch's Dark Matter, Andy Weir's The Martian, or Annalee Newitz's Autonomous. Thank you to the author, Joe Hart, Thomas Mercer, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Obscura.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Bring Me Back 35857495
Twelve years later, Finn has built a new life with Ellen, Layla’s sister, when he receives a phone call. Someone has seen Layla. But is it her � or someone pretending to be her? If it is her, what does she want? And what does she know about the night she disappeared?]]> 302 B.A. Paris Stacey 4
Imagine this scene. You are on a long road trip with your partner. It's the middle of the night, and you have to stop the car to go to the restroom. You leave your partner in the car, and tell her to lock the doors. You run to restroom in the pitch black of night, quickly relieving yourself so you can hurry back to the car. On the way to the bathroom, you see another person pull up to the rest stop, but don't think much of it.

You rush to your car, eager to get back on the road again, only to find your girlfriend is missing. You search in the dark of the night, only to come up empty-handed. With no cell phone service, you abandon the search and head to the nearest gas station to call for help. Your girlfriend is never found again.

Flash forward 12 years later. You are happy engaged to your girlfriend's sister, whom you met while grieving. Things seem perfect until your missing girlfriend comes back from the dead, or at least someone who is pretending to be her is following your every move.

This is the premise of B. A. Paris' Bring Me Back, a whirlwind psychological thriller that is twisty as a mountain road. This book is a great study in unreliable narrators: can you trust what you have been told by the person whose girlfriend went missing? He seems like a nice guy, albeit one with a temper. Did he kill his girlfriend, and, if so, who is stalking him and his fiance? Is it a jilted lover seeking revenge? Is it some stranger who read about him in the paper and nothing more? Is it a close friend who harbors resentment over a financial falling out, or who is jealous over his pick of lovers? Or is it truly his former lover, angry that he is now with her sister?

Thank you to the author, B. A. Paris, the publisher, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for a an advanced reader copy of Bring Me Back. The book will be available for purchase on June 19, 2018 - it is the perfect poolside read!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.63 2018 Bring Me Back
author: B.A. Paris
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2018/03/03
date added: 2018/03/04
shelves: 2018, 2018netgalleychallenge, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**4 ŷ Stars**

Imagine this scene. You are on a long road trip with your partner. It's the middle of the night, and you have to stop the car to go to the restroom. You leave your partner in the car, and tell her to lock the doors. You run to restroom in the pitch black of night, quickly relieving yourself so you can hurry back to the car. On the way to the bathroom, you see another person pull up to the rest stop, but don't think much of it.

You rush to your car, eager to get back on the road again, only to find your girlfriend is missing. You search in the dark of the night, only to come up empty-handed. With no cell phone service, you abandon the search and head to the nearest gas station to call for help. Your girlfriend is never found again.

Flash forward 12 years later. You are happy engaged to your girlfriend's sister, whom you met while grieving. Things seem perfect until your missing girlfriend comes back from the dead, or at least someone who is pretending to be her is following your every move.

This is the premise of B. A. Paris' Bring Me Back, a whirlwind psychological thriller that is twisty as a mountain road. This book is a great study in unreliable narrators: can you trust what you have been told by the person whose girlfriend went missing? He seems like a nice guy, albeit one with a temper. Did he kill his girlfriend, and, if so, who is stalking him and his fiance? Is it a jilted lover seeking revenge? Is it some stranger who read about him in the paper and nothing more? Is it a close friend who harbors resentment over a financial falling out, or who is jealous over his pick of lovers? Or is it truly his former lover, angry that he is now with her sister?

Thank you to the author, B. A. Paris, the publisher, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for a an advanced reader copy of Bring Me Back. The book will be available for purchase on June 19, 2018 - it is the perfect poolside read!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Friends and Other Liars 36389263 To all my old friends:
So here you all are. Nice to see you can show up for a person once he's dead.

When Ruby St. James returns to her hometown, it is to the grave of her old friend Danny, a member of a group that was, ten years ago, Ruby's whole world. The crew made a pact back then: stay together, stay loyal, and stay honest. But that was before all of the lies.

Because even friends keep secrets. They just don't stay secret for long.

Now Danny has left behind a letter for each of them, issuing one final ultimatum: share your darkest betrayal to the group, or risk it coming out in a trap he has created. When past mistakes resurface, the lines of friendship blurb, and four old friends are left trying to understand what it means to lie to the ones you love best.

]]> 370 Kaela Coble 1492651176 Stacey 5
It is a pleasure to review Kaela Coble's debut novel Friends and Other Liars for a blog tour in celebration of the book's publication month. This breakout book is a simmering mystery that explores how long-held secrets can eat away at relationships, even ones built on the strongest of foundations.

The book features richly drawn characters who are multi-dimensional and relatable despite (or due to, I suppose) their human flaws. The story centers on Ruby, who left her down and out hometown of Chatwick to pursue a fancy education at New York University and an exciting life in New York City. When Ruby gets a call that her friend Danny has died, she reluctantly returns to Chatwick and is forced to face her high school clique known as "the crew."

Danny, who died of a heroin overdose, has left envelopes containing the crew's deepest, darkest secrets. Danny requests that the crew reveal their secrets in front of one another. Ruby and the crew either put off Danny's post-mortem request or craft a lie to cover up the true "secret," which leads them all down darker paths. Soon, more notes from "Danny" appear in the crew's mailboxes, cars, and workplaces, leaving the crew unhinged. What does Danny know, and how does he know it? Will their secrets come to light, and if they do, will the crew lose their jobs, their families, and their relationships with one another?

I really enjoyed the relationship between Ruby and Murphy, and it brought me back to the days I was in high school. Murphy was Ruby's best friend growing up. Eventually they developed feelings for each other, which lead to heartbreak and tears when Ruby decided she wanted to leave Chatwick for college. I empathized with Ruby because I, too, left my hometown where I knew everybody in order to start anew in college in a big, bustling city. It meant leaving behind friends and unrequited relationships, and coming back to town is always a bit awkward and uncomfortable because of it. Coble really captured the spirit of what it is like to desire someone who isn't willing to follow you on your adventures after high school, someone who wants to stay put and take pleasure in the normalcy of small-town life.

Thank you to the author, Kaela Coble, the publisher, Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Friends and Other Liars. I look forward to seeing what Coble writes next!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.77 2018 Friends and Other Liars
author: Kaela Coble
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2018/02/14
date added: 2018/02/14
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**5 ŷ Stars**

It is a pleasure to review Kaela Coble's debut novel Friends and Other Liars for a blog tour in celebration of the book's publication month. This breakout book is a simmering mystery that explores how long-held secrets can eat away at relationships, even ones built on the strongest of foundations.

The book features richly drawn characters who are multi-dimensional and relatable despite (or due to, I suppose) their human flaws. The story centers on Ruby, who left her down and out hometown of Chatwick to pursue a fancy education at New York University and an exciting life in New York City. When Ruby gets a call that her friend Danny has died, she reluctantly returns to Chatwick and is forced to face her high school clique known as "the crew."

Danny, who died of a heroin overdose, has left envelopes containing the crew's deepest, darkest secrets. Danny requests that the crew reveal their secrets in front of one another. Ruby and the crew either put off Danny's post-mortem request or craft a lie to cover up the true "secret," which leads them all down darker paths. Soon, more notes from "Danny" appear in the crew's mailboxes, cars, and workplaces, leaving the crew unhinged. What does Danny know, and how does he know it? Will their secrets come to light, and if they do, will the crew lose their jobs, their families, and their relationships with one another?

I really enjoyed the relationship between Ruby and Murphy, and it brought me back to the days I was in high school. Murphy was Ruby's best friend growing up. Eventually they developed feelings for each other, which lead to heartbreak and tears when Ruby decided she wanted to leave Chatwick for college. I empathized with Ruby because I, too, left my hometown where I knew everybody in order to start anew in college in a big, bustling city. It meant leaving behind friends and unrequited relationships, and coming back to town is always a bit awkward and uncomfortable because of it. Coble really captured the spirit of what it is like to desire someone who isn't willing to follow you on your adventures after high school, someone who wants to stay put and take pleasure in the normalcy of small-town life.

Thank you to the author, Kaela Coble, the publisher, Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of Friends and Other Liars. I look forward to seeing what Coble writes next!

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]> Baby Teeth 35410511
She’s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He’s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good.

Meet Suzette.

She loves her daughter, really, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna’s tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette's husband remains blind to the failing family dynamics, Suzette starts to fear that there’s something seriously wrong, and that maybe home isn’t the best place for their baby girl after all.]]> 304 Zoje Stage 1250170753 Stacey 3
It's been a long time since I've really struggled with how to review a book, but that's where I am at with Zoje Stage's Baby Teeth . I often debate how much weight good writing should get over the story and plot. Sometimes books sell because they have an explosive ending or outrageous plot with sub par writing. This book was quite the opposite. Stage's writing is quite polished, but the story line was so troubling that I felt torn between giving it 4 stars for writing and 1 star for plot. All that being said, you'll probably be turning the pages on this book because you want to know what happens at the end (because the story is so outrageous).

So what to make of this book? The plot involves Hanna, who is a 7 year old girl and daughter to mother Suzette and Swedish father Alex. Suzette is a full-time stay at home mother, partially due to having painful complications and a weakened immune system related to Crohn's disease. Alex is Swedish and works full-time as a successful developer and architect. On the outside, everything about their life seems perfect: that is, until we meet Hanna.

The novel is told from the perspectives of Suzette and Hanna. Suzette is tired from homeschooling Hanna, who, the reader is told, is mute by choice. Hanna has been kicked out of every school in which her parents have enrolled her, so Suzette homeschools her. Hanna is defiant, jealous, and manipulative. She despises her mother, and adores her father. There is a very unsettling Electra Complex taking place here, with Alex tending to Hanna's every whim and desire as soon as he gets home from work at night. Is there something inappropriate going on with Alex and Hanna? What is causing Hanna to have outbursts, to treat her mother as a competitor rather than the daunting mother she is?

I have two kids who are 6 and 8, and I highly doubted Hanna's terrifying behavior. Could a 7 year old cut up someone's pills in the middle of the night and fill them with flour to poison them? I don't think 7 year olds even harness that kind of dexterity. Could a 7 year old plot to kill their mother? Would a 7 year old set fire to a school trash can by bringing matches from their family home? Maybe there are 7 year olds out there like this, but I highly doubt it. Even the most gifted kid would not have some of the language that was going on inside the head of "Hanna."

There are also moments in the book that are just plain bizarre. I won't spoil them here, but there are things her father allows Hanna to get away with that border on seriously abusive and inappropriate parenting. I also find it hard to believe that two well educated parents would wait until a child is 7 years old to invest significant time and money in therapy, especially a child who has been so behaviorally off.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, the author, Zoje Stage, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced reader copy of this book.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| | ]]> 3.56 2018 Baby Teeth
author: Zoje Stage
name: Stacey
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2018/01/27
date added: 2018/01/27
shelves: 2018netgalleychallenge, 2018, book-reviews-for-netgalley-goodre
review:
**2.5 ŷ Stars (rounded up to 3)**

It's been a long time since I've really struggled with how to review a book, but that's where I am at with Zoje Stage's Baby Teeth . I often debate how much weight good writing should get over the story and plot. Sometimes books sell because they have an explosive ending or outrageous plot with sub par writing. This book was quite the opposite. Stage's writing is quite polished, but the story line was so troubling that I felt torn between giving it 4 stars for writing and 1 star for plot. All that being said, you'll probably be turning the pages on this book because you want to know what happens at the end (because the story is so outrageous).

So what to make of this book? The plot involves Hanna, who is a 7 year old girl and daughter to mother Suzette and Swedish father Alex. Suzette is a full-time stay at home mother, partially due to having painful complications and a weakened immune system related to Crohn's disease. Alex is Swedish and works full-time as a successful developer and architect. On the outside, everything about their life seems perfect: that is, until we meet Hanna.

The novel is told from the perspectives of Suzette and Hanna. Suzette is tired from homeschooling Hanna, who, the reader is told, is mute by choice. Hanna has been kicked out of every school in which her parents have enrolled her, so Suzette homeschools her. Hanna is defiant, jealous, and manipulative. She despises her mother, and adores her father. There is a very unsettling Electra Complex taking place here, with Alex tending to Hanna's every whim and desire as soon as he gets home from work at night. Is there something inappropriate going on with Alex and Hanna? What is causing Hanna to have outbursts, to treat her mother as a competitor rather than the daunting mother she is?

I have two kids who are 6 and 8, and I highly doubted Hanna's terrifying behavior. Could a 7 year old cut up someone's pills in the middle of the night and fill them with flour to poison them? I don't think 7 year olds even harness that kind of dexterity. Could a 7 year old plot to kill their mother? Would a 7 year old set fire to a school trash can by bringing matches from their family home? Maybe there are 7 year olds out there like this, but I highly doubt it. Even the most gifted kid would not have some of the language that was going on inside the head of "Hanna."

There are also moments in the book that are just plain bizarre. I won't spoil them here, but there are things her father allows Hanna to get away with that border on seriously abusive and inappropriate parenting. I also find it hard to believe that two well educated parents would wait until a child is 7 years old to invest significant time and money in therapy, especially a child who has been so behaviorally off.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, the author, Zoje Stage, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an advanced reader copy of this book.

For more of my book reviews visit me here:
| |
]]>