en-US Tue, 25 Mar 2025 11:26:18 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 214331246 When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.]]> 382 Suzanne Collins 1546171460 exploraDora 5
Haymitch's story is no different. Loved every page wholeheartedly ]]> 4.68 2025
author: Suzanne Collins
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.68
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/20
date added: 2025/03/25
shelves:
review:
Suzanne Collins could write 100 more Hunger Games books and I would read each one with the same enthusiasm. I would also 100% love them just as much as I loved the other books in the series.

Haymitch's story is no different. Loved every page wholeheartedly
]]> 220625984 How good are you at keeping a secret?

Because I, Juniper Perry, have been keeping a big one.

For over a decade, I’ve been crushing on the guy with the easy smile, warm brown eyes, and charismatic charm. He’s all the perfect things that, when you add them up, spell out Man of my dreams.

I know that doesn’t sound bad at all, but there’s more to this story...

We work together. I’m a lowly intern, and he’s a high-powered executive.

He’s my newest neighbor. No joke—he’s temporarily living next door to me.

And to top it all off, he’s my best friend’s older brother.

I’ve spent what feels like an eternity keeping my crush on him a secret, but recently, I’ve found a way to have him and my anonymity too. A way to chat and flirt and get close to him.

My best friend doesn’t know about these Midnight chats.

And he doesn’t know I’m the girl he’s talking to night after night.

Beau Banks might be completely off-limits, but what happens at Midnight stays between us...]]> 354 Max Monroe exploraDora 0 to-read 3.69
author: Max Monroe
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.69
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59314703
On her return home, Sewanee discovers one of the world’s most beloved romance novelists wanted her to perform her last book—with Brock McNight, the industry’s hottest, most secretive voice. Sewanee doesn’t buy what romance novels are selling—not after her own dreams were tragically cut short—and she stopped narrating them years ago. But her admiration of the late author, and the opportunity to get her grandmother more help, makes her decision for her.

As Sewanee begins work on the book, resurrecting her old romance pseudonym, she and Brock forge a real connection, hidden behind the comfort of anonymity. Soon, she is dreaming again, but secrets are revealed, and the realities of life come crashing down around her once more.

If she can learn to risk everything for desires she has long buried, she will discover a world of intimacy and acceptance she never believed would be hers.

From the author of My Oxford Year, Julia Whelan’s uplifting novel tells the story of a former actress turned successful audiobook narrator—who has lost sight of her dreams after a tragic accident—and her journey of self-discovery, love, and acceptance when she agrees to narrate one last romance novel.]]> 432 Julia Whelan 0063095564 exploraDora 0 currently-reading 3.99 2022
author: Julia Whelan
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/20
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 207611566 There’s power in a book��

They call them wayward girls. Loose girls. Girls who grew up too fast. And they’re sent to the Wellwood Home in St. Augustine, Florida, where unwed mothers are hidden by their families to have their babies in secret, give them up for adoption, and most important of all, to forget any of it ever happened.

Fifteen-year-old Fern arrives at the home in the sweltering summer of 1970, pregnant, terrified and alone. Under the watchful eye of the stern Miss Wellwood, she meets a dozen other girls in the same predicament. There’s Rose, a hippie who insists she’s going to find a way to keep her baby and escape to a commune. And Zinnia, a budding musician who knows she’s going to go home and marry her baby’s father. And Holly, a wisp of a girl, barely fourteen, mute and pregnant by no-one-knows-who.

Everything the girls eat, every moment of their waking day, and everything they’re allowed to talk about is strictly controlled by adults who claim they know what’s best for them. Then Fern meets a librarian who gives her an occult book about witchcraft, and power is in the hands of the girls for the first time in their lives. But power can destroy as easily as it creates, and it’s never given freely. There’s always a price to be paid…and it’s usually paid in blood.

In Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, the author of How to Sell a Haunted House and The Final Girl Support Group delivers another searing, completely original novel and further cements his status as a “horror master�� (NPR).]]> 482 Grady Hendrix 0593548981 exploraDora 3 4.02 2025
author: Grady Hendrix
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2025
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/17
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves:
review:
This book was... something. Teen pregnancies mixed with witchcraft, and I didn’t care too much for either
]]> 123243100 Beauty & the Beast meets Criminal Minds in this Murder Mystery Romantic Suspense

After an attack on the job, Homicide Detective Isobel ‘Bel�� Emerson takes her dog and moves to the small town of Bajka in search of a less stressful life and career, but the quaint town’s peace is disturbed when a local furniture designer is murdered, his body posed to look like a human chandelier. Thrust back into the fray, Bel must confront her personal demons as she investigates an impossible case, and as bodies turned into household objects start to pile up, all clues point to the reclusive millionaire who just bought the abandoned mansion at the edge of town.

Eamon Stone is as dangerous as he is handsome, and Bel can’t shake the feeling that there’s more to his presence in Bajka than meets the eye. Something about him is familiar, and while she knows he’s a threat, she can’t fight his pull. Like a moth to the flame, she’s drawn to the man stalking her, to the only murder suspect they have, and Bel fears he craves her blood as much as she craves his presence. She fears he is the evil hunting this town... the beast hunting her.

Loosely inspired by Beauty & the Beast, Autopsy of a Fairytale is a crime series romantic suspense perfect for those who like dark fairytales, murder mystery procedurals (like AMC's The Killing or NBC's Hannibal), romance, found family, and a hint of fantasy. Each book will be based on a different fairytale, but Bel (and her Beast) will connect them all, her story ending on small cliffhangers in each book.]]> 231 Nicole Scarano exploraDora 0 to-read 3.88
author: Nicole Scarano
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.88
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58725016
Clytemnestra
The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon - her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband raises a great army against them, and determines to win, whatever the cost.

Cassandra
Princess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it. She is powerless in her knowledge that the city will fall.

Elektra
The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Elektra is horrified by the bloodletting of her kin. But, can she escape the curse, or is her own destiny also bound by violence?]]> 291 Jennifer Saint 125077361X exploraDora 0 to-read 3.65 2022
author: Jennifer Saint
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 63852945 From the bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends comes a moving novel of two unfinished love stories and the music and lyrics that bring them together.

Journalist Cecilia James is a sucker for a love song. So when she stumbles across a clue to the identity of the muse for one of rock’s greatest, she devotes herself to uncovering the truth, even as her own relationship is falling apart.

While writing an article for Rolling Stone, Cecilia works to reveal the mystery that has intrigued fans and discovers a classic tale of two soulmates separated by fate and circumstance. Rock star Eddie Vee once sang with his soul, dedicating love songs to Sara Friedman, his inspiration and first love. Now, Eddie takes refuge in anonymity, closed off to the past. Sara, too, has distanced herself from their love, moving thousands of miles away to live the life she once railed against. As Eddie and Sara tentatively open up to Cecilia about broken dreams, she struggles to give them a happy ending. In the process, she learns that broken hearts can be healed—even her own.

What You Do To Me is the story of a love song and of the triumph of the heart over the greatest of odds. Even for those who have written off love forever.]]> 363 Rochelle B. Weinstein 1662508263 exploraDora 4 4.22 2023
author: Rochelle B. Weinstein
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
shelves:
review:

]]> 217885191 Find out how Maddy and Doug met in this sweet and hilarious short story from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer.

Travel nurse Maddy doesn't have time for a relationship, not even with the ruggedly handsome farmer who she feels a spark of attraction to.

Doug is a walking green flag. After a run in with Maddy thanks to the Wakan town��mascot, Kevin Bacon the pig, he can't help but feel the spark too.

Even though she doesn't plan on staying in Minnesota forever, Maddy believes she and Doug can still have a fling�� or maybe they’ll just find themselves in a situationship.��

“The Situationship��was originally published as a bonus chapter in the Target exclusive edition of Just for the Summer. This ebook original also includes a first look at Abby’s new release, Say You’ll Remember Me.]]> 37 Abby Jimenez 1538773724 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.97 2024
author: Abby Jimenez
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 131068116 The ones that got away reunite at a big Italian wedding in this second-chance romance from debut author Ali Rosen, the James Beard Award–nominated writer and host of Potluck with Ali Rosen.

Stella Park is elated to celebrate her best friend’s wedding in the Italian countryside—and maybe she also needs this escape from her personal and her professional life. Writing recipes for a living isn’t all it’s cooked up to be.

But the revelry is short lived when she runs into the ex she hasn’t seen since she broke his heart ten years ago, Samuel Gordon. As her past gets propelled to the forefront, Stella tries not to question the choices she made a decade ago.

When Stella and Samuel keep getting pushed together during a weekend filled with delectable food, Indian and Italian wedding traditions, and unplanned detours in gorgeous locales, she attempts to ignore that maybe he really was the one that got away.

Playing it safe has always been Stella’s dependable rule book. But maybe Samuel is worth the risk—and perhaps some love stories just need more time to marinate.]]> 267 Ali Rosen 1662513690 exploraDora 4 3.74 2023
author: Ali Rosen
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/04
date added: 2025/03/04
shelves:
review:

]]> 209439446
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.]]> 527 Rebecca Yarros 1649374186 exploraDora 5 4.19 2025
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves:
review:

]]> 36411953 Stephen King exploraDora 0 to-read 3.73
author: Stephen King
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.73
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 112975658 A gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote herself into American history.

Maine, 1789: When the Kennebec River freezes, entombing a man in the ice, Martha Ballard is summoned to examine the body and determine cause of death. As a midwife and healer, she is privy to much of what goes on behind closed doors in Hallowell. Her diary is a record of every birth and death, crime and debacle that unfolds in the close-knit community. Months earlier, Martha documented the details of an alleged rape committed by two of the town’s most respected gentlemen—one of whom has now been found dead in the ice. But when a local physician undermines her conclusion, declaring the death to be an accident, Martha is forced to investigate the shocking murder on her own.

Over the course of one winter, as the trial nears, and whispers and prejudices mount, Martha doggedly pursues the truth. Her diary soon lands at the center of the scandal, implicating those she loves, and compelling Martha to decide where her own loyalties lie.

Clever, layered, and subversive, Ariel Lawhon’s newest offering introduces an unsung heroine who refused to accept anything less than justice at a time when women were considered best seen and not heard. The Frozen River is a thrilling, tense, and tender story about a remarkable woman who left an unparalleled legacy yet remains nearly forgotten to this day.]]> 432 Ariel Lawhon 0385546874 exploraDora 5
One might say it's a bit of a slow burn, but as its mysteries gradually get revealed, I could not put it down. The author's explanation of how she came to write the novel was also very impressive. Well deserved 5 ⭐s!]]> 4.38 2023
author: Ariel Lawhon
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: historical-fiction, audiobook, bookclub
review:
Loved this book! Fantastic writing & amazing characters. An excellent blend of history, based on the story of a real life historical figure, a midwife in the eighteenth century. Martha is smart, fierce and has to navigate through a society where men predominate and don't give her the respect she rightfully deserves.

One might say it's a bit of a slow burn, but as its mysteries gradually get revealed, I could not put it down. The author's explanation of how she came to write the novel was also very impressive. Well deserved 5 ⭐s!
]]> 11925514
When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.

As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage and failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?

Harrowing and beautifully written, Elizabeth Wein creates a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. Code Name Verity is an outstanding novel that will stick with you long after the last page.]]> 452 Elizabeth Wein 1405258217 exploraDora 4 3.99 2012
author: Elizabeth Wein
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: tbr-on-my-shelf, historical-fiction, ww-ii, bookclub
review:
Out of all WW II books I've read in the last couple of years, this one definitely doesn't rank up as high as others, but it was still a good read.
]]> 90202302 “The first year is when some of us lose our lives. The second year is when the rest of us lose our humanity.�� —Xaden Riorson

Everyone expected Violet Sorrengail to die during her first year at Basgiath War College—Violet included. But Threshing was only the first impossible test meant to weed out the weak-willed, the unworthy, and the unlucky.

Now the real training begins, and Violet’s already wondering how she’ll get through. It’s not just that it’s grueling and maliciously brutal, or even that it’s designed to stretch the riders�� capacity for pain beyond endurance. It’s the new vice commandant, who’s made it his personal mission to teach Violet exactly how powerless she is–unless she betrays the man she loves.

Although Violet’s body might be weaker and frailer than everyone else’s, she still has her wits—and a will of iron. And leadership is forgetting the most important lesson Basgiath has taught her: Dragon riders make their own rules.

But a determination to survive won’t be enough this year.

Because Violet knows the real secret hidden for centuries at Basgiath War College—and nothing, not even dragon fire, may be enough to save them in the end.]]> 623 Rebecca Yarros 1649374178 exploraDora 5 fantasy, favorites 4.34 2023
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/11/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: fantasy, favorites
review:

]]> 123429195
Shivering and bruised, a teen wakes up on the side of a dirt road with no memory of how she got there―or who she is. A passing officer takes her to the police station, and not long after, a frantic man arrives. He's been searching for her for hours. He has her school ID, her birth certificate, and even family photos. He is her father. Her name is Mary. Or so he says.

When Lola slammed the car door and stormed off into the night, Drew thought they just needed some time to cool off. Except Lola disappeared, and the sheriff, his friends, and the whole town are convinced Drew murdered his girlfriend. Forget proving his innocence, he needs to find her before it's too late. The longer Lola is missing, the fewer leads there are to follow…and the more danger they both are in.]]> 297 Megan Lally 1728270111 exploraDora 5 thriller, mystery, horror
It's told in alternating POVs of two seventeen year olds: a girl that doesn't know her name after she woke up one day, only to be picked up by a strange man claiming to be her father, and a boy who is accused of being responsible for the disappearance of his girlfriend.

Their stories are intertwined and the ending surprised me, even though I was suspecting it a little before the reveal. Unputdownable & great read.]]> 4.05 2023
author: Megan Lally
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/02/11
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: thriller, mystery, horror
review:
If you're a fan of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, then this book might be for you.

It's told in alternating POVs of two seventeen year olds: a girl that doesn't know her name after she woke up one day, only to be picked up by a strange man claiming to be her father, and a boy who is accused of being responsible for the disappearance of his girlfriend.

Their stories are intertwined and the ending surprised me, even though I was suspecting it a little before the reveal. Unputdownable & great read.
]]> 9418327
She has seen both these dreams come true.

At last, Tina Fey's story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon—from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.

Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we've all suspected: you're no one until someone calls you bossy.]]> 283 Tina Fey exploraDora 4 nonfiction, biography 3.97 2011
author: Tina Fey
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/07
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: nonfiction, biography
review:

]]> 196614815 A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel.

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to be a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchhiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.]]> 341 Simone St. James 0593200381 exploraDora 4 paranormal, mystery, horror 3.67 2024
author: Simone St. James
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/28
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: paranormal, mystery, horror
review:

]]> 65213381
When she receives word of their tragic deaths, Inez inherits their massive fortune and a mysterious guardian, an archeologist in partnership with his Egyptian brother-in-law. Yearning for answers, Inez sails to Cairo, bringing her sketch pads and an ancient golden ring her father sent to her for safekeeping before he died. But upon her arrival, the old world magic tethered to the ring pulls her down a path where she soon discovers there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than what her guardian led her to believe.

With her guardian’s infuriatingly handsome assistant thwarting her at every turn, Inez must rely on ancient magic to uncover the truth about her parent’s disappearance—or risk becoming a pawn in a larger game that will kill her.

The Mummy meets Death on the Nile in this lush, immersive historical fantasy set in Egypt filled with adventure, a rivals-to-lovers romance, and a dangerous race.]]> 416 Isabel Ibañez 1250803373 exploraDora 4 historical-fiction, romance 3.83 2023
author: Isabel Ibañez
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/14
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: historical-fiction, romance
review:

]]> 223199392 Two good neighbors make the best of a bad Valentine’s Day in a funny and improbably romantic short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer.

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, and Charlotte and Seth are not looking for romance. Armed with emotional-support bear spray, Charlotte is in self-imposed isolation and on guard from men. Having a stalker can do that to a person’s nerves. Just across the hall and giving off woodsy vibes is Seth, a recently divorced arborist. As in today recently. Heights, he’s fine with. Trust? Not so much. But when disaster traps them one flight up and no way down, an outrageously precarious predicament forces a tree-loving guy and a rattled girl next door to embrace their captivity. Soon their defenses are breaking away. Considering how close they both are to the edge, Charlotte and Seth could be in danger of falling—in love.]]> 82 Abby Jimenez 1662529082 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.13 2025
author: Abby Jimenez
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 195820807
Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected--including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?]]> 432 Abby Jimenez 1538704439 exploraDora 5 romance 4.36 2024
author: Abby Jimenez
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/18
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: romance
review:
I want to give this book all the stars in the universe
]]> 182484360
Lights. Camera. Lies.

18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.

But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.

Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And �� could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.]]> 448 Holly Jackson 0593374207 exploraDora 4 mystery, young-adult 4.09 2024
author: Holly Jackson
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: mystery, young-adult
review:
-1�� because I'm not the biggest fan of getting away with murder
]]> 182094740
Peter has been tasked with locating the legendary Briarwood Teardrop, an exquisite sapphire, which Lily wears beneath her gown. In order to stay close to her and hopefully unravel the mystery of her story--and the sapphire--Peter employs Lily's help on a case, which leads to a useful partnership. But as they are investigating together, Peter is also investigating Lily. The closer he gets to the truth, the more danger they face. And the closer he gets to Lily, the clearer it is that he needs her even more than she needs him.

Award-winning author Joanna Davidson Politano whisks you away to Edwardian England in 1903 for a whimsical and layered tale that treads the crooked line between real and make-believe.]]> 400 Joanna Davidson Politano 0800742974 exploraDora 4 mystery, historical-fiction 4.04 2024
author: Joanna Davidson Politano
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/15
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: mystery, historical-fiction
review:

]]> 53288434 A female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them - setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course.

Rule #1: The poison must never be used to harm another woman.
Rule #2: The names of the murderer and her victim must be recorded in the apothecary’s register.

One cold February evening in 1791, at the back of a dark London alley in a hidden apothecary shop, Nella awaits her newest customer. Once a respected healer, Nella now uses her knowledge for a darker purpose - selling well-disguised poisons to desperate women who would kill to be free of the men in their lives. But when her new patron turns out to be a precocious twelve-year-old named Eliza Fanning, an unexpected friendship sets in motion a string of events that jeopardizes Nella’s world and threatens to expose the many women whose names are written in her register.

In present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, reeling from the discovery of her husband’s infidelity. When she finds an old apothecary vial near the river Thames, she can’t resist investigating, only to realize she’s found a link to the unsolved “apothecary murders�� that haunted London over two centuries ago. As she deepens her search, Caroline’s life collides with Nella’s and Eliza’s in a stunning twist of fate - and not everyone will survive.]]> 301 Sarah Penner 0778311015 exploraDora 5 historical-fiction, mystery 3.72 2021
author: Sarah Penner
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/26
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: historical-fiction, mystery
review:

]]> 124932739 I Hope This Doesn't Find You is Never Have I Ever meets To All the Boys if Lara Jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters.

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course -- she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings -- but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work.

All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. "You're attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you've been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft..."

Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them... that is, until they're accidentally sent out.

Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare -- now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie -- Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate...]]> 320 Ann Liang 1338827154 exploraDora 4 young-adult 4.17 2024
author: Ann Liang
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/20
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: young-adult
review:
The other day I felt like reading something lighthearted & easy, and this fit right into that category. It's a cutesy YA romance, and while it's enemies to lovers (which is a trope I don't actually like), it was well written and very enjoyable.
]]> 35478338 NO ONE KNOWS THE MIND OF A KILLER LIKE EMMA KAVANAGH.

I've been watching you DS Alice Parr.

I saw you trying to save the poor young woman you found in the park.

The woman I tried to kill.

I've been waiting for you to find her family. To find someone who cares about her.

But you can't can you?

You've never had a case like this.

I know everything about you. You know nothing about me.

Even though I'm the man you're looking for.

And you will never catch me...]]> 416 Emma Kavanagh 1409174980 exploraDora 4 mystery, thriller 3.96 2018
author: Emma Kavanagh
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/22
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: mystery, thriller
review:

]]> 194802722 A shimmering, joyful new novel about a pair of opposites with the wrong thing in common, from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé, Peter, told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it... right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned-up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex... right?]]> 400 Emily Henry exploraDora 5 romance, humour Rtc 4.21 2024
author: Emily Henry
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/25
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: romance, humour
review:
Rtc
]]> 201851633 Tiffany Haddish is back with her highly anticipated new essay collection, I Curse You With Joy

It’s been a minute since readers last sat down with Tiffany Haddish. Since The Last Black Unicorn, Haddish has catapulted to A-List fame as the breakout star of Girls Trip. She’s walked the Oscars red carpet, released a hit stand-up special with Netflix, and made history as the first black female comedian to host Saturday Night Live and Shark Week.

But it hasn’t been all VIP parties and free diving with apex predators. In these humorous and heartfelt essays, Tiffany gets real about the highs and lows of life. Believe it or not, there was a time when Tiffany didn’t totally know who Tiffany was. Before she found her groove, she was on stage dressed like her snobby airline coworkers telling halfhearted dick jokes. She tanked.

It took a fake penis, some help from friends, and a little encouragement from Bob Saget, but eventually Tiffany figured out Tiffany. I Curse You With Joy celebrates all the lessons she learned along the way—the joy and the pain. Tiffany reckons with the legacy of her childhood trauma, the challenges of being a black woman in the entertainment industry, and her bittersweet reunion with her estranged father after nearly twenty years apart. And don’t worry, she’s got plenty of advice to share, too.

I Curse You With Joy is Tiffany Haddish unfiltered. (We know what you’re thinking...how much more unfiltered can she get?) These essays lay it all bare, bringing readers into Tiffany’s inner circle where joy, honesty, humor, and heart are the order of the day.]]> 271 Tiffany Haddish 1635769450 exploraDora 4 nonfiction, biography 3.94 2025
author: Tiffany Haddish
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2025
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/27
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: nonfiction, biography
review:

]]> 197600308 From the bestselling author of Recipe for Second Chances comes a smart, sexy, heartfelt romance about a single mother juggling home life and career who finds unexpected complications while in Ireland for work.

Beatrice Leal’s personal life is complicated between her divorce and her precocious six-year-old. But the job she loves is the one thing she counts on to be straightforward—that is, until her boss’s own divorce prompts a move from NYC back to Ireland.

Now Bea’s in Ireland twice a month for work. It’s wreaking havoc on the custody agreement she and her moody ex are sorting out while he lives downstairs in the brownstone they co-own. And to top it off, her company’s new CTO turns out to be the boy who once broke her heart Jack Sander.

It’s been twenty years since Bea and Jack saw each other. Their lives are both messy. So when they hook up one night in Ireland, they plan to just keep it a work fling that stays there. But the more time they spend together, the more Bea wonders if happiness might not always mean needing to have your life in order.]]> 332 Ali Rosen 1662513712 exploraDora 4 romance 3.81 2024
author: Ali Rosen
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/31
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: romance
review:

]]> 50089336 Code Name Hélène is a spellbinding and moving story of enduring love, remarkable sacrifice and unfaltering resolve that chronicles the true exploits of a woman who deserves to be a household name.

It is 1936 and Nancy Wake is an intrepid Australian expat living in Paris who has bluffed her way into a reporting job for Hearst newspaper when she meets the wealthy French industrialist Henri Fiocca. No sooner does Henri sweep Nancy off her feet and convince her to become Mrs. Fiocca than the Germans invade France and she takes yet another name: a code name.

As LUCIENNE CARLIER Nancy smuggles people and documents across the border. Her success and her remarkable ability to evade capture earns her the nickname THE WHITE MOUSE from the Gestapo. With a five million franc bounty on her head, Nancy is forced to escape France and leave Henri behind. When she enters training with the Special Operations Executives in Britain, her new comrades are instructed to call her ��É��È����. And finally, with mission in hand, Nancy is airdropped back into France as the deadly MADAM ANDRÉ, where she claims her place as one of the most powerful leaders in the French Resistance, armed with a ferocious wit, her signature red lipstick, and the ability to summon weapons straight from the Allied Forces.

But no one can protect Nancy if the enemy finds out these four women are one and the same, and the closer to liberation France gets, the more exposed she--and the people she loves--become.]]> 451 Ariel Lawhon 0385544685 exploraDora 5 ww-ii 4.39 2020
author: Ariel Lawhon
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: ww-ii
review:

]]> 36124936
An eleven-year-old boy’s violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City’s most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King’s propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.]]> 561 Stephen King 1501180983 exploraDora 4 horror, paranormal 3.98 2018
author: Stephen King
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/15
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: horror, paranormal
review:
Not my favorite King book, but it was still a good read. Looking forward to watch the TV adaptation now.
]]> 195088595 Her dream holiday is his everyday life. His dream holiday is her normal life. What happens when they collide? �� Ally and her dad, Geoff, run the family business, a creative retreat, from their home Hollyhock Cottage in picturesque Kittiwake Cove. They give their guests their dream break, but Ally hankers after glamourous city living, fancy restaurants and art galleries. Ally’s survival strategy is to escape out of season, take a break abroad and pretend to be the person she always imagined she would be. She meets Logan while she’s away and he turns out to be exactly the kind of distraction she’s looking for. With her spirits restored, Ally returns home, picks up the reins again and sets her sights on another successful season, but when Logan unexpectedly arrives on the scene, she soon realises she’s in for a summer that’s going to be far from straightforward�� ��A story about bringing a holiday home �� and what happens when what goes on on holiday comes back to bite you�� Your favourite authors love Heidi Swain's 'A summer delight!'��SARAH MORGAN 'A delightfully sunny read��with added intrigue and secrets'��BELLA OSBORNE 'A ray of reading sunshine!'��LAURA KEMP 'A lovely, sweet, summery read'��MILLY JOHNSON 'An absolutely gorgeous summer tale of love and secrets'��RACHAEL LUCAS ��]]> 414 Heidi Swain 1398519588 exploraDora 3 romance 3.73
author: Heidi Swain
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.73
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/23
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: romance
review:
Now that I'm done reading this book, I wish I could go back in time and DFN it
]]> 186872341
Alyssa Mann isn’t adventurous, not since her husband died and she found herself the single mom of a teenage daughter. But there’s no way to avoid celebrating the big 4-0, so when her best friends drag her out for drinks and a tarot reading, she throws caution to the wind and decides to see what the spirits have to say. It’s all fun and games, until she wakes up the next morning with a wicked hangover—and a ghost perched on the edge of her bed.

Sheer panic sends her running to get help from Nick West, the (very attractive) detective who lives next door. When he finds no one inside, Alyssa has to accept that she really did see a ghost. As the dearly departed keep appearing, Alyssa and her friends do their best to learn how to control her newfound power. Trading insults with ghosts, tracking down family heirlooms, and getting closer to the skeptical but helpful Nick is more fun than Alyssa imagined. But when looking into one ghost’s past reveals unexpected—and unwelcome—facts about Alyssa’s late husband’s death, she discovers she just may be in over her head.]]> 368 Melissa Holtz 0593640047 exploraDora 3 paranormal, romance 3.62 2024
author: Melissa Holtz
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/03
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: paranormal, romance
review:
Gosh, I'm glad I'm finally done with this one!
]]> 30267929
As one sibling is forced into exile, another attempts to flee the continent, while others struggle to escape certain death, either by working grueling hours on empty stomachs in the factories of the ghetto or by hiding as gentiles in plain sight. Driven by an unwavering will to survive and by the fear that they may never see one another again, the Kurcs must rely on hope, ingenuity, and inner strength to persevere.

An extraordinary, propulsive novel, We Were the Lucky Ones demonstrates how in the face of the twentieth century’s darkest moment, the human spirit can endure and even thrive.]]> 403 Georgia Hunter 0399563083 exploraDora 4 ww-ii 4.39 2017
author: Georgia Hunter
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/12
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: ww-ii
review:

]]> 199026522 In the latest jaw-dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long-ago disappearance of his childhood best friend—and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture-perfect neighborhood.

The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock Circle occurred in Ethan Marsh’s backyard. One July night, ten-year-old Ethan and his best friend and neighbor, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy’s presence keep appearing in Ethan’s backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?

The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with former friends and neighbors and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed monsters roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.

The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place—be it quiet forest or suburban street—is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present.]]> 367 Riley Sager 0593472373 exploraDora 4 mystery, horror 3.66 2024
author: Riley Sager
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/19
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: mystery, horror
review:

]]> 205960511 EVERYONE IN THE WORLD KNOWS HIS NAME. BUT IT'S YOU HE WANTS.

To the media, Hayes Campbell is the star of a record-breaking British boyband.

To his fans, he's the naughty-but-nice front man - whose dimples and outlandish dress sense drive them crazy.

To Solène Marchand, he's just the pretty face that's plastered over every girl's bedroom wall.

Until a chance meeting throws them together . . .

The attraction is instant. The chemistry is electric. The affair is Solène's secret.

But how long can it stay that way? ]]> 374 Robinne Lee exploraDora 2 romance, disappointed 3.80 2017
author: Robinne Lee
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2024/07/27
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: romance, disappointed
review:
I don't say this often (barely ever tbh), but the movie was better
]]> 38359036 ��ä�ٴǷɾ������� (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for more than two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.]]> 272 Heather Morris 006287067X exploraDora 5 ww-ii 4.32 2018
author: Heather Morris
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/10
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: ww-ii
review:

]]> 45033931 The Tattooist of Auschwitz, the author tells the story, based on a true one, of a woman who survives Auschwitz, only to find herself locked away again.

Cilka Klein is 18 years old when Auschwitz-Birkenau is liberated by Soviet soldiers. But Cilka is one of the many women who is sentenced to a labor camp on charges of having helped the Nazis--with no consideration of the circumstances Cilka and women like her found themselves in as they struggled to survive. Once at the Vorkuta gulag in Sibera, where she is to serve her 15-year sentence, Cilka uses her wits, charm, and beauty to survive.]]> 352 Heather Morris 1250265703 exploraDora 5 ww-ii
There were also some parts I felt were dragging a bit, but it deserves 5 stars nonetheless and the author's note at the end was so moving as well. Highly recommend!]]> 4.38 2019
author: Heather Morris
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/05
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: ww-ii
review:
Cilka's journey is such a powerful and moving one, that had me in tears many times.

There were also some parts I felt were dragging a bit, but it deserves 5 stars nonetheless and the author's note at the end was so moving as well. Highly recommend!
]]> 185723993 Based on the true story of two World War II heroines who risked everything to save Jewish children from the Gestapo by hiding them throughout Belgium.

Belgium, 1942

Young schoolteacher Andrée Geulen secretly defies the Nazis in Belgium, who are forcing Jews to wear a yellow Star of David. Andrée is not Jewish, but she feels a maternal connection to her students, who are living in constant fear, and decides to take action. No child should have to suffer under such persecution. But what can one woman do against an entire army?

Ida Sterno is a Jewish woman who works with the Committee for the Defense of Jews in Belgium, a clandestine resistance group tasked with hiding children from the Gestapo. She wants to recruit Andrée because her Aryan appearance can provide crucial security measures for their efforts. Andrée agrees to join and begins work immediately by adopting a code name: Claude Fournier.

Together, Andrée and Ida, and their undercover operatives, work around the clock to move Jewish children from their families and smuggle them to safety through the secret channels established by the resistance. As each child is hidden, Andrée commits to memory their true name and history. Someday, she vows, she will help reunite as many of these families as she can.

But with the Gestapo closing in and the traitorous Fat Jacques who has turned from ally to enemy and is threatening to identify and expose any Jew he meets, Andrée and Ida must work even harder against increasingly impossible odds to save as many children as possible and keep them safely hidden—even if it might cost them their own lives.]]> 304 Rebecca Connolly 1639932348 exploraDora 5 ww-ii 4.17
author: Rebecca Connolly
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.17
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/20
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: ww-ii
review:
I've been in this WW II phase for a while now and I'm so glad to say that this was another great read on the topic. It's the story of a group of brave people who did everything they could to save as many Jewish children as possible in a German occupied Belgium. Based on true events.
]]> 28187230 341 Ruth Ware 1501132938 exploraDora 4 mystery, thriller I thought the ending was good.]]> 3.73 2016
author: Ruth Ware
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: mystery, thriller
review:
Read this book because it's going to be adapted by Netflix with Keira Knightley starring, and the premise sounded interesting. Didn't love it, didn't hate it.
I thought the ending was good.
]]> 65213377 Inheritance is the first in The Lost Bride Trilogy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts―a tale of tragedies, loves found and lost, and a family haunted for generations.

1806: Astrid Poole sits in her bridal clothes, overwhelmed with happiness. But before her marriage can be consummated, she is murdered, and the circle of gold torn from her finger. Her last words are a promise to Collin never to leave him��

Graphic designer Sonya MacTavish is stunned to learn that her late father had a twin he never knew about―and that her newly discovered uncle, Collin Poole, has left her almost everything he owned, including a majestic Victorian house on the Maine coast, which the will stipulates she must live in it for at least three years. Her engagement recently broken, she sets off to find out why the boys were separated at birth―and why it was all kept secret until a genealogy website brought it to light.

Trey, the young lawyer who greets her at the sprawling clifftop manor, notes Sonya’s unease―and acknowledges that yes, the place is haunted…but just a little. Sure enough, Sonya finds objects moved and music playing out of nowhere. She sees a painting by her father inexplicably hanging in her deceased uncle’s office, and a portrait of a woman named Astrid, whom the lawyer refers to as “the first lost bride.�� It’s becoming clear that Sonya has inherited far more than a house. She has inherited a centuries-old curse, and a puzzle to be solved if there is any hope of breaking it��
]]> 419 Nora Roberts 1250288320 exploraDora 4 mystery, paranormal I thought it was refreshing that the haunted mansion also had "good" ghosts, and not just the usual disturbing kind.
The cliffhanger it ends on definitely made me want to check out the next installment, but 4 stars is a generous rating.]]> 4.17 2023
author: Nora Roberts
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/16
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: mystery, paranormal
review:
This was an enjoyable ghost story.
I thought it was refreshing that the haunted mansion also had "good" ghosts, and not just the usual disturbing kind.
The cliffhanger it ends on definitely made me want to check out the next installment, but 4 stars is a generous rating.
]]> 199797582
Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance. There’s just one catch.

Due to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam won’t see a penny until he’s been happily married for five years. Just when Liam thinks he’s in the home stretch, pressure mounts from his family to see this mysterious spouse, and he has no choice but to turn to the one person he’s afraid to introduce to his one-percenter parents �� his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife.

But in the presence of his family, Liam’s fears quickly shift from whether the feisty, foul-mouthed, paint-splattered Anna can play the part to whether the toxic world of wealth will corrupt someone as pure of heart as his surprisingly grounded and loyal wife. Liam will have to ask himself if the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing true love that sprouted from a lie.]]> 352 Christina Lauren 1668017725 exploraDora 4 romance 4.07 2024
author: Christina Lauren
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: romance
review:
Another great read from one of my favorite duos
]]> 197108968 From the acclaimed author of The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and brilliant speculative thriller about families: real and virtual.

Some families are virtually perfect��

The world's population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, the breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families, let alone raise them.

But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality TV show called The Substitute. It will follow ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to the age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child, or risk it all for the chance of a real baby��

Set in the same universe as John Marrs's bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate Tamagotchi—a virtual baby.]]> 384 John Marrs 1335000364 exploraDora 4 4.01 2024
author: John Marrs
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/29
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: mystery, thriller, science-fiction
review:
Leave it to John Marrs to deliver some jaw dropping plot twists!
]]> 199531989 Knives Out gets a rom-com twist in this rivals-to-lovers Christmas romance-mystery from New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter

The bridge is out. The phones are down. And the most famous mystery writer in the world just disappeared out of a locked room three days before Christmas.

Meet Maggie Chase and Ethan Wyatt:
She’s the new Queen of the Cozy Mystery.
He’s Mr. Big-Time Thriller Guy.

She hates his guts.

He thinks her name is Marcie (no matter how many times she’s told him otherwise.)

But when they both accept a cryptic invitation to attend a Christmas house party at the English estate of a reclusive fan, neither is expecting their host to be the most powerful author in the world: Eleanor Ashley, the Duchess of Death herself.

That night, the weather turns, and the next morning Eleanor is gone.

She vanished from a locked room, and Maggie has to wonder: Is Eleanor in danger? Or is it all some kind of test? Is Ethan the competition? Or is he the only person in that snowbound mansion she can trust?

As the snow gets deeper and the stakes get higher, every clue will bring Maggie and Ethan closer to the truth—and each other. Because, this Christmas, these two rivals are going to have to become allies (and maybe more) if they have any hope of saving Eleanor.

Assuming they don’t kill each other first.]]> 293 Ally Carter 0063276682 exploraDora 5 christmas, mystery 3.92 2024
author: Ally Carter
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: christmas, mystery
review:
Absolutely loved this! Great way to kick off Christmas season
]]> 58556596 'Your ability to change everything - including yourself - starts here' ELIZABETH ZOTT
-------------
Set in 1960s California; Lessons In Chemistry is the brilliant, idiosyncratic and uplifting story of a female scientist whose career is derailed by the idea that a woman's place is in the home - something she most definitely does not believe - only to find herself the star of America's best-loved TV cooking show.
-------------
Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing.

But it's the 1960s, and despite the fact that she is a scientist, her male peers are very unscientific when it comes to equality. The only good thing to happen on her road to professional fulfilment is a run-in with famous colleague Calvin Evans, legend and Nobel nominee. He's also awkward, kind and tenacious. Theirs is true chemistry.

But life is never predictable and three years later Elizabeth Zott is an unwed, single mother and star of America's best loved cooking show Supper at Six. Her singular approach to cooking - 'take one pint of H2O and add a pinch of sodium chloride' - and empowering message prove revolutionary. Because Elizabeth isn't just teaching housewives how to cook, but how to change their lives.

Meet the unconventional, uncompromising Elizabeth Zott]]> 390 Bonnie Garmus 0857528122 exploraDora 5 4.27 2022
author: Bonnie Garmus
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/11
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: audiobook, historical-fiction, adult, science
review:

]]> 220389457
When Everleigh Dangerfield’s baking disaster necessitates a call to 911, firefighter Griffin Brantley douses the flames in the kitchen, but the ones he stokes in Everleigh are an entirely different story. Unfortunately, Everleigh’s only visiting and doesn’t do casual hookups, no matter how smoldering the temptation. But Everleigh’s holiday mishaps have just begun. And Griffin is seemingly always on call. If Everleigh is game for a change of plans, he can give her the merriest Christmas of her life.

Alexandria Bellefleur’s Merriment and Mayhem is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 58 Alexandria Bellefleur 1662529341 exploraDora 4 short-stories, christmas It was short, sweet and spicy.]]> 3.28 2024
author: Alexandria Bellefleur
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: short-stories, christmas
review:
This wasn't a literary masterpiece, but I feel like it doesn't deserve the low rating it has.
It was short, sweet and spicy.
]]> 220389458 New York Times bestselling author Ali Hazelwood.

All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.

Ali Hazelwood’s Cruel Winter with You is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 73 Ali Hazelwood 1662528396 exploraDora 4 christmas, short-stories 3.68 2024
author: Ali Hazelwood
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/02
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: christmas, short-stories
review:

]]> 220389090
All Evie Cruz wants for Christmas is a nap. And maybe some ornaments for her naked Christmas tree. And while she’s making a list, she wouldn’t mind unwrapping her sexy upstairs neighbor like a present. Luckily, the building’s Santa-themed party and a surprise sprig of mistletoe give her just the opening she needs to make all her wishes come true.

Alexis Daria’s Only Santas in the Building is part of Under the Mistletoe, a stirring collection of December romances that thrill and tingle all the way. They can be read or listened to in one swoony sitting.]]> 65 Alexis Daria 1662529376 exploraDora 4 christmas, short-stories 3.36 2024
author: Alexis Daria
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.36
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/04
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: christmas, short-stories
review:

]]> 219876684 In a hilarious short story from New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, the absurdities of modern life cause one man’s solitary world to spin suddenly, and comically, out of control.

Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone?

Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.

Told in Fredrik Backman’s singular witty style with sharply drawn characters and relatable antics, The Answer Is No is a laugh-out-loud portrait of a man struggling to keep to himself in a world that won’t leave him alone.]]> 68 Fredrik Backman 1662526520 exploraDora 3 3.94 2024
author: Fredrik Backman
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: novella, short-stories, humour
review:

]]> 203914630 A high octane sexy space heist from New York Times-bestselling author Beth Revis, the first in a novella trilogy.

Ada Lamarr may have gotten to the spaceship wreck first, but looter’s rights won’t get her far when she’s got a hole in the side of her ship and her spacesuit is almost out of air. Fortunately for her, help arrives in the form of a government salvage crew—and while they reluctantly rescue her from certain death, they are not pleased to have an unexpected passenger along on their classified mission.

But Ada doesn’t care—all that matters to her is enjoying their fine food and sweet, sweet oxygen—until Rian White, the government agent in charge, starts to suspect that there’s more to Ada than meets the eye. He’s not wrong—but he’s so pretty that Ada is perfectly happy to keep him paying attention to her—at least until she can complete the job she was sent to pull off. But as quick as Ada is, Rian might be quicker—and she may not be entirely sure who’s manipulating who until it’s too late��

A phenomenally fun novella that kicks off a trilogy of sexy space heists and romantic tension, Full Speed to a Crash Landing is packed with great characters and full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the end.]]> 181 Beth Revis 0756419468 exploraDora 4 3.84 2024
author: Beth Revis
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/19
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: novella, science-fiction, space
review:

]]> 209457782 A high octane sexy space heist from New York Times bestselling author Beth Revis, the second in a novella trilogyAda had no intention whatsoever to continue working for the rebel group that hired her to retrieve the government’s plans for a nanobot climate cleaner if they weren’t willing to pay her for it, but then they offer a different an undercover mission to a charity gala where Rian will be in attendance. Rian, meanwhile, has volunteered his services for the gala believing that the rare items up for auction will attract Ada’s eye. Hoping to catch her in the act and pin her with a punishable crime, Rian has no idea that Ada’s real mission is to convince him to join the rebels. And the rebels have no idea that Ada’s decided that kidnapping Rian is the most efficient means to an end.How to Steal the Galaxy continues the sexy, rip-roaring good time that Beth Revis began in Full Speed to a Crash Landing, with the return of Ada, Rian, and all the tension, twists, and turns that made the first novella so much fun.]]> 182 Beth Revis 0756419484 exploraDora 4 3.88 2024
author: Beth Revis
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves: space, science-fiction, novella
review:

]]> 123199043 The New York Times bestseller from iconic Emmy-nominated actress and producer MILLIE BOBBY BROWN: Nineteen Steps is a captivating novel inspired by the true events of her family's experience during World War II.

Love blooms in the darkest days��

It’s 1942, and air raid sirens continue to wail around London. Eighteen-year-old Nellie Morris counts every day lucky that she emerges from the underground shelters unharmed, her loving family still surrounding her.

After a chance encounter with Ray, an American airman stationed nearby, Nellie becomes enchanted with the idea of a broader world. Just when Nellie begins to embrace an exciting new life with Ray, a terrible incident occurs during an air raid one evening, tearing Nellie’s world is torn apart. But just when it seems all hope is lost, Nellie finds that, against all odds, love and happiness can triumph.

Nineteen Steps is a deeply affecting, mesmerizing page-turner inspired by the author’s family history. An epic story of longing, loss, and secrets, Millie Bobby Brown’s propulsive debut introduces an unforgettable, brave young woman and boldly portrays the strength in the power of love.

“Inspired by my Nanny Ruth, this book is very personal and close to my heart. I grew up listening to stories about her time living through the war. I’m honored to keep her story alive.”—Millie Bobby Brown]]> 320 Millie Bobby Brown 0063335786 exploraDora 4 historical-fiction, ww-ii
I immediately thought Millie couldn't have written it herself and looked up who the ghostwriter is. That's when I saw a ton of people slamming her for it, but I was wondering.. don't they know how ghostwriting works? Katherine McGurl was most likely paid substantially for the job and accepted the conditions of having Millie's name on her work, so I don't really see the issue ]]> 3.72 2023
author: Millie Bobby Brown
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/01/01
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: historical-fiction, ww-ii
review:
I don't really understand the hate around this book, because I thought it was a good story and I really enjoyed reading it.

I immediately thought Millie couldn't have written it herself and looked up who the ghostwriter is. That's when I saw a ton of people slamming her for it, but I was wondering.. don't they know how ghostwriting works? Katherine McGurl was most likely paid substantially for the job and accepted the conditions of having Millie's name on her work, so I don't really see the issue
]]> 215805832 From the New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin comes the thrilling final installment of the series, set in college. Jared (white, Justyce's roommate, woke) is running for Junior class president. With his antiracism platform, he's a shoo-in. But he's up against the new girl, Dylan (Black). Will Jared have to choose between his head and his heart?

Jared Peter Christensen is running for junior class president at his university.��

Based on early polls, Jared’s pretty sure he’s got a good shot at beating the right-wing business major he’s running against. After all, his platform built on increased equity and inclusion on campus makes him the popular choice.��

A new candidate enters the Dylan, transfer student from a HBCU and the most beautiful girl Jared has ever seen. She calls him out for his Woke White Boy mentality.��

Jared starts writing letters to his deceased best friend Manny to make sense of his confusion.

What’s a white boy to do when love and privilege collide?

From the New York Times bestselling author Nic Stone comes the exciting third chapter that examines white privilege, love, and our political climate. Stone reinterprets the constitution for today's teens.]]> 224 Nic Stone 0593308018 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.34 2025
author: Nic Stone
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216595852
I'm just a girl. And it turns out, I'm Hercules.

I'm struggling to survive in a Titan infested world where Spartans, immortals from twelve royal families who have god-like powers and obscene wealth, rule over all. A shy-stammering foster child with nothing, I keep my head down, cover my scars, and focus on excelling in school. At least, I try to. Then it happens.

My blood test reveals I'm part of the powerful elite. I'm one of them. A Spartan.

Forced to attend the Spartan War Academy, I undergo the most harrowing test of all time to see if I have what it takes to be an immortal. There's just a few problems. Achilles and Patro are my scary mentors. Kharon, the ferryman of death, and Augustus, the son of war, are my terrifying professors. Also, I'm pretty sure either someone's stalking me everywhere I go, or my sanity's slipping––I have a bad feeling both are true.

I'm surrounded by Villains and they're smothering me with their hate, obsession, and dark possessiveness. Too bad for them, they have no clue just who they're messing with.




]]> 496 Jasmine Mas exploraDora 0 to-read 3.85 2024
author: Jasmine Mas
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62926938 An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate…only to discover he lives seven years in the past, in this witty and wise new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dead Romantics.

Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.]]> 336 Ashley Poston exploraDora 0 to-read 4.18 2023
author: Ashley Poston
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.18
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 16054217 The #1 New York Times bestselling series finale and sequel to A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night

Bringing the magic and suspense of the All Souls Trilogy to a deeply satisfying conclusion, this highly anticipated finale went straight to #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. In The Book of Life, Diana and Matthew time-travel back from Elizabethan London to make a dramatic return to the present—facing new crises and old enemies. At Matthew’s ancestral home, Sept-Tours, they reunite with the beloved cast of characters from A Discovery of Witches—with one significant exception. But the real threat to their future has yet to be revealed, and when it is, the search for Ashmole 782 and its missing pages takes on even more urgency.]]> 561 Deborah Harkness 0670025593 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.15 2014
author: Deborah Harkness
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 49669410
An explorer returns to gather information from a climate-ravaged Earth that his ancestors, and others among the planet’s finest, fled centuries ago. The mission comes with a warning: a graveyard world awaits him. But so do those left behind—hopeless and unbeautiful wastes of humanity who should have died out eons ago. After all this time, there’s no telling how they’ve devolved. Steel yourself, soldier. Get in. Get out. And try not to stare.

N. K. Jemisin’s Emergency Skin is part of Forward, a collection of six stories of the near and far future from out-of-this-world authors. Each piece can be read or listened to in a single thought-provoking sitting.]]> 38 N.K. Jemisin 1542093570 exploraDora 3 ***3 stars***

This is the third story I'm reading from the Forward Collection.

I didn't know what to expect based on title, but it has an interesting premise. It might have been better if it was a longer book, with more details and backstory. Jumping into the middle of the plot made me feel like I was missing something.

My biggest issue with this short story is that it had some confusing dialogue. I found the multiple voices difficult to follow/to understand who was talking when.

Comparing it to the other two stories I've read, I didn't like this one quite as much, but the premise was thought-provoking.]]> 4.02 2019
author: N.K. Jemisin
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2020/08/11
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: audiobook, dystopia, adult, novella, science-fiction, short-stories
review:
***3 stars***

This is the third story I'm reading from the Forward Collection.

I didn't know what to expect based on title, but it has an interesting premise. It might have been better if it was a longer book, with more details and backstory. Jumping into the middle of the plot made me feel like I was missing something.

My biggest issue with this short story is that it had some confusing dialogue. I found the multiple voices difficult to follow/to understand who was talking when.

Comparing it to the other two stories I've read, I didn't like this one quite as much, but the premise was thought-provoking.
]]> 7864437 It’s the end of the line.

WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.

Will anyone survive?

What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.

The truth will be terrifying.

Thomas beat the Maze. He survived the Scorch. He’ll risk anything to save his friends. But the truth might be what ends it all.

The time for lies is over.]]> 325 James Dashner 0385738773 exploraDora 2 ***3 stars***

Sadly, this book did little for me. It didn't answer any of my questions, left a lot unexplained, and was also not eventful enough!? I'm disappointed, to say the least.]]> 3.78 2011
author: James Dashner
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2011
rating: 2
read at: 2020/08/30
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: apocalyptic, audiobook, dystopia, disappointed, bookclub, young-adult, fantasy, science-fiction
review:
***3 stars***

Sadly, this book did little for me. It didn't answer any of my questions, left a lot unexplained, and was also not eventful enough!? I'm disappointed, to say the least.
]]> 63329561 Listening Length: 9 hours and 24 minutes

How can Holly Winters, the Queen of Christmas Cheer, stand to be neighbors with her town’s resident Scrooge?

Holly owns the merriest holiday shop on Main Street. But right next door is the hardware store run by Declan Gallagher, the grinchiest man in all of Mistletoe, Idaho. With Christmas fast approaching, the small-town rivals engage in an all-out prank war, sending each other not-so-friendly season’s greetings.

But when Holly’s ambitious plan to win the town’s Festival of Lights falls apart, she has no one else to call but her handy sworn-nemesis. They say Christmas is a time for miracles, after all. As Holly and Declan work together, they slowly warm up to each other. They might just end up spending Christmas Eve cuddling by the fire.

Along Came Holly is the perfect enemies-to-lovers rom-com sure to warm hearts this holiday season. Curl up with a beau and a cup of hot cocoa and listen to the latest in A Mistletoe Romance series by author Codi Hall.]]> 366 Codi Hall exploraDora 3 christmas, audiobook 3.57 2022
author: Codi Hall
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2022/12/14
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: christmas, audiobook
review:
My least favorite out of the Mistletoe series, but still cute enough to deserve 3 stars.
]]> 57429914 An enchanting novel about fate, second chances, and hope, lost and found, by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Last of the Moon Girls.

Soline Roussel is well schooled in the business of happy endings. For generations her family has kept an exclusive bridal salon in Paris, where magic is worked with needle and thread. It’s said that the bride who wears a Roussel gown is guaranteed a lifetime of joy. But devastating losses during World War II leave Soline’s world and heart in ruins and her faith in love shaken. She boxes up her memories, stowing them away, along with her broken dreams, determined to forget.

Decades later, while coping with her own tragic loss, aspiring gallery owner Rory Grant leases Soline’s old property and discovers a box containing letters and a vintage wedding dress, never worn. When Rory returns the mementos, an unlikely friendship develops, and eerie parallels in Rory’s and Soline’s lives begin to surface. It’s clear that they were destined to meet—and that Rory may hold the key to righting a forty-year wrong and opening the door to shared healing and, perhaps, a little magic.]]> 415 Barbara Davis 1542021480 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.47 2021
author: Barbara Davis
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60650092
Ruth’s childhood was a happy one, and her family—on her mother’s side—large and loving. But her father’s French origins have always remained a mystery. Now, with aged relatives beginning to die, Ruth decides to research her father’s family before it’s too late.

When she discovers a series of long-lost cassettes, everything she thought she knew about them shatters. The tapes expose an unimaginable truth �� an epic wartime story of hidden love and sacrifice, stretching back to occupied France.

These long-buried confessions will rock Ruth’s family—and finally piece together the puzzle of her father’s heritage. But are any of them ready for the truth?]]> 399 Nick Alexander 1542032466 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.47 2022
author: Nick Alexander
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 210085071
Always just on the periphery, looking on, young Frankie is never quite sure enough of herself to take centre stage. But the outsider holds certain advantages, sees things others don't, can influence without drawing attention. And when the map has been lost, it's anyone's guess where you may end up, or the accidental choices you find you have made. Frankie discovers that life is not always the one we hope for, or the one others expect of us.

Travelling from post-war Ireland to the dazzling art scene of 1960s New York by way of London, Frankie is an immersive, decade-sweeping novel about love, bravery and what it means to live a significant life.]]> 291 Graham Norton exploraDora 0 to-read 4.31 2024
author: Graham Norton
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 220160814 Three women are connected by one man in this kaleidoscopic thriller.

Restauranteur Paddy Swann was the life of the party until the day a man pushed him in the path of an oncoming train, leaving his twenty-something daughter Ash and wife Nina devastated. Shortly after Paddy’s funeral, the two women receive a surprise in the mail: a note and package from Nick Ratcliffe, an old friend of Paddy’s, and a nondescript lighter that once belonged to him decades ago. This unexpected gift draws Nick and Nina closer together—much to Ash’s dismay.

Martha is a small-town florist with dreams of expansion. She lives with her second husband Al, her baby, and two sons from her prior marriage. But they never seem to have any money, and with his constant traveling for work, she feels like a single parent—especially when an emergency makes her realize something needs to change.

But Nick and Al may not be who they say they are, leading these three women on a shocking collision course, wishing they had heeded a warning: Don’t let him in.]]> 368 Lisa Jewell 1668033879 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.00 2025
author: Lisa Jewell
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 217388429 Scream meets The Guest List in this wickedly compelling and compulsively page-turning thriller of friendship and murder from the author of The Lost Village, Camilla Sten.

On a remote, craggy island nestled off the coast of Sweden, four friends—Tilly, Anna, Linnea and Evelina—meet every year. Best friends since childhood, the idea is to drink beer, dance by the water, and shake off the weight of life's expectations. The location of the island is a secret to everyone but them. One night of reckless fun and secret-sharing, and then they return to their normal lives.

Ten years later. Ever since she was a teenager, Tessa Nilsson has been consumed by the story of four friends who disappeared on their annual trip to a remote island together. As her true crime fervor turned into a wildly popular podcast, Tessa urgently covered Sweden’s most gruesome cases, but could never find the answers behind what happened to these women who disappeared, leaving a few maddening clues but no concrete answers. Now Tessa’s podcast has crashed and burned, any chance she had at uncovering the truth vanishing with it.

Anneliese is Tessa’s best friend, and before she walks down the aisle, she wants to have a bachelorette party. The Baltic Vinyasa, a sleek, sophisticated yoga retreat on a small island off the coast—one with such similar characteristics to the tragedy years ago that it raises the hair on Tessa’s neck. The idea is to drink gallons of cava, do sunrise yoga, and get in their last chance to bond with the bride. Tessa will not pass this up. It’s her last chance to find out what happened to the four women, once and for all.

And it’s someone else’s last chance to get revenge.]]> 304 Camilla Sten 1250868505 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.60 2025
author: Camilla Sten
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212421066
From the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time comes an addictive thriller about a new mother’s world upended when her husband commits a terrifying crime. How well does she truly know the man she loves? And what danger does she face if her entire life has been built on a lie?

It is June 21st, the longest day of the year, and new mother Camilla’s life is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop her infant daughter off at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But, when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.

Then it starts. Breaking news: there's a hostage situation developing in London. The police arrive, and tell her Luke is involved. But he isn't a hostage. Her husband—doting father, eternal optimist—is the gunman.

What she does next is crucial. Because only she knows what the note he left behind that morning says...

Famous Last Words is the story of a crime, a marriage, and more secrets than Camilla ever could have imagined. This novel cements Gillian McAllister’s reputation as “the best at putting her characters in impossible situations and making her readers not only contemplate but feel what it would be like to find themselves in those situations.�� (Emily Henry)]]> 336 Gillian McAllister 0063338424 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.74 2025
author: Gillian McAllister
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 216223604 The nightmare she’s running from is nothing compared to where she’s headed.

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard.

She never arrives at her destination.

Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears.

But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is in grave danger. This safe haven isn’t what she thought it was, and staying here may have been her most deadly mistake yet.

And now she must do whatever it takes to save herself—and her unborn child.

A gut-wrenching story of motherhood, survival, and twisted expectations, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden delivers a snowbound thriller that will chill you to the bone.
]]> 384 Freida McFadden 1464232989 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.59 2025
author: Freida McFadden
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 211004123 The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .
. . . and revenge.

Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.

Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.

A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible �� a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.

Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.]]> 306 Alice Feeney 125033778X exploraDora 0 to-read 3.65 2025
author: Alice Feeney
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 213243915 The #1 New York Times bestselling author, whose books so many love, brings us a fresh, contemporary story of a woman and her unruly blended family

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is . . . complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach about love, and what it actually means to be family.]]> 450 Jojo Moyes 1984879324 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.89 2025
author: Jojo Moyes
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203578890 A big-hearted small-town romance from bestselling, award-winning author Elle McNicoll, Some Like it Cold is perfect for fans of Alice Oseman, Talia Hibbert and Gilmore Girls.Jasper Montgomery is heading home for the holidays and keeping secrets. Determined to return to her small town home one last time before leaving for good, Jasper doesn’t bank on accidentally ruining her sister's engagement - or bumping into her teen adversary, budding filmmaker Arthur Lancaster.Jasper came back to Lake Pristine for one to say goodbye. But during the holidays, old relationships come to light, small-town tensions rise, and a certain brooding film buff starts to look like a very big reason to stay. Can Jasper decide what she wants from Arthur, and from Lake Pristine, before she leaves them both forever?]]> 368 Elle McNicoll 1250335531 exploraDora 3 audiobook, christmas, romance 3.70 2024
author: Elle McNicoll
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/05
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: audiobook, christmas, romance
review:

]]> 38255337 Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.

Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic... and then her bus drives away.

Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.

What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780525574682.]]> 393 Josie Silver exploraDora 5 ***5 Stars***

Re-read, after I couldn't find many good holiday books this December. Loved it just as much as the first time ❤️
.
.
.

One Day in December was a charming story, offering a poignant look at falling in love with the right person at the wrong time and about falling in love with the wrong person at the right time. It illustrates the ups and downs, the longing, the laughs, the joys, the distance and the heartbreaks of love.

The story is told through dual POV, by the MCs Jack and Laurie. We follow them as they first meet by fleetingly locking eyes at a bus stop, only to then be properly introduced one year later. The first contact ignited a spark in both - one that will soon be put out by some unfortunate events.

I feel like it's important to mention that the story spans over 10 years (since that might not be your thing!?), but it's a sweet and funny one and an unexpectedly touching one, too. It is really well written, so much that as I was reading, I constantly thought of what a lovely movie it would make. Everything played out right in front of my eyes ]]> 3.80 2018
author: Josie Silver
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/17
date added: 2025/01/05
shelves: audiobook, romance, adult, christmas
review:
***5 Stars***

Re-read, after I couldn't find many good holiday books this December. Loved it just as much as the first time ❤️
.
.
.

One Day in December was a charming story, offering a poignant look at falling in love with the right person at the wrong time and about falling in love with the wrong person at the right time. It illustrates the ups and downs, the longing, the laughs, the joys, the distance and the heartbreaks of love.

The story is told through dual POV, by the MCs Jack and Laurie. We follow them as they first meet by fleetingly locking eyes at a bus stop, only to then be properly introduced one year later. The first contact ignited a spark in both - one that will soon be put out by some unfortunate events.

I feel like it's important to mention that the story spans over 10 years (since that might not be your thing!?), but it's a sweet and funny one and an unexpectedly touching one, too. It is really well written, so much that as I was reading, I constantly thought of what a lovely movie it would make. Everything played out right in front of my eyes
]]> 216941308 Romans! Madrigals! The Dark Ages! Revolutions! Trumpets! The Oranges of The First World War! All of this (except trumpets) and more, is covered in this definitive, easy-clean history of all world history so far, written by the 21st Century's leading historian, philosopher and thinkerer Philomena Cunk.

Focussing on the inventions, art,and brainboxes that made the modern world the unbearable place it is today,��The World According To Cunk��is the history book to end all history more unputdownable than Andrew Marr's��History Of The World, less unpickupable than Yuval Noah Harari's��Sapiens, and noticeably less in ancient Greek than Herodotus'��Histories.

Philomena Cunk "About the world, written on the world, and available at all the world's remaining bookshops,��The World According To Cunk��������the��definitive history of the world. There will never need be another history book. Unless something major happens. Even then they'll probably just put something up on TikTok about it. A word of please don't buy it if you're expecting anything about trumpets in it. You will only be disappointed."]]> 256 Philomena Cunk 1538773821 exploraDora 0 currently-reading 3.94
author: Philomena Cunk
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.94
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/26
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> 128121257
Lauren Ribido is a senior in high school. She dreams of an Ivy League education, escaping her hometown and her troubled mother.

When Angie hires Lauren to work at the restaurant, they form an immediate bond, which deepens when Lauren’s mother abruptly leaves town and Angie offers her a place to stay. But nothing could have prepared Angie for the far-reaching repercussions of this act of kindness. Together, these two women �� one who longs for a child and the other who longs for a mother’s love �� will be tested in ways that neither could have imagined.

Another Life is a powerful, moving and hopeful story of the life-changing impact of the connections we form, by the international number one bestselling author Kristin Hannah.

*Published in the US as The Things We Do for Love]]> 428 Kristin Hannah 1761267655 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.98 2004
author: Kristin Hannah
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 221571058 Brighten the holidays with this funny, heartfelt rom-com about the stories—and the love—that we never forget.

When mystery author D. B. Ziegler is late delivering her book, Abi Schore steps in to help. Surely she can give her favorite author moral support over the holiday break and get the manuscript to her boss at Tea & Sympathy Publishing in time for the new year.

When Abi shows up on Ms. Ziegler’s doorstep bearing holiday treats, she’s met by the author’s handsome grandson Dov, who reveals a startling plot twist. His grandmother isn’t able to finish the book and Dov promised he’d complete it so fans won’t be disappointed—a task that’s harder than he ever imagined.

As Hanukkah unfolds, Abi and Dov cozy up in his grandmother’s brownstone apartment working their way through his writer’s block and untangling plot threads. Before long, the novel starts taking shape ... and so does their simmering attraction. Will their own story end once the book is written, or is this just the first chapter?]]> 4 Liz Maverick exploraDora 0 to-read 3.49 2024
author: Liz Maverick
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.49
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 83814905 An American art student in London is invited to join a classmate for the holidays at Starvewood Hall, her family's Cotswold manor house. But behind the holly and pine boughs, secrets are about to unravel, revealing this seemingly charming English village's grim history.

Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was planning on spending Christmas alone, but a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, country residence of the Chapman family. The Cotswold manor house, festooned in pine boughs and crammed with guests for Christmas week, is a dream come true for Ashley. She is mesmerized by the cozy, firelit house, the large family, and the charming village of Clevemoor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma's aloof and handsome brother.

But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Starvewood Hall and the local pub. Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is actually inhabiting. Is she in a grand romance? A gothic tale? Or has she wandered into something far more sinister and terrifying than she'd ever imagined?

Over thirty years later the events of that horrific week are revisited, along with a diary from that time. What began in a small English village in 1989 reaches its ghostly conclusion in modern-day New York, many Christmas seasons later.]]> 96 Peter Swanson 0063297450 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.58 2023
author: Peter Swanson
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 66087062 A woman risks everything to end her family’s centuries-old curse, solve her mother’s disappearance, and find love in this mesmerizing novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Spells for Forgetting.

In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, June Farrow is waiting for fate to find her. The Farrow women are known for their thriving flower farm—and the mysterious curse that has plagued their family line. The whole town remembers the madness that led to Susanna Farrow’s disappearance, leaving June to be raised by her grandmother and haunted by rumors.

It’s been a year since June started seeing and hearing things that weren’t there. Faint wind chimes, a voice calling her name, and a mysterious door appearing out of nowhere—the signs of what June always knew was coming. But June is determined to end the curse once and for all, even if she must sacrifice finding love and having a family of her own.

After her grandmother’s death, June discovers a series of cryptic clues regarding her mother’s decades-old disappearance, except they only lead to more questions. But could the door she once assumed was a hallucination be the answer she’s been searching for? The next time it appears, June realizes she can touch it and walk past the threshold. And when she does, she embarks on a journey that will not only change both the past and the future, but also uncover the lingering mysteries of her small town and entangle her heart in an epic star-crossed love.

With The Unmaking of June Farrow, Adrienne Young delivers a brilliant novel of romance, mystery, and a touch of the impossible—a story you will never forget.]]> 320 Adrienne Young 0593598679 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.13 2023
author: Adrienne Young
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/09
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 212432167 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Two writers with a complicated history end up working on the same TV show... Can they write themselves a new ending? A sexy and emotional enemies-to-lovers romance guaranteed to pull on your heartstrings and give you a book hangover from brilliant new voice Yulin Kuang.

Helen Zhang hasn’t seen Grant Shepard once in the thirteen years since the tragic accident that bound their lives together forever.

Now a bestselling author, Helen pours everything into her career. She’s even scored a coveted spot in the writers�� room of the TV adaptation of her popular young adult novels, and if she can hide her imposter syndrome and overcome her writer’s block, surely the rest of her life will fall into place too. LA is the fresh start she needs. After all, no one knows her there. Except��

Grant has done everything in his power to move on from the past, including building a life across the country. And while the panic attacks have never quite gone away, he’s well liked around town as a screenwriter. He knows he shouldn’t have taken the job on Helen’s show, but it will open doors to developing his own projects that he just can’t pass up.

Grant’s exactly as Helen remembers him—charming, funny, popular, and lovable in ways that she’s never been. And Helen’s exactly as Grant remembers too—brilliant, beautiful, closed off. But working together is messy, and electrifying, and Helen’s parents, who have never forgiven Grant, have no idea he’s in the picture at all.

When secrets come to light, they must reckon with the fact that theirs was never meant to be any kind of love story. And yet�� the key to making peace with their past—and themselves—might just lie in holding on to each other in the present.]]> 384 Yulin Kuang 0063310686 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.51 2024
author: Yulin Kuang
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/08
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203357152
Can Rig find the thief, resolve the issues, and get back in time to add a little joy to FM's birthday?]]> 18 Brandon Sanderson exploraDora 0 to-read 3.73 2023
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 43606308 From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson comes the final book in an epic series about a girl who will travel beyond the stars to save the world she loves from destruction.

Spensa has made it out of the Nowhere, but what she saw in the space between the stars has changed her forever. She came face to face with the Delvers, and finally got answers to the questions she’s had about her own strange Cytonic gifts.

The Superiority didn’t stop in its fight for galactic dominance while she was gone, though. Spensa’s team, Skyward Flight, was able to hold Winzik off, and even collect allies to help with the cause, but it’s only a matter of time until humanity–and the rest of the galaxy–falls.

Defeating them will require all the knowledge Spensa gathered while in the Nowhere. But being Cytonic is more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Now, Spensa must ask herself: How far is she willing to go for victory, if it means losing herself–and her friends–in the process.

The final book in the Skyward series will free humanity, or see it fall forever.]]> 420 Brandon Sanderson 0593309715 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.28 2023
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 202102032 It's love at first haunting in a seaside town that raises everyone’s spirits from USA Today bestselling author Jen DeLuca.

Small Florida coastal towns often find themselves scrambling for the tourism dollars that the Orlando theme parks leave behind. And within the town limits of Boneyard Key, the residents decided long ago to lean into its ghostliness. Nick Royer, owner of the Hallowed Grounds coffee shop, embraces the ghost tourism that keeps the local economy afloat, as well as his spectral roommate. At least he doesn’t have to run air-conditioning.

Cassie Rutherford possibly overreacted to all her friends getting married and having kids by leaving Orlando and buying a flipped historic cottage in Boneyard Key. Though there’s something unusual with her new home (her laptop won’t charge in any outlets, and the poetry magnets on her fridge definitely didn’t read “WRONG�� and “MY HOUSE�� when she put them up), she’s charmed by the colorful history surrounding her. And she's catching a certain vibe from the grumpy coffee shop owner whenever he slips her a free slice of banana bread along with her coffee order.

As Nick takes her on a ghost tour, sharing town gossip that tourists don't get to hear, and they spend nights side-by-side looking into the former owners of her haunted cottage, their connection solidifies into something very real and enticing. But Cassie's worried she’s in too deep with this whole (haunted) home ownership thing�� and Nick's afraid to get too close in case Cassie gets scared away for good.]]> 325 Jen DeLuca 0593641213 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.66 2024
author: Jen DeLuca
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 10569 (back cover)]]> 320 Stephen King 0743455967 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.33 2000
author: Stephen King
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.33
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 201632567
“A gruesome, action-packed monster novel about a mother and daughter with a terrible secret, on the run from an obsessed and crumbling detective . . . Terrific.�� —The New York Times Book Review

In Stuart Neville’s horror debut, a mother's undying love and a daughter's insatiable hunger carve a bloody trail across the highways of the Southwest.

On a snowy December night, single mother Rebecca Carter drives her van into a snowbank to avoid hitting an elk on a desolate mountain highway. She is at the end of her rope, out of money and food. Still, she refuses help from a man in a pickup truck—Rebecca’s adolescent daughter, Moonflower, is on the run from a grisly secret, and the last thing they can afford is to be remembered by anyone they meet.

Meanwhile, Special Agent Marc Donner of the FBI has spent the better part of two years hunting down a gruesome serial killer who drains victims of blood before severing their spinal cords, leaving a trail of bodies throughout the country. As Agent Donner’s investigation brings him closer and closer to where Rebecca and Moonflower are hiding out, in the foothills of Colorado, the life that Rebecca has fought so hard to hold together for her daughter becomes increasingly imperiled.

In this deadly, high-stakes game of cat and mouse, nobody is safe and nothing is certain—not even the line between predator and prey.]]> 375 Stuart Neville 1641295414 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.59 2024
author: Stuart Neville
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203163914 In the latest from Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE DEVIL TAKES YOU HOME, a group of five teenage boys, living in Puerto Rico, seek vengeance after one of their mothers is murdered; a doomed tale of devotion and the afterlife of violence. ��

For childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo, death has always been close. Hurricanes. Car accidents. Gang violence. Suicide. Estamos rodeados de fantasmas was Gabe’s grandmother’s refrain. We are surrounded by ghosts. But this time is different. Bimbo's mom has been shot dead. We’re gonna kill the guys who killed her Bimbo swears. And they all agree.

Feral with grief, Bimbo has become unrecognizable, taking no prisoners in his search for names. Soon, they learn Maria was gunned down by guys working for the drug kingpin of Puerto Rico. No one has ever gone up against him and survived. As the boys strategize, a storm gathers far from the coast. Hurricanes are known to carry evil spirits in their currents and bring them ashore, spirits which impose their own order.

Blurring the boundaries between myth, mysticism, and the grim realities of our world, House of Bone and Rain is a harrowing coming of age story; a doomed tale of devotion, the afterlife of violence, and what rolls in on the tide.]]> 345 Gabino Iglesias 0316427012 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.84 2024
author: Gabino Iglesias
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.84
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 195790597 When Among Crows is swift and striking, drawing from the deep well of Slavic folklore and asking if redemption and atonement can be found in embracing what we most fear.

We bear the sword, and we bear the pain of the sword.

On Kupala Night, Dymitr arrives in Chicago’s monstrous, magical underworld with a perilous mission: pick the mythical fern flower and offer it to a cursed creature in exchange for help finding the legendary witch Baba Jaga.

Ala is a fear-eating zmora afflicted with a bloodline curse that’s slowly killing her. She's just desperate enough to say yes to Dymitr, even if she doesn’t know his motives.

Over the course of one night, Ala and Dymitr risk life and limb in search of Baba Jaga, and begin to build a tentative friendship. . . but when Ala finds out what Dymitr is hiding, it could destroy them both.]]> 166 Veronica Roth 1250855489 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.71 2024
author: Veronica Roth
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 154462576 New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale

January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, she receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about haunted trenches, and a strange hotelier whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could Freddie have escaped the battlefield, only to fall prey to something—or someone—else?

November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a wounded enemy soldier, a German by the name of Hans Winter. Against all odds, the two men form an alliance and succeed in clawing their way out. Unable to bear the thought of returning to the killing fields, especially on opposite sides, they take refuge with a mysterious man who seems to have the power to make the hellscape of the trenches disappear.

As shells rain down on Flanders, and ghosts move among those yet living, Laura’s and Freddie’s deepest traumas are reawakened. Now they must decide whether their world is worth salvaging—or better left behind entirely.]]> 325 Katherine Arden 0593128257 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.97 2024
author: Katherine Arden
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 203019740 From the New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End comes a soaring thriller and an epic love story that spans decades.

1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.

When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.

Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.

A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope.]]> 608 Chris Whitaker 0593798872 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.24 2024
author: Chris Whitaker
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 194020321
After their mother passes, three estranged siblings reunite to sort out her estate. Beth, the oldest, never left home. She stayed with her mom, caring for her until the very end. Nicole, the middle child, has been kept at arm’s length due to her ongoing battle with a serious drug addiction. Michael, the youngest, lives out of state and hasn’t been back to their small Wisconsin town since their father ran out on them seven years before.

While going through their parent’s belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.

Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.]]> 256 Jeneva Rose exploraDora 0 to-read 3.77 2024
author: Jeneva Rose
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 200987323 In this wildly funny and heartwarming office comedy, an admin worker accidentally gains access to her colleagues�� private emails and DMs and decides to use this intel to save her job—a laugh-till-you-cry debut novel you’ll be eager to share with your entire list of contacts, perfect for fans of Anxious People and Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

As far as Jolene is concerned, her interactions with her colleagues should start and end with her official duties as an admin for Supershops, Inc. Unfortunately, her irritating, incompetent coworkers don’t seem to understand the importance of boundaries. Her secret to survival? She vents her grievances in petty email postscripts, then changes the text colour to white so no one can see. That is, until one of her secret messages is exposed. Her punishment: sensitivity training (led by the suspiciously friendly HR guy, Cliff) and rigorous email restrictions.

When an IT mix-up grants her access to her entire department’s private emails and DMs, Jolene knows she should report it, but who could resist reading what their coworkers are really saying? And when she discovers layoffs are coming, she realizes this might just be the key to saving her job. The plan is simple: gain her boss’s favour, convince HR she’s Supershops material and beat out the competition.

But as Jolene is drawn further into her coworker’s private worlds and secrets, her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble—especially around Cliff, who she definitely cannot have feelings for. Soon she will need to decide if she’s ready to leave the comfort of her cubicle, even if it means coming clean to her colleagues.

Crackling with laugh-out-loud dialogue and relatable observations, I Hope This Finds You Well is a fresh and surprisingly tender comedy about loneliness and love beyond our computer screens. This sparkling debut novel will open your heart to the everyday eccentricities of work culture and the undeniable human connection that comes with it.]]> 338 Natalie Sue 0063320363 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.75 2024
author: Natalie Sue
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 133938826 should feel successful—but all she feels is drained. Haunted by an abandoned dream, she takes a leap of faith and leaves her old life behind. Quitting her job and divorcing her husband, Yeongju moves to a quiet residential neighborhood outside the city and opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop.

The transition isn’t easy. For months, all Yeongju can do is cry. But as the long hours in the shop stretch on, she begins to reflect on what makes a good bookseller and a meaningful store. She throws herself into reading voraciously, hosting author events, and crafting her own philosophy on bookselling. Gradually, Yeongju finds her footing in her new surroundings.

Surrounded by friends, writers, and the books that bind them, Yeongju begins to write a new chapter in her life. The Hyunam-dong Bookshop evolves into a warm, welcoming haven for lost souls—a place to rest, heal, and remember that it’s never too late to scrap the plot and start over.]]> 307 Hwang Bo-Reum exploraDora 0 to-read 3.94 2022
author: Hwang Bo-Reum
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 93481619
The winter solstice is celebrated as a time of joy around the world—yet the long nights also conjure a darker tradition of ghouls, hauntings, and visitations. This anthology of all-new stories invites you to huddle around the fire and revel in the unholy, the dangerous, the horrific aspects of a time when families and friends come together—for better and for worse.

From the eerie Austrian Schnabelperchten to the skeletal Welsh Mari Lwyd, by way of ravenous golems, uncanny neighbors, and unwelcome visitors, Christmas and Other Horrors captures the heart and horror of the festive season.

Because the weather outside is frightful, but the fire inside is hungry...

Featuring stories by:

Nadia Bulkin
Terry Dowling
Tananarive Due
Jeffrey Ford
Christopher Golden
Stephen Graham Jones
Glen Hirshberg
Richard Kadrey
Alma Katsu
Cassandra Khaw
John Langan
Josh Malerman
Nick Mamatas
Garth Nix
Benjamin Percy
M. Rickert
Kaaron Warren]]> 410 Ellen Datlow exploraDora 0 to-read 3.55 2023
author: Ellen Datlow
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves: to-read
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]]> 216116320 One part American sugar, two parts Irish spice. Cassie O'Hara is about to discover the recipe for the sweetest Christmas��

When New York-born Cassie O'Hara decides to use the money her sassy Irish nana Nora left in her will to book a month-long stay in a quaint country village, she's expecting a cozy cottage, steak-and-ale pie and plenty of Christmas cheer. Instead, she gets a draughty disaster covered in dust, a temperamental stray dog and two devastatingly handsome men vying for her attention��

There's Charles, the dashing English aristocrat with an enormous manor house and a heart of gold. And Ryan, a curly-haired Irish handyman with a past he won't talk about and an accent that makes her weak at the knees.

When Charles enlists Cassie's event-planning expertise to save his family estate, she finds herself working shoulder to shoulder with Ryan, breathing new life into Bancroft Manor. As village life weaves its spell, Cassie uncovers some intriguing secrets about Nana Nora's past. With her return ticket looming and her heart pulling her in unexpected directions, can Cassie find the love and belonging Nana Nora always wanted for her?

A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy filled with Irish charm, festive flirting and enough Christmas spirit to warm even the coldest of hearts. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Catherine Walsh and anyone who believes in the luck of the Irish��

Readers love Debbie Johnson’s books!

��Pure comfort reading!!... Loved it, it’s like a huge hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows!! Wonderful.�� Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��Absolutely fabulous, I couldn’t put it down. Humour, sadness, family, romance�� what’s not to love?�� Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

“Definitely a five-star ���𲹻��� could... not... stop! Finished it in one afternoon.�� Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

“A beautiful story from an author who never disappoints.�� Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐��

��Deserves more than 5 stars. If I could give this a higher rating than 5, I would. Escapist reading, I couldn't put it down.�� Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐]]> 308 Debbie Johnson 1805087797 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.74 2024
author: Debbie Johnson
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.74
book published: 2024
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]]> 210594739 Enter the dark side of discover the monsters, witches, and nightmarish traditions behind one of the most celebrated holidays in the world When we imagine the origins of Christmas, we picture halcyon images of mangers, glowing fireplaces, and snow-blanketed winter hills. But the holiday is celebrated during the darkest time of year in the Northern Hemisphere—a season so dark it has given rise to the most outlandish traditions imaginable. In The Dead of Winter, Oxford-trained historian Sarah Clegg delves deep into the folkloric roots of Christmas in Europe, comparing their often-horrific past to the way they continue to haunt and entertain us now in the 21st century. Detailing the hideous masks and curling horns of "Krampus runs" in Austria, the fearsome horseheads of "hoodenings"��in Southeast England, and the candle-crowned young witches of Finland's St. Lucy Festival, the author captures the wild revelry at heart of the winter madness. �� In Clegg’s fascinating investigation, these strange, wonderful traditions are cast in their illuminating historical context. And the closer we get to the dark magic and bright enchantment described in��The Dead of Winter, the more we start to see how fun it might be to let just a bit of the ancient darkness in.]]> 208 Sarah Clegg 1643757083 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.73 2024
author: Sarah Clegg
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.73
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]]> 58298507
Widower Paul Aubrey wants nothing more than to return to the States with his little girl, but the US Army convinces him to keep his factory running and obtain military information from his German customers. As the war rages on, Paul offers his own resistance by sabotaging his product and hiding British airmen in his factory. But in order to carry out his mission, he must appear to support the occupation—which does not win him any sympathy when he meets Lucie in the bookstore.

In a world turned upside down, will love or duty prevail?]]> 403 Sarah Sundin 0800736370 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.19 2022
author: Sarah Sundin
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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]]> 53911691
Peter Lang is an American graduate student working on his PhD in German. Disillusioned with the chaos in the world due to the Great Depression, he is impressed with the prosperity and order of German society. But when the brutality of the regime hits close, he discovers a far better way to use his contacts within the Nazi party—to feed information to the shrewd reporter he can't get off his mind.

As the world marches relentlessly toward war, Evelyn and Peter are on a collision course with destiny.]]> 365 Sarah Sundin 0800736362 exploraDora 0 to-read 4.30 2021
author: Sarah Sundin
name: exploraDora
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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]]> 214456664
The first time Ryder James broke my heart, I was fifteen and sad.

The second time he broke my heart, I was eighteen and jaded.

Both times, I fell for him effortlessly. Falling is easy.

Our landings are just hard. Painful.

We were a sad song with a slow melody. Wildflowers with paper petals. Hidden letters with visible tears. A beautiful tragedy.

Except tragedies have endings. Our story just…stopped.

Seven years later, I still have more questions than answers. Questions I’m too proud to ask after almost a decade of silence. Answers he refuses to share, no matter how much time we’re forced to spend together.

Everything’s changed…except how I feel about him. And the recurring moments when I’m certain Ryder hasn’t forgotten our past either.

Can you forget your first?

Or are they destined to keep breaking your heart…over and over again?]]> 446 C.W. Farnsworth exploraDora 0 to-read 3.85
author: C.W. Farnsworth
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.85
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]]> 201102406 An epic survival-thriller about four teens who get lost in the Paris catacombs for days—a gripping and propulsive story of love, danger, betrayal, and hope�� even when all seems lost.

Ruby is terrified to cave to her feelings for Sean and risk him crushing her heart.

Sean is pumped to spend a week with Ruby in Paris on their senior class trip, and he’ll wait however long until she’s ready to take things further.

But when Ruby’s best friend sneaks out the first night to meet a mysterious French boy, Ruby goes after her with two classmates, but caves to another temptation: attending mystery boy’s exclusive party in the Paris catacombs, the intricate web of tunnels beneath the city, home to six million long-dead Parisians. Only they never reach the party.

Underground, as something sinister chases them, they get lost in the endless maze of bones, uncovering dark secrets about the catacombs�� and each other. And if they can’t find a way out, they’ll die in the dark beneath the City of Light.

Aboveground, Sean races to find the girl he loves as a media frenzy over the four missing teens begins.

From award-winning author and rising YA star Diana Urban comes a twisty tale of four teens lost in the dark beneath the City of Light and the race to find them.
]]> 354 Diana Urban 0593625080 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.85 2024
author: Diana Urban
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
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]]> 195703882 Crying in H-Mart meets My Sister, the Serial Killer in this feminist psychological horror about the making of a female serial killer from a Korean-American perspective.

Ji-won’s life tumbles into disarray in the wake of her appa’s extramarital affair and subsequent departure. Her mother, distraught. Her younger sister, hurt and confused. Her college freshman grades, failing. Her dreams, horrifying�� yet enticing.

In them, Ji-won walks through bloody rooms full of eyes. Succulent blue eyes. Salivatingly blue eyes. Eyes the same shape and shade as George’s, who is Umma’s obnoxious new boyfriend. George has already overstayed his welcome in her family’s claustrophobic apartment. He brags about his puffed-up consulting job, ogles Asian waitresses while dining out, and acts condescending toward Ji-won and her sister as if he deserves all of Umma’s fawning adoration. No, George doesn’t deserve anything from her family. Ji-won will make sure of that.

For no matter how many victims accumulate around her campus or how many people she must deceive and manipulate, Ji-won’s hunger and her rage deserve to be sated.

A brilliantly inventive, subversive novel about a young woman unraveling, Monika Kim’s The Eyes Are the Best Part is a story of a family falling apart and trying to find their way back to each other, marking a bold new voice in horror that will leave readers mesmerized and craving more.]]> 278 Monika Kim 1645661237 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.82 2024
author: Monika Kim
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2024
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]]> 199757490 A chilling horror novel about a haunting told from the perspective of a young girl whose troubled family is targeted by an entity she calls “Other Mommy,�� from the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box
��
To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world. There’s��Mommy,��Daddo,��and Grandma Ruth.��But there is also Other Mommy, a malevolent entity who asks her every day: “Can I go inside your heart?”����
��
When horrifying incidents around the house signal that Other Mommy is growing tired of asking Bela the same question, over and over . . . Bela understands that unless she says yes, soon her family must pay.��
��
Other Mommy is getting restless, stronger, bolder. Only the bonds of family can keep Bela safe but other incidents show cracks in her parents' marriage. The safety Bela relies on is on the brink of unraveling.����
��
But Other Mommy needs an answer.��
��
Incidents Around the House is a chilling, wholly unique tale of true horror told by the child Bela. A story about a family as haunted as their home.]]> 367 Josh Malerman 0593723120 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.61 2024
author: Josh Malerman
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.61
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]]> 203608552 A woman must learn to take life by the throat after a night out leads to irrevocable changes in this juicy, thrilling novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth and Black Sheep.

Sloane Parker is dreading her birthday. She doesn’t need a reminder she’s getting older, or that she’s feeling indifferent about her own life.

Her husband surprises her with a birthday weekend getaway—not with him, but with Sloane’s longtime best friend, troublemaker extraordinaire Naomi.

Sloane anticipates a weekend of wine tastings and cozy robes and strategic avoidance of issues she’d rather not confront, like her husband’s repeated infidelity. But when they arrive at their rental cottage, it becomes clear Naomi has something else in mind. She wants Sloane to stop letting things happen to her, for Sloane to really live. So Naomi orchestrates a wild night out with a group of mysterious strangers, only for it to take a horrifying turn that changes Sloane’s and Naomi’s lives literally forever.

The friends are forced to come to terms with some pretty eternal consequences in this bloody, seductive novel about how it’s never too late to find satisfaction, even though it might taste different than expected.]]> 304 Rachel Harrison 0593642546 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.50 2024
author: Rachel Harrison
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.50
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]]> 199798006
As a young, queer couple who flip houses, Charlie and Eve can’t believe the killer deal they’ve just gotten on an old house in a picturesque neighborhood. As they’re working in the house one day, there’s a knock on the door. A man stands there with his family, claiming to have lived there years before and asking if it would be alright if he showed his kids around. People pleaser to a fault, Eve lets them in.

As soon as the strangers enter their home, inexplicable things start happening, including the family’s youngest child going missing and a ghostly presence materializing in the basement. Even more weird, the family can’t seem to take the hint that their visit should be over. And when Charlie suddenly vanishes, Eve slowly loses her grip on reality. Something is terribly wrong with the house and with the visiting family—or is Eve just imagining things?

This unputdownable and spine-tingling novel “is like quicksand: the further you delve into its pages, the more immobilized you become by a spiral of terror. We Used to Live Here will haunt you even after you have finished it�� (Agustina Bazterrica, author of Tender Is the Flesh).]]> 312 Marcus Kliewer 1982198788 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.68 2024
author: Marcus Kliewer
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.68
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]]> 157035866 Jennifer Thorne skewers all-too-familiar family dynamics in this sly, wickedly funny vacation-Gothic. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology.

Anna has two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly and survive.

It isn’t easy when she’s the only one in the family who doesn’t quite fit in. Her twin brother, Benny, goes with the flow so much he’s practically dissolved, and her older sister, Nicole, is so used to everyone—including her blandly docile husband and two kids—falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question. Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet.

The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness, until things start going off the rails—the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and the dark, violent past of the villa itself.

(Warning: May invoke feelings of irritation, dread, and despair that come with large family gatherings.)]]> 293 Jennifer Marie Thorne 1250826128 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.86 2024
author: Jennifer Marie Thorne
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.86
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]]> 204294824
Dark and twisting at every turn, fans of Catriona Ward will love this chilling new tale from the deviously inventive horror author that Peter Farris calls the “clear heir to Stephen King.��

Beware the one who got away . . .

Father Silence once terrorized the rural town of Twisted Tree, disguising himself as a priest to prey on the most vulnerable members of society. When the police finally found his “House of Horrors,�� they uncovered nineteen bodies and one survivor–a boy now locked away in a hospital for the criminally insane.

Nearly two decades later, Father Silence is finally put to death, but by the next morning, the detective who made the original arrest is found dead. A new serial killer is taking credit for the murder and calling himself the Outcast.

The detective’s daughter, Tess Claibourne, is a detective herself, haunted by childhood trauma and horrified by the death of her father and the resurgence of Father Silence’s legacy.

When Tess’s daughter is kidnapped by the Outcast, Tess is forced to face her worst fears and long-buried memories. With no leads to follow, she travels back to Twisted Tree to visit the boy who survived and see what secrets might be buried in the tangled web of his broken mind.

With captivating prose and an old-school horror flair, Sleep Tight is a must-read, haunting tale from a true master of the genre.]]> 336 J.H. Markert 1639108734 exploraDora 0 to-read 3.64 2024
author: J.H. Markert
name: exploraDora
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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