Diana's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 25 Apr 2025 07:16:48 -0700 60 Diana's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies (The Vacation Mysteries, #1)]]> 195790849 Ten days, eight suspects, six cities, five authors, three bodies . . . one trip to die for.

All that bestselling author Eleanor Dash wants is to get through her book tour in Italy and kill off her main character, Connor Smith, in the next in her Vacation Mysteries series―is that too much to ask?

Clearly, because when an attempt is made on the real Connor’s life―the handsome but infuriating con man she got mixed up with ten years ago and now can't get out of her life―Eleanor’s enlisted to help solve the case.

Contending with literary rivals, rabid fans, a stalker―and even her ex, Oliver, who turns up unexpectedly―theories are bandied about, and rivalries, rifts, and broken hearts are revealed. But who’s really trying to get away with murder?

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies is the irresistible and hilarious series debut from Catherine Mack, introducing bestselling fictional author Eleanor Dash on her Italian book tour that turns into a real-life murder mystery, as her life starts to imitate the world in her books.]]> 342 Catherine Mack 1250325854 Diana 4 3.47 2024 Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies (The Vacation Mysteries, #1)
author: Catherine Mack
name: Diana
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/24
date added: 2025/04/25
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires]]> 58938741 Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.

Patricia Campbell had always planned for a big life, but after giving up her career as a nurse to marry an ambitious doctor and become a mother, Patricia's life has never felt smaller. The days are long, her kids are ungrateful, her husband is distant, and her to-do list is never really done. The one thing she has to look forward to is her book club, a group of Charleston mothers united only by their love for true-crime and suspenseful fiction. In these meetings, they're more likely to discuss the FBI's recent siege of Waco as much as the ups and downs of marriage and motherhood.

But when an artistic and sensitive stranger moves into the neighborhood, the book club's meetings turn into speculation about the newcomer. Patricia is initially attracted to him, but when some local children go missing, she starts to suspect the newcomer is involved. She begins her own investigation, assuming that he's a Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy. What she uncovers is far more terrifying, and soon she--and her book club--are the only people standing between the monster they've invited into their homes and their unsuspecting community.]]> 410 Grady Hendrix Diana 0 3.91 2020 The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
author: Grady Hendrix
name: Diana
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/21
date added: 2025/04/21
shelves:
review:

]]> After Oz 200719362 Gripping and emotionally riveting, this whimsical tale is an empowering and timely retelling of The Wizard of Oz where one little girl is forced to face head-on the prejudices of the Midwest in the late 19th century.

Kansas, 1896. After a tornado destroys the Gale family farm, 11-year-old Dorothy goes missing. As the days pass by, the Gales are increasingly terrified the worst has happened. But when the girl turns up unharmed four days later, the townsfolk breathe in a sigh of relief. That is, until Dorothy herself relates her account of the events that took place after her disappearance. 

In vivid detail, Dorothy describes a fantastical land and its magical inhabitants, from the scarecrow, the tin man, and the cowardly lion to the wizard and the witch. Her recollections are not only regarded as delusional, but also as pagan and diabolical in nature, especially when the body of a local spinster is found.

Making connections between the evil witch Dorothy claims to have defeated and the ill-tempered old crone, authorities find what they believe to be incriminating evidence, sentencing Dorothy to the Topeka Insane Asylum.

When 28-year-old psychologist Dr. Evelyn Grace Wilford arrives at the asylum to interview Dorothy, she begins to wonder if Dorothy truly committed the crime or if something unfathomable has really occurred. 

In a small town full of insidious secrets, will Evelyn be able to save Dorothy from her terrible circumstances? Or is something menacing lurking just out of sight?]]> 240 Gordon McAlpine 1639107851 Diana 4 3.53 2024 After Oz
author: Gordon McAlpine
name: Diana
average rating: 3.53
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/19
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What I Ate in One Year (And Related Thoughts)]]> 207298822
“Sharing food is one of the purest human acts.�

Food has always been an integral part of Stanley Tucci’s life: from stracciatella soup served in the shadow of the Pantheon, to marinara sauce cooked between scene rehearsals and costume fittings, to home-made pizza eaten with his children before bedtime.

Now, in What I Ate in One Year Tucci records twelve months of eating—in restaurants, kitchens, film sets, press junkets, at home and abroad, with friends, with family, with strangers, and occasionally just by himself.

Ranging from the mouth-wateringly memorable to the comfortingly domestic and to the infuriatingly inedible, the meals memorialised in this diary are a prism for him to reflect on the ways his life, and his family, are constantly evolving. Through food he marks—and mourns—the passing of time, the loss of loved ones, and steels himself for what is to come.

Whether it’s duck a l’orange eaten with fellow actors and cooked by singing Carmelite nuns, steaks barbequed at a gathering with friends, or meatballs made by his mother and son and shared at the table with three generations of his family, these meals give shape and add emotional richness to his days.

What I Ate in One Year is a funny, poignant, heartfelt, and deeply satisfying serving of memories and meals and an irresistible celebration of the profound role that food plays in all our lives.]]> 368 Stanley Tucci 1668055686 Diana 0 3.85 2024 What I Ate in One Year (And Related Thoughts)
author: Stanley Tucci
name: Diana
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/19
date added: 2025/04/20
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Deadly Cliché (A Books by the Bay Mystery, #2)]]> 8732194 278 Ellery Adams 0425240231 Diana 5 currently-reading 4.08 2011 A Deadly Cliché (A Books by the Bay Mystery, #2)
author: Ellery Adams
name: Diana
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at: 2017/08/17
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Hypnotist's Love Story 18849205
Braced for the worst, Ellen is pleasantly surprised. It turns out that Patrick’s ex-girlfriend is stalking him. Ellen thinks, Actually, that’s kind of interesting. She’s dating someone worth stalking. She’s intrigued by the woman’s motives. In fact, she’d even love to meet her.

Ellen doesn’t know it, but she already has.]]> 422 Liane Moriarty 110158498X Diana 0 3.90 2011 The Hypnotist's Love Story
author: Liane Moriarty
name: Diana
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at: 2025/04/17
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves:
review:

]]> One Perfect Couple 199798953 Harkening to Agatha Christie’s classic And Then There Were None, this high-tension and ingenious thriller follows five couples trapped on a storm-swept island as a killer stalks among them.

Lyla is in a bit of a rut. Her post-doctoral research has fizzled out, she’s pretty sure they won’t extend her contract, and things with her boyfriend, Nico, an aspiring actor, aren’t going great. When the opportunity arises for Nico to join the cast of a new reality TV show, The Perfect Couple, she decides to try out with him. A whirlwind audition process later, Lyla find herself whisked off to a tropical paradise with Nico, boating through the Indian Ocean towards Ever After Island, where the two of them will compete against four other couples—Bayer and Angel, Dan and Santana, Joel and Romi, and Conor and Zana—in order to win a cash prize.

But not long after they arrive on the deserted island, things start to go wrong. After the first challenge leaves everyone rattled and angry, an overnight storm takes matters from bad to worse. Cut off from the mainland by miles of ocean, deprived of their phones, and unable to contact the crew that brought them there, the group must band together for survival. As tensions run high and fresh water runs low, Lyla finds that this game show is all too real—and the stakes are life or death.

A fast-paced, spellbinding thriller rife with intrigue and characters that feel so true to life, this novel proves yet again that Ruth Ware is the queen of psychological suspense.]]> 385 Ruth Ware 1668025590 Diana 3 3.60 2024 One Perfect Couple
author: Ruth Ware
name: Diana
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/11
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder in the Cookbook Nook (Book Retreat Mysteries, #7)]]> 54844100 The witty new story from the bestselling author of The Secret Book & Scone Society series is perfect for bibliophiles who love a A Bookish Cook-Off with a little murder on the side�

Six chefs are preparing to compete in an outdoor tent at Storyton Hall in Virginia for prizes that will boost their careers—but is there someone who ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t stand the heat? It looks that way when one of the contestants is found dead in a pantry packed with two centuriesâ€� worth of cookbooks, among other treasures and rarities.

Could there be a connection to other recent events in town, like tampering with the costume of a local mascot? Jane isn’t sure, but after someone serves a second course of murder, the kitchen must be closed and the killer must be found . . .]]> 336 Ellery Adams 1496729463 Diana 4 4.05 2021 Murder in the Cookbook Nook (Book Retreat Mysteries, #7)
author: Ellery Adams
name: Diana
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/12
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Break Your Glass Slippers (You Are Your Own Fairy Tale, #1)]]> 52945057 more forgetting time.
more midnight dances with yourself."

amanda lovelace, the bestselling & award-winning author of the “women are some kind of magic� poetry series, presents a new companion series, “you are your own fairy tale� the first installment, break your glass slippers, is about overcoming those who don’t see your worth, even if that person is sometimes yourself. in the epic tale of your life, you are the most important character while everyone is but a forgotten footnote. even the prince.

Ěý±Ő±Ő> 160 Amanda Lovelace 1524851892 Diana 4 3.95 2020 Break Your Glass Slippers (You Are Your Own Fairy Tale, #1)
author: Amanda Lovelace
name: Diana
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/12
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[First-Time Caller (Heartstrings, #1)]]> 213245287 A hopeless romantic meets a jaded radio host in this cozy, Sleepless in Seattle-inspired love story from beloved author B.K. Borison.

Aiden Valentine has a secret: he's fallen out of love with love. And as the host of Baltimore's romance hotline, that's a bit of a problem. But when a young girl calls in to the station asking for dating advice for her mom, the interview goes viral, thrusting Aiden and Heartstrings into the limelight.

Lucie Stone thought she was doing just fine. She has a good job; an incredible family; and a smart, slightly devious kid. But when all of Baltimore is suddenly scrutinizing her love life-or lack thereof—she begins to question if she's as happy as she thought. Maybe a little more romance wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Everyone wants Lucie to find her happy ending... even the handsome, temperamental man calling the shots. But when sparks start to fly behind the scenes, Lucie must make the final call between the radio-sponsored happily ever after or the man in the headphones next to her.]]> 446 B.K. Borison 0593641205 Diana 5 4.20 2025 First-Time Caller (Heartstrings, #1)
author: B.K. Borison
name: Diana
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/15
date added: 2025/04/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Murder in the Cookbook Nook (Book Retreat Mysteries, #7)]]> 55004621 The witty new story from the bestselling author of The Secret Book & Scone Society series is perfect for bibliophiles who love a A Bookish Cook-Off with a little murder on the side�

Six chefs are preparing to compete in an outdoor tent at Storyton Hall in Virginia for prizes that will boost their careers—but is there someone who ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t stand the heat? It looks that way when one of the contestants is found dead in a pantry packed with two centuriesâ€� worth of cookbooks, among other treasures and rarities.

Could there be a connection to other recent events in town, like tampering with the costume of a local mascot? Jane isn’t sure, but after someone serves a second course of murder, the kitchen must be closed and the killer must be found . . .]]> 337 Ellery Adams 1496729471 Diana 0 4.50 2021 Murder in the Cookbook Nook (Book Retreat Mysteries, #7)
author: Ellery Adams
name: Diana
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/12
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)]]> 196915235 Every serial killer needs a friend.
Every game must have a winner.

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country. But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

Butcher & Blackbird is the first book in the Ruinous Love Dark Romance trilogy of interconnected stand-alone dark romantic comedies. This dual POV novel ends on a HEA.]]> 355 Brynne Weaver Diana 5 4.13 2023 Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1)
author: Brynne Weaver
name: Diana
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/04/06
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Inn on Harmony Island (Sweet Tea and a Southern Gentleman, #1)]]> 59933620
After I returned to my small hometown six months ago to attend my estranged grandmother's funeral, I swore I would never go back. That is, until my grandmother's lawyer calls me up. If I don't return to Harmony Island and fulfill my grandmother's stipulations, the generationally owned family inn will be turned over to the state and sold off to the highest bidder--my grandmother's rival and mother to the man who broke my heart, Missy Willis.

I'm not sure I'm strong enough to return home, but I also know, I can't let Miss Willis win. So I pack up my belongings and head for North Carolina.

I'm determined to stay distant, living in the small cottage next to the inn, and keep my head down. But in a small town where everyone knows your name, that becomes difficult. Soon, my past catches up with me and I'm faced with the history I've buried for so long. Just when I reach my breaking point, Miles, the single dad living at the inn, swoops in to my life to rescue me. He was my protector in my childhood, my enemy in my teenage years, and now?

Now, I'm not so sure. Especially when his love for his daughter is contagious, or the way he looks at me when he doesn't know I see him. I'm so confused and I want to run away like I did in the past, but I can't. And when Miles touches me like that...I don't want to.

Luckily, I find a friend in Abigail, the local bookstore owner. She's one of the only residents who doesn't know about my past and seems to be looking for the same thing I am, a place to belong.

The Inn on Harmony Island is chock full of romance, redemption, and forgiveness. If you're looking for your next summer read, grab your copy today! It is the first book in the Sweet Tea and a Southern Gentleman series and ends on a cliff hanger.]]> 292 Anne-Marie Meyer Diana 4 3.50 2022 The Inn on Harmony Island (Sweet Tea and a Southern Gentleman, #1)
author: Anne-Marie Meyer
name: Diana
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/05
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:

]]> The Dare 174146809
As senior year comes to an end, senior pranks are just beginning. It all starts innocently enough. Marley and her friends—Atlas, Lucia, and Jesse—egg houses, set chickens free on the quad, and fill the principal’s office with glitter-filled balloons.

But when Jesse accepts a dare to drive danger alley, a ten-mile stretch of winding road that’s notorious for car wrecks, with no headlights, things take a turn for the worst.

Now, the four friends are bound by a tragic accident—and a dark secret that threatens their bright futures.]]> 368 Natasha Preston 0593704061 Diana 4 3.79 2024 The Dare
author: Natasha Preston
name: Diana
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/02
date added: 2025/04/06
shelves:
review:

]]> The Thicket 219539959
Norah ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t stop thinking about the night her brother died.

She was supposed to stay with him at the Halloween carnival. He’d begged her to stay. But they’d fought, and Norah left him alone in the woods. That was before she realized there was a real killer lurking among the costumes and macabre props.

When the carnival reopens just weeks later amid a media controversy, Norah decides to retrace her brother’s last steps in a desperate attempt to unravel what really happened that night. But the woods hold more than just traumatic memories.

Before long, Norah begins to suspect that the killer's choice of hunting ground was no coincidence. And that this nightmare is far from over.]]> 332 Noelle W. Ihli Diana 4 3.47 The Thicket
author: Noelle W. Ihli
name: Diana
average rating: 3.47
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cut to the Bone (Agent Sayer Altair, #3)]]> 51171633 A bus full of high school students has disappeared from Washington D.C. and FBI neuroscientist Sayer Altair must hunt down the culprit who has a link to her own past.

After grieving the death of her fiancé and almost losing her job, Agent Sayer Altair is finally starting to rebuild her life. Her research into the minds of psychopaths is breaking new ground and her strange little family is thriving. But Sayer’s newfound happiness is threatened when she is called in to investigate a girl’s body left inside a circle of animal figurines below a cryptic message written in blood. When they discover that the dead girl is one of twenty-four missing high school students, Sayer quickly realizes that nothing in this case is what it seems.

As the investigation draws her in to a tangled web of fake identities and false leads, the trail soon begins to point directly to her own life. Now, Sayer must confront her painful past to uncover her connection to the deranged killer if she hopes to save the missing teens and protect everything that she loves.]]> 336 Ellison Cooper 1250173892 Diana 4 4.23 2020 Cut to the Bone (Agent Sayer Altair, #3)
author: Ellison Cooper
name: Diana
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:

]]> The Dead Girl in 2A 42366218 FINALIST—MPIBA Reading the West Award (Adult Fiction)

Jake Buchannan knows the woman sitting next to him on his business flight to Denver—he just ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t figure out how he knows her. Clara Stowe isn’t in Jake’s line of work and didn’t go to college with him. They have nearly nothing in common apart from a deep and shared certainty that they’ve met before. Despite their best efforts over a probing conversation, both struggle to figure out what circumstances could possibly have brought them together. Then, in a revelation that sends Jake reeling, Clara admits she’s traveling to the Colorado mountains to kill herself, and disappears into the crowded airport immediately after landing.

The Dead Girl in 2A is the story of what happens to Jake and Clara after they get off that plane, and the manipulative figure who has brought them together decades after they first met.]]> 416 Carter Wilson 1492686034 Diana 4 3.47 2019 The Dead Girl in 2A
author: Carter Wilson
name: Diana
average rating: 3.47
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:

]]> The Sublet 224277538 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Greer Hendricks comes a chilling story about the hidden cost of perfection.

Anne is barely keeping it together. A frazzled ghostwriter and aspiring novelist, she juggles nine-year-old twins and a listless marriage from an overcrowded Manhattan apartment, spreading herself thinner each day. Just as Anne is about to give up on her dreams, she lands her biggest client Melody Wells.

Melody paints a picture of serenity and empowerment in the lavender haze of her visualization workshops—however, the one thing she ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t manifest are the pages her publisher is demanding for her new motivational book. Enter Anne.

As Melody invites Anne deeper into her magical world, Anne finds herself working impossibly long days and traveling far beyond her comfort zone.

When Melody passes along a lead on a spacious sublet complete with East River views, built-in closets, and three bedrooms, Anne ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t believe her luck. Melody seems to know just what her family needs. But as small, unsettling incidents begin to accumulate, Anne starts to wonder what price she’s willing to pay for the good life.]]> 61 Greer Hendricks 1662528515 Diana 0 to-read 3.23 2025 The Sublet
author: Greer Hendricks
name: Diana
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Dating Plan (Marriage Game, #2)]]> 54326395
Liam Murphy is a venture capitalist with something to prove. When he learns that his inheritance is contingent on being married, he realizes his best friend's little sister has the perfect solution to his problem. A marriage of convenience will get Daisy's matchmaking relatives off her back and fulfill the terms of his late grandfather's will. If only he hadn't broken her tender teenage heart nine years ago...

Sparks fly when Daisy and Liam go on a series of dates to legitimize their fake relationship. Too late, they realize that very little is convenient about their arrangement. History and chemistry aren't about to follow the rules of this engagement.]]> 352 Sara Desai 0593100581 Diana 4 3.61 2021 The Dating Plan (Marriage Game, #2)
author: Sara Desai
name: Diana
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/23
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:

]]> The Last House Guest 42190273
Littleport, Maine, has always felt like two separate towns: an ideal vacation enclave for the wealthy, whose summer homes line the coastline; and a simple harbor community for the year-round residents whose livelihoods rely on service to the visitors.

Typically, fierce friendships never develop between a local and a summer girl—but that’s just what happens with visitor Sadie Loman and Littleport resident Avery Greer. Each summer for almost a decade, the girls are inseparable—until Sadie is found dead. While the police rule the death a suicide, Avery ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie’s brother, Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they’re saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name, before the facts get twisted against her.
The Last House Guest is a smart, twisty read that brilliantly explores the elusive nature of memory and the complexities of female friendships.]]> 368 Megan Miranda 1786492911 Diana 4 3.58 2019 The Last House Guest
author: Megan Miranda
name: Diana
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:

]]> The Z Word 195888002 “Sexy, scathing, delightful, and intimately devastating.”—Gretchen Felker-Martin, author of Manhunt and Cuckoo

Packed with action, humor, sex, and big gay feelings, The Z Word is the queer zombie romp you didn’t know you needed.

Chaotic bisexual Wendy is trying to find her place in the queer community of San Lazaro, Arizona, after a bad breakup—which is particularly difficult because her ex is hooking up with some of her friends. And when the people around them start turning into violent, terrifying mindless husks, well, that makes things harder. Especially since the infection seems to be spreading.

Now, Wendy and her friends and frenemies—drag queen Logan, silver fox Beau, sword lesbian Aurelia and her wife Sam, mysterious pizza delivery stoner Sunshine, and, oh yeah, Wendy’s ex-girlfriend Leah—have to team up to stay alive, save Pride, and track the zombie outbreak to its shocking source. Hopefully without killing each other first.

The Z Word is a propulsive, funny, emotional horror debut about a found family coming together to fight corporate greed, political corruption, gay drama, and zombies.]]> 260 Lindsay King-Miller Diana 3 3.51 2024 The Z Word
author: Lindsay King-Miller
name: Diana
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/09
date added: 2025/04/01
shelves:
review:

]]> Everybody is a Liar 220450038
The New York Times bestselling author of The Next Mrs. Parrish delivers another spellbinding story of betrayal and deceit in this audiobook original, Everybody Is a Liar.

When Julie Buckley, a successful mystery writer, suspects her husband of cheating, she turns to her best friend, Darby, for advice. When Darby suggests couples therapy, Julie and Oliver find themselves discussing Oliver’s betrayal with their new therapist, Liza. Liza is competent and reassuring, and her advice and Oliver’s openness to change seem to be helping the couple rebuild their relationship.

But when murder strikes in this small Connecticut town, Liza begins to worry there is a connection between Oliver and another one of her patients and the confidences they have shared with her become the key to solving the murder. As Liza digs deeper, she comes to believe that everybody is a liar.]]> Liv Constantine Diana 4 3.61 Everybody is a Liar
author: Liv Constantine
name: Diana
average rating: 3.61
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/08
date added: 2025/03/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Killer Plot (A Books by the Bay Mystery, #1)]]> 10465986
In the small coastal town of Oyster Bay, North Carolina, you'll find plenty of characters, ne'er-do-wells, and even a few celebs trying to duck the paparazzi. But when murder joins this curious community, the Bayside Book Writers are there to get the story...

Olivia Limoges is the subject of constant gossip. Ever since she came back to town-a return as mysterious as her departure-Olivia has kept to herself, her dog, and her unfinished novel. With a little cajoling from the eminently charming writer Camden Ford, she agrees to join the Bayside Book Writers, break her writer's block, and even make a few friends...

But when townspeople start turning up dead with haiku poems left by the bodies, anyone with a flair for language is suddenly suspect. And it's up to Olivia to catch the killer before she meets her own surprise ending.]]> 322 Ellery Adams Diana 4 4.02 2010 A Killer Plot (A Books by the Bay Mystery, #1)
author: Ellery Adams
name: Diana
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/07
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:

]]> A Five-Letter Word for Love 209766116 A heartwarming and humorous romance in which an unlikely couple fall in love over Wordle.

Twenty-seven-year-old Emily doesn’t have a lot going well in her life right now. She dreams of a creative career but works as a receptionist in an auto shop. She longs for big city life but lives in a small town on Prince Edward Island. She craves a close group of friends but is stuck with irritating, car-obsessed coworkers.

What Emily does have is a 300+ day streak on the New York Times Wordle. But one day, with only one guess left and no clue what the answer is, she’s forced to turn to one of her irritating, car-obsessed coworkers, John, for help—and in doing so, realizes that he might not be so irritating after all.

As they make their way, word by word, toward a 365-day streak, Emily is drawn into a surprising romance that will take her outside of her comfort zone—and challenge everything she thought she knew about happiness, success, and love.]]> 364 Amy James 0063399024 Diana 0 3.73 2024 A Five-Letter Word for Love
author: Amy James
name: Diana
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Love in the Time of Serial Killers]]> 59722215
PhD candidate Phoebe Walsh has always been obsessed with true crime. She’s even analyzing the genre in her dissertation—if she can manage to finish writing it. It’s hard to find the time while she spends the summer in Florida, cleaning out her childhood home, dealing with her obnoxiously good-natured younger brother, and grappling with the complicated feelings of mourning a father she hadn’t had a relationship with for years.

It doesn’t help that she’s low-key convinced that her new neighbor, Sam Dennings, is a serial killer (he may dress business casual by day, but at night he’s clearly up to something). It’s not long before Phoebe realizes that Sam might be something much scarier—a genuinely nice guy who can pierce her armor to reach her vulnerable heart.]]> 336 Alicia Thompson 0593438663 Diana 4 3.27 2022 Love in the Time of Serial Killers
author: Alicia Thompson
name: Diana
average rating: 3.27
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/03
date added: 2025/03/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Last Party (DC Morgan, #1)]]> 60507730 At midnight, one of them is dead.
By morning, all of them are suspects.

It's a party to end all parties, but not everyone is here to celebrate.

On New Year’s Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. His vacation homes on Mirror Lake are a success, and he’s generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbors.

But by midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.

On New Year’s Day, Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects. The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbors, friends and family—and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.

With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn’t who wanted Rhys dead…but who finally killed him.

In a village with this many secrets, murder is just the beginning. ]]> 432 Clare Mackintosh 1728250986 Diana 4 3.92 2022 The Last Party (DC Morgan, #1)
author: Clare Mackintosh
name: Diana
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/26
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves:
review:

]]> The Woman in Me 63133205 The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.

In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.

Written with remarkable candor and humor, Spears’s groundbreaking book illuminates the enduring power of music and love—and the importance of a woman telling her own story, on her own terms, at last.]]> 288 Britney Spears 1668009048 Diana 4 3.83 2023 The Woman in Me
author: Britney Spears
name: Diana
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/19
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[When in Rome (When in Rome, #1)]]> 60178209
When Noah Walker finds Amelia on his front lawn in her broken-down car, he makes it clear he doesn’t have the time or patience for celebrity problems. He’s too busy running the pie shop his grandmother left him and reminding his nosy but lovable neighbors to mind their own damn business. Despite his better judgment, he lets her stay in his guest room—but only until her car is fixed—then she’s on her own.

Then Noah starts to see a different side of Rae Rose—she’s Amelia: kindhearted and goofy, yet lonely from years in the public eye. He ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t help but get close to her. Soon she’ll have to return to her glamorous life on tour, but until then, Noah will show Amelia all the charming small-town experiences she’s been missing, and she’ll help him open his heart to more.

Amelia ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t resist falling for the cozy town and her grumpy tour guide, but even Audrey had to leave Rome eventually.]]> 312 Sarah Adams 0593500792 Diana 5 3.99 2022 When in Rome (When in Rome, #1)
author: Sarah Adams
name: Diana
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/22
date added: 2025/02/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Fair Rosaline 86174897
The first time Romeo Montague sees young Rosaline Capulet he falls instantly in love. Rosaline, headstrong and independent, is unsure of Romeo's attentions but with her father determined that she join a convent, this handsome and charming stranger offers her the chance of a different life.

Soon though, Rosaline begins to doubt all that Romeo has told her. She breaks off the match, only for Romeo's gaze to turn towards her cousin, thirteen-year-old Juliet. Gradually Rosaline realizes that it is not only Juliet's reputation at stake, but her life .With only hours remaining before she will be banished behind the nunnery walls, will Rosaline save Juliet from her Romeo? Or can this story only ever end one way?

Shattering everything we thought we knew about Romeo and Juliet, Fair Rosaline is the spellbinding prequel to Shakespeare's best known tale, which exposes Romeo as a predator with a long history of pursuing much younger girls. Bold, lyrical, and chillingly relevant, Fair Rosaline reveals the dark subtext of the timeless story of star-crossed lovers: it's a feminist revision that will enthrall readers of bestselling literary retellings such as Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and Hester by Laurie Lico Albanese]]> 336 Natasha Solomons 1728281237 Diana 4 3.56 2023 Fair Rosaline
author: Natasha Solomons
name: Diana
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/17
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Royal Valentine (A Museum of Literature Romance, #1)]]> 60028557
Molly is devastated. As registrar for the Museum of Literature, she is tasked with a trip to England to return the Jane Austen exhibition materials on loan from the Whitmore Estate in Bath. It's the only thing she has to look forward to and even this dream trip is a struggle. When she and Brianna arrive at Whitmore Manor, they are introduced to Earl Whitmore and his grandson Lord Insley, or as Molly knows him Albert George. She is shocked and dismayed to discover she has fallen in love with a viscount in line to be an earl. James Albert George Insley Whitmore, called Jamie by his friends and family, arranged for Molly to bring the materials back. He had to leave her unexpectedly, but he hasn't been able to forget her and he wants to win her back. Molly isn't having it. She refuses to be taken in twice. Jamie will have to channel his inner Fitzwilliam Darcy to prove to her that love conquers all and win her heart for good.]]> 112 Jenn McKinlay Diana 4 3.80 2022 Royal Valentine (A Museum of Literature Romance, #1)
author: Jenn McKinlay
name: Diana
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/18
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2)]]> 62015945 A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match.

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin�-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass� scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan. Worse, he might be this fantastically funny and subversively likeable guy who’s terrible at first impressions. Because suddenly he and Bri are exchanging letters, sharing lunch dates in her “sob closet,â€� and discussing the merits of freakishly tiny horses. But when Jacob decides to give Briana the best gift imaginable—a kidney for her brother—she wonders just how she can resist this quietly sexy new doctor . . . especially when he calls in a favor she ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t refuse.]]> 417 Abby Jimenez 1538704412 Diana 5 4.38 2023 Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2)
author: Abby Jimenez
name: Diana
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves:
review:

]]> The Golden Spoon 61273344
The author of numerous best-selling cookbooks and hailed as “America’s Grandmother,� Betsy Martin isn’t as warm off-screen as on, although no one needs to know that but her. She has always demanded perfection, and gotten it with a smile, but this year something is off. Things go awry as the baking competition begins. At first, it’s merely sabotage—sugar replaced with salt, a burner turned too high—but when a body is discovered, everyone is a suspect.]]> 288 Jessa Maxwell 1668008009 Diana 4 3.44 2023 The Golden Spoon
author: Jessa Maxwell
name: Diana
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/13
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves:
review:

]]> The Truth According to Ember 201752567
Ember Lee Cardinal has not always been a liar—well, not for anything that counted at least. But her job search is not going well and when her resumé is rejected for the thirty-seventh time, she takes matters into her own hands. She gets “creative� listing her qualifications and answers the ethnicity question on applications with a lie—a half-lie, technically. No one wanted Native American Ember, but white Ember has just landed her dream accounting job on Park Avenue (Oklahoma City, that is).

Accountant Ember thrives in corporate life—and her love life seems to be looking up too: Danuwoa Colson, the IT guy and fellow Native who caught her eye on her first day, seems to actually be interested in her too. Despite her unease over the no-dating policy at work, they start to see each other secretly, which somehow makes it even hotter? But when they’re caught in a compromising position on a work trip, a scheming colleague blackmails Ember, threatening to expose their relationship. As the manipulation continues to grow, so do Ember’s lies. She must make the hard decision to either stay silent or finally tell the truth, which could cost her everything.]]> 358 Danica Nava 0593642600 Diana 4 3.68 2024 The Truth According to Ember
author: Danica Nava
name: Diana
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/10
date added: 2025/02/13
shelves:
review:

]]> Never Ever You 205469591 A happily married woman wakes up to an astonishingly different life in a funny, emotional, and twisty romantic comedy in reverse by the author of Three More Months.

It’s Riley Ricci-Chase’s first wedding anniversary, and she’s living a perfect life in London with her utterly devoted husband, Tristan. So what if his parents and insufferable cousin Milo work Riley’s last nerve? She has Tristan.

The next morning Riley wakes up exactly one year later. No wedding ring. It’s Milo by her side. And Tristan is a happy new father—with another woman. None of this is surprising to anyone. Except Riley. Where does she go from here? With every new tomorrow, she’s moving backward through time to face a year she’s already lived, one she’s completely unprepared for.

Unless this is some cosmic prank, Riley is on a journey with a lot of questions. What went wrong with Tristan? How in this mind-blowing flip side could it have gone right with Milo? And where do her future and true love lie? To find out, Riley will have to wait and see what yesterday brings.]]> 291 Sarah Echavarre 1662517807 Diana 4 3.89 2024 Never Ever You
author: Sarah Echavarre
name: Diana
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Peking Duck and Cover (Noodle Shop #10)]]> 198111927
Chinese New Year is supposed to be a time of fresh beginnings and celebrations of good fortune to come. Naturally, the shop owners of Asia Village jump at the chance to support property manager Ian Sung when he suggests creating a memorable holiday event that will bring positive light to the plaza, and prosperity for all those involved.

With Lana Lee as his right-hand woman and head event planner, Ian orchestrates an extravagant evening filled with music, live entertainment, and generous giveaways. But at the end of the night, during an elaborate firework show in the parking lot, a member of the lion dance performance team is found dead backstage with a single bullet hole through the heart and a red envelope in their pocket containing four one-dollar bills―an omen of death.

Ian Sung takes it upon himself, again enlisting Lana’s help, to find out who could have killed the talented dancer right under their nose.]]> 282 Vivien Chien 1250338786 Diana 4 4.21 2024 Peking Duck and Cover (Noodle Shop #10)
author: Vivien Chien
name: Diana
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/08
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:

]]> The Dinner 57666829 Alternate cover edition can be found here

An internationally bestselling phenomenon: the darkly suspenseful, highly controversial tale of two families struggling to make the hardest decision of their lives - all over the course of one meal.

It's a summer's evening in Amsterdam, and two couples meet at a fashionable restaurant for dinner. Between mouthfuls of food and over the polite scrapings of cutlery, the conversation remains a gentle hum of polite discourse - the banality of work, the triviality of the holidays. But behind the empty words, terrible things need to be said, and with every forced smile and every new course, the knives are being sharpened.

Each couple has a fifteen-year-old son. The two boys are united by their accountability for a single horrific act; an act that has triggered a police investigation and shattered the comfortable, insulated worlds of their families. As the dinner reaches its culinary climax, the conversation finally touches on their children. As civility and friendship disintegrate, each couple show just how far they are prepared to go to protect those they love.

Tautly written, incredibly gripping, and told by an unforgettable narrator, The Dinner promises to be the topic of countless dinner party debates. Skewering everything from parenting values to pretentious menus to political convictions, this novel reveals the dark side of genteel society and asks what each of us would do in the face of unimaginable tragedy.]]> 306 Herman Koch Diana 4 3.12 2009 The Dinner
author: Herman Koch
name: Diana
average rating: 3.12
book published: 2009
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/06
date added: 2025/02/06
shelves:
review:

]]> Guillotine 202490408 The Menu meets Ready of Not in this dark tale of opulent luxury and shocking violence from the New York Times bestselling author of Bloom.

Thrift fashionista Dez Lane doesn't want to date Patrick Ruskin; she just wants to meet his mother, the editor-in-chief of Nouveau magazine. When he invites her to his family's big Easter reunion at their lake retreat, she's certain she can put up with his arrogance and fend off his advances long enough to ask Marie Caulfield-Ruskin for an internship someone with her pedigree could never nab through the regular submission route.

When they arrive at the enormous mansion on an island in the center of a Georgia lake, Dez is floored―she's never witnessed how the 1% lives before in all their ridiculous, unnecessary luxury. But once all the family members are on the island and the ferry has departed, shit gets real. For decades, the Ruskins have made their servants sign contracts that are basically indentured servitude, and with nothing to lose, the servants have decided their only route to freedom is to get rid of the Ruskins for good…]]> 208 Delilah S. Dawson 1803368349 Diana 5 3.95 2024 Guillotine
author: Delilah S. Dawson
name: Diana
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/05
date added: 2025/02/05
shelves:
review:
This was quite a ride. It's all kinds of crazy but something I definitely needed at the moment. I was drawn in with the first page of the book.
]]> <![CDATA[City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)]]> 256683
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...]]> 485 Cassandra Clare 1416914285 Diana 0 currently-reading 4.08 2007 City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1)
author: Cassandra Clare
name: Diana
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at: 2020/05/19
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> The Ministry of Time 199798179 A time travel romance, a spy thriller, a workplace comedy, and an ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all: Welcome to The Ministry of Time, the exhilarating debut novel by Kaliane Bradley.

In the near future, a civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams and is, shortly afterward, told what project she’ll be working on. A recently established government ministry is gathering “expats� from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time.

She is tasked with working as a “bridge�: living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as �1847� or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he’s a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as “washing machines,� “Spotify,� and “the collapse of the British Empire.� But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts.

Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry’s project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined. Forced to confront the choices that brought them together, the bridge must finally reckon with how—and whether she believes—what she does next can change the future.

An exquisitely original and feverishly fun fusion of genres and ideas, The Ministry of Time asks: What does it mean to defy history, when history is living in your house? Kaliane Bradley’s answer is a blazing, unforgettable testament to what we owe each other in a changing world.]]> 339 Kaliane Bradley 1668045141 Diana 3 3.54 2024 The Ministry of Time
author: Kaliane Bradley
name: Diana
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/30
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Cursed (Coven of Bones, #2)]]> 123219460 Betrayal.

He was the deception waiting in the night; the truth I never saw coming. After a lifetime of manipulation, I finally learned the truth. I was his puppet—even if I never saw my strings.

Even knowing how deep his betrayal runs, I ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t shake the undeniable connection between Gray and I—the way a single glance from him sets my soul on fire. We are not the same. We’re enemies, poised to battle for the future of the very thing I’d wanted to destroy.

With the Covenant gone, the revenge I thought I wanted is no longer my priority. The witches that remain played no role in my aunt’s death, and the only person standing in the way of righting those wrongs is the very man determined to keep me in his bed.

But the remaining members of the Coven will never forgive me for the role I played in their demise and subjugation, and the worst part of all is that I ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t even blame them for it. I’d been naive, believing my own delusions of grandeur when destiny clearly had other plans for me. Plans that had been set in motion centuries before my birth.

But even that had been a lie, and now it is my duty to do everything in my power to undo it.

To protect my Coven from my husband’s hatred—no matter what the cost.]]> 324 Harper L. Woods Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 3.57 2023 The Cursed (Coven of Bones, #2)
author: Harper L. Woods
name: Diana
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Coven (Coven of Bones, #1)]]> 75396525
There are no whispered words here. No condemnation for the blood that flows through my veins. The only animosity I face comes from the beautiful and infuriating Headmaster, Alaric Grayson Thorne, a man who despises me just as much as I loathe him and everything he stands for.

But that doesn’t mean secrets don’t threaten to tear the school in two. No one talks about the bloody massacre that forced it to close decades prior, only the opportunity it can afford to those fortunate enough to attend.

Because for the first time in fifty years, the Coven will open its wards to the Thirteen: thirteen promising students destined to change the world.

If the ghosts of Hollow’s Groves� victims don’t kill them first...

The Coven is book one in the Coven of Bones series and ends on a cliffhanger. This is a gothic, dark-academia, paranormal romance and includes elements that may be triggering to some listeners.]]> 298 Harper L. Woods Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 3.73 2023 The Coven (Coven of Bones, #1)
author: Harper L. Woods
name: Diana
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> Blizzard 61783821
Winner of the Prix Des Libraires, the French Booksellers� Prize for Best Novel of the Year

In the middle of a raging storm in Alaska, Bess stops to tie her shoes. And just like that, the boy is lost, gone in a flash, swallowed up by the snow.

Bess is a California girl, while Benedict, with whom she and the boy live, is the last in his family’s long line of rugged Alaskans. Benedict knows better than to venture out in such weather. But he has no choice. He must find Bess and the boy before it’s too late.

Blizzard is a race against death and destiny. Benedict, the local, and Bess, the outsider, are joined in the frantic search by Cole, an unsavory figure who washed up decades ago and clings on, downing moonshine. Then there’s Freeman, a Black Vietnam vet who seems wholly out of place in the North. What brings him to this remote corner of Alaska? What secrets is he hiding—are they all hiding? And will they find the truth? An award-winning page-turner, Blizzard is a breathless panorama of lonely souls making a life for themselves in the Far North, and of the dark truths they carry.]]> 224 Marie Vingtras 1419765906 Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 3.68 2021 Blizzard
author: Marie Vingtras
name: Diana
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> The Author's Guide to Murder 199531723 🎧Run Time = 11 hours and 46 minutes

“A pure delight from start to finish� (Lisa Unger) from three New York Times bestselling authors: When a famous author is found dead in his Scottish castle, three novelists become prime suspects. Secrets, rivalries, and tangled pasts converge as Detective Chief Inspector McIntosh delves behind the glamorous facade of Castle Kinloch� An “entertaining romp� (AudioFile) that garnered an Earphones Award!

Agatha Christie meets Murder, She Wrote in this witty locked room mystery and literary satire by New York Times bestselling team of Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.
Three beloved New York Times bestselling novelists, one marvelously entertaining locked-room whodunit! When a famous writer is found dead in the book-lined study of a remote Scottish castle, three very different American novelists become prime suspects!

There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead—under bizarre circumstances—in the castle tower’s book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in…or, possibly, one of the castle’s guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for literary Americans, finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists.

The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky erotica writer; Cassie Pringle, a Southern mom of six juggling multiple cozy mystery series; and Emma Endicott, a New England blue blood and author of critically acclaimed historical fiction. The women claim to be best friends writing a book together, but the authors� stories about how they know Brett Saffron Presley don’t quite line up, and the detective is getting increasingly suspicious.

Why did the authors really come to Castle Kinloch? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death?

A crafty locked-room mystery, a pointed satire about the literary world, and a tale of unexpected friendship and romance—this novel has it all, as only three bestselling authors can tell it!]]> 404 Beatriz Williams 0063259869 Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 3.28 2024 The Author's Guide to Murder
author: Beatriz Williams
name: Diana
average rating: 3.28
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sequel (The Book Series, #2)]]> 203578763 The Afterword. After all, how hard can it really be to write a universally lauded bestseller?

But when Anna publishes her book and indulges in her own literary acclaim, she begins to receive excerpts of a novel she never expected to see again, a novel that should no longer exist. Something has gone wrong, and someone out there knows far too much about her late brother, her late husband, and possibly about Anna herself. What does this person want, and what are they prepared to do? She has come too far and worked too hard to lose what she values most: the sole and uncontested right to her own story—and she is, by any standard, a master storyteller.]]> 304 Jean Hanff Korelitz 1250875471 Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 3.59 2024 The Sequel (The Book Series, #2)
author: Jean Hanff Korelitz
name: Diana
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Everything Is Not Enough (In Every Mirror She’s Black, #2)]]> 75668300
NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Literature.

A Jennette McCurdy Book Club Pick.

Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Literature & Fiction.

As seen in The Sunday Times, Washington Post, Shondaland, Vanity Fair, MSN, and more


From international bestselling author Lola Akinmade Åkerström, the highly anticipated follow-up to her debut novel, In Every Mirror She's Black, focusing on the lives of three Black women as they fight their own personal struggles in one of the most egalitarian societies, Sweden.

Can a career woman truly have it all?

Powerful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi has finally found the man she needs, but Tobias Wikström thinks she's the most selfish woman he has ever met for asking him to give up his life in Sweden and move to the US for her own comfort. Will Kemi be forced to stay if she wants to keep him while chipping away at her hard-earned career? As things begin to sour and challenge her relationship with Tobias, someone else moves back into the picture.

Can having it all be a gilded cage?

Looking into divorce in Sweden isn't what former model-turned-flight attendant Brittany-Rae von Lundin anticipated. Only jointly owned assets are split evenly between couples. Brittany gave up her career and came with nothing into Jonny's kingdom. Having had a child with him, her greatest fear for Maya includes being cut off from the resources she's become accustomed to. With a man obsessed with a ghost, trying to get away isn't going to be easy. And the deeper she digs into his past, the darker the secrets she unravels.

Can you run from your past to have it all?

After fleeing her home through a client to seek a new life in Sweden, Yasmiin finds love in the arms of Yagiz Çelik while carving out her own small corner. But as someone from her past forces Yasmiin to become a caretaker before she's ready, she now must confront and move beyond her teenage history, while following her dreams of becoming a makeup artist.

Everything Is Not Enough follows the loosely intertwined and messy lives of Kemi, Brittany, and Yasmiin as they interrogate themes of place, prejudice, and patriarchy in Europe, proving--yet again--that Lola Akinmade Åkerström is the next great voice of nuanced contemporary women's fiction.]]> 400 Lola Akinmade Åkerström 0063316978 Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 3.80 2023 Everything Is Not Enough (In Every Mirror She’s Black, #2)
author: Lola Akinmade Åkerström
name: Diana
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> She's Not Sorry 140111148
Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mom to a teenage daughter and working as a full time nurse. While on duty at the hospital one day, a patient named Caitlin arrives in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, having jumped from a bridge and plunging over twenty feet to the train tracks below. 

But when a witness comes forward with shocking details about the fall, it calls everything they know into question. Was Caitlin  pushed  and if so, by whom and why? 

Meghan has always tried to stay emotionally detached from her patients, but this time, she mistakenly lets herself get too close until she’s deeply entangled in Caitlin’s and her family’s lives. Only when it’s too late, does she realize that she and her daughter could be the next victims.]]> 330 Mary Kubica 0778308065 Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 3.77 2024 She's Not Sorry
author: Mary Kubica
name: Diana
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> Wake Up and Open Your Eyes 204640265 From Vulture's "master of horror" Clay McLeod Chapman, a relentless and emotionally charged social horror novel about a family on the run from a demonic possession epidemic that spreads through media, for fans of The Last of Us and When Evil Lurks

Noah Fairchild has been losing his formerly polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reawakening� is here, he assumes it’s related to one of the many conspiracy theories she believes in. But when his own phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the long drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles, a fridge full of spoiled food, and his parents locked in a terrifying trance-like state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it and get medical help.

Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him.

But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart-–literally-–as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend watching particular channels, using certain apps, or visiting certain websites. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn�-but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?

This ambitious, searing novel from "one of horror's modern masters" holds a mirror to our divided nation, and will shake readers to the core.]]> 384 Clay McLeod Chapman Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 3.37 2025 Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
author: Clay McLeod Chapman
name: Diana
average rating: 3.37
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> Some Other Time 211102993 A hopeful, funny, and untraditional love story about second chances, the ripple effects of love, and the myriad ways in which the simplest lives have the power to change the world.

The next step in Ellie Baker’s divorce. She and her husband, Jonah, are heading to Florida to break it to the family. No great drama to share. After twenty years of marriage, they’ve just fallen out of love. Simple.

Not to their college-age daughter, Maggie, who is devastated. Or to Ellie’s father, Frank, who grows as cold as a retiree can get in Orlando. As for Ellie’s mother, Bunny: no, no, no. She doesn’t want to hear it. After a dreadful weekend, Ellie and Jonah return home to New Jersey with hearts and minds still set on a split. Until the extraordinary morning Ellie wakes up to an alternate version of the present day—one in which she, and a passing stranger named Jonah, never married.

Over the span of an inexplicable week, Ellie sees how her world—and the world of everyone she loves—unfolded through a different course in time. And this time could change everything all over again.]]> 297 Angela Brown 166251638X Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 3.54 2025 Some Other Time
author: Angela Brown
name: Diana
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> There's Something About Mira 211290229 From USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes the heartfelt story of a woman determined to reunite a lost ring with its owner, who ends up finding herself along the way.

Mira Salvi has the perfect life—a job she loves, a fiancé everyone adores, and the secure future she’s always imagined for herself. Really, she hasn’t a thing to complain about, not even when she has to go on her engagement trip to New York alone.

While playing tourist in the city, Mira chances upon a lost ring, and her social media post to locate its owner goes viral. With everyone trying to claim the ring, only one person seems to want to find its owner as badly as Mira journalist Krish Hale. Brooding and arrogant, he will do anything to get to write this story.

As Krish and Mira reluctantly join forces and jump into the adventure of tracing the ring back to where it belongs, Mira begins to wonder if she is in the right place in her own life. She had to have found this ring for a reason…right? Maybe, like the owner of the lost ring, her happy ending hasn’t been written yet either.]]> 314 Sonali Dev 1662524250 Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 4.24 2025 There's Something About Mira
author: Sonali Dev
name: Diana
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> A Killing Cold 211004079 A woman invited to her wealthy fiance’s family retreat realizes they are hiding a terrible secret—and that she’s been there before, by the bestselling author of What Lies in the Woods.

A whirlwind romance.
When Theodora Scott met Connor—wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton family—she fell in love in an instant. Six months later, he’s brought her to Idlewood, his family’s isolated winter retreat, to win over his skeptical relatives.

Stay away from Connor Dalton.
Theo has tried to ignore the threatening messages on her phone, but she ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t ignore the footprints in the snow outside the cabin window or the strange sense of familiarity she has about this place. Then, in a disused cabin, Theo finds something impossible: a photo of herself as a child. A photo taken at Idlewood.

I’ve been here before.
Theo has almost no recollection of her earliest years, but now she begins to piece together the fragments of her memories. Someone here has a shocking secret that they will do anything to keep hidden, and Theo is in terrible danger. Because the Daltons do not lose, and discovering what happened at Idlewood may cost Theo everything.]]> 291 Kate Alice Marshall 1250343054 Diana 0 january-2025-book-haul 3.78 2025 A Killing Cold
author: Kate Alice Marshall
name: Diana
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: january-2025-book-haul
review:

]]> The Distant Dead 53064090
Adam Merkel left a university professorship in Reno to teach middle school in Lovelock seven months before he died. A quiet, seemingly unremarkable man, he connected with just one of his students: Sal Prentiss, a lonely sixth grader who lives with his uncles on a desolate ranch in the hills. The two outcasts developed a tender, trusting friendship that brought each of them hope in the wake of tragedy. But it is Sal who finds Adam’s body, charred almost beyond recognition, half a mile from his uncles� compound.

Nora Wheaton, the middle school’s social studies teacher, dreamed of a life far from Lovelock only to be dragged back on the eve of her college graduation to care for her disabled father, a man she loves but ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t forgive. She sensed in the new math teacher a kindred spirit--another soul bound to Lovelock by guilt and duty. After Adam’s death, she delves into his past for clues to who killed him and finds a dark history she understands all too well. But the truth about his murder may lie closer to home. For Sal Prentiss’s grief seems heavily shaded with fear, and Nora suspects he knows more than he’s telling about how his favorite teacher died. As she tries to earn the wary boy’s trust, she finds he holds not only the key to Adam’s murder, but an unexpected chance at the life she thought she’d lost.

Weaving together the last months of Adam’s life, Nora’s search for answers, and a young boy’s anguished moral reckoning.]]> 352 Heather Young 0062690817 Diana 0 to-read 3.86 2020 The Distant Dead
author: Heather Young
name: Diana
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Friends and Strangers 48889985 An insightful, hilarious, and compulsively readable novel about a complicated friendship between two women who are at two very different stages in life, from the best-selling author of Maine and Saints for All Occasions (named one of the Washington Post's Ten Best Books of the Year and a New York Times Critics' Pick).

Elisabeth, an accomplished journalist and new mother, is struggling to adjust to life in a small town after nearly twenty years in New York City. Alone in the house with her infant son all day (and awake with him much of the night), she feels uneasy, adrift. She neglects her work, losing untold hours to her Brooklyn moms' Facebook group, her "influencer" sister's Instagram feed, and text messages with the best friend she never sees anymore.

Enter Sam, a senior at the local women's college, whom Elisabeth hires to babysit. Sam is struggling to decide between the path she's always planned on and a romantic entanglement that threatens her ambition. She's worried about student loan debt and what the future holds. In short order, they grow close. But when Sam finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Elisabeth's father-in-law, the true differences between the women's lives become starkly revealed and a betrayal has devastating consequences.

A masterful exploration of motherhood, power dynamics, and privilege in its many forms, Friends and Strangers reveals how a single year can shape the course of a life.]]> 416 J. Courtney Sullivan 0525520597 Diana 0 to-read 3.61 2020 Friends and Strangers
author: J. Courtney Sullivan
name: Diana
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> If I Disappear 53066531 When her favorite true crime podcast host goes missing, an adrift young woman plunges headfirst into the wild backcountry of Northern California and her own dangerous obsession.

Sera loves true crime podcasts. They make her feel empowered in a world where women just like her disappear daily. She's sure they are preparing her for something. So when Rachel, her favorite podcast host, goes missing, Sera knows it's time to act. Rachel has always taught her to trust her instincts.

Sera follows the clues hidden in the episodes to an isolated ranch outside Rachel's small hometown to begin her search. She's convinced her investigation will make Rachel so proud. But the more Sera digs into this unfamiliar world, the more off things start to feel. Because Rachel is not the first woman to vanish from the ranch, and she won't be the last...

Rachel did try to warn her.]]> 296 Eliza Jane Brazier 0593198220 Diana 0 3.11 2021 If I Disappear
author: Eliza Jane Brazier
name: Diana
average rating: 3.11
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The Book of Lost Names 52762903 The Book of Lost Names.

The accompanying article discusses the looting of libraries by the Nazis across Europe during World War II—an experience Eva remembers well—and the search to reunite people with the texts taken from them so long ago. The book in the photograph, an eighteenth-century religious text thought to have been taken from France in the waning days of the war, is one of the most fascinating cases. Now housed in Berlin’s Zentral- und Landesbibliothek library, it appears to contain some sort of code, but researchers don’t know where it came from—or what the code means. Only Eva holds the answer—but will she have the strength to revisit old memories and help reunite those lost during the war?

As a graduate student in 1942, Eva was forced to flee Paris after the arrest of her father, a Polish Jew. Finding refuge in a small mountain town in the Free Zone, she begins forging identity documents for Jewish children fleeing to neutral Switzerland. But erasing people comes with a price, and along with a mysterious, handsome forger named RĂ©my, Eva decides she must find a way to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they really are. The records they keep in The Book of Lost Names will become even more vital when the resistance cell they work for is betrayed and RĂ©my disappears.

An engaging and evocative novel reminiscent of The Lost Girls of Paris and The Alice Network, The Book of Lost Names is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of bravery and love in the face of evil.]]> 388 Kristin Harmel 1982131896 Diana 0 4.41 2020 The Book of Lost Names
author: Kristin Harmel
name: Diana
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir]]> 48717403 A riveting, lucid memoir of a young woman's struggle to regain her sense of self after trauma, and the efforts by a powerful New England boarding school to silence her--at any cost

When the elite St. Paul's School recently came under state investigation after extensive reports of sexual abuse on campus, Lacy Crawford thought she'd put behind her the assault she'd suffered at St. Paul's decades before, when she was fifteen. Still, when detectives asked for victims to come forward, she sent a note.

Her criminal case file reopened, she saw for the first time evidence that corroborated her memories. Here were depictions of the naĂŻve, hard-working girl she'd been, a chorister and debater, the daughter of a priest; of the two senior athletes who assaulted her and were allowed to graduate with awards; and of the faculty, doctors, and priests who had known about Crawford's assault and gone to great lengths to bury it.

Now a wife, mother, and writer living on the other side of the country, Crawford learned that police had uncovered astonishing proof of an institutional silencing years before, and that unnamed powers were still trying to block her case. The slander, innuendo, and lack of adult concern that Crawford had experienced as a student hadn't been imagined as the effects of trauma, after all: these were the actions of a school that prized its reputation above anything, even a child.

This revelation launched Crawford on an extraordinary inquiry into the ways gender, privilege, and power shaped her experience as a girl at the gates of America's elite. Her investigation looks beyond the sprawling playing fields and soaring chapel towers of crucibles of power like St. Paul's, whose reckoning is still to come. And it runs deep into the channels of shame and guilt, witness and silencing, that dictate who can speak and who is heard in American society.

An insightful, mature, beautifully written memoir, Notes on a Silencing is an arresting coming-of-age story that wrestles with an essential question for our time: what telling of a survivor's story will finally force a remedy?]]> 400 Lacy Crawford 0316491551 Diana 0 4.23 2020 Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir
author: Lacy Crawford
name: Diana
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Eight Perfect Murders 52225186 A chilling tale of psychological suspense and an homage to the thriller genre tailor-made for fans: the story of a bookseller who finds himself at the center of an FBI investigation because a very clever killer has started using his list of fiction’s most ingenious murders.

Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie’s A. B. C. Murders, Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, Ira Levin’s Death Trap, A. A. Milne's Red House Mystery, Anthony Berkeley Cox's Malice Aforethought, James M. Cain's Double Indemnity, John D. Macdonald's The Drowner, and Donna Tartt's A Secret History.

But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only one interested in this bookseller who spends almost every night at home reading. The killer is out there, watching his every move—a diabolical threat who knows way too much about Mal’s personal history, especially the secrets he’s never told anyone, even his recently deceased wife.

To protect himself, Mal begins looking into possible suspects . . . and sees a killer in everyone around him. But Mal doesn’t count on the investigation leaving a trail of death in its wake. Suddenly, a series of shocking twists leaves more victims dead—and the noose around Mal’s neck grows so tight he might never escape.]]> 270 Peter Swanson 0062838202 Diana 0 3.61 2020 Eight Perfect Murders
author: Peter Swanson
name: Diana
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Undercover Bromance (Bromance Book Club, #2)]]> 49538360 Braden Mack thinks reading romance novels makes him an expert in love, but he’ll soon discover that real life is better than fiction. 

Liv Papandreas has a dream job as a pastry chef at Nashville’s hottest restaurant. Too bad the celebrity chef owner is less than charming behind kitchen doors. After she catches him harassing a young hostess, she confronts him and gets fired. Liv vows revenge, but she’ll need assistance to take on the powerful chef.

Unfortunately, that means turning to Braden Mack. When Liv’s blackballed from the restaurant scene, the charismatic nightclub entrepreneur offers to help expose her ex-boss, but she is suspicious of his motives. He’ll need to call in reinforcements: the Bromance Book Club.

Inspired by the romantic suspense novel they’re reading, the book club assists Liv in setting up a sting operation to take down the chef. But they’re just as eager to help Mack figure out the way to Liv’s heart... even though she’s determined to squelch the sparks between them before she gets burned.]]> 338 Lyssa Kay Adams 1984806114 Diana 0 3.91 2020 Undercover Bromance (Bromance Book Club, #2)
author: Lyssa Kay Adams
name: Diana
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> A Star Is Bored 51184692
Charlie Besson is about to have an insane job interview. His car is idling, like his life, outside the Hollywood mansion of Kathi Kannon. THE Kathi Kannon, star of stage and screen and People magazine’s worst dressed list. She needs an assistant. He needs a hero.

Kathi is an icon, bestselling author, and an award winning actress, most known for her role as Priestess Talara in the iconic blockbuster sci-fi film. She’s also known for another role: crazy Hollywood royalty. Admittedly so. Famously so. Fabulously so.

Charlie gets the job, and embarks on an odyssey filled with late night shopping sprees, last minute trips to see the aurora borealis, and an initiation to that most sacred of Hollywood tribes: the personal assistant. But Kathi becomes much more than a boss, and as their friendship grows, Charlie must make a choice. Will he always be on the sidelines of life, assisting the great forces that be, or can he step into his own leading role?

Laugh-out-loud funny, and searingly poignant, Byron Lane's A Star is Bored is a novel that, like the star at its center, is enchanting and joyous, heartbreaking and hopeful.]]> Byron Lane 1250266483 Diana 0 3.67 2020 A Star Is Bored
author: Byron Lane
name: Diana
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> These Women 52218375 In West Adams, a rapidly changing part of South Los Angeles, they’re referred to as “these women.” These women on the corner … These women in the club � These women who won’t stop asking questions � These women who got what they deserved �

Ivy Pochoda creates a kaleidoscope of loss, power, and hope featuring five very different women whose lives are steeped in danger and anguish. They’re connected by one man and his deadly obsession, though not all of them know that yet. There’s Dorian, still adrift after her daughter’s murder remains unsolved; Julianna, a young dancer nicknamed Jujubee, who lives hard and fast, resisting anyone trying to slow her down; Essie, a brilliant vice cop who sees a crime pattern emerging where no one else does; Marella, a daring performance artist whose work has long pushed boundaries but now puts her in peril; and Anneke, a quiet woman who has turned a willfully blind eye to those around her for far too long. The careful existence they have built for themselves starts to crumble when two murders rock their neighborhood.]]> 352 Ivy Pochoda 0062656384 Diana 0 3.76 2020 These Women
author: Ivy Pochoda
name: Diana
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Postscript (P.S I Love You, #2)]]> 49985791 Sixteen years after Cecelia Ahern's bestselling phenomenon PS, I Love You captured the hearts of millions, the long-awaited sequel follows Holly as she helps strangers leave their own messages behind for loved ones.

Seven years after her husband's death -- six since she read his final letter -- Holly Kennedy has moved on with her life. When Holly's sister asks her to tell the story of the "PS, I Love You" letters on her podcast -- to revisit the messages Gerry wrote before his death to read after his passing -- she does so reluctantly, not wanting to reopen old wounds.

But after the episode airs, people start reaching out to Holly, and they all have one thing in common: they're terminally ill and want to leave their own missives behind for loved ones. Suddenly, Holly finds herself drawn back into a world she's worked tirelessly to leave behind -- but one that leads her on another incredible, life-affirming journey.

With her trademark blend of romance, humor, and bittersweet life lessons, Postscript is the perfect follow-up to Ahern's beloved first novel.

]]> 304 Cecelia Ahern 153874659X Diana 0 4.02 2019 Postscript (P.S I Love You, #2)
author: Cecelia Ahern
name: Diana
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Nothing Can Hurt You 49882295
In the wake of his acquittal, the case comes to haunt a strange and surprising network of community members, from the young woman who discovers Sara’s body to the junior reporter who senses its connection to convicted local serial killer John Logan. Others are looking for retribution or explanation: Sara’s half sister, stifled by her family’s bereft silence about Blake, poses as a babysitter and seeks out her own form of justice, while the teenager Sara used to babysit starts writing to Logan in prison.

A propulsive, taut tale of voyeurism and obsession, Nothing Can Hurt You dares to examine gendered violence not as an anomaly, but as the very core of everyday life. Tracing the concentric circles of violence rippling out from Sara’s murder, Nicola Maye Goldberg masterfully conducts an unforgettable chorus of disparate voices.]]> 240 Nicola Maye Goldberg 1635574889 Diana 0 3.18 2020 Nothing Can Hurt You
author: Nicola Maye Goldberg
name: Diana
average rating: 3.18
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The New Husband 45046677 What makes Simon Fitch so perfect?

-He knows all her favorite foods, music, and movies.
-Her son adores him. He was there when she needed him most.
-He anticipates her every need.
-He would never betray her like her first husband.

The perfect husband. He checks all the boxes.

The question is, why?

Nina Garrity learned the hard way that her missing husband, Glen, had been leading a double life with another woman. But with Glen gone—presumably drowned while fishing on his boat—she couldn't confront him about the affair or find closure to the life he blew apart.

Now, a year and a half later, Nina has found love again and hopes she can put her shattered world back together. Simon, a widower still grieving the death of his first wife, thinks he has found his dream girl in Nina, and his charm and affections help break through to a heart hardened by betrayal. Nina's teenage son, Connor, embraces Simon as the father he wishes his dad could have been, while her friends see a different side to him, and they aren't afraid to use the word obsession.

Nina works hard to bridge the divide that’s come between her daughter and Simon. She wants so badly to believe her life is finally getting back on track, but she’ll soon discover that the greatest danger to herself and her children are the lies people tell themselves.]]> 376 D.J. Palmer 1250107490 Diana 0 3.78 2020 The New Husband
author: D.J. Palmer
name: Diana
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 28 Summers 52588078
When Mallory Blessing's son, Link, receives deathbed instructions from his mother to call a number on a slip of paper in her desk drawer, he's not sure what to expect. But he certainly does not expect Jake McCloud to answer. It's the late spring of 2020 and Jake's wife, Ursula DeGournsey, is the frontrunner in the upcoming Presidential election.

There must be a mistake, Link thinks. How do Mallory and Jake know each other?

Flash back to the sweet summer of 1993: Mallory has just inherited a beachfront cottage on Nantucket from her aunt, and she agrees to host her brother's bachelor party. Cooper's friend from college, Jake McCloud, attends, and Jake and Mallory form a bond that will persevere -- through marriage, children, and Ursula's stratospheric political rise -- until Mallory learns she's dying.

Based on the classic film Same Time Next Year (which Mallory and Jake watch every summer), 28 Summers explores the agony and romance of a one-weekend-per-year affair and the dramatic ways this relationship complicates and enriches their lives, and the lives of the people they love.]]> 432 Elin Hilderbrand 0316420042 Diana 0 4.12 2020 28 Summers
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Diana
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fifth Avenue Story Society]]> 49479568 An invitation to join The Fifth Avenue Story Society gives five New York strangers a chance to rewrite their own stories.

Executive assistant Lexa is eager for a much-deserved promotion, but her boss is determined to keep her underemployed.

Literature professor Jett is dealing with a broken heart, as well as a nagging suspicion his literary idol, Gordon Phipps Roth, might be a fraud.

Uber driver Chuck just wants a second chance with his kids.

Aging widower Ed is eager to write the true story of his incredible marriage.

Coral, queen of the cosmetics industry, has broken her engagement and is on the verge of losing her great grandmother’s multimillion-dollar empire.

When all five New Yorkers receive an anonymous, mysterious invitation to the Fifth Avenue Story Society, they suspect they’re victims of a practical joke. No one knows who sent the invitations or why. No one has heard of the literary society. And no one is prepared to bare their deepest secrets to a roomful of strangers.

Yet curiosity and loneliness bring them back week after week to the old library. And it’s there they discover the stories of their hearts, and the kind of friendship and love that heals their souls.Ěý±Ő±Ő> 400 Rachel Hauck 0310350921 Diana 0 3.93 2020 The Fifth Avenue Story Society
author: Rachel Hauck
name: Diana
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Good Girl, Bad Girl (Cyrus Haven, #1)]]> 43444255 From the bestselling author of The Secrets She Keeps, the writer Stephen King calls “an absolute master…with heart and soul,� a fiendishly clever suspense novel about a dangerous young woman with a special ability to know when someone is lying—and the criminal psychologist who must outwit her to survive.

A girl is found hiding in a secret room in a house being renovated after a terrible crime. For weeks she has survived by sneaking out at night, stealing food for herself and two dogs that are kept in the garden. The nurses at the hospital where she is taken call her “Angel Face� because she won’t tell anyone her name, or her age, or where she came from. Maybe she is twelve, maybe fifteen, or somewhere in between. She doesn’t appear on any missing person’s file, or match the DNA of any murder victim.

Six years later, still unidentified, the same girl is living in a secure children’s home with a new name, Evie Cormac, when she initiates a court case demanding the right to be released as an adult. Psychologist Cyrus Haven is sent to interview Evie and decide if she’s ready to go free, but Evie Cormac is unlike he’s anyone he’s ever met. She’s damaged, destructive, and self-hating, yet possessed of a gift, or a curse, that makes her both fascinating and dangerous to be with—the ability to tell when someone is lying. Soon he is embroiled in her unique and dangerous world, his life in utmost peril.

Cleverly constructed, swiftly paced, and emotionally explosive, Good Girl, Bad Girl is the perfect thrilling summer read from the internationally bestselling author David Baldacci called “the real deal.”]]> 369 Michael Robotham Diana 0 4.21 2019 Good Girl, Bad Girl (Cyrus Haven, #1)
author: Michael Robotham
name: Diana
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> The Two Lives of Lydia Bird 46225061
But she was wrong. On her twenty-eighth birthday, Freddie died in a car accident.

So now it's just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob until her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to try to live fully, happily, even without him. So, enlisting the help of his best friend, Jonah, and her sister, Elle, she takes her first tentative steps into the world, open to life--and perhaps even love--again.

But then something inexplicable happens that gives her another chance at her old life with Freddie. A life where none of the tragic events of the past few months have happened.

Lydia is pulled again and again across the doorway of her past, living two lives, impossibly, at once. But there's an emotional toll to returning to a world where Freddie, alive, still owns her heart. Because there's someone in her new life, her real life, who wants her to stay.

Written with Josie Silver's trademark warmth and wit, The Two Lives of Lydia Bird is a powerful and thrilling love story about the what-ifs that arise at life's crossroads, and what happens when one woman is given a miraculous chance to answer them.]]> 369 Josie Silver 0593135237 Diana 0 3.71 2020 The Two Lives of Lydia Bird
author: Josie Silver
name: Diana
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> A Good Marriage 49246460
No. That’s a lie. It wasn’t sudden, was it? Long ago the cracks in Lizzie’s marriage had started to show. She was just good at averting her eyes. 

The last thing Lizzie needs right now is a call from an inmate at Rikers asking for help—even if Zach Grayson is an old friend. But Zach is desperate: his wife, Amanda, has been found dead at the bottom of the stairs in their Brooklyn brownstone. And Zach’s the primary suspect. 

As Lizzie is drawn into the dark heart of idyllic Park Slope, she learns that Zach and Amanda weren’t what they seemed—and that their friends, a close-knit group of fellow parents at the exclusive Brooklyn Country Day school, might be protecting troubling secrets of their own. In the end, she’s left wondering not only whether her own marriage can be saved, but what it means to have a good marriage in the first place.

Big Little Lies meets Presumed Innocent in this riveting novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia, in which a woman’s brutal murder reveals the perilous compromises some couples make—and the secrets they keep—in order to stay together.]]> 410 Kimberly McCreight 0062367684 Diana 0 3.88 2020 A Good Marriage
author: Kimberly McCreight
name: Diana
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club, #1)]]> 44019067 The first rule of book club: You don't talk about book club.

Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.

Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.

Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it'll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.]]> 352 Lyssa Kay Adams 1984806106 Diana 0 3.86 2019 The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club, #1)
author: Lyssa Kay Adams
name: Diana
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Take Me Apart 45892241
When the famed photographer Miranda Brand died mysteriously at the height of her career, it sent shock waves through Callinas, California. Decades later, old wounds are reopened when her son, Theo, hires ex-journalist Kate Aitken to create an archive of his mother's work.

From Miranda's vast maze of personal effects, Kate pieces together a portrait of a vibrant artist buckling under the pressures of ambition, motherhood, and marriage. As the summer progresses, Kate navigates vicious local rumors and her growing attraction to the enigmatic Theo, all while unearthing the shocking details of Miranda's private life. But Kate has secrets of her own, and when she stumbles across a diary that may finally resolve the mystery of Miranda's death, her curiosity starts to spiral into a dangerous obsession.

With breathtaking and haunting imagery, Take Me Apart paints a vivid picture of two magnetic young women, separated by years, but bonded by shared struggles. Sara Sligar draws readers into a web of secrets and lies, alternating between the present and the past and revealing the truth about Miranda's death through the objects she left behind.]]> 368 Sara Sligar 0374272611 Diana 0 3.61 2020 Take Me Apart
author: Sara Sligar
name: Diana
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Ask Again, Yes 42201996
Ask Again, Yes is a moving novel about two families, the bond between their children, a tragedy that reverberates over four decades, the daily intimacies of marriage, and the power of forgiveness.]]> 388 Mary Beth Keane 1982106980 Diana 0 3.92 2019 Ask Again, Yes
author: Mary Beth Keane
name: Diana
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One of Us Is Next (One of Us Is Lying, #2)]]> 44654627 Come on, Bayview, you know you've missed this.

A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one's been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts.

Until now.

This time it's not an app, though—it's a game.

Truth or Dare.

Phoebe's the first target. If you choose not to play, it's a truth. And hers is dark.

Then comes Maeve and she should know better—always choose the dare.

But by the time Knox is about to be tagged, things have gotten dangerous. The dares have become deadly, and if Maeve learned anything from Bronwyn last year, it's that they can't count on the police for help. Or protection.

Simon's gone, but someone's determined to keep his legacy at Bayview High alive. And this time, there's a whole new set of rules.

The highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling thriller everyone is talking about, One of Us Is Lying! There's a new mystery to solve at Bayview High, and there's a whole new set of rules.]]> 377 Karen M. McManus 0525707964 Diana 0 3.90 2020 One of Us Is Next (One of Us Is Lying, #2)
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Diana
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> All Your Twisted Secrets 41443369 This thrilling debut, reminiscent of new fan favorites like One of Us Is Lying and the beloved classics by Agatha Christie, will leave readers guessing until the explosive ending.

Welcome to dinner, and again, congratulations on being selected. Now you must do the selecting.

What do the queen bee, star athlete, valedictorian, stoner, loner, and music geek all have in common? They were all invited to a scholarship dinner, only to discover it’s a trap. Someone has locked them into a room with a bomb, a syringe filled with poison, and a note saying they have an hour to pick someone to kill � or else everyone dies.

Amber Prescott is determined to get her classmates and herself out of the room alive, but that might be easier said than done. No one knows how they’re all connected or who would want them dead. As they retrace the events over the past year that might have triggered their captor’s ultimatum, it becomes clear that everyone is hiding something. And with the clock ticking down, confusion turns into fear, and fear morphs into panic as they race to answer the biggest question: Who will they choose to die?]]> 400 Diana Urban Diana 0 3.50 2020 All Your Twisted Secrets
author: Diana Urban
name: Diana
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> I Killed Zoe Spanos 50202540 This gripping thriller follows two teens whose lives become inextricably linked when one confesses to murder and the other becomes determined to uncover the real truth no matter the cost.

What happened to Zoe won't stay buried...

When Anna Cicconi arrives to the small Hamptons village of Herron Mills for a summer nanny gig, she has high hopes for a fresh start. What she finds instead is a community on edge after the disappearance of Zoe Spanos, a local girl who has been missing since New Year's Eve. Anna bears an eerie resemblance to Zoe, and her mere presence in town stirs up still-raw feelings about the unsolved case. As Anna delves deeper into the mystery, stepping further and further into Zoe's life, she becomes increasingly convinced that she and Zoe are connected--and that she knows what happened to her.

Two months later, Zoe's body is found in a nearby lake, and Anna is charged with manslaughter. But Anna's confession is riddled with holes, and Martina Green, teen host of the Missing Zoe podcast, isn't satisfied. Did Anna really kill Zoe? And if not, can Martina's podcast uncover the truth?]]> 384 Kit Frick 1534449701 Diana 0 3.77 2020 I Killed Zoe Spanos
author: Kit Frick
name: Diana
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)]]> 17927395
Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.]]> 626 Sarah J. Maas Diana 0 4.60 2016 A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #2)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Diana
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3)]]> 23766634
She has left the Night Court - and her High Lord - and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees, and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans. But to do so she must weave a web of lies, and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As mighty armies grapple for power, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords - and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

BUT WHILE WAR RAGES, IT IS HER HEART THAT WILL FACE THE GREATEST BATTLE.

THE THRILLING THIRD BOOK IN #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING FANTASY SERIES FROM SARAH J. MAAS.]]> 705 Sarah J. Maas 1408857901 Diana 0 4.41 2017 A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Diana
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> All the Missing Girls 27276324
It’s been ten years since Nicolette Farrell left her rural hometown after her best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge without a trace. Back again to tie up loose ends and care for her ailing father, Nic is soon plunged into a shocking drama that reawakens Corinne’s case and breaks open old wounds long since stitched.

The decade-old investigation focused on Nic, her brother Daniel, boyfriend Tyler, and Corinne’s boyfriend Jackson. Since then, only Nic has left Cooley Ridge. Daniel and his wife, Laura, are expecting a baby; Jackson works at the town bar; and Tyler is dating Annaleise Carter, Nic’s younger neighbor and the group’s alibi the night Corinne disappeared. Then, within days of Nic’s return, Annaleise goes missing.

Told backwards—Day 15 to Day 1—from the time Annaleise goes missing, Nic works to unravel the truth about her younger neighbor’s disappearance, revealing shocking truths about her friends, her family, and what really happened to Corinne that night ten years ago.

Like nothing you’ve ever read before, All the Missing Girls delivers in all the right ways. With twists and turns that lead down dark alleys and dead ends, you may think you’re walking a familiar path, but then Megan Miranda turns it all upside down and inside out and leaves us wondering just how far we would be willing to go to protect those we love.]]> 371 Megan Miranda 1501107968 Diana 0 3.69 2016 All the Missing Girls
author: Megan Miranda
name: Diana
average rating: 3.69
book published: 2016
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Sleeping Beauties 34466922
If they are awakened, and the gauze wrapping their bodies is disturbed or violated, the women become feral and spectacularly violent; and while they sleep they go to another place.

The men of our world are abandoned, left to their increasingly primal devices. One woman, however, the mysterious Evie, is immune to the blessing or curse of the sleeping disease.

Is Evie a medical anomaly to be studied, or is she a demon who must be slain?]]> 702 Stephen King 150116340X Diana 0 3.70 2017 Sleeping Beauties
author: Stephen King
name: Diana
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Two Can Keep a Secret 38225791
The town is picture-perfect, but it's hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone's declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she's in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous--and most people aren't good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it's safest to keep your secrets to yourself.]]> 329 Karen M. McManus 1524714720 Diana 0 3.92 2019 Two Can Keep a Secret
author: Karen M. McManus
name: Diana
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[What a Ghoul Wants (Ghost Hunter Mystery, #7)]]> 13419139
THAT SINKING FEELING

Kidwella Castle in northern Wales is rumored to be haunted by a deadly ghost—the Grim Widow, who allegedly drowns unsuspecting guests in the castle’s moat. Not long after M. J. and her crew arrive at the castle to film their ghost-hunting cable TV show, Ghoul Getters, two new victims are added to the Widow’s grisly roster.

Fear ripples through the castle, especially when it’s discovered that the victims may have had help into their watery graves from the land of the living. The local inspector suspects father-son serial killers, but M. J. thinks that theory is all wet. To catch the true culprit she will need to dive deep into the castle’s past and bring some long buried secrets to the surface.]]> 352 Victoria Laurie 0451238974 Diana 0 cozies 4.13 2012 What a Ghoul Wants (Ghost Hunter Mystery, #7)
author: Victoria Laurie
name: Diana
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: cozies
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)]]> 16096824
Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.]]> 419 Sarah J. Maas 1619634449 Diana 0 4.17 2015 A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #1)
author: Sarah J. Maas
name: Diana
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> This Spells Love 75665914
What if one little wish changed everything?

When Gemma gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend, she reacts the way any reasonable twenty-eight-year-old would: by getting drunk with her sister, kooky aunt, and best friend, Dax. After one too many margaritas, they decide to perform a love- cleansing spell, which promises to erase Gemma’s ex from her memory. They follow all the instructions, including a platonic kiss from Dax to seal the deal.

When Gemma wakes up, she realizes that this silly spell has worked. Not only does it seem that she never dated her ex, but the rest of her life is completely unrecognizable. The worst part: Dax has no idea who she is.

To reverse the spell and get back to her old life, Gemma must convince her once-best-friend-now-near-stranger to kiss her. But as she carries out her plans, she finds herself falling for him—hard. Soon, Gemma begins to wonder whether she even wants to go back to the way things once were. What if Dax was The One all along?]]> 352 Kate Robb 0593596536 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.78 2023 This Spells Love
author: Kate Robb
name: Diana
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> You, Again 75665887 Can they stop hating each other long enough to fall in love?

A commitment-phobe and a hopeless romantic clash over and over again--until heartbreak and unexpected chemistry bring them together in this clever enemies-to-friends-to-lovers debut romance.

When Ari and Josh first meet, the wrong kind of sparks fly. They hate each other. Instantly.

A free-spirited, struggling comedian who likes to keep things casual, Ari sublets, takes gigs, and she never sleeps over after hooking up. Born-and-bred Manhattanite Josh has ambitious plans: Take the culinary world by storm, find The One, and make her breakfast in his spotless kitchen. They have absolutely nothing in common . . . except that they happen to be sleeping with the same woman.

Ari and Josh never expect their paths to cross again. But years later, as they're both reeling from ego-bruising breakups, a chance encounter leads to a surprising connection: friendship. Turns out, spending time with your former nemesis is fun when you're too sad to hate each other--and too sad for hate sex.

As friends-without-benefits, they find comfort in late-night Netflix binges, swiping through each other's online dating profiles, and bickering across boroughs. It's better than romance. Until one night, the unspoken boundaries of their platonic relationship begin to blur. . . .

With sharp observations and sizzling chemistry, You, Again explores the dynamics of co-ed friendship in this sparkling romantic comedy of modern love in all its forms.]]> 448 Kate Goldbeck 059344812X Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.55 2023 You, Again
author: Kate Goldbeck
name: Diana
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Kind Worth Saving (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #2)]]> 60916172 In this spectacularly devious novel by New York Times bestselling author Peter Swanson—featuring the smart and complex Lily Kintner from his acclaimed novel, The Kind Worth Killing—a private eye starts to follow a possibly adulterous husband, but little does he know that the twisted trail will lead back to the woman who hired him.

There was always something slightly dangerous about Joan. So, when she turns up at private investigator Henry Kimball’s office asking him to investigate her husband, he ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t help feeling ill at ease. Just the sight of her stirs up a chilling memory: he knew Joan in his previous life as a high school English teacher, when he was at the center of a tragedy.

Now Joan needs his help in proving that her husband is cheating. But what should be a simple case of infidelity becomes much more complicated when Kimball finds two bodies in an uninhabited suburban home with a “for sale� sign out front. Suddenly it feels like the past is repeating itself, and Henry must go back to one of the worst days of his life to uncover the truth.

Is it possible that Joan knows something about that day, something she’s hidden all these years? Could there still be a killer out there, someone who believes they have gotten away with murder? Henry is determined to find out, but as he steps closer to the truth, a murderer is getting closer to him, and in this hair-raising game of cat and mouse only one of them will survive.]]> 303 Peter Swanson 0063204983 Diana 0 to-read 3.65 2023 The Kind Worth Saving (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #2)
author: Peter Swanson
name: Diana
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Talent for Murder (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #3)]]> 199116301
Martha Ratliff conceded long ago that she’d likely spend her life alone. She was fine with it, happy with her solo existence, stimulated by her job as an archival librarian, constantly surrounded by thought-provoking ideas and the books she loved. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured divorcee with a job that took him on the road for half the year. When he asked her to marry him, she said yes, even though he still felt a little bit like a stranger.

A year in and the marriage was good, except for that strange blood streak on the back of one of his shirts he’d worn to a conference in Denver. Her curiosity turning to suspicion, Martha investigates the cities Alan visited over the past year and uncovers a disturbing pattern—five unsolved cases of murdered women.

Is she married to a serial killer? Or could it merely be a coincidence? Unsure what to think, Martha contacts an old friend from graduate school for advice. Lily Kintner once helped Martha out of a jam with an abusive boyfriend and may have some insight. Intrigued, Lily offers to meet Alan to find out what kind of man he really is . . . but what Lily uncovers is more perplexing and wicked than they ever could have expected.]]> 255 Peter Swanson 0063205033 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.58 2024 A Talent for Murder (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner, #3)
author: Peter Swanson
name: Diana
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> The Shards 60880820 A sensational new novel from the best-selling author of Less Than Zero and Imperial Bedrooms that tracks a group of privileged Los Angeles high school friends as a serial killer strikes across the city.

Bret Easton Ellis's masterful new novel is a story about the end of innocence, and the perilous passage from adolescence into adulthood, set in a vibrantly fictionalized Los Angeles in 1981 as a serial killer begins targeting teenagers throughout the city.

17-year-old Bret is a senior at the exclusive Buckley prep school when a new student arrives with a mysterious past. Robert Mallory is bright, handsome, charismatic, and shielding a secret from Bret and his friends even as he becomes a part of their tightly knit circle. Bret's obsession with Mallory is equaled only by his increasingly unsettling pre-occupation with The Trawler, a serial killer on the loose who seems to be drawing ever closer to Bret and his friends, taunting them--and Bret in particular--with grotesque threats and horrific, sharply local acts of violence. The coincidences are uncanny, but they are also filtered through the imagination of a teenager whose gifts for constructing narrative from the filaments of his own life are about to make him one of the most explosive literary sensations of his generation. Can he trust his friends--or his own mind--to make sense of the danger they appear to be in? Thwarted by the world and by his own innate desires, buffeted by unhealthy fixations, he spirals into paranoia and isolation as the relationship between The Trawler and Robert Mallory hurtles inexorably toward a collision.

Set against the intensely vivid and nostalgic backdrop of pre-Less Than Zero LA, The Shards is a mesmerizing fusing of fact and fiction, the real and the imagined, that brilliantly explores the emotional fabric of Bret's life at 17-sex and jealousy, obsession and murderous rage. Gripping, sly, suspenseful, deeply haunting and often darkly funny, The Shards is Ellis at his inimitable best.
]]> 595 Bret Easton Ellis 059353560X Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.98 2023 The Shards
author: Bret Easton Ellis
name: Diana
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> Severance 36348525
Candace won’t be able to make it on her own forever, though. Enter a group of survivors, led by the power-hungry IT tech Bob. They’re traveling to a place called the Facility, where, Bob promises, they will have everything they need to start society anew. But Candace is carrying a secret she knows Bob will exploit. Should she escape from her rescuers?

A send-up and takedown of the rituals, routines, and missed opportunities of contemporary life, Ling Ma’s Severance is a quirky coming-of-adulthood tale and satire.]]> 291 Ling Ma 0374261598 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.90 2018 Severance
author: Ling Ma
name: Diana
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> The School for Good Mothers 57846320 An alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781982156121 can be found here.

In this taut and explosive debut novel, one lapse in judgement lands a young mother in a government reform program where custody of her child hangs in the balance.

Frida Liu is struggling. She doesn’t have a career worthy of her Chinese immigrant parentsâ€� sacrifices. What’s worse is she ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t persuade her husband, Gust, to give up his wellness-obsessed younger mistress. Only with their angelic daughter Harriet does Frida finally feel she’s attained the perfection expected of her. Harriet may be all she has, but she’s just enough.

Until Frida has a horrible day.

The state has its eyes on mothers like Frida � ones who check their phones while their kids are on the playground; who let their children walk home alone; in other words, mothers who only have one lapse of judgement. Now, a host of government officials will determine if Frida is a candidate for a Big Brother-like institution that measures the success or failure of a mother’s devotion. Faced with the possibility of losing Harriet, Frida must prove that she can live up to the standards set for mothers � that she can learn to be good.

This propulsive, witty page-turner explores the perils of “perfect� upper-middle-class parenting, the violence enacted upon women by the state and each other, and the boundless love a mother has for her daughter.]]> 336 Jessamine Chan Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.51 2022 The School for Good Mothers
author: Jessamine Chan
name: Diana
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> Run Time 60235814
The project
Final Draft, a psychological horror. Promising Young Thing Steve Dade will direct.

The tagline
'Based on a terrifying true story. That hasn't happened - yet.'

The location
A cottage deep in a forest, miles from anywhere in the wintry wilds of West Cork.

The lead
Former soap-star Adele Rafferty has stepped in to replace the original actress at the very last minute. She can't help but hope that this will be her big break.

The problem
Something isn't quite right on the set of Final Draft.
Adele is about to discover that the real horror lies off the page...]]> 386 Catherine Ryan Howard 1982694688 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.39 2022 Run Time
author: Catherine Ryan Howard
name: Diana
average rating: 3.39
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> The Possessions 30256250
Edie has been a body for five years, an unusual record. Her success depends on her carefulness. When she channels the wife of Patrick Braddock, an enigmatic widower, she becomes obsessed with the glamorous couple. Despite the strange circumstances surrounding Sylvia Braddock's death, Edie pursues Patrick outside the Elysian Society walls, moving deeper into his life.

After years of hiding, Edie can't tell whether she's falling in love or whether she's being possessed by Sylvia. She takes increasing risks to keep Patrick within her grasp. But as a disturbing murder case brings attention to the Elysian Society, Edie feels her quiet life unraveling. She grapples with both Sylvia's growing influence and with her own long-buried secrets.]]> 368 Sara Flannery Murphy 0062458329 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.18 2017 The Possessions
author: Sara Flannery Murphy
name: Diana
average rating: 3.18
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> Paper Names 61393430 An unexpected act of violence brings together a Chinese-American family and a wealthy white lawyer in this propulsive and sweeping story of family, identity and the American experience—for fans of Jean Kwok, Mary Beth Keane and Naima Coster.

Set in New York and China over three decades, Paper Names explores what it means to be American from three different perspectives. There’s Tony, a Chinese-born engineer turned Manhattan doorman, who immigrated to the United States to give his family a better life. His daughter, Tammy, who we meet at age nine and follow through adulthood, grapples with the expectations of a first generation American and her own personal desires. Finally, there’s Oliver, a handsome white lawyer with a dark family secret and who lives in the building where Tony works. A violent attack causes their lives to intertwine in ways that will change them forever.

Taut, panoramic and powerful, debut novelist Susie Luo's Paper Names is an unforgettable story about the long shadows of our parents, the ripple effect of our decisions and the ways in which our love transcends difference.]]> 288 Susie Luo 1335426884 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.62 2023 Paper Names
author: Susie Luo
name: Diana
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> My Murder 62952152 What if the murder you had to solve was your own?

Lou is a happily married mother of an adorable toddler. She's also the victim of a local serial killer. Recently brought back to life and returned to her grieving family by a government project, she is grateful for this second chance. But as the new Lou re-adapts to her old routines, and as she bonds with other female victims, she realizes that disturbing questions remain about what exactly preceded her death and how much she can really trust those around her.

Now it's not enough to care for her child, love her husband, and work the job she's always enjoyed--she must also figure out the circumstances of her death. Darkly comic, tautly paced, and full of surprises, My Murder is a devour-in-one-sitting, clever twist on the classic thriller.]]> 304 Katie Williams 0593543769 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.61 2023 My Murder
author: Katie Williams
name: Diana
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> Malibu Rising 55404546 Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.

Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.

The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.

Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he ł¦˛ą˛Ô’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.

And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.

By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.

Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them... and what they will leave behind.]]> 369 Taylor Jenkins Reid 1524798657 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 4.02 2021 Malibu Rising
author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
name: Diana
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> Leave the World Behind 50358031
Amanda and Clay head to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they've rented for the week. But with a late-night knock on the door, the spell is broken. Ruth and G. H., an older couple who claim to own the home, have arrived there in a panic. These strangers say that a sudden power outage has swept the city, and - with nowhere else to turn - they have come to the country in search of shelter.

But with the TV and internet down, and no phone service, the facts are unknowable. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple - and vice versa? What has happened back in New York? Is the holiday home, isolated from civilisation, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?]]> 241 Rumaan Alam 0062667637 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.13 2020 Leave the World Behind
author: Rumaan Alam
name: Diana
average rating: 3.13
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> In My Dreams I Hold a Knife 50485649 Six friends.
One college reunion.
One unsolved murder.

A college reunion turns dark and deadly in this chilling and propulsive suspense novel about six friends, one unsolved murder, and the dark secrets they’ve been hiding from each other—and themselves—for a decade.

Ten years after graduation, Jessica Miller has planned her triumphant return to southern, elite Duquette University, down to the envious whispers that are sure to follow in her wake. Everyone is going to see the girl she wants them to see—confident, beautiful, indifferent—not the girl she was when she left campus, back when Heather’s murder fractured everything, including the tight bond linking the six friends she’d been closest to since freshman year. Ten years ago, everything fell apart, including the dreams she worked for her whole life—and her relationship with the one person she wasn’t supposed to love.

But not everyone is ready to move on. Not everyone left Duquette ten years ago, and not everyone can let Heather’s murder go unsolved. Someone is determined to trap the real killer, to make the guilty pay. When the six friends are reunited, they will be forced to confront what happened that night—and the years� worth of secrets each of them would do anything to keep hidden.

Told in racing dual timelines, with a dark campus setting and a darker look at friendship, love, obsession, and ambition, In My Dreams I Hold A Knife is an addictive, propulsive read you won’t be able to put down.]]> 345 Ashley Winstead 172822988X Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.79 2021 In My Dreams I Hold a Knife
author: Ashley Winstead
name: Diana
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> Happiness Falls 75495002 When a father goes missing, his family's desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another--both a riveting page-turner and a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from the award-winning author of Miracle Creek.

"We didn't call the police right away." Those are the first words of this extraordinary novel about a biracial Korean-American family in Virginia whose lives are upended when their beloved father and husband goes missing.

Mia, the irreverent, hyperanalytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything--which is why she isn't initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don't return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia's brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak.

What follows is both a ticking-clock investigation into the whereabouts of a father and an emotionally rich portrait of a family whose most personal secrets just may be at the heart of his disappearance. Full of shocking twists and fascinating questions of love, language, race, and human connection, Happiness Falls is a mystery, a family drama, and a novel of profound philosophical inquiry. With all the powerful storytelling she brought to her award-winning debut Miracle Creek, Angie Kim turns the missing person story into something wholly original, creating an indelible tale of a family who must go to remarkable lengths to truly understand one another.]]> 387 Angie Kim 0593448200 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.72 2023 Happiness Falls
author: Angie Kim
name: Diana
average rating: 3.72
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)]]> 61431922 Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders...

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile� humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die]]> 528 Rebecca Yarros 1649374046 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 4.56 2023 Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1)
author: Rebecca Yarros
name: Diana
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> The Family Game 60417443 A rich, eccentric family. A time-honored tradition. Or a lethal game of survival? One woman finds out what it really takes to join the 1% in this riveting psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water, Mr. Nobody, and The Disappearing Act.

Harry is a novelist on the brink of stardom; Edward, her husband-to-be, is seemingly perfect. In love and freshly engaged, their bliss is interrupted by the reemergence of the Holbecks, Edward's eminent family and the embodiment of American old money. For years, they've dominated headlines and pulled society's strings, and Edward left them all behind to forge his own path. But there are eyes and ears everywhere. It was only a matter of time before they were pulled back in . . .

After all, even though he's long severed ties with his family, Edward is set to inherit it all. Harriet is drawn to the glamour and sophistication of the Holbecks, who seem to welcome her with open arms, but everything changes when she meets Robert, the inescapably magnetic head of the family. At their first meeting, Robert slips Harry a cassette tape, revealing a shocking confession which sets the inevitable game in motion.

What is it about Harry that made him give her that tape? A thing that has the power to destroy everything? As she ramps up her quest for the truth, she must endure the Holbecks' savage Christmas traditions all the while knowing that losing this game could be deadly.]]> 319 Catherine Steadman 0593158067 Diana 0 2025-tbr-back-log 3.83 2022 The Family Game
author: Catherine Steadman
name: Diana
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: 2025-tbr-back-log
review:

]]> The Book of Essie 36723245 A debut novel of family, fame, and religion that tells the emotionally stirring, wildly captivating story of the seventeen-year-old daughter of an evangelical preacher, star of the family's hit reality show, and the secret pregnancy that threatens to blow their entire world apart.

Esther Ann Hicks--Essie--is the youngest child on Six for Hicks, a reality television phenomenon. She's grown up in the spotlight, both idolized and despised for her family's fire-and-brimstone brand of faith. When Essie's mother, Celia, discovers that Essie is pregnant, she arranges an emergency meeting with the show's producers: Do they sneak Essie out of the country for an abortion? Do they pass the child off as Celia's? Or do they try to arrange a marriage--and a ratings-blockbuster wedding? Meanwhile, Essie is quietly pairing herself up with Roarke Richards, a senior at her school with a secret of his own to protect. As the newly formed couple attempt to sell their fabricated love story to the media--through exclusive interviews with an infamously conservative reporter named Liberty Bell--Essie finds she has questions of her own: What was the real reason for her older sister leaving home? Who can she trust with the truth about her family? And how much is she willing to sacrifice to win her own freedom?]]> 319 Meghan MacLean Weir Diana 0 to-read 3.91 2018 The Book of Essie
author: Meghan MacLean Weir
name: Diana
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Just Some Stupid Love Story 195791408 A debut about a rom-com screenwriter who doesn't believe in love and a divorce attorney who does, forced together at their high school reunion fifteen years after their breakup

Molly Marks writes Hollywood rom-coms for a living—which is how she knows “romance� is a racket. The one and only time she was naive enough to fall in love was with her high school boyfriend, Seth—who she ghosted on the eve of graduation and hasn’t seen in fifteen years.

Seth Rubinstein believes in love, the grand, fated kind, despite his job as, well…one of Chicago’s most successful divorce attorneys. Over the last decade, he’s sought “the one� in countless bad dates and rushed relationships. He knows his soulmate is out there. But so far, no one can compare to Molly Marks, the first girl who broke his heart.

When Molly’s friends drag her to Florida for their fifteenth high school reunion, it is poetic justice that she’s forced to sit with Seth. Too many martinis and a drunken hookup later, they decide to make a bet: whoever can predict the fate of five couples before the next reunion must declare that the other is right about true love. The catch? The fifth couple is the two of them.

Molly assures Seth they are a tale of timeless heartbreak. Seth promises she’ll end up hopelessly in love with him. She thinks he’s delusional. He has five years to prove her wrong.

Wickedly funny, sexy, and brimming with laughs and heart like the best romantic comedies, Just Some Stupid Love Story is for everyone who believes in soulmates—even if they would never admit it.]]> 336 Katelyn Doyle 1250328098 Diana 4 3.60 2024 Just Some Stupid Love Story
author: Katelyn Doyle
name: Diana
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/20
date added: 2025/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> Wreck the Halls 123247668
Beat Dawkins, the lead singer’s son, is Melody’s opposite—the camera loves him, he could charm the pants off anyone, and his mom is not a potential cult leader. Still, they might have been best friends if not for the legendary feud that broke up the band. When they met as teenagers, Mel felt an instant spark, but it’s nothing compared to the wild, intense attraction that builds as they embark on a madcap mission to convince their mothers to perform one last show.

While dealing with rock star shenanigans, a 24-hour film crew, brawling Santas, and mobs of adoring fans, Mel starts to step out of her comfort zone. With Beat by her side, cheering her on, she’s never felt so understood. But Christmas Eve is fast approaching, and a decades-old scandal is poised to wreck everything—the Steel Birds reunion, their relationships with their mothers, and their newfound love.]]> 358 Tessa Bailey 0063308312 Diana 4 3.60 2023 Wreck the Halls
author: Tessa Bailey
name: Diana
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
review:

]]>