"I. DID. NOT. SEE. ANY. OF. IT. COMING.

First-Time Mother on audio was a fantastic adventure that kept me listening non-stop through a night and a day. I actually got in more time than typical on the treadmill because the story kept me engaged.

It had all the elements - a new mom with a fussy baby, handsome and successful husband, evil step kids, murder, the perfect nanny who falls into their lap..... Just listing the elements makes the domestic thriller seem to be the norm with the expected outcome. It was not. I loved every minute of this one.

Before you suspect that because I was given this to review, I automatically award it 5 stars.....please check out my 欧宝娱乐 profile. I'm gifted most of the books I read and review. My star rating on 欧宝娱乐 is 3.35. I am reluctant to award 5 stars because most books are only ok. This one was very well done plus the narration of Tamsin Kennard (a superstar in audio) just sealed the deal.

The publisher listed other similar authors in the description, including Instagram fan favorite Freida McFadden. I've read almost every McFadden book to date and First-Time Mother was so much better than any of those books. If you love domestic thrillers, please be sure to add this to your tbr."

"3.75 rounded 猬嗭笍
And, by the way, I think the book blurb gives away too much!

Opening Sentence: When he unclasped the button on her jeans, she knew she would lose her virginity that night.

How鈥檚 that for an opening line to hook you?

Ten years ago, 17-year-old high school volleyball star Callie Jones vanished from her quiet Wisconsin lake community, and to this day, her body has not been found.

Now, Ethan Hall鈥檚 former partner, Pete Kramer, has asked him to come out of retirement to help him solve this Cold Case, before Lou Gehrig鈥檚 disease claims his life. Ethan is now an ER Doctor, having decided that the job of investigating crimes against kids for Wisconsin鈥檚 Division of Criminal Investigation was taking too much of a toll on him, emotionally, despite his 100% solve rate.

He reluctantly agrees to re-examine the evidence, for his friend, having no idea that there will end up being a personal link to the crime which took his own father鈥檚 life.

Or that reopening the case could still bring danger to himself and to those he cares about.

I LIKED but didn鈥檛 LOVE this latest offering from Charlie Donlea, and I think that is because of the style the book is written in. The story jumps around A LOT, with short chapters that always list the DATE and the Wisconsin location that the chapter takes place in, moving from PAST to PRESENT and LOCATION TO LOCATION at will. While the dates are important, I feel like the locations bogged down the pace and were not a necessary detail.

It just felt TOO BUSY.

By the second half, I got into the swing of things, and the pace picked up. It was interesting to discover the role that each of the characters would play, and I enjoyed all of the shocking twists, EXCEPT FOR ONE.

It would appear from the denouement, that Ethan Hall, may have to put his career in medicine on hold-as a sequel just MIGHT be in the works. While, I did find this story entertaining enough to read a second book with these characters, should the author choose to go there, I prefer stand-alone books to series, so I am okay if the story ends here as well.

Available July 29, 2025

Thank You to Kensington Publishing for the gifted copy provided through NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts!"

"
Take a look at any bestseller list and it seems that the reading public has an endless appetite for WWII stories. Me, not so much鈥articularly when it comes to the Holocaust. I can only handle one, maybe two a year, and I sure didn鈥檛 plan on kicking off 2025 with one.

But, wow, what a way to start off the new year: with a five-star read!

The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr is told from a dual-timeline perspective, alternating between 2005 and 1943, as an 85-year-old Hollywood film legend tells her (hidden) life story to actress and aspiring director, Sienna Hayes.

Bina Blonski is a young female Jewish actress whose family and privileged life in Poland were destroyed by the Nazis. Forced into the Warsaw ghetto in 1943 with her husband Jakub, Bina 鈥� with her blonde hair and blue eyes 鈥� survives the Holocaust by using her brains and beauty, acting as a smuggler and spy for the Jewish resistance effort.

Barr鈥檚 vivid and raw descriptions of living conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto in WWII Poland will make your toes curl.

After the war, Bina flees to Hollywood and reinvents herself as Lena Browning, an acclaimed actress whose personal war never quite ends.

Barr, the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, skillfully weaves in historical facts throughout the novel.

A perfect combo of great fiction and historical truth, The Goddess of Warsaw is an unputdownable page-turner. This one serves up the whole enchilada: history, suspense, betrayal, revenge, romance, secrets, and sacrifice.

Suspenseful to the very end, it鈥檚 an unforgettable tribute to those courageous enough to stand up against hate and a testament to the resilience of the human spirit.
"

"
Now, this, THIS is a novel.

I dare you to start and try to put it down.
"