Murder in The Family

Opening this book deep into hot strike summer (now fall) and seeing a fake call sheet nearly made me cry. BUT once I got over how much I miss the sight of a call sheet, I was fully invested in Cara Hunter’s Murder in the Family from chapter 1.

GoodReads Synopsis: A shocking thriller about a cold case, a fictional true crime series, and the family caught in the middle.

SIX EPISODES. ONE KILLER.

It was a case that gripped the nation. In December 2003, Luke Ryder, the stepfather of acclaimed filmmaker Guy Howard (then aged 10), was found dead in the garden of their suburban family home.

Luke Ryder's murder has never been solved. Guy Howard's mother and two half-sisters were in the house at the time of the murder--but all swear they saw nothing. Despite a high-profile police investigation and endless media attention, no suspect was ever charged.

But some murder cases are simply too big to forget...

Now comes the sensational new Netflix series Infamous, dedicated to investigating--and perhaps cracking--this famous cold case. The production team will re-examine testimony, re-interview witnesses, and once again scour the evidence. The family will speak. The key players will be reunited--on camera. The truth will come out.

Are you ready to see it?

—-

A mix of call sheets, production notes, emails, interview transcripts, reddit threads, voicemail transcriptions, and texts this multimedia format was so well done and fun that I was never distracted by it and instead was fully drawn into this engaging thriller. It truly felt as though I was watching the production of a Netflix true crime series unfold. Some will say it’s gimmicky, but I was not put off by the clever format at all.

Every time you, or the fictional viewers at home think they know who did it, you’re all dead wrong.

Are the twists and turns absolutely bonkers? YES. Did I want to throttle a few characters? YOU’RE DAGGONE RIGHT I DID!

Honestly, I saw the final twist coming but the meatier middle of the story WTF moment, I absolutely was blindsided by, and had put my kindle down to regroup.

This was clever as heck, and well executed. I highly recommend reading a physical copy if possible or on your chosen e-reader. I was reading some of this via my Kindle App on my phone and nearly had to pull out a magnifying glass to catch some of the details.

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/6 for a truly a fantastic thriller from Cara Hunter!

Frost and Fate

Holy Hot Wolves Batman! Listen I love shifter romances, sign me up. Fated mates, alpha males, a fun pack dynamic BRING IT ON, obviously Frost and Fate sounded like a perfect match. When I was gifted an ARC for an honest review from the author, I was ready and let me tell you I was not disappointed. Perfectly steamy no clunky love scenes, and some very funny moments that had me cackling in public.

Goodreads Synopsis:

After a horrific attack reveals her immense magical abilities, Nova Studer is thrown into a new world of lycan shifters and unknown dangers. When the wolf pack assigns a well-muscled and hotter than sin lycan to keep her close, it awakens more than just her growing supernatural powers. Can she learn to control her gifts before the Collector’s find a way to take her away? Is her broody, lycan protector more than just a crush?

Darren’s life is turned upside down the moment an ice-wielding Celestial is thrown into his path. After his Alpha asks Darren to keep an eye on her, he’s forced to choose between obeying his leader, or giving into his animal’s inner call. His wolf recognizes her as something special right away. Is it possible this silver-haired stranger is his Fated Mate? The Collectors are after Nova, and Darren will do whatever it takes to keep her safe. 

What I loved: 

• The world building, I don’t think I’ve read anything with a celestial?!?! Nova was giving Elsa from Frozen vibes and we love it.

• I always appreciate the “oops yeah wolves can smell when you’re horny bit” in Shifter romances because what a great awkward moment. Never gets old to me.

• Aria is easily the funniest character in the book. Her spunky no filter personality had me laughing out loud a few times while reading on a very quiet early morning flight. We all need an Aria! 

Overall, this was a solid debut for Violet Taylor! I’m curious to see what happens next for the pack and several other characters in book 2! 

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️/6 For some shifter fun!  

You can find Frost and Fate on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AjEZJs

The House Across The Lake

WHEW. 

Look, we know I am a massive Riley Sager fan, MASSIVE people MASSIVE. Like where are the thriller writer stans hanging out? Do we have a convention I am missing? Anyway, prior to discovering Sager, I wouldn’t have picked up a thriller, but he’s got me. He's now an instant add to cart/beg for an ARC author on my list. 

I got lucky and received an ARC of House Across the Lake, from Dutton and loved it. 

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.

One day on the lake, Casey saves Katherine from drowning, and the two strike up a budding friendship. But the more they get to know each other—and the longer Casey watches—it becomes clear that Katherine and Tom’s marriage is not as perfect and placid as it appears. When Katherine suddenly vanishes, Casey becomes consumed with finding out what happened to her. In the process, she uncovers eerie, darker truths that turn a tale of voyeurism and suspicion into a story of guilt, obsession and how looks can be very deceiving.

With his trademark blend of sharp characters, psychological suspense, and gasp-worthy surprises, Riley Sager’s The House Across the Lake unveils more than one twist that will shock readers until the very last page.

——

I was immediately intrigued with the Rear Window, and The Woman on the Train vibes. And while usually as an actor I usually get the ick when author’s write about actors, Sager does it well and keeps her from being utterly unlikable. 

I did not expect the twist on the twist at all, which is my favorite thriller moment when you’re reading and want to gasp aloud or look around the room for someone, anyone else to say CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT, and you absolutely will in The House Across the Lake. There’s plenty of red herrings to be found in this one, and the misdirects start happening at breakneck speed about mid-way thru. I know devout thriller readers will potentially not dig the left turn *NO SPOILERS* that really hit ya towards the end, but I loved it! 

My only negative note, I will say I am bored of drunk unreliable female narrators in thrillers, switch it up. That said I loved this one and I highly recommend you add it to your summer reading list!

Grab it on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3bA1vmZ

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️/6 For a wild ride!

Just Last Night

I am a Mhairi McFarlane fan for sure, so this was an immediate yes please oh please request for me.

Goodreads Synopsis: Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed have been friends since they were teenagers. Now in their thirties, the four are as close as ever, Thursday night bar trivia is sacred, and Eve is still secretly in love with Ed. Maybe she should have moved on by now, but she can’t stop thinking about what could have been. And she knows Ed still thinks about it, too.

But then, in an instant, their lives are changed forever.

In the aftermath, Eve’s world is upended. As stunning secrets are revealed, she begins to wonder if she really knew her friends as well as she thought. And when someone from the past comes back into her life, Eve’s future veers in a surprising new direction...

They say every love story starts with a single moment. What if it was just last night?

——-

I have to say this one was entirely a surprise for me as it does not feel like a romance novel, Just Last Night instead feels like a delightful meditation on friendships, love, and the bonds of family both the ones we are born into and the ones we make for ourselves.

There definitely is a sweet romance in this book (zero spice in this one FYI), but it was not at all what I was focused on while reading.

Loved Susie, Ed, and Fin but felt that Justin was a bit underdeveloped and more of a punchline than a true character. Beyond the look at relationships, Just Last Night also reminded me we’ll really never know anyone completely and even our closest friends can have their own secrets.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #WilliamMorrowBooks for the opportunity to read this release early in exchange for my honest review!

Just Last Night is available today!

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ 3.5/6 For a sweet and easy read!

His & Hers

WHEW.

Hold on to your f@#*ing hat folks. His and Hers is great, but you will have whiplash when you are done reading/listening.

I was lucky enough to get an early copy this summer from NetGalley and McMillan Audio at the start of NetGalley’s audio book offerings. This was the perfect first pick.

Good Reads Synopsis:

There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying.

Anna Andrews finally has what she wants. Almost. She's worked hard to become the main TV presenter of the BBC's lunchtime news, putting work before friends, family, and her now ex-husband. So, when someone threatens to take her dream job away, she'll do almost anything to keep it.

When asked to cover a murder in Blackdown--the sleepy countryside village where she grew up--Anna is reluctant to go. But when the victim turns out to be one of her childhood friends, she can't leave. It soon becomes clear that Anna isn't just covering the story, she's at the heart of it.

DCI Jack Harper left London for a reason, but never thought he'd end up working in a place like Blackdown. When the body of a young woman is discovered, Jack decides not to tell anyone that he knew the victim, until he begins to realize he is a suspect in his own murder investigation.

One of them knows more than they are letting on. Someone isn't telling the truth. Alternating between Anna's and Jack's points of view, His & Hers is a fast-paced, complex, and dark puzzle that will keep listeners guessing until the very end.

——

I had never encountered Alice Feeny’s writing before, and maybe I should have dug a little deeper before I decided to hop right on in and give His & Hers a listen.

The breakneck pace, red herring palooza, and outright wild ending had me literally gasping aloud once I finally pieced together whodunit. Mind you throughout the book I had 5 suspects. No joke I had a running notebook with suspects (clearly why I’m an actor and not an actual detective I suppose…)

And let me tell you I was dead wrong every time! Ms. Feeny should be crowned queen of the misdirect. She had me so convinced in the end I knew who did it, that I kid you not I sat at my kitchen table (now office given the current Pandemic situation) and intently listening with my mouth hanging open and missing not one but two conference calls.

Wildly well written, I am considering reading the physical book next and checking out her other books.

Now in terms of listening, we all know narrators make or break the audiobook experience.  I honestly picked this book at first because I love Richard Armitage. He’s spectacular in this and I could honestly listen to him read the phone book not to mention Stephanie Racine, is also wonderful and a delight to listen to!

I will say, I would have appreciated at content /trigger warning for grooming (re: sexual relationships) and animal cruelty.

Overall though fantastic audiobook, and I am looking forward to Alice Feeny’s next title!  

5/6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Always Only You

Chloe Liese is fantastic.

Any author taking the time to write about neurodiversity in the romance genre has my attention.

 Good Reads Synopsis : Get ready for an emotional ride filled with laughter, longing, and a sweet slow-burn in this sports romance about love’s power not in spite of difference, but because of it.

Ren

The moment I met her, I knew Frankie Zeferino was someone worth waiting for. Deadpan delivery, secret heart of gold, and a rare one-dimpled smile that makes my knees weak, Frankie has been forbidden since the day she and I became coworkers, meaning waiting has been the name of my game—besides, hockey, that is.

I’m a player on the team, she’s on staff, and as long as we work together, dating is off-limits. But patience has always been my virtue. Frankie won’t be here forever—she’s headed for bigger, better things. I just hope that when she leaves the team and I tell her how I feel, she won’t want to leave me behind, too.

Frankie

I’ve had a problem at work since the day Ren Bergman joined the team: a six foot three hunk of happy with a sunshine smile. I’m a grumbly grump and his ridiculously good nature drives me nuts, but even I can’t entirely ignore that hot tamale of a ginger with icy eyes, the perfect playoff beard, and a body built for sin that he’s annoyingly modest about.

Before I got wise, I would have tripped over myself to get a guy like Ren, but with my diagnosis, I’ve learned what I am to most people in my life—a problem, not a person. Now, opening my heart to anyone, no matter how sweet, is the last thing I’m prepared to do.

Always Only You is an opposites-attract, forbidden love sports romance about a nerdy, late-blooming hockey star, and his tough cookie coworker who keeps both her soft side and her autism diagnosis* to herself. Complete with a meddling secretary, tantric yoga torture, and a scorching slow burn, this standalone is the second in a series of novels about a Swedish-American family of five brothers, two sisters, and their wild adventures as they each find happily ever after.

——

Chloe Liese does it in such a compelling way and for someone who champions #OwnVoices she does a fantastic job at helping people like me on the outside looking in better understand Autism. Hell she gave me such a clearer picture on Rheumatoid Arthritis after reading Always Only You, I felt like a dolt for being so oblivious beyond the occasional run in with it via pharmaceutical commercials.

Story wise do I love the Bergman brothers? Of course I do. 

I am desperately waiting for a Bergman of my own? Yes. Duh! Alas they are fictional.

Ren is perfect. A nerd thru and thru with his own damage, and awkward hang-ups he was a perfect compliment to Frankie.

Who doesn't love a man who can quote Shakespeare without coming across like a pompous jerk? 

Frankie’s fierce independence is so welcome in a romantic protagonist; she’s pretty has a cool job, cute dog, and fun friends. Reading about a woman who is neurodivergent, kicking ass, and is cool as hell is RARE. We need to see more characters like her. Her struggle to fit in, constantly wearing a mask so that she can interpret other people’s social cues sounded exhausting and more people should be aware of how those living with neurodiversity perceive the world around us.

“Autism is a lifelong reality that you’ll never quite catch the cues, follow the timing, see the world like a lot of people do. And sometimes that has isolating, frustrating, depressing, reverberations”

AND why the heck do I feel like we consider those with so called “disabilities” and/or various neurodiversity sexless? Is that just me? Why do I feel like only just now is popular culture making more of an effort to recognize that one-dimensional portrayal is nonsense!?! Again why I appreciate Chloe Liese’s work so much.

Not to mention Liese is a Harry Potter fan and I always enjoy her Potter pepperings! Hats off to her for mention JK's recent horrific TERF rants. I always appreciate an HP fan that can enjoy the work and shout out how problematic the author is.

Every time I dip in to the world of the Bergman's and their significant others I want sit and stay awhile, and am so sad when it’s over. 

I think its time Chloe Liese goes on my auto buy list. ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5/6

Always Only You is out on August fourth you can pre-order it here

Also this is completely fine to read as a stand-alone, but I would hate for readers to miss out on Willa and Ryder’s story so I highly recommend reading Only When Its Us first!

Dirty Tactics

Someone get me a glass of water STAT! This was gooooood, a perfect beach read! Except there’s a pandemic so I guess perfect kiddie pool in my suburban backyard read? I digress….

There are two things that my romance novels have to have for a good time: 1) solid story AND 2) sizzling heat. Dirty Tactics delivers that and then some. I read this once, and then woke up the next morning and read it again.

Goodreads Synopsis:

His best friend’s little sister never looked so good…
Two weeks.

A trial period, in which hockey superstar Zac Quinn will prove to Reagan Thomas—his best friend’s younger sister and the one woman he can’t seem to keep his hands off of—that they can’t possibly date for real.

After all, the Thomas family is the only family he’s ever had. He can’t risk losing them, no matter how much he wants Reagan. She’s too important to him; he can’t let things get weird.

But Reagan has known they’re meant to be since forever. She’s not about to back down now.

If she has to play dirty to bring him around?

No problem.

——-

I love a good sports romance these days, so I thought I would give it a shot, plus a black woman is our main character, I was in! Not only is Regan smart, funny, and fully fleshed out she was so normal. Give me normal stories of black joy and love all day.

And Zac? Well he was hot as hell. I loved watching a man deal with his feelings! Frank talk of therapy, and handling childhood abuse.

Was there some lag in the middle? Yes. Did I mind? No, not really!

For a debut novel this was a home run. I’d happily read the rest of this series. Ms. Salah is now on my auto buy list.

Typically I am a one and done reader for my romance picks, but this was a keeper y’all! Also whew is it hot! I mean HOT. I may have re-signed up for bumble I was so hot and bothered. TMI? Don’t care. It’s true!

If you’re a fan of Christina Lauren books, I think you’ll enjoy this!

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5/6

Dirty Tactics by Emma Salah comes out July 20th 2020, don’t miss it!

Fumbled

Three things you should know about Me:

1. I LOVE football (Go Colts!)

2. I read a lot of romance novels

3. I’m a woman of color

So fumbled should have been a 100% Super Bowl game winning touch down of a “he could go all the way!” pick for me but eh…

Goodreads Synopsis:

Single-mother Poppy Patterson moved across the country when she was sixteen and pregnant to find a new normal. After years of hard work, she's built a life she loves. It may include a job at a nightclub, weekend soccer games, and more stretch marks than she anticipated, but it's all hers, and nobody can take that away. Well, except for one person.

TK Moore, the starting wide receiver for the Denver Mustangs, dreamt his entire life about being in the NFL. His world is football, parties, and women. Maybe at one point he thought his future would play out with his high school sweetheart by his side, but Poppy is long gone and he's moved on.  

When Poppy and TK cross paths in the most unlikely of places, emotions they've suppressed for years come rushing back. But with all the secrets they never told each other lying between them, they'll need more than a dating playbook to help them navigate their relationship.

—-

So sounds good right? PERFECT FOR ME RIGHT?!?

Nope.

Was TK hot hot? Yes. 100%. Felt those cute white boy vibes, like he was equal parts Clay Matthews and Travis Kelce from Kansas City.

Was Poppy a fully fleshed out black woman who was sassy and fun? Yes.

Was the boring interracial rom com trope of the secret baby, from ya black girlfriend who your family hates dragged out and used? Yep.

Did the CTE plot, ***SPOILER ALERT*** let’s give up football because we’ve just gotten back in a relationship and I say so a little unbelievable? HELL YES.

If you take out those last two things, this would have been a perfect fun romance novel that I devoured so quickly during quarantine, I might have been even be a little embarrassed! Honestly Alexa Martin nails the banter, the gal pals, and whew the sexy! I just…maybe its just me…but I read a lot of interracial romance, and why please someone TELL ME WHY FOR THE LOVE OF PETE! Is this secret baby trope so popular?

If we just agree to disagree on that, fine throw that out the window, I am still loving the book.

BUT WAIT…what Dear Reader do you ask made me silent scream at 4:4am in the dark of my bedroom when I swiped to the end of the book?

HE.GIVES.UP.HIS.LIFELONG.DREAM.OF.PLAYING. PROFESSIONAL. FOOTBALL.

AFTER BARELY BEING BACK IN THIS WOMAN’S LIFE FOR A HOT MINUTE. I get it, I am a childless shrew, so I can’t understand parenthood fine! FAIR! OK! What I do understand is a lifelong dream to work in an industry, where very few people get to be considered, the top tier, an elite individual, and to just up and walk away?

I grapple with my love of football, the serious undeniable fact that CTE is real, and the human brain even with a helmet and updated safety protocols is not meant to be bounced around like that in our skull. So real talk, I get. It just seemed a tad unrealistic… and that’s coming from a football fan whose quarterback up and retired early because he wanted to live injury free and fully enjoy his life.

So there you have it, I loved Fumbled and I hated it. Alexa Martin’s writing overall was killer, and I’m up for reading the other books in this universe (already requested it from the library). I just have a few bones to pick about this one.

It was a passionate romance for us, darling Fumbled and I…but sadly it ended and I would give it ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/6.

Still would recommended it to a romance and sports loving friend, just would also include my full secret baby rant while handing over a copy.

You can get yours on Amazon here

Grace Year

This is good y’all.

I mean real good, like miss a call with your BFF, skip the season finale of Big Little Lies good!

“No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.”

With hints of the The Crucible, Lord of the Flies, and The Handmaids Tale (aka one of my favorite books of all time) The Grace Year is a masterful look into a girl's journey into womanhood.

“In the county, there’s nothing more dangerous than a woman who speaks her mind”

Good Reads Synopsis:

Girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for their chance to grab one of the girls in order to make their fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

—

Fresh, feminist, and delightfully violent The Grace Year reads like a journal entry straight out of a Handmaid’s Tale Dystopian hell hole.

"White ribbons for the young girls, red for the grace year girls, and black for the wives. Innocence. Blood. Death."

The veiling ceremony alone had me sure this book was 100% on my list of 2019 favorites for sure.

The writing feels prescient to today, and oh so grown up.

“That’s why they send us here.”
“To rid yourself of your magic,” he says.
“No,” I whisper as I drift off to sleep. “To break us.”

A quick read, its feminist and gritty its well worth picking up even if you aren’t a YA fan.

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️6/6

The Grace Year comes out in October you can order it here: https://amzn.to/2Y0a1nG

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Kim Liggett for the advance copy!

Get A Life, Chloe Brown

Sweet and oh so sexy! This one started out rough for me but 4 chapters in, I was hooked.

While Red was a little unrealistic…let’s be real a partner that intuits a woman’s needs at EVERY single turn? Is that real? Have I become cynical in my old age?

Hold for my freak out, and lets get a synopsis.

GoodReads Synopsis:
Chloe Brown is a chronically ill computer geek with a goal, a plan, and a list. After almost—but not quite—dying, she’s come up with seven directives to help her “Get a Life”, and she’s already completed the first: finally moving out of her glamorous family’s mansion. The next items?

Enjoy a drunken night out.
Ride a motorcycle.
Go camping.
Have meaningless but thoroughly enjoyable sex.
Travel the world with nothing but hand luggage.
And... do something bad.
But it’s not easy being bad, even when you’ve written step-by-step guidelines on how to do it correctly. What Chloe needs is a teacher, and she knows just the man for the job.

Redford ‘Red’ Morgan is a handyman with tattoos, a motorcycle, and more sex appeal than ten-thousand Hollywood heartthrobs. He’s also an artist who paints at night and hides his work in the light of day, which Chloe knows because she spies on him occasionally. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit.

But when she enlists Red in her mission to rebel, she learns things about him that no spy session could teach her. Like why he clearly resents Chloe’s wealthy background. And why he never shows his art to anyone. And what really lies beneath his rough exterior…

—-

Ok now that, that is out of the way a huge thank you to Net Galley for this one as I probably wouldn’t have read it on my own.

I do so love a curvy normal gal, out living her best life and finding love. Romance is for all of us y’all!

Plus when do we ever get stories that so well chronicle living with the chronic pain of fibromyalgia? I have never felt as though I so thoroughly understood it, as I did reading this book. Also I wasn’t aware that some consider it a disability?

I learned a lot and it strongly reinforced that being sick or disabled does not mean losing your sexy.

This was a fun, hot romance and is perfect for Summer! ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 out of 6 stars for the slow start but fantastic finish.

Want to read it? Grab it here: https://amzn.to/2Lez4wE

The Mummy Bloggers

I saw this on NetGalley and immediately knew I wanted to read it. So thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy and making my little bookworm heart so happy!

I am by no means a mommy blogger…but do I follow a few? Yes. Have I been influenced? *says yes while surrounded by a pile silk hair ties and Stasher bags that I apparently desperately needed…*

Goodreads Synopsis: “Sometimes life behind the screen is not as rosy as it seems... 

Meet three Mummy Bloggers - each of them followed, idolised, imitated, taunted and trolled online.

Elle Campbell is a glossy, lycra-clad mum with washboard abs, a ten-year plan and a secret past. Abi Black has quit sugar, moved to the country and is homeschooling her kids. Leisel Adams slogs away at her office job each day before rushing home, steeped in guilt, to spend precious moments with her kids before bedtime.

When all three women are nominated for a prestigious blogging award with a hefty cash prize, the scene is set for a brutal and often hilarious battle for hearts, minds-and clicks. As the awards night gets closer, their lies get bigger, their stunts get crazier - and some mistakes from the past become harder and harder to hide.

The Mummy Bloggers is a frank and funny look at the perils and perks of life online.”

—

Let me be 100% clear I loved this book.

LOVED it, I mean laughed out loud in public places while reading it loved it.

The Mummy Bloggers had me cackling at Abi’s antics, and Elle’s straight up insane vibes, and even relating strongly to Leisel’s exhausted mommy musings and self deprecation.

In a time where most of us are attaching our sense of self worth to the number of likes and follows we have on social media, this romp into one dark corner of the internet is all too relatable and crazy funny.

It’s perfect for by the pool or wherever your adventures take you this summer!

Check it out: https://amzn.to/2XA0UtP

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/6

The Perfect Child

Well my streak of books determined to keep me childless and alone continues friends.

The Perfect Child, was certainly no exception, and let’s be honest it’s entirely my Facebook book club’s fault. I blame them, and someone can break it to my mother.

Good Reads Synopsis: “A page-turning debut of suspense about a young couple desperate to have a child of their own—and the unsettling consequences of getting what they always wanted.

Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.

But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is drowning under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see Janie’s true nature.

Hannah knows that Janie is manipulating Christopher and isolating him from her, despite Hannah’s attempts to bring them all together. But as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind Janie’s past may be enough to push them all over the edge. “

—

Told in alternating perspectives, The Perfect child is an adoptive parents’ nightmare. Traditionally I’m no fan of the alternating perspectives for each chapter, but here it works. I was drawn into this god awful parenting story gone awry (could also be filed under another “woman’s intuition ignored and we all catch hell for it later” tale).

Also no worries on it being The Orphan redux, its not. Its worse.

Look I love kids, I have none but I love them, but books like this keep my womb very VERY empty.

Janie is the victim of some horrific abuse, who meets adorable couple the Bauer’s in the hospital (he’s a surgeon, she’s a nurse Awwwwww). Important point of order, The Bauer’s desperately want a baby so of course CHRISTOPHER not Hannah (women are so much smarter than men FACTS) falls in love with Janie gets Hannah onboard and suddenly they have a toddler with severe trauma.

Here’s where the shit hits the fan both literally and figuratively…seriously the kid throws feces frequently.

Janie hates mothers.

ALL mothers.

Christopher is enamored with Janie; do we see where I am going here?

Poor Hannah, I spent most of this book wanting to scream at Christopher for being such a dunce.

Look an animal dies, someone's nip gets bit, a relative gets a good shove down the stairs, and there’s no ending NONE essentially this book ends on a non-ending.

Intriguing yes, but no ending? The demon spawn gets hospitalized and essentially it all boils down to the system is broken? I call foul.

 Speaking of which Piper, the Bauer’s social worker is a real piece of work. WOOF.

It felt as though she was a little too invested in Christopher, and her police interview chapters were not my favorite parts of the story.

A quick read, fun and frightening but imperfect I give this book: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 a pleasant part of my Saturday read-a-thon but not earth shaking.

Want to read it yourself? It’s a Kindle Unlimited option! You can find it here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2BPJFYA

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Verity

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Hello, World!

My lord, someone send a brain bath.

I have never wanted to dip my brain in bleach more then after I finished Colleen Hoover’s Verity.  A wild ride, disturbing to the very last page, and so very well worth the read.

Goodreads Synopsis: “Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.”

—

I am not a huge thriller reader, certainly there’s an exception here or there but its not my go to genre so when my Facebook book club started raving about this one and mentioning it was included with Kindle Unlimited I thought, why not?

From the first few pages Verity is grim. Splattered brain matter levels of grim. You’ve been warned this is definitely not a light and fluffy read.

If you can’t tell from previous reviews, I’m fond of the dark and disturbed especially when it comes to female characters. You could say I’m fully on team, down with likability! Verity may have changed my mind on that a bit, as after finishing this book I came up for air and needed a cookie and a Disney movie.

***Spoiler ALERT***

The described attempted abortion made me light headed while reading, something that has never happened to me! Let alone the purported after effect on the child, I was full on skeeved out. By the time you get to the child murder, I was ready to throw my kindle off my balcony (obviously tying a string to it so that I could pull it back up and finish the book).  It’s like a car accident on the freeway or pimple popping videos, you can’t not look. I become emotionally invested in fictional characters, and I am not apologizing!

I haven’t disliked a character so strongly in quite some time, but Verity is a trip. You will full on cheer for Lowen and Jeremy’s adultery solely as some sort of karmic revenge, I about cheered at her final comeuppance but then felt like I walked face first into a stop sign at the twist ending. I’m not saying anything else except, READ THIS BOOK.

I would absolutely recommend this, and will be slipping references to every conversation I have for the next month or so.

I give this book 5/6 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Want to be in need of a brain bath too? Grab Verity on Amazon!

Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/2X8JWie

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A Conjuring of Light.

Delicious.

Divine.

Delightful.

Reading something by V.E. Schwab is like the best feast in the great hall of Hogwarts at the end of term. Sensory overload, in the best way!

Good Reads Synopsis:

Witness the fate of beloved heroes - and enemies.

THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS FINALLY TIPPED...
The precarious equilibrium among four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.

WHO WILL CRUMBLE?
Kell - once assumed to be the last surviving Antari - begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?

WHO WILL RISE?
Lila Bard, once a commonplace - but never common - thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.

WHO WILL TAKE CONTROL?
And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay.

—-

This series has been an utter delight from start to finish, and this last book of the trilogy was nothing short of perfect. I am so happy it ended on a high note!

There is something to be said of a story that envelops you wholly, the kind where you forget a pot is on the stove or skip wrapping Christmas presents one evening to finish those last 20 pages. That’s the kind of book I love to get lost in, and Schwab always delivers with a writing style is nothing short of poetry.

Admittedly I have hated Lila Bard from the start, with a fiery passion. Like Kell, I am keen on rules and order BUT in A Conjuring of Light I came to like Lila and her ways (i.e. didn’t growl every time her name popped up). I won’t re-hash all the relationships and who gets their happy ending and who doesn’t but overall I was satisfied with everyone’s fate. The pacing of this one is also spot on, I occasionally found this series wordy slowing me down while reading but I zipped thru this one. There’s enough action and a smidge of romance to really get lost in it all. Side note thank the lord for authors who write about LGBTQ relationships! Happy to see an uptick in the diversity of sexual orientation in my reading!

I would absolutely recommend this and will obviously be forcing this series on anyone who asks me for a recommendation and will certainly re-read this series again and again.

I give this book 6/6 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️YEP I SAID IT! READ THESE BOOKS PEOPLE!

Want to read it? Of course you do. Here’s a link: https://amzn.to/2BLLbdr

Oh? You want the boxset? Let me help you out: https://amzn.to/2RsS1yt

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The Universe Has Your Back:Transform fear to Faith

I am so happy I finally picked this book up! I know to some it might seem like a lot of woo-woo but I’m definitely team #GoodVibes when it comes to world view, our everyday mindset, and general state of being as much as possible.

Goodreads Synopsis:

In her latest book, The Universe Has Your Back, New York Times best-selling author Gabrielle Bernstein teaches readers how to transform their fear into faith in order to live a divinely guided life. Each story and lesson in the book guides readers to release the blocks to what they most long for: happiness, security and clear direction. The lessons help readers relinquish the need to control so they can relax into a sense of certainty and freedom. Readers will learn to stop chasing life and truly live.

Making the shift from fear to faith will give readers a sense of power in a world that all too often makes them feel utterly powerless. When the tragedies of the world seem overwhelming, this book will help guide them back to their true power.

Gabrielle says, My commitment with this book is to wake up as many people as possible to their connection to faith and joy. In that connection, we can be guided to our true purpose: to be love and spread love. These words can no longer be cute buzz phrases that we merely post on social media. Rather, these words must be our mission. The happiness, safety, and security we long for lies in our commitment to love.

When readers follow this path, they’ll begin to feel a swell of energy move through them. They will find strength when they are down, synchronicity and support when they’re lost, safety in the face of uncertainty, and joy when they are otherwise in pain. Follow the secrets revealed in this book to unleash the presence of your power and know always that The Universe Has Your Back.

—-

Let me be entirely upfront, if you don’t like woo-woo and new age self help, this book will drive you nuts. As someone who is equal parts pragmatist and hippie dippy dreamer, I had moments where I was cheering while reading thinking, “Damn this is revelatory” and then immediately moving over to “What a lot of hooey”.

Growing up my mom read A Course in Miracles, so I am peripherally familiar with the book and its teachings. Gabby is very clear on the fact that A Course in Miracles has heavily influenced both her life and her work, but I often feel like the bulk of her writing and teachings are an amalgam of watered down A Course in Miracles and several other major new age thinkers you’ve seen hanging with Oprah. So on the spiritual side, it can be derivative and some of her “challenges” are definitely champagne problems to have in this world and this may not speak to those truly going thru it. On the flip-side, if her easily digestible and au courant writing style brings people closer to centering themselves (whoop there it is! hello woo-woo!) and growing spiritually then what is there really to complain about?

She touches at the very end on righteous anger, and I appreciated the last chapter immensely for at the very least acknowledging that we live in rough world and suffering is all around us and we have a responsibility to effect change. That’s what I want from my spiritual thought leaders, uplifting content but at the same time a tacit acknowledgement that we do live in the real world and horrible shit happens that we have to confront.

Going to give this one 5/6 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and would absolutely recommend it.

Here’s a link if you want to snag it: https://amzn.to/2UtbnSq

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Sawkill Girls

Whoa, what a ride. Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand was well worth the rough day I had after staying up late into the wee hours of the morning to finish this excellent book.

Goodreads Synopsis: “Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep.

He’ll follow you home, and he won’t let you sleep.

Who are the Sawkill Girls?

Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.

Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.

Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires.

Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now. “

- - -

I don’t think that synopsis does this book justice. Sawkill Girls was so good I’m gonna swear on the Internet!

Holy hell, if you’re looking for something smart, snarky, scary, and fun this is it.

When I read anything YA, I want it complex and confident about its audience’s intelligence and this book…whew… hits the nail on the head.

There are diverse characters, LGTBQIA relationships, nontraditional/non hetero-normative gender roles, consent is presented well AND let me just drop my favorite quote:

“Girls hunger. And we’re taught, from the moment our brains can take it, that there isn’t enough food for us all.”

Somebody help me up the truth just knocked me down! Claire Legrand in two sentences explained my experience as a woman, an actress, and female identifying working professional.

This book doesn’t shy away from gore which, I’ve noticed some YA books with girls as the leading characters often do, or worse they use flowery prose to cover up blood and gore. We’re women not hothouse flowers, y’all.

Romantic relationships in the book were also well done, with a deft hand, no love triangles (thank god).

I did have a moment mid-book where I thought things were taking a derpy turn, and this great book was going downhill with the appearance of male “heroes” coming in to save the day but instead this book is fiercely fucking feminist (excuse my French and love for alliterations but truth is truth). Another gem I love:

“Screw that book,” said Val. “It was written by men.” She held out her free hand to Marion. “We are rewriting it.”

Clearly I loved reading this book.

Somewhere after 2am I knew I needed to call it, and take my ass to bed, but I couldn’t. I was so deep in this book about these special girls I couldn’t put it down. I had to finish it.

The only thing I hated but came around to was the weird man-cult (Legrand’s words not mine), yeah we needed them to represent the patriarchy/mansplainy pseudo villains, but I cared less about them and more about the Collector.

If you’re looking for a dark, atmospheric, creepy read with kick ass heroines and monsters this is it.

I give this book a solid 5/6 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Grab it, read it, and let me know what you think: https://amzn.to/2A5gPTk

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Girl Wash Your Face

I cannot believe I am writing this, but I did not enjoy this book at all.

Goodreads Synopsis: “With wry wit and hard-earned wisdom, popular online personality and founder of TheChicSite.com founder Rachel Hollis helps readers break free from the lies keeping them from the joy-filled and exuberant life they are meant to have.
Founder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, Chic Media, Rachel Hollis has created an online fan base of hundreds of thousands of fans by sharing tips for living a better life while fearlessly revealing the messiness of her own. Now comes her highly anticipated first book featuring her signature combination of honesty, humor, and direct, no-nonsense advice.

Each chapter of Girl, Wash Your Face begins with a specific lie Hollis once believed that left her feeling overwhelmed, unworthy, or ready to give up. As a working mother, a former foster parent, and a woman who has dealt with insecurities about her body and relationships, she speaks with the insight and kindness of a BFF, helping women unpack the limiting mind-sets that destroy their self-confidence and keep them from moving forward.

From her temporary obsession with marrying Matt Damon to a daydream involving hypnotic iguanas to her son's request that she buy a necklace to "be like the other moms," Hollis holds nothing back. With unflinching faith and tenacity, Hollis spurs other women to live with passion and hustle and to awaken their slumbering goals.”

—-

That’s a very generous synopsis.

Midway thru chapter 2 or 3 of Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis, I nearly threw my iPad out the window. This was a tour of privilege town, in and around the county of humble brag. I am still so shocked to have so disliked this book, Rachel’s humor and aesthetic should have been a winner given my typical taste.

Look, is she quippy? Yes. Are there a few cute gems in here? Sure. Is this book as good as all the reviews and Instagram posts suggest? HECK NO.

I was mildly irritated while reading, but when I got to the section where she describes her trip thru Europe with her now husband and refers to people of Romany descent as “gypsies” and not in the “I’m a wandering soul” way but in the “we were worried about being robbed by thieving gypsies” way I was done.

The ONLY and I am talking only thing that I loved about this book, was Rachel’s suggestion to not flake on yourself. She discusses it in terms of commitments we make to ourselves. Would you want to be friends with a flake? No, right? So why do we flake out on the things we set up for ourselves? Like the gym or self-care? This was an ah-hah moment (albeit a tiny one) that helped me jumpstart my workout routine. Despite that gem, this was sadly a #DNF (did not finish) for me.

Overall this was a no for me dawg.

Would I recommend this book? Probably not.

0/6 stars

You can find it here on Amazon…if you’d like to give it a shot: https://amzn.to/2xThCpe

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Dreadful Young Ladies: And Other Stories

I can never really tell if I like short story collections.

It’s rarely the fault of the author, its my greedy book hoarder self that is the problem! I want to get lost in a book and short stories feel like a collection of cliffhangers.

Dreadful Young Ladies: And Other Stories by Kelly Barnhill, was a delight and an exception to my unresolved drama with short story collections.

Goodreads Synopsis: “From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Kelly Barnhill comes a stunning collection of stories, teeming with uncanny characters whose lives unfold in worlds at once strikingly human and eerily original.
 
 When Mrs. Sorensen’s husband dies, she rekindles a long-dormant love with an unsuitable mate in “Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch.” In “Open the Door and the Light Pours Through,” a young man wrestles with grief and his sexuality in an exchange of letters with his faraway beloved. “Dreadful Young Ladies” demonstrates the strength and power—known and unknown—of the imagination.  In “Notes on the Untimely Death of Ronia Drake,” a witch is haunted by the deadly repercussions of a spell. “The Insect and the Astronomer” upends expectations about good and bad, knowledge and ignorance, love and longing. The World Fantasy Award–winning novella The Unlicensed Magician introduces the secret magical life of an invisible girl once left for dead—with thematic echoes of Barnhill’s Newbery Medal–winning novel, The Girl Who Drank the Moon.
 
By an author hailed as “a fantasist on the order of Neil Gaiman” (Minneapolis Star Tribune), the stories in Dreadful Young Ladies feature bold, reality-bending invention underscored by richly illuminated universal themes of love, death, jealousy, hope, and more.”

——

I loved several of the stories, “Mrs. Sorenson and the Sasquatch” and the collections’ namesake “Dreadful Young Ladies” stood out as some of the best writing I’ve read in awhile. “Dreadful Young Ladies”, in particular gave me strong The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One vibes and that poetry collection is one of my favorite reads this year. I disliked a few others, and not in a “vehemently disliked“ way but certainly a “not for me” way aka my reaction to “The Insect and the Astronomer”. “The Unlicensed Magician”, I loved but wanted more of and would’ve read a full-length novel about Sparrow. (Seriously its not you it’s me, short story collections I promise!).

Overall this was a yes for me, I liked it and was thrilled my random pick at the library was a win. It was a perfect dark and creepy fantasy read to have on deck as we move into October (aka HALLOWEEN TIME Y’ALL).

Would I recommend this book? Sure especially to short story fans. 4/6 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Grab it on Amazon today and let me know what you think! https://amzn.to/2OtjZIM

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The Astonishing Color of After

Have you ever read something so wildly good, you finish it and are almost out of breath?

That’s The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan, a stunning novel of love, loss, and rediscovery.

Goodreads Synopsis: “Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.

Alternating between real and magic, past and present, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After is a novel about finding oneself through family history, art, grief, and love.”

——

Magical realism is one of my favorite genres of narrative fiction. Hit me with some Isabelle Allende, a little Toni Morrison, and then a spattering of Gabriel García Márquez and I will be in book heaven. After reading this I can confidently add Emily X.R. Pan into that excellent company.

Leigh’s struggle to find both her sense of self and place in this world after her mother’s suicide along with a burning desire for answers surrounding her mother’s mental health feels so relatable in this current climate. (The CDC reports that as of June 2018 suicide rates have increased 30% across the country) and while it feels as though mental health is something we as a society are learning to more frequently openly discuss the realities of living with a loved one with mental illness (depression, bipolar disorder, etc) can be devastating. This book so accurately portrays that brutal struggle, I found myself a little weepy.

Her time in Taiwan and forays into her family’s memories are vividly depicted, while deftly being interwoven with the fantastic.

I also loved the emotional shorthand between Axel and Leigh, each time they questioned what color they “felt” I fell a little more in love with the idea. This was one of the best parts of my September library haul, and I can’t wait to see what comes next for Emily X.R. Pan.

—

Would I recommend this book? Yep, can we talk about how you need to be reading this right now? Did you buy it yet?

**If you can’t stand Magical Realism and are unwilling to suspend your disbelief I suggest you look elsewhere.

5/6 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

You can find it here on Amazon, let me know what you think! https://amzn.to/2Oh4Slq

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Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating

SHUT UP! A fun flirty romance with a quirky girl who isn’t quirky to the point of annoyance or a caricature of a human being, an interracial couple, and laugh out loud banter?! I am in! Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren was a darn good time. I love sitting down to read a good romance novel (seriously pass me a peach canned fizzy wine, put my phone on airplane mode, and buh bye world!) but I also demand that they actually be good! Not just heavy petting and some mind numbing dialogue. Give me wit, banter, and a storyline that makes me care about the couple.

It’s for those reasons that I keep coming back to the work of the delightful duo that is Christina Lauren! Two fabulous authors writing under one pen name who I just adore.

Let’s get the nitty gritty out of the way, here’s the Goodreads synopsis:

“Hazel Camille Bradford knows she’s a lot to take—and frankly, most men aren’t up to the challenge. If her army of pets and thrill for the absurd don’t send them running, her lack of filter means she’ll say exactly the wrong thing in a delicate moment. Their loss. She’s a good soul in search of honest fun.

Josh Im has known Hazel since college, where her zany playfulness proved completely incompatible with his mellow restraint. From the first night they met—when she gracelessly threw up on his shoes—to when she sent him an unintelligible email while in a post-surgical haze, Josh has always thought of Hazel more as a spectacle than a peer. But now, ten years later, after a cheating girlfriend has turned his life upside down, going out with Hazel is a breath of fresh air.

Not that Josh and Hazel date. At least, not each other. Because setting each other up on progressively terrible double blind dates means there’s nothing between them...right?”

—

I loved Josh and Hazel, they were fun and I wanted to hang out with them! I was rooting for them to fall in love and realize they were absolutely perfect for each other. I also was enamored with their friends and family. Plus let me tell you I’m a sucker for an adorable epilogue and if you want feel good cute factor then Christina Lauren nailed it in this one.

It was also so refreshing to have a Korean American leading man in this! All of the romance hunks are usually of the wonder bread variety (BORING), I’m totally team Josh Im.

The hook up scenes were spicy but I would expect nothing less from team Christina Lauren.

Was there anything I didn’t like about this cute rom-com romp? Not really! Was the final twist a little predictable? Yes. Could Hazel have figured out a little sooner that yes of course she and Josh were a good match? Yes. Was the story about the drug induced email to Hazel’s TA, a weird throw back to a story I swear to goodness I read on reddit/twitter earlier this year? Yes but honestly doesn’t the best whacko stuff come from the internet?

***UPDATE***

Saw on Instagram that this story WAS inspired from said tale on the internet! So strike that criticism, add it to the pro column friends.

****UPDATE***

Overall Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren, was fun and frothy. It was the perfect midweek read, and if romance is your jam you should definitely pick this one up!

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely. 5/6 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

Grab it on Amazon today and let me know what you think! https://amzn.to/2CV1ng3

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