Reading, Reviewing, Guest Authors, Giveaways and more.
My favorite quote is everything happens for a reason.
My favorite part of February is my granddaughter’s birthday.
A little known fact about me is I’m a retired RN.
Having children, for me, is the most rewarding experience in the world.
I was hoping that I would have read 5-6 books this month but real life interfered in my reading time.
Breakfast With The FBI by Erina Bridget Ring
Overall Thoughts: I enjoyed this book especially since it was based on a real life experience of the author.
The Better Liar by Tanen Jones
Overall Thoughts: A psychological thriller that will have you guessing throughout.
No Stone Unturned by Andrea Kane
Overall Thoughts: A story that will have you turning the pages as quickly as you can. My review will be posted on March 20th during her VBT.
Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald
Overall Thoughts: Another thrilling read by this author.
If you can’t remember it, how do you prove you didn’t do it?
Eva Hansen wakes in the hospital after being struck by lightning and discovers her mother, Kat, has been murdered. Eva was found unconscious down the street. She can’t remember what happened but the police are highly suspicious of her.
Determined to clear her name, Eva heads from Seattle to London—Kat’s former home—for answers. But as she unravels her mother’s carefully held secrets, Eva soon realizes that someone doesn’t want her to know the truth. And with violent memories beginning to emerge, Eva doesn’t know who to trust. Least of all herself.
Told in alternating perspectives from Eva’s search for answers and Kat’s mysterious past, Christina McDonald has crafted another “complex, emotionally intense” (Publishers Weekly) domestic thriller. Behind Every Lie explores the complicated nature of mother-daughter relationships, family trauma, and the danger behind long-held secrets.
I should have known better!!!!! After reading The Night Olivia Fell in one sitting, I should not have started this book when I had so much going on in real life where I had to keep putting it down or this would have been another one sitting read!!!
The story alternates between Eva, in the present, trying to recall what happened that fateful night that her mother was murdered and Kat, her mother, twenty-five years ago.
People didn’t believe Eva years ago when she couldn’t remember who or what happened that night she was raped. And now, people don’t believe her when she states she doesn’t remember the details of her mother’s murder even though the evidence is starting to stack up against her.
After returning to her mother’s house, hoping to jog her memory, she finds her birth certificate and a letter written by her mother. What’s in that envelope is not only devastating but also adds to her confusion. So she sets out to try and find out the truth before she is arrested.
The suspense overflowed from the first to the final word at breakneck speed. The characters and clues were delivered at a rapid fired pace that had me turning the pages as fast as I could but also jotting down notes so that I didn’t miss one iota of the story.
Behind every lie are more lies that will come together in a shocking and shattering conclusion!!
A jolting story that left me with a book hangover!!! An outstanding read that will pull you in and not let you go!!! Phenomenal!!!!
Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗
<center
</center
Mailbox Monday
Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.
Wednesday:
No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez ~ eBook from Harper Collins via NetGalley
Friday:
The Big Lie by James Grippando ~ HC from Harper Collins
I am particular about having my house organized.
My family is my everything.
The birth of both my sons is a moment I will never forget.
Have you ever heard of strufoli? A dessert that my grandmother made at Christmas.
Mailbox Monday
Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.
Friday:
A Divided Loyalty by Charles Todd ~ HC from William Morrow
I could not intentionally hurt someone without remorse.
A simple pleasure I enjoy is an ice cream sundae.
If I could change one thing about myself, it would be to stop smoking.
Respect and courtesy is hard to find these days.
When a woman conceals her sister’s death to claim their joint inheritance, her deception exposes a web of dangerous secrets in this addictive new thriller for fans of Megan Abbott, Gillian Flynn, and Paula Hawkins.
“Like most of the dead, I want to be remembered.”
Robin Voigt is dead. If Leslie had arrived at her sister’s cramped Las Vegas apartment just hours earlier, this would have been their first reunion in a decade. In the years since Robin ran away from home as a teenager, Leslie has stayed in New Mexico, taking care of their dying father even as she began building a family of her own. But when their father passed away, Leslie received a rude awakening: She and Robin would receive the inheritance he left them together—or not at all. Now her half of the money may be beyond her grasp. And unbeknownst to anyone, even her husband, Leslie needs it desperately.
When she meets a charismatic young woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Robin—and has every reason to leave her past behind—the two make a reckless bargain: Mary will impersonate Robin for a week in exchange for Robin’s half of the cash. But neither realizes how high the stakes will become when Mary takes a dead woman’s name. Even as Mary begins to suspect Leslie is hiding something, and Leslie realizes the stranger living in her house, babysitting her newborn son, and charming her husband has secrets of her own, Robin’s wild, troubled legacy threatens to eclipse them both.
An electric, twisted portrait of sisterhood and the ties that bind, The Better Liar is a stunning debut with a heart-stopping, twist-after-twist finale that will beg the question: How far would you go to get what’s yours?
Advance praise for The Better Liar
“I thought I’d just skim a page or two before putting The Better Liar on my ‘to-read’ shelf, but I couldn’t help becoming so drawn in that I had to keep going. Tanen Jones has written a compulsively page-turning story. She cleverly drip-feeds nuggets of information, each more surprising than the last, until the final shocking revelation.”—Claire Fuller, author of Bitter Orange and Swimming Lessons
Where do I begin?
Let’s first start with that this is a debut novel and I am hoping that there will be many more books by this author!!
Next, the title!! If you are like me and try to figure out the mystery, the reader has to start there. I knew I had to pay very close attention to the clues and the possible red herrings. Are you asking how I did? I’ll let you know!
Now the story!!! As the synopsis states, Leslie Voight Flores hasn’t seen her sister, Robin, in 10 years, when Robin ran away. However, she must try to track her down since their father’s will states that they will both receive $50,000. upon his death but that they have to receive it together. But is she too late? Now, what does she do? She needs that money!!!!
The narrative alternates between 3 characters (being vague as to not wanting to give away even a tidbit of this riveting story). For me, that meant the type of read that was “just one more chapter” to see which character will be “speaking” next and what that certain character might say.
This was definitely a page-turner, one that was very difficult to put down. Thrilling throughout and totally engrossing. However, I didn’t figure it out!!! Matter of fact, this debut novel left me with a “book hangover” going over the storyline in my mind as to what clues did I miss.
Ms. Jones is now on my radar!!! Kudos to her for such a dynamic introduction to her writing abilities!
Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗
