Mailbox Monday

CMash November 5, 2018 1 Comment

Mailbox Monday

According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.

Monday:
BEDSIDE MANNERS by Heather Frimmer ~ signed ARC from Author / won from Silver’s Reviews
Thursday:
WHEN SMILES FADE by Paige Dearth ~ eBook win via GR
IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND by Michele Campbell ~ HC via St. Martin’s Press

Friday Fill-ins

Friday | Friendly Fill-Ins

CMash November 1, 2018 2 Comments

Hosted by McGruffy’s Reader and 15 and Meowing

This week’s Fill-Ins:

One can _____________.
Given the choice of _______________ or _______________, I would pick _________________.
_________ makes me feel _________.
I never go a day without _________.

My answers:

One can find humor in any situation if they would only look..
Example: On the day of my Grandmother’s funeral, she was 4 months shy of being 105 years old and had never driven nor had ever been in a car accident. After the funeral mass, we were sitting in the limo, behind the hearse, waiting to proceed to the cemetery. A random and impatient driver that couldn’t wait for the procession to begin, tried getting by and hit the hearse. Trying to lighten a somber day, we called our family lawyer later in the day stating that there had been a car accident and my grandmother wanted to bring suit for injuries. We had never heard the family attorney at a loss for words and we all chuckled.
Given the choice of Summer or Winter, I would pick Summer.
My family makes me feel Blessed.
I never go a day without saying my prayers and reading.

Book Review

Review | THE AU PAIR by Emma Rous

CMash October 31, 2018 2 Comments

THE AU PAIR by Emma Rous
Genre: Psychological Thriller / Women’s Fiction
Published by Penguin Group
Publication Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ASIN: B07C6HF9MG
Pages: 384
Review Copy From: Penguin Group via NetGalley
Edition: Kindle
My Rating: 5

Synopsis (via GR)

A grand estate, terrible secrets, and a young woman who bears witness to it all. If V. C. Andrews and Kate Morton had a literary love child, Emma Rous’ The Au Pair would be it.

Seraphine Mayes and her twin brother Danny were born in the middle of summer at their family’s estate on the Norfolk coast. Within hours of their birth, their mother threw herself from the cliffs, the au pair fled, and the village thrilled with whispers of dark cloaks, changelings, and the aloof couple who drew a young nanny into their inner circle.

Now an adult, Seraphine mourns the recent death of her father. While going through his belongings, she uncovers a family photograph that raises dangerous questions. It was taken on the day the twins were born, and in the photo, their mother, surrounded by her husband and her young son, is beautifully dressed, smiling serenely, and holding just one baby.

Who is the child and what really happened that day?

One person knows the truth, if only Seraphine can find her.

My Thoughts

Seraphine Mayes and her twin brother Daniel were born on a fateful day in June 1992 at the family estate. Later that day, their mother jumped to her death from the cliffs at the family home, the Summerbourne house. Was it suicide or something more sinister?

Twenty five years later, and nine days after their father died from an accident, Seraphine has found pictures that were never seen before and are creating more questions than answers. Before the accident, their father told them, along with their older brother Edwin that he has to tell them something.

It appears that Laura, Edwin’s Au Pair, was the one who took the picture that will thrust Seraphine into finding out the truth. But at what price will the truth cost?

The plot had twists and turns throughout. The characters believable but each one carried suspicion as to the lies that have been buried for so many years. Betrayals, secrets, love, and heartache are felt within the pages of this story.

A book that had me guessing with each turn of the page. An exciting read that I highly recommend!

Emma Rous is now on my “authors to read “list!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

REVIEW DISCLAIMER

This blog was founded on the premise to write honest reviews, to the best of my ability, no matter who from, where from and/or how the book was obtained, and will continue to do so, even if it is through PICT or PBP.

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.

I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Book Blast, Partners In Crime Tours, Showcase

Book Blast | Broken Windows by Paul D. Marks

CMash October 30, 2018 1 Comment

Broken Windows

by Paul D. Marks

October 30, 2018 Book Blast

Synopsis:

Broken Windows by Paul D. Marks

While the storm rages over California’s notorious 1994 anti-illegal alien Proposition 187, a young woman climbs to the top of the famous Hollywood sign—and jumps to her death. An undocumented day laborer is murdered. And a disbarred and desperate lawyer in Venice Beach places an ad in a local paper that says: “Will Do Anything For Money.” Private Detective Duke Rogers, and his very unPC partner, Jack Riggs, must figure out what ties together these seemingly unrelated incidents. Their mission catapults them through a labyrinth of murder, intrigue and corruption of church, state and business that hovers around the immigration debate. Along the way we explore the fiery immigration issue from all sides and no one escapes unscathed.

Book Details:

Genre: Mystery/Crime/Thriller
Published by: Down & Out Books
Publication Date: September 10th 2018
Number of Pages: 360
ISBN: 1948235072 (ISBN13: 9781948235075)
Series: Duke Rogers PI, #2
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

PROLOGUE

The Hollywood Sign beckoned her like a magnet—or like a moth to a flame. The sign glowed golden in the magic hour sun—that time of day around sunrise and sunset when the light falls soft and warm and cinematographers love to shoot. Like so many others, Susan Karubian had come here seeking fame and fortune, hoping to make her mark on the world. Oh hell, she had come to be a star like all the others. And she would do it, just not quite in the heady way she’d anticipated.

She had spent hours deciding what to wear. After all, this wasn’t exactly in the etiquette books. Probably not the kind of thing you’d find in Ask Amy column. She finally decided on a tasteful dress with high-heeled sandals.

The young woman drove her Passat down Hollywood Boulevard, turning up Franklin, passing the Magic Castle. She turned slowly up Beachwood Canyon, past the low-rent area north of Franklin, up through the towering stone gates with their “Welcome to Beachwood Canyon” signs. Past the movie star homes in the hills—past where she thought she’d be living by now. She drove in circles, past piles of rubble from the earthquake several months ago, figuring that sooner or later she’d hit the right combination of roads and end up where she wanted to be.

The Passat crested the top of the mountain—mountain or hill? What was the difference anyway? A small concrete building with an antenna sat just below the road. No cars. No one around. As quiet as the Sherman Oaks Galleria on a Monday morning. She parked on Mt. Lee Drive.

She rolled up the windows, locked the car, set her purse on the floor by the gas pedal. The note she’d written in a steady hand tucked into her pocket. She hoped someone would find it quickly. Standing beside the car, she realized she’d have to hike down to get to the sign. She had thought it would be at the top of the mountain. She was buggin’, as she treaded toward the edge of the road.

The nonstop rain of the last couple weeks had broken. The view from up here was incredible. You could almost see Mexico to the south and the Pacific glittering in the west. The city below, shiny and bright. Pretty and clean from up here. A million doll houses that reminded her of childhood, playing with dolls and making everything come out the way she wanted it to. Little toy cars down below, scooting back and forth. Swarms of ants scurrying this way and that on important business. Oh yeah, everyone here had important business all day and all night. Everyone but her. She gazed down at Los Angeles on the cusp of the millennium. The place to be. Center of the universe. Totally.

She hesitated at the edge of the road, her toe kicking some gravel down the hill. It clattered down, somehow reminding her of the industrial music in the clubs where she liked to hang.

Should she try to talk to him? What would be the point now? She was talked out. And he wouldn’t forgive her. Why should he? She had hurt him. No, it was beyond hurt. There was no way to rationalize it.

***

Author Bio:

Paul D. Marks

Broken Windows, the sequel to Paul D. Marks’ Shamus Award-winning mystery-thriller White Heat hit the shelves 9/10/18. Publishers Weekly called White Heat a “taut crime yarn” and said of Broken Windows: “Fans of downbeat PI fiction will be satisfied…with Shamus Award winner Marks’s solid sequel to… White Heat.” Though thrillers and set in the 1990s, both novels deal with issues that are hot and relevant today: racism and immigration, respectively. Marks says “Broken Windows holds up a prism from which we can view the events burning up today’s headlines, like the passionate immigration debate, through the lens of the recent past. It all comes down to the saying we know so well, ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’.” His short stories appear in Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazines, among others, and have won or been nominated for many awards, including the Anthony, Derringer and Macavity. His story Windward, has been selected for the Best American Mystery Stories of 2018, edited by Louise Penny & Otto Penzler, and won the 2018 Macavity Award for Best Short Story and was also short-listed for a 2018 Shamus Award. Ghosts of Bunker Hill was voted #1 in the 2016 Ellery Queen Readers Poll. He is co-editor of the multi-award nominated anthology Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea.

Catch Up With Our Author On:
Website, Goodreads, Twitter, & Facebook!

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!

Enter To Win!:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Paul D. Marks. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on October 30, 2018 and runs through November 7, 2018. Void where prohibited

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2018 Challenges

October | Book Blog Discussion

CMash October 27, 2018 Leave a Comment

I am taking part in the 2018 Book Blog Discussion Challenge hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction and Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight!

The last Saturday of the month, I will be recapping the books I have read for the month, what I thought and the links to my reviews, and what I hope to read the following month.

October Books Read

I was hoping to finish more books this month, especially since I am behind on my GR Challenge, but a virus came knocking at our door and my husband and I unfortunately let it in.

Click on titles below to either see my review or to check out the synopsis on GR.

AFTER NIGHTFALL by A.J. Banner
Comments: After seeing this title all over FB, I reserved it at my local library. I posted my review on Oct. 11th

BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate
Comments: I also saw so many good things about this book, I reserved it and it it was a while before I got thecall. Review was posted on Oct. 16th

I KNOW YOU KNOW by Gilly Macmillan
Comments: Same with this book. My review posted Oct. 23rd

Current Read

THE AU PAIR by Emma Rous
Comments: Am enjoying this thus far.

Upcoming November TBRs

It’s been a while since being on NetGalley and requesting books but I have reinstated my account and was approved for the following. I am hoping that I get more reading done in November. However, this is the month I start my marathon cooking, making BIG batches of soups, Gravy with meatballs/sausage/pork, Beef stew, Stuffed Eggplant, etc. that I freeze for nights that I don’t feel like cooking and want comfort food. Plus my oldest son and his gf have put in their orders 🙂

THE MOTHER-IN-LAW by Sally Hepworth
Comments: Approved via St. Martin’s Press

BEAUTIFUL BAD by Annie Ward
Comments: Approved via Harlequin

KEEP HER CLOSE by Erik Therme
Comments: Approved via Boookouture

Your Turn!!!

What did you finish reading this month
What book(s) should I add to my TBR list

Friday Fill-ins

Friday | Friendly Fill-Ins

CMash October 26, 2018 2 Comments

Hosted by McGruffy’s Reader and 15 and Meowing

This week’s Fill-Ins:

_______________________ is an awful _______________________.
I always read __________________________ sections of the newspaper.
Black cats _________.
_________ is my favorite treat.

My answers:

Fear of heights is an awful phobia of mine.
I always read local news and obit sections of the newspaper.
Black cats have the stigma of bad luck but I don’t believe that.
Ice cream is my favorite treat.

Giveaway, Partners In Crime Tours, Showcase

The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren (Showcase & Giveaway)

CMash October 24, 2018 3 Comments

The Vampire Knitting Club

by Nancy Warren

on Tour October 15 – November 16, 2018

Synopsis:

The Vampire Knitting Club by Nancy Warren

At a crossroads between a cringe-worthy past (Todd the Toad) and an uncertain future (she’s not exactly homeless, but it’s close), Lucy Swift travels to Oxford to visit her grandmother. With Gran’s undying love to count on and Cardinal Woolsey’s, Gran’s knitting shop, to keep her busy, Lucy can catch her breath and figure out what she’s going to do.

Except it turns out that Gran is the undying. Or at least, the undead. But there’s a death certificate. And a will, leaving the knitting shop to Lucy. And a lot of people going in and out who never use the door—including Gran, who is just as loving as ever, and prone to knitting sweaters at warp speed, late at night. What exactly is going on?

When Lucy discovers that Gran did not die peacefully in her sleep, but was murdered, she has to bring the killer to justice without tipping off the law that there’s no body in the grave. Between a hot 800-year-old vampire and a dishy detective inspector, both of whom always seem to be there for her, Lucy finds her life getting more complicated than a triple cable cardigan. The only one who seems to know what’s going on is her cat … or is it … her familiar?

First in a new series of paranormal cozy mysteries!

Book Details:

Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Published by: Ambleside Publishing
Publication Date: September 2018
Number of Pages: 250
ISBN:13 9781981498970
ASIN: B07HDBQ7BB
Series: The Vampire
Knitting Club #1
Purchase Links: Amazon Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

CHAPTER ONE
Cardinal Woolsey’s knitting shop has appeared on postcards celebrating the quaint views of Oxford, of which there are many. But when a visitor has tired of writing ‘wish you were here’ on the back of pictures of the various colleges, the dreaming spires, and the dome of the Radcliffe Camera, a cozy little shop painted blue, brimming with baskets of wool and hand-knit goods, can be so much more inviting.
My grandmother Agnes Bartlett owned the knitting shop and I was on my way to visit after spending a very hot month at a dig site in Egypt visiting my archeologist parents.
Gran was always ready to wrap her warm arms around me and tell me everything was going to be all right. I needed comforting after discovering my boyfriend of two years Todd had stuck his salami in someone else’s sandwich. I referred to him now as my ex-boyfriend The Toad. I was thinking about Gran’s wisdom, her hugs and her home made gingersnaps, when I started to feel as though cold, wet fingers were walking down the back of my neck.
My wheeled suitcase clanked and rattled behind me along the cobblestones of Harrington Street as I looked around, wondering what had caused the heebie-jeebies.
The October day was chilly and crisp and, in the mid-afternoon, the street was busy with shoppers, tourists and students. Church bells chimed three o’clock. When I glanced ahead, I saw my beloved Gran. She wore a black skirt, sensible shoes and one of her hand-knit cardigans, this one in orange and blue. She was walking with a glamorous woman in her sixties whom I didn’t recognize. I thought Gran looked confused and my hackles immediately rose. The glamor puss was holding an umbrella over Gran’s head, even though the day was dry and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
I waved and called, “Gran!” moving faster so my suitcase began to bounce.
I was sure they saw me, but as I sped toward them, they veered down a side street. What on earth? I lifted my case and began to run; though my case was so heavy it was more of a grunting stagger.
“Gran!” I yelled again. I stopped at the bottom of the road where I’d last seen them. There was no one there. A dry, shriveled leaf tumbled toward me and from a window ledge a small, black cat regarded me with what looked like pity. Otherwise, the street was empty.
“Agnes Bartlett!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
I stood, panting. The side street was lined with a mixture of half-timbered cottages and Victorian row houses, all clearly residential. Gran hadn’t popped into a shop and would soon emerge. She was visiting in one of those homes, presumably. I wondered if it belonged to her friend.
Well, there was no point standing there. I’d go to Cardinal Woolsey’s and wait for Gran there. Her assistant, Rosemary, would be running the shop and I could let myself into the upstairs flat and unpack while I waited for my grandmother to return.
I retraced my steps, but when I reached the entrance to the quaint shop and tried the door, it didn’t open. I tried again, pushing harder, before my other senses kicked in and I realized that no lights were on inside.
A printed sign hung on the windowed front door. It said, “Cardinal Woolsey’s is closed until further notice.” At the bottom was a phone number.
Closed until further notice?
Gran never closed the shop outside her regular closing days. And if she had, where was her assistant?
I stood on the sidewalk that feeling came again, like cold fingers on the nape of my neck.
***

Author Bio:

Nancy Warren

Nancy Warren is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 60 novels including the Toni Diamond cozy mystery series.

She shares her time between Victoria, British Columbia, and Bath in the UK.

Catch Up With Nancy Warren On:
nancywarren.net, Goodreads, Twitter, & Facebook!

Tour Participants:

Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!

Enter To Win:

This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Nancy Warren. There will be one (1) winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on October 15, 2018 and runs through November 17, 2018. Void where prohibited.

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Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

Book Review

Review | I KNOW YOU KNOW by Gilly Macmillan

CMash October 23, 2018 2 Comments

I KNOW YOU KNOW by Gilly Macmillan
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published by William Morrow
Publication Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN-10: 0062698605
ISBN-13: 978-0062698605
Pages: 384
Review Copy From: Library
Edition: HC
My Rating: 5

Synopsis (via GR)

From author Gilly Macmillan comes this original, chilling and twisty mystery about two shocking murder cases twenty years apart, and the threads that bind them.

Twenty years ago, eleven-year-olds Charlie Paige and Scott Ashby were murdered in the city of Bristol, their bodies dumped near a dog racing track. A man was convicted of the brutal crime, but decades later, questions still linger.

For his whole life, filmmaker Cody Swift has been haunted by the deaths of his childhood best friends. The loose ends of the police investigation consume him so much that he decides to return to Bristol in search of answers. Hoping to uncover new evidence, and to encourage those who may be keeping long-buried secrets to speak up, Cody starts a podcast to record his findings. But there are many people who don’t want the case—along with old wounds—reopened so many years after the tragedy, especially Charlie’s mother, Jess, who decides to take matters into her own hands.

When a long-dead body is found in the same location the boys were left decades before, the disturbing discovery launches another murder investigation. Now Detective John Fletcher, the investigator on the original case, must reopen his dusty files and decide if the two murders are linked. With his career at risk, the clock is ticking and lives are in jeopardy…

My Thoughts

This year I have been addicted to psychological thrillers and this book did not disappoint.

What I also enjoyed, was the different approach of the story, whereas it was also a Podcast where Cody Swift would explain the new evidence he uncovered during the week in relation to the murder of his friends.

I thought I had this one figured out, however, once the mystery of the 3 deaths was unveiled I was a little disappointed. I thought it was a bit of a letdown BUT then came the last couple of chapters and I was floored.

Definitely a book to pick up if you are looking for a captivating read!!!

Purchase Links: Amazon 🔗 | Barnes & Noble 🔗 | Goodreads 🔗

REVIEW DISCLAIMER

This blog was founded on the premise to write honest reviews, to the best of my ability, no matter who from, where from and/or how the book was obtained, and will continue to do so, even if it is through PICT or PBP.

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.

I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.