Mailbox Monday

CMash September 24, 2018 2 Comments

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.

Sunday:
ECHOES OF FAMILY by Barbara Claypole White ~ Kindle from Author
Wednesday:
THE LIAR’S ROOM by Simon Lelic ~ ARC TPB from Berkley Publicity
Thursday:
BEYOND SALVATION by Darcia Helle ~ free eBook download
KILLING INSTINCT by Darcia Helle ~ free eBook download
Friday:
HEADS YOU WIN by Jeffrey Archer ~ ARC from St. Martin’s Press

Events

Enter Autumn

CMash September 22, 2018 Leave a Comment

Book Review

Review | AN ANONYMOUS GIRL by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

CMash September 21, 2018 2 Comments

AN ANONYMOUS GIRL by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Genre: Thriller/Suspense, Women’s Fiction
Published by St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: January 8, 2019
ISBN-10: 1250133734
ISBN-13: 978-1250133731
Pages: 384
Review Copy From: Publisher via NetGalley
Edition: eBook
My Rating: 5

Synopsis (via GR)

The next novel of psychological suspense and obsession from the authors of the blockbuster bestseller The Wife Between Us

Seeking women ages 18–32 to participate in a study on ethics and morality. Generous compensation. Anonymity guaranteed.

When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow more and more intense and invasive and the sessions become outings where Jess is told what to wear and how to act, she begins to feel as though Dr. Shields may know what she’s thinking…and what she’s hiding. As Jess’s paranoia grows, it becomes clear that she can no longer trust what in her life is real, and what is one of Dr. Shields’ manipulative experiments. Caught in a web of deceit and jealousy, Jess quickly learns that some obsessions can be deadly.

From the authors of the blockbuster bestseller The Wife Between Us comes an electrifying new novel about doubt, passion, and just how much you can trust someone.

My Thoughts

After reading THE WIFE BETWEEN US, I knew I had to read this book and asap. If you haven’t read either book, put them on your list.

Jessica Farris, a makeup artist, is just about making ends meet financially. While at a client’s home, she overhears her say that she has an appointment the following day for a survey being conducted by a psychiatrist at NYU, which is paying $500, but the client states she is not showing up. Jessica, in an impulse decision, checks the client’s phone for the information to take her place. But what ends up being a generic survey turns into so much.

Jessica ends up being Subject 52 but soon learns that she is the sole focus that the psychiatrist wants for her Morality and Ethics study. What ensues is more than Jess has bargained for. Did she just sell her life and soul for financial gain?

An intricate, complex and profound psychological thriller that will leave you breathless. A chilling white-knuckle read!

Highly recommend!

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 via St. Martin’s Press/NetGalley, 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 Review

Review | INTO THE WATER by Paula Hawkins

CMash September 20, 2018 2 Comments

09/20/18

INTO THE WATER by Paula Hawkins
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Women’s Fiction
Published by Riverhead Books
Publication Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN-10: 0735211221
ISBN-13: 978-0735211223
Pages: 400
Review Copy From: Personal purchase
Edition: HC
My Rating: 4

Synopsis (via GR)

In the last days before her death, Nel called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help. Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind. But Jules is afraid. So afraid. Of her long-buried memories, of the old Mill House, of knowing that Nel would never have jumped. And most of all she’s afraid of the water, and the place they call the Drowning Pool . . .

My Thoughts

Last year I read THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, which I liked but didn’t feel that it was as exciting as all the buzz I saw/heard about it. Fast forward, I read mixed reviews for INTO THE WATER and decided to read it for my own satisfaction and see if the buzz was correct for this title.

Nel Abbott, author and photographer, is writing a book about the Beckford Pool, which is also called the Beckford Drowning Pool. History and myths claim that this body of water is not a suicide spot but is a place to get rid of troublesome women (pg. 89). Many women, starting in 1679 to present, have died here. Nel was researching if the deaths were suicide or was there something more sinister happening? There are many secrets and despair but what is the real truth? However, Nel doesn’t get the chance to finish her book because she becomes the latest victim of the Beckford Drowning Pool.

I really liked this book. If I had to choose which book was more engrossing and kept me captivated, it would be this one. Throughout the book I kept changing my opinion as to the outcome and who was hiding the biggest secret but then the last chapters brought it all together and I was only partly right.

This book held my interest to the very end!

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 Review

Review | CROSS HER HEART by Sarah Pinborough

CMash September 19, 2018 2 Comments

CROSS HER HEART by Sarah Pinborough
Genre: Mystery/Suspense Thriller
Published by William Morrow
Publication Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN-10: 0062856790
ISBN-13: 978-0062856791
Pages: 352
Review Copy From: William Morrow
Edition: HC
My Rating: 5

Synopsis (via GR)

Lisa lives for her daughter Ava, her job, and her best friend Marilyn, but when a handsome client shows an interest in her, Lisa starts daydreaming about sharing her life with him too. Maybe she’s ready now. Maybe she can trust again. Maybe it’s time to let her terrifying secret past go. Then her daughter rescues a boy from drowning and their pictures are all over the news for everyone to see. Lisa’s world explodes, and she finds everything she has built threatened. Not knowing whom she can trust, it’s up to her to face her past to save what she holds dear.

My Thoughts

O!! M!! G!! This is one hell of a psychological read!

After reading BEHIND HER EYES, I have been waiting for this book. And let me tell you, it was another chilling read by Ms. Pinborough.

From these words in Chapter 1, He will destroy her, begins a continuous inventive and mysterious read.

Lisa and Ava, mother and 16 year old daughter seem to be living a “normal life”. That is until Lisa starts receiving items and messages that someone knows her past. And it gets worse when Ava saves a little boy from drowning and their pictures are in the newspapers and shown on T.V. Someone alerts the media outlets that Lisa is someone else and is a murderer.

An intricate psychological thriller that had me turning the pages as fast as I could. This is an engrossing and hair-raising book! A white knuckle read!

Kudos Ms. Pinborough!!!! You outdid yourself with this one! I truly hope your next book is in the works. I can’t wait!!!

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, Book Review, Giveaway, Partners In Crime Tours

THE FOUND CHILD by Jo Crow (Review, Book Blast & Giveaway)

CMash September 18, 2018 3 Comments

The Found Child

by Jo Crow

September 18, 2018 Book Blast

Synopsis:

The Found Child by Jo Crow

One mother’s life can change in the blink of an eye—and there’s no going back.

Elaine’s worst fears become a reality when her beloved son Jakob is diagnosed with cancer. She needs to find a bone marrow donor, and time is running out. While awaiting test results from herself and her husband Nathan, she approaches his business partner, Roger—her ex-lover—to see if he could be a possible match. Instead, an even greater shock awaits: Jakob is not her biological son. For years, she has been raising someone else’s child.

The news threatens to send Elaine back to the pills that almost destroyed her life once before, pushing her already fragile mental state to the breaking point. As the family faces one crisis, a ghost from her past emerges to jeopardize everything she’s built. But is the threat real, or is it all in her mind? Elaine needs to stay strong for her son, but as her whole reality continues to unravel, she can’t trust anyone—not even herself.

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW

5 stars

WOW! WOW! I read ¾ in the first sitting and couldn’t wait to pick it up the next morning to finish it.

I put this writer on my “authors to read list” after reading A MOTHER’S LIE and I now know it was a really good move on my part.

I don’t know where to begin because this was such a phenomenal read. Other than the synopsis, I don’t want to spill 1 iota of information because I don’t want to spoil it for those who want to read it.

The story has an intense spellbinding detailed plot. The characters are well developed, so much so, that I could feel the mother’s love, devotion, despair, terror, anxiety, confusion just to name a few emotions. The action and suspense is continuous from the first page to the last word.

Reading this book was like running a marathon and after turning each corner, I had to stop and catch my breath! Continuous tension and turmoil that left me gasping for air because I was holding my breath at every turn. A heart pounding read!

Did I say WOW!? I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars! It will definitely be one of my 2018 best reads!

I highly recommend this read if you are looking for uninterrupted action. And especially for mothers because you will be asking yourself what you would do.

I did, however, find just one negative…..I now have to wait for Ms. Crow’s next book!!!!

Book Details:

Genre: Thriller
Published by: Relay Publishing
Publication Date: September 4th 2018
Number of Pages: 372
ISBN-10: 1726446328
ISBN-13: 978-1726446327
Purchase Links: Amazon Goodreads

Read an excerpt:

Prologue

Telling parents that the search for their missing infant had gone cold was a job that no one wanted. And honestly, Detective Aaronson had tried to pass it off to someone else—to his partner, Miller, and then to a uniform. Ultimately, though, the chief had put his boot down and pushed it back on Aaronson. He was the point man. He and Miller had worked the case together for a month before the leads dried up, but it had been Aaronson who had sat with the parents, talked to them on the phone, and kept them updated.

He’d been the one to give them hope, so it followed that he should be the one to take it away… right?

They had agreed to meet him at the station. That seemed to be the best choice. No one wanted to get this kind of news in their own home—it would put a stain on the place that would never wash out. No, it was more professional to have the talk here in one of the small conference rooms. No decorations, no distractions, nothing to make the moment seem too casual. Only gray brick, white linoleum and a wooden table and chairs that were plain and utilitarian. Unemotional.

Now he sat across from them, steeling himself and trying to work up some moisture in his mouth. There was water, but they hadn’t poured a glass so he wasn’t about to. Both of them had dark circles under their bloodshot eyes, and a waxy pallor to their skin. They hadn’t slept in a month, he figured. He’d have put money on it. Hell, he could barely sleep when his teenager stayed out late with her friends on a weekend. And their child had been gone for more than a month. As a parent, he understood part of their pain. Just part of it. That’s what made this so damn difficult.

“We’re not closing the case,” he said, his tone as flat as he could manage. “But as of now, the leads—”

“You’re not looking anymore?” the mother asked. Fury filled her eyes, and loss. One of those was for him.

“It’s only been a month,” the father said. “You can’t stop now. Please, our son is out there somewhere—we know it.”

“I can feel him,” she said. “You have to believe me, I can feel him here.” She clutched at her chest, at the threadbare, peach-colored sweater she wore.

You have to keep it short, the chief had said. Keep it direct and then refer them to the counselor. That’s your job.

Aaronson wondered if the chief had ever done this before. He imagined he’d had, but to make it seem so simple… Of course, there were regulations. He couldn’t be the counselor and the detective, and there were good reasons for that. “We will keep the case open,” he told them. “If any new leads come in, we’ll follow up on them.”

He meant it, too. But the truth that he knew, and that these two knew even if they didn’t want to believe it, was that after seventy-two hours, most of these cases were never solved. Every day after that windows closed, the likelihood of finding a child like theirs dropped exponentially until it plummeted to a fraction of a percent which itself really only represented the handful of miracle cases that had been resolved sometimes decades after a disappearance.

“Please don’t do this,” the father begged. He took his wife’s hand, and they leaned into one another. “One more month. There was that woman—”

“At the moment, Andrea Williams has been cleared as a suspect,” Aaronson said. That poor woman’s life had been all but destroyed already. “We’ve been over her life with a fine-toothed comb. If new evidence emerges, we’ll look into it again, but I’m telling you that she’s not who we want.”

“So, what do we do now?” the mother asked. “What do we do now that you’ve abandoned our boy? Abandoned us?”

Aaronson was so close to breaking. He stood from the table. “I swear to you both,” he said, the words bitter on his tongue, “that we will pursue any and every lead that comes across my desk. We’re not abandoning anyone. Alright?” And while it may have been technically true, it sure felt like a lie.

Nothing but contempt came from them, and he didn’t blame them at all. And he hated himself for what he had to say next. “There’s a counselor here. Doctor Amari. She’s a grief counselor, and it’s free to see her. I can send her in, but I have to leave you now. I’m sorry. Really, I am.”

They turned their faces from him.

As he left, he closed the door gently even though he wanted to slam it hard enough to shatter the glass. He wasn’t even sure who to be angry with. Himself, mostly, he guessed, or the whole damn department. And Andrea-fucking-Williams, who had wasted their time from the beginning by lying to protect herself instead of telling them the truth about her record so that they could have moved on.

He took only two steps before the mother wailed loudly behind him. The entire department went quiet. That sound was one they all knew. It was the sound of a woman who had lost the last shred of hope she’d had. The shred that he’d taken away from her.

That was the sound of a mother whose child had died. And, at this point, Aaronson had nothing to suggest it wasn’t true.

He’d failed them.

***

Author Bio:

Jo Crow

Jo Crow gave ten years of her life to the corporate world of finance, rising to be one of the youngest VPs around. She carved writing time into her commute to the city, but never shared her stories, assuming they were too dark for any publishing house. But when a nosy publishing exec read the initial pages of her latest story over her shoulder, his albeit unsolicited advice made her think twice.

A month later, she took the leap, quit her job, and sat down for weeks with pen to paper. The words for her first manuscript just flew from her. Now she spends her days reading and writing, dreaming up new ideas for domestic noir fans, and drawing from her own experiences in the cut-throat commercial sector.

Not one to look back, Jo is all in, and can’t wait for her next book to begin.

Catch Up With Jo Crow On:
Goodreads & 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 Jo Crow. There will be 5 winners of for this tour. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon GC; there will be 3 winners of one (1) A MOTHER’S LIE eBook; and there will be 1 winner of one (1) A MOTHER’S LIE by Jo Crow audiobook. The giveaway begins on September 18, 2018 and runs through September 25, 2018. Void where prohibited.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get More Great Reads at Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours

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.

Mailbox Monday

CMash September 17, 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:
SOMEONE ELSE’S DAUGHTER by Linsey Lanier ~ eBook from Author
Tuesday:
AN ANONYMOUS GIRL by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen ~ eBook via St. Martin’s Press/NetGalley
Saturday:
TEN LITTLE GIRLS by Willow Rose ~ free Kindle download

Friday Fill-ins

Friday | Friendly Fill-Ins

CMash September 14, 2018 7 Comments

Hosted by McGruffy’s Reader and 15 and Meowing

This week’s Fill-Ins:

Being _______________ is _____________________.
If ___________________ were worth money, then I would be rich.
I am proud of _________.
If I could time travel, I would visit the year _________.

My answers:

Being kind to others is really quite easy if you put your mind to it. Plus the rewards are priceless.
If burnt Yankee Candles were worth money, then I would be rich.
I am proud of my sons.
If I could time travel, I would visit the year 1988 when my boys were toddlers. The best years of my life.