The New Wife by Karen Clarke

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: Strong language

 

The people you trust are the people who hurt you the most.

Nell Cosgrove is the new wife who got it all. She married her handsome, wealthy boss within six months of meeting him. They live in a beautiful riverside home. She has a flourishing career.

The only problem is her two stepdaughters, Ruby and Poppy, who are fiercely loyal to their mother, and reject all her overtures.

But now everything is falling apart. Nell’s marriage is starting to crack. Her husband spends more and more time away on business.

She gets creepy text messages from an unknown admirer. He sends mysterious bouquets of flowers to her office. She starts making mistakes at work.

Everything Nell thought she knew about her marriage and her new life is about to be turned upside down.

 

I listened to the audiobook of this, and I didn't care for the narration very much. It may have turned me off this one a little. This is also the first book I've read by this author that she co-wrote with another author, so that could also be why this one felt a bit different to me. From now on, I do think I'll stick to actually reading the rest of this author's books.

There was a lot going on in this book, and although I guessed pretty early on what was going on with the main plot and who was behind it, I didn't see some of the subplot stuff coming. I kind of felt like there were too many elements to the story. One thing I do like about this author are the epilogues. There's usually some shocking little twist in them, and this one was no exception. I have mixed feelings about the end of this one, although I liked how things ended up for most of the characters. 

I may have jinxed myself when I said I was on a winning streak with psychological suspense in a previous review. This is the second 3 star read from this author now, which isn't bad, just not as good as the ones I read before.

The Dragons of Deepwood Fen (The Book of the Holt #1) by Bradley P. Beaulieu

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language including several F words and the C word, A couple of quick but violent deaths.

Lorelei Aurelius is the smartest inquisitor in the mountain city of Ancris. When a mysterious tip leads her to a clandestine meeting between the Church and the hated Red Knives, she uncovers a plot that threatens not only her home but the empire itself.

The trail leads her to Rylan Holbrooke, a notorious thief posing as a dragon singer. Rylan came to Ancris to solve the very same mystery she stumbled onto. Knowing his incarceration could lead to the Red Knives’ achieving their goals, Lorelei makes a fateful decision: she frees him.

Now branded as traitors, the two flee the city on dragonback. In the massive forest known as the Holt, they discover something terrible. The Red Knives are planning to awaken a powerful demigod in the holiest shrine in Ancris, and for some reason the Church is willing to allow it. It forces their return to Ancris, where the unlikely allies must rally the very people who’ve vowed to capture them before it’s too late.

 

I have mixed feelings about this book. There were things I really liked about it. The dragons would be number one on the list. I also really liked some of the characters, but I got frustrated at times with the choices a couple of them made. One of them was really just a child, but she annoyed me so much as she ignored her conscience and continued to do everything that she was told to do with little to no push back. In general, I get frustrated with fantasy books where the evil plans of certain characters come to fruition despite everything the heroes keep throwing at him, or because the would be heroes are clueless as to what is going on. This was one of those types of books. I much prefer when there are wins and setbacks on both sides throughout the story, at least until closer to the end. 

Another annoying thing for me was the use of the C word a couple of times. I know some people will roll their eyes at this, but I don't care. The word bothers me. Then there is the very slow pace of the book. There are a lot of character points of view in this book. I enjoyed most of them, but I feel like it caused the pacing of the book to be rather slow. I also thought the book could have included more about the dragons and the dragon riders. We get a couple of pretty good battles between dragons and riders, but it would have loved more.

Despite some disappointments, I do really want to keep reading and see what happens with these characters, Rylan and Lorelei in particular. I liked how the book showed the relationships between the riders and the dragons and how one society bonded with them while the other tried to control them. I also enjoyed the political intrigue that went on between each faction and how they wanted to use each other to get what they wanted. I also have to add that I love that cover. I love it so much that I want a hardcover copy of this book for that reason alone.

Thanks to NetGalley and DAW for providing me with an Arc of this book.

Minted (The Scarsdale Fosters #3) by B. E. Baker

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Romance, Clean Romance, Contemporary Fiction
Content: Clean

 

Thank goodness Christmas only comes once a year, because Barbara just wants to survive it and move on already.

Barbara’s year has not been going well. Both her parents died, she gained a lot of weight, and her husband left her. And now, she’s stuck attending a million holiday parties for work. . .with both her ex and his new girlfriend. She’s not feeling the holiday cheer, that’s for sure.

Bentley, on the other hand, has realized that while his life is pretty good, he really wants to settle down with an amazing woman. Unfortunately, while he’s a whiz at making money, he’s not so great at choosing people to date. He and his old friend Barbara make a deal. He’ll be her date to the dreaded holiday parties, and in exchange, she’ll help him weed through the dross to find the shimmering treasure he wants to build a life with.

It doesn’t take Bentley very long to realize that Barbara’s the one he wants, but she’s not as quick to believe that she’s good enough for the handsome billionaire Bentley. Can he convince her that she’s everything he needs in time to spruce up the holiday season? Or will her miserable year come to just as tragic a close?

 

It was a nice surprise to get not one new Scarsdale Fosters book at the end of this year, but two! Minted was a surprise book that the author hadn't originally planned to write, but it ended up being a really good addition to the series. I think I even liked this one better than the previous book, Nouveau Riche. I could sympathize with Barbara and the situation she was in, and all the feelings she had that went with it. I really wanted to give her ex-husband and some of her coworkers a piece of my mind! I enjoyed reading how the love story between Bentley and Barbara unfolded, and I loved that Bentley was happy with Barbara just the way she was and didn't want to change her. I'm looking forward to more books in this series.

Thanks to the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Your Life for Mine by Karen Clarke

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: Off page sex

A stranger died to save you… now it’s your turn.
Meet Beth Turner.

From the outside, she looks like any other thirty-three-year-old woman, with a gorgeous house and beautiful daughter.

But Beth has a secret that has haunted her past for as long as she can remember. A secret that only those closest to her know.

Aged seven, she almost drowned on a family holiday… and a stranger died saving her life. Survivors guilt has been the defining characteristic of her life ever since.

So, when Beth receives a threatening text message from an anonymous number on the way to her surprise birthday party, she knows her time is up.

"Enjoy your birthday, Beth. It’ll be your last."

As she arrives at her house, there’s only one thing she knows for certain, someone at the party wants her dead.

 

I've been really loving this author's books, but this one was a bit of a miss for me. The whole feel of this book was different from the others. On a positive note, it was the first one of her books that I didn't have figured out halfway through. Although I did consider this person could possibly be the culprit at one point, I suspected several people. 

The thing that I disliked about this book the most was the main character. I usually really like the main characters in Karen Clarke's books, but there were many times I thought this one was too stupid to live. I also really disliked the way she treated her estranged husband. This woman's whole life was ruled by fear, and it all stemmed from something that happened when she was only 7 years old. I feel like she should have been able to get past it years before she did, and I think her parents just made things so much worse for her. The thing was always there because they couldn't forget about it and treated her differently because of it. I also have to question how much a woman in her 30s would remember about the smells of a place from when she was 7 years old. I almost drowned once in a river when I was a child and I couldn't tell you anything about the way the place smelled. 

So overall this was a disappointment, but I'm still looking forward to reading more books by this author. One 3 star book amongst several 4 star books isn't bad. 

The Survivors by Jane Harper

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Content: Strong language

 

Coming home dredges up deeply buried secrets...

Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences.

The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called home.

Kieran's parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.

When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away...

 

This is one of those mysteries where the protagonist has been living away from home for some years and goes back to visit, only to be caught up in murder and mysterious happenings that involve old friends and childhood secrets. It's a formula I like most of the time, and it worked pretty well here. I'm a fan of this author's writing style, but I didn't like this one quite as much as I liked her Aaron Falk books, but this was still a very enjoyable read that kept me guessing the whole time. I don't think there was anyone in this book that I didn't suspect at some point. I really liked the main character Kieran and felt for him with the emotional baggage he carried around for so many years. I got angry at a few people in this book that let him carry it around too. I will say that I think the whole reason behind the murder was a little weak, but enjoyed trying to piece together the clues in this one.

The Island House (Getaway Bay Romance #1) by Elana Johnson

  

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Romance, Clean Romance
Content: Clean

 

Thirty-seven, recently divorced, and childless. That's Charlotte when she disembarks from the plane in Getaway Bay. She wants to get away, that's for sure. She thought the best way to do that was to buy a run-down house overlooking the bay, knowing she'll need all her fixer-upper skills to get it in shape. Which is just fine. She's hoping as she overhauls the house, she'll get a life makeover too.

She was not expecting a tall, handsome man to be under the kitchen sink when she arrives at the supposedly abandoned house. She wasn't expecting to get drenched when the non-plumber twists something the wrong way. And she certainly wasn't expecting her heart to be well enough to feel anything for anyone.

But former Air Force pilot, Dawson Dane, has a charming devil-may-care personality, and Charlotte could use some carefree laughter in her life. But everything with Dawson isn't sunshine and unicorns. He's estranged from his family, though he does speak to one of his brothers. And he's never committed to anything except his career, even choosing flying over an engagement years ago.
 

 

I've been wanting to read more of this author's books since I read the Relationtrip. This one was a nice brain candy read, which is what I was looking for. There's something about this author's writing that just sucks me right into the story and I had a hard time putting this one down despite some flaws.

There were several loose threads that were left hanging and things that popped up in the story that seem to have had no real reason to be there, which is why I didn't give it 4 stars.

**Minor spoiler here ** There's also the problem with how Charlotte would have found out about her ex husband's vasectomy. It didn't really make sense how she knew about that after seeing her doctor, and there is never an explanation. 

 I do think this may have been one of the author's earlier books, and her storytelling has improved since.

 

 

 

 

 

The Girl Upstairs by Georgina Lees

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller
Content: Strong Language

 

How well do you know your neighbour?
Would you trust them with your life?

I heard Emily before I saw her. The harsh smack of heels against cheap wooden floorboards. The loud phone calls. The incessant music.

I knew Emily before I met her. Discarded receipts in our communal hallway. Sticky leftovers in the shared food waste bin. Wine shop vouchers in the letterbox.

Now she’s gone missing, and I’m the only one who can find her. The only one who can save her.

Because I know her best, and I heard everything.

The Girl Upstairs is a spine-tingling psychological thriller of grief and obsession that explores how lonely London can be and how sometimes it’s our neighbours who see us most, who know us best…

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it enough to want to read her other books. It started off a little rocky for me. At first I didn't like the main character, Suzie all that much, but that gradually changed as I continued to read the book. I also didn't like Emily, the girl that lived upstairs, but for a completely different reason. That also changed as I read. The story goes at a slow pace and there were no real big twists or revelations that I didn't see coming, but it worked for me. My favorite character ended up being the main character's sister. I loved the way she helped, protected, and defended Suzie. 

Lately, I feel like I've been on a real winning streak with the psychological suspense books I've chosen, and I'm glad to have found some books by authors that I enjoy reading.