Linda
I LOVE atmospheric novels. When I saw the cover of this one, I just knew it was for me. Allison Brennan did not disappoint and I enjoyed every minute of this story. One giant storm that sends everyone in the McKenna family in opposite directions instead of together and safe in their Texas home. One giant secret and a man that is determined to tear their world apart if the storm doesn't beat him to it. I enjoyed the story so much and fell in love with the characters (especially Bobby). Each one kept me on the edge of my seat and left me wondering if any of them would survive until the end. This was my first novel by Brennan but it will not be my last! The narration was fantastic. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and listen to this one in exchange for an honest reivew.
I saw Ruta Sepetys at a library conference and after hearing her speak about her books and her life, I knew I would want to read her books. I purchased two while I was there, but I haven't read them yet. When I saw an opportunity to read her newest novel, I jumped at the chance! I was very intrigued by her writing style, the characters in this novel and the historical elements she incorporates from the 1920s. It was a slower pace than what I am used to and some of the things in the story made me cringe, but I would imagine that was life during this time, sadly. I found the main character, Marjorie, adorable. I found the apartment for gifted artists interesting, and of course the romance between her and Mr. Bonafante was also cute. It read between a cross of historical fiction and cozy for me given the pace and the content. All in all, a good read for those who enjoy historical fiction. I can't wait to read the other titles I purchased to compare! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this title.
Thank you, thank you!!! Since reading The Midnight Library, I have searched for similar titles. While they are out there, no one writes quite like Matt Haig. I'm not sure how to best describe it but his books just speak to me in a way others don't. They are a rarity, a true gift for any reader. I feel like there are few people in the world that don't think about the “what ifs.” I am definitely one of those people so I understood and felt for Wilbur throughout the story and his many regrets in life. I wanted the best for not only him, but the people in his life who cared for him. I was rooting for him throughout the novel and I'm so glad I was given the opportunity to read his story. I will take the lessons learned in the novel and apply them. Thank you Netgalley, and the publisher for this beautiful ARC!
There are no words for this one. Kim Michele Richardson has written a book that will stay with readers for a lifetime. It is so rare for this reader to cry during novels but this one got me more than once, and I mean that in a good way. As a fellow Appalachian who has read many books centered around Appalachian history and the people who have lived and survived the difficulties of growing up in our area, this one spoke to me on so many levels. I cried for Cussy and I cried for the people she fought for and loved. The abuse these women suffered at the hands of the men in their lives rings all too familiar for women in my own family. Yet like the women I know, their strength and perseverance withstood the worst life threw at them. As a librarian, I am in awe of Cussy and the real life Packhorse Librarians for never giving up and always finding a way to get books into the hands of people they knew needed them most. What a beautiful novel centered around real life people and their determination to survive. I loved every single page.
Thank you Netgalley! Lisa Score is one my favorites and this story lived up to my expectations. Is there anything better than a love story between two completely different people? I don't think so. It's one of my favorite tropes actually, so I fell in love with Zoey and Gage's story. While this one was a bit predictable, I still found myself cheering for them along the way. I also really enjoyed the family dynamic and how the secret between all of them only made them stronger once everything was out in the open. Forgiveness is not always easy, so how this family came together and helped a single mom was something I wish we saw more in real life. While I can say I loved almost everything about this one, I am a bit burnt out on explicit sex scenes that go on for an entire chapter. But I get it, that's what sells so I'll just keep skipping over them for now.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for this one. I have been a fan of Evie Woods since I read, The story collector. I purchased her other two novels to read immediately after, so when I saw this one, I jumped on the chance to receive this ARC. It was fantastic! Evie somehow manages to blend real life with magical realism seamlessly. I've read a lot of magical realism in my lifetime, but her novels are my absolute favorite. I don't know how she manages to be so creative - a story about a magical violen and the people who come across it? Pure genious. Not only does it check of that box, but it also tugs at your heartstrings with a love story between two struggling people, I adored Devlin and Gabrielle. Then she adds another character you can't help but love in Walter. Together, they build their own family. Working against time and a crazy mob to solve the mystery of the violin, they soon realize they have a bond like family and will stop at nothing to help each other. I especilly enjoyed the back and forth, with one chapter about the violin as a character and her journey through time, and other in the present day with Devlin, Garbrielle and Walter out to save the violin and each other. It was a beautiful story I will not soon forget. I loved watching all of these characters grow.
Alex Finlay never disappoints! Multiple points of view is always fantastic to me and Finlay nailed the delivery of this one. We follow two characters - Jules and Quinn who are friends even though they are from opposite sides of the tracks. One ends up avoiding death and becoming the next victim of a serial killer known as the, “May Day Killer” and one who ends up in prison for a fight gone wrong. Years later, their paths reconnect and they both suspect the “May Day Killer” is back on this May 1st wreaking havok on their town. I loved how these two found each other again against all odds and how they worked together in attempt to bring a killer to justice. I enjoyed every minute of this audio. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher!
THANK YOU Melanie for writing this book. Thank you for starting this movement. Thank you for making me laugh so many times this week while listening to this on audio! Thank you so much for reassuring me I'm not alone. This book was so amazing, I will be purchasing a copy to reflect on often. I can't even narrow down my favorite parts because I enjoyed every minute! But my biggest realization is that I worry too much about what others think. I never wear sleeveless shirts either! As soon as it gets warm enough, I will be doing just that!! And wearing all the other clothes I've felt too self conscious in. God bless you for this inspiring story and thank you for sharing it with the rest of us!! And the next time someone tells me I'm too young for perimenopause, I'll be ready
Thank you Netgalley for this incredible advanced audio edition of the newest Jane Harper title. I've been a huge fan since, “The Dry” (which I recommend to literally everyone I know) and I thoroughly enjoyed this title as well! Once I got started, I couldn't stop listening. I had to know what happened to Sam. I really enjoyed how this one went back and forth and each chapter ended with me wanting more. I will agree with some reviewers that this one was more family drama than mystery, but it still had enough mystery to keep me engaged. I didn't find it to be slow at all. It's about a family and their young son who disappears one night while visiting during college break and withouth a trace. Sam's mom returns to Carralon Ridge five years after her son's disappearance to be with her husband and daughter for the anniversary of his disappearance. While there, she uncovers some things that were overlooked in his case and starts an investigation of her own to get to the truth. I love atmospheric novels about small, old towns. I grew up in a town that has seen better days so I could relate to the story in so many ways. The narrator did an amazing job as well! I'm always excited to read more by this author and this one did not disappoint.
This was a cozy mystery with some magical realism mixed in! I love a good mystery that includes ghost sightings. This story is about a woman who had a godmother that her parents cut ties with, leaving both Willow and Sue separated for years. Out of nowhere, Willow receives a letter rom Sue and decides to go to Maine to reconnect. When she arrives, Sue is dead and someone is trying to claim her house (Cameron House) and will stop at nothing, even murder, to claim it. With help from Sue's significant other, Willow sets out to find answers and solve a few murders. She has some help from a few ghosts too. While I did enjoy most of the story, it did fall flat at times and I struggled through those but I'm glad I did because it turned out to be a good read! Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy.
I love books about books, especially when they are well written! This book was the perfect read on a cold day in Ohio and I absolutely adored it. Tilly's deceased husband meets with a bookseller and purchases twelve books, one a month for year after he passed. How romantic and sweet is that? I was so sad he wasn't there to see it and then thought to myself, can we please make this a thing? How many husbands go to the book store and purchase books for their spouses and rap them up and gift them one each month? It was such a sweet and touching gesture that it had me all in my feels for the rest of the novel. I won't ruin the rest but slowly Tilly starts to find herself again after heartbreak and she meets a new friend to help her through. If you love books, read it. If you love dramatic gestures, read it. If you love sweet stories about how people move on from loss and learn to love again, well, you get the picture. Thank you so much to the author, NetGalley and the publisher for this beautiful story and for allowing me to read it first.
This audio book was fantastic! I loved everything about it - the plot, the narrator, the story, and the characters. While it was incredibly sad at times, the resilience of the main character and her love for the carousel never waiver. When Maisie is sent to America for a fresh start, leaving behind a horrible life in an orphanage, she falls in love with a carousel. She soon comes up with an idea to start an amusement park to help raise money for her family. What starts out as such a promising idea quickly turns into a nightmare. A child comes up missing and is never found. For Detective Laurent Bisset, the story is familiar to a case he worked on years before. Determined to solve both cases, he sets out to America to put an end to all the stories and questions. Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this fantastic novel.
This book is crazy. Debbie is CRAZY. I loved both. I was cheering for Debbie even at her worst. Go Debbie, go! A quick, twisted, roller coaster of a book. If you're a Freida fan, you will love it. And if you're a fan of twisted stories with characters that have questionable morals, this book is also for you.
Everyone should read this book. It doesn't matter if you're wealthy, middle class or poor. There's something in here for everyone. For people who overspend, it helps you get to the root of why. For people who are so obsessed with money, they never spend... same. I loved it and might have to purchase the hardcover to reference through the year. I don't enjoy nonfiction typically (especially in audio) but the author did a fantastic job! As an avid reader and librarian, I especially enjoyed the analogy between books and money.
I've always enjoyed Sophie Kinsella's novels. I could always relate to the shopaholic series since I'm a bit addicted to shopping myself. I hate that I read this one after she passed. I had no idea her cancer was terminal. This book is heartbreaking. It's a fictional story based on her own experience with brain cancer. I'm glad I read it because it's well written. I'm sad she's gone and we won't have more funny, quirky characters to read written by her ❤️
I loved everything about this book. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and there were a few times I couldn't read it at night because I don't do scary. Creepy and disturbing, yes but for some reason scary gets to me. However, I can assure you that this is not a scary book (not really) and more of a redemption story. A story about three siblings who lost a brother when he was little while playing hide and seek. He just vanished into thin air it seemed to all who investigated his disappearance. Fast forward to years later and they are all grown and a grounds keeper contacts one of them to say his crew has packed up and will never return to their childhood home. Why? Because they saw the ghost of a little boy, a little boy that said two words meant for his siblings - ‘Come home.' That's all it takes for the three siblings (Violet, Vail and Dodie) to make the trip back home to end they mystery once and for all of what happened to their baby brother. What follows is something this reader did not see coming. I don't want to spoil it for anyone but as a Simone St. James fan, I was blown away by where she took this story and I enjoyed it very much. I also liked to references to a previously read novel, “The Sun Down Motel,” also a recommended read! I will be sharing this one with horror and mystery fans as it crosses into both. Thank you Simone and Netgalley for the privilege to read this one! It's a story I won't soon forget.
A sheriff and a criminal analyst are called to a cabin in the woods. Inside they find three dead bodies and one person barely hanging on. The owner, now deceased, is one of the richest men in town. What happened in the cabin? Their only hope is that the one remaining witness lives to tell the tale. Meanwhile, Vera's family has a mystery of their own - her sister's mother-in-law is found dead insider of her home. Did her sister throw her down the stairs during a rift? Or did someone enter the house while her sister was out buying paint? A lot of things in both crimes don't add up and Sheriff Gray and his pal Vera are desperate to find answers, while also desperate to protect those closest to them. This book had it all! Two mysteries for one? I'm here for it. Best of all, it's book three in a series but I read it as a standalone and I enjoyed it so much, I can't wait to read the first two! My only complaint is that considering it was her sister, I'm surprised she was allowed to tag along. I feel like she was too close to one of the cases to be involved, but it was just a minor annoyance. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to try a new to me author in the mystery genre!
Our main character has a stalker. She feels like someone is following her everywhere she goes. Flowers show up at her office without a card saying who they are from. Nell has a reason to be worried - she's been keeping a secret. Back when she was Elle (Elle vs. Nell?), she witnessed a woman climb into a man's car outside her house and she was later found dead. She was convinced the man driving the car was also the killer. What follows was in fact hard to follow. This book started out promising but I quickly lost interest and found it very difficult to focus on the story unfolding. Maybe it was just me, but I thought it dragged on to the point that I missed most of what was in the middle. It wasn't until the last few chapters that I was able to listen and understand what was happening. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this one!
I absolutely adored these free short stories from Amazon! I could read and/or listen and they were all very charming and helped me get through the holidays. I especially liked that they were not smut, since most romantic comedies are these days and I needed a break from all that. Book 3 was my absolute favorite but the rest were cute too!
This is probably one of my favorites by Rachel Hawkins. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was surprised by the plot twists at the end. I won't ruin them for the rest of you - but I honestly didn't see one specific twist coming involving paternity. In present day we have Geneva, who is trying to manage her Inn, and August who is trying to write a story about the towns history and the infamous trio of friends during 1984's Hurricane Marie (Lo, Ellen and Frieda). These three friends kept a huge secret during that hurricane, one that is about to be discovered and will upened the lives of everyone involved in this story. While I did struggle with the first part of the book, once the story got going, I found it incredibly engaging and couldn't wait to learn all of the secrets the characters were hiding! I might even have to read it again someday. A very well written story about what happens when people keep secrets from each other and their loved ones and how tragedy strikes when you least expect it. Thank you Netgalley, I'm so happy I was able to experience this one early. I will definitely recommend to friends and patrons!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC of one of most adored series. Volume 11 takes us back to revisit some old characters and while I appreciated that, I struggled so much with this one. I kept getting distracted while listening and even tried starting over several times. I enjoyed the beginning as they were rallying the troups so to speak, but then I got lost in the journey. It wasn't my favorite in the series, but I'll still pick up the next one. I need to know what the next adventure is for these kiddos.
Feeney has outdone herself this time. This book left me speechless many times and just when I thought everything had been wrapped up in a nice little bow, another plot twist I didn't see coming appears out of nowhere! I literally could not stop listening to this audio. The story has everything you'd want in a thriller and then some. A story about two women who look so much alike, one steals the other's identity (or does she?). The husband who is suspicious from the beginning, the daughter who is lost in her own mind since an accident when she was young; and the two police officers trying to put it all together. I absolutely loved Birdy! Can this be a series with her as the main character? I'd love to see more of her. I'm not going to say too much because I don't want to spoil it, but I really enjoyed the sound effects and the narrators were all fantastic. Just read it!! Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read it prior to publication date. It is definitely one of my favorite's this year and I will recommend it to everyone I know!
This book was absolutely adorable. I found it to be uplifting, encouraging and did I mention adorable? It's a story about Stella, a woman who works at her local library and is stuck in the past because of her loser boyfriend who broke her heart. But something happens one day and Stella decides to burn her journal with all of her angst and memories written within the pages. She's always been able to see words in the air, but now they are coming at her full force, some kind, some not-so-much. Stella starts writing the words down, deciding they must be of some importance. Then she learns that her boss is holding secret meetings at the library after hours - with characters that have come to life from within the pages of books. When her boss gets ill, he leaves it to Stella to keep these characters in check (they can't leave the library). Her favorite character of all time just so happens to be one of the characters and while she finds herself falling for him. Then she unleashes a character no one is happy to meet and chaos ensues. What follows is Stella and her group of comrads trying to keep everything at peace at the library while also trying to keep these book visitors a secret to the rest of the town. Once things have settled and it's time for the characters to return to their books, Stella finds herself at another crossroads - in love with an unavailable man. I found this cute, charming, and of course the narration made it even better! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this one. It made my week magical.