Shelley's Book Nook

☆☆☆1/2 ebook, 300 pages Expected publication: February 14th 2019 by Bookouture About the Book: The day after her ninth birthday, Lucie and Blake Sullivan agree, for the very first time, to let their daughter, Grace, make the four-minute walk back home alone from a friend’s house just down the street. They joke with friends about hiding behind bushes to ensure she is safe. But the joke turns sour when Grace does not appear. Despite the best efforts of the police and local community, Grace seems to have vanished into thin air. With hope fading fast, Lucie knows she can rely on her husband to support her through such dark times. That is until the day she makes a shocking discovery, hidden in Blake’s desk, and suddenly she begins to doubt everything she knew about the man she married. But Lucie harbours a terrible secret of her own. One that she has never shared with anyone, even Blake. And as the search for Grace reaches fever pitch, Lucie receives a terrifying message. An abducted...

☆☆☆☆☆ ebook, 384 pages Expected publication: July 16th 2019 by HARLEQUIN - Graydon House Books About the Book: It’s been seventeen years since the tragic summer the McAvoy sisters fell apart. Lindy, the wild one, left home, carved out a new life in the city and never looked back. Delia, the sister who stayed, became a mother herself, raising her daughters and running the family shop in their small Pennsylvania hometown on the shores of Lake Erie. But now, with their mother’s ailing health and a rebellious teenager to rein in, Delia has no choice but to welcome Lindy home. As the two sisters try to put their family back in order, they finally have the chance to reclaim what’s been lost over the years: for Delia, professional dreams and a happy marriage, and for Lindy, a sense of home and an old flame—and best of all, each other. But when one turbulent night leads to a shocking revelation, the women must face the past they’ve avoided for a decade. And there’s nothing like an old sec...

☆☆☆1/2 ebook, 302 pages Expected publication: June 11th 2019 by Grove Atlantic-Grove Press About the Book: In small-town Michigan, Abby Graven leads a solitary life. Once a bright student on the cusp of a promising art career, she now languishes in her childhood home, trudging to and from her job as a supermarket cashier. Each day she is taunted from the magazine racks by the success of her former best friend Elise, a rising Hollywood starlet whose life in pictures Abby obsessively scrapbooks. At night Abby escapes through the films of her favorite director, Auguste Perren, a cult figure known for his creative institute the Rhizome. Inspired by Perren, Abby draws fantastical storyboards based on her often premonitory dreams, a visionary gift she keeps hidden. When Abby encounters Elise again at their high school reunion, she is surprised and warmed that Elise still considers her not only a friend but a brilliant storyteller and true artist. Elise's unexpected faith in Abby rei...

☆☆☆1/2 Kindle Edition, 208 pages Expected publication: February 8th 2019 by Harper Impulse and Killer Reads About the Book: A bone-chilling VHS tape depicting a horrific crime. Neighbors with something to hide. And a sister who is missing. Emily has to find out the truth. But is her sister Madeline the victim…or the one to blame? Monsters beget monsters. Carissa Ann Lynch wrote a book that is the very definition of the phrase “compelling thriller” as this psychologically tormented story line is woven with some complex and intriguing characters. Lynch wrote her characters, settings and situations in such a realistic manner you can truly imagine the horror. Everyone I love has a secret. Secrets I wish I never knew. As good as the plot is, somehow the ending is even better, and I enjoyed the second half of the book so much more than the first. It’s impossible to not question your sanity at least a few times throughout this book because just as you start to think you have a hand...

☆☆☆1/2 Kindle Edition, 336 pages Expected publication: February 5th 2019 by Mulholland Books About the Book: Kimber Hannon imagines she has complete control over her life, until she comes home to find that her house key no longer opens her front door. A man is living in her house. A stranger, who presents a lease bearing Kimber's own signature. When she confronts him, he gets close enough to whisper, "I was there. I saw what you did." Those words reveal a connection to Kimber's distant past, before her sister's sudden death more than twenty years ago. Her fear abruptly shifts. This trespasser knows her somehow. He isn't after anything as simple as her money or artwork or charming Craftsman bungalow. He wants to come into her carefully orchestrated life--and destroy it. Kimber has always been ruthless when it comes to getting what she wants. But can she discover the truth about her enemy's identity before he makes good on his threat to shine a spotligh...

☆☆☆☆☆ ebook, 285 pages Expected publication: February 4th 2019 by Bloodhound Books About the Book: The police never found fifteen-year-old Ellie Hutton. She vanished ten years ago after walking home from school along a disused railway track. But Danny Sheppard knows exactly what happened to her. She is dead and buried in a field near Lassiter’s Brook. Now Cassie Rafferty has gone missing. Same age. Similar circumstances. And Danny also knows what has happened to her. Can Danny fight his demons and tell the truth this time? Or will history repeat itself and leave another innocent girl dead? Can two wrongs ever make a right? Tilbury is masterful as he develops his story characters through this psychological suspense story. The novel is well paced as the twisted drama builds and unfolds thrill by thrill. As the characters reveal, in their own dodgy way, underlying motivations and rationalizations for their behavior, tension mounts. As the story deepens the reader will have plenty ...

☆☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 300 pages Expected Publication: February 1st 2019 by Trafalgar Square Publishing-Orenda Books About the Book: After leaving her marriage to jealous, possessive oncologist Maxwell, Lily and her six-year-old son have a second chance at happiness with teacher Sebastian. Kind but vulnerable, Sebastian is the polar opposite of Maxwell, and the perfect match for Lily. After a whirlwind romance, they marry, and that's when things start to go wrong. Maxwell returns to the scene, determined to win back his family, and events soon spiral out of control. Lily and Sebastian find themselves not only fighting for their relationship, but also their lives. There’s a thin line between love and hate. This book is full of so many twists. Just when I thought I had things figured out, I discovered I was wrong. It was so hard to put this book down, as I wanted to keep reading, and finished in one sitting. An avid fan of psychological thrillers, Do No Harm, definitely had me...

☆☆☆☆☆ ebook, 348 pages Published: January 19th 2019 by Trafalgar Square Publishing-Orenda Books About the Book: Lynn Naismith gave up the job she loved when she married Ed, the love of her life, but it was worth it for the happy years they enjoyed together. Now, ten years on, Ed has been diagnosed with early-onset dementia, and things start to happen; things more sinister than missing keys and lost words. As some memories are forgotten, others, long buried, begin to surface, and Lynn’s perfect world begins to crumble. But is it Ed’s mind playing tricks, or hers? Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive. The Old You is a dark novel which exemplifies how easy it is to make bad decisions that you can never take back. The characters had depth and the insight needed to really understand their actions. The novel is quite a page turner. Every time you think you know where the plot is going something changes and you need to rethink the entire story. Enjoyable a...

☆☆☆ ebook, 200 pages Expected publication: January 19th 2019 by HQ Digital About the Book: When Reen left The Burrow eight years ago, she had no intention of returning to her idyllic seaside hometown. Withdrawn and isolated from her family after the tragic death of her father, there was no reason to stay. But when her sister, Rose, reaches out with news about their mother she has no choice but to go back. Forced to confront her demons she runs into her childhood sweetheart, Brody, who still sends her heart into a flutter. But can Reen finally learn let go of the past and find the happiness she truly deserves? Reading this story totally captured my imagination with the beautiful prose of Ms. Duncan. I really wanted to love this book. Unfortunately, I had difficulty connecting with main character, Reen. The plot also moved at a pace I found slow and difficult to work through. I did find the writing beautifully descriptive though. This is relatively easy and shorter read. I finis...

☆☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 331 pages Expected publication: June 4th 2019 by HARLEQUIN - Graydon House Books About the Book: A stunning tour de force following three fierce, unforgettable Southern women in the years leading up to the Great Depression. It's 1924 South Carolina and the region is still recovering from the infamous boll weevil infestation that devastated the land and the economy. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters from starvation or die at the hands of an abusive husband. Retta is navigating a harsh world as a first-generation freed slave, still employed by the Coles, influential plantation proprietors who once owned her family. Annie is the matriarch of the Coles family and must come to terms with the terrible truth that has ripped her family apart.These three women seemingly have nothing in common, yet as they unite to stand up to the terrible injustices that have long plagued the small town, they find strength in t...

☆☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 331 pages Expected publication: June 4th 2019 by HARLEQUIN - Graydon House Books About the Book: The Dead Letters Depot. Inside the walls of a former tea factory, letter detectives work to solve mysteries: missing zip codes, illegible handwriting, rain-smudged ink, lost address labels, torn packages, forgotten street names—these are the twists of fate behind missed birthdays, broken hearts, unheard confessions, pointless accusations, unpaid bills and unanswered prayers. But when letters arrive addressed simply to “My Great Love,” one longtime letter detective with face his greatest mystery yet, as his quest to follow the clues becomes a life-changing journey of love, hope and courage. Helen Cullen’s The Lost Letters of William Woolf is an enchanting novel about the resilience of the human heart and the complex ideas we hold about love—and a passionate ode to the art of letter writing. It must be even worse to feel lonely inside a couple than when you’re a...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 272 pages Expected publication: March 22nd 2019 by Grove Atlantic/Grove Press About the Book: Middle-aged and deeply depressed, Jim arrives in California from Alaska and surrenders himself to the care of his brother Gary, who intends to watch over him. Swinging unpredictably from manic highs to extreme lows, Jim wanders ghost-like through the remains of his old life attempting to find meaning in his tattered relationships with family and friends. As sessions with his therapist become increasingly combative and his connections to others seem ever more tenuous, Jim is propelled forward by his thoughts, which have the potential to lead him, despairingly, to his end. Halibut on the Moon is a searing exploration of a man held captive by the dark logic of depression and struggling mightily to wrench himself free. In vivid and haunting prose, Vann offers us an aching portrait of a mind in peril, searching desperately for some hope of redemption. A storm in close, e...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 400 pages Expected publication: March 5th 2019 by HARLEQUIN – Trade Publishing and Park Row About the Book: Maddie and Ian's romance began when he was serving in the British Army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend Jo in Europe. Now sixteen years later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in Middle America. But when an accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian's PTSD; her concerns for the safety of their young son Charlie; and the couple's tangled and tumultuous past with Jo. From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, the years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 911 call summons the police to the scene of shocking crime. But what in this beautiful home has gone so terribly bad? This book is hard for m...

☆☆☆☆☆ ebook, 352 pages Expected publication: March 5th 2019 by St. Martin's Press and Thomas Dunne Books About the Book: A tale of a single night. The story of a lifetime. This is the story of Maurice Hannigan, who, over the course of a Saturday night in June, orders five different drinks at the Rainford House Hotel. With each he toasts a person vital to him: his doomed older brother, his troubled sister-in-law, his daughter of fifteen minutes, his son far off in America, and his late, lamented wife. And through these people, the ones who left him behind, he tells the story of his own life, with all its regrets and feuds, loves and triumphs. Beautifully written, powerfully felt, When All Is Said promises to be the next great Irish novel. If you had to pick five people to sum up your life and raise a glass to each of them, who would they be and what would you say? This is a book with great depth and interest, the pace of which is kept alive by subtle humour of what is pot...

☆☆☆ 1/2 ebook, 295 pages Expected publication: February 6th 2019 by HQ Digital About the Book: Fifteen years ago Ellen Smith vanished from the woods near her small Welsh village. Never to be seen again. Eight people were in the woods that night: eight splintered lives, eight people hiding a terrible secret. But who can remember the truth? Now, Ellen’s best friend, Detective Ava Cole is all grown up back in the village where it all began, and everyone is asking the same question. What really happened to Ellen? I have a weak spot for a good psychological thriller and I was drawn to Remember Me as soon as I saw the cover and blurb. My first impression wasn’t wrong: this story without doubt delivered. Remember Me isn’t just another well written suspense story with an intriguing plot and a mystery to unravel though. The development of the characters in general is very realistic and they feel genuine. The writing style is very engaging and makes it really easy to enjoy this story, an...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 432 pages Expected publication: February 5th 2019 by HARLEQUIN - MIRA About the Book: When Mel receives an unexpected email from her oldest friend Abi, it brings back memories she thought she had buried forever. Their friendship belonged in the past. To those carefree days at university. But Abi is in trouble and needs Mel’s help, and she wants a place to stay. Just for a few days, while she sorts things out. It’s the least Mel can do. After all, friends look out for each other, don’t they? Sometimes, Abi thought that Mel didn’t deserve everything she had, everything she took for granted. I loved The Stranger In My Home and couldn't wait to read this. The book was a bit of a rollercoaster. It's an interesting and enjoyable read without dull or boring moments. I can't remember reading a thriller with that many turns and lies. As a reader you sit and stare at the pages and wonder what to believe. Adele Parks managed the navigation through this t...

☆☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 352 pages Expected publication: January 29th 2019 by Kensington Books About the Book: For twelve-year-old Martha “Sonny” Creech, there is no place more beautiful than her family’s cotton farm. She, her two brothers, and her parents work hard on their land—hoeing, planting, picking—but only Sonny loves the rich, dark earth the way her father does. When a tragic accident claims his life, her stricken family struggles to fend off ruin—until their rich, reclusive neighbor offers to help finance that year’s cotton crop. Sonny is dismayed when her mama accepts Frank Fowler’s offer; even more so when Sonny’s best friend, Daniel, points out that the man has ulterior motives. Sonny has a talent for divining water—an ability she shared with her father and earns her the hated nickname “water witch” in school. But uncanny as that skill may be, it won’t be enough to offset Mr. Fowler’s disturbing influence in her world. Even her bond with Daniel begins to collapse under t...