Shelley's Book Nook

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 336 pages Expected publication: April 2nd 2019 by Sourcebooks Landmark About the Book: Sometimes wonder is found not beyond the stars, but a few feet from your own front door. Daniel Green makes crop circles. As a member of a secret organization, he travels across the country creating strange works of art that leave communities mystified. He's always been alone; in fact, he prefers it. But when a dying farmer hires him in a last-ditch effort to bring publicity to a small Vermont town, Daniel finds himself at odds with his heart. It isn't long before he gets drawn into a family struggling to stitch itself back together, and the consequences will change his life forever. The Fifteen Wonders of Daniel Green explores the unexplainable bonds of family, the everyday wonder of love, and the strange mysteries life provides that help humanity light up the dark. The Fifteen Wonders of Daniel Green is a beautiful story of hope and perseverance. Erica Boyce writ...

☆☆☆1/2 Kindle Edition, 386 pages Expected publication: April 1st 2019 by Bookouture About the Book: In summer, the small Cornish village of Gorran Haven fills with tourists, but in the colder months its pretty narrow streets are blissfully quiet, the bell on the village shop door rings only for locals, the beach is unspoilt, empty and safe. It’s been over twenty years since four very different teenage girls sat on that beach, and swore to be best friends forever. Their lives went different ways after Emily left. But each remembered that promise. And none truly found friendship like it again. Now, Emily’s back, with a secret she can’t face. She tries to hide away, take time to heal and make some difficult choices, but she runs into one of her old friends, and soon the four are reunited. Lolly, warm as ever, is a successful physiotherapist, married with kids. Yet smart, strong Amanda, who cherishes her teenage daughter, is alone and seemingly stuck in a dead-end job. And creative Je...

☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 260 pages Expected publication: March 29th 2019 by Bookouture About the Book: In Katy’s opinion, weddings should follow some basic rules: 1) No-one should ever have sex. Of course. The married couple has the rest of their lives for that, and the guests should be too busy partying. 2) If you are heavily pregnant (as Katy is) you should obviously not be invited to three weddings in the space of one summer. Your husband’s accident-prone best friend, your attention-seeking colleague, your 73-year-old mother’s marriage to her Spanish toy boy – all without even an alcoholic drink to make them bearable. 3) During the speeches, it should not be revealed that you had a secret one-night-stand with one of the other guests. 4) Instead of laying bets on the length of the best man’s speech, guests should not be laying bets on whether a marriage will be in ruins before the end of the meal. But this summer, Katy is lucky enough to be the special guest at the weddings that...

☆☆☆☆☆ ebook, 272 pages Expected publication: March 29th 2019 by Roundfire Books About the Book: Martin Fourchette is on a mission to retrieve his priceless, first-edition copy of The Old Man and the Sea, inscribed on the flyleaf by Papa Hemingway himself. He unearthed it at the bottom of a bin of castoffs at a thrift store in Anaheim, and then Helmet-Head, Martin’s moped-driving book-scout competitor and nemesis, filched it. How, after an auspicious start at Hotchkiss and Yale, then a great job in advertising and a loving young family did Martin manage to lose it all and fall so far from grace? That is something that he can’t help but contemplate while crusading through the dark recesses of Los Angeles as he struggles to retrieve his treasured book from a dishevelled, moped-driving Moriarty. I completely fell under this books spell and cannot stress enough how exquisite the writing is in this story - you really have to read it to feel the masterful ebb and flow of words that Mr....

☆☆ Kindle Edition, 262 pages Expected publication: March 28th 2019 by Bookouture About the Book: The last letter is addressed to me. No stamp, swirly handwriting in black ink. I pull out a piece of paper, stiffening when I read the message. Hands trembling, the note slides to the floor. Your husband is having an affair. Six words written in neat block letters. Six words slipped through her letterbox, destroying her marriage, exposing Ella’s perfect life as perfect lies. But Ella has a plan: Alice is the answer to her problems. A lodger, to help keep her afloat, a friend, to keep the loneliness at bay. Only Alice has her own reasons for wanting to live at 46 Heath Street. Oh my, it took me three days to slog thru this bore-fest. It is a short book at 262 pages, and I read quite fast, but I was looking for anything to do other than read this book...even the dishes. It's another book that failed to live up to the hype of 'a twisty and absolutely gripping psychological thril...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 320 pages Expected publication: March 26th 2019 by Kensington Books About the Book: From a distance, they seem to be sleeping. Three bodies, sitting propped up against the ancient stones of Hadrian’s Wall. A closer look reveals the horror of their too-white faces, and the ring of vivid red bruises around each neck. The victims were found by schoolgirl Isla Bell, out on an early morning run along the historic site. That day changed the small, close-knit community of Briganton forever, and it also shaped the course of Isla’s life. Twenty years later, she’s a professor of criminal psychology at the University of Northumberland. She specializes in studying the brain function of psychopaths and serial killers, wrestling with the question that still haunts her: why? Why did Heath McGowan kill those people—and two more besides—before he was finally caught by Isla’s police detective father? At last, Isla has a chance to get answers. Heath, previously unforthcoming abo...

☆☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 352 pages Expected publication: March 26th 2019 by Kensington Books About the Book: In 1961 Charlotte, North Carolina, the predominantly black neighborhood of Brooklyn is a bustling city within a city. Self-contained and vibrant, it has its own restaurants, schools, theaters, churches, and night clubs. There are shotgun shacks and poverty, along with well-maintained houses like the one Loraylee Hawkins shares with her young son, Hawk, her Uncle Ray, and her grandmother, Bibi. Loraylee’s love for Archibald Griffin, Hawk’s white father and manager of the cafeteria where she works, must be kept secret in the segregated South. Loraylee has heard rumors that the city plans to bulldoze her neighborhood, claiming it’s dilapidated and dangerous. The government promises to provide new housing and relocate businesses. But locals like Pastor Ebenezer Polk, who’s facing the demolition of his church, know the value of Brooklyn does not lie in bricks and mortar. Generation...

☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 267 pages Expected publication: March 28th 2019 by Agora Books About the Book: Emily and Josephine have always shared everything. They’re sisters, flatmates, and best friends. It’s the two of them against the world. When Emily has the perfect wedding, and Josephine finds the perfect man, they know things will change forever. But nothing can prepare them for what, or who, one of them is willing to give up for love. Four people. Three couples. Two sisters. One unforgivable betrayal. From the best-selling author of Missing Pieces comes a heart-wrenching story about family, loyalty, and obsession that will have you racing to the finish. I liked Missing Pieces by Laura Pearson. She has a good, flowing writing style. This book kept my attention, but unfortunately the story does get a bit boring and Josephine and Michael were such a doormats, for the majority of the book, I wanted to kick them. Why was Josephine so wishy-washy, even when she realized that her sister...

☆☆☆1/2 ebook, 352 pages Expected publication: March 26th 2019 by HARLEQUIN - Graydon House Books About the Book: Juliette loves Nate. She will follow him anywhere. She’s even become a flight attendant for his airline so she can keep a closer eye on him. They are meant to be. The fact that Nate broke up with her six months ago means nothing. Because Juliette has a plan to win him back. She is the perfect girlfriend. And she’ll make sure no one stops her from getting exactly what she wants. True love hurts, but Juliette knows it’s worth all the pain. I really enjoyed The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton. You feel for Juliette and Nate. You can tell from the start something just isn't right with the relationship that Juliette and Nate have. But it isn't until towards the end that it all starts making sense. Juliette and Nate were hard characters to like. However, this book was a very easy read to get lost in. I devoured this book and was addicted to the drama. Juliett...

☆☆☆1/2 ebook, 400 pages Expected publication: March 26th 2019 by MIRA About the Book: In an unthinkable flash, Emmy Fisher’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Leah, seemingly drowns close to shore one summer night—at least that is what the police report says. In deep grief, Emmy needs time and courage before she can enter Leah’s bedroom. But when she does, she finds something at first bewildering, then unspeakable, as she begins to understand the full implications. She uncovers evidence that Leah had been secretly involved with someone, someone perhaps older, someone with dark appetites. Bit by bit, the last few months of Leah’s life unfold in a terrifying way that Emmy can hardly imagine. All she knows is that she has to find the person who took her sweet daughter’s innocence. No matter the cost. The truth will set her free. Or bury her. A missing child is a common premise in a lot of thriller books, and I've read a lot of them. Here we have a fifteen year old girl who simply vani...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 352 pages Expected publication: March 26th 2019 by Kensington About the Book: “ Whatever comes your way, find the happiness in it. ” Hope Carpenter received that advice from her mother decades ago. Now, with their four children grown, Hope and her husband, Rick, are suddenly facing an uncertain future, after a forced retirement strains both their savings and their marriage. Seeking inspiration and a financial boost, Hope gets a job teaching crafts to inmates at a local women’s prison. At first, Hope feels foolish and irrelevant, struggling to relate to women whose choices seem so different from her own. But with time, and the encouragement of the prison chaplain, she begins to discover common ground with the inmates, in their worries about their children and families, their fear of having failed those who need them. Just like her, they want to make something of themselves, but believe it might be impossible. Embarking on an ambitious quilting project, Hope and...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 341 pages Expected publication: March 22nd 2019 by Bookouture About the Book: A new home can be a happy ending. Or a fresh start. Or a hiding place. Kate Jones is running away. She has left her old life behind, changing both her own name and her daughter’s. No-one must ever connect Kate with the mistake that destroyed her life. Starting afresh on Parkview Road – a brand new street full of newly built houses – Kate looks at the other women on the street with envy. They seem to have it all: Gisela with her busy life, full house and successful children, Sally with her exciting spontaneous marriage, her glamorous holidays, her high-flying career. The pictures that Kate's new friends post online confirm their seemingly perfect existence, whilst Kate hides from the world at all costs. Until one day, everything changes. Kate is called to the scene of a devastating accident, which is about to test everything the women thought they knew about each other, and themse...

☆☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 262 Pages Expected publication: March 21st 2019 by Lake Union Publishing - Amazon Publishing UK About the Book: What is it about the coast that attracts people running from their past? Maybe there’s something in a sea breeze that blows away your problems. Maybe when you look out at the ocean you can see the future; forget the secrets and pain holding you back. Or at least you can forget them for a time. When Olivia moves to Port Townsend, her marriage is floundering, and her life is in pieces. She doesn’t know if things with her husband Mark are truly over, or quite why the phone call she longs for on her daughter’s birthday will never come. Joining a letter-writing club seems like a harmless decision. But when she meets Ned, an ex-soldier badly wounded in Afghanistan, this unlooked-for friendship revives unexpected emotions and memories she’d rather forget. Can Olivia find the courage to confront what she’s hiding from and finally begin to heal the wounds th...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 306 pages Published June 9th 2016 by Bookouture (Originally Published September 27th 2016) About the Book: Washed up on the beach, she can't remember who she is. She can't even remember her name. Turns out, she has a perfect life-friends and family eager to fill in the blanks. But why are they lying to her? What don't they want her to remember? When you don't even know who you are, how do you know who to trust? The character of Mia appears a trifle simple and very naive, easily lead and lacking in even basic discernment. And I hate that so many books these days have weak female leads. The mystery was clear and obvious, I had everything figured out, I was just reading to confirm what I already knew .... HA! Don't kid yourself, you know nothing. The ending comes from nowhere. No character is what he or she seems, and the ending is so unexpected and bizarre that it makes Mia's slow processing worth it...it's an unexpectedly interest...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 290 pages Expected publication: March 19th 2019 by Bookouture About the Book: In the middle of the night, Claire wakes up to discover that her beloved daughter, Julia, is dead – and life, as she knows it, is over. Searching for answers, Claire stumbles upon a pile of letters, hidden under Julia’s bed in an old, battered shoebox, and feels closer to her daughter than ever before. They tell her that Julia was happy, that she was thriving at university, that she was in love. But as the letters go on, Claire starts to feel uneasy at something hidden between the lines. Even as she grieves, she must prepare to face a shocking discovery. Because Julia was hiding a terrible secret – and when it’s uncovered, it will devastate a family already torn apart by tragedy. This book was well done and full of flawed but wonderful characters. I found the subject matter so relatable to many areas- marriage, trying to raise adult children , spousal abuse, suicide and many other ...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 400 pages Expected publication: April 9th 2019 by Crown Publishing About the Book: When Henri ends up in a coma after rescuing a young girl from the Thames, his ex-girlfriend, Eddie, discovers that she is listed as Henri's next-of-kin in his living will. While Henri lies in a hospital bed, he fitfully revisits the boyhood he spent with his beloved grandfather, who fed him a steady diet of Breton fish and fairy tales. Meanwhile, Sam, Henri's sensitive teenage son with whom Henri never had a relationship--Henri was in love with his mother, but too afraid of love to make the relationship work--has never seen his father alive, other than in Henri's reportages or the video of him heroically saving a girl from drowning. Yet, Sam has a more profound connection with his father than most children of his age. Sam and Eddie, each previously unaware of the other, slowly begin to carve out an unexpected and powerful friendship. But when Sam is on his way to mee...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 304 pages Expected publication: April 2nd 2019 by Sourcebooks Landmark About the Book: It is the wrong time to get sick. Speeding down the highway on the way to work, her two little girls sleeping in the back seat, medical resident Claire Rawlings doesn't have time for the nausea overtaking her. But as the world tilts sideways, she pulls into a gas station, runs to the bathroom, and passes out. When she wakes up minutes later, her car—and her daughters—are gone. The police have no leads, and the weight of guilt presses down on Claire as each hour passes with no trace of her girls. All she has to hold on to are her strained marriage, a potentially unreliable witness who emerges days later, and the desperate but quenchable belief that her daughters are out there somewhere. As hopeful and uplifting as it is devastating, Little Lovely Things is the story of a family shattered by unthinkable tragedy, and the unexpected intersection of heartbreak and hope. I m...

☆☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 448 pages Expected publication: March 19th 2019 by HARLEQUIN - Graydon House About the Book: In 1942, Europe remains in the relentless grip of war. Just beyond the tents of the Russian refugee camp she calls home, a young woman speaks her wedding vows. It’s a decision that will alter her destiny…and it’s a lie that will remain buried until the next century. Since she was nine years old, Alina Dziak knew she would marry her best friend, Tomasz. Now fifteen and engaged, Alina is unconcerned by reports of Nazi soldiers at the Polish border, believing her neighbors that they pose no real threat, and dreams instead of the day Tomasz returns from college in Warsaw so they can be married. But little by little, injustice by brutal injustice, the Nazi occupation takes hold, and Alina’s tiny rural village, its families, are divided by fear and hate. Then, as the fabric of their lives is slowly picked apart, Tomasz disappears. Where Alina used to measure time between vi...

☆☆☆☆ ebook, 300 pages Expected publication: March 15th 2019 by HQ Digital About the Book: Having barely escaped the clutches of a serial killer, Claire Moore has struggled to rebuild her life. After her terrifying encounter with the man the media dubbed The Blackout Killer, she became an overnight celebrity: a symbol of hope and survival in the face of pure evil. And then the killings stopped. Now ten years have passed, and Claire remains traumatised by her brush with death. Though she has a loving and supportive family around her, what happened that night continues to haunt her still. Just when things are starting to improve, there is a power cut; a house fire; another victim found killed in the same way as before. The Blackout Killer is back. And he’s coming for Claire. I’ve never read a Darren O’Sullivan book before, but Closer Than You Think has me wanting to run to the nearest book store and pick up all his work. This book can be hard to read due to its subject matter, but ...

☆☆1/2 Kindle Edition, 304 pages Expected publication: March 14th 2019 by Red Door Publishing Ltd About the Book: I'm not the wife you think I am. Jess's sister Stephanie loves being a new mum, and is besotted with her baby daughter Natalie. She's tired and a bit anxious, but that's natural, isn't it? However, one night Stephanie disappears, taking Natalie with her. Jess tries to convince herself that there's a perfectly reasonable explanation but as time goes on and CCTV images appear of a young woman with a baby, jumping in front of a high-speed train, Jess fears the worst. But was it Stephanie? And if not, where has she gone? And what does husband Adam have to hide? In turmoil Jess goes in search of answers, but she isn't prepared for what she uncovers... or for what happens next. My Sister is Missing is an intense, twisted, psychological thriller that will make you question what is real, and whether you really can trust those you love. Reality, sa...

☆☆☆1/2 Kindle Edition, 233 pages Published March 14th 2018 by Canelo About the Book: An abrupt change; a new friendship; a dark secret. Kind-hearted Violet has never fitted in, but despite being bullied at school is now content. She is dating ambitious Lenny, has her dream job in publishing and runs a book club at the local retirement home. However, when her relationship with Lenny begins to falter, Violet, hurt and alone, seeks the advice of her new flatmate, Bella. She changes her image and with her head held high aims to show that she doesn’t need Lenny in her life to be happy and successful. Her long-term friends Kath and Farah worry about Bella’s influence and slowly Violet starts to distance herself from them. When she was a child, her closest confidant and companion was a boy called Flint. Her mother didn’t approve of their closeness and he suffered a terrible end. She won’t let the same thing happen to Bella, no matter what anyone says. Knowing You is about friendship and ...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 341 pages Expected publication: March 13th 2019 by Bookouture About the Book: In one moment, Kat Cavanaugh’s perfect world is shattered into tiny fragments. The flash of her daughter’s yellow dress, the blonde hair hanging across her precious face. Her own heart-broken sob. Kat experiences every mother’s worst nightmare when her only child’s body is found lifeless in an overgrown, abandoned quarry. Desperate to find out what happened, Kat questions those closest to her as she tries to piece together the last days of Grace’s life. But as a darker side to her little girl begins to unravel, Kat wonders if she ever really knew Grace. As Kat is drawn into a twisted game of lies, is she also in terrible danger? And will she be able to unlock her daughter’s final shocking secret? Even if the truth is unthinkable. I absolutely loved this book, I devoured this psychological thriller. From the very first page I was engaged and eager to know more as I already had quest...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 268 pages Expected publication: March 8th 2019 by Bookouture About the Book: You’re hiding a secret that only she can see. Her name is Beth. She came into my life when I needed her the most. We lead very different lives, but she’s the only person who understands me. She was the only other witness to the terrible accident on the street between our homes. The only person who saw the cracks in my perfect life before I had the chance to cover them up. It’s been so long since I’ve had a friend. Someone to talk to, to listen to, to laugh and dream with. Beth would never do anything to hurt me. She only wants what’s best for me, for my marriage. Sometimes you pick up a story and are immediately just drawn to it, drawn into the story and mystery that is slowly unfolding, to the what ifs and the complete mystery of it all. Such was the case of The Girl Across the Street. I love something that will not only completely captivate me but keep me on edge guessing right ...

☆☆☆☆ Kindle Edition, 372 pages Expected publication: March 5th 2019 by Bookouture About the Book: Pop music blares from the radio. She sings drunkenly from the backseat. The thrash of windscreen wipers against the driving rain. The screech of tyres. A thud. Naomi and I are best friends. School runs, dog walks, a shoulder to cry on over a glass of wine, we’re inseparable. But now my husband has walked out, I need her more than ever. I know she will help me pick up the pieces. Because she knows about the lie I told to protect her. She knows how much I’ve sacrificed for this friendship. And she’d never let anyone hurt me. Would she? Let me start off by saying that I have read both of Ms. Boyd's other books, I loved one and enjoyed the other. This book drew me in from page one. Her Closest Friend has that special way of sucking you into the story. The wit and pacing of both the inner monologues and of conversations were scintillating. Reading about what Sophie really thinks o...