Posts

Showing posts from August, 2020

For the Best by Vanessa Lillie

Image
☆☆1/2 ebook, 235 pages Expected publication: September 8th 2020 by Thomas & Mercer About the Book: Suspected of a murder she can’t remember, a troubled woman takes an unusual approach to proving her innocence in this gripping thriller from the bestselling author of Little Voices. When Jules Worthington-Smith’s wallet is found next to a dead man, she becomes the prime suspect in his murder. After struggling for years to build the perfect family and career, she’s dangerously close to losing everything. Sure of her innocence, Jules is desperate to clear her name. But there’s one big problem: she was blackout drunk when the murder took place and can’t remember what happened. Unsatisfied with the police’s handling of the case, Jules embarks on her own gin-fueled murder investigation. As she uncovers fresh clues, she starts a true-crime vlog that becomes a viral sensation, pushing her into the public eye. It’s not long before the ordeal forces Jules to confront her demons, including

Mad Moon by Alissa C. Miles

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 191 pages Expected publication: September 4th 2020 by Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles About the Book: Jo Evans is eight years old. She loves her mama and wants nothing more than for them to be safe from her abusive father. So, when her mother, Catherine, decides they should leave, Jo packs her few belongings and readies herself for their escape to Wimbee Island, South Carolina, to her Grandmother Bibba's house. Homecomings are never easy and when Jo and her family settle in at Bibba's, Jo realizes she's connected to a past she knows nothing about. Three generations of women. Three generations of abuse, lies, and betrayal. Later, as an adult, when Jo becomes a wife and mother, she longs to feel grounded in her roles. She knows she must return and face the dark moments of that summer spent on Wimbee. Historical, Southern fiction is my favourite genre. This is also on the side of coming of age and I enjoy that as well. I c

Dark Hollows by Steve Frech

Image
☆☆☆1/2 ebook, 224 pages Expected publication: September 1st 2020 by HarperCollins Publishers and HQ Digital About the Book: Jacob Reese enjoys the quiet life, running a coffee shop and renting out his cottage in The Hollows, Vermont. But the calm is shattered when a woman who looks eerily similar to his ex-girlfriend Laura turns up to stay in the cottage, and leaves a mysterious note in the guest book. Now Jacob’s seeing Laura everywhere—a glimpse of her face across the street, her music box left outside his house, a gift he gave her years before hanging from the trees. But it can’t be Laura. Because Laura’s dead. Someone knows Jacob’s secret—what really happened the night Laura died—and they’re out for revenge. Dark Hollows is a spooky, atmospheric, Gothic thriller full of suspense. I love mysteries set in old, creepy houses, so I was very excited to read Dark Hollows. I enjoyed this book immensely, even though I guessed some of the twists. It still unnerved me and made my hear

American Sign Language for Beginners: Learn Signing Essentials in 30 Days by Rochelle Barlow

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 60 pages Expected publication: July 28th 2020 by Callisto Media and Rockridge Press About the Book: A 30-day beginner’s guide for learning American Sign Language. There’s an easy way to leap right in to learning American Sign Language (ASL). American Sign Language for Beginners delivers 30 days of lessons that will help you sign with those in your home, community, and classroom. From letters and numbers to essential vocabulary and grammar basics, this beginner’s guide provides the essentials needed to develop a solid foundation for American Sign Language in the real world. Each daily lesson takes less than 30 minutes to complete and focuses on a single set of vocabulary or ASL grammar. Throughout the course, you’ll find key phrases, helpful memory tips, signing practice activities, and insight into deaf culture. Start your ASL masterclass today. American Sign Language for Beginners includes: 30 Days of easy ASL—Start off right with an accelerated plan designed to help

Rival Sisters by Louise Guy

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 323 pages Expected publication: August 1st 2020 by Amazon Publishing UK About the Book: Hannah and Nat were teenagers when their mum died in a terrible accident. The pain of it tore them apart, creating a rift that they’ve never been able to bridge. Neither is able to understand or appreciate her sister’s perspective, each quick to be riled by the other. Both women have been indelibly shaped by the tragedy. Hannah is controlling, desperate to protect her loved ones in a way she failed to do with her mum. Meanwhile, Nat is forever running from the ‘selfish daughter’ label that she was marked with after the accident. Now secrets in both women’s lives threaten to bring them down. Help may be close at hand, but neither can see it. But with life falling apart and the truth in short supply, can they finally see past their differences to the bond that could bring them together? This beautifully rendered story is told through the eyes of Hannah and Nat, two very different wo

The Trials of Koli (Rampart Trilogy #2) by M. R. Carey

Image
☆☆☆1/2 ebook, 449 pages Expected publication: September 15th 2020 by Orbit Books About the Book: The earth wants to swallow us whole...Koli never planned to set foot outside his small village. He knew that beyond its walls lay a fearsome landscape filled with choker trees, vicious beasts and Shunned men. But when he was exiled, he had no choice but to journey out into this strange world where every moment is a fight for survival. And it's not just Koli's life that is threatened. Whole villages just like his are dying out. But Koli heard a story, once. A story about lost London, and the mysterious tech of the Old Times that may still be there. If he can find it, there may still be a way for him to change his own fate - by saving the lives of those who are left. This book wasn’t anything at all what I expected. I’ve been dystopian fatigued and can’t bring myself to even attempt anything from that genre (Thanks Covid). But the premise of this book intrigued me enough to ta

The House of Secrets by Sophie Draper

Image
☆☆ ebook, 299 pages Expected publication: September 1st 2020 by HarperCollins Publishers and Avon About the Book: She’s married to him. But does she know him at all? Claire lives with her family in a beautiful house overlooking the water. But she feels as if she’s married to a stranger – one who is leading a double life. As soon as she can get their son Joe away from him, she’s determined to leave Duncan. But finding out the truth about Duncan’s secret life leads to consequences Claire never planned for. Now Joe is missing, and she’s struggling to piece together the events of the night that tore them all apart. Alone in an isolated cottage, hiding from Duncan, Claire tries to unravel the lies they’ve told each other, and themselves. Something happened to her family … But can she face the truth? Note to self: I am NOT a Sophie Draper fan...she is 0 for three with me. The chilling, atmospheric mystery with a twist I really wish publishers would stop doing this, especially whe

The House that Fell from the Sky by Patrick Delaney

Image
☆☆1/2 ebook, 442 pages Expected publication: September 1st 2020 by Oblivion Publishing About the Book: When twenty-nine-year-old Scarlett Vantassel comes to the conclusion that her life doesn’t resemble any of the things she actually wanted for herself, she drops out of school and moves back home, attempting to reconnect with the people she left behind. But a shadow falls over her return one early October morning when a sinister house miraculously appears in the center of the city, sparking a media frenzy that attracts attention nationwide.

 Soon after the newspapers label it, "The House that Fell from the Sky," Scarlett’s childhood friend Hannah becomes obsessed with the idea that the house holds the key to discovering whether there really is life after death. Undeterred by her friends' numerous warnings, Hannah becomes increasingly consumed with the desire to enter the house, convinced it would allow her to reconnect with her recently deceased mother.

 Despite a

The Saturday Morning Park Run by Jules Wake

Image
❤❤❤❤ ebook, 373 pages Expected publication: August 29th 2020 by One More Chapter About the Book: This is the story of two women. One old, one young. One looking for new adventures. One looking for a purpose. Both needing a friend. And this is how, along with two little girls in need of a family, a gorgeous stranger, and a scruffy dog, they bring the whole community together every Saturday morning for love, laughter and a little bit of running…(well, power walking). Some people come into your life when you need them the most. A gloriously uplifting and page-turning book that will make you feel happy! >>>>>I am so glad to report that this little blurb is the absolute truth! Oh my! This was my first Jules Wake book and it was such a refreshing change from all those thrillers. I adored this book and all the characters in it. It seemed so real and true to life. The book put a smile on my face and it is such a lovely story without being too saccharin. These charact

LEGO Still Life with Bricks: The Art of Everyday Play The Art of Everyday Play by Michelle Clair and Lydia Ortiz

Image
☆☆☆☆☆ ebook, 75 pages Expected publication: April 7th 2020 by Chronicle Books About the Book: Capturing the boundless creativity of the LEGO® brand, this colorful book recreates objects and scenes from everyday life using LEGO bricks. Transforming handfuls of bricks into minty toothpaste, eggs and bacon, lush houseplants, and more, LEGO Still Life reimagines the mundane and sparks playfulness in everyday life. Featuring unique, clever, and captivating original art, these deceptively simple but meticulously executed images are full of surprise and delight—and remind us that the world around us is, too. • Recreates commonplace scenes from everyday life using LEGO® bricks • Creatively reimagines the everyday objects and scenes • Presented without text, these clever images speak for themselves, offering joy, surprise, and creativity on each spread LEGO Still Life is the perfect gift for LEGO lovers and art lovers alike. Watch LEGO bricks transform into everyday objects, turning

I Lie in Wait by Amanda Brittany

Image
☆☆☆1/2 ebook, 252 pages Expected publication: August 28th 2020 by HQ Digital About the Book: It's one year since her sister vanished. Now, another girl is missing. One year ago, Amelia Taylor’s sister, Lark, vanished without a trace from a family holiday in the Scottish Highlands. The police are convinced that Lark was abducted, but with no new leads, the case has gone cold. Amelia is certain that the answer lies at the holiday cottage and retracing their steps might unearth a vital clue that could help make a breakthrough. But during their second night at the cottage a shrill scream cuts through the darkness, just as it did a year ago, and a sense of dread engulfs everyone. Another girl has vanished. Leading the search, Amelia is convinced that both girls are alive, waiting to be found. But someone is determined to keep her from the truth at all costs. Will Amelia be able to find her sister, or is she too about to find herself in danger? This novel is a slow burn. You first

The Man I Married by Elena Wilkes

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 282 pages Expected publication: August 26th 2020 by Hera Books About the Book: This is the story of Lucy and Paul. They met. They fell deeply in love. They got married. Lucy thought that she had everything she wanted. Until she found the photograph from Paul's past life, read the text messages he's so desperately trying to hide. Until she uncovered Paul’s darkest secrets. Now Lucy realises she doesn’t really know her husband. She doesn’t know if she can trust her own mind. She doesn’t know the lengths Paul would go to keep his perfect life. And worst of all, she doesn’t know that she’s in danger. A gripping, dark psychological thriller with an absolutely nail biting ending that will keep you hooked Well in this case the blurb was correct. This was my kind of thriller even though parts of it are far-fetched. Secrets, lies, twists, who's crazy and who isn't, a missing child...all the elements that are enjoyable to me in a novel. The Man I Married was

The Moon is Missing by Jenni Ogden

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 358 pages Expected publication: August 25th 2020 by Sea Dragon Press About the Book: Georgia Grayson has perfected the art of being two people: a neurosurgeon on track to becoming the first female Director of Neurosurgery at a large London hospital, and a wife and mother. Home is her haven where, with husband Adam’s support, she copes with her occasional anxiety attacks. That is until her daughter, 15-year-old Lara, demands to know more about Danny, her mysterious biological father from New Orleans who died before she was born. “Who was he? Why did he die? WHO AM I?” Trouble is, Georgia can’t tell her. As escalating panic attacks prevent her from operating, and therapy fails to bring back the memories she has repressed, fractures rip through her once happy family. Georgia sees only one way forward— to return to New Orleans where Danny first sang his way into her heart, and then to the rugged island where he fell to his death. Somehow she must uncover the truth Lara des

The Woods by Vanessa Savage

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 353 pages Expected publication: August 25th 2020 by Grand Central Publishing About the Book: Two girls went down to the woods... But only one came back. There's a lot from Tess's childhood that she would rather forget. The family who moved next door and brought chaos to their quiet lives. The two girls who were murdered, their killer never found. But the only thing she can't remember is the one thing she wishes she could. Ten years ago, Tess's older sister died. Ruled a tragic accident, the only witness was Tess herself, but she has never been able to remember what happened that night in the woods. Now living in London, Tess has resolved to put the trauma behind her. But an emergency call from her father forces her back to the family home, back to where her sister's body was found, and to the memories she thought were lost forever. Two girls went in. But only one came out. Vanessa Savage is an exceptional author. I read this book in less than a

The Day I Disappeared by Brandi Reeds

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 253 pages Expected publication: August 25th 2020 by Lake Union Publishing About the Book: Three months after four-year-old Holly Gebhardt was kidnapped, she was inexplicably returned to the same park from which she’d vanished…with no memory of the ordeal. Though a local handyman was convicted, suspicion also fell on his friend—Holly’s mother, Cecily. The troubling doubts about her involvement shattered the family, forever driving a wedge between mother and daughter. Twenty years later, another girl goes missing under eerily similar circumstances. It’s just the latest in a series of kidnappings that Detective Jason Guidry thinks Holly can help solve. Though Holly has tried to move on with her life, a young girl’s life hangs in the balance. All she has to do is try to remember. With her memory still mostly blank, Holly is missing vital pieces of the puzzle, and she believes her mother can put them in place. In desperation and fear, Holly and her mother come together agai

My Darling by Amanda Robson

Image
☆☆☆1/2 ebook, 228 pages Expected publication: August 24th 2020 by Avon Books UK About the Book: A new couple moves in next door. And nothing will ever be the same again. I watched you move in and thought we might be friends. I saw you watching from the window – and knew I’d have to keep you away from my husband. I started to trust you. Confide in you. I started to mistrust you. Suspect you. I was confused when I blacked out after an evening at your place. Was I really that drunk? I came up with a plan. A plan to make you both pay. My favorite part of this story was its consistency. From the beginning, and all the way through to the end, the author manages to drop in just enough of a hint or plot point to keep you engaged. There are no dragging moments where you're just in it for the end result. Throughout the story line, I was second guessing my predictions and wondering if I was being led on in the wrong direction. Was I being told to look right when the story was going l

You Let Him In by JA Andrews

Image
☆☆ ebook, 247 pages Expected publication: August 19th 2020 by Hera Books About the Book: All Jenny Clifton ever wanted was to be the ideal wife and mother. When she married Michael in a fairytale wedding, followed by the birth of baby Daniel, her life was complete. Yet just three years later, the shine has faded. Now, money is tight, and the occasional argument has become daily screaming matches between Jenny and Michael. Something needs to change… and it does, when Michael is killed in a brutal hit and run, breathing his last with a stranger holding his hand. Lonely and distraught, Jenny strikes up an unlikely friendship with the witness to the accident, clinging to the connection with the man who watched Michael die. But as she uncovers the secrets that her husband was keeping, Jenny realises that her perfect life may have been a perfect lie - and worse, that her new friend may be harbouring dangerous secrets of his own. There is a lot of inner dialogue in this book. I don'

Royal by Danielle Steel

Image
☆☆☆1/2 ebook, 245 pages Expected publication: August 18th 2020 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine - Delacorte Press About the Book: As the war rages on in the summer of 1943, causing massive destruction and widespread fear, the King and Queen choose to quietly send their youngest daughter, Princess Charlotte, to live with a trusted noble family in the country. Despite her fiery, headstrong nature, the princess's fragile health poses far too great a risk for her to remain in war-torn London. Third in line for the throne, seventeen year-old Charlotte reluctantly uses an alias upon her arrival in Yorkshire, her two guardians the only keepers of her true identity. In time, she settles comfortably into a life out of the spotlight, befriending a young evacuee and training with her cherished horse. But no one predicts that in the coming months she will fall deeply in love with her protectors' son. She longs for a normal life. Far from her parents, a tragic turn of even

Three Perfect Liars by Heidi Perks

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 304 pages Expected publication: August 18th 2020 by Gallery Books About the Book: Laura has returned to work at Morris and Wood after her maternity leave, only to discover that the woman she brought in to cover for her isn’t planning on going anywhere. Despite her close relationship with the agency’s powerful CEO, Harry Wood, she feels sidelined—and outmaneuvered—as she struggles to balance the twin demands of work and motherhood. Mia was only supposed to be a temporary hire at Morris and Wood, but she’s managed to make herself indispensable to everyone. Everyone, that is, except Laura. If people only knew why she was so desperate to keep her job, they might not want her to stay. Janie gave up everything to support her husband and the successful agency he runs. But she has her own dark secret to protect…and will go to any lengths to keep it safe. While she was bringing a child into the world, another woman had slipped into her place and stolen her job from her. It&

The Heatwave by Kate Riordan

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 280 pages Expected publication: August 18th 2020 by Grand Central Publishing About the Book: Elodie was beautiful. Elodie was smart. Elodie was manipulative. Elodie is dead. When Sylvie Durand receives a letter calling her back to her crumbling family home in the South of France, she knows she has to go. In the middle of a sweltering 1990's summer marked by unusual fires across the countryside, she returns to La Reverie with her youngest daughter Emma in tow, ignoring the deep sense of dread she feels for this place she's long tried to forget. As memories of the events that shattered their family a decade earlier threaten to come to the surface, Sylvie struggles to shield Emma from the truth of what really happened all those years ago. In every corner of the house, Sylvie can't escape the specter of Elodie, her first child. Elodie, born amid the '68 Paris riots with one blue eye and one brown, and mysteriously dead by fourteen. Elodie, who reminded the

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 222 pages Expected publication: August 18th 2020 by Thomas & Mercer About the Book: Best friends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani endure every parent’s nightmare when a tragic accident befalls their teenage boys, leaving one dead, another in a coma, and a third too traumatized to speak. Reeling from the worst night of their lives, the three mothers plunge into a desperate investigation of the bizarre incident. How could something so horrible happen in their wealthy Southern California suburb? They soon discover that the accident was just the beginning, and troubling discoveries lead to chilling questions: Do they really know their children? Do they even know each other? As more secrets surface, a fog of doubt and suspicion threatens to poison their families, their friendships, and the whole community. With the illusion of happiness and safety long gone, these women must now confront the hazards of heartbreak, the consequences of jealousy, and the dangers of living double

The Child Who Never Was by Jane Renshaw

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 268 pages Expected publication: August 16th 2020 by Inkubator Books About the Book: Her child has been taken. But no-one believes her. Sarah’s beautiful eighteen-month-old son, Oliver, has gone missing. And she will do anything – anything – to get him back. But there’s a problem. Everyone around Sarah, even her beloved identical twin, Evie, tells her she never had a son, that he’s a figment of her imagination, that she’s not well, she needs help. And they’re right, Sarah does need support. She has suffered massive trauma in the past and now she’s severely agoraphobic, very rarely leaves the house, avoids all contact with people. But Sarah doesn’t care what anyone says - she’s utterly convinced that Oliver is real, that the love she feels for him is true. And that can only mean one thing – someone has been planning this. And now they’ve taken her child. The Child Who Never Was by Jane Renshaw is a thrilling read. This was such a compelling read, it’s so complex and b

We Are All the Same in the Dark by Julia Heaberlin

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 305 pages Expected publication: August 11th 2020 by Random House Publishing, Ballantine Books About the Book: It’s been a decade since Trumanell Branson disappeared, leaving only a bloody handprint behind. Her pretty face still hangs like a watchful queen on the posters on the walls of the town’s Baptist church, the police station, and in the high school. They all promise the same thing: We will find you. Meanwhile, her brother, Wyatt, lives as a pariah in the desolation of the old family house, cleared of wrongdoing by the police but tried and sentenced in the court of public opinion and in a new documentary about the crime. When Wyatt finds a lost girl dumped in a field of dandelions, making silent wishes, he believes she is a sign. The town’s youngest cop, Odette Tucker, believes she is a catalyst that will ignite a seething town still waiting for its own missing girl to come home. But Odette can’t look away. She shares a wound that won’t close with the mute, one-ey

The Lies I Never Told You Valérie Tong Cuong

Image
☆☆1/2 ebook, 236 pages Expected publication: August 6th 2020 by Hodder & Stoughton About the Book: When Pax, a middle-aged second-rate actor, scores an audition for a blockbuster, he is convinced fate has taken pity on him and he will finally get to spend some time in the limelight. He leaves his flat in a hurry, ignoring the alarming sounds coming from the apartment above. He is beside himself when he learns what devastating consequences his decision had: not only was his neighbour Alex assaulted and left for dead, he is also his girlfriend Emi's son . . .Before long, Pax is faced with an impossible choice: should he continue to deceive Emi, the one person who always believed in him, or tell the truth and destroy their relationship? A twisty, suspenseful page-turner that will have you on the edge of your seat Ummmmm, NO. Not one of those statements is true. This isn't about this being a bad book or bad writing. This review is about a book being touted as something

Half a World Away by Mike Gayle

Image
☆☆☆☆☆ ebook, 343 pages Expected publication: August 4th 2020 by Quercus, Hodder & Stoughton About the Book: Kerry Hayes is single mum, living on a tough south London estate. She provides for her son by cleaning houses she could never afford. Taken into care as a child, Kerry cannot forget her past. Noah Martineau is a successful barrister with a beautiful wife, daughter and home in fashionable Primrose Hill. Adopted as a young child, Noah never looks back. When Kerry contacts Noah, the sibling she lost on the day they were torn apart as children, she sets in motion a chain of events that will change both of their lives forever. By turns funny and moving, Half a World Away is a story that will stay with you long after you read its final page. Oh my gosh! This book! I loved it so much. I am new to Mike Gayle and I have no reasonable excuse why. The writing was easy to read, the plot kept me interested and turning the pages. This book was extraordinary. Talk about family dynami

The First to Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Image
☆☆☆☆1/2 ebook, 363 pages Expected publication: August 4th 2020 by Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Forge Books About the Book: We all have our reasons for being who we are—but what if being someone else could get you what you want? After a devastating betrayal, a young woman sets off on an obsessive path to justice, no matter what dark family secrets are revealed. What she doesn’t know—she isn’t the only one plotting her revenge. An affluent daughter of privilege. A glamorous manipulative wannabe. A determined reporter, in too deep. A grieving widow who must choose her new reality. Who will be the first to lie? And when the stakes are life and death, do a few lies really matter? I know who I was when I got up this morning but I think I must have been changed several times since then. I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, because I’m not myself, you see. This is a look into the world of drug manufacturing. We learn in this book how a persons life is valued or devalued in this case. Everyt

Good Will by Tiffany W. Killoren

Image
☆☆☆☆☆ ebook, 185 pages Expected publication: February 25th 2020 by Amphorae Publishing and Walrus Publishing About the Book: Four women learn to let go—and get back more than they ever expected. There's no road map for what to do when your husband dies—when he jumps off a bridge to escape mistakes that he made, or even welcomed, into your lives. But Lily doesn't need to consult a map for this particular part of her journey; she knows the way back to the small town she left behind. With a precocious seven-year-old who reminds her too much of his father tucked safely in the back seat, Lily leaves New York with everything she owns packed in a U-Haul, including memories that come in waves like fields along the highway, and an envelope she is too afraid to open. Once she settles in, she sifts through a box of things destined for the local thrift store—items from her past that will connect four women in unexpected ways and give them all the strength they need to move on. This

Mad Dog by Dave Wickenden

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 234 pages Expected publication: July 30th 2020 by Black Rose Writing About the Book: Fourteen-year-old Daniel and his friends enjoyed the best that childhood could offer during the summer of 1975 in a northern mining town until someone started brutally killing family pets. Daniel, who wants nothing more than be the hero from his books, convinces his friends to help search for the ‘sicko’, but this only brings him to the attention of the killer. When evidence surfaces that points at Daniel as the killer and his two friends turn against him, he soon realizes that there is much more to being a hero than what he has read. Running away from home, he enlists two seniors and a neighborhood bully to help trap the real killer. I would recommend this book to pre-teen and early teen readers, especially boys. There is some swearing and violence but no more so than video games or movies. The book is worth reading as it gives you a glace into what it was like growing up in Ontari

A Star Is Bored by Byron Lane

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 310 pages Expected publication: July 28th 2020 by Henry Holt & Company About the Book: She needs an assistant. He needs a hero. Charlie Besson is tense and sweating as he prepares for a wild job interview. His car is idling, like his life, outside the Hollywood mansion of Kathi Kannon, star of stage and screen and People magazine’s Worst Dressed list. She's an actress in need of assistance, and he's adrift and in need of a lifeline. Kathi is an icon, bestselling author, and award-winning movie star, most known for her role as Priestess Talara in a blockbuster sci-fi film. She’s also known in another role: Outrageous Hollywood royalty. Admittedly so. Famously so. Chaotically so, as Charlie quickly discovers. Charlie gets the job, and his three-year odyssey is filled with late-night shopping sprees, last-minute trips to see the aurora borealis, and an initiation to that most sacred of Hollywood tribes: the personal assistant. But Kathi becomes much more than

Still Here by Amy Stuart

Image
☆☆☆ ebook, 257 pages Expected publication: August 11th 2020 by Gallery Books About the Book: Malcolm is gone. Disappeared. And no one knows where or why. His colleague and fellow private investigator, Clare, is certain she can find him, as she holds the key to his past. She arrives in the oceanside city where he last lived and starts digging around. Not only is Malcolm gone without a trace, so is his wife, Zoe. Everyone who knew the perfect couple sees Malcolm as the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance. Everyone except Clare. She’s certain there’s more at play that has nothing to do with Malcolm, a dark connection to Zoe’s family business and the murder of her father years ago. As Clare pulls back the layers, she discovers secrets the entire community is trying desperately to leave in the past. As for Malcolm, his past is far more complex—and far more sinister—than Clare could ever have imagined. He may not be innocent at all. As she searches for the man who helped her build

The House on Fripp Island by Rebecca Kauffman

Image
☆☆☆☆ ebook, 246 pages Expected publication: June 2nd 2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Mariner Books About the Book: Fripp Island, South Carolina is the perfect destination for the wealthy Daly family: Lisa, Scott, and their two girls. For Lisa’s childhood friend, Poppy Ford, the resort island is a world away from the one she and Lisa grew up in—and when Lisa invites Poppy's family to join them, how can a working-class woman turn down an all-expenses paid vacation for her husband and children? But everyone brings secrets to the island, distorting what should be a convivial, relaxing summer on the beach. Lisa sees danger everywhere—the local handyman can't be allowed near the children, and Lisa suspects Scott is fixated on something, or someone, else. Poppy watches over her husband John and his routines with a sharp eye. It's a summer of change for all of the children: Ryan Ford who prepares for college in the fall, Rae Daly who seethes on the brink of adulthood, and t