Shelley's Book Nook

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 253 pages Expected Publication: 01 Mar 2022 By: St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books About The Book: It’s New Year’s Eve 1999. Y2K is expected to end in chaos: planes falling from the sky, elevators plunging to earth, world markets collapsing. A digital apocalypse. None of that happens. But at a Blockbuster Video in Linden, New Jersey, four teenage girls working the night shift are attacked. Only one survives. Police quickly identify a suspect who flees and is never seen again. Fifteen years later, in the same town, four teenage employees working late at an ice cream store are attacked, and again only one makes it out alive. Both surviving victims recall the killer speaking only a few final words... “Goodnight, pretty girl.” In the aftermath, three lives intersect: the survivor of the Blockbuster massacre who’s forced to relive her tragedy; the brother of the original suspect, who’s convinced the police have it wrong; and the FBI agent, who’s determined to solve both cas...

☆☆☆☆   .ePUB, 289 pages Expected Publication: 09 Feb 2022 By: Boldwood Books About The Book: One forgotten discovery will change three women’s lives forever…Robin hasn’t been home for decades. After running away to London, she never expected to see her cantankerous mother, Faye, again. But when Faye has a fall, the two women are thrown together once more. The years apart have not made their hearts grow fonder and the ground between them is unsteady. Then Robin finds an unopened scroll – the last of the treasure hunts her much-missed father used to take them on every Sunday. A hunt he believed might change everything. Yet, not even this gift from her beloved father can smooth the way until Robin’s daughter, Amber, arrives to meet her grandmother for the first time. Amber is determined that the decades-old mystery be solved. Can a 30-year-old treasure hunt really 'change everything'? My Review: This is my second book by this author but my first women's fiction read by her. K...

☆☆☆☆  .ePUB, 167 pages Expected Publication: 01 Mar 2022 By: Farrar, Straus and Giroux About The Book: At dusk on a November evening in 2020 a woman slips out of her garden gate and turns up the hill. Kate is in the middle of a two week quarantine period, but she just can't take it anymore - the closeness of the air in her small house, the confinement. And anyway, the moor will be deserted at this time. Nobody need ever know. But Kate's neighbour Alice sees her leaving and Matt, Kate's son, soon realizes she's missing. And Kate, who planned only a quick solitary walk - a breath of open air - falls and badly injures herself. What began as a furtive walk has turned into a mountain rescue operation. My Review: She doesn’t disapprove of lockdown or masks or any of it, not on principle, only the longer this goes on the less she objects to dying and the harder it is to understand why other people don’t feel the same way. The tension and suspense of this novel had me gritting...

☆☆☆☆☆ .PDF, 400 pages Expected Publication: 05 Apr 2022 By: Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Doubleday About The Book: Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing. But it's the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with - of all things - her mind. True chemistry results. But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later, Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America's most beloved cooking show Supper at Six. Elizabeth's unusual approach to cooking ('combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride') proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn...

☆☆☆☆ .PDF, 385 pages Expected Publication: 10 May 2022 By: Lake Union Publishing About The Book: Jenna Mason’s life seems perfect: a successful career as an animator, a town house near the beach, and an adoring son, Josh, whose artistic talent looks as promising as his mother’s. But there’s something nobody realizes about Jenna. She used to be Lily Carson, a young mother on the run from a secret no one must ever know. After years of constantly relocating, Jenna concedes to her son’s request to settle down. He wants to make friends. He wants some stability. He wants to feel normal. She convinces herself they’re safe. Until a reporter discovers who Jenna really is, bringing her estranged father to her doorstep. When he threatens to expose her carefully fabricated life for the lie that it is, Jenna has no choice but to run again. But just as she’s about to go off the grid, Josh disappears, forcing Jenna to seek out the one person she never thought she’d see again: Josh’s father. My Revie...

☆☆☆☆  .ePUB, 225 pages Expected Publication: 15 Mar 2022 By: Poisoned Pen Press About The Book: He'll never let go...Keira, hired as Blighty Graveyard’s new groundskeeper, lives surrounded by the dead. They watch her through the fog. They wordlessly cry out. They’ve been desperately waiting for help moving on—and only Keira can hear them. But not every restless spirit wants to be saved. Sometimes the dead hate the living too much to find peace. As Keira struggles to uncover the tangled histories of some of the graveyard’s oldest denizens, danger seeps from the darkest edges of the forest. A vicious serial killer was interred among the trees decades before, his spirit twisted by his violent nature. He’s furious. Ravenous. And when Keira unwittingly answers his call, she may just seal her fate as his final intended victim. My Review: Full disclosure, I have not read book one in this series...but I was able to enjoy it just the same and I plan on reading number one soon because I am ...

☆ ☆ ☆☆☆ .ePUB, 267 pages Expected Publication: 01 Mar 2022 By: Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine About The Book: Right after the sudden death of her mother—her first and most devoted fan—and just before the launch of her high-stakes sophomore album, Greta James falls apart on stage. The footage quickly goes viral and she stops playing, her career suddenly in jeopardy—the kind of jeopardy her father, Conrad, has always predicted; the kind he warned her about when he urged her to make more practical choices with her life. Months later, Greta—still heartbroken and very much adrift—reluctantly agrees to accompany Conrad on the Alaskan cruise her parents had booked to celebrate their fortieth anniversary. It could be their last chance to heal old wounds in the wake of shared loss. But the trip will also prove to be a voyage of discovery for them both, and for Ben Wilder, a charming historian, onboard to lecture about The Call of the Wild, who is struggling with a major upheaval in...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 342 pages Expected Publication: 22 February 2022 By: Atria Books About The Book: Few in sleepy Sumner’s Mills have stumbled across the Octagon House hidden deep in the woods. Even fewer are brave enough to trespass. A man had killed his wife and two young daughters there, a shocking, gruesome crime that the sleepy upstate New York town tried to bury. One summer night, an emboldened fourteen-year-old Clare and her best friend, Abby, ventured into the Octagon House. Clare came out, but a piece of Abby never did. Twenty years later, an adult Clare receives word that Abby has attempted suicide at the Octagon House and now lies in a coma. With little to lose and still grieving after a personal tragedy, Clare returns to her roots to uncover the darkness responsible for Abby’s accident. My Review: This book started out a little slow for my liking but as I read further on it became more interesting. I found this to be a pretty decent debut and Ms. Fawcett has an amazing writing ab...

☆☆☆☆ .PDF, 368 pages Expected Publication: 17 Feb 2022 By: Avon Books UK About The Book: Having a baby is all about firsts. The first touch. The first kiss. The first cuddle. They mark a lifetime of firsts – including the first goodbye. When Romilly says goodbye to her new baby daughter, abandoning her at the hospital hours after giving birth, no one can understand why she would leave – and where she has gone. In those first few hours she had been the image of a doting mother and would have done anything to protect her baby. Something has clearly gone wrong. Could it be that Romilly is suffering from postpartum psychosis, just as her mother did? Or is something even worse at hand? A danger so grave that she would leave her longed-for daughter to escape it. My Review: This is my second book by Caroline Corcoran, I really enjoyed The Baby Group and this one didn't disappoint either. It was quite the page turner and a lot of chapters ended on a bit of a cliffhanger so I couldn't ...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 284 pages Expected Publication: 30 Nov 2021 By: Lake Union Publishing About the Book: Running from a bad relationship, journalist Jo Sharpe heads home to Arthurville, the drought-stricken town she turned her back on years earlier. While some things have changed—her relationship with her ailing, crotchety father, her new job at the community newspaper—Jo finds that her return has rekindled the grief and uncertainty she experienced during her childhood following the inexplicable disappearance of her mother and baby sister. Returning to Arthurville has its unexpected pleasures, though, as Jo happily reconnects with old friends and makes a few new ones. But she can’t let go of her search for answers to that long-ago mystery. And as she keeps investigating, the splash she’s making begins to ripple outward—far beyond the disappearance of her mother and sister. Jo is determined to dig as deep as it takes to get answers. But it’s not long before she realises that someone among the...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 244 pages Expected Publication: 08 Feb 2022 By: PENGUIN GROUP Dutton About The Book: Seventeen-year-old Farrah Turner is one of two Black girls in her country club community, and the only one with Black parents. Her best friend, Cherish Whitman, adopted by a white, wealthy family, is something Farrah likes to call WGS—White Girl Spoiled. With Brianne and Jerry Whitman as parents, Cherish is given the kind of adoration and coddling that even upper-class Black parents can’t seem to afford—and it creates a dissonance in her best friend that Farrah can exploit. When her own family is unexpectedly confronted with foreclosure, the calculating Farrah is determined to reassert the control she’s convinced she’s always had over her life by staying with Cherish, the only person she loves—even when she hates her. As troubled Farrah manipulates her way further into the Whitman family, the longer she stays, the more her own parents suggest that something is wrong in the Whitman house. S...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 254 pages Expected Publication: 05 Feb 2022 By: Fire Drinkers Publishing About The Book: The only man she’s ever loved is seeing her sister. And now they have to save her together. Kept apart by their love for one man, two sisters embark on their own paths towards survival, love, and understanding, until they finally meet again in the worst of circumstances. And the reality might break them all. My Review: It is not what we take up, but what we give up that makes us rich. This was such a heartbreaking story of love and loss. Romantic love, parental love and the love we find in friends. I devoured every single word until the last page was turned. It sucked me in and didn't let me go. The mid-eighties timeline and the Irish setting had my imagination and memories going at full tilt. I loved the rollercoaster of emotions the book made me feel as well. The story is told from three points of view, over a two year period, and it made me feel like I knew each character persona...

☆☆☆☆ .PDF, 368 pages Expected Publication: 20 Jan 2022 By: Hodder & Stoughton About The Book: Death is not the end. For Grace McGill, it's only the beginning. When people die alone and undiscovered, it's her job to clean up what's left behind - whether it's clutter, bodily remains or dark secrets. When an old man lies undetected in his flat for months, it seems an unremarkable life and an unnoticed death. But Grace knows that everyone has a story and that all deaths mean something more. My Review: This was my first book by Craig Robertson and it wasn't what I was expecting. It turned out to be such a pleasant surprise! The story itself isn't a pleasant one, grace is a cleaner of dead bodies left to rot, what an interesting and unique premise. This book starts of a slow burn with a bit of a character study but by the halfway point the pace really picked up and things got really tense and very interesting. I really loved Grace as a character. She seemed so na...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 323 pages Expected Publication: 01 Feb 2022 By: Random House Publishing Group About The Book: Ten years ago, my boyfriend killed my best friend. When Micah Wilkes was a senior in high school, her boyfriend was convicted of murdering her best friend, Emily, a star ballerina with a bright future. A decade later, Micah has finally moved on from the unforgivable betrayal and loss. Now the owner of a bustling coffee shop in her small hometown in Pennsylvania, she’s happily coupled up with another old high school friend, the two having bonded over their shared sorrow. But when reminders of her past begin appearing at her work and home, Micah begins to doubt what she knows about Emily’s death. Questions raised on a true crime blog and in an online web sleuthing forum force her to reexamine her memories of that fateful night. She told the truth to the investigators on the case, but was there another explanation for Emily’s murder? A stranger in the woods. An obsessive former class...

☆☆☆ ☆ ☆   .PDF, 496 pages Expected Publication: 03 Feb 2022 By: Headline Review About The Book: Whir, beep, click, breath. Whir, beep, click, breath. Pippa Gallagher is rushed in to hospital following a traffic accident. As Pippa lies unconscious, she is aware of fragments. The day she met Steve Gallagher, her best friend and the man who would become the love of her life. The heartbreak she felt tonight as she got into her car, her eyes blurry from tears. Meanwhile Steve sits at her bedside, his eyes fixed on her pale, still face. He has no idea where his wife was going when she crashed. No clue as to why she became distracted behind the wheel. All he knows is that she is his world. And that he wasn't there when she needed him most. For the next twelve hours, Steve tells Pippa all the reasons he loves her. But is it too late? Can Pippa find her way back to him? My Review: Oh my gosh, this book nearly broke me. It was so romantic and funny and real and relatable. I love that it is ...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 239 pages Expected Publication: 11 Jan 2022 By: Simon & Schuster Canada, Atria/Emily Bestler Books About The Book: When Emma’s husband, Ben, falls in love with a large Victorian mansion for sale in upstate New York, he swears to her the fixer-upper will be worth the risk. With a baby on the way, Emma would like to live in a charming, safe community, after all—and in a space larger than a one-bedroom New York City apartment. On impulse, she agrees to Ben’s plan and they put in an offer on the house. Sure, the mansion has a somewhat creepy backstory and is a bit dilapidated, but Emma and Ben are in this together, aren’t they? When strange things start happening, Emma begins to experience a little buyer’s remorse. What’s the real history of this house? Is its dark history repeating itself? Why does her husband suddenly seem so distant? Is she in danger? Is her baby? My Review: I was instantly absorbed in this story of Emma and Ben and the Victorian House they're renov...

☆☆☆☆  .ePUB, 300 pages Expected Publication: 19 Jan 2022 By Boldwood Books About The Book: When seven-year-old Fran first met Will they knew instantly that they were made for each other. For eleven years they were inseparable, but then, at the age of eighteen, Will just upped and disappeared. Twenty-five years later Will is back. Is fate trying to give them a second chance? Still nursing the heart break from all those years ago, Fran is reluctant to give Will the time of day. The price Will must pay is to tell the truth – the truth about why he left, the truth about why he’s back…And Fran has her own secrets to hide. The time has come to decide what Fran and Will really want from life – before it’s too late. My Review: I've racked my brain trying to come up with a way to convey my thoughts on this wonderful book. Clare Swatman has created another emotional story. This is a beautiful, poignant and inspiring tale of true love. The fact that it is such a sad novel had me a little sho...

☆☆☆ .ePUB, 239 pages Expected Publication: 10 Dec 2021 By: Inkubator Books About The Book: Until recently, Isobel has always loved The Close. A quiet road of large houses tucked away in the beautiful English countryside, it seemed like the perfect place to live. Then, six months ago, a young man was killed in a mysterious hit-and-run incident. The police investigated but no one was charged. It’s left a bad feeling in this little community, a feeling that someone knows more than they are saying. So when new neighbour Linette arrives, Isobel thinks it’s the perfect chance to make a fresh start, to repair relationships and rebuild her community. But someone else has a very different plan, and bad things start to happen. When there’s another death, Isobel realises her home, her marriage, and her family are all in terrible danger. She is certain that what’s happening is connected to the hit-and-run. But how? What really happened on the night of the fatal accident? And above all, who is Lin...

☆☆☆ ☆ ☆ .ePUB, 326 pages Expected Publication: 25 Jan 2022 By: Kensington Books About The Book: In the dense pine forests of North Carolina, turpentiners labor, hacking into tree trunks to draw out the sticky sap that gives the Tar Heel State its nickname, and hauling the resin to stills to be refined. Among them is Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband, Warren, who run a small turpentine farm together. Though the work is hard and often dangerous, Rae Lynn, who spent her childhood in an orphanage, is thankful for it—and for her kind if careless husband. When Warren falls victim to his own negligence, Rae Lynn undertakes a desperate act of mercy. To keep herself from jail, she disguises herself as a man named "Ray" and heads to the only place she can think of that might offer anonymity—a turpentine camp in Georgia named Swallow Hill. Swallow Hill is no easy haven. The camp is isolated and squalid, and commissary owner Otis Riddle takes out his frustrations on his browbeaten wife, Cor...

☆☆☆ ☆ ☆ .ePUB, 341 pages Expected Publication: 01 Mar 2022 By: Simon & Schuster Canada About The Book: Tell them you’re looking for Jane. 2017 When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession in a stack of forgotten mail, she is determined to find the intended recipient. Her search takes her back to the 1970s when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane... 1971 As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was sent to a home for “fallen” women where she was forced to give up her baby for adoption—a trauma she has never recovered from. Despite harrowing police raids and the constant threat of arrest, she joins the Jane Network as an abortion provider, determined to give other women the choice she never had. 1980 After discovering a shocking secret about her family history, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unex...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 328 pages Expected Publication: 22 Feb 2022 By: Simon & Schuster Canada About The Book: Kit Collins knows she needs to change. So when she hears about Wisewood, a six month self-improvement program on a remote, private island, Kit signs up. She is to have no contact with the outside world. But then an email reaches her sister, Natalie: We know what you did. Would you like to come tell your sister - or should we? As Natalie embarks on a journey to find Kit, it becomes clear that they are both in danger. And as each sister tries to guard her own secrets, the chances of them ever returning home diminish. My Review: After reading and loving Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel it was a no brainer to request this from NetGalley. Told in two different timelines from three points of view, This Might Hurt is a very suspenseful psychological thriller that gets your attention right from the start. I was so wrapped up in this story of the Collins sisters I read it in two sittin...

☆☆☆ ☆ ☆ .PDF, 382 pages Expected Publication: 20 Jan 2022 By: Welbeck Publishing UK About The Book: Little Wing is the powerful story of two families over three generations. In the 1960s, a pregnant 16-year-old is banished to one of the remotest parts of the UK. Years later, Nell and Dougie are both at critical moments in their lives when their paths cross. Between Camden, Colchester and the Outer Hebrides, the three story lines collide when secrets are uncovered and answers sought. Little Wing is a novel about resilience, forgiveness and the true meaning of family, about finding one's place in the world and discovering how we all belong somewhere and to someone. My Review: We can’t understand a person unless we know the content of their memories This book is so sad but there is a lot of love throughout as well. I love these kind of books, looking into the past just may be the way to improving your future...This is the story of Nell and her family. Nell decides to trackdown an unk...

  ☆☆☆☆ 1/2 .ePUB, 333 pages Expected Publication: 01 Mar 2022 By: Simon & Schuster Canada/Atria Books About The Book: The Heights is a tall, slender apartment building among warehouses in London. Its roof terrace is so discreet, you wouldn’t know it existed if you weren’t standing at the window of the flat directly opposite. But you are. And that’s when you see a man up there—a man you’d recognize anywhere. He may be older now, but it’s definitely him. But that can’t be because he’s been dead for over two years. You know this for a fact. Because you’re the one who killed him. My Review: When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. Defeat is nothing but education; it is the first step towards something better. —Alexander Graham Bell I read  The Other Passenger  over the summer and loved it so I was quick to request this from NetGalley. I didn't so much read this...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 191 pages Expected Publication: 01 Dec 2021 Self Published by the Author Sara Ennis About The Book: Two years ago, Angel survived something so traumatic it sent her into hiding. She’s committed to living a life that honors the losses of her past, despite her physical and emotional scars. That means proving she isn’t the coward she was once accused of being. Emily Bright and her best friend Harper White have big dreams, but a chance meeting has changed the course of their future. When Angel finds Emily, bloody and traumatized, in a truck stop bathroom. The story Emily tells is incredible: a sheriff abducts and tortures women, then turns them loose on his ranch to be hunted like animals. No one has escaped… until now. Emily got out, but Harper is still on the ranch. Angel must choose between turning a blind eye or being the kind of person who helps others, even if it means putting herself in peril – again. The next hunt is about to begin. My Review:  I’ve been through so...

☆☆☆ ☆ ☆ .ePUB, 197 pages Expected Publication: 04 Jan 2022 By Atria Books About The Book: Hadi and Sama are a young Syrian couple flying high on a whirlwind love, dreaming up a life in the country that brought them together. She had come to Boston years before chasing dreams of a bigger life; he’d landed there as a sponsored refugee from a bloody civil war. Now, they are giddily awaiting the birth of their son, a boy whose native language would be freedom and belonging. When Sama is five months pregnant, Hadi’s father dies suddenly in Jordan, the night before his visa appointment at the embassy. Hadi flies back for the funeral, promising his wife that he’ll only be gone for a few days. On the day his flight is due to arrive in Boston, Sama is waiting for him at the airport, eager to bring him back home. But as the minutes and then hours pass, she continues to wait, unaware that Hadi has been stopped at the border and detained for questioning, trapped in a timeless, nightmarish limbo. ...

☆ ☆ ☆☆☆ .ePUB, 289 pages Expected Publication: 04 Jan 2022 By William Morrow and Custom House About The Book: The award-winning master of psychological suspense is in top form in this collection of diverse and diabolically clever stories. In the never-before-published " Just One More ," a married couple--longing for that old romantic spark--creates a playful diversion that comes with unexpected consequences. Lippman's beloved Baltimore PI Tess Monaghan keeps a watchful eye on a criminally resourceful single father in " Seasonal Work ," while her mother, Judith, realizes that the life of " The Everyday Housewife " is an excellent cover for all kinds of secrets. In " Slow Burner, " a husband's secret cell phone proves to be a dicey temptation for a suspicious wife. A father's hidden past piques the curiosity of a young snoop in " The Last of Sheila-Locke Holmes ." Plus seven other brilliantly crafted stories of deception, mur...

☆☆☆☆  .ePUB, 358 pages Expected Publication: 25 Jan 2022 By: Simon & Schuster Canada, Gallery Books About The Book: Helen’s idyllic life—handsome architect husband, gorgeous Victorian house, and cherished baby on the way (after years of trying)—begins to change the day she attends her first prenatal class and meets Rachel, an unpredictable single mother-to-be. Rachel doesn’t seem very maternal: she smokes, drinks, and professes little interest in parenthood. Still, Helen is drawn to her. Maybe Rachel just needs a friend. And to be honest, Helen’s a bit lonely herself. At least Rachel is fun to be with. She makes Helen laugh, invites her confidences, and distracts her from her fears. But her increasingly erratic behavior is unsettling. And Helen’s not the only one who’s noticed. Her friends and family begin to suspect that her strange new friend may be linked to their shared history in unexpected ways. When Rachel threatens to expose a past crime that could destroy all of their ...

☆☆☆☆   .ePUB, 324 pages Expected Publication: 07 Dec 2021 By Boldwood Books About The Book: It has been a long and lonely year for neighbours Vivienne, Mary and Gwen. All ladies of a ‘certain age’, their lockdown experience has left them feeling isolated and alone. They are in desperate need of a change. Things start to look up however, when Gwen comes up with a plan to get them out of London by borrowing a motorhome. In no time at all the ladies are on the road – away from the city, away from their own four walls, and away from their worries. The British countryside has never looked more beautiful. As they travel from Stonehenge to Dartmoor, from the Devon and Cornish coasts to the Yorkshire moors, gradually the years fall back, and the three friends start to imagine new futures with no limitations. And as their journey continues and their friendships deepen, and while the seaside views turn into glorious mountains and moors, Mary, Vivienne and Gwen learn to smile again, to laugh...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 221 pages Expected Publication: 07 Dec 2021 By Simon & Schuster Canada About The Book: Lucky Armstrong is a tough, talented grifter who has just pulled off a million-dollar heist with her boyfriend, Cary. She’s ready to start a brand-new life, with a new identity—when things go sideways. Lucky finds herself alone for the first time, navigating the world without the help of either her father or her boyfriend, the two figures from whom she’s learned the art of the scam. When she discovers that a lottery ticket she bought on a whim is worth millions, her elation is tempered by one big problem: cashing in the winning ticket means she’ll be arrested for her crimes. She’ll go to prison, with no chance to redeem her fortune. As Lucky tries to avoid capture and make a future for herself, she must confront her past by reconciling with her father; finding her mother, who abandoned her when she was just a baby; and coming to terms with the man she thought she loved—whose dark pas...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 246 pages Expected Publication: 07 Dec 2021 By Canongate Books, Severn House About The Book: Sixteen-year-old Addison is on the run. She’s leaving her life on New York’s streets behind for a new one with Rafe, armed with just his phone number on a scrap of paper. She’s taking the subway to meet him in New Jersey. He’ll take care of her. Or so she thinks. Elizabeth Brown’s world has fallen apart and she’s thinking about her newly ex-fiancé. Until she locks eyes with a teenage girl while waiting for the train doors to open, and a bundle is thrust into her arms as she leaves the subway. A baby, wrapped in a dirty coat. Elizabeth phones the number she finds in the coat pocket. Then wishes she hadn’t. Someone wants Addison and the baby. And they’ll do whatever it takes to get them. My Review: This book starts with a punch to the gut. The emotional first chapter grabs you and doesn't let you go. With wonderful characters you can't help but feel for, a plot that is twisty...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 322 pages Expected Publication: 07 Dec 2021 By St. Martin's Press About The Book: Thirteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg––taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House, to choreograph the ballet that will kickstart the next phase of her career––and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away...and some secrets can't stay buried forever. Moving between the trio's adolescent years and the present day, Rachel Kapelke-Dale's The Ballerinas explores the complexities of female friendship, the dark drive towards physical perfection in the name of artistic expression, the double-edged sword of ambition and passio...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 325 pages Expected Publication: 02 Dec 2021 By Boldwood Books About The Book: When her husband David announces he’s been offered a job in New York, Saoirse is thrilled. The glamour of the big city, the shopping, the culture, not to mention the free Manhattan apartment and business class air fare – what’s not to like? There’s just the small matter of making it work for their daughter, five-year-old Anna, who isn’t so keen to leave her friends and school behind. The Big Apple in the middle of summer isn’t quite the holiday Saoirse envisaged, and with David away with work, New York apartment sizes on the miniscule side, and the pace of life faster than the sleepy London suburbs, solo ex-pat parenting pushes Saoirse to her limits. And as the pressure builds and ‘faking it till she makes it’ isn’t cutting it, there’s only one thing for it – Saoirse and Anna need a new plan, and ‘Winging It’ might be their best option. My Review: This book had me laughing out loud many times,...

☆☆☆☆   .ePUB, 207 pages Expected Publication: 09 November 2021 By OrangeWillow Publishing About The Book: When my husband’s mistress was found brutally murdered, I was the one imprisoned for the crime. I was willing to do whatever it took to prove my innocence. When Dr. Evelyn Powell showed up on visiting day, I was shocked to learn she was my husband’s new fiancé. I befriended her in hopes of finding answers to my questions. Was my husband behind the brutal slaying? If I wanted to regain my freedom, I had to figure out a way to convince Evelyn to betray the man she loved and search for the evidence that would prove my innocence. After all, if I was right about my husband, she could be his next victim. My Review: This is my first read by this author and it was quite the page turner. I was able to read this in one sitting, it is a short book at just 207 pages on my tablet but I was enthralled from start to finish. I felt invested in this story right away and immediately felt bad fo...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 319 pages Expected Publication: 30 November 2021 By Tabella House About The Book: April 1910. Women’s rights activist Alvera Fields mysteriously vanishes from her home one night, leaving her newborn baby and husband behind, the case never solved.  April 2021. On the anniversary of her great-great-grandmother’s disappearance, Alvera’s namesake Vera Portman vanishes in an eerily similar manner. Six months later, the police recover a girl’s body. While the family waits in the horror of finding out if it’s Vera, Felicity Portman clings to hope that her missing teenage daughter is still alive. Despite all odds, Felicity senses a link between the decades-apart cases—a mother feels such things in her bones. But all suspicion points to the last person who saw Vera alive: Felicity’s sister-in-law, Marin. Marin, with her troubled past. Marin, the poor woman who married into the rich family. Marin, the only one who knows Felicity’s darkest secret. As Felicity makes a shocking di...

Four Stars For My Mother, Munchausen's and Me by Helen Naylor ☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 306 pages Expected Publication:  25 November 2021 By Thread Books I wanted to read this book because I find Munchausen's and NPD so very interesting. I honestly think my own mother is borderline NPD and that's why this story fascinated me so much. Kudos to Helen Naylor for being brave enough to bare her soul and tell her personal story. I don't think I would have the guts to do that. This story felt personal because the author digs deep, she doesn't hold back and the writing style made it feel like she was speaking directly to me.  I devoured this book in a couple sittings as I was captivated right from the beginning...I and learned something as well...I am amazed when books can do all that. I also felt a lot of different things while reading this. I felt so bad for Helen, especially her younger self. BUT her mother too should have some empathy, mental health wasn't looked at the same back...

All The Stars For A Little Hope by Ethan Joella @JoellaWriting ☆☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 220 pages Expected Publication:  16 November 2021 By Scribner I really liked this book a lot. I loved how all the stories are linked together, everyone is from the same town in Connecticut, they all know each other and are associated in many ways. Ethan Joella is a truly masterful writer who is in complete control of his prose. He avoids clichés and sentimentality, completely drawing us in to the world inhabited by his cast of ordinary characters whose trials, tribulations, triumphs, disasters and ups & downs form the experiences of regular people. I adored this book, very insightful. I love a book that gets inside its characters' heads, with internal dialogue. Makes you realise that even with people we know, we don't really know them at all. What an amazing debut! Ethan Joella writes about ordinary life (and death) in such an extraordinary way. All. The. Stars. With many thanks to NetGalley, Ethan ...

Four Stars For Chouette by Claire Oshetsky ☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 205 pages Expected Publication:  16 November 2021 By Ecco Your father wants to fix you, and I want us to love you as you are. This book is not for everyone. I am not sure if I am smart enough to know what exactly what this book is, what it means or what it is trying to say. It is an allegory I suppose and there are many themes throughout. Instead of trying to guess I am just going to give my take on it. Yes Chouette is about motherhood, mental health, family and marriage. I took the fact that Charlotte/Chouette is an owl baby to mean she is differently abled as the rest of her family are dog people. One thing I will say, this book was so absorbing, I couldn't put it down. It made me feel so many things, the writing was beautiful and I cared about Tiny and Chouette so much. I felt Tiny's pain, love and confusion about her beloved baby. I felt her hurt when her husband ignores her. Claire Oshetsky writes a brillia...

All The Stars For For The Summer by Camille Harte ☆☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 328 pages Expected Publication:  11 September 2021 By: Camille Harte, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles This was such a lovely read. It starts with almost 12 year old Cat in 1984 when she meets just turned 12 years old Will at her father's marina. We watch their friendship grow to various depths every summer from 1984 to 1999. I loved the pop culture references for every year as I am only five years older than the main characters. This is a book of many genres coming of age, young adult and romance to name but a few. I loved how Camille Harte was able to voice an adolescent girl as well as a boy so easily and I loved how each chapter was a different summer by year...I also found the way the author chronicled the year the chapter was titled by what was going on then, it was a really interesting and enjoyable way to start each chapter off. The writing really put you in the story and there...

All The Stars For The Way We Weren't by Phoebe Fox ☆☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 319 pages Expected Publication:  09 Nov 2021 By: Berkley Publishing Group It was time to look forward, not backward.  Sometimes you had to let go of some things to discover others. What a delightful book about an unexpected friendship. Endearing, whimsical and humourous this book ticked all the boxes for me. I just loved this story so much, these characters stole my heart, even the secondary ones, and the plot sucked me in right away. I felt for Marcie and Jessie, especially as I was very young when I had my first child (17). Making life changing decisions is never easy, making them alone is harder. I love quirky books and this also had a wonderful setting on the shore, in Florida and really felt like I was there. The book cover is brilliantly beautiful and so is the inside. This is my first read by Phoebe Fox but it won't be my last. All. The. Stars. With many thanks to NetGalley, Phoebe Fox and Berkley Publishin...

My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book isn't just a story, it is an experience. Science fiction isn't my favourite genre but I loved this book SO much. I requested it from NetGalley after hearing such wonderful things about on Twitter. When I looked it up and saw it took place during the Edwardian period I HAD to have it. Believe the hype, it is not only magical but deadly and very romantic. A Marvellous Light is a marvelous book and I can't wait to read the next one. That says a lot as I am not usually a series reader either! With many thanks to NetGalley, Freya Marske and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tordotcom for the giving of the ARC. #NetGalley View all my reviews

My rating: 3 of 5 stars I love books with creepy, atmospheric, gothic houses and this has that in spades. Right from the beginning Jan is spooked by something in the woods. Is it animal, vegetable or human? Well you'll have to read the book to find out. There are two plotlines going on here and the second one was kind of disturbing but in a good way, it reminded me of the old V.C. Andrews books back in the day and I loved those. The only problem I had with this book was the fact that I had basically figured everything out pretty early on. I enjoyed the story and the writing and I kept on reading to see if I was right, it was entertaining enough to make me want to finish it, so that's saying something. I would read more from this author, this is my first by Lisa Stone but I'd check out her other books for sure. This was perfect for a fall evening read, right before Halloween. I would like to take a moment to appreciate the beautiful cover as well. It fits perfect with the s...