Shelley's Book Nook

☆☆☆ .PDF, 266 pages Expected Publication: August 24th 2021  By Penguin Random House Canada - McClelland & Stewart About the Book: Nina, a bright, hilarious, and sensitive 14-year-old, doesn’t say anything when her best friend begins to pull away, or when her crush on her English teacher intensifies. She doesn’t say anything when her mother tries to match her up with local Halifax Indian boys unfamiliar with her Saved by the Bell references, or when her worried father starts reciting Hindu prayers outside her bedroom door. (“How can your dad be happy when his only daughter is unsettled?”) And she won’t speak of the incident in high school that changes the course of her life. On her tumultuous path from nineties high school student to present-day high school teacher, Nina will learn difficult truths about existing as a woman in the world. And whether she’s pushing herself to deliver speeches at Toastmasters meetings, struggling through her MFA program, enduring the indignities o...

☆☆ .ePUB, 376 pages Expected Publication: August 31st 2021 By Gallery Books / Saga Press About the Book: On the surface is a story of murder in small-town America. But beneath is its beating heart: a biting critique of American colonialism, Indigenous displacement, and gentrification, and a heartbreaking portrait of a broken young girl who uses horror movies to cope with the horror of her own life. Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her own world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies…especially the ones where a masked killer seeks revenge on a world that wronged them. And Jade narrates the quirky history of Proofrock as if it is one of those movies. But when blood actually starts to spill into the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls us into her dizzying, encyclopedic mind of blood and masked murderers, and predicts exactly how the plot...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 294 pages Expected Publication: August 24th 2021 by Hodder & Stoughton About the Book: Newlyweds Lina and Cain don’t make it out to their property on gorgeous Lake Tarawera as often as they’d like, so when Cain suggests they rent the house out to vacationers, Lina reluctantly agrees. While the home has been in her family for generations, they could use the extra money. And at first, Lina is amazed at how quickly guests line up, and at how much they’re willing to pay. But both Lina and Cain have been keeping secrets, secrets that won’t be put off by fresh paint or a new alarm system. And someone has been watching them—their mundane tasks, their intimate moments. When a visit takes a deadly turn, Lina realizes someone out there knows something they shouldn’t…and that welcoming strangers into your home is playing a dangerous game. My Review: That’s a secret, private world you’re looking into out there. People do a lot of things in private they couldn’t possibly explain in...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 294 pages Expected Publication:August 31st 2021 by Mulholland Books About the Book: Newlyweds Lina and Cain don’t make it out to their property on gorgeous Lake Tarawera as often as they’d like, so when Cain suggests they rent the house out to vacationers, Lina reluctantly agrees. While the home has been in her family for generations, they could use the extra money. And at first, Lina is amazed at how quickly guests line up, and at how much they’re willing to pay. But both Lina and Cain have been keeping secrets, secrets that won’t be put off by fresh paint or a new alarm system. And someone has been watching them—their mundane tasks, their intimate moments. When a visit takes a deadly turn, Lina realizes someone out there knows something they shouldn’t…and that welcoming strangers into your home is playing a dangerous game. My Review: That’s a secret, private world you’re looking into out there. People do a lot of things in private they couldn’t possibly explain in public...

☆☆☆☆ .PDF, 400 pages Expected Publication: September 2nd 2021 by Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Black Swan About the Book: To those who think they know her, Eliza Curran has it all: two healthy children, a stunning home and a wealthy, adoring husband. No one would guess the reality of her life: trapped in an unhappy marriage to a controlling man, she longs for a way out. When she takes on a new tenant, her life changes unexpectedly. Dan Jones is charming and perceptive, and quickly becomes a close friend to the whole family. But Dan's arrival threatens to tip Eliza's fragile world out of balance. And when someone has as many secrets as Eliza does, the smallest slip could destroy everything. My Review: Life is a series of bargains. Battles you win, losses you accept. I hated Martin right away. He was so possessive and demanding of his wife Emma. Being in a wheelchair doesn't give you free rein to be an asshole and a bastard. I couldn't for the life of me figure...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 352 pages Expected Publication: August 31st 2021 By Penguin Random House Canada, Penguin UK About the Book: Three couples. One therapist's couch...Alice and Niall used to be lovers, best friends and parents, in that order. Now they're no longer on the same page or even reading from the same book. Ann thought when she and Ken retired, it would be their second spring. Instead, it feels more like an icy winter. Orla is falling in love with boyfriend Paul, but her complicated past makes her unsure if she can ever be intimate with anyone. Three couples find themselves telling a stranger about the most private part of their lives - their hopes, their disappointments, their awkward realisations. Can they learn to be honest with each other? And what life-changing decisions will be made when they do? My Review: This book is about three couples, who are searching for answers to better their relationship. The couples lives are intertwined in smalls ways. Ann and Ken's dau...

☆☆☆ ☆ .ePUB, 300 pages Expected Publication: August 20th 2021 by HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter About the Book: Two people. One month to fall in love. Belle Wilde loves December. Yes, she’s just lost her job and Christmas is not a good time to find yourself ‘financially challenged’. And yes, her parents are still going on about the fact that she really should have it all together by now. But Belle believes that in December, magic can happen. Rory Walters hates December. Whilst it looks like his life is together, he’s still reeling from a winter’s night five years ago when his life changed forever. Now back at home, he’s certain that this will be yet another Christmas to endure rather than enjoy. But as midnight on December 31st draws closer, Belle and Rory’s time together is coming to an end. With a little help from a Christmas miracle could Belle find the one thing she really wants underneath the mistletoe? My Review: My first Christmas book for 2021 and also my first book by t...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 272 pages Expected Publication: August 17th 2021 by Atria Books About the Book: At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse is haunted by her upbringing. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she is unable to move beyond the disappearance of her twin brother, Andy, when they were sixteen. After several years away and following her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house, where the family makes a gruesome discovery: buried in their father’s plot is another body—Andy’s, his skull split open with an ax. Dahlia is quick to blame Andy’s murder on the serial killer who terrorized the island for decades, while the rest of her family reacts to the revelation in unsettling ways. Her brother, Charlie, pours his energy into creating a family memorial museum, highlighting their research into the lives of famous murder victims; her sister, Tate, forges ahead with her popular dioramas portraying crime scenes; and their mothe...

☆☆☆ ☆ .ePUB, 303 pages Expected Publication: August 17th 2021 By Amazon Publishing UK About the Book: Amy and Joel’s honeymoon in the Maldives was the perfect week of love, sun, sex and a free minibar…but unfortunately, it was also the high point of a marriage that quickly descended into an absolute disaster zone. Eight years on, they’re back in paradise, trying to recreate the magic with new partners. What a crying shame they’ve picked the same week to do it…Trapped together on an island small enough to spit across with the wind behind you, Amy and Joel pick up right where they left off: at total loggerheads. And so begins a hideous week of rivalry, one-upmanship and score-settling—as each tries to prove they’ve now comprehensively won at life. The thing is, hurt and pain are strongest where there was once love. And what if being back in this island paradise, with all its wonderful memories, sets sparks flying in more ways than one? My Review: I love Nick Spalding books, this is my f...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 315 pages Expected Publication: August 19th 2021 by Mobius Books - Hodder & Stoughton About the Book: A&E doctor Kate North has been knocked out of her orbit by a personal tragedy. So when she's offered the opportunity to be an emergency replacement at the UN research station in Antarctica, she jumps at the chance. The previous doctor, Jean-Luc, died in a tragic accident while out on the ice. The move seems an ideal solution for Kate: no one knows about her past; no one is checking up on her. But as total darkness descends for the winter, she begins to suspect that Jean-Luc's death wasn't accidental at all. And the more questions she asks, the more dangerous it becomes. My Review: This was a very atmospheric tale, I really felt like I was there in Antarctica, which was a relief as it was one hundred degrees with the humidity today! I loved the detailed descriptions of the snow, ice and oh all that darkness...It was very creepy. I was really engrossed in...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 280 pages Expected Publication: September 14th 2021 by Cedar House Press About the Book: Growing up, Gwen and Iris were the best of friends, even if they couldn’t have been more different. Now Gwen is living her hometown dream, or so she reminds herself while juggling endless parenting drama, an unemployed husband, and a neighborhood pyramid scheme. Never mind that at age thirty-nine, her social circle still resembles middle school. Her life is everything she ever wanted it to be, but nothing like she had planned. Iris was never destined for the ordinary. When she moved to Manhattan, she shed her old life for a better one—but not without a cost. From a distance, Iris’s life couldn’t be more charmed, but no one knows about the cracks in the image she’s worked so hard to cultivate. No one knows the real Iris at all. Except for Gwen. But Iris and Gwen haven’t spoken for years. Until…When Iris’s past catches up with her, she turns to the one person she could always count on—bu...

☆☆☆☆ .ePUB, 248 pages Expected Publication: August 4th 2021 by Matador About the Book: Fate has often conspired against Chloe. So, when an old flame, Ed, reappears out of the blue, Chloe must decide whether she will succumb to the euphoric, addictive and giddy happiness of a rekindled romance, or close her heart to love in order to protect herself from the emptiness left by previous broken hearts. Chloe has worked hard to get to where she is professionally, to be successful. Although she has been in love and been loved, she has not yet found the ‘happily ever after’ that she longed for... until, possibly, now. Maybe, just maybe, this time fate will push her in the right direction. But when past hurt haunts the present will Chloe embrace the thrill of the rollercoaster ride, or let her fear of falling stop her from getting on it? My Review: I really liked this story, it was very romantic but in a real life way. There were ups and downs, break-ups, cheating and redeeming oneself. Once h...

☆☆ ☆1/2 .ePUB, 231 pages Expected Publication: March 18th 2021 by Mobius Books About the Book: Cat panics when she sees a photofit of a murder suspect flash up on the news. It looks exactly like her, and to make matters worse, the victim is her childhood best friend, Charlie. The following day, the police arrive at her doorstep to question her. She hadn't seen or spoken to Charlie in years, but could the secrets of their past finally be coming back to haunt her? Desperate to find out who gave the police her description and to protect her five-year-old son, Cat investigates. She knows she is innocent and will stop at nothing to prove it. But some secrets are best left buried. My Review: This book is about Cat and a secret from the past that she is keeping from everyone. Cat has been placed under suspicion of the murder of an old highschool friend, the friend she is keeping the secret with. Cat's life starts to fall apart so she decides she must investigate...just who is trying ...

☆☆☆ .ePUB, 354 pages Expected Publication: August 19th 2021 by Avon Books UK About the Book: Saffron vowed to love Miles no matter what life threw at them both. But when her mother-in-law moves into their happy family home, Saffron’s shiny life begins to tarnish. Even as Caprice’s barbed comments turn to something more sinister, Saffron hopes the new nanny’s arrival will shield her from the worst of it. She’s starting to feel paranoid in her own home. Little does she realise that Caprice longs for a new daughter-in-law – and she’ll do anything to make that happen. My Review: This book was insanely readable. I don't what it was but the pages just turned themselves. The chapters were very short so that helped speed thing along. Every single character in this book is deplorable, I hated them all. A lot of the things that happened weren't entirely believable and there were so many red flags ignored and repeated I was shaking my head so fast I got dizzy! Miles was a wimp of the hig...

☆☆☆ ☆ ☆ .PDF, 304 pages Expected Publication: September 14th 2021 by SparkPress About the Book: As a young mother with a toddler and a live-in boyfriend, Maggie Fisher’s job at a checkout counter in downtown Phoenix doesn’t afford her much financial flexibility. She dreams of going to college and becoming a teacher, options she squandered when she fled her family home as a teenager. When Maggie stumbles onto an ad offering thousands of dollars to women who are willing to gestate other people’s babies, she at first finds the concept laughable. Before long, however, she’s been seduced by all the ways the extra money could improve her life. Once she decides to go for it, it’s only a matter of months before she’s chosen as a gestational carrier by Chip and Donovan Rigsdale, a married couple from New York. After delivering twin babies and proudly handing them off to the Rigsdales, Maggie finally gets her life on a positive trajectory: she earns her degree, lands a great job, and builds a f...

☆☆☆1/2 .ePUB, 363 pages Expected Publication: August 17th 2021 by Amazon Publishing UK - Lake Union Publishing About the Book: Abi’s life has been turned upside down by her husband’s death—in more ways than she could ever have imagined. With his dodgy business dealings now exposed, gone is her glamorous lifestyle and the trust of her family and friends. How could the man who said he loved her have betrayed her so spectacularly? Abi’s new neighbour Lucinda and her four-year-old son Max are struggling to overcome their own betrayal by Max’s violent, vengeful father. The pieces of Lucinda’s life seem finally to be coming together when she is given a new identity and finds an ally in Abi. But an unexpected twist throws both women’s lives into fresh turmoil. Faced with a tougher time than they ever thought possible, Abi and Lucinda turn to each other. It’s an unlikely friendship built on common ground—but is it strong enough to help them rebuild their lives from rock bottom? My Review: Thi...

☆☆ ☆ .ePUB, 391 pages Expected Publication: August 10th 2021 by Lake Union Publishing About the Book: “Sometimes teenagers run away…Give her a few days. She’ll be back.” That’s what the police tell Jessica Moore when her seventeen-year-old daughter, Wyn, vanishes. All signs point to this being true. But days become weeks. Weeks become months. And Jessica begins to fear the terrible truth—that she may never see her daughter again. Then, one year later, when all hope seems lost, Jessica gets a flurry of text messages from Wyn that freeze her blood: mom. please help. i think he’s going to kill me. But Wyn’s terrified plea comes with a warning not to call the police. Her kidnapper wears a badge. As Jessica’s fears are raised again, so are the stakes. Delving into the months leading up to Wyn’s disappearance, Jessica stumbles upon information that could put her own life in danger. With each revelation, the nightmare deepens. Now she must decide just how far she’ll go to bring her daughter ...

☆☆ ☆ ☆ .ePUB, 307 pages Expected Publication: August 17th 2021 by Gallery Books About the Book: In the summer of 1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing girls begin to turn up in a small Maryland town. The grisly evidence leads police to the terrifying assumption that a serial killer is on the loose in the quiet suburb. But soon a rumor begins to spread that the evil stalking local teens is not entirely human. Law enforcement, as well as members of the FBI are certain that the killer is a living, breathing madman—and he’s playing games with them. For a once peaceful community trapped in the depths of paranoia and suspicion, it feels like a nightmare that will never end. Recent college graduate Richard Chizmar returns to his hometown just as a curfew is enacted and a neighborhood watch is formed. In the midst of preparing for his wedding and embarking on a writing career, he soon finds himself thrust into the real-life horror story. Inspired by the terrifying events, Richard writ...

☆☆☆ ☆ ☆ .ePUB, 357 pages Expected Publication: June 1st 2021  Self published by the author Sara Ennis About the Book: Alfred needs Dolls. Blonde, blue-eyed human dolls that will help him rewrite his past and change his future. When Peter Baden's daughter Olivia was abducted nearly a year ago, he left his career as a respected journalist to find her. Now he spends his days searching for Olivia, and helping other families of abducted children survive the emotionally and physically exhausting experience of finding a missing child. Twins Angel and Bud are used to making do. Their dad is in prison, and mom won't win parenting awards. Bud thrives on neglect, but Angel isn't so strong. Now they're captives in a place called the Dollhouse, and things have gone from bad to worse. The Dolls are forced to re-stage old photographs, but satisfying Alfred is not easy. He has a twisted sense of humor and a violent temper that explodes when things don't go his way -- and sometimes...

☆☆☆ ☆ .PDF, 370 pages Expected Publication: August 3rd 2021 by Lake Union Publishing About the Book: Maine, 1969. After losing her parents in a car accident, aspiring artist Annalisa Mancuso lives with her grandmother and their large Italian family in the stifling factory town of Payton Mills. Inspired by her mother, whose own artistic dreams disappeared in a damaged marriage, Annalisa is dedicated only to painting. Closed off to love, and driven as much by her innate talent as she is the disillusionment of her past, Annalisa just wants to come into her own. The first step is leaving Payton Mills and everything it represents. The next, the inspiring opportunities in the city of Portland and a thriving New England art scene where Annalisa hopes to find her voice. But she meets Thomas, an Ivy League student whose attentions—and troubled family—upend her pursuits in ways she never imagined possible. As their relationship deepens, Annalisa must balance her dreams against an unexpected lov...

☆☆☆ ☆ .ePUB, 419 pages Expected Publication: August 12th 2021 by Duckworth Books - Farrago About the Book: Sally Marshall is just your ordinary suburban woman, who gets by performing as a tribute act to a pop star (Epiphanie, even more famous than Beyonce). She, along with dozens of others. Until one day she is asked by the real Epiphanie to do a life swap for a couple of weeks. Epiphanie trades Madison Square Gardens for doing gigs in pubs. Sally is catapulted from suburban semi life to double for a mega-star, her life turned upside down. But which life will they each choose in the end? Laugh-out-loud and unputdownable, Starstruck will leave you feeling warmer about all the different lives we choose. My Review: Oh Beth Miller you make me love you more with every book, this story was just plain fun. Even though there were some lessons learned it was done with love and lots of laughs. Who doesn't imagine being rich and famous at least sometimes. What would you do if a mega star wan...

☆☆ ☆ ☆ .ePUB, 348 pages Expected Publication: August 17th 2021 by Redhook Books About the Book: At the age of eleven, Mel Smith’s life found its purpose when she met Sarah Ross. Ten years later, Sarah’s sudden death threatens to break her. To fulfill a final promise to her best friend, Mel travels to an idyllic small town nestled in the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains. Yet Morgan’s Gap is more than a land of morning mists and deep forest shadows. There are secrets that call to Mel, in the gaze of the gnarled and knowing woman everyone calls Granny, in a salvaged remedy book filled with the magic of simple mountain traditions, and in the connection she feels to the Ross homestead and the wilderness around it. With every taste of sweet honey and tart blackberries, the wildwood twines further into Mel’s broken heart. But a threat lingers in the woods—one that may have something to do with Sarah's untimely death and that has now set its sight on Mel. My Review: This cover 😍, I c...

☆☆☆1/2 .ePUB, 244 pages Expected Publication: August 11th 2021 by HQ Digital About the Book: When Alice’s father dies after a tragic hit and run, his death stirs up unanswered questions about her childhood. Who was her mother, why did her father never speak of the past, and why can’t she remember anything before the age of seven? But when she receives an anonymous letter containing a photograph of a refurbished gothic guest house surrounded by water, and an invitation to stay, old memories fight to resurface. Alice has visited before. She is certain of it. Convinced the clues to her past lie at the hotel, she checks in. But once on the island, a wild storm rages, waves crash violently into the rocks, and the house is cut off by the roaring sea. Then two guests are found dead. And the hotel owner is missing. Will Alice ever uncover her secret past? And will anyone leave the island alive? My Review: This book had a gothic feel with a twisty mystery. I loved how the house was on its own ...

☆☆ ☆ ☆ .ePUB, 232 pages Expected Publication: August 10th 2021 by Harper 360 - HQ Digital About the Book: Aria Summers knows what she wants. A life on the road with best friend Rosie and her beloved camper-van-cum-book-shop, and definitely, definitely, no romance. But when Aria finds herself falling – after one too many glasses of wine, from a karaoke stage – into the arms of Jonathan, a part of her comes back to life for the first time in years. Since her beloved husband died Aria has sworn off love, unless it’s the kind you can find in the pages of a book. One love of her life is quite enough. And so Aria tries to forget Jonathan and sets off for a summer to remember in France. But could this trip change Aria’s life forever…? My Review: This is book two in the travelling shops series, I did not read book one but there was no need to to be able to enjoy this one. I will, however, be reading about Rosie's Tea Shop as soon as possible. At first I thought this story was going to be ...