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Showing posts from May, 2025

Review: Sex and Death on the Beach by Elaine Viets

Sex and Death on the Beach by Elaine Viets Blurb from Goodreads : Beneath the sun and sea of South Florida, dark crimes and bone-chilling secrets are lurking. Introducing a brand-new twisty mystery series from award-winning author Elaine Viets. When the body of adult film star Sammie Lant is found buried next to the courtyard pool of the Florodora, Norah McCarthy’s apartment complex, she quickly becomes the police’s prime suspect. Norah was witnessed having an argument with Sammie six months ago, the last day Sammie was seen alive – the day she gained notoriety for a shocking public stunt with a college football player. But events take an even darker turn when more remains are unearthed – ones with an apparent connection to Norah’s tragic past. Is it pure coincidence that more than one person was buried by Norah’s pool? And is the killer closer to home...

Review: The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark Blurb from Goodreads : Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of legendary horror author Vincent Taylor, famous not only for his novels but for being the prime suspect in the brutal slaying of his siblings. On the brink of financial ruin, Olivia reluctantly agrees to ghostwrite her father's last book, not realising she will be forced to reckon with the ghosts that live at the centre of her family.   This started off very interesting but got a little tedious by the end. I like the author a lot but this one went off the rails a bit.  Almost Colleen Hoover-eque.  I was just hoping for more from the ending but still a satisfying read! The Ghostwriter   comes out next week on June 3, 2025  and you can purchase HERE .   ...

Review: Storybook Ending by Moira Macdonald

Storybook Ending by Moira Macdonald Blurb from Goodreads : A charming story about romance, friendship, and a love of books, in which two women—a lonely remote worker and a widowed single mom—and a handsome local bookstore clerk find themselves in an unusual love triangle when an anonymous note left in a book finds the wrong recipient.   April, a smart and lonely tech worker, worries work from home has gotten out of She’s left an anonymous note in a book for Westley, the clerk at her Seattle neighborhood bookstore who has a gentle smile and looks great in flannel. But thanks to fate, Laura—a busy single mom who had given up on love—buys the book, finds the note, and thinks Westley has left it for her. A handsome man who loves books seems like just the plot twist she has been looking for. Meanwhile, Westley—not the most perceptive—is too distracted ...

Review: The Friendship Fling by Georgia Stone

The Friendship Fling by Georgia Stone Blurb from Goodreads : In this delightfully charming and heartfelt debut love story, two lonely and wildly different strangers embark on a short-term friendship over one London summer—only to discover they may be something more by the time the season ends. No one would ever call Ava Monroe a people person, which isn’t ideal for a barista in a busy London coffee shop. She’s sarcastic, blunt, and cynical, and her relationships are strictly no strings attached. With her best friend Josie soon leaving for a year, Ava knows she’ll be all alone unless she shakes up her routine. But she can’t risk bringing chance back into her carefully controlled life. Then insufferably cheerful, country-hopping, undeniably gorgeous Finn O’Callaghan rolls into her coffee shop with a horrifying proposal —a strictly friends-only summer fling. Finn needs a local to help him complete his London bucket list, ...

Review: The Stalker by Paula Bomer

The Stalker by Paula Bomer Blurb from Goodreads : An Untalented Mr. Ripley, a Dumb American Psycho: A young man combines boundless self-confidence with perpetual failure and ineptitude as he tries to manipulate his way into a better life, preying on women in New York City in the early ’90s. Robert Doughten Savile, aka “Doughty,” is the son of a once-wealthy, now hard-up family from Darien, Connecticut. Doughty lives in a perpetual cloud of delusion, convinced of his own genius and certain that the wealth and high status that he believes to be his birthright are just around the corner. While he has little capacity to accurately assess his own abilities or prospects, he cruises through life on the sheer force of his own sense of entitlement, dropping out of college and landing in the early ’90s in New York City, a place brimming with both prosperity and desperation. He cons his way from a bed at the YMCA into the posh So...

Review: Beach House Rules by Kristy Woodson Harvey

Beach House Rules by Kristy Woodson Harvey Blurb from Goodreads : When Charlotte Sitterly’s husband is arrested for a white-collar crime, she and her daughter Iris are locked out of their house by the FBI and—what’s potentially even worse—thrust into the spotlight of @JuniperShoresSocialite, the town’s snarky anonymous Instagram account. Cut off from her bank accounts and feeling desperate, Charlotte takes up an acquaintance’s offer to stay at a beachfront former bed-and-breakfast that’s home to a community of single mothers and draws plenty of gossip in the small coastal North Carolina town. Charlotte and Iris find solace and are surprised by how much fun they’re having with the other families despite their circumstances. But when the women discover a secret link between them, it changes everything they thought they knew about the unconventional f...

Review: Come As You Are by Dahlia Adler

Come As You Are by Dahlia Adler Blurb from Goodreads : Hot on the heels of a broken heart, Everett “Evie” Riley arrives at Camden Academy ready for a new beginning - one far away from her cheating ex-boyfriend, the sister who stole him, and the best friend who let it happen. But her fresh start is stopped in its tracks when she's accidentally placed in an all-boys dorm, with no choice but to stay. When rumors and gossip about Evie's housing predicament spread like wildfire, she decides the only way to survive is to lean into her questionable new reputation... but she's definitely going to require help. Her grumpy emo dorm mate Salem Grayson isn't exactly her first choice, but he does need her help to repair his relationship with his parents every bit as much as she needs his to learn how to be cool. And so they make a pact - he'll teach her how to be bad, if she teaches him how to be good. It's ...

Review: Mansion Beach by Meg Mitchell Moore

Mansion Beach by Meg Mitchell Moore Blurb from Goodreads : It’s the beginning of the summer, and Nicola Carr has just arrived on Block Island, RI, eager for a fresh start and some R&R. But her plans for a tranquil summer are derailed as the extravagant parties from the grand home next door pique her curiosity. She soon discovers the home belongs to Juliana George, an enigmatic entrepreneur with a past shrouded in mystery. Juliana George, CEO and founder of a hot fashion-tech company, is at the top of her game. She’s spending the summer on Block Island preparing for a major IPO. But she’s chasing her dreams in more ways than one. This summer she hopes to rekindle a flame with a man from her past—a man who has a surprising connection to her neighbor Nicola. Taylor Buchanan, the wife of Nicola’s cousin, is second-in-command of a real estate empire. H...

Review: Lush by Rochelle Dowden-Lord

Lush by Rochelle Dowden-Lord Blurb from Goodreads : Four wine experts, each at a crucial point in their lives, arrive at a French vineyard estate for an unforgettable experience-but not the kind they expected. Avery gave up her hard-won but exploitative sommelier job to come, while wine prodigy Cosmo is trying to disguise that his life is in freefall. The chemistry between the pair is unmistakable, but so are the signs of danger. Millionaire Sonny owns a tacky wine brand and can't help aggravating Cosmo, while caustic magazine writer Maëlys hovers with her pen poised. It seems at first that these four have little in common except for their love of wine and their belief in its transformative power. But, as the quartet awaits the penultimate night of the trip, when they will taste the only bottle of one of the rarest wines in the world, it becomes clear that each of them grapples with a private crisis. Each projects their ultimate hopes and fears onto the cont...