Good morning! These are the books that I “stacked” onto my shelves, virtual and/or physical, for the entire month of April:
The Vacation Rental is my Amazon’s First Reads choices for April. Cut & Thirst is a short story bonus available to First Reads members.
Since I am not having much luck with books this month, I decided to borrow some short stories from Amazon, free with my Prime membership. (I had listened to the first book last year that’s why it is crossed out in the graphic above)
Most of these were sent to me because I am apart of the SMP Influencer Program. The last few I requested through Netgalley and was approved. My ratio TANKED this month!
I was sent these titles from Novel Suspects Insiders Club as Netgalley ebooks.
Good morning! These are the books that I “stacked” onto my shelves, virtual and/or physical, for the entire month of February:
My library book haul on March 12th
I made a few trips into my local library, and after browsing around for awhile, walked out of there with these books. Yes, my genre range is all over the place. I’m a mood reader, what can I say!
I found a workaround with Libby, and I have a library card to the Ohio Digital Library so these are the audiobooks I borrowed this month.
Friends In Napa is my Amazon’s First Reads choices for March. Lovers At The Museum is a short story bonus available to First Reads members.
For more information about Amazon First Reads program, please visit this link *not an affiliated link*
More random mood choices. My daughter and I are also SOAD fans so when I saw Serj wrote a book and is narrating the audiobook I requested it!
Ben Winters, whom critics attest “you’ll follow…anywhere” (New York Times Book Review), returns with a speculative, corporate espionage thriller that takes the adage “Time is money,” and makes it literally, frighteningly so.
The best part of Grace’s job at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health is that she can clock out at five. She’s got things to do–like care for her aging, cantankerous mother, her angsty and remarkably bright teenager–with little time for herself to spare. Which is why Grace is peeved when in the late evening, she’s called into work. A woman has appeared at a local hospital, injured, shaken, and with an unusual portacath implanted in her chest. The hospital cannot recognize the model. As Grace investigates, the scant info on the device’s provenance appears apocryphal. What’s been done to this girl? Who’s behind it?
The driver is still refusing to answer. Allie’s in the back seat of a silver SUV: woozy, scared. She’d been at the park with her 14-month-old, Rachel, playing in the sandbox, until she’d been taken–taken by the same woman with a catalog face sitting in the front seat. When she thinks of the baby, she feels a scraping pain inside her. Somehow, Allie escapes from the car. When she arrives at a hospital in Hanover, Maryland, she’s found with an usual device attached to her body. Allie is confused, and as she tries to grasp for any memory or scrap of her past, she comes up empty. She can’t remember anything.
Desiree is on fire with pain, the pulp of her right eye a bloody mess. She can’t believe the girl had blinded her, can’t believe that she’d escaped. Tending to the wound: it had set her back. And now the client is not happy. What she needs is to fulfill the mission. Desiree has a job to do, and she is almost out of time. . .
I won my first Storygraph giveaway for Land of Show and Secrets.
The Astrology House is a book I was sent through Edelweiss. I haven’t used Edelweiss since 2021 so I was shocked to get a message that I was sent an ebook.
My friend had sent me Irish Cream a little while back, after I saw a TikTok video about it.
Good morning! These are the books that I “stacked” onto my shelves, virtual and/or physical, for the entire month of February:
I borrowed Jar of Hearts, First Lie Wins, Stay Awake, Don’t Let Her Stay, Midnight, Obsessed and Crosshairs using Libby!
Needed a manga or a graphic novel for one challenge I was doing this month. I went in to my library and chose one of each, since it’s not my typical genre.
I found some workarounds with Libby, and I have a library card to the Chicago Public Library so these are the audiobooks I borrowed this month.
This is my Amazon’s First Reads choices for February.
For more information about Amazon First Reads program, please visit this link *not an affiliated link*
Like I said last month, I wanted to get through the backlist of the Amazon Original Stories I was interested in listening to. I also want to read more diversely. I was attracted to the cover art of all of these novels, and went in blind on every single one.
I’ve listened to a lot of Kiersten Modglin’s books thanks to Netgalley. I was given an eARC of Listen For The Lie from Celadon, but I asked if I could have the audiobook instead as that’s how I prefer to do my books, and they sent it to me, woohoo!
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Gardner comes a harrowing new thriller: Frankie Elkin is an expert at finding the missing persons that the rest of the world has forgotten, but even she couldn’t have anticipated this latest request—to locate the long-lost sister of a female serial killer facing execution in three weeks’ time.
No man truly fears a woman. Not even one who is her father’s daughter.
The case was sensational. Kaylee Pierson had confessed from the very beginning, waived all appeals. She had called herself “death,” but people called her the devil. Despite the media’s chronicling of her tragic circumstances—the childhood spent with a violent father—no one could find sympathy for “the Beautiful Butcher” who had led eighteen men home from bars before viciously slitting their throats.
Now, with only twenty-one days left to live, Pierson has finally received a lead on the whereabouts of the sister who was kidnapped over a decade ago, and she needs Frankie’s help to find her. The Beautiful Butcher’s offer:
When was the last time your search ended with finding the living?
Unable to resist the chance for a rescue, Frankie takes on Pierson’s request. Twelve years ago, five-year old Leilani went missing in Hawaii. The main suspect? Pierson’s tech mogul ex-boyfriend, Sanders MacManus. Now, on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific—the site of MacManus’s latest vanity project—fresh evidence has appeared. In order to learn the truth and possibly save a young woman’s life, Frankie must go undercover at the isolated base camp. Her challenge: A dozen strangers. Countless dangerous secrets. Zero means of calling for help. And then the storm rolls in…
Good morning! These are the books that I “stacked” onto my shelves, virtual and/or physical, for the entire month of January:
DNFed The Mystery of Mrs. Christie at around 25% because I just could not with the narrator.
The Christie Affair was actually better than I thought it would be. Three stars!
Libby let me know that it was my turn to borrow Starling House, a January book club read for a group I’m in on Facebook. Yes, the book club met already, but it is what it is at this point!
These two were my Amazon’s First Reads choices for January.
For more information about Amazon First Reads program, please visit this link *not an affiliated link*
I have listened to a few Amazon Original Stories books in the past, so last year I thought I would try to play catch up on the ones I thought sounded interesting. This collection has a lot of books written by authors I heard of/know, so I went in blind. And I was not disappointed!
Good morning! This may be my biggest haul month to date! These are the books that I “stacked” onto my shelves, virtual and/or physical, for the entire month of December:
An American art student in London is invited to join a classmate for the holidays at Starvewood Hall, her family’s Cotswold manor house. But behind the holly and pine boughs, secrets are about to unravel, revealing this seemingly charming English village’s grim history.
Ashley Smith, an American art student in London for her junior year, was planning on spending Christmas alone, but a last-minute invitation from fellow student Emma Chapman brings her to Starvewood Hall, country residence of the Chapman family. The Cotswold manor house, festooned in pine boughs and crammed with guests for Christmas week, is a dream come true for Ashley. She is mesmerized by the cozy, firelit house, the large family, and the charming village of Clevemoor, but also by Adam Chapman, Emma’s aloof and handsome brother.
But Adam is being investigated by the local police over the recent brutal slaying of a girl from the village, and there is a mysterious stranger who haunts the woodland path between Starvewood Hall and the local pub. Ashley begins to wonder what kind of story she is actually inhabiting. Is she in a grand romance? A gothic tale? Or has she wandered into something far more sinister and terrifying than she’d ever imagined?
Over thirty years later the events of that horrific week are revisited, along with a diary from that time. What began in a small English village in 1989 reaches its ghostly conclusion in modern-day New York, many Christmas seasons later.
Patricia and Mark Addison have long given up the hope of having a meaningful Christmas. But this year, Patricia’s job as a social worker will lead her to a very special five-year-old. Against her better judgment, Patricia bends the rules and takes the little girl to her own home.
Through the presence of Emily in their house, and her penetrating questions about heaven, the Addison’s learn that there is no sorrow so great that faith cannot help you find your way through. And Christmas will once more be a time of joy in their home.
“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”
“I live for you,” I say sadly.
Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”
Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.
But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.
Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
A captivating new standalone romance by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster. When the Dark Knights at Bayside and the cast of Bayside Summers collide, sparks fly, and trouble—or maybe love—is not far behind.
Set on the sandy shores of Cape Cod, the Wickeds feature fiercely protective heroes, strong heroines, and unbreakable family bonds. If you think bikers are all the same, you haven’t met the Dark Knights. The Dark Knights are a motorcycle club, not a gang. Their members stick together like family and will stop at nothing to keep their communities safe. Their stories are told in the same loving, passionate voice readers have come to adore from Melissa. Some of the Wickeds’ love stories will be hilariously fun, others will tear at your heartstrings with injections of humor, but they will all leave you wishing you could climb between the pages and join them!
In A LITTLE BIT WICKED… What do a cocky biker and a businesswoman who has sworn off dating bad boys have in common? According to Chloe Mallery, not much.
Justin came into the Wicked family after a harsh upbringing by a thieving father. He’s gone through a lot to become a true Wicked, and he’s made them proud. Now he’s ready to show the woman he loves exactly what type of man he is. But Chloe has worked hard to move past her difficult upbringing, and she’s wary of getting involved with a man who looks like he’s walked right out of it. When tragedy strikes, will their trying pasts draw them together, or will Justin’s protective nature be too much for Chloe’s independent heart to accept?
Two sisters, one death sentence
Twin sisters Cass and Becca have lived their whole life in a small, isolated town under the control of the United, an all-powerful government that believes a separate but equal society is the only way to ensure security and prosperity. Cass has always been the smart, responsible sister; Becca the wild, reckless twin. They’ve never been apart-until Becca disappears.
Welcome to Death Row
Thrown into a maximum security prison, Becca’s captors force her to fight her fellow inmates, to fight for survival. She’s given no trial and no explanation for her incarceration, just relentless brutality to be followed by an execution. Her only hope is Cass. She has to believe that her sister will find her. That Cass will stop following the rules and start breaking them, before her jailers find out the truth: they took the wrong twin.
She thought he was gone. She was wrong.
Fifteen years ago a serial killer was on a rampage murdering young women in Middlehampton. Then the killings stopped, and the murderer evaded the police.
So when the body of another young woman is found bearing the twisted killer’s unique hallmark—the overpowering stench of lavender and an origami heart—DS Kat Ballantyne knows this can only mean one thing: the killer is back.
For Kat, whose best friend was the killer’s last victim all those years ago, this is deeply personal. She’ll stop at nothing to prevent more women dying and bring her friend’s murderer to justice. But the scent has gone cold once before. Kat will need all the help she can get in her investigation as she hunts down leads and encounters dead ends and horrifying twists.
With time running out, can she finally crack the case and put a stop to the killings—or will she be the next victim?
This was my Amazon’s First Reads choice for December.
The author is BIPOC, from Barbados.
Humanity’s new war is an enigma with an enemy threat beyond all imagination in this near-future novel of mind-blowing adventure where the fate of mankind rests in the choices of one ordinary soldier.
In one terrifying event called the Ninety-Nine, all major military installations on earth were eviscerated. But by whom? Foreign powers, AIs, ETs? Every conceivable adversary was ruled out. Reeling from massive casualties and amid hundreds of conspiracy theories, humanity creates Andrones: bipedal android drones piloted remotely by soldiers who will never again need to be on the field of battle. Newly minted Androne pilot Sergeant Paxton Arés has now been deployed into a fight against an enemy no one understands or has ever seen.
Passing mostly uneventful days patrolling an unidentified desert, Paxton spends time communicating with his pregnant girlfriend back home and reflecting on his impending fatherhood. But as he is drawn deeper into military camaraderie and begins quickly rising up the ranks on the strength of his father’s military legacy, Paxton starts to question the swirling rumors about the nature of the conflict. What he’s encountered in the shifting dunes—something inexplicable, indomitable—fills him with the fear that whatever is out there is destined to win.
Whether it’s curiosity, ambition, or a newfound paternal instinct, Paxton has a driving need to understand the dangerous truths of this strange, invisible war. And the choices he must make have the power to change everything.
For choosing an Amazon First Reads book in December, I received a credit for a free book (from a specific list). The credit could only be used towards one of those books. I chose this sci-fi novel by a BIPOC author because I want to read more sci-fi novels next year and I want to have more diversity in the authors that I read.
He can deny it all he likes, but everyone knows Viking warlord Unnthor Reginsson brought home a great chest of gold when he retired from the longboats and settled down with Hildigunnur in a remote valley. Now, in the summer of 970, adopted daughter Helga is awaiting the arrival of her unknown siblings: dark, dangerous Karl, lithe, clever Jorunn, gentle Aslak, henpecked by his shrewish wife, and the giant Bjorn, made bitter by Volund, his idiot son.
And they’re coming with darkness in their hearts.
The siblings gather, bad blood simmers and old feuds resurface as Unnthor’s heirs make their moves on the old man’s treasure – until one morning Helga is awakened by screams. Blood has been shed: kin has been slain.
No one confesses, but all the clues point to one person – who cannot possibly be the murderer, at least in Helga’s eyes. But if she’s going to save the innocent from the axe and prevent more bloodshed, she’s got to solve the mystery – fast…
The gods are dead. Decades ago, they turned on one another and tore each other apart. Nobody knows why. But are they really gone forever?
When 15-year-old Hark finds the still-beating heart of a terrifying deity, he risks everything to keep it out of the hands of smugglers, military scientists, and a secret fanatical cult so that he can use it to save the life of his best friend, Jelt. But with the heart, Jelt gradually and eerily transforms. How long should Hark stay loyal to his friend when he’s becoming a monster—and what is Hark willing to sacrifice to save him?
I received these two from Stuff Your Kindle Day this month.
Today, Kate has a good man in her life, a secure job, and hope. But her dreams for the future become a nightmare when a copycat killer starts hunting. One by one, with each new body, comes a gift for Kate: a single red rose. And then the warning: See you soon.
If clues to his identity are buried in Kate’s memories, Ryan can unearth them. As they dig into Kate’s traumatic past, they’d better work fast. Because someone is finishing what the Rose Reaper started–and he’s hell-bent on making sure that this time, the seventh victim doesn’t get away.
Three years ago, Kate Doyle escaped a serial killer who died at the hands of her rescuers. FBI consultant and psychologist Ryan Strickland helped Kate rebuild her life, and the case was closed on the Rose Reaper’s seven victims–the six who were killed and Kate, the one who got away.
A serial killer on the hunt opens the door to a woman’s terrifying past in a pulse-pounding thriller by the author of The Lost Victim.
On the day author Mari Montgomery receives the email, she has little left to live for. The message—simple yet utterly life-changing—offers a glimmer of hope to her dismal existence. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and if she takes it, it could change everything. Mari’s immediate sense of unease is eclipsed only by her curiosity—elicited from the supposed fan on the other end of the email. Unsatisfied despite doing her due diligence, and with no way to discern the legitimacy of the sender, Mari takes a leap of faith and replies. What harm could come from one innocent message? Soon, as she comes face to face with her ‘number one fan,’ it’s all too clear things are not what they first appeared. Now trapped by a villain far more sinister than she could’ve crafted herself, the fate awaiting her is inspired by the darkest depths of the monsters in her own novels. In order to escape and survive, Mari must use the strength of the heroines she’s spent years writing about. But this villain has spent years inside her worlds, too. How will she defeat an evil who has learned from the best? For fans of Misery, YOU, and Behind Closed Doors, million-copy bestselling author Kiersten Modglin brings us a haunting tale of obsession and survival in the form of a writer’s worst nightmare come to life.
Everything he knows about his wife is called into question when she mysteriously vanishes in a breathtaking novel of suspense by Amazon Charts bestselling author Chad Zunker.
Widower Luke Driskell didn’t expect to fall in love and marry again so quickly. But Ashley and her daughter, Joy, are special–a quality borne out when Ashley rushes into a burning day-care center to save the children. Immediately she’s a social media sensation and hero. Then, just as suddenly, Ashley and Joy disappear into the bitterly cold night.
With no trace of their whereabouts, Luke begins a panicked investigation. Alarmingly, he can find no proof that the woman he loves even exists. Left behind: just a hidden stash of fake IDs. Different names. Different cities. Same haunted face. Now the devastated husband has only questions: Who did he marry? What is she hiding?
Luke’s cross-country pursuit of the truth soon spins into something more dangerous than he imagined. Because Ashley’s secrets run so deep and dark that finding her could threaten all their lives.
New Mexico game warden Jodi Luna disrupts a murderous wilderness adventure in this thrilling second installment from Alisa Lynn Valdés, New York Times bestselling author of The Dirty Girls Social Club.
Former poetry professor Jodi Luna hasn’t quite adjusted to life as a game warden. Her boss thinks she’s better with animals than humans, and the man she’s seeing wants a real relationship. Still reeling from her husband’s death, Jodi has to admit that she keeps people at a distance.
After her new friend, wealthy actress Claudia Evans, gathers with family members in the New Mexico wilderness, Jodi gets some unsettling news—that Claudia’s brother-in-law is missing. Eager to help, Jodi ventures into the wild to investigate, only to be thwarted by a blizzard that leaves the entire group stranded at a fishing lodge.
Jodi is no stranger to extreme weather, but when these reluctant adventurers start turning up mauled around the snowed-in lodge, Jodi suspects the worst: this was no bear. This was murder.
And inside the snowy confines of this rustic hideaway, everyone is fair game…
…for a killer.
The search for a missing boy entwines the lives of two desperate women. One seeks redemption for her sister; the other will do anything for the love of her life.
Hope Chen and her husband are raising her nine-year-old nephew, Luca, in the wake of his troubled mother’s death. Luca finally has a safe home in a neighborhood where kids play in the streets and nobody locks their doors. Then one day, Luca and his dog disappear without a trace. Guilt-ridden, fearing the worst but praying for the best, Hope finds her imagination running wild.
Meanwhile, a woman with dangerous secrets to keep buried will do anything to protect her marriage. In one fleeting instant, it’s all within her reach. She can finally give her husband the one thing that will make him love her again.
Hope will do anything to get Luca back. The other woman will do anything to stop Hope. As Hope’s search grows more desperate and the other woman’s plans more twisted, their lives collide in an explosive battle of wits. With a boy caught in the middle, nothing on this deadly path of love and revenge is what it seems.
No one wants to be single at the holidays.
Even Little Miss Grinch, Nikki, a successful and independent woman, must face her bachelorette status at the most horrible time of the year.
December is her personal version of holly-jolly hell: a merry torture made of couples kissing at every corner, forced vacation days, and an inescapable family reunion.
And when her baby sister announces she’s engaged—to Paul, the man Nikki is secretly in love with—and that he’s spending the holidays with them, Christmas starts looking bluer than ever.
Nikki can’t possibly survive an entire week trapped home as the family’s spinster. But she has no time to meet men or to try the newest dating app, she’s too busy working as a video producer for an advertising agency.
So what’s a girl to do?
Nikki has the perfect solution: to hire a fake boyfriend.
Luckily, her job gives her access to an endless catalog of gorgeous actors to choose from.
But Nikki will soon discover that keeping business and pleasure from mixing isn’t so easy, and that she might not be immune to a little mistletoe magic. Especially not when she picked out the perfect man as her Christmas date…
A fun, festive romantic comedy with lots of bad behavior and Christmas spirit. Like a creamy hot chocolate with marshmallows, you won’t want to put this deliciously hilarious novel down. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Sally Thorne, and Jo Watson.
First Comes Love is a series of interconnected romantic novels. However, each book in the series can be read as a standalone.
Secrets can be deadly.
In the small coastal town of Edgewater, Florida, a beautiful young mother lies lifeless in an abandoned lifeguard stand, her wrists sliced open and strange cuts on her thighs.
It appears to be a suicide, but Detective Mila Harlow knows better than to accept that without all the facts. Mila’s heart breaks when she discovers the woman’s identity, and that she has a six-month-old baby girl, now an orphan. Will the autopsy confirm this wasn’t a suicide but a brutal murder?
Mila learns the victim has recently moved to town. Was she running away from something, and did someone from her past follow her here? Or is there a cold-blooded killer living among them?
As Mila uncovers some disturbing facts about the victim’s life, a rapidly approaching hurricane adds considerable urgency to the investigation. With the first forty-eight hours being the most critical, she’s racing against the clock to gather evidence and conduct interviews before the whole town shuts down for the storm.
As a mother herself, Mila is prepared to risk everything to get justice for the victim and her baby girl. But how far is the killer willing to go to stop her? And does “everything” include her own life?
Good morning! This may be my biggest haul month to date! These are the books that I “stacked” onto my shelves, virtual and/or physical, for the entire month of November:
Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are finally living out their dream as the proud owners of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. But their first big client is a nightmare. She’s a bridezilla who wants 500 custom cupcakes for her wedding. When Mel stumbles upon the bride-to-be dead – by cupcake – Mel becomes the prime suspect. To save themselves and their business, the ladies need to find the real murderer, before the cupcake killer ices someone else.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
He thought his life couldn’t get any worse… Wesley Gates is down on his luck. He’s drowning in debt. His demanding career isn’t letting up. And, to top it all off, after years of ignoring their failing marriage, his wife has had enough. Heartbroken and in desperate need of a place to stay while he gives his wife the space she’s asked for, Wes is shocked when he runs into a familiar face from his past. As they catch up, Wes quickly learns his old classmate has an extra room and a non-existent social life. He can’t help feeling grateful to spend time with someone who remembers who he was during their glory days, long before his life fell apart. So, when Elias offers to rent out his spare bedroom, it seems like the answer to all Wes’s problems. Wes takes his old friend up on the offer without hesitation. Living with someone you barely know is better than living with a stranger… Isn’t it? But soon, Wes realizes moving in with Elias may have been a mistake. Between the wild mood swings, strange occurrences, and total disregard for his new roommate’s privacy, Wes begins to wonder if Elias will be his savior or his worst nightmare. When his wife reveals devastating news that destroys the final bit of shaky ground Wes was standing on, his new roommate may be all he has left. Maybe that’s what Elias wanted in the first place… Or maybe it’s all in Wes’s head. Will Wes ever be able to leave?
Genre: Thriller
Olivia Mendes has a secret. With her new position as a nanny for the prestigious Locke family, she’s learning just how powerful secrets can be.
Orrick and Iris Locke, owners of the billion-dollar security company known as Locke Industries, are beautiful, mysterious, and seemingly perfect. When she enters their home, Olivia quickly discovers everything is not what it seems. The Lockes’ elusive empire is built on dark and terrifying truths and with Olivia now a part of their lives, she has no choice but to play her role.
As she finds herself digging deeper into the Lockes’ web of lies, Olivia begins to question everything she’s learned. When the family’s insidious nature is revealed, her loyalties will be put to the ultimate test.
Genre: Thriller
Madeline Martin has built a life for herself as the young owner of a thriving business, The Next Chapter Bookshop, despite her tragic childhood and now needing to care for her infirm father. When Harley Granger, a failed novelist turned true crime podcaster, drifts into her shop in the days before Christmas, he seems intent on digging up events that Madeline would much rather forget. She’s the only surviving victim of Evan Handy, the man who was convicted of murdering her best friend Steph, and is suspected in the disappearance of two sisters, also good friends of Madeline’s, who have been missing for nearly a decade. It’s an investigation that has obsessed her father Sheriff James Martin right up until his stroke took his faculties.
Harley Granger has a gift for seeing things that others miss. He wasn’t much of a novelist, but his work as a true crime author and podcaster has earned him fame and wealth–and some serious criticism for his various unethical practices. Still, visiting Little Valley to be closer to his dying father has caused him to look into a case that many people think is closed–and some want reopened. And he has a lot of questions about the night Stephanie Cramer was killed, Ainsley and Sam Wallace disappeared, and Madeline Martin was left for dead, bleeding out on a riverbank.
Since Evan Handy went to jail, three other young women have gone missing, most recently a young college dropout named Lolly. Five young women missing in the same area in a decade. Are they connected? Was Evan Handy innocent after all? Or was there some else there that night? Someone who is still satisfying his dark appetites?
As Christmas approaches and a blizzard bears down, Madeline and her childhood friend Badger return to a past they both hoped was dead–to find the missing Lolly and to answer questions that have haunted them both, discovering that the truth is more terrible and much closer to home than they think.
Coupling a picturesque, cozy setting with a deeply unsettling suspenseful plot, Christmas Presents is a chilling seasonal novella that can be enjoyed all year long.
Genre: Thriller
It began with a quarrel over which newborn should be the baby Jesus in the town’s Christmas pageant. Decades later, two scientists arrive to study small-town genetic patterns, only to run up against the invisible walls that split the leading citizens into two congregations that can only be joined by love and forgiveness. And maybe a little deception, because there might be some things that people just don’t need to know.
Genre: Romance
You’ve opened up your house and your heart to a total stranger… What could possibly go wrong?
Grace Evans, an overworked New Yorker looking for a total escape from her busy life, books an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. When she arrives at the idyllic getaway, she’s pleased to find that the owner is a handsome man by the name of Calvin Wells—and he’s eager to introduce her to his easygoing way of life. But there are things Grace discovers that she’s not too pleased about: A lack of cell phone service. A missing woman. And a feeling that something isn’t right with the ranch.
Despite her uneasiness, the two bond and start to fall for one another. However, as her departure date nears, things change for the worse. What began as a playful romance soon turns into a complicated web of lies. Grace grows wary of Calvin as his infatuation for her seems to have morphed to obsession. Calvin fears that Grace is hiding something from him—including her reason for staying at his ranch to begin with. Vacation flings typically end in heartbreak, but for Grace and Calvin, it’ll be far more destructive.
Genre: Thriller
Katie’s divorce was, in a word, humiliating. So when her friend Bess offers a fresh start—a residential caretaking job at a nature preserve—Katie accepts. No matter that she’s not exactly a “nature person.” How hard can it be?
But from day one, something feels off. Katie’s new farmhouse looks as if the last caretaker barely moved out at all. When a frantic, terrified woman arrives late at night, expecting a safe place to hide, it’s clear caretaking involves way more than Katie bargained for.
Katie can’t tell who she can trust: the brooding groundskeeper, the daily regulars—hikers, dog walkers, bird-watchers, photographers—even Bess.
As Katie digs deeper for clues in what the last caretaker left behind, she must discover courage she never knew she had—and decide how much she’ll risk to do the right thing.
Genre: Fiction This was my Amazon’s First Reads choice for November.
On October 31, Horrorsmith Publishing was hosting a Terrify Your Tablet event (like a Stuff Your Kindle Day but for horror/ thriller books). I heard about the announcement weeks ago and haven’t been keeping up with the news on it. So on October 31 I went to the website and it looked like there was a lot of technical issues going on. I saw one book I thought was interesting and couldn’t figure out how to download it from that website… so I went to Amazon, and it was listed as free. So that’s how I got the book. And that is why it’s listed under the Amazon heading here in this post.
Some see it… Some don’t…
People in the town of Deer Park, Texas are vanishing. There is a strange museum, known as Quinsey Wolfe’s Glass Vault, that appears overnight. Perrie Madeline’s best friend and ex-boyfriend are among the missing. Perrie, along with her friend August, go on a pursuit to search for them in the mysterious museum. Could the elusive Quinsey Wolfe’s Glass Vault have anything to do with their disappearances?
A book that intertwines horror elements and retellings, with humor and darkness
Genre: YA Fantasy Horror
Pelican Cove is gearing up for a grand Thanksgiving. Local amateur sleuth Jenny King and the Magnolias are busy planning the big dinner, salivating over pumpkin pie and turducken.
When an eccentric old man turns up at the Boardwalk Cafe moaning about his missing turkey, Jenny doesn’t have the heart to turn him away. This time, she even has the sheriff’s blessing because the police can’t be bothered to look for a missing bird.
Meanwhile, Jenny is also roped in to judge the big turkey competition in town. Can she juggle everything and still have time to make her special green bean casserole?
Curl up with this short cozy read this season and share it with your family and friends.
**Turkeys and Thanksgiving is a light hearted, fun short story set in the town of Pelican Cove. This is a bonus read for fans of the Pelican Cove Cozy Mystery series.
If you are new to the series, this might be a fun way to enjoy the setting and meet the characters.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Find the truth. Solve the murder. Never reveal your secret.
Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at university: The Masquerade Murder Society. The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, but they were always fictional – until their final Christmas Masquerade, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again.
Twelve years later, the remaining members of the group receive an invitation to a reunion masquerade, to be held in a beautiful and remote hunting lodge in Scotland.
When they arrive they are each assigned a new identity themed around the Twelve Days of Christmas – they become Lady Partridge or Mr Gold; Lord Leapworth or Doctor Swan. The game begins, and it feels just like old times. Until the next morning, when Lady Partridge is found hanging from a pear tree.
It quickly becomes clear that in this game, the murder will be all too real, and the story is bringing long-hidden secrets to the surface. If they hope to win the game and survive until Christmas morning, then they will need to face the truth about their history together, who they have become – and what really happened on that fateful night twelve years before.
Alison Ziegler over at Minotaur Books sent me this widget through Netgalley for the Minotaur Influencer Program. I actually listened to A Flicker In The Dark and All The Dangerous Things so I was hoping for an audiobook version of this one, but it is what it is.
Lucy Sharpe is larger than life. Magnetic, addictive. Bold and dangerous. Especially for Margot, who meets Lucy at the end of their freshman year at a liberal arts college in South Carolina. Margot is the shy one, the careful one, always the sidekick and never the center of attention. But when Lucy singles her out at the end of the year, a year Margot spent studying and playing it safe, and asks her to room together, something in Margot can’t say no—something daring, or starved, or maybe even envious.
And so Margot finds herself living in an off-campus house with three other girls, Lucy, the ringleader; Sloane, the sarcastic one; and Nicole, the nice one, the three of them opposites but also deeply intertwined. It’s a year that finds Margot finally coming out of the shell she’s been in since the end of high school, when her best friend Eliza died three weeks after graduation. Margot and Lucy have become the closest of friends, but by the middle of their sophomore year, one of the fraternity boys from the house next door has been brutally murdered… and Lucy Sharpe is missing without a trace.
A tantalizing thriller about the nature of friendship and belonging, about loyalty, envy, and betrayal—another gripping novel from an author quickly becoming the gold standard in psychological suspense.
Publishing on January 16, 2024
I requested this book through the SMP Influencers Program, and Kejana Ayala from St. Martin’s Press sent me a widget for this book through Netgalley. Thank you so much! I played soccer for over fifteen years, so I feel like I should be reading more soccer books lol!
A steamy, opposites-attract romance with undeniable chemistry between a grumpy retired footballer and his fabulous and very sunshine-y ghostwriter.
When grumpy ex-footballer Alfie Harding gets badgered into selling his memoirs, he knows he’s never going to be able to write them. He hates revealing a single thing about himself, is allergic to most emotions, and can’t imagine doing a good job of putting pen to paper.
And so in walks curvy, cheery, cute as heck ghostwriter Mabel Willicker, who knows just how to sunshine and sass her way into getting every little detail out of Alfie. They banter and bicker their way to writing his life story, both of them sure they’ll never be anything other than at odds.
But after their business arrangement is mistaken for a budding romance, the pair have to pretend to be an item for a public who’s ravenous for more of this Cinderella story. Or at least, it feels like it’s pretend—until each slow burn step in their fake relationship sparks a heat neither can control. Now they just have to decide: is this sizzling chemistry just for show? Or something so real it might just give them their fairytale ending?
Publishing on February 6, 2024
What would you do if you could go back in time to find your soulmate?
For Skye Blaine, the answer is she would do whatever it takes to be with the one she loves.
In “Come Back to Me,” follow her as she travels through time in search of her heart’s desire, finding that the path to true love is never easy, but always worth it. Will she find her happy ending?
This page-turning story of love, sacrifice, and courage is sure to captivate and inspire. Don’t miss out on this unforgettable journey through time!
A woman. A ghostly summons. In a coma, no one can hear you scream.
Detective Kurt Farin, shot in the line of duty, is haunted by a woman he sees in a coma. Come, she says. I’ll show you things. Like the missing piece of your soul. Kurt’s unshakable quest to find her leads him to northern Canada, where he discovers a shipwreck and a shocking family secret that can’t possibly be true. As he digs deeper, he realizes his fate is inextricably tied to the enigmatic woman…and a long-lost treasure that’s been submerged for centuries. His shooter, his nemesis, knows what he found and is coming to finish the job he started. Alone and exposed, Kurt’s the only one who can bring down this notorious killer and expose an international scandal. But is the cost of justice – to him and everyone he loves, too high?Terror Bay is filled with intrigue and action, with surprises at every turn. Fans of John Sandford and Christine Kling will love Lisa Towles’ new psychological thriller. With a heart-pounding plot, complex characters, and a shocking twist, “Terror Bay” is a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and crime fiction.
Good morning! This may be my biggest haul month to date! These are the books that I “stacked” onto my shelves, virtual and/or physical, for the entire month of October:
Three months ago, Lena Nguyen’s estranged twin sister, Cambry, drove to a remote bridge sixty miles outside of Missoula, Montana, and jumped two hundred feet to her death. At least, that is the official police version. But Lena isn’t buying it. Now she’s come to that very bridge, driving her dead twin’s car and armed with a cassette recorder, determined to find out what really happened by interviewing the highway patrolman who allegedly discovered her sister’s body. Corporal Raymond Raycevic has agreed to meet Lena at the scene. He is sympathetic, forthright, and professional. But his story doesn’t seem to add up. For one thing, he stopped Cambry for speeding a full hour before she supposedly leapt to her death. Then there are the sixteen attempted 911 calls from her cell phone, made in what was unfortunately a dead zone. But perhaps most troubling of all, the state trooper is referred to by name in Cambry’s final enigmatic text to her sister:
Please Forgive Me. I couldn’t live with it. Hopefully you can, Officer Raycevic.Lena will do anything to uncover the truth. But as her twin’s final hours come into focus, Lena’s search turns into a harrowing, tooth-and-nail fight for her own survival—one that will test everything she thought she knew about her sister and herself…
From the critically acclaimed author of In My Dreams I Hold A Knife and The Last Housewife comes a gothic Southern thriller about a killer haunting a small Louisiana town, where two outcasts—the preacher’s daughter and the boy from the wrong side of the tracks—hold the key to uncovering the truth.
For fans of Verity and A Flicker in the Dark, this is a twisted tale of murder, obsessive love, and the beastly urges that lie dormant within us all…even the God-fearing folk of Bottom Springs, Louisiana. In her small hometown, librarian Ruth Cornier has always felt like an outsider, even as her beloved father rains fire-and-brimstone warnings from the pulpit at Holy Fire Baptist.
Unfortunately for Ruth, the only things the townspeople fear more than the God and the Devil are the myths that haunt the area, like the story of the Low Man, a vampiric figure said to steal into sinners’ bedrooms and kill them on moonless nights. When a skull is found deep in the swamp next to mysterious carved symbols, Bottom Springs is thrown into uproar—and Ruth realizes only she and Everett, an old friend with a dark past, have the power to comb the town’s secret underbelly in search of true evil.
A dark and powerful novel like fans have come to expect from Ashley Winstead, Midnight is the Darkest Hour is an examination of the ways we’ve come to expect love, religion, and stories to save us, the lengths we have to go to in order to take back power, and the monstrous work of being a girl in this world.
From the macabre mind of a Bram Stoker Award-nominated author, this heart-pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense takes a ghost hunting reality TV crew into a world they could never have imagined.
Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. Led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin, it delivers weekly hauntings investigated by a dedicated team of ghost hunting experts.
Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter’s holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This brooding, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It’s also famously haunted, and the team hopes their scientific techniques and high tech gear will prove it. But as the house begins to reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of. A story told in broken pieces, in tapes, journals, and correspondence, this is the story of Episode Thirteen—and how everything went terribly, horribly wrong.
When an FBI agent goes missing, Detective Michael Bennett will stop at nothing to bring her home… Returning home from his honeymoon, Detective Michael Bennett is greeted with shocking news. FBI agent, Emily Parker, is missing. In order to track her down, Michael follows his former partner’s investigation into an anarchist group that led her between Los Angeles, New York and Washington DC. Lurid rumours begin to surface about Emily’s disappearance and Michael knows that he needs to act quickly to find her. After everything they’ve been through together, he owes her that much.
On the one-year anniversary of her wedding, Colbie Moore’s life looks nothing like it should. Still grieving the loss of the man she meant to spend her life with, she prepares for a weekend away to take her mind off her heartache, but the simple plan results in much more than she bargained for. A box of letters, meant for the bride and groom to open on their anniversary, is instead opened by Colbie and her three best friends, Miles, James, and Eric, and what it holds could ruin everything. A mysterious note from a surprising sender is shocking, propelling Colbie down a dark path to discover the truth about the man she loved, his life and his death, before it’s too late. As the mystery unravels, she begins to question everyone around her. What was Phil hiding from her when he died? What secrets are still hidden? The closer she gets to answers the clearer it becomes that someone has gone to great lengths to protect their lies. And if she pushes any more, everything she has left could be exactly what she stands to lose. Is it worth risking everything to truly know the man she’s already lost? After all, she’s been warned…she might not be able to handle what she finds.
It’s not the first time Edith’s husband, Joe, has lied to her.
But it will be the last.
When she finds photos of a mysterious woman on her husband’s phone, the heartbreaking implications are all too familiar, and Edith sets out to discover her identity. What starts as a desperate search for answers quickly becomes a terrifying spiral of obsession and subterfuge.
With each new secret uncovered about her life, her marriage, and the man she loves, Edith is left with even more questions.
What exactly is Joe hiding?
Who is the woman in his photos?
Refusing to accept Joe’s lies any longer, Edith soon finds herself living a double life, telling lies and keeping secrets of her own. When she uncovers a final piece of the puzzle, something darker and more gut-wrenching than even she could’ve anticipated, Edith is forced to make a choice about the future of her marriage.
The truth always comes at a price.
Sometimes, that price is your life.
These are my Amazon First Reads choices for the month of October. I was not super thrilled with the choices for this month, but ended up choosing two books anyway, because free is free LOL!
Synopsis of All The Little Raindrops– The chilling story of the abduction of two teenagers, their escape, and the dark secrets that, years later, bring them back to the scene of the crime.
It’s senior-year spring break, and Noelle Meyer and Evan Sinclair have been kidnapped. Neither knows why they were chosen, only that they share a tragic past: Evan’s father got away with killing Noelle’s mother, effectively ruining her family when the death was ruled an accident.
Despite the connection that should have made them enemies, the teens instead unite to face their other common denominator—their abductors. Noelle and Evan survive one sadistic circumstance after another, eventually making a harrowing escape. But every happy ending comes at a price…
Years later, Evan, now a private investigator, revisits the crime when he learns it may be ongoing. He reaches out to Noelle for help, and they discover that the answers lie with a man known only as the Collector. To close their case and solve the ones that followed Noelle and Evan must unmask this mysterious spectator—the only man who knows enough secrets to take their captors down. Publication Date: November 1, 2023
Synopsis of The Rise: A Short Story-
In this short thriller from bestselling author Ian Rankin, murder comes to London’s most exclusive high-rise—and every resident is a suspect.
The Rise is a gleaming residential tower, newly constructed from steel and blackened glass, that stands on some of London’s most prestigious real estate. Looming imposingly over Hyde Park, only multi-millionaires need apply for one of its sumptuous apartments. But when the young night concierge is found murdered in the building’s lobby, the elite residents quickly find their gilded lifestyles under unwelcome police scrutiny.
Investigating officer DS Gish has her work cut out. The only suspects, those who live in the building, aren’t accustomed to police interrogation. But it seems horribly certain that one of them must be the killer. Could it be the Russian oligarch? Or the lonely actress? Maybe it’s the family of the career criminal? Or perhaps it’s the building’s reclusive developer who lives alone in the penthouse?
Obstructed continually by locked doors, governments both foreign and domestic, and an apparent absence of motive, can DS Gish solve this impenetrable mystery and apprehend the murderer—before they slip away forever?
Publication Date: November 1, 2023
I browse Amazon from time to time and see if there are any books that are free. I came across this short 106 page book and downloaded it.
Michael and Ellie are that couple. The ones who have it all. Success, charm, trust…but no relationship is perfect and the events of the past cast a shadow over their charmed life together. When lecturer Michael starts to mentor a new student, Ellie fears that history is repeating itself. As paranoia takes its ugly hold, it’s clear some things just can’t be forgotten…or forgiven.
If you were offered a second life, would you take it?
Emilia died. She thought it was all over but then she opens her eyes and realizes she’s a child with all the memories of her past life and her eidetic memory intact.
Not just that. She’s now living in a medieval world that resembles her favorite fantasy novel—The Cruel Empire. Instead of being a main character, she’s reborn into the role of a princess fated to die before the age of eighteen.
As years go by, and she realizes she’s not waking from a dream, she settles into her new life with only a goal in mind—survival.
Having years ahead of her before her new life is cut short, Emilia pulls the strings and builds a network of friends that will help her with her goal—stop Prince Thessian from killing her with the rest of her despicable family and make him her ally. If she can do this, she can rule to improve her kingdom’s conditions and support Thessian’s goal to become emperor of the neighboring empire.
But when a side character messes with the main plot, what will happen to Emilia’s future now that she has no idea of what other events she has set in motion?
Find out in Queen of Deception, a thrilling Fantasy Novel by May Freighter.
I binged the crap out of these short horror stories that were free because I am an Amazon Prime member. Definitely recommend all this horror to get you in the spooky season mood!
Salvaging from historic buildings isn’t supposed to require reporting a murder.
When salvage expert and historian Paisley Sutton crawls into an abandoned store with a house attached, she certainly isn’t expecting to find a body on site. But soon, her discovery sends Paisley on an expedition through history that links this murder to the one that led the previous owners to abandon the building in the first place. And someone doesn’t want her to salvage this story from the wreckage.
Can Paisley preserve herself and her young son while also uncovering the stories that matter most?
A bookstore, a grumpy newspaper woman, and a murder. Quiet St. Marin’s has just gotten a little more lively . . . and a little less alive.
All Harvey Beckett wants to do is read books, help the residents of St. Marin’s find the perfect book for that moment, and snuggle with her hound dog Mayhem. But when the small, waterside town’s newest resident discovers the body of the community’s persnickety reporter in her bookshop storeroom on opening day, Harvey finds herself bound and determined to figure out the crime. Her task won’t be easy, though, since the town is flooded with visitors for the first annual Harriet Tubman Festival to honor the community’s most famous resident. Plus, a quiet but charming mechanic named Daniel isn’t helping with her concentration at all.
This winter cozy mystery series can be read in one to two hours. It is perfect for those moments when you are waiting at an appointment or want to enjoy a quick read. Sarah Garland, a retired homicide detective who’s gone through a painful divorce, seems to have found her peace at last, as a coffeeshop owner, in the sleepy (and freezing) small town of Snow Falls, Alaska. What she didn’t expect, was for her past life to catch up with her. Or, for her new life as a mystery writer to inspire a deadly killer to target her.
Yet, when the killer leaves a frightening clue-a creepy snowman, donning a leather jacket and eating a peppermint candy cane, left in front of her cabin-Sarah begins to suspect Conrad Spencer, the new detective in town, who is pursuing a murderer of his own. Soon, it becomes obvious that the sleuths would have to join forces, in order to catch the killer.
Sarah and Conrad must put their tragic pasts behind them and find out who’s after her…before the trail becomes frozen.
Synopsis: A dual narrative, feel good mystery in which a woman, Frances, spends a lifetime trying to prevent her murder as predicted by a fortune teller at a country fair when she was just 17. When she is in fact murdered nearly 60 years later, her great niece Annie must solve the crime to avenge her great aunt’s death, and in so doing uncovers the dark heart of the quaint English village of Castle Knoll, where she might just find herself in the path of the killer.
In 1965 a fortune teller warns 17-year-old Frances that one day she’ll be murdered. And one year later a girl is missing, but it’s not Frances. It’s her best friend Emily. Frances spends a lifetime compiling dirt on every person she meets, withdrawing deeper into her obsessive investigations as she tries to prevent her own murder and solve the case of Emily’s disappearance.
In the present day, twenty-something Annie has just moved home to London when she is summoned to a mysterious meeting by her wealthy and reclusive great-aunt Frances. But by the time Annie arrives in the quaint and charming village of Castle Knoll, Frances has been murdered, just like she always said she would be.
When Annie discovers Frances’s diary from 1965, she finds herself tangled in her great-aunt’s investigations, seeking justice for Frances, and maybe Emily, too. Can Annie unravel the mystery at the heart of Castle Knoll, or will digging up the past throw her into the path of the killer?
Publication Date: March 26, 2024
An ICU nurse accidentally uncovers a patient’s frightening past in this chilling thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Local Woman Missing and Just the Nicest Couple.
Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mom to a teenage daughter and working as a full time nurse. While on duty at the hospital one day, a patient named Caitlin arrives in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, having jumped from a bridge and plunging over twenty feet to the train tracks below.
But when a witness comes forward with shocking details about the fall, it calls everything they know into question. Was Caitlin pushed and if so, by whom and why?
Meghan has always tried to stay emotionally detached from her patients, but this time, she mistakenly lets herself get too close until she’s deeply entangled in Caitlin’s and her family’s lives. Only when it’s too late, does she realize that she and her daughter could be the next victims.
Publication Date: April 2, 2024
This YA Thriller sounded like its gonna be a good read, so I requested it and Novel Suspects sent me a paperback ARC.
Publication Date: November 14, 2023
Synopsis: On July 28 at 6:30 p.m., Kiri Dunsmore walks out of the desert wearing her boyfriend’s sweatshirt, covered in his blood. Dazed and on the verge of unconsciousness, she tells a cashier that he’s still out there and most likely dead. The disappearance of Callum Massey, a “survival guru” with hundreds of thousands of YouTube followers, rocks the nation. And Kiri is a prime suspect.
Back in Kiri’s hometown, true-crime fanatic Sam is completely hooked on the case—especially now that she recognizes the suspect as shy Katie from high school. Although they didn’t know each other well, that doesn’t stop Sam from reaching out to befriend her old classmate.
But when Kiri starts to confide in her, Sam realizes there’s more to the story than she had imagined. Can she keep Kiri’s secrets even though revealing them could put her where she’s always longed to be—at the center of the story?
Novel Suspects sent me this physical ARC.T he book just published on September 26, 2023
Synopsis: The Hexologists, Iz and Warren Wilby, are quite accustomed to helping desperate clients with the bugbears of city life. Aided by hexes and a bag of charmed relics, the Wilbies have recovered children abducted by chimney-wraiths, removed infestations of barb-nosed incubi, and ventured into the Gray Plains of the Unmade to soothe a troubled ghost. Well-acquainted with the weird, they never shy away from a challenging case.
But when they are approached by the royal secretary and told the king pleads to be baked into a cake—going so far as to wedge himself inside a lit oven—the Wilbies soon find themselves embroiled in a mystery that could very well see the nation turned on its head. Their effort to expose a royal secret buried under forty years of lies brings them nose to nose with a violent anti-royalist gang, avaricious ghouls, alchemists who draw their power from a hell-like dimension, and a bookish dragon who only occasionally eats people.
Armed with a love toughened by adversity and a stick of chalk that can conjure light from the darkness, hope from the hopeless, Iz and Warren Wilby are ready for whatever springs from the alleys, graves, and shadows next.
Melissa The Reading Nerd Blog 