Category: Review Sunday

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Kimberly reviews Last One To Lie by J.M. Winchester

TITLE: Last One To Lie
CHARACTERS: Kelsey & Paul
AUTHOR: J.M. Winchester
PUBLICATION DATE: 06/09/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N- no link

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Moving to a new city was supposed to be a fresh start for her family. Now it’s a nightmare.
Her little girl was supposed to be at day care when Kelsey arrived to pick her up. But they have no record of her daughter ever being there. And to make matters worse, her husband is missing too—he won’t pick up his phone, and the school he supposedly works at says he never accepted their job offer.
Detective Paul Ryan knows something’s up with Kelsey’s story. Kelsey’s husband might be involved in their daughter’s disappearance, but the deeper the detective digs, the more inconsistencies he finds.
As Detective Ryan tries to uncover the truth, what he finds are more deeply buried secrets that someone clearly never wanted found.

REVIEW:
4.25 Hearts Ummm Wow… Ummm What? Yeah that is how I feel after reading the last page of this suspenseful mystery.

Imagine you go to get your child and there is no record of a child at all. Your husband doesn’t work where you “know” he does. And now a detective is involved and isn’t sure he believes you. And might even think you did something to the child you claim is missing. Oh so many secrets!!!

This book had me turning my head as fast as I turned the pages (theoretically). And then when I thought I had an answer up pops even more.

This book is crazy. I mean really there is no better word for it… Crazy!!! But worth the suspense and mystery you will not see coming. Really enjoyed this story.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews Girl Walking Alone by Dana Perry

TITLE: Girl Walking Alone
SERIES #: Jessie Tucker Mystery #1
CHARACTERS: Jessie Tucker
AUTHOR: Dana Perry
PUBLICATION DATE: 11/20/19
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
I thought about Margaret Kincaid lying there in Central Park. A woman in the wrong place at the wrong time on a hot summer night. And now she was dead. It could have been me. It nearly was.

At thirty-six, Jessie Tucker is a well-respected crime reporter and even a local hero, after a brutal attack twelve years ago left her so broken that doctors said she’d never walk again. These days, she’s still got the scars but is back on her feet – determined to cover the cases other reporters can’t stomach.

But when Margaret Kincaid’s murder file lands on her desk, Jessie has to pause. She still has nightmares about her attack, and the details of Margaret’s case are too familiar. Night falling over the park, girl walking alone, and a stranger waiting in the trees ahead… just for her, or for an unlucky anyone? They might never know.

Then the police gun down their top suspect and it seems the mystery will die with him. But something tells Jessie that the police got it wrong: the real killer is still out there, poised to strike again. It’s up to Jessie to put together the pieces before he finds his next victim… but in the shadowy depths of Central Park will Jessie uncover far more than she bargained for?

REVIEW:
3.5 Hearts This is a new series about Jessie Tucker who is a crime reporter after being attacked years ago she wants to get justice for those that attack others. She clamps on to the murder file of Margaret Kincaid which has similar details to her own attack so she goes out on her own to find out what happened to Margaret.

I liked Jessie even though there are a few times I wanted to roll my eyes at her. And just like shows on tv somehow the copus can not solve it but a reporter can just doesn’t always work for me.

There are a few sex scenes that ar3e explicit and make me think they were thrown in for erotica value when it really wasn’t needed.

As with any first in a series there is a lot just to get to know the characters. I will give the next in the series to try to see if there is more depth to the story.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Kimberly reviews The Request by David Bell

TITLE: The Request
CHARACTERS: Ryan and Blake
AUTHOR: David Bell
PUBLICATION DATE: 06/30/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
When a man agrees to do a favor for a friend, he gets more than he bargained for as he becomes embroiled in a woman’s murder in this new thriller from the USA Today bestselling author of Layover.

Ryan Francis has it all–great job, wonderful wife, beautiful child–and he loves posting photos of his perfect life on social media. Until the night his friend Blake asks him to break into a woman’s home to retrieve incriminating items that implicate Blake in an affair. Ryan refuses to help, but when Blake threatens to reveal Ryan’s darkest secret–which could jeopardize everything in Ryan’s life–Ryan has no choice but to honor Blake’s request.

When he arrives at the woman’s home, Ryan is shocked to find her dead–and just as shocked to realize he knows her. Then his phone chimes, revealing a Facebook friend request from the woman. With police sirens rapidly approaching, Ryan flees, wondering why his friend was setting him up for murder.

Determined to keep his life intact and to clear his name, Ryan must find the real murderer–but solving the crime may lead him closer to home than he ever could have imagined.

REVIEW:
3.75 Hearts What a fun book with a bit of craziness. Ryan has made bad decisions his whole life it seems and sometimes the bad ones come back to getcha.

I found this book very lighthearted but also imaginative. Ryan has so many crazy exploits and so do the others in this book. The writing is very well done and kept me wanting to read more. I even chuckled out loud a few times. I mean how much can happen to one guy?

If you are looking for a thriller with a lot of humor this is the one for you.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews The Finders by Jeffery B Burton

TITLE: The Finders
SERIES #: Mace Reid K9 Mystery #1
CHARACTERS: Mace Reid
AUTHOR: Jeffery B Burton
PUBLICATION DATE: 06/30/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted?

Jeffrey B. Burton’s The Finders marks the beginning of a fast-paced new mystery series featuring a heroic golden retriever cadaver dog named Vira and her handler, Mason Reid.

Mason “Mace” Reid lives on the outskirts of Chicago and specializes in human remains detection. He trains dogs to hunt for the dead. Reid’s coming off a taxing year—mourning the death of a beloved springer spaniel as well as the dissolution of his marriage. He adopts a rescue dog with a mysterious past—a golden retriever named Vira. And when Reid begins training Vira as a cadaver dog, he comes to realize just how special the newest addition to his family truly is…

Suddenly, Reid and his prize pupil find themselves hurled into a taxing murder case, which will push them to their very limits. Paired with determined Chicago Police Officer Kippy Gimm, Mace must put all his trust in Vira’s abilities to thwart a serial killer who has now set his sights on Mace himself.

REVIEW:
3.75 Hearts I am so in love with this story. Not for Mace (or Kimmy) but for all the dogs. I have never read this author before but when I saw the cover and read the synopsis I had to read this story. And it helped it was the first in a new series.

In short Mace trains dogs and it is amazing how Burton writes different personalities for each dog just like each dog in your family has their own personality. But these are working dogs. And they know their business. And when Mace, as the trainer, and Kimmy as the detective use Vira (the dog) to track a serial killer the story amps up.

I really enjoyed this new series and look forward to the next in series which I think will be even better because there is always a lot of time spent meeting the characters in the first of a series.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews Daddy’s Girls by Danielle Steel

TITLE: Daddy’s Girls
CHARACTERS: Caroline, Gemma & Kate
AUTHOR: Danielle Steel
PUBLICATION DATE: 06/09/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
IN DANIELLE STEEL’S RIVETING NOVEL, THREE WOMEN RAISED BY THEIR FATHER ON A SPRAWLING CALIFORNIA RANCH NOW CONFRONT DIFFICULT TRUTHS ABOUT THEIR PAST.

Decades ago, after the death of his wife, Texas ranch hand JT Tucker took his three small daughters to California to start a new life. With almost no money, a will of iron, and hard work, he eventually built the biggest ranch in California. but when he dies suddenly at the age of 64, the ranch is inherited by his three daughters – each of them finding it impossible to believe this larger-than-life figure is gone from their lives.

JT’s relationship with each daughter was entirely different. Caroline, the youngest and most reserved, was overlooked by her father for her entire life and fled to become a wife, mother, and writer in Marin County. Gemma, his declared favorite, sought out Hollywood glamour and success and became a major television star. Kate, the eldest, stayed at home with her father to do his bidding as a ranch hand, without thanks or praise, forsaking marriage and a family of her own for the love of him.

Now, upon JT’s death, the paper trail he leaves behind begins to reveal much more than the three sisters ever guessed about who he really was. It will turn their world upside down, and each of them must grapple with a new reality, strengthening their relationships with one another and discovering who they are now as grown women, in spite of him.

Set against the magnificent backdrop of the West and the drams of a family in turmoil, ‘DADDY’S GIRLS’ is the story of three remarkable women and their unique bond to each other – the daughters of a complex, many-faceted, domineering father who left his mark on each of them.

REVIEW:
4.25 Hearts So it’s Danielle Steel, if you are a fan of the genre of course you know the story is great.

This story is about family and the relationship dynamics between sisters and the different relationship they have with their father. How can three girls grow up with the same dad and have completely different feelings towards him and about him?

As with every Danielle Steel book there is real life thrown into her stories. You will definitely connect with at least one of the girls and maybe all of them in some form or another.

Steel is the queen of her genre and any fan grabs her stories as soon as they come on the market and this is one you will love adding to your collection.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews The Fallen Girls by Kathryn Casey

TITLE: The Fallen Girls
CHARACTERS: Clara Jefferies
AUTHOR: Kathryn Casey
PUBLICATION DATE: 06/03/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
She didn’t notice the corn stalks shiver a few feet to her right. By the time she looked up, the man towered above her. In a single movement he wrapped one thick hand around her waist, the other he clamped over her mouth, muffling her screams.

Detective Clara Jefferies has spent years running from her childhood in Alber, Utah. But when she hears that her baby sister Delilah has disappeared, she knows that the peaceful community will be shattered, her family vulnerable, and that she must face up to her past and go home.

Clara returns to find that her mother, Ardeth, has isolated her family by moving to the edge of town, in the shadow of the mountains. Ardeth refuses to talk to the police and won’t let Clara through the front door, believing she and her sister-wives can protect their own. But Clara knows better than anyone that her mother isn’t always capable of protecting her children.

When Clara finds out that two more girls have disappeared, all last seen around the cornfields near her family’s home, she realizes it’s not just Delilah who’s in danger. And then she gets a call that a body has been found…

Clara will have to dig deep into the town’s secrets if she’s going to find Delilah. But that will mean confronting the reason she left. And as she gets closer to Delilah, she might be putting her more at risk…

REVIEW:
3.75 Hearts So here is the deal. I will admit I hate when a book that is first in a series takes forever to tell you who the characters are and the book seems to take forever. And then we have books that do not tell you much about the characters at all. This was one that told us a lot. And while it wasn’t my favorite part it was very thorough. And Detective Jeffries has had a lot of backstory for us to get to know. Maybe even a bit too much but it was fine.

The suspense part was finding Delilah. The suspense part was very well written. I enjoyed the mystery. However I will say that I figured it out, actually I think one of the characters gave it away or maybe I am just that lucky. But even knowing I still enjoyed the story.

I will certainly pick up the next in the series.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews The Summer Deal by Jill Shalvis

TITLE: The Summer Deal
SERIES #: Wildstone #5
CHARACTERS: Brynn, Kinsey & Eli
AUTHOR: Jill Shalvis
PUBLICATION DATE: 06/02/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Brynn Turner desperately wishes she had it together, but her personal life is like a ping-pong match that’s left her scared and hurt after so many attempts to get it right. In search of a place to lick her wounds and get a fresh start, she heads back home to Wildstone.

And then there’s Kinsey Davis, who after battling serious health issues her entire twenty-nine years of life, is tired of hoping for . . . well, anything. She’s fierce, tough, and pretty much the opposite of Brynn except for one thing: they’re half-sisters. Kinsey is keeping this bombshell, and a few others as well. Long time frenemies from summer camp, there’s no way she’s going to tell Brynn they’re related.

But then Brynn runs into Kinsey’s lifelong best friend, Eli, renewing a childhood crush. He’s still easy-going and funny and sexy as hell. When he gets her to agree to a summer-time deal to trust him to do right by her, no matter what, she never dreams it’ll result in finding a piece of herself she didn’t even know was missing. She could have a sister, love, and a future―if she can only learn to let go of the past.

As the long days of summer wind down, the three of them must discover if forgiveness is enough to grasp the unconditional love that’s right in front of them.

REVIEW:
Oh how I love Jill Shalvis! I have never been disappointed in what she has written and this is another story I just enjoyed. There were characters that drove me nuts but somehow that just made them family. There is a bit of weird dynamics here so let me see if I can help a reader out. Brynn and Kinsey are frenemies for childhood but actually they are half siblings. Brynn had a crush on Eli who is now Kinsey’s boyfriend and more like bro/sis with Brynn. Brynn has a sorta boyfriend in Deck. Brynn knows she is half siblings but keeps it and so much more from Kinsey but tells Eli and makes him promise not to tell his girlfriend because she has been through health issues.

Caught up? Yeah it can be confusing but Jill Shalvis writes it so perfectly that you just fall into her writing and enjoy.

Grab this book and bring it along this summer to where ever you are going…. Ok you can read it at home since we are mostly stuck here… but no matter where you are it will be a read you will enjoy every word of.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews Gone To Darkness by Barbara Nickless

TITLE: Gone To Darkness
SERIES #: Sydney Rose Parnell #4
CHARACTERS: Sydney & Bandoni
AUTHOR: Barbara Nickless
PUBLICATION DATE: 06/02/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
From a Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Newly minted homicide detective Sydney Parnell faces a savage killer whose endgame is to capture her. And keep her.

Iraqi war vet and former railway cop Sydney Parnell is now the youngest homicide detective in Denver’s Major Crimes Unit. In the past, gut instinct has served her and her K9 partner well. But it’s not a trait Len Bandoni, her old nemesis turned reluctant mentor, admires. Not until Sydney’s instincts lead to their first case: a man tortured and beaten to death, then left in a refrigerated train car with cryptic messages carved into his body.

The victim is a well-liked member of an elite club called the Superior Gentlemen. At first glance, the club appears harmless. But beneath its refined surface swim darker currents.

As Sydney; her K9 partner, Clyde; and Bandoni investigate the grisly murder, the three develop a bond that carries them through a shocking series of crimes and a horrifying conspiracy that threatens the detectives’ lives and promises to bring their beloved city to its knees.

REVIEW:
2.75 Hearts This is the 4th in a series that I have not read before. And to say I felt a bit like I had no idea what was going on with the characters would be an understatement. Maybe if I had read the first one and understood Sydney a bit I would have enjoyed the story more but since I didn’t I was a bit out of sorts.

That being said the story is good. I loved Clyde, Sydney’s K9 partner. I always enjoy a book that really incorporates a dog and gives him a personality not just a “working dog”. Clyde is great.

The suspense was good. Didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat but I didn’t want to DNF it either.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Kelly reviews Nightingale House by Steve Frech

TITLE: Nightingale House
CHARACTERS: Daniel & Caitlyn Price
AUTHOR: Steve Frech
PUBLICATION DATE: June 19, 2020
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
The Nightingale House is a new beginning for widower Daniel Price and his young daughter Caitlyn. After months of grief, this will be the place where they start their life as a family of two. But something is wrong—Daniel can’t settle. There’s an odd, cold feeling in the master bedroom, and a mysterious dripping noise that seems to move from room to room. Whispers of I can’t sleep echo through the corridors, long into the night. And then Daniel uncovers the chilling story of the family who lived in the house years before, of betrayal, tragedy, and murder. Could the Nightingale House be not the home Daniel dreamed of for his daughter—but a place that will bring their worst nightmares to life?

REVIEW:
One House
Two Families
And a deep dark secret that could destroy them all.

Nightingale House tells us the story of the house from the present and the past. We get to follow Daniel Price and his daughter Caitlyn in the present. A young family trying to learn to live with the loss of Nicole, Daniel’s wife and Caitlyn’s mother. We also follow the Carrington Family who lived in the house back in 1900.

This was my first book by Steve Frech. I enjoyed the book but it was a little predictable for me. But all in all it was a good book and I enjoyed the journey of the story. If you like a good haunting story you will enjoy this book.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley & HQ Digital in exchange for an honest review. This review is my own opinion and not a paid review.

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Kimberly reviews They Did Bad Things by Lauren A Forry

TITLE: They Did Bad Things
CHARACTERS: a number of characters
AUTHOR: Lauren A Forry
PUBLICATION DATE: 06/02/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
And Then There Were None meets The Last Time I Lied in this dark and twisty psychological thriller.

In 1995, six university students moved into the house at 215 Caldwell Street. Months later, one of them was found dead on the sofa the morning after their end-of-year party. His death was ruled an accident by the police. The remaining five all knew it wasn’t, and though they went on with their lives, the truth of what happened to their sixth housemate couldn’t stay buried forever.

Twenty years later, all five of them arrive—lured separately under various pretenses—at Wolfheather House, a crumbling, secluded mansion on the Scottish isle of Doon. Trapped inside with no way out and no signal to the outside world, the now forty-somethings fight each other—and the unknown mastermind behind their gathering—as they confront the role they played in their housemate’s death. They are given one choice: confess to their crimes or die.

They Did Bad Things is a deviously clever psychological thriller about the banality of evil and the human capacity for committing horror.

REVIEW:
2.75 Hearts Boy was this book hard to get into. To tell the truth if not for the reviews saying the end got better I would have set this book aside. But I will say it did get better but not good in my opinion.

Something was very off in this story. First off I didn’t like any of the characters. I mean none of them. I never cared what happened or why. The story was so jumpy that it was distracting. I do not mind a back and forth between time periods but this seemed (not really but it did seem) to jump every other paragraph.

I will admit that like the other reviews said it got better in the end. But by then I just didn’t care what was going on.

Just not my thing I guess.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Kimberly reviews Always The Last To Know by Kristan Higgins

TITLE: Always The Last To Know
CHARACTERS: Barb, John & Sadie
AUTHOR: Kristan Higgins
PUBLICATION DATE: 06/09/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
Sometimes you have to break a family to fix it.

From New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins, a new novel examining a family at the breaking point in all its messy, difficult, wonderful complexity.

The Frosts are a typical American family. Barb and John, married almost fifty years, are testy and bored with each other…who could blame them after all this time? At least they have their daughters– Barb’s favorite, the perfect, brilliant Juliet; and John’s darling, the free-spirited Sadie. The girls themselves couldn’t be more different, but at least they got along, more or less. It was fine. It was enough.

Until the day John had a stroke, and their house of cards came tumbling down.

Now Sadie has to put her career as a teacher and struggling artist in New York on hold to come back and care for her beloved dad–and face the love of her life, whose heart she broke, and who broke hers. Now Juliet has to wonder if people will notice that despite her perfect career as a successful architect, her perfect marriage to a charming Brit, and her two perfect daughters, she’s spending an increasing amount of time in the closet having panic attacks.

And now Barb and John will finally have to face what’s been going on in their marriage all along.

From the author of Good Luck with That and Life and Other Inconveniences comes a new novel of heartbreaking truths and hilarious honesty about what family really means.

REVIEW:
This might be one of my favorite Kristan Higgins books ever. The reason why is that it is so real. I kept seeing myself in a number of characters at different times. And I love that kind of story.

I want to tell you that I connected more with one character but I didn’t. I connected with all of them. I guess because the family dynamic can be really anyone’s family. We all have ups and downs in our life and this story shows that we are not alone.

Higgins has really grown as an author since I have been reading her books. And I can’t wait until her next book and every one after that.

This is a great beach read. Just fall into the story and relax.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

4 Hearts

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Kimberly reviews Stranger In The Lake by Kimberly Belle

TITLE: Stranger In The Lake
CHARACTERS: Charlotte & Paul
AUTHOR: Kimberly Belle
PUBLICATION DATE: 06/09/20
ORDER LINKS: Amazon | B&N

BOOK SYNOPSIS:
When Charlotte married the wealthy widower Paul, it caused a ripple of gossip in their small lakeside town. They have a charmed life together, despite the cruel whispers about her humble past and his first marriage. But everything starts to unravel when she discovers a young woman’s body floating in the exact same spot where Paul’s first wife tragically drowned.

At first, it seems like a horrific coincidence, but the stranger in the lake is no stranger. Charlotte saw Paul talking to her the day before, even though Paul tells the police he’s never met the woman. His lie exposes cracks in their fragile new marriage, cracks Charlotte is determined to keep from breaking them in two.

As Charlotte uncovers dark mysteries about the man she married, she doesn’t know what to trust—her heart, which knows Paul to be a good man, or her growing suspicion that there’s something he’s hiding in the water.

REVIEW:
I have never read this author before but I enjoyed the story. I will probably read her again.

In this story, Charlotte falls in love with a man the town suspects killed his wife but of course Charlotte does not believe it. But when another body is found at the same location as Paul’s wife Charlotte begins to wonder.

I thought the story was well written but I never really got into the story completely. Meaning I enjoyed the story but it didn’t drag me in as some books do. Well, maybe it did. To slap Charlotte a time or two. But other than that I just wanted to read it and see what happened.

I can see how this would not be everyone’s cup of tea but I think it was a solid read.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.