2 Book Lovers Reviews
Week of August 3/20
It begins with one body.
A pair of medical examiners find themselves battling a dead man who won’t stay dead.
It spreads quickly.
Everywhere, people are targeted by both the living and the dead.
We think we know how this story ends.
We. Are. Wrong.
Where did July go in such a
hurry?! Here's hoping that
August is filled with plenty
of sunshine, relaxation,
and time to read. This
week's list of new releases
is posted. Enjoy!
New Releases!
Blaire Gibson knows better
than to have one night
stands.
She prides herself on her
decision-making skills. It’s
the one asset that has never
let her down. But even the
best thinkers have
weaknesses. Hers is a delicious business mogul with a quick tongue.
Unfortunately for her, that tongue is good for more than just talking.
Holt Mason doesn’t need to justify anything to anyone.
He wants Blaire. He pursues Blaire. And he gets Blaire because that’s how his life works.
Until it doesn’t.
What begins as a single night in a hotel room spirals into an unusual agreement. As late nights provide the space to trade secrets and walls come tumbling down, more is shared than just pillow talk.
They both should’ve known better. They should’ve shown restraint. Because when guards are dropped, hearts get shattered.
- Exodus (The Ravenhood Duet #2) – By Kate Stewart - The conclusion to the story that began in Flock.
- Redemption – By Jennifer Bene – Dark romance!
- Renzo + Lucia: The Complete Trilogy – By Bethany-Kris - Forbidden/Mafia romance!
They came from two different worlds.
She’s the princess of mafia royalty.
He’s the dirt of New York’s slums.
They didn’t fit … until they did.
What would it take to change a life—an entire perspective? All the things you thought you knew and wanted? For them, it took thirty-six days. And the privilege of meeting each other.
But a simple meeting between Renzo Zulla and Lucia Marcello was just the start—follow them from New York to Vegas, and even San Francisco as they fight to keep what they want the most …
Love.
- Hot Mess (Life Sucks #2) – By Elise Faber
- Bronte’s Mistress – By Finola Austin – Historical!
Yorkshire, 1843: Lydia Robinson—mistress of Thorp Green Hall—has lost her precious young daughter and her mother within the same year. She returns to her bleak home, grief-stricken and unmoored. With her teenage daughters rebelling, her testy mother-in-law scrutinizing her every move, and her marriage grown cold, Lydia is restless and yearning for something more.
All of that changes with the arrival of her son’s tutor, Branwell Brontë, brother of her daughters’ governess, Miss Anne Brontë and those other writerly sisters, Charlotte and Emily. Branwell has his own demons to contend with—including living up to the ideals of his intelligent family—but his presence is a breath of fresh air for Lydia. Handsome, passionate, and uninhibited by social conventions, he’s also twenty-five to her forty-three. A love of poetry, music, and theatre bring mistress and tutor together, and Branwell’s colorful tales of his sisters’ elaborate play-acting and made-up worlds form the backdrop for seduction.
But Lydia’s new taste of passion comes with consequences. As Branwell’s inner turmoil rises to the surface, his behavior grows erratic and dangerous, and whispers of their passionate relationship spout from her servants’ lips, reaching all three protective Brontë sisters. Soon, it falls on Lydia to save not just her reputation, but her way of life, before those clever girls reveal all her secrets in their novels. Unfortunately, she might be too late.
- The Love Scam – By MaryJanice Davidson
Rake Tarbell is in trouble. When the fabulously wealthy and carefree bachelor wakes up horribly hungover in Venice, it’s not something that would normally be a problem...except he has no idea how he got there from California. Or who stole his wallet. Or who emptied his bank account of millions. Or who in the world is Lillith, the charming little girl claiming to be his long lost daughter. For the first time in his life, Rake is on his own and throwing Benjamins around aren’t going to solve his problem. Now if only the gorgeous, fun, and free-spirited woman who brought Lillith into his life was willing to help the situation…
Claire Delaney finds Rake’s problems hilarious and is not in the least bit sorry of adding to them by bringing Lillith into the mix. A pretty Midwestern girl with a streak for mischief, Claire isn't the type to hang around with a guy like Rake. Even if he is drop-dead handsome and charming as all get-out. Even if he needs help and she has all the answers. But if this helps Lillith, she will go out of her way. And with a guy like Rake, she’s willing to bend her rules a bit for some fun.
But when adventure-filled days turn to romantic nights as they search for answers, and someone starts following them through the streets of Venice, Claire realizes she's playing more than just a game. And maybe, just maybe, she isn't willing to let go of Rake or Lillith just yet.
- Behind the Red Door – By Megan Collins – Thriller!
When Fern Douglas sees the news about Astrid Sullivan, a thirty-four-year-old missing woman from Maine, she is positive that she knows her. Fern’s husband is sure it’s because of Astrid’s famous kidnapping—and equally famous return—twenty years ago, but Fern has no memory of that, even though it happened an hour outside her New Hampshire hometown. And when Astrid appears in Fern’s recurring nightmare, one in which a girl reaches out to her, pleading, Fern fears that it’s not a dream at all, but a memory...
- Midnight Sun – By Stephenie Meyer - Twilight fans rejoice! It's here! Bella and Edward's love story told from Edward's point of view.
- Luster – By Raven Leilani
Edie is stumbling her way through her twenties--sharing a subpar apartment in Bushwick, clocking in and out of her admin job, making a series of inappropriate sexual choices. She's also, secretly, haltingly, figuring her way into life as an artist. And then she meets Eric, a digital archivist with a family in New Jersey, including an autopsist wife who has agreed to an open marriage--with rules. As if navigating the constantly shifting landscapes of contemporary sexual manners and racial politics weren't hard enough, Edie finds herself unemployed and falling into Eric's family life, his home. She becomes a hesitant friend to his wife and a de facto role model to his adopted daughter. Edie is the only black woman who young Akila knows.
- Louisiana Lucky – By Julie Pennell
Lexi, Callie, and Hanna Breaux grew up in small-town Louisiana, and have always struggled to make ends meet. For years, they’ve been playing the lottery, fantasizing about how much better life would be if they had the money.
For Lexi, it means the perfect wedding; for Callie, it means having the courage to go after her career dreams; and for Hanna, it means buying a house that isn’t falling apart and sending her bullied son to private school. When the incredible happens and the Breaux sisters hit it big—$204 million dollars big—all their dreams come true. Or so they think. Because it’s actually not a cliché—money isn’t the answer to everything, and it often comes with problems of its own.
- You Had Me at Hola – By Alexis Daria
Leading Ladies do not end up on tabloid covers.
After a messy public breakup, soap opera darling Jasmine Lin Rodriguez finds her face splashed across the tabloids. When she returns to her hometown of New York City to film the starring role in a bilingual romantic comedy for the number one streaming service in the country, Jasmine figures her new “Leading Lady Plan” should be easy enough to follow—until a casting shake-up pairs her with telenovela hunk Ashton Suárez.
Leading Ladies don’t need a man to be happy.
After his last telenovela character was killed off, Ashton is worried his career is dead as well. Joining this new cast as a last-minute addition will give him the chance to show off his acting chops to American audiences and ping the radar of Hollywood casting agents. To make it work, he’ll need to generate smoking-hot on-screen chemistry with Jasmine. Easier said than done, especially when a disastrous first impression smothers the embers of whatever sexual heat they might have had.
Leading Ladies do not rebound with their new costars.
With their careers on the line, Jasmine and Ashton agree to rehearse in private. But rehearsal leads to kissing, and kissing leads to a behind-the-scenes romance worthy of a soap opera. While their on-screen performance improves, the media spotlight on Jasmine soon threatens to destroy her new image and expose Ashton’s most closely guarded secret.
- An Unfinished Story – By Boo Walker
It’s been three years since Claire Kite lost her husband, David, an aspiring novelist, in a tragic car accident. Claire finally finds the courage to move on; then she discovers among the remnants of her shattered world her husband’s last manuscript. It’s intimate, stirring—and unfinished. An idea comes to her…What if she can find someone to give David’s novel the ending it deserves?
Whitaker Grant is famous for his one and only bestselling novel—a masterpiece that became a hit film. But after being crippled by the pressure of success and his failed marriage, Whitaker retreated from the public eye in his native St. Petersburg, Florida. Years later, he’s struggling through a deep midlife crisis. Until he receives an intriguing request from a lonely widow. To honor David’s story, Whitaker must understand, heart and soul, the man who wrote it and the woman he left behind.
There’s more to the novel than anyone dreamed. Something personal. Something true. Maybe, in bringing a chapter of David’s life to a close, Claire and Whitaker can find hope for a new beginning.
- Until Talon (Until Him/Her) – By Aurora Rose Reynolds
- Never a Saint (Polished P & P #2) – By Lila Rose – M/M biker romance!
- The Night Swim – By Megan Goldin - Psychological thriller!
Ever since her true-crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become a household name—and the last hope for people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.
The new season of Rachel's podcast has brought her to a small town being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. A local golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season 3 a success, Rachel throws herself into her investigation—but the mysterious letters keep coming. Someone is following her, and she won’t stop until Rachel finds out what happened to her sister twenty-five years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insist she was murdered—and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody in town wants to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases—and a revelation that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.
- Want You to Want Me (The Want You Series #2) – By Lorelei James
Releasing Later This Week!
- August 5 – Bully King: A Dark Bully Romance – By J.A. Huss
- August 5 – Intensive Care – By Tawdra Kandle – Workplace romance!
- August 6 – The Trouble With Quarterbacks – By R.S. Grey - A romantic comedy about unlikely love found between a British preschool teacher and the professional quarterback who sweeps her off her feet!
Happy Reading!
You Were There Too
By Colleen Oakley
Week of August 3/20
By Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Odessa Hardwicke's life is derailed when she's forced to turn her gun on her partner, Walt Leppo, a decorated FBI agent who turns suddenly, inexplicably violent while apprehending a rampaging murderer. The shooting, justified by self-defense, shakes the young FBI agent to her core. Devastated, Odessa is placed on desk leave pending a full investigation. But what most troubles Odessa isn't the tragedy itself -- it's the shadowy presence she thought she saw fleeing the deceased agent's body after his death.
Questioning her future with the FBI and her sanity, Hardwicke accepts a low-level assignment to clear out the belongings of a retired agent in the New York office. What she finds there will put her on the trail of a mysterious figure named Hugo Blackwood, a man of enormous means who claims to have been alive for centuries, and who is either an unhinged lunatic, or humanity's best and only defense against unspeakable evil.
Week of July 27th, 2020
Book Review:
The Twelve
By Justin Cronin
The Twelve, like its predecessor The Passage, was epic in scale. Add the voice of Scott Brick to the Audible and it became biblical in nature. This book pulled me in and never let me go.
When dealing with books of this magnitude, patience is essential.
*See my review...
Week of July 20th, 2020
Releasing July 21st!
Malorie: A Bird Box Novel
By Josh Malerman
Twelve years after Malorie and her children rowed up the river to safety, a blindfold is still the only thing that stands between sanity and madness. One glimpse of the creatures that stalk the world will drive a person to unspeakable violence.
There remains no explanation. No solution...
*Read more...
*Read my review of Bird Box...
Week of July 13th, 2020
Book Review:
The Wolf in the Whale
By Jordanna Max Brodsky
There is nothing like 90-degree weather outside to make me pick up a book set in the frozen tundra of the Arctic. It is something that I’ve done the past couple of years, don’t ask me why, it just seems to happen.
I have had my eye on The Wolf in the Whale for some time now. I’m intrigued by the setting, the clash of cultures, the what if of history.
*See my full review...
Week of July 6th, 2020
Book Review:
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
By Suzanne Collins
For all of those who ‘’read’’ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and hated it. Why did you read it? What did you expect? Did you even read the rest of the series or just watch the movies? The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is what this entire series has been about!
*See my full review...
Week of June 29th, 2020
Book Review:
The Only Good Indians
By Stephen Graham Jones
Releasing July 14th!
Stories are written in a time and place, they have meaning for the author when they are written; sometimes they can take on a different meaning for the reader depending on the time when they are read, things can change between the writing and the reading.
*See my full review...
Week of June 15th, 2020
Book Review:
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
By Grady Hendrix
I’ve been intending to get around to a Grady Hendrix book for a while now, I’ve got a couple of them on my Kindle, but with all that I’ve got going on, and his newest book out on Audible, I decided to enjoy it on my daily commutes. What a great decision I made!
*See my full review...
Week of June 8th, 2020
Book Review:
Shakespeare for Squirrels
By Christopher Moore
I would call myself a fan of Christopher Moore, yes, this is only the third book of his that I have read, but the other two really hit home for me. I love how Moore can create complete ridiculousness and craft a captivating story around it. I even did my homework in preparation for Shakespeare for Squirrels by reading, for the first time, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
*See my full review...
Week of June 1st, 2020
Releasing June 2nd!
The Guest List
By Lucy Foley
The author of The Hunting Party!
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one...
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human...
And then someone turns up dead.
*Read more...
Week of May 25th, 2020
Book Review:
The Glass Hotel
By Emily St. John Mandel
I was intrigued by the premise of The Glass Hotel, I’ve heard a lot of great things about Station Eleven and I had an Audible credit burning a hole in my pocket, so I thought what better time than to dive into The Glass Hotel.
*See my full review...
Week of May 19th, 2020
Book Review:
The Book of Koli
By M.R. Carey
The first thing with apocalyptic/dystopian fiction is the author needs to make it new and different, no one wants to read about a group of people stuck in a shopping mall surrounded by zombies or a young girl who volunteers to put her life at risk to save her little sister. We’ve been there; we’ve done that. The second thing is that it has to be about the characters.
*See my full review...
Week of May 11th, 2020
My Next Listen!
Goldilocks
By Laura Lam
The Handmaid's Tale meets The Martian!
...Valerie Black is spearheading the first all-female mission to a planet in the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions are just right for human habitation.
It's humanity's last hope for survival...
But when things start going wrong on the ship, Naomi begins to suspect that someone on board is concealing a terrible secret.
*Read more...
Week of April 27th, 2020
Book Review:
The Deep
By Alma Katsu
As far as I can tell, Alma Katsu has a thing. Her thing is that she takes historical events, adds a bit of the supernatural and creates a fantastic, yet unexpected story with it. That’s a thing that works really well for me.
Most great stories have a kind of “why in the hell would you do that” moment. For The Deep, that moment is when a survivor of the Titanic would take a job on its sister ship, the Britannic.
*See my full review...
Week of April 13th, 2020
Book Review:
Things in Jars
By Jess Kidd
Things in Jars was a tough one for me, I started reading it as this whole COVID-19 stuff started going on. It ended up taking me a month to read the book, not because I didn’t enjoy Kidd’s writing, not because she didn’t take me away from the horrors of reality; I was distracted.
*See my full review...
Devolution
By Max Brooks
What he's reading!
What she's reading!