Tom and Karen Krupps are a happily married couple who live in a nice neighborhood and seem genuinely in love. But Karen has a secret and it leads to problems in their marriage and in her life. Without divulging her secret, I will say that she ends up being suspected of murder and Tom loses his job because of it. They have a nosy neighbor who wants Tom for her very own. So, what is her part in Karen’s arrest? Brigid is demanding and unstable psychologically, so who knows what she may or may not have done? Certainly not the reader until the end of the book. The author keeps the suspense and secrecy going for the entire book and does a really good job of exposing the secrets gradually, keeping the reader intensely interested in finishing the book.

I got this book digitally from the local library and it was well worth waiting for!

My favorite character in all of the books that James Patterson authors is Michael Bennett.  I think I love him because he is so real, with a huge family of lovable kids that he has adopted and a caregiver named Mary Catherine who is calm and focused.  In the latest book, Bennett goes on vacation to a huge house in Maine, and as a police officer who is supposedly off duty, he certainly attracts trouble.  He left to get away from drugs and violence in NYC and encounters the same in rural Linewiler, Maine.  There he finds an old friend, Sandy, who is a police officer there trying to maintain the peace and security there with lots of bad guys who make her life difficult, most notably the drug dealer who just kills the people who get in his way and doesn’t hesitate to threaten the local constabulary since he feels that he is beyond the reach of law enforcement.  Dell Streeter sets his sights on Michael Bennett, much to his chagrin since Bennett has been deputized by Sandy and is not into allowing drug dealers to ruin the small community.  I really loved the character of Sadie in this book.  She is a homeless orphan whose mother succumbed to the drugs from Dell Streeter and her help in bringing him to justice is intense and suspenseful.  Since all of the Michael Bennett books have a happy ending, I wasn’t too concerned during the tense scenes, but the happy ending in this one even has a surprise to it.  This was a seriously good and entertaining read; I would give it four stars just because multiple scenes are predictable.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Revell Publishing who gave me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

In Irene Hannon’s latest romantic suspense, DANGEROUS ILLUSIONS, the reader has to be ready for a lot of surprises in the plot. Trish Bailey is an art teacher who recently lost her father and husband in a car accident. Now she is taking care of her mother who had a stroke and trying to help her mother maintain the family’s charitable foundation. Matthew Parker, the accountant who takes care of the foundation’s business has a romantic interest in Trish and is there to comfort her when her mother suddenly dies. The police are called in to investigate the death since it happened at home and there were suspicious circumstances. Now Trish has to wonder if she had something to do with her mom’s sudden death and she feels like she has no one to turn to. Police detective Colin Flynn, one of the investigators, is also interested in getting to know Trish better but has to maintain a professional distance while he investigates. This is where the plot gets very complicated, with the disappearance of a manicurist, the Russian mafia involved and what seems to be a dual personality in the bookkeeper. The tale is very well-told and keeps the reader interested in reading to find out exactly what is going on and who will survive in the end. An excellent Christian read with the author’s faith clearly shown in the reactions of the characters to life’s tragedies.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

 

Merry Knight is working very hard for a temp agency so she can earn enough money to go back to college when her mom and brother Patrick decide to sign her up for the dating site Mix and Mingle. She is having a little trouble with her curmudgeonly boss who wants to follow all of the rules exactly to the letter. Jayson Bright catches her working and eating lunch at her desk one day and quotes the rule book that says she is not allowed to do that. Merry continues to work cheerfully for him because it is not in her nature to hold a grudge, but she really doesn’t like him much. She does look forward to going home each evening and going online to communicate with her new friend Jay who is kind and thoughtful and seems to be made for her. Of course, everyone can guess where this is going. Jay is none other than Jayson Bright, and he is not so enthused about the girl that he has met online is none other than the office temp. Will it work out in the end? If you have read Macomber’s books before, you can guess the ending, but you have to read it to find out exactly how it works out. This is an excellent, fun and quick read for the holidays and I highly recommend it!

 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

This stand-alone novel by Ellison is a must-read for fans of fiction and mystery/suspense alike.  The main characters, Ethan and Sutton Montclair, are both well-known authors.  Ethan has lost his spark and has been unable to write for a while but considers himself a serious author.  Sutton writes general fiction and has continued to write, but she definitely has some mental issues.  When the story begins, Ethan gets up to find a note from Sutton telling him that she is leaving and not to try to find her.  So, although Ethan thinks his marriage is fine, apparently it is not as he is thrown into the police investigation to find Sutton.  Of course, he is a suspect.  Police officer Holly Graham is like a dog with a bone and won’t let this investigation go the way of most, with the husband the sole suspect and convicted in the media already.  She is determined to get to the truth, and the truth, as noted by the title, is hard to come by since there have been a lot of deception in the Montclair household.  They have had hard times, with a bad review for Sutton that seemed to derail her writingand the death of their infant son from SIDS.  Getting to the bottom of what is really happening is the job of Holly, and she is my absolutely favorite character.  Her character is thoughtful and thorough, and she personifies good detective work.  Sutton and Ethan, in spite of the many tragedies that they have faced in their lives, are not very likeable because both are so selfish and narcissistic. This book is a must-read with so many twists and turns that it was totally engaging and unbelievably entertaining.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an opportunity to read this book.  It is a great read for teens!  
Julia and Liv Jaynes live in a huge mansion with Novak and Victoria, their parents. But Novak is more than a father; he is leadder of a group of people called the Puras who have extraordinary powers, and he and his leadership team are trying to keep everyone safe from the rest of the world. Julia and LIv participate in typical teen activities, like flirting and falling in love. Julia allows her extra powers to be seen by others when Liv gets into a life-threatening situation at the pool, and as a result, Novak decides that Julia has to attend a regular high school. In her adventures there, Julia finds and falls in love with a regular human, John, but she has to keep her relationship secret since she is a member of the Selelct and John isn’t. Another major character is Angus, a kind of ne’er-do-well daredevil who lives on the edge of being left behind when the group moves again. Angus’ antics get the unwanted attention of Novak. The threat is always there; if you mess up enough, Novak will make the decision to leave you behind when the group relocates and you will be left on your own in a society that doesn’t accept or understand you. This book was a great teen read, with a mixture of suspense, romance and science-fiction that will appeal to all readers.

First of all, let me say that I was a huge fan of GIRL ON THE TRAIN, so I pre-ordered this book expecting to be absolutely enthralled by it.  Wrong!  It took me almost three months to read it (and I am a very fast reader when I want to be) because it was so boring!  There were at least ten characters; each chapter started with the name of a character and the action was just not there for me.  I could barely keep up with who was who among all of the characters:  the detectives Sean and Erin, Sean’s father Patrick, Sean’s dead mother, Sean’s wife Helen, Nel Abbott and her sister Jules and her daughter Lena, the teacher Mark Henderson, Katie and her family.  I had to almost keep a list until I found one online and kept it handy.  Then, there was the water…seemingly a place so cold and deep that it had beckoned to many over the years who had committed suicide there.  The basic theme of the story is why these people committed suicide (if they did) and the effects of their deaths on those left behind.  Ho-hum!  This would have made a good short story, but as a novel, it was lacking in the mystery and atmosphere that would have encouraged me to read more of it daily.  This is one of those books that I am glad I finished it because I paid for it, but next time the author has a new book, I will wait for the library edition.  I give it a solid 1.5 stars, and that is only because it does have an ending.

I was provided an advance copy of this book by Netgalley and the publisher, so many thanks to them for allowing me to read it!

IF YOU KNEW MY SISTER by Michelle Adams is a really twisted tale about sibling rivalry, like no other book that I have read before. Dr. Irini Harringford is returning home to Scotland because her mother has died, but she dreads seeing her sister Elle. What is their mysterious relationship all about? That is the main premise of the story, to involve the reader in the intrigue between Irini and Elle. Elle has lived with her parents all these years while Irini was sent away to live with her Aunt, an unwanted extra child at the table, and seemingly no explanation for why her parents no longer wanted her. She thought perhaps it was because of her hip deformity that caused her to be different and not perfect in appearance like Elle. But when Irini returns home for the funeral, she is determined to confront Elle and find out why she was sent away. Instead, Irini is confronted with more death and more mystery than she expected, and in finding out the reasons, she also discovers family secrets that were buried long ago and never meant to be unearthed. This book was an very good read that was hard to get into at first because I just didn’t know where the story was going. But after the first 50 pages, bam! Everything was happening so quickly that it was hard to keep up with the Harringford family and the victims they left behind.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

 

As I have gotten older, I have watched as if I am a spectator as my priorities have been changing.  As a young wife, my priority was to have a nice home and be there for my husband when he came home from sea.  As a young mother, my priority was always my children, keeping them safe and as happy as possible in a home that was very mobile because of constant military moves.  As a middle-aged wife, my priority shifted to my career because I could see that the children were growing up and would soon leave the nest that I had prepared for them.  Now, as one of the elderly grandparents, my priority is once again my husband, and oh, how I long for a home! I guess that has been the cry of my heart for all of these years, as we moved from state to state and from military quarters to military quarters.  We finally got a home in the 90’s in Pennsylvania, but I couldn’t get a teaching job there because I was over-qualified with a Master’s degree and their closed shop policy shut me out.  So, I sought employment elsewhere and left my first real home since we got married behind.  I’m still feeling unsettled and I want a real home, but God has shown me that my real home will be in Heaven, whether I have one here on earth or not.  It’s hard not to envy my friends who have a regular home that isn’t falling apart, but I think of the song “Where I Belong” by Building 429 and the lyrics remind me that I’m not really where I belong yet.  So, I guess my new priority is just to persevere until I get to the real home in Heaven that God has prepared for me.  Disappointed not to have one on earth?  Yes, of course!  But I am blessed with three healthy children and eight grandchildren, and with a husband who takes care of me even when I am cranky and envious.  I look at what happened in Puerto Rico, Florida and Texas and I am thankful that God was merciful to us here in Virginia.  And I know that I should work on getting my priorities more in line with God’s.

The latest psychological thriller by B.A. Paris was not as enthralling as her first novel (BEHIND CLOSED DOORS) but this one was good enough to keep me reading late at night until I was able to finish it. Cass is on her way home from a meeting on a rainy night and takes a short cut on a dark, wooded road when she sees a car broken down on the side of the road. She stops briefly, waiting to see if the driver will respond and come seek her help, but when nothing happens she drives on. The next morning, she is horrified to find out that a new friend was in that car and was murdered. She is afraid now that the murderer is stalking her. Strange things begin to happen at home. She is forgetting things like dinner engagements and buying products online. Is she suffering from early onset dementia, just as her mother had? The pills she receives do nothing except make her sleep the day away so that she can’t even function. She doesn’t know who to turn to or trust, except for her best friend Rachel and her husband and he is increasingly distant. The plot is twisted and macabre and full of surprises, so I wasn’t disappointed in the end.