Review: One of the Family by Jess Ryder

On November 2, 2025 By vickleaIn blog tour, Book Promo, Book ReviewLeave a comment

About the Book

ISBN-13:9781837908486

Publication date:10/30/2025

Pages:330

My daughter’s boyfriend feels like one of the family. I couldn’t be happier to have him living with us. But now my daughter’s disappeared…

I never wanted to have an empty nest. So when my daughter, Liv, asks if she and her new boyfriend, Jensen, can move in, I’m thrilled.

Jensen is so helpful. He tells me how he loves being part of a close-knit family. He’s felt so alone since his parents died. And for me, his presence goes a little way towards replacing the son I lost.

Still, I can’t help but notice that Liv and Jensen are starting to argue. My daughter seems unhappy. Perhaps they just need some time alone together?

But when my husband and I return from our weekend away, Liv is missing. The relationship with Jensen appears to be over but he doesn’t want to leave. And then I discover exactly what he will do to stay in our family…

An utterly gripping psychological thriller that will have you turning pages late into the night. If you love Lisa Jewell and Freida McFadden you will be hooked on One of the Family.

My Thoughts

This story of a dsyfunctional family was absorbing as well as disturbing. It is absorbing in its realistic depiction of a family with multiple issues among multiple people, all living in a whirlpool of circumstances and regrets. It is disturbing because it is so easy to imagine oneself caught up in similar circumstances and being swept away by them. The nuclear family consists of a workaholic father, a meddling mother and two daughters, one just finishing secondary school and one graduating from university. Rachel, the mom, works in a boutique but not so many hours that she cannot involve herself in her daughter’s lives. She is concerned about Meg who is being bullied and about Liv who needs to find a job now that she has finished school. Add to that the fact that her husband Dom is away a lot on business trips, so most of the decisions in the family fall on Rachel. When Liv graduates, she moves home and brings her boyfriend Jensen with her. Jensen is a happy-go-lucky sort, thrilled to be with the family since his parents died when he was young and he has been on his own for a while. Rachel is happy to accommodate the young couple since it means that she will have Liv around again. The dad and Meg are not too excited about having Jensen living with them, but their warnings and appeals to Rachel fall on deaf ears. When Meg decides to strike out on her own, Rachel and her husband choose to go away for a weekend so that they have some time to reconnect. It also means that Liv and Jensen are alone for the weekend and can possibly work out some of their recent disputes about Jensen not actively looking for employment. When Rachel and Dom return from their weekend getaway, Liv has disappeared, and Jensen tells them that she has decided to leave. Getting to this part of the book, which I considered the central point of the story, took a while, but the author did a good job of keeping my interest by filling in with background information about all of the characters. By the time Liv disappeared, I was invested in the lives of all of the characters and wanted a happy ending for them, even though that did not seem feasible or likely. The book’s pace picks up from moderate to rapid once Rachel sets out on her quest to find Liv and Jensen is obviously hiding some secret that the reader is not privy to until the end of the book. I really was captivated by the storyline of a young woman just leaving her family and the boyfriend remaining with her family. This engaging and enthralling story kept me guessing to the end, with many twists and a lot of clues, some of which I was able to grasp and appreciated their subtlety. This is a masterfully written thriller that had my head spinning and my heart racing, especially as the inevitable conclusion was approaching without any sign of Liv. I enjoyed the realistic characterization, noting that even the secondary characters were developed enough for me to decide to relate with them or not. I especially liked the mystery and the relationships between the characters that kept the plot moving along. There was always some drama going on in someone’s life in this book. This is a book that was hard to put down once I got immersed in it, but it did take me about a fourth of the way through the book before I was thoroughly captured by all of the action and the lives of the characters. This is thriller/suspense/family drama at its best and I highly recommend it for those who enjoy contemporary fiction with a nod to Hitchcock-like twists.
I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookouture via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, an all opinions expressed are my own.

About the Author

Jess Ryder is the pseudonym of Jan Page, author, screenwriter, playwright and award-winning television producer. After spending many years working in children’s television, she returned to writing novels and has written nine psychological thrillers to date. These include the e-bestseller The Ex Wife, which was adapted as a TV miniseries for Paramount Plus. She lives in London with her husband.

Mailing List: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/jess-ryder

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JessRyderAuthor/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16557458.Jess_Ryder

Purchase Links

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Review of OUR SISTER’S GRAVE by B.R. Spangler

On January 19, 2024 By vickleaIn blog tour, Book Review5 Comments

About the Book

ISBN-13:9781835255094

Publisher:Bookouture

Publication date:12/14/2023

Series:Detective Casey White , #10

Pages:230

Synopsis

As the sun rises over North Carolina’s Outer Banks, eight sorority sisters gather on the docks, excited to start their reunion weekend with a diving excursion. But when only seven of them return to the boat alive, Detective Casey White is the first person to investigate.

Confused as to why she’s been called to what appears to be a tragic accident, her heart stops when she notices fresh hand-shaped bruises on the victim’s ankles. Karol Witney was murdered. But with a crime scene and any evidence thirty feet underwater, Casey knows this will be her most challenging case yet.

Determined to find the killer, Casey and her fiancé Jericho dive to the shipwreck where Karol was last seen exploring. But just as Casey discovers a piece of shocking evidence on the ocean floor, Jericho is attacked. The killer is still out there, and they’re watching Casey’s every move.

As Jericho fights for his life, and another body washes up on the beach, Casey knows she has to dive again. Because she’ll do anything to catch the killer, even if it means using herself as bait…

My Thoughts

When Detective Casey White is called to the scene of what she thinks is a drowning, she is as surprised as anyone that the death of Karol Witney is not an accident. Determined to find her killer, even if it means risking her own life, Casey gets tech support from the new office employee as well as help from her colleague Tracy and her husband Jericho. The pace is fast, with more clues being given as well as red herrings and false trails. There is a lot of family drama, too, as Jericho is gravely injured in his desire to help Casey solve the case. I enjoyed getting to know the characters better. Although this is the tenth book in the series, it is only the second one that I have read and although I felt at times that I was missing some information that had been in previous books, I did not think that it took away from my thorough enjoyment of this one. The characters are dynamic and relatable, the plot is realistically portrayed and written in a way that drew me into the story methodically and relentlessly. Part police procedural and part mystery, this book is not to be missed by fans who enjoy good detectives who put it all on the line to solve the crime.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This is a gritty crime procedural, so I would rate it PG.

About the Author

B.R. Spangler is a USA TODAY Bestselling Author of Mysteries and Crime Thrillers.
A resident of Virginia with a wonderful family, including five cats, two birds and a lizard.

Social media:

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/BR_Spangler
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/authorbrianspangler/
Newsletter sign up: https://www.bookouture.com/br-spangler

Purchase Link:

Our Sister’s Grave

Blog Tour

Review of ANGELS IN THE SNOW by M.M. Chouinard

On November 9, 2023 By vickleaIn Book Review1 Comment

About the Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:9781837904327

Publisher:Bookouture

Publication date:11/08/2023

Series:Detective Jo Fournier , #8

Synopsis

When Detective Jo Fournier’s cousin goes missing with her sweet five-year-old Alexia, Jo heads straight to where they were last seen. Her heart stops when she finds their unlocked car—one door has been left open and Alexia’s beloved teddy is lying in the snow. Jo’s blood runs cold as she realizes her family have been kidnapped…

Even as she swears to bring them home, Jo makes a discovery that chills her to the bone: other young, single mothers have vanished with their little daughters just before Christmas.

As Jo’s team re-open the cold cases, they make a terrible discovery. Buried deep under the snow in the forest near Oakhurst are the bones of a mother and daughter who disappeared. The snowy grave contains a little angel, the kind you would hang on a Christmas tree.

With no sign of her cousin and little Alexia, Jo is sure that they are in the hands of a twisted serial killer and running out of time. Discovering suspicious activity in the security footage from the day her cousins were taken gives Jo the clue she’s been desperately searching for. Can Jo bring her family home safe, or has the killer lured her into a terrifying trap?

My Thoughts

This is the first book that I have read in this series, but it definitely won’t be the last as I am a newly devoted fan to Detective Jo Fournier. In this book, Jo is personally involved with a crime since her cousins are kidnapped and she is desperate to find them before it is too late. The book combines the genres of police procedural with family drama and high suspense. The pace is fast and furious as Jo races find Paxton and little Alexia, with lots of roadblocks and false clues along the way. The characters are realistic and the narrator switches between the police investigation to the perpetrator and his expectations for his captives. It was interesting to read how determined Paxton was to keep her and Alexia safe and play along with the “game” of the captor until she could figure out a possible way to escape. The setting was eerie, just creepy enough to give me chills, and the action was pulse pounding and realistic. I especially enjoyed how methodical Jo was in her investigation, following clues relentlessly. Because the victims are young and innocent, the book appealed to my need to see a quick and happy resolution. The crime was not the first one for this perpetrator though so there are a lot of red herrings and false trails for Jo and her team to follow before they find the right one. My favorite part of the book was the insight into the thought processes of the investigators and how tenacious they were. This book is enjoyable, compelling and intense with some clever twists and a satisfying conclusion.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookouture via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”