Coming Soon – My reviews for these Exciting Books currently on the #TBR

#comingsoon - my December reads

So many great books on tap this month, I singled out just six to highlight upcoming books on my #TBR.

While there doesn’t appear to be Christmas books on this list, you may still find just the book you are looking for (including two audiobooks) in this wide variety of genres. I’m including a short (in most cases, excerpt) blurb and the cover links will take you to the Amazon listing. Check them out!

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Apples Never Fall by Liane MoriartyDomestic Thrillers, Suspense, Family Life Fiction

Listening Length: 18 hrs 3 mins

Released: September 14, 2021

From Liane Moriarty, the number one New York Times best-selling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall, an audiobook that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.

The Delaney family love one another dearly – it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other….

If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?

This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.

A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

I finished this audiobook a week ago. I can understand why this was a (final) nominee for Mystery and Thriller in the Goodreads Choice Awards 2021. My review on Thursday, Dec. 16.

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The Great Witch of Brittany: A Novel by Louisa Morgan

The Great Witch of Brittany by Louisa MorganHistorical Fantasy, Magical Realism, Women’s Fantasy Fiction

Print Length: 446 pages

To be Released: February 15, 2022

Return to the world of A Secret History of Witches with the bewitching tale of Ursule Orchière and her discovery of magical abilities that will not only change the course of her life but every generation that comes after her. 

Brittany, 1762

There hasn’t been a witch born in the Orchière clan for generations. According to the elders, that line is dead, leaving the clan vulnerable to the whims of superstitious villagers and the prejudices of fearmongering bishops.

A tale of magic and fate, triumph and heartbreak, and the powerful bonds between mothers and daughters unfolds in the late 1700s in this spellbinding novel from master storyteller, Louisa Morgan.

The author weaves a hypnotic tale of the arts in the seventeenth century. I greatly enjoyed A Secret History of Witches and in April, 2020, The Age of Witches, and I’m excited to jump into her new book to be released early next year—currently on pre-order. My review scheduled for Dec 19.

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Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door (A Jane Darrowfield Mystery Book 2) by Barbara Ross

Jane Darrowfield and the Madwoman Next Door by Barbara RossCozy Craft & Hobby Mysteries, Amateur Sleuth Mysteries

Print Length: 250 pages

To be Released: December 28, 2021

Jane Darrowfield is using her retirement years to work as a professional busybody, with most of her business coming from her West Cambridge, Massachusetts, community. This time her client is right next door . . .
Megan, who’s purchased the house next to Jane’s, needs some help from her snooping neighbor. Megan’s been having blackouts, hearing voices—and feeling like someone’s following her. Are these symptoms of an illness—or signs that she’s in danger?

I enjoy the author’s Maine Clambake Mystery series including this year Shucked Apart, and Professional Busybody Book 1 of this new series in an audiobook. Enjoyable, easy, fun, and fast reading. My review scheduled for Dec 24.

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Targeted (Bob Lee Swagger Novel Book 12) by Stephen Hunter

Targeted by Stephen HunterAssassination Thrillers, Political Thrillers & Suspense

Print Length: 384 pages

To be Released: January 18, 2022

After his successful takedown of a dangerous terrorist, Bob Lee Swagger learns that no good deed goes unpunished. Summoned to court by the United States Congress, Swagger is accused of reckless endangerment by a hardheaded anti-gun congresswoman. But what begins as political posturing soon turns deadly when the auditorium where the committee is being held is attacked…

A CE review scheduled for tomorrow, Dec 10.

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The Last House on the Street: A Novel by Diane Chamberlain

The Last House on the Street by Diane ChamberlainWomen’s Historical Fiction, Mothers & Children Fiction, Family Life Fiction

Print Length: 346 pages

To be Released: January 11, 2022

A community’s past sins rise to the surface in New York Times bestselling author Diane Chamberlain’s The Last House on the Street when two women, a generation apart, find themselves bound by tragedy and an unsolved, decades-old mystery.

Two women. Two stories. Both on a collision course with the truth–no matter what that truth may bring to light–in Diane Chamberlain’s riveting, powerful novel about the search for justice.

My review scheduled for Dec 12

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The American Agent: A Maisie Dobbs Novel by Jacqueline Winspear

The American Agent by Jacqueline WinspearWorld War II Historical Fiction, Traditional Detective Mysteries, Women Sleuth Mysteries

Listening Length: 11 hrs 2 mins

Beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs, “one of the great fictional heroines” (Parade), investigates the mysterious murder of an American war correspondent in London during the Blitz in a pause-resisting tale of love and war, terror and survival.

When Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe, is found murdered in her London digs, news of her death is concealed by British authorities. Serving as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the Secret Service, Robert MacFarlane pays a visit to Maisie Dobbs, seeking her help. He is accompanied by an agent from the US Department of Justice – Mark Scott, the American who helped Maisie get out of Hitler’s Munich in 1938. MacFarlane asks Maisie to work with Scott to uncover the truth about Saxon’s death.

Fresh from a raving review of the audiobook by a blogger buddy, I discovered a copy in my wonderful, well-stocked local library. My review on Dec 30.

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See any here that you’ve either read or will want to read? Winners all, NYTimes bestselling authors several, favorite authors, and stories you don’t want to miss. I can highly recommend both audiobooks mentioned above and I know Ms. Morgan’s book will have my head swimming in fantasy soon. I can’t wait.

©2021 V Williams V Williams-Christmas hat

Autumn reading time

Rock Paper Scissors: A Novel by Alice Feeney – #Audiobook Review – #domesticthrillers

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

(Amazon) Editors Pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Book Blurb:

Rock Paper Scissors is the latest exciting domestic thriller from the queen of the killer twist, New York Times best-selling author Alice Feeney.

Think you know the person you married? Think again….

Things have been wrong with Mr. and Mrs. Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife. 

Every anniversary the couple exchanges traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after. 

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.  

My Review:

Admittedly, this was an audiobook and I choose audiobooks to fill the hours in which I’m cleaning, gardening, shopping, or cooking. So, is it possible I missed something along the way?

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice FeeneyAlice Feeney, the “queen of the killer twist.” I must admit to having gotten confused near the end with all the ole switcheroos. There is a dual POV all through the narrative and certainly no problem to follow who was who for some time. The anniversary letters that Amelia were never going to give her husband Adam became more depressing with each year of the marriage. These people were NOT happy. He has face blindness, prosopagnosia. Gees, okay, but did he still have it into the conclusion?

Having following the anniversary traditional gifts throughout their nine years, they are trying a weekend in Scotland for their tenth, and perhaps last, anniversary. They are each aware the other is hiding secrets. It doesn’t take a long time for me to mistrust either of them and the mistrust to grow into dislike.

There is something really weird about this win at Blackwater Chapel in the Scottish Highlands and doesn’t take long to become sinister, creepy, which only adds to the deception each is dishing to the other. There is a “caretakers” cottage a short distance from the chapel, occupied by an old crone with her own motives and objectives.

The dead of winter atmosphere, cold, snow, ice, freezing temps. Inoperable car, remote location. Ooh, the atmosphere—definitely adds to the suspense vibe—builds the tension. But at the end, who was who? I was lost.

Confusion, convoluted albeit well-plotted novel reigns. I’ve read two of her other thrillers, Sometimes I Lie, and His & Hers, giving the latter five stars. Not so sold on this one, but still an interesting and engaging read, and I’ll be looking for another Feeney book.

Book Details:

Genre: Domestic Thrillers, Family Life Fiction, Psychological Thrillers
Publisher:  Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B08ST3T35N
Listening Length: 10 hrs 22 mins
Narrator: Richard ArmitageStephanie Racine
Publication Date: September 7, 2021
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Rock Paper Scissors [Amazon]
 

Add to Goodreads

Rosepoint Publishing:  Four Stars 4 stars

 

Alice Feeney - authorThe Author: Alice Feeney is a New York Times bestselling author and journalist. Rock Paper Scissors is her fourth novel and is being made into a TV series for Netflix by the producer of The Crown. It will be published around the world in 2021.

Her debut novel, Sometimes I Lie, was an international bestseller, has been translated into over twenty languages, and is being made into a TV series by Warner Bros. starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. His & Hers is also being adapted for screen by Jessica Chastain’s Freckle Films.

Alice was a BBC Journalist for fifteen years before becoming an author. She lives in Devon with her family.

©2021 V Williams V Williams

happy thursday!

 

Deadly Little Lies: An utterly addictive psychological thriller by Stephanie DeCarolis –#BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Book Blurb:

THE PERFECT LIFE

Deadly Little Lies by Stephanie DeCarolisJuliana Daniels finally has the life she’s always dreamed of. A loving husband, a career as an attorney, and a cozy apartment in Manhattan to call home.

But when she gets a message from an old college friend, her blood runs cold. Remember me?

ONE DEADLY LIE

Juliana drops her phone as though she’s been scalded. The name Jenny Teller shines out from the screen… but Jenny can’t have sent that message.

Because Jenny is dead.

Juliana’s other college friends have all received the same message. The four of them are the only ones who know the truth about the night Jenny died. It’s a secret they have kept buried for thirteen years.

WHO DO YOU TRUST?

With ‘Jenny’ now blackmailing them and threatening to expose their secret, only one thing is certain. Someone else knows the truth about that night… or one of them is lying. 

My Review:

Juliana Daniels (Jules) has managed to secure for herself a scholarship to a pretty exclusive university where she feels the deep divide between her middle class upbringing and that of her new monied classmates. It might have been a serious struggle had not Tori (her new roommate), Nessa, and Emily included her into their little clique.

Deadly Little Lies by Stephanie DeCarolisEmily is the obvious alpha, taking Jules on quietly as a “project” and grooms her to be as narcissistic as herself. With her new status, she feels important, looked up to, and just as quietly abandons old friends, counting the minutes when the holidays with her parents are over and she can return to campus life where she’s learned to party hardy.

“It wasn’t enough to just be desired; if I was going to keep up, I had to learn to desire nothing in return.”

The narrative settles into chapters alternating between “Now” and “Then.” The Now describes her inclusion as a successful attorney, a Manhattan apartment, and a loving, attentive, supportive husband, Jason.

Then swings us back to her university years where she experiences something that will haunt her during the intervening ten years until she gets the same taunting message as her so-called snobbish, titled friends, Remember me?” But it can’t be her—they all know that—because she’s dead.

UGH! I liked Jason. But Jules, Tori, and Nessa not so much. Emily was meant to be disliked and she was truly nasty, raising the blood pressure every time she had the focus. Their shared horrific event brought them together again, trying to discern who could possibly have sent the first and then additional messages, as well as intrusions into Jules home. And none of it shared with Jules’ husband. Oh, these deep, dark secrets!

As they are all summoned together for a tenth year reunion, matters come to a head, the pace escalates into the conclusion. There were twists and turns, some expected, some not, though I had not anticipated the final reveal.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars 4 1/2 stars

Add to Goodreads

Book Details:

Genre: Women’s Detective Fiction, Noir Crime, Domestic Thrillers
Publisher: HQ Digital
ASIN: B09HMNK836
Print Length: 378 pages
Publication Date: November 26, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley 

Title Link(s):

Amazon   |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo

Stephanie DeCarolis - authorThe Author:  Stephanie is the USA Today best-selling author of The Guilty Husband and Deadly Little Lies. She is a graduate of Binghamton University and St. John’s University School of Law, and she currently lives in New York with her husband, their two daughters, and their very spoiled cat.

 

©2021 V Williams V Williams

Hideway by Nora Roberts – An #Audiobook Review – #romanticsuspense

Editors’ Pick for Best Romance 

Book Blurb:

A family ranch in Big Sur country and a legacy of Hollywood royalty set the stage for Nora Roberts’ emotional new suspense novel, Hideaway.

Hideaway by Nora RobertsCaitlyn Sullivan had come from a long line of Hollywood royalty, stretching back to her Irish immigrant great-grandfather. At nine, she was already a star – yet still an innocent child who loved to play hide-and-seek with her cousins at the family home in Big Sur. It was during one of those games that she disappeared.

Some may have considered her a pampered princess, but Cate was in fact a smart, scrappy fighter, and she managed to escape her abductors. Dillon Cooper was shocked to find the bloodied, exhausted girl huddled in his house – but when the teenager and his family heard her story, they provided refuge, reuniting her with her loved ones.

Cate’s ordeal, though, was far from over. First came the discovery of a shocking betrayal that would send someone she’d trusted to prison. Then there were years spent away in Western Ireland, peaceful and protected but with restlessness growing in her soul.

Finally, she would return to Los Angeles, gathering the courage to act again and get past the trauma that had derailed her life. What she didn’t yet know was that two seeds had been planted that long-ago night – one of a great love, and one of a terrible vengeance….

My Review:

Caitlyn Sullivan has a long, strong legacy of Hollywood royalty going way back so I guess it isn’t a surprise that she’d become a star already in her childhood. She’s experiencing one of many large family gatherings at her grandfather’s home in Big Sur at age ten when she is kidnapped.

Hideaway by Nora RobertsShe’s smart, however, level headed and brave and she manages an escape. In the process, she meets a ranching family that includes a young boy. Uh oh. Did I miss that this was going to be a romance? I saw Nora Roberts and thought I’d bite, but what did I get myself into?

This is one of those slow moving, although the first few chapters certainly set the hook quickly enough, romance that takes (predictably) years. Eventually, you just give up and think, “Come all, already. We know where this is going.”

In the meantime, we get all the middle story about her horrible mother, the slimeballs who kidnapped her, her foray into romance with guys from New York, her induction into her life’s work—which I gotta say sounded wonderful. I did get tired of the Sullivan dynasty money, the privileges, the estates, and the showers of love and support, rinse, repeat.

To sprinkle in some suspense—it is after all called a romantic suspense—she gets weird calls, veiled threats over the years. Not difficult to find her after she moves home. Heavily themed with family, love, and connection, there is also those darker issues of betrayal and vengeance. (And talk about patience…sheesh)

Glad I got to listen to it when I gardened, cooked, and cleaned. Not sure I could have stuck through all that middle minutia if I were reading it. My introduction to Nora Roberts and I’m sure her fans will appreciate this one. I enjoyed the multi-lingual narrator, January LaVoy (see her short video below–she’s lovely).

Book Details:

Genre: Domestic Thrillers, Romantic Suspense
Publisher:  Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B07YBJG9CL
Listening Length: 15 hrs and 45 min
Narrator: January LaVoy
Publication Date: Audible.com release May 26, 2020
Source: Local Library (Audiobook selections)

Title Link: Hideaway [Amazon]

Add to Goodreads Rosepoint Publishing:  Three point Five of Five Stars 3 1/2 stars

Nora Roberts - authorThe Author: Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including Hideaway, Under Currents, Come Sundown and coming in November 2020 — The Awakening — the first book in The Dragon Heart Legacy. She is also the author of the futuristic suspense In Death series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

The Narrator: January LaVoy

©2020 V Williams V Williams

 

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