REVIEW: THE STOLEN CHILD, BY ANN HOOD

An unlikely duo ventures through France and Italy to solve the mystery of a child’s fate in this moving, page-turning novel from “a gifted storyteller” (People).

For decades, Nick Burns has been haunted by a decision he made as a young soldier in World War I, when a French artist he’d befriended thrust both her paintings and her baby into his hands—and disappeared. In 1974, with only months left to live, Nick enlists Jenny, a college dropout desperate for adventure, to help him unravel the mystery. The journey leads them from Paris galleries and provincial towns to a surprising place: the Museum of Tears, the life’s work of a lonely Italian craftsman. Determined to find the baby and the artist, hopeless romantic Jenny and curmudgeonly Nick must reckon with regret, betrayal, and the lives they’ve left behind.

Following the journey in The  Stolen Child kept me turning pages. And yes, the travel was tumultuous at times.

Back and forth we went, from one time period to another, until finally we are gifted with a grand ending. 4.5 stars.

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REVIEW: THE VACATION RENTAL, BY KATIE SISE

 A novel about the frightening damages of love, family, and obsession by the bestselling author of Open House andA We Were Mothers.

When Georgia rents her country home for the month of August, it’s off to the relaxing Connecticut shore for her; her husband, Tom; and their young daughter. It’s just what they need to ease family tensions and reconnect. All that’s left to do is leave behind their house keys—to a stranger.

For Anna, Georgia and Tom’s house in the cool woodlands is a dream break from the oppressive heat of a New York City summer—and from an increasingly ill-fated relationship with her lover. A month apart and Anna can clear her head and reassess her future. She’s found the perfect place to do it.

As the weeks wear on, Georgia and Anna discover that the pleasures of escape are as difficult to trust in as the comforts of home. And neither one can shake the feeling that something is about to go terribly wrong.

 

When Anna searches for a Vacation Rental for the summer, she discovers more than she had anticipated.  And when Georgia gives up her family home for the month of August, she is hoping to invigorate her family life.

But something else begins to happen to each of them as they make these changes.  Slowly and unexpectedly, their lives are changed in horrific ways.

A delightful tale that kept me turning the pages.  5 stars.

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REVIEW: GRANITE HARBOR, BY PETER NICHOLS

In scenic Granite Harbor, life has continued on―quiet and serene―for decades. That is until a local teenager is found brutally murdered in the Settlement, the town’s historic archaeological site. Alex Brangwen, adjusting to life as a single father with a failed career as a novelist, is the town’s sole detective. This is his first murder case and, as both a parent and detective, Alex knows the people of Granite Harbor are looking to him to catch the killer and temper the fear that has descended over the town.

Isabel, a single mother attempting to support her family while healing from her own demons, finds herself in the middle of the case when she begins working at the Settlement. Her son, Ethan, and Alex’s daughter, Sophie, were best friends with the victim. When a second body is found, both parents are terrified that their child may be next. As Alex and Isabel race to find the killer in their midst, the town’s secrets―past and present―begin bubbling to the surface, threatening to unravel the tight-knit community.

 

As we follow the characters in Granite Harbor, we are soon caught up in the strange clues provided in the bodies of the victims. How are the toads related to what happens? Who is the killer and what might be connected to these events?

As we learn more, we are drawn in and held hostage by the murders. A 5 star read.

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REVIEW: THE SUMMER WE STARTED OVER, BY NANCY THAYER

Eddie Grant is happy with her life and her work as a personal assistant to Dinah Lavender, one of the most famous and renowned romance authors in the business. But being a spectator to notoriety and glamour isn’t as fulfilling as she once thought. Thankfully, Eddie has the perfect excuse for a vacation: Her hardworking younger sister, Barrett, is opening her gift shop on Memorial Day weekend, and could use all the help she can get.

But going home to the beautiful island of Nantucket means facing the family’s difficult past. Shortly after the death of Eddie and Barrett’s brother, their mother left them and their father made the spontaneous decision to buy a small farm. Eddie stayed there for only a year before her family’s grief threatened to consume her as well, and had been living in Manhattan ever since. Now that she is back, Eddie must face all she left behind: her father’s increased eccentricities, which has led to a house bursting at the seams with books; her sister’s resentment over Eddie’s escape; and a past love connection, one that is still undeniable and complicated, all these years later. But the Grant sisters are nothing if not resilient and capable, opening a used bookstore in their father’s abandoned barn to manage his hoarding, and navigating the discovery of a long-buried family secret that will change all of them forever.

As we journey along with Eddie and Barrett and their family in The Summer We Started Over, we are swept away by the changes in their lives as they move forward. I enjoyed meeting the characters in Nantucket, seeing the surroundings of the family home, and of Barrett’s store. There were also wonderful moments as characters from the past came along for the ride.

In the end, I was sad for the sisters as they learn things about their brother’s wife and child, and plan how to move forward with them. A five star read.

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REVIEW: THE STARTER WIFE, BY ROWEN CHAMBERS

She was the perfect wife. Until he no longer needed her.

When Lauren met Steven, she was instantly drawn to his charm, sophis-tication, and drive to succeed. But soon after their wedding, the loving, affectionate man she fell in love with became cold and controlling.

Twelve years later, Lauren’s desperate to free herself from her husband. So when she finds herself bedridden after a car accident, she devises a plan to finally get him out of her life.

She hires a live-in nurse. Young, beautiful, and easily manipulated, Hannah couldn’t be more perfect. Just as Lauren predicted, Hannah instantly falls for Steven’s charm and allure, unaware that it’s all an act.

Hannah doesn’t know the real Steven. Nobody does. But they will soon.

It’s the perfect plan. Steven will finally get what he deserves and Lauren will have her freedom.
Except Steven has a plan too. One that’s much darker… and started the day he met her.

 

The characters in The Starter Wife are twisted and show some of the darkness within them, but we don’t know the whole story until the very end. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, another curve ball came out of the blue.

An unexpected reveal at the end ties the loose ends together, earning 5 stars for me.

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REVIEW: IT HAD TO BE YOU, BY MARY HIGGINS CLARK & ALAFAIR BURKE

The two identical brothers seemed perfect in every way—handsome, intelligent, popular—until a shocking summer night when one brother killed his parents in cold blood while the other brother had an iron-clad alibi. But which twin was where during the murders? And is it possible the two of them planned the perfect crime together?

Years later, the twins are long estranged, each of them claiming to be convinced that the other is responsible for the death of their parents. Married now with children of their own, they may finally be ready to clear one name at the expense of the other and turn to Laurie Moran and her team to reinvestigate their parents’ murder. But as the Under Suspicion crew gets closer to the truth, the danger that was assumed to be left in the past finds its way into the present.

 

In another great tale from the Under Suspicion team, It Had To Be You opens with Laurie Moran planning how to dig into the suspense of an unsolved murder.

Can she follow the clues untapped in the decade before to solve the case? Will the twins be cleared of the murder?

I enjoyed following Laurie’s search into still another great mystery. 5 stars.

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REVIEW: CHRISTA COMES OUT OF HER SHELL, BY ABBI WAXMAN

After a tumultuous childhood, Christa Barnet has hidden away, both figuratively and literally. Happily studying sea snails in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Christa finds her tranquil existence thrown into chaos when her once-famous father—long thought dead after a plane crash—turns out to be alive, well, and ready to make amends. The world goes wild, fascinated by this real-life saga, pinning Christa and her family under the spotlight. As if that weren’t enough, her reunion with an old childhood friend reveals an intense physical attraction neither was expecting and both want to act on . . . if they can just keep a lid on it. When her father’s story starts to develop cracks, Christa fears she will lose herself, her potential relationship, and—most importantly—any chance of making it back to her snails before they forget her completely.

 

I enjoyed discovering the life of Christa’s family in Christa Comes Out of Her Shell,  after her father’s unexpected return. But most of all, I liked her blossoming relationship with Nathan, a friend from childhood, who has now become something much more to her.

Secrets from the past kept the whole family bound by the mistakes of some of them, and it was especially surprising to realize that she can finally escape how the mistakes of others don’t have to control her life.

A delightful read that earned 5 stars.

 

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REVIEW: FINLAY DONOVAN ROLLS THE DICE, BY ELLE COSIMANO

Finlay Donovan and her nanny/partner-in-crime Vero are in sore need of a girls’ weekend away. They plan a trip to Atlantic City, but odds are—seeing as it’s actually a cover story to negotiate a deal with a dangerous loan shark, save Vero’s childhood crush Javi, and hunt down a stolen car—it won’t be all fun and games. When Finlay’s ex-husband Steven and her mother insist on tagging along too, Finlay and Vero suddenly have a few too many meddlesome passengers along for the ride.

Within hours of arriving in their seedy casino hotel, it becomes clear their rescue mission is going to be a bust. Javi’s kidnapper, Marco, refuses to negotiate, demanding payment in full in exchange for Javi’s life. But that’s not all—he insists on knowing the whereabouts of his missing nephew, Ike, who mysteriously disappeared. Unable to confess what really happened to Ike, Finlay and Vero are forced to come up with a new plan: sleuth out the location of Javi and the Aston Martin, then steal them both back.

But when they sneak into the loan shark’s suite to search for clues, they find more than they bargained for—Marco’s already dead. They don’t have a clue who murdered him, only that they themselves have a very convincing motive. Then four members of the police department unexpectedly show up in town, also looking for Ike—and after Finlay’s night with hot cop Nick at the police academy, he’s a little too eager to keep her close to his side.

If Finlay can juggle a jealous ex-husband, two precocious kids, her mother’s marital issues, a decomposing loan shark, and find Vero’s missing boyfriend, she might get out of Atlantic City in one piece. But will she fold under the pressure and come clean about the things she’s done, or be forced to double down?

 

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice takes the reader on a tumultuous ride in Atlantic City. Can we stay on track in this roller coaster ride? Will the characters keep ahead of the bad guys without turning the good guys against them?

I have always laughed along with Finlay’s antics in this series, and because of the delightful romp ahead of us, I keep reading.

How will it all unfold? A 4.5 read.

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REVIEW: DAUGHTER OF MINE, BY MEGAN MIRANDA

When Hazel Sharp, daughter of Mirror Lake’s longtime local detective, unexpectedly inherits her childhood home, she’s warily drawn back to the town—and people—she left behind almost a decade earlier. But Hazel’s not the only relic of the past to return: a drought has descended on the region, and as the water level in the lake drops, long-hidden secrets begin to emerge…including evidence that may help finally explain the mystery of her mother’s disappearance.

 

As we follow Hazel’s journey in her hometown, in Daughter of Mine, we are caught up in a twisted series of events that take the characters to nefarious places.

Can Hazel figure out the mysteries of the past? Will the family members reveal themselves as she digs into the secrets that have long been buried?

I thought I had everything figured out, but the stunning reveal at the end surprised me. A 5 star read.

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REVIEW: SHE’S NOT SORRY, BY MARY KUBICA

Everyone has secrets, but not everyone has remorse…

A terrible accident.

Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mom and working full time as an ICU nurse, when a patient named Caitlin arrives in her ward with a traumatic brain injury. They say she jumped from a bridge and plunged over twenty feet to the train tracks below.

A shocking revelation.

When a witness comes forward with new details about Caitlin’s fall, it calls everything they know into question. Was Caitlin actually pushed and if so, by whom and why?

No one is safe.

Meghan lets herself get close to Caitlin until she’s deeply entangled in the mystery surrounding her. Only when it’s too late, does she realize that she and her daughter could be the next victims…

 As we follow Meghan’s journey in She’s Not Sorry, we are diverted off the path a few times as a patient, who somehow is also connected to Meghan, captures our attention.
What is going on with the patient and how is she part of Meghan’s back story?
In the end, loose ends are tied up, but I wasn’t sure how I felt at that point.
4.5 stars.
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