SO MANY exceptional books are coming out this spring and summer and beyond!
I am reading more than ever and am excited to share a group of books with you I know you will enjoy. I’m featuring a lot today so I figured I’d be quick with my own thoughts so you can read these reviews then get started shopping for books!
Take a look below and be sure to head to Goodreads where you can add the books to your TO-READ list.
Rules for Moving by Nancy Star is a beautifully written and emotional book that tells the story of Lane Meckler. She has lost her husband in an accident and she is struggling with her small son. She moves but as we all know, our problems follow us where ever we go.
Take a look:
To the outside world, beloved advice columnist Lane Meckler has all the answers. What no one knows is that she also has a secret: her life is a disaster, and it’s just gotten worse. Her husband, whom she was planning to leave, has died in a freak accident. Her six-year-old son, Henry, has stopped speaking to everyone but her. Lane’s solution? Move. Growing up, that was what her family did best.
But when she and Henry pack up and leave, Lane realizes that their next home is no better, and she finally begins to ask herself some hard questions. What made her family move so often? Why has she always felt like an outsider? How can she get Henry to speak?
On a journey to help her son find his voice, Lane discovers that somewhere along the way she lost her own. If she wants to help him, she’ll need to find the courage to face the past and to speak the truth she’s been hiding from for years.
I think fans of Katherine Center’s books will enjoy this one.
Don’t miss this book! You will love it. Get it here!
Growing Up For Beginners by Claire Calman was a sweet read. I think many people will relate to Eleanor and her struggles. It’s hard when your kids grow up and you aren’t needed as much and you look around and wonder, “what next?”
Not that I’m speaking from experience!
I enjoyed the well-written characters with their struggles and I think you will like this book too.
Here is what you need to know:
It’s not easy being a grown-up, but at 47, Eleanor hoped she’d be better at it by now… When Eleanor waves her daughter off for a gap-year trip, she finds herself stuck as a satellite wife, spinning in faithful orbit around her domineering husband, with only her clever but judgmental father Conrad for comfort.
Andrew isn’t mastering the art of growing up either. But when he finds his belongings dumped in bin bags on the drive, even he can see that his girlfriend is hinting he should move out. With no other options, he moves back in with his parents.
Backing onto their garden lives artist Cecilia, living in chaotic clutter and dreaming of her ex-lovers, still acting like a stroppy teenager at the age of 66.
Four lives are drawn together by long-buried secrets of the past, and it is time for them all to grow up… before it’s too late.
Growing Up For Beginners will appeal to those who like books that explore the themes of family, aging, middle age, relationships.
This will be published on June 4!
One in Three by Tess Stimson is a thrilling story about a wife, an ex-wife and another wife. Say what? You don’t even need to read more to be intrigued. Oh there’s also a murder. What more do you need to know? This is a book that you won’t be able to put down once you start reading. I love books that sweep you off your feet from page one then keep tightening the tension until the very last page.
Look here:
Both of them loved him. One of them killed him . . .
Louise has had to watch her husband, Andrew, start a new family in the four years since he left her. The ‘other woman’ is now his wife – but Louise isn’t ready to let Caz enjoy the life that was once hers, or to let go of the man she still loves.
As Louise starts to dig into Caz’s past, the two women’s pretence of civility starts to slip. But in trying to undermine each other, they discover more about the man they both married.
And when Andrew is murdered at a family party, both women are found standing over the body.
It’s always the wife. But which one?
This author has written several other books so be sure to check out everything else she’s written while you wait for this one!
Coming out on July 9, pre-order here.
I have a new author to be on the lookout for and that is K.L. Slater!
I’ve now read a few books from her, and I love them! She’s a fabulous writer who creates super suspenseful books that you can read in one sitting. I don’t know how she writes so many books that are all so good but she does and I’m glad.
Fans of Mark Edwards and Sue Watson will like S.L. Slater’s books, especially her latest, Little Whispers.
Check it out:
You shared a secret with the wrong person.
Janey Markham is thrilled to be moving with her family to Buckingham Crescent, the smartest address in a desirable suburban town.
Worried she’ll be excluded by the glossy local mothers, Janey is thrilled when she meets Tanya, the kind of woman she has always looked up to. Tanya takes Janey under her wing, and her teenage daughter Angel is amazing with Janey’s little boy. As Janey and Tanya grow closer, Janey feels she can finally leave her troubled past behind.
But then everything changes…
In a weak moment over a bottle of wine, Janey finds herself telling Tanya her most shocking secret. Why wouldn’t she trust her new friend?
The following day, Janey sees Angel, with a man old enough to be her father, pushing someone into a car. The next day a body is found and police appeal for witnesses – and share a picture of the same car…
When Janey tells Tanya she is going to the police, Tanya turns threatening. She’ll stop at nothing to defend Angel, even if her daughter is guilty. If Janey says anything, Tanya will make sure that her dark secret gets out.
Janey faces an impossible choice. Stay quiet about what she saw that terrible day. Or speak up, and destroy the family she has worked so hard to protect…
I also thoroughly enjoyed The Apartment, be sure to grab that one too.
Amazing author, fantastic book! Get it here.
I love a prep school mystery! The Suicide House by Charlie Donlea is exactly the kind of creepy, secret society story that fans of mysteries/thrillers will devour. This is my first time reading a book from this author, it won’t be my last.
Synopsis:
Inside the walls of Indiana’s elite Westmont Preparatory High School, expectations run high and rules are strictly enforced. But in the woods beyond the manicured campus and playing fields sits an abandoned boarding house that is infamous among Westmont’s students as a late-night hangout. Here, only one rule applies: don’t let your candle go out—unless you want the Man in the Mirror to find you. . . .
One year ago, two students were killed there in a grisly slaughter. The case has since become the focus of a hit podcast, The Suicide House. Though a teacher was convicted of the murders, mysteries and questions remain. The most urgent among them is why so many students who survived that horrific night have returned to the boarding house—to kill themselves.
Rory, an expert in reconstructing cold cases, is working on The Suicide House podcast with Lane, recreating the night of the killings in order to find answers that have eluded the school, the town, and the police. But the more they learn about the troubled students, the chillingly stoic culprit, and a dangerous game gone tragically wrong, the more convinced they become that something sinister is still happening. Inside Westmont Prep, the game hasn’t ended. It thrives on secrecy and silence. And for its players, there may be no way to win—or to survive. . . .
This was an intense read with multiple POVs in alternating chapters and flashbacks. It took some effort to concentrate and keep it all straight in my mind but it was well worth the mental strain!
Goodreads is running a GIVEAWAY for this book here. Coming out on July 28, pre-order here.
I’m not an enormous fan of book series, but I get excited to read about Detective Gina Harte’s cases in Carla Kovach’s books. Her Last Mistake is book #6 and it’s another winner. Carla keeps the stories fresh and exciting with excellent writing and tight plots that engage the reader.
Here’s the synopsis:
Dressed in a sage green bridesmaid dress, and smiling for pictures, Holly is the happiest she’s ever been. Hours later, Holly is dead.
People love to hate Holly Long. Smart, beautiful and a woman who men find it hard to say no to, she’s the town’s most gossiped about resident.
Now Holly’s body lies in her hotel room, strangled at her best friend’s wedding party. And the gossip has stopped, because nobody wants to look like they did it.
When police search Holly’s immaculate apartment, amongst her stylish furnishings and expensive jewelry, they discover a different side to Holly. Orderly and precise, she wasn’t the chaotic party girl everyone thought her to be. In fact, Holly was a planner, and her next plan was to come out and tell her biggest secret – something she had been hiding for months, something that had the potential to ruin the lives of more than one wedding guest.
There are plenty of people who might have wanted to kill Holly, but only one who has finally made good on their promise.
I highly recommend the whole series. It’s best if you start at the beginning so you can follow Gina’s journey but if you read them out of order you won’t be lost. In every book, there are unexpected twists and Gina deals with challenges in her personal life. SO GOOD. Don’t miss this book, put it on your #TBR list right now.
This book is available…. Go here to order.
I love a good memoir, and there aren’t nearly enough! It thrilled me to read In The Shadow of the Valley by Bobi Conn. She grew up in a small home in Kentucky, such a vast difference in how I grew up. I liked reading about her experiences and struggles.
Take a look:
Bobi Conn was raised in a remote Kentucky holler in 1980s Appalachia. She remembers her tin-roofed house tucked away in a vast forest paradise; the sparkling creeks, with their frogs and crawdads; the sweet blackberries growing along the road to her granny’s; and her abusive father, an underemployed alcoholic whose untethered rage and violence against Bobi and her mother were frighteningly typical of a community marginalized, desperate, and ignored. Bobi’s rule of survival: always be vigilant but endure it silently.
Slipping away from home, Bobi went to college and got a white-collar job. Mistrusted by her family for her progress and condescended to by peers for her accent and her history, she was followed by the markers of her class. Though she carried her childhood self everywhere, Bobi also finally found her voice.
An elegiac account of survival despite being born poor, female, and cloistered, Bobi’s testament is one of hope for all vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls caught in the cycle of poverty and abuse. On a continual path to worth, autonomy, and reinvention, Conn proves here that “the storyteller is the one with power.”
Bobi is honest and brutal in her words, she creates a clear and vivid portrait of Appalachia. Those who enjoy reading memoirs will want to put this on their To-Read list.
Read this book now, go here to buy it!
Good Girl by Miranda Smith was a great suspense novel and I have to tell you, I began this book thinking I knew exactly what would happen and I was wrong. I am always happy to be wrong when I am reading a novel because I want to be shocked! I want a punch from out of left field that I didn’t see coming! This ended up being a book that I got sucked into and really couldn’t have guessed the ending.
Check it out:
My brother was thirteen the first time he tried to kill me.
These days, Della is a loving wife, a dedicated teacher, a woman trying to do her best. She has put her past far behind her. But she hasn’t forgotten the lessons she learned.
It’s just a regular morning when Della welcomes Zoey to her English class. She treats her like any other new student: assigns her a desk, hands out the work. But then she meets Zoey’s cold, calculating eyes and freezes as terrifying memories threaten to overwhelm her.
Della knows what evil looks like when it hides behind a confident smile. Her own brother, the town’s darling, couldn’t keep his true nature hidden forever. Della has been watching out for people like him ever since, determined to stop them before it’s too late.
When a student is viciously attacked and Della is sent a detailed account of the crime, she’s more convinced than ever that Zoey has darkness inside her. But to make people believe her, she needs proof. Will she risk everything to get it? And without it, can she be sure she’s right?
The reader wonders if Della is projecting her fears onto this poor, misunderstood student. Is Zoey like Della’s brother, or more likely, Della is personalizing something she notices in Zoey’s behavior? This was a fantastic, intense, entertaining book that you need to read!
Coming out on June 24, pre-order now!
The F List by Alessandra Torre is a very fun book, I like the author’s writing style which is so easy to read and the book flows quickly. The F List mixes the idea of Instagram influencers with reality stars, then sprinkles in some drama plus a dash of humor. Its a fast, entertaining read!
Check it out:
There was a lot I did to get to this point, to get 42 million followers. Some of it I was proud of, most of it I wasn’t.
There was a group of us, all internet celebrities, and everyone wanted in, which is how six of us ended up living in this mansion, a camera always on, the public always watching. Two months and nine carefully scripted TV episodes that would get us more of the three F’s we were desperately chasing.
Fame. Fortune. Followers.
I knew my role. I was Emma, the unlikeable one. The dark villain with the devious smile. The package of dynamite that would blow up any chance of peaceful living and harmony.
Cash knew his role. He was the good guy. The lovable one. The one that everyone, even the darkest cast member of them all, would fall in love with.
They were supposed to just be roles. None of it was supposed to be real. My heart didn’t get that memo.
This is the perfect book to read in between heavier thrillers and dark dramas. You are going to love it.
Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin is a Book of the Month pick so you know it’s good! This was an enjoyable read, entertaining, and thought-provoking. I always like a book that is set in New York City and I think a lot of us can relate to the motherhood issues in this story.
Synopsis:
After her former band shot to superstardom without her, Claire reluctantly agrees to a gig as a playgroup musician for wealthy infants on New York’s Park Avenue. Claire is surprised to discover that she is smitten with her new employers, a welcoming clique of wellness addicts with impossibly shiny hair, who whirl from juice cleanse to overpriced miracle vitamins to spin class with limitless energy.
There is perfect hostess Whitney who is on the brink of social-media stardom and just needs to find a way to keep her flawless life from falling apart. Caustically funny, recent stay-at-home mom Amara who is struggling to embrace her new identity. And old money, veteran mom Gwen who never misses an opportunity to dole out parenting advice. But as Claire grows closer to the stylish women who pay her bills, she uncovers secrets and betrayals that no amount of activated charcoal can fix.
There is also a little suspense here which I always appreciate in a book and some plots didn’t go as I expected which I always love!
Problem Child by Victoria Helen Stone is next after the riveting and suspenseful novel, Jane Doe. In Problem Child, Jane is back and has possibly met her match in an equally devious person who happens to be her niece.
I couldn’t wait to see Jane go head to head with someone as diabolical as herself.
Synopsis:
She’s cold, calculating, and can deceive with a smile. Jane Doe is back in the Amazon Charts bestselling series—and this time she’s met her match.
After a brutal childhood, Jane Doe has been permanently wired to look after herself and only herself. Now, looking next to normal, Jane has a lover and a job. But she hasn’t lost her edge. It sharpens when she hears from her estranged family.
Jane’s deeply troubled sixteen-year-old niece, Kayla, has vanished, and no one seems to care. Neither does Jane. Until she sees a picture of Kayla and recognizes herself in the young girl’s eyes. It’s the empty stare of a sociopath.
Jane knows what vengeful and desperate things Kayla is capable of. Only Jane can help her—by being drawn into Kayla’s dark world. And no one’s more aware than Jane just how dangerous that can be.
Free on Kindle Unlimited! Get it here now.
I can’t believe that I read Survival Instincts by Jen Waite and didn’t review it until now. I could have sworn that I reviewed this book, but I guess I didn’t.
Sometimes I will read a superb book and then get busy and forgetful and then I will be reminded of the book and have to circle back!
Honestly, this was a heart-pounding novel. Besides loving stories about prep schools and stranded strangers, I love books that take place in the woods. Jen Waite does a fantastic job of developing tension and suspense which kept me turning the pages.
Check it out:
FOURTEEN YEARS BEFORE THE CABIN: Twenty-something Anne meets the man of her dreams right out of college, but after they get married, Anne notices that her husband begins acting differently. Why is Ethan suddenly so moody? And will their marriage endure?
A WEEK BEFORE THE CABIN: Ten years later, Anne and her twelve-year-old daughter, Thea, are safely living in Vermont. Anne is a successful therapist, Thea has friends at her new school, and they receive an endless stream of love, support, and baked goods from Anne’s sweet mom, Rose. When Thea takes to brooding and showing classic signs of teen angst, a trip for the three women to the White Mountains of New Hampshire seems like the perfect chance to bond.
THE CABIN: A man follows the three women on a hike at a nature reserve and drags them at gunpoint to an abandoned cabin in the woods. And just like that their peaceful weekend away turns into a fight for survival. It isn’t clear what this man wants from these women or how he is connected to them if at all, but it is increasingly clear that they won’t all get out of the cabin alive.
SURVIVAL INSTINCTS is a captivating and terrifying novel that brings to life one of the scariest truths of all–that people’s inner monsters come in various forms, some more recognizable than others, and that we are all one random encounter away from tragedy.
Survival Instincts offers plenty of action, mystery, hints, clues, excellent characters, and a plot that steadily moves along. This is a MUST-READ!
Published on July 14, order here!
Every Now and Then by Lesley Kagen was such a treat. I love Lesley’s writing and have read almost every book she has written. She has this ability to capture a time and place in the voice of someone who is in the midst of growing up and learning about life.
I melted right into this story, enjoying the vivid details of 1960 and what small-town life was like through the eyes of young Elizabeth, known as “Biz” to her friends.
The story is told as if Biz is an old woman reflecting on the summer she and her best friends try to figure out secrets surrounding the local mental institution.
Take a look:
The summer of 1960 was the hottest ever for Summit, Wisconsin. For kids seeking relief from the heat, there was a creek to be swum in, sprinklers to run through, and ice cream at Whitcomb’s Drugstore. But for Frankie, Viv, and Biz, eleven-year-old best friends, it would forever be remembered as the summer that evil paid a visit to their small town–and took their young lives as they’d known them as a souvenir.
With a to-do list in hand, the girls set forth from their hideout to make their mark on that summer, but when three patients escape from Broadhurst Mental Institution, their idyllic lives take a sinister turn. Determined to uncover long-held secrets, the girls have no idea that what they discover could cost them their lives and the ones they hold dear.
Six decades later, Biz, now a bestselling novelist, remembers that long ago summer and how it still haunts her and her lifelong friends in Every Now and Then, a story about the ties that bind us, the timelessness of grief and guilt–and the everlasting hope for redemption.
Though I liked the book from beginning to end, I think it picked up during the second half when I couldn’t put it down! I was eagerly reading, anxious to see what would happen next. If you haven’t read any books by this wonderful author, check out Whistling in the Dark, one of my favorites.
