Your Latest Obsessions! New Books For September

 

This premise sounds like something that could happen or has happened. And it makes me nervous!

Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard has us at a hotel in the middle of nowhere. Someone is watching a private room via a secret camera. And then a murder occurs. Caught on film. So finding the killer should be easy. Wrong!

The book is like a puzzle with pieces your mind needs to put together as you read past and present.

Take a look:

Andrew, the manager of Shanamore Holiday Cottages, watches his only guest via a hidden camera in her room. One night the unthinkable happens: a shadowy figure emerges on-screen, kills her, and destroys the camera. But who is the murderer? How did they know about the camera? And how will Andrew live with himself?

Natalie wishes she’d stayed at home as soon as she arrives in the wintry isolation of Shanamore. There’s something creepy about the manager. She wants to leave, but she can’t—not until she’s found what she’s looking for …

Psycho meets Fatal Attraction in this explosive story about a murder caught on camera. You’ve already missed the start. To get the full picture you must rewind the tape and play it through to the end, no matter how shocking …

The writing is good, the story was solid (and creepy), and I enjoyed reading this one!

It’s only $1.99 which is a bargain for a story like this! Grab a copy for your kindle here.

 

 

The Baby Group by Caroline Corcoran is a fast read with a great plot, and the entire time I was reading, I kept thinking “who?” and “why?” Scarlett is a new mom with a group of mom friends. She seems to have this amazing life but someone has it in for her because a tape gets circulated of her in a compromising position. You can imagine how upset Scarlett is when that happens!

Take a look:

Scarlett’s golden life suddenly unravels when someone sends a shocking video of her to everyone she knows. The only people who claim they haven’t seen it are the friends in her new mothers’ group: Fiona, Emma, and Asha.

Scarlett is forced to delve into her past to discover who is out to get her. But as her circle of trust gathers around her, she has to ask – are her friends as innocent as they seem?

I love books like this- quick reads that keep the reader fully interested in seeing what happens next! Lots of fun and highly recommended!

 

 

 

If you read Vanessa Savage’s fantastic novel, The Woman in the Dark, you know this author has serious writing skills. You won’t want to miss The Woods, her latest. This is sinister and creepy.

Tess is a teacher who gets a call from her father one day, he wants her to come home because her stepmother is dying. This request sends her into a panic because many years ago, her sister died on the day her father and stepmother got married. Tess has no memories of how the death happened other than it took place in the woods. The rest of it, she’s blocked it from her memory. The details surrounding the mysterious death drive the story forward as the tension builds. The first part of the book was slower, then everything took off and I was eager to see what was going to happen next!

Synopsis:

Two girls went down to the woods… But only one came back.

There’s a lot from Tess’s childhood that she would rather forget. The family who moved next door and brought chaos to their quiet lives. The two girls who were murdered, their killer never found. But the only thing she can’t remember is the one thing she wishes she could.

Ten years ago, Tess’s older sister died. Ruled a tragic accident, the only witness was Tess herself, but she has never been able to remember what happened that night in the woods.
Now living in London, Tess has resolved to put the trauma behind her. But an emergency call from her father forces her back to the family home, back to where her sister’s body was found, and to the memories she thought were lost forever…

 

Get it here, right now!

 

This book had me reading into the wee hours of the morning! I was hooked on The Ex Boyfriend by Rona Halsall.  The author set up the story beautifully with a flawed main character who had a troubled past and a tense relationship with her father and sister. Add to that a tragic event in her childhood with a friend that haunts her. And then an ex-boyfriend who shows up in her Twitter messenger as her life looks to be falling apart.

Take a look:

When Becca’s first love shows up on her social media feed, she can’t help but smile fondly. Once upon a time Connor was the love of her life, and though it was over ten years ago, he’s always held a place in her heart.

Then he sends her a message. He sounds happy – still kind and funny, still living across the world in Australia. But he wants to know everything about her life now. How can Becca tell him the truth? About her workaholic husband, her stressful job, and the challenges of caring for her elderly father and her longed-for, adorable but exhausting three-year-old daughter Mia?

Becca hesitates, knowing she shouldn’t even reply. But Connor lives on the other side of the world. Just how dangerous can becoming friends again be?

It feels harmless. Until Mia gets sick – in a way that no one can explain. And it starts to become clear – someone will do absolutely anything to make sure Becca never escapes her past…

This was such a great read! I will be looking for more from Rona Halsall in the future. If you like books you can read in a single afternoon, this is for you!

Get it here, coming on September 30!

 

 

I love that Five Wives by Joan Thomas was based on true events, known as Operation Auca (Auca means savage).  In the story, we go back and forth to see what happened in the past. Fascinating look at the couples as they set up homes and lives in Ecuador. The women followed their husbands, who believed they had a calling from God.

Here’s the background of the operation:

Operation Auca was an attempt by five Evangelical Christian missionaries from the United States to bring Christianity to the Huaorani people of the rain forest of Ecuador. The Huaorani, also known pejoratively as Aucas (a modification of awqa, the Quechua word for “savages”), were an isolated tribe known for their violence, against both their own people and outsiders who entered their territory. With the intention of being the first Christians to evangelize the previously uncontacted Huaorani, the missionaries began making regular flights over Huaorani settlements in September 1955, dropping gifts, which were reciprocated. After several months of exchanging gifts, on January 3, 1956, the missionaries established a camp at “Palm Beach”, a sandbar along the Curaray River, a few kilometers from Huaorani settlements. Their efforts came to an end on January 8, 1956, when all five—Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian—were attacked and speared by a group of Huaorani warriors. The news of their deaths was broadcast around the world, and Life magazine covered the event with a photo essay.

The deaths of the men galvanized the missionary effort in the United States, sparking an outpouring of funding for evangelization efforts around the world. Their work is still frequently remembered in evangelical publications, and in 2006 was the subject of the film production End of the Spear. Several years after the death of the men, the widow of Jim Elliot, Elisabeth, and the sister of Nate Saint, Rachel, returned to Ecuador as missionaries with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now SIL International) to live among the Huaorani. This eventually led to the conversion of many, including some of those involved in the killing. While exposing the tribe to increased influence from the outside, their efforts largely eliminated tribal violence.

Keep reading about it here.

More about the book:

In 1956, a small group of evangelical Christian missionaries and their families journeyed to the rainforest in Ecuador intending to convert the Waorani, a people who had never had contact with the outside world. The plan was known as Operation Auca. After spending days dropping gifts from an aircraft, the five men in the party rashly entered the “intangible zone.” They were all killed, leaving their wives and children to fend for themselves.

Five Wives is the fictionalized account of the real-life women who were left behind, and their struggles – with grief, with doubt, and with each other – as they continued to pursue their evangelical mission in the face of the explosion of fame that followed their husbands’ deaths.

 

This is out now. You can get it by going here!

 

 

A shocking true crime story! Doctor Deal by George Anastasia and Ralph Cipriano takes a look at a drug-dealing doctor named Dr. James Kauffman who had his wife killed when she learned too much about his illegal drug dealing. He hired the relative of a Pagan motorcycle gang member to do it and of course, it all unraveled.

How tragic this story is!

Take a look:

In May 2012, April Kauffman, a well-known local radio personality and staunch advocate of military veterans rights, was found shot to death in the bedroom of the home she shared with her husband, Dr. James Kauffman.

Six years later, in the fall of 2018, Freddy Augello, a leader of the notorious motorcycle gang the Pagans, went on trial for drug dealing and murder. He was charged with arranging the death of April Kauffman in exchange for $50,000 from her husband, who, in addition to practicing medicine, was one of the area’s most prolific drug traffickers.

Told by two accomplished reporters and authors with exclusive insights and details provided by two principal players, this is the story about one man’s descent into evil and the people he took with him. It’s a story about a doctor who helped flood the streets with opioids, about a husband who hid dark secrets from his wives, and about a man so consumed with greed and arrogance that he thought he could get away with murder.

This is very well written, and I was so excited to read a true crime book, one of my favorite genres.

Doctor Dealer comes out on Sept 8th, get it here.

 

Historical fiction that takes place in Scotland? YES! Occasionally I will read a historical fiction book that reminds me I do indeed, love historical fiction. The Glass House by Beatrice Colin is a must-read for those who enjoy stories of places and things from another era. This book is full of rich details and I loved the botanical references. Note, Edward and George Pick are no likeable characters AT ALL.

Here’s the plot:

Scotland, 1912. Antonia McCulloch’s life hasn’t gone the way she planned. She and her husband, Malcolm, have drifted apart; her burgeoning art career came to nothing; and when she looks in the mirror, she sees disappointment. But at least she will always have Balmarra, her family’s grand Scottish estate, and its exquisite glass house, filled with exotic plants that can take her far away.

When her estranged brother’s wife, Cicely Pick, arrives unannounced, with her young daughter and enough trunks to last the summer, Antonia is instantly suspicious. What besides an inheritance dispute could have brought her glamorous sister-in-law all the way from India? Still, Cicely introduces excitement and intrigue into Antonia’s life, and, as they get to know one another, Antonia realizes that Cicely has her own burdens to bear. Slowly, a fragile friendship grows between them. But when the secrets each are keeping become too explosive to conceal, the truth threatens their uneasy balance and the course of their entire lives.

Transport yourself by reading this stunning novel. Coming out on September 15!

 

 

 

Get my novel, RUN DELIA RUN here!

 

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