At first, I thought I’d read this book- the title was so familiar. But What Remains by Wendy Walker is new and fantastic. From the cover, I worried it would be a police procedural which I don’t typically enjoy but I know the author writes great books so I dove in and I’m glad I did. This book is fantastic.
Synopsis:
She saved his life. Now he‘ll never let her go.
Detective Elise Sutton is drawn to cold cases. Each crime is a puzzle to solve, pulled from the past. Elise looks for cracks in the surface and has become an expert on how murderers slip up and give themselves away. She has dedicated her life to creating a sense of order, at work with her ex-marine partner; at home with her husband and two young daughters; and within, battling her own demons. Elise has everything under control, until one afternoon, when she walks into a department store and is forced to make a terrible choice: to save one life, she will have to take another.
Elise is hailed as a hero, but she doesn’t feel like one. Steeped in guilt, and on a leave of absence from work, she’s numb, even to her husband and daughters, until she connects with Wade Austin, the tall man whose life she saved. But Elise soon realizes that he isn’t who he says he is. In fact, Wade Austin isn’t even his real name. The tall man is a ghost, one who will set off a terrifying game of cat and mouse, threatening Elise and the people she loves most.
If you haven’t read anything by Wendy, start with Don’t Look For Me which I read in a single sitting at night, into the morning hours. What Remains comes out on June 13.
If you have never read a book by Kristin Harmel, get your hands on at least one of them, she has several. You will not be disappointed! Her talent is creating these interesting, detailed, sweeping historical stories that pull you in immediately. I cannot get enough of her novels. The Paris Daughter is her latest book.
Synopsis:
Paris, 1939: Young mothers Elise and Juliette become fast friends the day they meet in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne. Though there is a shadow of war creeping across Europe, neither woman suspects that their lives are about to irrevocably change.
When Elise becomes a target of the German occupation, she entrusts Juliette with the most precious thing in her life—her young daughter, playmate to Juliette’s own little girl. But nowhere is safe in war, not even a quiet little bookshop like Juliette’s Librairie des Rêves, and, when a bomb falls on their neighborhood, Juliette’s world is destroyed along with it.
More than a year later, with the war finally ending, Elise returns to reunite with her daughter, only to find her friend’s bookstore reduced to rubble—and Juliette nowhere to be found. What happened to her daughter in those last, terrible moments? Juliette has seemingly vanished without a trace, taking all the answers with her. Elise’s desperate search leads her to New York—and to Juliette—one final, fateful time.
This was just published, go get it!
I was immediately interested in this book after reading a brief synopsis. The Perfect Ones by Nicole Hackett is a story that revolves around a missing Instagram influencer named Alabama. Within a couple of days of arriving in Iceland for a press trip, this girl is nowhere to be found. Who knows what happened? Is it her best friend or another person from the trip? And why?
Synopsis:
Two days after arriving in Iceland for a promotional trip, Instagram influencer Alabama Wood goes missing. With no leads, the Icelandic police start their investigation by focusing on the two influencers seemingly closest to Alabama on the trip: Celeste Reed, Alabama’s best friend of ten years, and Hollie Goodwin, fitness guru and Alabama’s unwilling idol.
Celeste and Alabama have grown apart recently because Celeste has been too distracted by her five-year-old’s behavioral issues and her husband’s refusal to admit that there’s a problem. What Celeste doesn’t tell them is how she has been coping with these worries and how it involves Alabama in ways no one would guess.
On the outside, Hollie appears to have everything—the husband, the body, and over one million Instagram followers. In reality, however, Hollie came to Iceland to escape the implosion of her life behind the screen. The only person who suspected something amiss behind Hollie’s precisely filtered pictures is Alabama.
This is told from multiple points of view, it’s an entertaining read with a good twist at the end. This is out now!
Robyn Harding is one of those authors whose books I will always read even if I don’t know the plot. She is a fantastic writer and her books are consistently four and five stars. When I opened The Drowning Woman, I knew I was going to love it and I did. Losing myself in a great story is my favorite thing to do and I read this one quickly. I HIGHLY recommend every book she writes!
Synopsis:
Lee Gulliver never thought she’d find herself living on the streets—no one ever does—but when her restaurant fails, and she falls deeper into debt, she leaves her old life behind with nothing but her clothes and her Toyota Corolla. In Seattle, she parks in a secluded spot by the beach to lay low and plan her next move—until early one morning, she sees a sobbing woman throw herself into the ocean. Lee hauls the woman back to the surface, but instead of appreciation, she is met with fury. The drowning woman, Hazel, tells her that she wanted to die, that she’s trapped in a toxic, abusive marriage, that she’s a prisoner in her own home. Lee has thwarted her one chance to escape her life.
Out of options, Hazel retreats to her gilded cage, and Lee thinks she’s seen the last of her, until her unexpected return the next morning. Bonded by disparate but difficult circumstances, the women soon strike up a close and unlikely friendship. And then one day, Hazel makes a shocking request: she wants Lee to help her disappear. It’ll be easy, Hazel assures her, but Lee soon learns that nothing is as it seems, and that Hazel may not be the friend Lee thought she was.
Out on June 13, don’t miss it. This got five big Goodreads stars from me!
I had no idea about the competitive world of horses and riding lessons, before reading Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier. Living in this world while reading this book was something new for me. The author takes us into Southern California where the reader is immersed in the equestrian lifestyle.
Right away I loved the premise, which we as readers, haven’t seen a million times before. The characters were intriguing, the story moved forward with every chapter and when I finished the book, I knew it needed to be a movie or series- which I think it’s going to be!
Synopsis:
When the nouveau riche Parker family moves to an exclusive community in the heart of Southern California, they believe it’s their chance at a fresh start. Heather Parker is determined to give her daughters the life she never had—starting with horses.
She signs them up for riding lessons at Rancho Santa Fe Equestrian, where horses are a lifestyle. Heather becomes a “Barn Mom,” part of a group of wealthy women who hang at the stables, drink wine, and prepare their daughters for competition.
It’s not long before the Parker family is fully enmeshed in the horse world—from mean girl cliques to barn romances and dark secrets. With the end of summer horse show fast approaching, the pressure is on, and these mothers will stop at nothing to give their daughters everything they deserve.
Published on June 6. A must-read.
“Dear old world,” she murmured, “you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.” —L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables, 1908
If you loved Anne of Green Gables as I did, then you will want to read After Anne by Logan Steiner. This is about the author, Lucy Maud Montgomery. I admit to knowing nothing about Lucy or her life, so I was happy to get the chance to read this novel, based on her life.
Synopsis:
As a young woman, Maud had dreams bigger than the whole of Prince Edward Island. Her exuberant spirit had always drawn frowns from her grandmother and their neighbors, but she knew she was meant to create, to capture and share the way she saw the world. And the young girl in Maud’s mind became more and more persistent: Here is my story, she said. Here is how my name should be spelled—Anne with an “e.”
But the day Maud writes the first lines of Anne of Green Gables, she gets a visit from the handsome new minister in town, and soon faces a decision: forge her own path as a spinster authoress, or live as a rural minister’s wife, an existence she once likened to “a respectable form of slavery.” The choice she makes alters the course of her life.
With a husband whose religious mania threatens their health and happiness at every turn, the secret darkness that Maud herself holds inside threatens to break through the persona she shows to the world, driving an ever-widening wedge between her public face and private self, and putting her on a path towards a heartbreaking end.
I loved reading this story and appreciated getting a glimpse into the life of the woman who created such a beloved character. This is out now!
I love this author’s books and A Fatal Affair did not disappoint. When I see a novel by A.R. Torre, I know I need to read it! This was a riveting novel that held my attention from start to finish. I cannot wait to read A.R. Torre’s next book.
Synopsis:
Actress Nora Kemp loves two men. One is Hugh Iverson, a philanthropic movie star who gives Nora security and respectability. The other is Hugh’s twin brother, Trent, a Hollywood bad boy who brings out Nora’s wild side. When Trent and an unidentified woman are found dead on the Iversons’ Beverly Hills property, more than Nora’s and Hugh’s reputations are at stake.
An investigation suggests murder-suicide. But there’s more to the crime than first meets the eye: suspicions of a serial killer with a bizarre motive, Hugh’s unnerved and cautious staff, and a missing mother and son. As two LA detectives sift through the deceptions of the innocent and the guilty—some living and some dead—solving the case becomes a cunning cat-and-mouse game.
Because in a city of illusions, the truth—no matter how dangerous—is so easy to hide.
Coming out on June 20.
I love books like You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard. I will always want to read books that keep you guessing. This one centers around two grifter, Summer and Leo. I’ll let the synopsis do the talking….
Synopsis:
Summer and Leo would do anything for each other. Inspired by the way each has had to carve her place in a hostile and unforgiving world, and united by the call of the open road, they travel around sunny California in Summer’s tricked-out Land Cruiser. It’s not a glamorous life, but it gives them the freedom they crave from the painful pasts they’ve left behind. But even free spirits have bills to pay. Luckily, Summer is a skilled pickpocket, a small-time thief, and a con artist—and Leo, determined to pay her own way, has learned a trick or two.
Eager for a big score, Leo catches in her cross hairs Michael Forrester, a self-made billionaire and philanthropist. When her charm wins him over, Leo is rewarded with an invitation to his private island off the California coastline for a night of fabulous excess. She eagerly anticipates returning with photos that can be sold to the paparazzi, jewelry that can be liquidated, and endless stories to share with Summer.
Instead, Leo disappears.
On her own for the first time in years, Summer decides to infiltrate Michael’s island and find out what really happened. But when she arrives, no one has seen Leo—she’s not on the island as far as they know. Plus, there was only one way on the island—and no way off—for the coming days. Trapped in a scheme she helped initiate, could Summer have met her match?
Clear your schedule when you get this one because you won’t be able to put it down. I loved it.
Out on June 13.
The Glow by Jessie Gaynor was such a timely book. Doesn’t it seem like all of social media is filled with Instagram influencers pushing the latest fad?
In this book, desperate PR girl Jane tries to work with one such influencer, a gorgeous woman who runs wellness retreats. With her life in shambles and enormous debt, Jane needs a miracle. When she finds an earthy, beautiful woman named Cass on social media, she knows she must work with her.
Jane wants to turn Cass into The Next Big Thing and save her job while doing so. Jane convinces her boss to send her to the retreat so she can recruit Cass, creating an almost Goop-like Gwyneth Paltrow-type.
Synopsis:
Jane Dorner has two modes: PR Jane, twenty-five, chummy, and eager to sell you a feminist vibrator or a self-care/bereavement subscription box; and Actual Jane, twenty-nine, drifting through mediocre workdays and lackluster dates while paralyzed by her crushing mountain of overdue medical bills. When her job performance is called into question, Jane’s last-ditch effort to preserve her livelihood and pay off her debt is to land a white whale of a client.
Enter the impossibly gorgeous Cass—whom Jane discovers scrolling through Instagram—and her unassuming husband, Tom—proprietors of a “wellness retreat” based out of a ramshackle country house that may or may not be giving off cult vibes. Suddenly Jane realizes she might have found the one ladder she can climb—if she can convince them that transforming Cass herself into a high-end wellness brand is the key to all three of their futures. Magnetic yet mysterious, Cass is primed to be an influencer: She speaks in a mix of inspirational quotes and Zen koans, eats only zucchini (the most spiritually nourishing vegetable), and has baby-perfect skin. Despite Tom’s reticence about selling out, Jane sets out to mold Cass into the kind of guru who can offer inner peace and make your skin glow—all at a hefty price, of course. As Jane reckons with her own long-dormant ambitions, she wonders: Can a person really “do good” for others while profiting off them? And what parts of ourselves do we lose when we trade power, influence, and beauty?
This was a fun book with clever dialogue and descriptions, enjoyable and relatable. I look forward to anything else this author writes next.
I love books by Fiona Davis and was so very excited to see her newest, The Spectacular. Can we just admire this cover for at least thirty-five minutes? It’s perfection- from the colors to the font and everything in between!
I knew before I began that I would love it. I so appreciate a well-written historical book that takes place in old New York City. I wish I could go back in time and see NYC during the 1950s.
This book was just everything.
Synopsis:
New York City, 1956: Nineteen-year-old Marion Brooks knows she should be happy. Her high school sweetheart is about to propose and sweep her off to the life everyone has always expected they’d have together: a quiet house in the suburbs, Marion staying home to raise their future children. But instead, Marion finds herself feeling trapped. So when she comes across an opportunity to audition for the famous Radio City Rockettes—the glamorous precision-dancing troupe—she jumps at the chance to exchange her predictable future for the dazzling life of a performer.
Meanwhile, the city is reeling from a string of bombings orchestrated by a person the press has nicknamed the “Big Apple Bomber,” who has been terrorizing the citizens of New York for sixteen years by planting bombs in popular, crowded spaces. With the public in an uproar over the lack of any real leads after a years long manhunt, the police turn in desperation to Peter Griggs, a young doctor at a local mental hospital who espouses a radical new technique: psychological profiling.
As both Marion and Peter find themselves unexpectedly pulled into the police search for the bomber, Marion realizes that as much as she’s been training herself to blend in—performing in perfect unison with all the other identical Rockettes—if she hopes to catch the bomber, she’ll need to stand out and take a terrifying risk. In doing so, she may be forced to sacrifice everything she’s worked for, as well as the people she loves the most.
Don’t miss this one! Its such a beautiful and well-written story. Out on June 13.
What The Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman was fast-paced and a quick read full of suspense! It has the perfect ingredients for a good book: an old house, a fancy neighborhood, a pregnancy, and a murder mystery with a liberal amount of gossip and secrets.
Synopsis:
When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind.
But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken, and as the police struggle to identify and apprehend the killer, tension in the neighborhood mounts and long-buried secrets start to emerge.
In the midst of the turmoil, Alexis takes comfort in her budding friendship with Teddy’s beautiful and charismatic widow, Blair. But as the women grow closer, the neighborhood only becomes more divided. And when the unthinkable truth behind Teddy’s murder is finally uncovered, both Blair and Alexis must reexamine their friendship and decide how far they are willing to go to preserve the lives they have so carefully constructed.
This was a good book with suspense elements and when I finished, I was satisfied! Out on June 20.
Catherine McKenzie’s books just get better and better! I began reading her books several years ago and she’s really come so far. I loved her earlier novels and I recommend you go back and read them, they were so good. But she’s fully embraced suspense and Have You Seen Her is the latest. This is the story of Cassie Peters who returns home from NYC to work on a case from many years ago.
Synopsis:
Equipped with a burner phone and a new job, Cassie Peters has left her hectic and secretive life in New York City for the refuge of her hometown of Mammoth Lakes, California. There, she begins working again with Yosemite Search and Rescue, where a case she worked on a decade ago continues to haunt her.
She quickly falls into old patterns, joining a group of fellow seasonal workers and young adventurers who have made Yosemite their home during the summer. There, she meets Petal, a young woman living in a trailer with her much older wife, keeping a detailed diary of the goings on of the park, and Jada, a recent college graduate on a cross-country road trip with her boyfriend, documenting their journey on Instagram.
This comes out on June 27.
Long Gone, Come Home by Monica Chenault-Kilgore is another historical fiction book to add to your MUST READ list. Taking place in the 1930’s, this was a nice change from so many historical fiction books that take place during World War II. I’m always happy to find a good book taking place in the 20’s, 30’s.
Synopsis:
Birdie Jennings dreams of a big life beyond her small town of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, beyond her mundane job tying tobacco leaves at Wrights Factory, beyond her position as the baby of the family. Her life changes when she meets Jimmy Walker, a smooth talker and dreamer. Jimmy makes big promises of a magical life filled with poetry, passion, and music, and Birdie is quickly swept off her feet. But some short years after they marry, Jimmy leaves for work and never returns, and Birdie is left behind with two toddlers and no explanation for her husband’s latest disappearance. With no support system, Birdie moves back home with her overbearing mother.
Just as she’s settling into her new life, Birdie witnesses a gruesome murder and flees Mt. Sterling to avoid questioning. For the first time, Birdie is truly on her own. She travels to the big cities of Cincinnati and Chicago just as she dreamed, but with a new goal: find Jimmy and bring him home. Along the way, Birdie explores the bustling jazz scenes in the hottest nightclubs and backwoods juke joints. Finding her place among criminals and saints is tough, but Birdie is tougher, and she soon wonders if an independent life on her own terms is the better way forward.
A serious and heavy read, it was also rich with detail and I loved being immersed in Birdie’s story.
Read it now!
I have not read Crow Mary by Kathleen Grissom yet, but I read and loved her other books. In fact, if you haven’t read The Kitchen House or Glory Over Everything, get them right now. Her books are historical fiction at their best. I’m super particular about this genre but when I look back on my books in review at the end of the year, my favorites tend to be historical fiction.
Here’s the plot:
In 1872, sixteen-year-old Goes First, a Crow Native woman, marries Abe Farwell, a white fur trader. He gives her the name Mary, and they set off on the long trip to his trading post in the Cypress Hills of Saskatchewan, Canada. Along the way, she finds a fast friend in a Métis named Jeannie; makes a lifelong enemy in a wolfer named Stiller; and despite learning a dark secret of Farwell’s past, falls in love with her husband.
The winter trading season passes peacefully. Then, on the eve of their return to Montana, a group of drunken whiskey traders slaughters forty Nakota—despite Farwell’s efforts to stop them. Mary, hiding from the hail of bullets, sees the murderers, including Stiller, take five Nakota women back to their fort. She begs Farwell to save them, and when he refuses, Mary takes two guns, creeps into the fort, and saves the women from certain death. Thus, she sets off a whirlwind of colliding cultures that brings out the worst and best in the cast of unforgettable characters and pushes the love between Farwell and Crow Mary to the breaking point.
This is out now so go get it!
I have read every single book that Gemma has written and they are all very good. You know you are in for a page-turner that going to move quickly when you open a Gemma Rogers novel. I have yet to read anything boring or bland from this author! The Flatmate kept me intrigued, I was turning the pages quickly and wondering what was going to happen next.
I absolutely hated the character of Amanda, well done on writing her, Gemma!
Here’s the synopsis:
Always trust your very basic instincts or prepare for the consequences…
It was surreal returning to work after a sabbatical following the suspicious death of my best friend Livvy.
On my return to the company apartment, I was surprised to find Livvy’s replacement, Amanda Dowd firmly entrenched as my new flatmate.
She’d seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
But something didn’t feel right. I felt on edge.
Everyone seemed to love Amanda, even my ex-Jayden was blinded by her outgoing personality and model-like looks.
Yet her desperation to become friends felt unnatural.
When I began to receive calls, photos and presents from Livvy, I became spooked. Someone was targeting me, watching me.
With my job, home and life on the line, I had to find out who was doing this to me and why.
I hadn’t caused Livvy’s death but still believed it was no accident.
Someone else was guilty and I had to find out who before I was next..
Don’t miss this one and be sure to check out Gemma’s other novels which are all equally as good as this! Coming out on June 22.
Another winning novel from Heather Chavez. I stayed up until after 1 a.m. to finish this one, I HAD TO KNOW what was going to happen. Before She Finds Me was a fantastic book with twists and turns and shocking revelations. At first, I wasn’t sure how I was going to like it- a husband and wife assassin team taking out people at the whim of rich clients? Meh. But as I got more into the story, I was hooked.
Julia Bennett has worked hard to create a stable life for her daughter, Cora, in Southern California. So when Cora leaves for college, the worst thing Julia expects on move-in day is an argument with her ex-husband and his new wife. But a sudden attack leaves the campus stunned—and only Julia’s quick actions save Cora’s life. Shaken in the aftermath, and haunted by a dark secret, Julia starts to wonder: What if the attack wasn’t as random as everyone believes?
Newly pregnant Ren Petrovic has an unusual career—she’s a trained assassin, operating under a strict moral code. Ren wasn’t on campus that day, but she knows who was: her husband, Nolan. What she doesn’t know is why Nolan has broken their rules by not telling her about the job in advance. The more Ren looks into the attack, the more she begins to question: Who really hired Nolan? And why did one woman in the crowd respond so differently from all the rest?
Julia and Ren each want answers, but their searches quickly pit them against each other. One woman is a hired killer, but the other is a determined survivor. And both mothers will defend their families to the bitter end.
SO GOOD. Really takes you on a wild ride and fans of suspense won’t want to miss this. Out on June 27.
AND SOME SNEAK PEEKS INTO MORE BOOKS COMING IN 2023…
Coming in December, The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner was five stars. I was swallowed up by this story. Twists and turns coupled with unlikeable characters and people who are unreliable made this one a pleasure to read. I could not put it down until the very last page:
When a young nanny is found dead in mysterious circumstances, new mom, Tash, is intrigued. She has been searching for a story to launch her career as a freelance journalist. But she has also been searching for something else—new friends to help her navigate motherhood.
She sees them at her son’s new playgroup. The other mothers. A group of sleek, sophisticated women who live in a neighborhood of tree-lined avenues and stunning houses. The sort of mothers Tash herself would like to be. When the mothers welcome her into their circle, Tash discovers the kind of life she has always dreamt of—their elegant London townhouses a far cry from her cramped basement flat and endless bills. She is quickly swept up into their wealthy world via coffees, cocktails, and playdates.
But when another young woman is found dead, it’s clear there’s much more to the community than meets the eye. The more Tash investigates, the more she’s led uncomfortably close to the other mothers. Are these women really her friends? Or is there another, more dangerous reason why she has been so quickly accepted into their exclusive world? Who, exactly, is investigating who?
Inspired by Ted Bundy and his victims, Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll is a book you will want to read. Clear your schedule and set aside about five hours for this novel which is dark and gritty and compelling. Some parts gave me chills, the whole thing was captivating.
It takes talent to recreate the horror and fear that settled across the country during the 1970s, the height of serial killers.
January 1978. A serial killer has terrorized women across the Pacific Northwest, but his existence couldn’t be further from the minds of the vibrant young women at the top sorority on Florida State University’s campus in Tallahassee. Tonight is a night of promise, excitement, and desire, but Pamela Schumacher, president of the sorority, makes the unpopular decision to stay home—a decision that unwittingly saves her life. Startled awake at 3 a.m. by a strange sound, she makes the fateful decision to investigate. What she finds behind the door is a scene of implausible violence—two of her sisters dead; two others, maimed. Over the next few days, Pamela is thrust into a terrifying mystery inspired by the crime that’s captivated public interest for more than four decades.
On the other side of the country, Tina Cannon has found peace in Seattle after years of hardship. A chance encounter brings twenty-five-year-old Ruth Wachowsky into her life, a young woman with painful secrets of her own, and the two form an instant connection. When Ruth goes missing from Lake Sammamish State Park in broad daylight, surrounded by thousands of beachgoers on a beautiful summer day, Tina devotes herself to finding out what happened to her. When she hears about the tragedy in Tallahassee, she knows it’s the man the papers refer to as the All-American Sex Killer. Determined to make him answer for what he did to Ruth, she travels to Florida on a collision course with Pamela—and one last impending tragedy.
Out in September
I just cannot find enough novels like The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok. Expertly written, with a plot I haven’t seen before, and characters I care about, this novel had everything. It pulls at your heart and makes you think. It’s a MUST-READ. I’m already looking forward to whatever Jean writes next, her books are just excellent.
Coming to you in October.
Jasmine Yang arrives in New York City from her rural Chinese village without money or family support, fleeing a controlling husband, on a desperate search for the daughter who was taken from her at birth–another female casualty of China’s controversial One Child Policy. But with her husband on her trail, the clock is ticking, and she’s forced to make increasingly desperate decisions if she ever hopes to be reunited with her daughter.
Meanwhile, publishing executive Rebecca Whitney seems to have it all: a prestigious family name and the wealth that comes with it, a high-powered career, a beautiful home, a handsome husband, and an adopted Chinese daughter she adores. She’s even hired a Chinese nanny to help her balance the demands of being a working wife and mother. But when an industry scandal threatens to jeopardize not only Rebecca’s job but her marriage, this perfect world begins to crumble and her role in her own family is called into question.
