She Was the Quiet One

In Michele Campbell's She Was the Quiet One, this thriller is quite disturbing, twisted, and all shades of crazy. For fraternal twins Rose and Isabel "Bel" Enright, their grandmother sent them to a top-notch boarding school in Connecticut after their mother died.  They had been close and good friends, right until they stepped inside Odell Academy. Things had changed between them, when Bel hung out with the wrong crowd. Ever since they were a slipper attack against Rose and her roommate, it had caused a nasty rift between them, though Bel had been loopy from her pain medicine and had gotten off scot-free. But Bel had a secret crush with one of the nearest teachers that had lead to an infatuation and later a scandal. Besides Rose, other classmates were suspicious of her behavior and had caught off with their dirty secret. For Sarah Donovan, she thought she had a perfect marriage to Heath, her high school sweetheart, until he acted strangely to her and had an affair with Bel. But with more tension between Rose and Bel over the past couple of days, it had made other students hate Rose and gave her a hard time. As Bel took her affair to another level, someone knew about it and blackmailed the Donovans at the school--someone else other than Rose. And then later when Bel was killed in the woods, people blamed Rose and tried to frame it on her. She would do anything to prove her innocence when everyone was out to get her until she could convince someone else to take her side in the matter of life and death.

This was a well-done and well-written fascinating thriller that has its own dark side. I did feel sorry for Bel, who was caught up with the wrong crowd, and had gotten hurt--later killed--in the midst of it.  I did feel the most sorry for Rose, who wanted to do the right thing from the wrongs, even though it made her look like a pariah. I also did feel sorry for Sarah who had dealt with the most shocking things that fall, when she had to see Heath in a different light. I did love the vast locations in the Connecticut area, inside and outside the school with vivid imagery and compelling gripping scenes. This would make you hold on to your seat and to buckle up with a wild ride with non-stop action, intense drama, lots of intrigue and suspense on every page.

Will you be there to read She Was the Quiet One tonight?

 

In the Vines

In Shannon Kirk's In the Vines, this standalone thriller will have you tangled in a patch of thorny vines from start to finish. For Mary Olivia Pentecost, aka MOP, she was born in a wealthy and guarded family in the New England region. She just graduated in college and madly in love with her boyfriend, Manny Acista, who's also wealthy and well-known too. But since her mother's mysterious death two years ago, she had always wondered what happened to her, since she was an only child and really close to her mother.  Besides her aunt, a former nun named Mary Patience, and another aunt, Lynnette Viola (Liv for short), they knew the secrets of what happened then and what had happened now. For Liv, she was in love with a married man and had plotted to frame his wife for a murder. She had kept the secret clutched to her chest until MOP discovers a big secret. She would do anything to keep it from her when the truth had unraveled before her eyes. Not only that her mother was alive for two years, awakened and weak from a coma, but her aunt's rival pulled a surprise of her own. In the end, both Liv and MOP fight for their lives to keep it unwrapped with a shocking ending.

This was a gripping and a bit darkly disturbing psychological thriller. I did care for MOP, when she had thought she had a perfect life until her mother's disappearance. And that had lead to a trail of secrets. I also had found Liv pretty disturbing as she had talked to herself numerous times, though she had led a difficult live with 3 miscarriages and her lover murdered. No wonder it had sent her over the edge. I did like the scenic descriptions of the scenery in Boston and the locations around the born, then and now. This would make you want to stay up late with the light on, bit your lip, and gasp a dozen times with nail-biting non-stop action, suspense, drama and dark intrigue.

Will you be tangled In the Vines tonight?

The Night the Lights Went Out

In Karen White's the Night the Lights Went Out, this woman's fiction novel is so breath-taking and powerful enough to pull on your heart strings for a wild ride. Merilee Dunlap was a recently divorced woman with two young children. After her husband's infidelity, she moved from Atlanta to the suburb of Sweet Apple.  But things aren't what they seem what they arrived. She had met her landlord, Alice "Sugar" Prescott, a ninety-year-old woman who lived a hard life throughout her years. At first, she didn't know anything about Merilee and her children, but she didn't mind giving her a helping hand or baking them cookies. When Merilee dropped off her kids at school, she met somebody named Heather Blackford who was in part of the welcoming committee and later friended her. Later on, she became part of the Sweet Apple community and became involved with school events; meanwhile, someone's an anonymous blogger who had the eyes on the sights and sounds of the neighborhood. When things had gotten hunky-dory and things were fine for a while, until Merilee discovered a tragic drowning. Later, the spotlight was on her, since this wasn't the first time she had lost someone from a drowning and had now carried a heart-wrenching secret close to her heart. But when the Sweet Apple PD suspect Merilee of the crimes, the tables have been turned to find out who set her up, someone she didn't suspect from her past, and to set the record straight to clear her name in a powerful ending.

This was a fabulous woman's fiction novel that dealt with friendship and how two people like Merilee and Sugar  had shared some secrets of their past. I loved the Sweet Apple small-town community and how she made new friends and bonded with people. I did become fond of Sugar and Dan, though I couldn't stand Heather or her parents for that matter.  I did like the mesmerizing locations of Sweet Apple and Tybee, Georgia, and how the visual images popped on the page for the scenic scenery. This would make you want to cry and root for Merillee, sigh and shake your head, and feel compassionate about your own neighbors with non-stop drama, action, suspense, and a spark of romance.

Will you be there on the Night When the Lights Went Out?

Pretty Dolls and Hand Grenades

In Cara Reinard's Pretty Dolls and Hand Grenades, this domestic suspense is so compelling and down to the nitty-gritty with real good drama. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. For CeCe Laramie, her perfect world had started to slip away from her. When she learned her husband Mitchell was having an affair with his younger red-haired assistant, she almost flipped her lid. Besides her marital troubles, she's been having blackouts, panic attacks, and a severe case of OCD. Her daughter Josie has an eating disorder, and her son Camdyn is fascinated with violent video games. She almost had it all, until he wanted a divorce to be with her.  Then she lost her friends and he had cut her off financially when she decided to get a job at the local coffee shop to lend a hand in the expenses. When she had thought of a way to bring them together, Mitchell believed she was lying.  But it didn't explain those headaches when she had blacked out. That's when she met a mystery Russian woman named "Dinah" who wanted to help her out since she had been wronged too. With secret meetings, they came up with a plan to bring her husband back to her and to drive his mistress away. But with every plot of revenge, she never thought it would get too far and real dangerous without getting anyone hurt or killed. As long as he had an alibi for each act, no one would suspect her of any wrong-doing.  At the end, when things come to a head, she learned who "Dinah" really was and had she kept the secret with an explosive happy ending.

This was a great and intriguing domestic suspense.  I did care for Cece and had she tried her best to keep her family together, while they were splitting apart. I did get a bit worried about her with her OCD and her blackouts, and how she put on a brave face on for her two kids. I didn't like Katelyn too much either. I did like the NYC and New Jersey dual locations and the compelling scenic scenes from start to finish. This would make you want to shake your head, gasp, and hang on tight, when it's loaded with non-stop action, drama, suspense and tons of mystery on every page.

Will you give Pretty Dolls and Hand Grenades a read today?

Yarn to GO

In Betty Hechtman's Yarn to Go, the first installment in the Yarn Retreat Crafty Cozy Series, this caper is twisted and leave you up in tangled knots in the end. For Casey Feldstein, she's a dessert chef for a local restaurant.  But when she learns about her aunt's hit-and-run, she became puzzled on why it happened. In her late aunt's place, she decided to continue the Yarn to Go Retreat in Cadbury by the Sea, when she met the Master Knitter named Kris Garland and other fellow knitters who came there to relax for the weekend in Vista  Del Mar. But while she wondered about her aunt's accident, she learned that one fellow knitter who couldn't make it, since she had an accident by the sea. While she learns the ins and outs of knitting with the others, she meets her neighbor Dane Mangano and runs into an abrasive man named Kevin St. John, the owner of the hotel, who would do anything to take over the retreat for her. When one of the fellow knitters turn up missing, Casey and her friend Lucinda decided to check on her and discover she had been murdered in her bed. Now it was up to Casey to do a bit sleuthing of her own and learn more about the other knitters in the process. In the end, it was up to her to point the fingers to the main culprit and save her own hind before she would be next.

This was a great cozy series debut that would leave you hooked on every purled stitch for every page. I did care for Casey and how her chocolate muffins became a hit with the locals and how she took charge to solve three murders in the price of one in the end. I did see a potential love triangle between Sammy, her ex, and with Dane. And I loved how she stuck to her guns and didn't leave an unfinished project to find her true calling. I did find the Cadbury by the Sea a terrific location with mesmerizing scenes around Vista Del Mar and near the sea in general. This would make you want to take up knitting and to devour a new cozy mystery at the same time with great drama, suspense, non-stop action and plenty of mystery to keep you guessing whodunit right to the end.

Will you check out Yarn to Go and read it tonight?

Bimini Twist

In Linda Greenlaw's Bimini Twist, the 4th installment in the Jane Bunker Mystery series, this compelling storyline is twisted and send you spinning in a tailspin. Meet Jane Bunker. She wears two hats in Green Haven, Maine--she works as a deputy sheriff for Hancock County and also a marine insurance investigator. It all started for Jane that she had been assigned to look for a missing Romanian girl named Bianca Ciariac, while her thorough drug busts had been put on hold by her boss. While she was looking for her, she boarded one boat named the Princess of the Seas and meets Pete Alford, the chief fisherman there. During her boat ride, she witnessed a ramming of one other cruise ship and then later had killed Ron Thomas. As insurance adjustor for the company, she discovered more than she bargained for, when the chief suspect had suspiciously died by his own gear. Meanwhile, another call had come out about a missing maritime cadet named Franklin Avery, and later he was also presumed to return to Rockland the next morning on the ship. But while Jane had tried to put two to two together, things had gotten awry, when he turned up dead. More suspicions had swirled around in Jane's head, when she discovered other missing women had gotten missing on the ship with help from her assistant Deloris. In the end, she had gotten into herself a nasty bind of a potential coverup of something more sinister and learned the bitter truth behind it.

This was a compelling and interesting storyline that's set in Maine and on the sea. I did care for Jane who worked double duty in small town Green Haven, Maine. She's not just an ordinary plane Jane--pardon the pun--but she did care for her brother Walter, who has Down Syndrome. I love the diversity in that novel. I also thought Pete Alford was quite compellingly intriguing and a positive catch for Jane. I did like the visual gripping scenes in Green Haven and on the Atlantic Ocean to Bimini and how the locations were quitting fitting for storyline and title. This would send your head spinning and blow out a big breath with non-stop action, drama, suspense and intrigue from start to end.

Will you set sail for a twisted adventure today in Bimini Twist?

Magic Bites

In llona Andrews's Magic Bites, the first installment in the Kate Daniels urban fantasy series, you would be enchanted and thrown into a dangerous magical world. For Kate Daniels, she's a broke mercenary looking for word, when she learned about her guardian's death.  This had propelled her to look for clues and search for answers.  And along the way, she had met an interesting array of characters, like Curran the lead of the Pack of Lycanthropes, and the Vampires who practice Necromancy. While both sides blame each other for the latest deaths in each tribe, she had a blood ward named Derek, and became intrigued by Dr. Crest. Though she had been accepted by the Pack to become an honorary member, they team up to learn about the upir, a half-breed who mates with women and eats the dead. And right under their noses, they discover it might be one of their own. For Kate, Curran, and Nick, a Crusader, the battle is one to decimate the upir and his brood and make this magical world set better with a fight for life and death.

This was a fantastic debut to this urban fantasy series. It placed you right into Kate's disorderly world and how she was thrusted on shaky ground. I did care for Kate, who has some magical touches, and meets some interesting people along the way. I did think Crest was amusing and Curran was a tad enthralling. I did like the magic atmospheric world in Atlanta for the mesmerizing locations and enchanting scenic scenes throughout Georgia. This woud make you want to gasp, shake your head, whistle, and hang onto a wild ride with non-stop action, drama, suspense and plenty of mystery on every page.

Will you take a chance to read Magic Bites tonight?

Cooper's Charm

In Lori Foster's Cooper's Charm, the first installment in the Love at the Resort Contemporary Romance series, this new series will charm you and make you find your second chance at love. For Phoenix Rose, she had suffered a horrible ordeal when she was robbed. That left her shattered and make her call off things with her fiancé David.  Then she went to Cooper's Charm park in Ohio, when she needed to get away and start fresh in a new life. That's when she met Cooper Cochran, the owner of the park, and asked him for a job. Right away, she became the housekeeper to keep maintain the resort cabins. But there was a chemistry between her and her widowed boss, when they had gotten well together. While she was insecure from the robbery, she didn't know who or what to feel. When her sister Ridley paid her a visit, she had feasted her eyes on Baxter, one of the coworkers at the park, and sparks continued to fly. Hot off the heels of a divorce and looking for a new love, she made herself a new home in the park and brought a RV to lure Baxter in a seductive trap. Besides all of this, someone had targeted Phoenix by scaring her to death, while Cooper protects her and begins to let go of the ghost of his last wife. When the past came to ahead, it was a life and death situation for Phoenix to take back her life and get the happiness she deserves and face her past...

This was a great contemporary romance that had a bit of a flare and diversity. I did care for Phoenix, who wears glasses and a bit plump, and how she fought back to have her life back. I loved how she bonded with Ridley and how she cared for Sugar and adored Cooper. I have found Ridley a hoot and Cooper a real charmer, who cared for her just the way you are, curves and all. I also loved the park setting in Ohio and how the scenic locations had came to life on every page. This would make you root for Phoenix, gasp for air, and laugh a few times with good humor with non-stop action, drama, suspense and plenty of powerful romance.

Will you stop by Cooper's Charm tonight?