The Edge of Summer by Viola Shipman 🎧Audiobook Review @harlequinbooks @harperaudio

Happy Tuesday Readers!

Happy PubDay to this fabulous story!🪡

My Thoughts

5 BIG BEAUTIFUL BUTTON FILLED STARS!🪡

5 reasons you should read this book.

1️⃣ Viola Shipman is a brilliant storyteller.

2️⃣ this is a beautiful yet heartbreaking story about the love of a mother, and a daughter beginning to understand.

3️⃣ Sutton is a likable relatable character. Her growth throughout the story was wonderful to see.

4️⃣ buttons! You will never learn so much about buttons and you will never have realized that you wanted to know all there is to know. I will honestly never look at a button the same way again.

5️⃣ The setting of Lake Michigan scream summer and the romance is slow and sweet.

2 reasons you should listen to this book.

🎧 Nancy Peterson did an amazing job bringing Viola Shipman‘s storytelling to life.

🎧 Nancy also set the perfect tone and pacing for this beautiful story.

It never fails to amaze me that Viola Shipman is a pen name for a male author. He really has such a firm grasp on the female psyche. I also really appreciated how the subject of Covid and the pandemic was handled and addressed in this book. I completely empathize with Sutton as she tries to navigate her “new normal“. The role that buttons played in the story was so unique, well done and interesting. This book seriously made me want to start sewing, something that has never happened before. Tug The love interest in the story is fabulous, you’ve got to love a man that loves baseball and fabric. Another beautiful story from this exceptional author set against the backdrop of Lake Michigan. A definite can’t miss summer read.

*** Big thank you to Grayden House & Harper Audio for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

Bestselling author Viola Shipman delights with this captivating summertime escape set along the sparkling shores of Lake Michigan, where a woman searches for clues to her secretive mother’s past

Devastated by the sudden death of her mother—a quiet, loving and intensely private Southern seamstress called Miss Mabel, who overflowed with pearls of Ozarks wisdom but never spoke of her own family—Sutton Douglas makes the impulsive decision to pack up and head north to the Michigan resort town where she believes she’ll find answers to the lifelong questions she’s had about not only her mother’s past but also her own place in the world.

Recalling Miss Mabel’s sewing notions that were her childhood toys, Sutton buys a collection of buttons at an estate sale from Bonnie Lyons, the imposing matriarch of the lakeside community. Propelled by a handful of trinkets left behind by her mother and glimpses into the history of the magical lakeshore town, Sutton becomes tantalized by the possibility that Bonnie is the grandmother she never knew. But is she? As Sutton cautiously befriends Bonnie and is taken into her confidence, she begins to uncover the secrets about her family that Miss Mabel so carefully hid, and about the role that Sutton herself unwittingly played in it all.

Have a fantastic day filled with fabulous books! XO Berit

Villa of Sun and Secrets by Jennifer Bohnet **Audiobook Review** @rararesources

Happy Sunday book people!

This was a delightful story packed with family secrets and the warm sun!☀️

Villa of Sun and Secrets

It’s never too late to live the dream…

Carla Sullivan’s 50th birthday is fast approaching when her whole world is turned upside down. Discovering her feckless husband is having yet another affair and following her mother’s death, she is in need of an escape. Finding an envelope addressed to her mother’s estranged sister Josette in the South of France gives Carla the perfect plan.

Seizing the moment, she packs her bags and heads to Antibes to seek out the enigma known as Tante Josette. But as the two women begin to forge a tentative relationship, family secrets start to unravel, forcing Carla to question her life as she has always known it.

A heart-warming tale on the beautiful French Riviera, which will keep you guessing. 

My Thoughts

A gorgeous setting and an abundance of secrets. Jennifer Bohnet swept me away to the French Riviera in this stunning tale. Carla has recently lost her mother and now she finds out her husband is cheating on her. Needing a getaway Carla remembers a letter she found in her mother’s belongings addressed to her mom’s estranged twin sister Josette. Josette has always been a bit of a mystery to Carla, she never knew what caused the rift between her mother and her sister. So Carla packs her bags and heads to France to clear her head and get to know her French side of the family. What she finds in France is a lovely aunt, a gorgeous villa, and a lot of secrets.

Julia Franklin did a wonderful job of pulling me into the story with her vivid narration of the audiobook. She did a wonderful job with giving the perfect voice and accent to each of these colorful characters. And there were quite a few accents English, French, American. My only teeny tiny complaint is occasionally especially with the male French accent I had a harder time understanding, but that’s probably just my American ear. I loved the warm sunshiny feel of this story. The Villa, the food, the sun, the wine, the romance… and of course the secrets. The overall vibe of the story was quite heartwarming although there were some definite moments of heartbreak. I was pretty impressed with how Carla handled everything being thrown at her. She was a great character, and I love that she along with the majority of the characters in the story were over the age of 50. A Beautifully told French escape.

This book in emojis 🇫🇷 ☀️ ✉️ ⚱️ 🌻 🍷 🫖

*** Big thank you to Boldwood Books for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

Purchase Link – https://bit.ly/VillaofSSAudible

Author Bio – 

Jennifer Bohnet is the bestselling author of over 14 women’s fiction titles, including Villa of Sun and Secrets and A Riviera Retreat. She is originally from the West Country but now lives in the wilds of rural Brittany, France.

Social Media Links – 

http://www.jenniferbohnet.com/

http://facebook.com/Jennifer-Bohnet-170217789709356

http://twitter.com/jenniewriter

http://instagram.com/jenniebohnet

Newsletter sign up link: http://bit.ly/JenniferBohnetNewsletter
Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jennifer-bohnet

Pretending by Holly Bourne **Book Review** @harlequinbooks @harperaudio

Happy weekend book friends!

Excited to share with you today my review for this emotional and evocative story.🌷

My Thoughts

Emotional and evocative. This is my first book by Holly Bourne, her provocative storytelling hit me right in the feels. April has had it with the dating scene, she cannot seem to make it past the fifth date. So she decides to channel her alter ego Gretel and become the easy-going carefree no worries type of girl April is certain the guys want. The problem is after dating Joshua as Gretel for several weeks April is thinking Josh might be more than just a fling. So how does April tell Josh that she really isn’t Gretel? And how much of Gretel is really April?

Not going to lie this was NOT the book I was expecting when I picked it up. From the blurb I thought this was going to be a sweet fluffy Romance, definitely was not expecting the emotional journey this book took me on. April is a survivor of verbal/emotional abuse and sexual assault. I felt the heavy subject matter was handled very thoughtfully. The boxing class that April attended for survivors was cathartic and I loved the bonds that formed between these women. I really liked both April and Josh, and liked them even more as a couple. As April dug a bigger and bigger hole for herself I was so worried as to how she was going to get herself out of this? I also found April’s job fascinating and liked how that played out in the story. The audiobook was narrated by Heather Long Who has the most melodic British accent. Seriously she could read to me all day and definitely brought even more depth and sparkle to the story. A well told story that will stay with me.

*** Big thank you to Mira for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

Pretending : A Novel 

Holly Bourne

On Sale Date: November 17, 2020

9780778331506, 0778331504

Trade Paperback

$17.99 USD

416 pages

ABOUT THE BOOK:

In this hilarious and heartbreaking debut novel perfect for fans of Fleabag, a woman struggling to move on after a traumatic relationship pretends to be “the perfect girl” in an act of vengeance that goes awry when she finds herself emotionally compromised.

He said he was looking for a ‘partner in crime’ which everyone knows is shorthand for ‘a woman who isn’t real’.

April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal – yet she can’t seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she’s found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry. Until she realizes that what men are really looking for is Gretel.

Gretel is perfect – beautiful but low maintenance, sweet but never clingy, sexy but not a slut. She’s a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems.

When April starts pretending to be Gretel, dating becomes much more fun – especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua. Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Holly Bourne is a bestselling UK-based YA and Adult Fiction author and is an Ambassador for Women’s Aid. In 2019, she was an Author of the Day at the London Book Fair, and was named by Elle Magazine’s weekly podcast as one of “Six Female Authors Changing the Conversation in 2019”. Pretending is her US debut.

BUY LINKS:

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Apple Books

Kobo

Google Books

Bookshop.org

SOCIAL LINKS:

Author website: https://hollybourne.co.uk/

Twitter: @holly_bourneYA

Instagram: @hollybourneya

Facebook: @Holly.BourneYA

Rescue You by Elysia Whisler **Audiobook Review** @harperaudio @harlequinbooks

Happy Friday friends!

Super excited to share today my review for this fun romance filled with dogs, fitness, and love.🐶

My Thoughts

Emotional and heartwarming. Comforting and raw. Healing and hurt. Elysia Whisler stole my heart with this gorgeous Romance filled with deep feelings and furry friends. Sisters Constance and Sunny have gone through a lot together. Now they’re both focusing on saving others, dogs in particular. Constance is a massage therapist but she doesn’t only work on two legged clients, but the four-legged variety as well. Sunny owns a dog shelter and is known to have “stolen“ a dog or two from a bad situation. When Constance finds herself in a hard-core gym owned by Rhett there is an instant connection. BUT the wounds in both Constance and Rhett run deep. What follows is a story filled with sweat, tears, anger, fear, regret, determination, healing, and of course dogs.

This was such an engaging Romance with so much substance and heart. The characters were so well-developed, multi dimensional with real and relatable emotion. Loved Constance as a character and was so interested in her job. I have worked all my adult life in gyms and I really enjoyed the fitness aspect of the story. And of course all the dogs added another heartwarming layer to the story. The romance was so quiet and patient, I really loved how feelings developed between Constance and Rhett in the story. There is a secondary romance going on in the story that I would love to see further explored in a future book. Lisa Larsen narrated the audiobook and did such a wonderful job. I loved the voice she gave each character especially that of Constance. You could just feel the compassion dripping from Constance when she was voiced through the narrator. If you like dogs, fitness, Romance, and emotion then this is a can’t miss.

This book in emojis 🐕‍🦺 🏃🏻‍♀️ 🏋🏼‍♂️ 🍲

*** Big thank you to Harlequin /Mira and Harper Audio for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

RESCUE YOU

Author: Elysia Whisler

ISBN: 9780778310082

Publication Date: October 27, 2020

Publisher: MIRA Books

BOOK SUMMARY:

She needs a fresh start. He’s got scars that haven’t healed. With the help of some rescue dogs, they’ll discover that everyone deserves a chance at happiness.

After a year of heartbreak and loss, the only thing keeping Constance afloat is the dog rescue she works at with her sister, Sunny. Desperate for a change, Constance impulsively joins a new gym, even though it seems impossibly hard, and despite the gym’s prickly owner.

Rhett Santos keeps his gym as a refuge for his former-military brothers and to sweat out his own issues. He’s ready to let the funny redhead join, but unprepared for the way she wiggles past his hard-won defenses.

When their dog rescue is threatened, the sisters fight to protect it. And they need all the help they can get. As Rhett and Constance slowly open up to each other, they’ll find that no one is past rescuing; what they need is the right person—or dog—to save them.

SOCIAL:

Author Website: https://www.elysiawhisler.com/

TWITTER: @ElysiaWhisler

Facebook: @ElysiaWhisler

Insta: @ElysiaWhisler

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19812585.Elysia_Whisler

BUY LINKS:

Harlequin

Indiebound

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-A-Million

Walmart

Google

iBooks

Kobo

About the Author

BIO:

Elysia Whisler was raised in Texas, Italy, Alaska, Mississippi, Nebraska, Hawai’i and Virginia, in true military fashion. Her nomadic life has made storytelling a compulsion from a young age. 

She doubles as a mother, a massage therapist and a CrossFit trainer and is dedicated to portraying strong women, both in life and in her works. She lives in Virginia with her family, including her large brood of cat and dog rescues, who vastly outnumber the humans.

Mine to Five by Tara September **Book Review** @rararesources

Hello my bookish friends!

This was such a short, sweet, and festive story!🎄

Mine to Five

Working beyond nine to five and barely getting by, Melanie Thomas is eager to celebrate the impending holiday season and to toast the start of her dream marketing job over drinks with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, he has different plans—like seeing other women.

Indulging in a pity party with tequila, Melanie confides in a sexy stranger at the bar. It’s almost Christmas. One night of letting go won’t hurt anything, right? Turns out it just might—when the stranger is her new boss. Determined to succeed at her job, Melanie won’t be scared away. This is her chance, even if her hot boss has her feeling all merry and bright and wishing for a less-than-professional relationship.

Matthew Ryans is burned out and on thin ice at the company he helped build unless he gets his head back in the game. Yet his head, both upper and lower, are quickly becoming obsessed with his new assistant. Still, he can’t seem to fully begrudge Melanie’s distracting presence and the Christmas joy she brings with it. Especially considering that her enthusiasm has him reenergized. For once, he is longing for Mondays, but with his heart and job on the line, he can’t risk blurring the lines no matter how strong the lure of holiday mistletoe is.

Will their holiday passion be able to fuel mutual career success, or will it only get in their way in the New Year?

My Thoughts

A festive little gem! Four hours on audio and packed with Romance, humor, steam, and holiday cheer. Melanie is looking hot and feeling good. Her spirits are high and she’s ready to have the time of her life the night before she starts her new dream job, and then… another woman answers her boyfriend’s phone. Melanie is devastated and decides to drown her sorrows in tequila. One shot leads to another… the man next to her is buying her drinks… next thing she knows she wakes up the next morning with a raging headache in bed with the man at the bar… Melanie does the walk of shame, but no big deal she will never see him again. Well at least not for a few hours until he shows up at her new job as her new boss. Whoops 😬

This was a short, sweet, and cute story. Both Melanie and Matthew were great characters who I immediately liked. The story primarily takes place in November and December so there’s lots of holiday cheer sprinkled throughout the story. This would be the perfect book to listen to on the road two family’s for Christmas or Thanksgiving. Just make sure there’s no little ears in the vehicle there is some definite steam in the story.

This book in emojis 📱 🖍 🥃 🐛 🎄

*** Big thank you to the author for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

Purchase Links

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YWKD6XB

US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YWKD6XB

If readers sign-up to Tara September’s newsletter they can automatically get her short story It Might Be You for free at https://storyoriginapp.com/giveaways/8d2ea240-84e1-11ea-b6cf-ef6e1a3ccd4e

Author Bio –

Tara September is a multi-award-winning contemporary romance author living in Southwest Florida. Blogger and former PR executive for The Walt Disney Company, Tara holds a Master’s degree in journalism & communications from New York University. For over a decade, Tara has penned a popular lifestyle, travel and parenting blog at TaraMetBlog.com. 

An avid romance reader though, she has been daydreaming about being an author since she was a kid. Dozens of bad dates and adventures later, she still finds it impossible that she met her husband on a NYC subway. They now have identical twin boys and four cats underfoot/on her laptop/everywhere. Fueled by an IV of green tea and an outrageous stock of champagne, she’s finally writing the happily ever after tales she’s been dreaming about.

Social Media Links –

Twitter: https://twitter.com/taraseptember

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/taraseptemberauthor/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/taraseptemberauthor

Website: http://www.taraseptember.com/

Optional Giveaway to Win an Audible Code for Mine To Five – UK / US Only –

Entirely up to you how you organize this, but send winners name and email, and preferred Audible Code UK / US to me and I’ll pass it over to the author.

Strangers by C L Taylor @callytaylor @AvonBooksUK *Audobookreview*

Hello book friends, I hope you are well?

I have been away for a while with the dreaded lurgy, but I am better now and ready to catch up with my reviews, and everything else I have missed out on Lol.

I’m super happy to be on the audiobook blog tour for this fantastic book by C L Taylor.

My Review

This book was so much fun to read, it has so many red herrings in there, that you think that you know exactly where it is going, and then it switches you in a completely different direction.

The story begins at the end of the book, where we are introduced to our 3 main protagonists, Ursula, Gareth and Alice. They are all standing over a dead body.

The book then flips you back to a week before the incident, and to 3 complete strangers,all experiencing a bit of a crappy hand at life, they are all 3 dealing with some sort of loss, whether that be life, marriage etc.

Mixed in between all of this, we also have the perspective, of other strangers on Twitter trying to solve other *suspected* murders, it was really interesting to see this mingled in with the book, it reminded me a little of the Don’t F* With Cats documentary.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book, it is the 2nd book I have read by this author, and it will not be my last.

🎧🎧

Narration was by the awesome Clare Corbett, who did an amazing job, her accents were fab, I have listened to quite a few books narrated by her, and she always gives a stellar performance, her voices are great, and I was never confused about a character at any time.

Synopsis

Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life.
Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards.
And Alice is being stalked.

None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die.

Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.

The Switch by Beth O’Leary **Book Review** @flatironbooks @macmillanaudio

TGIF!

Love this book! This was such an uplifting whimsical read that I absolutely adored! And bonus it was perfection on audio!🎧

My Thoughts

A true gem! Beth O’Leary brightened my day and lifted my mood with this charming tale. Uplit at its absolute best! Leena is a type a workaholic who suffers a panic attack at work one day while giving a presentation. Forced into a two month sabbatical by her boss Leena heads to her grandmother’s house. Eileen it’s 79 and spunky, recently left by her husband for a dance instructor. Leena needs to relax and regroup. Eileen wants to find love, but the pickings in her small town are few. SO grandmother and granddaughter decide to switch places. Leena Will move back home to her childhood small town and Eileen will head off to London. This is when the magic of the story begins! Love watching Leena navigate small-town life-The neighborhood watch, the May fair. And it was even more fun watching Eileen find her way in fast paced London-trendy roommates, online dating, crazy traffic. The audiobook is narrated by Alison Steadman and Daisy Edgar-Jones Who gave the perfect voices to Leena and Eileen. I seriously felt as though I was spending time with good friends every time I started listening to the book. There was just so much charm and wit in their narration, really one of the best I’ve listen to this year.

Eileen and Leena were such delightful characters, they felt like old friends. Loved all the secondary characters as well the quirky residence of the small town and the posh London roommate/friends. Admittedly I think I favored Eileen’s story just a little more. I just adored how sweet and pure she was. How tremendously optimistic, always wanting to bring everyone together and thinking the best of all. Just can’t say enough good things about this book! Definitely going to make my top reads of 2020 list.

This book in emojis 🐱 🚖 📱 🗝 👩🏼 👵🏼

*** Big thank you to Flatiron and Macmillan Audio for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

A grandmother and granddaughter swap lives in this charming, romantic novel by Beth O’Leary, hailed as “the new Jojo Moyes” (Cosmopolitan UK)

Eileen Cotton’s husband of sixty years left her four months ago, and good riddance. After all these decades of sleepy village life, Eileen is ready for an adventure. She’d like a chance at real love, too – and she wonders if maybe the right man is up the road in the big city…Eileen’s granddaughter (and namesake) Leena lives in bustling London, where she is overworked, overscheduled, and overcaffeinated. When Leena collapses and her office sends her on a mandatory vacation, she wants to escape to her grandmother’s inviting, picture-postcard little village.

So they decide to switch lives.

Eileen will take Leena’s flat, Leena’s laptop, and Leena’s glitzy twenty-something London lifestyle. She’ll learn all about dating apps and swiping right, the best coffee shops, and paper-thin apartment walls. Leena can have Eileen’s sweet cottage, her idyllic Yorkshire village, her little projects to help her neighbors, and her nice, quiet life. But neither finds that her new life is exactly what she’d imagined.

Will swapping lives help Eileen and Leena become more truly themselves, and can they find true love in the process?

About the Author

Beth O’Leary worked in children’s publishing before becoming a full-time author. She is also the author of The Flatshare. She can be found on Instagram @BethOLearyAuthor and Twitter @OLearyBeth.

Have a wonderful weekend! XOXO Berit🚗🦋

Mayhem by Estelle Laure **Audiobook Review** @stmartinspress @macmillanaudio @wednesdaybooks

Happy Tuesday all!

How is life in your corner of the world? Here in California we are starting to shut things down again. It is so frustrating I just wish everyone would cooperate and follow the rules so things can get back to normal sooner than never. Thank goodness for Books!

My Thoughts

Books that make you go hmm… what a uniquely wild ride! OK so this book is marketed as a feminist mash up of The Lost Boys and The Craft. I saw The Lost Boys in 1987 when it came out. In all honesty I don’t remember much other than I really liked the soundtrack and there was some kind of supernatural element going on. In reading other reviews it appears as though a lot of this book has been A little too much like the original for peoples liking, but I can’t remember the original so that was completely lost on me. Never saw The Craft, so I have no idea if it’s anything like that at all. So now on to what I do know… Chloe Cannon narrates the audiobook and does a spectacular job! I’m going to be honest I’m not certain this book would’ve held my attention if it weren’t for the wonderful narration of Chloe. It’s not that I did not like this book, it is that occasionally I was a little lost and confused.It was kind of like reading a book through a bank of fog. Mayhem and her mom flea mom’s abusive boyfriend and return home to California. Mom is not crazy about returning home, but her sister is glad to welcome them back. Mayhem soon befriends her aunt’s foster children, but there are secrets brewing. A necklace with a bird charm, magical water, N soon the teens are attempting to save the town from a serial killer. Mayhem was a likable and unusual character. The other characters were interesting, but I always felt like there was a layer of haze between me and them. An interesting premise that didn’t necessarily work for me, but I think will work for others. Now I’m going to go listen to my Lost Boys soundtrack on cassette, of course I need to go find a cassette player.

This book in emojis 🦇 🌫 💦 🏖

*** Big thank you to Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

MAYHEM by Estelle Laure; On-sale: July 14th, 2020

Jacket Copy: The Lost Boys meets Wilder Girls in this supernatural feminist YA novel.

It’s 1987 and unfortunately it’s not all Madonna and cherry lip balm. Mayhem Brayburn has always known there was something off about her and her mother, Roxy. Maybe it has to do with Roxy’s constant physical pain, or maybe with Mayhem’s own irresistible pull to water. Either way, she knows they aren’t like everyone else. 

But when May’s stepfather finally goes too far, Roxy and Mayhem flee to Santa Maria, California, the coastal beach town that holds the answers to all of Mayhem’s questions about who her mother is, her estranged family, and the mysteries of her own self. There she meets the kids who live with her aunt, and it opens the door to the magic that runs through the female lineage in her family, the very magic Mayhem is next in line to inherit and which will change her life for good. 

But when she gets wrapped up in the search for the man who has been kidnapping girls from the beach, her life takes another dangerous turn and she is forced to face the price of vigilante justice and to ask herself whether revenge is worth the cost. 

From the acclaimed author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back, Estelle Laure offers a riveting and complex story with magical elements about a family of women contending with what appears to be an irreversible destiny, taking control and saying when enough is enough.

• Author’s social handles

• Twitter: @starlaure

• Instagram: @estellelaurebooks

• Link to a buy-this-book page:
      https://wednesdaybooks.com/galaxies-and-kingdom/mayhem/

 

• Short author bio:
  Estelle Laure, the author of This Raging Light and But Then I Came Back believes in love, magic, and the power of facing hard truths. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and she lives in Taos, New Mexico, with her family. Her work is translated widely around the world.

 

This is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf **Book Review** @harlequinbooks @harperaudio

Happy Thursday night all!

This was such a twisted tense thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat, especially the last 1/4 of the book!

My Thoughts

Gripping and disturbing. Heather Gudenkauf has crafted an addictive, dark and twisted who done it. 25 years ago Maggie’s best friend Eve was murdered. The case was never solved, but now there is a new lead and Maggie Who is now a police officer is on the case. Re-opening this cold case stirs up many secrets and old feelings,, not everyone is happy about it. A tense Mystery with plenty of suspects and secrets. So who killed Eve all those years ago? Was it the boyfriend? The sister? The creepy guy from the library? The older man? Or was it Maggie herself?

Told from three different perspectives and two different timelines we really are privy to the entire story. We get the present day perspective from Maggie and Eve’s sister Nola. We also get Eve’ss perspective leading up to the murder. Brittany Presley narrated the audiobook and did a spectacular job with all these character’s voices. Nola was one of the most creepy and unstable characters I have read in quite some time and the narration made her even more disturbing. Miss Presley masterfully gave this creepy character the perfect flat inflection to her voice. She also gave Maggie the perfect likable relatable voice. I really liked Maggie and felt bad for her waddling around eight months pregnant trying to solve this cold crime that had such a deep personal connection. There was a lot going on in the story including some triggers such as animal cruelty and abuse. I think it was handled well and it wasn’t gratuitous, but if those are triggers for you I do want you to know ahead of time. A very well told who done it with a very satisfying and tense ending.

This book in emojis 🚨 🥾 🩸 🧬 🍏 🌲

*** Big thank you to Harlequin for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

Publisher’s Summary

“Gudenkauf proves herself the master of the smart, suspenseful small-town thriller that gets right under your skin.” (Gilly Macmillan, New York Times best-selling author of The Nanny)

Everyone has a secret they’ll do anything to hide….

Twenty-five years ago, the body of 16-year-old Eve Knox was found in the caves near her home in small-town Grotto, Iowa – discovered by her best friend, Maggie, and her sister, Nola. There were a handful of suspects, including her boyfriend, Nick, but without sufficient evidence the case ultimately went cold.

For decades Maggie was haunted by Eve’s death and that horrible night. Now a detective in Grotto, and seven months pregnant, she is thrust back into the past when a new piece of evidence surfaces and the case is reopened. As Maggie investigates and reexamines the clues, secrets about what really happened begin to emerge. But someone in town knows more than they’re letting on, and they’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth buried deep.

Tigers, Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry **Book Review** @algonquinbooks @samanthamabry

Happy Friday lovelies!

This was such a magical beautifully written coming-of-age story.

My Thoughts

Lyrical and magical. A compulsively readable tale of grief, growing up, and moving forward. Samantha Mabry’s stunning storytelling brought the Torres sisters to life on the pages of this book. This is the story of four sisters and how they cope after one of them dies. Jessica is strong, angry, and has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Iridian it’s quiet and timid, she’d rather be at home with her books then out in the real world. Rosa is sweet and caring with an unusual bond with the animals. All three sisters miss their oldest sister Anna terribly. Anna fell to her death crawling out her bedroom windows as the girls tried to escape their oppressive home life. When the sisters start to hear voices, see writing on the wall, and sense a presence in the room, they wonder what their sister Anna is trying to tell them. How do you keep living when your world falls apart?

Such a gorgeous story with so much heart and the perfect touch of magic. These girls do not live an easy life. Their mother has died and their father is useless. The story is real and raw and perhaps a little bleak, but there is always that little trace of hope. The audiobook is narrated by Luis Moreno and she brought the perfect unique voice to each of the sisters. The story is told from the perspectives of each of the sisters, and I really liked getting to know each of them. Rosa was definitely my favorite sister from the very beginning, but I have to say Jessica definitely grew on me through out the course of the book. This truly was the perfect blend of coming of age and magical realism.

This book in emojis 👭 👭 🐶 ✍🏻 💄 🎼

***Big thank you to Algonquin and libro.fm FM for my gifted copy of this book. All opinions are my own. ***

About the Book

The Torres sisters dream of escape. Escape from their needy and despotic widowed father and from their San Antonio neighborhood, full of old San Antonio families and all the traditions and expectations that go along with them. In the summer after her senior year of high school, Ana, the eldest, falls to her death from her bedroom window. A year later, Jessica, Iridian, and Rosa, are still consumed by grief and haunted by Ana’s memory when strange things start happening around the house: mysterious laughter, mysterious shadows, mysterious writing on the walls. Is Ana really haunting her sisters and trying to send them a message? And what exactly is she trying to say?

 

“Tigers, Not Daughters is a phrase from Shakespeare’sKing Lear,” says Mabry, author of three young adult novels now, and a community college writing and Latino literature teacher in Dallas. “In the play, it’s used as an insult, hurled by Albany at Lear’s selfish and disobedient daughters. When I recently heard that phrase spit out with such venom during a production, it struck me—how could I write a story in which this wasn’t an insult, but, in a way, praise? I’ve always been of the mind that some parents frankly deserve to be disobeyed, and I’m sure many young people would agree. And I’ve always been interested in tinkering with various sources of inspiration, such as stories that explore Latinx identity and the various forms of assimilation. I’ve very loosely based the dynamic of the Torres sisters on my mother’s often complicated relationship with her sisters, and on their experience of being a mostly English-speaking Mexican-American family with roots near the US-Mexico border.”

            

Part family drama, part ghost story, and part love story,TIGERS, NOT DAUGHTERS is a stunning follow-up to All the Wind in the World, firmly establishing Mabry as a novelist not-to-be-missed.

 

 

Advance Praise for TIGERS, NOT DAUGHTERS

“Move over, Louisa May Alcott! Samantha Mabry has written her very own magical Little Women for our times. This is no family of tamed girls but a clan of fierce and fighting young women who will draw readers into their spell. A celebration of the bonds of sisterhood and of the ways we heal by reaching beyond our losses, our brokenness and fears to the love that holds and heals.”

–Julia Alvarez, author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents

 

“A moody and unflinching examination of the gritty, tender and impossible parts of people that make them unforgettably whole. You don’t read Samantha Mabry’s books so much as experience them. Ferocious and gorgeously crafted. I loved it.”

–Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie

 

“A ghostly tale of revenge and the strength of the sisterly bond…The author adeptly portrays the claustrophobia of living in a small town and being under the watch of an overbearing patriarchal figure—in fact, the male gaze is the true enemy in this novel, and it’s only when the young women join forces that they’re able to break free of its oppressive ties. Mabry’s (All the Wind in the World, 2017, etc.) third novel has echoes of The Virgin Suicides. The protagonists are Latinx. The evocative language and deft characterization will haunt—and empower—readers.”

–Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

 

“Borrowing elements of magical realism and Latinx folklore, this is a story that is often uncomfortable; in its quest to explore grief, family, and the traumas inflicted by each, it lays its characters utterly and unforgettably bare.”

–Booklist (Starred Review)

 

“Mabry speaks gracefully to the transformative power of grief and the often messy (even violent) road to letting go.”

–Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Let’s Connect

Instagram|

Goodreads|

Twitter|

Have a lovely day!🌸

Berit☀️✨