Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

What happens when a child is raised with no affection or attention because his parents are broken by the death of their other child? In Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano coming out in March, Williams Waters grows up with so little consideration from his parents that he savors the chance to move far away from them thanks to a basketball scholarship.

At Northwestern University, he meets Julia Padavano, one of four sisters who are a tight-knit family including mother Rose and father Charlie. Julia believes her love and encouragement can save William after years of parental disinterest. Sisters Sylvia, the dreamer; Cecelia, the artist, and her twin Emeline, the nurturer, also embrace their quiet, troubled brother-in-law with their love and support.

But William can only thrive for so long before the darkness of his sister’s death and his parents’ neglect overtake him. His life with the Padavanos is jeopardized when William hits rock bottom, resulting in a rift in the family that lasts for generations. How will William survive his darkest hour? What will become of the family who does love him when he rejects them totally? How can the division William has caused among the sisters be repaired?

Ann Napolitano’s fourth novel is both joyful and heartbreaking in turns. Her last book, Dear Edward, was named one of the best books of 2020 by The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and Real Simple. She is also the author of the novels A Good Hard Look and Within Arm’s Reach. She was the associate editor of One Story literary magazine from 2014-2020. Napolitano lives in Brooklyn with her family.

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The In-Laws by Laura Wolfe

In The In-Laws by Laura Wolfe coming out in January, bride-to-be Abigail Cates and groom-to-be Pete Mitchell have planned a bonding activity in Hiawana National Forest in Michigan with both sets of parents: Kristen and John Cates  and Darla and Kenny Mitchell. The parents met once for dinner at a restaurant that did not go well, so Abigail is hoping three days in the woods with a scout from Team Wilderness would help everyone get better acquainted.

The going is rough as the refined Cates and the coarse Mitchells interact. Pete has distanced himself from his parents as their ways embarrass him what with Darla being into the mystic world and his father an ex-con who Pete never told Abigail about. On the other hand, Abigail is close to her parents; Kristen is a psychiatrist, and John runs his own commercial real estate enterprise.

But not is all that it appears to be. Abigail has actually plotted with the guide, Liam, to help her plan a very different experience than the one the others expect. Terrifying things begin to happen in the forest, and the campers are ready to pack it in on Day One. Things only get worse, leaving one in the party dead.

In the end as everyone’s secrets unravel and Liam has gone for help as one of them has an injury and cannot possibly finish the hike, how will the campers be rescued as they are now down to their last granola bars, and it is only Day Two? Is there a murderer among them or did the victim simply have an accident? The book comes to a startling end and a revealing deception, with one more death occurring before this twisty psychological thriller comes to a close.

Laura Wolfe, a lover of animals and nature, has written a total of six adult thrillers including We Live Next Door, Her Best Friend’s Lie, She Lies Alone, Top Producer, and Two Widows. She also writes a YA mystery series. The author lives in Michigan where her thrillers are set.

 

NOTE: I really did not enjoy the book. Too nebulous. Character driven.

for readers who like character-driven novels, 48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister by Joyce Carol Oates delves into the lives of two sisters:  Marguerite Fulmer, age 30, and Georgene, age 24, commonly referred to as simply M and G. In this March 2023 offering, M, who is a gifted artist, has vanished from a small town in New York where she teaches at an arts college.

Where is she? everyone asks. Since neither G nor her father know where M is, the rumors start to fly. The town wonders, was she pregnant? Had an abortion? On a trip? Surely not foul play?

As the police investigate the missing person case, the unattractive G slowly reveals that she hates her sister M, who is pretty, perfect, and the favorite daughter. An admittedly “not a nice person,” G envies her sister’s occupation, art studio, private life, and her talent. Expressing that she, on the other hand, has no life, G drags herself to a dead-end and boring  job at the post office while she has no friends.

But M’s life has not always been sunshine and roses as she had been attacked by a man while a teen. Not wanting any negative light shined on the Fulmer family, the parents truly brushed the incident under the rug while M never fully recovered. What are the chances that M’s attacker returned? What is the possibility that G has harmed her sister? What about her mentor at the college who has created paintings that resemble M but one more grisly than the next? Or will M remain one of the many women each year who go missing and never are found?

Joyce Carol Oates has won many awards for her writing, including the National Book Award for her novel them in 1969, and  two O. Henry Awards for her short stories.  Oates continues to live and write in Princeton, New Jersey, where she is Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University.

  

All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay

 

In 2015, Jeff Larkin’s childhood friend and author Phil Solomon is looking for ideas for his next book, and an email from Jeff puts Phil on a path to telling the story of the Larkin family’s tragedy.  On November 12, 1975, Jane Larkin simply vanished from her home in Boston, never to be heard from again by her husband and children in All That Is Mine I Carry With Me by William Landay, slated for March publication. Because “it’s always the spouse,” Dan Larkin is the primary suspect, even though absolutely no evidence points to him.

The three children -- Miranda, Jeff, and Alex -- are absolutely devastated by their missing mother, and they have mixed emotions about the possibility that their defense lawyer father could have killed her, especially when he quickly moves in his girlfriend and her daughter. The mystery of just what happened to Jane Larkin will remain unsolved even when her skeleton is found 20 years after her disappearance.

Miranda has already tried to tell the story from her mother’s point of view just to “get it out” as she is probably the most haunted of the three children. Worse, she’s in charge of taking care of her father who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Could the diagnosis finally “clear” him of any further attempts to prosecute him? While the children have finally been able to bury the skeleton of their mother, they are still troubled because they don’t know what happened that November day in 1975.

In a mystery that spans a lifetime, Miranda remains suspicious of her father yet she is his caretaker, Jeff absolutely hates his father and stays away in San Francisco, and only Alex believes it is possible that his father didn’t murder his mother. How can any of their doubts be satisfied, especially now that Dan’s health is impairing his memories?

William Landay is the author of the New York Times bestseller Defending Jacob, which was produced on film for Apple TV+ in 2020. His debut novel in 2003, Mission Flats, won the Dagger Award for best debut crime novel.  The Strangler, a Los Angeles Times favorite crime novel, was nominated for the Strand Magazine Critics Award as best crime novel of 2007.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting December 7, 2022.

I would like to thank Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine  and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

The Kind Worth Saving by Peter Swanson

 

Calling The Kind Worth Saving (Henry Kimball/Lily Kintner #2) a semi-sequel, author Peter Swanson follows up the psychological thriller The Kind Worth Killing (2015).  Due out in March, the book continues the story of Henry Kimball, teacher, turned cop, turned private investigator, and Lily Kintner, a smart and complex woman who injured Henry in the first book in the series.

This time around, Kimball encounters one of his former students who was the queen bee at her high school, Joan Grieve. She hires Kimball to confirm that her husband Richard Whalen is cheating, although she has something more devious in mind that calls for the help of a former classmate.

During his investigation, Kimball follows Whalen and Pam O’Neil to their love nest, where he hears three gunshots. What he finds triggers a post-traumatic stress episode from his first and only teaching year. What he thought was the worst day of his life --  a school shooting in his classroom -- has competition from the events happening now.

In the aftermath of the gunshots, Kimball becomes suspicious of Joan. What secrets does she have about the death of her husband and his mistress? How are these murders linked to the school shooting years ago? What could be the link to a supposed accidental drowning that happened when Joan was just a teenager?

As Kimball draws nearer to the truth, he soon finds himself in great danger from Joan’s partner in crime. When Kimball has to step back, Lily Kintner steps up to continue investigating how all the people who have died are linked to Joan.

Peter Swanson’s novel The Kind Worth Killing has been optioned for a movie. He writes short stories, poetry, and features as well as novels. His work has been printed in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine. The Girl with a Clock for a Heart, his debut novel, is still my personal favorite. Swanson lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with his wife and their cat.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting December 5, 2022.

I would like to thank William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

Forsaken Country by Allen Eskens

 In Forsaken Country (Max Rupert, 6) by Allen Eskens that came out in September, former Minneapolis homicide detective Max Rupert has left the job, secluding himself from the rest of the world as a self-imposed punishment about how he wrapped up his last case.

He continually mourns the loss of his wife while getting through just one day at a time in his isolated cabin near Grand Rapids, Minnesota. When former local sheriff Lyle Voight’s daughter Sandy and grandson Pip disappear, Voight summons Rupert back into the role of detective. Voight knows the kidnapper has to be Sandy’s ex-husband and former deputy Reed Harris who lost custody of Pip after beating both Sandy and Pip and went to jail. The current sheriff, a friend of the ex-con’s,  refuses to accept Voight’s theory, doing nothing to investigate.

Knowing his son-in-law’s patterns, Voight is convinced Harris has taken the two north to the Boundary Waters wilderness to escape into Canada. Rupert and Voight prepare to follow the trail to find the captives. What they don’t know is that Harris has an accomplice who begins to rebel against Harris as he sees more and more that the father is not good to the son. Risking their own lives in this treacherous terrain, the forbidden country, Rupert and Voight track the outlaw and his captives.

I became a fan of Allen Eskens’ writing with his unforgettable debut novel, The Life We Bury, which may have a future in film. Eskens grew up in the hills of central Missouri. He lives with his wife in Cleveland, Minnesota, where he retired after practicing criminal law for 25 years.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting December 3, 2022.

I would like to thank Mulholland Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger

 Siblings Mako and Hannah are retreating with their spouses and a best friend and her plus one to a luxurious cabin in the woods in Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, the February 2023 book coming from author Lisa Unger. In a second plot line following orphan Henry, thanks to DNA testing, he might be able to find extended family members with the help of one he has already found.

Mako is a technology mogul who has funded the entire getaway for Hannah’s birthday including a private chef so that all can enjoy a weekend that is relaxing as they all have very harried lives. Henry has found an aunt who is into genealogy, and with her help, he starts finding half-siblings, some of whom have died. How these two plots come together is masterful.

Cricket is the best friend of both Mako and Hannah, having once been Mako’s girlfriend. She still has a place in her heart for him, and it is hard to be in the group and watch how tenderly Mako treats his wife Liza. Henry keeps finding out more and more about his family to the point that his wife Piper is concerned he’s too connected to the past than to the present and future. The deaths of half siblings are causing him great concern about his safety.

The weekenders find themselves facing one crisis after another, and the relaxing weekend is turning into a nightmare with power outages, a missing person from their party, and the threat of “somebody out there.”  Henry finds himself racing to stop the person he thinks is killing members of his gene pool. Long kept secrets as well as recent ones come together for one tension-filled climax. No place will a reader want to insert a bookmark as this psychological thriller is simply unputdownable.

This is the 20^th book from Lisa Unger, whose last book, Confessions on the 7:45 is  now in development at Netflix with actress Jessica Alba to star. Unger  lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting November 30, 2022.

I would like to thank Legend Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

Reef Road by Deborah Goodrich Royc

 Inspired by the actual murder of her mother’s friend, Deborah Goodrich Royce begins Reef Road with a severed hand washing ashore in wealthy Palm Beach, Florida, on May 9, 2020. Due out in January, the psychological thriller unfolds Inspired by the actual murder of her mother’s friend, Deborah Goodrich Royce begins Reef Road with a severed hand washing ashore in wealthy Palm Beach, Florida, on May 9, 2020. Due out in January, the psychological thriller unfolds a tale of two women: the first an unnamed writer obsessed with the unsolved murder of her mother Beth’s best friend in 1948, the second an anxious wife named Linda whose husband Miguel has seemingly kidnapped their two young children.

The writer lives alone with an aging dog, and she knows all about Linda’s life. When the two meet, the writer thinks that Linda’s father knows all about the murder of her mother Beth’s friend, and she eventually reveals what she wants from Linda. Linda feels more and more that the relationship with the woman who turns out to be named Noelle is inappropriate as Noelle seems to be stalking Linda and her family.

All is not as it appears to be. Noelle is desperate to “solve” the murder of her mother’s childhood friend as she says “I grew up under the shadow of a dead girl.” Her development was stilted as her mother didn’t allow Noelle to play outside unsupervised or to enjoy such activities as sleepovers with her friends. Linda, already fraught about her missing children, may have made a big mistake in trusting others.

Always with the pandemic playing in the background, the story reaches an unexpected climax as the truth about Linda’s life becomes unraveled as the severed hand becomes a part of her story with Noelle a witness to it all.

Deborah Goodrich Royce writes thrillers that involve “puzzles of identity.” She is also the author of Finding Mrs. Ford and Ruby Falls. Royce is a former actress having starred as Silver Kane on All My Children and having appeared in several feature films and TV movies.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting November 28, 2022.

I would like to thank Permuted Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 a tale of two women: the first an unnamed writer obsessed with the unsolved murder of her mother Beth’s best friend in 1948, the second an anxious wife named Linda whose husband Miguel has seemingly kidnapped their two young children.

The writer lives alone with an aging dog, and she knows all about Linda’s life. When the two meet, the writer thinks that Linda’s father knows all about the murder of her mother Beth’s friend, and she eventually reveals what she wants from Linda. Linda feels more and more that the relationship with the woman who turns out to be named Noelle is inappropriate as Noelle seems to be stalking Linda and her family.

All is not as it appears to be. Noelle is desperate to “solve” the murder of her mother’s childhood friend as she says “I grew up under the shadow of a dead girl.” Her development was stilted as her mother didn’t allow Noelle to play outside unsupervised or to enjoy such activities as sleepovers with her friends. Linda, already fraught about her missing children, may have made a big mistake in trusting others.

Always with the pandemic playing in the background, the story reaches an unexpected climax as the truth about Linda’s life becomes unraveled as the severed hand becomes a part of her story with Noelle a witness to it all.

Deborah Goodrich Royce writes thrillers that involve “puzzles of identity.” She is also the author of Finding Mrs. Ford and Ruby Falls. Royce is a former actress having starred as Silver Kane on All My Children and having appeared in several feature films and TV movies.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting November 28, 2022.

I would like to thank Permuted Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

Her Heart's Desire by Shelley Shepard Gray

 

Even in the Amish community, some children are bullied by others as Mary Margaret Miller has experienced in Her Heart’s Desire by Shelley Shepard Gray, the first book in a new series called A Season in Pinecraft. Mary has been picked on by a group of girls since she was 11 years old. Adult Mary takes a bus to Pinecraft, Florida, for a much-needed vacation away from her small Amish community in Ohio. Traveling by bus, she meets two other 20-something Amish women, Betsy and Lilly. The three bond and are determined to have a great two-week trip in this popular area in Florida favored by Amish vacationers.

Staying in a bed and breakfast called Marigold Inn, the ladies are enjoying their breakfast when Mary’s eye is caught by Jayson Raber, who is also enjoying his time in Pinecraft with his friend Danny. While the attraction is mutual, Jayson knows he has a commitment to a woman back in Kentucky for an arranged marriage, and Danny doesn’t mind reminding Jayson about that.

When one of the “mean girls” from Mary’s hometown of Trail is also vacationing in Pinecraft, Mary feels her perfect plan is totally ruined. What if this woman who has mistreated Mary for years tells Jayson about what happened on the playground when Mary was 11? How will Mary take the news that Jayson is engaged to another woman back home? How will Jayson respond to the beautiful Esther from Mary’s hometown?

Having published more than 70 novels, Shelley Shepard Gray writes Amish romances and contemporary women’s fiction. She is a former elementary teacher who now writes full time in her home in Colorado Springs.

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley

 Someone is killing the prostitutes in Monterey, California, during the Gold Rush in A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley, hitting the shelves in December. After her parent-arranged marriage to an older man comes to an end with a bullet in a bar fight, Eliza’s way forward emerges with a position in a brothel.

Eliza is actually fortunate to work for Mrs. Parks who screens all potential clients and hires a bodyguard to protect her working girls. Many women of that time could not survive without a husband, but Eliza is able to attain financial security and even a certain satisfaction with her work as her clients are as varied as young boys being treated by their fathers, to lonesome sailors, to prominent citizens.

When out riding horses one day, 20-year-old Eliza and her friend Jean stumble upon a body. On another ride, the young women discover yet another body of a woman; this one Eliza identifies as Mary who disappeared from Mrs. Parks’ brothel. Mrs. Parks shares that information with the sheriff repeatedly, but other than removing the remains, he is not interested in the killer.

Inspired by short stories about C. Auguste Dupin, Edgar Allan Poe’s famous fictional character, Eliza and Jean try using Dupin’s train of thought technique to solve the mystery of the women’s deaths. Putting together the clues they gathered; Eliza strives to discover the identity of the killer by putting herself in harm’s way. What if her sleuthing actually makes her the next corpse?

Jane Smiley has a fondness for horses, and she works several into this work of historical fiction. Smiley won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1992 for A Thousand Acres, a story based on William Shakespeare's King Lear; Hollywood adapted the book into a movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting October 27, 2022.

I would like to thank Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor as well as NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

The Sunshine Girls by Molly Fader

 

Imagine Clara and Abbie Beecher’s  surprise when a famous movie star shows up at their mother’s funeral in The Sunshine Girls by Molly Fader coming out in December.

In 1967, farmer’s daughter Betty Kay Allen was paired with Southerner Katherine Simon in the dormitory at St. Luke’s School of Nursing in Greensboro, Iowa. Together with Jenny Hopkins from Michigan, the three women – dubbed the “sunshine girls” by their dorm mother -- remained life-long friends.

Betts’ daughters never had a clue that their mother was friends with Kitty Devereaux, but here Kitty was paying her respects to their mother. On the other hand, Jenny had been involved with the Beecher family throughout their lives. Once over the shock of learning that their mother and father Willis Beecher knew a movie star, they are invited by Kitty to visit her in California where she would fill in the blanks for Clara and Abbie.

Over the years, the sisters had become distant as Clara picked a career path and Abbie chose being a wife and mother. During the weekend trip to Kitty’s place, the women will be overcome with all of the secrets they learn about their family. What impact will it have on the sisters when Kitty’s startling story is revealed?

Molly Fader is also the author of The McAvoy Sister’s Book of Secrets and The Bitter and Sweet of Cherry Season. Using the pseudonym of Molly O’Keefe, she has written more than 50 contemporary romances. She makes her home in Toronto, Ontario, with her family.

The Real Mrs. Tobias by Sally Koslow

 Three women are involved in very complicated relationships in their roles as in-laws in The Real Mrs. Tobias by Sally Koslow, which published in September.

Veronika is the matriarch of the family, and she is tough and stern as she interferes in the lives of her son Jack and daughter-in-law Mel as well as the lives of her grandchildren Micah and his twin sister Jordan. Birdie, Micah’s wife, struggles with adjusting to New York City and the Tobias’ women. Both Veronika and Mel are psychotherapists, but they are less adept at handling the difficulties within the family as they are with other people’s problems.

Micah is in crisis mode, and all the women in the family have their opinions about what action he should be taking. Micah’s reluctance to take charge of his situation overwhelms Birdie, and she and their daughter April flee to Iowa as Birdie is having second thoughts about the marriage and the Tobias family.

Mel, who is accused of  “smothering mothering” by Jack, also has an opinion on a situation with her daughter Jordan. Of course, Veronika has a bewildering solution to Jordan’s dilemma, which is unacceptable to Mel, Birdie, and possibly Jordan.

Just when the Tobias family seems to be splintering in several directions, it is David, Veronika’s husband, whose beginning struggles with cognitive issues that shows how the women of the family can pull it back together.

Sally Koslow is also the author of novels Another Side of Paradise, The Late, Lamented Molly Marx,  The Widow Waltz, With Friends Like These, and Little Pink Slips. She is a former editor-in-chief of McCall’s Magazine, and has contributed essays and articles to The New York Times, Real Simple, and other magazines and newspapers. From Fargo, North Dakota, she lives in Manhattan with her family.

The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

 

In The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth coming out in April of 2023, Pippa and Gabe Gerard are starting over in a coastal town outside of Melbourne. Gabe has been dealing with mental illness, and Pippa is dealing with the fallout of an affair. Gabe will become the caretaker of their two little girls, while Pippa will work from home as a wills and estates lawyer.

Gabe fell in love with their new house while the terrain is worrisome to Pippa. Right behind their house is a steep edge that has been dubbed the Drop, and more than a few people have ended their lives jumping from it. The first time it happens once the Gerards move there, Gabe is able to talk a person down, and he is soon doing this more and more, rescuing a number of people. He’s been dubbed a local hero in the newspaper.

But one night when a woman comes to the Drop, Gabe fails to talk  her out of leaping while Pippa watches from a window. The woman soon disappears over the cliff and is killed. Gabe claims not to recognize the woman although he worked for her husband Max Cameron back in Melbourne before being fired. When the police investigation connects the dots, will Gabe be considered a person of interest in Amanda’s death?

Once the body is identified, Pippa does not understand why Gabe lied, saying he didn’t know the woman at the Drop. Why would Amanda have been at this particular spot if she had not planned to commit suicide? Did Amanda jump, fall, or get pushed from the cliff? The closer Pippa gets to the truth, the more their lives start to unravel.

Sally Hepworth fans will be expecting a twist, and what a twist it is…readers will never see it coming. Hepworth is the bestselling author of seven novels including The Younger Wife and The Good Sister. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 2, 2022.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

The Wedding Ranch by Nancy Naigle

 

North Carolina author Nancy Naigle, known for romantic women’s fiction set in small towns, is bringing out her latest, The Wedding Ranch, in December. Ironically, the book begins with a divorce as Lorri’s cheating husband gives her a mastiff puppy and then leaves her to marry the dog trainer.

Since her life has changed with the divorce, she makes up her mind to leave Raleigh to create a new life, and she searches for a suburban home with room for her dog Mister to roam around. In her new home in fictitious Dalton Mill, North Carolina, Lorri switches to a work-from-home mode for her graphic artist profession.

She quickly makes friends with her neighbors and a farmer named Ryder who vows, like Lorri, not to get involved with anyone again after a traumatic loss. Ryder is also upset that his parents sold their farm to a developer, who built homes on 5-acre lots, one of which Lorri purchased. Fortunately, his grandfather deeded Ryder his own farm, but he remains irritated about development on farmland.

The Wedding Ranch, run by Ryder’s niece and nephew on land they rent from him, is a wedding venue booked by Lorri’s long-time friend, Cody. After a misunderstanding at the reception, Lorri and Ryder share several dances, igniting a spark that they both resist.

If readers think this sounds like a Hallmark movie, they wouldn’t be far off as two of Naigle’s previous novels have been the basis for two Hallmark movies.

Nancy Naigle, whose background is in banking, is retired and spends her time writing, antiquing, and crafting. Her books Christmas Joy and Hope at Christmas were both adapted for film on the Hallmark Channel in 2018. In addition, she enjoys riding her palomino Tooter.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting August 14, 2022.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

The Prisoner by B.A. Paris

 The Prisoner by B.A. Paris, due out November 15, will hold readers captive as they experience the devastation of being held prisoner and not knowing the intentions of the kidnappers. When Amelie Lamont’s father dies in Reading, England, she is stranded with no family or roof over her head as their home was a rental. Amelie heads to London with hopes of finding a job and saving up enough money to go to college to study law.

The story unfolds along two timelines. Amelie has been making her way in London thanks to the companionship of three successful women who help her find a job at “Exclusives” magazine, which rich Ned Hawthorpe runs. After a business arrangement marriage in Las Vegas, Amelie is kidnapped and held captive with her husband Ned awaiting ransom from his rich father Jethro.

The deal Ned has made with Amelie is that she will get money for college by marrying him, which will get his parents off his back about finding a wife. In reality, Ned has more up his sleeve than meets the eye.

Each day Amelie is waking up in a totally dark room which only has a mattress on the floor and a small bathroom attached. She can hear Ned screaming below her where he is being imprisoned by the kidnappers. Amelie tries a  number of schemes to get away from her captors, but each time she fails.

Clearly Ned is worth billions but why did the kidnappers nab Amelie? Who is the mysterious silent man who brings her food a couple of times a day and a blanket when she asks for one? Why does she feel safer locked in this pitch-black room than she has been feeling lately with Ned who has made her a prisoner of her in his mansion?

B.A. Paris continues to entertain her readers with page-turning plots. I read this one in one afternoon.  The author of Behind Closed Doors, The Breakdown, Bring Me Back, and The Dilemma – I have read them all --  lives in the United Kingdom.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting August 11, 2022.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective opinion.

The Floating Girls by Lo Patrick

 

The Floating Girls by Lo Patrick is being billed as the next Where the Crawdads Sing with a modern-day Scout Finch as its narrator. To approach this book that way will lead to disappointment as the only thing it has in common with the other book is that it is most definitely Southern literature, with this story taking place in the fictitious Bledsoe, Georgia. Kay Whitaker is no Scout as boy-crazy Kay constantly disrespects her father Clay, and she could really use a bar of soap to wash out her mouth. Touted as “wickedly funny,” this book is not the least bit humorous as readers learn about the Whitaker family: Clay, Sue-Bess, Sarah-Anne, Kay, Peter, Freddy, and the late Elizabeth.

The Floating Girls is a book in which the marshy setting is as much a character in the book as any other. The description throughout the book is luscious, and the writing is superb in this debut novel. Kay leads the reader into the marsh where she discovers a father and son living in what she calls “a high heel house,” a house on stilts. For some reason he does not explain to her, Clay forbids Kay from seeking a friendship with Andy Webber, who has just returned to the marsh after living for some time in California with his father Nile.

Kay begins to understand that she does not know all about her family and the life they live. She cannot comprehend what might have happened in the past that should keep her from being a friend to Andy. She does not identify with the super quiet ways of her mother Sue-Bess and the strange ways of her sister Sarah-Anne. She is puzzled about the death of Andy’s mother 10 years ago, which may be solved with the arrest of her own parents, which causes Peter, Freddy, and Kay to be shuffled off to foster care while both parents await a trial for kidnapping and murder.

This novel stands alone as a piece of Southern fiction with a smart-mouth, 12-year-old girl leading the reader through the marshes and the complicated life of her backwoods family.

Lo Patrick, born and raised in Georgia, is a lawyer-turned-novelist who lives in the Atlanta suburbs. Her debut novel was published on July 12, 2022.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting July 14, 2022.

I would like to thank Sourcebooks Landmark, an imprint of Sourcebooks, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

The Favor by Nora Murphy

 

Two women in nearby neighborhoods in Maryland deal with domestic abuse in The Favor, a debut thriller by Nora Murphy, published May 31. Leah Dawson and McKenna Hawkins, who do not know each other, have learned that staying with their abuser is dangerous although leaving could be worst based on their husband’s threats.

Leah  has become a drunk as she self-medicates to soothe her problems, while McKenna lives in constant fear about everything she does as her husband has double downed on controlling her since she had a miscarriage. Zack has made her quit her job as a pediatrician so she can focus on being healthy enough to carry a baby to full term, which means no wine, no chips, no friends over to enjoy their new patio. Leah’s husband Liam has done something underhanded, causing Leah to fired from her job as a lawyer.

When Leah encounters McKenna at a local liquor store, something triggers her to follow McKenna home, which is one neighborhood away from Leah’s. Through observation of McKenna’s home over several days, Leah notes that McKenna is living a similar life with an abusive husband much like Leah’s spouse, a prominent divorce lawyer. Leah keeps visiting McKenna’s neighborhood and watches what goes on in her house from the road behind. One night, Leah intervenes when McKenna’s psychiatrist husband is abusing McKenna.

McKenna immediately comes under suspicion about Zack’s fate though she had nothing to do with it. But the night before, someone had called the police about them having a domestic problem. Zach schmoozes with the police, and eventually forces McKenna outside to talk with them to say nothing is wrong.

Jordan Harrison, the detective on the case, is haunted by the last domestic violence case he and his partner Mallory Cole caught, a case that left her with a gunshot from which she has not recovered. Readers will be burning the midnight oil and then some as both women are pitted against the police as investigators try to solve deadly crimes in this otherwise quiet suburb.

Nora Murphy attended law school in Washington D.C. then  worked as a judicial law clerk before transitioning to private practice. During law school, she studied the issues facing survivors of “intimate partner violence.” She lives with her family in Maryland.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting July 12, 2022.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Out of the Corner by Jennifer Grey

Out of the Corner by actress Jennifer Grey focuses on the challenges of being the child of a Hollywood icon and at the same time takes a look at her life so far as an actress, a woman, and a mother. Available through NC Cardinal at the Murphy Library since its publishing in May, this candid and raw portrait of the actress is a must-read for any fans of the iconic movie, Dirty Dancing, which Lionsgate has set the sequel date for February 2024.

Born in 1960 to acting couple Joel Grey and Jo Wilder, Grey bounced from one coast to the other as the family followed Joel’s career, which made her schooling more challenging. However, she met her best friend Tracy Pollan, who became Matthew Broderick's wife, at the Dalton School in Manhattan where they bonded over remedial math. She offers some reflection on her father’s 2016 book Master of Ceremonies in which he announced he considers himself a gay man though Jo is the love of his life.

Grey holds nothing back as she  unveils her loss of innocence in intimate detail at an early age to her romances with famous stars Matthew Broderick and Johnny Depp with a little William Baldwin thrown in for good measure. She “found her person” at the age of 40 when she started seeing and later married Clark Gregg, an American actor, director, and screenwriter. Though recently divorced from Gregg, the couple considers themselves still a family with their daughter Stella, also an actress.

While the actress devotes many pages to living with her bad nose job, the best part of the book for movie fans is about the filming of the movie Dirty Dancing, which used locations in Lake Lure, North Carolina, and Pembroke, Virginia. She provides all the background regarding the actors, the director, and the choreographer. The last person she wanted to do this movie with was Patrick Swayze based on their experience in the movie Red Dawn. She had to overcome this hurdle and trust him to do the iconic lift at the end of the movie, which she said she would only film one time because she was in total fear of that move.

Grey was a devoted journal writer, which was a great asset when she decided to write her memoir. She  made her acting debut with the film Reckless in 1984 and had her breakthrough with the teen comedy film Ferris Bueller's Day Off  in 1986. She earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for starring as Frances "Baby" Houseman in Dirty Dancing in 1987. Paired with Derek Hough, Grey won the 2010 season of Dancing with the Stars.

The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

 

“The rich are not like you and me,” F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, and indeed the folks in The Family Game by Catherine Steadman are not like anyone else. The Holbecks are old money, and British author Harry Reed is engaged to their eldest son Edward, who has been estranged from his family for some time. Harry was orphaned when a drunk driver crashed into her parents’ car, and she survived as well as witnessed the death of the other driver when his car exploded.

Because Harry longs for family since she has none, she is open to helping Edward rebuild his relationship with his parents and siblings. The Holbecks engage in a number of crazy games including a frightening game of Krampusnacht, a devilish take on Santa Claus they maintain is part of their German heritage, but it seems more like a horrifying Halloween with the seven-foot-tall Kramp chasing the children.

At a family dinner, Edward’s father Robert slips Harry a Dictaphone tape that could contain the details of certain crimes…all in hopes of helping her get a jump start to conquer her writer’s block. Under the pressure of a book deadline, Harry doesn’t get to the tape right away, which leaves her at a disadvantage when the games begin.

When she finally listens to the entire tape, Harry is very confused. Is Robert just playing a game with her, or are these confessions on the tape? To find the truth about the Holbecks, including the death of their first son Bobby, Harry will have to arm herself for the cat-and-mouse game that is the foundation of the family’s savage Christmas celebration.

Catherine Steadman's fourth novel is due out in November. Steadman is also a British actress, her most famous role being Mabel Lane Fox, Mary's rival in Downton Abbey. She also starred in the Starz series, “The Rook.”

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The Orchard by Beverly Lewis

 

Beverly Lewis, who launched the Amish Fiction genre in 1997 with The Shunning, has added The Orchard to her list of 80+ published books. Coming out in September, The Orchard features Ellie Hostetler and her family. For generations, the Hostetler family has tended an orchard, and Ellie expects that her twin brother Evan will be the next one to take over the orchard, as is the habit of leaving the business to the youngest offspring.

Evan has other plans, beginning with serving in the military during the Vietnam War; he did not seek conscientious objector status as many Amish young men did in that era. He was motivated by his English friend Jack who died fighting in the war. Worse, Evan has decided to not be baptized yet in the Amish order and will continue his experience as a regular teenager in what the Amish call Rumspringa. He even has a girlfriend who is outside the order.

If Evan leaves the church or worse, dies in Vietnam, what will happen to the orchard when their mother and father are ready to retire? Ellie has always loved the orchard and does her part in tending the plants, picking fruit, and working in the family’s fruit store. Living in an apple and peach orchard is the only life she has known, although she has ideas of her own about adding cherry and plum trees.

Ellie has a boyfriend, and fortunately, he is not only an Amish man, but also he works for her family in the orchard. Best of all, Solomon is the brother of her dear friend Leah. When he is attacked by bullies who dislike young Amish men who are not likely to serve their country, Solomon fears making a future with Ellie because of his injuries.

The central question is will Evan survive Vietnam? If he does, will he leave the Amish order and strike out on his own with his English girlfriend? Who will run the orchard if that happens?

Beverly Lewis started writing short stories and poetry at the age of 9. Raised in Pennsylvania Amish country, she started writing Amish fiction with the trilogy, The Heritage of Lancaster County, a story loosely based on her maternal grandmother, an Old Order Mennonite. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado. Three of her novels have been made into Hallmark movies.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting June 27, 2022.

I would like to thank Bethany House and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Our Missing Hearts by Celestine Ng

 

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng is a political novel dealing with anti-Asian attitudes and removing children from their families, no doubt a reflection on this country’s recent history as civic disruptions are taking place in the book, people are out of jobs, shortages of everything are occurring, mobs are looting stores, and riots take place in the streets. Coming out in October, Our Missing Hearts refers to a line in a poem by an Asian-American poet, who has gone into hiding because of such unrest in America at an unnamed time in the future other than after “the Crisis.”

Margaret Miu, the poet, left behind her husband Ethan Gardner and son Noah called Bird, to protect from having the son removed by the government. Ethan is broken-hearted, and Bird has a very small world in which he can function: he is not allowed too many questions, to stand out too much, or to wander very far. “Our Missing Hearts” has been made the battle cry by those opposed to the current government as they use it in banners and posters.

In this futuristic novel, everyone is governed by laws that preserve the American Culture after having experienced years of economic instability and escalated violence. These laws allow the government to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin. In addition, books are being scrutinized for patriotism, and any books hinting of sedition are removed from libraries.

The plot of the story involves Bird receiving a cryptic drawing in a letter from an unknown source. He explores the drawing, which ignites memories of the many folktales his mother told him before she decided to disappear to protect her family. As a 12-year-old, he decides to follow the postmark from New York City to find his mother and get answers to the forbidden questions. Meanwhile, Margaret is making a stand against the current government that may not yield the results she wants.

Celeste Ng’s previous works include Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere, which was made into a mini-series for Hulu. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting June 22, 2022.

I would like to thank Penguin Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Overkill by Sandra Brown

 

In Overkill by Sandra Brown, due out in August, Rebecca Pratt is in a coma after a night of drinking, snorting, and rough sex. Her ex-husband Zach Bridger, a former Super Bowl-winning quarterback, still has medical  power of attorney for her even though they were divorced. Following the wishes of her parents, he agrees to keep her on life support and distances himself from the situation by going into seclusion at his mountain home in North Carolina.

Now Eban Clarke, a wealthy Atlanta heir who choked Rebecca until she lost consciousness and became deprived of oxygen, has snagged an early release from prison. Georgia state prosecutor Kate Lennon is developing a plan to put Eban back in prison for a long time.

As one strategy to accomplish her intent, Kate reaches out to  Zach to discuss keeping his ex-wife on life support and wait until a natural death occurs versus taking her off it immediately. The latter action would allow Kate to bring murder charges against Eban right now before he can escape to a country that has no extradition.

Thanks to his corrupt lawyer who tells  Eban the consequences when Rebecca dies –either a natural death or removal from life support -- Eban forms deadly plans to avoid any further disruption of his playboy lifestyle that was brought to a halt with his arrest for assault. The fast-paced novel is a page-turner with a deadly conclusion.

Sandra Brown started writing in 1981 and has published more than 70 novels. Known for romantic suspense, she once tried her hand successfully with a book of historical fiction about the Great Depression, Rainwater (2009). A Texan writer, Brown has seen four of her books adapted for film.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting June 21, 2022.

I would like to thank Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Lark Ascending by Silas House

 

Author Silas House steps outside of his beloved Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky and into a dark, new world order in the dystopian novel, Lark Ascending, coming out at the end of September. Yet, he brings his storytelling style and his brightly colored images to this cautionary tale about a ruined America taken over by fundamentalist Christians called Fundies, forcing survivors to seek asylum somewhere else.

The story is told by an elderly man named Lark, who as a 20-year-old joined his parents along with other survivors of a ruined America to  journey by ship to Ireland, the only place still open to refugees of some unnamed disaster. The voyage was miserable as it was overcrowded and understaffed, seasickness prevailed, and one misfortune after another befell the passengers.

After surviving the voyage from Nova Scotia to Ireland, the evacuees are attacked by soldiers with guns and bombs, the message being no more room for refugees. From this point, a dispirited Lark, the only survivor of the sinking ship, must get to shore and walk to a special place called Glendalough as he promised his mother he would do.

Constantly looking over his shoulder and hiding wherever he could along the way, Lark comes across a dog, an anomaly in a world where pets have been outlawed because famine is everywhere as fires have destroyed crops, and there is not even enough food for people. A few chapters focus on the point of view of the beagle, Seamus, where readers learn his late owner had taught him not to bark, not to make a sound, so they could safely hide from the Nays who have taken over the green isle.

On their journey, Lark and Seamus come across a woman named Helen, who after some consideration, decides the three of them will journey to Glendalough together, Lark seeking a safe haven and Helen searching for someone important to her. Their odyssey is troubled with an encounter with the Banished, traitors of the Irish people, and with Lark’s desire to rescue a child he sees from afar in a prisoner’s camp, thinking she was on the ship with him.

In this dark, depressing world of gray and black, the author offsets it with glimpses of color that hint at hope for a better future, from anemone blue skies to blue headed and yellow chested birds, and always the glowing green of Ireland. House may have left Appalachia but the strengths readers experience in his Appalachian Literature are still evidenced in this apocalyptic story, especially his ability to describe place.

Silas House writes novels, short stories, nonfiction, plays, and essays. His work has found a home in many publications including the New York Times, the Atlantic, Time, and Garden & Gun. Honored by many awards for his work, his Appalachian trilogy – A Parchment of Leaves, the Coal Tattoo, and Clay’s Quilt – has been drawn from not only his experiences in Appalachia but also from the experiences of his family. His novel Southernmost is currently in development as a motion picture. A resident of Lexington, Kentucky, House is a full professor at Berea College.