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.