5 stars for We Are All Guilty Here (North Falls #1) by Karin Slaughter

 
The first thrilling mystery in the new North Falls series from Karin Slaughter, New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Girls and the Will Trent series.

Welcome to North Falls—a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think.

Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites.

For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend's daughter needed help—and now she must bring her home.

But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did.

Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

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What I thought about We Are All Guilty Here

Missing persons and small town America come together in this new series from Karin Slaughter.  Emmy Clifton is second generation law officer, working with her father who is the Sheriff of North Falls. When two teenage girls go missing, they must work against the clock to find them and apprehend the killer. There are some close ties to family here in the investigation and as with a small town, there are deep secrets to unfold.

One of those secrets is the discovery of child pornography during the investigation. The heat gets turned up quite a bit and Emmy does a great job of keeping her focus on the case when things get personal and so difficult.The case becomes more complicated when DNA analysis shows the wrong person was arrested years ago.

Here is where things get really interesting and complex. Another FBI agent comes to assist and brings both expertise and drama to Emmy and her family. I don't want to spoil anything, so that's all I will say.  

I just loved this story.  The pace is excellent. I didn't want to put it down, and I was engaged with the story from the start.  I'm still thinking about it days later, especially since there is a big twist near the end that just flips a few things in a completely different direction and sets the stage for more of this series.  I don't know how I've never read this author before, but the author and this book will be on my list of favorites for 2025. 

If you enjoy a well-crafted mystery with excellent writing and story elements, you just might like this one as much as I did. 

 

 

Review: The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan

A ninth generation Appalachian herself, Archer Sullivan brings the mountains of North Carolina to life in The Witch’s Orchard, a wonderfully atmospheric novel that introduces private investigator Annie Gore.

Former Air Force Special Investigator Annie Gore joined the military right after high school to escape the fraught homelife of her childhood. Now, she’s getting by as a private investigator and her latest case takes her to an Appalachian holler not unlike the one where she grew up.

Ten years ago, three little girls went missing from their tiny mountain town. While one was returned, the others were never seen again. After all this time without answers, the brother of one of the girls wants to hire an outsider, and he wants Annie. While she may not be from his town, she gets mountain towns. Mountain people. Driving back into the hills for a case this old—it might be a fool’s errand. But Annie needs to put money in the bank and she can’t turn down a case. Not even one that dredges up her own painful past.

In the shadow of the Blue Ridge, Annie begins to track the truth, navigating a decade’s worth of secrets, folklore of witches and crows, and a whole town that prefers to forget. But while the case may have been buried, echoes of the past linger. And Annie’s arrival stirs someone into action.

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What I thought about The Witch's Orchard

Private investigator Annie Gore needs a client, so when she is offered a job in a small mountain town in North Carolina, she takes it. Ten years ago three girls went missing, and the brother of one of the girls is looking for something -- the answer to what happened to his sister, and whether she's still alive. Annie comes to town to uncover all the secrets and shake things up in a big way.

The action moves along quite nicely in this story, with the witch's tale bring a taste of the supernatural and it illustrates just how a story can change as it gets told over and over. I liked that part of the story.

Annie runs afoul of the locals as she investigates the missing girls. She might be an outsider, but she's aware of how folks in a small town act and react to strangers poking around.  It isn't long before she finds herself in real trouble.

The pacing is good, and Annie is an interesting main character. There are hints of a relationship with a former colleague throughout, but it's all very hazy at this point. Annie likes to shake things up and I liked that about her.

Overall, a very engaging mystery with plenty of what-happened-there moments and a few twists.  I really didn't see the ending coming about the way it did, and that contributes to the suspense of the story.  The secondary characters, especially the witch in the woods, help round out the story by representing their unique environment. I enjoyed this look inside the small Appalachian town and the mystery of the missing girls. It kept me interested until the very end. 

 

 

Review: The Soldier (Alpha Cove #1) by Susan Stoker

  

In this steamy contemporary romance about family, unforeseen circumstances, and unexpected love, an ex-military man and a down-on-her-luck woman find more than they bargained for when they find each other.

When Chad Young moves home, it’s not a decision he makes lightly. A former military man, he doesn’t make any decision lightly. But his father’s passing has left the family—and their business—reeling. Now more than ever, they need to stick together.

Britt Starkweather moved to Maine with her boyfriend, never imagining he’d abandon her there. With no money and nowhere to go, she accepts the Youngs’ offer of a job and room on their property. What more does she have to lose?

Although they just met, Chad makes Britt feel safe in a way no one has before. And she makes him feel things he’d given up on finding. But even as they grow closer, Britt realizes that something is amiss at Lobster Cove…and Chad will do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

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What I thought about The Soldier

 When Chad Young's father passes away, he decides to move back home along with his other brothers to run the family business. He meets Britt one morning and offers her a job and a place to stay because he just senses that she needs some help, and she does. Chad and his brothers are all ex-military and they have character and charisma for everyone, and it doesn't take long for Britt to understand that Chad is just a good, decent man. Unfortunately, not everyone holds the same standards in Lobster Cove, which causes a good deal of drama and peril for Britt and Chad's mom. 

I was really looking forward to digging into this story. This author has a good reputation for writing romantic suspense and I was ready for that sort of story. What I got was something closer to romance than romantic suspense. I don't want to say more because it might spoil it for you, but I thought with all that military background in the family, that it would come into play, but that wasn't the case here. 

Overall, this is a pleasant romance with some insta-attraction between two good-hearted people. It's hard not to get behind Chad and Britt's romance. The drama and suspense is light-weight and quickly resolved without too much trouble, which I why I found this to be more romance than romantic suspense. A sweet romantic tale starts this Alpha Cove series.

Review: The Sound of Us & Steal My Breath Away by Sarah Castille

 The Sound of Us (Havencrest U #1)

 

 A Star is Born meets Good Girl Complex in this angsty, deeply emotional, heated romance perfect for fans of Colleen Hoover. 

They say music is a universal language…Skye Jordan thought she had it all figured out. Eighteen months ago, she was in college and dreaming of a basketball career. But in a split second her world fell apart. Now she’s back at Westfield U, broke and desperate. She has no use for sexy, bad boy musicians who kiss her senseless. . . until she lands an internship at the radio station where he works.

DJ Dante Romano has lost every person close to his heart. All he has is his music. Consumed by guilt and driven by vengeance, he has no time for love, and yet the fiery new intern who shares his passion and feels his pain tempts him like no other. For Dante, Skye is off limits. And yet from the moment he meets her, he can’t turn away.Soon their scorching attraction develops into something deeper. 

Together they could make beautiful music, but will their untold secrets force them apart?

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What I thought about The Sound of Us

Skye Jordan had dreams of playing basketball, but those dreams are lost, sending her back to college. She needs a job and finds one at the local radio station with DJ Dante Romano. He's got working through some things of his own and this brings Dante and Skye together as they try to figure out what they want in themselves, in their lives and in a partner.

Music form the backdrop of this story through the radio station and as a coping mechanism to provide solace to their respective past circumstances. Even though Skye and Dante should stay away from each other as coworkers, they can't help themselves. They have a somewhat dysfunctional relationship, with Dante using his past trauma when he needs an excuse and Skye enabling him. Pretty much the usual new-adult themes of moving from young adult to adulthood and dealing with everything that comes with it. After some inst-attraction, there's some steamy moments between Skye and Dante to spice things up.Somewhere along the way, they give each other what they need.

This was an okay story for me. I like the music backdrop, but I thought both characters were immature and that made it hard to love them. The first half was a bit slow as well, so I didn't get invested in these two characters like I want to in a romance. Overall, just okay story but it may appeal more to a younger reader.

Steal My Breath Away (Havencrest U #2)

 

New York Times bestselling author Sarah Castille brings another angsty, deeply emotional, heated romance that blends Ana Huang’s Twisted Games with Katherine Center’s The Bodyguard.

Emotions run high, but the tempo thrums higher as music, heat, and angst collide between a singer and her bodyguard.

Haley Chapman has struggled against rules all her life. As the daughter of a senator, she’s expected to finish her college degree, but music is her one true love―the only outlet she has for her wild, impulsive feelings.

When Haley becomes the target of a brazen kidnapping attempt linked to her mother’s high-profile Senate career, the Senator insists on round-the-clock protection. Having a security detail follow her around college feels like overkill, but the Senator has the perfect solution.

Ace Murphy was her brother’s best friend, and a former Air Force pilot, now working in personal security as a celebrity bodyguard. He was also Hailey’s teenage crush and the man who abandoned her when she needed him most, breaking her fragile heart.

Now, as Ace poses as her boyfriend on campus, their personalities clash. He may be her protector but to Haley, Ace is just another obstacle to her freedom and a painful reminder of the past. But as the threats escalate, their forced proximity ignites a connection they can’t ignore—one that could either save them or break them all over again.

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What I thought about Steal My Breath Away

In this second book in the Havencrest U series from Sarah Castille, Ace plays bodyguard to his best friend's sister Haley when she goes to college. There's some history between them, with Haley crushing on Ace in her younger life. The story is told in dual point-of-views and with a dual timeline so that the reader can understand what happened in their past.

As with the first book in this series, I found these characters to be a bit immature. Haley is naive and Ace is closed off, which doesn't make for a good pairing, but their past connection through Haley's brother keeps them tethered together.

I found Haley's circumstances a little difficult to believe as her mother is a political figure with someone after her, and therefore, Haley needs a bodyguard. There's an insta-attraction between Haley and Ace that takes a while to get sorted as they do the push-you-away / pull-you-back-in game. I've been disappointed in the lack of maturity of these characters in both books in this series, and I know that this author can do much better, so I hope if there are more installments, that the main characters would have some modicum of maturity.

Overall, the typical bodyguard story, complicated with second chance romance and forced proximity between Haley and Ace. I was rooting for them, but the story was a bit predictable, so that took the wind out of this reader's sails. 

 

Review: Rush Week by Michelle Brandon

 

An irresistible, juicy contemporary novel based on the TikTok phenomenon #BamaRushTok—about four sorority sisters brought back to the top-tier house they ruled at the University of Alabama, when secrets they’d thought long buried threaten to resurface.

Four sorority sisters. Each with dark secrets. They must stop the unexpected opening of a time capsule created as part of a sorority rush ritual that was supposed to hold their deepest secrets buried forever...

Five years after they thought they’d said goodbye forever, a group of sorority sisters find themselves back at the University of Alabama for Rush Week. Some return to rekindle their friendships, and others to keep long silent secrets from being exhumed. Unbeknownst to them at the time, the infamous “Spill Book” they wrote confessions in as a trust (hazing) exercise over the years was placed into a time capsule—now it’s been stolen, and the anonymous thief is threatening to expose them all on Bid Day.

Rush Week is a juicy, wild, drama-packed novel filled with good—and not so good—girls behaving badly, dark humor, and sexy scandals. As the sisters navigate their present and not-so-distant past, unbreakable bonds of friendship are put to the test, and regrettable mistakes threaten to change everything if exposed. But perhaps if they confess their sins to each other, they can begin to mend not only themselves, but their sisterhood— before the world finds out just how wicked they are. 

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What I thought about Rush Week

Four sorority sisters return to their alma mater to circumvent the reading of the infamous "Spill Book" that could ruin them all!  Sounds like a terrific premise for story, and I was hooked as soon as I read the description.  

The story is told in multiple point of views, and with a now-and-then timeline, so it takes a little bit of time and effort to be sure whose voice you are reading.  That was the first problem I had with this book.  The content was exciting as they describe how much this scandal this Spill Book can bring to them, but I had to work to figure out who exactly was telling the story.

These characters, Taylor, Annabelle, Brooklyn and Asana aren't the most likable characters either with all their privilege, but they may appeal to the Tiktok crowd.  I really thought that the opening of the time capsule seemed to be happening too soon and that some of this was far-fetched, but I decided I'd stay on the ride. 

Overall, I liked the story content, but found that the pacing was a bit slow and dragged things down for me and the unlikable characters annoyed me.  I did like the incorporation of today's technology and social media.  

 

 

Release Day Review: He Falls First (Colburn Bros #1) by Jill Shalvis

 

No one is going to convince her to fall in love again...

Ryder Colburn has his hands full running the family business and caring for the ailing father who’s a virtual stranger from the cold, heavy-handed man he used to be. He’s got zero free time for hobbies or women. Or so he thinks until one walks into his life… and the path of an oncoming car.

Ryder doesn’t mind playing the hero for the skittish, scarred chef Penny. Maybe it’s the secrets in her eyes or the scar on her chin. Whatever the reason, he’s compelled to get closer.

Penny’s learned her lesson and now she’s paying the price. That’s why she’s sharing a dilapidated house in a tiny California town with her feisty grandmother and tween brother living off the leftovers from her catering job. It’s a far cry from her dream life. But who needs dreams… or love… or sex when there’s amateur plumbing projects to tackle and breakfast casseroles to bake?

One thing’s for sure, she’s never falling in love again. Not even with the sexy, snarky contractor who keeps testing the walls she’s built.

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What I thought about He Falls First

Penny is recovering from a difficult relationship that has her swearing off all men and relationships, that is until Ryder Colburn shows up in her world.  He's sweet and kind and interested in Penny -- but she's not ready.

The story is built around the "legend" of seeing three shooting stars that will foretell someone falling in love. I won't spoil it, but the legend brings a cute aspect to this story that will just have your heart melting!  The Colburn brothers are just adorable in that manly, sexy way that make romance novels a reader's choice!  Swoony, gorgeous men with character! Yum!

 There isn't any doubt that Ryder and Penny are made for each other -- it's just a matter of time before they get there, with a little help from friends and family. 

The secondary characters are interesting too, especially the Colburn patriarch who is dealing with health issues of his own, and Penny's family of grandmother and younger brother.  This author knows how to construct a family that works together to get through life. 

 You can't go wrong with a Jill Shalvis romance. The main characters are guaranteed to be likable and the story is entertaining and sweet! I enjoyed He Falls First and I'm looking forward to the rest of the Colburn brothers stories!

 

Read more about this author on her website at

 https://www.jillshalvis.com/

 

 

  

Just a little update...

 

Hello fellow readers and followers of this blog,

 I know there have been few reviews over the past two or three months, and I hope to be picking up the pace back to providing weekly reviews of what I've been reading.  Life came along and smacked me sideways, and I'm just getting my feet back on the ground, although they may be slightly unsteady at the moment.  

I'm happy to return to my reading with some really sweet romance titles. They've been soothing my soul right now as there is nothing like an entertaining romance, where the characters are just meant to be! 

 So thanks for your patience!  

Watch for some giveaways too!  It's time to clean out the bookshelves and I know I have a few titles to share with you all!

 Happy Reading!  Tradermare