Review: Scarlett Undone by Tasha Gold

A riveting book club novel of secrets, redemption, and unexpected connection. Perfect for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Kristin Hannah, and Jojo Moyes.

Her father died in prison. She’s hidden her identity for most of her life. Until now.

Scarlett vowed she’d never step foot in Brackson prison again. Yet here she is, back in her hometown, dragging disgruntled dogs into the hell her father once called home.

The Pups in Prison rehabilitation program is her uncle’s passion, but his recent heart attack means he’s laid up and she’s filling in. She’s surrounded by inked necks and barbed wire…and awful memories she can’t shake. She knows she’s the reason her marriage is falling apart. She’s been running from that knowledge like she runs from the surname that links her to her father’s crimes.

She didn’t expect to find solace in an unexpected prisoner.

Emery is intense yet kind. Strangely intuitive. She shouldn’t look forward to their dog-training sessions, even if this alluring inmate shines a light on parts of herself she thought she hated.

But when she discovers why he was incarcerated and violence hits too close to home, Scarlett’s forced to face that forgiveness is more than spoken words and that coming undone is the first step to stitching yourself back together.

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What I thought about Scarlett Undone 

 Scarlett Undone is a story that can connect with others. What do you do when you reach the end of your rope? When all of the past traumas build to the point of breaking? How do you go on?

Scarlett's father is a criminal, her mother is absent, and her marriage is in jeopardy, At thirty years old, Scarlett doesn't want to deal with any of it. So she runs away to an uncle she hasn't seen in years and puts herself right in the clutches of an environment she is trying to forget. That doesn't work of course. 

This story is very much about this quest for self and at the same time, community.  Even though Scarlett's traumas are significant, this story is more about how she goes about recovering her life from her past to position herself for the future.  If you think that is deep, it is. There''s a lot to unpack and discuss in this story and that is why it is promoted as a book club book. This is the kind of book you want to read with a friend so you can discuss.  

Overall, this was a solid story from this author.  

 

Review: The Drowning Season by Debra Webb

To find two missing women, a detective must dive into the secrets of her past in a blood-freezing novel of suspense by USA Today bestselling author Debra Webb.

Detective Adeline Cooper swore she’d never return to Mississippi, where her corrupt family rules through fear and her career was upended by betrayal. But then she receives a photograph of a local woman who has gone missing, along with a cryptic, chilling Pretty, pretty princess. See her smile…see her die.

Soon after Adeline arrives in her hometown, a second woman is kidnapped, and there are disturbing connections between the two victims and the detective. Both women bear an eerie resemblance to Adeline and share her fear of water. A new message makes the kidnapper’s game terrifyingly You’re next.

When past and present collide at the river’s edge, Adeline will finally understand why she’s been dreaming of drowning her whole life.

Revised Previously published as Anywhere She Runs, this edition of The Drowning Season includes editorial revisions. 

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What I thought about The Drowning Season

Two women are missing and a third receives a threat, forcing Adeline to return home to Mississippi after being run out of town in disgrace.  When she receives evidence in the crime and becomes part of the current investigation, she faces old enemies and secrets that are deeply hidden.

I liked this mystery.  Adeline is one tough cop and she doesn't put up with much from the people who ran her out of town, including an old boyfriend that betrayed her. She's at risk from the kidnapper too.

Things move along quickly and the book is easy to read. There are some romantic elements which helped to put a focus on something other than the case. Adeline is a strong woman and is interesting to see what she gets into and how she gets out of it, too.  I did not find the story predictable and didn't anticipate the resolution at all, which made for an exciting reading experience.

5 stars for A Curse of Beasts and Magic by Jeaniene Frost

 

New York Times bestselling author of The Night Huntress series Jeaniene Frost returns with a brand-new series! It’s Beauty and the Beast meets The Witcher in this dark fantastical retelling, except Beauty IS the Beast, and he’s the Warden keeping mythical beings in check in our world and beyond.

Raine Stone was the sole survivor of a horrific creature while camping. Her account of the attack was attributed to shock, but Raine knows all too well that her story is true because now she carries that same Beast inside her!

She’s been restraining its violent urges by letting it 'feed' on the pain and chaos she’s exposed to as an ER nurse, and by playing vigilante against would-be muggers at night. But when Raine uses the Beast’s energy to heal a frail elderly gentleman from a seemingly random attack, she opens herself to a new world of danger—literally.

Remington “Remy” Byrne knows that the wall between a realm of deadly mythic creatures and our own world is very thin; he’s the Warden who guards the gateways between them. He also rules the supernatural creatures living in secret among us. Raine’s Beast makes her an intruder on Remy’s territory, but the elderly gentleman she saved is Remy’s grandfather, and her Beast contains power that could tip the scales in a sinister plot against Remy’s rule—if Raine allies with him.

Will they be friends or foes…or will the dangerous attraction between them turn into something else? And can our world be saved by their explosive alliance?

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What I thought about A Curse of Beasts and Magic

The author crafts a sexy duo in Raine and Remy along with a fantastical world of creatures in A Curse of Beasts and Magic. There are terrific descriptions of the magical world and Raine and Remy maintain their humanity even though they are far from human.

Remy has lots of secrets for Raine to learn, and he has his own reasons for keeping her, including the fact there is plenty of attraction between them. She's a strong character after living with her "beast".

Romantic, steamy, action packed with great characters. I need more! 

Review: The Shippers by Katherine Center

She wants him to help her woo someone else.
Genius. Foolproof. Can't go wrong.

After a whole lifetime of being bad at love, JoJo Burton decides to solve her intimacy issues once and for all at her sister’s destination wedding on a cruise ship. Armed with pop psychology, she diagnoses herself with a fixation on the neighborhood guy who was her first crush and first kiss (and who just happens to be a newly divorced wedding guest). Determined to woo him for closure, she ropes in her childhood bestie, Cooper Watts, as her wingman. Cooper: who RSVPed no, but showed up anyway. Cooper: who moved to London without a word four years ago. Cooper: who broke her heart.

Shipboard antics abound in this witty, heart-tugging, childhood-friends-to-lovers romance, as JoJo and Cooper team up, fake flirt, slow dance, share a cabin, sing duets, get jealous, answer long-held questions, and finally, at last, discover truths about each other that will change everything. 

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What I thought about The Shippers 

JoJo Burton is looking for true love and hasn't found it. When planning her sister's wedding, they come up with a plan to hook JoJo up with childhood crush Finn, the guy who kissed her first. The wedding takes place on a cruise and also along for the ride is JoJo's best friend Cooper.

But things don't work out like they planned and JoJo has to learn the true value of her friendship with Cooper before she knows what love is all about.

There aren't any surprises here. Romance readers will catch on to this plot early on. It takes JoJo an entire book of cute banter to figure out what love is all about.

It's a cute story. Very predictable and low conflict. 4 stars

Review: Liar's Creek (Clay Hawkins #1) by Matt Goldman

From New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winner Matt Goldman comes Liar's Creek, which asks how far we'll go to protect the people we love.

The small town of Riverwood, Minnesota is true to its name, brimming with beautiful scenes of nature. Its rural landscape is threaded with scenic trout streams, which carve their way through limestone bluffs. But beneath its picturesque facade, danger runs rampant.

Clay Hawkins isn’t a stranger to the secrets of his hometown. After twenty years away, Clay has recently returned home from abroad with his twelve-year-old son Braedon, and his relationship with his father Judd, the recently replaced sheriff, is as strained as ever.

Trouble immediately brews for Clay when his beloved uncle, Teddy, disappears. Together, the three generations of Hawkinses must overturn every stone in Riverwood and confront deep familial wounds to find the one person who brings them together. As danger looms, Clay worries that it might be too late to save Teddy—and that the rest of the family might be next.

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What I thought about Liar's Creek

International soccer star Clay Hawkins returns to his hometown of Riverwood, Minnesota and finds himself working with his father and others to solve the disappearance of his uncle. 

He's a fish out of water in his own hometown. The small town vibes are strong here as there are no secrets in little towns like Riverwood.  But there are lies, and he'll have to wade through them to solve his uncle's disappearance. 

Clay was an interesting character and I enjoyed getting to know him. By the end of the book, I was chomping for the next Clay Hawkins book!  The setting was also new to me as I have not been to Minnesota, and that made it interesting for sure.  

Clay has a difficult relationship with his father, and some of this story is devoted to navigating around past hurts and old times.  There was some slowness in the beginning and some predictability, but I hung in there and became hooked as the mystery is unraveled.  This was not a super suspenseful story and it seemed very character driven rather than plot driven. But that was okay by me.  I enjoyed this story and I'm ready for more.

Review: A Deadly Inheritance by Kelley Armstrong

A Deadly Inheritance

After discovering she’s an heiress to a billion-dollar corporation, seventeen-year-old Liliana finds herself at a new boarding school where she must navigate secret societies and a deadly competition. 

In the wake of her mother’s death, Liliana Chamberlain’s estranged (and very wealthy) grandparents swoop in. Or their lawyer does. Her grandparents aren’t ready to meet her, but they want her to have the life her mother walked away from, starting with Westwood Academy, the elite boarding school her mother attended. It should be a Cinderella dream come true, but Lili has serious misgivings. Yet she doesn’t have a choice, being under eighteen and dead broke.

Westwood Academy is a school of secrets as well as intriguing classmates, including Hollywood golden boy Theo Dubois and the mysterious Maddox Moreno. As she gets to know them all, Lili realizes there’s more to the school than elite-level networking. Something deadly.

For the new girl at school, investigating the deaths of past students — including Maddox’s own sister — is a very dangerous game. Do those deaths have something to do with why her mother fled Westdale at the cost of her inheritance?

When a fun night out turns bloody, Theo is the prime suspect, and Liliana must race against time to connect the past with the present and discover the truth behind her inheritance.

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What I thought about A Deadly Inheritance

Liliana Chamberlain gets more than she bargained for when she finds out she is an heiress and must learn about a whole new lifestyle. She is shipped off to Westwood Academy, the best of the best, to be prepared for some high powered career. Except there are some odd things going on at the academy and Liliana is determined to get to the root of it all, no matter what.

At the academy, Liliana becomes friends with Theo and Maddox, the only people she trusts. These two guys are terrific and I loved the how their relationship with Liliana developed! That was probably my favorite part of this story.

While a little slow for my taste, I thought the characters were interesting and the story, although at times out there, was interesting enough to keep me reading to the end. I enjoy a YA every now and then, and this one satisfied my craving.

Cover Reveal: Bad Girls Make Good Liars by Sarina Bowen

 

BAD GIRLS MAKE GOOD LIARS

Ivy Quinlan knows how to find people. But this time, she might be the one who’s truly lost.

Ten years ago, private investigator Ivy Quinlan slammed the door on her Boston life and started a new, untraceable one in Maine. Or so she thought. For years, she’s made a living slipping into other people’s lives—catching liars, exposing secrets, and getting out clean. (Or mostly clean. She tries.)

Until Frazier Morello—the guy she never got over or forgave—shatters her peace with a problem that makes no sense: a missing influencer who looks exactly like Ivy.

Not similar, identical. Same voice. Same laugh. Same everything.

Kelsey Chillingham vanished three days ago, and the internet is obsessed. The only lead the police have is Ivy, and they’re not going to let her go without a fight. Which leaves Ivy–who’s spent her life not knowing where she came from–at the center of a story she never asked to be a part of.

Now Ivy is chasing a case that’s dangerously personal, tangled up with the one man who still has the power to wreck her, and getting closer to a truth that refuses to stay buried. With time running out for Kelsey, Ivy must rush headfirst into her past no matter the cost.

Ivy has spent years running from her past, and now it’s on her doorstep—wearing her face.

RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 2, 2027

Available Preorder Links:

 

Amazon:
https://geni.us/BadGirls-Amazon

 

Kobo:
https://geni.us/BadGirls-Kobo

 

Nook:
https://geni.us/BadGirls-Nook

Audible:
https://geni.us/BadGirls-Audible