4 Stars for And There He Kept Her by Joshua Moehling

 

They thought he was a helpless old man. They were wrong.

When two teenagers break into a house on a remote lake in search of prescription drugs, what starts as a simple burglary turns into a nightmare for all involved. Emmett Burr has secrets he's been keeping in his basement for more than two decades, and he'll do anything to keep his past from being revealed. As he gets the upper hand on his tormentors, the lines blur between victim, abuser, and protector.

Personal tragedy has sent former police officer Ben Packard back to the small Minnesota town of Sandy Lake in search of a fresh start. Now a sheriff's deputy, Packard is leading the investigation into the missing teens, motivated by a family connection. As clues dry up and time runs out to save them, Packard is forced to reveal his own secrets and dig deep to uncover the dark past of the place he now calls home.  

Unrelentingly suspenseful and written with a piercing gaze into the dark depths of the human soul, And There He Kept Her is a thrilling page-turner that introduces readers to a complicated new hero and forces us to consider the true nature of evil. 

 

 

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What I thought about And There He Kept Her

When two teens make a very bad decision to steal drugs from Emmett, they end up in dire and deadly circumstances.  The title of the book pretty much gives away what happens there.  

Ben Packard is the sheriff's deputy investigating the case and he also has a personal link to the missing girl.  He's relatively new to the small town and brings his own secrets and hurts with him.  I really loved this character and I found his personal situation just as interesting as the missing person case he worked on.  I'd like to know more about this character as he works through who he is and what he wants in his life.  He's also lived with a bit of a mystery surrounding an old case that would be great as a follow-up book to this one.. hint, hint. 

The story unravels nicely, and what I liked the most about this book was that it kept me interesting all the way through -- the pace of this book was just perfect for this reader and I was almost sorry it was over because it was a great ride through this small town mystery. 

I did find that some descriptions were overdone -- I don't need every single thing described to me.  The mood was well done with a very creepy vibe that captured the girl's plight very well.  But the non-stop smoking made me feel like I needed to take a shower and fumigate my clothes.  I got it, it was meant to be that way but after a while it did start to grate on me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and recommend it if you like this sort of story. The characters are interesting, the pacing is terrific right up to the final pages and it left me wanting more of Ben Packard and his world. 

 About the Author

Joshua Moehling works in the medical device industry by day and writes at night. And There He Kept Her is his first novel. He lives in Minneapolis.

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Release Week Review: 5 Stars for The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark

 

From the instant New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight!

She’s back.

Meg Williams. Maggie Littleton. Melody Wilde. Different names for the same person, depending on the town, depending on the job. She’s a con artist who erases herself to become whoever you need her to be—a college student. A life coach. A real estate agent. Nothing about her is real. She slides alongside you and tells you exactly what you need to hear, and by the time she’s done, you’ve likely lost everything.

Kat Roberts has been waiting ten years for the woman who upended her life to return. And now that she has, Kat is determined to be the one to expose her. But as the two women grow closer, Kat’s long-held assumptions begin to crumble, leaving Kat to wonder who Meg’s true target is.

The Lies I Tell is a twisted domestic thriller that dives deep into the psyches and motivations of two women and their unwavering quest to seek justice for the past and rewrite the future.

 

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 What I thought about The Lies I Tell

Wow! This book!  I was intrigued by the blurb for this title, and how a con artist can use their skills to seek justice.  It was advertised as a "Robin Hood" sort of story. 

The story kicked off and pulled this reader into the story right away.  Meg lives in her vehicle and is a bit obsessed with how she got in that predicament. Meg and her mother were kicked out of the home they lived in by an unscrupulous boyfriend who steals their home right from under them.  This sets the stage for Meg's life as she must learn to live on her own and in the process becomes a master con artist.  This woman is good!  

There is one problem though.  In the process of her con, she involved Kat Roberts, a reporter.  And Kat is eager to uncover just what's going on and doesn't see that she's put herself in danger as well.  After a devastating incident while investigating Meg, her life is shattered and her path is now focused on following and uncovering Meg's confidence game.

When Kat has the opportunity to become friends with Meg, she takes it, thinking she'll have the story of her journalism career. But as she gets to know Meg, she finds that there's more to this story.

What I liked most about this story was the skillful manner in which this story was presented to me.  It kept me guessing about both Meg and Kat, their motivations and what exactly was true and real.  I liked how this was a story about two women too, both victims of their circumstances -- it was refreshing and unique for this reader. And just when I thought I was going to be left hanging without resolution to one of the situations with Kat, the final pages pull everything together so beautifully that I was left smiling.  I adored that ending so much.

If you are looking for a tight domestic thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, you might like this one.  I found it to be unique and intriguing. I loved the story of these two women and how each impacted the other's life. It was masterfully crafted and probably one of my favorites reads of this year.

Julie Clark is the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight. It has earned starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal, and the New York Times has called it “thoroughly absorbing”. It’s been named an Indie Next Pick, a Library Reads Pick, and a Best Book of 2020 by Amazon Editors and Apple Books. Her debut, The Ones We Choose, was published in 2018 and has been optioned for television by Lionsgate. She lives in Los Angeles with her two sons and a golden doodle with poor impulse control.

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Review: The Best Bad Things by Jay Crownover

  

Vesper Bell is a good girl. At least, that’s what everyone keeps telling her.

 

She was the perfect daughter. A straight-A student. The very best friend. And an adoring potential girlfriend.

 

However, when her life took an unexpected detour into darkness, suffering, and betrayal, Vesper realized being good hadn’t gotten her anywhere. An enthralled audience watched her dramatic fall from grace and clearly wanted her to crash and burn. Those she once trusted the most made it no secret that they wanted her to lose everything…and she did.

 

But all those years of being such a goodie-two-shoes built Vesper some powerful cosmic karma. On her birthday, she begged for a second chance, an opportunity to right all the wrongs and undo all the bad things she was forced to endure. She made a wish, not knowing that sometimes they really do come true.

 

Now, right before her fall, she’s back at the beginning, and she has no plans to be a good girl anymore.

 

Lucky for her, she has the perfect person to teach her how to embrace her rebellious and daring side: a boy with candy-colored hair and eyes as dark as the night sky. They were born on the same day, but that is about all the two of them have in common. Everything about him screams that he is a very bad boy, but Vesper sees the good in him.

 

He doesn’t seem to care if she’s perfect or pitiful. He keeps stepping in to save her, and he always makes her feel safe even when everything else feels uncertain. He feels real and honest when the rest of her life seems to be built on lies on top of more lies.

 

One thing Vesper knows to be absolutely true: the surprisingly sweet delinquent is the very best bad thing to ever happen to her.

 

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What I thought about The Best Bad Things

First off, I won't be able to go into too much plot detail because that's part of the fun of this mind bending story.  I can't even start this review like I want to because I would totally spoil it for the next readers. 

Vesper is the sole narrator of this story and when the story starts, she is in a rundown hotel in The Point after a serious fall from the opposite end of town known as The Hill. She experiences a tragedy and her life implodes, sending her back in time to when she lived in that wealthy part of town.

Having a second chance means being able to right all the wrongs that were done to the people Vesper loves, and also to herself. There are plenty of juicy villains in this story -- a nasty stepsister, a brutal ex boyfriend, a wicked almost-stepmother and then there's Oscar, the one guy who has been with her from the start of this adventure.

I adored Vesper and Oscar both. Although Vesper is a very unreliable narrator,  she's just so strong and I felt her journey every step of the way.  Oscar is the best of the kind of man Jay Crownover writes and why I adore her stories -- he has a good sense of right and wrong, can walk and talk perfect bad boy, and chooses to express himself with his tattoos and colored hair. There was something about Oscar that I connected with and I just loved him and Vesper together.

I didn't see that ending coming either, and I really liked that about the story.

Overall, I thought this book merged romance, mystery and time travel elements very well into a more unique contemporary romance reading experience and returning to The Point for this was absolutely wonderful as the Point series is one of my favorites from this author.

If you are looking for a different sort of romance with a bit of a mystery, time travel and an awesome bad boy hero, you might like The Best Bad Things.

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Jay Crownover is the international and multiple New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men Series, the Saints of Denver Series, the Point Series, the Breaking Point series, the Getaway series, the Loveless, Texas series and the Forever Marked series. Her books can be found translated into many different languages all around the world. She is a tattooed, crazy haired Colorado native who lives at the base of the Rockies with her awesome dogs. This is where she can frequently be found enjoying a cold beer and Taco Tuesdays. Jay is a self-declared music snob and outspoken book lover who is always looking for her next adventure, between the pages and on the road.

 

 

Connect w/Jay:
Website: www.jaycrownover.com

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Release Day Review: Help Me Remember (Rose Canyon #1) by Corinne Michaels

Brielle Davis wakes up with no memory of the last three years and turns to her brother's best friend, Spencer Cross to help her remember.

Help Me Remember by Corinne Michaels is now live!

 New York Times bestselling author Corinne Michaels brings you a new small-town, brother's best friend romance.

In one second, my life disappeared.
My past. My memories. My future.
The only certainty I have from the last three years is that my older brother is dead, and I am the only eye witness.

In order to protect the case, the lawyers demand that no one give me any information about my life . . . I must remember on my own. My only help comes from my brother's best friend and world-renowned investigative reporter, Spencer Cross.

He has no idea how many nights I've spent dreaming of his name—and his body—next to mine.

Now we're a team and our goal is to recover my memories and retrace my past. But each day we spend together, he's looking at me as more than his friend's little sister and I find it harder to want my old life back. Instead I'm wishing for a new one—with him. His kiss feels like home. His arms make me feel safe, and I never want this to end.

As my memories return, forcing me to face my future, everything falls apart... especially when I find an engagement ring hidden in my apartment. I have no idea who gave it to me, or what it means about my past.

I may have asked Spencer to help me remember, but now I wish I could forget.

Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Kobo!

Amazon: https://geni.us/HMR_Zon

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Narrated by Andi Arndt & Zachary Webber

 

Special Edition Paperback: https://geni.us/HMR_SE

Original Paperback: https://geni.us/HMR_PB

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What I thought about Help Me Remember

Brielle has lost her memory of the last three years, and to complicate things even further, she's the lone witness in the murder of her beloved brother Isaac.  There are more complications that are revealed along the way.

One of those complicating factors is that none of her family is allowed to discuss events leading up to Brielle's memory loss so as not to manipulate the investigation.  This poses some interesting situations because some relationships have changed and she doesn't remember that.  Namely, the person she's engaged to.

Help Me Remember is a typical romance with a amnesia theme that does require the reader to suspend your disbelief because it just seems to take Brielle so long to figure out what's going on.  Her brother's best friend Spenser, who Brielle has had a crush on for years, is enlisted to help her uncover her past history.  Once some of his secrets get revealed, everything just seems to be a mess.  

When Brielle figures out how much everyone has kept her in the dark, her reaction is typical and over the top -- but even worse, she takes a huge chance at the end of the book that had me shaking my head.

If you are in the mood for an amnesia story, then you might like this one.  It's packed with emotions as you might expect from this author.  It's an easy read with a good bit of conflict and a lovely HEA. 

Meet Corinne

Corinne Michaels is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of romance novels. Her stories are chock full of emotion, humor, and unrelenting love, and she enjoys putting her characters through intense heartbreak before finding a way to heal them through their struggles.

Corinne is a former Navy wife and happily married to the man of her dreams. She began her writing career after spending months away from her husband while he was deployed--reading and writing were her escapes from the loneliness. Corinne now lives in Virginia with her husband and is the emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun-loving mom of two beautiful children.

Connect with Corinne

Website: http://corinnemichaels.com

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CMBOOKS TO 77948

Review: Unforgiven (Deep Ops #5) by Rebecca Zanetti

Run: Gemma Falls never expected to use her game theory expertise to outrun a killer. But for years, that skill is all that kept her one step ahead of a deadly stalker. When Gemma gets the chance to teach at D.C. University, she hopes she and her young daughter have found a safe harbor. The only flaw is the arrogant philosophy professor who’s always underfoot giving unwanted advice—in his sexy British accent . . .

Hide:Jethro Hanson has blood on his hands. He’s working within ivy-covered university halls now, but he knows that his work with the Deep Ops team and the deadly acts he once committed for the sake of Queen and country place him beyond forgiveness—until he meets Gemma . . .

Seek: Soon, the passion between them stuns them both. But when Jethro discovers a threat is fast overtaking her, he must choose between the redemption he seeks—and releasing the ever-present killer inside . . . 

 

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 What I thought about Unforgiven

Gemma Falls is on the run, hiding from someone with good reason.  When she takes a teaching job at DC University, she meets Jethro Hanson, a gorgeous professor with a British accent who just won't leave her alone.  He's got a past he's running from too.

When danger crosses both of their paths, Gemma and Jethro must learn to trust each other if they are going to survive.  

The bad guys are revealed early on in this story, and it becomes a tale of putting them away before they can get to Gemma and her daughter.  It takes all of Jethro's colleagues and plenty of  tenacity on the part of Gemma to thwart the killer coming after them.

I really liked this.  There was plenty of action, and sweet alphas, Even thought the killer is clear, there are many questions to be answered. Much of the story focuses a lot on the relationship between Jethro and Gemma and Trudy and I liked that. They were all looking for family and they both found it. 

Unforgiven is a nice little thriller with a lovely special-ops style romance. It's a well crafted, standalone romantic suspense that I enjoyed.

 

About the Author

New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly and #1 Amazon bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti has published more than sixty novels, which have been translated into several languages, with more than five million copies sold world-wide. Her books have received Publishers Weekly starred reviews and have been featured in Entertainment Weekly, Woman’s World, and Women’s Day Magazines. Her novels have also been included in Amazon best books of the year and have been favorably reviewed in both the Washington Post and the New York Times Book Reviews. Rebecca has ridden in a locked Chevy trunk, has asked the unfortunate delivery guy to release her from a set of handcuffs, and has discovered the best silver mine shafts in which to bury a body…all in the name of research. Honest. 

Find Rebecca at: www.RebeccaZanetti.com

Coming September 2022: In Vino Veritas in the World of True North

 

More coming from the
World of True North and In Vino Veritas

The Wine Bar and Bookstore are OPEN!

September 8th

Wildfire by Garrett Leigh

Goodreads → https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61147568-wildfire 

Amazon → Coming Soon

Counterpoint by J.E Birk 

Goodreads → https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61147540-counterpoint 

Amazon→ https://geni.us/Counterpoint-amz

---

September 13th

Unmanageable by Leslie McAdam 

Goodreads → https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61147579-unmanageable 

Amazon→ https://geni.us/Unmanageable-amz

Underdog by L.A. Witt

Goodreads →https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61147599-underdog

Amazon → Coming soon

---

September 22nd

Wonderland by Rachel Ember 

Goodreads → https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61147559-wonderland 

Amazon → https://geni.us/Wonderland-amz

Dauntless by Victoria Denault

Goodreads → https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61147549-dauntless 

Amazon → Coming Soon

Blog Tour Review & Excerpt: 5 Stars for On A Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass

ON A QUIET STREET
Author: Seraphina Nova Glass
ISBN: 9781525899751
Publication Date: May 17, 2022
Publisher: Graydon House Books

Book Summary:

A simple arrangement. A web of deceit with shocking consequences.

Welcome to Brighton Hills: an exclusive, gated community set against the stunning backdrop of the Oregon coast. Home to doctors, lawyers, judges--all the most upstanding members of society. Nothing ever goes wrong here. Right?

Cora's husband, Finn, is a cheater. She knows it; she just needs to prove it. She's tired of being the nagging, suspicious wife who analyzes her husband's every move. She needs to catch him in the act. And what better way to do that than to set him up for a fall?

Paige has nothing to lose. After she lost her only child in a hit-and-run last year, her life fell apart: her marriage has imploded, she finds herself screaming at baristas and mail carriers, and she's so convinced Caleb's death wasn't an accident that she's secretly spying on all everyone in Brighton Hills so she can find the murderer. So it's easy for her to entrap Finn and prove what kind of man he really is.

But Paige and Cora are about to discover far more than a cheating husband. What starts as a little agreement between friends sets into motion a series of events neither of them could have ever predicted, and that exposes the deep fault lines in Brighton Hills. Especially concerning their mysterious new neighbor, Georgia, a beautiful recluse who has deep, dark secrets of her own...

Buy Links:

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 Excerpt

ONE

Paige

 

Paige stands, watering her marigolds in the front yard and marvels at how ugly they are. The sweet-potato-orange flowers remind her of a couch from the 1970s, and she suddenly hates them. She crouches down, ready to rip them from their roots, wondering why she ever planted such an ugly thing next to her pristine Russian sage, and then the memory steals her breath. The church Mother’s Day picnic when Caleb was in the sixth grade. Some moron had let the potato salad sit too long in the sun, and Caleb got food poisoning. All the kids got to pick a flower plant to give to their moms, and even though Caleb was puking mayonnaise, he insisted on going over to pick his flower to give her. He was so proud to hand it to her in its little plastic pot, and she said they’d plant it in the yard and they’d always have his special marigolds to look at. How could she have forgotten?

She feels tears rise in her throat but swallows them down. Her dachshund, Christopher, waddles over and noses her arm: he always senses when she’s going to cry, which is almost all the time since Caleb died. She kisses his head and looks at her now-beautiful marigolds. She’s interrupted by the kid who de-livers the newspaper as he rides his bike into the cul-de-sac and tosses a rolled-up paper, hitting little Christopher on his back.

“Are you a fucking psychopath?” Paige screams, jumping to her feet and hurling the paper back at the kid, which hits him in the head and knocks him off his bike.

“What the hell is wrong with you, lady?” he yells back, scrambling to gather himself and pick up his bike.

“What’s wrong with me? You tried to kill my dog. Why don’t you watch what the fuck you’re doing?”

His face contorts, and he tries to pedal away, but Paige grabs the garden hose and sprays him down until he’s out of reach. “Little monster!” she yells after him.

Thirty minutes later, the police ring her doorbell, but Paige doesn’t answer. She sits in the back garden, drinking coffee out of a lopsided clay mug with the word Mom carved into it by little fingers. She strokes Christopher’s head and examines the ivy climbing up the brick of the garage and wonders if it’s bad for the foundation. When she hears the ring again, she hollers at them.

“I’m not getting up for you people. If you need to talk to me, I’m back here.” She enjoys making them squeeze around the side of the house and hopes they rub up against the poi-son oak on their way.

“Morning, Mrs. Moretti,” one of the officers says. It’s the girl cop, Hernandez. Then the white guy chimes in. She hates him. Miller. Of course they sent Miller with his creepy mustache. He looks more like a child molester than a cop, she thinks. How does anyone take him seriously?

“We received a complaint,” he says.

“Oh, ya did, did ya? You guys actually looking into cases these days? Actually following up on shit?” Paige says, still petting the dog and not looking at them.

“You assaulted a fifteen-year-old? Come on.”

“Oh, I did no such thing,” she snaps.

Hernandez sits across from Paige. “You wanna tell us what d id happen, then?”

“Are you planning on arresting me if I don’t?” she asks, and the two officers give each other a silent look she can’t read.

“His parents don’t want to press charges so…”

Paige doesn’t say anything. They don’t have to tell her it’s because they pity her.

“But, Paige,” Miller says, “we can’t keep coming out here for this sort of thing.”

“Good,” Paige says firmly. “Maybe it will free you up to do your real job and find out who killed my son.” Hernandez stands.

“Again, you know we aren’t the detectives on the—” But before Hernandez can finish, Paige interrupts, not wanting to hear the excuses.

“And maybe go charge the idiot kid for trying to kill my dog. How about that?”

Paige stands and goes inside, not waiting for a response. She hears them mumble something to one another and make their way out. She can’t restrain herself or force herself to be kind. She used to be kind, but now, it’s as though her brain has been rewired. Defensiveness inhabits the place where empathy used to live. The uniforms of the cops trigger her, too; it reminds her of that night, the red, flashing lights a nightmarish strobe from a movie scene. A horror movie, not real life. It can’t be her real life. She still can’t accept that.

The uniforms spoke, saying condescending things, pulling her away, calling her ma’am, and asking stupid questions. Now, when she sees them, it brings up regrets. She doesn’t know why this happens, but the uniforms bring her back to that night, and it makes her long for the chance to do all the things she never did with Caleb and mourn over the times they did have. It forces fragments of memories to materialize, like when he was six, he wanted a My Little Pony named Star Prancer. It was pink with purple flowers in its mane, and she didn’t let him have it because she thought she was protecting him from being made fun of at school. Now, the memory fills her with self-reproach.

She tries not to think about the time she fell asleep on the couch watching Rugrats with him when he was just a toddler and woke up to his screaming because he’d fallen off the couch and hit his head on the coffee table. He was okay, but it could have been worse. He could have put his finger in an outlet, pushed on the window screen and fallen to his death from the second floor, drunk the bleach under the sink! When this memory comes, she has to quickly stand up and busy herself, push out a heavy breath, and shake off the shame it brings. He could have died from her negligence that afternoon. She never told Grant. She told Cora once, who said every parent has a moment like that, it’s life. People fall asleep. But Paige has never forgiven herself. She loved Caleb more than life, and now the doubt and little moments of regret push into her thoughts and render her miserable and anxious all the time.

She didn’t stay home like Cora, she practically lived at the restaurant. She ran it for years. Caleb grew up doing his homework in the kitchen break room and helping wipe down tables and hand out menus. He seemed to love it. He didn’t watch TV all afternoon after school, he talked to new people, learned skills. But did she only tell herself that to alleviate the guilt? Would he have thrived more if he had had a more nor mal day-to-day? When he clung to her leg that first day of preschool, should she have forced him to go? Should he have let him change his college major so many times? Had he been happy? Had she done right by him?

And why was there a gun at the scene? Was he in trouble, and she didn’t know? Did he have friends she didn’t know about? He’d told her everything, she thought. They were close. Weren’t they?

As she approaches the kitchen window to put her mug down, she sees Grant pulling up outside. She can see him shaking his head at the sight of the cops before he even gets out of the car.

He doesn’t mention the police when he comes in. He silently pours himself a cup of coffee and finds Paige back out in the garden, where she has scurried to upon seeing him. He hands her a copy of the Times after removing the crossword puzzle for himself and then peers at it over his glasses.

He doesn’t speak until Christopher comes to greet him, and then he says, “Who wants a pocket cookie?” and takes a small dog biscuit from his shirt pocket and smiles down at little Christopher, who devours it.

This is how it’s been for the many months since Grant and Paige suffered insurmountable loss. It might be possible to get through it to the other side, but maybe not together, Paige said to Grant one night after one of many arguments about how they should cope. Grant wanted to sit in his old, leather recliner in the downstairs family room and stare into the wood-burning fireplace, Christopher at his feet, drinking a scotch and absorbing the quiet and stillness.

Paige, on the other hand, wanted to scream at everyone she met. She wanted to abuse the police for not finding who was responsible for the hit-and-run. She wanted to spend her days posting flyers offering a reward to anyone with information, even though she knew only eight percent of hit-and-runs are ever solved. When the world didn’t respond the way she needed, she stopped helping run the small restaurant they owned so she could just hole up at home and shout at Jeopardy! and paper boys. She needed to take up space and be loud. They each couldn’t stand how the other was mourning, so finally, Grant moved into the small apartment above their little Italian place, Moretti’s, and gave Paige the space she needed to take up.

Now—almost a year since the tragic day—Grant still comes over every Sunday to make sure the take-out boxes are picked up and the trash is taken out, that she’s taking care of herself and the house isn’t falling apart. And to kiss her on the cheek before he leaves and tell her he loves her. He doesn’t make observations or suggestions, just benign comments about the recent news headlines or the new baked mostaccioli special at the restaurant.

She sees him spot the pair of binoculars on the small table next to her Adirondack chair. She doesn’t need to lie and say she’s bird-watching or some nonsense. He knows she thinks one of the neighbors killed her son. She’s sure of it. It’s a gated community, and very few people come in and out who don’t live here. Especially that late at night. The entrance camera was conveniently disabled that night, so that makes her think it wasn’t an accident but planned. There was a gun next to Caleb’s body, but it wasn’t fired, and there was no gunshot wound. Something was very wrong with this scenario, and if the po-lice won’t prove homicide, she’s going to uncover which of her bastard neighbors had a motive.

She has repeated all of this to Grant a thousand times, and he used to implore her to try to focus on work or take a vacation—anything but obsess—and to warn her that she was destroying her health and their relationship, but he stopped responding to this sort of conspiracy-theory talk months ago.

“What’s the latest?” is all he asks, looking away from the binoculars and back to his crossword. She gives a dismissive wave of her hand, a sort of I know you don’t really want to hear about it gesture. Then, after a few moments, she says, “Danny Howell at 6758. He hasn’t driven his Mercedes in months.” She gives Grant a triumphant look, but he doesn’t appear to be following.

“Okay,” he says, filling in the word ostrich.

“So I broke into his garage to see what the deal was, and there’s a dent in his bumper.”

“You broke in?” he asks, concerned. She knows the How-ells have five vehicles, and the dent could be from a myriad of causes over the last year, but she won’t let it go.

“Yes, and it’s a good thing I did. I’m gonna go back and take photos. See if the police can tell if it looks like he might have hit a person.” She knows there is a sad desperation in her voice as she works herself up. “You think they can tell that? Like if the dent were a pole from a drive-through, they could see paint or the scratches or something, right? I bet they can tell.”

“It’s worth a shot,” he says, and she knows what he wants to say, also knows he won’t waste words telling her not to break into the garage a second time for photos. He changes the subject.

“I’m looking for someone to help out at the restaurant a few days a week—mostly just a piano player for the dinner crowd—but I could use a little bookkeeping and scheduling, too,” he says, and Paige knows it’s a soft attempt to distract her, but she doesn’t bite.

“Oh, well, good luck. I hope you find someone,” she says, and they stare off into the backyard trees.

“The ivy is looking robust,” he comments after a few minutes of silence.

“You think it’s hurting the foundation?” she asks.

“Nah,” he says, and he reaches over and places his hand over hers on the arm of her chair for a few moments before getting up to go. On his way out, he kisses her on the cheek, tells her he loves her. Then he loads the dishwasher and takes out the trash before heading to his car. She watches him reluctantly leaving, knowing that he wishes he could stay, that things were different.

When Paige hears the sound of Grant’s motor fade as he turns out of the front gate, she imagines herself calling him on his cell and telling him to come back and pick her up, that she’ll come to Moretti’s with him and do all the scheduling and books, that she’ll learn to play the piano just so she can make him happy. And, after all the patrons leave for the night, they’ll share bottles of Chianti on checkered tablecloths in a dimly lit back booth. They’ll eat linguini and clams and have a Lady and the Tramp moment, and they will be happy again.

Paige does not do this. She goes into the living room and closes the drapes Grant opened, blocking out the sunlight, then she crawls under a bunched-up duvet on the couch that smells like sour milk, and she begs for sleep.

Excerpted from On A Quiet Street by Seraphina Nova Glass, Copyright © 2022 by Seraphina Nova Glass. Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

 

 

 What I thought about On A Quiet Street

Three families deal from a quiet, gated community deal with their secrets.lies and much more in this familiy oriented thriller from Seraphina Nova Glass.

The story opens with someone dying under very suspicious circumstances.  It's not quite clear what exactly happens, but when the reader meats Cora, Paige and Georgia, it is revealed that Paige is grieving for her lost son and Cora is suspicious that her husband is cheating ... again. And their mysterious, young, gorgeous neighbor Georgia is most likely agoraphobic according to her husband but it turns out her story is so much more complicated. 

Only all is not what it seems in this gated community.

Each of the women are dealing with something and they are going to get to the bottom of their situations. Over the course of the story, the truth comes out about Finn's cheating, Paige's son and the real reason Georgia never leaves the house. The story alternates between the point of view between these three women. 

 

I found this story to be absolutely engaging.  I didn't want to put the book down (which is sometimes inconvenient) but wow, I really loved this story and how it was presented to me.  The tensions built steadily from the start, culminating in a terrific conclusion that had me scratching my head about how they all got away with what they did.  Sorry, but I don't want to spoil it with the details -- this is not a story where good and bad are easily identified. The women tell lies too, and the question becomes whether they were any different than the lies ties by Finn and Georgia's husband?  Did the end justify the means?  I asked myself these questions and I loved that this story made me really want to examine these issues.  This book would be perfect for book club conversations.  

I did have some questions about the easy forgiveness among the women that really made me wonder if they could be that forgiving after everything that transpired. There were parts of the book that I wanted to scream at the characters (especially some of the reckless things Paige does throughout) and I loved that I had that level of engagement with this book.

Overall, I loved this story. It was constructed very well for a family oriented thriller and the characters were very interesting and multi-faceted.  I really liked all 3 of the women characters and how they came together.  While I was still left with a few questions regarding that opening scene, I did like there was some closure there. A truly entertaining family thriller. 

   About the Author

Seraphina Nova Glass is a professor and playwright-in-residence at the University of Texas, Arlington, where she teaches film studies and playwriting. She holds an MFA in playwriting from Smith College, and she's also a screenwriter and award-winning playwright. Seraphina has traveled the world using theatre and film as a teaching tool, living in South Africa, Guam and Kenya as a volunteer teacher, AIDS relief worker, and documentary filmmaker.

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