Review: Denial

I first came across Beverley McLachlin not because she was the first female Chief Justice of Canada but because she wrote her first novel. Politics and law are important things but I'm a bookworm - what can I say? Full Disclosure came out back in the spring of 2018 and I reviewed the legal mystery for the magazine Niagara Life. I really enjoyed it and was lucky enough to hear McLachlin speak months later at a library event (remember those??). She was magnificent. When I heard she would be writing a sequel to Full Disclosure I was thrilled. Denial, published September 14, follows lawyer Jilly Truitt in another complicated legal case with an ending that is incredibly shocking.

Here's the book's description:

When everyone is in denial, how do you find the truth?
Jilly Truitt has made a name for herself as one of the top criminal defense lawyers in the city. Where once she had to take just about any case to keep her firm afloat, now she has her pick—and she picks winners.
So when Joseph Quentin asks her to defend his wife, who has been charged with murdering her own mother in what the media are calling a mercy killing, every instinct tells Jilly to say no. Word on the street is that Vera Quentin is in denial, refusing to admit to the crime and take a lenient plea deal. Quentin is a lawyer’s lawyer, known as the Fixer in legal circles, and if he can’t help his wife, who can
Against her better judgment, Jilly meets with Vera and reluctantly agrees to take on her case. Call it intuition, call it sympathy, but something about Vera makes Jilly believe she’s telling the truth. Now, she has to prove that in the courtroom against her former mentor turned opponent, prosecutor Cy Kenge—a man who has no qualms about bending the rules.
As the trial approaches, Jilly scrambles to find a crack in the case and stumbles across a dark truth hanging over the Quentin family. But is it enough to prove Vera’s innocence? Or is Jilly in denial herself?

While you could, technically, read Denial without having read Full Disclosure, I think it would be really difficult for readers to get a good handle on Jilly and her motivations without the backstory of the previous book. As it was, I couldn't really remember particulars so I sometimes found myself wondering why on earth I should care about Jilly and her problems. I was more focused on the court case than any of the characters. Is that a bad thing? I'm not sure. I always want to have a reason for reading a story that's more than the plot. I need to know the characters too.

Now as for the case Jilly was working on? Holy hell. There were lots of layers to it and I was totally invested. I thought I had a feeling I knew what happened but then I wasn't sure and then something happened and I was like AH HA and then something ELSE happened and I was like HOLY SHIT. I was shocked at how it all turned out and I think crime lovers will enjoy trying to puzzle out what really happened as the case progresses. 

Something else happens in Jilly's personal life and, I gotta say, I was kind of pissed at how it all went down. Maybe I read too many romances these days but I want certain things to happen and what ended up happening (there are two things, actually) made me super upset. I may have actually yelled, "WHAT?!?" at my ereader because I couldn't believe McLachlin went there. It's likely that this was a personal thing and a mood thing at the time I read the book SO I don't necessarily consider it a negative overall.

McLachlin knows her stuff so the novel is heavy on the legalese. Most of the time it's totally fine. The reader is expected to keep up and know what's happening and it's usually not too difficult. But there were other times where the word choices made me scratch my head. Not necessarily because I didn't understand what they meant. In fact, I was wondered more why she chose certain words or phrases when she was writing about anything other than the particulars of the course case storyline. And there were weird nitpicky things that drove me nuts - what 35+ year old woman talks about wearing Lycra so much? And Lycra specifically. Not just workout gear, which is how I (at 34) talk about the clothing I would wear for a gym session (I don't remember those at all...been so long...) Again, I don't think I'd really call this a downside but my mood at the time noted all this and it may have impacted things just a wee bit. 

I think I'd be happier with Denial if I knew there was going to be a third book. I feel like Jilly's story still isn't wrapped up and I need some closure. Beverley McLachlin is a talented legal mystery writer and I think fans of the genre would enjoy this one. 

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Last Thing He Told Me

I've been reading Laura Dave for a long time - I first read her novel The First Husband way back in 2012. Even though I've been enjoying her books for almost a decade, I almost didn't request The Last Thing He Told Me. Let me tell you: I am SO glad that I did. I could not put it down and had it finished in two days. And wished I could have started it over again and read it in one sitting!

Here's the book's description:

Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers: Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother.
As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered; as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss; as a US Marshal and FBI agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.
Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth, together. But as they start putting together the pieces of Owen’s past, they soon realize they are also building a new future. One neither Hannah nor Bailey could have anticipated.

The reason I almost didn't request the latest offering from Dave is because I've been really wary of thrillers lately. I keep picking them up because I love the author but it's not my genre of choice. I've learned I like mysteries more and I was really happy when I realized Dave's was skewing more to the mystery side of things. Hannah isn't a detective or any sort of professional that should be solving mysteries but she's on the case of why her husband is missing (this is not to be confused with cozy mysteries when the local cupcake baker ends up solving murder after murder in a small town that mysteriously does not lose permanent residents). I really had no idea how it would all turn out and I was both dreading and highly anticipating the end of the story. I needed to know what happened but I wasn't ready to say goodbye. That's the mark of a good and enjoyable book in my, well, book. 

The description hints at it a little bit but the relationship between Hannah and Bailey, Owen's teenage daughter, was a highlight of the story. The emotions between the two and reading as they were trying to work out what happened to Owen while still navigating their new relationship was full of heart and I loved it. It was real and raw. There was so much pain, and a bit of distrust, but there was also love underneath it all. The way it ends will have you feeling sad and also so hopeful. 

An amusing aside - Hannah is visited by a US Marshal right after her husband disappears. He seems to be a solid (and good looking) guy so, naturally, I pictured him as the character Raylan Givens, as played by Timothy Olyphant, in Justified. It's funny how the minds work sometimes! (Also, this is an older show that's totally worth a watch.)

Another aside - I'm really happy with the cover of this novel. It's aesthetically pleasing but doesn't scream "THIS IS A SUSPENSE STORY WRITTEN BY A WOMAN" which is so often the case. It's simple but a bit dark and you have to wonder, what's the story behind this cover?

I think the ending might polarize people but I was happy with it. Well, parts of it. I wished for one thing but if I couldn't have that thing, I was pleased with how it wrapped up. How's that for vague? Just read the book and you'll get it and I'll be here for you when you're done!

Laura Dave's latest novel was a riveting read I could not put down. The Last Thing He Told Me was well-written and featured characters you can't help but become invested in. I didn't want it to end and am already looking forward to what Dave writes next.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Blog Tour: Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder

A thing I learned in (late) 2020 is that I'm more of a mystery fan than thriller so it was with that in mind that I thought I'd like to read Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T.A. Willberg. I thought right and quite enjoyed Willberg's debut novel.

Here's the synopsis:

The letter was short. A name, a time, a place.

Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder plunges readers into the heart of London, to the secret tunnels that exist far beneath the city streets. There, a mysterious group of detectives recruited for Miss Brickett’s Investigations & Inquiries use their cunning and gadgets to solve crimes that have stumped Scotland Yard.

Late one night in April 1958, a filing assistant at Miss Brickett’s receives a letter of warning, detailing a name, a time, and a place. She goes to investigate but finds the room empty. At the stroke of midnight, she is murdered by a killer she can’t see―her death the only sign she wasn’t alone. It becomes chillingly clear that the person responsible must also work for Miss Brickett’s, making everyone a suspect.

Marion Lane, a first-year Inquirer-in-training, finds herself drawn ever deeper into the investigation. When her friend and colleague is framed for the crime, to clear his name she must sort through the hidden alliances at Miss Brickett’s and secrets dating back to WWII. Masterful, clever and deliciously suspenseful, Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder is a fresh take on the Agatha Christie-style locked-room murder mystery, with an exciting new heroine detective.

The world Willberg created is quite like our own but unlike it all at once. Miss Brickett's is not a detective agency that you would ever find anywhere else (at least, that's what civilians like us would have been told). The agents (known as Inquirers) at Miss Brickett's have gadgets that wouldn't seem out of place in a fantasy novel except they're not at all magical. Just very clever devices that use mechanics and science to work. It was pretty neat but also pulled me out of the story every once and awhile as everything else was so normal that my mind didn't really want to comprehend what I was reading. A negative? No, not really. It was just...odd.

I often forgot that it was set in 1958 and I'm not sure it being set in the past really did all that much. Of course, having the story take place not long after WWII did explain a number of things and why some people would have chosen to work for an agency that, for the majority of people, doesn't exist. So much of the novel takes place in the underground world of the agency that you don't really get to see London during that timeframe.

While I definitely liked Marion immediately, I feel like the reader doesn't quite get to know her enough through the course of the story. She, understandably, holds people at arm's length and that meant the reader isn't fully let into her life either. And her friendship with Bill was supposed to be so obviously solid but I hardly know a thing about him either. That said, I looked past it because I did like her and I did care about her, almost as soon as I met her. She's intriguing, I think, and I liked that she was the heroine of the story (and not, say, Bill). 

The murder referenced in the title was, as murders go, not a very nice one. It throws the agency into absolute chaos but no one is being officially told anything so rumours abound and productivity is low. The pace of the mystery is the star of this novel as I was highly invested and kept turning the pages to find out what the next clue would be. I was a teeny bit disappointed that the reveal was one of those instances where the villain tells their tale instead of getting to work of disposing of everyone and then ends up caught, but overall I was surprised and delighted (if one can be delighted with a murder mystery) at how Willberg constructed and revealed the whodunnit.

I have a feeling Willberg has set this up to be a series. The mystery was wrapped up but things still felt a wee bit unfinished so I hope that means we'll see more of Marion in the future. (Note: I've just read the author bio, below, and yes - it looks like the plan is for this to be a series!)

I'm really happy to have read Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder as T.A. Willberg's debut novel was not like any mystery I've read before. I'm excited to read what comes next and also to read more mysteries in 2021.

Buy the novel:
Harlequin * Indiebound * Bookshop * Amazon * Barnes & Noble  * Indigo
Books-A-Million * Target * Walmart * Google * iBooks * Libro.Fm * Kobo

Connect with the Author
Website * Twitter * Facebook * Instagram

About the Author
T.A. Willberg was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and holds a chiropractic masters degree from Durban University of Technology. MARION LANE AND THE MIDNIGHT MURDER is her debut novel and launch of her detective series. She currently lives in Malta with her partner.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Park Row Books/HarperCollins, via NetGalley for exchange for review consideration for the purpose of a blog tour. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: To Tell You the Truth

To Tell You the Truth, just published yesterday, is the third Gilly Macmillan novel I've read. I really enjoyed the other two so was very much looking forward to the latest one. I don't know if it was high expectations or not the kind of book I was in the mood for but I wasn't thrilled with this one. I mean, I was surprised by the twists and turns but I don't think I particularly liked it. It seems that I'm in the minority, so far, so maybe it was just a personal thing. Read on as I try to explain why it is I wasn't a fan of this book.

Here's the synopsis:

Bestselling mystery writer Lucy Harper’s talent for invention has given her fame, fortune, and an army of adoring readers. It has also saddled her with dependents, namely her fawning husband Dan.

When Dan suddenly goes missing, his disappearance evokes dark memories that take Lucy back more than thirty years—to the day her brother vanished without a trace. That’s when Lucy began conjuring stories. The police investigation revealed few confirmed details, so she created tales to fill in the gaps, to explain what happened that day her brother disappeared—and young Lucy was the only witness.

Now decades later, with the whole world watching, Lucy’s past and present are colliding, and this bestselling author skilled in telling stories is losing control of her own narrative. 

Where is Dan? What happened to Lucy's brother? And is the brilliant mystery writer—an expert in devising red herrings and hidden clues—revealing all she knows about both disappearances?

As you may know, I have a tendency to read the book's description when I request it from the publisher and then I won't again until I write up my review. This time I had to check with the synopsis after I started reading it because I needed to remind myself what, exactly, the mystery was going to be. Part of that was because it is a slow start. It takes about a quarter of the book for Dan to go missing and, by that point, I was honestly glad.

You see, Dan is terrible. He's totally gaslighting Lucy (so keep that in mind if this is a trigger for you) and I was incredibly frustrated and angry with him right at the start. And then once Lucy starts mentioning other things he had done throughout the years? I so badly wanted to protect her from him. 

I've seen other reviewers on Goodreads say they didn't like the book because they didn't like Lucy. That wasn't my issue. I actually quite appreciated that Lucy was a difficult character because we need to see more of those in books. I don't know why people seem to need likeable characters all the time (and this is from someone who loves romances and any stories that have a hint of a Happily Ever After). So, I applaud all authors, especially females, who write so-called unlikeable characters, especially females. 

Now, that said, I think this novel took the unreliable narrator trope a little too far. I think there were some serious mental issues with Lucy and something about that, that she was unreliable because of her mental state, made me really uncomfortable. I don't think that was Macmillan's intention but I just didn't really like that there were so many doubts and it was because there was actually something wrong with Lucy. 

I did really like that Lucy was an author. It's always fun, for me, to read about a writer and what their life is like. All authors are different, I know, so to see the life Macmillan dreamed up for Lucy was enjoyable. 

The setting was also a win for me. I've been enjoying a few more British detective stories and shows during lockdown so I liked that this novel took place in Brighton in a small neighbourhood where it seemed like everyone knew everyone else's business.

All in all, To Tell You the Truth was not a win for me. Gilly Macmillan is a great writer and told the story well but the story just didn't resonate with me. It seems to with other readers so you still might want to check it out if Macmillan is an author you love or you're a fan of suspenseful stories.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Still Here

Usually I'm a purist when it comes to a series. Sometimes, though, needs must and I jump into a series in the middle. That's what happened with Amy Stuart's novels. I hadn't read Still Mine but I had the chance to review Still Water for Niagara Life and jumped at it (I love featuring female Canadian authors, especially with those magazine reviews). While Stuart's novels do follow the same character, you could go into the latest, Still Here, without reading the rest, but I think you should do yourself a favour and read all three together so you make the most out of this really great thriller series.

Here's the synopsis:

From the bestselling author of Still Mine and Still Water—PI Clare O’Dey is on the hunt for two missing persons. Little does she know she’s the one being hunted.

Malcolm is gone. Disappeared. And no one knows where or why.

His colleague and fellow private investigator, Clare, is certain she can find him, as she holds the key to his past. She arrives in the oceanside city where he last lived and starts digging around. Not only is Malcolm gone without a trace, so is his wife, Zoe. Everyone who knew the perfect couple sees Malcolm as the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance. Everyone except Clare. She’s certain there’s more at play that has nothing to do with Malcolm, a dark connection to Zoe’s family business and the murder of her father years ago.

As Clare pulls back the layers, she discovers secrets the entire community is trying desperately to leave in the past. As for Malcolm, his past is far more complex—and far more sinister—than Clare could ever have imagined. He may not be innocent at all. As she searches for the man who helped her build her career as a private eye, Clare discovers that many women are in grave danger. And she is among them.

As I said, each book could be read alone but I think you get more out of the linked novels if you read all three. By not reading the first book, I missed out on some of Clare's early motivations as well as learning more about the husband and life she escaped from. I knew enough, though, to be surprised by the twist Stuart threw into the third story. Surprised in a good way. I didn't see it coming but it made total sense and worked well. 

Stuart keeps you guessing with her characters. Each one has had some pretty serious shit mess them up and they've all struggled in various ways with what happened to them. Those pieces of their past also make you wonder how much you can really trust each character. Is everyone who they say they are? Almost certainly everyone is hiding something. But how much? And who is going to get hurt, or even killed, in the end?

Still Here wraps up Clare's story in a way that will satisfy readers without being too tied-up-in-a-bow perfect (though it's close). Amy Stuart gave readers a character who evolved before our eyes - with a few slip ups along the way - as well as three separate thrillers that come together in a pretty epic conclusion. This is definitely a series worth reading.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Every Step She Takes

I've been making up for lost time after years and years of never reading a Kelley Armstrong book - since the beginning of 2019 I've read four, including two by her alter-ego, K.L. Armstrong. The latest, just published on Tuesday, is Every Step She Takes, a thriller that kept me turning the pages until I discovered the answers I needed. I ended up finishing the book in one sitting.

Here's the synopsis:

Sometimes there's no use running from your past. . . .

Genevieve has secrets that no one knows. In Rome she can be whoever she wants to be. Her neighbours aren't nosy; her Italian is passable; the shopkeepers and restaurant owners now see her as a local, and they let her be. It's exactly what she wants.

One morning, after getting groceries, she returns to her 500-year-old Trastevere apartment. She climbs to the very top of the staircase, the stairs narrowing the higher she goes. When she gets to her door, she puts down her bags and pushes the key into the lock . . .

. . . and the door swings open.

It's unlocked. Sometimes she doesn't lock it because break-ins aren't common in Rome. But Genevieve knows she locked the door behind her this morning. She has no doubt.

She should leave, call the police. What if someone is in her apartment, waiting for her? But she doesn't.

The apartment is empty, and exactly as she left it, perfectly tidy and not a thing out of place . . . except for the small box on her kitchen table. A box that definitely wasn't there this morning. A box postmarked from the US. A box that is addressed to "Lucy Callahan."

A name that she hasn't used in ten years.

The book's description doesn't give the reader a whole lot to go on. I think that's intentional but I also think it would have been best for the reader to know going in that the main suspense isn't, actually, who sent her the package. It's what happens to that person. I think that would help the set up of the novel because I found myself just waiting for the big moment and for the suspense to truly start. Speaking of the set up...it and beginning of the novel was a tad...clunky? I guess? and didn't seem to flow as well as the rest of the story did. Maybe it's just because I was invested in the thrill and suspense by that point that I stopped worrying about word choices and how certain things were described.

Without giving anything away, I'll say that I didn't figure out the whodunnit. I had a suspicion about part of it and I was correct there but who committed the final, actual, permanent crime? Didn't even cross my mind. I did, however, guess the identity of a certain mysterious character. (And that was even with my e-galley not being formatted properly and missing a number of important instant messaging conversations.) Are you confused yet? What I'm getting at is, there were some predictable, to me, moments and others that completely surprised me. I consider that a win for a thriller.

The story itself really interested me. I was totally invested in Genevieve/Lucy, her past, and how she was going to get out of the situation she found herself in. I think it helped that we were the same age so I could kind of get into her head (both then and now) a little bit easier. I also really appreciated that Armstrong didn't use the unreliable narrator trope. That can be done well, of course, but I like when a story, especially a mystery or thriller, doesn't rely on a trope that I've been reading a lot of. 

Sure, there are some issues with Every Step She Takes. It's not what I'd call a great book but I got a lot of enjoyment out of it and didn't want to put it down, so that should tell you something about the entertainment value of it (and let's be real here, we mostly read for entertainment). I'm going to continue to check out K.L. Armstrong's books (and those she writes as Kelley, too) because she's clearly getting stronger with her thrillers and I'm curious to see what she writes next.

*An e-galley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Doubleday Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Girl from Widow Hills

The Girl from Widow Hills, published on June 23, is only the second novel I've read from Megan Miranda. The other was The Perfect Stranger and I really enjoyed it (review here). After reading two of her novels I'm even more inclined to check out her backlist because knows how to tell a good and twisted story.

Here's the synopsis:

Everyone knows the story of “the girl from Widow Hills.”

Arden Maynor was just a child when she was swept away while sleepwalking during a terrifying rainstorm and went missing for days. Strangers and friends, neighbors and rescue workers, set up search parties and held vigils, praying for her safe return. Against all odds, she was found, alive, clinging to a storm drain. The girl from Widow Hills was a living miracle. Arden’s mother wrote a book. Fame followed. Fans and fan letters, creeps, and stalkers. And every year, the anniversary. It all became too much. As soon as she was old enough, Arden changed her name and disappeared from the public eye.

Now a young woman living hundreds of miles away, Arden goes by Olivia. She’s managed to stay off the radar for the last few years. But with the twentieth anniversary of her rescue approaching, the media will inevitably renew its interest in Arden. Where is she now? Soon Olivia feels like she’s being watched and begins sleepwalking again, like she did long ago, even waking outside her home. Until late one night she jolts awake in her yard. At her feet is the corpse of a man she knows—from her previous life, as Arden Maynor.

And now, the girl from Widow Hills is about to become the center of the story, once again, in this propulsive page-turner from suspense master Megan Miranda.

At first I was kind of annoyed at the use of "girl" in the title because I'm kind of over that trend of women-centred thrillers that Gone Girl spawned (even though many, many of them have been very good). I felt better, then, when I realized that the story was about a literal girl. Or at least, Adren was a girl when she was thrust into the spotlight with her sleepwalking adventure. She's an adult now, going by Olivia, trying to keep her head down and forget her past. Surprise. It's not going to work.

Often I find I can piece together some of the threads to have an idea of how a thriller or mystery might end up. With Miranda's latest? I had absolutely no idea how the story would end up. And just when I thought it was wrapping up, another surprise or five showed up to throw me off the trail again. I really, really liked being totally shocked at the end

I also really wasn't sure what to think of Olivia. I can't say I blame her for living her life the way she was. It can't have been easy being in the spotlight for such a harrowing experience that she couldn't even remember. I'd probably hide away too and be worried about my mental state when strange things started happening again. At first I wasn't sure if Miranda was leaning hard into the unreliable narrator trope but eventually I decided not to worry about it and just let the story sweep me away. And it did.

I liked that the story featured newspaper articles, transcripts, and the like to help the reader try to piece together what on earth happened to Arden. Because you realize pretty early on that something just doesn't add up. Miranda gives the reader information bit by bit and you think it's starting to help shape a picture of what happened but there are a lot more holes in the story than you'd expect. So you keep turning the pages, waiting to see how it all ties together.

The Girl from Widow Hills was a mystery that kept me guessing until almost the very final page and I think those looking for a suspenseful read should pick up Megan Miranda's latest book. I'd love to know if you were as surprised as I was by the ending!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Keep Her Safe

Do you ever get tired of me saying that I absolutely adore K.A. Tucker and her books? Because I'm going to say that again: I love her and her novels. Keep Her Safe is her latest and is an interesting (and well done) mix of suspense and romance. I didn't want to stop reading!

Here's the synopsis:

Noah Marshall has known a privileged and comfortable life thanks to his mother, the highly decorated chief of the Austin Police Department. But all that changes the night she reveals a skeleton that's been rattling in her closet for years, and succumbs to the guilt of destroying an innocent family's life. Reeling with grief, Noah is forced to carry the burden of this shocking secret.
Gracie Richards wasn't born in a trailer park, but after fourteen years of learning how to survive in The Hollow, it's all she knows anymore. At least here people don't care that her dad was a corrupt Austin cop, murdered in a drug deal gone wrong. Here, she and her mother are just another family struggling to survive...until a man who clearly doesn't belong shows up on her doorstep.
Despite their differences, Noah and Gracie are searching for answers to the same questions, and together, they set out to uncover the truth about the Austin Police Department's dark and messy past. But the scandal that emerges is bigger than they bargained for, and goes far higher up than they ever imagined.

I was expecting Keep Her Safe to be especially twisted but I didn't find I was on the edge of my seat as much as I was with He Will Be My Ruin (my review is here). That doesn't mean it wasn't suspenseful though. I had a pretty good idea of what happened to Abe - Grace's father - but (and this is an important but) Tucker threw in a twist at the end that I didn't really see coming and, holy cow, does it ever deliver an emotional sucker punch. I found that it was in the end that you realize how dark and messed up the story really was. 

I was drawn into the story from the start and hated putting the book down. (Which is especially hard when I started reading it at lunch at work and only have half an hour to eat and dive into a story.) It was a well-written, riveting story, and had characters that I really liked and cared about.

Speaking of characters, Gracie was awesome. She has such a tough outer shell because of how she had to grow up - in a trailer park, with no father, and a mother who's a drug addict. She's understandably wary of Noah (who is also amazing and he is my first book boyfriend of 2018) but isn't so completely hardened that she can't realize how their feelings for each other are changing. She was such a fascinating character and wicked smart and I wish I could read more about her.

I think this book is being marketed as a romantic suspense and I hope that neither romance nor suspense fans are turned off by the categorization. It's not a cheesy, forced romance and it's a really good mystery. I think fans of both genres would really enjoy this one because I think it's a perfect balance of the two.

I'm so happy that there's another K.A. Tucker book out in the world and I hope those who haven't discovered her books yet will with Keep Her Safe. This one will definitely be on my list of books to push on people for the rest of 2018!

*An ARC was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Fractured

Catherine McKenzie is one of my favourite writers and I always look forward to her latest novel. Fractured was released last fall and even though I read it right away I just haven’t sat down to share my thoughts on it! Bad blogger.

Here’s the synopsis:

Julie Prentice and her family move across the country to the idyllic Mount Adams district of Cincinnati, hoping to evade the stalker who’s been terrorizing them ever since the publication of her bestselling novel, The Murder Game. Since Julie doesn’t know anyone in her new town, when she meets her neighbor John Dunbar, their instant connection brings measured hope for a new beginning. But she never imagines that a simple, benign conversation with him could set her life spinning so far off course.
After a series of misunderstandings, Julie and her family become the target of increasingly unsettling harassment. Has Julie’s stalker found her, or are her neighbors out to get her, too? As tension in the neighborhood rises, new friends turn into enemies, and the results are deadly.

I’ve been finding a lot of authors who started out writing and publishing lighter books have begun gravitating to the darker, more twisted stories. I think we can thank Gone Girl for the emergence of “grip lit” and I appreciate how its given authors, women in particular, the ability to put more serious and dramatic novels out in the world. I think people are finally coming to terms that female characters can be unlikeable (and women can write them). My point? Fractured is much more twisted than McKenzie’s earlier books. And it’s awesome.

The story is told by both Julie and John and each chapter takes place either in the past or present day. McKenzie makes it really easy to follow, which I, as a reader, really appreciated. Each chapter, whether it's told by Julie or John, is in first person and I found it really gets you into the mindset of each character. (Quick aside...I found that Julie is the main character but the story would not have been as impactful had it not been for John's parts of the story.) There are also emails from the Pine Street Neighborhood Association president sprinkled throughout as well that help set the tone of how the rest of the neighbourhood is feeling about Julie and her family.

Julie isn't as unreliable as some other narrators in this genre but you can't help but wonder if you can trust her or if she's hiding something that will impact the rest of the neighbourhood and, ultimately, the overall story. You also have to wonder if you can trust John. You're pretty certain you can but every once and awhile something happens that makes you go, "hmmm." All of this helps create the suspense and you can't wait to find out exactly it was that happened "that day" which John alludes to at the start of the novel.

And here’s a fun fact – McKenzie has written and published Julie’s novel. You can actually buy The Murder Game by “Julie Apple.” How cool is that? I only just purchased it myself recently but I’m looking forward to reading it!

Finally, check out this article McKenzie wrote about the cover of Fractured and the state of covers by female authors. It's a must read that has so many great points.

You're definitely going to want to pick up a copy of Fractured if you're into thrillers and really good storytelling. Catherine McKenzie is still firmly in my list of favourite authors. I already can't wait for her next book!

*A copy of this novel was provided by the author in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Cover Reveal: Until It Fades

If you know me, you know that I am a HUGE K.A. Tucker fan. I've met her a few times over the last two years and she is so great! Because I absolutely adore her books, I'm thrilled to be a part of the cover reveal for her upcoming novel Until It Fades.

Here's what the book, which will publish on May 2, 2017, is about:

Twenty-four-year-old truck stop waitress and single mother Catherine Wright has simple goals: to give her five-year-old daughter a happy life and to never again be the talk of the town in Balsam, Pennsylvania: population three thousand outside of tourist season. And then one foggy night, on a lonely road back from another failed attempt at a relationship, Catherine saves a man’s life. It isn’t until after the police have arrived that Catherine realizes exactly who it is she has saved: Brett Madden, hockey icon and media darling. Catherine has already had her fifteen minutes of fame and the last thing she wants is to have her past dragged back into the spotlight, only this time on a national stage. So she hides her identity. It works. For a time. But when she finds the man she saved standing on her doorstep, desperate to thank her, all that changes. What begins as an immediate friendship quickly turns into something neither of them expected. Something that Catherine isn’t sure she can handle; something that Catherine is afraid to trust. Because how long can an extraordinary man like Brett be interested in an ordinary woman like Catherine…before the spark fades?

Gah. I cannot wait. 

I won't make you wait (or scroll) any longer. Here is the gorgeous cover of Tucker's Until It Fades!

You're hooked, aren't you? Good :)

Here are the all important pre-order links:

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
Indigo
Barnes and Noble
iBooks
Kobo
BAM

About K.A. Tucker 

K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge.

She is the USA Today bestselling author of 14 books, including Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water, and her latest Adult Suspense novel, He Will Be My Ruin. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, and Publisher's Weekly.

K.A. Tucker currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and a Chug.

Connect with Tucker

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Review: He Will Be My Ruin

Tomorrow is a big day in author K.A. Tucker's world...her first standalone novel is being published, and in hardcover to boot! He Will Be My Ruin is also more of a suspense novel than Tucker's previous books. I'm not usually much of a thriller/mystery/suspense kind of girl but I am a huge fan of Tucker so I knew I had to read it. The new novel was twisty, it kept me guessing, and it was good.

Here's the synopsis:

A woman who almost had it all . . .
On the surface, Celine Gonzalez had everything a twenty-eight-year-old woman could want: a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a job that (mostly) paid the bills, and an acceptance letter to the prestigious Hollingsworth Institute of Art, where she would finally live out her dream of becoming an antiques appraiser for a major auction house. All she had worked so hard to achieve was finally within her reach. So why would she kill herself?
A man who was supposed to be her salvation . . .
Maggie Sparkes arrives in New York City to pack up what’s left of her best friend’s belongings after a suicide that has left everyone stunned. The police have deemed the evidence conclusive: Celine got into bed, downed a lethal cocktail of pills and vodka, and never woke up. But when Maggie discovers a scandalous photograph in a lock box hidden in Celine’s apartment, she begins asking questions. Questions about the man Celine fell in love with. The man she never told anyone about, not even Maggie. The man Celine believed would change her life.
Until he became her ruin.
On the hunt for evidence that will force the police to reopen the case, Maggie uncovers more than she bargained for about Celine’s private life—and inadvertently puts herself on the radar of a killer. A killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crimes undiscovered.

Tucker's previous books, particularly the Burying Water series, hinted at her ability to tell a suspenseful story well. He Will Be My Ruin was told well. I was kept guessing throughout the entire novel. I thought that maybe I had the mystery figured out even though I wondered if it'd be too obvious because the one suspect just seemed to obvious. (How's that for confusing?) I don't want to say too much because the last thing I want to do is give something away! Basically, the curveballs Tucker threw (er, wrote) were total strikes and I loved that. I didn't want to know what was going to happen next. I wanted to be surprised and challenged. I didn't necessarily want to be frightened but I did want to be kept on the edge of my seat. And I was.

Maggie was such an interesting character. She seems to have it all together and you almost want to be jealous of her at the beginning but you start to realize that she has elements of herself that need...shall we say, readjusting. Not changed, necessarily. Everyone has parts of themselves that could, should be better. By the end of the novel I think Maggie had realized how she could be a better person. It's just so heartbreaking that it had to happen because of her best friend's death.

Speaking of the best friend...I loved that part of the story was told from Celine's point of view. I think Tucker found a great way to be able to tell Celine's story from Celine's perspective. (Not her current one, obviously. Celine is dead and there aren't any ghosts in this book.) Even with this element, Maggie still had to hunt hard for more clues and had to piece together all of the information she was finding. What I learned is Celine would have been such an interesting person to know. I would have loved to hear the stories behind all of her treasures. Because I found myself drawn to Celine, I was even more hopeful that Maggie would find out what really happened and more invested in the overall story.

K.A. Tucker's latest was the first book I read in 2016 and it will be one I continue pushing on others throughout the entire year. He Will Be My Ruin was a damn good book and other book lovers need to know about it and need to read it. The only downside to having read this one well before the release date? I have to wait even longer for her next book. I don't think I'm going to be patient. :) Have you read any of Tucker's novels yet? You definitely should if you enjoy good, entertaining, page-turning reads.

*An ARC was provided by Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*