Review: The Deepest of Secrets

I was late to the Rockton series party but I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my time in the secret town Kelley Armstrong created. The Deepest of Secrets (out today) is the last in the series (or is it?) and I absolutely devoured it.

Here’s the book’s description:

It’s not always easy to live in the hidden town of Rockton, something Detective Casey Duncan knows firsthand. Tucked away in the Yukon wilderness, the community survives—and thrives—because the residents' many secrets stay just that—secret.
But what happens when these secrets start to come out? Overnight, no one is safe. It’s not a question of if your secret will come out—but when.
Casey and her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, need to find the culprit while protecting those who have been thrust into the spotlight. For a place built on privacy and new beginnings, Rockton isn’t handling these revelations very well. People are turning on one another, and when one of the loudest complainers turns up barely alive, it's clear that their trickster is actually a murderer.
The threat of exposure is reaching its breaking point, and no one knows what’s going to happen next.

Now, this is the last Rockton book. BUT Armstrong has teased on social media that this might not be the last book with these characters. I was excited before and am even more so after reading this one. I’m super attached to these characters and am definitely not ready to say goodbye so I’m really hoping she finds a way to bring them all back together.

Not only do I love the characters but I enjoy how Armstrong writes the mystery. It can get a tad annoying because the reader knows Casey knows something but not what and I for one can’t usually figure it out but it all comes together and it’s super satisfying and I forget that I was annoyed. The twists in this one were unexpected and I’m pretty sure I found myself saying “WHAT?!” at my ereader on more than one occasion. Is it the most ground-breaking crime thriller ever? No. But it’s hella entertaining and fast paced so I was all in from the start and couldn’t put it down. I actually read a good chunk of it while donating blood last week and I was able to totally tune out everything happening around me while reading it.

I mentioned this one was fast paced and I wonder if it was a bit too fast. Things were happening a mile a minute and I think I started to get whiplash. It wasn’t a negative, exactly, for my reading enjoyment. I really freaking liked this book. But it’s not necessarily a hallmark of a super well written and executed mystery. Does it matter in the long run? No. I’m still going to tell you to read this series. Just a consideration to keep in mind!

If the sound of this mystery series intrigues you, I definitely recommend starting back at the beginning with City of the Lost and reading all seven books. They’re quick and entertaining and I think you’ll get a lot more out of it if you know the entire history of Rockton as Casey experiences it.

I don’t want to say much more about The Deepest of Secrets because so much of what’s happened in the previous six books comes to a head in this one and it’s so much better if you go in without knowing too much of what’s going to happen. So I'll say again: this is a great series and you should read it. I’ve really enjoyed Kelley Armstrong’s Rockton series and I can’t wait to find out if we get to see these characters again!

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

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: Six Weeks to Live

Catherine McKenzie has been an auto-read author for me for many, many years. Her latest, Six Weeks to Live, might be her darkest yet with an ending I'm sure you won't see coming.

Here's the book's description:

Jennifer Barnes never expected the shocking news she received at a routine doctor’s appointment: she has a terminal brain tumor—and only six weeks left to live.
While stunned by the diagnosis, the forty-eight-year-old mother decides to spend what little time she has left with her family—her adult triplets and twin grandsons—close by her side. But when she realizes she was possibly poisoned a year earlier, she’s determined to discover who might have tried to get rid of her before she’s gone for good.
Separated from her husband and with a contentious divorce in progress, Jennifer focuses her suspicions on her soon-to-be ex. Meanwhile, her daughters are each processing the news differently. Calm medical student Emily is there for whatever Jennifer needs. Moody scientist Aline, who keeps her mother at arm’s length, nonetheless agrees to help with the investigation. Even imprudent Miranda, who has recently had to move back home, is being unusually solicitous.
But with her daughters doubting her campaign against their father, Jennifer can’t help but wonder if the poisoning is all in her head—or if there’s someone else who wanted her dead. 

I had a thought that I knew who might be behind Jennifer's poisoning. I was wrong. Technically. (Man, is it hard to review thrillers.) That part of the story was what kept me the most intrigued: Who was behind the poisoning? And was there actually a poisoning? I really wasn't sure what was going to happen in the end!

I kind of feel like I didn't get a super satisfying ending. I did in one sense because you find out the true motivation and that was satisfying. But there were a lot of things hinted at that I didn't feel like were fully discussed on the page. I was often feeling like I missed some conversation but it just wasn't a conversation that was given to the reader and the links weren't there. 

I had a big problem with mental health and this book. Unreliable narrators are all the rage and usually work pretty well for thrillers. But...I really don't like it when they're unreliable and then it turns out there's a medical diagnosis for why they're unreliable. It's like mental health is being used as some sort of plot device. I'd call myself a mental health ally, not having been diagnosed with anything myself, and the storyline in this book surrounding mental health sat pretty wrong with me. I'm not going to say what it was because it's kind of part of the twists but...I really wish it wasn't.

The story is told in alternating perspectives. Jennifer and all three of her daughters - Aline, Emily, and Miranda - each have chapters to tell their side of the story. I thought this was really well done and helped amp up the suspense a little bit more than if it had just been told from one or two perspectives.

Six Weeks to Live won't be my favourite Catherine McKenzie novel but fans of domestic suspense should still find this one to be a good read. It's so incredibly hard not to LOVE a book from a favourite author but not every book can personally be a winner.

*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 Push

The Push is the buzziest book in Canada right now and it's making a big splash in the US, too. Ashley Audrain's debut novel secured her a multi-million dollar deal and it's been everywhere since it was published earlier this month. I'll say this: it is a story that has stuck with me since I finished it. 

Here's the synopsis:

Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had.
But in the thick of motherhood’s exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter–she doesn’t behave like most children do.
Or is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband, Fox, says she’s imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.
Then their son Sam is born–and with him, Blythe has the blissful connection she’d always imagined with her child. Even Violet seems to love her little brother. But when life as they know it is changed in an instant, the devastating fall-out forces Blythe to face the truth.
The Push is a tour de force you will read in a sitting, an utterly immersive novel that will challenge everything you think you know about motherhood, about what we owe our children, and what it feels like when women are not believed.

When I first agreed to review The Push it was months and months before the release and I didn't know anything about it. But, I thought, sure, I'd give the thriller a try. It wasn't until closer to the publication date that I realized how much it was going to be about motherhood. I had to work on my headspace before starting it because I don't tend to read books about mothers. I don't have kids, I don't want kids, and don't really understand why people want to be mothers. I'm happy for those who are, of course, I'm not completely heartless! But when it's a domestic thriller (something I've realized isn't my thriller of choice) and so focused on motherhood? I worried I wouldn't really get it. I think that worry was warranted because while I would say this is a pretty good book...I don't think I liked it? But I didn't dislike it. It's very conflicting.

Audrain keeps the tension high through most of the book. Buuut...I got lost with the flashbacks to Blythe's mother's life and her own childhood. I don't know if it added a whole lot to the story. She didn't have good maternal role models. Say that once and move on. 

I think the way Audrain ended the novel was so perfect. It's not tied up in a bow but it totally fits the rest of the book. And the way she led up to that point? You start thinking one thing but by the end? Nope. Your thinking was totally wrong. At least, mine was!

I didn't love The Push, I think that much is clear. But I think Ashley Audrain has written a debut novel that will make people talk for a long, long time. The story is a twisted one with surprises that no one can see coming. It's not an easy read but it's one that will keep you turning the pages until the very end.

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

Review: You Can't Catch Me

2020 has been a hell of a year, hasn't it? As some of  you may know, I also write reviews for Niagara Life, a magazine put out by my local newspaper. Usually there are four issues a year and I write reviews for three (or sometimes four) books for each issue. This year we lost the summer issue because of COVID. The fall issue was pushed back and one of my reviews wasn't able to make it into the issue. That review was of Catherine McKenzie's latest novel, You Can't Catch Me. I read the book way back in February 2020 as it was originally supposed to be published earlier than the August pub date. So, instead of reinventing the wheel and trying to add to a review of a book I read before COVID was a Thing in North America, below you'll find the review as I wrote it for the magazine. I hope you check out this book by one of my favourite Canadian authors!

Jessica Williams has had a rough few weeks. She’s been fired from her job as a journalist and now her identity has been stolen. What else could go wrong? Everything, as it turns out in Catherine McKenzie’s latest novel, You Can’t Catch Me.

After Jessica is fired for plagiarism, she takes herself on a trip to Mexico. While in the airport bar, she meets another Jessica Williams (now known as Jessica Two). Knowing Jessica will be out of the country, Jessica Two wipes out her bank account. Jessica vows to get revenge.

But who is Jessica really? The unreliable female narrator trope has gotten pretty tired over the last couple of years but McKenzie manages to do something that feels completely fresh. Without giving too much away, there are a number of explosive revelations that leave the reader wondering exactly who to trust. And just when you think you have it figured out? You find out you don’t. Not at all.

There are many threads to this novel with layers of information that are revealed slowly over the course of the novel. Jessica’s background holds more than a few surprises and the mystery of who Jessica Two is will consume thriller fans.

*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: 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 Arrangement

Robyn Harding's The Arrangement is another of those books I read an embarrassingly long time ago. It was the first of Harding's that I had read and I finished it waaaaayyy back in July. Oops. Sometimes when it takes me that long to get to a book it's just because I'm insanely busy. Others it's because the book under or overwhelmed me and I just wasn't sure what to write. In the case of this one, I didn't like it quite as much as I expected - but didn't dislike it! - so I just wasn't sure what to say about it.

Here's the synopsis:

Natalie, a young art student in New York City, is struggling to pay her bills when a friend makes a suggestion: Why not go online and find a sugar daddy—a wealthy, older man who will pay her for dates, and even give her a monthly allowance? Lots of girls do it, Nat learns. All that’s required is to look pretty and hang on his every word. Sexual favours are optional.
Though more than thirty years her senior, Gabe, a handsome corporate finance attorney, seems like the perfect candidate, and within a month, they are madly in love. At least, Nat is…Gabe already has a family, whom he has no intention of leaving.
So when he abruptly ends things, Nat can’t let go. She begins drinking heavily and stalking him: watching him at work, spying on his wife, even befriending his daughter, who is not much younger than she is. But Gabe’s not about to let his sugar baby destroy his perfect life. What was supposed to be a mutually beneficial arrangement devolves into a nightmare of deception, obsession, and, when a body is found near Gabe’s posh Upper East Side apartment, murder.

I'm not sure what it was that I didn't like about this book. Maybe it's not even that I didn't like it. It could honestly just be that I had really high expectations for it going in. I think, after all these months, I'm finally having an epiphany about this one! *rolls eyes at self* People had raved about Harding's novel The Party or Her Pretty Face so I think I expected this thriller to blow my socks off.

I was surprised by the ending, though, so I guess the socks were a bit blown off. It was also kind of a quick double surprise once a few details came to light and then wham another few details made it so much more twisted.

I think it was a wise choice to start the book with a prologue and have Natalie calling her (estranged) father and admitting that she killed someone. I wasn't totally sure I believed her but throughout the book you kind of start to think...well...maybe she did kill someone. Harding keeps the reader on their toes as the story starts four months prior to the prologue and moves forward through time. The story is told in third person and from both Natalie and Gabe's perspectives, which creates a ton of tension throughout the book.

Speaking of blown off socks (sorry...that image and cliche is just working for a great number of things right now)...it turns out I have actually read a Robyn Harding book before. She's another former chick lit turned thriller author and I had no idea. I even reviewed it way back in 2011 after getting it from the library because it had a "Canadian author" sticker on it.

I especially liked that, in the acknowledgments, Harding wrote about how she talked with sugar babies, ones like Natalie. Really talked to them to find out their motivations and experience in the "sugar bowl" and having sugar daddies. I felt this showed that she respected that these women were making conscious choices and wanted to acknowledge what she had learned from them.

I can't say I loved The Arrangement but I think thriller lovers should think about checking out Robyn Harding's novel. And then maybe read her new one, The Swap, which comes out next month!

*An ARC 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: This Is How I Lied

Like many readers, I've been in a bit of a slump. I've still been reading a great deal but nothing is really capturing my interest. Nothing, that is, until I picked up This Is How I Lied. I was totally riveted by Heather Gudenkauf's latest novel - out today - and had it finished in two sittings. I just couldn't wait to find out how it would end.

Here's the synopsis:

Tough as nails and seven months pregnant, Detective Maggie Kennedy-O’Keefe of Grotto PD, is dreading going on desk duty before having the baby her and her husband so badly want. But when new evidence is found in the 25-year-old cold case of her best friend’s murder that requires the work of a desk jockey, Maggie jumps at the opportunity to be the one who finally puts Eve Knox’s case to rest.
Maggie has her work cut out for her. Everyone close to Eve is a suspect. There’s Nola, Eve’s little sister who’s always been a little... off; Nick, Eve’s ex-boyfriend with a vicious temper; a Schwinn riding drifter who blew in and out of Grotto; even Maggie’s husband Sean, who may have known more about Eve’s last day than he’s letting on. As Maggie continues to investigate, the case comes closer and closer to home, forcing her to confront her own demons before she can find justice for Eve. 

In a post on Instagram, when I was about 100 pages into the book, I said I had an idea of who the killer was. I also noted that I would totally be fine if I was wrong. I almost wanted to be because that meant there were unexpected twists in the story that I failed to see coming. Not surprisingly, I did not figure out the murder before the detective and I was surprised with the information that came to light later on in the story.

The novel starts with Eve's death and we read it from her perspective. Each chapter is told from a different character - Eve, Maggie, Nola - and from a different time period. Gudenkauf helpfully puts the character's name and the date at the start of each chapter so you know who you're reading and when. Each chapter moves forward in time, either in 2020 or 1995, until it all comes together at the end. Eve's death chapter is fully expanded so you know exactly what happened and who killed her. It was all so well done.

If I had to be nitpicky there were a few things that didn't totally sit well with me or fit the flow of the story. Maggie said over and over again that she wondered if she was the only one, to the point where I wanted to yell at her, of course you're not! (Sorry, that's super vague but, trust me, you don't want me to give it away.) Nola, is completely bananas and she almost became too outrageous. I think a slightly more restrained character would have worked a bit better for the story but she was so incredibly unpredictable and you still have no idea what makes her tick by the end of the novel. Also, strangely, I felt like Maggie's brother was a convenient character who was just there to solve the problem of who was looking after their dad. But, all of these things were so minor that they could not take away from my enjoyment of this novel.

I also have to admit that I was weirdly picturing Maggie as a cross between two Olivia Colman TV characters. We recently (finally) started watching Broadchurch so I had Colman's character D.S. Miller in my head. But Maggie is pregnant so in pops Colman's character from The Night Manager, which she played when she was actually quite pregnant herself. I'm not sure that's what Gudenkauf had in mind for Maggie but that's how I pictured her throughout the book.

I am so, so glad I had the chance to read Heather Gudenkauf's novel This Is How I Lied. This is definitely a book to pick up if you enjoy mysteries and thrillers because I think it'll surprise you with the layers and possible murder suspects. It was a well told story with characters who were hiding a lot more than you expect. Highly recommend!

Where to buy This Is How I Lied: 
Harlequin  * Barnes & Noble * Amazon.com * Books-A-Million * Powell’s * Amazon.ca * Kobo * Indigo *

Connect with Heather: 
Website * Twitter * Instagram * Facebook * Goodreads

About Heather:
Heather Gudenkauf is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many books, including The Weight of Silence and These Things Hidden. Heather graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education, has spent her career working with students of all ages. She lives in Iowa with her husband, three children, and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Lolo. In her free time, Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking, and running.

*An egalley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Park Row Books, in exchange for a review for the purposes of a blog tour. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Nanny

The Nanny totally hooked me. I was so invested in Gilly MacMillan's latest book (I say latest but it was published back in September) when I was reading it and so unsure about what was actually going to happen. I've only read two of her books but I might have to check out her backlist and will definitely keep an eye out for whatever she writes next.

Here's the synopsis:

When her beloved nanny, Hannah, left without a trace in the summer of 1988, seven-year-old Jocelyn Holt was devastated. Haunted by the loss, Jo grew up bitter and distant, and eventually left her parents and Lake Hall, their faded aristocratic home, behind.
Thirty years later, Jo returns to the house and is forced to confront her troubled relationship with her mother. But when human remains are accidentally uncovered in a lake on the estate, Jo begins to question everything she thought she knew.
Then an unexpected visitor knocks on the door and Jo’s world is destroyed again. Desperate to piece together the gaping holes in her memory, Jo must uncover who her nanny really was, why she left, and if she can trust her own mother…
In this compulsively readable tale of secrets, lies, and deception, Gilly Macmillan explores the darkest impulses and desires of the human heart. Diabolically clever, The Nanny reminds us that sometimes the truth hurts so much you’d rather hear the lie.

If you have a problem with problematic characters, this is not the book for you. No one in this book is without flaws (except maybe Ruby, Jo's daughter and that's because she's still young and innocent) and those flaws get them into all sorts of trouble. It was so interesting to see how the characters reacted to their circumstances because they way they went about things in ways that I can't imagine. I mean, I've never been in their situations so I can't say for sure but they reacted in very...troubling ways. It makes sense though because when someone is backed into a corner, they'll do anything to protect the ones they love.

On a related note, every character has something to hide in this book (even someone who you think wouldn't have secrets actually does but it's not really a secret because they just simply don't remember it because of trauma. Yep. It's layered). It's because of all these secrets (and, to be honest, a terrible human being) that a family was totally destroyed. The easy judgement to make is that everyone should have been honest with one another from the get go but the web of lies is so convoluted that it's hard to imagine things turning out any other way.

The way the story is told is almost too confusing. Virginia and Jocelyn each tell their own story from a first person perspective. There are times when it's in the present and times when it's in the past. The detective investigating the skull in the lake also gets his own chapters throughout. Finally, there are chapters from Hannah's perspective but from the past and in third person. A bit much, right? It gives all the details the reader needs though - and there are a lot of them - and MacMillan manages to keep it from getting too convoluted.

I also have to admit that I was totally picturing Downton Abbey-esque lives for the characters in both the present and past timelines even though that was all kinds of inaccurate. I blame it on the bingewatch of the show I had completed prior to the movie being released last year. Geographically, it made sense. Old, English house and countryside and so on. But timeline? Not at all. It was entertaining, if not confusing for my poor brain!

I've read a number of thrillers in the past couple of years, more than I ever used to, and The Nanny was one that really riveted me. Gilly MacMillan is a great author and I'm looking forward to reading her backlist. No word yet on when her next book will be released but I'll be on the lookout for that one too.

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

Review: The Family Upstairs

Hi, my name is Kaley and I'm a book blogger who has finally read her first Lisa Jewell book. I saw her books in the bookstores and online but never picked one up until the fine folks at Simon & Schuster Canada sent me an ARC of her latest, The Family Upstairs. I've been trying to read more thrillers, especially by women, so I thought, fellow bloggers are raving about her book (which published in the fall), I should probably hop to it. And hop I did. The story was addicting and I needed to find out what happened to the families that were intertwined in this novel.

Here's the synopsis:

Be careful who you let in.
Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.
She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them.
Twenty-five years ago, police were called to 16 Cheyne Walk with reports of a baby crying. When they arrived, they found a healthy ten-month-old happily cooing in her crib in the bedroom. Downstairs in the kitchen lay three dead bodies, all dressed in black, next to a hastily scrawled note. And the four other children reported to live at Cheyne Walk were gone.
In The Family Upstairs, the master of “bone-chilling suspense” (People) brings us the can’t-look-away story of three entangled families living in a house with the darkest of secrets.

This novel was...interesting. I read it awhile ago but even after I finished it I wasn't sure what I thought of it. Like I said, I really needed to know how it ended. Jewell wrote a really twisted thriller and I had no idea what was going to happen. But...I'm not sure if I particularly liked it? I was left with a sort of "ick" feeling when reading the book because of how twisted it was...but I couldn't look away.

The story is told from three different characters. Libby, who's mentioned in the synopsis, Lucy, who you're not really sure who she is or why she's involved, and Henry, who was somehow connected to the mystery twenty-five years ago. That means there's a lot of information coming at the reader from a number of sources, and covering a couple of time periods, too. I think that helps make the mystery, well, more mysterious.

While I think the multiple perspectives helped the mystery overall, I'm not sure if it was as helpful from a character perspective. There were competing personalities that led to some characters, Libby in particular, to not be as interesting to read about. I think I sort of felt that, even though Libby was the reason the mystery was coming to light, she wasn't really necessary for the story.

Overall, The Family Upstairs wasn't a winner for me. Do I think this will turn me off Lisa Jewell's books forever? Not necessarily. I'll give her another shot because I think it was just the story in this one that I really wasn't a fan of rather than the way she created the story.

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

Review: Alone in the Wild

It's rare for me to knowingly jump into a series mid-way through but last year I did just that with Kelley Armstrong's Rockton series. The fourth book, Watcher in the Woods, was being published and I reviewed it for Niagara Life because I thought it sounded pretty interesting. I enjoyed it and looked forward to the next book, Alone in the Wild, which was published back in February.

Here's the synopsis:

In number one New York Times best seller Kelley Armstrong's latest thriller, the hidden town of Rockton is about to face a challenge none of them saw coming: a baby.
Every season in Rockton seems to bring a new challenge. At least that's what Detective Casey Duncan has felt since she decided to call this place home. Between all the secretive residents, the sometimes-hostile settlers outside, and the surrounding wilderness, there's always something to worry about.
While on a much needed camping vacation with her boyfriend, Sheriff Eric Dalton, Casey hears a baby crying in the woods. The sound leads them to a tragic scene: a woman buried under the snow, murdered, a baby still alive in her arms.
A town that doesn’t let anyone in under the age of 18, Rockton must take care of its youngest resident yet while solving another murder and finding out where the baby came from - and whether she's better off where she is.

When you don't read a series from the start you miss exactly how relationships are built and knowing what pieces from the past have been revealed and which are still hidden. Armstrong does a good job of recapping some information so a new reader can start to piece things together without, I imagine, boring readers who have been with the series since the beginning. 

What I've been liking about this series (one of the things anyway) is that it's a thriller that isn't falling into any of the usual tropes we're seeing right now. Yes, there's a woman who had to run from her past and may still have some issues to work out but she's living a pretty solid life and her past demons seem to be staying in the past. Of course, she's living in a town in the middle of nowhere in the Yukon and said town has a surprisingly high murder rate given there's not that many people living there. Kind of puts a damper on things.

I really like Casey. I like that she's a little bit flawed and knows it. She's in her early thirties, like me, and really seems to relish the challenge of trying to police Rockton (not a thing I would enjoy). She and Dalton, the town's sheriff, have a relationship that would make many people envious - they're settled and just recently got a new dog, Storm, who they've been training as a tracker. How a Newfoundland dog can become a tracker, I know not, but the scenes with Storm were a delight (except for the ones she was in danger...those were scary). 

I also liked how Casey's brain worked. She is well suited to being a detective because her mind is able to take the pieces of the puzzle and work them around until she has the solution. It's really interesting to read and Armstrong writes it well. Casey and Dalton had the mystery sorted out and I was still playing catch up as it was all revealed (I may blame my cold for dulling my brain...). I wasn't able to figure out the ending and I really enjoyed the puzzle as I read this story.

If you like mysteries - especially with a Canadian flavour - you should definitely check out Kelley Armstrong's Rockton series. Alone in the Wild was a lot of fun to read (well, I had as much fun as you can when you read about a murdered woman and a baby whose parents are missing) and I think I enjoyed it more than the last book in the series. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

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

Review: Wherever She Goes

Unreliable female narrators seem to be in every other book these days. Which is totally fine...when they're done well, that is. Wherever She Goes was almost there. K.L. Armstrong's novel was interesting and riveting but there was something - a something small, mind you - that kept me from completely falling in love with this one.

Here's the synopsis:

"Few crimes are reported as quickly as a snatched kid."
That's what the officer tells single mother Aubrey Finch after she reports a kidnapping. So why hasn't anyone reported the little boy missing? Aubrey knows what she saw: a boy being taken against his will from the park. It doesn't matter that the mother can't be found. It doesn't matter if no one reported it. Aubrey knows he's missing.
Instead, people question her sanity. Aubrey hears the whispers. She's a former stay-at-home mom who doesn't have primary custody of her daughter, so there must be something wrong with her, right? Others may not understand her decision to walk away from her safe life at home, but years of hiding her past--even from the people she loves--were taking their toll, and Aubrey knows she can't be the mother or wife she envisions until she learns to leave her secrets behind.
When the police refuse to believe her, she realizes that rescuing the boy is up to her alone. But after all the secrets, how far is she willing to go? Even to protect a child.

I know the author name reads K.L. Armstrong but here's a not-so-secret secret: it's actually Kelley Armstrong. Here's another not-really-a-secret: I had never read her books before this year and now I've read two! This novel is, I think, a bit different from what she normally writes so the name adjustment isn't surprising.

I liked that Aubrey was, quite honestly, a hot mess. A perfect character is boring so when there are issues, it adds some depth to both the story and the personality of the character. It was also a bit heartbreaking because you could see that she was trying so hard to get herself together for the sake of her family, her daughter in particular. You want to root for her because she seems like such a decent person, deep down. But you also can't help but wonder...is the separation from her daughter warranted? Is she really in her right mind right now? Did she make up the whole kidnapping?

There were a lot of elements to this mystery but it was one of those ones you kind of sort of were able to figure out as you went along. There were still some twists that surprised me so that kept me from being bored and had me looking forward to reading through until the end.

I know it could seem like I wasn't loving this one but I definitely think it's worth a read if you like mysteries. Wherever She Goes did keep me guessing for the most part and I enjoyed reading K.L. Armstrong's novel. I'd file this one under borrow instead of buy but worth a look!

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

Review: Social Misconduct

I had high hopes for Social Misconduct. It's by a Canadian author and seemed so very timely in our social media obsessed world. But S.J. Maher's novel really let me down. From a thriller perspective it was interesting and I really had no idea how it would end but the rest? I kind of couldn't wait for it to end.

Here's the synopsis:

Her perfect job becomes the perfect nightmare when a stalker hacks her phone.
Candace Walker is thrilled when she lands a new job at a hip Manhattan tech company and gets a brand-new iPhone. She’s more than ready to move on from creating clickbait ads for weight-loss pills and herbal erection boosters, and is determined to dazzle the startup team she joins.
A week later, though, everything is at risk: Candace is the target of a mysterious harasser and an online smear campaign. She tosses her new phone into the Hudson River, begins hiding out in her sister’s storage locker in New Jersey, and can’t think of a single person she can trust. But Candace hasn’t come this far—and gone to such lengths—to submit to what is happening without a fight.

Let's get one thing squared away right off the hop. S.J. Maher is a man. For reasons that may or may not be valid, I'm not thrilled with the author's and/or publisher's decision to use initials instead of his full name. I think it's the opposite reason female authors would/will use initials when they write sci-fi and other seemingly male dominated genres (hello, J.K. Rowling). Now, where the latter is to hide the female name so boys and men aren't put off by the idea that a woman is writing whatever the genre is (that's another rant for another day), I think this situation is used to capitalize on the "girl thriller" boom (you know, the one that was started by books like Gone Girl and Girl on a Train). The boom is great and has allowed so many women to write - and publish - novels that may otherwise have been ignored because they were women. Females are flocking to these stories that feature flawed and twisted characters. It's great. But. Why did this title have to use initials? This isn't the only book to do this, by the way. Remember that hit The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn? Also a man. Now, I said at the top that I don't know if this is necessarily something to get this worked up about but it's been nagging at me ever since I read the synopsis and then found out Maher is male. Then it kind of got me riled up again when I actually read the book because there were a few too many instances of sexually violent scenes (I don't have examples since I read an ARC and haven't compared it to a finished copy) when they didn't need to occur. I don't think authors need to write only what they know - or what they are, gender wise - but when the thriller is based entirely on a millennial female it might help to, you know, be one. Or perhaps even talk to one so you don't write a stereotypical character who makes other female millennials (i.e. me) roll their eyes. 

End rant.

"But what about the actual story?" is what I imagine you're asking if you even got this far into this review. Well...it was fine. If you took out the character traits and Candace's weird, terrible job and just said Person A is on the run and Persons B+ are missing/dead/involved and then just waited for the revelations as the novel went on, well that might have been OK. I was actually very intrigued by the mystery. I knew things weren't as they seemed but I don't think I could have predicted how it all went down. That is probably why this book got 2 stars instead of only 1.

One more mini rant, and it involves the end but I don't think it's really a spoiler because I'm not going to mention names. Sandy Hook got dragged into this story. I cannot for the life of me figure out why. I'm not American but even I felt like six plus years was too soon to use it as a plot point. An aside: having a character contemplate suicide as an easy way out was...unfortunate. Finally, I wasn't fully aware of what "swatting" was until I read this book but I don't love that it was included either.

I did like that the chapters changed timelines. One followed Candace in present day as she's running from whatever happened. The other jumps back several weeks and starts as Candace gets her promotion and all the trouble begins. The timelines move forward in time until they get all mixed up and you're finally caught up to present day and know what happened to Candace. I know some people found it confusing and they weren't a fan, but I actually enjoyed it. It added to the suspense of not knowing who to trust because you're still trying to find all the info.

Clearly Social Misconduct was not for me. S.J. Maher's novel might be for someone else but it won't be going on my list of bookpusher titles. 

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

Review: I'll Never Tell

I've been reading Catherine McKenzie's novels for years (eight, as my Goodreads has told me) and I have always marveled at how unique each story is. I eagerly look forward to her next novel as soon as I finish her last. I was especially looking forward to I'll Never Tell after absolutely loving The Good Liar last year (review is here if you missed it). Could her new one live up to her last (which was an instant bestseller, btw)? The short answer is: hell, yes.

Here's the synopsis:

What happened to Amanda Holmes?
Twenty years ago, she washed up on shore in a rowboat with a gash to the head after an overnight at Camp Macaw. No one was ever charged with a crime.
Now, the MacAllister children are all grown up. After their parents die suddenly, they return to Camp to read the will and decide what to do with the prime real estate it's sitting on. Ryan, the oldest, wants to sell. Margo, the family's center, hasn't made up her mind. Mary has her own horse farm to run, and believes in leaving well-enough alone. Kate and Liddie—the twins—have opposing views. And Sean Booth, the family groundskeeper, just hopes he still has a home when all is said and done.
But then the will is read and they learn that it's much more complicated than a simple vote. Until they unravel the mystery of what happened to Amanda, they can't move forward. Any one of them could have done it, and all of them are hiding key pieces of the puzzle. Will they work together to solve the mystery, or will their suspicions and secrets finally tear the family apart?

This isn't the first novel that features a dysfunctional family and a surprise in a will, and it won't be the last. But it's definitely going to be one that sticks with me for awhile. The MacAllisters are likeable enough (way more palatable than some families), they're just a bit messed up. And who isn't? It's hard to say if they really deserved to be dealing with their father's bizarre conditions even though it's pretty clear one of them is a murderer.

Speaking of murder and whodunnit - I had no idea. Every time the perspective changed with a new chapter (not as jarring as you might think), I changed my mind. Every sibling had motive and opportunity, though a few of them were immediately ruled out. Or were they? Yep. It's a twisted mystery and I loved it.

There's one thing that's been niggling at me since I finished the novel and it has to do with some choices Pete MacAllister made. I can't really say anything more because it's a hell of a spoiler if I do but his reasoning never made clear (not for the surprise in the will, that part was pretty clear). I guess I'm always just looking for more of an "everything wrapped up in a bow" situation than McKenzie was going for, especially for a character who is dead, but I feel like there's way more to him and his motivations than we got to see.

I loved that this books was set at a summer camp. I never went to overnight camp growing up so I don't have the kinds of memories that the campers at Macaw would but McKenzie does have that experience and, through that background and her great writing, I was able to understand what it was like and why the characters may have acted the way they did.

Also, I always thought the cover was so well suited to this novel - and I was very happy that McKenzie wasn't given an obviously feminine cover - but it wasn't until I inserted it into this review that I realized how perfect (and perfectly creepy) it really is.

I'll Never Tell is an amazing follow up to Catherine McKenzie's success with The Good Liar. It's an intriguing, complex, twisted story that she tells so, so well. I may have started reading her books because they were contemporary, fun, and relateable but I'm so happy with the direction she's taken because she's so good at writing thrillers. Pick this one up for your summer vacation!

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

Review: Beautiful Bad

Friends and longtime blog readers will know I'm quite particular about which thrillers I decide to read. Beautiful Bad by Annie Ward piqued my interest immediately and, holy hell, was it ever a thriller. I don't think I've ever been that engrossed and unsettled by a book before. I needed to put it down a few times for sanity's sake but I really didn't want to because I needed to find out what really happened.

Here's the synopsis:

Things that make me scared: When Charlie cries. Hospitals and lakes. When Ian drinks vodka in the basement. ISIS. When Ian gets angry. . . . That something is really, really wrong with me.
Maddie and Ian’s romance began with a chance encounter at a party overseas; he was serving in the British army and she was a travel writer visiting her best friend, Jo. Now almost two decades later, married with a beautiful son, Charlie, they are living the perfect suburban life in middle America. But when a camping accident leaves Maddie badly scarred, she begins attending writing therapy, where she gradually reveals her fears about Ian’s PTSD, her concerns for the safety of their young son, Charlie, and the couple’s tangled and tumultuous past with Jo.
From the Balkans to England, Iraq to Manhattan, and finally to an ordinary family home in Kansas, 16 years of love and fear, adventure and suspicion culminate in The Day of the Killing, when a frantic 9-1-1 call summons the police to the scene of a shocking crime.
But what in this beautiful home has gone so terribly bad?

One of the things that really interested me was that this novel originally started as a memoir. Ward really did work in Bulgaria and did have a friend who worked in a neighbouring country (though in real life Ward met the fellow American while in Europe and, surprise, she ended up being an undercover CIA agent). That friend did introduce Ward to a British military police body guard. The biggest difference is the horrific crime that kicks off this novel did not happen.

That crime, and all the events that are tied to it, is fictional (thank goodness) but it felt incredibly real. And that is why the book was, at times, is so unsettling. If a 911 call is being made at a home there's obviously some serious issues so I had that view while reading the rest of the book. What I didn't know what the real story or who to trust. Ward did an amazing job with the unreliable narrator trope because the reader truly has no idea what or who to believe. I had my ideas, of course, but what actually transpired managed to shock me.

The mystery part of this novel was interesting but I was much less interested in the characters and their relationships. I couldn't really see why Maddie would fall for Ian and allow her friendship to Jo blow up in the process. You could see cracks in the friendship when they were in Europe but their opinions clearly didn't matter enough to each other to allow them to smooth things over before Maddie left. And Ian's relationship with his ex? That entire plot point was bizarre and I'm not sure it was totally necessary.

Beautiful Bad is a book for you if you enjoy twisted thrillers. Annie Ward has turned her own life upside down and created characters who will anger and confuse you from start to finish. It was an interesting read and one I'd recommend - especially with a glass of something alcoholic beside you!

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

Review: The Winters

It shouldn't surprise you that I was a kid who loved English class. It came pretty easy to me even though I wasn't a fan of analyzing and dissecting books (ha - my teenage self laughs at me). While I can no longer remember the specifics, I do remember really enjoying Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier when I read it for class. I was really excited and intrigued when I heard Lisa Gabriele, a Canadian author I like, was releasing a thriller inspired by the 1938 novel. Would I like The Winters as much as I remember liking the classic?

Here's the synopsis:

Inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, a spellbindingly suspenseful novel set in the moneyed world of the Hamptons, about secrets that refuse to remain buried and consequences that can’t be escaped
After a whirlwind romance, a young woman returns to the opulent, secluded Long Island mansion of her new fiancé Max Winter—a wealthy politician and recent widower—and a life of luxury she’s never known. But all is not as it appears at the Asherley estate. The house is steeped in the memory of Max’s beautiful first wife Rebekah, who haunts the young woman’s imagination and feeds her uncertainties, while his very alive teenage daughter Dani makes her life a living hell. She soon realizes there is no clear place for her in this twisted little family: Max and Dani circle each other like cats, a dynamic that both repels and fascinates her, and he harbors political ambitions with which he will allow no woman—alive or dead—to interfere.
As the soon-to-be second Mrs. Winter grows more in love with Max, and more afraid of Dani, she is drawn deeper into the family’s dark secrets—the kind of secrets that could kill her, too. The Winters is a riveting story about what happens when a family’s ghosts resurface and threaten to upend everything.

Gabriele updated du Maurier's novel and set it in present day. This automatically twisted the story just enough to make it feel fresh. She also did away with the evil Mrs. Danvers but she added Dani, Max's teenage daughter. Dani was so incredibly hostile to the narrator, more so than you'd expect from a teenager who has lost her mother and had her father get engaged to a woman about half his age after only knowing her for a short period of time. (Wouldn't that annoy anyone?) And just as Hitchcock did with the 1940 film adaptation, Gabriele also adjusts the ending - which I freaking loved. Clearly I can't tell you more than that because, you know, spoilers, but read the book and I'm sure you'll love it as much as I did. And if you really want more, read this article that I've probably read three times because I love it so.

I always say I don't often read thrillers and I say it often enough that perhaps I do read thrillers. So maybe it's more correct to say that I don't seek them out. The Winters though? I most definitely went looking for it. I think even if I hadn't liked Rebecca I still would have been intrigued enough with the synopsis that I would have wanted to pick it up. It's a thriller that plays with your mind because the reader isn't totally sure who to trust - the narrator? Max? Dani? And just when you think you have each character figured out, something happens to completely change your mind.

The most twisted actions, in my opinion, came from Dani. She was so unpredictable and downright cruel. You had to wonder how far she was going to take her hatred towards the narrator. Who, as far as the reader knows, has only had the bad luck to fall in love with a man whose daughter is completely off the rails and despises her.

And that cover? How amazing is it? I feel like it perfectly captures the tone of the novel. LOVE.

I think The Winters is a book you need to add to your TBR immediately. (If you haven't already - it's been out since October 2018 in Canada.) Lisa Gabriele has written such a twisted and riveting book that I really didn't want to put down. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Now, a fun note! When I was finishing the book I noted on Instagram that I really needed a glass of wine as I got to the end because it was so intense (in a good way!). And why is this fun? Because I've just recently partnered with Long Weekend Wine Co. for their Long Weekend Library. Every month we'll reveal a book and a wine pairing for your long weekend reading pleasure. This month's? None other than The Winters! If you want to learn more, head to Long Weekend's Instagram page and follow along!

*A copy of this novel was provided by the author and publisher, Doubleday Canada, in exchange for review consideration. They are not involved with the book selection for Long Weekend Library, that is solely my decision. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: The Missing Girl

It's hard to believe The Missing Girl is Jenny Quintana's debut novel. She has written a twisty story that is both heart-wrenching and heart-pounding all at once. I had no idea what would happen at the end of this novel which made it an exciting read.

Here's the synopsis:

It's been thirty years since Anna's older sister disappeared. Anna's never stopped missing her.
When Anna Flores' adored older sister goes missing as a teenager, Anna copes by disappearing too, just as soon as she can: running as far away from her family as possible, and eventually building a life for herself abroad.
Thirty years later, the death of her mother finally forces Anna to return home. Tasked with sorting through her mother's possessions, she begins to confront not just her mother's death, but also the huge hole Gabriella's disappearance left in her life - and finds herself asking a question she's not allowed herself to ask for years: what really happened to her sister?
With that question comes the revelation that her biggest fear isn't discovering the worst, it's never knowing the answer. But is it too late for Anna to uncover the truth about Gabriella's disappearance?

I don't read a ton of thrillers or mysteries but I usually enjoy them when I do pick one up. I don't really like the scary/terror/terribleness that comes with some of the stories though and that's why I only read them once and awhile. What I do love about them is how I'm never sure what's going to happen next. When they're done well, they surprise me and keep me on my toes (without scaring me of course because I'm a big wimp). Quintana's found that perfect balance I need and I found myself often thinking of the story and the characters when I wasn't reading. I was so invested in Anna's story and, being a fan of happy stories, hoped for a happy ending...or, at the very least, a satisfying closure for her.

I think the way Quintana put together the novel made a big difference in how the reader feels about the story. Each chapter alternated between 1982 and "present" day and they both move forward in time at the same pace (or at least at a similar one). By doing this, we get to meet all the characters who are important to the story, even the ones who are now dead or still missing. And you have to wonder, what do the people who are still around really know about what happened to Gabriella?

This story is about so much more than a missing girl. There are secrets among everyone (seriously...the shocks just keep on coming) and the knowledge that no family is perfect. You may not be able to understand why Anna left behind her remaining family and her life when you first meet her but once you know what it was like for her after Gabriella went missing, you can't really blame her.

If you're in the mood for a family thriller (is that a proper way to describe this? I have no idea), The Missing Girl will keep you interested. Jenny Quintana has written a story that will keep you guessing - and hoping - until the very end.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the Canadian distributor, Publishers Group Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Still Water

I had heard of Amy Stuart's novel Still Mine when it was released back in 2016 but never did get around to reading it. (So many books, so little time.) But when I heard Still Water was being published I thought I should give it a try. And am I ever glad I did. I didn't want to put this book down and I'm sure you won't either.

Here's the synopsis:

How do you find the truth in a town full of secrets?
Clare has to find them.
Sally Proulx and her young boy have mysteriously disappeared in the stormy town of High River. Clare is hired to track them down, hoping against all odds to find them alive. But High River isn’t your typical town. It’s a place where women run to—women who want to escape their past. They run to Helen Haines, a matriarch who offers them safe haven and anonymity. Pretending to be Sally’s long-lost friend, Clare turns up and starts asking questions, but nothing prepares her for the swirl of deception and the depth of the lies.
Did Sally drown? Did her son? Was it an accident, or is their disappearance part of something bigger?
In a town where secrets are crucial to survival, everyone is hiding something. Detectives Somers and Rourke clearly have an ulterior motive beyond solving the case. Malcolm Boon, who hired Clare, knows more about her than he reveals. And Helen is concealing a tragic family history of her own. As the truth surges through High River, Clare must face the very thing she has so desperately been running from, even if it comes at a devastating cost. Compulsively gripping and twisty, Still Water is a deep dive of a thriller that will leave you breathless.

As I hadn't read the first book about Clare, I was especially paying attention to how Stuart would recap (or not) Still Mine. I think she did a great job of giving background information a new reader would need but that I don't think would bore a reader who already knows Clare's history. I definitely think you can dive into Still Water (er, no pun intended) without having read Still Mine but I think you'll have an even richer reading experience if you read both.

I was pretty much addicted to this story. It's really fast paced with all sorts of twists and turns. I found myself thinking of it often when I wasn't reading it and couldn't wait to see how it would all turn out. I really had no idea how Stuart was going to have things end up. I loved that.

There were a lot of secrets in this novel. As I said, I wasn't sure how the story would end because I really wasn't sure who to trust and who was telling even part of a truth. No one was who they seemed which made fitting the puzzle pieces together so difficult. Once I neared the end of the book I realized how easily it all came together which I think is a sign of a great mystery.

Clare was a really interesting character. I had only met her well after she had run away from her husband so I'm not totally sure of what kinds of abuse she really suffered. What I do know is that many people are and were doubting her because of her past history with drugs. It was so frustrating that so many people - including a close friend - had this bias. Almost like they thought that because she did drugs, she deserved what she got.That she wasn't totally lucid and should have been so she could fight back. And then there's the fact that her husband is telling a totally different story. It's terrifying to think that women are in these situations all the time and face so many issues when they try to tell the truth and get help.

But back to Clare. She's a smart woman who has a whole boatload of problems she's never been able to deal with properly. I think in this book she's realizing how she can take control and is sort of facing her demons head on. She still has a lot of work to do so I'm really hoping Stuart is working on another story for Clare. I'm totally invested now.

I'm hoping Still Water is a book we'll see everywhere this summer because it's so good. I was a little bit obsessed with it and Amy Stuart's writing. Pick this one up the next time you're in a bookstore or download it to your e-reader. Seriously. It's a well-told, gripping thriller that I think so many other people will love.

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