Tropical Girl Reads

Quick Review:- a story of a brother who will fight and do anything to protect his family. In my opinion, not a great book by S.A. Cosby but nonetheless, it was fast paced and intriguing.

Rating:-4/5

-death of a parent

-mutilation

-disturbing and gory deaths

A son returning home.
A dangerous debt.
Secrets about to ignite . . . and a family consumed by flames.

Roman Carruthers left the smoke and fire of his family’s crematory business behind in his hometown of Jefferson Run, Virginia. He is enjoying a life of shallow excess as a financial adviser in Atlanta until he gets a call from his sister, Neveah, telling him their father is in a coma after a hit-and-run accident. When Roman goes home, he learns the accident may not be what it seems. His brother, Dante, is deeply in debt to dangerous, ruthless criminals.

And Roman is willing to do anything to protect his family. Anything.

A financial whiz with a head for numbers and a talent for making his clients rich, Roman must use all his skills to try to save his family while dealing with a shadow that has haunted them all for twenty years: the disappearance of their mother when Roman and his siblings were teenagers. It’s a mystery that Neveah, who has sacrificed so much of her life to hold her family together, is determined to solve once and for all.

As fate and chance and heartache ignite their lives, the Carruthers family must pull together to survive or see their lives turn to ash. Because, as their father counseled them from birth, nothing lasts forever.

Everything burns.

I have been a fan of S.A. Cosby since I read All Sinners Bleed, which is one of my favorite books of his. King of Ashes is his latest book. Even though I liked this book, I didn’t like this book as much as I did with the other two books I have read.

Roman Carruther is a successful financier working in Atlanta refusing to take of his family’s crematorium business. But one day, his sister Neveah calls him, telling him that their father has met with an accident and is in coma. Roman immediately flies back home to Virginia. However, he finds out that his younger brother Dante was involved in this huge drug selling bust and owe a huge debt to one of the notorious gangs in the town, BBB. Roman using his skills as a financier will do anything to save his family by slowly inserting himself to offer his services to the gang…

Like most SA Cosby books, this was fast-paced and packed with action. The story was great, interesting and disturbing to read at the same time. Roman’s dealing with his mother’s disappearance which happened more than twenty years ago is also a part of the background of the story. Roman is loyal and would do anything to protect his family even if it involves killing someone.

However, as much as I liked the story, this was actually not my type of thriller. Reason–I don’t really like reading much about gangster-based thrillers as it is not my forte.

However, that doesn’t make me to stop reading S.A Cosby. I am looking forward to read his next thriller.

Overall worth 4 stars.

Quick Review:- The story was fine but then ending was predictable and so was the villain.

Rating:- 3.5/5

-sexual assault

-child abuse

Three couples. Two secrets. One murder…

I can’t believe how lucky I am. I’m sitting by the glittering pool at a stunning Greek villa with my handsome boyfriend by my side. He’s treating me to a week on a sun-drenched island. The only problem is that we’re not the only couple staying here…

Dominic has invited his university friends. When I’m introduced to Victoria, Simone and their husbands, I see Simone’s lip curl and my stomach drops. I know that I’m not going to fit in with these beautiful people and their charmed lives.

But despite their expensive clothes and smooth words, the cracks in their perfect lives begin to show because more than one person staying in the white-washed villa is hiding secrets. As the lies begin to unravel, I discover that Simone and Dominic used to be a couple. And as the temperature soars the tension between our group heats up.

And then one morning, a body is found…

Amber was going to have the trip of her life time with her boyfriend Dominic in a Greek Island, where she will meet some of Dominic’s friends from the university days. Amber feels like a fish out a pond when she meets Dominic’s friends. We have Simone, who is a successful lawyer and who was Dominic’s ex. She is married to Felix who is the real estate agent and Willow is her step-daughter. Then we have Victoria and Barney. As they gathered together to celebrate Simone’s birthday, someone steals their items including Amber’s necklace. Each of them has a secret including Amber. And then someone gets murdered.

The beginning was interesting and you also feel like you are going on vacation with Amber. The book is fast paced but not much of twists and turns that I normally would expect in a psychological thriller. There is suspense in the story and you get some glimpses of the secret that makes you want to know more about what the secret was. But overall, when the murder happened, I felt the villain was predictable. Thus the ending was also predictable.

This was a good thriller, could be perfect for a summer read. But it could have been better. Worth 3.5 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Quick Review:- this was a fast-paced, page turning thriller however the ending wasn’t as great as I thought it could be, although it was unexpected.

Rating:- 4/5

Darby Kane, author of the #1 international bestseller Pretty Little Wife, returns with another twisty domestic thriller about a wife wondering who tried to kill her husband twice before finally succeeding… because that was supposed to be her job. 

Dr. Richmond Dougherty is a renowned pediatric surgeon, an infamous tragedy survivor, and a national hero. He’s also very dead—thanks to a fall down the stairs. His neighbors angrily point a finger at the newest Ms. Dougherty, Addison. The sudden marriage to the mysterious young woman only lasted ninety-seven days, and he’d had two suspicious “accidents” during that time. Now Addison is a very rich widow.

As law enforcement starts to circle in on Addison and people in town become increasingly hostile, sides are chosen with Kathryn, Richmond’s high school sweetheart, wife number one, and the mother of his children, leading the fray. Despite rising tensions, Addison is even more driven to forge ahead on the path she charted years ago…

Determined at all costs to unravel Richmond’s legacy, she soon becomes a target—with a shocking note left on her bedroom  You will pay. But it will take a lot more than faceless threats to stop Addison. Her plan to marry Richmond then ruin him may have been derailed by his unexpected death, but she’s not done with him yet.

Addison has become a rich widow, when her husband, Richmond Dougherty apparently committed suicide. But then soon, the death was ruled out as homicide and Addison has become the main suspect. However here is the problem–Addison did want to kill Richmond Dougherty–it’s that someone else did the work for her.

If you have read Pretty Little Wife, Darby Kane mostly writes domestic thrillers and most of the time, her thrillers are usually fast-paced and page turning thrillers. This book is no exception. Initially, the story started great, with some twists and turns. The story is mostly told in Addison’s POV. The marriage has been kind of a deal between Richmond and Addison as Addison holds a secret that might threaten to ruin Richmond’s carefully curated image that most community is having of him. The book is intriguing and it basically will put the reader on the edge.

We also have Richmond’s POV as well and we know by reading through his POV that he might not be as innocent as he is turned out to be. And then we have someone, who is determined to get rid of Addison who also might be responsible for Richmond’s murder. The whole book makes you feel like you are watching an action thriller movie.

The ending kind of was unexpected but despite being unexpected, I didn’t really like the ending much as I thought I would.

Overall, this is worth 4 stars.

Quick Review:- horrible ending, and could have been better.

Rating:- 2/5

ARE YOU REALLY HOME ALONE?

Sixteen-year-old Connie has been dragged into the world of vlogging – her mum Lou’s vlog is hugely popular, enough to bring in money for a new house, expensive lifestyle . . . and a lot of criticism.

While Lou and Connie’s older sister Isla are touring colleges, Connie stays home alone, where she becomes increasingly paranoid about comments on the vlog. Plus someone is turning up at her school and following her on her way home.

Then Connie’s best friend is attacked – the third teenage girl attacked in five weeks – and suspicion turns to Connie. Connie doesn’t know who she can trust any more and goes on the run. But will the killer – whoever they are – catch up with her?

Connie is dragged into the world of vlogging by her mother as her mother’s YouTube vlogs have become immensely popular, so now they could afford to live in a new mansion and live nicely. So when Lou and Isla leaves Connie home alone, to tour the colleges, Connie becomes increasingly paranoid about the comments on the vlog and thinks that someone is stalking. Connie’s best friend is attacked, which is the third attack in a matter of five weeks. Suspicions mount towards Connie and she has no idea who to trust.

On the plus side, the story kind of had a potential to be an interesting thriller. But there are lot of negative things about the book.

I couldn’t stand any of the characters in the book–found them annoying and selfish–particularly Connie’s mother and sister. Initially I liked Connie but her naivety at trusting strangers online bothered me. So fair to say, Gray is my only favorite character in the book, even though he only had a small role in the overall story.

Though this book is labelled as a thriller, 60% of the book is about the drama, with Connie fighting with her mother and sister, her being paranoid about someone stalking and the thriller starts actually towards the end. But my rating went down to two stars at the ending. I mean WTF is the ending???? Here’s the thing, I CANNOT stand cliffhangers in a standalone novel–I despise is. If it’s a series, then cliffhangers are fine but in standalone novels like this one…no, I hate that. Did not like the ending at all.

With that being said, and despite my horrible rating with this book, I am willing to read more books from this author and hopefully they are better than this book.

Overall worth 2 stars.