The Soulmate Equation – Book Review

Title:- The Soulmate Equation

Author:- Christina Lauren

Date published:- May 18th 2021

No. of pages:- 416 pages

Genre:- Romance

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. After all, her father was never around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before her daughter was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close but working constantly to stay afloat is hard…and lonely.

But then Jess hears about GeneticAlly, a buzzy new DNA-based matchmaking company that’s predicted to change dating forever. Finding a soulmate through DNA? The reliability of numbers:This Jess understands.

At least she thought she did, until her test shows an unheard-of 98 percent compatibility with another subject in the database: GeneticAlly’s founder, Dr. River Peña. This is one number she can’t wrap her head around, because she already knows Dr. Peña. The stuck-up, stubborn man is without a doubt not her soulmate. But GeneticAlly has a proposition: Get to know him and we’ll pay you. Jess—who is barely making ends meet—is in no position to turn it down, despite her skepticism about the project and her dislike for River. As the pair are dragged from one event to the next as the “Diamond” pairing that could launch GeneticAlly’s valuation sky-high, Jess begins to realize that there might be more to the scientist—and the science behind a soulmate—than she thought.

The Soulmate Equation proves that the delicate balance between fate and choice can never be calculated.

I read True Love before actually reading the Soulmate Equation, which is the first book of the DNA Duo series. In True Love we saw Fizzy Chen falling in love with TV producer Connor. In Soulmate Equation, we see Jess Davies, Fizzy’s best friend, falling in love with DNA Duo CEO River.

Jessica Davies is a single mother, statistician and a freelancer. While at the coffee shop, she meets River. At first Jessica hated him. Fizzy convinces Jessica to try out the new DNA Duo kit. When Jessica did try, she found herself 98% matching with none other than River Pena.

Of all the romance authors, Christina Lauren are my favorite duo authors. This book is no exception. There were some funny parts in the book, which will make you laugh out loud. It was interesting to see how both River and Jessica at first couldn’t take each other, eventually, they have to pretend that they like each other until they actually do like each other. I really like the authors’ style of writing which might be one of the reasons why I love reading the books–their books never get boring. I do like how the chemistry between River and Jessica slowly developed in the book, Jessica’s close relationship with her Nana, Pop, Juno and Fizzy and her stranded relationship with her own mother. There were not much spicy scenes in the beginning although there were some spicy scenes towards the end.

Since I have read the second book of the series already, it felt weird to know what is going to happen to Fizzy Chen next.

If you haven’t read the Soulmate Equation, then go ahead and read this one. If you haven’t read the series, then read both Soulmate Equation and True Love–guaranteed you will enjoy both the books–worth four stars!

Playing for Freedom The Journey of a Young Afghan Girl – ARC Book Review

Title:- Playing for Freedom – The Journey of a Young Afghan Girl

Author:- Zarifa Adiba and Anne Chaon

Date published: – first published in French – November 10th 2021. The English version will be published on 16th April 2024

No. of pages:- 205 pages

Genre:- Non Fiction/Memoir

Setting:- Afghanistan/USA/ Europe

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 5/5

A passionate musician growing up in the war-torn streets of Kabul takes her forbidden talents abroad in this triumphant memoir from debut author Zarifa Adiba.

As an Afghan girl, Zarifa Adiba has big, unfathomable dreams. Her family is poor, her country mired in conflict. Walking to school in Kabul, Zarifa has to navigate suicide bombers. But Zarifa perseveres, nurturing her passion for music despite its “sinful” nature in Afghan culture. At sixteen, she gains admission to the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, and at eighteen she becomes the lead violist, conductor, and spokesperson for Zohra, the first all-female orchestra in the Muslim world.

Despite Zarifa’s accomplishments―which include a stunning performance at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland―her future in music demands a reckoning with her life back home. Many of the girls in Zohra are forced to marry, but Zarifa yearns to study, travel, and explore her independence. Her so-called bad girl identity puts her at odds with her culture and her family. Playing for Freedom is the deeply compelling story of a woman who dares to compose a masterpiece even with all odds stacked against her.

Usually, I don’t really read much Nonfiction books, but I do read memoirs, and if it sounds interesting or written by someone famous, then I would read. Initially, I thought this was a fiction until I actually did a search on this book, when I realized that this was actually a memoir about a young Afghan girl, who would work tirelessly and endlessly, clashing with the Afghan culture to fulfill her dreams of becoming a musician and going to the university.

If you have read I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, then I highly recommend that you should read this book.

Zarifa is an ambitious Afghan woman who comes from a poor Hazara family. At sixteen, Zarifa joins Afghanistan National Institute of Music. By eighteen, she is the lead violinist, conductor of the all women orchestra named Zohra and one of their performances including performing in the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. But despite Zohra’s hard success and achievement, most of the girls that Zarifa knows are forced into arranged marriages. Zarifa also faced many obstacles from her family, who shunned her for her keen interest in music and the fact that she was defiant and refused to cover her hair and marry someone like her cousins. Playing for Freedom talks about how Zarifa yearned for independence and study at the university and how she overcame many obstacles to succeed as a person she is today.

I am not going to put too much details but this is a beautifully written memoir and I was glad to get a privilege to read this memoir. The way women were treated in Afghanistan in a men dominated world, the Taliban rule…sometimes, it’s hard to imagine that cruelty can exist. I enjoyed reading this book and was glad that now Zarifa and her family are now living in New York away from now Taliban rule Afghanistan.

Overall I rate this book five stars.

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

Lost to Dune Road – ARC Book Review

Title:- Lost to Dune Road

Author:- Kara Thomas

Date published:- will be published on 16th April 2024

No. of pages:- 333 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

For a disgraced reporter, unraveling a conspiracy of murder could mean redemption in a powerful novel of suspense by the bestselling author of Out of the Ashes.

Reporter Lee Ellerin’s investigation into a young woman’s unsolved murder gained national attention—only for her to lose everything due to a tragic mistake. After being publicly ridiculed for causing a suspect’s death, Lee is forced to leave her career behind.

Five years later, pregnant college student Amanda Hartley lies in a coma. The police say she attempted suicide, but the details don’t add up. Where is the father? Who was paying for Amanda’s Manhattan penthouse? Why did Amanda have a note with Lee’s name in her backpack? There’s also one alarming coincidence: Amanda was last seen on Dune Road in the Hamptons—where the murder victim in Lee’s previous investigation disappeared.

As she’s pulled back into the still-unsolved case that destroyed her career, Lee sees the chance to amend the mistakes of her past. But finding a killer and unearthing Amanda’s secrets sends her down a darker path than she has ever walked before.

Lee Ellerin is a former reporter whose investigation into the murder of a young girl caused her to lose everything including her own job as a reporter. Five years later, Lee is working as a private investigator, when she was asked to investigate the nearly attempted murder of pregnant Amanda who is left in coma. As Lee is investigating, she finds a connection between Amanda and the previous girl that Lee was investigating on–Amanda like the previous victim was seen on Dune Road. Is there a connection between the two victims? Why was Amanda at the Dune Road?

This was actually a fast-paced thriller, packed with twists and turns and is also a page turner. I also like the plot of the story as I found the plot to be interesting. The writing was also great and I feel that the author did a good job of making the reader draw into the story. Despite the good things, I felt there were too many characters in the book which actually made the book a bit confusing as to who is who. The romance part of this thriller I feel is unnecessary. Most of the characters in the book are unlikable which is also another bad thing. The story shifts between Lee, who is the main protagonist and Amanda the second known victim, which outlined how she got pregnant and got ended up in the situation. This is also more like a political thriller in my opinion as well–well known men, elite people from Hamptons, money, power…that was the main outline of the story.

But overall, I did enjoy the book despite these things and I am actually looking forward to read more books from this author. Worth 4 stars.

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

Kara is the author of The Darkest Corners, Little Monsters, and The Cheerleaders. She is also the author of the Prep School Confidential series from St. Martin’s Griffin under the pen name Kara Taylor.

Kara has written for Warner Brothers Television and currently writes full-time on Long Island, where she lives with her husband and rescue cat.

The Writer – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Writer

Author:- Miranda Smith

Date published:- will be published on 15th April 2024

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 326 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Writing:- 4/5

Plot:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

Her body was found close to the university. She was on her way home after a night out. Just like in the story I wrote…

Every Monday, I meet my writing group in a warm, lively bar to drink a glass of wine or two. It’s the highlight of my week. But now something terrible is happening.

At first, it didn’t seem like a big deal. My tires were slashed. A woman was hit by a car outside my apartment. Then, yesterday, someone was murdered. And all the details are copied from the stories we shared.

Am I going mad, or is someone in my group a killer?

I thought they were the only people I could trust, since what happened ten years ago. But now I’m terrified one of them knows the truth that lies buried in all my work—the secret I’ve tried so hard to hide. And they want to make me pay for it.

I have to know who’s bringing my stories to life… but will the answer cost me everything?

A completely unputdownable psychological thriller that will have you glued to the pages! If you like Lisa Jewell, Ruth Ware and The Wife Between Us, then you’ll love The Writer.

This was actually an interesting thriller

Becca is a struggling writer and is working part time jobs to support herself. Every Thursday, Becca meets a group of other women who are also struggling writers. The group’s name is Mystery Maidens where they share about the stories they wrote. Becca is also a college drop out and she is coming into terms with the murder of her college roommate Layla as Becca and her friend Crystal believed they are partly responsible for Layla’s murder. Becca then started writing about Layla as a story and shared with the group. Then a few days later, a woman was murdered in the similar fashion as Layla. As Becca started investigating on her own, some of the stories that were shared within the group seem to come to reality. Someone slashed Becca’s tires. Becca began to suspect that someone in the group might be responsible and might now Becca’s secret.

The plot has a great premise. The idea of someone using the stories to commit crimes was an interesting premise. However, the book started out a little slow which initially made the book at the beginning slightly boring. However, towards the middle, the book did start to get more and more interesting. The twists and turns are there and the ending however was slightly expected–we know that it had to be someone from the group who was responsible for the murder. Nevertheless, I think this is a great thriller with a great premise and I give this book four stars.

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

Hide and Seek – Book Review

Title:- Hide and Seek

Author:- Andrea Mara

Date published:- August 4th 2022

No. of pages:- 337 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

CLOSE YOUR EYES

The game of hide and seek is over, everyone has gone home, but little Lily Murphy hasn’t been found. Her parents search the woods and tell themselves that the worst hasn’t happened – but deep down they know this peaceful Dublin suburb will never be the same again.

COUNT TO TEN

Years later, Joanna moves into a new house. It seems perfect in every way, until she learns that this was once Lily Murphy’s home. From that moment onwards, a sense of dread seems to follow her from room to room.

AND WHEN YOU OPEN THEM, YOUR CHILD IS GONE

As Joanna unravels the secrets at the heart of this close-knit community, her own dark past begins to resurface. Because she thinks she knows what really happened to Lily – and if the truth gets out, it might be her undoing…

This is the first book I have read of Andrea Mara, and I have to say, I actually enjoyed reading this book!

The story starts in the year 2018 when Joanna Stedman moves to a new house in Dublin suburb. Joanna later on finds out that the house has indeed has a mystery–in 1985, a three-year-old girl named Lily Murphy disappeared mysteriously while playing Hide and Seek with her friends. Lily’s disappearance rocked the once peaceful town. Feeling slightly unease, Joanna starts to look into more information about Lily’s disappearance while at the same time, she couldn’t help but notice how Lily eerily look similar to another girl named Lila that Joanna killed accidentally long time ago…

I loved this book that I simply couldn’t put the book down! Though it started a little slow, nonetheless, when the timeline started to shift between 1985, leading to Lily’s ultimate disappearance and the present day which is 2018, then things got interesting. What made this book more interesting is the fact that as a reader, you have no idea how this book is going to end up. I like all those little twists and turns at the end of each chapter. Is Lily Murphy dead and if she is dead who killed her? Is there a connection between Lily and Joanna as Joanna thinks? The ending was really unexpected and I really liked the unexpected twist that was revealed in the end. I actually couldn’t put this book down as I really wanted to know what is going to happen next.

I was impressed with the book and so I cannot wait to read her next novel. Overall, I highly recommend this book and this book worth 4.5 stars.

The Bodyguard – Book Review

Title:- The Bodyguard

Author:- Katherine Center

Date published:- July 19th 2022

No. of pages:- 309 pages

Genre:- Romance

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

She’s got his back. He’s got her heart. They’ve got a secret. What could possibly go wrong?
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than somebody who could kill you with her bare hands. But the truth is, she’s an elite bodyguard and she’s just been hired to protect a superstar actor from his stalker.

Jack Stapleton’s a Hollywood heartthrob – captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, rising out of the waves in clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity.

When Jack’s mom gets sick, he comes home to the family’s Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn’t want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah – against her will and her better judgment – finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend as a cover.

Protecting Jack should be easy. But protecting her own heart? That’s the hardest thing she’s ever done…

This is such a cute romance novel that surprisingly I actually enjoyed reading it and couldn’t actually put the book down!

Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than an elite bodyguard. She just had her mother’s funeral, her boyfriend broke up with her a day after her mother’s funeral…and soon her boss assigns her as a bodyguard to one of the heartthrobs of Hollywood…Jack Stapleton. Jack meanwhile is in Houston after an event that forced him to live in North Dakota–his mother is getting treatment for cancer and so Jack wanted to move to his family’s ranch. But before moving, Jack asks Hanna to become his fake girlfriend.

Hannah could have said no but she acted along as it is a part of her job…but can her heart stop falling for him?

I love the setting of the story. Although most romance books are highly predictable, I actually enjoyed reading this one. I couldn’t help but noticed the chemistry between Hannah and Jack, the friendship between the two and how it eventually became a romantic relationship in the end. There were some funny parts in the story which will make you laugh out loud. I also liked the way Hannah dealt with betrayal when her ex-boyfriend cheated on with her best friend. Anyway, I just loved the story and I actually liked that it was set in a ranch house which made me wish I can visit a ranch in Texas one day. Oh yes–there are no spicy scenes in the book.

Not only that–this book was so much fun to read and couldn’t help notice some A listed actors named in the story like Ryan Reynolds and Meryl Streep. Honestly, I wasn’t very sure if I would like the story but I ended up loving the story as a whole! Worth 4 stars.

BookPage calls Katherine Center “the reigning queen of comfort reads.” She’s the New York Times bestselling author of eleven novels, including The Bodyguard, Hello Stranger, Things You Save in a Fire, and her summer 2024 book, The Rom-Commers. Katherine writes laugh-and-cry books: bittersweet romantic comedies about how life knocks us down—and how we get back up. She’s been compared to both Jane Austen and Nora Ephron, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” The Netflix movie adaptation of her novel Happiness for Beginners—starring Ellie Kemper and Luke Grimes—just hit the Global Top Ten in 81 countries, and the movie of her novel The Lost Husband was a surprise Netflix sensation in 2020, hitting number one and landing in their top 25 movies for the year. Her books have made countless Best-Of lists—at Audible, BookBub, and Book of the Month, as well as Goodreads’ Best Books of the Year, and Amazon’s yearly Top 100 books. Emily Henry calls The Bodyguard “my perfect 10 of a book,” and Jodi Picoult says of Things You Save in a Fire, “Just read it, and thank me later.” Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two almost-grown teenagers, and their fluffy-but-fierce dog.

The Family Experiment – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Family Experiment

Author:- John Marrs

Date published:- will be published on 9th May 2024

Publisher:- Pan Macmillan

No. of pages:- 400 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

The world’s population is soaring, creating overcrowded cities and an economic crisis. And in the UK, breaking point has arrived. A growing number of people can no longer afford to start families let alone raise them.

But for those desperate to experience parenthood, there is an alternative. For a monthly subscription fee, clients can create a virtual child from scratch who they can access via the metaverse and a VR headset. To launch this new initiative, the company behind Virtual Children has created a reality tv show. It will follow ten couples as they raise a Virtual Child from birth to the age of eighteen but in a condensed nine-month time period. The prize: the right to keep their virtual child or risk it all for the chance of a real baby . . .

Set in the same universe as John Marrs’s bestselling novel The One and The Marriage Act, The Family Experiment is a dark and twisted thriller about the ultimate ‘tamagotchi’ – a virtual baby.

John Marrs is literally has become of my favorite thriller authors and I am so excited when I got a chance to review one of his latest novels, The Family Experiment.

If you have read John Marrs’s bestselling book The One which was also adapted into Netflix series, then I would have to say, the Family Experiment has the same background and concept as The One. In this book, there are 11 contestants who are desperate to have a child and each of these contestants are allowed to create a virtual child through metaverse and VR set. To launch this, the company then creates a reality TV show where there are 11 contestants and all contestants are given a virtual child to look after from the ages of infant to eighteen years in a span of nine months. Which of these couples would win the contest? And these contestants would do anything to win the competition as it involves money.

I have to say John Marrs has really a unique plot ideas and this book is no exception. If you have read The One, then you would know what I am actually saying. I enjoyed The One so much that I couldn’t put the book down. The Family Experiment is also a book where you wouldn’t be able to put the book down. There are couples–Gabriel and Cadman, single father Hudson, Zoe and Dimitri, Woody and Tina…who are all contestants. I like the chat room scenes where people will discuss about each of the contestants and their babies. The book was quiet unputdownable and engaging as well. I couldn’t wait for the ending, wondering what the ending was going to be like as the ending was quiet unpredictable (a thing I like in the thriller books) Along with the competition, there is also another backstory behind the competition about trafficking of young children where parents who are in debts and unable to pay sell their children and give them a drug to make the children forget about the parents. Already, I felt like I was watching a movie while reading this book. There is also a massive cliffhanger in each of the chapters and the chapters are told in each couple’s POV.

I highly recommend the folks to read The One if you haven’t read it as this book is set in the similar universe as the One. Overall, this is an unputdownable and page turning thriller that will keep you up all night–worth 4.5 stars!

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

John Marrs is the author of #1 Best Sellers The One, The Good Samaritan, When You Disappeared, The Vacation, Her Last Move, The Passengers, The Minders and What Lies Between Us. Keep It In The Family and The Marriage Act are released soon.
What Lies won the International Thriller Writers’ Best Paperback of 2021 award.
The One has been translated into 30 different languages and is to be turned into an eight-part Netflix series starting in autumn 2020.
After working as a journalist for 25-years interviewing celebrities from the world of television, film and music for national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time writer.
Follow him on Twitter @johnmarrs1 Facebook: @johnmarrsauthor Instagram: @johnmarrs.author website: johnmarrsauthor.co.uk

Summer at the Santorini Bookshop – ARC Book Review

Title:- Summe at the Santorini Bookshop

Author:- Rebecca Raisin

Date published:- will be published on 11th April 2024

Publisher:- HarperCollins

No. of pages:- 352 pages

Genre:- Romance

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

A Greek island holiday. A fake-dating pact. A chance at true love?

After losing her job as a book scout, hopeless romantic Evie needs a fresh start. So when she hears that her eccentric grandmother has just taken on a small bookshop in Santorini, Evie jumps at the chance to visit her.

But life on the island is not as idyllic as it first seems. Gran has a tempestuous relationship with her landlord and he’s threatening to take the bookshop away from her. So when Gran asks Evie to fake a romance with her landlord’s Greek God of a grandson, Georgios, to keep the family on side, she reluctantly agrees.

As the sun sets on Evie’s Greek holiday, can she save the bookshop – and fake date her way to love?

I love reading Rebecca Raisin’s books and this is the fifth book I have read written by her!

Evie loses her job as a book scout in Hollywood as her new boss believed that the romance genre is over-hyped and that people need to see more action movies. When Evie heard that her grandmother had opened up a bookshop in Santorini, Evie takes the chance and flies over to Santorini. Evie’s mother and sister are suspicious of the grandmother’s current ninth husband and asks Evie to dig more about grandmother. Meanwhile, Evie’s grandmother and the landlord of Evie’s grandmother’s bookshop are both at wit ends with each other and Evie’s grandmother asks Evie to fake date the landlord’s handsome grandson Georgios. But soon, their fake dating might turn into something more…

I love reading Rebecca Raisin’s book and I would like to take the opportunity to thank Harper Collins for the invitation to review this book. I get lost into her books and feel like the part of the book. This book also made me feel the same way. I instantly liked all the characters even the main characters, Evie and her grandmother. There were some funny parts in the book which will make you laugh out loud. The descriptions in the book make me think of myself being in Santorini and I like how the author managed to draw the reader into the story. The stunning sceneries of Santorini made me imagine myself in Santorini as well. This was actually a good romance book, particularly this is a great book to read during the summer. I give this book five stars.

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

First Lie Wins – Book Review

Title:- First Lie Wins

Author:- Ashley Elston

Date published:- January 2nd 2024

No. of pages:- 340 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only catch: Evie Porter doesn’t exist.

The identity comes first: Evie Porter. Once she’s given a name and location by her mysterious boss Mr. Smith, she learns everything there is to know about the town and the people in it. Then the mark: Ryan Sumner. The last piece of the puzzle is the job.

Evie isn’t privy to Mr. Smith’s real identity, but she knows this job will be different. Ryan has gotten under her skin, and she’s starting to envision a different sort of life for herself. But Evie can’t make any mistakes—especially after what happened last time.

Because the one thing she’s worked her entire life to keep clean, the one identity she could always go back to—her real identity—just walked right into this town. Evie Porter must stay one step ahead of her past while making sure there’s still a future in front of her. The stakes couldn’t be higher—but then, Evie has always liked a challenge…

First Lie Wins is actually a unique thriller. Evie Porter is a typical southern girl engaged to Ryan Somner and moving in with him together. But Evie Porter doesn’t exist. In reality, Evie’s name is not her real name and you can say that she was actually working for someone named Mr. Smith with a job–find information about her fiancé, Ryan Somner. In fact Evie Porter is a con artist. One day, Evie meets a woman who bore strong resemblance and who is using Evie’s real name–Lucca. Evie realizes that she was playing a cat and mouse chase game with her boss and she must act before her boss does.

The story at first started out slow but after first fifty pages, then things started to get interesting and unputdownable. You get snippets of Evie’s past life as Lucca, her name aliases she used whenever she was working for the boss. The writing was really greater and I like the fact that the thriller despite being a slow burn, it was overall interesting and unique and couldn’t put the book down because I really am curious about how the story was going to end. The ending was satisfactory and above all, I actually enjoyed this book and really believe that the book is worth the hype.

I also liked Evie’s character well. She is intelligent, smart and at the same time compassionate about the others. I also liked the fact that she started to stop working for Mr. Smith and her working camaraderie with Devon. The whole book is told in Evie’s POV dividing between the present day and the scenes when she was working as a con artist working in different cities under a different name.

If you have read Finlay Donovan series, First Lie Wins maybe a great choice for you. I cannot wait to read more books from this author. Worth 4 stars!

Ashley Elston lives is North Louisiana with her husband and three sons. She worked as a wedding and portrait photographer for ten years until she decided to pursue writing full time. Ashley is also a certified landscape horticulturist and loves digging in the dirt. Her debut novel, THE RULES FOR DISAPPEARING was published by Disney Hyperion in 2013 and was a finalist in the Best Young Adult category of the International Thriller Writers Awards.

Coming Soon: FIRST LIE WINS (2023 – Pamela Dorman Books/PRH)

Grave Mountain (Detective Madison Harper Book series 7) – ARC Book Review

Title:- Grave Mountain (Book 7)

Author:- Wendy Dranfield

Date published:- will be published on 5th April 2024

Publisher:- Bookouture

Genre:- Thriller

No. of pages:- 417 pages

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 5/5

The young girl trembles with fear as she stares at the gun pointed in her direction. She knows there’s no point in screaming. No one will hear her on the mountain. As thunder breaks overhead, she silently prays that someone will at least find her body so she can be returned to her parents.

Detective Madison Harper’s heart aches when she attends a local support group for families of missing people in Lost Creek, Colorado. She wishes she could help them all, but one cold case in particular captures her attention. Five years ago, close friends Becky, Tasha and Stuart hiked the infamous Grave Mountain. But only Stuart returned. He claims they were separated by a storm, but the town has never believed him. Convinced Stuart is hiding something, Madison vows to find out what really happened.

Just as Madison reopens the case, her blood runs cold when remains are discovered on the trail where the women were last seen. And when more bodies are discovered, Madison suspects she’s dealing with a serial killer who has used Grave Mountain as a dumping ground for years. How many more bodies are they about to unearth?

Then, the case takes an agonizing turn when someone close to Madison is found brutally murdered. As she gets closer to cracking the case, a tip-off leads her back to the mountain, and she knows that if she’s going to catch the killer, she has to hike it alone. But as another storm closes in, Madison realizes she may have just walked into a trap that means she’ll never make it off the mountain alive…

Madison Harper is back with another cold case!

Madison meets a group of parents, whose children have gone missing for more than a decade. Stuart Carpenter was the main suspect of the disappearances of two girls, Becky and Tasha although he was never arrested. When the skeletal remains were found in the Grave Mountrain, Stuart Carpenter commits suicide and Madison Harper finds Tasha’s driver’s license among his belongings. However, when more skeletal remains are found in the mountain, Madison believed that a serial killer might be on loose and Stuart Carpenter might not be responsible for Tasha’s murder.

This was a fast paced thriller. I always loved reading Madison Harper series and always make sure to read them. The author’s writing style was great and there were twists and turns along the way. There were many suspects that as a reader, you have no idea which one of the suspects could be responsible for the murders. The ending was great and I actually enjoyed reading this book. If you are looking for a detective series, I suggest choosing Madison Harper series. Worth five stars!

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