Tropical Girl Reads

Title:- Husband and Wife

Author:- K.L. Slater

Date published:- will be published on 3rd November 203

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 409 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 5/5

We promised to keep each other’s secrets. Until they found the body…

The Wife:

My husband and I are fighting for our lives in hospital after a terrible car accident. But despite my pain, all I can think about is what our families will find behind our front door. The scarf that has been all over the news, belonging to a dead young woman with honey-coloured hair. I have to speak to the police before my husband can…

The Husband:

I’m drifting in and out of consciousness, but when I hear my wife talking to the police, accusing me of the murder of an innocent woman, a cold fear grips me. I know I’ve got a temper. That I’ve not always been faithful. Will they think I killed her?

I think of my wife’s jealous streak, of the lies she’s told our loved ones. But if I tell the whole truth, they’ll look into her past. And that will destroy me, too…

Two people fighting for their lives. Two people with secrets to hide. Who will you believe?

I always enjoyed reading K.L. Slater’s books as I believed she is one of the underrated psychological thriller authors out there. And her latest novel Husband and Wife rose to high expectations.

Nicola and her husband Cal are babysitting their grandson Barney when two police officers knock at the door and inform them that their son Parker and his wife Luna had met with a car accident. Parker is in a serious condition at the hospital. Nicola goes over to her son’s house to collect Barney’s stuff and among the garbage, she finds a scarf discarded in the garbage. Nicola realized that the scarf belong to a woman named Sarah who was found murdered in the alley nearly two months’ ago. Was her son responsible for the murder?

This was actually a fast paced thriller and I simply couldn’t put the book down. The book shifts back and forth between past and present–past that is mainly told in Parker, Luna’s POV and present day mainly Nicola’s POV. There were so many twists and turns along the way that nearly, everyone in the book was virtually a suspect in Sarah’s murder. The writing was great that the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story. The story itself becomes more intense as even Nicola’s husband, Cal is also suspecting that Parker may have something to do with Sarah’s disappearance. It was the ending was completely unexpected and shocking ending.

Overall if you are looking for a page turning thriller that will keep you up all night, then read this one–worth five stars!

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

Kim is the number one bestselling author of sixteen psychological crime thrillers. She has sold over two million copies of her books worldwide. She has also written four Carnegie-nominated Young Adult novels as Kim Slater for Macmillan Children’s Books. Kim has an MA in Creative Writing and lives with her husband in a small Nottinghamshire village.

Publishers: Bookouture, Sphere, Grand Central, Audible
Agent: Camilla Bolton at Darley Anderson

Author website: www.KLSlaterAuthor.com
Twitter: @KimLSlater
Facebook: KL Slater Author
Instagram: KLSlaterAuthor

Title:- Yellowface

Author:- R.F. Kuang

Date published:- May 25th 2023

No. of pages:-329 pages

Genre:- Literary Fiction/Thriller

Rating:

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena’s a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn’t even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So when June witnesses Athena’s death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena’s just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena’s novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song–complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn’t this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That’s what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

But June can’t get away from Athena’s shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June’s (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface takes on questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society. R. F. Kuang’s novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.

This book had been in my TBR for sometime and I finally got my hands on this book. This is the first time I have been reading books written by R.F. Kuang.

Yellowface is about a struggling author June Hayward who is spending a night with her frenemy Athena Liu to celebrate her success with a Netflix deal. They are both graduate from Yale University and, they both released their debut novels at the same time but Athena rose to fame compared to June who couldn’t even rise to the fame. Then while at Athena’s home, Athena suddenly dies from a choking incident. June comes across some of Athena’s manuscripts and then decided to well steal them.

Then June publishes those manuscripts and soon she rose to fame. But someone knows what June had done and is determined to expose June.

I did like this book. The story is mainly told in June’s POV. The first part of the book was really interesting and fast paced and I was actually literally hooked to the novel. But then, by the end of the book, I felt it kind of became a bit…boring. However, I really like the author’s style of writing. For the whole part of the book, I felt June’s voice telling me her own story and explaining the whole story to me so kudos to the good writing! The story also talks a great deal about plagiarism, racism, and above all depression. The author kind of a gave a painting of what publishing a book is really like, those Goodreads reviews, the critics commenting on the book so in a way, overall, this was realistically written.

I actually liked June and I understand her pain and suffering and how she determined to make her name as a writer. As a reader, I felt I was interacting with June, as she shares all these emotions and feelings in the book. Overall, I feel this book worth the hype and worth four stars!

Rebecca F. Kuang is a Marshall Scholar, translator, and award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy and Babel: An Arcane History, among others. She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.

Title:- The Day After the Party

Author:- Nicole Trope

Date published:- will be published on 30th October 2023

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 294 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 2.5/5

Writing:- 3/5

Overall:- 3/5

The perfect birthday or the perfect nightmare?

Katelyn smiles around at her husband and friends, gathered to celebrate her thirty-sixth birthday in their beautiful home decorated with fairy lights. But the next day Katelyn wakes up shaken and terrified in a hospital bed…

She doesn’t remember the sweet taste of birthday cake icing, or how angry her best friend was at midnight, or the terrible things her husband said. She doesn’t remember the party at all.

When she asks her husband what happened the night of the party he says ‘nothing’. But her blood runs cold at the way his voice lilts slightly. The way it always does when he is lying.

Did someone at the party harm her?
What is her husband hiding?
Or did Katelyn herself do something terrible?

Only one thing is certain. Nobody can be trusted. And if Katelyn’s memories of the party do come back, it will tear them all apart…

This totally addictive psychological thriller will have you gasping at the twists and turns and unable to sleep until you know the truth. Perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Shari Lapena and The Perfect Marriage .

I have read many of Nicole Trope books before but I feel this book wasn’t one of her greatest books.

The story begins with Katelyn and her husband Toby inviting guests for her thirty-sixth birthday party. But then soon the next day, Katelyn finds herself in a hospital with no memory of what really happened the night at the party. She tries to regain her memory by asking her husband question but her husband is very evasive about that night. What really happened that night?

As I mentioned earlier, this wasn’t her greatest novel although it was OK in my opinion. The pacing in this book was slow, half of the book describing about Katelyn’s friendship with Leah and their marriage life. There wasn’t much twists and turns in the book and only the ending was a bit OK. The story divides between past and the present that describes what happened the night before Katelyn was taken to the hospital. Overall this book worth 3 stars.

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

Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because-as her professor pointed out- ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’ She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree in Children’s Literature. After the birth of her first child she stayed home full time to write and raise children, renovate houses and build a business with her husband.
The idea for her first published novel, The Boy under the Table, was so scary that it took a year for her to find the courage to write the emotional story.
She is now published by Bookouture and is an Amazon top 100 bestseller in the USA, UK, AUS and CAN.
She lives in Sydney with her husband and three children

Title:- Silence For the Dead

Author:- Simone St. James

Date published:- April 1st 2014

No. of pages:- 384 pages

Genre:- Horror

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

“Portis House emerged from the fog as we approached, showing itself slowly as a long, low shadow….”

In 1919, Kitty Weekes, pretty, resourceful, and on the run, falsifies her background to obtain a nursing position at Portis House, a remote hospital for soldiers left shell-shocked by the horrors of the Great War. Hiding the shame of their mental instability in what was once a magnificent private estate, the patients suffer from nervous attacks and tormenting dreams. But something more is going on at Portis House—its plaster is crumbling, its plumbing makes eerie noises, and strange breaths of cold waft through the empty rooms. It’s known that the former occupants left abruptly, but where did they go? And why do the patients all seem to share the same nightmare, one so horrific that they dare not speak of it?

Kitty finds a dangerous ally in Jack Yates, an inmate who may be a war hero, a madman… or maybe both. But even as Kitty and Jack create a secret, intimate alliance to uncover the truth, disturbing revelations suggest the presence of powerful spectral forces. And when a medical catastrophe leaves them even more isolated, they must battle the menace on their own, caught in the heart of a mystery that could destroy them both.

Simone St. James is like my favorite horror genre author and I make sure to read ALL her books. This book was released in 2014 way before Sun Down Motel and Book of Cold Cases were released (which I have already read)

The story starts with Kitty securing a job at Portis House, a well known place that houses mad men–men who were affected by the Great War. It was the year 1919. But this particular house used to belong to a Swiss family named Gersbachs who mysteriously disappeared one night and was never heard from again. Kitty befriends and finds a dangerous ally Jack Yates, a former soldier and known as Patient Sixteen in the house. When working at the night shift, Kitty encounters something sinister–patients start screaming and thrashing, and something–or someone is lurking around the house at night. And the west wing part of the house is closed off…

I like this book although this book wasn’t as great as the Sun Down Motel in my opinion. There were some jump scare parts in the book and I felt like I was watching a horror movie. The book was well written in my opinion and I like how the supernatural elements worked through this novel. Even after finishing reading this book, I was still unsettled having read the ghost part of the story particularly the part where the ghosts attack on the patient. The ending I felt was slightly rushed but overall, this book was one of those horror books that will make you feel unsettled after reading the book. Worth four stars.

If you haven’t read any of Simone St. James novels, check out The Sun Down Motel and The Broken Girls first–they are really good!

Simone St. James is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases, The Sun Down Motel, The Broken Girls and The Haunting of Maddy Clare, which won two RITA awards from Romance Writers of America and an Arthur Ellis Award from Crime Writers of Canada. She wrote her first ghost story, about a haunted library, when she was in high school, and spent twenty years behind the scenes in the television business before leaving to write full-time. She lives outside Toronto, Canada with her husband and a spoiled cat.

Title:- How to Sell a Haunted House

Author:- Grady Hendrix

Date published:- January 17th 2023

No. of pages:- 419 pages

Genre:- Horror

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 3/5

Overall rating:- 3.5/5

Grady Hendrix takes on the haunted house in a thrilling new novel that explores the way your past—and your family—can haunt you like nothing else.

When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world.

Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.

But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them…

This is the second book I have read of Grady Hendrik. I have to say this book is slightly better than the book I read, The Final Girl Group Support, which is a horror/slasher book.

Louise and Mark had been estranged as siblings. Then all of a sudden, their parents died in a car accident. Louise flies in from San Francisco to Charlotte. All she wanted is to sell the house and share the funds with her brother and then get on with her life. But the house seem to be having other plans for both Louise and Marc. Their creepy puppet, Pupkin, a puppet that their mother adored does not want the siblings to sell the house and both Louise and Marc believe that Pupkin is possessed and that there is a dark entity hiding in the house.

Honestly if you have watched Child’s Play horror movie, or even Annabelle, then this book will definitely remind you of those movies. A possessed doll with an urge to kill people is the main theme of the story here. However, personally, I hate puppets (I find them creepy as well) and reading this book kind of gave me a whole horror movie vibes as well. The squirrel attack on Louise, sawing off Marc’s arms (which is gory in detail) and many futile attempts to get rid of Pupkin somewhat scared but at the same time, it was kind of funny as well. However, I found myself dwell deep into the story.

Initially I found Louise character annoying but soon she grew into me. I also like how the broken and estranged relationship between Louise and Marc was repaired as the siblings battle together to find answers to why Pupkin was haunted as well as Pupkin’s connection to their childhood house.

If you like watching horror movies Child’s Play, maybe you can try this book out. A perfect read for this spooky season! Worth 3.5 stars!

Grady Hendrix is the author of the novels Horrorstör, about a haunted IKEA, and My Best Friend’s Exorcism, which is like Beaches meets The Exorcist, only it’s set in the Eighties. He’s also the author of We Sold Our Souls, The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, and the upcoming (July 13!) Final Girl Support Group!

He’s also the jerk behind the Stoker award-winning Paperbacks from Hell, a history of the 70’s and 80’s horror paperback boom, which contains more information about Nazi leprechauns, killer babies, and evil cats than you probably need.

And he’s the screenwriter behind Mohawk, which is probably the only horror movie about the War of 1812 and Satanic Panic.

You can listen to free, amazing, and did I mention free podcasts of his fiction on Pseudopod. He also does a podcast called Super Scary Haunted Homeschool.

If you’re not already sick of him, you can learn all his secrets at his website

Title:- The Teacher

Author:- Danielle Stewart

Date published:- 20th October 2023

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 310 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

Daisy sobbed as she pointed at the picture of my darling son. “It was him,” she cried out distraught. “He was the one who attacked me.”

Today all my worst fears came true. I thought I had escaped the dark secrets of my teenage years. But when my son is accused by one of my students of a crime I know only too well, my past comes hurtling into my present.

Surely my beloved son Bryson , my kind and caring boy, who I raised to be nothing like the men of my past, couldn’t be mixed up with – or worse, be – what they are describing. Could he ?

But when Daisy comes to me in the classroom with tears in her eyes, trusting me with her confession, I vow that she won’t suffer the same fate I did. But what can I do? I love my son. I need to believe him no matter what.

As I struggle to know who to believe, the threats begin. Notes on my car, messages saying you will pay for what happened . Just like last time. Only this time I don’t know if I’ll get out of it alive…

Elizabeth is a teacher at a school and while at the school, a girl named Daisy approaches towards her telling her that she was sexually assaulted at a party. Thinking that maybe her son Bryson might also be a part of it as he was also present at the party, Elizabeth tries to help Daisy but then things get a little too far when Daisy files a complaint against Elizabeth.

This was a fast paced thriller and the story divides into Elizabeth, Daisy, Rick (Elizabeth’s husband) and Jules (Elizabeth’s sister) POV. In Elizabeth’s POV the story divides between past and present as the incident of Daisy is eerily similar to what Elizabeth experienced long time ago. There were some twists and turns along the way and many of the characters in this story are all unreliable narrators which makes the story more intriguing and interesting. The ending was unexpected and did not really expected the twist towards the end. This is also an unputdownable thriller that will keep you on the edge. Overall, if you are looking for a thriller that will keep you up all night, then try this one–worth 4.5 stars!

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

Writing is a way to make a lot of different people do exactly what you want them to do. When I can’t get my toddler to listen to me, I turn to my characters. They always cooperate!

I currently live in Charlotte, North Carolina with my husband and seven year old son. I have perfected the ability to write in a noisy house and create story lines while folding laundry.

Ten Things to know about me:

1. I have a fear of whales. All whales. The noise they make. The sight of them (even on tv). I don’t think this phobia has a name and I’ve never met anyone else who feels this way. I blame it on the 3D movie when I was 7 at the Boston Museum of Science. (Thanks Dad.)

2. When I get hungry it brings out the worst in me. My friends and family know to keep me well fed. They pack snacks now.

3. I can cook but not bake. Not even a little. Not even a box of brownies.

4. If there is a song I like it is normal to hear me listening to it a hundred times (give or take) in a row.

5. I do not, under any circumstances, read directions. Who has time for that? Making mac & cheese by the seat of my pants for the last 25 years.

6. Like a black-out drunk, I have lost hours of my life mysteriously to Pinterest. If you haven’t tried it yet… don’t. Save your self.

7. Before I became a mother, lots of things grossed me out. Now nothing does.

8. My favorite food is food… my least favorite food is no food. I love food. (apply the same rule to wine)

9. I do not have a green thumb. I have the kind of thumb that kills any type of plant ever given to me. Whatever kind of thumb that is… I have it.

10. Writing has changed my life. Not just the career it’s created but the way I feel when I write. If you have something you love to do I hope you get the opportunity to do it.

Piper Anderson Series:
Book 1: Chasing Justice (FREE)
Book 2: Cutting Ties
Book 3: Changing Fate
Book 4: Finding Freedom
Book 5: Settling Scores
Book 6: Battling Destiny
Book 7: Chris & Sydney Collection (Choosing Christmas & Saving Love)

Betty’s Journal – Bonus Material (suggested to be read after Book 4 to avoid spoilers)

The Edenville Series:
Book 1: Flowers in the Snow (FREE!)
Book 2: Kiss in the Wind
Book 3: Stars in a Bottle
Book 4: Fire in the Heart (pre-order)

The Clover Series:
(Book 1 & 2) Half My Heart & Change My Heart (FREE)
(Book 3) All My Heart
(Book 4) Facing Home

The Rough Waters Series:
Book 1: The Goodbye Storm(FREE)
Book 2: The Runaway Storm
Book 3: The Rising Storm

The Barrington Billionaire Series
Book 1: Fierce Love (Free)
Book 2: Wild Eyes
Book 3: Crazy nights
Book 4: Loyal Hearts

The Piper Anderson Legacy Mystery
Book 1: Three Seconds to Rush (Free)
Book 2: Just for a Heartbeat
Book 3: Not just an Echo

Stand Alones:
Yours for the Taking
Sweet Rendezvous
Running from Shadows

Title:- The Blue Monsoon

Author:- Damayanti Biswas

Date published:- 24th October 2023

No. of pages:- 394 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

A ritual murder at a Mumbai temple exposes the city’s dark secrets and ravages the personal life of a detective in this sequel to The Blue Bar.

Amid incessant rains pounding down on Mumbai, Senior Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput is called to a shocking crime scene. A male body is found dismembered on the steps of a Kaali temple. Drawn into his flesh are symbols of a tantra cult. The desecration of a body at a Hindu place of worship puts the city on edge and divides Arnav’s priorities: stopping a fanatic from killing again and caring for his wife who’s struggling through a challenging pregnancy.

Then video footage of the murder is uploaded onto the account of a Bollywood social media influencer, triggering twists in the investigation Arnav didn’t see coming. Caste systems at war. A priest under suspicion. And an anonymous threat that puts his wife’s welfare at risk. When more bodies are found, the savagery of the city begins to surface—and Arnav fears that no one is safe from a bigger storm brewing.

This is the second book of the Blue Series by Damayanti Biswas.

PS. If you haven’t read the first book of the series, you may want to read that one before reading this book so you can have an idea of who the characters are and this book happens right after the incidents that happened in Book 1.

The story starts with a body of a dead man found in the temple of Kaali. The strangest of that was that the man’s body was castrated. Inspector Arnav Rajput starts investigating the case and is dwelled into the land of corruption, religious social circles and social media. Meanwhile, his pregnant wife, Tina is getting threatening messages sent through her phone which may or may not be related to the case.

I actually liked this book more than the first book. Like the previous book, the book is set in the city of Mumbai and can definitely see the division between the glamorous life and poverty. There is also the mention of underground mafia men who are deemed dangerous and who seem to be backbone of the story. This was a fast paced thriller, the story divided into Tara, Arnav and Sita’s POVs and there were some twists and turns along the way. The author must have done some research on the Indian police in general, outlining on how some police force like Arnav are trustworthy while other police officers can be corrupted and can be easily bribed. Overall if you like a thriller that is set in the streets of Mumbai and India, then check this book out! Worth 4.5 stars.

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

Damyanti Biswas is an author, blogger, animal-lover, spiritualist.

Her Indian debut literary crime novel You Beneath Your Skin was an Amazon bestseller, and optioned for the screens by Endemol Shine. Her next, The Blue Bar was a number one new release on Amazon, and Publisher’s Weekly, in their Starred review called it ‘an unforgettable, searing portrait of marginalized people struggling for survival’.

Her work has been published in Smokelong Quarterly, Ambit, Pembroke Review, Griffith review among many others in the US, UK, and Australia. She also serves as one of the editors of the The Forge literary magazine.

Be sure to follow Damyanti on Bookbub for the latest on sales and giveaways.

Say hello on Twitter or Instagram : where she loves chatting with readers about books, cake, and existential angst.

If you’d like curated writing advice, book recommendations and slices from her Blue Mumbai universe, sign up for her newsletters at : www.damyantiwrites.com