2022 is soon coming to an end and 2023 is coming soon! I read more than 300 books which include both the ARC and the published books and out of those 300 books, I have selected 30 of the books that are my favorites this year.
Here is my top 10 picks
Peach Blossom Spring- Melissa Fu
2. The Turn of the Key – Ruth Ware
3. One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot – Marianne Cronin
4. The Maid – Nita Prose
5. The Doctor’s Daughter – Shari J Ryan
6. The Girl with the Diary – Shari J Ryan
7. The Lies I tell – Julie Clark
8. Reminders of Him – Colleen Hoover
9. Blood Sugar – Sascha Rothschild
10. She is upto No Good – Sara Goodman
Check out my reviews of these books in the Book Reviewed in 2022 section!
To be honest, frankly, I am not much of a Christmas romance novels but if the book is good, then I will sure read the book. Here are my topic picks to read for Christmas
A Perfect Paris Christmas – Mandy Baggot
Who wouldn’t want to spend Christmas in Paris?
My rating:- 4/5 stars
2. One New York Christmas – Mandy Baggot
Spend the Christmas in New York!
My rating:- 5/5
3. Holiday Romance – Catherine Walsh
Divided between Ireland and Chicago
My rating:- 3/5
4. All I want for Christmas – Maggie Knox
Two competitors in a singing contest fall in love during Christmas
Title:- The Girl With the Dragon Fruit Tattoo (Trouble in Paradise Book 3)
Author:- Carrie Doyle
Date published:- will be published on 31st January 2023
Publisher:- Poisoned Pen Press
No. of pages:- 336 pages
Genre:- Cozy Mysteries
Rating:-
Plot:- 3/5
Writing:- 3/5
Overall rating:- 3/5
Sometimes you have to rock the boat to catch a killer!
On the tropical island of Paraiso, Plum Lockhart has a new zest for life. Her villa rental company is growing like a weed, she’s solved a couple of pesky murders, and things with her long-time crush are finally starting to heat up.
Plum does sometimes miss her sparkly life in the Big Apple, so she’s thrilled when she gets an invite to dinner on the yacht, where she can mingle with famous singers, up-and-coming stars, society swans, and billionaires. After a few hours on the boat, Plum wonders what secrets are lurking beneath the surface.
Two days later, one of the servers from the yacht―a girl with a dragonfruit tattoo―washes up dead, and Plum’s sweet bit of paradise quickly goes sour. As the ship prepares to set sail across the Caribbean, Plum hops onboard to investigate the case, undercover. But the best laid plans turn deadly as it becomes clear that everyone on the boat has a motive and Plum must sleuth out the killer before she becomes the next victim…
When a girl with a dragonfruit tattoo was murdered, the police ask Plum to take up on the invite to board on the yatch. She meets her friend Ellen, and her husband Joel who seems to be flirting with an upcoming actress India and there were others such as Nashelle, Harris, Robert and Suki.
In my opinion, the romance between Plum and Juan Kevin was interesting but then the real story actually started after about 30% of the book. The story wasn’t as interesting but it wasn’t boring either. There were so many short sides where it was left unanswered such as what happened to Juan’s ex wife Victoria the rivarly between Carmen and Alexander and Plum’s business. Things got interested towards the end, which is where finally my interest was piqued. Nonetheless, there were some funny parts in the book that will make you laugh out loud and the characters are also interesting as well.
Overall, this book worth 3 stars. Not as good as the previous books but not bad either.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Poisoned Pen press for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.
Carrie Doyle is a bestselling author of thirteen books. (She also has written under the name Carrie Karasyov.)
THE MURDER GAME was nominated as one of the best YA books of 2021 by Suspense Magazine.
IT TAKES TWO TO MANGO was named one of the best books of 2021 by KING’S RIVER LIFE MAGAZINE.
Her new book, SOMETHING’S GUAVA GIVE just dropped in January 2022.
Carrie checks Goodreads every day and loves it when readers reach out!
Date published:- will be published on 18th January 2023
Publisher:- Bookouture
No. of pages:- 341 pages
Genre:- Psychological thriller
Rating:-
Plot:- 4/5
Writing:- 5/5
Overall rating:- 4.5/5
I emerge from the trees, drenched in sweat, my voice lost as I take in the scene in front of me. The blood. The body. Emma’s eyes meet mine for a second. “It was an accident,” she whispers.
Emma and I were childhood best friends. We did everything together. Until that terrible night in the woods.
I couldn’t tell anyone what I’d seen. We never discussed it, but our bond was too strong; I could never betray my best friend. Even if she had killed someone.
But I also couldn’t stay in town and watch her live a normal life, knowing what she’d done. So I left.
Now, ten years later, I’m back. The guilt and the fear have stayed with me. And I have realized I need to reveal the truth if I’m ever going to move on.
But I never get the chance. Because the day I turn up, Emma is found dead, and the way she died means I start to doubt everything I thought I knew about that night all those years ago.
As my grief turns to anger at all those lost years of friendship, I realise with horror that Emma might not have been the only killer. Someone else is out there. Someone who was close to us both, someone who knew the smallest details of what had happened back then. Who from our small town could have murdered not once, but twice? And who’s next…?
The story starts with Kate returning back to her childhood home after running away from a traumatic event that happened. When she returns back, she finds out that her best friend Emma had died…or murdered. The story goes back and forth with Kate reminiscing the events on what happened on that fateful night and trying to find the reason as why Emma was dead. In the past, Kate witnessed an event, leaving her younger sister Lily traumatized and witnessing Emma murderding someone.
Initially, to me this started a bit slow burn but in the middle of the book, it got interesting with the twists and turns and soon hard to put down the book. The story is mainly told from Kate’s POV and the past event is described in the third person’s narrative. I simply couldn’t put the book afterwards, wanting to know what is going to happen next. The ending…now that was what made me rate this book higher. The ending was completely highly unexpected and twisted that I literally was like OMG. Nevertheless, I cannot believe that this was the author’s debut book and is looking forward to read more of her books in future.
If you are looking for a twisted and unputdownable thriller that will keep you at the edge, then this book is one for you, worth four and a half stars!
Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based om my honest opinion only.
With degrees in Crime Scene Technology & Physical Anthropology, Florida author Shannon Hollinger hasn’t just seen the dark side of humanity – she’s been elbow deep inside of it! She finds writing to be a much cleaner way to spend her time than the autopsy suite. Most days it smells better, too.
Her debut novel, the psychological thriller Best Friends Forever, will be released in January 2023 and is the first of a five-book deal with publisher Bookouture.
Her short fiction has appeared in Suspense Magazine, Mystery Weekly, and The Saturday Evening Post, among a number of other magazines and anthologies, and her story Lady Killer was a finalist for the 2021 Al Blanchard Award sponsored by the New England Crime Bake.
Date published:- will be published on January 6th 2023
Publisher:- Bookouture
No. of pages:- 363 pages
Genre:- Psychological Thriller
Rating:-
Plot:- 4/5
Writing:- 4/5
Overall rating:- 4/5
What if the chance of a perfect life… put your daughter in grave danger?
Being a single mother is tough, but I’d do anything for my little girl Scarlet. I’d given up on my career as a voice actor when the call came, but suddenly I was the new narrator for a secret book from bestselling author Philippa Roberts, who has been missing for eight months. It was a lifeline for me and my daughter.
I hated that it meant leaving Scarlet with my ex in his perfect new home with his perfect new girlfriend. But I knew it was the right thing to do.
But as I start reading Philippa’s new novel, I start to wonder if it’s no coincidence that I’ve been chosen to narrate it. There’s something hidden in the pages of this book, I’m sure of it. Some clue to Philippa’s disappearance. And I don’t feel safe. I think I’m being watched. My room has been searched.
And then my ex’s girlfriend calls in tears and everything starts to click together. If I don’t find answers fast, I’ll lose more than my second chance. I’ll lose my daughter
The Narrator is about a best selling author named Phillipa Roberts who was being kidnapped at the beginning of the book. Eve who is the audio narrator of her books finds out that Phillipa’s wife, Fleur had discovered an unfinished manuscript. Eve was chosen to narrate the book and finds the book gives a clue about her disappearance. Eve was also not happy to leave her daughter Scarlet behind with her ex Hugo and his perfect girlfriend, Saskia.
Unlike her previous books, I didn’t find this book as intriguing as her previous book. Also I didn’t find this book fast paced as her previous book but maybe it was just me. Nevertheless, this book had some twists and turns, the ending was what was a completely unexpected ending. Slater however manage to keep the reader hooked into the book, which I think was a good job. I do like that we got a sneak peak at what the publishing world is really like out there and overall, in my opinion, it was a good thriller book. Worth four stars.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.
im 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
There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying.
When a woman is murdered in Blackdown, a quintessentially British village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Detective Jack Harper is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation. Someone isn’t telling the truth, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.
His & Hers is a twisty, smart, psychological thriller. A gripping tale of suspense, told by expertly-drawn narrators that will keep readers guessing until the very end
I had always wanted to read this book for so long that I am so thrilled when I got my hands on this book. His and Hers is a psychological thriller about a woman and a man with a history.
Anna Andrews is a BBC Broadcaster and when Cat Jones returns back from maternity leave to take back her position as a news correspondent, Anna was devastated. She was then asked to cover about a murder of a woman in a small quaint village. Anna has a history with the village and she happened to know the woman. Meanwhile, DCI Jack Harper, who also happened to be Anna’s ex husband is asked to investigate the murder. The only problem is he happened to know the woman as he had sex with her in his car few hours before she was murdered Now Jack has become a main suspect in the case.
The story is told from both Anna’s and Jack’s perspectives and both of them are truly unreliable narrators which makes the story more interesting. I was at the edge of my seat as I was hooked into the story and there were so many twists and turns that were too unexpected. I like the past that was described in Anna’s POV which gives an insight of Anna’s relationship with the murdered woman. I like how the author manage to make the reader hook into the story and I literally couldn’t put the book down. This book is quiet unputdownable. I have read Rock, Paper Scissors written by the same author and I have to say, His and Hers is by far one of the best books I have read.
Overall, I rate this book as 4.5 stars!
Alice Feeney is a New York Times million-copy bestselling author. Her books have been translated into over twenty-five languages, and have been optioned for major screen adaptations. Including Rock Paper Scissors, which is being made into a TV series by the producer of The Crown. Alice was a BBC journalist for fifteen years, and now lives in Devon with her family. Daisy Darker is her fifth novel.
Author:- Chiang Sheng Kuo (translated by Howard Glodblatt and Sylvia Li Chun Lin)
Date published:- will be published on 3rd January 2023
No. of pages:- 168 pages
Genre:- Literary Fiction
Rating:-
Plot:- 4/5
Writing:- 4/5
Overall rating:- 4/5
This bestseller and winner of every major literary award in Taiwan is an elegiac novel about love and loss, broken dreams and desolate hearts—and music: “A delightful read.”—Ha Jin
A widower grieving for his young wife. A piano tuner concealing a lifetime of secrets. An out-of-tune Steinway piano. A journey of self-discovery across time and continents, from a dark apartment in Taipei’s red-light district to snow-clad New York.
At the heart of the story is the nameless narrator, the piano tuner. In his forties, he is balding and ugly, a loser by any standard. But he was once a musical prodigy. What betrayal and what heartbreak made him walk away from greatness?
Long hailed in Taiwan as a “writer’s writer,” Chiang-Sheng Kuo delivers a stunningly powerful, compact novel in The Piano Tuner. It’s a book of sounds: both of music and of the heart, from Rachmaninoff to Schubert, from Glenn Gould to Sviatoslav Richter, from untapped potential to unrequited love. With a cadence and precision that bring to mind Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nocturnes, and Yasunari Kawabata’s Snow Country, this short novel may be a portrait of the artist as a “failure,” but it also describes a pursuit of the ultimate beauty in music and in love.
This was a short novel, about a man, who is grieving at the death of his wife. He is a piano tuner and as a child, he used to play the piano, playing the likes of Schubert, Chopin and Beethoven but now he is a piano tuner and only gets to play the piano while he is at work.
This book is beautifully written, the story connecting to the themes of classical music. As a piano teacher, I do feel connected to this book and already recognize some of the pieces mentioned in the book. The story itself is written in a lyrical way and is very beautifully woven story and the narration was different as well. Only bad thing about the book is it was a little too short and I wish I can explore more about the relationship between Lin and his wife. Overall this book worth 4 stars.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.
Date published:- will be published on 19th January 2023
Publisher:- Avon
No. of pages:- 336 pages
Genre:- Psychological Thriller
Rating:-
Plot:- 4/5
Writing:- 3/5
Overall rating:- 3.5/5
Her dream job just became her worst nightmare…
My name is Rose, and I work for one of the country’s biggest newspapers. I was the Day Editor. Will Frost was the Night Editor.
When I got to the office, Will had already left. When I left, Will arrived. We were two sides of the same coin.
Last week, Will disappeared from floor 34 without a trace. Now I am the Night Editor.
And I have a feeling I’m next.
Rose was a day editor at a leading newspaper and Will Froz was a night editor. Will Frost works on the 34th floor of the building. Then one night, Will Frost disappears without a trace and Rose, who had been dreaming of getting the night shift, agrees to take the Will’s position…only that her dream job eventually turns into a nightmare.
This book deals with some sensitive issues such as sexual assault and being drugged.
I will start with the ones I like with this book –unreliable narrator (can you really trust the protagonist) which would make a psychological thriller good –plot of the story –realistic parts on how dealing with rape trauma and panic attacks. –knowledge about career
Now the ones I didn’t like –the book itself is a slow burn which is for me not a good thing. –don’t really understand the ending at all–maybe it’s just me but I am confused at the ending. –too many mindless and useless conversations which spoilt the book
Overall, this is a dark twisty thriller and worth 3.5 stars.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.
Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, their lives will change forever.
Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over—especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.
The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud—because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.
Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.
And Kit has a couple secrets of her own—including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.
By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.
Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them… and what they will leave behind.
This is the second book I have read of Taylor Jenkins Reid, and after enjoying reading Daisy Jones and the Six, I decided to read most of her books. Malibu Jenkins was published last year and rumor is this will soon turn into a movie or TV series.
Four siblings, Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit are famous siblings–born to a famous singer Mick Riva who had been absent in the siblings’ lives. Each of them are dealing with their own dramas–Nina’s tennis pro husband Brendan is cheating behind Nina with a fellow tennis pro named Carrie Soto, Hud is in love with Jay’s girlfriend and Kit has a secret. The story sets between the time when Mick met the siblings’ mother June and present, when the siblings are arranging the party of the summer.
Initially, it was slightly boring in the beginning but soon, by about after few chapters, I started enjoying the book. I do like the closeness that is mentioned between the siblings and how the night eventually turned into a disaster. I do like how initially, the siblings overcame difficulties. This story mainly talks about friendship, sibling connection and overall, though this wasn’t as good as Daisy and The Six, I actually did enjoy this one. Worth 4.5 stars in my opinion.
Taylor Jenkins Reid is the New York Times bestselling author of Carrie Soto Is Back, Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones & The Six, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, as well as four other novels. She lives in Los Angeles. You can follow her on Instagram
Date published:- will be published on 13th December 2022
No. of pages:- 329 pages
Genre:- Literary
Rating:-
Plot:- 4/5
Writing:- 4/5
Overall rating:- 4/5
From Melissa Payne, bestselling author of The Night of Many Endings, comes an emotional and suspenseful novel about the weight of secrets and the healing power of friends and family.
Vega Jones escapes an abusive relationship with nothing but her two-month-old baby and the van she grew up in. Her destination is a small Ohio town her late vagabond mother left years ago. It’s one full of nobodies, her mother warned. That makes it the ideal refuge for Vega to lie low, feel safe, and maybe learn more about a past her mother never spoke of.
Vega warms to the town and to new acquaintances like Heff, the young deputy and artist who prefers his yard art to actual policing, and empathetic Eve, a local farmer whose near-death experience gave her more than just her life back. But even in this welcoming community, there’s an undercurrent of something unsettled, talk of a tragedy that unfolded in the woods years ago, and a mystery connected to Vega in ways she couldn’t have anticipated.
As a mother on the run and following a path of mounting risks and illuminating secrets, Vega discovers that even during the darkest of times, there’s light in unexpected places
This is the second book I have read of Melissa Payne and A Light In The Forest deals with some sensitive issues
Vega had enough of her abusive relationship with Zach that she decides to leave him for good and moves to a small town in Ohio where her own mother had left many years ago. While settling down, Vega meets many interesting people–Heff, Eve, Ethan and so on and soon, she gets used to live in the small town and trying to build a life in the town. Meanwhile, in 1995, a girl named Donna is leaving the house from an abusive house and tells the story of how she left the town.
I thought this was a good story. The writing was really gripping and engaging. and there were some parts in my opinion that was too emotional and heartbreaking to read. I do like the switch of POVs between present day and past in 1995. The story itself teaches about the value of friendship and community and so overall, I enjoyed reading the book. Though in my opinion this wasn’t as good as her first book, I enjoyed this book as it was a touching and emotional story. Worth four stars.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.
Melissa Payne is the bestselling, award-winning author of The Secrets of Lost Stones, Memories in the Drift and The Night of Many Endings. Her forthcoming novel is A Light in the Forest. Melissa lives in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains with her husband and three children, a friendly mutt, a very loud cat, and the occasional bear. For more information, visit www.melissapayneauthor.com or find her on Instagram @melissapayne_writes.
Tropical Girl Reads 