Black Cake – Book Review

Title:- Black Cake

Author:- Charmaine Wilkerson

Date published:- February 1st 2022

No. of pages:- 385 pages

Genre:- Literary/Family Saga

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 5/5

We can’t choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become?
In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves.

Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever?

Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.

This is one of the most hyped books and since this book is soon going to be turned into TV series, I have always wanted to read the book. And when finally I got my hands on the book, I was super duper excited to read this one.

I have to say, this was one of the most beautifully written stories I have ever read.

The story starts with two siblings, Byron and Benny who are estranged. They are in California and when they realize their mother had left a will–audio and a black cake, a traditional Caribbean dessert, made with traditional ingredients. As the siblings listened to Eleanor Bennet’s audio, they realize that both their parents have been hiding a very deep secret…with Eleanor starting with the fact that they both have a sister.

The story divides between the present and past set in various different countries and continents–the past starting with the Caribbean and England and the present set in California, England, and Italy. The story mainly talks about loyalty between friends, racism, domestic abuse, sexuality, rape, cultural difference, and above all the complicated relationships between family members. I do like how the book is set in different topics–surfing, oceanography, swimming, cooking, arts…all blended in together. The chapters were short and sweet and so it was quick read as well in my opinion. I do like all the characters, despite the fact that all the characters, particularly, Benny and Byron are very much complicated struggling with their own struggles.

Oh, the way the black cake was made, I really wish I could have a slice of that black cake 🙂

So if you like books about

*Oceanograph, swimming and surfing

*About cooking with different ingreadients around the world and descriptions and details about them

*About realistic racism and sexual abuse

Then this book is one for you. Highly recommend this book for anyone who hasnt read this yet. Worth five stars.

Charmaine Wilkerson is an American writer who has lived in the Caribbean and is based in Italy. She is a former journalist and recovered marathon runner whose award-winning short stories can be found in various UK and US anthologies and magazines. Black Cake (2022) will be her first novel.

The Wrong Bones – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Wrong Bones

Author:- Melinda Leigh

Date published:- will be published on 25th October 2022

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

A frantic chase to catch a grave robber reveals a startling discovery in this tenth installment of the Widow’s Island novella series by Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh.

Deputy Tessa Black spots a man disturbing a grave in the local cemetery and gives chase. But when Tessa catches him, she learns that the ghoulish trespasser wasn’t robbing graves; he was burying a box of bones.

With the help of her fiancé, park ranger Logan Wilde, Tessa discovers that the remains belong to a missing teenager from a nearby island. After the girl disappeared nine months ago, police labeled her a runaway. Now, though, it’s clear the teenager was murdered.

When the only witness is an uncooperative teenager, Tessa and Logan must find the killer before the boy becomes the next target.

This was a gripping, twisty thriller and is the tenth book of the Widow Island series. Although I have not read any of the series, this actually hooked me into the story from the beginning till the end. Since this is a novella, this was a quick read as well. Overall a gripping thriller worth four stars.

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

#1 Wall Street Journal and #1 Amazon bestselling author Melinda Leigh is a fully recovered banker who learned that writing books is way more fun than analyzing financial statements. Melinda’s debut novel, SHE CAN RUN, was nominated for Best First Novel by the International Thriller Writers. Since then, she has garnered numerous writing accolades, including two RITA® Award nominations and an induction into the NJ Romance Writers Hall of Fame. Her novels have sold more than 10 million copies across the world. Melinda loves martial arts, rescue dogs, and sea turtles.

The Quarry Girls – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Quarry Girls

Author:- Jess Lourey

Date published:- will be expected to be published on 1st November 2022

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

Minnesota, 1977. For the teens of one close-knit community, summer means late-night swimming parties at the quarry, the county fair, and venturing into the tunnels beneath the city. But for two best friends, it’s not all fun and games.

Heather and Brenda have a secret. Something they saw in the dark. Something they can’t forget. They’ve decided to never tell a soul. But their vow is tested when their friend disappears—the second girl to vanish in a week. And yet the authorities are reluctant to investigate.

Heather is terrified that the missing girls are connected to what she and Brenda stumbled upon that night. Desperately searching for answers on her own, she learns that no one in her community is who they seem to be. Not the police, not the boys she met at the quarry, not even her parents. But she can’t stop digging because she knows those girls are in danger.

She also knows she’s next.

Jess Lourey’s stories are all based on true events that happened during 1970’s and 1980’s. The Quarry Girls is a novel based on true events that happened in 1977.

I have been following Jess Lourey on Instagram and she puts some blurbs on this book–particularly an interesting fact about serial killers–the fact that there were close to 200 serial killers during the 1970’s and 1980’s, the infamous ones including Ted Bundy, Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer…anyway I am always fascinated with serial killer thrillers and would be doubly interested if the story is based on true events.

In this story, Heather, Maureen and Brenda live in a small town called Pantown in Minnesota. A girl named Beth goes missing from the diner and Heather and Brenda catches Maureen doing some acts with men in a house, one of the men was a police sheriff. Then Maureen was murdered and although the police believe that it was suicide, Heather believed that Maureen might have been murdered by someone from that house. Could Beth’s disappearance connected to Maureen’s death?

This was actually really good. The writing was spot on and reading about Beth’s part was very chilling. The small town where the girls live hold so many secrets and Heather realizes that she has no one to trust including her own father. The story was engaging and thrilling and I actually felt like living in the 1970s as I get to experience what teenage life was like back in the 1970’s. Overall, I enjoyed this unputdownable thriller book which worth 4.5 stars.

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

Hi, folks! While I write across genres, there’s one universal connecting all my books: secrets. I grew up in a house choking with them, and I remain fascinated by the thoughts and actions we hide from the world.

My beginnings as an author were pretty grim, something I speak about in my TEDx Talk (https://youtu.be/a5vSLh3oPXI). I’ve come a long way since that first book, and I’m proud to call myself an Amazon Charts bestselling, Edgar, Agatha, ITW Thriller, and Lefty-nominated, Anthony-winning author of nonfiction, children’s books, YA adventure, magical realism, and crime fiction. I also love to teach creative writing in international workshops.

I live in Minneapolis with a rotating batch of foster kittens (and occasional foster puppies, but man those goobers are a lot of work). You can find out more at jessicalourey.com.

Thanks for checking out my books!

The Break-Up Agency – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Break-Up Agency

Author:- Sheila McClure

Date published:- 4th October 2022

Genre:- Romance

Rating:-

Plot:- 3/5

Writing:- 3/5

Overall rating:- 3/5

Ellie Shaw loves love. Unfortunately, she’s also an expert in break-ups. When a friend needs help with her ‘too nice to dump’ boyfriend, Ellie agrees to help. What she doesn’t expect is for American Dan to be kind, caring, to love dogs and look like a Disney hero. In other words, completely too good to be true.

She lets him down with grace and, encouraged by her friends, sets up Softer Landings, offering kinder, gentler break-ups.

A year later American Dan reappears in her life. With a new girlfriend. One who also decides he’s not the one for her.

The team hatch a plan to let Dan down easy, but while Ellie attempts to lead him gently away, real sparks start to fly. There’s just one big problem she can’t ignore. Can Ellie reveal that their romance is the result of an elaborate con without it feeling like a huge betrayal? Or is she about to star in the most awful dumping of all time?

OK, this was an unusual premise not the typical romance novel.

Ellie Shaw believes in love but is an expert in break-ups. A friend ask her to help to dump a man who is way too nice and Ellie offers her help. She didn’t expect this American Dan to be handsome, but at the same time very nice. Ellie slowly and gently breaks American Dan up with the friend and sets up her own firm that experts on gently and kinder break-ups. But a year later, she meets American Dan once again.

As I mentioned earlier, the plot of the story was unusual but the story was slightly confusing and boring at times. However, I did like the ending, although it was predictable and I do like the characters in the book, particularly Ellie Shaw and American Dan. All in all, if you like a Hallmark romance novel, then this book is once for you–worth three stars.

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

Only Child – ARC Book Review

Title:- Only Child

Author:- Casey Kelleher

Date published:- will be published on October 7th 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 319 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

The police are here. The feeling of pure dread swirls in my stomach as a million scenarios start playing out in my head. My whole life I’ve expected something bad to happen to my daughter. It is as if part of me has been expecting it. As if I deserve it.

Fifteen-year-old Kayla is the apple of her parents’ eyes, their beautiful only daughter. They tried for so long to have her that she was even more precious when she arrived. But deep down, her mother Sherrie has always been terrified that their worst fear would come true: that Kayla would be taken from them.

Then one day – just as Sherrie had dreaded – Kayla fails to return home after a sleepover. In desperation, Sherrie and her husband Richard call Kayla’s friends. They scour the streets, their search becoming more and more frantic. Until the police arrive and deliver the shocking news, when their worst nightmare comes true: someone has their daughter.

As Sherrie and Richard grill friends, family, and even each other, Sherrie starts to wonder, has the secret they’ve been hiding all these years finally caught up with them?

Because Sherrie and Richard are living a lie. A lie so huge, so shocking, that it could destroy the one thing they hold most dear – their daughter.

And if the truth comes out, their family will never be the same. But if it doesn’t, they will never see their precious girl again…

A totally unputdownable psychological thriller that will have you gasping out loud until the very last page. If you love Lisa Jewell, K.L. Slater and T.M. Logan, you’ll be obsessed with Only Child.

Kayla is the apple of her parents’ eye. Sherrie, her mother doted on her but deep inside, Sherrie was holding a secret–a secret that if Kayla finds out, then their relationship will be ruined. And as dreaded, one day, Kayla failed to return and the police then deliver the news confirming Sherrie’s worst fear–someone has her daughter.

This was a fast-paced nail-biting thriller. This was a page-turner, unputdownable as well and the author did a good job of keeping the reader at the edge, making the reader feel like they are a part of the story. The story divides between Sherrie’s POV and a woman named Tessa who maybe the one having Kayla and who is trying to protect herself from someone. Towards the ending, it got more and more intense and the surprising twist at the end was completely unexpected. There’s a a bit of drama particularly between Sherrie and her husband Richard. Overall, this was a fast-paced thriller that will keep you hooked from the beginning till the end–worth four stars!

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

The Goodbye Girls – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Goodbye Girls

Author:- Juliet Domvile

Date published:- will be published on October 11th 2022

Genre:- Literary fiction

Rating:-

Plot:- 2.5/5

Writing:- 2.5/5

Overall rating:- 2.5/5

The first client for two newbie funeral planners is a murdered biker. What could go wrong?

When millennial Aislin Fitzgerald’s professional life implodes, she does the only thing she can think of—she bolts for home. But, for Aislin, home is complicated. Her relationship with her grandmother Letty—her sole relative—is awkward and confrontational, and her hometown is filled with memories and people she has been avoiding her entire adult life.

It’s not all bad, though. A chance meeting with Aislin’s former best friend, Sarah, leads to a niche business opportunity. Noticing how entertained Letty is by attending funerals, they form a funeral planning business, the Goodbye Girls. But things get off to a rocky start when their first gig is for a murdered member of the local biker club, and the prime suspect disappears. While bodies stack up, tensions rise and drinks flow; Aislin and Sarah find themselves leagues out of their comfort zones.

As Aislin learns to navigate living under the same roof as her irascible and, as it turns out, lustful grandmother, she also learns to unclench, trust, and accept love in all shapes and sizes. The Goodbye Girls takes you on an entertaining adventure through the trials of friendship and love—and will have you putting the fun in funeral.

Aislin Fitzgerald professional life as a journalist goes down and she finds refuge by going back home. Her relationship with her grandmother is strained and she didn’t really want to be back in hometown as it gave her bad memories. But a niche business opportunity with her best friend Sarah soon changes everything.

Only thing I like about the book is the author’s style of writing. The story started out interesting at first but it got nearly boring and I almost DNF the book. The ending wasn’t really great either. However, despite the negative reviews, the author’s writing style was great and I do look forward to read more of her books.

Overall, this book worth 2.5 stars.

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

Picture Perfect – ARC Book Review

Title:- Picture Perfect

Author:- Jeevani Charika

Date published:- will be published on 21st October 2022

Publisher:- HQ

Genre:- Romance

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

Niro is a photographer who’s lost the joy of taking photos. Burned by a bad break-up, she’s in desperate need of inspiration.

Vimal is determined to win back his ex-girlfriend. When he hears she’s bringing her new boyfriend on a group holiday, he impulsively declares that he’s bringing a plus one too.

Their mutual friends have the perfect solution: Niro can pretend to be Vimal’s new girlfriend and join the holiday. Imagine the incredible photographs she could take in the Swiss alps…

She’s not thinking about love. He’s thinking about someone else. Can they fake a picture-perfect relationship – or will real feelings get in the way?

Nirosha known as “Niro” is a photographer, dealing with a bad-breakup. Vimal is a banker who is also dealing with a break-up with his girlfriend Kerry and was determined to get back together with Kerry. A retreat organized by Vimal’s boss and having heard that Kerry has gotten a new boyfriend and moving on, Vimal didn’t really want to go to the retreat alone. Then he meets Niro and together with Niro he goes to the retreat pretending to be dating with each other.

Fake dating has become a common trope in many of the romance novels I have read. However, this was different–as both Niro and Vimal are Sri Lankan-British with the Sri Lankan culture fused into the story. So me, being a Sri Lankan is very special to me. I do like how the author had managed to make the story as realistic as possible, the fact that in many Sri Lankan culture, colorism is very important i.e. if you are dark skinned, chances of finding a future husband is grim (if it is arranged marriage that is). There were some parts that were slightly boring but there were some funny parts as well. The story was also predictable particularly the ending, as most romance do have a predictable ending. However, I actually enjoyed reading this book a lot. I also like how the personalities between Niro and Vimal are so very different–one friendly, one serious and did like how the romance developed between the two. I did like the epilogue part.

If you like to read romance book with fake dating trope with Sri Lankan culture blended in it, then this one is for you–worth four stars!

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

Hi. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Jeevani, but you can call me Jeev. Everyone does.

I write women’s fiction and contemporary romances with a hint of British cynicism. I also write under the pen name Rhoda Baxter. So why the two names? Well… I’m British Sri-Lankan and the first book I wrote was about a bunch of middle class Sri Lankan people. I couldn’t find a home for it (even though I got some very nice rejection notes). The next book I wrote was a rom com with white main characters in it. That found a publisher within a year. I chose to use a pen name for those books, for a variety of reasons, including the fact that my real name is difficult to spell and difficult to pronounce and marks me out as non-white. My fifth book also had Sri Lankan main characters. It hasn’t found a publisher yet.

Recently, I got to write a book with Sri Lankan heroine. So it seemed only right for that book to be under my difficult to spell, difficult to pronounce name.

For the record, it’s pronounced Jeev-uh-nee.

There’s a whole lot of other stuff I could tell you – but mainly, I’m a former scientist, a fan of Lego, an embarrassing mum, a part time geek (see ’embarrassing mum’) and a very short person.

A Place To Land – ARC Book Review

Title:- A Place to Land

Author:- Lauren K. Denton

Date published:- will be published on 4th October 2022

Publisher:- Harper Muse

No. of pages:- 336 pages

Genre:- Historical Fiction/Mystery

Rating:-

Plot:- 3/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 3.5/5

A hidden past isn’t past at all.

Violet Figg and her sister Trudy have lived a quiet life in Sugar Bend ever since a night forty years ago stole Trudy’s voice and cemented Violet’s role as Trudy’s fierce and loyal protector. Now, Trudy spends her days making sculptures from found objects and speaking via notes written on scraps of paper, while Violet runs their art shop, monitors the bird activity up and down the water, and tries not to think of her one great love she gave up in order to keep her sister safe.

Eighteen-year-old Maya knows where everyone else belongs, but she’s been searching for her own place ever since her grandmother died seven years ago. Moving in and out of strangers’ houses has left her exhausted, so when she sees a flyer on a gas station window for a place called Sugar Bend, she follows the strange pull she feels and finds herself on the doorstep of an art shop called Two Sisters.

When a boat rises to the surface of Little River in the middle of the night, the present and the no-longer-buried past clash, and the future is at stake for Maya, Violet, and Trudy. As history creeps continually closer to the present and old secrets come to light, the sisters must decide if it’s time to face the truth of what happened forty years ago, or risk losing each other and newly formed bonds with those they’ve come to love.

Maya after her grandmother died moved from place to place until she comes to Sugar Bend and meets the two sisters, Violet and Trudy. The story is set in the south.

I really like the writing–the descriptions of the community makes the reader give a vivid image in mind of what the place is really like. I like the characters as well. However, in my opinion, it was slightly a little slow burn to me but the ending was good. Overall this worth 3.5 stars.

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

Southern grit and grace + humor, hope, and love

Lauren K. Denton is the USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts bestselling author of THE HIDEAWAY, HURRICANE SEASON, GLORY ROAD, THE SUMMER HOUSE, and THE ONE YOU’RE WITH. Her next novel, A PLACE TO LAND, releases in October, 2022.

The Good Wife – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Good Wife

Author:- Ellery Kane

Date published:- will be published on 25th October 2022

Publisher :- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 366 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

When the cops pull up outside our modest family home and walk up our lawn strewn with our daughter’s toys, I turn to see the look on my husband’s face, and I know he’s done something wrong. In that moment, I have no idea how bad it is, or that I will end up doing something much, much worse…

All marriages have their challenges, right? But as I watch my husband being put into the back of a cop car, I find myself wondering if I ever knew him at all. Could handsome, easy-going Theo really have killed a girl on our block? Could I have got the sweet, loving father, who makes up lullabies to sing my baby to sleep, so wrong?

Most women would leave him—take their child and run for the hills. But not me. Theo and I have been together a long time. I know his secrets. And he knows all of mine. Well, most of them. I’m the best lawyer in this town and I’m his only chance. So I choose to defend him, whatever the cost.

When I learn more about the young woman found dead in a dumpster outside of my husband’s music studio, I feel my heart pound in my chest. I know her, and I know how close she was to my husband. As a local nanny, they often bumped into each other at the children’s playground, and he even invited her over for dinner once. Was I wrong to be so trusting? And why did he lie about where he was the night she was killed?

As the police begin to pick apart our relationship, they don’t paint a pretty picture, and even some of our so-called friends begin to tell stories. It feels like my whole life has been a lie.

Can I really trust the man I love?

And when push comes to shove, can he trust me?

This was actually a very interesting and gripping psychological thriller.

The story starts with Cass and Theo who seemed to be having a happy married life with their eighteen-month-old daughter Abby when the police arrest Theo for the murder of Elise. Cass is a lawyer and even though the evidence are mounting against Theo, she chose to defend her husband even after finding out that Theo and Elise had been having an affair. Can Cass trust her husband?

From start to finish the story was gripping and the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story. This was fast paced, and the story divides between the present and the past when Theo met Elise. What made it more interesting in my opinion are the court scenes. The story is mainly told by Cass’s point of view. The ending and the most unexpected twist at the end made me rise this book an extra star–totally unexpected twist! Overall, I enjoyed reading this domestic thriller as it was one hell of a roller coaster ride I had with this book.

If you like a good domestic thriller with a part where the wife defends the husband, then this book is highly recommended–worth 4.5 stars!

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

Forensic psychologist by day, novelist by night, Ellery Kane has been writing–professionally and creatively–for as long as she can remember. Just like many of her main characters, Ellery loves to ask why, which is the reason she became a psychologist in the first place. Real life really is stranger than fiction, and Ellery’s writing is often inspired by her day job. Evaluating violent criminals and treating trauma victims, she has gained a unique perspective on the past and its indelible influence on the individual. And she’s heard her fair share of real life thrillers.

Ellery lives in the San Francisco Bay Area of ​​California, a picturesque setting that provides the backdrop for many of her novels. If you don’t find Ellery interviewing murderers behind prison walls or pecking away at her latest novel, she is probably at the gym landing a solid jab-cross to a punching bag; riding bicycles with her special someone; or enjoying a movie the old-fashioned way–at the theater with popcorn and Milk Duds.

Ellery was previously selected as one of ten semifinalists in the MasterClass James Patterson Co-Author Competition and is the author of the Doctors of Darkness, Rockwell and Decker, and Legacy Series, with two standalone thrillers from Bookouture coming in 2022.

The Ex Wives – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Ex Wives

Author:- Jenna Kernan

Date published:- will be published on 10th October 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages;- 371 pages

Genre- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 3/5

Overall rating:- 3.5/5

wo ex-wives. Two missing girls. Will yours be next?

Pulling a batch of my husband’s favourite golden oatmeal cookies from the oven, I smile to hear my daughter Phoebe playing in the treehouse outside. I was once so close to losing everything, but since I married handsome Jackson, I have a perfect life. Jackson might tell me what to wear, but he just likes to buy me nice things. He says I don’t need a job, and why would I want one? I can spend all day taking care of Phoebe and running errands in the fancy car Jackson gave me—he knows everywhere I go, and I love how much he wants to keep me safe.

But my whole world shatters when I find out Jackson is a liar.

He never mentioned he was married before—twice.

I love him so much. But how can I trust him now? Desperate for answers, I search our pristine house top to bottom. I thought Jackson was caring: but is it a way to control me?

When I track down his ex-wives, I see fear in their eyes. Both these women had little girls just like me. And when they left Jackson, their daughters went missing.

Devastated I’ve put Phoebe in danger, I have no choice but to find the truth about those poor girls. To protect Phoebe, I must pretend to still be the perfect wife, even though fear floods through me at Jackson’s touch.

But how far will I have to go? And what will happen to me and my sweet child if my husband finds out?

Elana is happily married to Jackson and Jackson acts as a doting stepfather to Phoebe. To an outsider, the family is picture perfect family. But soon, Elana learns a dark secret about Jackson–Jackson had lied to her, he had married before twice and his daughters are missing. Now Elana wondered if she and Phoebe are same.

This was a slow-burn thriller although towards the middle of the book, the book started getting fast-paced and started getting more twists and turns. You have a controlling husband, money, power and privilege all played out and for Elana, it felt like a complete Cinderella theme. This was all too direct to me, already predictable and would know what is going to happen in the end so I would say not much twists and turns you would normally expect in a good psychological thriller. The characters to me feel like moaning and bland although I started liking Elana towards the end. The ending part wasn’t bad as I predicted that this was what was going to happen next. Kind of had Behind Closed Door by B.A Paris vibe in this book.

Overall, if you like a slow burn domestic thriller then this one is for you–worth 3.5 stars.

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

Publishers Weekly bestselling author Jenna Kernan is a Silver Falchion nominee and winner of the Book Buyers’ Best award. Her new gripping crime thrillers feature a criminal psychologist, and daughter of an infamous female serial killer, facing a series of murders in Florida. Look for A Killer’s Daughter and The Hunted Girls, out now. Jenna is a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Florida Mystery Writers and Novelists, Inc. A natural redhead living with her husband on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Jenna has recently increased her sunblock to SPF 50.