Tropical Girl Reads

Two houses. Two front doors. One family. And we’re going to make it work. Nothing can possibly go wrong…

Today we move into our new houses, right next door to each other. My ex-husband and me. He’s with someone else. So am I.

We’re still the best of friends. We’re making sure we’re not like every other separating couple. We know we will make it work. We’ve even knocked down the fences between the houses, so the children can all run between both homes.

But it seems not everyone likes this big, blended stepfamily. I try to ignore the scary note in the ‘new home’ card, and the red pen scrawled through my divorce paperwork. But I can’t pretend it’s all okay when I’m accused of hurting the person I love more than anyone in the world: my little boy.

Now I can’t help but think someone doesn’t like what’s happening under our two roofs. Or perhaps someone doesn’t like there being a wife next door…

What they don’t know is that they’re messing with the wrong person…

This was such a gripping psychological thriller that I have read that put me at the edge of my seat!

Jess and Rob are divorced but are seeing different partners–Rob is seeing Carol, a single mother to a boy named Mo and Jess is seeing a man named Ben who has a teenage daughter named Ruby. They decided to move to next to each other–their houses right next to each other. Everything seems to go smoothly until Jess finds a threatening note. Soon, things start to escalate and someone clearly is not happy with the arrangement.

From start to finish, it was really engrossing. I like how the climax starts building towards the middle of the book, when Jess’s son Toby shows signs of bruises, prompting the social services to take Toby away. Jess seems to suspect everyone and her relationship with Carol turns sour. I do like the bit of family drama that is in the story coupled with the twisted thriller in the book. The story itself was quite unputdownable and fast paced. The ending was unexpected and I do like the sort of cliff-hanger in the end, wondering if there might be a part two or not and what is going to happen next! Overall, I actually enjoyed reading this fast-paced thriller and would recommend if you like a thriller with bit of a family drama in in it. Worth 4.5 stars!

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

It’s every mother’s worst fear

On a sun-hazed afternoon in the Florida Keys, a child goes missing from the beach. Dr Mirren Fitzpatrick appeals to the world to help find her eight-year-old daughter. The family are on holiday from Ireland, far from home and desperate to return there as they arrived – together.

Yet the police are immediately suspicious of Mirren. She was drinking at a bar – alone – shortly before reporting that her youngest child had disappeared. As rumours abound about Mirren’s past a trial-by-media ensues, and she is turned from a figure of pity to the villain of the piece.

And then a small body is found dumped in the ocean. Is Mirren a heartbroken mother, or the architect of her daughter’s fate?

While on holiday in Florida Keys, a child goes missing. Dr. Mirren Fitzpatrick appeals to the world to find her eight-year-old daughter Alannah but the police soon suspect that she might be responsible for her own daughter’s disappearance as she had been drinking at the bar at the time of Alannah’s disappearance.. Then the body of a small girl was found by the beach…

The story started out slow and normally, I am interested in police procedural stories but this was very different. The police parts were boring. Mirren turned out to be cold and calculating and thus, nearly all the characters in the story to me in my opinion felt boring which actually made me not interest in this book. However, what drew me into the story was the plot and the writing which actually made me read this book more without having to DNF the book. The writing was great. This is her debut book and even though I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I would have liked, I am looking forward to read more books from this author.

Overall, this book worth 3 stars.

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

From the bestselling author of Mrs. Rochester’s Ghost comes the chilling story of a young woman who returns to her haunted childhood home to unravel the deadly mysteries of her family’s past.

Ava grew up in a haunted mansion, envied by all her friends. But when her mother died mysteriously there, the thrills of Blackworth Mansion became nightmares. Ava never accepted that her mother perished from natural causes, but no one would believe her.

Seventeen years later, Ava returns home to unravel the truth of her mother’s death—and her own demons quickly follow. Her estranged and vindictive father may be stalking her. Her secretive new sister-in-law lands on her doorstep with troubles of her own. And then there’s the strange girl who may or may not be haunting the grounds. Even Ava’s romance with her first crush is shadowed by her suspicions.

When Ava makes a terrifying discovery on the property, she must decide just how far into the past she’s willing to go. Some secrets can be deadly—especially the ones Ava’s kept hidden in the dark.

If you like a horror mixed with thriller, then this book will be a perfect choice.

Ava grew up in Blackworth Mansion, which is believed to be haunted. But when her mother died mysteriously, Ava believed that her mother was murdered although no one believed her. Seventeen-years later, Ava returned back to her childhood home. Her vindictive father might be stalking her and her brother married Sarah, a mysterious woman with a past.

It was an OK thriller in my opinion. The first part was slightly boring and the story was told in multiple POVs–Ava, Sarah and a woman named Didi who worked in Blackworth mansion in 2003, the year Ava’s mother died. It was quiet a slow burn in my opinion with a hint of haunted stories about the mansion. The ending was interesting however and the twist at the ending was quiet unexpected.

Overall, if you like a thriller with a horror element in it, this book is one for you. Worth 3.5 stars.

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

Christmas has arrived in Cumbria, and wedding bells are ringing.
But an ice-cold killer is waiting in the fells…

As the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, DI James Walker receives a phone call that puts paid to his Christmas break. During the wedding of the year at a lakeside hotel, the bride’s sister has vanished.

When Rachel left the wedding breakfast before her speech, newly-wed Libby was furious. But as the night went on with no sign of her maid-of-honour, Libby started to realise something was very, very wrong…

Before the wedding night is out, the lake is being searched for a body.

Something old, something new. One guest is a killer. The question is: who?

The most chilling crime thriller you’ll read this winter, perfect for fans of Catherine Cooper’s The Chalet and Simon McCleave’s The Snowdonia Killings – and anyone who prefers their mince pies with a side of murder.

Needless to say, I am actually addicted to this series!

The story starts with a wedding that is held in a hotel during the Christmas week. During the weeding, the bridesmaid, Rachel who also happened to be the bride’s younger sister went missing after a drunken argument. Within few hours, Rachel’s body was found, beaten to death. One of the guests at the wedding must be responsible for the murder and nearly most of the wedding guests had been not getting along with Rachel.

From start to finish, I was really gripped by this thriller. Though it is DI James Walker series, the author somehow introduces all the main characters at the beginning of the story so if you are a first time reader of the series, then you would get to know the characters before hand! I like the fact that the author did a good job of making the reader feel like they are a part of the story and I was really hooked into the story from the start to finish. The ending was completely unexpected and overall, this was a fast paced thriller filled with twists and turns and unputdownable.

If you are looking for Christmas thrillers or love reading Christmas thrillers, then this one is for you–worth five stars!

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

A gripping psychological suspense and a powerful tale of a house that holds a shocking secret.

When Alice and Leo move into a newly renovated house in The Circle, a gated community of exclusive houses, it is everything they’ve dreamed of. But appearances can be deceptive…

As Alice is getting to know her neighbours, she discovers a devastating secret about her new home, and begins to feel a strong connection with Nina, the therapist who lived there before.

Alice becomes obsessed with trying to piece together what happened two years before. But no one wants to talk about it. Her neighbors are keeping secrets and things are not as perfect as they seem…

This is the third book I have read from this author and after I enjoyed reading her debut book, I want to read all her books.

This book wasn’t bad–I would say this was an OK thriller. The story starts with Alice and Leo moving into a new housing compound known as The Circle. They meet and befriend other couples living in the same compound–Tamsin and Connor, Eve and Will, Maria and Tim and the elderly couple, Lorna and Edward. Then soon, Alice learns through a private investigator named Thomas Garinger that the house they live in is a site of a murder–a woman named Nina Maxwell was brutally murdered by her husband Oliver, right inside the house that Alice and Leo live in. And the coincidence of all is, Alice’s dead sister’s name was also Nina. Now Alice is obssessed with finding the truth about what really happened to Nina and whether she can trust anyone around her including her boyfriend, Leo.

To me, this was slightly boring but then in the middle it got interesting. However, I found the characters a little bit annoying and I thought Alice searching for answers and being suspicious was a little bit over the top. The ending wasn’t that surprising. Overall, it was an OK thriller and not as good as her previous books. Worth four stars.

I can’t trust him. I can’t live with him. I can’t let him go.

At my daughter Mabel’s sixth birthday party, there’s a cake with candles, sausages on the barbecue, and the sound of her friends’ excited voices as we open her gifts. But at the end of the day, I hug my daughter tightly, drop a kiss into her shiny brown hair… and leave her with my ex-husband, who won’t even meet my eyes.

After our divorce, Matthew and I wanted to do the best thing for Mabel. We agreed to share the family home, despite living separate lives. Now one of us stays with her, and one of us stays at the apartment across town.

The night of the party, I fall asleep on the sofa, tired and a little sad. When I wake up and stumble into my bedroom, I know immediately something is wrong.

There’s a body in my bed. A man I dated. In an apartment where only Matthew and I have the key.

Would Matthew go this far to be rid of me? I thought I could trust him… but now I can’t be sure.

Or has someone learned the terrible secret that both tore us apart, and tied us together forever?

This is the third book I have read written by Miranda Smith and I wasn’t disappointed!

Synopsis

Matthew and Lillian are divorced but are amicable. After leaving the party, Lillian returns home feeling drunk and when she reaches her apartment, she immediately falls asleep on her sofa. When she wakes up and comes into her room, she feels that something wasn’t right–and she finds a dead body lying on her bed.

Review

To me this was an interesting thriller with an intriguing plot. The story is told in Lillian’s and Matthew’s POV and they are both unreliable narrators in my opinion that you wouldn’t exactly know who is telling the truth. We also know that both Lillian and Matthew are holding a deep secret that involve a death of a person…who is actually connected to the person who was found in Lillian’s bed. Many of the suspects in the story are suspects and we don’t really know who is responsible for the murder. There were twists and turns and the fact that this is a fast paced thriller is a plus point for me. The ending was quite unexpected.

Overall, this was a good thriller packed with twists anfd turns and is quite fast paced. Worth 4.5 stars.

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