Tropical Girl Reads

Title:- Secret Between Friends

Author:- Tracy Buchanan

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

No. of pages:- 253 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

The old house hides her darkest secret—and there’s no running away this time…

Twenty years ago, Liz left Easthaven to escape the memory of one tragic night at Lakewell Manor. Only she and her best friend Tamsin saw what really happened, and in the aftermath they drifted apart. Now she’s forced back after a nasty divorce, with two daughters in tow, the shadows of that terrible night lurking on every corner. With a custody battle looming, she’s one wrong move away from her life falling apart completely.

So when news arrives that Tamsin, too, is returning to Easthaven, Liz fears their reunion will bring the awful truth spilling out into the open. But when she finally meets Tamsin, now mistress of the clifftop house whose locked gates have guarded the friends’ secret all these years, she’s in for a surprise. Tamsin looks different, and she doesn’t remember Liz, let alone what happened that night…

Something is clearly wrong. But confronting Tamsin means reliving the nightmare Liz has been running from for twenty years. Can she risk exposing what happened that night, knowing that the truth will destroy everything?

Twenty years ago, Liz and Tamsin were friends and Tamsin allowed Liz to stay in her house Lakewell Manor.. After an incident, that both friends want to forget, Liz leaves the small town, leaving behind the memories. Now present day, Liz returns back to the small town and is working as a post woman. As she delivers letters, she meets Tamsin again and something is very off about her.

This was a slow-burn thriller but it actually helped me to get hooked into the story. .The story divides between the present and past twenty years ago and I like how the story was engaging and the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story. Towards the middle part only it started getting exciting and that was where I got literally hooked into the story. The twist at the end was completely unexpected and I actually liked the ending. This was the second book I have read form this author and I actually enjoyed reading this book as I was hooked into the story from the first chapter till the end!

Overall this book worth four stars.

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

Hello! Fab to see you here. I live in Buckinghamshire, UK with my husband, my little girl and our (very naughty) puppy, Bronte.

I travelled extensively while working as a travel magazine editor, and have always been drawn to the sea after spending my childhood holidays on the south coast visiting family – a fascination that inspires my writing.

I now dedicate my time to writing and procrastinating on Facebook.

I’d love to hear from you so please come say hi on one of the following platforms… plus if you join The Reading Snug I’ve set up with fellow authors, Kelly Rimmer and Kerry Fisher, you might even bag yourself some freebies including an early copy of my latest novel, The Lost Sister!

Title:- My Lovely Daughter

Author:- R.P. Bolton

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

Publisher- HQ

No. of pages:- 299 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

My precious daughter. You have no idea how dangerous the world is. No idea of the horrors I’ve shielded you from. The things I’ve endured . . . our past.

We’ve been happy. We’ve been hidden. We’ve been safe.

But our perfect life is about to come crashing down.

Because they’ve found me. And they’re about to reveal my darkest secret . . . to you.

I’ll do anything to protect you, darling, because if you knew – I’d lose you forever.

You can never discover what I’ve done . . . or what I’m willing to do to keep you safe.

This was an interesting domestic thriller.

Annie and her thirteen year old daughter Izzy seemed to be having a happy life but then soon, someone seemed to threaten to end this happy life. The message demands Annie to give money and if Annie didn’t give the money on time, the person threaten to tell Izzy the truth. Annie would do anything, to prevent Izzy from knowing the real truth.

The story divides back and forth between present and past. Though there weren’t many twists or turns, the story itself was quite engaging and the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story. Annie seemed to be a courageous character and in my opinion, I like reading the past part more than the present part. Also, the ending to me wasn’t very satisfying but nonethless this was actually a good thriller. Overall, if you are looking for a good domestic thriller that will keep you in suspense then try this book out. Worth four stars.

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

Title:- The Choice

Author:- P.D. Viner

Date published:- will be published on 18th October 2022

Publisher:- Hera

No. of pages:- 336 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 3/5

Writing:- 3/5

Overall rating:- 3/5

To save your life
You must kill the one you love
Can you do it?
Sarah is madly in love with boyfriend Theo, and can’t wait to go on their first weekend away.

But by the end of the first night, Theo is dead. And Sarah has killed him. But she swears she had no choice.

She was forced to kill Theo because of something that happened a lifetime ago … something buried in her past.

Now, Sarah has one week to find the truth of what happened back then and prove her innocence, before she’s turned over to the police.

She’s spent years running from the truth – but now the choices of her past might destroy her future.

A fast-paced, addictive thriller that fans of Gillian McAllister and Linwood Barclay won’t be able to put down.

This thriller is actually a very interesting thriller and is also an action packed thriller.

The story starts with Sarah stabbing a man named Theo and then running away from the police. But there was a main reason why Sarah must have stabbed Theo. Almost fifteen years ago, Sarah who was earlier known as Rebecca was married to Drew, a petty thief and he owed to the Vincent brothers. Vincent brothers would have hired Theo to fall in love with Sarah. Now Sarah is running away from the Vincent brothers in order to save herself and from the police, as the police do not believe her story.

This was in my opinion an OK, thriller. Though the first part was slightly boring, it got a little bit more interesting towards the end. This whole book feel like you are watching some sort of an action movie with Sarah, the main character running away from the gang group so as a result, some of the things that are happening in the book felt unbelievable. Sarah to me felt like an unrealistic character. There weren’t many twists and turns that you would normally expect in a psychological thriller and not very fast paced–it was a slow burn thriller. The writing to me was OK but the author in my opinion did a great job writing a female protagonist. Overall, this is an OK thriller worth three stars..

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

Title:- We Were Liars

Author:- E. Lockhart

Date published:- May 13th 2014

No. of pages:- 242 pages

Genre:- YA/Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 4/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4/5

A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, National Book Award finalist, and Printz Award honoree E. Lockhart.

Read it.

And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

This is one of the hyped books and I was wondering why this book is so much hype. So I got the book and started reading this book.

Here are the things I liked about the book

• The ending was where it hooked me up the entire story.
• The twist at the end was quite unexpected.
• I like the map and the family tree that was written at the front of the book, explaining about Sinclair family and the location of the island, which was very helpful when reading the book.
• Do like the friendship between Johnny, Mirren, Gat and Cady particularly I do like the romantic relationship between Gat and Cindy
• The story was realistic as it talked about racism and white privilege.

However, the story was slightly predictable, knew what was going to happen and the first part of the story was slightly boring.

Overall, this book worth four stars.

E. Lockhart is the author of Again Again, Genuine Fraud, We Were Liars and Family of Liars, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, and several other books. Whistle: A New Gotham CIty Hero is a graphic novel.

Title:- A Doomful of Sugar

Author:- Catherine Bruns

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

Publisher:- Poisoned Pen Press

Genre:- Cozy Mystery

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 4/5

Overall rating:- 4.5/5

First in a new cozy mystery series!

There’s nothing sweet about murder…

Leila Khoury has always believed that everyone loved her father as much as they loved his artisanal maple syrup. But when he’s killed, and she returns to Sugar Ridge, Vermont to take over his business, she starts to realize how much of his life she’s left untapped.

With her brother under suspicion, her mother just barely holding it together, and police not producing any leads, Leila will have to investigate herself if she wants answers about her father’s sticky end. But the more she learns, the more she worries that there won’t be a sappy ending to the story.

A cozy mystery perfect for fans of Joanne Fluke, this edition includes 5 delicious maple recipes for mystery readers with a sweet tooth!

The first book of a cozy mystery series and I always try out the cozy mystery series. A Doomful of Sugar is one of those books, filled with all these recipes of the desserts made with maple syrup that you could try at home.

Leila Khoury returns to the countryside Vermont known as Sugar Ridge, when she heard the news about her father’s death. Her father had left his will–the farm now solely belongs to Leila. However, Leila is determined to find out who actually killed her own father–suspects the own coworkers handsome Noah and Jessica, her own brother Simon and a man named Wesley. And since law enforcement had not produced any leans, Leila along with her friend Hannah must find out who is behind her father’s murder.

This was actually a really good cozy mystery book which I actually enjoyed reading a lot. The descriptions and scenes of farming and extracting maple syrup were interesting to read. I do like how everyone except for her mother and her best friend Hannah seemed to be a suspect under Leila’s eye. The ending at who was responsible for her father’s death was surprising and unexpected. I do like the receipes at the back using the maple syrup which prompts me to try out some. Overall, if there’s a book 2, I cannot wait to read what Leila had in for her next adventure–worth 4.5 stars!

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

Catherine is the USA Today best selling author of the Cookies & Chance mysteries. She lives in Upstate New York with her very patient husband, three sons and several spoiled cats and dogs. She holds a dual B.A. in English and Performing Arts and is a former newspaper reporter and press release writer. Catherine also writes the Italian Chef mysteries, Aloha Lagoon (Carrie Jorgenson) and the Cindy York mysteries. Her book, For Sale by Killer, was a 2019 Daphne du Maurier winner in the category of Mainstream Mystery/Suspense.

Title:- The Missing Widow

Author:- L.G. Davis

Date published:- will be published on October 18th 2022

No. of pages:- 262 pages

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Plot:- 5/5

Writing:- 5/5

Overall rating:- 5/5

I thought we would be safe here. But I was wrong…

My son Clark and I live in a beautiful cabin outside a rural town, somewhere nobody will find us. I could not have found a more perfect place to start over, shielded by the trees and far away from prying eyes. But when I find a newspaper clipping on my porch, it drives fear into my bones. Widow wanted for murder screams the headline. And that’s my face in the picture, circled with red marker. I look out into the forest, but I can’t see anyone. How did they find me? And what do they want?

I don’t know where to run next, or how to make sure my son is safe. And deep down I know the only way I can finally be free is to find out what really happened that night a year ago, when my dear husband Brett died.

I’m sure I didn’t kill him… did I? But that night is a blur, and as I try to prove my innocence, the dark secrets I uncover force me to question everything I believed. The people I trusted most are not who I thought they were. And the person who is coming for me is very close to home…

An utterly heart-pounding and twisty psychological thriller that will keep you up all night. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl, Behind Closed Doors and The Girl on the Train.

The Missing Widow–is about a woman named Meghan who after her husband, who was suffering from cancer was found dead and Meghan becomes the prime suspect. Meghan with her son Ashton then runs away from the small town and moves to another town, under a different name–Zoe and Clark. But almost a year later, Meghan’s past seem to haunt her again.
Did Meghan really kill her husband? Is she really guilty?

This is a nail-bitingly twisted psychological thriller that will put the reader on the edge. The author did a good job with that. The thriller itself is fast-paced filled with twists and turns that you wouldn’t completely expect. The fact that Meghan is possibly an unreliable character and probably may have killed the husband would cast a shadow of doubt on the main character. This is also more like a cat and mouse chase game. The ending of the story was what drew me into the book and I simply couldn’t put the book down. I do like the bit of cliffhanger at the end wondering what on earth is going to happen next.

Overall, if you like a domestic thriller that is quite unputdownable then this book is one for you–worth five stars!

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