Tropical Girl Reads

He went missing when you were sixteen. Was it all your fault?

Trembling with shock, Jodie picks up the old T-shirt. She hasn’t seen it for twenty years. Her boyfriend had been wearing it – her Ben – the day he went missing. The last time anyone saw him alive.

After her dad’s funeral, all Jodie wants is to clear out her childhood home as quickly as possible and get back to life with her son. But a terrifying discovery changes everything she knew about her kind, loving father.

Her boyfriend Ben went missing when they were just teenagers. His parents still stare out the window desperately waiting for him to come home. So how did the T-shirt he was wearing when Jodie saw him walk away from their last date end up in her father’s attic?

The search for answers leads Jodie to an old family friend who knows all her father’s secrets. She can’t shake his questions about her older brother, and the real reason their dad left everything to Jodie, not him. But when a stranger begins to follow her around their little town, and a deadly fire breaks out in her home, it’s clear someone will do anything to stop Jodie finding the truth about Ben’s disappearance. Has Jodie unknowingly put her own son in terrible danger?

Jodie’s boyfriend Ben went missing when Jodie was sixteen years old. But while cleaning out her father’s attic, Jodie finds the old T-shirt that belonged to Ben. Did her father do something to Ben?

This book was a bit slow burn but soon it got interested by the middle of the book. There were some twists and turns along the well that will leave the reader intrigued and put the reader at the edge of the seat. The quest to find the truth with Jodie discovering more about her father’s secrets was a nail biting twist. The plot was interesting and by the middle of the book, it became unputdownable. The ending was what was unexpected but at the same time it was a bit sad as well. The characters in this book seemed to be secretive and mysterious which actually made this book more interesting and intriguing as well. Nonetheless, this was the first book I have read from this author and I will look forward to read more books from this author.

If you like a slow burn thriller, then this one is for you–worth four stars.

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

They’ve taken your friend, but only to get to you. What do you do?
 
Lorraine—“Rainy”—lives at the top of Tiger Mountain. Remote, moody, cloistered in pine trees and fog, it’s a sanctuary, a new life. She can hide from the disturbing past she wants to forget.
 
If she’s allowed to.
 
When Rainy reluctantly agrees to a girls’ weekend in Vegas, she’s prepared for an exhausting parade of shots and slot machines. But after a wild night, her friend Braithe doesn’t come back to the hotel room.
 
And then Rainy gets the text message, sent from Braithe’s phone: someone has her. But Rainy is who they really want, and Rainy knows why.
 
What follows is a twisted, shocking journey on the knife-edge of life and death. If she wants to save Braithe—and herself—the only way is to step back into the past.

Trigger warning:- Cult, Abuse

This is the third book I have read of Tarryn Fisher. After reading The Wives, I never missed a single book of hers. But her two latest novels, The Wrong Family and this lates one An Honest Lie, did not live up to the expectations of The Wives. Though An Honest Lie is better than The Wrong Family, still I thought this novel was OK and not as great as The Wives.

This book is a cocktail mixture of girls’ night out in Vegas with a cult which gives you…well a weird cocktail. And of course, her plots are very unique and weird. The story starts with Lorraine, known as Rainy settling into Tiger Mountains with her boyfriend Grant. Reluctantly, she agrees to go on a girls’ night out in Vegas. Then one of the women, Braithe goes missing and Rainie receives a message from Braithe’s phone…which makes Rainie confront with her past.

The story divides between past and present–Past is told by Summer who is actually Rainie during her teenage years when Summer’s father died and Summer and her mother moved into a cult organization in a remote area. To be honest, Summer’s part was what really drew me into the story and made it interesting, which actually increased my rating. The present is told in Rainie’s perspective, who is also Summer. To be fair, the present is a bit boring. The ending was predictable and kind of feel like watching some mundane action movie that is far too predictable and unrealistic.

Overall, if you like cult based thriller, then this book is one for you. Worth three stars in my opinion.

She has your back.

And may stab you in it.

Wealthy, pampered Susan is living the perfect life in leafy Kingston. She’ll never let anyone see the darkness she’s concealing behind the diamonds and rosé.

Grace is new to the group, seemingly the perfect wife and mum. Yet no one knows the truth of what’s happening behind closed doors.

Loner Natalie hides the pain of her childhood behind a carefully ordered life. But how long can the past stay hidden?

Three unlikely friends, brought together for a weekly class run by beautiful, friendly, instructor, Jade.

But when Jade goes missing in mysterious circumstances, the group starts to unravel. And as their darkest secrets come to light, it seems that no one can be trusted. Even their closest friends…

A heart-in-your-mouth thriller that builds twist after twist, culminating in an unforgettable ending. This shocking, tense and gripping read will delight fans of T.M. Logan, B.A. Paris and Big Little Lies.

This psychological thriller will actually put you on the edge–this was actually really good!

The story starts with Natalie’s roommate, Jade gone missing. Jade, Natalie, Susan and Grace have all met each other at a gym and the story is told from each of these women’s perspectives, dividing between then and now. One of them could be a suspect with their own agenda of wanting Jade gone.

This thriller is actually fast paced which makes it more intriguing and interesting. What makes this thriller more fascinating is the fact that, Natalie, Susan and Grace could be all suspects. Natalie is a very unreliable character with troubled childhood and a problem of sleepwalking. Susan and Grace’s husbands seemed to have had a tordid affairs with Jade which made both the women suspect as well. There were twists and turns, which is a plus sign of a thriller that made the reader wonder who could actually be the suspect and what really happened to Jade. The ending was what left me unexpected and this all made this book a great thriller to read.

If you are looking for twisted thriller which is unputdownable and will keep you on the edge, I would recommend this one–worth five stars!

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

She’s in your home. But can you trust her?

Newly pregnant and down on her luck, Lydia thinks her fortunes have changed when a customer at the café where she works offers her a job and a room in her plush Pacific Heights home.

It’s been years since Iris’s husband Dean died in his sleep and Lydia soon becomes the daughter Iris never had—making her cups of tea, helping her with the bills, and taking charge of Iris’s daily medications now that her memory has begun to fail.

Then one night, someone makes an emergency call from the telephone in the pristine kitchen. The police arrive to find the house has been turned upside down and no sign of Iris or Lydia. Dark and cold, this isn’t the welcoming family home it once was, and why has the telephone line been severed?

As the police unravel what happened that night, they discover a clue in Iris’s past that makes them question whether the two women met by chance after all. But who has everything to lose? And who is really in danger?

This heart-stopping psychological thriller is perfect for fans of Mark Edwards, Minka Kent and Lucinda Berry. As soon as you start reading The House Sitter, you’ll be hooked!

I am having mixed feelings about this book.

Iris Duncan is some seventy year old woman who hired Lydia and Seth as caregivers. Things seem to be going well with Iris considering Lydia as her own daughter.

But then the police receives an alarming phone call from the house where Iris lives and Iris goes missing.

The story started out good–with the start of police receiving the call. However, it soon became slow burn and boring in my opinion that I almost lost in the story. However, the ending was good, which actually made my rating one star higher from 2.5 which I was originally going to give.

Nonetheless, I will look forward to read more books from this author–worth three stars.

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

HAL MUST KEEP GOING OR RISK LOSING EVERYTHING…EVEN HER LIFE.

When Harriet Westaway receives an unexpected letter telling her she’s inherited a substantial bequest from her Cornish grandmother, it seems like the answer to her prayers.

There’s just one problem – Hal’s real grandparents died more than twenty years ago.

Hal desperately needs the cash and makes a choice that will change her life for ever. She knows that her skills as a seaside fortune teller could help her con her way to getting the money.

But once Hal embarks on her deception, there is no going back.

This is the fourth book I have read from Ruth Ware. Although it wasn’t as good as Turn of the Key, nevertheless, I actually enjoyed reading this book.

The story starts with Harriet Westaway, known as Hal. Her mother died from a car accident and Hal is struggling financially as she struggles with paying rent and paying dues from loan sharks. Hal then gets an unexpected letter from a lawyer, claiming that she was set to inherit a house, nestled in the Cornish countryside. The house used to belong to her grandmother, Hester Westaway.

But there’s a problem. Hal’s actual grandparents had died some twenty years ago and she felt that it was a mistake. But she sets to go to the mansion and when she reaches, she realizes that there’s no turning back…

It was actually…creepy. I felt like I was reading some kind of gothic thriller with all these magpies and fortune telling and tarot reading. The descriptions of the house itself gave a creepy feeling, and I fely as if I was watching some kind of horror movie on the TV. But I actually enjoyed reading the book, though it was better than One By One or Woman at Cabin 13 but not as good as Turn of the Key, which left me hooked into the book. However, the ending was totally unexpected and thus, I gave this book a four star reading.

The characters in the story itself was creepy–particularly Mrs. Warren. Hal was somewhat a naive but courageous character and it was great seen how she manage to bond with the Westaway siblings, Harding, Abel and Ezra. The snippets of the letters written by a girl named Maggie will give an insight of what the house was like back in 1990’s before Hal was born.

If you have not read any of Ruth Ware’s thrillers, I suggest you read Turn of the Key before reading this one. I have done a review on Turn of the Key. which you can check it out.