The Love Hypothesis – Book Review

Title:- The Love Hypothesis

Author:- Ali Hazelwood

No. of pages:- 383 pages

Date published:- September 14th 2021

Publisher:- Berkley

Genre:- Romance

Rating:- 3.5/5 stars

When a fake relationship between scientists meets the irresistible force of attraction, it throws one woman’s carefully calculated theories on love into chaos.

As a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith doesn’t believe in lasting romantic relationships–but her best friend does, and that’s what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to a happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees.

That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor–and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford’s reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive’s career on the Bunsen burner, Adam surprises her again with his unyielding support and even more unyielding…six-pack abs.

Suddenly their little experiment feels dangerously close to combustion. And Olive discovers that the only thing more complicated than a hypothesis on love is putting her own heart under the microscope.

Last year, this book, The Love Hypothesis is the most talked and hyped books. I just wondered why there is so much hype about this book that I bought this book on Amazon.

OK, I know I am not really a romance novel fan though I have read good romance novels before. But honestly, I didn’t find much hype on this book (PS for those who have read and enjoyed this book–don’t hate me)

Olive Smith is a graduate student at Stanford University. By chance, in order to prove her friend that she can date, she kisses a man. That man was no other than Dr. Adam Carlsen who was one of the “well known” ass, who criticize his students’ works. Soon, the two embark on a fake dating scene.

Let’s start with the good things about this book

  • I do like the whole science setting in this book–this reminded me of my undergraduate days as a biomedical student (a bit similar to Olive and Adam) and it was very rare I have read a book in such a setting–which made it more unique. The fact that Olive is in STEM program also made me reminice my days as a biomedical student.
  • There were some funny parts in the story that will make you laugh out loud particularly the scenes between Olive and Adam and between Olive and her friends, Malcolm and Ahn.
  • The writing was in my opinion good. The plot was OK.
  • The fact about Olive’s mother dying from cancer and that she wanted to research about pancreatic cancer was touching and sensitive issue

Now before I begin the bad points, let’s be warned

Trigger warning:- sexual assault, death from cancer.

Now the bad points

  • Overall as a story this was lame. I felt like I was watching an unrealistic cheesy rom com on the TV which I didn’t enjoy much.
  • In my opinion, covering the sex scene in whole one chapter was cringe worthy. I mean, i skipped the whole chapter of the sex scene because I felt it was so explicit. That lowered my rating as a whole. Honestly, if the sex scene wasn’t there, this book would have been great.
  • The fact that this was based on a fan fiction of Star Trek made my rating a little lower.
  • The sunscreen situation, sitting on Adam’s lap during the conference…all seemed too unrealistic to me in my opinion.
  • The only description of Adam was “tall”, “big” and “dark hair” and Olive was “skinny” and “short”. The personalities of both the main characters are bland in my opinion particularly Adam. I know Adam is supposed to be broody and all but his personality was not described properly in the book.
  • Olive accidentally kissing the professor in the first part of the book–that scene was so unexpected and unrealistic.
  • The story as a whole was predictable.

Nonetheless, I don’t mind reading Ali Hazelwood’s book but in my opinion, The Love Hypothesis is just an OK romance book. Maybe it was just me, but it was OK in my opinion. But for ones who love fake dating theme in books with unrealistic settings that is more like Hallmark movie, this book is one for you. Worth 3.5 stars!

Ali Hazelwood is a multi-published author—alas, of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. in neuroscience. She recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies her. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, crocheting, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her two feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).

Gone To Her Grave (Detective Madison Harper series Part 4) – ARC Book Review

Title:- Gone To Her Grave

Author:- Wendy Dranfield

Date published:- will be published on 13th April 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

No. of pages:- 364 pages

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

In the golden morning light, a beautiful young woman lies diagonally across the bed, dressed for a night out, her long lashes pressed against her cheeks as if she’s sleeping. But the crimson that creeps across the sheets tells the story of an innocent woman who has drawn her last breath…

Detective Madison Harper is pulled away from Thanksgiving preparations when a local care worker, Terri Summers, is found dead in her home on the outskirts of Lost Creek, Colorado. Terri’s inconsolable mother can’t understand who would hurt such a kind soul who had dedicated her life to helping others. But analysis of the blood spatter at the scene indicates Terri knew her attacker, that she looked them right in the eye before her life was taken.

The awkward way Terri’s body is positioned catches Madison’s attention. Carefully moving her, she finds a bracelet—possibly a child’s—with a single red bead clenched in the woman’s fist, as if she was hiding it. It’s the lead Madison so desperately needs, but the sudden death of one of her own team sends the investigation into a tailspin.

With her coworkers crumbling around her, Madison must work day and night to trace the bracelet and crack the case. But when she’s dragged back into the disappearance of a woman and child from years ago, and finds a link to someone in her own family, can Madison stop this twisted killer before another precious life is taken? And at what cost?

Detective Madison Harper is back with another case!! This is the fourth book of the Detective Madison Harper series.

Terri Summers was found dead with a single gun shot wound on her head. The initial suspect was her boyfriend, Troy but Detective Madison Harper soon finds out that Troy may not be responsible for the murder. Then she finds out that her colleague, Detective Douglas had committed suicide but eventually, when doing further autopsies, there was no gun powder residue on his fingers, which implied that he may have been murdered as well. Meanwhile, Nate was given to solve the cold missing case of Vince’s wife, Ruby and the grandson Oliver who disappeared few years ago. But when Nate was rundown my a vehicle, Madison realize that Ruby’s disappearance is connected to the murders of Terri and Douglas. Madison must find the killer before it’s too late.

I have so much good points about this book. Wendy Dranfield is a talented psychological thriller author–I read her standalone novel The Birthday Party which had me hooked into the story from the beginning to the end. Same goes to this as well. A page turner, unexpected twists and thrills along followed by an unexpected twisted end! I was literally kept at the edge of my seat as I was reading this book and almost stayed up all night reading the book!

If you haven’t read Madison Harper series yet, I suggest you read from the first book as some past revealations are mentioned in the book, so as a reader you would not be completely lost.

Overall, a page turner that will keep you up all night–worth five stars!

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

Lakeview House – ARC Book Review

Title:- Lakeview House

Author:- Helen Phifer

No. of pages:- 483 pages

Date published:- will be published on 8th April 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:- 2.5/5

Icy water laps against the wooden jetty. But the girl doesn’t notice the cold as she slips slowly under the freezing surface…

Running from a devastating relationship that almost cost her everything, Maddy Hart impulsively accepts a job as a live-in caretaker at imposing Lakeview House. She has no memories of having visited the crumbling mansion on the banks of Lake Thirlmere before, but when she arrives, something about the house feels familiar…

The more time Maddy spends in the house, the more unsettled she feels. Why does the local story about the last woman who lived here, who drowned on her wedding day, chill Maddy to the bone? By day, she clears out the dusty rooms, but in the dead of night it’s hard to explain away the eerie noises or crackly radio she hears hours after she turned it off. Slowly, Maddy begins to fear that her worst nightmare is coming true, has her past caught up with her…?

When a soaking wet wedding dress is left on Maddy’s doorstep she feels completely trapped. It is her exact measurements. Is her ex trying to send her a message? Or has Maddy’s digging uncovered an even deadlier secret? Will this perfect escape become the perfect trap?

Ever since I got fascinated with Detective Morgan Brooks, Helen Phifer has become one of my favorite authors. So I requested Lakeview House written by Helen Phifer and Lakeview House is actually a standalone novel.

Maddy moves to a dilapidated-looking house overlooking the lake, leaving behind bustling London and her abusive boyfriend,. She then meets Seth who lives around the area. While Maddy gets used to living inside the lakeview house, there is a serial killer out there, who has hidded a body close to the house. Meanwhile, Maddy’s ex- boyfriend Connor is determined to get back at Maddy…

There are good points and bad points in the books. Let’s start with good points

  • The writing was really great–Phifer’s writing is engaging.
  • The plot of the story is really great that was the main reason why I was drawn into the book.

Now the bad points.

  • OK, the characters in the story are messed up–I mean Stella, who is Maddy’s friend literally end up flirting with Maddy’s ex-boyfriend Connor. Characters are all bland.
    *If this is a thriller, this wasn’t a fast paced thriller like I would have expected normally from her books. The story was direct, not much of twists and turns that you would expect in a thriller, I was bored in the first part of the book.
    *The ending was predictable and I felt like I was watching some sort of lame crime show on the TV.
    *Dreams that Maddy is seeing seemed to be unnecessary in my opinion but maybe that was just me.

Overall, this is a slow burner, not really a page turner in my opinion. I hate to say, this wasn’t really her best book.

Worth 2.5 stars

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

Helen Phifer is the #1 Bestselling crime and horror novelist of the Annie Graham, Lucy Harwin and Beth Adams series. Helen lives in a small town in Cumbria. Surrounded by miles of coastline and only a short drive from the beautiful Lake District. She has always loved writing and reading since the days she learnt how to in infant school. She loves reading books that make the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and make her afraid to go to the toilet, alone in the middle of the night. She is eternally grateful to Stephen King, Dean Koontz, James Herbert and Graham Masterton for scaring her senseless in her teenage years. Unable to find enough of the scary stories she loves to read, she decided to write her own.

Her debut novel The Ghost House was released October 2013 and introduced readers to police officer Annie Graham. It went on to be an Amazon #1 bestseller in Canada. It reached #1 on the Amazon Contemporary Horror Charts in both the UK and the US, pushing her idol Stephen King off his #1 spot many times. She was thrilled when the second book in the series The Secrets of the Shadows managed to push The Ghost House off its #1 spot even if it was a little surreal. This was followed by The Forgotten Cottage, The Lake House, The Girls in the Woods and The Face Behind the Mask.

The Good Sisters is a standalone old, fashioned horror story which Helen admits scared her so much when she was writing it that she couldn’t write once it got dark. Set in an abandoned convent it will definitely give you the chills.

March 2017 saw the publication of Dark House, a gripping psychological thriller which introduced readers to the dangerous world of Detective Inspector Lucy Harwin. This was followed by Dying Breath and Last Light.

The Haunting on West Tenth Street is a supernatural thriller set on the streets of New York and features Homicide Detective Maria Miller.

Her brand new series featuring Forensic Pathologist Beth Adams is published July 16th 2019

214 Palmer Street – ARC Book Review

Title:- 214 Palmer Street

Author:- Karen McQuestion

No. of pages:- 277 pages

Date published:- will be published on 6th April 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:- 2.5/5 stars

A house with a secret. A woman with nothing to lose.

When Maggie sees the beautiful Venetian blinds moving in the Caldwells’ front window, she freezes. Her favorite neighbours Cady and Josh are away, so who is in their house?

The pretty young woman who answers the door tells a convincing story. She’s Sarah. The house-sitter. Just here for a month. An old friend of Cady’s who needed a place to stay. She’s pleasant and warm, and Maggie wanders back to her house thinking she might have made a new friend. Yet she can’t help but wonder why Cady never mentioned Sarah.

What Maggie doesn’t know is that on the other side of the door, Sarah is starting to panic. No one was meant to see her at 214 Palmer Street…

An unputdownable psychological thriller from number one bestseller Karen McQuestion, which will make you question what secrets your own neighbors are hiding… For fans of The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window and Gone Girl.

The plot line sounded interesting…but the story as a whole was not really appealing to me.

Maggie is a neighbor living across from one of her favorite neighbor’s house. But when she sees someone in the house, she couldn’t believe it as the neighbors had gone for a vacation. When she approaches towards her, the woman is introduced as Sarah and told Maggie that she was housesitting for the family. Maggie believes her…but Sarah panics as no one was supposed to see her…

Initially, this started as a slow burn to me. It was boring and not very fast paced like you would normally expect in a thriller. In the middle of the book however it got a little interesting. The ending was predictable and not much of twists and turns you normally would expect in a thriller. Overall, in my opinion it wasn’t really a good thriller that will keep you on the edge. Worth two and a half stars.

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

Click on the Follow link to be notified of Karen’s new releases!

Karen McQuestion is an Amazon Charts bestselling author who’s written more than twenty novels and has sold over two million books worldwide. She’s also the co-host, (along with USA Today bestselling author Tess Thompson), of the popular podcast, BEHIND THE BOOK.

Her publishing story has been covered by the Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, and NPR and she has appeared on ABC’s World News Now and America This Morning. McQuestion’s books share common themes of connection and kindness. She lives in Hartland, Wisconsin.

From Karen: To be notified of giveaways and book news, please sign up for my email newsletter at http://www.karenmcquestion.com

The Younger Wife – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Younger Wife

Author:- Sally Hepworth

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

Publisher:- Hodder and Stoughton

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

No. of pages:- 353 pages

Rating:- 4.5 /5 stars

The moment she laid eyes on Heather Wisher, Tully knew this woman was going to destroy their lives.

Tully and Rachel Aston are murderous when they discover their father has a new girlfriend. The fact that Heather is half his age isn’t even the most shocking part. Stephen is still married to their mother, who is in a care facility with end-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Announcing his plan to divorce and then remarry, the news of Stephen and Heather’s engagement sets a chain a family implosion. With their mother unable to speak for herself, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family’s secrets and what this new woman really wants.

Heather knows she has an uphill battle to win over Tully and Rachel, all the while carrying the burden of the secrets of her past. But, as it turns out, they are all hiding something.

A garage full of stolen goods. An old hot-water bottle stuffed with cash. A blood-soaked wedding. And that’s only the beginning . . .

I was super excited when I got approved for the ARC of Sally Hepworth’s book–The Younger Wife!

Honestly, I haven’t read any of her books yet but I have heard so many raving reviews about her books that I was curious about it.

Tully and her sister Rachel gets a surprise when their father introduces Heather, who was a therapist for their mother Pam who had dementia. It was a whirlwind of divorce followed by the unexpected announcement of wedding plans and engagement. Both Tully and Rachel decides to find the family’s secret when Rachel comes across a bottle filled with money and the name of a woman named Fiona Arthur. And they want to find more about their new younger stepmother, Heather.

The story is told from Tully, Rachel and Heather’s points of views. Each character has a unique characteristic and is going through some trouble–Tully’s husband Sonny became bankrupt and Tully suffers from being a kleptomaniac, Rachel loves baking and Heather had come from an abusive family. The story starts with a scene of the wedding, narrated by a mysterious person who is the uninvited guest and who noted down the expressions of Tully, Rachel and Heather. After the ceremony, a scream is heard and then the story shifts to one year earlier. The scene changes back and forth to the past and present, past told by the perspectives of Tully, Heather and Rachel until to the day of the wedding. All three of them are complex characters and the two daughters seemed to have a complex relationship with their father. This was also fast paced thriller as we have no idea who got hurt at the wedding and who screamed and the author did a good job of putting the reader to the edge of the seat as the reader would want to know what was going to happen next. There were twists with secrets revealed and the ending…boy the ending was completely unexpected! Totally blew me away!

If you like a really good psychological thriller that will put you at the edge of the seat, then this one is for you–worth 4.5 stars!

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

Sally Hepworth is the bestselling author of The Secrets of Midwives (2015), The Things We Keep (2016) The Mother’s Promise (2017), The Family Next Door (2018) and The Mother In Law (April 2019). Sally’s books have been labelled “enchanting” by The Herald Sun, “smart and engaging” by Publisher’s Weekly, and New York Times bestselling authors Liane Moriarty and Emily Giffin have praised Sally’s novels as “women’s fiction at its finest” and “totally absorbing”.

Sally’s novels are available worldwide in English and have been translated into 10+ languages.

​

Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and three children.

The Maid – Book Review

Title:- The Maid

Author:- Nita Prose

No. of pages:- 346 pages

Date published:- January 20th 2022

Publisher:- Harper Collins

Genre:- Dark Humor

Rating:- 4.5/5 stars

I am your maid.
I know about your secrets. Your dirty laundry.
But what do you know about me?

Molly the maid is all alone in the world. A nobody. She’s used to being invisible in her job at the Regency Grand Hotel, plumping pillows and wiping away the grime, dust and secrets of the guests passing through. She’s just a maid – why should anyone take notice?
 
But Molly is thrown into the spotlight when she discovers an infamous guest, Mr Black, very dead in his bed. This isn’t a mess that can be easily cleaned up. And as Molly becomes embroiled in the hunt for the truth, following the clues whispering in the hallways of the Regency Grand, she discovers a power she never knew was there. She’s just a maid – but what can she see that others overlook?

Escapist, charming and introducing a truly original heroine, The Maid is a story about how the truth isn’t always black and white – it’s found in the dirtier, grey areas in between . . .

This is one of the most hyped debut books and I was super excited when the audiobook version was on the Scribid.

Here’s the thing–I strongly suggest for those of you who haven’t read this book yet to use audiobook rather than buying the actual book. The narrator did a good job telling this story and I feel because of the audio book only I was able to get into the story.

Molly Gray is a maid working in the fictional Regency Grand Hotel. She cleans the room to perfection with no specks of dirt or dust lingering around. She is lonely after her grandmother died, she is according to her colleagues “weird” and “creepy”.

She is just a nobody…until one day, she was thrown into the spotlight when an esteemed guest, Mr. Black was found dead in his suite. Then comes the story.

Molly is just a maid…but now one knows that she knows deep and well about secrets that is going on in the Regency Grand Hotel.

I have to say, Molly has become one of my favorite characters in the story and she was the reason why I became engaged into the story. Molly’s character reminded me a little of Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory (if you have watched Big Bang Theory) and how Molly seemed to be the type of person that people don’t really understand or have difficulty to understand. The whole story is told by Molly’s perspective and I do like the author’s way of writing–how she used different adjectives to describe the places and cleanliness “pristine clean”. There were favorite lines in the books or maybe quotes like “I’ll never understand it — why people find the truth more shocking than lies” and “People are a mystery that can never be solved”. I like Molly’s relationship with her own grandmother, where she would tell it in flashbacks and Giselle, the widow of Mr. Black.

There are some funny parts in the book that will make you laugh–Molly is really a funny character. The ending was a bit unexpected but honestly, I was sad when I had to say good bye to Molly when I finished the book–Molly really grew into me.

If you like a funny book that will make you laugh with a crime in the background, then this book is one for you–worth four and a half stars!

Nita Prose is a longtime editor, serving many bestselling authors and their books. She lives in Toronto, Canada, in a house that is only moderately clean. Visit her at nitaprose.com or on Twitter: @NitaProse.

The Devil’s Playground – ARC Book Review

Title – The Devil’s Playground

Author:- Charly Cox

No. of pages:- 343 pages

Date published:- will be published on 13th April 2022

Publisher:- Hera Books

Genre:- Thriller

Rating:-

From behind her came a noise, and she whirled around. Two pairs of cold, murderous eyes stared back at her from beneath hooded cloaks. She stood cemented in place, even as her brain screamed at her to run…

It’s their usual Thursday girls’ night in, and best friends Skye, Elena, and London are enjoying hanging out at Skye’s house in New Mexico, eating junk food, drinking wine, and playing with Skye’s little children, Carter and Abigail.

Until the intruders arrive.

Hearing the horrific screams from Elena and Skye, London hides the children, tiptoes out to see what has happened… and disappears.

After Carter raises the alarm, Detective Alyssa Wyatt is called in to investigate a bloodbath that appears to have no motive, no evidence, and worse still – no sign of London.

As Alyssa and her team dig deeper, the truth is always out of their reach… but what is clear is that they need to find London, and fast.

And as they uncover a link between the murders and a sinister local cult, can Alyssa find the young woman who has vanished without a trace – before London joins the list of victims?

Meet Detective Alyssa Wyatt. Mom, Wife… and a serial killer’s worst nightmare.

An utterly addictive, dark and twisty detective novel with a twist that will leave you gasping. If you’re a fan of Kendra Elliot, Lisa Regan or Angela Marsons, you’ll fall in love with Charly Cox’s stunning detective series.

Detective Alyssa Wyatt is back with another adventure!!!

Skye, Elena and London are having their girls night out on Thursdays. But their usual girls night out is interrupted when two intruders enter and brutally kills Skye and Elena and kidnaps London. The only survivors of the torment were Skye’s children, Carter and Abigail who witnessed the entire scene. Detective Alyssa Wyatt and her partner Detective Cord were set to investigate the case and they find more disturbing things about the murder cases, including a Satanic cult involved in the case.

From start to finish, I was literally hooked into the story. The story was fast paced filled with twists and turns that you wouldn’t expect. I was on the edge of the seat as I was reading this book and the author has done a good job of drawing the reader into the story. The torture scene the ordeal London the third victim was going through was actually disturbing to read but nonetheless and in a disturbing sense, that’s what made the story more interesting!!! I was anyway glad that London got saved in the end and that the perpetrators were caught, although I didn’t expect those particular characters were the perpetrators.

In all, if you love an unputdownable, twisty thriller that will keep you on the edge, then this book is one for you. Do you have to read from the first? Suggestable but you can choose not to. Worth five stars!

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

Born in the South, raised in the Midwest, Charly now resides in the Southwest in the Land of Enchantment, Green Chile capital of the world, which is good because she enjoys eating copious amounts of the spicy food. When she’s not reading, writing, or plotting sinister evils with her antagonists, she enjoys doing jigsaw and crossword puzzles, hanging out with her husband and her spoiled Siberian Husky, visiting her son in Arizona, and traveling, preferably to places surrounded by sun, sand, and warm uncrowded beaches.

Spring House – Book Review

Title:- Spring House

Author:- Mary Ellen Taylor

No. of pages:- 363 pages

Date published:- July 19th 2019

Genre:- Women’s Fiction, Historical Fiction

Rating:- 4/5 stars

The lives of two women, generations apart, converge in this enthralling novel of love, mystery, memories, and secrets.

Pregnant and still grieving the death of her fiancé historian Megan Buchanan is forging ahead on a dream project: to restore to its original glory the landmark hunting lodge her own great-great-grandfather built on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. With the help of her fiancé’s caring best friend, it’s sure to draw much-needed tourist revenue to Cape Hudson, a town rich in southern history.

However, it’s Spring House, the caretaker’s cottage on the grounds, that holds the most intriguing history for Megan. In a cache of old letters, she’s drawn into the captivating life of a young woman who embarked on her own dream adventure a century ago. With each one, Megan is swept away into her enthralling world—and all its secrets. But Megan has secrets too.

Now, as one woman’s past unfolds in each revealing letter, Megan will discover more about herself and about the emotional tides of family that can be weathered with those you love and trust the most.

This is a story of two women–Megan who is pregnant with her fiance’s child in the present day and a descendent of Buchanans and Diane back in the 1900’s who move to France after their mother died. The story switches back and forth to past and present with the bundles of letters written by a man named Samuel Jessup, who supposed to be her fiance’s grandfather. Secrets about the family was unrevealed including Megan’s secrets.

Initially, maybe it was just me, I was slightly bored with the book that I kind of stopped reading this book for a while. But soon, at the middle of the book, it got interesting and I really like reading Diane’s part in the story. I started enjoying the story and I had to agree with the raving reviews given to this book–it was emotional and the author has done a tremendous job of drawing the reader to the story. But the family tree, the connections and the bit of history was confusing to me, which might be the main reason why I got bored with the story. Probably because this is actually a sequel to the Winter Cottage so maybe that’s why I was confused slightly about this whole family tree. Overall, the ending was really good and I am actually looking forward to read more of her books.

Overall, if you like to read a family saga that changes back and forth in the timelines and with family drama, then this book is one for you–worth four stars!

A southerner by birth, Mary Ellen Taylor’s love of her home state, Virginia, and its past is evident in her contemporary women’s fiction, from her first The Union Street Bakery, set in Alexandria, to her latest, Spring House, which takes place on the state’s Eastern Shore. In Spring Cottage and prior novels, Mary Ellen’s protagonists search for their place in the world. They explore issues of family, home and belonging, and their stories entwine with those of the locales in which they unfold, encompassing mysteries past and present.

Richmond born, Mary Ellen has lived there most of her life. She grew up in a family that appreciates stories of all kinds, from a well-told anecdote to a good yarn or a tall tale. Perhaps it was inevitable that she would embrace her storytelling heritage, walk away from her marketing job and challenge herself to become a published author.

“I realized early on the tremendous power stories have to inspire laughter, love, sorrow and even fear. It didn’t matter if they were found in the pages of a book, spoken in hushed tones around a campfire, or shared at an old-fashioned family reunion. Stories create connections, and I knew that was what I wanted to do,” says Mary Ellen.

Alongside writing, cooking and baking are important creative outlets for Mary Ellen, who’s been known to name recipes in honor of her characters. Just a few years ago, she earned her Baking and Pastry Arts Certificate at the University of Richmond’s Culinary Arts Program. “In some ways, I liken baking to my efforts as a writer. You need to learn the basic tools of the trade before you can push the limits and create a distinctive sweet dessert or savory novel.”

Her two passions —writing and baking—merged for the first time in The Union Street Bakery. Since then, she’s shared favorite recipes, connected to her books Sweet Expectations, At the Corner of King Street, The View from Prince Street, Winter Cottage and Spring House.

Mary Ellen is also known nationally as New York Times and USA Today bestselling suspense novelist Mary Burton. Together, they have published thirty-eight novels, with Mary Burton’s latest, I See You, debuting October 2019.

When not traveling or holed up writing, Mary Ellen spends time with her husband enjoying their empty nest and spoiling their miniature dachshunds, Buddy, Bella and Tiki.

The Note – ARC Book Review

Title:- The Note

Author:- Carly Schabowski

No. of pages:- 300 pages

Date published:- will be published on March 28th 2022

Publisher:- Bookouture

Genre:- Historical Fiction

Rating:-

A heartbreaking World War Two tale, The Note is about lost loves and long-buried secrets, desperate decisions––and the consequences that cannot be escaped…

Auschwitz, 1942: On a warm summer’s day in Paris, Jozef and his beloved wife Adi are captured by the Nazis after going on the run. Forced onto a train with countless others, they spend days travelling to Auschwitz. They are torn from each other, stripped of belongings, their arms inked with prison numbers. In the death camp, their days are numbered––will they ever see each other again?

1953, South Carolina: On the night of her thirteenth birthday, the air as sticky as honey, Alice is woken up by the ear-splitting sound of sirens. The body of a teenage girl, Nancy, has been found in the lake.

Suspicion falls on Jozef, a German refugee who now lives in the small town. When one of Alice’s friends breaks a window in his house, Alice is wracked with guilt. She writes a note apologizing––a note that changes everything.

As Alice and Jozef form a friendship, Jozef opens ups about his painful past: he is an Auschwitz survivor. Hearing about the desperate choices people were forced to make, and the hunt for freedom amongst so much heartbreak, Alice starts to see her own life––and the death of her friend––in a new light.

As their bond deepens, Alice uncovers Jozef’s secret––one that has followed him from Auschwitz, and could now shatter Alice’s world. When a long-awaited storm breaks the suffocating heatwave, the truth finally comes out, and Alice’s life will never be the same again…

An incredibly gripping and tearjerking page-turner perfect for fans of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, When We Were Yours and We Were the Lucky Ones.

This book, in my opinion is one of the best books I have read from this author and very emotional and heartbreaking one too.

The story starts with a girl named Alice, where one of the girls in their neighborhood was brutally murdered. While the investigations are going on, she meets and befriends a German man living in the town, known as Jozef. She starts listening to Jozef’s life in Germany during Hitler’s time and how as a Jew survived the war.

The story was engrossing and engaging and it got more interesting when I started reading about Jozef’s part. Caryl’s writing was engaging and she does a good of drawing the reader into the story, making the reader feel like they are a part of the story. This story also talks a love story between Jozef and Adi, the sacrifices friends would make for each other in the time of need and of course loyalty. I do like how Alice, slowly grew a bond with Jozef that she refused to let go of her friendship with Jozef, even after he got arrested. There were some parts in the book where I literally cried and there were some tear jerking moments and heart breaking moments in this story.

Of course, the scenes from Auschwitz was difficult to read as we know that the events that happened in one of infamous Nazi concentration camps was too unbearable and disturbing to read. I did like how the two old friends, Bruno and Jozef reunited and Bruno helped with Jozef’s escape. However, the revelation at the end was too surprising that I didn’t really expect that surprise revelation!

Overall, this is an emotional and heartbreaking book that talks about friendship, courage and bravery. Worth five stars!

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

Carly lives in a tiny cottage in Oxfordshire, with barely enough room to swing a cat. Yet, she has managed to dwell in such a hobbit-type abode for some years with her two dogs, who keep her company as she reads, writes, eats chips, and drinks the occasional gin.

An occasional runner, gym goer, and walker, Carly is also an habitual binge-watcher of box sets and reader of anything she can get her hands on, including the back of cereal boxes.

Her interest in WWII history spans from a familial connection, and inspired her to complete a PhD regarding the author’s responsibility to historical fiction

A Flicker In The Dark – Book Review

Title:- A Flicker In The Dark

Author:- Stacy Willingham

No. of pages:- 360 pages

Date published:- February 3rd 2022

Publisher:- Harper Collins

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

Chloe Davis’ father is a serial killer.
He was convicted and jailed when she was twelve but the bodies of the girls were never found, seemingly lost in the surrounding Louisiana swamps. The case became notorious and Chloe’s family was destroyed.

His crimes stalk her like a shadow.
Now Chloe has rebuilt her life. She’s a respected psychologist in Baton Rouge and has a loving fiancé.
But she just can’t shake a tick-tick-tick of paranoia that, at any moment, it might all come crashing down.

As does something darker.
It is the anniversary of her father’s crimes, and Chloe is about to see her worst fears come true –
a girl she knows goes missing.  

The nightmare has started again…

Chloe Davis was twelve years old when her father was accused of being a serial killer, killing six teenagers. She, her brother Cooper and her mother then start to lead a new life. Almost twenty years later, Chloe is now a successful psychologist and is engaged. But soon, on the twentieth anniversary of the death of the first victim her father killed, girls started disappearing in her town. Is there a copycat murderer lurking around?

The story is told from Chloe’s perspectives–though the author doesn’t differentiate the past and present instances, it does shift back and forth between past and the present–how she was dealing with the fact her father was killing the girls to the present when she was haunted by those memories. It was actually a fast paced thriller with some twists and turns along the way, and the author, did a good job of drawing the reader to the story.

Besides being an unputdownable thriller, I do like the setting of the story–very rare I had read a thriller based with a southern setting.

Chloe seemed to be a very complex character who seemed to be addicted to the pills and takes pills with the alcohol. Though I am not complaining, unreliastic characters had seem to become a trend in many psychological thrillers. However, I kind of predicted the ending but nonetheless, this is a must die hard psychological thriller, unputdownable and a page turner, that will keep you up all night. This was Stacy Willingham’s debut and I cannot wait to read more from this author.

Worth five stars!

Stacy Willingham’s first novel, A Flicker in the Dark, is scheduled to be published in January 2022 by Minotaur Books, an imprint of Macmillan, and HarperCollins UK.

Prior to writing fiction full time, Stacy worked as a copywriter and brand strategist for various marketing agencies. She earned her BA in Magazine Journalism from the University of Georgia and MFA in Writing from the Savannah College of Art & Design.

She currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband, Britt, and her Labradoodle, Mako.