Tropical Girl Reads

A pulse-pounding and razor-sharp debut with the emotional punch of Luckiest Girl Alive and All the Missing Girls that explores the hungry, angry, dark side of girlhood and dares to ask: Which is more dangerous for a woman—showing the world what it wants to see, or who she really is?

What did you do?

Mary used to be such a nice girl. She was the resident whiz kid of Liberty Lake, Minnesota—the quiet, chubby teen with the scholarship to an Ivy League school. But three years later, “Ivy League Mary” is back—a thinner, cynical, restless failure who was kicked out of Cor­nell at the beginning of her senior year and won’t tell anyone why. Taking a job at the local grocery store, Mary tries to make sense of her life’s sharp downward spiral.

Then beautiful, magnetic Olivia Willand goes missing. A rising social media star, Olivia is admired by everyone in Liberty Lake—except Mary. Once Olivia’s best friend, Mary knows better than anyone that behind the Instagram persona hides a willful, manipulative girl with sharp edges. As the town obsesses over perfect, lovely Olivia, Mary wonders if her disappearance might be tied to another missing person: nineteen-year-old DeMaria Jackson, whose case has been widely dismissed as a runaway.

Who is the real Olivia Willand, and where did she go? What happened to DeMaria? As Mary pries at the cracks in the careful facades surrounding the two missing girls, old wounds will bleed fresh and force her to confront a horrible truth.

Maybe there are no nice girls, after all.

I listened to the audiobook on Scribd and I have mixed feelings about this book.

Mary was known as “Ivy League Mary” as she got into Cornell University and left the small town of Liberty Lake. But soon, she was expelled from the university and Mary returned back to the town and found herself working in a grocery store. Mary’s friend Olivia Willand, a rising social media star goes missing. Mary thinks Olivia has run away initially as the whole town get together to search for her. But soon, she finds that few months before Olivia went missing, another girl named DeMaria Jackson went missing as well and Mary thinks there is a connection between the two cases.

I was excited to read this book because the synopsis in the book sounded interesting to me. Even though I feel the writing was good, I didn’t like the narrator and I didn’t like the main character Mary. I feel Mary is naïve who complains too much about her life and so as a result, I didn’t get to be interested in the book as I didn’t like Mary at all. I am not sure if it is intentional. But the story was great although the ending was predictable and there were some twists and turns that you actually expected in the book. But what I did enjoy is that despite being a fiction, I like how realistic the story is–if a white girl went missing, then the whole media goes frenzy and the whole town gets together to search for. her. But if a Black girl like DeMaria goes missing, people and the police assumed she ran away. So that part I think author did a good job of drawing that into attention and making it realistic.

Overall, the book worth 3.5 stars.

She looked like an angel. She lay perfectly still, silky blonde hair falling to her pale shoulders. Icicles clung to her eyelashes as snowflakes fluttered to the frozen ground, burying her body.

As a snowstorm wreaks havoc in the mountain town of Crooked Creek, a woman is found buried in ice. Detective Ellie Reeves is first on the scene. Examining the body, she finds frozen blonde hair, pink nail polish and a silver heart necklace engraved with Mine Forever.

Ellie has first-hand experience of the monsters that lurk in the mountains––her childhood is testament to that. She vows to catch this one, but she’s up against the brutal weather, with snow covering footprints and making forensics impossible.

Frantically trawling through missing-person’s reports, Ellie identifies the victim. Nadine Houser disappeared eleven years ago. Where has she been all this time? Why was she only murdered now?

As storm clouds roll in, another girl is reported missing. Ellie retraces the steps of Ginger Weston who was renting a cabin in the mountains. She discovers a gold chain in the snow, spotted with blood. The killer is accelerating, and it’s just a matter of time before more innocent lives are robbed.

With the town blaming Ellie for the missing girl on her watch, and everyone fearing for their safety of their daughters, it’s down to Ellie to solve the toughest case of her career. But when the killer comes after her, will she live to save Crooked Creek from its ruthless monster?

A totally gripping read that will get your pulse pounding as you flip through the pages! Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Kendra Elliot who love a roller-coaster, twist-packed page-turner!

Detective Ellie Reeves is back!

Plot:- A body of a woman who went missing years ago was found in the AT. The body has been kept in a cooler and is identified as Nadine Houser who went missing on the night after her shift at a convenience store few years ago. While Detective Ellie is trying to follow up Nadine’s case, soon Ginger Weston, daughter of the governor goes missing and Ellie must work alongside FBI agent Derrick to find Ginger before it becomes too late.

Writing:- I have been hooked into Ellie Reeves series and each time I read Rita Heron’s books, I wasn’t disappointed! Filled with twists and turns, many unexpected ones that will make the reader hooked into the story. I was at that the edge of my seat as I continued reading this book, wondering who this person who hunted these girls and then kept their bodies in the cooler! I kept reading this book until I came to the ending. All this time, I was left in suspense and there were not much suspects that I couldn’t figure out who the hunter is. Good job by the author for keeping the readers guess until the end! Also, this is fast paced, action packed that you feel like you are investigating this case with Ellie Reeves

Although this is a part of the Ellie Reeves series, this is actually a standalone novel and the author has clearly explained and written tits and bits from her previous books in this book so the person who is reading this book for the first time will not get lost in the series.

Characters:- Ellie Reeves is my all time favorite characters–she is brave and courageous who would do anything to catch the killers and put them behind the bars. I also like the slow romance developing between Ellie and Derrick.

Overall:- Overall, this is a fast paced thriller filled with twists and turns you would never have guessed until the end–worth five stars!

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

One dinner party will destroy everything.

The night that throws a wrecking ball into Abby’s life starts out perfectly at first. There’s still a hint of summer sun in the purple-streaked sky. Abby and her best friend, Sienna, look on fondly as their two husbands laugh under the garden gazebo. None of them know it’s the last time they will be together again.

What starts out as just a little fun, has devastating consequences for the couples. Alone with Sienna’s husband, Greg, Abby finds him unexpectedly charming. And something happens that night that neither she nor Greg can take back.

Abby is desperate to tell her husband and Sienna the truth, but can’t risk Greg sharing what he knows about her. She has no choice but to keep quiet. Then Greg suddenly disappears.

Is her best friend’s husband simply running from his secrets? Or has someone decided they can’t risk that he may share theirs?

The most gripping and twisty psychological thriller you’ll read this year from #1 bestseller Kathryn Croft. Perfect for readers who loved Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train.

One Dinner Party, One Crazy Idea then a terrible nightmare.

Plot:- Abby and Rob are happily married. Sienna and Greg seemed to be having some trouble in marriage. Abby and Sienna meets in a pilates class, and then gets invited to a dinner party, where Sienna suggesting swapping husbands for one night–Abby with Greg, Sienna with Rob. Something happens between Abby and Greg that Abby is afraid of her husband and Sienna finding out. Then one day Greg goes missing.

Writing:- The story is told from the perspectives of Abby and Sienna. We know Abby is hiding something but as a reader, you are curious–what is she really hiding? Sienna believes Abby is having an affair with Greg and accuses Abby. Is Sienna right? This fast paced thriller will put you as a reader at the edge and I was so determined to find out what Abby’s secret was–there were some twists and turns along the way. However, at the end, we do find what Abby’s secret was but I wasn’t really satisfied much with the ending. The writing was good however and the author did a good job drawing the reader into the story, feeling like they are also a part of the story.

Character:- Sienna and Abby are OK characters to me–I feel Abby is naive and Sienna is a bit too over the top.

Overall:-It was a fast paced thriller with twists and turns you wouldn’t expect–worth four stars!

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