When Darkness Ends (Marni Mann)

Buy link: https://amzn.to/34cU3aF

There was before.
When we were together, when we were happy.
When we had nothing but dreams.
When not a single bad thing could ever happen because we were young and in love.

And there was after.
When the unthinkable occurs, how do you count time, knowing how precious it is?
When dreams turn to nightmares, how do you wake up every day and choose to go on?
When you have a chance to save another, how can you not?

Even if it changes everything.
Even if it destroys you.

I was NOT expecting that. Wow. I have no words.
I’m not sure Marni Mann could ever disappoint me. Whether it’s romance, angst, dark, whatever… she’s got the gift.

Every time I pick up one of her books I know that I will not be upset. When Darkness Ends was no different. And dare I say it was the best way to end this series?

This series has been one of my all time favorites. She explored a world and plot lines and style of writing I’ve never read before. I really hope in the future she finds the time and the want to explore it again.

Lady Gouldian (Calia Read)

I was just eight-years-old, looking up at the clouds, when Asa Calhoun became my one true love. He was my brother’s best friend. He was stoic and solemn, and always believed everything in life had to be perfect. But I saw past his eccentric mannerisms.

I found him fascinating.

I was seventeen when I had my debutante ball. Throughout the years, there was a gradual shift between us. I stopped being the little sister he’s always known me as and transformed into a lady. By the end of that night, he found me fascinating.

I was twenty-one when he first kissed me. My one true love became my soulmate.

I was certain nothing would ever come between us.

I married at twenty-three. But I wasn’t Mrs. Asa Calhoun. At the time I believed it was for the best, leaving Belgrave and my memories of Asa behind.

I was twenty-eight when my husband died. The pain was swift and sharp. I saw what could have been and all that I let go of. Including Asa.

Nearly seven months later I’m back in Charleston, because six years of a broken heart is too much for anyone to endure.

Asa once told me he would always be my home, but will he still mean those words when I walk through the church doors and object to his marriage?

Calia has a special way with creating stories and adventures that stick with you forever.

I say adventures because when you read her books you are escaping this world that we are in and transported to the world inside of the pages you are reading. That doesn’t happen to me too often so I know I am always in for a treat when I pick up one of her books.

I was obsessed with everything about this book. Everything from the characters, to the scenery / setting, to the story line.

This ride through Lady Gouldian and the books to come will be one of the best ones ever I just know it.

Heard It In A Love Song (Tracey Garvis Graves)

Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/3tN7Jnc

Love doesn’t always wait until you’re ready.

Layla Hilding is thirty-five and recently divorced. Struggling to break free from the past—her glory days as the lead singer in a band and a ten-year marriage to a man who never put her first—Layla’s newly found independence feels a lot like loneliness.

Then there’s Josh, the single dad whose daughter attends the elementary school where Layla teaches music. Recently separated, he’s still processing the end of his twenty-year marriage to his high school sweetheart. He chats with Layla every morning at school and finds himself thinking about her more and more.

Equally cautious and confused about dating in a world that favors apps over meeting organically, Layla and Josh decide to be friends with the potential for something more. Sounds sensible and way too simple—but when two people are on the rebound, is it heartbreak or happiness that’s a love song away?

I really loved this one for the pure fact that it was one of the best friends to lovers / slow burn that I have ever read. The connection that these characters (and the secondary characters) shared was a breath of fresh air.

I didn’t love how the story was told (in the e-arc version). There was a present time and then in italics there would be a brief past time. I would almost prefer to read this book in alternating time frames. I feel like the past could have brought a lot more to the future than it did.

Regardless– I loved this book. I always love Tracey’s writing and she always creates distinct and complex characters that we can all relate to. If slow burn / friends to lovers are yours type of stories that you enjoy to read, I would 100% recommend this one.

The Redwood Asylum (L. A. Detwiler)

Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/2ZBfIXL

The dead do talk … if you’re brave enough to hear their sinister secrets.

In a thick forest sits a forgotten stone building, The Redwood Asylum. Once inside, the criminally insane, the darkly disturbed, and the eternally confused residents learn one thing very quickly: they are at the mercy of ruthless evil in many forms.

At twenty-six, Jessica Rosen starts a new job at Redwood in the hopes of forgetting an insidious past. She quickly realizes, however, that Redwood harbors malevolent secrets and beings in every chilly corner. On her second day adjusting to her job, the unstable man in 5B quickly latches onto Jessica in an unsettling way. When his rantings and warnings start to make sense, though, Jessica will be taken on a ride of secrets, murder, and dangerous beings. As she begins to uncover the horrifying truths behind the man’s past , the terrors of Redwood Asylum will follow her home and make her question her own sanity.

Can Jessica solve the secrets of the man in 5B in time to save herself, or will the terrors trap her in Redwood’s evil clutches forever?

This book was just an okay read for me. When I came across it on Netgalley I was really hoping I had found a disturbing, creepy book that left me feeling uncomfortable and uneasy and I just didn’t get that with The Redwood Asylum. I felt like with Asylums you already have this very creepy atmosphere but I didn’t feel like the setting at Redwood was creepy at all.

The ghosts were there, but they weren’t eerie. They were comfortable with the main character and that just didn’t make me uncomfortable like I was hoping for. I don’t know, I guess I just would always prefer them to be disturbing. Think, American Horror Story: Asylum. I was hoping for that with this book.

It wasn’t anything special but it was a good read. I would recommend it to people just dipping their feet into the horror / paranormal genre. With these types of stories / books I really would rather have a fast-paced type of plot. The Redwood Asylum was more of a slow burn that built a lot of anticipation but just didn’t finish strong for me. It wasn’t really riveting or exciting but did the job it should have done.

The Perfect Ruin (Shanora Williams)

Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/3pvTv80

A brutal tragedy ended Ivy Hill’s happy family and childhood. Now in her twenties and severely troubled, she barely has a life—or much to live for. Until the day she discovers the name of the woman who destroyed her world: Lola Maxwell—the mega-wealthy socialite with a heart, Miami’s beloved “first lady” of charity. Accomplished, gorgeous, and oh-so-caring, Lola has the best of everything—and doesn’t deserve any of it. So it’s only right that Ivy take it all away . . .

Little by little, Ivy infiltrates Lola’s elite circle, becomes her new best friend—and plays Lola’s envious acquaintances and hangers-on against her. But seducing Lola’s handsome, devoted surgeon husband turns into a passionate dream Ivy suddenly can’t control. And soon, an insidious someone will twist Ivy’s revenge into a nightmare of deception, secrets, and betrayal that Ivy may not wake up from . . .

I have never read this author. Mainly because I don’t read a lot of romance much anymore. So when I saw that she had wrote a debut thriller– I was alllll over that bad boy on Netgalley. Did I love the book? No. Did I hate the book? Also no. I thought it was a great read but it was just… great. Nothing really blew me away with it and nothing really stuck out. It was a thriller that I had read before so not much of an original story-line.

Ivy was awful. She was an awful character but she was written so well. When author’s can write awful characters in a great way, I am always impressed. If you can make an unlikeable, unreliable person likeable– I’m a fan. The writing was very smooth and made the story flow quite quickly.

For a debut thriller novel it wasn’t awful. I feel like a lot more could have been done to really keep the plot going but by the end of it I was satisfied and happy to of gotten to read this one.

Eastern Lights (Brittainy Cherry)

Buy link: https://amzn.to/3ubYiiu

I once met a man on a cold Halloween night. He dressed as a superhero, and I dressed in red. For one night, I was his break from reality, and he was the temporary fix for my broken heart.

Two years later, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to become a senior editor at one of the biggest magazine companies in the world. The only catch? Nail an exclusive interview with New York’s finest bachelor: Connor Roe.

To the rest of the world he was becoming one of the wealthiest men in New York City. To me, he was simply my once upon a time superhero.

My job was to get an exclusive interview with New York’s hottest bachelor. Never in my life did I expect him to want an exclusive with my heart, too.

The only problem with my growing feelings for him? I was set to marry his new business partner.

Look, I don’t know what I can say about Brittainy Cherry that hasn’t been said about her before. I’m an avid fan, an auto buy fan, and a forever fan. Periodtttt.

The most important thing about this novel that I enjoyed the most was the fact that it was so character driven. She provided us with the best character interactions, dialogue, and complexities that I have seen in a long time. Not only that, but her secondary characters never cease to amaze me. To know that you can still read a book and envision the people you are reading about– makes me so happy.

Yet again, Brittainy has wrote another original story line that keeps us turning those pages and falling in love every time we do. I can’t ever ask for a better romance book when it comes to Brittainy Cherry. She delivers each and every time.

The Good Lie (A.R. Torre)

Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/37grbA9

Psychiatrist Dr. Gwen Moore is an expert on killers. She’s spent a decade treating California’s most depraved predators and unlocking their motives—predators much like the notorious Bloody Heart serial killer, whose latest teenage victim escaped and then identified local high school teacher Randall Thompson as his captor. The case against Thompson as the Bloody Heart Killer is damning—and closed, as far as Gwen and the media are concerned. If not for one new development…

Defense attorney Robert Kavin is a still-traumatized father whose own son fell prey to the BH Killer. Convinced of Thompson’s innocence, he steps in to represent him. Now Robert wants Gwen to interview the accused, create a psych profile of the killer and his victims, and help clear his client’s name.

As Gwen and Robert grow closer and she dives deeper into the investigation, grave questions arise. So does Gwen’s suspicion that Robert is hiding something—and that he might not be the only one with a secret.

At this point in my relationship with Alessandra Torre books, I am a HUGE fan of her A.R. Torre thriller books. I can’t think of one that she has written that she hasn’t just knocked out of the park. The Good Lie was no different. I think she has really found her groove with this genre! I hope it’s here to stay.

No matter how many times I tried to predict the ending– I just didn’t see it coming. And that was my favorite part about this book. There were so many different ways that it could have gone and well just when you thought it was one thing, it was something completely different.

Another incredible part of this book was how the story was constructed. The POVs all tie together in some way and when they all click– it was genius. For a complex and fast paced thriller, I think Alessandra is really out here killing it. The Good Lie was not what I was expecting but still seemed to knock me off my feet. I think when it comes to a GOOD thriller– you can’t ask for anything more.

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island (Colleen Oakley)

Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/3q1JBfn

Piper Parrish’s life on Frick Island—a tiny, remote town smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay—is nearly perfect. Well, aside from one pesky detail: Her darling husband, Tom, is dead. When Tom’s crab boat capsized and his body wasn’t recovered, Piper, rocked to the core, did a most peculiar thing: carried on as if her husband was not only still alive, but right there beside her, cooking him breakfast, walking him to the docks each morning, meeting him for their standard Friday night dinner date at the One-Eyed Crab. And what were the townspeople to do but go along with their beloved widowed Piper?

Anders Caldwell’s career is not going well. A young ambitious journalist, he’d rather hoped he’d be a national award-winning podcaster by now, rather than writing fluff pieces for a small town newspaper. But when he gets an assignment to travel to the remote Frick Island and cover their boring annual Cake Walk fundraiser, he stumbles upon a much more fascinating tale: an entire town pretending to see and interact with a man who does not actually exist. Determined it’s the career-making story he’s been needing for his podcast, Anders returns to the island to begin covert research and spend more time with the enigmatic Piper—but he has no idea out of all the lives he’s about to upend, it’s his that will change the most.

The best part of this book in my opinion was the message. To me, there is nothing ever wrong with taking the time to slow down and really learn about some body, some thing, or some place. People grieve in their own ways and there is nothing wrong with slowing down to understand that. I felt like this book was a great exploration of how the workings of coping and grieving can be perceived by different characters.

As per the usual– I am a super fan of Colleen Oakley’s writing. As if You Were There Too didn’t make me love her writing enough, this book amplified said love. I don’t think I would classify this book as a romance though, so if that is the type of read you’re looking for in this book I don’t think you will find it. I do however think that you will find so much more given the chance.

The Invisible Husband of Frick Island was a super cute, feel good, small town charm read that really had my attention. I really enjoyed my journey to and from Frick Island and the people that I met along the way. Colleen really took a charming little setting and town and turned it into a big time story that had big time meaning.

These Violent Roots (Nicole Williams)

Buy link: https://amzn.to/2M5KGnL

Something very new for Nicole and I’m 100% here for it. I felt like with every chapter I read I was being pulled into the story more and more. I’m a huge fan of twisty thrillers and by now I know what I like to read when it comes to them and well, Nicole knocked it out of the park. I like to think I’m somewhat picky when it comes to the thrillers I like to read and I was nervous towards the beginning but I think with Nicole’s writing talent she did an absolutely amazing job with taking us on this journey.

The complexity of the characters is what hooked me though. All of them combined was a force and I love when character driven novels execute a strong plotted story. This would be a great story for readers who are wanting to dive head first into the world of thrillers. If you’re open to reading new things outside of your comfort zone, make sure you pick this one up. The writing alone will make this one enjoyable for you.

When We Met (Marni Mann)

Pre-order link: https://amzn.to/2L2Ak7y

If you knew beyond all doubt that one chance encounter would change the course of your future, what would you choose?

There’s nothing like a spring day in Boston to make your heart sing. I’m out with my girls, having drinks in a bar, enjoying the bright pulse of our beautiful city, when I see Caleb. The second my eyes meet his, I know this is the moment when everything will change. All I have to do is choose him.

I meet Whitney on the worst day of my life. I’ve always been an adrenaline junkie, but I never knew how fast things could change. Her soft gaze melts my cynicism, makes me forget the bitter man I was becoming. She makes me want to be the version of myself that I see in her eyes. All she has to do is choose this life.

When We Met takes Whitney and Caleb on the ride of their lives, hitting every note on the scale of beauty and tragedy along the way. USA Today best-selling author Marni Mann will make you question everything you thought you knew about love and fate, and this unforgettable story will leave you certain that destiny always finds a way.

WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS SO DAMN CONFUSED UNTIL IT FINALLY HIT ME LIKE A TON OF BRICKS. LOLLLLL. Ugh. I was convinced this book was not for me until the pieces started to fall together. Seriously. When the point of this story finally hit me– I felt SO RAW. I had this uneasy feeling fall all over me and envelop me on how we just do not ever know what destiny and fate has in store for us and that is a scary and fun thing to experience.

What an emotional damn journey. I did not see any part of this story coming but now that I sit here and think more and more about it– I AM OBSESSED. I am obsessed with not only Marni and her writing but her way of making us think through an entire story.

I have never before read a book that took fate into it’s own hands like this. And I have never in my life wanted so bad to immediately go back and re-read a book more than When We Met (which I will probably 100% do). If you’re picking this one up for the first time, take your time. Savor it and pick it apart. Let it confuse you. Absorb it all in. I think the way Marni make us see the fate of relationships is a beautiful thing.