The First Mistake by Sandie Jones ~ My Thoughts #TheFirstMistake #NetGalley

The First Mistake

The First Mistake by Sandie Jones
Print and ebook, 304 pages
Published June 11th 2019 by Minotaur Books

From Sandie Jones, the author of the Reese Witherspoon Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick and USA Today Bestseller The Other Woman, comes an addictively readable new domestic suspense about a wife, her husband, and the woman who is supposedly her best friend.

THE WIFE: For Alice, life has never been better. With her second husband, she has a successful business, two children, and a beautiful house.

HER HUSBAND: Alice knows that life could have been different if her first husband had lived, but Nathan’s arrival into her life gave her back the happiness she craved.

HER BEST FRIEND: When Alice met Beth, her best friend, it was the icing on the cake. A friend without judgement, to celebrate with, commiserate with, Beth is the most trustworthy and loyal person that Alice knows. So when Nathan starts disappearing for stretches of time, Alice turns to Beth. But soon, she begins to wonder whether her trust has been misplaced…

     

My thoughts about The First Mistake ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First line—"She looked at me with real warmth in her eyes, as if she trusted me with her life, and for a moment I thought I couldn't go through with it."

What an amazing story, full of twists and turns. I thought I knew what was going on and then there I was, confused again. I didn't know what was the truth and what was a lie. All of the characters in this dramatic tale were ones that I both loved and hated simultaneously. I wasn't sure who my sympathies should be with. 

This is probably one of the best psychological thrillers that I have read this year, and honestly I have read quite a few. This one will keep you guessing to the very end and have you shaking your head that that ending.

I received an ARC of The First Mistake from BookishFirst and NetGalley and this is my honest review.  

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About the author

Sandie Jones has been a freelance journalist for over 20 years, interviewing celebrities such as Justin Timberlake, Isla Fisher, Simon Cowell and Naomie Harris.

Her debut novel, The Other Woman, is a psychological thriller about the destructive relationship between a woman and her partner's mother.

If Sandie wasn't an author she'd be an interior designer as she has an unhealthy obsession with wallpaper and cushions!

She lives in London, England, with her husband and three children. ~ Amazon

Connect with Sandie

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Book Spotlight Giveaway! The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

I have sooooo many books! The Book Spotlight Giveaway feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to clear my shelves and to share some of the many books I have. This feature is a way for my to cull my collection and to give someone else the opportunity to enjoy these treasures.

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My book group recently read this book. I wasn't able to be there for the discussion but I really enjoyed the book. It's based on a Russian children's folktale.

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

The Snow Child

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey 

Published February 1st 2012 by Reagan Arthur Books

Hardcover, 386 pages

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart - he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone - but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees.

This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place, things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

The Snow Child: A Russian Folktale

by Freya Littledale

About the Author

Eowyn Ivey's first novel, The Snow Child, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction and an international bestseller. Her newest novel To the Bright Edge of the World will be released August 2, 2016. Eowyn was raised in Alaska and continues to live there with her husband and two daughters.

Connect with Eowyn

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr ~ My Thoughts #WhatRoseForgot #NetGalley

What Rose Forgot

What Rose Forgot by Nevada Barr
Print and ebook, 304 pages
Published September 17th 2019 by Minotaur Books

In New York Times bestselling author Nevada Barr's gripping standalone, a grandmother in her sixties emerges from a mental fog to find she's trapped in her worst nightmare

Rose Dennis wakes up in a hospital gown, her brain in a fog, only to discover that she's been committed to an Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home. With no memory of how she ended up in this position, Rose is sure that something is very wrong. When she overhears one of the administrators saying about her that she's "not making it through the week," Rose is convinced that if she's to survive, she has to get out of the nursing home. She avoids taking her medication, putting on a show for the aides, then stages her escape.

The only problem is—how does she convince anyone that she's not actually demented? Her relatives were the ones to commit her, all the legal papers were drawn up, the authorities are on the side of the nursing home, and even she isn't sure she sounds completely sane. But any lingering doubt Rose herself might have had is erased when a would-be killer shows up in her house in the middle of the night. Now Rose knows that someone is determined to get rid of her.

With the help of her computer hacker/recluse sister Marion, thirteen-year old granddaughter Mel, and Mel's friend Royal, Rose begins to gather her strength and fight back—to find out who is after her and take back control of her own life. But someone out there is still determined to kill Rose, and they're holding all the cards.

     

My thoughts about What Rose Forgot ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First line—"Rose's head drops, jerks, and she's awake. I've fallen asleep meditating, she thinks." 

I love Rose, and Mel, and Marion. I loved all of the endearing, zany characters in What Rose Forgot. This is a story of Rose, who finds herself locked up in a home, diagnosed with Alzheimer's. She realizes something is wrong and that she has to get out. And then the fun begins. 

I can't believe the predicaments that Rose finds herself in. I totally admire her resourcefulness and spunk as she gets the better of her would-be murderer and learns the truth behind all of her troubles. She counts on her quirky sister and her independent granddaughter to help her figure out who's behind all of this. I laughed at Rose's antics while also feeling her stress and pain as she worked through the mess of her life.

I absolutely loved What Rose Forgot and love this other side of Nevada Barr's writing. I've been a huge fan of her Anna Pigeon series and this one is a complete departure from those books. I would love it if this became a series because I'm not ready to let Rose and her family go just yet. 

I received What Rose Forgot from NetGalley and this is my honest review. 

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About the author

Nevada Barr is a mystery fiction author, known for her "Anna Pigeon" series of mysteries, set in National Parks in the United States. Barr has won an Agatha Award for best first novel for Track of the Cat.

Barr was named after the state of her birth. She grew up in Johnstonville, California. She finished college at the University of California, Irvine. Originally, Barr started to pursue a career in theatre, but decided to be a park ranger. In 1984 she published her first novel, Bittersweet, a bleak lesbian historical novel set in the days of the Western frontier.

While working in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Barr created the Anna Pigeon series. Pigeon is a law enforcement officer with the United States National Park Service. Each book in the series takes place in a different National Park, where Pigeon solves a murder mystery, often related to natural resource issues. She is a satirical, witty woman whose icy exterior is broken down in each book by a hunky male to whom she is attracted (such as Rogelio).

Currently, Ms. Barr lives in New Orleans, LA. ~ Goodreads

Connect with Nevada

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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Murder at Mistletoe Manor by Holly Tierney-Bedord ~ My Thoughts #MurderAtMistletoeManor

Murder at Mistletoe Manor

Murder at Mistletoe Manor by Holly Tierney-Bedord
Audible Audio, Narrated by Christopher Lane
Print and e-book, 146 pages
Published October 3rd 2019 by Holly Tierney-Bedord

Klarinda Snow is the innkeeper of a beautiful, historic bed and breakfast in Windy Pines, Idaho. Guests come to Mistletoe Manor to escape from their troubles while enjoying the scenic mountain town.

When all seven rooms of the inn get booked on a Tuesday night in December, Klarinda is excited about having so much business, but a little confused as well. After all, her inn normally isn't exactly a destination hotspot.

The guests have barely settled in before strange things begin happening. Is this the most accident prone group of travelers ever, or is someone out for revenge?

     

My thoughts about Murder at Mistletoe Manor ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)

First line—"There were seven guestrooms at Mistletoe Manor, and it was strange for more than one to be booked on a Tuesday in December."

What an unexpected treat it was to listen to this wonderful story! Murder at Mistletoe Manor has everything I love to read at this time of the year—a cast of quirky, interesting characters, humor, revenge, and murder, all centered around a touch of Christmas. Yep, that sounds about right, don't you think?  

And let me give a shout out here to the narrator. I loved listening to his voice and he made this entertaining story even more appealing. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Manor and I really hope I get a chance to visit again. I look forward to getting to know Klarinda better as well as all of the rest of the memorable people of Windy Pines. This was a fun, quick read that will have you clamoring for more! 

Thank you to Holly Tierney-Bedord for a copy of Murder at Mistletoe Manor. This is my honest review. 

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About the author

Holly Tierney-Bedord is the author of over a dozen novels and novellas, including Sweet Hollow Women, Surviving Valencia, Right Under Your Nose, Bellamy's Redemption, and Murder at Mistletoe Manor.

She is also the creator of mid-century dollhouse flipping blog www.flipthisminihouse.com and the author of several dollhouse and miniature how-to books. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin. ~ Goodreads

Connect with Holly

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Release Day! The Patient by Steena Holmes ~ My Thoughts #ThePatient #NetGalley

Happy Release Day!

Congrats Steena

on the release today of

The Patient!

The Patient by Steena Holmes

Print and e-book, 320 pages
Published October 15th 2019 by Lake Union Publishing

A therapist must face her own worst fear—one of her patients is a serial killer.

Danielle Rycroft suspects someone close to her has a dark secret. In the confidential setting of therapy, her patients share their anxieties and fears. Now, with a string of murders in town putting her on edge, Danielle’s own worries come close to eclipsing her patients’. In each case, the pattern is the same: parents killed while their children sleep blissfully unaware in their beds. Her best friend, Detective Tami Sloan, is the only person she has confided in.

Danielle believes that there’s still a secret one patient has yet to share. But which one? Behind a familiar face is a stranger who’ll do anything to hide their worst compulsions. The anxiety brings Danielle to her own therapist’s office, seeking counsel and comfort. But what is she willing to risk, and how much closer must she get, to stop them?

My thoughts about The Patient ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)

First line—"How do I admit this? Disclose that I've held this secret out of fear? I think about the words I need to say, unsure that I can voice them. Admit my shame, my failures, my ... suspicions." 

This was a twisted, engrossing story that knocked me for a loop. All along, I thought I had everything figured out and then I'd turn the page and I didn't anymore. So many clues were given. So much deceit that needed to be to covered up. So much confusion.

I loved every minute of this story. It is fast-paced and so intriguing. It will definitely draw the reader in with all the drama swirling around everywhere. I am in awe of this author for being able to weave such a unbelievably believable plot.

The Patient is a must-read and one that I highly recommend if you love edge-of-your-seat thrillers that will have you guessing until the very end.

"Nothing good came from opening boxes hidden away in the recesses of your mind. Nothing."

I received a copy of The Patient from the author via NetGalley and this is my honest review. 

About the author

New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author!

With 2 million copies of her titles sold world wide, Steena Holmes was named in the Top 20 Women Author to read in 2015 by Good Housekeeping. She continues to write books that deal with issues that touch parents heart, whether it is through her contemporary fiction or psychological suspense novels. ~ Amazon

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

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