Monthly Archives: May 2019

#thrillerbooks #psychologicalthriller #suspensebooks

Book Review: Only Ever Her Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

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Only Ever Her Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Genre: Contemporary Thriller
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: May 7, 2019
Pages: 298

Book Summary: Annie Taft’s wedding is four days away, and it will be one of the grandest anyone can remember in her small South Carolina town. Preparations are in order. Friends and family are gathering in anticipation. Everything is going according to plan. Except that Annie herself has vanished. Did she have second thoughts? Or has something much worse happened to the bride-to-be?

While her loved ones frantically try to track her down, they’re forced to grapple with their own secrets—secrets with the power to reframe entire relationships, leaving each to wonder how well they really knew Annie and how well they know themselves.

Book Review: A week before Annie’s wedding, she goes missing. Did she pull a Julia Roberts and run away? Or did someone make her disappear? When her mother’s convicted killer is set free, questions roam throughout the town. Will Annie’s family find her in time or will it be too late?

The story introduces us to Annie, a vibrant and beautiful young woman whose adaptable nature made her presence warm and easy going. With a wedding coming up, and the stress of her mother’s supposed killer being released, Annie has a lot going on mentally. I enjoyed getting to know her before and after her disappearance. Thanks to the secondary characters and the progression of the story, I was able to uncover all her layers.

For the most part, I delightfully enjoyed getting to know the perspective of each character. Some of their actions might have been questionable during the time of Annie’s disappearance, but judgement aside, everyone handles things in their own way. My only concern mainly focused on the missing holes in the plot. I would have liked some aspects to have been futher explained, but thankfully it didn’t take away from the overall book.

Even though this novel is advertised as a thriller, I wouldn’t necessarily categorize it as such. Told through a variety of character narrations, this novel emphasized on family and the life changing choices that leads us to our destiny. By the end, the undetected twist intrigued me and furthermore left me with an array of emotions. All in all, I recommend ONLY EVER HER if you’re looking for a light and fast paced read!

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and Little Bird Publicity for my review copy!

!! Check out my Bookstagram post here !!

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About The Author: Marybeth Mayhew Whalen is the author of When We Were Worthy, The Things We Wish Were True, and five previous novels. She speaks to women’s groups around the United States and is the cofounder of the popular women’s fiction site She Reads (www.shereads.org). Marybeth and her husband, Curt, have been married for twenty-seven years and are the parents of six children. Marybeth divides her time between the suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina, and the coastline of Sunset Beach, North Carolina. You can find her at www.marybethwhalen.com.

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#thrillerbooks #psychologicalthriller #suspensebooks

Book Review: Mine by Courtney Cole

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Mine by Courtney Cole
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: May 28, 2019
Pages: 304

Book Summary: Tessa was prepared for the hurricane. Lindsey was the storm she didn’t see coming.

When Tessa Taylor unlocked her husband Ethan’s iPad to discover nude photos from a twenty-six-year-old bombshell named Lindsey, her seemingly perfect life came to a screeching halt.

With a hurricane barreling toward Florida and Ethan stuck on a business trip, Tessa finds herself imprisoned in her own home with a choice to make: Does she ride out the storm until she can confront Ethan in person, or does she take matters into her own hands?

Increasingly restless and desperate for revenge, Tessa resolves to act. And when she lures Lindsey over a few hours later, there’s no turning back.

What ensues is a battle of wills between two well-matched opponents, blinded by love for the same man but driven by demons of their own. Like storm-ravaged Florida, neither woman will be the same when the skies clear.

He’s mine. Both wife and mistress would stake their lives on it. But only one of them can be right.

Book Review: “This can’t be real. But I’m staring at the words, at the proof, and my stomach heaves. My husband is having an affair.” – MINE

Forget the hurricane coming, this whole book was a storm in itself! From beginning to end, I was glued to Courtney’s every word, it’s as if my life depended on finishing the story. Now, what do you get when a wife and mistress are holed up under one roof with no escape? A shit show, that’s what! Shocked and confused, Tessa, Ethan’s wife, seeks out Lindsey for answers. Will Tessa uncover the truth behind her marriage or will it be more than what she bargained for?

Tessa has it all, looks, a beautiful family and a business savvy mind. But, when her whole world tumbles down on her, she snaps. I resonated with her personality a lot, her pain and anguish about her husband’s affair evidently grabbed at my heart and made my blood boil.

Weirdly enough, both Tessa and Lindsey, the mistress, had likable moments. Even in times where I wanted to grab Lindsey through the novel and pull her hair out. As for Ethan, ugh. Words cannot convey how much I despised him. He’s just a bad seed to man kind that never deserved a woman like Tessa.

All in all, MINE is an insatiable novel that questions the reality of marriage and the drama between two women fighting over one man. By the end, I was pleasantly surprised and I didn’t want it to end. I read this heart pumping thriller in two sittings and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a book that’ll make you feel bi polar. One minute you’ll want to throw it against the wall, and the next you’re getting emotional. Whatever Courtney comes out with, you bet your ass I’m buying it!

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to Gallery Books and Netgalley for my review copy!

!! Check out my Bookstagram post here !!

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About the Author: Courtney Cole is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling novelist who would rather write than eat chocolate. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business, but no amount of working in the corporate world could quell her urge to write.

Courtney was born and raised in Kansas, home of incredibly friendly people and the most horrendous weather on the planet. Because summer days were so hot, she grew up reading stacks of books… and when she didn’t like the ending, she wrote her own.

Courtney has relocated to Florida where she writes beneath palm trees. To learn more about her, please visit her website, www.courtneycolewrites.com.

#thrillerbooks #psychologicalthriller #suspensebooks

Book Review: Such A Perfect Wife by Kate White

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Such A Perfect Wife by Kate White
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: May 7, 2019
Pages: 368

Book Summary:

Blonde. Beautiful. A loving mother.

And missing since Monday.

On a sunny morning in late September, Shannon Blaine sets off for a jog along the rural roads near her home in Lake George, New York.  It’s her usual a.m. routine, her “me time” after dropping the kids off at school…except on this day she never returns.

Is her husband lying when he says he has no clue where she is? Could Shannon have split on her own, overwhelmed by the pressures of her life? Or is she the victim of a sexual predator who had been prowling the area and snatched her before she knew what was happening.

True crime writer Bailey Weggins, on assignment for the website Crime Beat, heads north from New York City to report on the mysterious disappearance. An anonymous tip soon leads Bailey to a grisly, bone-chilling discovery. Every town has its secrets, Bailey reminds herself, and nothing is ever as perfect as it seems. She keeps digging for answers until—when it’s almost too late—she unearths the terrifying truth.

Book Review: A beautiful mother goes missing while jogging, is the perpetrator in her community or is their more to the story? Blaire, a Crime Beat reporter comes into town to write about Shannon’s disappearance. As she digs for the truth, will her life be put into danger as well?

Usually in books, reporters are perceived as pushy and desperate. But, Blaire was by far one of my most-liked characters. Her ability to search for information without overstepping boundaries fascinated me. She dived into looking for Shannon blindly and I was amazed at her bravery and dedication to the case.

Plus, all the other secondary characters, even the ones who didn’t play a big part, were developed beautifully. Not once did the plot falter, everything flowed gracefully and all the points intertwined bringing an unforgettable conclusion.

SUCH A PERFECT WIFE, is an all around thriller that’ll keep you guessing until the end. With an enthralling story and detailed narrative, Kate has climbed up to my list of favorite authors. As a thriller enthusiast, a missing wife theme has been repeatedly used. However, Kate managed to put an original twist on it where I couldn’t get enough of the story. I highly recommend adding this novel to your TBR list, it’s one of my favorites this year thus far!

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to Harper Collins (Harper Paperbacks) for my review copy!

!! Check out my Bookstagram post here !!

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About The Author: Kate White is the award winning New York Times bestselling author of 13 works of fiction–five psychological thrillers and eight Bailey Weggins mysteries, including SUCH A PERFECT WIFE, published in May. She is also the editor of the MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA COOKBOOK.

You can get updates from Kate by signing up for her newsletter at katewhite.com–and/or following her on Facebook @KateWhiteAuthor.

The former editor-in-chief of five major magazines, including Cosmopolitan for 14 years, Kate is also the author of several popular career books, including THE GUTSY GIRL HANDBOOK: YOUR MANIFESTO FOR SUCCESS; I SHOULDN’T BE TELLING YOU THIS: HOW TO ASK FOR THE MONEY, SNAG THE PROMOTION, AND CREATE THE CAREER YOU DESERVE and WHY GOOD GIRLS DON’T GET AHEAD BUT GUTSY GIRLS DO.