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Release date: November 21, 2017

Publisher: Atria

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Blurb:

An engrossing and suspenseful novel for fans of Liane Moriarty and Amy Hatvany about an affluent suburban family whose carefully constructed facade starts to come apart with the unexpected arrival of an endangered young girl.

I have something for you. When Quinn Cruz receives that cryptic text message from her older sister Nora, she doesn’t think much of it. They haven’t seen each other in nearly a year and thanks to Nora’s fierce aloofness, their relationship consists mostly of infrequent phone calls and an occasional email or text. But when a haunted Nora shows up at the lake near Quinn’s house just hours later, a chain reaction is set into motion that will change both of their lives forever.

Nora’s “something” is more shocking than Quinn could have ever imagined: a little girl, cowering, wide-eyed, and tight-lipped. Nora hands her over to Quinn with instructions to keep her safe, and not to utter a word about the child to anyone, especially not their buttoned-up mother who seems determined to pretend everything is perfect. But before Quinn can ask even one of the million questions swirling around her head, Nora disappears, and Quinn finds herself the unlikely caretaker of a girl introduced simply as Lucy.

While Quinn struggles to honor her sister’s desperate request and care for the lost, scared Lucy, she fears that Nora may have gotten involved in something way over her head—something that will threaten them all. But Quinn’s worries are nothing compared to the firestorm that Nora is facing. It’s a matter of life and death, of family and freedom, and ultimately, about the lengths a woman will go to protect the ones she loves.

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Little Broken Things. If you want to follow along with the tour check out TLC Book Tours for the full schedule.

Review:

Have you seen the buzz surrounding this gem of a book? I sure have, especially on Instagram and I haven’t missed the comparisons to Liane Moriarty and as much as I usually hate when books are touted as the next (insert name of huge, best selling book) I can definitely see why the comparison is being used. Fans of books in Moriarty’s vein will adore this one, I can see it being picked as a book club read very easily!

This is told using various points of view, you have Liz mother to Nora and Quinn and all were extremely well rounded and well written. You know how you sometimes read a really great book and by the end you feel like you truly know the characters? That’s Little Broken Things in a nutshell. The depth of characterization is outstanding, this was a multifaceted story written in a heartbreakingly gorgeous manner.

As much as the beginning of the book hooked me, it had that steady quiet type of suspense that requires some patience. BUT, if you stick with it I really believe the payoff is worth it in the end. Don’t get me wrong, I was still very engrossed and I found it to be a compelling read, I just want to give a warning to those who may be expecting a super intense and fast paced read.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

About the Author:

Nicole Baart is the mother of five children from four different countries. The cofounder of a non-profit organization, One Body One Hope, she lives in a small town in Iowa. She is the author of seven previous novels, including, most recently, The Beautiful Daughters. Find out more at NicoleBaart.com.

Connect with Nicole

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Goodreads|

Release date: November 27, 2017

Publisher: Fridhem Publishing

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Blurb:

When Jacques’s body is discovered in a hotel room his wife, Patricia, suspects he has been hiding something from her.

Why was he found naked and who is the woman that visited his grave on the day of the funeral? Significantly, who is the unnamed beneficiary Jacques left a large sum of money to in his will and what is the reason her best friend, also Jacques’s sister, Coco, refuses to tell her what he confided to her?

Struggling to find out the truth, Patricia visits Malmö where her twin sister Jasmine lives and is married to her ex boyfriend. But the sisters relationship is toxic and when a family member dies shortly after, an old secret is revealed that shines a light on an event that took place on their tenth birthday.

As one revelation after the other is revealed, Patricia is yet to discover her husband’s biggest secret and what ultimately cost him his life.

His Guilty Secret is an unafraid examination of the tangled bonds between siblings, the lengths we go to in protecting our wrongdoings, and the enduring psychological effects this has on the innocent…and the not so innocent.

I’m so pleased to be the stop on the blog tour for His Guilty Secret today!

Review:

The premise for this hooked me instantly, I’m always down with a book about secrets and boy were there some whoppers here! Patricia’s husband Jacques passing away naked and alone in a hotel room is just the beginning of questionable happenings and as she grieves her loss Patricia is forced to simultaneously face up to her own past as well as the lies her husband died protecting.

I read one of Fermont’s books last year and really enjoyed it, it was very different from the types of books I’m typically drawn to, but made for an engrossing read. She has a skillful and lovely way with words that draws you in and she creates characters that are relatable, they seem like women that I would want to approach in real life. I felt so much sympathy for Pat, I can’t imagine being blindsided the way she was and admired the grace and dignity she maintained while trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.

This was on the lighter side despite it dealing with some heavy topics, it read like a true drama and was full of interesting secondary characters giving it an almost soap opera vibe. There were so many secrets being kept, it seemed like all of them were hiding something and I always like that uneasy sense of not knowing who to trust in a book. This was an emotional journey following Pat and I was wholly invested in her life and that of her family and friends, pick this up if you’re in the mood for something different that’s written in a really beautiful and unique way.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the author for my review copy.

Goodreads|Amazon US|Amazon UK

Release date: December

Publisher: Bookouture

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Blurb:

The boy studied the bruise turning yellow at the base of his neck. With quick fingers his mother tightened his tie, and pulled his collar high above it. Her eyes alone said, We will not speak of this…

Years later, a man is found shot dead in a local park. On his phone is a draft text: I can’t keep this secret any longer. The recipient is unnamed.

Detective Robyn Carter knows this secret is the key to the case, but his friends and family don’t offer any clues, and all her team have to go on is a size-ten footprint.

Then a nurse is found in a pool of blood at the bottom of her staircase, and a seemingly insignificant detail in her friend’s statement makes Robyn wonder: are the two bodies connected, and has the killer only just begun?

When another body confirms Robyn’s worst fears, she realises she’s in a race against time to stop the killer before they strike again. But just as she thinks she’s closing in, one of her own team goes missing.

Buried in the past is a terrible injustice. Can Robyn uncover the truth before another life is lost?

An absolutely heart-stopping and compelling serial killer thriller that will keep you up all night. Perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter, Rachel Abbott and Robert Dugoni.

I’m absolutely thrilled to be one of the stops on the blog tour for The Silent Children today!!

Review:

If you’re a new follower you may not know that this series is one of my absolute favorites, I’ve read and loved them all. I highly recommend starting at the first book and catching up as soon as possible because they’re SO good and you really need to read Robyn’s backstory to appreciate how excellent they are. The order is Little Girl Lost, Secrets of the Dead, The Missing Girls then this one, so get cracking and add them to your Christmas list!

Wyer is a clever lady and I love her formula of inserting chapters pertaining to the case via flashbacks that she uses in each book. This time, an unknown boy is telling the story of his terribly sad life full of horror and abuse. The addition of these snippets in between chapters from Robyn and team gave this such a dark, harrowing and gritty feel that worked so well for me. Per usual there are several plot threads to keep track of and again, as always this has a highly complex storyline that I never could quite figure out, Robyn sure is a better detective than me 😜

Wyer is beginning to be the queen of curveballs and this was no exception, especially as it relates to Robyn’s personal life. I’m being purposefully vague in case you haven’t read the previous book but she’s torturing us readers by giving us a tiny piece of the puzzle and then moving on. I LOVE IT! Keeps me on my toes and makes me all the more eager for the next book. Fans of police procedurals/thrillers that haven’t read this are truly missing out, they’re fast paced, exciting, shocking and fantastically well written.

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

About the Author: < strong><<<<
l E. Wyer is an award-winning author whose humorous books take a light-hearted look at getting older and encourage others to age disgracefully. More recently she has chosen to write for the "dark side" and embarked on a series of thrillers, starting with the gripping best-seller, Little Girl Lost.

Her book Grumpy Old Menopause won The People's Book Prize Award for non-fiction 2015.

Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing 'Irritable Male Syndrome' and 'Ageing Disgracefully' and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines 'Woman's Weekly' featured in 'Take A Break', 'Choice', 'Yours' and 'Woman's Own' magazines and writes regularly for The Huffington Post.

Carol is a signed author with Bookouture and Delancey Press.

To learn more about Carol, go to www.carolwyer.co.uk or follow Carol on Twitter: @carolewyer.

Carol blogs at www.facing50withhumour.com and www.grumpyoldmenopause.com

Goodreads|Amazon US|Amazon UK

Release date: November 30, 2017

Publisher: Pan

Genre: Historical Fiction

Blurb:

War pulled them apart, but can it bring them back together?

Molly lives with her repugnant father, who has betrayed her many times. From a young age, living on the streets of London’s East End, she has seen the harsh realities of life . . . When she’s kidnapped by a gang and forced into their underworld, her future seems bleak.

Flo spent her early years in an orphanage, and is about to turn her hand to teacher training. When a kindly teacher at her school approaches her about a job at Bletchley Park, it could be everything she never knew she wanted.

Will the girls’ friendship be enough to weather the hard times ahead?

I’m so delighted to be the stop on the blog tour for Brighter Days Ahead today!

Review:

Oh how I love a good saga from time to time, especially if it’s set during World War Two, there’s something about that era that I just can’t get enough of, it’s endlessly fascinating. I was totally swept away by Brighter Days Ahead and caught up in the lives of Molly and Flo and found myself invested in their lives almost from the very beginning of the book.

As much as I loved the premise for this book the characterization made it a really fantastic read. Both Flo and Molly were unforgettable but Flo has a special place in my heart, I was totally charmed by her generous nature and positive outlook despite a rather bleak time. I felt for poor Molly, she’s put in an awful situation, this took a darker turn with her storyline that I had anticipated. Their story is told separately for half of the book as they don’t meet until that point, but their friendship was beautiful and so nice to see.

Woods explored some very interesting issues and themes here, Flo has a dear friend that is gay and hearing about how terribly homosexuals were treated during this time was sickening and heartbreaking. Flo also works at Bletchley Park which always intrigues me, I’ll never get tired of learning more about this amazing place.

If you’re a fan of WW2 era Historical Fiction or epic sagas, give this a try. It had some lovely themes, like friendship, hope, strength, courage and love. It was a powerful, emotional story that I won’t forget anytime soon.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: November 28, 2017

Publisher: Atria

Genre: Fiction

Blurb:

From the author of the highly acclaimed The Railwayman’s Wife, called a “literary and literate gem” by Psychology Today, comes an emotionally resonant and profound new novel of two families, interconnected through the house that bears witness to their lives.

When Elsie Gormley leaves the Brisbane house in which she has lived for more than sixty years, Lucy Kiss and her family move in, eager to establish their new life. As they settle in, Lucy and her husband Ben struggle to navigate their transformation from adventurous lovers to new parents, taking comfort in memories of their vibrant past as they begin to unearth who their future selves might be. But the house has secrets of its own, and the rooms seem to share recollections of Elsie’s life with Lucy.

In her nearby nursing home, Elsie traces the span of her life—the moments she can’t bear to let go and the places to which she dreams of returning. Her beloved former house is at the heart of her memories of marriage, motherhood, love, and death, and the boundary between present and past becomes increasingly porous for both her and Lucy.

Over the course of one hot Brisbane summer, two families’ stories intersect in sudden and unexpected ways. Through the richly intertwined narratives of two ordinary, extraordinary women, Ashley Hay uses her “lyrical prose, poetic dialogue, and stunning imagery” (RT magazine) to weave an intricate, bighearted story of what it is to be human.

I’m so excited to be one of the stops on the blog tour for A Hundred Small Lessons today! Check out TLC Book Tours for the full schedule.

Review:

This is told via alternate perspectives from Elsie and Lucy. Eighty eight year old Elsie is forced to move out of her home after she falls and Lucy is the woman who buys her home. There was something poignant and touching about one woman leaving one of the only homes she’s ever known as another younger woman moves in. Both of them were highly complex characters, this book is very character driven to the point where the plot almost takes a back seat as it’s not as important, what matters is Elsie and Lucy’s feelings, insecurities and struggles.

There was something about this one that spoke to me, maybe because one of its biggest themes is motherhood and I could wholeheartedly relate to many of the struggles the two women faced. I think most mothers have struggled with not wholly defining themselves through their children and also being too hard on themselves in order to be a perfect mother. Hay writes beautifully, her prose is gentle, lyrical and there’s a quiet confidence to her writing style. Mothers at any stage in their life could relate to and enjoy this one, recommended for a day where you want to escape with a moving story.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for my review copy.

About the Author:

Ashley Hay is the internationally acclaimed author of the novels The Body in the Clouds and The Railwayman’s Wife, which was honored with the Colin Roderick Award by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the most prestigious literary prize in Australia, among numerous other accolades. She has also written four nonfiction books. She lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Connect with Ashley

Website | Facebook

Goodreads|Amazon

Release date: September 19, 2017

Publisher: Atria

Genre: Literary Fiction

Blurb:

A deeply moving, humorous story of a boy who believes in everything and an old man who believes in nothing.

In 1934, a rabbi’s son in Prague joins a traveling circus, becomes a magician, and rises to fame under the stage name the Great Zabbatini just as Europe descends into World War II. When Zabbatini is discovered to be a Jew, his battered trunk full of magic tricks becomes his only hope of surviving the concentration camp where he is sent.

Seven decades later in Los Angeles, ten-year-old Max finds a scratched-up LP that captured Zabbatini performing his greatest tricks. But the track in which Zabbatini performs his love spell—the spell Max believes will keep his disintegrating family together—is damaged beyond repair. Desperate for a solution, Max seeks out the now elderly, cynical magician and begs him to perform his magic on his parents. As the two develop an unlikely friendship, Moshe discovers that Max and his family have a surprising connection to the dark, dark days the Great Zabbatini experienced during the war.

Recalling the melancholy humor of Isaac Bashevis Singer and the heartbreaking pathos of the film Life is Beautiful—this outstanding first novel is at once an irreverent yet deeply moving story about a young boy who believes in magic and a disillusioned old man who believes in nothing, as well as a gripping and heartfelt tale about the circle of life.

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Trick! To follow along with the rest of the tour check out TLC Book Tours.

Review:

I love a good tale about an unlikely friendship and the relationship between Moshe and Max is about as unlikely as it gets. Moshe AKA Zabbatini is a cantankerous old man with nothing much left to live for and no desire to hang out with a child. Max is a ten year old boy suffering through his parents separation and he honestly broke my heart. While Max was a likable little guy, Moshe was not, he was foul, crude and cranky but somehow the old geezer wormed his way inside my heart anyway. Likable or not, these two were memorable and had one of those rare relationships born of desperation and hope.

This flips back and forth between present day and the past so rather than classify it as literary fiction, I would call it historical as well and that was one of my favorite parts of this book. Moshe lived an incredible life and it was fascinating to see what shaped him into the person he was at eighty eight. This was a tender, bittersweet story that tugged on my heartstrings and left a lasting impression in the end. Recommended for HF lovers and those who enjoy the type of book that transports you to a different place and time and also gives some good life lessons along the way.

Quick side note, I’m hosting a giveaway on Instagram for a chance to win a copy of this book!

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for my review copy.

About the Author:

Emanuel Bergmann was born in Germany and is a journalist and translator. He has been living in Los Angeles since 1990. His first novel, The Trick, is an international bestseller.