Goodreads

Release date: March 26, 2024

Publisher: Park Row

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

The Best Friend. The Confidant. The Senator. The Boyfriend. The Executive. 

Five contestants have been chosen to compete for ten million dollars on the game show One Lucky Winner. The catch? None of them knows what (or who) to expect, and it will be live streamed all over the world. Completely secluded in an estate in Northern California, with strict instructions not to leave the property and zero contact with the outside world, the competitors start to feel a little too isolated. 

When long-kept secrets begin to rise to the surface, the contestants realize this is no longer just a reality show—someone is out for blood. And the game can’t end until the world knows who the contestants really are…

Review:

I am a huge reality TV fan, I love it all including competition style shows so the description of this was right up my alley. A game with such a huge prize meant the stakes were very high here and I knew that meant the contestants would be cutthroat and man was I right. Some of the challenges were terrifying and the lengths these people would go to in order to win was insane and it was such a fun premise for a truly entertaining thriller. From the start you know each contestant had secrets in their pasts but I really liked how the author worked it all together in the end. The pacing was a steady climb to an action packed ending and I was pretty gripped the whole time. It was a bit over the top and some things were kind of a stretch but I didn’t care because it was just a really fun read.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: March 19, 2024

Publisher: Graydon House

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

Iris Walsh saw her twin sister, Piper, get kidnapped—so why does no one believe her?

Iris narrowly escaped her pretty, popular twin sister’s fate as a teen: kidnapped, trafficked and long gone before the cops agreed to investigate. With no evidence to go on but a few scattered memories, the case quickly goes cold.

Now an adult, Iris wants one thing—proof. And if the police still won’t help, she’ll just have to find it her own way; by interning at the isolated Shoal Island Hospital for the criminally insane, where secrets lurk in the shadows and are kept under lock and key. But Iris soon realizes that something even more sinister is simmering beneath the surface of the Shoal, and that the patients aren’t the only ones being observed…

Review:

I have been a longtime fan of the author, she has written some of my favorite bat shit crazy thrillers so I knew I was going to be in for a wild ride here. I just wasn’t prepared for how bananas and off the rails things would get in the end and I can’t say I was a fan. There was a lot to like here though, you have a strong opening that hooked me and at first the timeline switches made sense for me. You also have a great setting with a remote island housing an institute for the criminally insane, that was actually probably the strongest aspect for me, so creepy and atmospheric. Where things went too far for me was in the very last bit, way too over dramatic and unbelievable in the vein of a bad soap opera. I just couldn’t get past the big twist, it just read as silly. Like I said before though I’m a huge fan of the author so I absolutely will read her again this was just a bit of a miss for me.

Overall rating: 3/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: April 2, 2024

Publisher: Park Row

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

An ICU nurse accidentally uncovers a patient’s frightening past in this chilling thriller.

Meghan Michaels is trying to find balance between being a single mom to a teenage daughter and working as a full time nurse. While on duty at the hospital one day, a patient named Caitlin arrives in a coma with a traumatic brain injury, having jumped from a bridge and plunging over twenty feet to the train tracks below. 

But when a witness comes forward with shocking details about the fall, it calls everything they know into question. Was Caitlin  pushed  and if so, by whom and why? 

Meghan has always tried to stay emotionally detached from her patients, but this time, she mistakenly lets herself get too close until she’s deeply entangled in Caitlin’s and her family’s lives. Only when it’s too late, does she realize that she and her daughter could be the next victims.

Review:

Every time I review one of the authors books I find it hard to review because even discussing the plot a little could give something away and I never want to do that. So I say go into this knowing as little as possible, trust that the author is excellent at what she does and just enjoy the ride because it was a really fun one. I will say that this is a slow burn but it was somehow still a binge worthy and pretty fast read. There’s a couple of different mystery threads running throughout and I was really impressed by the way the author pulled everything together. The city setting with some awful things happening to women made for some very uneasy reading and added an additional creep factor to the story. Add in some good twists with a super solid one that made me do a double take and this was a really well executed thriller that I throughly enjoyed.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: April 1, 2024

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

It was the perfect place to grow up…and the perfect place to die. 

After experiencing a personal tragedy, Carmen McKenna finds Hunter’s Hollow—a bustling campground in rural North Carolina—to be her new home and worst nightmare. 

Despite the promises of a chosen family and a safe place to grow up, living next door to the Hunters’ two sons comes with its own set of challenges. Jack and Dean introduce Carmen to a world she’s never known—one filled with young love, first heartbreak, and sinister secrets. 

When a body is found at Hunter’s Hollow, instantly shattering the tranquil façade that has surrounded the campground, the residents are forced to accept the truth: a killer is among them. As the police search for answers to no avail, Carmen leaves the campground in hopes of clearing her mind and healing her broken heart. 

Now, eleven years later and with the case still unsolved, Carmen returns to face the past and discover the truth about that terrible night. Before she can, a guest is reported missing from the campground and the circumstances are all too similar to the horror Carmen once faced. 

They say you can’t go home again, but when buried secrets call to Carmen from Hunter’s Hollow, she’s determined to learn the truth about what happened back then—and what’s happening now—if it’s the last thing she does. 

Returning to once again blur the edges between psychological thriller and romantic suspense, million-copy bestselling author Kiersten Modglin brings us a sun-soaked, nostalgic, and completely twisted romantic thriller.

Review:

This was a bit of a departure for the author, she’s well known (and really good at) writing super fast paced and twisty thrillers and this had a different vibe. It was slower and quieter, more of a coming of age story with some mystery elements and romance too. There’s dual timelines, both from Carmen’s POV one in the past when she first moves to Hunters Hollow and one in present day as she comes home. The past timeline is where the coming of age vibes comes into play as it follows her from being a new teenager through college aged. When the past collides with the present day things start to get more tense and the authors trademark suspense begins to shine through but at it’s heart this is about grief, loss and tragedy with romance playing a heavy roll, things even got a little steamy 🥵 I’m always in awe when an author does something a little different for them and this definitely impressed me.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the author for my copy.

Goodreads

Release date: March 5, 2024

Publisher: MTV Books

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis:

The summer before senior year of college has arrived, and Grace has been anticipating an important trip to Los Angeles with her boyfriend, Josh. But when he unexpectedly dumps her, she’s left with nothing but a broken heart and an empty schedule. 

Her best friends Tiff and Camille quickly come to her rescue by taking her on a post-break-up beach vacation in Cancun, hoping it will help her start to move on. Too bad neither of them knows that Josh will be there, too, along with his possibly-new girlfriend. 

Grace is determined to win Josh back at all costs. But when she keeps crossing paths with Daniel, a gorgeous soccer player from Hawaii, she starts to rethink her plan. Daniel is everything Josh isn’t—easygoing, unpretentious, unselfish in bed—and he gets what it’s like to be biracial, too. Grace can’t help but wonder if it’s possible for your entire life to change in just one wild week in this boisterous and witty celebration of friendship, forgiveness, and falling in love.

Review:

This was a huge letdown for me across the board. I expected a fun spring break romance that would get me excited for a new season and it ended up being a total flop for me. From the start I didn’t connect with Grace, she was annoying in her obsessiveness with her ex to the point she just looked pathetic. The secondary characters weren’t much better either, they were all one dimensional and just weren’t bringing anything of value to the story. Last bummer thing for me was the majority of the book was set in Cancun so I expected some great descriptions of the setting and to maybe even feel like I was there myself instead there was no culture, no great descriptions and just following the three friends as they got drunk and acted stupid and immature. Blah.

Overall rating: 2/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: March 5, 2024

Publisher: Park Row

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

A couple inherits an apartment with a spine-tingling past in this binge-worthy thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six.

Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends meet in New York City when they receive life-changing news: Chad’s late uncle has left them his luxury apartment at the historic Windermere in glamorous Murray Hill. With its prewar elegance and impeccably uniformed doorman, the building is the epitome of old New York charm. One would almost never suspect the dark history lurking behind its perfectly maintained facade.

At first, the building and its eclectic tenants couldn’t feel more welcoming. But as the Lowans settle into their new home, Rosie starts to suspect that there’s more to the Windermere than meets the eye. Why is the doorman ever-present? Why are there cameras everywhere? And why have so many gruesome crimes occurred there throughout the years? When one of the neighbors turns up dead, Rosie must get to the truth about the Windermere before she, too, falls under its dangerous spell.

Review:

This was pretty solid for me in the end but it did take me some time to warm up to it. The setting was great, an old apartment building with a sinister past made for some unsettling reading and I enjoyed the dual timelines as well. There was an underlying sense of danger running throughout, I just wish the pacing was a little faster to keep the plot moving forward a bit more. If you like a gothic setting with a fabulous atmosphere and don’t mind a slower paced book this may work for you.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: March 12, 2024

Publisher: Berkley Romance

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis:

Their name? The objectors.

Their job? To break off weddings as hired. 

Their dilemma? They might just be in love with each other.

When Sophie Steinbeck finds out just before her nuptials that her fiancé has cheated yet again, she desperately wants to call it off. But because her future father-in-law is her dad’s cutthroat boss, she doesn’t want to be the one to do it. Her savior comes in the form of a professional objector, whose purpose is to show up at weddings and proclaim the words no couple (usually) wants to hear at their ceremony: “I object!”

During anti-wedding festivities that night, Sophie learns more about Max the Objector’s job. It makes perfect sense to her: he saves people from wasting their lives, from hurting each other. He’s a modern-day hero. And Sophie wants in.

The two love cynics start working together, going from wedding to wedding, and Sophie’s having more fun than she’s had in ages. She looks forward to every nerve-racking ceremony saving the lovesick souls of the betrothed masses. As Sophie and Max spend more time together, however, they realize that their physical chemistry is off the charts, leading them to dabble in a little hookup session or two—but it’s totally fine, because they definitely do not have feelings for each other. Love doesn’t exist, after all.

And then everything changes. A groom-to-be hires Sophie to object, but his fiancée is the woman who broke Max’s heart. As Max wrestles with whether he can be a party to his ex’s getting hurt, Sophie grapples with the sudden realization that she may have fallen hard for her partner in crime.

Review:

I’m not sure how the author does it but she knocks it out of the park for me with every single book she releases. Her books are rom com perfection and not having her books adapted as movies is a crime, I swear they would be amazing on a big screen. The unique premise here was too good, professional wedding objectors is simultaneously horrifying and so interesting and combine that with the best banter I’ve ever read and this was absolutely perfect. I’ve always been a sucker for fake dating and Sophie and Max are both so cynical their pairing with this trope could not be more ideal. I always think people who don’t read romance should give her books a try, so freaking good and the humor alone is enough to make anyone swoon.

Overall rating: 5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: March 12, 2024

Publisher: MIRA

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

Three women work to uncover the scorching lies and scandal behind a self-help movement, igniting a powder keg of secrets that could blow their town apart, in this suspense novel perfect for readers who love Southern mystery.

It’s early morning in the small Texas town of Edenberg when the body of sixty-seven-year-old Beverly Hoffman is discovered in the Guadalupe River—drowned in only two inches of water.

After elementary school teacher Nichole Miller discovers the woman’s body, she makes two phone calls: first to the police, who call Beverly’s death a slip and fall, and second to her best friend, journalist Jenny Martin. Jenny is attempting to revive her flailing marriage and her all-but-DOA career, and she knows foul play when she sees it. The two women enlist the help of Beverly’s daughter-in-law, Robin, who’s eager to expose the truth.

Beverly had been beloved in the tight-knit community, having cofounded the wildly popular personal-development company Genetive, Inc., alongside her influential husband. But something sinister has been smoldering beneath the surface of their picturesque hometown. And Genetive is at the center of it all.

Review:

There was so much about this one that I liked from the cult like vibes to the multiple viewpoints to the conservative Texas setting and while I did like it, I didn’t love it as much as I expected to. I’ve read two other books by the author and her Southern style mysteries are always pretty unique and told in a manner that holds my attention but there was something small missing for me here. The cult vibes were pretty creepy and unsettling and gave me shades of Scientology which is a subject I’ve been endlessly fascinated by for years. I think when it lost me a bit was in the pacing, I would’ve liked a more excitement and tension in the end but it fell flat for me. But overall I’m glad I read it, as I said before lots to like and the overall themes are strong.

Overall rating: 3.5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: March 5, 2024

Publisher: Berkley

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel.

July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re looking for the small resort town where they plan to spend their honeymoon. When they spot what appears to be a lone hitchhiker along the deserted road, they stop to help. But not long after the hitchhiker gets into their car, they see the blood seeping from her jacket and a truck barreling down Atticus Line after them.

When the hitchhiker dies at the local hospital, April and Eddie find themselves in the crosshairs of the Coldlake Falls police. Unexplained murders have been happening along Atticus Line for years and the cops finally have two witnesses who easily become their only suspects. As April and Eddie start to dig into the history of the town and that horrible stretch of road to clear their names, they soon learn that there is something supernatural at work, something that could not only tear the town and its dark secrets apart, but take April and Eddie down with it all.

Review:

This one starts out so strong and it never let up for me, I was hooked after one chapter and that never waned for one minute. The author is one of a select few who can get me to read anything with a supernatural twist and it’s really just due to the fact that she’s so damn good at incorporating things of that nature into an everyday setting. Speaking of setting, the vibes from the start were so creepy and unsettling to the point where I felt like someone was watching me while I was reading 😂 A deserted road where strange stuff happens and a legend about The Lost Girl who haunts the road is already super creepy, then you throw in finding a hitchhiker who has been stabbed, and yeah creepy vibes for sure. The tension steadily builds as things progress and there are several interesting angles that are explored as the local cops are quick to want to pin the murder on April and Eddie and then this married couple are both harboring secrets of their own as well. The secondary characters were great too, specifically Rose who owns the house where April and Eddie are staying and the Snell sisters who are quirky teenagers with an obsession for true crime. It all leads up to an excellent conclusion with twists I didn’t see coming and answers that shocked me. The author can do no wrong for me, I loved all of her books!

Overall rating: 5/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.

Goodreads

Release date: February 6, 2024

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

Lesson #1: trust no one

Eve has a good life. She gets up each day, gets a kiss from her husband Nate, and heads off to teach math at the local high school. All is as it should be. Except…

Last year, Caseham High was rocked by a scandal, with one student, Addie, at its center. And this year, Eve is dismayed to find the girl in her class. 

Addie can’t be trusted. She lies. She hurts people. She destroys lives. At least, that’s what everyone says. 

But nobody knows the real Addie. Nobody knows the secrets that could destroy her. And Addie will do anything to keep it quiet.

Review:

This was the most unhinged book I’ve read in a long time and I truly mean that as a compliment. If I’m in the mood for a bananas thriller, but one that provides a great escape and is a whole lot of fun along the way I know I can always turn to this author. Her plots are always slightly ridiculous and some things just work out a little too conveniently, but if you want brain candy this was a blast. The chapters are short, you get several POVs and with lots of twists you will have a hard time setting this one down. Don’t think too much when you’re reading this, suspend all disbelief and just enjoy the ride and I think you’ll have a good time with this addictive read.

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.