The Cabin in the Woods - Sarah Alderson

 

This domestic thriller opens with Rose hiding out in a cabin in upstate New York.  She taps into her childhood of learning survival skills to keep alive as winter begins to move into the area. She's trying to draw as little attention to her existence as possible, venturing out only when absolutely necessary.  The noises from the forest and occasional footprints in the area unnerve her as she's ready to run at any moment.  She isn't sure what is out there in the forest, but if it is who she thinks it is, then she'll need to run as fast as she can. 

TW/CW: drug use/abuse, drug overdose, addiction, pregnancy, postpartum psychosis, death of a child, domestic abuse, sexual assault, child sexual abuse by a parent, child neglect 

The description of this book is much more vague than most domestic thrillers and I think it can be fun to go into books knowing little to nothing about them.  In this case, I think knowing very few details ahead of time really helped amp up the tension and intrigue during the slower, less action-y portions of the early book.  However, there are some pretty significant content warnings that aren't in the description so I would encourage folks to check on those warnings ahead of time just so you don't get blindsided.  

The pacing of this was fantastic for me and I think a lot of that was thanks to the gradual build up of tension as well as reveals.  The book opens with Rose at the cabin, we don't know who she is or what led her to be at this cabin.  The majority of the story is Rose at the cabin which could easily get boring and repetitive.  However, Alderson does such a great job of using the dual timeline as well as timing out exactly what information to reveal at key points in the story that I was fully drawn into the story really early on.  We get flashbacks to Rose's difficult childhood as well as her as an adult in more recent years.  Alderson does a great job laying out breadcrumbs for the reader to follow as we learn more and more about Rose's background.  There's really good momentum of the story in both timelines we're following so even if we're in a bit of a lull with one, the other timeline has something moving the story forward.  The pacing slowly ramps up over the story and by the time we're in the final act, the reveals are coming pretty quickly. This isn't the most fast-paced, action-packed thriller but it has such a carefully plotted and executed plot arc that the pacing naturally picks up over time. 

Most of the reveals in the story are the reader finding out what led Rose to be in this cabin.  The reveals are really well distributed throughout the book so it never felt info-dumpy at any point.  I also thought Alderson did a great job of picking what level of reveals to give the reader.  We start off with somewhat mundane details revealed to the reader but then the reveals begin to increase in severity.  By the end, we're learning some really heavy stuff about our characters and by that point I was 100% invested.  Then, once we're caught up in both timelines and can move forward, we get some more action on page and since I was so invested in our characters, I was on the edge of my seat while reading.  The very last big reveal was fantastic and was perfectly paced - one of my favorite reveals in recent memory. 

Since we spend so much time with Rose in an isolated setting, I think it is extremely important that her characterization is spot on.  As we learn more and more about her background and the events that preceded the cabin, Alderson does a great job of fleshing out her character.  There's a bit of back and forth with things that get revealed where we initially think Rose is one type of character, but maybe she's actually a different type.  It really felt like with every action Rose took or with every piece of background information we got, she became more of a whole person.  I thought she was a really engaging character to follow and reading her journey was extremely satisfying.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read and was completely engrossed in the reading experience.  I stayed up extra late to finish and the ending was super satisfying so it was 100% worth it!  I loved Rose as a character and found her really engaging to follow through this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC

Expected publication date is July 7, 2022

A Murder of Crows - Sarah Yarwood-Lovett

 

This cozy-ish mystery follows Dr. Nell Ward, an ecologist, as she becomes a prime suspect in a murder.  After spending hours evaluating the grounds of a manor, the last thing Nell expects to overhear is a murder.  But with no other suspects and with Nell providing ample proof that she was at the location during the time of the murder, mere feet away from the scene of the crime, the police are very suspicious of her.  In order to clear her name, Nell and her fellow ecologist, Adam, set out to uncover the truth of what happened that night. 

TW/CW: stalking, revenge porn

I'd categorize this as a cozy-ish mystery because we do partially follow the police during their investigation. I'd say 70% of the book centers Nell and her investigation and the other 30% follows the police so this really didn't feel much like a police procedural.  I haven't read a ton of cozy mysteries, but the more I read the more I really like them and this one was no exception.  I think Nell is a really great main character and I really believed how she gets involved in the investigation.  I know a common complaint of cozy mysteries is how the main character getting involved is sometimes a bit of a stretch and a little unbelievable.  In this case, however, I think Nell's characterization was so consistent that I didn't for one second question why she would keep sticking her nose in the investigation.  Also, I can completely see her continuing to do so which makes me really excited that this is the beginning of a series.  

I loved the characters but did find some of the side characters to be a little less useful than I was expecting.  I'm sure they'll play a bigger role going forward in the series, but they just felt a little flat in this book.  I could see exactly why they were in the book, but it didn't feel like there was much more to their character than that reason.  I'm hoping we continue to see them going forward and maybe have their characterization and relationships fleshed out a bit more.  Nell is a fantastic character and even if the next book didn't have any other side characters, I'd still read it.  I thought her background was really smartly woven into the narrative so we would learn more about her without it getting into info-dump territory.  There is a bit of a love triangle by the end of the book which normally isn't my thing but I did feel like both potential partners for Nell were well developed so I could completely see her choosing either person.  I also loved the amount of character development we get from Nell in this book but there's still an obvious path forward for her personal growth as well for the future books.

The ecology angle was a really interesting aspect to the book and I think it really added a great layer to the reading experience.  Yarwood-Lovett spent 16 years as an ecologist and all that knowledge and passion really comes across on the page.  There were so many little details that really added to the overall narrative that felt seamless.  I think this aspect really tapped into my inner love for nature documentaries of all sorts.  There's also some great information in the end of the book where Yarwood-Lovett gives some more details about some of the ecological-based twists and reveals in the book and how they're based in reality, even if they seem a little far-fetched at the time. I think Nell's investigation was really well balanced between the ecology side as well as some good old fashioned sneaking around so this didn't feel overly science-y. 

I did find the ending to be a little info-dumpy but I don't think there was really a better way to get all the information across to the reader.  I think the reveals were presented in the most entertaining way, even if it was a little heavy-handed.  I did enjoy the mix of interpersonal, character reveals alongside the reveals of the mystery and since we basically knew all the main details by the ending, I was more intrigued in the interpersonal reveals.  The last 20% of the story was really fast paced with a lot of pieces falling into place.  There were a number of threads outside the main murder mystery that suddenly ended up being connected which made the main mystery more complex than I was expecting.  Since a lot of these initial reveals came really fast and didn't give the reader a lot of time to adjust to them, I think having a slower explanation really helped clear up some foggy bits for me.  

Overall, this was a really great cozy-ish mystery.  I loved the characters and the investigation path.  The ecology angle worked so well and I cannot wait to continue on in the series.  

Thanks to NetGalley and Embla Books for the ARC

Expected publication date is July 1, 2022

The Drug Trial - S.R. Masters

 

This suspense/thriller follows a group of 10 people who all sign up for a clinical trial to test out a medication.  They get to spend the month at a luxury resort in the Canary Islands.  All they have to do is take a pill every day, sit through a battery of tests, and keep a diary.  If they complete the trial, they get paid £20,000.  It all seems to be going well at the beginning, then some of the subjects start getting increasingly severe headaches and having some mood changes.  The staff assure them it is not the medication - but then a body is found. 

TW/CW: financial abuse by a parent, emotional abuse, animal death

 There were a lot of characters in this and I think Masters did as good a job as possible helping introduce the reader to all of them in a memorable way.  However, I still had a hard time keeping them all straight in my mind.  I mixed up 2 of the men constantly and most of the women blended together in my mind.  I took a quick skim through reviews that have already been posted and I wasn't seeing this as a wide complaint so this might just be a personal issue with how I process characters. I will say that I didn't find it necessarily impacted my understanding or enjoyment of the story which was good.  Even if I got character A and B mixed up, in each scene, there was enough context to remind me of the key characterization points that will be important in the scene.  So, for an example, if I was thinking that Adam was the super tall character but the scene I'm currently reading is with Ben, Masters would always throw in a mention about how tall Ben was.  This way, even if I was mistaken at the beginning of the scene, I was quickly corrected and could just continue reading. 

Despite having all these characters, we are only following Elle's POV in the story.  I thought her introduction and background were really interesting and gave me enough details for me to completely buy into the premise that she would sign up for this trial without going overboard and getting too much background.  Once she got to the trial location, she did feel like more of a wallflower observing some of the more colorful characters there.  There were a number of red flags early on in the process that she brings up but then brushes aside with some rationale that I completely believed were accurate to her character (even if I didn't brush them aside).  However, the other characters have different opinions and levels of concern that I think do a great job of mirroring different readers and what their reactions to these red flags are. I thought Elle was a really great POV to follow because Masters does a fantastic job setting her up as a sort of 'other' in this experiment.  I think it would be natural for almost anyone to be put in a similar situation and think to themselves "I'm not like these other people".  But slowly, as the trial and the whole situation begins to break down, we see some of these seams where maybe Elle isn't as different from these other characters as we (and she) initially thought. 

The pacing was really great in the first 1/3 and last 1/3, but really slowed down in the middle for me.  I did find this a little odd because the middle is where things really start to go sideways.  However, I think we spent just a little too much time in the phase where characters were getting suspicious but the staff at the facility were consistently assuring them everything is going okay.  The pacing in the beginning of meeting Elle, getting selected for the trial, and then meeting the other participants goes by really quickly so the reader is just thrown into this situation with Elle.  We do have some great moments of all the characters getting to know each other and feeling out this whole situation.  Then we start getting some gradual tension increase as characters begin to act strangely.  I wanted that tension and pacing to keep gradually increasing, but instead it seemed to come in waves.  We get a few waves of this increase in tension or suspicion and then Elle would calm down and trust the doctors and each time, it felt like Elle would almost relax too much after the doctors tried to explain things away.  I didn't get as much worry or fear out of Elle and since she's the one character we're following, it meant that the whole churning middle of the book just felt more slow than I would expect.  The pacing really picks up once things go absolutely bonkers in the last 1/3 and then I feel like Elle really comes out of her shell and starts being a more active participant in the whole situation.

The ending, I found, is really interesting but will probably be the most divisive part of the book.  We do find out some details behind the trial but it is done is a really odd way that worked for me.  Instead of getting some super long info-dump or villain monologue, we get a sort of stand-off situation where characters are asking and answering questions back and forth.  It was set up really well that both sides have information that the other side wants so there's a delicate balance going on.  However, I think as the questioning goes on, this initial tension is lost and we take a left turn into info-dump territory.  The ending reveal was one that I think a lot of readers will end up guessing but I still found it interesting.  I especially liked how there was one aspect of this big reveal that isn't agreeing with one of the characters.  To avoid spoilers, I'll be vague, but we are told X and one character specifically says that is not true because of Y.  Then the initial reveal says that character thinks Y is true but actually based on evidence X is true and the character is just in denial. So then, depending on if the reader thinks X or Y is true, it sort of changes the whole framework of the story.  I really love ending reveals that make the reader immediately look back over the story and events suddenly become more/less important or get colored in a certain light. The X vs Y ending reveal gives two slightly different readings of the overall story that I think are both really interesting. 

Overall, this was a really fun read that had a great hook and interesting premise.  I think the pacing and tension faltered in the middle 1/3 but picked up enough by the end to be satisfying.  Too many characters for me to keep them all separate, but since we were really only focused on Elle any mix-ups I had didn't really impact my reading experience that badly.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 for the ARC

Expected publication date is July 7, 2022

Queer Romance Readathon Wrap Up

This is my wrap up for the Queer Romance Readathon that ran from June 13-20, 2022. I didn't get around to all the books I was planning on reading during this readathon, but I'll keep them all on my TBR and start working my way through them.  All of these books are queer in some way and I tried to squeeze in as much variety as I could. 

 

Neighborly - Katrina Jackson

This steamy novella is the second in the Erotic Accommodations series and follows Heaven as she and her boyfriend Calvin move in together.  They think they've found the perfect place - with plenty of space for Heaven's art and feeling like they're starting to lay down roots together.  Another big plus?  The couple next door.  Tasha and Stephen are married and they're very welcoming to their new tenants next door.  But when Heaven and Tasha meet, the connection between the two women is electric and their men only want them to be happy so the two couples work toward an arrangement that could satisfy them all.  This was a really great, low angst, steamy read.  Both couples are already established at the opening of the story and this is really a journey as Heaven and Calvin's relationship takes a new step.  I loved how much time we spend with each couple separately before they start crossing in order to really solidify the relationships.  Most of the poly romances I've read have ended up in an official triad or relationship between all participants.  In this case, the two couples don't end up in a four-person relationship in that same sense but they do enjoy their time together.  I also really enjoyed how the communication was handled both in each pairing as well as a group. 

The Hideaway Inn - Philip William Stover

This second chance, MM romance, is the first book in the Seasons of New Hope series and follows Vince as he rolls into town with one goal in mind - successfully flip the Hideaway Inn and earn a good return on his investment.  He isn't expecting to run into Tack - his first love and first heartbreak.  Vince has spent years changing both physically and mentally so he would no longer be the skinny kid who got bullied for reading poetry.  But after just a few conversations with Tack, Vince finds himself struggling with the same feelings he had back in high school. Tack has also changed over the years and now that he's comfortable with who he is, he's ready to take advantage of Vince showing up out of nowhere and show him that maybe the Hideaway Inn is the best place for Vince to finally let those walls down and be himself again.  I really loved this small town romance!  Vince and Tack were really dynamic characters and I loved how their relationship developed and deepened over the weeks.  I thought their past dynamic with Tack being a bystander to Vince being bullied was handled well and wasn't brushed away too quickly.  Their relationship started off a little rough with Vince being really reluctant to let Tack in, even a little bit.  But after they cleared the air, they really seemed to fall into each other so easily and I loved following them along the way.  The side characters are also fantastic and I can't wait to read more in this series.  

TW/CW: homophobia, bullying

Drag Me Up - R. M. Virtues

This is the first book in the Gods of Hunger series - a contemporary Greek myth re-imagining (this book follows Hades and Persephone).  Hades is the owner of legendary Casino Asphodel but he does everything he can to stay out of the limelight and let his reputation and rumors about him swirl through the city of Khaos Falls.  He pulls threads from the shadows and has his fingers on the pulse of the city - both legitimate and criminal business practices.  Persephone is thrilled to have earned the spot in an acrobatic show and to finally be following her dreams of performing.  Hades is immediately entranced by Persephone and the two share a connection that surprise them both.  But when outside threats start closing in, their connection is put to the test.  I really enjoyed this mafia-ish world that Virtures built and I'm so excited to continue reading on in the series.  I'm pretty neutral on Greek mythology so up until about a year ago, I had no idea what a Hades/Persephone romance meant.  So for me, I really enjoyed that the world was so well developed that I could still understand the relationships and dynamics without having to be really knowledgeable on the mythology.  I completely adored Hades and Persephone as a couple - especially how soft Hades was for her.  Their relationship was so supportive and caring from the very beginning and they're really solid all through the story.  I really enjoy romances where the main couple is super solid and the source of tension comes from outside the relationship.  There are a ton of characters introduced in this book, but I think Virtues does a great job of really focusing in on the handful that are important in this story while giving us just enough details on the other characters but not too much to overwhelm the reader. 

TW/CW: stalking

Fall Into You - Georgina Kiersten

This FF short novella follows Imari as she relocates to the small town of Appeley after a traumatic and dramatic leaving her fiance at the alter.  A few months after settling in, Imari runs into her childhood friend, Cassidy, and the two women have instant chemistry.  Imari is initially hesitant to get into a new relationship so soon but her connection with Cassidy might just be once in a lifetime. This was a really great read and I enjoyed the small town, fall atmosphere.  It is only 50 pages, but Kiersten packs so much information and characterization into those pages.  I thought Imari and Cassidy worked really well together and their instant connection really came across well on the page.  

Three of Hearts - Lillian Lark

This paranormal, MMF romance is the first in the Harpies of a Feather series and follows Zephyrine, Greg, and Asa. Greg and Asa were in a relationship but when Greg's inner wolf started to desire to search for another mate, Greg broke up with Asa despite still loving him.  When Zeph literally crashes into Asa with Greg quickly following behind, the three of them find themselves in a fog of attraction.  But Zeph is a harpy and harpies don't take mates, much less two of them.  However, the attraction between the three of them is electric and they seem to work really well as a triad and the three of them decide to give a relationship between all of them a shot.  I really enjoyed the world building and character development in this, but felt the pacing was a little off.  This was insta-lust central and I felt like some of the more serious portions of the relationship didn't really make sense that they came so early on.  Some of the more romantic-suspense elements toward the end also felt like they came on and then were resolved a little too quickly.  I did enjoy the relationship building and how some of the internal issues were handled.  We have some really great family moments that I enjoyed.  I also really enjoyed the lore building that Lark wove into the story and I found it really easy to follow the various rules/abilities of these different entities.  I think Lark does a good job balancing a second chance romance between Greg and Asa and the new romance with Zeph.  This was a relatively short read at only 191 pages and I think if it was a bit longer, I would have liked to see more non-sex relationship building between our trio. 

TW/CW: pregnancy, human trafficking, kidnapping

One of the Girls - Lucy Clarke

This suspense follows a group of women as they travel from the UK to Greece for Lexi's bachelorette party weekend.  They're expecting sun, sand, and relaxation but what starts out as a dream vacation is soon too good to be true.  Undercurrents of jealousy, secrets, and ulterior motives hide in the crystal clear waters.  But by the time everything finally comes out, someone won't be leaving the island alive.

TW/CW: domestic abuse, death of a loved one, infidelity, alcohol use, alcohol abuse, pregnancy, sexual assault, medical mistake leading to death

The characters in this were perfection.  Messy friend groups are one of my favorite tropes in suspense/thrillers and this group was no exception.  We get a great mix of characters and relationships tied to the bride-to-be: friends since childhood, a more recent friendship, girlfriend of a friend, and her soon to be sister in law.  There's a fantastic layering to these relationships as these different versions of Lexi come out.  For an example: her old friends remember her as a party animal back in her early 20s but her new friend knows her to be the calm yoga instructor who watches what she eats. Clarke does a great job of quickly characterizing each of the women so the reader can be grounded in their different personalities.  I didn't have a hard time telling the women apart at all which was great because they're so often together due to the nature of the trip. I really enjoyed the way the different aspects of each woman's personality came out based on who they were interacting with.  These characters really felt well developed and it made me so much more invested in the story.

The story is told in multi-POV so we get the inner thoughts of all of the women which was the cherry on top of this messy group.  On the surface, everyone is there to celebrate Lexi, but there are some really great interpersonal conflicts that are going on at the same time.  I loved how we frequently get to see both sides of a situation - often back to back.  One non-spoilery example would be that the group had to split up into 2 cars to drive from the ferry to the house and we get the POV of the maid of honor who casually mentions to the reader that the other car is taking a detour to get groceries because she knows she would only buy alcohol if she was shopping.  Then, when we change POVs, we see a character from that other group who is grumbing about being assigned grocery duty because she feels it is a way to further isolate her from the core friend group.  I just loved all the different dynamics we get between these women - some of who know each other well and others who don't.  I also found that since the individual characters were so well developed, I didn't have a hard time following the narrative when it was switching between so many POVs.  the chapters are long enough that it doesn't feel like we're changing perspectives too often.  There are also some really great moments that Clarke chooses the exact right moment to change POV in order to build tension and suspense.

The setting was fantastic.  It was very atmospheric with a perfect amount of sinister right under the surface.  One of our characters had family on this island and they have some not great memories from growing up and these memories end up being a catalyst for some larger plot points.  There's a great mix of danger in the beauty of the island, exemplified by the beautiful house they're staying at being located on a cliff - complete with a long drop onto jagged rocks at the bottom.  This type of push/pull between the beautiful and the dangerous is one of my favorite things about these more beachy/vacation settings in books.  Clarke does a good job showing us that these are more than just 'potential' dangers by having characters have some near misses and close calls early on in the book.  I really enjoyed that the group get out and interact with other people pretty frequently instead of being isolated for the whole book.  These moments out and about give the reader a little break from some of the interpersonal tension building while also allowing Clarke to insert some more external conflicts as well.  I think the cover of this book helps immediately set the reader up with an image of the setting in mind and then Clarke's descriptions just solidifies it.  

 The pacing was spot on for me, but I could see it maybe being slow for some readers.  This is close to 400 pages and most of the action culminates in the last day of their trip.  There's a lot of set up with the characters throughout the long weekend where they're going about doing usual vacation-y things (sight seeing, swimming, having lazy lunches on the patio, etc).  There are character development moments and some little passive aggressive moments in these build-ups, but nothing overtly threatening or suspenseful is actually happening.  However, Clarke inserts these flashforwards where a character (it isn't clear who) is speaking and telling the reader vaguely ominous things like "if we only knew then what we know now" or "everything changed the night of the bonfire". These breaks are only a paragraph or two long each time but they inject the perfect amount of suspense into this otherwise more mundane build-up.  There were a number of times where there would be something specific mentioned in these mysterious paragraphs that would then come up later with one of the characters.  This was a really interesting way to keep suspicion building in the reader and it was giving me something to try and piece together, see if I could guess what was going to happen before we actually see it on page.  Once we get to the bonfire night, the reader is well aware that this is where everything goes down and I was guessing to the last second what, specifically, would happen.

Overall, this was a fantastic read and I highly recommend.  It was a really great suspense read with fantastic characters and excellent POV choices that really elevated the story to the next level.  The pacing might throw some readers off, but I think Clarke does a great job earning the reader's attention.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC

Expected publication date is June 28, 2022

The Guilty Couple - C. L. Taylor

 

This domestic thriller follows Olivia Sutherland as she is freed from prison 5 years after being convicted of plotting to murder him.  Now that she's free, she has three goals: repair her relationship with her daughter, clear her name, and bring down her husband who framed her. 

TW/CW: drug abuse, drug overdose, police corruption, infidelity, incarceration

Domestic thrillers are usually solid, middle of the road reads for me.  I don't pick up a ton, and the ones I do are normally good, but nothing about them really sticks with me. This one, on the other hand, I really enjoyed.  It was the perfect balance of domestic drama plus over-the-top situations. It was a fun, twisty read that I would highly recommend, especially for a summer vacation read.  

I really enjoyed the cast of characters and their different relationships.  We don't get a ton of backstory on any of them, even Olivia and her husband, but the current relationships are so well developed I didn't mind at all.  We know the basic info, but we don't get any long info dumps or flashbacks to flesh out the early parts of these relationships.  And big plus for having all the characters having very distinct names so I could actually keep them all straight in my head (no Maria/Mary/Maggie here, for example).  While Olivia is the protagonist we are mostly following, we do get some multi-POV chapters from other characters that played a big role in the story.  These other POV chapters made it easy to sneak in some more information about them as well as give the reader information that Olivia doesn't have (or at least doesn't have until later in the story). 

The justice/prison system does play a pretty big role in this story and I thought it was handled well (with the caveat that I don't have first hand experience).  I liked how Olivia keeps in touch with some of the women she met in prison instead of getting out and immediately reverting back to her previous way of life.  I haven't spent 5 years in prison, but I would imagine this is more accurate, especially when those ties and friendships were pretty strong.  Now, this is set in the UK and I'm in the US so I'm not sure if they have rules about being friendly with other criminals or if the justice system, in general, is shown accurately.  I think the time from Olivia being arrested and then being found guilty was only a few months which I would consider fast but maybe my frame of reference isn't quite right.  There was one particular plot point regarding the police that I questioned but I just suspended my questions and went along for the ride.   

The pacing was fantastic and much more fast paced than most domestic thrillers I've read.  I think the big difference is the choice of where to start this story.  We open with Olivia's guilty verdict being read, then a 5 year time jump to when she's getting released and the story goes from there.  I think a more traditional domestic thriller plot would be following the initial case and having Olivia try to prove her innocence during that trial.  I really enjoyed Taylor's choice to more or less drop the reader in the middle of Olivia's messy life right when she's getting handed probably the worst news of her life. The pacing didn't let up from there and there were a number of plot-based reasons that Olivia couldn't sit around and plan for months and months.  She had to act relatively quickly and take risks, which translated to great pacing and tension for the reader. 

The reveals started early and kept coming.  Taylor does a great job at slowly ramping up how serious these reveals are and as each new one gets revealed, there are larger and larger consequences for the story and our characters. I did guess some of the reveals ahead of time but I couldn't guess all of them so I still got some good surprises out of this read.  I also enjoyed how the reveals were well spread out over the various characters/relationships instead of just one character having most of the reveals.  It really helped amp up the tension because we weren't sure where the next twist would come from.  There were also a few times where Olivia would go through a bullet point list of the facts that she knew up to that point and I think those moments were a nice pause for the reader to refresh their memory as well.  We get a good amount of twists building on each other as well which are always a hit for me and I enjoy having the rug pulled out from under me like that. 

Overall, this was a really fun and twisty read.  Much more fast paced and tense than most domestic thrillers I pick up.  We don't get a ton of super fleshed out characters, but I think the well developed relationships between characters more than makes up for a lack of character history.

Thanks NetGalley and Harper 360 for the ARC. 

Expected publication date is June 28, 2022.

Birthday Girl - Niko Wolf

 

This literary mystery opens with writer Jonathan and his wife Maddie on her birthday. A few hours later, Jonathan is sitting with the police as he tries to explain why his wife would get into a car with a stranger and drive away. Twenty years later, Maddie is presumed dead and Jonathan is living his best life as a popular author of crime novels and getting ready to be married again. Then, one day, he sees catches a glimpse of Maddie in a crowd and his relatively solid life starts to crumble. He tries to explain what he saw to the people in his life, but they don't believe him.  Jonathan is sure of what he saw, but if it was Maddie then why isn't she reaching out to him?

TW/CW: pregnancy, discussion of abortion, domestic abuse, child abuse, infidelity, drug use, alcohol use

I think the description of this book is way off and is not doing the book any favors. The description states this is a "propulsive thriller" for fans of Gone Girl.  Based on that, I'm expecting to have some real moments of tension and building threats revolving around Maddie and her disappearance.  This could not be further from the truth.  This read 100% like a normal lit-fic book where the main character is going through a little bit of a mid-life crisis in regards to his upcoming wedding and career trajectory. I didn't find this to have nearly the tension, plotting, or pacing to be called a 'propulsive thriller'.  I even hesitate to call this a mystery because, for the majority of the book, finding out what happened to Maddie is not even really a conversation.  However, since we do, eventually, get around to questioning and finding out what happened, I'll let it slide.

The characters were a little hit and miss for me, but I did like the way their characterization was handled in the dual timeline.  The story flip-flops between the 1990s and 2019 and we see most of the characters in both timelines.  I really enjoyed how Wolf tweaked their relationship dynamics between the two timelines and it was interesting to imagine how these characters got from point A to point B over the course of 20ish years. I'd say the slight majority of the story is the 2019 timeline and I found the characters in that part to be really insufferable to read about.  In 2019, Jonathan is a very successful author and all of the side characters are equally successful in their own fields.  There is a little bit of interpersonal tension, but mostly it is these people going about their days being good at their jobs and having a pretty great life.  I found the characters much more compelling in the past timeline because they were in the middle of building their lives and working to get where they wanted to be.  Now, obviously, I would expect characters to have some sort of success within 20 years, but since they were all at a high level, it made the characters a bit boring to read from.  It felt very much like the story revolved around 'rich people problems' that just weren't built up in a way that was interesting to me.

The pacing gets a little complicated.  From a mystery/thriller perspective (which is what I thought this book was) it wasn't very good.  It felt like the story had a lot of abrupt starts/stops/direction changes.  For example, one conflict comes to a head suddenly when there's basically an intervention for one of the characters.  And then during this meeting, we get a dump of information about a different plot line that basically has us ignoring the reason for the intervention and instead following this new information. As we get further along in the story, we increasingly have sections where it is just Jonathan thinking back over his life and career which really grind any sort of plot momentum to a halt.  I think these moments are really what made it feel like a 'mid-life crisis' sort of book.  All that being said, if I think about the pacing from a lit-fic sort of angle, then I feel like what we get on page much more closely aligns with what I would expect.  

Now since this is partly a mystery, we do get some reveals/revelations that I think were pretty effective.  There was one reveal that sort of felt like a cheat where Jonathan - our POV character - finds out something that we think is a surprise to him.  However, we find out later that him being completely surprised wasn't entirely accurate and it felt like Wolf held back that tidbit of information so it could be used as a second reveal.  The actual plot implications of this reveal were very interesting and I liked where the story took it from there.  However, I think if there was more build up and more tension leading up to these reveals then the payoff would have been really spectacular.  There was one reveal that, when we get it, I was immediately more intrigued with the story than ever before.  However, that reveal comes literally on the last page so obviously we don't see any on-page implications.  If that ending reveal was the midpoint reveal - I really think that could have made this story more along the lines of what I was expecting.  I finished the book the day before writing this review and I can't stop thinking about the implications of that final reveal and I want to see the version of this book that follows those next events.

Overall, I think this was a case of an issue with the description not matching the content of the book.  This read much more like a literary fiction with a slight mystery element than the thriller/mystery the description made me expect.  I'm not a fan of lit-fic types of stories, but I do think if you are then I would suggest picking this up.  It did have some good twists in the end, but nothing that was built up enough for me to really feel satisfied.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mobius Books for the ARC

Expected publication date is June 9, 2022

Romance Wrap-up 5/16/22 to 5/31/22

Maggie Moves On - Lucy Score

This small-town romcom follows YouTube house flipper Maggie as she starts her next renovation project.  The giant house in Kinship, Idaho is going to be her biggest project yet and she's going to need help to make it all come together.  Silas's landscaping company is hired for the job and Silas is in love with Maggie from the moment he first sees her.  Only problem is convincing Maggie that he and her should be together forever.  Maggie has always left town after flipping a house - on to the next project and next adventure.  But when the small town of Kinship starts making space for her, she starts wondering if this little town in Idaho is where she can find a real home.  Lucy Score is an auto-read author for me and, no surprise, I absolutely loved this book.  Like stay up past 2am on a worknight loved this book.  I was giggling by chapter 4 with Silas's shameless flirting and his dog Kevin's silly antics.  I really enjoyed how complex Maggie was as a character and there were some moments that particularly resonated with me when Maggie would be expressing how she is a romantic at heart, but just didn't think that her life could fit something like that.  I loved her and Silas flirting back and forth and the build up of their relationship was really cute.  I did find Silas toed the line for me of being a bit of an alpha-hole at times (like when he wouldn't interact with her outside of work until she apologized).  However, I think because he eventually had that attitude challenged and finally understood that he couldn't stonewall her into loving him, I could forgive some of his more alpha-y behavior.  More importantly, he and Maggie would always come back together after these moments and have a new understanding with each other.  Also, bonus points for Kevin, the best dog I've ever read in a book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC.  Expected publication date is June 21, 2022

Rafe - Rebekah Weatherspoon

This is the first book in the Loose Ends series and follows cardio-thoracic surgeon Sloan when her current live-in nanny suddenly quits.  Sloan has just a week to find a replacement but perfect timing that Rafe had just recently declined to move internationally with the family he was nannying for.  Sloan is instantly attracted to Rafe - both physically and from his resume - but more importantly, her six year old twins are also enamored with the tall, tattooed, bearded man.  Everything seems like a good fit and then Rafe confesses that he's never been attracted to one of his employers before.  The feelings are mutual and the two work together to navigate this new relationship.  I really enjoyed this read, but the pacing didn't quite work for me.  I loved Sloan and Rafe - especially when they were all sweet and familial with the girls.  We get a good amount of side characters on both sides and I liked how integral these side characters are in the main story.  I really loved how Sloan and Rafe's relationship developed and how they were equally focused on getting to know each other on a personality and physical level.  I did find they fell into bed together pretty quickly which didn't exactly line up with what the characters were saying that they wanted to be cautious.  The ending was also very abrupt and when I turned the page, I was surprised to get the epilogue instead of another chapter.  The epilogue did tie up the loose ends in the story, but I didn't feel like the main story had enough of a climax/resolution for it to be epilogue time already. 

Fake It Till You Bake It - Jamie Wesley

This fake dating romance follows reality star Jada and NFL/cupcake bakery owner Donovan.  After turning down the final proposal on her dating reality show, Jada is doing her best to hide out and ride out the onslaught of negative opinions.  She starts working at Donovan's bakery and when a nosy journalist starts pushing Jada for the reason she turned down the proposal, Jada says Donovan is the reason.  The two agree to a mutually beneficial fake dating ploy to increase sales at the bakery and rehab Jada's public image.  Only as the weeks progress, they find this fake dating is starting to feel all too real.  I really enjoyed this read and loved Jada and Donovan together.  I'm not a fan of reality dating shows so I was pleased that this story took place after Jada's show and we got to see some of the aftermath of reality TV from her perspective.  We get a fantastic cast of side characters as well and I'm so glad the ending set up one of these side characters for their own book in the future.  What didn't work for me was the 3rd act breakup. It happened around the 90% mark and really felt like it came completely out of left field.  I generally like the reason for the break up when it has come up in other books, but in this case I didn't feel like those reasons were introduced previously very much.  With this specific issue, I like there to be a gradual build up of tension or for there to be some recurring issue that keeps poking at the characters until they can't ignore it any longer.  Then, because the breakup happened so late in the book, there wasn't much time on page to see the characters grow and develop.  We're told they're apart for 3 months before getting back together and we're told they've grown as people, but we don't really see that growth on page like I personally prefer. 

Thanks NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC.  Expected publication date is June 21, 2022