Book Review: "Keep Them Close" by David Ellis

I’ve been patiently waiting until this book was released earlier in the week. Battling severe FOMO watching so many Bookstagram friends reading advance copies has been tough! But I’ve got to tell you, this was worth the wait. David Ellis is a freaking master of the twisty thriller!

Allison knew her husband Finley was cheating on her. His infidelity both saddened and enraged her, as she has loved him since they were young. But as tempted as she is to get revenge, she bides her time.

Allison’s brother Luke was destined to be a baseball star until an accident derailed his potential career. Now he’s a renowned coach with a talent for taking miserable teams and turning them into champions. And while Luke and Allison have always been close, their relationship has frayed quite a bit lately.

When Finley is murdered, of course Allison is immediately considered the prime suspect. She knew what he was up to and with whom, but she had her own plans. Can she count on her brother to help her, despite the distrust between them?

Ellis’ thrillers are always full of twists, which makes it hard to review one of his books. But once you pick this up, you won’t want to put it down until you’ve devoured every last word.

Book Review: "The Widow" by John Grisham

When John Grisham’s novels were first released, I DEVOURED them. I remember going to a signing the week The Pelican Brief came out, and I told him how much I loved it. He said to me, “Larry, I need a little breathing room, maybe don’t read so fast!”

Thanks so much to Doubleday Books and NetGalley for the advance copy of Grisham’s newest book. Billed as his first-ever whodunit, I knew I had to give this one a try.

An attorney in rural Virginia, Simon Latch doesn’t have much in the way of business. It’s mostly wills and bankruptcies, barely enough to make ends meet. His marriage is disintegrating, which is only adding to his tension. He needs a break to fall his way.

When Eleanor “Netty” Barnett, a widow in her 80s, comes to Simon, she wants him to redo her will. Unbeknownst to almost everyone, Netty’s late husband was worth millions, including a stack of shares in major companies. She wants to disown her two stepsons and ensure her money goes anywhere other than them. Simon smells a huge windfall, because the fees for handling her estate will be large. And he may bend the rules just a little bit in preparing her will.

When Netty is hospitalized after an accident, Simon discovers he doesn’t know the real truth about his client or her estate. And before he realizes it, he winds up getting arrested for murder. The only way he can get exonerated is to find the truth himself—before it’s too late.

Grisham is great at creating flawed characters, and Simon is definitely one of those! He’s self-serving and a bit crooked, but by the second half of the book, he started winning me over. There are lots of twists to be had here and I honestly couldn’t figure out how the book would end until it did.

The book will publish 10/21.

Book Review: "Truly, Madly, Deeply" by Alexandria Bellefleur

“If some relationships were doomed from the start, why ever put your heart on the line? Why risk it?”

Truly (her actual name) is a bestselling author of queer historical romances. When she is invited to give relationship advice on a popular podcast, she’s reeling: her 6-year relationship just ended when she found her fiancé with another woman.

Her cohost for the podcast is Colin, the incredibly sexy brother of the podcast creator. Colin is a divorce lawyer, and his views on romance completely contradict Truly’s, and infuriate her, too. She’s so irritated by Colin that she walks out on the podcast in the middle of recording.

Imagine her surprise when Colin reaches out to apologize and ask for a second chance. She enjoys making him beg, plus she can’t help but fantasize more than a little about him, so she agrees. As they get to know each other better, their insults turn into playful flirting, and the sexual tension grows more intense.

Truly is attracted to Colin, but she’s not in the right headspace for a relationship, especially when she learns her parents are on a trial separation. But Colin breaks down every argument, and she realizes how good it feels to have someone care about her this strongly, and to feel the same way. Is it too good to be true?

Y’all, this book is S-T-E-A-M-Y!! I really enjoyed the characters—Truly’s parents and her best friend cracked me up—and the banter is both hysterical and hot. I’ve been a fan of Alexandria Bellefleur’s books for a while, and this was another good one.

Book Review: "Mothers and Sons" by Adam Haslett

Adam Haslett burst on the literary scene in 2002 with his debut story collection, You Are Not a Stranger Here. Amazingly, he’s only published three (soon to be four) books, and yet he’s been a finalist for two Pulitzer Prizes for Fiction and two National Book Awards.

Mothers and Sons, Haslett’s fourth book, which will publish in January, is another well-told and deeply felt novel. It’s a story about family, love, grief, overcoming your past, and how trauma can change us completely. It’s also a story of empathy, and how challenging it can be to care for broken people when we are broken ourselves.

Peter is a Legal Aid immigration lawyer. He spends his days defending those seeking asylum from their home countries, and he often deals not only with his clients, but the families they would leave behind if they were sent back home. While he fights to keep families together, the irony is that he has been estranged from his mother, Ann, for many years.

Ann, who was a successful pastor, now runs a retreat center in Vermont with her partner, Clare. She wishes she could reconnect with Peter, but knows the fracture between them runs deep.

Peter’s most recent case is defending Vasel, a young Albanian man seeking asylum because he is gay. This case triggers many memories for Peter, who is also gay, as he remembers his first same-sex relationship and the tragedies that occurred. Peter’s story is intertwined with Vasel’s and Ann’s, and the book culminates in a very powerful and affecting climax.

I have always been dazzled by Haslett’s storytelling ability, and this book is no exception. I’ll definitely be thinking about this for a while.

Thanks to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the advance copy! The book will publish 1/7/2025.

Book Review: "Young Rich Widows" by Kimberly Belle, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan, and Vanessa Lillie

What deliciously campy fun this was! Having spent my tween and teen years in the 1980s, I love that era so much, so I was already sold before the book even started.

Providence, Rhode Island, 1985. The four partners of a law firm are killed when their private plane went down outside New York City. The firm, which had strong Mafia connections, was apparently struggling, but the lawyers were on the verge of a major deal when they died.

There is one tiny complication, however. Apparently the partners owed $4 million to the mob, and now that they’re dead, it’s up to their widows to pay back what is owed—or else.

The four women couldn’t be more different: Krystle, feisty and fierce and determined that her sons reap the benefits of the years of work her husband put in to build the firm; Justine, a former model who traded her ambitions for suburban motherhood; Camille, the younger second wife whose desires went beyond the confines of her marriage; and Meredith, a stripper who was in a secret relationship with the firm’s sole female partner.

In an effort to save themselves from bankruptcy—and save their lives and the lives of those they love—the women must band together to make sure a big deal goes through. But along the way, they discover that there were a lot of things they didn’t know about their spouses. And these things could be more dangerous than they imagined.

This felt like a cross between an episode of Real Housewives and Mob Wives. It was fun, silly, and a bit wild, but it definitely didn’t disappoint.