Book Review: "Nine Lives" by Peter Swanson

Peter Swanson's newest thriller, Nine Lives, has one list you don’t want to be included on!!

It seems fairly innocuous: random people receive an envelope in the mail that contains nothing but a list of nine names. And each of them appears on that list.

They’re all very different—an FBI agent, a college professor, an aspiring musician, an oncology nurse, a mistress to an older wealthy man. Some are disturbed by receiving this piece of mail, some think it’s a piece of junk. Some try to figure out what could be their possible connection to the others on the list.

Then the people on the list start getting killed in random ways. The remaining people on the list get moved to protective custody, but the killer seems to find them anyway. Why were these people chosen to die? Will someone be able to stop the killer before all nine people are murdered?

This was an interesting concept and obviously, a tip of the hat to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The book kept my attention the whole time and there were a few twists, but to keep track of nine different people plus others was a bit difficult. And don’t even get me started on the motive.

I really do like the way Swanson writes—I loved his The Kind Worth Killing the best and also really enjoyed Eight Perfect Murders—and even though his books don’t always work for me, I still have to read them!

Thanks to William Morrow Books for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!

Book Review: "Part of Your World" by Abby Jimenez

Abby Jimenez's new book is a story of love despite the odds, and about believing you’re worthy of living the life you want. (Bonus: I had the song from The Little Mermaid in my head the whole time.)

Alexis has lived the life she has been expected to. She’s an ER doctor in the hospital her family has worked in for 125 years. She loves her job, and has just gotten out of a relationship which undercut her self-worth severely, and her ex is still trying to manipulate her and those around her.

One night, driving a few hours from home, her car winds up in a ditch. She gets a tow from Daniel, a very sexy man whom she doesn’t expect to see again, but then she runs into him again shortly afterward. And after helping him win a bet, the next thing she knows, she’s sneaking out of his house early in the morning to drive home.

Daniel is the complete opposite of her in every way—he’s 10 years younger, has tattoos, and seems to be immensely happy in his small town. (He’s actually the mayor, among other things.) But while Alexis can’t get him out of her mind, she knows that Daniel could never fit in her world, so they’re just going to keep it casual. (Sure, Jan.)

Of course, the more time Alexis spends with Daniel, the more she realizes she can’t live without him, and she’s starting to love his town, where everyone truly cares about one another. But would a relationship between them really work if she turned her back on her family and the legacy she’s expected to carry on? How can she realize she’s worthy of living her own life and truly being happy?

Part of Your World is the first book by Jimenez that didn’t leave me in a puddle of tears, but that doesn’t mean I enjoyed it any less. She always creates such memorable characters and this book is no exception! (One of my favorite characters, Bri, will get her own book next year.) I loved the chemistry between Alexis and Daniel, and the entire town of Wakan.

Thanks so much to Abby and Forever for the advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!! The book publishes 4/19/22!

Book Review: "The One True Me and You" by Remi K. England

The One True Me and You was absolutely adorable and it left me smiling!

Kaylee is excited about attending her first Con and meeting friends she’s known online for years. And as a popular fanfic author, she’s looking forward to meeting some of the people who inspired her to start writing. But more than that, she wants to do three things: try using they/them pronouns, wear cosplay that’s more masculine, and kiss a girl for the first time.

Teagan is competing as Miss Virginia in the Miss Cosmic Teen USA pageant. She has a real shot to win it all this year, and the $25,000 scholarship will really make a difference in her future. She loves competing but doesn’t like having to hide who she really is—a gay, fanfic-loving, fan art-drawing geek. She just has to keep it all to herself for one more week.

But the Con and the pageant are in the same Orlando hotel. And when Kay and Teagan meet, they both feel an instant connection, but Kay hasn’t ever felt this way before and Teagan has to outsmart the pageant chaperones. Of course, both have the same nemesis—Miss North Carolina—who, if she discovers all that is going on, will make life hell for Kay back at home and will stop at nothing to ruin Teagan’s chances for victory at the pageant.

Cosplay and pageants in the same book? How did Remi England know me so well? I thought The One True Me and You was just a great story, one about finding your authentic self and finding the courage to show it to the world. While there certainly was angst in this book, ultimately I found it really joyful, and I read it in one sitting.

Definitely a fun, sweet, positive YA romance!

Book Review: "The Verifiers" by Jane Pek

Jane Pek's debut novel, The Verifiers, is clever, thought-provoking, and insightful. It's a fascinating look at online dating and our connected world.

Claudia has been recruited to work at Veracity, an online-dating detective agency in New York City. Clients pay the company to investigate people they’ve been matched with, people they’ve been chatting with but don’t trust, even people who have ghosted them.

All of Veracity’s work is kept pretty secret —Claudia can’t even tell anyone where she works or what she does. But that’s fine, because her immigrant family wouldn’t approve, so she lets them believe she works for a financial firm. And that’s not all she’s hiding from them—she’d love to tell her mother she doesn’t want to be matched with a nice Chinese boy, because she likes girls.

When a client of Veracity’s disappears after asking them to look into several matches she had connected with, Claudia believes there’s more to the whole story. A lifelong mystery lover, she can’t help but start doing her own digging into these matches and what might have happened to the client. And what she discovers is a web of secrets and lies, not just around the client, but around Veracity as well.

The Verifiers was a really interesting story—complex in some ways but familiar in others. It was wryly funny at times, part mystery, part social commentary on online dating and the pressure placed on children of immigrant families. It’s a slow-moving book at times, but I found it really fascinating.

Book Review: "Small Odysseys: Selected Shorts Presents 35 New Stories" edited by Hannah Tinti

Small Odysseys is an anthology of 35 short stories from renowned and new-to-me authors.

Are you familiar with the radio program or podcast called “Selected Shorts”? Since 1985, this program has featured stage and screen actors reading short stories—both new and classic—in front of a live audience. I had never heard of the program but I do enjoy short stories, so when Algonquin Books offered me the opportunity to read this anthology, published in conjunction with the show, I jumped at the chance.

There are a number of well-known authors who contributed to this collection as well as some with whom I wasn’t familiar. As with any anthology, some stories hit it out of the park for me while some didn’t work as well.

My favorites included: ”The King of Bread” by Luis Alberto Urrea; ”iPhone SE” by Weike Wang; “Sleepless” by Michael Cunningham; “Escape Pod W41” by J. Robert Lennon; “Period Piece” by Maile Meloy; and “Such Small Islands” by Lauren Groff.

What I like about an anthology like Small Odysseys is the opportunity to pick it up at any point in the book and read any story, and also it’s the chance to be introduced to authors whose work I’ve not read yet. Definitely a thought-provoking collection!

Thanks to Algonquin Books for inviting me on the tour for the book and providing a complimentary advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review!

Book Review: "Woman on Fire" by Lisa Barr

Woman on Fire, Lisa Barr's newest book, is both a thriller and a story of family, legacy, betrayal, and courage. It feels like a movie—and has been optioned by Sharon Stone!

Jules Roth is a courageous young journalist, determined to work for legendary investigate journalist Dan Mansfield. After she talks her way into a job, she gets a top-secret assignment: a friend of Dan’s has asked him to find a famous painting, “Woman on Fire,” which was one of many works of art stolen by the Nazis years ago. The painting matters to Dan’s friend, renowned shoe designer Ellis Baum, for very personal reasons.

But Ellis isn’t the only one who wants the painting. Gallery owner Margaux de Laurent believes the painting is part of her family’s legacy, and she’s used to getting everything she wants. She’ll do anything she needs to in order to get that painting, and she has countless resources to do so, including those outside legal and ethical channels.

It becomes a game of cat and mouse, with Jules and Dan trying to find the painting and what could’ve happened to it through the years, and Margaux working to crush them and get the painting first. Everyone is a pawn, including Adam Chase, Ellis’ grandson and a tremendously talented artist in his own right.

Shifting between the late 1930s and the present, the book explores the all-too-real costs of war, its effects on the art world as well as familial legacy, and how the quest to find truth has unexpected results.

I love the way Barr writes, and this book hooked me from start to finish. There were some elements of thrillers I wasn’t fond of—particularly how the villains always know what is happening before it does—but I was totally immersed in the story and these characters. If you know art history, you’ll find this even more fascinating!!

Thanks to Get Red PR Books and Harper Books for inviting me on the tour for Woman on Fire and providing a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!! And thanks to my friend Louis for a great buddy read discussion as always!!

Book Review: "The Younger Wife" by Sally Hepworth

Sally Hepworth's upcoming book, The Younger Wife, is a slow-burn domestic suspense novel that had me totally hooked as it unfolded!⁣

⁣ It’s a familiar story: older man meets a woman young enough to be his daughter and embarks on a relationship with her as his adult daughters look on. And while that’s the case when Stephen, a successful heart surgeon, meets Heather, an interior designer, it’s not the full story.⁣

⁣ You see, Stephen is still married to Pamela. But with her suffering from dementia, it’s not wrong for him to move on, right? And while his daughters, Tully and Rachel, are unhappy with the turn of events, they realize that Heather might not be as bad as they originally thought.⁣

⁣ This is a story where everyone has secrets. And it’s the secrets that might lead to someone’s undoing. But what is the truth?⁣

⁣ Hepworth knows how to create tension and drama, and The Younger Wife proves why she’s an auto-buy author for me. And did you know that Heather won a Bookstagram contest Hepworth had so one of the characters in the book is named for her? That was crazy seeing a friend’s name as a character.

⁣ ⁣ This is more suspense than thriller but it’s quite addictive. Thanks to my friend Phil for sharing his ARC with me!!

The book will be released 4/5/22.⁣