Friday, August 31, 2018

Blog Tour Review: Sadie by Courtney Summers







Title: Sadie
Author: Courtney Summers
Release Date: September 4, 2018
Published By: St. Martins/Wednesday Books
Source: ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

ISBN: 9781250105714| Ebook ISBN: 9781250105721
For more information or to set up an interview with the author, contact:
Brittani Hilles at brittani.hilles@stmartins.com or 646-307-5558

Or Meghan Harrington at meghan.harrington@stmartins.com or 646-307-5556

Book Description:
A gripping novel about the depth of a sister's love; poised to be the next book you won't be able to stop talking about.

A missing girl on a journey of revenge and a Serial-like podcast following the clues she's left behind. 

Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water. 

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.

When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late.

Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page. 


More about THE GIRLS podcast:
THE GIRLS: Find Sadie is the first-ever YA thriller podcast. The Serial-like show is based off the novel Sadie by Courtney
Summers. In a brilliant move, Summers scripted periodic chapters of the novel like a podcast script, hosted by fictional
radio personality West McCray. The six-part podcast series brings these chapters to life with a 30+ person cast, music,
and sound effects and was a collaboration between Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Podcasts, and Wednesday Books.
Episode 1 launches on August 1st, and the show will air seven weekly episodes available on all the major podcast

platforms. The final episode will feature a bonus interview with Courtney Summers and her editor Sara Goodman.






About the Author:



Courtney Summers was born in Belleville, Ontario, 1986. At age 14, she dropped out of high school. At age 18, she wrote her first novel. Cracked Up to Be was published in 2008, when she was 22 and went on to win the 2009 CYBIL award in YA fiction. Since then, she’s published four more critically acclaimed books: Some Girls Are, Fall for Anything, This is Not a Test and All the Rage, as well as an e-novella, Please Remain Calm which is a sequel to This is Not a Test. Her new novel, Sadie, hits bookstores September 4th, 2018 and is available for preorder now. In 2016, Courtney was named one of Flare Magazine’s 60 under 30. 







Filled with twisty turns and events you don't see coming, Sadie is probably one of the best mysteries I've read by Summers, not just this year, but ever and has definitely made my top ten reads this year.

Filled with so much love and hate and the need to make things right, Sadie will have you eagerly turning the pages gobbling up ever delicious turn of events and reveals so fast that they will leave your head spinning and wishing that you would have savored it just a bit more by the time to come to the heartbreaking last page. 

Truly a stand out mystery not only about two sisters and their need to survive, but about family love that comes in all shapes, sizes and circumstances. A book that will leave you breathless and somewhat heartbroken by the end in all the very best ways that Summer knows how to. 

A must read for everyone. 






*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Monday, August 27, 2018

Review: Her Name Was Rose by Claire Allan

Title: Her Name Was Rose
Author: Claire Allan
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Published By: Avon (September 4, 2018)
Source: ARC Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
My Rating: 3.5 Stars



Book Description:
Her name was Rose. You watched her die. And her death has created a vacancy. 

When Emily lets a stranger step out in front of her, she never imagines that split second will change her life. But after Emily watches a car plough into the young mother – killing her instantly – she finds herself unable to move on.

And then she makes a decision she can never take back.

Because Rose had everything Emily had ever dreamed of. A beautiful, loving family, a great job and a stunning home. And now Rose’s husband misses his wife, and their son needs a mother. Why couldn’t Emily fill that space?

But as Emily is about to discover, no one’s life is perfect … and not everything is as it seems.











Sometimes you pick up a story and are immediately just drawn to it. To the story and mystery that is slowly unfolding. To the what ifs and the complete mystery of it all. Such was the case of Her Name Was Rose.

I love something that will not only completely captivate me but keep me on edge guessing right up until the very end. Just when I thought I had it all figured out the author would throw in a twist or turn that would have me second guessing everything and I couldn't of loved it more. 

With it's slightly sinister feel Her Name Was Rose will have you eagerly turning the pages wondering what crazy and unexplained thing will happen next. You will be completely wrapped up in the story after the very first chapter and as the story progresses, that power it holds over you will only get worse. You will forget everything and become completely consumed with the story, eager to get to the very last page. 






*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Friday, August 24, 2018

Review: The Monster Museum by J.L. Bryan

Title: The Monster Museum
Author: J.L. Bryan
Series: Book Ten in the Ellie Jordan Ghost Trapper Series
Genre: Fantasy
Published: August 31, 2018
Source: ARC Provided by the Author (in exchange for an honest review)
My Rating: 4 Solid Stars!



Book Description:
Just outside the small but colorful mountain resort town of Foxboro, Tennessee lies Dr. Weirdman's Mountain Museum of Monsters, Curiosities, and Ancient Mysteries. Once a major tourist attraction, it offers travelers the amusement of touring unusual underground caves and pseudo-scientific exhibits ranging from strange creatures to the supposed artifacts of lost civilizations.

Now the museum is a crumbling relic of an older age, fallen into disrepair. Its longtime owner has died, leaving it in the hands of a younger distant relative who knows nothing of how to run a failing tourist trap of a museum, but who is desperate to make a living and provide for his own children.


The museum has a serious ghost problem, though, and Ellie Jordan is called in from Savannah to help. An unexpected old friend joins Ellie at the last moment so that they can spend a snow-filled Christmas together in the mountains...if the ghosts of the restless dead don't turn the holidays into a horrific tragedy.








Sometimes after ten books a series can go stale, get old, and become unoriginal. I'm happy to say that isn't the case with the Ellie Jordan series.

After ten books, if anything, it is even more original, creepy and exciting. Truly this has quickly become one of my all time favorites that I look forward to and eagerly await each new release because I always know I will get something unique, fun, and most importantly, something that keeps me on the edge of my seat and constantly looking around me to make sure nothing is lurking in the shadows. 

Full of not only all the things that go bump in the night but cases and characters that are every bit as intriguing and interesting. 

I love the direction this series turned. Without going into too much detail it had more of certain characters I was really hoping we would see again and even more so, the ghosts! 

 I loved the intense mystery not only about the museum and ghosts that were haunting it but Ellie's own ghosts, both mentally and physically. We get more background, more info on them all and I just soaked it up.

I love too, weirdly enough, that this one ended on a cliffhanger of sorts because, I really am excited about were the story is going to go from here and can't wait for the next book. I know it's going to be even more intense, scary and personal. Personal for Ellie and all the characters as they battle one of the worst ghosts they have ever come across. I just can't wait! 






*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Release Day Review: Not Her Daughter by Rea Frey

Title: Not Her Daughter
Author: Rea Frey
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: Women's Fiction
Published By: St. Martin's Griffin (August 21, 2018)
Source: ARC Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
My Rating: 4 Stars!



Book Description:
Emma Grace Townsend. Five years old. Gray eyes. Brown hair. Missing since June.

Emma Townsend is lonely. Living with her cruel mother and clueless father, Emma retreats into her own world of quiet and solitude.

Sarah Walker. Successful entrepreneur. Broken-hearted. Abandoned by her mother. Kidnapper.

Sarah has never seen a girl so precious as the gray-eyed child in a crowded airport terminal—and when a second-chance encounter with Emma presents itself, Sarah takes her, far away from home. But if it’s to rescue a little girl from her damaging mother, is kidnapping wrong?

Amy Townsend. Unhappy wife. Unfit mother. Unsure she wants her daughter back.

Amy’s life is a string of disappointments, but her biggest issue is her inability to connect with her daughter. And now she’s gone without a trace.

As Sarah and Emma avoid the nationwide hunt, they form an unshakeable bond. But her real mother is at home, waiting for her to return—and the longer the search for Emma continues, Amy is forced to question if she really wants her back.


Emotionally powerful and wire-taut, Not Her Daughter raises the question of what it means to be a mother—and how far someone will go to keep a child safe.





About the Author:



Rea Frey is the author of four nonfiction books. Her debut novel, NOT HER DAUGHTER, will be released by St. Martin’s Press August 21, 2018. 

When she’s not exercising, mothering, adulting, wifing, eating, or writing about herself in the third person, you can find her hard at work on her next book and ghostwriting for other people. 






Not Her Daughter is one of those stories that is both remarkable and unforgettable while at the same time being completely heartbreaking and questionable. 

The events that transpire are both horrifying and yet weirdly understandable as we get to peek inside the head of one woman who does something truly horrific but for a good cause.  Coming from a woman that has children of her own, it is so very hard to put into word how I feel about it all. 

Was it kindness or selfishness?

Was it one woman's struggle with her past heartbreak and loneliness or was it one woman's need to help and rescue a little girl that needed it most?

Not Her Daughter is an emotionally charged story that will not only have you siding with Sarah and what she did but also, weirdly enough, have you feeling for Emma's mother Amy as well.

Told in dual POVs of both Sarah and Amy and both from the past and present, Not Her Daughter is one story you can't help but be captivated by as you journey through both their pasts, heartaches and disappointments, all while rooting for what is best for Emma along the way. 

Truly a stunning novel that will take your breath away and take you by surprise. 





*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Monday, August 13, 2018

Blog Tour Review: The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker


I have always loved Tucker's stories but this one resonated with me so strongly, that even weeks later, I catch myself thinking about the characters and story still. Truly one of, if not, my favorite stories by her yet. 

I'm so excited to be a part of this tour and to tell you, if you are a fan, run, and grab this one. You won't be disappointed. 






Title: The Simple Wild
Author: K.A. Tucker
Published By: Atria (August 7, 2018)
Genre: Contemporary


Book Description:
Calla Fletcher wasn't even two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wild, unable to handle the isolation of the extreme, rural lifestyle, leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher, in the process. Calla never looked back, and at twenty-six, a busy life in Toronto is all she knows. But when Calla learns that Wren’s days may be numbered, she knows that it’s time to make the long trip back to the remote frontier town where she was born.

She braves the roaming wildlife, the odd daylight hours, the exorbitant prices, and even the occasional—dear God—outhouse, all for the chance to connect with her father: a man who, despite his many faults, she can’t help but care for. While she struggles to adjust to this rugged environment, Jonah—the unkempt, obnoxious, and proud Alaskan pilot who helps keep her father’s charter plane company operational—can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. And he’s clearly waiting with one hand on the throttle to fly this city girl back to where she belongs, convinced that she’s too pampered to handle the wild.

Jonah is probably right, but Calla is determined to prove him wrong. Soon, she finds herself forming an unexpected bond with the burly pilot. As his undercurrent of disapproval dwindles, it’s replaced by friendship—or perhaps something deeper? But Calla is not in Alaska to stay and Jonah will never leave. It would be foolish of her to kindle a romance, to take the same path her parents tried—and failed at—years ago. It’s a simple truth that turns out to be not so simple after all.






About the Author:



K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge. 

She is the USA Today bestselling author of 17 books, including the Causal Enchantment, Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series, He Will Be My Ruin, Until It Fades, Keep Her Safe, and her upcoming contemporary fiction, The Simple Wild. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, and Publisher's Weekly. 

K.A. Tucker currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband and two beautiful girls.









Beautifully laid out and told, The Simple Wild will resonate deep within you on so many emotional levels it will simply take your breath away. Rich is family relations and what really makes and breaks a family, The Simple Wild will have you captivated after the first heartbreaking chapter. 

Heartfelt every bit as much as it was sometimes heartbreaking, Tucker once again created a charming tale that was hard to put down and let go of.

I thought about this long after I put it down and way into the next few days. The story haunted me on so many levels as I related to the characters and fell in love with just about everyone. 

One of my top reads not only of this year, but of a lifetime. 





*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Blog Tour Review: Our House by Louise Candlish

Who doesn't love a good twisted mystery that will keep you on your toes? Our House is just the story for a weekend getaway or when you can to sit in your favorite spot and be entertained for a few hours. Either way, any place, this is one story that will keep you on edge until the very end. 





Title: Our House
Author: Louise Candlish
Published By: Berkley (August 7, 2018)
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Book Description:

On a bright January morning in the London suburbs, a family moves into the house they’ve just bought in Trinity Avenue. 

Nothing strange about that. Except it is your house. And you didn’t sell it. 

When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she's sure there's been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern co-parenting arrangement: bird's nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. But the system built to protect their family ends up putting them in terrible jeopardy. In a domino effect of crimes and misdemeanors, the nest comes tumbling down.

Now Bram has disappeared and so have Fiona's children. As events spiral well beyond her control, Fiona will discover just how many lies her husband was weaving and how little they truly knew each other. But Bram's not the only one with things to hide, and some secrets are best kept to oneself, safe as houses.





About the Author:



Louise Candlish studied English at University College London and worked as an editor and copywriter before writing fiction. OUR HOUSE is published in the US by Berkley in August 2018 and is out now in the UK, published by Simon & Schuster.

Louise is the bestselling author of eleven previous novels, including THE SWIMMING POOL and THE SUDDEN DEPARTURE OF THE FRASERS (Penguin, 2015), which has been optioned for TV by Hartswood Films.

Louise lives in South London with her husband and daughter.






Both intriguing and mysterious, Our House will have you hooked from the very first devastating chapter. Caught up in what already promises to be an enticing tale of deceit and deception. 

Told through the POV of both Fi and Bram and through email and podcast, the tale of how well do you really know the one you are married to will have you hooked and turning the pages as fast as you can.

Brilliantly weaved as the plot slowly unfolded, Our House was a story that kept me entertained the whole way through. 





*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were  not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*

Monday, August 6, 2018

Review: #murdertrending by Gretchen McNeil

Title: #murdertrending
Author: Gretchen McNeil
Series: Stand Alone
Genre: YA Mystery/Thriller
Published By: Freeform (August 7, 2018)
Source: ARC Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
My Rating: 4 Stars!


Book Description:
WELCOME TO THE NEAR FUTURE, where good and honest 8/18 citizens can enjoy watching the executions of society’s most infamous convicted felons, streaming live on The Postman app from the suburbanized prison island Alcatraz 2.0.


When eighteen-year-old Dee Guerrera wakes up in a haze, lying on the ground of a dimly lit warehouse, she realizes she’s about to be the next victim of the app. Knowing hardened criminals are getting a taste of their own medicine in this place is one thing, but Dee refuses to roll over and die for a heinous crime she didn’t commit. Can Dee and her newly formed posse, the Death Row Breakfast Club, prove she’s innocent before she ends up wrongfully murdered for the world to see? Or will The Postman’s cast of executioners kill them off one by one?










Leave it to McNeil to deliver something as exciting as it is frightening. With her unique take on murder mysteries and exploring the unknown and most of the time, horrifying, I can always count on her for an action packed and somewhat bizarre read.

Set in a very much realistic time and place, #murdertrending was something that you could see happening today in a world full of social media and reality TV, which is also what made this such an interesting and hard to put down read. 

With twists and turns and danger literally around every corner, this was something fun and thrilling and completely different and I couldn't get enough of it. 

Fans and new fans alike, old and young, will all be able to get lost in this one and enjoy it up until the very last page. 





*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensated for this review.*