HUMP DAY READING: A SUMMER OF ENGAGING READS…

Today I’m participating in Sam’s WWW Wednesdays.  Here’s how it works:

 

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

***

CURRENTLY READING:

I couldn’t decide on one book to read, so I chose two from different genres:

The Beach Inn, by Joanne DeMaio:  A new season of love, adventure, and heart-healing awaits in the quaint seaside village of Stony Point. So pull up a sand chair and book your stay for a page-turning getaway in The Beach Inn.

 

The Red Hunter (e-book), by Lisa Unger, a haunting story about two women, strangers to each other, and walking very different paths in the wake of trauma, they are on a collision course—because Zoey’s past nightmare and Claudia’s dreams for her future take place in the very same house. As Zoey seeks justice, and Claudia seeks peace, both will confront the monsters at the door that are the most frightening of all.

 

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BOOKS FINISHED SINCE LAST WEEK:

(Click titles for my reviews)

The Swallow’s Nest, by Emilie Richards:  Three women fight for the chance to raise the child they’ve all come to love…(An Author Review Request).

One Good Thing (e-book), by Wendy Wax.  I have been a fan of this series from the very first book. An assorted cast of characters have remained at the core of these books.   Supporting characters come and go, but the basic ones who were there from the beginning have kept me coming back for more.

 

Every Last Lie (e-book), by Mary Kubica – (NetGalley – 6/27/17).  Alternately narrated by Clara in the present and Nick “before,” the story carries the reader on a fast-paced ride. Back and forth between the red herrings and the truth that seems well hidden, lurking beneath another sea of lies, I could not stop reading.

 

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EAGERLY ANTICIPATING:

Today I stumbled upon an upcoming release from an author I enjoy:  Karin Slaughter’s The Good Daughter, with a release date of 8/22/17.

 

Two girls are forced into the woods at gunpoint. One runs for her life. One is left behind…

Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn’s happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father — Pikeville’s notorious defense attorney — devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night.

Twenty-eight years later, and Charlie has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a lawyer herself — the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again — and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized — Charlie is plunged into a nightmare. Not only is she the first witness on the scene, but it’s a case that unleashes the terrible memories she’s spent so long trying to suppress. Because the shocking truth about the crime that destroyed her family nearly thirty years ago won’t stay buried forever…

Packed with twists and turns, brimming with emotion and heart, The Good Daughter is fiction at its most thrilling.

***

What did your week look like?  Are you enjoying your reading?  What are you waiting to read next?

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HUMP DAY SPARKS: WHAT WAS YOUR WEEK LIKE?

Today I’m participating in Sam’s WWW Wednesdays.  Here’s how it works:

 

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

***

CURRENTLY READING:

The Swallow’s Nest, by Emilie Richards, is a review book sent to me from the author.

Three women fight for the chance to raise the child they’ve all come to love…

***

BOOKS FINISHED SINCE LAST WEEK:

(Click titles for my reviews)

It’s Always the Husband, by Michele Campbell

 

Beach House for Rent, by Mary Alice Monroe

 

***

EAGERLY ANTICIPATING:

I love Sue Grafton’s alphabet mystery novels, and I was excited to learn that her newest edition to the series is coming on August 22, 2017.

The title starts with the letter “Y,” which means that there will only be one more in this series!

As we add Y is for Yesterday to our collection, we “wish there were more than 26 letters (in the alphabet).” With only one letter left, Grafton’s many devoted readers will share that sentiment.

The darkest and most disturbing case report from the files of Kinsey Millhone, Y is for Yesterday begins in 1979, when four teenage boys from an elite private school sexually assault a fourteen-year-old classmate—and film the attack.  Not long after, the tape goes missing and the suspected thief, a fellow classmate, is murdered. In the investigation that follows, one boy turns state’s evidence and two of his peers are convicted. But the ringleader escapes without a trace.
       
Now, it’s 1989 and one of the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. Moody, unrepentant, and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents—until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. That’s when the McCabes call Kinsey Millhone for help. As she is drawn into their family drama, she keeps a watchful eye on Fritz. But he’s not the only one being haunted by the past. A vicious sociopath with a grudge against Millhone may be leaving traces of himself for her to find…

***

I enjoy this series, set in the 1980s, when “detecting” was done without the benefit of technology.  Just leg work.  And Kinsey Millhone is one of those quirky characters I love to revisit.

***

So…that’s my week.  What did yours look like?

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HUMP DAY SPARKS: WHAT A READING WEEK!

Today I’m participating in Sam’s WWW Wednesdays.  Here’s how it works:

 

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

***

CURRENTLY READING: 

It’s Always the Husband (e-book), by Michele Campbell, “a page-turning whodunit that will speak to anyone who’s ever had a frenemy.”

 

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BOOKS FINISHED SINCE LAST WEEK:

(Click titles for my reviews)

#GIRLBOSS  (e-book), by Sophia Amoruso

The Wildling Sisters, by Eve Chase – (Amazon Vine)

 

How It All Began (e-book), by Penelope Lively

 

The Breakdown (e-book), by B. A. Paris (NetGalley – 6/20)

 

***

EAGERLY ANTICIPATING:

The Secrets She Keeps (e-book), by Michael Robotham (Release Date:  July 11)

 

Synopsis:   Agatha is pregnant and works part-time stocking shelves at a grocery store in a ritzy London suburb, counting down the days until her baby is due. As the hours of her shifts creep by in increasing discomfort, the one thing she looks forward to at work is catching a glimpse of Meghan, the effortlessly chic customer whose elegant lifestyle dazzles her. Meghan has it all: two perfect children, a handsome husband, a happy marriage, a stylish group of friends, and she writes perfectly droll confessional posts on her popular parenting blog—posts that Agatha reads with devotion each night as she waits for her absent boyfriend, the father of her baby, to maybe return her calls.

When Agatha learns that Meghan is pregnant again, and that their due dates fall within the same month, she finally musters up the courage to speak to her, thrilled that they now have the ordeal of childbearing in common. Little does Meghan know that the mundane exchange she has with a grocery store employee during a hurried afternoon shopping trip is about to change the course of her not-so-perfect life forever…

***

What did your reading week look like?

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HUMP DAY SPARKS: ENGAGING READS…

Today I’m participating in Sam’s WWW Wednesdays.  Here’s how it works:

 

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

***

CURRENTLY READING:

Deciding my current read was challenging.  After finishing a convoluted thriller, however, I chose something completely different.

So I have selected #GirlBoss, by Sophia Amoruso,  the New York Times bestseller that the Washington Post called “Lean In for misfits,” in which Sophia Amoruso shares how she went from dumpster diving to founding one of the fastest-growing retailers in the world.

 

***

BOOKS FINISHED SINCE LAST WEEK:

(Click the titles for my reviews)

He Said, She Said (e-book), by Erin Kelly (NetGalley – 6/6/17)

 

Secrets in Summer, by Nancy Thayer (Amazon Vine Review)

 

Into the Water (e-book), by Paula Hawkins

 

***

EAGERLY ANTICIPATING:

Next week, White Fur (e-book), by Jardine Libaire, will be released.

 

Blurb:  A stunning star-crossed love story set against the glitz and grit of 1980s New York City
 
When Elise Perez meets Jamey Hyde on a desolate winter afternoon, fate implodes, and neither of their lives will ever be the same. Although they are next-door neighbors in New Haven, they come from different worlds. Elise grew up in a housing project without a father and didn’t graduate from high school; Jamey is a junior at Yale, heir to a private investment bank fortune and beholden to high family expectations. Nevertheless, the attraction is instant, and what starts out as sexual obsession turns into something greater, stranger, and impossible to ignore.
 
The unlikely couple moves to Manhattan in hopes of forging an adult life together, but Jamey’s family intervenes in desperation, and the consequences of staying together are suddenly severe. And when a night out with old friends takes a shocking turn, Jamey and Elise find themselves fighting not just for their love, but also for their lives.
 
White Fur follows these indelible characters on their wild race through Newport mansions and downtown NYC nightspots, SoHo bars and WASP-establishment yacht clubs, through bedrooms and hospital rooms, as they explore, love, play, and suffer. Jardine Libaire combines the electricity of Less Than Zero with the timeless intensity of Romeo and Juliet in this searing, gorgeously written novel that perfectly captures the ferocity of young love.

***

What did your week look like?

***

 

 

HUMP DAY SPARKS: CURRENT, PAST, & FUTURE READING

Today I’m participating in Sam’s WWW Wednesdays.  Here’s how it works:

 

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

***

CURRENTLY READING:

He Said, She Said (e-book), by Erin Kelly (NetGalley – 6/6/17), one reader says:  “a gripping, twisting, furiously clever read that asks all the right questions, and keeps you guessing until the very end. I loved it.”

 

***

BOOKS FINISHED SINCE LAST WEEK:

Click titles for my review

Not a Sound (e-book), by Heather Gudenkauf (NetGalley – 5/30)

 

The Night the Lights Went Out (e-book), by Karen White

 

The Widow of Wall Street (e-book), by Randy Susan Meyers

 

***

EAGERLY ANTICIPATING:

The Other Girl (e-book), by Erica Spindler – Release Date – 8/22/17

 

I love this author’s books, so I am excited about this one.

Blurb:   From the New York Times bestselling author of Justice for Sara and The First Wife Erica Spindler comes The Other Girl, a chilling new thriller about a ritualistic murder of a college professor that sends a small town cop back into the trauma she thought she’d put behind her.

A horrific crime. One witness—a fifteen year old girl from the wrong side of the tracks, one known for lying and her own brushes with the law.
Is it any surprise no one believed her?

Officer Miranda Rader of the Harmony, Louisiana PD is known for her honesty, integrity, and steady hand in a crisis—but that wasn’t always so. Miranda comes from the town of Jasper, a place about the size of a good spit on a hot day, and her side of the tracks was the wrong one. She’s worked hard to earn the respect of her coworkers and the community.

When Miranda and her partner are called to investigate the murder of one of the town’s most beloved college professors, they’re unprepared for the brutality of the scene. This murder is unlike any they’ve ever investigated, and just when Miranda thinks she’s seen the worst of it, she finds a piece of evidence that chills her to the core: a faded newspaper clipping about that terrible night fifteen years ago. The night she’d buried, along with her past and the girl she’d been back then. Until now that grave had stayed sealed…except for those times, in the deepest part of the night, when the nightmares came: of a crime no one believed happened and the screams of the girl they believed didn’t exist.

Then another man turns up dead, this one a retired cop. Not just any cop—the one who took her statement that night. Two murders, two very different men, two killings that on the surface had nothing in common—except Miranda.

***

My kind of read!  What are you reading and anticipating this week?

***

HUMP DAY SPARKS: A WEEK OF READING…

Today I’m participating in Sam’s WWW Wednesdays.  Here’s how it works:

 

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

***

CURRENTLY READING:

Not a Sound (e-book),by Heather Gudenkauf, an e-ARC from NetGalley (5/30/17 release date). 

A shocking discovery and chilling secrets converge in this latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf….

 

***

BOOKS FINISHED SINCE LAST WEEK:

(Click titles for my reviews)

 

Vivian in Red (e-book), by Kristina Riggle

 

Hot Milk (e-book), by Deborah Levy

 

A Mother’s Confession (e-book), by Kelly Rimmer

 

What’s Become of Her, by Deb Caletti (Amazon Vine Review)

 

***

EAGERLY ANTICIPATING:

Good Me, Bad Me, by Ali Land

 

I’ve been eyeing this book for a while…and today I ordered a paperback copy, which should be arriving within the next couple of weeks.  Have any of you read it?

Synopsis:  Milly’s mother is a serial killer. Though Milly loves her mother, the only way to make her stop was to turn her in to the police. Milly is given a fresh start: a new identity, a home with an affluent foster family, and a spot at an exclusive private school.

But Milly has secrets, and life at her new home becomes complicated. Her foster sister, Phoebe, starts to bully her. A teacher betrays her trust. And her new best friend tempts her into behaving badly. They have no idea who they are dealing with.

As her mother’s trial looms, with Milly as the star witness, Milly starts to wonder how much of her is nature, how much of her is nurture, and whether she is doomed to turn out like her mother after all.

When tensions rise and Milly feels trapped by her shiny new life, she has to decide: Will she be good? Or is she bad? She is, after all, her mother’s daughter.

***

What was your week like?  Stop by and let’s chat.

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HUMP DAY SPARKS: A READING JOURNEY

Today I’m participating in Sam’s WWW Wednesdays.  Here’s how it works:

 

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

***

 

 

CURRENTLY READING:

This morning I started The Futures, by Anna Pitoniak, a debut novel about love and betrayal, in which a young couple moves to New York City in search of success-only to learn that the lives they dream of may come with dangerous strings attached.

Last night I read a couple of chapters of Idaho, by Emily Ruskovich, a stunning debut novel about love and forgiveness, about the violence of memory and the equal violence of its loss—from O. Henry Prize–winning author Emily Ruskovich…

 

***

 

 

JUST FINISHED:

The Mother’s Promise, by Sally Hepworth (click title for my review) was a totally engaging story of the bonds of family, and the events in life that weaken them…or strengthen them.

 

***

 

 

EAGERLY ANTICIPATING:

Some time this week, I will receive Small Hours, by Jennifer Kitses, from Amazon Vine Reviews.

 

***

In the vein of Richard Russo and Tom Perrotta, a gripping, suspenseful, and gorgeous debut novel–told hour-by-hour over the course of a single day–in which a husband and wife try to outrun long-buried secrets, sending their lives spiraling into chaos.

***

It will be another engaging week ahead!  What does your week look like?

***

 

 

HUMP DAY SPARKS: WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Today I’m participating in Sam’s WWW Wednesdays.  Here’s how it works:

 

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

***

 

 

 

CURRENTLY READING:

It Happens All the Time, by Amy Hatvany, an eARC from NetGalley, a provocative and compelling novel about two friends whose lives are changed by a drunken kiss.

 

I’m enjoying this one, although I’m not that far into it.  I am a fan of the author, however, so I am looking forward to fully immersing myself.

***

 

 

 

JUST FINISHED:

The Good Daughter, by Alexandra Burt (click title for my review).

 

I was fascinated by the premise of this book, and there were aspects of it that captured me…and those parts kept me reading.  Overall, however, the book was a bit of a slog for me.

***

 

 

 

EAGERLY ANTICIPATING:

I am eager to start reading another e-ARC I have received from NetGalley, which will be released on April 11:  One Perfect Lie, by Lisa Scottoline.

 

Blurb:  On paper, Chris Brennan looks perfect. He’s applying for a job as a high school government teacher, he’s ready to step in as an assistant baseball coach, and his references are impeccable.

But everything about Chris Brennan is a lie.

Susan Sematov is proud of her son Raz, a high school pitcher so athletically talented that he’s being recruited for a full-ride scholarship to a Division I college, with a future in major-league baseball. But Raz’s father died only a few months ago, leaving her son in a vulnerable place where any new father figure might influence him for good, or evil.

Heather Larkin is a struggling single mother who lives for her son Justin’s baseball games. But Justin is shy, and Heather fears he is being lured down a dark path by one of his teammates, a young man from an affluent family whose fun-loving manner might possibly conceal his violent plans.

Mindy Kostis succumbs to the pressure of being a surgeon’s wife by filling her days with social events and too many gin and tonics. But she doesn’t know that her husband and her son, Evan, are keeping secrets from her – secrets that might destroy all of them.

At the center of all of them is Chris Brennan. Why is he there? What does he want? And what is he willing to do to get it?

***

What are you reading this week…and in the future?

***

HUMP DAY READING: ENGAGING CHOICES….

Today I’m participating in Sam’s WWW Wednesdays.  Here’s how it works:

 

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

***

 

 

CURRENTLY READING:

The Good Neighbor (e-book), by A. J. Banner, a book that will forever change the way you look at the people closest to you…

 

***

 

 

 

JUST FINISHED:

How Will I Know You, by Jessica Treadway.  (Click title for my review).

 

Multiple narrators show us the before and after moments, gradually revealing bits and pieces of lives in a downward spiral. On the surface, the characters seemed very sure that they could turn things around, dig out of their individual holes, and make everything right again…

***

And then, there was this one:

Never Let You Go (e-book), by Chevy Stevens, was my favorite book for February. (Click title for my review).

 

A book that kept me glued to the pages…following the clues and guessing all wrong…until finally, I figured it out near the end…

***

 

 

 

EAGERLY ANTICIPATING:

The Night the Lights Went Out, by Karen White, a stunning new novel about a young single mother who discovers that the nature of friendship is never what it seems….(Release Date:  April 11, 2017)

 

 

Blurb:  Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It’s not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren’t helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail.
 
Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee—something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past.
 
Sugar’s stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother’s seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather’s world.
 
In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee’s house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women….

***

What are you reading and/or eagerly anticipating?

***

HUMP DAY SPARKS: BOOK HOPPING….

Today I’m participating in Sam’s WWW Wednesdays.  Here’s how it works:

 

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next, and/or what are you eagerly awaiting?

***

CURRENTLY READING:

I don’t often read more than one book at a time, but this week found me book hopping.

The Best Awful, by Carrie Fisher, the sequel to the bestselling Postcards from the Edge contains Carrie’s Fisher’s trademark intelligence and wit that brought Postcards to the Hollywood movie screen.

 

***

Rainy Day Women (e-book), by Kay Kendall, is the second book in the Austin Starr Mystery series. In 1969, during the week of the Manson murders and Woodstock, the intrepid amateur sleuth, infant in tow, flies across the continent to support a friend suspected of murdering women’s liberation activists in Seattle and Vancouver.

 

***

JUST FINISHED:

I’ve completed two books so far this week:

Right Behind You (e-book), by Lisa Gardner (click title for my review)

 

***

And then….

The Trophy Child (e-book), by Paula Daly (click for review) – a NetGalley review coming out on 3/7/17.

 

***

UP NEXT:

Never Let You Go (e-book), by Chevy Stevens (NetGalley – 3/14/17)

 

***

Eleven years ago, Lindsey Nash escaped into the night with her young daughter and left an abusive relationship. Her ex-husband, Andrew, was sent to jail and Lindsey started over with a new life.

Now, Lindsey is older and wiser, with her own business and a teenage daughter who needs her more than ever. When Andrew is finally released from prison, Lindsey believes she has cut all ties and left the past behind her. But she gets the sense that someone is watching her, tracking her every move. Her new boyfriend is threatened. Her home is invaded, and her daughter is shadowed. Lindsey is convinced it’s her ex-husband, even though he claims he’s a different person. But has he really changed? Is the one who wants her dead closer to home than she thought?

With Never Let You Go, Chevy Stevens delivers a chilling, twisting thriller that crackles with suspense as it explores the darkest heart of love and obsession.

***

So…that’s my week so far.  What does yours look like?

***