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Saturday, June 11, 2022

Meant to Be Mine by Hannah Orenstein Blog Tour!!

Publication: June 7, 2022

Publisher: Atria Books

Source: Publisher

Synopsis:

From the author of Playing with Matches, a sweeping love story in the vein of Rebecca Serle and Chloe Benjamin about a woman who knows the date she’ll meet her true love—only he isn’t quite as perfect as she always imagined.

What if you knew exactly when you’d meet the love of your life? Edie Meyer knows. When her Grandma Gloria was a young woman, she had a vision of the exact day she would meet her soul mate—and then Grandpa Ray showed up.

Since then, Gloria has accurately predicted the day every single member of the family has met their match. Edie’s day arrives on June 24, 2022, when she’s twenty-nine years old. She has been waiting for it half her life. That morning, she boards an airplane to her twin sister’s surprise engagement, and when a handsome musician sits beside her, she knows it’s meant to be.

But fate comes with more complications than Edie expected and she can’t fight the nagging suspicion that her perfect guy doesn’t have perfect timing. After a tragedy and a shocking revelation rock Edie’s carefully constructed world, she’s forced to consider whether love chooses us, as simple as destiny, or if we choose it ourselves.

******

I enjoyed reading about Edie’s life and seeing her interactions with her family, especially her grandmother. Her grandmother can predict the exact date her family members will meet their “soulmate”. So far she has never been wrong. Talk about an interesting gift to have.

This was a unique take on pretty typical romance story…I liked Edie’s character and seeing her growth and journey throughout the book. She is smart, fun, and driven. I could feel Edie’s excitement and nervousness as she scans the crowd looking for her special person. I mean who wouldn’t be excited if they knew the actual date they would meet the person they were supposed to spend their life with??

Meant to be Mine is a fun and quirky story about finding “the one” and Edie’s journey to finding her happy ending.

The story overall was good and entertaining. It was a little slow and seemed to drag at times, but I had to keep reading to find out how things would end. There was a surprising twist in the story that added to the entertainment factor.

RATING: 3 OUT OF 5.

About the Author:

Hannah Orenstein is the author of four novels and the Deputy Editor of Dating at Elite Daily. She writes about bold women with heart, humor, and chutzpah — exploring their love stories, their careers, their family and friends. (Also, their New York City adventures, dating disasters, martinis, cheese boards, and feelings. Lots of feelings.)

She’s also the author of Head Over Heels, Love at First Like, and Playing with Matches. Her books have been featured on several “Best Of” lists by O, the Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Goodreads, and many more. Check out her website for more info: http://hannahorenstein.com

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Monday, May 2, 2022

The Resting Place by Camilla Sten

Publication: March 29, 2022

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Translation: Alexandra Fleming

Source: Publisher

Synopsis:

A spine-chilling, propulsive psychological suspense from international sensation Camilla Sten.

The medical term is prosopagnosia. The average person calls it face blindness—the inability to recognize a familiar person’s face, even the faces of those closest to you.

When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer—a maddening expression that means nothing to someone like her. With each passing day, her anxiety mounts. The dark feelings of having brushed by a killer, yet not know who could do this—or if they’d be back—overtakes both her dreams and her waking moments, thwarting her perception of reality.

Then a lawyer calls. Vivianne has left her a house—a looming estate tucked away in the Swedish woods. The place her grandfather died, suddenly. A place that has housed a dark past for over fifty years.

Eleanor. Her steadfast boyfriend, Sebastian. Her reckless aunt, Veronika. The lawyer. All will go to this house of secrets, looking for answers. But as they get closer to bringing the truth to light, they’ll wish they had never come to disturb what rests there.

A heart-thumping, relentless thriller that will shake you to your core, The Resting Place is an unforgettable novel of horror and suspense.

******

The Resting Place was an atmospheric and fun suspense story that kept getting more and more interesting, the further I got into the book.

Due to not being able to recognize faces, Eleanor has lived her life with a certain amount of fear. That fear and uncertainty increased after bumping into her grandmother’s murderer and not being able to recognize him or her.

The story largely revolves around Elanor’s larger than life grandmother Vivianne and Eleanor who cannot identify people’s faces clearly. But her logical yet always skeptical boyfriend Sebastian, her unique and interesting Aunt Veronika and the lawyer handling her grandmother’s estate all add something to this mysterious tale.

The story bounces back-and-forth between the past and the present which I enjoyed. The characters were interesting, especially Eleanor’s grandmother Vivian.

I did get a little frustrated with Sebastian. I wish that he would have been more understanding and supportive of Eleanor especially given the fact that she doesn’t recognize people and faces like the rest of them do. Aunt Veronika was a bold and unapologetic character also…it would have been nice to discover more of her backstory.

I also listened to the audiobook while I was reading. Occasionally I will switch between reading and listening. The narrator, Angela Dawe is one of my top narrators. She always does a good job of bringing the characters to life and adding to an already interesting storyline. The audiobook is just shy of 9 hours, but nothing felt slow or dragged and that time went by fairly quickly.

This is the second book that I’ve read from this author, and it will not be the last. I enjoy her writing style and the creative way she spins a story. There were a couple of twists and surprises that occurred that they took me by surprise, and I honestly did not guess who the murderer was until it was practically revealed.

RATING: 3½ OUT OF 5.

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Friday, April 1, 2022

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

Publication: September 7, 2021

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Source: Publisher

Synopsis:

Think you know the person you married? Think again…

Things have been wrong with Mr and Mrs Wright for a long time. When Adam and Amelia win a weekend away to Scotland, it might be just what their marriage needs. Self-confessed workaholic and screenwriter Adam Wright has lived with face blindness his whole life. He can’t recognize friends or family, or even his own wife.

Every anniversary the couple exchange traditional gifts – paper, cotton, pottery, tin – and each year Adam’s wife writes him a letter that she never lets him read. Until now. They both know this weekend will make or break their marriage, but they didn’t randomly win this trip. One of them is lying, and someone doesn’t want them to live happily ever after.

Ten years of marriage. Ten years of secrets. And an anniversary they will never forget.

******

Hoping this weekend can help restore what is wrong/missing in their marriage, Amelia and Adam spend a cozy weekend at a remote cabin. It turns out to be not so cozy when a snowstorm traps them in, and suspicious things begin happening at every turn. Just from this part alone, I was excited to read this. The further I read, the more intrigued I was.

Adam, Amelia, and their mysterious neighbor at their weekend getaway all seem to have something to hide, as well as their own interesting backstory. The book is told through anniversary letters from the past as well as their individual POV’s in the present. Though none of them were very likable, I still enjoyed discovering more about each character. I also enjoyed getting different perspectives in the story. It made things more interesting and fun.

The twist in the story was a little surprising, but I wasn’t too impressed with the ending. I thought it was just okay.

However, Rock Paper Scissors was an atmospheric and entertaining story to read. The marriage drama is plenty, everyone is an unreliable narrator, and nothing is as it seems. Although not my favorite of Alice Feeney’s, this was a good story and well written. She knows how to create characters and plots to pull the reader in and have them guessing and second guessing all the way to the end.

RATING: 3 OUT OF 5.

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Friday, March 25, 2022

Grave Reservations (The Booking Agents #1) by Cherie Priest

Publication: October 26, 2021

Publisher: Atria Books

Source: Publisher

Synopsis:

A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective solve a murder in this quirky mystery in the vein of Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series.

Meet Leda Foley: devoted friend, struggling travel agent, and inconsistent psychic. When Leda, sole proprietor of Foley's Flights of Fancy, impulsively re-books Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt’s flight, her life changes in ways she couldn’t have predicted.

After watching his original plane blow up from the safety of the airport, Grady realizes that Leda’s special abilities could help him with a cold case he just can’t crack.

Despite her scattershot premonitions, she agrees for a secret reason: her fiancé’s murder remains unsolved. Leda’s psychic abilities couldn’t help the case several years before, but she’s been honing her skills and drawing a crowd at her favorite bar’s open-mic nights, where she performs Klairvoyant Karaoke—singing whatever song comes to mind when she holds people’s personal effects. Now joined by a rag-tag group of bar patrons and pals alike, Leda and Grady set out to catch a killer—and learn how the two cases that haunt them have more in common than they ever suspected.

******

Grave Reservations is a light and easy mystery that was just what I needed.

Leda is a fun and pretty optimistic travel agent/psychic. Detective Grady is down to earth and level-headed. He’s followed every possible lead he could with this case he is working on and gotten nowhere. The only thing he hasn’t tried by now is an actual psychic. Enter Leda, the psychic who saved his life. They both bring something to the table and they complement each other very nicely.

Even though Grady asked for Leda’s help, I’m glad he didn’t pin all his hopes on her psychic abilities. He used logic and real evidence to further investigate and see if it matched what Leda saw or remembered. Leda’s best friend Niki tagged along with them also which was something I didn’t quite understand. She had no reason to be involved in the case, but I went along with it anyways. Especially since she brought more fun to the story with her unfiltered and often comedic personality.

The mystery aspect of the story wasn’t super thrilling or suspenseful, however seeing all the different interactions between Leda, Grady, Niki, and her friends at the bar was fun and made things more interesting.

This cozy mystery is a little quirky, a little funny, and very entertaining. It’s also the first book in a series, with the second book, Flight Risk releasing November 1, 2022.

RATING: 3-3½ OUT OF 5.

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Friday, January 21, 2022

Double Take (Madison Kelly #2) by Elizabeth Breck

Publication: October 12, 2021

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Source: Publisher

Synopsis:

When a young journalist goes missing in sunny San Diego, P.I. Madison Kelly learns the true price of knowing too much.

It's a perfect San Diego fall--cool and crisp with bright blue skies. But not everything is right in the sunny idyll dubbed America's Finest City. Young journalist Barrett Brown has been missing for a week, and her boyfriend hires private investigator Madison Kelly to find her. Right away, Barrett reminds Madison of a younger version of herself: smart, ambitious, and a loner.

As she launches her investigation, Madison realizes that Barrett's disappearance is connected to a big story she was chasing--and she sets out to walk in Barrett's footsteps to trace her whereabouts. As the trail grows colder, things begin to heat up between Madison and Barrett's boyfriend. But he doesn't seem to be telling everything he knows, and Madison gets the feeling that her every move is being watched. What dirty secrets lie at the heart of Barrett's big lead?

If Madison can't get to the bottom of the case in time, she could be in line to become the next victim.

******

I was excited to jump back into the world of Madison Kelly again with Double Take. It was a very easy story to get into and my interest was piqued from the first chapter. I could tell right away that there was more to the story than meets the eye. This case was not your average missing person’s case. Not only was Madison trying to find a missing Barrett, but she was also investigating what story Barrett was looking into herself. It was interesting to see how everything was connected and how it would all come together.

This time, Madison seemed to have a slightly bigger network of friends/people she could talk to and who could help her investigate things. Even though Madison likes to do things her own way and usually by herself, it was a nice change to have her not do everything on her own and to rely on others, even if it was just for something small.

There were a few red flags when it came to certain characters or situations that I thought Madison with all her experience should have realized there was something strange going on. Madison should have involved the police a lot sooner than when she did also. That just makes the story even more entertaining though. All in all, I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the next mystery that Madison aims to solve.

RATING: 3½ OUT OF 5.

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