You Look Beautiful Tonight by L.R. Jones

 

Publication: June 1, 2023

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Source: Author/Publisher

 

Synopsis:

 

A secret admirer’s devotion turns deadly in a twisting novel of psychological suspense.

Mia Anderson is an invisible woman. An unremarkable thirty-two-year-old Tennessee librarian, she’s accustomed to disappearing in a crowd, unseen and unheard. Then she receives an anonymous note: You look beautiful today.

It doesn’t stop there. The attentive stranger—a secret admirer named Adam—has plans for Mia. With each new text comes a suggestion for her hair, clothes, or attitude, and for the first time in memory, Mia feels noticed. Slowly, she develops a confidence in herself she’s never had. But Adam has a surprise coming…and Mia finally sees him for who he is and what he’s prepared to do for her. Even kill.

Fearing she could be implicated in the murder, Mia’s forced to turn to the stranger in the shadows watching her every move. Adam’s game of cat and mouse begins with Mia as the prey. In order to survive, she must also become the predator.

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Mia is an interesting character. She tends to overthink things and in most cases those thoughts tend to be negative and reflect her insecurities. Mia’s two close friends Jack and Jess are complete opposites but are obviously care about Mia a lot in their own way. 

 

This is a slow burn story. 40% into the book and nothing exciting had happened. Unless you count a couple of mystery notes from a possible stalker. Even though it took a bit before the story hit its stride, I was still engaged in the story and the characters. I enjoy a good mystery, so when Mia started getting mysterious notes, I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. I wasn’t a fan of how some of the things played out in the last big scene, however I was surprised by the ending. This was not my most favorite book by this author, though I did enjoy it and will continue to read her books. L.R. Jones is a pseudonym for Lisa Renee Jones. 

 

**Though I received this book on behalf of the Author, the thoughts and opinions expressed are solely my own.**

 

 

 

RATING: 3 OUT OF 5.

 

 

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Anonymous: A Madison Kelly Mystery #1 by Elizabeth Breck

Publication: November 10, 2020

Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Source: Publisher/Purchased

 

Synopsis:

 

Madison Kelly, a San Diego private investigator, arrives home to a note stabbed to her front door: "Stop investigating me, or I will hunt you down and kill you." The only problem? Madison hasn't been investigating anyone--she's been taking time off to figure out what to do with her life. But how does she prove a negative? The only way to remove the threat is to do exactly what “Anonymous”, the note writer, is telling her not to do: investigate to see who left it. Could this have something to do with the true crime podcast she’s been tweeting about, and the missing girls?

The girls went missing, two years apart, after a night at the clubs in San Diego's famed Gaslamp Quarter, and Madison had been probing the internet for clues. She discovers that someone has been one step ahead of her, monitoring her tweets to prevent her from getting too close. Soon Madison's investigation brings up more questions than answers: are the disappearances connected? Are the girls dead or did they just walk away from their lives? And who is Anonymous, the person who will stop at nothing to keep Madison from learning the truth?

As she closes in, so does Anonymous. Set against a backdrop of surfer culture and coffee houses of San Diego, Anonymous follows Madison as she confronts the reality of the girls' disappearance in a terrifying climax where the hunter becomes the hunted--and Madison is running for her life.

 

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Anonymous as an easy red and quickly caught my interest from the very first chapter. 

 

I have what could be considered a spoiler alert below. I had an issue with one of the characters in the book and his behavior but that does not affect the mystery portion of the story at all in my opinion. Still I am just putting it out there.

 

 

 

 

***SPOILER ALERT***

 

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I disliked the whole stalker situation. My main issue with it was the guy who was the stalker…he is a police officer and an acquaintance of Madison. If I remember correctly, he would sit outside her home at night and watch her. Supposedly because he was curious/fascinated by her. Madison even attempted to sort of sweep things under the rug and make it seem like it wasn’t that big of a deal. She never even reported him for his behavior. And the guy didn’t even truly apologize until the end. During the middle of the story, he said he was sorry he guessed…it wasn’t a big deal because no one got hurt and she didn’t really get scared…so I guess those are the requirements for a situation to be officially called stalking. Even when he did apologize Madison still tried to make it seem like it wasn’t a problem. I just thought it was pretty strange and I was very annoyed by it. Unless he was on a stakeout and watching her because she was a suspect or for her protection, it is creepy and unprofessional behavior. It doesn’t matter if anyone got hurt or not. 

So that was my biggest problem with the book. Luckily, he didn’t have a huge presence in the story, and I could ignore him and that situation…for the most part. 

 

Having said all of that, I did enjoy the story. It was well written and there was never really a dull moment. The mystery was appealing and kept my attention. It was easy to get caught up in the story and question what exactly was going on and who could be behind it all. I like a good PI story especially if the PI is a woman. Madison is an interesting character. She is smart, quick thinking, and determined to discover the truth no matter the risk. She did make some weird choices in the story though, that had me questioning her thought process. But that added to the drama. I am curious to see what other cases Madison gets involved in, in the future. 

 

 

 

 

RATING: 3½-4 OUT OF 5.

 

 

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Shadowlands by Kate Brian

 

 

Publication: January 8, 2013

Publisher: Hyperion

Rory Miller had one chance to fight back and she took it. Rory survived and the serial killer who attacked her escaped. Now that the infamous Steven Nell is on the loose, Rory must enter the witness protection program. Entering the program alongside her, is her father and sister Darcy. The trio starts a new life and a new beginning leaving their friends and family behind without a goodbye. Starting over in a new town with only each other is unimaginable for Rory and Darcy. They were inseparable as children but now they can barely stand each other. As the sisters settle in to Juniper Landing, a picturesque vacation island, it seems like their new home may be just the fresh start they need. They fall in with a group of beautiful, carefree teens and spend their days surfing, partying on the beach, and hiking into endless sunsets. Just as they’re starting to feel safe again, one of their new friends goes missing. Is it a coincidence? Or is the nightmare beginning all over again?

I love a good mystery/thriller. The cover of Shadowlands is simply gorgeous. That combined with the synopsis and I was sold. I haven’t read many young adult titles involving serial killers and the Witness Protection Program. So naturally I was read to dive into this bad boy…I think my expectations were set a little too high for this one.

These were some of my issues with Shadowlands:

A.    If the FBI knows right off the bat, the criminal they are dealing with is highly skilled, always manages to evade capture, and always catches his prey, then why would you have the victims’ house crawling with cops in uniform. Knowing that he would try and strike again. And how can anyone explain the fact that even though the house and neighborhood were crawling with those said cops, how the bad guy was able to break into Rory’s house undetected to leave her a note. Seriously?

B.     Because of the danger that Rory and her family are in, they have to go into witness protection. That I can completely understand. But what I don’t quite get is, why after giving them their fake names, and the place they will be going, the FBI just sends them on their way, With GPS instructions. How strange is that? What is to stop the guy from just following them? They didn’t even get a police escort or anything. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me nitpicking, but I thought it was odd.

 

Once I was able to get past those issues, I began to get into the story.  Rory was a pretty good character. Her sister Darcy however was not that much. Her father was so-so to me. Neither one of them seemed to care too much about what Rory was going through.

Being able to see the point of view of the serial killer was a neat concept. It added more to the story and it grabbed my interest at the beginning of the book. The mystery and weird occurrences throughout the story kept me reading. I wanted to see how it would end.

Even though this book wasn’t exactly how I hoped it would be, it does have promise. The ending left me more questions than answers, so I’m interested in checking out the next book, Hereafter to see how everything plays out. Hopefully I will enjoy it a little more than I did this one. 

RATING: 2½ -3 out of 5.

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