It was an excellent reading month…really, an excellent year. There were so many great books published this year, and I managed to balance all the review books with reading some books from my own shelves, which I’m quite happy about. I think #theunreadshelfproject is the only reading challenge I am going to be participating in going forward as I am really trying to get that situation under control. I also…
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Title: Seven Days Author: Alex Lake Published: December 2019, HarperCollins Format: ARC Paperback, 432 pages Source: Publisher Summary: A race against time to save her child… In seven days, Maggie’s son, Max, turns three. But she’s not planning a party or buying presents or updating his baby book. She’s dreading it. Because in her world, third birthdays are the days on which the unthinkable happens… she loses her child. For…
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Title: Shatter the Night Author: Emily Littlejohn Series: Detective Gemma Monroe, #4 Published: December 2019, Minotaur Books Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages Source: Publisher Summary: An enthralling, atmospheric new novel from Emily Littlejohn, author of acclaimed debut Inherit the Bones, featuring Colorado police officer Gemma Monroe. It’s Halloween night in Cedar Valley. During the town’s annual festival, Detective Gemma Monroe takes a break from trick or treating with her family…
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Title: Good Girls Lie Author: J.T. Ellison Published: December 2019, Format: ARC Paperback, 464 pages Source: Publisher Summary: Goode girls don’t lie… Perched atop a hill in the tiny town of Marchburg, Virginia, The Goode School is a prestigious prep school known as a Silent Ivy. The boarding school of choice for daughters of the rich and influential, it accepts only the best and the brightest. Its elite status, long-held…
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Title: Cari Mora Author: Thomas Harris Published: May 2019, Grand Central Publishing Format: Hardcover, 311 pages Source: Publisher Summary: From the creator of Hannibal Lecter and The Silence of the Lambs comes a story of evil, greed, and the consequences of dark obsession. Twenty-five million dollars in cartel gold lies hidden beneath a mansion on the Miami Beach waterfront. Ruthless men have tracked it for years. Leading the pack is…
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Title: Recipe for a Perfect Wife Author: Karma Brown Published: December 2019, Dutton Books Format: ARC Paperback, 336 pages Source: Publisher Summary: In this captivating dual narrative novel, a modern-day woman finds inspiration in hidden notes left by her home’s previous owner, a quintessential 1950s housewife. As she discovers remarkable parallels between this woman’s life and her own, it causes her to question the foundation of her own relationship with…
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Title: The Good Sister Author: Gillian McAllister Published: June 2019, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Format: Paperback, 400 pages Source: Publisher Summary: An electrifying novel about the unyielding bond between two sisters, which is severely tested when one of them is accused of the worst imaginable crime. Martha and Becky Blackwater are more than sisters–they’re each other’s lifelines. When Martha finds herself struggling to balance early motherhood and her growing business, Becky…
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Title: Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop Author: Jenny Colgan Series: Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop, #2 Narrator: Lucy Price-Lewis Published: October 2019, HarperAudio / William Morrow Paperbacks Length: Audio – 8 hours 31 minutes / Paperback – 368 pages Source: Audio via library / Print via Publisher via TLC Booktours Summary: A nip in the air, chiming bells and carolers, and the genial glow of love and family. But for this English…
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Title: The Wicked Redhead Author: Beatriz Williams Series: The Wicked City, #2 Published: December 2019, William Morrow Format: Hardcover, 432 pages Source: Publisher via TLC Booktours Summary: The dazzling narrator of The Wicked City brings her mesmerizing voice and indomitable spirit to another Jazz Age tale of rumrunners, double crosses, and true love, spanning the Eastern seaboard from Florida to Long Island to Halifax, Nova Scotia. 1924. Ginger Kelly…
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Title: The Wicked City Author: Beatriz Williams Series: The Wicked City, #1 Published: January 2017, William Morrow Format: ARC Paperback, 384 pages Source: Publisher Summary: New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams recreates the New York City of A Certain Age in this deliciously spicy adventure that mixes past and present and centers on a Jazz Age love triangle involving a rugged Prohibition agent, a saucy redheaded flapper, and a…
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Title: Before She Knew Him Author: Peter Swanson Published: March 2019, William Morrow Format: ARC Paperback, 309 pages Source: Publisher Summary: Hen and her husband Lloyd have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Hen (short for Henrietta) is an illustrator and works out of a studio nearby, and has found the right meds to control her bipolar disorder. Finally, she’s found some stability…
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Title: Her Dark Heart Author: Carla Kovach Series: Detective Gina Harte, #5 Published: November 2019, Bookouture Format: ARC E-copy, 349 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary: Rory is waiting at the door of the pre-school – a painted picture of his mother Susan in his small hand. But Susan isn’t going to see the picture, because she has vanished. Susan Wheeler is a devoted mother. She would do anything for…
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Title: The Rabbit Hunter Author: Lars Kepler Series: Joona Linna, #6 Published: January 2020, Knopf Publishing Group Format: ARC Paperback, 528 pages Source: Publisher Summary: The latest internationally best-selling installment in the Joona Linna series sees him temporarily called back to the police force to solve a series of bizarre and increasingly horrifying murders. Detective Joona Linna is finishing out a sentence at Kumla prison for assaulting an officer in…
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Title: Christmas in Paris Author: Anita Hughes Published: Paperback, St. Martin’s Griffin Format: Paperback, 277 pages Source: Personal copy Summary: Hughes will fill your heart with the sights, sounds, and flavors of new love, glamorous fashion, and decadent holiday cuisine. Isabel Lawson is standing on the balcony of her suite at the Hotel Crillon as she gazes at the twinkling lights of the Champs Elysee and wonders if she’s made…
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Title: It Takes One Author: Kate Kessler Series: Audrey Hart, #1 Published: April 2016, Redhook Books Format: Paperback, 395 pages Source: Personal copy Summary: They say there are no secrets in a small town… Criminal psychologist Audrey Harte is returning home after seven years. She’ll have to face the whispers and the rumors that have haunted her family since she left. Because when Audrey was thirteen, she and her best…
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Title: I’ll Be Gone in the Dark Author: Michelle McNamara Narrator: Gabra Zachman, Gillian Flynn – introduction, Patton Oswalt – afterword Published: February 2019, Harper Perennial /HarperAudio Format: Paperback, 368 pages / Audio: 10 hours 7 minutes Source: Personal copy – both book & audio Summary: Features new material on the Golden State Killer’s case and an updated afterword by Patton Oswalt. The haunting true story of the elusive serial rapist…
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Title: Dark Tribute Author: Iris Johansen Series: Eve Duncan, #24 Published: March 2019, St. Martin’s Press Format: Hardcover, 373 pages Source: Library Summary: New York Times bestseller Iris Johansen is back with another high octane thriller that will leave your mind racing and your heart pounding. Despite her tragic childhood, violin prodigy Cara Delaney has finally found peace in her career as a professional musician and stability in her relationship…
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Title: Trace of Evil Author: Alice Blanchard Series: Natalie Lockhart, #1 Published: December 2019, Minotaur Books Format: ARC Paperback, 384 pages Source: Publisher Summary: A riveting mystery that introduces a bold and audacious rookie detective assigned to hunt for a killer who is haunted by the past in this gripping murder case… Natalie Lockhart always knew she was going to be a cop. A rookie detective on the Burning Lake…
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Title: Cross Justice Author: James Patterson Series: Alex Cross, #23 Published: November 2015, Little, Brown & Company Format: Hardcover, 420 pages Source: Personal copy Summary: The toughest cases hit closest to home. Alex Cross left his hometown, and some awful family tragedies, for a better life with Nana Mama in Washington, DC. He hasn’t looked back. Now his cousin Stefan has been accused of a horrible, unthinkable murder, and Cross…
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Title: Rebecca Author: Daphne du Maurier Published: 2006, HarperCollins (first published August 1938) Format: Paperback, 410 pages Source: Personal copy Summary: A classic novel of romantic suspense finds the second Mrs. Maxim de Winter entering the home of her mysterious and enigmatic new husband and learning the story of the house’s first mistress, to whom the sinister housekeeper is unnaturally devoted. My thoughts: I’m not sure why I waited so…
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Title: Hope to Die Author: James Patterson Series: Alex Cross, #22 Published: November 2014, Little, Brown & Company Format: Hardcover, 400 pages Source: Personal copy Summary: Detective Alex Cross is being stalked by a psychotic genius, forced to play the deadliest game of his career. Cross’s family-his loving wife Bree, the wise and lively Nana Mama, and his precious children-have been ripped away. Terrified and desperate, Cross must give…
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Title: A Cosmology of Monsters Author: Shaun Hamill Published: September 2019, Pantheon Books Format: Hardcover, 336 pages Source: Publisher Summary: Noah Turner sees monsters. His father saw them–and built a shrine to them with The Wandering Dark, an immersive horror experience that the whole family operates. His practical mother has caught glimpses of terrors but refuses to believe–too focused on keeping the family from falling apart. And his eldest sister,…
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Title: The Great Pretender Author: Susannah Cahalan Published: November 2019, Grand Central Publishing Format: ARC Paperback, 400 pages Source: Publisher Summary: From “one of America’s most courageous young journalists” (NPR) comes a propulsive narrative history investigating the 50-year-old mystery behind a dramatic experiment that changed the course of modern medicine. For centuries, doctors have struggled to define mental illness-how do you diagnose it, how do you treat it, how do…
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Title: Cross My Heart Author: James Patterson Series: Alex Cross, #21 Published: November 2013, Little, Brown & Company Format: Hardcover, 419 pages Source: Personal copy Summary: James Patterson raises the stakes to their highest level, ever-when Alex Cross becomes the obsession of a genius of menace set on proving that he is the greatest mind in the history of crime. Detective Alex Cross is a family man at heart–nothing matters…
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Title: Meg & Jo Author: Virginia Kantra Published: December 2019, Berkley Format: ARC E-copy, 400 pages Source: Netgalley Summary: The timeless classic Little Women inspired this heartwarming modern tale of four sisters from New York Times bestselling author Virginia Kantra. The March sisters—reliable Meg, independent Jo, stylish Amy, and shy Beth—have grown up to pursue their separate dreams. When Jo followed her ambitions to New York City, she never thought…
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Title: A Wedding in December Author: Sarah Morgan Published: September 2019, HQN Books Format: ARC E-galley, 384 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary: From the USA Today bestselling author of The Christmas Sisters comes this funny, charming and heartwarming all new original Christmas novel. This is Sarah Morgan at her festive best! In the snowy perfection of Aspen, the White family gathers for youngest daughter Rosie’s whirlwind Christmas wedding. First…
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Title: Vendetta Author: Iris Johansen Series: Catherine Ling, #5 Published: October 2018, St. Martin’s Press Format: Hardcover, 404 pages Source: Library Summary: From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen comes a new explosive, compelling thriller. With his dying breath, Carl Venable, head of the CIA task force on terrorism and Jude Brandon’s final link to terrorist ringleader Max Huber, gives Brandon a mandate: to keep his daughter,…
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Title: Would Like To Meet Author: Rachel Winters Published: December 2019, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Format: ARC E-copy, 336 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary: In this charming, feel-good debut novel, a cynical assistant at a screenwriting agency must reenact the meet-cute scenes from classic romantic comedy movies in order to help her #1 client get his scriptwriting mojo back–but can a real-life meet-cute be in store for someone who doesn’t…
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Title: The 18th Abduction Author: James Patterson Series: Women’s Murder Club Published: April 2019, Little, Brown and Company Format: Hardcover, 383 pages Source: Personal copy Summary: The #1 bestselling female detective of the past 50 years is back. Detective Lindsay Boxer and her husband Joe Molinari team up to protect San Francisco from an international war criminal in the newest Women’s Murder Club thriller. Three female schoolteachers go missing in…
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Title: Thin Ice Author: Paige Shelton Series: Alaska Wild Mysteries, #1 Published: December 2019, Minotaur Books Format: ARC Paperback, 288 pages Source: Publisher Summary: First in a new series set in Alaska from beloved author Paige Shelton, Thin Ice will chill your bones. Beth Rivers is on the run – she’s doing the only thing she could think of to keep herself safe. Known to the world as thriller author…
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Title: Nine Elms Author: Robert Bryndza Series: Kate Marshall, #1 Published: December 2019, Thomas & Mercer Format: Hardcover, 396 pages Source: Publisher Summary: From the breakthrough international bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice, a breathtaking, page-turning novel about a disgraced female detective’s fight for redemption. And survival… Kate Marshall was a promising young police detective when she caught the notorious Nine Elms serial killer. But her greatest victory…
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It’s hard to believe that we are heading into the last month of the year! I don’t know about you, but I have read so many amazing books this year and I already have some exciting books that I am looking forward to for next year…but there is still one month left and I am hoping to still get in a few more good reads to round out this year!…
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Title: Deadly Secrets Author: Robert Bryndza Series: Detective Erika Foster, #6 Narrator: Jan Cramer Published: April 2018, Bookouture Length: 8 hours 42 minutes Source: Personal copy via Audible Summary: To commit the perfect murder, you need the perfect cover. On a cold icy morning, a mother wakes to find her daughter’s blood-soaked body frozen to the road. Who would carry out such a horrific killing on the victim’s doorstep? Straight…
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Title: Woman on the Edge Author: Samantha M. Bailey Published: E-book: November 2019/Paperback: March 2020, Simon Schuster (these are US Dates) Format: ARC Paperback, 272 pages Source: Author Summary: A moment on the subway platform changes two women’s lives forever—a debut thriller that will take your breath away. A total stranger on the subway platform whispers, “Take my baby.” She places her child in your arms. She says your name.…
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Title: A Girl Named Anna Author: Lizzy Barber Published: September 2019, Mira Books Format: ARC Paperback, 329 pages Source: Publisher Summary: A compulsive suspense debut for fans of Megan Miranda, Wendy Walker and Kimberly Belle, about two teens–one sheltered by her strict and reclusive mamma, one living in the shadow of the missing sister who was snatched from a theme park as a toddler–and their search for the truth about…
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Title: The Liar’s House Author: Carla Kovach Series: Detective Gina Harte, #4 Published: July 2019, Bookouture Format: E-copy, 337 pages Source: Personal copy Summary: Samantha stumbled out of the party and on to a busy street only ten minutes away from her home. But she never made it home… Seven years after Samantha’s disappearance, on what would have been her thirty-fifth birthday, her best friend Diane is shocked to find…
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Title: Regretting You Author: Colleen Hoover Published: December 2019, Montlake Romance Format: ARC E-copy, 365 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary: From #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us comes a poignant novel about family, first love, grief, and betrayal that will touch the hearts of both mothers and daughters. Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.…
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Title: Broken Souls Author: Patricia Gibney Series: D.I. Lottie Parker, #7 Published: October 2019, Bookouture Format: ARC E-copy, 446 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary: ‘She shivered, though the kitchen was warm. Icicles of foreboding trickled down her spine. With trembling hands she whipped back her hair at the nape of her neck. As she turned away from the window, she missed the shadow passing by.’ One dark winter’s morning,…
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Title: The Other Windsor Girl Author: Georgie Blalock Published: November 2019, William Morrow Paperbacks Format: ARC Paperback, 400 pages Source: Publisher Summary: In a historical debut evoking the style of The Crown, the daughter of an impoverished noble is swept into the fame and notoriety of the royal family and Princess Margaret’s fast-living friends when she is appointed as Margaret’s second Lady-in-Waiting. Diana, Catherine, Meghan…glamorous Princess Margaret outdid them all. Springing…
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Title: Saint X Author: Alexis Schaitkin Published: February 2020, Celadon Books Format: ARC Paperback, 352 pages Source: Publisher Summary: Hailed as a “marvel of a book” and “brilliant and unflinching,” Alexis Schaitkin’s stunning debut Saint X is a haunting portrait of grief, obsession, and the bond between two sisters never truly given the chance to know one another. Claire is only seven years old when her college-age sister, Alison, disappears…
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Title: The Golden Hour Author: Beatriz Williams Published: July 2019, William Morrow Format: Hard Cover, 480 pages Source: Publisher Summary: The New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives and A Certain Age creates a dazzling epic of World War II-era Nassau—a hotbed of spies, traitors, and the most infamous couple of the age, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The Bahamas, 1941. Newly-widowed Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrives…
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Title: The Vanishing Season Author: Joanna Schaffhausen Series: Ellery Hathaway, #1 Published: December 2017, Minotaur Books Format: E-copy, 288 pages Source: Netgalley Summary: Ellery Hathaway knows a thing or two about serial killers, but not through her police training. She’s an officer in sleepy Woodbury, MA, where a bicycle theft still makes the newspapers. No one there knows she was once victim number seventeen in the grisly story of serial…
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Title: November Road Author: Lou Berney Published: October 2019, William Morrow Paperbacks Format: Paperback, 320 pages Source: Publisher via TLC Booktours Summary: Set against the assassination of JFK, a poignant and evocative crime novel that centers on a desperate cat-and-mouse chase across 1960s America—a story of unexpected connections, daring possibilities, and the hope of second chances from the Edgar Award-winning author of The Long and Faraway Gone. Frank Guidry’s…
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Title: Cilka’s Journey Author: Heather Morris Series: The Tattooist of Auschwitz, #2 Narrator: Louise Brealey Published: October 2019, MacMillan Audio / St. Martin’s Press Length: 11 hours 3 minutes / 352 pages Source: Audio – personal copy / Print – via Publisher Summary: From the author of the multi-million copy bestseller, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, comes the new novel based on an incredible true story of love and resilience. “She…
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Title: The Family Upstairs Author: Lisa Jewell Published: November 2019, Atria Books Format: ARC Paperback, 352 pages Source: Publisher Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone and Watching You comes another page-turning look inside one family’s past as buried secrets threaten to come to light. Be careful who you let in. Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to…
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{Technical difficulty so will add image when I can.} Posting this a slight bit early as I’m off to Bouchercon this morning…and I am so excited!!! It was another great month of reading. I don’t know about you, but this year has been filled with amazing reads 🙂 Reading Stats: Read this month: 21 Year to date: 183 Books Read: 29 Seconds — T.M. Logan The Daughters of Temperance…
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Title: Double Blind Author: Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen Series: Kendra Michaels, #6 Published: July 2018, St. Martin’s Press Format: Hardcover, 325 pages Source: Library Summary: Kendra Michaels, formerly blind and now a hired gun for law enforcement agencies who relies on her razor-sharp powers of observation, is reluctant to help the FBI with the most recent case they’ve brought to her. But then she hears the details: the body…
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Title: The Sleepover Author: Carol Wyer Series: Detective Natalie Ward, #4 Published: September 2019, Bookouture Format: ARC E-copy, 376 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Summary: Roxy had a secret. Now she’s gone. When fourteen-year-old Roxy says she’s going for a sleepover at her best friend Ellie’s house, Cathy sees no reason to check her daughter’s story. The two families are neighbours, and the girls are in and out of each…
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Title: If Only I Could Tell You Author: Hannah Beckerman Published: October 2019, William Morrow Paperbacks Format: Paperback, 368 pages Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours Summary: Hannah Beckerman pens a life-affirming novel that tells the story of a family divided and the secret that can possibly unite them—a must for fans of This Is Us. Audrey knows that life is filled with ups and downs, but she can’t help feeling…
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Title: Beautiful on the Outside Author: Adam Rippon Narrator: Adam Rippon Published: October 2019, Hachette Audio / Grand Central Publishing Length: 8 hours, 19 minutes / 256 pages Source: Audio via Hachette Audio via Libro.fm / Print via Grand Central Publishing Summary: Former Olympic figure skater and self-professed America’s Sweetheart Adam Rippon shares his underdog journey from beautiful mess to outrageous success in this hilarious, big-hearted memoir. Your mom probably…
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