Always With a Book

k2reader December 9, 2024

The Author’s Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig & Karen White #bookreview

Thank you Uplit Reads / William Morrow Books #partner, for the finished copy of The Author’s Guide to Murder in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: William Morrow Books Published: November 5, 2024 Summary: Agatha Christie meets Murder, She Wrote meets #MeToo in this witty locked room mystery and literary satire by New York Times bestselling team of Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White. There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle…

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k2reader December 8, 2024

The Coldest Case by Tessa Wegert #bookreview #bookseries

Thank you to the author for the advanced copy of The Coldest Case in exchange for my honest opinion. Publisher: Severn House Published: November 5, 2024 Summary: News of a missing Instagram celebrity brings Senior Investigator Shana Merchant to a frozen island community of just eight people. When the visit turns deadly, her hunt for a killer collides with a cold case she’ll never forget . . . It’s February in…

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k2reader December 8, 2024

The New Couple in 5B by Lisa Unger #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Park Row/Netgalley, #partner, for the advanced copy of The New Couple in 5B in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Park Row / Harlequin Audio Published: March 5, 2024 Summary: A couple inherits an apartment with a spine-tingling past in this binge-worthy thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six. Rosie and Chad Lowan are barely making ends…

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k2reader December 6, 2024

Perfect Storm by Paige Shelton #bookreview #bookseries

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Perfect Storm in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Minotaur Books Published: December 3, 2024 Summary: The next installment in the Alaska Wild series a gripping, atmospheric, traditional mystery series with a great wilderness hook. Beth Rivers needs to disappear. Her one-time kidnapper, Travis, is on his way to her town in Alaska, and she’s losing time to get out…

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k2reader December 6, 2024

The Silent Watcher by Victor Methos #bookreview #newseries

Thank you MB Communications & Amazon Publishing, #partner, for the finished copy of The Silent Watcher in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Published: December 1, 2024 Summary: The bestselling author of A Killer’s Wife delivers a haunting legal thriller, plunging the reader headlong into the search for a deadly stalker—and a quest to bring a young victim peace. Far from the neon glare of the Vegas strip,…

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k2reader December 4, 2024

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / PRH Audio, for the ALC of First Lie Wins in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the print copy for my collection. Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books / Penguin Audio Published: January 2, 2024 Summary: Evie Porter has everything a nice, Southern girl could want: a perfect, doting boyfriend, a house with a white picket fence and a garden, a fancy group of friends. The only…

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k2reader December 4, 2024

The Answer is No by Fredrik Backman #bookreview #shortstory

I obtained this e-book through my Kindle Unlimited Subscription. Publisher: Amazon Original Stories Published: December 1, 2024 Summary: In a hilarious short story from New York Times bestselling author Fredrik Backman, the absurdities of modern life cause one man’s solitary world to spin suddenly, and comically, out of control. Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so…

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k2reader December 4, 2024

Mini Reviews – #IndigenousReads Edition #bookreviews #audiobooks

Thank you Libro.fm / Recorded Books, partner for the ALC of Exposure and Berkley /PRH Audio, partner for the e-copy and ALC of Indian Burial Ground in exchange for my honest reviews. I purchased a print copy of Indian Burial Ground for my collection. As I mentioned in an earlier post, November was Native American Heritage Month. I shared a stack of books I was hoping to get…

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k2reader December 4, 2024

The Close-Up by Pip Drysdale #bookreview

Thank you MB Communications & Gallery Books, #partner, for the finished copy of The Close-Up in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Gallery Books Published: December 3, 2024 Summary: A struggling author discovers the dark side of fame when a stalker begins reenacting violent events from her thriller in this electrifying and twisty new novel. When Zoe Ann Weiss moves to Los Angeles to pursue her dream of becoming…

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k2reader November 27, 2024

Cackle by Rachel Harrison #bookreview #audiobook

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: Penguin Audio Published: October 5, 2021 Summary: A darkly funny, frightening novel about a young woman learning how to take what she wants from a witch who may be too good to be true, from the author of The Return. All her life, Annie has played it nice and safe. After being unceremoniously dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start.…

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k2reader November 25, 2024

Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey #bookreview #audiobook #reread

I purchased this audiobook for my own copy. Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio Published: April 28, 2020 Summary: It’s summertime on the North Carolina coast and the livin’ is easy. Unless, that is, you’ve just lost your mother to cancer, your sister to her extremist husband, and your husband to his executive assistant. Meet Gray Howard. Right when Gray could use a serious infusion of good karma in her…

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k2reader November 25, 2024

Everybody is a Liar by Liv Constantine #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Penguin Random House Audio, #partner for the advanced listening copy of Everybody is a Liar in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Published: November 12, 2024 Summary: The New York Times bestselling author of The Next Mrs. Parrish delivers another spellbinding story of betrayal and deceit in this audiobook original, Everybody Is a Liar. When Julie Buckley, a successful mystery writer, suspects her husband of cheating, she…

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k2reader November 22, 2024

Mini-Reviews – #NonfictionNovember Edition #bookreviews #audiobooks #nonfiction

Thank you Simon Element, partner for the finished copy of The Witching Year and Doubleday Books, partner for the finished copy of Say Nothing in exchange for my honest reviews. I borrowed the audiobooks for each book from the library. I love finding a good nonfiction book I can sink my teeth into…& I usually gravitate towards either a memoir or something I want to know more about…which leads…

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k2reader November 21, 2024

The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greene #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / DreamscapeMedia, for the ALC of The Lake of Lost Girls in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Dreamscape Media Published: November 5, 2024 Summary: Told in alternating timelines, The Lake of Lost Girls is a haunting novel that will thrill fans of All Good People Here and We Are All the Same in the Dark. Using suspenseful podcast clips to weave a twisty tale of a missing student and her…

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k2reader November 17, 2024

Perfect Shot by Steve Urszenyi #bookreview #series

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Minotaur Books Published: September 24, 2024 (Originally Published 2023) Summary: Special Agent Alexandra Martel has put her days on the battlefield behind her. Charming and disarming, relentless and lethal, she earned a reputation as one of the most renowned and decorated Army snipers in the service before stepping away. But when Alex, now an FBI special agent on loan…

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k2reader November 17, 2024

Murder Town by Shelley Burr #bookreview #series

Thank you William Morrow Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Murder Town in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: William Morrow Published: November 5, 2024 Summary: Gemma Guillory knows her once-charming town is now remembered for one reason, and one reason only. That three innocent people died. That the last stop on the Rainier Ripper’s trail of death seventeen years ago was her innocuous little teashop. She knows…

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k2reader November 16, 2024

Mini Reviews: Thriller Edition #bookreviews #thrillers #minireviews

Thank you Viking Books, partner for the finished copy of Someone in the Attic and William Morrow Books, partner for the finished copy of This is Why We Lied in exchange for my honest reviews. I purchased the audiobook of This is Why We Lied for my collection. These are two thrillers that I reviewed on my Instagram page the week they came out but realized I never shared…

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k2reader November 16, 2024

Month in Review: October 2024

October was another busy month. I’m still trying to figure out how to manage everything with the two new puppies…while they are a lot of fun, they have completely disrupted our normal routine around here! But, we are getting in lots of walks, providing the weather is good, so I am getting in some quality audiobook-time, so there’s that at least! I’m still chipping away at reviews and am…

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k2reader November 12, 2024

The Fortune Seller by Rachel Kapelke-Dale #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Macmillan Audio, for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the advanced copy of The Fortune Seller in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: February 13, 2024 Summary: Middle-class Rosie Macalister has worked for years to fit in with her wealthy friends on the Yale equestrian team, but when she comes back from her junior year abroad…

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k2reader November 12, 2024

A Very Bad Thing by J.T. Ellison #bookreview

Thank you Over The River PR, #partner, for the advanced copy of A Very Bad Thing in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Published: November 1, 2024 Summary: From New York Times bestselling author J.T. Ellison comes a taut thriller about one author at the pinnacle of her career, whose past threatens to destroy everything she has—and everyone she knows. A great writer knows when to deliver a…

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k2reader November 11, 2024

Mini-Reviews – Gothic Mystery Edition #bookreviews #gothicmystery #audiobooks

These are both books from my own collection. I borrowed the audiobooks from the library. I’ve got 2 reviews to share with you – one a reread & one a new-to-me book – both perfect for this time of year! ⁣ REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier Published: January 1, 2006 (originally published in Aug 1938) / Harper Collins Summary: “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley…

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k2reader November 4, 2024

Drop Dead Sisters by Amelia Diane Coombs #bookfeature #bookreview

Thank you MB Communications & Amazon Publishing, #partner, for the finished copy of Drop Dead Sisters in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Mindy’s Book Studio Published: November 1, 2024 Summary: “Compulsively readable, Drop Dead Sisters is perfect for readers who love shows like Bad Sisters and Dead to Me. A mystery about three estranged sisters who accidentally kill someone? Yes, please.” —Mindy Kaling Three sisters reunite on a family vacation and…

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k2reader November 1, 2024

Indigenous Reads Stack #bookstack #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

November is Native American Heritage Month & I have been collecting these books to read this month. I may not get to them all, but at least I have options. I also have a few audiobooks not shown but listed below. ⁣ 🐍 𝙉𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙒𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙉𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 ⁣Edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. ⁣ 🌲𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙇𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙖𝙬 𝙃𝙚𝙧⁣ by Marcie R. Rendon ⁣…

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k2reader October 31, 2024

The Stone Witch of Florence by Anna Rasche #bookreview

Thank you to Kathleen Carter Communications, Park Row Books, #partner, for an advanced copy of The Stone Witch of Florence in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Park Row Books Published: October 8, 2024 Summary: Ancient sorcery. Magic gemstones. Only one woman can save a city in ruins… 1348. As the Black Plague ravages Italy, Ginevra di Gasparo is summoned to Florence after nearly a decade of lonely exile.…

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k2reader October 30, 2024

The Split by Kit Frick #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Atria Books #partner, for the advanced copy of The Split in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Atria Books / Simon & Schuster ALC Published: February 13, 2024 Summary: Jane Connor is resigned to being the “plain Jane” of her family—pragmatic and dependable—so unlike her beautiful and impetuous younger sister Esme. When Esme calls Jane during a flash summer storm,…

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k2reader October 29, 2024

Murder Road by Simone St. James #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Berkley Pub, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of Murder Road in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Berkley / PRH Audio Published: March 5, 2024 Summary: A young couple find themselves haunted by a string of gruesome murders committed along an old deserted road in this terrifying new novel. July 1995. April and Eddie have taken a wrong turn. They’re…

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k2reader October 28, 2024

Natural Selection by Elin Hilderbrand #bookreview #audiobook #shortstory

I obtained this audiobook through my Kindle Unlimited Subscription. Publisher: Amazon Original Stories Published: September 1, 2024 Summary: When her boyfriend bails at the last minute, a New York woman embarks on their couples’ cruise alone to find that maybe the person she was supposed to fall in love with was herself. After a string of bad dates and no prospects, Sophia Othonos has finally hit the jackpot: an actual…

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k2reader October 28, 2024

The Clinic by Cate Quinn #bookreview

Thank you Shelf Awareness/Sourcebooks #partner, for the advanced copy of The Clinic in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark Published: January 23, 2024 Summary: From the critically acclaimed author of Black Widows comes a thriller set in a remote rehab clinic on the Pacific Northwest coast, in which the death of a woman inside prompts her sister to enter the clinic as a patient in order to find the truth.…

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k2reader October 24, 2024

Twelve Secrets by Robert Gold #bookreview #series

Thank you to Bookouture, #partner, for an advanced e- copy of Twelve Secrets in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Bookouture Published: August 2, 2024 Summary: I should hate you. I should want you dead for what you did to my sweet, blue-eyed boy. But you’re the only person who can give me the answers I need. What really happened the night you killed him? It’s twenty years since my…

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k2reader October 21, 2024

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins #bookreview

Thank you Mariner Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Blue Hour in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Mariner Books Published: October 29, 2024 Summary: The spellbinding new novel from the internationally bestselling author of The Girl on the Train. An isolated Scottish island, accessible to the mainland only twelve hours a day. A famous (some might say infamous) artist whose notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared after visiting her…

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k2reader October 18, 2024

The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Macmillan Audio, for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press #partner for the finished copy of The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: October 8, 2024 Summary: It’s never too late for new beginnings. On the cusp of turning eighty, newly retired pharmacist Augusta Stern is adrift. When she relocates to Rallentando Springs—an active senior community…

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k2reader October 18, 2024

When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton #bookreview #audiobook #series

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Berkley / Blackstone Audio Published: April 9, 2019 Summary: In 1960s Florida, a young Cuban exile will risk her life – and heart – to take back her country in this exhilarating historical novel from the author of Next Year in Havana. Beautiful. Daring. Deadly. The Cuban Revolution took everything from sugar heiress Beatriz…

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k2reader October 17, 2024

What the Nanny Saw by Kaira Rouda #bookreview #series

Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers The Pulse, Bookouture, #partner, for an advanced e- copy of What the Nanny Saw in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Bookouture Published: November 13, 2024 Summary: I keep all her secrets. She thinks she can trust me… Cecilia has it all. The house on the beach. The cute figure. The beautiful baby. But she’s a long way from perfect. She’s let me into her gorgeous house…

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k2reader October 14, 2024

The Puzzle Box by Danielle Trussoni #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Penguin Random House Audio for the ALC and MB Communications & Random House, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Puzzle Box in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Random House / PRH Audio Published: October 8, 2024 Summary: It is the Year of the Wood Dragon, and the ingenious Mike Brink has been invited to Tokyo, Japan to open the legendary Dragon Box, a mysterious nineteenth-century…

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k2reader October 14, 2024

Month in Review: September 2024

September was busy…but good. I managed to get a lot of reading in, lots of audiobooks of course, but my book blanket has taken a back seat. It’s just too hard to work on that with two new puppies who are into everything! Oh well. Maybe I’ll get back to it at some point. I have steadily been working on both getting caught up on reviews and getting my…

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k2reader October 11, 2024

Dearest by Jacquie Walters #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC and @carriereadsthem_all & Mulholland Books, #partner, for the finished copy of Dearest in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Mulholland Books / Hachette Audio Published: September 17, 2024 Summary: A new mom in need of help opens her door to her long-estranged mother—only to invite something much darker inside—in this “fast-paced and frightening debut” (Rachel Harrison) about the long shadows cast by family…

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k2reader October 11, 2024

Red River Road by Anna Downes #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Macmillan Audio, for the ALC and Minotaur Books, #partner for the advanced copy of Red River Road in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio Published: August 27, 2024 Summary: Anna Downes’s extraordinary next thriller Red River Road follows a woman desperate to discover what happened to her sister on a solo road trip through the Australian outback. Katy Sweeney is looking for…

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k2reader October 9, 2024

Triple Cross by James Patterson #bookreview #series

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Published: October 31, 2022 Summary: Detective Alex Cross hunts down a serial killer who’s murdering entire families—and who will next be coming for Cross. A methodical killer is targeting multigenerational families in and around Washington, DC—striking under cover of darkness, triggering no alarms, leaving no physical evidence of any kind. Alex isn’t the only one investigating. Also…

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k2reader October 7, 2024

The Poison Tree by Erin Kelly #bookreview

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Penguin Books Published: January 31, 2012 (first published 2010) Summary: It is the sweltering summer of 1997, and Karen is a straight-laced, straight-A university student. When she meets the impossibly glamorous Biba, a bohemian orphan who lives in a crumbling old mansion in Highgate with her enigmatic brother Rex, she is soon drawn into their world — but something…

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k2reader October 7, 2024

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you William Morrow, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Briar Club in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my collection. Publisher: William Morrow/Harper Audio Published: July 9, 2024 Summary: A haunting and powerful story of female friendships and secrets in a Washington, D.C. boardinghouse during the McCarthy era. Washington, D.C., 1950. Everyone keeps to themselves at Briarwood House, a down-at-the-heels all-female boardinghouse in the…

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k2reader October 6, 2024

Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / HarperAudio, for the ALC and Lavender Public Relations & Ecco Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Book and Dagger in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Ecco Books / HarperAudio Published: September 24, 2024 Summary: The riveting, untold story of the scholars, librarians, and university professors who were recruited as spies during WWII and helped turn the tide of the war At the start…

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k2reader October 6, 2024

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley #bookreview

Thank you William Morrow, #partner, for the finished copy of The Midnight Feast in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: William Morrow Published: June 18, 2024 Summary: Secrets. Lies. Murder. Let the festivities begin… It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests’ healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the “Manor…

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k2reader October 2, 2024

The Doll’s House: A Short Story by Lisa Unger #bookreview #shortstory

I obtained this e-book through my Kindle Unlimited Subscription. Publisher: Amazon Original Stories Published: September 12, 2024 Summary: A widowed mother, ready to give love another chance, moves into her fiancé’s old family home with her teenage daughter. But as they try to build a future together, the past refuses to let go in this haunting short story from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger. When Jules first meets the handsome…

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k2reader October 1, 2024

The Mistletoe Mystery by Nita Prose #bookreview #audiobook #holidayread #novella

Thank you Penguin Random House Audio,#partner for the advanced listening copy of The Mistletoe Mystery in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Published: October 1, 2024 Summary: Molly the Maid has a whole new mystery to solve in this heartwarming novella from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid and The Mystery Guest. Molly Gray has always loved the holidays. When Molly was a child,…

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k2reader September 30, 2024

The Sequel by Jean Hanff Korelitz #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Celadon Books #partner, for the advanced copy of The Sequel in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Celadon Books / Macmillan Audio Published: October 1, 2024 Summary: After the “insanely readable” (Stephen King) and “perfectly told” (Malcolm Gladwell) New York Times bestseller The Plot comes Jean Hanff Korelitz’s equally captivating new novel: The Sequel. Anna Williams-Bonner has taken care of business—that is to say, she’s taken…

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k2reader September 30, 2024

The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Marysue Rucci Books #partner, for the advanced copy of The Night We Lost Him in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Marysue Rucci Books / Simon and Schuster Audio Published: September 17, 2024 Summary: Estranged siblings discover their father has been keeping a secret for over fifty years, one that may have been fatal… Liam Noone was many things…

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k2reader September 30, 2024

Nothing Ever Happens Here by Seraphina Nova Glass #bookreview

Thank you to Thrillerbookloversthepulse, Graydon House, #partner, for an advanced e-copy of Nothing Ever Happens Here in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Graydon House Published: February 11, 2025 Summary: Nothing ever happens in small towns… When Shelby Dawson survives a harrowing attack that should have left her dead, she tries to move past it—for herself, and for her family. Fifteen months later, with the help of her best…

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k2reader September 29, 2024

The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Penguin Random House Audio for the ALC and Berkley Pub, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of The Hitchcock Hotel in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Berkley / PRH Audio Published: September 24, 2024 Summary: A Hitchcock fanatic with an agenda invites old friends for a weekend stay at his secluded themed hotel in this fiendishly clever, suspenseful new novel. Alfred Smettle is not your average Hitchcock fan.…

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k2reader September 29, 2024

Once More from the Top by Emily Layden #bookreview

Thank you to Mariner Books, #partner, for an advanced e-copy of Once More from the Top in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Mariner Books Published: September 10, 2024 Summary: A propulsive, layered novel about the meteoric rise of a legendary pop star and the secret she’s kept hidden for fifteen years, for fans of Megan Abbott and Daisy Jones & the Six. Everyone in America knows Dylan Read,…

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k2reader September 25, 2024

The Christmas Countdown by Holly Cassidy #bookreview

Thank you to G.P. Putnam’s Sons, #partner, for an advanced copy of The Christmas Countdown in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Published: October 22, 2024 Summary: From the author of The Christmas Wager comes a charming holiday rom-com about a young, recently heartbroken woman who is tasked by her sister to complete Advent calendar challenges in the lead up to Christmas to reignite her belief in herself, the…

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