2023 release – Always With a Book

k2reader June 20, 2026

The Beach at Summerly by Beatriz Williams #bookreview

Thank you William Morrow Books, #partner, for the finished copy of The Beach at Summerly in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: William Morrow Published: June 27, 2023 Summary: New York Times bestseller Beatriz Williams returns with a ravishing summer read, taking readers back to a mid-century New England rich with secrets and Cold War intrigue. June 1946. As the residents of Winthrop Island prepare for the first summer…

View Post

k2reader November 28, 2025

The Girl by the Bridge by Arnaldur Indridason #bookreview #series #backlistreview

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of The Girl by the Bridge in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Minotaur Books Published: May 2, 2023 Summary: When a young woman known for drug smuggling goes missing, her elderly grandparents have no choice but to call the retired Detective Konrád. Still looking for his own father’s murderer, Konrád agrees to investigate the case. But digging into the…

View Post

k2reader October 27, 2025

Murder by Invitation Only by Colleen Cambridge #bookreview #audiobook #series

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: Kensington Books / Highbridge Published: September 26, 2023 Summary: In this engaging historical mystery, Agatha Christie’s ever-capable housekeeper, Phyllida Bright, not only keeps the celebrated author’s English country home in tip-top shape, she excels as an amateur sleuth. But when a murder-themed game goes awry, can she outfox the guilty party? “A murder will occur tonight at Beecham House . . .”…

View Post

k2reader September 30, 2025

Alex Cross Must Die by James Patterson #bookreview #series

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Published: November 20, 2023 Summary: Detectives Cross and Sampson are tracking a serial killer who’s fatally ambushing young men in the “Dead Hours” murders. They don’t hear the machine gun fire. At first. “Drop whatever you’re doing, Dr. Cross, and head to Reagan Airport,” DC Metro Police dispatch says. “A plane just crashed and exploded on the…

View Post

k2reader August 8, 2025

Iowa Mystery Series – Books 1 & 2 #minireviews #thrillers #audiobooks

Thank you Atlantic Crime, #partner, for the finished copies of To Catch a Storm & A World of Hurt in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobooks from the library. I am loving Mindy Mejia’s new Iowa Mystery series so much and I’m not sure why I haven’t seen more people reading these!! Books 1 & 2 are now available & book 3 is due out in September…

View Post

k2reader April 2, 2025

The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen #bookreview #audiobook #backlistreview #series

Thank you MB Communications & Amazon Publishing, #partner, for the finished copy of The Spy Coast in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Thomas & Mercer Published: November 1, 2023 Summary: A retired CIA operative in small-town Maine tackles the ghosts of her past in this fresh take on the spy thriller from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen. Former spy Maggie Bird…

View Post

k2reader March 31, 2025

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice to Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto #bookreview #audiobook #series

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: Penguin Audio Published: March 14, 2023 Summary: A lonely shopkeeper takes it upon herself to solve a murder in the most peculiar way in this captivating mystery by Jesse Q. Sutanto, bestselling author of Dial A for Aunties. Vera Wong is a lonely little old lady—ah, lady of a certain age—who lives above her forgotten tea shop in the middle of San Francisco’s…

View Post

k2reader February 17, 2025

The Girls of Summer by Katie Bishop #bookreview #audiobook #backlistreview

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the advanced copy of The Girls of Summer in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: June 6, 2023 Summary: “That place has been my whole life. Everything I thought I knew about myself was constructed in those few months I spent within touching distance of the sea. Everything I…

View Post

k2reader January 27, 2025

Cross Down by James Patterson, Brendan DuBois #bookreview #series

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Published: June 5, 2023 Summary: Alex Cross is gravely injured. Only his partner and friend John Sampson can keep him safe . . . and get justice. For the first time, John Sampson is on his own. The brilliant crime-solving duo of Washington, DC’s, Metro PD and the FBI has a proven Detective Alex Cross makes his…

View Post

k2reader January 24, 2025

Backlist Review & Sneak Peak at Upcoming Read: Stolen & Punished by Ann-Helen Laestadius #bookreview #upcomingread #translatedbooks #series

Thank you Scribner Books #partner, for the finished copy of Stolen and the advanced copy of Punished in exchange for my honest reviews. One of my reading goals this year is to fit in some backlist books throughout the year & with the upcoming release of Punished by Ann Helen Laestadius, I figured it was the perfect time to finally read Stolen. STOLEN by Ann Helen Laestadius Published:…

View Post

k2reader August 19, 2024

The Night Flowers by Sara Herchenroether #bookreview

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Tin House Books Published: May 2, 2023 Summary: In 1983, deep in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest, the bodies of a young woman and two children were found. Who were they? How did they get there? Thirty years later, two women find themselves drawn to the cold case. Librarian Laura MacDonald begins her own investigation as a way to…

View Post

k2reader August 4, 2024

Thicker Than Water: A Memoir by Kerry Washington #bookreview #audiobook

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: Little, Brown Spark Published: September 26, 2023 Summary: Award-winning actor, director, producer, and activist Kerry Washington shares the “exquisitely moving” journey of her life so far (Isabel Wilkerson), and the bravely intimate story of discovering her truth. While on a drive in Los Angeles, on a seemingly average afternoon, Kerry Washington received a text message that would send her on a…

View Post

k2reader July 18, 2024

The Altar Girls by Patricia Gibney #bookreview #audiobook #series

I purchased this audiobook for my own collection. Publisher: Bookouture Published: November 9, 2023 Summary: The little girl looked like an angel in her thin white robe, her long black hair spread around her head like a dark halo on the snow. Her hands rested on her chest, fingers interlaced as if she had fallen asleep while praying. But she would never wake up again… When Detective Lottie Parker receives…

View Post

k2reader July 17, 2024

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Hachette Audio, #partner for the ALC of Part of Your World in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the physical book. Publisher: Forever/Hachette Audio Published: April 11, 2023 Summary: A novel of terrible first impressions, hilarious second chances, and the joy in finding your perfect match. Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to…

View Post

k2reader July 11, 2024

The Bitter Past by Bruce Borgos #bookreview #audiobook #series

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: Recorded Books Published: July 18, 2023 Summary: In the tradition of Craig Johnson and C. J. Box, Bruce Borgos’s The Bitter Past begins a compelling series set in the high desert of Nevada featuring Sheriff Porter Beck… Porter Beck is the sheriff in the high desert of Nevada, north of Las Vegas. Born and raised there, he left to join the Army, where…

View Post

k2reader June 23, 2024

Sisters of the Lost Nation by Nick Medina #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you PRH Audio for the ALC of Sisters of the Lost Nation in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Penguin Audio Published: April 18, 2023 Summary: A young Native girl’s hunt for answers about the women mysteriously disappearing from her tribe’s reservation lead her to delve into the myths and stories of her people, all while being haunted herself, in this atmospheric and stunningly poignant debut. Anna Horn is…

View Post

k2reader April 15, 2024

The Winners by Fredrik Backman #bookreview #series

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Atria Books Published: September 12, 2023 Summary: Over the course of two weeks, everything in Beartown will change. Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The destruction caused by a ferocious late-summer storm reignites the old rivalry…

View Post

k2reader April 4, 2024

Hard Rain by Samantha Jayne Allen #bookreview #series #backlistreview

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Hard Rain in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Minotaur Books Published: April 18, 2023 Summary: In shock and found clinging to a tree branch, Bethany Richter is pulled from thrashing floodwaters that have decimated the town of Garnett, Texas and killed a dozen others. Six months after solving the murder of a local waitress, Annie McIntyre is working as…

View Post

k2reader February 18, 2024

The Woman Inside by M.T. Edvardsson #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Celadon Books, #partner for the advanced copy of The Woman Insider in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Celadon Books / Macmillan Audio Published: June 13, 2023 Summary: A wealthy couple ends up murdered in the nicest part of town in this compulsively readable, page-turning thriller from M. T. Edvardsson, The Woman Inside. Bill Olsson, recently widowed, is desperate to provide…

View Post

k2reader February 11, 2024

The End of the World is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy #bookreview

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Riverhead Books Published: December 5, 2023 Summary: In The End of the World is a Cul de Sac the political is intertwined with the personal, as Louise Kennedy reveals how ordinary lives can get caught up in a wider, national drama. Sarah, abandoned by her partner, sits alone in their brand new house. Orla, facing the strange revenge of her husband, is…

View Post

k2reader January 23, 2024

The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng #bookreview

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Riverhead Books Published: March 28, 2023 Summary: Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy’s unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He…

View Post

k2reader January 14, 2024

You Will Never Be Found by Tove Alsterdal #bookreview #series

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: Harper Published: January 10, 2023 Summary: Detective Eira Sjodin, introduced in the electrifying Swedish crime thriller We Know You Remember, races to solve a disappearance that hits chillingly close to home in the second book in the High Coast series, hailed by People as “Nordic noir at its best.” In the small mining town of Malmberget, north of the Arctic…

View Post

k2reader January 13, 2024

Coming to Find You by Jane Corry #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Doubleday Canada for the ALC and Penguin Random House Canada / Netgalley #partner, for the advanced e-copy of Coming to Find you in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada / Doubleday Canada Published: December 19, 2023 Summary: A heart-stopping psychological thriller about a woman running from the aftermath of a gruesome family tragedy–and also from the truth about her part in…

View Post

k2reader January 8, 2024

The Palace by Gareth Russell #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and Atria Books #partner, for the finished copy of The Palace in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Atria Books / Simon & Schuster ALC Published: December 5, 2023 Summary: The popular and “scrupulous historian” (Daily Mail, London) Gareth Russell presents five hundred years of British history—from King Henry VIII to Queen Elizabeth II—as seen through the doorways of the…

View Post

k2reader December 29, 2023

Lost Hours by Paige Shelton #bookreview #bookseries

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Lost Hours in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Minotaur Books Published: December 5, 2023 Summary: The fifth installment in the gripping, atmospheric Alaska Wild series. A year after arriving in Benedict, Beth Rivers is feeling very at home in Alaska, even as outsiders are starting to return to enjoy the brief summer perfection. Beth feels like she’s finally…

View Post

k2reader December 28, 2023

All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby #bookreview

Thank you Flatiron Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of All the Sinners Bleed in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Flatiron Books Published: June 6, 2023 Summary: A Black sheriff. A serial killer. A small town ready to combust. Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in the history of Charon County, Virginia. In recent decades, Charon has had only two murders. After years of working as an…

View Post

k2reader December 19, 2023

Little Monsters by Adrienne Brodeur #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Simon & Schuster Audio, for the ALC of Little Monsters in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the print book for my own collection. Publisher: Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: June 27, 2023 Summary: From the author of the bestselling memoir Wild Game comes a riveting novel about Cape Cod, complicated families, and long-buried secrets—for fans of the New York…

View Post

k2reader December 19, 2023

It Ends at Midnight by Harriet Tyce #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark / Highbridge Audio Published: February 21, 2023 Summary: It’s New Year’s Eve, and the stage is set for a lavish party in one of Edinburgh’s best postcodes. It’s a moment for old friends to set the past to rights – and move on. And yet, the celebration fails to materialize. Because…

View Post

k2reader December 18, 2023

Devils at the Door by Tessa Wegert #bookreview #series

Thank you to the author for the advanced copy of Devils at the Door in exchange for my honest opinion. Publisher: Severn House Published: December 5, 2023 Summary: A suspicious drowning throws New York State senior investigator Shana Merchant’s life into turmoil in this taut, thrilling small-town mystery – perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and Ruth Ware. Sixteen-year-old Henrietta used to be happy. But that was before her family…

View Post

k2reader December 16, 2023

Five Bad Deeds by Caz Frear #bookreview

Thank you Harper Perennial, #partner, for the finished copy of Five Bad Deeds in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Harper Perennial Published: December 5, 2023 Summary: A gripping tale of revenge, loyalty, and the secrets hidden between the walls of the most beautiful home in town. Ellen Walsh has done something very, very bad. If only she knew what it was… Teacher, mother, wife, and all-around good citizen…

View Post

k2reader December 16, 2023

The Beautiful and the Wild by Peggy Townsend #bookreview

Thank you Berkley, #partner, for the finished copy of The Beautiful and the Wild in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Berkley Published: November 7, 2023 Summary: The dangers of Alaska aren’t limited to storms, starvation, and grizzly bears. Sometimes the most dangerous thing is the person you love. It’s summer in Alaska and the light surrounding the shipping-container-turned-storage shed where Liv Russo is being held prisoner is fuzzy…

View Post

k2reader December 14, 2023

This Is How We End Things by R.J. Jacobs #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Highbridge Audio, for the ALC of This Is How We End Things in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Highbridge Audio Published: September 12, 2023 Summary: Riley Sager meets If We Were Villains in a compelling new psychological thriller by RJ Jacobs, following a tight-knit group of graduate students studying the psychology of lying. When one of them is discovered dead after an experiment, everything the group…

View Post

k2reader December 13, 2023

A Stolen Child by Sarah Stewart Taylor #bookreview #series

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of A Stolen Child in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Minotaur Books Published: June 20, 2023 Summary: Sarah Stewart Taylor is known for her atmospheric portrayal of an American detective in Ireland, and her critically acclaimed series returns with A Stolen Child. After months of training, former Long Island homicide detective Maggie D’arcy is now officially a Garda. She’s finally settling…

View Post

k2reader December 11, 2023

The Wonder of It All by Barbara Taylor Bradford #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Netgalley / Macmillan Audio, for the ALC and St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the finished copy of The Wonders of It All in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: December 5, 2023 Summary: From New York Times bestselling author Barbara Taylor Bradford comes the long-anticipated final novel in the House of Falconer trilogy. James Falconer–a tycoon and a self-made man–seems to…

View Post

k2reader December 11, 2023

Trail of the Lost by Andrea Lankford #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC and @NovelSuspects & Hachette Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Trail of the Lost in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Hachette Books / Hachette Audio Published: August 22, 2023 Summary: From an award-winning former law enforcement park ranger and investigator, this female-driven true crime adventure follows the author’s quest to find missing hikers along the Pacific Crest Trail by pairing up…

View Post

k2reader December 10, 2023

Before She Finds Me by Heather Chavez #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC and @NovelSuspects & Mulholland Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Before She Finds Me in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Mulholland Books / Hachette Audio Published: June 27, 2023 Summary: In this shocking thriller, two unlikely mothers race to uncover the truth behind a horrific attack—even after it becomes clear that the truth will destroy one of their families. Julia…

View Post

k2reader December 9, 2023

#CrimeTime by Jeneva Rose and Drew Pyne #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC of #CrimeTime in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio Published: December 12, 2023 Summary: The first audio original from Jeneva Rose, the author of blockbuster bestseller The Perfect Marriage, #CrimeTime is a full-cast mystery written with her husband, Drew Pyne, perfect for fans of Only Murders in the Building and Finley Donovan Is Killing It. Going viral has never been so dangerous. Nadiya loves…

View Post

k2reader December 4, 2023

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you PRH Audio for the ALC and Doubleday #partner, for the advanced copy of The Frozen River in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Doubleday / Random House Audio Published: December 5, 2023 Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author of I Was Anastasia and Code Name Hélène comes a gripping historical mystery inspired by the life and diary of Martha Ballard, a renowned 18th-century midwife who defied the legal system and wrote…

View Post

k2reader December 4, 2023

The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton #bookreview

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks Published: September 19, 2023 Summary: It’s been more than a decade since the world has come undone, and Sasha Severn has returned to her childhood home with one goal in mind―find the mythic research her father, the infamous Last Beekeeper, hid before he was incarcerated. There, Sasha is confronted with a group of squatters who have claimed the…

View Post

k2reader November 30, 2023

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Recorded Books, for the ALC of The Berry Pickers in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the print book for my own collection. Publisher: Catapult / Recorded Books Published: October 31, 2023 Summary: A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a tragic mystery that haunts the survivors, unravels a community, and remains unsolved for nearly fifty years. July…

View Post

k2reader November 30, 2023

Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter #bookreview

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks Published: September 19, 2023 Summary: A shocking thriller about a cold case, a fictional true crime series, and the family caught in the middle. SIX EPISODES. ONE KILLER. It was a case that gripped the nation. In December 2003, Luke Ryder, the stepfather of acclaimed filmmaker Guy Howard (then aged 10), was found dead in the garden…

View Post

k2reader November 30, 2023

Kala by Colin Walsh #bookreview

I got this book through the Penguin Readers Rewards Program. Publisher: Doubleday Published: July 25, 2023 Summary: A gripping literary page-turner from a rising Irish talent in which former friends, estranged for twenty years, reckon with the terrifying events of the summer that changed their lives. In the seaside village of Kinlough, on Ireland’s west coast, three old friends meet for the first time in years. They—Helen, Joe and Mush—were…

View Post

k2reader November 28, 2023

The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Libro.fm / Penguin Random House Audio, for the ALC and Random House/Netgalley, #partner for the advanced e-copy of The Mystery Guest in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Ballantine Books / Penguin Random House Audio Published: November 28, 2023 Summary: When an acclaimed author dies at the Regency Grand Hotel, it’s up to a fastidious maid to uncover the truth, no matter how dirty—in a standalone novel…

View Post

k2reader November 27, 2023

Strangers in the Night by Heather Webb #bookreview

Thank you to William Morrow, #partner, for an advanced copy of Strangers in the Night in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: William Morrow Published: March 21, 2023 Summary: It was the tumultuous romance that scandalized the world: Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner fought, loved, and lived life to the hilt. Now their unbridled story is brought vividly to life by Heather Webb, the bestselling author of Meet Me in Monaco and The…

View Post

k2reader November 26, 2023

Lay Then to Rest by Laurah Norton #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Hachette Audio for the ALC and @NovelSuspects & Hachette Books, #partner, for the finished copy of Lay Them to Rest in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Hachette Books / Hachette Audio Published: October 17, 2023 Summary: A fascinating deep dive into the dark world of forensic science as experts team up to solve the identity of an unknown woman named “Ina Jane Doe,” exploring the rapidly evolving…

View Post

k2reader November 25, 2023

The Sanctuary by Katrine Engberg #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC of The Sanctuary in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Simon and Schuster Audio Published: February 7, 2023 Summary: From internationally bestselling author Katrine Engberg, the series that is a “gripping addition to the Scandinavian crime fiction pantheon” ( Oprah Daily ) comes to a stunning conclusion as Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner rush to untangle a long-simmering mystery before a brutal killer strikes…

View Post

k2reader November 22, 2023

The Spider by Lars Kepler #bookreview #series

Thank you to Knopf Books, #partner, for a finished copy of The Spider in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group Published: July 25, 2023 Summary: A killer is spinning a sinister web and the police are caught dead center. Three years ago, Saga Bauer received a postcard with a threatening message. It mentioned a gun and nine white bullets–one of which was intended for Detective Joona Linna.…

View Post

k2reader November 21, 2023

A True Account by Katherine Howe #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Libro.fm / Macmillan Audio, for the ALC and Henry Holt and Co, #partner for the advanced copy of A True Account in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: Henry Holt and Co / Macmillan Audio Published: November 21, 2023 Summary: From New York Times bestselling author Katherine Howe comes a daring first-hand account of one young woman’s unbelievable adventure as one of the most terrifying sea rovers…

View Post

k2reader November 21, 2023

Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal by Raquel V. Reyes #bookreview #audiobook #series

Thank you @GetRedPrBooks/Crooked Lane Books #partner, for the finished copy of Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Crooked Lane Books / Dreamscape Media Published: November 7, 2023 Summary: In the third installment of the Caribbean Kitchen mysteries, for fans of Mia P. Manansala , Miriam Quiñones, cooking show sensation and amateur sleuth, has sand between her toes…

View Post

k2reader November 19, 2023

Inheritance by Nora Roberts #bookreview #series

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, #partner, for the advanced copy of Inheritance in exchange for my honest review. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Published: November 21, 2023 Summary: Inheritance is the first in The Lost Bride Trilogy by #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts―a tale of tragedies, loves found and lost, and a family haunted for generations. 1806: Astrid Poole sits in her bridal clothes, overwhelmed with happiness. But before her marriage…

View Post