The London Seance Society by Sarah Penner #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you HTP Books & Park Row Books, #partner,  for the advanced copy of The London Seance Society in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Park Row Books / Harlequin Audio Published: March 7, 2023   Summary: From the author of the sensational bestseller The Lost Apothecary comes a spellbinding tale about two daring women who hunt for truth and justice in the perilous art…

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Faithless by Karin Slaughter #bookreview #audiobook #series

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: Random House Audio Published: October 4, 2006   Summary: The victim was buried alive in the Georgia woods – then killed in a horrifying fashion. When Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver stumble upon the body, both become consumed with finding out who killed the pretty young woman. For them, a harrowing journey begins, one that will test their own turbulent relationship and…

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Memoir Madness 2023: 4 mini-reviews #memoirs #bookreviews #audiobooks

This month I participated in MEMOIR MADNESS 2023  – a challenge over on Instagram where we focused on reading memoirs throughout the month of March. It’s a little play on March Madness and I have loved participating in this. I love reading memoirs – it’s one of my favorite forms of nonfiction that I try to read throughout the year. So far, I’ve read 3 this month, but you are…

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Marmee by Sarah Miller #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you William Morrow, #partner, for the advanced copy of Marmee in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: William Morrow / Harper Audio Published: October 25, 2022   Summary: From the author of Caroline, a revealing retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved Little Women, from the perspective of Margaret “Marmee” March, about the larger real-world challenges behind the cozy domestic concerns cherished by generations of readers. In…

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Hostage by Clare Mackintosh #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark / Penguin Random House Audio Published: June 22, 2021   Summary: You can save hundreds of lives. Or the one that matters most. A claustrophobic thriller set over twenty hours on one airplane flight, with the heart-stopping tension of The Last Flight and the wrenching emotional intensity of Room, Hostage takes us on board the inaugural…

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How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher:Berkley / Penguin Audio Published: January 17, 2023   Summary: Grady Hendrix takes on the haunted house in a thrilling new novel that explores the way your past—and your family—can haunt you like nothing else. When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter…

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Indelible by Karin Slaughter #bookreview #audiobook #series

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: HarperAudio Published: February 10, 2015   Summary: Two armed men enter the police station in tiny Heartsdale, Georgia, and open fire. When the shooting stops, an officer is dead, Police Chief Jeffrey Tolliver is seriously wounded, and the survivors—including a class of grade-school children and medical examiner Sara Linton—are held hostage. In a tense standoff that could erupt at any moment into more bloodletting—with…

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A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter #bookreview #audiobook #series

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: HarperAudio Published: February 10, 2015   Summary: An apparent student suicide has brought medical examiner Sara Linton to the local college campus, along with her ex-husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver. But a horribly mutilated corpse yields up few answers. And a suspicious rash of subsequent “suicides” suggests that a different kind of terror is stalking the youth of Heartsdale, Georgia – a nightmare that…

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When She Disappeared by Steph Mullin, Nicole Mabry #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you HarperCollins360, #partner, for the advanced copy of When She Disappeared in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Avon Published: September 20, 2022   Summary: ‘On May 26, 2004, Jessie Germaine went to school as normal and cheered at the end of year rally. That evening, she rode her bike into the forest and disappeared…into thin air.’ Margo hasn’t been back to Lake…

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The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Forever / Hachette Audio Published: September 15, 2020   Summary: From the New York Times best-selling author of The Paris Orphan comes an unforgettable historical novel about a secret collection of Dior gowns that ties back to the first female pilots of WWII and a heartbreaking story of love and sacrifice. England, 1939: The Penrose sisters couldn’t be…

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Hide in Place by Emilya Naymark #bookreview #audiobook #series

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Crooked Lane Books / Dreamscape Media Published: February 9, 2021 / February 25, 2021   Summary: She left the NYPD in the firestorm of a high-profile case gone horribly wrong. Three years later, the ghosts of her past roar back to terrifying life. When NYPD undercover cop Laney Bird’s cover is blown in…

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Force of Nature by Jane Harper #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio Published: February 6, 2018   Summary: Five women go on a hike. Only four return. Force of Nature begs the question: How well do you really know the people you work with?  When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up…

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The Nowhere Child by Christian White #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio Published: January 22, 2019 (first published June 2018)   Summary: Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, The Nowhere Child is screenwriter Christian White’s internationally bestselling debut thriller of psychological suspense about a woman uncovering devastating secrets about her family–and her very identity… Kimberly Leamy is a photography teacher in…

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The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner #bookreview #audiobook

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio Published: March 19, 2019   Summary: From the acclaimed author of Secrets of a Charmed Life and As Bright as Heaven comes a novel about a German American teenager whose life changes forever when her immigrant family is sent to an internment camp during World War II. In 1943, Elise Sontag is…

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Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Random House Publishing Group/Netgalley #partner, for the advanced copy of Mad Honey in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Ballantine Books / Random House Audio Published: October 4, 2022   Summary: A soul-stirring novel about what we choose to keep from our past, and what we choose to leave behind. Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her…

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Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak #bookreview #audiobook #backlistreview

Thank you Berkley, #partner for the finished copy of Seven Days of Us in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio Published: October 17, 2017   Summary: It’s Christmas, and for the first time in years the entire Birch family will be under one roof. Even Emma and Andrew’s elder daughter—who is usually off saving the world—will be joining…

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The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews #bookreview #audiobook #backlistreview

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the finished copy of The Santa Suit in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: September 28, 2021   Summary: From Mary Kay Andrews, the New York Times bestselling author of Hello, Summer, comes a novella celebrating the magic of Christmas and second chances in The Santa Suit. When newly-divorced Ivy Perkins buys an…

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The Ambassador: Joseph P. Kennedy at the Court of St. James’s, 1938-1940 by Susan Ronald #bookreview #nonfiction #audiobook #backlistreview

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the advanced copy of The Ambassador in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Random House Audio Published: August 3, 2021   Summary: Acclaimed biographer Susan Ronald reveals the truth about Joseph P. Kennedy’s deeply controversial tenure as Ambassador to Great Britain on the eve of World War II. On February 18, 1938,…

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When a Killer Calls by John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you William Morrow Books, #partner for the finished copy of When a Killer Calls in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Dey Street Books / Harper Audio Published: February 1, 2022   Summary: A Haunting Story of Murder, Criminal Profiling, and Justice in a Small Town From John Douglas—the legendary FBI criminal profiler, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and inspiration for the Netflix…

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Kisscut by Karin Slaughter #bookreview #audiobook #series

I borrowed this audiobook from the library. Publisher: HarperAudio Published: February 10, 2015   Summary: Saturday night dates at the skating rink have been a tradition in the small southern town of Heartsdale for as long as anyone can remember, but when a teenage quarrel explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton – the town’s pediatrician and medical examiner – finds herself entangled in a terrible tragedy. What seemed at…

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Elizabeth and Margaret by Andrew Morton #bookreview #audiobook #backlistbook

Thank you Grand Central Publishing, #partner for the finished copy of Elizabeth and Margaret in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Grand Central Publishing / Hachette Audio Published: March 30, 2021   Summary: Perfect for fans of The Crown, this captivating biography from a New York Times best-selling author follows Queen Elizabeth II and her sister Margaret as they navigate life in the royal spotlight. They…

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The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Berkley Books, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of The Book of Cold Cases in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio Published: March 15, 2022   Summary: In 1977, Claire Lake, Oregon, was shaken by the Lady Killer Murders: Two men, seemingly randomly, were murdered with the same gun, with strange notes left behind. Beth Greer was the…

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Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead by Elle Cosimano #bookreview #series

Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of Finlay Donovan Knocks “Em Dead in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Minotaur Books Published: February 1, 2022   Summary: Finlay Donovan is―once again―struggling to finish her next novel and keep her head above water as a single mother of two. On the bright side, she has her live-in nanny and confidant Vero to…

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A Summer to Remember by Erika Montgomery #bookreview #audiobook #backlistbook

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the finished copy of A Summer to Remember in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: May 11, 2021   Summary: For thirty-year-old Frankie Simon, selling movie memorabilia in the shop she opened with her late mother on Hollywood Boulevard is more than just her livelihood–it’s an enduring connection to…

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A Little Hope by Ethan Joella #bookreview #audiobook #bookclub

This book is from my personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Scribner / Simon & Schuster Audio Published: November 16, 2021   Summary: An “immersive…illuminating” (Booklist) and life-affirming novel following the residents of an idyllic Connecticut town over the course of a year, A Little Hope explores the intertwining lives of a dozen neighbors as they confront everyday desires and fears: a lost love, a stalled career, an…

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Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez #bookreview #audiobook

This book is from my personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio Published: January 4, 2022   Summary: A blazing talent debuts with the tale of a status-driven wedding planner grappling with her social ambitions, absent mother, and Puerto Rican roots, all in the wake of Hurricane Maria It’s 2017, and Olga and her brother, Pedro “Prieto” Acevedo, are bold-faced names in…

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The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper #bookreview #audiobook

Thank you Riverhead Books, #partner for the paperback copy of The Beauty in Breaking in exchange for my honest review. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Riverhead Books / Penguin Audio Published: Print – June 29, 2021 (First published July 2020) / Audio – July 7 2020   Summary: An emergency room physician explores how a life of service to others taught her how to heal herself. Michele…

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The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden #bookreview #audiobook #seriesreview

I purchased this book for my own personal collection. I borrowed the audiobook from the library. Publisher: Del Rey Books / Random House Audio Published: Paperback – June 27, 2017 / Audio – January 10, 2017   Summary: At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn’t mind–she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers…

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Find Me by Alafair Burke #bookreview #audiobook #librarybook

I borrow this audiobook from my library via the Libby app. Publisher: Harper Audio Published: January 11, 2022   Summary: The disappearance of a young woman leaves her closest friend reeling and an NYPD homicide detective digging into her own past in this thrilling mystery full of twists from the New York Times bestselling author of The Better Sister and The Wife. Some pasts won’t stay forgotten . . . She calls herself Hope Miller,…

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Cold, Cold Heart by Karin Slaughter #bookreview #audiobook #librarybook

I borrow this audio from my library via the Libby app. Publisher: Blackstone Publishing Published: January 5, 2015   Summary: Pam is a 52-year-old teacher who has let herself go for the first time in her life. It’s two years since her husband – ex-husband – John died, and she’s heading from Georgia to California for the third and (she hopes) final time. But just what lies in store for…

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Review: The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani (audio)

Publisher: Dutton / Penguin Audio Published: April 26, 2022 Source: Print – Hardcover via Dutton / Audio via Library   Summary: From Adriana Trigiani, “a master of visual and palpable detail” (The Washington Post), comes a lush, immersive novel about three generations of Tuscan artisans with one remarkable secret. Epic in scope and resplendent with the glorious themes of identity and belonging, The Good Left Undone unfolds in breathtaking turns. Matelda, the…

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Review: Three Sisters by Heather Morris (audio)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: October 5, 2021 Source: Print – ARC Paperback via Publisher / Audio via library   Summary: From Heather Morris, the New York Times best-selling author of the multimillion-copy best seller The Tattooist of Auschwitz and Cilka’s Journey: a story of family, courage, and resilience, inspired by a true story. Against all odds, three Slovakian sisters have survived years of imprisonment in the most notorious death camp in…

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Review: Homicide and Halo-Halo by Mia P. Manansala (audio)

Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio Published: February 8, 2022 Source: Print – Paperback via GetRedPR / Audio via Library   Summary: Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie’s Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy-mystery series by Mia P. Manansala. Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two…

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Review: Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia (audio)

Publisher: Flatiron Books / Macmillan Audio Published: March 30, 2021 Source: Print – ARC Paperback via Publisher / Audio via library   Summary: A sweeping, masterful debut about a daughter’s fateful choice, a mother motivated by her own past, and a family legacy that begins in Cuba before either of them were born In present-day Miami, Jeanette is battling addiction. Daughter of Carmen, a Cuban immigrant, she is determined to…

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Review: Sanctuary: A Memoir by Emily Rapp Black (audio)

Publisher: Random House / Random House Audio Published: January 19, 2021 Source: Print – Personal Copy / Audio via library   Summary: From the New York Times best-selling author of The Still Point of the Turning World comes an incisive memoir about how she came to question and redefine the concept of resilience after the trauma of her first child’s death. “Congratulations on the resurrection of your life”, a colleague wrote to Emily Rapp…

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Review: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie – Reread (audio)

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (first published 1937) / HarperAudio Published: Print – September 29, 2020 / Audio – July 3, 2012 Source: Print – Paperback via Publisher / Audio via Library   Summary: Following the success of Murder on the Orient Express, Kenneth Branagh returns to direct and star in this adaptation of the classic Hercule Poirot mystery for the big screen, also starring Gal Gadot. Beloved detective Hercule Poirot embarks on a…

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Review: I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys (print/audio)

Publisher: Philomel Books / Penguin Random House Audio Published: February 1, 2022 Source: Print – Hardcopy via Publisher / Audio via library   Summary: A gut-wrenching, startling window into communist Romania and the citizen spy network that devastated a nation, from the number one New York Times best-selling, award-winning author of Salt to the Sea and Between Shades of Gray. Romania, 1989. Communist regimes are crumbling across Europe. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu dreams of becoming a writer,…

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Review: Enough Already by Valerie Bertinelli (audio)

Publisher: Mariner Books / Harper Audio Published: January 18, 2022 Source: Print – Hardcopy via Bibliolifestyle / Audio via Library   Summary: Beloved actress and New York Times best-selling author Valerie Bertinelli returns with a heartfelt look at turning sixty, the futility of finding happiness in numbers on a scale, learning to love herself the way she is today, and tips for a healthier outlook on life. Valerie Bertinelli shares an inspiring…

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Review: Arsenic And Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (audio)

Publisher: Penguin Audio Published: May 4, 2021 Source: Library   Summary: The first book in a new culinary cozy series full of sharp humor and delectable dishes – one that might just be killer…. When Lila Macapagal moves back home to recover from a horrible breakup, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She’s tasked with saving her Tita Rosie’s failing restaurant, and she has to…

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Review: Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner (audio)

Publisher: ChristianAudio.com Published: April 16, 2015 Source: Library   Summary: The author of A Fall of Marigolds journeys from the present day to World War II England, as two sisters are separated by the chaos of wartime. She stood at a crossroads, half-aware that her choice would send her down a path from which there could be no turning back. But instead of two choices, she saw only one—because it…

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Review: The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis (audio)

Publisher: William Morrow / Harper Audio Published: January 11, 2022 Source: Paperback via GetRedPR / Audio via Library   Summary: Beloved New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis begins a new series–Sunrise Cove–set near beautiful Lake Tahoe, with a heartwarming story of found family and love. During the snowstorm of the century Levi Cutler is stranded on a ski lift with a beautiful stranger named Jane. After strong winds hurl the gondola…

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Review: Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter (audio)

Publisher: HarperTorch / HarperAudio Published: October 2002 (Originally published Sept 2001) / Audio – February 10, 20215 Source: Print – Mass Market Paperback via Publisher / Audio via library   Summary: A small Georgia town erupts in panic when a young college professor is found brutally mutilated in the local diner. But it’s only when town pediatrician and coroner Sara Linton does the autopsy that the full extent of the…

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Review: The Last House on the Street by Diane Chamberlain (audio)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio Published: January 11, 2022 Source: Print – ARC Paperback via St. Martin’s Press / Audio via library   Summary: A community’s past sins rise to the surface in New York Times bestselling author Diane Chamberlain’s The Last House on the Street when two women, a generation apart, find themselves bound by tragedy and an unsolved, decades-old mystery. 1965 Growing up in the well-to-do town of Round Hill,…

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Review: A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner (audio)

Publisher: NAL / ChristianAudio.com Published: Print – February 4, 2014 / Audio – March 11, 2015 Source: Print – Personal copy / Audio via Library   Summary: A beautiful scarf, passed down through the generations, connects two women who learn that the weight of the world is made bearable by the love we give away…. September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning…

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Review: The Last to Die by Kelly Garrett (audio)

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire / Tantor Audio Published: Print – December 5, 2019 / Audio – March 17, 2020 Source: Print via Publisher / Audio via Library   Summary: It all started out as a game. Just a way to have fun. We figured as long as we had rules, it wouldn’t be a problem. RULE #1: Only break into one another’s houses. RULE #2: Only take stuff that can be…

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Review: The Night Portrait by Laura Morelli (audio)

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks / Harper Audio Published: September 8, 2020 Source: ARC Paperback via William Morrow / Audio via library   Summary: An exciting, dual-timeline historical novel about the creation of one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous paintings, Portrait of a Lady with an Ermine, and the woman who fought to save it from Nazi destruction during World War II. Milan, 1492: When a 16-year old beauty becomes the mistress…

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Review: The Return by Nicholas Sparks (audio)

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing / Hachette Audio Published: September 29, 2020 Source: Print – Hardcover via Grand Central Publishing / Audio via Library   Summary: In the romantic tradition of Dear John and The Lucky One, #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks returns with the story of an injured Navy doctor — and two women whose secrets will change the course of his life. Trevor Benson never intended to move back to New…

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Review: The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray (audio)

Publisher: Berkley Books / Penguin Audio Published: March 30, 2021 Source: Print – Personal copy / Audio – via library   Summary: An epic saga from New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray based on the true story of an extraordinary castle in the heart of France and the remarkable women bound by its legacy in three of humanity’s darkest hours Most castles are protected by powerful men. This one…

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Review: A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson (print/audio)

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks / Harper Audio Published: October 27, 2021 / October 27, 2020 (audio) Source: Paperback via William Morrow / Audio via library   Summary: The first book in a thrilling series featuring an intrepid wildlife biologist who’s dedicated to saving endangered species…and relies on her superior survival skills to thwart those who aim to stop her. While studying wolverines on a wildlife sanctuary in Montana, biologist Alex…

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Review: Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang (audio)

Publisher: Doubleday Books / Random House Audio Published: September 7, 2021 Source: ARC E-copy via Netgalley / Audio via Library   Summary: An incandescent memoir from an astonishing new talent, Beautiful Country puts listeners in the shoes of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world. “Extraordinary…. Consider this remarkable memoir a new classic.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) In Chinese, the word for America, Mei Guo, translates directly…

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