REVIEW: I Have Never by Camilla Isley

Title: I Have Never (First Comes Love #2)
Author: Camilla Isley
Narrator: Audra Cook
Publisher: Kobo Writing Life
Publication Date: July 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: Twenty-nine-year-old Blair Walker is a girl with a plan, or more a girl with a list. A list of dos and don'ts to live the perfect life, land a dream career, and marry Mr. Right.

When Blair loses her job and gets dumped by her boyfriend all in one day, she starts to wonder if she's had it all wrong. And what better way to find out than experience everything the list forbade?

Never Lie
Never Pick a Fight
Never Make a Scene
Never Make the First Move
Never Make Impulse Decisions
Never Mix Business and Pleasure...

With hilarious consequences, Blair will discover some items are trickier to tick off than she'd thought...

My Thoughts: This book has everything I expect in the romance genre and had me laughing out loud and cheering for these two characters. In addition, I’m a big softie for stories where dogs and cats have a prominent role and this story offers that too. I thought Blair was an amazing character, fearless in some ways and vulnerable in others. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind but she has lived her life to a plan and never deviated. Denied her promotion and losing her job, she refuses to feel sorry for herself. When her creep boyfriend breaks up with her on the same day, she doesn’t show weakness there either. The restaurant scene with the spaghetti was priceless!

I liked Richard too. I don’t recommend pursuing a relationship with your boss, but the dynamic between Blair and Richard was quite unique in that they met under unusual circumstances before he becomes her boss. He has a lot of failed relationship trauma and doesn’t appear to want to go down that road again but the reader is given an insider’s view into his big old sappy heart when a stray dog enters the picture.

I love this author’s writing. The stories are witty and entertaining with characters that are easy to like and relate to. I paired the reading of this book with the audiobook and really enjoyed Audra Cook’s narration. This book is wonderful in any format.

My Final Verdict: Overall, this book will appeal to readers who enjoy the romance genre as well as stories that will make you laugh and feature feisty dogs who wiggle their way into the front row of the story.

Thank you to the publisher, Kobo Writing Life, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.

REVIEW: Killing Moon by Rebecca York

Title: Killing Moon (Moon #1)
Author: Rebecca York
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: January 2003
Genre: Romantic Suspense / Paranormal Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN

Description: The national bestselling author delivers this suspenseful tale of paranormal romance for the new Berkley Sensation romance line. A private investigator on the trail of a serial killer has a secret of his own--an ancient secret that draws a beautiful genetic researcher closer to him.

My Thoughts: Twenty-three years ago, I read a lot more paranormal tropes than I do now. I still enjoy them, but you know how it is. Life’s responsibilities take over, other books beckon louder and before you know it, a book you intended to read over two decades ago gets buried in the gigantic to be read pile. As part of my alphabet challenge this year, I needed a book written by an author whose last name began with ‘Y’ and this one popped right up. Thank goodness for websites, such as Goodreads, that give me the opportunity to see all the books I own and see which ones I have been sitting on the longest.

Regardless of whether or not you are a fan of paranormal tropes, Killing Moon proved to be quite interesting as well delivering an edge of the seat experience. I found Ross Marshall to be an intriguing character. As a private investigator, he has been hired by the parents of a missing girl to find out what happened to her. As a werewolf, he has the ability to hunt clues in a way no mere human can. Ross meets Dr. Megan Sheridan when his werewolf sleuthing brings him a little too close to a serial killer’s bullet.

Megan Sheridan is a genetics researcher. She goes to meet Ross after he calls her lab requesting genetic testing to see if something can be done about a genetic abnormality in his family that prevents female children surviving past birth and male children rarely surviving past age fifteen or sixteen. She doesn’t know about Ross’s lycanthropy but when she arrives at his home, she finds him with a leg wound that is infected.

I loved that this story is not your run of the mill werewolf story. Ross is able to transform at will by reciting a Gaelic verse and as wolf he looks like a standard wolf, not the horrifying monsters you see in films, slobbering and foaming at the mouth attacking and killing here, there and everywhere. As a wolf, Ross has full awareness of his mental, physical and emotional faculties and he has total recall of the events that transpire while in wolf form. Rather than the evil Romanian Gypsy curse, Ross’s lycanthropy is attributed to hereditary genetics.

This story had a lot of suspense for me with some very intense moments involving the serial killer Ross is hunting as well as an unknown person targeting Megan at the lab.

I thought the story was well written and the characters easy to like and relate to. There are currently ten books in the series and I recommend reading the series in order.

My Final Verdict: Overall, this was an enjoyable story with an interesting theory on lycanthropy that will feed a reader’s love of romance and suspense.

REVIEW: The Missing Ones by Patricia Gibney

Title: The Missing Ones (D.I. Lottie Parker #1)
Author: Patricia Gibney
Narrator: Michele Moran
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: March 2017
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: The hole they dug was not deep. A white flour bag encased the little body. Three small faces watched from the window, eyes black with terror.

The child in the middle spoke without turning his head. I wonder which one of us will be next?

When a woman’s body is discovered in a cathedral and hours later a young man is found hanging from a tree outside his home, Detective Lottie Parker is called in to lead the investigation. Both bodies have the same distinctive tattoo clumsily inscribed on their legs. It’s clear the pair are connected, but how?

The trail leads Lottie to St. Angela’s, a former children’s home, with a dark connection to her own family history. Suddenly the case just got personal.

As Lottie begins to link the current victims to unsolved murders decades old, two teenage boys go missing. She must close in on the killer before they strike again, but in doing so is she putting her own children in terrifying danger?

Lottie is about to come face to face with a twisted soul who has a very warped idea of justice.

My Thoughts: First time reading this author and I feel like I’ve been tossed out of a window from a very tall building. There were so many twists and turns coming at me from every direction. The main character, Lottie Parker is a multi-layered character that even after reading this book and seeing what she has gone through in her life, it feels like we have barely scraped the surface, so this series should be read in order.

I really liked this character and empathized with the burden she is carrying and the challenges she is facing. I love that the author depicts this character carrying an immense amount of emotional baggage and struggles with guilt over her job taking her time and attention away from her kids. She also struggles with sobriety, and after witnessing what she is going through and the horrors of the job, who can blame her? I would be grabbing a bottle and joining her.

This story is very triggering, so prepare yourself as this book is filled with horrific episodes of murder, abuse and torture of children and the coverup by corrupt church officials. I paired the audiobook format with the book and it helped me maintain a bystander’s perspective of the events, though it was very dark and disturbing.

I enjoyed the interactions between Lottie and Boyd and hope the reader will be given more detail into their relationship. It’s obvious they care for one another but Lottie keeps him at arm’s reach, likely because of her status as a widow. I also enjoyed meeting Lottie’s children and her mother and hope they will continue to be present in future books.

My Final Verdict: The series is currently sitting at fifteen books so there is a lot to unpack. I highly recommend this book to readers who love thrillers and mysteries.

Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.

REVIEW: Love, Lies and Lemon Cake by Sue Watson

Title: Love, Lies and Lemon Cake
Author: Sue Watson
Narrator: Hilary MacLean
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: June 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN

Description: Love, Lies and Lemon Cake is a hilarious, bittersweet comedy about taking your life back before it’s too late.

Faye Dobson has lost her sparkle . Living on film star fantasies and vague memories of a marriage that once was, she can’t help feeling that life is passing her by. She dreams of being whisked to Paris for dinner, making three wishes at the Trevi fountain and having sex under the stars. But the wrinkles are multiplying, her husband’s passion is for plumbing, and the nearest she’ll get to Rome is a take-away pizza.

So when Faye meets Dan the gorgeous Australian surfer guy working in the local deli she can’t help but wonder what it would be like to see the world. He is blonde, tanned, ten years younger and bakes the most amazing lemon cake. Unlike her husband Dan actually listens to Faye, his smile makes her feel fizzy inside, and when he smiles... Oh. My. God.

But is Faye being silly? What would Dan see in someone like her? Even if he did have feelings for her, could she give up everything to be with him?

My Thoughts: Sue Watson is an amazing author. When I pick up one of her books, I know that I will either get my funny bone tickled with a side dish of warm fuzzies or I will get the rug pulled out from under me with twisty suspense. Love, Lies and Lemon Cake dishes up lots of laughs and warm fuzzies and I’m now craving lemon cake and want to go to Santorini to see the sunset. I paired the reading of this book with the audiobook narrated by Hilary MacLean. Her performance added to the character’s personalities, which made the story more enjoyable.

This story introduces us to Faye Dobson, a woman in her early forties who has realized that her life is somehow passing her by. Married for over twenty years to a man who shows no interest in her and a daughter attending university and beginning her own life, Faye comforts herself with Ryan Gosling fantasies and her job as a hair stylist at a local salon. She has unrealized dreams but thinks it’s too late for her.

Dan is an Australian working in his aunt’s deli and talking to him makes Faye feel young and vibrant again. Initially, I thought this story would be about Faye leaving her marriage for Dan, so let me assure you that it’s not. Faye’s marriage has been dead and over for a while but Faye has never had the motivation to do anything for herself so when she leaves the marriage, she is doing it for herself and her living list. I really enjoyed how Faye and Dan begin as friends talking about their love of food and Faye’s dreams of travel. Dan is very supportive and encourages Faye to stop holding herself back and grab life with both hands. In Faye, Dan finds a supportive friend who can empathize with him over the death of his mother and his brother’s illness.

I loved this story. I laughed out loud so many times and I will never think of bikini waxing the same way again. This story also made me a little misty eyed and sentimental. I’m planning on reading the follow-up to Faye’s story in Love, Lies and Wedding Cake. This story moves at a wonderful pace and is a wonderful reminder that our lives are meant to be lived and sometimes the unknown can be a little scary, but once you put yourself out there, you may discover that what’s missing is often within reach.

My Final Verdict: I highly recommend this book to fans of contemporary romance and romantic comedies.

REVIEW: The Second Marriage by Jess Ryder

Title: The Second Marriage
Author: Jess Ryder
Narrator: Rosamund Hine
Publisher: Bookouture Audio
Publication Date: November 2021
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy the Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: ‘They’re lying,’ my little stepson whispers, his blue eyes shining with tears as I tuck him into bed for the first time. ‘They think I’ve forgotten, but I remember everything. I know my mummy is still alive.’

My best friend warned me that it was too soon to marry Edward, a widower with an adorable but troubled little boy. She said we were moving too fast. But all I could see was a kind, loving man, struggling with grief, who needed my help.

Yet as storm clouds gather above our small wedding ceremony, my hopes and dreams fall apart. None of my husband’s family turn up to support us. Instead of a honeymoon, we have a quiet night in. My wedding bouquet is placed on his first wife’s grave. And then my new stepson tells me he’s sure his mother is still alive.

What does Noah remember and why is his father trying to make him forget? Have I been completely wrong about my husband? What happened to the woman who came before me, and how far will he go to stop me finding out the truth?

My Thoughts: This story began in what I consider a very predictable manner. Lily marries the man who hired her to homeschool his young son, Noah. He’s a bit older, successful, wealthy, etc., and so forth. His first wife died and he also has two grown daughters. Despite any red flags she may have noticed, Lily goes through with the wedding. Afterward, Lily’s new stepson informs her they are all lying and he remembers everything and that his mother is still alive.

This story has all the Alfred Hitchcock gaslighting feels and the more Lily uncovers, the more lies are told and the more unsettled I felt. It’s obvious Edward and his daughters, Tara and Georgia, are keeping secrets and downplaying everything Noah has revealed to Lily, but if your son says he is communicating with someone who is supposed to be dead, how do you not involve the police? As a parent, shouldn’t you be concerned that an online predator or someone may be targeting your child? That is, if you have nothing to hide…

The tight plot gets increasingly sinister and the suspense continues to amplify upward as Lily desperately tries to uncover the memories locked away in Noah’s mind to find out what really happened to his mother and who Noah is communicating with.

I have a few of this author’s books on my to be read pile but this is the first time I have read her work. I am looking forward to reading more and having the rug pulled out from under me. The audio narration performed by Rosamund Hine was exceptional, employing the right amount of emotion which added to the tension and suspense.

My Final Verdict: I enjoy a good spine-tingling thriller but when the people you love and have put your trust in are lying to you and gaslighting you, it makes the experience more edgy and uncertain. I recommend this story to fans who like danger closer to home.

Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture Audio, who provided an advance reader copy of this book via NetGalley.