More Books Means More Coffee

The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda  Goodreads Summary: The summer after a wealthy young summer guest dies under suspicious circumstances, her best friend lives under a cloud of grief and suspicion. Littleport, Maine, has always felt like two separate towns: an ideal vacation enclave for the wealthy, whose summer homes line the coastline; and a simple harbor community for the year-round residents whose livelihoods rely on service to the visitors. Typically, fierce friendships never develop between a local and a summer girl—but that’s just what happens with visitor Sadie Loman and Littleport resident Avery Greer. Each summer for almost a decade, the girls are inseparable—until Sadie is found dead. While the police rule the death a suicide, Avery can’t help but feel there are those in the community, including a local detective and Sadie’s brother, Parker, who blame her. Someone knows more than they’re saying, and Avery is intent on clearing her name, before the facts get twist...

Truth and Lies  by Caroline Mitchell                                                             Goodreads Summary: Meet Amy Winter: Detective Inspector, daughter of a serial killer. DI Amy Winter is hoping to follow in the footsteps of her highly respected police officer father. But when a letter arrives from the prison cell of Lillian Grimes, one half of a notorious husband-and-wife serial-killer team, it contains a revelation that will tear her life apart. Responsible for a string of heinous killings decades ago, Lillian is pure evil. A psychopathic murderer. And Amy’s biological mother. Now, she is ready to reveal the location of three of her victims—but only if Amy plays along with her twisted game. While her fellow detectives frantically search for a young girl taken from her mother’s doorstep, Amy ...

  No Exit by Taylor Adams Goodreads Summary: A brilliant, edgy thriller about four strangers, a blizzard, a kidnapped child, and a determined young woman desperate to unmask and outwit a vicious psychopath. A kidnapped little girl locked in a stranger’s van. No help for miles. What would you do? On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers. Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate. Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her? There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But wh...

  Spilled Milk by K.L. Randis Goodreads Summary:  Brooke Nolan is a battered child who makes an anonymous phone call about the escalating brutality in her home.  When social services jeopardize her safety condemning her to keep her father’s secret, it’s a glass of spilled milk at the dinner table that forces her to speak about the cruelty she’s been hiding. In her pursuit for safety and justice Brooke battles a broken system that pushes to keep her father in the home.  When jury members and a love interest congregate to inspire her to fight, she risks losing the support of family and comes to the realization that some people simply do not want to be saved.  Spilled Milk is a novel of shocking narrative, triumph and resiliency.   My Review: 5/5 stars Based on a true story this book will bring you to tears. The abuse that young Brooke Nolan experienced not only by her family but also by the system is so sad.  This young girl experiences far worse things ...

Verity by Colleen Hoover Goodreads Summary: Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died. Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read hi...

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher Goodreads Summary: New York Times  bestselling author Tarryn Fisher delivers a pulse-pounding, fast-paced suspense novel that will leave you breathless. A thriller you won’t be able to put down! Thursday’s husband, Seth, has two other wives. She’s never met them, and she doesn’t know anything about them. She agreed to this unusual arrangement because she’s so crazy about him. But one day, she finds something. Something that tells a very different—and horrifying—story about the man she married.  What follows is one of the most twisted, shocking thrillers you’ll ever read.  You’ll have to grab a copy to find out why. My Review: 3/5 Stars The premise of this book was overall interesting and  nothing like I had every read before. However it look me almost half of the book to get into in and become actually invested.  Seth has 3 wives and refers to them as the day of the week he is with each one - Monday, Tuesday,...

Someone We Know by Shari Lapena Goodreads Summary: Maybe you don't know your neighbors as well as you thought you did . . .  "This is a very difficult letter to write. I hope you will not hate us too much. . . My son broke into your home recently while you were out."  In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses--and into the owners' computers as well--learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too. Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they're telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets?  In this neighborhood, it's not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide . . . You never really kno...

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing Goodreads Summary: Dexter meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this wildly compulsive debut thriller about a couple whose fifteen-year marriage has finally gotten too interesting... Our love story is simple. I met a gorgeous woman. We fell in love. We had kids. We moved to the suburbs. We told each other our biggest dreams, and our darkest secrets. And then we got bored. We look like a normal couple. We're your neighbors, the parents of your kid's friend, the acquaintances you keep meaning to get dinner with. We all have secrets to keeping a marriage alive. Ours just happens to be getting away with murder. My Review: 4/5 Stars This summary caught my attention right away, and I thought it was going to be another thrilling mystery similar to all the others out there and boy was I wrong. Downing wrote this book to be all kinds of twisty and messed up that had me staying up all night to finish it. All true-crime fan...

Last Light (Restoration #1) by Terri Blackstock Goodreads Summary: In the face of a crisis that sweeps an entire high-tech planet back to the age before electricity, Deni Branning's career ambitions have vanished. She's not about to let her dream of marriage go as well. But keeping it alive will require extraordinary measures. Yesterday's world is gone. All Deni and her family have left is each other and their neighbors. Their little community will either stand or fall together. But they're only beginning to realize it - and trust doesn't come easily. Particularly when one of them is a killer. Best-selling suspense author Terri Blackstock weaves a masterful what-if novel in which global catastrophe reveals the darkness in human hearts - and lights the way to restoration for a self-centered world. My Review: 5/5 Stars This is a reread I wanted to get to this year, and it was just as good as the first time. I've read almost all of Blackstock's series ...

Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple Goodreads Summary: Bernadette Fox has vanished. When her daughter Bee claims a family trip to Antarctica as a reward for perfect grades, Bernadette, a fiercely intelligent shut-in, throws herself into preparations for the trip. But worn down by years of trying to live the Seattle life she never wanted, Ms. Fox is on the brink of a meltdown. And after a school fundraiser goes disastrously awry at her hands, she disappears, leaving her family to pick up the pieces--which is exactly what Bee does, weaving together an elaborate web of emails, invoices, and school memos that reveals a secret past Bernadette has been hiding for decades.  Where'd You Go Bernadette  is an ingenious and unabashedly entertaining novel about a family coming to terms with who they are and the power of a daughter's love for her mother.   My  Review: 1/5 Stars Simply put -- I was not a fan. The book is written in the format of emails, faxes,...

The Accident by Natalie Barelli Goodreads Summary: If only she'd said no...   Katherine  knew she’d had too many drinks, but they were only going a short distance. And as  Eve  pointed out, it was late, there was no traffic anyway...  Now, Katherine would do anything to turn back the clock.  If anyone ever found out about the accident, it would ruin Katherine’s life . But no one needs to know because Eve was there too, and she’s going to help make it all go away. Except  something's not quite right with Eve , and by the time Katherine realizes that… It's too late. My Review: 3.5/5 Stars At first I saw similarities with the new Netflix show Dead to Me, but I think its a bit of a reach with 1 or 2 coincidences. I guess I've just been obsessed with the show. Both kept me engaged and predicting possible outcomes the whole time. A big difference was I didn't get it all right in the book. The characters of Katherine (Kat) and Eve...

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens Goodreads Summary: For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens. Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell,  Where the Crawdads Sing  is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the ...

Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter Goodreads Summary: Andrea Oliver's mother, Laura, is the perfect small-town mum. Laura lives a quiet but happy life in sleepy beachside Belle Isle. She's a pillar of the community: a speech therapist, business owner and everybody's friend. And she's never kept a secret from anyone. Or so Andrea thinks. When Andrea is caught in a random violent attack at a shopping mall, Laura intervenes and acts in a way that is unrecognisable to her daughter. It's like Laura is a completely different person - and that's because she was. Thirty years ago. Before Andrea. Before Belle Isle. Laura is hailed as a hero for her actions at the mall but 24 hours later she is in hospital, shot by an intruder, who's spent decades trying to track her down. What is Andrea's mother trying to hide? As elements of the past return and put them both in danger, Andrea is left to piece together Laura's former identity and discover the truth - for b...

The Leaving by Tara Altebrando Goodreads Summary: Six were taken. Eleven years later, five come back --with no idea of where they've been. Eleven years ago, six kindergarteners went missing without a trace. After all that time, the people left behind moved on, or tried to. Until today. Today five of those kids return. They're sixteen, and they are . . . fine. Scarlett comes home and finds a mom she barely recognizes, and doesn't really recognize the person she's supposed to be, either. But she thinks she remembers Lucas. Lucas remembers Scarlett, too, except they're entirely unable to recall where they've been or what happened to them. Neither of them remember the sixth victim, Max. He doesn't come back. Everyone wants answers. Most of all Max's sister Avery, who needs to find her brother--dead or alive--and isn't buying this whole memory-loss story. My Review: 3.9/5 Stars This book was daunting at first, any book over 400 pages I conte...

Girl Last Seen by Nina Laurin Goodreads Summary: Two missing girls. Thirteen years apart. Olivia Shaw has been missing since last Tuesday. She was last seen outside the entrance of her elementary school in Hunts Point wearing a white spring jacket, blue jeans, and pink boots. I force myself to look at the face in the photo, into her slightly smudged features, and I can't bring myself to move. Olivia Shaw could be my mirror image, rewound to thirteen years ago. If you have any knowledge of Olivia Shaw's whereabouts or any relevant information, please contact... I've spent a long time peering into the faces of girls on missing posters, wondering which one replaced me in that basement. But they were never quite the right age, the right look, the right circumstances. Until Olivia Shaw, missing for one week tomorrow. Whoever stole me was never found. But since I was taken, there hasn't been another girl. And now there is. My Review: 2.7/5 Stars The  synopsis  of th...

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn Goodreads Summary: Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside. She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors. Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son. The perfect family. But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare. What is real? What is imagined? Who is in danger? Who is in control? In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems. My Review: 4/5 Stars This book is very much "Girl on the Train" meets "Gone Girl" but lucky for me I love them both. I was guessing and re-guessing on every page. And never completely figured it out until I had about 10 pages left. And considering it was over 400 pages that's a lot of gu...

Behind Closed Doors by: B.A. Paris: Goodreads Summary: Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace: he has looks and wealth, she has charm and elegance. You'd like to get to know Grace better. But it's difficult, because you realize Jack and Grace are never apart. Some might call this true love. Picture this: a dinner party at their perfect home, the conversation and wine flowing. They appear to be in their element while entertaining. And Grace's friends are eager to reciprocate with lunch the following week. Grace wants to go, but knows she never will. Her friends call—so why doesn't Grace ever answer the phone? And how can she cook such elaborate meals but remain so slim? And why are there bars on one of the bedroom windows? The perfect marriage? Or the perfect lie? My Review: 3/5 stars I was so so so excited about this book. Everyone knows those "perfect" people, so I was intrigued about how Paris would make it relatable in a sense. Grace wa...

The Girl in the Wall by Daphne Benedis-Grab Goodreads Summary: Ariel's birthday weekend looks to be the event of the season, with a private concert by rock star Hudson Winters on the grounds of her family's east coast estate, and all of Ariel's elite prep school friends in attendance. The only person who's dreading the party is Sera, Ariel's former best friend, whose father is forcing her to go. Sera has been the school pariah since she betrayed Ariel, and she now avoids Ariel and their former friends. Thrown together, Ariel and Sera can agree on one thing: this could be one very long night. They have no idea just how right they are. Only moments after the concert begins and the lights go down, thugs open fire on parents and schoolmates alike, in a plot against Ariel's father that quickly spins out of control. As the entire party is taken hostage, the girls are forced apart. Ariel escapes into the hidden tunnels in the family mansion, where she and Sera pla...

The Weight of Lies by Emily Carpenter Goodreads Summary: In this gripping, atmospheric family drama, a young woman investigates the forty -year -old murder that inspired her mother’s bestselling novel, and uncovers devastating truths—and dangerous lies. Reformed party girl Meg Ashley leads a life of a privilege, thanks to a bestselling horror novel her mother wrote decades ago. But Meg knows that the glow of their very public life hides a darker reality of lies, manipulation, and the heartbreak of her own solitary childhood. Desperate to break free of her mother, Meg accepts a proposal to write a scandalous, tell-all memoir. Digging into the past—and her mother’s cult classic—draws Meg to Bonny Island, Georgia and an unusual woman said to be the inspiration for the book. At first, island life seems idyllic, but as Meg starts to ask tough questions, disturbing revelations come to light…including some about her mother. Soon, Meg’s search leads her to question the facts of a decades-...

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus Goodreads Summary: One of Us Is Lying  is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide. Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn,  the brain,  is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy,  the beauty,  is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate,  the criminal , is already on probation for dealing. Cooper,  the athlete , is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon,  the outcast , is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which make...