Tag: Adult fiction

F**k Buddies+Review

Christa and Eric. Eric and Heather. Johnny and Christa. Paige and Johnny.

Thank you, Lisa Andrew for reaching out to me with an ARC of this spicy book!
First, I want to say that this is not my typical genre, but after reading Lisa’s short story “Kink or Kill” which was an easy 5 star read for me, (Seriously, go read it) I COULD NOT pass up the opportunity to read this book. I am SO glad I took that chance, because this story did not disappoint!

Christa and Eric are set up on a blind date that goes HORRIBLY. HORRIBLY right. I absolutely love the banter these two share throughout the book. They love/hate each other, and I could not get enough! After their first night together they start to have feelings for one another, which is so sweet, until…..HERE COMES JOHNNY! When we are introduced to Johnny who is both Christa and Eric’s best friend, and Heather, who is Christa’s best friend, things get really WILD, really FAST!

This isn’t your typical spicy romance book, if you’re looking for characters that make good and right decisions, this isn’t it! But what I really loved about it was the author wrote the characters in such a way with such depth that I was rooting for THEM ALL! I loved all of them. These morally gray characters are like us all, and that’s what I really enjoyed. Love is messy, humans are messy, and things don’t always go the way you hope, or the way you think they should.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, It was a nice palate cleanser from my norm, and I’m glad I took the chance on it. The only thing that took away from it for me was that some of the dialogue was hard to follow. I had to go back and re-read who said what, but overall, it was well written with relatable characters who I grew to love. It is broken up into 3 books which worked so well with the timeline, and the Author leaves it open to a sequel, which I’m really rooting for!

F**k Buddies comes out on May 1st, and If you pick it up, I have to know-Are you Team Eric or Team Johnny? Let’s talk about it!!

Pre-Order F**k Buddies HERE

Check out Lisa Andrews Blog and Other Titles HERE

Lisa’s Instagram HERE

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If I Disappear +Review

Eliza Jane Brazier's debut novel If I Disappear is a campy, culty delight! 

I live for the creep factor, the who-done-it mystery, where the fingers seem to point in every direction and you just can't for the life of you seem to figure any of it out. 

Sera is a lonely woman, a divorcee who has recently lost her baby, her husband, and is on the verge of losing her job and even her home when her favorite podcast host seems to have gone missing. 
Rachel is the host of a true-crime podcast called "Murder, she spoke." When Rachel suddenly stops airing episodes, Sera takes it upon herself to travel to Rachel's hometown to solve this mystery. At first Sera is unsure if Rachel is even missing, I mean, after all, she doesn't even really know this person, does she? 
Once she arrives at Rachel's family's summer dude ranch, she finds it in disrepair, not at all the idyllic ranch Rachel painted for her podcast listeners, and she quickly realizes something is amiss. there is a mystery to be solved here, a missing woman, and EVERYONE is a suspect!

This book is a slow burn, an unraveling of small clues. Just when I would have an AHA moment,  thinking I had it all figured out, I would be left with 12 more questions, and honestly, i'm not mad about that aspect of the story at all! 
The protagonist's personality wasn't developed enough for me to connect with her, and her personality fell flat for me. I feel like she was trying to be portrayed as strong and fearless but she felt very one dimensional. 
I was hoping to have an explosive ending after such a slow unraveling, but it wasn't that for me at all. So many loose ends needed to be tied up, leaving the reader with an open ending and even more questions, What happened to Rachel? What did Sera do? How did it end? I had Sopranos flashbacks all over again. 

Overall, this was a solid debut, it was a good book, and I can't wait to see what they do with the TV series!

If I Disappear will be out on January 26, 2021 (which happens to be my birthday, BTW!) So set a reminder, you’re not going to want to miss this one!

Thank you Berkley Publishing & Netgalley for my gifted copy of this book!

Find Her

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Flora Dane is a victim. Flora Dane is a survivor. Flora Dane is reckless.
.
Lisa Gardner has an exquisite way of storytelling that puts you directly into the mind of Florence Dane, kidnapping victim. Florence has been a survivor for 472 days. She was the girl who fed the foxes, loved the sunshine on her face, the girl who grew up playing on her momma’s farm in Maine. Flora is the girl who was abducted from a Florida beach while on spring break from college. 472 days ago.


This is my first Lisa Gardner book, and I just have one question- where have these books been all my life? I have read a lot of mysteries and psychological thrillers and I tend to figure them out pretty early on. This book was anything but predictable, and even though I did figure out the culprit near the end of the book, it didn’t take away from the story for me at all. This book was a beautiful unraveling with so many symbolic references that complimented the story perfectly. If you like psychological thrillers, and a good, solid mystery you will love this book.
This is the 8th book in the Detective D.D. Warren series, who, by the way is a badass, strong female protagonist, which I can’t get enough of! I’m still wondering how I missed the first 7 books, but now I have something to catch up on, because I’m officially a Lisa Gardner fan girl, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Get this book. Read this book- and let’s talk about this book! It’s a fantastic story that is relevant and beautifully told.

The girl from Widow Hills

Book title: The girl from Widow Hills

Author: Megan Miranda

Pub Date: June 23, 2020

Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller

“I was the girl who survived. The girl who held on. The girl you prayed for, or at least pretended to pray for-thankful most of all that it wasn’t your own child lost down there, in the dark. And after: I was the miracle. The sensation. The story.”

The girl from Widow hills is a psychological thriller hold the thrill. For me, Arden’s story fell flat in so many ways that at several points during the book I had to almost talk myself into finishing it.
Arden was 6 years old when she was swept away by the flood waters while sleepwalking one night. They found her days later clinging to a storm drain, miraculously alive. Coming upon the 20 year reunion of her rescue she braces herself for the flood of media attention even though she has moved away and changed her name. As the 20 year reunion creeps closer she finds herself sleepwalking again, something that hasn’t happened since the incident all those years ago…Only this time when she is jarred awake by a ringing phone in the distance, she stumbles over a corpse. A mystery man….

I had high hopes for this book, but I felt that it was repetitive-how many times do you have to reiterate to the reader that she was sleepwalking and was swept away by the flood waters, how many times do we have to hear about the lone tiny shoe clinging to the storm drain, a clue that she must have been stuck in the drain system, how many times do we have to hear that her mother used the story of her survival for her own gain? I read these points more than several times throughout the book and was internally screaming each time I heard about them..AGAIN.
I did not connect to any of the characters in this book, they all felt void of personality to me, Arden was bland,kind of a shitty selfish friend, and the other characters in the book lacked back story and any kind of details that would emotionally connect the reader to them…none of them had any personality traits that stood out to me.
It’s been a few years since I have read a Megan Miranda book, which was why I was so excited to pick this one up. I enjoyed Miranda’s other books, and was hoping to enjoy this one just as much, but I didn’t.
HOWEVER, I will give it a solid 3 stars based on the fact that I did not predict the plot twist at the end AT ALL. I did not see that one coming. It happened so fast, within 4 pages the climax hit, missed, and was over.
If you are up for an atmospheric thriller with a good twist at the end, pick this one up, you wont see this twisty ending coming!

*Many thanks to Netgalley & publishers for my advanced copy of this book!*

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The Simple Wild

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

The Simple Wild by K. A. Tucker was easily my FAVORITE and most anticipated read of 2018, and it did not disappoint! I had to share my love of this book with you all because THE SEQUEL, “Wild at Heart” is set to be released on Feb. 18, 2020, and you’re not going to want to miss it!

“Calla Fletcher wasn’t even two when her mother took her and fled the Alaskan wild, unable to handle the isolation of the extreme, rural lifestyle, leaving behind Calla’s father, Wren Fletcher, in the process. Calla never looked back, and at twenty-six, a busy life in Toronto is all she knows. But when Calla learns that Wren’s days may be numbered, she knows that it’s time to make the long trip back to the remote frontier town where she was born.

She braves the roaming wildlife, the odd daylight hours, the exorbitant prices, and even the occasional—dear God—outhouse, all for the chance to connect with her father: a man who, despite his many faults, she can’t help but care for. While she struggles to adjust to this rugged environment, Jonah—the unkempt, obnoxious, and proud Alaskan pilot who helps keep her father’s charter plane company operational—can’t imagine calling anywhere else home. And he’s clearly waiting with one hand on the throttle to fly this city girl back to where she belongs, convinced that she’s too pampered to handle the wild.

Jonah is probably right, but Calla is determined to prove him wrong. Soon, she finds herself forming an unexpected bond with the burly pilot. As his undercurrent of disapproval dwindles, it’s replaced by friendship—or perhaps something deeper? But Calla is not in Alaska to stay and Jonah will never leave. It would be foolish of her to kindle a romance, to take the same path her parents tried—and failed at—years ago. It’s a simple truth that turns out to be not so simple after all.”

The Simple Wild is a rare gem. It is a poignant, moving story about love, forgiveness, adventure, and family. As with all of Tucker’s books, the writing was beautiful, and she painted an unforgettable picture of the Alaskan frontier, and those who live and work there. Surprisingly, I found myself loving the adventure in the book most of all, and I’m ready to pack my bags for a trip to Alaska. YES, it was that fun to read!

I will have to admit I am not a huge romance lover, Give me a murder mystery ANY DAY……..But I found myself so moved by this book and the characters that I devoured every morsel happily! I related to each and every character on some level, and I loved them all! They were real, and raw, vulnerable, and so LOVABLE.

This book was so much more than I had anticipated in a romance novel, because it was not just a romance novel, it was the best NA book that I have read in YEARS. I am torn between keeping this short and sweet and writing a novel length review, but I don’t want to spoil this book for you, because it is a MUST-READ!

If you are looking for a book to make you laugh, cry, and everything in between, I suggest picking up this book, and don’t forget the tissues!

You have PLENTY of time to read The Simple Wild before Wild at Heart is out, so go grab it! I can guarantee you the sequel will make you fall in love all over again. It’s just as good!

Happy reading, friends!

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The Woman in The Window

🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Book title: The Woman in the Window

Author: A.J. Finn

Pub Date: October 12, 2017

Genre: Adult fiction, Psychological thriller

“Many of us-the most severely afflicted, the ones grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder-are housebound, Biden from the messy, massy world outside. Some dread the heaving crowds; others, the storm of traffic. For me, it’s the vast skies, the endless horizon, the sheer exposure, the crushing pressure of the outdoors. “Open spaces,” the DSM-5 calls it vaguely, anxious to get to its 186 foot-notes.
As a doctor, I say that the sufferer seeks an environment she can control. Such is the clinical take. As a sufferer (and that IS the word), I say that agoraphobia hasn’t ravaged my life so much as become it.”

I still can not wrap my mind around the fact that this is a debut novel!
I was hesitant to write a review in light of the authors questionable actions, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and HAD to review this one. The writing is beautiful, and I found myself immersed in Anna’s world, and loved every riveting chapter. The only reason I did not 5 star this book is because some plot twists were predictable to the point that I was expecting them chapters ahead of time…BUT that did not take away from the story for me at all!
I would definitely recommend this book, it is the most original story I have read in quite some time-it was refreshing, and I am ready for A.J. Finn’s next novel. It was slated to be released in January 2020, but has not been released as of yet, so if you loved The Woman in the Window, keep an eye out for his next book.
If you are a thrill seeker, film noir lover, or wine lover (ha!) this is a must-read!

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The Family Upstairs

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Book Title: The Family Upstairs

Author: Lisa Jewell

Pub date: August 6, 2019

Genre: Adult Fiction, Thriller

” I can look back on those years in the house on Cheyne Walk with the Thomsens and see exactly the tipping points, the pivots upon which fate twisted and turned, upon which the storyline warped so hideously.”
” I remember where it started, but I have no idea how we’d got from that night to the point nine months later when strangers had taken over every corner of our home and my parents had let them.” 

Lisa Jewell is a mastermind. She has so beautifully woven the characters stories together to create an epic gothic tale. The story is written from three points of view which are easy to follow, and come together so fantastically at the end that it leaves you wanting more.
I am not going to divulge too many details, because I don’t want to spoil a single thing.. The Family Upstairs is a disturbing, twisty tale that left me wanting more. I did not guess any twists in this book which is rare for me, usually if the cues are there, I can pick up on them pretty quick. That was NOT the case with this book, which made it all the more delicious for me to read, and I devoured it in two sittings.
I will 1000 times recommend this book. definitely one of the best Lisa Jewell books to date, its a super fast read, and If you’re into gothic, atmospheric, and straight up psychopathic stories…you will want to run out and grab this one.


Happy reading, friends!

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