Tag: Bookstagram

What’s on my NetGalley shelf? Day 5

It’s the LAST day of my NetGalley series, and I CAN NOT wait to share this book with you! Today we’re going to talk about Gallows Hill by Darcy Coates. Gallows Hill is a gothic, paranormal, psychological ride, and I want on! I love a good coming home story, and this one sounds delicious!

DAY 5

Gallows Hill

Description

Darcy Coates brings you a brand-new horror novel that’ll take your breath away… Gallows Hill is:
Perfect for fans of Jennifer McMahon and Simone St. James
For lovers of ghost stories and anyone mesmerized by the twisted secrets of the past

The Hull family has owned the Gallows Hill Winery for generations, living and working on the beautiful grounds where they grow their famous grapes. Until the night Mr. and Mrs. Hull settle down for the evening…and are dead by morning.

When their daughter, Margot, inherits the family business, she wants nothing to do with it. The winery is valued for its unparalleled produce, but it’s built on a field where hundreds of convicts were once hanged, and the locals whisper morbid rumors. They say the ground is cursed.

It’s been more than a decade since Margot last saw her childhood home. But now that she’s alone in the sprawling, dilapidated building, she begins to believe the curse is more than real-and that she may be the next victim of the house that never rests…

All the vibes with this one! I love a good paranormal mystery. I haven’t read any books by this author yet, this will be my first, and I can’t wait to devour it!

Also By Darcy Coates:
The Haunting of Leigh Harker
From Below
The Whispering Dead
The Haunting of Ashburn House
The Haunting of Blackwood House
Craven Manor
The House Next Door
Voices in the Snow

Gallows Hill comes out on September 6, 2022

Thank you NetGalley & Poisioned Pen Press for my copy of this thriller!

Read the early reviews HERE

Check out the author HERE

Happy Reading, friends!

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What’s on my NetGalley shelf? Day 4

Hey friends! It’s day 4 of what’s on my NetGalley shelf, highlighting 5 books in 5 days!

First, I just want to say that a NetGalley decline of one of my most anticipated books this year has led me to this book! If you’re new to NetGalley, let me leave you with this one nugget of invaluable advice-Always read your NetGalley emails! Whether it’s an approval or denial-it might lead you straight to your next favorite book!

DAY 4

The Ghosts of Paris

Description

A thrilling tale of courage and secrets set in postwar London and Paris, in which a search for a missing husband puts investigator and former war reporter Billie Walker on a collision course with an underground network of Nazi criminals

It’s 1947. The world continues to grapple with the fallout of the Second World War, and former war reporter Billie Walker is finding her feet as an investigator. When a wealthy client hires Billie and her assistant Sam to track down her missing husband, the trail leads Billie back to London and Paris, where Billie’s own painful memories also lurk. Jack Rake, Billie’s wartime lover and, briefly, husband, is just one of the millions of people who went missing in Europe during the war. What was his fate after they left Paris together?

As Billie’s search for her client’s husband takes her to both the swanky bars at Paris’s famous Ritz hotel and to the dank basements of the infamous Paris morgue, she’ll need to keep her gun at the ready, because something even more terrible than a few painful memories might be following her around the city of lights . . .

THIS COVER IS EVERYTHING. I mean how glamorous; I love all the details! Day 4 and I’m 4 for 4 on covers that I absolutely adore!

I don’t usually read historical fiction, but I fell for Billie Walker so hard you guys! It was love at first sentence. I’m a sucker for a strong woman, and I have to meet her! The Ghosts of Paris is the second Billie Walker novel, the first being “The War Widow”, which, by the reviews is CLEARLY a book I need to put on my TBR!

The Ghosts of Paris comes out on June 7, 2022 -go put it on your TBR!

Thank you NetGalley & Penguin Group Dutton for my copy of this mystery!

Check out the early reviews HERE

Pre-Order it HERE

Get to know the author HERE

Happy reading!!!

What’s on my NetGalley shelf? Day 3

Hi, hey friends! I’m baacckkkkk with what’s on my NetGalley shelf- highlighting 5 books in 5 days.

Today I want to talk about The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang. If you know me you know I’m a HUGE sucker for a strong female protagonist, and this book is IT! I love when I meet a cast of characters that I know I will never forget, and I have a feeling I’m going to find that in this book. Adventure, mystery, and magical realism with some sci-fi peppered in. LETS GO!

DAY 3

The Wilderwomen

Description

Ohioana Book Award finalist Ruth Emmie Lang returns with a new cast of ordinary characters with extraordinary abilities in The Wilderwomen.

Five years ago, Nora Wilder disappeared. The older of her two daughters, Zadie, should have seen it coming, because she can literally see things coming. But not even her psychic abilities were able to prevent their mother from vanishing one morning.

Zadie’s estranged younger sister, Finn, can’t see into the future, but she has an uncannily good memory, so good that she remembers not only her own memories, but the echoes of memories other people have left behind. On the afternoon of her graduation party, Finn is seized by an “echo” more powerful than anything she’s experienced before: a woman singing a song she recognizes, a song about a bird…

When Finn wakes up alone in an aviary with no idea of how she got there, she realizes who the memory belongs to: Nora.

Now, it’s up to Finn to convince her sister that not only is their mom still out there, but that she wants to be found. Against Zadie’s better judgement, she and Finn hit the highway, using Finn’s echoes to retrace Nora’s footsteps and uncover the answer to the question that has been haunting them for years: Why did she leave?

But the more time Finn spends in their mother’s past, the harder it is for her to return to the present, to return to herself. As Zadie feels her sister start to slip away, she will have to decide what lengths she is willing to go to find their mother, knowing that if she chooses wrong, she could lose them both for good.

First of all, I want to take a second to just appreciate that gorgeous COVER ART! I’ve loved the cover of every book I’ve shared so far- My toxic trait is that I choose my books by the cover, and my wine by the label!

The Wilderwomen is Ruth Emmie Lang’s second book, her first being “Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance” which was published in 2017 and was Target Book Club’s pick of December 2018!

The Wilderwomen comes out on November 15, 2022

You can pre-order it HERE

You can check out the early reviews HERE

You can order Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance HERE

Learn more about Ruth Emmie Lang HERE

I hope you consider picking this book up, and if you do, let’s talk about it! Happy Reading, Friends!

People we meet on vacation

“I’ve always felt like, when someone sees me deep down, that’s it. There’s something ugly in there, or unlovable, and you’re the only person who’s ever made me feel like I’m okay.”

SWOON! Poppy and Alex forever!

People we meet on vacation is the first book I have read by Emily Henry, and all I have to say is YES to this slow burning atmospheric romance.
Poppy and Alex have been best friends for ten years. He is stoic, reserved, and slightly neurotic, while she is the complete opposite. Bright, loud, and hilarious. Every summer they take the most epic of vacations together, all the while falling deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole that is their complicated love.
I fell in love with the cast of characters in this book right away, and it had me laughing out loud before I finished the first chapter. I fell completely in love with Poppy, she is funny, charming, and the chemistry she shares with Alex is complete FIRE.
This book is a slow burn, which I have to admit, I am not used to when it comes to romance. I am used to the fast paced, falling in love happily ever after romance books, and I can tell you right now, this is not that. Okay, I digress, there IS happily ever after, just not how I predicted it, which I LOVED.
People we meet on vacation is written in a dual timeline, switching between each year’s epic summer vacation, to the current summer, which I thought gave the book and the characters evolving relationship a lot of depth. The reader really gets to know them, and the changing dynamics of their love story. We get taken on such amazing adventures with these two characters, Canada, Croatia, Nashville, Vail….honestly, the adventure and atmosphere of everywhere this book takes us one thousand percent makes up for the slow burn.
While I was sitting there thinking, OKAY LET’S GET TO IT, Y’ALL LOVE EACHOTHER LET’S MAKE OUT NOW, I was also swooning over every new place we would be swept off to, wondering where the author would take us next.

I loved this book. It’s the perfect book to read in the dead of winter, curled up with a cozy blanket and hot tea. It’s the perfect vacation!

Untamed+Review

Short story- I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it.

Long story- I wanted this to be a life altering, perception changing, empowering book, but it just wasn’t that for me.

I’m not a self-help/memoir reader, so maybe I’m not the target audience for this book, but I had to read this empowering, feminist piece of work everyone on bookstagram was raving about. Im always up for a feminist tirade!

The first 1/4 was great! It was interesting, the stories pulled me in, and it felt relevant and real….after that it all went downhill for me. It was fluff peppered with cute motivational quotes.

This was not a memoir or self help book, it was a book of short stories about Glennon’s life, a book about how she CHOSE to be gay, how she has life figured out, and to achieve the best life you must be selfish, always choosing yourself over everyone else. If you’re not choosing you and your truth, are you even living? Sometimes I like to put my kids or husband first, and that feels good to me and my heart. It doesn’t make me a martyr. Sorry Glennon.

Im probably not the target audience for this book, but I gave it a good solid college try.

If you’re into motivational quotes and want a fast, feel-good read, you’ll love this book!

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!

The Drowning Kind+Review



“Miracles are not without their price, my darling”

Jennifer McMahon has done it again, folks!


Another beautifully written timeless ghost story. I have grown to expect nothing less from McMahon, as every book I have read is better than the last, the next story more original, more chilling, and more real than the last!


Come sit, let me tell you a story. The story of Sparrow’s Crest, the beautiful, sprawling stone estate built in the Vermont countryside upon the healing waters of the Brandengurg Springs. The springs, said to be cursed, said to hold healing powers, and grant wishes. These springs hold a secret far more powerful than any one person can fathom.
This story is a brilliant, refreshing ghost story that I will not soon forget.
Beautifully written from two POV is the story of Jax, who has come home to Sparrow’s crest after her sister Lexie has drowned in the spring fed pool on the property of the estate- and the story of Ethel, her great-grandmother who’s husband built the home upon the rubble of the hotel that was once there.
Jax and Lexie have been estranged for many years, a strained relationship that all returns to those waters. That pool. That house.
McMahon take us on Jax’s mission to understand what happened to Lexie in her final days. Coming back to Sparrow’s Crest after so many years, finding it in shambles, papers upon papers all leading back to the springs; Lexie spends her time there trying to unravel the mystery of her sisters death.


I love McMahons timeless style of storytelling, and I can honestly say I was not prepared for this one. It hit me right in the gut, and held on until the very end. Food? Water? Sleep? Who needs those things? I found myself gripping my kindle underneath my covers in the middle of the night imagining the bumps, wet feet padding on my wood floor….my front door creaking open….One piece of advice? Don’t read this book in the dark.

Brilliant. I can NOT wait to share this book with everyone, and I can NOT wait to have a paperback copy in my greedy little hands.

Thank you Netgalley & scour Press Books for the advanced copy of my new favorite ghost story!

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5


Pippa Fitz-Amobi is a BADASS! This is the strong, smart protagonist I have been craving and I👏AM👏HERE👏FOR👏IT!
.
Pippa is a true crime junkie with aspirations to be a first-rate journalist. When it comes time for her final year project, she chooses her small towns most notorious unsolved crime-the murder of Andie Bell.
What starts innocently enough, her project soon turns into an unraveling of secrets and lies that leaves Pippa questioning everything she thought she knew about this case- and some of the people closest to her!
With the help of the alleged killers brother, the two of them take on this project with fearless grit, and won’t stop until they have found the REAL killer.

This is a brilliant debut that takes us straight into the investigation alongside Pippa and Ravi, unraveling clue after clue.

I felt like I was investigating right along with the main characters, each clue and new person of interest leaving me with more questions. I love a twisty mystery, and wasn’t at all expecting this one! I was with them until the very end. Each character is so well developed, and I found myself falling in love with fearless Pippa and her unwavering determination for justice. Honestly, I could talk all day about the things I loved about this cast of characters!
Holly Jackson knocked it our of the park with this debut novel, it’s a fantastic read for all ages whether you are 13, 30 or 100. Definitely my favorite read of 2020, and guys, there is a SEQUEL!😳 Good Girl, bad blood came out in April of this year, and-drumroll please- book 3 is set to come out next year! It just keeps getting better, and I can’t wait to get my hands on these books! Get them, read them, and let’s talk about them!

The Drowning Kind

First of all I want to say THANK YOU to Simon & Schuster Scout Press & NetGalley for my advanced copy of The Drowning Kind by Jennifer Mc Mahon. Without the wonderful publishers and Netgalley I wouldn’t have the opportunity to review so many fantastic books. I love what I do, and I couldn’t do it without them!

So, let’s talk about this delicious morsel- Not only is this book beautiful, it is a modern day ghost story and that is something I can NOT miss!
Jennifer McMahon is the author of one of my favorite books, The Winter People, and from the sound of it, this book is going to be just as good.


DESCRIPTION👇

Be careful what you wish for.
When social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and the property. And as she dives deeper into the research herself, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.

In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumored to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives.

Do you like ghost stories? Paranormal thrillers that will keep you up at night, guessing and checking every noise you hear? If that is your jam, Jennifer McMahon is your girl! I was never really into the paranormal stuff until I read The Winter People, and I was hooked. Not only does she write a kickass ghost story, but the mystery had me reeling! I love a good twisty book.

What is your favorite ghost story?

The Drowning Kind will be published on April 06, 2021, so keep an eye out for it!

Find Her

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Flora Dane is a victim. Flora Dane is a survivor. Flora Dane is reckless.
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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.