Source: Borrowed

3 Quick Book Reviews

Posted October 12, 2017 by Lily B in Reviews / 8 Comments

The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle
Series: standalone
Published by Mira on December 27th 2016
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Source: Borrowed
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 4 Stars

Even the perfect marriage has its dark side… 
Iris and Will's marriage is as close to perfect as it can be: a large house in a nice Atlanta neighborhood, rewarding careers and the excitement of trying for their first baby. But on the morning Will leaves for a business trip to Orlando, Iris's happy world comes to an abrupt halt. Another plane headed for Seattle has crashed into a field, killing everyone on board, and according to the airline, Will was one of the passengers on this plane. 
Grief-stricken and confused, Iris is convinced it all must be a huge misunderstanding. But as time passes and there is still no sign of Will, she reluctantly accepts that he is gone. Still, Iris needs answers. Why did Will lie about where he was going? What is in Seattle? And what else has he lied about? As Iris sets off on a desperate quest to find out what her husband was keeping from her, the answers she receives will shock her to her very core.

This book follows a woman named Iris who thought she had this perfect marriage with her husband Will and they were about to try for a baby, but Will ends up going on a business trip and instead of going to Orlando, Iris finds out he heads to Seattle when the plane crashed.

This book, I found that I really enjoyed and what started my love for domestic thrillers.

I love books that involve husband and wives and secrets. I wanted to know what really happened to Will as much as Iris as she navigates through trying to piece together what is happening and why her husband lied and was not on the plane he was suppose to on be but instead on a plane that crashed.

I devoured this book. I personally enjoyed following Iris and uncovering the truth. The ending caught me off guard, but overall this was everything I wanted. I found the writing to be good, the story and the characters interesting and overall a really good read.

3 Quick Book ReviewsEverything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale
Series: Everything We Keep #1
Published by Lake Union Publishing on August 1st 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 2.5 Stars

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A luminous debut with unexpected twists, Everything We Keep explores the devastation of loss, the euphoria of finding love again, and the pulse-racing repercussions of discovering the truth about the ones we hold dear and the lengths they will go to protect us.
Sous chef Aimee Tierney has the perfect recipe for the perfect life: marry her childhood sweetheart, raise a family, and buy out her parents’ restaurant. But when her fiancé, James Donato, vanishes in a boating accident, her well-baked future is swept out to sea. Instead of walking down the aisle on their wedding day, Aimee is at James’s funeral—a funeral that leaves her more unsettled than at peace.
As Aimee struggles to reconstruct her life, she delves deeper into James’s disappearance. What she uncovers is an ocean of secrets that make her question everything about the life they built together. And just below the surface is a truth that may set Aimee free…or shatter her forever.

The book opens up with Aimee burying the body of her fiance on her wedding day - courtesy of her shitty would have been mother in law - when, after the ceremony a woman approaches her and says her husband might still be alive.

Interesting? Right? So I thought myself, until I kept reading and realized the book was more focused on romance, loss and moving on after the loss.

I couldn’t stand Aimee. I felt like she couldn’t make up her mind about what she believed, one day she is like, oh… Maybe my husband is alive.., the next she swoons over the new artist and James Donate is forgotten.

There is a weird one year time jump when she starts to question herself again. Really.. a year?

Then the second part of the book got interesting and also disappointing.

I don’t really know if this should really be called a thriller. But, if you don’t like another male love interest involved I’d stay away because this book will not end how you want it to end.

I found it frustrating, yes there were parts I enjoyed but ultimately the ending pissed me off because the epilogue is like..yeah felt that coming.

3 Quick Book ReviewsThe Ghosts of Kali Oka Road by M.L. Bullock
Series: Gulf Coast Paranormal #1
Published by Self-published on March 15th 2017
Genres: Paranormal, Ghosts
Pages: 211
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 3 Stars

On the Gulf Coast, Things Don’t Just Go Bump in the Night They Terrorize You and Sometimes You Disappear!

The paranormal investigators at Gulf Coast Paranormal thought they knew what they were doing. Midas, Sierra, Sara, Josh and Peter had over twenty combined years of experience investigating supernatural activity on the Gulf Coast. But when they meet Cassidy, a young artist with a strange gift, they realize there’s more to learn. And time is running out for Cassidy.

When Gulf Coast Paranormal begins investigating the ghosts of Kali Oka Road, they find an entity far scarier than a few ghosts. Add in the deserted Oak Grove Plantation, and you have a recipe for a night of terror.

Ready to go ghost hunting? You’ll enjoy this supernatural suspense novel, the first in the Gulf Coast Paranormal series.
Gulf Coast Paranormal Series The Ghosts of Kali Oka Road The Ghosts of the Crescent Theater A Haunting on Bloodgood Row The Legend of the Ghost Queen A Haunting at Dixie House The Ghost Lights of Forrest Field The Ghost of Gabrielle Bonet The Ghosts of Harrington Farms The Creature on Crenshaw Road ˃˃˃ Another Haunting Series by M. L. Bullock--Seven Sisters

This book could have been so good you guys. It was definitely creepy, but it fell so short.

The book follows a ghost investigation team and a girl named Cassidy, who joins the team based on her abilities of being able to see stuff through her paintings.

The team is trying to clear a name of a boy who is believed to have murdered his high school sweetheart, but he claims that a creature did it.

It was just so spooky, but my issue was the author took a real legend/ghost story that exists and built their book around it instead of making it part of the book.

Like there was a ton of stuff that felt lose, no ends and the wrap up just felt silly.

I did not understand how an evil spirit wasn’t put to rest, but the other ghosts hunting the place were and I never really got a clear image of what happened to the female ghost.

I felt like the author could have done so much with adapting this, but they just didn’t and it did not feel incomplete and it left me feeling weird.

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Review: Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller

Posted March 15, 2017 by Lily B in Reviews / 18 Comments

Review:  Swimming Lessons by Claire FullerSwimming Lessons by Claire Fuller
Series: standalone
Published by Tin House Books on February 7th 2017
Genres: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: 350
Format: Hardcover
Source: Borrowed
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 3 Stars
Heat:one-half-flames

Ingrid Coleman writes letters to her husband, Gil, about the truth of their marriage, but instead of giving them to him, she hides them in the thousands of books he has collected over the years. When Ingrid has written her final letter she disappears from a Dorset beach, leaving behind her beautiful but dilapidated house by the sea, her husband, and her two daughters, Flora and Nan.
Twelve years later, Gil thinks he sees Ingrid from a bookshop window, but he’s getting older and this unlikely sighting is chalked up to senility. Flora, who has never believed her mother drowned, returns home to care for her father and to try to finally discover what happened to Ingrid. But what Flora doesn’t realize is that the answers to her questions are hidden in the books that surround her. Scandalous and whip-smart, Swimming Lessons holds the Coleman family up to the light, exposing the mysterious truths of a passionate and troubled marriage. 

I really wanted something different from my current reads and Swimming Lessons took care of that.

The book was written in an interesting style that I found I enjoyed.

It follows a family whose mother disappeared a couple of years ago and no one knows why. Well, the mother, Ingrid left for them clues in the form of letters scattered throughout the books in the house. So when her daughters come home due to their father’s accident, we get to find out through the letters what happened to the mother and what caused her disappearance.

It was interesting, like I have mentioned, I really enjoyed the format of the story. We got the current events in one chapter and we get to read Ingrid’s letters the next chapter and as it progressed, we kind of get the sense of what has happened.

The book in itself was okay. Nan and Flora kind of felt one dimensional because I outside of Ingrid mentioning them in the letters, we only get to see them at this specific point in time and I never felt there was much character growth. Flora felt like an absolute disaster at times and Nan was the more mature one who seemed to try hard to keep everything from falling apart. I was also very confused about how Flora has managed to cloud her memories and she remembers things differently than they really were in reality and that pisses Nan off.

The letters part, I enjoyed, for the most part. It was at times hard to read because of the situation that unfolded. I was very confused why Ingrid stayed in the situation she was in with her marriage. I also never really felt the connection between her and her husband Gil. He was twenty years her senior. Ingrid never wanted children, but apparently did not know how birth control works? She gave up so much for this man. Her life, her dreams, her education and instead did everything she hated including having children - that she never really felt any connection to.

Gil, her husband has done some really horrible things. The story was heartbreaking with the amount of stuff Ingrid had to endure, but I also felt like it was her own fault. She was warned and yet she put herself in that kind of situation. Did she deserve any of it? No, but she knew. I get that the time period it was set that she might not have been able to walk away as easily, but there was always that choice… So… I don’t know… The story felt weird at times.

Overall, it was okay. Nothing amazing. It was page turning, it was kind of a cozy read. It was a bit emotional, but I mostly really felt anger. I don’t think I projected the emotion that the author wanted from me, and that was maybe anger at Ingrids situation and pity or sorrow? I couldn’t relate. I felt she basically built her own misfortunate.

The writing was good, I don’t think I ever felt bored.

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