What a wild ride! I was totally gripped - The Night Before was such a page turner!

Laura is unlucky in love and haunted by a teenage tragedy that has defined her life. She always seems to choose the wrong men. Determined to give love (and herself) one more chance, Laura returns to her childhood suburb and joins an internet dating site. She has an immediate connection with one man from the site and decides to meet him for a blind date. Nervous and excited, Laura walks out of her sister Rosie's house to meet up with her date and doesn't return. Rosie begins a frantic search to find her sister and uncover what really happened to Laura the night before.

Told from the alternating perspectives of both Laura and Rosie, The Night Before gripped me from the onset and never let go. The more you read, the more you question everything and everyone. The pacing of the book left my pulse racing as the suspense (and my anxiety) mounted. I found myself weaving plausible (and implausible) theory after theory. Wendy Walker definitely kept both the tension and suspicion levels high throughout the book!

The Night Before is a well crafted, riveting and thoroughly entertaining thriller that I have no hesitation in recommending! Cozy up, grab snacks and dig in my friends - this is one you won't want to miss. 🥰

Thank you to Wendy Walker, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an arc of this book.

4 This was NOT what I was expecting BUT I LOVED it stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Diana was a complicated woman. Her outward appearance depicts a wealthy, strong and even altruistic woman. Yet we instantly come to see that her family had a vastly different view of her and it wasn't all positive. Thus, when the story opens and we find Diana dead we are easily enveloped by the questions - was her death a case of suicide or murder?

The story is told from multiple view points as well as alternating timelines, filling in the blanks of Diana's life and leading us to the circumstances surrounding her death. I was expecting more of a thriller but the story ended up having more of a domestic mystery vibe. It definitely worked within the plot and allowed us to get a feel for the family dynamics between the characters.

There has been quite a lot of commentary about Diana and her actions in other reviews. I personally felt that Hepworth did an amazing job of explaining why she was who she was and ultimately acted the way she did. She was a very guarded person, rarely letting all her walls down. Tom, her husband, was by far one of the only people that truly knew her. They were definitely a yin and yang relationship, each providing the other with what they needed most. Their relationship, as well as the parts told from her point-of-view helped me warm to her character and have empathy for her. Hepworth has talent for developing multi-layered characters. Things are not as cut and dry as they seem. Her writing evoked many different emotions in me as I read through the story and came to know and understand each character.

So much of what takes place between the family ultimately involves miscommunication and misunderstanding. You can't help but feel for where they ended up and wonder how different things could have been, if they had just taken the time to honestly communicate with each other and connect about the things that were important to them versus suffering through them alone.

Overall, this one drew me in immediately and kept me engrossed throughout. It wasn't so much about the whodunnit as the complicated family dynamics that kept me turning the pages.

Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

4.5 twisted, dark and thrillingly fun stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 - I absolutely LOVED Samantha Downing's My Lovely Wife ❤️

I am a Dexter fan - both the books and the television show so this book filled a definite void for me. Man meets woman. Man and woman fall in love, get married and have kids. Happily ever after becomes routine and a bit mundane.

How do you liven things up and bring back the excitement and intensity of falling in love? Well you'll simply have to read the book to find out. I will tell you that you are in for a treat with this couple's antics! Honestly, these two are sadistic and psychotic and yet I couldn't help falling under their spell and becoming enraptured with them. The crazier things got, the harder it became to put this book down. All I can say is that I'm a fan and I definitely look forward to what Downing will write next.

A huge thank you yo Samantha Downing, Penguin Publishing Group and Edelweiss for an arc of this book to read and review.

"How was it that you only fully realized what you had when it was gone? And I knew there would be new friends, new experiences, maybe even amazing adventures ahead of me. But I felt like I needed, for just a moment, to appreciate what I was - what we all were - leaving behind."

Save the Date was such an enjoyable, comfy read. The Grant family was the kind of family we'd all want to be a part of. They were funny, imperfect, loving and so real. It felt like I was in their house the entire time I was reading.

The plot revolves around Linnie's wedding and the weekend of festivities which coincide with the mom's final installment of her famed comic strip which was loosely based off the family. Now, it's impossible to sum everything up that happens in that 1 tidy sentence. There was lots of family drama, & wedding mishaps along the way but what really grabbed me was the sibling relationships in the story. Charlie's love for her brothers & sister and her utter devotion to the Grant family shine through so vividly. It was hard not to fall in love with this bunch.

This was a perfect summer read - quick, light, funny & heartwarming.

An amazing & satisfying end to Dot Hutchinson's The Collector series!

"We heal, mostly, but even scars can bleed."

I've come to love the CAC team in this series. With the last two installments we really get to know them and become invested in the family they have formed. In The Vanishing Season 8 year old Brooklyn Mercer goes missing on her short walk home from school. The disappearance allows us to dig deeper into Brandon Eddison's past. I have thoroughly enjoyed Bran and his interaction with both the members of his team and the girls from the Garden whom he adopted over time. It was fitting to finally get his full backstory. What an emotional case and journey! This one got to me the way The Butterfly Garden did - I was emotionally invested and couldn't tear myself away from its pages.

I appreciate that Dot Hutchinson gave us this fitting conclusion to the series. The ending was like catching up with old friends and feeling that sense of contentment at finding out what they have been up to. The book was emotional, heartbreaking and absolutely wonderful! It's hard not to get sucked in to the dynamics between the members of this team. I will definitely miss them but I am satisfied with where Hutchinson chose to go with her conclusion and so happy I went along with her for the The Collector journey!

Special thanks to Dot Hutchinson, Thomas & Mercer Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an arc of this book.

👶🏻5 Stars for this Powerful story of Family, Love, Loss & Hope!👩🏻

The Dream Daughter grabbed me from the onset. I was never bored with the story - the twists just kept coming right along with the heartache. Despite its sci-fi elements this story was so relatable for me as a mother. At its core/heart this is a story of the overwhelming power of a mother's love.

It's 1970 and Carly learns her unborn child has a fatal heart defect for which there is no treatment. Faced with this devastating news she grabs hold of the only things within her grasp - hope, trust and love. She blindly leaps into the unknown and is willing to go through unimaginable lengths to save her child.

Carly is faced with numerous heartbreaking and difficult decisions. I could not help but feel a sense of awe at her strength and admired the pure love she had for both her husband and daughter. I felt so much compassion for this character.

I don't want to give too much of the plot away. This one would be best enjoyed by allowing its various twists and turns to unfold the way Chamberlain intended them to be revealed. The Dream Daughter was a bit of a welcome surprise for me. Every time I thought I had it all figured out, a new twist was revealed that had me rethinking everything and made it increasingly difficult to put the book down. My advice - go into this one with both an open mind and an open heart. It will be well worth the leap of faith.

A special thank you to Diane Chamberlaine, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review an arc of this amazing book.

Loved this sexy, sweet and snarky book! It's the perfect escape read! 😍

Admittedly I'm a Christina Lauren fan! I'd been looking forward to this book with its Hispanic representation and it didn't disappoint. Curvy women, laugh out loud hilarious family members and the amazing, never let you down extended family that is as close (if not closer) as the one living under your roof. It reminded me so much of my family growing up - everyone knowing each other's business, constantly making fun of each other and above all else, having each other's back no matter what!

It took me a bit to get into the book initially which surprised me. I wasn't as into the first part detailing the wedding. Olive's twin sister Ami is getting married and everything is supposed to be perfect. Ami seems to have it all - perfect luck, perfect life, perfect love. Olive on the other hand seems to have the worst luck - she lost her job, her roommate and her apartment.

Things start to look up for Olive (and me as the reader!) when she and the best man, Ethan are the only two guests left standing after food poisoning ravages everyone at the wedding. Ami persuades her sister to go on her free honeymoon to Hawaii, so that the prize doesn't go to waste. The groom makes the same offer to his best man and brother, Ethan. Only problem is - Ethan and Olive hate each other. Is an all exclusive, all expenses paid trip to Hawaii worth spending 10 days with someone you utterly despise? With these two - count me in!

I adored the constant back and forth banter between Olive and Ethan. They were hilarious and the underlying sexual tension was palpable. I laughed out loud, smiled so much my cheeks hurt and was left feeling all bubbly inside as I went through the pages of this book. In short, Christina Lauren have done it again - all hail my rom-com queens! ❤️ 👑 ❤️

Thank you to the duo known as Christina Lauren, Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an arc of this book.

4 poignant and inspiring stars for The Girls at Swann Street

Anna Riux is a professional ballet dancer. Battling her emotional demons - imperfection, loneliness, failure, guilt - leads her on a dangerous downward spiral to anorexia and depression. To say that Anna's harrowing journey to reclaim her life affected me would be an understatement. There were moments of inner dialogue that left me with tears streaming down my face. This may be a work of fiction but it was an intimate, heart wrenching and emotional look at battling eating disorders.

I don't know about you but I have definitely had moments where my emotions fuel my eating - feeling so anxious I can not eat or so emotional that I want to eat every sweet in sight. We have all had moments where life feels out of our control. How do you handle it? When Anna felt like nothing was going her way she chose to control what she could - her food intake.

17 Swann Street gave us an insightful look at treatment. It was hard to read about the forced high caloric intake meals, feeding tubes and limited access to bathrooms. I felt for these women who were battling to save their lives. The anxiety over something as seemingly innocuous as sitting in front of a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast was palpable.

I was moved by the love between Anna and her husband Mathias and the support both he and her father desperately provide. With them championing her healing Anna was able to become vulnerable enough to make strides toward recovery. I was touched by the support the women in the rehab house provided to each other. Solidarity, understanding and encouragement are crucial to any recovery.

This is definitely an emotional read. If you opt to pick it up be prepared - you will not put it down unscathed. Your emotions will be all over the place and your heart will be broken but you will come away stronger for having endured 17 Swann Street and sharing the journey of its inhabitants.

Thank you to Yara Zgheib, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an arc of this amazing book.

3.5 Stars for Gregg Olsen's Lying to Next to Me - a twisty mystery filled with deceitful, self-absorbed characters!

Adam and Sophie Warner take their 3 year old daughter on a weekend getaway at the lake. It all looks and sounds idyllic until Sophie is kidnapped a mere hundred yards from Adam, who is helpless to save her.

Detective Lee Husemann is called in to find Sophie. What she uncovers is a tangled web of deceit that she must battle to sort through to get to the truth. Olsen definitely kept me turning the pages with unreliable characters that I loved to hate. They were self indulgent, narcissistic, morally repugnant and I quite honestly couldn't get enough. I love a good sociopath and boy did these characters fit the bill! 😉

Thank you to Gregg Olsen, Thomas & Mercer Publishing and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.