grayciouslygreyreader's Reviews (142)

We are back in Barry’s Bay three years after Every Summer After, featuring Percy and Sam’s story, which also has Sam’s brother, Charlie.  I was upset with Charlie in that book, but he has a redemption in One Golden Summer. 

Charlie is this self-assured, sometimes cocky, ladies’ man, but he’s also charming, caring, funny, and attentive to those who really know him and he whom he cares for.   He grew up on the lake and returns for the summer for a break to reflect on some things. Alice visited the lake one summer when she was 17 and has returned to help her grandmother, Nan, recover from hip surgery and also take a break to find herself and  her passion for photography in the way she loves to take photos and not the way people expect her to take and edit them. The owner of the lake house they are staying at is a long-time friend that Nan has lost touch with. He is letting them stay there so she can heal and has Charlie help them with anything they may need. 

Throughout the summer, Charlie and Alice’s friendship grows, and they clearly start to fall for each other, but Charlie is adamant that they remain friends. 

I loved the chemistry between these two. They both brought out the best in each other and are able to really be themselves without any walls. This story felt so nostalgic, and I loved that Charlie always made sure that Nan was included throughout the summer. Percy and Sam also return.  

 Can you read this as a stand-alone? Honestly, you could, you just wouldn’t have the background on Charlie, Sam, and Percy. The reason I was upset with Charlie in the first book is brought up in this book, which would be a spoiler for Every Summer After. I do recommend reading it first, but you won’t be lost on this book if you don’t. 

Carley Fortune’s books are always so cozy in the feels when the book wraps up. You fall in love with the characters and the town. They draw you in, making you wish you were in the book either with the characters or one of the people among them. I absolutely loved being back in Barry’s Bay.

Thank you, Berkley Romance, Carley Fortune, and Netgalley for this gifted advanced copy. 

The Stranger Upstairs is about a woman named Sarah who buys an old Victorian home in her dream neighborhood for a price well under its worth because of a death that happened there. Her husband is less than thrilled about the place and he spends most of his time away from the home. Sarah decides she will document the process of fixing up the place to earn extra money influencing, but she’s not getting the views she had anticipated. The few comments she does get are warnings that she’s not welcomed. Contractors don’t seem to want to be hired to work on the place, and the one that does instantly regrets it. Bizarre things happen and we are left wondering if the house is haunted or if it’s someone in the neighborhood trying to scare her away. Sarah is also a therapist, but as the book goes on she sees less and less of her clients even forgetting days of the week. Was the house making her crazy? Was someone inside making her crazy? I thought I had it figured out but with a twist in the end that totally made sense, I was found shocked.  At times this book had an eerie feel.

In the author notes at the end, Lisa Matlin talks about her own mental health struggles including needing to reach out to a lifeline. I feel like her own experiences helped shape the character in the book, and I’m glad she didn’t give up. There are resources at the end of the book for anyone needing help. 

Mur d*r Runs in the Family by Tamara Berry was an unexpected mystery with a twist among a group of lively folks in a retirement home, a tortoise, and granddaughter Amber Winslow. 

Amber flees to the luxurious Seven Ponds Retirement home after a breakup from her P.I. boyfriend Bones, to meet her grandmother Jade whom she has never met. Instantly Jade knows it’s her granddaughter and welcomes her in right away. Amber’s mom has warned her to stay away from her grandmother and has written her out of her life, but Amber wants to meet this woman with nowhere else to turn. Jade hosts a true crime podcast with some of the other residents of the retirement home, and on the night of Amber’s arrival she finds out one of their own has died, only it appears to not be an accident or natural causes. A three million dollar ring is missing along with a tortoise that belong to the victim. Amber having P.I. experience from shadowing her boyfriend for the last three years, takes on the case of the missing tortoise, and also clearing her grandmother’s name who has become suspect number one. 

This was a fun mystery. The group of retirees are a funny, loyal group, that you can’t help but like everyone and want to also clear their name as everyone becomes a suspect. I thought I had this one figured out, but had a twist in the end that got me. The ex boyfriend being a P.I. also shows up, so there’s a whole cast of characters that make this mystery interesting. 

Julie Chan is a twin who was separated from her sister Chloe, when their parents died in an accident as young children. Julie is raised by her Aunt and Chloe was adopted by a couple with money giving her a very different upbringing than Julie’s lonely struggling life. Her Aunt only wants to collect a check for keeping Julie. Chloe is a popular influencer, and contacts Chloe later in life to make a video on meeting her and buying her a house. After she makes the video which gains millions of views, she stops contact with Julie.  This eats at Julie who has always missed her sister, and she realizes all Chloe wanted to do was exploit her. One day she receives a phone call that says she’s  with heavy breathing and then hangs up. Julie tries to text and call with no response, so she goes to Chloe’s home only to find her unalive. She calls the police and quickly gets caught up in the lie of them thinking she is Chloe. Instead of correcting them, she believes this could be her way of living the life she has always wanted and takes on her identity. She has an agent who contacts her (through Chloe’s phone which she can unlock with her identical face), to make sure she is going to a high profile event with the Belladonna’s, a group of seven high profile influencers, and because she doesn’t want to raise suspicions she agrees. 

Because they are identical twins, everyone thinking she is Chloe is realistic, but as I’m reading this, I’m thinking how can she pull off the personality? She should know all these people right? Thankfully this book was well thought out and every unbelievable idea is backed with a realistic explanation. Julie is able to use grief of losing her sister for her forgetfulness and sadder state than usual when someone confesses that they think she has changed. Also because everyone is an influencer, she is able to go through everyone’s accounts and quickly learn things about them since they share everything. 

The Belladonna’s also seem to go dark on social media once a year for a week. It’s a top secret retreat that they can never share anything about. Phones are not allowed. Julie is in the dark on what goes on here, but Chloe has been for the past five years, so she has to act like she knows what’s going on. This is where the story gets really strange with occult behavior on a private island in the middle of nowhere.  

Like I said, the whole story was well thought out. Anytime I questioned something, it has an explanation.  

This book has mystery, thrills, and even horror once they arrive on the island. This is perfect for those of you who like to read books about the occultist elite with bizarre circumstances, fans of the show YellowJackets, and fans of the book Bunny by Mona Awad (although don’t get confused… these books are not the same, only the circle of occultist girls and the bizarre within the group are).

Thank you to Atria Books, Liann Zhang, and Netgalley for an ARC of this book. 

Oh how I loved this book. It was not the story I thought it was going to be in such a much better way. Taking place in an office setting, Jake Ripper is the newest office temp and Dolores (Dodi) dela Cruz is an employee who tries to stay undetected on a floor where everyone has been laid off. Perhaps an oversight, she lays low to keep those checks coming with no real work to be done. She’s described as an alt girl with tattoos, black clothing, and the love for crime podcasts. Jake, who is a loner in real life with no real family but a roommate who basically pays him to get rid of his “girlfriends” with a place to stay. Jake spots Dodi and sets up his office on the same floor, as he is also trying to go undetected all while wearing black gloves and being mysterious. Dodi is bothered that she has caught his eye when she’s trying to lay low. They have little interactions and one day after overhearing one of Dodi’s podcast about a serial chopping body pieces, he decides to gift her a piece of a Barbie wrapped in a box (Oh did I forget to mention it’s Christmas time?!). This doesn’t scare her, but in fact starts a game of cat and mouse between them. Convinced he is a serial himself, she asks for his help in getting rid of something (sorry I’m trying to not get shadow banned with certain words). 

The title is clever because it’s a play on their relationship. This is a book for thriller readers who also enjoy their main characters finding family and love. There is an understanding between them and respect. It’s really a story of two people who are alone, with complicated or sad pasts, and end up finding family within some of the people they meet along the way. There are so many surprises throughout, and this is why this book ended up being something different than I thought it would be. 

Thank you Berkeley Publishing, Kate Posey, and Netgalley for this advanced reader copy. 

The Perfect Divorce is the sequel to The Perfect Marriage. Sequels can be tricky because a lot of the time it’s hard to live up to the original, but I am happy to say The Perfect Divorce delivers! If you haven’t read The Perfect Marriage first, you will want to add it to your TBR before reading this one, as the story continues with Sarah Morgan who in the first book was the attorney of her husband Adam Morgan when he was accused of the m*rder of his mistress. You will need to read how that goes, but where it ends is where this book pick ups. If you read it and  worry you won’t remember all the details, you will get a quick summary in the beginning reminding you.  

Sarah Morgan is back with Bob, her new husband and daughter Summer. Unfortunately she finds out Bob has had an affair. She asks for a divorce wanting to start new with her daughter, and wants nothing to do with him. He tries everything to get Sarah to give him another chance but when she won’t change her mind, he lets her know she will regret it. There’s another problem Sarah has to deal with and that’s new DNA evidence from her ex husband’s case that opens the investigation back up. On top of that, the woman Bob had an affair with is missing. 

The rest of the story I will let it play out for you, but that’s just the beginning of the book. It was a fun fast paced ride, with many twists, some new characters, and some old ones.  If you enjoyed the first one, I think this one is even better.  It was great getting to revisit Sarah and see how life treated her after Adam. This was one of those books that I picked up every free moment I had because I was dying to see where it was all going. 

Make sure you read the acknowledgement at the end, but do not read before you finish the book. It gives us some insight to the future, that I am very excited about. 

Special thanks to Blackstone Publishing, Jeneva Rose, and NetGalley for a gifted advance copy. 

We Are Made of Stars by Rochelle B. Weinstein is a story about friends and strangers who spend a week together in a mountain getaway at Vis Ta Vie Inn. We have all sorts of characters here, a Hollywood celebrity couple, a sports agent with his wife who was a lawyer but is now a stay at home mom, a couple who is there to announce their divorce to their friends, and a mom and daughter duo who struggle to be close. 

Each of these people have their own secrets, and during the week long visit these secrets are exposed. Will these secrets bring them closer or break them?

I found this to be a slow burn in the beginning as we learn about each couple. Some of their secrets are very scandalous, and some are just heartbreaking. Once secrets are exposed to the group, I couldn’t put this book down. In fact on Chapter 55, I literally gasped out loud, “OMG!” 

The couple who runs the Inn have their own set of problems as they can’t afford to keep the inn running anymore after a bad investment. Somehow they still deliver an extravagant week for the guest with a delicious looking menu each week. 

Everyone’s story is connected, and how this was all woven together was done so well. I do want to mention something that might be a trigger for some. There is mention of the loss of a young child in a drowning. Although this is not the main focus of the story, it is mentioned as one of the couples has trouble navigating this loss as we can imagine, and therefore losing their connection together.