Blog Tour: Review of Murder at the Flamingo by Rachel McMillan

Author: Rachel McMillan

Publihser: Thomas Nelson

Date of publicaton: July 2018

“Maybe it was time to land straight in the middle of the adventure…”

Hamish DeLuca has spent most of his life trying to hide the anxiety that appears at the most inopportune times — including during his first real court case as a new lawyer. Determined to rise above his father’s expectations, Hamish runs away to Boston where his cousin, Luca Valari, is opening a fashionable nightclub in Scollay Square.  When he meets his cousin’s “right hand man” Reggie, Hamish wonders if his dreams for a more normal life might be at hand.

Regina “Reggie” Van Buren, heir to a New Haven fortune, has fled fine china, small talk, and the man her parents expect her to marry. Determined to make a life as the self-sufficient city girl she’s seen in her favorite Jean Arthur and Katharine Hepburn pictures, Reggie runs away to Boston, where she finds an easy secretarial job with the suave Luca Valari. But as she and Hamish work together in Luca’s glittering world, they discover a darker side to the smashing Flamingo night club.

When a corpse is discovered at the Flamingo, Reggie and Hamish quickly learn there is a vast chasm between the haves and the have-nots in 1937 Boston—and that there’s an underworld that feeds on them both. As Hamish is forced to choose between his conscience and loyalty to his beloved cousin, the unlikely sleuthing duo work to expose a murder before the darkness destroys everything they’ve worked to build.

Murder at the Flamingo takes you back to the 1930s when the nightclubs were packed with glamours ladies and dashing young men.  Hamish has come to Boston to live with his cousin after being humiliated in his first court case.  He is looking for a fresh start.  Reggie is a former debutante looking to escape her parents and become an independent woman.  The didn't count on getting caught up in a murder investigation.

For me, the mystery part of the book was just OK.  It wasn't too hard to figure out what was going on so that part made the book a bit slow.  What I liked most about the book were the characters.  I loved Hamish.  It's not often that you read about a male character with anxiety.  Especially one in the 1930s.  He was such a sweet guy and interesting character. I adored his conversation with his father toward the end of the book.  Reggie was intriguing as well.  A woman willing to turn her back on her pampered life in order to find herself and become independent wasn't common back the either.  She was hilarious and a strong-willed.  They are definitely characters I would want to read about again.  

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Rachel McMillan

Rachel McMillan is a history enthusiast, lifelong bibliophile, and author of the Herringford and Watts series. When not reading (or writing), Rachel can be found at the theater, traveling near and far, and watching far too many British miniseries. Rachel lives in Toronto where she works in educational publishing and is always planning her next trip to Boston. 

Facebook: RachKMc1; Twitter: @RachKMc; Instagram: RachKMc.

Connect with Rachel

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Instagram tour:

Monday, July 16th: @alittlebookishlife

Tuesday, July 17th: @ladyofthelibrary

Wednesday, July 18th: @thebooksellersdaughter

Thursday, July 19th: @jennblogsbooks

Friday, July 20th: @kim_reads

Saturday, July 21st: @pnwbookworm

Saturday, July 21st: @dropandgivemenerdy

Sunday, July 22nd: @brookesbooksandbrews

Review tour:

Monday, July 23rd: Reading Reality

Tuesday, July 24th: Book by Book

Wednesday, July 25th: Jessicamap Reviews and @jessicamap

Thursday, July 26th: Fiction Aficionado

Friday, July 27th: Blooming with Books

Friday, July 27th: Broken Teepee – spotlight

Monday, July 30th: Black ‘n Gold Girl’s Book Spot

Tuesday, July 31st: Running Through the Storms

Wednesday, August 1st: What is That Book About – guest post/Q&A

Wednesday, August 1st: Fiction Aficionado – author Q&A

Thursday, August 2nd: By the Book

Friday, August 3rd: Cheryl’s Book Nook

Monday, August 6th: Reader’s Cozy Corner

Tuesday, August 7th: Reflections from my Bookshelf

Wednesday, August 8th: Write Read Life

Friday, August 10th: From the TBR Pile

Friday, August 10th: The Lit Bitch

Monday, August 13th: Books & Bindings

Tuesday, August 14th: Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen

Wednesday, August 15th: @ladyofthelibrary

Spotlight: America for Beginners by Leah Franqui

Author:  Leah Franqui

Publisher: William Morrow

Date of publication: July 2018

Recalling contemporary classics such as Americanah, Behold the Dreamers, and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a funny, poignant, and insightful debut novel that explores the complexities of family, immigration, prejudice, and the American Dream through meaningful and unlikely friendships forged in unusual circumstances.

Pival Sengupta has done something she never expected: she has booked a trip with the First Class India USA Destination Vacation Tour Company. But unlike other upper-class Indians on a foreign holiday, the recently widowed Pival is not interested in sightseeing. She is traveling thousands of miles from Kolkota to New York on a cross-country journey to California, where she hopes to uncover the truth about her beloved son, Rahi. A year ago Rahi devastated his very traditional parents when he told them he was gay. Then, Pival’s husband, Ram, told her that their son had died suddenly—heartbreaking news she still refuses to accept. Now, with Ram gone, she is going to America to find Rahi, alive and whole or dead and gone, and come to terms with her own life.

Arriving in New York, the tour proves to be more complicated than anticipated. Planned by the company’s indefatigable owner, Ronnie Munshi—a hard-working immigrant and entrepreneur hungry for his own taste of the American dream—it is a work of haphazard improvisation. Pival’s guide is the company’s new hire, the guileless and wonderfully resourceful Satya, who has been in America for one year—and has never actually left the five boroughs. For modesty’s sake Pival and Satya will be accompanied by Rebecca Elliot, an aspiring young actress. Eager for a paying gig, she’s along for the ride, because how hard can a two-week “working” vacation traveling across America be?

Slowly making her way from coast to coast with her unlikely companions, Pival finds that her understanding of her son—and her hopes of a reunion with him—are challenged by her growing knowledge of his adoptive country. As the bonds between this odd trio deepens, Pival, Satya, and Rebecca learn to see America—and themselves—in different and profound new ways.

A bittersweet and bighearted tale of forgiveness, hope, and acceptance, America for Beginners illuminates the unexpected enchantments life can hold, and reminds us that our most precious connections aren’t always the ones we seek.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Leah Franqui

Photo by Priyam Dhar

Leah Franqui is a graduate of Yale University and received an MFA at NYU-Tisch. She is a playwright and the recipient of the 2013 Goldberg Playwriting Award, and also wrote a web series for which she received the Alfred Sloan Foundation Screenwriting award (aftereverafterwebseries.com). A Puerto Rican-Jewish Philadelphia native, Franqui lives with her Kolkata-born husband in Mumbai. AMERICA FOR BEGINNERS is her first novel.

Find out more about Franqui at her website, and connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Instagram Features

Tuesday, July 24th: Instagram: @theloudlibrarylady

Wednesday, July 25th: Instagram: @read.write.coffee

Thursday, July 26th: Instagram: @megabunnyreads

Friday, July 27th: Instagram: @shereadswithcats

Saturday, July 28th: Instagram: @absorbedinpages

Sunday, July 29th: Instagram: @sweetbookobsession

Monday, July 30th: Instagram: @oddandbookish

Review Stops

Tuesday, July 24th: Wining Wife

Thursday, July 26th: Broken Teepee

Friday, July 27th: Instagram: @the_need_to_read

Monday, July 30th: bookchickdi

Tuesday, July 31st: Instagram: @Novelmombooks

Wednesday, August 1st: Kahakai Kitchen

Thursday, August 2nd: 5 Minutes For Books

Monday, August 6th: Jathan & Heather

Tuesday, August 7th: Man of La Book

Wednesday, August 8th: Literary Quicksand

Thursday, August 9th: From the TBR Pile

Blog Tour: Review of Bayside Heat by Melissa Foster

Author: Melissa Foster

Publisher: World Literary Press

Date of publication: August 8, 2018

Goodreads Link:
Goodreads Series Link: 

Drake Savage has always done the right thing, especially where beautiful and fiercely determined Serena Mallery is concerned—even when it means keeping his feelings for her to himself. Serena has always wanted more than what their small town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts has to offer, and Drake’s roots are so deeply entrenched in the Cape, it’s all he can do to watch her pack up her life and move away.

Serena has always had big dreams. As a teenager she dreamed of becoming an interior designer and marrying smart, musically inclined, sexy-as-sin Drake Savage. Now she’s finally landed a killer job with a top interior design firm, but though she has spent the last four years working side by side with Drake, he’s never made a move. Four years is long enough for her to accept reality, and her new job in Boston is the perfect way to move on.

A weak moment leads to sizzling, sensual kisses, opening a door through which they’ve both been aching to walk. But Serena’s determined not to give up her shot at the career she’s always dreamed of, and Drake has loved her for too many years to stand in her way. With true love at their fingertips and a world of unstoppable passion igniting between them, can the two star-crossed lovers find their way to their happily ever after?

Is there anything cuter than a friend to lovers story?  You all know it's one of my favorite tropes.  Bayside Heat features one of the cutest couples I have read abour in a while.  Drake and Serena have been best buds for years.  They have also each harbored a secret attraction for the other, but never acted on it.  When Serena accepts a job in Boston, Drake finally realizes he needs to step up or lose the most important thing in his life.  But how can he do that without holding her back from her dream job?

I really enjoyed this one.  I loved the friendship between Drake and Serena.  They know each other inside and out and it made their relationship all that much more intimate.  I loved that Drake did everything he could to make sure Serena was able to leave and see if her dream job was what she wanted.  He didn't want to hold her back.  The other thing I loved about the book was the characters and their close friendships.  Violet being my favorite.  She was hilarious.  I think her book may be next.  

I did kind of have to laugh  at the way everyone was making a big deal out of a 90 minute commute between Boston and the Cape.  I work in Boston and that is my commute most days one way.  So, I guess to me that didn't seem like a huge obstacle for their relationship.  Especially since Drake's job was more flexible. 

I definitely recommend this one.  It's cute, funny, sexy and a well written book.  It's out today, so check it out!

  

Buy Links

➜KINDLE: http://smarturl.it/BH_k

➜iBOOKS: http://apple.co/2iDjHxC 

➜KOBO: http://smarturl.it/BHK

➜NOOK: http://bit.ly/2hW9UG8

➜GPLAY: http://bit.ly/2zVhWpu

➜PAPERBACK: http://smarturl.it/BH_pb

Author Info

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance and new adult romance with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa’s emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented–perfect beach reads for contemporary romance lovers who enjoy reading about wealthy heroes and smart, sassy heroines.

Author Links:   WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | GOODREADS

Review: Awakened by James S. Murray & Darren Wearmouth

Author: James S. Murray & Darren Wearmouth
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Date of publication: June 2018

After years of waiting, New York's newest subway line is finally ready, an express train that connects the city with the burgeoning communities across the Hudson River. The shining jewel of this state-of-the-art line is a breathtaking visitors’ pavilion beneath the river.  Major dignitaries, including New York City’s Mayor and the President of the United States, are in attendance for the inaugural run, as the first train slowly pulls in.

Under the station’s bright ceiling lights, the shiny silver cars gleam. But as the train comes closer into view, a far different scene becomes visible.

All the train’s cars are empty.

All the cars’ interiors are drenched in blood.

As chaos descends, all those in the pavilion scramble to get out. But the horror is only beginning. High levels of deadly methane fill the tunnels. The structure begins to flood. For those who don’t drown, choke or spark an explosion, another terrifying danger awaits—the thing that killed all those people on the train. It’s out there…and it’s coming.

There's something living beneath New York City, and it's not happy we've woken it up.

Awakened was a random library pick that I ended up being pleasantly surprised with.  The book opens with a the launch of New York's latest subway line.  It's supposed to be an express to from New York to New Jersey under the Hudson river. Reporters, The President of the US and the mayor of New York are on the New Jersey platform waiting for the train to arrive.  When it does, everyone on the train is gone and only bloody hand prints remain.  

I thought this book was a fun sci-fi horror adventure.  The authors did a great job of building tension and suspense. It's bloody and gory, but I didn't mind.  I had a hard time turning the audiobook off, I was that engrossed in the story.   I loved that no one was safe. It was hard to predict who would make it out alive.  The creatures were truly creepy and not something I would want to be caught with underground. It makes you wonder what is really lurking under the subway tracks.  

There are a few twists, since the reader can't predict who is playing for which side.  I could easily see this made into a movie (if it was done right).  My only complaint is that I want to know more about the creatures and how they were first discovered.  Maybe in the next book we will get more background.

I definitely recommend this one. These two author's have done a great job with this collaboration and I look forward to reading more from them.

  

Blog Tour: Review of The Right Fit by Daphne Dubois

Author: Daphne Dubois
Publication date: April 12th 2017
Goodreads

She’s sworn off love, he’s sworn off sex, but together they’ll score the goal of a lifetime.

When Maxine Nicholls discovers her fiancé is cheating, she turns to fast food and nighttime soap operas, but her sister has a plan—unbridled rebound sex with a stranger.

As one of Toronto’s hottest players, Antony Laurent tallies scores on and off the ice, but when the chiseled defense man hits a slump, rumors of a trade to the minor league send him to ambush a managers meeting at a posh club.

That night a chance encounter ends up as an unforgettable evening of passion. But Maxine and Antony are about to discover a game of casual hook ups can lead to something neither one of them thought they deserved—the right fit.

In The Right Fit, Maxine has sworn off love after being burned by her ex-fiance.  A chance meeting with Antony, a NFL player, may mean she can have her rebound affair and move on with her life.  Antony needs some good luck to help his playing and Maxine seems to be his good luck charm.

This book was a cute romance and I enjoyed it for the most part.  The best part about the story was the characters.  I loved Maxine's family, especially Westley and his friend Stuart.  They were hilarious.  Maxine and Antony's relationship was cute, but exhausting at the same time.  I loved Antony.  He was sweet and really nice.  Maxine took me a while to warm up to.  Her constant tendency to put herself down because of her weight drove me nuts.  I was pulling for her to see that she was fine just the way she was...spanx or no spanx.  At any rate, I did find myself rooting for them.

Purchase:

Amazon B&N iBooks Kobo

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AUTHOR BIO:

Daphne Dubois writes contemporary romance and believes the right book at the right time can make all the difference. When she's not putting her characters in compromising positions (ahem), she works as a registered nurse. A member of the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia, she lives in Eastern Canada, the most romantic place in the world.

You can also find her writing for teens as B.R. Myers.

 https://www.facebook.com/BRMyersAuthor/

https://twitter.com/br_myers

http://bethanymyers.blogspot.com/

Follow the tour here

Spotlight: Excerpt of To Have and to Harley by Regina Cole

Author: Regina Cole
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Date of publication: August 7, 2018

You may now kiss the biker

Bethany Jernigan owes her bestie. Big time. So when wedding planning overburdens the bride-to-be, Bethany steps in to handle the nitty-gritty. But the guy in charge isn’t anything like she imagined. He's gruff, tattooed, and 100% male. His staff is even rougher around the edges, and it's not long before she feels as if she's stepped into some kind of crazy alternate reality.

Are those…bikers? Arguing about wedding favors?

Trey Harding never wanted this to get so out of hand. One little lie somehow snowballed into a world of dresses and flowers and food and holy-hell-he's-in-over-his-head. But it’s not like he can confess he’s not the wedding planner he’s pretending to be—especially now that he's falling for the maid of honor! His charade is becoming a farce, and as engines rev and ribbons fly, Trey’s running out of time to figure out how to tell the truth without losing his new family, his crew…or the woman of his dreams.

Amazon:      https://amzn.to/2MS0d5m

B&N:             http://bit.ly/2MXws38

iBooks:         https://apple.co/2JzjH0F

Kobo:            http://bit.ly/2Kakgdd

Enjoy this excerpt:

Bethany followed him out into the night. This far out in the country, the stars twinkled brightly. Crickets chirped, the low thump of music from inside muffled by the closing door.

Gravel crunched under Bethany’s shoes as she followed Trey a short distance from the building, around the corner to a concrete pad that held a good dozen-plus motorcycles.

“What can I do for you?”

Bethany shivered.

It wasn’t the night air. It was the way he stood, feet braced apart, shoulders square, arms loose and ready, body big and strong and near enough for her to sink into.

If she wanted. Which she didn’t. Really, she didn’t.

She cleared her throat. Focus, Beth.

“That was…an interesting event.” She chose her words carefully. Though she’d clearly won, she didn’t want to make him feel bad. Weird, that. She didn’t want to make a liar feel bad for lying? What was wrong with her?

“Thank you,” he said shortly, his stare direct. She fought the urge to squirm. She hadn’t done anything wrong. A little rude, maybe, but not wrong.

“Now will you agree that you can’t handle Sarah’s wedding?”

“No.”

His short answer took her aback, and she blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“I said no.”

Her temper rose, blood heating as her pulse quickened. “That’s my best friend you’re talking about. You think you can get away with something like this for her? A wedding at a bar with shrimp and orange bagels and peanut-butter pickle boats?”

Trey’s glare shot toward the bar. “Damn it, Stone, I told you to drop the pickles.”

“You can’t do this to them. To Sarah, to Mama Yelverton. They’re trusting you, and you’re lying to them!”

“I know!” he roared, and the sound was so loud and close that her heart jumped into her throat. “I know they’re trusting me! That’s why I’m trying to do the best job I can. And you’re always in the way and trying to ruin it! Why aren’t you letting me help them?”

“Because I don’t trust you!” She went toe-to-toe with him, shoulders heaving as she stared straight into his glowering eyes. “You’re too—”

“Too what? Too rough? Too mean? Too bad to plan a wedding?”

“Yes! All of that! You don’t know what you’re doing, and you’re going to ruin things for them and take their money and break their hearts, and I won’t let you do it! I love them, and you’re not going to take advantage of them like this!”

Trey stopped, his expression blanking. “You think I’m trying to take advantage of them? For money?”

Bethany’s insides stuttered, uncertainty creeping into her voice. “Well, aren’t you?”

He looked away from her, an unnamed emotion rolling off him in waves.

“No. I’m not. I don’t want anything from them but a relationship. And I hope you understand that you’re doing your best to ruin any chance of that.”

For the first time, the certainty that she’d held about Trey began to crumble. Standing there in front of her, with his strong, broad shoulders silhouetted against the parking lot lights, he looked—human. Angry and hurt and lonely, as if her words had peeled away the outer shell he presented to the world. His gaze swung back to her, and she saw in that moment just how shallow she’d been. How wrong. How prejudice had blinded her, how the exterior of the man in front of her had shielded her eyes from the true heart of him.

“You were lonely. Weren’t you?”

Her whispered question rocked him on his heels as if it were a gunshot.

“Yeah. Yeah I was. I thought I’d been dumped by the woman who’d given birth to me in a gas-station bathroom.”

Her hand covered her mouth, and she just stared. As if a tourniquet had been released, words flew from him.

“I had nobody. The system yanked me back and forth so many times, I had whiplash by the time I was eight. Nobody wanted me. Nobody—”

He gritted his teeth and stared straight out at the horizon, as if by simply looking at it, he could stem the tide of emotions she’d unwittingly released.

But they hung there, unspoken, and Bethany’s heart ached for him.

She’d known love. She’d had the most amazing father for fifteen years. And after that? She’d had the Yelvertons to rescue her from her grandmother. Without them…

Without them, she might know a little more of his pain.

God, how wrong she’d been. Because he looked like a roughneck, she’d judged him as unfit for the Yelvertons. But now…now she could see a glimpse of the little boy he’d been once. Lonely, afraid, abandoned. She longed to comfort him, to heal him, to take away the pain her thoughtlessness had inflicted.

Her father would be ashamed of her.

“I’m sorry,” she said, and without thinking, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He was warm and hard, his body unmoving, like a living rock. “I’m so, so sorry.”

For a moment he didn’t yield, didn’t budge, didn’t return her embrace. And then his big, broad hands swept up her back, and he relaxed into her embrace, taking the physical comfort she offered.

With each heartbeat, she tried to communicate her true feelings to him. To return the kindness he’d shown her in the kitchen. To apologize for ripping open his decades-old emotional wound. To make amends for the fact she’d stood in his way when all he’d wanted was to get to know his family.

But it wasn’t enough. She needed to do more.

Of its own accord, her hand wandered up and cupped his cheek. As she looked into his eyes, twin mossy pools of pain and sadness, she did the only thing she could think of.

She kissed him.

“I’m sorry. I’ve hurt you, and I know what that feels like, and I’m so damn sorry.”

The words went unspoken, but she prayed he could feel them in the brush of her mouth against his.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the author:

Regina Cole, lover of manly muscled arms, chest hair, and mini-marshmallows, has been reading romance since her early teens. When she’s not frantically pounding away at the keyboard, she can be found fishing with her family, snuggling with her hubby and tiny twin boys, or slinging mud in her magical home pottery studio. She lives outside Raleigh, North Carolina.

Review: Can't Hold Back by Serena Bell

Author: Serena Bell
Publisher: Loveswept (Random House)
Date of publication: December 2015

No girl can resist a man in uniform—especially if that man is Nate Riordan. But after an injury in the line of duty leaves Nate broken, body and soul, the soldier finds himself addicted to his pain meds, with no place to call home. Desperate for an escape, Nate reluctantly accepts a friend’s invitation to a new veterans’ retreat. Expecting a little R&R, Nate is shocked when the sight of his physical therapist opens up another old wound: heartbreak.

Years ago, Alia Drake fell hard for Nate, but never made her move. Instead, she set up her sister with the sexy, confident military man, a foolish decision that continues to haunt all three of them. Now, with Nate as her patient, she can make things right—even if it means getting too close for comfort. A healing touch and a little honesty work wonders, fueling a physical intimacy that crosses professional boundaries. This time, with desire in the air once more, Alia won’t hold anything back.

Can't Hold Back is the second book in the Returning Home series.  It takes place about five years after the events of the first book.  It works very well as a stand alone.  For the most part, I thought it was a sweet romance.  I will admit to liking the first book, Hold on Tight (my review), a bit more.  It's kind of a second chance story, but not in the conventional way.  This is Nate and Alia's story.  Alia has always been interested in Nate, but to help her sister find happiness, she passed him on to her.  Becca breaks it off with Nate and he later finds out that all of the letters he thought Becca wrote to him were actually from Alia.  Which sister had he actually fallen for?

As I said this was a cute/sweet romance.  Nate and Alia were both hiding from something.  Nate was fighting chronic pain and the craving to dive back into a bottle of pills.  Alia was looking for some place to be needed.  She had a hard time asking for help or admitting what she wanted.  They were good for each other.  I found Alia's alternative therapies for pain management really interesting and had to Google it for more information.  I had never heard of "tapping" before. Apparently, it is a real thing and I have to wonder if it really works.  

If you are looking for a quick second chance romance, I do recommend this one as well as the first.  It's a good story to read on a rainy day.

No One Knows by J.T. Ellison

Author: J.T. Ellison
Publisher: Gallery Books
Date of publication: March 2016

The day Aubrey Hamilton’s husband is declared dead by the state of Tennessee should bring closure so she can move on with her life. But Aubrey doesn’t want to move on; she wants Josh back. 

It’s been five years since he disappeared, since their blissfully happy marriage—they were happy, weren’t they?—screeched to a halt and Aubrey became the prime suspect in his disappearance. Five years of emptiness, solitude, loneliness, questions. Why didn’t Josh show up at his friend’s bachelor party? Was he murdered? Did he run away? And now, all this time later, who is the mysterious yet strangely familiar figure suddenly haunting her new life?


I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed No One Knows.    The story opens with Aubrey's husband being declared dead after having been missing for five years.  Nobody knows what happened to Josh.  Some were convinced Aubrey killed him, but she was acquitted of the crime.  Even though she longs to know what happened, Aubrey is accepting that she must finally move on and try to stop seeing him everywhere.

It's a hard book to review without giving away plot details.  The story is filled with a lot of twists.  I did call one of them, but there is a big one toward the end that took me by surprise.  The plot was doled out with perfect precision through multiple perspectives between present day and in flashbacks.  I never felt like there was a lull in the story and was eager to find out what was going on.  The characters were interesting and well fleshed out.  The flashbacks provided a lot of details so that the reader gets to know them and their motivations pretty thoroughly. 

I ended up listening to the audio-book and loved both of the narrators.  If you are looking for a good thriller, I highly recommend this one.

Blog Tour: The Last Thing I Told You by Emily Arsenault

Author: Emily Arsenault

Puiblisher: William Morrow

Date of publication: July 2018

From the acclaimed author of The Evening Spider and The Broken Teaglass comes this psychological thriller about the murder of a psychologist in a quiet New England town and his former patient whose unreliable thread will keep readers guessing until the shocking end.

Therapist Dr. Mark Fabian is dead—bludgeoned in his office.

But that doesn’t stop former patient Nadine Raines from talking to him—in her head. Why did she come back to her hometown after so many years away? Everyone here thinks she’s crazy. And she has to admit—they might have good reason to think so. She committed a shockingly violent act when she was sixteen, and has never really been able to explain that dark impulse—even to Fabian. Now that Fabian’s dead, why is she still trying?

Meanwhile, as Detective Henry Peacher investigates Fabian’s death, he discovers that shortly before he died, Fabian pulled the files of two former patients. One was of Nadine Raines, one of Henry’s former high school classmates. Henry still remembers the disturbing attack on a teacher that marked Nadine as a deeply troubled teen.

More shockingly, the other file was of Johnny Streeter, who is now serving a life sentence for a mass shooting five years ago. The shooting devastated the town and everyone—including Henry, who is uncomfortable with the “hero” status the tragedy afforded him—is ready to move on. But the appearance of his file brings up new questions. Maybe there is a decades-old connection between Nadine and Streeter. And maybe that somehow explains what Nadine is doing in Fabian’s office nearly twenty years after being his patient. Or how Fabian ended up dead two days after her return. Or why Nadine has fled town once again.

But as Nadine and Henry head toward a confrontation, both will discover that the secrets of people’s hearts are rarely simple, and—even in the hidden depths of a psychologist’s files—rarely as they appear.

The Last Thing I Told you opens with the death of a psychiatrist and a former patient fleeing the scene.  Detective Henry preacher is assigned the case.   The story is told through alternating chapters between Nadine and Henry's perspective.  

I was looking forward to reading this one since I have enjoyed this author in the past.  I know I will be in the minority when I say that this book  just didn't do it  for me.  Honestly, I did not find it all that thrilling.  There is something to be said for a slow burn book but this one was almost too slow.  I didn't like Nadine's perspective and found myself skimming a few times.  Henry was mildly more interesting.  The nice thing was that the chapters were short, so the book was relatively quick to read.   It's not badly written and has received good reviews, so give it a shot.  It just wasn't for me.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Emily Arsenault 

Photo by Ross Gram

Emily Arsenault is also the author of The Broken Teaglass, In Search of the Rose Notes, Miss Me When I’m Gone, and What Strange Creatures. She lives in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, with her husband and daughter.

Find out more about Emily at her website and connect with her on Facebook.

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Shelter in Place by Nora Roberts

Author: Nora Roberts
Publisher: St. Martins Press
Date of publication: May 2018

Sometimes, there is nowhere safe to hide.

It was a typical evening at a mall outside Portland, Maine. Three teenage friends waited for the movie to start. A boy flirted with the girl selling sunglasses. Mothers and children shopped together, and the manager at the video-game store tended to customers. Then the shooters arrived.

The chaos and carnage lasted only eight minutes before the killers were taken down. But for those who lived through it, the effects would last forever. In the years that followed, one would dedicate himself to a law enforcement career. Another would close herself off, trying to bury the memory of huddling in a ladies' room, hopelessly clutching her cell phone--until she finally found a way to pour her emotions into her art.

But one person wasn't satisfied with the shockingly high death toll at the DownEast Mall. And as the survivors slowly heal, find shelter, and rebuild, they will discover that another conspirator is lying in wait--and this time, there might be nowhere safe to hide.

Shelter in Place opens with a pretty detailed mass shooting in a local mall in Maine.  There is no trigger warning, but I would assume from the synopsis that people who would be triggered would avoid this book anyway.  I am torn on how much I enjoyed this book.  The opening scenes were tense and had me on the edge of my seat.  Then the next quarter of the book dragged.  It wasn't until about halfway through that the book really got going again.

Part of what made me hesitate to say I loved the book was finding out pretty early on the identity of the other conspirator.  I think I would have felt more suspense had the reveal been toward the end with most of the book putting the pieces together.  We also follow the main characters through their college years up until they meet again on the island.  I know that it was meant as a way to see how their lives were shaped by the shooting, but I found much of those passages longer then they needed to be and honestly would have been fine with  some simple flashbacks.

The romance was sweet. I just wish it hadn't taken so long to get to it. Reed and Simone were an unlikely pair, but I bought into it anyway.  Reed was my favorite character with CeCe being a close second.  I would have loved to have a grandmother like her.   

This is a fairly enjoyable stand alone.  I'm sure most Nora fans will pick it up.  I did like it, I just didn't love that whole thing like I usually do.