Book Review and GIVEAWAY: Northwoods, by Amy Pease {ends 1/20}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

“You look like shit, Eli.”

“Good morning to you, too, Dan.” Eli had left his car windows open last night in the rain, and he realized just now that his backside was damp from the soggy, musty upholstery. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and crammed it into the breast pocket of his shirt, where it sagged and wobbled stupidly in the thin fabric. On the drive here, he had fantasized about never having to see Alyssa Mason again. At least she was gracious enough not to text him this morning to see how he was doing. He still had no idea why she’d covered for him last night.

“What have I done now, Deputy?” Dan leaned back in the chair and stretched his legs in front of him. Despite his skinniness, he had a round face and wide shoulders that hinted at the meaty guy he had been years ago. He was just a couple of years older than Eli, early forties, but time had not been kind to him. 

Eli used to be an excellent investigator—can he pull it together again for a murdered teenage boy and the boy’s missing friend? It may not be the small town crime that usually happens in Shaky Lake.

Official synopsis:

Eli North is not okay.

His drinking is getting worse by the day, his emotional wounds after a deployment to Afghanistan are as raw as ever, his marriage and career are over, and the only job he can hold down is with the local sheriff’s department. And that’s only because the sheriff is his mother—and she’s overwhelmed with small town Shaky Lake’s dwindling budget and the fallout from the opioid epidemic. The Northwoods of Wisconsin may be a vacationer’s paradise, but amidst the fishing trips and campfires and Paul Bunyan festivals, something sinister is taking shape.

When the body of a teenage boy is found in the lake, it sets in motion an investigation that leads Eli to a wealthy enclave with a violent past, a pharmaceutical salesman, and a missing teenage girl. Soon, Eli and his mother, along with a young FBI agent, are on the hunt for more than just a killer.

If Eli solves the case, could he finally get the shot at redemption he so desperately needs? Or will answers to this dark case elude him and continue to bring destruction to the Northwoods?

This book definitely felt like the first of a series, and the reader is left wondering what’s next when this case is solved. The story starts out with Eli drunk more often than not, running from his memories of war and his failure to readjust to his previous life. His mom, Marge, is the police chief who has given him a job to try and help him get back on his feet, but she spends a lot of her time and emotional energy covering for him and trying to convince them all that he’s just having a rough patch. 

When Eli finds a dead boy in a docked boat while responding to a noise complaint, their little police department of four employees really does not seem like enough to handle such a serious situation. Once a missing girl is added to the mix, the FBI is called in to collaborate. Luckily the FBI agent, Alyssa, seems the perfect addition to their awkward little cast of characters. With their few leads going in opposite directions, it’s soon apparent that the crime they think they’re investigating may only be covering up for an even more devious network of trouble.

Overall, the book had a few unexpected twists and turns, but the characters were especially rich with their own back stories and experiences. The story earned 4 out of 5 stars with just a few loose ends that would be great to hear more about in follow-up. This book would come recommended to those who enjoy crime thrillers, police procedurals, and small town stories.

{click here to purchase on Amazon - affiliate link}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mom who enjoys living a predictable life with her family, her cats, and her books. Check out more from her on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Northwoods!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Saturday, January 20th, at 11:59pm ET, and winner will be notified via email the next day and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Northwoods, by Amy Pease

Read More

Book Review and GIVEAWAY: The Twelve Days of Murder, by Andreina Cordani {ends 1/19}

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Charley stares up at the stag again, which definitely doesn’t match the art deco print hanging next to it. On the sideboard beneath it there’s a large, lidded porcelain serving bowl, another stylised art-deco affair, and Charley moves it so it sits directly beneath the stag, but that just makes things look even more off-centre. As she shifts it back, the lid falls askew. There’s something inside.

It’s a square, brown parcel wrapped up with a bow. Another present, just like the ones they found at breakfast. It must be Pan’s. Of course, Lady Partridge was supposed to have been ‘murdered’ before breakfast, but Ali must have arranged this gift as an extra clue - or an extra grenade to throw into the midst of the Murder Masquerade Society. So why would someone hide it?

Because it incriminates the killer somehow.

Her stomach churns as she lifts the box out, slides her fingers under the box. She braces herself, knowing there could be something horrible inside, and pulls out a square of blue cottony fabric, the size of a handkerchief but frayed at the edges, covered in blood.

Whatever happened to the previous leader of their Murder Masquerade Society at the last party, years ago? And could the answer to that mystery save them from what’s happening this time around?

Official synopsis:

Twelve years ago, eight friends ran an exclusive group at university: The Masquerade Murder Society. The mysteries they solved may have been grisly, and brilliantly staged, but they were always fictional—until their final Christmas Masquerade, when one of the group disappeared, never to be seen again.

Now our young, privileged cast of old university friends are summoned to the depths of Scotland for a Christmas-themed masquerade party. But all are hiding something deep below the surface that could make or break their careers. Charley is a struggling actress who has always been on the periphery of this high-flying group, but has decided to reunite with her frenemies on the promise of career help if she joins the old cast for one last weekend.

Charley does not really miss her college days. When she’s invited to join a reunion of some college acquaintances for another Masquerade Murder Society, she probably would not have attended, until the woman organizing it offers her some extra incentives. She still doesn’t expect it to be much fun, but she also certainly doesn’t expect her life to be at risk!

The characters in the fictional script they’re there to act out are based on the twelve days of Christmas, but one of the members of the group insists that death was intended at every verse. When people start dying, no one is sure where to look for answers. Is it all tied to Karl’s disappearance and suspected death years ago? And if so, is it a continuation to whatever happened then, or fresh revenge?

The interpretation of the twelve days’ characters and the explanations of how their deaths fit their characters was interesting. The characters themselves were also unique and great illustrations of the rich not really having everything go their way—they each had their own secrets and possible struggles that they didn’t want the rest of the group to know. It colored everyone’s motivations and expectations in a way that deepened the plot. Overall, this book earned 3 out of 5 stars. While the surface read a bit like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, the actual revealed conclusions at the end deviated from the original.

{click here to purchase on Amazon - affiliate link}

Becki Bayley is a wife and mother who enjoys volunteering with the local high school theatre group. See what she’s been up to and reading lately on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of The Twelve Days of Murder!

Enter via the widget below. The giveaway will end on Friday, January 19th, at 11:59pm ET, and the winner will be notified via email the next day, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

The Twelve Days of Murder, by Andreina Cordani

Read More

Book Review: Husbands & Lovers, by Beatriz Williams

I sit down and lean back against the clothes dryer. "All right, Sherlock. So what else?"

"What do you mean, what else?"

"What else makes you think you're Monk Adams's love child? Other than your otherworldly handsomeness and universe-exploding charisma, I mean.

Sam wads up the trunks in his hand and turns to walk out of the room.

"Because you never play any of his songs."

This was an interesting read and a great way to start off 2024—my goal is to try and read more this year (as you may have noticed, my guest reviewer Becki penned most of our reviews in 2023), and I received this one from NetGalley.

Official synopsis:

Two women—separated by decades and continents, and united by a mysterious family heirloom—reclaim family secrets and lost loves in this sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer Wives.

New England, 2022. Three years ago, single mother Mallory Dunne received the telephone call every parent dreads—her ten-year-old son Sam had been airlifted from summer camp with acute poisoning from a toxic death cap mushroom, leaving him fighting for his life. Now, in a search for the donor kidney that will give her son a chance for a normal life, Mallory’s forced to confront two harrowing secrets from her past: her mother’s adoption from an infamous Irish orphanage in 1952, and her own all-consuming summer romance fourteen years earlier with her childhood best friend Monk Adams—now one of the world’s most beloved singer-songwriters—a fairytale cut short by an agonizing betrayal.

Cairo, 1951. After suffering tragedy beyond comprehension in the war, Hungarian refugee Hannah Ainsworth has forged a respectable new life for herself—marriage to a wealthy British diplomat, a coveted posting in glamorous Cairo. But a fateful encounter with the enigmatic manager of a hotel bristling with spies leads to a passionate affair that will reawaken Hannah's longing for everything she once lost. As revolution simmers in the Egyptian streets, a pregnant Hannah finds herself snared into a game of intrigue between two men…and an act of sacrifice that will echo down the generations.

Timeless and bittersweet, Husbands And Lovers draws readers on an unforgettable journey of heartbreak and redemption, from the revolutionary fires of midcentury Egypt to the moneyed beaches of contemporary New England. Acclaimed author Beatriz Williams has written a poignant and beautifully voiced novel of deeply human characters entangled by morally complex issues—of privilege, class, and the female experience—inside worlds brought shimmeringly to life.

This novel jumps between 1951, Cairo; 2008; and 2022. In 1951 Cairo, Hannah Ainsworth, who has a few secrets, is married to a British diplomat, but has an affair with the manager of a hotel. In 2008, Mallory Dunne has agreed to nanny for the siblings of Monk Adams, a college friend and someone who she secretly has a crush on. And in 2022, Mallory and her son are vacationing on the East Coast and run into Monk Adams, now a superstar musician, who is engaged and about to get married that week. 

It's hard to navigate multiple storylines/timelines, and I thought the author did this well, although I did think the book ended on a cliffhanger/resolution of sorts that could have been expanded. At first I didn't see why the Cairo part was relevant, but it soon reveals itself, and I didn't know much about wartime in Cairo anyways so it was interesting. My favorite parts were actually the ones set in 2008, when Mallory and Monk (who I pictured as John Mayer in my head, for some reason) were falling in love. 

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in historical and/or romance books, or anyone who enjoys a good mystery, too, actually—it covered a few genres. 

4.5/5 stars.

Husbands & Lovers will be available on June 25, 2024—click here to pre-order on Amazon (affiliate link).

Read More

Book Review AND GIVEAWAY: Missed Cue, by Lynn Slaughter

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Victor Pesetsky lived in a sprawling Victorian on the outskirts of the city. He glowered at us when we arrived and showed him our search warrant. He held a miniature poodle in his arms who was feverishly barking. “It’s okay, Felicia.” He turned his gaze on us. “Strangers make her a bit nervous at first.”

“Any place she can go while we search?”

He sniffed. “I’ll take her to the backyard, and she can stay there while you’re here. How long is this going to take?”

"Maybe a few hours,” I said.

“All right. I’m going out then.” He handed me a card. “Please call my cell when you’re done.”

I nodded and asked him to point us to his kitchen. We walked across gleaming hardwood floors through high-ceilinged rooms filled with antiques and dance-related art. The framed Degas print of his Dancing Class was familiar, but I’d never seen the bronze sculpture of a ballerina in arabesque with her head thrown back in ecstasy. I wondered if the model had been his late wife.

The first step of finding a murderer is determining how the victim was actually murdered. Detective Caitlin O’Connor has a pretty good solve record, but for a death that occurred right in front of many witnesses, she’s having a hard time tying up loose ends.

Official synopsis:

When ballerina Lydia Miseau dies onstage in the final dress rehearsal of Romeo and Juliet, homicide detective Caitlin O’Connor is faced with the most complicated case of her career. She strongly suspects that someone murdered the ballerina, and her investigation uncovers several people close to the star who had reasons to kill her. But the autopsy reveals no apparent cause of death. If Lydia Miseau was murdered, who did it, and how?

Meantime, there’s Caitlin’s hot mess of a personal life. She has a bad habit of getting involved with married men. She knows it’s wrong, so why does she keep entangling herself in unhealthy relationships? She’s finally decided to go into therapy to find out.

Oh, Caitlin. She’s got a good reputation for doing her job well, but all of it could be lost in a moment between her continued affair with a married man she has to work with and personal complications with her partner. If she can’t get her own head on straight, she definitely can’t solve this case. It takes a full team to find how the victim died so they can then move on to finding who killed her.

The cast in this book was quite realistic—no one was just the role they were playing in the story, and who they were outside of their primary story parts was important too. While a few people had obvious motivations to kill the famous and gifted ballerina, was it still possible she just happened to have the bad luck to die unexpectedly? Caitlin and her partner really don’t think so.

The solution to the crime was not obvious and different parts of the story had to be connected to make it all fall into place. The story earned 3 out of 5 stars, and the ending left room for more developments and cases in Caitlin’s future.

{click here to purchase via Amazon - affiliate link}

Becki Bayley is a Gemini, wife, and mother. She enjoys BBQ chips, HI-CHEW, and the sense of accomplishment that comes from a job well done. See how she spends a few more of her spare moments on Instagram, where she posts as PoshBecki.

GIVEAWAY:

One of my lucky readers will win a SIGNED COPY of Missed Cue!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Friday, January 12th, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be contacted the next day via email, and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. residents only, please.

Good luck!

Missed Cue, by Lynn Slaughter

Read More

Book Review: The Impossible Girl, by Lydia Kang

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Cora had sent out several notes to the physicians who knew the dead man, as well as her boys, asking if they knew anything of William Timothy’s burial site. Her little messenger boy had been fairly flying all over town with her notes in tow. Leah made herself busy with sponging and pressing Cora’s dress, which had gotten dusty on the walk near the Battery.

The rest of the evening, Cora’s thoughts were consumed with Suzette Cutter. “How could she know about me? I thought they’d been told I was a boy.”

“I don’t know,” Leah said. She shuffled from her left to right foot as she sponged the dress. Her nervous dance again.

“Why would she care about my health? Does she know about my … condition?”

“Perhaps Charlotte spoke to her and didn’t tell us,” Leah said.

“I suppose I could ask Miss Cutter myself,” Cora said, thinking out loud.

“Oh, fie, dear! That’s a mistake, it is!” Leat set down her iron. “Don’t encourage her. We’re not to speak to them!”

Cora’s physical anomaly was not the most interesting thing about her. Her entire life (or lives?) were a mystery to all but a couple of friends who were like family.

Official synopsis:

Two hearts. Twice as vulnerable.

Manhattan, 1850. Born out of wedlock to a wealthy socialite and a nameless immigrant, Cora Lee can mingle with the rich just as easily as she can slip unnoticed into the slums and graveyards of the city. As the only female resurrectionist in New York, she’s carved out a niche procuring bodies afflicted with the strangest of anomalies. Anatomists will pay exorbitant sums for such specimens—dissecting and displaying them for the eager public.

Cora’s specialty is not only profitable, it’s a means to keep a finger on the pulse of those searching for her. She’s the girl born with two hearts—a legend among grave robbers and anatomists—sought after as an endangered prize.

Now, as a series of murders unfolds closer and closer to Cora, she can no longer trust those she holds dear, including the young medical student she’s fallen for. Because someone has no intention of waiting for Cora to die a natural death.

The easiest way for Cora’s aunt to keep her a secret while raising her was to give her a whole new identity. After her hidden childhood, she begins carving out her own special place in the world, with a goal of knowing if anyone is looking for her, and keeping nearly everyone at enough of a distance that they could never find her.

The real story starts as several things happen at once—the rumors about the girl with two hearts start spreading again, Cora meets someone she may want to get to know better, and other citizens with physical anomalies that shouldn’t shorten their lives start dying much sooner than expected. Cora hardly knows which crisis needs to be managed first.

The characters in this book were so interesting. Besides Cora, there are her grave-robbing employees, her ladies’ maid, and the man who has been almost a father figure for most of her life. As the book progresses she meets another grave-robbing entrepreneur/medical student, and relatives of her dead mother. They all have their own goals, and sometimes Cora needs to untangle who is trying to do what. The book was a nice historical read and earned 4 out of 5 stars. 

{click here to purchase on Amazon - affiliate link}

Becki Bayley is a Gemini who has been married almost 17 years and is mother to two school-aged children. She shares some of their adventures on Instagram, where she posts as PoshBecki.

Read More

Book Review: Touch of Gold, by Annie Sullivan

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Royce takes his seat in the boat opposite me.

“Did you get everything we needed?” he asks Phipps as though he hasn’t just left a man behind to die.

“Aye, Captain,” Phipps says. He pats the massive amount of sail filling up the majority of the longboat. If he finds it odd Aris isn’t with us, he doesn’t mention it.

None of them do.

“Where’s Thipps?” Phipps asks.

There’s frantic movement in the boat followed by a gasp when his eyes land on his brother’s body, laid out on another new sail folded in the front of the boat. I look away.

“He saved the princess,” Royce says quietly.

“No,” Phipps whispers. He falls to his knees next to his brother’s form. “Thipps. Come on, Thipps.” He pulls on the collar of his shirt, yanking him up. Thipps’s head rolls backward.

“He’s gone,” Royce says in a gentle tone I’ve never heard from him before.

Kora doesn’t go outside the palace anymore, as she’s been convinced that her father’s curse will ruin everyone’s life the way it has ruined hers.

Official synopsis:

After King Midas’s gift—or curse—almost killed his daughter, he relinquished The Touch forever. Ten years later, Princess Kora still bears the consequences of her father’s wish: her skin shines golden, rumors follow her everywhere she goes, and she harbors secret powers that are getting harder to hide.

Kora spends her days concealed behind gloves and veils. It isn’t until a charming duke arrives that Kora believes she could indeed be loved. But their courtship is disrupted when a thief steals treasures her father needs to survive. Thanks to Kora’s unique ability to sense gold, she sails off on her quest to find the missing items.

While Kora never expected to leave the palace, when her father’s life is at stake, she’s the only one who can find the missing gold and save his life. While she initially expects everyone to fear her or exploit her, she finds out that the small circle of people who have populated her life may not be exactly who she thought. And perhaps there are some truly good people out in the world who she would benefit from and enjoy knowing.

Kora and her cousin Hettie go off on the adventure of their lives and learn more about themselves and each other than they thought possible. Their first instinct, of course, is to only trust each other, but circumstances will force them to re-evaluate where their loyalties should lie. Peoples’ response to The Midas Touch may sometimes tell them all they need to know.

This book earned 4 out of 5 stars and is a great middle-grade retelling of a classic fairy tale from a unique perspective. King Midas’s golden touch has also changed every aspect of his daughter Kora’s life, and she’ll never forget that a gift from Dionysus is never as it seems. This book would be recommended for those who like classic stories from different viewpoints and sharing different emphasis.

{click here to purchase using my Amazon Affiliate link - Touch of Gold is part of a two-book series}

Becki Bayley is a wife, mother, and aunt who enjoys relaxing with a book and learning about what everyone else likes to read. Check out other book and life reviews on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

Read More

Book Review: No One Knows Us Here, by Rebecca Kelley

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Leo wanted me to show him the knives myself, but we needed someone to open up the display case with a key. He went to find someone and returned with…Margorie. I felt heat rise up my face, all the way up to my ears.

Margorie approached the case, her keys jingling in an exaggerated way. She acted like she didn’t recognize me, or like she didn’t know me at all. And god. She was right. She didn’t know me.

Or she did know. She knew everything the minute I – dressed in a tight velvet dress – waltzed into the store with the man I said was my boss. She knew then that there was no boyfriend in San Francisco. Only this.

“My girlfriend wants to give me the sales pitch,” he said to Margorie as she twisted the key in the lock and opened up the case. “She used to work here.”

Rosemary thinks she’s found her big break. She’s willing to do anything for her sister, and eventually, she has to prove it.

Official synopsis:

Rosemary Rabourne is already struggling to pay the bills when her recently orphaned half sister, Wendy, shows up at her door. Rosemary will try anything to provide for the traumatized teenager—including offering her services as a high-end escort.

Leo Glass is the billionaire CEO of a revolutionary social app. He wants the “girlfriend experience”—someone contractually obligated to love him—and he thinks he’s found the perfect match in Rosemary. His proposition has its perks: a luxury apartment and financial security. And its conditions: constant surveillance and availability whenever Leo calls. It’s not the life Rosemary wants, but she’s out of options.

Then she meets her new neighbor, Sam, a musician with whom Rosemary shares an immediate attraction and a genuine intimacy she’s never felt with anyone. Falling in love makes it possible to imagine a real new life. But Leo won’t let go of her that easily, and his need for control escalates. So does Rosemary’s desperation—to protect Wendy, to protect herself, and, at any price, to escape.

Rosemary is old enough to know that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. But when she is struggling to keep a roof over her own head while going to school, and then her young sister shows up threatening self-harm if Rosemary doesn’t take her in, desperation takes over. 

This book felt like a lot of information, between the backstory for Rosemary and Wendy, to a sort of glossing over of Rosemary’s life between her childhood and when she meets Leo Glass, to her divided life while "dating" Leo Glass. She made it clear that she was playing a role with him, but what an engrossing role to play. While it wasn’t clear if she was still going to school or just waiting til the year was over, her time without him felt almost pointless. Having to be prepared for him to summon her meant she never could really just relax and be herself.

Overall, the book was an interesting perspective of a situation that sounds like it maybe could be realistic, but still hard to imagine. The story earned 3 out of 5 stars and would be good for those who enjoy psychological thrillers combined with a bit of family drama. 

{click here to purchase via Amazon Affiliate link; currently FREE for Kindle Unlimited users}

Becki Bayley is a Gemini who enjoys relaxing with a good book, a salty snack, and a refreshing beverage. When she’s not at work writing responses to complaints, find her carting her kids around or finding a few minutes to read in a cozy spot. Check out more reviews and adventures on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.

Read More