The Housemaid: one never knows what goes on behind closed doors

The Housemaid is the first book in The Housemaid series by Freida McFadden. Millie Calloway has a past and she is looking to move on with her life; however, she needs a job. She couldn’t believe her luck when she was hired by Nina Winchester as a maid which included a living space. As she cleans their beautiful house from top to bottom, does their laundry, runs their errands and even cooks their meals, Millie realizes that the Winchesters have dark secrets of their own. When Nina begins to act erratically, Millie tries to ignore it; but she notices that Andrew, Nina’s husband, seems to be more and more saddened and broken by his wife’s behavior. One day, she realizes that the lock on her attic bedroom only locks from the outside, she realizes she has walked into a sinister trap. However, the Winchesters don’t know who she really is and what she is capable of. Can she escape before it is too late? 

Freida McFadden has been all over BookTok and social media for years with some readers avidly raving about her books and others not so much. I read one of her newest titles, Never Lie last year and I wasn’t really impressed. However, I decided to give The Housemaid a chance as it is her most talked about book. The story starts off slow as Millie enters the Winchester home and finds her footing. However, once Nina starts to act peculiar, the story gets on the fast track. There were a lot of twists and turns that I never guessed the true motives and even the end events were shocking! It is definitely a story where readers don’t really know who they can trust and will leave jaws on the floor as the twists are revealed. The Housemaid was definitely a better read than Never Lie and I may give her books a try in the future. If you enjoy psychological thrillers, you may enjoy The Housemaid. 

The Housemaid is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

So This is Christmas: the magic of Christmas is shattered by a horrifying crime

So This is Christmas is the eleventh book in the best selling Hart’s Ridge series by Kay Bratt. The small town of Hart’s Ridge is glowing with holiday magic as the quaint town is decked with festive lights and holiday cheer that draws visitors from all around. However, this year, Deputy Taylor Gray hopes for a quiet holiday as she recovers and learns how to enjoy her new role as the family celebrates. However, in another part of town, the peace and quiet of the Christmas spirit is shattered when four bodies are discovered. Detective Shane Weaver must solve this crime without Taylor as she becomes torn between her promise to Sam to stay out of the investigation and focus on her recovery and her sworn duty to keep the town safe. Who would do such a horrendous act at Christmas? And can Taylor keep her promise? Will Shane leave her out of it? 

The Hart’s Ridge series just keeps getting better and better! To say that I enjoyed this story would be an understatement. Inspired by real life crime stories, So This is Christmas takes readers on a journey into the unthinkable and asks the question what would drive someone to commit such a crime. So This is Christmas opens with the shocking crime as a family is gunned down and keeps readers on the edge of their seats as the twists and turns come at a fast pace. Intertwined with the case, Taylor is faced with a decision: when will she realize that taking time for yourself and your health isn’t selfish but necessary? It is a question that many caregivers must face. What will be Taylor’s breaking point? If you are a fan of the Hart’s Ridge series, I highly, highly recommend So This is Christmas! If you have not yet started the series, I highly, highly recommend it. 

So This is Christmas is currently available in eBook

Five Winters: the twists and turns of life and the search for love and motherhood

Five Winters by Kitty Johnson is a story about motherhood, friendships and love. When she lost her parents in a car accident when she was 9, all Beth Bailey ever wanted was to get married and have a family. She always pictured her best friend’s older brother, Mark, as that guy. But now, she is 35 and she is witnessing Mark marry someone else. She realizes that her dream of marriage and a family can still happen, it will just have to be with a different guy. Over the next five years, she experiences unexpected twists and the highs and lows of life and love. Beth still clings to what she knows: family, friendship while learning the meaning of love, the truth about happiness and discovering that dreams sometimes take a different road than we expected. 

I was intrigued by the premise and the eye-catching cover of Five Winters. I also understood and related to the premise of watching your crush fall in love with someone else. However, from the get go, Beth was not relatable. She made odd decisions without much thought. She is passive aggressive at times and immature at others. I didn’t care for any of the supporting characters except Mark’s parents who truly loved and supported Beth like one of their own. The story itself seemed to be all over the place. Was it about finding love? Motherhood? Overall, it was a hard book to get through. I wanted to like this story, I really tried but it was a relief when it ended. It is sad to say that I do not recommend Five Winters. 

Five Winters is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

The Retreat: You can check in but you may never leave

The Retreat by Nicola Marsh is a “You can stay, but you may never leave” gothic thriller. Arcania is a wellness street in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Its guests enjoy a week of digital detox where all forms of technology are not permitted and relaxation is the goal. The gothic mansion is a welcome haven but for some it is a nightmare. When her mother dies suddenly, Lucy discovers a mysterious Viking tattoo on the bottom of her mother’s foot. The tattoo is linked to Arcania and impulsively Lucy books a week. The staff seems welcoming enough but soon the creepy house and some of its inhabitants are urging Lucy to leave. Cora Medville is the current owner, arrived at the house forty years ago. She falls in love with the house, Harlan, the dashing heir, and finds the sense of belonging she desperately craved. She stayed. There’s a terrifying truth to the house, how far will Lucy go to discover the truth? How far will Cora go to protect its secrets? 

I have known Nicola Marsh for her domestic psychological thrillers. Now she can add gothic thrillers to her repertoire. Wow! What a story! The Retreat is like a slow burn fire which builds into an inferno that makes it hard to pull away. A thriller that pulls readers into a story that can’t quite be trusted. At the beginning of the story, Lucy seemed too meek and mousey to take such a leap to visit Arcania with so little information. But is there more to Lucy than meets the eye? Is she playing everyone? Or is Lucy slowly going crazy? Could Arcania really be haunted? What are Cora's motives and secrets? There were plot points that were guessable; however, I think that could have been by design. Giving the readers a little tidbit before revealing the big shocker of the story. There were twists that I didn’t see coming and left me gasping in surprise as I turned the page. If you enjoy Nicola Marsh’s psychological thrillers or enjoy gothic thrillers, I highly recommend The Retreat. 

The Retreat is available in paperback and eBook

The Prisoner: a psychological thriller of survival

The Prisoner by BA Paris is a story of survival. Amelie Lamont is a survivor. She has been on her own since the death of her father. She makes her way to London, finds a job and enters the glamorous lifestyle of those around her. She meets the billionaire Ned Hawthorne and enters into a marriage of convenience. She doesn’t realize until it's too late that lies and deceit are the name of the game. A chain of events begins, tumbling like dominoes until she finds herself in a dark room, kidnapped with no hope of getting out. Lies, deception and She has no idea where she is, who her captors are or what their intentions could be; however, one thing she knows for certain, she’s not going down without a fight. 

The Prisoner is an interesting psychological thriller told in two parts. Part One opens in the present as Amelie wakes up in a dark room, recounting the events of the previous day. Back and forth between past and present, the series of events are revealed as how she got kidnapped and possibly why. Part Two is the aftermath as the investigation into the kidnapping begins. Who is to be believed? And who is hiding a deadly secret? The Prisoner is filled with twists and turns that will leave you guessing who to trust and who is behind the kidnapping and what their motives are. I enjoyed The Prisoner. It kept me guessing until the very end. I recommend The Prisoner. 

The Prisoner is available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook

Two Girls Down: a thriller which will keep you guessing

Two Girls Down by Louisa Luna is a mystery thriller that becomes a race against time as two girls disappear without a trace. The story opens with Jamie Brandt, a struggling single mother, taking her two daughters, Kylie, 10 years old, and Bailey, 8 years old, to a birthday party. She stops quickly at a local store for a birthday present and leaves her daughters in the car. When she returns, the girls are gone. The family hires private investigators, Alice Vega and Max “Cap” Caplan, to find the girls when it becomes obvious that the local police are overwhelmed with the investigation. Soon Vega and Cap are hot on the girls’ trail, following every clue while battling hostilities from the police department. When the trail leads to the most unlikely place, they must race to save the girls. Will they find them in time? Will the girls be returned alive?

Two Girls Down is a suspenseful hunt with many twists and turns that will keep the reader on his or her toes. Every clue is important and the hints will keep the reader guessing until the very end. While I can’t talk about a lot of details in the book, as it would give away too much, I loved each and every character from the hostile cops to the seemingly minor characters. I especially loved the chemistry and camaraderie between Vega and Cap. It was great to see how their relationship builds and how they become a seamless team. I look forward to more books featuring these two. It is a great book that I highly recommend. If you love mysteries, this is a book for you.

Two Girls Down

will be available January 9, 2018

in hardcover and eBook