A Familiar Stranger: a mystery, psychological thriller with many twists and turns

A Familiar Stranger by AR Torre is a mystery, psychological thriller. Lillian Smith leads an ordinary life. She writes obituaries, posts tweets about mysterious deaths and deals with her inattentive husband and a disconnected son. When she meets David, a handsome stranger, in a coffee shop, she can’t help but invent a new persona and lures herself into an affair. With no strings and with the excitement she is missing and craves. She has never felt so reckless and wanted but as her affair intensifies, she begins to ignore everything else in her life. When her affair finds its way to her son’s social media, everything she has worked for is at risk. With lie after lie, her world spins out of control. What she doesn’t realize is she isn’t the only one leading a double life. 

A Familiar Stranger is an interesting mystery with a few twists and turns that lead to an unexpected culprit. Every character is hiding behind walls of lies and deceit. And no character being worthy of redemption with their comeuppance waiting in the wings, there were many moving parts and secrets at play. The timeline follows before, during and after a death, it is a slow burn at first until the victim and the suspects spin at high speed to cover their tracks. Who is the victim? Why were they killed?  Who is the killer? Will they be discovered or will they get away with the murder? The ending was surprising. Overall, I enjoyed this story and look forward to other works by Ms. Torre. If you enjoy mystery, psychological thrillers, I recommend A Familiar Stranger. 

A Familiar Stranger is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook. 

Catching Quinn: a enemies to lovers, sport romance

Catching Quinn by Jennifer Bonds is the second book of the Waverley Wildcats series. Quinn Mowery is determined to lose her virginity. She is on a mission and focused. What she didn’t account for was Copper DeLaurentis, a teammate and friend of her brother’s. With his misguided sense of bro code, he is constantly putting an end to her possible hookups. He seems to think it is his mission to keep her from hers. As Waverly’s star wide receiver, Cooper is also the most notorious player on campus. He’s arrogant and sexy as hell. However, Quinn is no pushover and two can play this game. As the two go toe to toe, they become friends and learn about each other's dreams, hurts and plans for the future. Neither factored in falling in love. 

Catching Quinn is a fun, sweet romance with dramatic heartbreaking moments and heartwarming scenes. The events of this story occur alongside with the events of the first book, Claiming Carter (which I highly recommend). I love Quinn as a quirky college student who is trying to find herself and sense of purpose. Cooper is dealing with a painful past and a family dynamic that he hides from the rest of the world. Cooper shows Quinn that she is worth more than just random, meaningless hookups. Quinn shows Cooper that he is not doomed to repeat the patterns of the past. There was great banter, tearful moments and a great grand gesture. I am looking forward to the rest of the series. If you enjoy enemies to lovers, sports romance, I highly recommend Catching Quinn. 

Catching Quinn is available in paperback and eBook

Even Forever: a clean historical romance with action, drama and heart

 Even Forever by Robin Lee Hatcher is the first book in the Boulder Creek series. Rosalie Tomkin wanted nothing to do with men and marriage. Her abusive father and lazy brother were prime examples that men could not be trusted. She plans to leave Boulder Creek as soon as she can. Michael Randolph is in a high stakes competition with his half-brother for control of the family hotel business. He has been sent to Boulder Creek to oversee the construction of a new hotel. When an innocent encounter leads to a shotgun wedding, Rosalie and Michael agree to a marriage of convenience. One year and they would go their separate ways. However, when her greedy father won’t leave her alone, Michael finds himself risking it all to protect Rosalie, especially his heart. Can he prove to her that all men are not like her father and brother? Will Rosalie be willing to risk her heart as well? 

Even Forever is a clean historical romance with plenty of action, drama and heart. I was quickly drawn into Rosalie and Michael’s story as the big city man falls for the small town country girl and finds new meaning in his life. Their romance was so sweet as Rosalie wanted to protect her heart and Michael wanted to show her she was worthy of so much more than she had before. I could not put the book down as her nasty father caused more and more trouble and my heart melted as they confessed their love to each other. There were twists and turns that took me by surprise and I eagerly read to find out how it all resolved. Even Forever is a story that reminds us that God’s blessings come in surprising and unexpected ways. I look forward to reading more in this series. If you enjoy clean historical romance, I highly recommend Even Forever. 

Even Forever is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

The Faith in Flowers: a second chance romance with heart and small town charm

The Faith in Flowers is the fifth book in the Poppy Creek series by Rachael Bloome. Olivia Parker returns home for her brother, Grant’s wedding. She decides to keep her divorce secret so as to not ruin the big day. Confirmed bachelor Reed Hollis has never forgotten the only woman to capture his heart and he also hasn’t forgotten that she is married. Believing Olivia is happily married, he buried himself into cultivating his beautiful blooms and keeping his distance. When the original wedding venue becomes unavailable, Olivia and Reed are brought together to help plan the wedding with a new venue. As the two work together, they are confronted with their feelings as well as their fears and painful secrets. Can their love bloom with a little faith? 

I love the Poppy Creek series and The Faith in Flowers is a great addition to it. It is a sweet, clean romance with plenty of heart and the small town charm. A second chance for Olivia and Reed find themselves face to face after so many years and discovering their past feelings are alive and well. I love the themes of love, grace and forgiveness and that even the most beautiful flowers bloom from the dirt. We are not bound to our past mistakes as we build for a brighter future. Reed and Olivia are so sweet as they banter as friends and confide in each other before ultimately confessing their love. I look forward to continuing the series. I highly recommend The Faith in Flowers and the Poppy Creek series. 

The Faith in Flowers is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Twisted Lies: a fake dating romance with a morally grey character

Twisted Lies is the fourth and final book in the Twisted series by Ana Huang. Christian Harper is charming, deadly and smart enough to hide it. He is a ruthless monster parading as a gentleman in a three piece suit. Morals just get in the way and love is a useless emotion, however, he can’t deny the attraction toward a woman he barely knows. He can’t afford a weakness and yet, he has one. Stella Alonso is sweet, shy and introverted despite her very public fashion blog and media presence. Busy with her career and other responsibilities, she has very little time for a relationship, despite being a romantic at heart. When a threat from her past returns, Stella finds herself turning to Christian for help. He suggests a fake dating agreement which would be mutually beneficial. However, when their relationship becomes very real that their original agreement, based on a lie and twisted with secrets, that could shatter everything.

 Twisted Lies is a steamy, medium to slow burn fake dating romance. Christian is a morally gray character who closes himself off to any emotions and the only person that seems to be able to invoke any emotions for him is Stella. Twisted Lies is my second favorite book in this series. I enjoyed Stella’s growth the most as she learns to stand up for herself and her dreams. She struggled with anxiety due to her overachieving family and I loved how Christian shows her that success doesn’t follow a certain formula. While Christian was a hard character to like, however, as he opens up to Stella, he is revealed to be deeply wounded. I also enjoyed his banter with the men of the Twisted series, especially Alex and Rhys. Overall, I loved the slow burn and the build up to Christian and Stella breaking the rules of their arrangement. If you have enjoyed the Twisted series, I recommend Twisted Lies. 

Twisted Lies is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

A Whole New World: what if Jafar got Genie's lamp first?

A Whole New World by Liz Braswell is a part of the Disney Hyperion A Twisted Tale series. What if Jafar got the lamp first? When Jafar finally obtains the Genie’s lamp, he uses his first two wishes to become sultan and the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Agrabah lives in fear as Jafar still has his third and final wish to make. To stop the madman, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine must find a way to unite the people of Agrabah and fight back. With the network of Agrabah’s thieves, they start to thwart Jafar’s plans. Will the Street Rat become a leader? A princess, a revolutionary? It all starts with the question: what if Jafar was the first to summon the Genie? 

I love the Twisted Tale series and A Whole New World is a great twisted story. With the beginning following fairly closely with the beloved Disney film, the twist occurs and the story turns gritty, dark and a thrilling ride to the very end. The story also adds elements of the Genie’s origins and history that was absent from the original movie. A Whole New World is my fourth book of this series and I cannot wait to read the rest. My only complaint is the ending seemed rushed and it was over quickly despite the build up. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this twisted story. If you love the Disney stories and want to experience a twisted tale, I highly recommend A Whole New World. 

A Whole New World is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

Twisted Hate: the ultimate enemies to lovers romance

Twisted Hate is the third book in the Twisted series by Ana Huang. Josh Chen and Jules Ambrose have a hate-hate relationship. As a gorgeous, cocky and on track to becoming a doctor, Josh has been able to charm any woman he wanted, that is until Jules. As one of his sister’s best friends, she has been a thorn in his side that he must tolerate for his sister’s sake. However, he always finds Jules entering his thoughts in ways he didn’t expect. When their animosity results into one unforgettable night, Josh proposes a frenemies with benefits arrangement with three simple rules. No jealousy. No strings attached and absolutely no falling in love. Jules thinks easy peasy because, despite being incredibly handsome, Josh is insufferable. However, she soon realizes there is more to Josh than meets the eye. When demons from her past catch up with her, Jules soon sees that her best friend’s brother, her nemesis, may be her salvation as well. 

Twisted Hate is the ultimate enemies to lovers romance. Josh and Jules only have one thing in common: his sister Ava. That and their mutual goal to take the other down a peg or two. The banter between Josh and Jules from the previous books was only the beginning. It fuels into a full blaze in Twisted Hate. And yet there were tender moments as their hearts soften toward each other. Their spicy scenes were a bit uncomfortable at times. I enjoyed their banter and tender moments more especially toward the end as they acknowledged their new feelings for each other. Huge warning with this book. It does contain explicit content, profanity and other sensitive topics. There were a few moments that were difficult to read. It is recommended for 18+ readers and I concur. Overall, I enjoyed this story, even though it is not my favorite of the series. If you have enjoyed the first two books of the Twisted series, I recommend Twisted Hate. 

Twisted Hate is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook