Book Review #1: Historical/Psychological/Gothic Thriller

3.5/5

This had been sitting in my Kindle for a while. I like to keep this kind of book in queue after some of the steamier genres I’ve been into. This one had some the things I gravitate towards: libraries, WWI/WWII era, and mystery.

Twenty-three-year-old Ivy Radcliffe, not only inherits the mysterious Blackwood Abbey on the Yorkshire moors but a new title as well, Lady Hayworth. Ivy is met with the staff that have been there for decades and know all of its secrets. Her new home is rumored to have ghosts, curses, and a mysterious manuscript Ivy must find to save herself and the abbey.

It’s a quick read with the right amount of suspense and mystery to keep you reading.

4.5/5

I must admit, I picked this one up for the cover, it’s stunning. Set in the Bahamas, 1941, where Leonora “Lulu” Randolph arrives to investigate the island during wartime and to cover the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Edward and Wallis, who five years earlier nearly took down the monarchy with their love affair.

Lulu gains access to the Duke and Duchess's social circle that controls the islands’ political and financial affairs and discovers that their marriage is filled with an ugly reality. This Windsor-era Nassau era is filled with spies, deception, and racial tension, and in the center of it all is  Benedict Thorpe, a charming scientist whose loyalties seems to change with the tide. How could Lulu not fall for him.

In one of the most infamous cases of the century, the murder of the wealthiest man and it’s cover up. Thorpe disappears and Lulu will stop at nothing to find him. She travels to London where she will uncover Thorpe’s complicated family history that consists of a fateful love affair, wartime tragedy, and a mother who lost everything.

This books weaves together the lives of two amazing women in a story of espionage, sacrifice and love…and the added bonus of the fall of the notorious royal couple.

5/5

This book was a bit of a mind f***. Anne and Marco Conti have a loving marriage, an amazing home, and a beautiful baby girl, Cora. One night at a dinner party next door,  an unthinkable crime is committed. The couple are the prime suspects. As the evening’s account unfolds, it’s up to Detective Rasbach to figure what the couple is hiding and what really happened that night.

This book had me hooked from the first few pages. I had to know what happened and who was involved. It’s a quick read that will leave you guessing until the end.

3/5

Another Freida McFadden makes an appearance on my list.

New Yorker, Syndey Shaw, is looking for the perfect man. After s series of horrible dates with men who’ve lied on their dating profile, stick you with the bill, and those momma’s boys, she meet the dream guy! He’s a handsome doctor who works at a local hospital. Sydney is instantly smitten but when a young women is brutally murdered – the latest is a series of murders -  Sydney no longer feels safe. The prime suspect is a man who dates their victims before killing them. Sydney can't shake the feeling that her perfect boyfriend may not be as perfect as he seems. Will she become the next victim?

3.5/5

Erika Cass's perfect life comes crashing down, when two detectives show up at her front door looking for her son. A high-school girl goes missing from their quiet suburban neighborhoodand the last person to see her alive was her son, Liam. The investigation uncovers Liam’s dark past and Erika wants to believe that her son is innocent. As evidence mounts ageist Liam, she has to grips with the reality that her perfect son is guilty.

Freida McFadden does not disappoint. This book will keep you on your toes and just when you think you’ve figured it out comes another shocking twist.