"Little Secrets" by Jennifer Hillier

Start pulling that string and you never know what is going to unravel and eventually, if you keep pulling, something will unravel. After all, everyone has secrets… even little ones.

Marin’s life has been in chaos for sixteen months; simply surviving after her son went missing at Seattle’s Pike Place Market just before Christmas. In the end, it was her fault and there are no leads. Someone dressed up like Santa with a child is not uncommon. And now, her husband Derek is having an affair with a much younger woman. Her best friend and long ago boyfriend, Sal, wants her to leave him or to let him “take care of him”.

Jennifer Hillier writes an engaging tale of kidnapping, lies, deceit, and desires with a satisfying ending.

When I requested this book, I looked at goodreads and marked it “Want To Read”. I knew I had to read it when I saw that it had no one or two star ratings! I looked at the author’s bio, it read “Jennifer Hillier writes about dark, twisted people who do dark, twisted things “. Looking forward to reading all her other books. 😊

Update: I checked out “My Year in Books 2019” on goodreads; her book was the highest rated of the 84 books I read last year.

Publication Date: April 21, 2020

Genre: Suspense, Mystery, Psycological Thrillers, Kidnapping, Crime, Adultery
Cover: Good
Rating: 5 stars
Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!
#LittleSecrets #NetGalley

"The Mist Rises Over Notchey Creek" (Harley Henrickson #1) by Liz Andrews

I’ll be honest, the reason I requested this book is because it is set in my backyard. While I like cozy mysteries, I usually only choose one when I need a respite from my favorite thriller genre. I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It is a cozy mystery, but it is so much more.

Notchey Creek is a town full of secrets. Seeminly idyllic, the town is stunned when a wealthy local history professor turns up dead. Lovable Harley Henrickson is determined to get to the bottom of his death but every corner she turns only brings up more questions.

Full of likeable characters, pet pigs, a rock star, and life lessons, this book is an excellent read. I did not expect the ending and I will be honest, I shed a tear.

I hope that this is the first of many Harley Henrickson novels. I plan to read them all!

#TheMistRisesOverNotcheyCreek #NetGalley

Publication Date: November 28, 2018

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Cover: Perfect
Rating: 5 stars
Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!

“Two Girls Down” by Louisa Luna

“Two Girls Down” by Louisa Luna

She’ll only be a minute. That’s what Jamie Brandt thought when she carelessly left her two girls in the car while dashing into K-Mart to buy a birthday gift. An action that she later regretted when she returned to her car a few minutes later to find her girls missing.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book! When I began, I thought, OK, another deadbeat parent who pays absolutely no attention to her children and whines when something bad happens to them.

In the first few pages of the book, Jamie Brandt declares she “was not a bad mother”. Really? Curse words, alcohol and drugs just to make it through a short drive and kid’s birthday party? I hated her from the first few pages of the book.

Cue Alice Vega. She is called in by Jamie’s wealthy and much more high class Aunt to find the girls as her specialty is locating missing children. Alice enlists the aid of Max Caplan, a local disgraced policeman turned private investigator.

The book details their attempts to find the girls and those responsible. I don’t want to give anything away, but it was fantastic! I could not put it down. The twists and turns to get to the end were great and the reasoning behind the disappearance was a unique twist.

My only issue with the book was that the author mentioned three security guards at K-Mart. I have never known a K-Mart to have three security guards on duty at one time!

In the end, I cut Jamie some slack. Mother of the year? No. But she is a single mother and does love her girls. After all, sometimes even I dream of putting another beverage in my travel mug to get through another birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese!

According to the notes at the end of the book, this is the author’s first foray into adult literature. She has written a couple of YA books. However, Goodreads lists another first published in 2004. This one was good enough that I plan to read her others!

Publication Date: January 9, 2018

Genre:  Thriller, suspense, mystery, crime, detective

Cover:  OK

Rating: 4.5 stars (rounded to 5)

Source:  I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!

“The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley” by Hannah Tinti

Cats have 9 lives, but Samuel Hawley has been blessed with 12! “The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley” by Hannah Tinti is the story of Samuel Hawley, his daughter Loo, and the people who interact with them throughout their lives. It is the tale of a lawless father and his attempts to keep those he loves safe. Sometimes he is successful… sometimes he is not. 

Hawley and Loo move around a lot to random destinations. They only stay somewhere six months to a year.  On Loo’s eleventh birthday, Samuel decides to take Loo someplace where she “won’t have to play alone”. This time, though, they return to Olympus, Massachusetts; her mother’s hometown. Loo’s grandmother still lives there.

We soon find out that Hawley has trouble reigning in his temper. We get a feel for why they may have spent Loo’s life running. 

Samuel always had one gun on him and several more within arm’s length. He taught Loo how to shoot at twelve so it seems normal for her to be around guns. They are her friends. She is comfortable with them; she is not so comfortable with her anger. Mixed with her teenage hormones, she often reacts badly confronted by bullies.

I love the way the author switches from the present and Loo’s perspective to the past. Chapters alternate with “Bullet Number One” and so on to tell Hawley’s past, why he is running, and why he loves and protects his daughter so desperately!

As the book progresses, so does Loo’s life. For the most part, she is a loner. However, she finds love. Her attempts to maintain that relationship are frantic and pitiful. She is as strong a lover as her father. He sets up a sort of altar (in the bathroom) to her dead mother everywhere they call home. The explanation of this towards the end of the book is absolutely heartbreaking. It will rip open a wound in everyone who has lost someone they desperately love with the hope that they will look up and see their loved one turn the corner.

Super read; satisfying ending!

Release/Publication Date:  March 28, 2017

Genre:  Literary Fiction, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Coming of Age

Cover: OK.

Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you! 

Rating: 4.5 stars (rounding to 5)

"Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate

I reserve 5 full stars for books that move me and stay with me long after I have finished them. “Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate was one of those books!

The book details the lives of seven siblings. It travels through their births to their elderly years seamlessly telling the story of how they were stolen from their parents and placed in the Tennessee Children’s Home Society where unspeakable acts were perpetrated against children, the birth parents and adoptive parents.

The book begins with Avery Stafford who has moved back home to assist her mother and father, a Senator, with his public life after a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Her grandmother, Judy, has just been moved to the memory care unit of a premium care assisted living facility as she has been diagnosed with dementia.  The Senator and his staff are trying to juggle that choice, his illness and a scandal involving corporate-owned facilities. Avery attends a meet-and-greet at a facility with her father and meets May, an older lady who mistakes her for both her sister Fern and then her mother, Queenie. While Avery is distracted, May slips an heirloom bracelet from her wrist. When the worker’s retrieve it, May claims it is hers. When Avery returns to retrieve it, she sees an old photo in May’s room. Her curiosity is piqued when she notices the resemblance of the lady in the photo to her grandmother, Judy. When she visits her grandmother to ask her, she tells her to burn all her appointment books/journals at her home.

The resulting story is Avery’s hunt for the truth. “Secrets have a way of coming out. Secrets also make you vulnerable to your enemies, political or otherwise.” Avery must tread carefully; everything her family does or has done is scrutinized. We are reminded that “secrets ain’t a healthy thang, no matter how old they is. Sometimes the oldest secrets is the worst of all”. Is that ever the truth!
Throughout, she begins to question the path she has chosen for her own life. May tells her “a woman’s past need not predict her future. She can dance to new music if she chooses. Her OWN music. To hear the tune, she must only stop talking. To herself, I mean. We’re always trying to persuade ourselves of things.” Such great advice. We often choose someone else’s path for our life. We are reminded to “dance within the music of today, or we will always be out of step”.
It also delves into dementia, assisted living and caring for our loved ones as they age. “This music of old age… it isn’t made for dancing. It’s so… lonely. You’re a burden to everyone.” Wow… go visit your grandmother!

I am the type of reader that loves stores that are based in truth. This one was. The Tennessee Children’s Home Society and Georgia Tann, did exist and committed terrible atrocities. Do a bit of research; you will be appalled.

This story touched me in so many ways. As a child, my sister and I were often shuffled between family members after the death of our mother at ages 2 and 5. I think that we share an even stronger bond because of that. This book describes that bond so beautifully. “The love of sisters needs no words. It does not depend on memories, or mementos, or proof.  It runs as deep as a heartbeat. It is as ever present as a pulse.” Another character said, “The heart still know. It still know who it loves”. Indeed it does!

Read this book. It will make you cry. You will be glad you did.

Release Date: June 6, 2017
Genre: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction
Cover: Perfect
Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you!
Rating: 5 stars

"Watch Me Disappear" by Janelle Brown

I devoured this psychological thriller/suspense novel in less than 24 hours. Once I started reading, I could not stop!

“Watch Me Disappear” by Janelle Brown is the story of Billie, a seemingly perfect wife and mother who was able to “spin magic... to be such a terrific parent when she’d had such bad ones”. Billie disappears and is presumed dead during a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness. Making the story even sadder is that the family was just about as close to perfect as you could get. Johnathan, Billie’s husband, is a senior editor at a flourishing magazine/web site and Olive, her daughter, is a student at a prestigious private school. Everyone seems to love Billie and want to be around her. She is beautiful and a great wife and mother. The author had me loving her;  she reads Tana French… how could I not! However, as the story progresses, we realize all is not as it seems.

Most of the story takes place a few weeks shy of the year anniversary of Billie’s death. It makes us question how well we know those around us.

The author writes a perfect story that leaves you guessing what truly happens until the last few paragraphs. She answers every question that is raised throughout the book. Often, with suspense/thrillers, an author throws out bait to make several characters seem guilty or to make the reader question different characters and their motives. Often, some of those little nagging tidbits are never addressed. The author addressed each and every one!

The book did drag a tiny bit in the first few chapters, but the reader needed to get a feel for the characters, their backgrounds and personalities. I felt like a time or two the author got out the dictionary and added some big words (I had to look up a few like ennui, ineffably, nascent, fugging, carapace).  Neither of these is a deal breaker… just pointing out.

I enjoyed this book so much that after finishing this review, I plan to purchase and read her previous novels.

Release/Publication Date:  July 11, 2017
Genre:  Psychological, thriller, suspense
Cover: Perfect. I liked how the text disappears into the water. At first, I did not care for the cover as the mountains play such a large part in this book. However, upon finishing the novel, I realize that the ocean is a perfect depiction.
Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you!
Rating: 5 stars