Tag: #booklover

Dead Man’s Wake ~ Paul Doiron

Mike Bowditch & fiancée Stacy Stevens are celebrating their engagement and impending nuptials with family lakeside in Maine, when Mike hears the unmistakable sound of a fast-paced boat motor striking some type of object.  A Maine Game Warden, Mike knows what the sound means, and he, Stacey & their respective parents head out on the lake to assess for injuries.  The boat had fled the scene, but much to Mike’s dismay, Stacey spots a dismembered arm floating in the lake, clearly the casualty of a boat propeller.  

As they await further assistance, they attempt to locate the body that the arm once belonged to, and Mike & Stacey, along with the Lake Constable Galen Webb, examine the arm.  On its wrist is a high-end Rolex watch, which Galen immediately identifies as belonging to the owner of nearby Mouse Island, a Kip Whitcomb. With further questioning, Mike learns that Kip often brought women to the island, despite being married.  After marking the area w/ a buoy, the group heads to Mouse Island to have a look around, quickly finding evidence that there had been a woman with the victim.  But where was she? 

State Police Detective Roger Finch arrives to assist, and the woman’s body is quickly located, with obvious evidence of homicide. The investigation kicks into high gear as the team looks for evidence – did Kip kill his lover and then go for a swim, only to be struck and killed by a boat, or was there something much more sinister at play?  Where is the boat that struck Whitman? Interviews with family members and locals close to the scene, while enlightening, lead to dead ends as obvious suspects are quickly ruled out. Meanwhile Galen Webb seems to turn up everywhere…is he a young deputy who is hoping to prove himself worthy of the Warden’s Service, or is there something else altogether at play??

Another fabulous read from the Mike Bowditch series!! As a former, short-term resident of the great state of Maine, I just adore this series, the characters and the familiarity of the areas used as a backdrop for some great fiction!   The Belgrade Lake area is absolutely beautiful – and I’d taken that ride more than a few times in my years there.  Awesome series, great characters, ingenious plots – I cannot say enough about these books!!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

Identity – Nora Roberts

Morgan Nash Albright seems to have it all – a fixer-upper in Baltimore, a great job as a bartender, a strict business plan for the future – and a great roommate, Nina, whom she adores.  So, when a great guy, named Luke Hudson wanders into the bar and the two hit it off, it seems too good to be true. Even more so when they start spending time together and Luke comes home for dinner. Unbeknownst to Morgan, Luke is a serial con man – who ends his con with murder. 

But Luke’s plans for Morgan are interrupted, when he breaks into her home, not realizing that Nina is home sick.  When Nina confronts Luke, he acts swiftly, assaulting Nina, leaving her dead on the floor, and staging a ‘robbery’ before he flees the state. When Morgan finds Nina dead and learns the truth from the FBI – that Luke is a con man, named Gavin Rozwell, and that she is the only survivor of his spree – she decides to head home to her family in Vermont. 

As Morgan slowly adjusts to life with her mother and grandmother, she begins to heal. With her family’s assistance she finds a position as a manager for Apres, an upscale establishment in a resort close to home, owned and operated by the Jameson family.  As she carefully carves her niche in the resorts’ operations, she finally starts feeling like herself again – and slowly begins to nurture a relationship with Miles Jameson, the quiet, brooding Jameson son. 

Meanwhile, Gavin Rozwell is out there somewhere – and he is becoming more and more obsessed with the one that got away. His next victim is found wearing a locket stolen from Morgan. A bracelet is found on the following victim. Knowing it is only a matter of time before Gavin returns to finish what he started, both families rally around Morgan to keep her safe.  But will it be enough?! 

Another fantastic, mesmerizing, although predictable read from Nora Roberts. Even knowing that the novel would end happily, I stayed up half the night just to get to the end.  And Howl – he was the icing on the cake!  As with any “Nora Novel”, I highly recommend!!  

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

Last Seen Alive – Carolyn Arnold

Detective Amanda Steele is out for a drink when she chances to fun into an old fling at the local bar and decides to go home with him for a night of ‘no strings’ fun. As they arrive at his home, things get hot and heavy, and as they’re heading to his bedroom, Amanda smells blood – and together they find Logan’s wife Clare, clad in lingerie, lying in the middle of his bed, dead from a gunshot wound.  

Amanda quickly hustles Logan out of the room, summoning her colleagues as she does so, but not before noticing a gun lying at the bedside. As the investigative team arrives on scene, she is left to ponder – is Logan the innocent bystander he claims to be? Or is he responsible for the death of the woman dressed in lingerie in the center of his bed? 

With Amanda’s superior on scene, she is quickly recused from the case due to her relationship with the suspect. As the scene is processed, investigators quickly find the evidence necessary to charge Logan w/ murder…but Amanda is conflicted. Is he a stone-cold killer – or is someone determined to frame him?  And where has Clare been for the last four years after walking out on Logan? 

As the brass sent their sights on the quick arrest and closure, Amanda & Trent begin to dig into Clare’s past. As they stumble upon a large sum of money she had in her possession, their suspicions only grow. A trip back to her childhood home brings even more questions. What was Clare involved in?  Why did she try to return to Logan? And who really killed her? 

I just love this series!  As with all of the books, it’s easily read as a standalone, but the subtle shifting of relationships as the series progresses is intriguing, especially the attraction between Amanda and Trent, which they’re finally acknowledging. Action packed and suspenseful, this book is full of good stuff and had me up well into the night! This series just gets better and better!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & Bookouture in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

Other Birds ~ Sarah Addison Allen

Zoey Hennessey and her faithful companion bird, Pigeon (whom only she can see), are on their way from Tulsa, OK to Mallow Island, South Carolina. Zoey has plans to start school in Charleston and has made the decision to move into her deceased mother’s condominium in a small building called the Dellawisp. Named for the tiny colorful birds that inhabit this island, the small building is tucked away in a quiet area, and upon seeing it for the first time, Zoey can’t help but feel a rush of happiness. 

As she settles in with the help of the Dellawisp’s old caretaker, Frazier, she is curious about her new neighbors. She first encounters Lisbeth Lime, an eccentric middle-aged woman who tells Zoey in no uncertain terms that she wants quiet, as she searches for a story she’s lost. Then there’s Charlotte, a young artist who paints henna tattoos, Mac, who is a chef & finally Lucy Lime, Lizbeth’s sister, who never ventures out of her condo. Intrigued by this cast of characters, Zoey settles in and begins to meet the group.  

Each of the have their sorrows, their history,  their regrets and their dreams and as relationships begin to grow, we learn more about these various individuals and how they came to be at the Dellawisp – with the occasional interjection by some ghosts who have stayed nearby to see some  stories finished. This is a poor description for an absolutely wonderful book, filled with moments of loneliness, despair, hope – but mostly love – with just the right touch of magic! 

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & St. Msrtin’s Press in exchange for an objective review.  Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!