Taylor Fenner's Blog, page 28

Book Review: The Truth In My Lies by Ivy Smoak

The Truth in My Lies (Secrets of Suburbia #1) by Ivy SmoakBlurb:

I’m not supposed to leave the house. But what my husband doesn’t know won’t kill him. I break his rules every morning on my runs. It’s always been best when I have a routine. So every day I wake up, run, clean the house, wish for a better life, repeat. And every day is exactly the same.

Except for Thursdays. I live and breathe for Thursdays. It’s when he comes. I watch him from a distance. I can’t help myself. But I was never supposed to talk to him.

I know what you’re thinking. But you don’t know my story. You don’t know the kind of monster my husband is. And trust me, you have no idea who I am.

My Review:

This book was a wild ride! If you like unreliable narrators you need to check this one out.

Is Addy (Adeline) a downtrodden, abuse housewife of a controlling man? Or is she really as crazy as her husband and psychologist tell her she is? And what happens when she stops taking the meds she is forced to take?

Meet Adeline, Adeline isn’t allowed to leave the house per her controlling husband’s rules. But every morning she runs. And every Thursday morning she looks forward to seeing him. The hot young guy who mows the lawn for a house in her neighborhood. A meet cute gets them together and try as she might Addy starts to fall for the younger man, despite all the reasons why she shouldn’t. But in the background the rest of her life is unraveling.

This book was a fun read. The author really captured the perspective of an unreliable narrator and the unspooling of a troubled mind. Adeline is a character you’ll enjoy even as she does questionable things. And Ben, swoon, that’s all!

I do feel like the story is isolated to Ben, Addy, Dr. Nash, and Addy’s husband and would have enjoyed a little more dimension to the “gawkers” as Adeline refers to the women in her neighborhood.

Overall I enjoyed this one and I’m looking forward to the next book and the next psycho housewife.

My Rating:

4.5 Knives Out of 5, Rounded Up

Audiobook Review: Bad Things Feel Best by Ivy Smoak

Bad Things Feel Best by Ivy SmoakBlurb:

A young writer searching for inspiration instead finds danger, betrayal, and romance in a spellbinding novel by USA Today bestselling author Ivy Smoak.

It’s almost like he wants her to think he is a monster. Hazel Fox arrives at her new job on a private island hoping to get inspiration from a renowned novelist, only to discover she won’t be working with the author after all. She won’t even get to meet her.

Instead, she’ll be assisting the handsome—and infuriating—Mr. Remington. Mr. Remington unnerves Hazel from the moment they meet. Not only because he’s cold and strict and seems hell-bent on getting her to quit…but because his eyes are the same color of the ocean in their backyard. And his intense gaze always seems to be trained on her. Mr. Remington refuses to share any personal information about himself—not even his first name.

But if there’s one thing Hazel is certain of in this beautiful, isolated estate, it’s that Mr. Remington has secrets. And those secrets are dangerous. Something sinister is going on, and Hazel is determined to discover the truth…no matter how close she has to get to Mr. Remington.

After all, it’s the things that are bad for us that feel best.

My Review:

I picked this up on Kindle Unlimited a while ago after seeing it all over Bookstagram. It’s my first read by this author but it won’t be the last!

This book had all the things to draw me in. A main character that is an aspiring writer. A mysterious love interest. A creepy old house full of secrets.

This book was easy to get into and easy to read. I wanted to keep going to see what was going to happen.

The author fakes out the reader making you think it’s going to turn into a certain genre – but it doesn’t. While I was able to guess one piece of the puzzle it was still an interesting, engaging read with a weird ending that I wasn’t displeased with.

My Rating:

4 of 5 Knives!

Audiobook Review: The Murder on the Links, Poirot Investigates, and After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

The Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot #2) by Agatha ChristieBlurb:

Beloved detective Hercule Poirot made his second appearance in this tale of murder, blackmail, and forbidden love.

Hercule Poirot rushes to France in response to an urgent and cryptic plea from a client. But the Belgian detective arrives just too late: the man who had summoned him is found dead on a golf course, stabbed in the back with a letter opener and wearing an ill-fitting coat with a mysterious love letter in its pocket.

Strange circumstances multiply, culminating in the discovery of a second body stabbed with the same murder weapon. While the local authorities pursue the false leads suggested by the evidence, Poirot relies instead upon his famous “little grey cells” to cut through the confusion and untangle a story of blackmail, forbidden love, and a long-buried secret.

Poirot Investigates (Hercule Poirot #3) by Agatha ChristieBlurb:

Here is a sparkling collection of mystery gems, polished puzzlers from the pen of Agatha Christie starring the vain, eccentric and utterly brilliant Hercule Poirot.

Hercule Poirot grapples with a chain of mysteries that challenge his ingenuity and display the author’s wide-ranging imagination to fine effect. Herein the detective deals with the theft of a gem said to have been the eye of a mysterious idol, a million dollars in bonds that disappear from a locked case, jewel thieves who have conceived of a seemingly impossible theft, and even the kidnapping of the Prime Minister of England. Poirot uses deduction, deception and isn’t above creating illusions to reveal a killer, but his foes are often both more unusual and more dangerous than simple murderers. He finds himself battling spies, masters of disguise and even trying to thwart a supposed Egyptian curse. Upon the initial appearance of Poirot Investigates in 1924 reviewers were impressed by the author’s ability to create a complete, thoroughly conceived mystery with a surprising but logical solution inside a tight package of perhaps four thousand words. For the next fifty years, writing at any length that took her fancy, Christie would continue to produce some of the finest mysteries ever written.

With an eye-catching new cover, and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Poirot Investigates is both modern and readable.

After the Funeral (Hercule Poirot #29) by Agatha Christie Blurb:

In this exclusive authorized edition from the Queen of Mystery, Hercule Poirot is called on to investigate the murder of a brother and sister.

“He was murdered, wasn’t he?”

When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered, the extraordinary remark she had made the previous day at her brother Richard’s funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of Richard’s will, Cora was clearly heard to say, “It’s been hushed up very nicely, hasn’t it. But he was murdered, wasn’t he?”

Did Cora’s accusation a dark truth that sealed her own fate? Or are the siblings’ deaths just tragic coincidences?

Desperate to know the truth, the Lansquenet’s solicitor turns to Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery. For even after the funeral, death isn’t finished yet . . .

My Reviews:

The Murder on the Links:

Of the 3 reviewed here, I liked this one less than After the Funeral yet more than Poirot Investigates.

The Murder on the Links is narrated by Poirot’s friend Hastings who I don’t particularly like. He’s oblivious and yet he tries, frequently unsuccessfully, to solve the case before Poirot or guess Poirot’s next move only to make a fool of himself. And more often than not is distracted by a woman.

This one is an interesting murder when you sit back and think about it but I found all of the mechanics and misdirections a bit boring while actually listening to the audiobook.

My Rating:

3.5 of 5 Knives!

Poirot Investigates:

I’ve really been enjoying the Poirot mysteries lately but I didn’t enjoy this third book. It’s actually a collection of stories, no more than a bite of each really. I felt like I’d barely gotten the introduction to the story and Poirot was wrapping up the crime. Again, Hastings is prominent in this book as he seems to be in the initial few Poirot books (tell me how many more until he goes away!), and he blunders his way along as Poirot solves the cases.

My Rating:

2 of 5 Knives

After the Funeral:

Of the 3 audiobooks I’m reviewing here, After the Funeral is my favorite. It’s later in the series and Hastings is gone. Poirot does seem to take a smaller roll in this book but I found the mystery quite interesting and didn’t see the twist coming.

All along you’re looking at the family trying to see who could have done it then Christie pulls a trick out of her sleeve that I personally didn’t expect, making it a worthwhile read.

My Rating:

4 of 5 Knives!

WWW Wednesday – 6 December 2023

WWW Wednesday was created by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and was taken over by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. To participate answer the 3 W’s:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:Shadows of You by Catherine Cowles

I’m finally starting this one! As in right now, today. I got a little sidetracked with a few other books.

Recently Finished:It Waits In the Woods by Josh Malerman

This was a short audiobook but I really enjoyed it! I’d love to see it expanded upon, or at least the thing than waits in the woods. An origin story maybe.

Reading Next:The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins

This one releases next month so I’m going to dive into my eARC either this week or next.

Have you read any of these? What are you reading this week?

Can’t Wait Wednesday: Diavola

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released.

Diavola by Jennifer Thorne

Horror, Standalone

eBook, Hardcover, 304 Pages

March 26, 2024 by Tor Nightfire

Blurb:

Anna has only two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: Tread lightly, and survive.

It isn’t easy, when she’s the only one in the family who doesn’t quite seem to fit. Her twin brother Benny goes with the flow so much he’s practically dissolved, and her older sister Nicole is so used to everyone—including her blandly docile husband and two kids—falling in line that Anna often ends up in trouble for simply asking a question. Mom seizes every opportunity to question her life choices, and Dad, when not reminding everyone who has paid for this vacation, just wants some peace and quiet.

The gorgeous, remote villa in tiny Monteperso seems like a perfect place to endure so much family togetherness–including Benny’s demanding new boyfriend (it’s Christopher, not Chris). That is, until things start going off the rails–the strange noises at night, the unsettling warnings from the local villagers, and, oh, the dark, violent past of the villa itself.

Jennifer Thorne skewers all-too-familiar family dynamics in this sly, wickedly funny vacation-Gothic. Beautifully unhinged and deeply satisfying, Diavola is a sharp twist on the classic haunted house story, exploring loneliness, belonging, and the seemingly inescapable bonds of family mythology.

(Warning: May invoke feelings of irritation, dread, and despair that come with large family gatherings.)

Why I Want to Read This Book:

Well if this doesn’t sound like the perfect example of a dysfunctional family vacation. Especially the father reminding everyone who paid for the trip and how much it’s costing him. It reminds me of a more family-inclusive version of The Villa by Rachel Hawkins and I’m looking forward as always to another take on the haunted house story.

Will you be checking this one out? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?

The Sunday Post: Wrapping Up November, Snow, and Writing Weekend

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme.

Wrapping Up November, Snow, and Writing Weekend

Hey Bookdragons! Happy Sunday! I hope you had a great week.

It’s the first weekend of December, can you believe that? I feel like I blinked and the entire month of November passed when I wasn’t looking but I did do a lot of things. I read 15 books, at least half of which were audiobooks. I write about 12,500 words in my WIP. I took a vacation and colored my hair. All on top of working a bit of OT.

It started snowing last night. A wet, sloppy snow. I detest winter and I’m just counting down the days to 80 degree temps and daylight until 9 pm. It feels so long off.

With it expected to snow the rest of today yet I’m going to spend today and tomorrow writing and catching up on some reviews.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 27 November 2023

Book Review: A Ghost of A Chance by Brittany Kelley

Can’t Wait Wednesday: The Deepest Lake

Book Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 4 December 2023

Audiobook Review: The Murder on the Links and After the Funeral by Agatha Christie (rescheduled)

Can’t Wait Wednesday: Diavola

Book Review: Bad Things Feel Best by Ivy Smoak

Book Review: The Truth in My Lies by Ivy Smoak

None This Week

Vanessa Rasanen’s Ream (Like Patreon)

Book Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley JacksonBlurb

Part of a six-volume series of the best in classic horror, selected by award-winning director Guillermo del Toro

The classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre. First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting;’ Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

My Review:

It took me a couple tries to get into this book. It’s one of those chicken before the egg situations where I first watched the 1999 adaptation, The Haunting, and then the 2018 Netflix miniseries, The Haunting of Hill House and had trouble connecting with the book.

Before I get into my review of the book, the original 1963 adaptation, The Haunting, stays truest to the book, yet the Netflix adaptation remains my favorite in how unique is it away from the book, followed by the 1999 adaptation. In my binging following reading this book, I also watched the miniseries, Rose Red, which is Stephen King’s interpretation after he and Steven Spielberg had creative differences and went their separate ways while making the 1999 adaptation. I also found Rose Red to be an interesting, loose adaptation.

In The Haunting of Hill House we follow Eleanor Vance who is invited to come to Hill House by Dr. Montague along with Theodora (no last name) and the heir to the house, Luke Sanderson, to explore the so-called psychic phenomena that occurs there after the house’s dark history.

Eleanor, recently displaced after her mother whom she was the caregiver of for 11 years has passed, now lives with her selfish sister and her family and is told she is not allowed to take the car the sisters share to go on her trip. But Nell takes it anyway. Eleanor has always been my main sticking point with this book. I don’t like her. She’s very immature and full of flights of fancy and quickly becomes unhinged once arriving at Hill House. I think in a way I relate to Nell as I was my grandmother’s caretaker for most of my 20s with very little assistance from my mother, my grandmother’s daughter.

For the purpose of their stay, the foursome seem very laidback and joke a lot, even when weird things begin to happen at the house. Theodora (my favorite character in the 1999 and Netflix adaptations) is the cruel flirt in this book, poking at Nell then freezing her out. Luke is more serious than the adaptations show him and he didn’t honestly make much of an impression on me. It was Dr. Montague (Dr. Markaway in the 1963 adaptation and Dr. Marrow in the 1999) that surprised me the most. He’s very genial and childlike in his excitement for the process.

But nothing really happens in this book. Nothing scary anyway. A little pounding on the walls, some cold spots, a dog seen and then not there. While I enjoyed this book and there are so many beautifully written, memorable lines that I plan to annotate my copy later, it shocks me that this book is seen to be such an enduring horror novel when it’s so… bland? Maybe people in 1959 were more excitable or frightened than me, sitting here in 2023. Maybe I’ve watched one too many horror movies. I just didn’t think it was particularly exciting.

There are a few unanswered questions I have after reading this book, little things that made no sense.

Overall I did enjoy this book once I could get into it. Will I reread it? Probably not. But it was definitely worth reading.

My Rating:

4 of 5 Knives!

Can’t Wait Wednesday: The Deepest Lake!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released.

The Deepest Lake by Andromeda Romano-Lax

Thriller, Standalone

eBook, Hardcover, 384 Pages

May 7, 2024 by Soho Crime

Blurb:

In this atmospheric thriller set at a luxury memoir-writing workshop on the shores of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, a grieving mother goes undercover to investigate her daughter’s mysterious death.

Rose, the mother of 20-something aspiring writer Jules, has waited three months for answers about her daughter’s death. Why was she swimming alone when she feared the water? Why did she stop texting days before she was last seen? When the official investigation rules the death an accidental drowning, the body possibly lost forever in Central America’s deepest lake, an unsatisfied Rose travels to the memoir workshop herself. She hopes to draw her own conclusion—and find closure.

When Rose arrives, she is swept into the curious world created by her daughter’s literary hero, the famous writing teacher Eva Marshall, a charismatic woman known for her candid—and controversial—memoirs. As Rose uncovers details about the days leading up to Jules’s disappearance, she begins to suspect that this glamorous retreat package is hiding ugly truths. Is Lake Atitlan a place where traumatized women come to heal or a place where deeper injury is inflicted?

Perfect for fans of Delia Owens, Celeste Ng, and Julia Bartz, The Deepest Lake is both a sharp look at the sometimes toxic, exclusionary world of high-class writing workshops and an achingly poignant view of a mother’s grief.

Why I Want To Read This Book:

As an author myself, I love reading books set on writing retreats, especially when things go horribly wrong. Just picture it, you’ve gone somewhere beautiful to enjoy some solitude and soak up inspiration only for a member of the party to die tragically. And then have it be somewhere remote… it just fascinates me. I can picture taking this one on vacation with me next spring.

Will you be checking this one out? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to?

Book Review: A Ghost of A Chance by Brittany Kelley

A Ghost of A Chance by Brittany KelleyBlurb:

Fake dating the hot grump next door until Halloween is more of a trick than a treat.

I only pretend to be the town psychic—which means my crystal ball never told me I’d be moving in with my elderly aunt and dealing with her hot, grumpy neighbor. Sure, she’s hilarious, and she’s letting me stay in her tiny guest house in return for dealing with her ‘ghost problem.’ The catch? I don’t really believe in the supernatural. Even worse, Ward Carlisle, her hunky neighbor, is a real pain in my pumpkin patch. The fact our families have been feuding over some land for centuries doesn’t help, either.

When Ward shows up at my fortune-telling booth at the town fall festival desperate for my help, he promises he’ll give my aunt the land she wants if I can fake a relationship with him until Halloween—and convince his ex-girlfriend we’re in love. I’m always down for a little mayhem, and if it means getting one up on prickly Ward, I’m totally game.

But bizarre occurrences keep pushing Ward and I together: spooky calls for help which have me running to him in the night, phantom cold spots which push us together for warmth, and visions of people who aren’t really there that scare me right into his arms. Even stranger, though, is all this time we’re spending together means I’m getting to see the real him… and I like it. Things between us start heating up just as the weather turns cold.

I’m not sure which is more unbelievable: that Ward and I could have something real, or that my aunt might be right about her ghost problem.

My Review:

I loved this novella set in the same world as Happily Haunted Afters! In this one we follow Tara, the “psychic” Emma befriends in Happily Haunted Afters.

Tara’s shop has just burned down and she moves back in with her aunt who wants her to rid their family property of a ghost problem that arose from a property dispute with the neighbor going back years and years. And the neighbor? Is a hot, grumpy single guy who has a bone to pick with Tara’s aunt. He’s not on board with getting rid of ghosts or working with Tara… until he runs into his ex and begs Tara to pretend to be his girlfriend.

If you like small town romance, romcoms, a dash of spice, and the fake dating trope, you will love this book! There were so many hilarious parts to this book that I can’t wait to get a physical copy and annotate some of my favorite passages.

This is a short read but I love the world Brittany Kelley has created with Happily Haunted Afters and A Ghost of A Chance and would definitely read more books set in this universe. I do have to say I enjoyed A Ghost of A Chance more than Happily Haunted Afters.

My Rating:

5 of 5 Knives!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? – 27 November 2023

#IMWAYR is a weekly meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at The Book Date.

Hey Bookdragons! True to my prediction I spent last week recovering from the flu, binging shows, and listening to audiobooks.

Last Week I Read:Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

I enjoyed this one. I wouldn’t say I absolutely loved it but it was a good 3.5 to 4 star read!

The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie

I liked this one. This is the second Hercule Poirot book and I wonder how many more I have to listen to before Hastings disappears and stops being the narrator.

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

I’m reading these books woefully out of order (blame it on book 2 and book 31 being bundled together in one audiobook). I liked this one much better and stayed up way too late finishing it.

Currently Reading: Every Time I Go On Vacation Someone Does by Catherine Mack

I didn’t make as much progress on this one last week because physically reading was tiring me out. I’m about 30% in and I love this one so far. I definitely recommend it so far for people who, like the blurb says, like Knives Out because I’m definitely getting g those vibes.

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

This one has been on my TBR for a while and I’m finally just starting it tonight.

Next Read:Shadows of You by Catherine Cowles

This one is still next up for me on my physical TBR.

Have you read any of these? What are you reading this week?