When She Returned - Lucinda Berry

 

One woman’s reappearance throws her family into turmoil, exposing dark secrets and the hidden, often devastating truth of family relationships.<

Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago, leaving behind her husband and young daughter. When she shows up at a Montana gas station, clutching an infant and screaming for help, investigators believe she may have been abducted by a cult.

Kate’s return flips her family’s world upside down—her husband is remarried, and her daughter barely remembers her. Kate herself doesn’t look or act like she did before.

While the family tries to help Kate reintegrate into society, they discover truths they’ve been hiding from each other about their own relationships. But they aren’t the only ones with secrets. As the family unravels what happened to Kate, a series of shocking revelations shows that Kate’s return is more sinister than any of them could have imagined.

The Guest - B.A Paris || Netgalley Review

 

Iris and Gabriel have just got home from a make-or-break holiday. But a shock awaits them. One of their dearest friends, Laure, is in their house - sleeping in their bed, wearing Iris' clothes, even rearranging the furniture. She has walked out on her husband - and their good friend - Pierre over his confession of an affair.

Iris and Gabriel want to be supportive. But as Laure's mood becomes more unpredictable, her presence begins to unravel secrets in all their pasts - until things reach breaking point ...

The Woman Who Lied - Claire Douglas || Netgalley Review

She finally has her dream life. But someone knows the truth . . .

Emilia Ward lives quietly in suburban London with her husband and two children.
Just an ordinary wife and mother. But also a bestselling crime writer.
When she starts writing her tenth Detective Miranda Moody novel, however, life takes a frightening an incident straight out of one of her novels occurs in real life.
Just an unsettling coincidence, she thinks. Until it happens again.
Then someone she knows dies exactly like a victim in the book she's still writing . . .

Why is someone doing this?How do they know what she is writing?And how long before Emilia and her family are next?

The Mother - Valerie Keogh || Blog Tour

 

A terrible wife...

Sarah Westfield is unhappily married to perfect husband Nick. Handsome, devoted and kind, he should be the ideal man for her, but Sarah knows their marriage is the biggest mistake she’s ever made…and she wants out.
But then Nick offers her one last chance to make their marriage work – a baby.
Sarah is horrified – a baby would tie herself to this man forever…wouldn’t it? Or could it be exactly what she needs?
So Sarah agrees.

A terrible mother?

When the baby arrives, Sarah struggles with motherhood and her resentment towards Nick only grows. Sarah feels more trapped than ever, but she loves her precious daughter...doesn’t she?
And then baby Kaya goes missing...
And everything Sarah has ever believed in comes crashing down around her...

Butcher & BlackBird - Brynne Weaver || Review

Every serial killer needs a friend.

Every game must have a winner.

When a chance encounter sparks an unlikely bond between rival murderers Sloane and Rowan, the two find something elusive—the friendship of a like-minded, pitch-black soul. From small town West Virginia to upscale California, from downtown Boston to rural Texas, the two hunters collide in an annual game of blood and suffering, one that pits them against the most dangerous monsters in the country. But as their friendship develops into something more, the restless ghosts left in their wake are only a few steps behind, ready to claim more than just their newfound love. Can Rowan and Sloane dig themselves out of a game of graves? Or have they finally met their match?

The Surgeon - Leslie Wolfe || Netgalley Review

 

Trusted surgeon. Loving wife. Murderer?

Before my world came crashing down, I had it all. The successful career I dreamed of. The beautiful red-brick home where I could relax in front of the fire. The handsome, devoted husband whose blue eyes and charming smile always made me feel safe.

As I call time of death, my voice is steady. My colleagues stand hushed around me, their eyes on me, confused, concerned.

I have never lost a patient until today.

My hands tremble inside their gloves. I slide down the cold tiled walls, my heart racing in my chest.

I have never hated a patient until today.

But what choice did I have, once I recognized him?
And what will I do to protect myself, if someone learns the truth?

August Book Haul

 

Well, this last month or so has really seen me getting back into my books & blogging and that is absolutely in part due to having a brand new blogging set up complete with desk & fake plant. Its like books are constantly on my radar. So here is the ones i managed to pick up this month.

The Doctor - Annie Payne || Review

 

Care giver, life saver… or cold-blooded killer?

 Running away from a past she’d rather forget, Doctor Alison Wilson has moved to a new town to take up the role of Medical Officer at failing hospital Saint Margaret’s. 

 Tasked with shaking things up, she quickly learns that things are worse than they initially seem: patient records are in disarray, staff morale is low, and there’s something afoot that she can’t quite put her finger on… 

 As Alison starts to dig into the hospital’s past, she gradually discovers a trail of lies that runs deeper and darker than she could have ever imagined. 

 There’s a cold-blooded killer in the hospital. And they’re hiding in plain sight…

The Players - Darren O'Sullivan || Netgalley Review

 

In this game it’s kill or be killed

A stranger has you cornered.
They call themselves The Host.
You are forced to play their game.
In it one person can live and the other must die.

You are the next player
You have a choice to make.

This is a game where nobody wins

Six Stories - Matt Wesolowski

 

1997. Scarclaw Fell. The body of teenager Tom Jeffries is found at an Outward Bound center. Verdict? Misadventure. But not everyone is convinced. And the truth of what happened in the beautiful but eerie fell is locked in the memories of the tight-knit group of friends who embarked on that fateful trip, and the flimsy testimony of those living nearby.

 2017. Enter elusive investigative journalist Scott King, whose podcast examinations of complicated cases have rivaled the success of Serial, with his concealed identity making him a cult internet figure. In a series of six interviews, King attempts to work out how the dynamics of a group of idle teenagers conspired with the sinister legends surrounding the fell to result in Jeffries’ mysterious death. As every interview unveils a new revelation, you’ll be forced to work out for yourself how Tom Jeffries died, and who is telling the truth.

Single - K.L Slater || Review

‘I keep feeling like I’m being watched – dropping the boys off at school, choosing wine at the supermarket – but when I turn around there’s nobody there…’

When single mother Darcy’s son falls from a rope bridge at a local playground, life stands still. She clutches his small, limp body, frozen, until a pair of strong hands push her aside, and she watches as George, a local doctor, saves her son’s life.

George is a single parent too, and with his twinkling hazel eyes, easy charm, and lack of wedding band is almost too good to be true, but coffee becomes lunch, lunch becomes dinner, and soon they can’t go an evening without seeing each other. When he invites her to move into his beautiful home with its sprawling garden for her boys, Darcy doesn’t hesitate.

But as Darcy is settling in, she receives a bunch of flowers with a chilling message. George says they’re from an obsessed ex-girlfriend, Opal, and days later Opal turns up at Darcy’s son’s football match. She claims to have shocking information that could threaten George’s custody of his daughter.

Darcy doesn’t know who to trust, but she’s starting to suspect that, whatever the truth, she might have put her beloved boys into terrible danger…

The Nurse - J.A Corrigan || Netgalley Review

When you hear her story, will you believe her? 

 Rose Marlowe is a hard-working nurse, a loving wife, and a merciless killer. Or so she says. Despite her confession, it is hard to believe that this beautiful, kind woman could have killed her vulnerable patient in cold blood.

 Down-on-his luck author and ex-journalist, Theo Hazel is convinced that there’s more to what happened than Rose is telling, and so decides to visit her behind bars to write her story. His first surprise comes when Rose reveals that the victim was not a stranger to her.

 As time goes on, it seems that Rose is letting Theo see behind her perfect mask. With each new visit, he learns terrible new things about her heart-breaking past. With each new visit, he becomes more and more convinced that she can’t be a killer. But is he trying to free an innocent victim, or falling prey to a calculating murderer?

The Burning Men - Will Shindler || Review

 

When a development in South London catches fire mid-construction, a close-knit team of fire fighters runs in to save a man spotted at the window.

They come out without a body. They quit the service. They plan never to speak to each other again.

Five years later one of them is set alight at his own wedding. Soon after, a second is found, nothing but a smoking corpse. It appears that someone knows what they did that night. What they chose over their duty. And there are still three men left to burn . . .

DI Alex Finn and his new partner DC Mattie Paulsen are an unlikely pairing, but they need to discover who is behind these killings before the next man faces the fire.

The Bone Jar - S W Kane || Blog Tour

Two murders. An abandoned asylum.

Will a mysterious former patient help untangle the dark truth? 

The body of an elderly woman is been found in the grounds of a derelict asylum on the banks of the Thames. As Detective Lew Kirby and his partner begin their investigation, another body is discovered in the river nearby. Gradually, the secrets of Blackwater Asylum begin to reveal themselves; there are rumours of secret rooms, unspeakable psychological experimentation and a dark force that haunts the ruins.

Urban explorer Connie Darke has her own interest in the asylum; it’s where her sister died in a freak accident and she’s determined to help Kirby expose its grisly past. Meanwhile Kirby discovers a devastating family secret that threatens to turn his life upside down. As his world crumbles around him, Kirby must put the pieces of the puzzle together to keep the killer from striking again.

Only an eccentric former patient knows the truth—but will he reveal it to Kirby or Connie before it’s too late?

The Guest - Cathryn Grant || Blog Tour

She told him to make himself at home. He did. 

Life has been good to Ellie – she owns a successful art gallery, is deeply in love with her husband, Seth, and has two beautiful children, Brandon and Simone. 

But not everything is perfect…

Lately, Seth seems to have something on his mind and has become cold and distant. And things don’t improve when he invites mysterious stranger Ace to stay in their home.

Ace is charming, but Ellie can’t help feeling there’s more to him than meets the eye, that he has some kind of agenda. She’s also aware that she is dangerously attracted to him.

Then a girl at Brandon’s school is murdered, and Ellie is beyond devastated when the police tell her they think her son might be involved.

Ellie knows in her heart that Brandon is innocent and she feels certain that Ace is somehow connected to the disturbing things that are happening. She starts to dig for the truth and uncovers the terrible secret that will change her life in ways she can’t imagine…

The stunning psychological thriller, perfect for fans of K. L. Slater, Teresa Driscoll, and Andrew Hart.

Finding Grace - K.L Slater || Netgalley Review

This morning, my daughter sat right here, munching her breakfast, too excited to finish it. Now, she is missing.

 The day after her ninth birthday, Lucie and Blake Sullivan agree, for the very first time, to let their daughter, Grace, make the four-minute walk back home alone from a friend’s house just down the street.

 They joke with friends about hiding behind bushes to ensure she is safe. But the joke turns sour when Grace does not appear.

 Despite the best efforts of the police and local community, Grace seems to have vanished into thin air. With hope fading fast, Lucie knows she can rely on her husband to support her through such dark times. That is until the day she makes a shocking discovery, hidden in Blake’s desk, and suddenly she begins to doubt everything she knew about the man she married.

 But Lucie harbours a terrible secret of her own. One that she has never shared with anyone, even Blake … And as the search for Grace reaches fever pitch, Lucie receives a terrifying message. If she is ever to see Grace again, Lucie has no choice but to face the past she tried hard to bury forever. And she must do it alone.

The Secrets Of Strangers - Charity Norman || Blog Tour

Five hostages, one café - and the moment that changed everything. 

'A compelling and fresh premise leads to a tense, humane, and touching novel'. Claire McGowan 

A regular weekday morning veers drastically off-course for five strangers whose paths cross in a London café - their lives never to be the same again when an apparently crazed gunman holds them hostage. But there is more to the situation than first meets the eye and as the captives grapple with their own inner demons, the line between right and wrong starts to blur.

Will the secrets they keep stop them from escaping with their lives?

Another tense, multi-dimensional drama from the writer of the Richard & Judy bestseller After the Fall.

Just My Luck - Adele Parks || Blog Tour

It’s the stuff dreams are made of – a lottery win so big, it changes everything.

 For fifteen years, Lexi and Jake have played the same six numbers with their friends, the Pearsons and the Heathcotes. Over dinner parties, fish & chip suppers and summer barbecues, they’ve discussed the important stuff – the kids, marriages, jobs and houses – and they’ve laughed off their disappointment when they failed to win anything more than a tenner.

 But then, one Saturday night, the unthinkable happens. There’s a rift in the group. Someone doesn’t tell the truth. And soon after, six numbers come up which change everything forever.

 Lexi and Jake have a ticket worth £18 million. And their friends are determined to claim a share of it.

 Sunday Times Number One bestseller Adele Parks returns with a riveting look at the dark side of wealth in this gripping take on friendship, money and betrayal, and good luck gone bad…

Roses Are Red - Miranda Rijks || Blog Tour

She wanted a second chance at happiness. She got a first-class ticket to hell.
Lydia Palmer seems to have it all - a thriving business, a beautiful house, a picture-perfect husband and two wonderful kids. But things are different behind closed doors - Lydia is desperately unhappy and wants a divorce.  Then, shockingly, her husband Adam dies.

When her grief eases, Lydia starts online dating and almost immediately meets Patrick. Handsome, successful, loving, he’ll make the perfect second husband.

But is Patrick too good to be true? Can you really find prince charming online?

These are questions Lydia is forced to ask when her world begins to collapse. First, the police say Adam may have been murdered. Then her daughter turns against her, her business disintegrates…

Lydia is convinced that someone is trying to destroy her happiness. She’s wrong. They want so much more than that…

Roses are Red is a gripping psychological thriller that will keep you up until the early hours. Perfect for fans of K. L. Slater, Teresa Driscoll, and Andrew Hart.

Strangers - C.L. Taylor || Netgalley Review

Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.

 Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life. Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards. And Alice is being stalked.

 None of them are used to relying on others – but when the three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die.

 Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.
 The million-copy bestseller returns with a gripping new novel that will keep you guessing until the end.