Trad Wife

 

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Thank you Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook! 

A viral trad wife influencer. A disgraced journalist. A farm hiding something much worse than a behind-the-scenes staff. 

Journalist Jenny Kaplan writes a brutally honest essay about her own life. It goes viral and revives her career for about five minutes, until online backlash gets her fired.

Mia Wright is the reigning queen of trad wife influencers, showing off her idyllic life on a farm with her picture-perfect family.

When Mia invites Jenny to the farm to see her life up close, Jenny jumps at it. She's desperate to save her career and hopes to expose Mia's carefully curated deception. What she finds instead is a horrifying secret, and both women's lives start to spiral.

This is horror, but not the blood-and-jump-scares kind. It's more creepy than scary. Yes, Mia's perfect life is a lie, but not in the way you'd expect. There's no team of nannies and assistants doing the real work. It's something much more insidious.

The whole book is unsettling in the best way. Author Sarah Langan keeps the tension high from start to finish, and her writing is sharp and engaging. I never knew where the story was headed. What a weird, wild ride.

Stephanie Németh-Parker does a fantastic job with the narration. Mia and Jenny have distinct voices, and her performance nails the tension and creepiness all the way through.

Trad Wife is the perfect addition to your spooky season TBR. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out September 29.

Grab a copy at Trad Wife from Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you enjoyed this review, you might be interested in my review of Headlights by C.J. Leeds.

About the Author

Sarah Langan, a Columbia MFA graduate and three-time recipient of the Bram Stoker Award, is the author of several novels including A Better World, Good Neighbors, and Trad Wife. She’s got an MS in environmental health science, grew up on Long Island, and she currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughters. Follow Sarah on Instagram and visit her website for news and information about her books.

Mask of the Deer Woman

 

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Thanks to my bookstagram pal Kristin for including me on this tour celebrating this week's paperback release of Mask of the Deer Woman, and to Laurie L. Dove and Berkley for the gifted copy. If you missed this one when it came out last year, now's your chance. 

Carrie Starr is a former Chicago detective who's hanging on by a thread. After her teenage daughter's death, she's numbing the grief with joints and alcohol. Her last option is becoming the marshal for her father's tribe in Oklahoma. She's the only law enforcement on the entire reservation, and she didn't grow up there. She doesn't know the land or the people.

Then Chenoa, a young Indigenous grad student, goes missing, and her mother begs Carrie to find her. Once Carrie starts digging and sees how many women have vanished from the rez over the years, she's a dog with a bone. She finds a strength she probably didn't know she still had.

What I loved:
📍 It puts a spotlight on the epidemic of missing Indigenous women, how their stories get ignored by the media, and how agencies squabble over who should even investigate.
📍 The atmosphere. Dove contrasts the beauty of the land with the greed of people who want to exploit it.
📍 Carrie's journey as a biracial woman reconnecting with the Native roots she was cut off from her whole life.
📍 Folklore and a touch of magical realism that walks the line between the real world and the spiritual one.
📍 It doesn't shy away from poverty, unemployment, generational trauma, and limited opportunities on the reservation.

This is a mystery with layers. It's character driven, intricately plotted, and steadily paced. Carrie is complicated and flawed, and I was rooting for her by the end. I'm already looking forward to the sequel, Cry of the Rain Crow, on December 8. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Grab a copy of Mask of the Deer Woman at Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it. And don't forget to preorder Cry of the Rain Crow!

If you enjoyed this review, you might be interested in Missing by E.A. Jackson. It's another female-led police procedural about a missing person.

About the Author

Laurie L. Dove is a reporter and editor whose work has appeared in numerous publications and garnered several honors for outstanding journalism. She graduated with a master’s degree in Creative Writing and Literature from Harvard University. She is an adjunct professor who currently lives and writes in Kansas. Follow Laurie on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.

It's Not What You Think

 

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Thank you Sourcebooks Audio for the gifted early listen!

Nadeeka is sure her boyfriend Jamie is cheating. She's been through it before, and all the signs are there. But just as she's about to catch him, she comes home to find police at her door. Jamie has been murdered. As she tries to put her life back together, she learns he really was hiding something. Just not what she thought.

It's Not What You Think by Clare Mackintosh starts out feeling like classic domestic suspense. Then one twist flips the whole story on its head. I didn’t see it coming at all. It's intricately plotted and goes to some dark, ugly places that are very timely.

The story moves between several POVs, and the full cast audio is the way to go. Vineeta Rishi, Tuppence Middleton, Samuel Barnett, and Richard Armitage all bring so much emotion and urgency to their parts.

This is a great pick if you want a timely thriller that digs deeper than the usual domestic suspense. Go in knowing as little as possible and let it break your brain.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Out September 22.

You can preorder a copy at Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you enjoyed this review, you might be interested in my review of Before You Were Anne. it's another twisty domestic suspense thriller.

About the Author

Clare Mackintosh is the New York Times and #1 international bestselling author of I Let You Go, I See You, and Let Me Lie, translated into more than thirty-five languages and with more than two million copies sold worldwide. She is the founder of Chipping Norton Literary Festival and is the patron of the Silver Star Society, an Oxford-based charity that provides special care for mothers with medical complications during pregnancy at John Radcliffe Hospital. Follow Clare on Instagram and visit her website for more information about her books.

The Sins of Summer Daughters

 

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Thank you Sourcebooks Audio for the gifted audiobook!

Some secrets don't stay buried. They just wait for a new generation.

Lucy is a quiet, unassuming teenager. She's also been accused of taking part in the murder of the boy she'd been dating. Her grandmother Meg can't believe it, and the more the investigation circles Lucy, the more Meg is pulled back to her own teenage summer in 1974, when her charismatic best friend died in front of her and she buried secrets she promised herself she'd never tell.

The Sins of Summer Daughters by Lo Patrick has dual timelines, a small Southern town, lots of atmosphere. Meg's fear for her granddaughter is palpable, and it's tangled up with a very private worry that her own secrets are about to come out with everything else.

I thought the 1974 timeline was the stronger one. There's more meat there. It captures a lonely girl looking for the acceptance and stability she wasn't getting at home. The pace is steady but a smidge slow for me. Barrie Kreinik's narration kept me listening anyway. She absolutely nailed Meg's confusion, fear, and anger once Lucy was a suspect.

If you like a layered mystery that's more character study than chase scene, this one's for you. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out now.

Grab a copy at Bookshop.org and help an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you enjoyed this review and are interested in another book that mixes historical fiction mixed with mystery, ckeck out my review of The Camino.

About the Author

Lo Patrick is a former lawyer and current novelist living in the suburbs of Atlanta. Her debut, The Floating Girls, earned a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, was a finalist for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, and was a Reader's Digest Editor's Pick. Follow Lo on Instagram and visit her webiste for more news and information about her books.

The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies

 

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Thank you Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook!

Nothing makes me trust a book faster than two people who can't stand each other. 

Kate Westbury's The Oxford Guide to Scandals and Lies is set in 1951. The war's over but England's still picking itself up. Ginevra "Gin" Bishop is a society girl studying at Oxford who's clever, competitive, and dead set on proving she's more than a debutante. Sidney Braithwaite is a WWII vet back at school trying to forget everything he saw.

They meet. They annoy each other instantly. And it's the good kind of annoyed. The kind that's really just attraction in a bad mood.

Then an MI5 agent is poisoned while tracking a Soviet spy on campus, and British intelligence decides these two are exactly the pair to find the traitor.

This is historical fiction, romance, and thriller all in one, and it works. The tension runs on two tracks. Gin and Sidney circling each other, and the investigation closing in. The banter is sharp. The twists will keep any armchair detective on their toes. 

Ell Potter narrates and she's fantastic. She makes the sparring sizzle. You can hear the eye rolls.

For a debut, this covers a lot of ground: great time period, murder mystery, espionage, and a romance worth rooting for. And there's more coming. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out now! 

You can grab of copy of The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies at Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you enjoyed this review, you might be interested in my review of The Kindness of Strangers by Emma Garman. It's also a post WWII mystery set in London.

About the Author

Kate Westbury grew up a voracious reader of detective fiction, and unraveling plot twists became her favorite pastime. She now puts her whodunnit obsession to good use writing historical mysteries. Beyond the page, Kate teaches Latin and dreams of moving to an English village with crimes to solve. Follow Kate on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her work.

Ungodly Rich

 

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Julia falls for a gorgeous guy who loves adventure and a good adrenaline rush. Turns out he's the god of war, his family runs a global empire, and his mom wants Julia gone.

Ungodly Rich by Katharine McGee reimagines the gods and goddesses of Olympus as the ultra rich, ultra powerful family behind a worldwide corporation. Think Succession, but everyone has magic powers and nobody has ever been to therapy. 

The whole thing is a romp. Hera is the scheming future mother in law determined to end her son's romance. Aphrodite is the jealous sister in law happy to help her do it. And Hades is off in a corner running his own quiet plan to topple Zeus.

Saskia Maarleveld narrates, which was a good sign before I ever hit play. She gives Hera a voice that cuts like glass, and I never once lost track of who was who, which is no small thing with a cast this size.

This is a fun pick for a lot of different readers, especially if you love romance, retellings, or watching a wealthy family come apart at the seams. Word is there's a sequel in the works and I'm here for it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out now.

Grab a copy from Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it.

If you liked this review, you might be interested in my review of  The Witch's Heart.

About the Author

Katharine McGee is the New York Times bestselling of the American Royals series, The Thousandth Floor trilogy, and A Queen’s Game. She studied English and French literature at Princeton and has an MBA from Stanford. Follow Katharine on Instagram and visit her website for more news and information about her books.

Beyond Honor

 

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Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio, Atria Books, and Megan Beatie Communications for the gifted copies.

An Alaskan hunting guide, a New York developer in over his head, and a CIA analyst chasing a conspiracy straight into the Oval Office. This debut ties all three together and never lets up.

Beyond Honor by K.B. Brodsky is an old-school, globetrotting political thriller with the pacing of a modern action novel, and it's a debut. Bill and Karen Brodsky are a husband-and-wife writing team, which explains nothing about how they pulled this off on the first try.

Three threads: Kevin Rhoads is young Alaskan hunting guide whose tracking skills make him CIA paramilitary material. When his team is killed, his grief turns into something sharper, and the man who goes into Siberia on a solo extraction has vengeance on his mind. Real estate developer Peter Michaels is desperate for financing. He takes money from the wrong people in Moscow and finds himself owned. Analyst Whitney Skyler uncovers foreign operation that involves the Oval Office. Whitney and CIA Director Cynthia King leverage a thirty-year debt of honor to try to free an American agent rotting in a Russian prison.

To say there's a lot going on is an understatement. What impressed me is that none of it tangles. The threads converge into a fast-paced edge-your-seat thriller. 

I went back and forth between print and audio and ended up doing most of it on audio. Narrator Jacques Roy handles a huge cast without a single moment where I lost track of who was talking. That's harder than it sounds.

A sequel is already announced and I'm in. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Out now. 

Grab a copy of Beyond Honor from Bookshop.org and help out an indie bookstore while you're at it.

I you enjoyed this review, and want more espionage, you might be interested in my review of The Shadow Friends by Tess Gerritsen.

About the Author

K.B. Brodsky is the pen name of Bill and Karen Brodsky, a husband-and-wife writing team based in New York City and Colorado. Beyond Honor is the first book in a series. Follow the authors on Instagram and visit their website for more news and information about their work.