We All Fall Down by Natalie D. Richards

🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Theo's always been impulsive. But telling Paige how he feels? He's obsessed over that decision. And it's time. Tonight. At the party on the riverbank, under the old walking bridge, site of so many tales of love and death.
Paige has had a crush on Theo since they first met, but she knows her feelings are one-sided. She's trying to move on, to flirt. A party at the river is just what she needs. Except a fight breaks out, and when Paige tries to intervene—Theo's fist lands in her face.
All Theo and Paige want to do is forget that fateful night. But strange events keep drawing them back to the bridge. Someone, something is determined to make them remember...and pay for what they each did.

^{I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review}

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I had only briefly read over the synopsis and had not looked into anything else about the book or about the author. In a way, I went into this book blind and I think that it helped me to enjoy it even more. I was able to appreciate the seamless way that the author was able to incorporate paranormal/horror elements because I didn't know that it would incorporate them. It felt realistic despite these elements which I believe made it more enjoyable than other books that have tried to accomplish this.  

This book was a creepy thrill ride for sure! I found myself second guessing what was real and was made up in the characters heads much like the main characters in the story.  Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down nor did I want to! I was immediately drawn into the book by the interesting, flawed main characters who had serious issues with no idea how to cope with them. Theo was impulsive and acted without thinking of the consequences of his actions and Paige had crippling anxiety that she attempted to block out and avoid. The tension throughout the book was palpable between these two characters and felt for each of them as the book progressed. I had no idea what was going to happen throughout the book and the author surprised me on numerous occasions throughout the book.

The book was not perfect but it was easy to overlook certain details due to the amount of enjoyment I received from reading it. I would have liked to have been able to understand how the conclusion was reached about the someone/something that is trying to make the main characters relive the night that everything went sideways. I felt like I needed more of an explanation in order to understand what was happening. Everyone in the book just seemed to accept the answer that was given without questioning it even though I didn't feel like all the characters had a full understanding of the issue.

The Sweetness of Life by Kathryn Andrews

🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Shelby Leigh
I love food. I love everything about it.
My dream has always been to land a job with the Food Network channel, and I’ve spent years as a food critic, blogger, and chef, tasting my way across the South to develop recipes that are a twist on the classics and uniquely my own. When a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity comes calling, I’m shocked to discover I’ve been paired with him, the worst blind date ever—bless his heart, and I’m determined not to let anyone get in my way. So, I buckle my designer heels, tighten my apron, and vow to myself there’s nothing in his playbook that’s going to stop me from tasting success.

Zach Wolff
I love wine. It is my life.
What I hate are critics. I hate everything about their dream-killing souls and elitist attitudes. So, when she shows up in the tasting room of my winery in northern Georgia, the devil in disguise wearing a pair of long legs and beautiful hazel eyes, I know just the plan to make and how to use her to get what I want. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her, because in the end, I will win. I always do.

Two weeks. His wine. Her recipes. A feature article in a special issue of a world-renowned magazine. Pairing wine with food is one thing, but two hearts is another.
 
GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35694288-the-sweetness-of-life
 
Check out the Southern food-related website created for The Sweetness of Life: http://www.starvingforsouthern.com  

*Arc generously provided in exchange for an honest review*

I didn't know much about wine going into this book so it was interesting to learn about the process of making it, etc. through Zach. I did find that it got to be a bit much at times. I found myself being buried under wine facts and figures when I wanted to know more about other things related to the story. I would have liked to have learned more about Shelby and what made her so passionate about having a Food Network show.

Although, this book doesn't break new ground in the contemporary romance genre, I still found myself thoroughly enjoying the story and characters.

The pacing of the book was good although there were times where it felt a bit drawn out. I believe that this may have been because of some of the back and forth between the characters wherein it felt like they were going around in circles. It may have made the book appear to be drawn out at certain points while the pacing remained the same. 

I'm not sure that I cared for the process of how the conflict was resolved by the end of the book. There were points made by secondary characters that I didn't agree with which irked me but I can see where the author was going with the dialogue and why she made certain choices with the direction of the book.

AUTHOR BIO

Kathryn Andrews loves stories that end with a happily ever after. She started writing at age seven and never stopped. Kathryn is an Amazon Bestseller for her much loved Hale Brothers Series and is a Chic-lit, Contemporary Romance, and New Adult writer.

Kathryn graduated from the University of South Florida with degrees in Biology and Chemistry, and currently lives in Tampa, Florida. She spends her days as a sales director for a medical device company and her nights lost in her love of fictional characters.

When Kathryn is not crafting beautiful worlds that incorporate some of her most favorite real life places, she can be found hanging out with her husband and two young sons, while drinking iced coffee and enjoying the sun.


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Things I'm Seeing Without You by Peter Bognanni

🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Tess Fowler has just dropped out of high school. She can barely function after learning of Jonah’s death. Jonah, the boy she’d traded banter with over texts and heartfelt e-mails.

Jonah, the first boy she'd told she loved and the first boy to say it back.

Jonah, the boy whose suicide she never saw coming.

Tess continues to write to Jonah, as a way of processing her grief and confusion. But for now she finds solace in perhaps the unlikeliest of ways: by helping her father with his new alternative funeral business, where his biggest client is . . . a prized racehorse?

As Tess’s involvement in her father’s business grows, both find comfort in the clients they serve and in each other. But love, loss, and life are so much more complicated than Tess ever thought. Especially after she receives a message that turns her life upside down.

*I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review* 

I'm not sure about the way that the book began. It seemed fragmented to me because things weren't making as much sense as I would have liked. As the book continued things began coming together to form a complete picture. I enjoyed the unique voice of the main character Tess. She had a voice all her own and I liked hearing what she had to say. She proved to be a fairly realistic teenage character with the author achieving a balance between immaturity and wisdom beyond her years. I feel like the story lacked detail at times. I didn't feel like I fully understood why characters felt or acted in certain ways. I really liked how the author explored the funeral business and Tess's Father's unique take on celebrating the lives of those that have passed on. It made the book entertaining and allowed me to think about the reasoning behind funerals.
I appreciated the author's take on grieving the death of someone who committed suicide. The grieving process is slightly different in cases like this and the author communicates this very well in my opinion. He makes sure that readers understand that there are mixture of emotions associated with this mostly confusion. I appreciated the way that the book focuses on a need for answers as to why Jonah would take his own life and how it affects everyone that he leaves behind.

Carry Me Home by Jessica Therrien

🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Lucy and Ruth are country girls from a broken home. When they move to the city with their mother, leaving behind their family ranch and dead-beat father, Lucy unravels.

They run to their grandparents’ place, a trailer park mobile home in the barrio of San Jose. Lucy’s barrio friends have changed since her last visit. They’ve joined a gang called VC. They teach her to fight, to shank, to beat a person unconscious and play with guns. When things get too heavy, and lives are at stake, the three girls head for LA seeking a better life.

But trouble always follows Lucy. She befriends the wrong people, members of another gang, and every bad choice she makes drags the family into her dangerous world.

Told from three points of view, the story follows Lucy down the rabbit hole, along with her mother and sister as they sacrifice dreams and happiness, friendships and futures. Love is waiting for all of them in LA, but pursuing a life without Lucy could mean losing her forever.

Ultimately it’s their bond with each other that holds them together, in a true test of love, loss and survival.

*I received this copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I appreciated the subject matter that the book deals with because there are not very many books that discuss gangs. I thought that it was interesting to see the progression of indoctrination into a gang through Lucy. I would have liked to have seen to book focus more on the gang aspect rather than dealing with many other issues. I felt like the author took on too much by adding so many other things to the story. This also may have hurt the pacing of the book because it was a bit slow but with a few tense filled scenes in the first half and then the pacing picks up in the second half making it difficult to process everything going on.

I found it hard to connect with the book which made it difficult to read. I'm not sure if this is because the things that Lucy deals with are hard to read about or if I found it hard to connect with the story and characters as a whole. I think that it may have been a bit of both. I feel that the things that Lucy deals with are at times glanced over rather than spoken about with emotional depth. It seems almost as if the author is saying that things affected the character but when I was reading it, I wasn't feeling that she was as affected as was stated. 

I found it hard to fully connect with the characters due to this and traits that the characters possessed. I wanted the mother to be to be strong enough to stand on her own two feet instead of being helpless and leaning on everyone around her. I found it hard to understand Lucy and why she went down certain paths in the book. I found myself becoming angry at her towards the beginning of the book and by the time I finished reading I was glad that I didn't have to live in her head anymore. She was such a frustrating character who seemed gullible and ignorant. Ruth was the only character that I can say that I liked. I related to her in quite a few ways which in turn helped me to sympathize with what she was forced to deal with.




 

Devil by Ker Dukey

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Evi Devil.

Yes, that’s really my name.
The irony is not lost on me.

I was created from two evil souls and have the name to prove it.
Devil worshipers, perverts, murderer. Is all terms used to describe the parents I refuse to remember. My mind won’t allow me to.

And why would I want to?
One born of dirty blood running through her veins can never truly be clean from its murky hue.
No matter what they try to tell me happened in my past, my mind denies me access, therefore how can I know it’s true?

How can I believe that’s what I’m born from?
Glimpses of my past haunt me, the screams of terror echo in the silent darkness of my memories, trying to remind me that my Mother went from room to room butchering our family.

I’ve learned from scars that I suffered abuse and that my Father and siblings weren’t my Mother’s only victims.
Hearing what they tell me.
Reading the words printed in the papers. None of it can prepare me for what’s to come.
My biggest lesson is learning that some memories we suppress for a reason.

Warning: This book is incredibly dark, twisted, and has many triggers due to sensitive subject matter. If you have read Ker Dukey's books before then you can probably disregard this. 

 From the moment that the book begins, it is clear that Evi has suppressed memories that she is attempting to recover in order to feel whole. Ker Dukey does an excellent job of conveying Evi's mindset and helping the reader to see that Evi's point of view should not always be trusted. It is clear that she has been through things that have distorted her view. 

I thought that Evi's head was an interesting place to be and could not believe all of the events that had taken place in her life at such a young age. There were moments in the book that turned my stomach and made me want to punch something. I found her to be pretty well adjusted during the course of the book considering the hand that she had been dealt. 

There were a few twists and turns thrown in by the author that I did not see coming at all. I thought that they were well executed and when I look back I can see where Ker Dukey had lain the groundwork for them. I have to say that that ending was twisted! I think that I am still trying to digest everything because I am in shock. I think that I am attempting to justify the actions of characters in the book and that is just wrong. Let's just say that if you are looking for a DARK book then this is the book for you. In my opinion, this is Ker Dukey's darkest book thus far.

Twisted Truth by Maria Macdonald

 

 🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
I used to believe in true love.
Until he broke me.
Lesson learnt.
Where there’s love, there’s lies.

I used to believe I wasn’t what she needed.
Until I let her love in.
I’ve changed for her.
I want her to believe in me like I need to believe in myself.

Isaac James stayed out of my life for five years. He wasn't to blame, after all, protecting me imprisoned him.
Now he’s back. The chemistry is still there, the tension is still there, the love is still there… the pain is still there.
Isaac James was my rock, my first love… my family.

Olivia McKenna has always been my weakness. I’d do anything to protect her, which I proved, despite it taking me to prison.
I’ve stayed away, trying to do the right thing. I thought I was still protecting her. But, I’m lost without her… even if I’m not sure I can be what she needs.
Olivia McKenna was my forever… for always.

 GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30349844-twisted-truth

*Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

The book started off well. I really enjoyed seeing the progression of Olivia's personality as she grew from a child to becoming a young woman. I found her extremely funny and likeable as a child. The author was able to capture what kids are like when they are little and the fact that they have no filter. I feel like the best word to describe this book is tease. I kept expecting one thing to happen and every time I thought that it would, it seemed like someone would jump out and say "syke!" 

I didn't know that there would be a forbidden/taboo angle to their relationship until I had read a bit of the story so if you aren't into that kind of thing than this book probably isn't for you.  Once I realized that that would be a piece of the plot I thought that is what the book would mainly focus on. However, it seemed as if this aspect of the story was glanced over rather than having it add some tension and drama to the book. Although, I found out that this type of relationship is legal in the UK so it is probably not taboo like it is here in the United States.

I feel like I have read some version of this story before so it felt a bit stale to me. I had some trouble with the characters. I didn't find them that likeable because Olivia seemed like a whiny, tantrum throwing lap dog and Issac didn't seem to understand that you should think through your actions and the effect that they have on others. Their relationship seemed volatile and frankly, I was hoping that they wouldn't end up together because they didn't seem to be good for each other. I feel like parts of Issac's story still didn't make sense to me even after they are eventually explained. The explanation just seemed so convenient rather than being realistic to me. 

 

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AUTHOR BIO

Maria is a full time working Mum, she has two beautiful daughters, both of whom love books as much as she does.
Maria has loved to write since she was a little girl.
Reading and loving books, as well as blogging, has inspired her to write and publish.
Maria, her husband and children now reside in Wiltshire, England.

AUTHOR LINKS

Website: http://www.mariamacdonaldauthor.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MMacdonaldBooks
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariamacdonaldbooks
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Canvas by Jacob Chance

🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis: 
Joshua Dawson is my best friend's ex-boyfriend. That alone should be reason enough for me to keep my distance. Add in that he's a well mannered, loyal and hardworking artist and I should be running in the other direction.

He's damn near perfect, and I prefer my men hard to love and easy to leave. Josh's only flaw is he wants forever, and for the first time I might want the same. But loving someone doesn’t mean you deserve them.

He's all I want and everything I can't have.

GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35754886-canvas


*Arc generously provided in exchange for an honest review*

I thought that the chemistry between the main characters was explosive. Whenever they were near each other in the book, it was clear that there was tension because it leapt off the page.

I was kind of confused as to why the book seemed to have a few different "beginnings" or "prologues". The author gives a glimpse of events in Josh's life five years ago, four months ago, and then present day which makes for a confusing beginning. I had no idea what was going on or why. I started off liking the character but then he says some harsh things that automatic make me dislike him. I wanted to understand what happened between the characters that made them act the way that they did. 

It seemed like Josh and Elle began the book having some issues within themselves and each other. I think that I was able to where each of them stood but then it seemed as if they changed their stances on things very quickly. It didn't feel very realistic to me especially since they hurt each other and seemed firm in how they felt about pursuing any kind of relationship. After reading the entire book, I'm still not sure why they treated each other the way that they did... Not knowing how to deal with feelings for someone else is not a good enough excuse.

I thought that the book was predictable to a point. There were parts of it that were different from what I have come to expect from this genre which I appreciated. I would have liked to have seen the characters fleshed out a bit more. I still don't feel like I know much about them other than bits and pieces of information. 

PURCHASE LINKS – 99c for a limited time

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There is a giveaway for a $25 Amazon gift card and a signed paperback of Canvas (1 winner, open internationally)

Direct Link:

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AUTHOR BIO

Jacob Chance grew up in New England. He’s a martial artist, a football fan, a practical joker and junk food lover.

An author of romantic suspense and sports romance, he plans to write many more sexy, suspenseful stories.
 
AUTHOR LINKS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jchanceauthor
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/103288340096103/
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Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/jacobchance
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See Me, See Me Not (Gavert City #2) by Elodie Nowodazkij

🌟🌟🌟🌗 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
The second standalone novel in the YA romantic suspense "Gavert City" series.

SEE ME, Try as they might…
SEE ME NOT, Tessa and Luke can’t escape their pasts.

Six years ago, Tessa Gardner’s sister, Mellie, disappeared. Despite lingering guilt and the never ending desire to find her, seventeen-year-old Tessa works hard to keep it together. Her grades are decent, and thanks to her part-time job, she can help pay her family’s bills. But when her childhood crush, seventeen-year-old Luke Simon, rolls back into her small Texan town, he threatens to topple the delicate balance she created. She’s drawn to him—and the way he makes her smile. He’s the only one who seems to understand her, but he’s got a dark past of his own. Even the fake psychic who swears Mellie is still alive tells Tessa that Luke will cause her pain.

Luke Simon knows a thing or two about guilt. He moved in with his uncle to escape his past, but memories threaten to eat him alive. He does what he can to keep his anger in check—quieting his thoughts by making out with one meaningless girl after the next. Tessa, and her long legs and her hard-earned smiles and her kindness is the only girl who’s ever mattered. She’s the one untainted memory he has from his childhood and he could talk to her for hours. He could do anything with her for hours. But the truth about his past might send her running. Or worse.

While Tessa and Luke try their hardest to live in the present, their pasts lurk in the shadows, more intertwined than they could imagine.  And it may be too late to save Tessa's sister—and themselves.

*I received this copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review* 

This book intrigued me from the very first page. I didn't expect the book to have such a thought provoking and serious subject matter. I thought it would just be another second chance romance not that there is something wrong with them. I appreciated the attention to detail and the depth concerning the characters and the issues each of them were dealing with. I felt that their methods of coping and reactions were realistic which helped me to believe the story more fully. I thought the mystery of their pasts and what happened to Mellie were well done. The author was able to put enough interesting breadcrumbs to make readers want to continue to read without giving away too much information that would give away plot points. It made for a good flow to the story wherein everything happened at good pace.

I know that the books in this series are supposed to be standalone but I felt like I should have read the first one. See Me, See Me Not starts off by throwing the reader right into the fray and I felt like I was missing something...like maybe there was information I needed to know beforehand to fully grasp the situation. There were aspects of the book that I felt needed to be explained more thoroughly concerning Luke and Tessa's pasts. I still don't feel like I can fully grasp exactly what was going on and why. I get the main idea of the conflict but would have liked to understand some of the details better.

Dear Captor by Liz Lovelock

🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Dear Captor,

You’ve stolen me.
You’ve spilled my blood.
You’ve brought me pain.
But what you’re yet to realize... I’m a fighter.
I’ve been broken before.
I’ve even at one point lost the will to live.
So now you know… this information I gift to you.
I’m ready for you, so do your worst.

Sincerely,

Elenore

 GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36049900-dear-captor

EXCERPT

Prologue

What’s in a name?
Usually, parents name their children with a special kind of love in their hearts. Not mine though. They didn’t want me, or at least, that’s what they kept telling me. They only ever wanted to inflict pain. I was nobody until the woman next door gave me the lovely name Elenore. She cared for me when my own parents didn’t or wouldn’t.
Every single day I wished to be taken away from what I endured. Anywhere would have been good. I would have sold my soul to the devil himself back then, and I’d willingly do it now. Give my living essence to breathe, to live on. My entire childhood was a survival story, and now I have another.
So much blood. Everywhere I look, there are dark pools of solidified blood stuck to the walls, the floor—my entire cell is covered. The girls who came before me are no more. Their stories are over. It was gruesome, the stuff of your nightmares.
Not me, though—he kept me.
One letter changed my destiny of certain death. It was never in me to give up easily. I’ve always been a fighter. He never saw me coming, and he never knew my strength. He was not what I expected either.
His strength.
His calmness.
Or his kindness.
He was my captor . . .
 

*Arc generously provided in exchange for an honest review*

Wow! This book was amazing! I knew that I had to read this book after I read the blurb and I'm so happy that I received an arc so that I could. There were so many things that I liked about it and I'm excited because it is only part one of  Dear Captor. 

The story itself was well written with a great flow to it. It started off with a bang and never let up for one second. I was sucked in from the moment I began reading it and wanted to read more as soon as I finished it. I wanted to know what was going to happen in the next portion of the story and what was going to happen to the characters. 

 I loved how the author chose to give different points of view in the book particularly the captor. I enjoyed being in his head and trying to figure out how he came to be what he was and do the things that he did. I hope that I will get to know more of his backstory in the next book. I thought that Elenore was an awesome character. I admired her strength and resilience in the face of the horrors she had to endure. She had an interesting, in depth, backstory which helped me to feel like I knew her and could understand how she would feel about different things. The secondary characters were just as good even though we don't learn as much about them. 

AUTHOR BIO

Liz is from bright and sunny Queensland, Australia. She has always been a reader. When she was little, she’d be up late reading Garfield and Asterix comic books and also Footrot Flats. When Liz hit high school, they gave her Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden, and from there her love of books continued to grow.

Liz keeps a notebook and pen beside her bed for when those late-night ideas pop into her head, plus she’s a stationery addict and loves pens, notebooks, and, well, anything stationery.


AUTHOR LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LizLovelock
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Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Liz-Lovelock/e/B00NGKS2T2/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizlovelock/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8268717.Liz_Lovelock
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COMING SOON IN THE LETTERS IN BLOOD SERIES

#2 With Love – Releasing October 18, 2017

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#3 Forever Yours – Releasing November 15, 2017

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Born, Darkly (Darkly, Madly Duet #1) by Trisha Wolfe

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
He challenged her sanity.

She shattered his reality.

They dared each other...to the brink of madness.

A dark and twisted maze awaits criminal psychologist London Noble when she falls for her patient, convicted serial killer, Grayson Pierce Sullivan. As she unravels the traps, her sanity tested with each game, she's forced to acknowledge the true evil in the world around her. 

*Provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

When I read the synopsis of this book my first thought was that it reminded me of the story of Joker and Harley Quinn. He manipulated her and messed with her mind until she was just as nuts as he was. My second thought was that this sounded like a a thrill ride of a book and I knew that once I started reading that I was going to have a hard time putting it down. 

I'm happy to say that I was right! This book has got to be one of the best dark romances I have ever read! I loved the dual point of view in this book! It helped me to see how London changed over the course of the book. She begins to question herself as well as others more and more until she  pieces all the clues together to figure out the truth. Grayson's point of view made my skin crawl. I loved diving into his twisted head space! If anything, I wanted to hear more from him throughout the book. I loved learning about Grayson and London including their thought processes and how they compensated for their"weaknesses".

I have to say that I did not see any of the twists and turns in Born, Darkly coming. Trisha Wolfe kept surprising me in the best way. Everything in the book made sense and only added to to the suspense and darkness of the story. Grayson and London battled each other until the very end of the book to see who would come out as the alpha. It was a battle of wills and cunning!

The Lives of Desperate Girls by MacKenzie Common

🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Helen Commanda is found dead just outside Thunder Creek, Ontario. Her murder goes unremarked, except for the fact that it may shed light on the earlier disappearance of Chloe Shaughnessy. Chloe is beautiful, rich and white. Helen is plain, and from the reservation. They had nothing in common except that they were teenage girls from an unforgiving small town. Only Chloe's best friend Jenny Parker knows exactly how unforgiving, but she's keeping some dangerous secrets of her own.

Jenny begins looking for answers about Helen's life and death, trying to understand larger questions about her town and her best friend. But what can a teenage girl really accomplish where adults have failed? And how much is Jenny actually complicit in a conspiracy of silence?

*I received this copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

 

I thought that this book took an interesting direction by having one of the focuses be racism. Two girls are gone with one missing, possibly dead and the other murdered but the police are focusing on the missing white girl rather than the native young woman that was murdered. I'm not sure how realistic I found some the events in the book or the memories that people spoke about. Some things seemed to be a bit far-fetched which made them hard to believe.  Although, I assumed that the book was set in present day but if it was set sometime in the past it would be more realistic to me. 

The portions of the book that I enjoyed the most were the moments that were focused on Chloe.  However, they seemed as if they were few and far between so I found it difficult to keep reading. I wanted to delve more into her "secrets" in order to understand her mind set and what happened to her but the book focused more on Jenny and her reactions to everything. I found Jenny to be bland and uninteresting. Her reactions to things seemed blunted to me and her priorities were odd. It seemed like the book didn't have a focus. There were so many topics that were discussed that it was difficult to pinpoint where my attention was supposed to be. Is it Helen? Chloe? Jenny? It began to be confusing not to mention the romance aspect that is focused on quite a bit in the book. 

Echoes in the Storm by Max Henry

 🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

*ARC received in exchange for an honest review*

 

BLURB

“Behind those eyes, a battle rages. One that’s not fought overseas with guns and tanks, but one that wreaks havoc in the homeland with harshly spoken words and misguided beliefs.”

One week is all we were supposed to share. One week as strangers. Yet you became so much more.

You were the echo in my storm.

All the little things you did differently irked me. I thought it meant we couldn’t get along, that there was no chance we’d work out. But when it came time for me to leave, you know what I figured out?

They were the faint call of home, lost on the wind and the roar of thunder. It was you calling me, hoping I’d hear you and find my way out of the dark that I had lost myself in when I shut off to survive.

You were my echo. My call back.

And fuck it all if I didn’t find home in the end.

GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35906425-echoes-in-the-storm                                                                                                                               

EXCERPT

Chapter One

Eleven hours in the office, and this is what I have to come home to. I close my eyes and focus on my breathing, trapped in the naïve thought that maybe, just maybe, if I wish him away hard enough, it could truly happen.
Nope. Still there.
Blondie belts a tune out on my car radio, the beat going some way toward helping me find my zen. Three years on, and the sheer sight of him still pisses me off the same as it did when he told me “I don’t think I could ever love you again.”
Yeah. Because loving me meant accepting the fact it wasn’t my fault, and he refuses to believe that.
I refuse to believe that.
Drawing a deep breath, I reach for the door handle and promptly cut Blondie off mid-sentence as the crisp evening air rushes into my safe haven. With my leather tote snatched in my other hand, I rise and plaster on as natural of a smile as I can manage when my back aches and my feet throb from overuse.
“Eight months, Jared.”
My ex leans a shoulder against the side of the house, tucked under the veranda as though he had hoped to blend into the shadows and catch me by surprise.
“And yet, it hasn’t dulled your attitude any.”
“What do you want?” I shut and lock the car, pining for that first dip in a hot bath.
“You ignored my calls.” He frowns as I walk right by him. “Did you think I’d be that easy to brush off?”
“Hardly.” There was a reason he used to be saved in my phone under ‘Cockroach’. “I’ve been busy.”
“You’re not the only one,” he bites, inviting himself into the house behind me. “But then again, you never did understand that concept, did you?”
“Carry on, Jared,” I snap louder than intended. “See how long this wee conversation lasts if that’s the way you’re going to steer it.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. “I’ll make it quick.” For a fleeting second, I see the vulnerable man I fell in love with ten years ago. “I want you to sell the house.”
Until that.
“What?” I throw my tote on the side table with more zest than necessary.
We were married for barely two years, not enough time for the property to have increased substantially in value. So it was decided when we split that I’d stay in it, paying the mortgage on my own, and the little that he had put in over the course of our relationship would be repaid when I sold.
When I sold.
“If you need the cash—”
“I need an end to this.” He waves a hand between us as I slump against the hallway wall. “I need to cut ties from you, Cam.”
“I thought we were doing that just fine,” I whisper as I run my eye over his carefully put together outfit.
Fuck, he unfriended me on Facebook the minute he split. I don’t even know where he lives now, just that it’s in the city, and judging by the threads he’s got on he’s doing well for himself.
Of course, he doesn’t need the money. He’s never needed anything from me. Makes sense then, that he wants me to sell to ensure he has no reason ever to see me, let alone talk to me, again.
“If you want closure, Jared, I can get my lawyer to send yours the settlement amount when and if I sell in the future. You don’t have to deal with me.”
He shrugs. “Except I would. You’d still be there in the back of my mind every time I have to list assets, Cam. Or if Kell and I want to apply for another mortgage—it’s still in my name, too.”
“So we change it.” I push aside the reference he made to the whore who stole him away. “Make a time at the bank, and I’ll meet you there.”
Silence hangs thick, choking the air in the house—the very reason for this conversation. I push off the wall with the flat of my hand and take a couple of steps toward the lounge room.
“How long?”
He hangs in the entrance hall. “As soon as we can agree on a realtor.”
“No.” I drop to the edge of the armchair, bracing myself with both hands on the cushion. “You’ve got to give me longer.”
“Why, Cam?” He ventures as far as the open doorway, ever reluctant to get too close to me. “You’ve had three years to get what you need out of being here. Staying in the house won’t change anything.”
“Exactly,” I whisper.
I never stayed in the hope it would settle the past, or that the memories the house held could ever ease the pain. I didn’t stay to heal. I stayed to keep the wound open and festering, to never forget.
I chose to remain in the home we shared so I would be reminded every day of what I did and why I don’t ever deserve to have that kind of love again.
“You need to move on,” Jared murmurs as he retraces his steps toward the door. “It’s not healthy, Cam.”
“I know.”
He twists the handle and opens the front door a fraction, resting his shoulder against the edge as he drives the nail home a little harder.
“You need to own up to what you did.”

  REVIEW:

 *ARC received in exchange for an honest review*

I thought that the author did a good job of showing the emotional depth of what both Cam and Duke's traumas did to them. It was clear that they were each finding it hard to cope and were leading half lives. I thought that the descriptions of their pain like that of the sentence in the blurb about Duke fighting a war  were really well done. I wanted to hear more about what was going on inside of each of the characters heads due to this. I thought that the beginning of the book was better than the middle and ending of the book because there was mystery and emotional pain. I feel that those things did not last very long before Cam and Duke were so focused on each other that it took away from the depth that the story began with. 

Some of the chapters didn't make sense to me at first and they felt like they were out of place. I had no idea what was happening but quickly realized that they were supposed to be flashbacks. They seemed to break up the flow of the story and made me feel disconnected from the book. They weren't needed considering the characters end up discussing the things that were talked about in them later. There was no lead in or chapter heading that explained them so there were times where I had to go back a few pages in order to know what was going on. 

I didn't understand certain points of the story because again there was no reasoning or explanation as to why Duke and Cam made certain choices. I felt that the book needed more foreshadowing so that I could understand that the book was going to go in a certain direction. It didn't make since to the plot and seemed like it  was used in order to try to add extra conflict and drama.

 

 

 

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AUTHOR BIO

Born and bred in Canterbury, New Zealand, Max now resides with her family in beautiful and sunny Queensland, Australia.

Life with two young children can be hectic at times, and although she may not write as often as she would like, Max wouldn’t change a thing.

In her down time, Max can be found at her local gym, brain-storming through a session with the weights. If not, she’s probably out drooling over one of many classic cars on show that she wishes she owned.


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