What We Hide by Colleen Coble

 Family secrets. Historical wrongs. And the truths that refuse to stay buried.

Savannah Webster is trying to find her way forward. She and her husband, Hez, have been separated since tragedy tore them apart and he began numbing his grief and guilt with alcohol. She returned to Tupelo Grove University, which her family helped found over a century ago, to teach history.

When Hez turns up in her classroom asking for a second chance, she rejects the idea immediately. But twenty-four hours later she’s under suspicion for murder, and since Hez is the best attorney she knows, she reluctantly asks him for help. They suspect the murder is tied to someone selling off the university’s pre-Columbian artifacts, but the secrets go much deeper than they realize.

The only hope they’ve got is each other, and they’re going to have to put their past behind them if they’re going to stay alive long enough to uncover all that’s hidden.

Pick up your copy here....                                                                                                                                    What We Hide (A Tupelo Grove Novel): Coble, Colleen, Acker, Rick: 9780840711984: Amazon.com: Books

Best-selling author Colleen Coble's novels have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Best Books of Indiana, the ACFW Carol Award, the Romance Writers of America RITA, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers' Choice, and the Booksellers Best. She has over 5 million books in print and writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail. Colleen is CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives with her husband Dave in Indiana. Visit her website at http://colleencoble.com.

My Thoughts...

Fantastic new series. It grabbed my attention from the very beginning and held my attention throughout the whole book. This is a great writing team. Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francessca Segal

 Passionate about conservation and fleeing an argument with her mother, newly qualified London vet Charlotte Walker has taken up a fellowship on the tiny South Atlantic island of Tuga de Oro to study the endangered gold coin tortoises in the jungle interior. She can claim the best of reasons for this year in paradise—What better motivation than to save a species?—but the reality is more complex. For Charlotte has secretly come to believe that she has her own connection to this remote and eccentric community, and she is finally determined to solve the mystery that has dominated her life.

But she will have little time for any of her declared or covert investigations. She is inconveniently attracted to the new island doctor. And not only do Tuga’s tortoises need attention but so too do the island’s dogs, goats, and donkeys—not to mention the islanders themselves, determined to win Charlotte over with cake and homemade jam until she relents and becomes vet to all their animals.

A complete, vivid world unto itself, Welcome to Glorious Tuga is a bewitching combination of warmth and humor. Immersive and uplifting, it transports the reader to an island that time forgot, bringing to life a cast of flawed, loveable people, like a contemporary James Herriot beneath the coconut palms.

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Welcome to Glorious Tuga: A Novel: Segal, Francesca: 9780063360457: Amazon.com: Books

Francesca Segal is the author of three critically-acclaimed novels, Welcome to Glorious Tuga (2024), The Awkward Age (2017) and The Innocents (2012), together with a memoir of NICU motherhood, Mother Ship (2019).

Her writing has won the Costa First Novel Award, the Sami Rohr Prize, a Betty Trask award, and been longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction.

House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen

 

On the outside they were the golden family with the perfect life. On the inside they built the perfect lie.

A young nanny who plunged to her death, or was she pushed? A nine-year-old girl who collects sharp objects and refuses to speak. A lawyer whose job it is to uncover who in the family is a victim and who is a murderer. But how can you find out the truth when everyone here is lying?

Rose Barclay is a nine-year-old girl who witnessed the possible murder of her nanny - in the midst of her parent's bitter divorce - and immediately stopped speaking. Stella Hudson is a best interest attorney, appointed to serve as counsel for children in custody cases. She never accepts clients under thirteen due to her own traumatic childhood, but Stella's mentor, a revered judge, believes Stella is the only one who can help.

From the moment Stella passes through the iron security gate and steps into the gilded, historic DC home of the Barclays, she realizes the case is even more twisted, and the Barclay family far more troubled, than she feared. And there's something eerie about the house itself: It's a plastic house, with not a single bit of glass to be found.

As Stella comes closer to uncovering the secrets the Barclays are desperate to hide, danger wraps around her like a shroud, and her past and present are set on a collision course in ways she never expected. Everyone is a suspect in the nanny's murder. The mother, the father, the grandmother, the nanny's boyfriend. Even Rose. Is the person Stella's supposed to protect the one she may need protection from?

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Amazon.com: House of Glass: A Novel: 9781250283993: Pekkanen, Sarah: Books

Sarah is also the author of eight USA Today and internationally-bestselling solo novels: THE OPPOSITE OF ME, SKIPPING A BEAT, THESE GIRLS, THE BEST OF US, CATCHING AIR, THINGS YOU DON'T SAY, THE PERFECT NEIGHBORS and THE EVER AFTER. Her books have been translated into dozens of languages.

In her free time, Sarah is a dedicated volunteer for rescue animals and serves as Ambassador for RRSA India, working hands-on to vaccinate and heal street dogs in Anand, India. She also volunteers weekly for a horse rescue group in Maryland, mucking stalls and helping mistreated horses heal.

Sarah lives just outside of Washington, D.C. with her family. Please follow Sarah on Facebook and Instagram @sarahpekkanen and visit www.sarahpekkanen.com

My thoughts....

 I loved all the twists and turns and all the suspects. This was a good thriller. Not to be missed all the action of a typical Pekkanen read.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Teacher by James Eric Riley

 

These students aren’t just bad, they’re dangerous. And then there’s the principal.

For Los Angeles teacher Eric Riley, summers off, holidays, and health benefits are all that matters. Why else get into teaching in your forties? With a wife and two young daughters, and a mountain of debt after suffering a broken leg, teaching represents a steady paycheck and time off he’s never experienced.

Riley surviveshis rookie year as a teacher, only to be assigned a class with a special designation: Emotionally Disturbed. He starts the new position, after taking a mandatory training session on the latest approved methods of physical restraint – the delicate name for self-defense when dealing with violent students.

One day, a student attacks Riley – and Riley puts him down hard on the floor. The school principal orders Riley to be placed on administrative leave. During a series of preliminary hearings regarding his status, he realizes that the official version of the incident is changing. When his union and legal representatives appear to be incompetent, he secretly contacts staff members at his school. They break into an administrator’s office and uncover statements and records regarding his suspension that implicate the principal, the district, and even the teachers’ union.

From classic teaching moments to administrator run-ins to a district boardroom showdown, one teacher finds out what he’s good at.

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Teacher: Riley, James Eric: 9798990231504: Amazon.com: Books

James Eric Riley grew up near the rust belt town of Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania. He attended Eastern Kentucky University and graduated with a degree in Theater Arts. After years of summer stock and regional theater, he and his wife moved to Southern California where they discovered snow skiing and - for Riley - speed skating. But after breaking a leg in a short track competition, teaching suddenly seemed like a better idea. As a high-school teacher, he finally put his theater background to use teaching public speaking and writing and directing a one-act version of Macbeth performed by students and faculty. Now retired, he and his wife Jeneva live in Independence, Kentucky.

 Interesting read for a memoir.

Flash Back by Iris and Roy Johansen

 

Kendra Michaels uses her heightened powers of deduction to draw out a serial killer who has not been seen or heard from in over fifteen years. 

Chloe and Sloane Morgan were only children when their mother was the second victim of the Bayside Strangler. Now, after spending fifteen years trying to discover his identity, the sisters have suddenly vanished. Were they getting too close to the truth? The police consider their interest in the crime to be just a coincidence and have little motivation to pursue the cold case.

         Armed with the box of photos, videos, police reports, and notes gathered by the sisters over the years—plus the extraordinary senses from being blind before recovering her sight via a revolutionary surgical procedure—Kendra follows the sisters’ trail of clues.  Little does she realize that her search is about to unleash a long-dormant killer on San Diego.  With help from government agent-for-hire Adam Lynch and private eye Jessie Mercado, Kendra must race to discover the identity of an infamous killer, not only to save the lives of the two sisters but also untold others. 

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Flashback (Kendra Michaels, 11): Johansen, Iris, Johansen, Roy: 9781538726266: Amazon.com: Books

Iris Johansen is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 50 consecutive bestsellers. Her series featuring forensic sculptor Eve Duncan has sold over 20 million copies and counting and was the subject of the celebrated Lifetime movie The Killing Game. Johansen lives in Georgia and Florida.

Roy Johansen is an Edgar Award-winning author and the son of Iris Johansen. His acclaimed mysteries include Killer View, Deadly Visions, Beyond Belief, and The Answer Man. He has written screenplays for Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Disney, and MGM.

Iris and Roy have written more than eleven novels together, including the New York Times bestselling Kendra Michaels series. 

My Thoughts...

This has been a really long series to not have to two main characters get it right and get together all ready. It has been drawn out long enough. But the storyline has been so much fun to read. I love this mother and son duo writing team.

Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

Cold Vengeance by Nancy Mehl

 

When a renowned crime podcaster vanishes without a trace, former FBI behavioral analysts turned private investigators River Ryland and Tony St. Clair are called upon to track her down. As they wade through the evidence she left behind, they unearth a startling connection--she may have discovered the existence of an unknown killer, and he will stop at nothing to carry out a deadly plan.

As the pair delves deeper, they soon find themselves the targets of a relentless enemy determined to silence them. With their lives--and hearts--on the line, can they confront the evil that threatens them before it consumes them both?

Nancy Mehl lives in Missouri, with her husband Norman, and her puggle, Watson. She's authored over fifty books and is currently at work on a new FBI suspense series for Bethany House Publishing.

All of Nancy's novels have an added touch - something for your spirit as well as your soul. "I welcome the opportunity to share my faith through my writing," Nancy says. "It's a part of me and of everything I think or do. God is number one in my life. I wouldn't be writing at all if I didn't believe that this is what He's called me to do. I hope everyone who reads my books will walk away with the most important message I can give them: God is good, and He loves you more than you can imagine. He has a good plan especially for your life, and there is nothing you can't overcome with His help."

You can find out more about Nancy by visiting her Web site at: www.nancymehl.com. She also is active on the Suspense Sisters: www.suspensesisters.blogspot.com and on FaceBook!

My Thoughts....

I always get sucked in to Mehls books and can't stop reading them. I'm a little bit sad this is the final book in the Ryland and St Clair series. I have read all three. It seems I always hate to fight my husband to read them first when the books hit the door.
Mary Reader received this book from the publisher for review. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are our own.

A Daughter of Fair Verona by Christina Dodd

 

Once upon a time a young couple met and fell in love. You probably know that story, and how it ended (hint: badly). Only here’s the thing: That’s not how it ended at all.

Romeo and Juliet are alive and well and the parents of seven kids. I’m the oldest, with the emphasis on ‘old’—a certified spinster at twenty, and happy to stay that way. It’s not easy to keep your taste for romance with parents like mine. Picture it—constant monologues, passionate declarations, fighting, making up, making out . . . it’s exhausting.

Each time they’ve presented me with a betrothal, I’ve set out to find the groom-to-be a more suitable bride. After all, someone sensible needs to stay home and manage this household. But their latest match, Duke Stephano, isn’t so easy to palm off on anyone else. The debaucher has had three previous wives—all of whom met unfortunate ends. Conscience forbids me from consigning another woman to that fate. As it turns out, I don’t have to . . .

At our betrothal ball—where, quite by accident, I meet a beautiful young man who makes me wonder if perhaps there is something to love at first sight—I stumble upon Duke Stephano with a dagger in his chest. But who killed him? His late wives’ families, his relatives, his mistress, his servants—half of Verona had motive. And when everyone around the Duke begins dying, disappearing, or descending into madness, I know I must uncover the killer . . . before death lies on me like an untimely frost. 

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Amazon.com: A Daughter of Fair Verona (Daughter of Montague): 9781496750167: Dodd, Christina: Books

 

Christina Dodd is a New York Times bestselling author whose suspense, paranormal, historical, and mystery novels have been translated into 30 languages and sold more than 15 million copies in print. Praised for her “brilliantly etched characters, polished writing, and unexpected flashes of sharp humor that are pure Dodd” (Booklist), her award-winning books have landed on numerous Best of the Year lists and, much to her mother's delight, Dodd was once a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle. She lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest, where her 700 lavender plants share the yard with her husband’s various “Big Projects,” including a treehouse, zipline, and their very own Stonehenge.

Enter Christina’s worlds and join her mailing list for humor, book news and entertainment (yes, she’s the proud author with the infamous three-armed cover) at the Christina Dodd website and the special Daughter of Montague website. Follow Christina on Amazon to receive notices about her upcoming and new releases. Her legions of fans know that when they pick up a Christina Dodd book, they'll find the story, "Wildly entertaining, wickedly witty!"