Fast paced, gripping read! If You Knew My Sister - Michelle Adams

If you knew my sister, you’d run too…

First there was the Robert Kneel incident.
Then what happened to Margot Wolfe.
And now she’s found me again.

Dr. Irini Harringford was given away by her parents just before her fourth birthday. Although she has spent her whole life trying to convince herself she doesn't need them, deep down Irini longs to understand why she was abandoned, while her parents kept her older sister, Elle.

So when Elle gets in touch with news that their mother has died, Irini reluctantly agrees to return to the family home. But she is ill at ease. She and Elle are not close. Irini knows only too well what Elle is capable of. Inexplicably drawn to her enigmatic sister, yet terrified of the sway she holds, Irini tries to protect herself even as she is sucked back into her family's toxic web of secrets...and soon realizes that the past is more complicated than she imagined, and that her very future rests upon discovering the truth about why she was really given away.

I will start by telling you that I am now a card carrying devoted reader of Michelle Adams, I have already stalked her Goodreads, purchased the audiobook of this book and very much look forward to her next! Michelle Adams is one to look out for!

 Ooooh, i love a good dysfuntional family thriller! Even better when they surround two sisters!

 If You Knew My Sister is chilling, gripping and has all of the right twists and turns! This is a stay up late with the lights ON kind of book. The characters are very well developed and connective. You won't be able to put this down!

If you like a good creepy, what the Janie, Mary and Joseph's name is going on, ending with an OMG moment book, then If You Knew My Sister is the book for you!

Special thanks to Netgalley and St Martins's Press for an opportunity to read and review this book.

PS Don't forget to check out the audiobook of If You Knew My Sister! It's amazing!

The Retreat by Mark Edwards Refreshing and riveting!

These days the whole 'kid gone missing' plots are dime a dozen and quite a few are predictable to say the least. The Retreat does not fall into that category. It is new and refreshing and I absolutely devoured it!

Julia, grieving the loss of both her husband and only child, opens her large home as a writer's retreat in an attempt to both heal and make ends meet.

Lucas, one of her first guests, is looking for inspiration after writing his first best seller and thinks going back to his roots in North Whales is just the boost he needs to put an end to his writer's block. When he arrives and learns the story of Julia's husband drowning while trying to save their daughter, Lily and Lily's body never being found, his curiosity is peaked and he takes steps to try to solve the puzzle of her disappearance.

Then the voices and bumps in the night begin. Singing can be heard in the middle of the night and voices warn guests that are not welcome and items in the house go missing. As Lucas really gets deep into this investigation, these curious happenings seem to become more frequent.

What happened to Lily? Just who are these townspeople and what are they trying to hide? and WHAT in the world is going on between dusk and dawn at Julia's writer's retreat?

As I read The Retreat, I went back and forth several times on scenarios and suspects and not once did I guess the truth! Mark Edwards masterfully pulled off a shock and awe!

I loved all of the characters and I loved the diversity. The quirky, the arrogant, the meek, the grieving, the nurturer. Each and every one of them were a delight to become acquainted with and the character development was well detailed and connective.

The Retreat was engrossing and exciting to watch unfold. It was truly unique and refreshing when so many 'where have the children gone' books can be so predictable these days. It kept me guessing until the end and was a very rewarding read!

Thank you to Amazon Publishing, Goodreads and Mark Edwards for the copy of this book. (less)

Another knock out of the park for Louise Jensen with The Date!

This was my 4th read from Louise Jensen and the 4th to blow me away not to mention my absolute favorite!

All Ali wants is to mend fences with the husband she is separated from but she lets her friends talk her into setting up an account for a dating app. One thing leads to another and before you know it.... Ali doesn't even recognize herself. No, literally! Ali isn't Ali when she looks in the mirror and that isn't where the lack of recognition ends. With her memory not wholly intact and the notes being left for her saying "Enjoy the date, Bitch?" and "Tick-Tock", Ali knows she must do all she can to remember what happened that night and just who is trying to tear her world apart. But does she really want to know?

You will NOT know who to trust as you make your way through the magic of The Date! I found myself trying to put myself in Ali's shoes and imagine what it must be like to not know your own face let alone not be able to identify your stalker, living in fear of the unrecognizable ALL.THE.TIME. Scary! I am not often a scaredy cat but each night I read this I had to read a familiar YA book for 15 minutes before bed so I didn't have nightmares!

You don't want to miss this one but you won't want to sleep with the lights off either!!
 I highly recommend someone pick this up and make it into a movie FAST!

5 Perfect Stars!

“I am a russian doll of secrets, so many cradled one inside the other, all looking like me but diminishing until what is left is so tiny I fear I am disappearing.”

Wow. This book will stick with me long after today. What a rollercoaster of emotions topped off with twists and turns that threw me all over the place. In the wee hours of this morning, as I was still reading, my mouth agape, I actually said out loud, “Wait. No. Wait. What??!!” When you get to this part you may think that is the only twist. Hang on, my friend. The ride gets bumpier from there. Twist upon twist. I am always looking for my ‘OMG moment’ in a good psychological thriller and I got more than I bargained for from The Perfect Friend.

Alex is living in a world of prolonged grief and adult onset anorexia brought on by empty nest syndrome. Her husband has left, her twins have left and will no longer speak to her. She has an abundance of love to give and no one willing to accept it.

Alex meets Carrie in a support group for women who lived and/or still live in some sort of trauma. Carrie, being thrown into a battle with terminal cancer, is just the outlet Alex needs to release that nurturing love and is instantly drawn to her. They become fast friends and develop a symbiotic sort of pseudo mother/daughter relationship. Alex knows that Carrie is someone she can trust and will keep all of her secrets but should she put all of her trust into her? Offer so much of herself? After all, Alex is a self-proclaimed liar and doesn’t even trust herself so how can she be so certain she is seeing Carrie through clear eyes and a clear head?

I have to add a few thoughts on Alex. I LOVE an unreliable narrator and with this book I got double the love with both Alex and Carrie being incredibly unreliable! I connected with with Alex from the get go. Perhaps bonding with her early on due to her eating disorder and rocky road to mental health. The picture of this codependent woman and her constant quest for absolute perfection, in my opinion, was spot on. From the paranoia and self doubt to her warped sense of the reality of her actions and the world around her was an illustration that was easy to become a part of. Delving deeper into the plot, I found myself relating to her in a way that I only have with a handful of fictional characters. I do believe that even those who have not been down Alex’s road will easily be able to empathize and relate to her character. (Is it weird that I hesitate to even call her a character because she feels so dang real??)

I am not often actually moved to tears by a book categorized as a psychological thriller. In fact, I don’t believe I ever HAVE been. The Perfect Friend did just that and I found myself reaching for Kleenex more than I do most actual ‘tear jerker’ books. However, the tears did not affect the intensity of the thrill in this book. It was riveting and thought provoking and over the shoulder checking and gripped me from the beginning to the incredibly satisfying end.

I loved The Perfect Friend and would highly recommend it. I very much look forward to stalking Ms. Copperthwaite’s goodreads in order to add more of her books to my TBR!

Special thanks to Barbara Copperthwaite, Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me with a copy of The Perfect Friend