Sunday Post 15 | There’s Nothing Like An Ice Storm

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme

Can you believe that storm that went across America this week? We were forecasted for an ice storm from it earlier this week but luckily it stayed to the north of us. We were in an ice storm once before here in NC and, even though I often joke about snow in the south, I don’t joke about ice. It was terrible. We lived in the suburbs just north of Charlotte (as in, NOT a rural and/or isolated area) and we ended up losing power for 3 days! The girls were very young (toddler and baby) and, let me tell you, it was rough. That is something I learned to take very seriously. I hope, if you are in one of the many areas impacted by the storm, you are doing okay, and have at least power and hopefully water.

I finished my annual taxes this week! (doing a Charlie Brown happy dance over it) It’s always good to have that done, isn’t it? I just have to send it in, which is super easy. I’ll probably do that today after I double check all the entries.

On the blogging front – I changed some things up on Twitter and really looked into the tools that they have available. I THINK that I have it to a place where I will actually see your posts (if you follow me) and can do more of the likes, retweets, and comment if I have something worthwhile to say. I’m horrible at social media chit chat. I sound so awkward. Twitter has been the bane of my existence, but mostly because I couldn’t figure out how to use it in a way that is supportive and worthwhile. Fingers-crossed that I have figured it out.

How are things where you live? | Do you use twitter? If you do, do you like it? | What made you do a Charlie Brown happy dance this week?

BookBub

Do you know about BookBub? The reason I ask is because I find the best book deals from this site. They send me an email every day listing the book deals for the day with a link to Amazon and Apple books, where I can get them. They do eBooks as well as audible. And usually everything they send me is between Free and $2.99. You gotta love that. The more reviews or ratings you post, the better BookBub gets at determining what books you might like. Below is a snippet of the website page from my account (so, books it has targeted for me) -And, it also has an app.

7 books this week – all from NetGalley! The last two (from Atria books), I was sent a widget for, and the middle three came about from me scanning NetGalley’s Read Now section frequently over a couple of days. These first two books, I actually don’t remember. I think they were recommended on FB.

The Missing Piece of Us by Eva Glyn

• HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter
• General Fiction (Adult) | Romance | Women’s Fiction
• Pub Date 18 Jun 2021

There are three versions of the past – hers, his, and the truth.

When Robin Vail walks back into widow Isobel O’Briain’s life decades after he abruptly left it, the dark days since her husband’s unexpected passing finally know light. Robin has fallen on hard times but Izzie and her teenage daughter Claire quickly remind him what it’s like to have family…and hope.

But Robin and Izzie are no longer those twenty-something lovers, and as they grow closer once more the missing pieces of their past weigh heavy. Now, to stop history repeating, Izzie and Robin must face facts and right wrongs…no matter how painful.

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Hairpin Bridge by Taylor Adams

• William Morrow and Custom House
• General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
• Pub Date 15 Jun 2021   

Three months ago, Lena Nguyen’s estranged twin sister, Cambry, drove to a remote bridge sixty miles outside of Missoula, Montana, and jumped two hundred feet to her death. At least, that is the official police version.

But Lena isn’t buying it.

Now she’s come to that very bridge, driving her dead twin’s car and armed with a cassette recorder, determined to find out what really happened by interviewing the highway patrolman who allegedly discovered her sister’s body.

Corporal Raymond Raycevic has agreed to meet Lena at the scene. He is sympathetic, forthright, and professional. But his story doesn’t seem to add up. For one thing, he stopped Cambry for speeding a full hour before she supposedly leapt to her death. Then there are the sixteen attempted 911 calls from her cell phone, made in what was unfortunately a dead zone.

But perhaps most troubling of all, the state trooper is referred to by name in Cambry’s final enigmatic text to her sister: Please Forgive Me. I couldn’t live with it. Hopefully you can, Officer Raycevic.

Lena will do anything to uncover the truth. But as her twin’s final hours come into focus, Lena’s search turns into a harrowing, tooth-and-nail fight for her own survival—one that will test everything she thought she knew about her sister and herself…

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Tell Me When You Feel Something by Vicki Grant

• Penguin Teen
• YA Thriller/Suspense
• Pub Date 15 June 2021

The perfect after-school job turns deadly for teens working as “simulated patients” at the local med school. Everyone has something to hide and no one is safe in this contemporary YA thriller that exposes the dark reality of #MeToo in the world of medicine, for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.

It seemed like a cool part-time program — being a “simulated” patient for med school students to practice on. But now vivacious, charismatic Viv lies in a very real coma. Cellphone footage just leads to more questions. What really happened? Other kids suspect it was not an intentional overdose — but each has a reason why they can’t tell the truth.
Through intertwining and conflicting narratives, a twisted story unfolds of trust betrayed as we sift through the seemingly innocent events leading up to the tragic night. Perhaps simulated patients aren’t the only people pretending to be something they’re not . . .

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The Taker by Alma Katsu

It’s kind of weird – The Taker was originally published 10 years ago and now they are republishing it with a different cover? Not sure, but I snagged it. It and Among Thieves were only up on Read Now for a very short time. Not even sure they meant to put them there but who knows.

• Gallery / Saga Press (Simon & Schuster)
• Sci Fi & Fantasy
• Pub Date 11 May 2021

From the author of The Hunger—hailed by Stephen King as “deeply, deeply disturbing, hard to put down”—comes a hauntingly atmospheric tale filled with alchemy, lust, and betrayal.

True love can last an eternity…but immortality comes at a price.

On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—enters his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her…despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. As she begins to tell her story, Luke finds himself utterly captivated.

Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the 19th century in the same small town of St. Andrew, Maine, back when it was a Puritan settlement. Consumed as a child by her love for the founder’s son, Jonathan, Lanny will do anything to be with him. But the price she pays is steep—an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for all eternity. And now, two centuries later, the key to her healing and her salvation lies with Dr. Luke Findley.

Part historical novel, part supernatural page-turner, The Taker is a “mesmerizing” (Booklist, starred review) story about the power of unrequited love not only to elevate and sustain, but also to blind and ultimately destroy.

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Among Thieves by M.J. Kuhn

• Gallery / Saga Press (Simon & Schuster)
• Sci Fi & Fantasy
• Pub Date 07 Sep 2021

A thrilling fantasy debut—a high-stakes heist novel set in a gritty world of magic and malice, and perfect for fans of Six of Crows!

In just over a year’s time, Ryia Cautella has already earned herself a reputation as the quickest, deadliest blade in the dockside city of Carrowwick—not to mention the sharpest tongue. But Ryia Cautella is not her real name.

For the past six years, a deadly secret has kept her in hiding, running from town to town, doing whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the formidable Guildmaster—the sovereign ruler of the five kingdoms of Thamorr. No matter how far or fast she travels, his servants never fail to track her down…but even the most powerful men can be defeated.

Ryia’s path now leads directly into the heart of the Guildmaster’s stronghold, and against every instinct she has, it’s not a path she can walk alone. Forced to team up with a crew of assorted miscreants, smugglers, and thieves, Ryia must plan her next moves very carefully. If she succeeds, her freedom is won once and for all…but unfortunately for Ryia, her new allies are nearly as selfish as she is, and they all have plans of their own.

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The Family Plot by Megan Collins

• Atria Books (Simon & Schuster)
• Mystery & Thrillers
• Pub Date 17 Aug 2021 

When a family obsessed with true crime gathers to bury their patriarch, horrifying secrets are exposed upon the discovery of another body in his grave in this chilling novel from the author of Behind the Red Door and The Winter Sister.

At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse remains haunted by her upbringing. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she has been unable to move beyond the disappearance of her twin brother, Andy, when they were sixteen.

After several years away and following her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house where the family soon makes a gruesome discovery: buried in their father’s plot is another body—Andy’s, his skull split open with an ax.

Dahlia is quick to blame Andy’s murder on the serial killer who terrorized the island for decades, while the rest of the Lighthouses react to the revelation in unsettling ways. Her brother, Charlie, pours his energy into creating a family memorial museum, highlighting their research into the lives of famous murder victims; her sister, Tate, forges ahead with her popular dioramas portraying crime scenes; and their mother affects a cheerfully domestic facade, becoming unrecognizable as the woman who performed murder reenactments for her children. As Dahlia grapples with her own grief and horror, she realizes that her eccentric family, and the mansion itself, may hold the answers to what happened to her twin.

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Where the Truth Lies by Anna Bailey

• Atria Books (Simon & Schuster)
• General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery/Thriller
• Pub Date 03 Aug 2021

When a teenaged girl disappears from an insular small town, all of the community’s most devastating secrets come to light in this stunningly atmospheric and slow-burning suspense novel—perfect for fans of Megan Miranda and Celeste Ng.

The town of Whistling Ridge guards its secrets.

When seventeen-year-old Abigail goes missing, her best friend Emma, compelled by the guilt of leaving her alone at a party in the woods, sets out to discover the truth about what happened. The police initially believe Abi ran away, but Emma doesn’t believe that her friend would leave without her, and when officers find disturbing evidence in the nearby woods, the festering secrets and longstanding resentment of both Abigail’s family and the people of Whistling Ridge, Colorado begin to surface with devastating consequences.

Among those secrets: Abi’s older brother Noah’s passionate, dangerous love for the handsome Rat, a recently arrived Romanian immigrant who has recently made his home in the trailer park in town; her younger brother Jude’s feeling that he knows information he should tell the police, if only he could put it into words; Abi’s father’s mercurial, unpredictable rages and her mother’s silence. Then there is the rest of Whistling Ridge, where a charismatic preacher advocates for God’s love in language that mirrors violence, under the sway of the powerful businessman who rules the town, insular and wary of outsiders.

But Abi had secrets, too, and the closer Emma grows to unraveling the past, the farther she feels from her friend. And in a tinder box of small-town rage, and all it will take is just one spark—the truth of what really happened that night—to change their community forever.

Be sure to check out my newest bookblog friends. Their sites are so fun and full of great books ❤️

Jen on Live, Read and Prosper is a trekkie (if you didn’t guess from her blog name), wife, mother, teacher and avid reader. She posts on contemporary, mystery, thriller, suspense, young adult, historical fiction, and science fiction.

Krupali from Musings of the Soul is an avid reader and a book blogger from India. She reviews a wide variety of genres and even posts some of her original poetry.

Vighnesh from The Journey of Bookworld feels that “reading is like leaving our the world and enter a new world where books stories are real .” The latest post is a review of The Drawing of Three by Stephen King, and who doesn’t love Stephen King!

Eve from Written in the Stars shares her honest opinion on Young-adult Romance novels on her blog. She is an “avid reader and die-hard romance fanatic who loves nothing more than curling up in bed with my booklight and a juicy YA romance novel.”

In case you missed any of my posts last week, you can find them here:

• Tuesday (2/16): Book Review | The Future is Yours by Dan Frey (Sci-Fy ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️)
• Wednesday (2/17): WWW Wednesday
• Thursday (2/18): Book Review | Black Coral by Andrew Mayne (Mystery Thriller ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️)
• Thursday (2/19): Book Review | Possession by Katie Lowe (Psychological Thriller ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️)
• Friday (2/20): Book Blogger Hop: Is reading a fixed Is part of your morning or evening routine?

I hope you come back to see the following:

• Tuesday (2/23): Book Review | The Russian Cage by Charlaine Harris (Fantasy ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️)
• Wednesday (2/24): WWW Wednesday
• Thursday (2/25): Book Review | Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft (YA Fantasy ☀️☀️☀️☀️)
• Friday (2/26): Book Blogger Hop: Do you use Goodreads?

I started watching Clarice on network TV and streaming Hannibal. I like Clarice so far, but didn’t really care for Hannibal – just a little too dark for me. The actress who plays Clarice has a manner of speaking that reminds me of Holly Hunter. I knew she just had to be related, but I looked it up and she’s not. I think this will be a good new suspense show.

I also tried Firefly Lane on Netflix. Some local friends recommended it. I couldn’t get into it for some reason. Not sure why. I understand that it’s a not-so-good adaptation from a book that I haven’t read, though friends who didn’t read the book loved it.

Did you read, watch, or do anything fun this week?