Reading definitely has not been a priority this year, which I hate, but I also know that I've made other important things a priority, so I can't be too upset. This month was very audiobook heavy. I also didn't get in my ebook this month. I had one picked out, and I did start it, but I just wasn't feeling the reading from a device this month and so I decided not to force it.
Book 73 of 2024 🎧 What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall (4.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 17 January 2023
Naomi Shaw used to believe in magic. Twenty-two years ago, she and her two best friends, Cassidy and Olivia, spent the summer roaming the woods, imagining a world of ceremony and wonder. They called it the Goddess Game. The summer ended suddenly when Naomi was attacked. Miraculously, she survived her seventeen stab wounds and lived to identify the man who had hurt her. The girls’ testimony put away a serial killer, wanted for murdering six women. They were heroes.
And they were liars.
For decades, the friends have kept a secret worth killing for. But now Olivia wants to tell, and Naomi sets out to find out what really happened in the woods―no matter how dangerous the truth turns out to be.
I saw this recommended on Instagram and I was shocked that it was available so quickly in Libby! Wow, this was a good one! There were so many twists and I had so many guesses as to how things would go. The main character wasn’t always likeable, but I was still rooting for her!
FREE on Kindle Unlimited!
Book 74 of 2024 🎧 The Spare Room by Andrea Bartz (3.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 9 July 2024
When Sabrina and Nathan offer Kelly an escape hatch, volunteering the spare room of their remote Virginia mansion, she jumps at the chance to run away from her old life. There, Kelly secretly finds herself falling for both her enchanting hosts—until one night, a wild and unexpected threesome leads the couple to open their marriage for her.
At first, Kelly loves being part of this risqué new world. But when she discovers that the last woman they invited into their marriage is missing, she starts to wonder if they could be dangerous . . . and if she might be next.
Oof. This one had a lot of unexpected turns (though I did predict one of the big ones pretty early). I was hoping for more spice in this one, but all the potentially spicy times were built up, and then over with no real detail. I appreciate the authors who used 2020 as inspiration for their stories; I think it’s neat how some could take the craziness and run with it. Overall I liked the story, but I think it would have been better with spice!
Book 75 of 2024 🎧 Home is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose (3.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 30 April 2024
While going through their parents' belongings, the siblings stumble upon a collection of home videos and decide to revisit those happier memories. However, the nostalgia is cut short when one of the VHS tapes reveals a night back in 1999 that none of them have any recollection of. On screen, their father appears covered in blood. What follows is a dead body and a pact between their parents to get rid of it, before the video abruptly ends.
Beth, Nicole, and Michael must now decide whether to leave the past in the past or uncover the dark secret their mother took to her grave.
I randomly came across this and immediately borrowed because I’ve enjoyed her past work. This was a good one too! Not overly suspenseful, but I didn’t expect the story to turn out like it did. Also I listened to the whole thing within like a 36 hour window, so that must count for something!
Book 76 of 2024 🎧 The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: 1 March 2019
Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.
But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways, directing all her rage at Hannah. Unable to bond with Janie, Hannah is drowning under the pressure, and Christopher refuses to see Janie’s true nature.
Hannah knows that Janie is manipulating Christopher and isolating him from her, despite Hannah’s attempts to bring them all together. But as Janie’s behavior threatens to tear Christopher and Hannah apart, the truth behind Janie’s past may be enough to push them all over the edge.
All the twists in this story and I was afraid I would be let down with a cop out ending (spoiler: I wasn’t). I had bought a physical copy of this book from the bookstore but forgot, so then I bought a cheap audible copy as well which is how I ended up reading it. The story absolutely ended in the right place (after a giant shocker), but I still wanted to know what happens next!
FREE with Amazon Prime subscription.
Book 77 of 2024 🎧 Perfect Strangers by J.T. Geissinger (2.5/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Contemporary Romance
🗓PUBLISHED: 29 September 2019
Author Olivia Rossi hasn’t been able to write a word since tragedy struck two years ago and ripped her world apart. Heartbroken and still haunted by the past, she accepts an offer to spend the summer at a friend’s apartment in Paris in search of healing and her lost muse.
What she finds instead is James, an enigmatic stranger who ignites in her an unexpected and all-consuming passion.
Agreeing to tell each other nothing more than their first names, Olivia and James embark on a torrid affair. But the more time they spend together, the more Olivia begins to realize her summer fling is turning into a powerful connection…and that the magnetic man she’s falling in love with might not be what he seems at all.
Ugh. I listened to this whole book without pause, but I’m not confident it was good. In fact the first 3/4 were pretty bland. Now I can’t decide if the way it ended redeemed the story, or made it that much worse.
FREE on Kindle Unlimited!
Book 78 of 2024 📖 This Summer Will Be Different by Carley Fortune (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Contemporary Romance
🗓PUBLISHED: 9 May 2024
Lucy is the tourist vacationing at a beach house on Prince Edward Island. Felix is the local who shows her a very good time. The only problem: Lucy doesn’t know he’s her best friend’s younger brother. Lucy and Felix’s chemistry is unreal, but the list of reasons why they need to stay away from each other is long, and they vow to never repeat that electric night again.
It’s easier said than done.
Each year, Lucy escapes to PEI for a big breath of coastal air, fresh oysters and crisp vinho verde with her best friend, Bridget. Every visit begins with a long walk on the beach, beneath soaring red cliffs and a golden sun. And every visit, Lucy promises herself she won’t wind up in Felix’s bed. Again.
If Lucy can’t help being drawn to Felix, at least she’s always kept her heart out of it.
When Bridget suddenly flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy drops everything to follow her to the island. Her mission is to help Bridget through her crisis and resist the one man she’s never been able to. But Felix’s sparkling eyes and flirty quips have been replaced with something new, and Lucy’s beginning to wonder just how safe her heart truly is.
This was a great summer read, and while I enjoyed it and felt many emotions while reading it, I still think Every Summer After was her best book! I liked the characters, but I didn’t feel like the problem that sent the MC to Prince Edward Island was dramatic enough to make it such a big part of the book. I liked that the story was told between present and past.
Book 79 of 2024 🎧 The Way I Am Now by Amber Smith (3/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: YA Romance
🗓PUBLISHED: 7 November 2023
Eden and Josh never had a fair shot at a healthy relationship. When they dated in high school, they each had their own problems getting in the way of the deep connection they felt toward one another. Unbeknownst to Josh, Eden was carrying the burden of a devastating sexual assault, while Josh was dealing with his own private struggle of having an alcoholic father.
Months after Eden and two other girls publicly accuse their rapist, Eden is starting college while her case goes to trial. Now when she and Josh reconnect, it seems like it might finally be in the right place at the right time for them to make it work. But is their love strong enough to withstand the challenges and chaos of college and the crushing realities of a trial that will determine whether Eden gets the justice she deserves?
I really loved the first book in this series, so I was excited to see a sequel had come out. I have to say, I was disappointed in the sequel. I liked the ending, but the rest of the story was pretty dull. I know this is meant to be more of a YA read, but I usually get into YA books, so even so, I think this one was a let down.
Book 80 of 2024 📖 The Racketeer by John Grisham (4/5⭐️)
📚GENRE: Legal Thriller
🗓PUBLISHED: October 23, 2012
His body is found in his remote lakeside cabin. There is no sign of forced entry or struggle. Just two dead bodies: Judge Fawcett and his young secretary. And one large, state-of-the-art, extremely secure safe, opened and emptied.
Who is the Racketeer? And what does he have to do with the judge’s untimely demise? His name, for the moment, is Malcolm Bannister. Job status? Former attorney. Current residence? The Federal Prison Camp near Frostburg, Maryland.
On paper, Malcolm’s situation isn’t looking too good these days, but he’s got an ace up his sleeve. He knows who killed Judge Fawcett, and he knows why. The FBI would love to know. And Malcolm Bannister would love to tell them. But everything has a price—especially information as explosive as the sequence of events that led to Judge Fawcett’s death. And the Racketeer wasn’t born yesterday.
Nothing is as it seems and everything’s fair game in this wickedly clever novel from John Grisham, the undisputed master of the legal thriller.
I'm rapidly approaching the point in Grisham's writing where I know I have read the book because I bought it as soon as it was published. In fact, I'm probably already there. Despite this, I did not remember this story, so it was fun to re-read! I really enjoyed the storytelling and manipulating in this novel. I loved the main character and was constantly rooting for him to be living his best life!
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(Summaries are from Amazon, but all thoughts about them are my own!)
Reading Challenge: 80/120 books read in 2024
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