“Our Little Secret”–Review

They say you never forget your first love. What they don’t say, though, is that sometimes your first love won’t forget you…

…a compulsive debut about a missing woman, a tangled love triangle, the secrets we keep, and the secrets we share.

Sitting in a police station interrogation room for hours, Angela Petitjean is being questioned regarding a missing woman, Saskia Parker. Although Angela claims she knows nothing, all evidence points to her. Meanwhile, Homicide Detective J. Novak believes Angela is guilty. While he continues to question her, Angela tells her story from a decade ago, when she met HP in high school. They’d gone from being friends to being in love. And then it all changed when Angela went away to college, their love story suddenly falling apart. Then Saskia came into their lives.

I really enjoyed reading this story. The narration was well-written and I was curious to know more, although I had occasional frustrations with Angela and HP because of their choices, but that’s what made the story worth reading. Of course, I won’t spoil anything, but as the story progressed, I didn’t feel sorry for Angela or HP. No matter, I had to know where it all was going to end. If you’re interested in checking out the book, you’ll know what I mean.

Feel free to post your comments. Happy reading!

Our Little Secret will be available on April 24, 2018.

*I received this copy from St. Martin’s Press, in exchange for an honest review.

About the author: Roz Nay grew up in England and studied in Oxford University. She has been published in The Antigonish Review and the anthology Refuge. Roz has worked as an underwater fish counter in Africa, a snowboard videographer in Vermont, and a high school teacher in both the UK and Australia. She now lives in British Columbia, Canada, with her husband and two children. Our Little Secret is her first novel. For more info, click here. You can also follow her on Twitter.

“Kiss Me Like You Mean It”–Review

My love is poison. His kiss is mine.

 “The first time he saw me I was shattered glass, and he was a shadow. If I had stayed, he would have just faded away.”

It’s strange how easy it is to tell our stories to a stranger’s eyes. The truth about Connor Stratford and I had always been a sad tale. Over ten years of chasing, tears, lies, vows, and leaving. Two people who never loved each other at the same time, but couldn’t let each other go. 

 

 Now here I was telling our story over drinks midday in an airport bar with my old diary clutched in my hand. Telling some version of our story, anyway. 

I left him once with no goodbye. Now I was returning home to give him what he needed to move on. 

“It’s important. It’s what you’re thinking.”

 

I knew what his message meant, sent in the middle of the night after I woke from a fever dream. He was finally ready, and so was I. I just needed to finally give him the kiss he begged for. The one that meant goodbye.

Based on a true story, the main character, Gwen, is in an airport bar as she tells her story of her on-off relationship with Connor Stratford and how it all changed her throughout the years. This is the second novel I’ve read by this author and I think it’s definitely worth reading, especially because many readers can relate to the topic of this book. Some chapters upset me because of Gwen’s actions. Later on, however, I’ve learned that there was more to her than the fact that she always wanted what she couldn’t have. Still, I just had that love-hate relationship with her.

J.R. Rogue’s narration and dialogue is beautiful and poetic, so I highly recommend you check out her previous works. As always, feel free to leave your comments. Happy reading!

*I received this advance review copy from the author, in exchange for an honest review.

About the author: J.R. Rogue first put pen to paper at the age of fifteen after developing an unrequited high school crush and has never stopped writing about heartache.She has published multiple volumes of poetry such as Tell Me Where It Hurts, Exits, Desires, & Slow Fires, and two novels, Burning Muses and Background Music. Her third novel, Kiss Me Like You Mean It, will release on March 22, 2018.

 

Two of her poetry collections, La Douleur Exquise and Exits, Desires, & Slow Fires, have been Goodreads Choice Awards Nominees.

 

You can also follow the author on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and you can check out her site here.

“No One Ever Asked”–Review

Three families. Two school districts. A dozen miles between them, but worlds apart.

When South Fork High, an impoverished Missouri school, loses its accreditation, the affluent community of Crystal Ridge is informed that they’ll be accepting South Fork students into their school. This news, however, has many parents worried because of South Fork’s history of violence.

While the merging of these two school districts continues to create tension, the lives of three different women come together: Camille Gray, the PTA chairwoman and champion fundraiser, who faces a new struggle that may just tear her family apart; Jen Covington, a career nurse and new mom who struggles with her new role, all the while questioning whether or not she’s cut out for it all; and Anaya Jones, the first woman in her family to graduate from college and a new teacher at Crystal Ridge’s top elementary school, unprepared for the biggest challenge she never expected.

As the constant racial tension and discrimination rises within the Crystal Ridge community, the three women have to ask themselves at what cost they’re willing to protect their loved ones.

This story is based on real-world events, discussing the way people look at one another, how easily many are quick to judge, and the tragedies that can occur when many are blind when it comes to the truth. This story definitely left me guessing and I highly recommend it. Also, I enjoyed reading Anaya’s story and how well-written the book is. Feel free to post your comments. Happy reading!

No One Ever Asked will be available on April 3, 2018.

About the author: Katie Ganshert is the award-winning author of Life After, several additional acclaimed novels, and multiple short stories. She lives in Iowa with her family. For more info, click here. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

“Indecent”–Review

Good evening, bloggers and bookworms! I started the beginning of this new month with a new book I couldn’t put down, so here’s my review.

Shy, introverted Imogene Abney has always been fascinated with the elite. Since she was a young girl, she’d fantasized about attending prestigious prep schools and fitting in with her peers, to finally escape from her own reality. Now in her early twenties, Imogene takes a job as a teacher’s assistant at the Vandenberg School for Boys, in Westchester, New York. As she gets to know her new surroundings, Imogene begins to feel like she finally belongs.

Then she crosses paths with Adam Kipling, a handsome and privileged, much younger student at the school. Once she acknowledges Adam’s charming ways and status, Imogene is instantly drawn to him. Although she’s aware of the strict zero tolerance policy of teacher-student relationships, an illicit affair happens between them. Despite the consequences should she be caught, Imogene can’t help her strong feelings for Adam—which becomes an obsession—and she’s willing to risk anything to be with him, all the while losing herself in the wrong person.

This story left me wondering what would happen next. Oftentimes, I’d shake my head during certain chapters, and then there were moments where I wasn’t sure whether to feel bad for Imogene or to hate her for whom she was becoming, for what an unhealthy involvement was doing to her. Well, I won’t leave any spoilers, so I’ll just encourage you to read this book. Feel free to post your comments. Happy reading!

*I received this copy from St. Martin’s Press, in exchange for an honest review.

Indecent will be available on March 6, 2018.

About the author: Corinne Sullivan studied English with a creative writing concentration at Boston College, where she graduated in 2014. She then received her MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College in 2016. Her stories have appeared in Night Train, Knee-Jerk, and Pithead Chapel, among other publications. Indecent is her debut novel.