Review of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET by Diane Chamberlain * * * * *

Title: The Last House on the Street 

Author: Diane Chamberlain

Genre: Mystery/Suspense 

Rating: 5*

Publishers: St. Martin's Press

(Jan 11, 2022)

Hardback: 352 pages

ISBN:  978-1250267962

FTC Disclosure: Book provided by my local library

A small town divided by prejudice. A family torn apart. A secret that won't remain silent.

Read the magnificent new novel from the Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author.

'Compelling, important, devastating: you have to read this one' Sunday Times bestseller Clare Mackintosh

'Both powerful and page-turning' Sunday Times bestseller Cathy Kelly

'Sensitively written yet unflinching... Taut, compelling and moving' Sunday Times bestseller Adele Parks, Platinum magazine

1965. A young white female student becomes involved in the fight for civil rights in North Carolina, falling in love with one of her fellow activists, a Black man, in a time and place where an interracial relationship must be hidden from family, friends and especially the reemerging Ku Klux Klan. As tensions rise in the town, she realises not everyone is who they appear to be.

2010. A recently widowed architect moves into the home she and her late husband designed, heartbroken that he will never cross the threshold. But when disturbing things begin to happen, it's clear that someone is sending her a warning. Who is trying to frighten her away, and why?

Decades later, past and present are set to collide in the last house on the street...

This book was a wonderful blending of the past and the present and the captivating mystery kept me reading late into the night.

I grew up in a town very like the one in this story in the foothills of North Carolina and though I'd have only been 10 at the time this happened, I am both fascinated and horrified to realize that events that happened in this book could and did take place in my lifetime and possibily in my community. 

It took awhile to see the connection in what was going on in 1965 to the events in 2010 but when they connected wow! I must say I had very little of it figured out and what a surprise ending. It was perfect. If you want a read that will keep you thinking about it long after you've finished it then read THE LAST HOUSE ON THE STREET.

Diane Chamberlain is the RITA Award winning author of sixteen novels, published in over twelve languages. A former hospital social worker and psychotherapist, Diane writes complex stories about relationships, redemption and forgiveness with a touch of mystery and suspense. She lives in North Carolina with her significant other, John, and her shelties, Keeper and Jet.

Review of AFRAID- An omnibus of novels by Lisa Childs, Alexandra Ivy and Lisa Jackson-* * * * *

  

Title:AFRAID

Author: Lisa Childs, Alexandra Ivy and Lisa Jackson

Genre: Murder Mystery

Rating: 5*

Publishers: Zebra

(Feb 22, 2022)

Paperback: 368 pages

ISBN: 978-1420153637

FTC Disclosure: ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Copy provided for the purpose of providing an honest review.

 This does not affect my opinion of this book.

A thrilling new book featuring the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Third Grave, that fans of Allison Brennan and Lisa Gardner won’t want to miss! Dark secrets and revenge converge as former students from an elite boarding school, which is also a haven for the daughters of the rich and famous, come face to face with the crimes of the past…
 
LUCY
Lucy Champagne was sent to St. Cecilia’s after her movie-star mother was brutally attacked by her sleazy boyfriend, Ray Watkins. Lucy’s damning testimony landed Ray a twenty-five-year sentence. But now, Ray is free. And he’s going to find Lucy and make her pay, no matter how far and how fast she runs . . .
 
RAYNE
Rayne Taylor found unexpected happiness at St. Cecilia’s, until her roommate, Natalie, committed suicide. Only when Rayne finds a box of mementoes from that time does she realize how wrong she may have been about Natalie’s death—and how far someone will go to keep the truth hidden . . .
ERIN
Erin MacDonald remembers little about the long-ago night she and her sister, Anna Beth, were kidnapped. While Erin was found safe, Anna Beth vanished forever. Now Erin has reluctantly come back to the family estate, where Detective Rafe Montego hopes to finally crack the case. But as flashes of Erin’s memory reemerge, she learns how deep the danger goes . . .

As all of these three authors are familiar and loved by me, this book was an automatic choice for me. While normally I don't read a lot of novellas, they were just the right size for a quick read late at night when I didn't want to be up till 4 AM finishing a suspense novel that would not let me sleep until resolving "who dun it" before being able to sleep. I loved the fact that these books were loosely connected yet stood alone. The only fault was that they ended way to quick. Each novella would have been a fabulous full length novel as they kept me quessing up until the end.

Lisa Jackson is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over ninety-five novels, including Liar, Liar, You Will Pay, After She's Gone, Deserves to Die, Running Scared, and Shiver. She is also the co-author of One Last Breath, Last Girl Standing and the Colony Series, written with her sister and bestselling author Nancy Bush, as well as the collaborative novels Sinister and Ominous, written with Nancy Bush and Rosalind Noonan. There are over thirty million copies of her novels in print and her writing has been translated into twenty languages. She lives with her family and rambunctious dogs in the Pacific Northwest. Readers can visit her online at LisaJackson.com and find her on Facebook.

 

Alexandra Ivy is the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal

bestselling author of romantic suspense, paranormal and erotic romance. She has also written Regency historicals under the name Deborah Raleigh. A five-time RT Book Award Finalist, Ivy has received much acclaim for her Guardians of Eternity, ARES Security, Immortal Rogues and Sentinels series. She lives with her family in Missouri and can be found online AlexandraIvy.com.

 

Lisa Childs is an award-winning and international bestselling author of more than seventy novels.  She was born on Halloween, which may have fated her predilection for spinning dark and twisty stories. In addition to romantic suspense, she also writes women’s fiction, paranormal and contemporary romance. Lisa loves to hear from readers who can contact her on Facebook, and through her Website LisaChilds.com.

Review of FREE FROM SIN by Karen Ann Hopkins * * * * *

 

                                      Title: FREE FROM SIN

Series: Possum Gap #1

Author: Karen Ann Hopkins

Genre: Crime Mystery

Rating: 5*

Publishers: Independently published

(Feb 9, 2022)

Paperback: 280 pages

ISBN: 979-8799900489

FTC Disclosure: Free copy provided by the publisher via Goodreads

Copy provided for the purpose of providing an honest review.

 This does not affect my opinion of this book.

FREE FROM SIN is a gripping psychological crime thriller/mystery story about the intertwining lives of three unlikely women in the hills of Kentucky, and the explosive results when a troubled teenager has her day of reckoning.

Sheriff Sadie Mills navigates the challenges of single motherhood while solving crimes in the rural community of Possum Gap, Kentucky. The recent trailer shootings in her jurisdiction have her on edge, and the new coroner, a Yankee transplant from the east coast, is still adjusting to life in the wilderness when all hell breaks loose. Cases stemming from an out-of-control hillbilly clan, sex trafficking, and a murder in the nearby Amish community collide, and Sheriff Mills finds herself in a race to stop a serial killer before they strike again.

Lucinda Coblentz is a devoted wife, mother, and member of a strict religious order. Her kind and generous ways make her the perfect target of a master manipulator and has put her beloved family in grave danger. Can she make matters right before it’s too late?

Charlie Baker endured years of torment by a wicked stepfather and a coldhearted mother before she finally escaped her suffering. Now eighteen, her powerful journey takes her between two worlds, one good and the other evil. Struggling to cope with buried secrets and the demons from her past, she’ll stop at nothing in her search for the one thing that has always eluded her—happiness.

When I first started this book, I thought it was going to be a bust as I hate books told from different points of view. In fact, I often avoid a book written in this manner. However, the story managed to drag me in. I loved the location, the hills of Kentucky, and was surprised to realize there were Amish communities in Kentucky. Being from the foothills of North Carolina, I can't believe I hadn't run across this fact before. In fact, there are nearly 8000 Amish in the state of Kentucky.

I loved the pacing of the story and was back and forth about my feelings for Charlie. The story was so compeling that I managed to complete it in several hours and I'm already looking forward to the next story in this series and checking out her Serenity's Plain Secrets series.

You can visit Karen Ann Hopkins at her website: www.karenannhopkinsfiction.com.

Karen Ann Hopkins resides in northern Kentucky with her family on a farm that boasts a menagerie of horses, goats, sheep, peacocks, chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigs, dogs, and cats. Karen rescues and fosters a variety of pets and farm animals, but she also finds time to give riding lessons, coach a youth equestrian drill team, and of course, write. She was inspired to create her first book, Temptation, by the Amish community she lives in. The experiential knowledge she gained through her interactions with her neighbors drove her to create the story of the star-crossed lovers, Rose and Noah.

Karen grew up about a mile from Lake Ontario in Upstate New York. She was bitten by the horse bug at the age of five, and after diligently taking riding lessons for several years, was rewarded with her first horse at the age of eleven. The feisty horse's name was Lady, a Quarter Horse-Thoroughbred cross, who became Karen's steadfast companion. Through the years, the constant force in her life was horses. Eventually, Karen found her place as a riding instructor herself. Before accepting her fate in the barnyard, she worked a short stint as a paralegal, traveled abroad, and guided tourists on horseback riding tours in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

Karen is currently working on her Amish mystery series, Serenity's Plain Secrets, along with several new projects.

LITTLE SISTER By Isabel Ashdown * * * * *

                                                                             

Title:  Little Sister 

 Author:  Isabel Ashdown

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Rating: *****

 Publishers:  Kensington

(June 26, 2018)

Hardback: 336 pages

ISBN: 978-1496714770

FTC Disclosure: Copy provided by the public library

No one knows you better than a sister—your dreams, your fears, your mistakes, and all your secrets. 
It was just that way when Jess and her older sister, Emily, were children. Born barely a year apart, they were deeply entwined, complementing each other in their differences. When Jess felt awkward and shy, Emily, the consummate big sister, was happy to take the lead. 
After a long estrangement, they’ve become close again. Jess moves into the comfortable Isle of Wight home Emily shares with her husband, step-daughter, and toddler. Any misgivings about the past are swept away and forgotten. 
And then, on New Year’s Eve, little Daisy disappears while in Jess’s care. 
Jess is in shock, unable to remember what happened. Emily, traumatized, watches helplessly as her life unravels. But as the search intensifies and the police detective’s questions grow more pointed, a different picture emerges. Behind the image of a seemingly happy family—Daisy’s doting teenage sister, Chloe, loving father and husband, James, and siblings Emily and Jess—there are devastating deceptions and long-ago choices that can never be unmade. And underlying everything is the story of what really happened to drive Emily and Jess apart years ago. 
Unfolding through shifting perspectives, Little Sister is a brilliantly plotted, dark, and constantly surprising tale of love, rivalry, and broken loyalty that reveals how far one sister might go to protect—or destroy—another . . .

First of all--can I just say WOW! This was one of the best psychological thrillers I've read in a while. While I'm not fond of books told from two or three different POVs, as I tend to forget who it is that is speaking and I get lost, I was able to tolerate it for this story. Other than for two facts, the book kept me guessing pretty much all the way to the end. 

What was particularly disturbing for me is that I could so relate to these sisters as I have a younger sister that is a habitual liar, has been all her life, and I saw so many characteristics of her grasp of reality/truth and the ability to fabricate an ongoing lie, that it really shook me up to think that she so could have starred in this book. Pretty damn scary, I must say.

I've got to agree with several other reviewers, that the long ago party could have had less time spent on it, yes I figured out what really happened here right off the bat. But on the whole it was twisty enough to keep me reading almost nonstop. 

This is an author that I intend to check out further.

If you enjoy this type of thriller, check out THE PERFECT NANNY

https://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/2018/12/review-for-perfect-nanny-by-leila.html

Home for the Holidays By Amie Denman * * * *

 

Title: Home for the Holidays

Series: Return to Christmas Island # 2

Author: Amie Denman

Genre: Clean Romance 

Rating: * * * *

Publishers: Harlequin Heartwarming Larger Print

(January 25, 2022)

Paperback:  384 pages

ISBN: 978-1335426611

FTC Disclosure: Copy provided by the author.

Copy provided for the purpose of providing an honest review.

 This does not affect my opinion of this book.

On Christmas Island…

Some loves can't be forgotten

For Camille Peterson, coming home to Christmas Island to take over the family’s candy-making business is complicated. After all, she left so much behind. And when it comes to single dad Maddox May—who broke Camille’s heart back in high school—complicated is only the beginning. If only she could wrap up her feelings and forget them. But if forgiveness is sweet, a second chance might be irresistible…

This book was an unexpected surprise that I received in the mail. I'd just spent about 10 days fighting the flu and was too lazy to figure out what I wanted to read next and this gem appeared like magic. I didn't start it till about 4 am but it didn't take me long to get deep into the book. I loved the idea of living on an island where the only way off was by ferry or plane. As a NC girl who frequents the Outer Banks, I've often wondered what it would be like to live on an island where you couldn't just bop over to Walmart or other stores and be totally dependant on the local stories for your needs. This is a second chance romance that I was so glad to see the author give the main characters a chance to rebuild their lost love. Betrayal of a loved one, even or especially as a teen, needs time to allow regrowth and isn't always assured. In seven years time, you are going to mature (hopefully) and though it was never mentioned, hopefully met and date others. You then have a chance to weigh if what you lost is worth fighting for or not. Throw in a cute kid and you got me hooked.

Return to Christmas Island

Book 1: I'll Be Home for Christmas

Book 2: Home For The Holidays 

 

Amie Denman

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.amiedenman.com

Twitter

amiedenman

Genre

Romance, Mystery

Member Since

August 2011

Amie Denman lives in a small town in Ohio with her husband and sons. When she's not reading or writing, she's walking and running outside. The victim of a lifetime of curiosity, she's chased fire trucks on her bicycle just to see what's going on. Amie believes that everything is fun: especially roller coasters, wedding cake, and falling in love