One Summer in Paris by Sarah Morgan (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"To celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, Grace has planned the surprise of a lifetime for her husband—a romantic getaway to Paris. But she never expected he’d have a surprise of his own: he wants a divorce. Reeling from the shock but refusing to be broken, a devastated Grace makes the bold decision to go to Paris alone.

Audrey, a young woman from London, has left behind a heartache of her own when she arrives in Paris. A job in a bookshop is her ticket to freedom, but with no money and no knowledge of the French language, suddenly a summer spent wandering the cobbled streets alone seems much more likely…until she meets Grace, and everything changes.

Grace can’t believe how daring Audrey is. Audrey can’t believe how cautious newly single Grace is. Living in neighboring apartments above the bookshop, this unlikely pair offer each other just what they’ve both been missing. They came to Paris to find themselves, but finding this unbreakable friendship might be the best thing that’s ever happened to them…"

My Thoughts:

Let me just start off by saying that I adored this book!  I feel like whenever I have this strong of feelings on a book that I have a tendency to ramble and gush so heads up that's probably what you are getting here.  The thing I loved most about this book though is how easily I connected to it and the way it made me feel.  Let's start at the beginning here though.  This book is told from two different points of view - Grace, who is a middle-aged woman whose husband has recently told her he wants a divorce, and from Audrey, a young girl with a really crappy home life.  Now for the record I'm happily married so that's not actually why I connected to Grace so easily (although it was sadly easy to imagine/understand what she was going through).  I connected to Grace's character because she had so many similarities to me in other ways.  Before her life completely changed, she was comfortable with her life.  I say comfortable in a way that isn't necessarily a good thing.  It's easy as a woman and mother when you've been with someone for so long to maybe not try like you used to.  I fully admit to throwing my hair back into a ponytail almost every single day just because I'm tired of it being in my face.  I work from home so there are days where I don't even put on makeup or think about it.  And maybe none of these things are exactly like Grace but they add up to the same thing.  You forget sometimes to take care of yourself.  To do things just for you and not your children or even your husband.  Sometimes you lose a piece of yourself without even realizing it....and this all just hit home for me so much.  I'm very grateful that I don't have Grace's experiences but this book was a reminder to take care of me too.  So much emphasis at times is to take care of your children's needs, your husband's, and everything else in life but who is there to remind you to take care of you?  I'm rambling now but ugh - this book just was so spot on with real life!  I absolutely could not care more about these two women and the problems that they were facing.  I just immersed myself within their lives and within the pages of this book.  I loved everything about this book and even the things that I didn't expect to.  The author took chances where in other books I might not usually have liked the decisions the characters were making but it worked in this book.  And worked perfectly if I do say so myself!  

Overall, I enjoyed this book so much that I actually wasn't ready for it to end.  I'm so curious to see other reader's thoughts and reactions to this one.  I understand why I enjoyed this one so much but am eager to see if others feel the same!  This is only my second book by Sarah Morgan but it certainly won't be my last.  I kind of want to read everything and anything that she has written now after loving this one so much!  Gah!  It was just so perfect for me and gave me all of the emotions.  This is a book that I think I would easily reread a few years down the road.  If I connected to this one now, I can only imagine how I would feel in a few years when my kids are getting closer to the age of going to college and moving out.  I obviously cannot say enough good things but I highly recommend this book. This isn't just a romance book but I'm sure romance readers would enjoy it.  I think that readers who enjoy women's fiction or just fiction in general should give this one a shot.  Also, someday I simply must go to Paris to experience it all for myself!  This was SO good!

Bottom Line:  A reading experience that I won't be forgetting any time soon!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a Goodread's giveaway.  Thoughts are my own.

Asylum by Jeannette De Beauvoir (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Martine LeDuc is the director of PR for the mayor's office in Montreal. When four women are found brutally murdered and shockingly posed on park benches throughout the city over several months, Martine's boss fears a PR disaster for the still busy tourist season, and Martine is now also tasked with acting as liaison between the mayor and the police department. The women were of varying ages, backgrounds and bodytypes and seemed to have nothing in common. Yet the macabre presentation of their bodies hints at a connection. Martine is paired with a young detective, Julian Fletcher, and together they dig deep into the city's and the country's past, only to uncover a dark secret dating back to the 1950s, when orphanages in Montreal and elsewhere were converted to asylums in order to gain more funding. The children were subjected to horrific experiments such as lobotomies, electroshock therapy, and psychotropic medication, and many of them died in the process. The survivors were supposedly compensated for their trauma by the government and the cases seem to have been settled. So who is bearing a grudge now, and why did these four women have to die?

Not until Martine finds herself imprisoned in the terrifying steam tunnels underneath the old asylum does she put the pieces together. And it is almost too late for her..."

My Thoughts:

This book originally went on my radar went it was first released but then it sat on my shelves unread.  I'm so regretting this as I found this book to be absolutely fantastic!  There is a very good chance that this one will make my top reads list for 2017!  I loved the summary above which is why I originally wanted to read it.  What I didn't realize is that this author based some of the events of this book on a true and terrible event in Canada's history.  I don't want to say too much as it plays an important role in this mystery but I will say that it completely adds to this book even if it is horrifying to think about.  I found myself absolutely sucked into the story from almost the very beginning.  The book is set up in two parts.  One is focused on Martine LeDuc and her hunt to figure out who is behind the killings of these women in Montreal.  The other storyline focused on the story of one of the orphans and what happened to that individual so long ago.  These two storylines tied together so perfectly and I just won't say any more than that.  I was absolutely just blown away by how good this book was!

I also really enjoyed this book because it was set in Canada and the author managed to bring Montreal to life for me in this book.  This is the second book I've read set in Canada this year and I have just adored the chance to read about this country that I've never had the chance to visit for myself.  I loved the descriptions of Montreal that the author included and especially adored all of the French phrases that were included throughout.  It really made me feel like I was there with the characters.  I liked that Martine wasn't your usual detective - in fact she wasn't a detective at all but got involved with the hunt for this killer in a very realistic way.  I found myself unable to stop reading this book for long.  And the ending was so intense that I just gave up watching my son at football practice and lost myself completely in finishing this book.  The ending was so flipping good and I won't say any more than that.  I've tried to keep the spoilers to a minimum here but this is a book that I can't recommend enough!

Overall, I found myself so completely blown away by this book and I cannot even put into words how much I enjoyed it!  I feel like it's kinda awful to say when you think about the actual historical events that this book was based around but I still really, really enjoyed it!  I'm so excited that I have another book in this series to look forward to but I'm hoping the 3rd is on it's way.  This is an author to watch for as this is only her very first book!  Crazy!  I'm really excited that I finally pulled this one off of my shelves (thanks to my husband) because I was missing out.  I would recommend this one to both mystery and thriller fans alike!  Just be warned that there are some definite triggers here so sensitive readers be warned.  Highly recommended!

Bottom Line:  A mystery that will stick with me for a long time thanks to the events it was based around.  So good!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to a Goodread's giveaway and the publisher.

In Bitter Chill by Sarah Ward (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"In 1978, a small town in Derbyshire, England is traumatised by the kidnapping of two young schoolgirls. One girl, Rachel, is later found unharmed but unable to remember anything except that her abductor was a woman.

Over thirty years later the mother of the still missing Sophie commits suicide. Superintendent Llewellyn, who was a young constable on the 1978 case, asks DI Francis Sadler and DC Connie Childs to look again at the kidnapping to see if modern police methods can discover something that the original team missed. However, Sadler is convinced that a more recent event triggered Yvonne Jenkins’s suicide.

Rachel, with the help of her formidable mother and grandmother, recovered from the kidnapping and has become a family genealogist. She remembers nothing of the abduction and is concerned that, after Yvonne Jenkins’s suicide, the national media will be pursuing her for a story once more. Days later, the discovery of one of her former teachers’ strangled body suggested a chain of events is being unleashed."

My Thoughts:

In Bitter Chill was one of those books that I anticipated for months and months prior to getting the chance to read it.  I read the above description and just couldn't help but want to start reading it.  Happily enough this book was just as good as I had hoped it would be with a chilling mystery among the pages.  There is just something about a book where the main character is missing memories that I can't get enough of.  It adds this layer of suspense to the story line in a way that almost feels like when you have an unreliable narrator.  I can't help but wonder while reading what other memories are we not being told about.  What else might come to the surface as time passes?  It is such an intriguing way to tell a story and for me it is something that I can't get enough of as a reader.  I love books like this for that reason alone!  

This book begins a series featuring DI Francis Sadler but really the major focus of this book was on Rachel herself.  Rachel is struggling to remember what happened that day when she and Sophie were abducted.  These were memories that she repressed for so long and it seems now that they might start trickling back if she tries hard enough.  I found this book to be quite the page turning read which is how I like my mysteries to be.  I didn't want to set this book down and I really couldn't read it fast enough.  I loved reading about Sadler's investigation into the abduction that happened so long ago.  It is always interesting to see a book where the focus is on a cold case and the investigation is trying to take a fresh look at it.  All of this added up to a very good read for me overall.  Then you add in one of those endings that leaves you breathlessly trying to finish- definitely a winner in my book!

Overall I really enjoyed this book and am glad that I'm finally writing up my thoughts on it.  I can go read the second book, A Deadly Thaw, without feeling guilty for not having written my review for this book.  LOL!  Seriously though, I really enjoyed this book and have been meaning to share about it every since I finished it last year.  I'm really excited to see what this author comes up with next since I enjoyed this one so much.  If you enjoy mysteries that you cannot put down, this is definitely a book to pick up!  I would highly recommend it to fans of mysteries, thrillers, and suspense.  A book that came very close to making my top reads list for 2016!

Bottom Line:  An enjoyable mystery and series that I can't wait to read more of!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a Goodread's giveaway.

Pop Goes The Weasel by M.J. Arlidge (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"The body of a middle-aged man is discovered in Southampton's red-light district - horrifically mutilated, with his heart removed.

Hours later - and barely cold - the heart arrives with his wife and children by courier.

A pattern emerges when another male victim is found dead and eviscerated, his heart delivered soon afterwards.

The media call it Jack the Ripper in reverse; revenge against the men who lead sordid double lives visiting prostitutes. For Grace, only one thing is certain: there's a vicious serial-killer at large who must be halted at all costs . . ."

My Thoughts:

This book!  This series!  Oh my goodness- I can't even.  It has been decided two books in that this is one of those rare authors that has jumped on to my must read/will read anything written by this author list.  I love a dark and thrilling read and this book didn't disappoint!  I'm preparing to gush for the entirety of this review so I'm warning you now to be prepared.  The first book in this series, Eeny Meeny, knocked my socks off as my final read of 2015.  Heck, it easily made my top ten reads list of the year without any hesitation.  I fully admit going into reading this book with ridiculously high expectations because I loved book one so much.  It didn't matter though because Pop Goes the Weasel was just as addictive, thrilling, and heart pounding as the first one.  I am hooked and I loved every minute of it!  I read this book entirely too fast stay while staying up way too late just so that I could finish.  It was worth the loss of sleep just to see how it was all going to end!  Seriously, all I can say is if you are a mystery/thriller fan then you need to check this series out soon!

One of the things that the author has done so well is creating a main character that I can't help but like even when I don't fully understand all of her motivations.  Helen makes questionable choices at times but it makes the book that much more intense and suspenseful because of it.  I never know what she is going to do which make the book so interesting.  I'm constantly asking myself how in the heck is she going to handle/deal/get herself out of the situations that she finds herself in.  I'm trying not to share too much because I don't want to spoil anything for those readers that haven't had a chance yet to try this series.  This book was just as intense as the first book but in a different way.  I'm trying really hard here not to share too much so you are just going to have to trust me on this.  The way this book ended was so completely not what I was expecting which caused me to love this book even more!  Gah- I wish that I could tell you more but I just really can't.  I will leave off with all of the reasons that I love this series instead.  One, it has great characters that the author isn't afraid to put through the wringer.  Two, it has mysteries that keep me guessing the entire time which means that I read as fast as possible.  And finally, these books are dark and twisted- I just cannot get enough of them!

Overall, this is a superb follow-up to the first book in this series and has rocketed this series on to my must read list!  I love it so very much!!  Which feels really weird to say when you think about the subject matter but let's not look too closely on what that says about me.  Ha!  I've already been recommending this series and author to just about everyone, and after finishing this book I can tell this isn't going to stop anytime soon.  Try this series if you are a fan of thrillers and mysteries but definitely start with book one.  This could be read as a stand-alone but I feel like you would be missing out on some of Helen's history if you don't read book one first.  Don't worry as both books are completely worth it and you will be pining for the next book along with me.  Highly, highly recommended!

Bottom Line:  This book is almost guaranteed to be my on top reads list for 2016! So good!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from the publisher as part of a Goodread's giveaway.

Here are my thoughts on Eeny Meeny if you are interested (book 1).

The Irresistible Rogue by Valerie Bowman (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"Lady Daphne Swift comes from a family with two brothers who have proudly served the Crown. She may be a female, but she's willing to do whatever it takes to prove that she's as useful to the war effort as her brothers. She even went so far as to secretly marry a spy. The fact that she just happened to have been pining for Captain Rafe Cavendish for years didn't hurt matters. But after their first mission, when she realized their marriage had been strictly business, Daphne immediately wanted an annulment. The fiery Daphne has always been a multi-tasker and now she's hell bent on two things: finding the men who killed her brother and securing her engagement to another man to forget about Rafe forever.

As a spy for the War Office, Captain Rafferty Cavendish has been on dozens of missions. But one mission haunts him, the mission that resulted in the death of Daphne Swift's eldest brother, Donald. Rafe agreed to work with Daphne once and put her life in danger. Now he must find the men who killed Donald, avenge the family, and convince Daphne to give him one more chance. But Daphne's enlisted her other older brother, Julian, to help her get a quick and quiet annulment so that she can marry a fop who only wants her for her title and money. Can Rafe convince Daphne to give him one more chance, on the mission and with her heart?"

My Thoughts:

I really need more historical romances in my life!  I always forget how much I enjoy this genre until I read a book like this and am reminded of how great they really are.  This book was a such a fun read for me and left me wanting more books just like this one!  It was easy to immerse myself in and very soon after I began reading I found myself swept away into the pages.  I really had a hard time setting this one down mainly because I just didn't want to stop reading!  Was it a perfect read for me?  No, I found it to be a bit far-fetched at times but I loved it all the more because of that.  The author took her liberties and I found the book to such a fun read because of it.  There is one particular scene where Daphne finds herself to be slightly intoxicated and the ensuing scene is just priceless!  I won't say more as you'll have to read it for yourself to see what I'm talking about but I loved it!  This was just a fun read and I cannot emphasize that enough!

The relationship between Daphne and Rafe is one of my favorite types of relationships.  I absolutely love a hate/love relationship where the characters start off despising each other.  Rafe wasn't actually like this in regards to Daphne but it didn't matter as they both started at opposing ends.  It was all of the events that brought them together (and no that isn't a spoiler- this is a romance people) that was so fun for me to read about.  I have said this before and I will say it again:  I love when a romance takes time  to develop over a book.  In the case of this book, even though both main characters had feelings for each from the very beginning they still fought those feelings for a very long time.  It took time for them to start to build up trust between one another.  And when the time finally came- whew!  Those were some steamy scenes that were also very fun to read about.  I found the ending of this book to be quite surprising.  It definitely has me very excited to read the next book in this series.  While I wait though, I think I will go back to the beginning books and read about some of the other characters happy ever afters.  I can't wait!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to read more by this author!  It was such a fun read for me and a great way to break up all of the mysteries/thrillers that I have been reading as of late.  I love a good historical romance and this book reminded me just why I feel that way.  Luckily I have more books by this author to enjoy so I won't be waiting long to read more by her.  Recommended!

Bottom Line:  A fun read that I found myself swept away with!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher from a Goodread's giveaway!