Review: The Four - Ellie Keel - August 2024 There's something deeply unsettling about returning to the world of boarding schools through fiction when you've lived that reality yourself. As I cracked open The Four by Ellie Keel, memories of my own three years at Hadlow from 1997-1999 came flooding back. I had won a scholarship too, just like the protagonists Rose, Sami, Lloyd, and Marta, and that shared experience made every page feel intensely personal. This YA academic thriller had been sitting on my physical bookshelf for months, practically calling to me. My friend Liv Royal had recommended it, and I'm grateful she did. The story follows four scholarship students whose dreams materialize when they're accepted into an exclusive boarding school, but their bond is forged through something far darker than academic achievement. What struck me most powerfully was how Ellie Keel captures the unique dynamics of scholarship students in elite institutions. Having lived that...

Review: When She Was Me - Marlee Bush - May 2024 This was an interesting thriller and a little confusing, but the overall point is that sisters protect sisters and that no matter how terrible your family is. The book is set in the middle of nowhere in what used to be a popular camping ground, but over the years became forgotten about and a couple of the cabins were rented out permanently. One of them to identical twins Cassie and Leonora. The twins years ago suffered tragedy when their parents snapped and were killed. Cassie was always the strong one and Leonora faded away and became more reliant on Cassie and ended up suffering agoraphobia. Cassie, on the other hand, turned herself into a true crime video junkie and is popular on Youtube. What happens though when a family visiting has a teenage daughter who goes missing and turns up dead? Who killed her and what happens when Cassie thinks that her sister is hiding the truth of what happened there?  But if Leonora didn't kill her, ...

Review: Reminders of Him - Colleen Hoover - January 2022 I was lucky a year ago to pick this book up at a secondhand book sale and of course, like a lot of the books I own, it has sat on my shelf for a year almost to date. I finally got around to reading it, though was a little cautious as though I have loved the majority of Colleen Hoover's books, the last one I read was Regretting You and I regret reading it as it ended up being a DNF and then I never got around to reading her other books as you know how sometimes a DNF can leave an unsavory taste in your mouth and makes you wary to try their other titles. Reminders of Him though was a fabulous read and reminded me why I love New Adult Romance as I was thrust back into the world of angst, heartbreak, and emotions but also romance, forgiveness, and moving on. Five years ago, Kenna made the biggest mistake of her life and it cost her not only the people she loved but also prison time. Now Five years later, she has been released ...

The Vardo Witch Trials At the end of last year, a new book was published and being advertised on bookstagram and social media that caught my interest as it was loosely based on the true story of the Vardo Witch Trials. The book was called The Mercies by Kiren Millwood Hargrave and takes the readers to the island of Vardo where readers will be able to experience the Vardo storm and the witch trials of 1621. This book is told through the POV’s of Maren, one of Vardo’s women, and Ursa who was the wife of the Commander that sent the police to the village. As someone who loved the Salem Witch Trials and reading about it, I was intrigued as I hadn’t heard about this particular trial and reading more about it – it was one of Norway’s worst-ever trials and one of history’s mass executions of females. The drama started on Christmas Eve in 1617 in a small town called Finnmark. That night there was a fateful storm – one of the worst in history and killed 40 of the townsmen of Vardo within...

The Selective Mute Princess Samantha Jayne Grubey Publication date: August 29th 2022 Genres: New Adult, Romance Princess Amelia has been silent for ten years, ever since Amelia and Ava were kidnapped. One returned home the other did not. Amelia has always kept herself guarded with her twenty-first birthday approaching things are going to be changing. Ethan Sparks is on his first assignment, guard the Princess in the Palace. The longer he’s there the more he finds himself being drawn to Princess Amelia, he can see she’s drowning and he wants to help. Romantic interests stirs in a mixing pot of emotions as Amelia and her family recover from the kidnapping and murder of her sister. Unsure what to feel or who to believe, Amelia needs to find her truth, as she deals with her trauma and finally brings her family to mend. Along the way they find themselves hitting challenges at every wall. So many questions left unanswered by the kidnapping and murder, can she finally find the answ...

Join us for the cover reveal of Revive by Tricia T. LaRochelle. Fans who love romantic suspense will sink their teeth into this steamy, new adult romance. Keep scrolling for more details about the second installment in the Sara Browne Series. Title: Revive Author: Tricia T. LaRochelle Release Date: 09/29/2022 Genres: NA Romance/Romantic Suspense Page Count: 342 Trope: Finding Courage/Overcoming Trauma/Breaking Free From Guilt Traumatic events follow in the footsteps of Sara Browne’s life. On a wobbly foundation, she attempts a new start, with Scott by her side. Trying to navigate a relationship and college life, Sara struggles, looking for ways to heal. She latches onto a story about a student named Carrie Stevens who went missing the year before. As a diversion from her own problems, Sara obsesses over Carrie and what happened to her. She digs deeper, unleashing a terrible secret that rocks her to the core. Add to Goodreads Here! ...

Saving Sophie Debbie Schrack Publication date: April 26th 2022 Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult Seventeen-year-old Gabe Hunter knows he has a purpose in life. He has always strived to be the “best of the best,” but lately nothing has gone his way. Gabe was devastated six months earlier when his half-brother Josh had a drunk driving accident that killed four members of a family and left a sixteen-year-old girl named Sophie an orphan. Josh went to prison and Gabe struggles to forgive him because how can he forgive the unforgivable? When Gabe reluctantly agrees to do math tutoring for his senior service project, he discovers that the girl he will be tutoring is also named Sophie. But in a town of eighty thousand people, what are the odds it will be the same person? Astronomical, Gabe figures. Gabe soon discovers, though, that it is the same Sophie. A former National Merit Scholar finalist, Sophie had a severe brain injury in the accident. She has seizures, amnesia, and...

Review: Loner - Book #1 The Boys of Welles Series - Ginger Scott - July 2022 I have been looking forward to reading this book as I do love Ginger Scott as an author, not only is she a great author - she is an awesome person. The other reason I wanted to read this book was that the release date was my birthday :P. In this first book, we meet three girls who are moving into their dorm rooms- Brooklyn, Morgan, and Lily. There were supposed to be four of them but tragedy struck over summer and one of them died. Lily a champion swimmer tried to save them all, but couldn't. Starting the new year, she sees Theo - he is the twin brother of the girl who died and the guy on who Lily has always had a crush. This year, things are awkward between them as he has now lost his sister and he blames Lily as she saved the others and herself but not his sister Annika - his other half. As the book goes on though, we read as both Lily and Theo are conflicted as they really do care about each other but...