Category: Uncategorized

The Winter Girl, by Matt Marinovich

the winter girl
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Doubleday Books.)

 

Matt Marinovich lives in Brooklyn and has written for numerous publications. His first novel was Strange Skies. His new novel, The Winter Girl, hit shelves on January 19th.

Scott and Elise have come to the Hamptons because her father is dying of cancer. While she spends every day at the hospital, Scott stays home, growing more down with every passing day, as he focuses on his failing marriage, his lost job, and his ailing father-in-law, who hates him. Scott becomes fascinated by the empty house next door, where lights turn on with timers in a semblance of life. Soon Scott dares to go inside, hoping for a sort of escape.

What he finds is an empty house that speaks of secrets. Secrets that excite Scott, lifting his depression. Soon he enlists Elise in his explorations, as they seek to rekindle their marriage. But things in the house next door are not what they seem, and soon Scott and Elise are seeking a different kind of escape: from the darkness that surrounds them, hiding secrets they never imagined.

The Winter Girl is dark and twisted, full of shocking revelations, insidious secrets, and a history of violence only hinted at on the surface. This book is not for the faint of heart, nor is for the reader looking for characters that are likeable and uplifting.

(Galley provided by Doubleday via NetGalley.)

But You Did Not Come Back, by Marceline Loridan-Ivens

butyoudidnotcomeback
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Grove Atlantic.)

Marceline Loridan-Ivens is a French writer and film director. Her memoir, But You Did Not Come Back, is available on January 5th, 2015.

When Marceline was fifteen, she and her father were arrested by the government. He told her that he would not come back. They were sent to concentration camps, he to Auschwitz, and she to Birkenau. The three kilometers separating them might as well have been a million. Occasional glimpses of her father kept her going, but the note he managed to get to her kept her hope alive even in her horrendous, terrifying surroundings. She made it out of the camp alive and came home. Her father did not come back.

But You Did Not Come Back is a novella-length letter that Marceline wrote to her father, the man she never knew as an adult. Her experiences in the concentration camp colored the rest of her life, and through it all, her father’s memory lived on, her grief over him shadowing every day. Eventually, Marceline found her calling as an activist for refuges and as a documentary filmmaker.

Her heart-wrenching tale is filled with emotion and sorrow, grief and determination, in this memoir of one of the darkest times in history.

(Galley provided by Grove Atlantic via NetGalley.)

 

The Widsom of Dead Men, by Oisin McGann

 

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(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Open Roads Integrated Media.)

Oisín McGann is an Irish author and illustrator. His newest offering, The Wisdom of Dead Men, is in his series of books in the Wildenstern Saga; a steampunk Victorian adventure set in Ireland.

Women are turning up dead. Women of the working class, with no obvious connection to each other. They are found alone, frequently in locked rooms, apparently the victims of spontaneous human combustion. Law enforcement isn’t sure what to make of the cases. Neither is the clergy. Naturally, turning to the powerful Wildenstern family for help is the only solution.

Berto Wildenstern, the newest head of the family, doesn’t really have time for a murder investigation. He’s too busy trying to keep the rest of his scheming family from killing him for how power and position. His brother Nate, although taxed with protecting Berto, finds the time to investigate the deaths. With the help of Berto’s wife, he encounters a history the Wildenstern’s claim to know nothing about, a history that just might be linked to the deaths.

The Wisdom of Dead Men is an adventure tale wrapped up in a murder mystery, with a side of family intrigue thrown in for good measure. The Victorian setting is vividly realized, as are the mysterious engimals, the living machines that no one knows the origins of. The Wildenstern family are bloodthirsty and conniving, but they aren’t all bad.

(Galley provided by Open Road Integrated Media via NetGalley.)

Books: What I’ve Read Lately

After a computer snafu a few weeks ago, when I saw an early Black Friday deal for a hard drive on Monday, I jumped at it. (The old one was 6 or so years old.) It came in today, so I’ve spent the past few hours trying to gt it set up and all my files transferred over. (Thank you, DropBox.) Instead of a review, here’s a list of some of the things I’ve been reading lately, in no particular order:

  1.  Shock of Night
  2. Queen of the Night
  3. Death Before Decaf
  4. This is Where it Ends
  5. The Poison Artist
  6. Did I Mention I Need You?
  7. Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic
  8. Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic
  9. Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic
  10. Currently Reading:  The Range, by Dave Farmer

Did I mention I Love You, by Estelle Maskame

DIMILY
(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Sourcebooks Fire.)

Estelle Maskame was sixteen when she finished writing her Did I Mention I Love You trilogy, which went viral via Wattpad with over four million hits. Estelle lives and writes full-time from Scotland. Did I Mention I Love You is her first published novel, available now.

 

Eden Munro hasn’t heard from her father in years, not since he left her and her mother behind. Now he’s re-married, with a new family and a new life, and he wants her to spend the summer with him in Santa Monica. Even the prospect of the beach and three new stepbrothers can’t make Eden look forward to the visit.

 

Tyler Bruce is Eden’s oldest stepbrother, and her total opposite. Angry, egotistical, and with a troubled past and a drug problem, Tyler is bad news. But Eden soon finds herself hanging out with Tyler’s friends, going to parties and doing things she knows she shouldn’t be doing. Despite Tyler’s clingy, vindictive girlfriend and her own love interest, Eden finds herself drawn to Tyler. Can she find out what’s really behind Tyler’s façade and help him win his battle against himself?

 

Did I Mention I Love You is an edgy young adult romance with dark layers. The parties and drugs aren’t glorified, but presented in a realistic manner that makes them heartbreakingly real. Eden finds herself going along with things she never imagined, as she searches for a way to save Tyler from the depths of his anguish. Their relationship is tense, complicated, and ever evolving. Did I Mention I Love You is a fast-paced read that is not all sunshine and light, instead focusing on the darker moments that give life its depth.

 

(Galley provided by Sourcebooks Fire via NetGalley.)

Writing Inspiration: Permission To Not Write

How is not writing inspiration to actually get words on the page? Well….

I set weekly writing goals, as a way to keep motivated. But, let’s be honest, work, school, and frequently sleep come before writing. This results in me feeling guilty and leads to resentment. Which makes me less likely to actually want to write, if things do not go according to plan or even remotely according to plan).

If I’m feeling guilty because I didn’t get my words in on Monday or Wednesday, then I feel like I have to make up those words today, and I just don’t have time for that many words. So I resent the prospect and end up not writing today, either.

However, if I give myself permission to not write whenever it’s necessary, without the idea of having to make those words up, then that instantly makes my brain less stressed. Which means I actually feel like writing.

Does this make sense, or am I just making excuses?

Death Before Decaf, by Caroline Fardig

((Death Before Decaf cover 2.6M

(I do not own this image. Image belongs to Random House Alibi.)

Caroline Fardig is the author of the Lizzie Hart Mystery series. Her new book, Death Before Decaf, is the first book in the Java Jive series

Juliet Langley had a fiancé she loved and a café she gave her heart to. Unfortunately, her fiancé ran off with a waitress and stole everything she owned, she lost the café, and had to move back to Nashville to take a job running a coffee shop for her best friend. Things couldn’t get much worse.

Until Juliet finds the dead body of the cook in the dumpster before the end of the first day. The other employees, in open revolt, are more than happy to point fingers at Juliet’s famed temper, and soon she finds herself a suspect in the murder. Juliet decides that she will find the killer, since no one else seems interested in the truth. Not even the handsome stranger hanging around the coffee shop asking questions. This may be too much for even caffeine to handle.

Death Before Decaf is a fun mystery reminiscent of the Stephanie Plum series. Juliet is a great character, full of spunk and attitude, determined to do the right thing. She won’t give up, no matter what other people think, and no matter the danger she puts herself in. Death Before Decaf will have the reader laughing at Juliet’s antics as the pages fly by.

(Galley provided by Random House Alibi via NetGalley.)

Criminal Confections, by Colette London

Criminal Confections, by Colette London (I do not own this image. Image belongs to Kensington publishers.)
Criminal Confections, by Colette London (I do not own this image. Image belongs to Kensington publishers.)

Colette London is a best-selling novelist with dozens of books to her credit. Her newest book, Criminal Confections, is the first book in the decadent Chocolate Whisperer series.

Chocolate is more than a dessert to Hayden Mundy Moore and the elite of the chocolate world, it’s a necessity of life, like breathing. Hayden is The Chocolate Whisperer; she goes into troubled chocolate businesses, finds out what the problem is, and helps them right the wrongs. When her current employer invites her to an elite chocolate retreat, she expects a fun time, and plenty of chocolate, of course.

What she gets is murder.

The chef winds up dead the first night, and as Hayden discovers more, she starts to wonder if perhaps she was the real target. Determined to find out, she starts asking questions. As the body count climbs, so do Hayden’s suspicions. Is it her demanding new boss? Perhaps the senile former boss? The rival chocolatier who knows too much? Or maybe her attractive best friend, Danny, who has a hidden dark side from his secret past?

The only two things Hayden knows for sure are that she really wants to solve this mystery before she winds up dead, and she wants to meet Trevor, her financial advisor with the sexy voice, in person after listening to all his good advice over the phone for far too long.

That doesn’t seem like too much to ask.

This light-hearted cozy mystery will have the reader hungry for more: more romps set in Hayden’s whirlwind world, more adventures with Danny by her side, more flirty conversations with Trevor, and more chocolate. Scrumptious recipes are included in the book, so at least there won’t be a wait for those, even if the next book in the series isn’t out until September.

(Galley courtesy of Kensington via NetGalley.)