I think I just found my favourite book of the year. Now, because I don't do spoilers, all I’ll tell you is this: Imagine driving down a dark, rain-soaked road in the middle of nowhere when a series of mysterious car accidents leaves a group of complete strangers stranded at a dive bar. Sounds safe, right? Not exactly... Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong was so dang good. I was honoured to receive an ARC from St. Martin’s Press in exchange for my honest revie

I finished 5 Louise Penny books and somehow haven’t posted any reviews yet. So I decided the best way was to put all my thoughts into one post! Books 5–9 of the Chief Inspector Gamache series were a bit of a rollercoaster. #5 - The Brutal Telling The peace typically found within the Village of Three Pines has been shattered once again, with the discovery of a body in the local bistro. Olivier and Gabri’s bistro. Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are once again brought in t

I gave this WWII historical fiction book 5 STARS, and I was crying by the end. The Barman of the Ritz by Philippe Collin was my first readalong with Tandem Collective, and I had so much fun with the whole experience. But let’s talk about the book. This is set in Paris during the German occupation, and it follows Frank, a Jewish bartender working at the Petit Bar inside the Ritz. And the man is surrounded by German soldiers every single day… while secretly being Jewish himsel

Imagine losing the love of your life, marrying a near stranger, moving completely off-grid… and then having a dead man show up at your door. My rating of Call Off the Dark: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 My thoughts: Call Off the Dark by Hallie Shepherd is definitely a twisty genre-bender. I was lucky enough to receive the audiobook early from William Morrow and Harper Audio in exchange for my honest review, so thank you so much to them for letting me listen ahead of its September 22 publication

Adam and Amelia Wright, a married couple, had their lives going wrong for quite a while—despite what their last name may suggest. The couple wins a weekend getaway in Scotland, but it’s not the romantic getaway they thought it would be. Someone is determined to ruin this entire weekend and change their lives forever. Oh, and just to add some more weirdness to the story, Adam Wright has face blindness, which he has had his entire life, which means he can’t recognize family and

In Stefanie Koens’ Daughters of the Wreckage, a shipwreck, mutiny, survival, and secrets bring together the stories of several women across generations. I received this ALC (advanced listener copy) from Thomas Nelson Fiction Audio and Harper Audio in exchange for my honest review. A big thank you to Stefanie Koens, Thomas Nelson Fiction Audio, Harper Audio and NetGalley for sharing this one with me. This book comes out tomorrow, Sep. 15! My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 My thoughts on Da

I gave this thriller five stars, and apparently I need to defend that decision. So, let’s talk about Little Red Death by Alexandra Benedict... I was given this book as an ARC from Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for my honest review, so thank you to Poisoned Pen Press, Alexandra Benedict for writing this story, and NetGalley for facilitating it all. Now, the premise: DI Lyla Rondell is on the case of a lifetime. Horrendous crimes are being committed, and they all have a very s

It’s January in the 1800s, and the people of a tiny Canadian town are learning that the forest doesn’t just take what it’s owed… it takes whatever it wants. **For future readers, there’s a potential spoiler in my review video on socials, but it’s also something that is revealed in the first chapter… so, maybe not really? I was given an ARC of Mere Joyce’s As The Snow Gathers by Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for my honest review, so first, thank you to all involved for making

In Lana Harper and Jilly Gagnon’s Cards on the Table, sisters Tori and Cassie Bishop make a little extra money reading tarot cards. When they’re offered a pretty tempting amount of cash to help an elderly woman contact her dead son, the sisters head to her mysterious mansion… because apparently accepting money to enter a creepy house is always a great idea. I was lucky enough to receive this ARC from Bantam in exchange for my honest review. A big thank you to Lana Harper, Jil

DID YOU HEAR? They say a girl died here… Anna and her family have just moved to Harper’s Creek, a little nowhere town with a dark history. But that’s all been resolved, so why is Anna feeling trapped? Why is her little sister afraid that she’ll be next? And WHY is Anna’s grandmother spinning out of control with paranoid episodes? I had the opportunity to read They Say A Girl Died Here early through an advanced listener copy (ALC), so first, thank you to Sarah Pinborough for t

“If my sister hadn’t been beautiful, none of it would have happened.” Well… THAT got my attention. Ruby Cooper is 16 when something horrible happens — something that ultimately tears her family apart. And the further Ruby and her sister Erin travel down their own paths, the more impossible it seems that their family will ever be put back together. And let me tell you… the things some of these characters DO. My jaw literally dropped several times while reading this. The sheer

With the authorities closing in and more lives on the line, there’s only one way out, for himself and the people he cares about: revenge. In Hollywood Payback by Jon Lindstrom, Jake Ferguson threw his life away more than two decades ago, and he’s done his time behind bars. Now, as he re-enters society, he realizes the world has changed vastly since he was last free. And now, all he wants to do is settle into a quiet life. It’s just too bad that other people have alternate pla

In Max Doty’s The House That Eats The Dead, a family moves into their dream home under almost too-good-to-be-true circumstances, only to find out that the house itself has an insatiable hunger. And what it’s craving isn’t ice cream or carbs. And as the hunger intensifies, the family starts to lose control. I was lucky to be sent this ARC by Bantam, which is an imprint of Penguin Random House, in exchange for my honest review. But first, I want to say a big thank you to Max Do

Three gal pals, Hope, Ash, and Caro decide to go on a little girls trip and disappear from their lives for a little bit of time in this novel. These girls met when they joined a book club, and their friendships took off from there. When each woman seems to be at a difficult point in their lives, they decide to go on this little trip and get away from it all. But we learn quickly that the books they read for their club aren’t the only things hiding secrets. My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ M

“And if her parents had ever given her a proper dollhouse, she would probably have turned it into a crime scene, and it would’ve been great.” Ooooh, doesn’t that quote just make you so happy? When six struggling, “mid-list” authors are invited to spend the weekend at an author’s private island, they arrive to discover a shocking twist: this famous author is dead! And he died before finishing his final book. These authors have been invited in to ghostwrite the ending of the bo

Kate married Max for one reason only: to protect his daughter, Holly, from him. And one day, in self-defence, Holly kills him. But they can’t call the cops—they’d never believe them! So what do they do? Hide the body, plan to dispose of it. But when an accidental run-in with the neighbour turns into way too many questions being asked, Kate can feel that her time is running out to fix this mess. So what’s she to do? I was given the audiobook of Don't Say A Word as an ALC (adva

A summer vacation in the Adirondacks is flipped, turned upside down when a woman’s body is discovered in the nearby lake. Let’s all get to know sisters Esme, Piper and Regina a little bit better, as we follow them to their family summer house for their annual gathering. Each sister is bringing her own set of problems to the house this year, and of course, their husbands and children are about to get caught up in it all as well. But when a young woman’s body is found practical

Alice is trying to deal with the fact that she has killed a man. A young man was breaking into her home, a home where her young daughter and two friends were having a play date, and she jumped into action to keep those little girls safe. Charges are not laid against her, as she was found to have been acting in self-defence, and her friends and family tell her to try to move on from it all. But, of course, Alice can’t move on. She still has no idea why this young man busted in

One isolated cabin. One cheating boyfriend. One plan to get even. But wait a minute, there are THREE leading ladies in this revenge story! Nora, Cham and Ruby all discover they’ve been dating the same man, and he’s done some dirty, dirty deeds. So, of course, they hatch a plan for some payback, and it goes horribly wrong. I mean, what do you expect to happen in an isolated mountain cabin during a horrible snowstorm? I was fortunate to receive this ARC from Poisoned Pen Pres

Some things run in the blood… especially when your parent is a serial killer. Now, plenty of people have lousy parents, but Nicola’s father was just convicted of killing five women, including her best friend. Then her life goes to shit, she loses her teaching job, she’s about to lose her house… it’s bad. But then she’s extended an invitation to join the Death Row Club, a club with membership exclusive to those who are the adult children of serial killers. This club is havin