Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh

Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Two sisters on trial for murder. They accuse each other. Who do you believe? From Steve Cavanagh, the “wickedly clever” (The New York Times) master of twisty psychological thrillers.

“911 what’s your emergency?”

“My dad’s dead. My sister Sofia killed him. She’s still in the house. Please send help.”

“My dad’s dead. My sister Alexandra killed him. She’s still in the house. Please send help.”

One of them is a liar and a killer.

But which one?
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Steve Cavanagh's Eddie Flynn series has quickly become my go-to when I am looking for a good legal thriller. Cavanagh consistently delivers with his fast-paced stories of murder and intrigue, and I have enjoyed every offering I have read from this author. Flynn is a complex character who is a bit unconventional in his methods, and the road from the beginning to the end of each of his cases is filled with enough twists and turns to keep any reader entertained.

This particular novel had me wondering the entire time if I had actually figured out "who done it" because I didn't think I was going with the obvious choice. I won't say whether I was correct or not because that might border on being a spoiler, but I will say that when I came to the eventual conclusion, I was completely satisfied with where the story had ended up.

I believe I have another Eddie Flynn novel on my docket for later this summer, and I can't wait to dive into it. I will keep reading these books for as long as Cavanagh writes them...and I hope that he has more of these thrillers up his sleeve.

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Mansion Beach by Meg Mitchell Moore

Mansion Beach by Meg Mitchell Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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It’s the beginning of the summer, and Nicola Carr has just arrived on Block Island, RI, eager for a fresh start and some R&R. But her plans for a tranquil summer are derailed as the extravagant parties from the grand home next door pique her curiosity. She soon discovers the home belongs to Juliana George, an enigmatic entrepreneur with a past shrouded in mystery.

Juliana George, CEO and founder of a hot fashion-tech company, is at the top of her game. She’s spending the summer on Block Island preparing for a major IPO. But she’s chasing her dreams in more ways than one. This summer she hopes to rekindle a flame with a man from her past—a man who has a surprising connection to her neighbor Nicola.

Taylor Buchanan, the wife of Nicola’s cousin, is second-in-command of a real estate empire. Her life is exactly the way she planned it: she has the wealth, the family, the prestige, and the power. And there’s nothing she’ll let get in her way of Having It All. But when everything suddenly verges on the edge of collapse, she has no choice but to take matters into her own hands.

As Nicola, Juliana, and Taylor’s summers unfold, the three women are set on a collision course that leads to inevitable self-discovery, unforgivable betrayal, an unavoidable love triangle—and, most unexpectedly, a dead body.

A sophisticated escapist novel filled with light humor and surprising observations, Mansion Beach explores the depth of human relationships, our cruelly classist society, and the price of secrets that refuse to stay buried.
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I believe that this is the first novel I have read by Meg Mitchell Moore, which is surprising because she writes the kind of books I like to read. After previously overlooking them, I know have a nice back catalog to make my way through because I really enjoyed this journey to Block Island and the characters and goings on I found there. It is always fun to take a look at how the "other half" lives (à la the trips I have so enjoyed to Nantucket, if only in my mind, compliments of Elin Hilderbrand), and I got the same vibe from this author's upcoming offering.

While some of the characters were unlikeable, there was some redemption in the end. There were enough twists and turns to keep it interesting without things becoming overwrought or silly. I have to confess that I have not read Gatsby, so the comparisons to that classic work of literature were lost on me. The flipping between the various timelines was initially a little hard to follow, but I pretty quickly got into the rhythm and enjoyed the characters' backstories, which is not always true for me in books...I am not a huge fan of multiple timelines. There were clips from podcast transcripts inserted throughout to break up sections, and that lent a fun gossipy feel to parts of the story that was in keeping with some of the themes of the book. All in all, it was a fun, escapist beach read that went just a little bit deeper...there were some messages here that are meant to stay with the reader long after the last page is read.

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Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts

Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Natural Resources police officer, Sloan Cooper, and her partner had just taken down three men preying on hikers in the Western Maryland mountains. Driving back, she pulled in at a convenience store—and walked right into a robbery in progress. One gunshot from a jittery thief was about to change her world.

After being shocked back to life on the operating table, she has a long recovery ahead, so she moves back to her parents’ peaceful house in Heron’s Rest. As for the boyfriend who dumped her via text while she was in the hospital, good riddance.

She may be down, but she’s not out. So when a woman vanishes, leaving her car behind in a supermarket parking lot, Sloan searches online for similar cases. She finds them, spread across three states. Men and women, old and young—the missing seem to have nothing in common. And the abductions keep happening.

Luckily, the new man in her life shares her passion for solving this mystery. But it will take every ounce of endurance to get to the dark heart of this bizarre case—and she's willing to risk her life again if that's what it takes to stop the horror.
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I don't know that there is another writer out there that can do romantic suspense as well as Nora Roberts; she is truly a master at her craft. For the past several years, she has put out novels that have been among my favorite reads of the late spring season - Mind Games, Identity, Shelter in Place - and I expected Hidden Nature to be no different. While this was not my favorite of her offerings, I am happy to report that this is another solid suspense novel with a sweet love story and a fast-paced mystery that kept me engaged from the first page to the last.

Squeamish readers might find parts of this book a little unsettling...I myself am pretty hardy, and even I thought parts of it were pretty difficult to wrap my head around. The bad guys in this one were bad guys in a new-to-me way that was especially disturbing. However, that made it all the more satisfying when they got what was coming to them. This was nicely tempered by the lighter side of the story, which had Roberts's trademark tale of a romance (or two), a picturesque setting, and a vibrant cast of characters who it is a pleasure to come to know.

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Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein

Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Every summer, Vivian Levy and Lucy Webster spend a month with their father at his lake house — separately. Raised in New York City, Vivian is an ambitious sommelier with a secret that could derail her future. Lucy grew up in a tiny Maine town, where she now teaches high school English while watching her marriage unravel. They’ve never met. While Lucy envied her half-sister from afar, their father kept Vivian in the dark.

When Vivian arrives at the lake to spread his ashes and sell his cabin, she's shocked to find Lucy there, awaiting his return. In an ideal world, they’d help each other through their grief. Instead, forced to spend the summer together, they fight through a storm of suspicion and hostility to untangle the messy truth about their parents’ pasts. While Lucy is desperate to hold onto the house, Vivian is scrambling after a betrayal. After thirty years apart, is it too late for them to be a family?

For fans of Carley Fortune and Elin Hilderbrand, this sister story set on a lush lake brims with the undeniable heart, depth, charm, and humor that have endeared Hannah Orenstein to legions of readers.
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I was initially drawn to this book because I am someone who spent time each summer in Maine in my formative years, so books that take place there call to me. When I read in the description that it would appeal to fans of Carley Fortune and Elin Hilderbrand, I was even more intrigued because those are two of my auto-buy authors. Well, I am so glad that I got the chance to read this book! It is filled with rich characters, a beautiful setting, and plenty of action. I love reading books about sisters, and the story of the relationship between Vivian and Lucy is complex and beautifully written. There is complexity and nuance to the plot, and just when you think that something predictable has happened, a pleasant surprise comes along, and suddenly a bit of a twist has occurred. I had never read this author before, but I will certainly check out her back catalog. This is a great summer read for someone who is looking for an escape to the lake!

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April Wrap-up!

 

It's May 3, and I am writing my April wrap-up! Whaaaaaat? I tried something new this month and created a TBR list, and I am excited to share how well I stuck with it (still blogging into the void, but all writing is worthwhile writing, in my mind). It was edited a couple of times late in the month as I noticed Libby due dates approaching, but for the most part, I stuck pretty close to my goals, and I got all my April NetGalley releases read and reviewed before their release dates! I have been gifted more advanced copies this year from NetGalley than I ever have since becoming a member in 2019, and I also have gotten one some publisher mailing lists, which means I have gotten some books sent to me that I did not request on NetGalley, which is really fun for me. Some of them are not books that I would normally choose to read, and it has been hard for me to decide whether I should just accept and download everything or be a little more choosey and just download the ones I am really convinced I want to read. So far, I am going the latter route because my goal is to read and review all the books I download from NetGalley this year, and I really want to reach that goal. 

Anyway, my TBR list for April (and the challenges/lists/locations they came from and my star rating) are as follows:

• The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner - NetGalley (5 stars)
• The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Green - Libby (3 stars)
• Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams - Spotify audiobook (3 stars)
• Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune - 2025 Book Bingo (5 stars)
• This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan - GR Community Favorites Challenge (5 stars)
• The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah - GR Community Favorites Challenge (4 stars)
• Summer Light on Nantucket by Nancy Thayer - NetGalley (4 stars)
• The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick (5 stars)
• Summer in a Bottle by Annie Rains - NetGalley (4 stars)
• The Same Bright Stars by Ethan Joella - 25 in '25 Challenge (5 stars)
• Saltwater by Katy Hays - Libby (4 stars)
• What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama - Libby (5 stars)
• Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly - GR Community Favorites Challenge, Libby audio (4 stars)
• A Certain Kind of Starlight by Heather Webber - 25 in '25 Challenge - (4 stars)
• Julie Chan Is Dead by Liann Zhang - NetGalley (4 stars)
• Swan Song by Elin Hilderbrand - 25 in '25 Challenge (5 stars)
• The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell - Libby (4 stars)
• Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak - Kindle Unlimited (This is the only book I didn't finish...I started it on 4/30 and am still reading.)

Astute readers will notice that I read 17 books in the month of April. HOWEVER. I was on vacation from work for two weeks of the month, and the first three books on that list were books I began reading/listening to in March. Still, it was a great month of reading for me! And I think the TBR list was a success! It helped me read all the books I needed to from NetGalley and also reminded me that I had some challenges that I have "committed" to (I am only competing against myself, so if I don't complete them, it's fine.), and I added some books from each of them to the list. I also pay for Kindle Unlimited each month, and I have a lot of books downloaded to my Kindle from KU and on my broader TBR list from KU, but somehow other books always get in the way. I would like to be more intentional about reading some of their offerings, so this gives me a great way to fit those in. 

Now, let's talk about the big hits for the month! I am not a fantasy reader, but one of my book bingo squares had me reading a fantasy book, so since I didn't want to have to deal with a lot of world building, I decided to go cozy fantasy and chose TJ Klune's Under the Whispering Door. I had heard that this was a good introduction to fantasy and was not hard to follow, and I have to say that I just loved it so much. It was just so sweet and magical and uplifting, and after I shared with one of the book clubs I am in on Facebook how much I loved it, someone recommended I try Under the Cerulean Sea on audio, so I used an Audible credit to purchase that. I have not dived into it yet, but once I am done with my current podcast (I am deep into the Karen Read trial right now.), I am going to start it up. I also really loved The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick. I knew Marie Bostwick mostly from her Cobbled Court Quilt series, which I read many years ago (the first was published in 2008), so when I saw her familiar name on NetGalley, I requested her new book! This was very different from that series, but reading it was such an amazing experience. It was a celebration of women's friendship at a time when feminism was really in its infancy in the American household, and I learned a lot about an era I had not really read much about. A final favorite for the month was What You Are Looking For Is in the Library. These translations of Japanese novels have become popular thanks to TikTok, and I decided that I wanted to check one out. I would describe this book as gentle. It was just a lovely experience to read. 

The thought of adding up the number of pages and listening hours for the month makes me want to poke my eyes out, so I am going to spare everyone that. I guess I can share the misses for the month. I only had one major miss, and that was an audiobook that I probably would have liked if I had read it myself. I have been enjoying the When in Rome series by Sarah Adams, so when I saw Beg, Borrow, or Steal, which is the third installment, available on Spotify Premium, I decided to make it my pick for the month. Well, I am sure that all audiobooks listeners know that the performers can make or break an audiobook for a person, and both the male and female narrators for this book were just...not good for me. I stuck it through to the end because I was invested in the actual storylines, but I was definitely kind of hate-listening by the time I was halfway through. The male reader sounded like he was trying to use an exaggerated Prince Charming voice, and the female reader's over-acting was just...cringe. Katherine Green's The Lake of Lost Girls was also only a three-star read for me, and I think that is just because I wasn't excited to read it...and I can't for the life of me remember why. It did take me a full six days to read, and I read other books in between, so something about it was not holding my attention. 

I think I will end this with my current TBR list for May so that whenever I post my May wrap-up, I can see how well I stuck with it. Without further ado, here is my current plan for the month of May! Sadly, I don't have two weeks of vacation to work with this month...

• Summer Fridays by Suzanne Rindell - Libby
• The Forgotten by David Baldacci - Libby
• Tastes Like Shakkar by Nisha Sharma - Libby
• A Step Past Darkness by Vera Kurian - Libby
• Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter - NetGalley (finished this tonight - 5 stars!)
• Maine Characters by Hannah Orenstein - NetGalley 
• Mansion Beach by Meg Mitchell Moore - NetGalley
• Hidden Nature by Nora Roberts - NetGalley
• Tracking Justice by L.T. Ryan - Kindle Unlimited
• The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods - Kindle Unlimited
• The Chamber by Will Dean - 25 in '25
• The Hotel by Pamela Kelley - 25 in '25
• The Wedding People by Alison Espach - 2025 Book Bingo
• Jesus and John Wayne by Kristin Kobes du Mez or No More Tears by Gardiner Harris - 2025 Book Bingo
• First Time Caller by BK Borison - 2025 Book Bingo

Alright, I think that's all the words I can wring out of these fingers tonight! Happy reading!

Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter

Friends with Benefits by Marisa Kanter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to Celadon Books (via NetGalley) for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
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Lifelong best friends say 'I do' to a marriage of convenience, trading vows for a financial safety net and benefits.

Evie Bloom pays attention to the details. Her very job depends on it—as an aspiring Foley artist, she’s responsible for every crisp footstep, smacking kiss, and distinct sound in film and television. So when she’s selected for a fellowship opportunity that would make all her career dreams come true, she’s quick to spot the catch: there are no health benefits, and for someone with a chronic illness, that’s a non-starter.

Theo Cohen is an elementary school teacher who can't afford to live on his own in LA, and is facing eviction after his roommates couple up and move out of their rent-controlled apartment. But there is one loophole in his lease: each tenant must meet an income threshold, unless the tenants are married.

For Theo, the answer is obvious. Marry Evie, his best friend since forever. It’s not as if they don’t spend all their free time together anyways. Not only will Theo be able to keep his apartment, but Evie can be added to his insurance plan so she can accept her dream fellowship. It’s such a logical, practical solution. Never mind that Evie doesn’t really want to be married—not to Theo, not to anyone—ever. Or the small, complicating fact that Theo has always been a little bit in love with Evie.

But it doesn’t have to be a big deal. Marriage. It will just give them space to breathe, and much-needed relief from the daily financial stress. It won’t change anything.

It’s . . . going to change everything.
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The description of this book tells you up front what tropes you can expect in the story, so if you are not a fan of friends-to-lovers and fake marriage, then this is one you will want to pass by. However, I happen to LOVE both of those, so this was perfect for me. I always joke that for someone who is happily single and plans to spend the rest of her life that way, I am a sucker for a good romcom, and I am happy to report that this book delivers. Evie and Theo are both likable characters, and it's easy to root for them, but there is depth to their story. The author lists some content warnings at the beginning of the book, which I always appreciate, as there are some serious themes included. However, what I most got from my reading of this book is that it made me feel good...within the first chapter, I was enjoying myself, and that enjoyment continued all the way through the end. Were some parts predictable? Sure. But did that take away from my experience reading it? Absolutely not. I will definitely look forward to reading more adult offerings from Marisa Kanter.

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