One Little Secret by Cate Holahan

source: free ARC via AmazonPrime
title: One Little Secret by Cate Holahan
author: Cate Holahan / Twitter
genre: crime thriller
published: July 9, 2019
pages: 313
first line: Drowning can happen in two inches of water. 
rated: 4 out of 5

blurb:
Everyone has a secret. For some, it’s worth dying to protect. For others, it’s worth killing.

The glass beach house was supposed to be the getaway that Susan needed. Eager to help her transplanted family set down roots in their new town – and desperate for some kid-free conversation – she invites her new neighbors to join in on a week-long sublet with her and her workaholic husband.

Over the course of the first evening, liquor loosens inhibitions and lips. The three couples begin picking up on the others’ marital tensions and work frustrations, as well as revealing their own. But someone says too much. And the next morning one of the women is discovered dead on the private beach.

Town detective Gabby Watkins must figure out who permanently silenced the deceased. As she investigates, she learns that everyone in the glass house was hiding something that could tie them to the murder, and that the biggest secrets of all are often in plain sight for anyone willing to look.

A taut, locked room mystery with an unforgettable cast of characters, One Little Secret promises to keep readers eyes glued to the pages and debating the blinders that we all put on in the service of politeness.

my thoughts:
Funny enough One Little Secret started out a little rough for me and I almost DNF’d it but I am really glad I kept reading because it turned into a gripping read that I could not wait to get back to.

Investigator Gabby Watkins is working on two cases; a possible rape and a murder case. An 18 year old au pair wakes up in a strange man’s bed after having been drugged the night before at a house party. A group of parents are vacationing in the Hamptons while their kids are off at summer camp when one of the moms is found dead on the beach one morning.

In at the Deep End by Kate Davies

source: free review copy via AmazonVine
title: In at the Deep End
author: Kate Davies / Twitter
genre: fiction/humor/LGBT
published: 2019
pages: 320
first line: One Saturday morning last January, Alice pointed out that I hadn’t had sex in three years.
rated: 4 out of 5 stars

blurb:

A fresh, funny, audacious debut novel about a Bridget Jones–like twenty-something who discovers that she may have simply been looking for love — and, ahem, pleasure — in all the wrong places (aka: from men)

Julia hasn’t had sex in three years. Her roommate has a boyfriend—and their sex noises are audible through the walls, maybe even throughout the neighborhood. Not to mention, she’s treading water in a dead-end job, her know-it-all therapist gives her advice she doesn’t ask for, and the men she is surrounded by are, to be polite, subpar. Enough is enough.

my thoughts: 
In at the Deep End by Kate Davies was an AmazonVine acquisition. This one has been compared to Bridget Jones. I remember reading Bridget Jones. I read that book twice and watched the film many times. I always get a kick out of Hugh Grant. Anyway, this story centers on twenty something Julia who has been single and lonely for the past three years. She lives in the U.K. with her roommate Alice. Julia always wanted to be a dancer but after an injury she took a job as a civil servant. She thinks sex is overrated and wonders if she will ever find passion and true love. She also misses dancing since it is such a part of who she is.

The Pisces by Melissa Broder

source: free ARC via Amazon Vine
title: The Pisces
author: Melissa Broder (twitter)
published: May 1st 2018 by Hogarth Press
pages: 272
genre: fiction
first line: I was no longer lonely but I was.
rated:
4 1/2 out of 5 stars

blurb:
Lucy has been writing her dissertation on Sappho for nine years when she and her boyfriend break up in a dramatic flameout. After she bottoms out in Phoenix, her sister in Los Angeles insists Lucy dog-sit for the summer. Annika’s home is a gorgeous glass cube on Venice Beach, but Lucy can find little relief from her anxiety — not in the Greek chorus of women in her love addiction therapy group, not in her frequent Tinder excursions, not even in Dominic the foxhound’s easy affection.

Everything changes when Lucy becomes entranced by an eerily attractive swimmer while sitting alone on the beach rocks one night. But when Lucy learns the truth about his identity, their relationship, and Lucy’s understanding of what love should look like, take a very unexpected turn. A masterful blend of vivid realism and giddy fantasy, pairing hilarious frankness with pulse-racing eroticism, THE PISCES is a story about falling in obsessive love with a merman: a figure of Sirenic fantasy whose very existence pushes Lucy to question everything she thought she knew about love, lust, and meaning in the one life we have.

my thoughts: I honestly don’t know where to begin.
The Pisces by Melissa Broder was one of the most intriguing and shockingly brazen books I have ever read.
I feel as though I have found a hidden gem. I found this one on AmazonVine and the cover and blurb intrigued me. This is one of those books that begs to be discussed, I’ve been thinking about it long after turning the final page.

There are elements of erotica, magical realism, mental illness and women’s issues woven into the plot. Author Melissa Broder is a poet and columnist and she does not hold back, her writing is straightforward, shocking and poetic all at once. This is a story about love and loss and addiction. And sex with a mer-man. Is he real? Is he an illusion? Who knows. I still don’t know. I think he is a metaphor for addiction. Only Lucy ever sees him, only she knows he exists. I was shocked while reading. Often. And then I also felt creeped out and then also sad. I laughed out loud at times as well.

Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 2/4/18: Gameday and Book Updates

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog…

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists….

Happy Sunday everyone. First off, I am glad January has come and gone, it always feels like such a long, cold month. We still have February through April though and I am already longing for Spring. It is a chilly, dreary day here, one perfect for lounging in my pj’s and getting caught up on blog-land.

It’s game day. We usually host a get-together at our house, but this year my sister-in-law is hosting it so *yay*. All we have to do is show up, eat, enjoy and go home…lol. Everyone brings something to eat, mostly finger foods, hors d’oeuvres and chips, etc. and we all stuff our faces.

I mainly watch for the commercials and it is tradition for us to do a get-together so it’s always fun. This is the first time in about seven years that we aren’t hosting the party ourselves, but the people who would come to our place will just go to her place instead so it’s the same group of friends and family.

Bookwise, I managed to read 3 full books in January and just about finished a 4th, but I finished that one yesterday. I’m doing good with my reading flow so I hope to continue that and reach my 50 books goal for 2018.

In my mailbox and my next read:

Idyll Fears: A Thomas Lynch Novel by Stephanie Gayle arrived this week via AmazonVine. I’m going to dive right into this one, it sounds thrilling.

Sunday Post/Mailbox Monday 1/21/18: A Memoir, Crochet and Roses etc.

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog…

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists….

Good morning all. January has been a long, cold month but a good one for reading. Bring the Spring please, I am ready.

Reading-wise, I am just about finished with a memoir called Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own  by Kate Bolick. I wanted to get a third book read this month and I am nearly there so I am really happy with that. I will be onto the fourth book soon after. That is alot of reading for me for one month, since #1 I am a slow reader and #2 sometimes with working full-time and everything else I don’t always have the time to read.

I’ve also made it a goal to get through my review books, some of which I have had for years. I’ve been doing pretty good with it these past couple of months, I also read The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman this month and the Kate Bolick book was an ARC from a few years back. I got my review of The Duchess Deal up yesterday and two more book reviews will be up this coming week I hope.

I finished watching The White Queen on Amazon Prime this past week. I have been obsessed. Like totally obsessed with this show. It takes place mainly during the War of the Roses. This is my favorite historical time period so I have been truly enjoying this series.