Glory Tangle and her four children were staying on Martha's Vineyard when something tragic happened. Afterwards Ginger and Mimi, the oldest sisters, are not supposed to mention what happened to anyone, not even to their mother, and their younger sister, Callie, is sent away to boarding school. Many, many years later Ginger is forced to reveal a secret when her teenage daughter overhears a comment. And so the Tangles' web of secrets and lies begins to unravel. When Glory dies and long-estranged Callie returns home, Ginger goes back to Martha's Vineyard to piece together what really happened on the day no one dared to mention in the Tangle household. This is told from Ginger's perspective. It's a slow-moving book but I enjoyed reading about the Tangle's, especially in the early years. They're dysfunctional and have their quirks and I didn't always like how they handled things but you can't help but like them just the same. It's a realistic portraya

Audra Kinney is fleeing through the United States with her two children, Sean and Louise, in tow, trying to escape an abusive marriage. All is going well until she stops in Arizona. She's pulled over by an unsettling local sheriff who then calls for the deputy to come and take Audra's children to a safe place while she's taken into custody. When she starts asking about her children, the sheriff tells her he didn't see any kids when he pulled her over. It's two crooked cops against Audra and they insist she did something to her kids and left them in the desert. This becomes big news and catches the attention of a man halfway across the country. This sounds similar to what happened to him and his family five years ago - his wife was pulled over for something trivial and their daughter was taken. With someone else on Audra's side, they race against the clock to find her son and daughter before it's too late. This was an intense action-packed thriller. I could

Nicole Cutty and Megan McDonald have more in common than just being high school seniors in the small town of Emerson Bay, North Carolina. They both disappeared from the same beach party at the beginning of summer. The police launched a search but no clues were found. Shortly afterwards Megan manages to escape from a bunker deep in the woods. Fast forward a year and Megan has turned into a national celebrity when her book detailing her time spent in captivity and her escape has landed on the bestseller list. But for some this is another painful reminder that Nicole is still missing. Nicole's older sister, Livia, is a fellow in forensic pathology and she expects that someday her sister's body will end up on her autopsy table. But for now, Livia's first clue about her sister's disappearance comes from another body that shows up in the morgue - a young man she's never seen or heard of before. After some digging around Livia is close to figuring out the truth. With snipp

Olive Gagmuehler is tired of getting picked on because of her name. While she's waiting for her best friend at the Castaway Carnival she runs into the trio of mean girls from school. She runs away into the infamous cornmaze, where kids go missing. She wakes up on an isolated island where a war between two teams of rival teens has been going on for many years. She's taken in by the Lions where she develops a strong bond with each of them and will do whatever it takes to protect them and help them win the war. Then hopefully find her way back home. Poor Olive, not only does she hate her name, but she seems to always have a knot in her throat. Ouch. I liked the concept of this book - a Pirate Carnival with a cornmaze where kids disappear, an island of lost teens. It did kinda drag in parts, was a bit repetitious, full of clichés. And I didn't care for the ending because I just don't understand how that could happen. But overall it was a fun read. A big thank you to Net

Lily Riser was kidnapped when she was a teenager. For the last eight years, Lily has been trapped in a small basement prison where her and her daughter are being held captive. For her daughter, Sky, it's the only world she knows. Their captor prides himself in being clever - leaving the deadbolt unlocked and beating Lily when she tries to escape. But one day when he leaves the deadbolt unlocked, he's not there to punish her. Lily and Sky are finally free.  This book is more about how Lily, her twin sister Abby, her mother and her captor deal with the aftermath of Lily's escape and return home. It started off great. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. But then two things in particular started to bother me: 1. Abby!! Oh my God I did not enjoy reading the chapters about her. She was so overbearing. She drove me nuts! I can't remember when I've disliked a character so much. 2. Lily did some odd things when it came to her captor when she was free. I've never b

The neighbours are having a dinner party. But they don't want your six-month-old daughter there. She's a fussy baby and they can't stand her crying. Marco Conti tells his wife, Anne, it will be fine. There's only a wall separating them from their daughter. They'll take the baby monitor and take turns checking on her every half hour. The last time Anne checked on Cora, she was asleep in her crib. But when they return she's not there. Someone has taken their daughter while they were right next door. I had a hard time getting through the first chapter, but once I did I didn't want to put the book down. What happened to baby Cora and is she okay?! The writing was good, the suspense was good. I thought it was clever the way things all came together. I didn't care for the last chapter either, but what was in between the first chapter and the last was sooo good! 5/5.

In four years Prime Space will put the first humans on Mars. Helen Kane, Yoshi Tanaka, and Sergei Kuznetsov are going to spend seventeen months in the most realistic simulation ever created in order to prove they're the crew for the job.  Helen is retired from NASA. This is her last chance to return to where she feels at home, where she can be her best self. Even if that means leaving her grown daughter behind.. again. Yoshi wants to prove himself worthy of his wife, even though he loves her completely but maybe he doesn't love her in the right way. (this is weird.) Sergei is going to Mars so he can be tested beyond the point of exhaustion. He wants to prove to his father and to himself that he is not meek. He wants to set a good example for his sons. Days turn into months and even though the astronauts are busy, the lives and people they left behind have a way of seeping into their minds. I was so excited when I won this. And I was so excited when I finished it. Sadl

Off the coast of Mauritius, the ocean floor is collapsing at a rapid rate. Carrie Anderson is a world-champion free diver and a marine biologist and she's going down there to find out what's happening and how to stop it. But what she uncovers is terrifying. She doesn't know exactly what it is, but she knows it's big, it's hungry and it's cold. The pressure builds for Carrie and her team to figure out what to do with this new sea creature as they must contend with a corrupt corporation - one that doesn't mind killing to keep things quiet.  Wow. This was interesting. At no point was the story boring. I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. I either loved the characters or loved to hate them. I loved the setting - a gorgeous island with an underwater waterfall - why not put a monster down there?! 5/5.

Hanna Clark has left her dark past in Deerwood behind her and has moved with her mother to a new town. But shortly after starting at a new school she finds herself a suspect in a murder investigation when the police find her beside the body inside the victim's home. Hanna did not kill anyone and she's on a mission to clear her name. While trying to find the murderer, she becomes friends with the most popular girl in school, Claire, and falls for her boyfriend, Josh. As Hanna and Josh get closer, not only does she face Claire's wrath, she also learns that Josh is a suspect in the murder as well. She also starts getting threatening messages but she doesn't know who they're from. Hanna just wants to clear their names and get justice for her friend. This was a quick and easy read. It was full of suspense and surprises. I think a lot of younger readers will enjoy it. I did find it overly descriptive - the brand of their clothes and the colours, their hair, the shape of t

Not only was Flora 717 born into the lowest class of her society, she was also born bigger and darker than the best of them. As a sanitation bee, she is only fit to clean the hive while living to accept, obey and serve which means to do whatever is necessary for the good of the hive and the holy mother. It is discovered that Flora has many talents that are not typical of her kin and while most mutant bees are instantly destroyed, Flora is reassigned to feed the newborns. Then she is reassigned to become a forager, flying around gathering food for the hive. Flora eventually finds herself in the Queen's inner sanctum where she discovers secrets - some good, some bad. And Flora has a secret of her own, breaking the most sacred law of all. This started off so bad for me that I wanted to give up and I hate DNFing a book! There were so many smells that it became monotonous and irritating. But I kept at it and while there were still quite a few smells throughout the rest of the book the o