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Showing posts from April, 2017

Caught on Camera

Rachel Lehmann is a young chambermaid who dreams of working on Hollywood film sets. She's accepted into Toronto Film School, but she needs $35,000 for tuition by the end of summer. Luckily for her there is going to be a big wedding full of famous people at the Inn she works at. She'll just take candid photos of the guests and sell them. But her idea seems even better when she's asked to fill in for a missing bridesmaid, pretending to be the bride's cousin. But she falls head over heels for Mickey McNichol, a talent agent to the stars. He also falls hard for the bride's so-called cousin. He thinks he's finally met a beautiful woman he can trust. But that trust will be broken beyond repair if Rachel sells the wedding pictures. This is a cute little romantic comedy. It has insta-love and is predictable but I found myself totally absorbed in Rachel's star-studded world. I liked all the characters and how their antics added a little drama to the weekend of the we

The Ex

Olivia Randall is one of New York City’s best criminal defense lawyers. When she gets a call about her ex-fiancĂ©, Jack Harris, being arrested for a triple homicide, she knows two things: 1. He didn't do it, and 2. This is her chance to make it up to him. Jack Harris is a widow. He hasn't been interested in women since his wife was shot and killed three years ago. But on his early morning run along the Hudson River he spots a beautiful woman in last night's party dress, barefoot, drinking champagne out of a bottle and reading his favourite book. He tells his good friend Charlotte about the sighting and she immediately puts up a "missed moment" post on her popular website. Days later the beautiful woman responds to the "missed moment" post, gets in touch with Jack and invites him to meet her in person at the waterfront.. where a triple murder takes place at the same time they were scheduled to meet.  I thought this book was clever. It's full of twists

Feel Me Fall

Emily Duran is the sole survivor of a plane that crashed in the Amazon. The plane was carrying 134 passengers; 37 of which were students, teachers and chaperones from Riverdale Academy High. But she wasn't the only one who actually survived the crash. Six students were left stranded in the jungle. With each passing day their hope and strength dwindle. It's survival of the fittest and Emily is the only one left to tell her story. We come to learn Emily's past and how she ended up on a plane to Paraguay. And what happened in the jungle. And how her guilt is eating her up inside. She did what she had to do to survive. Their fear and desperation were palpable. Throughout most of the book I really liked Emily. I thought she was a headstrong young woman who made the best of what she'd been dealt and tried to do the right thing. I really enjoyed the story. It was a page-turner. I had to know how Emily came to be the only one left. What happened to the others? I was pleasa

Goodbye Days

Carver Briggs is a high school student at Nashville Academy for the Arts. He makes up one fourth of the Sauce Crew along with his best friends Blake, Eli and Mars. Carver's talent is writing. The cruel irony is that he just killed his three best friends with a simple text that said "Where are you guys? Text me back." He blames himself but he's not the only one - Mars's father, who is also a judge, is pushing for a criminal investigation into Carver's actions. But Carver's not alone. He has supportive parents and a supportive older sister. He's become close with Eli's girlfriend Jesmyn. And Nana Betsy, Blake's grandma, is on his side. Nana Betsy suggests they spend a day together sharing their memories of Blake and to say a proper goodbye. The other families want Carver to spend a day with them as well, sharing a side of their son they never knew, but he's not sure it's a good idea especially when Mars's father tells him he wants to

The History of Hilary Hambrushina

This is the summer before Hilary Boles starts junior high. Hilary and her best friend Lynn dream of becoming popular and being besties with the most popular girl of all Chanel Winters. But things don't go as planned for Hilary when Lynn leaves for the summer and Kallie moves in next door. She's very quirky - her room is black with constellations painted on her ceiling, she sleeps in a hammock in her room instead of a bed and she enacts fantastical plays in front of cute boys on the beach much to Hilary's embarrassment. But they become friends and Hilary knows Kallie is definitely not cool and not part of her plan to becoming popular. So when school starts Hilary has to decide if she wants to be part of the popular group who looks down on "losers" like Kallie or if she wants to hang on to a true friend and be seen as a loser too. This is labelled as young adult on Netgalley but it's more middle grade - preteens especially will enjoy it. The same old story of wa

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley

Samuel Hawley has spent most of his life on the run. But now he has somewhat settled down in Olympus, Massachusetts for the sake of his teenage daughter, Loo. Olympus was where his late wife grew up and while he finds work as a fisherman, Loo struggles to fit in at school. Loo's maternal grandmother, Mabel Ridge, is still living in Olympus and still hates Samuel Hawley. She thinks the circumstances surrounding her daughter's death are suspicious and thinks he's to blame. She gives Loo newspaper clippings and leaves her wondering whether or not her father killed her mother. After all, he has a criminal past and twelve bullet holes to prove it.  This book was GOOD! It alternates between Hawley's past - how he got the bullet holes, how he came to know and love Lily and what happened to her and how he carried on after she died; and the present - what his life is like now and what Loo's life is like. And their lives are interesting! Both past and present are equally comp

The Girl with the Red Balloon

Sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum and her classmates are visiting Germany. When she spots a red balloon, she tells her best friend to take a picture so she can show her grandfather when she returns to the United States. But by grabbing that red balloon Ellie is taken back in time to East Berlin in 1988. There she meets members of an organization who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the wall to West Berlin. But to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery. Eventually it becomes clear that someone is using dark magic to change history and Ellie wants to do everything she can to stop them, even if it means never returning home again. There are three points-of-view: Ellie's when she briefly travels to Germany in present time then travels back to 1988 where the rest of her story is told, Kai's who is a Runner, someone who helps people get over the wall, and Benno's back in the 1940's in a Polish ghetto. This is such an interesting concept - using balloo

Last Breath

When the body of a young woman is found in a dumpster, Detective Erika Foster is one of the first on the scene, even though it's not her case. While Erika tries her hardest to be a part of the team officially, she can't help but get involved beforehand. She finds a link between the woman left in the dumpster and an unsolved murder of another young woman whose body was also found in a dumpster four months earlier and had the exact same wounds including the fatal incision to their femoral artery. Erika is finding this case tough to crack - the killer is stalking his victims online using a fake identity and a VPN. Another girl has been abducted and now Erika and her team have to figure out the killer's identity before he can kill again. This is another compelling book in the Erika Foster series. As always Erika is strong and determined. She's not afraid to speak her mind and do whatever it takes to catch the killer. However, I'm not crazy about the romance part of he