⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ If you’re already a fan of The Impossible Fortune, you can relax—you’re in very good hands. And if you’re new to Richard Osman, this is a lovely place to start. Life is humming along—wedding plans, personal worries, the usual business of growing older—when trouble shows up, as it always does, right on cue. A guest disappears, an uneasy romantic partner raises more questions than answers, and whispers begin to circulate about something extremely valuable that people might be willing to kill for. Before long, Joyce, Elizabeth, Ron, and Ibrahim find themselves knee-deep in cryptic clues, hidden motives, and a con that keeps shifting shape. Osman once again proves he’s a master […]
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Gripping and Gloomy, With a Few Rough Edges
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy is an intense, often gripping novel—but not one I’d personally put in starred-review territory. The story follows Dominic Salt and his three children, the last caretakers of Shearwater, a remote island near Antarctica that safeguards the world’s largest seed bank. Cut off from the rest of the world and battered by violent storms and rising seas, their fragile existence is upended when a mysterious woman named Rowan washes ashore. Her arrival brings hope, suspicion, and a cascade of unsettling revelations—sabotaged radios, buried grief, long-kept secrets, and a grave that raises more questions than answers. I’ll be honest: the climate change theme turned me off, and it’s […]
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A Big-Hearted Story About Faith, Belonging, and Everyday Miracles
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I went into Life, and Death, and Giants not quite sure what to expect, and came out completely smitten. This is one of those books that doesn’t shout for attention. It just sits down beside you, tells its story, and somehow makes itself at home in your heart. Gabriel Fisher is born different—startlingly so—and the small town of Lakota, Wisconsin, has no idea what to make of him. After a devastating loss, he’s taken in by his devout Amish grandparents, who believe the safest path is a hidden one. But some things can’t stay tucked away forever, especially in a place where everyone knows everyone else. Ron Rindo writes about grief, […]
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A Math Whiz, a Stray Teen, and One Badly Timed Road Trip
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ (3.5 stars) Jojo Moyes packs a car full of lovable misfits in One Plus One and sends them on a chaotic road trip that feels like her version of Little Miss Sunshine. Jess Thomas is a single mom doing the best she can with two kids who come with their own quirks: Tanzie, a math prodigy with a bright future if someone can pay for it, and Nicky, a shy teen dealing with bullies and a serious lack of confidence. When Jess crosses paths with Ed Nicholls, a troubled tech guy with more guilt than charm, the four of them wind up on a journey that’s equal parts frustrating and sweet. The story […]
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Don Winslow Bows Out with a Bang
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I literally couldn’t put down City in Ruins. Don Winslow caps off both his Danny Ryan trilogy and his career with a knockout of a finale that’s equal parts brutal, beautiful, and heartbreaking. Former dockworker and Irish mob soldier Danny Ryan has transformed into a Las Vegas casino mogul, swimming in wealth and respectability. Life finally seems golden—he has a son he adores, a woman he might love, and enough money to last several lifetimes. But when Danny tries to buy a prime piece of real estate to build his dream resort, he stirs up a hornet’s nest of corrupt Vegas power brokers, a ruthless FBI agent bent on revenge, […]
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Dust, Secrets, and Stalled Dreams
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 Pay Dirt Road drops you into a small Texas town where the sun is relentless and everyone knows each other’s business. Annie McIntyre has come home after college with no real plan, which already feels like defeat. When a former coworker is murdered, she gets pulled into her grandfather’s private investigations work. The early chapters move slow, and some of the personal conflict feels cooked up just to keep the pot bubbling. But Samantha Jayne Allen’s writing gives the setting real texture. You can feel the heat, the empty fields, the heavy quiet. Annie’s struggles with identity, belonging, and disappointment feel real, which keeps […]
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A Fast-Paced FBI Thriller with One Head-Scratching Twist
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Flashpoint hooked me from the get-go. I went in cold, never having read the previous books in the series, and still felt right at home. Catherine Coulter wastes no time. The danger is real, the stakes are high, and the characters have that lively spark that keeps you leaning in, waiting to see what they’ll try next. Elizabeth Palmer is trying to rebuild her life after surviving a bombing, but someone clearly didn’t get the memo. Attempts on her life start piling up, and MI5 steps in before she can take a breath. Meanwhile, we follow Autumn Backman and Tash Navarro, two kids pulled into trouble through their strange “gift.” […]
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Small Town, Big Hearts, Impossible to Forget
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fredrik Backman has a way of writing that makes you feel like you’ve known his characters your whole life. The Winners brings us back to Beartown, a place weighed down by old wounds, fierce loyalty, and hockey that means more than a game. It’s the final chapter in this world, and it lands with real force. Backman understands what makes people tick. He doesn’t dress up feelings or try to impress. He simply lays them out, and somehow they go straight to your chest. The way he writes about grief, pride, fear, and love feels so true you almost forget you’re reading fiction. There were moments that made me […]
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Krueger at His Best in Apostle’s Cove
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ rounded up to 5 After reading all twenty installments of the Cork O’Connor series, I can honestly say Apostle’s Cove might be my favorite yet. William Kent Krueger has once again struck that perfect balance between taut suspense and heartfelt storytelling. When Cork’s son reopens a decades-old case—one Cork himself helped close—it forces father and son to confront guilt, justice, and the murky space between right and wrong. Krueger’s signature blend of mystery, spirituality, and small-town Minnesota atmosphere shines here. The northwoods come alive with his evocative prose, and the characters—flawed, loyal, and deeply human—carry the emotional weight of the story. The dual timeline keeps the tension sharp, revealing secrets one […]
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Frankie Elkin Takes the Heat in Tucson
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lisa Gardner’s Kiss Her Goodbye takes Frankie Elkin to Tucson, Arizona, where the desert heat is matched only by the chaos surrounding a missing Afghan refugee. Sabera Ahmadi vanished three weeks ago, leaving behind her young daughter and a husband who seems oddly unbothered. When Frankie starts digging, the case quickly turns into a tangled web of murder, espionage, and family secrets. Gardner’s trademark pacing and grit are here in full force, and parts of the story are as sharp and entertaining as ever. But the book also has its share of head-scratchers. Frankie’s hallucinations were overdone and distracting, pulling me out of the action rather than deepening her character. The […]
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