The New One

 Welcome to my showcase of the New One which is been hosted by Berkley & Ace | Penguin Random House

Title : The New One

Author: Evie Green

Buy Link : New One

PROLOGUE I listen for a long time before any of the words make sense. When they do, I can grab only a word here or there. Soleil. Le weekend. I try to hold on to the other words but I can't reach them. Everything comes and goes. I am floating. After a while I realize I am not floating. I have a body. I am in a body. I am a body. My eyes are closed, and after a long time I think that since I am back in my body, I might try to open them. After some more time, I try. It doesn't work. I know there is noise, but I can’t make sense of it. My sense of smell seems as if someone switched it on, and it is unbearable. The smells crowd into my head and I want them to go away. It smells like medicine, clean things, chemicals. Not home. Things hurt. People do things to me. They poke me and move me, and sometimes it hurts and sometimes I don’t feel anything. I sense light outside my eyelids. It goes away and comes back. It gets darker and then lighter. I drift back to my dark place, and I come up again. One day the sounds start to form shapes and I find that I know a word. I know that it is the word for the person I need, the person who will pull me out of here. I try to make my mouth say it: “Mum.” 

Chapter 1 Five months before

November She had been daydreaming. The water had evaporated and the cauliflower was sticking to the bottom of the pan and the potatoes were burning, because she'd forgotten all of it. It was salvageable, but she didn't want it. "Oh, shut up," she told it nonsensically, and turned off the gas ring. Everything annoyed her. She tried to focus on the television. It was a reality show, one that usually distracted her just enough. Tonight, though, it wasn't working. Scarlett wasn't missing. She was out. If she hadn't overdone the cover story by throwing in Leanne, it wouldn't have been worrying yet. It was still all right. She messaged her. Please just send a text. Nothing happened. She messaged again and called her phone and she didn't answer. She turned the TV off and messaged Ed, hating the fact that she was admitting defeat again. He replied at ten forty-five. Fuck's sake honey! Again?!???? Yeah, I'll find her. At least he replied to her when it was about Scarlett. Since he worked late nights and she worked early mornings, they hardly saw each other. That was why they were still together. She looked at the photo on the wall. They had been happy once. It was a picture of the three of them taken when Scarlett was about four. They had been on the beach at Perranporth, standing in front of the Atlantic Ocean, the beach wide and sandy around them. Their hair was blowing around and they were laughing. Scarlett stood between them, holding their hands. They had been happy because Scarlett had been a dreamy child. They had been happy because their relationship was newer, and they weren't ground down by life. Scarlett had been an adorable little girl, always asking questions about everything. They had kept her supplied with books from the library, had tried to find the answers she needed, had done everything they could to help her have a better life than they did. She had learned to read before she went to school, and together they had all learned a bit of French from an app. Her parents agreed (as all parents probably did) that their daughter was exceptionally bright and brilliant, and as the years went by, they encouraged her to do her homework, to be top of the class, to excel at everything and keep her options wide open.

She was exactly average-sized for her age, which seemed like a good thing: she could never be teased for being too big or too small. She had curly dark hair and intense brown eyes, and she would climb into bed with them at night, cuddling up and whispering, "I love you so much, Mummy." She used to ask for a baby brother. Her favorite color was blue. She wanted to see snow. She wanted to have snowball fights, to climb mountains, to see the pyramids. She wanted to do everything. She had been the best child ever. And then, a few weeks before she turned thirteen, Scarlett had changed

Description

A suspenseful, cutting-edge novel about two parents who finally get the daughter they’ve always wanted—it’s too bad she isn’t real. From the author of We Hear Voices.

For Tamsyn and Ed, life is tough. They both work long hours for very little money and come home to their moody, rebellious daughter, Scarlett.
 
After a tragic accident leaves Scarlett comatose and with little chance of recovery, Tamsyn and Ed are out of options until a lifeline emerges in the form of an unusual medical trial. In exchange for the very best treatment for Scarlett, a fully furnished apartment, and a limitless spending account, the family must agree to move to Switzerland and welcome an artificial copy of their daughter into their home.
 
Suddenly their life is transformed. Tamsyn and Ed want for nothing, and the AI replacement, Sophie, makes it feel just like having their daughter back—except without all the bad parts. Sophie is engaged, happy, and actually wants to spend time with her parents.
 
But things take a turn for the worse when Scarlett makes a very real recovery and the family discovers that the forces behind their new life are darker than they ever could have imagined.

About the Author

Evie Green is a pseudonym for a British author who has written professionally for her entire adult life. She lives by the sea in England with her husband, children, and guinea pigs, and loves writing in the very early morning, fueled by coffee.

Second Wives

 Welcome to my blog tour stop for the Second Wives which is hosted by Bookouture 

Author:     Carey Baldwin

Book:                  Second Wives

 

Publication Day:  March 17th 2023 

 

Buy Link(s):

KINDLE UNLIMITED: https://geni.us/B0BSNR84JHsocial 

Rating : 4

Would I recommend it ? Yes

Would I read more by this author ? Yes

Like always I first want to say a big thank you to the publisher  Bookouture , the author Carey Baldwin, and to NetGalley for the invite to read and review Second Wives . While it did take me some time to get into the story ,the author did amazing job by making it impossible for me to put it down once I started reading it , because the storyline was very interesting,as well as one of those that just screamed I have a secret to tell and you know you want to know what it is. As for the characters themselves there was times I didn't like any of them ,because of how they acted .Over all it was still a great read for me there was just something about this book that I grew to love .

There’s been a terrible accident, Brigid, but the only thing that matters is that I love you. We’ll get through this together.” As I slowly wake in my hospital bed, my darling husband’s familiar voice soothes me. Yet, as I look across at him, I can’t shake the feeling that this is not my husband at all…

Later, I realize the awful truth. Because of my injury, I’m unable to feel the same emotion towards those I loved. The doctor calls this emotional amnesia, but gazing over at my husband, I call it torture.

As the weeks pass, my family and friends keep me going, especially Charity. Years before, she married my ex-husband and I, in turn, married hers. To keep our friendship group together we kept things civil - I thought we had the perfect blended family.

But once I’m back home, I begin to notice Charity inserting herself into my family. At first it’s little things, her hand lingering a moment too long on my husband’s back, playing the role of hostess in my home at a family barbeque. Then I see her encouraging her wayward brother to pay my only daughter more attention and I feel instantly threatened.

That evening, I am haunted by a familiar nightmare of an unknown man forcing someone under water, vowing that their next breath will be their last. As I gasp for air, my husband tries to comfort me.

But lying there in his arms, I feel anything but reassured. With no one I can really trust, I have to ask myself: does the man who gave me a second chance at love want me gone?

A completely addictive, twist-laden psychological thriller with an ending that will leave you speechless. Perfect for fans of Freida McFadden, Nicole Trope and Adele Parks.

Author Bio:

Carey Baldwin is a USA Today bestselling author of psychological suspense. Also a dedicated physician, she holds two doctoral degrees, one in medicine and one in psychology. Her experience in the fields of medicine and psychology often informs her writing. She loves reading and writing stories that keep you off balance and on the edge of your seat. Carey lives in the southwestern United States with her amazing family. In her spare time she enjoys hiking and chasing wildflowers.

For all news and updates:

 

Website: CareyBaldwin.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CareyBaldwinAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CareyBaldwin
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorcareybaldwin/

Bookouture Email Sign Up: https://www.bookouture.com/carey-baldwin

I love it when you lie

 Welcome to my showcase for I love it when you lie which is been hosted by Park Row Books, Hanover Square Press, MIRA Books, Graydon House, Inkyard Press , HarperCollinsPublishers | Harlequin

I Love It When You Lie

Author: Kristen Bird

Publication Date: March 14, 2023

ISBN: 9780778333432

Paperback Original 

Publisher: MIRA

Price $18.99

Buy Links:

BookShop.org https://bookshop.org/p/books/i-love-it-when-you-lie-a-suspense-novel-kristen-bird/18500272?ean=9780778333432 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-love-it-when-you-lie-kristen-bird/1141722027 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0778333434 

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780778333432 

The Sheriff’s Office in Willow Gap, AlabamaOne Week After

STEPHANIE

It would’ve been a touching moment except for the reality of the grave at their feet. Gran’s

grave. I shiver just thinking about the three Williams sisters standing in the family cemetery,

their arms entwined, gazing up at the sunrise, all that cool Alabama clay piled beside them,

their fingernails packed with the red earth, the stench of what they’d done in their nostrils. It

was Decoration Sunday, the one day of the year when the entire family descended on

Gran’s property to pay respect to the dead and gossip about those still living.

Tara, June, and Clementine Williams are my sisters-in-law. For so long, I’ve waited for

the day that their little coven would topple some man’s ivory tower. Now that the time has

come, I realize that each of us has a man that we might be better off without, but only one of

us is lucky enough to have actually rid ourselves of him.

Four men: a preacher, a doctor, a professor, and a mayor. One goes missing. It’s like our

own little Willow Gap edition of Clue. How charming.

Sheriff Brady Dean, his badge shining in the interrogation lights, brings me back to the

moment at hand, the moment of reckoning. The aged sheriff wants to know what I know,

wants me to spill all the whys, whens, wheres, and hows of the Williams sisters over the

past forty-eight hours.

“I’m sure you know why you’re here, Mrs. Williams.” The words emerge like a sigh. He’s

been after this family for more than thirty years, ever since he was first elected. Poor guy.

Must be exhausted.

I meet the sheriff eye to eye, tapping my recently painted nails—Los Angeles Latte, the

dark bottle of polish had read—against the metal table in the claustrophobic office where

he’s brought me for questioning. Not that I’m the one in trouble here.

My husband, Walker Williams, knew Sheriff Dean before Walker and I ever met and

married a decade ago. Some say ours was a Yankee seduction, but I don’t care. Walker

has been the mayor now for eight years, and they have to put up with me, the damn Yank in

their midst.

I think of my three children—Walker Jr. and Auggie and Bella—their features too much

like my husband’s. They’re fine, I remind myself. They’re with the nanny while I’m here tying

up all of the loose ends. I shake my head to dislodge their faces from my mind. It’s

important that I focus. I must get this right.

“Call me Ms. Chadrick. Or Stephanie. I’ll be using my maiden name soon enough,” I tell

the sheriff.

Sheriff Dean clears his throat, and I follow his eyes to my hand. I’m still wearing my massive

diamond, the one Walker bought for our last anniversary. To ten years, baby, and a lifetime

more, he’d said as he slipped it on my finger in our Nashville hotel room. I’m not planning to

part with my jewelry just because my husband can’t keep his dick in his pants.

I blink innocently at the sheriff and twist my ring around, pressing the stone into my palm

until it bites. “I’m here to tell you what I saw after Gran Williams’s funeral. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes’m.” The sheriff lets out a heavy breath that reaches all the way down to the gut

hanging over his belt. “I know these women are your husband’s sisters, but we’re hoping…”

“Soon to be ex-husband,” I fire back, reminding him once again.

“Fine. As I was saying, we’re hoping you’ll be willing to give us an account of the

movement of your sisters-in-law these past few days. With a missing person, time is of the

essence.”

He gives me one of those indulgent smiles saved only for a wronged woman. He knows

about my cheating bastard of a spouse, and I breathe, reminding myself again that I’m in

good company. Jackie O., Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary—all of these fine ladies were cheated

on by their infamous yet politically savvy husbands. Remembering them makes it easier for

me to deal with the fact that everyone knows about Walker and his lying ways.

When I first moved here from DC, I thought my new husband and his town were

adorable, quaint even. As I prepared for Walker’s bid for mayor, I even got a kick out of

researching its history at the local library, trying to understand the place where generations

of Walker’s family had lived for so long.

Alabama. Some historians say the word is from a Native American language and means

“tribal town” or “vegetation gatherers.” My favorite definition of the word, though, was

penned by one Alexander Beauford Meek, a highly unreliable

source, but isn’t that what history is made of? Mr. Meek said that the word means “here

we rest.” Alabama: here we rest. It’s deliciously spooky, isn’t it? Like something from one of

those Faulkner stories I couldn’t get enough of in college.

To be fair though, my problem isn’t actually with the great state of Alabama. It’s with

these people, this town, this family. They forget so easily that I’m a part of them now, for

better or worse. They forget that I know where all the bodies are buried, and I’m not just

talking about their kinfolk in the family cemetery a couple hundred yards down the hill from

Gran’s house.

The sheriff clears his throat and tries again. “As I was sayin’, we’re hopin’ you can give us

a clearer account of who all was there and what exactly went on, so we can understand

what led to our missing person. He’s an important man, a good man, and the last time

anyone laid eyes on him was Saturday evening a few hours after the funeral at Gran

Williams’s cabin.”

Our missing person. There’s something so possessive in the phrase. I almost giggle,

realizing that this man is handing me my chance on a silver platter, an opportunity to

expose every inch of the Williams family drama.

“Sheriff, ask me any question, and I’ll tell you exactly what you want to hear.” I cross my

legs and study my cuticles. “Although, if you want to know the whole truth, you need to go a

lot further back than the past few days.”

I take a sip of the coffee he brought me earlier and stretch my arms in front of me as if

preparing for a catnap. I wonder if the sheriff realizes just how far back he needs to reach,

how far down he needs to dig until he hits something like the truth.

The sheriff nods at me to continue, and I notice again the plump circles hanging under his

eyes. He sneezes into the crook of his arm and settles in for the real reason why people

involved with the Williams family might just disappear.

I sit up straighter. “All right, then. Let’s start with the dead one.”

Excerpted from I Love It When You Lie. Copyright © 2023 by Kristen Bird. Published by MIRA Books.

Book Summary: 

The Williams women don’t just keep secrets…

They bury them.

The three Williams girls are as close as sisters can be, and they also share one special trait in common: each of them has a man in her life that she could do without.

Tara, the pastor’s wife, has been stealing money from the church and would prefer that her husband stay out of it. Then there’s June, who would do anything to have a baby of her own, even if her husband is dead set against it. Clementine, the youngest, is entangled in an affair with her professor, a man whose behavior she's starting to seriously question. Their sister-in-law Stephanie, an outsider, knows all the family dirt and is watching the three of them—and the men in their lives—closely.

When the woman who raised them, their beloved Gran, dies on the eve of her eightieth birthday, the Williams sisters return home to the Appalachian foothills to bury her. But their grandmother won’t be the only one they’ll put in a grave this weekend…because now someone has gone missing in the dark Appalachian woods.

And if Gran has taught them anything, it’s how to get rid of a good-for-nothin’ man.

"Exceptional.... This tale of sisterhood is un-put-downable."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“A wicked blend of family secrets, sibling resentment and small-town ways. Wondering how to get away with murder? The Williams sisters know.”
—Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author

"Irresistible and compulsive, this book is packed full of surprises."
—Samantha Downing, internationally bestselling author of My Lovely Wife

Social Links:

Author Website: https://www.kristenbird.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kbirdwrites 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristen.bird.writes/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristenbirdwrites/ 

Author Bios: 

Kristen Bird lives outside of Houston, Texas with her husband and three daughters. She earned her bachelor’s degree in music and mass media before completing a master’s in literature. She teaches high school English and writes with a cup of coffee in hand. In her free time, she likes to visit parks with her three daughters, watch quirky films with her husband and attempt to keep pace with her rescue lab-mixes. 

Snow Grave

 Welcome to my blog tour stop for Snow Grave which is been hosted by Bookouture

The Snow Graves: 

Agent Tori Hunter Book 5

Roger Stelljes

Buy link: https://geni.us/B0BTDS8YJGsocial

Would I recommend it? Yes

Would I read more of this series? Yes

Would I read more by this author ? Yes 

      like always I  want to say a  huge  thank you to the publisher  Bookouture , the authorRoger Stelljes, as well as to NetGalley for the invite . This series is one of those that is hard to put down once you start to read it ,and will become one of your all time favorite ones as well, which means it's going to be hard to pick a favorite book , the characters will have you falling in love with them , as well as the way the author brings his story line to life right before your very eyes .

About the book:

 

The young couple lies still on the snow-covered sidewalk, their gloved hands tightly linked as though they could save each other. But flashing blue lights illuminate the quiet street, and drops of blood scatter the pure white ground…

Agent Tori Hunter is heartbroken at the murders of Cam and Gracie, two college students dating for just a few months, shot dead outside his aunt’s home. With witnesses in this once-peaceful neighborhood saying they saw a black car speed away, Tori is desperately tracking it down when a nine-year-old girl is found sitting alone on a park bench, refusing to speak. No-one in this small community knows who she is… is she somehow linked to the murders?

Visiting little Alisha as she huddles in her pink coat, Tori quickly realises she is deaf. As her hands move in sign language Tori makes out her message: We had to run from the lady in the black car. I want to go home.

Did Alisha witness Cam and Gracie’s killer? Tori is racing to follow her directions to a lonely cabin deep in the pine forest when she gets an anonymous call from a female voice that makes her blood run cold. “Hello, Tori. To keep Alisha safe you need to do exactly as I say…”

Is Tori speaking to the killer, or is putting her trust in this mysterious woman her one hope of catching the true perpetrator? As more phone calls come, it’s clear the voice knows all about a cold case from Tori’s past—and that Tori must confront this twisted mind, and her own darkest demons before more innocent lives are lost.

An absolutely unputdownable read that will have you gasping at the twists and turns. Perfect for fans of Robert Dugoni, Gregg Olsen and Melinda Leigh.

About the author:

Roger Stelljes is the acclaimed New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of pulse-pounding murder mystery and suspense novels, including the Tori Hunter and McRyan Mystery Series. Roger’s crime thrillers are noted for their fast-paced, yet intricate plots filled with layered and complex characters.

Roger started his first novel in July 2002 while on vacation in Minnesota’s Brainerd Lakes area and has been writing ever since. His debut book, The St. Paul Conspiracy, was nominated in genre fiction for the Minnesota Book Awards along with finalists Brian Freeman and William Kent Krueger. With his follow-up, Deadly Stillwater, where Vince Flynn hailed Roger as a “powerful new thriller voice”, he won the Midwest Independent Book Publishers award for commercial fiction.

Born and raised in Minnesota, Roger still lives there with his family. In addition to his work as an author, Roger is a partner in his law firm. Roger is an avid sports enthusiast and enjoys spending time outdoors boating, attending hockey games, and honing his golf game.

 

Author social media:

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerStelljes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rogerstelljes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rogerstelljesbooks

Website: www.RogerStelljes.com

Newsletter sign up: https://www.bookouture.com/roger-stelljes