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Against The Wind (Florida Sands Romantic Suspense, #1)
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Each book in this series is a stand-alone featuring limited overlapping characters and its own...
People We Meet on Vacation
8.0
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"From the New York Times bestselling author of Beach Read, a sparkling new novel that will leave you...
Don't Lie To Me (Eva Rae Thomas Mystery Book 1)
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When twelve-year-old Sophie Williams went on a Girl Scout summer camp, she never returned home. ...
romantic suspense thriller police procedural mystery romance suspense
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated Do Not Become Alarmed in Books
May 10, 2018
Liv and Nora are cousins and practically sisters. They decide to take their families on a two week cruise down the coast of Central America. Both women cautious, they spend the first several days aboard the ship. When they finally decide to take an excursion, the men head for golf and the women take the kids on a zip line tour. This is when all hell breaks loose! From the bus breaking down, to six children going missing in a foreign country, this family vacation is definitely not going to plan. Told from the perspective of the children and the parents, as well other key characters that are introduced throughout, you dive deep into the story and it's hard to get drawn out!
This is the first book I've read by Maile Meloy, and I can't wait to read more! I think this is one of the very few times I have read a book with so many characters taking their turn to tell the story and not gotten confused by what is going on. The story flowed perfectly with the unbelievable around every turn.
I will say, not any of the characters in this story are likable, except for Nora's son, Marcus, but I don't think they need to be. You are still intrigued by what is going on and what is going to happen next. This does make you want to hug your kids a little tighter, if you have them. Tell them you love them no matter what and make you want to protect them even more than you already do. To me, this book was amazing and I highly recommend it!
Imagine, all your plans for the day going down the tube. Your tour bus breaks down, so you decide to wait at the beach while a new bus arrives. Then maybe you drift off to sleep while the kids are playing in the water near by. The kids are old enough to look after themselves and those who aren't, have the older kids to look after them. Now imagine waking up from what felt like just a moments rest, to find the children that were just there playing in front of you, have vanished. No where to be found no idea where they could have gone. What do you do, who do you call? You're in a foreign country and you opted not to get the international plan for you phone. Where are your children, and what is being done to them?
This is the first book I've read by Maile Meloy, and I can't wait to read more! I think this is one of the very few times I have read a book with so many characters taking their turn to tell the story and not gotten confused by what is going on. The story flowed perfectly with the unbelievable around every turn.
I will say, not any of the characters in this story are likable, except for Nora's son, Marcus, but I don't think they need to be. You are still intrigued by what is going on and what is going to happen next. This does make you want to hug your kids a little tighter, if you have them. Tell them you love them no matter what and make you want to protect them even more than you already do. To me, this book was amazing and I highly recommend it!
Imagine, all your plans for the day going down the tube. Your tour bus breaks down, so you decide to wait at the beach while a new bus arrives. Then maybe you drift off to sleep while the kids are playing in the water near by. The kids are old enough to look after themselves and those who aren't, have the older kids to look after them. Now imagine waking up from what felt like just a moments rest, to find the children that were just there playing in front of you, have vanished. No where to be found no idea where they could have gone. What do you do, who do you call? You're in a foreign country and you opted not to get the international plan for you phone. Where are your children, and what is being done to them?
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Siren's Call (Dark Tides #1) in Books
Feb 3, 2020
Between desire and love there are some things that can’t stay buried, even in the deep of the ocean.
As a woman with a secret, lighthouse keeper Tessa Lonike savors her solitude on the island of Little Mer, off the coast of Maine. During a violent storm, Tessa spots a man thrashing in the ice cold waters and dives in to save him, using her ability as a mermaid to easily pull him to shore.
When Kenneth Randall awakens on the beach he is alone, left with the haunting memory of his beautiful, flame-haired savior. But a year later, when Kenneth meets her again, he’s determined not to let Tessa slip away. Just as the desire between them begins to burn, Tessa’s archaeologist ex-lover comes back to town with a tantalizing clue to her murky heritage.
The trio travel to the Mediterranean in search of answers, and when Tessa inadvertently opens an underwater portal they find a lost mermaid city. But in the deep, not everything is as it seems, and Tessa must decide if she wants to take her place as the royal heir, or follow the call of her heart…
Well developed an enjoyable read. Kenneth had you rooting for him from the start but also had you wanting to slap some sense into him. Jake had you hating him in all aspects of the book. It had the adventure aspect too and I really enjoyed reading it. Hopefully her sisters will do more than sit round and bitch in future books.
Tess is a strong female lead.
As a woman with a secret, lighthouse keeper Tessa Lonike savors her solitude on the island of Little Mer, off the coast of Maine. During a violent storm, Tessa spots a man thrashing in the ice cold waters and dives in to save him, using her ability as a mermaid to easily pull him to shore.
When Kenneth Randall awakens on the beach he is alone, left with the haunting memory of his beautiful, flame-haired savior. But a year later, when Kenneth meets her again, he’s determined not to let Tessa slip away. Just as the desire between them begins to burn, Tessa’s archaeologist ex-lover comes back to town with a tantalizing clue to her murky heritage.
The trio travel to the Mediterranean in search of answers, and when Tessa inadvertently opens an underwater portal they find a lost mermaid city. But in the deep, not everything is as it seems, and Tessa must decide if she wants to take her place as the royal heir, or follow the call of her heart…
Well developed an enjoyable read. Kenneth had you rooting for him from the start but also had you wanting to slap some sense into him. Jake had you hating him in all aspects of the book. It had the adventure aspect too and I really enjoyed reading it. Hopefully her sisters will do more than sit round and bitch in future books.
Tess is a strong female lead.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated A Shade of Vampire (A Shade of Vampire, #1) in Books
Oct 9, 2019
On the evening of Sofia Claremont's seventeenth birthday, she is sucked into a nightmare from which she cannot wake. A quiet evening walk along a beach brings her face to face with a dangerous pale creature that craves much more than her blood.
She is kidnapped to The Shade, an enchanted island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine - an island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.
Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is selected out of hundreds of girls to take up residence in the tree-top harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal prince.
Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.
Will she succeed? Or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?
<strong>Mmm it was ok</strong>
I've wanted to read this for a while. I finally get round to it and I quite enjoyed it. Only thing is it seemed a little rushed I like the sound of these characters but they felt so rushed through but I suppose with so many books in mysteries I'll see development of them.
She is kidnapped to The Shade, an enchanted island where the sun is eternally forbidden to shine - an island uncharted by any map and ruled by the most powerful vampire coven on the planet. She wakes here as a slave, a captive in chains.
Sofia's life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn when she is selected out of hundreds of girls to take up residence in the tree-top harem of Derek Novak, the dark royal prince.
Despite his addiction to power and obsessive thirst for her blood, Sofia soon realizes that the safest place on the island is within his quarters, and she must do all within her power to win him over if she is to survive even one more night.
Will she succeed? Or is she destined to the same fate that all other girls have met at the hands of the Novaks?
<strong>Mmm it was ok</strong>
I've wanted to read this for a while. I finally get round to it and I quite enjoyed it. Only thing is it seemed a little rushed I like the sound of these characters but they felt so rushed through but I suppose with so many books in mysteries I'll see development of them.
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Hell Bay (DI Ben Kitto #1) [Audiobook] in Books
Mar 12, 2023
![Hell Bay (DI Ben Kitto #1) [Audiobook]](/uploads/profile_image/d6c/cd7b009d-0864-4ccc-8177-d68a1d82ed6c.jpg?m=1678632464)
This is the first book by Kate Rhodes I have read or listened to and it definitely won't be the last as Hell Bay was gripping and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
DI Ben Kitto returns to the place of his birth, the beautiful but bleak Scilly Isles, with the intention of taking some time following a tragedy which has resulted in him wanting to resign from his job as a detective in the murder investigation team in London but being told by his superiors to take some time out instead.
Unfortunately, this doesn't quite work out when a young girl is found on a remote beach having been stabbed to death and left to the mercy of the sea. The culprit must be one of the islanders and it is Ben Kitto who is tasked with investigating but what he uncovers is an island full of dark secrets.
With great characters, a fantastic setting and a great plot written at a perfect pace, Hell Bay is a gripping story that had me guessing and second guessing myself from the start and made all the better by the great narration of Stephen Perring who, despite the numerous different characters, did an excellent job.
Definitely recommended and I will be looking out for the rest of the series to feast my beady eyes or ears on and my thanks go to Simon & Schuster Audio UK and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of Hell Bay.
DI Ben Kitto returns to the place of his birth, the beautiful but bleak Scilly Isles, with the intention of taking some time following a tragedy which has resulted in him wanting to resign from his job as a detective in the murder investigation team in London but being told by his superiors to take some time out instead.
Unfortunately, this doesn't quite work out when a young girl is found on a remote beach having been stabbed to death and left to the mercy of the sea. The culprit must be one of the islanders and it is Ben Kitto who is tasked with investigating but what he uncovers is an island full of dark secrets.
With great characters, a fantastic setting and a great plot written at a perfect pace, Hell Bay is a gripping story that had me guessing and second guessing myself from the start and made all the better by the great narration of Stephen Perring who, despite the numerous different characters, did an excellent job.
Definitely recommended and I will be looking out for the rest of the series to feast my beady eyes or ears on and my thanks go to Simon & Schuster Audio UK and NetGalley for enabling me to listen to and share my thoughts of Hell Bay.
Merissa (13197 KP) rated Opposed Desires (Rehoboth Pact #2) in Books
Nov 5, 2021 (Updated Jul 10, 2023)
OPPOSED DESIRES is the second book in the Rehoboth Pact series. We met Aubrey briefly in Sky and Mia's book, but now we meet her again and find out more about this complex character.
Opposites attract, so they say, and these two fit that description perfectly. Both have been burned in past relationships, but where one goes one way, the other goes the other. Make sense? It will, trust me. I loved the build-up between these two, and how secrets were spilt during moonlit walks on the beach. Who doesn't like that?! I loved how there was no simple, straightforward fix. Instead, we have a push/pull situation where both of them are scared to move forward.
I found the world-building to be just as good as book one. The characters remain amazing and quirky in their own unique ways. This is steamy and so well-written. They actually learn about each other, instead of 'instinctively' knowing which buttons to push. And the ending was all I could have wished for.
I enjoyed Sky and Mia's story. I loved Aubrey and Selina's. The only trouble I've got is Kyle is next (who I can't wait for) and if the trend continues, I'll need another star!
A shining jewel in Ms McIntyre's crown! Absolutely recommended by me.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 5, 2021
Opposites attract, so they say, and these two fit that description perfectly. Both have been burned in past relationships, but where one goes one way, the other goes the other. Make sense? It will, trust me. I loved the build-up between these two, and how secrets were spilt during moonlit walks on the beach. Who doesn't like that?! I loved how there was no simple, straightforward fix. Instead, we have a push/pull situation where both of them are scared to move forward.
I found the world-building to be just as good as book one. The characters remain amazing and quirky in their own unique ways. This is steamy and so well-written. They actually learn about each other, instead of 'instinctively' knowing which buttons to push. And the ending was all I could have wished for.
I enjoyed Sky and Mia's story. I loved Aubrey and Selina's. The only trouble I've got is Kyle is next (who I can't wait for) and if the trend continues, I'll need another star!
A shining jewel in Ms McIntyre's crown! Absolutely recommended by me.
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Nov 5, 2021
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Fifth Letter in Books
Feb 13, 2018
Joni, Eden, Deb, and Trina have been friends since high school, when a teacher grouped them together by their last names. However, as they age, it seems the women are growing apart. Desperate to keep her friends together, Joni books a vacation house for them by the ocean. It's been a yearly tradition for the group, and she's insistent they all keep it up. However, it becomes clear that the women are a little reluctant to gather together: three of them are mothers now, and many are busy with their careers and other worries. So they come up with an idea: they'll write anonymous letters on an old computer at the beach cottage, and read one a night during their vacation. But the game turns dark quickly, as the women struggle to guess who wrote what letter. Even worse, Joni discovers a "fifth letter" in the fireplace; partially burned, it appears to be filled with hate toward one of the women in the group (from another). The foursome is supposed to be the best of friends, but it appears it isn't so. Can they recover from this vacation? And who in the group wrote that awful letter?
I feel terrible, as I really enjoy the other Moriarty sisters ([a:Liane Moriarty|322069|Liane Moriarty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459827224p2/322069.jpg] and [a:Jaclyn Moriarty|47290|Jaclyn Moriarty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1199066598p2/47290.jpg]), but I just didn't care for this book at all. Throughout the entire novel, I never found myself able to care for these four women or their problems whatsoever. The premise of the book seemed utterly ridiculous: why on earth would a group of grown women write a bunch of letters like children and if they were such good friends, how could they know so little about each other? It was painful to read. Furthermore, the book itself was difficult to read. The book was set up in various ways: we had the current day thread at the beach cottage; we had threads in the past with the girls at school. Then, there's a thread where Joni is telling a priest (via confession) about what had happened at the cottage. Then we get pieces of the letters. Then we get snippets from the fifth letter. It was so utterly confusing that for parts of it, I couldn't tell who was talking, or what the dialogue related to, and it drove me insane.
Pieces of the women's problems were resolved far too easily, while others were blown far too out of proportion. Others were incredibly serious and just - ugh. When the big "reveal" happened, it made me cringe. I feel awful, but it almost felt like a bad imitation of Liane's book, [b:Truly Madly Guilty|26247008|Truly Madly Guilty|Liane Moriarty|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1467061262s/26247008.jpg|49997474]. A bunch of angst leading to a big "reveal," which sort of leaves you feeling let down.
Overall, I have high admiration for the Moriarty sisters, and I truly feel bad that I didn't enjoy this book more. I just couldn't find any sympathy with the characters, and the way the novel was laid out irked me. I kept comparing it with another book where the women escape for a girls getaway: [b:Girls' Weekend|28280644|Girls' Weekend|Cara Sue Achterberg|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453684219s/28280644.jpg|48328656], which was such a more nuanced and enjoyable portrayal of some similar subjects. I would recommend picking up Achterberg's book instead.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!) in return for an unbiased review; it is available everywhere as of 01/24/2017.
I feel terrible, as I really enjoy the other Moriarty sisters ([a:Liane Moriarty|322069|Liane Moriarty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459827224p2/322069.jpg] and [a:Jaclyn Moriarty|47290|Jaclyn Moriarty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1199066598p2/47290.jpg]), but I just didn't care for this book at all. Throughout the entire novel, I never found myself able to care for these four women or their problems whatsoever. The premise of the book seemed utterly ridiculous: why on earth would a group of grown women write a bunch of letters like children and if they were such good friends, how could they know so little about each other? It was painful to read. Furthermore, the book itself was difficult to read. The book was set up in various ways: we had the current day thread at the beach cottage; we had threads in the past with the girls at school. Then, there's a thread where Joni is telling a priest (via confession) about what had happened at the cottage. Then we get pieces of the letters. Then we get snippets from the fifth letter. It was so utterly confusing that for parts of it, I couldn't tell who was talking, or what the dialogue related to, and it drove me insane.
Pieces of the women's problems were resolved far too easily, while others were blown far too out of proportion. Others were incredibly serious and just - ugh. When the big "reveal" happened, it made me cringe. I feel awful, but it almost felt like a bad imitation of Liane's book, [b:Truly Madly Guilty|26247008|Truly Madly Guilty|Liane Moriarty|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1467061262s/26247008.jpg|49997474]. A bunch of angst leading to a big "reveal," which sort of leaves you feeling let down.
Overall, I have high admiration for the Moriarty sisters, and I truly feel bad that I didn't enjoy this book more. I just couldn't find any sympathy with the characters, and the way the novel was laid out irked me. I kept comparing it with another book where the women escape for a girls getaway: [b:Girls' Weekend|28280644|Girls' Weekend|Cara Sue Achterberg|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1453684219s/28280644.jpg|48328656], which was such a more nuanced and enjoyable portrayal of some similar subjects. I would recommend picking up Achterberg's book instead.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!) in return for an unbiased review; it is available everywhere as of 01/24/2017.