Everything I Read – April 2025 (part 1)
1. The Liar’s Wife
This wasn’t groundbreaking but a good ol’ mystery/thriller read. Palmer is married with a new baby and hoping to feel like herself again now that she is back to work. Her husband is staying home with the baby which helps to keep Palmer’s mind at ease. That is until her husband begins acting strange – taking phone calls outside, deleting his call log, etc and Palmer feels like he is hiding something. After seeing him out chatting with a strange woman while he said he was at home was the final straw for Palmer and she decides to see what he is up to. This whole time she is worried her husband is hiding something but what if he is hiding HER from something? Rating: 8
2. A Very Bad Thing
Another great mystery/thriller that kept me guessing throughout the entire book. Columbia Jones is a beloved author that has dedicated her life to writing books people love and engaging with her fans all over the world. After a recent book reading, Columbia collapses on stage in front of an entire crowd of people. She is rushed to the hospital for observation but Columbia’s daughter and publicist are worried that someone at the event may have frightened her and caused her to faint. Who was the man that Columbia seemed to see in the crowd and pause in reaction to?
After she is brought back to her hotel to recover, suspicions are raised again when Columbia is found dead in room later that night. And her daughter Darian finds the publicist standing over Columbia’s body when she enters the room to check on her mother. The story has tons of twists and turns and keep me guessing until the end. Rating: 8.5
3. The Three Lives of Cate Kay
I wanted to love this book but the more I read it, the more I just could not get into the story. It was entertaining enough to finish but still dragged on for many parts. Cate Kay is a bestselling author and about to watch her book become a film in the coming months. Though Cate is known around the world, hardly anyone has ever seen her in person. She has tried to keep her anonymity despite her growing fame. Only a select group of people even know who she is and she fights hard to keep herself out of the media.
When Cate selects an actor to play the lead in the movie based off her bestselling novel, she decides that she must meet her in person. They develop a special connection and Cate is faced with having to share parts of her past that she has never wanted to acknowledge. Traumatic events that shaped and forever changed the course of her life. I loved parts of this story but it fell flat at times. Rating: 7
4. The Woman Who Lied
Meh. This was a slow read for me and I had a hard time staying focused on the story. Emilia Ward is an author of the best selling Miranda Moody detective novels. Emilia has decided to end the series but is having a hard time finishing the final book. Then things begin happening to her that she can’t explain. It’s almost as if the plot of her book is being played out in real time. But that is impossible because Emilia hasn’t even finished it and no one has ready the final draft. How could they know what she is writing or will write? The premise of the book is promising but the actual story fell flat for me. Rating: 7
5. Things We Never Got Over
An easy to read romantic novel that is somewhat predictable but still enjoyable. The story does get racy at times so if that isn’t your thing, you will want to skip this one. Naomi is a runaway bride and escapes to the small town where her twin sister resides in hopes of finding solace after leaving her wedding unexpectedly. The only problem is her sister isn’t anywhere to be found and Naomi is stuck without a plan or place to live. She stumbles into a coffee shop hoping to gather her thoughts and plan her next steps and meets Knox. Knox is a lifelong resident of this small town and a hulking figure not known for friendly small talk.
Knox knows Naomi’s sister and overhears her talking about how she is looking for her and needs to track her down. He reluctantly steps in to help and offers her assistance in finding a place to stay and intel on where her sister could be. You can probably guess it but Knox and Naomi develop a relationship, though it’s a rocky one that goes through a ton of drama and turmoil. It’s an easy story to get through and even though I knew how it would end, I love to see it all come to fruition. Rating: 8.5
6. The Patient’s Secret
This was another mystery/thriller that keep me entertained but wasn’t on the edge of my seat amazing. And at times it got a bit confusing keeping all the characters straight but I was able to follow things after awhile. Lily is a psychotherapist living a quiet life with her professor husband and their two children. Things in their small town are idyllic and seemingly unaffected from the perils of the outside world. That is until Arwen Harper moves to town with her teenage son. Arwen seems to arrive out of nowhere and soon begins to stir up problems around town. It isn’t until Arwen is found dead that people fear that they could be living amongst a murderer.
Lily is especially worried because she has a past that she doesn’t want anyone to ever know about and this level of media scrutiny could threaten that. This is actually loosely based on the Jeremy Steinke and Jasmine Richardson case that devastated the small town of Medicine Hat, Canada. I am familiar with that true crime case but honestly couldn’t figure out how it related to this book until the end. It definitely kept me guessing. Rating: 8
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