I Otter Be Reading

Overall:  This book is about a wife, a husband, two daughters, and a home-wrecker.  Amber Patterson is envious of everything she does not have …. money, prestige, power.    She is a con-artist scheming to get all the things she wants in life.  What she wants now is the perfect life of Daphne Parrish.   The very rich,
beautiful, pampered, socialite wife of the handsome and successful Jackson Parrish.  Amber schemes and plans how to manipulate herself into Daphne’s first-class life and become her friend.  Daphne welcomes Amber into her charity
organization and they do become unlikely friends.  But, Amber has everyone fooled and is not the sweet, helpful, meek, young woman they think she is.  Amber does everything she can to get closer to Daphne’s handsome husband Jackson.  Amber wants to become his new wife and steal Daphne’s beautiful life right out from under her.  Amber is ruthless and will stop at nothing until she gets what she thinks she deserves.    

Opinion:  I would call this book a disturbing domestic thriller with some great twists.  It is not particularly thrilling or suspenseful, but the plot moves along at a good pace throughout.  This is a unique and addictive story that just keeps you always wanting to read more to find out what happens next.  This is a ‘don’t-judge-a-book-by-it’s cover’, cautionary tale.  It is a clever story with some villainous characters that keep you interested the whole way through.  The twists are shocking and wickedly wonderful.  The ending is perfect and very satisfying.  I highly recommend this captivating book.  Rating 9 out of 10  

Overall:  First of all, if you have not read Agatha Christie’s, And Then There Were None, you need to read that book before you read this one!  (And why wouldn’t you read it, it is one of the most perfect murder mystery novels ever written!)  Anyway, the entire plot of this book by Peter Swanson is blatantly stolen directly from that book.  That Christie novel is discussed all throughout this book, and the ending of that books is given away in this one.  So, you really need to read that book first, or it will be ruined for you forever.  That said, this book, Nine Lives, is about 9 strangers that each get an envelope with a list in it.  The list is of 9 names and their name is on it.  None of the people on the list know eachother or seem to have anything in common.  They do not think much of the list and some even throw it away, not worried at all about what it is, or why their name is on it.  But, one of the people on the list is FBI Agent Jessica Winslow.  She finds out that one of the people on the list was murdered, while holding the list in his hand.  This gets her investigating the list and what possible connections the 9 names on the list might have to eachother.  She does not think the 9 names were chosen at random by a crazy serial killer.  She believes that even though each person on the list she calls says they do not know any of the other names on the list, Jessica thinks they have to be somehow linked.  She is working on the mystery of who these people are and why they are on this list, but, then another person on the list is murdered, and then another.  By then, everyone on the list that is still alive is put under police protection and scared that they will be the next to die.  FBI Agent Winslow is trying to solve the case before her name comes up to be the next one killed.    

Opinion:  Again, you need to read Agatha Christie’s, And Then There Were None, before you read this book!  I bought this book because it was based on that amazingly good one. I knew it was “based” on that book, but I wish it was not so similar!  Not nearly enough was changed in my opinion.  However, there was a surprise add-on to the ending of this book that is new and not something that Christie could have done in her book.  As for this book, I enjoyed it.  I appreciated that at the very beginning of the book, there is a page that tells you all the names on the list and gives you a brief description of each person. That was very helpful and I put a Post-It Note on that page and kept referring to it for a while until I knew who all the characters were.  The pace of the plot was quick, and there was always suspense to keep you guessing on who was going to be the next victim.  The book kept you reading with its short chapters and it’s plot line of wondering if the FBI Agent was going to solve the case or get murdered before she figured it out.  I really enjoyed the book.  Probably because this thriller was so much like the Christie book.  This book is an entertaining, well told, well paced, murder mystery.  I did not want to put it down.  So, if you have already read, And Then There Were None, and enjoy murder mystery / thrillers, I think you will really enjoy this book too.  Rating 9 out of 10  

I have had this book review website for a year now.  It is a lot of work, but I am enjoying it.  I hope you are enjoying reading my book reviews blog too.  This is my very first year-in-review post!  I read so many good books this year, it was very hard to narrow it down to just 10 favorites.  But, here are my Top 10 Favorite Books Of 2022.  They are listed and photographed in no particular order.  Just 10 great book suggestions for you to consider.  In case you are looking for a few good books to read this winter.  I highly recommend these books.  

I am just writing a quick synopsis of the books here, but if you want to find out more about any of them, just click on the title, and it will send you to my full-length review of the book.  Hopefully you can find one or two here that you will enjoy reading!  They are listed in no particular order:

THE KIND WORTH KILLING:  A thriller full of twist and turns about a man who makes plans with a stranger he meets on a plane to kill his wife, who he believes is having a secret affair.  Things do not go how you think they will.   

THE INHERITANCE GAMES:  A fast-paced, family inheritance mystery full of riddles, puzzles, and secrets about a girl who suddenly inherits billions from a man she has never met and does not even know.                       

THE GUEST LIST:  The “It Couple” plans a lavish, expensive wedding on a secluded island and someone winds up dead.  A unique murder mystery where you don’t know who the killer is, or who dies either.  

BETTER THAN THE MOVIES:  A sweet and funny High School contemporary romance filled with all the romance novel tropes we love.  As a bonus, it is all about the 80’s classic rom-coms!

THE PARIS APARTMENT:  A mysterious, atmospheric thriller about a woman trying to find her missing brother in a strange old Paris apartment building filled with highly suspicious tenants. 

NO EXIT:  An exciting, action packed thriller about being stranded at a roadside Rest Stop during a mountain blizzard with strangers, some of whom are possibly child kidnappers and/or murders.  

BOYFRIEND MATERIAL:  A sweet, LGBTQ, fake-dating romance set in England that is full of heart, and hilarious, witty dialogue and banter.  

A GOOD GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER:  A girl decides to do her senior project about the murder of another girl from her High School who was killed a few years ago.  It was ruled a murder / suicide, but she does not believe that is actually what happened.  

NEON GODS:  A modern re-telling of the Hades and Persephone story from Greek Mythology.  It is uniquely set in an ultra-modern version of the city of Olympus.  It is a very steamy romance, full of hot and spicy sex scenes.  

NOVEMBER 9:  A beautiful, heartbreaking, hopeful romance with a twist.  Two people  meet on November 9th, and have an instant strong connection.  But, they are young and one is moving to New York.  They decide not to contact eachother at all throughout the year, but only meet up every year on that same date.    

Overall:  One December day Laurie is on a crowded London bus on her way home from work.  At a bus stop, she looks out her bus window and locks eyes with a man.  She does not know this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, they lock eyes and neither of them looks away.  She feels the magic between them and if the
bus was not completely packed with passengers, she would have gotten off the
bus to go over to him and introduce herself.  She has never felt love at first sight before, and spends the whole next year searching London trying to find him again.  Then one day, she is rewarded and finally sees the stranger again.  Only problem is that when she sees him, he is being introduced to her as Jack, her best friend’s new boyfriend.  Jack and Laurie both remember eachother from that magical moment at the bus stop, but they can’t say anything to eachother about it because Laurie’s best friend Sarah is so busy excitedly introducing her new boyfriend Jack to her.  Sarah and Jack are now together and so Laurie and Jack are forced to become just friends.  They try to navigate this friendship for the next many years while Sarah and Jack are in a relationship, and Sarah and Laurie are best friends and roommates.  They are all twenty-somethings trying to find themselves and figure out their lives, loves, careers, and futures.  This story about
Laurie and Jack takes place over a ten-year period.  Will the timing ever be right for both of them to finally be able to be together?  Maybe the timing is never right because they are just really not meant to be together?  Or will the stars align and let their love-at-first-sight feelings truly be their destiny after all?    

Opinion:  This is a charming book for the hopeless romantic in all of us.  This is not your typical love story of boy meets girl and they fall in love.  Yes, that happens, with their love at first sight. But real life often gets in the way of people’s happiness.  This is not a funny, lighthearted rom-com.  It is much more realistic.  (I know that sounds strange about a love-at-first-sight-story.)  But, over the many years of this story, there are successes and tragedies, happiness and disappointments, things that we all go through in our lives.  I like that this story was written from both Laurie and Jack’s points of view so you can know what they are both thinking.   They go through so much in their twenties and really grow as people throughout the story.  I loved all the characters in the book. 
I was really rooting for the timing to finally be right for Jack and Laurie to be able to be together.  If you like romance, this is a delightful, heartwarming, wintertime read that I highly recommend.  Rating 9 out of 10  

Overall:  By the charming Christmastime cover of this book, I just thought it was just a sweet Christmas romance story.  Well, I was sort of right, it is a cute Christmas romance, but it is also surprisingly steamy!  I was not prepared for the level of spice this book has!  That said, it is a grumpy + sunshine trope, where the woman is the grumpy and the man is the sunshine.  I love an opposites attract
romance and this book delivers that….. along with some very unexpected sexy spice and lots of dirty talk!

Stella stops to look at the holiday window display of a fancy department store.  She finds it lacking and pathetic, even though she could never afford to shop there, she does not like the display the have.  Asking for her opinion about the window and definitely getting it is Aiden.  He just happens to own the store and challenges her to do the window display job better.  She applies for the job even though she is an ex-con who thinks she will never get hired.  Stella is hired on a trial basis by the hot store owner Aiden who believes in her ideas and wants to help her get her fresh start.  Aiden’s upbeat and cheerful personality is the perfect match for Stella’s fear and pessimism.  Stella turns out to be wonderful at her job
as a window dresser and really enjoys her work.  Stella and Aiden become romantically involved while trying to navigate the office romance situation of him being her boss.  Plus, trying to balance the dynamics of other members of his family working there too and finding out about Stella’s past.  Also, Stella’s best friend gets released from prison and wants to pick-up right where they left-off, but Stella is trying to start a new and very different life.   Despite being such opposites in every way and living very different lives before they meet, Stella and Aiden are good for eachother.  They both help eachother grow as people.  Stella gains confidence and independence and Aiden gains strength and the ability to stand up to his family.  I liked the ending of this book and wish it were longer so I could find out more about how their life turns out.    

Opinion:  This book is a “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”!  I mean that for the actual physical book because the cover makes it look like a bland holiday romance, but it is very spicy inside.  But, also the storyline is a “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”  because Stella looks very rough around the edges and is just out of prison, but Aiden did not judge her for that.  He gave her a chance and she proved to be very talented at her job, and a great romantic partner for him as well.  The unexpected and interesting storyline is not your typical, cutesy holiday romance.  It has unusual depth, while also being sarcastic and sexy at the same time.  I would recommend this book if you are looking for a quick, and quirky read with lots of sexy spice this holiday season, this book is for you.  Rating:  7 out of 10 

SEE HOW THEY RUN is a movie currently on streaming services HBO Max, Hulu and Amazon Prime.  It is a whodunnit film based in the 1950’s.  It is like a combination of KNIVES OUT and CLUE, but set in London.  It is a must watch for murder mystery fans and fans of Agatha Christie.  The movie is about Agatha Christie’s most successful play, THE MOUSETRAP.   That play opened in a theatre in London’s West End in 1952, and is still running to this day.  It is the longest running play in the world! 

THE MOUSETRAP is a wonderful play about a small group of strangers staying at a Bed & Breakfast in the English countryside.  There is a bad snowstorm, so they all become stuck there, and there is a murder in the house.  It is an Agatha Christie classic “locked room” mystery.  Meaning that someone there trapped in that house is the murderer.  All the people in the house are suspects, and are questioned until the murder is solved and explained.  

Agatha Christie many times used children’s nursery rhymes or songs in her books and plays.  In THE MOUSETRAP, the children’s song, Three Blind Mice, is part of the play.  That is how they got the title for the new movie, SEE HOW THEY RUN.     

But, you do not have to have read or seen the play to enjoy this new movie.  There have been a lot of movies made of Agatha Christie’s books and plays.  However, no movie version of the play THE MOUSETRAP has ever been made because Agatha Christie so brilliantly put in the contract of the play that no movie could be made of her play until 6 months after her play stopped running.  It has still, after 70 years, not stopped running!  So, this film, SEE HOW THEY RUN, is NOT a movie version of that play.  But, the film takes place in 1950’s London and centers around the theatre where THE MOUSETRAP play is running.  There are some Hollywood people there trying to get that play made into a movie.  But, then some of those people are murdered.  Two mismatched detectives are assigned to the case to try and figure out whodunnit before more people are killed.  Despite there being murders, the movie is not gory or violent.  The film is entertaining, funny, fast paced, and amusing.  Plus, the cinematography is beautiful.  It is a murder mystery within another murder mystery!  It is a great movie for any Agatha Christie fan, or lovers of murder mystery films, or crime capers set in the 1950’s.  I loved it!!!  

The classic play is worth reading.  The play is worth going to see at a real theatre.  This new movie is worth watching as well.  They are all highly recommended! 

Overall:  Marin and Derik are college sweethearts who married almost 20 years ago and had both become very successful in their careers.  They have a 4 year old son named Sebastian.  They had a wonderful life together.  Until one day at busy Pike Place Market at Christmas time, their son was taken.  Marin got distracted for just a minute, and then he was gone.  One year later, the police and the FBI still
have the case open, but the trails are all cold.  There has been no leads and no sign of their son anywhere.  Marin is a mother, and will never give up on finding her son.  So, she hires a Private Investigator to keep searching for him.  But, instead of finding their son, the P.I. finds out that Derik is having an affair with a much younger woman.  Their marriage has been very distant since the day their son was taken from them.  They are both shells of the people they once were.  But, Marin has already lost her son, and she is not about to lose her husband too.  So, she hires a hitman to take McKenzie out of the picture.  Suddenly, she changes her mind and calls it off.  But, then McKenzie goes missing too.  Now two people connected to her husband have gone missing?  Is he the link?  

Ovations:   This book is interesting right from the first page.  Is it a mystery because of the little boy going missing.  It is also a thriller because there are constantly new things happening that keep you on your toes.  This is a compelling, dark, emotional, page turner that you just won’t want to stop reading.  The plot is solid, and there is enough always going on that you are fully invested in the story, but not so much that you are confused at any point.  The title, Little
Secrets is perfect for the book because everyone in the story has many secrets.  There were a few good twists that you will not see coming.  Lastly, I really liked the ending.  It made sense, it was not rushed, and it explained everything without any plot holes. 

Oh Well:  I did figure out the answer to the big mystery myself by mid-book.  But, that was ok because it did not change my enjoyment of the story.  The plot is
layered enough that I still did not know the “why” of it all.  Plus, there are several sub-plots going on and they all connect, but you have no idea how.   So, the fact that I figured one thing out (even if it was the main thing), did not affect how much I liked the book at all.   

Opinion: This book is a roller-coaster of a psychological thriller.  It is sad and dark, but also, in the end, all about love.   There is good pacing and suspense all the way through the storyline that will keep you reading.  This book has interesting characters, deep emotional content, and a compelling plot.  This is my first thriller by Jennifer Hillier, but it will not be my last.  Rating 9 out of 10

Overall:  Layla Hilding is a woman in her 30’s who has just gone through a divorce.  She was married for 10 years and gave up on the thing that gave her joy, singing in front of an audience.  She is now single, an Elementary School music
teacher, has bought herself a home, and is figuring out her life on her own terms.  Meanwhile, Josh is separated and going through a divorce after a 20 year marriage to his High School sweetheart.  He is sharing custody of their daughter with his ex-wife.  Josh’s daughter is in Layla’s music class at the school.   They see eachother everyday at the start of the school day for drop-off.   Josh and Layla both do not want to start dating anyone seriously, they feel they are not ready for that yet.  So, they decide to be “friends with potential”.  They both need to figure out life being on their own again for a while before they get into any new relationships.  They both do not want to be each other’s “rebound” person.  But, after going through divorces and heartbreaks, are they ever going to be ready to start again? Will they ever be willing to open up their hearts to find real love?  

Ovations:   I liked both main characters, Layla and Josh.  They are both fully-formed, dynamic characters just trying to figure their new lives out.  I like how this book is realistic.  It’s not about steamy hot tub scenes or romantic make-outs in the rain.  It is about two grown adults trying to find themselves after being in marriages that did not work out.  Yes, there is a romance here, but it is a slow-burn romance that is in no hurry to rush into anything.  I liked all the secondary
characters also.  There are many in this book, but they are all explained well and good supporting characters.  I also like that there were no artificial obstacles put in their way for them to overcome to be together again at the end like so many formulaic romance books have. 

Oh Well:  This book is quite slow.  It is a nice story, but not a lot happens.  There is nothing really too exciting happening here ….  no hot sex scenes, no witty, flirty banter. Also, there are a lot of flashbacks in the book to give you their histories.  So, it can get a little bit confusing.   

Opinion: This is a well written, lovely romance about second chances.  It is about adults figuring out their lives after divorce.  Deciding on their own what they want the next phase of their lives to look like.  It is not a rom-com or a gimmicky-type of romance story.  It is just an honest story about two people who are learning to love again after heartbreak.  It has a very slow pace, but is a sweet story overall.  Rating: 6 out of 10    

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Overall:  Lowen is a young writer just starting out.  Her books are not selling and she’s facing eviction from her apartment in NYC.  Not to mention that her mother recently died.  She is struggling.  But, then she gets an amazing offer to ghost write for a very popular, successful, author Verity Crawford, who was recently in a very bad car accident.  Lowen will be paid lots of money by the publisher to finish the remaining three books in the author’s popular series.  So, Lowen accepts the job offer and moves into Verity Crawford’s beautiful home to being her research on how to begin writing the remaining books.  Lowen already met Verity’s husband Jeremy at the publisher’s meeting in New York.  (Actually, before the meeting, but that can’t be discussed right now.)  After arriving at the large home, Lowen has to go through Verity’s office, which if filled with tons of notes, research, and books.  As Lowen goes through all of Verity’s stuff in the office, trying to find any information on ideas for the new books, she instead finds an unfinished autobiography that Verity started, writing about the night she met her husband, and going on from there.   Lowen is curious to find out more about the couple she is now working for and living with, and starts to read the diary/autobiography.  She is shocked and horrified by what she reads!  Verity admits to thinking and doing several very awful things.  She explains how she killed her own daughter!  Meanwhile, Verity is upstairs, living in the same house with them all.  She is supposedly incapacitated from the accident, and can’t speak or move and is unaware of her surroundings.  But, Lowen is noticing strange things that make her doubt whether Verity is faking her injuries.  But, she would be crazy to mention her suspicions to anyone, right?  Why would Verity be faking all that?  As Lowen lives in the house, she spends time with the Jeremy and they start to fall for eachother.  But, as Lowen reads more and more of the autobiography, and notices more strange happenings in the house, she is scared for her life.  Should she just give up on this very lucrative job and get the heck out of that house?  Should she go to the Police?  Should she show Jeremy the terrifying autobiography that Verity wrote about their lives?  Should she just try to convince Jeremy to run away with her?  Should she try to confront Verity?  Why even would Verity write down all her darkest thoughts and admit to all her horrifying crimes anyway?         

Ovations: This book was so interesting and very well-paced.  I just wanted to keep reading and reading to find out what happened next.  It kept you on the edge of your seat while slowly revealing more troubling information to you!  I was shocked when reading the very terrible and dark autobiography that Verity had written.  I liked how the book went from Lowen’s “real world”, of living and working at the Crawford home, then would bring us back to the past in the life of Verity through the autobiography pages.  There were so many layers to this story.  It was a thriller, a love story, a mystery, it was suspenseful and dark … all in one book.  You never knew where it was going next! 

Oh Well:  The only issue I had with the book was that if I had found the autobiography, and it was that juicy and revealing, I would have read the whole thing in one sitting!  I would not read a little, and then just put it away, and continue to live in the house and be scared!  That was not realistic at all.  But, I understand it had to be written that way to make the book’s storyline.  All the secrets could not be revealed at once, they had to come out slowly over time as she read the autobiography.  But, in real life, a person would have read through the whole thing all at once!  Also, be warned that there is a lot of sex and descriptions of sex in this book.  So readers need to know that going in.   

Opinion: This was a suspenseful thriller like nothing I have ever read before!  It was dark, twisted, creepy, clever, disturbing, surprising, unsettling and unique.  You never knew where the book was going or how the story would end up.  And where it does end up, well, even the ending is full of surprises and more questions.  It stays a perplexing puzzle of mystery and questions the whole way through.  This is a story that will stay with you, and keep you thinking about it even after you are done reading.  This is a great thriller and I recommend you read it.  Rating: 9 out of 10  

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Overall:  This is an eerie, inheritance mystery that is full of creepy atmosphere, and twisty questions.  Harriet (Hal) Westaway is a young woman who is barely making ends meet as a Tarot card reader on the boardwalk of an English seaside town.  She does it because that is what her mother did for a living, before she
was killed by a hit-and- run driver three years ago.  Hal is lonely, grieving, broke, and scared of the loan shark that she owes money to.  Then she gets a letter in the mail saying that her Grandmother died and she needs to go to the funeral and meet with the lawyer about the inheritance that her Grandmother left her.  Hal believes that the letter is a mistake.  She knows that her grandparents are already dead.  She believes has no family left, that she is alone. But, she is desperate, and thinks her skills in reading people as a Tarot card reader might make her be able to pull off the scam that she is really this long-lost granddaughter.  She really would love a little inheritance to help her pay back the loan shark, pay her
rent, and get back on her feet again.  So, she decides to go to the funeral and play the role as the rightful heir granddaughter.  But, after the  funeral, she needs to go back to her late grandmother’s creepy, old, crumbling English estate to hear the reading of the will with all the other family members.  This is where she finds out
that the late Mrs. Westaway left everything to her.  The entire estate!  The 3 sons who were expecting to inherit the estate are not exactly thrilled.  Now, Hal realizes that she is going to have to tell them the truth, that she is not really related to them, and she was trying to scam them out of some money.  But, before she can do that, some family secrets are revealed, and things keep getting more and more complicated and confusing for everyone involved.  Then, Hal finds out that she may really be related to the family after all.         

Ovations: I love an inheritance mystery!  I love how the old family secrets get revealed and how everyone reacts to them while all staying in the house together!  The plot moves at a slow pace, revealing the secrets a little at a time.  The author keeps you guessing, with new clues and revelations being revealed all throughout the book.  I had to keep going back and re-reading parts again now that I knew different information.   Also, I loved how descriptively Ruth Ware wrote this book!  I really felt I could see everything she was writing about so clearly!  I could see the
boardwalk, see the old estate, and see all the characters so distinctly in my
mind.  I love how she writes so vividly, I could even feel the  rain and snow and
how soaked-through and cold the people were!  The book was very atmospheric and I loved how I could envision it all. 

Oh Well:  I did figure-out one of the main mysteries in the storyline quite early on.  But, that did not ruin my enjoyment of the book.  Also, you should know it is a very slow-paced mystery.  There is a lot of background information given in the book that goes back-and-forth in time.  So, I did have to go back and re-read some sections over and over because things are sort of complicated and they needed to make sense to me.  So, I would have to re-read things to figure out how to put the puzzle pieces of the story together correctly.  Having to keep doing that was annoying to me.   

Opinion: I love that this is sort of an old-fashioned inheritance murder mystery set in the English seaside.  The creepy old mansion with the scary old housekeeper and all the cold, rainy days … just a perfect setting for a classic, old family murder mystery.  The book was written with such clear details, I really felt I was there!  It was a slow-paced book, but I felt that added to the intentional, secretive, unfolding of clues and the mystery of it all.  Parts of it were not clear, and I had to re-read sections to have things make sense.  But, I enjoyed trying to figure out the mysteries in this book and I think you will too.  Rating: 8 out of 10

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