The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Hells to the yes!! This is the thriller I have been waiting for! Lately I admit, thrillers have not been..well thrilling me. I have had a problem with them all being, meh...They either are one of these three things...1. not really a thriller...2. Start out with a bang and then the ending is just..plain ridiculous...3. super boring until the last couple of chapters. Not this one! This one delivered from page one!

Jules and Will are the couple I love to hate. They are gorgeous and they know it. Nobody loves Jules and Will more than- you guessed it Jules and Will. Leave it to Jules to insist on dragging her entire wedding party to a remote island. She claims it is for privacy, I though wondered if it were some publicity stunt. The island has a wicked reputation and sketchy past. Umm...sounds like a fantastic place for a wedding, right??!!

I absolutely loved the creepy atmosphere, I wouldn't have spent one night there no matter how much Jules insisted- because she would insist. Everything is all about Jules. The book revolves around multiple POV's which all are members of the wedding party. Yet the author did a superb job of making it really easy to follow along. The chapters were clearly labeled for each POV and if you didn't get it, she even had a description- wedding planner, etc...Yesss! I loved it!

Although admittedly I wasn't a huge fan of The Hunting Party, that is clearly not the case here. Her previous novel was a bit too slow of a burn for me. This one was ON FIRE. This book was a super quick read, with short chapters that I flew through in less than 24 hours. That is my kind of thriller.   There were several big twists that I never in a million years saw coming. Yet, they weren't insane. I knew something was off with each of the characters, yet for the life of me I couldn't figure out what they were hiding. Trust me- they were hiding alot!

The New Husband by D.J. Palmer

 

You know that feeling that you have with new love? They can do no wrong? You can't see their faults at all? Or if you do you overlook them? Hellllooo Nina! Wake up and smell the coffee girl! I really wish I could've been her BFF and yelled this to her. Although I doubt she would've listened.

After Nina's cheating husband Glen goes missing she moves on. Even though Glen's body has never been found she decides he either died or left her so either way he is not coming back.  Her daughter Maggie on the other hand has a much harder time with this. I loved little Maggie and my heart broke for her. As her mom decided to move in with Mr. Fitch ( a teacher from her school) how could things get more awkward?! Especially after it had not been long after her father's disappearance. The town is gossiping  and poor Maggie is caught in the crossfire.

This twisted little thriller was a slow burn that took awhile to take off. Yet I was glued to the pages because I did not trust this guy ....at all!!!!!!! Simon is too good to be true. So helpful, so perfect...so controlling! I don't know exactly what it was but this guy had the creep factor going on. He managed to get under my skin. It was one of those characters that you wanted to scream and say "can nobody else see what this guy is up to??"

The second half of the book I had a ton of anxiety as I was waiting to see how this would end. I loved, loved, loved Daisy and Maggie and I was terrified about the fate they might meet. The story got pretty intense towards the ending. I kept thinking, this is not going to end well.........I will leave it at that so that you can find out for yourself if the new husband Simon is all that......or not.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for sending me a copy of this ARC.

Open Book by Jessica Simpson

Well believe the hype...this book is everything people say it is. This girl couldn't be any more honest if she tried...and I love her for it! It seems like when celebrities pen their memoirs they always leave out the parts that people really want to know about. Not this girl...Jessica digs deep and lets you into her most publicized moments and how she was feeling during those times. 


I loved hearing about her struggles and her success. It made her real. The fact that this girl with all her fame struggled with self confidence, self doubt and dealt with everyday problems that we all do..well it was just refreshing. 


I also was not aware of all the times she has traveled overseas to visit our troops. What a amazing thing to do. Having family members in the military I can't express how much that is a bright shiny moment in their time over there. Just some normalcy for them. I am defiantly #teamjessica! So glad she has found a happy ending...thanks for letting us into your life Jessica!

Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier

This was so damn good! I will admit, I went into this blind, didn't read reviews, the blurb, nothing. I just saw that it was the author of one of my top reads last year ( Jar of Hearts) and I grabbed it as quick as I could. So I was a bit surprised that it was a story about a child abduction. I almost sighed because there have been so many of those lately...but don't you worry, this is a completely unique thriller and you will not be doing any sighing! In fact there are several things going on with this thriller and you will not be bored at all!

First off the title is perfect! Little secrets...more like BIG secrets! These people all have secrets! We are not talking about I went out and bought a sweater and shoes I don't need and hid them at the back of my closet secrets. We are talking about...you are going to jail for a long time secrets- if you are caught!

I loved Marin Machado- she is a successful salon owner that literally had it all. Her salon was so high end that she was featured in magazines due to her many celebrity clients. Her husband Derek is a successful businessman and they have a gorgeous 4 year old son named Sebastian...."all it took was a lollipop, a santa suit and 4 minutes," for her entire world to be turned upside down. I really felt for Marin because even though she had it all, she has so many insecurities that it made her feel real to me. She could put on a big front but inside she didn't feel glamorous and successful. A single minute of paying more attention to her phone than her 4 year old and she is going to pay...maybe forever. Can you imagine the guilt?!

Then there is Kenzie- ughhhhhhh- 20 something, barista, art student that lives out her life on Instagram. Including the time she put pictures of herself with her feet propped up on the dash of Marin's husbands Maserati.......girlfriend it is GAME ON...Don't screw with a this wronged mom and wife! Did Kenzie know where her son is? Is this some sort of wicked game to mess with Marin?

There are so many secrets in this twisty thriller that it did keep me guessing. I was shocked at the level of  crazy secrets these otherwise "normal" people had! I loved, loved, loved this one and devoured it in a day!

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press/ Minotaur books for this ARC via Edelweiss!