Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett

I’m a huge fan of Jenn’s. She is one of the best at creating a feel-good young adult romance/coming-of-age story! Here’s her latest novel, Chasing Lucky!

Thank you Simon Teen for my gifted ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: Budding photographer Josie Saint-Martin has spent half her life with her single mother, moving from city to city. When they return to her historical New England hometown years later to run the family bookstore, Josie knows it’s not forever. Her dreams are on the opposite coast, and she has a plan to get there. What she doesn’t plan for is a run-in with the town bad boy, Lucky Karras. Outsider, rebel…and her former childhood best friend. Lucky makes it clear he wants nothing to do with the newly returned Josie. But everything changes after a disastrous pool party, and a poorly executed act of revenge lands Josie in some big-time trouble—with Lucky unexpectedly taking the blame. Determined to understand why Lucky was so quick to cover for her, Josie discovers that both of them have changed, and that the good boy she once knew now has a dark sense of humor and a smile that makes her heart race. And maybe, just maybe, he’s not quite the brooding bad boy everyone thinks he is…

Ugh, I wanted to love this way more than I did. Part of it is because I think I’ve read so many young adult romance novels in my lifetime that I feel like every single one of them is a story about a girl and trying to survive a move with their single parent. I just felt like the beginning of this story has been done so many times and I’m ready for something new and unique. I still love Jenn’s writing and great way at capturing all the emotions on paper, I just was hoping for something slightly different. I’m still adding this to my library!

3/5 Stars

The Wicked Hour by Alice Blanchard

Here comes the latest novel to follow up Alice’s Trace Of Evil.

Thank you Minotaur Books for my gifted ebook copy in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: The day after Burning Lake’s notorious, debauched Halloween celebration, Detective Natalie Lockhart uncovers a heartbreaking scene—a young woman, dead and lying in a dumpster. There’s no clue to who she is, save for a mystifying tattoo on her arm, and a callus underneath her chin. She’s not from around here. No one knows who she is. As Natalie retraces the young woman’s steps leading up to her death, she uncovers a deeper, darker horror—a string of murders and disappearances, seemingly unconnected, that may have ties to each other—and explain the abrupt disappearance of her best friend years ago. As she digs deeper within the mind of the hunter, Natalie finds a darkness she could never have imagined. And as she draws closer to the truth, the killer is weaving a trap for her that may prove inescapable.

I read the first story in this series and really enjoyed it – not a favorite, but definitely worth getting excited about this next installment coming out. I didn’t love this one as much as the first one. I felt like it was a little forced and rushed, especially trying to cover events, relationships, and emotions that had passed since the last book but also not trying to bring so much attention to them. The ending leaves a great opening for a third book which I still feel like I would want to read after this one! The Halloween setting was absolutely perfect if I do say so myself!

3.5/5 Stars

Stranger In The Lake by Kimberly Belle

I had read and reviewed one of Kimberly’s previous books “Dear Wife” and have been hearing about the hype of this newest novel. I wanted in to see how good it was 🙂

Thank you Harlequin and Park Row Books for my gifted ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Synopsis: When Charlotte married the wealthy widower Paul, it caused a ripple of gossip in their small lakeside town. They have a charmed life together, despite the cruel whispers about her humble past and his first marriage. But everything starts to unravel when she discovers a young woman’s body floating in the exact same spot where Paul’s first wife tragically drowned. At first, it seems like a horrific coincidence, but the stranger in the lake is no stranger. Charlotte saw Paul talking to her the day before, even though Paul tells the police he’s never met the woman. His lie exposes cracks in their fragile new marriage, cracks Charlotte is determined to keep from breaking them in two. As Charlotte uncovers dark mysteries about the man she married, she doesn’t know what to trust—her heart, which knows Paul to be a good man, or her growing suspicion that there’s something he’s hiding in the water.

I was a little nervous about picking up another book full of lies and secrets since it seems that’s what I’ve been drawn to lately. It really wasn’t the premise of the story that let me down, but the constant flashbacks that, in my opinion, gave too many hints to the reader about what would happen in present day. As many of my blog readers know, I have a hard time following stories with different timelines. I think they get messy and this story was a good example of that. The story wasn’t as original as I thought it could have been and the “thrill” of it fell flat for me. Not my favorite read by the author, but one to maybe try in an audiobook setting as I feel like the story is set up nicely for it!

3/5 Stars