Secrets and lies are the name of the game in Cole Baxter’s twist filled book, The Anniversary. This proved to be a fast, dramatic, and dark twisted read.

People celebrate their anniversaries in many ways: some prefer to celebrate them at home and some, like Tom and Catherine, prefer to indulge in a lavish meal at a restaurant. But most make it home safely, but not Tom and Catherine. On the way home, there was a horrible tragic crash. When Catherine wakes up in the hospital, she learns she has been charged with being the driver in an accident which resulted in a fatality. But she wasn’t driving and has the bruises to prove it. This is only the beginning as Catherine learns more about her husband, things become more dire, more dangerous, and more twisted.

This book started strongly with a horrible accident, disbelief, blame, lies, secrets, and then with revelations which left Catherine reeling. Cole Baxter knows how to write controlling and despicable characters! I mean seriously, Tom was the worst. Try reading this book and not feeling some strong feelings about his character. Catherine was very young when she first met Tom who is 15 years her senior. She is naive, has little life experience, and is a little too trusting. I felt for her for most of the book, while also wanting to tell her to run for the hills.

This book (and characters) has a lot going on in a short amount of time. There are secrets, gaslighting, lying, manipulation and drama galore in this book. It’s entertaining and had me thinking of the show Desperate Housewives while reading due to the involvement of the neighbors in this book.

I had both the audiobook and kindle version of this book. I thought the narrator of the audiobook did a great job bringing the book to life.

Thank you to Bookouture, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Secrets, lies and a slice of wedding cake! 🍰

Nicci and Ethan are a newly married couple with their whole lives in front of them. They should be happy, looking forward to the future…. but well, there is the little issue of the WHOPPER of a secret that they share! Plus, let’s not forget they have their own closely guarded secrets as well.

This well thought out and well written book gets off to a slow start as readers are introduced to the characters and their shared secret. It’s a BIG one! Can Nicci handle the guilt? Can Ethan cover it up? Will their marriage survive? I had so much fun waiting to see what would be revealed! I loved being a fly on the wall watching and waiting as things began to hit the fan! I found this whodunit to be gripping and hard to put down!

This book was full of secrets, lies, twists and turns! I must admit, I had a soft spot for Nicci and her father. Rona Halsall, as usual, kept me on my toes and turning the pages. The second half of the book is full of twists, turns, and reveals. Like her other books, this book was hard to put down, addictive, captivating, and thrilling.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Returning home is not always easy. The Nowhere Girls is the twist filled first book in the intriguing new series by Dana Perry. The plot drew me in right away and did not let go. FBI agent Nikki Cassidy meets with the man who is imprisoned for kidnapping and murdering her sister fifteen years ago. They sit in silence until this year, when he requests to meet with her and informs her, that he did not kill her sister.

Then she learns that another young girl has been taken and days later her body has been found. Nikki is determined to catch the killer no matter what it takes. Questions swirl through her mind. If the man imprisoned for killing her sister didn’t do it, then who is responsible. Is the current missing girls case related to her sister Caitlin’s murder case?

Nikki is a great character. She is determined, intelligent, and driven. Her father was a police officer who passed away shortly after her sister’s death. Nikki has lived with guilt over inviting her sister out the night she was taken, and this guilt has motivated her to not only become an agent but to bring her sister’s killer to justice. This case is personal for Nikki, and she is not willing to stop even if it affects her personal life.

I found this book to be captivating, twist filled, secret filled, and hard to put down! I enjoyed the mounting tension and danger that kicked into high gear the later part of the book. I had both the book and the audiobook version of this book and thought the narrator did a fantastic job of bringing this book to life!

I look forward to reading the next book in the series!

Thank you to Bookouture, Dreamscape Select | Bookouture, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.