What_Kel_Reads

The Friends We Keep by author Jane Green will be released by Berkley Publishing Group on 06/04/19.  When I saw the cover on NetGalley, I knew I had to read the story!  This story follows the lives of Evvie, Maggie, and Topher.  They met at university and spent their years there inseparable.   Evvie becomes a supermodel, only to derail by sleeping with a married man.   Maggie marries Ben, her dream man from university and has to battle the problems his drinking causes.  Topher becomes a well-known actor, but his childhood haunts him and prevents him from building good relationships. They reunite at their 30 year reunion.  Having lost touch over the years, they attempt to rebuild their lives together.  When a terrible secret is brought to light, these 3 must decide if they are strong enough to overcome it together. This book was so easy to identify with.  From the fears of what comes after university to the struggle of being in your 30s and feeling like you've failed,

Barefoot Beach was my first read by author Debbie Mason.  This book is being released by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) on 06/04/19.  A huge thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. It's wedding season at Harmony Harbor, and the natives are set on matching newcomer Theia Lawson with local hunk Marco DiRossi.  While Theia is trying to plan her exit from the town, Marco convinces her to "fake date" him for the summer to convince his family he's already fallen in love with her...BECAUSE NOTHING CAN GO WRONG THERE! Secrets are revealed and Theia and Marco (who are now actually interested in one another) have to find a way to survive this if they want to end up on the path to true love. Alright you guys.  I will be completely honest here.  These types of books are NOT my cup of tea.  That being said, I had so much FUN with this book.  I wanted to be Theia.  She was such a hard character to not fall for, despite everythi

I was gifted a digital ARC of All Her Secrets by Sue Watson, courtesy of NetGalley and Bookouture.  This book will be published by Bookouture, released on 05/23/19. Lucy has a loving husband (Matt), dream job as a teacher, and house just the way she wants it when Amber, her previous news idol moves in and becomes her new neighbor.  Lucy can't believe it, but she and Amber quickly become best friends.  Then Amber starts acting strangely, claiming she may be pregnant and telling Lucy she's been receiving threatening messages.  Lucy wants to help Amber and keep her safe, but quickly realizes things may not always be what they seem.  Everyone has secrets, and everyone will do anything possible to keep them. The characters in this book are a mess.  Lucy is desperately seeking approval from her idol and Amber is a total space cadet.  I did wish there had been a little more connection in the book with Amber/Lucy and Matt.  He felt like an afterthought when I wanted to kno

Fierce Girl is another Bookouture hit, scheduled for release on 05/21/19.  Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! Anna is a mess.  After recent tragic events, she and her boyfriend Freddie are certainly not on the same page.  Freddie is dealing with loss in his businesses and a rat in the family, while Anna is trying to reconnect with her best friend Tanya after she suddenly wakes up from a 2 month coma.  Anna and Tanya would typically be inseparable, but the arrival of Tanya's terrible mother is putting a strain on their friendship.  Together, Anna and Freddie try to seal up the leaks and help Tanya see her mother for who she really is before it's too late. I'm not one for mob/mafia books, but I was glued to Freddie's fights with other families.  This was the first Anna Davis book I've read, but I definitely plan to go back and read the first 3.  This book had a good enough recap for what happened previously, but it actually made me want to read it more! 

This was my first book By Drew Davies (he also wrote The Shape of Us) and I was given an advanced copy thanks to NetGalley.  This book is scheduled for release on 05/17/19 by one of my favorite publishers, Bookouture. This book is read through the eyes of Joy, in her letters written to her sister Lily.  Joy has packed her life up, said goodbye to her parents, and moved to Denmark without knowing the language, or anyone else.  Lily is Joy's seemingly only support system, even though she is not physically there for her sister.  Over the course of the book, Joy writes for support about job issues, parent issues, and love issues.  She's a mess and in need of every piece of support and help she can get from writing Lily. I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book.  Joy is a stressful character.  She is seriously flawed.  From past eating disorder issues to her alcohol and tobacco consumption, it's clear she doesn't handle stress well.  In addition, I started t

I was granted early access for The Dancing Girls by M.M. Chouinard through NetGalley.  Bookouture is set to publish this book on 05/15/19.  If you are in the mood for a serial killer thriller, this is definitely for you! Detective Jo Fournier is thrown into a mind boggling case when Jeanine Hammond is found dead in her hotel room with strange strangulation marks. This case soon connects to several cold cases and Jo begs for help solving them. The story follows her as the FBI rejects her, the suspect outsmarts her, and she starts to feel in over her head. I actually forced myself to read this slower so that I could savor the book.  I do wish that there had been more information about the killer's past, and the same with the person he meets towards the end of the book.  I would have liked a little less computer detail and a little more interaction from the different victims.  I liked the resolution but it felt a little bit rushed.  I did love the use of Karma in the end.  Ove

I received an ARC of Two Like Me and You through NetGalley.  This book will be released on 05/20/19, published by Borne Back Books. The book follows Edwin Green, Parker Haddaway, and Garland Lenox.  Edwin is your typical nerdy teenager, complete with low self-esteem.  This is made worse by the break-up he suffered at the hands of his first girlfriend, who now happens to be a famous celebrity.  Parker and Edwin join forces for a history project, where she introduces him to Garland.  Garland talks them into going to France with him to find his long lost love, a woman who helped him recover from a leg injury during WWII.  The media catches wind of their quest, and the rest is a mess of police officers and news reporters. I wanted to like this story.  I absolutely love the cover-it's the reason I requested the book.  This read like John Green, but not as good.  The first 15% of the book felt like backstory, but it wasn't pertinent to the plot.  The story was slow to ta