What_Kel_Reads

The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was written by Abbi Waxman, released by Berkley on July 9, 2019.  I was given my copy by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Nina has her idea of the perfect life.  She has a job at a bookstore (SO JEALOUS), her planner, awesome trivia team friends, and her cat Phil.  When her out-of-the-picture father dies and she discovers she has a huge family that wants to meet her, she panics.  Now she has to figure out how to communicate with these STRANGERS.  In addition to all of that awkward, her trivia version of Draco Malfoy named Tom turns out to be cute and kind of funny, and she might have a crush on him!  Nina now has to figure out how to break out of her shell to deal with all of the new feelings and people.  Thankfully, we get to watch her do it. This was one of my favorite books of the year.  I almost feel like I should personally apologize to Abbi Waxman for taking so long to read it.  I related to Nina on almost every level.  From wan

The full title is Manhunters: How We Took Down Pablo Escobar by Steve Murphy and Javier F. Peña.  This was released by St. Martin's Press on November 12, 2019.  I was lucky enough to get my copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  Y'all. Y'ALL. I finished the audio about 15 minutes before my lunch and I was DYING to write about it.  Okay, let's go. For the first time ever, Murphy and Peña tell true stories from each of their lives, and the events that lead up to their take down of Pablo Escobar.  The chapters alternate between their viewpoints leading up to the one glorious day when they helped Colombian police eliminate one of the most evil men in the world. Going into this, I knew he was a bad guy.  I didn't know how bad.  I was merely a toddler when all of this happened.  Escobar was a Colombian drug lord billionaire.  He turned Colombia into a war zone as he became one of the biggest drug traffickers ever.  He was elusive and seemingly

I was given my copy of Michele Campbell's A Stranger on the Beach by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  This book was released by St. Martin's Press on July 23, 2019. Caroline is unnerved when she sees a stranger outside her perfect beach house.  When he ends up being hired as a bartender for her luxurious beach party, she seems to put him out of her mind.  When she and her husband end up in a very loud fight at the party, her life starts to unravel.  She ends up drinking with Aiden, the stranger at the bar where he works.  They go home together, and it means nothing to her.  To him, it's a different story.  When Caroline's husband goes missing, all fingers point to Aiden and Caroline will have to figure out the enemy before it's too late. This was a super fast thriller.  It would be a great beach/poolside read.  The relationship between Caroline and Aiden is so nerve-wracking.  The book definitely has the vibe of Single White Female (I'm sh

Almost Midnight by Paul Doiron was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  This book was released by St. Martin's Press Minotaur Books on July 2, 2019. Warden Mike Bowditch is trying to figure out who attempted to kill his wolf hybrid when he learns that his best friend Billy is going to be released from prison after defending a female prison guard in an attack by another prisoner.  Mike soon investigates and learns that the prison is filled with conspiracies and underground smuggling rings.  Mike has to find a way to protect Billy's wife and children from the inevitable attacks on them before it's too late. This was not the first book about Mike Bowditch, but it was for me.  I really appreciated the fact that it didn't seem like I was behind or missing anything super important to the story by having not read the other books.  I found myself really rooting for Billy.  When it came to Shadow (Mike's wolf) I would find myself swearing I

This book was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  The Birthday Girl was released on August 6, 2019 by Penguin Dutton Group. Ellie looks like she has the perfect life...handsome husband, million dollar houses, and adorable children.  Behind all of that "perfection" is a skeleton bursting with closets. This story follows Ellie on 2 different birthdays, 24 years apart.  This is a good enough book.  Ellie is annoying.  Her husband and children are spoiled and annoying.  I spent most of the book thinking that she was a waste of talent and so many others would put her money to good use.  The skeletons were truly embarrassing.  I felt myself cringing at several points during this book.  The ending was as bad as what I was bracing myself to read.   If you like thrillers and suspense, it's an okay book if you need to kill some time.  It's not something I would read again.  I wasn't overwhelmed, or underwhelmed.  This book just left me