What_Kel_Reads

You Are Not Alone was written by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.  The book was released today by St. Martin's Press.  I was given an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Shay is a hot mess.  She has no real job, no apartment of her own, and is crashing with her best friend (oh btw she's totes in love with him) while his girlfriend is not so subtlety  trying to push her out so she can move in.  Fun, right?  Just reading about how messy her life is stressed me out.  Don't worry - it gets worse.  When she sees a woman jump to her death in front of a train, she basically finishes falling apart. Then she meets Cassandra and Jane, two sisters who seemingly have dream lives.  They have flawless wardrobes, great jobs at their own PR company, and a dream group of friends.  They take her under their wing, offering her new jobs and places to live, all while giving her dream makeovers.  A NORMAL perso...

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....

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 Si...

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 sw...

“What’s it like,” Marsha asked.   “Bein’ a mom?”   Jenny felt her chest swell. “It’s amazing.   It’s awful. It’s too much and it’s too little.” I had several favorite parts from Keeping Lucy by T. Greenwood, but this was definitely the one that hit hardest.  Keeping Lucy was my second book from Greenwood, published by St. Martin's Press on August 6, 2019.  I received my copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Ginny gives birth to Lucy in Dover, Massachusetts in 1969.  She is devastated when Lucy is taken from her after they discover she has Downs Syndrome.  Her husband Ab sends Lucy away to Willowridge, a school for the "special" children.  He and the rest of his powerful and influential family try to convince her to move on, to forget her first daughter. 2 years later, Ginny's best friend Marsha shows her an expose on Willowridge.  They are both appalled to see the filth and neglect the children have been su...

The Escape Room was published by St. Martin's Press on 07/30/2019.  I was given a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are top performers for their Wall Street business.  All they care about is getting rich, and they'll step on anyone in the way of the path to greatness. When they're summoned to an office building late at night and wind up stuck in an elevator, they believe they've been tricked into doing some type of team-building activity. When their secrets start to come out and a deceased employee is mentioned, they finally realize that this may not be a game after all.......that they may actually be fighting for their lives. Listen.  I read a lot of thrillers so take this with a grain of salt.  I guessed the ending right around the third chapter.  Instead of me wondering what would happen in the book, it was more of me waiting to find out how they were going to bring my ending...

Things You Save in a Fire was my first book by the lovely Katherine Center(I have How to Walk Away but haven't read it yet). Things You Save was released on August 13th by St. Martin's Press.  I received a copy courtesy of NetGalley in exchange for my review. When Cassie Hanwell's estranged mother asks her to leave her job at the fire department she has sacrificed so much to be a part of to take care of her because she's sick-she's less than thrilled.  Transferring to a Boston fire department proves to be a step back for females....by about 30 years.  In the midst of trying to follow the rules given to her by her female captain in Texas, Cassie stumbles and learns to forge her own way. First off-I couldn't put this book down and I immediately regretted not reading How to Walk Away the moment that I got it.  I'm typically not one for "girl books," but I absolutely loved this one.  It was a little slow to start for me, but I think it's mai...

I was given access to Twisted Family Values by my one true love, NetGalley.  This novel by V.C. Chickering was released 06/25/19 by St. Martin's Press. The book is a little difficult to explain, so I'll let Goodreads take it away... In WASPy Larkspur, New Jersey, social expectations and decorum rule, and Marjorie and Dunsfield Thornden are the envy of their neighbors. Their daughters Claire and Cat set the small town’s social calendar by throwing tastefully lavish family parties year round. Because it’s 1977, underage debauchery is to be expected—and Cat and Claire’s children, Bizzy and Choo, are at its very center.  Underneath their well-maintained veneer, the Thorndens are quite dysfunctional, but have always had their entitlement to fall back on. And while some are finally ready to accept what they’re willing to give up for the life that they think they deserve, secrets that should’ve never been kept—especially not from each other—are bubbling unattractively to t...