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 rela...

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...

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...

I received my copy of Athena's Choice from the promotional team on Instagram in exchange for my honest review. The year is 2099, and men have been absent from the earth for almost 50 years after a virus accidentally wiped all of them from the earth.  There's a project attempting to bring men back and it has become quite controversial.  When the sabotaged project leads authorities to Athena, this completely normal teenager must decide if she wants to help find the culprit. This book was pretty interesting.  It read almost like a movie.  It's definitely something I would watch if there was ever an on screen translation.  The details and imagination of the author were fun to read.  Despite the fact that science fiction is not typically  my thing, I did enjoy my time spent reading it....right up until the end. Before I go any farther, I just have to say it.  The ending sucked.  I HATEDDD it.  It made me want to throw the book....

“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...