He Started It by Samantha Downing

Hello everyone.  I hope your week has been a great one.

You know how some people are egotistical and always believe they are right?  Well, I freely admit I am terrible at many things, one of them is direction (the north, south, east, west kind). Now if you're going to say it's because I'm female, then I have a few choice words for you that I'll withhold for the health of this blog. However, I swear I might have a negative sense of direction.  Not only do I get lost going to the grocery store, which is two miles from my house and just two turns (I think), but I once got lost walking in our old neighborhood.  Turned out I was only a block from our house. Obviously, hubby does a lot of the driving in our household.

I recently read He Started It by Samantha Downing.  She is the author of the very popular My Lovely Wife, which gave me an evil laugh when I told my family how twisted it was but I couldn't stop reading it.  He Started It is about a family that has lost it's grandfather.  In his will, the wealthy man has left a hefty inheritance.  To collect their money, the now adult grandkids must recreate a lengthy road trip they once took with their granddad.  So they begin the repeat adventure complete with spouses, and the book also begins to reveal to the reader what happened on the original trip. This time the adults bring their own baggage and secrets.  You might think this is simply a story about memory lane, until several odd things happen and they realize they are being followed.  This is an enjoyable, quick read.  Thriller lovers will appreciate a break from the evil neighbor/spouse novels that are so common these days.

I often read a book out loud to my husband when we are on a long car trip.  I wish I had read him this one to watch him squirm.

  

My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing

Hello everyone.

Hubby is back to work! I feel terrible about how he spent his vacation. He did some things around the house, one was cleaning out a walk-in closet to make it a mini library for me. After he went out and bought all the wood and brackets to build beautiful shelving I actually looked at the cleaned out closet and admitted I had forgotten how many shelves it already had and didn't want more. When I asked him to return all the lumber I think he might have hit me with it like in an old Bugs Bunny cartoon. In fact, it is still sitting in my hall, days later, unreturned, taunting me. It smells so good, that new wood smell. The boards he picked are so nice, thick and straight, they'd make beautiful shelves. I don't know, maybe I should ask him to build shelves anyway. If you see me in divorce court you'll know why. Likewise, if I suddenly go missing in a very mysterious way, first alert the police, second call my sisters, third write a book about it and make sure you make me an innocent victim with a much smaller butt and better hair!

While we were on our staycation, I read My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing. I wanted this book the moment I saw it but resisted buying it. I had just read For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt. Frankly, I was afraid they were they same thing. For Better and Worse is about a murdering couple. They murder for a reason, someone has hurt their child. They have a purpose, a gore filled goal (it isn't really gory). Thankfully, My Lovely Wife is completely different.  I got lucky, my husband is a hopeless romantic, he sends flowers for notable occasions, big beautiful bouquets. In My Lovely Wife, the husband/father is the narrator and honestly, I don't think the author gives his name...ever. He is married to Millicent and they have two children. Life is perfect, their version of perfect.  Instead of showing his affection for his wife with flowers, jewelry or an exciting trip, this husband finds her someone to murder! It is so dark and twisted. They live everyday life like everyone else, making you wonder what the "normal" people you know do in private. Nothing like a Wednesday night of, "honey, can you pass the green beans and how do you think we should torture victim number three?"  As I was telling hubby the story I kept gripping the book, holding it up, laughing, saying it was so good. Makes me wonder about myself!

So, if you have read the latest round of husband/wife killer books, don't worry. You'll enjoy this too. It is well written, fast paced, full of twists that you won't see coming and perhaps a bit shame inducing for how much you'll like it. This was a heart racing rollercoaster from start to finish!

We have our wedding anniversary coming up next month, I'll have to think of "something" to do to celebrate!