The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

What is going on with the cost of books?  I thought perhaps it was a temporary thing, but the wacky pricing of books seems to be here to stay. Authors don't get that much of what books cost, so don't blame them.  This leaves me asking why the heck digital books are so expensive. Why are they just a few dollars cheaper than a hardback book?  Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus, and yes, I know that publishers set the price of books.  But if I'm not getting a physical copy, why am I paying so darn much?  My Kindle books have to be formatted, I get it, but so do printed books.  I'm getting no cover, no pages, no paper, no book smell, no book to chuck across the room if it irritates me, and frankly, no book to throw dramatically in case of a fight with hubby. I feel like I've just watched A Christmas Story: no turkey sandwiches, no turkey salad, no turkey gravy, turkey hash, turkey a la king, or gallons of turkey soup.  What? I told you we were a movie line family.  Okay, I'll stop.  Why are paperbacks so expensive?  They are almost as much as a hardback and often more.  What happened to buying a book at the drug store at the beach for $3.95?  Now they are like twenty bucks.  Some big shots at the publishing houses are laughing their butts off at the gullible readers. First of all, if you work for a publishing house, I'm kidding.  Second, you are a lucky duck.  Does your office smell like a library with old books, or like a Barnes and Noble with new books and fresh coffee? These are the burning questions that keep me up at night. And, yes, I am the sucker paying a gazillion dollars for books. I can't help myself; I beg them to take my money.

I recently read The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden.  This is the follow up book to The Housemaid, which was released last fall.  While you'll feel right at home with the same main character if you read the first book, it is completely unnecessary to fully enjoy and understand the second.  This is the story about Millie, who has had a difficult past which she would like to keep private.  Unemployed and in need of money, Millie finds a job as a maid and cook for a couple who live in a lavish penthouse.  When learning of her new duties from Douglas Garrick, he advises her not to go into the guest room.  That is where his wife stays, and she is not well.  Millie must never bother Mrs. Garrick.  This seems reasonable until Millie hears unusual noises coming from the out of bounds room and possible crying from her unseen employer.  Then there is the blood that starts appearing on Mrs. Garrick's nightgowns that Millie is responsible for washing.  

While sequels rarely measure up to their original, The Housemaid's Secret is just as good. The twists remain surprising and worrisome.  The book takes flight on the first page and holds you hostage until the very last word.  A very quick, fun, read that will remind you of why you like thrillers!

This book, worth every penny.

The Lost Summers of Newport by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a nice day.

Have you ever toured historic homes?  Hubby and I both love history and houses so going places like Monticello and Mount Vernon are a natural fit.  One summer we went to the Biltmore.  This was the home of the Vanderbilts in Asheville NC.  The grounds alone are stunning with gardens, a green house and scenic woods and water everywhere.  I think Olmstead was the designer, the same person responsible for many famous gardens and parks including Central Park in New York. If you ever want to feel really poor, go to a Vanderbilt house, you'll feel like you're just schlepping through life without the use of oyster forks.

I recently read The Lost Summers of Newport by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.  These popular solo writers often team up to write historic fiction.  I read The Forgotten Room by these three ladies and enjoyed it.  This time their book is about a mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. The story is about the mansion owned by the Sprague family, which is quickly deteriorating like many of the larger houses in Newport.  

Told in three parts, one written by each author, the story rotates through each.  The first part takes place in 2019 and features Andie who is the host of a tv show Mansion Makeover.  She has been enlisted to "makeover" several rooms in the grand house.  While confronted by Luke, Andie is warned never to go certain places, to be gone at a specific time and to never ever bother Luke's grandmother, Lucky, living on the third floor.  

The second part is told from Ellen's point of view.  The time is 1899 and she has been hired to teach the young and lovely Maybelle Sprague to sing.  Maybelle is about to face an arranged, but prestigious, marriage to an Italian prince, so her voice must make him swoon. Interestingly, forces are working against Maybelle's royal wedding and Ellen is not what she seems.

The third area in the rotation is 1958, told from Lucky's perspective.  This is the same older lady and matriarch now living on the third floor.  She has a drunk and serial philandering husband, Stuy and his dying, father who is the epitome of disrespectful.  Lucky also has a married neighbor who loves her dearly and she reciprocates.

The publisher says this is a historical thriller.  I don't think it's a thriller, but it does have several fascinating mysteries.  The stories are interesting and come together masterfully.  If you are a fan of Newport, this is a must read as not only is the lifestyle addressed but several of the real homes are as well.  In any case, you will find this one difficult to put down and will wonder about the well-developed characters when not reading.  I only have one criticism and that is about the 2019 portion with Andie, the tv host.  This part is written by Karen White, and she refers to Melanie, a character from her Tradd Street series.  The Tradd Street series was seven books, which I read all gleefully.  It was cute in the beginning, seeing a beloved character mentioned, however, it got old very quickly.  By the ninth mention all the way back more than 300 pages in the book, it got to be annoying. In addition, it added absolutely nothing to the story and I ended up angry the author was wasting my time with what seemed like a trivial commercial.  

In general, I loved this book.  This might be my favorite of the year and it's only February.  One thing is for sure, we are now planning a trip to Newport to see these buildings.  I'll start hunting for an oyster fork.

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica

Hello everyone.  I hope this week has been great.

Lately it seems that normal things have snazzy new words.  Hiking, even for an afternoon, used to mean something rugged. You definitely wore a heavy backpack loaded with the latest survival gear, despite the hike being only two hours.  You also wore heavy brown, unyielding, boots. When on an official hike, you were in danger of being eaten by a mountain lion, billy goat, or at the minimum you encountered a flirtatious Big Foot. When I was a kid, we hiked all day, without the lifesaving gear.  We roughed it walking, oh excuse me, hiking to the creek where we dared walk in the water discovering waterfalls and crayfish.  You wanna talk about rugged, try walking around in soaking wet sneakers the rest of the day, they squished and squeaked with every step, then there was the wrath of Mom. Forget mountain lions, ruined brand new sneakers was a capital offense.

I recently read Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica.  I read one of her other books, Local Woman Missing, and didn't like the end.  This book is different.  Just the Nicest Couple is the story of two couples, that are friends.  Nina is a schoolteacher and her husband, Jake, is a surgeon.  Lily is also a teacher, and her adoring husband is Christian.  Sadly, Jake goes missing.  Lily tells Christian that she was on the "hiking" trail and saw Jake.  Something bad happened.  Christian tries to help his wife with this dangerous and tricky situation.  As with most thrillers, all is not what it seems.  The reader is presented with multiple scenarios as the picture constantly morphs.

This book was so fun.  The ending was fantastic.  I'm so glad I didn't give up on this author.  The story was fast paced, simply told, easy to read, and interesting.  A fun thriller!

I best hike my way to the kitchen to do dishes. I better find one of those survival backpacks, I'll need it.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Hello everyone. I hope you are having a great day.

Do you like scary movies and books?  I remember being a kid when The Exorcist came out.  My parents wouldn't let me watch it.  Of course, I snuck to the family room and stood behind the door to try and see what the hub bub was about.  The pea soup vomit was all it took to turn me away.  The movie Poltergeist reinforced my fear of dark water, which is odd since I had a lifeguard certification as a teen. Books don't seem to bother me as much, The Shining, I loved.  I disliked the end of King's It.  The Heart Shaped Box, now that was a frightening book that I had to keep putting down, it was so good.  Darcey Coates, now she writes great haunted house books.  I guess horror is difficult to write, but when done well those stories are hard to forget.

I recently read How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix.  This is the story of a brother, Mark, and sister, Louise, who have lost both their parents in a terrible car accident.  They have to clean out their childhood home in order to put it on the market.  The book's jacket says the house doesn't want to be sold.  I don't want to say any more about the story itself or I'll give everything away.  Please be cautious about reading Amazon reviews, they contain lots of spoilers.  

The story moves quickly, I read the 400+ page book comfortably in just two days (a record for me). For more than 200 pages, I was completely onboard.  Although some suspension of disbelief is necessary, the story was enjoyable and very spooky.  Then it seemed like the author gave up and just threw in loads and loads of gore.  I was starting to not be as enthusiastic about the story.  Just when you think it's wrapped up, nope still 100 more pages of increasingly bizarre and improbable things happen.  On top of it all, for me the ending was a complete disappointment.  Uuggh, I've had this on my tbr for six months and was so looking to reading it.  Maybe this is Grady Hendrix's style, and he is just not for me.  I don't know as this is my first of his books. You may love this book.  It is very creative, scary and the characters of Lousie and Mark are well developed.  If you read this crazy, spooky tale, I hope you love it.

Sign Here by Claudia Lux

Hello everyone.  I hope you've enjoyed a nice weekend.

I messed up and I've come to confess.  Occasionally I receive advanced copies of books from publishers.  Although they arrive with no strings attached, I feel like I should read and review them.  It seems only fair. A book for free and an advanced look? Yes, please.  It is a privilege that I would never want to abuse.  Let's face it, books even simply printed proof copies, are expensive, just like everything else.  In addition, I'm certain the author has their hopes up for some great feedback to help with their book sales (certainly not all reviews are positive).  

I dropped the ball.  Yes, there were the holidays, covid, and life in general, but I read plenty of other books in that time.  So, to Berkley publishing, I apologize.  I don't know if it was the length or topic, something stopped me from diving into your book immediately.  I hope other readers won't be so skittish, they would be missing out.

I recently read Sign Here by Claudia Lux.  This is the story of a man named Peyote who is in hell.  Yes, literal hell.  The descriptions are both terrifying and hilarious.  What I thought might turn my stomach was completely engaging.  Peyote is trying to get one final person in the Harrison family to sign over their soul, for which he will be rewarded.  The story also follows the Harrison family as they live their lives on earth.  They decide to spend their summer at the family lake house.  What seems like an idyllic vacation suddenly turns dark as the reader finds out that years ago something bad happened at that house.  Family members are hiding secrets that are starting to make others wonder.  One person knows the truth of what happened, Peyote, from hell.  He can use that knowledge to his advantage to get that one last soul.

Please, please, don't be like I was.  Do not let this book intimidate you with its 400+ pages and difficult topic.  This story is interesting, suspenseful, fun, witty, dark, and an easy read.  It's new and unique.  You can't say that as much these days.  Definitely worth a read.  I thoroughly enjoyed it!

If you want to receive advanced copies of books, you don't need to have a blog.  Authors are happy to have reviews anywhere.  You can go to Netgalley and read eBooks; you have to review on their site but once you get going publishers may approve you to receive that latest blockbuster early.  Or you can go to Bookishfirst, they usually send you a paper copy.  They require you to come back and write a review on their site.  Or you can go to Goodreads, under the browse button there are giveaways...hundreds of giveaways.  Goodreads would like you to come back and review the book, but it isn't required.  I'm certain there are more sites, but these are very reputable and well known. No soul selling for these books!

The Villa by Rachel Hawkins

Hello everyone.  I hope your day is going well.

Some people walk through life (literally) with grace.  Not me, I walk through everything with an eternal sense of clumsiness.  Sadly, some of my lack of walking on clouds has rubbed off on my husband.  Now some of his troubles he deserves.  Hubby constantly leaves glasses, bowls, everything, halfway on and halfway off the counter or table.  It's begging mean old Mr. Gravity to do his job, while he laughs maniacally and twists his handlebar mustache.  This time, I'm talking about accidents.  One time after my grandfather had died, my sisters and I rented a house on the beach in Nags Head, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  We invited my grandmother, thinking it would be a great escape for her and reenforcing that we were still a family of which she was a big part.  One day while helping my grandmother in her room, hubby had to get something that had fell behind a set of drawers.  They were about hip high, and he didn't realize that the top drawer was slightly open.  As he bent over the top to pull her item from behind the dresser, um...some very personal part of his body traveled into the top of the drawer (yes, he was dressed), at the same time he was leaning against the drawer.  Yes, he gave himself a major pinch, all the while not letting on to my grandmother what had happened.  Yep, that's one of my memories of renting a house for a family vacation.

I recently read The Villa by Rachel Hawkins.  I've reviewed several of her books before, enjoying them.  In addition, she writes The Ex Hex series under the name Erin Sterling, also reviewed here.  The Villa is about Emily and Chess, both authors and best friends from Asheville, NC.  When reunited for a visit they decide to spend the summer in Italy in a famous villa with an interesting history.  The story moves in dual timelines between the present and 1974 where five people are also renting the same villa for the summer.  They are musicians and a writer.  All hoping the setting will improve their creativity. Sadly in 1974 one of the five ends up murdered.  The crime is solved and one of them goes to jail, but when in the present-day Emily does some research, it appears things may not have been as it seemed.  As the book moves through everyone's time on their vacation, parts of their histories start to match up.  Will Emily solve what really happened in 1974, will the cursed house tear Em and Chess apart or worse?  

While I have enjoyed Rachel Hawkins past books this one is so superior.  The story is multi layered, interesting, moves at a thoughtful pace.  While not a heart pounding thriller, you'll be thrilled to keep those pages turning.  Highly entertaining, this book is hard to put down.  Don't miss it.

Now that I've told you about my husband and his hurt...um...pride...I better go make sure all the kitchen drawers are closed.   

You Can Hide by Rebecca Zanetti

Hello everyone.  I hope you are having a great day.

I was recently listening to an interview given by a major thriller author.  He was talking about doing ample research. As he discussed having to pull strings to get access to a Secret Service agent, I had to smile.  Although I am the lowly, cookie baking, dog butt trimming, compulsive list making, recipe testing, popular fiction reading, unknown to everyone, housewife....I have had lunch with a Secret Service agent.  As I've explained in the past, this occurred while I was still working, prior to my glorious wifery ways.  I had a chuckle at the expense of this huge writing talent, constantly on the NY Times Bestseller list.  I, yes, me, know an FBI agent.  Gasp!  Did you gasp?  Come on, given my constant complaints on egg and butter prices, tales of dishwasher failures, or chicken baking, this is the good stuff.  I'll try again, I have had lunch with a Secret Service agent and know an FBI agent.  Now...all together...gasp!  How shocking.  How unusual.  How impressive.  Ah forget it, people today are so jaded and impressed by nothing but money.  

I recently read You Can Hide by Rebecca Zanetti.  This is part of a series, but I didn't know that, and it didn't matter.  This is the story of a FBI agent Laurel Snow, who works with Fish and Wildlife Captain Huck Rivers, as they try to catch a serial killer.  Someone is hunting accomplished women, bashing their brains in, cutting off their hands, and leaving them outside in the winter in northern Washington state.  All the women are surrounded by black dahlias, symbolizing betrayal.  As Laurel and Huck work together, the reader is presented with several viable candidates for killer.  The need for speed in solving this case is urgent to prevent another woman from meeting such a horrible fate.  The pace is magnified when Laurel's own sister finds her own front yard sprinkled with black dahlias.

This book was fun and interesting.  While more mystery than thriller for me, the construction of the story kept me guessing and interested.  Not overly wordy and maintaining pacing throughout, I enjoyed this one.  Not to mention, it surprised me, all the way to the last page.  Gotta love that.  

By the way, I didn't meet an FBI agent when I did hard time for letting chicken stock boil over on the stove.  He was our neighbor at our last house, making for an interesting neighborhood watch!