One Of Us Us Next (One of Us is Lying, #2) by Karen McManus

One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I would have given this book 5 stars if not for the LAST sentence! I really liked the previous characters from the Bayview Four and also the new ones too. McManus knows how to write mysteries, to keep readers turning the pages. The friendships, the families, the high school drama and social media were all so realistic, heart pounding, and sinister!

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The Somerset Sisters by Lori Foster

The Somerset Girls: A Novel by Lori Foster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Romance (U.S. & Canada) and HQN for the advance reader copy, The Somerset Girls by favorite romance author, Lori Foster, in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved sisters, Autumn and Ember Somerset, and their relationship in this beautiful novel of family and pets, rescue, love, and hope. I could not stop reading about these sisters, their love interests, Mike and Tash, and Sadie, Tash’s young daughter. The added plot of their rescue of abused animals, all with personalities and names resonated with all the feel goods that Lori Foster books give me. The romances of the sisters, their aging parents and their goofy relationships all combine for an awesome read; highly recommended.

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Go With the Flow by Lily Williams and Karen Schneeman

Go with the Flow by Lily Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great graphic novel about friendship and dealing with female problems in High School!

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Hot Lunch by Rex Ogle

Free Lunch by Rex Ogle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow this book is a tough but necessary read as Rex tells us his life during one semester in middle school. Too many kids are living under horrific conditions; abusive parents, racism, poverty, and feelings of loss, abandonment and anger as they and Rex try to live each day in a hell that is overwhelming. Teachers, guidance counselors, teens and middle school kids MUST read this book. It is honest and sad and gripping! Highly recommended!

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The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Saskia Maarleveld's narration and performance was flawless, mesmerizing and I just did not want this story to end!!! Eve, Finn and Charlie were totally believable characters; both Eve and Charlie are thorny (Eve is a spy and Charlie in search of her cousin after WWII) but you rooted for both of them as the story progressed. Bouncing back and forth between Eve POV (1915 WWI) and Charlie POV (1947) the reader is immersed in Eve and her training as a spy. Possessing a stutter, Eve poses as a demure, unworldly Marguerite who waits tables in a restaurant that caters to the Germans during WWI and owned by a reprehensible collaborator. Fast forward to Charlie (1947) who is pregnant and in Europe with her mother to get an abortion but really looking for her cousin, Rose. I enjoyed Charlie as she grew in this novel from a girl desperate to find her cousin while still mourning the suicide of her soldier brother. Both Charlie and Eve face all kinds of discrimination but do not allow anything to stop them from their end goals. Loved everything about this book; the war, the romance, the spying; highly recommended! I am missing Eve, Charlie and Finn already!

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Hot Comb by Ebony Flowers

Hot Comb by Ebony Flowers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many thanks to Jennifer LaGarde for this wonderful graphic novel recommendation! Flowers has given a very compelling, sometimes humorous look at black girls, their hair and hair products through black and white illustrations in this realistic look at life encompassing their reality, culture, class and family.

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Spilled Blood by Brian Freeman

Spilled Blood by Brian Freeman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A stand alone novel by master thriller author, Brian Freeman takes on the hatred in two towns, the murder of a teen, gang justice, and a large corporation run by a man with no conscience. I read this gripping novel in two days, I could not put it down! I loved the pace of the novel, characters Chris and Hannah Hawk with angry daughter, Olivia who is accused of murdering another teen, Ashlynn. What follows is a psychological suspense murder mystery and so much more as the investigation ratchets up for Chris Hawk, distrusted in a town with lots of secrets, who tries to prove his daughter's innocence. Freeman's descriptions of the towns Barron and St. Croix were authentic, with insidious mysteries sliding in to terrorize him and all of the residents, a must read!

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