Engineering a Life takes the reader on a journey from rural India to America in the 60’s and 70’s. The story is set primarily in the American South, offering a glimpse of what life was like for an immigrant during that time. Bedi came to America in the early 1960’s after a struggle to make it out of India. I enjoyed learning about the culture and how hard it was for Bedi to make it out of India but the story failed to pull me in. It was more of a recitation of events than a story of someone’s life that provoked emotions and imagery. Throughout the book we watch Bedi struggle to adjust to life in America and fail to reach his goals. He does persevere though and it ends up being a story of hop

“We’re all the murdering kind, given the right motivation.” Too Close to Breath is a dark thriller that will have you up long past your bedtime both because you can’t put it down and because you are worried about what lurks in the dark. The story follows DCS Frankie Sheehan as she attempts to unravel a convoluted case with multiple murder, quite a few suspects and deals with her own trauma from a recent run in with a murderer. This was a fantastic read. It had just the right amount of grit to tell the story without being overly gory or detailed. There are enough plausible suspects to keep you guessing until you get nearly to the end. I felt that Frankie was a terrific main character. She’s g

Istanbul Days, Istanbul Nights is a wonderful reimagining of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with a modern flare to it. The story takes place in an Istanbul university devoted to the performing arts. The story offers a cast of characters from a variety of nationalities. The Montague and Capulet families are replaced by the Turkish Class and the English class. The play being put on it only one aspect of the novel, the rest is the relationships that form between the teachers and the students throughout the school year. Overall I enjoyed the writing style and the way the story was told, in scenes rather than chapters. But I felt that there were too many characters. It inhibited my ability to rea

A group of woman from the same neighborhood spend the evening around a bonfire, drinking and telling stories, the perfect evening. In the morning though one of them, Kristen, has vanished without a trace, along with her two twin children. What follows is a character driven story about the woman who inhabit the neighborhood and how their lives form around the tragedy. There’s Clara, who seems to stick her nose right into the middle of the investigation and Izzy, who is dealing with her own life troubles and seems content to turn a blind eye to what may or may not have happened. There’s also Paul, the husband who may or may not have had something to do with her disappearance. I enjoyed the boo

The Wife Between Us is a thriller full of so many twists and turns you won’t have a clue what’s going on. Assume nothing as you read this book, you’ll probably be wrong. Its hard to write this review without giving anything away. The books starts off in what you think of as a typical thriller, you’ll think you know where its going; you won’t. You’ll make assumptions about the characters in the book and you’ll think that you know them; you don’t. You’ll start to form ideas about where the book is going; you’ll be wrong. This is what makes the book so darn good. About halfway through you have a “WAIT, WHAT??” moment and you’ll have to put the book down for a few minutes and ponder what’s going

The View from Rainshadow Bay was an implausible tale with bits of great story telling sprinkled within. It’s the story of a recently widowed woman who gets dragged into a mystery with multiple deaths and a scary killer after her. There are deep buried secrets to be uncovered and a romance quickly building. I was drawn to the main character, Shauna, for several reasons. I admired her strength to move on after her husbands death and I liked how fiercely she loved her son, though I think the author used that as a bit of a crutch sometimes. Shauna would do just about anything if she was reminded that it was best for her son and I got a little tired of that same technique. I also liked Zach as a

Title: Southern Discomfort Series: A Southern B&B Mystery #1 Author: Caroline Fardig Release Date: 3/6/18 Rating: 3.5/5 Stars Synopsis from Goodreads: Quinn Bellandini loves her life in Savannah, Georgia, where she runs her grandfather’s B&B with her sister, Delilah. From baking fresh scones and serving up grits every morning to ensuring the guests see the best of their historic city, Quinn can’t imagine doing anything else—even if it means dealing with nuisances like the occasional malfunctioning commode. But when Quinn drops by the local restaurant owned by her friend Drew Green, and stumbles upon a murder, her whole world comes crashing down. Drew’s brother was always a little surly, b

Title: The Wolves of Winter Author: Tyrell Johnson Release Date: 1/2/18 Rating: 4/5 Stars Synopsis from Goodreads: Forget the old days. Forget summer. Forget warmth. Forget anything that doesn’t help you survive. Lynn McBride has learned much since society collapsed in the face of nuclear war and the relentless spread of disease. As memories of her old life haunt her, she has been forced to forge ahead in the snow-covered Canadian Yukon, learning how to hunt and trap to survive. But her fragile existence is about to be shattered. Shadows of the world before have found her tiny community—most prominently in the enigmatic figure of Jax, who sets in motion a chain of events that will force

Title: Deadly Sweet Series: The Spellwork Syndicate Author: Lola Dodge Release Date: January 16th 2018 Rating: 3/5 Stars Synopsis from Goodreads: Anise Wise loves three things: baking, potion making, and reading her spellbooks in blissful silence. She might not be the most powerful witch, but enchantment is a rare skill, and her ability to bake with magic is even rarer. Too bad no one wants witchcraft on their campus. Anise’s dream of attending pastry school crumbles with rejection letter after rejection letter. Desperate to escape her dead-end future, Anise contacts the long-lost relative she’s not supposed to know about. Great Aunt Agatha owns the only magic bakery in the US, and she su

Title: Olivia Twist Author: Lorie Langdon Release Date: March 6, 2017 Rating: 4.5/5 Stars Synopsis from Goodreads: Olivia Brownlow is no damsel in distress. Born in a workhouse and raised as a boy among thieving London street gangs, she is as tough and cunning as they come. When she is taken in by her uncle after a caper gone wrong, her life goes from fighting and stealing on the streets to lavish dinners and soirees as a debutante in high society. But she can’t seem to escape her past … or forget the teeming slums where children just like her still scrabble to survive. Jack MacCarron rose from his place in London’s East End to become the adopted “nephew” of a society matron. Little does

Title: Death by Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Series: Death by Chocolate Mystery #1 Author: Sarah Graves Release Date: January 30th 2018 Rating: 3/5 Stars Synopsis from Goodreads: Jake and Ellie have been through a lot together, from home repair to homicide investigation. So when they decide to open a chocolate-themed bakery, they figure it’ll be a piece of cake. With Ellie’s old family recipes luring in customers, they expect to make plenty of dough this Fourth of July weekend. Having family home for the holiday only sweetens the deal for Jake—until the ill wind of an early-season hurricane blows up her plans. When the storm hits, Jake’s grown son Sam is stranded in a Boston bus station, and