What Lies Around The Bend...

“In Cambridge, four children have been murdered. Wrongly accused of the crimes, a small community of Jews threatened by Catholic mobs is given sanctuary by Henry II. To assist in proving their innocence, he summons an expert in the science of deduction and the art of death. She is Adelia, a prodigy from the Medical School of Salerno, and an anomaly in a medieval world, who is forced to conceal her identity and her purpose from England’s grave superstitions and condemnation. One man willing to work with her is Sir Rowley Picot. His personal steak in the investigation makes him an invaluable ally - and in Adelia’s eyes, a suspect as well. From navigating Cambridge’s perilous river paths to penetrating the dark shadows of the Church, Adelia’s investigation will not only reveal the secrets of the dead, but in time, the far more dangerous ones buried in the living.” Review: Okay, let me start by being honest. I honestly thought this was going to be a lighthearted kind of whodunnit murder my...

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE SAINT VIEW PRISON SERIES, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 3. CHECK OUT  LOCKED UP LIARS   FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1, AND  SOLITARY SINNERS  FOR BOOK 2! “When a judge declared Heath guilty and sentenced him to death row, everything we'd been fighting for went up in flames. We have no excuses. No appeals. No freedom.  Now, there's only one way out. One way left for him to avoid a lethal injection in his arm.  Escape.” Content Guidance:  This series contains explicit content that is not suitable for readers who are under 18. This book also contains dark themes that may trigger some readers. Please read with care. Review: Wow, what a fantastic way to wrap up this story. Being on the run has never been so peaceful frankly. Doesn't everyone want to live the rest of their days in a cabin in the woods with three hunky gentlemen all in love with you?????? My only quarrel is the very very end of t...

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE SAINT VIEW PRISON SERIES, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. THIS IS BOOK 2. CHECK OUT  LOCKED UP LIARS  FOR THE REVIEW OF BOOK 1! “In the middle of a prison riot, the psychopath who  murdered my sister holds me hostage. Soulless eyes  black, bloodied knife in his hand, my name a  whispered threat on his lips. My only hope is the  three men fighting for my heart…and their lives. Separated in the chaos, flames surround Rowe, the  growly prison guard who acts like he hates me but  always has my back. Liam, my lawyer on the outside.  I've only just realized the depth of my feelings for the  boy I once despised in high school. I dragged him  into all of this and now I need his  help more than  ever. And cornered by violent criminals is Heath, the  prisoner I've fallen for more with every day he's been  incarcerated. I know he's innocent and I'm here to  prove it...

“Nothing prepares you for finding your sister's lifeless body covered in blood. But when the police arrest her ex, a man I know is innocent, I can't sit by and do nothing. Not when I've been secretly in love with him for years. Heath may not want my help, but I won't take no for an answer.  To catch a killer, I'm forced to take a job at Saint View Prison. Maximum security. The place they send the worst of the worst. But it's not just Heath who doesn't want me there. Rowe, the sinfully sexy head guard has made it clear I don't belong. I'd tell him where to go with my middle finger up, if my skin didn't prickle with awareness every time he touches me.  Then there's Liam, hotshot lawyer and my old high school enemy. All that tension and chemistry is still there, burning between us like flames. I need his help, but I'll be damned if I beg for it. With every lie we uncover, every secret we expose, the danger mounts. Until there's only one ...

"They say your first kiss should be earned. Mine was stolen by a devil in a masquerade mask under the black Chicago sky. They say the vows you take on your wedding day are sacred. Mine were broken before we left church. They say your heart only beats for one man. Mine split and bled for two rivals who fought for it until the bitter end. I was promised to Angelo Bandini, the heir to one of the most powerful families in the Chicago Outfit. Then taken by Senator Wolfe Keaton, who held my father’s sins over his head to force me into marriage. They say that all great love stories have a happy ending. I, Francesca Rossi, found myself erasing and rewriting mine until the very last chapter. One kiss. Two men. Three lives. Entwined together. And somewhere between these two men, I had to find my forever." Review: Alright… you already know what this is. Adult content. You’ve been warned. So. Was this fantastic literature? Of course it wasn’t. This book had one goal and Shen delivered. W...

"When Korede's dinner is interrupted one night by a distress call from her sister, Ayoola, she knows what's expected of her: bleach, rubber gloves, nerves of steel and a strong stomach. This'll be the third boyfriend Ayoola's dispatched in, quote, self-defense and the third mess that her lethal little sibling has left Korede to clear away. She should probably go to the police for the good of the menfolk of Nigeria, but she loves her sister and, as they say, family always comes first. Until, that is, Ayoola starts dating the doctor where Korede works as a nurse. Korede's long been in love with him, and isn't prepared to see him wind up with a knife in his back: but to save one would mean sacrificing the other..." Review: WOW! What a fantastic read. We've got two sisters with such a complex dynamic, and bodies dropping faster than we can (or Korede) can keep up with. Then the one man Korede harbors feelings for goes and dates her psychopathic sister ...

"Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat. Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete. An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two. A bad romance, or maybe three. Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains. A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her. A girl who refuses to be the person she once was." Review:  What the hell was that, Lockhart???? I'm upset and not in a good way. E. Lockhart gave me one of my top ten favorite books ever with We Were Liars , so when I saw another thriller I thought would rock my socks off, I went and got it. What I got instead, was utter disappointment. I was so hyped for this book, I was ready for the twist of a lifetime, like I had gotten before, and walked away with absolute confusion and dashed hopes. The set up was enticing. We have a girl on the run and pretending to be someone else. Jule was my favorite kind of cha...

  "The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it. But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the murder, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn't so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final year project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth?" Review: I’m honestly still reeling from this one. This was so close to being my favorite read of the year. SO CLOSE! It had me right up til the end. It was the perfect murder mystery, we were focused on the case right along Pip, each step, each theory, each lead. I was on the same page as Pip the entire TIME, and that included Sal’s brother *wink wink*.  And for a moment, I thought I knew who the killer could be, and if it had been, it would have been BRILLIANT!!!! But instead, w...

"Gramps always said that when the crickets were quiet, something bad was coming. And the crickets have been as silent as the dead.  It started with the murdered deer in the playground with the unmistakable purple of a foxglove in its mouth. But in the dying boondock town of Emerald Cove, life goes on. I work at Gramps's diner, and the cakes―the entitled rich kids who vacation here―make our lives hell. My best friend, Alex Pace, is the one person who gets me. Only Alex has changed. He's almost like a stranger now. I can't figure it out...or why I'm having distinctly more-than-friend feelings for him. Ones I shouldn't be having. Then one of the cakes disappears. When she turns up murdered, a foxglove in her mouth, a rumor goes around that Alex was the last person seen with her—and everyone but me believes it. Well, everyone except my worst enemy, Jenika Shaw. When Alex goes missing, it's up to us to prove his innocence and uncover the true killer. But the tru...

“Flora Dane is a victim. Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure. Flora Dane is a survivor. Miraculously alive after her ordeal, Flora has spent the past five years reacquainting herself with the rhythms of normal life, working with her FBI victim advocate, Samuel Keynes. She has a mother who’s never stopped loving her, a brother who is scared of the person she’s become, and a bedroom wall covered with photos of other girls who’ve never made it home. Flora Dane is reckless. ... or is she? When Boston detective D. D. Warren is called to the scene of a crime - a dead man and the bound, naked woman who killed him - she learns that Flora has tangled with three other suspects since her return to society. Is Flora a victim or a vigilante? And with her firsthand knowledge of criminal behavior, could she hold the key to rescuing a missing college student whose abduct...

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVE NOT GOTTEN THIS FAR IN THE HEIST SOCIETY SERIES, STOP NOW. DO NOT READ. FOR THE REVIEW ON BOOK 1, CHECK OUT HEIST SOCIETY . "Katarina Bishop has worn a lot of labels in her short life. Friend. Niece. Daughter. Thief. But for the last two months she’s simply been known as the girl who ran the crew that robbed the greatest museum in the world. That’s why Kat isn’t surprised when she’s asked to steal the infamous Cleopatra Emerald so it can be returned to its rightful owners. There are only three problems. First, the gem hasn’t been seen in public in thirty years. Second, since the fall of the Egyptian empire and the suicide of Cleopatra, no one who holds the emerald keeps it for long, and in Kat’s world, history almost always repeats itself. But it’s the third problem that makes Kat’s crew the most nervous and that is simply… the emerald is cursed. Kat might be in way over her head, but she’s not going down without a fight. After all she has...

"When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg. Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality. With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…" Review: Before we begin, I’d just like to say two things: First, Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym for JK Rowling, and I didn’t know that, so super cool! *whispers* do you think she goes “It’s Robert Galbraith! JK it’s Rowling! Cus I’d love it if she did....just saying. Second, I’d like to say this is kind of a series,...

"Nothing ever happens in the town of Long Thorpe – that is, until sixteen-year-old Summer Robinson disappears without a trace. No family or police investigation can track her down. Spending months inside the cellar of her kidnapper with several other girls, Summer learns of Colin’s abusive past, and his thoughts of his victims being his family…his perfect, pure flowers. But flowers can’t survive long cut off from the sun, and time is running out…." Review: This one was so INTENSE! I mean it is to be expected when you're reading from the point of view of someone who has been kidnapped and is being held hostage, but honestly it was very intense. What also upped the ante was reading from the point of view of the kidnapper. Without giving anything away, he does a LOT to our main character and the other girls she's being held hostage with, so to not only witness what he does but also get inside his head was beyond creepy. For the most part I was absolutely enthralled. M...

"Sixteen-year-old Jeff Jacobson had never heard of Jeffrey Dahmer, the infamous serial killer who brutally murdered seventeen people more than twenty years ago. But then Jeff discovers he was constructed in a laboratory only eight years ago, part of a top-secret government cloning experiment called Project CAIN. And scientists created him entirely from Jeffrey Dahmer's DNA. Jeff isn't the only teenage serial-killer clone. Others have been genetically engineered using the DNA of the Son of Sam, the Boston Strangler, and Ted Bundy. Some clones were raised, like Jeff, in caring family environments; others within homes that mimicked the horrific early lives of the serial killers they were created from. When the most dangerous boys are set free, the summer of killing begins. Worse, they hold a secret weapon even more deadly than the terrible evil they carry within. Can Jeff help catch the "monsters" before becoming one himself?" Review: Honestly, this bo...

" Find Me. These are the words written on Tessa Waye's diary. The diary that ends up with Wick Tate. But Tessa's just been found... dead. Wick has the right computer-hacking skills for the job but little interest in this perverse game of hide-and-seek. Until her sister, Lily, is the next target. Then Griff, trailer-park boy next door and fellow hacker, shows up, intent on helping Wick. Is a happy ending possible with the threat of Wick's deadbeat dad returning, the detective hunting him sniffing around Wick instead, and a killer taunting her at every step? Foster child. Daughter of a felon. loner hacker girl. Wick has a bad attitude and sarcasm to spare. But she's going to find this killer no matter what. Because it just got personal." Review: I cannot begin to describe how much I loved this book. I cried, gasped, cheered, stomped my feet; you name it, I was completely captivated. I related to Wick on so many levels, we could pra...

"When New York's most vicious gossip columnist, Cassidy Towne, is found dead, Heat uncovers a gallery of high-profile suspects, all with compelling motives for killing the most feared muckraker in Manhattan. But Heat's murder investigation is complicated by her surprise reunion with superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook. In the wake of their recent breakup, Nikki would rather not deal with their raw emotional baggage. But the handsome, wise-cracking writer's personal involvement in the case forces her to team up with Rook anyway. The residue of their unsolved romantic conflict and crackling sexual tension fills the air as Heat and Rook embark on the search for a killer among celebrities and mobsters, singers and hookers, pro athletes and shamed politicians. This new, explosive case brings on the heat in the glittery world of secrets, cover-ups, and scandals." Review: Let me begin by saying this is technically a sequel to the first Nicki Heat book Heat Wave...

"Heam is the hottest drug around. It smells like strawberries and looks like liquid silver. People say when you take Heam, your body momentarily dies and you catch a glimpse of heaven. I saw something else. I saw hell. Faye was only eleven when dealers forced Heam on her and her best friend, Christian. She survived; he didn't. Now she spends her days hiding her terrible secret and her nights training to take revenge on the men who destroyed her future and murdered her best friend. But life never goes the way we think it will. When a mysterious young man named Chael appears, Faye's plan suddenly gets a lot more complicated. He seems to know everything about her, including her past. As she gets drawn into his world, she starts to realize that things aren't as black-and-white as she first thought. But too many secrets start tearing her world apart: trouble at school, with the police, and with the people she thought might be her friends. Even Gazer, her guardian, fea...

"When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her to the Louvre... to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria... to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own - scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, the gorgeous Hale, appears, pulling her back into the world she has only just escaped. But he has a good reason: a powerful mobster's priceless art collection has been stolen, and he wants it returned. Now. Only a master thief could have pulled off this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is  the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat's dad needs her help. Kat's solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and, ho...

"Everybody knows, nobody's talking.... Seventeen-year-old Skylar Thompson is being questioned by the police. Her boyfriend, Jimmy, stands accused of brutally assaulting two young El Salvadoran immigrants from a neighboring town, and she's the prime witness. Skylar is keeping quiet about what she's seen, but how long can she keep it up? But Jimmy was her savior.... When her mother died, he was the only person who made her feel safe, protected from the world. But when she begins to appreciate the enormity of what has happened, especially when Carlos Cortez, one of the victims, steps up to demand justice, she starts to have second thoughts about protecting Jimmy. Jimmy's accomplice, Sean, is facing his own moral quandary. He's out on bail and has been offered a plea in exchange for testifying against Jimmy. The truth must be told.... Sean must decide whether or not to turn on his friend in order to save himself. But most importantly, both he and Skylar need to...

Hi. I'm Samantha and I hope you enjoy my first Book Review and the many more reviews to come. Thank You for stopping by! Synopsis: "Sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of the car while her stepmom fills her prescription. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, someone is stealing the car - with her inside! Griffin hadn't meant to kidnap Cheyenne; all he planned to do was take the car. But once Griffin's dad finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of a powerful cooperation, everything changes - now there's a reason to keep her. How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare? She's not only sick - she's BLIND!" Review: This book was a lot better than I expected. It showed both points of view of the two main characters and the villain comes from an unexpected direction. I really loved stepping into the eyes of a blind person. Going through the struggles Cheyenne had to go through and all under extreme circumstance...