Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Genre: Nonfiction
Source: Dreamscape Media ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: David Roberts was Whitney Houston’s bodyguard, the real one.
Roberts was hired in 1988 for Houston’s UK portion of the Moment of Truth world tour. Accustomed to working for diplomats and Fortune 500 clients, Roberts had reservations about working with a pop star. But Houston’s heart of gold won him over from the moment they met at Heathrow airport.
There’s a high bar for those who work in this you must be willing to die for your boss. Houston made that easy. Roberts got to travel the globe with one of the most fun-loving and generous souls he’d ever met. His memoir reveals heartwarming anecdotes of life with one of the world’s most recognizable stars, including privately shared moments such as the birth of Bobbi Kristina.
But there are also shocking and heartbreaking revelations. Roberts was present for some of Houston’s most challenging ordeals. And he was helpless as he watched those who claimed to love and support her look the other way because they saw her voice box as a cash machine.
His heart was ultimately shattered as he witnessed her succumb to the one threat he could not protect her herself.

Ope’s Opinion: David’s voice was so easy to listen to. He revealed so much from his perspective without feeling like an intrusion on Whitney’s life. You could feel how real and honest David was in his retelling of what happened.

This may seem weird, but I would like to thank David for sharing his experiences. I could feel how he truly cared for Whitney – at times it seemed like he might have been one of the few that cared more for her than what they would get from her.

Publisher: Level Best Books
Genre: Mystery
Source: Level Best Books ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: Josie Ashbury was a successful Hollywood actress with a booming career-until an on-set breakdown sends her back to her small Ohio hometown to recover. Taking a job teaching at her old high school, Josie is beginning to put the pieces of her life back together when one of her students dies under suspicious circumstances. The police close the case quickly, without any real answers. Josie is determined to find the truth behind the girl’s death. At the same time, Josie is battling demons of her own. As she faces debilitating insomnia that leaves her with gaps in her memory, she dives into the tangled secrets surrounding the investigation. When she finally unravels the web, she discovers that the truth lies much closer to home than she could have ever imagined.

Ope’s Opinion: The mystery itself was an interesting one. The story felt like it should be in the YA category. The detailed description of who was wearing what and the conversations felt young for an adult book.

I am not and never have been a fan of amateur sleuthing. I don’t buy it that if a trained professional can’t find the answer, but an amateur can some how figure it out.

The short chapters helped me keep reading.

Publisher: Griffin
Genre: Romance
Source: Griffin ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: College student Cassie Soul hasn’t spent an entire summer in Avalon Bay in years, not since her parents divorced and her mother spitefully whisked her away to Boston. Now that her grandmother is selling the boardwalk hotel that’s been in their family for five decades, Cassie returns to the quaint beach town to spend time with family, ring in her twenty-first birthday… and maybe find herself a summer fling.

On her first night in town, she finds the perfect candidate: Tate Bartlett, Avalon Bay’s fun-loving golden boy.

Tate, sailing instructor and lovable player, is no stranger to flings. In fact, he’s always down for a good time. But the moment he meets Cassie, he knows she’s not the girl you play games with. Cassie is gorgeous, hilarious, and, frankly, the coolest person he’s ever met. The last thing he wants to do is risk breaking her heart, and so he reluctantly puts her in the friend-zone… only to realize he made a huge mistake. Soon, his attraction to Cassie becomes impossible to ignore. He wants that fling now. Big-time.

And maybe even something more.

As Cassie and Tate walk the line between friends and lovers, they’re about to discover that their situation is the least complicated part of this equation. Because Avalon Bay is full of secrets—and their relationship might not survive when those secrets come to light.

Ope’s Opinion: I am obviously not the right reader for this book. I got tired to the “f” word. I wish the author had been a little more creative in her words.

Everyone was haphazardly hooking up with everyone else.

Just not my kind of book.

Publisher: Canary Street Press
Genre: Fiction
Source: Canary Street Press ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: 15 summers ago, everything changed…

Ava Howell seemed to have it all. She moved away from Emerald Creek, Idaho, married the love of her life and published a bestselling memoir. But she never expected that her husband would feel so betrayed by a secret from her past—the truth of what happened to her and her sister all those years ago—that he’d walk away. Now Ava is back home and trying to move on with the only person who can truly understand…

Following years of healing, Madison Howell is finally happy. After college she built a no-kill shelter where she works with animals every day, and she’s in love with the town veterinarian, Dr. Luke Gentry. But she can’t ever bring herself to tell him. Years ago, his dad died protecting Madi and her sister, so how could he ever love her back?

With the truth laid bare, and the past that Ava and Madison have worked so hard to leave behind threatening everything they have built for themselves, the Howell sisters’ reunion is bittersweet. And as Ava and Madi attempt to remedy the rifts in their lives and reconcile their futures, they must face the demons of their past together.

Ope’s Opinion: I am such a RaeAnne Thayne fan, I did not read the synopsis before I agreed to read and review this book. The cover is deceiving, I assumed it was a romance. It has romance in it, but the crux of the story is about the sister relationship and the past they endured together.

I enjoyed the two sisters relationship. Parts of their past were hard to read about. This is not a light read.