Tag Archives: Lake Union Publishing

The Waiting Room

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Author: Emily Bleeker
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Suspense
Source: Jackie at JKS Communications

Goodreads:  From the bestselling author of When I’m Gone and Working Fire comes a gripping novel about a mother, her missing daughter, and the dark secrets that engulf them.

Ever since her husband’s death collided with the birth of her daughter, postpartum depression has taken hold of Veronica Shelton. She can’t sleep, can’t work, and can’t bear to touch her beautiful baby girl. Her emotional state is whispering lies in Veronica’s ear: You’re a bad mother. Your baby would be better off without you. But not everything can be reasoned away by Veronica’s despair. Can it?

After all, the break-in at her house happened. The disturbing sketches she found in her studio are real. So is the fear for her daughter’s safety—especially when Veronica comes home to a cold, silent nursery and a missing baby.

As she turns from victim into primary suspect, Veronica realizes that only she can find her daughter. Authorities aren’t helping. They’re only watching. Veronica’s concerned mother has suddenly vanished from her life. And a new friend seems to be keeping secrets from her too. Now, reality is waiting for Veronica in a dark place—because someone’s mind games have only just begun.

Ope’s Opinion: Let me just tell you I really like Emily Bleeker.  If this is your first book from her, it won’t be your last! 

When I started this book, I was lost, confused and a little frustrated that I couldn’t figure out what was going on.  Veronica ( the main character ) has depression and her voice is unsure and she was all over the place.  But as I said previously, I like Bleeker, so I kept reading.  Thank goodness I did!!  This book was great!  Bleeker took me down a road I did not see coming.

It is worth your time to read this one.

Out Now

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If historical fiction is your type of read,
pick up this book today!

Goodreads:  From New York Times bestselling author Meg Waite Clayton comes a riveting novel based on one of the most volatile and intoxicating real-life love affairs of the twentieth century.

Key West, 1936. Headstrong, accomplished journalist Martha Gellhorn is confident with words but less so with men when she meets disheveled literary titan Ernest Hemingway in a dive bar. Their friendship—forged over writing, talk, and family dinners—flourishes into something undeniable in Madrid while they’re covering the Spanish Civil War.

Martha reveres him. The very married Hemingway is taken with Martha—her beauty, her ambition, and her fearless spirit. And as Hemingway tells her, the most powerful love stories are always set against the fury of war. The risks are so much greater. They’re made for each other.

With their romance unfolding as they travel the globe, Martha establishes herself as one of the world’s foremost war correspondents, and Hemingway begins the novel that will win him the Nobel Prize for Literature. Beautiful Exiles is a stirring story of lovers and rivals, of the breathless attraction to power and fame, and of one woman—ahead of her time—claiming her own identity from the wreckage of love.

Thank you Sarah at Little Bird Publicity
for sending this book.

Out Now

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Have you read Everything We Keep?
Have you read Everything We Left Behind?
If you have, read the third one now!
If you haven’t start from the beginning.

Goodreads:  From the author of Everything We Keep comes the final novel in the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling Everything Series. Brimming with suspense, mystery, and romance, Everything We Give brings to a powerful close the gripping series of love, lies, and the secrets families keep.

Award-winning photographer Ian Collins made only one mistake in life, but it cost his mother her freedom and destroyed their family, leaving Ian to practically raise himself. For years he’s been estranged from his father, and his mother has lived off the grid. For just as long, he has searched for her.

Now, Ian seemingly has it all—national recognition for his photographs; his loving wife, Aimee; and their adoring daughter, Caty. Only two things elude him: a feature in National Geographic and finding his mother. When the prized magazine offers him his dream project on the same day that Aimee’s ex-fiancé, James, returns bearing a message for Ian but putting a strain on his marriage, Ian must make a choice: chase after a coveted assignment or reconnect with a mysterious woman who might hold the key to putting his past to rest. But the stakes are high, because Ian could lose the one thing he holds most dear: his family.

Thank you Ashley at Amazon for giving me the opportunity to read this one.

Everything We Give

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Author: Kerry Lonsdale
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Mystery
Source: Ashley at Amazon

 

Goodreads:  Award-winning photographer Ian Collins made only one mistake in life, but it cost his mother her freedom and destroyed their family, leaving Ian to practically raise himself. For years he’s been estranged from his father, and his mother has lived off the grid. For just as long, he has searched for her.

Now, Ian seemingly has it all—national recognition for his photographs; his loving wife, Aimee; and their adoring daughter, Caty. Only two things elude him: a feature in National Geographic and finding his mother. When the prized magazine offers him his dream project on the same day that Aimee’s ex-fiancé, James, returns bearing a message for Ian but putting a strain on his marriage, Ian must make a choice: chase after a coveted assignment or reconnect with a mysterious woman who might hold the key to putting his past to rest. But the stakes are high, because Ian could lose the one thing he holds most dear: his family.

Ope’s Opinion:  This is another good Kerry Lonsdale book.  She writes amazing stories with a lot of emotion and wonderful characters.  Starting with book one is definitely recommended. The story will have so much more meaning, if you start from the beginning.

There were a lot of twists in this book.  I did feel like people “accidentally” ran into each other more then would really happen.  After a while it just got to be too much for me to believe.

The ending really brought all the relationships together.  Your questions will be answered – some with surprises.

 

Coming Soon…..

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…. On a Bookshelf near you!

In July I hope to read….

Publication Date: July 3, 2018
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Goodreads:  From the author of Everything We Keep comes the final novel in the Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling Everything Series. Brimming with suspense, mystery, and romance, Everything We Give brings to a powerful close the gripping series of love, lies, and the secrets families keep.

Award-winning photographer Ian Collins made only one mistake in life, but it cost his mother her freedom and destroyed their family, leaving Ian to practically raise himself. For years he’s been estranged from his father, and his mother has lived off the grid. For just as long, he has searched for her.

Now, Ian seemingly has it all—national recognition for his photographs; his loving wife, Aimee; and their adoring daughter, Caty. Only two things elude him: a feature in National Geographic and finding his mother. When the prized magazine offers him his dream project on the same day that Aimee’s ex-fiancé, James, returns bearing a message for Ian but putting a strain on his marriage, Ian must make a choice: chase after a coveted assignment or reconnect with a mysterious woman who might hold the key to putting his past to rest. But the stakes are high, because Ian could lose the one thing he holds most dear: his family.

What is coming soon …. to a bookshelf near you?

Let me know – I am always looking for a good read!

 

The Good Widow

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Author: Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Source: Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke

Goodreads:  Amazon Charts bestselling authors Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke make their suspense debut in this twisty, emotional thriller.

Elementary school teacher Jacqueline “Jacks” Morales’s marriage was far from perfect, but even in its ups and downs it was predictable, familiar. Or at least she thought it was…until two police officers showed up at her door with devastating news. Her husband of eight years, the one who should have been on a business trip to Kansas, had suffered a fatal car accident in Hawaii. And he wasn’t alone.

For Jacks, laying her husband to rest was hard. But it was even harder to think that his final moments belonged to another woman—one who had left behind her own grieving and bewildered fiancé. Nick, just as blindsided by the affair, wants answers. So he suggests that he and Jacks search for the truth together, retracing the doomed lovers’ last days in paradise.

Now, following the twisting path of that fateful road, Jacks is learning that nothing is ever as it seems. Not her marriage. Not her husband. And most certainly not his death…

Ope’s Opinion: This is the best book Liz and Lisa have written!  It starts with interesting characters, a great story and a wonderful setting – that is just the beginning!!  Keep reading…  it only gets better. 

There is so much I want to say, but I do not want to spoil the surprises and twists in this book.  This story is told from multiple perspectives – all labeled at the beginning of the chapter, so you know exactly who is talking and the time period.  It does go from past to present – back and forth.  I think that adds to the suspense in the story.

It is so well written, I didn’t just know how Jacks was feeling, I was feeling it myself.  The ending is amazing, surprising and satisfying.   Read this one!

Working Fire

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Author: Emily Bleeker
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Mystery
Source:  Ashley of Amazon

Goodreads:  From the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of When I’m Gone comes a compelling novel of a bond between sisters, tested by tragedy…

Ellie Brown thought she’d finally escaped her stifling hometown of Broadlands, Illinois; med school was supposed to be her ticket out. But when her father has a stroke, she must return home to share his care with her older sister, Amelia, who’s busy with her own family. Working as a paramedic, Ellie’s days are monotonous, driving an ambulance through streets she’d hoped never to see again.

Until a 911 dispatch changes everything. The address: her sister’s house. Rushing to the scene, Ellie discovers that Amelia and her husband, Steve, have been shot in a home invasion. After Amelia is rushed to the hospital, Ellie tries to make sense of the tragedy. But what really happened inside her sister’s house becomes less and less clear. As Amelia hangs on in critical condition, Ellie uncovers dark revelations about her family’s past that challenge her beliefs about those closest to her…and force her to question where her devotions truly lie.

Ope’s Opinion:  This is my second book by Emily Bleeker and I hope there will be many more.   She can really weave a story with twists that are believable.  The story is told from two sisters perspective – one from present and one from the past.  Most chapters left you hanging – leaving you wanting the next part.

There were some secrets that I figured out ahead of time, but there were several secrets that came out later and surprised me.  It was an enjoyable read that kept me thinking…

I am not sure Emily Bleeker left the ending open so there could be a  sequel, but it left me feeling it wasn’t finished.  I would still recommend the book.

This Just In….

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From Jennifer at HarperCollins

Publication Date:  September 5, 2017
Publisher: Harper

Goodreads:  Three years ago, Madison Culver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. She would be eight years old now—if she has survived. Desperate to find their beloved daughter, certain someone took her, the Culvers turn to Naomi, a private investigator with an uncanny talent for locating the lost and missing. Known to the police and a select group of parents as The Child Finder, Naomi is their last hope.

Naomi’s methodical search takes her deep into the icy, mysterious forest in the Pacific Northwest, and into her own fragmented past. She understands children like Madison because once upon a time, she was a lost girl too.

As Naomi relentlessly pursues and slowly uncovers the truth behind Madison’s disappearance, shards of a dark dream pierce the defenses that have protected her, reminding her of a terrible loss she feels but cannot remember. If she finds Madison, will Naomi ultimately unlock the secrets of her own life?

 

From Ashley at Lake Union Publishing

Published: August 1, 2017
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Goodreads:  Just beyond the Gilded Age, in the mist-covered streets of New York, the deadly Spanish influenza ripples through the city. But with so many victims in her close circle, young socialite Allene questions if the flu is really to blame. All appear to have been poisoned—and every death was accompanied by a mysterious note.

Desperate for answers and dreading her own engagement to a wealthy gentleman, Allene returns to her passion for scientific discovery and recruits her long-lost friends, Jasper and Birdie, for help. The investigation brings her closer to Jasper, an apprentice medical examiner at Bellevue Hospital who still holds her heart, and offers the delicate Birdie a last-ditch chance to find a safe haven before her fragile health fails.

As more of their friends and family die, alliances shift, lives become entangled, and the three begin to suspect everyone—even each other. As they race to find the culprit, Allene, Birdie, and Jasper must once again trust each other, before one of them becomes the next victim.

More good books to read!!!

Everything We Left Behind

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Author: Kerry Lonsdale
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Genre: Mystery
Source:  Ashley at Amazon

 

Goodreads:  From the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Everything We Keep comes the highly anticipated sequel. Told from one man’s two perspectives, Everything We Left Behind effortlessly blends suspense, mystery, and romance in an exploration of loss, resilience, and the compelling need to protect the ones we love at all cost.

Two months before his wedding, financial executive James Donato chased his trade-laundering brother Phil to Mexico, only to be lost at sea and presumed dead. Six and a half years later, he emerges from a dissociative fugue state to find he’s been living in Oaxaca as artist Carlos Dominguez, widower and father of two sons, with his sister-in-law Natalya Hayes, a retired professional surfer, helping to keep his life afloat. But his fiancée, Aimee Tierney, the love of his life, has moved on. She’s married and has a child of her own.

Devastated, James and his sons return to California. But Phil is scheduled for release from prison, and he’s determined to find James, who witnessed something in Mexico that could land Phil back in confinement. Under mounting family pressure, James flees with his sons to Kauai, seeking refuge with Natalya. As James begins to unravel the mystery of his fractured identity, danger is never far behind, and Natalya may be the only person he can trust.

(This book is the sequel to Everything We Keep.)

Ope’s Opinion:  Since I read Everything We Keep almost a year ago, it took me a little while into this book to remember what I had read and who was who.  If you can read the first and second one right after each other, I think you will enjoy them more.

This one starts slows, but I think that is partly so we can catch up to where the first one left off. It moved faster as you read along.  I did enjoy seeing the characters again and the story line seemed true to the fist book. It ( the story line ) went in a different direction then I expected ( no spoilers ), but I enjoyed it.

The ending answered a lot of questions and gave me satisfaction.