Book picks similar to
Toxic Relationship by Richard Hacker
blog-tour-book
contemporary
first-reads
have-but-not-read
Firefly Diaries
C.C. Warrens - 2021
Noelle sat motionless in the street, barely able to breathe. His little body was too still. Too broken."Noelle's world shattered that night, like the pieces of headlights scattered across the dark street. There was no rebuilding her life around the grave of her child.Adrift in her grief, Noelle finds herself drawn to an old house as rundown and weary as her spirit. She might not be able to mend her own brokenness, but maybe she can restore this abandoned structure to its former beauty. Determined, she throws herself into a renovation project with the unexpected help of a local. But she soon learns that her new home comes with a blood-stained history and a chilling reputation.When she stumbles across a diary written by a child with a disturbing life, and a teenage girl vanishes from the village, clues leave Noelle wondering if her house might somehow be connected. Someone -- or something -- wants her gone, but she has no intention of leaving without discovering the truth.
Wish Upon A Witch
Lucy May - 2020
Really. Her name is literally Juliette Good. Apologies for the redundancy. Good witch or not, she often ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Returning home to Charm Cove, Maine after the holidays, she makes a nostalgic wish in the town’s fountain. As unfortunate luck would have it, seconds later the town’s ancient beloved balsam tree catches fire and is burned to a crisp. By virtue of being a witness, Juliette is also a suspect. Suddenly, wishes cast by random strangers in the fountain are granted almost instantly if Juliette happens to be nearby. In the less magical realm, residents of Charm Cove are up in arms over winter road maintenance and a few too many fender benders during the icy winter. Meanwhile, the only other person known to be present when the ancient balsam tree caught fire is Donovan Wick—a warlock who’s just moved back to town. He’s handsome and charming, and Juliette just might be falling for him. There’s not much time for romance when the witches and warlocks of Charm Cove are chasing down whoever cast the spell that harmed the tree, and the entire town is disgruntled over the state of the roads. The mundane and magical are all tangled together. Take a visit to Charm Cove, where Wicked meets Good and where you just might find there’s almost always more than meets the eye.
A Serpentine Affair
Tina Seskis - 2013
One annual reunion. Countless feuds. How do friends stay friends for more than 25 years when there is so much to feel aggrieved about? Juliette and Renee have never got over one of them sleeping with the other's boyfriend. Sissy secretly blames someone for the death of her husband. Natasha knows one of them is having an affair with her partner. Siobhan annoys everyone. Camilla desperately tries to keep the peace. So when their picnic in the park goes horribly wrong and one of them ends up in The Serpentine, who knows what really happened? And just what secrets from the past are about to unfold, changing everyone's lives forever?
The Murderous Affair At Stone Manor: a completely gripping cozy murder mystery
Laura Stewart - 2021
Helped by her brother, her best friend and a documentary maker, who is determined to turn Amelia's new life into a hit tv show, Amelia throws herself into renovating the house and unravelling old secrets. When an unknown saboteur starts ruining her plans, Amelia doesn’t know who to trust. Everyone around her is acting strangely and soon Amelia finds herself in the center of her very own murder mystery…
Heart Like Mine
Amy Hatvany - 2013
But when she meets Victor Hansen, a handsome, charismatic divorced restaurateur who is father to Max and Ava, Grace decides that, for the right man, she could learn to be an excellent part-time stepmom. After all, the kids live with their mother, Kelli. How hard could it be?At thirteen, Ava Hansen is mature beyond her years. Since her parents’ divorce, she has been the one taking care of her emotionally unstable mother and her little brother—she pays the bills, does the laundry, and never complains because she loves her mama more than anyone. And while her father’s new girlfriend is nice enough, Ava still holds out hope that her parents will get back together and that they’ll be a family again.But only days after Victor and Grace get engaged, Kelli dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances—and soon, Grace and Ava discover there was much more to Kelli’s life than either ever knew.Narrated by Grace and Ava in the present with flashbacks into Kelli’s troubled past, Heart Like Mine is a poignant and hopeful portrait about womanhood, love, and the challenges of family life.
The Case of Sampson's Leap (Inspector Graham Mysteries, #8)
Alison Golden - 2021
A precipitous puzzle from the past... Inspector David Graham knows all about history. After moving to the island of Jersey to recover from a tragic loss, he has done his best to leave painful memories behind. But sometimes it is not so easy to forget... When Mia, a promising young actress, turns up dead beneath the jagged cliffs known as Sampson’s Leap, suicide seems the obvious answer. But after Inspector Graham interviews the victim’s conniving clan of associates, he’s not so sure. Jealousy, greed, drugs... With friends like these, who needs enemies? Mia's mysterious death also shines a light on a far older case... The murder of three women, nearly two centuries ago. New evidence suggests that investigative rigor may not have been applied. Can the dogged Inspector uncover the truth of Mia’s fate? Can a historical injustice be laid to rest? And can Graham finally reveal the secrets hiding in his own heart to the woman who knows him best...?
The Angels' Share
Rayme Waters - 2012
As she grows older, and her make-believe worlds are not enough to protect her, she descends into drug addiction and eventual resignation. When this finally leads her to be physically beaten near the point of death, she is saved by a compassionate neighbor named Sam who gives Cinnamon the opportunity to reclaim her life. Now, working at Sam s vineyard in the beautiful Dry Creek Valley, Cinnamon Monday attempts to put her life in order, find the will to overcome past demons, and utilize her strengths to live a positive, successful life on her own terms.
The Barry Island Murders
Andrew Peters - 2013
Will Williams' budding detective skills be equal to the task of catching any of the murderers? Will his current gin intake permit him to remember any of the details?Transcribed from the original interviews, the only changes made have been to names, places, dates and facts. Oh, and cutting out all the heavy swearing.
A Boatload
Dwight Holing - 2014
Keeps the plot turning.” — Kirkus Reviews When San Francisco con artist Jack McCoul gets married, he vows to give up his life of crime for good. But then his new brother-in-law pulls a heist that lands Jack in the middle of a deadly fight over hot computer chips. As bodies stack up, he must pull off the grift of a lifetime to solve a murder and escape a one-way ticket to death row.What readers are saying:★★★★★ The characters are delicious. The local color spot-on.★★★★★ Gritty, surprising, and funny as hell.★★★★★ Fun, stylish, edge-of-your-seat.★★★★★ A roller coaster ride full of surprises.★★★★★ 100% fun.★★★★★ Brilliantly authentic.★★★★★ Successful in every way and at every level.
No Regrets
Bernard O'Keeffe - 2013
He’s had a bad year. Sarah, his wife of nearly twenty five years, has walked out on him to move in with Colin. Perhaps they simply grew apart, perhaps the magic was no longer there, or perhaps, as his friend Jerry suggests, Rick has become boring. This nagging thought, together with too much beer on New Year’s Eve and shock at the sudden death of his college friend Alex, leads Rick to a New Year’s resolution… To make the most of the time he has left, and show himself and his old friend Jerry that he is not boring, he will undertake a peculiar challenge: for a whole year he will accept every invitation that comes his way. Any invitation. No excuses. No regrets.
That Hollister Man
Margaret Desmond - 2019
Got his heart broke. Nothing and no one will ever fix it.”Compelled to leave Boston as a means of saving her teenage brother—the only family she has—from a life of crime, Sage Dolan gladly accepts the serendipitous opportunity to purchase a small ranch and a restaurant in the rural community of Hollister, Montana.Sage’s eagerness to start a new life for herself and her brother is met with a few obstacles along the way, the greatest being a rugged, handsome rancher who is not happy that an outsider has purchased the one piece of property he and his family have coveted for years.Soon, Sage is engaged in a battle of wills, but she quickly discovers that it’s not a battle over land as much as it is a crusade to unlock the door to a lonely man’s heart.
The Secrets of Bridgewater Bay
Julie Brooks - 2021
England, 1919: Rose and Ivy board a ship bound for Australia.One is travelling there to marry a man she has never met.One is destined never to arrive.Australia, 2016: Amongst her late-grandmother's possessions, Molly uncovers a photograph of two girls dressed in First World War nurses' uniforms, labelled 'Rose and Ivy 1917', and a letter from her grandmother, asking her to find out what happened to her own mother, Rose, who disappeared in the 1960s.Compelled to carry out her grandmother's last wish, Molly embarks on a journey to England to unravel the mystery of the two girls whose photograph promised they'd be 'together forever'...
Intrusion
Mary McCluskey - 2016
While Scott throws himself back into his law practice in Los Angeles, Kat is hesitant to rejoin the workplace and instead spends her days shell-shocked and confused, unable to focus.When an unwelcome face from Kat’s past in England emerges—the beautiful and imposing Sarah Cherrington—Kat’s marriage is thrown into a tailspin. Now wealthy beyond anything she could have imagined as a girl, Sarah appears to have everything she could need or want. But Sarah has an agenda and she wants one more thing. Soon Kat and Scott are caught up in her devious games and power plays.Against the backdrops of Southern California and Sussex, in spare and haunting prose, Mary McCluskey propels this domestic drama to its chilling conclusion.
Hangman's Game
Bill Syken - 2015
Now in his fifth year in the pros with the Philadelphia Sentinels, Nick spends most of his time on the sidelines. He no longer makes winning plays, and when the team visits a hospital, the sick kids would rather talk to the players they've actually heard of. But Nick is unexpectedly thrust back into the spotlight when he witnesses the murder of the new all-star draft pick on the eve of the team's summer minicamp.Nick has no plans to get involved. Despite the murder, his focus is squarely on an uppity rookie player eyeing his roster spot. But after a second attack hits closer to home and the police go after the wrong man, Nick finds himself driven by the chance to be a hero again.In Hangman's Game, Syken offers a seasoned sportswriter's take on the contemporary culture of football and the will to play on despite the game's toll on the body and mind.