Review: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fantastic book! I received an advanced reader copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

This follows 19 year old Cussy Carter, one of the Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians in the small town of Troublesome. She rides her ornery mule Junia through the dangerous hills of Kentucky bringing her patrons reading materials from magazines to novels to scrapbooks that she lovingly creates herself. She brings the written word to the illiterate, and teaches many of the hillfolk to read and reads to many of them sharing her love for the written word with all she serves.

Not only does Cussy have to deal with the dangers on her route to get to her patrons, she must also deal with the dangers of being one of the last of the Kentucky Blue People. She and her Pa are one of the last living with blue skin in a clan of people that suffered the same condition. She is treated poorly because of her blue skin, but she doesn't let it get her down. She suffers some very real and brutal treatment because of her differences. Some of the hillfolk are kind to her while many are bigots and can't get past her color. The author does a wonderful job with the historical accuracy and description of the area.

I thought Cussy was a very well developed character. I really enjoyed her story and travelling with her on her journeys through the Kentucky hills. I also really liked learning about the history of the area and the medical nature of the Blue People. This is a great read and I feel like it would be a great book club pick or just a great book to discuss in general.



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May Wrap-UP

I had a pretty good reading month for May.  I finished 7 books, most of which were ARCs or books received by authors for review.  I was approved for several ARCs at the last minute in May, so those that I didn't get to this month I'm going to be reading in June.  Lots of good summer reading to be had.  

Books/Ebooks/ARCs

• The Boyfriend Bargain by Ilsa Madden-Mills
• Review
• This is a standalone hockey romance due out May 5th.  It sounded good, so jumped on the chance to read and review it.  Madden-Mills is a new author to me, but I don't think I'll be disappointed.
• In Her Words by J.S. Ellis
• Review
• This is told in diary entries and follows a middle aged woman who has gotten bored with her life.  She drinks and smokes to dull the pain and stresses of her life.  One evening she goes out for a ladies night with her best friend but she has too much to drink and can't remember what happened.  She does a bit of sleuthing to try to find out what happened, but instead she gets much more than she bargained for.  This was interesting.  I didn't really like any of the characters, but still found the story compelling.
• The Friar's Lantern by Greg Hickey
• Review
• I received a copy of this from the author.  Mr. Hickey reached out to me directly and asked if I would like to review his choose your own adventure book.  These books are always fun so I took a chance.  This is heavy on the science and legal terminology as it involves a court case and a scientific study.  Overall, I enjoyed it and while I would have liked shorter chapters, I understand that probably is an incredible undertaking by the author.  This leaves you with some philosophical questions to consider when reading and making your choices.
• Storm and Fury by Jennifer Armentrout
• Review
• This is awesome as I expected it would be.  This tells the story of Zayne, our favorite Warden from The Dark Elements series, and Trinity a girl who has grown up with Wardens but is something else entirely.  Trinity finds herself at the center of some some very suspicious demon activity and pairs up with Zayne and his clan when her best friend and Warden Protector Misha gets kidnapped by a demon.  As expected the sparks fly, the sarcasm and snark are high, and there is lots of emotional baggage as these two try to figure stuff out.  I loved it!
• Shadow Me by Tahereh Mafi
• This was a short novella in the Shatter Me series.  It follows everyone's favorite character Kenji, as the children of the supreme commanders arrive and Juliette readies herself for the big convention at the end of Restore Me.  His humor is ever present, and we get to see a side of him that we don't normally see.  It is only about 60 pages and is a very quick read, I wish it had been longer and given more insight into what was going on during that time.  It was a nice treat between books though.
• The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
• Review
• This was a surprise favorite for me.  It follows one of the Pack Horse Librarians in Kentucky in the 1930s, which was hard enough work.  To add to her burden, she suffered from a very real blood condition that made her skin blue.  This was a fantastic book!  It would be great for book clubs and discussions in general.  I highly recommend it.
• Courting Darkness by Robin LeFevers
• I didn't finish this one, I got about 65% of the way through it before my library loan ran out.  I was really enjoying it though.  I just got the hardback in so I'm hoping to finish it today or tomorrow. It follows Sybella, who I loved in the previous books and Genevieve another daughter of Mortain who was only 12 when she was sent from the convent.  This feel like the original trilogy so that makes me happy.  Sybella is back to her self-doubting ways which doesn't make me happy, but Beast is there to prop her up and help her navigate all of the schemes and political unrest.  If you liked the original books you will like this one as I do.  

Audiobooks

I listened to a lot of great audiobooks this month.  I think I'll be using a few of these for challenge prompts.

• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• Cassandra Campbell is an amazing narrator and gave this so much life, I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much had I read it vs listening to it.  I highly recommend the audio.  I really enjoyed this.  I loved the descriptions of the marsh, and I really felt Kya's loneliness and desperation throughout the story.  I will say that the book felt like two separate books until about chapter 20 when we really get to know Chase and then things start to come together and make sense.  I don't usually like books like this but this was very well done and deserves all the accolades its been receiving.
• Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
• Review
• My loan on the ebook ran out just as the audiobook became available.  It was meant to be.  I had only gotten about a chapter in so I was happy to switch over.  Both of the narrators did an excellent job with the characters.  I enjoyed this but you can see in my review I wanted more explanation of the magic system and plot.  I'm really looking forward to exploring more in future books.
• Nyxia Uprising by Scott Reintgen
• Review
• This is the final installment of the Nyxia Triad.  The Genesis crew is still trying to win the prize and escape with their lives from the planet they've flown so far in space to get to.  The ending to this series was just about perfect.  I really enjoyed listening to this.  The narrators were excellent and the author did a wonderful job wrapping up the series.
• Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard
• Review
• I finally got this in on audio and it was amazing.  I read almost 70% of it on ebook but I love Cassandra Campbell's narration of this series so much that I started over.  It was so worth it.  
• Zenith by Sasha Alsberg and Linsay Cummings
• Review
• I read the ARC of this several months before it was published.  I was approved for an ARC of Nexus the day before it was released so I thought I'd go back and give this a listen to get reaquainted with the story and characters before diving into Nexus.  The final version is significantly longer than the early version I read.  I read several reviews that the final version was different than the ARCs we received, and I can say that most of the book is the same up to the ending.  I do feel like the plot was a bit all over the place and could have been a bit more focused.  
• On Hart's Boardwalk by Samantha Young
• I've been meaning to get to this since it came out ages ago.  It follows my favorite couple from the On Dublin Street cast, Nate and Liv.  They've been married for a while and have kids and escape to Hart's Boardwalk, a magical seaside town where love blossoms and in this case Nate and Liv remember why they fell for each other in the first place.  This is a sweet novella that bridges both series really well.  This is super steamy, and a little naughty.  The audio is between 4 and 5 hours long and it was really well done.  

Review: Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of my most anticipated new series. As many of you know this series is a spin off to The Dark Elements, which is one of my all time favorites. While Roth and Layla do appearances as supporting characters, this focuses on characters and takes place 6-7 months after that series ends. If you've read that series, several characters from that series are present, Bambi does make a cameo which made me very happy. If you haven't read the original series, I recommend it because it is my favorite, but I don't think it is 100% necessary. Jen does a great job setting up the story for this new series without you needing to have read the previous books. She tells you what you need to know to set up the plot and gives you the backstory on anything mentioned that happened in the past.

This story follows Trinity, a half human half something else who has been raised and trained with the Wardens for most of her life. Wardens gargoyles shape shifters who look human in one state and are badass demon fighting warriors in their other form. Trinity has some very special abilities that make her enticing to demons and anything else supernatural, so she has been hiding amongst the Wardens. When strange things start happening in Washington DC a contingent from that clan come to visit and she immediately develops a connection with Zayne. Zayne has a ton of emotional baggage, but he is drawn to Trinity and her stubborn, snarky, impulsive ways. When Trinity is attacked at her own compound and her best friend is kidnapped, Zayne learns her true identity. In an effort to find out what is killing Wardens and demons and find her friend, Zayne and Trinity decide to work together. What Trinity learns during her time in Washington changes everything she was raised with.

I really loved this! I loved that Jen wrote her eye disease retinitis pigmentosa into one of her characters. I've been a fan of Jen's for a very long time and she talks openly about it on her social media, so I knew Trinity was going to have this disease. I love that she didn't let her failing eyesight stop her from being fearless. The part where she talks to Zayne about seeing the stars is beautiful. I'm really happy to see Zayne in this vulnerable stage, where he's trying to deal with his baggage. I also was so happy to get back to Roth and Zayne snarking at each other. One of my favorite things about Jen's books is the snark she writes between her characters, and no one does snark better than Roth. I like where the characters ended development-wise. They still have more development to do, but I like where they started and ended in this book. Knowing that the development will happen over the course of the series, I know they will get where they need to go y the end of it. I have lots of questions about this Harbinger, but I'm sure they will be answered with time. This follows alot of common themes in paranormal romance and books with a chosen one. It is similar in tone and cadence to Jen's other books, which I like.

At the end of the day fans of JLA and the previous series are sure to love this. It is similar to the first series, but different enough to pull you in and keep you interested. Paranormal romance fans will enjoy this as it has all the right elements of action, emotion, and interesting creatures.

I can't wait for book 2!



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Review: Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard

Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was such an amazing ride. There are so many characters and plot lines to keep track of but I'm so invested in every single one of them. I can't say enough good things about Cassandra Campell's narration of the audiobooks. I read about 70% of the ebook when my library loan ran out then the audiobook came in and I started from the beginning because I love her narration so much.

While this mainly focuses on Aeduan and Iseult on their journey through the Witchlands,but there are many other perspectives that tell the story. Safi and Iseult are still trying to find each other, Aeduan is trying to find himself, Vivia is trying to save her people, and Merik is trying to save himself and Cullen. While there are still many plot lines left open at the end of the book, I know there are 2 books left to tell the rest of the story. I feel like this book wrapped up nicely with the promise of more to come. There were also several plot lines from the previous books that were finally closed. There are political games at work, there is magic, there is romance, and at the heart of it there is the friendship of two girls who will do anything for each other. Each character is on a journey of their own, and I feel so invested in seeing them all through to the end.

There was a ton of character development in this book. I saw an interview with Susan Dennard not that long ago and she talked about how she was really working on the characters especially Merik. I think she did a great job with Merik and Aeduan’s development in this book. I also really enjoyed Vivia’s development as she realizes the deceit and manipulation within her ranks. I really love how all of the characters have come along since Truthwitch.

As an aside, while it is not completely necessary I highly recommend reading Sightwitch before reading this. If not read it anyway as it will give some insight into Ryber and what is going on inside the mountain everyone keeps mentioning in this book. It doesn’t answer all of the questions, but it does give some insight.


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Cover Reveal: TEARDROP SHOT by Tijan

Teardrop Shot, an all-new standalone sports romance from New York Times bestselling author Tijan is coming June 24th and we have the steamy cover!

I asked for his criteria for bed buddies–that's the PG version.

He swore at me and said he didn’t do groupies. And just like that, our friendship was off to a great start.

Reese Forster was the starting point guard for the Seattle Thunder.

Gorgeous. Cocky. Loved by the nation.

He’s also attending preseason basketball training camp where I used to work.

Correction: where I work again, because I was fired from my last job.

And dumped.

And I might have a tiny bit of baggage, but that’s normal. Right?

Reese and I shouldn’t have become friends. We shouldn’t have become roommates.

And we really shouldn’t have started sleeping together … (Except we did.)

I’m adorably psychotic. He’s in the NBA.

This is not a disaster waiting to happen, at all.

Teardrop Shot is a 107k standalone with brand new characters.

Pre-order your copy today!

AppleBooks: https://apple.co/30yI6c2

Nook: http://bit.ly/2VTJh7p

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2QgYl95

Add to GoodReads: http://bit.ly/30hnAN1

About Tijan

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing later in life and once she started, she was hooked. She’s written multi-bestsellers including the Carter Reed Series, the Fallen Crest Series, and the Broken and Screwed Series among others. She is currently writing a new YA series along with so many more from north Minnesota where she lives with a man she couldn’t be without and an English Cocker she adores.

Connect with Tijan

Amazon: https://amzn.to/30oxe0f

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tijansbooks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tijansbooks

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/tijansbooks/

Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TijansFanPage/

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2EcGBqB

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tijan

Website: http://www.tijansbooks.com/

Review: Nyxia Uprising by Scott Reintgen

Nyxia Uprising by Scott Reintgen
Narrated by : Sullivan Jones (Narrator), Kyla Garcia (Narrator), Alex Romashov (Narrator), Keong Sim (Narrator)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I feel like this was the perfect ending to the series.  I'm sad to see it end, but I'm so satisfied with the ending.  I wasn't sure what to expect because in Reintgen's own "review" he said "You are not ready" and he pointed out that your favorites aren't safe and people die.  It isn't often that authors really go there, but he did and it was really well done.  This series needs so much more recognition in the YA Sci-fi community.

The audiobook cast was A+! I wasn't sure how I'd feel about finishing up the series on audio since I previously read ARCs of the series, but the cast was perfect!  They did an amazing job bringing the story to life and their personification of the Imago and the Genesis crew was spot on!  I'm going to check out other things they've narrated because all four of them were very talented.

This follows Emmett and Morning and the rest of the Genesis crew as they try to escape Babel and the impending end of the world. Babel didn't plan on the moon's colliding when they came to take over the Imago's planet to mine Nyxia. The Genesis team has made a pact with the Imago to fight against Babel and return to Earth to expose Babel. The story is told from several perspectives, Emmet and Morning which I expected, but we also get Longwei's perspective, and Anton's perspective as they have both left the crew and infiltrated Babel's domain in different ways. This basically picks up right where the last book leaves off. The crew and the Imago are recovering from Babel's last attack, Anton and Longwei have taken their respective places within the Babel network in an attempt to help their friends get home safely. As Emmett and Morning lead the crew on the ground toward the ships that will take them off planet, things do not go smoothly and they decide to split up. As is typical nothing goes to plan and the group finds themselves not only fighting for their lives against Babel but fighting the clock as the moons collide and the world ends. Meanwhile Defoe isn't giving up so easily and he is determined to win at any cost.

The world building, creativity of all of the creatures that Reintgen creates on the planet, the character development are all fantastic. I also appreciated that the author wasn't afraid to put the characters in danger. You weren't sure if your darlings were going to come out alright until the end. There were some plot points that kind of wrapped up a bit too quickly or could have been explored or explained in a bit more detail. Overall, I really don't have much to criticize. I just really liked the whole series.

This is a great YA sci-fi series and I highly recommend it. It has action, it is a bit on the violent side, great friendships, good humor, and it just overall a good story. I look forward to reading more of Scott Reintgen’s work in the future.


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Review: The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor

The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I feel like I need to read this again, I’m still not sure what happened. That ending had my head spinning!

This follows Eddie and his group of friends alternating between events that occurred in 2016 and 1986. In 1986, Eddie and his friends are enjoying their summer vacation or holiday because this is set in England. One evening they head to the fair (aka carnival), and they witness one of the rides break and careen into a local teenage girl. Eddie and the new teacher in town help rescue her, and traumatic experience leaves a lasting impression on Eddie. While the summer drags on, Eddie and his friends devise a code to let each other know where to meet in town, of course it is made out of little chalk men. When they find a dead body in the woods one day when they are out playing, and it just happens to be surrounded by drawings of little chalk men, all suspicions point to one man in town who has earns the name of “The Chalk Man”. Now this is not the only harrowing even that happens this summer, each of the members of the group suffers some sort of traumatic even that changes them and their friendships with the others.

In 2016, Ed and his friends have a strained relationship because of things that have happened over time. They are all haunted and broken by the events that occurred in 1986 in some way. When they all receive chalk men drawings in the mail, the past is brought to the present and many secrets are revealed.

This was a pretty good thriller. It kept me engaged and turning the pages to find out what happened. Tudor creates a pretty creepy atmosphere and I was never quite sure what was going on. I like that in a thriller. As I stated earlier, I feel like I need to reread this because I feel like I missed something that was right in front of me the whole time. I enjoyed this and felt that the twists and turns kept me guessing. I’ll definitely be checking out more books by C.J. Tudor.


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Review: Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this as an audio book. Both narrators did an excellent job distinguishing all of the characters and giving them similar but unique accents so you could tell them apart. I read a couple of reviews that the pacing might be a little off and I recommend the audiobook as I felt the pacing was fine in the audio.

This is told from alternating perspectives Nadya and Serafin. Nadya is a Kalyazi cleric who has the unique ablity to communicate with the gods of her culture and they grant her spells to guide her magic. Serafin on the other hand is her enemy; he is a Tranavian blood mage and set to kill Nadya and all Kalyazi. Serafin is a powerful mage and also the High Prince. When Serafin attacks the monastery Nadya has been hiding and training in, she must flee in the hopes that she will still be of some use to her people if she can survive. During her escape she encounters Malachiasz, a former blood mage and his two companions Rashid and Parajihan. Nadya isn’t sure of what to make of the trio, but they quickly become allies in the face of dying by the hands of the Travanians. As Nadya tries to infiltrate the Travanian court to kill her enemy, Serafin is called home to find a wife. They both get caught up in court politics and find themselves in the middle of something much more sinister.

This is pretty dark and violent. If you are squeamish, stay away from this one. There is mention of blood in pretty much every scene. There are many bloody fight scenes. There is an unnecessary insta-love triangle sort ofthing forming between Serafin and Nadya and Malachiasz. She likes them both pretty much instantly upon meeting them but fights her feelings because they are the enemy. I don’t think it was entirely needed to move the plot along. I could have done without it, and I think the outcome could have been the same without it. It also takes away from Nadya as a strong female lead and makes it more about the boys than her. I also didn’t feel the chemistry between any of the romantic pairings.

In the end the magic system was so interesting, but I feel like I missed something when the book was over. I hope that the magic both the divine and the blood magic are explored more in the next book. There was a ton of information and detail presented to the reader. Unfortunately none of it was ties back together to give you a clear picture on the rules of each magic system, the gods, and what actually happened at the end. I’m hoping we will get some more answers in the next book. I’d like to see the magic system explained a bit more and the cleric’s relationship and to the gods explained clearly.

After proofreading this review it kind of sounds like I didn’t really like this book, believe me I did. I really like the concept of the lore and mythology; I hope we get more of it. The magic system is cool, I just don’t understand it. The world building was done pretty well, and while the characters still have a good way to grow I think we have a good foundation set for them. I’m looking forward to the next book and hope we get some answers.


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Blog Tour: In Her Words by J.S. Ellis

Title: In Her Words

Author: J.S Ellis

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Release Date: May 7, 2019

My Review

“Edge of your seat read!” - Amazon Review

“In Her Words is a thriller that will capture a reader’s curiosity until the very last page.” - Crazies R Us Book Blog

“This was excellent. An engaging and intense read I read straight through. I held my breath a few times. Twisted and heart breaking. Fabulous debut!” - Novels and Latte Review

While she seems to have it all, Sophie Knight is looking for more. When gorgeous and carefree Michael Frisk walks into her life, he offers the excitement and passion she desires.

Sophie is willing to risk everything she has. After all, she is used to concealing things from her husband—like her alcoholism, her unhappiness. But soon she has more to hide. She wakes up one morning in an alcoholic haze and finds bruises on her body, but has no recollection of what happened to her. Was she raped?

When unsettling notes and mysterious phone calls start, Sophie wonders whom she should turn to. Is Michael the cause of the frightening things happening in her life, or is he the answer to her problems? 

While preparing the evening meal, I slammed pots and pans, and slipping into a terrified murmured, oh no, no, no, what am I doing? What am I thinking? Trying to convince myself that, somehow, I am blameless.

Couldn’t I be? There is the address of another man in the bin! Shall I remove it? It’s unlikely Richard will go through the rubbish.

I’ve done nothing wrong. I admit, I find Michael positively beautiful, and I’ve flirted a bit, but I’m sure he gets it a lot from both women and men. He’s a talented musician. It’s his job to create a certain allure, but luring me into seeing him in his apartment? The danger of being with him in a room alone! How suffocating the whole experience would be. I have a fairy tale image in my head of the goblin leading the princess to his lair. 

I stopped cooking and caught my reflection in the living room window, surprised how flushed I appeared. The streets were empty except a few people walking by. Does Richard have plans tomorrow? He told me something, but I can’t remember. Everything he says is a blur. I’m sure he has to go golfing. Michael has conquered my eyes. Why have I allowed him into my imagination? I have a healthy marriage, not ideal or a perfect one, but I accept it for what it is. I get lonely, but I’m not alone. I have Richard. I get bored too sometimes because of the routine, but that’s marriage. I never thought of it as a sport. If I did, I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago. 

Did Michael sense something, or give him the impression I’m trapped in an unhappy marriage? Even so, the logical thing to do is not get involved with another man's wife. I took vows that Michael is breaking. I can’t say I’m a fabulous wife, or Richard is a fantastic husband, but we’ve managed all these years. He’s older than I am, and uses his authority and superiority which makes me feel inferior to him, but I don’t dwell on the petty stuff. I’ve learned to ignore him. 

I inspected my wedding ring, which I’ve never removed since Richard slipped it on my finger. My life commitment, forever. But forever is such a long time. How did I get myself into this mess? Oh no, no, no, what I am going to do?

J.S Ellis is a thriller author. She’s currently working on an adult Dystopian series called the Chaperone. She’s also working on another thriller novel for now it’s called Opium, as it’s still a wip.

J.S always liked to scribble from a young age, but started writing by the age of sixteen. She spent all this time, enhancing and learning about the craft. Writing is her passion books are her obsession. 

She has a degree in Creative Writing, English literature, and digital marketing. She works in an accountancy firm. She lives in Malta with her fiancé. 

When she’s not writing or reading, she’s either cooking, eating cheese, and chocolate, or listening to good music and enjoying a glass of wine or two. 

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Review: The Friar's Lantern Greg Hickey

The Friar's Lantern by Greg Hickey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This is a choose-your-own-adventure type of book. This is pretty heavy on the math, science, and legal terminology. As the main character is taking part of a scientific study and sitting as a juror on a murder case, I did find that parts of the story were a bit repetitive especially since it was so heavy on the science and legal aspects. The author did do a good job making sure those parts were accurate and I do appreciate and author that takes the time to do their homework.

As for the choose your own adventure part, I felt that while the writing of the book was good, the chapters were a bit too long for my taste before you got to the point where you made a choice if you even got to choose something at the end of a chapter. Having flipped back and forth between the two choices, several times they ended up with the same outcome regardless of what you chose. That gave me the impression that no matter what I chose, I was going to end up where the author wanted me to go, which is fitting because that is what the book is about. I feel shorter chapters would have allowed for more unique outcomes, which is my preference in these types of books. I like having more choices, but I understand that writing a novel is cumbersome enough and creating a book with multiple outcomes is even more difficult. The author did a good job with this and should be commended for taking on this format. I eventually just read through to one final outcome and I'm happy with the experience. I bookmarked the pages that had choices so I can go back and try again some other time because I did like the plot and I'd like to investigate the other possible outcomes.

Onto the plot, our main character (I don't think the author ever tells us his name and I couldn't find it when I went looking) is taking part in a study involving an MRI and the ability of a model to predict human decision making. The study indicates that after being presented with some information the subject with make a choice between Box A, Box B, or take both boxes. In those boxes is either a million dollars, a thousand dollars, or nothing depending on the choice you make and what the model predicts. Our MC has an MRI and is asked to come back in a week and make his choice. During that week, he must sit as a juror on a murder case and decide if a man is guilty of manslaughter, second degree murder, or both. During his week between his MRI and decision about which box to take and during the trial, he has to think hard about the human decision process, statistics, and moral conviction. The reader is presented with choices at various points in the story to guide the MCs actions when he has to make a decision.

Overall, I thought this was well researched and well written. I do enjoy this format of book, and I look forward to exploring the other outcomes. The choice points where in logical places, and this book gives you something to think about as you are reading and when you are done.

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Review: In Her Words by J.S. Ellis

In Her Words by J.S Ellis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie is an alcoholic; because she is always under the influence she has the feel of a very unreliable narrator. This book is told from the perspective of Sophie’s diary entries. She is a successful woman, with a good husband, but something is missing in her life. As the book goes on we come to find out what she is missing and why she drinks all the time. While her husband is away on business she goes out with her best friend for a girls night, however the next day she finds herself in a ripped dress, covered in bruise,s and unable to remember anything from the evening before. As she tries to unravel the mystery from her crazy night out, she learns that she met up with the young men that live next door and they tell her she just drank too much and fell. She can tell they are hiding something and she is determined to find out the truth. As she searches for more information on her wild night out, she meets beautiful Michael who immediately captivates her. Their relationship quickly escalates from neighborly chat to something much more. Sophie continues to spiral out of control in her personal and professional life, especially when it comes to Michael, and then someone starts leaving her cryptic notes and following her. Michael eventually becomes possessive and jealous of her husband and they fight constantly. They are the definition of a toxic relationship.

As far as character development goes, I think given the fact that this was told via diary entries we really get a good glimpse into Sophie and her inner self. Michael was well developed, and for the small parts they played the side characters did their jobs. I found none of the characters to be particularly likeable in this book, despite that I found them oddly compelling and was completely invested in Sophie and her story. The twist at the end was creative.

I’m going to hide this next part because of potential spoilers. I enjoyed this book but there were a few things negatives that bothered me. (view spoiler)[ The main character is an alcoholic and that is used as a plot device. Many times her husband, lover, and best friend all call her out on her drinking and tell her she needs to stop, get help, or threaten rehab and then it is just left to continue. Alcoholism is a very real and serious disease and I’m probably taking this a little too personally, but I didn’t like the portrayal of an alcoholic main character that gets zero support from her loved ones. I also have an issue with the way the sexual assault in this book was handled and the victim shaming that took place afterwards because of the aforementioned alcoholism. (hide spoiler)]


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Release Blitz: In Her Words by J.S.Ellis

Title: In Her Words

Author: J.S Ellis

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Release Date: May 7, 2019

While she seems to have it all, Sophie Knight is looking for more. When gorgeous and carefree Michael Frisk walks into her life, he offers the excitement and passion she desires.

Sophie is willing to risk everything she has. After all, she is used to concealing things from her husband—like her alcoholism, her unhappiness. But soon she has more to hide. She wakes up one morning in an alcoholic haze and finds bruises on her body, but has no recollection of what happened to her. Was she raped?

When unsettling notes and mysterious phone calls start, Sophie wonders whom she should turn to. Is Michael the cause of the frightening things happening in her life, or is he the answer to her problems? 

I took a long bath with Maria Callas playing in the background, emptying my mind. I put on a black long-sleeved skater dress, but as I inspected myself in the mirror, it seemed too provocative. I didn’t want to send the wrong message, so I changed into a different dress that wasn’t so short. I applied too much makeup which made me look like a tart, so I removed it and started again. My hands trembled as I drew on my eyeliner. I drank a glass of wine and took several drags of my cig to steady my nerves.

 I went outside and hailed a taxi. I must have been out of my mind. The cabbie kept looking at me through the rear view mirror. I bet he knew what I was up to, or maybe not. I probably looked like a corporate woman heading for a meeting with a client.

  I almost told the cabbie to turn around, but when I opened my mouth, nothing came out. Mama by Phil Collins was playing on the radio. Here I was on my way to meet a kid, who had seen me at my worst, if not at my most degrading. It wasn’t too late to change my mind. However, I didn’t change my mind when I paid and tipped the cabbie. I didn’t change my mind when I scanned the block of flats and rang the bell. I didn’t change my mind as I plodded along the corridor adjusting the hem of my dress.

When I arrived, Michael was leaning against the doorframe, waiting for me looking flawless in black, with long earrings dangling from his ears. I like how well dressed he is, unlike those boys who wear jeans under their buttocks - they make me want to pull them up for them. He led the way. It was too late to change my mind now.

He shut the door. I smiled, and he smiled back. With the back of my hand, I ran it across his cheek feeling the softness of his skin. A sexual wave built in my groin, I moved close enough that my lips almost brush against his. I was intoxicated by his beauty, his talent, his strangeness. It was so forbidden and sexy.

J.S Ellis is a thriller author. She’s currently working on an adult Dystopian series called the Chaperone. She’s also working on another thriller novel for now it’s called Opium, as it’s still a wip.

J.S always liked to scribble from a young age, but started writing by the age of sixteen. She spent all this time, enhancing and learning about the craft. Writing is her passion books are her obsession. 

She has a degree in Creative Writing, English literature, and digital marketing. She works in an accountancy firm. She lives in Malta with her fiancé. 

When she’s not writing or reading, she’s either cooking, eating cheese, and chocolate, or listening to good music and enjoying a glass of wine or two. 

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