The Bachelorette Party by Carissa Ann Lynch

I received an advance copy of this book from HarperCollins to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This book may contain material that is disturbing to some readers. Please Google for a full list of trigger warnings. Thank you!
The Bachelorette Party by Carissa Ann LynchThe Bachelorette Party by Carissa Ann Lynch
Published by HarperCollins UK on 09/02/2022
Genres: Fiction / Action & Adventure, Fiction / General, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General, Fiction / Thrillers / Crime, Fiction / Thrillers / Domestic, Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological, Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense, Fiction / Urban & Street Lit, Fiction / Women
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Source: HarperCollins
Goodreads

‘Sharp writing... great plot’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ NetGalley Reviewer

‘[I] couldn’t put it down. A twisty read [and] I had no clue’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ NetGalley Reviewer

‘Readers will not see the twists coming in this thriller perfect for fans of Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley and Shari Lapena’ Booklist

New Orleans: live music, endless drinks, brightly-coloured attractions, the perfect place for a party...

The bride-to-be
The best friend
The cousin
The mother-in-law
The sister
The groom’s friend

The bachelorette begins on a Friday night; all six women are excited for a chance to escape their everyday lives. But then friendly rivalries turn vicious, and a game of truth or dare turns deadly.

By the end of the weekend one of them will be dead...

Discover why readers are captivated by The Bachelorette Party:

‘I was absolutely invested from page 1 and couldn’t put it down’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. Thrilling, suspenseful and a page-turner’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Awesome’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Wow ... literally blown my mind’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A twisty thriller that you will not guess’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I was completely hooked’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘From the first page to the last I was gripped’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Great writing and the characters really were fantastic’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘So juicy... the suspense is amped up right from the first page and doesn’t end’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘An easy, fast-paced book’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘I read this book in one sitting... I was hooked’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A fast, entertaining read with a smart twist at the end’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘Suspense, intrigue and many twists and turns’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘The cast of characters were complicated and unlikeable in the best ways’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I just want to thank HarperCollins for sending me this book – I got it late September/early October last year and just now got around to reading it. As per usual when it takes me awhile to get around to reading a book, I wish I’d read it sooner!

I could not put this book down. I think I started it around 8PM and finished it just after midnight. Ms. Lynch wrote this book with so many secrets, twists, and turns that I couldn’t stop reading because I had to know what was coming next.

We have six main characters:

  • Rosalee – the bride-to-be
  • Tinsley – Rosalee’s cousin
  • Mara – Rosalee’s best friend
  • Bri – the soon-to-be sister-in-law
  • Elizabeth – the soon-to-be mother-in-law
  • Georgia – Rosalee’s fiancé’s best friend

All of them come with their own sets of secrets, reasons why they might be a murder victim or why they might have committed the murder. Oh, by the way, you don’t find out who was actually murdered until nearly the end of the book… even though you start off with the crime scene. It’s amazing!

Usually I have to try to guess who murdered the victim, but I know who the victim is. With The Bachelorette Party, not only did I have to try to guess who the murderer was, but who the victim was as well. I’m telling you, it makes the mystery even more fun when you don’t even know who died!

Interestingly enough, as much as I loved the book, I can’t say the same about any of the six main characters. None of the particularly spoke to me and frankly, all of them have something that makes them unlikeable. I will say my least favorite character was Mara – she rubbed me the wrong way from the moment she appeared. But I didn’t really like any of the others either.

The setting though – New Orleans… a creepy old gothic mansion that is purported to be haunted? Yes please! I’ll absolutely take that setting any day of the week.

Ms. Lynch’s writing style is beautiful and easy to read. You won’t find yourself bored or reading a ton of cliché phrases because the writing is exciting and doesn’t rely on tired phrases like everyone’s favorite “I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding”.

I highly recommend you check out The Bachelorette Party by Carissa Ann Lynch if you are a mystery/suspense lover. You’ll be glad you did!

The Vow by Debbie Howells

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Vow by Debbie HowellsThe Vow by Debbie Howells
Published by HarperCollins UK on 10/15/2020
Genres: Fiction / Crime, Fiction / Family Life / Marriage & Divorce, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General, Fiction / Psychological, Fiction / Small Town & Rural, Fiction / Thrillers / Domestic, Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Pages: 368
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley
Amazon
Goodreads

**Pre-order The Secret now – the new edge-of-your-seat thriller from Debbie Howells, coming soon!**

Everything was perfect. And then her fiancé disappeared...

‘Dazzling’ DAILY MAIL
‘A terrific new talent’ PETER JAMES

Two weeks before her wedding, a stranger stops Amy in the street and warns her she’s in danger. Then that night, Matt, her fiancé, doesn’t come home. Desperate, Amy calls the police – but when Matt fails to emerge, she’s forced to call off her wedding day.

Then another man is reported missing, by a woman called Fiona – a man meeting Matt’s description, who was about to leave his fiancée for her. He was supposed to be moving in with her – but instead, he’s vanished.

Amy refuses to believe Fiona’s lover can be her Matt – but photos prove otherwise, and it soon becomes clear that Matt has been leading a double life. As the police dig deeper, two conflicting, yet equally plausible stories emerge from two women who allegedly have never met.

The wedding day never happened. But the funeral might.

Real readers are hooked by No.1 eBook bestseller The Vow...

‘A breathtaking, suspenseful thriller with more plot twists and turns than you can imagine’ *****

‘Couldn’t stop reading ... Superb story and twisty ending’ *****

‘OMG what a brilliant book, full of twists and turns’ *****

‘Mesmerising from the start’ *****

‘Lies, deceptions and red herrings galore’ *****

‘Truly a roller coaster of a read’ *****

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After a few false starts, I finally got around to actually reading The Vow by Debbie Howells. When I say I devoured the book, I’m not kidding. I actually stayed up until almost 5:30AM to finish the book. That’s how engrossed in the story I was.

I won’t lie, the book starts out a little bit on the slow side. The “action” starts right away – the groom-to-be disappears, but after that it just takes a bit for the book to get going. You just have to hang on to get there because once you do… BOOM. It’s way faster paced and it’s way more intriguing.

You’ll get several points of view in this book – Amy, the bride-to-be, Jess – Amy’s daughter, Fiona – a character you’ll meet later, and then there are the flashbacks to 1996 – where you’re never quite sure who is doing the talking, but you know something’s going on – and it’s not good.

Out of all the characters I think I like Jess the best. While her point of view chapters don’t come as often as Amy’s or Fiona’s, she seems to be the only person who isn’t hiding something and who doesn’t have a past she wants to forget. Amy and Fiona share a past and they do want to forget it – even if they can’t.

The plot twists in this book are amazing. While you might see some of them coming, because they’re telegraphed and easy to spot, those twists serve to make the ones you don’t see coming that much better. For me, the best part was the reveal as to who was actually behind the groom-to-be’s disappearance. To say I never saw it coming was an understatement. I’d never in a million years have guessed that – although you do get some setup to it so it isn’t just turn the page and BANG – a shocking reveal. But it’s set up in a way that makes you question if the characters are correct or not.

This was a wonderful book and I highly recommend it to people who are willing to go with a slow burn mystery to get to a finish that will make you say “never thought of that”.

All the Dark Places by Terri Parlato

All the Dark Places by Terri ParlatoAll the Dark Places by Terri Parlato
Also by this author: What Waits in the Woods
Published by KENSINGTON Publishing Corporation on 12/27/2022
Genres: Fiction / Thrillers / Domestic, Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological, Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Pages: 304
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley
Amazon
Goodreads

A savage murder rocks a quiet Massachusetts suburb, revealing the dark secrets at the center of a group of friends and setting two women - one with a traumatic past, the other a Boston police detective - on a hunt for truth in this stylish debut thriller for fans of Megan Miranda and Shari Lapena...

Snow falls softly outside Molly Bradley's home on a frigid January night. Inside, half a dozen close friends are gathered to celebrate the fortieth birthday of Molly's psychologist husband, Jay. Candlelight gleams against dark wood, wine flows, and the house rings with laughter. Everybody loves Jay, Molly most of all. Yet next morning, Molly discovers Jay dead on the floor of his office, his throat brutally slashed.

After decades working with the Boston PD, Detective Rita Myers has grown accustomed to the banality of evil--the murders that make no sense beyond bad luck or a tragic brush with the worst of humanity. But Jay Bradley's murder isn't random, or a mere crime of opportunity. Rita is convinced that someone in the couple's small circle killed him. Someone who was celebrating with them that night.

Devastated, Molly tries to make sense of her husband's death. Jay was her rock, the only person who really understood the nightmare she lived through long ago. He knew the horrors she's kept hidden even from her friends. But shocking revelations are making her question if Jay was all he seemed to be--and whether someone else knows her past too. And until Molly figures out who she can really trust, she won't be able to stop herself becoming the next target . . .

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I recently was given the opportunity by Kensington Publishing Corporation, via NetGalley, to read the debut thriller from Terri Parlato, All the Dark Places. I have to say, this debut novel is amazing.

First, we have our characters. They’re well thought out, well planned, and very well written. Do we get all of the info about each of our characters right away? No. But that actually adds to the intrigue of the book. Something bad happened to Molly as a child. While it’ll take a while for you to find out what that is, and you’ll want to know, it doesn’t detract from the story to find out when you do. No matter what it is, every character with a backstory you need to know will have that backstory told, when the time is right.

This book doesn’t beat around the bush. It gets right into the action. That is – the first big event happens within the first chapter. You don’t have to wait to find out what the big issue is going to be – it happens immediately. However, that’s not the only big issue and all of the big issues are tied together. Which makes this books plot twists all the more satisfying. Believe me, there are several twists. And just when you think you might have figured out who the big bad wolf is, you’re probably wrong. I know I was.

This book doesn’t read like a debut novel. This book reads like a seasoned novelist wrote the book. Now, is Terri Parlato a pen name for an established writer? Maybe. It wouldn’t be the first time that a seasoned author has penned a book under a pen name and it’s been listed as a debut novel. But the fact remains that until I looked it up, I had no idea this was the author’s debut novel. I even checked on Amazon to make sure it wasn’t just a debut novel for a new genre. No… this is the only Terri Parlato novel that Amazon lists. To me, this shows the author’s potential to be a big name, very soon.

If you love mysteries and thrillers with lots of plot twists, you definitely want to check this book out. I highly recommend it to all of my mystery/thriller fans and I think it might even be a good one to get started in the genre with.