Mystery: "Some Kind of Peace" by Camilla Grebe and Asa Traff. Dr. Siri Bergman is a flawed psychologist, unable to get over the death of her husband, living alone in their house beside an ocean and frightened of the dark. Even as she tries to help her patients, her world takes a strange turn when one of them ends up dead by her house, and Siri is sure someone starts invading her place.
She meets and falls for police detective Markus, but soon he and her best friend, Aina, begin to wonder if her mind is playing tricks on her and she is succumbing to stress ... or if someone is really out there in the darkness, waiting.
This is a cool, stylish thriller of a mystery, one that will make you question the characters, their motivations, and possibly your own mind as you delve deeper into Siri's world.
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Thriller: "Bloodman" by Robert Pobi. An FBI agent gets caught up in a case when he returns home to care for his Alzheimer patient father. Two people are brutally murdered, and Jake's old friend, now working for the local police, thinks his insights can help the case. And when he begins to investigate, Jake suspects the killer in this case may relate back to his mother's murder. But when the truth is uncovered, it may change Jake's life forever. This book has so many twists and turns and multiple shocks that will keep you guessing until the very last page, it will leave you breathless. And the shocker of an ending will grab you and not let go.
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Romance: "Texas Bride" by Joan Johnston. A woman must become a mail-order bride for a widower with a young daughter in order to provide for her younger brothers. While her husband just wanted someone to take care of his daughter and lame father-in-law, he never counted on falling for his young bride, and her him. But can the two overcome the wounds from both of their pasts? This was an endearing story of a resourceful young woman and her brooding hero. The chemistry between Miranda and Jake is great.
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Amish Romance: "Missing Your Smile" by Jerry S. Eicher. Susan Hostetler thought she was headed to marriage to her long-time boyfriend, but when she catches him with her best friend, she takes up an offer to move to Asbury Park, New Jersey, to work at a bakery. She even starts dating an English boy and may be a step closer to shedding her Amish roots. But when a young teenage mother comes to her for help in placing her baby with an Amish family, Susan finds herself drawn back in again. I enjoyed Susan's story very much and she is a very sympathetic heroine.
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Teen: "Messy" by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. The spoiled daughter of a movie star, Brooke decides she wants to be taken seriously as an actress and that her angle will be as a blogger, writing about her Hollywood experience. But she doesn't have time to write it and gets the idea that a friend of her sister's, Max, has the "voice" she needs. But when Max's blog is key in getting Brooke a role, how long can the charade last? Add in a cute boy by the name of Brady Swift, who clicks with Max and is starring in Brooke's movie, and the tension really adds up. This is a fun, hilarious story of the ins and outs of Hollywood, with two very relatable main characters and plenty of glitz and glamour as well as dry wit and a wry look at the celebrity.
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Science-Fiction: "The Man From Primrose Lane" by James Renner. A mind-bending blend of science-fiction and thriller, this book follows a true-crime writer as he is trying to pick up the pieces of his own broken life after his wife's unexplainable suicide and trying to raise their child. His attention is drawn to an unsolved murder in town of a reclusive old man. As he begins to dig deeper into the case, the more his world begins to unravel around him. He soon learns about "saved" victims of murderers and learns that not only was his wife one of him, but a young woman named Katy that the Man From Primrose Lane apparently stalked was as well. David also becomes obsessed with Katy, who is like a mirror image of his wife. And once the identity of the Man From Primrose Lane is made clear, everything you thought you knew about this book changes. There's elements of suspense, murder, intrigue and obsession, and then the story warps into time travel and alternate realities. It's a definite head trip!
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Paranormal: "Discount Armageddon" by Seanan McGuire. A monster hunter/ballroom dancer whose family is a group of legendary monster hunters patrols the streets of New York, pursuing justice when the things that go bump in the night step out of line. When her family's former associates show up in the form of Covenant boy, Dominic De Luca, sparks fly between the two, even as they pursue a mythical dragon. I enjoyed Verity and Dominic's chemistry, the creepy cast of characters and the twist on the usual paranormal setting.
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Cool Alternative History: "God Save The Queen" by Kate Locke. In an alternate reality, Queen Victoria was a vampire, as was the aristocracy, and vampires, werewolves and goblins freely roam the streets. Blue-blood England means half-blooded vampires and werewolves like Xandra and her siblings. When her sister, Drusilla, goes missing, Xandra will do anything to find her, even head into the London underground where the dangerous goblins live. Meeting with the goblin prince, he warns her that her sister is in Bedlam, the famed insane asylum. But why? When it looks like Drusilla has died there after a suicide, Xandra has trouble believing it. Her search to uncover the truth leads her to several people she believed dead, a conspiracy or two, a hunky werewolf and a secret that could change her life forever. The book's ending will leave you begging for a sequel.
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Contact Amy Phelps at aphelps@newsandsentinel.com
