Blog Archives - ELLES BOOK BLOG

ELLES BOOK BLOG

HOME BEFORE DARK BY RILEY SAGER

10/31/2021

Home Before Dark is an insidious and compelling novel that had me questioning everything. This book unnerved me to the core making the perfect pre-Halloween read!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: June 30, 2020
Genre: Gothic Thriller
Series: None. Complete Standalone.
Pages: 397 pages
Format: Hardcover. Source: BOTM Box.

In the latest thriller from New York Times bestseller Riley Sager, a woman returns to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces, as her father claimed? Or are there more earthbound—and dangerous—secrets hidden within its walls?

What was it like? Living in that house.

Maggie Holt is used to such questions. Twenty-five years ago, she and her parents, Ewan and Jess, moved into Baneberry Hall, a rambling Victorian estate in the Vermont woods. They spent three weeks there before fleeing in the dead of night, an ordeal Ewan later recounted in a nonfiction book called House of Horrors. His tale of ghostly happenings and encounters with malevolent spirits became a worldwide phenomenon, rivaling The Amityville Horror in popularity—and skepticism.

ROOMMATE BY SARINA BOWEN

10/28/2021

Sarina Bowen knows how to write swoony MM romances, so it comes to me as no surprise that this is another winner. If you enjoy the genre, grab this one!

Rating: ★★★★
Release Date: January 12, 2021
Genre: Standalone MM Romance
Series: None. Complete Standalone.
Pages: 304 pages
Format: Paperback. Source: Purchased.

Wanted: One roommate to share a 3-bedroom house, split the rent, and ideally not be the guy I can’t stop thinking about.

I’m a man with too many secrets, so the last thing I need is a new roommate with a sexy smile and blue eyes that see right through me. Eight years ago, Roderick left town after high school. We’re not friends. I owe him nothing. But back then, I let one of my secrets slip, and he’s the only one who noticed.

Part of me knows I should run far, far away. But the other part wants him to come upstairs and spend the night. But if I let him in, I could lose everything.

Seeking: a room to rent in town. I’m tidy, have no pets, and I will feed you homemade bread.

I should probably add: Gay AF, and has no filter. It’s no wonder my new landlord is so wary of me.

GETAWAY WITH MURDER BY DIANE KELLY

10/26/2021

Getaway with Murder has the perfect setting for a cozy mystery! Unfortunately, this just might be the only thing I loved about this book.

Rating: ★★★
Release Date: October 26, 2021
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: The Mountain Lodge Mystery series #1
Pages: 304 pages
Format: eBook. Source: Publisher (thank you!).

Getaway With Murder is the first in a cozy series from Diane Kelly set in a lodge in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where secrets hide behind every hill.

As if hitting the half-century mark wasn’t enough, Misty Murphy celebrated her landmark birthday by amicably ending her marriage and investing her settlement in a dilapidated mountain lodge at the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With the old inn teetering on both a bluff and bankruptcy, she must have lost her ever-loving mind.

Luckily, handyman Rocky Crowder has a knack for rehabbing virtual ruins and for doing it on a dime, and to Misty’s delight, the lodge is fully booked on opening night, every room filled with flexible folks who’d slipped into spandex and ascended the peak for a yoga retreat with plans to namastay for a full week. Misty and her guests are feeling zen—at least until the yoga instructor is found dead.

WILD NORTH BY JB SALSBURY

10/23/2021

If you love a romance with a tortured hero then you need Wild North in your life. This is an undeniably good read with characters I fell in love with instantly.

Rating: ★★★★
Release Date: May 18, 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance.
Series: North Brothers series #1
Pages: 253 pages
Format: Kindle. Source: Purchased

To me, he was Grizzly.
To the world, I would learn, he’s someone else completely.

I should have died on that mountain.
But he rescued me.

More animal than man, he’s cold, distant, and fiercely territorial. He seems to hate me for simply breathing, and yet, he brought me back to life.

After my return to the city, I can’t stop thinking about him. His rough hands, intense glare, and the way he cared for me as if I meant something to him.

He tells me he’s dangerous. That I’m not safe around him. I would eventually understand why he warned me away. But by then it’s too late. My heart is his.

THE HOLLOWS BY MARK EDWARDS

10/23/2021

If you’re in the mood for a creepy psychological thriller that feels like a mix between Children of the Corn and Friday the 13th then this may be a good book for you. It’s a decent read with some good twists along the way.

Rating: ★★★
Release Date: July 8, 2021
Genre: Mystery. Suspense.
Series: None. Complete Standalone.
Pages: 335 pages
Format: eBook. Source: Kindle Unlimited.

From the bestselling author of The House Guest comes a chilling story set deep in the woods…

With his marriage over and his career in freefall, journalist Tom decides to reconnect with his fourteen-year-old daughter, Frankie. Desperate to spend precious time together now that they live an ocean apart, he brings her to Hollow Falls, a cabin resort deep in the woods of Maine.

From the outset there’s something a little eerie about the place—strange whispers in the trees, windchimes echoing through the forest—but when Tom meets true-crime podcasters David and Connie, he receives a chilling warning. Hollow Falls has a gruesome history: twenty years ago this week, a double slaying shut down the resort. The crime was never solved, and now the woods are overrun with murder-obsessed tourists looking to mark the grim

DIAL A FOR AUNTIES BY JESSE Q. SUTANTO

10/20/2021

Who knew that murder and mayhem could be so funny? Jesse Q. Sutanto kills it with this hilarious and whip smart read! I devoured it in one sitting.

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: April 27, 2021
Genre: Romcom / Murder Mystery
Series: Aunties series #1
Pages: 319 pages
Format: Paperback. Source: Purchased.

What happens when you mix 1 (accidental) murder with 2 thousand wedding guests, and then toss in a possible curse on 3 generations of an immigrant Chinese-Indonesian family?

You get 4 meddling Asian aunties coming to the rescue!

When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get rid of the body. Unfortunately, a dead body proves to be a lot more challenging to dispose of than one might anticipate, especially when it is inadvertently shipped in a cake cooler to the over-the-top billionaire wedding Meddy, her Ma, and aunties are working at an island resort on the California coastline. It's the biggest job yet for the family wedding business—"Don't leave your big day to chance, leave it to the Chans!"—and nothing, not even an unsavory corpse, will get in the way of her auntie's

LITANI BY JESS LOUREY

10/18/2021

One of the things I love most about Jess Lourey’s novels is that they are based on true crimes. Being a true crime junkie, I love reading books like this! Sure, they aren’t the easiest to read but they are so compelling that you can’t stop!

Rating: ★★★★
Release Date: October 19, 2021
Genre: Crime
Series: None. Complete Standalone.
Pages: 320 pages
Format: eBook (ARC). Source: Publisher

The Amazon Charts bestselling author of Unspeakable Things and Bloodline explores the darkness at the heart of the rural Midwest in a novel inspired by a chilling true crime.

In the summer of ’84, fourteen-year-old Frankie Jubilee is shuttled off to Litani, Minnesota, to live with her estranged mother, a county prosecutor she barely knows. From the start, Frankie senses something uneasy going on in the small town. The locals whisper about The Game, and her mother warns her to stay out of the woods and away from adults.

When a bullying gang of girls invites Frankie to The Game, she accepts,

THE MOTHER NEXT DOOR BY TARA LASKOWSKI

10/15/2021

I can see why this book is comparable to Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty! This is a juicy tale of suburban mothers gone wild with secrets and revenge!

Rating: ★★★★
Release Date: October 12, 2021
Genre: Suburban Suspense. Mystery.
Series: None. Complete standalone.
Pages: 326 pages
Format: eBook. Source: Publisher.

GOOD MOTHERS…
Never show their feelings.
Never spill their secrets.
Never admit to murder.

The annual Halloween block party is the pinnacle of the year on idyllic suburban cul-de-sac Ivy Woods Drive. An influential group of neighborhood moms—known as the Ivy Five—plans the event for months.

Except the Ivy Five has been four for a long time.

When a new mother moves to town, eager to fit in, the moms see it as an opportunity to make the group whole again. This year’s block party should be the best yet... until the women start receiving anonymous messages threatening to expose the quiet neighborhood’s dark past—and the lengths they’ve gone to hide it.

THE PARTY CRASHER BY SOPHIE KINSELLA

10/12/2021

Sophie Kinsella is hands down one of my favorite authors in the entire world. She writes quirky characters and plots that always make me smile. I loved this book just as much as I’ve loved her others- to pieces!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: October 12, 2021
Genre: Chick Lit. Family Drama.
Series: None. Complete Standalone.
Pages: 368 pages
Format: eBook. Source: Publisher (thank you!).

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Love Your Life comes a humorous and heartwarming novel about family, set against the backdrop of the most fabulous party you’ve ever snuck into.

It’s been over two years since Effie’s beloved parents got divorced, destroying the image of the happy, loving childhood she thought she had. Since then, she’s become estranged from her father and embarked on a feud with his hot (and much younger) girlfriend, Krista. And now, more earth-shattering news: Greenoaks, the rambling Victorian country house Effie called home her whole life, has been sold.

When Krista decides to throw a grand “house cooling” party, Effie is originally left off the guest list—and then receives a last-minute “anti-invitation” (maybe it’s because she called Krista a gold-

DON'T LOOK BY ALEXANDRA IVY

10/9/2021

Don’t Look is a bone chilling suspense novel that had me guessing until the very end. I enjoyed this one immensely and flew through it in one day!

Rating: ★★★★★
Release Date: December 1, 2020
Genre: Murder Mystery. Suspense. Romantic Suspense.
Series: Pike, Wisconsin #1 (can stand alone)
Pages: 402 pages
Format: Paperback. Source: Purchased.

IF YOU’RE ON HIS LIST
A woman’s naked body is discovered, cold and pale as the surrounding snow—except for the crimson scarf around her neck. The weeks that follow bring more victims and evidence of a terrifying pattern. The killer has a list. And every woman on it will get what she deserves . . .

YOU’RE AS GOOD
Dr. Lynne Gale followed in her father’s footsteps to become a vet in Pike, Wisconsin. For years, she’s had little contact with Kir Jansen, son of the town’s late sheriff. Suddenly he’s back, insisting that Lynne’s in danger. She can’t believe anyone would target her, but someone is hunting the women of Pike, savoring every last moment.

AS DEAD
Kir hoped that his father’s frantic calls about a serial killer were just an old man’s delusions. But the body count doesn’t lie. In this quiet town, a monster stalks and kills. And soon, Lynne’s will be the last name on his list . . .

COPYRIGHT
All content on this blog was created by Elle's Blook Blog, unless otherwise stated. Reproduction, duplication and/or republication without written permission are prohibited, with the exception of authors and publishers who may use parts of reviews for quotations where full and clear credit is given to this blog.

DISCLOSURE
All books reviewed on this blog are personally purchased or received from authors or publishers in exchange for my unbiased review. I do not receive any payment for any book reviews. This blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees.

Copyright © 2015-2023 · ELLE'S BOOK BLOG