Walker by Josie Johnston

Ed "Woody" Walker became a country star after his song Liquor Licker became famous when he was only 19. Now in his late 30s, he's trying to escape his bad boy younger image, but can't seem to stop being pressured to give the fans what they want. When the stress becomes too much and his phobias have him trying to break out of a plane while in flight, he needs a place to lie low for awhile.

May has given up being a PA for spoiled celebrities after her client's meltdown and her best friend's death on the same night a year ago. But if she ever wants her jewelry business to take off, she needs money. So she takes the job, but didn't realize "laying low" meant that he would stay in her apartment and be underfoot… and put herself under the scrutiny of the paparazzi. But after learning more about him, she realizes he's nothing like the media has made him out to be.

This was a sweet love story, with each helping the other with their issues and becoming closer as time went on. I loved the song lyrics at the beginning of some of the chapters, funny memos from the gossip rags on the others. I really felt like they had so much to overcome but they were able to stay strong together.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Funny Farm by Laurie Zaleski

This is a memoir of Laurie, the woman who started and runs the Funny Farm animal rescue. At times heartbreaking, others hilarious, it tells her story starting with her mother and siblings escaping an abusive father, to her childhood growing up in poverty, to finally realizing her mother's dream of an animal rescue after her death. The story of her life is interspersed with stories of some of the animals on the farm. 

This book was so much more than I expected. So inspiring and emotional. I loved it!

I received a complimentary advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily. 

Unmissing by Minka Kent

It's been ten years since Luca Colletto's wife Lydia disappeared while taking a hike. The only clues left behind were her backpack with her GPS signal and cell phone still inside. He has since remarried to Merritt, who's pregnant with their second child. The couple started a chain of restaurants and are living a comfortable life. But the restaurants are now struggling and Luca is away trying to find someone to buy their restaurant brand. One dark night, a woman comes knocking on the door...a woman that looks exactly like Lydia. All she claims to want is help to get back on her feet, but as time goes on, Merritt starts to question her motives. Why didn't she go to the police? Does she want Luca back? What exactly is she expecting them to do? And the more stress Luca is under, the more he starts to pull away. Can she keep her family together and keep her dream life or is it all starting to fall apart?

Told from the alternating perspective of both wives, the mystery starts to come together and I was totally shocked by the end. What a plot twist! I've never read any of the previous books by this author, but I plan on adding them to my TBR list!

Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal

Nell is an outcast in her small village, teased for the birthmarks that cover her entire body. When Jasper Jupiter's Circus of Wonders comes to town, her father sells her to the ringmaster as a "leopard girl". At first she is angry and terrified at her new life, but soon learns that the Circus is her destiny. She's gone from a poor outcast flower farmer to the star of the show and people admire and cheer for her, the Queen of the Moon and Stars. The only threat to her growing fame is her growing feelings for Toby, the gentle and shy brother to Jasper the ringmaster.
There's just something magical about this book... the beautiful writing style, the cast of diverse and wonderful characters, the Victorian Circus setting. I just loved it so much!
I received an advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden

Christopher Golden uses Siberian folklore and the true history of the Road of Bones to create a hauntingly strange and terrifying thriller. 

From the blurb: 

Kolyma Highway, otherwise known as the Road of Bones, is a 1200 mile stretch of Siberian road where winter temperatures can drop as low as sixty degrees below zero. Under Stalin, at least eighty Soviet gulags were built along the route to supply the USSR with a readily available workforce, and over time hundreds of thousands of prisoners died in the midst of their labors. Their bodies were buried where they fell, plowed under the permafrost, underneath the road.

Teig, a struggling documentary filmmaker, thinks he's finally found a winning idea. Along with his friend and cameraman Prentiss, they travel to Siberia and pick up a local guide to take them to Akhust, "the coldest place on earth". But when they arrive, the town is abandoned, except for a nine year old girl and a pack of predatory wolves. On a road where it's 150 miles between gas stations and a breakdown is almost always fatal, the team is in a fight for survival against the elements and the otherworldly beasts hunting them. 

I found this book truly fascinating from the striking cover that lured me in, the true history of the road, the haunting atmosphere, and the terrifying folklore. This book had me in the edge of my seat from beginning to end.

I received an advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily

The Overnight Guest by Heather Gudenkauf

Three seemingly random stories, one in 2000 and two in the present twenty years later, weave together and come to a shocking conclusion in this irresistible thriller. This book was so good I couldn't put it down!

-Twenty years ago, a grisly murder occurs on an Iowa farm. Josie, 12 years old, is injured and the only survivor left behind, while her brother and best friend are missing.

-A woman and her young daughter are being kept in captivity in a basement, held by an abusive man for years. 

-A woman struggling with her divorce and custody of her teenage son .retreats to an isolated farmhouse to finish her true crime novel. During a terrible snowstorm one night she rescues a young boy frozen in a snowbank. He refuses to speak to her, and the only clue of where he came from is a wrecked truck on the side of the road. With no way to leave and get help and the phone lines down during the storm, she reluctantly keeps the terrified boy overnight.

This was the perfect book to read while the wind and snow were howling around my own home, while I'm cuddled up in my favorite chair with my blankie and a cup of coffee. I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves a good thriller. 

I received an advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily. 

The Ex-Husband by Karen Hamilton

Set sail aboard a cruise ship to the Caribbean with Charlotte and Sam, where they work as crew and swindle the rich out of cash and jewelry, until they're ultimately found out. Sam sets her up for the blame,  leaving an expensive piece of jewelry in her luggage to be searched,  before he leaves the ship without her.   Now,  years later,  she's started her own business and is trying to live honestly earning her own money. But someone has started threatening her and Sam that they know the truth,  and ominous texts from her ex warning her of danger have her on edge... even more when they stop. She takes a job on an exclusive cruise ship only to realize that the threats are continuing on board.  Which passenger knows her secrets? Will she make it through the cruise alive?

I found the main character Charlotte greedy and shallow,  but as a con artist, I'm not really expected to like her to enjoy a good thriller story.  The cruise ship full of wealthy passengers was the perfect setting for this swindling couple,  their stories of love and tragedy perfect to open people's wallets. I enjoyed this adventurous whodunit while the temperature outside my own home is near zero and I'm cuddled up with my blankie and a hot drink wishing I was basking in the sun on a cruise myself!

I received an advance reader copy of this book.  The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.