Mini Reviews – June 2023 Part Three

Looks like I’m finally getting my last couple reviews up from June!

Ended the month strong with some great books and I can’t just leave them out of the line up.

Mini Reviews: June 2023 Part Three

WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW – Melissa Adelman (Released June 20th, 2023 – Thanks to Minotaur Books for the copy)

Sometimes the darkest acts occur in the most beautiful houses…

When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind.

But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken, and as the police struggle to identify and apprehend the killer, tension in the neighborhood mounts and long-buried secrets start to emerge.

In the midst of the turmoil, Alexis takes comfort in her budding friendship with Teddy’s beautiful and charismatic widow, Blair. But as the women grow closer, the neighborhood only becomes more divided. And when the unthinkable truth behind Teddy’s murder is finally uncovered, both Blair and Alexis must reexamine their friendship and decide how far they are willing to go to preserve the lives they have so carefully constructed.

Mini Review: 3.5/5 stars – I laughed a little when I saw the title and showed Jeremy because he read the title out loud, and I said, “absolutely nothing!” 😂 we have zero visible neighbors, and I can never live somewhere without this kind of privacy again.

I thought this was a fun domestic suspense and a great debut! This was compared to Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door and I completely agree. I used to love that show! But it was fun trying to piece together who was behind Teddy’s murder and I loved the little reveals as the pacing picked up. I knocked off a tiny bit because the beginning is a little slower moving that I would have preferred BUT it still kept me engaged and curious enough to finish it.

BEFORE SHE FINDS ME – Heather Chavez (Releasing June 27th, 2023 – Thanks to Mulholland Books and Novel Suspects for the copy)

In this shocking thriller, two unlikely mothers race to uncover the truth behind a horrific attack—even after it becomes clear that the truth will destroy one of their families.

Julia Bennett has worked hard to create a stable life for her daughter, Cora, in Southern California. So when Cora leaves for college, the worst thing Julia expects on move-in day is an argument with her ex-husband and his new wife. But a sudden attack leaves the campus stunned—and only Julia’s quick actions save Cora’s life. Shaken in the aftermath, and haunted by a dark secret, Julia starts to wonder: What if the attack wasn’t as random as everyone believes?

Newly pregnant Ren Petrovic has an unusual career—she’s a trained assassin, operating under a strict moral code. Ren wasn’t on campus that day, but she knows who was: her husband, Nolan. What she doesn’t know is why Nolan has broken their rules by not telling her about the job in advance. The more Ren looks into the attack, the more she begins to question: Who really hired Nolan? And why did one woman in the crowd respond so differently from all the rest?

Julia and Ren each want answers, but their searches quickly pit them against each other. One woman is a hired killer, but the other is a determined survivor. And both mothers will defend their families to the bitter end.

Mini Review: 4/5 stars – Fast paced and intense! This does deals in the aftermath of a tragic shooting on a college campus. This event having an effect on both Julia’s family and Ren’s family – both women determined to get their questions answered and uncover the truth.

One woman and her husband are a contract killer and the other a mother of a survivor of the shooting. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy a book with one of the main characters being an assassin. There was plenty of excitement going on to keep me engaged from start to finish.