Saturdays at the Café

 

Saturdays at the Café is a weekly feature hosted here to talk about and discuss the books I’ve discovered during the past week, added to my shelf and am excited about reading. They may be new/scheduled releases I’ve seen on NetGalley, at the library, or from publishers or they may be older titles my friends have reviewed and shared on Goodreads or blogs.

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Revenge is a dish best served cold—especially when it comes in the form of one of Grandma’s “special” pies. Get the best of family hijinks, girl power, and hilariously justifiable crime in the latest novel from award-winning author HelenKay Dimon.

Kasey Nottingham needs a splashy idea at her company where they find and develop the next big thing for investors—her job depends on it. Impulsively, she pitches Mags’ Desserts, a beloved small-town business run by her grandma Mags and live-in “best friend” Celia, two women who overcame deadbeat husbands and financial ruin to build a word-of-mouth clientele. Kasey expects her boss to say no. Instead, he sends her home to North Carolina to land the deal…and now she has a problem.

Mags and Celia aren’t interested, which isn’t a surprise, but something else is going on in their kitchen. Locked cabinets. Cryptic conversations. Unexpected notations on business records. The ladies have secrets and whatever they’re hiding is big. As reports of mysterious deaths of abusive men in the area surface—all in households that recently received a delivery from Mags’ Desserts—Kasey worries Gram and Celia have gone into the poison pie business.

As investors start circling, Kasey enlists Jackson Quaid, Celia’s nephew and Kasey’s long-time crush, as her reluctant investigation assistant. Jackson is practical. Kasey has a wild imagination. Together, they dodge Kasey’s boss and gather intel. And kiss. Lots of kissing, though probably not the best idea to start an unexpected romance. Doing it while keeping two feisty ladies from going to jail for knocking off bad husbands—even if those husbands deserve it—might be impossible…but Kasey never shied away from a challenge.

Thanks to Kim @ It’s All About the Thrill for the heads up about this upcoming March release. It’s a library audiobook hopeful.

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In this dramatic true account about the power of sensationalized crime, one woman’s case is exposed for its sexism, flagrant disregard for the truth, and, ultimately, the dangers posed by an unbridled prosecution.

Unwanted and neglected from birth, Barbara Graham had to overcome the odds just to survive. Her beauty was both a blessing and a curse—offering her too many options of all the wrong kind. Her innate sensitivity left her vulnerable to the harsh realities of the street, where she was left to fend for herself before she reached double digits. Her record of petty crimes spoke to a life that constantly teetered on the brink of disaster.

But in 1953, a catastrophic twist of fate would catapult her out of obscurity and into the headlines.

When a robbery spiraled out of control and escalated into a brutal murder, Barbara became the centerpiece of a media circus. Her beauty enraptured the press, and they were quick to portray her as a villainous femme fatale despite abundant evidence to the contrary—a fiction the prosecution eagerly promoted.

The frenzy of public interest and willful distortion paved a treacherous path for Barbara Graham. In Trial by Ambush, author and criminal lawyer Marcia Clark investigates the case exposing the fallacies in the demonizing picture they painted and the critical evidence that was never revealed.

Another shout out to Kim @ It’s All About the Thrill for this true crime story, scheduled for release next month. It’s an audio review hopeful.

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The #1 New York Times bestselling author, whose books so many love, brings us a fresh, contemporary story of a woman and her unruly blended family

“Nobody writes women the way Jojo Moyes does.”—Jodi Picoult

Lila Kennedy has a lot on her plate. A broken marriage, two wayward daughters, a house that is falling apart, and an elderly stepfather who seems to have quietly moved in. Her career is in freefall and her love life is . . . complicated. So when her real dad—a man she has barely seen since he ran off to Hollywood thirty-five years ago—suddenly appears on her doorstep, it feels like the final straw. But it turns out even the family you thought you could never forgive might have something to teach you: about love, and what it actually means to be family.

What a nice surprise! I wasn’t aware of this new release until it was featured by Nicki @ Secret Library Book Blog in her Can’t Wait Wednesday post. Scheduled for release in February, it’s a library audiobook hopeful.

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“Southern bestselling sensation” (Katie Couric Media) Kristy Woodson Harvey returns with a delightfully moving new novel about a mother-daughter duo learning to lean on their community of women—and each other—after their world is turned upside down.

When Charlotte Sitterly’s husband is arrested for a white-collar crime, she and her daughter Iris are locked out of their house by the FBI and—what’s potentially even worse—thrust into the spotlight of @JuniperShoresSocialite, the town’s snarky anonymous Instagram account. Cut off from her bank accounts and feeling desperate, Charlotte takes up an acquaintance’s offer to stay at a beachfront former bed-and-breakfast that’s home to a community of single mothers and draws plenty of gossip in the small coastal North Carolina town.

Charlotte and Iris find solace and are surprised by how much fun they’re having with the other families despite their circumstances. But when the women discover a secret link between them, it changes everything they thought they knew about the unconventional family they’ve created and leaves them wondering whether their coming together was a coincidence at all. Will the skeletons in the mommune closets help Charlotte and Iris reclaim their place in the Juniper Shores community—or shatter the sisterhood forever?

“Perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Jennifer Weiner” (Country Living), Beach House Rulesis a charming exploration of the joy of friendship, the true meaning of family, and reclaiming the power to reshape our own destiny.

Thanks to Stephanie @ Stephanie Likes Books for featuring the cover reveal in a recent post. Scheduled for release in May, it’s a publisher review hopeful.

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I keep all her secrets. She thinks she can trust me…

Cecilia has it all. The house on the beach. The cute figure. The beautiful baby. But she’s a long way from perfect.

She’s let me into her gorgeous house as her nanny because now she’s on her own, she needs a little help with her baby daughter Peyton. She barely notices me. But I see everything.

While Peyton naps, I rifle through her drawers and discover the dark secrets in her past, the threatening letter from her ex-husband.

It’s a shame that Cecilia doesn’t have my powers of observation. If she took some time, she might just recognise me. I’ve been following her for a while, after all.

If she knew who I was then I don’t think I’d be so invisible. And she wouldn’t be so surprised one morning when little Peyton’s cot is found empty…

Thanks to a Bookouture alert, I got the kindle book for $.99 but added the audiobook to my Audible wishlist.

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Children run through the streets in their Halloween costumes, giggling happily, not noticing the blood on the house is real. A baby girl is tucked up asleep in her room. Her mother’s body lies motionless in the front yard, pink petals on the ground beside her…

Arriving in the quiet community of Mulberry Creek, Special Agent Nikki Hunt is shocked that amongst the chaos of costumes and fake, silver spider webs, a new mother called Kiania Watson has lost her life. A blooming rare flower placed carefully in her cold, bound hands. Nikki’s legs go weak: it’s the mark of a serial killer she’s met before.

Nine years ago, Nikki fell in pursuit of a masked man who’d killed a young girl at a cabin in rural Minnesota. Seeing her cradling the bump of her pregnant belly, he’d spared her life. She was told he’d died in a shoot-out days later. But the pink flower only grows at that cabin: it’s a message to Nikki.

Nikki’s team are quick to suspect Kiania’s abusive husband. But Nikki finds two further, similar murders in other states. Flowers were left in their palms when they died. Nikki’s heart breaks when she realizes all the victims were mothers to newborn babies.

Digging desperately into old case files, Nikki finds blood on a rock she secured nine years ago, which has never been tested. But not before receiving a desperate call that another woman has just been taken. This twisted killer is playing a deadly game, and Nikki must risk her own life if she has any chance of returning this mother to her child alive…

A dark, twisty and heart-racing thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat, reading it in one sitting. Fans of Kendra Elliot, Lisa Regan and Robert Dugoni will be addicted to the suspense in this tightly-woven page-turner.

Thanks again to another Bookouture alert, I got the kindle book for $.99. It’s also on my Audible wishlist.

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A hilarious love story about a disillusioned divorcée who agrees to let her children play matchmaker.

Columnist Anna Appleby has left her love life behind after a painful divorce. Who needs a man when she has two kids, a cat, and uncontested control of the TV remote? Besides, she’d rather be single than subject herself to the hell of online dating. But her office rival is vying for her column, and no column means no stable source of income. In a desperate attempt to keep her job, Anna finds herself pitching a unique angle: seven dates, all found offline, chosen by her children.

From awkward encounters to unexpected connections, Anna gamely begins to put herself out there, asking out waiters, the mailman, and even her celebrity crush. But when a romantic connection appears where she least expected it, will she be brave enough to take another chance on love?

Quite a few friends put this one on my radar so when it showed up at my library, I grabbed the audiobook.

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A hilarious, heart-tugging rom com about two people finding each other again one phone call at a time.

Hannah Gold never thought she’d speak to Ethan Reisner ever again. Getting dumped in high school will do that to you. But when she needs to find a beloved sweater in time for her parents’ 50th anniversary, she begins her search where she last saw it: Ethan’s childhood home.

She thought calling Ethan out of the blue would be the hardest part, but breaking fifteen years of silence was just the beginning. Why is Ethan being so friendly? And helpful? And funny? And is it possible for someone to be handsome over the phone?

As her feelings take her to unexpected places and her parents’ anniversary looms closer, Hannah will have to dig deep, find out what’s real, and decide exactly what she wants.

I was searching for a sample of one of the narrators and stumbled across this short story that’s free with my Audible membership. After listening to the entire excerpt, I added it. It’s complete with sound effects like a full cast narration.

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Every grave has a story … The much-anticipated new novel in the Cormac Reilly series, from the no.1 bestselling author of The Ruin and What Happened to Nina.

For years the boglands of Northern Europe have given up bodies of the long-deceased. Bodies that are thousands of years old, uncannily preserved. Bodies with strange injuries that suggest ritual torture and human sacrifice.

When a corpse is found in a bog in Galway, Cormac Reilly assumes the find is historical. But closer examination reveals a more recent story. The dead man is Thaddeus Grey, a local secondary school principal who disappeared two years prior.

There’s nothing in Grey’s past that would explain why he was murdered, or why his body was mutilated in a ritual manner. At first, progress on the case is frustratingly slow and Cormac struggles to keep his mind on the job. His ex-girlfriend, Emma Sweeney, is in trouble, and she’s reached out to him for help – Emma’s new husband has gone missing in Paris, and the French police are refusing to open an investigation into his disappearance.

Cormac is sure that he has found Grey’s killer, and is within hours of an arrest, when another mutilated body is discovered on the other side of the country. Two days later, a third body is found. Press attention is intense. Is there a serial killer at work in Ireland? Has Cormac been on the wrong trail? And if so, can he find the murderer before they strike again?

Thanks to the author’s newsletter for info about this upcoming April release of the 4th book in the series! The US editions aren’t available yet so I’m using the Australia edition as a placeholder. It’s a library audiobook hopeful.

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What books did YOU add to your shelves this week?