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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From USA Today bestselling author Audrey J. Cole comes a locked-room thriller at sea about image and influence, guilty secrets that won’t sink, and the lies we cling to in the storm.
A luxury sailing trip is the perfect escape from Palmer’s shattered marriage. Until the Pacific Coast cruise—a chance for old friends to mend old wounds—descends into a harrowing fight for their lives.

Twenty years ago, the five of them were inseparable. But after a rafting accident their senior year, only four of them returned. Volleyball captain Courtney’s body was never found. And their lives were never the same.

Now Palmer, her ride-or-die Beth, and home renovator Emma are on an all-expenses-paid trip with mega-influencer Gigi. But a mysterious note and a violent storm soon push them dangerously off course. The radio’s down, the captain’s missing, and the first officer’s woefully inexperienced. And in a chilling echo of the past, Gigi gets swept away. Perhaps on purpose.

Someone doesn’t want them to make it back. Palmer’s not sure who to trust, but she knows the truth lies in the murky depths of what really happened that day on the river.

Cole is now an auto read for me so when I saw this featured by Yvo @ It’s All About Books in her Stacking the Shelves post, I quickly added. Scheduled for release in January, it’s an audio review hopeful.

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This program features multicast narration.
How far would you go for greatness?Through immersive scenes, a full cast, sound effects, and more, bestselling author Anna Downes brings listeners into The Studio, an elite Los Angeles acting school whose cult-like leader, Marianna, promises to make students into unstoppable talents—at any cost.

After years of seclusion, the once-celebrated child star Georgia Lane moves to Los Angeles, determined to make a comeback. But as bills pile up and auditions don’t, she realizes that beneath the glitzy facade of LA lies an unforgiving city.

But things start looking up when Georgia meets Henry, an aspiring actor who sweeps her off her feet and offers to help with her career. He connects her with his agent and brings her to audit a class at The Studio, an elite acting group of which he’s a member. There, The Studio’s head teacher, Marianna (narrated by Orange Is the New Black star Yael Stone), takes a special interest in Georgia. As Georgia steps into the intense, ego-driven world of The Studio, she finds herself invigorated by its unconventional methods, which promise to unlock her full potential—while demanding much more in return.

The more she commits to its ways, the more The Studio reveals itself as a battleground of ambition, jealousy, and psychological warfare. As the line blurs between the pursuit of art and the survival of the self, everything Georgia holds dear starts slipping away. Break Me Down is a testament to the power of art to heal, destroy, and ultimately transform.

The audiobook includes a bonus conversation between Anna and some of the main cast members of Break Me Down, discussing the story and their experiences as actors.

I got this for audio review after reading a review by a trusted Goodreads friend. She specifically lauded the full cast narration.

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A race-against-time audio thriller from the author of the “unguessable and unputdownable” (Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author) Kill for Me, Kill for You.
Cross-examination isn’t a war of words. It’s not a legal battle. It’s not about who shouts the hardest or loudest. Cross-examination is daylight robbery; you go in hard and fast, grab what you need, and get the hell out.

Eddie Flynn, ex con-artist-turned-defense attorney, has an impossible choice to make. His client, the widow of a man who died in a confrontation with a police officer, is seeking justice for her husband. The victim himself was accused of killing a man in a robbery gone wrong outside the St. Regis Hotel—his widow swears it’s not true, and the story’s not adding up to Flynn, either. But with his small and scrappy law firm on the brink of financial collapse, taking this to trial and losing could put them under for good.

As Flynn digs deeper into the case, a complex web of deceit and corruption begins to emerge with farther-reaching implications than he ever imagined. After a whirlwind twenty-four hours chasing leads all throughout New York City, it all comes down to the cross-examination: will he risk his life to expose the truth?

This is the prequel to the Eddie Flynn series that I’m dying to start. It’s being republished and is an audio review hopeful.

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It’s always sunny in Detroit for Faith Richards. The popular TV meteorologist, endearingly referred to as “The Fair Weather Friend” by her viewers, has the world by the tail. But one night Faith leaves work on a dinner break and never returns. Her body is found the next morning.
The town is reeling, suspects emerge, and long-buried secrets are uncovered. While her allies rally, her list of adversaries also grows. Little does anyone know that only the deepest secrets will expose the truth.

A Goodreads friend put this on my radar. Scheduled for release in January, it’s an audio review hopeful.

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For fans of Matt Haig and Clare Pooley, an enchanting novel about a pair of long-lost childhood friends who find themselves magically linked through origami flowers as adults—from the New York Times bestselling author of the “tug-at-your-heartstrings winner” (Sarah Addison Allen, New York Times bestselling author) The Hundred Loves of Juliet.
Can one random act of kindness change the trajectory of a life?

In elementary school, Chloe Hanako Quinn is assigned Oliver Jones as her pen pal partner. Before sending her letter, she also whispers a note into it…and he hears her. Little does she know it would be the beginning of a friendship that would bloom into something more. That is, until disaster strikes, and Oliver and his family disappear without a trace.

Now over twenty years later, Chloe is a high school guidance counselor in New York City. But life in the Big Apple is not what she dreamed it would be as she faces a layoff, rising rent, a situationship, and loneliness. Desperate for encouragement, she gives herself a pep talk via uplifting messages written on yellow origami paper that she folds into roses. When one of the roses unexpectedly finds its way to a neighbor in need of cheering up, a desire to spread kindness and optimism is sparked in Chloe, who begins folding more roses and leaving them around town.

Across the city, Oliver has picked himself up from the rough circumstances that forced him to leave everything behind as a teenager—including Chloe. Now a successful financial analyst, Oliver’s past continues to haunt him. But when the city is suddenly inundated with yellow origami roses, a specific one finds its way into his hands and changes his life forever…

Thanks to Jodie @ That Happy Reader for featuring this in her Can’t Wait Wednesday post. I have this for audio review.

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The New York Times bestselling Queen of Twists is back with a psychological masterpiece that will leave you questioning everything you know about love, identity, and revenge.
Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife.

One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.

Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.

My Husband’s Wife is a tangled web of deception, obsession, and mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. Prepare yourself for the ultimate mind-bending marriage thriller and step inside Spyglass – if you dare – to experience a story where nothing is as it seems.

I learned about this upcoming January release from the publisher. It’s an audio review hopeful.

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Disaster Love

Prepare to laugh, cry, and fall in love with this enthralling new romance from J. Bengtsson – available in audio first!
When a letter from his supposedly deceased mother finds its way into his hands, life changes in an instant for international pop star Bodhi Beckett.

Reeling from the deception of those closest to him, Bodhi spirals out of control and is sent to a secluded mansion in the coastal mountains of Southern California for some rest and relaxation. But the retreat proves to be anything but relaxing when a raging wildfire sets the landscape around him ablaze.

While escaping the flames, Bodhi rescues Breeze, a quirky, pet-loving woman, and together the two fight their way to safety. In the aftermath of the fire, Bodhi and Breeze hit the road to uncover the truth about his family. What neither of them expected is to forge a powerful connection that will change their lives forever…but can it survive the real world, or will it disappear like the wind?

He’s the surly rocker in hiding.
She’s the fed up neighbor who wants him dead.
Enemies to lovers tale with an earth-shaking twist!

When his mega-famous boy band AnyDayNow breaks up, international pop star RJ Contreras strikes out on his own. But when his solo career flops, RJ retreats to a no-frills apartment where he can hide out from the world and lick his festering wounds.

But when the girl next door starts slipping ‘good neighbor’ contracts under his door and complaining about his behavior through strategically placed Post-it-Notes, RJ snaps out of his self-absorbed melancholy to wage war.

Nothing short of an act of nature could repair the relationship between these two strong-willed enemies. But guess what Fate has in store?

I received the second book for review and got the first in the Audible 2-for-1 credit sale. I loved Cake by the author and like the sounds of this series.

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A relentless, horror-inducing psychological suspense for fans of The Push and Baby Teeth by New York Times bestselling author CG Drews.
Single mother Elodie’s life has become a fairy tale. She’s met Bren, equal parts golden-retriever devoted and sinfully handsome. He’s whisked her and her autistic son, Jude, to the crumbling family house he’s renovating. She has a new husband, a new house, and a new baby on the way. Everything is perfect.

Then Jude claims he can hear voices in the walls. He says their renovations are “hurting” the house. Even Elodie can’t ignore it–something strange is going on. The question is, is it with the house, or with her son?

Then the one secret Elodie has been hiding is revealed, and no one is safe anymore.

A pulse-pounding, clever take on the haunted house novel, You Did Nothing Wrong examines the complexities of motherhood and the twisted bonds of family as it races to its shocking ending.

I received this for review from the publisher. It’s scheduled for release in March.

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Return to the Chesapeake Bay, where broken hearts find ways to heal.
Ria and Drew Martin’s chemistry had always kept their marriage together—until suddenly it didn’t. Now a single mom, hotel manager Ria is at a loss when one of her teen daughters starts spiraling. Panicked, she calls on her estranged ex-husband for backup, but she’s not prepared for the man he’s become—or the unresolved emotions that still linger between them.

After his divorce, Drew pulled away from everyone when he lost his eyesight and his job on the police force. Now that he’s realized how much his daughters need their dad, Drew is determined to make things up to them. He’s less sure where he stands with Ria. They had real reasons for ending their marriage, but they’ve both changed during their time apart. And being with her again in the place where they first fell in love brings back memories of all that they once had. Can they overcome their past to reunite their family, this time forever?

This was the second book I got in the Audible 2-for-1 credit sale.

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What books did YOU add to your shelves this week?