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.

A couple’s gender reveal party turns deadly and everyone is a suspect in this gripping thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest
Is it a boy or a girl? They would die to know…

Cordelia and Wes Drake have invited two hundred of their closest friends and family to their sprawling horse ranch for the most anticipated event of the year: a “pistols and pearls” gender reveal party so sensational it is sure to make headlines. But the party descends into chaos when the celebratory explosive misfires, leaving one woman dead and a trail of secrets.

As the aftershocks of the bloody party ripple across the small town, Agent Jamie Saldano is brought on the scene to investigate. Battling his own demons from the past, Saldano unearths a web of deceit spun around the Drakes. The appearance of some unexpected houseguests only deepens the mystery. And as tensions mount, it becomes clear that the explosion wasn’t just an unlucky accident. But who was the target, and why? As the shadow of a killer looms, the happy parents-to-be must unravel the truth before it’s too late.?

Thanks to Yvo @ It’s All About Books for featuring this in her Stacking the Shelves post. Scheduled for release in November, it’s an audio review hopeful.

The aristocracy is making a run for the throne in this latest thrilling, star-crossed paranormal romance entry in J.R. Ward’s #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series.
When Lyric goes out for the night, she’s not ready for a brush with death—and she’s really not ready for the male who comes out of nowhere and saves her. Her family, especially her father, Qhuinn, are so relieved she’s okay, but all she can think about is her mysterious savior.
Without telling anybody, she seeks out Devlin, and they are immediately drawn to one another. Her near-death experience has given her a fresh appreciation for life and the desire to live it to its fullest, but she has no idea that he’s hiding a secret—or that he could be the key to ending the war between the Black Dagger Brotherhood and the lessers forever.

I accepted this for review and will be getting the audio edition next month.

After killing an intruder in self-defense, a wealthy London mother must unravel a terrifying mystery filled with twists and turns, from the author of the “deliciously twisted thriller” (People) The Other Mothers.
Alice, a professional mother of one, is hosting a playdate with friends at her upscale London home when a disturbed man breaks in. With her child in the next room, Alice panics and kills him—an act later ruled to have been in self-defense.

Everyone tries to encourage Alice to move on with her life—but with strange comments appearing online, a mysterious phone call telling her all is not as it seems, and her husband, nanny, and friends behaving strangely, Alice finds herself drawn to the mystery of who her intruder really was. As she digs deeper, she discovers a trail of dark secrets that spiral closer to home than she ever could have imagined.

I’d initially passed on this when offered for audio review but after reading the review by Nikki @ Nikki Lee Thrill Seeker, I changed my mind.

“Only a Gillian McAllister thriller can make your heart race and then your heart melt from one page to the next! I’m a devoted fan!”—Liane Moriarty, #1 New York Times bestselling author
How far would you go to rescue your child? A mother races against the clock—and finds herself on the wrong side of the law—in a desperate fight to save her teenage daughter in this pulse-pounding thriller from the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Timesbestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time.

There is nothing that Simone won’t do for her daughter, Lucy. The two have always been close, and with Lucy about to leave home for university, they depart the UK for a vacation to Texas to spend some quality time together. But when Simone awakens on their first morning in the desert, Lucy is gone, missing from their rental cabin. In her place is a cell phone, and a voice on the other line issues a shocking ransom demand. Don’t tell the police. Come to this location. And be prepared to do a deal…

Though Simone’s husband urges her to bring in the authorities for help, she knows she can’t take any chances. The kidnappers might kill Lucy if she tells anyone. No mother would take that risk. Instead, that night, she drives to the isolated meet-up.

What she finds there changes everything. The mysterious kidnapper doesn’t want money. They want Simone to do something. The unthinkable.

A catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, with chilling consequences that extend beyond Simone and her family. What follows is a heart-pounding journey through the small towns and punishing deserts of remote Texas, in which Simone’s courage—and morality—is pushed to the brink as she discovers what it truly means to be a mother.

Unbearably tense, compassionately told, and full of well-crafted moral dilemmas, Caller Unknown proves once again why Gillian McAllister’s thrillers are “the best of the best” (Lisa Jewell).

Thanks to Nicki @ Secret Library Book Blog for featuring this in her cover reveal post. Scheduled for release in February, it’s a library audiobook hopeful.

What books did YOU add to your shelves this week?