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.

Succession meets The Guest List in Darby Kane’s newest novel where rich people are doing terrible things, including murder. There’s no telling how far these weekend guests will go to be the next heir of the Benedict estate…

For the second time in ten years a body drifted in the water at Waverly…

Ten years ago, someone who supposedly loved Walter Benedict murdered him during a party at Waverly, the family’s Rhode Island estate. His body was found floating in the pool, and his wife, the Amery Aberdeen Benedict, was immediately named the suspect by law enforcement and every true-crime fan on the internet.

Amery being Amery, she spent less than a day in jail and did so with her usual spare-no-expense flair. Then…nothing. The years ticked by without an arrest or any new information. Whispers about Amery’s involvement continued but closure never came.

Now on the tenth anniversary of the tragic event, Amery has called her children and their partners home for a “Walter is still dead, so let’s celebrate” soiree. But her true motivation is quickly revealed. With rumors of an impending explosive documentary about the family, Amery wants the murder solved and offers a challenge to make it happen: Waverly in exchange for the truth.

A twenty-eight-million-dollar oceanfront estate is a lot of incentive. The kind some people would kill for.

Amery knows someone might be tempted to get a little nasty. To break the rules. To eliminate the competition. You might even say she secretly hopes all of those things happen. See, Amery likes games. She’s been planning this for a long time and it’s time to play.

One weekend. One answer. One heir to the estate. Huge money. A new murder. Winner takes all.

This will teach people to blame the wife.

Thanks to Melissa @That Library Girl for featuring this in her Can’t Wait Wednesday post. Scheduled for release in January, it’s an audio review hopeful.

A woman who has sworn off children suddenly finds herself taking care of her nephew and living in close quarters with her single-dad landlord in this new moving, hopeful slow-burn romance from bestselling author of Promise Me Sunshine and No Matter What.

Soli is finally free! (Or so she thinks). After breaking up with her clingy boyfriend, Soli is determined to remain single and dependent-less…when who shows up on her doorstep but her runaway teenaged nephew looking to hunker down in New York City while he figures out who he is. Which wouldn’t be such a big deal if her apartment didn’t flood that night
causing the two of them to suddenly need a new place to live.

Her landlord, Ethan, feels terrible, and is desperate for her not to move out; he has enough to juggle as a single dad and business owner, recovering from an accident that left him scarred, without adding “find a new trustworthy tenant” to the list. He offers her a Soli and her nephew can move in with Ethan and his daughter, Miriam, while he renovates her apartment, as long as she promises she’ll stay.

Soli’s never been one to want to put down roots, preferring to follow her heart and her heart only, free of the expectations of others. But little does she know that despite her domestic antipathies, she is everything Ethan never dared to hope he’d find.

Thanks to Jodie @ That Happy Reader  for featuring this in her Can’t Wait Wednesday post. Scheduled for release in March, it’s a library audiobook hopeful.

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I’ll savor the taste of victory from a bet my rival foolishly thought he could win. All I have to say to his ridiculously handsome face is . . . let the games begin.

New York Times bestselling author S.L. Scott brings the heat this holiday season in With Love, Winter.

🐝

I handle big city developers like I do my enemies, by killing them . . . with kindness, that is.

But when Scout Flannery shows up with a smirk that tells me he always gets what he wants and proposes an insulting offer that would put me out of business, there’s no honey in my approach.

He wants something I refuse to give—the trade secrets to my business.

I want something he’s willing to wager—a shop of my own in his new shopping center.

The catch? Don’t fall in love with him.

Easy enough . . . until we’re stuck in an elevator together, and I see a different side of him. I discover he has a heart beneath that handsome façade. Who knew?

Suddenly, that bet doesn’t seem like such a sure thing.

Battles become banter. Heated debates turn into steamy kisses. And his smirks slip into smiles, dragging my heart right along with them.

His career is at stake, but it’s my heart on the line. And I begin to realize that if I win, I lose him. But if I lose?

I just might lose everything.

Tropes: Rivals to Lovers, Opposites Attract, Small Town Romance, Forced Proximity, Holiday, Enemies to Lovers, No Holds Barred Bet.

I’ve requested this for audio review. It’s the third book in The Season Sisters series. 

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GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICK

From the New York Times bestselling author of the “magnificent” (Fresh Air) Ask Again, Yes, a sweeping multigenerational saga inspired by the author’s family history, following eleven brothers as they are set on different paths between Ireland, England, Montana, and New York.

1960s, Ireland. In the wake of tragedy, a father makes choices for his eleven grieving sons. The older brothers will emigrate to England for work, while the younger ones will stay behind. The second eldest, Macdara, is offered a job on a Montana cattle ranch and sets off. His spirited younger brother Rian begs to come along and Mac promises to bring Rian to America as soon as he’s old enough. But then one day Mac gets a call that Rian has gone missing. His disappearance will haunt Mac and his family across decades.

Spanning lifetimes and continents, Whale Harbor is “tender, immersive, and exquisitely written” (Florence Knapp, author of The Names) with award-winning author Mary Beth Keane’s signature wit, eloquence, and attention to the emotional resonance of family, brotherhood, and the choices that echo across generations.

I accepted this for audio review.

A tense yet ambiguous psychological thriller, exploring the lengths women will go to in order to protect each other—and whether living your truth can sometimes mean living a lie.

It’s the kind of career-making opportunity only a fool would pass an exclusive interview with bestselling memoirist Caroline Rivers. But as junior reporter Marissa Chen delves into Caroline’s story of captivity and torture, it eerily starts mirroring her own harrowing ordeal as a teenager.

The more she probes the facts of the book, however, the less they add up. There are details Caroline couldn’t possibly have seen in the dark and small but puzzling discrepancies with the police report. And why are her agent and daughter so determined to keep Marissa at a safe distance?

The questions grow more personal when Marissa’s estranged sister suddenly resurfaces. Then the shocking truth about Caroline erupts in the same place Marissa’s captor died, casting the reporter’s own survivor story in a chilling new light. Now, with all their illusions in disarray, three women must decide how much deception they’re willing to abide to secure their safety. And their revenge…

Thanks to Stephanie @ Stephanie Likes Books for her cover reveal post. Scheduled for release in June, it’s an audio review hopeful (cover not yet available).

What books did YOU add to your shelves this week?