review: the truth beneath the lies by amanda searcy

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Kayla's life is going to an out-of-district high school (based on her former foster mom's address), working at a grocery store, and hoping her mom stays sober even though they live across the hall from the man who got her hooked on drugs. Then Jordan comes into the store and changes Kayla's life.

In another part of the country, Betsy is living a life of secrets. She claims to be from North Dakota, but some of her new friends are suspicious of her story. They have good reason, but Betsy's suspicious of some of them too--are they working for the man who's after her?

Initially it's unclear how Kayla and Betsy's worlds will come together, but the pieces eventually fall into place. As it all comes together, the plot gets a bit far-fetched. The story of Kayla and Betsy is intriguing, but the quick wrap-up doesn't give the conspiracy the treatment it deserves. The Kayla chapters needed to reveal the seediness of what Kayla was drawn into sooner and spend more time on the aftermath in order to make it clear just how high the stakes really were.
3/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.

review: for whom the bread rolls by sarah fox

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In The Crêpes of Wrath, Ida established herself as a bit of a nemesis for Marley, so Marley is an obvious suspect when she discovers Ida’s body. Of course, no one really believes Marley would kill anyone, but it does at least give her a plausible excuse for becoming involved in yet another murder investigation. Marley quickly learns that many people might have wanted Ida dead as they suspected she was blackmailing them. Proving most residents of Wildwood Cove are Pollyannas, all of the blackmail is pretty trivial. Not all of the residents are such goody-two-shoes though; one of them murdered Ida and there’s also a drug lab operating in town.

As with the first in the series, For Whom the Bread Rolls moves slowly with lots of filler scenes (though none as excruciatingly pointless as the interview scene of the first book) meant to give the reader more information about the numerous secondary characters Marley associates with. Despite all the time spent with the secondary characters, the murderer is not well developed. The various storylines all come together well, but a little too quickly given all the diversions that the path to get to the conclusion took. Although there are plenty of references to The Crêpes of Wrath, For Whom the Bread Rolls can be read as a standalone.

About the audiobook: Marguerite Gavin is the reader of Sarah Fox's For Whom the Bread Rolls as she was for The Crêpes of Wrath. Gavin distinguished between male and female voices well, but it was difficult to tell which male character was speaking when there were two or more males in a scene. The audio version was published August 2017 by Tantor Audio. It runs 7 hours. The audio version does not include the bonus recipes of the print version.
3/5
Review copy provided by Audiobook Jukebox.

review: a measure of murder by leslie karst

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After inheriting a restaurant due to the passing of her aunt (in Dying for a Taste), Sally Solari is struggling to balance all her obligations. Even so, she allows her ex-boyfriend to talk her into trying out for a part in the chorus he's in. Unfortunately, this decision causes Sally to once again find herself investigating a murder mystery when one of the tenors dies after a fall from a window. While the police deem it an accident, Sally isn't so sure. Sally has a lot going on which made the plot of A Measure of Murder feel a little scattered as Sally became stretched thin running a restaurant, rehearsing with the chorus, investigating a murder, and going on bike rides with a potential suspect. The mystery is great though with a number of fantastic turns as Sally suspects almost everyone and with good reason.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publicist, MM Book Publicity.

review: infinite days rebecca maizel

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Lenah Beaudonte is one of the most ruthless vampires in England in 1910. On Halloween night, the vampire who turned Lenah agrees to fulfill the 592 year old vampire's wish to be human again--but only after she hibernates for 100 years. When he awakens Lenah in 2010, Rhodes reveals that he will soon die as a result of turning her human, that he's enrolled her at boarding school, and that the vampires of her former coven will be coming after her. Lenah mourns the loss of Rhodes, but quickly forgets his warning about the coven as she dives into high school life. Rebecca Maizel makes some nods to Lenah's intellect gained from centuries of experience and her confusion over modern things like CDs, but mostly has Lenah fit right in with her classmates. Her great beauty (of course) quickly attracts the attention of two boys, but there's barely a triangle in Infinite Days as Lenah thinks of Tony only as a friend. It is Justin who has Lenah's eye. Most of their story plays out as a typical high school romance, but complications arise when Lenah confesses she used to be a vampire (Justin doesn't believe her) and then the coven finally finds her. The romance with Justin is bland, but Maizel does a great job of incorporating Lenah's backstory from her vampire days. There's also an excellent twist toward the end.
4/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, St. Martin's Griffin.

review: don't worry, it gets worse by alina nugent

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The essays collected in Alida Nugent's Don't Worry, It Gets Worse are a mixed bag. Some are quite funny, but others are duds. Nugent primarily writes of a life centered around drinking and not have enough money. She generally puts a funny spin on it, but the tales are all pretty sad if one stops to think about it. On the plus side, the essays are easily digestible and short, so the reader need not dwell on each anecdote before moving on to the next.
3/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Plume.

review: shattered memories by v.c. andrews

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Oh dear, ghostwriter, why didn't you just leave the Fitzgerald twins be? If The Mirror Sisters is a drawn out a backstory for Broken Glass, Shattered Memories is one ridiculously long epilogue. Two months after being rescued, Kaylee is in therapy while Haylee has been institutionalized (though prison would be a far better place for her). With senior year to finish, it's decided that Kaylee will start at a private boarding school where she pretends to be an only child. And then she lives a normal high school existence. Seriously. Page after page is Kaylee getting to know her new classmates though she reflects on what happened to her constantly. The ghostwriter still has not learned "show, don't tell." He also attempts to be hip by changing up clichés, like having Kaylee's new boyfriend say, "I don't want to sound like a broken CD, but there's something about you that's different." First off, CDs don't break in the same way records do. And second, what high school kid would say that? I'd be willing to bet that most are unfamiliar with CDs, but actually know what a record is due to the resurgence of vinyl. Anyway, eventually Shattered Memories does provide an interesting end to the story of the Fitzgerald twins, but it shouldn't have taken 400 pages to get there.
2/5
Review copy provided by the publisher, Pocket.

review: the crêpes of wrath by sarah fox

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When her mother’s cousin Jimmy falls ill, Marley takes leave from her job in Seattle to oversee operations at the pancake house Jimmy owns on the Washington coast. She plans to return to her real life soon, but then Jimmy is murdered and Marley finds herself not only an heiress but also an investigator seeking who killed Jimmy and why.

Being the first in a series, The Crêpes of Wrath has a number of characters being introduced to Marley’s life. Some are memorable, but others are not; unfortunately the murderer is among those who are not. Although the murderer’s motive is explained, it felt weaker than that of some of the red herring suspects. And while Sarah Fox created an interesting plot, there’s a lot of Marley making bad decisions to keep the story moving forward. For example, Marley doesn’t leave a message for the sheriff because she doesn’t want to “play phone tag.” Why not? It only makes sense to leave a detailed voicemail so law enforcement gets the pertinent information far sooner than whenever Marley gets around to making the call again. Additionally, there were a number of filler-type scenes (it was entirely unnecessary to spend time interviewing potential employees for the restaurant) that might work once the series is further along and the reader cares about recurring secondary characters.

About the audiobook: The Crêpes of Wrath by Sarah Fox is read by Marguerite Gavin. Gavin set the right tone for the novel and changed the sound of her voice enough to distinguish between characters. One quibble: Gavin pronounced UW (as in the University of Washington) as U-Double U rather than U-Dub as an alum (which Marley is) would. The audio version was published July 2017 by Tantor Audio and runs 7.5 hours.
3/5
Review copy provided by Audiobook Jukebox.

review: run by kody keplinger

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Bo is a teenager with a bad rep simply because her father took off and her mother is a meth addict. It's a huge surprise when Bo gets placed in the advanced English class with Agnes and her best friend Christy. Agnes and Christy are the type to be in church on Sunday morning even if Christy spends the rest of the weekend at the same parties as Bo. Agnes is never there because she's legally blind and Christy says Agnes won't have any fun (really it's that Christy fears she won't get to have fun) being at a dark party (Agnes has some vision, but it's worse when it's dark). The introduction of Bo into Agnes's English class is the catalyst for Bo and Agnes to slowly begin the path to a friendship that changes them both for the better.

Run is filled with details that make it so high school. It's the drama of friendship and the struggles of becoming an adult. But there's another layer with Bo, who knows what awaits if her mother is arrested. When that inevitably happens, Bo is convinced she must run. And Agnes, who has slowly rebelled against her parents' restrictions, comes along for the ride. Nothing goes as the pair planned, but the emotion of the story is phenomenal. Kody Keplinger's choice to tell the story with Bo in the present and the Agnes chapters explaining how they got there is a wise one that serves the story well.
5/5
Review copy from Amazon Vine.