#FuturisticFriday review: A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell

Photo Credit: Harper

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

A Simple Favor

Summary: She’s your best friend.
She knows all your secrets.
That’s why she’s so dangerous.
A single mother’s life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train

It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time.

But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over.

Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing—not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor—is as simple as it seems.

A Simple Favor is a remarkable tale of psychological suspense—a clever and twisting free-fall of a ride filled with betrayals and reversals, twists and turns, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge. Darcey Bell masterfully ratchets up the tension in a taut, unsettling, and completely absorbing story that holds you in its grip until the final page. Continue reading →

Still Mine by Amy Stuart

Photo credit: Touchstone Books

This book was sent to Traveling With T for review consideration.

Still Mine

Summary: A taut psychological thriller in the vein of The Good Girl by Mary Kubica.

Clare is on the run.

From her past, from her husband, and from her own secrets. When she turns up alone in the remote mining town of Blackmore asking about Shayna Fowles, the local girl who disappeared, everyone wants to know who Clare really is and what she’s hiding. As it turns out, she’s hiding a lot, including what ties her to Shayna in the first place. But everyone in this place is hiding something—from Jared, Shayna’s secretive ex-husband, to Charlie, the charming small-town drug pusher, to Derek, Shayna’s overly involved family doctor, to Louise and Wilfred, her distraught parents.

Did Shayna flee? Was she killed? Is it possible she’s still alive?

As Clare uncovers the mysteries around Shayna’s disappearance, she must confront her own demons, moving us deeper and deeper into the labyrinth of lies and making us question what it is she’s really running from. Twisting and electrifying, this is a get-under-your-skin thriller that will make you question what it means to lose yourself and find yourself in the most unlikely places. Continue reading →

Book Talk with R & T: Until You’re Mine movie cast

So….. Have you all been enjoying the Book Talk with R & T feature that me and Rhiannon @ Ivory Owl Reviews have been working our collective bloggy fingers to the bone over? Oh, I hope so! 🙂

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Interview with Samantha Hayes, author of Until You’re Mine

Photo Credit: Crown Publishing

Hello, hello! As you know, all this week at Traveling With T and Ivory Owl Reviews– we’ve teamed up to discuss the heck out of the book UNTIL YOU’RE MINE by Samantha Hayes (released April 15, 2014!) When me and Rhiannon were talking about things we wanted to feature this week, an interview was definitely something that was high on the list. Guess what? We (and ya’ll!) got lucky and scored an interview with Samantha Hayes. Read on for Samantha’s thoughts about writing, some authors she enjoys, and the inspiration for UNTIL YOU’RE MINE.

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The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown

The Longings of Wayward Girls is a psychological thriller- a book where the reader is never quite sure where the author is headed. By the end of the book, the reader has been given some answers and left with many questions. Perfect for discussing.

Set in an ideal New England town, a town where nothing bad happens, until it does. Years earlier, a girl disappears from town after leaving a friend’s house to head home. While police do not suspect foul play at first- after some time- it is considered. The townfolk tell their children to stay out of the woods that are around the town, as parents are trying to be cautious with their children.

Sadie, a precocious girl, has imagination. She likes to create plays and play-act with friends and kids in the neighborhood. She and her friends ignore the parent’s warning about the woods and continue to play there. One day, Sadie’s mom, Clare, makes her play with another girl named Francie- a child that does not fit in too well in town. Sadie and Betty decide to play a prank on Francie- and they begin leaving her notes from a fictional character that Sadie has created (although the character is based on a boy in town). The prank continues- until one day, Francie is never seen again.

20 years later, Sadie still lives in town. Married, with 2 kids, Sadie has suffered from a loss of her own. When she sees Ray, the boy she had a crush on when she was a kid, she finds herself drawn to him. As their time together continues, Sadie’s life is changed in ways that she never would have expected. Being with Ray reminds Sadie of that summer 20 years ago- and brings up memories.

Told in alternating tales of the summer of 1979 and year of 2003- Sadie begins to figure things out about 1979 and sees how the summer of 1979 influences her choices of 2003.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

The Longings of Wayward Girls is a book that the reader is never quite sure what to expect. As the story happens, the reader begins to understand what happened that fateful summer of 1979 and how it lead to the events of 2003. Interesting read and one that is highly discussable.

If you enjoyed my review, be sure and check out this: Interview with Karen Brown and Author Spotlight: Karen Brown.

*This book was won as part of Goodreads First Reads program. As part of winning, you are asked to consider giving a fair and honest review- although you are not required. The above thoughts and opinions are mine alone.