Burn After Reading

 Fiction by Catherine Ryan Howard

https://www.amazon.com

Emily Joyce is a writer who can’t seem to write anymore. She wrote a bestselling novel and accepted a large advance to write a follow up book. Then, somehow, six years went by without said follow up book materializing. Now she’s surviving on a dead end job and just hoping that Morningstar, the publishing house, has forgotten about her. 

But then Morningstar decides they need a ghostwriter and that Emily is going to have to repay them by being one. So Emily ends up interviewing a famous athlete who may or may not have killed his wife. 

This was an exciting thriller with several surprises. I love this author!

I also read recently by this author: Rewind

The Last Word

 Fiction by Taylor Adams 

https://www.audible.com

Emma Carpenter is house sitting for the winter in a lonely beach home on the Pacific coast. She is grieving deeply, escaping through binge-reading, and flirting with suicide. But when a murderer comes after her, she will discover that she doesn’t really want to die. Still, she might be killed anyway…

This book had twist after twist after twist. I loved it!

I also read by this author: Eyeshot

Murder in Disguise

 Fiction by Mary Miley

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This is a mystery set in the 1920’s. Jessie Beckett is a former vaudeville child performer and is now working as an assistant script girl for a Hollywood studio. When her friend Barbara’s husband is murdered, Jessie investigates. 

This was a lighthearted story with some surprises. 

The Break Up Artist

Audible Original Fiction by Erin Clark and Laura Lovely

https://www.audible.com

Zelda is a wheelchair user and an assistant in an advertising firm. She is hoping to move up into a more creative role as soon as she can, but her boss seems uninterested in promoting her. Besides that, she’s still reeling from her mother’s death and her father’s hasty remarriage. She needs an outlet, and she finds it in the role of The Break Up Artist, anonymously writing scathing letters for people who want to quickly end their relationships.

But what happens if she actually meets a real person who has been on the receiving end of one of her angry missives? And what if it’s a good looking guy she just might fall in love with?

It’s obvious what will happen here; still this story was engaging and had some funny parts. It’s a pretty good straight romance. 

I also listened to recently by Audible Originals: The Kaiju Preservation Society 

Lady in the Lake

 Fiction by Laura Lippman

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a slow-moving mystery story set in the late sixties. The characters were believable but not always sympathetic. It was okay but not great.

I also read by this author: Dream Girl

Life and Other Inconveniences

 Fiction by Kristan Higgins

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Emma London is doing fine nowadays with her teenage daughter Riley, although some thought Emma would never survive when she first became pregnant as a teenager herself. Chief among the naysayers was Emma's wealthy grandmother Genevieve London, who had raised Emma since the age of eight. After over fifteen years of silence, however, now Genevieve is suddenly calling to ask Emma to come home.

Emma is proud to have never needed her grandmother's help, and she is unprepared when the old woman might need help herself.  Will she forgive old hurts and try to repair their relationship?

This was a really good character story with some romance.

I also read by this author: Pack Up the Moon

The Stranger in Her House

Fiction by John Marrs

https://www.audible.com

This was a very exciting story that kept making turns I didn't expect. Most of the characters were rather terrible people but you couldn't help being sympathetic to some of them anyways.

I also read by this author: You Killed Me First