Just the Nicest Couple

 Fiction by Mary Kubica

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Lily and Christian are the titular Nice Couple in this story. They are young professionals looking to start a family soon, but at the beginning of this story something happens that threatens them. The reader begins to see that under their nice exteriors, Lily and Christian are willing to do anything to preserve their reputations, even if it's not so nice.

This book was okay but too slow for a thriller. It did have a surprise twist at the end.

I also read by this author: Local Woman Missing

Nobody's Girl

Subtitled: a Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice
Nonfiction by Virginia Roberts Giuffre

https://www.audible.com

Oh my goodness. This was wrenching and way, WAY too sad. I couldn't finish listening.

What Happens Next

Fiction by Christina Suzann Nelson

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Faith Byrne is a mother of two teenaged daughters who is still reeling from her unexpected divorce at the beginning of this story. A former investigative reporter, Faith does a podcast about people who recover from tragedy called “What Happens Next.” Now she has been contacted by someone from her past about featuring a cold case disappearance, and there are some surprises in store.

I really liked this book and will look for more by this author. 

That Night

 Fiction by Chevy Stevens. 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

At the beginning of this story, Toni Murphy is finally getting paroled after a fifteen-year prison sentence for murder. Although she knows she was innocent of the crime, she's no longer really trying to prove it to anyone. No one believes her anyways. All she wants is to try to go back to her hometown and have a sort-of normal life. But the past keeps coming up to haunt her, and slowly the reader learns what really happened the night of the murder...

This was a good story with good characters. The ending was somewhat of a surprise, but some elements were too predictable.

I also read by this author: Still Missing

Death of the Author

 Fiction by Nnedi Okorafor

https://www.audible.com

Zelu is a Nigerian-American woman who has been partly paralyzed since age 12. She is the second born of a large and loud family, and a child of parents from two different African tribes: Ibo and Yoruba. All of these things make up part of who she is, but none of them define her as much as this: Zelu is an author.

This book is about both Zelu and her writing, combining elements of her novel, scenes from her life, and interviews of her family and close friends about her. It has wonderful and believable characters, and I would give it a very high rating… except for the ending. 

Without resorting to spoilers, I can’t tell you the ending of course. Let me just say it was ambiguous and anti climactic. So this book is well written, and the narration on the audiobook is stellar, but it’s been demoted down to one thumb, or less. 

The Windy City Saga, Books 2 & 3

Shadows of the White City and Drawn by the Current
Fiction by Jocelyn Green

https://www.barnesandnoble.com  https://www.barnesandnoble.com

I read the first book in this trilogy (Veiled in Smoke) a while ago, and these books continue the story. All three books were good!

The first book was set during the Great Chicago Fire, and I liked how the author skipped ahead in time for the next two books to other significant events in Chicago’s history. The second book was during the World’s Fair and the third involved the Eastland tragedy, which l had never heard of. It was all interesting. 

The Secret to Southern Charm

 Fiction by Kristy Woodson Harvey

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

The story in this book seems to have nothing really to do with the title; it’s about a mother, grandmother, and three grown daughters in a coastal Georgia town and the challenges they face. It also is apparently book number two in a series, although nothing in the cover identifies it as such. 

It was an okay story but not great.