Meredith Parker's twins have been away at college for four years, but she's still getting used to the idea of having an empty nest.  Their upcoming graduation has her feeling especially unmoored.  It doesn't help that their graduation celebration will involve spending extended time with her ex-husband and his very young fiancée.  While Meredith and her husband, Roger, vow to be on their best behavior and make the most of their weekend away, no one can guarantee that sparks won't fly.  Especially when each member of the family is harboring their own secrets ... 

If the plot for Best Behavior by Wendy Francis seems a little thin, that's because it is.  The novel is more episodic than structured, something I usually dislike because it creates stories that are unfocused, meandering, and often boring.  Not so with Best Behavior.  There's enough drama going on that the tale never gets dull.  The characters are well-drawn, each with realistic flaws and insecurities.  I might not have liked all of them, but I could relate to each on some level.  Overall, I enjoyed the novel although I can't say I loved it.  

A funny:  I did get a good laugh out of the fact that the twins' graduation supposedly takes place in Spring 2020—and it proceeds as normal with an in-person ceremony, no face masks, no social distancing, and not one mention of COVID-19.  Since I read an e-ARC of the book, it's possible the year was changed in the final printing of the book. 

(Readalikes:  Hm, no specific titles are coming to mind.  You?)

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of Best Behavior from the generous folks at HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

Erin and Danny are used to being "the help" at the private ski chalet they operate in the French Alps.  One pampered group of vacationers is pretty much like every other one with their flashy wealth, entitled attitudes, and ludicrous requests.  The duo notices tension among their newest guests—ten shareholders in a wildly successful social media start-up—almost immediately, but they brush it off as more petty squabbles between the rich and the privileged.  They've seen it all before.  Then a guest goes missing after an outing on the slopes.  The suspicious disappearance casts a disturbing pall over the group, making their inherent, unnerving distrust of each other seem suddenly more sinister than snippy. 

While guests launch a search party for their missing associate, the weather worsens by alarming degrees.  An avalanche is building outside the chalet while, inside, guest after guest is turning up dead.  With dawning horror, Erin and Danny realize that they're trapped in an isolated dwelling, cut off from any hope of rescue, with a cunning killer who wants everyone dead ...

As the title suggests, Ruth Ware's newest locked-room mystery, One By One, pays homage to Agatha Christie's most famous novel.  It's not nearly as clever, though, and the guilty party(ies) in Ware's story is/are fairly obvious from the get-go.  Still, Ware is famous for her edge-of-your-seat thrillers and her latest is no exception.  The plot of One By One drags more than it should and it isn't nearly as twisty as those in the author's other stories, but all in all, it's still pretty darn riveting.  Even though I could see where the tale was going, I still found it impossible to look away.  As with every other Ware book (I've read them all), I ended up devouring this one fast and furious and far into the night, desperate to know what was going to happen next.  Because it's a bit clumsy, a lot depressing, and features characters who aren't exactly likable charmers, One By One is probably my least favorite of Ware's novels.  It did keep me engrossed and entertained, though, so I give it kudos for that.  My enthusiasm for Ware isn't diminished either.  I'm still looking forward to reading whatever she writes next.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other Ruth Ware novels as well as those by Gilly Macmillan, Paula Hawkins, Lucy Foley, and Mindy Mejia)

The Amish Confectionary Competition is a big deal ("It's like the NBA playoffs, but with way more sugar"), as is the fact that little Harvest, Ohio, is playing host.  Not only would winning the competition be the perfect way to honor Bailey King's late grandfather, but it would also mean great publicity for her Amish family's candy shop, Swissmen's Sweets.  Although Bailey herself is not Amish (a fact that at least one other competitor thinks should disqualify her) and the rules stipulate all sweets must be made in the Amish way (which is not at all how things were done at the exclusive Manhattan shop where she trained as a chocolatier), Bailey is determined to win the competition.  

When a town-wide search for a missing pot-bellied pig leads to the corpse of Bailey's biggest competition rival, Bailey is shocked.  She becomes even more distressed when she learns she's the primary suspect in the woman's death.  As if she's not stressed enough trying to bake her best sweets for the confectionary contest, now she has to convince the authorities she's not a killer.  But who is?  Once again Bailey must channel her inner Nancy Drew to solve a perplexing mystery.

Lots of cozy mystery series feature eateries of some sort—bakeries, cafes, coffee shops, ice cream parlors, etc.—but none are set in quaint Amish country.  The unique setting is what first drew my attention to the Amish Candy Shop Mystery series by Amanda Flower.  After reading the first installment, Assaulted Caramel, I definitely wanted more of Harvest with its fun characters, Amish/Englischer interactions, and upbeat vibe.  Lethal Licorice delivered all this as well as a new mystery to entertain me.  Once again, I enjoyed my visit to the small town.  This second book in the series is just as fun as the first, offering a light, diverting read that made me smile.  It even kept me guessing, which doesn't always happen in cozies.  Although the books have their flaws for sure, I still like this series a lot and will absolutely keep reading it.  A little light reading is pretty much exactly what I need right now, thank you very much!

(Readalikes:  Other books in the series, including Assaulted Caramel, Criminally Cocoa [novella], Botched Butterscotch [novella], Premeditated Peppermint, Toxic Toffee, Marshmallow Malice, Candy Cane Crime, and Lemon Drop Dead, as well as cozy mysteries by Vivien Chien, Ellie Alexander, and Kylie Logan)

To the FTC, with love:  Another library fine find

Before we get to my favorite weekly meme, I want to share some great news!  For the second year in a row, I have been selected to be a judge for round one of the Cybils Awards.  This go round, I'll be on the panel for middle grade fiction, which is absolutely thrilling for me.  Haven't heard of the Cybils?  It's an annual literary awards program created by bloggers that recognizes children's literature based on both literary merit and popular appeal.  Public nominations will run from October 1-15, so if you've read an awesome book for young readers this year that was published in the U.S. or Canada between October 16, 2019 and October 15, 2020, you can nominate it for a Cybils Award!  Authors, illustrators, publishers, etc. can even nominate their own books, although they have their own nomination period.  Check out the Cybils Awards website for more info.

I don't know about you, but my favorite Top Ten Tuesday prompts are those to do with seasonal reading lists.  It's always fun to see what other bloggers are planning to read, which titles they're excited about, and what's up-and-coming in their review queues.  I'm going to twist the topic a little bit today (shocker!) to continue chatting about 2020 book releases that are still to come.  If you missed Part One, shame on you!  Just kidding—you can check out last week's list here.  Part Two is another mix of forthcoming novels from various genres that I'm looking forward to reading soon-ish.

As always, if you want to join in the TTT fun (and you do), click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl, where our host, Jana, can give you all the deets on this weekly meme.  Lots of bloggers join in, so it's a great way to spread the love across the book blogosphere by finding new blogs, visiting old faves, and, of course, grabbing some great reading recommendations for your TBR pile mountain mountain chain.

Top Ten Novels Coming Out in Fall 2020, Part Two  

1.  Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell (available October 13, 2020)—I generally enjoy Jewell's books and her newest domestic thriller, about a neighborhood in crisis after the mysterious disappearance of a young woman, sounds intriguing.

2.  You Know I'm No Good by Jessie Ann Foley (available October 13, 2020)—Foley's Sorry For Your Loss was one of my favorite reads of 2019.  Her newest sounds equally as compelling.  It concerns a 17-year-old girl who starts acting out in response to a scarring trauma.  When she's whisked away in the middle of the night to a boarding school that's supposed to straighten her out, she'll have to confront her demons in order to change her life for the better.  Although the plot sounds a little generic, I'm excited to see what Foley makes of it.

3.  Daughters of Jubilation by Kara Lee Corthron (available October 13, 2020)—I'm not always a fan of books about magic and special powers, but this one, set in the Jim Crow South, appeals.  It's about a Black teen with a boatload of real-life troubles who's also grappling with the maturation of her magic abilities, which have been passed down through generations of Black women since the days of slavery.  Sounds compelling.

4.  The Mermaid from Jeju by Sumi Hahn (available December 8, 2020)—I first heard about the deep sea divers of Jeju, South Korea, from Lisa See's sweeping novel, The Island of Sea Women.  I'm definitely up for reading more and this debut sounds like one I'll like.  

5.  The Key to Fear by Kristin Cast (available October 13, 2020)—The Key Corporation protects everyone from a rampant virus that spreads through touch.  When an infected patient escapes during the watch of a young nurse, she breaks the corporation's strict rules to go after him.  The patient, of course, knows secrets about the Key Corporation that could shatter its control over the population; naturally, he—and now his nurse—find themselves in the crosshairs of the most powerful organization in the world.  Can they save themselves from a ruthless enemy?  How about the world?  Yeah, yeah, I know this is the plot of like every YA dystopian novel ever, but still ... 

6.  The Green Lace Corset by Jill G. Hall (available October 13, 2020)—This dual-timeline novel concerns two women living in San Francisco 135 years apart, connected by the titular garment.

7.  Daughter of Black Lake by Cathy Marie Buchanan (available October 6, 2020)—When it comes to historical novels, I usually don't read anything set before the American Revolution, so this one, set in "a time long forgotten" may be a little outside my reading comfort zone.  Still, the story, which concerns a tight-knit community and the way it changes irrevocably after it's invaded by outsiders, sounds interesting.  I'm not sure why this one appeals to me, but it does.

8.  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (available September 29, 2020)—Between life and death, there lies a great library filled with numberless books, all containing a story you can potentially live.  Given the opportunity to jump into another life (or two or three), would you?  This premise fascinates me!

9.  Elsewhere by Dean Koontz (available October 6, 2020)—A father and daughter are unexpectedly handed a strange object by an eccentric acquaintance.  Shockingly, it allows them to access parallel universes.  A powerful stranger wants the object for nefarious purposes—our dynamic duo just wants to find their dead wife and mother.

10.  Closer to Nowhere by Ellen Hopkins (available October 6, 2020)—Hopkins' first MG novel is a contemporary story in verse about a girl whose life is upended when her strange cousin moves in with her family.  Hopkins' YA novels are raw and hard-hitting; I'm interested to see how this one compares.

There you go, ten more novels to look forward to in this latter part of 2020.  Which 2020 releases are you looking forward to?  Which have you already enjoyed?  What titles are on your Fall TBR list?  I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I'll return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT!