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When her computer engineer husband dies in a car crash, 48-year-old Erin Gaines finds herself completely unmoored.  She's not sure how to proceed with day-to-day living, let alone how to manage her role as CEO of Jax, the lucrative startup tech company the Gaines' own with several of their friends.  Erin knows that, after five months, her paralyzing, zombie-like grief is wearing thin.  Everyone—her friends, family, and co-workers—have expressed grave concern about her ability to function at all, especially as the head of a powerful company at the peak of its performance.  After a particularly telling incident, Erin's loved ones stage an intervention, gently forcing her to enroll in a program at a luxurious "restoration" facility on a remote Caribbean island.  Reluctant though she is to admit it, Erin knows a few weeks at Hidden Sands might be exactly what she needs to come back to herself.

Shorie Gaines, Erin's 18-year-old daughter, is thrilled her mother's finally getting some help.  She's worried about Erin's emotional state, but she's also concerned over some weird error messages on Jax's operating system.  Something isn't quite right and with the company's CEO conveniently out of the way, it's up to Shorie to figure out what.  The more she digs, however, the more distressed she becomes.  When she receives a cryptic S.O.S. from her mother, Shorie realizes what Erin's already discovered—Erin has been sent to Hidden Sands not to heal, but to disappear ...

I discovered Emily Carpenter's mesmerizing thrillers last year and was absolutely thrilled to discover she'd be releasing a new one in 2019.  The premise and setting of her newest, Until the Day I Die (available March 12), is a bit different from her others.  It's got a less Gothic, more modern spin, which I ended up liking even though I wasn't sure I would.  Like Carpenter's previous novels, this one features a sympathetic heroine who becomes entangled in a unique, intriguing situation.  As the story stakes rise, the action ramps up until the reader is frantically whipping through pages to find out what will happen next.  Although the climax does come to a confusingly abrupt end (at least in the ARC), Until the Day I Die remains a propulsive, engrossing thriller from which you will not be able to look away.  It's far-fetched, sure, but who cares?  This is the kind of tense, nail-biting suspense that will leave fans thirsty for more.  I thoroughly enjoyed Until the Day I Die and can't wait to see what the incomparable Emily Carpenter will do next.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty and Every Single Secret by Emily Carpenter)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for language, violence, mild sexual content, and references to illegal drug use

To the FTC, with love:  I received an e-ARC of Until the Day I Die from the generous folks at Lake Union Publishing via those at NetGalley.  Thank you!

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When the Givens Family immigrates from Ireland to the United States in 1819, it's to escape poverty, not embrace it.  In doing so, however, they've lost everything.  With their mother dead and their father gone for good, the three Givens teenagers are left to fend for themselves.  James vows to make a decent life for himself with his thriving candle-making business.  Flighty Erasmus, who seems destined for a different sort of existence, finally finds his calling as an itinerant preacher.  Olivia, who refuses to embrace social mores, is likely headed straight for spinsterhood.  While the three of them head in their separate directions, they will all become caught up in the crises and chaos of a booming Cincinnati. 

None of the Givens' could have foreseen their involvement in the most divisive and dangerous cause of all—slavery.  While James refuses to risk his position in society by embracing abolition, his siblings become actively engaged in helping slaves escape their cruel masters.  The unforeseen consequences of their perilous work will have an especially heavy impact on Olivia.  None of the Givens', in fact, will escape unscathed as the situation with a certain slave family escalates and finally explodes.

It's tough to describe the plot of The Eulogist, a historical novel by Terry Gamble, because, really, it doesn't have one.  The tale is episodic instead of focused, making for a read that is slow, meandering, and dull.  It's not uninteresting; it's just not very exciting.  The characters are likable, the setting is atmospheric, and Gamble's prose is capable.  Overall, though, The Eulogist feels like a long, anticlimactic slog.  If I hadn't committing to read the novel for this blog tour, I likely wouldn't have gotten beyond its second chapter.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:

for language (no F-bombs), violence, and sexual innuendo/content

To the FTC, with love:  I received an ARC of The Eulogist from the generous folks at HarperCollins via those at TLC Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.  Thank you!

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Want more opinions on The Eulogist?  Follow along on the book's blog tour by clicking the links below:

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Little Boggy Creek, Florida, is a far cry from New York City, but it may be just what Gia Morelli needs.  In the wake of her ex-husband's betrayal—not only of his clients, but also of their marriage—she's looking for a place to start over, a refuge where she can lick her wounds and start rebuilding her shattered life.  Opening the All-Day Breakfast Café is a brave first step.  Despite a few hiccups, things are going well for Gia—until she discovers a dead body in the dumpster behind the restaurant.  She recognizes the corpse's manicured hands and a distinctive ring.  It's her ex-husband, Bradley Remington, but what is he doing in Florida?  And how did he end up dead in a dumpster?

Suspicion for the murder naturally falls on Gia.  Despite his gentle questioning, even handsome Detective Hunter "Hunt" Quinn seems to think she had something to do with Bradley's death.  Although she's warned against sticking her nose into police business, Gia knows the only way to clear her name is to find the real killer.  Can she get to the bottom of the puzzling case?  Or will Gia's dead body be the next one stuffed into a dumpster?

I'm not a huge fan of cozy mysteries, but occasionally I stumble across a series that I enjoy.  Katherine over at I Wish I Lived in a Library mentioned Lena Gregory, so I decided to give her All-Day Breakfast Café books a whirl.  Scone Cold Killer, the first installment, introduces Gia and her cozy new hometown of Boggy Creek.  Although the townsfolk are not as colorful as I would have liked, there are some fun and abrasive personalities who should make for entertaining reading throughout the series.  Mystery-wise, the plot is pretty straightforward.  Nothing too surprising or original.  As in most cozies, there's a lot of improbable action going on in Scone Cold Killer, but the willing suspension of disbelief is a requirement going into any book in this genre, so that didn't bother me.  Much.  All in all, I enjoyed this light, fun read.  It's quick, entertaining, and written well enough that I want to continue reading about Gia's adventures.  I've already read the second installment, checked the third out of the library, and bought the first book in Gregory's Bay Island Psychic series, if that tells you anything!

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other books in the All-Day Breakfast Café series [Murder Made to Order and A Cold Brew Killing] by Lena Gregory as well as of cozy mysteries by Ellie Alexander)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for brief, mild language (no F-bombs), violence, and scenes of peril

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of Scone Cold Killer from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.