A Psychological Thriller, a Humorous Suspense, and an Indie Romance

I haven’t posted in a while, which isn’t to say I haven’t read in a while. In fact, I just completed my GoodReads challenge for 2018. I’d set it to 40 books to read this year, and 40 books I read.

So instead of reviewing another book, I thought I’d pick three among those 40, all three very different in their genres and writing styles from one another, but all three very good books.

1. The Broken Girls, by Simone St. James

The first one was one of my big revelations for the year, in more ways than one. I loved everything about it; from the main characters (and there are many), to the complicated love story, to the second story—set in 1950—and the construction of the whole story that bounces back and forth between the two periods. The Broken Girls, by Simone St. James, came out on March 2018, and if it doesn’t turn up into a movie I don’t know what will.

2. One For the Money, by Janet Evanovich

This second one—and I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard about it before although it’s a huge series (25 books and counting) and this first sequel was released in 1994—did turn into a movie but I refuse to see it because I don’t think it can do the book justice. It’s by far the funniest book I’ve ever read and if you haven’t read it yet, you’ll completely fall in love with Stephanie Plum. There must be hundreds of other, better mysteries, but in all honesty the story in itself totally irrelevant, because the dialogue and situations the main—and clumsy—character Stephanie puts herself in will make out laugh out loud, and there are a myriad of other characters you’ll adore, too, starting with the grand-mother. If you read it in a public place, such as the train, be ready and aware you’ll get strange looks from people around you.

3. You Might Meet Someone, by Sandy Barker

And least but not last, let’s turn the spotlight toward an independent author—like me. You Might Meet Someone, by Sandy Barker, is a delightful peek into the whole falling-in-love process…while on a paradisal vacation, and it’ll make you want to fall in love over again. Plus, if there’s one thing I love about “indie” (for independent) authors, it’s that they’re super accessible. You can talk to them easily, as though they were your friends; they don’t think of themselves as rock stars—not that all mainstream authors do—and are eager to engage with readers.

What about you? What have you read lately that you could not put down?