The Banker's Wife by Cristina Alger

Two women in dangerous situations through no fault of their own.

Annabelle was married, but her husband seemed to be married to his job.  After a plane crash, she finds out why there had been a plane crash with him in it.

Marina writes stories about men like Annabel's husband, but this current story is a bit too dangerous to continue with even though Marina does.

Actually a lot of folks seemed to be in danger, and the persons behind this situation are aware of every move Marina, Annabel, and others are making.

After the plane crash and when Annabel was out of her Geneva apartment, it was ransacked.  Annabel really became angry and frightened when she came home to the damage.  Marina really became angry when she found out some information about her future father-in-law and when she found her friend had been murdered for uncovering incriminating information.  

What was going on? It all seemed to stem from the Swiss bank and its clients.

So many people were involved in this illegal money hiding. It is a pretty frightening concept that seems like it could be “real” in today’s world.

The behind-the-scenes hacking and finding out information is also a bit on the scary side.

The story line was interesting, but was a little slow at times with all the technical information.  As the story continued, though, the tension mounted as everyone involved in the money scheme was coming to the surface and trying to keep those who knew what was going on quiet.

THE BANKER’S WIFE addressed high profile and powerful men and women where money was the catalyst, and as the saying goes “the root of all evil.”

Perhaps it isn’t a good idea to be a “banker’s wife.”  :)  

If you enjoy secrets, intrigue, corruption, and love, you will enjoy THE BANKER'S WIFE. 4/5

I received an advance copy by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Books To Be Reviewed in July

All of these books will be reviewed beginning on July 3 through the end of the month.

I enjoyed all of them.

Thanks to all the publishers and authors for the books.

Fall/Winter Books

CALLING ALL BOOK CLUBS AND READERS

Bookreporter.com is sharing this list of book club picks for the fall/winter.

Click on the link below if you haven’t seen this.  The list is by publisher when you get to the web page.

ENJOY!!

Link is HERE.

Books Read In June

Most of the books were suspenseful.

Paris Ever After and The Taste of Air were lovely women's fiction reads.

Have you read any of them?

The Taste of Air by Gail Cleare

Getting a phone call that your mother is in the hospital is frightening enough, but learning that the hospital is in Vermont and only a few miles from your mother's home when she lives in Massachusetts is quite puzzling for Nell.

Nell quickly made her way to Vermont, and Nell's sister, Bridget, would be arriving the next day from Washington, D. C.

After she saw her mother and needed a place to stay, Nell asked the receptionist for some local places to stay.  The receptionist suggested that she stay at her mother’s home. Another surprise...no one knew Mary had a home here.

As Nell looked around the cottage her mother was living in, she realized her mother had been here for longer than she had admitted and not in the assisted living facility.  There were a lot of secrets being kept by Mary both now and in the past.

A TASTE OF AIR has us following the lives of the three main characters.  We follow Mary from the time she was in the service as a nurse and met her husband to present day.  We follow Bridget and Nell as well.  Bridget had an interesting life with many marriages.  Nell seemed to be a normal, follow-the-rules, do-not-change-anything housewife.  All of the characters were heartwarming.

A TASTE OF AIR was a lovely read that any women’s fiction fan will enjoy.  I enjoyed going back and forth in the women’s lives and especially in Mary’s. Mary seemed to have the most interesting life and the one with the most secrets, and she had one BIG secret.  Bridget came in second with secrets.  Nell didn’t seem to have any secrets but got some ideas as time went on.

I truly enjoyed this book.  Ms. Cleare’s writing is smooth, beautiful, detailed, and alluring.  When you don’t want a book to end, you know the author’s talent is the reason.

A TASTE OF AIR is a perfect summer read or an any time read for when you need warmth oozing from the pages to help your mood be lightened or to be taken away.

There are also some tissues needed for happy things as all came together at the end, but for the most part A TASTE OF AIR is an uplifting, enjoyable read that is like receiving a big hug.  

I hope you get to read this book.  5/5

This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Spotlight of The Man On The Roof by Michael Stephenson

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All information including the blog tour photo and book cover in this post is courtesy of the author, Michael Stephenson.

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Celebrating The June 27th Release Of

 THE MAN ON THE ROOF
BY
MICHAEL STEPHENSON

On Sale JUNE 27, 2018
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A  domestic mystery-suspense thriller, The Man On The Roof propels the reader through a tangled, volatile and suspenseful thicket of deception, murder and friends. 

Similar in tone to novelist Gillian Flynn, The Girl on the Train, Big Little Lies and The Woman In The Window, The Man On The Roof invites the reader to discover the murderer and who hides which lie. 

I must warn that it does deal with very dark subject matter. 

It currently is available for review in digital formats only, and will be an Amazon Kindle release June 22, 2018. You can currently find it as a pre-order on Amazon and it is listed on Goodreads 

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About The Book:

Someone has been creeping in the dark while the others sleep, and they've done terrible, terrible things.

“There was a man on your roof,” claims curmudgeonly lane-hermit Herbert McKinney. Then, he initiates an unprovoked fight with a local punk. Drama escalates when that punk's dead body is found hanging at mid-street one August morning—a boastful killer messaging their next prey. 

All fingers point to Herbert as the culprit. Soon, the five couples he calls neighbors come under suspicion, too. When detectives divine blackmail as the motive, eyes cross to find who hides the most shameful secret. 

Husband versus wife, friend versus friend, the shiny suburban veneer of innocence has been forever tarnished. As hidden deviousness boils from their pores, there lurks a thief, a pill addict and two adulterers—secrets worth killing for. 

We all believe that most people are good. Our neighbors, our friends... ourselves. We dismiss insane plot twists or unlikeable characters as unrealistic and slightly ridiculous. 

But just how sure are we that the people closest to us aren't all teetering on the edge of insanity? And is it more frightening to think that we live in a mad world, or that we can wholly understand the madness? 

Step into a mind-twisting thriller that seeks to understand our darkest nature. Come meet The Man On The Roof.

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About the Author:

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Michael cultivated his love for storytelling on a steady diet of film and TV, embracing the art across all genres and mediums. 

He believes that to tell a story is the greatest gift that humanity has ever received and hopes to connect through words both written and filmed. A thoughtful suburbanite, he enjoys writing in every genre and platform. 

Covering a wide range of subjects, ethnicities, socioeconomic classes, and ideals, his writing runs the gamut from silly and lighthearted to thought-provoking and sensual to horrifying and captivating. 

Offering everything from sci-fi to romance, he wishes to supply the reader with an indelible experience.

Privately, he seeks to accomplish great things with his writing in both popular culture and more niche genres. 

He hopes to soon write for film again, as he had briefly before, and aspires to write the screenplay for the film adaptation of Captain Planet as he loves the environment.

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This book sounds good...thanks for the opportunity to spread the word, Mr. Stephenson.
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Before and Again by Barbara Delinsky

These things can't be happening to me can they?

Maggie is a good person but still hasn’t healed from the emotional scars from the death of her daughter or the divorce from her husband.

Maggie moved away to make herself anonymous after the accident and hadn't seen her husband for four years.  He now shows up in the new town she has moved to, but why?

Another problem besides her ex-husband then surfaces. Maggie is still on probation because of the automobile accident and is not to associate with other felons, but a criminal incident occurs that makes Maggie think about being there for her friend instead of thinking of herself.  Her probation officer thinks differently.

We follow Maggie as she deals with her struggles and as she goes about her days as a makeup artist and an artist that works with clay.  I definitely would want to go to the spa where Maggie works and be pampered. 

All of the issues that were addressed and dealt with by Maggie were frightening, but handled well by her.  The personal issues were more difficult, and the criminal issue addresses current problems that could occur with the digital world we live in.

Most of the characters are ones you would want to connect with. 

Maggie was someone who had a heart and was a hard worker.

Kevin was a terrific friend and confidante.

Grace was a bit flighty.

Maggie’s husband Edward was someone who turned out to be great.

Maggie's mother was a strong woman.

Maggie’s brother Liam was a brother. 

Ms. Delinsky's beautiful, pull-you-in writing style kept me reading as always.

I haven’t read a book by Ms. Delinsky for a few years, and it was a pleasure to re-connect with her marvelous style and terrific story lines.

BEFORE AND AGAIN always had some warmth coming from somewhere whether it was a character or situation.  

This book deals with friendships, healing, emotional pain, and choices.   

BEFORE AND AGAIN had some difficult situations, but the ending is heartwarming, very satisfying, and marvelous.  5/5

This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.   All opinions are my own.