Don't Let Her Stay

 

Don't Let Her Stay was another booktok video choice. At least I got it from the library.

Joanne has it all, a wealthy husband, a baby, and a lovely house however she wants more. She wants to stop being so isolated and someone to talk to. Soon her step daughter decides to come visit and strange things begin to happen. Is Joanne crazy like her mother or is something more sinister going on.

I really wanted a new twist but the story was like many other books in the thriller genre. Not a bad story just over done. I did not see anything new. The characters were average. I did appreciate that the story was not full of fluff and it was nice to enjoy a shorter book. 

The Last Word

 

The Last Word is the second book by Taylor Adam I have read. I skipped Hairpin Bridge because it had bad reviews. Sadly I did not like it. 

The writing was all over the place, jumped around between reality, memories, a story within the book, and just did not work for me. I did not care about the characters nor did I think the story was believable in any way. I did care about the dog which played an emotional part in the story. 

I skimmed most of part one hoping it would get better in part two. By part three I was back to skimming. 

The Pumpkin Spice Café

 

I could not resist buying a book when I saw Costco had them back for the holiday season. Good thing I did too because all the books sold within a week. The cute cover and different genre sold me on choosing The Pumpkin Spice Café. 

Jeanie is adorable, clearly scared to be in a new place she is trying to embrace her new life and get out of her comfort zone. Though she is in over her head since she has no clue what small town life is like, how to run a café, or how to deal with the sexy farmer who delivers weekly produce.

Logan likes routine and keeps to himself. Doing his deliveries and hanging out with his farm animals is his life and he is content with that. Well until the new owner of the Pumpkin Spice Café upends his routine. 

Jeanie and Logan were so fun as a couple. Reading about their blunders, fun moments, and they felt so real. Like I could peek in the café window and see them sitting at a table having coffee. I like how the story has the characters that will appear in the next story as side characters. I do plan on continuing the series. Hopefully Costco gets more books in stock. 

She Didn't See it Coming

 

I was excited to try a new Shari Lapena book but sadly She Didn't See It Coming was the first book by Mrs. Lapena that I did not like. 

Different points of view during a story is growing on me but not when it is far too many characters with far too little to say. Bryden, Sam, Bryden's parents (both of them), Bryden's sister Lizzy, Paige (Bryden's best friend), Derek, Alice, a neighbor, the detective. So many points of view and the story did not get pushed ahead at a fast enough pace for me. I think around 50 pages should have been cut out and instead replaced by Alice and Derek's story. Or better yet write a story with Alice and Derek because I felt things were unresolved with them. The neighbor also needed a story written about her. This felt more like an outline with the extra characters since their stories were mostly unresolved. 

Despite not enjoying She Didn't See It Coming I would try more of Mrs. Lapena's work. 

Don't Let Him In

 

Don't Let Him In was all over Booktok and once again I was suckered into trying it. I keep trying to read books that I do not like hoping they will get better.

The con man was my favorite character in the book despite there being several characters. I did not care if any of them were swindled and I would have been okay with all the women loosing their money to the con man because they were obviously desperate for a man. 

The writing was choppy, chapters were a nightmare to keep track of, I had no clue why the story was broken into parts, and between the constant character jumps, time jumps, and the con man's constantly changing name it was a hot mess. 

Considering this is the second Lisa Jewell book I have read and not liked clearly her writing style is not for me so I will not seek out more of her work. 

The Surrogate Mother

 

I read the first chapter of The Surrogate Mother in the back of The Tenant it while the chapter was boring the last line of the first chapter totally drew me in. When I saw The Surrogate Mother at Costco I grabbed a copy. 

This felt like The Tenant all over but told from a female point of view. I figured out all the twists and it was so SLOW at the start. I read five chapters and the only interesting part was the last line of the first chapter. I had to force myself to pick it up and keep reading. The last fifty pages or so were the best and had the most plot. 

I did read the preview chapter for The Intruder! and based on that alone I am not sure if that will be my style or not.