Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon

Amy Stevenson was the biggest news story of 1995. Only fifteen years old, Amy disappeared walking home from school one day and was found in a coma three days later. Her attacker was never identified and her angelic face was plastered across every paper and nightly news segment.
Fifteen years later, Amy lies in the hospital, surrounded by 90’s Britpop posters, forgotten by the world until reporter Alex Dale stumbles across her while researching a routine story on vegetative patients.
Remembering Amy’s story like it was yesterday, she feels compelled to solve the long-cold case.
The only problem is, Alex is just as lost as Amy—her alcoholism has cost her everything including her marriage and her professional reputation.
In the hopes that finding Amy’s attacker will be her own salvation as well, Alex embarks on a dangerous investigation, suspecting someone close to Amy.

Review: I was given an ARC of Try Not to Breathe from NetGalley for an honest review and this is my review.
This was the debut book for Holly Seddon and a wonderful debut she made. This book was excellent. It had an emotional impact that had the reader cheering for Alex and hoping that she could beat her battle with the bottle to accomplish getting Amy's story written. It also had the suspenseful edge of what really happened to Amy and who did that a lot of veteran authors do not write as well as this new author did.
This book is the total package with well developed characters, great in depth story lines for each main character in the book and a connection that is built between the reader and the characters that last even when the last words are read.
I am giving Try Not to Breathe five out of five stars.

Domestic Secrets by Rosalind Noonan

Rachel Whalen and Ariel Alexander have been friends for more than a decade. Despite their differences--down-to-earth Rachel owns a local hair salon; Ariel is a vivacious former TV star determined to hold on to her looks--they've helped each other navigate single motherhood, banding together against the soccer moms of Timbergrove, Oregon. 

Yet lately, Rachel wonders about Ariel's increasingly erratic parenting and her clandestine love life. And Rachel can't reveal to anyone, even Ariel, how much she worries about her sullen, distant, younger son. When an unthinkable tragedy separates the two families, Rachel desperately tries to understand what went wrong. But as her assumptions are ripped away one by one, she must confront shattering revelations about the people she trusted and the suburban world that once seemed so safe. 

Review: I was given an ARC of Domestic Secrets for an honest review and this is my review.
I had mixed feelings about this book and I really was not sure how I wanted to rate it. The book was very good but the characters really made me annoyed because Ariel was a self centered witch who should not been allowed to have or be near children and Rachel was a mother that tried too dang hard she missed everything in front of her because she was too busy trying to make everything perfect for her kids.
I can't get into the plot for spoiler reasons but this book really looks into what happens behind closed doors and what can go wrong in a heartbeat if things are being covered up.
I am giving Domestic Secrets four out of five stars even if I really wanted to slap some sense into both Ariel and Rachel.

Summit Lake by Charlie Donlea

Set in a small, picturesque North Carolina town, Charlie Donlea’s suspenseful debut novel tells the haunting story of a murdered law school student, the reporter assigned to her story—and the intimate connection that comes when the living walk in the footsteps of the dead.
“No suspects.  No persons of interest.  Just a girl who was alive one day and dead the next.”
Some places seem too beautiful to be touched by horror. Summit Lake, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, is that kind of place, with charming stilt houses dotted along the pristine water. But two weeks ago, Becca Eckersley, a first-year law student, was brutally murdered in one of those houses. The daughter of a powerful attorney, Becca was hard-working, accomplished, and ambitious. Now, while the town reels with grief and shocked residents gather to share their theories, the police are baffled.
At first, investigative reporter Kelsey Castle thinks of the assignment as a fluff piece. But the savagery of the crime, and the determined efforts to keep the case quiet, all hint at something far more than a random attack by a stranger. As Kelsey digs deeper, pushing on despite danger and warnings, she feels a growing connection to the dead girl. And the more she learns about Becca’s friendships, her love life—and the secrets she was keeping—the more convinced she becomes that learning the truth about Becca could be the key to overcoming her own dark past…

 Review: I was given an ARC of Summit Lake from NetGalley for an honest review and this is my review.
This was a debut suspense novel for Charlie Donlea and this was one heck of a debut. The only thing I did not like about this book is how the author insisted on using the characters full names all the time. We really don't need the entire name repeated over and over again. It gets annoying really fast but other then that this book was excellent. In fact, I could not put it down and read it in one night.
I loved the character of Kelsey and how she was so determined to find out what really happened to Becca, a young law student who was brutally raped and murdered and who by all accounts the police were covering things up and not doing much to find the killer in a small town were there is very little crime. The was this book was told from both Becca and Kelsey's perspectives was done brilliantly and it added an extra dimension to this book that makes it all that more real for the reader. The plot twist are also very well done and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat trying to figure out who Becca's killer is.
This was an excellent debut and I am giving Summit Lake five out of five stars.

The Girl You Lost by Kathryn Croft

Eighteen years ago, Simone Porter’s six-month-old daughter, Helena, was abducted. Simone and husband, Matt, have slowly rebuilt their shattered lives, but the pain at losing their child has never left them. 
Then a young woman, Grace, appears out of the blue and tells Simone she has information about her stolen baby. But just who is Grace – and can Simone trust her? 
When Grace herself disappears, Simone becomes embroiled in a desperate search for her daughter and the woman who has vital clues about her whereabouts. 
Simone is inching closer to the truth but it’ll take her into dangerous and disturbing territory. 

Review: I was given an ARC of The Girl You Lost from NetGalley for an honest review and this is my review.
As I finish this book I still I have that "I didn't see that coming" feeling you get after you finish an excellent book and I love it when an author does that. This book grabbed me from the start and kept me on the edge of my seat and guessing until the end.
I am not going to get into the book itself that much because I hate spoilers and to it justice in the description you would have to give some stuff away but I will say if you are looking for a thriller with a number of plot turns this would be a great book to read.
I am giving The Girl You Lost five out of five stars.

The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth

Anna Forster, in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease at only thirty-eight years old, knows that her family is doing what they believe to be best when they take her to Rosalind House, an assisted living facility. She also knows there's just one another resident her age, Luke. What she does not expect is the love that blossoms between her and Luke even as she resists her new life at Rosalind House. As her disease steals more and more of her memory, Anna fights to hold on to what she knows, including her relationship with Luke.
When Eve Bennett is suddenly thrust into the role of single mother she finds herself putting her culinary training to use at Rosalind house. When she meets Anna and Luke she is moved by the bond the pair has forged. But when a tragic incident leads Anna's and Luke's families to separate them, Eve finds herself questioning what she is willing to risk to help them.

Review:  I was given an ARC of The Things We Keep from NetGalley for an honest review and this is my review.
I loved this book and the emotional journey that it takes the reader on. Can two people still love each other even if they can't remember each other? This is one of the subjects this book deals with because two of the characters are relatively young and are suffering from Alzheimer's for one and a brain injury that in affecting the other's memory as well. Both are are looking their memories and are dying at young ages but they found each other when they were still coherent and fell in love but Anna, the woman's brother does not believe she is able to love any longer so he wants them kept apart. This book is heartbreaking when you read about their childish courtship and how each day is a new one for them.
Then a new cook starts at where they live and Eve, who has lost everything and is trying to help her daughter deal with the loss of her father, starts to believe in Luke and Anna and wants to help them be together starts to do everything she can to help them. How the writer wrote this story it pulls at the reader's heartstrings and as them cheering for the couple and for Eve and her daughter who are also dealing with so much. This book is definitely a book that makes one believe in true love.
I am giving The Things We Keep five out of five stars.