My list of Spooky Mysteries Set on an Island discusses that islands CAN be a peaceful and secluded place to get away BUT they can also leave you trapped with a dangerous crowd! Did you love The Guest List by Lucy Foley or White Lotus on HBO? Check out my Spooky Island Fiction book list, which includes mysteries and thrillers plus a link to my post on YA mysteries set on islands! Updated with 7 new 2025 titles AND an island quiz!
[Read more…]Review of Every Vow You Break
Two newlyweds, one island honeymoon, and some very dark secrets! If you love thrillers set in isolated, creepy locations, you might want to give this one a try. Check out my review of Every Vow You Break!
Written and edited by Jen Ryland. Last updated on:
Review of Act Your Age, Eve Brown: Lust and Banter
I love the Brown sisters and was SO excited to read the story based on the baby of the family, Eve. Check out my review of Act Your Age, Eve Brown!
Act Your Age, Eve Brown (Brown Sisters #3) by Talia Hibbert. To be published by Avon Books on March 9, 2021. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance review copy.
What’s Act Your Age, Eve Brown About?
Synopsis: Eve Brown is a certified hot mess. No matter how hard she strives to do right, her life always goes horribly wrong—so she’s given up trying. But when her personal brand of chaos ruins an expensive wedding, her parents draw the line. It’s time for Eve to grow up and prove herself. Jacob Wayne is in control. Always. The bed and breakfast owner’s on a mission to dominate the hospitality industry—and he expects nothing less than perfection. So when a purple-haired tornado of a woman turns up out of the blue to interview for his open chef position, he tells her the brutal truth: not a chance in hell. Then she hits him with her car—supposedly by accident. Yeah, right.Now his arm is broken, his B&B is understaffed, and the dangerously unpredictable Eve is fluttering around, trying to help. Sunny, chaotic Eve is his natural-born nemesis, but the longer these two enemies spend in close quarters, the more their animosity turns into something else. Like Eve, the heat between them is impossible to ignore—and it’s melting Jacob’s frosty exterior.
[Read more…]Review of Float Plan by Trish Doller
I’m part of the Float Plan Blog Tour, and I’m excited to tell you what I thought about this tale about grief, empowerment and a second chance at love … at sea. Check out my review of Float Plan!
Review of Her Dark Lies
Did you love the Guest List by Lucy Foley? Then you should try this book that also features a wedding on a (possibly cursed) island. At this wedding, the body count seems higher than the guest count. Check out my review of Her Dark Lies!
What is Her Dark Lies About?
Her Dark Lies by J. T. Ellison. To be published on March 9, 2021 by Mira Books. Thanks to the publisher for the advance review copy.
Synopsis: Jutting from sparkling turquoise waters off the Italian coast, Isle Isola is an idyllic setting for a wedding. In the majestic cliff-top villa owned by the wealthy Compton family, up-and-coming artist Claire Hunter will marry handsome, charming Jack Compton, surrounded by close family, intimate friends…and a host of dark secrets. From the moment Claire sets foot on the island, something seems amiss. Skeletal remains have just been found. There are other, newer disturbances, too. Menacing texts. A ruined wedding dress. And one troubling shadow hanging over Claire’s otherwise blissful relationship—the strange mystery surrounding Jack’s first wife.Then a raging storm descends, the power goes out—and the real terror begins…
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Review of Her Dark Lies by J.T. Ellison
For me, the best part of Her Dark Lies was the setting. The island of Isle Isola is off the coast of Italy. Think Capri but smaller. And cursed.
Claire is an artist who is marrying Jack Compton, the scion of a rich tech family. The Comptons own the island, but at least two Compton wives have died there. (Did Claire know this before accepting the ring? I don’t think she did.)
In any case, the wedding weather is wet and stormy. The power goes out. The bodies pile up.
For me, some of the twists were nice and unexpected, but others were a little unbelievable. And I felt like there were a few loose ends that weren’t tied up.
Will You Like Her Dark Lies?
If you loved The Guest List by Lucy Foley and One by One by Ruth Ware, you’ll love this. All the suspects are trapped on the island together, where they seem to be dying one by one.
This was more plot-driven than character driven, though Claire did have some layers to unpeel.
If you’re read the book, come discuss it on my secret spoiler discussion page for Her Dark Lies! I have a lot of questions and I bet you do too!
If you want to check out other review of J.T. Ellison books, here are my thoughts on It’s One of Us!
Review of the Burning Girls: What a Crazy Ride!
When I read books about a vicar solving crimes in the British countryside, I expect a book that falls more on the cozy side. Not this one! Check out my review of The Burning Girls!
What is the Burning Girls About?
The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor. Published on February 9, 2021 by Ballentine Books. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance review copy.
Synopsis: Welcome to Chapel Croft. Five hundred years ago, eight protestant martyrs were burned at the stake here. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace.Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent with a fourteen-year-old daughter, arrives in the village hoping to make a fresh start and find some peace. Instead, Jack finds a town mired in secrecy and a strange welcome package: an old exorcism kit. The more Jack and daughter Flo get acquainted with the town and its strange denizens, the deeper they are drawn into their rifts, mysteries, and suspicions. And when Flo is troubled by strange sightings in the old chapel, it becomes apparent that there are ghosts here that refuse to be laid to rest.
Review of the Burning Girls
Okay then. Maybe the cover featuring the church engulfed in flames should have been a giveaway, but that was quite the crazy ride.
Chapel Croft has a long and interesting history, and when Reverend Jacqueline “Jack” Brooks arrives there with her teenage daughter to take over the parish after the unexpected death of the prior clergyman, she’s kind of amused. The locals still make little twig dolls to commemorate the martyrs who were burned at the stake in Chapel Croft centuries ago.
But Chapel Croft is definitely NOT a quaint and cozy place. More like The Village of the Damned. Not only does the town seemingly harbor the ghosts of those centuries-old martyrs, it also has a mysterious, decades-old case of two missing girls, a recent unexplained suicide, and a whole lot more.
This story has a bunch of secrets and just as many bodies. Also bullying, pedophilia, and stalkers. It was a lot. I came close to guessing the ending, but it still came as a bit of a surprise.
My favorite part of the book was the very realistic mother-daughter relationship between Jack and her snarky teen daughter Flo, who does not hold back when it comes to being dragged to a new town and a new house that has no internet, no shopping, and a high creep factor.
Will You Like The Burning Girls?
If you’re a little tired of domestic thrillers, this has a bit of a different spin. If you like twisty page turners and also enjoy books with a lot of historical detail and a quaint (though creepy) village setting, definitely give this a try! It’s an interesting hybrid. It’s not really a thriller, but it’s dark. I’d recommend it to fans of books like His & Hers by Alice Feeney.
If you’ve read other C.J. Tudor books (I haven’t) let me know in comments if this is typical for her, and which others I should read!
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