Author's last name starts with G/H

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner 

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner is the 10th book in the Detective D.D. Warren series. The books are all about the cases that D.D. Warren takes on and solves. Often the stories twist and turn as she follows the clues.  The books are part of a series, but I have not read them all, just a few and find I can pick them right up. I enjoy the character of D.D. Warren, she is dogged, intelligent, and manages to find and understand clues and people’s behaviors only too well.

D.D. Warren is called to a murder scene only to realize that she recognizes the wife of the murdered man.  The wife who was once a teenager who ‘accidentally’ shot her father has now shot her husband. D.D. knows that this case is not going to be a open and shut case and that there is more going on.  Luckily, she has help from her CI, Flora Dane who recognizes the shot husband and this opens up still another case about Flora’s past. Add in a computer geek, a fed investigator and D.D. Warren’s team and the stories slowly start to unwind.  

Never Tell by Lisa Gardner is a thrilling, glued to your seat, waiting for everything to happen read.

 Broken Rebel by Sherilee Gray

Broken Rebel by Sherilee Gray was a fun read.   The main characters of Neco and Ruby made me root for them and their love.  Nico and Ruby had been together forever.  Neco protected her from her crazy mom and Ruby helped Nico with her love.  Both found a sense of family in the other one.  However Nico thinks he is not worthy of loving Ruby because of all the bad things he has done.  Ruby tries to get over him again and again.  To top it off, Ruby wants to work with the King Agency where Neco works, but not as the receptionist.  

The King Agency handles problems and finds out information.  The employees are men who are a mixture of hard, bad, sexy and alpha.   I enjoyed the bad guys to mostly good guys plot line.  I enjoyed the twists and turns of the thriller aspect.The story certainly had some dark elements, but I did not find them to be overwhelming. Reading Broken Rebel by Sherilee Gray made me want to read the first book of the series and all the others that will come out.  

Broken Rebel by Sherilee Gray was a good read.

The Earl Next Door by Amelia Grey

The Earl Next Door by Amelia Grey is an historical romance with a bit of a different twist.  We have a determined widow Adeline, Dowager Countess of Wake who is starting a school for girls.  We have a neighbor, Lord Lyon who (thanks to a nosy neighbor) believes nefarious going ons are happening.  He immediately believes that the situation is that of a brothel moved into the neighborhood. Imagine his surprise when it turns into a school to teach sewing to less fortunate girls.  

The beginning of the story really catches the reader’s attention and you find yourself wondering what is going to happen next. Adeline and the Earl next door continue to ‘run’ into each other, but it is how that makes the story so much fun. Don’t forget the nosy neighbor who actually has a spyglass!

I liked the independence of Adeline and her friends.  I like how they are planning their future regardless of the expectations of society.  The Earl Next Door by Amelia Grey was a fun read with some heat!

Stone Cold Heart by Laura Griffin

Stone Cold Heart by Laura Griffin is the next book in her Tracers Series.  Sara Lockhart is a forensic anthropologist and is called out to help with a body found in Texas Gorge.  Not only is she good at her job, she is dedicated and focused on her “bodies” and crime. Nolan Hess is a detective and is searching for - as he has for months - a young missing girl from his town.  As much as he does not want it to be her, he does want answers.

Sara with the backing of the Delphi Center continues to investigate and finds more bodies.  She was run off the road and left for dead by someone she presumes is a killer. Nolan comes to the rescue.  Sara does not want a relationship, but Nolan does. But then she is missing and Nolan knows the killer has her, but where and will it be too late?

The part that is wordless is the anticipation, confusion and outright terror of how this story may go.  Yes, there was a hot romance, but there was also thriller elements that held your attentions and made your worry and cringe.  Stone Cold Heart by Laura Griffin is a great read with lots of suspense and romance.

You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn

You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn was a special read.  It combined some great elements about love and life, but also heartache, masking pain and expectations.  I enjoyed the country music element as well.

Annie Mathers is country music royalty.  She is taking the world by storm opening for the Clay Coolidge, a superstar.  They both seem to click off each other and all the publicity is great for the tour, but both have too many shadows.  After all stars that burn that brightly are meant to either burn out or burn each other. The long road trip and all the excitement is bound to make one want it all.  

You’d Be Mine is sweet, poignant story that tugs at Your heartstrings while making you wish for the stars.  Annie and Clay make you want to believe. Erin Hahn has written a great read.

 The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton held my attention with all the twisted logic and twisted reasoning.  I couldn’t believe all that happened. It was like a scene you couldn’t stop watching - you just had to know how it would end or what would happen next.  It was mesmerizing and horrifying at the same time.

Being a perfect girlfriend to Nate is all Juliette wants to be, along with marriage and children.  Juliette knows how difficult Nate’s life is as a pilot and joins the same airline to help smooth their scheduling.  She buys him special food and things he likes. She is just perfect - perfectly insane - that is. She has perfectly insinuated herself into his life and managed to marry him. Juliette finally has everything and so does Nate. Really, he does.  

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton is a horror story.  A story that reminds us how committed someone can be to the unacceptable and unavoidable.  The book is a wicked tale that keeps surprising you.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is a story about a family and love and a story about fear and pain.  The book brings you down to the lowest depths and then up into the heights.  Leni, the main character is brought up to Alaska as a teen.  She knows that her father is damaged and her mother always tries to keep things moving to a safe place.  Moving to Alaska without enough money, food and knowledge was a dangerous choice.  However, Leni begins to flower with the land and people.  Her father continues his slow descent into hell and her mother continues to try to keep everything together.  Leni meets Matthew and realizes that for the first time she has a friend, a home, an opportunities, but life is not a smooth path.  Things happen as the seasons change, yet Leni continues on the rocky path with her family.

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is a fabulous book. You know a book is fabulous when your emotions are so tied to the characters that you breath when they breath.  A book is a fabulous book when you are so entranced with a book, but you are almost afraid to complete the book, because you are so worried about what will happen next.  I loved reading this story with all the ups and downs.  I cried and laughed and smiled and shivered in the cold.  

There are always books that leave you speechless. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah was one of those books for me!  

The Lonely Dead by April Henry

The Lonely Dead by April Henry is a great YA novel.  April Henry’s books always are suspenseful, revealing and keeps a reader on edge.  This novel - her newest - is no different. This time, April Henry explores the elements between drinking, blackouts, schizophrenia and seeing things that others cannot see.  The story gives you a lot to think about while keeping you ramped up.

Adele can see, talk with, touch and interact with the dead.  Her mother teaches her that this is something that you do not speak about, especially with her family history. However, when her mother dies, Adele was brought to a doctor and now takes medication for schizophrenia.  It is only when she decides that she doesn’t want to live life without color and decides she is done with medication. Adele finds her ex- friend, Tori sitting in the woods. It is from this premise that the story gains speed and mystery and suspicion grows.  Who killed Tori and why and Adele is worried she is a prime suspect.

April Henry has written a wonderful story of suspense and chilling events.  I found the story slowly builds the suspense. The characters were realistic and it seems that April Henry really has an understanding of what young adults like to read.  The Lonely Dead by April Henry was a fun read.

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth is a novel about families.  While the book is set in Australia, it is one that could happen anywhere.  We all have preconceived notions about people and what they think and why, but in reality, we truly do not know.  Sometimes, we are really wrong.

Lucy was hoping Ollie’s mother would come to cherish her and give her a mother figure.  Lucy’s mother died so young. In reality Diana was polite, but wasn’t the dream that Lucy had hoped for. Lucy’s life with Ollie’s family seemed fraught with drama. And then Diana is dead...with a suicide note and poison nearby, but as always nothing is quite as it seems.  The police have interviewed and questioned everyone only to determine it is murder.

The novel ramped up the suspense quickly.  I loved hearing Diana and Lucy’s stories and found they added just the right elements to the storyline.  Quite frankly, I didn’t figure it all out until the ending reveal. The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth was a great drama/mystery that kept me on the edge until the end.

The Liar's Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard 

The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard was a great read. Alison Smith was so excited, she was chosen to attend college at St John’s in Dublin.  This was her first choice and she was excited. The fact her best friend Liz was also going to attend was a bonus.  After a minor housing crisis, the girls began college situated in a large dorm on campus.  It was then that Alison met Will and they became friends and lovers.  Until he was arrested and jailed for being a serial murderer of five girls and drown them in the Grand Canal.  

The story is told in multiple viewpoints with the majority of the story’s voices being Alison in the past and Alison in the present. Woven into the story the unknowns continue to haunt you as more and more information trickles out.

I really enjoyed the story and found the book quite compelling (Translation: Didn’t want to put it down at all!) The author’s method of letting out some pieces of information and moving between the past and the present allowed me to feel fully involved in the story.  The end:  Well it was a kick!

The Liar’s Girl by Catherine Ryan Howard was a great read.  

 Heaven Adjacent by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Heaven Adjacent by Catherine Ryan Hyde was interesting.  The main character, after the death of a close friend and colleague went for a drive and ended up in the middle of nowhere.  She then buys a piece of land nearby with an old house, shed and barn. The farm has lots of acres and squatters. Soon Roseanna is living there with the squatters without any warning to her family, friends and coworkers. She has found she does not want to go back to Manhattan or any city ever again.  She calls and lets everyone know, she is taking some time. Suddenly, this high powered lawyer is living a simpler life and is finding her way. Until she is found and her new existence is threatened.

Catherine Ryan Hyde writes books about people who are broken.  People who need a family or connections with others. In this respect Heaven Adjacent is similar, but for me the main character was not as likeable as some of her others.  As the book went on I found myself liking the main character more and more and perhaps that is what the author wanted. To take a person who was unlikable and make her change to someone we might like better.

Heaven Adjacent by Catherine Ryan Hyde was a good read.  

The Case of Windy Lake by Michael Hutchinson

The Case of Windy Lake by Michael Hutchinson is the first book in a series for middle schooler called the Mighty Muskrats Mysteries.  The series is about four cousins who together help solve mysteries with the guidance of their grandfathers words of wisdom. The setting is a Windy Lake First Nation.  They have a secret fort made of an old school bus and spend time everyday helping their grandfather out.  

Sam, Otter, Atim and Chickadee make up the Mighty Muskrats and they are searching for a missing archeologist, but along the way they deal with various family members and learning about their heritage. The storyline is clever with lots to help a young person learn about the Windy Lake First Nation.  

The story may capture middle schoolers attention with the adventure and the mystery.  It is a book I would recommend to several students who enjoy those genres. I found the book interesting and believe the adventure would help capture youngsters.