Books – Page 3 – The Hustlin’ Homemaker

Reading Wrap Up | November

It’s been awhile since I did some book reviews, so I thought I would share some today! I know I have some books on my Christmas wishlist (coming soon!) so maybe if these sound good to you, you can add them to yours!

The Identicals by Elin Hilderbrand

This book is the first I have read from this author; I know she has a lot of others! This is a light “beach” type family drama read. It’s not my usual thriller, but it was entertaining.

This story is about two twin sisters who have not spoken or seen each other in years. They come together because of a family emergency and realize that their sibling rivalry is not worth it. Lots of secrets, gossip, and drama in this one!

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

I have read all of the B.A. Paris books, and they are all very good. They are all thriller mysteries with twists! This one is about Grace and Jack, who get married and Jack changes immediately upon leaving for their honeymoon. This book is troubling at times, but doesn’t get too graphic. It is very chilling and I could not put it down!

The Whisper Man by Alex North

This is the first book I have read from this author, and I really liked it. It is about a father and young son who move into a new house and the son starts hearing voices and seeing things. They soon find out about a murder that has taken place at the house they are in. The man that was caught was nicknamed “The Whisper Man” because he would whisper to his victims and lure them out of their houses!” I wouldn’t read this one at night if you’re a chicken like I am, but it is a good story!

That’s all for my November book recs! What have you been reading?

Check out my book reviews and book recommendations on Goodreads!

Thanks for reading! xx

Reading Wrap Up | July

It’s the end of July! I have finished my three books for the month, and they were all good picks. I read two mystery type books, and one historical fiction book. Here are my reviews.

The Dilemma by B.A. Paris

This book was a new release from one of my favorite authors. I pre-ordered it back in February and I was so excited for it to finally arrive.

This book was about a woman who has been planning a huge party for her 40th bday. Her husband wants to surprise her by flying their daughter in to celebrate. The day of the party when she is supposed to be arriving, she doesn’t, and her father doesn’t hear from her. He battles over whether or not to tell his wife, who is also hiding a secret from her husband. The name of the story is The Dilemma because both characters are both facing the dilemma of whether or not to tell the other about their secrets.

This book was really good, but it wasn’t a thriller like I was hoping for. Her other three books are all thrillers, so I thought this one would be too. It was more of a family drama type. It was still good and I would still recommend!

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty

I have read a bunch of books from this author, they are usually the mystery drama type, and although this one was a mystery, it was a little bit scary and thriller-like.

This book was about nine people, all strangers, that have chosen to take a retreat to an upscale health resort for 10 days. The book flipped back and forth between all nine perspectives, which I don’t usually like, but it was easy to keep track of them. Each person is there for a different reason, and the lady running the resort is crazy. She asks them to do weird things with a promise that it will help them if they fully immerse themselves in the program.

This book was good, the ending was kind of an open end, and I could totally see this book being made into a movie. Overall it was interesting and I would recommend it!

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

This book was my favorite of the month! If you like WWII historical fiction, you will love this one! It is inspired by true events.

This book was about a girl named Grace who finds a abandoned suitcase in a train station with a bunch photographs of different women. She finds out that the suitcase belongs to a woman who was the leader of a ring of female secret agents. These women were sent to Europe but mysteriously never came back. She learns all about the women and their stories.

This book was so well written and I loved how the women were portrayed. They were brave and courageous, and the book was not graphic at all like some historical fiction novels are.

That’s it for my picks for the month!

What have you been reading lately?

Reading Wrap Up | May

Hello! I am here with some reading recommendations this morning! The books this month are all thrillers, (my fave!) so I hope you like them and please leave your recommendations in the comments for me!

The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

This book is about a woman named Cass, who is driving late at night, in the rain, and through the woods. She passes by a stopped car and sees a woman inside who just stares at her. Later after arriving home, she hears that the woman she saw in the car has been murdered. She doesn’t want to tell her husband, because he didn’t want her taking that way home in the first place. She cannot stop thinking about the woman, and weird things start happening, she feels like she is being watched and also loses her memory.

This book totally surprised me at the end with its twist and I really love the books from this author. They are always suspenseful and good.

The Cellar by Natasha Preston

This book was a little bit disturbing, but nothing I couldn’t handle (and I’m a baby). This book is about a 16 year old girl named Summer who is kidnapped. She is blindfolded and taken into a cellar where she finds several other girls. The cellar is like a home, completely furnished and the other girls are nice to her. The man who kidnapped them refers to them as his flowers and wants everything that they do to be perfect, and Summer wonders why they aren’t trying to escape.

This book like I said is disturbing, but it was really interesting to me and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Watching You by Lisa Jewell

This book is a classic murder mystery, there is a dead body found at the beginning and the characters are all creepy. A new family has moved into a new neighborhood, a headmaster of a school, his wife, and their son who loves to stare at the neighbors. The street is the type where everyone knows everyone, and everyone watches each other. The story goes between a lot of characters and a lot of point of views to help you to solve the mystery.

Lisa Jewell is one of my favorite authors and I’ve read a lot from her. This book was like the others, a thriller with a twist at the end. I really liked how the police transcripts were included in the story and also the ending took me a minute to figure out, but was very good!

That’s it for this month’s book recs! Leave some in the comments for me!!!

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Thanks for reading xx

Reading Wrap Up | MARCH

Hello my little book clubbies! I finished up my books for March. I didn’t have as much time to read as I normally do…ahem, HOMESCHOOL, but I still managed to read three.

Here are my spoiler-free reviews for them!

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

This book was really good. It was about two grown brothers who live on big sprawling properties in the outback. They find their third brother dead near an old stockman’s grave landmark. The whole book is them trying to figure out what happened to him, and what was going wrong in his life. There are some twists and turns along the way.

The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth

If you are a fan of Desperate Housewives or anything by Liane Moriarty, you will love this book! This is about three families who live in the same neighborhood, and this new woman moves in, who is single and doesn’t have children. The other women are fascinated with her and feel like she doesn’t fit in. Why would she pick their perfect little family neighborhood? Soon the women start spilling their secrets to her, and yeah, it’s pretty crazy and juicy!

One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline

This was my least fave of the month. I normally really like this author, but this book was a bore. A man moves to a new town and is forging an identity to become a new coach and teacher at a school. He picks certain students and people at the school to befriend and needs to use them for a secret plan. The plan was just kind of dumb…? I don’t know, it was pretty predictable and slow, and the ending I definitely saw coming (and I’m not good at predicting endings!). It just fell flat.

So, that’s it for my March reads!

What have you been reading lately? I need some recommendations!

xx amy

Reading Wrap Up | February

It’s almost the end of February, which means it’s time for some book reviews. I read 4 books this month, and I have some really good ones to share with you!

Before She Knew Him By Peter Swanson

This book was recommended to me by my friend Heather, who knows I love a good thriller with a twist! This book did not disappoint. A girl named Hen and her husband move into a new house and go to meet their new neighbors. At their house, she sees a trophy with a name on it that she recognizes from researching a murder case that she used to be obsessed with. Something about her new neighbor seems off to her, and she wants to get to the bottom of it. This book was so good and had a big twist at the end! Loved it.

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline

I have read a few books by this author, so this one looked really good. This is about a lady who gets a missing child flyer in her mailbox, and she can’t stop thinking about it because the child in the photo looks exactly like her adopted son. She doesn’t know what to do about it- if she should find out if her son is this boy in the picture, or if she should just throw it away and forget it. She thinks about what would happen if he isn’t legally her son and what would happen if she found out the truth. This book was really good. As a mom, the story was kind of heart wrenching at times, and of course, there was a big twist at the end!

The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

I was on the waitlist FOR EVER for this book at the library, so I was so excited to finally read it. This was about a woman, Lo, that is aboard a cruise ship for work, and hears (and thinks she sees) something terrible happen to the girl in the cabin next door to hers. All of the passengers on board are accounted for, and no one knows who was in that room, except Lo, who was the only one who saw her. This book was good, I was expecting kind of a big ending or maybe a twist, but it was predictable and just not that great to me.

Regretting You by Colleen Hoover

I LOVE Colleen Hoover’s books and have read a bunch of them. This one is fairly new, so I was eager to read it. This one was really good, I could see it being made into a movie. It is about a mother who suddenly loses her husband in a car accident. She has a sixteen year old daughter to raise who she doesn’t get along too well with, so after the accident, things are not good between them. She starts to question the accident, and finds out about the secrets her husband was keeping from her.

That’s all for the reading wrap up! More book reviews to come next month!

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Thanks for reading! 🙂