The Suspect by L. R. Wright

 For a book that won an award I am terribly disappointed! And who thought it she win anything. You know immediately who did it because the storytelling is done by the killer. George is the brother-in-law to the man he murders. The motivation is easy to figure out based on the clues the author drops throughout the book. This is the type of book you read to put you to sleep. It certainly won't keep you up at night! The cop, Albert is a divorced guy who is constantly looking for a woman. He likes Cassandra, the librarian, who just wants to date a decent guy. She settles for the cop. Not that the cop is bad it seems all he wants is to push her to get physical. Cassandra is George's friend. She is immediately upset that this cop thinks George killed anyone. George is 80 years old and a widower. He has a daughter in another town. 

Silenced Girls by Roger Stelljes

Why is it every serial killer seems to think they are smarter than everyone else? And when I say serial killer I mean, this guy killed 28 women! And he got away with it for over 20 years. Until he decided to play a game & taunt the twin sister who had become an FBI agent. He thought he could outsmart her. True there were times when her emotions got in her way but she was determined. When the killer sent her a message she was on the next flight to her hometown. There she met the ruggedly handsome Sheriff's Deputy Braddock. The perfect partner to help her solve her sister's murder if only she could convince him to let her help. Tori had changed after Jessie died. She became more confident in herself, voiced her opinion more, & she had a smart mouth. Tori had a tendency to say whatever she thought when mad which didn't win Braddock over right away. The reason the killer called her back to town was because he had killed again 20 years later to the day that he killed Jessie. While back Jessie reconnected with old friends a few times but her soul focus was to get closure for her sister. Tori was 37 years old never married or had kids & her job was her life. Tori's job meant she was rarely home. Her mom passed away when she was 8 years old. Her father was the sheriff when Jessie was murdered. Shortly after he died of a heart attack. Tori was in college & flew home for the funeral & to sell everything. She never wanted to come back. The second girl murdered was rich & still living in a guesthouse on mom & dad's property. Then out of the blue a third girl disappeared. She doesn't match the profile. She was basically a hermit who rarely left the house except for scarce late night drives. Tori knew it was connected & she just couldn't prove it. No one else believed it. They had little evidence to connect anyone. They discovered another girl went missing in a nearby town during that 20 years that they assumed this guy was dormant. Tori had already suspected it & had a friend in the FBI help her track down similar cases. College towns, girls went missing, cars were somehow tampered with in the surrounding Midwest states. They came up with 23! Things really started snow balling for the killer when he decided that the authorities were getting to close to the truth. He expected it to take them longer to figure it out. He shot at Tori when she was out on her morning run. Fortunately for her he only grazed her hand. He tried to blow Braddock up but that backfired on him too. Now he had already planned to set some people up to take the fall for everything. The first guy he made look like a suicide & it would've worked too if he had thought the attempt through better. The second guy that one might have stuck except he ended up having a brother that immediately helped prove his innocence. In the process that guy saved Tori's life. He figured out who the killer was & they got to Tori in time. Braddock ends up shot several times. And as always you can discover the rest out for yourselves. What happens to Tori after she gets her closure? I failed to mention there are trigger warnings but not very graphic. Also Tori gets called to work two other cases during all this too. They are very interesting cases because Tori only works missing children's cases.

Ex In The City by Portia MacIntosh

 Nicole was a huge fan of rock n roll bands. And in high school she started a magazine for fans. She was friends with several different bands and they let her go on tour with them. She skipped school a lot to go. But she was caught up in the lifestyle of the concerts & party scene. They never treated her differently and a lot of the time she was the voice of reason. She learned how to handle situations that arose like her best friend Dylan disappearing when he was needed. She always knew where to find him. In fact, she got so good at learning how to spin a story that she turned it into a job. Now if someone got into a scandal she knew how to portray or spin the story to get them out of it. Since it was her own company she could pick & choose which cases she took on. Why she ever dated Rowen I will never understand! The guy is a arrogant jerk. All he cares about is the perfect life he portrays on social media & in front of others. It's such a toxic way for anyone to live. Pretending to love someone when people were watching & being yourself in your bedroom or when the kids weren't around isn't a healthy way to live. Rowen not only stole her saving & invested the money in a scam, he cheats on her, & then embarrasses her in front of everyone. Not to mention making fun of her addicted best friend Dylan by dressing up as him for a fundraiser. That was just cruel & disrespectful. Dylan on top of that didn't deserve that. After all Dylan was spending a lot of time with Dozens kids. He bought them things. He volunteered to help out when Rowen was too busy to help with things he had already committed to. I can't say I wouldn't have been petty enough to get Rebecca back for what she did to Nicole at the fundraiser! Turnabout is fair play. I think it was really low of Rowen to keep using the excuse of his kids to keep Nicole with him. He could hire a nanny to take care of them. She doesn't have to stay miserable for the rest of her life living as a prisoner to social media. I knew there was something special between Dylan & Nicole. Most guys don't sing you a lullaby or paint a girls toenails just because they want to. It sounds like they were soul mates from the beginning.

The Suite Life by Portia MacIntosh

 When her ex dumps her after four years for a reality star Gigi is desperate to find a more famous date. Which lead to a series of hilarious dates the co-workers set her up on. One is a famous YouTube star that pranks people to get laughs. That was a really awkward date. Then there is a famous chef who cooks for her. Unfortunately, she hates fish & everything this guy cooks has fish in it. She ends up embarrassing herself because she spits the food into doggy bags & leaves them in her purse. He discovers them when her phone won't stop wringing. Then the last attempt before she leaves for the Hawaiian wedding I think goes really bad. A famous guy from a metal rock band takes her to a metal rock concert. Of course, she hates the music. There are blood cannons & afterwards she gets invited to take place in an orgy. She ends up being mistaken for a rich guy. It's all because of a name. You see she is Gigi Marsden they think she is G. G. Marsden a rich person. They end up giving her a bedroom suite as an upgrade. Then they give her a gold card that basically gives her access to all the rich perks at the resort. She goes through half the trip without knowing why she's getting special treatment. Until she sees the newspaper. A guy she meets Donnie tells her to keep the secret because the hotel is the one that screwed up not her. She is still looking for a date in Hawaii. She finds it hard to find a decent guy though. One is a famous football player who tries to force himself on her. Thank goodness a guy stops him. Then she goes on a date with him. He doesn't know that she's afraid of heights & he takes her zip lining. She won't do it. The guy seems harmless. On their second date they go to his room to look at pictures on his laptop. She sees messages from his fiance that show up.. She leaves the apartment with a quickly scribbled not on his notepad. She has to turn her ex down when he tries to tell her he isn't over her. Because she has moved on. She soon realizes she really likes Donnie. Donnie ends up at the wedding to replace the guitarist. Gigi decides she doesn't need a date because Donnie will be there. They decide to start seeing each other. The hilarious thing is Donnie's true identity will make you laugh!

Fake It 'til Ya Make It by Laura Carter

 Abbey really needs a therapist! Her parents failed miserably! She drills a list into their children's heads that they need to complete by a certain time? They picked her boyfriend when she was young & had no feelings for him. And she went along with it because it was what she was supposed to do. They were together for 4 years even though he dated other women & lost his virginity to someone else. She stayed with him. I would have walked away then. If I had to make a big scene to get my family to understand what he had done to me I would have! Not waste my years on a guy who demeaned her all the time. No wonder she had no confidence or self-esteem. Abbey is panicked & shattered because she doesn't know what to do next. Then she looses her job. All because the guy she was working with sabotaged her work. At the time she assumed it was her fault & takes all the blame. To avoid being fired she resigns first. Now she's jobless, homeless, & without a boyfriend. Her sister & best friend convince her to do something stupid. To get an apartment she can't afford. Then they twist her arm to get her to buy a new wardrobe. After that she needs a fake boyfriend to take to her to her parents vow renewal ceremony. She knows they will try to force her to get back together with Andrew. If she has a boyfriend they can't do that. Her sister & best friend make up a fake online dating site for her. When she moves into her new apartment the hottest guy she's seen lives there & there is an embarrassing moment between them. Then her ex shows up with a different girlfriend. Ted overheard Andrew talk down to Abbey & what he did to her & he steps in to pretend to be her boyfriend. Ted pretends to be his big brother Mike because his brother lives in the penthouse of her building. And Ted is staying there to hide from a horrible incident. He caught his his fiance having sex with his best friend & business partner. Now he doesn't know what to do. He feels like a coward. Because he keeps bouncing a baseball on the floor & Abbey goes to ask him to stop. She's not getting any sleep because of it. His brother sends up a bunch of people to party at Mike's penthouse. Ted is not a party person. He ends up secluded playing a VR games with Abbey. They bet & Abbey looses so she has to help him clean up. After one disaster online date Ted offers to be her fake date to the ceremony. Along the way they end up becoming friends. He saves her again from an encounter with Andrew. Which she eventually returns doing for him when his ex comes to visit. She wouldn't leave the penthouse so he goes to stay with Abbey.  The stupid model still doesn't believe it when he says it's over between them. Things get complicated when they Gey to the vow renewal ceremony in Canada. Abbey eventually comes clean but Ted is terrified to lose her because he realizes he loves her. Unfortunately, her dad finds out & gives him an ultimatum. Before he gets the chance to her drunk ex comes in to make a scene.She tries to explain but she can only see the hurt he caused. She loves him too. Her mom chats with him the next morning. She takes him to the airport so he can go home & straighten his life out. He also gets her a job offer doing what she really loves with his accountant. She saves him from having to sell his company. Can they forgive each other? They have never felt this way about anyone before.