Review: Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer

Title: Letters to the Lost
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publication: April 6th 2017 by Bloomsbury Children's 
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 5/5★

Juliet Young has always written letters to her mother, a world-traveling photojournalist. Even after her mother’s death, she leaves letters at her grave. It’s the only way Juliet can cope.

Declan Murphy isn’t the sort of guy you want to cross. In the midst of his court-ordered community service at the local cemetery, he’s trying to escape the demons of his past.

When Declan reads a haunting letter left beside a grave, he can't resist writing back. Soon, he’s opening up to a perfect stranger, and their connection is immediate. But neither of them knows that they're not actually strangers. When real life at school interferes with their secret life of letters, Juliet and Declan discover truths that might tear them apart. This emotional, compulsively-readable romance will sweep everyone off their feet.

Letters to the Lost ended up being my new favorite book by Brigid Kemmer. This is saying a lot because I don't read a lot of contemporary YA, it's just not a favorite genre of mine. And also before I read this amazing book her Elemental series was my favorite. So yeah, Letters to the Lost completely stole my heart!

Like I said I don't read a lot of contemporary YA but when I do it's most likely to be a pen pall romance, like this book. I don't know why but I love those type of romances most of all. But with this book I think it's extra special. 

I adored the main characters right away. I loved how Declan and Juliet first started writing each other letters and later on they switched to texting. I really had a soft spot for Declan because I could just feel how bad he felt inside with everything that happened to him. Don't get me wrong, I loved Juliet as well. Her story as well as Declan's was quite tragic but I don't know... there was just something about Declan that I connected with.

I was not surprised to see that there was also a really great cast of secondary characters because I'm used to that from a book by this author. But damn, I loved some of those characters so much. I'm probably not the only one who thought Rev was their favorite secondary character, right? I loved him so much and I can't wait to read his book, More Than We Can Tell. 

Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer is not just a romance. There's so much more to it. There's family, there's friendship. Grief. Loss. The story was sweet and heartbreaking all at once. It was quite a rollercoaster for me. But I loved it all.  

About Brigid
BRIGID KEMMERER is the author of LETTERS TO THE LOST (Bloomsbury; April 4, 2017), a dark, contemporary Young Adult romance; THICKER THAN WATER (Kensington, December 29, 2015), a New Adult paranormal mystery with elements of romance; and the YALSA-nominated Elemental series of five Young Adult novels and three e-novellas which Kirkus Reviews calls “refreshingly human paranormal romance” and School Library Journal describes as “a new take on the supernatural genre.” She lives in the Baltimore area with her husband and four sons.

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Can't-Wait Wednesday: Most Eligible Bastard by Annika Martin

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting On Wednesday hosted at Breaking the Spine.

Most Eligible Bastard by Annika Martin
Expected publication: November 7th 2017 by Annika Martin

He’s a powerful billionaire CEO who built the family business into an empire. The money doesn’t matter to him, but the company is his life. And then his eccentric mother wills it all to her tiny dog.

I’m Vicky, the dog whisperer. (Not really, but that’s what my elderly neighbor always says.) When she dies, she surprises everybody by leaving a corporation worth billions to her dog, Smuckers. With me as his spokesperson.

Suddenly I go from running my Etsy store to sitting in an elegant Wall Street boardroom with Smuckers in my lap. And my neighbor’s son, Henry Locke, aka New York’s most eligible bachelor, glaring across the table at me.

Rumor has it Henry’s a business genius who’s as talented in the bedroom as he is in the boardroom. Sure, he’s gorgeous. Sex-in-a-seven-thousand dollar suit. But…

He’s arrogant and infuriating.
He refuses to listen to me when I insist I didn’t con his mother.
He thinks he can bully me, buy me off, control me, even seduce me.

Henry may have the women of Manhattan eating out of the palm of his hand, but I'm so over entitled rich guys who think they own the world.

No way will his wicked smile be charming ME out of my panties.

His wicked...devastating...impossible-to-resist smile.

Oh well, who needs panties anyway?

*** A sexy enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy standalone! ***

When I saw that Annika Martin is releasing a new book I added it to my wishlist right away. I was even more excited to learn that it'll be a romantic comedy. I love those. And it sounds like so much fun!

What do you think of this book? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Darkness at the Edge of Town by Jennifer Harlow

Title: Darkness at the Edge of Town
Author: Jennifer Harlow
Series: Iris Ballard #2
Genre: Thriller
Publication: November 14th 2017 by Alibi
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Kobo
Rating: 4/5★

A complicated, charismatic forensic psychologist tries to rescue her brother from the clutches of a maniacal cult leader in this edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller from the author of Beautiful Maids All in a Row.

After catching an infamous serial killer, Dr. Iris Ballard has become a TV sensation. Exhausted from her appearances on the talk-show circuit, she’s looking forward to some quality time with Luke Hudson, her former FBI partner and on-again, off-again lover. The last thing Iris wants is to get pulled back to her dying Rust Belt hometown, but after the frantic call from her mother, she doesn’t have a choice.

Iris is a disgrace in Grey Mills, Pennsylvania, but her twin brother has gone and outdone her. Billy has abandoned his fiancée, drained their checking account, and quit his job to join a cult called the New Morning Movement. Expecting to find something sinister at play, Iris is eager to destroy the quixotic hold they have on her brother. And that means outwitting the cult’s cunning, sadistic founder, Mathias Morning.

Iris has logic and reason on her side. But Mathias doesn’t play by society’s rules. Just as Iris begins to lose hope, her investigation leads her to cross path with the DEA. And now she needs to save Billy’s life before they’re both caught in the crossfire.

Darkness at the Edge of Town is the second Iris Ballard thriller by Jennifer Harlow. I think I preferred the first book a little bit more but I still thought it was a great thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

This book felt more personal to Iris because it involved her twin brother Billy, who joined a cult and disappeared on his girlfriend Gia and his own family. To find her brother, Iris infiltrates the cult, which is not without its dangers, obviously. I really liked that this story involved a cult because it made for a nice change from the first book. I really dislike it when thrillers keep being the same theme with each book so it made everything pretty intriguing. 

I'm also glad to say that I also still am a big fan of Iris Ballard. She's one of my favorite heroines from this author's books. Iris is not a perfect person at all, but I totally love her sarcastic and witty side. I was also glad to see her relationship with Luke grow a bit more through the story, especially towards the end. I've been shipping them since the first book.

I have to admit that there wasn't as much suspense as there was in the first book. Don't get me wrong, there definitely was suspense but it wasn't on the same level as the first book, in my opinion. The writing was also really great, just like in the first book. Not that this was a big surprise to me becaue I've always loved the author's writing style.

Overall, Darkness at the Edge of Town by Jennifer Harlow is a thriller you definitely need to read. I really enjoyed the story, the characters and the eerie feel of the cult.  

You can read my review of the first Iris Ballard book, Beautiful Maids All in A Row here

About Jennifer:
Jennifer Harlow spent her restless childhood fighting with her three brothers and scaring the heck out of herself with horror movies and books. She grew up to earn a degree at the University of Virginia which she put to use as a radio DJ, crisis hotline volunteer, bookseller, lab assistant, wedding coordinator, and government investigator. Currently she calls Atlanta home but that restless itch is ever present. In her free time she continues to scare the beejepers out of herself watching scary movies and opening her credit card bills.

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