Happy Tuesday! Today’s TTT’s topic is one word reviews. This was so hard! My short and sweet list uses a lot of hyphens to simulate one word. They are really more descriptions than reviews, too. Again, hard! The list includes the last 10 books I have written reviews of, so at least that is on topic. I hope you find a book to love.
Happy Tuesday before Halloween! Today’s TTT is a Halloween Freebie, and I am featuring books that are great to read when you want something a little bit twisty, or ghostly, or dark-ish, but are a fraidy cat. 😉 You can easily read these books after dark, but maybe with a nightlight burning. They are also certified non-gory. I hope you find one to read this Halloween.
Happy Tuesday! Today I am changing TTT‘s prompt of Perfect Day, to picture perfect book settings that turn out to be not so much. You know, something like the idyllic vacation spot with cartel killers. I read a lot of suspense, so I have a lot of material to work with. 😉 Hope you find one to love.
The Lies We Trade by debut novelist Kristine Delano was a unique read for me. I admit that most of my suspense comes in the romantic version with unmarried main characters. The plots also do not usually include white color crime. Arsonists, serial killers, drug cartels are the usual suspects. The Lies We Trade has none of the above. The main character is married with kids, and the suspense arises from underhanded Wall Street types. I liked it a lot.
Here’s the first line:
I always watch for the pivot — I sense it before I see it and I notice it before the crowd.
A high-powered Wall Street career, a beautiful family in a quiet suburban neighborhood—she seems to have everything. Which means she has everything to lose.
Meredith Hansel should be having the best week of her life. After establishing herself as a portfolio manager at a prestigious Wall Street firm, she’s in the national spotlight for the innovative funds she created. But as Meredith prepares to celebrate, the plates she’s kept spinning for years begin to crash: Her strained marriage reaches a breaking point. Her conscientious teenage daughter acts out under mysterious pressures. Someone vandalizes her home with disturbing graffiti. And Betsey, her most trusted ally at the financial firm, goes rogue, and Meredith is forced to sign a restraining order against her.
Then her worlds collide when she receives a thumb drive and a cryptic note from Betsey threatening to reveal a secret that could have devastating effects on Meredith’s family . . . unless she can figure out what Betsey wants and deliver it in time.
As Meredith begins to dig into the data, however, she begins to suspect that it’s no coincidence her life is crumbling. That maybe what’s happening to her family is connected to what’s boiling beneath the surface at her investment company. Soon Meredith realizes there’s only one way to avoid taking the fall, and it all hinges on Betsey’s true motives. Was she really threatening Meredith or trying to warn her?
Kristine Delano is a former Wall Street executive turned award-winning author of domestic thrillers set in the high-stakes finance world. She hosts the We Talk Careers podcast and mentors women on work-life balance. When she’s not writing or reading, she enjoys scuba diving, playing games with friends, and chasing her family down the ski slopes of western Maine.
When Katherine Armstrong arranges a birthday weekend on her husband’s private island in the Everglades, she plans for everything: the guest list, the menu, the flowers, the careful distance between herself and the dark water beyond the dock.
She does not plan for the storm.
By nightfall, the power is gone, the mainland is unreachable, and something in the mangrove shadows has begun to move. Katherine has spent years building a life that looks flawless from the outside. Now, with her children beside her and the water on every side, she will have to decide what that life was actually worth.
Sixty years earlier, a World War II veteran named Conrad Boone made a decision on these same waters — one that seemed containable, even necessary, at the time. He passed the consequence of that decision to his family. They learned to live with it. And the island learned to keep its secrets.
Until the storm.
The Glades moves between a Florida that no longer exists and a Florida that is drowning in its own inheritance, between a man who thought he could manage what he’d done and a woman who never knew there was anything to manage. What lives beneath the water has been patient for sixty years.
It will not be patient much longer.
Excerpt
The Armstrong Island dining room shimmers with crystal and candlelight.
Katherine stands at the head of the table, her pulse pounding in her ears as she does a last- minute check of the presentation. Like a director scanning the stage before the curtain rises, she approves the glowing teak floors, the smooth linen on the table, the dripless candles. Beyond the glass wall, the canal reflects the coral streaks of a Florida sunset.
She has timed this dinner exactly, and Dylan will bring out the food just as the light goes gold.
Happy birthday to her. She smiles. Thirty-five years.
She sits and nods at Flora, who moves first, placing a plate of stone crab claws on each charger. Dylan Cross sweeps in behind her, his black button-down fitted and his hands in motion.
“Ladies.” He dips his head in a bow. “Stone crab harvested yesterday and promptly chilled. Mustard sauce balanced with cream and just enough heat to be interesting. Tell me what you think.”
He steps away, but not too far.
Katherine smiles at her friends, then cracks the first claw. Sweet brine floods her mouth, absolutely perfect. Her shoulders drop an inch. She allows herself one moment of pure satisfaction, no asterisk attached. Appetizer course. A success.
“To our Katherine,” Taylor says, lifting her glass. “Who apparently now hosts birthday dinners
Christy-Award winner Angela Hunt writes for readers who have learned to expect the unexpected in novels from this versatile author. With nearly six million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the best-selling author of more than 160 works ranging from picture books (The Tale of Three Trees) to novels and nonfiction.
Now that her two children are grown, Angie and her husband live in Florida with Very Big Dogs (a direct result of watching Sandlot too many times). This affinity for mastiffs has not been without its rewards–one of their dogs was featured on Live with Regis and Kelly as the second-largest canine in America. Their dog received this dubious honor after an all-expenses-paid trip to Manhattan for the dog and the Hunts, complete with VIP air travel and a stretch limo in which they toured New York City. Afterward, the dog gave out paw-tographs at the airport.
When she’s not home writing, Angie often travels to teach writing workshops at schools and writers’ conferences. And to talk about her dogs, of course.
Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight October 13, 2026 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on October 20, 2026. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. No delivery restrictions. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
The background of The Lies We Trade, the debut domestic thriller by Kristine Delano, is Wall Street. I admit I know nothing about the trading of stocks, the formation of ETFs, and other financial details. So while I love a good suspense novel, this book’s setting was as foreign as they come. But Delano did a great job of establishing an accessible backstory for main character Meredith Hansel while creating a riveting plot of betrayal in both her personal and professional lives. This book was definitely an edge-of-the seat read with lots of twists and turns. I especially liked the family life portrayed in the book. I don’t often run across a suspense novel in which the main character has a husband and kids. Even without all the nefarious work goings-on, Meredith has her hands full with a less than forthcoming teenager and a marriage that is teetering on a precipice. I loved that neither her work life or her home life were shorted — Meredith had work to do in both areas. The ending was surprising as well. All in all, The Lies We Trade kept me guessing and thinking. Kudos to Delano in this first offering. I hope there will be many more.
Recommended.
Audience: Adults.
(I purchased the Kindle version of this book. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
A high-powered Wall Street career, a beautiful family in a quiet suburban neighborhood—she seems to have everything. Which means she has everything to lose.
Meredith Hansel should be having the best week of her life. After establishing herself as a portfolio manager at a prestigious Wall Street firm, she’s in the national spotlight for the innovative funds she created. But as Meredith prepares to celebrate, the plates she’s kept spinning for years begin to crash: Her strained marriage reaches a breaking point. Her conscientious teenage daughter acts out under mysterious pressures. Someone vandalizes her home with disturbing graffiti. And Betsey, her most trusted ally at the financial firm, goes rogue, and Meredith is forced to sign a restraining order against her.
Then her worlds collide when she receives a thumb drive and a cryptic note from Betsey threatening to reveal a secret that could have devastating effects on Meredith’s family . . . unless she can figure out what Betsey wants and deliver it in time.
As Meredith begins to dig into the data, however, she begins to suspect that it’s no coincidence her life is crumbling. That maybe what’s happening to her family is connected to what’s boiling beneath the surface at her investment company. Soon Meredith realizes there’s only one way to avoid taking the fall, and it all hinges on Betsey’s true motives. Was she really threatening Meredith or trying to warn her?
Kristine Delano is a former Wall Street executive turned award-winning author of domestic thrillers set in the high-stakes finance world. She hosts the We Talk Careers podcast and mentors women on work-life balance. When she’s not writing or reading, she enjoys scuba diving, playing games with friends, and chasing her family down the ski slopes of western Maine.
My book club unanimously liked Spies, Lies, And Alibis by Natalie Walters. We met her in person at a book festival in our small town. After hearing from her in person we knew we needed to read this rom-com/suspense novel. It is as delightful as she is! If you haven’t read it yet, we recommend you do. And if you have and want more espionage in your reading time, please check out the four books I have recommended.
Book with Spies!
The Bachelor Spy by Pepper Basham — historical mystery with humor mixed in.
Midnight on The Scottish Shore — WWII spies
The Paris Betrayal by James R. Hannibal — a modern day spy novel inspired by the Book of Job
To Outwit Them All by Peggy Wirgau — the real life story of George Washington’s spy ring
Happy Tuesday! Today’s TTT prompt is a fall freebie. I have taken that quite literally. 😉 My list includes books with titles containing fall, falls, and falling. I’ve done this for a previous fall freebie, but these book have been read since then. You’ll find that a fall occurs quite often in suspense novels. And one group of books gets extra points for their series name — Gossamer Falls! I hope you find one to love.
Happy Tuesday! Does it feel like Fall where you are? Are the mornings cooler, the trees sporting colors of red, yellow, and orange? Is there a scent of pumpkin spice in the air? LOL! Even if none of those things are appearing where you live, you can always count on a book to take you wherever you want to go.
This week bloggers are sharing their Fall TBR Lists. I have some fun books on mine, with some early Christmas vibes included. Tell me what you are reading.
Happy Tuesday! Today TTT bloggers are sharing books that have nationalities in the title. I had more books than I expected to choose from my shelves, but I did a bit of googling to round out my list. Asterisks denote books that I don’t own. Let me know if I should add them!
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