This week, I talk with Amina Akhtar about her new thriller Almost Surely Dead!

Synopsis

Dunia Ahmed lives an ordinary life—or she definitely used to. Now she’s the subject of a true crime podcast. She’s been missing for over a year, and no one knows if she’s dead or alive. But her story has listeners obsessed, and people everywhere are sporting merch that demands “Find Dunia!” In the days before her disappearance, Dunia is a successful pharmacist living in New York. The daughter of Pakistani immigrants, she’s coping with a broken engagement and the death of her mother. But then something happens that really shakes up her someone tries to murder her. When her would-be killer winds up dead, Dunia figures the worst is over. 

But then there’s another attempt on her life…and another. And police suspect someone close to her may be the culprit. Dunia struggles to make sense of what’s happening. And as childhood superstitions seep into her reality, she becomes convinced that someone—or some thing —is truly after her.

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This week, I talk with Caitlin Devlin about her debut novel The Real Deal!

Synopsis

Belle Simon was just 12 years old when she was one of six girls plucked from obscurity to star in reality TV sensation The Real Deal. Under the wing of dazzling star Donna Mayfair, she and the other five girls were meant to become world-famous actresses, singers and dancers.

But at 26, Belle is trying to live anonymously, away from being loved or loathed. The public eye has never fully shut, however, and when a producer offers Belle a big paycheck to join a reunion special for The Real Deal, she finds it hard to say no. If people are going to talk about that shocking final episode anyway, maybe this is an unexpected opportunity.

Everyone watching thinks they know what happened, but only Belle knows what really occurred away from the cameras and outside the editing room. Is she ready to go back and confront her past? And will anyone believe her if she reveals the truth?

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, we share books we loved reading that stretched us outside our comfort zones!

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Books We Talked About:

The Real Deal

The Paper Palace

Last Night at the Hollywood Canteen

Just By Looking at Him

The Prediction

White Ivy

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, we share our favorite wintry thrillers for this freezing weather!

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Kate @thegirlwiththecookonthecouch

Books We Talked About:

The Deep, Deep Snow

No Exit

Rock, Paper, Scissors

The Silent Girls 

The Hunting Party

The Overnight Guest

White Out

The Snowman

Shiver

The Mountain King

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I talk with Susan Walter about her LA-based, fast paced thriller Lie By the Pool!

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Lie By the Pool Synopsis

Bree’s new home is luxurious and private, with a fancy Beverly Hills address. What a shame it’s not hers. Widowed, penniless, living in her car, and out of options, she’s climbed the fence and crashed in the pool house. All she wants is a good night’s sleep. But when Sophie, the absentee owner, finds her, she gets a whole lot more.

Sophie invites Bree back for a party. When it winds down, Bree can’t resist sneaking upstairs to sleep in a real bed. But the next morning, she wakes to find Sophie’s dead body floating in the pool. As the resident vagabond, she’s both the only witness and the prime murder suspect.

Bree knows she shouldn’t run, but her husband’s death was mysterious, too. If she’s going to clear her name, she’s going to have to work fast. Because the killer is still out there, and she’s next.

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, we talk about the books we are starting off 2024 with!

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Kate @thegirlwiththecookonthecouch

Books We Talked About:

Walking Through Needles

No One Can Know

Good As Dead

What Happened to Nina?

They Are the Hunters

The New Couple in 5B

The Fury

Listen for the Lie

Ladykiller

The Boyfriend Subscription

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Steph Lauer @books.in.badgerland

Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, we got to talk with Heather Levy about her character driven, dual-timeline, steamy thriller Hurt for Me!

Get Hurt for Me now as an Amazon First Reads pick!

Synopsis

A single mother’s brutal past threatens to destroy the new life she’s built in this suspenseful dark romance set in the underground world of kink.

Rae Dixon is lucky to be alive. Fifteen years ago, she survived being trafficked and abused, escaping her captors to reclaim her life. Now, she’s running a thriving business with her best friend and raising a teenage daughter on her own. Rae’s finally in control—literally. As Mistress V, Rae is the one calling the shots catering to Oklahoma City’s elite in her private dungeon, which is fronted by a spa.

But when a client goes missing, Rae’s world spins out of control.

Detective Dayton Clearwater shows up at the spa, sparking panic when he asks questions that risk exposing Rae’s true business. After several young women from her underground community disappear, too, Rae spots a chillingly familiar pattern. Together, she and Detective Clearwater must find answers before more lives are destroyed, including those they love.

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I talk with Kate Brody about her emotionally and character driven debut thriller Rabbit Hole!

Rabbit Hole Synopsis

Ten years ago, Theodora “Teddy” Angstrom’s older sister, Angie, went missing. Her case remains unsolved. Now Teddy’s father, Mark, has killed himself. Unbeknownst to Mark’s family, he had been active in a Reddit community fixated on Angie, and Teddy can’t help but fall down the same rabbit hole.

Teddy’s investigation quickly gets her in hot water with her gun-nut boyfriend, her long-lost half brother, and her colleagues at the prestigious high school where she teaches English. Further complicating matters is Teddy’s growing obsession with Mickey, a charming amateur sleuth who is eerily keen on helping her solve the case.

Bewitched by Mickey, Teddy begins to lose her moral compass. As she struggles to reconcile new information with old memories, her erratic behavior reaches a fever pitch, but she won’t stop until she finds Angie—or destroys herself in the process.

A biting critique of the internet’s voyeurism, Rabbit Hole is an outrageous and heart-wrenching character study of a mind twisted by grief—and a page-turning mystery that’s as addictive as a late-night Reddit binge.

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And check out her website here

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Halley Sutton @halleysutton25

Brian Watson @readingwithbrian

MacKenzie Green @missusa2mba

Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, we talk about our favorite books we read in 2023!

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Kate @thegirlwiththecookonthecouch

Books We Talked About:

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Let's Do This

Daisy Jones and The Six

The Gay Best Friend

Ninth House

How I'll Kill You

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?

Dysfunctional

Midnight Is The Darkest Hour

The Trap

The Push

Hidden Scars 

The New One

The Murder Between Us

Never Saw Me Coming

Bad, Wrong Things

Lay Your Body Down

The Shards

The Hunger Games

Bright Young Women

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor

This week, I talk with Jennifer McMahon about her newest release, My Darling Girl!

Alison has never been a fan of Christmas. But with it right around the corner and her husband busily decorating their cozy Vermont home, she has no choice but to face it. Then she gets the call.

Mavis, Alison’s estranged mother, has been diagnosed with cancer and has only weeks to live. She wants to spend her remaining days with her daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters. But Alison grew up with her mother’s alcoholism and violent abuse and is reluctant to unearth these traumatic memories. Still, she eventually agrees to take in Mavis, hoping that she and her mother could finally heal and have the relationship she’s always dreamed of.

But when mysterious and otherworldly things start happening upon Mavis’s arrival, Alison begins to suspect her mother is not quite who she seems. And as the holiday festivities turn into a nightmare, she must confront just how far she is willing to go to protect her family.

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Erin Ashley @bellametaphor