All posts by Jo-Anna W

Psychological Thriller, Standalone

#REVIEW – Appetite For Innocence: A Dark Psychological Thriller by Lucinda Berry

July 27, 2021 Jo-Anna W Leave a comment

**Be careful what you post online. Your next check-in might lead him right to you…**

A serial rapist is kidnapping teenage girls. But he’s not interested in just any teenage girls—only virgins. He hunts them by following their status updates and check-ins on social media. Once he’s captured them, they’re locked away in his sound-proof basement until they’re groomed and ready. He throws them away like pieces of trash after he’s stolen their innocence. Nobody escapes alive.

Until Ella.

Ella risks it all to escape, setting herself and the other girls free. But only Sarah—the girl whose been captive the longest—gets out with her. The girls are hospitalized and surrounded by FBI agents who will stop at nothing to find the man responsible. Ella and Sarah are the key to their investigation, but Sarah’s hiding something and it isn’t long before Ella discovers her nightmare is far from over.

Fans of *The Butterfly Garden* and *The Girl Before* will devour **Appetite for Innocence**

Warning: Contains sexual violence which may be a trigger for some readers.

This book was insane. I kept trying to guess what was going to happen and how it would end because I knew that there was going to be a twist of some sort.
The book is written in both Ella’s point of view along with Sarah’s. We learn how Ella was taken by “John” and how Sarah was conditioned over the years. Both of their stories are tragic in the same way but also different. Sarah had been with John for four years, ever since she was 12 years old. So of course, it makes sense for him to have control over her in a much different way than he does with the other girls.
Parts of the book were quite frustrating but I also understood as well. I’m not a mom but I know that if it had been my child who was taken and I finally got them home, I would want to do everything I could to help them get through it. I would probably do what Ella’s mom did as well, even though it drove me crazy at times and I felt like she wasn’t listening to her daughter until it was almost too late.
I do like the desperation Ella’s mom faced when trying to make her daughter feel better. And to try and get things back to normal for her. While it was a little much at times, I get it and would probably do the same. You can be the strongest person and something like this could still break you.
This is only my second book by Lucinda Berry but I’m loving this journey into her the worlds she creates and I can’t wait to read more of her words!

Psychological Thriller, Standalone

#REVIEW – When She Returned by Lucinda Berry

June 27, 2021 Jo-Anna W Leave a comment

**One woman’s reappearance throws her family into turmoil, exposing dark secrets and the hidden, often devastating truth of family relationships.**
Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago, leaving behind her husband and young daughter. When she shows up at a Montana gas station, clutching an infant and screaming for help, investigators believe she may have been abducted by a cult.
Kate’s return flips her family’s world upside down—her husband is remarried, and her daughter barely remembers her. Kate herself doesn’t look or act like she did before.
While the family tries to help Kate reintegrate into society, they discover truths they’ve been hiding from each other about their own relationships. But they aren’t the only ones with secrets. As the family unravels what happened to Kate, a series of shocking revelations shows that Kate’s return is more sinister than any of them could have imagined.

So this is actually my first book ever by Lucinda and it definitely won’t be my last. I’ve become obsessed with this genre only just recently and am happy to have given it a chance.

We meet Kate. She’s happily married to an amazing man and they share a daughter together. She’s a journalist and ends up interviewing a local “cult” called “Love International”. Unfortunately for her, she ends up getting sucked into their cause and all they stand for.

We find out that Kate had actually been missing for eleven years. Of course Scott, her husband, moved on. His life with his new wife, quickly unravels when Kate suddenly shows back up after being gone for so many years.

While reading this book, I tried guessing what the why and how but I definitely never predicted the ending.

I find cults fascinating and terrifying both at the same time. Kate never stood a chance with Ray and his charismatic ways. You learn what she went through while being with them. What they all went through.

I think I would have loved to have seen some parts in Ray’s point of view but am happy none the less with how this book ended.

I felt for all of the characters in this book and how they deal with a woman who had been gone for so long and suddenly was back. There was something odd about Kate that I never trusted. But you’ll have to read this book to find out if my hunch was right or not.

Psychological Thriller, Standalone

#REVIEW – Varity by Colleen Hoover

June 10, 2021 Jo-Anna W Leave a comment

**A thrilling, instant bestseller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.** Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity’s notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn’t expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity’s recollection of the night their family was forever altered.

She decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen’s feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife’s words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

Due to extremely mature content, this book is recommended for readers 18+. Sensitive topics that may be triggering to some readers include graphic death/murder, child abuse, graphic sex

What the heck did I just read??? So I haven’t read a Co-Ho book since her Slammed Series. Well…this book, my friends, is nothing like those ones! I’m a huge fan of horror and thriller and anything that can mess with my head, so when I was told that this book is creepy, I was intrigued. But wow…I was NOT in no way shape or freaking form, prepared for that! At all. Like nope. No way. No how was I prepared.

Lowen is a struggling writer, a lot of them are. She just lost her mother and is feeling the impact of that and the weight of the world on her shoulders. One day she ends up having to go to a meeting and something truly awful happens that she witnesses. In walks Jeremy who saves the day by giving her his shirt off his back. Literally.

Lowen arrives at her meeting finally and lo and behold, Jeremy is there. After everything is said and done, Lowen ends up basically moving into Jeremy’s house to finish out the series that his wife can no longer write after being in a tragic accident that has left her immobile.

While Lowen spends her days reading and doing research for this series that she reluctantly agrees to finish, she ends up finding an autobiography from Jeremy’s wife herself. And that’s when the crazy happens.

I don’t want to go into too much detail but wow. Just wow. My mind is reeling. I spent every chapter trying to figure out what the heck was going on and by the end of the book, I was like, WTF that did so not happen. But it left me wondering, what would I do in that situation? How would I react? How would I respond?

This book brought out that old reader in me who could spends days reading books and getting lost in other worlds. That reader hasn’t been around for awhile but thanx to this book, I’ve finally found that reader once again.

Thank you, Colleen, for writing this book. Hands down one of my favourite readers. Ever.

Psychological Thriller, Standalone

#REVIEW – The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

June 9, 2021 Jo-Anna W Leave a comment

**An Instant Bestseller!**
*The New York Times USA Today The Globe and Mail* The Toronto Star

New York Times bestselling author Tarryn Fisher delivers a pulse-pounding, fast-paced suspense novel that will leave you breathless. A thriller you won’t be able to put down!

**Imagine that your husband has two other wives.**

You’ve never met the other wives. None of you know each other, and because of this unconventional arrangement, you can see your husband only one day a week. But you love him so much you don’t care. Or at least that’s what you’ve told yourself.

But one day, while you’re doing laundry, you find a scrap of paper in his pocket—an appointment reminder for a woman named Hannah, and you just know it’s another of the wives.

You thought you were fine with your arrangement, but you can’t help yourself: you track her down, and, under false pretenses, you strike up a friendship. Hannah has no idea who you really are. Then Hannah starts showing up to your coffee dates with telltale bruises, and you realize she’s being abused by her husband. Who, of course, is also *your* husband. But you’ve never known him to be violent, ever.

Who exactly is your husband, and how far would you be willing to go to find out?

And who is his mysterious third wife?

This book. Holy moly, balls on a cracker. So I’ve never actually read anything by Tarryn before, even though I’ve been following her for years. This book. Wowzers. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into and I’m so glad I went in blind! If you can do that, I highly recommend it! The main voice of the book is Thursday and we learn that her husband is with two other women. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why this woman would allow such a thing but my questions were slowly answered as I continued to read. Not that the actual reason was any better because if it were me, it would be a big fat nope. I don’t share. Lol! But I don’t want to give too much away because I really feel that you should go in with an open mind. There are so many secrets and twists and turns. Poor Thursday slowly unravels as the chapters go on. It will leave you wondering what’s actually real or not or if it’s all in your head much like main character herself. This definitely won’t be my last book that I read by Tarryn and I look forward to falling down yet another rabbit hole!

Bully, Dark Romance, M/F/M, M/F/M/M, M/M, M/M/F, M/M/M, M/M/M/F, Part of a Series, Reverse Harem

#REVIEW – Here Loves a Sociopath: A Dark Bully Academy Romance (Here Lies Book 3) by C.L. Matthews

May 23, 2021 Jo-Anna W Leave a comment

**Here Lives a Corpse is book one of a five-book series. You do have to read all to understand. Each one ends on a cliffhanger.**

Here Lives a Corpse – Oct 13th
Here Lies a Saint – Dec 8th
Here Loves a Sociopath – April 1st
Here Prays a Sinner – June 1st
Here Saves a Killer – July 20th

We all have demons, some of us know how to befriend them rather than defy them.
They always speak of me… whispers of a devil with a charming smile.
But they don’t know me, what truly lies beneath.
I’m a monster with the face of a boy, married to the darkness, harvested by the past, and saved by none.
My intentions aren’t clear, but the murky water my hopes died in is.
I’ll save her since no one else can.
She’ll hate the process.
They’ll run for their salvation.
The Vestige won’t take any prisoners.
Taking away her choices wasn’t intentional, tying her hands wasn’t permanent, but stealing every part of her that matters was always my goal.
In the end, I’ll demolish the meek castle they’ve built, proving that the fixer will always outwin the weak.
Screw princes and kingdoms.
The devil always played harder and smarter.
She’s mine, they’ve only forgotten their place.

Have you ever become so enthralled with a series and a group of characters, that you just feel like you know them and they’re your best friends and you just want to keep them safe from harm? Well that’s me with the characters in this series. While they are teenagers and I could be old enough to be their mother if I had them young enough, I just want to tuck them into my arms and hide them from all the crap they have to deal with. Like seriously.

When Cassie told me she was writing a reverse harem type series but with her own twist and spin on things, I was like okay. I don’t read a lot of RH books anyway but I knew that what she would write, would be beyond epic. And dudes, can we talk about mind being blown? I’m always in awe of Cassie’s writing. She grows with each book and this series, the way she paints the images in your head with her words, is something I strive for as an author myself. The details, although simple but smart and unique, leave you being able to see the scene likes you’re watching it play out on screen in front of you. I’m simply in awe right now.

I knew that by the time I was done book one that Bridger would be my favourite and I couldn’t wait for his story. So when Cassie said that his book was number three, I was beyond excited to read it and she didn’t disappoint.

You do have to read these books in order to get the full feel of the story as there are so many layers to each character that get slowly peeled away like layers of an onion as we get deeper and deeper into the story. I can’t wait for this series to be done and to read these books back to back.

While we learn more about each character in this book, we are of course left with more questions but I trust Cassie to give us all of the answers when her and her characters are ready. There are so many twists and turns and I can’t wait for the next book!

Oh and that certain scene with the 5 of them…wow. Just wow. I won’t go into details but trust me, you all need to read this series. This is hands down my favourite series of Cassie’s and I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next.

Non-Fiction, Standalone