Adventures in Literature

The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

I have been wanting to revisit some mystery and thriller books lately and I was SO excited when my Once Upon a Book Club Box arrived and had this little beauty inside of it. Lisa Jewell is a new author for me and I wasn’t familiar with her books or writing style. This one started out just like any other mystery where the characters are set and the plot is introduced and of course people go missing. The unique thing about this one was that the story surrounded a seemingly happy young couple that were new parents. They lived with the young woman’s mother and seemed to be doing very well until they went out for a celebratory dinner and were never heard from again.

Following the lead of the mother, you see her distress over her daughter’s disappearance and the clear confusion surrounding why it even happened. As her mother unravels hidden pieces of her daughter’s life and starts to put all the pieces together, she realizes how much she didn’t notice about what was going on right in front of her.

If you really love to read mysteries where you have a whole assortment of characters and plot holes to figure out, then this one will keep you guessing and trying to figure out whodunnit. It was very well put together in the plot and background intrigue that keeps you hanging on to every detail and trying to answer all of the questions of who and why things happened.

Honestly, I was very surprised with the ending of this one as well. I had an entire idea in my head in how this one was going to play out and when it took me by surprise, that always makes me extremely happy! I cannot wait to read more from Lisa Jewell!

As this was part of a Once Upon a Book Club Box, I had little gifts to open up along the way. Let me give you a little recap of what was included.

The first gift I opened was pretty early on and was around the part where the missing girls’ mother is looking through her school planner to get an idea of who her friends were. The item itself that I opened up was a reading planner they provided which I can’t wait to use. Next was a small inflatable flamingo to represent the one that a character was floating on in a pool. Thirdly, was the “Dig Here” sign and small shovel you see on the first picture of this post and finally was a small mystery book to represent the one that another character in this story wrote and is referenced to a few times. Altogether, the items were pretty fun but I think my favorite one was the “Dig Here” sign and shovel!

Available now in hardcover, paperback and eBook:

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About The Book

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone comes another riveting work of psychological suspense about a beautiful young couple’s disappearance on a gorgeous summer night, and the mother who will never give up trying to find them…

On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend.

One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate. Known locally as the Dark Place, the dense forest is the writer’s favorite area for long walks and it’s on one such walk that she stumbles upon a mysterious note that simply reads, “DIG HERE.”

Could this be a clue towards what has happened to the missing young couple? And what exactly is buried in this haunted ground?

With her signature “rich, dark, and intricately twisted” (Ruth Ware, New York Times bestselling author) prose, Lisa Jewell has crafted a dazzling work of suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page.

About The Author

Lisa Jewell is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nineteen novels, including The Family Upstairs and Then She Was Gone, as well as Invisible Girl and Watching You. Her novels have sold over 5 million copies internationally, and her work has also been translated into twenty-nine languages. Connect with her on Twitter @LisaJewellUK, on Instagram @LisaJewellUK, and on Facebook @LisaJewellOfficial.

Secret Burdens by Suzanna J. Linton

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

I am so excited to be here today on the 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬 Book Tour with Love Books Tours and Suzanna J. Linton! I have been on this book tour from the beginning and am absolutely captivated by this Fantasy series.

This is the third book in the series and now that we’ve read through Clara’s personal journey in Clara and Clara’s Return, we now have a much greater understanding of her position and power as the Court Seer. Now, in Secret Burdens we get to have a book that’s a lot more from another perspective – that of her closest friend Jarrett and Captain of her Royal Guard. There is an intense investigation into why Clara was poisoned, who did it and what are they after. I can’t tell you how much I love Jarrett and how much my heart breaks for him in this emotional story.

Secret Burdens will really challenge your emotions in a way that I wasn’t expecting. I’ve come to know all of these characters intimately over the course of this series and there were a few emotionally challenging moments, that I will not go into, that had me hurting for the characters. As everyone is playing a role in the way the future is unfolding, they all have to make difficult decisions a well. Decisions that will forever shape their experience and their roles with one another. Friendships are ruined, hearts are forever bleeding, and the Kingdom hasn’t even faced it’s most trying time yet.

There are lots of things unfolding in everyone’s journey, but this book will leave you with an ending that keeps you satisfied as you wait for the final installment to come. An amazing series and this book really continues to develop the story line in a way that you will love until the end.

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About the Book

Secrets can heal — and destroy.

Jarrett failed everyone close to him.

In disgrace, he resigned his position as Captain of the Royal Guard and entered self-imposed exile in the Eastern Forests. As a common soldier, he fought the remainder of Marduk’s monsters.

A surprise summoning, though, brings Jarrett back to Bertrand. He finds Clara nearly bedridden from an assassination attempt. Tension between Lorst and Tier runs high. In need of someone she trusts, Clara appoints Jarrett Captain of the Seer’s Guard over his protests.

He searches for both her enemies and his sense of honor. However, his investigations threaten to expose secrets that could ruin them all and shake Lorst to the core.

The thrilling third novel of The Stories of Lorst Series takes the reader from the immaculate halls of the Palace to the dingy streets of the Low Quarters on an epic tale of secrets, betrayals, and lost love.

About the Author

Suzanna J. Linton grew up in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and fed a steady diet of catfish and tall tales. After reading Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series, she was inspired to be an author. She went to Francis Marion University and obtained a Bachelor’s in Professional Writing. Her first book, Clara, is the thousandth rewrite of a novel she penned as a teenager, when she wanted to write about a heroine in search of a voice. She still lives in South Carolina with her husband and various pets.

A Betting Woman by Jenni L. Walsh

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

I’ve had this one sitting on my shelf for months now as it arrived during the summer in my Once Upon a Book Club box. This year has come with a lot of struggling to read the last few months and so it took me some time to get around to it. But I finally picked it up last week and was consumed by this historical novel about the life and times of Madame Moustache, the first female croupier.

This novel follows the Madame from her late teens as Simone Jules living with a prominent family in New Orleans to her adventures in the Wild West during the gold rush era. She dramatically lost her family in a fire in New Orleans and was faced with a very difficult decision. Should she stay where all of her now painful memories lied and marry the man she was promised to, or should she leave and forge her own undetermined future?

She chooses to leave and the remainder of the book follows her adventures as she arrives in San Francisco, a young scared woman, but willing to defend herself and begins dealing her family’s game of Black Jack, which had been unknown to most people at the time. It was an ironic situation as most men only ever saw women in gambling houses if they were saloon girls and there as the entertainment. But Simone establishes herself with dignity and poise as she refuses to subject herself to those demands and instead sets herself up as a dealer at the card tables.

The men are enamored with her and everyone wants to play the infamous dealer. But tragedy continues to follow her and she eventually has to keep moving from city to city and even spends some much needed time in one place where she reconnects with her past fiancé for a time. This story had me glued to the pages as I love reading about historical accounts. This one in particular because it focused on the aspects of life and the hard times during the gold rush and mining towns as they rose and fell with constant population movement.

While I loved it very much, I gave it only 4 out of 5 stars as the last quarter of it felt too repetitive and wore out the nostalgia I was feeling with the overall story. Character development was well written through most of the novel, and while this story reflects the life of the real historical figure, her journey towards the end felt repressive and uninspiring. She continued to be driven only by her own idolization and desire to feel and be important and while I understand this was a very relevant part of her story, I started to lose my interest in the character When I realized that she would never do anything different than what she was doing.

Still a very highly recommended book for my historical fiction fans,. It was a real treat to read about gambling from her perspective and the excitement that she felt over it. I grew up in a house where we were taught the rules and game of Poker and I have a lot of fond memories surrounding it. So this book provided a very nostalgic experience for me as well.

Available now in paperback, eBook and Kindle Unlimited:

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About The Book

Born Simone Jules, reinvented as Eleanor Dumont, and largely remembered as Madame Moustache, A BETTING WOMAN is a historical novel inspired by the tumultuous life, times, and loves of America’s first professional croupier of modern-day blackjack, bringing to life an intrepid and entrepreneurial real-life woman who lived on her own terms.

When her whole family dies in a fire, young Simone Jules flees her grief and travels west to reinvent herself in burgeoning San Francisco. Down to her last dollar and facing some unsavory options, Simone quick-wits her way to a gambling table where she begins to deal vingt-et-un – modern-day blackjack. Word travels fast among of this French-speaking, card-playing novelty, and she begins to build a new life for herself.

MOLLY’S GAME for lovers of the American West. Fans of Thelma Adams, Therese Anne Fowler, and Marie Benedict will root for the quick-witted, charming, and self-sufficient Eleanor as she paves her way in a man’s world and into the pages of history.

About The Author

Jenni L. Walsh spends her days knee deep in words in Philadelphia’s suburbia. Beyond words, Jenni is a mama (of an soulful seven-year-old, an dinosaur-loving five-year-old, and three needy furbabies), a wife, a Philly and ‘Nova sports fan..

But where did it all begin? Jenni spent her early years dabbling in various forms of writing and with her nose in a book. Her writing chops first began to develop through one-page stories. Never fail, the storyline followed the same progression: girl meets boy, girl marries boy, girl and boy have baby. That’s it. Jenni’s mom treated it like a masterpiece each and every time. 

Now Jenni has moved on to stories with a bit more depth and, for the mamas, Side by Side is a historical women’s fiction story of America’s most infamous crime spree of Bonnie and Clyde told in the raw and honest voice of the woman who lived it, Bonnie Parker. In Becoming Bonnie, a prequel set in the Roaring Twenties, a picture of Bonnie’s earlier life, before and while she meets Clyde, is brought to life. Jenni’s third historical women’s fiction book A Betting Woman takes us to the California gold rush, featuring a little known woman from history, Eleanor Dumont, but who is largely remembered by the moniker Madame Moustache. The Messenger’s Secret, a saga about two women that spans both world wars, is releasing in 2022 with Harper Collin’s new imprint Harper Muse. A second historical novel will follow in 2023.

For the kiddos, Jenni’s debut middle grade books, She Dared, features true stories from women who, at a young age, accomplished daring feats of perseverance and bravery. She is also the author of I Am Defiance, inspired by a real-life resistance group, known as the White Rose. Jenni has also contributed Hettie and the London Blitz: A World War II Survival Story to the Girl’s Survive series. Her next middle grade novel, releasing November 2, 2021, is By the Light of Fireflies, a historical novel with a touch of magical realism about Revolutionary War hero Sybil Ludington. In the spring of 2022, middle grade readers can expect Over and Out, an escape and espionage story set during the Cold War.

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