All The Missing Girls

by Megan Miranda

Ten years ago, Nicollette (Nic) Farrell's  best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge after leaving an amusement park. Nic and her friends were under suspicion and investigated. After that, Nic fled the town to start a new life in Philadelphia.  Now Nic is a counselor and engaged to Everett, a wealthy attorney.  When Nic receives an urgent call from her brother, Daniel, she returns home to Cooley Ridge to help him. They must fix up and sell the family home to raise money to  help pay for the medical expenses of their father who is in an assisted care facility.  Their father is losing his grip on reality and keeps saying that "he saw the girl on the porch" and "Nic is in danger".  Cooley Ridge is like a lot of small southern towns where everyone know you and rumors circulate freely.  Nic thought that she had left that life behind her but when she arrives home, another girl, Annaleise, goes missing.  Annaleise was the alibi for Nic and her group the night that Corinne disappeared. Suddenly history is repeating itself and Nic, Tyler, her high school boyfriend, and Jackson, Corinne's boyfriend are once again under scrutiny. Nic and Daniel's father might also be involved.

All The Missing Girls was written in a unique way.  It is told backward from Day 15 to Day 1 from the time that Annaleise went missing.  There is a lot going on in this book with twists and turns and  secrets revealed. This book is billed as a "psychological thriller" but I didn't find it to be that thrilling.  I often found that I was getting confused with the plot and had to keep going back to see if I had missed something. I still have questions about a couple of things in it. Maybe if I had been able to sit down and read it all at once, I would have liked it more. While the mystery was good and I wanted to find out what happened to the girls, the plot lost momentum for me with the writing style. 

Adult Fiction/ Mystery /Thrillers

Grade: B

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

All The Missing Girls

by Megan Miranda

Ten years ago, Nicollette (Nic) Farrell's  best friend, Corinne, disappeared from Cooley Ridge after leaving an amusement park. Nic and her friends were under suspicion and investigated. After that, Nic fled the town to start a new life in Philadelphia.  Now Nic is a counselor and engaged to Everett, a wealthy attorney.  When Nic receives an urgent call from her brother, Daniel, she returns home to Cooley Ridge to help him. They must fix up and sell the family home to raise money to  help pay for the medical expenses of their father who is in an assisted care facility.  Their father is losing his grip on reality and keeps saying that "he saw the girl on the porch" and "Nic is in danger".  Cooley Ridge is like a lot of small southern towns where everyone know you and rumors circulate freely.  Nic thought that she had left that life behind her but when she arrives home, another girl, Annaleise, goes missing.  Annaleise was the alibi for Nic and her group the night that Corinne disappeared. Suddenly history is repeating itself and Nic, Tyler, her high school boyfriend, and Jackson, Corinne's boyfriend are once again under scrutiny. Nic and Daniel's father might also be involved.

All The Missing Girls was written in a unique way.  It is told backward from Day 15 to Day 1 from the time that Annaleise went missing.  There is a lot going on in this book with twists and turns and  secrets revealed. This book is billed as a "psychological thriller" but I didn't find it to be that thrilling.  I often found that I was getting confused with the plot and had to keep going back to see if I had missed something. I still have questions about a couple of things in it. Maybe if I had been able to sit down and read it all at once, I would have liked it more. While the mystery was good and I wanted to find out what happened to the girls, the plot lost momentum for me with the writing style. 

Adult Fiction/ Mystery /Thrillers

Grade: B

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book.

A Fine  Imitation

  by Amber Brock   

In 1923, Vera Bellington is married to a wealthy, handsome man who doesn't love her. They live in a spectacular building on Park Avenue that he built. Her only social contacts are the people who live in that building,The Angelus, and her weekly lunches with her difficult mother. For her entire life, everything has been planned for Vera. She is expected to marry well and endure the social restraints that society had for young women in the 1920's. The story goes back and forth between 1913 when Vera was a student at Vassar college studying Art History and 1923 when she is married and lonely. While she was at Vassar, she had a falling out with a free spirited friend named Bea, who was a talented artist. After they got into some trouble, Vera land Bea become estranged but Bea later comes back into her life in an unexpected way. When the residents of The Angelus hire a French painter named Emil  Hallan to paint a mural in their pool room, Vera's life will be changed forever. 

Emil taps into Vera's soul but he is not who he seems to be and secrets will be revealed. The title of the book has more than one meaning. Vera has to make some difficult choices to save herself from her lonely, unhappy life and the unexpected ending was a surprise for me. Well done historical fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for providing me with and Advanced Reading Copy of this book. It will be published on May 3rd, 2016.

Adult Historical Fiction

Grade: A-

A Fine  Imitation

  by Amber Brock   

In 1923, Vera Bellington is married to a wealthy, handsome man who doesn't love her. They live in a spectacular building on Park Avenue that he built. Her only social contacts are the people who live in that building,The Angelus, and her weekly lunches with her difficult mother. For her entire life, everything has been planned for Vera. She is expected to marry well and endure the social restraints that society had for young women in the 1920's. The story goes back and forth between 1913 when Vera was a student at Vassar college studying Art History and 1923 when she is married and lonely. While she was at Vassar, she had a falling out with a free spirited friend named Bea, who was a talented artist. After they got into some trouble, Vera land Bea become estranged but Bea later comes back into her life in an unexpected way. When the residents of The Angelus hire a French painter named Emil  Hallan to paint a mural in their pool room, Vera's life will be changed forever. 

Emil taps into Vera's soul but he is not who he seems to be and secrets will be revealed. The title of the book has more than one meaning. Vera has to make some difficult choices to save herself from her lonely, unhappy life and the unexpected ending was a surprise for me. Well done historical fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for providing me with and Advanced Reading Copy of this book. It will be published on May 3rd, 2016.

Adult Historical Fiction

Grade: A-