My rating: 4 Stars 

When socialite Nina Rai disappeared without a trace, everyone wrote it off as another trophy wife tired of her wealthy husband. But now her bones have turned up in the shadowed green of the forest that surrounds her elite neighborhood, a haven of privilege and secrets that's housed the same influential families for decades.

The rich live here, along with those whose job it is to make their lives easier. And somebody knows what happened to Nina one rainy night ten years ago. Her son Aarav heard a chilling scream that night, and he's determined to uncover the ugly truth that lives beneath the moneyed elegance...but no one is ready for the murderous secrets about to crawl out of the dark.

Even the dead aren't allowed to break the rules in this cul-de-sac.

Nalini Singh is my favourite PNR author, her Psy-Changling series set the bar that I use to measure any other PNR against. She also writes contemporaries which are a hit or miss for me but still, I mostly enjoy them. This is only her second thriller. I loved the first one despite the issues I had with the resolution and who the murder turned out to be.

This book is thrilling and scary and amazing but once again I have some issues with the ending.

Aarav is one of the most unreliable narrator I have ever read and going on the journey to discover the killer with him was a wild ride by all means. I admit I didn't guess the killer till the very end and very much like Aarav and suspected everyone at some point.

Like Nalini Singh's previous thriller, this one is very atmospheric with a strong sense of place which I really liked. The murder mystery in a cul-de-saq neighbourhood of the rich was very engrossing and kept me on the edge till the last page.

I found the story scarier that some horror I have read, not so much because of the murder and some of violence that happens but because of witnessing Aarav's mind breaking, and seeing him not trusting himself, not knowing and not remembering, it was brutal and so powerfully presented.

I was on board with everything going on, though some aspects of the mother-son relationship made me uncomfortable, till the very end. It was easy to hate his father, it was more difficult to pinpoint my feelings for Aarav and Nina - there is sympathy and desire to help and protect. But also they lied and cheated and manipulated the others. They were not good people but complex ones - hurt and hurting but also caring and loyal.

I felt uncomfortable with the violence we see with regard to some queer side characters. It was not only them that get hurt in the story, straight characters also suffer abuse and violence, but I feel at least some of the violence towards the queer characters could have been spared (it was not queerphobia or gender-based violence, I need to clarify).

Now, the ending, on the one hand I had suspicions that didn't turn out to be true and I am happy and relieved about it. At the same time I felt the resolution of the murder mystery took the focus away from Nina. She was very much in the center of the story and her life and disappearance basically shaped Aarav the way he was. Going in the direction it went, the ending did a disservice to Nina in my opinion.

All in all, I had minor complaints with the story and feel this is a solid thriller with a compelling mystery plot, engaging written with a more or less satisfying resolution.

CWs: domestic violence, abuse, car crash, hospital stay, cheating, suicide, drugs, alcohol addiction (in the past), mental health issues, migraines, memory loss

I have enjoyed many of Alyssa Cole's romances and was curious to try her thriller debut but unfortunately it didn't work as well for me as I had hoped for. 

In this book Alyssa Cole has focused on topical issues in the American society - gentrification (in NY specifically), racism, police violence. It's goes in some dark places, both in present times and in history, with unflinching honesty and this is the element of the story I liked the most. 

I appreciate the premise of the book but I  felt the execution was far from perfect. The first part was too slow, too descriptive - we get to meet the MCs and see the attraction between them from the start; there are separate incidents happening in their neighbourhood but they didn't create the tension I  expect from a thriller.

We get a detailed presentation of some lesser known, even completely forgotten, history of Brooklyn and I quite like it but at the same time it felt heavy handed to me, like history lesson, not a book of genre fiction. 

 

The first half read like very much like a depressing litfic about two people going through rough times. I didn't feel a connection to either of the MCs and found their romance lackluster. Their relationship did have a prominent place in the story and as a romance reader this didn't bother me, what bothered me is that I was not convinced these two are good for each other.

The thriller aspect picked up in the final 35-40%, so much so that it went into wtf territory, too much was happening, some of it pretty unbelievable. I am willing to suspend believe in most of the romantic suspense and thrillers I read, I would have done the same here. But the first part of the book felt so realistic, more facts than fiction indeed, and then the final section of the story came completely at odds with it. 

The ending was totally anticlimactic and made no sense. We also got some loose threads that remained unresolved. Overall, it was a frustrating read for me. I would not recommend it but I have also seen lots of praise for it, so it might work better for other readers.

Add on Goodreads / Buy on Amazon 

Title: A Madness of Sunshine

Author: Nalini Singh

Date of publication: 3 Dec 2019

Genre: Thriller 

Author's links:

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads

Rating: 4 Stars

Blurb

On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.

That is until one fateful summer—and several vanished bodies—shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement not to look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.

Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.

It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light. 

I love Nalini’s PNR, Psy-Changeling series in particular. THis is her first thriller and there were some great things in it but also some not so great ones. 

Review 

This is Nalini Singh's first thriller and since I am a big fan of her Psy-changeling series of PNR and I have enjoyed some her contemporary romances, I was curious to see her attempt to write in a completely different genre. I have mixed feelings, but it was a compelling read and I am here for more thrillers by Nalini Singh is she goes in that direction.

I loved the heroine, she is returning to her small town on the NZ coast, angry and bitter, rightly so and never just forgives the people who hurt her. I loved her voice, her strength and determination but also her empathy and compassion.

As a romance reader, I am glad that the author included a solid romance arc here. It worked well for me, I could see the connection between Will and Anahera and also understand their reluctance to start anything. Two people with difficult past, with lots of baggage caught in the middle of a small town murder investigation.

While I loved Anahera, I had some issues with Will. He was not very professional in getting her involved in his investigation and sharing info with her. He was quick to judge people and I was not always a fan of how he treated everyone but I managed to overlook this because of the way he treated Anahera - always respectful, supporting, never pressuring or dismissing her. 

Best elements in the story was the very strong atmospheric representation of the small town and the wild nature around it. Nature with absolute untameness was almost like another character in the story. 

Miriama was put on a pedestal by practically everyone in town because of her beauty and vivacity and I am not too happy about it. I would have liked more substance to her character, to be honest.

I guessed the murderer at some point but this is not really an issue for me. What bothered me though was the implication that what happened to him in the past made him the monster that he is. It’s lazy and stereotypical writing and also insulting to survivors of abuse.

The story also portrayed great female friendships, to see how people change and grow and their friendship changes with them, how difficult it is to make/keep friends.

It’s not a perfect book but captivating nevertheless. I think it shows it’s Nalini’s first attempt at thrillers. There were gorgeous bits in the story and her writing was as polished and engaging as I have to come to expect. Still, there were problematic aspects, deeply hurtful ones that could have been avoided. 

Add to Goodreads / Buy on Amazon

Tom Gray is one of the world's top models–an effortless object of desire.

Self-contained, elusive and always in control, he's accustomed to living life entirely on his own terms.

But when Tom comes under suspicion in the gory death of his employer, his world spirals into chaos.

Someone's framing him. Someone's stalking him.

And as old secrets come to light, Tom finds his adversary always one step ahead.

Will Foster is the only man Tom trusts to help. But Tom brutally burned all bridges between them two years before, and Will paid a bitter price.

If he wants to survive, Tom must prove his innocence to Will–and to the world.

Review

I admit there  was a moment when I thought there was no way for Tom to end up with the man he loved and only knowing the book was a romance and there must be some sort of HEA/HFN saved from going insane,

I loved Tom, through whose POV we get the story. He is a stunning good-looking young male model whom everyone desires but who is also jaded and emotionally distanced. He was angry and resigned and somewhat misanthropic, using sex as distraction to avoid examining his true feelings. He was definitely hard to love at times, but that is the kind of romance hero that I very much like to read about. He appeared callous, too undecided and letting others guide him and determine his life for him. There is a deeply hidden vulnerability and emotional fragility in him and I loved how he managed to sort out through all the manipulation and secrets and find the right direction for himself.

The love interest in this story is Will, former police detective, now working as private investigator. We see him almost exclusively from Tom's POV, so that we got a rather biased view of him. Will appeared strong and hurt and determined and loyal and I couldn't help but root for him to get his HEA. 

The writing is exquisite, the mystery is expertly crafted and the romance extremely satisfying. There was no big grovel scene but rather a simple, confident one where Tom shared his plans and confessed his love but was determined to be himself from now on, regardless whether his man took him back or not. It was all about growth and change and becoming better, more open, more honest with oneself and the others. Highly recommended read!

It's time for my Friday Favourites post and today I'm very excited to welcome Dal Maclean, author of m/m crime mystery romance, on my blog. Her second book, Object of Desire, was just released and it's a compelling murder mystery with strong romantic elements (and HFN ending!) which I absolutely adored. Read on to get to know Dal better and learn more about her book. 

Friday Favourites

I’m going to be completely useless at this because I don’t do absolutes well. I just don’t have ‘a favourite’ in most things. So please bear with me while I waffle?

1. Favourite place: Uuuum. This isn’t a good start. I’m shuffling because I don’t have one exactly. It depends? I love London and New York. Anywhere in the US really. Oxford. Singapore (specifically Raffles - yowser). The Dordogne in France. Sydney. Laos. Java. Hong Kong. Tokyo’s brilliant. Or my garden. My garden would be the easy choice.

2. Favourite food and drink: squirming in agony. Ummm. At this second, oranges and dark chocolate. And drink… I’ll go with cocktails of any description.

3. Favourite music/genre/artist/song: It depends -- again. I love bits of just about everything from classical and opera through blues to rock, pop, R& B. I probably like indie/alternative rock best though. I’ll go with what I’m listening to right now which is The Heavy who’re Indie/Blues rock. “Same Old” and ‘Short Change Hero’. But it could be a totally different tomorrow.

 -

4. Favourite movie/TV series:  I’m going to fail at this one tooooo…. TV - I love old-fashioned British mysteries and also police procedurals like Marple, Poirot, Morse, Lewis and Endeavour. Also harder core stuff like The Fall, Line of Duty, Broadchurch etc. I really love some sci-fi like Firefly. But currently I’m watching Lucifer and its oddly… compulsive. Movies - I like film noir as a whole. I love ‘The Uninvited’ (the b & w one) ‘The Name of the Rose’, ‘Presumed Innocent’, ‘My Cousin Vinnie’... I love the new Sherlock Holmes movies (the R Downey ones) and some of the Marvel stuff for pure entertainment value… I’m no use at this am I?

5. Favourite hobby besides writing, if you consider writing a hobby: I think probably gardening. It’s a mix of creativity, nurturing/science/practicality and hard work (Hey- that was actually a straight answer!)

6. Favourite books:

Argh. This is so hard. Non fiction - I read history books. One I love a lot is ‘The Time Travellers Guide to Medieval England’ by Ian Mortimer. It was such a clever concept to show not tell how alien so many aspects and attitudes of the distant past can be. I’m currently reading something that’s not history though -- “Mistakes Were Made. (But not by me)” which is a superb analysis of the lengths we go to to avoid admitting to ourselves we got things wrong.

In fiction, I read mysteries mainly – murder ones, supernatural ones. I like tension, a puzzle, suspense to keep me hooked -- something to figure out and hopefully a surprise. I’m trying to catch up on the Harry Hole books by Jo Nesbo, which everyone else read years ago. In MM, I read across the genre to see what’s up. So to speak. Theres so much great writing and story telling in MM. But if I have to choose one I think my fave MM of all time ever ever, is probably The Adrien English series by Josh Lanyon

7. Please introduce your latest/upcoming release

It’s called ‘Object of Desire’ and its set in London and in the same universe as my first and only other book to date, ‘Bitter Legacy’. But it’s not a sequel. This one is a psychological thriller/mystery/romance and its much less of a slow build than ‘Bitter Legacy’ in that the core events take place over a matter of days, as opposed to months.

The point-of-view character is a successful model called Tom Gray who finds his life beginning to disintegrate around him after the death of his female boss. And he has to turn for help to the man he cut out of his life two years before.

I'd say the book explores among other things the power of manipulation; the limited returns of celebrity, despite our idealization of it; the psychology of emotional self-protection driven by fear of vulnerability – and the hard reality that we can never be sure we truly know someone else.  Most of all though, I really hope it’s a page turner.

Blurb

Tom Gray is one of the world's top models–an effortless object of desire. Self-contained, elusive and always in control, he's accustomed to living life entirely on his own terms. But when Tom comes under suspicion in the gory death of his employer, his world spirals into chaos.

Someone's framing him. Someone's stalking him. And as old secrets come to light, Tom finds his adversary always one step ahead. 

Will Foster is the only man Tom trusts to help. But Tom brutally burned all bridges between them two years before, and Will paid a bitter price. If he wants to survive, Tom must prove his innocence to Will–and to the world.

  Buy links: Amazon / Smashwords 

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook / Instagram

Author's links:
Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

My rating: 4 stars

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Here are the rules:

• Grab your current read 

• Open to a random page 

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page 

• Be careful not the include spoilers! 

• Share the title & author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers. 

I have modified them slightly for my Teasers. It will not be two sentences from a random page but two, usually more, sentences from the pages I have read so far that have struck me as most interesting, original or that I just happen to like a lot.

Otherwise Occupied - Shay Savage