NetGalley ARCs are delivering quite a few books with unusual plots. Familiar tropes are being used in new ways!
Publication: July 7, 2026; Little, Brown & Company, NetGalley
Genre: mystery, thriller, adult fiction
An aspiring chef finds she has bitten off more than she can chew when her gig as a private cook to a bestselling author turns deadly
My NG review:
Brett Novak, a gutsy young chef, takes a job as a live in cook for a famous author and his wife in Cape Cod. She not only has to deal with the strained relationship between the couple, but also with a pair of gigantic pitbulls who have the run of the house and the grounds.
I liked how Brett manages to survive the demands of both husband and wife while they play their dangerous games with each other. A lot happens in less than two weeks, including a murder, getting away with murder, and an escape from an old life.
The plot is fantastical, but made entertaining reading. , The well drawn characters are intriguing personalities, including those of the two huge dogs, who add a certain drama to the suspenseful novel.
Published Feb. 3, 2026; Ballantine, NetGalley
Genre: mystery, thriller, adult fiction
Greedy is a "suspenseful poison-pen note to classism and an ode to Japanese cuisine, a horror-tinged thriller unsuitable for vegetarians."
I'm still reading this one. After seeing them crunching on the roasted bodies and bones of little sparrows on a stick, I'm a little wary of just where the characters' appetites might take them further in the novel.
And now to an unusual Paris romance
My NG review:
The book is a love story between a physician Layla and a physically disfigured man Griffin, whose serious burns came from a fire that killed one other person. Layla and Griffin first meet at the wedding of mutual friends in Paris. As this is Paris, the reader is reminded of gargoyles on top of buildings, and even of the Hunchback of Notre Dame when Griffin's incredible burns are described as disfiguring to the left side of his face and other areas of his body. Yet, Layla is immediately struck with the look of this very "handsome" man.
It was interesting that the love interest grew around their pact to ensure the successful wedding of their friends, Emily and Michael, in spite of last minute doubts by the bride, Emily.
I was surprised that the book description did not mention the very erotic love scenes in the book, or the graphic descriptions of Griffin's physical pain that lingers from his burn scars,
This seemed an unlikely but intriguing romantic development between two very different people. I took it with a grain of salt but enjoyed it nevertheless.
The House Guest sounds right up my alley! I’ll see how you ultimately feel about Greedy. Ha!
ReplyDeleteGreedy sounds interesting, though maybe not for me -- just the description of the sparrows thing made me shudder!
ReplyDeleteRecently started 'The Moral Philosophers - An Introduction to Ethics' by Richard Norman. The rest of the week I'll be reading 'The Island of Missing Trees' by Elif Shafak.
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