Tahoe Thrillers, and Thrillers by Shari Lapena

 

Tahoe Mysteries

Tahoe Speed (An Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller Book 23) by Todd Borg, July 21, 2025; Thriller Press

Detective Owen McKenna is determined to help a desperate woman find the killer of her famous Tahoe boyfriend speed skiier who died while in France. Plus, other skiing murders begin to happen closer by...

I have enjoyed many of the Owen McKenna mysteries set in  Nevada Tahoe and California Tahoe. The setting, plots, and writing pull you in. Click on Todd Borg to see the other books in the series, on goodreads.

Shari Lapena Thrillers

This is my holiday reading and listening - mystery thrillers by Shari Lapena of Canada, a prolific suspense writer.  

I've read

Everyone Here is Lying, which involves a missing child and suspiciously silent neighbors.  

The Couple Next Door her first book. The couple next door seem to be entangled in the lives of a new couple whose eight-month-old baby mysteriously disappeared from her crib while the two couples were having drinks and dinner together next door. There are twists and turns and surprises throughout, and I never could guess at the beginning who the culprit, kidnapper would be.

Still TBR either audio or paper book are:

and her most recent book, published 2025, 

To see details of her books on goodreads, click on Shari Lapena. 

I am finding them excellent reading and listening, especially good now, in the lull between the old and the new year. 

I'm grateful that my library has all these books and audios available over the holidays!

What books are on your reading list now? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves 

Sunday Salon: First Post of 2025 - Books, of course

 My first post in a new blog for 2025! BookBirdDog (Book Dilettante) has been retired, and I'm starting anew. 

Welcome to  my new blog:  Harvee Reads

How did I start the new year, apart from starting a new blog? 

I am still a huge NetGalley fan, and don't mind reading advance copies of books. They are, after all, the writers' galleys before final editing and final print, and their own words matter a lot to me before they are polished and possibly changed by editors and publishers.

 My planned January reads? Books soon to be published this month.

To Have and To Hold by Lilly French

a psychological thriller with a dramatic ending

To be published Jan. 17, 2025; NetGalley

Description: Emma and Luke seem to have a perfect marriage until Emma discovers a hotel receipt in Luke's pocket. This leads to at a secluded, supposedly romantic weekend for the two. 

Unfortunately the goodreads readers rated the thriller only 2.43 stars.

The Lost House by Melissa Larsen 

Publication Jan. 14, 2025; Minotaur; NetGalley

Setting: Icelandic winter landscape

Description: A young girl, Agnes, returns to her ancestral home in Iceland to investigate a murder in her family forty years previously. Is it a coincidence a local girl goes missing the very same weekend Agnes is in Iceland? A thriller packed with plot twists.

Strange Pictures by Uketsu is described as horror, mystery and thriller, adult fiction. I don't normally read horror novels but I'm intrigued by this Japanese  mystery. The strange pictures have a backstory that connects them. 

Publication: Jan. 14, 2025, HarperVia, NetGalley

I have to find some lighter reading inbetween those three thrillers. 

Accidentally Amy by Lynn Painter

Publication: Jan. 14, 2025; Berkley, NetGalley

My review:

In a rush to get to work, Izzy takes the pumpkin spice latte she ordered and paid for at the coffee shop. Problem is that the latte belongs to an earlier customer, Amy, who doesn't answer the call of the barista to come get her drink. Izzy grabs the latte and spins around to leave, but instead bumps into Blake, a handsome executive also waiting in line.

This is the meet-cute situation of this rom com. The romance tropes then move on from enemy-lover mode as Blake turns out to be Izzy's new boss. But he thinks that Izzy is really named Amy, and she doesn't correct him at the beginning. Most of the book have the two trying to figure out ways to hide their growing attraction for each other, as work rules forbid fraternization between employees and especially between boss and subordinate. The rationalizations they give themselves for meeting after work and falling in love are quite clever and amusing.

The tropes work for this rom com, and with the sometimes over-the-top love scenes, it's an entertaining read.

In My Mailbox

Sunlight Playing over a Mountain by Selina Li Bi

Publication: April 1, 2025; Soho Teen ARC

Description: A lyrical, mythology-tinged debut novel about a Chinese-Filipino teenager whose world of daydreams is destroyed by a family secret. Selina Li Bi’s magical debut perfectly portrays the pain of growing up in a less-than-magical world and introduces a remarkable new voice in young adult fiction.

I'm interested in the mythology in this YA novel.

Please visit Mailbox Monday at I'd Rather Be Reading at the Beach, each week to see books bloggers received. 

 

What are you reading or watching this wintry day? 

Memes:  The Sunday Post, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, Sunday Salon, and Stacking the Shelves, Mailbox Monday