snugglesandpages's reviews
250 reviews

If you want a book that gives you all of the feels of a grumpy x sunshine, brother best friend and found family romance with a bit of spice, PLUS the edge of your seat thrill of a stalker & a BAU agent in hiding from a serial 🔪, then buckle up baby, because Fragile Sanctuary is that book!

I have been seeing this book all across my feed for a week now. I've never read anything by Catherine before but when a friend told me the MC was basically a Hotch from Criminal Minds, I knew I had to read it. I enjoy Romance and I love Thrillers and Suspense, so why the hell have I never read Romantic Suspense before??? Well, I think I have found my new happy medium now! And I need more books like this!

Rho (Rhodes) and Anson are kindred spirits, pulled together by their recognition of grief and loss from unimaginable circumstances. The undeniable chemistry between the two of them gave me all the feels, as did their furry sidekick, biscuit 🐶. 

I want to know everything about this complex group of supporting characters. They each have their own scars from a childhood trauma that landed them in the system, but now grown and bonded closer than any biological family thanks to the nurturing care of Nora and Lolli (who is an absolute firecracker of a grandmother, with her 🍆 diamond art 🤣). Fans of the found family trope will fall in love with this lot. 

Shep and his white knight complex have me aching for the next instalment, and without looking into any information about the other books forthcoming in the series, I am already anticipating a Fallon and Kye, and hoping for a Hockey romance with Cope.

FRAGILE SANCTUARY is available on Kindle Unlimited now, however, I actually listened to it on audio over two sessions and thought it was superbly narrated, so highly recommend either format. 

"𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔? 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅, 𝒔𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐𝒐."

📖 One year ago, 18 month old Mason was taken from his crib in the middle of the night and Isabell has been plagued by insomnia ever since. When true crime podcaster, Waylan offers Isabell an opportunity tell her story, she agrees with the hope it will unearth a new lead that will bring Mason home. When all the probing questions trigger fractured memories from her childhood to resurface, Isabelle starts to doubt everything she thought she knew, and soon realises that confronting her past could be the key to unlocking the truth about what happened to Mason.

💬 Thoughts: Willingham expertly spins a web of half-truths and uncertainties, which mirrors the fractured memories of our narrator. As the story unfolded, I was reminded of two of my favourite psychological thrillers which utilise this style and trope, Insomnia and Awake. While there were similarities, ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS stands tall on its own with its gripping slow-burn mystery and captivatingly flawed characters.

I devoured this on audiobook over two sittings, and I was taken by how well the narration enhanced Stacy's immersive writing style. She is very good at creating a strong sense of place that pulls you into this multifaceted story. The 'then' chapters lend an overwhelming sense of foreboding to the events that occurred in the more recent past. All the clues swirl just out of reach, ensuring you don't make a connection too soon, all the while pondering if Isabelle's desperate search for answers to what happened to her son is hinged by obsession or madness. 

The first major reveal blew my mind, I hadn't anticipated it at all, and from there everything else started to click into place, piece by piece with gut wrenching satisfaction before taking a turn that totally blindsided me. 👏🏼

Once I take a beat to recover from this one, I'll be jumping into Stacy's most recent release, ONLY IF YOU'RE LUCKY.

I wish I could say I enjoyed this one, but I think it's my least favourite of the series. 

Stella is a great character. I liked that she had passion and drive to be something other than what her family expected of her and that she also had the balls to stand up for herself.

Christian is a bit meh... He is a bit of a creeper? 🫣 I'm not sure I'd find him attractive in reality. I get morally grey being hit, but Christian is more morally black? 😆

Some phrases felt repetitive within the book as well,  but also plot points that had been done already in another book in the twists series. 

I liked that we got cameos of the other couples in this one too, it was nice to hear from them again as this series came to a close.

Phoebe is solo travelling the Western Australia coast, documenting her adventures on social media when she suddenly disappears without a trace. A year later, Katy is fed up with the lack of interest in her sister's case, so armed with a camper of her own and Phoebe's Instagram to guide her, she sets off to follow her sister's itinerary in search of answers. When Katy comes across Beth, a woman left stranded and running from her own trauma, Katy can't help but see the parallels between Beth's circumstances and what she knows of her sister's case. Together the pair travel Phobe's route and combe through her Instagram looking for clues, and as they get closer to finding out the truth, their worlds collide in the most unlikely ways. 

I am really liking the direction the crime and thriller genre is taking of late. Stepping away from the gore and tropes we have become accustomed to and delving into more complex characters and the ripple effect of trauma. This is something Anna has done well with Red River Road.

The novel is packed with atmospheric yet eerie settings, and as Katy and Beth journey along the vast WA coral coast, there are moments of spine-tingling tension. But how much of it is the reader's projection of fear? That's what makes this book so captivating.

I found it interesting the way Anna touches on the stigma attached to female solo travellers and how the narrative that has been built up by society and the media that all but demands we must be afraid for our lives. 

The way the plot unfolds is incredibly clever, and even if you follow the breadcrumbs, you won't anticipate the direction it takes in the final chapters. It's both uncomfortable and confronting, but it leaves you with a sense of hope.

Red River Road is an addictive and pulse racing roadtrip thriller that you won't be able to put down. I highly recommend you read this one if you crave characters you will become invested in and plotlines that carry substance beyond the thrills.

Of all the books in this series, this one was my least favourite. This is based purely on  personal preference though, as the age gap trope is a bit of a hit or miss for me. 

Our FMC is 22 and MMC is 35, to me this is just a bit too ick for me when mixed with the V card trope as well. Again, personal preference.  Again, totally personal preference and I'm not trying to yuk your yum if it's your thing at all  

For eg, Reckless is my favourite in the series and also has the age gap trope with the exact same age difference between our MCs of 13 years, however, it is 25 and 38. A few years changes a lot when it comes to female maturity and Bailey just felt so young to me as well 🤷🏼‍♀️

Elsie's writing is still amazing, I will still read anything she writes. I loved the appearances of the Eaton family and wish there was one more book with Harvey's story!

𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒆. 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑, 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔— 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅’𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒅, 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒃𝒚𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆, 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒇𝒇-𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓.

😈

Having read Kelly's debut, THE WHISPERING DARK at the end of 2022 and being in awe of the world she had created, I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to read the next in this connected series. 

MY BONES, YOUR BLOOD is an intensely dark and vividly immersive YA gothic fantasy with curses, paranormal entities, minor horror, and a slow-burn childhood friends-to-lovers romance at its core. 

We first met Wyatt in TWD as a supporting character, now she has returned to her childhood estate following the death of her father to burn it to the ground. When Wyatt finds Peter, her first love chained up in the basement, all the dark secrets of her family's history start to unravel and the truth about Peter's existence won't be the only immortal being she will have to face to get out alive. 

Something I remember being a little off balance within Kelly's first book was the (overuse?) of metaphors. I didn't feel that with this one at all. In fact, I was so drawn in and encapsulated by the story, that I was a little emotional when it ended. There are plenty of creepy moments to give you the tingles and Kelly's beautiful prose is perfect for book lovers who love to annotate.

If you read THE WHISPERING DARK, you'll also be happy to know that Lane and her "sleep paralysis demon boyfriend" Colton - and Mackenzie make an appearance too.  

Thank you to the team at Hachette and @lNetgalley for allowing me to read an early copy of this gem. 

'What I Would Do To You' is a standout Aussie debut with a clever and thought-provoking concept that will get under your skin. Going in, I had certain expectations of how the story was going to play out based on the blurb, but it was not at all what I anticipated - and I mean this in a good way. 

The story revolves around the family of Lucy, a 10-year-old girl who was brutally murdered. Her family is now faced with the burden of carrying out the death sentence of the perpetrator. The novel raises questions about the morality of capital punishment and how it affects the people who are responsible for carrying out the sentence. 

What stood out for me was the absence of the murderer's point of view. The novel does not give him a voice or any kind of glorification, which makes the story all the more impactful. The details of what he did to Lucy are only revealed through the reading of the sentencing remarks, and they are so confronting and jarring that I had to close the book and breathe