Thank you Crooked Lane books and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A favorite of mine is dual timelines, so I’m was glad this book had it. It was a little confusing keeping track of all of the characters between the time hops though.

It is a chilling book that explores how past trauma and choices can come back with a vengeance. When a boy is kidnapped, Beatrice’s life is upended. She has pretended not to know her wealthy husband is cheating on her and that the kidnapped child is the result of his ongoing affair. But Beatrice has good reasons for turning a blind eye, ones that involve emotional security and a need for a sense of family and home. Those same secrets drive her to help search for the child, though she is a prime suspect.

This book did take me quite a few days to get through, my 4-5⭐️ books usually take 1-2 days to finish and this was closer to 6-7. I did enjoy the last quarter of the book where I finally was hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

This fell flat for me. The writing itself was great, the plot just wasn’t what I thought I was going to get from the synopsis.

Wellllllll, it was pretty well-written and it kept me entertained...but it felt a little contrived and not realistic. The main character was pretty unlikable (at least for me) -- now that I'm thinking about it, there was perhaps one character to whom I was even sympathetic. I liked the Maine setting, and it sort of felt like the author was writing for Netflix, not that that's a horrible thing.

Overall it held my interest, but I wanted a little more.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, just wow. This kept my entrapped from the very first page. From secret families to lies and deception- #10drama factor

The author is a good storyteller and the book feels well written . That's where it ends for me. I read the synopsis and was intrigued- thriller set on the Maine Coast? Yes please. A philandering husband? Yes please.
But that's not what the storyline ends up being. It's very contrived and implausible and it felt like it wasn't what I signed up for. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks so much Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley.

Beatrice is in a beautiful Maine town with her husband Josh. Her husband has another family, but Beatrice pretends she doesn't know. She has her own past and old identity. There's an explosion and a baby is missing. Beatrice puts the pieces together to learn that it's Josh's baby and he can't do anything because it would reveal his secrets. Beatrice has her own too that soon will come to light.

This one wasn't a favorite. I read it quickly to figure out what happened, but I was underwhelmed. It was hard to like the main character. There are some twists toward the end that were kind of unexpected but overall this was underwhelming.

On a side note, the word HIPPA appears. It is HIPAA.

Book Title: Leave the Lights On
Author: Liv Andersson
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genre: Mystery Fiction
Pub Date: October 17, 2023
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pages: 256

Josh and Beatrice Wicker live in a multi-million dollar home in Cape Morgan, Maine. While their lives seem happy enough they are both keeping secrets.
Beatrice is aware of one of her husband’s secrets; he has a two-year old son, Oliver and a mistress Carly. However, Josh doesn’t know that she knows. Since Beatrice has secrets of her own that she doesn’t want Josh to know about she lets this slide; until little Oliver is kidnapped from a playground and Carly is missing.

Hmmm this one caught me completely off guard. I totally love a story with twists and turns
but I was not expecting anything like Beatrice’s secrets.
Want to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for granting me this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for October 17, 2023

What Still Burns by Elle Grawl is her latest psychological thriller and it’s another excellent read, and drew me in from the start.

I absolutely flew through this book.
Elle Grawl writes very sharply, in a way that will keep you awake at night turning the pages.
This story intrigued me when I read the plot summary, and it didn't disappoint.
The plot is fast-paced and engaging. Had me wanting to race through it to see how this story played out.
The characters are realistic, and very interesting. Truly they are captivating from the very beginning.
Such a great book!
This has all the ingredients for a great suspense read.

I enjoyed One of Those Faces and her second title was no different.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This story has a beautiful setting---Cape Morgan, ME. Beatrice Wicker and her husband Josh both have a past and secrets from each other. Josh has a second family that Beatrice tolerates to keep her fortunate and charmed life. Explosions and kidnappings start to occur. Are they the result of Beatrice's or Josh's past mistakes? I found the timeline jumps a little hard to comprehend easily and some of the character aspects hard to grasp. The story seemed to drag for me during the middle, but I kept reading to find out what happens. Thank you for the advanced copy of this book.

I would rank 3.5 out of 5 stars

I was really interested in this book after reading the synopsis! Unfortunately, the storyline just wasn't very intriguing for me. I disliked all of the characters, including the MC,. The events and how people handled situations were so wildly unrealistic. Although this book didn't interest me much, I enjoyed the authors writing style. She kept it fast-paced (something I like!), and was descriptive and painted a very visible picture throughout the book.

I am so very thankful for the arc of this! Unfortunately, I wasn't enjoying this. The MC is incredibly unlikeable and everything feels wildly unrealistic. DNF.

Suspense filled with a delicious backstory and well developed characters. A thriller very well done!

Andersson will keep you guessing the entire way through - the suspect could be any number of people, with good reason, by the end. Exactly what you want in a psychological page turner like this!

The story shines a light on the secrets we keep and the lengths one is willing to go to keep them covered up.

People aren’t always who they claim to be, just as things aren’t always as they seem.

Thriller readers - don’t miss this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This was so so. I was drawn in by the cover and the title. However the book itself was not too good and the characters weren’t relatable or likable.

Let's start with the good. The author has good writing skills and can tell her story. The blurb of this sounded fantastic and pulled me in. The not so good - well, can I be honest here? Just about everything to do with the storyline itself. For me, it was so unbelievable and implausible to me . People simply don't act this way or, if they do, it doesn't just go from zero to sixty like this woman's actions and reactions. I know I'm being vague, but I certainly don't want to spoil the story for anyone who attempts to take it on. I think there are good bones here, but a storyline editor and some frank honesty with the author should probably be in order.

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books for sending me an arc of this in exchange for review.

I did not like this. this book had every bad trope from the cheating husband to the unlikeable main character. I don't recommend this at all.

First off, thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane books for my eARC of this book and I am voluntarily leaving my review.

Unfortunately, I just wasn’t vibing this one. The premise of the book sounded intriguing, but it just fell flat for me. This wasn’t a long book, but I felt like it was dragging a bit and the characters just kind of annoyed me so it made it hard to root for anyone. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from checking it out, this just wasn’t my cup of tea.

A well-off couple, an old asylum being turned into an artist colony and the husband has a second family.
The husband's child from the second family is missing after an explosion at his school.
The secrets of both members of the couple are challenged and tortuously revealed.

A great premise but I wasn't able to get into the book as the characters weren't likeable, which made it difficult to engage. The shift in time and place made it harder for me to follow the book.

I LOVED this one. I wish I could go back and reread it again. I am a sucker for an atmospheric thriller, and this is definitely that. It was seriously delicious. You’re going to want to read this one.

Ok to understand my rating here’s my rating system.
1 star DNF
2 stars finished but didn’t like
3 stars finished and liked the book
4 stars finished and loved the book
5 stars amazing book top favorites of the year

So this book was an interesting one. It was told in dual timelines which sometimes I like and sometimes I don’t hear it didn’t bother me. This book started strong with a lot of promise. Some crazy ideas floating around and she gave out just enough information at a time to keep you wanting to know more. But then it took an abrupt turn from the direction I thought we were going in but still was intriguing. But then the ending happened. And it was meh. I expected more at the end to better develop Beatrice’s character but she definitely didn’t meet my expectations so I was disappointed.

The story is fast paced and the mystery gripping. Lots of red herrings. Told in dual timelines I enjoyed Beatrice's past more than her present. Would have been four stars but I'm taking a star for the ending. It wasn't a bad ending, just a little flat. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this