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

Leave the Lights On by Liv Andersson tells the story of Beatrice Wicker, wife of a prominent architect in a small Maine town. It’s a dual time line. The current story and what is happening. The past time line from 20 years ago. I’m not sure how I feel about Beatrice. Definitely a flawed character. During the story, it seems she is going to take control and a stand but in the end she doesn’t do that. I think I’m a bit disappointed in her. The author feeds you tidbits, so you are kept reading to find out what happens. So yes I spent the day reading! It is a good story. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me review this book.

Unfortunately this will be a DNF for me, at 30%-no rating.

I was intrigued about exploring the psyche of a woman who would ignore her husband’s infidelity in exchange for the money he could provide to open her Artist’ retreat.

Or even the psyche of one who would resort to eliminating his offspring, which is the direction it hinted at going in when it began, despite how awful that would be.

But, as soon as her husband’s son Oliver’s disappearance became tied to HER past, and a family who believed the Government stole their life from them, and subsequently held her in captivity when she discovered their compound-you lost my interest.

Not the storyline I expected from the synopsis and not one that interests me.

This would’ve been a 5 star if the ending felt more like an ending. This book still captured me. It was a fast pace, always changing thriller. Flashbacks between pats and present keep you on the edge of your seat. Fingers crossed for a second book to help fill in some gaps and answer some hanging questions.

Review in progress and to come.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

I’m not sure how to rate this book. Beatrice is married to a rich architect in Maine. He’s been having an affair for years and her whole identity is fake because of some messed up stuff in her past. Then his love child toddler is kidnapped and Beatrice realizes that the deranged people from her past are behind it.

Meanwhile she is also converting an abandoned island mental asylum for women into an artists’ retreat with her husband’s money. Much of the book takes place in this creepy location, though it sort of represents haunted pasts and artistry and restricted women to Beatrice and always seems to remain her safe place in her mind no matter how completely unsafe it feels to us.

I figured things out before Beatrice did, but that doesn’t mean it always made sense. I didn’t hate the book the way others have but I didn’t necessarily enjoy most of it. The writing is well done and I read it very quickly, in part to find out what happened and in part because halfway through it started to pick up speed. I do wish Beatrice was more likable and relatable, but I’m not sorry I read it.

I read a digital review copy of this book via NetGalley.