My 2018 Reading List


New year means new goals and one of mine is to read more.  So far I've read 3 books this year and I've been sharing them in my Instagram Stories.  One of my followers asked if I would share a few books that are on my 2018 reading list and I thought that was a great idea!

So here goes!

Here are the books I've already read...

Too Late

One of my favorite authors is Colleen Hoover.  She is a New York Times bestselling author and a queen at writing unique love stories that combine real life issues like abuse, mental illness, and heart break.  I've already read a few of her novels and I just recently finished another called "Too Late".

Without giving too much away, "Too Late" is about college students Sloan and Asa.  Asa is an all round bad guy.  Morally corrupt and dangerous.  After finding herself stuck in a relationship with Asa, Sloan will do whatever it takes to get by until she's able to find a way out.  Then Carter comes along.  He's infiltrated Asa's criminal world but never expects to want to protect and care for Sloan so fiercely.

I could not put this book down.  So many surprises and when you think it's over, it's not.  This story is definitely a little twisted and dark and touches on subjects that may be a little difficult for some readers, but it is amazing! 


The Unexpected Series

This series has 2 books so far with a 3rd on its way.  The writing in this book can get a little annoying.  I caught myself rolling my eyes a few times at the dialogue, but if you keep in mind that these characters are teenagers, it's easier to get through.  Now, the drama and surprises are really good and I'm a sucker for teen love.  The story takes a huge turn and now I must see how it ends.  Plus it's a quick easy read that's only $.99.  (Patiently waiting on the third book...)

Ensley has had a crush on her best friend's brother for years. Which wouldn't be a problem, if he wasn't such a cocky jerk.  Her best friend decides she needs to teach her brother a lesson.  Her plan: Get Carter to fall in love with Ensley and then break his heart.  Not only does the plan work, but Carter ends up being different from the cocky jerk we thought he was.  At least that's what we think at first.  But Carter has secrets.  Secrets connected to a dark, dangerous world.  Secrets that could ruin Ensley's life.


Now on to the books that I plan on reading...


The Wife Between Us

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.  You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife.  You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who is about to marry the man they both love.  You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle.  Assume nothing.  Twisted and deliciously chilling, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen's The Wife Between Us exposes the secret complexities of an enviable marriage - and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.

Read between the lies.


When Gillian Flynn (Author of Gone Girl) and Stephen King love a book, you read it.  This one is also in the works to becoming a movie!

Anna Fox lives alone—a recluse in her New York City home, unable to venture outside.  She spends her day drinking wine (maybe too much), watching old movies, recalling happier times . . . and spying on her neighbors.
Then the Russells move into the house across the way: a father, a mother, their teenage son.  The perfect family.  But when Anna, gazing out her window one night, sees something she shouldn’t, her world begins to crumble—and its shocking secrets are laid bare.
What is real?  What is imagined?  Who is in danger?  Who is in control?  In this diabolically gripping thriller, no one—and nothing—is what it seems.
The Roses of May

{SPOILER ALERT}
Last year I wrote a post about some of my all time favorite books.  In that post I mentioned a crazy good book called, "The Butterfly Garden".  I HIGHLY recommend that book.  Especially before reading this one.  "The Roses of May" is book two in the series and the third is coming out May 2018.  This series is called "The Collector Trilogy".

Months after the explosion at the Garden, a place where young women known as the Butterflies were kept captive, FBI agents Brandon Eddison, Victor Hanoverian, and Mercedes Ramirez are still entrenched in the aftermath, helping survivors in the process of adjusting to life on the outside.  With winter coming to an end, the Butterflies have longer, warmer days of healing ahead.  But for the agents, the impending thaw means one gruesome thing: a chilling guarantee that somewhere in the country, another young woman will turn up dead in a church with her throat slit and her body surrounded by flowers.
Priya Sravasti’s sister fell victim to the killer years ago. Now she and her mother move every few months, hoping for a new beginning.  But when she ends up in the madman’s crosshairs, the hunt takes on new urgency.  Only with Priya’s help can the killer be found—but will her desperate hope for closure compel her to put her very life on the line?

Confess

Another novel by Colleen Hoover and the winner of the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance.

At age twenty-one, Auburn Reed has already lost everything important to her.  In her fight to rebuild her shattered life, she has her goals in sight and there is no room for mistakes.  But when she walks into a Dallas art studio in search of a job, she doesn’t expect to find a deep attraction to the enigmatic artist who works there, Owen Gentry. 

For once, Auburn takes a chance and puts her heart in control, only to discover that Owen is keeping a major secret from coming out.  The magnitude of his past threatens to destroy everything important to Auburn, and the only way to get her life back on track is to cut Owen out of it.

 To save their relationship, all Owen needs to do is confess. But in this case, the confession could be much more destructive than the actual sin.


What Alice Forgot

Heard of the amazing book turned award winning tv show, "Big Little Lies"?  This next novel is by the same amazing author.

Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over—she’s getting divorced, she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over...

Truly Madly Guilty

Another from the above author.

Sam and Clementine have a wonderful, albeit, busy life: they have two little girls, Sam has just started a new dream job and Clementine, a cellist, is busy preparing for the audition of a lifetime.  If there’s anything they can count on, it’s each other.
Clementine and Erika are each other’s oldest friends.  A single look between them can convey an entire conversation.  But theirs is a complicated relationship, so when Erika mentions a last minute invitation to a barbecue with her neighbors, Tiffany and Vid, Clementine and Sam don’t hesitate.  Having Tiffany and Vid’s larger than life personalities there will be a welcome respite.
Two months later, it won’t stop raining, and Clementine and Sam can’t stop asking themselves the question: What if we hadn’t gone? 
In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty takes on the foundations our lives: marriage, sex, parenthood, and friendship.  She shows how guilt can expose the fault lines in the most seemingly strong relationships, how what we don’t say can be more powerful than what we do, and how sometimes it is the most innocent of moments that can do the greatest harm.

The Couple Next Door

It all started at a dinner party. . .

A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors—a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. . .

Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night, when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately lands on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.

Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years. 

What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family—a chilling tale of  deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.


Maybe Someday

Another one I can't wait to read by Colleen Hoover!

At twenty-two years old, Sydney is enjoying a great life: She's in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her best friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers that Hunter is cheating on her--and she's forced to decide what her next move should be.


Soon, Sydney finds herself captivated by her mysterious and attractive neighbor, Ridge. She can't take her eyes off him or stop listening to the passionate way he plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony. And there's something about Sydney that Ridge can't ignore, either. They soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one.

A passionate tale of friendship, betrayal, and romance, Maybe Someday will immerse readers in Sydney's tumultuous world from the very first page.
Original music created for Maybe Someday by musician Griffin Peterson can be accessed through the website listed in the ebook and paperback.  


Dark Places

This is a read by Gillian Flynn, same author of "Gone Girl."

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.”  She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer.  Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details.  They hope to discover proof that may free Ben.

Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee.  As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.


No comments