Vanessa Michael Munroe is back!  I have been reading Taylor Stevens since she first introduced us to Munroe in The Informationist and couldn't wait to read this latest installment The Mask.  The Mask brings back Miles Bradford, Munroe's love interest and Munroe also is back in fighting form after going adrift in The Catch.  Reading The Mask is almost like watching a fast paced high octane action movie.  There are many plot twists and turns which keep you guessing and turning pages.  I enjoyed the touches of Japanese culture throughout the book as well as the venture into the world of 3-D printing potential.  

If you haven't read Taylor Stevens before, you are definitely missing out!  

I received this book as part of the First to Read program with Penguin Books.  

It's You takes you on a journey from Scottsdale, Arizona to the Napa Valley and finally to Germany, but you also travel on an emotional journey with Ali as she copes with the suicide of her fiancee , the recent death of her mother and her father's aging.  The story begins in Scottsdale, Arizona where Ali is treating patients with her fiancée's father at his thriving dental practice.  She receives a call that her father, who is now living in a retirement village, has fallen and injured himself.  She decides she should take some time off and visit him in Napa, California.  While there, Ali meets Edie, her father's feisty and outspoken bridge partner.  Ali discovers there is more to Edie than just her brash personality.  

Ali is a very relatable character and the author does an excellent job conveying the stages of grief Ali is going through.  The grief and sometimes the anger Ali feels is palpable throughout the book, just as it would be in real life, for someone who had suffered two losses of that nature.  

I appreciated the author shedding light on the German Resistance during World War II.  I have read many historical fiction novels on WWII, but most haven't addressed the Germans who were part of the Resistance. 

I received this book through BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge 2015. 

I enjoyed taking this journey with Ali.  

A Place for Us is a wonderfully engaging story about the Winter family and their English estate Winterfold.  It is a multi-layered read with each character having their own struggles, but the author seamlessly weaves the family story into one rich tale.  Martha and David Winter have seemingly worked all their lives to keep their family together and provide a place for them to return home.  As the story progresses, we learn everything isn't what it seems.  A Place for Us is one of those books that you don't want to end and you are still thinking about the characters once the story is over.  

I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Place for Us and am surprised it was the first book I have read by Harriet Evans.  I will definitely be looking for other books by her.  

I received a copy of this book through Net Galley courtesy of Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books, in exchange for an honest review.  

On a trip to the grocery store, Nick Hansen sees a young girl who is the spitting image of his old college girlfriend Marissa.  Even their mannerisms are the same.  Nick approaches the girl and she rushes away without even speaking to him.  Nick is slightly unnerved by the whole encounter, especially considering his college girlfriend died tragically in a fire, just after breaking up with him.  Things only get more mysterious when the girl from the grocery store turns up dead the next day with a note in her pocket with Nick's name and address on it.  

David Bell does an excellent job weaving this multi-layered tale of suspense.  There are just enough twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat.  Just when I thought I had something figured out, a new development in the story would lead me in another direction.  I would recommend clearing your schedule because once you start reading this book, you won't want to put it down.  It just simply is that good.  

I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.