St. Martin’s Press | Book Chatter

Finding Grace
By Loretta Rothschild
St. Martin’s Press, July 2025, 336pp.

The Short of It:

The first chapter cliffhanger left me with my mouth open.

The Rest of It:

I have to be very careful with this review because for me, the draw was the absolute shock of those first few chapters.

Honor seems to have everything: she adores her bright and beautiful daughter, Chloe, and her charming, handsome husband, Tom, even if he works one hundred hours a week. Yet Honor’s longing for another baby threatens to eclipse all of it―until a shocking event changes their lives forever. ~ from the publisher

This was the perfect read. It’s about relationships, love and loss, and what happens when things don’t go quite as planned. How do you deal with such heartache? Can you? Can you go on? How do you rebuild a life when everything seems to have fallen down around you?

This was a clever story. The set-up leads you innocently by the hand and then you are completely sucker-punched in the best possible way. I mean, I was floored. I kept re-reading one page over and over again. Completely in shock. Honestly, I was a little mad at Rothschild because when I settled in for a good read, I had NO idea what I was signing up for. Wow. Well done. And it’s a debut? What?

All I can say is read it. It’s not perfect but what a read.

Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Bookshop.org affiliate links.

One Big Happy Family
By Jamie Day
St. Martin’s Press,9781250283207, July 16, 2024, 368pp.

The Short of It:

A tense, closed door whodunit type of story. Rich family, loose morals, and lots of secrets.

The Rest of It:

You should know that this book will be released July 16, 2024 but I needed to write the review while it was fresh in my mind. This is a super fun read.

The Precipice is a legendary, family-owned hotel on the rocky coast of Maine. With the recent passing of their father, the Bishop sisters–Iris, Vicki, and Faith–have come for the weekend to claim it. But with a hurricane looming and each of the Bishop sisters harboring dangerous secrets, there’s murder in the air– and not everyone who checks into the Precipice will be checking out. ~ Publisher

The Precipice hotel has plenty of history. Not all of it good. After the death of their father, the Bishop sisters arrive to hear the reading of the will but this is not a tight-knit, close family. The three sisters have plenty of secrets and unchecked jealousy so for them to be shoved into a room during a dangerous storm that literally holds them hostage, the outcome cannot be good.

Enter the hotel’s staff. Charley is the housekeeper. A housekeeper who was very familiar with the previous owner and his unwelcomed advances. She’s not thrilled to be expecting the sisters. She’s heard plenty about them and guess what? They don’t really care to know or be around Charley either.

Charley has some issues. When the guests are plentiful at the hotel, she skims from them as much as she can to take care of her grandma, who is tucked away in assisted living. Yes, she steals for a good cause but when her loose morals commingle with that of the sisters a tug of war ensues. Plus, with all the guests gone, due to the storm, how will she earn the living she needs to earn to support her grandma?

No one can be trusted in this story! That’s what makes it so readable. Someone goes missing, then someone turns up dead. Secrets are revealed and that nasty storm keeps them all inside, with each other. Alliances are formed and broken. It’s a crazy story with a hectic pace.

Suspicion is everywhere and the finger is pointed this way, and then that way, keeping you guessing. There are a lot of red herrings and in the end I did figure it all out but it was fun getting there.

I read Day’s last book, The Block Party and it had the same relentless pace so I was sure to pick this one up. If you want something to help you through the week, pick up a copy. I pretty much read it straight through.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.
Disclosure: This post contains Indiebound affiliate links.

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