Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

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Released: April 2006

Just Listen is the seventh YA novel by Sarah Dessen and the third novel I've read by this author. I'm an occasional reader of YA romance and I love Dessen's writing style, so I'll usually grab her titles when I see them at secondhand book stores.

Just Listen is about a high school girl named Annabel Greene who begins the new school year with a bad reputation thanks to rumors being spread about her by her former best friend Sophie. Even when modeling part-time when she's not in school, Annabel just can't seem to escape hearing about how she supposedly slept with her best friend's boyfriend.

The Lies That Bind by Kate Carlisle

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Released: November 2010

The Lies That Bind is the 3rd novel in the Bibliophile cozy mystery series by Kate Carlisle. This series is a new favorite of mine, and I may just have to include it in another one of my blog posts entitled The 7 Best Cozy Mystery Series. I keep ordering these books like crazy because I can't get enough!

The Dry by Jane Harper

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Released: January 2017

The Dry is the first novel by Jane Harper and also the first book in the Aaron Falk crime series. If you like the HBO show True Detective, you might really like The Dry, because that's exactly what this book reminded me of!

In The Dry, federal police agent Aaron Falk travels from Melbourne to the small Australia town of Kiewarra to attend the funeral for Luke Hadler — Falk's best friend from childhood who murdered his wife and son before turning the shotgun on himself. Falk's visit to Kiewarra is personal and unofficial, but once he arrives, he feels something is off about the way the murder-suicide was committed and teams up with local police sergeant Greg Raco to further the investigation.

Discarded: Poison Pill by Glenn Kaplan

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Released: October 2013

I recently discovered Poison Pill by Glenn Kaplan at my local bookstore and was instantly intrigued by its synopsis that hints at a delicious scandal involving a pharmaceutical company. Medical thrillers about Big Pharma are highly attractive to me given my career has me working closely with the healthcare industry. Unfortunately, Poison Pill wasn't exactly what I expected...

If Books Could Kill by Kate Carlisle

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Released: February 2010

If Books Could Kill is the 2nd novel in the Bibliophile Mystery series by Kate Carlisle. I'm completely obsessed with this cozy mystery series and am presently making my way through every one of these books! It's been a long time since I found myself enjoying a new cozy mystery. If Books Could Kill picks up just weeks after the ending of the 1st novel, Homicide in Hardcover.

The setting of If Books Could Kill is in Edinburgh, Scotland, where book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is attending the Edinburgh Book Fair. While there, Brooklyn runs into an ex-boyfriend, who confides that he is in possession of a rare book that reveals secrets that could potentially change history surrounding the British monarchy. Moments later, the ex-boyfriend is found murdered and Brooklyn is tasked with identifying his killer to avoid being accused of homicide—yet again.

Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle

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Released: January 2009

Homicide in Hardcover is the first novel in the "Bibliophile" cozy mystery series by Kate Carlisle. At the time of this writing, there are 14 books in the series (15 if you count the novella released between books #4 and #5), which is exciting news for people like me who are just now discovering this series! I've had Homicide in Hardcover sitting on my bookshelf since its release and now I'm kicking myself for not having started it sooner because I loved it! On the plus side, now I can binge-read the entire series.

Swerve by Vicki Pettersson

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Released: July 2015

Swerve is a thriller and standalone novel by Vicki Pettersson — author of the popular "Sign of the Zodiac" urban fantasy series. Like the urban fantasy series, Swerve takes place in Las Vegas, too (as well as in Primm and on the I-15), so if you live in Vegas or have spent time there, you'll most likely really enjoy this novel.

Swerve is a quick read and everything a thriller should be — it's extremely suspenseful and fast-paced, and well written to keep you interested to the last page. It's bloody, gory, and scary, and could easily be adapted for the big screen. In fact, Pettersson's writing in Swerve is so vivid and colorful that I could see the story unfolding in my head as if it were an actual movie.