Book Spotlight: Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox

 

Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox

Publisher: Minotaur Books / St. Martin's Press

Publication Date: July 7, 2026

Format: Hardcover - 336 pages

               Audiobook - 9 Hours 43 Minutes

               Kindle - 327 pages

               Nook - 336 pages

ISBN (Hardcover): 978-1250378842

ASIN (Audiobook): B0FP48M1Q9

ASIN (Kindle): B0FLYPRSWV

BNID (Nook): 978-1250378859

Genre: Thriller

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Book Description:

Secrets emerge as a Texas beauty pageant turns deadly in this rich and addictive novel with a jaw-dropping twist from psychological suspense author Kelsey Cox.

2000: Isabelle Whitmore vanishes at Sherman Ranch in Anhalt, Texas, without a trace.

2025: The annual Lone Star Princess Pageant looms, bringing long-standing grudges to the surface. Ingrid fled Anhalt in the wake of her sister Isabelle’s disappearance and has now returned, just in time for a construction crew to start digging up Sherman Ranch; the pageant brings up past traumas that Melanie can't forget; Cat, newly sober, starts to feel threatened in ways that bring back old demons; and Sarah Lynn, who comes from a long line of pageant winners, knows that losing is not an option.

When old resentments and new confrontations reach their boiling point, temperatures drop to deadly degrees as a record-setting storm brings down the state’s power grid. With everyone trapped under one roof, scores will be settled, and more than one person will end up dead.

Some secrets are better left buried.

About The Author

Kelsey Cox received her MFA in fiction from Purdue University and works from home in the Texas Hill Country. You can often find her writing at Mammen Family Public Library, chasing around her two young daughters, or watching British mysteries with her mom and aunts. On nights when bedtime goes as planned, she enjoys curling up on the sofa, glass of wine in hand, and a book with complicated characters and a killer twist in her lap.

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Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood (Book Review)

 

Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood

Publisher: Berkley Publishing

Publication Date: June 16, 2016

Format: Paperback - 368 pages

               Audiobook - 8 Hours 24 Minutes

               Kindle - 367 pages

               Nook - 368 pages

ISBN (Paperback): 978-0593816158

ASIN (Audiobook): B0FTD84TPZ

ASIN (Kindle): B0FPKWHTH2

BNID (Nook): 978-0593816165

Genre: Romance / Romantic Comedy / Magical Realism

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Disclaimer: I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased a hardcover copy of the book from my monthly Book Of The Month (BOTM) subscription.

Book Description:

A heartbroken romance novelist is forced to address her writer's block when the villainous cowboy character from her books shows up in the real world, desperately in need of his own Happily Ever After. . . from the bestselling author of GMA book club pick The Love of My Afterlife.

Gertie Bickerstaff writes happily-ever-afters for a living. . . . Or she did, until her own love life fell apart. Now her ex is thriving, her deadline is looming, and she can’t write a single word.

The last thing Gertie needs is more drama—like waking up to find a confused and rugged cowboy on her sofa. And not just any cowboy, but River Oakley, the villain from her unfinished novel. Somehow very real . . . and very shirtless.

River wants to go home. Gertie wants her life back. So they strike a deal; he’ll use his cunning ways to help her win back her ex, she’ll finish the novel, and, surely, he’ll return to whatever world he rode in from.

But as River Oakley proves to be so much more than just the bad guy, Gertie has to the ending she thought she wanted . . . or the plot twist she never saw coming.

My Book Review:

In Romantic Hero, author Kirsty Greenwood weaves a fun romantic comedy tale of finding unexpected love.

Set in London, the reader is easily drawn into this entertaining rom com as they follow a heartbroken romance writer who is dealing with writer's block and her fictional cowboy character who is unexpectedly transported to the real world after she does a manifestation ceremony. 

Romance novelist Gertie Bickerstaff's life isn't going well lately: her live-in boyfriend Henry Irving has recently dumped her and left her brokenhearted; and she has writer's block and the deadline to finish the last book in her series is due to the publisher in two weeks. 

Gertie's neighbor Mrs. Casablancas thinks that Gertie needs to manifest her artistic juices, and they hold a manifestation ceremony on the roof of their apartment building during a full moon. Mrs. C tells Gertie to write down her desires, so she writes that she desires to be able to write again and also adds that she wants Henry back. The next day she comes out of her bathroom naked after a shower to find a shirtless cowboy sitting on her sofa! To make matters worse, the cowboy doesn't know how he got there and tells her that his name is River Oakley, the fictional villainous cowboy character in her Bedlam Creek series! Gertie and River think he has been transported via a parallel universe to help her get Henry back and resolve her writer's block. But to no avail, Gertie's writer's block hasn't been resolved, so Gertie and River devise a plan to make Henry jealous and want to come back to her, hoping that it would solve the writer's block and allow her to finish the book on time, and send River back to Bedlam Creek. Will Gertie and River's plan work, or will they discover that he was really sent to be her Romantic Hero?

 

Romantic Hero is such a fun and flirty romantic comedy that easily keeps the reader engaged as they follow Gertie and River's story. The reader follows along as their unexpected parallel universe partnering helps them rediscover their personal selves as well as an unexpected chance at finding real love and happiness in their lives. 

There was a great mixture of emotion, drama, angst, banter, humor and crazy antics mixed in this story. The author does a great job of describing Gertie and River's lives, and how their undeniable chemistry has sparks flying, and their fake relationship becomes something much more real, when they finally realize that they are both where the universe intended them to be all along, in a world of their own. 

Romantic Hero is a delightfully entertaining romantic comedy tale that romance fans will certainly enjoy!


Rating: 4 STARS 

About The Author

Kirsty Greenwood is a bestselling author of funny, fearless and fast-paced romantic comedies about extraordinary love. When she's not writing books, she composes musicals and explores London where she lives with her husband.

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Book Spotlight: Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood

 

Romantic Hero by Kirsty Greenwood

Publisher: Berkley Publishing

Publication Date: June 16, 2016

Format: Paperback - 368 pages

               Audiobook - 8 Hours 24 Minutes

               Kindle - 367 pages

               Nook - 368 pages

ISBN (Paperback): 978-0593816158

ASIN (Audiobook): B0FTD84TPZ

ASIN (Kindle): B0FPKWHTH2

BNID (Nook): 978-0593816165

Genre: Romance / Romantic Comedy / Magical Realism

Buy The Book:

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Book Description:

A heartbroken romance novelist is forced to address her writer's block when the villainous cowboy character from her books shows up in the real world, desperately in need of his own Happily Ever After. . . from the bestselling author of GMA book club pick The Love of My Afterlife.

Gertie Bickerstaff writes happily-ever-afters for a living. . . . Or she did, until her own love life fell apart. Now her ex is thriving, her deadline is looming, and she can’t write a single word.

The last thing Gertie needs is more drama—like waking up to find a confused and rugged cowboy on her sofa. And not just any cowboy, but River Oakley, the villain from her unfinished novel. Somehow very real . . . and very shirtless.

River wants to go home. Gertie wants her life back. So they strike a deal; he’ll use his cunning ways to help her win back her ex, she’ll finish the novel, and, surely, he’ll return to whatever world he rode in from.

But as River Oakley proves to be so much more than just the bad guy, Gertie has to the ending she thought she wanted . . . or the plot twist she never saw coming.

About The Author

Kirsty Greenwood is a bestselling author of funny, fearless and fast-paced romantic comedies about extraordinary love. When she's not writing books, she composes musicals and explores London where she lives with her husband.

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Worse Than Strangers by Kyleigh Leddy (Book Review)

 

Worse Than Strangers by Kyleigh Leddy

Publisher: Gallery Books

Publication Date: June 23. 2026

Format: Hardcover - 320 pages

               Audiobook - 9 Hours 46 Minutes

              Kindle - 320 pages

              Nook - 320 pages

ISBN (Hardcover): 978-1668092514

ASIN (Audiobook): B0GWJJJJ68

ASIN (Kindle): B0FX5SCMHH

BNID (Nook): 978-1668092521

Genre: Romance

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Disclaimer: I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I also purchased a hardcover copy of the book from my monthly Book Of The Month (BOTM) subscription.

Book Description:

A debut novel for fans of Jane Austen, Elin Hilderbrand, and Gilmore Girls, Worse Than Strangers is a Nantucket-set retelling of Austen’s Persuasion about finding romance, second chances, and a new path in life.

Rose and Lily are best friends first, mother-daughter second, which is good because right now, Lily could really use a friend. Recently fired from her NYC magazine job and heartbroken, Lily has fled to the family cottage in Siasconset. She is shocked when she stumbles across her first love at the grocery store holding hands with his new fiancé—a fiancé he never mentioned on their many, many late-night phone calls.

Rose has secrets, too. A therapist about to start her own private practice, Rose’s world is rocked by the handsome renter staying in their guest cottage, Thomas Wentworth: the one person she thought she would never see again and the man who has always (unfortunately) held her heart.

A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion set against a backdrop of blue and purple hydrangeas, swollen brick sidewalks, tall sea grass, and uniform, shingled houses, Lily and Rose Gardner’s summer journey of second chances, healing, and hope begs the question: Can you repeat the past, and is it ever too late to try again?

My Book Review:

In her debut novel, Worse Than Strangers, author Kyleigh Leddy weaves a wonderful story of a mother and daughter who spend a summer in Nantucket getting a second chance at discovering themselves and finding a new path in life.

Set in Nantucket, the reader is easily drawn into this story as they follow the summer journey of self-discovery that brings dramatic changes in the lives of mother and daughter, Rose and Lily Gardner. 

It is the first Memorial Day weekend since Rose and Lily's Great Aunt Lottie passed away. Both are still grieving and trying to find their way forward in the healing process. 

Rose has been living in the cottage that Lottie has left them. She is a therapist in a clinical group and wants to open up a private practice. She has rented out the attached guest cottage but is shocked when the renter is her ex-boyfriend Thomas Wentworth who she hasn't seen in thirty years, how is she going to deal with the trauma of their past? 

Lily had chased her dream to work at a fashion magazine and become an art director. After three traumatic years working as an assistant to a brutal art director, she was fired via email and on top of that she has also had her heartbroken when her first love broke up with her, only to find someone new and become recently engaged. Lily leaves NYC to spend the summer with her mom in Nantucket, only to feel even more humiliated and shocked when she runs into her ex-boyfriend Henry, how is she going to get over him and find a new job? 

And if that isn't enough drama to deal with during the summer, Rose and Lily have visitors: Rose's older sister and dad, who also bring along Rose's ex-fiancé / Lily's dad James! For Rose and Lily, dealing with their past and family is worse than strangers! 

Worse Than Strangers is such a wonderful tale that easily keeps the reader engaged as they follow Rose and Lily's story. The reader follows along as their summer in Nantucket brings unexpected challenges, life changes, and second chances. There was a great mixture of emotion, drama, angst, banter, and humor mixed in this story. The author does a great job of describing Rose and Lily's lives and how they learn to deal with their pasts and move forward. I loved how the author wrote a debut novel based on a modern retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion, and I know that fans of Jane Austen will certainly enjoy this story!

Rating: 5 STARS 

About The Author

Kyleigh Leddy’s writing has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, and Parents, among others. In 2023, she was named on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Media list. She holds a BA from Boston College, an MSW from Columbia University, and an MFA in fiction from Bennington Writing Seminars. She is a licensed therapist and teaches in Boston College’s M.A. in Writing and the Human Condition program. Worse Than Strangers is her debut novel.

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