The Third Mrs Durst, by Ann Aguirre

(I read this book on time for SuperWendy’s November 2022 TBR Challenge (theme: lies), then never finished the review. As I’m struggling to read, I’m hoping writing this will help jumpstart the reading mojo, because the next TBR day is but two weeks away!)

I was in a panic about what to read, when I remembered I had this ARC. Given that I generally love Ms Aguirre’s voice, it was a no-brainer.

The Christmas Murder Game, by Alexandra Benedict

I was done in by the cover. I mean. Look at the cover. It’s perfect! Then there’s the blurb, with all my catnip in one big serving, and so I ran to NetGalley to ask for an ARC, which I was beyond delighted to get.

And then, the let down.

How was I supposed to know this is told in my dead-least-favorite narrative voice?

So, reader beware: third person present tense narrative voice; PTSD; discussion of a suicide in the past; the main character has prosopagnosia, and one murderously dysfunctional family from hell. Also, several characters are queer (either bisexual or lesbians).

Nowhere Else, by Felicia Davin

After struggling to read past the oh, 60% mark on Out of Nowhere for a few weeks (not the book, it was ::gestures at the world:: me; I couldn’t read anything for weeks!), I finally got back to it, finished it in one sprint, then immediately started Nowhere Else, which I inhaled in one greedy gulp. It may well be my favorite of the trilogy, to be honest.

Reader beware: some swearing, sex on page between two adult men, one of whom is dealing with PTSD from recent trauma; both characters had difficult childhoods, for different reasons.

Out of Nowhere, by Felicia Davin

The second book in the Nowhere trilogy, Out of Nowhere ratchets up the tension from Edge of Nowhere. I confess, I stalled somewhere around the halfway mark, not opening the book again for weeks. Eventually, trusting the author to fulfill the promise of a happy ending that’s the immutable part of genre romance got me over the emotional block.

Reader, beware: some sex on the page between two adult men, swearing, trauma from childhood and from recent forced experimentation, including starvation, and a bit of violence. The author has a very comprehensive list of warning and tags here, below the blurb.