A new Arum Lilea Book Club book review is long overdue. Now that the whole world is being encouraged to stay at home in order to control the spread of COVID-19, it is a great time to get stuck into a good book. I certainly am. Here are 5 great titles that I highly recommend ranging from mysteries, thrillers and a great coming-of-age story too.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Straight off the bat – I really enjoyed this book. I bought it on a book sale and I’m so glad I did because it had been sitting in my Wishlist for ages. It didn’t disappoint. It was quite a deviation from my usual love of thrillers. This one is more a beautiful story of life, love and the cost of success.
Evelyn is a bombshell and she knows it. In fact, she uses it to her absolute advantage. Set in the time of old Hollywood glamour, Evelyn wants nothing more than to be a star – but that luxury comes with a price. Marriage, Evelyn realises, can amount to nothing more than politics and she’s up for the game. She’s calculating and always ahead of the game. Is she capable of love though? Would she give up fame for matters of the heart? This is really such a lovely, heart-breaking but ever so beautiful story about friendship, alliance and love and life in general. It is so touching. It comes highly recommended from me.
Verity by Colleen Hoover
When Verity, an extremely successful author, is almost killed in a car accient, her publishers contact Lowen in the hope that she would be able to complete writing the series that Verity had started. Lowen moves into the original author’s home to start compiling all the research she needs to write the final books in the series when she notices a manuscript that explains how and why Verity’s twin daughters are both dead…
This is another book that had been sitting in my Wishlist for ages and I’m so glad that I finally decided to read it. It’s currently available for free download in attempt to comfort all the home-staying that we’re doing which is quite a nice touch. You can download it here.
The Breakdown by B.A. Paris
Cass met up with school friends after work one Friday and as a storm rolled in, she decided she’d try to get home as soon as possible rather that wait for the storm to pass. To shorten the trip, she decided to drive through the woods when the storm came down heavier and heavier. As she was driving home she noticed a car parked in the middle of the woods with a woman sitting inside. She pulled her car over to the side thinking the woman might jump in and ask for help, but when she didn’t, Cass thought it was safer to keep moving and drove off. In the news the next morning, that same lady that had been sitting in the car had been murdered and it seemed that Cass was most likely the last one to have seen her alive. Completely guilt ridden and convinced that she would be next, Cass becomes paranoid. Someone has been in her house. Someone keeps calling her home phone. Someone knows that she was the last to see the woman alive…
This is the second book I’ve read by this author (my previous book review of this author can be found in this post). It wasn’t terrifying as the previous book I read. It was actually mild in comparison so if you’re not into being frightened to read the next page but you still like a great plot twist, you’ll enjoy this one!
The Missing Years by Lexie Elliot
Alisa comes into an inheritence of a very big house out in the country after her mother died. Having not spent as much time with her mother while she was alive, she decided it was time to spend more time with her half sister. Alisa and her sister decide to go up and move into the house to finalise the legalities and potentially sell the house. Odd things begin to happen after they move into this house. It’s almost as though it has a mind of its own. Does it want to help her or hurt her? Is there someone out there who would also want to frighten her out of town? Perhaps the two mysteries would explain her own father’s dissapearance.
I have to say that I really enjoyed this “spooky house” story. I actually found it quite the page turner. There were quite a few points where the story spike my adrenalin which I love! I’m also particularly close with my sister so I loved that these two sisters decided to work on their relationship. I loved the descriptions of country living that made me really want to head in that direction too. This book is well deserving of a spot on the Arum Lilea Book Club. I’d highly recommend this one!
Something In the Water by Catherine Steadman
When Erin starts her wedding planning process, things start going wrong. Very wrong. Her fiance, a drop dead gorgeous investment banker, loses his job sending their financial situation into chaos. They need to start cutting costs on all sorts of things but decide to continue with their plans for a once-in-a-life-time, five star honeymoon in Bora Bora. A day after arriving at the luxury resort, they decide to head out on their own for the day. After a magical day out at sea, they head back to shore but notice an area where hundreds of documents are floating in the water. They decide to dive in and find something beneath the surface of the water that requires them to make the biggest decision they will come to face in their very new marriage.
This was a great suspensive light read. Erin frustrated me at parts of the story for being too soft and not speaking her mind but I wanted to know whether she would find her voice. The suspense also kept me reading later than I usually would which is always a good sign! If you’re looking for something that will hook you in but won’t take forever to read, I’d definitely add this book to your reading list!
I hope that you find something that calls your name from this list and if so, please let me know which one you’ll be reading. Be sure to tag me in your Instagram posts when you’re reading too! I’d also love to know if you have any book titles that you could recommend to me. Let the name in the comment section below and you might find your recommendation in my next Arum Lilea Book Club post. I really love how many of you are avid book worms!
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