The Ex-Husband

A cruise ship event planner is haunted by her past in this grippingly evocative, psychological thriller.

It’s not all smooth sailing in The Ex-Husband, a heart-pounding crime thriller by Karen Hamilton set mostly aboard the Cleobella, a private luxury cruise ship traveling from Cornwall to the Caribbean.

Charlotte works as an event planner on the ship. She’s determined to leave her sordid past behind. She married and later divorced, Sam, a charming swindler--a cruise-ship card dealer--who roped Charlotte into cons that once usurped wealthy passengers out of their fortunes. But that was then. Charlotte is determined to get her life back on track now that Sam--and their tricks--are behind them. But with Sam missing and Charlotte suddenly receiving anonymous messages regarding her once criminal behavior, the past and its haunting sends her into panic. Who’s behind the black-mailing mind games that could do Charlotte in?

As in The Perfect Girlfriend and The Last Wife, Hamilton presents deeply flawed characters readers can root for. A well-researched setting enhances the suspense that unspools through exotic ports of call from the Bahamas to Tobago. Dark, psychological undercurrents of deceit and lies--how the past braids in with the present--create surprising shifts amid the course of this turbulent, juicy story.

 

The Ex-Husband by Karen Hamilton

Graydon House, $16.99 paperback, 9780369717030, 352 pages

Publication Date: January 18, 2021

To order this book on INDIEBOUND, link HERE

 

It Started With a Dog

In the second installment of a cheerful romcom series, love percolates amidst the competition of two Austin, Texas coffee shops.

Julia London’s second installment of her cheerful romcom series is set in Austin, Tx., during the Christmas season. She cleverly brings together two 30something dog lovers with personalities and agendas as different as caffeinated versus decaffeinated coffee.

 

Aeronautical Engineer, Jonah Rogers, leaves his job to help out at the ‘Lucky Star,’ a charmingly humble--however lagging--coffee shop run by his parents, his aunt and uncle. With his father ill, Jonah--reliable and devoted, sacrificing and loyal--steps in to assist the long-standing family business that offers no frills, old-school coffee and desserts. Matters are complicated when he accidentally swaps his phone with Chicagoan, Harper Thompson, in town to launch ‘Deja Brew’—a trendy, two-story coffee house accented with gleaming chrome coffee makers, which serves upscale coffee and vegan food choices. The driven, only-child overachiever is up for a promotion riding on the success of ‘Deja Brew.’ However, can she contend with ‘Lucky Star,’ a local fixture in town, and a ‘Starbucks’ situated in the very same neighborhood?

 

Along the way, Jonah and Harper and their swapped phones lead them to romance as they discover they are business rivals. The ante is upped when a local dog competition, “King Mutt,” pits the couple--the lovable three-legged Dachshund mascot of ‘Lucky Star’ versus Harper’s mean old bulldog--against each other, as well.

 

A perfect blend of coffee, dogs and romance permeates London’s (You Lucky Dog, Charmer in Chaps) frothy romcom that will leave readers thirsty for a third helping in this sweet, enjoyable series.

 

It Started with a Dog (Book 2: Lucky Dog series) by Julia London

Berkley (Penguin Books), $16.00 paperback, 9780593100400, 320 pages

Publication Date: September 28, 2021

To order this book on INDIEBOUND, link HERE

NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (October 2, 2021), link HERE