Thornbird by E. Kennedy

 “The world is hunting for answers—but what if the truth leads straight to you?

Ten years after her father—the infamous serial killer Gabriel Thorn—was caught, Ryan Shipley is back in Starling, Tennessee, trying to lay low. No one can know who she really is. No one can know the truth about her past.

But as fresh eyes dig deeper into the case, old secrets refuse to stay buried. Cryptic texts, eerie coincidences, and a chilling note leave everyone wondering—does Ryan know more than she’s letting on? As the truth unravels, one thing becomes in a town full of secrets, Ryan might be the biggest mystery of them all.” - taken from Goodreads.

Ryan has arrived back to her hometown after the death of her grandmother to live with the only family she has left, in the hometown where her father killed her mother when she was a child after discovering that he was a serial killer. But trying to keep her true identity and the past a secret is harder and more traumatizing than Ryan ever imagined. As the date leading up her her father’s execution inches nearer, someone out there knows who she is and what really happened.

Just when you think the mystery has been solved, the Earth cracks beneath Ryan to uncover even more secrets that will rock her world (and yours). This is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I couldn’t put it down. The audio version was an incredible performance. 

Visit E. Kennedy's website.

Six Must Die by Victoria Wlosok

“Twelve months ago, an escape room fire took everything from Steffi Zamekova. In just one hour, she lost it all: her popular blog, her close-knit inner circle, and her memories of the night that killed one of the group’s own… the charismatic (if infuriating) Matt Cesari.

On the anniversary of the bewildering tragedy, Steffi is still desperate to piece together what went wrong. So when she receives an ominous invitation in the mail summoning her to the new escape room across town, she seizes the chance for answers.

Reunited with her former friends, Steffi sees the game as a last chance to uncover the truth behind Matt’s death. But it’s soon clear that each participant has their own cagey reasons for accepting the challenge. And as tensions rise and the players are picked off one by one, it’s a race against the clock for Steffi to uncover their secrets and unlock her own memories before the game’s mastermind ensures that no one escapes the room alive.” - taken from Goodreads.

Steffi hasn't seen her friends since the night her best friend Matt died in a fire that occurred in the escape room that they were attending. Now the six of them have been brought back together at an inferno themed game the night before their high school graduation by an unknown person. Steffi suffers from a traumatic brain injury and hopes that playing the escape room scenario will allow her to remember the events of that deadly night .

What really happened the night of the escape room fire? Can Steffi regain her memories of that night? Who and why has someone brought the six survivors back to another escape room? Readers will be surprised.

Visit Victoria Wlosok’s website.

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally (Hundred Oaks book 4)

"They're from two different worlds."

Seventeen year old Savannah Barrow had to leave her home in Charles Town, West Virginia two days before the start of her senior year of high school. Her father got the job as head groom at Cedar Hill Farms in Franklin, Tennessee. The farm has trained horses that have raced in the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders' Cup. She will be starting school at Hundred Oaks High but hopes to get a job as an exercise trainer at the farm. Walking back to the staff quarters, Savannah hears an alarm and sees a runaway horse barreling towards her with two guys on horseback chasing him. She runs to the horse as it heads her way and yells "Stop!" He runs past and she goes in pursuit. The horse circles back to see her and she holds up her hand. He charges her but she is able to grab his bridle and soon has him under control. Savannah has a way with horses, almost like a horse whisperer. She sees that the horse is named Tennessee Star and seems to have thrown his rider. The horse is a beautiful thoroughbred and she soon sees the owner's son riding towards them. Savannah has been warned that the Goodwin family is extremely private and the owner's son Jack, whom she hasn't met yet, is her age. He also has a reputation. The staff has told her that his bedroom has a revolving door. They will be attending the same school. She notices that Jack is cover model beautiful. He thanks her for catching his horse. He is impressed by her and comments on her ability and knowledge of horses.

Jack wrongly assumes that Savannah is there to tour the farm. No but then he assumes she is a guest of the family. She tells him that they haven't met. He introduces himself but she tells him she needs to get back to the house. He offers to escort her but ends up chasing after her. They begin to talk about why Star bolted. Jack is a bit conceited and Savannah calls him on it before she can stop herself. He asks again who she is and why she is there. Before she can tell him the truth, Mr. Goodwin comes up to ask why Jack is avoiding talking to Abby Winchester. She won't quit calling the house. He sees Savannah and asks if she is Danny Barrow's kid. Yes I am and Jack is surprised that he has been trying to hit on the new groom's daughter. Mr. Goodwin drags Jack away. He doesn’t seem happy.

Savannah goes to Gael, the lead trainer, to see about getting an interview as an exercise rider. After talking a bit, Gael quickly realizes that Savannah knows horses but unfortunately he doesn't make the hiring decisions. She is surprised when Jack Goodwin walks up and says that it is his job to decide who gets hired. Gael tells the Barrows that Mr. Goodwin is letting Jack run the farm during his senior year of high school. It is his way of preparing him for the future. Savannah asks for a chance to prove herself and Jack asks for her qualifications. She has been riding since the age of four, exercised horses in Charles Town and caught Star for him earlier. If she really wants the job, he wants to see her ride Star. Gael and her father object. The horse throws all of his riders. Jack says that she can ride a horse named Minerva instead but he reserves the right to see her ride Star before he makes his decision.

Savannah proves her stuff on the track with Minerva. Gael is ready to hire her to start on Monday, but Jack says no. She is disappointed until Jack says that he wants her to go with him to Cincinnati the next day to warm Star up before his race. Her father isn't happy but Jack thinks she is just what the horse needs. Mr. Goodwin comes along to check on what is happening. Jack fills him in on the situation and his father also objects. Jack states his case for Savannah and his father relents. It is obvious he doesn't like the interest his son is showing in the hired help.

At the race the next day, Savannah gives Star his best warm-up ever. Jack and his father are excited about his chances. As soon as the jockey mounts Star and heads for the starting gate, the horse gets spooked. He starts last but does make up time during the race but not enough to place. Jack is deeply disappointed. Abby Winchester comes running up to give Jack a hug. This time he cannot ignore her like he wants to. Savannah vows to figure out what is spooking the horse. That night at the farm, she is down at the field watching Star graze. She is continuing to build her relationship with the horse. Suddenly, Star gets spooked as Jack and his dogs come up to the fence. Savannah would hate to have to tell Jack that his horse doesn't like him. They secure the horses for the night and discuss Star. Savannah finally asks him if she got the job. He replies yes, wasn't it obvious? Excited, she throws her arms around his neck. Realizing what she has done, she steps back but Jack gently pushes her up against the fence. She stops him before he can kiss her. She cannot get involved with the owner. He understands and asks that she not tell his father.

Savannah has made friends with one of the stable boys, Rory Whitfield. Rory is Will's (from Stealing Parker) little brother and also a senior at Hundred Oaks. He has taken Savannah on a tour of the town and to a field party. He has told her that he wants to be a screenwriter and doesn't want to be stuck on the family farm which continues to lose money. Neither are interested in each other. Rory jokes with Savannah's short stature; he would break his neck trying to kiss her. The two quickly become friends. Rory even drives her to school the first day and briefly shows her around. She goes to her first class and sees Vanessa; a friend of Rory's that she met at the party. They are talking when Jack Goodwin walks in. Every girl is trying to get his attention but he heads straight for Savannah and sits down. He tells her what a great job she is doing with Star. Then he asks her when she and Whitfield got together. He saw that he drove her to school this morning. Rory walks into to class just then and Savannah tells him what Jack just said. He laughs and says that she fell asleep Saturday night and snored like a troll. Jack slides closer and starts to turn on the charm.

Can Savannah figure out why Star gets spooked? Will the horse ever do well in a race? Can Jack prove to his father that he has what it takes to run the farm? Will Savannah be able to keep from falling under Jack's spell and becoming another notch on his bedpost or is Jack really not the player everyone believes him to be? What happens when Savannah breaks all of her rules and plays with fire?

Once again, fans of the Hundred Oaks series get another glimpse into the future lives of some of their favorite characters.

Visit Miranda Kenneally's website.

Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally (Hundred Oaks book 3)

Kate Kelly has a couple of brief mentions in Stealing Parker. She attends the same church as Parker Shelton. Kate has a huge crush on Will Whitfield. Parker and Will are camp counselors with Kate. Jordan Woods also makes an important appearance.

"Sometimes you need to make your own trail."

Kate Kelly, 18, is a recent high school graduate. She is going to be a camp counselor at Cumberland Creek Camp for the summer although she feels like she has no business being one. She only signed up to be working with her best friend, Emily Mansfield. That was before Emily found out that she was pregnant and her parents kicked her out of the house when they found out that she had had an abortion. Now it is too late for Kate to look for another job to make some money before college starts. She is having a difficult time dealing with her role in supporting her friend's decision to end her pregnancy. She feels as if she has committed a sin and Emily doesn't understand that. She hasn't spoken to her friend in weeks.

On her first day at the camp, Kate notices a beautiful boy starring at her. He is carrying his clothes in a laundry basket and has a guitar case. He looks familiar but Kate cannot place him. During the group introductions, he tells everyone that his name is Matt and he keeps looking at Kate. Afterwards, she goes to her car to check her messages but her phone doesn't have a strong signal. Sitting in the driver's seat while sketching, Kate begins to question once again who she is without Emily, without soccer; she tore her ACL in the fall and without her relationship with God, which she felt she lost by helping Emily. She prays for a sign that she might be forgiven and can eventually forgive herself. Just then, something hits her car window and Kate hits her head in surprise. Getting out of her car, she sees Matt picking up his basketball. He apologizes and asks if she is alright. Fine, Kate says and Matt comments that she looks familiar. He asks if she has ever been to the camp as a camper. Suddenly, they recognize one another and begin to catch up. Turns out Matt gave Kate her one and only kiss when she was eleven years old.

The counselors spend the next couple of days getting ready for the campers. Kate and Parker have words when all of the counselors decide to share a cabin together, boys and girls. Kate believes it would be a sin to sleep in the same cabin as the boys and she has sinned enough already. Parker is tired of being judged by others. Alone in her cabin for the night, Kate cries herself to sleep over the loss of her only friend and how alone she is. She has done everything the church has told her to do. She is a good girl but somehow she doesn't fit in. Will has a talk with Kate to let her know how hurt Parker was when her mother left and everyone at their church turned on her. Kate didn't know. Over the next several days, she tries to apologize to her. Parker is not quick to accept Kate. Matt does try to get her to do things and seems to be flirting with her. Another counselor, Andrea, is trying to get Matt's attention. Kate overhears her tell her friend Carlie that she fell for him and wishes she knew how to work things out with him. Carlie tells her that she was a good friend when he needed one. Carlie tells Kate when she catches her eavesdropping to mind her own business. Kate takes a walk and sees the boys playing basketball. Matt makes a score and waves at Kate as she walks by. She waves back and wonders what exactly Andrea was talking about and what Matt meant when he told her earlier that she had saved him all of those years ago.

Soon the youth campers arrive and Kate has her unexpected highs and lows as the first week progresses. At the talent show, she sees how kind Matt is with some of the kids and she decides then and there that she wants Matt. When the camp director calls her in for a meeting, she reprimands her for having difficulties getting her campers' dinner on time and being late getting the talent show started. As she is leaving, Kate asks her who told her about her problems. Andrea had heard from Matt she is told. Leaving, Kate is devastated to hear Matt sold her out.

Does Kate find the forgiveness she is seeking? Can she trust people again? Will Kate be able to repair her friendship with Emily? Does Matt feel the same about Kate as she does him or is Matt interested in Andrea instead? How did Kate save Matt the first time they met? Will Kate rethink her "judgmental" attitude towards others? Can Kate and Parker find friendship?

Visit Miranda Kenneally's website.

The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller

"What if Live Refused to Die."
Haven Moore cannot wait to leave behind her small hometown of Snope City, Tennessee and get away from her domineering grandmother. From a young age, Haven has experienced visions that she has come to believe tell of a past life she led. The talk of the town, she has one true friend, Beau Decker, her partner in a fashion design business. When Haven sees a troubled young socialite on TV one night, her visions return with a vengence. Only now, Haven realizes that she may have previously lived as a young woman named Constance who died in a tragic fire, along with her boyfriend Ethan.

With the return of her visions, Haven's grandmother decides that she is too unwell to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. Her mother, fragile since her father's death, shows her a shoebox that her father kept for her. In it, he wrote everything Haven ever said while having the visions as a child. She realizes that he believed in her and didn't think she was crazy. When she discovers drawings that she did as a child, Haven is even more convinced that she is Constance reincarnated who is searching for her soulmate. But when she learns of her father's affair at the time of his death, she realizes how foolish her mother was to believe in true love and how her world came crashing down. Haven decides she needs to slowly make decisions regarding her visions so that she doesn't nake the same mistake as her mother.

Beau does some investigating to an organization that Haven's father wrote to for help years ago, the Ouroboros Society. The Society aims to help people who think they have led previous lives. When Haven has a vision at school, her life is soon in danger. She is no longer safe in Snope City when her home is burned down. She contacts the Society for help.

Is Haven really Constance reincarnated? Will she discover that Ethan is really Iain Morrow? What were the circumstances surrounding Constance and Ethan's death? Can the Ouroboros Society be trusted? Will history repeat itself or can Haven change its course?

Haven's story continues with book two, All You Desire on August 8, 2011.

Visit The Eternal Ones website.