Best Reads of 2023
My Favourite Books From This Year
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It's time to look back and see what were the best reads of 2023.
These are the books that I read during 2023 that had the WOW! factor for me and therefore each get my 5 Star Award badge.
5 Star Reads
Better Watch Out by Willow Rose
He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake.
Some kids are scared of the dark, others of monsters living under their beds. Some are even afraid of clowns.
None of those things scare Sara. But she is terrified of one man, who comes to her house every year, in the middle of the night.
Santa.
Curl up with some frightening Christmas horror from the Queen of Scream, Willow Rose. you might not feel like putting out cookies for Santa ever again after reading this short story.
Five Will Die by L.A. Detwiler
By Friday, one will kill and one will die in the Evermore Publishing offices. But this is just the start of a horrifying chain of murders because the killer has much bigger plans.
From the USA Today bestseller comes a shocking thriller that will keep you guessing up until the very last page.
When a new girl, Becky Rusett, joins the Evermore Publishing team, she’ll start to realize no office setting is as safe as it appears. The secrets, lies, and underhanded dealings of the publishing house are unsettling enough–but now some sinister events are putting the entire office in real danger.
Decades before Evermore Publishing existed, a group of five meanspirited children terrorized a young child in a small town. The Fab 5, as they were called, set off the chain of events that would lead to the horrific events at Evermore. But what’s their connection to the New York City bookworms…and can anyone solve the mystery before there’s a brutal murder?
You never really know if there’s a killer in the cubicle beside you. This tense mystery is only the first of five books tracing the footsteps of a killer.
The Family at No. 12 by Anita Waller
When Janette answers the door to a potential customer looking to board his dog, she never imagines he has nefarious plans.
But minutes later he’s dead and in her cellar.
Weeks later she realises she’s pregnant.
And so she becomes Mother and the baby Child, and a hidden life begins.
But all secrets come out eventually...
Thanks for the Memories by Cecelia Ahern
How can you know someone you’ve never met?
Joyce Conway remembers things she shouldn't. She knows about tiny cobbled streets in Paris, which she has never visited. And every night she dreams about an unknown little girl with blonde hair.
Justin Hitchcock is divorced, lonely and restless. He arrives in Dublin to give a lecture on art and meets an attractive doctor, who persuades him to donate blood. It's the first thing to come straight from his heart in a long time.
When Joyce leaves hospital after a terrible accident, with her life and her marriage in pieces, she moves back in with her elderly father. All the while, a strong sense of déjà vu is overwhelming her and she can't figure out why …
A Cryptic Clue by Victoria Gilbert
A retired librarian gets back to the books—and into a devilish murder case—in acclaimed author Victoria Gilbert’s new series, the perfect literary adventure for fans of Kate Carlisle and Jenn McKinlay.
Sixty-year-old Jane Hunter, forced into early retirement from her job as a university librarian, is seeking a new challenge to keep her spirits up and supplement her meager pension. But as she’s about to discover, a retiree’s life can bring new thrills—and new dangers.
Cameron “Cam” Clewe, an eccentric 33-year-old collector, is also seeking something—an archivist to inventory his ever-expanding compendium of rare books and artifacts. Jane’s thrilled to be hired on by Cam and to uncover the secrets of his latest acquisition, a trove of items related to the classic mystery and detective authors. But Jane’s delight is upended when a body is discovered in Cam’s library. The victim, heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, was the last in line of Cam’s failed romances—and now he’s suspect number one.
Cam vows to use his intelligence and deductive skills to clear his name—but with a slight case of agoraphobia, rampant anxiety, and limited social skills, he’ll need some help. It comes down to Jane to exonerate her new boss—but is he truly innocent?
Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six by Lisa Unger
Three couples rent a luxury cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway to die for in this chilling locked-room thriller.
What could be more restful than a weekend getaway with family and friends? An isolated luxury cabin in the woods, spectacular views, a hot tub and a personal chef. Hannah’s generous brother found the listing online. The reviews are stellar. It'll be three couples on this trip with good food, good company and lots of R & R.
But the dreamy weekend is about to turn into a nightmare.
A deadly storm is brewing. The rental host seems just a little too present. The personal chef reveals that their beautiful house has a spine-tingling history. And the friends have their own complicated past, with secrets that run blood deep.
How well does Hannah know her brother, her own husband? Can she trust her best friend? Meanwhile, someone is determined to ruin the weekend, looking to exact a payback for deeds long buried. Who is the stranger among them?
The Girl Under the Flag by Alex Amit
Monique would do anything to live, when will her identity be found out?
Running for her life from the Nazis, Monique, a seventeen-year-old Jewish girl, escapes through the streets of Paris, searching for a place to hide.
In a dark basement in the city, Philip, a resilient man, offers her a deal; saving her life and changing her identity. In return, she needs to provide information about the Germans and become acquainted with them.
Torn between her feelings for Philip and the fear from Ernest, a German officer who wants to get to know her, Monique steps deeper and deeper into the jaws of the Nazi monster. But on every day that passes, she knows that it is only a matter of time before she makes a mistake and is uncovered by the Germans.
Through her own eyes, Monique tells of her efforts to survive in occupied Paris, torn between the cafés full of people and the poor citizens waiting in lines, holding food ration tickets. But above all, this is a story about a girl who has to fight for her freedom during those dark days—not giving up when the German soldiers walked through Paris, marching the streets with their hobnailed boots.
Enola Holmes 3 - The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets by Nancy Springer
Everyone knows Dr. Watson is Sherlock Holmes' right-hand man—so when he goes missing, it's a shock. Even Sherlock hasn't, well, the slightest clue as to where he could be. Enola is intrigued, but wary; she's still hiding from her older brothers—and getting involved could be disastrous.
But when a bizarre bouquet shows up at the Watson residence, full of convolvulus, hawthorn, and white poppies, Enola must act. She dons her most discerning disguise yet to find the sender—and quickly, for Enola knows the blossoms symbolize death!
Hold your breath, because Enola's about to take it away. The stakes are higher and the mystery deeper than ever before in this third installment of this Edgar Award-nominated, critically acclaimed series.
Enola Holmes 4 - The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan by Nancy Springer
When Enola Holmes encounters her friend Lady Cecily hiding behind a pink fan, she finds it peculiar. Cecily is being held hostage in an abysmal orphanage, forced into a miserable marriage. Enola joins forces with the much older famous brother Sherlock who she has fought desperately to elude, and risks her own freedom to rescue her friend.
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What were your 5 star reads from 2023? Favourite book of the year?
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