September 21, 2024 - fundinmentalfundinmental

MY REVIEW

Sidney Ryan has chosen to do a twelve week documentary on Grace Sebold, who was accused of killing her boyfriend on Spring Break. Charlie Donlea let me think I knew what’s happening, but I was so wrong. I knew it wouldn’t be the simple answer, but Charlie took me somewhere I didn’t see coming. I did have a hunch about one character and that panned out, but there is so much more to the story. By the time I got halfway through I saw I was getting more than I bargained for in this psychological thriller.

If you are looking for a complex, unputdownable mystery, pick up a copy of Don’t Believe It by Charlie Donlea.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos — 4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

The Girl of Sugar Beach is the most watched documentary in television history—a riveting, true-life mystery that unfolds over twelve weeks and centers on a fascinating question: Did Grace Sebold murder her boyfriend, Julian, while on a Spring Break vacation, or is she a victim of circumstance and poor police work? Grace has spent the last ten years in a St. Lucian prison, and reaches out to filmmaker Sidney Ryan in a last, desperate attempt to prove her innocence.

As Sidney begins researching, she uncovers startling evidence overlooked during the original investigation. Before the series even finishes filming, public outcry leads officials to reopen the case.

Delving into Grace’s past, Sidney peels away layer after layer of deception. But as she edges closer to the real heart of the story, Sidney must decide if finding the truth is worth risking her newfound fame, her career … even her life.

Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller
402 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 29, 2018 by Pinnacle Books

ABOUT CHARLIE DONLEA

Charlie Donlea is the USA TODAY and #1 Internationally bestselling author of SUMMIT LAKE, THE GIRL WHO WAS TAKEN, DON’T BELIEVE IT, SOME CHOOSE DARKNESS, THE SUICIDE HOUSE, TWENTY YEARS LATER, and THOSE EMPTY EYES. His eighth thriller, LONG TIME GONE, explores the science of forensic genealogy and will be released in June 2024.

His books have been translated into twenty languages across nearly forty countries. He resides in Chicago with his wife and two children.

He spends a part of each year fishing with his father in the far reaches of Canada, where the roads end and lakes are accessible only by floatplane. These majestic trips to “God’s Country” inspired the setting for his first novel, Summit Lake.

Website

You can see my Giveaways HERE.
You can see my Reviews HERE.
If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
Look on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
I am an Amazon affiliate/product images are linked.
Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Sparktopia
JA Huss
Publication date: September 19th 2024
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Sacrifice one for the Greater Good?
Or burn it all down to save her?

Spark is light, Spark is magic, Spark is power. Spark is everything and it blooms inside the bodies of Tau City’s young women. Once a decade, in exchange for enough power to keep the city modern and comfortable, a Spark Maiden must be sacrificed to their mysterious tower god in a ritual called The Extraction.

Ten Maidens are Chosen, but only one enters the tower as a sacrifice, never to be seen again. The nine leftovers are elevated to celebrity status and spend the next decade living in the luxurious Maiden Tower, wearing couture gala gowns, and partying with the city’s most interesting and beautiful people. Every young woman in Tau City wants to be a Spark Maiden because the odds have always been in their favor.

Until now.

One by one, the greedy god has summoned the leftover Spark Maidens into sacrifice. When Clara Birch, Spark Maiden number nine, gets the call, she fully expects her fiancé, Finn Scott, the Extraction Master’s son, to save her.

Spoiler alert: He’s not going to.

At the same time, a rebellion is brewing. The forgotten underclass is plotting the end of the god and his tower with strategically-placed Rebel spies that will bring it all down. Jasina Bell is a young woman on a mission to make history and she will stop at nothing to get the fame she deserves.

When Clara is forced into the tower against her will, she makes an unexpected discovery. There is no god—just a man, one willing to do what Finn Scott wouldn’t: save Clara Birch.

Even if it means destroying the entire world to do so.

Betrayal and sacrifice, loyalty and power plays—four people are entangled across time and space as they seek truth, freedom, and true love in this wild and twisted adult romantasy that will have readers breathlessly turning pages until the very last word.

Inside the pages you’ll find…
Spicy Romantasy
Enemies to Lovers
Friends to Lovers
Ride or Die
Anti-Hero
Found Family
Across Time and Space
Ultimate Betrayal
Morally Grey Characters

Goodreads / Amazon / Audible

READ FREE IN KINDLE UNLIMITED!

—

EXCERPT:

I stare up at him, marveling at how handsome a man he’s grown into over the last decade. Same shoulder-length, but messy blond hair. Same deep and penetrating blue eyes. But his shoulders are broad and muscular now. His jaw set with that hard, squared-off chin and covered in just the right amount of golden stubble.

He was still a boy of eighteen when I was Chosen and now he’s a man. Did I miss something and not realize it? It didn’t feel that way as time was passing. Finn and I were never really apart, we just led separate lives. But we’re not kids anymore and it just right now occurs to me that we gave up something irreplaceable so I could be a Spark Maiden.

Our youth.

We’re only twenty-eight, it’s not like we’re old. But still, it feels like a loss.

“I want this to be over now, Finn. I don’t wanna go back to the Maiden Tower. I wanna stay here with you and never leave.”

He smiles as he kisses me. “Three months. We’re practically there, Clara. Nothing will get in the way.”

“I know. But I want it now.”

“We’ve waited ten years. We’ll be together forever before we know it.”

Then he pulls away, slips his hand around to the small of my back, and guides me over to the door. We press our foreheads together and sigh, lingering in this embrace for one more moment. You’re my future. And the god can’t take you away from me, Clara Birch. Not ever. Our love is destiny.”

Author Bio:

JA Huss is a scientist, New York Times Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller, and a cowgirl who rides English. Five of her books were optioned for TV/film, several of her audiobooks have been nominated for the Audie and SOVA Awards, and she was a RITA Finalist in 2019. She has been an indie author in both fiction and non-fiction for seventeen years and lives on a ranch in Colorado with her family, horses, dogs, goats, donkeys, and chickens.

Website / Facebook Page / Facebook Fan Group / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub / Amazon / Audible