Charmaine: Abbey, did you ever read/listen/watch the Caroline Kepnes You series? I listened to her latest in the series You Love Me recently and it is seriously twisted... perfect reading for those who prefer their Valentine’s with a little side of horror... I mean, who other than Joe Goldberg (main character) would say things like “You are a woman and I am a man and we belong in the dark together” (from You). 

Abbey: I bought the book before it was made into a show, but I never ended up reading it after seeing the first episode because Joe made my skin crawl! His obsession reminds me of Karen Hamilton’s The Perfect Girlfriend, which follows Juliette as she begins her new job as a flight attendant to better stalk the pilot and recent ex, Nate. After all, she’s in love with him, she knows their breakup was a mistake, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get him back. Imagine Snakes on a Plane, only instead of snakes, it’s a dangerous ex with a meticulous and deluded scheme. You won’t believe how far she’ll go to get the man of her dreams... 

Charmaine: I’ve got chills.  Makes you wonder just how well you really know the person sitting next to you? Santino Fontana was the narrator for this trilogy and his voice was so hypnotic—when I started listening I just couldn’t stop.   

Abbey: He also narrated Stephen King’s The Institute. I loved his voice!  

One I recently enjoyed was Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier. Marin and Derek are the perfect couple – they were college sweethearts and they’ve built a successful life for themselves both at work and in their neighbourhood. But everything changes when their young son goes missing in a busy shopping centre. That was almost a year ago, and they’re still reeling from his disappearance, though they’re handling it in two very different ways. Marin hires a private investigator to reinvigorate the long-cold case, while Derek becomes more and more distant. Soon, the private investigator will discover a devastating secret - Derek’s affair with a 24-year-old art student. On Marin’s path for revenge, she’ll discover that her and Derek’s relationship was never as perfect as it seemed, the ones she was once closest to might not be all that trustworthy, and that she might be closer than ever to solving the disappearance of her son. 

Charmaine: I read that one too! Jennifer Hillier is such a great author!  Did you know she’s Canadian? Whenever I pick up her books, I know nothing else is getting done that evening—I'm so excited for her new book coming out next summer called Things We Do in the Dark – sounds so ominous. 

Speaking of things in the dark- it reminds me of Rachel Hawkins new thriller (which I absolutely devoured) called Reckless Girls. Imagine a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific with a sordid history of cannibalism, shipwrecks, missing people and . . .murder.  Enter Lux and her bf Nico. They agreed to take adventurers Brittany and Amma abord their boat The Susannah to make some extra money. As they head towards Meroe Island, tensions heighten, the ship becomes damaged, and we get sneak peak flashbacks into someone’s past. Someone who is harboring some serious dark intentions... Lies, betrayals and danger abound as this crew learns more about each other, which will soon erupt into an unforgettable ending...  Kirkus (2021) calls it “A soapy, claustrophobic page-turner.” Love that description!  

Abbey: Just added it to my ‘For Later’ shelf. So many good books to get through, so little time... I can’t wait to stay in this Valentine’s Day and get started!