Learning to Swim: a novel By Sara J. Henry

I won this book from Goodreads as an ARC book.

Let me start out by saying that I LOVED this book!  I'm an avid mystery/crime reader, so this book was right up my alley.  The way that Ms. Henry allows her readers to really connect with her characters is amazing.  Without giving too many details away, I will try to review this without getting too excited!

Troy Chance is a female freelance writer who lives in Lake Placid, NY.  She was on a ferry to go visit a male friend, when she thought she witnessed a small child falling off or being thrown off another ferry going in the opposite direction. Without thinking, she immediately dove into the cold waters of Lake Champlain to potentially rescue this child, which she does successfully.  What comes next is a series of twists and turns that will keep a reader glued to this book. Troy finds the boy's (Paul) father, Phillipe, and goes about trying to solve the attempted murder by herself. Troy finds out that Paul and his mother, Phillipe's wife, were the victims of a kidnapping that had been kept out of the media for various reasons.  This leads to Troy's suspicion that someone who was close to the boy and his mother had been involved in the kidnapping/attempted murder of Paul. 

This is a fast-paced, intriguing and enjoyable read.  As I mentioned, the author has a talent for connecting her readers to the characters of this story.  I see that this is Ms. Henry's first novel; I am looking forward to reading more from this author.  I have nothing but good things to say about this book, and I would recommend it to everyone!!

Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa

I won this book as an ARC from Library Thing. 

I really enjoyed this book. I was "warned" by the author that it is pretty dark, and it surely was, but it was so very good!  It was a book that I didn't want to put down.

This story is about a 16 year old girl, her 19 year old brother and their parents.  The mother had just had a miscarriage and has holed herself up in her room and isn't paying attention to either one of her kids, while the father, recently unemployed, drinks too much and is down at the local pool hall most of every day.  This is a story set in New Orleans, a place I've never been. There are many references to different areas and/or street names. The 16 year old girl, Hailey, is in turmoil throughout the book, for many reasons that are explained while reading.  A great story of family dynamics, mistrust and the importance of being supportive of family.

I very much recommend this book for anyone to read, as it has all the elements of a great storyline....adventure, mystery, betrayal, religion, love, etc. Great book Mr. Tusa!