Cari Hunter

I always feel the same way whenever I start one of Cari Hunter's books: Why the hell did I wait so long to read one?? I did really well with this one, though. I actually read the advanced copy BEFORE the publication date! Anyone who even sort of follows my reviews knows that's a rarity. So I'm feeling pretty chuffed right now. I still have at least one book by Hunter that has gotten lost in my TBR but I'll be digging it up soon.

Cari Hunter is, without a doubt, one of the most talented show more authors I've had the pleasure to read. She writes such real characters and puts them together in such a way that the reader absolutely has to care about them. Not just our main protagonists but any characters we spend any amount of time with. A Calculated Risk was just so damn well done. Some of the scenes with one of the victims and her family nearly brought me to tears. And, of course, Jo and Isla (pronounced EYE-la - I looked it up), were perfect. And I thought their past and present was handled beautifully. It felt natural with what we knew about the characters.

I've been thinking about this all day and if I was stranded on a desert island and could only have books by a single author, I'd absolutely pick Cari Hunter's books. I mean, I get everything I really want: good action, an interesting crime, lovely damaged characters, lots of genuine emotion and situations, and plenty of dry witty humor.

If you're reading this before September 2023, preorder it. You won't regret it.

So thank you to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for giving me another chance to get a book read on time! And an even bigger thanks to Cari Hunter for being such a wonderful writer. show less

This book has been on my TBR list since before it was published. Full disclosure - I'm a friend of the author. I've known her for several years and love her sharp wit and dry, dark humor. I also love her writing voice and style and I knew that I'd enjoy this book. So why did I wait so long to read it? Easy: I have very little time to read anything with my eyeballs and I didn't want to use a text-to-speech reader for this book. Sanne and Meg sound like Cari and when I'm reading with my eyes, show more I hear their voices. Normally, I'm fine with text-to-speech for British English books, I even have a special voice downloaded for them but it just didn't cut it with this one. I needed to let my imagination give them voices. So it took me a very, very long time to finish the book.

It was well worth the wait and I've already gotten the second in the series opened up and ready to go.

But before I go to it, I just want to share a few words about why I find Hunter's writing - and No Good Reason in particular - so engaging and good. I've seen other folks mention how real her characters are, and I agree completely. It's so important to be able to connect with the characters in a book you're reading. You have to care about them and believe that they're real to truly become engrossed in the story. But that's not it for me. I absolutely love the way Cari writes a scene. She brings it completely to life: the smells, the sounds, the colors, everything. But not in a way that the reader feels bogged down in it. Just enough to drop us there, next to Sanne or Meg and force us to experience what they're living. Not many authors whom I've read over the past many years can do this as well as Cari Hunter.

Yeah, she's my friend but a friend who wouldn't want me to say anything flattering just to help her sell a book or to make her feel better. She's got an insane amount of integrity - particularly when it comes to her writing. So if I didn't believe what I'm writing here, I wouldn't bother taking my time to do it.

But don't take my word for it. If you like gritty, dark crime stories with very human characters, download a sample. You'll know right away if it's going to be for you. show less

Whew. What a story. Definitely a thriller.

It starts with a car accident down the side of a road. We meet Rebecca (or that's who she assumes she is). She doesn't remember why she's in the crashed car, or for that matter who she is.

She meets, Bronwen Pryce, one of the first responders and there's a small spark between them. But, she's all bashed to hell and Prcye is all business trying to figure out what happened to the woman.

Rebecca slowly finds out more about herself, her family, friends, show more and job. But, a lot of the details still escape her, and that's what makes the novel interesting.

It was most definitely a thriller. I found myself wondering who was going to be the doer and such.

I really liked the characters too. Bron took awhile to get used to, but, I really liked the student nurse who was Rebecca's nurse in the hospital.

And then there was the biggest whoa-- I didn't really realize until the 7th chapter that it wasn't in past tense as most books usually are that I read. And yet, only once or twice in the book did I remember that was the case. It was a nice change of pace (usually I can't read anything but straight on past tense). Very cool.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books. show less

Two women from opposite sides of the Atlantic meet in the desolate wilderness, and battle to stay alive against their two most dangerous foes--nature and man.

The first few chapters setting up the backstory and alternating between the two ladies were a bit predictable and almost perfunctory. But when they finally meet, and the rain
starts bucketing down, our ladies are in for the most harrowing rollercoaster ride of their lives, and we are in for a very suspenseful, effective thriller.

The show more author rains bruises, cuts, scrapes and bullet wounds on our heroines all over and again and again. Despite how they must look covered in muck and bruises(literally black and blue!), they manage to fall in love. Lots of exciting twists and turns, although the biggest one you could smell a mile away if you paid attention.

I loved how the author managed to let the ladies resolve their
impossible situation logically by themselves and with no superhuman feats of derring-do, but just plain courage and utter desperation And who can not but adore Sarah's lovely Britishisms... (if this ever gets an audiobook release, I'll be first in line 8-) ) show less