NetGalley Buddy Readers discussion

#1 bestselling author Lisa Scottoline crafts a riveting psychological thriller in which a troubled young widow inherits a mysterious Tuscan estate, shrouded in secrets. Can she unravel the mystery before it unravels her?

Lately, Julia Pritzker is beginning to think she’s cursed. She’s lost her adoptive parents, then her husband is murdered. When she realizes that her horoscope essentially foretold his death, she begins to spiral. She fears her fate is written in the stars, not held in her own hands.

Then a letter arrives out of the blue, informing her that she has inherited a Tuscan villa and vineyard - but her benefactor is a total stranger named Emilia Rossi. Julia has no information about her biological family, so she wonders if Rossi could be a blood relative. Bewildered, she heads to Tuscany for answers.

There, Julia is horrified to discover that Rossi was a paranoid recluse with delusions of grandeur, who believed herself to be a descendent of Duchess Caterina Sforza, a legendary Renaissance ruler. Julia is stunned by her uncanny resemblance to Rossi and even to Caterina, then she unearths eerie parallels between them, including an obsession with astrology.

Before long, Julia suspects she’s being followed, and strange things begin to happen. Not even a chance meeting with a handsome Florentine can ease her disturbed mind. When events turn deadly, she breaks with reality.

Julia’s harrowing struggle becomes a search for her identity, a race to save her sanity, and ultimately, a question of her very survival.

I plan to start this one tomorrow!

I started it last night. Started off a little slow but now that Julia has left home, it's picking up. I'm 13% (Ch 11) through.

okay, sorry I'm late! I'm grabbing it now - I just had to finish that Stephen King one first!

19 chapters / 26%

(view spoiler)[ wow, I can't even imagine - all that loss so quickly
and then to suddenly have this villa and money thrown at her!

The town is mean but it's hard to know why. . .the realtor's information made sense but he also felt slimy. His trying to get her to sell it was kind of gross

the nightmares sound terrible - I wonder how the author will play this out. Is it really nightmares from ghosts or is she losing it a bit

the astrology stuff - she's definitely checking that less now that she's there. I wonder if she'll try to fix the place up. sounds like a lot of work (hide spoiler)]

yeah, it was a slow start but I'm liking it now!

36 chapters / 50%

(view spoiler)[ wow, can't help but wonder if someone is drugging her or if the house has the mold and it is affecting her or something. . .maybe the couple wants the house? or the town does? and they want her to leave?

is the realtor behind the guy in the white fiat following her?

this is all so odd. I don't blame her friend for being frustrated. She really seems like she's going off the deep end when she talks to her on the phone (hide spoiler)]

55 chapters / 75%

it reaaaaaaally feels like it's slowed waaaay down again

(view spoiler)[ I am not feeling all this medium stuff.
I figured she was being drugged and checking the well was a great idea.
but the conspiracy theories, the linked blood to some far off aristocrat. I get it if it's for the money or the house. I get it if it was the caretakers because they wanted the house and money. but what else could be going on?

it feels far fetched and so drawn out. and although I thought the guy she was seeing was sweet and I'm sad he's in an accident, I'm kind of tired of her pining over him and struggling with her husband who's gone. All of it feels like its the same thing talked about over and over again. Ugh (hide spoiler)]

and done

this one went in so many different directions!
(view spoiler)[ well, I was glad she found her mom. and wow, glad she found those photos. she really had to re-explain her childhood to her.

the sensing and auras and the medium stuff - I felt like that bogged down the story. they could have easily just chalked it up to her being drugged and cut all that out.

I was glad she got to say goodbye to Mike and to eventually have the trial - that was a nice touch at the end
and, of course, glad the boyfriend was okay

but holy conspiracy theory. the cameras and the car tracker?! that was wild. add to it just how much money they were talking about if they got all the land and made the changes. no wonder they wanted her to sell so bad!

I liked it a bit better when Courtney arrived, too, because she seemed to ground our mc a bit and the story had a nice flow to it as they tackled the mystery and family lineage (hide spoiler)]

We've been sick so I haven't gotten much reading done aside for audiobooks. I'm on Ch 24 (32%) and (view spoiler)[I'm wondering if we're going into the supernatural here or not...! (hide spoiler)] This is my first Scottoline book, though I own a handful.

awe, hope you guys are on the mend! being sick is no fun!

Whoops forgot to come back here. I finished on Saturday. (view spoiler)[Absolutely ridiculous. 😂 I couldn't get on board after halfway through. And I kept forgetting how old Julia was supposed to be because she and Courtney read a lot older than 30's. I don't think I care for Scottoline's writing in general. And she didn't really nail the language of a 30's person so it was awkward. (hide spoiler)] Now I wonder if her other books are like this or if she's trying something new. I'm looking at my collection of used Scottoline books differently now. lol

I agree, this one was definitely not my favorite. . .I struggled with the main character too!

I think I've only read one other book by this author! lol about side-eyeing books on your shelf! You'll have to keep me posted on how they turn out (or if you let them go. . .)