My Gorgeous Condominium in Downtown Chicago and a Book Review: Lock Every Door {Riley Sager}

Sharing a bit about my beautiful condominium in downtown Chicago and also my review of Riley Sager’s book, Lock Every Door.

My Life in Downtown Chicago:

Before I was married, I lived alone for many years in the most beautiful city in the world…downtown Chicago. My memories of that time in my life will forever hold such a special place in my heart.

My gorgeous condo building:

My condo was a 550 square feet studio and I was forced to listen to the hum of my refrigerator all night as my bed wasn’t far away. I had no dishwasher, had to take the elevator down 30 stories just to switch my laundry from the washing machine to the dryer, and had to determine which groceries needed to be refrigerated and which could sit in my car overnight to avoid multiple trips up and down the elevator.

However, despite all of that…IT. WAS. PERFECT.

I lived on the 29th floor, had the most spectacular view of the city that I have ever seen, and an entire wall in my condo was nothing but windows. It had valet parking, a grocery store in the building, a doorman, and a bookshelf off the lobby where the residents could leave and take books whenever they pleased. Living there made me feel so fancy and grown up! My entire condo was PINK, my dishes were shaped like stiletto heels, my picture frames were shaped like purses, and my microwave was concealed behind floral curtains held back with rhinestone tie backs. I absolutely loved it and miss it so much! A piece of my heart will forever live in that beautiful, itty bitty teeny tiny pink space.

I couldn’t help but think of my beautiful condo building as I read Lock Every Door. Having this background knowledge made this book feel SO REAL to me…and I think freaked me out even more as I was reading. Yikes.

Goodreads Synopsis of Lock Every Door {Riley Sager}:

No visitors. No nights spent away from the apartment. No disturbing the other residents, all of whom are rich or famous or both. These are the only rules for Jules Larsen’s new job as an apartment sitter at the Bartholomew, one of Manhattan’s most high-profile and mysterious buildings. Recently heartbroken and just plain broke, Jules is taken in by the splendor of her surroundings and accepts the terms, ready to leave her past life behind.

As she gets to know the residents and staff of the Bartholomew, Jules finds herself drawn to fellow apartment sitter Ingrid, who comfortingly, disturbingly reminds her of the sister she lost eight years ago. When Ingrid confides that the Bartholomew is not what it seems and the dark history hidden beneath its gleaming facade is starting to frighten her, Jules brushes it off as a harmless ghost story—until the next day, when Ingrid disappears.

Searching for the truth about Ingrid’s disappearance, Jules digs deeper into the Bartholomew’s dark past and into the secrets kept within its walls. Her discovery that Ingrid is not the first apartment sitter to go missing at the Bartholomew pits Jules against the clock as she races to unmask a killer, expose the building’s hidden past, and escape the Bartholomew before her temporary status becomes permanent.

My Review of Lock Every Door {Riley Sager}:

(Disclaimer: I will never post spoilers in my reviews HOWEVER the comment section is completely fair game to discuss any and all specifics including spoilers)

This book is MESSED UP.

So weird, so creepy…I liked it 😉

This was the first Riley Sager book I’ve read and I must say…I loved the writing! This book hooked me in from the very beginning and had me guessing all the way until the very end. Love when that happens! The stories and characters were so detailed, I could easily see every scene of this creepy story so clearly in my mind. And obviously I imagined some of those scenes in my very own beloved condo building which freaked me out even more 😉

This book was mysterious, it was dark, it was weird, it was GREAT! If you are looking for a page turning psychological thriller this book really is a good one. Such an easy read, I read it in just a few days.

Oh and pro tip: Don’t even TRY to guess the ending. You will be wrong.

Bottom Line:

Xo,

Jenny

Did you read this book? What did you think? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Click the image below to order the book through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo

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What I’m Currently Reading, What I Recently Read, What I Think I’ll Read Next (WWW #14) {Book Coffee Happy}

I love when Book Coffee Happy can participate in WWW! The Three W’s: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

Thanks so much to Sam from Taking on a World of Words for hosting this fun weekly post!

The Three W’s are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

Synopsis of The Loyal Wife {Natalie Barelli}:

Tamra never dreamed she would marry someone like Mike Mitchell: handsome, rich, a wonderful husband… until she finds out that Mike is having an affair.

But Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Mike Mitchell should have remembered that before he made a fool of her.
Because Tamra knows something about Mike. Something he did. Something evil. And she was prepared to carry the secret to her grave.

Not anymore.

To make matters worse, Mike’s daughter Madison has come to visit for a few days, and Madison doesn’t like Tamra. Well, that’s too bad, because Tamra doesn’t have time to argue. She’s too busy ruining Mike’s life while remaining, on the surface at least, the perfect, loyal wife.

But when Tamra’s plan spirals out of control, she finds that things are not what they seem.
And now, it’s too late.

I’ll post my review as soon as I’m finished reading!

What did you recently finish reading?

Synopsis of One of Us Is Lying {Karen M. McManus}:

The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

Pay close attention and you might solve this.

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

I have so many thoughts on this book! I will post my full review soon!

What do you think you’ll read next?

Synopsis of The Swap {Robyn Harding}:

Low Morrison is not your average teen. You could blame her hippie parents or her looming height or her dreary, isolated hometown on an island in the Pacific Northwest. But whatever the reason, Low just doesn’t fit in—and neither does Freya, an ethereal beauty and once-famous social media influencer who now owns the local pottery studio.

After signing up for a class, Low quickly falls under Freya’s spell. And Freya, buoyed by Low’s adoration, is compelled to share her darkest secrets and deepest desires. Finally, both feel a sense of belonging…that is, until Jamie walks through the studio door. Desperate for a baby, she and her husband have moved to the island hoping that the healthy environment will result in a pregnancy. Freya and Jamie become fast friends, as do their husbands, leaving Low alone once again.

Then one night, after a boozy dinner party, Freya suggests swapping partners. It should have been a harmless fling between consenting adults, one night of debauchery that they would put behind them, but instead, it upends their lives. And provides Low the perfect opportunity to unleash her growing resentment.

YESSSSSSSSSSSS I have been not so patiently waiting for this book to come in for me from the library! FINALLY it’s heeeeere! It’s currently sitting and being quarantined for a few days and once it’s all germ free, I can’t wait to DIG IN! **Insider Scoop…once I finish reading, I have a VERY special and exciting blog post about this book coming your way! Stay tuned…**

Have you read any of these 3 books? What did you think (no spoilers)? What are you currently reading? I’d love to hear in the comments below!

Xo,

Jenny

Click the images below to order the books through my Amazon affiliate link. When you order through this link, I receive a tiny commission. Thank you for your support, Xo

This blog is my favorite hobby and I would so love your support! Here are ways you can help my blog to GROW:

*Please share this page with your book and blog loving friends!*

*Subscribe with your email address to my blog (scroll all the way to the bottom of this page on mobile devices OR check the top right of this screen to enter your email address)*

*If you already have a blog, please “follow” mine*

*”Like” my Facebook page (and please comment on, “like”, and share my posts)*

*Follow me on Instagram*

*Follow me on Twitter*

*Subscribe to my YouTube channel*

*Clicking and buying products through my Amazon Affiliate links. The cost to you is exactly the same and I receive a tiny commission off of your purchases.*

*Leaving a positive review on my Facebook page*

The ultimate list of my top book suggestions can be found HERE

Book Review: Last Couple Standing {Matthew Norman}

I had been eagerly awaiting the release of Matthew Norman’s newest book, Last Couple Standing. You may remember it being included in my 6 New Books to be Released in 2020 post! I had my name on the library wait list for MONTHS and it was a happy day when it finally came in!

Goodreads Synopsis of Last Couple Standing {Matthew Norman}:

The Core Four have been friends since college: four men, four women, four couples. They got married around the same time, had kids around the same time, and now, fifteen years later, they’ve started getting divorced around the same time, too. With three of the Core Four unions crumbling to dust around them, Jessica and Mitch Butler take a long, hard look at their own marriage. Can it be saved? Or is divorce, like some fortysomething zombie virus, simply inescapable?

To maximize their chance at immunity, Jessica and Mitch try something radical. Their friends’ divorces mostly had to do with sex—having it, not having it, wanting to have it with other people—so they decide to relax a few things. Terms are discussed, conditions are made, and together the Butlers embark on the great experiment of taking their otherwise happy, functional marriage and breaking some very serious rules.

Jessica and Mitch are convinced they’ve hit upon the next evolution of marriage. But as lines are crossed and hot bartenders pursued, they each start to wonder if they’ve made a huge mistake. What follows is sexy, fun, painful, messy, and completely surprising to them both. Because sometimes doing something bad is the only way to get to the heart of what’s really good.

My Review of Last Couple Standing {Matthew Norman}:

(Disclaimer: I will never post spoilers in my reviews HOWEVER the comment section is completely fair game to discuss any and all specifics including spoilers)

This was the 2nd book that I read while on our beautiful vacation (you can read the GLOWING review of the 1st book that I read HERE and a recap of our perfect vacation HERE).

I read the majority of this book with this exact view in front of me:

Book. Coffee. HAPPY.

Take me baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

As for this book, the entire premise of the topic of the book just felt so incredibly icky to me. Open marriage, cheating, or whatever you want to call it…hard pass. I would literally DESTROY THE BITCH who would even TRY to look at my husband.

However, this book kept my attention from the very first page and I actually really enjoyed it despite it’s yucky premise. The characters and the story lines were interesting, and many parts of this book were thought provoking. It was an easy read and I quickly flew though it! I loved the humor sprinkled throughout, it made such a heavy and weird topic feel a bit lighter.

This was the first book that I have read of Matthew Norman’s and…I’m a FAN! LOVED his writing style! I will absolutely be reading more books that he has written asap.

**Side Note: The main character, Jessica, is now officially one of my most hated book characters of all time. I absolutely loathed her.**

I continued reading this book once we got home from Michigan although the scenery surrounding me wasn’t nearly as beautiful. I always find it sad to start a book on vacation and then have to finish reading once I return home. Anyone else feel this way???

I posted this on Facebook once we returned: