Shelf Indulgence Book Club

  Thank you J.T. for the early sneak peak. I was captivated from the moment I started this short story about Addison Blake on her search looking for her big break. The pages quickly take you to some unexpected places. And this was one I needed to finish as quickly as I started. It left me wanting even more of Addison and particularly Todd’s story.  I would love for you to explore this story for a longer format story. I wanted so much more. It's one you certainly wont want to miss.  Brittany P.  Addie is a journalist in DC looking for her big break. A local photographer falls unresponsive on a public sidewalk, and a Good Samaritan saves his live. Addie recognizes this hero as her former high school crush and heads to her home town to hopefully interview him for a story.  A fast placed, short psychological thriller. I would recommend as a quick read!  Bailey S. When Addison Blake in ‘These Cold Strangers’ by J.T. Ellison recognizes someone from her ...

We started with talking about weather. Yep, small talk started out our meeting, but in Shelf Indulgence fashion, it led to some provoking conversation. Hank let us in on a secret to television stations (don’t tell), but the weather department doesn’t have a window, so they are using radar, science, technology, but they haven’t looked outside, so keep that in mind when your weather app says no snow but there are fluffy flakes coming down. Naturally, we talked about snow storms in the south, because nothing is more suspenseful than snow and ice in Atlanta. This led to the collaborative concept ‘Not My Smartest Day’ (inspired in part on our own Brittany’s experience), a rom com about two lovers meeting in Kroger after getting stuck in the snow and having to overnight in a grocery store together. Hank’s spin on this concept is much more intriguing and complex, so now we are tasked with coming up with a Hank-specific title for her. Check back with us in 2025 to see if this idea panned o...

We were so lucky today to have  Hank Phillippi Ryan  here with our book club to join us for our discussion of The House Guest. She was such a delight to talk with. You all won't want to miss this one when it's out February 7th. We wanted to share the discussion with those that couldn't make it but may have loved the book as much as we did:  Watch the Video Note there are spoilers ahead if you've not finished the book. Enjoy!!   

  We were so honored to get our hands on Hank Phillippi Ryan's book before it releases on February 7th, 2023. We can tell you it's one you certainly don't want to miss!! Here is our playlist to get you pumped up to read it:   Play on Spotify . Wedding Bell Blues – The 5 th   Dimension It’s Nice to Have a Friend – Taylor Swift Money – Pink Floyd So What – Pink Gaslight – Nessa Barrett Better By Myself – Hey Violet Money, Money, Money - ABBA Suspicious Minds - Elvis Thelma + Louise – Bastille Via Chicago – Wilco Money (That What I Want) – Barrett Strong Gas Lighting – Lizzy Farall Gonna Get Over You – Sara Bareillis The Policy of Truth – Depeche Mode One Way Ticket – LeAnn Rimes Cold Day in July  – The Chicks You're So Vain   – Taylor Swift  Island Song   – Zac Brown Band Detective   – No Doubt Revenge   – Danger Mouse FBI   – Psychic Ills  Down To The Water Line   – Dire Straits  Building A Mys...

  The House Guest  is another diabolical cat-and-mouse thriller from  USA Today  bestselling author Hank Phillippi Ryan—but which character is the cat, and which character is the mouse? After every divorce, one spouse gets all the friends. What does the other one get? If they’re smart, they get the benefits. Alyssa Macallan is terrified when she’s dumped by her wealthy and powerful husband. With a devastating divorce looming, she begins to suspect her toxic and manipulative soon-to-be-ex is scheming to ruin her—leaving her alone and penniless. And when the FBI shows up at her door, Alyssa knows she really needs a friend. And then she gets one. A seductive new friend, one who’s running from a dangerous relationship of her own. Alyssa offers Bree Lorrance the safety of her guest house, and the two become confidantes. Then Bree makes a heart-stoppingly tempting offer. Maybe Alyssa and Bree can solve each others’ problems. But no one is what they seem. And the fates and ...

First I want to thank Hank Philippi Ryan for letting Shelf Indulgence Book Club have an early peak at this book. It's one you certainly don't want to miss when it's due out February 7th.  We open with Alyssa meeting her new friend Bree in a bar and inviting her into her house - which had me screaming oh no from the very start...  Each chapter left you wanting more.  Every time I thought I had 'The House Guest' figured out, it took me for another twist and turn. It leaves you on edge questioning who can you really trust? And isn't that like like sometime? I can guarantee you, you'll be shocked by the ending. This must be on your 2023 reading list.  Brittany P. Do we truly know 100% everything about our spouse or significant other?  Do we truly know what they do all day long when they are ‘working’, and what does ‘working’ exactly mean?  In ‘The House Guest’ by Hank Philippi Ryan, we learn that we don’t know 100% about our spouses. We do learn ...

We were so lucky today to have J.T. Ellison  here with our book club to join us for our discussion of It's One Of Us. She was such a delight to talk with. You all won't want to miss this one when it's out  February 21.  We wanted to share the discussion with those that couldn't make it but may have loved the book as much as we did:  Watch the Video Note there are spoilers ahead if you've not finished the book. Enjoy!!

It's One of Us by J.T. Ellison got me. I love reading thrillers, and part of that is that, in the privacy of my own home where I can't possibly annoy anyone else, I like being smug. I like 'calling' what the twist will be, or who might have actually committed the crime, or guessing what happens next.  And at first, I thought I was doing that with this book. We get the 'killer perspective' right away, which I always enjoy (those killer perspective chapters have to be so much fun for authors to write, and it certainly feels like Ellison had fun with them in this book). Very quickly, I figured out who the killer was (enter smug face), and I thought I knew how the book was going to go. That is, until Ellison made it clear we were  supposed  to have figured out who the killer was, as she reveals them pretty early (exit smug face). I was delighted to be surprised by the twists in the book. I should have seen it coming, for sure, and yet, ...

We were so honored to get our hands on J.T. Ellison's book before it releases on February 21st, 2023. We can tell you it's one you certainly don't want to miss!! Here is our playlist to get you pumped up to read it:    Play on Spotify . ·   Possum Kingdom - Toadies ·   Don't Stand So Close To Me - The Police ·   Spark - Tori Amos ·   Hello Lionel Richie ·   Run For Your Life - Lionel Richie ·   You Don't Know My Name - Alicia Keys ·   So Hard - The Chicks ·   Hurts - The Head And The Heart ·   Crowded Table - The Highwomen ·   This Too Shall Pass - Ok Go ·   Sons And Daughters - Allman Brown ·   Jealousy, Jealousy - Olivia Rodrigo ·   Evermore - Taylor Swift, Bon Iver ·   Carried Me With You - Brandi Carlile ·   Head Above Water - Avril Lavigne ·   Visiting Hours - Ed Sheeran ·   Unwell - Matchbox Twenty · ...

    What inspired IT’S ONE OF US? Was there a particular moment or experience that sparked the idea for this story?   The germs of this story have been floating around in my brain for over a decade, sparked by one of those tragic-comedic life moments: we were in the middle of some rather grueling fertility treatments, and my husband was locked alone in a room in the clinic with a magazine and Sweet Home Alabama blasting out of the speakers (not his first choice). That evening, as we laughed at the absurdity of our situation, he told me this had the makings of a novel...but I’m a thriller writer, and fertility is more of a women’s fiction story. I didn’t know how to marry the two until recently. Enter the complicated forensics of sibling DNA, the moral ambiguity of the sperm donation industry, and a killer on the loose, and poof, the story came together.      If you had to choose 3 adjectives to describe IT’S ONE OF US, what would they be?   Intense. Em...

  Synopsis:  She saved his life. Now he‘ll never let her go. Detective Elise Sutton is drawn to cold cases. Each crime is a puzzle to solve, pulled from the past. Elise looks for cracks in the surface and has become an expert on how murderers slip up and give themselves away. She has dedicated her life to creating a sense of order, at work with her ex-marine partner; at home with her husband and two young daughters; and within, battling her own demons. Elise has everything under control, until one afternoon, when she walks into a department store and is forced to make a terrible choice: to save one life, she will have to take another. Elise is hailed as a hero, but she doesn’t feel like one. Steeped in guilt, and on a leave of absence from work, she’s numb, even to her husband and daughters, until she connects with Wade Austin, the tall man whose life she saved. But Elise soon realizes that he isn’t who he says he is. In fact, Wade Austin isn’t even his real name. The tall man...