#BookReview #TheFreshmanParents #KoPorteous #RachelsRandomResources

 

The Freshman Parents

They're off for the time of their lives. But are you? 

Book #1 in The Empty Nesters Series.

Single parent Heather isn't neurotic (honest!) - she's simply dreading the day her only child leaves for university - so her meticulous checklists grow longer by the hour. When she seeks advice on a parents' forum, she clashes with Scott, a single dad whose "helpful" statistics and assertions about “helicopter parenting” leave her fuming. 

Move-in day delivers the ultimate surprise: their daughters aren’t just roommates – they are self-declared "besties for life". Suddenly, Heather and Scott are thrown into a begrudging alliance. 

As they navigate the new status quo, Heather's instinct to organise meets Scott's philosophy of letting go. Their practical text messages about mattress toppers and emergency supplies evolve into conversations about dream jobs and bucket list aspirations. Despite their intentions to avoid relationships at all costs, unpredictable events keep throwing them together, meaning Heather and Scott find it increasingly difficult to ignore each other... 

Pre-order Link 

https://amzn.eu/d/0dbgIz37

Publication Date – 10th July 2026

Author Bio – 

Ko Porteous lived in a tiny fishing village in the north of Scotland before moving to Edinburgh aged 10.  

Ko loves meeting people with interesting stories to tell and is constantly on the lookout for knotty story themes, particularly involving women navigating the messiness of life. She has worked as a Research Chemist, Assistant Chef, Teacher and School Leader.  

As well as writing, Ko works as a Business Manager and provides listening services for a mental health charity aiming to reduce the number of deaths caused by suicide.  

In her free time Ko loves to run, meditate and travel; preferably all on the same day.   

Ko has been married for 25 years, has 2 children of her own and is now navigating her own empty nest.  

The Freshman Parents is Ko’s debut novel and is the first in ‘The Empty Nesters’ series.  

 

Social Media Links – 

www.koporteous.co.uk

Instagram: Ko Porteous Author

Facebook: Ko Porteous Author

The Freshman Parents 

Written By Ko Porteous 

Review By Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews

First, I want to thank Ko Porteous and Rachel Random Resources for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review. 

The Freshman Parents by Ko Porteous is a cute, fun and easy read that is part 1 of the Empty Nester Series. This book is most relatable to parents who have kids transitioning from high school living at home to the highs and lows to experiencing college life in the dorms. It is not just about the kids adjusting to the new life, it is also about the parents adjusting to the empty nest syndrome as well. 

One thing I really liked about this book was the Freshman Parents Facebook Group: St. Andrews University chat group sessions where the parents would all get together and totally vent about everything! The fact that Ko started her book off this way was genius because this hooked me right away into the book!! 

There were many storylines in this book that made me crack up laughing. 

#BookReview #LongBuried #ElleryKane #CampNetGalley

 

In 1997, the seniors of Sweetbriar High School buried a time capsule at their graduation ceremony. That same night, one of their own—Homecoming Queen Blair Lennox—disappeared without a trace.

Twenty years later, Juniper Pickett returns to Sweetbriar on a mission, driving all night from San Francisco with a world of trouble in her rearview. There's no going back. Not after what she's done. Tomorrow, they'll exhume the time capsule and expose her darkest secret.

When Juniper accidentally unearths the body of her missing classmate, she finds herself with a target on her back in a race to clear her name. Because it's not true what they say about small towns...

There ARE strangers.

There ARE secrets.

And you CAN go home again. But you may not get out alive.

 
Perfect for readers who love...

⏳ Small-town secrets
⏳ Time capsule mystery with a dash of romance
⏳ Missing homecoming queen
⏳ Everyone knows something
⏳ You can go home again... maybe
 
About the Series...Straight from the mind of a forensic psychologist comes an addictive new series of betrayal, lust, revenge, and murder. These doctors earned their degrees from the dark side. And once you start reading, you won't be able to stop. Other books in the Doctors of Darkness series include Daddy Darkest, The Hanging Tree, The First Cut, Shadows Among Us, and Lucky Girl.

About the author

Forensic psychologist by day, novelist by night, Ellery Kane has been writing--professionally and creatively--for as long as she can remember. Just like many of her main characters, Ellery loves to ask why, which is the reason she became a psychologist in the first place. Real life really is stranger than fiction, and Ellery's writing is often inspired by her day job evaluating violent criminals. If you don't find Ellery interviewing murderers behind prison walls or pecking away at her latest novel, she is probably at the gym landing a solid jab-cross to a punching bag; riding bicycles with her special someone; or enjoying a movie the old-fashioned way--at the theater with popcorn and Milk Duds.

Ellery was previously selected as one of ten semifinalists in the MasterClass James Patterson Co-Author Competition and is the author of the Doctors of Darkness, Rockwell and Decker, and Legacy Series. She has also authored four standalone thrillers with Bookouture: The House Sitter, The Good Wife, The Wrong Family, and My Missing Daughter. Currently, Ellery is working on the sixth book in her Doctors of Darkness series...coming in early 2026!

Long Buried 

Written By Ellery Kane

Review By Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews 

First, I want to thank Ellery Kane and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I can bring you this book.

Thank you Camp NetGalley for reuniting me with one of my favorite authors Ellery Kane! It has been a while since I have read twisted tales and forgot how much I have missed them. This time around I got to read Long Buried as part of her Doctors of Darkness Series. This book was fast paced, suspenseful, mysterious, had its share of heartbreak and heartfelt moments, as well as deep hidden secrets with exploding endings. It is a book that keeps you on your toes wanting to know the outcome of how the storyline will end. 

I loved how Ellery dedicated this book to her Dad. He taught her to live by the cowboy code. 

The first page of Chapter One caught my eye and had me chuckling right away. They say you can’t go home again. What they mean is you shouldn’t. I shouldn’t. And from there on out Ellery hooked me. I needed to find out why Junipher shouldn’t have gone back home. 

One of the many things I really enjoyed and found relatable was Juniper and I both graduated high school in the 90’s. That being said I loved all the references to the 90’s as to this day I am still a 90’s girl at heart. I smiled as they were about to have their high school reunion and wondered how everyone changed or stayed the same. Oh and my favorite is the time capsule and what Junipher really put in it and what she had to dig up before anyone saw. The secrets she was keeping from everyone that would shock everyone once they were exposed. 

There were so many wicked twists that makes Long Buried a must read.  

#BooksonTour #WheresMyDaughter #LGDavis #Bookouture #NetGalley

 

Where’s My Daughter?

L.G. Davis

• • Amazon: https://geni.us/B0FFH7DDGMsocial

They told me my daughter died. But an anonymous note proves she’s alive… and I’ll do anything to get her back.

I open the envelope and a photograph slips into my hands. My coffee mug falls and shatters on the kitchen floor. It’s my precious sixteen-year-old daughter, Sadie. Her hair is shorter and she looks thinner. I thought she was dead.

We were told she drowned at summer camp. A tragic accident, though she was a strong swimmer. My heartbroken husband is the one who broke the news. But this photograph proves it was all a lie. I turn it over with shaking hands and read the note: She’s alive. Don’t go to the police if you want to keep it that way.

Hands shaking, I read on: Your husband knows more than he’s saying…

This totally gripping psychological thriller will have you hooked until the final breathtaking twist! Fans of Gone Girl, The Housemaid and Lisa Jewell will be up all night turning the pages.

L.G. Davis

Liz’s story began in a refugee camp in Angola, where she spent the first eight years of her life. After that, she spent some years in Namibia (her home country), South Africa, and Germany. She now lives in Vienna, Austria, with her husband and two children. Liz wrote her first full-length novel at eighteen and hid it in a box under her bed. Several others soon followed it. Her passion lies in writing edge-of-the-seat psychological thrillers that give readers the same rush they would get on a rollercoaster.

• Mailing List: https://bookouture.com/subscribe/l-g-davis
• Website: https://www.lgdavis.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LGDavisBooks/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/lgdavisauthor

Where’s My Daughter 

Written By L.G. Davis 

Review By Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews 

First, I want to thank L. G. Davis, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I can bring you this review. 

OMG!!!! L.G. Davis totally blew my mind and shocked me to the core with her last wicked twist in Where’s My Daughter! I am still utterly speechless! Where’s My Daughter is one of the most creative outside of the box psychological she has written to date! One that is totally addicting that will keep you glued to your kindle for hours that you will lose track of time easily! 

Instantly I was hooked from the first paragraph from the prologue in Where’s My Daughter! It just tugged hard on my heart strings and I just had to see how the rest played out! 

This book is literally every parent's nightmare come true!!! You send your son or daughter to camp to have a great summer learning a new skill, making new friends, and having fun. You put the trust in the camp counselors and staff’s hands to keep them safe! Except when your daughter never comes home from camp. They say she drowned. Until months later you get a letter in the mail that makes you wonder if she could be ALIVE!!!

Where’s My Daughter is jam packed with deep dark hidden secrets from multiple characters in the book that become explosive when revealed!!! 

L.G. Davis has written a book unlike anything out there in the book world today! My bet is many will be thinking and talking about this book way after they finish reading. I highly recommend it be put on your TBR list.