Review: The Odds of You: The irresistible new opposites attract rom-com from the Sunday Times bestselling author

The Odds of You: The irresistible new opposites attract rom-com from the Sunday Times bestselling author by Kate Dramis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sage Collins had a job as a data analyst until she wrote a best-selling fantasy novel. Now she's got a big enough advance on her next book to give up her job and pursue her dreams of being a writer. In fact, she's flying from LA to New York to Comic Con where she is signing books and taking part in a panel discussion.

Theo Sharpe is a British guy sitting across the aisle on the same flight to New York. He keeps striking up a conversation with Sage, which is fun and everything, but a bit odd. Then when they disembark the plane the paparazzi snap pictures of the two of them. Theo is an up-and-coming actor and his rabid fans jump on the pictures fuelling speculation and rumours - but mainly making ugly comments about Sage and accusing her of trying to hang on Theo's coattails.

The backlash fuels Sage's insecurities, she's lagging behind on writing the second book with a deadline looming, her parents both treat her writing as an aberration, and she's officially run out of ideas. So, when the vitriol sees no sign of abating she decides to book an Airbnb on the Scottish island of Skye, somewhere away from everything where she can just concentrate on writing.

What Sage has forgotten is that Theo was the one to mention Skye to her in the first place, his family has a holiday home on the island, and it isn't long before they run into each other. Love might blossom, but for how long, Theo lives in London and Sage lives in LA?

I did enjoy this but it was very angsty. If I tell you that Theo seemed well-balanced and calm yet he is the one who was mourning the deaths of his brother and mother, his father is his agent and is controlling his life, and he wants to take his career in a whole new direction I think you can get an idea of how much angst Sage carries around ... it felt a bit too much and a bit repetitive. Also the 'conflict' was pretty obvious.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: The Kennedy Rule: An addictive rivals-to-lovers MM hockey romance

The Kennedy Rule: An addictive rivals-to-lovers MM hockey romance by K.C. Carmichael
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Connor Kennedy is the golden boy of ice hockey, son of a living legend, Captain of his team, the Chicago Broad Wings (where his father, Connor Kennedy Sr is the general manager) his path has been cleared all the way and he's a natural shoe-in for the USA men's Olympic team.

Gavin Marshal has had a hard life, his local town in Alaska scrimped and saved to send him to hockey camp with second-hand equipment, but he's made something of himself as enforcer for the Buffalo Blizzards and he has helped his team to the playoffs, even if he does have the dubious honour of being dubbed king of penalty minutes as the player who has racked up the most time in the sin bin.

As opposing team members they should hate each other, but when they first met at that infamous training camp they could have been friends, if Connor's father hadn't tried to have Gavin thrown off the team.

As a surprise no-one saw coming Gavin and Connor have both been named for Team USA, and after Gavin's cool head gains the coach's eye, Connor is named captain and Gavin alternate captain.

Whilst the tension mounts they are going to have to make some tough decisions, because while they might be able to have a romance on the DL while at training camp and at the Olympics, when they go back to their teams they are mortal enemies.

I really enjoyed this, okay Connor Kennedy Sr was a bit of a cartoon villain but I loved Connor and Gavin and Bouchard and Gavin's dad and would happily read more in this series or by this author.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.



View all my reviews

Review: It's Not Me, It's You

It's Not Me, It's You by Jo Lovett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

When Freya meets Jake back stage at a breakfast TV show sparks flow - but not in a good way. She's a romance writer who doesn't believe in a happy ever after for herself, he's a divorce lawyer who still believes in true love but thinks romances should be banned. When they start arguing on national TV social media goes wild and the tv host sees a quick way to make hay while the sun shines. She forces Freya and Jake to agree to arrange a series of dates for each other, each of them trying to prove themselves right. Neither of them can afford the backlash if they back out so with ill grace they agree.

What follows are a series of dates, then the tv production company decides it is more amusing if the pair double date, and the dates get sillier as the tv show chooses the activities.

I did enjoy this, but it requires the reader to suspend disbelief ... at a certain point I would have just said no, sod being a good sport about things.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: The Monday Night Heartbreak Club: A BRAND NEW heart‑warming novel of heartbreak, friendship & second chances from Jane Lovering

The Monday Night Heartbreak Club: A BRAND NEW heart‑warming novel of heartbreak, friendship & second chances from Jane Lovering by Jane Lovering
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Phoebe (Fee) is drowning her sorrows in her local wine bar after her loser boyfriend left her (again) when she spots a flyer for a club for those disappointed by Valentine's Day. She pitches up the next Monday to meet Margot, a frighteningly efficient lawyer whose husband has filed for divorce, Annie who thinks her husband of forty years is having an affair, and Wren who has left her partner because they didn't pay her enough attention. Fee feels a bit embarrassed that she is the only one glad that her relationship has ended ... she wants the club to help her from caving in and taking him back. The a late-comer to the club, Fraser a pretty gormless young man whose friend told him it would be a great place to meet women.

What started out as a bit of a moaning session becomes a group of found friends and after one session Fee messages Margot and suggests the club tail Annie's husband to find out if he is having an affair.

This was peak Jo Lovett, funny, sad, touching, surprising, full of normal people being ordinary but special at the same time.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: How to Write a Love Story

How to Write a Love Story by Catherine Walsh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Sam Avery is a hot-shot New York book editor with ambitions to run the agency one day. He first got into editing (and books) through the novels of Frank Sheridan (think high fantasy David Eddings/G.R.R Martin), which his firm publishes. He was the original fan-boy, even has a tattoo on his arm like the hero. One day his boss calls him into the office, following Frank's death fans thought the series would never be completed but Frank's daughter Ciara has agreed to write the final novel but she is having a wobbly and his boss wants Sam to travel to Ireland and coax her through the process.

Ciara Sheridan is living in the house immortalised by her father, complete with secret doors and various iconic settings from his books. Grief has paralysed her, the incessant intrusions by fans who leave cards, flowers, and gifts and try to get into the house have made her a recluse. The backlash she received when the fans discovered that she had written three books under a pseudonym has made her wary of fans altogether. She just can't get herself into writing this book, the expectations of fans worldwide is stopping her from writing. All of this is why she's insisted on total secrecy about the book, no mentions that it is being written, and definitely no hints that she is the author.

Although they clash at first, particularly because Ciara is wary of fans, eventually they find a way to work together and the book starts to take shape, and as they bring together the hero and heroine could these two find their own HEA?

I was really enjoying this book until maybe three-quarters of the way through, when there was a series of plot devices designed to cause tension, just piled on one after the other, it was completely at odds with the sleepy small-town Summer vibes of the rest of the book and required both Ciara and Sam to do things which (to me) didn't feel authentic. I felt the ending was rushed and resolved by another plot device. Would have been a four star review otherwise.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.


View all my reviews

Review: Clown Town

Clown Town by Mick Herron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Separately. first River Cartwright is recovering from Novichok poisoning, he hopes to be allowed back into Regents Park, little does he know First Desk Diana Taverner intends to have him kicked out of the service completely. Second, someone is trying to blackmail Diana with proof that the then government and First Desk aided and abetted a known sociopath during the Troubles in Ireland, and then gave him a large pension when peace was brokered. Third, someone has lodged a complaint with HR about Diana's behaviour. Fourth, Roddy Ho has got a tattoo. Fifth, the curator has discovered that a book from River's grandfather's library, which he donated to the Spooks College at Oxford, is missing ... not only that it isn't a real book. Diana Taverner tries to play chess on a global scale and things don't go well.

We are out of the COVID era and there is a new government. Peter Judd is as oily and obnoxious as (I actually mistyped ass but it did seem appropriate) ever, despite having no ostensible power, and his (and his paymasters') grip on Diana is tightening.

This didn't seem to have the humour and bite of the previous novels. It is difficult to distinguish the Slow Horses when they get murdered with such monotonous regularity, I didn't even remember that there was a new girl in the last book. The farting has abated, but sadly it has been replaced by a bad case of (deliberate) malapropisms which feels weak.

Maybe its me. I was super excited to see an ARC on NetGalley and 'wished for it', was stoked to get my wish granted and then ... nada, couldn't bring myself to start the book. Don't get me wrong, I started reading it last night and finished this afternoon, its a good read, but it doesn't have the vicious caricatures of the earlier books where Mick Herron skewered political figures, all we get are some side swipes at Liz Truss (who?) and Nigel Far(ight)age.

After the gut-wrencher that was The Secret Hours, probably my favourite book so far, Jackson Lamb felt less like a prize-winning racehorse hiding his talents and more like a blunt instrument.

Still love the series.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: A Moment's Shadow

A Moment's Shadow by Anna Lee Huber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Verity and Sidney are still pursuing the stolen phosgene cylinders that Lord Ardmore had stolen three years ago. They are also still in Dublin as hostilities between the Black and Tans and the IRA continue to escalate with murders, beatings, and retaliations.

Verity and Sidney are in a precarious situation, she is working unofficially for the secret service, whilst concealing the fact that their friend Alec Xavier has gone to work for Michael Collins. Ardmore and his minions are everywhere and could easily spot them together and have her arrested (or worse).

At one of the parties they attend they discover that there has been a series of jewellery robberies, which the victims are refusing to report to the police because their insurance companies believe they have a chance of recovering the jewellery themselves. The establishment ask Verity and Sidney to investigate the robberies. convinced the IRA are using the jewellery to fund their rebellion, although Verity isn't so sure.

Whilst I didn't feel like this was a a lot of historical research being regurgitated (as I complained about for the last book) this did feel very history-heavy, totally overshadowing the jewellery thefts

TBH Lord Ardmore has been Verity's sworn adversary for so long I've totally forgotten why he stole the phosgene in the first place and what is motivation is.

I know I say this every time I review one of these books, but I think this may be the last for me - what I loved was the little historical details not the big picture political stuff and that seems to have been overwhelmed in the most recent books. However, if you are looking for an easy-to-read explanation of the events as they unfolded then this could be a good place to start.

Also, I was surprised (because her use of British English is usually very good) to see Verity frequently referring to 'circling the block', or being a 'few blocks' away from something.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

View all my reviews

Review: The Weight's Over - Take Back Control: Break free from dieting, transform your mindset and change your life. The Top 5 Sunday Times Bestseller 2025

The Weight's Over - Take Back Control: Break free from dieting, transform your mindset and change your life. The Top 5 Sunday Times Bestseller 2025 by Sandra Roycroft-Davis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was one of those Facebook adverts (yes I know), I was looking for a way to lose weight (yet again) and was put off by the high prices charged by things like Noom and Zoe - when I saw that Slimpod was much cheaper and had a ten day trial period I decided to give it a go. Its like no other weight loss journey (because you are not on a diet) and so when I heard that Sandra had written a book I thought I would buy it.

First, the content is very similar to the coaching videos that you get if you subscribe so it is reinforcing those messages for me rather than new ideas. However, you do get a personal story from someone who has used the techniques to reclaim their health, happiness and/or weight at the end of practically every chapter which is nice (and they aren't all twenty-somethings who wanted to lose seven pounds).

I'm sure lots of people will read the book and feel empowered without needing to subscribe to the pods. However, for me it was an add-on to the subscription (and the lovely pods from our Trevor). It helps you think about why you 'fall off the wagon' on diets, why you binge eat, why you are drawn to sweet foods, alcohol, and chocolate instead of (say) a carrot and the impact of all those failed diets on your subconscious.

Very easy to read with x-refs to the technical studies.

View all my reviews

Review: Hell Bent

Hell Bent by Rosalind James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Anastasia Alexandra Glucksburg-Thompkins (Alix) is a descendant of royalty, an ersatz princess as she describes it, her grandmother was a princess and she is distantly related (and named after) members of the Russian royal family. Living and working in the Bay Area as an intern financial adviser for a P/E firm while studying for a degree at Stanford, engaged to the CFO of a tech company.

Sebastian Robillard is (probably) the oldest rookie in American football, After starting his career playing soccer in England, he is now a kicker in American football and has just been traded to the Portland Devils - starting over once more.

Sebastian and Alix first meet at a swanky restaurant where Alix's fiancé Ned's boss creates a scene, gets drunk and tries to drive his girlfriend home. Sebastian offers to get her an Uber, and after she slips and sprains an ankle he offers to take her to a pharmacy to get bandages.

The second time they meet is ten miles outside Portland in a convenience store. Alix has just walked out of her wedding, her internship, and Stanford. She's got a job as an electrician in Portland where she'll be living in a caravan (her own, which is called a Fifth Wheel?) and she is buying food whilst dressed in her reception dress. Sebastian is driving to his new accommodation but has rescued a dog that its owner just abandoned at a petrol station.

The third time they meet Sebastian is accompanying his new teammate (our old friend Harlan) to inspect a data centre (which Alix is helping to build) in which he has invested. Deciding this is fate, Sebastian asks Alix out, but they don't even get to go on a first date before life throws a spanner in the works, Sebastian's sister is dying and she has asked Sebastian to take on her teenage son Ben so he doesn't have to nurse her while she's dying.

Between them Alix and Sebastian have more baggage than Louis Vuitton but at heart they are good people. They weather family issues, work issues, and health issues stronger than ever.

Loved this so much I went back and re-read the first three books in the series.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

View all my reviews

Review: Allen Carr's Easy Way to Control Alcohol

Allen Carr's Easy Way to Control Alcohol by Allen Carr
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read Allen Carr's How to Stop Smoking over 20 years ago - and did. So when I wanted to cut back on my alcohol I thought this would be the ideal book.

Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that just repeating something in a domineering tone of voice does not make it true. I fundamentally disagreed with some of the things that were said which meant I didn't 'get' the message - and my only recourse is to keep rereading the book until I agree :(

Given this is not a new book I think I am safe to say the central premise of the book is that alcohol is poison. No-one in the history of the world has ever liked the taste of alcohol at first but we force ourselves to get used to it because 90% of people drink alcohol (which I am not sure is a valid statistic, but whatever). Either you are on the slippery slope to addiction and losing everything or you are only drinking to fit in with society (gran who only has a sherry at Christmas). AA is wrong to say you are an alcoholic for life but in fact everyone is addicted and we are just lying to ourselves - again the argument is that saying things like 'I can take it or leave it' means you are addicted because why wouldn't you leave it seems like a fallacy - I can take or leave fillet steak, my husband loves it so we eat it more often that I would choose but I don't hate it and on a rare occasion I do fancy a fillet steak and will order it/cook it. That doesn't mean I am addicted to fillet steak.

Also saying that we have to dilute the taste of neat alcohol to make it more palatable (because its poison) is like saying diluting anything concentrate is wrong.

Then he says that no-one can tell the difference between cheap and expensive alcohol (and we are all just pretending/snobs) fundamentally misses the point and suggests his taste buds are seriously deficient - like it or loathe it different wines/spirits taste different and can change again when paired with food. I think if you substitute the word pepper (or maybe chilli) for alcohol in this book you would see that many of his arguments would apply equally.

He seems to argue that if you don't drink all the time (eg when driving) then why would you drink at all - it must be because you are actually an alcoholic you just don't know it. Now I don't ascribe to the belief that alcoholics have something different in their make-up to so-called 'normal' people which makes them addicts and others not, but this argument seems equally as odd.

Finally, he seems to say this can completely cure you of ever wanting to drink alcohol again, immediately, you will no longer be an addict, no cravings (or if there are you are fooling yourself), yet you must never have another drink. Allen Carr references the tale of The Emperor's New Clothes in this book and for me this felt like a similar thing - if you don't believe then you are fooling yourself like the Emperor.

Overall, not convinced.

View all my reviews

Review: Allen Carr's Easy Way to Control Alcohol

Allen Carr's Easy Way to Control Alcohol by Allen Carr
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I read Allen Carr's How to Stop Smoking over 20 years ago - and did. So when I wanted to cut back on my alcohol I thought this would be the ideal book.

Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that just repeating something in a domineering tone of voice does not make it true. I fundamentally disagreed with some of the things that were said which meant I didn't 'get' the message - and my only recourse is to keep rereading the book until I agree :(

Given this is not a new book I think I am safe to say the central premise of the book is that alcohol is poison. No-one in the history of the world has ever liked the taste of alcohol at first but we force ourselves to get used to it because 90% of people drink alcohol (which I am not sure is a valid statistic, but whatever). Either you are on the slippery slope to addiction and losing everything or you are only drinking to fit in with society (gran who only has a sherry at Christmas). AA is wrong to say you are an alcoholic for life but in fact everyone is addicted and we are just lying to ourselves - again the argument is that saying things like 'I can take it or leave it' means you are addicted because why wouldn't you leave it seems like a fallacy - I can take or leave fillet steak, my husband loves it so we eat it more often that I would choose but I don't hate it and on a rare occasion I do fancy a fillet steak and will order it/cook it. That doesn't mean I am addicted to fillet steak.

Also saying that we have to dilute the taste of neat alcohol to make it more palatable (because its poison) is like saying diluting anything concentrate is wrong.

Then he says that no-one can tell the difference between cheap and expensive alcohol (and we are all just pretending/snobs) fundamentally misses the point and suggests his taste buds are seriously deficient - like it or loathe it different wines/spirits taste different and can change again when paired with food. I think if you substitute the word pepper (or maybe chilli) for alcohol in this book you would see that many of his arguments would apply equally.

He seems to argue that if you don't drink all the time (eg when driving) then why would you drink at all - it must be because you are actually an alcoholic you just don't know it. Now I don't ascribe to the belief that alcoholics have something different in their make-up to so-called 'normal' people which makes them addicts and others not, but this argument seems equally as odd.

Finally, he seems to say this can completely cure you of ever wanting to drink alcohol again, immediately, you will no longer be an addict, no cravings (or if there are you are fooling yourself), yet you must never have another drink. Allen Carr references the tale of The Emperor's New Clothes in this book and for me this felt like a similar thing - if you don't believe then you are fooling yourself like the Emperor.

Overall, not convinced.

View all my reviews