Review: Dear Roomie

Dear Roomie by Kate Meader
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How have I missed books 2 to 4 of this series? Okay, cards on the table, I thought this was a totally different book so my rating is somewhat influenced by my disappointment that this isn't A Kiss for a Kiss which is what I thought I was buying - my bad!

Reid Durant is the exception to the rule that all Canadians are polite and friendly. His stepfather has brought him up to consider everyone and everything a potential barrier to being a successful hockey player, including his stepbrother Bastian. He eats healthily, swears off sex during the season and practices for hours every day, yet nothing is ever good enough for his father.

Kennedy Clark is a rolling stone. After her parents died in a house fire she has avoided putting down roots, preferring to travel the world looking for adventure. She's been in Chicago for a while, looking out for her step-grandmother who has recently gone into an old people's home, and is saving for a trip to Thailand teaching English as a second language by dog walking and working as a barista.

When a series of events lead to Reid getting Kennedy fired, and Reid adopting a stray dog, Reid offers Kennedy a job dog-sitting while he is on the road. But soon Reid finds his focus is being tested by his diminutive roomie and his heart is being softened by a small, beaten-up dog. Will opening his heart help or hinder his game?

I felt that this was too much hockey romance by the numbers, I thought I had read it all somewhere before, including playing games with seniors at an old people's home and acting as a concierge service. Maybe if I had read the three intervening books I would have felt more connection, but then I think my views are reinforced by the fact that I thought I had read all the books in this series until I checked - in other word, the characters seemed too familiar.

It was enjoyable but didn't bring anything new to the table to me.

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Review: Old Enough to Know Better

Old Enough to Know Better by Jane Wenham-Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Meet three women, united by work, family ties and their relationships with much older men.

Ellie is a young twenty-something teacher at the Margate Academy (teaching English to overseas students) who has recently moved in with her boyfriend Tom, after a short romance, who is in his mid-forties.

Clare is Ellie's mother. She is in her early fifties and married to Rupert who is about to celebrate his seventieth birthday. Since Rupert retired he seems to have lost that vital spark that drew Clare to him, his phenomenal drinking gets on her nerves and all he seems to do is pontificate and alienate their son whilst doting on Ellie. Clare has two sisters: Fig, who has two children and a husband working in Dubai; and Angie, a civil servant with a chip on her shoulder.

Anna is Ellie's colleague at work, about to celebrate her sixtieth birthday she is married to Jeremy, a retired doctor in his mid-eighties who is becoming increasingly infirm. Anna and Jeremy never go anywhere anymore and Anna's social life revolves around her colleagues at the school, at sixty Anna feels in her peak and not ready to sit quietly in a rocking chair waiting to die.

In their own ways Clare and Anna try to dissuade Ellie from entering into a relationship, and getting engaged, with a man so much older. Ellie challenges them both, why are they are trying to put her off when the two of them have done exactly the same?

I find myself faced with a familiar problem, how to describe a book classified (by me) as Women's Fiction? What is this book about? Marriage, families, children, careers? Yes to all of the above. It's also about finding a new balance, relationships change over time and it's about finding your new normal. Often with Women's Fiction I am left with a feeling of dissatisfaction because there is no closure, no HEA. Not so in this case, at the end of this novel our three lead characters have gained a new perspective on their lives.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and would definitely look out for more books by this author.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Just Haven't Met You Yet

Just Haven't Met You Yet by Sophie Cousens
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Laura is a writer who works for a lifestyle website, her speciality is articles of true-life love and relationships, yet love has eluded her as none of her previous boyfriends have ever matched up to the romance of her parents who met when reuniting two halves of a silver shilling. When searching for new ideas for her demanding boss, Laura pitches a journey to Jersey to retrace the romance of her parents' first meeting.

At the airport Laura picks up the wrong suitcase, but the contents reveal a man who has scarily similar tastes to her own, from his reading choices, his musical tastes, his clothing - everything screams The One. When the airport is unable to help Laura embarks on a one-woman mission to find the mysterious owner of the other suitcase to see if they could be a match

Helping Laura is the grumpy, extremely beardy, Ted the taxi driver who shows her the island's beauty spots and helps her recreate her parents' photos from their romance.

This book has it all. Humour, romance, sadness, and beautiful scenery. There are also family secrets to be uncovered and choices to make.

Perfect summer holiday reading, or remembrance of summer days.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: How Much Wine Will Fix My Broken Heart?

How Much Wine Will Fix My Broken Heart? by Kristen Bailey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

This is the fourth book in the series about the Callaghan sisters and it is about Grace Callaghan. Grace was widowed in her twenties when her husband Tom died of testicular cancer. It's three years later and Grace has adopted two Vietnamese sisters, daughters of a couple that Tom knew in Vietnam when he was travelling the world.

Tom's mother wrote a book about Tom for charity and has raised enough money to build a wing on the school where he used to teach, she is also taking the opportunity of the opening ceremony to hold a memorial for Tim, inviting all his friends from around the world.

Grace is struggling to move on after Tom's death, she still talks to his photograph at night and dreams of him several times a week. Whereas Tom was adventurous and outgoing Grace is reserved and a homebody, his death has made her retreat even further into herself.

By turns hilariously funny and heartbreakingly sad, this will make you wish you had your very own Tom in your life, he packed a lot of living and loving into his twenty-eight years on earth.

What do I love about Kristen Bailey's novels? They aren't predictable, cookie-cutter romances. What don't I like about Kristen Bailey's novels? They aren't predictable, cookie-cutter romances! I thought I knew where this was going, I was wrong.

Overall, I enjoyed it, read it in less than a day. Emma's book is still my favourite, maybe because I secretly want to be Emma?

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Hit it and Quit it

Hit it and Quit it by Melynda Price
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Summer has turned her back on her wealthy family in New York and chosen to live in Montana, close to her beloved grandmother until her recent death. No-one in New York knows that she broke off her engagement to her brother's business partner Wyatt when she found him cheating on her in their apartment. Drowning in grief she thinks things can't get any worse, then her house burns down and she forgot to renew the insurance. Effectively homeless she tries to crash at her BFF Autumn's flat but accidentally breaks into the apartment next-door, owned by grumpy marine Calum Moriarty.

Summer's younger brother is having a destination wedding in Maui, and of course Wyatt is his best man and Summer is one of the bridesmaids. It's going to be excruciating and that's before you add in Summer's pushy mother who is desperate for her to get back together with Wyatt and return to New York.

As with all madcap heroines, Summer accidentally lies to her mother, telling her she is engaged and bringing her fiancé to the wedding. Now she just has to find someone!

This was sweet enough, but yawn I've read it all before soooooo many times. Fake fiancé, slimy ex wants her back, pushy mom, keeping the reason for the break-up secret to protect her brother's business partnership, what goes on tour stays on tour romance. This just didn't bring anything new to the table, no side plots, no realistic side characters.

Recommended for an undemanding beach read.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Twice in a Lifetime

Twice in a Lifetime by Helga Jensen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Amelia is a divorced mother of two who works in a bookshop in a small town in Wales. After her husband left her for Tarty Tanja her life has revolved around her twin sons, nutella, pinot grigio and her best friends Jamie and Sian. Full of regrets and nostalgia after clearing out her mother's attic, she recalls the one that got away, the American boy called Patrick she met outside Tiffany's in New York twenty years ago - it was love at first sight but she lost his number. Her 'friend' Sian is determined to find Patrick and makes posts on social media hunting for Patrick which catch the eye of various journalists and generate lots of publicity.

Then Patrick contacts Amelia out of the blue, not only does he remember her but he wants to meet up, he's never forgotten her and life's too short to miss second chances. He's a polo-playing journalist in New York and just as gorgeous as Amelia remembers.

For this sort of novel to work well the characters need to be drawn lightly and I'm afraid that just wasn't the case here. It was blindingly obvious what was going to happen and the clues weren't subtle so, as a reader, I just felt like screaming at my book. I don't think it helped that Amelia was delusional and heaven save me from 'friends' like Sian - I would never have forgiven her for what she did.

However, I am on a bit of a downer with books at the moment so you may find this screamingly funny and a charming romance with a twist. Who knows.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: To All the Footballers I Loved Before: A fangirl sports romance

To All the Footballers I Loved Before: A fangirl sports romance by C.M. Kars
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Canadian Maddie Chase has loved football (or soccer) ever since she was a little girl and now she has a chance to play professionally for the fictional team of Southgate United. One of her football heroes, Jesse Windmeier plays for the men's team so while she is recovering from knee surgery she gets Jesse, who is also recovering from injury, to train her.

Turns out that Jesse, who has just transferred to Southgate, is lonely and soon the two of them move from snark to friendship. But no matter how devastatingly attractive Jesse is, Maddie must keep her eyes on the prize. She hasn't spent 15 years training to be distracted by love.

This had a similar vibe to Bend It Like Beckham, but without the cultural interest. In fact, this book mainly seemed to be about Jesse cooking Maddie dinner and driving her to practice. It was very sweet and very PG-appropriate, lots of cuddling but compared to something like, say Kulti, its nowhere near the same league (pun very definitely intended).

I would say this is squarely aimed at the teenage market (for which I am about 40 years too late).

Also, I just gotta know, who gave Jesse the black eye and why?

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Review: Hope on the Range

Hope on the Range by Cindi Madsen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Brady Dawson and Tanya Greer have been best friends forever, growing up on neighbouring farms they have bickered, goaded, and taunted each other since they were small. Everyone else gives them grief about coming clean about being a couple, but they know they are just friends. Well, except that Tanya has felt differently the last six months and has bought a book about flirting online to try to get Brady's notice. Brady may have had some thoughts in that direction once or twice, their prom being a case in point, but Tanya shot him down so he put her in the friend zone, but recently she's been acting a bit odd, is she flirting?

Brady and his family (including some adopted brothers) run a farm which helps kids that have got into trouble with the law. Swapping healthy outdoor living for drink, drugs and crime. Tanya's family run a dude ranch on their farm.

There was nothing wrong with this book, but also there was no tension to really engage me, there was more romance (although U rated) between one of the bad boys at the Dawson ranch and one of the goody-two-shoes locals who helps out on the farm than there was between Brady and Tanya. I just didn't feel any spark between them, they were both too nice.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: He's Cancelled

He's Cancelled by Sophie Ranald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

Getting engaged to her boyfriend Archie should have been the happiest day of Natalie's life, but soon it turns into a nightmare. Archie's parents are seriously wealthy and offer to pay for the whole wedding, but Archie's mother's idea of the perfect wedding is nothing like the small intimate affair, followed by dinner in the local pub that Natalie has dreamed of. Then her sister-in-law to be gets involved, trying to recreate the dream wedding that she had to abandon when her fiance was caught cheating.

Natalie is trying to bond with her in-laws to be, but Archie won't back her up and soon she's agreeing to marriage in a stately home, a puffy dress that doesn't suit her, a pushy wedding planner who has grandiose ideas, and hundreds of guests she doesn't know.

Have you ever finished a book and thought 'huh, wonder why they wrote that?', well this was it for me. I'm sorry to be be so negative but I didn't find this funny or romantic, frankly I was hoping that Natalie would dump Archie and find someone with a backbone. I'm afraid that in order to make her novel 'funny' Sophie Ranald created a bizarre group of caricatures and then had to row back so hard to create a HEA that I practically got whiplash. Maybe I'm too old to empathise with wedding planning issues.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.



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Review: Breaking Badger

Breaking Badger by Shelly Laurenston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

Finn and his two brothers are known as the Black Malones, Siberian tiger shifters, they are bigger and badder even than their ne'er do well relatives the Malones who are into everything slightly dodgy. Finn can't help but rescue a group of honey badgers led into a trap on an island off New York, but a total misunderstanding makes them mortal enemies, which is a shame because the honey badgers might be the only people who can help him solve the mystery of his father's murder.

Mads is half hyena and half honey badger and 100% viking. Obsessed with basketball she is estranged from her hyena family.

Mads and Finn might be the only sane ones in their respective families, but can they hold the warring factions apart long enough to find out the truth about Finn's father?

I've been honest that I haven't enjoyed the Honey Badger Chronicles very much but I liked this the least of the four. Honestly for about a quarter of the book I had no idea who the 'happy couple' were going to be because this was such an ensemble piece it could have been any of the honey badgers and any of the Malone brothers.

This just felt like Shelly Laurenston has got to a point where she has such a long list of 'features' that she needs to put in each book (eg Max being crazy, Stevie being a genius, Charlie baking for the bears etc, etc, etc) and well-loved characters like Dee-Ann Smith, that the plot got totally overwhelmed. In fact, I finished the book two minutes ago and I would struggle to give you a coherent summary of the plot, not even sure there was one TBH.

Overall, I've said it before but I think I really mean it this time, no more honey badgers for me. I don't like them and it just makes me irritable reading them.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Of Mettle and Magic

Of Mettle and Magic by L.R. Braden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

I don't know why this didn't grab me more TBH. Things have reached a climax. Rogue sorcerers have destroyed the Unified Church in Rome and Alex is desperate to prevent a war, whether between the Fae and humans or humans and paranaturals she doesn't care.

There are battles and more paranormals than you can shake a stick at, Alex has to decide what/who she really is, and pick a side, can she bring everyone together and win before it descends into out-and-out war? As she finally understands the truth of her halfer status she begins to understand her magic and how to use it properly.

Sounds great right? Demons, fae, vampires, sorcerers, shifters, witches and more! Yet this felt more like the build up to a finale than the epic battle that it was - maybe because it ended in 'to be continued'?

So, I enjoyed it and the battle scenes were crazy scary but I didn't love it.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Saving the Day

Saving the Day by Katie Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Allie might only be young but she already feels like her whole life is mapped out for her. Working at the local supermarket, marriage to her childhood sweetheart Ryan, never going anywhere or doing anything. She's not even sure if she likes Ryan who seems to treat her like a domestic servant, lolling around issuing orders.

Then one day Allie sees an advert in the window of a small café, the sort of place she'd love to go to and have a cake and a coffee with friends, she also quite likes the look of one of the guys who works there, help wanted it says. Unfortunately Allie can't cook, at all. All she does is microwave or cook ready meals or frozen prepared foods. She's never made a cake or cooked a roast dinner from scratch. But if learning to cook is the passport to her dream job then Allie is going to do whatever it takes.

This is a sweet novella about not letting your current circumstances prevent you from achieving your dreams. About taking a chance and reaching for the impossible. About believing in yourself and not listening to the doomsayers and doubters.

I loved it, but it was too short LOL.

I was given a free copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: The Late Scholar

The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Following the death of his older brother, Peter is now the Duke of Denver. One of his more arcane responsibilities is the post of Visitor at an Oxford college. He is called to Oxford to resolve a dispute between the fellows. Half want to sell an ancient book, possibly linked to King Alfred, in order to buy a piece of land for development. The college is short of funds and the fellows argue that keeping an ancient relic while letting the college decline is foolhardy.

At first Peter and Harriet think of this as an opportunity to return to their beloved Oxford for a brief interlude. But what Peter uncovers is a catalogue of mysterious near-death experiences which bear an uncanny resemblance to the plots of Harriet's novels. Then the near-misses turn into murders and the duo have to uncover who is killing off the dons.

This was my least favourite of the Jill Paton Walsh series of books. Frankly I had difficulty keeping all the characters straight in my head and I found the idea that someone would commit, or attempt to commit, a series of murders which mirrored the plots of Harriet's novels was laughable. Also, I thought that the villain was so strongly signalled almost from the start that I was more exasperated than anything when the two of them seemed to be totally oblivious.

As others have pointed out, it is ridiculous to claim that Harriet's plots were all based on Peter's cases, or even some of them, that makes a character who was always described as a brilliant writer who creates intricate plots seem derivative.

I understand why some people have balked at Peter and Harriet's son not being as intellectual as Bunter's son, arguing that two intellectuals could not produce a 'not-very-clever' son. I take the point, but children can be very different to their parents, it is not inconceivable that Bredon is more like his uncle, the late Duke of Denver, than his parents. Also, I thought it was illustrative of the changing society, Bunter himself is shown as being intellectual but hampered by his social standing, don't forget that it is he who draws Peter's attention to rare papers and the like, whereas as the barriers between the classes weaken his son is given the opportunities to let his intelligence shine. Finally, of course he would be far more grateful for the opportunities than Bredon, just like Harriet was when she was at Oxford.

I understand that there was supposed to be a fifth book but following Jill Paton Walsh's death in October 2020 I imagine that will remain a dream. Farewell Peter and Harriet.

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Review: The Queen’s Spy

The Queen’s Spy by Clare Marchant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In 2021 Mathilde is a photojournalist travelling the world in her beatn-up old campervan after her emotionally fragile mother died in a house fire when Mathilde was just sixteen years old. She receives a mysterious letter from an English solicitor demanding she appear at an old manor house in Norfolk. On arrival she discovers that her father did not die in a car bomb in Lebanon when she was five years old as she had always believed, instead he had survived and spent the rest of his life trying to find Mathilde and her mother, he has recently died and left the manor house to Mathilde. Although initially determined to sell the house and resume her travels, Mathilde finds herself drawn to the house, haunted by dreams of historical events and a mysterious figure.

In 1584 Tom Lutton, a deaf mute apothecary, lands in England from his home in France. His skill at healing the captain of the ship that brought him to England lands him an interview and a position as assistant apothecary in the court of Queen Elizabeth I where his lip reading skills bring him to the attention of the Queen's spymaster, Sir Francis Walsingham.

There are many similarities between Tom and Mathilde's lives, similarities which only become more tangled when Mathilde uncovers some of her new home's secrets.

I have read several of these split narrative stories previously, Nicola Cornick's The Forgotten Sister being a recent example and, in my opinion, they work best when you get immersed into one story for long periods then metaphorically yanked into the present day, or vice versa. Unfortunately, in this book it felt like the two narratives were told in alternate chapters and so I never really got invested in either story. Also, perhaps because it was written in the third person, or perhaps because of the alternating timelines, I felt like the book was all telling and no showing, I didn't feel any increase in tension as Tom got drawn deeper and deeper into spying on the courtiers plotting against the Queen and the present day dramas felt equally lukewarm.

Finally, did the person who chose the cover read the book? It's about an Elizabethan male apothecary spying for the Queen, who is the woman on the cover and what is the significance of the gold cup? Surely a man in a blue jacket would have been more apt? Or at least a picture of Queen Elizabeth if it had to be a woman?

Overall, I felt the book just skated across what could have been a gripping historical tale and I didn't feel any investment in the characters, everyone felt a bit one-dimensional, even Tom and Mathilde.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Time of My Life

Time of My Life by Mary Frame
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jane Stewart is having the worst day of her life, over and over again. She's woken by loud music coming from the next door apartment, she's slept through her alarm, she puts her hand on something unspeakable on her journey into work and then she gets fired. Oh, and her sort-of boyfriend explains they were just hooking up and he wants to start dating the new girl at work, after they've had sex in a cupboard at work. Over and over again Jane lives through the same day, she changes her pitch but no matter what she does she gets fired because her social anxiety gets the better of her. Every day her secret crush asks her what's wrong and every day she lies to him and says everything is fine. Every afternoon her estranged sister leaves a note asking Jane to call her. Every night she falls asleep to the sound of the man next door crying himself to sleep.

Just like Bill Murray's character in the film Groundhog Day, Jane tries everything to break the cycle. She learns to overcome her social anxiety through pitching to her bosses over and over again. She makes friends with the man next door, she plucks up the courage to tell her secret crush that she's been fired, but none of it changes her fate. But every time Jane steps outside her comfort zone she learns that the world is not quite as scary as she thinks.

If you loved Groundhog Day, if you love drag queens and impossible romances then I think you'll love this quirky, charming romance.

I received a free copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.

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Review: The Attenbury Emeralds

The Attenbury Emeralds by Jill Paton Walsh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We've jumped to 1951. The world is changing, class barriers are being broken down and Peter and Harriet's son goes to school with Bunter's son, who is probably even brighter than Peter's son.

Told partially as Peter and Bunter relating the events of 1921 to Harriet and partially in the present day, the story revolves around the Attenbury Emeralds. Back in 1921 Peter was a guest at the Attenbury's country house to celebrate their daughter's engagement. On the night when the engagement was due to be announced the famous Attenbury Emeralds go missing and only Lord Peter can find out where they went.

Thirty years later the new Lord Attenbury comes to Peter for help, he has tried to retrieve the Attenbury Emerald from the bank to pay death duties, only to be told that it is not entirely clear whether the stone held by the bank actually belongs to Lord Attenbury.

Since this book was published over a decade ago I have no scruples about expressing my issues with the plot, although I will put it in spoilers.(view spoiler)[ First, we are supposed to believe that there were not one, not two, but three enormous identical emeralds, only distinguished by the scripts carved on the back, and don't forget there is also a paste version of the emeralds knocking around. Second, I never did entirely understand the configuration of the emeralds. Suffice it to say that in 1921 there was a whole set, including what I think was a necklace that could be converted into a tiara, which may or may not have been the huge emerald that caused all the problems. Third, the emeralds appear to have been very bad luck, particularly for the Attenbury family. Fourth, we are expected to believe that an impoverished widow held onto one of the emeralds for thirty years just so that she could perpetrate some elaborate nasty trick on wealthy relatives who treated her kindly when no-one else would. (hide spoiler)]

Also, what I really loved about the original books was the glimpses of that period between the wars, frankly the 1950s has never appealed to me as an era in the UK and there are some terrible blows to the Wimsey family in this book, some losses that I felt almost like the death of one of my own family.

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Review: All Night Long with a Cowboy

All Night Long with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Jensen Kittredge, second son, part-time fire-jumper and full-time casanova and fun-time guy. Jensen doesn't do relationships, he doesn't do serious and he never lets anyone see the real him. What no-one realises is that this is self-imposed penance for something that happened when he was eighteen years old.

Harriet Barnett moved to Cold River three years ago. She knows everyone else thinks she's a bit odd, cat-lady, librarian, old-lady dress sense, she just doesn't care very much, she's happy with her books and her knitting and her cats. But when one of her group of Summer School delinquents sneers at her attempts to bring in inspirational speakers to motivate them to do better, and suggests the only person worth listening to is Jensen Kittredge, Harriet is determined to get Jensen to speak to them. Even if it means confronting him in the den of iniquity bar he frequents on a Saturday night.

Jensen can't believe it when his night of whisky and loose women is interrupted by a diminutive woman, dressed like an old maid, clasping her giant handbag like a comfort blanket. She doesn't seem to be put off by any of his tried and trusted stratagems for shaking off women and his overt sexual innuendos seem to bounce off her.

This is a classic opposites attract romance, the bad boy and the librarian, the casanova and the virgin. I really enjoyed it, but it didn't have the emotional heft for me of the first book - although so many other readers didn't like the book. Also, Cold River seems to be populated by men who are all atoning for some deep dark secret from their pasts - must be a dreadful place to grow up LOL.

I am really holding out for Jensen's brother Zack's story, the buttoned-up oldest son who is the only male member of the family ever to get a job away from the Kittredge Ranch.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest opinion.

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Review: Scorched Heart

Scorched Heart by Helen Harper
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Detective Constable Emma Bellamy is the only detective in London's Supe Squad, a misfit group who police crimes involving the supernatural community. She recently discovered that she is a Phoenix supernatural herself, she miraculously comes back to life 12 hours after being killed, and she's been killed a lot!

When she was five years old her parents were brutally murdered in a small village in Kent, Emma has always been curious about their deaths, were they also Phoenix supes? And if so, why didn't they resurrect? When a man is murdered in the same village, by what appears to be a supernatural creature, Emma's boss orders her to take a week's holiday to 'help' the local force in an unofficial capacity.

But Emma's arrival seems to trigger a series of further brutal murders, including her own! They all somehow seem to tie back to her parents' murder but is the murderer a human or a supe?

I have really enjoyed this series so far but I have to say taking the action out of London to a small village in Kent seemed to slow the pace down too much. Also, for me, the supernatural element was at one and the same time rather unbelievable and also something I had read before (the plot I think not the actual creature). The final nail in the coffin was that I also guessed the perpetrator very early on, because yet again it was something I had read before.

So, all together now, I liked it but I didn't love it.

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Review: A Presumption of Death

A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Its 1940 and Harriet has taken her children to Tallboys, the house where she and Lord Peter Wimsey spent their honeymoon. She is also looking after her nephews and niece while Mary stays in London. The indominable Helen works for one of the officious government bodies and Peter is overseas working on sensitive international assignments.

As always, I love the historical detail, the rules and restrictions, the ways in which the villagers subvert the rules and the sheer joy of childhood secrets. I also love Harriet and Peter at Tallboys, in fact I must go back and re-read the short stories.

But it wouldn't be a Lord Peter Wimsey story without a mystery. In this case, one Saturday night after the village's dance featuring land girls working on the local farms and boys from the local RAF base, the village holds its air raid dry-run but when they emerge from the shelters they find a body lying in the street.

Secret cyphers, black-market goods, clandestine romances, and the ongoing love affair between Peter and Harriet - what more could I ask?

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Review: Improper

Improper by Darcy Burke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tobias Powell has inherited the title of Lord Overton following his father's death. His father's will requires Tobias to marry within three months of his death or forfeit his mother's house, the only place he ever felt of as home. Trying to rebuild his tattered reputation and find a wife is a tall enough order already without adding in a young ward.

Miss Fiona Wingate has led a sheltered life in the country but has been brought to London for a Season in order to find her a suitable husband by her new guardian. Although she has no title, she does have a dowry, and if Tobias fails to marry within the allotted time she will also have his mother's house - although she doesn't know this. As she is new to society Fiona makes several mistakes and gets herself into all sorts of scrapes, none of which help her to find a husband or Tobias to find a bride.

Tobias is co-founder of The Phoenix Club with his closest friends. The club was set up to cater to those who had been overlooked by London Society, because they were poor, or rakes, or women, or Irish, or second sons etc. Less stuffy than the traditional clubs like Whites, The Phoenix Club has a separate half just for married women and spinsters.

I liked this but I didn't love it. I have read at least one other series which centres on a group of men who set up their own gentlemen's gambling club and this felt too samey-samey. Also, Tobias is billed as a dissolute rogue but after the first chapter he seems to be a very kind and proper young man.

However, I am very keen to read the next book in the series which features the club's founder's stuffy older brother Lord Aldington.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Thrones, Dominations

Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L. Sayers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am indebted to the Lord Peter Wimsey Facebook page for alerting me to these books and how very good they are. I understand that this was left unfinished by Dorothy L Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh has done an admirable job of completing the novel. It is not without its issues, at first I found the quoting of poetry and other snippets rather overbearing, a bit too much 'look at me, aren't I intellectual?', I don't know whether that was original prose, which Ms Sayers may have culled or came from Ms Patton Walsh.

Anyway, set in 1936, Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane have just returned from their honeymoon and are settling into their new house in London. Harriet in particular is trying to find her way, learning how to live with servants, having money, not needing to work, coping with the family expectations that she and Peter will immediately produce a son as the 'spare' to the Duke of Denver's son and heir, and of course coping with her domineering sister-in-law Helen.

Peter and Harriet are part of London society, dinner parties, theatre performances etc and are introduced to another young couple Rosamund and Laurence Harwell. Although apparently very much in love, the Harwell's marriage seems dysfunctional and Rosamund very dissatisfied with Laurence. Add in a brilliant but egotistical portrait artist, an up-and-coming young actress, and an infatuated playwright and the scene is set for ... murder (sorry, had a flashback to the tv series Hart to Hart there).

Once this hit its stride it was so evocative of what I love about the original Lord Peter Wimsey novels and short stories, the view into a world long gone, the way in which Peter and Harriet tentatively map out their new relationship, Bunter and the Denver family.

Just a joy to read a new Lord Peter Wimsey book.

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Review: The Haunting of the Desks: A Sparks & Bainbridge Short Story

The Haunting of the Desks: A Sparks & Bainbridge Short Story by Allison Montclair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A quick but good read to whet my appetite for the next book in this cracking series.

Iris and Gwen (Sparks and Bainbridge)'s marriage bureau is having some success and so they have decided to expand into the empty office suite next door, not least because it contains two very handsome desks which the previous occupants left behind.

The building's caretaker (janitor) believes the suite is haunted by the ghost of a man who died in the suite 15 years ago, but Iris and Gwen think the answer lies in the locked drawers of the desks.

This was very short, yet Allison Montclair packed so much into those 50 pages, and the solving of the mystery was unexpected.

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