Review: The Wingman

The Wingman by A. Poland
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Nathan has been in love with his best friend Lorcan since forever, but Lorcan has only ever seen him as a friend, and the wingman who talks to women on Lorcan's behalf. Lorcan is muscular and good-looking, a fan of the great outdoors, whereas Nathan is a dorky guy with poor hand-eye coordination, prone to tripping over his own feet. Nathan has resigned himself to chatting up long-legged women on Lorcan's behalf, until Lorcan mentions that his latest crush is a man! Torn between elation that Lorcan might like men and despair that he still doesn't consider Nathan as a potential love-interest, Nathan is horrified that Lorcan wants him to do his wingman thing with Lorcan's crush, Miles. Of course Miles is the male equivalent of Lorcan's previous female interests, he looks like a rock-star, he's a musician and he adores outdoors activities like camping and rock-climbing.

Somehow, against his better judgement, Nathan is persuaded to go on a weekend camping trip with Miles and Lorcan, Nathan blames it on the jetlag, where Nathan is supposed to ascertain if Miles is into men and praise Lorcan to the skies. Only things don't work out quite as planned.

I liked this, but the blurb basically gives away the entire plot so there's not much tension, and it was hard for me to see what Nathan saw in Lorcan because he seemed such a selfish jerk. The blurb mentions slow burn but I would say this was more of a gentle simmer, I think writing in the third person also created a feeling of distance between the reader and Nathan, telling us what Nathan was feeling rather than showing 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: A Void of Magic

A Void of Magic by Sandy Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I requested an ARC based on the cover and the blurb and I was not disappointed.

Warning, this is the first book in the series so although it is fast-paced with a lot going on, there is no resolution - there is definitely a To Be Continued ...

Kennedy Rain's family own the Rain Hotel, it is situated in an area of null magic which means that paranormals staying at the hotel are not bound by their normal limitations (eg vampires can walk in the daylight, werewolves aren't forced to change at the full moon etc). Kennedy hates the hotel and the paranormal world, she's spent as much time as possible avoiding the hotel, but her parents have gone on holiday and asked her to look after things.

Things are going badly, the paranormal staff hate her, the hotel is being inspected for the first time in living memory and Kennedy's arch-nemesis from school, Nora, the daughter of the werewolf Alpha has demanded that the Rain Hotel host her wedding, to the vampire leader's second-in-command - no way that's going to end well. Add in the werewolf second-in-command who isn't used to humans resisting his authority, parents who won't answer the phone, a werewolf Princess with entitlement issues and rising hostilities between the paranormals and Kennedy is fighting fire on all sides.

I really enjoyed this, there are enough ambiguities about some of the paranormals to keep you guessing. I would love to read the second book in the series and look forward to 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: Under the Mistletoe

Under the Mistletoe by Sue Moorcroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Welcome back to the village of Middledip. Laurel, a successful artist, has returned home to help with her sister Rae's acrophobia and her fourteen year old niece Daisy's selective truancy. Her original intention is only to stay for a few weeks to help out Rae and Daisy before moving to somewhere like Cornwall to set up her own art studio. A divorcee, Laurel has avoided Middledip since a traumatic incident in her teenage years which involve her then boyfriend Grady Cassidy's older brother Mac. Laurel is horrified to learn that Mac is now Daisy's Head of Year and the father of one of Daisy's best friends.

Do Laurel and Grady have a second chance, or will the events of that long ago night cast a shadow over the present? Set against the chocolate box setting of a small English village at Christmas this is a charming second-chance romance.

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

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Review: A Midwinter Match

A Midwinter Match by Jane Lovering
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ruby Oldbridge works for an organisation that helps the long-term unemployed retrain and/or find employment, Ruby specialises in counselling her clients to really get to the bottom of what is holding them back. She walks into work one day to find that her company has merged with their arch rivals, a company with a more 'strident' approach to getting people back into gainful employment. Even worse, Ruby will have to compete with her counterpart from the other firm, Zac Drewe, for the single counselling role going forwards.

The blurb for this book led me to think that Ruby was some kind of psychologist rather than a private add-on to the Job Centre, I was imagining an English equivalent of Dr House, glamorous, gifted but with a car-crash private life. What I got was much more downbeat; a woman with anxiety disorder and huge debts, living in a box room house-share, working for unappreciative bosses and ungrateful clients.

I love Jane Lovering, but this time she gave me such a downbeat holiday romance I just didn't feel the love-factor. Maybe its because I had insomnia and finished this at 3:00am, 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: Is This It?

Is This It? by Hannah Tovey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ivy is a thirty-two year old welsh woman living in London. Last year, before the book begins (maybe in a previous book?) she split up with her fiancé Jamie, her beloved Grandpa died, and Ivy went off the rails a bit. Now she's come to realise that she's not got a proper job, while friends and family are getting their lives together. Ivy decides to stop wasting her inheritance and start her teacher training, which will require her to stop going out and getting wasted with her two best friends, Mia the extrovert actress and Dan the obligatory gay best friend who alternates between having loads of money and being broke. Ivy also decides to get over Jamie by joining a dating app.

Ivy is a bit of a Bridget Jones (from Bridget Jones's Diary) for the twenty-first century. Often shockingly hungover on a school night, horrendous dates with losers, nagging mother, perfect sister who has it all, not doing well at her chosen career etc, etc. Then she meets the perfect man while on a mates night out, good looking, funny, and seemingly interested in Ivy he seems like the perfect man, until he takes her number and never calls her back ...

I don't know if this is part of a series, it feels as though all the characters have a lot of backstory which isn't properly explained, eg the break up with Jamie and exactly what Ivy did. Also Mia and Dan are terrible BFFs, selfish and unsupportive, they never really seem to have her back. TBH they are the sort of BFFs you have at uni and then gradually loose touch with because they are still partying, dressing, and acting like eighteen year olds in their twenties and thirties.

This was pleasant enough but it felt like Ivy was dealing with too many issues on different fronts and the mix was wrong, like maybe it should have been 50% romance, 30% teaching, 10% parental issues, and 10% friends but instead it was 25% each, making it difficult to invest in the romance.

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

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Review: Isn't It Bromantic?

Isn't It Bromantic? by Lyssa Kay Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

It's finally the turn of Vlad, the Russian ice-hockey player with the intestinal issues. Luckily they get cleared up very quickly LOL. For six years Vlad has been married to his childhood best friend Elena, madly in love with her since they were teenagers he offered her a marriage of convenience to leave Russia after her father, an investigative journalist, went missing, never to return. Elena has now finished her studies in Chicago and Vlad has plucked up the courage to tell her he wants a real marriage between them, only for her to tell him that she wants a divorce!

Just before Elena is about to return to Russia to start her career as an investigative journalist, and track down what really happened to her father and the people-trafficking business he was investigating, Vlad gets injured in a ice-hockey game and she is called in as his closest relative to help him.

Elena has always been grateful to her best friend for everything he's done for her, including the supreme sacrifice of a marriage of convenience. The least she can do is look after him while his leg is in plaster, even though it breaks her heart to love someone who doesn't love her back.

Can these childhood sweethearts find a way to communicate before it's too late?

There is still some of the slapstick elements from the previous books (personal view the Cheese Man should have been totally cut from the plot - it was stupid) but not too irritating. However, it was replaced by a bizarre self-referencing 'thing'. So Vlad and his friends are in a romance book club, but Vlad is also writing a WW2 romance where the characters bear an uncanny resemblance to him and Elena and we get to read extracts, and the book club talks about how romance novels are constructed and the need for conflict and resolution etc. Basically, for me, it started to feel like a bizarre English Lit class where a panel discuss literary devices and then you get to see (aka read) that device in action. It really acted as a disrupter for me, pulling me out of the story itself and back into literary critical theory.

I am rereading my reviews of the previous books in this series and I would say I like it more than the third book (Crazy Stupid Bromance) but not as much as the first two The Bromance Book Club and Undercover Bromance. I think the literary theory elements are similar to what I described as the banner-waving, right-on, bludgeoning the reader with PC messaging of the second book.

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

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Review: Fire & Water

Fire & Water by Alexis Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third instalment of the Kate Kane series.

A recap, Kate is a London-based paranormal investigator, she's dating a sex-obsessed vampire Prince called Julian (who is a woman), she also has the lingerie model werewolf Alpha itching to get in her pants. She is the daughter of the Queen of the Wild Hunt and is currently employing a walking, talking statue called Elena as an office assistant as a favour to a rat-gestalt. One of her ex-girlfriends is a tech-gazillionaire with Bruce Wayne delusions, another is a high-end art thief, a third is the Witch Queen of London, oh and her one-and-only ex-boyfriend is a former undercover vampire agent with an Edward Cullen creepy vibe over teenage girlfriends (both of whom so far have turned out to have special powers).

Kate is hired by the Merchant of Dreams, who owns a magic pawn shop (amongst other things) to retrieve a stolen artefact which concealed the Tears of Hypnos. Along the way she meets a God, Elena's creator and several of her sisters, gets reacquainted with an old enemy and gets beaten up numerous times (no change there then!).

I am definitely enjoying this series but I am getting a vague whiff of rinse-and-repeat. Kate's self-penned epitaphs as she makes silly mistakes, the way in which each of the characters has a stock phrase that they trot out etc, etc. Also we seem to be in a push-me, pull-me holding pattern with the romance with Julian which is almost canon for this sort of series.

On to the next one, once O have cleared some of my TBR backlog.

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Review: Exposed

Exposed by Kristen Callihan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Brenna James and Rye Peterson have known each other since she was eighteen years old and they've been sniping at each other pretty much ever since. Rye is the bassist for Kill John, one of the world's biggest rock bands, and Brenna handles the bands PR. As the rest of the band start pairing up (see books one to three), Brenna feels she is missing out. She is bored of one-night stands and doesn't want to settle down with 2.4 children, but she's lonely and she wants something, someone who knows what they are doing, she's even considered an escort agency. Rye is sitting behind Brenna in the bar when she makes this declaration to her friends, he's been mooning after Brenna for years, its an open secret among his bandmates, and his only way of coping is to constantly snipe at her, but this could be his chance to show her how he feels. Brenna has had a crush on Rye since she was a teenager and he was a member of her cousin's band, it breaks her heart to see him with a string of other women and she hides behind the snarky comments.

At first horrified by the friends-with-benefits arrangement proposed by Rye, scared that it might be an elaborate gotcha at her expense, but she eventually capitulates. Can these two lost souls find each other?

I absolutely loved the first two books in this series. I bought the third book and either gave up or forgot to review it (which I've only just discovered) and I was stoked when I saw this was coming out. Sadly, this felt too similar to Karina Bliss's Rock Solid series (BTW excellent series if you are interested) and I think Rise which tells the story of the powerhouse PA of rock band Rage and the nice guy drummer, is better.

I found the friends-with-benefits story a bit icky TBH and the frequent sex scenes felt forced rather than smexy. Randomly, the plot with Brenna's parents reminded me of a smash-up between two of Susie Tate's books (which generally feature English/Welsh doctors). So overall, the plot felt over-familiar.

Maybe I would have liked this better if I hadn't had such high expectations.

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Review: When Stars Collide

When Stars Collide by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Olivia Shore, opera prima donna, and Thad Owens, Chicago Stars back-up quarterback, are brand ambassadors for a high-end watch company forced to tour the US together promoting the watches designed especially for them at a series of events.

Olivia has been receiving anonymous threatening notes and 'gifts' (which she thinks are linked to the suicide of her long-term ex who was also an opera singer, although not first string) which has unnerved her so much that she has performance anxiety - something she is desperately trying to hide and hopes to overcome before she sings the role of Amneris in Aida at the Chicago Municipal Opera. To add to her woes she's being forced to spend a month playing nice with a dumb jock with a bad attitude to women.

Thad feels like he's always the bridesmaid, never the bride in his professional career. He never quite made it to starting quarterback and now he's babysitting Clint Garrett, a cocky know-it-all with an amazing talent and fifteen years his junior. Now he's being forced to spend a month in close proximity to a Diva with a bad attitude and a stick up her butt.

I'll be honest, I've been pretty disappointed with SEP's last two books. Dance Away with Me started off strongly and then went batsh*t crazy around the halfway mark and First Star I See Tonight was so immerobale that I forgot to write a review when I finished and didn't remember enough of what happened to write one subsequently. In fact I read other people's reviews and other than the cringe-worthy start I don't recall any of the rest of the book from their reviews. So I came to this with some trepidation but, hey its SEP so I'm gonna read it anyway. Well this was SEP at her very best. Thad and Olivia were both fully rounded grown up characters, they got over the initial misunderstanding quickly and became a great couple. Their issues were very real and I could understand their dilemmas.

This was a joy to read from start to finish, a sparkling return to top form.

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Review: Iron & Velvet

Iron & Velvet by Alexis Hall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kate Kane is the half-human daughter of the Queen of the Wild Hunt, she drinks whisky for breakfast. Her ex-boyfriend Patrick is a vampire with the mentality of a sixteen year old boy, an obsessive crush, and a disturbing similarity to a certain creepy vampire who sparkles (her business partner used to joke that he (the vampire, not the partner) turned Kate gay). As this series starts Kate has an impressive backstory, her most recent ex was a thief who killed Kate's business partner. After being stalked, groomed and gas-lighted by Patrick Kate has a rule that she will never work for vampires, until the Prince of Cups, Julian Saint-Germain's, incubus right-hand-'man' Ashriel demands her presence to investigate the murder of a werewolf outside her club, The Velvet.

Think Sam Spade as a modern-day Lesbian investigating supernatural mysteries.

I've loved all of Alexis Hall's contemporary romances but I was a bit hesitant about this series - how does contemporary LGBTQ+ romance segue into paranormal investigations? I shouldn't have worried, it's very different but an absolute joy. The effortless weaving of numerous genres, the celibate sex-demon, the Lesbian biker witches, the vampire prince who is an accountant, the lingerie model Alpha werewolf. Set close to where I work (in a non-pandemic world), I must seek out the church where Kate meets The Multitude, a rather disgusting sounding group mind meld of rats.

Humour, snark, gruesome pus and maggots, sewers, hot sex this book has everything and I am steaming through the rest of the series.

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Review: Royal Pawn

Royal Pawn by K.N. Banet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How can this be the sixth book already? I had totally forgotten that I had pre-ordered this book so when it dropped on my Kindle I was pleasantly surprised, but also struggled to remember what had happened previously. Luckily it all came flooding back very quickly.

Jacky Leon is a human turned werecat. She owns a dive bar in the middle of nowhere, much to the disgust of her adopted werecat family, all of whom are ancient and fabulously wealthy with mansions and palaces all over the world, Jacky could have all that too but she she just wants to be normal and guard her territory. Jacky has become involved with Heath Everson, former Alpha of the Dallas werewolf pack. Werewolves and werecats are enemies, they fought each other in the wars and Jacky and Heath's relationship is very much a secret. After a failed coup by his eldest son and closest advisers Heath abdicated as Alpha and came to live on Jacky's land with his adult son Landon and daughter Carey.

At the start of this series Jacky was called to Duty to protect Carey from the werewolves who wanted to kill her to weaken Heath's control over the Dallas pack, in keeping Carey safe Jacky inadvertently got mixed up with a fae called Brin and his human wife and sons. Brin gave her the gift of telepathic speech when in her werecat form, something normally only the werewolves can do, and even then only between themselves whereas Jacky can speak to anyone telepathically when she is in her moon-cursed form.

Now Brin has come to collect on the favour, by blackmailing Jacky and Heath to protect his human wife. It turns out that nondescript Brin was actually Brion, rightful King of the Sidhe, eldest child of Oberon and Titania who left his throne to live in disguise. Now through his gift to Jacky his existence has been uncovered and his younger brother, the current Fae King, is trying to kill him. Forced into the middle of a vicious Fae war Jacky and Heath are playing a dangerous game, forced to work alone in order to avoid embroiling all the magical species into the dispute. Can they keep Brin's wife safe?

This was just as fast-paced and twisty as all the previous books in this series, I read with my heart pounding. Can not WAIT for the next one. Also, it appears that there was a predecessor series involving a deadly assassin for the Tribunal - hold my beer!

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Review: Living in the Past

Living in the Past by Jane Lovering
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Grace Nicholls is a school teacher whose husband Jamie tragically died of cancer two years ago, ever since she's (understandably) been sad and living life in a zombie-like fashion (although less brains for dinner, naturally). When her BFF Tabitha drags her to volunteer at an archaeological dig in Yorkshire during the school holidays Grace can't think of anything less fun. But despite herself Grace finds the monotony of the work soothing and her run-ins with the site director Duncan McDonald have a certain ascerbic charm, as does the bizarre group of people living over the hill, she can't decide if they are hippies or some austere religious group but Grace enjoys watching their 'back-to-nature' lifestyles.

Professor Duncan McDonald is very familiar with the dig site, his family has a holiday home close by, but his return is tinged with sadness and when one of the students goes missing it seems as though history is repeating itself, but the truth is so much more bizarre than he could ever imagine.

I bought this book over six months ago because I like Jane Lovering's books, read a couple of chapters and thought, 'nah' and put it aside. In a bit of a reading funk last night I picked it up again and raced all the way through it - which just goes to show that its often as much about how you are feeling when you read a book as it is about the book that you are reading.

I thought the premise of this book was made clear in the blurb, but obviously not, so I'm not going to spoil the plot by revealing it ahead of time. If your idea of a romance is a grieving widow trading snark with a dour Scotsman with no interpersonal skills then this is definitely the book for you, their insults made me chuckle out loud. Also I have recently seen the film The Dig about the finding of an Anglo-Saxon Burial Ship at Sutton Hoo, so this story of looking for a bronze-age settlement in Yorkshire was right up my alley, add in a little suspense and it was another page-turner from Jane Lovering.

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Review: In Love with the Viscount

In Love with the Viscount by Julianne MacLean
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Adele Wilson is the youngest of three American sisters, all fabulously wealthy. Her sisters have found love with English lords and Adele is sailing to England to marry her betrothed, Harold. Adele has always been the obedient child, the rule-follower, the good one. Her sisters are frankly surprised that Adele has chosen such a reserved, studious man to marry but Adele finds Harold clever and kind.

Then (for reasons, frankly, that never made much sense), Adele is kidnapped and held in a remote cottage until she is rescued by a dashing, dark-haired avenging angel, more Dark Knight than knight in shining armour, Damien Alcester, Harold's cousin. Adele and Damien spend three days together travelling to Harold's country home, during which time feelings grow between them. Although Damien is destitute and has a bad reputation (and is known to keep a famous actress as his mistress), he loves his cousin and would never want to hurt him. Similarly, Adele has made a commitment to Harold and intends to marry him.

This was okay, the problem was that Adele and Damien were so honourable but also so attracted to each other the entire novel was push-me/pull-me between them, with not much else to break up the monotony.



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Review: The Last Daughter

The Last Daughter by Nicola Cornick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Serena Warren's twin Caitlin disappeared over a decade ago, without a trace. Her loss, and Serena's associated amnesia, have cast a long shadow over Serena's family. Now the Police have found Caitlin's body, but there is a mystery to be solved about how and when she died. Serena returns to the family's former home near the ruins of Minster Lovell Hall in Oxfordshire to find out more about her sister's body and gradually starts to recall the events of that fateful night.

Back in the fifteenth century Anne Neville is betrothed to Francis Lovell, just a few years older than herself, in an attempt by Lord Warwick, Anne's maternal uncle, to create an alliance. Caught up in the Wars of the Roses and the machinations of Lord Warwick and Anne's father, Anne and Francis are initially pawns but as they grow older Francis becomes more involved, although his loyalty is to King's brother, Richard Gloucester.

Told in alternate voices by Serena and Anne we see how their lives are entwined through Minster Lovell Hall and a mysterious lodestone with magical powers. Treason, treachery, greed, lust, and loyalty run through the stories as they build to unravelling the truth behind Caitlin's death and the disappearance of Francis Lovell.

I was under a misapprehension about the time-slippery twist (Barbara Erskine's words) and so I spent the majority of the book expecting something which never really happened 'on screen'. Also, I felt that it bore too many similarities to Nicola Cornick's previous book The Forgotten Sister, indeed the protagonist of that book also features in this book as one of Serena's best friends. It was also similar to another book I read recently The Queen’s Spy, although The Last Daughter did a much better job of engaging me with Anne and Serena.

I have never really got to grips with the factions in the War of the Roses, too many of them seem to have the same names, although at least watching the TV series The White Princess helped me get the characters straight once we reached Henry Tudor LOL.

I did enjoy this book. However, I suspect that I may find the books a bit same-same if I read a third book by Nicola Cornick which features alternate timelines.

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


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Review: Murder at Keyhaven Castle

Murder at Keyhaven Castle by Clara McKenna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the third book in the Stella and Lyndy mystery series, although it was way to read as a standalone novel.

Stella Kendrick is a modern (for 1905) American young woman, only child of ambitious billionaire Elijah Kendrick who has arranged for Stella to marry the impoverished Lord Lyndhurst. After the events of the two previous books I understand that Stella has actually fallen in love with Lyndy, although she still resents her father for forcing her to marry a complete stranger.

As the wedding day approaches family and friends descend upon Morrington Hall in the New Forest, including Stella's aunts, her father's business rival/friend Theo Swanson, his wife and their daughter Penny. Unexpectedly, Elijah's ne'er do well brother Jed and his two children have also arrived, uninvited, to join the party.

As the Hendricks go to the Southampton docks to collect the Swensons they witness a terrible accident, a runaway cart and horses run over and kill a young man. However, it appears that the young man has a connection to Morrington Hall. Then a murder far closer to home throws everything into turmoil, but with everyone a suspect can Stella and Lyndy uncover the murderer and finally get married?

I have to admit I struggled with the start of this book. The appearance of an American cowboy in Southampton docks and the rather offensive way Lyndy's friends spoke were a little off putting. However, I wasn't going to throw in the towel at only 7% so, after a bit of a delay, I started again.

This was a cracking romp, lots of suspects in a fairly isolated country house. Scandals, cheats, blackmail, secret correspondents, and horse race fixing all swirled into a fun mix. I guessed the murderer's identity quite early on, I specifically noted it at 55% through the book although I had thought so for some time, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment.

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

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Review: Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook

Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook by Celia Rees
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Edith Graham, a teacher, goes to Germany after the end of WWII to help rebuild schools and reform the Nazi education system. Her cousin Leo was something hush-hush in SOE and has not only encouraged but actively lobbied for Edith to go. Leo has asked her to keep her eyes and ears to the ground for any hints of Nazis in hiding, especially Kurt von Stabenow, a former lover of Edith's who was involved in the torture and murder of prisoners for medical research purposes, and his wife Elisabeth. Then two acquaintances also ask Edith to search Germany for Kurt, they tell Edith that the British establishment is less concerned with punishing Kurt (and others like him) and more concerned with harnessing his knowledge and research for their own purposes as the world slides into the Cold War. These women, Vera and Dori, want to know what happened to four British female spies who were captured almost as soon as they landed in enemy territory and never seen again. Vera and Dori suspect that there was an enemy agent deep in SOE and they want justice for these women, they want Kurt put on trial for war crimes and hanged.

Soon Edith, an innocent aboard, is mixed up in Cold War politics as the victorious allies each try to leverage the Nazi scientists' knowledge. She sees the pitiful state of the defeated German people, and all the displaced persons fleeing Eastern Europe from the Russians, the black market dealings and the people ready to exploit. Pushed and pulled by friends she makes, each of whom has an ulterior motive, Edith covertly reports back to Dori by way of a cipher hidden in recipes which she sends back home, using her existing alter-ego Stella Snelling who wrote war-time recipes for a newspaper.

I wanted to like this book, and parts of it were very well written and engrossing. However, it felt as if there were too many ingredients, or (to take the cookery motif further) as though this had started off as one thing and then evolved into something else. For example, every chapter starts with a recipe, gleaned from Edith's interactions with Allied occupiers, German people and refugees from the East. These are supposed to be a code, but the code was never clearly explained and it appeared highly coincidental that Edith was able to send a coded message about current events using a recipe which she had just obtained - ie she just received a Latvian recipe the week she wanted to send a message about a Latvian refugee. There was a 'romance' with a Jewish Allied soldier which just didn't ring true, he and Edith seemed to fall in love almost at first sight. Also the story was framed by events in 1989 which were intended to be cryptic. The problem was that I had totally forgotten the opening chapter by the time I got to the end of the book and had to reread it, so all the casual misdirection was totally wasted and, if I had kept the opening chapter front and centre it would have made it simpler for me to know who Edith could trust, thus destroying the suspense of the rest of the book.

Overall, I don't think the book needed the recipes or the 1989 wrap-around, and I had some questions as to why wait until 1989, the scenes in Germany were completely harrowing and didn't need the additional quirks.

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

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Review: The Heart Principle

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is Quan's book (Michael's business partner from The Kiss Quotient and Khai's brother from The Bride Test).

Anna Sun became an overnight sensation as a violinist when a performance she gave went viral on YouTube. However, she has struggled ever since and has taken a leave of absence from the San Francisco orchestra to try to overcome her obsessive need to be perfect, which is forcing her to restart pieces from the very beginning if she makes a single mistake when practicing. Then her long-term boyfriend (let's call him douchebag Julian) tells her he thinks he may be ready to commit but wants to see other women first, to get it out of his system!!! As the youngest of two daughters (by fifteen years) of a traditional Chinese family, Anna is used to being subservient and obeying her elders at all times, she puts up with her mother's disapproval and her elder sister's bullying without complaint, she's even the perfect girlfriend to Julian, but it is making her unhappy and she has started to see a therapist, although therapy isn't going well because Anna always tells her therapist wants to hear. Basically, Anna is a people pleaser.

Anna reacts badly to Julian's suggestion of an open relationship, she is only dating him because his family is close to her family and he has her family's approval: good job, good family, etc. She determines that she is tired of wearing a (metaphorical) mask when dealing with others, pretending to smile etc, she will have a one-night stand (or more) and act more like her authentic self.

Quan is a Vietnamese, shaven-headed, tattooed, partner in a start-up children's clothing enterprise (think dinosaur dresses with tutus) and a part-time martial arts instructor. He has recently recovered from cancer, but is reluctant to resume his dating activities, particularly because he feels vulnerable after his surgeries, so his partner Michael suggests a one-night stand to get him back in the game (but not phrased as crudely as that). Swiping through potential matches on a dating app, avoiding the women who are clearly looking for relationships, he comes across Anna's profile; she might look like a woman who is searching for a husband but her profile is very clear that she is looking for a one-night stand. They message each other and a friendship is born, not least because each of their attempts at a hook-up is foiled and they end up watching documentaries about sharks or doing something totally PG.

Quan and Anna may be Asian, but they are worlds apart in every way, socially, economically, etc and yet they click. Quan is the only person that Anna can truly be herself with, and she is the only person that he can talk to about his cancer. When Anna's therapist suggests a potential diagnosis for Anna's anxiety and other issues it shines a light on why Anna finds social engagements so stressful, but her family refuse to even entertain the idea. When tragedy strikes will Anna go back to her subservient, people-pleasing ways, or will Quan's love help her to make her own way in life?

I loved this book, it felt really authentic and detailed, unsurprisingly as Helen Hoang has stated that this draws heavily on her own life. My only criticism would be that Quan is not as fully realised a character as Anna, she's turned up to 120% brightness and he fades into the background a bit. Don't get me wrong, he has storylines but the spotlight is definitely on Anna.

I loved Helen's first book, was less enthused by her second but with Anna she drew me in completely and I felt everything that she felt. I understand from the notes at the end of the book that this was an incredibly difficult book to write, and I can understand why because the angst jumps off the page. Highly recommended.

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

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Review: Farewell Blues

Farewell Blues by Maggie Robinson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lady Adelaide Compton learns that her very proper mother, Lady Broughton, has been arrested for the murder of her lover the Duke of Rufford in their hotel suite at the Ritz, the evidence looks very damning, especially as she was found in her nightclothes holding her own pistol standing over his lifeless body. With the police happy to have such a strong suspect and the press enjoying the fall of a member of the aristocracy it falls on Lady Adelaide to prove her mother's innocence and what better suspects than the late Duke's family, all of whom had reason to wish him ill?

Lady Adelaide can call upon her friendship with Detective Inspector Devenand Hunter, an Anglo-Indian police officer she has become close to over the course of investigating/being involved in several other mysteries, and the ghost of her philandering husband Rupert who is atoning for his wicked life by performing good deeds in order to get into heaven.

This is obviously the fourth book in a series, none of which I have read previously. I found it easy to read this as a stand-alone book as the past history was explained quite early on. However, there was no hint of a Randall and Hopkirk, deceased storyline in the blurb, much less that Rupert had some celestial mission to perform. I thought this was a bizarre plot choice as it meant that Rupert could go anywhere and eavesdrop on conversations, even stealing items to further the investigation, a bit like a deus ex machina.

I could probably have got over Rupert's involvement, indeed he didn't uncover the killer, had it not been for the relentless politically correct agenda. Don't get me wrong, I strongly believe in diversity and inclusion and I am a proud ally of the LGBTQ+ community but having characters from the 1920s using twenty-first century terminologies and expressing modern sensibilities (eg treating her maid more like a friend, even going out together and cleaning up in her stead) is just jarring in what was supposed to be an historical novel.

I also felt that the story took too long to move forward, we seemed to be about half way through the book and nothing much had happened, then four (count them, four) epilogues to give all the characters a HEA - it felt as though Maggie Robinson was heartily tired of the series and wanted to ensure that there were absolutely no loose ends to drag her back in.

Having moaned a lot, this was pleasant enough and an easy read.

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

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