Review: Death at the Dinner Party

Death at the Dinner Party by Emma Davies
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Francesca Eve is a caterer who has been hired to cater for a swanky weekend party hosted by Mimi and Keith Chapman at their country home, Claremont House. Invited to the weekend are a number of Keith's potential investors in a new property development. The weekend is clearly designed to impress the potential investors with Keith's wealth, and no expense has been spared. Fran has brought along her friend's son Adam, a computer games designer, who wants to study the country house set up for a game he is designing.

Hosts and guests are almost universally unpleasant, the only nice people seem to be the resident gardener/handyman Derek and the housekeeper Rachel. Then Rachel and Fran find Keith dead in his study, which has been trashed and a valuable painting has been stolen.

Fran calls her old acquaintance DCI Nell Bradley (who apparently investigated Adam's mother as a potential murderer in the first book in the series) to investigate the scene, but when suspicion falls on Fran as the last person to see Keith alive, Adam determines to do some investigating of his own.

This was a pleasant enough country house whodunnit (without the aristocracy) but it relied heavily on the hosts and guests speaking freely in front of Fran and Adam, while I understand that they might be overlooked as 'staff', I didn't get the impression that any of the guests had that level of wealth. Also, this was generally recounted in conversation between Adam and Fran or between Fran and Nell so the reader didn't 'see' the interaction, only heard about it when it was discussed later. It was all telling and very little showing.

The discovery of the murderer, in fact pretty much all of the discoveries relied upon Adam's illegal hacking/spying skills. Now I get he designs computer games but some of the bugging and hacking he did stretched the realms of credibility, also he seemed to avoid inputting a password into a laptop at one point by restarting the computer and logging himself in as the Administrator - pretty sure that's not how it works.

Overall, the plot relied too much upon people just happening to 'see', 'hear', 'notice', or be in the right place at the right time. No forensic evidence, an arrest based on no evidence whatsoever, and two amateurs obtaining evidence in ways that would be laughed out of court. A fun read but I can't see this as a long series, particularly since I doubt many people would hire a caterer who has a habit of finding dead bodies.

Don't even get me started on the ending!

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

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Review: You Only Live Once

You Only Live Once by Maxine Morrey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After Lily's husband of just three years dies in a freak accident she becomes practically a recluse. She leaves London with its memories and moves to a large house on the edge of a small village where she continues to write her very successful novels. She avoids meeting neighbours, shopping very early in the morning, and declines invitations to visit friends and family. Her only real contact is with her brother Felix, his wife, and their two children who visit regularly.

Her brother's best friend, and her secret childhood crush, Jack has been living in New Zealand building up his own landscape gardening business. Jack is the son of landed gentry but always seemed to spend most of his time at Felix and Lily's house as a child. Jack is now returning to the UK and Felix has volunteered a room in Lily's house for him to stay in until he gets his new business up and running.

Although Lily initially objects to having a lodger thrust upon her, especially one who was a witness to her greatest humiliation as a teenager, she does eventually come to appreciate his friendship, but can she let go of the past and learn to love again?

Oh dear, I see that I have read a couple of Ms Morrey's previous novels and I have to say I have the same grumbles about this book as I did with those books. Taking that into account, obviously I need to stop requesting ARCs by Maxine Morrey because her style doesn't suit me - if you have enjoyed other books by her then I'm sure you will also enjoy this. Which is not to say that I didn't like the book, just that there were some niggles.

First, I get that Lily was wallowing in her grief (I believe her husband died nearly ten years ago) and was becoming a recluse. However, both Jack and Felix steamrollered her into doing things she didn't want to do, "for her own good". Lily is a woman who earns a very good living, lives life on her own terms and is happy the way she is. It is not for her brother and lodger to force her to change. Also, it makes Lily look stupid, just once I would like the male character to persuade the female to step outside her comfort zone and it's a disaster, something they both agree will never be attempted again!

Second, in any journey of the nature which Lily is on, there are three steps forward and two steps back, that's just life. But when Lily starts to retreat backwards Jack storms off. It is a pet peeve of mine that (generally) men in romance seem to see the need to force the woman to do what they want or it's all over.

Third, it was all so predictable, practically from the first page, I think this needed to be less formulaic. Also, what was the point of making Jack the son of a Lord? It smacked a bit of a kitchen-sink approach to plot by throwing every genre at it and hoping something might stick, it didn't go anywhere and also left me with some legal questions about future children.

Overall, an enjoyable, if rather formulaic and predictable, friends-to-lovers romance let down by the hero's behaviour for me. (I even copied that conclusion from my review of one of Ms Morrey's previous books).

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

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Review: Nora Goes Off Script

Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Nora Hamilton is a divorced mother of two, she writes formulaic small-town romances for The Romance Channel. Her ex-husband came from old money which had been frittered away, he has always spent her earnings on anything he wanted (cars, golf clubs, get-rich-quick schemes) leaving her to scrimp and save. When he finally announced he couldn't "do this anymore" or words to that effect, Nora felt nothing but relief, finally she would be free from a drain on her emotions and finances. His leaving also led to Nora writing a dark screenplay about their lives and eventual separation which is being made into a film starring heart-throb Leo Vance. Nora may just have a soft spot for Leo, having seen many of his films and can pinpoint each of his smiles to specific films. The one thing she is less keen on is his trademark smoulder, although it got him noticed it seems to appear in every film, sometimes at inappropriate moments.

Nora has agreed that the film crew can spend two days filming at her run down home in Hudson Valley, particularly in the picturesque Tea Room which features so prominently in the breakdown of her marriage. What she didn't envisage was just how entitled (and drunk) Leo was going to be, or that he would offer her $1,000 a night to stay on after filming. Whilst everything in her screams to reject Leo's request, the lure of having enough money to fix the guttering, or to cover next year's taxes wins out.

Leo is endlessly fascinated (and sometimes horrified) at the minutiae of everyday life: going to the grocery store; choosing bananas; Meatloaf Wednesdays; only buying steak on Sunday when its on sale; laundry; after-school activities, etc.

Can a single-mom and a world-famous Hollywood actor fall in love? And will it last?

I'll be honest, I loved it. I loved Leo and I loved Nora - not a very insightful review I know! My first book by this author but I will definitely look out for others.

I was invited to read a free copy of the book by Hodder & Stoughton, via NetGalley, in return for an honest review.

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Review: Lifesaving for Beginners

Lifesaving for Beginners by Josie Lloyd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Maddy appears to be living a charmed life with a strong Instagram following every minute detail of her beautiful home and garden. But a missed phone call from her estranged son Jamie on Christmas Day and discovery that her husband is having an affair with one of her close friends lead her to abandon her current life and move to Brighton to try to find Jamie.

Living in a dreary Airbnb apartment, she meets a diverse group of women one day while walking her neighbour's dog on the beach. The women, the Sea-Gals, swim in the sea all year round. They include former sailor Helga, widow Dominica, vegan Lesbian Tor, and later harassed mother-of-two Claire. each woman has her own troubles, her own fork in the road to navigate, her own decisions to make. Together they find that sea-swimming helps to put life into perspective.

I liked this, but I didn't love it, perhaps because I had already read The Wednesday Morning Wild Swim which has a similar vibe. Also, I felt the ending was a bit unrealistic. (view spoiler)[ Pretty much everyone gets a HEA/new beginning. (hide spoiler)] However, it did really make me wish that I lived by the sea so that I could go sea-swimming, even though I am a poor swimmer, don't like the cold, and don't really like swimming in the sea!

Josie Lloyd has said that this book is based on her own experiences during lockdown, living in Brighton and taking up sea swimming and the authenticity shows. Also, while I might roll my eyes at the way in which there is a character representing different aspect of a woman's life (the single woman, the mother, the divorcee, the widow, the crone), Brighton is the sort of place where you could easily find a group like this.

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 Fake Up

The Fake Up by Justin Myers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Flo(ria) is an upper middle-class girl with dreams of a musical career, working in her mother's vanity shop and gigging with an obnoxious sexist musician called Elijah. Dylan is a boy from a council estate with dreams of being an actor, meanwhile he's conducting Jack The Ripper tours of London by day and bartending at his BFF's bar at night. Flo and Dylan are madly in love but their lack of money and class differences cause huge amounts of strife, especially Flo's posh, patronising friends Estella and Barnaby who take every opportunity to put Dylan down. After Barnaby and Estella bring along a group of friends to one of Dylan's tours and infuriate him with their patronising 'advice' (and ask him to act for free in one of their grim webisodes for a sexist drink commercial), Dylan quits his job and he and Flo end up having a massive row.

Flo moves home and writes an angsty thinly-veiled song about their break-up which soons goes viral and leads to her becoming famous. Meanwhile, Dylan lands a role on a hospital soap opera playing a closeted bisexual doctor. Although they soon realise that their argument was silly, Flo and Dylan realise they need to stay broken up for their careers, so they pretend whilst secretly calling and texting each other. But when the tabloids and gossip mags are snapping pictures of Dylan with his costar, or Flo's agent wants her to fake-date a young artist who shared her first song on his social media, do they even know where the acting ends?

I have to take issue with the way this book is sold as A hilarious new rom-com with unforgettably brilliant characters. I didn't think this was hilarious, I didn't even think it was funny. Nor is it a rom-com. And the characters? Meh. Honestly I found both Dylan and Flo to be pretty unsympathetic and the 'antics' of the final chapters were completely left field and didn't fit with the narrative of the book to date.

Overall, I have to say that this book felt to me like the author came up with a great plot for a story and then didn't really care about any of the characters enough to make them likeable or believable. The writing was good and I liked the concept but I didn't care enough about the characters.

I was gifted this book by the publisher Little, Brown Book Group via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Even Better Than the Real Thing

Even Better Than the Real Thing by Melanie Summers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Finley Green is an ambitious daughter of a Georgia peanut farmer, she's been in London for ten years studying Art History part-time while working full-time (nights) at a private equity firm, Stuart Equity, as a data entry clerk, although that job got a whole lot easier after her friend Chalani automated the process and now the two of them sit around reading/ scrolling social media while the program takes the strain.

Finley wants to be accepted onto a prestigious Professor's PhD programme, being one of the three students accepted would pave the way into her dream job practically anywhere, but she is shocked when the professor says her thesis is boring, the only way to get the coveted spot is to somehow gain access for the professor to her boss, Hayden Stuart's, ancestral home which she believes may contain a painting which would confirm a centuries old scandal.

Hayden Stuart is a disillusioned rich aristocrat. His father only married his mother to get the requisite heir and then disappeared with the first in a succession of new wives four years later. Hayden Hayden has barely seen or spoken to his father since. Now his father has died, Hayden is set to become the next Lord Stuart, but there is a catch, to inherit the title and all the assets he must be married. With his ghastly half-brother and his wife eager to get him disinherited, Hayden must act quickly to find a wife.

Hayden and Finley enter into the classic marriage of convenience, he gets the title and the castle with all its priceless art (which he fully intends to sell off) while she gets the opportunity to devote her time to her PhD, get the prized place on the professor's programme and study all the amazing art at Hayden's ancestral home. What could go wrong?

First a major niggle. If you are going to write about a foreign city please either create fictional restaurants/hotels/suburbs or do some research. There is a heinous sentence quite early on when (and I paraphrase because I can't be bothered to find the quote) Finley gets the tube from her flat in Croydon to her interview in Mayfair opposite The Savoy, one block back from the Thames. Almost everything in that sentence is wrong. There is no tube station in Croydon, The Savoy is not in Mayfair, and The Savoy is on the banks of the Thames. All of these things can be googled, as I did to double-check that I wasn't getting irate unjustifiably. There were other examples of things just being plain wrong.

I was misled by the art historian and private equity aristocrat labels into thinking this was a more mature marriage of convenience romance, whereas this is most definitely in YA/NA territory despite Finley and Hayden's ages. I mean their names alone should have given me a clue. Consequently, I was a bit disappointed which is all on me for expecting something different.

Overall, barring the factual inaccuracies, and the fact that this was not the book I was expecting, I did enjoy the romance, after the initial YA/NA internal posturing monologue (Hayden: there's no such thing as love, all relationships are transactional, that's what my parents taught me and now I'll never be fooled by love; Finley: aw shug, I'm just a Southern gal, bless your heart) they settled down into nice characters - question why do some many YA/NA characters start the books as one thing and end as something completely different? The romance was sweet, if predictable, and the resolution had an unexpected twist.

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 Murder of Crows

A Murder of Crows by Sarah Yarwood-Lovett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dr Nell Ward is an ecologist. While surveying an old manor house for evidence of bats and other protected flora and fauna she comes within a few feet of the murder of a young woman. When Nell falls under suspicion, having made an appointment to see the victim later that day, being at the murder scene, and having (for very good reasons) covered up the entrance to the tunnel in which the murder occured, she knows that she must clear her own name. Also, it seems that Nell's professional expertise will be needed to identify the murderer.

I enjoyed reading this novel but I have to say I found it slightly confusing. The blurb makes it clear that Nell is acting as a detective, but there are quite a few chapters from the investigating police officer's POV so I wasn't sure who exactly was detecting. Similarly, there is more than one romantic interest for Nell - as if the author wanted to keep the reader guessing as to who Nell would pick - which was odd because when the book starts Nell is enamored of her assistant/fellow ecologist Adam.

The second thing I found, if not confusing perhaps a little passé, was that Nell has a secret identity. Although I don't think it is really a spoiler I will put it in spoilers to be safe. (view spoiler)[Nell is actually a member of the aristocracy (Lady Eleanor Ward-Beaumont), fabulously wealthy, and her family has an ex-SAS protection officer/chauffeur on hand because her mother is an MP who has received death threats. Now this all feels eerily familiar (but I'm too lazy to google it) and a bit of an excuse for Nell to be able to do anything she wants, no expense spared. (hide spoiler)]

My biggest gripe is that this felt like a load of red herrings were thrown into the plot to disguise the obvious nature of the murder. The victim felt very much like the second Mrs De Winter in Rebecca, Nell seemed a little like Temperance Brennan in Kathy Reichs' books (without the social awkwardness) and I'm not sure how this is going to develop into a series, I mean how many murders in a small town would require an ecologist to shed light on the scene?

I don't think that this is yet as accomplished as Richard Osman or Faith Martin as the blurb suggests but I would definitely be interested to read the second book to see where this goes.

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

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Review: London, With Love

London, With Love by Sarra Manning
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book starts in 1986 and covers a twenty year on-off friendship between Jennifer and Nick. First off, it physically pained me to tag this as historical when much of it is an anthem to my own youth.

In 1986 Jennifer starts studying for her A levels at Barnet College, after being bullied mercilessly at school by the mean girls she is determined to reinvent herself and find some friends. Nick is an impossibly good-looking, too-cool-for-school, student in her English class, full of pretension and knowing smirks. At first they cordially dislike each other, until a chance meeting at a gig, when Nick helps Jen out of a bind, creates a tentative friendship. Jen thinks she's playing it cool and no-one knows she fancies her best friend, she even manages to be friendly with the series of ethereal blondes that Nick dates, until an overheard conversation at Jen's 18th birthday party reveals that she's fooling no-one. So ends a beautiful friendship, one in which Nick and Jen knew each other better than anyone else.

Jen and Nick continue to run into each other from time-to-time, through a mutual friend, through work, through partners. Each time their dynamic changes: he's in love with her, but she isn't; he's engaged; she's engaged; and so on. In the background we see so many of the major events that punctuate their lives: the death of Princess Diana; Y2K, 9-11 and so on.

It's interesting, initially I engaged whole-heartedly with Jen. She reminded me of my teenage years, of reinventing myself at A level college, the drinking and smoking and watching bands at Brixton Academy. Then I started to get irritated when she aged but didn't grow up (conveniently forgetting my own misspent twenties), but loved the slow way in which she gradually grew up. On the other hand, I didn't think Nick quite worked as a character, maybe because everything was focused on Jen, sometimes his motivation was a bit cloudy.

Overall, this novel brought back so many memories: of music, fashion, growing up, and seminal events in history. It was a real trip down Memory Lane, and for those too young to remember back to the 1980s I can assure you that it has that ring of authenticity. I loved how Jen/Jennifer grew emotionally, this is just as much women's fiction as it is romance. It is also an homage to a beautiful city of contradictions.

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

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Review: Leaving Everything Most Loved

Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Maisie Dobbs is finding that inheriting property and great wealth is not the boon that others would imagine. She still finds herself conflicted between her humble upbringing, the daughter of a servant who was herself a maid, through her education which led her to her current profession of detective and psychologist, and her inheritance which has led her to mix with the aristocracy and a relationship with James Compson, the son of her former employers. James is keen to marry Maisie but something is preventing her from accepting her proposal, although it doesn't stop them from being lovers and living together in his mansion, although she maintains her own, less glamorous, apartment. Maisie is also conflicted because James is involved with a man who is developing fighter planes for the war against Hitler which they fear is inevitable, while Maisie applauds their patriotism, he is also responsible for the deaths of at least two men who died to protect his secrets, something which Maisie can't forgive. Added to which, Maisie's trusty sidekick Billy is not recovering from his previous beating and is not performing his job as usual.

Maisie is approached by an Indian man, a former soldier in WW1, whose sister Usha was shot two months earlier. Although highly educated, and brought to England to act as a governess to an English family, Usha has been living in a house for Indian servants who have been let go by their English employers and working as a daily maid to earn her keep. While investigating Usha's murder Maisie must also take on one of Billy's cases which he has let slip, involving the disappearance of a teenage boy.

This read very much like the final book in a series, there were (endless) recaps of Maisie's career to-date, her love life, her inheritance, her service during the war etc. Also, with her pondering over travelling to India and the situation with Billy and James it really feels like the end of an era (although of course I know there are several more books - by popular demand or did Jacqueline Winspear change publishers?). So much so, that the mystery seems a bit of an afterthought, and I'm still not entirely sure why Usha's friend was also killed or even if it was the same killer. Anyway, I have moaned about how every book in this series seems to relate to WW1 (except the last one) and when it doesn't I'm still not happy!

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Review: A New Mantra

A New Mantra by Sapna Srinivasan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mira Sood has always been a dutiful Indian daughter, including an arranged marriage and moving to the US with her new husband. Now three years later, her husband Jay announces he wants a divorce, he's met someone else. No friends, no job, no money, no home, Mira is forced to move in with her rebellious cousin Laila and suffer the collective guilt trips of her mother and aunt - both of whom think she should move heaven and earth to get Jay to come back.

In a fit of madness Mira signs up to do a half-marathon, despite never having run a day in her life, and strikes up a friendship with Andy Fitzgerald, a seasoned runner who helps her train. Slowly Mira's life starts to come together, but is she willing to defy her family to achieve her own happiness?

I am always looking to broaden my reading so when I saw this book I thought this would be interesting, a novel about an Indian woman living in the US, written by an Indian woman living in the US. Unfortunately, I didn't really engage with the characters, maybe because it was written in the third person so it all felt a bit remote? Also, it all felt a bit repetitive, description of Mira's running three times a week, descriptions of the food Mira cooks, descriptions of Mira's guilt-laden conversations with her family, rinse-and-repeat. To me this sounded like the author had herself learned to run and was a bit evangelical about the process, wanting to share every milestone with the reader.

Overall, pleasant enough but I won't be requesting the second book.

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

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Review: The Toast of Time

The Toast of Time by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's time for the annual St Mary's Christmas novella, even if I am reading this in April.

Max and Markham have left St Mary's and it will be their first Christmas away from friends and family. Smallhope and Pennyroyal (or is it Pennyhope and Smallroyal?) have given them a mission, to attend a highly illegal sale of stolen objects from history and hopefully nab some time-travelling criminals in their roles as recovery agents for the Time Police. Of course the sale is taking place at St Mary's, albeit in the 1920s, there's great hilarity and the disaster magnets do their usual stuff.

I'll just randomly throw out some nuggets: smoking lady; faberge eggs; sword; the Parish Council; car theft; the security team as you never wish to see them again; more toast than you could ever imagine; a crowbar.

A lovely novella.

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Review: Elegy for Eddie

Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Maisie is approached by several costers from her old home in Lambeth, anxious to get to the bottom of the death of a well-love but differently able man called Eddie. The case strikes close to home as Maisie remembers Eddie well, a man with a child's intellect but a savant when it comes to treating horses. As Maisie begins her investigation she discovers that Eddie's death may be linked to several other 'accidents'/ 'suicides' and behind it all may be something of grave national importance.

Possibly the least engaging of the Maisie Dobbs books to date, feels like treading water and re-opening closed books. Having dangled Sutton and MacFarlane as potential love interests in previous books we were settled on James, now it appears that is all up in the air for a host of reasons.

As prescient minds prepare for the inevitable WW2, Maisie must come to terms with her own faults and foibles, and an investigation that puts Billy in the hospital and may estrange her from the family.

Obviously I'm reading these books back-to-back when they were published annually but I have to confess I am heartily tired of the recapping of the previous characters/plots. By this time either have a dramatis personae or a 'previously in Maisie Dobbs' prologue because it is very tedious to have to read a dry summary of (say) Maisie and James' relationship when I recall it perfectly.

I am glad that this book avoids WW1, but I feel it is just as much 'filler' as the previous book.

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Review: The Muse of History

The Muse of History by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you ever wondered how Mrs Partridge (aka Kleio, Greek Goddess and daughter of Zeus) came to St Mary's, wonder no more.

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Review: The Muse of History

The Muse of History by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you ever wondered how Mrs Partridge (aka Kleio, Greek Goddess and daughter of Zeus) came to St Mary's, wonder no more.

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Review: The Girl With a Pearl in Her Nose

The Girl With a Pearl in Her Nose by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tiny snippet from Jodi Taylor about Max and something stuck up her nose.

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Review: The Girl With a Pearl in Her Nose

The Girl With a Pearl in Her Nose by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tiny snippet from Jodi Taylor about Max and something stuck up her nose.

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Review: St. Mary's and the Great Toilet Roll Crisis

St. Mary's and the Great Toilet Roll Crisis by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Written during the COVID lockdowns, a very short story about the government requisitioning toilet rolls and the entirely expected response by St Mary's.

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Review: A Lesson in Secrets

A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Maisie is coming to terms with the death of her mentor Maurice Blanche and her inheritance of his properties, papers and wealth. She's come a long way from the maid who used to work there. Her love affair with James is progressing well, although he's currently in Canada wrapping up his business interests. Then Maisie is approached by the Secret Service who want her to go undercover as a philosophy lecturer at a small, relatively new, Cambridge College to report on any activities "not in the interests of His Majesty's Government.". The college is founded on the idea of international peace and cooperation and encourages young people from all over the world to study together. The founder of the college, Greville Liddicote wrote a series of children's books, although three books written during WW1 were withdrawn from publication and all copies destroyed.

When Mr Liddicote is found dead at his desk, his secretary calls Maisie who immediately realises this is not a heart attack, but murrrrderrrrr. While MacFarlane and Stratton are brought in from Special Branch to investigate the murder, Maisie is embroiled in yet more fall-out from WW1, including alleged mutinies, the murder of conscientious objectors, and the use of women in espionage. Add to which the rise of politics and admiration of Germany's National Socialism Party and Cambridge is fast becoming a hotbed of political intrigue.

This feels like a readjustment book. I feel Maisie/Jacqueline Winspear is finally letting go of WW1 and anticipating WW2, similarly Maisie's new wealth and lover have changed her from the young woman suffering from (I suspect) PTSD of the earlier books. Also, Maisie has gone from police procedural to assisting the Secret Service, what is next spying in Germany (I've seen the later covers so I assume yes). Whether this change will get her out of the WW1 rut I don't know.

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Review: Kiwi Gold

Kiwi Gold by Rosalind James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lachlan grew up helping his mother care for her quadruplet daughters after both his father and then her husband left her. After spending his formative years in a house with five women he is very sure that marriage and children are not something he aspires to. His job as an exploration geologist searching for precious metals is an adrenaline rush and he is happy with random hook-ups when he does go back to civilisation.

Laila is a widowed mother of twin girls. SHe is barely making ends meet as a new-born photographer after her husband's death and subsequent fall from grace. As the daughter of a red-haired Norwegian explorer and a Kuwaiti muslim woman she has always felt conflicted, not least because although she is no longer a practising muslim, her mother's teaching about modesty are always ringing in her ears. Laila can't imagine ever wanting another man, but even if she did it could only be after marriage.

Laila and Lachlan meet by accident at a Shakespeare-themed masked New Years Eve party when Lachlan rescues Laila from the unwanted attentions of an inebriated Romeo-wannabee. Unbeknownst to each other, Laila and Lachlan live in adjoining apartments. When Laila's daughter mistakes a hangover the next day for appendicitis (mainly because she wants to ride in the ambulance) she knocks next door to use Lachlan's phone.

So can a man who is firmly against marriage and children find it in his heart to fall in love with a traditional woman with children?

Sorry, wasn't very keen on this book, every so often there's got to be one that doesn't grab you and this is it for me. Since it has only just been released I won't spoiler it, but there are A LOT of coincidences, living next door to each other being, frankly, the most plausible. Secondly, considering Laila's stance on sex before marriage the entire book feels like one long extended sex scene with a few sob-fests in the middle, also I felt that when Laila and Lachlan did make love it all went from zero to sexcapades very fast. Overall, I felt that Laila's upbringing and former religion were brushed under the carpet when it didn't suit the plot.

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Review: Part of Your World

Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Alexis Montgomery's family are all renowned surgeons, for 125 years a Montgomery has worked at Royaume Northwestern Hospital, her father has always considered her a disappointment because she chose to be an ER doctor rather than a prestigious surgeon. When her brother Derek announces he is never returning home, Alexis realises that the burden of being the next generation of Montgomery to run the hospital has fallen squarely on her shoulders, whether she wants it or not. To make matters worse, Alexis has just broken up with Neil, the Chief of Surgery at the hospital and one of her father's favourites. Awkward!

Returning home from her Aunt Lil's funeral, Alexis accidentally runs her car off the road and is rescued by a tattooed, bearded local. Later that same night she spots him in the local VFW where he is playing pool with his friends and she is trying to get something to eat before resuming her journey. One thing leads to another and, much to her surprise, Alexis has a one-night stand with the guy, Daniel Grant, the local Mayor, who runs a B&B at the local historical house and is a talented carpenter on the side. Did I mention he's nearly ten years her junior?

Daniel's family have an almost magical connection to the small town of Wakan, he could no more leave it than give up the beautiful B&B that his great, great something grandfather built with his own two hands. Through flood and famine, fire and disaster the Grants have saved the town time and again. Daniel knows that Alexis is wealthy and used to far finer things than he can give her, but their connection is magical and he will do whatever is necessary to make it work. But Alexis knows Daniel would never be accepted in her snobby society, or by her father who is lobbying hard for her to take Neil back, despite his cheating.

This is an opposites attract, older woman/younger man, romance worthy of the Hallmark Channel. The mystical element to the B&B at Wakan was a bit woo-woo for me, and Daniel didn't really have enough depth but it was a fun, feel-good read.

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

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