Review: The Switch

The Switch by Beth O'Leary
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Leena Cotton is a stressed executive, living in Shoreditch, working all hours, until she has a meltdown/panic attack at a client pitch and is ordered to take a two month sabbatical. Leena's grandmother Eileen lives in a small village in Yorkshire, her husband left her for another woman and she is feeling stifled and unfulfilled in her life of Neighbourhood Watch, May Day celebrations and other minutiae of village life. Even worse, there are no eligible men for her, all the men in the village are too old, too boring, too right-wing, or her sworn enemy.

After bemoaning their fates Leena and Eileen decide to swap lives, Leena will move to Yorkshire and Eileen will move to London for two months, Eileen also hopes that this will give Leena and her mother Marian a chance to reconnect as the two of them have been at loggerheads for over a year.

Laugh as a nosey Yorkshire grandmother moves into a trendy warehouse conversion in Shoreditch, flat-sharing with a very pregnant, ,unmarried, lesbian and a single guy. Of course she sorts everyone out and manages to meet all of Leena's neighbours, something Leena has never done. Oh, and Eileen discovers internet dating and friends-with-benefits arrangements.

Meanwhile, Leena is discovering the joys of rural village life, fetes, fierce rivalry with neighbouring villages, gossips, Easter egg hunts and trying to organise the May Day event.

I requested this ARC ages ago, kept putting it off but as soon as I started this I could barely put it down, sweet, funny, charming, and even sad at times, I was fully invested in both Eileen and Leena's new lives. Highly recommended romance and laughs.

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

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Review: Devious Lies

Devious Lies by Parker S. Huntington
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

Where to start? I was lured to read this (despite having sworn off the angst-ridden, navel-gazing, ludicrousy that is NA/YA) by a number of five star reviews from reviewers I trust here on NG.

Years ago I used to have a YA/NA checklist that I used to rate books against to see if they reached peak NA/YA-ish-ness. I don't have it any more but I know stupid names were on it, as was abusive parents, gazillionaires, being super smart and/or super arty, and having a very annoying quirk. Well guess what, ding, ding, ding this one hit the jackpot!

Emery Winthrop (I know her mother is mean, but please naming your daughter after a nail file?) was the spoilt North Carolina princess living with her parents in their mansion until an insider dealing scandal brought down the company and bankrupted half the citizens of the local town, leaving them unemployed and causing at least two deaths. Reed was her BFF and Nash was his older, more dangerous brother, their parents worked for Emery's parents and lived in a cottage on the grounds. Once, before the Winthrop Scandal occurred, Emery climbed into bed with what she thought was Reed only to discover it was actually bad boy Nash.

Four years later and Emery is some kind of stupid martyr, giving all her money to support the daughter of one of the victims of the Winthrop Scandal, going without food and generally acting like a pissy 13 year old rather than a 22 year old. When the money isn't enough she begs Reed to get her a job, so of course he gets her a job as a paid intern with Nash's hotel chain, helping to design the interior of his latest hotel.

Nash has sworn revenge on the Winthrop family, he has evidence which will implicate them in insider-trading and he blames them for his father's death. He will go to any lengths to discover where Emery's father is hiding, including making Emery's life a living hell.

There were four things which really annoyed me about this book:
1. Emery and her stupid words that she uses as a mantra, words that no-one has ever heard of
2. (view spoiler)[Nash has been giving Emery "love letters" with her sandwiches for years and she has kept them for years and yet they "hate" each other (hide spoiler)]
3. Nash acting like a moody teenager rather than a 32 year old man who runs an international hotel chain
4. I got distracted and I can't remember the fourth one but I think it is Emery's stupid T-shirt slogans (see point 1 above)

And the sex was a bit odd, very little of it but goes from 0 to 100 in five seconds flat - I may never look at cupboard door handles in the same way again.

Bottom line, I would have liked the book a whole lot more if it wasn't NA/YA and didn't have all the baggage that entails. If you love all that stuff then you will probably like it as much as everyone else.

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Review: Smoke Bitten

Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mercy Thompson, if you are delving into this series at the 12th book good luck, although I suppose you would probably fare as well as me, who can't remember what she had for breakfast yesterday let alone the twists and turns in this momentous series.

Anyhoo, things are not all sweetness and light at the pack house. Adam's ex-wife is creating tension and Mercy is getting the blame, unfairly. To escape the tension Mercy wanders off to her old home and encounters the ghost of her near neighbour, who apparently has just been murdered. Soon Mercy is on the trail of an entity which bites its victims, forces them to kill innocents and then assumes their bodies for a short period.

But this being Mercy she isn't just hunting down a dangerous creature, oh no, she is also trying to understand what is wrong in her marriage, deal with a stalker, fend off an attempted coup by another pack, cope with a doorway to Underhill on her land, and hold together what is left of her own pack.

I liked this but I didn't love it. It felt shorter than usual (352 pages which is about the same as the last couple) and less intense than other books. Having said that, I am totally chuffed with myself that I put the clues together (can't say more than that because spoilers), which I NEVER do with Mercy Thompson books. So maybe this is one of those slightly more humdrum books in the series, yanno after the drama of the witches and Elizaveta in the last one.

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Review: The New Guy

The New Guy by Kathryn Freeman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Imagine the horror of having your very first one-night stand with a rough looking guy you met in a pub, the day you buried your grandfather only for hot guy to turn out to be your newest employee, the one you desperately need to help you design an upgrade to your successful phone app. Well that's what happens to our heroine Sam Huxton, she has a wonderful night, no-names, no pack-drill and then the following morning discover that tall, dark and brooding is none other than her latest programmer Ryan Black.

This is an interesting modern twist, this time it is our heroine Sam who is the wealthy boss with the expensive car and flat while Ryan comes from a less wealthy background and drives a 30 year old car.

There's romance, secret affairs, industrial espionage, interfering friends and family angst all mixed together in a fun, easy-to-read sparkling romance. Fall in love with grumpy Ryan and pretend you understand anything about app design and coding LOL. For those of us looking for a little escape from the troubles of today this definitely fits the bill.

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

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Review: Badger to the Bone

Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

I don't even know where to begin with this. Maybe I just need to say honey badgers are being Honey Badgers. This is the novel for the third of Freddy MacKilligan's daughters, Max Yang. Being stalked by her mad cousin Mairi, Max is kidnapped but she realises that one of her kidnappers is not like the rest, in fact he is trying to help her, so even though she doesn't need his help she has to save the poor schmuck, especially when she realises that he is a shifter and doesn't know it.

Uncle Will is looking for Freddy, Max's mother has broken out of a high security prison (so everyone is looking for her), Mairi is looking for Max and there's a rogue clan kidnapping humans (I think).

I've got to be honest, I've decided I just don't like honey badgers. I love the wolves and the bears, I even like the hyenas but the honey badgers, not so much. They seem to jump up and down shouting 'I'm mad and dangerous, me' while sticking their tongues out. They are OTT and not very likeable. About a quarter of the way through I even put the book down and read something else because I was tired of the relentless honey badger factor. But then I picked it back up and either the honey badger had been toned down or I was just in a better mood because I speed-read the rest of the book.

This has everything I've come to expect from these books. Mayhem, cakes, basketball, vicious fights, family feuds and oodles of humour. If you liked the other two honey badger books I'm sure you'll love this one.

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

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Review: Death and other Happy Endings

Death and other Happy Endings by Melanie Cantor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Jennifer Cole is a single middle-aged woman with a middle-management job in HR when her GP gives her the devastating news that she has a rare incurable blood disorder and only three months to live. The news causes Jennifer to do some thinking about past relationships and family ties culminating in her writing three letters: one to her ex-husband,; one to the love of her life; and one to her sister explaining all the things she never had the courage to say before.

At first jennifer finds that her letters have a good effect, and, despite the poor prognosis, she feels pretty good about life. But soon things aren't quite as rosy as they appear.

I did quite enjoy this novel about being brave enough to tell the truth (especially to yourself) and how people respond to imminent death. However, I also found it entirely predictable, maybe the blurb foreshadowed events, which kind of took the gloss off of things, I could see from the the start where this was going.

I think this is an enjoyable summer read by the pool, fun but not particularly memorable or unique.

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 Rose Petal Summer

A Rose Petal Summer by Katie Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is classic Katie Fforde contemporary romance, albeit the heroine Caro is 41 years old.

Set partly in a Scottish castle, partly on a barge in London and partly in a French chateau we see Caro take on the temporary role as companion to an irascible Scottish laird, act in loco parentis to a fey young woman hell-bent on seeing London and the rest of the world, and hobnobbing with a famous Hollywood director and his delightful fiance.

Of course there were niggles, typical Katie Fforde 'features' like Caro having an uncanny understanding of smells, she can even 'smell' things she sees on TV FFS. Also, Caro's romantic interest spends at 80% of the novel apparently disinterested in her, until he declares his undying love of course. And the villain of the piece is clearly signalled from a great distance. But overall, I really enjoyed this, these were only minor niggles and I really liked all the characters, it was a fun, sweet, humorous read, perfect for a holiday.

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Review: The Gin O'Clock Club

The Gin O'Clock Club by Rosie Blake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Meet Lottie, a young barrister with ambitions to take silk (get the title Queen's Counsel, or QC) before she's thirty. Lottie is so busy that she doesn't have time for her friends or her boyfriend Luke. When Lottie's beloved grandmother dies she tries to help her grandfather Teddy but she's too busy for that too.

Teddy can see Lottie is unhappy but she won't listen to reason and she is lashing out at those she loves, especially Luke. So he hatches a plan to help Lottie to see what is really important in life, following a discussion of old-fashioned versus modern dating he proposes teaching Luke and Lottie about dating the old-fashioned way and in return he will try to meet people the modern way, through Tinder etc. Every week Teddy and his golf pals meet up to play cards and drink gin, his wife used to call it the Gin O'clock Club and the name stuck.

I requested this book because I had read Rosie Blake's The Hygge Holiday and really enjoyed the gentle romance. Well this is totally different, which isn't a bad thing - no-one likes to read the same book over and over - but I didn't feel the same love for Lottie as I did for Clara Kristensen. In fact, I thought Lottie was a nightmare and I really didn't understand why Luke and her friends either stayed with her or forgave her. Although, I have to confess that her comments about getting into a verbal fight with someone after a few drinks and not really understanding what you are fighting about but refusing to back down did strike a chord. Maybe Lottie struck a little too close to home and I didn't like what I saw?

Anyway, Teddy and his golfing buddies are a laugh riot as they try to show Lottie and Luke how to date the old-fashioned way, some of which works better than others. And I did have to laugh at Teddy's disastrous Tinder date.

I think Lottie's character overshadowed Luke, TBH he was such a paragon of virtue he didn't feel like a real character whereas everyone else was larger than life.

Overall, despite my negativity, this was a gentle, humorous tale about a young ambitious woman who has lost her way and needs her grandfather and his golf buddies to help her get straight again. There's vintage cars, ballroom dancing, picnics and art classes all accompanied by every flavour of gin you could imagine. perfect summer reading.

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

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Review: Ring of Troth

Ring of Troth by Mark Hayden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The third novella to accompany the awesome King's Watch series, in this one Mina is the narrator as she finally gets Pramiti's Mãnik back, a feat which involves Fae lords and Mina's skills as an auditor. We also get to meet Chris Kelly's wife and understand why so many Magickal people dislike her.

I liked this but I felt it was a bit too Ocean's Eleven, the reader doesn't know the plan and it unfolds like clockwork while you read, not really udnerstanding what was going on.

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Review: Phantom Stag

Phantom Stag by Mark Hayden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Conrad and Vicky are called to the Forest of Arden when a hunter accidentally kills a human during the Royal Hunt to decide the new male leader of the Arden Foresters, conincidentally, the Priestess of the Arden Foresters is non-other than Chris Kelly's mother.

Told by Vicky the reader is treated to Fae, political machinations, feminism and an enslaved monk, all in a short novella.

It took me a while to get into this novella, just couldn't seem to get over the first few pages for some reason, but once I did (and it took me three of four attempts) I couldn't put it down.

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Review: Wings over Water

Wings over Water by Mark Hayden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Conrad gets called away by the Peculier Necromancer to an archaelogical dig in Yorkshire, initially just to stop the archaeologists digging while she gets the spirits to leave the site, but then it turns out that the spirits are not those of dead airmen from WWII but something much older and more dangerous.

I read this a few weeks ago, forgot to write a review and then forgot what had happened so I had to re-read this. Still a great, spooky story.

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