Review: The Anatomist's Wife

The Anatomist's Wife by Anna Lee Huber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well this book literally starts with a murder! Lady Godwin is found in the maze at the Earl of Cromarty's Scottish estate, Gairloch Castle, with her throat slit. Suspicion immediately falls on the Earl's sister-in-law, Lady Keira Darby, the widow of the notorious surgeon and anatomist Sir Anthony Darby who was writing a textbook on the human anatomy and forced Keira to draw the body parts for him. In the era of Burke and Hare the bodysnatchers (who murdered 16 people to sell their bodies to Robert Knox for dissection in his anatomy lectures back in the late 1820s), people were terrified of anatomists and many rumours had been spread that Keira had willingly participated in the dissections and, some people claimed that she lured young men to their deaths to satisfy her own perversions. After her husband's death and all the lies being spread about her in London society Keira has retreated to live with her sister Alana and brother-in-law in Scotland where she paints and helps look after her nephews and niece.

The Earl of Cromarty calls upon one of the other guests, Mr Gage, whose father is an investigator in Edinburgh, to look into Lady Godwin's murder until the Procurate Fiscal can be summoned from Inverness to make the official investigation. Keira's brother-in-law suggests that Keira could assist Mr Gage with her extensive knowledge of anatomy. Thus begins an uneasy alliance, Keira thinks Mr Gage is a rake, a scoundrel, and far too good looking for his own good. Mr Gage does not trust Keira, especially since so many of the other guests think she must be responsible. However, when Keira correctly diagnoses something from Lady Godwin's corpse Mr Gage begins to respect her opinions.

I love a good country house murder mystery (or even a Scottish castle murder mystery). Other reviewers have commented on the anachronistic language in the book, there were a couple of things which jarred for me but the erroneous reference to raccoons appears to have been removed. Overall, I found the mystery to be thoroughly engrossing, I had my own theories about the murderer (and other things) which turned out to be wrong which is always a bonus, especially because it turns out that this was an attempt by the murderer to shift the blame onto an innocent party.

I am a firm favourite of Anna Lee Huber's Verity Kent series, which is set in the post-WW1 era, so I am pleased that this earlier series also looks to be great fun - I reserve judgement on whether the anachronistic use of language will become an issue.

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Review: Begin Again Again

Begin Again Again by Eve Dangerfield
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 64%.

Post-pandemic lockdown Beth Myers us keen to get out of her friend's house and start meeting guys again, she wolf whistles a guy in a car and they arrange a sort-of date/not-date. No-one is more surprised than Beth when the guy turns up, but he is taking enigmatic to an excessive level (my view, not Beth's) refusing to answer questions but forcing Beth to answer his.

Bryon Thomas was almost an AFL (Australian Football League) superstar until he injured himself badly, then his girl left him, and now he works as a labourer with his alcoholic Dad, drinking too much and feeling sorry for himself.

I tried to like this, I really did but honestly Bryon and Beth are just pretty unlikable characters, Bryon in particular, and so I gave up at 64%.

Many thanks to the author Eve Dangerfield for gifting me a copy of this book for review, sorry I didn't like it.

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Review: Strictly on Ice

Strictly on Ice by Helen Buckley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was persuaded to buy this book because the author shares a name with someone I work with, and it was on offer at 99p. I was not disappointed.

Katie Saunders is a former Olympic figure skater whose athletic career was cut short by a terrible accident. She has been forced by a lack of money to appear on a new celebrity ice skating show, very similar to Dancing on Ice but where the celebrities are former sportspeople (eg no soap stars, musicians etc).

Jamie Welsh is a former England rugby player who fell from grace after failing to score the winning try (I think) at the World Cup and being branded a love cheat which led to the failure of his marriage. Although significantly better off than Katie, Jamie has also been persuaded to appear on Strictly on Ice by the money as his luxurious home is not cheap to maintain and the celebrity endorsements have dried up.

The show's producers have decided to liven up the ratings by bringing on Katie's former doubles skating partner Alex Michaelson at the last minute as a judge to fuel public speculation about a potential romantic reunion.

Told partially in flashbacks and partially in real time, watch Jamie and Katie as they make their way through the series and deal with the events of the past.

I really enjoyed this and I would have loved for it to be longer.

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Review: Anybody Out There?

Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Anna Walsh is recovering at her parents' home in Ireland, but is desperate to return to New York, her job working for promoting a kooky cosmetics brand, and her husband Aidan who hasn't responded to her calls or emails.

Since this book is 15 years old, I think it is safe to say that the twist is Aidan and Anna were in an horrific accident and Aidan is dead. TBH I got that vibe pretty early on anyway, and if you have read Rachel's Holiday you would be expecting some sort of twist anyway.

There are plot twists, mad Irish shenanigans, fabulous gay neighbours, evil bosses and numerous sub-plots. Despite the long period since publication the book stands up pretty well and is full of that quirky Marian Keyes writing style.

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Review: Foreplayer

Foreplayer by Kate Meader
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mia Wallace was a teenage college hockey star, but a run-in with one of the hockey supremoes meant she couldn't get a place on a hockey team and lost her chance at the Olympics, something she has hidden from family and friends. She has spent years tutoring girls hockey but is determined to take another crack at qualifying for the Olympic squad and realising her dreams.

Mia's older half-brother Vadim Petrov asks his old hockey pal Cal Foreman to train with Mia to get her ready for the Olympic try-outs. Mia is less than impressed by Cal when she sees him engineering a situation at a wedding to get his girlfriend to break up with him and she sort of anonymously calls him out for his behaviour on social media, which makes for some awkward conversations on the ice.

Mia has her eyes on her brother's agent, the suave, sophisticated, Tommy Gordon. But she thinks a man like him needs an equally sophisticated woman, and she's still hanging on to that pesky v-card, so she asks Cal to teach her the ways of seduction, without revealing the object of her affection.

Mia and Cal start to catch feelings for each other, each thinking the other isn't interested.

As with so many of these stories, there are too many strands which interconnect. There is no reason whatsoever for Mia to like Tommy, who is a bit slimy TBH. Cal doesn't want to put himself out there, because of stuff, Mia's nemesis gets involved with the Chicago Rebels threatening Mia's future etc, etc. It was too much and dragged for me.

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Review: Unperfect

Unperfect by Susie Tate
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Mia Lantum (not her real name) is homeless, suffering from cracked ribs and a fractured collarbone, and practically penniless when she gets a job at a small but famous eco-architectural practice owned by Verity Markham and Max Hardcastle in the English south-coast seaside town of Bournemouth as an IT tech support person.

Max is a big, brash, grumpy, Northern architectural genius, he takes one look at Mia with her (dyed) jet black choppy hair, black eyeliner, and tatty black clothes and labels her a teen, emo freak, which is a bit insulting for a woman nearing thirty, he is resistant to change and technology but begrudgingly appreciative of the changes Mia makes to the practice's systems.

Max terrifies Mia, whose injuries are not an accident, but under his large, angry exterior is a kind, caring man, and when Mia falls ill, it is Max who rides in to the rescue.

From sulky teenage stepsons, gruff architects, caring A&E doctors, kooky vegan Reiki practitioners and surly pub landlords these characters just jump off the page.

Words cannot express my joy at a new Susie Tate novel. There is something about her quintessentially British characters, their quirkiness, their real-life issues that just resonates with me. Suffice to say, I didn't start reading this until gone midnight and had finished it before lunch the following day. My only regret is that I will have to wait ages for Yaz and Heath's story. For fellow fans of Susie's books we also get to see (briefly) Kira, Barclay and Sam.

Loved it, loved it, loved 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: The Return

The Return by Anita Frank
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

First let me say that I found the blurb for this book very misleading - I even went back and reread it after I was half way through the book and I stand by my views.

This is what I thought the book was about based on the blurb. (view spoiler)[An estranged couple, maybe he was abusive, physically or mentally, or maybe it was a marriage of convenience and he was cold, he goes off to war and promises never to come back. He has an epiphany and returns determined to win back his wife and child. (hide spoiler)]This is not that book. (view spoiler)[Also, the book is all about Jack's return from the war, which doesn't happen until two-thirds of the way through the book, literally 66% on my Kindle!, and there is very little prior to that about Jack during the war. (hide spoiler)]

Frankly, this was disappointing. I would describe it as a Catherine Cookson novel with more details about farming techniques and set in the Southern Counties. Or maybe a poor man's Thomas Hardy set in WW2.

Since the blurb is so misleading I don't think I can even go into details about the plot, suffice to say it was pretty predictable (actually now I think about it there are some very strong similarities to Far From the Madding Crowd) from start to finish. Told in alternating time frames in 1939 and 1945 we see how Jack Ellison meets and marries Gwen before he goes off to war, and then when he returns. I didn't find Gwen a particularly sympathetic character, she was naïve and stupid both pre-war and after the war ended. Jack was more sympathetic but we didn't see enough of his POV.

I am surprised at all the gushing reviews from other authors, but then I always seem to oppose the majority.

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 Mistletoe Pact

The Mistletoe Pact by Jo Lovett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Dan and his sister Sasha's friend Evie make a pact one Christmas Eve that if she is still single when she is thirty, they will get married. Fast-forward to Evie's thirtieth birthday celebrations in Las Vegas and she and Dan wake up together in the honeymoon suite after one too many green cocktails. Laughing the marriage off as a drunken escapade they get a quickie annulment.

Told partially in flashback over the years and looking to a near future without COVID, we see Evie and Dan dancing around each other at family parties, weddings and Christmas celebrations in the past and in the future, can they ever stop being just good friends?

I enjoyed this book, when have I never loved a Jo Lovett book? But I have to say I didn't really engage with either Evie or Dan, the chapters alternated between their POVs but their 'voices' weren't different as I was reading the 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: A Rogue's Company

A Rogue's Company by Allison Montclair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Iris Sparks and Gwen Bainbridge own and run London's first dating agency, they are taken aback when they are approached by a young black man seeking a wife, realising that their business model has been very narrowly focused on white British people. But ever willing, Iris and Gwen endeavour to find Simon Daile a suitable wife, despite Gwen's misgivings that Simon is lying to them.

Then Lord Bainbridge (Gwen's dictatorial father-in-law) returns from an extended trip to Africa, within mere hours he has sacked little Ronnie's nursemaid and countermanded all Gwen's (and her late husband's) plans for Ronnie's education locally, rather than the hateful boarding school that Ronnie loathed. There is mystery surrounding Lord Bainbridge's return, his nightly excursions to the Livingstone Club, and the mysterious death of an African servant, whose body was found close to the club.

I had certain expectations as to how this was going, and I was totally wrong! This was a clever, interesting mystery which I thoroughly enjoyed. We see more of Iris' backstory, and her romance with the East End gangster Archie Spelling has its ups and downs.

This series does not disappoint and I can't wait for the next one.

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Review: The Engagement Arrangement

The Engagement Arrangement by Jaci Burton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Brenna Bellini's family own a vineyard and wedding event business. She and her father run the vineyard while one of her sisters is a wedding planner and the other manages the finances. When one of Brenna's friends organises her wedding at the vineyard and asks Brenna to be a bridesmaid, she is thrilled, until that is she discovers that her ex-husband Mitchell with his new wife and Brenna's arch-nemesis Allison are not only attending the wedding, but Allison is the matron of honour.

In order to head off Allison's insults and pity at still being single (and living with her parents), Brenna persuades Finn Nolan, a cowboy who works for her father, to be her pretend fiance for the long weekend of the wedding.

Finn has been in love with Brenna for ever, so he jumps at the chance to show Brenna how could they could be together, and he'd do anything to protect her from Allison's spiteful barbs.

So the book I requested from NetGalley had a modern, pastel-coloured, drawing on the front. It gave off a modern, humorous, kooky vibe. However, the cover of the book on Goodreads reveals its true personality much better, and, TBH, I would not have requested a book with such an old-fashioned vibe from the cover.

I must confess I have no idea what an Irish cowboy could possibly do in a vineyard but I let that slide. Finn and Brenna gave off a very old-fashioned vibe and I didn't really feel a connection to either character. I persevered with reading this but TBH I could easily and happily have given up after 20%.

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

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Review: Celebrations at the Chateau: A cosy feel-good read to curl up with this winter

Celebrations at the Chateau: A cosy feel-good read to curl up with this winter by Jo Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fliss and her two older sisters travel to France to see the property their grandfather left in his will. Never having even heard about the property they are expecting a holiday cottage of some description, not a full-blown chateau. Unfortunately, the sisters' plans to sell the chateau are thwarted when they discover they have a sitting tenant, not only that, but they have to pay this tenant a monthly stipend otherwise the chateau reverts to the previous owners!

When her sisters return to England to their jobs and families Fliss is left in France to try to resolve the situation, not helped by the moody guy next door or the hostile townspeople. A chance broken-down car outside the chateau offers Fliss the opportunity to let a family spend the night and that gives her the idea of starting a bed and breakfast operation, assisted by her teenage nephew who has been excluded from his school in England for selling drugs.

Fliss has always felt herself to be an underachiever, hampered by dyslexia at school, she has held a series of fairly menial jobs, when she got the opportunity to buy the café she worked in, she was too timid and ended up working for the new owners instead, and her long-term relationship appears to have hit the rocks as soon as she mentioned the future possibility of children. But what seemed to Fliss and her sisters as lack of direction is perfect training for running a chateau. She can direct cars into parking correctly, she can cook breakfasts for lots of people, she knows how to clean, and she knows how to grow vegetables.

Jo Thomas has freely admitted that this book is inspired by the delightful TV series Escape to the Chateau and this is a charming story wound around that delightful premise. I will warn you that the frequent descriptions of amazing food will have you salivating all over your Kindle though!

This might be (100% definitely is) somewhat idyllic, the hard graft of cleaning an old, neglected chateau is brushed aside in a few words, there's no mention of the back-breaking amount of laundry required to strip and wash several sets of bedding and towels after each change of guests, interspersed with cleaning and washing up and repairing the house. Fliss manages to do all these things effortlessly. But that is all part of the charm of this feel-good romance.

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

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