Review: Trouble Maker

Trouble Maker by Susie Tate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Lily Summerfield is a preschool teacher, she works with Clara the FMC from Law Maker. Originally from Yorkshire, her family moved to London to be close to her. Her father is a kindly sort, but her mother wants all her daughters to get married, preferably to men with money. Lily has two sisters: Lydia, a teenage aspiring influencer, and Mary, an ardent fan of amateur dramatics.

Lord Darcy Fitzwilliam is a billionaire Hedge Fund owner/manager, he is one of Clara's fiancé's groomsmen. His parents have barely brought him and his sister Imogen up, first farming them out to a nanny, then sending them to boarding school at a young age, despite their pleas to stay at home and attend Molton Prep school (incidentally where Clara and Lily now work). Darcy finds it difficult to talk small talk, particularly with people he doesn't know well, which has given him a reputation as the coldest man in London. Darcy's two nieces attend Molton Prep, although his parents are forcefully arguing that they should both be sent to Pemberley, the private boarding school that the entire family has always attended.

Is any of this sounding familiar? What about if I tell you Darcy's best friend is called Charlie and he has a mean sister called Caroline?

Yes, it's a re-imagining of Pride and Prejudice, but it isn't a rehash, its a start with the same basic concept and characters, bringing them into modern life and then twisting things.

Darcy and Lily have a one night stand - then Darcy fumbles the morning after talk (think about the 'liking you despite my better judgement' speech from the Jane Austen book) leaving Lily fuming, and as it later transpires, pregnant. Can this Master of the Universe persuade a chaotic, laugh-snorting, preschool teacher that he can't live without her? That he cares about more than just his baby?

I squealed when I saw this ARC on NetGalley. I have read every single one of Susie's books (some several times) and I love her feisty heroines. Lily definitely gives me Kira vibes, even down to the wankpuffin epitaphs. This is right up there for me, a homage not a rip-off of one of my favourite novels with a grovelling MMC and a FMC that sees him for who he truly is. Also, Lily's family are nowhere near as bad as Elizabeth Bennett's family.

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Review: Made with Love: The fresh-out-the-oven new novel from the bestselling queen of feel-good fiction

Made with Love: The fresh-out-the-oven new novel from the bestselling queen of feel-good fiction by Katie Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Eve has moved back home to live with her parents after a break-up, followed swiftly by her ex getting engaged to another woman. She is selling bread and pastries from her parent's bakery off the back of their delivery van when a handsome man introduces himself as Finn and buys several pastries. Imagine her surprise when she comes across him not long after, having twisted his ankle while running. She helps carry him to a neighbouring farm, Black Dog Farm run by an old friend's parents - oddly Finn recalls spending some time at the farm with a friend when he was a teenager. Later an oblivious Eve learns that Finn is actually a very famous DJ, with a glamorous French model girlfriend to boot - yet the two of them seem to bump into each other frequently.

Eve soon learns that Annie and William, her friend Cressy's parents who own Black Dog Farm are heavily in debt, their landlord sold the farm and the new owner significantly increased the rents - unfortunately Annie and William are technophobes and rarely read any emails, so they have been merrily paying the old rental amount and now owe £50,000 in back rent. Whilst they produce amazing organically reared meat and crops they aren't very financially savvy and are suspicious of new ideas. But Eve and her friends are determined to help save their home and farm by raising money to pay off the arrears and create new income streams to make the farm more profitable in the long term. Maybe a celebrity wedding in a picturesque old barn could be the answer? Finn's girlfriend Simone seems to think so.

This is standard Katie Fforde fare, if you like her novels you'll love this. Hard-working, down-to-earth women, a noble cause (I typed Nobel, but I don't think its that dramatic LOL), a rich and handsome man, oh and an old crush returned newly single. Honestly, I feel like I've eaten at least ten Pain au Chocolate and a fair few croissants just reading this book - the dangerous thing is I am on holiday and both are on offer at the breakfast buffet *eek*. Also I am craving Eve's Dad's sour dough, sounds scrummy.

Anyway, practically read it all in one sitting. Loved it.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Romance Revival

The Romance Revival by Christina Lauren
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 26%.

She's a scientist, married, and in love with her husband but she never remembers anything important unless it's work. She's been working on a top secret experiment which has not been given the go-ahead. When tragedy strikes and she fears she has lost him forever she does the unthinkable - uses her experiment on him ...

First, I recall vividly a line in Gaudy NIght where one of the academics said she realised if she truly loved the man she wouldn't keep making these mistakes, she didn't do them in her work where she was (I paraphrase) scrupulously accurate and attentive, since she kept making mistakes with him she clearly was not invested in the relationship. So I felt like this about the character, she obviously didn't love him if she couldn't remember their anniversary or his birthday.

Secondly, I could see no ending to the book in which what she did could work out all right (for me), so I decided to give up. But since that was more about me than the book I decided not to share my review on sites where people buy books.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Tarot Trials

The Tarot Trials by Katee Robert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Kestrel is an orphan living a precarious life as a thief in the Dregs - an overcrowded slum in the shadow of The Wall - the city's only defence against the creatures outside in the Wilds. Every twenty-two years the city has the Tarot Trials in which any citizen young or old, rich or poor, noble or thief can vie to become one of thirteen Champions of the Tarot. Those thirteen then compete in a vicious elimination battle to become the five remaining, the Cinque, who stand alongside the Guilds and the Minor Court in running the city, which itself is the epi-centre of commerce for the wider realms.

Twenty-two years ago Kestrel's mother fought and became one of the Cinque as Champion for the Moon, but then she was accused of treason and killed by one of her allies, the Champion of Death. Now Kestrel is determined to seek vengeance for her mother's murder and an explanation for why her allies turned on her so readily. If she can survive the fight.

If it sounds a bit like The Hunger Games, Katee Robert admits in her acknowledgments that the book inspired her to think about what death games could accomplish, as well as Kresley Coles' Arcana Chronicles which I have not read. In a world where the four minor houses Swords, Wands, Pentacles, and Cups have wealth, food, clean water, and fresh air the Dregs and those communities outside the Wall have very little and risk everything to stay alive. Can Kestrel trust anyone in the trials? Will alliances hold? Will she get the answers she is looking for?

I started reading this a while ago but got bogged down in the names and the history and the found family that Kestrel has gathered together in the Dregs and left it. But a few days into a holiday, with all my other TBR books either DNFd or read and reviewed I returned to this and devoured it. Absolutely brilliant. Dark, frightening, clever, twisty, with some romance chucked in too. I am sooooo glad this is the start of a series and I can't wait for the next one.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Available on Kindle+ and currently available for 99p at some ebook retailers.

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Review: Emergency Contact

Emergency Contact by C.G. Macington
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The blurb

Dr. Liam Winters has built walls around his heart after a devastating betrayal. As Metropolitan General's respected emergency physician, he's all about saving lives—not risking his own heart again.

Until paramedic supervisor Noah Bennet wheels in a trauma patient, and everything changes.

Their connection is immediate and inexplicable. They anticipate each other's moves in the trauma bay without words. They finish each other's medical procedures before instructions are given. And the electricity between them? Impossible to ignore.

But their uncanny connection doesn't go unnoticed and soon the gossip mills are flying. Add some tension and can these two love birds stay together?

I liked it but I didn't love it.

Available on Kindle+.

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Review: The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones

The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The blurb

Briar always dreamed of attending the Temple School of Thaumaturgy, the elite boarding school that's produced the most CEOs and Prime Ministers in history, long rumoured to be magical. Briar's best friend, Sebastian (Seb), just wanted them to stay together forever.

When Seb gets an acceptance letter and Briar doesn't, their relationship is shattered - until, at eighteen, Briar secures a temp job sorting through the magical junk in Temple's attic, and discovers that quiet, sensitive Seb, the boy they once loved more than anything else in the world, has become Bastian the villain.

In fact, Temple is more of a horror show than Mallory Towers (since Hogwarts is now problematic because of HER).

Briar cannot believe that the older children are allowed to torture and humiliate the younger children, even worse that it is actually encouraged by the headmaster - its an extreme form of hazing intended to weed out the weak. Although you could argue it weeds out those with a moral compass who refuse to participate. Anyway, Briar soon becomes friends with three students who have made it their mission to disrupt the 'trials' and expose what really goes on at Temple.

Briar is still angry at Seb/Bastian for going to school and never looking back, not even returning for Christmas - but Bastian has a shocking story to tell him.

This was a a very dark story, some of the characters were just awful people through and through. Briar was an amazing character, and great to see a non-binary character in such a prominent position.

Absolutely loved it - just sorry it wasn't the first in an epic series!

I was lucky enough to buy the Kindle edition for 99p.

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Review: Book Club Confidential

Book Club Confidential by Julie Hatcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The blurb

Once upon a time, friends Tessa, Kate, and Hallie dreamed big. Now they’re all that’s left of a once-thriving book club, meeting weekly to drink wine, talk novels, and quietly wonder how their lives got so small.

. Tessa is killing herself working stupid hours in marketing for a promotion, Kate is an influencer trading on her rich Southern aristocrat vibes, and Hallie is a qualified chef working in a coffee and cakes shop for a brutal boss.

None of them are happy so they make a pact - spend one month being authentic like the Main Character in the story of their own lives. Soon things start to unravel. Tessa doesn't get the promotion, her boss gives it to an under-qualified guy with whom he plays golf, Kate starts losing followers, and Hallie is just going along with everything her fiancé and his uber-wealthy family dictate about their wedding.

This was okay, but it had very little to do with a book club and the endings were totally predictable.

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Review: Not His Problem (Anymore): 1 Key, 694 Euros, and a Conflict of Interest

Not His Problem (Anymore): 1 Key, 694 Euros, and a Conflict of Interest by M.T. Liu
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

Sophie Tremblay and Pierre-André (PA) Sainte-Rose work for a Montreal advertising agency. He's a lawyer and she is a copywriter. She likes to fix things with words, he wants everything to be precise. At a work event Sophie tells a self-deprecating story about the time she tried to open the wrong door in an Airbnb and broke the key in the lock. Everyone laughs until PA drops the bombshell that her funny moment cost him €697. Awkward.

But then Sophie and PA are thrown together in crisis mode when one of the firm's clients has numerous customers complaining that their face cream brought them out in hives. Sophie is looking for the right words to land with the customers, PA wants to limit liability. The two of them clash but there is also a spark.

I read the previous book in this series (but didn't remember and also didn't recognise the characters who also feature here). I think some of my concerns which were not articulated there are amplified. Half the time I didn't know what was going on because the two of them speak in half sentences and never actually say what they mean. Also, I assume that the author is in the industry because the talk was so full of industry babble that I didn't understand half of the things that went on in the business meetings.

Only for those who understand the industry or who like everything alluded to but never spoken. I mean, I don't even get what her costume was supposed to be?

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

Available on Kindle+.

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Review: Out, Damned Scot

Out, Damned Scot by Catriona McPherson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lexy Campbell, Scottish ex-pat living in California is over nine months pregnant and guest of honour at a Burns Night dinner - let's be honest it's a travesty of a burns night dinner featuring a ceremonial haggis and a dinner of chicken wrapped in asparagus! While Lexy is still reeling from the shock the master of ceremonies' dirk goes missing, only to be found in the back of one of the guests who promptly face plants into a pile of orange mush (sweet potato). The oddest thing about an evening of weirdness is that no-one knows who the dead guy was. He wasn't invited, he just seemed to appear at the table, he spoke to no-one, and the servers had to lay an extra setting for him. The police suspect the couple sitting either side of the dead guy and so they hire Lexy and her friends at Trinity to clear their names.

I enjoy this series tremendously, especially since Catriona McPherson has reduced the number of times Lexy and her friends are divided by US-English and Scottish-British. This was great fun, taking in Carmel, Napa Valley, a circus and a family history so convoluted I only got about half of it.

If you like British humour and a murder mystery look no further.

I received an ARC from the publishers via NetGalley.

Available on Kindle+.

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Review: Partners in Crime

Partners in Crime by Elsie Marks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Maisie Baxter is an ethical assassin. In the first book she discovered that she was actually working for the bad guys, took them down and now she and her boyfriend Will have struck out alone. But things aren't all rosy. Maisie froze on a recent operation, Will seems to be keeping secrets from her, and her best friend Beth wants to know far too much about Maisie's job.

To put the final cherry on the cake, a pop star that Maisie helped by killing her abusive and controlling producer has recently released a new single, its very edgy, unlike her usual stuff, and the video depicts the pop star, Skyla killing a man in a similar fashion, while herself dressed in a carbon copy of his signature suit together with a look-alike distinctive watch. Maisie is not amused, but when she visits Skyla she discovers that she is not the only person entering her home through unusual means and ends up being hired to protect Skyla from person or persons unknown.

It took me a while to get into this book, not sure why. I think may be I was concerned that having just got together at the end of the first book, Maisie was going to find out that Will couldn't be trusted (I confess I've been traumatised by the 1990s TV series La Femme Nikita where each series the bad guy turned out to be someone she trusted in power). Anyway, a long day's travel gave me the opportunity to carry on and I finished it practically at one sitting. The ending alone gives off James Bond vibes.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Who's There?

Who's There? by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Three and a quarter stars.

Our favourite Team Weird get sent to apprehend some rogue time travellers in the long-distant past. But the time travellers have stolen something important and if Team Weird don't return it there could be consequences.

A fun spooky short story for Halloween, although missing some of Jodi Taylor's trademark humour.

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