Review: The Summer Between Us

The Summer Between Us by Jennifer Probst
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Rowan was a promising surfer until she injured her knee in a wipe-out. Now she works in a surf shop and has stopped having anything to do with the sea.

Everett is a single father, balancing a high pressure job in hotel development with looking after he daughter Kelsey. They are in Waikiki for the summer to open a new eco-hotel before returning to New York.

When Kelsey enters Rowan's surf shop Rowan recognises a lonely little girl and despite her initial reservations she agrees to teach Kelsey to surf. However, Kelsey is less than honest with Everett about where she is taking lessons and he is horrified when he discovers she has been visiting a ramshackle surf shop on a different beach rather than the surf school at one of the hotels.

Can an uptight, career guy take a breath, reconnect with his daughter, and learn to enjoy life? Can a free-spirited surfer connect with a teenager and her suited and booted father?

This was pleasant enough but there wasn't any real tension and everything felt a little soft focus.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Secrets of a Winter Escape

Secrets of a Winter Escape by Sue Moorcroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Erin thought her only family was her mother Lisa until she received a letter from an Italian lawyer informing her that her paternal grandmother had died and that she had inherited one-third of a guest house in Como with her two half-sisters.

After an unplanned pregnancy and miscarriage Erin goes back to work as a media manager for a motor sports company too soon and ends up having an argument with her immediate supervisor which leads to her contract being terminated and her being put on gardening leave. After a disastrous birthday party that Lisa throws for Erin which is more of a speed dating job search, Erin escapes to the guest house to lick her wounds for a few weeks before Christmas.

Caleb is a professional footballer for an Italian Series A club. He went skiing for a friend's stag do and injured himself, putting his career in jeopardy. Anxious to avoid the paparazzi he is staying at the guest house while he recovers since it is close to the rehabilitation facility in San Sebastian. To avoid detection he has also shaved off his beard and grown out his distinctive haircut.

Being more interested in formula motor sport Erin doesn't recognise Caleb, although she does wonder why one Italian couple seem to ask him for his autograph at breakfast. When Caleb slips and falls in reception Erin rushes to help, and they seem to be getting on well, until she mentions that she is in media. Not only is Caleb hiding from the paparazzi, he has also been blasted in the tabloids after his ex-girlfriend claimed he dumped her out of the blue (when really she was at fault). But after this rocky start the two become close as Erin helps Caleb map out a social media strategy to rehabilitate his image using her contacts in the industry. Will business stray into pleasure? They've both come out of bad relationships, can they trust again? Do they have a future with Erin living in England and Caleb working in Italy?

I actually enjoyed this second book more than the first one, maybe I identified more with Erin? Perhaps it is just familiarity with the setting, the characters and the back story. Anyway, if you want a charming Christmassy romance set in beautiful Italy you'll love this.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Man with the Golden Compass

The Man with the Golden Compass by Vaseem Khan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

This is the second outing for James Bond's Q as a detective. I didn't read the first one but this can be read as a standalone.

Q has been called in by his local police force to assist in the investigation of the torture and murder of a local eccentric billionaire Lawrence Noble who made his money developing computer games. The only problem Q will be reporting to the woman he loved and left 30 years ago. Why was Noble tortured? Why was he wearing a suit used in gaming? Why were there three glasses of whisky beside him? Why was one hand left untethered?

The book is from the James Bond oeuvre so of course there are going to be shadowy billionaires plotting world domination with secret rooms and weird fetishes and it doesn't disappoint, yet at the same time its a cosy mystery set in a small village where the local librarians help with research.

A fun read.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Trust Fall

Trust Fall by Lynn Painter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Julia's family inherit a fortune and a fabulous house in Manhattan from an elderly neighbour - a big difference from their mom and pop shop in Nebraska. There were two conditions to the inheritance the family must live in the New York house for six months, and Julia and her twin brother must attend an elite private school.

Julia's benefactor is the great-uncle of Damion, although he was more of a father to Damion than his own father. Damion's parents are already super-rich but believe that they should have inherited the wealth and are determined to prove that Julia's family somehow tricked them out of their inheritance. ON his own part, Damion and his uncle had made plans for Damion's future, which did not include going to the Ivy League university his father and grandfather intended - without the inheritance he may have to kow-tow to his father's wishes.

When given the opportunity to tutor Julia in maths Damion jumps on the chance, determined to uncover dirt on the family. Instead, they start falling for each other. But with a big secret between them do they have a future?

My bad, I didn't realise that this was a Mean Girls meets Gossip Girl type of novel and I found Damion's internal monologue in particular a bit whiney and his insistence that he wasn't a good guy a bit meh. I feel like I'd seen/read most of the characters before and I didn't think a lot of the plot really made sense - why did Damion's great-uncle leave New York and why didn't Damion ever go to visit him if they were so close?

Anyway, I'm probably too old for the target demographic for this book. An enjoyable, if predictable opposites attract YA/NA romance.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Victims of St Just

The Victims of St Just by Sally Rigby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can't believe this is the eighth book in the series.

DI Lauren Pengelly and DS Matt Price are called to Tredown Manor, an upmarket country house owned by Lydia Yeoman, a celebrity chef famous for her molecular gastronomy who runs weekend cookery classes at the Manor. Her business partner Russell has been found dead in the walk-in freezer. But as the team investigate it seems that almost everyone has a motive to kill Russell. He was cheating on Lydia with one of the staff and negotiating behind her back with investors to franchise the cookery classes while Lydia was adamant that she wanted everything kept in her hands. The sous chef resented Russell for treating him like a dogsbody and because he was having an affair. Several of the guests are there under false pretences and the son of the former owners of the Manor has been turning up threatening legal action, claiming his parents were swindled by Russell.

Just to add to the pot, Lauren has started receiving threatening messages from a stalker.

The team have settled down nicely now, none of the issues I had in the earlier books with Lauren being too prickly and Matt being too perfect have been eliminated.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Way We Are Now

The Way We Are Now by Julie Houston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Present day, Anna Piasecki, single mother, daughter of a Jewish Polish miner from South Yorkshire, Women's Rights activist, and newly appointed Secretary of State for Justice is welcoming her son home to London from Oxford university for Christmas. Meanwhile, in North Yorkshire Lord Theo Mandeville is welcoming his daughter Immi home for Christmas when one of his sons jokingly comments about Immi spending a lot of time with the Justice Secretary's son...

Flash back forty years, its the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher is the Prime Minister and the Miners' Strikes are in full swing. Anna is a student at Leeds University, very militant, sharing a house with three other girls. Anna and one of her flatmates Fliss get a side hustle cleaning student accommodation, which is where Anna first meets Theo Mandeville when she surprises him naked in the bathroom.

This is an opposites-attract, star-crossed lovers story spanning forty years. It was very enjoyable but it reminded me of some of the sagas I used to read back in the 1980s so I have to say that the ending was not a surprise to me. However, this is a departure from the books Julie Houston normally writes.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: A Study in Murder

A Study in Murder by Faith Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is Val and Arbie's fourth outing. Arbie has been invited to stay at his old college in Oxford by his former tutor to investigate rumours of a ghost haunting the chapel ruins which could make an interesting chapter in Arbie's next book about ghost-hunting. However, when he arrives the head of the college also asks him to investigate an allegation of blackmail. an unwelcome surprise for Arbie who was anticipating a weekend of drinking and chatting.

However, on the first morning the body of the wife of one of the chemistry tutors is found in his rooms, there is a strong smell of gas but strangely all the gas taps are in the off position. The policeman in charge of the investigation Inspector Dunce initially refuses to talk to Arbie (much to Arbie's relief) but caves when the college principal speaks with the Chief Constable.

What follows is a twisted investigation with multiple suspects and a convoluted solution that would puzzle the best of us.

Once again a fun romp with Val and Arbie.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Death on the Pier

Death on the Pier by Pauline Rowson
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Its 1951 and DCI Ryga is sent to Southend-on-Sea to investigate the strange case of a disappearing body. Commander Cottinglea was walking back to his boarding house from the Southend Yacht Club when he saw a bloodied body close to the cliffs. He ran to find the nearest policeman, but when they returned only a few minutes later the body was gone and there was no evidence of any kind of disturbance. The local police are inclined to believe that the Commander was drunk (on one whisky and soda) or otherwise hallucinating, but the Commander is kicking up a stink and harassing the local police so Ryga is dispatched to do a bit of digging into the Commander and determine whether he was indeed imagining things.

When Ryga arrives in Southend, in a hot summer very similar to the one we are currently experiencing in the UK, eh quickly determines that Cottinglea is a cadger and starts to suspect some of his 'history' is sheer fabrication, the steward at the Yacht Club suggested the Commander's war record was a fiction and intimated that he didn't believe the Commander had ever sailed. Just as Ryga is close to dismissing the Commander's allegations the unthinkable happens, the Commander dies suddenly while sitting on a deckchair - practically in full view of Ryga. As Ryga digs deeper, his friend Eva arrives and together they discover a tangled web where nothing is as it seems.

I am enjoying this series set in post-WWII England where rationing is still in place and the country is trying to rebuild after the devastation. Ryga is a sensitive detective, a bit prone to wild speculations, many of which turn out to be wrong, but I like that he is testing theories and happy to discard them when they don't fit.

Available on Kindle Unlimited.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: Comfort Read

Comfort Read by Dylan Morrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Kit Forrest owns a quirky historic bookshop in Cedar Falls called Sawyer's Books, much used in tv and films as a backdrop. Unfortunately it needs far more work done on it than he ever imagined when he bought is as a surprise engagement present for his then boyfriend. The boyfriend not only rejected Kit's proposal, he broke up with him and left town. Leaving Kit broke, single, and homeless.

Eighteen months later, Kit is desperately trying to get a loan to cover the necessary repairs before the town condemns the property without success. Then, following an interview filmed at the bookshop, he receives a surprising offer from Hollywood superstar Sage Ballard - be his fake boyfriend to make a reluctant investor bankroll his adaptation of a much-loved fantasy book by proving that Sage is grounded, and in return Sage will pay for the necessary repairs to the bookshop. Fake boyfriend to one of the hottest men on the planet, who also happens to be Kit's childhood crush from when he starred in a tv sitcom? Sign him up stat, even if Sage does seem to be a bit of a drama llama!

Despite all the press coverage of Sage's recent bad-boy behaviour he turns out to be a charming guy, and maybe just a little bit shy. Once Kit gets over being star-struck he treats Sage just like any other guy. From red carpet dates, and dinners at Michelin starred restaurants, to Thanksgiving with Kit's out-there family the two are getting closer and closer.

I think we can all see where the conflict is going to arise and I have to confess it did irritate me a little bit but it was resolved really well and overall I loved the book so much. loved Kit, loved Sage that I am willing to let it go (big of me LOL).

Anyway, if you love a small-town bookshop fake romance with a film star then you'll love this. And now I see that I have also read and loved two other books by this author!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Day Our Lives Collided

The Day Our Lives Collided by Laura Pearson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Hayden, Tash, and Adam literally bump into each other at Fresher's week at university and become firm friends along with Leah, Nate, Jude, Ross, Johnnie, Caro, and Anisha. A bit like the film Four Weddings And A Funeral, we catch up with the group at various weddings where people variously Get married (obviously), split up, sleep together, or meet their future spouse. The group face heart-break, divorce, children, family illness. At the centre of everything are the original trio of friends, but even they have their trials and tribulations. Different chapters of the story are told from either Hayden, Adam, or Tash's POV.

I enjoyed this, until close to the end when for no apparent reason one of the characters starts addressing their child, as in 'you looked at your sister' which felty a bit odd - why?

I enjoyed this, but didn't love it, the three main characters' voices all sounded the same.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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Review: The Storyteller's Secret: The ultimate FEELGOOD novel with characters you'll want as your new best friends

The Storyteller's Secret: The ultimate FEELGOOD novel with characters you'll want as your new best friends by Lucy Diamond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The story of four women, each of whom in their own way is a storyteller.

Nancy in 1929 is a kitchen maid int he big house. One day she is cleaning the young master's bedroom and sees the draft of a novel he is writing, totally engrossed she accidentally adds a few words, which leads to her helping Master Albert write his novel.

In 2001 cousins Pearl and Saffie were best of friends, united by sharing the same birthday, until a shocking betrayal separates them.

Present day, Maud, Pearl and Saffie's grandmother is rushed to hospital - an event which brings Pearl back from Canada - can her accident bring back the friendship between the two cousins? Who is the mysterious man who called the ambulance? What secret is her friend Ruby trying to hide?

In her own inimitable way Lucy Diamond draws the stories of these four women together as Pearl and Saffie uncover family secrets.

I really enjoyed this, I could see where things were going but the journey was fun to read as the strands started to knit together.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

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