Review: Broken Homes

Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a difference a book makes!

I was a bit meh over the third book Whispers Under Ground, had trouble keeping track of the characters and the plot. No such trouble this time.

A suspicious suicide and a stolen book lead our hero Peter Grant to a mysterious German architect and an imposing (code for ugly and impractical) social housing skyscraper in London, following the trail of the mysterious Faceless Man.

Now the characters that we have seen in the previous books start to reappear: various of the Rivers, Oberon, Zach the goblin etc.

Peter is full of his patented sarcasm and wit, all very British and probably unintelligible to any other nationality. I alway love his references to pop culture including Doctor Who and Lord of the Rings but this time he surpasses himself with mentions of Terry's Chocolate Oranges, Moomins and others.

This passage made me snort with laughter.

She thinks that however polite we’re being, the police should never concede anything to anyone short of a full public inquiry. And even then we should lie like fuck on general principles, Lesley being part of the ‘you can’t handle the truth’ school of policing.

It's typical of the humour in these books so if you find it funny too, give the series a try.

Unlike the other books this one roams outside London proper into Bromley (my own part of Greater London) and Essex.

Brilliant, just brilliant.

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Review: From Lukov with Love

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had read mixed reviews from people whose judgement I value so I was a bit wary about reading this book, especially since I have not loved the last couple of books by Mariana Zapata but whoo wee I lurved this!

What made me decide to read this was one reviewer who likened it to the 1990s film The Cutting Edge, one of my favourite films of all time ("toe-pick"!) and whilst they are fundamentally different, there are a few similarities.

Jasmine Santos is fiercely true to herself. A figure skater, she was dumped by her former dancing partner, who didn't even have the guts to tell her himself, just let her find out from reading an article online about his new partner!! With a reputation for being difficult, argumentative and aggressive she has failed to get another partner and is trying to keep herself busy and motivated. Her time away from professional competitions has also acted as a bit of a wake-up call insofar as she neglected everyone and everything, including her family, for skating. Now Jasmine is trying to be a better person and reconnect with her family. Jasmine has pretty much written off everyone else she has ever known as being unreliable, untrustworthy and not worth her time. The only exception is her BFF, although they haven't spoken for at least a month due to their crazy schedules.

Then Jasmine gets invited to partner probably the best men's skater in the US, if not the world, for a year. He, Ivan Lukov, is Jasmine's BFF's older brother and the two of them hate each other. Ever since they first met practically they have traded insults and slurs. Now I love me an enemies to lovers trope so this was right up my alley. And I love, love, loved the slow burn romance as Jasmine comes to see that Lukov isn't as bad as she thought and whilst he might talk smack to her face he also has her back when it counts. Since Mariana Zapata is the Queen of the slow burn I actually have to say I didn't find the build up to romance a problem (I know it can seem as though the entire book goes by before the characters get together, indeed I think in the last book (which I haven't read) reviewers complained that they hadn't even met in the first half of the book. I also had no issue with reading from Jasmine's POV or her very negative self-perception, I thought that her attitude was fuelled by her perceived lack of support from those she cared for most.

However, I do struggle to understand Lukov's motivation - why in all the years he knew Jasmine did he never make a move on her? Never ask her for coffee? Never even offer to buy her coffee? Instead he was a little creepy in the way he interfered on her behalf (you say benevolent friend, I say stalker). Also, while I like the slow burn I think that waiting until practically the epilogue (I exaggerate slightly) before the protagonists have sex is too long.

Also, total aside, did anyone else worry about how much Jasmine's mother was drinking?

There were also plot lines which just seemed to fizzle out (view spoiler)[eg the texts and videos from Jasmine's stalker, Jasmine's former partner coming into her dressing room before the long programme, Jasmine's reading disability (and come on, who wouldn't notice a great big L and R on someone's hands day after day?) - other than plot devices to progress the relationship between Lukov and Jasmine (hide spoiler)]what were they there for?

This wasn't perfect but it totally drew me into the world of competitive figure skating, the agony and the ecstasy, the dedication and the mind-numbing repetition. Mariana Zapata has woven her spell and I am entranced once more.

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Review: Hot Target

Hot Target by April Hunt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was running low on books to read and when I saw this novella up for grabs on NetGalley I thought I would give it a go. This novella is part of a longer series and while it can easily be read as a stand alone (as I did), there are events which (presumably) happen in previous books which give the two main characters a back story together.

Logan Callahan is a former Marine sniper and a member of Alpha Security. He has had a one-night stand with Rachel Kline, a school-teacher he helped to rescue 18 months previously after she was kidnapped and force fed drugs in Honduras. 24 hours later he is bailing Rachel out of a Las Vegas jail after she was arrested in a sweep of a local brothel and drug den.

This is a novella in the vein of Katie Reus. although Logan is quite as Alphahole and the sex is on the tame side (in comparison). It's a super short fun read but without having read the previous novels I felt no real connection to either Logan or Rachel. I did however like that the hero didn't have to be all guns blazing and macho 24/7 and accepted wiser counsel - that was a nice change of pace for this type of novel.

Overall, I liked it but I didn't love it. It was a good entry to see what April Hunt's writing and plotting were like to see if I might like the rest of the series but it was too short for me to develop any engagement with the main protagonists.

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

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Review: Whispers Under Ground

Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The body of an American student is found in Baker Street tube station, murdered by a piece of pottery heavily imbued with magical resonance, our hero PC Peter Grant is brought in to investigate. His meandering investigations take him into the underground tunnels and sewers and reunite him with his old partner Leslie, as well as introducing him to an FBI agent hired by the man's wealthy and influential father to investigate the murder.

I always struggle to keep up with the ins and outs of the narrative in these stories, maybe because I enjoy the scenery and the humour so much I kind of lose track of the plot? Anyway, I found it harder than usual this time, not helped by the fact that I kept picking this book up and then putting it down again - of course that's a bit a chicken and egg thing. By the end I found myself thinking "who is Zach?". Okay, I've just searched on my Kindle and now I find out that Zach is the dead man's tenant/ lodger and the connections now fall into place. Sorry, rambling here.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I was enjoying the sorties through the sewers and the fake houses that disguise railway lines so much that I wasn't paying attention to the plot and/or the plot didn't really grab me.

Nevertheless, Ben Aaronovitch is still a brilliant writer and Peter Grant is a fascinating character with witty insights into modern policing, I love, love, loved the unofficial motto of CO19, I look forward to reading the next book in this complex and funny series.

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Review: Sunshine at the Comfort Food Café

Sunshine at the Comfort Food Café by Debbie Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My name is Willow Longville. I live in a village called Budbury on the stunning Dorset coast with my mum Lynnie, who sometimes forgets who I am. I’m a waitress at the Comfort Food Café, which is really so much more than a café … it’s my home.

Willow is the youngest of four children born to Lynnie, a yoga-teaching new age hippie. Unfortunately Lynnie is now suffering from dementia and Willow spends her time looking after her mother whilst juggling her own cleaning business and working as a waitress at the cafe. Relentlessly cheerful with her pink hair, Doc Marten boots, pierced nose and tattoos, she and her mother have journals in which they try to write every day - Lynnie to help her remember who she is and who other people are, Willow as a form of therapy.

As the book opens Willow is writing her journal entry for the day, a list of eight things that happened to her during the day, some mundane, some weird and some inexplicable. Her cleaning service has been engaged on behalf of the new owner of The House on the Hill (the locals' name for Briarwood, a large old house which has sat empty for 10 years after the previous owners retired. There she meets the young owner, Tom Mulligan, a former resident when Briarwood was a children's home, now a successful, but socially inept, inventor and millionaire. Soon Willow and Tom are bonding over their plans for surviving the Zombie Apocalypse and their nerdy dog names (Bella Swan and Rick Grimes in case you are interested).

This is a feel good geeky romance set in a wonderful village where everyone meddles in each others' business and social life revolves around the cafe and the pub. However, a warning, this is relentlessly British and there may therefore be a number of cultural references which fly right over the heads of other readers (or I might be making assumptions about the narrowness of our culture). If you like schoolboy puns and stories where no-one is too busy to sit down and eat a slice of cake (its mentioned 34 times according to my Kindle) then this is the charming book for you.

I loved it from start to finish, I want to know more about Willow's sister Auburn (because of her hair colour) and brothers Van (big ears as a baby) and Angel (blonde curls as a baby), although Angel prefers to be called Andrew now and is a teacher.

This is the second book in this series that I have read, they can easily be read as stand-alone novels as the various relationships between the villagers are explained (Willow even does a handy-dandy Game of Thrones style recap for Tom's benefit), I really must get hold of the first two books and read them!

Highly recommended for fans of Strictly Come Dancing, cake and dogs!

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

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Review: At Last

At Last by Addison Fox
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Why is it that I get midway through a book these days and go all meh?

This is the first book in a series about a trio of boys, adopted by a single woman in Brooklyn, and each of them finding love. For some reason I read all the other books first so in my sad little 'completer-finisher' world I had to come back and read the first book. I have to say it gives a lot more context for the peripheral arc of the boys' adoptive mother Louisa Mills and her bid to be a local councillor.

Nick Kelley is a local boy made good. The son of a single father who was also an abusive addict, he went on to play in the NFL before injury forced early retirement. Now he has returned to the old neighbourhood of Park Heights as the owner of a bar called The End Zone.

Emma Bradley nee Vandenburg has returned to Brooklyn after her miscarriage and the collapse of her marriage to Colin in Chicago. She hopes to work in the local family brewery, The Unity, with her father. Out on an uninspiring date at The End Zone, she accidentally gets caught up in a brawl with a customer high on drugs and drink and gets punched in the face. Nick rescues her, unaware that the two of them were once lab partners at school - although he does have a feeling of familiarity. Imagine his surprise when he goes to the Unity to sign the contract to buy the brewery only to find Emma is the girl from his bar! For her part Emma is blindsided by her father's decision to sell the brewery at all, especially since she has put herself through the prestigious Siebel Institute to learn all she can about brewing.

What follows is a classic case of polarised desires - each of them wants the brewery and the other, but how can they both win?

I was enjoying this at first but I think my main issue with the book is that both Nick and Emma were too nice. They weren't plotting behind each other's backs to wrest control of the brewery, they weren't in a competition where whoever brewed the best beer got the brewery, they were just in a state of limbo where Emma taught Nick all about running a brewery rather than running a bar.

I liked it but I didn't love it.

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Review: By Degrees

By Degrees by Elle Casey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The rating is an average, I loved the first half of the book but the second half was a YA soup of every cliche known to man.

Scarlett Barnes is known as The Normalizer, she specialises in actors and rock stars who are spiralling downwards and rescues them with a combination of clean living, exercise and redirection of their talents with art. Her latest project is bad boy rocker Tarin Kilgour, he's drinking, partying and taking drugs - all of which is jeopardising his upcoming European tour. Tarin's agent hires Scarlett and gives her carte blanche.

At the start Scarlett is in control, she's a badass woman at the top of her game, in demand and able to call all the shots. She's simply the best. Her sassy one-liners and supreme self-confidence were brilliant to read. But of course the instant she meets Tarin her defences start to crumble, all her sass goes out the window and she becomes a poor helpless woman. Maybe that's partly because she hasn't had sex since her childhood sweetheart, the love of her life, the singer Austin Betzer, died.

When Austin is first introduced to Scarlett he is understandably belligerent, dismissive, arrogant and charming, until Scarlett mentions Austin, then his attitude suddenly changed. As a reader this was a RED FLAG, I can't stress how many times Tarin says or does something and the super-intelligent Scarlett wonders "what can that mean?". Then she decides that it would be okay to get drunk at her client's home, even though she won't allow him any alcohol, to play truth or dare, and to have sex in the family room. Because nothing screams professional like a drunken one-night stand whilst you are supposed to be working right?

Scarlett is one of those women. The ones who scrape their hair into a pony tail, have rats nest hair from sleeping while it was still damp, wearing no more make-up than a slick of lip gloss and yet pretty much every man she has ever met is in love with her. She is also pretty harsh to the girlfriends and groupies that hang around famous musicians - solidarity sister!

As we entered the second half of the book I don't think Scarlett ever stopped crying, well maybe to jump to a conclusion or two but that's about it. At about the same time EVERY single man in her life (Tarin, Austin's little brother Scott, her last client Nick) suddenly becomes a psychologist and decides that they know better than Scarlett what she really thinks/ wants/ means - because of course she's not got a schlong so she must be wrong - right?

I was sooo close to DNFing this book at 91% - that was how irritating I found the entire thing. Of course this is a new twist to my love/hate relationship with Elle Casey's novels. Usually I either love or hate them - this one I both loved and hated !

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Review: Spring at Lavender Bay

Spring at Lavender Bay by Sarah Bennett
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 35%.

I adored Sarah Bennett's Butterfly Cove series so I was stoked to see this up for request at NetGalley.

Sadly, after two attempts I just couldn't get into this book.

Beth Reynolds spent the best part of her childhood at Lavender Bay but left to forge a career in London. However, when her mentor Eleanor dies and leaves her Eleanor's Emporium in Lavender Bay she burns her boats and comes back home.

There are plenty of characters and old school friends but I didn't warm to anyone and at over a third through the book I just had the overwhelming feeling that nothing was happening, and frankly I didn't care.

I've been on a book downer this year so maybe I'm being overly harsh but I just didn't feel interest in finishing 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: Her Devoted HERO

Her Devoted HERO by Caitlyn O'Leary
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Is it me? Recently all I seem to have read are books which have an identity crisis, and this is no exception.

The book started off well, Navy SEAL Dex Evans' friends have signed him up to a dating website and emailed hundreds of women expressing interest. Being the good guy he is, he is emailing each and every woman who responded to apologise and explain that his account had been hacked. But then he finds a charming, funny and self-deprecating response from a woman calling herself SNMP - So Not Mary Poppins. Although he goes off on a mission Dex manages to continue a tentative relationship with Mary Poppins and gets his brilliant buddies to track down her real name and address, he can tell she is having second, third and fourth thoughts about sending him that response. Mary Poppins is really single mom and nurse Kenna Wright. I loved Kenna's response, it was witty and natural and engaging.

Then we find that Kenna has a second job as a personal assistant to a wealthy, eccentric elderly woman called Rosalie Randall. Rosalie has taken a vested interest in Kenna's love life, she even persuaded her grandson Buddy to buy the dating website just so that the two of them could check up on Kenna and how many responses she receives!! Frankly this was a ridiculous plot device and I have a pet loathing for interfering elderly people acting as cupid.

Then one of Kenna's friends at the hospital is murdered in her own home and the police suspect it may be linked to the dating website that both women were members of. Suddenly this had slipped from a humorous romance to a farce and then to a suspense. Dex turned into an obnoxious he-man, issuing orders left right and centre, despite the fact that he and Kenna had only been on two dates. I would go further and say that Dex cross a line and ventured into that creepy territory where he was overstepping his relationship with Kenna. As usual, the police were hostile and only the Navy SEALs could uncover the identity of (view spoiler)[what turned out to be a serial (hide spoiler)] killer.

It was okay, but the three parts of the book didn't really hang together very well in my opinion. I also have very little patience for characters who fall in love instantly and then won't listen when the other person isn't on the same page. Again, borderline stalker.

This is the second book in a series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone and TBH I have no idea which characters could have been in the first book as I didn't get that vibe from any of the other characters.

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

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Review: Ninja School Mum

Ninja School Mum by Lizzie Chantree
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 39%.

I lurved the blurb for this book, a small English village in which a former spy, a former spy handler and the lord of the manor, three school children and a baby all converge at the school gate.

Unfortunately the book didn't live up to its potential. There was a weird dichotomy in that the two main female characters Skye and Leah are full of mystery, the reader doesn't know quite what they are or who they work for. Yet Zack's every lifetime achievement is described in mind-numbing detail. I made three or four notes as I was reading that there was too much telling and not enough sharing.

One third of the way through this book I had no idea what genre of book I was reading: was it a village romance? Was it a spy comedy? Was it a Mummy revenge comedy? Was it even supposed to be funny? Was there a massive plot twist?

This read to me like either a writer who wasn't comfortable getting into the psyche of a man and/ or is not a native English speaker.

I feel disappointed because I really liked the sound of this but the way it was written was too turgid, too boring, there was too much that was assumed/ unsaid. I would like to see this totally rewritten because I think the ideas were good - it was the execution which failed.

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

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Review: Just Say (Hell) No

Just Say (Hell) No by Rosalind James
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

381 pages of awesome!

I feel like some evangelical preacher. I want to walk around shaking this book in the air (difficult as I read on a Kindle) bellowing "that's how to do it!". Rosalind James has fit so much into this book that in lesser hands it could have been trope soup but she manages to effortlessly weave her story-lines together into an epic narrative of love but more importantly unconditional support. Yes, there were tears (of happiness) but there was laughter and family and lots of rugby.

Marko Sendoa is a rugby player for the Auckland Blues and for the All Blacks. He's 32 years old, responsible, always had his feet squarely on the ground, calm, a credit to his family. I won't spoil the opening of the book for you because I thought it was eye-wateringly funny, but Marko gets photographed in a bar at two o'clock in the morning in a fracas not of his own making. The, when he gets home he finds his 16 year old cousin on his doorstep, she's spent all day travelling from their home in the Southern Alps to announce that she's pregnant and wants to live with him, rather than her drama queen mother, until the baby is born.

In order to do some damage control after the fracas he agrees to be photographed with some animals that need rehoming with a local animal shelter. The photographer is Nyree Morgan. Marko doesn't know it but Nyree is the step-daughter of Grant Armstrong, his former coach with the Highlanders. Nyree had a crush on Marko which was totally unrequited, she also has a healthy dislike of rugby players having been humiliated by one as a teenager and having grown up with a step-dad and two step-brothers in the business. Yet when she meets Marko's cousin Ella she wants to help this young girl to get through a difficult time, she and Marko come to a deal, he will pay her and let her live rent-free in his house if she will act as Ella's friend and companion.

Everything about this was awesome, from the almost dreamy way Marko and Nyree spoke to each other, Marko's mum and her daily tarot card reading, the exciting rugby commentary, the humour, the hot-hot-hot smexy times, the drama, the friendships - just everything.

Best book of the year so far, no question.

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Review: A Baby for the Billionaire

A Baby for the Billionaire by Victoria Davies
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 48%.

Part of me wants to give this two stars because I feel this book fail is at least 50% on me.

I stopped and started this several times so apologies if I don't recall the intricacies of the plot correctly. Walker Beckett is a self-made billionaire, his BFF since college is Clara Anderson and they have always been buddies with no sexual tension.

Then a mystery woman leaves a small baby with Walker claiming he is the father. Horrified, Walker turns to Clara who he knows basically raised her brothers and sisters single-handedly. He asks Clara to move into his penthouse apartment for one month while he learns to deal with his baby.

Soon these BFFs are questioning the basis for their platonic friendship as they find living together is a tougher proposition than they expected.

So, as a cynical aside, do billionaires even know how to wear condoms properly? The proportion of billionaires who have sex, just the once, and use condoms and yet STILL impregnate their partner must be statistically significant. Is billionaire sperm just that potent? Sorry, I digress.

There was nothing wrong with this book and TBH if it hadn't been published at the same time as books by Sarina Bowen, Rosalind James and Amy Andrews I would probably have enjoyed it more. But in a week of outstanding books this just didn't do it for me. It felt like more of the same-old, same-old. Intense, immediate physical attraction (despite years of platonic friendship) but he doesn't think he can commit, she doesn't think he finds her attractive. They kiss, she dismisses it yadda, yadda, yadda.

When she went on a date with another guy I just couldn't even ....

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

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Review: Brooklynaire

Brooklynaire by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's always difficult when a series comes to THAT book, the book that has been foreshadowed in all the other books, the book that fans have been wanting since day one, the final book in the series. This is that book. Don't start the series here!

Also, I love Sabrina Bowen but that cover! Bleurgh.

Nate Kattenberger is geek, a nerd, a billionaire and the owner of the Brooklyn Bruisers. Seven years ago he had a small tech business, full of guys eating pizza and playing ping-pong, all brains and no commonsense. He hired Rebecca Rowley straight out of college as office manager to bring order to chaos and she has been his right-hand woman ever since, well until two years ago when he brought the glamorous ice-Queen Lauren in to take her place in Manhattan and put Becca in as assistant to Hugh Major, the General Manager of the Brooklyn Bruisers.

The plot of this book overlaps with that of the previous book, Pipe Dreams, which concerns Lauren and Beacon, the goalie for the Bruisers.

When Lauren falls on the ice and gets a concussion which won't heal, Nate takes things into his own hands and moves her into his sprawling mansion, complete with AI butler, 24/7 security and a housekeeper. Will the two most cautious, oblivious lovers in the history of romance ever realise that they are totally right for each other?

I understand why some of my friends liked this but didn't love it. It's the one we've been waiting for and it's really hard to deliver against all those expectations. But I think Sarina pulls it off. The angst is low-key and kind of off-centre (trying hard not to spoil for the slower readers), we get to see Nate in all his geekyness, including an obsession with palindromes. We travel with the Bruisers and sit in the owner's box at games, I felt hoarse in sympathy for all the screaming and shouting that Becca does for her team. Nate gave me the perfect ending. It's not all angst-angst-angst and there are no manufactured ridiculous misunderstandings to make you sigh in exasperation. It's just like one of Becca and Nate's hot tubs, hot and soothing and fun.

Wonderful end to the series, wonder what happens with you know who and the thing ...

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Review: Hot Response

Hot Response by Shannon Stacey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another winner.

What do you do when the hot guy you meet at work, and are just about to ask our for coffee, calls you ma'am? Hatred like the fire of a million deadly suns.

Cait Tasker is an EMT. She has moved back to Boston to help her mum and step-brother after her step-father's death. She feels like her life has been put on hold while she mothers her mum and her step-brother. She had a thing for Gavin Boudreau until he called her ma'am and made her feel even older than she already does. But since her team frequently work alongside the firefighters of Ladder 37.

Gavin on the other hand likes an easy life and 'easy' women,as the youngest firefighter on Ladder 37 he's not about settling down. The feisty EMT that gives him the evil eye is definitely not his type - so why is he dreaming about her?

But when Cait steps over a line and has to apologise to Gavin they find that first impressions can be deceiving and maybe enemies can turn into lovers. But Cait is only in Boston temporarily and her family come first.

I really enjoyed this, maybe it was the situation in which Cait found herself, caring for her family and putting her life on hold, maybe it was that both Gavin and Cait were lovable characters, people you'd want to drink with in Kincaid's pub, people you'd want to shoot hoops with on a Saturday morning (not that I've ever done such a thing, but I could).

This was funny, sweet and charming. Definitely one of Shannon Stacey's best to date.

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Review: Limits

Limits by Susie Tate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another winner from Susie Tate.

From the outside Camilla 'Millie' Morrison looks like she has it all. Beautiful, immaculate clothing, always perfectly made-up, not a hair out of place, amazingly intelligent, ridiculously wealthy. On the inside its a different matter. Crippled by low self-esteem and debilitating shyness she has no friends and her colleagues call her 'Nuclear Winter'. The only people who seem to tolerate her at all are a five year old call Rosie and a 70-something year old senior radiologist called Don who acts as her supervisor.

Pavlos Martakis is a gregarious, popular, loud, confident, uninhibited consultant surgeon. Millie's complete opposite and yet she is drawn to him like the proverbial moth to a flame. As the wit who coined the nickname, he feels a little bit guilty but her cold manner and the way she refuses to even look at people when she dismisses their requests for a scan on one of their patients really annoy him.

Millie has done some ground-breaking research and Pav is desperate for her to present her findings to the Hospital in the Grand Round and more widely at medical conferences but so far Millie has refused all requests for a presentation. Pav isn't used to being rejected, especially by women, and he really can't see why the stuck-up Dr Morrison gets away with her rudeness and refusing to present.

As always Susie Tate has written a sweet, funny romance with endearing characters with some fascinating medical insights thrown in for good measure. I challenge anyone not to love Rosie, or Grammy, or Pav's mad Greek family, or dear Don. Even Pav, although a bit self-centred at first, is totally sweet and so protective of Millie.

I just loved this book and had to start reading it as soon as I got the ARC. The only disappointment is that now I have to wait ages until the next book - fingers crossed it's Kira and the mysterious B.

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

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Review: Reach for the Stars: A feel good, uplifting romantic comedy

Reach for the Stars: A feel good, uplifting romantic comedy by Kathy Jay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

First off, this is clearly part of a series and whilst it can be read as a stand-alone there are definitely things that happened in the previous book(s) which are referenced. I was a bit confused at first when there were references to Layla's parents' divorce and her not speaking much to her father anymore which clearly harked back to events in a previous book.

Layla Rivers and her serious boyfriend live in a small Cornish village. They have saved and saved and are planning to go travelling, the night before they are due to leave Layla's mother is badly injured in a car accident. Layla stays behind but her boyfriend Joe leaves without her, and no concern for her mother.

Nearly a year later Layla discovers that Joe has got married whilst on holiday. To add insult to injury his new wife Lainy looks very similar to Layla. When she walks into her best friend Maggie's cottage to continue with the redecorating she is doing while Maggie and her husband Alex are in London with their twin babies she finds Alex's twin brother Nick lying asleep on the sofa. Alex and Nick are actors and starred in a tv vampire series (think Vampire Diaries).

Nick Wells is at a bit of a crossroads in his life. The tv series is over and he has just finished filming an action film, when he was filming the vampire series his exaggerated reputation as a ladies man was publicity for the series but now he's turned to films its a bit of a burden. Added to which he has just been told out of the blue that he has an eleven year old daughter, how must she feel seeing all that gossip about her father in the papers? After his current girlfriend (a European princess no less) dumps him and he got a black eye from a wayward camera lens, Nick decides to rusticate in Cornwall away from the paparazzi and LA.

Layla and Nick met at Maggie and Alex's wedding, there is an undeniable attraction and as they live in close proximity they give in to their feelings. But what starts out as a holiday fling soon develops into more.

I didn't really get the feels for this book. Most fundamentally, I didn't 'feel' the attraction between Layla and Nick as anything more than Layla thinking he was a handsome actor. Indeed when they first came together I made a note on my Kindle 'where did that come from?'. There were no lingering glances or accidental touches, just, boom. And there was so much of it.

There was a lot of strange volte-faces where one or the other would be ecstatically happy and then suddenly be unhappy or angry - and I never understood why. At one point they had just made love, were still entwined and "Reality hit him like a nasty headline" - why? Which brings me to another point, the tendency towards purple prose.

Overall, Layla was a character who seemed to wilfully ignore the truth. If someone told her it was raining outside she wouldn't believe them. Over and over someone would tell Layla something and she would brush it off, 'he's just saying that', 'it's the heat of the moment, he doesn't mean it' over and over again. It got tiresome. And don't get me started on how many times she bit her lip, I think she must have permanent scars!

I've focused on what didn't work for me and it might feel like a hatchet job but this was still a sweet rebound romance with a sexy actor, there's Paris, there's a dog and there's a sassy policeman called Mervyn.

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

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Review: Making Up

Making Up by Lucy Parker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another winner from Lucy Parker.

Once again set in London's theatreland, this story concerns an acrobat, Trix Lane and a make-up artist Leo Magasiva.

Trix is playing one of the key supporting roles in a daring production called The Festival of Masks, part-burlesque, part rock concert, part carnival, part dark fairytale and maybe a leetle bit of a smutty night out (according to one critic). When the lead aerial performer loses concentration and breaks her arm in a nasty fall, live on stage, Trix as second understudy is suddenly catapulted into the role. What would have thrilled Trix a few years ago now fills her with terror, a relationship with a manipulative and controlling older man has left her doubting her own abilities. Just when the day couldn't get any worse, her school-girl crush, Leo, the boy who devastated her, turns up, having been given the role as make-up artist to The Festival of Masks. Oh, and he's got his bitchy little sister a dream internship with the wardrobe department and the stage manager Marco Ross is a bully!

Leo's career is in tatters after an actor willfully neglected to mention an allergy to certain facial products, his little sister has come back after a year in New York at school a changed woman, he is forced to share theatre accommodation with three strangers and the woman he blames for the end of his promising career in rugby is one of the stars of the show he is working on.

This could have been an angst and hate-filled novel where Trix and Leo fight for 75% of the book. Luckily, that's not the sort of book Lucy Parker writes. Instead what we see is two antagonists forced to work together and share a flat (of course) quickly settling their differences.

But it isn't all plain sailing. Leo's sister is like the Wicked Witch, Trix is struggling with self-doubt and can't do some of the more difficult acrobatics, there is a reality TV crew filming backstage at the show and they have manufactured a romance between Trix and her co-star (and friend) Jono.

On his part, Leo is desperate to retrieve his career and hopes to win a special effects make-up competition being held in London which might give him the opportunity to work in the USA. Despite his impressive good looks and fit body Leo is insecure and suffers fits of jealousy and his little sister is clearly unhappy but won't open up to him.

This book also revisits Lily and Luc from Pretty Face who are getting married at a fairytale castle.

I'm adding Leo to my book boyfriends. I mean apart from the good looks, the hot bod, the humour, the kindness and the drawing ability the man can do your make-up!!!

Loved it, loved it, loved it. Same sparky humour as before AND a cute hedgehog - what more could you ask?

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

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Review: Baby Maker

Baby Maker by P. Dangelico
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Can I just say I lurve Ms Dangelico's books.

After a family problem Stella Donovan's biological clock goes off. A driven financial manager with a New York company she has no time for marriage or romance and her family history has led her to believe there is no such thing as love. So she decides to have a baby through some kind of donation. Having grown up with an absentee father Stella would like her baby's father to be involved in its life and so she decides to look at a co-parenting agreement.

Dane Wylder is an Oklahoma farm boy and a recently retired NFL tight end. His mother broke his father's heart repeatedly when Dane was a child and eventually left for good when Dane was a young boy. He too wants nothing to do with love or marriage but would like to have a son and enjoy the same close relationship that he has with his father. Dane and Stella are connected by their mutual friend Ethan (the lawyer from Sledgehammer) and it is instant loathing on Stella's part. For some reason the Mensa-level IQ Dane feels compelled to go all "aw shucks" around Stella and enjoys pushing all her buttons. For her part Stella can't understand how an half-Mexican/ half-Irish woman renowned for her even temperament and ability to rise above sexist name-calling in the workplace can get irritated beyond belief by a swaggering, womaniser like Dane.

What follows is a charming romance as Dane gradually whittles down Stella's barriers and they agree to have a baby together, but nothing more. This has all Ms Dangelico's trademark wit and humour as Dane and Stella are oblivious to the fact that everyone else can see - they are perfect for each other.

I absolutely devoured this book and I just can't wait for the next book she writes.

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

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Review: Survive the Night

Survive the Night by Katie Ruggle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the third in a series, while each book follows a different woman the previous characters are heavily present so it is advisable, but not necessary, to read the previous books. I have only read the first book before this one but I recognised the characters.

Alice Blanchett is the daughter and sister of crime bosses. Effectively a prisoner in her own home, an asset to be sold off to a rival crime family as a wife for the prodigal son, Logan Jovanovic, until a mysterious note warns her to be prepared to escape.

Some time later Alice is rescued by one of her brother's henchmen and sent, via secret ways by the mysterious Mr Espina to the small town of Monroe, Colorado as yet another "old friend" of Jules under the alias Sarah Clifton. Jules was Mr Espina's first rescue and there is a theme to the women he rescues, they are all connected in some way with the Jovanovic family.

K9 Officer Otto Gunnersen does not, in my mind, look anything like the picture on the front of the book, Sarah describes him as a cross between a viking and a lumberjack, and one of his best friends describes him as a Ninja Paul Bunyan. Anyway, he is one of a trio of friends in the Monroe Police department: Theo and Jules are a couple and Hugh and Grace (the couple from the second book) are also a couple. Otto is a big, strong, silent man, he lives alone outside of town and rescues animals that no-one else will take. When he meets Alice/Sarah it is insta-lurve, he is struck dumb. Unfortunately, the overwhelming impression I got, at least from the first half of the book, was that Otto was a little simple. Maybe because he was slow to speak, big and lumbering, good with animals?

Anyway, its not too long until Sarah's brother and future husband find her in Monroe and try to take her back to Texas. What follows is a tense cat and mouse game through the snow with helicopters and bombs and all sorts. Unfortunately, I have very little visualisation ability and frankly I was lost. One minute Sarah is nine miles from town down a deserted road, the next she seems to be bumping into the townsfolk left, right and centre. Everyone appeared to be a suspect and gathers in one place for a finale that was both thrilling and confusing (because of the visualisation thing again).

Overall, while I still enjoyed the book my credulity was stretched pretty thin. This is supposedly a small town yet it appears to have a large police force, the majority of whom have been sent off on a special training course, leaving just our three intrepid friends. Why draw attention to strangers by having three fugitives move to the town in a short period of time? I though that this was the final book in the series but the ending (and indeed NetGalley) suggests there is another to come. Not sure the premise can hold out for another book.

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

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Review: A Ruthless Proposition

A Ruthless Proposition by Natasha Anders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gah, someone recommended this or gave a great review of this which prompted me to read it - and I can't remember who!

Cleo(patra) Knight has somehow got a job working for Dante Damaso, one of the youngest, wealthiest hoteliers in South Africa. He is her brother's BFF but she didn't know that his friend 'Dan' from university was Dante Damaso. For his part, Dante didn't want to give Cleo a job, but he couldn't disrespect his BFF's little sister so he has her working for his office. Most days she makes his coffee, hands him his mail and waters his ficus before he sends her to work for one of his other executives and poaches their executive assistant. But when his personal assistant goes on maternity leave he decides to let Cleo accompany him to Japan on a last minute business trip to fix issues with a new hotel the company os trying to build.

Cleo had been an aspiring ballerina until an unfortunate accident ended her career. Since then she has drifted from one job to another, generally losing them through either her own indifference or inability to kow-tow to people more senior. She is determined to stick it out working for Dante's firm, even if he is the most infuriating, bossy, condescending ass, so she doesn't let down her brother Luc.

During the trip to Japan Cleo and Dante end up having torrid sex at every opportunity, but agree that the liaison is a short-term thing and Dante makes Cleo sign an NDA to that effect. Unfortunately, eight weeks later Cleo realises that she is pregnant.

I enjoyed this, it hit pretty much every trope known to (wo)man: billionaire; banging-the-boss; secret relationship; best friend's little sister; unexpected baby etc, but it was a fun read and there was some great banter between Cleo and Dante.

However, I felt that the book could be divided into three very separate books/sections and that both Cleo and Dante had almost a complete characters change from one to the other. So, in the first section Dante is a pig, he's rude, arrogant and treats Cleo like a gold-digger when it is him that propositions her, but it is also raunchy and sexy. In the second section, where they agree to live together while Cleo is pregnant Dante and Cleo become more like friends or roommates; they eat together and watch horror films, its a sweet romance. But then in the third section Dante becomes the sympathetic character and Cleo becomes the unreasonable one. I didn't feel that Dante grew as a person, his character simply changed to fit the demands of the next trope. But that is an accusation that can be levelled at most of these 'taming the alphahole billionaire boss' romances.

Overall, a fun romance with plenty of angst, it nevers strikes out in a new direction but it did what I expect of the genre.

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Review: The Test

The Test by Tawna Fenske
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

True story, I was going to read the new Sarah Ballance book, but I had just finished another contemporary English romance so decided to read this instead. But then forgot my decision. So I'm reading this thinking "wow, Sarah has really gone in a different direction with this series!". Anyhoo.

Lisa Michaels is an interior designer in Portland. Her long-term relationship with a wealthy stockbroker ended six months ago when he left her at the altar and she is rethinking her entire lifeplan, lifestyle choices and instincts. Sitting in a hipster bar with her two sisters her eye is caught by a guy the exact opposite of her ex. This guy, Granite Ass as she calls him in her head, is big, muscular, heavily tattooed and wearing jeans and a t-shirt. When he comes over and starts flirting with Lisa she makes a split-second decision to do the opposite of her instincts and, just for once, experience life with a bad boy.

Dax Kensington might look like a biker thug, he might even tell people that he is a steelworker, he most definitely was brought up in a trailer but he has also made a ton of money inventing a steel-walled reusable water bottle. He initially mistakes Lisa for his bitchy ex-girlfriend but hey if this snooty blonde wants to have some kind of revenge sex with a bit of rough he has no objections.

What starts out as a one-night stand walk on the wild side soon morphs into the most intense experience Lisa has ever had, and Dax is nothing like she imagined. So she proposes an experiment, The Test, in which she will do the opposite of her usual choices. Swap a night at the Opera schmoozing potential clients for a night in a biker bar - you get the idea, and she asks Dax if he will help her.

This is a Scorched imprint so there are plenty of smexy times as Lisa and Dax explore her wild side, and yet it is also a sweet romance where Dax and Lisa discover how much they like talking and laughing together, but will either of them have the courage to suggest their relationship could last longer than the 30 day Test? Or are they really too different to have a long term chance?

I was totally engrossed by this sexy yet sweet romance. I see that it is the second in a series but you can totally read this as a stand-alone (having said that, how did I miss the first book?). Dax and Lisa are such likeable characters, I just wanted to grab Dax all to myself.

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 Wedding that Changed Everything

The Wedding that Changed Everything by Jennifer Joyce
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Emily Atkinson is dragged to her best friend Alice's big sister Carolyn's wedding as her plus one. Emily and Alice are total opposites, Alice is a true romantic whereas Emily's mother's revolving door of men after her father left has made Emily cynical about men and relationships. Her mother's death two years ago hurt Emily irreparably, she dumped her long-term boyfriend and has refused to enter into any more relationships. Since then Alice has been forcing her to date guys but Emily finds a reason to dump every one of them after only one or two dates - although to be fair most of the reasons seemed pretty good to me!

Carolyn's wedding is a week-long affair at Durban Castle, which is owned by an uncle and where Alice and Carolyn spent many glorious holidays as children with their cousin Archie and Tom, the gardener's son. Until it all went wrong. Now Alice is estranged from her absentee father, loathes her step-mother Francelia, and is hiding her boyfriend Kevin from all of them.

Alice is determined that Emily will find her Prince Charming at the wedding and extracts a promise that Emily will seriously consider all the single male guests, in return if she doesn't find anyone Alice will stop forcing her to go on dates when they get home.

Unfortunately Alice's rose coloured spectacles are so thick that she couldn't identify a 'normal' guy if she tried and Emily is forced to fend off married lechers, cravat-wearing art bores and men who wear shoes without socks. But Alice's cousin Archie is handsome and charming, if a little over-eager, it wouldn't hurt to pretend she likes him, would it? The one man she can't stand is Tom. Now the gardener at the castle, his grumpy demeanour and refusal to reconnect to his childhood friends irritates Emily beyond reason. AND he keeps rescuing her when she gets lost in the grounds. Odious, sneering man.

But as the group activities organised by Carolyn, including karaoke, lawn games, treasure hunt and quiz take place Emily discovers things are not always as they seem, maybe she can tell someone about her miserable childhood and maybe, just maybe, she could fall in love?

This was a slow burner for me. Alice fell into that category of friends that I cannot stand, the clueless friend who thinks they know best but then set you up with the dregs of society, men who have no personality, no manners, no social skills. Also Emily's inability to find her way anywhere and constantly getting lost was also a bit tiresome. But then some of the events of the past that led to the childhood friendships falling apart start to emerge and the plot got interesting. By the end I was sorry it had ended!

Overall, an enjoyable romance set in the English countryside at a fancy Castle wedding.

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 Year of New Adventures

A Year of New Adventures by Maddie Please
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Billie Summers is a frustrated author (or not). She's been trying to write an historical romance for years without success. In the interim she's held a series of short-term minimum skills jobs. At present she is working part-time in her uncle's book shop, making cakes to order and hosting writers retreats.

Billie and her BFF host a writer's retreat for a group of writers. Unfortunately one of them is a best-selling author who thinks the world owes him a living and acts like a prima donna. With his commandeering the room on the ground floor, demanding food at specified times, sneering at the food on offer and inhaling coffee all the time Oliver Frost is the worst imaginable guest and a PITA.

I really enjoyed this, it was funny, clever and like wallowing in a bath of high grade chocolate.

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 Gods of Love

The Gods of Love by Nicola Mostyn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well this was refreshing.

Frida McKenzie is a single divorce lawyer. After a failed relationship with Billy (I feel I missed something here), she just loves her single life. She also has the opportunity of a lifetime, she has been asked to meet with representatives of the world's biggest tech company, NeoStar (think Apple). Then a strange man called Dan forces his way into her office and tells her that he is an Oracle and that a very bad man is going to do something terrible and only Frida can stop him.

Of course Frida has him thrown out of the building, but when her interview at NeoStar turns very peculiar, Dan is the only one who can rescue her. NeoStar is actually the vehicle for one of the forgotten Greek Gods (I'll give you a clue, it's not one of the nice ones) and he is about to unleash his evil plan upon an unsuspecting world.

Although I've never read any of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series I have seen a couple of films and this has a similar vibe, without the swords and sandals. Some gods and goddesses still walk among us, plotting to regain their powers and return to Olympus.

This was a fun, fast-paced easy read that kept me entertained with plenty of twists and turns in the plot.

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

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Review: Runaway Groom

Runaway Groom by Lauren Layne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yes, yes, yes.

The last couple of books I have read by Lauren Layne didn't really do it for me. They were okay, just not the sexy, witty, charming, glamorous novels I have come to expect from her. I was starting to worry that either I had gone off her writing, or that (even worse) she had started to write books that were just too similar to her other ones.

But, against my instincts I really enjoyed the first book in this series so I pre-ordered this one and - good choice.

Gage Barrett is a bona fide film star. In a fit of something after finding out his brother and his ex-girlfriend have had a baby, he agrees to go on a reality TV show (a la The Bachelor) in which he choose a potential bride. He has been chosen because he has been engaged twice and both engagements were broken off ON THE DAY OF THE WEDDING.

Ellie Wright is an entrepreneur, she and her friend Marjorie have set up a designer t-shirt business that caters for women's figures, they are doing well but need more exposure and Marjorie thinks that the sort of viral marketing they could get from Ellie appearing on the reality TV show. Ellie is press-ganged into appearing after Marjorie (and her mother) apply on her behalf. Her intention is just to appear once and get voted off on the first day.

Despite being a rugged, handsome, action movie star Gage is pretty down to earth, all these years later he is still hurt that his girlfriend would dump him when he was on the verge of making the big-time and choose his brother over him. All the high-maintenance, "pick-me, pick-me" women on the show grate on his nerves and Ellie stands out as a beacon of normality. At their first meeting Ellie is the only contestant dressed in jeans, t-shirt (of course) and flip-flops, all the others have gone the cocktail dress route.

Gage and Ellie become friends and he agrees to vote her off the show, but each time there's a reason why he chooses someone else. By day he goes on group dates with the contestants (breakfast with one group, lunch with another) but by night he and Ellie text on contraband phones and meet up in a cleaner's closet. But world famous movie stars don't fall for ordinary women in real life, do they?

This was Lauren Layne at her sparkling best. The dialogue was witty, yet believable, the main characters were realistic and endearingly down-to-earth, the other contestants were, by and large, nutty as a fruit cake (which strangely often doesn't have any nuts in it).

Loved it.

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Review: The Emerald Lily

The Emerald Lily by Juliette Cross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve admired the covers of books in this series but I’m kind of over the whole vampire as hero trope. Too much, too quickly I guess. But I was entranced by the cover and intrigued enough by the blurb to request this book.

Am I glad I did! This was a bodice-ripping, fang-dripping rollercoaster of a novel complete with princesses, evil witches, cute moppets, secret rebellions and shifters.

Loosely based on Sleeping Beauty (and maybe Snow White), the vampire Princess Mina is locked into a perpetual sleep caused by blood deprivation, punishment for refusing to sleep with the evil Queen Morgrid’s despicable son Dominik.

She is awakened by the blood kiss of Captain Mikhail Romanov, leader of the Black Lily, a group of noble vampires united against Morgrid’s reign of terror.

It’s fast-paced, there’s the obligatory “mine” and lots of fangs and I loved it. Although it is not the first book in the series it can easily be read as a stand-alone as I did.

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

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