Review: The Cad and the Co-Ed

The Cad and the Co-Ed by L.H. Cosway
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Featuring Bryan Leech and Eilish Cassidy, Sean's cousin.

Five years ago Bryan was a drunk, he and Eilish had a one-night stand at Ronan and Annie's wedding. It was her first time and in the morning he doesn't even remember her name! Even more humiliating, she later finds out that she's pregnant, at nineteen.

Fast forward, Bryan has been sober two years and Eilish has landed a job as physio intern with Sean, Ronan and Bryan's team. BTW, at the end of book two wasn't Sean retiring and moving to the USA? Sean is desperate to play matchmaker between Eilish and Bryan and wants Bryan to know he has a son, now that he's sober but Eilish is not so sure.

I didn't like this as much as the second book. I know it's fiction, I know it's unrealistic, but honestly, after being accused of only getting the job by sleeping with one of the players WHY would you almost immediately have sex in your place of work? Why? Eilish seemed to change her mind every five minutes, yet another heroine who gets a thought in her mind at the start of the book and doesn't let go of it, no matter how many times she is told/ shown evidence to the contrary. On the other hand, Bryan suddenly behaves totally out of character and creates a drama out of nothing - and doesn't bother to tell Eilish for three days! The whole thing felt manufactured and false.

Also, I am disappointed that these books have no actual sport in them. The closest you get is a description of Bryan in his kit after a match, I tell a lie, there was one tackle. It feels like a cheat to call this a sports romance. Also, why wouldn't any of the players complain about the state of the therapy rooms - the physiotherapist leaves alcohol and take-away food containers strewn around the rooms and no-one complains?

Overall, it was an okay read but didn't have as much charm as The Player and the Pixie

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Review: The Player and the Pixie

The Player and the Pixie by L.H. Cosway
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Loved it!

I started reading the first book in this series a year or so ago and couldn't really get into it but I saw the blurb for this one and couldn't resist. A gorgeous rugby player who's really bad in bed? Sign me up for a good laugh.

Sean Cassidy comes from a wealthy privileged Irish family. He has a bad relationship with his team captain Ronan FItzpatrick, hero of The Hooker and the Hermit and two of them are at loggerheads, especially after Sean made a move on Sean's previous girlfriend. That's how he got the nickname Sleazy Sean. Of course the truth is something different and inside Sean is just plain jealous of golden boy Ronan and desperate for approval. His family are cold and unloving, only after furthering themselves and he seeks comfort in a series of unsuccessful one-night stands.

Lucy Fitzpatrick is Ronan's baby sister. She is a constant disappointment to their mother whose life mission is to see Lucy find a wealthy man to take care of her. Lucy's rebellion takes the form of quirky clothing and rainbow coloured hair. Lucy also finds her mother's constant criticism of her looks, her clothes, her friends and her job so distressing that only a few hours in her company leads her to bad behaviour.

One night Lucy is at a club with her brother and his team when Sean and Ronan get into another barbed fight, she tries to engage with Sean and thinks she makes a connection, until he makes another douchey comment and blows it.

When they meet again Sean uncovers Lucy's secret and decides he will get one over on Ronan but baiting him with his little sister, but somehow the two of them enjoy one another's company and strike rather an unusual blackmail style agreement.

Sean was not your usual sportsman hero, he likes the good things in life and enjoys nothing more than helping his younger cousin choose clothes and accessories. Although he originally engages with Lucy just to mess with Ronan he isn't unkind or unfeeling and pretty soon he acknowledges (to himself of course) that his plans to humiliate Ronan have disappeared and he just wants to spend time with Lucy, doesn't matter what they do. He is also self aware enough to know why he lashes out and to act rationally rather than some lunatic YA/NA hero. I really liked Sean.

Overall, as I said, I loved this and I will definitely be trying book one again.

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Review: Lennon Reborn

Lennon Reborn by Scarlett Cole
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For some reason I thought this was the final book in the series, but I can't see anything in the blurb to confirm.

Lennon McCartney is the drummer in the mega-successful Canadian metal band Preload. For anyone who hasn't read the series, the band was formed by five young boys who lived together in the same group home. Each of the boys had a horrific childhood which has scarred them mentally and physically and given each deep-seated insecurities. Throughout the series Lennon has come across as the band member who seems to hate the others, to bad mouth them and to belittle their achievements. Yet in the last book Nikan Rebuilt we found out that Lennon had secretly assisted Nikan's ex Jenny to leave Toronto and had performed many random acts of kindness that the others knew nothing about. Now that the other members of Preload have found love the band is going on hiatus for eight months and Lennon is spinning.

Dr Georgia Starr is a paediatric neurosurgeon from an elite New York family of neurosurgeons with property all over the most exclusive parts of the city. She has spent her entire life trying to prove her worth to her father, mother and four older brothers. She lives and breathes her work, working at weekends and on holidays, taking conference calls at all hours and generally going above and beyond.

Georgia and Lennon meet under extreme circumstances (I don't want to spoil the way they meet but it is epic) and despite the situation they each feel a special reaction when they first touch. Georgia feels drawn to help Lennon to rebuild his life after his entire reason for living is lost, and as they grow closer they realise that two people from very different walks of life can have more in common than they first imagine.

Don't get me wrong, Lennon's childhood was a nightmare, the stuff of outraged newspaper headlines, and yet I didn't feel that this book reached the heights of angst that I ordinarily associate with Scarlett Cole. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, sometimes reading one of Scarlett's books is a bit like having your emotions put through a wringer - TBH it was nice to read a book in this series that didn't leave me feeling like my heart had been cut out and finely julienned :)

So, I've been vague on the plot because there's something that drives the whole story which was a total shock to me and I want to preserve the shock for others.

All I can say is that I absolutely devoured this book. Having hesitated to start it (because of the aforementioned heart shredding) in preference of light, sexy romantic comedies I started it yesterday evening and before I knew it I was 25% into the book and eager to finish.

I loved this book, I loved Lennon and how he conquered his personal demons. I loved Georgia, she was a fantastic character and a wonderful role model. But what shone through this book was the love that the guys from Preload have for each other and how that love (and their music) has helped to keep each of them going when life threw them curve balls.

If this is the last book from Preload then it is a fitting end, a glorious road to enlightenment and a HEA. For someone who shied away from the first book because the idea of a series about group of long-haired tattooed metalheads really didn't appeal, I have come to love these boys, I've cried at the horror of their childhoods, I laughed with them and their unique brand of humour and I melted when each of these tough guys found the ying to their yang.

All I can say is, whatever Scarlett Cole chooses to write next I'll be an avid reader.

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

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Review: Love At Last

Love At Last by Claudia Connor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How many times can you be unlucky in love before you decide it’s not luck, it’s you?

Clare Franklin has been jilted and flies off on her honeymoon alone. One night she walks into a man, also alone and they share dinner.

Dr Deacon Montgomery is a veterinary surgeon, bringing up three year old twin daughters alone. Since his daughters were born he's had no inclination to date but Clare makes him laugh and think about a relationship for the first time in forever. It's a fantasy holiday romance ... until Deacon gets a call that changes everything.

I've read several books by Claudia Connor and enjoyed them all. They verge on the sweet but I have enjoyed them nonetheless. However, this one just didn't gel for me. I think Clare and Deacon are just too nice, neither of them has a single flaw. Also, I had the overwhelming feeling that this couple were interchangeable with some of her previous characters. Even the flowery descriptions of their love-making seemed like one cliche after another. Deacon's twins are unbearably cute and it was all just a bit too much.

Recommended for those who like sweet romances and too-good-to-be-true characters.

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

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Review: When You Knew

When You Knew by Jamie Beck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third book in a series about the Cabot siblings and the Tea business they own and run with their father and his second wife.

I read the first book and felt the angst was massively overdone, somehow I missed the second book but was lucky enough to be approved for an ARC of the third, which features the youngest daughter Gentry, half-sister to Hunter and Colby, the wild child, rebel and rule breaker.

The book starts with Gentry as a single mother following a one-night stand in Napa with a man she knew only as 'Smith'. Her baby Colton is fractitious with colic and she isn't coping. When Hunter and his wife Sara pop round Sara thinks Colt might have a fever and calls an EMT she knows called Ian for a favour.

Ian is a humanitarian aid worker in Haiti, only home to collect his possessions from his ex-fiancee's house before flying back to Haiti to continue to honour his father's legacy. He is frankly condescending towards this obviously wealthy young woman who is bemoaning her first world problems and seems unable to keep herself or her luxury apartment clean. His favourite refrain is that people in other parts of the world, like Haiti, have things a whole lot tougher than poor little rich girl Gentry. Nevertheless, Ian ends up helping Gentry by babysitting while she gets a night's sleep and tidying the apartment as well.

When Gentry finds out that Colt has an ear infection and can't go to nursery as planned she is desperate to find a reliable nanny who would be willing to work for a few weeks and is able to start immediately. Ian is looking for short-term work to fund his flight back to Haiti so it seems like a match made in heaven - an EMT that Gentry already knows, who has proven he is good with children and can start immediately.

At first Ian came across as very judgemental and preachy and my heart sank because I thought Gentry was going to be portrayed as the thoughtless rich woman who is brought to realise that her moral compass is skewed by a compassionate and selfless man. Ho boy, I thought, prepare to DNF. What actually transpires is something very different. And I loved the fact that Gentry calls Ian on his holier than thou attitude (I won't spoil how).

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, although I felt that the resolution of Gentry's issues with her mother was overly simplistic and unrealistic, Gentry and Ian were a match made in heaven and I felt that they both exhibited emotional growth. I'm also not ashamed to admit that I cried, not once but twice while reading this book.

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

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Review: A Queen from the North

A Queen from the North by Erin McRae
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first heard about this in Dear Author's Daily Deals and I was intrigued by the idea.

Imagine an alternate reality where the United Kingdom took a different turn in history and the House of Lancaster still rules. Where Ireland is a separate Kingdom and the Yorkists still resent the Lancastrians. Where the North is kept poor and subject to the South. But pretty much everything else is the same.

Lady Amelia Brockett is a member of one of the rebellious York families, a York Princess if you will. Her Christmas has been ruined when her boyfriend dumps her and she fails to get accepted into MIT, just as the icing on the cake her mother announces all the bad news in front of forty of their closest friends and family.

Her brother Charlie invites her to accompany him to the Kempton Races as his wife Jo is allergic to horses, as the childhood friend of Prince Arthur they are seated in the Royal Box where Amelia strikes up an awkward conversation with the prince.

Prince Arthur is seventeen years older than Amelia and a widower. His slightly odd niece George advises him that he must remarry to get an heir and save the Kingdom. When he meets his best friend's little sister at Kempton he is amused and intrigued by a young woman who treats him more as a person than as a royal or as a prize in some kind of matrimonial game. Sedate meetings take place at garden parties and charitable events as Arthur and his parents mark out Amelia for attention.

This is pretty unique. A contemporary marriage of convenience that feels historical, very Wars of the Roses with a York princess marrying into the House of Lancaster to unify the country. There is also a distinctly magical feel to the book with superstition around the Ravens and the Tower of London and George's uncanny premonitions. There is also the May to December romance. the royal duties and media pressure.

It's intriguing and confusing and clever and sad and enlightening all at once. I loved it and I am intrigued to read more books by this author.

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Review: Hot Asset

Hot Asset by Lauren Layne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half, hopelessly devoted to you, stars.

In this delightful romance Lauren Layne returns to her New York roots with all of her old style and panache.

Ian Bradley is the definition of a Wall Street hotshot: seven-figure salary, designer suits, and a corner office.

An ambitious, whip-smart daughter of FBI agents, Lara MacKenzie is a rising star in fighting white-collar crime. Her latest case—the investigation of Ian Bradley for insider trading—could make her career.

Sparks fly between Ian and Lara the very first time they meet and even though her investigation should make them mortal enemies, somehow the sparks keep flying.

This has everything, big money, ridonkulously over-priced drinks, suave sexy men and a set up which could very easily become as dear to me as the Oxford series. Can I also say how much I love that Ian drinks my own favourite cocktail, the Negroni? Shame on Lara for calling it an old lady drink!

I think what made me love this so much was not just the banter and the meet cute situations but also the tension of the SEC investigation looming over Ian. Who is the mysterious informant? what evidence have they got?

As always with romance there are a couple of moments when our two protagonists fall out over a misunderstanding, sometimes in novels this is where I feel let down, the situation feels soooo manufactured that I feel it has metaphorical flashing lights yelling "coo-ee plot device over here". Nothing like that for Miss Layne, her misunderstandings fall naturally into the plot and her characters soon discover the error of their assumptions. More importantly, they don't keep repeating them.

Overall, a fabulous return to her witty, secy sparkling form by Lauren Layne. Loved it. loved it. loved it.

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

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Review: Lord of Night

Lord of Night by Erica Ridley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've had this book on my TBR pile for months and months but finally finished it. I even finished the next book in the series before I got around to this one!!

This is an unusual historical in that although our heroine Miss Dahlia Grenville is the daughter of a Duke, that life very much plays second fiddle to her vocation as the headmistress of a school/ home for orphan and wayward girls which she funds from her pin money and charitable donations. However, when money gets really tight she's not above 'borrowing' a small trinket from one of the ton when she attends a party and selling it to a pawn shop.

Bow Street runner Simon Spaulding is the illegitimate son of the late Lord Hawkridge. He has resented his legitimate brother almost from birth and has a highly developed sense of right and wrong as a result of what he feels was poor treatment of him and his mother. He is due for a significant promotion IF he can catch the notorious Thief of Mayfair. Simon has no time for a wife, for socialising with his colleagues or for time off at all!

Patrolling the mean streets of The Rookery late one night as is his wont, Simon comes across a young woman fighting off a ruffian who were up to no good with a young girl. The next day he visits the school to provide an update on the ruffian and is entranced by Dahlia and her motley crew of waifs and strays.

Soon Dahlia and Simon are falling in love, but can a match between an illegitimate policeman and the daughter of a Duke (who is also a thief) ever occur?

I have to admit that I am pretty shallow and I've come to realise that I prefer my historical novels to centre on the higher echelons, the ton, rather than ordinary working people (even if they are related to the nobility), which probably explains why it took me so long to finish this book. I like the dresses and the balls and the house parties, riding in Rotten Row, Almacks et al.

My other criticism of the novel is that there is a lot of telling and not much showing. Although we do see Dahlia 'borrow' some items, it isn't really sufficient to warrant a Bow Street Runner, and we don't see Simon really doing any detecting, while it's nice to see the relationship between them develop it would have been nice if it took place against a backdrop of heists while the reader watched Simon get ever closer to discovering the thief's identity.

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

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Review: They Both Hold the Truth

They Both Hold the Truth by M.L. Buchman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Free in the April 2018 Ides of Matt.

A charming and unusual short story about Ty, a young guy working with the Oregon Firebirds for the summer, and Mallory, a young smoke jumper he helps to rescue.

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Review: The Home Crowd Advantage

The Home Crowd Advantage by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A charming very short story set at the time of the 2012 London Olympics in which Peter confronts a French practitioner caught doing magic in public.


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Review: Ottercombe Bay: Part Four - Shaken and Stirred

Ottercombe Bay: Part Four - Shaken and Stirred by Bella Osborne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Part 4 of 4.

After enjoying part 3 I was kind of disappointed by part 4, in which we finally discover who the thief is, the arsonist is uncovered, there's a daring police sting, and Daisy finds out the truth about her mother's death all those years ago.

Things I noticed in this episode which I had noticed in previous episodes but were particularly irritating in this one:

1. Both Daisy and Max spent half the book leaping to conclusions, usually the wrong ones, and NEVER learned. At one point I noted on my Kindle that the two of them could have entered a long jump competition with all the jumping they were doing!

2. Daisy was Judgey-McJudge face. At various times she judged: Max, Tamsyn, her Aunt Coral, her mother, and her father.

3. Bella Osborne has a strange turn for a simile, for example:

Her head was swimming with a jumble of facts, her emotions unexpectedly unleashed like a warring dragon in one of Tamsyn's fantasy books.

Overall, I do wonder how this serialisation would read as a single novel, would it flow well or do the cliffhangers feel oddly staged in a novel?

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

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Review: Ottercombe Bay: Part Three - Raising The Bar

Ottercombe Bay: Part Three - Raising The Bar by Bella Osborne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Part 3 of 4.

The last episode ended on a cliffhanger as Daisy was in danger of being swept out to sea when she got trapped on the rocks.

My notes for this episode are as follows: daring rescue, drunken strippers, dead fish, grand opening, an argument, Xmas, a big misunderstanding, love triangles, and a cliffhanger!

In this episode Daisy opens her new gin palace/ chocolate cabin but her new-found friendship with Max soon founders when she finds out he has been deceiving her. Then an old flame returns.

Reading these extracts one after the other is fine, although the cliffhangers are a little too obvious. I'm not sure I would want to buy them as they were released, especially since there is no synopsis of what happened previously. But now I've read two I'm enjoying the story more.

On to the fourth and final episode.

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

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Review: Ottercombe Bay: Part Two - Gin and Trouble

Ottercombe Bay: Part Two - Gin and Trouble by Bella Osborne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So, I'm on a bit of a reading downer but English countryside romances seem to be okay so when I saw this serialisation available on NetGalley I requested it. Unfortunately, part one was no longer available so I launched straight in at part two.

First off, other then the blurb (which I have only just reread on Goodreads) there is no handy synopsis to remind you of what happened in the first part. But, the gist of it is that Daisy Wickens has inherited an old disused railway station ticket office and waiting room from her Uncle Reg located in the Dorset village of Ottercombe Bay where Daisy lived as a child until the mysterious death of her mother. The only catch is that to inherit the cash Daisy needs to live in the Bay for 12 months. The first book clearly ended on a cliff hanger when Daisy's necklace is stolen from her bedside table.

In this part two Daisy comes up with a plan for the station, finds out her arch enemy might not be so bad and becomes closer to her Aunt Coral's dog Bugsy Malone. The police are no closer to solving the rash of petty thefts in the village, Max's father has returned to the village and Daisy's BFF Tamsin appears to one of the stupidest, most annoying characters EVER.

The second instalment also ends on a cliff hanger. For the avoidance of doubt this is a serialisation and is not a standalone novella.

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

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Review: Soulbound

Soulbound by Kristen Callihan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Please take the mediocre rating with a pinch of salt as I have started and dropped sooo many books this week, including pre-ordered books by favourite authors, that the fact that I actually managed to finish this book is a monumental achievement.

From my POV this book suffered with most of the tension having occurred between the main characters in previous books - if you started the series here I feel you wouldn't really understand the tension.

A recap of what happened in the previous books. So Adam is the all-powerful King of the GIM, a shadowy creature allegedly a demon, who has the power to give life to the dead and in return all he requires is other souls of people who don't want to die.

Eliza May was rescued from death by two of the GIM and given the choice of life, in exchange for doing Adam's bidding. However, when Adam saw Eliza he recognised her as his soulmate. Having waited over 700 years to find his soulmate Adam behaves a leetle erratically and binds Eliza to him with golden chains. They indulge in a stand-off, Eliza being the only person not to be enthralled by Adam's physical beauty and she refuses to engage with Adam at all, until she is rescued by St John Evernight on behalf of her Aunt Mab.

So, in this book Eliza is starting to suspect that living with her Aunt Mab isn't all it's cracked up to be. Under the surface beauty and wealth Mab and her entourage are greedy, drunken, boorish, spiteful and murderous - Mab worst of all. But given that Eliza is hiding from the demon Adam AND her past in Boston what choices does she have? Then one night she hears a dog whining and when she investigates finds a dog lying chained and beaten in the cellars. When she touches the dog however he shifts into Adam. Mab has cursed Adam and by rejecting him Eliza has triggered the curse. Now Adam and Eliza's only chance of escaping Mab is to work together, but can they put aside their history and work together?

Although this is the sixth book in the series it felt like the middle book, you know the one where the actual plot gets lost in the furtherance of various other arc strands and there are so many characters from previous books that get mentioned that you never really get much character development in the primary characters. In the previous books I really liked the love/hate relationship between Adam and Eliza and I was really looking forward to seeing their story develop, instead it was all a bit meh. The resolution of the Mab plot was rather disappointing and I thought Eliza's true nature was fairly obvious early on. Overall, too much arc, not enough character development, too much sex, not enough heat.

Onwards and upwards. Presumably the next book is St John's.


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Review: When They Just Know

When They Just Know by M.L. Buchman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Free in the Ides of Matt March 2018.

The novella I've been waiting for.

Jana and her brother Curt own the Oregon Firebirds, a business they set up after Jana lost her arm and had to leave her job flying helicopters for the army.

In the first two novellas Curt and one of the other pilots found love, now it's Jana's turn.

Jasper Jones is a cowboy pilot, Curt's best friend since he moved to town when he was six years old, he's been in love from the first day that he met Jana. At first the four year age gap was an issue, then she had a boyfriend, now he's afraid that if he says anything it could change their working relationship for ever. So he never speaks to her.

I'm a sucker for unrequited love stories and eternal love and this one did it for me.

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Review: Bride for Keeps

Bride for Keeps by Nicole Helm
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 52%.

When I was reading this book I had the distinct impression that it bore very little resemblance to the blurb. Having re-read the blurb it's so non-specific that I probably inferred the plot I wanted to read!

Sierra is the bad girl who married, against the odds, Doctor Carter McArthur, the eldest son of the snobby McArthurs and older man. His brother Cole has been estranged and riding bulls for years but has recently found love and come home.

Their parents have landed a family bombshell on Carter, Cole and their sister Lina which has devastated Carter and he has been left floundering, estranged even from Sierra.

At first Sierra acts like a good time girl, when she doesn't get attention she makes a scene. When that stops working she tries to fit in with the McArthurs and become a Stepford Wife, when that doesn't work she asks for a divorce.

Carter is left bereft AGAIN. Brought up with the heavy expectations that he would be a doctor, marry a nice girl, have 2.5 children an SUV and a dog etc, etc. Basically his parents wanted a perfect automatron. The only thing he ever did for himself was to marry the beautiful, wild child Sierra and now his one shining light is leaving him. In desperation he wrangles an agreement that Sierra will allow him to have a conversation with her for five minutes every day for a month.

I had to double-check that this wasn't a re-release because it had such an old-fashioned feel for me. The older husband, the professional man who marries a younger woman with a chequered past. The rigid 1950s style family, even the 'we're getting divorced but I'm pregnant' plot feels like a throw-back. Cole gives Carter advice and Carter genuinely thinks about it AND DOES THE OPPOSITE. Now I get that it's hard to open up and let people see the weaknesses you have, but if someone says, for example, tell the truth and you think about it and decide to tell a lie ... hmmm.

Curiouser and curiouser, I knew I had read a book by Nicole Helm before and assumed it was as part of the American Extreme Bull Riders Tour series, in fact it was actually Sierra's good girl sister Kaitlin's story and I loved it!

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

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Review: Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe

Christmas at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hmm, you know when you really get into a series and then the dreaded book comes where you dislike one of the characters? This is the one for me.

Becca Fletcher is the younger sister of Laura, the subject of the first book Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe. Always the rock-n roll chick, the wild child, the girl most likely to [insert doomsday scenario]. We saw her as Lizzie's confidant in the first book, always joking about wild parties, drugs and booze. The reality is somewhat different. Unbeknown to the rest of the world Becca gave up all of that the night her brother-in-law David died.

Now it's almost Christmas, Becca's least favourite time of the year, and she is finally coming to Dorset to spend Christmas with Laura and her children and her new man, Matt and the rest of the villagers as they prepare for Cherie Moon and Farmer Frank's Christmas Eve wedding at the cafe.

Almost from the first chapter I found Becca a difficult to like character and frankly I never warmed to her. Her entire life, one way or another, appeared to be one of secrecy and self-absorption - funnily enough she came across as more likeable in the first book where she supported Laura and helped her to understand what Lizzie was doing and feeling! Indeed, Laura sees Becca as this feisty, sarcastic, funny free-spirit, down with the kids and rocking her life whereas what we see in this book is a miserable woman afraid to embrace life and love.

Laura had already sent photos of hunky Sam to Becca as a possible boyfriend in the first book, but that didn't explain to me why Sam found Becca so attractive. As I recall the book my over-riding impression is of Becca sitting in a corner, drinking diet coke and not participating in ANYTHING. You know, like that one 'friend' you have who just sucks all the fun out of an evening?

And dare I say it, I found Becca's reason for hating Christmas to be predictable and signalled from a long way off.

Anyway, just my opinion, others may love Becca and Sam.

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Review: Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe

Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Laura Walker is the widowed mother of two teenagers. After her childhood sweetheart and husband dies after falling off a ladder she falls into a pit of gloom and despair. As she tries to rebuild her life she answers a quirky advert for a summer cook at a Dorset seaside cafe with a TMI letter spewing all her anxiety and family traumas.

Cherie is the hipy dippy owner of the Comfort Food Cafe and a holiday village of small cottages, quirkily named after 1970s rock legends. She offers Laura and her children a home for the summer together with a job.

If you love the idea of a misfit group of individuals being brought together by an elderly hippy mother earth figure who runs her cafe like a community drop in centre, preparing their favourite dishes for her regular local customers, an annual fancy dress party involving half the village for an octogenarian farmer, elderly labradors and ice-creams galore then this is the novel for you. This is like all your memories of holidays when you were a child rolled into one, sunny days, sparkling water, cake and ice-cream every day.

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 Birthday That Changed Everything

The Birthday That Changed Everything by Debbie Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another great novel by Debbie Johnson.

Sally is 39 years old, buying her own birthday present from her husband, when she gets an email from him saying he needs some space, it's not her it's him, oh and can she iron five work shirts for him? Of course, it's the age old story of middle-aged husband 'falling in love' with a girl half his age!

As revenge/ comfort Sally takes her two teenage children, Lucy the foul-mouthed Goth and Ollie the six foot nerd to Turkey for a two week holiday. I couldn't work out whether I would love or hate to stay in the hotel with Sally and what turn out to be her new friends: Marcia and Rick, James and Jake, Allie, Mike and Max, Ian and Jenny and the scary Miss McTavish. There's booze-fuelled nights, karaoke, boat trips and teenage angst.

Set over four holidays in the same resort watch as love blossoms, tragedy hits and Sally and her children find out what it means to have the sort of friends that would help you bury a body!

As I sit here on a rainy Monday morning in London part of me is still sitting on a sunbed next to Sally, slathering on the factor 25 and slugging back cocktails watching as Rick leers over the young Turkish waiters and Mike opens his next can of beer.

Hey ho, it's off to work I go ... HIghly recommended reading, funny and sad and endearing all in one.

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Review: Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Jumper

Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Jumper by Debbie Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A charming holiday romance set in Oxford.

Maggie is a single mum to a teenage daughter and owns her own wedding dress business. Aged 34, she is starting to feel a bit superfluous as her daughter spreads her wings and her father has his own busy social life.

The book opens with a bicycle crash in the centre of Oxford between Maggie and an American that she has christened The Hot Papa From The Park and The Man With The Tux based on their two previous meetings. When the American, Marco Cavelli, turns out to have a broken leg as a result of their encounter Maggie is guilted into letting him stay with her until he becomes more mobile.

As the snow settles around the picturesque streets of Oxford and Maggie gets ready to attend three very different weddings in the run up to Christmas she and Marco fall in love.

Definitely a sweet romance, but not sickly sweet, with partying OAPs, drunken teenagers and masses of wedding cake.

Loved it.

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Review: PERFECT VICTIM: A Nadia Stafford Novella

PERFECT VICTIM: A Nadia Stafford Novella by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the second follow up novella to the fabulous Nadia Stafford series, Nadia and Jack are persuaded to go to Hawaii by another assassin to protect a female lawyer after a series of suspicious deaths involving the family court.

As the clues point this way and that, can Nadia find out whodunnit?

Brilliant, as always the plot twists and turns so much as the clues point one way and then another.

Loved it.

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Review: Double Play

Double Play by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A follow up novella to the wildly different and much lamented Nadia Stafford series.

Nadia and Jack are finally together at last. But Jack is called back to Ireland by his old mentor to repay a favour, then Nadia gets a visit from a representative of a vigilante group to tell her than her ex, Quinn, has gone missing in mysterious circumstances.

What appear to be two totally unconnected events start to converge as the plot twists and turns and suddenly everyone's life is in danger.

Loved it, just loved it. I really don't know whether this wasn't a popular series or whether it was too difficult to write, or whether Kelley Armstrong just saw a finite story arc but I really miss this series. I especially love the fact that Jack is an older man (sadly, he's my age although I always picture him as an 'older' man), getting slower and greyer. It's a book written about adults. Oh and assassins.

I hope Kelley Armstrong keeps writing these novellas.

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Review: Secret Things

Secret Things by Nalini Singh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Free in Nalini Singh's newsletter February 2018.

I haven't read Naasir and Andromeda's story but this is a vignette of life between a unique 'creature' and an angel as Naasir plans a surprise for Andromeda.

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Review: Baubles and Ben

Baubles and Ben by Nalini Singh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Free in Nalini's newsletter November 2017.

Young Marlee is a Psy child, best friends with Ben, a changeling.

A beautiful vignette which encapsulates the way in which the psy and the changelings can help each other.



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Review: Crave Me

Crave Me by Cecy Robson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

Wren, the only daughter of seven O’Brien siblings is a mouthy car sales person.

Evan is a mild mannered genius nerd from England looking for a more rugged car to cope with the Philly weather. Wren sells him a car but the sparks fly and they become more.

When Wren’s psychotic ex deliberately torches her place of work she comes to act as Evan’s PA and help him save his company.

This has billionaire nerds, psychotic ex-cops, jealous PAs, unscrupulous adversaries, an electronic ever/present ‘assistant’ and endless sex. OMG no wonder the company is circling the drain, Evan spends like 15 hours a day in his office having sex with Wren. Watching themselves in home videos and taking erotic selfies.

This was just ludicrous, unbelievable, ridiculous and OTT.

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Review: Summer at the Castle Cafe

Summer at the Castle Cafe by Donna Ashcroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Alice Appleton has moved to Castle Cove, Dorset following the death of her mother unexpectedly. Her mother's death has been a huge wake-up call and she realises that her life has become very narrow, she was too busy with her work in a busy restaurant to visit her mother until it was too late. Now she has big plans, to run the annual Castle Cove marathon in honour of her mother and to visit her father in Thailand. If only she could get over her pesky fear of the sea.

Jay O'Donnell has lived in Castle Cove practically his entire life. A carpenter and a volunteer with the lifeboats he is constantly disappointed by the risks people take with their lives, swimming and sailing when the sea is too rough. When he sees a woman in a wet suit at the water's edge when the sea is far too choppy for swimming he can't help but express his exasperation. The next day he can't believe it when he sees the same woman riding a bicycle without any lights through the countryside, in order to keep her safe he follows slowly behind her allowing his headlights to light the road for her.

Poor Alice is standing at the water's edge desperately trying to get up the courage to get her toes wet when an incredibly sexy man starts yelling at her and won't listen to anything she has to say. The following day she is nearly run off the road on her bicycle by the same man who followed her all the way to work, scaring her half to death.

Despite their inauspicious start Jay and Alice are also attracted to each other, but they each have their own issues to deal with which could easily tear them apart.

I was in a real reading slump, starting lots of books and giving them up half-way but this book lifted me right out. What's not to love about an OCD waitress and a carpenter who wants to save everyone falling in love in a small Devon town?

If you like the idea of cosy communities where everyone gathers at the local pub for food, live music and gossip, where school friends live and work closely together, and where the local postman can tell you the contents of your mail before you open it - then this is definitely for you!

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

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Review: For All Their Days

For All Their Days by M.L. Buchman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Free in Ides of Matt February 2018.

Maggie Torres is an elite mechanic. A pint sized hot Latina she is tired of men slavering over her looks and is looking for something more, for someone more like her beloved father, who was also a mechanic.

Palo Akano is a pilot with the Oregon Firebirds. He was brought up in a gang and knows nothing about his parentage. He has admired Maggie from afar, but his gang background make him unwilling to make a move on Maggie.

Maggie is totally oblivious to Palo's attention, until one day only three pilots return from a small mission, as she watches Curt and Stacy the newly weds reconnect, and Jasper deliberately NOT connect with Curt's sister Jana, she realises that Palo deliberately skirts around the group and watches her from the shadows. Apparently that is enough for her to realise that the unobtrusive Palo may be the man she has been searching for.

Another super short novella about love among the firebirds.

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Review: Geoffrey's Queen: A Mobious' Quest Novel

Geoffrey's Queen: A Mobious' Quest Novel by Gwendolyn Druyor
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 12%.

This book has sat on my TBR pile for nearly a year. I have tried to get into it several times but failed miserably. I have absolutely no idea what is going on or who the people are. I was heartened to read some reviews which told me to persevere because it was confusing to start with, but even that couldn't encourage me to sustain my attention any further.

Too complicated, too confusing.

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

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Review: Extraordinary World

Extraordinary World by Mary Frame
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Part 3.

After my enjoyment of the preceding two books I confess I found this conclusion to be a bit of a disappointment.

At the end of the second book Charlotte and Paige's ne'er do well, con artist parents have caught up with them and are blackmailing Charlotte to help them with a con in Castle Cove. Charlotte hates lying to her friends and helping her parents but she can't let them take Paige, especially since there is a creepy lawyer who has taken far too much interest in a young girl for Charlotte's liking. But every time Charlotte thinks she may be able to get away from her parents they show her they are already one step ahead of her at all times.

Whilst Charlotte and Paige only came to Castle Cove to escape their ghastly parents, this is the first time we the readers have seen them, other than through Charlotte's memories. Hence, although they were a known factor in the preceding books, they were never present and the third book in the trilogy has a very different feel to the other books. I spent much of the time reading this book thinking, has Paige confided in someone? Do they know what is going on? Whilst my suppositions weren't entirely accurate, and there were unimagined secrets revealed, this felt more like a small town suspense rather than a small town mystery like the other two books.

Overall, while I was pleased that the overarching plotline involving the parents was resolved, I prefered the small town mystery novels.

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