Review: Single All the Way

Single All the Way by Karen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Meg thinks she has the perfect marriage, until her husband drops a bombshell that changes the way she thinks about everything. Then when she leaves a message on her mother's voicemail that she has left Oliver, her mother Sally announces that she has left Meg's father.

Together Sally and Meg travel to a holiday cottage in Cornwall, the same one in which Sally and Meg's father spent their honeymoon. Together mother and daughter get involved in traditional village activities like the Christmas fayre and the Boxing Day swim while contemplating their marriages. Are they irrevocably broken or is there hope?

A heart-warming small-town holiday story featuring arguing families, intriguing strangers and the hope of new beginnings. But when the new year starts who will be starting divorce proceedings and who will be reconciled with their husband?

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Review: The Little Guesthouse of New Beginnings

The Little Guesthouse of New Beginnings by Donna Ashcroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Madison is an orphan, following her parents' deaths she lived with her aunt and uncle on Sunflower Island but she has a fear of overstaying her welcome which has led her to a peripatetic life travelling the world working in bars and as a yoga instructor. But now she has decided to return to the one place that feels like home and family.

When Madison arrives on the island she runs straight into her childhood crush, Connor, as usual he seems to regard her with contempt even though he has been press-ganged into driving her from the ferry to her aunt's guesthouse the Sunshine Hideaway. When Madison arrives she finds her uncle and aunt have gone on a cruise, the hotel is a bit run down, there is only one guest and Connor has been employed to revamp the guesthouse, little does Madison know that her aunt and uncle are planning to sell the guesthouse.

Madison throws herself into various schemes to improve the guesthouse, including yoga classes and walking tours as she tries to get closer to Connor. But can a homebody like Connor and a free spirit like Madison ever overcome the spectre of their pasts and find true love?

I enjoyed this novel but I felt it dragged a little in the middle, too much minutiae of walks along the shore and pub quizzes and painting and not enough interactions between characters. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable romance.

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Review: A Wicked Kind of Husband

A Wicked Kind of Husband by Mia Vincy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cassandra DeWitt entered into a marriage of convenience to secure her family's home following the death of their only brother. Her bridegroom, Joshua DeWitt is the illegitimate son of a member of the nobility following a bigamous marriage. He has made his fortune in commerce and is received by society but is notorious for his rudeness. Following their wedding night Joshua left Cassandra and they have led separate lives ever since. He lives in London and Birmingham, she lives at her family's ancestral home with her two sisters and mother.

Cassandra determines that her younger sister needs to be presented at court and determines to come to London to entreat her paternal grandmother to make the presentation, despite her husband's instructions to stay at home.

Of course there is the excruciating moment where Joshua and Cassandra meet at a society event, neither recognising the other. This is sort of beauty and the beast - although in this case Cassandra is someone who makes friends everywhere whereas Joshua is antisocial.

As Joshua and Cassandra live together in London they must confront the truth about the circumstances surrounding their arranged marriage and their own unresolved feelings towards former relationships.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. Joshua and Cassandra were engaging characters and there were sufficient plots and side plots to keep my attention. My only criticism is that both Joshua and Cassandra were constantly second-guessing the other's words and actions, you know 'he says he wants me to stay, but does he really mean it or is he just being polite?' Not once or twice but constantly. I wanted to shake them.

Recommended by Ilona Andrews so therefore I bought it immediately.

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Review: Just Say Christmas

Just Say Christmas by Rosalind James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't know where to start with this.

So it's on the lead up to Christmas. Nyree and Marko are getting married imminently, well if Nyree can finish painting Rhys and Zora's daughter's bedroom mural. Various of Rhys' former team-mates and Zora's family members are helping, including her stepbrother Kane Armstrong.

This is an ensemble pieces where we see or at least hear about so many characters from the previous books. It also contains two romances, babies, a wedding, family feuds, a joint hen and stag weekend with intimate massage and just a whole load of exuberance. I even think you could read this as a standalone provided you were willing to accept that there are back stories for each and every character.

Rosalind James said she found this book easy to write and I think it shows, there is so much fun and love and family and Christmas and joy shining through every page, I totally devoured it.

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Review: The October Man

The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I held off reading this novella because of the price, which frankly is more than I would want to pay for a full-length book, and also because friends were not impressed.

First off, yes it's a novella of 192 pages. Second, this is set in Trier in Germany and there are only passing references to Peter Grant - in other words you don't need to read this novella to follow the main Rivers of London arc.

Having said that. I thoroughly enjoyed joining Investigator Tobias Winter as he investigates a series of bizarre murders centring around a vineyard and a group of very ordinary middle-aged men where the deaths appear to have a supernatural influence. Perhaps it helped that I had read the snippet where Tobias was first introduced (free on Ben Aaronovitch's website) just prior to reading this novella.

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Review: A Vicarage Homecoming

A Vicarage Homecoming by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

And so to the fourth and final sibling, Miriam who has returned home to Thornthwaite after travelling the world pregnant after a one-night stand. As the youngest, and in her current situation Miriam feels like the family screw up, especially since all of her siblings are happily loved up.

But support comes from the most unlikely places and Miriam's sister Rachel's ex-fiancé Dan appears to offer Miriam the non-judgemental support that she doesn't feel she can get from her family, especially when she's not even sure if she wants to keep the baby.

In this series we've run the gamut of situations. One daughter pours her heart out to a perfect stranger, only to find he is the new vicar, another loses a baby, the third breaks her engagement and the fourth, Miriam, copes with being single and pregnant. I've enjoyed these books, perhaps the angst centres too much on the effect on the siblings of the sudden death of their brother - but then again that would be a traumatic event in anyone's life.

After finishing the Willoughby Close series I was looking for something similar and this fit the bill.

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Review: The Obedient Bride

The Obedient Bride by Mary Balogh
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Viscount Astor inherits the title and the property following the death of a distant relative. Keen to make amends to his relative's widow and three daughters he determines to offer to marry one of them, sight unseen. Frances, the eldest daughter, is a ravishing beauty (but a bit of a ninny), Arabella, the second daughter, is short and slightly plump but also intelligent and spirited. Arabella volunteers to marry the viscount so that Frances can marry Theodore Perrot, a local man who she is in love with. Arabella thinks she is offering to marry a 50-something year old man who she will endeavour to make comfortable, instead she gets a young, handsome, demi-god, way out of her league. Arabella realises early on that the viscount would have preferred to have married Frances and does everything in her power to avoid disgusting the viscount with her presence. He, on the other hand, quickly realises that although Frances is breathtakingly beautiful she has no with or conversation beyond gossip and fashion, in fact she is heartily boring.

Following their marriage the viscount makes every attempt to engage with his new wife, buying her a new wardrobe of clothes, taking her to the theatre and balls, all the while Arabella is doing her best to remain silent and not disgust her husband any further. Yet with other people, especially the viscount's old friends, she is vivacious and friendly and outgoing. So the viscount attempts to woo his own wife, until she discovers that he has kept his very beautiful, very tall, opera singer mistress and continued to visit her after they were married.

This was an odd, very old-fashioned novel (and yes I know it was first published over 30 years ago). Arabella is both a doormat and also very outspoken in her views on the sanctity of the marriage vows which are at odds with most other historical fiction I have read where society women were taught that husbands have mistresses as a matter of course. I think it might have been better if Arabella was the daughter of a vicar (although how that would work with inheriting a title I don't know) in order to explain both her views on the sanctity of marriage but also her interference in the lives of others. In fact, this kind of reminds me of a mash-up of three of my favourite Georgette Heyer novels, Friday's Child, The Convenient Marriage and (randomly enough) Arabella, unfortunately Arabella comes across as a bit of a prig and I can't see why she, or the viscount fell in love with each other, the scenes in which they consummate their marriage are frankly scary to contemplate and show the thoughtlessness with which an aristocratic man would treat a virgin bride - he didn't even kiss her before clambering on top and starting thrusting!!!!

Overall, my least favourite Mary Balogh which richly deserves to be forgotten and out of print.

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Review: A Vicarage Wedding

A Vicarage Wedding by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Rachel's story. Rachel and Dan had their whole lives mapped out. Big wedding, expensive dress, honeymoon in Provence, big house, Aga, dog, five kids. Then on the night before their wedding Dan calls off the wedding, saying Rachel doesn't really love him. Although Rachel is devastated part of her is also relieved and in her heart of hearts she knows he's right. Dan is a good man, a good catch, solid, dependable, he would make a great father, but although Rachel loves him he doesn't make her go all tingly.

Now, with her parents gone to China, Rachel must pick up the pieces of her life and understand that her dream of a loving family of her own doesn't have to be a five star glossy extravaganza, sometimes love can grow where you least expect it, and something good is worth working hard for.

I will say that although this series is (dare I say it) pretty formulaic, it also throws some curveballs. I had thought that Anna and Dan would get together in the first book and I didn't expect the romance in this book to take the turn it did.

Already started on Miriam's novel.


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Review: Slightly Sinful

Slightly Sinful by Mary Balogh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lord Alleyne Bedwyn is carrying a letter from the Duke of Wellington at the battle of Waterloo when he is shot in the leg, despite trying to continue his journey he becomes weak from loss of blood and falls off his horse, hitting his head on a tree stump.

Alleyne is found by Miss Rachel York, an orphan fallen on hard times who is currently sharing a house in Brussels with a group of prostitutes, including her former nurse. Rachel and the other women have lost all their money to a confidence trickster and have resolved to search the dead bodies for money and treasures, although in reality they are all far too soft-hearted and end up rescuing Alleyne, who they find unconscious, together with a one-eyed Sargeant who helps carry Alleyne to safety.

When Alleyne recovers consciousness he has no recollection of his name or who he is, but he falls in love with Rachel, thinking her to be a prostitute. Alleyne knows he can't marry Rachel not least because he doesn't know if he is already married, but he agrees to pretend to be her husband in order for her to inherit her grandmother's jewellery, which is in her uncle's possession until she is 25 years old or married to a man that her uncle approves.

Imagine if you will, four prostitutes masquerading as widows and maiden aunts, a one-eyed Sargeant trying to forge a second career as a valet, and a man with no recollection of his true identity descending upon a stately home to fool the owner. This wasn't quite a comedy caper but it came close.

As always, Mary Balogh has created a group of characters with depth and charm, a glorious romance and plenty of humour.

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Review: In Her Sights

In Her Sights by Katie Ruggle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Molly Pax and her four sisters run a bounty hunting business. Molly's arch enemy is Jon Carmondy, a fellow bounty hunter and all round pain in her ass. He pops up everywhere she goes, being charming and twinkling his eyes at her while stealing her bountys.

But when Molly's ne'er do well mother gets arrested for grand larceny and puts up the house that Molly and her sisters paid for Molly is faced with an unpalatable proposition, lose the house to a slimy bail-bondsman or agree to capture a psychotic killer who likes to play with explosives.

This was reminiscent of all the good things about Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series without the love triangle and irritating granny humour, okay it's about a female bounty hunter.

I liked this, it was fast-paced, didn't take itself too seriously, Molly and her sisters got into bounty hunting simply because after a life of watching their mother being arrested and jailed for various minor offenses they knew the system very well.

My only criticism is that no-one was really developed as a character, it's all action and no back-story, especially John who is just there to add romance and muscle, but it was a great read by the pool.

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Review: A Vicarage Reunion

A Vicarage Reunion by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At the end of the first book Anna's older sister Esther and her husband Will had announced they were expecting a baby, but Anna had found Esther in the kitchen in despair because she didn't want the baby.

Fast forward two months, Esther and Will lost the baby and Esther has decided to leave Will, because she can't live with the shame of not wanting the baby, of not wanting any babies, and not telling Will.

This is a charming, and tearful, second chance romance between a gruff, taciturn farmer and a woman afraid of showing her feelings, afraid of being less than perfect.

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Review: A Vicarage Christmas

A Vicarage Christmas by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Anna has come home to the family vicarage in Thornthwaite in the Lake District. Anna has social anxiety and avoids groups of people as much as possible so coming home at Christmas with all the social events is a particular ordeal. In addition, everyone else in her family seems so settled, so happy with their lives whereas Anna feels there is something wrong with it all, something connected to the tragic death of her brother Jamie. When her sister Rachel announces she is dating the local veterinary Dan, a man that Anna has had a crush on ever since they were at school together, it all becomes too much and Anna escapes to the local 'rough' pub where she meets Simon. Somehow Anna feels able to spill some of her fears and anxieties to this stranger in the pub, knowing they will never meet again ...

As each of the family members breaks some life-changing news over the Christmas holiday, can Anna let go of her fears and embrace love?

Perfect holiday reading as I lay on the beach reading about a cold, snowy Christmas in England.

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Review: Not My Type

Not My Type by Anna Zarlenga
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 7%.

Sorry, the writing style is so strained I can't bear to read any longer. I don't know whether this is a translation from the original Italian or an Italian writing in English but either way the characters seem like caricatures, see:

'Why be bored when you can get laid," that's my motto. I wonder if this Sara is easy enough to just give it up on the spot, or if I'll have to subject her to my charm for half an hour? I wouldn't usually have to waste more than ten minutes, but you have to account for circumstances.

So far the male lead, Teo, speaks in misogynist cliches like this all the time, it's like he's a feral animal that has never been to a wedding before.

Anyway, it's a terrible thing to DNF at 7% but I can't see myself wading through any more of this.

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

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Review: The Charmer

The Charmer by Avery Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Hudson Carlyle likes to pretend he's as deep as a puddle but in reality he is the famous artist Hughston whose works are highly sought after and acclaimed. His widowed mother has successfully married off his older brother and now she has her sights set on Hudson, but she wants Hudson to help mend the rift between his brother and his brother's former best friend Tyler Jacobson.

The book opens at a fancy charity cocktail party at the Harbor City Museum of Natural History, Hudson watches one of the members of staff make goo-goo eyes at Tyler, despite her ugly clothes he finds her fascinating and desperately wants to paint her, so he tries to make a deal with her, he'll help her win over Tyler and when she succeeds she'll let him paint her. But to his surprise she turns down his offer, not once but twice!

This novel ticks off a fair few romance tropes: billionaire playboy meets the nerd, dating guru, fake relationship, the only woman not bowled over by his charm.

I enjoyed the novel but not as much as the first one. Interesting because it is a cross-over with the Hartigans series - our heroine Felicia being the youngest Hartigan.

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Review: Cupcakes for Christmas

Cupcakes for Christmas by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

It's nearly Christmas and Olivia James is feeling a little melancholy. All her friends are happily married and planning new futures, her mother has moved into assisted living accommodation in Witney and her cake shop/cafe is struggling to stay in the black. Then a chance encounter with a stranger brings some Christmas hope and magic into her heart. But in the real world things aren't always fairy lights and tinsel, there are problems and family and other issues.

This was a super sweet fun read where Olivia finds her own Christmas joy, despite a somewhat rocky road. Warning, the descriptions of the cupcakes Olivia makes as part of her Twelve Days of Christmas Cupcakes campaign will make dieting hard and could lead to tooth decay just reading them!

I read someone else's comment on another Kate Hewitt book about Americanisms creeping into her books and I have to say there were a couple here too. First, I don't know what Angel Hair pasta is, having googled it is Capellini, not something that I would ordinarily buy from Waitrose, secondly in the UK cider is alcoholic and so unsuitable for children or people who want a non-alcoholic beverage. But these are more gripes for the publisher than real issues with the novel.

So, does the fact that the cottages in Willoughby Close are soon to be empty signal a new set of tenants?

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Review: Nightingale: London 1966

Nightingale: London 1966 by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A quick snippet free on the author's website of how Nightingale bought the car and the suit.

http://temporarilysignificant.blogspo...

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Review: Tobias Winter - Meckenheim 2012

Tobias Winter - Meckenheim 2012 by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Short snippet, free from the author's website of when the German head of the KDA finds out that NIghtingale has taken Peter Grant as an apprentice.

http://temporarilysignificant.blogspo...

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Review: Reynolds – Florence, Az. 2014

Reynolds – Florence, Az. 2014 by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Short snippet of FBI agent Kimberley Reynolds interviewing murderers in Arizona for evidence of magical causes, free from the author's website http://temporarilysignificant.blogspo...

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Review: The Last Real Cowboy

The Last Real Cowboy by Caitlin Crews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Amanda Kittredge is twenty-two, only trouble is, as the youngest child with several older brothers (I can't remember if its three or four) everyone still thinks of her as that little Kittredge girl. She's had exactly three dates and when she decided to go to the local bar she was accompanied by her brothers and driven home after precisely one and a half drinks. When one of her brothers directs her to the children's table at a family gathering, in all seriousness, she knows something has to change.

So she moves into an apartment above the local dive bar, gets a part-time evening job as a barmaid in said dive bar and waits for the fit to hit the shan (as the saying goes). Her next act of rebellion is to ask her brother Riley's best friend Brady to show her what she's been missing all these years, because yes Amanda is also a virgin.

I was enjoying this, okay it's a well trodden romance path, particularly in cowboy romances, but it was enjoyable nonetheless, and then the end just dragged. First Brady and Amanda had to have a big scene, then her brothers gor involved, then his brothers got involved, and somewhere I just lost interest, especially when Brady decided he was going to do things his way - without telling Amanda! That's a big red flag for me.

Anyway, that aside, I can't believe Caitlin Crews is also Megan Crane, I really loved her Edge series and I can't believe I missed the first two books in this series.

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

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Review: Hero's Haven

Hero's Haven by Rebecca Zanetti
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So I wasn't looking forward to this novella because Quade Karys and his eternity spent in an alternate dimension sacrificing himself to save the world, yawn, all the angst, yawn. But I was pleasantly surprised, this was more about Haven Daly the (apparently) human who has been drawing Quade and the other members of the Seven, plus alternate dimensions, for years.

Haven rescues Quade from the alternate dimension just when he thinks all hope is lost, but Quade's rescue brings the release of the Big Bad Ulric ever closer.

It turns out Haven isn't remotely human, she's a hitherto unknown hybrid, her adoptive parents are religious zealots who think Haven is possessed by a demon and have been hunting her for the past decade, little do they know they have hired a deranged cougar shifter to track her down.

So far and I was loving it, but then Quade defaulted to the domineering, me-right-you-wrong, alpha-hole mentality and I lost interest. Also, isn't it a rule that you can't rely on anything said in the throes of passion? You certainly can't believe a guy when he says he loves you so why should Quade extract a promise to obey him in everything by withholding orgasms?

Anyhoo, when Quade starting laying down the law, and he only wanted to mate Haven so that he could take on her powers and go and rescue the lost Fae/imprison Ulric on his own - talk about a metaphor for marriage taking power away from women! - I lost interest. Also, does it seem to anyone else that Pierce and Ulric are quite frankly more clever and more powerful that the Seven? Just putting it out there ...

Anyway, Quade hits some of my PNR buttons so this was only a three star read for me, others may well adore his manly take-charge nature. Can mad Ben be the next of the Seven to find a mate? And please for the love of all that is holy can we kill/imprison Ulric forever now?

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

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Review: More Than Just Mum

More Than Just Mum by Rebecca Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Hannah Thompson is a mother of three and a part-time English teacher, due to cuts in the science department budget which led to her job as a Biology teacher being redundant. Her eldest child Dylan is soon off to University, her middle child Scarlet (note the single 't') is asking rather suspicious about specific crimes and her youngest child Benji is the butt of all his older siblings' humour. When Hannah and her husband Nick work out how much money they will need to give Dylan for living expenses when he starts university they know they desperately need more money - but how can Hannah earn some extra cash?

This has all the hallmarks of the scummy mummy genre of novels. Humorous insights into real life families where there's no clean washing, Wine Wednesday is a real thing, children are by turns whiney and argumentative, life is a series of forgotten World Book Day costumes, part-time mum serving kids take-aways etc. Normally I quite enjoy those kind of novels but for some reason this didn't resonate with me, and I don't really know why. Maybe it's because I felt that Hannah wasn't really doing much of anything, half-heartedly teaching and half-heartedly parenting - I didn't get the feeling that she was overwhelmed by too much, just disorganised and lazy.

Overall, I enjoyed it but there seemed to be too many loose plot ends that never went anywhere: Dylan and Zoe, Scarlet's questions, Zoe's mysterious online boyfriend etc. Maybe I've got holiday brain and missed these stories being resolved but it just felt like this book ran out of steam and just went ... The End.

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 Aunt Who Wouldn't Die

The Aunt Who Wouldn't Die by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

How do you review a book when you have no idea what was going on?

Somlata is a young lower caste girl married into the upper class but destitute Mitras family. the family are so dissolute they don't even consider the possibility of getting a job. Somlata is also terrorised by Pishima, an elderly bitter widow. When Pishima dies suddenly her ghost urges Somlata to hide her jewellery, jewellery that the rest of the family covets. From then on Somlata is haunted by Pishima's ghost which seems to wish ill on the family but perversely it seems to empower Somlata to galvanise her husband into opening a shop.

I liked the write no style, very different to that in a western novella but I have to say I failed to understand the point of the novella, for that reason I split my rating between four for the writing and two for 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: Good Girl

Good Girl by Piper Lawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Haley Telfer needs an internship stat or she will lose her place on her college course. She has the usual tragic backstory, single mom killed in a car crash, lost her college scholarships as a result (isn't there a family tragedy clause in those things?), never knew her father yadda, yadda. Then, after she thinks she has bombed a job interview with Wicked Records, she gets told she's got the job. Then, as luck would have it, on her first day, actually on her way to her induction, she meets her idol, the legend that is Jax Jamieson, unfortunately her attempts to help the guy in a recording studio with some IT issues lead to her accidently assaulting her idol. Nevertheless somehow she gets promoted to back up to the sound engineer on Jax's tour, without his consent.

This was an enjoyable, yet predictable YA/NA nerd meets rock star romance. Jax hates being a rock star and has lost his mojo, he's counting down the days until he can hang up his guitar and spend time with his family. Haley is a little beam of Pollyanna sunshine that just can't help making friends with everyone and fixing things, she's also a talented musician and skilled at all things technical. Heck she's even written an app to 'fix' music to make it more appealing to the listener.

I have given up on 99% of YA/NA novels because of the angst and the cliches but this had sufficient plots woven into the (relatively short) novel to keep me interested. Warning, this is only part one (of three) so there is no resolution of the Jax/Haley dynamic.

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Review: The Bromance Book Club

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gavin Scott is a millionaire baseball star, recently separated from his wife, and mother to his twin daughters, Thea. After three years of marriage Gavin discovers his wife has been faking it in bed, ironically after she has an orgasm. Humiliated Gavin retreated to the spare room, then gave her the silent treatment; which led to the separation.

Cornered in his skanky hotel room where he is drowning in a bottle of whisky, Gavin is introduced to the top secret men's book club where they read historical romances and learn how to understand women. Armed with his new-found knowledge, can Gavin woo his own wife?

I read several reviews of this before it was released and loved the premise of a group of high-powered businessmen and professional athletes reading historical romances as an insight into what a woman needs. Reading the book did not disappoint, it had everything I would expect from a second-chance sports romance with that added layer of historical romance. I also liked that the blame for the failure of their marriage was spread between Gavin and Thea, not just the wife as so often happens.

Overall, I really enjoyed this funny romance and I will definitely be looking to read the second book in the series.

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Review: Where the Hell is Tesla?

Where the Hell is Tesla? by Rob Dircks
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 23%.

Another book buried in my TBR pile. TBH, if you read the blurb I think you'll get a very good idea of the writing style and the Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure type of gormless characters that narrate the story. It was fast-paced and different but ultimately I didn't warm to either of the main characters and I found the blokey writing a bit irritating after a while.

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

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Review: Trusting Tanner

Trusting Tanner by Lexi Lawton
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 37%.

So, mea culpa, this book has been sitting on my TBR pile for 30 months. In the first version I was sent the hero was so obnoxious I hated him within a few pages. Then a few weeks later the publisher sent an updated copy based on feedback from early reviews, so I felt obligated to give it another try, but in the words of toddlers everywhere I don' wanna. So there it say on my TBR pile silently judging me, until today.

So, the problem is, in 30 months I'm over NA/YA angst, the billionaires, the mean girls, the angst, the lip gnawing, the detailed clothing descriptions etc, etc.

If you like YA/NA then I think you'll enjoy this. Julianna has been dumped and belittled by her ex-boyfriend. An orphan (naturally), her only friend is the devastatingly handsome Devon, but they are just friends. Then she gets paired up with the Adonis-like Tanner in one of her college classes and it's like, yanno, like insta-lurve. She does nothing, says nothing, is nothing special but Tanner is totally smitten but she's so torn up by what her ex did/said that she won't believe this guy could like her - of course whilst having a series of non-dates with the guy in which he tells her constantly that she is beautiful and amazing.

Horses for courses, not for me but others may love it.

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Review: Shark's Edge

Shark's Edge by Angel Payne
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 16%.

Love the cover but that's where it ends for me.Ridiculous caricatures, billionaire businessmen speaking like 15 year old boys. so-called 'friends' who are more like enemies. CEOs who think they can terminate contracts without just cause. Yawn.

This may appeal to those who love a good angst YA/NA billionaire power play but Christian Grey got exposed as a whiny cry-baby and imitating that kind of arrogant, bossy, little-boy-lost character is like six years out of date.

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

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Review: Claiming the Cowboy for Christmas

Claiming the Cowboy for Christmas by Kadie Scott
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

Ashley is returning home to watch her twin Taylor marry her ex-fiancée Eric. Even though Ashley spotted it before even the happy couple everyone insists on treating her like she's broken hearted and the wronged woman. So she does what any rational woman would and pretends a relationship with her former BFF Jennings in return for looking into a suspected fraud at his farm. But unbeknownst to Ashley Jennings has been in love with her, and jealous of Eric, since he was 14 years old and she first started dating Eric.

The premise was a bit schmaltzy for me: twins and a Christmas wedding, but I could have gone along with it but for Jennings. Why is in novels that our hero is content to love from afar for a decade but as soon as there is the slightest hope that a fake relationship might become real the hero becomes an ass? So it was with Jennings, he like everyone else in the town thinks Ashley is still in love with a Eric and he won't hear anything different. He's jealous and judgemental and I wanted to kick his ass into touch so badly I nearly threw my Kindle on the ground. And then Ashley decided him being an ass was all her fault really (eye roll) because Eric once forgot to tell Jennings something when they were fourteen! Give me a break!

So, my least favourite novel in the series.

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

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Review: Marry Me at Willoughby Close

Marry Me at Willoughby Close by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the fourth book of the series we were introduced to Alice James, a young woman who had been through various foster homes and nursed her grandmother until her death, before living rough until she was helped by Ava. Now, she has been employed as Lady Stokeley's live-in carer. Unfortunately, Lady Stokeley's nephew Henry Trent finds Alice thoroughly unsuitable and tries to sack her. Eventually they settle on a one month trial period, but as the time progresses Henry and Alice find they like each other more and more.

This is (currently) the final book in the charming Willoughby Close series and it's a classic romance between on the one hand the heir to a baronetcy and on the other a homeless woman, daughter of a drug addict and product of the foster care system. all aided and abetted by the feisty Lady Stokeley.

As is to be expected we see all of our favourite characters from the previous books as this series draws to a close.

These books can be read in any order, I think I read the fourth book first, but in order to enjoy glimpses into the developments in each character I recommend reading them in order.

If you ever find Katie Fforde heroes and heroines a bit two-dimensional then I recommend Kate Hewitt, her novels are what I always hope Katie Fforde's will be but so rarely are.

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Review: Find Me at Willoughby Close

Find Me at Willoughby Close by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harriet Lang was the uber-yummy mummy in the second book, mother to the mean girl who has made Abby's new life in the Cotswolds that little bit more difficult. In the second book Harriet and her three children had arrived to occupy the second cottage in Willoughby Close under fairly mysterious circumstances, in this book we find out why.

Harriet has enjoyed the finer things in life as a result of her husband Richard's job as an investment manager in London: a big house; fancy holidays; ponies for the children; interior decorator to furnish the house; and spending money like water on catered birthday parties for her youngest. Then her world comes crashing down when she discovers her husband has been having secret conversations with his assistant in the early hours of the morning (like 2am) for hours at a time. When she confronts him he lets slip the devastating news that he was sacked six months earlier and that they are so far in debt that they could lose the house!

This is like a grown-up version of the book A Little Princess which has been made into umpteen films over the years (umpteen being a word to describe that I'm too lazy to stop typing and do a rudimentary google search). Harriet loses all of her possessions, all her status as one of the yummy mummies and discovers how fake and shallow she had become, buying things to keep up with the other mums instead of because she liked them or needed them. But in the back of her mind Harriet believes living at Willoughby Close is only temporary, until Richard gets another highly paid job, of course she thinks she will be a better, kinder, more thoughtful person, but living in a big country house once more, until one day she realises that maybe that's not what she wants at all.

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Review: Awk-Weird

Awk-Weird by Avery Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Tess and Cole's story.

Tess is a factoid-spewing florist with a devil kitten. Cole is an ice-hockey player wedded to his routines and in an on-again, off-again relationship with the coach's daughter. Tess and Cole meet and bond at a wedding rehearsal party (seriously, who has one of those?) over trivia and end up getting weddinged (carried away into having sex by the whole wedding atmosphere).

As you can see by the cover, which is pretty descriptive of the book, Tess gets pregnant from their weddinged night and this is the romantic comedy of how two people brought together by a mutual love of trivia can fall in love while having a baby.

This was a fun read, not much hockey and Tess held on to her insecurities too long - she reached that point where I wanted to shake her and tell her she was ignoring all evidence to the contrary just to hold on to her beliefs for no reason.

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Review: Meet Me at Willoughby Close

Meet Me at Willoughby Close by Kate Hewitt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ellie Matthews is a divorced single mother, she's moved from Manchester to the small village of Wychwood-on-Lea with her eleven year old daughter Abby, where they have rented a cottage in the newly renovated Willoughby Close, as a new start for both of them; a new job for her at Oxford University and getting away from the mean girls at her school for Abby.

But things quickly turn sour, Ellie has been assigned as assistant to a grouchy lecturer to type up his book on Victorian children without her knowledge, and she's already 24 hours late. Abby finds that mean girls are just as common in idyllic villages as in inner cities and the yummy mummies give Ellie the cold shoulder. Oh, and Ellie's parents and older sister are convinced she'll fail and come running home / need rescuing, again.

But then things start to get better, Abby and Ellie make friends with the owner of Willougby Manor, Lady Stokeley, Ellie's grouchy boss has a nephew called Tobias who makes friends with Abby and suddenly romance seems a possibility.

I have read these books totally out of order, can I just say that Kate Hewitt is what I want Katie Fforde books to be, but I'm always slightly disappointed (by KF not KH). There's humour, dogs, fish and chips and cottages in Cornwall, academics, crotchety aristocrats and a charming romance.

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Review: Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct by April White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shane is a PI in Chicago who specialises in exposing cheating spouses. Out on a 'date' to expose a cheater she borrows his phone and transfers half of the balance from his secret bank account to his wife's account. Shortly after the transfer her 'date's' phone sets off an alarm, he's protected by the top secret Cipher Security. Shane makes her escape, but not before she sees and is seen by a representative from Cipher, who looks a lot like Idris Elba. Now, I don't know about you but I think Idris Elba is one seriously beautiful man so I can understand Shane's rabbit in the headlights attitude.

Gabriel Eze is a British-Jamaican-Nigerian ex-soldier and ex-peacekeeper, recent joiner to Cipher. He can't help but think the tall woman with the slight limp leaving the restaurant may be connected to the theft of $500,000 from Cipher's obnoxious client. But his reason for tracking her down have very little to do with the case.

This is very different from the other series I have read by April White, The Immortal Descendants but I found it equally as fascinating. She has created a whole cast of clever, interesting characters that I want to know better. Honestly the only character that I don't think warrants his own book is the man who owns the Armenian supermarket (and I'm willing to be persuaded about him).

There's politics, Russian gangsters, murder, mystery, and just a whole load of fabulous intrigue. Loved it, loved Shane and Gabriel, loved Jorge, the Greenes and all the other characters. Can't wait to see what comes next.

An autobuy for lovers of The Princess Bride, snarky heroines, men raised by strong women and the dark web.

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Review: Parental Guidance

Parental Guidance by Avery Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you can swallow the premise that an ice hockey team would punish a senior player for saying nothing while his junior team-mates trash talked in an Uber, said punishment being to participate in dating where your mother chooses the dates and then discusses them on breakfast TV afterwards with your date's father, then you'll enjoy this.

Caleb desperately wants to be Assistant Captain, its a position he feels he's earned, but this one mistake could cost him that coveted A on his jersey. So when his mom, a force of nature in her own right, comes up with this dating scheme, five dates with a girl of his choice using a new parental guidance dating app, he has to buckle on his skates and take it on the chin.

Zara makes miniatures for a living (think dioramas), she's never had much success with men or dating but her BFF blackmails her into joining a dating app with the promise of being her plus one at a big society shindig where she could meet a wealthy miniature collector.

Their first date isn't going well, until they both reveal that they don't want to be there - then they hatch a plan, have the required five dates, maybe have some fun, but no more. They each get what they want. There's also Zara's Great Dane called Marmite, her flaky dad and some suitably cute dates. But what happens when you want more than five dates?

This was fun, sexy, cute and had a huge slobbering dog with no boundaries. Huge fun to read.

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