Review: A Most Novel Revenge

A Most Novel Revenge by Ashley Weaver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Amory and Milo are invited to a country house party by Amory's cousin Laurel. The house, owned by Reggie Lyons, was the scene of a terrible tragedy several years ago, made notorious by a thinly veiled novel about the incident written by one of the guests, Isobel, which accused another guest, Bradford Glenn, of committing murder which led to him taking his own life.

Now the remaining guests have gathered again at Lyonsgate and Laurel is concerned that there is a strange atmosphere, Isobel has announced that she was wrong to accuse Bradford and intends to write a second volume. Sure enough tensions are rising and later Amory finds Isobel dead.

Although I continue to enjoy these novels I have to confess that they all seem to follow the same path, Amory interviews everyone, suspects the wrong person and then Milo speaks to a chap at his club or a man he meets in the pub and gets the information that cracks open the case. Also, more disappointingly, I guessed the murderer about half-way through the book, although perhaps not for the right reasons, and there was a fortuitous discovery which neatly explained three or four different plot lines. I like my mysteries written so that I can, if I read the clues correctly, see the detective process in action whereas these books tend to rely on the murderer confessing and Milo just happening to talk to someone who knows something that no-one else does.

I will definitely continue reading these books but I am hoping that the next murder is solved based on clues dropped throughout the book and not just a pile of papers discovered at the last minute.

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Review: The Queen's Gambit

The Queen's Gambit by Jessie Mihalik
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Samara leads her group of refugees, they call her the Queen of the Rogue Coalition. The Quint Confederacy and the Kos Empire are at war and everyone else in the galaxy is suffering. When Quint mercenaries kidnaps the new Emperor of Kos Samara sees an opportunity to intercept and ransom him back to Kos.

Valentin Kos is not the bloodthirsty Emperor she expected and he seems genuinely unaware of the problems the war is causing for non-combatants in the galaxy, but when the mercenaries are loath to lose their prize Valentin and Samara must work together.

This is a great novella. Plucky rebels, valiant Emperors, wise-cracking side-kicks and a plot that charges along. Loved it.

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Review: Death Wears a Mask

Death Wears a Mask by Ashley Weaver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Amory and Milo are back in London, two months after the first book. They are love's young dream until Milo is seen escorting a sultry French actress around town, is he up to his old tricks?

Amory is invited to a dinner party by Mrs Barrington who asks her to investigate the theft of several valuable items of jewellery. Mrs Barrington has narrowed down her group of suspects to the other guests at the dinner party. Amory is half-heartedly investigating when Mrs Barrington comes up with a half-baked scheme to bait a trap for the thief at Lord Dunmore's masked ball. Things go horribly awry and instead of catching a thief Mrs Barrington's nephew is murdered.

Yet another great mystery in the style of Agatha Christie or Georgette Heyer's crime novels. My only misgiving is that I had seen a similar plot device in another book (possibly even a Georgette Heyer mystery) and therefore I already suspected the murderer. However, that aside, I love Amory and Milo and their upper-class lifestyles, I mean how many men go to stay in a suite at The Ritz when their wife kicks them out of the house?

Recommended for those that like amateur detective mysteries set amongst the British aristocracy.

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Review: Murder at the Brightwell

Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well I'm clearly on a female amateur detective phase!

Amory Ames has been married to Milo for five years, not all of them happy. He's a bit of an international playboy and she has become accustomed to seeing pictures of him with glamorous women in places like Monte Carlo, while she sits at home in Kent.

When her former beau Gil (who she dumped for Milo) invites her to attend a weekend by the sea at the Brightwell Hotel with some friends to act as a warning to his little sister (who is engaged to Rupert, a playboy very like Milo), Amory jumps at the chance and is struck by the 'what might have beens'.

The group that gathers at the Brightwell are an unusual bunch, some singles and some married couples, all of whom have secrets. Then, while Amory is still trying to untangle her feelings about Gil and Milo, Milo arrives at the hotel and proceeds to cause mischief until Amory finds Rupert lying dead, presumably having fallen off the hotel balcony onto the terrace below.

As the body count rises and Gil is the prime suspect Amory is determined to prove his innocence while dealing with her charming but distracting husband.


Charming and engrossing, sort of Lord Peter Wimsey meets Miss Marple (or Hercule Poirot) in a swanky British seaside hotel this kept me guessing right to the end. I've already started the second one!

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

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Review: Holiday in the Hills

Holiday in the Hills by Lilac Mills
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ivy is a writer of paranormal romances. She is having trouble writing her next novel after the triple whammy of her boyfriend/publisher slating her latest effort and ditching her for a younger, more exciting novelist. She comes to the island of Tenerife to metaphorically lick her wounds and spend six months trying to write a new novel.

The staff at the villa her agent has rented consist of a Spanish woman who cleans the house and speaks no English and a gorgeous man who cleans the pool and tends the gardens. All too quickly Sebastian the gardener becomes the model for Ivy's latest hero, Nathaniel, a fallen angel. But as her writing mojo comes back in full flood can Ivy separate Sebastian and Nathaniel in her mind? And, more to the point, does she want to?

I really enjoyed this romance, even if it was a bit predictable. Ivy and Sebastian were engaging characters and I enjoyed them being over 40 - something of a rarity in Romancelandia. I also don't recall having read a novel set in Tenerife so that was a novelty.

I would classify this as a perfect holiday read, or a great read when you are restricted from travelling abroad due to the coronavirus and can only live vicariously through novels.

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

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Review: Resurrection: a ROCK SOLID romance

Resurrection: a ROCK SOLID romance by Karina Bliss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Argh! I read it, didn't write a review and now can't remember it!

Lily has reinvented herself from model/groupie to respectable nanny. She's sworn off rock stars forever until a sex video with her and her skeevy ex is somehow leaked to the press. Now it's everywhere, she has had to leave her job and she has nowhere to go.

Moss is a rising rock star and he needs a driver and general assistant, it doesn't hurt that he's always had a thing for Lily.

It's raunchy, sexy, sweet and funny. Loved it.

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Review: Love & Other Disasters

Love & Other Disasters by Terri Jones
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Violet is your archetypal shrinking violet accountant. Boring clothes, boring life, boring job. Then her best friend gives her a forced makeover before a night out on the townand much to her surprise she attarcts the interest of a guy in a bar. Not just a guy but a stunningly handsome guy, Violet makes up a persona to go with her new look and the guy falls for it hook, line and sinker. But then a few days later the one-night stand turns out to be her new boss, the man tasked with clawing her employer out of insolvency and he's starting by firing half the staff.

JP can't get his one-night stand out of his head, she was unlike any woman he's met before and they hit it off intellectually as well as physically but her friends won't give him her number and she's ghosting him, until he sees a pony-tail bouncing along the corridor in front of him at work - can it be her? Is she a corporate spy?

So, I confess I am an accountant (I like to think doing something more glamorous than Violet) and I loved the idea of Violet and JP both being in finance, poring over spreadsheets together. I also liked the way in which JP uncovers that someone has been stealing from the company - much more true to life than a lot of fiction in which the forensic accountant finds the scam in less than a day (as a former forensic accountant I can assure you fraud takes a lot longer to uncover, weeks if not months).

Also, I loved the cover, the monochrome picture with pink wording really caught my eye.

Overall, this was a cut above the usual makeover/one-night stand romantic comedy and I really enjoyed it. This was my first book by Terri Jones and I will certainly look out for more.

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

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Review: Crazy Stupid Bromance

Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Noah, a former hacktivist turned IT consultant, has been in love with his best friend Alexis, who runs a cat café, practically since they met. But Alexis was sexually harassed by her former boss and Noah is sensitive to her current fragility. The only problem is, he's in danger of being friend-zoned.

Then one day, a customer Alexis thought could be a fellow victim of harassment turns out to have a more shocking story - she says she is Alexis' sister, from the father Alexis never met. And the kicker? Her father needs a kidney donor!

I loved the first Bromance Book Club novel and enjoyed the second but I have to say I feel the series is on a downward trajectory for me. Noah and Alexis were both in love with each other (or at least madly pashing on each other) but too scared to make a move. Then when one of them makes a move they immediately retract and the other one gets upset, then they don't talk, rinse and repeat.

Friends to lovers can often be a tricky proposition, the protagonists can come across as a bit wet, oblivious to the other person's feelings and dismissive when others try to point out the blindingly obvious and I'm afraid for me Noah and Alexis fell into this category.

Overall it was a fun read but I didn't get the feels in the same way I did with the first book and I didn't think this had the humour of the second 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: Penny for Your Secrets

Penny for Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Verity and Sidney attend a society dinner hosted by one of Verity's friends. The next day their host is dead, shot by the very pistol that Verity's friend Ada threatened him with at dinner. Ada begs Verity to help her by finding the true killer.

Separately, a former colleague asks Verity to investigate her half-sister's murder, allegedly by a cat-burglar. The half-sister worked in the Post Office during the war redacting sensitive information from letters and Verity's friend is worried that her death may have been related to her war work.

These seemingly unconnected murders soon turn out to be very much connected and as the body count mounts Verity and Sidney must use all their wits to uncover the murderer.

My concerns about Anna Lee Huber's use of English continue. My pet peeve in this book is the use of the word zozzled. At first I thought it was completely made-up in mistake for sozzled, but a little bit of googling uncovers that it was a word used in 1920s Prohibition America as an alternative to sozzled - in either way not used in 1919 England. Also various odd expressions like 'clicked it' or 'pickled as punch' which just pulled me out of the story.

Also, I was left with the overall impression that there was no evidence of the plot which they uncovered and it was all hung together by supposition and circumstance. (view spoiler)[Indeed, I don't actually think the two murderers were actually part of the plot, just convenient patsies. (hide spoiler)]

I am happy to buy these when they are heavily discounted but I wouldn't pay full price.

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Review: Treacherous Is the Night

Treacherous Is the Night by Anna Lee Huber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Verity Kent and her recently returned from the dead husband are living a slightly uneasy life back in London, they've both been changed by the war and don't really know how to relate to each other. When Verity is dragged to seance, very much against her will, by one of her friends she is horrified to receive a message from one of her former contacts from the Secret Service, someone she thought was very much alive! When she tries to investigate the next day the building is on fire and the medium is dead. As Verity and Sidney dig deeper into the mysterious message from her colleague their journey takes them back to Belgium and the battlefields of France, followed by mysterious men and plagued by a series of fires.

I really enjoyed this, although I still haven't warmed to Sidney. My only gripe is that there were several typos which I would not expect in such an expensive book.

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Review: Hard Time

Hard Time by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Jodi Taylor really knocked it out of the park with this one!

Luke, Jane and Matthew make up team 236, not very affectionately known as Team Weird by the other Time Police teams. As their training draws to a close they are expected to express an interest in which department they want to join after graduation but none of them seems to have a clue.

Then a politician's daughter goes on an illegal trip to the seventeenth century and gets stranded, a girl Luke once dated and Team Weird get called on to rescue her. But what they uncover is an underground organisation running temporal tourism trips to the past. They are well equipped and ruthless. When two crack undercover Time Police hunters are murdered and their bodies sent as a warning the Commander decides the only way to infiltrate the organisation is to bring in Team Weird.

Very different to the St Mary's series, the Time Police series has really hit its stride with this novel. Plot driven with some great characters, Luke in particular is one of my favourites and there are so many unanswered questions left ...

Overall, if you like a book set in the future where people can travel to see Marie Antoinette in one minute then Abu Simnel the next, with wise-cracking and fire-trucking sweariness then this is the series for you.

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: Secret Nights with a Cowboy

Secret Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Riley Kittredge and Rae Trujillo got married right out of school, in a small town that usually only means one thing but they proved the gossips wrong. Then one day Rae moved out of Riley's house and back in with her parents where she has stayed ever since. The whole town thinks they are divorced, only Riley and Rae know they are still very much married, and not averse to sneaking around behind everyone's backs.

Then Rae realises she is stuck in a perpetual teenager mode: working for the family business; living with her judgemental family; no home of her own; and no chance of a family while she's still in a friends-with-benefits arrangement with her husband.

When Rae announces to Riley that she wants a divorce and she wants to move on he thinks he's heard it all before. After all, that's what they do, shout and scream at each other then rip one another's clothes off. When he realises she is serious Riley has some serious thinking to do, can he win back the woman he still madly loves? How far is he willing to go?

I don't know what it was about this novel that tugged so hard on my heartstrings, maybe it was the tragedy of two people madly in love who just can't find their way back to one another. Maybe it was because Riley had no idea why Rae left him. All I know is that I literally dripped tears practically the entire time I was reading this book (and I devoured it in a single day), I just couldn't stop. The way in which their split had broken apart friendships between the families was so sad.

Second-chance cowboy romance that sweeps you along on an emotional rollercoaster.

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


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Review: Make It Sweet

Make It Sweet by Kristen Callihan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Emma has got it great, a starring role in Dark Castle as Princess Anya (I thought of Daenerys Targaryen from GoT) with a hot boyfriend. Then in the season finale her character is killed and she goes home to find her boyfriend and another woman. Unable to tell anyone she's unemployed until after the episode airs in six months, Emma goes to stay with one of her grandmother's friends in a gorgeous old villa where she intends to do nothing but read books and relax.

Lucian was an amazing hockey player, team captain and at the height of his abilities when a tackle leaves him badly concussed and forces him to retire. Now he has hidden himself away at his grandmother's villa where he acts as general handyman and distracts himself by baking.

When Emma first meets Lucian she thinks he is the driver/handyman. Although the two of them start off on the wrong foot (awkward 'no selfies' comment) they enjoy sparking off one-another. But is this a holiday fling or something more?

I liked this but I didn't love it and I can't quite put my finger on the reason. maybe because Emma and Lucian came across as old souls? How to describe Lucian, a beta male, a renaissance man? A star athlete who is accepting of others, a talented pastry chef and handyman who gives generously to charity. He might be a bit grumpy to begin with but that soon fades away.

Probably my biggest issue with Lucian and Emma is that they didn't grab me by the heart in the same way as, say, Ethan and Fiona in The Game Plan or Gabriel and Sophie in Managed, both of which I loved. But I am marking Kristen Callihan on a curve - her okay is still miles better than so many other books out there, I swear I put on four pounds just reading about all that lovely pastry!

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


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Review: This Side of Murder

This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: We Are Family

We Are Family by Nicola Gill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Laura and Jess are sisters. Jess, the elder, is happily married to a lawyer, has two immaculate daughters and has a successful career as a social media influencer. Laura is a journalist for a women's magazine called Natter (which I misread throughout the book as Nutter), living with her boyfriend and their five year old son Billy. Whereas Jess is Marie Kondo, White Company, Farrow and Ball and Le Creuset, Laura has never really changed from her student days, their flat is piled high with dirty dishes, drying clothes and stacks of paper, it doesn't help that Laura's boyfriend only works part-time at a pizza restaurant because he is writing a book (although Laura knows he's been writing it for 10 years and has less than two pages written to show for his time.

The death of their self-centred mother from cancer is yet another bone 0f contention between the sisters at first, but maybe, just maybe it can bring them closer together.

Ah, women's fiction! A story where there is any amount of huge life changes and surprises all of which are pretty much glossed over - if all the things happened to my sister and me that happened to these two women in the the course of less than 12 months (COVID-excepted) I would be in serious need of therapy.

I didn't enjoy this at first, in fact I was seriously considering giving up after about 25% because I found both sisters so irritating, but I persevered and really got into the story, although I still feel the strong desire to shake Laura and tell her to woman up and grow a pair. Then, the novel just ended really abruptly with an eight months later epilogue in which pretty much everything had changed, it was as though Nicola Gill had run out of paper and had to wrap everything up really quickly, or maybe she had a dentist appointment? Anyway, I literally flipped my Kindle pages back and forth looking for the rest of the book ...

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with women's fiction because (like life) there is no resolution, no HEA, just an abrupt 'and this is where I choose to end my book' which leaves me a bit dissatisfied. However, so much of my griping can be put down to 'don't read women's fiction if you don't like the way it's structured' so make your own decision.

Overall, I did enjoy this but I found the ending rushed and I had more questions than answers.

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 Rancher Meets His Match

The Rancher Meets His Match by Kate Pearce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Julia Garcia is a hot-shot San Francisco lawyer who has just been passed over for a promotion which has been given to an incompetent man, Blaine. Her father Juan has MS and has suddenly taken a turn for the worst so she has taken some annual leave to look after him, something Blaine bitterly resents.

Kaiden Miller was friends with Julia's older brother Miguel at school, he has stayed at home in Morgantown, working on his Dad's ranch and working as a carpenter helping to repurpose some of the historical buildings for housing. When Juan's doctor asks Kaiden to stop over to see what alterations Juan needs to make his home more wheelchair-friendly Kaiden is happy to help, that's what people do in small towns, he doesn't bank on meeting Julia Garcia fancy-schmancy, stick-up-her-butt, lawyer Julia who has always looked down on him. For her part Julia has never forgiven the class clown Kaiden for ridiculing her and bad-mouthing her behind her back at school.

Kaiden is the perpetual funny-man, the peacemaker, the one with the even temper who can coax his bad-tempered father out of a strop, but with Julia his equanimity deserts him and he takes delight in needling her.

This started promisingly but I felt the reasons for the enmity between Julia and Kaiden didn't really have much justification and there was a lot of unexplained backstory with Julia's brother Miguel which didn't go anywhere. Overall there wasn't enough tension between Julia and Kaiden which was compensated by lots of family angst and manufactured drama.

An easy read, with engaging characters but not enough character development for my taste.

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

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Review: The Winter Garden

The Winter Garden by Heidi Swain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Freya's friend, mentor and boss dies she is bereft, then the new owner of the Suffolk estate where she works makes it clear that he has no interest in maintaining the gardens or the house and definitely doesn't want to pay Freya for her work, she is devastated. But when one door closes another door opens and a chance radio chat show leads her to meet Luke, the owner of Nightingale Square, and a job offer to create a Winter Garden.

Soon Freya is making new friends in the village and is heavily involved in a series of holiday inspired classes (think making Christmas puddings, Christmas wreathes etc) to bring the villagers together and alleviate the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder which impact Luke in particular.

This is the third book in a series about the residents of Nightingale Square, I haven't read the others but this can definitely be read as a stand-alone. Perfect for fans of Katie Fforde, Sue Moorcroft and Kate Hewitt.

Cute, predictable, warm and comforting, this is an easy-read perfect pre-Christmas reading to get you ready for the festive season.

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

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Review: Emerald Blaze

Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's been six months and Catalina is moving on with her life without Alessandro, then she is tasked in her secret role as the Deputy Warden of Texas with investigating the murder of a Prime and Alessandro has been engaged by the dead man's father to extract justice.

Although only six months have passed both Catalina and Alessandro have grown up enormously, some of the things which may have seemed a bit too perfect or unbelievable in the previous book are explained in this book and all is made clear - I for one believe that Ilona Andrews totally intended this story arc because they are such brilliant writers, they plot series and are about ten steps ahead of this reader.

Anyway, if you loved the previous books in this series (or any IA book) then I think you will love this one. There's gadgets and intrigue and family (good and bad) and monsters and angst and love and a humongous WTF at the end that will have you gnashing you teeth and wishing you could travel through time to read the next book RIGHT NOW.

Catalina steps out of Nevada's shadow in this book and stands tall as a worthy IA heroine.

In case you haven't already guessed, I loved it.

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Review: The Country Escape

The Country Escape by Jane Lovering
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Katie and her 14 year old daughter Poppy move to the tiny village of Christmas Steepleton in Devon from London after Katie's divorce from the wealthy, charming, but cheating frenchman Luc. Having bought the tiny tumbledown cottage outright from her share of the proceeds of the sale of their flat in London, Katie realises she has no job and the likelihood of an elite girls' school needing a French teacher is kind of remote.

Then a series of events bring a cantankerous old woman who goes by the name of Granny Mary, a fat pony, and a handsome but short-sighted local called Gabriel into her sphere.

I'm a great fan of Jane Lovering's novels, she writes interesting characters, often with unusual quirks or issues, set in charming places but with a healthy dose of reality. This one is no different, Gabriel is a breath of fresh air after all the alpha male heroes of so many romances, and Katie's anxieties are based on an event in her childhood.

If you are looking for a charming romance then look no further.

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 French Affair

A French Affair by Katie Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First off, this is not what I imagined from the title.

Gina Makepiece, a freelance PR agent, and her sister Sally inherit a stall in an antiques centre called the French House from their Aunt together with a very small sum of money to start off their antiquing careers. Sally quickly loses interest, preferring new things, but Gina soon gets the bug, assisted by the owner of the French House, Matthew Ballinger. The French House is very quiet and not trading as well as some of the rival antique shops in the town, but every time Gina suggests a way to drum up new business Matthew shoots her down, he really is a doom-and-gloom merchant!

But when a conniving, local shop owner colludes with Matthew's ex-wife and Gina's ex-boyfriend to buy the French House at a deep discount Gina rallies the troops to raise the necessary funds to pay off Matthew's ex and save the French House.

I'm sure it isn't, but this is the first Katie Fforde book I can recall which lets loose the F-bomb, not once but several times! Published in 2013 it feels more modern than some of her other books I have read and Matthew isn't one of her domineering, know-it-all, I love you but I won't tell you until the last 10 pages of the book, heroes that I loathe. Also he has a dog, so naturally he is a good hero ;)

Overall, despite the setting being somewhat different to what I had assumed, I really enjoyed this Katie Fforde romance.

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Review: A Royal Affair

A Royal Affair by Allison Montclair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Our intrepid lady marriage-brokers turned detectives are back. This time they have been approached by one of Gwendolyn's distant cousins, on behalf of the Queen, to investigate a letter which was sent to Princess Elizabeth, attempting blackmail in relation to her latest beau, a dashing Greek Prince!!

Intrigue, double-cross and triple-cross are all in evidence as Iris and Gwen attempt to determine whether the blackmailer has any real evidence, the reasons for the blackmail and who is behind the plot. Their investigations lead them to cross paths with the East End gang leader Archie (who is now sort of dating Iris), the former King of Greece, the secret service, the Police, artsy playwrights and various former naval officers as well as some of my favourite characters from the first book like Sally and Jimmy the Scribe.

The plot is suitably twisty, the motives murky and I devoured it just as eagerly as the first one, I can't wait until the next one is released.

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Review: The Right Sort of Man

The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Miss Iris Sparks (former Special Operations operative) and Mrs Gwendolyn Bainbridge (widow, mother of a young son, living with her husband's parents) have set up a matchmaking agency, The Right Sort Marriage Bureau in Mayfair, London, shortly after the end of World War II. When one of their clients is murdered, and another is charged with her murder Iris and Gwen are convinced that he is innocent, and determine to find the real murderer.

As the action moves between the houses of the British aristocracy, the offices in Mayfair and the bomb-ravaged East End of London our heroines are dealing with their own issues, including what I would term PTSD.

Some of the attitudes and snobberies of the age portrayed in the novel are grating (the client who won't even consider being matched with an Irishman), looking back I can't tell whether the East End characters' accents are lazy caricature or just an attempt to portray the strong accents of the area but I am leaning towards the latter.

This is an intelligent historical murder mystery with engaging characters full of light and shade, the war might be over but the secret service is still very much in evidence, preparing for the Cold War to come. The criminal gangs selling nylons and alcohol outside the strict rationing systems in place, the way in which criminals were legitimised for their war efforts etc were all fascinating and there is lots of interesting backstory which I hope will be explored in future books.

If you like historical detective novels then I think you'll love this.

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Review: White Wedding

White Wedding by Milly Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three young women meet at a wedding dress shop in their local village.

Businesswoman Max is planning to marry her childhood sweetheart Stuart in a small registry office wedding, but when she sees the TV programme My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding she becomes obsessed with creating her own OTT gypsy wedding.

Violet is marrying Glyn, he dotes on her and spends all his time looking after her, but Violet has fallen out of love with Glyn but feels trapped into marriage.

Bel's is the first wedding but she doesn't seem very enthusiastic about it, she refuses to wear her mother's wedding dress and doesn't even want her two new friends to come to the wedding. Can it be because she is planning a revenge on her cheating fiance?

Three very different brides with three very different stories. Although I enjoyed all three, Bel's was my favourite, although afterwards she seem to undergo a bit of a personality change and be full of coarse innuendos.

A bit obvious and totally predictable, I still enjoyed reading this and would recommend this as idea holiday reading (if we ever get to go away on holiday again).

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Review: Up Close and Personal

Up Close and Personal by Kathryn Freeman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Kat is a former soldier turned bodyguard, living with her sister and niece. Zac is the latest action movie star with a plum in his mouth and he has received some threatening 'fan' letters which the studio is taking seriously enough to hire Kat's firm for protection. But Zac fears he knows exactly who is sending the threatening letters, and it isn't an over-enthusiastic fan. Zac thinks his carefully hidden past is coming back to haunt him.

This is a sort of a reverse roles version of The Bodyguard. Zac is all smooth, suave and sophisticated, like James Bond, with exquisite manners and and elegant wardrobe. Kat is a jeans and boots kind of gal, talk about opposites attract.

I liked this, but my favourite Kathryn Freeman book is still The New Guy, this one just seemed to flag a bit in the middle. I thought Zac's secret was half-explained too early and then left too long. Also, why does the female bodyguard always succumb to her passion, despite swearing that she won't let it affect her job? Drives me insane!

Overall, an enjoyable romance with likable characters and plenty of backstory for both main protagonists.

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Review: Christmas Wishes

Christmas Wishes by Sue Moorcroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A native of Middledip, Hannah is living her best life with her Swedish boyfriend and her shop in Stockholm. Her friend's brother Nico (who is Swedish) pops into the shop and the two of them get on famously, Nico even helps her to rearrange her store to show off her merchandise to its best.

Nico and Hannah meet again at Hannah's brother Rob's wedding in Middledip, sparks fly until Nico finds out that Hannah has a live-in boyfriend in Stockholm.

Nico has a high-powered job, splitting his time between London and Stockholm with the help of his live-in cousin Emelie and a nanny called Tilly. But when his ex-wife Loren starts drinking again he can no longer leave their daughter Josie with her and is forced to take over full caring responsibility for both Josie and Loren's daughter Maria. When his cousin moves out to live with her boyfriend, and TIlly proves unwilling to take on additional hours, or even vary her working hours, Nico is stuck between a rock and a hard place. His mother-in-law is obsessed with her husband's impending heart bypass and her daughter's rehab, she refuses to help with childcare as well. Nico's boss is unsympathetic and Nico decides his only option is to rent out his pricey London apartment and move to a small cottage in Middledip where he can live off the rent differential and care for two small children.

Meanwhile, Hannah's life in Stockholm has fallen apart and she too is forced to move back to Middledip to care for her grandmother who has broken her wrist.

Can these two childhood friends find love?

I love, love, love Sue Moorcroft's Middledip romances, I don't know why they speak to me more than her other romances but they do. Here we are again, with a smattering of Swedish style, as Christmas approaches complete with cute moppets and a Christmas fayre. This novel was no exception, heart-warming, funny, cute and as comforting as a cup of Heinz cream of tomato soup. Loved Nico, loved Hannah, loved Hannah's Nan, a perfect Christmas romance.

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 Roommate

The Roommate by Rosie Danan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Clara Wheaton moves cross-country to spend the summer with her childhood crush, unfortunately he and his band are going on tour and instead she is forced to share the apartment with a random stranger from Craig's List. Said random stranger Josh is gorgeous, like male-model looks and a perfect body, then Clara finds out that he's a porn star (or adult film entertainer!). As a typical good-girl Clara has very limited experience with guys and (of course) has never managed an orgasm with a man, could Josh be the man to show her what she's been missing?

Josh loves his job but he's just split up with his on-screen co-star Naomi and the studio is pressuring him to move to films with stronger themes, he has to make the decision to go in a direction which he isn't happy with, or potentially torpedo his career.

This book is hard to categorise. It's a raunchy porn star teaches innocent to enjoy sex, mixed with a friends to lovers romance, mixed with an indictment of the adult entertainment industry and an empowering story of female friendship (and OMG how rare is that in Romancelandia?).

Overall, a fun, sexy romance with heart and I thoroughly enjoyed 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: Brimstone Bound

Brimstone Bound by Helen Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Emma Bailey is living a great life, up for her final rotation in the London Police force detective training programme she gets assigned to the Supernatural Squad (usually given as a punishment for the truly useless) rather than the Cyber Crime assignment she (and her accountant boyfriend Jeremy) was expecting.

At first Emma is mortified at being given the dunce assignment, then excited at the idea of being a liaison between the humans, vampires and werewolves, complete with special cool weapons. But then Emma finds the Supe Squad consists of three underwhelming individuals whose only role appears to be appeasement of the Supes, they don't even get to investigate crimes involving supernaturals - they do that themselves.

Then Emma gets brutally attacked while supposedly awaiting her boss in a London churchyard and wakes up lying on a mortuary slab accompanied by flames and a smell of sulphur! At first Emma blames her boss for her 'murder' or at least for setting her up, but when he goes missing too she realises there is something more sinister afoot. Werewolves are disappearing and Emma needs to find out who is responsible, and she'd kind of like to understand who wants her dead.

Although there are a lot of very familiar characters and tropes in this book (enigmatic and charming vampire lord, aggressive werewolf clans, etc) I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Fast-paced, funny, intriguing and twisty I didn't spot the individual behind the werewolf disappearances until it was spelt out for me.

First in a new series which looks like being fun and doesn't take itself too seriously, I can't wait to read the next one.

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

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