Review: The Italian Escape

The Italian Escape by Catherine Mangan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

After being dumped by her boyfriend (and boss) after four years, Niamh Kelly is down in the dumps, especially because at 33 years old she's back living with her parents. So when her impossibly glamorous and successful older sister invites her to Italy for a week while she attends a conference on the Ligurian coast Niamh has nothing to lose.

Niamh falls in love with the Italian coastline, especially the small town of Camogli, and she quickly makes friends with two locals, a lawyer called Giorgio who she spills Aperol Spritz over at a cocktail party, and a glamorous, wealthy, Englishwoman called Emily.

At the end of her break Niamh decides she isn't going back to Dublin, instead she is going to open a salad and sandwich café in an old derelict building which belongs to Giorgio's brother. But when tragedy strikes in Dublin and her old life beckons what will Niamh choose?

I really enjoyed this book until close to the end, where I felt that Catherine Mangan ran out of pages or steam or something. There was a plot by unknown persons which fizzled away (being deliberately vague to avoid spoilers), followed by a counterplot and then a third solution. It was as though there was one too many sub-plots and so they didn't get sufficient attention. Also, there were too many coincidences. So overall, I knocked off half a star because it all ended so abruptly and felt like a bit of a rush. But I would definitely read another book by this author.

Recommended holiday reading, or just if you want to imagine you are on holiday.

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

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Review: Outrageous

Outrageous by Minerva Spencer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Eva de Courtney overhears Godric Fleming, Lord Visel, planning with his cousin to kidnap her sister-in-law (and BFF) Drusilla and ruin her. Being an impulsive sort of girl Eva determines to kidnap Godric to foil his plans. Unfortunately, whilst Eva is stunning beautiful it is of the china doll variety and Godric quickly overpowers her when he wakes from being hit over the head.

Eva's personality belies her appearance. She might look like a little doll but she hates Balls and dresses, preferring to spend time in the stables and watching mills (boxing matches to you and I). Indeed, her dream is to open her own stud farm and breed horses. She also swears like a stable-boy!

Godric lost his entire family to an attack by pirates while he was at war fighting Napoleon. It also sent him slightly mad with grief, determined never to love anyone ever again because he couldn't bear the pain of losing them. Nevertheless he knows that what he planned to do was wrong, and Eva's actions mean that the only honourable thing to do is to marry her, if he doesn't strangle her from frustration first.

This feels to me like a modern interpretation of a raunchy Georgette Heyer (no greater compliment can I give), a feisty heroine dressed in boys clothes, a broken-down carriage, shenanigans (OMG I loved the ostler who gravely says this feels like shenanigans and the master told him to report shenanigans to the mayor!), a succession of inns, each worse than the last, and kidnappings galore.

This was fun, fast-paced and funny. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

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

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Review: Remember Me at Willoughby Close

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

I gave up on the last book in the series because I couldn't engage with the characters and I found the vast range of issues suffered by all the characters in the books was becoming unrealistic and tiresome so it was with some trepidation that I bought this book.

I needn't have worried, Kate Hewitt has returned to her old sparkling form with this novel.

Laura Neale's husband Tim died 15 months ago in a car accident. She has moved to Willoughby Close to get away from the memories associated with their old house, to down-size to something cheaper, and to be closer to Tim's parents. Her son Sam is 11 years old and seems relatively unaffected as long as he can play Minecraft, her daughter Maggie is older and angry with everything, despite agreeing to the move she hates everything about Wychwood-on-Lea.

When Laura gets asked to see the headmaster of the local school her mind immediately goes to the worst place, but it turns out that the insanely attractive headmaster James Hill just wants Sam to set up a Minecraft club after school.

Laura and James are attracted to one-another but is it too soon? He is nine years younger than her, is that too much of a gap when she is over 40 and he wants children? What will the other mums at the school gate say? What will her children say?

This was warm and cosy, although we see other residents of the Close past and present it doesn't feel like the cast of thousands that it has seemed in other books.

Overall, this was a great finale to the two series of books and I look forward to seeing what is in store for the Close in its next incarnation.

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Review: The Royal Secret

The Royal Secret by Andrew Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We return to late 1600s London, Charles II is on the throne and our detective hero Marwood is called in to investigate missing papers after a clerk to Lord Arlington dies in mysterious circumstances.

Following the death of Cat's husband in the last book, Marwood and Cat have developed something more than a friendship but less than a romance, until Cat's latest commission brings her into conflict with Marwood.

If you like C.J. Sansom then I think you'll like this series. Marwood is a man of his time, which can make for uncomfortable reading for the 21st century reader, the uneasy balance that people had to maintain in order to retain their jobs seems so alien to this reader, to be employed at the whim of a capricious nobleman seems so harsh and yet I suppose many live in similar circumstances today.

These books are not for the faint-hearted, I'm not sure if they all share the in-depth interest in the toilets and sewers of this book and the last, but it feels authentic in all its brutality and squalor.

As we roam from the court of Charles II to Paris and the Kent coast there are plots and intrigues in abundance.

I have to say that I have some questions about certain things that characters say towards the end. maybe I didn't truly understand their meaning but otherwise the plot hung together well and I could clearly see the trail of death and motives from start to finish.

I was invited to read a free copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Chasing the Italian Dream

Chasing the Italian Dream by Jo Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lucia's promotion to partner in a firm of lawyers in Wales is almost assured when she goes to visit her grandparents in Italy. But when she gets to Italy she finds out her Nonno (granddad) is thinking of retiring and selling the family pizzeria, he desperately wants to pass the pizzeria on to a member of the family but Lucia's brother has his own successful business in Wales. Then in an added blow, her Nonno announces that he will instead give the pizzeria to Lucia's estranged husband Giacomo.

Lucia and Giacomo have been separated, but not divorced, for seven years. Lucia can't bear the idea of her family's heritage, being transformed into a chain coffee shop by some conglomerate, but even worse would be to see her family's traditions trashed by Giacomo and his quest for new flavour combinations as a pizzaiolo, a master pizza-maker. When he tells her he intends to install an electric oven to bake his pizzas it's the last straw.

Nonno agrees to a limited period competition between Lucia and Giacomo, the two of them will cook their pizzas in the restaurant. Whoever sells the most pizzas by the time of the annual Bocce competition on 31 August will win the restaurant. But because Nonno believes the village would not stand for a pizzaiola (a woman master pizza-maker) the competition must be a secret.

Lucia may have grown up helping her Nonno make the pizza dough and adding the toppings she has never physically made a pizza before in the wood oven. At first it seems like an impossible task, especially when Giac uses all the ingredients, but then Lucia's Nonna (grandmother) introduces her to the Nonna-network, the unsung women who grow the ingredients and cook at home while the menfolk get all the glory in the restaurants.

This book should come with a warning, or two. First its all about pizza-making so you end up craving a handmade wood-fired pizza with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and rocket. Second, everyone is forever drinking wine and grappa so by 3pm I was also craving a glass of something Italian to wash it down with!

I thoroughly enjoyed this, there were no surprises but it was a fun read and I could almost smell the Italian coffee as I read the book.

I was invited to read this book by the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: The Secret Bridesmaid

The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sophie Breeze makes her living as a professional bridesmaid, one who will help you choose your dress, organise the flowers, placate family, hire portaloos etc. She pretends to be a friend of the bride and just makes sure her special day is perfect from start to finish.

When she gets asked by Lady Meade to be a secret bridesmaid for the society wedding of the year Sophie is thrilled, this could be the boost her business needs. But the bride-to-be is surly, rude and wants to fire Sophie as soon as she meets her. This could be her most challenging wedding yet.

This had a bit of a Katie Fforde vibe, but maybe for a younger demographic (I love Katie Fforde). The aristocratic family, the practical jokes, the fancy dinners.

I absolutely devoured this in less than one day. It was cute, charming, it had lovable characters and zany situations. I also loved the comic element of the interactions between Sophie and her different brides.

If a rom-com featuring a professional bridesmaid who will do anything for her bride-to-be (including asking the Queen for a priceless tiara) then I think you'll adore this charming 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: Falling for Irish

Falling for Irish by Katie Reus
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Computer security expert Kathryn Irish can't believe her latest job is in one of her ex-boyfriend Daniel MacArthur's buildings, and of course she runs into him in the lobby because that's not at all embarrassing. Billionaire with no known occupation (okay there might have been but I can't recall how he earned his billions) Daniel doesn't know what went wrong between him and Kathryn but now they've been thrown together he's going to do everything in his power to keep her in his life.

I started this novella totally enthralled by the STEM heroine with a job to do, totally professional and living her best life. Daniel was also a great hero, okay he ticks a lot of obvious romance cliches but hey it's a romance. Unfortunately for me the novella started to go downhill about the halfway mark. First. there was the obligatory love scene which went on and on, or maybe they just did it several times with no plot advancement in between. Even worse, I felt that I had read that same scene, using the same words, in several other Katie Reus novels. Then there was the totally obvious suspense element, it felt like it was thrown in at the last minute and Katie Reus didn't really commit to it, blink and you missed it (if only the same were true of the love scenes - sorry for the mealy-mouthed review but otherwise B&N makes me use asterisks to get reviews through their sensitive sensors).

Full-disclosure, I am not a great fan of Katie Reus' contemporary works, what works well in PNR, which is a bit of an OTT genre, does not translate well (for me) in contemporary romance or romantic suspense. So, you are right, I shouldn't have requested the ARC, I know, but I always hope that one day she'll get it right for me.

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

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Review: Spoiler Alert: a delightfully fun romantic comedy

Spoiler Alert: a delightfully fun romantic comedy by Olivia Dade
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

What happens when an internationally renowned actor in a long-running series called Gods of the Gates, loosely based on the books by E. Wade (sadly not a real thing, I googled) which were themselves based on The Aeneid, rescues a fan who is abused for her physical appearance on Twitter? Itself very similar in storyline, Marcus is a beautiful man, physically fit (as you would need to be to play the Trojan hero Aeneas) whereas April, an environmental geologist, is, as she herself says, fat, with no intention of dieting or exercising. However, they both share a secret. They both love to write Fanfic about Gods of the Gates and over the last two years their alter-egos BAWN and Ulsie (they both stand for longer names but, phsaw) have become very close. However, Marcus' alter-ego BAWN is highly critical of the way in which the showrunners have taken the latest series and it could ruin his career if anyone ever discovered his true identity. April too feels her professional reputation would suffer if her colleagues in her physically demanding and male-dominated field knew she wrote Fanfic and enjoyed cosplay.

So this is a kind of re-boot of You've Got Mail, Marcus discovers April's alter-ego on their first date but is too worried about his career to confess to his own alter-ego - we all know where this is going don't we?

First off, I don't read Fanfic and I don't go to conferences like Comicon - so this isn't my area of interest. Indeed, I think I saw the ARC on NetGalley and didn't request the book because it didn't sound like my kind of thing. I was half right.

I liked this, despite the unfamiliar world and terminology and the extracts from scripts and fanfic, the characters were real and vivid and likable. What let the story down for me was rinse-and-repeat nature of April and Marcus' relationship. He inadvertently says something, she misinterprets what he says and breaks things off. She realises she overreacted and forgives him. He assumes something and acts accordingly from the best of intentions, it wasn't what she wanted, she dumps him. Yadda yadda. I don't know if this was to show that April wasn't perfect either but it felt repetitive and very one-sided because she was always the one who had to realise he had good reasons for his actions/deception.

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Review: Someone to Honour

Someone to Honour by Mary Balogh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Abigail Westcott's life fell apart six years ago when she discovered her parents marriage was an act of bigamy. All at once she went from wealthy aristocrat looking to make an advantageous marriage to an illegitimate nobody and a half-sister she never knew existed inherited all the family wealth.

Six years on, Abby has come to terms with the events of the past, indeed she welcomes the opportunity that the events gave her to make her own choices, including whether or not to marry. When her brother Harry returns from Europe desperately weak, Abby offers to stay with him at his country estate to nurse him back to health.

Lieutenant Colonel Gil Bennington helped to bring Harry back to England. The illegitimate son of a washerwoman he has dragged himself up by his bootstraps and achieved modest wealth from his time in India. His wife has died and left their baby daughter with her parents, who refuse to let him see his own daughter. With no family to look out for him, Gil is happy to escort Harry home and stay a few weeks to look after him.

When Abby and Gil first meet it is very much a case of pride meets prejudice. Abby sees a shirtless man chopping wood in the yard and assumes he is a servant. Gil sees a snooty, cold-hearted member of the aristocracy. Forced to live together while they help Harry Abby and Gil discover they have more in common than they first imagined, but could it be enough to enter into a marriage of convenience in order to win Gil's daughter back?

All together now, I like didn't but I didn't love it. Viola and Marcel's romance had tears rolling down my face whereas this was more of a gentle friendship deepening to love without any of that high emotion.

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Review: Maid for Advertising

Maid for Advertising by Susie Tate
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Charming, sweet romance between Urvi, bartender/student turned waitress on a luxury yacht in St Tropez, and Jack, customer and owner of said yacht.

Urvi was training to be a doctor but her real passion is music. When she changed her course her traditional family refused to speak to her. Now she's struggling with a medical condition and trying to fund her studying and life with a part-time job at a London bar. Jack is one of her favourite customers, respectful, polite and good for a chat, so when he invites her to spend the weekend in St Tropez on a yacht Urvi is thrilled, until she finds out it is as staff not as a guest!

Worth the price just to see the adorable Kira and hear cockwomble one more time!

I love Susie Tate's book and this was great - just too short!

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Review: The Brass Queen

The Brass Queen by Elizabeth Chatsworth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Miss Constance Haltwhistle has been financing her family's estate with her ill-gotten gains as an arms dealer called The Brass Queen. Forced by her father's continuing absence in an alternate reality to find a blue-blooded husband, or lose the estate to her uncle who has threatened to raze it to the ground, she throws herself a lavish coming-out ball, which is unfortunately marred when invisible assassins attack the ball and steal away three scientists.

US spy J. F. Trusdale has infiltrated the ball looking for the Brass Queen, he is in a position to save Constance when the assassins attack, but gets arrested for his trouble, condemned by the very woman he has saved.

But Constance and Trusdale need to work together to save the scientists and uncover who is behind the invisible assassins.

This book showed amazing world-building, unfortunately it never stopped. Absolutely everything, food, clothes, sport, etc was all 'different'. There is a large cast of wacky servants, Trusdale is a spy, masquerading as someone else and looks like a cowboy (inconspicuous much?). Constance is like the Energizer bunny she has her fingers in so many pies, heck she's even organising most of the celebrations for Queen Victoria's visit to Sheffield. I just felt the book was all 'look at this steampunk world I've created' and high-energy scene after high-energy scene with no character-building. Maybe that's a long-winded way of saying I didn't warm to Constance, nor did I see what Trusdale (eventually) found so attractive.

I finished this book because I could appreciate the world-building and I kept hoping that it would calm down and develop more of a plot and more likable characters but it kept up the frenetic pace right to the end and it was just too much. No book really needs steampunk, spies, cowboys, mad scientists, kidnapping, treason, alternate realities, polo on mechanical beasts (think Wizard Chess), pirates, invisible assassins, krakens, and Queen Victoria!

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


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Review: Murder in the Belltower

Murder in the Belltower by Helena Dixon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Kitty Underhay is invited to spend Christmas with her cousin Lucy's family at Enderley Hall, little does she know that her uncle, Lord Medford has invited a motley crew of guests to try to uncover the source of leaked documents which have been sold to the highest bidder, each of the guests has been in the vicinity of previous thefts. So we have an Austrian count and his beautiful sister, a hearty American businessman and his wife, and a writer researching for a botany book as well as Kitty's beau, ex-army captain turned private detective Matt Bryant. Throw in an oily vicar, a retired actress and village rivalries are you surprised it ends in murder?

I've read quite a few cosy English mysteries set in the 1920s and 1930s recently and I have to say, sadly, this does not match up. First, there are constant allusions to what happened in previous books and an ongoing arc relating to Kitty's mother's death (apparently her body was found in the previous book). Everyone is a caricature and when Kitty uncovers the murderer it was, frankly, a flight of fantasy. There was not (as far as I can see) a single clue that would lead the reader to identify the murderer, save rampant xenophobia, and Kitty had no evidence, she just strung together a string of suppositions and got lucky. There seemed to be an inordinate amount of detail about everyone ate at each meal and what clothes Kitty was wearing for no apparent reason. Also, I loath mysteries where someone (in this case Kitty's maid) finds out loads of secrets that help to 'blow open the case' as they say.

Also, personal foible, if my boyfriend called me old thing not once, but six times in just a few days I would ditch him immediately, he clearly thinks of you as a chum and not a woman who makes his toes curl!

Not the series for me.

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

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Review: Wild Sign

Wild Sign by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

The FBI visit Anna Cornick to warn her that a small settlement of off-gridders (did I make that up) have been living on land registered to Leah Cornick (Bran's mate) and have disappeared off the face of the earth. Leah owns that land for a terrible reason, one bound up in the story of how Bran came to turn her into a werewolf and mate her, the reason for the strained relationship between the Alpha and his mate.

Bran sends Anna, Charles and Tag to investigate, what they find is an ancient power, using music to lure and seduce its followers.

I think it says something that I read this on my iPad because the ARC I received was incapable of being read on anything other than the NetGalley Shelf app on my iPad and yet I still stayed awake until 3am to finish this book. And I will spend another day in a wrist splint to alleviate the pain of holding a heavy iPad for hours on end.

I have always loved Anna and Charles, their stories have generally felt less dense and more accessible than Mercy's (by which I mean that sometimes I get confused by the fae and Coyote and stuff like that in the Mercy books and don't fully understand what is going on - not that the writing is in any difficult to read). Also their ongoing love story and Anna's importance to Bran's pack of misfits has always sparked deep joy.

On a less personal note, I don't want to spoil anything but OMG the 'monsters' in this book are epic. The tension builds up and up and up, hence the 3am finish, there's an awesome battle and some absolutely tantalising nuggets in the epilogue.

Love, love, 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: You and Me on Vacation

You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Poppy and Alex come from the same small town in Ohio but first meet at college 12 years ago. She's an extrovert who can't wait to travel the world. Alex loves khakis and always drives the speed limit. Although they loathe each other initially, they become friends and develop a routine of having a Summer break together. They grow up, Alex becomes a teacher in their home town whereas Poppy becomes a travel blogger and lands her dream job for an aspirational travel magazine which pays for her to travel the world looking for new and exciting holiday ideas.

Two years ago in Croatia Poppy and Alex had a falling out and have barely spoken since, Poppy has come to realise that without Alex's friendship the rest of her life has no meaning, or perhaps that she has achieved all her dreams and still isn't happy. So she reaches out to Alex to persuade him to go on vacation with her again, trying to recreate the excitement of when they travelled on a shoestring.

Told from Poppy's POV in alternating flashbacks to previous holidays and the present day holiday we see how these two opposites became friends and see whether they can make it something more.

I really enjoyed Beach Read so when the publisher offered me an ARC of Emily Henry's new book I jumped at the chance. I thought I was clever to see that this felt like One Day meets Normal People, and then this morning I thought it had a bit of a When Harry Met Sallyvibe. Then I saw that the book's blurb specifically mentions two of those books so maybe I'm not so clever. The only problem is, I've seen One Day and Normal People and When Harry Met Sally and this didn't bring anything new to the table for me. Two people who hide their feelings because they are afraid of losing a friendship, one last chance to make it right, developing a deep bond when the issue of sex is taken off the table.

I liked it, but I didn't love it (and how many times have I said that line in the past 12 months) and the book contained a pet peeve of mine, where one character goes 'all in' and then issues an ultimatum to the other character - you have thought it through to the nth degree and reached a decision, maybe over weeks or months, and you want the other person to just on the spot get on board or get lost? Gah! Makes my blood boil.

Anyhoo, I think this would have worked better for me if it wasn't hooked on Alex and Poppy's annual holiday, if it had been told in flashbacks from Poppy's visits home for the holidays perhaps?

I still enjoyed Emily Henry's writing, it was just the story itself that didn't work for me this time.

I was invited to read a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Ancient Enforcer

Ancient Enforcer by Katie Reus
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Two and a half stars.

I don't know what happened, one minute I was enjoying ancient dragon shifter and human female romance, the next I was dragging my heels. I literally had to force myself to read the last 40% of the book, something which I should have been able to do in 90 minutes, and it took me all day. It's 21:00 hours and I am not kidding. I have done everything (aside from cleaning, obvs) except reading this book.

Mikael is an ancient dragon enforcer trying to adapt to living in the modern world. Avery is a human who is charged with looking after Mikael and his brothers and assimilating them into the modern world. There's Mikael's ancient enemy, who killed the rest of his family, and a vampire master who is indiscriminately making new vampires and allowing them to feed and kill their victims.

Honestly , I'm too bored to continue. There's hell realms, all the usual cast of shifters, an evil stepmother, kidnapping, vials of green evil (yawn). I am so disappointed because I lurve Katie Reus' novels and this one was just a swing and a miss for me.

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

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